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diff --git a/33082-0.txt b/33082-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70f5981 --- /dev/null +++ b/33082-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,20875 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jack Hinton, 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: Jack Hinton + The Guardsman + +Author: Charles James Lever + +Illustrator: Phiz. + +Release Date: July 5, 2010 [EBook #33082] +Last Updated: February 28, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JACK HINTON *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +JACK HINTON, + +THE GUARDSMAN. + +By Charles James Lever + +With Illustrations by Browne + +LONDON: + +CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY. + +1857. + + + + +PREFACE. + +Very few words of preface will suffice to the volume now presented to my +readers. My intention was to depict, in the early experiences of a young +Englishman in Ireland, some of the almost inevitable mistakes incidental +to such a character. I had so often myself listened to so many absurd +and exaggerated opinions on Irish character, formed on the very +slightest acquaintance with the country, and by persons, too, who, with +all the advantages long intimacy might confer, would still have been +totally inadequate to the task of a rightful appreciation, that I deemed +the subject one where a little “reprisal” might be justifiable. + +Scarcely, however, had I entered upon my story, than I strayed from the +path I had determined on, and, with very little reference to my +original intention, suffered Jack Hinton to “take his chance amongst the +natives,” and with far too much occupation on his hands to give time for +reflecting over their peculiarities, or recording their singular traits, +I threw him into the society of the capital, under the vice-royalty of a +celebrated Duke, all whose wayward eccentricities were less marked than +the manly generosity and genuine honesty of his character. I introduced +him into a set where, whatever purely English readers may opine, I have +wonderfully little exaggerated; and I led him down to the West to meet +adventures which every newspaper, some twenty-five years ago, would show +were by no means extravagant or strange. + +As for the characters of the story, there is not one for which I did not +take a “real sitter;” at the same time, I have never heard one single +correct guess as to the types that afforded them. To Mrs. Paul Rooney, +Father Tom Loftus, Bob Mahon, O'Grady, Tipperary Joe, and even Corny +himself, I have scarcely added a touch which nature has not given them, +while assuredly I have failed to impart many a fine and delicate tint +far above the “reach of--'_my_--art,” and which might have presented +them in stronger light and shadow than I have dared to attempt. Had I +desired to caricature English ignorance as to Ireland in the person of +my Guardsman, nothing would have been easier; but I preferred merely +exposing him to such errors as might throw into stronger relief the +peculiarities of Irishmen, and, while offering something to laugh at, +give no offence to either. The volume amused me while I was writing +it,--less, perhaps, by what I recorded, than what I abstained from +inditing; at all events, it was the work of some of the pleasantest +hours of my life, and if it can ever impart to any of my readers a +portion of the amusement some of the real characters afforded myself, it +will not be all a failure. That it may succeed so far is the hope of the +reader's + +Very devoted servant, + +CHARLES LEVER. + +Casa Capponi, Florence, March, 1857. + + + + +JACK HINTON, THE GUARDSMAN + + + +CHAPTER I. A FAMILY PARTY + +It was on a dark and starless night in February, 181--, as the last +carriage of a dinner-party had driven from the door of a large house +in St. James's-square, when a party drew closer around the drawing-room +fire, apparently bent upon that easy and familiar chit-chat the presence +of company interdicts. + +One of these was a large and fine-looking man of about five-and-forty, +who, dressed in the full uniform of a general officer, wore besides the +ribbon of the Bath; he leaned negligently upon the chimney-piece, and, +with his back towards the fire, seemed to follow the current of his own +reflections: this was my Father. + +Beside him, but almost concealed in the deep recess of a well-cushioned +arm-chair, sat, or rather lay, a graceful figure, who with an air of +languid repose was shading her fine complexion as well from the glare +of the fire as from the trying brilliancy of an Argand lamp upon the +mantelpiece. Her rich dress, resplendent with jewels, while it strangely +contrasted with the careless ease of her attitude, also showed that she +had bestowed a more than common attention that day upon her toilette: +this, fair reader, was my Mother. + +Opposite to her, and disposed in a position of rather studied +gracefulness, lounged a tall, thin, fashionable-looking man, with a +dark olive complexion, and a short black moustache. He wore in the +button-hole of his blue coat the ribbon of St. Louis. The Count de +Grammont, for such he was, was an _émigré_ noble, who, attached to the +fortunes of the Bourbons, had resided for some years in London, and +who, in the double capacity of adviser of my father and admirer of my +lady-mother, obtained a considerable share of influence in the family +and a seat at its councils. + +At a little distance from the rest, and apparently engaged with her +embroidery, sat a very beautiful girl, whose dark hair and long lashes +deepened the seeming paleness of features a Greek sculptor might have +copied. While nothing could be more perfect than the calm loveliness of +her face and the delicate pencilling of her slightly-arched eyebrows, +an accurate observer could detect that her tremulous lip occasionally +curled with a passing expression of half scorn, as from time to time +she turned her eyes towards each speaker in turn, while she herself +maintained a perfect silence. My cousin, Lady Julia Egerton, had indeed +but that one fault: shall I venture to call by so harsh a name that +spirit of gentle malice which loved to look for the ludicrous features +of everything around her, and inclined her to indulge what the French +call the “_esprit moqueur_” even on occasions where her own feelings +were interested? + +The last figure of the group was a stripling of some nineteen years, +who, in the uniform of the Guards, was endeavouring to seem perfectly +easy and unconcerned, while it was evident that his sword-knot divided +his attention with some secret thoughts that rendered him anxious and +excited: this was Myself! + +A silence of some moments was at length broken by my mother, who, with +a kind of sigh Miss O'Neill was fond of, turned towards the Count, and +said, + +“Do confess, Count, we were all most stupid to-day. Never did a dinner +go off so heavily. But it's always the penalty one pays for a royal +Duke. _A propos_, General, what did he say of Jack's appointment?” + +“Nothing could be more kind, nothing more generous than his Royal +Highness. The very first thing he did in the room was to place this +despatch in my hands. This, Jack,” said my father, turning to me, “this +is your appointment as an extra aide-de-camp.” + +“Very proper indeed,” interposed my mother; “I am very happy to think +you'll be about the Court. Windsor, to be sure, is stupid.” + +“He is not likely to see much of it,” said my father, dryly. + +“Oh, you think he'll be in town then?” + +“Why, not exactly that either.” + +“Then what can you mean?” said she, with more of animation than before. + +“Simply, that his appointment is on the staff in Ireland.” + +“In Ireland!” repeated my mother, with a tragic start. “In Ireland!” + +“In Ireland!” said Lady Julia, in a low, soft voice. + +“_En Irlande!_” echoed the Count, with a look of well got up horror, +as he elevated his eyebrows to the very top of his forehead; while +I myself, to whom the communication was as sudden and as unexpected, +assumed a kind of soldier-like indifference, as though to say, “What +matters it to me? what do I care for the rigours of climate? the snows +of the Caucasus, or the suns of Bengal, are quite alike; even Ireland, +if his Majesty's service require it.” + +“Ireland!” repeated my mother once more; “I really never heard anything +so very shocking. But, my dear Jack, you can't think of it. Surely, +General, you had presence of mind to decline.” + +“To accept, and to thank most gratefully his Royal Highness for such +a mark of his favour, for this I had quite presence of mind,” said my +father, somewhat haughtily. + +“And you really will go, Jack?” + +“Most decidedly,” said I, as I put on a kind of Godefroy de Bouillon +look, and strutted about the room. + +“And pray what can induce you to such a step?” + +“_Oui, que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?_'” said the Count. + +“By Jove!” cried my father, hastily, “you are intolerable; you wished +your boy to be a Guardsman in opposition to my desire for a regiment on +service. You would have him an aide-de-camp: now he is both one and the +other. In Heaven's name, what think ye of getting him made a lady of the +bedchamber? for it's the only appointment I am aware of----” + +“You are too absurd, General,” said my mother, pettishly. “Count, +pray touch the bell; that fire is so very hot, and I really was quite +unprepared for this piece of news.” + +“And you, Julia,” said I, leaning over the back of my cousin's chair, +“what do you say to all this?” + +“I've just been thinking what a pity it is I should have wasted all +my skill and my worsted on this foolish rug, while I could have been +embroidering a gay banner for our young knight bound for the wars. +'_Partant pour la Syrie_,'” hummed she, half pensively, while I could +see a struggling effort to suppress a laugh. I turned indignantly +away, and walked towards the fire, where the Count was expending his +consolations on my mother. + +“After all, _Miladi_, it is not so bad as you think in the provinces; +I once spent three weeks in Brittany, very pleasantly indeed: _oui, +pardieu_, it's quite true. To be sure, we had Perlet, and Mademoiselle +Mars, and got up the _Précieuse Ridicules_ as well as in Paris.” + +The application of this very apposite fact to Ireland was clearly +satisfactory to my mother, who smiled benignly at the speaker, while my +father turned upon him a look of the most indescribable import. + +“Jack, my boy!” said he, taking me by the arm, “were I your age, and had +no immediate prospect of active service, I should prefer Ireland to any +country in the world. I have plenty of old friends on the staff there. +The Duke himself was my schoolfellow----” + +“I hope he will be properly attentive,” interrupted my mother. “Dear +Jack, remind me to-morrow to write to Lady Mary.” + +“Don't mistake the country you are going to,” continued my father; “you +will find many things very different from what you are leaving; and, +above all, be not over ready to resent, as an injury, what may merely be +intended as a joke: your brother officers will always guide you on these +points.” + +“And above all things,” said my mother, with great earnestness, “do not +adopt that odious fashion of wearing their hair. I've seen members of +both Houses, and particularly that little man they talk so much of, Mr. +Grattan, I believe they call him----” + +“Make your mind perfectly easy on that head, my lady,” said my father, +dryly, “your son is not particularly likely to resemble Henry Grattan.” + +My cousin Julia alone seemed to relish the tone of sarcasm he spoke +in, for she actually bestowed on him a look of almost grateful +acknowledgment. + +“The carriage, my lady,” said the servant. And at the same moment my +mother, possibly not sorry to cut short the discussion, rose from her +chair. + +“Do you intend to look in at the Duchess's, General?” + +“For half an hour,” replied my father; “after that I have my letters to +write. Jack, you know, leaves us to-morrow.” + +“'Tis really very provoking,” said my mother, turning at the same time a +look towards the Count. + +“_A vos ordres, Madame_,” said he, bowing with an air of most +deferential politeness, while he presented his arm for her acceptance. + +“Good night, then,” cried I, as the party left the room; “I have so much +to do and to think of, I shan't join you.” I turned to look for Lady +Julia, but she was gone, when and how I knew not; so I sat down at the +fire to ruminate alone over my present position, and my prospects for +the future. + +***** + +***** + +***** + +These few and imperfect passages may put the reader in possession of +some, at least, of the circumstances which accompanied my outset in +life; and if they be not sufficiently explicit, I can only say, that he +knows fully as much of me as at the period in question I did of myself. + +At Eton, I had been what is called rather a smart boy, but incorrigibly +idle; at Sandhurst, I showed more ability, and more disinclination to +learn. By the favour of a royal Duke (who had been my godfather), my +commission in a marching regiment was exchanged for a lieutenancy in +the Guards; and at the time I write of I had been some six months in +the service, which I spent in all the whirl and excitement of London +society. My father, who, besides being a distinguished officer, was one +of the most popular men among the clubs, my mother, a London beauty +of some twenty years' standing, were claims sufficient to ensure me no +common share of attention, while I added to the number what, in my own +estimation at least were, certain very decided advantages of a purely +personal nature. + +To obviate, as far as might be, the evil results of such a career, my +father secretly asked for the appointment on the staff of the noble +Duke then Viceroy of Ireland, in preference to what my mother +contemplated--my being attached to the royal household. To remove +me alike from the enervating influence of a mother's vanity, and the +extravagant profusion and voluptuous abandonment of London habits, this +was his object. He calculated, too, that by new ties, new associations, +and new objects of ambition, I should be better prepared, and more +desirous of that career of real service to which in his heart he +destined me. These were his notions, at least; the result must be +gleaned from my story. + + + + +CHAPTER II. THE IRISH PACKET + +A few nights after the conversation I have briefly alluded to, and +pretty much about the same hour, I aroused myself from the depression of +nearly thirty hours' sea-sickness, on hearing that at length we were in +the bay of Dublin. Hitherto I had never left the precincts of the narrow +den denominated my berth; but now I made my way eagerly on deck, anxious +to catch a glimpse, however faint, of that bold coast I had more than +once heard compared with, or even preferred to, Naples. The night, +however, was falling fast, and, worse still, a perfect down-pour of rain +was falling with it; the sea ran high, and swept the little craft +from stem to stern; the spars bent like whips, and our single topsail +strained and stretched as though at every fresh plunge it would part +company with us altogether. No trace or outline of the coast could +I detect on any side; a deep red light appearing and disappearing at +intervals, as we rode upon or sank beneath the trough of the sea, was +all that my eye could perceive: this the dripping helmsman briefly +informed me was the “Kish,” but, as he seemed little disposed for +conversation, I was left to my unassisted ingenuity to make out whether +it represented any point of the capital we were approaching or not. + +The storm of wind and rain increasing at each moment, drove me once more +back to the cabin, where, short as had been the period of my absence, +the scene had undergone a most important change. Up to this moment my +sufferings and my seclusion gave me little leisure or opportunity to +observe my fellow travellers. The stray and scattered fragments of +conversation that reached me, rather puzzled than enlightened me. Of the +topics which I innocently supposed occupied all human attention, not a +word was dropped; Carlton House was not once mentioned; the St. Leger +and the Oaks not even alluded to; whether the Prince's breakfast was to +come off at Knights-bridge or Progmore, no one seemed to know, or even +care; nor was a hint dropped as to the fashion of the new bearskins +the Guards were to sport at the review on Hounslow. The price of +pigs, however, in Ballinasloe, they were perfect in. Of a late row +in Kil--something, where one half of the population had massacred the +other, they knew everything, even to the names of the defunct. A few +of the better dressed chatted over country matters, from which I +could glean that game and gentry were growing gradually scarcer; but a +red-nosed, fat old gentleman, in rusty black and high boots, talked +down the others by an eloquent account of the mawling that he, a +certain Father Tom Loftus, had given the Reverend Paul Strong, at a late +controversial meeting in the Rotunda. + +[Illustration: 2-0044] + +Through all this “bald, disjointed chat,” unceasing demands were made +for bottled porter, “matarials,” or spirits and wather, of which, were +I to judge from the frequency of the requests, the consumption must have +been awful. + +There would seem something in the very attitude of lying down that +induces reflection, and, thus stretched at full length in my berth, I +could not help ruminating upon the land I was approaching, in a spirit +which, I confess, accorded much more with my mother's prejudices than my +father's convictions. From the few chance phrases dropped around me, +it appeared that even the peaceful pursuits of a country market, or +the cheerful sports of the field, were followed up in a spirit of +recklessness and devilment; so that many a head that left home without +a care, went back with a crack in it. But to return once more to the +cabin. It must be borne in mind that some thirty odd years ago the +passage between Liverpool and Dublin was not, as at present, the rapid +flight of a dozen hours, from shore to shore; where, on one evening, +you left the thundering din of waggons, and the iron crank of cranes +and windlasses, to wake the next morning with the rich brogue of Paddy +floating softly around you. Far from it! the thing was then a voyage. +You took a solemn leave of your friends, you tore yourself from the +embraces of your family, and, with a tear in your eye and a hamper on +your arm, you betook yourself to the pier to watch, with an anxious and +a beating heart, every step of the three hours' proceeding that +heralded your departure. In those days there was some honour in being +a traveller, and the man who had crossed the Channel a couple of times +became a kind of Captain Cook among his acquaintances. + +The most singular feature of the whole, however, and the one to which +I am now about to allude, proceeded from the fact that the steward in +those days, instead of the extensive resources of the present period, +had little to offer you, save some bad brandy and a biscuit, and +each traveller had to look to his various wants with an accuracy and +foresight that required both tact and habit. The mere demands of hunger +and thirst were not only to be considered in the abstract, but a point +of far greater difficulty, the probable length of the voyage, was to be +taken into consideration; so that you bought your beefsteaks with your +eye upon the barometer, and laid in your mutton by the age of the moon. +While thus the agency of the season was made to react upon your stomach, +in a manner doubtless highly conducive to the interests of science, your +part became one of the most critical nicety. + +Scarcely were you afloat, and on the high seas, when your appetite was +made to depend on the aspect of the weather. Did the wind blow fresh and +fair, you eat away with a careless ease and a happy conscience, highly +beneficial to your digestion. With a glance through the skylight at +the blue heaven, with a sly look at the prosperous dog-vane, you helped +yourself to the liver wing, and took an extra glass of your sherry. +Let the breeze fall, however, let a calm come on, or, worse still, +a trampling noise on deck, and a certain rickety motion of the craft +betoken a change of wind, the knife and fork fell listlessly from your +hand, the unlifted cutlet was consigned to your plate, the very spoonful +of gravy you had devoured in imagination was dropped upon the dish, and +you replaced the cork in your bottle, with the sad sigh of a man who +felt that, instead of his income, he has been living on the principal of +his fortune. + +Happily, there is a reverse to the medal, and this it was to which now +my attention was directed. The trip as occasionally happened, was a +rapid one; and while under the miserable impression that a fourth part +of the journey had not been accomplished, we were blessed with the +tidings of land. Scarcely was the word uttered, when it flew from mouth +to mouth; and I thought I could trace the elated look of proud and happy +hearts, as home drew near. What was my surprise, however, to see the +enthusiasm take another and very different channel. With one accord a +general rush was made upon the hampers of prog. Baskets were burst open +on every side. Sandwiches and sausages, porter bottles, cold punch, +chickens, and hard eggs, were strewn about with a careless and reckless +profusion; none semed too sick or too sore for this general epidemic +of feasting. Old gentlemen sat up in their beds and bawled for beef; +children of tender years brandished a drumstick. Individuals who but a +short half-hour before seemed to have made a hearty meal, testified by +the ravenous exploits of their appetites to their former forbearance and +abstemiousness. Even the cautious little man in the brown spencer, who +wrapped up the remnant of his breakfast in the _Times_, now opened his +whole store, and seemed bent upon a day of rejoicing. Never was such a +scene of riotous noise and tumultuous mirth. Those who scowled at each +other till now, hob-nobbed across the table; and simpering old maids +cracked merry thoughts with gay bachelors, without even a passing fear +for the result. “Thank Heaven,” said I, aloud, “that I see all this with +my sense and my intellects clear about me.” Had I suddenly awoke to such +a prospect from the disturbed slumber of sickness» the chances were ten +to one I had jumped overboard, and swam for my life. In fact, it +could convey but one image to the mind, such as we read of, when some +infuriated and reckless men, despairing of safety, without a hope left, +resolve upon closing life in the mad orgies of drunken abandonment. + +Here were the meek, the tranquil, the humble-minded, the solitary, the +seasick, all suddenly converted into riotous and roystering feasters. +The lips that scarcely moved, now blew the froth from a porter cup with +the blast of a Boreas: and even the small urchin in the green face and +nankeen jacket, bolted hard eggs with the dexterity of a clown in a +pantomime. The end of all things (eatable) had certainly come. Chickens +were dismembered like felons, and even jokes and witticisms were bandied +upon the victuals. “What, if even yet,” thought I, “the wind should +change!” The idea was a malicious one, too horrible to indulge in. At +this moment the noise and turmoil on deck apprised me that our voyage +was near its termination. + +[Illustration: 2-0049] + +The night, as I have said, was dark and stormy. It rained too--as it +knows only how to rain in Ireland. There was that steady persistence, +that persevering monotony of down-pour, which, not satisfied with +wetting you to the skin, seems bent upon converting your very blood into +water. The wind swept in long and moaning gusts along the bleak pier, +which, late and inclement as it was, seemed crowded with people. +Scarcely was a rope thrown ashore, when we were boarded on every side, +by the rigging, on the shrouds, over the bulwarks, from the anchor to +the taffrail; the whole population of the island seemed to flock in upon +us; while sounds of welcome and recognition resounded on all sides-- + +“How are you, Mister Maguire?” “Is the mistress with you?” “Is that you, +Mr. Tierney?” “How are you, ma'am?” “And yourself, Tim?” “Beautiful, +glory be to God!” “A great passage, entirely, ma'am.” “Nothing but rain +since I seen you.” “Take the trunks up to Mrs. Tun-stall; and, Tim, +darling, oysters and punch for four.” + +“Great mercy!” said I, “eating again!” + +“Morrisson, your honour,” said a ragged ruffian, nudging me by the +elbow. + +“Reilly, sir; isn't it? It's me, sir--the Club. I'm the man always +drives your honour.” + +“Arrah, howld your prate,” said a deep voice, “the gentleman hasn't time +to bless himself.” + +“It's me, sir; Owen Daly, that has the black horse.” + +“More by token, with a spavin,” whispered another; while a roar of +laughter followed the joke. + +“A car, sir--take you up in five minutes.” + +“A chaise, your honour--do the thing dacently.” + +Now, whether my hesitation at this moment was set down by the crowd of +my solicitors to some doubt of my solvency or not, I cannot say; but +true it is, their tone of obsequious entreaty gradually changed into one +of rather caustic criticism. + +“Maybe it's a gossoon you'd like to carry the little trunk.” + +“Let him alone; it's only a carpet-bag; he'll carry it himself.” + +“Don't you see the gentleman would rather walk; and as the night is +fine, 'tis pleasanter--and--cheaper.” + +“Take you for a fipp'ny bit and a glass of sparits,” said a gruff voice +in my ear. + +By this time I had collected my luggage together, whose imposing +appearance seemed once more to testify in my favour, particularly the +case of my cocked-hat, which to my ready-witted acquaintances proclaimed +me a military man. A general rush was accordingly made upon my luggage; +and while one man armed himself with a portmanteau, another laid hands +on a trunk, a third a carpet-bag, a fourth a gun-case, and so on until +I found myself keeping watch and ward over my epaulet-case and my +umbrella, the sole remnant of my effects. At the same moment a burst +of laughter and a half shout broke from the crowd, and a huge, powerful +fellow jumped on the deck, and, seizing me by the arm, cried out, + +“Come along now, Captain, it's all right. This way--this way, sir.” + +“But why am I to go with you?” said I, vainly struggling to escape his +grasp. + +“Why is it?” said he, with a chuckling laugh; “reason enough--didn't we +toss up for ye, and didn't I win ye.” + +“Win me!” + +“Ay; just that same.” + +By this time I found myself beside a car, upon which all my luggage was +already placed. + +“Get up, now,” said he. + +“It's a beautiful car, and a dhry cushion,” added a voice near, to the +manifest mirth of the bystanders. + +Delighted to escape my tormentors, I sprang up opposite to him, while +a cheer, mad and wild enough for a tribe of Iroquois, yelled behind us. +Away We rattled over the pavement, without lamp or lantern to guide our +path, while the sea dashed its foam across our faces, and the rain beat +in torrents upon our backs. + +“Where to, Captain?” inquired my companion, as he plied his whip without +ceasing. + +“The Castle; you know where that is?” + +“Faix I ought,” was the reply. “Ain't I there at the levees. But howld +fast, your honour; the road isn't good; and there is a hole somewhere +hereabouts.” + +“A hole! For Heaven's sake, take care. Do you know where it is?” + +“Begorra! you're in it,” was the answer; and, as he spoke, the horse +went down head foremost, the car after him; away flew the driver on +one side, while I myself was shot some half-dozen yards on the other, a +perfect avalanche of trunks, boxes, and portmanteaus rattling about +my doomed head. A crashing shower of kicks, the noise of the flying +splinters, and the imprecations of the carman, were the last sounds I +heard, as a heavy imperial full of books struck me on the head, and laid +me prostrate. + +Through my half-consciousness, I could still feel the rain as it fell in +sheets; the heavy plash of the sea sounded in my ears; but, somehow, a +feeling like sleepiness crept over me, and I became insensible. + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE CASTLE + +When I next came to my senses, I found myself lying upon a sofa in a +large room, of which I appeared the only occupant. A confused and misty +recollection of my accident, some scattered fragments of my voyage, and +a rather aching sensation in my head, were the only impressions of which +I was well conscious. The last evening I spent at home was full in my +memory, and I could not help thinking over my poor mother's direful +anticipations in my vain endeavours to penetrate what I felt had been a +misfortune of some kind or other. The mystery was, however, too deep for +my faculties; and so, in despair of unravelling the past, I set myself +to work to decipher the present. The room, I have already said, was +large; and the ceiling, richly stuccoed and ornamented, spoke of a day +whose architecture was of a grand and massive character. The furniture, +now old and time-worn, had once been handsome, even magnificent--rich +curtains of heavy brocaded silk, with deep gold fringes, gorgeously +carved and gilded chairs, in the taste of Louis XV.; marble consoles +stood between the windows, and a mirror of gigantic proportions occupied +the chimney-breast. Years and neglect had not only done their worst, but +it was evident that the hand of devastation had also been at work. The +marbles were cracked; few of the chairs were available for use; the +massive lustre, intended to shine with a resplendent glare of fifty +wax-lights, was now made a resting-place for chakos, bearskins, and +foraging caps; an ominous-looking star in the looking-glass bore witness +to the bullet of a pistol; and the very Cupids carved upon the frame, +who once were wont to smile blandly at each other, were now disfigured +with cork moustaches, and one of them even carried a short pipe in his +mouth. Swords, sashes, and sabretasches, spurs and shot-belts, with +guns, fishing-tackle, and tandem whips, were hung here and there upon +the walls, which themselves presented the strangest spectacle of all, +there not being a portion of them unoccupied by caricature sketches, +executed in every imaginable species of taste, style, and colouring. +Here was a field-day in the Park, in which it was easy to see the +prominent figures were portraits: there an enormous nose, surmounted +by a grenadier cap, was passing in review some trembling and terrified +soldiers. In another, a commander of the forces was seen galloping +down the lines, holding on by the pommel of the saddle. Over the sofa I +occupied, a levee at the Castle was displayed, in which, if the company +were not villanously libelled, the Viceroy had little reason to be proud +of his guests. There were also dinners at the Lodge; guards relieved by +wine puncheons dressed up like field-officers; the whole accompanied by +doggrel verses explanatory of the views. + +The owner of this singular chamber had, however, not merely devoted his +walls to the purposes of an album, but he had also made them perform the +part of a memorandum-book. Here were the “meets” of the Kildare and the +Dubber for the month of March; there, the turn of duty for the garrison +of Dublin, interspersed with such fragments as the following:--“Mem. To +dine at Mat Kean's on Tuesday, 4th.--Not to pay Hennesy till he settles +about the handicap.--To ask Courtenay--for Fanny Burke's fan; the same +Fanny has pretty legs of her own.--To tell Holmes to have nothing to do +with Lanty Moore's niece, in regard to a reason!--Five to two on Giles's +two-year-old, if Tom likes. N.B. The mare is a roarer.--A heavenly day; +what fun they must have!--may the devil fire Tom O'Flaherty, or I would +not be here now.” These and a hundred other similar passages figured on +every side, leaving me in a state of considerable mystification, not as +to the character of my host, of which I could guess something, but as to +the nature of his abode, which I could not imagine to be a barrack-room. + +[Illustration: 2-00053] + +As I lay thus pondering, the door cautiously opened, and a figure +appeared, which, as I had abundant leisure to examine it, and as the +individual is one who occasionally turns up in the course of my history, +I may as well take the present opportunity of presenting to my reader. +The man who entered, scarcely more than four feet and a half high, might +be about sixty years of age. His head, enormously disproportioned to +the rest of his figure, presented a number of flat surfaces, as though +nature had originally destined it for a crystal. Upon one of these +planes the eyes were set; and although as far apart as possible, yet +upon such terms of distance were they, that they never, even by an +accident, looked in the same direction. The nose was short and snubby; +the nostrils wide and expanded, as if the feature had been pitched +against the face in a moment of ill-temper, and flattened by the +force. As for the mouth, it looked like the malicious gash of a blunt +instrument, jagged, ragged, and uneven. It had not even the common-place +advantage of being parallel to the horizon, but ran in an oblique +direction from right to left, enclosed between a parenthesis of the +crankiest wrinkles that ever human cheek were creased by. The head would +have been bald but for a scanty wig, technically called a “jasy,” which, +shrunk by time, now merely occupied the apex of the scalp, where it +moved about with every action of the forehead and eyebrows, and was +thus made to minister to the expression of a hundred emotions that other +men's wigs know nothing about. Truly, it was the strangest peruke that +ever covered a human cranium. I do not believe that another like it +ever existed. It had nothing in common with other wigs. It was like its +owner, perfectly _sui generis_. It had not the easy flow and wavy curl +of the old beau. It had not the methodical precision and rectilinear +propriety of the elderly gentleman. It was not full, like a lawyer's, +nor horse-shoed, like a bishop's. No. It was a cross-grained, +ill-tempered, ill-conditioned old scratch, that looked like nothing +under heaven save the husk of a hedgehog. + +The dress of this strange figure was a suit of very gorgeous light +brown livery, with orange facings, a green plush waistcoat and shorts, +frogged, flapped, and embroidered most lavishly with gold lace, silk +stockings, with shoes, whose enormous buckles covered nearly the entire +foot, and rivalled, in their paste brilliancy, the piercing brightness +of the wearer's eye. Having closed the door carefully behind him, he +walked towards the chimney, with a certain air of solemn and imposing +dignity that very nearly overcame all my efforts at seriousness; his +outstretched and expanded hands, his averted toes and waddling gait, +giving him a most distressing resemblance to the spread eagle of +Prussia, had that respectable bird been pleased to take a promenade in a +showy livery. Having snuffed the candles, and helped himself to a pinch +of snuff from a gold box on the mantelpiece, he stuck his arms, nearly +to the elbows, in the ample pockets of his coat, and with his head +a little elevated, and his under-lip slightly protruded, seemed to +meditate upon the mutability of human affairs, and the vanity of all +worldly pursuits. + +I coughed a couple of times to attract his attention, and, having +succeeded in catching his eye, I begged, in my blandest imaginable +voice, to know where I was. + +“Where are ye, is it?” said he, repeating my question in a tone of the +most sharp and querulous intonation, to which not even his brogue could +lend one touch of softness,--“where are ye? and where would you like +to be? or where would any one be that was disgracing himself, or +blackguarding about the streets till he got his head cut and his clothes +torn, but in Master Phil's room: devil other company it's used to. Well, +well! It is more like a watchhouse nor a gentleman's parlour, this +same room. It's little his father, the Jidge”--here he crossed himself +piously--“it is little he thought the company his son would be keeping; +but it is no matter. I gave him warning last Tuesday, and with the +blessin' o' God----” + +The remainder of this speech was lost in a low muttering grumble, which +I afterwards learnt was his usual manner of closing an oration. A few +broken and indistinct phrases being only audible, such as--“Sarve you +right”--“Fifty years in the family”--“Slaving like a negur”--“Oh, the +Turks! the haythins!” + +Having waited what I deemed a reasonable time for his honest indignation +to evaporate, I made another effort to ascertain who my host might be. + +“Would you favour me,” said I, in a tone still more insinuating, “with +the name of----” + +“It's my name, ye want? Oh, sorrow bit I am ashamed of it! Little as you +think of me, Cornelius Delany is as good a warrant for family as many a +one of the dirty spalpeens about the Coort, that haven't a civiler word +in their mouth than Cross Corny! Bad luck to them for that same.” + +This honest admission as to the world's opinion of Mister Delany's +character was so far satisfactory as it enabled me to see with whom I +had to deal; and, although for a moment or two it was a severe struggle +to prevent myself bursting into laughter, I fortunately obtained the +mastery, and once more returned to the charge. + +“And now, Mister Delany, can you inform me how I came here? I remember +something of an accident on my landing; but when, where, and how, I am +totally ignorant.” + +“An accident!” said he, turning up his eyes; “an accident, indeed! +that's what they always call it when they wring off the rappers, or bate +the watch: ye came here in a hackney-coach, with the police, as many a +one came before you.” + +“But where am I?” said I, impatiently. + +“In Dublin Castle; bad luck to it for a riotous, disorderly place.” + +“Well, well,” said I, half angrily, “I want to know whose room is this?” + +“Captain O'Grady's. What have you to say agin the room? Maybe you're +used to worse. There now, that's what you got for that. I'm laving the +place next week, but that's no rayson----” + +Here he went off, _diminuendo_, again, with a few flying imprecations +upon several things and persons unknown. + +Mr. Delany now dived for a few seconds into a small pantry at the end of +the room, from which he emerged with a tray between his hands, and two +decanters under his arms. + +“Draw the little table this way,” he cried, “more towards the fire, for, +av coorse, you're fresh and fastin'; there now, take the sherry from +under my arm--the other's port: that was a ham, till Captain Mills cut +it away, as ye see--there's a veal pie, and here's a cold grouse--and, +maybe, you've eat worse before now--and will again, plaze God.” + +I assured him of the truth of his observation in a most conciliating +tone. + +“Oh, the devil fear ye,” was the reply, while he murmured somewhat +lower, “the half of yees isn't used to meat twice in the week.” + +“Capital fare this, Mr. Delany,” said I, as, half famished with long +fasting, I helped myself a second time. + +“You're eating as if you liked it,” said he, with a shrug of his +shoulders. + +“Upon my word,” said I, after throwing down a bumper of sherry, “that's +a very pleasant glass of wine; and, on the whole, I should say, there +are worse places than this in the world.” + +A look of unutterable contempt--whether at me for my discovery, or at +the opinion itself, I can't say--was the sole reply of my friend; who, +at the same moment, presuming I had sufficient opportunities for +the judgment I pronounced, replaced the decanters upon the tray, and +disappeared with the whole in the most grave and solemn manner. + +Repressing a very great inclination to laughter, I sat still; and a +silence of a few moments ensued, when Mr. Delany walked towards the +window, and, drawing aside the curtains, looked out. All was in darkness +save on the opposite side of the court-yard, where a blaze of light fell +upon the pavement from over the half shutters of an apparently spacious +apartment. “Ay, ay, there you go; hip, hip, hurrah! you waste more +liquor every night than would float a lighter; that's all you're good +for. Bad luck to your Grace--making fun of the people, laughing and +singing as if the potatoes wasn't two shillings a stone.” + +“What's going on there?” said I. + +“The ould work, nather more nor less. The Lord-Liftinnant, and the +bishops, and the jidges, and all the privy councillors roaring drunk. +Listen to them. May I never, if it isn't the Dean's voice I hear--the +ould beast; he is singing 'The Night before Larry was stretched.'” + +“That's a good fellow, Corny--Mr. Delany I mean--do open the window for +a little, and let's hear them.” + +“It's a blessed night you'd have the window open to listen to a set of +drunken devils: but here's Master Phil; I know his step well It's long +before his father that's gone would come tearing up the stairs that way +as if the bailiffs was after him; rack and ruin, sorrow else, av I never +got a place--the haythins! the Turks!” + +Mr. Delany, who, probably from motives of delicacy, wished to spare his +master the pain of an interview, made his exit by one door as he came in +at the other. I had barely time to see that the person before me was in +every respect the very opposite of his follower, when he called out in a +rich, mellow voice, + +“All right again, I hope, Mr. Hinton; it's the first moment I could get +away; we had a dinner of the Privy Council, and some of them are rather +late sitters; you're not hurt, I trust?” + +“A little bruised or so, nothing more; but pray, how did I fall into +such kind hands?” + +“Oh! the watchmen, it seems, could read, and, as your trunks were +addressed to the Castle, they concluded you ought to go there also. You +have despatches, haven't you?” + +“Yes,” said I, producing the packet; “when must they be delivered?” + +“Oh, at once. Do you think you could make a little change in your dress, +and manage to come over? his Grace always likes it better; there's no +stiffness, no formality whatever; most of the dinner-party have gone +home; there are only a few of the government people, the Duke's friends, +remaining, and, besides, he's always kind and good-natured.” + +“I'll see what I can do,” replied I, as I rose from the sofa; “I put +myself into your hands altogether.” + +“Well, come along,” said he; “you'll find everything ready in this +room. I hope that old villain has left hot water. Corny! Corny, I say! +Confound him, he's gone to bed, I suppose.” + +Having no particular desire for Mr. Delany's attentions, I prevailed on +his master not to disturb him, and proceeded to make my toilette as well +as I was able. + +“Didn't that stupid scoundrel come near you at all?” cried O'Grady. + +“Oh yes, we have had a long interview; but, somehow, I fear I did not +succeed in gaining his good graces.” + +“The worst-tempered old villain in Europe.” + +“Somewhat of a character, I take it.” + +“A crab-tree planted in a lime-kiln, cranky and cross-grained; but he +is a legacy, almost the only one my father left me. I've done my best to +part with him every day for the last twelve years, but he sticks to me +like a poor relation, giving me warning every night of his life, and +every morning kicking up such a row in the house that every one is +persuaded I am beating him to a jelly before turning him out to starve +in the streets.” + +“Oh, the haythins! the Turks!” said I, slyly. + +“Confound it!” cried he, “the old devil has been opening upon you +already; and Jet, with all that, I don't know how I should get on +without Corny; his gibes, his jeers, his everlasting ill-temper, his +crankiness that never sleeps, seem to agree with me: the fact is, one +enjoys the world from all its contrasts. The olive is a poor thing in +itself, but it certainly improves the smack of your Burgundy. In this +way Corny Delany does me good service. Come, by Jove, you have not been +long dressing. This way: now follow' me.” So saying, Captain O'Grady +led the way down the stairs to the colonnade, following which to the +opposite side of the quadrangle we arrived at a brilliantly lighted +hall, where several servants in full-dress liveries were in waiting. +Passing hastily through this, we mounted a handsome staircase, and, +traversing several ante-chambers, at length arrived at one whose +contiguity to the dinner-room I could guess at from the loud sound of +many voices. “Wait one moment here,” said my companion, “until I speak +to his Grace.” He disappeared as he spoke, but before a minute had +elapsed he was again beside me. “Come this way; it's all right,” said +he. The next moment I found myself in the dinner-room. + +The scene before me was altogether so different from what I had +expected, that for a moment or two I could scarce do aught else than +stand still to survey it. At a table which had been laid for about forty +persons, scarcely more than a dozen were now present. Collected together +at one end of the board, the whole party were roaring with laughter at +some story of a strange, melancholy-looking man, whose whining +voice added indescribable ridicule to the drollery of his narrative. +Grey-headed general officers, grave-looking divines, lynx-eyed lawyers, +had all given way under the irresistible impulse, and the very table +shook with laughter. + +“Mr. Hinton, your Excellency,” said O'Grady for the third time, while +the Duke wiped his eye with his napkin, and, pushing his chair a little +back from the table, motioned me to approach. + +“Ah, Hinton, glad to see you; how is your father?--a very old friend of +mine, indeed; and Lady Charlotte--well, I hope? O'Grady tells me +you've had an accident--something slight, I trust. So these are the +despatches.” Here he broke the seal of the envelope, and ran his eye +over the contents. “There, that's your concern.” So saying, he pitched +a letter across the table to a shrewd-looking personage in a horse-shoe +wig. “They won't do it, Dean, and we must wait. Ah!--so they don't like +my new commissioners; but, Hinton, my boy, sit down. O'Grady, have you +room there? A glass of wine with you.” + +“Nothing the worse of your mishap, sir?” said the melancholy-looking man +who sat opposite to me. + +I replied by briefly relating my accident. + +“Strange enough,” said he, in a compassionate tone, “your head should +have suffered; your countrymen generally fall upon their legs in +Ireland.” This was said with a sly look at the Viceroy, who, deep in his +despatches, paid no attention to the allusion. + +“A very singular thing, I must confess,” said the Duke, laying down the +paper. “This is the fourth time the bearer of despatches has met with an +accident. If they don't run foul of a rock in the Channel, they are sure +to have a delay on the pier.” + +“It is so natural, my Lord,” said the gloomy man, “that the carriers +should stop at the Pigeon-house.” + +“Do be quiet, Curran,” cried the Duke, “and pass round the decanter. +They'll not take the duty off claret, it seems.” + +“And Day, my Lord, won't put the claret on duty; he has kept the wine +at his elbow for the last half-hour. Upon my soul, your Grace ought to +knight him.” + +“Not even his Excellency's habits,” said a sharp, clever-looking man, +“would excuse his converting Day into Knight.” + +Amid a shower of smart, caustic, and witty sayings, droll stories, +retort and repartee, the wine circulated freely from hand to hand; the +presence of the Duke adding fresh impulse to the sallies of fun and +merriment around him. Anecdotes of the army, the bench, and the bar, +poured in unceasingly, accompanied by running commentaries of the +hearers, who never let slip an opportunity for a jest or a rejoinder. +To me, the most singular feature of all this was, that no one seemed too +old or too dignified, too high in station, or too venerable from office, +to join in this headlong current of conviviality. Austere churchmen, +erudite chief-justices, profound politicians, privy councillors, +military officers of high rank and standing, were here all mixed up +together into one strange medley, apparently bent on throwing an air +of ridicule over the graver business of life, and laughing alike at +themselves and the world. Nothing was too grave for a jest, nothing too +solemn for a sarcasm. All the soldier's experience of men and manners, +all the lawyer's acuteness of perception and readiness of wit, all the +politician's practised tact and habitual subtlety, were brought to bear +upon the common topics of the day with such promptitude, and such power, +that one knew not whether to be more struck by the mass of information +they possessed, or by that strange fatality which could make men, so +great and so gifted, satisfied to jest where they might be called on to +judge. + +Play and politics, wine and women, debts and duels, were discussed, not +only with an absence of all restraint, but with a deep knowledge of the +world and a profound insight into the heart, which often imparted to the +careless and random speech the sharpness of the most cutting sarcasm. +Personalities, too, were rife; no one spared his neighbour, for he did +not expect mercy for himself; and the luckless wight who tripped in his +narrative, or stumbled in his story, was assailed on every side, until +some happy expedient of his own, or some new victim being discovered, +the attack would take another direction, and leave him once more at +liberty. I feel how sadly inadequate I am to render even the faintest +testimony to the talents of those, any one of whom, in after life, would +have been considered to have made the fortune of a dinner-party, and +who now were met together, not in the careless ease and lounging +indifference of relaxation, but in the open arena where wit met wit, and +where even the most brilliant talker, the happiest relater, the quickest +in sarcasm, and the readiest in reply, felt he had need of all his +weapons to defend and protect him. This was a _mêlée_ tournament, where +each man rode down his neighbour, with no other reason for attack than +detecting a rent in his armour. Even the Viceroy himself, who, as judge +of the lists, might be supposed to enjoy an immunity, was not safe here, +and many an arrow, apparently shot at an adversary, was sent quivering +into his corslet. + +As I watched, with all the intense excitement of one to whom such a +display was perfectly new, I could not help feeling how fortunate it +was that the grave avocations and the venerable pursuits of the greater +number of the party should prevent this firework of wit from bursting +into the blaze of open animosity. I hinted as much to my neighbour, +O'Grady, who at once broke into a fit of laughter at my ignorance; and +I now learnt to my amazement that the Common Pleas had winged the +Exchequer, that the Attorney-General had pinked the Bolls, and, stranger +than all, that the Provost of the University himself had planted his man +in the Phoenix. + +“It is just as well for us,” continued he, in a whisper, “that the +churchmen can't go out; for the Dean, yonder, can snuff a candle at +twenty paces, and is rather a hot-tempered fellow to boot. But come, +now, his Grace is about to rise. We have a field-day to-morrow in the +Park, and break up somewhat earlier in consequence.” + +As it was now near two o'clock, I could see nothing to cavil at as +to the earliness of the hour, although, I freely confess, tired and +exhausted as I felt, I could not contemplate the moment of separation +without a sad foreboding that I ne'er should look upon the like again. +The party rose at this moment, and the Duke, shaking hands cordially +with each person as he passed down, wished us all a good night. I +followed with O'Grady and some others of the household, but when I +reached the ante-chamber, mv new friend volunteered his services to see +me to my quarters. + +On traversing the lower castle-yard, we mounted an old-fashioned and +rickety stair, which conducted to a gloomy, ill-lighted corridor. I was +too much fatigued, however, to be critical at the moment, and so, having +thanked O'Grady for all his kindness, I threw off my clothes hastily, +and, before my head was well upon the pillow, was sound asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE BREAKFAST + +There are few persons so unreflective as not to give way to a little +self-examination on waking for the first time in a strange place. The +very objects about are so many appeals to your ingenuity or to your +memory, that you cannot fail asking yourself how you became acquainted +with them: the present is thus made the herald of the past, and it is +difficult, when unravelling the tangled web of doubt that assails you, +not to think over the path by which you have been travelling. + +As for me, scarcely were my eyes opened to the light, I had barely +thrown one glance around my cold and comfortless chamber, when thoughts +of home came rushing to my mind. The warm earnestness of my father, the +timid dreads of my poor mother, rose up before me, as I felt myself, for +the first time, alone in the world. The elevating sense of heroism, that +more or less blends with every young man's dreams of life, gilds our +first journey from our father's roof. There is a feeling of freedom in +being the arbiter of one's actions, to go where you will and when you +will. Till that moment the world has been a comparative blank; the +trammels of school or the ties of tutorship have bound and +restrained you. You have been living, as it were, within the rules +of court--certain petty privileges permitted, certain small liberties +allowed; but now you come forth disenchanted, disenthralled, +emancipated, free to come as to go--a man in all the plenitude of his +volition; and, better still, a man without the heavy, depressing weight +of responsibility that makes manhood less a blessing than a burden. The +first burst of life is indeed a glorious thing; youth, health, hope, and +confidence have each a force and vigour they lose in after years: +life is then a splendid river, and we are swimming with the stream--no +adverse waves to weary, no billows to buffet us, we hold on our course +rejoicing. + +The sun was peering between the curtains of my window, and playing +in fitful flashes on the old oak floor, as I lay thus ruminating and +dreaming over the fature. How many a resolve did I then make for my +guidance--how many an intention did I form--how many a groundwork of +principle did I lay down, with all the confidence of youth! I fashioned +to myself a world after my own notions; in which I conjured up certain +imaginary difficulties, all of which were surmounted by my admirable +tact and consummate cleverness. I remembered how, at both Eton and +Sandhurst, the Irish boy was generally made the subject of some jest +or quiz, at one time for his accent, at another for his blunders. As +a Guardsman, short as had been my experience of the service, I could +plainly see that a certain indefinable tone of superiority was ever +asserted towards our friends across the sea. A wide-sweeping prejudice, +whose limits were neither founded in reason, justice, or common sense, +had thrown a certain air of undervaluing import over every one and +every thing from that country. Not only were its faults and its follies +heavily visited, but those accidental and trifling blemishes--those +slight and scarce perceptible deviations from the arbitrary standard +of fashion--were deemed the strong characteristics of the nation, and +condemned accordingly; while the slightest use of any exaggeration in +speech--the commonest employment of a figure or a metaphor--the casual +introduction of an anecdote or a repartee, were all heavily censured, +and pronounced “so very Irish!” Let some fortune-hunter carry off an +heiress--let a lady trip over her train at the drawing-room--let a +minister blunder in his mission--let a powder-magazine explode and blow +up one-half of the surrounding population, there was but one expression +to qualify all--“How Irish! how very Irish!” The adjective had become +one of depreciation; and an Irish lord, an Irish member, an Irish +estate, and an Irish diamond, were held pretty much in the same +estimation. + +Reared in the very hot-bed, the forcing-house, of such exaggerated +prejudice, while imbibing a very sufficient contempt for everything in +that country, I obtained proportionably absurd notions of all that +was Irish. Our principles may come from our fathers; our prejudices +certainly descend from the female branch. Now, my mother, +notwithstanding the example of the Prince Regent himself, whose chosen +associates were Irish, was most thoroughly exclusive on this point. She +would admit that a native of that country could be invited to an evening +party under extreme and urgent circumstances--that some brilliant +orator, whose eloquence was at once the dread and the delight of the +House--that some gifted poet, whose verses came home to the heart +alike of prince and peasant--that the painter, whose canvas might +stand unblushingly amid the greatest triumphs of art--could be asked to +lionise for those cold and callous votaries of fashion, across the lake +of whose stagnant nature no breath of feeling stirred, esteeming it the +while, that in her card of invitation he was reaping the proudest proof +of his success; but that such could be made acquaintances or companions, +could be regarded in the light of equals or intimates, the thing +never entered into her imagination, and she would as soon have made a +confidant of the King of Kongo as a gentleman from Connaught. + +Less for the purposes of dwelling upon my lady-mother's “Hibernian +horrors,” than of showing the school in which I was trained, I have made +this somewhat lengthened _exposé_. It may, however, convey to my reader +some faint impression of the feelings which animated me at the outset of +my career in Ireland. + +I have already mentioned the delight I experienced with the society +at the Viceroy's table. So much brilliancy, so much wit, so much of +conversational power, until that moment I had no conception of. Now, +however, while reflecting on it, I was actually astonished to find how +far the whole scene contributed to the support of my ancient prejudices. +I well knew that a party of the highest functionaries--bishops and +law-officers of the crown--would not have conducted themselves in the +same manner in England. I stopped not to inquire whether it was more the +wit or the will that was wanting; I did not dwell upon the fact that +the meeting was a purely convivial one, to which I was admitted by the +kindness and condescension of the Duke; but, so easily will a warped +and bigoted impression find food for its indulgence, I only saw in +the meeting an additional evidence of my early convictions. How far my +theorising on this point might have led me--whether eventually I should +have come to the conclusion that the Irish nation were lying in the +darkest blindness of barbarism, while, by a special intervention +of Providence, I, was about to be erected into a species of double +revolving light--it is difficult to say, when a tap at the door suddenly +aroused me from my musings. + +“Are ye awake, yet?” said a harsh, husky voice, like a bear in +bronchitis, which I had no difficulty in pronouncing to be Corny's. + +“Yes, come in,” cried I; “what hour is it?” + +“Somewhere after ten,” replied he, sulkily; “you're the first I ever +heerd ask the clock, in the eight years I have lived here. Are ye ready +for your morning?” + +“My what?” said I, with some surprise. + +“Didn't I say it, plain enough? Is it the brogue that bothers you?” + +As he said this with a most sarcastic grin he poured, from a large jug +he held in one hand, a brimming goblet full of some white compound, +and handed it over to me. Preferring at once to explore, rather than to +question the intractable Corny, I put it to my lips, and found it to be +capital milk punch, concocted with great skill, and seasoned with what +O'Grady afterwards called “a notion of nutmeg.” + +“Oh! devil fear you, that he'll like it. Sorrow one of you ever left as +much in the jug as 'ud make a foot-bath for a flea.” + +“They don't treat you over well, then, Corny,” said I, purposely opening +the sorest wound of his nature. + +“Trate me well! faix, them that 'ud come here for good tratement, would +go to the devil for divarsion. There's Master Phil himself, that I used +to bate, when he was a child, many's the time, when his father, rest his +sowl, was up at the coorts--ay, strapped him, till he hadn't a spot that +wasn't sore an him--and look at him now; oh, wirra! you'd think I never +took a ha'porth of pains with him. Ugh!--the haythins!--the Turks!” + +“This is all very bad, Corny; hand me those boots.” + +“And thim's boots!” said he, with a contemptuous expression on his face +that would have struck horror to the heart of Hoby. “Well, well.” Here +he looked up as though the profligacy and degeneracy of the age were +transgressing all bounds. “When you're ready, come over to the master's, +for he's waiting breakfast for you. A beautiful hour for breakfast, it +is! Many's the day his father sintenced a whole dockful before the same +time!” + +With the comforting reflection that the world went better in his youth, +Corny drained the few remaining drops of the jug, and, muttering the +while something that did not sound exactly like a blessing, waddled out +of the room with a gait of the most imposing gravity. + +I had very little difficulty in finding my friend's quarters; for, as +his door lay open, and as he himself was carolling away, at the very top +of his lungs, some popular melody of the day, I speedily found myself +beyond the threshold. + +“Ah! Hinton, my hearty, how goes it? your headpiece nothing the worse, +I hope, for either the car or the claret? By-the-by, capital claret that +is! you've nothing like it in England.” + +I could scarce help a smile at the remark, as he proceeded, + +“But come, my boy, sit down; help yourself to a cutlet, and make +yourself quite at home in Mount O'Grady.” + +“Mount O'Grady!” repeated I. “Ha! in allusion, I suppose, to these +confounded two flights one has to climb up to you.” + +“Nothing of the kind; the name has a very different origin. Tea or +coffee? there's the tap! Now, my boy, the fact is, we O'Gradys were once +upon a time very great folk in our way; lived in an uncouth old barrack, +with battlements and a keep, upon the Shannon, where we ravaged the +country for miles round, and did as much mischief, and committed as much +pillage upon the peaceable inhabitants, as any respectable old family +in the province. Time, however, wagged on; luck changed; your countrymen +came pouring in upon us with new-fangled notions of reading, writing, +and road-making; police and petty sessions, and a thousand other +vexatious contrivances followed, to worry and puzzle the heads of simple +country gentlemen; so that, at last, instead of taking to the hill-side +for our mutton, we were reduced to keep a market-cart, and employ a +thieving rogue in Dublin to supply us with poor claret, instead of +making a trip over to Galway, where a smuggling craft brought us our +liquor, with a bouquet fresh from Bordeaux. But the worst wasn't come; +for you see, a litigious spirit grew up in the country, and a kind +of vindictive habit of pursuing you for your debts. Now, we always +contrived, somehow or other, to have rather a confused way of managing +our exchequer. No tenant on the property ever precisely knew what he +owed; and, as we possessed no record of what he paid, our income was +rather obtained after the maimer of levying a tribute, than receiving a +legal debt. Meanwhile, we pushed our credit like a new colony: whenever +a loan was to be, obtained, it was little we cared for ten, twelve, or +even fifteen per cent.; and as we kept a jolly house, a good cook, good +claret, and had the best pack of beagles in the country, he'd have been +a hardy creditor who'd have ventured to push us to extremities. Even +sheep, however, they say, get courage when they flock together, and so +this contemptible herd of tailors, tithe-proctors, butchers, barristers, +and bootmakers, took heart of grace, and laid siege to us in all form. +My grandfather, Phil,--for I was called after him,--who always spent his +money like a gentleman, had no notion of figuring in the Four Courts; +but he sent Tom Darcy, his cousin, up to town, to call out as many of +the plaintiffs as would fight, and to threaten the remainder that, if +they did not withdraw their suits, they'd have more need of the surgeon +than the attorney-general; for they shouldn't have a whole bone in their +body by Michaelmas-day. Another cutlet, Hinton? But I am tiring you with +all these family matters.” + +“Not at all; go on, I beg of you. I want to hear how your grandfather +got out of his difficulties.” + +“Faith, I wish you could! it would be equally pleasant news to myself; +but, unfortunately, his beautiful plan only made bad worse, for they +began fresh actions. Some, for provocation to fight a duel; others, +for threats of assault and battery; and the short of it was, as my +grandfather wouldn't enter a defence, they obtained their verdicts, and +got judgment, with all the costs.” + +“The devil they did! That must have pushed him hard.” + +“So it did; indeed it got the better of his temper, and he that was +one of the heartiest, pleasantest fellows in the province, became, in +a manner, morose and silent; and, instead of surrendering possession, +peaceably and quietly, he went down to the gate, and took a sitting shot +at the sub-sheriff, who was there in a tax-cart.” + +“Bless my soul! Did he kill him?” + +“No; he only ruffled his feathers, and broke his thigh; but it was bad +enough, for he had to go over to France till it blew over. Well, it was +either vexation or the climate, or, maybe, the weak wines, or, perhaps, +all three, undermined his constitution, but he died at eighty-four--the +only one of the family ever cut off early, except such as were shot, or +the like.” + +“Well, but your father--” + +“I am coming to him. My grandfather sent for him from school when he +was dying, and he made him swear he would be a lawyer. 'Morris will be a +thorn in their flesh, yet,' said he; 'and look to it, my boy,' he cried, +'I leave you a Chancery suit that has nearly broke eight families and +the hearts of two chancellors;--see that you keep it goings--sell +every stick on the estate--put all the beggars in the barony on the +property--beg, borrow, and steal them--plough up all the grazing-land; +and I'll tell you a better trick than all----' Here a fit of coughing +interrupted the pious old gentleman, and, when it was over, so was he!” + +“Dead!” said I. + +“As a door-nail! Well, my father was dutiful; he kept the suit moving +till he got called to the Bar! Once there, he gave it all his spare +moments; and when there was nothing doing in the Common Pleas or King's +Bench, he was sure to come down with a new bill, or a declaration, +before the Master, or a writ of error, or a point of law for a jury, +till at last, when no case was ready to come on, the sitting judge would +call out, 'Let us hear O'Grady/ in appeal, or in error, or whatever it +was. But, to make my story short, my father became a first-rate lawyer, +by the practice of his own suit--rose to a silk-gown--was made solicitor +and attorney-general--afterwards, chief-justice----” + +“And the suit?” + +“Oh! the suit survived him, and became my property; but, somehow, I +didn't succeed in the management quite as well as my father; and I found +that my estate cost me somewhere about fifteen hundred a year--not to +mention more oaths than fifty years of purgatory could pay off. This was +a high premium to pay for figuring every term on the list of trials, so +I raised a thousand pounds on my commission, gave it to Nick M'Namara, +to take the property off my hands, and as my father's last injunction +was, 'Never rest till you sleep in Mount O'Grady,'--why, I just baptised +my present abode by that name, and here I live with the easy conscience +of a dutiful and affectionate child that took the shortest and speediest +way of fulfilling his father's testament.” + +“By Jove! a most singular narrative. I shouldn't like to have parted +with the old place, however.” + +“Faith, I don't know! I never was much there. It was a rackety, +tumble-down old concern, with rattling windows, rooks, and rats, pretty +much like this; and, what between my duns and Corny Delany, I very often +think I am back there again. There wasn't as good a room as this in the +whole house, not to speak of the pictures. Isn't that likeness of Darcy +capital? You saw him last night. He sat next Curran. Come, I've no +curaçoa to offer you, but try this usquebaugh.” + +“By-the-by, that Corny is a strange character. I rather think, if I were +you, I should have let him go with the property.” + +“Let him go! Egad, that's not so easy as you think. Nothing but death +will ever part us.” + +“I really cannot comprehend how you endure him; he'd drive me mad.” + +“Well, he very often pushes me a little hard or so; and, if it wasn't +that, by deep study and minute attention, I have at length got some +insight into the weak parts of his nature, I frankly confess I couldn't +endure it much longer.” + +“And, pray, what may these amiable traits be?” + +“You will scarcely guess” + +“Love of money, perhaps?” + +“No.” + +“Attachment to your family, then?” + +“Not that either.” + +“I give it up.” + +“Well, the truth is, Corny is a most pious Catholic. The Church has +unbounded influence and control over all his actions. Secondly, he is a +devout believer in ghosts, particularly my grandfather's, which, I must +confess, I have personated two or three times myself, when his temper +had nearly tortured me into a brain fever; so that between purgatory and +apparitions, fears here and hereafter, I keep him pretty busy. There's a +friend of mine, a priest, one Father Tom Loftus----” + +“I've heard that name before, somewhere.” + +“Scarcely, I think; I'm not aware that he was ever in England; but he's +a glorious fellow; I'll make you known to him, one of these days; and +when you have seen a little more of Ireland, I am certain you'll like +him. But I'm forgetting; it must be late; we have a field-day, you know, +in the Park.” + +“What am I to do for a mount? I've brought no horses with me.” + +“Oh, I've arranged all that. See, there are the nags already. That dark +chesnut I destine for you; and, come along, we have no time to lose; +there go the carriages, and here comes our worthy colleague and fellow +aide-de-camp. Do you know him?” + +“Who is it, pray?” + +“Lord Dudley de Vere, the most confounded puppy, and the emptiest ass-- +But here he is.” + +“De Vere, my friend Mr. Hinton--one of ours.” + +His Lordship raised his delicate-looking eyebrows as high as he was +able, letting fall his glass at the same moment from the corner of his +eye; and while he adjusted his stock at the glass, lisped out, + +“Ah--yes--very happy. In the Guards, I think. Know Douglas, don't you?” + +“Yes, very slightly.” + +“When did you come--to-day?” + +“No; last night.” + +“Must have got a buffeting; blew very fresh. You don't happen to know +the odds on the Oaks?” + +“Hecate, they say, is falling. I rather heard a good account of the +mare.” + +“Indeed,” said he, while his cold, inanimate features brightened up with +a momentary flush of excitement. “Take you five to two, or give you the +odds, you don't name the winner on the double event.” + +A look from O'Grady decided me at once on declining the proffered +wager; and his Lordship once more returned to the mirror and his +self-admiration. + +“I say, O'Grady, do come here for a minute. What the deuce can that be?” + +[Illustration: 2-0074] + +Here an immoderate fit of laughter from his Lordship brought us both to +the window. The figure to which his attention was directed was certainly +not a little remarkable. Mounted upon an animal of the smallest possible +dimensions, sat, or rather stood, the figure of a tall, gaunt, raw-boned +looking man, in a livery of the gaudiest blue and yellow, his hat +garnished with silver lace, while long tags of the same material were +festooned gracefully from his shoulder to his breast; his feet +nearly touched the ground, and gave him rather the appearance of one +progressing with a pony between his legs, than of a figure on horseback; +he carried under one arm a leather pocket, like a despatch bag; and, as +he sauntered slowly about, with his eyes directed hither and thither, +seemed like some one in search of an unknown locality. + +The roar of laughter which issued from our window drew his attention +to that quarter, and he immediately touched his hat, while a look of +pleased recognition played across his countenance. “Holloa, Tim!” cried +O'Grady, “what's in the wind now?” + +Tim's answer was inaudible, but inserting his hand into the leathern +con-veniency already mentioned, he drew forth a card of most portentous +dimensions. By this time Corny's voice could be heard joining the +conversation. + +“Arrah, give it here, and don't be making a baste of yourself. Isn't +the very battle-axe Guards laughing at you? I'm sure I wonder how a +Christian would make a merry-andrew of himself by wearing such clothes; +you're more like a play-actor nor a respectable servant.” + +With these words he snatched rather than accepted the proffered card; +and Tim, with another flourish of his hat, and a singularly droll grin, +meant to convey his appreciation of Cross Corny, plunged the spurs till +his legs met under the belly of the little animal, and cantered out of +the court-yard amid the laughter of the bystanders, in which even the +sentinels on duty could not refrain from participating. + +“What the devil can it be?” cried Lord Dudley; “he evidently knows you, +O'Grady.” + +“And you, too, my Lord; his master has helped you to a cool hundred or +two more than once before now.” + +“Eh--what--you don't say so! Not our worthy friend Paul--eh? Why, +confound it, I never should have known Timothy in that dress.” + +“No,” said O'Grady, slyly; “I acknowledge it is not exactly his costume +when he serves a latitat.” + +“Ha, ha!” cried the other, trying to laugh at the joke, which he felt +too deeply; “I thought I knew the pony, though. Old three-and-fourpence; +his infernal canter always sounds in my ears like the jargon of a bill +of costs.” + +“Here comes Corny,” said O'Grady. “What have you got there?” + +“There, 'tis for you,” replied he, throwing, with an air of the most +profound disdain, a large card upon the table; while, as he left the +room, he muttered some very sagacious reflections about the horrors +of low company--his father the Jidge--the best in the land--riotous, +disorderly life; the whole concluding with an imprecation upon heathens +and Turks, with which he managed to accomplish his exit. + +“Capital, by Jove!” said Lord Dudley, as he surveyed the card with his +glass. + +“'Mr. and Mrs. Paul Rooney presents'--the devil they does--'presents +their compliments, and requests the honour of Captain O'Grady's company +at dinner on Friday, the 8th, at half-past seven o'clock.'” + +“How good! glorious, by Jove! eh, O'Grady? You are a sure ticket +there--_l'ami de la maison!_” + +O'Grady's cheek became red at these words; and a flashing expression in +his eyes told how deeply he felt them. He turned sharply round, his lip +quivering with passion; then, checking himself suddenly, he burst into +an affected laugh, + +“You'll go too, wont you?” + +“I? No, faith, they caught me once; but then the fact was, a protest and +an invitation were both served on me together. I couldn't accept one, so +I did the other.” + +“Well, I must confess,” said O'Grady, in a firm, resolute tone, “there +may be many more fashionable people than our friends; but I, for one, +scruple not to say I have received many kindnesses from them, and am +deeply, sincerely grateful.” + +“As far as doing a bit of paper now and then, when one is hard up,” said +Lord Dudley, “why, perhaps, I'm somewhat of your mind; but if one must +take the discount out in dinners, it's an infernal bore.” + +“And yet,” said O'Grady, maliciously, “I've seen your Lordship tax your +powers to play the agreeable at these same dinners; and I think your +memory betrays you in supposing you have only been there once. I myself +have met you at least four times.” + +“Only shows how devilish hard up I must have been,” was the cool reply; +“but now, as the governor begins to behave better, I think I'll cut +Paul.” + +“I'm certain you will,” said O'Grady, with an emphasis that could not be +mistaken. “But come, Hinton, we had better be moving; there's some stir +at the portico yonder, I suppose they're coming.” + +At this moment the tramp of cavalry announced the arrival of the guard +of honour; the drums beat, the troops stood to arms, and we had barely +time to mount our horses, when the viceregal party took their places in +the carriages, and we all set out for the Phoenix. + +“Confess, Hinton, it is worth while being a soldier to be in Ireland.” + This was O'Grady's observation as we rode down Parliament-street, beside +the carriage of the Viceroy. It was the first occasion of a field-day +since the arrival of his Excellency, and all Dublin was on the tiptoe of +expectation at the prospect. Handkerchiefs were waved from the windows; +streamers and banners floated from the house-tops; patriotic devices and +allegoric representations of Erin sitting at a plentiful board, opposite +an elderly gentleman with a ducal coronet, met us at every turn of the +way. The streets were literally crammed with people. The band played +Patrick's-day; the mob shouted, his Grace bowed; and down to Phil +O'Grady himself, who winked at the pretty girls as he passed, there did +not seem an unoccupied man in the whole procession. On we went, +following the line of the quays, threading our way through a +bare-legged, ragged population, bawling themselves hoarse with energetic +desires for prosperity to Ireland. “Yes,” thought I, as I looked upon +the worn, dilapidated houses, the faded and bygone equipages, the +tarnished finery of better days--“yes, my father was right, these people +are very different from their neighbours; their very prosperity has an +air quite peculiar to itself.” Everything attested a state of poverty, a +lack of trade, a want of comfort and of cleanliness; but still there was +but one expression prevalent in the mass--that of unbounded good humour +and gaiety. With a philosophy quite his own, poor Paddy seemed to feel a +reflected pleasure from the supposed happiness of those around him, the +fine clothes, the gorgeous equipages, the prancing chargers, the flowing +plumes--all, in fact, that forms the appliances of wealth--constituting +in his mind a kind of paradise on earth. He thought their possessors at +least ought to be happy, and, like a good-hearted fellow, he was glad of +it for their sakes. + +There had been in the early part of the day an abortive effort at a +procession. The Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, in their state liveries, +had gone forth with a proud following of their fellow-citizens; but a +manouvre, which hitherto has been supposed exclusively the province +of the navy, was here employed with unbounded success; and the hackney +coachmen, by “cutting the line” in several places, had completely +disorganised the procession, which now presented the singular spectacle +of an aldermanic functionary with emblazoned panels and bedizened +horses, followed by a string of rackety jaunting-cars, or a noddy with +its fourteen insides. Horsemen there were, too, in abundance. Were I to +judge from the spectacle before me, I should say that the Irish were +the most equestrian people of the globe; and at what a pace they went! +Caring little or nothing for the foot-passengers, they only drew rein +when their blown steeds were unable to go further, and then dashed +onwards like a charge, amid a shower of oaths, curses, and imprecations, +half drowned in the laughter that burst on every side. Deputations there +were also from various branches of trade, entreating their Graces to +wear and to patronise the manufacture of the country, and to conform +in many respects to its habits and customs: by all of which, in my then +ignorance, I could only understand the vehement desire of the population +that the viceregal court should go about in a state of nature, and limit +their diet to poteen and potatoes. + +“Fine sight this, Hinton! Isn't it cheering?” said O'Grady, as his eye +beamed with pleasure and delight. + +“Why, yes,” said I, hesitatingly; “but don't you think if they wore +shoes----” + +“Shoes!” repeated he, contemptuously, “they'd never suffer such +restrictions on their liberties. Look at them! they are the fellows to +make soldiers of! The only fear of half-rations with them would be the +risk of indigestion.” + +On we went, a strange and motley mass, the only grave faces being a few +of those who sat in gilded coaches, with embroidered hammercloths, while +every half-naked figure that flitted past had a countenance of reckless +jollity and fun. But the same discrepancy that pervaded the people and +the procession was visible even in their dwellings, and the meanest +hovels stood side by side with the public and private edifices of +elegance and beauty. + +“This, certainly,” thought I, “is a strange land.” A reflection I had +reason to recur to more than once in my after experience of Ireland. + + + + +CHAPTER V. THE REVIEW IN THE PHOENIX + +Winding along the quays, we crossed an old and dilapidated bridge; and +after traversing some narrow and ruinous-looking streets, we entered the +Park, and at length reached the Fifteen Acres. + +The carriages were drawn up in a line; his Grace's led horses were +ordered up, and staff-officers galloped right and left to announce the +orders for the troops to stand to arms. + +As the Duke descended from his carriage he caught my eye, and turning +suddenly towards the Duchess, said, “Let me present Mr. Hinton to your +Grace.” + +While I was making my bows and acknowledgments, his Grace put his hand +upon my arm. + +“You know Lady Killimore, Hinton? Never mind, it's of no consequence. +You see her carriage yonder--they have made some blunder in the road, +and the dragoons, it seems, wont let them pass. Just canter down and +rescue them.” + +“Do, pray, Mr. Hinton,” added the Duchess. “Poor Lady Killimore is so +very nervous she'll be terrified to death if they make any fuss. Her +carriage can come up quite close; there is plenty of room.” + +“Now, do it well,” whispered O'Grady: “there is a pretty girl in the +case; it's your first mission; acquit yourself with credit.” + +An infernal brass band playing “Rule Britannia” within ten paces of +me, the buzz of voices, the crowd, the novelty of the situation, the +excitement of the moment, all conspired to addle and confuse me; so that +when I put spurs to my horse and struck out into a gallop, I had no very +precise idea of what I was to do, and not the slightest upon earth of +where I was to do it. + +A pretty girl in a carriage beset by dragoons was to be looked for--Lady +Kil--somebody's equipage---- “Oh! I have it; there they are,” said I, as +a yellow barouche, with four steaming posters, caught my eye in a far part +of the field. From the number of dragoons that surrounded the +carriage, no less than their violent gestures, I could perceive that an +altercation had taken place; pressing my horse to the top of his speed, +I flew across the plain, and arrived flushed, heated, and breathless +beside the carriage. + +A large and strikingly handsome woman in a bonnet and plumes of the +most gaudy and showy character, was standing upon the front seat, and +carrying on an active, and, as it seemed, acrimonious controversy with +the sergeant of the horse police. + +“You must go back--can't help it, ma'am--nothing but the members of the +household can pass this way.” + +“Oh dear! where's Captain O'Grady?--sure it's not possible I could be +treated this way. Paul, take that man's name, and mind you have him +dismissed in the morning. Where are you, Paul? Ah! he's gone. It is the +way with him always; and there you sit, Bob Dwyer, and you are no more +good than a stick of sealing-wax!” Here a suppressed titter of laughter +from the back of the carriage induced me to turn my eyes in that +direction, and I beheld one of the most beautiful girls I ever looked +at, holding her handkerchief to her month to conceal her laughter. Her +dark eyes flashed, and her features sparkled, while a blush, at being so +discovered, if possible, added to her beauty. + +“All right,” said I to myself, as taking off my hat I bowed to the very +mane of my horse. + +“If your Ladyship will kindly permit me,” said I, “his Grace has sent me +to show you the way.” + +The dragoons fell back as I spoke; the horse police looked awfully +frightened; while the lady whose late eloquence manifested little of +fear or trepidation, threw herself back in the carriage, and, covering +her face with a handkerchief, sobbed violently. + +“Ah, the Duchess said she was nervous. Poor Lady Kil----” + +“Speak to me, Louisa dear. Who is it? Is it Mr. Wellesley Pole? Is +it----” + +I did not wait for a further supposition, but in a most insinuating +voice, added, + +“Mr. Hinton, my lady, extra aide-de-camp on his Excellency's staff. The +Duchess feared you would be nervous, and hopes you'll get as close to +her as possible.” + +“Where's Paul?” said the lady, once more recovering her animation. “If +this is a hoax, young gentleman----” + +“Madam,” said I, bowing stiffly, “I am really at a loss to understand +your meaning.” + +“Oh, forgive me, Mr. Hilton.” + +“Hinton, my Lady.” + +“Yes, Hinton,” said she. “I am a beast to mistrust you, and you so young +and so artless; the sweetest blue eyes I ever looked at.” + +This was said in a whisper to her young friend, whose mirth now +threatened to burst forth. + +“And was it really his Royal Highness that sent you?” + +“His Grace, my lady, I assure you, despatched me to your aid. He saw +your carriage through his glass, and, guessing what had occurred, +directed me to ride over and accompany your Ladyship to the viceregal +stand.” + +Poor Lady Kil----'s nervousness again seized her, and, with a faint cry +for the ever-absent Paul, she went off into rather smart hysterics. +During this paroxysm I could not help feeling somewhat annoyed at the +young lady's conduct, who, instead of evincing the slightest sympathy +for her mother, held her head down, and seemed to shake with laughter. +By this time, however, the postilions were again under way, and, after +ten minutes' sharp trotting, we entered the grand stand, with whips +cracking, ribbons fluttering, and I myself caracoling beside the +carriage with an air of triumphant success. + +A large dusky travelling carriage had meanwhile occupied the place the +Duchess designed for her friend. The only thing to do, therefore, was, +to place them as conveniently as I could, and hasten back to inform her +Grace of the success of my mission. As I approached her carriage I was +saluted by a burst of laughter from the staff, in which the Duke himself +joined most extravagantly; while O'Grady, with his hands on his sides, +threatened to fall from the saddle. + +“What the deuce is the matter?” thought I; “I didn't bungle it?” + +“Tell her Grace,” said the Duke, with his hand upon his mouth, unable to +finish the sentence with laughter. + +I saw something was wrong, and that I was in some infernal scrape, +still, resolved to go through with it, I drew near, and said, + +“I am happy to inform your Grace that Lady Kil----” + +“Is here,” said the Duchess, bowing haughtily, as she turned towards a +spiteful-looking dowager beside her. + +Here was a mess! So, bowing and backing, I dropped through the crowd to +where my companions still stood convulsed with merriment. + +“What, in the devil's name, is it?” said I to O'Grady “Whom have I been +escorting this half-hour?” + +“You've immortalised yourself,” said O'Grady, with a roar of laughter. +“Your bill at twelve months for five hundred pounds is as good this +moment as bank paper.” + +“What is it?” said I, losing all patience. “Who is she?” + +“Mrs. Paul Rooney, my boy, the gem of attorneys' wives, the glory of +Stephen's-green, with a villa at Bray, a box at the theatre, champagne +suppers every night in the week, dinners promiscuously, and lunch _à +discrétion_: there's glory for you. You may laugh at a latitat, sneer at +the King's Bench, and snap your fingers at any process-server from here +to Kilmainham!” + +“May the devil fly away with her!” said I, wiping my forehead with +passion and excitement. + +“The Heavens forbid!” said O'Grady, piously. “Our exchequer may be +guilty of many an extravagance, but it could not permit such a flight as +that. It is evident, Hinton, that you did not see the pretty girl beside +her in the carriage.” + +“Yes, yes, I saw her,” said I, biting my lip with impatience, “and she +seemed evidently enjoying the infernal blunder I was committing. And +Mrs. Paul--oh, confound her! I can never endure the sight of her again!” + +“My dear young friend,” replied O'Grady, with an affected seriousness, +“I see that already the prejudices of your very silly countrymen have +worked their effect upon you. Had not Lord Dudley de Vere given you such +a picture of the Rooney family, you would probably be much more lenient +in your judgment: besides, after all, the error was yours, not hers. You +told her that the Duke had sent you; you told her the Duchess wished her +carriage beside her own.” + +“You take a singular mode,” said I, pettishly, “to bring a man back to +a good temper, by showing him that he has no one to blame for his +misfortunes but himself. Confound them! look how they are all laughing +about us. Indeed, from the little I've seen, it is the only thing they +appear to do in this country.” + +At a signal from the Duke, O'Grady put spurs to his horse and cantered +down the line, leaving me to such reflections as I could form, beneath +the gaze of some forty persons, who could not turn to look without +laughing at me. + +“This is pleasant,” thought I; “this is really a happy _début_: that I, +whose unimpeachable accuracy of manner and address should have won for +me, at the Prince's levee, the approbation of the first gentleman of +Europe, should here, among these semi-civilised savages, become an +object of ridicule and laughter. My father told me they were very +different; and my mother------” I had not patience to think of the +frightful effects my absurd situation might produce upon her nerves. +“Lady Julia, too--ah! there's the rub--my beautiful cousin, who, in the +slightest solecism of London manners, could find matter for sarcasm and +raillery. What would she think of me now? And this it is they persuaded +me to prefer to active service! What wound to a man's flesh could equal +one to his feelings? I would rather be condoled with than scoffed at any +day; and see! by Jove, they're laughing still. I would wager a fifty +that I furnish the dinner conversation for every table in the capital +this day.” + +The vine twig shows not more ingenuity, as it traverses some rocky crag +in search of the cool stream, at once its luxury and its life, than does +our injured self-love, in seeking for consolation from the inevitable +casualties of fate, and the irresistible strokes of fortune! Thus I +found comfort in the thought that the ridicule attached to me rather +proceeded from the low standard of manners and habits about me than from +anything positively absurd in my position; and, in my warped and biassed +imagination, I actually preferred the insolent insipidity of Lord +Dudley de Vere to the hearty raciness and laughter-loving spirit of Phil +O'Grady. + +My reflections were now cut short by the order for the staff to mount, +and, following the current of my present feelings, I drew near to Lord +Dudley, in whose emptiness and inanity I felt a degree of security +from sarcasm, that I could by no means be so confident of in O'Grady's +company. + +Amid the thunder of cannon, the deafening roll of drums, the tramp +of cavalry, and the measured footfall of the infantry columns, these +thoughts rapidly gave way to others, and I soon forgot myself in +the scene around me. The sight, indeed, was an inspiriting one; for, +although but the mockery of glorious war, to my unpractised eye the +deception was delightful: the bracing air, the bright sky, the scenery +itself, lent their aid, and, in the brilliant panorama before me, I soon +regained my light-heartedness, and felt happy as before. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. THE SHAM BATTLE + +I have mentioned in my last chapter how very rapidly I forgot my +troubles in the excitement of the scene around me. Indeed, they must +have been much more important, much deeper woes, to have occupied any +place in a head so addled and confused as mine was. The manoeuvres of +the day included a sham battle; and scarcely had his Excellency passed +down the line, when preparations for the engagement began. The heavy +artillery was seen to limber up, and move slowly across the field, +accompanied by a strong detachment of cavalry; columns of infantry +were marched hither and thither with the most pressing and eager haste; +orderly dragoons and staff-officers galloped to and fro like madmen; +red-faced plethoric little colonels bawled out the word of command till +one feared they might burst a bloodvessel; and already two companies of +light infantry might be seen stealing cautiously along the skirts of +the wood, with the apparently insidious design of attacking a brigade of +guns. As for me, I was at one moment employed carrying despatches to Sir +Charles Asgill, at another conveying intelligence to Lord Harrington; +these, be it known, being the rival commanders, whose powers of strategy +were now to be tested before the assembled and discriminating citizens +of Dublin. Not to speak of the eminent personal hazard of a service +which required me constantly to ride between the lines of contending +armies, the fatigue alone had nigh killed me. Scarcely did I appear, +breathless, at head-quarters on my return from one mission, when I was +despatched on another. Tired and panting, I more than once bungled my +directions, and communicated to Sir Charles the secret intentions of his +Lordship, while with a laudable impartiality I disarranged the former's +plans by a total misconception of the orders. Fatigue, noise, chagrin, +and incessant worry had so completely turned my head, that I became +perfectly incapable of the commonest exercises of reason. Some of the +artillery I ordered into a hollow, where I was told to station a party +of riflemen. Three squadrons of cavalry I desired to charge up a hill, +which the 71st Highlanders were to have scrambled up if they were able. +Light dragoons I posted in situations so beset with brushwood and firs, +that all movement became impossible; and, in a word, when the signal-gun +announced the commencement of the action, my mistakes had introduced +such a new feature into tactics, that neither party knew what his +adversary was at, nor, indeed, had any accurate notion of which were his +own troops. The Duke, who had watched with the most eager satisfaction +the whole of my proceedings, sat laughing upon his horse till the very +tears coursed down his cheeks; and, as all the staff were more or less +participators in the secret, I found myself once more the centre of a +grinning audience, perfectly convulsed at my exploits. Meanwhile, the +guns thundered, the cavalry charged, the infantry poured in a rattling +roar of small arms; while the luckless commanders, unable to discover +any semblance of a plan, and still worse, not knowing where one half of +their forces were concealed, dared not adventure upon a movement, and +preferred trusting to the smoke of the battle as a cover for their +blunders. The fusilade, therefore, was hotly sustained; all the +heavy pieces were brought to the front; and while the spectators were +anxiously looking for the manoeuvres of a fight, the ammunition was +waxing low, and the day wearing apace. Dissatisfaction at length began +to show itself on every side; and the Duke assuming, as well as he was +able, somewhat of a disappointed look, the unhappy generals made a final +effort to retrieve their mishaps, and aides-de-camp were despatched +through all the highways and byways, to bring up whoever they could find +as quickly as possible. Now then began such a scene as few even of the +oldest campaigners ever witnessed the equal of. From every dell and +hollow, from every brake and thicket, burst forth some party or other, +who up to this moment believed themselves lying in ambush. Horse, foot, +and dragoons, artillery, sappers, light infantry, and grenadiers, rushed +forward wherever chance or their bewildered officers led them. Here +might be seen one half of a regiment blazing away at a stray company of +their own people, running like devils for shelter; here some squadrons +of horse, who, indignant at their fruitless charges and unmeaning +movements, now doggedly dismounted, were standing right before a brigade +of twelve-pounders, thundering mercilessly amongst them. Never was +witnessed such a scene of riot, confusion, and disorder. Colonels lost +their regiments, regiments their colonels. The Fusiliers captured the +band of the Royal Irish, and made them play through the heat of the +engagement. Those who at first expressed _enmui_ and fatigue at the +sameness and monotony of the scene, were now gratified to the utmost +by its life, bustle, and animation. Elderly citizens in drab shorts and +buff waistcoats explained to their listening wives and urchins the plans +and intentions of the rival heroes, pronouncing the whole thing the +while the very best field-day that ever was seen in the Phoenix. + +In the midst of all this confusion, a new element of discord suddenly +displayed itself. That loyal corps, the Cork militia, who were ordered +up to attack close to where the Duke and his staff were standing, deemed +that no better moment could be chosen to exhibit their attachment to +church and state than when marching on to glory, struck up, with all the +discord of their band, the redoubted air of “Protestant Boys.” A cheer +burst from the ranks as the loyal strains filled the air; but scarcely +had the loud burst subsided, when the Louth militia advanced with a +quick step, their fifes playing “Vinegar-hill.” + +For a moment or two the rivalry created a perfect roar of laughter; but +this very soon gave way, as the two regiments, instead of drawing up +at a reasonable distance for the interchange of an amicable blank +cartridge, rushed down upon each other with the fury of madmen. So +sudden, so impetuous was the encounter, all effort to prevent it was +impracticable. Muskets were clubbed or bayonets fixed, and in a +moment really serious battle was engaged; the musicians on each side +encouraging their party, as they racked their brains for party-tunes of +the most bitter and taunting character; while cries of “Down with King +William I.” “To hell with the Pope?” rose alternately from either side. + +How far this spirit might have extended, it is difficult to say, when +the Duke gave orders for some squadrons of cavalry to charge down upon +them, and separate the contending forces. This order was fortunately +in time; for scarcely was it issued, when a west country yeomanry corps +came galloping up to the assistance of the brave Louth. + +“Here we are, boys!” cried Mike Westropp, their colonel--“here we are! +lave the way! lave the way for us! and we'll ride down the murthering +Orange villains, every man of them!” + +The Louth fell back, and the yeomen came forward at a charge; Westropp +standing high in his stirrups, and flourishing his sabre above his head. +It was just then that a heavy brigade of artillery, unconscious of the +hot work going forward, was ordered to open their fire upon the +Louth militia. One of the guns, by some accident, contained an undue +proportion of wadding, and to this casual circumstance may, in a great +degree, be attributed the happy issue of what threatened to be a serious +disturbance; for, as Westropp advanced, cheering and encouraging his +men, he received this wadding slap in his face. Down he tumbled at once, +rolling over and over with the shock; while, believing that he had got +his death-wound, he bellowed out, + +“Oh! blessed Virgin! there's threason in the camp! hit in the face by +a four-pounder, by Jove! Oh! Duke darling! Oh! your Grace! Oh! holy +Joseph, look at this! Oh! bad luck to the arthillery, for spoiling a +fair fight! Peter”--this was the major of the regiment--“Peter Darcy, +gallop into town and lodge informations against the brigade of guns. +I'll be dead before you come back.” + +A perfect burst of laughter broke from the opposing ranks, and while his +friends crowded round the discomfited leader, the rival bands united +in a roar of merriment that for a moment caused a suspension of +hostilities. For a moment, I say; for scarcely had the gallant Westropp +been conveyed to the rear, when once more the bands struck up their +irritating strains, and preparations for a still more deadly encounter +were made on every side. The matter now assumed so serious an aspect, +that the Duke was obliged himself to interfere, and order both parties +off the ground; the Cork deploying towards the lodge, while the brave +Louth marched off with banners flying and drums beating in the direction +of Knockmaroon. + +These movements were conducted with a serio-comic solemnity of the most +ludicrous kind; and although the respect for viceregal authority was +great, and the military devotion of each party strong, yet neither one +nor the other was sufficient to prevent the more violent on both sides +from occasionally turning, as they went, to give expression to some +taunting allusion or some galling sarcasm, well calculated, did the +opportunity permit, to renew the conflict. + +A hearty burst of laughter from the Duke indicated pretty clearly how +he regarded the matter; and, however the grave and significant looks of +others might seem to imply that there was more in the circumstance than +mere food for mirth, he shook his sides merrily; and, as his bright eye +glistened with satisfaction, and his cheek glowed, he could not help +whispering his regret that his station compelled him to check the very +best joke he ever witnessed in his life. + +“This is hot work, Sir Charles,” said he, wiping his forehead as he +spoke; “and, as it is now past three o'clock, and we have a privy +council at four, I fear I must leave you.” + +“The troops will move past in marching order,” replied Sir Charles, +pompously: “will your Grace receive the salute at this point?” + +“Wherever you like, Sir Charles; wherever you like. Would to Heaven that +some good Samaritan could afford me a little brandy-and-water from his +canteen. I say, Hinton, they seem at luncheon yonder in that carriage: +do you think your diplomacy could negotiate a glass of sherry for me?” + +“If you'll permit me, my Lord, I'll try,” said I, as, disengaging myself +from the crowd, I set off in the direction he pointed. + +As I drew near the carriage--from which the horses had been +taken--drawn up beside a clump of beech-trees for the sake of shelter--I +was not long in perceiving that it was the same equipage I had so +gallantly rescued in the morning from the sabres of the horse police. +Had I entertained any fears for the effects of the nervous shock upon +the tender sensibilities of Mrs. Paul Rooney, the scene before me must +completely have dispelled my uneasiness. Never did a merrier peal of +laughter ring from female lungs than hers as I rode forward. Seated in +the back of the carriage, the front cushion of which served as a kind of +table, sat the lady in question. One hand, resting upon her knee, held +a formidable carving-fork, on the summit of which vibrated the short leg +of a chicken; in the other she grasped a silver vessel, which, were I +to predicate from the froth, I fear I should pronounce to be porter. A +luncheon on the most liberal scale, displayed, in all the confusion +and disorder inseparable from such a situation, a veal-pie, cold lamb, +tongue, chickens, and sandwiches; drinking vessels of every shape and +material; a smelling bottle full of mustard, and a newspaper paragraph +full of salt. Abundant as were the viands, the guests were not wanting: +crowds of infantry officers, flushed with victory or undismayed by +defeat, hob-nobbed from the rumble to the box; the steps, the springs, +the very splinter-bar had its occupant; and, truly, a merrier party, or +a more convivial, it were difficult to conceive. + +So environed was Mrs. Rooney by her friends, that I was enabled to +observe them some time, myself unseen. + +“Captain Mitchell, another wing? Well, the least taste in life of the +breast? Bob Dwyer, will ye never have done drawing that cork?” + +Now this I must aver was an unjust reproach, inasmuch as to my own +certain knowledge he had accomplished three feats of that nature in +about as many minutes; and, had the aforesaid Bob been reared from his +infancy in drawing corks, instead of declarations, his practice could +not have been more expert. Pop, pop, they went; ghig, glug, glug, flowed +the bubbling liquor, as sherry, shrub, cold punch, and bottled porter +succeeded each other in rapid order. Simpering ensigns, with elevated +eyebrows, insinuated nonsense, soft, vapid, and unmeaning as their own +brains, as they helped themselves to ham or dived into the pasty; while +a young dragoon, who seemed to devote his attention to Mrs. Rodney's +companion, amused himself by constant endeavours to stroke down a +growing moustache, whose downy whiteness resembled nothing that I know +of save the ill-omened fur one sees on an antiquated apple-pie. + +As I looked on every side to catch a glance at him whom I should suppose +to Mr. Rooney, I was myself detected by the watchful eye of Bob Dwyer, +who, at that moment having his mouth full of three hard eggs, was nearly +asphyxiated in his endeavours to telegraph my approach to Mrs. Paul. + +“The edge-du-cong, by the mortial!” said he, sputtering out the words, +as his bloodshot eyes nearly bolted out of his head. + +Had I been a Bengal tiger, my advent might have caused less alarm. The +officers not knowing if the Duke himself were coming, wiped their lips, +resumed their caps and chakos, and sprang to the ground in dismay and +confusion: as Mrs. Rooney herself, with an adroitness an Indian juggler +might have envied, plunged the fork, drumstick and all, into the +recesses of her muff; while with a back hand she decanted the XX upon +a bald major of infantry, who was brushing the crumbs from his facings. +One individual alone seemed to relish and enjoy the discomfiture of the +others: this was the young lady whom I before remarked, and whose whole +air and appearance seemed strangely at variance with everything around +her. She gave free current to her mirth; while Mrs. Paul, now suddenly +restored to a sense of her nervous constitution, fell back in her +carriage, and appeared bent upon a scene. + +“You caught us enjoying ourselves, Mr. Stilton?” + +“Hinton, if you'll allow me, madam.” + +“Ay, to be sure--Mr. Hinton. Taking a little snack, which I am sure +you'd be the better for after the fatigues of the day.” + +“Eh, au au! a devilish good luncheon,” chimed in a pale sub, the first +who ventured to pluck up his courage. + +“Would a sandwich tempt you, with a glass of champagne?” said Mrs. Paul, +with the blandest of smiles. + +“I can recommend the lamb, sir,” said a voice behind. + +“Begad, I'll vouch for the porter,” said the Major. “I only hope it is a +good cosmetic.” + +“It is a beautiful thing for the hair,” said Mrs. Rooney, half venturing +upon a joke. + +“No more on that head, ma'am,” said the little Major, bowing pompously. + +By this time, thanks to the assiduous attentions of Bob Dwyer, I was +presented with a plate, which, had I been an anaconda instead of an +aide-decamp, might have satisfied my appetite. A place was made for +me in the carriage; and the faithful Bob, converting the skirt of his +principal blue into a glass-cloth, polished a wine-glass for my private +use. + +“Let me introduce my young friend, Mr. Hinton,” said Mrs. Paul, with a +graceful wave of her jewelled hand towards her companion. “Miss Louisa +Bellew, only daughter of Sir Simon Bellew, of ------” what the place was +I could not well hear, but it sounded confoundedly like +Killhiman-smotherum--“a beautiful place in the county Mayo. Bob, is it +punch you are giving?” + +“Most excellent, I assure you, Mrs. Rooney.” + +“And how is the Duke, sir? I hope his Grace enjoys good health. He is a +darling of a man.” + +By-the-by, it is perfectly absurd the sympathy your third or fourth-rate +people feel in the health and habits of those above them in station, +pleased as they are to learn the most common-place and worthless +trifles concerning them, and happy when, by any chance, some accidental +similitude would seem to exist even between their misfortunes. + +“And the dear Duchess,” resumed Mrs. Rooney, “she's troubled with the +nerves like myself. Ah! Mr. Hinton, what an affliction it is to have a +sensitive nature; that's what I often say to my sweet young friend here. +It's better for her to be the gay, giddy, thoughtless, happy thing +she is, than----” Here the lady sighed, wiped her eyes, flourished her +cambric, and tried to look like Agnes in the “Bleeding Nun.” “But here +they come. You don't know Mr. Rooney? Allow me to introduce him to you.” + +As she spoke, O'Grady cantered up to the carriage, accompanied by a +short, pursy, round-faced little man, who, with his hat set knowingly +on one side, and his top-boots scarce reaching to the middle of the +leg, bestrode a sharp, strong-boned hackney, with cropped ears and short +tail. He carried in his hand a hunting-whip, and seemed, by his seat in +the saddle and the easy finger upon the bridle, no indifferent horseman. + +“Mr. Rooney,” said the lady, drawing herself up with a certain austerity +of manner, “I wish you to make the acquaintance of Mr. Hinton, the +aide-de-camp to his Grace.” + +Mr. Rooney lifted his hat straight above his head, and replaced it a +little more obliquely than before over his right eye. + +“Delighted, upon my honour--faith, quite charmed--hope you got something +to eat--there never was such a murthering hot day--Bob Dwyer, open a +bottle of port--the Captain is famished.” + +“I say, Hinton,” called out O'Grady, “you forgot the Duke, it seems; he +told me you'd gone in search of some sherry, or something of the kind; +but I can readily conceive how easily a man may forget himself in such a +position as yours.” + +Here Mrs. Paul dropped her head in deep confusion, Miss Bellew looked +saucy, and I, for the first time remembering what brought me there, was +perfectly overwhelmed with shame at my carelessness. + +“Never mind, boy, don't fret about it, his Grace is the most forgiving +man in the world; and when he knows where you were----” + +“Ah, Captain!” sighed Mrs. Rooney. + +“Master Phil, it's yourself can do it,” murmured Paul, who perfectly +appreciated O'Grady's powers of “blarney,” when exercised on the +susceptible temperament of his fair spouse. + +“I'll take a sandwich,” continued the Captain. “Do you know, Mrs. +Rooney, I've been riding about this half-hour to catch my young friend, +and introduce him to you; and here I find him comfortably installed, +without my aid or assistance. The fact is, these English fellows have a +nattering, insinuating way of their own there's no coming up to. Isn't +that so, Miss Bellew?” + +“Very likely,” said the young lady, who now spoke for the first time; +“but it is so very well concealed that I for one could never detect it.” + +This speech, uttered with a certain pert and saucy air, nettled mc for +the moment; but as no reply occurred to me, I could only look at the +speaker a tacit acknowledgment of her sarcasm; while I remembered, +for the first time, that, although seated opposite my very attractive +neighbour, I had hitherto not addressed to her a single phrase of even +common-place attention. + +“I suppose you put up in the Castle, sir?” said Mr. Rooney. + +“Yes, two doors lower down than Mount O'Grady,” replied the Captain for +me. “But come, Hinton, the carriages are moving, we must get back as +quick as we can. Good-by, Paul Adieu, Mrs. Rooney, Miss Bellew, good +morning.” + +It was just at the moment when I had summoned up my courage to address +Miss Bellew, that O'Grady called me away: there was nothing for it, +however, but to make my adieus; while, extricating myself from the +_débris_ of the luncheon, I once more mounted my horse, and joined the +viceregal party as they drove from the ground. + +“I'm delighted you know the Rooneys,” said O'Grady, as we drove along; +“they are by far the best fun going. Paul good, but his wife superb!” + +“And the young lady?” said I. + +“Oh, a different kind of thing altogether. By-the-by, Hinton, you took +my hint, I hope, about your English manner?” + +“Eh--why--how--what did you mean?” + +“Simply, my boy, that your Coppermine-river kind of courtesy may be a +devilish fine thing in Hyde Park or St. James's, but will never do with +us poor people here. Put more warmth into it, man. Dash the lemonade +with a little maraschino; you'll feel twice as comfortable yourself, and +the girls like you all the better. You take the suggestion in good part, +I'm sure.” + +“Oh, of course,” said I, somewhat stung that I should get a lesson in +manner where I had meant to be a model for imitation; “if they like that +kind of thing, I must only conform.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. THE ROONEYS. + +I cannot proceed further in this my veracious history without dwelling +a little longer upon the characters of the two interesting individuals I +have already presented to my readers as Mr. and Mrs. Rooney. + +Paul Rooney, attorney-at-law, 42, Stephen's-green, north, was about +as well known in his native city of Dublin as Nelson's Pillar. His +reputation, unlimited by the adventitious circumstances of class, spread +over the whole surface of society; and, from the chancellor down to the +carman, his claims were confessed. + +It is possible that, in many other cities of the world, Mr. Rooney might +have been regarded as a common-place, every-day personage, well to do +in the world, and of a free-and-easy character, which, if it left little +for reproach, left still less for remark: but in Ireland, whether it was +the climate or the people, the potteen or the potatoes, I cannot say, +but certainly he “came out,” as the painters call it, in a breadth of +colour quite surprising. + +The changeful character of the skies has, they tell us, a remarkable +influence in fashioning the ever-varying features of Irish temperament; +and, certainly, the inconstant climate of Dublin had much merit if it +produced in Mr. Rooney the versatile nature he rejoiced in. + +About ten o'clock, on every morning during term, might be seen a +shrewd, cunning-looking, sly little fellow, who, with pursed-up lips and +slightly elevated nose, wended his way towards the Four Courts, followed +by a ragged urchin with a well-filled bag of purple stuff. His black +coat, drab shorts, and gaiters, had a plain and business-like cut; and +the short, square tie of his white cravat had a quaint resemblance to a +flourish on a deed; the self-satisfied look, the assured step, the easy +roll of the head--all bespoke one with whom the world was thriving; and +it did not need the additional evidence of a certain habit he had of +jingling his silver in his breeches-pocket as he went, to assure you +that Rooney was a warm fellow, and had no want of cash. + +Were you to trace his steps for the three or four hours that ensued, you +would see him bustling through the crowded hall of the Four Courts--now, +whispering some important point to a leading barrister, while he held +another by the gown lest he should escape him; now, he might be remarked +seated in a niche between the pillars, explaining some knotty difficulty +to a western client, whose flushed cheek and flashing eye too plainly +indicated his impatience of legal strategy, and how much more pleased he +would feel to redress his wrongs in his own fashion; now brow-beating, +now cajoling, now encouraging, now condoling, he edged his way through +the bewigged and dusty throng, not stopping to reply to the hundred +salutations he met with, save by a knowing wink, which was the only +civility he did not put down at three-and-fourpence. If his knowledge of +law was little, his knowledge of human nature--at least of such of it +as Ireland exhibits--was great; and no case of any importance could +come before a jury, where Paul's advice and opinion were not deemed of +considerable importance. No man better knew all the wiles and twists, +all the dark nooks and recesses of Irish character. No man more quickly +could ferret out a hoarded secret; no one so soon detect an attempted +imposition. His was the secret _police_ of law: he read a witness as he +would a deed, and detected a flaw in him to the full as easily. + +As he sat near the leading counsel in a cause, he seemed a kind of +middle term between the lawyer and the jury. Marking by some slight +but significant gesture every point of the former, to the latter he +impressed upon their minds every favourable feature of his client's +cause; and twelve deaf men might have followed the pleadings in a cause +through the agency of Paul's gesticulations. The consequence of these +varied gifts was, business flowed in upon him from every side, and few +members of the bar were in the receipt of one-half his income. + +Scarcely, however, did the courts rise, when Paul, shaking from his +shoulders the learned dust of the Exchequer, would dive into a small +apartment which, in an obscure house in Mass-lane, he dignified by the +name of his study. Short and few as were his moments of seclusion, they +sufficed to effect in his entire man a complete and total change. The +shrewd little attorney, that went in with a _nisi prius_ grin, came out +a round, pleasant-looking fellow, with a green coat of jockey cut, a +buff waistcoat, white cords, and tops; his hat set jauntily on one side, +his spotted neckcloth knotted in bang-up mode,--in fact, his figure the +_beau idéal_ of a west-country squire taking a canter among his covers +before the opening of the hunting. + +His grey eyes, expanded to twice their former size, looked the very soul +of merriment; his nether lip, slightly dropped, quivered with the last +joke it uttered. Even his voice partook of the change, and was now +a rich, full, mellow Clare accent, which, with the recitative of his +country, seemed to Italianise his English. While such was Paul, his +_accessoires_--as the French would call them--were in admirable keeping: +a dark chesnut cob, a perfect model of strength and symmetry, would be +led up and down by a groom, also mounted upon a strong hackney, +whose flat rib and short pastern showed his old Irish breeding; the +well-fitting saddle, the well-balanced stirrup, the plain but powerful +snaffle, all looked like the appendages of one whose jockeyism was no +assumed feature; and, indeed, you had only to see Mr. Rooney in his +seat, to confess that he was to the full as much at home there as in the +Court of Chancery. + +From this to the hour of a late dinner, the Phoenix Park became his +resort. There, surrounded by a gay and laughing crowd, Paul cantered +along, amusing his hearers with the last _mot_ from the King's Bench, +or some stray bit of humour or fun from a case on circuit. His +conversation, however, principally ran on other topics: the Curragh +Meeting, the Loughrea Steeple-chase, the Meath Cup, or Lord Boyne's +Handicap; with these he was thoroughly familiar. He knew the odds of +every race, could apportion the weights, describe the ground, and, +better than all, make rather a good guess at the winner. In addition to +these gifts, he was the best judge of a horse in Ireland; always well +mounted, and never without at least two hackneys in his stable, able to +trot their fifteen Irish miles within the hour. Such qualities as +these might be supposed popular ones in a country proverbially given +to sporting; but Mr. Rooney had other and very superior powers of +attraction,--he was the Amphitryou of Dublin. It was no figurative +expression to say that he kept open house. _Déjeuners_, dinners, routs, +and balls followed each other in endless succession. His cook was +French, his claret was Sneyd's; he imported his own sherry and Madeira, +both of which he nursed with a care and affection truly parental. His +venison and black-cock came from Scotland; every Holyhead packet had +its consignment of Welsh mutton; and, in a word, whatever wealth could +purchase, and a taste, nurtured as his had been by the counsel of many +who frequented his table, could procure, such he possessed in abundance, +his greatest ambition being to outshine in splendour, and surpass in +magnificence, all the other dinner-givers of the day, filling his house +with the great and titled of the land, who ministered to his vanity with +singular good-nature, while they sipped his claret, and sat over his +Burgundy. His was indeed a pleasant house. The _bons vivants_ liked it +for its excellent fare, the perfection of its wines, the certainty of +finding the first rarity of the season before its existence was heard of +at other tables; the lounger liked it for its ease and informality; the +humorist, for the amusing features of its host and hostess; and not a +few were attracted by the gracefulness and surpassing loveliness of one +who, by some strange fatality of fortune, seemed to have been dropped +down into the midst of this singular _ménage_. + +Of Mr. Rooney, I have only further to say that, hospitable as a prince, +he was never so happy as at the head of his table; for, although his +natural sharpness could not but convince him of the footing which he +occupied among his high and distinguished guests, yet he knew well there +are few such levellers of rank as riches, and he had read in his youth +that even the lofty Jove himself was accessible by the odour of a +hecatomb. + +Mrs. Rooney--or, as she wrote herself upon her card, Mrs. Paul Rooney +(there seemed something distinctive in the prenom.)--was a being of +a very different order. Perfectly unconscious of the ridicule that +attaches to vulgar profusion, she believed herself the great source of +attraction of her crowded staircase and besieged drawing-room. True +it was, she was a large and very handsome woman. Her deep, dark, brown +eyes, and brilliant complexion, would have been beautiful, had not her +mouth somewhat marred their effect, by that coarse expression which high +living and a voluptuous life is sure to impress upon those not born +to be great. There is no doubt of it, the mouth is your thorough-bred +feature. You will meet eyes as softly beaming, as brightly speaking, +among the lofty cliffs of the wild Tyrol, or in the deep valleys of +the far west; I have seen, too, a brow as fairly pencilled, a nose no +Grecian statue could surpass, a skin whose tint was fair and transparent +as the downy rose-leaf, amid the humble peasants of a poor and barren +land; but never have I seen the mouth whose clean-cut lip and chiselled +arch betokened birth. No; that feature would seem the prerogative of +the highly born; fashioned to the expression of high and holy thoughts; +moulded to the utterance of ennobling sentiment, or proud desire. Its +every lineament tells of birth and blood. + +Now, Mrs. Rooney's mouth was a large and handsome one, her teeth white +and regular withal, and, when at rest, there was nothing to find +fault with; but let her speak--was it her accent?--was it the awful +provincialism of her native city?--was it that strange habit of +contortion any _patois_ is sure to impress upon the speaker?--I cannot +tell, but certainly it lent to features of very considerable attraction +a vulgarising character of expression. + +It was truly provoking to see so handsome a person mar every effect +of her beauty by some extravagant display. Dramatising every trivial +incident in life, she rolled her eyes, looked horror-struck or happy, +sweet or sarcastic, lofty or languishing, all in one minute. There was +an eternal play of feature of one kind or other; there was no rest, +no repose. Her arms--and they were round, and fair, and +well-fashioned--were also enlisted in the service; and to a distant +observer Mrs. Rooney's animated conversation appeared like a priest +performing mass. + +And that beautiful head, whose fair and classic proportions were +balanced so equally upon her white and swelling throat, how tantalising +to know it full of low and petty ambitions, of vulgar tastes, of +contemptible rivalries, of insignificant triumph. To see her, amid the +voluptuous splendour and profusion of her gorgeous house, resplendent +with jewellery, glistening in all the blaze of emeralds and rubies; to +watch how the poisonous venom of innate vulgarity had so tainted that +fair and beautiful form, rendering her an object of ridicule who should +have been a thing to worship. It was too bad; and, as she sat at dinner, +her plump but taper fingers grasping a champagne glass, she seemed like +a Madonna enacting the part of Moll Flagon. + +Now, Mrs. Paul's manner had as many discrepancies as her features. She +was by nature a good, kind, merry, coarse personage, who loved a joke +not the less if it were broad as well as long. Wealth, however, and its +attendant evils, suggested the propriety of a very different line; and +catching up as she did at every opportunity that presented itself such +of the airs and graces as she believed to be the distinctive traits +of high life, she figured about in these cast-off attractions, like a +waiting-maid in the abandoned finery of her mistress. + +As she progressed in fortune, she “tried back” for a family, and +discovered that she was an O'Toole by birth, and consequently of Irish +blood-royal; a certain O'Toole being king of a nameless tract, in an +unknown year, somewhere about the time of Cromwell, who, Mrs. Rooney had +heard, came over with the Romans. + +“Ah, yes, my dear,” as she would say when, softened by sherry and +sorrow, she would lay her hand upon your arm--“ah, yes, if every one had +their own, it isn't married to an attorney I'd be, but living in regal +splendour in the halls of my ancestors. Well, well!” Here she would +throw up her eyes with a mixed expression of grief and confidence in +Heaven, that if she hadn't got her own, in this world, Oliver Cromwell, +at least, was paying off, in the other, his foul wrongs to the royal +house of O'Toole. + +I have only one person more to speak of ere I conclude my rather prolix +account of the family. Miss Louisa Bellew was the daughter of an Irish +baronet, who put the keystone upon his ruin by his honest opposition +to the passing of the Union. His large estates, loaded with debt +and encumbered by mortgage, had been for half a century a kind of +battle-field for legal warfare at every assizes. Through the medium of +his difficulties he became acquainted with Mr. Rooney, whose craft +and subtlety had rescued him from more than one difficulty, and whose +good-natured assistance had done still more important service by loans +upon his property. + +At Mr. Rooney's suggestion, Miss Bellew was invited to pass her winter +with them in Dublin. This proposition which, in the palmier days of the +baronet's fortune, would in all probability never have been made, and +would certainly never have been accepted, was now entertained with some +consideration, and finally acceded to, on prudential motives. Rooney had +lent him large sums; he had never been a pressing, on the contrary, he +was a lenient creditor; possessing great power over the property, he had +used it sparingly, even delicately, and showed himself upon more than +one occasion not only a shrewd adviser, but a warm friend. “'Tis true,” + thought Sir Simon, “they are vulgar people, of coarse tastes and low +habits, and those with whom they associate laugh at, though they live +upon them; yet, after all, to refuse this invitation may be taken in ill +part; a few months will do the whole thing. Louisa, although young, +has tact and cleverness enough to see the difficulties of her position; +besides, poor child, the gaiety and life of a city will be a relief to +her, after the dreary and monotonous existence she has passed with me.” + +This latter reason he plausibly represented to himself as a strong one +for complying with what his altered fortunes and ruined prospects seemed +to render no longer a matter of choice. + +To the Rooneys, indeed, Miss Bellew's visit was a matter of some +consequence; it was like the recognition of some petty state by one +of the great powers of Europe. It was an acknowledgment of a social +existence, an evidence to the world not only that there was such a thing +as the kingdom of Rooney, but also that it was worth while to enter into +negotiation with it, and even accredit an ambassador to its court. + +Little did that fair and lovely girl think, as with tearful eyes she +turned again and again to embrace her father, as the hour arrived, when +for the first time in her life she was to leave her home, little did she +dream of the circumstances under which her visit was to be paid. Less +a guest than a hostage, she was about to quit the home of her infancy, +where, notwithstanding the inroads of poverty, a certain air of its once +greatness still lingered; the broad and swelling lands, that stretched +away with wood and coppice, far as the eye could reach--the woodland +walks--the ancient house itself, with its discordant pile, accumulated +at different times by different masters--all told of power and supremacy +in the land of her fathers. The lonely solitude of those walls, peopled +alone by the grim-visaged portraits of long-buried ancestors, were now +to be exchanged for the noise and bustle, the glitter and the glare of +second-rate city life; profusion and extravagance, where she had seen +but thrift and forbearance; the gossip, the scandal, the tittle-tattle +of society, with its envies, its jealousies, its petty rivalries, and +its rancours, were to supply those quiet evenings beside the winter +hearth, when reading aloud some old and valued volume she learned to +prize the treasures of our earlier writers under the guiding taste of +one whose scholarship was of no mean order, and whose cultivated mind +was imbued with all the tenderness and simplicity of a refined and +gentle nature. + +When fortune smiled, when youth and wealth, an ancient name and a high +position, all concurred to elevate him, Sir Simon Bellew was courteous +almost to humility; but when the cloud of misfortune lowered over his +house, when difficulties thickened around him, and every effort to +rescue seemed only to plunge him deeper, then the deep-rooted pride of +the man shone forth: and he who in happier days was forgiving even to +a fault, became now scrupulous about every petty observance, exacting +testimonies of respect from all around him, and assuming an almost +tyranny of manner totally foreign to his tastes, his feelings, and +his nature; like some mighty oak of the forest, riven and scathed by +lightning, its branches leafless and its roots laid bare, still standing +erect, it stretches its sapless limbs proudly towards heaven, so stood +he, reft of nearly all, yet still presenting to the adverse wind of +fortune his bold, unshaken front. + +Alas and alas! poverty has no heavier evil in its train than its +power of perverting the fairest gifts of our nature from their true +channel,--making the bright sides of our character dark, gloomy, and +repulsive. Thus the high-souled pride that in our better days sustains +and keeps us far above the reach of sordid thoughts and unworthy +actions, becomes, in the darker hour of our destiny, a misanthropic +selfishness, in which we wrap ourselves as in a mantle. The caresses +of friendship, the warm affections of domestic love, cannot penetrate +through this; even sympathy becomes suspect, and then commences that +terrible struggle against the world, whose only termination is a broken +heart. + +Notwithstanding, then, all Mr. Rooney's address in conveying the +invitation in question, it was not without a severe struggle that Sir +Simon resolved on its acceptance; and when at last he did accede, it was +with so many stipulations, so many express conditions, that, thad they +been complied with _de facto_, as they were acknowledged by promise, +Miss Bellew would, in all probability, have spent her winter in the +retirement of her own chamber in Stephen's-green, without seeing more of +the capital and its inhabitants than a view from her window presented. +Paul, it is true, agreed to everything; for, although, to use his own +language, the codicil revoked the entire body of the testament, he +determined in his own mind to break the will. “Once in Dublin,” thought +he, “the fascinations of society, the pleasures of the world, with such +a guide as Mrs. Rooney”--and here let me mention, that for his wife's +tact and social cleverness Paul had the most heartfelt admiration--“with +advantages like these, she will soon forget the humdrum life of +Kilmorran Castle, and become reconciled to a splendour and magnificence +unsurpassed by even the viceregal court.” + +Here, then, let me conclude this account of the Rooneys, while I resume +the thread of my own narrative. Although I feel for and am ashamed of +the prolixity in which I have indulged, yet, as I speak of real people, +well known at the period of which I write, and as they may to a certain +extent convey an impression of the tone of one class in the society +of that day, I could not bring myself to omit their mention, nor even +dismiss them more briefly. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE VISIT + +I have already recorded the first twenty-four hours of my life in +Ireland; and, if there was enough in them to satisfy me that the country +was unlike in many respects that which I had left, there was also some +show of reason to convince me that, if I did not conform to the habits +and tastes of those around me, I should incur a far greater chance of +being laughed at by them than be myself amused by their eccentricities. +The most remarkable feature that struck me was the easy, even cordial +manner with which acquaintance was made. Every one met you as if he had +in some measure been prepared for the introduction; a tone of intimacy +sprang up at once; your tastes were hinted, your wishes guessed at, +with an unaffected kindness that made you forget the suddenness of the +intimacy: so that, when at last you parted with your dear friend of +some half an hour's acquaintance, you could not help wondering at the +confidences you had made, the avowals you had spoken, and the lengths to +which you had gone in close alliance with one you had never seen before, +and might possibly never meet again. Strange enough as this was with +men, it was still more singular when it extended to the gentler sex. +Accustomed as I had been all my life to the rigid observances of +etiquette in female society, nothing surprised me so much as the rapid +steps by which Irish ladies passed from acquaintance to intimacy, from +intimacy to friendship. The unsuspecting kindliness of woman's nature +has certainly no more genial soil than in the heart of Erin's daughters. +There is besides, too, a winning softness in their manner towards the +stranger of another land that imparts to their hospitable reception a +tone of courteous warmth I have never seen in any other country. + +The freedom of manner I have here alluded to, however delightful it may +render the hours of one separated from home, family, and friends, is +yet not devoid of its inconveniences. How many an undisciplined and +uninformed youth has misconstrued its meaning and mistaken its +import How often have I seen the raw subaltern elated with imaginary +success--flushed with a fancied victory--where, in reality, he had +met with nothing save the kind looks and the kind words in which the +every-day courtesies of life are couched, and by which, what, in less +favoured lands, are the cold and chilling observances of ceremony, are +here the easy and familiar intercourse of those who wish to know each +other. + +The coxcomb who fancies that he can number as many triumphs as he has +passed hours in Dublin, is like one who, estimating the rich production +of a southern clime by their exotic value in his own colder regions, +dignifies by the name of luxury what are in reality but the every-day +productions of the soil: so he believes peculiarly addressed to +himself the cordial warmth and friendly greeting which make the social +atmosphere around him. + +If I myself fell deeply into this error, and if my punishment was a +heavy one, let my history prove a beacon to all who follow in my steps; +for Dublin is still a garrison city, and I have been told that lips as +tempting and eyes as bright are to be met there as heretofore. Now to my +story. + +Life in Dublin, at the time I write of, was about as gay a thing as a +man can well fancy. Less debarred than in other countries from +partaking of the lighter enjoyments of life, the members of the learned +professions mixed much in society; bringing with them stores of +anecdote and information unattainable from other sources, they made +what elsewhere would have proved the routine of intercourse a season +of intellectual enjoyment. Thus, the politician, the churchman, the +barrister, and the military man, shaken as they were together in dose +intimacy, lost individually many of the prejudices of their caste, and +learned to converse with a wider and more extended knowledge of the +world. While this was so, another element, peculiarly characteristic +of the country, had its share in modelling social life--that innate +tendency to drollery, that bent to laugh with every one and at +everything, so eminently Irish, was now in the ascendant. From the +Viceroy downwards, the island was on the broad grin. Every day furnished +its share, its quota of merriment. Epigrams, good stories, repartees, +and practical jokes rained in showers over the land. A privy council was +a _conversazione_ of laughing bishops and droll chief-justices. Every +trial at the bar, every dinner at the court, every drawing-room, +afforded a theme for some ready-witted absurdity; and all the graver +business of life was carried on amid this current of unceasing fun and +untiring drollery, just as we see the serious catastrophe of a modern +opera assisted by the crash of an orchestral accompaniment. + +With materials like these society was made up; and into this I plunged +with all the pleasurable delight of one who, if he could not appreciate +the sharpness, was at least dazzled by the brilliancy of the wit that +flashed around him. My duties as aide-de-camp were few, and never +interfered with my liberty: while in my double capacity of military man +and _attaché_ to the court, I was invited everywhere, and treated with +marked courtesy and kindness. Thus passed my life pleasantly along, when +a few mornings after the events I have mentioned, I was sitting at my +breakfast, conning over my invitations for the week, and meditating a +letter, home, in which I should describe my mode of life with as much +reserve as might render the record of my doings a safe disclosure for +the delicate nerves of my lady-mother. In order to accomplish this +latter task with success, I scribbled with some notes a sheet of paper +that lay before me. “Among other particularly nice people, my dear +mother,” wrote I, “there are the Rooneys. Mr. Rooney--a member of the +Irish bar, of high standing and great reputation--is a most agreeable +and accomplished person. How much I should like to present him to you.” + I had got thus far, when a husky, asthmatic cough, and a muttered curse +on the height of my domicile, apprised me that some one was at my door. +At the same moment a heavy single knock, that nearly stove in the panel, +left no doubt upon my mind. + +“Are ye at home, or is it sleeping ye are? May I never, if it's much +else the half of ye's fit for. Ugh, blessed hour! three flights of +stairs, with a twist in them instead of a landing. Ye see he's not in +the place. I tould you that before I came up. But if s always the same +thing. Corny, run here; Corny, fly there; get me this, take that. Bad +luck to them! One would think they badgered me for bare divarsion, the +haythins, the Turks!” + +A fit of coughing, that almost convinced me that Corny had given his +last curse, followed this burst of eloquence, just as I appeared at the +door. + +“What's the matter, Corny?” + +“The matter?--ugh, ain't I coughing my soul out with a wheezing and +whistling in my chest like a creel of chickens. Here's Mr. Rooney +wanting to see ye; and faith,” as he added in an under tone, “if s not +long you wor in making his acquaintance. That's his room,” added he, +with a jerk of his thumb. “Now lave the way if you plase, and let me got +a howld of the banisters.” + +With these words Corny began his descent, while I, apologising to Mr. +Rooney for not having sooner perceived kirn, bowed him into the room +with all proper ceremony. + +“A thousand apologies, Mr. Hinton, for the unseasonable hour of my +visit, but business----” + +“Pray not a word,” said I; “always delighted to see you. Mrs. Rooney is +well, I hope?” + +“Charming, upon my honour. But, as I was saying, I could not well come +later; there is a case in the King's Bench--Rex _versus_ Ryves--a heavy +record, and I want to catch the counsel to assure him that all's safe. +God knows, it has cost me an anxious night. Everything depended on one +witness, an obstinate beast that wouldn't listen to reason. We got hold +of him last night; got three doctors to certify he was out of his mind; +and, at this moment, with his head shaved, and a grey suit on him, he is +the noisiest inmate in Glassnevin madhouse.” + +“Was not this a very bold, a very dangerous expedient?” + +“So it was. He fought like a devil, and his outrageous conduct has its +reward, for they put him on low diet and handcuffs the moment he went +in. But excuse me, if I make a hurried visit. Mrs. Rooney requests +that--that--but where the devil did I put it?” + +Here Mr. Rooney felt his coat-pockets, dived into those of his +waistcoat, patted himself all over, then looked into his hat, then round +the room, on the floor, and even outside the door upon the lobby. + +“Sure it is not possible I've lost it.” + +“Nothing of consequence, I hope?” said I. + +“What a head I have,” replied he, with a knowing grin, while at the +same moment throwing up the sash of my window, he thrust out the head in +question, and gave a loud shrill whistle. + +Scarcely was the casement closed when a ragged urchin appeared at the +door, carrying on his back the ominous stuff-bag containing the record +of Mr. Rooney's rogueries. + +“Give me the bag, Tim,” quoth he; at the same moment he plunged his +hand deep among the tape-tied parcels, and extricated a piece of square +pasteboard, which, having straightened and flattened upon his knee, he +presented to me with a graceful bow, adding, jocosely, “an ambassador +without his credentials would never do.” + +It was an invitation to dinner at Mr. Rooney's for the memorable Friday +for which my friend O'Grady had already received his card. + +“Nothing will give me more pleasure----” + +“No, will it though? how very good of you! a small cosy party--Harry +Burgh, Bowes Daley, Barrington, the judges, and a few more. There now, +no ceremony, I beg of you. Come along, Joe. Good morning, Mr. Hinton: +not a step further.” + +So saying, Mr. Rooney backed and shuffled himself out of my room, and, +followed by his faithful attendant, hurried down stairs, muttering a +series of self-gratulations, as he went, on the successful result of his +mission. Scarcely had he gone, when I heard the rapid stride of another +visitor, who, mounting four steps at a time, came along chanting, at the +top of his voice, + + “My two back teeth I will bequeath + To the Reverend Michael Palmer; + His wife has a tongue that'll match them well, + She's a devil of a scold, God d--n her!” + +“How goes it, Jack my hearty?” cried he, as he sprang into the room, +flinging his sabre into the corner, and hurling his foraging cap upon +the sofa. + +“You have been away, O'Grady? What became of you for the last two days?” + +“Down at the Curragh, taking a look at the nags for the Spring Meeting. +Dined with the bar at Naas; had a great night with them; made old Moore +gloriously tipsy, and sent him into court the next morning with the +overture to Mother Goose in his bag instead of his brief. Since daybreak +I have been trying a new horse in the Park, screwing him over all the +fences, and rushing him at the double rails in the pathway, to see if he +can't cross the country.” + +“Why the hunting season is nearly over.” + +“Quite true; but it is the Loughrea Steeple-chase I am thinking of. I +have promised to name a horse, and I only remembered last night that +I had but twenty-four hours to do it. The time was short, but by good +fortune I heard of this grey on my way up to town.” + +“And you think he'll do?” + +“He has a good chance, if one can only keep on his back; but what +between bolting, plunging, and rushing through his fences, he is not a +beast for a timid elderly gentleman. After all, one must have something: +the whole world will be there; the Rooneys are going; and that pretty +little girl with them. By-the-by, Jack, what do you think of Miss +Bellew?” + +“I can scarcely tell you; I only saw her for a moment, and then that +Hibernian hippopotamus, Mrs. Paul, so completely overshadowed her, there +was no getting a look at her.” + +“Devilish pretty girl, that she is; and one day or other, they say, will +have an immense fortune. Old Rooney always shakes his head when the idea +is thrown out, which only convinces me the more of her chance.” + +“Well, then, Master Phil, why don't you do something in that quarter?” + +“Well, so I should; but somehow, most unaccountably, you'll say, I don't +think I made any impression. To be sure, I never went vigorously to +work: I couldn't get over my scruples of making up to a girl who may +have a large fortune, while I myself am so confoundedly out at the +elbows; the thing would look badly, to say the least of it; and so, when +I did think I was making a little running, I only 'held in' the faster, +and at length gave up the race. _You_ are the man, Hinton. _Your_ +chances, I should say--” + +“Ah, I don't know.” + +Just at this moment the door opened, and Lord Dudley de Vere entered, +dressed in coloured clothes, cut in the most foppish style of the day, +and with his hands stuck negligently behind in his coat-pockets. +He threw himself affectedly into a chair, and eyed us both without +speaking. + +“I say, messieurs, Rooney or not Rooney? that's the question. Do we +accept this invitation for Friday?” + +“I do, for one,” said I, somewhat haughtily. + +“Can't be, my boy,” said O'Grady; “the thing is most unlucky: they have +a dinner at court that same day; our names are all on the list; and +thus we lose the Rooneys, which, from all I hear, is a very serious loss +indeed. Daley, Barrington, Harry Martin, and half a dozen others, the +first fellows of the day, are all to be there.” + +“What a deal they will talk,” yawned out Lord Dudley. “I feel rather +happy to have escaped it. There's no saying a word to the woman beside +you, as long as those confounded fellows keep up a roaring fire of what +they think wit. What an idea! to be sure; there is not a man among them +that can tell you the odds upon the Derby, nor what year there was a +dead heat for the St. Léger. That little girl the Rooneys have got +is very pretty, I must confess; but I see what they are at: won't do, +though. Ha! O'Grady, you know what I mean?” + +“Faith, I am very stupid this morning; can't say that I do.” + +“Not see it! It is a hollow thing; but perhaps you are in the scheme +too. There, you needn't look angry; I only meant it in joke--ha! ha! ha! +I say, Hinton, do you take care of yourself: Englishers have no chance +here; and when they find it won't do with _me_, they'll take you in +training.” + +“Anything for a _pis-aller_” said O'Grady, sarcastically; “but let +us not forget there is a levee to-day, and it is already past twelve +o'clock.” + +“Ha! to be sure, a horrid bore.” + +So saying, Lord Dudley lounged one more round the room, looked at +himself in the glass, nodded familiarly to his own image, and took his +leave. O'Grady soon followed; while I set about my change of dress with +all the speed the time required. + + + [Transcriber's note: The remainder of this file digitized + from a different print copy which uses single quotation + marks for all quotes.] + + + + +CHAPTER IX. THE BALL + +As the day of Mr. Rooney's grand entertainment drew near, our +disappointment increased tenfold at our inability to be present. +The only topic discussed in Dublin was the number of the guests, the +splendour and magnificence of the dinner, which was to be followed by a +ball, at which above eight hundred guests were expected. The band of +the Fermanagh militia, at that time the most celebrated in Ireland, was +brought up expressly for the occasion. All that the city could number of +rank, wealth, and beauty had received invitations, and scarcely a single +apology had been returned. + +'Is there no possible way.' said I, as I chatted with O'Grady on the +morning of the event; 'is there no chance of our getting away in time to +see something of the ball at least?' + +'None whatever,' replied he despondingly; 'as ill-luck would have it, +it's a command-night at the theatre. The duke has disappointed so often, +that he is sure to go now, and for the same reason he 'll sit the whole +thing out. By that time it will be half-past twelve, we shan't get back +here before one; then comes supper; and---- in fact, you know enough of +the habits of this place now to guess that after that there is very +little use of thinking of going anywhere.' + +'It is devilish provoking,' said I. + +'That it is: and you don't know the worst of it. I 've got rather a +heavy book on the Loughrea race, and shall want a few hundreds in a week +or so; and, as nothing renders my friend Paul so sulky as not eating his +dinners, it is five-and-twenty per cent, at least out of my pocket, from +this confounded _contretemps_. There goes De Vere. I say, Dudley, whom +have we at dinner to-day?' + +'Harrington and the Asgills, and that set,' replied he, with an insolent +shrug of his shoulder. + +'More of it, by Jove,' said O'Grady, biting his lip. 'One must be as +particular before these people as a young sub. at a regimental mess. +There's not a button of your coat, not a loop of your aiguillette, not +a twist of your sword-knot, little Charley won't note down; and as there +is no orderly-book in the drawing-room, he will whisper to his grace +before coffee.' + +'Whatabore!' + +'Ay, and to think that all that time we might have been up to the very +chin in fun. The Rooneys to-day will outdo even themselves. They've got +half-a-dozen new lords on trial; all the judges; a live bishop; and, +better than all, every pretty woman in the capital. I've a devil of a +mind to get suddenly ill, and slip off to Paul's for the dessert.' + +'No, no, that's out of the question; we must only put up with our +misfortunes as well as we can. As for me, the dinner here is, I think, +the worst part of the matter.' + +'I estimate my losses at a very different rate. First, there is the +three hundred, which I should certainly have had from Paul, and which +now becomes a very crooked contingency. Then there's the dinner and two +bottles--I speak moderately--of such burgundy as nobody has but himself. +These are the positive _bonâ fide_ losses: then, what do you say to my +chance of picking up some lovely girl, with a stray thirty thousand, +and the good taste to look out for a proper fellow to spend it with? +Seriously, Jack, I must think of something of that kind one of these +days. It's wrong to lose time; for, by waiting, one's chances diminish, +while becoming more difficult to please. So you see what a heavy blow +this is to me: not to mention my little gains at short-whist, which in +the half-hour before supper I may fairly set down as a fifty.' + +'Yours is a very complicated calculation; for, except the dinner, and +I suppose we shall have as good a one here, I have not been able to see +anything but problematic loss or profit.' + +'Of course you haven't: your English education is based upon grounds far +too positive for that; but we mere Irish get a habit of looking at the +possible as probable, and the probable as most likely. I don't think we +build castles more than our neighbours, but we certainly go live in them +earlier; and if we do, now and then, get a chill for our pains, why we +generally have another building ready to receive us elsewhere for change +of air.' + +'This is, I confess, somewhat strange philosophy.' + +'To be sure it is, my boy; for it is of pure native manufacture. +Every other people I ever heard of deduce their happiness from their +advantages and prosperity. As we have very little of one or the other, +we extract some fun out of our misfortunes; and, what between laughing +occasionally at ourselves, and sometimes at our neighbours, we push +along through life right merrily after all. So now, then, to apply +my theory: let us see what we can do to make the best of this +disappointment. Shall I make love to Lady Asgill? Shall I quiz Sir +Charles about the review? Or can you suggest anything in the way of a +little extemporaneous devilry, to console us for our disappointment? +But, come along, my boy, we'll take a canter; I want to show you +Moddiridderoo. He improves every day in his training; but they tell me +there is only one man can sit him across a country, a fellow I don't +much fancy, by-the-bye; but the turf, like poverty, leads us to form +somewhat strange acquaintances. Meanwhile, my boy, here come the nags; +and now for the park till dinner.' + +During our ride O'Grady informed me that the individual to whom he so +slightly alluded was a Mr. Ulick Burke, a cousin of Miss Bellew. This +individual, who by family and connections was a gentleman, had contrived +by his life and habits to disqualify himself from any title to the +appellation in a very considerable degree. Having squandered the entire +of his patrimony on the turf, he had followed the apparently immutable +law on such occasions, and ended by becoming a hawk, where he had begun +as a pigeon. For many years past he had lived by the exercise of those +most disreputable sources, his own wits. Present at every racecourse +in the kingdom, and provided with that undercurrent of information +obtainable from jockeys and stable-men, he understood all the intrigue, +all the low cunning of the course: he knew when to back the favourite, +when to give, when to take the odds; and, if upon any occasion he was +seen to lay heavily against a well-known horse, the presumption became +a strong one, that he was either 'wrong' or withdrawn. But his +qualifications ended not here; for he was also that singular anomaly in +our social condition--a gentleman-rider, ready upon any occasion to get +into the saddle for any one that engaged his services; a flat race, or +a steeplechase, all the same to him. His neck was his livelihood, and to +support, he must risk it. A racing-jacket, a pair of leathers and tops, +a heavy-handled whip, and a shot-belt, were his stock-in-trade, and he +travelled through the world a species of sporting Dalgetty, minus the +probity which made the latter firm to his engagements, so long as they +lasted. At least, report denied the quality to Mr. Burke; and those who +knew him well scrupled not to say that fifty pounds had exactly twice as +many arguments in its favour as five-and-twenty. + +So much then in brief concerning a character to whom I shall hereafter +have occasion to recur; and now to my own narrative. + +O'Grady's anticipations as to the Castle dinner were not in the least +exaggerated; nothing could possibly be more stiff or tiresome; the +entertainment being given as a kind of _ex officio_ civility, to the +commander-of-the-forces and his staff, the conversation was purely +professional, and never ranged beyond the discussion of military topics, +or such as bore in any way upon the army. Happily, however, its duration +was short. We dined at six, and by half-past eight we found ourselves at +the foot of the grand staircase of the theatre in Crow Street, with Mr. +Jones in the full dignity of his managerial costume waiting to receive +us. + +'A little late, I fear, Mr. Jones,' said his grace with a courteous +smile. 'What have we got?' + +'Your Excellency selected the _Inconstant_, said the obsequious manager; +while a lady of the party darted her eyes suddenly towards the duke, and +with a tone of marked sarcastic import, exclaimed-- + +'How characteristic!' + +'And the after-piece, what is it?' said the duchess, as she fussed her +way upstairs. + +'_Timour the Tartar_, your grace.' + +The next moment the thundering applause of the audience informed us that +their Excellencies had taken their places. Cheer after cheer resounded +through the building, and the massive lustre itself shook under the +deafening acclamations of the audience. The scene was truly a brilliant +one. The boxes presented a perfect blaze of wealth and beauty; nearly +every person in the pit was in full dress; to the very ceiling itself +the house was crammed. The progress of the piece was interrupted, +while the band struck up 'God Save the King,' and, as I looked upon +the brilliant dress-circle, I could not but think that O'Grady had been +guilty of some exaggeration when he said that Mrs. Rooney's ball was +to monopolise that evening the youth and the beauty of the capital The +National Anthem over, 'Patrick's Day' was called for loudly from every +side, and the whole house beat time to the strains of their native +melody, with an energy that showed it came as fully home to their hearts +as the air that preceded it. For ten minutes at least the noise and +uproar continued; and, although his grace bowed repeatedly, there seemed +no prospect to an end of the tumult, when a voice from the gallery +called out, 'Don't make a stranger of yourself, my lord; take a chair +and sit down.' A roar of laughter, increased as the duke accepted the +suggestion, shook the house; and poor Talbot, who all this time was +kneeling beside Miss Walstein's chair, was permitted to continue his +ardent tale of love, and take up the thread of his devotion where he had +left it twenty minutes before. + +While O'Grady, who sat in the back of the box, seemed absorbed in his +chagrin and disappointment, I myself became interested in the play, +which was admirably performed; and Lord Dudley, leaning affectedly +against a pillar, with his back towards the stage, scanned the house +with his vapid, unmeaning look, as though to say they were unworthy of +such attention at his hands. + +The comedy was at length over, and her grace, with the ladies of +her suite, retired, leaving only the Asgills and some members of +the household in the box with his Excellency. He apparently was much +entertained by the performance, and seemed most resolutely bent on +staying to the last. Before the first act, however, of the after-piece +was over, many of the benches in the dress-circle became deserted, and +the house altogether seemed considerably thinner. + +'I say, O'Grady,' said he, 'what are these good people about? There +seems to be a general move among them. Is there anything going on?' + +'Yes, your grace,' said Phil, whose impatience now could scarcely be +restrained, 'they are going to a great ball in Stephen's Green; the most +splendid thing Dublin has witnessed these fifty years.' + +'Ah, indeed! Where is it? Who gives it?' 'Mr. Rooney, sir, a very +well-known attorney, and a great character in the town.' + +'How good! And he does the thing well?' 'He flatters himself that he +rivals your grace.' 'Better still! But who has he? What are his people?' +'Every one; there is nothing too high, nothing too handsome, nothing too +distinguished for him. His house, like the Holyhead packet, is open +to all comers, and the consequence is, his parties are by far the +pleasantest thing going. One has such strange rencontres, sees such odd +people, hears such droll things; for, besides having everything like a +character in the city, the very gravest of Mr. Rooney's guests seems to +feel his house as a place to relax and unbend in. Thus, I should not be +the least surprised to see the Chief-Justice and the Attorney-General +playing small plays, nor the Bishop of Cork dancing Sir Roger de +Coverley.' + +'Glorious fun, by Jove! But why are you not there, lads? Ah, I see; +on duty. I wish you had told me. But come, it is not too late yet. Has +Hinton got a card?' + +'Yes, your grace.' + +'Well, then, don't let me detain you any longer. I see you are both +impatient; and 'faith, if I must confess it, I half envy you; and mind +and give me a full report of the proceedings to-morrow morning.' + +'How I wish your grace could only witness it yourself!' + +'Eh? Is it so very good, then?' + +'Nothing ever was like it; for, although the company is admirable, the +host and hostess are matchless.' + +'Egad! you've quite excited my curiosity. I say, O'Grady, would they +know me, think ye? Have you no uncle or country cousin about my weight +and build?' + +'Ah, my lord, that is out of the question; you are too well known to +assume an incognito. But still, if you wish to see it for a few minutes, +nothing could be easier than just to walk through the rooms and come +away. The crowd will be such, the thing is quite practicable, done in +that way.' + +'By Jove, I don't know; but if I thought---- To be sure, as you say, for +five minutes or so one might get through. Come, here goes; order up the +carriages. Now mind, O'Grady, I am under your management. Do the thing +as quietly as you can.' + +Elated at the success of his scheme, Phil scarcely waited for his grace +to conclude, but sprang down the box-lobby to give the necessary orders, +and was back again in an instant. + +'Don't you think I had better take this star off?' + +'Oh no, my lord, it will not be necessary. By timing the thing well, +we'll contrive to get your grace into the midst of the crowd without +attracting observation. Once there, the rest is easy enough.' + +Many minutes had not elapsed ere we reached the corner of Grafton +Street. Here we became entangled with the line of carriages, which +extended more than half-way round Stephen's Green, and, late as was the +hour, were still thronging and pressing onwards towards the scene +of festivity. O'Grady, who contrived entirely to engross his grace's +attention by many bits of the gossip and small-talk of the day, did not +permit him to remark that the viceregal liveries and the guard of honour +that accompanied us enabled us to cut the line of carriages, and +taking precedence of all others, arrive at the door at once. Indeed, so +occupied was the duke with some story at the moment, that he was half +provoked as the door was flung open, and the clattering clash of the +steps interrupted the conversation. + +'Here we are, my lord,' said Phil. + +'Well, get out, O'Grady. Lead on. Don't forget it is my first visit +here; and you, I fancy, know the map of the country.' + +The hall in which we found ourselves, brilliantly lighted and thronged +with servants, presented a scene of the most strange confusion and +tumult; for, such was the eagerness of the guests to get forward, many +persons were separated from their friends: turbaned old ladies called +in cracked voices for their sons to rescue them, and desolate daughters +seized distractedly the arm nearest them, and implored succour with an +accent as agonising as though on the eve of shipwreck. Mothers screamed, +fathers swore, footmen laughed, and high above all came the measured +tramp of the dancers overhead, while fiddles, French horns, and +dulcimers scraped and blew their worst, as if purposely to increase the +inextricable and maddening confusion that prevailed. + +'Sir Peter and Lady Macfarlane!' screamed the servant at the top of the +stairs. + +'Counsellor and Mrs. Blake!' + +'Captain O'Ryan of the Rifles!' + +'Lord Dumboy-----' + +'Dunboyne, you villain!' + +'Ay, Lord Dunboyne and five ladies!' + +Such were the announcements that preceded us as we wended our way slowly +on, while I could distinguish Mr. Rooney's voice receiving and welcoming +his guests, for which purpose he used a formula, in part derived from +the practice of an auction-room. + +'Walk in, ladies and gentlemen, walk in. Whist, tea, dancing, negus, and +blind-hookey--delighted to see you--walk in'; and so, _da capo_, only +varying the ritual when a lord or a baronet necessitated a change of +title. + +'You're quite right, O'Grady; I wouldn't have lost this for a great +deal,' whispered the duke. + +'Now, my lord, permit me,' said Phil. 'Hinton and I will engage Mr. +Rooney in conversation, while your grace can pass on and mix with the +crowd.' + +'Walk in, walk in, ladies and---- Ah! how are you, Captain? This is +kind of you---- Mr. Hinton, your humble servant---- Whist, dancing, +blind-hookey, and negus--walk in--and, Captain Phil,' added he in a +whisper, 'a bit of supper by-and-by below-stairs.' + +'I must tell you an excellent thing, Rooney, before I forget it,' said +O'Grady, turning the host's attention away from the door as he spoke, +and inventing some imaginary secret for the occasion; while I followed +his grace, who now was so inextricably jammed up in the dense mob that +any recognition of him would have been very difficult, if not actually +impossible. + +For some time I could perceive that the duke's attention was devoted to +the conversation about him. Some half-dozen ladies were carrying on a +very active and almost acrimonious controversy on the subject of dress; +not, however, with any artistic pretension of regulating costume or +colour, not discussing the rejection of an old or the adoption of a +new mode, but with a much more practical spirit of inquiry they were +appraising and valuing each other's finery, in the most sincere and +simple way imaginable. + +'Seven-and-sixpence a yard, my dear; you 'll never get it less, I assure +you.' 'That's elegant lace, Mrs. Mahony; was it run, ma'am?' Mrs. Mahony +bridled at the suggestion, and replied that, though neither her lace nor +her diamonds were Irish---- 'Six breadths, ma'am, always in the skirt,' +said a fat, little, dumpy woman, holding up her satin petticoat in +evidence. + +'I say, Hinton,' whispered the duke, 'I hope they won't end by an +examination of us. But what the deuce is going on here?' + +This remark was caused by a very singular movement in the room. +The crowd which had succeeded to the dancers, and filled the large +drawing-room from end to end, now fell back to either wall, leaving a +space of about a yard wide down the entire centre of the room, as though +some performance was about to be enacted or some procession to march +there. + +'What can it be?' said the duke; 'some foolery of O'Grady's, depend upon +it; for look at him up there talking to the band.' + +As he spoke, the musicians struck up the grand march in _Blue Beard_, +and Mrs. Paul Rooney appeared in the open space, in all the plenitude of +her charms--a perfect blaze of rouge, red feathers, and rubies--marching +in solemn state. She moved along in time to the music, followed by Paul, +whose cunning eyes twinkled with more than a common shrewdness, as he +peered here and there through the crowd. They came straight towards +where we were standing; and while a whispered murmur ran through the +room, the various persons around us drew back, leaving the duke +and myself completely isolated. Before his grace could recover his +concealment, Mrs. Rooney stood before him. The music suddenly ceased; +while the lady, disposing her petticoats as though the object were to +conceal all the company behind her, curtsied down to the very floor. + +'Ah, your grace,' uttered in an accent of the most melting tenderness, +were the only words she could speak, as she bestowed a look of still +more speaking softness. 'Ah, did I ever hope to see the day when your +Highness would honour----' + +'My dear madam,' said the duke, taking her hand with great courtesy, +'pray don't overwhelm me with obligations. A very natural, I hope a very +pardonable desire, to witness hospitality I have heard so much of, has +led me to intrude thus uninvited upon you. Will you allow me to make Mr. +Rooney's acquaintance?' + +Mrs. Rooney moved gracefully to one side, waving her hand with the air +of a magician about to summons an attorney from the earth, when suddenly +a change came over his grace's features; and, as he covered his mouth +with his handkerchief, it was with the greatest difficulty he refrained +from an open burst of laughter. The figure before him was certainly not +calculated to suggest gravity. + +Mr. Paul Rooney for the first time in his life found himself the host +of a viceroy, and, amid the fumes of his wine and the excitement of +the scene, entertained some very confused notion of certain ceremonies +observable on such occasions. He had read of curious observances in the +East, and strange forms of etiquette in China, and probably, had the +Khan of Tartary dropped in on the evening in question, his memory would +have supplied him with some hints for his reception; but, with the +representative of Britannic Majesty, before whom he was so completely +overpowered, he could not think of, nor decide upon anything. A very +misty impression flitted through his mind, that people occasionally +knelt before a Lord Lieutenant; but whether they did so at certain +moments, or as a general practice, for the life of him he could not +tell. While, therefore, the dread of omitting a customary etiquette +weighed with him on the one hand, the fear of ridicule actuated him on +the other; and thus he advanced into the presence with bent knees and a +supplicating look eagerly turned towards the duke, ready at any moment +to drop down or stand upright before him as the circumstances might +warrant. + +[Illustration: 128] + +Entering at once into the spirit of the scene, the duke bowed with +the most formal courtesy, while he vouchsafed to Mr. Rooney some few +expressions of compliment. At the same time, drawing Mrs. Rooney's arm +within his own, he led her down the room, with a grace and dignity of +manner no one was more master of than himself. As for Paul, apparently +unable to stand upright under the increasing load of favours that +fortune was showering upon his head, he looked over his shoulder at Mrs. +Rooney, as she marched off in triumph, with the same exuberant triumph +Young used to throw into Othello, as he passionately exclaims-- + +'Excellent wench I perdition catch my soul, but I do love thee!' + +Not but that, at the very moment in question, the object of it was most +ungratefully oblivious of Mr. Rooney and his affection. + +Had Mrs. Paul Rooney been asked on the morning after her ball, what +was her most accurate notion of Elysian bliss, she probably would have +answered--leaning upon a viceroy's arm in her own ball-room, under the +envious stare and jealous gaze of eight hundred assembled guests. Her +flushed look, her flashing eye, the trembling hand with which she waved +her fan, the proud imperious step, all spoke of triumph. In fact, +such was the halo of reverence, such the reflected brightness the +representative of monarchy then bore, she felt it a prouder honour to +be thus escorted, than if the Emperor of all the Russias had deigned +to grace her mansion with his presence. How she loved to run over every +imaginable title she conceived applicable to his rank, 'Your Royal +Highness,' 'Your Grace,' 'Your noble Lordship,' varying and combining +them like a a child who runs his erring fingers over the keys of a +pianoforte, and is delighted with the efforts of his skill. + +While this kingly scene was thus enacting, the ballroom resumed its +former life and vivacity. This indeed was owing to O'Grady. No sooner +had his scheme succeeded of delivering up the duke into the hands of the +Rooneys, than he set about restoring such a degree of turmoil, tumult, +noise, and merriment, as, while it should amuse his grace, would rescue +him from the annoyance of being stared at by many who never had walked +the boards with a live viceroy. + +'Isn't it gloriously done, Hinton?' he whispered in my ear as he passed. +'Now lend me your aid, my boy, to keep the whole thing moving. Get a +partner as quick as you can, and let us try if we can't do the honours +of the house, while the master and mistress are basking in the sunshine +of royal favour.' + +As he spoke, the band struck up 'Haste to the Wedding!' The dancers +assumed their places--Phil himself flying hither and thither, arranging, +directing, ordering, countermanding, providing partners for persons he +had never seen before, and introducing individuals of whose very names +he was ignorant. + +'Push along, Hinton,' said he; 'only set them going. Speak to every +one--half the men in the room answer to the name of “Bob,” and all the +young ladies are “Miss Magees.” Then go it, my boy; this is a great +night for Ireland!' + +This happy land, indeed, which, like a vast powder-magazine, only wants +but the smallest spark to ignite it, is always prepared for an explosion +of fun. No sooner than did O'Grady, taking out the fattest woman in the +room, proceed to lead her down the middle to the liveliest imaginable +country-dance, than at once the contagious spirit flew through the +room, and dancers pressed in from every side. Champagne served round in +abundance, added to the excitement; and, as eight-and-thirty couple made +the floor vibrate beneath them, such a scene of noise, laughter, uproar, +and merriment ensued, as it were difficult to conceive or describe. + + + + +CHAPTER X. A FINALE TO AN EVENING + +A ball, like a battle, has its critical moment: that one short and +subtle point, on which its trembling fate would seem to hesitate, ere it +incline to this side or that. In both, such is the time for generalship +to display itself--and of this my friend O'Grady seemed well aware; for, +calling up his reserve for an attack in force, he ordered strong +negus for the band; and ere many minutes, the increased vigour of the +instruments attested that the order had been attended to. + +'Right and left!' 'Hands across!' 'Here we are!' 'This way, Peter!' 'Ah! +Captain, you 're a droll crayture!' 'Move along, alderman!' 'That negus +is mighty strong!' 'The Lord grant the house is-----' + +Such and such like phrases broke around me, as, under the orders of +the irresistible Phil, I shuffled down the middle with a dumpy little +school-girl, with red hair and red shoes; which, added to her capering +motion, gave her a most unhappy resemblance to a cork fairy. + +'You are a trump, Jack,' said Phil. 'Never give in. I never was in such +spirits in my life. Two bottles of champagne under my belt, and a cheque +for three hundred Paul has just given me without a scrape of my pen; it +might have been five if I had only had presence of mind.' + +'Where is Miss Bellew all this time?' inquired I. + +'I only saw her a moment; she looks saucy, and won't dance.' + +My pride, somewhat stimulated by a fact which I could not help +interpreting in Miss Bellew's favour, I went through the rooms in search +of her, and at length discovered her in a boudoir, where a whist-party +were assembled. She was sitting upon a sofa, beside a tall, +venerable-looking old man, to whom she was listening with a semblance of +the greatest attention as I entered. I had some time to observe her, +and could not help feeling struck how much handsomer she was than I had +formerly supposed. Her figure, slightly above the middle size, and +most graceful in all its proportions, was, perhaps, a little too much +disposed to embonpoint; the character of her features, however, seemed +to suit, if not actually to require as much. Her eyes of deep blue, set +well beneath her brow, had a look of intensity in them that evidenced +thought; but the other features relieved by their graceful softness +this strong expression, and a nose short and slightly, very slightly +_retroussé_, with a mouth, the very perfection of eloquent and winning +softness, made ample amends to those who prefer charms purely feminine +to beauty of a severer character. Her hair, too, was of that deep auburn +through which a golden light seems for ever playing; and this, contrary +to the taste of the day, she wore simply braided upon her temple and +cheeks, marking the oval contour of her face, and displaying, by this +graceful coquetry, the perfect chiselling of her features. Let me add +to this, that her voice was low and soft in all its tones; and, if the +provincialism with which she spoke did at first offend my ear, I learned +afterwards to think that the breathing intonations of the west lent a +charm of their own to all she said, deepening the pathos of a simple +story, or heightening the drollery of a merry one. Yes, laugh if you +will, ye high-bred and high-born denizens of a richer sphere, whose +ears, attuned to the rhythm of Metastasio, softly borne on the strains +of Donizetti, can scarce pardon the intrusion of your native tongue in +the everyday concerns of life--smile if it so please ye; but from the +lips of a lovely woman, a little, _a very little_ of the brogue is +most seductive. Whether the subject be grave or gay, whether mirth or +melancholy be the mood, like the varnish upon a picture, it brings out +all the colour into strong effect, brightening the lights, and deepening +the shadows; and then, somehow, there is an air of _naïveté_, a tone of +simplicity about it, that appeals equally to your heart as your hearing. + +Seeing that the conversation in which she was engaged seemed to engross +her entire attention, I was about to retire without addressing her, +when suddenly she turned round and her eyes met mine. I accordingly came +forward, and, after a few of the commonplace civilities of the moment, +asked her to dance. + +'Pray, excuse me, Mr. Hinton; I have declined already several times. I +have been fortunate enough to meet with a very old and dear friend of my +father----' + +'Who is much too attached to his daughter to permit her to waste an +entire evening upon him. No, sir, if you will allow me, I will resign +Miss Bellew to your care.' + +She said something in a low voice, to which he muttered in reply. The +only words which I could catch--'No, no; very different, indeed; this +is a most proper person'--seemed, as they were accompanied by a smile +of much kindness, in some way to concern me; and the next moment Miss +Bellew took my arm and accompanied me to the ball-room. + +As I passed the sofa where the duke and Mrs. Rooney were still seated, +his grace nodded familiarly to me, with a gesture of approval; while +Mrs. Paul clasped both her hands before her with a movement of ecstasy, +and seemed about to bestow upon us a maternal blessing. Fearful of +incurring a scene, Miss Bellew hastened on, and, as her arm trembled +within mine, I could perceive how deeply the ridicule of her friend's +position wounded her own pride. + +Meanwhile, I could just catch the tones of Mrs. Rooney's voice, +explaining to the duke Miss Bellow's pedigree. 'One of the oldest +families of the land, your grace; came over with Romulus and Remus; and, +if it were not for Oliver Cromwell and the Danes----' The confounded +fiddles lost the rest, and I was left in the dark, to guess what these +strange allies had inflicted upon the Bellew family. + +The dancing now began, and only between the intervals of the cotillon +had I an opportunity of conversing with my partner. Few and brief as +these occasions were, I was delighted to find in her a tone and manner +quite different from anything I had ever met before. Although having +seen scarcely anything of the world, her knowledge of character seemed +an instinct, and her quick appreciation of the ludicrous features of +many of the company was accompanied by a naïve expression, and at the +same time a witty terseness of phrase, that showed me how much real +intelligence lay beneath that laughing look. Unlike my fair cousin, Lady +Julia, her raillery never wounded: hers were the fanciful combinations +which a vivid and sparkling imagination conjures up, but never the +barbed and bitter arrows of sarcasm. Catching up in a second any passing +absurdity, she could laugh at the scene, yet seem to spare the actor. +Julia, on the contrary, with what the French call _l'esprit moqueur_, +never felt that her wit had hit its mark till she saw her victim +writhing and quivering beneath her. + +There is always something in being the partner of the belle of a +ball-room. The little bit of envy and jealousy, whose limit is to be the +duration of a waltz or quadrille, has somehow its feeling of pleasure. +There is the reflective flattery in the thought of a fancied preference, +that raises one in his own esteem; and, as the muttered compliments and +half-spoken praises of the bystanders fall upon your ears, you seem to +feel that you are a kind of shareholder in the company, and ought to +retire from business with your portion of the profits. Such, I know, +were some of my feelings at the period in question; and, as I pulled up +my stock and adjusted my sash, I looked upon the crowd about me with a +sense of considerable self-satisfaction, and began really for the first +time to enjoy myself. + +Scarcely was the dance concluded, when a general movement was +perceptible towards the door, and the word 'supper,' repeated from voice +to voice, announced that the merriest hour in Irish life had sounded. +Delighted to have Miss Bellew for my companion, I edged my way into the +mass, and was borne along on the current. + +The view from the top of the staircase was sufficiently amusing: a +waving mass of feathers of every shape and hue, a crowd of spangled +turbans, bald and powdered heads, seemed wedged inextricably together, +swaying backwards and forwards with one impulse, as the crowd at the +door of the supper-room advanced or receded. The crash of plates and +knives, the jingling of glasses, the popping of champagne corks, told +that the attack had begun, had not even the eager faces of those nearer +the door indicated as much. _Nulli oculi retrorsum_, seemed the motto of +the day, save when some anxious mother would turn a backward and +uneasy glance towards the staircase, where her daughter, preferring a +lieutenant to a lobster, was listening with elated look to his tale of +love and glory. 'Eliza, my dear, sit next me.'--'Anna, my love, come +down here.' These brief commands, significantly as they were uttered, +would be lost to those for whom intended, and only served to amuse +the bystanders, and awaken them to a quicker perception of the passing +flirtation. Some philosopher has gravely remarked, that the critical +moments of our life are the transitions from one stage or state of our +existence to another; and that our fate for the future depends in +a great measure upon those hours in which we emerge from infancy to +boyhood, from boyhood to manhood, from manhood to maturer years. Perhaps +the arguments of time might be applied to place, and we might thus +be enabled to show how a staircase is the most dangerous portion of a +building. I speak not here of the insecurity of the architecture, +nor, indeed, of any staircase whose well-tempered light shines down at +noonday through the perfumed foliage of a conservatory; but of the same +place, a blaze of lamplight, about two in the morning, crowded, +crammed, and creaking by an anxious and elated throng pressing towards a +supper-room. Whether it is the supper or the squeeze, the odour of balmy +lips, or the savoury smell of roast ducks--whether it be the approach to +silk tresses, or _sillery mousseux_--whatever the provocation, I cannot +explain it; but the fact remains: one is tremendously given in such a +place, at such a time, to the most barefaced and palpable flirtation. So +strongly do I feel on this point, that, were I a lawgiver, I would never +award damages for a breach of contract, where the promise was made on a +staircase. + +As for me, my acquaintance with Miss Bellew was not of more than an +hour's standing. During that time we had contrived to discuss the +ball-room, its guests, its lights, its decorations, the music, the +dancers--in a word, all the commonplaces of an evening party; thence we +wandered on to Dublin, society in general, to Ireland, and Irish habits, +and Irish tastes; quizzed each other a little about our respective +peculiarities, and had just begun to discuss the distinctive features +which characterise the softer emotions in the two nations, when the +announcement of supper brought us on the staircase. _À propos_, or _mal +à propos_', this turn of our conversation, let the reader decide by what +I have already stated; so it was, however, and in a little nook of the +landing I found myself with my fair companion's arm pressed closely to +my side, engaged in a warm controversy on the trite subject of English +coldness of manner. Advocating my country, I deemed that no more fitting +defence could be entered, than by evidencing in myself the utter absence +of the frigidity imputed. Champagne did something for me; Louisa's +bright eyes assisted; but the staircase, the confounded staircase, +crowned all. In fact, the undisguised openness of Miss Bellew's manner, +the fearless simplicity with which she had ventured upon topics a +hardened coquette would not dare to touch upon, led me into the common +error of imputing to flirtation what was only due to the untarnished +freshness of happy girlhood. + +Finding my advances well received, I began to feel not a little proud of +my success, and disposed to plume myself upon the charm of my eloquence, +when, as I concluded a high-flown and inflated phrase of sentimental +absurdity, she suddenly turned round, fixed her bright eyes upon me, and +burst out into a fit of laughter. + +'There, there! pray don't try that! No one but an Irishman ever succeeds +in blarney. It is our national dish, and can never be seasoned by a +stranger.' + +This pull-up, for such it most effectually was, completely unmanned me. +I tried to stammer out an explanation, endeavoured to laugh, coughed, +blundered, and broke down; while, merciless in her triumph, she only +laughed the more, and seemed to enjoy my confusion. + +With such a failure hanging over me, I felt happy when we reached the +supper-room; and the crash, din, and confusion about us once more broke +in upon our conversation. It requires far less nerve for the dismounted +jockey, whose gay jacket has been rolled in the mud of a racecourse, +resuming his saddle, to ride in amid the jeers and scoffs of ten +thousand spectators, than for the gallant who has blundered in the full +tide of a flirtation, to recover his lost position, and sustain the +current of his courtship. The sarcasm of our sex is severe enough, +Heaven knows; but no raillery, no ridicule, cuts half so sharp or half +so deep as the bright twinkle of a pretty girl's eye, when, detecting +some exhibition of dramatised passion, some false glitter of pinchbeck +sentiment, she exchanges her look of gratified attention for the merry +mockery of a hearty laugh. No tact, no _savoir faire_, no knowledge of +the world, no old soldierism that ever I heard of, was proof against +this. To go back is bad; to stand still, worse; to go on, impossible. + +The best--for I believe it is the only thing to do--is to turn approver +on your own misdeeds, and join in the laughter against yourself. +Now this requires no common self-mastery, and an _aplomb_ few +young gentlemen under twenty possess--hence both my failure and its +punishment. + +That staircase which, but a moment before, I wished might be as long as +a journey to Jerusalem, I now escaped from with thankfulness. Concealing +my discomfiture as well as I was able, I bustled about, and finally +secured a place for my companion at one of the side-tables. We were too +far from the head of the table, but the clear ringing of his grace's +laughter informed me of his vicinity; and, as I saw Miss Bellew shrank +from approaching that part of the room, I surrendered my curiosity to +the far more grateful task of cultivating her acquaintance. + +All the ardour of my attentions--and I had resumed them with nearly as +much warmth, although less risk of discomfiture, for I began to feel +what before I had only professed--all the preoccupation of my mind, +could not prevent my hearing high above the crash and clatter of the +tables the rich roundness of Mrs. Rooney's brogue, as she recounted to +the duke some interesting trait of the O'Toole family, or adverted to +some classical era in Irish history, when, possibly, Mecænas was mayor +of Cork, or Diogenes an alderman of Skinner's Alley. + +'Ah, my dear!--the Lord forgive me! I mean your grace.' + +'I shall never forgive you, Mrs. Rooney, if you change the epithet.' + +'Ah, your grace's worship, them was fine times; and the husband of an +O'Toole, in them days, spent more of his time harrying the country with +his troops at his back, than driving about in an old gig full of writs +and latitats, with a process-server behind him.' + +Had Mr. Rooney, who at that moment was carving a hare in total +ignorance of his wife's sarcasm, only heard the speech, the chances +are ten to one he would have figured in a steel breastplate and an iron +head-piece before the week was over. I was unable to hear more of the +conversation, notwithstanding my great wish to do so, as a movement of +those next the door implied that a large instalment of the guests who +had not supped would wait no longer, but were about to make what Mr. +Rooney called a forcible entry on a summary process, and eject the +tenant in possession. + +[Illustration: 1-0092] + +We accordingly rose, and all (save the party around the viceroy) along +with us, once more to visit the ball-room, where already dancing had +begun. While I was eagerly endeavouring to persuade Miss Bellew that +there was no cause or just impediment to prevent her dancing the next +set with me, Lord Dudley de Vere lounged affectedly forward, and mumbled +out some broken indistinct phrases, in which the word da-ance was alone +audible. Miss Bellew coloured slightly, turned her eyes towards me, +curtsied, took his arm, and the next moment was lost amid the crowd. + +I am not aware of any readier method of forming a notion of perpetual +motion than watching the performance of Sir Roger de Coverley at an +evening party in Dublin. It seems to be a point of honour never to give +in; and thus the same complicated figures, the same mystic movements +that you see in the beginning, continue to succeed each other in a +never-ending series. You endeavour in vain to detect the plan, to +unravel the tangled web of this strange ceremony; but somehow it +would seem as if the whole thing was completely discretionary with the +dancers, there being only one point of agreement among them, which is, +whenever blown out of breath, to join in a vigorous hands-round; and, +the motion being confined to a shuffling of the feet, and a shaking +of the elbows, little fatigue is incurred. To this succeeds a capering +forward movement of a gentleman, which seemingly magnetises an opposite +lady to a similar exhibition; then, after seizing each other rapturously +by the hands, they separate to run the gauntlet in and out down +the whole line of dancers, to meet at the bottom, when, apparently +reconciled, they once more embrace. What follows, the devil himself may +tell. As for me, I heard only laughing, tittering, now and then a slight +scream, and a cry of 'Behave, Mr. Murphy!' etc.; but the movements +themselves were conic sections to me, and I closed my eyes as I sat +alone in my corner, and courted sleep as a short oblivion to the scene. +Unfortunately I succeeded; for, wild and singular as the gestures, the +looks, and the voices were before, they now became to my dreaming senses +something too terrible. I thought myself in the centre of some hobgoblin +orgie, where demons, male and female, were performing their fantastic +antics around me, grinning hideously, and uttering cries of menacing +import. Tarn O'Shanter's vision was a respectable tea-party of Glasgow +matrons compared to my imaginings; for so distorted were the pictures +of my brain, that the leader of the band, a peaceable-looking old man +in shorts and spectacles, seemed to me like a grim-visaged imp, who +flourished his tail across the strings of his instrument in lieu of a +bow. + +I must confess that the dancers, without any wish on my part to detract +from their efforts, had not the entire merit of this transmutation. +Fatigue, for the hour was late, chagrin at being robbed of my +partner, added to the heat and the crowd, had all their share in the +mystification. Besides, if I must confess it, Mr. Rooney's champagne +was strong. My friend O'Grady, however, seemed but little of my opinion; +for, like the master-spirit of the scene, he seemed to direct every +movement and dictate every change--no touch of fatigue, no semblance of +exhaustion about him. On the contrary, as the hour grew later, and the +pale grey of morning began to mingle with the glare of wax-lights, the +vigour of his performance only increased, and several new steps were +displayed, which, like a prudent general, he seemed to have kept in +reserve for the end of the engagement. And what a sad thing is a ball as +it draws towards the close! What an emblem of life at a similar period! + +How much freshness has faded! how much of beauty has passed away! how +many illusions are dissipated! how many dreams the lamplight and chalk +floors have called into life fly like spirits with the first beam of +sunlight! The eye of proud bearing is humbled now; the cheek, whose +downy softness no painter could have copied, looks pale, and wan, and +haggard; the beaming looks, the graceful bearing, the elastic step, +where are they? Only to be found where youth--bright, joyous, and +elastic youth-unites itself to beauty. + +Such were my thoughts as the dancers flew past, and many whom I had +remarked at the beginning of the evening as handsome and attractive, +seemed now without a trace of either--when suddenly Louisa Bellew came +by, her step as light, her every gesture as graceful, her cheek as +blooming, and her liquid eye as deeply beaming as when first I saw +her. The excitement of the dance had slightly flushed her face, and +heightened the expression its ever-varying emotions lent it. + +Handsome as I before had thought her, there was a look of pride about +her now that made her lovely to my eyes. As I continued to gaze after +her, I did not perceive for some time that the guests were rapidly +taking their leave, and already the rooms were greatly thinned. Every +moment now, however, bore evidence of the fact: the unceasing roll of +carriages to the door, the clank of the steps, the reiterated cry to +drive on, followed by the call for the next carriage, all betokened +departure. Now and then, too, some cloaked and hooded figure would +appear at the door of the drawing-room, peering anxiously about for +a daughter, a sister, or a friend who still lingered in the dance, +averring it 'was impossible to go, that she was engaged for another +set.' The disconsolate gestures, the impatient menaces of the shawled +spectres--for, in truth, they seemed like creatures of another world +come back to look upon the life they left--are of no avail: the +seductions of the 'major' are stronger than the frowns of mamma, and +though a rowing may come in the morning, she is resolved to have a reel +at night. + +An increased noise and tumult below-stairs at the same moment informed +me that the supper-party were at length about to separate. I started +up at once, wishing to see Miss Bellew again ere I took my leave, when +O'Grady seized me by the arm and hurried me away. + +'Come along, Hinton! Not a moment to lose; the duke is going.' + +'Wait an instant,' said I, 'I wish to speak to----' + +'Another time, my dear fellow; another time. The duke is delighted with +the Rooneys, and we are going to have Paul knighted!' + +With these words he dragged me along, dashing down the stairs like a +madman. As we reached the door of the dining-room we found his grace, +who, with one hand on Lord Dudley's shoulder, was endeavouring to steady +himself by the other. + +'I say, O'Grady, is that you? Very powerful Burgundy this---- It 's not +possible it can be morning!' + +'Yes, your grace--half-past seven o'clock.' + +'Indeed, upon my word, your friends are very charming people. What did +you say about knighting some one? Oh, I remember: Mr. Rooney, wasn't it? +Of course, nothing could be better!' + +'Come, Hinton, have you got a sword?' said O'Grady; 'I 've mislaid mine +somehow. There, that 'll do. Let us try and find Paul now.' + +Into the supper-room we rushed; but what a change was there! The +brilliant tables, resplendent with gold plate, candelabras, and flowers, +were now despoiled and dismantled. On the floor, among broken glasses, +cracked decanters, pyramids of jelly, and pagodas of blancmange, lay +scattered in every attitude the sleeping figures of the late guests. +Mrs. Rooney alone maintained her position, seated in a large chair, her +eyes closed, a smile of Elysian happiness playing upon her lips. Her +right arm hung gracefully over the side of the chair, where lately his +grace had kissed her hand at parting. Overcome, in all probability, +by the more than human happiness of such a moment, she had sunk into +slumber, and was murmuring in her dreams such short and broken phrases +as the following:--'Ah, happy day!--What will Mrs. Tait say?--The +lord mayor, indeed!--Oh, my poor head! I hope it won't be turned.--Holy +Agatha, pray for us! your grace, pray for us I--Isn't he a beautiful +man? Hasn't he the darling white teeth?' + +[Illustration: 144] + +'Where's Paul?' said O'Grady; 'where's Paul, Mrs. Rooney?' as he jogged +her rather rudely by the arm. + +'Ah, who cares for Paul?' said she, still sleeping; 'don't be bothering +me about the like of him.' + +'Egad! this is conjugal, at any rate,' said Phil + +'I have him!' cried I; 'here he is!' as I stumbled over a short, thick +figure, who was propped up in a corner of the room. There he sat, his +head sunk upon his bosom, his hands listlessly resting on the floor. +A large jug stood beside him, in the concoction of whose contents he +appeared to have spent the last moments of his waking state. We shook +him, and called him by his name, but to no purpose; and, as we lifted up +his head, we burst out a-laughing at the droll expression of his face; +for he had fallen asleep in the act of squeezing a lemon in his teeth, +the half of which not only remained there still, but imparted to his +features the twisted and contorted expression that act suggests. + +'Are you coming, O'Grady?' now cried the duke impatiently. + +'Yes, my lord,' cried Phil, as he rushed towards the door. 'This is too +bad, Hinton: that confounded fellow could not possibly be moved. I'll +try and carry him.' As he spoke, he hurried back towards the sleeping +figure of Mr. Rooney, while I made towards the duke. + +As Lord Dudley had gone to order up the carriages, his grace was +standing alone at the foot of the stairs, leaning his back against the +banisters, his eyes opening and shutting alternately as his head nodded +every now and then forward, overcome by sleep and the wine he had drunk. +Exactly in front of him, but crouching in the attitude of an Indian +monster, sat Corny Delany. To keep himself from the cold, he had +wrapped himself up in his master's cloak, and the only part of his face +perceptible was the little wrinkled forehead, and the malicious-looking +fiery eyes beneath it, firmly fixed on the duke's countenance. + +'Give me your sword,' said his grace, turning to me, in a tone half +sleeping, half commanding; 'give me your sword, sir!' + +Drawing it from the scabbard, I presented it respectfully. + +'Stand a little on one side, Hinton. Where is he? Ah! quite right. Kneel +down, sir; kneel down, I say!' These words, addressed to Corny, produced +no other movement in him than a slight change in his attitude, to enable +him to extend his expanded hand above his eyes, and take a clearer view +of the duke. + +'Does he hear me, Hinton? Do you hear me, sir?' + +'Do you hear his grace?' said I, endeavouring with a sharp kick of my +foot to assist his perceptions. + +'To be sure I hear him,' said Corny; 'why wouldn't I hear him?' + +'Kneel down, then,' said I. + +'Devil a bit of me'll kneel down. Don't I know what he's after well +enough? _Ach na bocklish!_ Sorrow else he ever does nor make fun of +people.' + +'Kneel down, sir!' said his grace, in an accent there was no refusing to +obey. 'What is your name?' + +'Oh, murther! Oh, heavenly Joseph!' cried Corny, as I hurled him down +upon his knees, 'that I 'd ever live to see the day!' + +'What is his d----d name?' said the duke passionately. + +'Corny, your grace--Corny Delany.' + +'There, that'll do,' as with a hearty slap of the sword, not on his +shoulder, but on his bullet head, he cried out, 'Rise, Sir Corny +Delany!' + +'Och, the devil a one of me will ever get up out of this same spot. Oh, +wirra, wirra! how will I ever show myself again after this disgrace?' + +[Illustration: 148] + +Leaving Corny to his lamentations, the duke walked towards the door. +Here above a hundred people were now assembled, their curiosity excited +in no small degree by a picket of light dragoons, who occupied the +middle of the street, and were lying upon the ground, or leaning on +their saddles, in all the wearied attitudes of a night-watch. In +fact, the duke had forgotten to dismiss his guard of honour, who had +accompanied him to the theatre, and thus had spent the dark hours of the +night keeping watch and ward over the proud dwelling of the Rooneys. A +dark frown settled on the duke's features as he perceived the mistake, +and muttered between his teeth, 'How they will talk of this in England!' +The next moment, bursting into a hearty fit of laughter, he stepped +into the carriage, and amid a loud cheer from the mob, by whom he was +recognised, drove rapidly away. + +Seated beside his grace, I saw nothing more of O'Grady, whose efforts to +ennoble the worthy attorney only exposed him to the risk of a black eye; +for no sooner did Paul perceive that he was undergoing rough treatment +than he immediately resisted, and gave open battle. + +O'Grady accordingly left him, to seek his home on foot, followed by +Corny, whose cries and heart-rending exclamations induced a considerable +crowd of well-disposed citizens to accompany them to the Castle gate. +And thus ended the great Rooney ball. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. A NEGOTIATION + +From what I have already stated, it may be inferred that my acquaintance +with the Rooneys was begun under favourable auspices. Indeed, from the +evening of the ball the house was open to me at all hours; and, as the +hour of luncheon was known to every lounger about town, by dropping in +about three o'clock one was sure to hear all the chit-chat and gossip +of the day. All the dinners and duels of the capital, all its rows and +runaway matches, were there discussed, while future parties of pleasure +were planned and decided on, the Rooney equipages, horses, servants, and +cellar being looked upon as common property, the appropriation of which +was to be determined on by a vote of the majority. + +At all these domestic parliaments O'Grady played a prominent part. He +was the speaker and the whipper-in; he led for both the government and +the opposition; in fact, since the ever-memorable visit of the viceroy +his power in the house was absolute. How completely they obeyed, and how +implicitly they followed him, may be guessed, when I say that he even +persuaded Mrs. Rooney herself not only to abstain from all triumph on +the subject of their illustrious guest, but actually to maintain a kind +of diplomatic silence on the subject; so that many simple-minded people +began to suspect his grace had never been there at all, and that poor +Mrs. Rooney, having detected the imposition, prudently held her tongue +and said nothing about the matter. As this influence might strike my +reader as somewhat difficult in its exercise, and also as it presents a +fair specimen of my friend's ingenuity, I cannot forbear mentioning the +secret of its success. + +When the duke awoke late in the afternoon that followed Mrs. Rooney's +ball, his first impression was one bordering on irritation with O'Grady. +His quick-sightedness enabled him at once to see how completely he had +fallen into the trap of his worthy aide-de-camp; and although he had +confessedly spent a very pleasant evening, and laughed a great deal, now +that all was over, he would have preferred if the whole affair could +be quietly consigned to oblivion, or only remembered as a good joke for +after dinner. The scandal and the éclat it must cause in the capital +annoyed him considerably; and he knew that before a day passed over, +the incident of the guard of honour lying in bivouac around their horses +would furnish matter for every caricature-shop in Dublin. Ordering +O'Grady to his presence, and with a severity of manner in a great degree +assumed, he directed him to remedy, as far as might be, the consequences +of this blunder, and either contrive to give a totally different version +of the occurrence, or else by originating some new subject of scandal to +eclipse the memory of this unfortunate evening. + +O'Grady promised and pledged himself to everything; vowed that he would +give such a turn to the affair that nobody would ever believe a word of +the story; assured the duke (God forgive him!) that however ridiculous +the Rooneys at night, by day they were models of discretion; and at +length took his leave to put his scheme into execution, heartily glad +to discover that his grace had forgotten all about Corny and the +knighthood, the recollection of which might have been attended with very +grave results to himself. + +So much for his interview with the duke. Now for his diplomacy with Mrs. +Rooney! + +It was about five o'clock on the following day when O'Grady cantered up +to the door. Giving his horse to his groom, he dashed boldly upstairs, +passed through the ante-chamber and the drawing-room, and tapping +gently at the door of a little boudoir, opened it at the same moment and +presented himself before Mrs. Paul. + +That amiable lady, reclining _à la_ Princess OToole, was gracefully +disposed on a small sofa, regarding with fixed attention a little +plaster bust of his grace, which, with considerable taste and propriety, +was dressed in a blue coat and bright buttons, with a star on the +breast, a bit of sky-blue satin representing the ribbon of the Bath. +Nothing was forgotten; and a faint attempt was even made to represent +the colouring of the viceregal nose, which I am bound to confess was not +flattered in the model. + +'Ah, Captain, is it you?' said Mrs. Paul, with a kind of languishing +condescension very different from her ordinary reception of a Castle +aide-de-camp. 'How is his grace this evening?' + +Drawing his chair beside her, Phil proceeded to reply to her questions +and assure her that whatever her admiration for the duke, the feeling +was perfectly mutual. 'Egad,' said he, 'the thing may turn out very ill +for me when the duchess finds out that it was all my doing. Speaking +in confidence to you, my dear Mrs. Paul, I may confess that although +without exception she is the most kind, amiable, excellent soul +breathing, yet she has one fault. We all have our faults.' + +'Ah!' sighed Mrs. Rooney, as she threw down her eyes as though to say, +'That's very true, but you will not catch me telling what mine is.' + +'As I was observing, there never was a more estimable being save in this +one respect---- You guess it? I see you do.' + +'Ah, the creature, she drinks!' + +The captain found it not a little difficult to repress a burst of +laughter at Mrs. Rooney's suggestion. He did so, however, and proceeded: +'No, my dear madam, you mistake. Jealousy is her failing; and when I +tell you this, and when I add, that unhappily for her the events of +last night may only afford but too much cause, you will comprehend the +embarrassment of my present position.' + +Having said this, he walked up and down the room for several minutes +as if sunk in meditation, while he left Mrs. Rooney to ruminate over an +announcement, the bare possibility of which was ecstasy itself. To be +the rival of a peeress; that peeress a duchess; that duchess the lady of +the viceroy! These were high thoughts indeed. What would Mrs. Riley say +now? How would the Maloneys look? Wouldn't Father Glynn be proud to meet +her at the door of Liffey Street Chapel in full pontificals as she drove +up, who knows but with a guard of honour beside her? Running on in this +way, she had actually got so far as to be discussing with herself what +was to be done with Paul--not that her allegiance was shaken towards +that excellent individual--not a single unworthy thought crossed her +mind--far from it. Poor Mrs. Rooney was purity herself; she merely +dreamed of those outward manifestations of the viceroy's preference, +which were to procure for her consideration in the world, a position +in society, and those attentions from the hands of the great and the +titled, which she esteemed at higher price than the real gifts of +health, wealth, and beauty, so bounteously bestowed upon her by +Providence. + +She had come then to that difficult point in her mind as to what was +to be done with Paul; what peculiar course of training could he be +submitted to, to make him more presentable in the world; how were +they to break him off whisky-and-water and small jokes? Ah,' she was +thinking, 'it's very hard to make a real gentleman out of such materials +as grog and drab gaiters,' when suddenly O'Grady, wiping his forehead +with his handkerchief, and then flourishing it theatrically in the air, +exclaimed-- + +'Yes, Mrs. Rooney, everything depends on you. His grace's visit--I have +just been with him talking the whole thing over--must be kept a profound +secret. If it ever reach the ears of the duchess we are ruined and +undone.' + +Here was a total overthrow to all Mrs. Paul's speculations; here was a +beautiful castle uprooted from its very foundation. All her triumph, all +her vaunted superiority over her city acquaintances was vanishing like +a mirage before her! What was the use of his coming after all? What +was the good of it, if not to be spoken of, if not talked over at tea, +written of in notes, discussed at dinner, and displayed in the morning +papers? Already was her brow contracted, and a slight flush of her cheek +showed the wily captain that resistance was in preparation. + +'I know, my dear Mrs. Paul, how gratifying it would be for even the +highest of the land to speak of his grace's condescension in such +terms as you might speak; but then, after all, how very fleeting such +a triumph! Many would shrug their shoulders, and not believe the story. +Some of those who believed would endeavour to account for it as a joke: +one of those odd wild fancies the duke is ever so fond of'--here she +reddened deeply. 'In fact, the malevolence and the envy of the world +will give a thousand turns to the circumstance. Besides that, after all, +they would seem to have some reason on their side; for the publicity of +the affair must for ever prevent a repetition of the visit; whereas, +on the other side, by a little discretion, by guarding our own +secret'--here Phil looked knowingly in her eyes, as though to say they +had one--'not only will the duke be delighted to continue his intimacy, +but from the absence of all mention of the matter, all display on the +subject, the world will be ten times more disposed to give credence to +the fact than if it were paragraphed in every newspaper in the kingdom.' + +This was hitting the nail on the head with a vengeance. Here was a +picture, here a vision of happiness! Only to think of the duke dropping +in, as a body might say, to take his bit of dinner, or his dish of tea +in the evening, just in a quiet, homely, family way! She thought she saw +him sitting with his feet on the fender, talking about the king and the +queen, and the rest of the royal family, just as he would of herself and +Paul; and her eyes involuntarily turned towards the little bust, and two +round full tears of pure joy trickled slowly down her cheeks. + +Yielding at length to these and similar arguments, Mrs. Rooney gave in +her adhesion, and a treaty was arranged and agreed upon between the high +contracting parties, which ran somewhat to this effect:-- + +In the first place, for the enjoyment of certain advantages to be +hereafter more fully set forth, the lady was bound to maintain in all +large companies, balls, dinners, drums, and déjeuners, a rigid silence +regarding the duke's visit to her house, never speaking of, nor alluding +to it, in any manner whatever, and, in fact, conducting herself in all +respects as if such a thing had never taken place. + +Secondly, she was forbidden from making any direct inquiries in public +respecting the health of the duke or the duchess, or exercising any +overt act of personal interest in these exalted individuals. + +Thirdly, so long as Mrs. Rooney strictly maintained the terms of the +covenant, nothing in the foregoing was to preclude her from certain +other privileges--namely, blushing deeply when the duke's name was +mentioned, throwing down her eyes, gently clasping her hands, and even +occasionally proceeding to a sigh; neither was she interdicted from +regarding any portion of her domicile as particularly sacred in +consequence of its viceregal associations. A certain arm-chair might be +selected for peculiar honours, and preserved inviolate, etc. + +And lastly, nevertheless, notwithstanding that in all large assemblies +Mrs. Rooney was to conduct herself with the reserve and restrictions +aforesaid, yet in small _réunions de famille_--this O'Grady purposely +inserted in French, for, as Mrs. Paul could not confess her ignorance +of that language, the interpretation must rest with himself--she was to +enjoy a perfect liberty of detailing his grace's advent, entering into +all its details, discussing, explaining, expatiating, inquiring with a +most minute particularity concerning his health and habits, and, in +a word, conducting herself in all respects, to use her own expressive +phrase, 'as if they were thick since they were babies.' + +Armed with this precious document, formally signed and sealed by both +parties, O'Grady took his leave of Mrs. Rooney--not, indeed, in his +usual free-and-easy manner, but with the respectful and decorous reserve +of one addressing a favourite near the throne. Nothing could be more +perfect than Phil's profound obeisance, except perhaps the queenly +demeanour of Mrs. Rooney herself; for, with the ready tact of a woman, +she caught up in a moment the altered phase of her position, and in the +reflective light of O'Grady's manner she learned to appreciate her own +brilliancy. + +'From this day forward,' muttered O'Grady, as he closed the door behind +him and hurried downstairs--'from this day forward she 'll be greater +than ever. Heaven help the lady mayoress that ventures to shake hands +with her, and the attorney's wife will be a bold woman that asks her to +a tea-party henceforth!' + +With these words he threw himself upon his horse and cantered off +towards the park to inform the duke that all was happily concluded, and +amuse him with a sight of the great Rooney treaty, which he well knew +would throw the viceroy into convulsions of laughter. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. A WAGER + +In a few weeks after the events I have mentioned, the duke left Ireland +to resume his parliamentary duties in the House of Lords, where some +measure of considerable importance was at that time under discussion. +Into the hands of the lords justices, therefore, the government _ad +interim_ was delivered; while upon Mrs. Paul Rooney devolved the more +pleasing task of becoming the leader of fashion, the head and fountain +of all the gaieties and amusements of the capital. Indeed, O'Grady +half hinted that his grace relied upon her to supply his loss, which +manifestation of his esteem, so perfectly in accordance with her own +wishes, she did not long hesitate to profit by. + +Had a stranger, on his first arrival in Dublin, passed along that part +of Stephen's Green in which the 'Hotel Rooney,' as it was familiarly +called, was situated, he could not have avoided being struck, not only +with the appearance of the house itself, but with that of the strange +and incongruous assembly of all ranks and conditions of men that lounged +about its door. The house, large and spacious, with its windows of +plate-glass, its Venetian blinds, its gaudily gilt and painted balcony, +and its massive brass knocker, betrayed a certain air of pretension, +standing as it did among the more sombre-looking mansions where the +real rank of the country resided. Clean windows and a bright knocker, +however--distinctive features as they were in the metropolis of those +days--would not have arrested the attention of the passing traveller to +the extent I have supposed, but that there were other signs and sights +than these. + +At the open hall door, to which you ascended by a flight of granite +steps, lounged some half-dozen servants in powdered heads and gaudy +liveries--the venerable porter in his leather chair, the ruddy +coachman in his full-bottomed wig, tall footmen with bouquets in their +button-holes, were here to be seen reading the morning papers, or +leisurely strolling to the steps to take a look at the weather, and +cast a supercilious glance at the insignificant tide of population +that flowed on beneath them; a lazy and an idle race, they toiled not, +neither did they spin, and I sincerely trust that Solomon's costume bore +no resemblance to theirs. + +More immediately in front of the house stood a mixed society of +idlers, beggars, horseboys, and grooms, assembled there from motives of +curiosity or gain. Indeed, the rich odour of savoury viands that issued +from the open kitchen windows and ascended through the area to the +nostrils of those without, might in its appetising steam have brought +the dew upon the lips of greater gourmands than they were. All that +French cookery could suggest to impart variety to the separate meals of +breakfast, luncheon, dinner, and supper, here went forward unceasingly; +and the beggars who thronged around the bars, and were fed with the +crumbs from the rich man's table, became by degrees so habituated to the +delicacies and refinements of good living, that they would have turned +up their noses with contempt at the humble and more homely fare of the +respectable shopkeeper. Truly, it was a strange picture to see these +poor and ragged men as they sat in groups upon the steps and on the +bare flagway, exposed to every wind of heaven, the drifting rain soaking +through their frail and threadbare garments, yet criticising, with +practical acumen, the savoury food before them. Consommés, ragouts, +pâtés, potages, jellies, with an infinity of that smaller grapeshot of +epicurism with which fine tables are filled, all here met a fair and a +candid appreciation. + +[Illustration: 159] + +A little farther off, and towards the middle of the street, stood +another order of beings, who, with separate and peculiar privileges, +maintained themselves as a class apart; these were the horseboys, +half-naked urchins, whose ages varied from eight to fourteen, but whose +looks of mingled cunning and drollery would defy any guess as to their +time of life, who here sported in all the wild, untrammelled liberty of +African savages. The only art they practised was to lead up and down the +horses of the various visitors whom the many attractions of the Hotel +Rooney brought daily to the house. And here you saw the proud and +pampered steed, with fiery eye and swelling nostrils, led about by this +ambulating mass of rags and poverty, whose bright eye wandered ever +from his own tattered habiliments to the gorgeous trappings and gold +embroidery of the sleek charger beside him. In the midst of these, +such as were not yet employed, amused themselves by cutting summersets, +standing on their heads, walking crab-fashion, and other classical +performances, which form the little distractions of life for this +strange sect. + +Jaunting-cars there were too, whose numerous fastenings of rope and +cordage looked as though they were taken to pieces every night and +put together in the morning; while the horse, a care-worn and +misanthropic-looking beast, would turn his head sideways over the shaft +to give a glance of compassionating scorn at the follies and vanities of +a world he was sick of. Not so the driver: equally low in condition, and +fully as ragged in coat, the droll spirit that made his birthright was, +with him, a lamp that neither poverty nor penury could quench. Ever +ready with his joke, never backward with his repartee, prepared to +comfort you by assurances of the strength of his car and the goodness of +his horse, while his own laughing look gave the lie to his very words, +he would persuade you that with him alone there was safety, while it was +a risk of life and limb to travel with his rivals. + +These formed the ordinary _dramatis persono_, while every now and then +some flashy equipage, with armorial bearings and showy liveries, would +scatter the crowd right and left, set the led horses lashing among +the bystanders, and even break up the decorous conviviality of a +dinner-party gracefully disposed upon the flags. Curricles, tandems, +tilburies, and dennets were constantly arriving and departing. Members +of Daly's with their green coats and buff waistcoats, whiskered dragoons +and plumed aides-de-camp, were all mixed up together, while on the open +balcony an indiscriminate herd of loungers telegraphed the conversation +from the drawing-room to the street, and thus all the _bons mots_, all +the jests, all the witticisms that went forward within doors, found +also a laughing auditory without; for it is a remarkable feature of this +singular country, that there is no turn of expression whose raillery +is too delicate, no repartee whose keenness is too fine, for the +appreciation of the poorest and meanest creature that walks the street. +Poor Paddy, if the more substantial favours of fortune be not your lot, +nature has linked you by a strong sympathy with tastes, habits, and +usages which, by some singular intuition, you seem thoroughly to +comprehend. One cannot dwell long among them without feeling this, and +witnessing how generally, how almost universally, poverty of condition +and wealth of intellect go hand in hand together; and, as it is only +over the bleak and barren surface of some fern-clad heath the wildfire +flashes through the gloom of night, so it would seem the more brilliant +firework of fancy would need a soil of poverty and privation to produce +it. + +But, at length, to come back, the Rooneys now were installed as the +great people of the capital. Many of the _ancien régime_, who held out +sturdily before, and who looked upon the worthy attorney in the light +of a usurper, now gave in their allegiance, and regarded him as the true +monarch. What his great prototype effected by terror, he brought about +by turtle; and, if Napoleon consolidated his empire and propped his +throne by the bayonets of the grand army, so did Mr. Rooney establish +his claims to power by the more satisfactory arguments which, +appealing not only to the head, but to the stomach, convince while they +conciliate. You might criticise his courtesy, but you could not condemn +his claret. You might dislike his manners, but you could not deny +yourself his mutton. Besides, after all, matters took pretty much the +same turn in Paris as in Dublin; public opinion ran strong in both +cases. The mass of the world consists of those who receive benefits, and +he who confers them deserves to be respected. We certainly thought so; +and among those of darker hue who frequented Mr. Rooney's table, three +red-coats might daily be seen, whose unchanged places, added to their +indescribable air of at-homeishness, bespoke them as the friends of the +family. + +O'Grady, at Mrs. Rooney's right hand, did the honours of the soup; Lord +Dudley, at the other end of the table, supported Mr. Rooney, while to my +lot Miss Bellew fell. But, as our places at table never changed, there +was nothing marked in my thus every day finding myself beside her, and +resuming my place on our return to the drawing-room. To me, I confess, +she formed the great attraction of the house. Less imbued than my friend +O'Grady with the spirit of fun, I could not have gone on from day to day +to amuse myself with the eccentricities of the Rooneys, while I could +not, on the other hand, have followed Lord Dudley's lead, and continued +to receive the hospitalities of a house while I sneered at the +pretensions of its owner. + +Under any circumstances Louisa Bellew might be considered a very +charming person; but, contrasted with those by whom she was +surrounded, her attractions were very great. Indeed, her youth, her +light-heartedness, and the buoyancy of her spirit, concealed to a great +degree the sorrow it cost her to be associated with her present hosts; +for, although they were kind to her, and she felt and acknowledged their +kindness, yet the humiliating sense of a position which exposed her to +the insolent familiarity of the idle, the dissipated, or the underbred +visitors of the house, gradually impressed itself upon her manner, and +tempered her mild and graceful nature with a certain air of hauteur and +distance. A circumstance, slight in itself, but sufficiently indicative +of this, took place some weeks after what I have mentioned. + +Lord Dudley de Vere, who, from his rank and condition, was looked upon +as a kind of privileged person in the Rooney family, sitting rather +later than usual after dinner, and having drunk a great deal of wine, +offered a wager that, on his appearance in the drawing-room, not only +would he propose for, but be accepted by, any unmarried lady in the +room. The puppyism and coxcombry of such a wager might have been +pardoned, were it not that the character of the individual, when sober, +was in perfect accordance with this drunken boast. The bet, which was +for three hundred guineas, was at once taken up; and one of the party +running hastily up to the drawing-room, obtained the names of the ladies +there, which, being written on slips of paper, were thrown into a hat, +thus leaving chance to decide upon whom the happy lot was to fall. + +'Mark ye, Upton,' cried Lord Dudley, as he prepared to draw forth his +prize--'mark ye, I didn't say I 'd marry her.' + +'No, no,' resounded from different parts of the room; 'we understand you +perfectly.' + +'My bet,' continued he, 'is this: I have booked it.' With these words +he opened a small memorandum-book and read forth the following +paragraph:--'Three hundred with Upton that I don't ask and be accepted +by any girl in Paul's drawing-room this evening, after tea; the choice +to be decided by lottery. Isn't that it?' + +'Yes, yes, quite right, perfectly correct,' said several persons round +the table. 'Come, my lord, here is the hat.' + +'Shake them up well, Upton.' + +'So here goes,' said Herbert, as affectedly tucking up the sleeve of +his coat, he inserted two fingers and drew forth a small piece of paper +carefully folded in two. 'I say, gentlemen, this is your affair; it +doesn't concern me.' With these words he threw it carelessly on the +table, and resuming his seat, leisurely filled his glass, and sipped his +wine. + +'Come, read it, Blake; read it up! Who is she?' + +'Gently, lads, gently; patience for one moment. How are we to know if +the wager be lost or won? Is the lady herself to declare it?' + +'Why, if you like it; it is perfectly the same to me.' + +'Well, then,' rejoined Blake, 'it is--Miss Bellew!' + +No sooner was the name read aloud, than, instead of the roar of laughter +which it was expected would follow the announcement, a kind of awkward +and constrained silence settled on the party. Mr. Rooney himself, who +felt shocked beyond measure at this result, had been so long habituated +to regard himself as nothing at the head of his own table, accepting, +not dictating, its laws, that, much as he may have wished to do so, did +not dare to interfere to stay any further proceedings. But many of those +around the table who knew Sir Simon Bellew, and felt how unsuitable +and inadmissible such a jest as this would be, if practised upon _his_ +daughter, whispered among themselves a hope thai the wager would be +abandoned, and never thought of more by either party. + +'Yes, yes,' said Upton, who was an officer in a dragoon regiment, and +although of a high family and well connected, was yet very limited in +his means. 'Yes, yes, I quite agree. This foolery might be very good fun +with some young ladies we know, but with Miss Bellew the circumstances +are quite different; and, for _my_ part, I withdraw from the bet.' + +'Eh--aw! Pass down the claret, if you please. You withdraw from the bet, +then? That means you may pay me three hundred guineas; for d--n me, if +I do! No, no; I am not so young as that. I haven't lost fifteen thousand +on the Derby without gaining some little insight into these matters. +Every bet is a p. p., if not stated to be the reverse. I leave it to any +gentleman in the room.' + +'Come, come, De Vere,' said one, 'listen to reason, my boy!' + +'Yes, Dudley,' cried another, 'only think over the thing. You must +see----' + +'I only wish to see a cheque for three hundred. And I 'll not be done,' + +'Sir!' said Upton, springing from his chair, as the blood mounted to his +face and temples, 'did you mean that expression to apply to me?' + +'Sit down, Mr. Upton, for the love of Heaven! Sit down; do, sir; his +lordship never meant it at all. See, now, I'll pay the money myself. +Give me a pen and ink. I'll give you a cheque on the bank this minute. +What the devil signifies a trifle like that!' stammered out poor Paul, +as he wiped his forehead with his napkin, and looked the very picture +of terror. 'Yes, my lord and gentlemen of the jury, we agree to pay the +whole costs of this suit.' + +A perfect roar of laughter interrupted the worthy attorney, and as it +ran from one end of the table to the other, seemed to promise a happier +issue to this unpleasant discussion. + +'There, now,' said honest Paul, 'the Lord be praised, it is all settled! +So let us have another cooper up, and then we 'll join the ladies.' + +'Then I understand it thus,' said Lord Dudley: 'you pay the money for +Mr. Upton, and I may erase the bet from my book?' + +'No, sir!' cried Upton passionately. 'I pay my own wagers; and if you +still insist----' + +'No, no, no!' cried several voices; while, at the same time, to put an +end at once to any further dispute, the party suddenly rose to repair to +the drawing-room. + +On passing through the hall, chance, or perhaps design, on Lord Dudley's +part, brought him beside Upton. 'I wish you to understand, once more,' +said he, in a low whisper, 'that I consider this bet to hold.' + +'Be it so,' was the brief reply, and they separated. + +O'Grady and myself, having dined that day in the country, only arrived +in the Rooneys' drawing-room as the dinner-party was entering it. +Contrary to their wont, there was less of loud talking, less of +uproarious and boisterous mirth, as they came up the stairs, than usual +O'Grady remarked this to me afterwards. At the time, however, I paid +but little attention to it. The fact was, my thoughts were principally +running in another channel Certain innuendoes of Lord Dudley de Vere, +certain broad hints he had ventured upon even before Mrs. Rooney, had +left upon my mind a kind of vague, undecided impression that, somehow or +other, I was regarded as their dupe. Miss Bellow's manner was certainly +more cordial, more kind to me than to any of the others who visited the +house. The Rooneys themselves omitted nothing to humour my caprices, and +indulge my fancies, affording me, at all times, opportunities of +being alone with Louisa, joining in her walks, and accompanying her on +horseback. Could there be anything in all this? Was this the quarter in +which the mine was to explode? This painful doubt hanging upon my mind I +entered the drawing-room. + +The drawing-room of 42 Stephen's Green had often afforded me an amusing +study. Its strange confusion of ranks and classes; its _mélange_ of +lordly loungers and city beauties; the discordant tone of conversation, +where each person discussed the very thing he knew least of; the +blooming daughters of a lady mayoress talking 'fashion and the musical +glasses'; while the witless scion of a noble house was endeavouring to +pass himself as a sayer of good things. These now, however, afforded me +neither interest nor pleasure; bent solely upon one thought, eager alone +to ascertain how far Louisa Bellow's manner towards me was the fruit of +artifice, or the offspring of an artless and unsuspecting mind, I left +O'Grady to entertain a whole circle of turbaned ladies, while I directed +my course towards the little boudoir where Louisa usually sat. + +In a house where laxity of etiquette and a freedom of manner prevailed +to the extent I have mentioned, Miss Bellow's more cautious and reserved +demeanour was anything but popular; and, as there was no lack of beauty, +men found it more suitable to their lounging and indolent habits to +engage those in conversation who were less _exigeante_ in their demands +for amusement, and were equally merry themselves, as mercifully disposed +when the mirth became not only easy but free. + +Miss Bellew, therefore, was permitted to indulge many of her tastes +unmolested; and as one of these was to work at embroidery in the small +room in question, few persons intruded themselves upon her--and even +they but for a short time, as if merely paying their required homage to +a member of the family. + +As I approached the door of the boudoir, my surprise was not a little to +hear Lord Dudley de Vere's voice, the tones of which, though evidently +subdued by design, had a clear distinctness that made them perfectly +audible where I stood. + +'Eh! you can't mean it, though. 'Pon my soul, it is too bad! You know I +shall lose my money if you persist.' + +'I trust Lord Dudley de Vere is too much of a gentleman to make my +unprotected position in this house the subject of an insolent wager. I'm +sure nothing in my manner could ever have given encouragement to such a +liberty.' + +'There, now, I knew you didn't understand it. The whole thing was a +chance; the odds were at least eighteen to one against you--ha, ha! I +mean in your favour. Devilish good mistake that of mine. They were all +shaken up in a hat. You see there was no collusion--could be none.' + +'My lord, this impertinence becomes past enduring; and if you +persist----' + +'Well, then, why not enter into the joke? It'll be a devilish expensive +one to me if you don't; that I promise you. What a confounded fool I +was not to draw out when Upton wished it! D--n it! I ought to have known +there is no trusting to a woman.' As he said this, he walked twice or +thrice hurriedly to and fro, muttering as he went, with ill-suppressed +passion: 'Laughed at, d--n me! that I shall be, all over the kingdom. To +lose the money is bad enough; but the ridicule of the thing, that's the +devil! Stay, Miss Bellew, stop one minute; I have another proposition +to make. Begad, I see nothing else for it. This, you know, was all a +humbug--mere joke, nothing more. Now, I can't stand the way I shall be +quizzed about it at all. So, here goes! hang me, if I don't make the +proposition in real earnest! There, now, say yes at once, and we 'll see +if I can't turn the laugh against them.' + +There was a pause for an instant, and then Miss Bellew spoke. I would +have given worlds to have seen her at that moment; but the tone of her +voice, firm and unshaken, sank deep into my heart. + +'My lord,' said she, 'this must now cease; but, as your lordship is fond +of a wager, I have one for your acceptance. The sum shall be your own +choosing. Whatever it be, I stake it freely, that, as I walk from this +room, the first gentleman I meet--you like a chance, my lord, and you +shall have one--will chastise you before the world for your unworthy, +unmanly insult to a weak and unoffending girl.' + +As she spoke, she sprang from the room, her eyes flashing with indignant +fire, while her cheek, pale as death, and her heaving bosom, attested +how deep was her passion. As she turned the corner of the door, her eyes +met mine. In an instant the truth flashed upon her mind. She knew I had +overheard all that passed. She gasped painfully for breath; her lips +moved with scarce a sound; a violent trembling shook her from head to +foot, and she fell fainting to the ground. + +I followed her with my eyes as they bore her from the room; and then, +without a thought for anything around me, I hurriedly left the room, +dashed downstairs, and hastened to my quarters in the Castle. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. A NIGHT OF TROUBLE + +Until the moment when I reached the room and threw myself into a chair, +my course respecting Lord Dudley de Vere seemed to present not a single +difficulty. The appeal so unconsciously made to me by Miss Bellew, not +less than my own ardent inclination, decided me on calling him out. +No sooner, however, did calm reflection succeed to the passionate +excitement of the moment, than at once I perceived the nicety of +my position. Under what possible pretext could I avow myself as her +champion, not as of her own choosing? for I knew perfectly well that +the words she uttered were merely intended as a menace, without the +slightest idea of being acted on. To suffer her name, therefore, to +transpire in the affair would be to compromise her in the face of the +world. Again, the confusion and terror she evinced when she beheld me at +the door proved to me that, perhaps of all others, I was the last person +she would have wished to have been a witness to the interview. + +What was to be done? The very difficulty of the affair only made my +determination to go through with it the stronger. I have already said my +inclination also prompted me to this course. Lord Dudley's manner to me, +without being such as I could make a plea for resenting, had ever been +of a supercilious and almost offensive character. If there be anything +which more deeply than another wounds our self-esteem, it is the +assumed superiority of those whom we heartily despise. More than once +he ventured upon hinting at the plans of the Rooneys respecting me, +suggesting that their civilities only concealed a deeper object; and all +this he did with a tone of half insolence that irritated me ten times +more than an open affront. Often and often had I promised myself that a +day of retribution must come. Again and again did I lay this comfort to +my heart--that, one time or other, his habitual prudence would desert +him; that his transgression would exceed the narrow line that separates +an impertinent freedom from an insult, and then---- Now this time had +come at last. Such a chance might not again present itself, and must not +be thrown away. + +My reasonings had come to this point, when a tremendous knocking at my +door, and a loud shout of 'Jack! Jack Hinton!' announced O'Grady. This +was fortunate. He was the only man whom I knew well enough to consult +in such a matter; and of all others, he was the one on whose advice and +counsel I could place implicit reliance. + +'What the deuce is all this, my dear Hinton?' said he, as he grasped +my hand in both of his. 'I was playing whist with the tabbies when it +occurred, and saw nothing of the whole matter. She fainted, didn't she? +What the deuce could you have said or done?' + +'Could I have said or done! What do you mean, O'Grady?' + +'Come, come, be frank with me; what was it? If you are in a scrape, I am +not the man to leave you in it.' + +'First of all,' said I, assuming with all my might a forced and +simulated composure, 'first of all, tell me what you heard in the +drawing-room.' + +'What I heard? Egad, it was plain enough. In the beginning, a young lady +came souse down upon the floor; screams and smelling-bottles followed; a +general running hither and thither, in which confusion, by-the-bye, our +adversaries contrived to manage a new deal, though I had four by honours +in my hand. Old Miss Macan upset my markers, drank my negus, and then +fainted off herself, with a face like an apothecary's rose.' + +'Yes, yes; but,' said I impatiently, 'what of Miss Bellew?' + +'What of her! that you must know best. You know, of course, what +occurred between you.' + +'My dear O'Grady,' said I, with passionate eagerness, 'do be explicit. +What did they say in the drawing-room? What turn has been given to this +affair?' + +''Faith, I can't tell you; I am as much in the dark as my neighbours. +After the lady was carried out and you ran away, they all began talking +it over. Some said you had been proposing an elopement: others said you +hadn't. The Rileys swore you had asked to have your picture back again; +and old Mrs. Ram, who had planted herself behind a curtain to overhear +all, forgot, it seems, that the window was open, and caught such a cold +in her head, and such a deafness, that she heard nothing. She says, +however, that your conduct was abominable; and in fact, my dear Hinton, +the whole thing is a puzzle to us all.' + +'And Lord Dudley de Vere,' said I, 'did he offer no explanation?' + +'Oh yes, something pretty much in his usual style; pulled up his stock, +ran his fingers through his hair, and muttered some indistinct phrases +about lovers' quarrels.' + +'Capital!' exclaimed I with delight; 'nothing could be better, nothing +more fortunate than this! Now, O'Grady, listen to my version of the +matter, and then tell me how to proceed in it.' + +I here detailed to my friend every circumstance that had occurred from +the moment of my entering to my departure from the drawing-room. 'As to +the wager,' said I, 'what it was when made, and with whom, I know not.' + +'Yes, yes; I know all that,' interrupted O'Grady; 'I have the whole +thing perfectly before me. Now let us see what is to be done: and first +of all, allow me to ring the bell for some sherry and water--that's the +head and front of a consultation.' + +When O'Grady had mixed his glass, sipped, corrected, and sipped again, +he beat the bars of the grate a few moments contemplatively with the +poker, and then turning to me, gravely said: 'We must parade him, Jack, +that's certain. Now for the how. Our friend Dudley is not much given to +fighting, and it will be rather difficult to obtain his consent. Indeed, +if it had not been for the insinuation he threw out, after you had left +the room, I don't well see how you could push him to it.' + +'Why, my dear O'Grady, wasn't there quite cause enough?' + +'Plenty, no doubt, my dear Jack, as far as feeling goes; but there are +innumerable cases in this life which, like breaches of trust in law, +escape with slight punishment. Not but that, when you owe a man a +grudge, you have it always in your power to make him sensible of it; and +among gentlemen there is the same intuitive perception of a contemplated +collision as you see at a dinner-party, when one fellow puts his hand on +a decanter; his friend at the end of the table smiles, and cries, “With +pleasure my boy!” There is one thing, however, in your favour.' + +'What is that?' said I eagerly. + +'Why, he has lost his wager; that's pretty clear; and, as that won't +improve his temper, it's possible--mind, I don't say more, but it's +possible he may feel better disposed to turn his irritation into valour; +a much more common process in metaphysical chemistry than the world wots +of. Under these circumstances the best thing to do, as it strikes me, +is to try the cause, as our friend Paul would say, on the general issue; +that is, to wait on Herbert; tell him we wish to have a meeting; that, +after what has passed--that 's a sweet phrase isn't it? and has got more +gentlemen carried home on a door than any other I know--that after what +has passed, the thing is unavoidable, and the sooner it comes off the +better. He can't help referring me to a friend, and he can scarcely find +any one that won't see the thing with our eyes. It's quite clear Miss +Bellow's name must be kept out of the matter; and now, my boy, if you +agree with me, leave the whole affair in my hands, tumble into bed, and +go to sleep as fast as you can.' + +'I leave it all to you, Phil,' said I, shaking his hand warmly, 'and to +prove my obedience, I'll be in bed in ten minutes.' + +O'Grady finished the decanter of sherry, buttoned up his coat, and +slapping his boots with his cane, sauntered downstairs, whistling an +Irish quick step as he went. + +When I had half accomplished my undressing, I sat down before the fire, +and, unconsciously to myself, fell into a train of musing about my +present condition. I was very young; knew little of the world: the very +character of my education had been so much under the eye and direction +of my mother, that my knowledge was even less than that of the +generality of young men of my own time of life. It is not surprising, +then, if the events which my new career hurried so rapidly one upon +another, in some measure confused me. Of duelling I had, of course, +heard repeatedly, and had learned to look upon the necessity of it as +more or less imperative upon every man in the outset of his career. Such +was, in a great measure, the tone of the day; and the man who attained +a certain period of life, without having had at least one affair of +honour, was rather suspected of using a degree of prudent caution in +his conduct with the world than of following the popular maxim of the +period, which said, 'Be always ready with the pistol.' + +The affair with Lord De Vere, therefore, I looked upon rather as a lucky +hit; I might as well make my début with him as with any other. So much, +then, for the prejudice of the period. Now, for my private feelings on +the subject, they were, I confess, anything but satisfactory. Without +at all entering into any anticipation I might have felt as to the +final result, I could not avoid feeling ashamed of myself for my total +ignorance about the whole matter; not only, as I have said, had I never +seen a duel, but I never had fired a pistol twice in my life. I was +naturally a nervous fellow, and the very idea of firing at a word, +would, I knew, render me more so. My dread that the peculiarity of +my constitution might be construed into want of courage, increased my +irritability; while I felt that my endeavour to acquit myself with all +the etiquette and punctilio of the occasion would inevitably lead me to +the commission of some mistake or blunder. + +And then, as to my friends at home, what would my father say? His +notions on the subject I knew were very rigid, and only admitted the +necessity of an appeal to arms as the very last resort. What account +could I give him, sufficiently satisfactory, of my reasons for going +out? How would my mother feel, with all her aristocratic prejudices, +when she heard of the society where the affair originated, when some +glowing description of the Rooneys should reach her? and this some kind +friend or other was certain to undertake. And, worse than all, Lady +Julia, my high-born cousin, whose beauty and sarcasm had inspired me +with a mixture of admiration and dread--how should I ever bear the +satirical turn she would give the whole affair? Her malice would be +increased by the fact that a young and pretty girl was mixed up in +it; for somehow, I must confess, a kind of half-flirtation had always +subsisted between my cousin and me. Her beauty, her wit, her fascinating +manner, rendered me at times over head and ears in love with her; while, +at others, the indifference of her manner towards me, or, still +worse, the ridicule to which she exposed me, would break the spell and +dissipate the enchantment. + +Thoughts like these were far from assuring me, and contributed but +little towards that confidence in myself I stood so much in need of. +And, again, what if I were to fall? As this thought settled on my mind, +I resolved to write home. Not to my father, however: I felt a kind of +constraint about unburdening myself to him at such a moment. My mother +was equally out of the question; in fact, a letter to her could only be +an apologetic narrative of my life in Ireland--softening down what +she would call the atrocities of my associates, and giving a kind +of Rembrandt tint to the Rooneys, which might conceal the more vivid +colouring of their vulgarity. At such a moment I had no heart for this: +such trifling would ill suit me now. To Lady Julia, then, I determined +to write: she knew me well. Besides, I felt that, when I was no more, +the kindliness of her nature would prevail, and she would remember me +but as the little lover that brought her bouquets from the conservatory; +who wrote letters to her from Eton; who wore her picture round his +neck at Sandhurst, and, by-the-bye, that picture I had still in my +possession: this was the time to restore it. I opened my writing-desk +and took it out. It was a strange love-gift, painted when she was barely +ten years old. It represented a very lovely child, with blue eyes, and a +singular regularity of feature, like a Grecian statue. The intensity of +look that after years developed more fully, and the slight curl of the +lip that betrayed the incipient spirit of mockery, were both there; +still was she very beautiful I placed the miniature before me and fixed +my eyes upon it. Carried away by the illusion of the moment, I burst +into a rhapsody of proffered affection, while I vindicated myself +against any imputation my intimacy with Miss Bellew might give rise +to. As I proceeded, however, I discovered that my pleading scarce +established my innocence even to myself; so I turned away, and once more +sat down moodily before the fire. + +The Castle clock struck two. I started up, somewhat ashamed of myself at +not having complied with O'Grady's advice, and at once threw myself on +my bed, and fell sound asleep. Some confused impression upon my mind of +a threatened calamity gave a gloomy character to all my dreams, and +more than once I awoke with a sudden start and looked about me. The +flickering and uncertain glare of the dying embers threw strange goblin +shapes upon the wall and on the old oak floor. The window-curtains waved +mournfully to and fro, as the sighing night wind pierced the openings +of the worn casements, adding, by some unknown sympathy, to my gloom +and depression; and although I quickly rallied myself from these foolish +fancies, and again sank into slumber, it was always again to wake with +the same unpleasant impressions, and with the same sights and sounds +about me. Towards morning, however, I fell into a deep, unbroken sleep, +from which I was awakened by the noise of some one rudely drawing my +curtains. I looked up, as I rubbed my eyes: it was Corny Delany, who, +with a mahogany box under his arm, and a little bag in his hand, stood +eyeing me with a look, in which his habitual ill-temper was dashed with +a slight mixture of scorn and pity. + +'So you are awake at last!' said he; ''faith, and you sleep sound, +and'--this he muttered between his teeth--'and maybe it's sounder you'll +sleep to-morrow night! The Captain bid me call you at seven o'clock, and +it's near eight now. That blaguard of a servant of yours wouldn't get +up to open the door till I made a cry of fire outside, and puffed a few +mouthfuls of smoke through the keyhole!' + +'Well done, Corny! But where's the Captain?' 'Where is he? Sorrow one +o'me knows! Maybe at the watch-house, maybe in George's Street barrack, +maybe in the streets, maybe---- Och, troth! there's many a place he +might be, and good enough for him any of them. Them's the tools, well +oiled; I put flints in them.' + +'And what have you got in the bag, Corny?' + +'Maybe you'll see time enough. It's the lint, the sticking-plaster and +the bandages, and the turn-an'-twist.' This, be it known, was the Delany +for tourniquet. 'And, 'faith, it's a queer use to put the same bag to; +his honour the judge had it made to carry his notes in. Ugh, ugh, ugh! +a bloody little bag it always was! Many's the time I seen the poor +craytures in the dock have to hould on by the spikes, when they'd see +him put his hands in it! It's not lucky, the same bag! Will you have +some brandy-and-water, and a bit of dry toast? It's what the Captain +always gives them the first time they go out. When they're used to it, +a cup of chocolate with a spoonful of whisky is a fine thing for the +hand.' + +I could scarce restrain a smile at the notion of dieting a man for a +duel, though, I confess, there seemed something excessively bloodthirsty +about it. However, resolved to give Corny a favourable impression of my +coolness, I said, 'Let me have the chocolate and a couple of eggs.' + +He gave a grin a demon might have envied, as he muttered to himself, 'He +wants to try and die game, ugh, ugh!' With these words he waddled out +of the room to prepare my breakfast, his alacrity certainly increased by +the circumstance in which he was employed. + +No sooner was I alone than I opened the pistol-case to examine +the weapons. They were, doubtless, good ones; but a ruder, more +ill-fashioned, clumsy pair it would be impossible to conceive. The +stock, which extended nearly to the end of the barrel, was notched with +grooves for the fingers to fit in, the whole terminating in an uncouth +knob, inlaid with small pieces of silver, which at first I imagined were +purely ornamental On looking closer, however, I perceived that each of +them contained a name and a date, with an ominous phrase beneath, which +ran thus: 'Killed!V or thus: 'Wounded!' + +'Egad,' thought I, 'they are certainly the coolest people in the world +in this island, and have the strangest notions withal of cheering a +man's courage!' + +It was growing late, meanwhile; so that without further loss of time +I sprang out of bed, and set about dressing, huddling my papers and +Julia's portrait into my writing-desk. I threw into the fire a few +letters, and was looking about my room lest anything should have escaped +me, when suddenly the quick movement of horses' feet on the pavement +beneath drew me to the window. As I looked out, I could just catch a +glimpse of O'Grady's figure as he sprang from a high tandem; I then +heard his foot as he mounted the stairs, and the next moment he was +knocking at my door. 'Holloa!' cried he, 'by Jove, I have had a night +of it! Help me off with the coat, Jack, and order breakfast, with any +number of mutton-chops you please; I never felt so voracious in my life. +Early rising must be a bad thing for the health, if it makes a man's +appetite so painful.' + +While I was giving my necessary directions, O'Grady stirred up the fire, +drew his chair close to it, and planting his feet upon the fender, and +expanding his hands before the blaze, called out-- + +'Yes, yes, quite right--cold ham and a devilled drumstick by all means; +the mulled claret must have nothing but cloves and a slice of pine-apple +in it; and, mind, don't let them fry the kidneys in champagne; they are +fifty times better in moselle: we'll have the champagne _au naturel_, +There, now, shut the door; there's a confounded current of air comes +up that cold staircase. So, come over, my boy; let me give you all the +news, and to begin:-- + +'After I parted with you, I went over to De Vere's quarters, and heard +that he had just changed his clothes and driven over to Clare Street. I +followed immediately; but, as ill-luck would have it, he left that just +five minutes before, with Watson of the Fifth, who lives in one of the +hotels near. This, you know, looked like business; and, as they told me +they were to be back in half an hour, I cut into a rubber of whist with +Darcy and the rest of them, where, what between losing heavily, and +waiting for those fellows, I never got up till half-past four; when I +did, it was minus Paul's cheque, all the loose cash about me, and a bill +for one hundred and thirty to Vaughan. Pleasant, all that wasn't it? +Monk, who took my place, told me that Herbert and Watson were gone out +together to the park, where I should certainly find them. Off, then, I +set for the Phoenix, and, just as I was entering the gate of the Lodge, +a chaise covered with portmanteaus and hat-boxes drove past me. I +had just time to catch a glimpse of De Vere's face as the light fell +suddenly upon it; I turned as quickly as possible, and gave chase down +Barrack Street. We flew, he leading, and I endeavouring to keep up; but +my poor hack was so done up, between waiting at the club and the sharp +drive, that I found we couldn't keep up the pace. Fortunately, however, +a string of coal-cars blocked up Essex Bridge, upon which my friend came +to a check, and I also. I jumped out immediately, and running forward, +just got up in the nick, as they were once more about to move forward, +“Ah, Dudley,” cried I, “I 've had a sharp run for it, but by good +fortune have found you at last” I wish you had seen his face as I said +these words; he leaned forward in the carriage, so as completely to +prevent Watson, who was with him, overhearing what passed? + +“May I ask,” said he, endeavouring to get up a little of his habitual +coolness; “may I ask, what so very pressing has sent you in pursuit of +me?” + +'“Nothing which should cause your present uneasiness,” replied I, in a +tone and a look he could not mistake. + +'“Eh--aw! don't take you exactly; anything gone wrong?” + +'“You 've a capital memory, my lord, when it suits you; pray call it to +your aid for a few moments, and it will save us both a deal of trouble. +My business with you is on the part of Mr. Hinton, and I have to request +you will, at once, refer me to a friend.” + +'“Eh! you want to fight? Is that it? I say, Watson, they want to make a +quarrel out of that foolish affair I told you of.” + +'“Is Major Watson your friend on this occasion, my lord?” + +'“No; oh no; that is, I didn't say---- I told Watson how they walked +into me for three hundred at Rooney's. Must confess I deserved it richly +for dining among such a set of fellows; and, as I have paid the money +and cut the whole concern, I don't see what more's expected of me.” + +'“We have very little expectation, my lord, but a slight hope, that +you'll not disgrace the cloth you wear and the profession you follow.” + +'“I say, Watson, do you think I ought to take notice of these words?” + +'“Would your lordship like them stronger?” + +'“One moment, if you please, Captain O'Grady,” said Major Watson, as, +opening the door of the chaise, he sprang out. “Lord Dudley de Vere has +detailed to me, and of course correctly, the whole of his last night's +proceedings. He has expressed himself as ready and anxious to apologise +to your friend for any offence he may have given him--in fact, that +their families are in some way connected, and any falling out would be +a very unhappy thing between them; and, last of all, Lord Dudley has +resigned his appointment as aide-de-camp, and resolved on leaving +Ireland; in two hours more he will sail from this. So I trust, that +under every circumstance, you will see the propriety of not pressing the +affair any further.” + +'“With the apology----” + +'“That» of course,” said Watson. + +'“I say,” cried Herbert, “we shall be late at the Pigeon-house; it's +half-past seven.” + +'Watson whispered a few words into his ear; he was silent for a second, +and a slight crimson flush settled on his cheek. + +“'It won't do for me if they talk of this afterwards; but tell him--I +mean Hinton--that I am sorry; that is, I wish him to forgive----” + +'“There, there,” said I impatiently, “drive on! that is quite enough!” + +'The next moment the chaise was out of sight, and I leaned against the +balustrade of the bridge, with a sick feeling at my heart I never felt +before. Vaughan came by at the moment with his tandem, so I made +him turn about and set me down; and here I am, my boy, now that my +qualmishness has passed off, ready to eat you out of house and home, if +the means would only present themselves.' + +Here ended O'Gradys narrative, and as breakfast very shortly after +made its appearance, our conversation dropped into broken, disjointed +sentences; the burden of which, on his part, was that, although no +man would deserve more gratitude from the household and the garrison +generally than myself for being the means of exporting Lord De Vere, yet +that under every view of the case all effort should be made to prevent +publicity, and stop the current of scandal such an event was calculated +to give rise to in the city. + +'No fear of that, I hope,' said I. + +'Every fear, my dear boy. We live in a village here: every man hears his +friend's watch tick, and every lady knows what her neighbour paid for +her paste diamonds. However, be comforted! your reputation will scarcely +stretch across the Channel; and one's notoriety must have strong claims +before it pass the custom-house at Liverpool.' + +'Well, that is something; but hang it, O'Grady, I wish I had had a shot +at him.' + +'Of course you do: nothing more natural, and at the same time, if you +care for the lady, nothing more _mal à propos_. Do what you will, her +name will be mixed up in the matter; but had it gone further she must +have been deeply compromised between you. You are too young, Jack, +to understand much of this; but take my word for it--fight about your +sister, your aunt, your maternal grandmother, if you like, but never for +the girl you are about to marry. It involves a false position to both +her and yourself. And now that I am giving advice, just give me another +cutlet. I say, Corny, any hot potatoes?' + +'Thim was hot awhile ago,' said Corny, without taking his hands from his +pockets. + +'Well, it is pleasant to know even that. Put that pistol-case back +again. Ah! there goes Vaughan; I want a word with him.' + +So saying, he sprang up, and hastened downstairs. + +'What did he say I was to do with the pistols?' said Corny, as he +polished the case with the ample cuff of his coat. + +'You are to put them by: we shan't want them this morning.' + +'And there is to be no devil after all,' said he with a most fiendish +grin. 'Ugh, ugh! didn't I know it? Ye's come from the wrong side of the +water for that. It's little powder ye blaze, for all your talking.' + +Taking out one of the pistols as he spoke, he examined the lock for a +few minutes patiently, and then muttered to himself: 'Wasn't I right to +put in the ould flints? The devil a more ye 'd he doing I guessed nor +making a flash in the pan!' + +It was rather difficult, even with every allowance for Mr. Delany's +temper, to submit to his insolence patiently. After all, there was +nothing better to be done; for Corny was even greater in reply than +attack, and any rejoinder on my part would unquestionably have made me +fare the worse. Endeavouring, therefore, to hum a tune, I strolled to +the window and looked out; while the imperturbable Corny, opening the +opposite sash, squibbed off both pistols previous to replacing them in +the box. + +I cannot say what it was in the gesture and the action of this little +fiend; but somehow the air of absurdity thus thrown over our quarrel +by this ludicrous termination hurt me deeply; and Corny's face as he +snapped the trigger was a direct insult. All my self-respect, all my +self-approval gave way in a moment, and I could think of nothing but +cross Corny's commentary on my courage. + +'Yes,' said I, half aloud, 'it is a confounded country! If for nothing +else, that every class and condition of man thinks himself capable to +pronounce upon his neighbour. Hard drink and duelling are the national +pénates; and Heaven help him who does not adopt the religion of the +land! My English servant would as soon have thought of criticising a +chorus of Euripides as my conduct; and yet this little wretch not only +does so, but does it to my face, superadding a sneer upon my country!' + +This, like many other of my early reflections on Ireland, had its grain +of truth and its bushel of fallacy; and before I quitted the land I +learned to make the distinction. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE PARTING + +From motives of delicacy towards Miss Bellew I did not call that day +at the Rooneys. For many months such an omission on my part had never +occurred. Accordingly, when O'Grady returned at night to the Castle, he +laughingly told me that the house was in half-mourning. Paul sat moodily +over his wine, scarce lifting his head, and looking what he himself +called nonsuited. Mrs. Paul, whose grief was always in the active mood, +sobbed, hiccupped, gulped, and waved her arms as if she had lost a near +relative. Miss Bellew did not appear at all, and Phil discovered that +she had written home that morning, requesting her father to send for her +without loss of time. + +'The affair, as you see,' continued O'Grady, 'has turned out ill for all +parties. Dudley has lost his post, you your mistress, and I my money--a +pretty good illustration how much mischief a mere fool can at any moment +make in society.' + +It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when I mounted my horse to +ride over to Stephen's Green. As I passed slowly along Dame Street my +attention was called to a large placard, which, in front of a house +opposite the lower Castle gate, had attracted a considerable crowd +around it. I was spared the necessity of stopping to read by the hoarse +shout of a ragged ruffian who elbowed his way through the mob, carrying +on one arm a mass of printed handbills; the other hand he held beside +his mouth to aid the energy of his declamation. 'Here's the full and +true account,' cried he, 'of the bloody and me-lan-chc-ly duel that tuk +place yesterday morning in the Phaynix Park, between Lord Dudley de Vere +and Mr. Hinton, two edge-du-congs to his Grace the Lord Liftinint, wid +all the particulars, for one ha'penny.' + +'Here's the whole correspondence between the Castle bucks,' shouted a +rival publisher--the Colburn to this Bentley--'wid a beautiful new song +to an old tune-- + +“Bang it up, bang it up, to the lady in the Green.”' + +'Give me one, if you please,' said a motherly-looking woman, in a grey +cloak. + +'No, ma'am, a penny,' responded the vendor. 'The bloody fight for a +halfpenny! What!' said he; 'would you have an Irish melody and the +picture of an illigint female for a copper?' + +'Sing us the song, Peter,' called out another. + +'This is too bad!' said I passionately, as, driving the spurs into my +horse, I dashed through the ragged mob, upsetting and overturning all +before me. Not, however, before I was recognised; and, as I cantered +down the street, a shout of derision, and a hailstorm of offensive +epithets followed me. + +It was, I confess, some time before I recovered my equanimity enough to +think of my visit. For myself, individually, I cared little or nothing; +but who could tell in what form these things might reach my friends in +England?--how garbled! how exaggerated! how totally perverted! And then, +too, Miss Bellew! It was evident that she was alluded to. I trembled +to think that her name, polluted by the lips of such wretches as these, +should be cried through the dark alleys and purlieus of the capital; a +scoff and a mockery among the very outcasts of vice. + +As I turned the corner of Grafton Street a showy carriage with four grey +horses passed me by. I knew it was the Rooney equipage, and although for +a moment I was chagrined that the object of my visit was defeated, on +second thoughts I satisfied myself that, perhaps, it was quite as well; +so I rode on to leave my card. On reaching the door, from which already +some visitors were turning away, I discovered that I had forgotten my +ticket-case; so I dismounted to write my name in the visiting-book; +for this observance among great people Mrs. Rooney had borrowed, to the +manifest horror and dismay of many respectable citizens. + +'A note for you, sir,' said the butler, in his most silvery accent, as +he placed a small sealed billet in my hand. + +I opened it hastily. It contained but two lines: + +'Miss Bellew requests Mr. Hinton will kindly favour her with a few +moments' conversation at an early opportunity.' + +'Is Miss Bellew at home?' + +'Yes, sir,' said the servant, who stood waiting to precede me upstairs, +and announce me. + +'Mr. Hinton,' said the man; and the words echoed in the empty +drawing-room, as he closed the door behind me. The next moment I heard +the rustle of a silk dress, and Miss Bellew came out of the boudoir and +walked towards me. Contrary to her usual habit--which was to hold out +her hand to me--she now came timidly, hesitatingly forward, her eyes +downcast, and her whole air and appearance indicating, not only the +traces of sorrow, but of physical suffering. + +'Mr. Hinton,' said she, in a voice every accent of which vibrated on my +heart, 'I have taken the liberty to ask a few moments' interview with +you; for, although it is not only probable, but almost certain, we shall +not meet again, yet I wish to explain certain portions of my conduct, +and, indeed, to make them the reason of a favour I have to ask at your +hands.' + +'Permit me to interrupt you for a moment,' said I. 'It is evident how +painful the matter you would speak of is to you; you have no need of +explanation, least of all to me. By accident, I overheard that which, +however high my esteem for Miss Bellew before, could but elevate her in +my eyes. Pass then at once, I beseech you, to what you call a favour; +there is no service you can seek for----' + +'I thank you,' replied she, in a voice scarcely articulate; 'you have, +indeed, spared me much in not asking me to speak of what it is misery +enough to remember. But it is not the first time my unprotected position +in this house has exposed me to outrage: though assuredly it shall +be the last.' The tone of indignation she spoke in supplied her with +energy, as she hurriedly continued: 'Already, Mr. Hinton, persons have +dared to build a scandal upon the frail foundation of this insolent +wager. Your name has been mixed up with it in such a way that no +possible intercourse could exist between us without being construed into +evidence of a falsehood; therefore, I have made up my mind to ask you to +discontinue your visits here, for the few days I may yet remain. I have +already written home; the answer may arrive the day after to-morrow; +and, while I feel that I but ill repay the hospitality and kindness I +have received, and have met with, in closing the door to a most valued +guest, I am assured you will understand and approve my motives, and not +refuse me my request.' + +Delighted at the prospect of being in some way engaged in a service, +I had listened with a throbbing heart, up to the moment she concluded. +Nothing could so completely overthrow all my hopes as these last few +words. Seeing my silence and my confusion--for I knew not what to say +--she added, in a slightly tremulous voice-- + +'I am sorry, Mr. Hinton, that my little knowledge of the world should +have led me into this indiscretion. I perceive from your manner that I +have asked a sacrifice you are unwilling to make. I ought to have known +that habits have their influence, as well as inclinations; and that this +house, being the resort of your friends----' + +'Oh, how much, how cruelly you have mistaken me! Not on this account, +not for such reasons as you suppose did I hesitate in my reply; far +from it. Indeed, the very cause which made me a frequent visitor of +this house, is that which now renders me unable to answer you.' A slight +flush upon her cheek and a tremulous motion of her lip, prevented my +adding more. 'Fear not, Miss Bellew,' said I, 'fear not from me; however +different the feeling that would prompt it, no speech of mine shall +cause you pain to listen to, however the buried thought may rack my own +bosom. You shall have your request; good-bye.' + +'Nay, nay, not so,' said she, as she raised her handkerchief to her +eyes, and gave a soft but sickly smile; 'you mustn't go without my +thanking you for all your kindness. It may so chance that one day or +other you will visit the wild west; if so, pray don't forget that my +father, of whom you have heard me speak so much, would be but too happy +to thank one who has been so kind to his daughter. And, if that +day should come'--here a slight gleam of animation shot across her +features--' I beseech you not to think, from what you will see of +me there, that I have forgotten all your good teaching, and all your +lessons about London manners, though I sadly fear that neither my dress +nor deportment will testify in my favour; and so, good-bye.' + +She drew her glove from her hand as she spoke. I raised the taper +fingers, respectfully, to my lips, and, without venturing another look, +muttered 'good-bye,' and left the room. + +As step by step I loitered on the stairs, I struggled with myself +against the rising temptation to hurry back to her presence, and tell +her that, although hitherto the fancied security of meeting her every +day had made me a stranger to my own emotions, the hour of parting had +dispelled the illusion; the thought of separation had unveiled the depth +of my heart, and told me that I loved her. Was this true? + + + + +CHAPTER XV. THE LETTER FROM HOME + +Feigning illness to O'Grady as the reason of my not going to the +Rooneys, I kept my quarters for several days, during which time it +required all my resolution to enable me to keep my promise; and scarcely +an hour of the day went over without my feeling tempted to mount my +horse and try if, perchance, I could not catch even a passing look at +her once more. Miss Bellew was the first woman who had ever treated me +as a man; this, in itself, had a strong hold on my feelings; for after +all, what flattery is there so artful as that which invests us with a +character to which we feel in our hearts our pretension is doubtful? Why +has college life, why has the army, such a claim upon our gratitude at +our outset in the world? Is it not the acknowledgment of our manhood? +And for the same reason the man who first accepts our bill, and the +woman who first receives our addresses, have an unqualified right to our +regard for evermore. + +It is the sense of what we seem to others that moulds and fashions us +through life; and how many a character that seems graven in letters +of adamant took its type, after all, from some chance or casual +circumstance, some passing remark, some hazarded expression! We begin by +simulating a part, and we end by dovetailing it into our nature; thence +the change which a first passion works in every young mind. The ambition +to be loved and the desire to win affection teach us those ways of +pleasing, which, whether real or affected, become part and parcel of +ourselves. Little know we that in the passion we believe to be the most +disinterested how much of pure egoism is mixed up; and well is it for us +that such is the case. The imaginary standard we set up before ourselves +is a goal to strive for, an object of high hope before us; and few, if +any, of our bolder enterprises in after-life have not their birth in +the cradle of first love. The accolade, that in olden days by its magic +touch converted the humble squire into the spurred and belted knight, +had no such charm as the first beam from a bright eye, when, falling +upon the hidden depths of our heart, it has shown us a mine of rich +thoughts, of dazzling hopes, of bright desires. This indeed is a change; +and who is there, having felt it, has not walked forth a prouder and a +nobler spirit? + +Thoughts like these came rushing on my mind as I reflected on my +passion for Louisa Bellew; and as I walked my room my heart bounded with +elation, and my step grew firm in its tread, for I felt that already a +new influence was beaming on me, a new light was shining upon my path +in life. Musing thus, I paid but little attention to my servant who +had just left a letter upon my table; my eye, at length, glanced at the +address, which I perceived was in my mother's handwriting. I opened it +somewhat carelessly, for somehow my dear mother's letters had gradually +decreased in their interest as my anti-Irish prejudices grew weaker by +time; her exclusively English notions I could no longer respond to so +freely as before; and as I knew the injustice of some of her opinions, I +felt proportionably dispose to mistrust the truth of many others. + +The letter, as usual, was crossed and recrossed; for nothing, after +all, was so thorough a criterion of fashion as a penurious avoidance +of postage, and in consequence scarcely a portion of the paper was +uncovered by ink. The detail of balls and dinners, the gossip of the +town, the rumoured changes in the ministry--who was to come in and who +to go out; whether Lord Arthur got a regiment, or Lady Mary a son--had +all become comparatively uninteresting to me. What we know and what we +live in, is the world to us; and the arrival of a new bear is as much a +matter of interest in the prairies of the far west as the first night +of a new ballet in the circles of Paris. In all probability, therefore, +after satisfying myself that my friends were well, I should have been +undutiful enough to put my mother's letter to bed in a card-rack without +any very immediate intention of disturbing its slumbers, when suddenly +the word 'Rooney' attracted my eye, and at once awakened my curiosity. +How the name of these people should have come to my mother's +aristocratic ears I could not conceive; for although I had myself begun +a letter about them, yet, on second thoughts, I deemed it better to +consign it to destruction than risk a discovery, by no means necessary. + +I now sat patiently down before the fire, resolved to spell over the +letter from beginning to end, and suffer nothing to escape me. All her +letters, like the preamble of a deed, began with a certain formula---a +species of lamentation over her wretched health; the difficulty of her +case, which, consisting in the absence of all symptoms, had puzzled the +Faculty for years long; the inclemency of the weather, which by some +fatality of fortune was sure to be rainy when Dr. Y------ said it ought +to be fine, and oppressively hot when he assured her she required a +bracing element; besides, it was evident the medical men mistook her +case, and what chance had she, with Providence and the College of +Physicians against her! Then every one was unkind--nobody believed her +sick, or thought her valuable life in danger, although from four o'clock +in the afternoon to the same hour the next morning she was continually +before their eyes, driving in the park, visiting, dining, and even +dancing, too; in fact, exerting herself in every imaginable shape and +form for the sake of an ungrateful world that had nothing but hollow +civilities to show her, instead of tears for her sufferings. Skimming +my eye rapidly over this, I came at length to the well-known paragraph +which always concluded this exordium, and which I could have repeated by +heart--the purport of it being simply a prophetic menace of what would +be the state, and what the feelings, of various persons unknown, when at +her demise they discovered how unjustly, how ungenerously, how cruelly, +they had once or twice complimented her upon her health and looks, +during her lifetime. The undying remorse of those unfeeling wretches, +among whom it was very plain my father was numbered, was expatiated +upon with much force and Christian charity; for as certain joint-stock +companies contrive in their advertisements to give an apparent stability +to their firm, by quoting some well-known Coutts or Drummond as their +banker, so my poor mother, by simply introducing the word 'Providence' +into all her worldly transactions, thought she was discharging the most +rigid of Christian duties, and securing a happy retreat for herself when +that day should arrive when neither rouge nor false hair would supply +the deficiencies of youth, and death should unlock the jaw the dentist +had furnished. + +After this came the column of court gossip, the last pun of the prince, +and a _mot_ of Mr. Canning. 'We hope,' continued she, 'poor Somerset +will go to Madrid as ambassador: to refuse him would be a great cruelty, +as he has been ordered by his medical men to try a southerly climate.' +Hum; ah!--'Lady Jane to replace Miss Barclay with the Landgravine.' Very +stupid all this. But come, here we have it, the writing too changes as +if a different spirit had dictated it. + +'_Two o'clock_. I've just returned from the Grevilles, seriously ill +from the effect of the news that has reached me. Wretched boy! what have +you done? What frightful career of imprudence have you entered upon? +Write to me at once; for although I shall take immediate steps for your +recall, I shall be in a fever of impatience till you tell me all about +it. Poor dear Lord Dudley de Vere, how I love him for the way he speaks +of you! for although, evidently, your conduct to him has been something +very gross, yet his language respecting you is marked not only by +forbearance, but by kindness. Indeed, he attributes the spirit you have +manifested to the instigation of another member of the staff, whose +name, with his habitual delicacy, we could not prevail upon him to +disclose. His account of that wretched country is distressing indeed; +the frightful state of society, the barbarism of the natives, and the +frequency of bloodshed. I shall not close my eyes to-night thinking of +you; though he has endeavoured to reassure me, by telling us, that as +the Castle is a strong place, and a considerable military force always +there, you are in comparative safety. But, my dear child, who are these +frightful Rooneys, with the odious house where all this gambling and +ruin goes forward? How feelingly poor Lord Dudley spoke of the trials +young men are exposed to! His parents have indeed a treasure in him. +Rooney appears to be a money-lender, a usurer--most probably a Jew. +His wretched wife, what can she be? And that designing minx, niece, +daughter, or whatever this Miss Belloo--what a shocking name!--may be? +To think you should have fallen among such people! Lord George's debts +are, they say, very considerable, all owing, as he assures me, to his +unfortunate acquaintance with this Rooney, with whom he appears to have +had bill transactions for some time past. If your difficulties were only +on the score of money I should think little of it; but a quarrelsome, +rancorous spirit, a taste for low company, and vulgar associates, and +a tendency to drink--these, indeed, are very shocking features, and +calculated to inflict much misery on your parents. + +'However, let us, as far as possible, endeavour to repair the mishap. +I write by this post to this Mr. Rooney, requesting him to send in his +account to your father, and that in future any dinners, or wine, you may +have at his house will not be paid for, as you are under age. I shall +also let him know that the obscurity of his rank in life, and the +benighted state of the country he lives in, shall prove no safeguard to +him from our vigilance; and as the chancellor dines with us to-morrow, I +think of asking him if he couldn't be punished some way. Transportation, +they tell me, has already nearly got rid of the gypsies. As for +yourself, make your arrangements to return immediately; for, although +your father knows nothing about it, I intend to ask Sir Henry Gordon to +call on the Duke of York, and contrive an exchange for you. How I hate +this secret adviser of yours! how I detest the Rooneys! how I abhor +the Irish! You have only to come back with long hair, and the frightful +accent, to break the heart of your affectionate but afflicted mother. + +'Your cousin Julia desires her regards. I must say she has not shown a +due respect to my feelings since the arrival of this sad intelligence; +it is only this minute she has finished a caricature of you making love +to a wild Irish girl with wings. This is not only cruel towards me, but +an unbecoming sarcasm towards a wretched people, to whom the visitations +of Providence should not be made matters of reproach.' + +Thus concluded this famous epistle, at which, notwithstanding that +every line offended me deeply, I could not refrain from bursting into +laughter. My opinion of Lord Dudley had certainly not been of the +highest; but yet was I totally unprepared for the apparent depth of +villainy his character possessed. But I knew not, then, how strong an +alloy of cunning exists in every fool; and how, almost invariably, a +narrow intellect and a malevolent disposition are associated in the same +individual. + +There is no prejudice more popular, nor is there any which is better +worth refuting, than that which attributes to folly certain good +qualities of heart, as a kind of compensation for the deficiency in +those of the head. Now, although there are of course instances to the +contrary, yet will the fact be found generally true, that mediocrity of +mind has its influence in producing a mischievous disposition. Unable to +carry on any lengthened chain of reasoning, the man of narrow intellect +looks for some immediate result; and in his anxiety to attain his +object, forgetful of the value of both character and credit, he is +prepared to sacrifice the whole game of life, provided he secure but the +odd trick. Besides, the very insufficiency of his resources leads +him out of himself for his enjoyments and his occupations. Watching, +therefore, the game of life, he gradually acquires a certain low and +underhand cunning, which, being mistaken by himself for ability, he +omits no occasion to display; and hence begins the petty warfare of +malice he wages against the world with all the spiteful ingenuity and +malevolence of a monkey. + +I could trace through all my mother's letter the dexterity with which +Lord Dudley avoided committing himself respecting me, while his delicacy +regarding O'Grady's name was equally conspicuous to a certain extent. He +might have been excused if he bore no good-will to one or other of us; +but what could palliate his ingratitude to the Rooneys? What could +gloss over the base return he made them for all their hospitalities and +attention? for nothing was more clear than that the light in which he +represented them to my mother made them appear as low and intriguing +adventurers. + +This was all bad enough; but what should I say of the threatened letter +to them? In what a position would it place _me_, before those who had +been uniformly kind and good-natured towards me! The very thought of +this nearly drove me to distraction, and I confess it was in no dutiful +mood I crushed up the epistle in my hand, and walked my room in an agony +of shame and vexation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. A MORNING IN TOWN + +The morning after the receipt of the letter, the contents of which I +have in part made known to the reader, O'Grady called on me to accompany +him into the city. + +'I am on a borrowing expedition, Jack,' cried he; 'and there's nothing +like having a new face with one. Cavendish, Hopeton, and the rest of +them, are so well known, it's of no use having them. But you, my boy, +you 're fresh; your smooth chin does not look like a protested bill, +and you've got a _dégagé_, careless manner, a kind of unsuspicious look +about you, a man never has, after a bailiff has given him an epaulette +of five dirty fingers.' + +'But, Phil,' said I, 'if you really want money----' + +'My very excellent young friend,' interrupted he, in a kind of sermon +voice, 'don't finish it, I beseech you; that is the very last thing in +the way of exchequer a gentleman is ever driven to--borrowing from a +friend. Heaven forbid! But even supposing the case that one's friend has +money, why, the presumption is, that he must have borrowed it himself; +so that you are sponging upon his ingenuity, not his income. Besides, +why riddle one's own ships, while there is an enemy before us to fight? +Please to remember the money-lenders, the usurers, the stockbroking +knaves at fifty per cent, that the world is glutted with; these are the +true game for a sporting gentleman, who would rather harpoon a shark any +day, than spear a salmon.' + +'But what's become of Paul? Is he not available.' + +'Don't you know what has happened there? But I was forgetting you 've +kept the house this week past. In the first place, La Belle Louise has +gone home, Paul has taken his departure for the circuit, and Mrs. Paul, +after three days' sharp hysterics, has left town for her villa, near +Bray--old Harvey finding it doubtless more convenient to visit her +there, with twenty guineas for his fee, than to receive one for his call +at Stephen's Green.' + +'And what is supposed to be the cause of all this?' said I, scarce able +to conceal my agitation. + +'The report goes,' replied he, 'that some bank has broke in Calcutta +or the Caucasus, or somewhere, or that some gold-mine in Peru, in which +Paul had a share, has all turned out to be only plated goods; for it +was on the receipt of a letter, on the very morning of Paul's departure, +that she took so dangerously ill; and as Paul, in his confusion, brought +the attorney, instead of the surgeon-general, the case became alarming, +and they gave her so much ether and sal-volatile that it required the +united strength of the family to keep her from ascending like a balloon. +However, the worst of it all is, the house is shut, the windows closed, +and where lately on the door-steps a pair of yellow plush breeches +figured bright and splendent as the glorious sun, a dusky-looking planet +in threadbare black now informs you that the family are from home, and +not expected back for the summer.' + +'Perhaps I can explain the mystery,' said I, as a blush of shame burned +on my cheek. Read this.' + +So saying, I handed O'Grady the letter, doubled down at the part where +Lord Dudley's mention of the Rooneys began. Grieved as I felt thus to +expose the absurd folly of my mother's conduct, yet I felt the necessity +of having at least one friend to advise with, and that, to render +his counsel of any value, a perfect candour on my part was equally +imperative. + +While his eye glanced over the lines, I walked towards the window, +expecting at each moment some open burst of indignation would escape +him--some outbreak of passionate warmth, at the cold-blooded ingratitude +and malevolence of one whom previously we had regarded but as a fool. +Not so; on the contrary, he read the letter to the end with an unchanged +countenance, folded it up with great composure, and then turning +his back to the fire, he burst out into a fit of the most immoderate +laughter. + +'Look ye, Jack,' cried he, in a voice almost suffocated with the +emotion, 'I am a poor man, have scarcely a guinea I can call my own, +yet I 'd have given the best hack in my stable to have seen the +Rooneys reading that letter. There, there! don't talk to me, boy, about +villainy, ingratitude, and so forth. The fun of it, man, covers all +the rest. Only to think of Mr. Paul Rooney, the Amphytrion of viceroys, +chancellors, bishops, major-generals, and lord mayors, asked for his +bill--to score up all your champagne and your curacoa, your turtle, your +devilled kidneys; all the heavy brigade of your grand dinners, and +all the light infantry of luncheons, breakfasts, grilled bones, and +sandwiches! The Lord forgive your mother for putting it in his head! +_My_ chalk would be a fearful one, not to speak of the ugly item of +“cash advanced.” Oh, it 'll kill me, I know that! Don't look so serious, +man; you may live fifty years, and never have so good a joke to laugh +at. Tell me, Jack, do you think your mother has kept a copy of the +letter? I would give my right eye for it. What a fearful temper Paul +will be in, on circuit! and as to Mrs. Rooney, it will go hard with her +but she cuts the whole aristocracy for at least a week. There never was +anything like it. To hint at transporting the Princess O'Toole, whose +ancestor was here in the time of Moses. Ah, Jack, how little respect +your mother appears to have for an old family! She evidently has no +classical associations to hallow her memory withal.' + +'I confess,' said I, somewhat tartly, 'had I anticipated the spirit with +which you have taken up this matter, I doubt whether I should have shown +you the letter.' + +'And if you had not,' replied he, 'I 'd not have forgiven you till the +day of my death. Next to a legacy, a good laugh is the best thing I +know; indeed, sometimes it is better, for you can't be choused out of it +by your lawyer.' + +'Laughing is a very excellent practice, no doubt, but I looked for some +advice-----' + +'Advice! to be sure, my boy; and so you shall have it. Only give me a +good training canter of a hearty laugh, and you 'll see what running +I' ll make, when it comes to sound discretion afterwards. The fun of a +man's temperament is like the froth on your champagne; while it gives a +zest to the liquor of life by its lightness and its sparkle, it neither +detracts from the flavour nor the strength of the beverage. At the same +time, when I begin to froth up, don't expect me to sober down before +twenty-four hours. So take your hat, come along into town, and thank +your stars that you have been able to delight the heart of a man who's +trying to get a bill discounted. Now hear me, Jack,' said he, as we +descended the stairs; 'if you expect me to conduct myself with becoming +gravity and decorum, you had better avoid any mention of the Rooneys for +the rest of the day. And now to business!' + +As we proceeded down Dame Street my friend scientifically explained to +me the various modes there were of obtaining money on loan. + +'I don't speak,' said he, 'of those cases where a man has landed +security, or property of one kind or other, or even expectations, +because all these are easy--the mere rule of three in financial +arithmetic What I mean are the decimal fractions of a man's +difficulties, when, with as many writs against him as would make a +carpet for his bedroom, he can still go out with an empty pocket in the +morning and come back with it furnished at night. And now to begin. The +maxims of the sporting world are singularly applicable to the practice +before us. You're told that before you enter a preserve your first duty +is to see that your gun is properly loaded--all the better if it be +a double-barrelled one. Now, look here'--as he spoke he drew from +his sabretache five bills for one hundred pounds each; 'you see I am +similarly prepared. The game may get up at any moment, and not find me +at half-cock; and although I only go out for a single bird--that is, but +one hundred, yet, if by good-luck I flush a covey, you see I am ready +for them all. The doctrine of chances shows us that five to one is +better than an even bet; so, by scattering these five bills in different +directions, the odds are exactly so many in my favour that I raise a +hundred somewhere.' 'And now,' said I, 'where does the game lie?' +'I'm coming to that, Jack. Your rich preserves are all about the +neighbourhood of Clare Street, Park Street, Merrion Street, and that +direction. With them, alas! I have nothing to do. My broad acres have +long since taken wings to themselves; and I fear a mortgage upon Mount +O'Grady, as it at present exists, would be a poor remedy for an empty +pocket. The rich money-lenders despise poor devils like me; they love +not contingencies; and, as Macbeth says, “They have no speculation +in their eyes.” For them, my dear Jack, you must have messuages and +tenements, and outhouses, townlands, and turbaries; corn, cattle, and +cottages; pigs, potatoes, and peasantry. They love to let their eyes +range over a rich and swelling scene of woodland and prairie; for +they are the landscape-gardeners of usury--they are the Hobbimas and +Berghems of the law. + +'Others again, of smaller range and humbler practice, there are, +to whom, upon occasion, you assign your grandfather's plate and the +pictures of your grand-aunts for certain monied conveniences you stand +in need of. These are a kind of Brobdingnag pawnbrokers, who have fine +houses, the furniture of which is everlastingly changing, each creditor +sending his representative, like a minister to a foreign court; with +them, also, I have nothing to do. The family have had so little to eat +for the last two generations that they trouble themselves but slightly +on the score of silver dishes; and as to pictures, I possess but one +in the world--a portrait of my father in his wig and robes. This, +independent of other reasons, I couldn't part with, as it is one of the +only means I possess of controlling Corny when his temper becomes more +than usually untractable. Upon these occasions, I hang up the “jidge” + over the chimney-piece, and the talisman has never failed yet. + +'Now, Jack, my constituency live about fleet Street, and those small, +obscure, dingy-looking passages that branch from it on either side. Here +live a class of men who, having begun life as our servants or valets, +are in perfect possession of all our habits of life, our wants, and our +necessities. Having amassed enough by retail robbery of us while in our +service, to establish some petty tavern, or some low livery-stable, they +end by cheating us wholesale, for the loan of our own money, at their +rate of interest. Well aware that, however deferred, we must pay +eventually, they are satisfied--good, easy souls!--to renew and renew +bills, whose current percentage varies from five-and-twenty to forty. +And even, notwithstanding all this, Jack, they are difficult devils +to deal with, any appearance of being hard up, any show of being +out-at-elbows, rendering a negotiation as difficult as the assurance of +a condemned ship for a China voyage. No, my boy; though your house be +besieged by duns, though in every passenger you see a bailiff, and never +nap after dinner without dreaming of the Marshalsea, yet still, the very +moment you cross the precincts of their dwelling, you must put your +care where your cash ought to be--in your pocket. You must wear the easy +smile of a happy conscience, and talk of your want of a few hundreds +as though it were a question of a pinch of snuff, or a glass of +brandy-and-water, while you agree to the exorbitant demands they exact, +with the careless indifference of one to whom money is no object, rather +than with the despair of a wretch who looks for no benefit in life save +in the act for insolvent debtors. This you 'll say is a great bore, and +so I once thought too; now, however, I have got somewhat used to it, and +sometimes don't actually dislike the fun. Why, man, I have been at it +for three months at a time. I remember when I never blew my nose without +pulling out a writ along with my pocket-handkerchief, and I never was in +better spirits in all my life. But here we are. This is Bill Fagan's, +a well-known drysalter; you'll have to wait for me in the front parlour +for a moment while I negotiate with Billy.' + +Elbowing our way through a squalid and miserable-looking throng of +people that filled the narrow hall of a house in fleet Street, we forced +on till we reached an inner door in which a sliding panel permitted +those within to communicate with others on the outside. Tapping at this +with his cane, O'Grady called out something which I could not catch, the +panel at once flew back, a red carbuncled face appeared at the +opening, the owner of which, with a grin of very peculiar signification, +exclaimed--' Ah, it's yourself, Captain? Walk in, sir.' With these words +the door was opened, and we were admitted into the inner hall. This was +also crowded, but with a different class from what I had seen without. +These were apparently men in business, shopkeepers and traders, who, +reduced by some momentary pressure, to effect a loan, were content +to prop up their tottering credit by sapping the very core of their +prosperity. Unlike the others, on whom habitual poverty and daily misery +had stamped its heavy impress, and whose faces too, inured to suffering, +betrayed no shame at being seen--these, on the contrary, looked downward +or aside; seemed impatient, fretful, and peevish, and indicated in +a hundred ways how unused they were to exigencies of this nature, +muttering to themselves in angry mood at being detained, and feigning a +resolution to depart at every moment. O'Grady, after a conference of a +few moments with the rubicund Cerberus I have mentioned, beckoned to me +to follow him. We proceeded accordingly up a narrow creaking stair, +into a kind of front drawing-room, in which about a dozen persons were +seated, or listlessly lounging in every imaginable attitude--some on +chairs, some on the window-sills, some on the tables, and one even on +the mantel-piece, with his legs gracefully dangling in front of the +fire. Perfectly distinct from the other two classes I have mentioned, +these were all young men whose dress, look, and bearing bespoke them of +rank and condition. Chatting away gaily, laughing, joking, and telling +good stories, they seemed but little to care for the circumstances which +brought them there; and, while they quizzed one another about their +various debts and difficulties, seemed to think want of money as about +the very best joke a gentleman could laugh at. By all of these O'Grady +was welcomed with a burst of applause, as they eagerly pressed forward +to shake hands with him. + +'I say, O'Grady,' cried one, 'we muster strong this morning. I hope +Fagan's bank will stand the run on it. What 's your figure?' + +'Oh, a couple of hundred,' said Phil carelessly; 'I have got rather a +heavy book on the steeplechase.' + +'So I hear,' said another; 'and they say Ulick Burke won't ride for +you. He knows no one can sit the horse but himself; and Maher, the story +goes, has given him a hundred and fifty to leave you in the lurch!' + +'How good!' said Phil, smiling; for although this intelligence came upon +him thus suddenly, he never evinced the slightest surprise nor the most +trifling irritation. + +'You'll pay forfeit, of course, Phil,' said the gentleman on the +chimney. + +'I fancy not.' + +'Then will you take two fifties to one, against your horse?' + +'Will you give it?' was the cool reply. 'Yes.' + +'And I--and I also,' said different voices round the room. + +'Agreed, gentlemen, with all of you. So, if you please, we 'll book +this. Jack, have you got a pencil?' + +[Illustration: 202] + +As I drew forth my pocket-book I could not help whispering to O'Grady +that there seemed something like a coalition among his opponents. Before +I could conclude, the red face appeared at the door. O'Grady hastily +muttered, 'Wait for me here,' and left the room. + +During his absence I had abundant time to study those about me. Indeed, +a perfect sameness in their characters as in their pursuits rendered +it an easy process; for as with unguarded frankness they spoke of +their several difficulties, their stories presented one uniform +feature-reckless expenditure and wasteful extravagance, with limited +means and encumbered fortunes. They had passed through every phase of +borrowing, every mode of raising money, and were now reduced to the last +rung of the ladder of expediency, to become the prey of the usurer, who +meted out to them a few more months of extravagance at the cost of many +a future year of sorrow and repining. + +I was beginning to grow impatient as the door gently opened, and I saw +my friend, as he emerged from the back drawing-room. Without losing a +moment's time I joined him. We descended the stairs together, and walked +out into the street. + +'Are you fond of pickled herrings, Jack?' said O'Grady, as he took my +arm. + +'Pickled herrings! Why, what do you mean?' + +'Probably,' resumed he, in the same dry tone of voice, 'you prefer ash +bark, or asafetida?' + +'Why, I can't say.' + +'Ah, my boy, you 're difficult to please, then. What do you say to whale +oil and Welsh wigs?' + +'Confound me if I understand you!' + +'Nothing more easy after all, for of each of these commodities I 'm now +a possessor to the amount of some two hundred and twenty pounds. You +look surprised, but such is the nature of our transactions here; and for +my bill of five hundred, payable in six months, I have become a general +merchant to the extent I've told you, not to mention paying eighty +more for a certain gig and horse, popularly known in this city as the +discount dennet. This,' continued he with a sigh, 'is about the tenth +time I've been the owner of that vile conveyance; for you must know +whenever Fagan advances a good round sum he always insists upon +something of this kind forming part of it, and thus, according to the +figure of your loan, you may drive from his door in anything, from a +wheel-barrow to a stage-coach. As for the discount dennet, it is as well +known as the black-cart that conveys the prisoners to Newgate, and the +reputation of him who travels in either is pretty much on a par. From +the crank of the rusty springs, to the limping amble of the malicious +old black beast in the shafts, the whole thing has a look of beggary +about it. Every jingle of the ragged harness seems to whisper in your +ear, “Fifty per cent.”; and drive which way you will, it is impossible +to get free of the notion that you're not trotting along the road to +ruin. To have been seen in it once is as though you had figured in the +pillory, and the very fact of its being in your possession is a blow of +a battering-ram to your credit for ever!' + +[Illustration: 205] + +'But why venture into it? If you must have it, let it be like the +pickled herrings and the paving-stones--so much of pure loss.' + +'The fact is, Jack, it is generally passed off on a young hand, the +first time he raises money. He knows little of the town, less of its +secret practices, and not until he has furnished a hearty laugh to +all his acquaintances does he discover the blunder he has committed. +Besides, sometimes you're hard up for something to carry you about. + +I remember once keeping it an entire winter, and as I painted Latitat a +good piebald, and had his legs whitewashed every morning, few recognised +him, except such as had paid for their acquaintance. After this account, +probably, you'll not like to drive with me; but as I am going to +Loughrea for the races, I 've determined to take the dennet down, and +try if I can't find a purchaser among the country gentlemen. And now +let's think of dinner. What do you say to a cutlet at the club, and +perhaps we shall strike out something there to finish our evening?' + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. AN EVENING IN TOWN + +We dined at the club-house, and sat chatting over our wine till near +ten o'clock. The events of the morning were our principal topics; for +although I longed myself to turn the conversation to the Rooneys, I +was deterred from doing so by the fear of another outbreak of O'Grady's +mirth. Meanwhile the time rolled on, and rapidly too, for my companion, +with an earnestness of manner and a force of expression I little knew he +possessed, detailed to me many anecdotes of his own early career. From +these I could glean that while O'Grady suffered himself to be borne +along the current of dissipation and excess, yet in his heart he hated +the life he led, and, when a moment of reflection came, felt sorrow for +the past, and but little hope for the future. + +'Yes, Jack,' said he, on concluding a narrative of continual family +misfortune, 'there would seem a destiny in things; and if we look about +us in the world we cannot fail to see that families, like individuals, +have their budding spring of youth and hope, their manhood of pride and +power, and their old age of feebleness and decay. As for myself, I am +about the last branch of an old tree, and all my endeavour has been, to +seem green and cheerful to the last. My debts have hung about my neck +all through life; the extravagances of my early years have sat like a +millstone upon me; and I who began the world with a heart brimful of +hope, and a soul bounding with ambition, have lingered on my path like a +truant schoolboy. And here I am, at the age of three-and-thirty, without +having realised a single promise of my boyhood, the poorest of all +imaginable things--a gentleman without fortune, a soldier without +service, a man of energy without hope.' + +'But why, Phil,' said I, 'how comes it that you never went out to the +Peninsula?' + +'Alas, my boy! from year to year I have gone on expecting my gazette +to a regiment on service. Too poor to purchase, too proud to solicit, I +have waited in anxious expectancy from some of those with whom, high as +was their station, I've lived on terms of intimacy and friendship, that +notice they extended to others less known than I was; but somehow the +temperament that would seem to constitute my happiness, has proved my +bane, and those qualities which have made me a boon companion, have +left me a beggar. Handed over from one viceroy to another, like a state +trumpeter or a butt of sherry, I have been left to linger out my +best years a kind of court-jester; my only reward being, the hour of +merriment over, that they who laughed with, should laugh at me.' + +There was a tone of almost ferocity in the way he spoke these words; +while the trembling lip, the flashing eye, and the swollen veins of +his temple betrayed that the very bitterest of all human +emotions--self-scorn--was racking his heart within him. + +For some time we were both silent. Had I even known what to say at such +a moment, there was that comfortless expression about his face, that +look of riveted despair, which would have rendered any effort on my part +to console him a vain and presumptuous folly. + +'But come, Jack,' said he, filling his glass and pushing over the +decanter to me, 'I have learned to put little faith in patrons; and +although the information has been long in acquiring, still it has come +at last, and I am determined to profit by it. I am now endeavouring to +raise a little money to pay off the most pressing of my creditors, and +have made an application to the Horse Guards to be appointed to any +regiment on service, wherever it may be. If both these succeed, and it +is necessary both should, then, Jack, I 'll try a new path, and even +though it lead to nothing, yet, at least, it will be a more manly one +to follow. And if I am to linger on to that period of life when to look +back is nearly all that's left us--why, then, the retrospect will be +less dashed with shame than with such a career as this is. Meanwhile, +my boy, the decanter is with you, so fill your glass; I 'll join you +presently.' + +As he spoke, O'Grady sprang up and walked to the other end of the room, +where a party of some half-dozen persons were engaged in putting on +greatcoats, and buttoning up previous to departure. In an instant I +could hear his voice high above the rest--that cheerful ringing tone +that seemed the very tocsin of a happy heart--while at some observation +he made, the whole party around him were convulsed with laughter. In the +midst of all this he drew one of them aside, and conversing eagerly with +him for a few seconds, pointed to me as he spoke. + +'Thank you, my lord, thank you,' said he, as he turned away. 'I'll be +answerable for my friend. Now, Hinton,' whispered he, as he leaned his +hand upon my shoulder and bent over me, 'we 're in luck to-night, at all +events, for I have just got permission to bring you with me where I +am to spend the evening. It's no small favour if you knew but all; so +finish your wine, for my friends there are moving already.' + +All my endeavours to ascertain where we were going, or to whose house, +were in vain; the only thing I could learn was, that my admission was a +prodigious favour--while to satisfy my scruples about dress he informed +me that no change of costume was necessary. + +'I perceive,' said O'Grady, as he drew the curtain and looked out into +the street, 'the night is fine and starlight; so what say you if we +walk? I must tell you, however, our place of rendezvous is somewhat +distant.' + +Agreeing to the proposition with pleasure, I took his arm, and we +sallied forth together. Our way led at first through a most crowded and +frequented part of the capital We traversed Dame Street, passed by the +Castle, and ascended a steep street beyond it; after this we took a +turning to the left, and entered a part of the city, to me at least, +utterly unknown. For about half an hour we continued to wander on, now +to the right, now to the left, the streets becoming gradually narrower, +less frequented, and less lighted; the shops were all closed, and few +persons stirred in the remote thoroughfares. + +'I fear I must have made a mistake,' said O'Grady, endeavouring to take +a short cut; 'but here comes a watchman. I say, is this Kevin Street?' + +'No, sir; the second turning to your right brings you into it.' + +'Kevin Street!' said I, repeating the name half aloud to myself. + +'Yes, Jack, so it is called; but all your ingenuity will prove too +little in discovering whither you are going. So come along; leave time +to tell you what guessing never will.' + +By this time we arrived at the street in question, when very soon after +O'Grady called out-- + +'All right--here we are!' + +With these words he knocked three times in a peculiar manner at the door +of a large and gloomy-looking house. An ill-trimmed lamp threw a faint +and nickering light upon the old and ruined building, and I could trace +here and there, through all the wreck of time, some remnants of a better +day. The windows now, however, were broken in several places, those on +the lower storey being defended on the outside by a strong iron railing; +not a gleam of light shone through any one of them, but a darkness +unrelieved, save by the yellow gleam of the street lamp, enveloped the +entire building. O'Gradys summons was twice repeated ere there seemed +any chance of its being replied to, when, at last, the step of a heavy +foot descending the stairs announced the approach of some one. While I +continued my survey of the house O'Grady never spoke, and, perceiving +that he made a mystery of our visit, I resolved to ask no further +questions, but patiently await the result; my impression, however, +was, that the place was the resort either of thieves or of some illegal +association, of which more than one, at that time, were known to +have their meetings in the capital. While I was thus occupied in +my conjectures, and wondering within myself how O'Grady had become +acquainted with his friends, the door opened, and a diminutive, +mean-looking old man, shading the candle with his hand, stood at the +entrance. + +'Good-evening, Mickey,' cried O'Grady, as he brushed by him into the +hall. 'Are they come?' + +'Yes, Captain,' said the little man, as, snuffing the long wick with his +fingers, he held the light up to O'Grady's face. 'Yes, Captain, about +fifteen.' + +'This gentleman's with me--come along, Jack--he is my friend, Mickey.' + +'Oh, I can't do it by no means, Mister Phil,' said the dwarf, opposing +himself as a barrier to my entrance. 'You know what they said the last +night'--here he strained himself on his toes, and, as O'Grady stooped +down, whispered some words I couldn't catch, while he continued +aloud--'and you know after that, Captain, I daren't do it.' + +'I tell you, you old fool, I've arranged it all; so get along there, +and show us the light up these confounded stairs. I suppose they never +mended the hole on the lobby?' + +'Troth they didn't,' growled the dwarf; 'and it would be chaper for them +nor breaking their shins every night.' + +I followed O'Grady up the stairs, which creaked and bent beneath us at +every step; the hand-rail, broken in many places, swung to and fro with +every motion of the stair, and the walls, covered with green, and damp +mould, looked the very picture of misery and decay. Still grumbling +at the breach of order incurred by my admission, the old man shuffled +along, wheezing, coughing, and cursing between times, till at length we +reached the landing-place, where the hole of which I heard them speak +permitted a view of the hall beneath. Stepping across this, we entered +a large room lighted by a lamp upon the chimney-piece; around the walls +were hung a variety of what appeared to be cloaks of a lightish drab +colour, while over each hung a small skull-cap of yellow leather. + +'Don't you hear the knocking below, Mickey? There's some one at the +door,' said O'Grady. + +The little man left the room, and as we were now alone, I expected some +explanation from my friend as to the place we were in, and the people +who frequented it. Not so, however. Phil merely detached one of the +cloaks from its peg, and proceeded to invest himself in its folds; he +placed the skull-cap on his head, after which, covering the whole with +a hood, he fastened the garment around his waist with a girdle of rope, +and stood before me the perfect picture of a monk of St. Benedict, as we +see them represented in old pictures--the only irregularity of costume +being, that instead of a rosary, the string from his girdle supported a +corkscrew and a horn spoon of most portentous proportions. + +'Come, my son,' said he reverently, 'indue thy garment.' So saying, +he proceeded to clothe me in a similar manner, after which he took a +patient survey of me for a few seconds. 'You 'll do very well; wear the +hood well forward; and mark me, Jack, I 've but one direction to give +you--never speak a word, not a syllable, so long as you remain in the +house; if spoken to, cross your arms thus upon your breast, and bow +your head in this manner. Try that--perfectly--you have your lesson; now +don't forget it.' + +O'Grady now, with his arms crossed upon his bosom, and his head bent +slightly forward, walked slowly forth, with a solemn gravity well +befitting his costume. Imitating him as well as I was able, I followed +him up the stairs. On reaching the second landing, he tapped twice with +his knuckles at a low door, whose pointed arch and iron grating were +made to represent the postern of a convent. + +'_Benedicite_,' said Phil, in a low voice. + +'_Et tu quoque, frater_,' responded some one from within, and the door +was opened. + +Saluting a venerable-looking figure, who, with a long grey beard, bowed +devoutly as we passed, we entered an apartment, where, so sudden was the +change from what I had hitherto seen, I could scarcely trust my eyes. +A comfortable, well-carpeted room, with curtained windows, cushioned +chairs, and, not least inviting of all, a blazing fire of wood upon the +hearth, were objects I was little prepared for; but I had little time to +note them, my attention being directed with more curiosity to the living +occupants of this strange dwelling. Some fifteen or sixteen persons, +costumed like ourselves, either walked up and down engaged in +conversation, or sat in little groups around the fire. Card-tables there +were in different parts of the room, but one only was occupied. At this +a party of reverend fathers were busily occupied at whist. In the corner +next the fire, seated in a large chair of carved oak, was a figure, +whose air and bearing bespoke authority; the only difference in his +costume from the others being a large embroidered corkscrew, which he +wore on his left shoulder. + +'Holy Prior, your blessing,' said Phil, bowing obsequiously before him. + +'You have it, my son: much good may it do you,' responded the superior, +in a voice which, somehow or other, seemed not perfectly new to me. + +While O'Grady engaged in a whispered conversation with the prior, +I turned my eyes towards a large-framed paper which hung above the +chimney. It ran thus:-- + +'Rules and regulations to be observed in the monastery of the venerable +and pious brothers, the Monks of the Screw.' + +Conceiving it scarcely delicate in a stranger to read over the +regulations of a society of which he was not a member, I was turning +away, when O'Grady, seizing me by the arm, whispered, 'Remember your +lesson'; then added aloud, 'Holy Father, this is the lay brother of whom +I spoke.' + +The prior bowed formally, and extended his hands towards me with a +gesture of benediction-- + +'_Accipe benedictionem_-----' + +'Supper, by the Lord Harry!' cried a jolly voice behind me, and at the +same moment a general movement was made by the whole party. + +The prior now didn't wait to conclude his oration, but tucking up his +garments, put himself at the head of the procession which had formed, +two and two, in order of march. At the same moment, two fiddles from the +supper-room, after a slight prelude, struck up the anthem of the order, +which was the popular melody of, 'The Night before Larry was stretched!' + +Marching in measured tread, we entered the supper-room, when, once +having made the circuit of the table, at a flourish of the fiddles we +assumed our places, the superior seating himself at the head in a chair +of state, slightly elevated above the rest. A short Latin grace, which +I was unfortunate enough not to catch, being said, the work of eating +began; and, certainly, whatever might have been the feats of the friars +of old, when the bell summoned them to the refectory, their humble +followers, the Monks of the Screw, did them no discredit. A profusion of +dishes covered the table; and although the entire service was of wood, +and the whole 'equipage' of the most plain and simple description, yet +the cookery was admirable, and the wines perfection itself. + +While the supper proceeded, scarcely a word was spoken. By the skilful +exercise of signs, with which they all seemed familiar, roast ducks, +lobsters, veal-pies, and jellies flew from hand to hand; the decanters +also paraded up and down the table with an alacrity and despatch I had +seldom seen equalled. Still, the pious brethren maintained a taciturn +demeanour that would have done credit to La Trappe itself. As for me, my +astonishment and curiosity increased every moment. What could they be? +What could they mean? There was something too farcical about it all to +suppose that any political society or any dangerous association could +be concealed under such a garb; and if mere conviviality and good +fellowship were meant, their unbroken silence and grave demeanour struck +me as a most singular mode of promoting either. + +Supper at length concluded, the dishes were removed by two humble +brethren of the order, dressed in a species of grey serge; after +which, marching to a solemn tune, another monk appeared, bearing a huge +earthenware bowl, brimful of steaming punch--at least so the odour and +the floating lemons bespoke it. Each brother was now provided with +a small, quaint-looking pipkin, after which the domestics withdrew, +leaving us in silence as before. For about a second or two this +continued, when suddenly the fiddles gave a loud twang, and each monk, +springing to his legs, threw hack his cowl, and, bowing to the superior, +reseated himself. So sudden was the action, so unexpected the effect, +for a moment or two I believed it a dream. What was my surprise, what my +amazement, that this den of thieves, this hoard of burglars, this secret +council of rebels, was nothing more or less than an assemblage of nearly +all the first men of the day in Ireland! And as my eye ran rapidly over +the party, here I could see the Chief Baron, with a venerable dignitary +of St. Patrick's on his right; there was the Attorney-General; there the +Provost of Trinity College; lower down, with his skull-cap set jauntily +on one side, was Wellesley Pole, the secretary of state; Yelverton, +Day, Plunket, Parsons, Toler; in a word, all those whose names were a +guarantee for everything that was brilliant, witty, and amusing, were +there; while, conspicuous among the rest, the prior himself was no other +than John Philpot Curran! Scarcely was my rapid survey of the party +completed, when the superior, filling his pipkin from the ample bowl +before him, rose to give the health of the order. Alas me! that time +should have so sapped my memory! I can but give my impression of what I +heard. + +The speech, which lasted about ten minutes, was a kind of burlesque on +speeches from the throne, describing in formal phrase the prosperous +state of their institution, its amicable foreign relations, the +flourishing condition of its finances--brother Yelverton having paid in +the two-and-sixpence he owed for above two years--concluding all with +the hope that by a rigid economy, part of which consisted in limiting +John Toler to ten pipkins, they would soon be enabled to carry into +effect the proposed works on the frontier, and expend the sum of four +shillings and nine-pence in the repair of the lobby. Winding up all with +a glowing eulogium on monastic institutions in general, he concluded +with recommending to their special devotion and unanimous cheers 'the +Monks of the Screw.' Never, certainly, did men compensate for their +previous silence better than the worthy brethren in question. Cheering +with an energy I never heard the like of, each man finished his pipkin +with just voice enough left to call for the song of the order. + +Motioning with his hand to the fiddlers to begin, the prior cleared his +throat, and, to the same simple but touching melody they had marched in +to supper, sang the following chant:-- + + GOOD-LUCK TO THE FRIARS OF OLD + + 'Of all trades that flourished of old, + Before men knew reading and writing, + The friars' was best I am told, + If one wasn't much given to fighting; + For, rent free, you lived at your ease-- + You had neither to work nor to labour-- + You might eat of whatever you please, + For the prog was supplied by your neighbour. + Oh, good-luck to the friars of old! + + 'Your dress was convenient and cheap-- + A loose robe like this I am wearing: + It was pleasant to eat in or sleep, + And never much given to tearing. + Not tightened nor squeezed in the least-- + How of modern days you might shame us! + With a small bit of cord round your waist-- + With what vigour you'd chant the oremus! + Oh, good-luck to the friars of old! + + 'What miracles then, too, you made! + The fame to this hour is lasting; + But the strangest of all, it is said, + You grew mighty fat upon fasting! + And though strictly forbid to touch wine, + How the fact all your glory enhances! + You well knew the taste of the vine-- + Some miraculous gift of St. Francis! + Oh, good-luck to the friars of old! + + 'To trace an example so meek, + And repress all our carnal desires, + We mount two pair stairs every week, + And put on the garment of friars; + And our order itself it is old-- + The oldest between me and you, sir; + For King David, they say, was enrolled, + And a capital Monk of the Screw, sir. + So, good-luck to the friars of old!' + + +The song over, and another cheer given to the brethren of the Screw, the +pipkins were replenished, and the conversation, so long pent up, burst +forth in all its plenitude. Nothing but fun, nothing but wit, nothing +but merriment, was heard on either side. Here were not only all the +bright spirits of the day, but they were met by appointment; they came +prepared for the combat, armed for the fight; and, certainly, never was +such a joust of wit and brilliancy. Good stories rained around; jests, +repartees, and epigrams flew like lightning; and one had but time +to catch some sparkling gem as it glittered, ere another and another +succeeded. + +But even already I grow impatient with myself while I speak of these +things. How poor, how vapid, and how meagre is the effort to recall the +wit that set the table in a roar! Not only is memory wanting, but how +can one convey the incessant roll of fun, the hailstorm of pleasantry, +that rattled about our ears; each good thing that was uttered ever +suggesting something still better; the brightest fancy and the most +glowing imagination stimulated to their utmost exercise; while powers +of voice, of look, and of mimicry unequalled, lent all their aid to the +scene. + +While I sat entranced and delighted with all I saw and all I heard, I +had not remarked that O'Grady had been addressing the chair for some +time previous. + +'Reverend brother,' replied the prior, 'the prayer of thy petition is +inadmissible. The fourth rule of our faith says, _de confessione:_ No +subject, mirthful, witty, or jocose, known to, or by, any member of the +order, shall be withheld from the brotherhood under a penalty of the +heaviest kind. And it goes on to say, that whether the jest involve your +father or your mother, your wife, your sister, or the aunt from whom +you expect a legacy, no exception can be made. What you then look for is +clearly impossible; make a clean breast of it, and begin.' + +This being a question of order, a silence was soon established, when, +what was my horror to find that Phil O'Grady began the whole narrative +of my mother's letter on the subject of the Rooneys! Not limiting +himself, however, to the meagre document in question, but colouring +the story with all the force of his imagination, he displayed to the +brethren the ludicrous extremes of character personated by the London +fine lady and the Dublin attorney's wife. Shocked as I was at first, he +had not proceeded far, when I was forced to join the laughter. The whole +table pounced upon the story. The Rooneys were well known to them +all; and the idea of poor Paul, who dispensed his hospitalities with +a princely hand, having his mansion degraded to the character of a +chop-house, almost convulsed them with laughter. + +'I am going over to London next week,' said Parsons, 'with old Lambert; +and if I thought I should meet this Lady Charlotte Hinton, I'd certainly +contrive to have him presented to her as Mr. Paul Rooney.' + +This observation created a diversion in favour of my lady-mother, to +which I had the satisfaction of listening without the power to check. + +'She has,' said Dawson, 'most admirable and original views about +Ireland; and were it only for the fact of calling on the Rooneys for +their bill, she deserves our gratitude. I humbly move, therefore, that +we drink to the health of our worthy sister, Lady Charlotte Hinton.' + +The next moment found me hip-hipping, in derision, to my mother's +health, the only consolation being that I was escaping unnoticed and +unknown. + +'Well, Barrington, the duke was delighted with the corps; nothing could +be more soldierlike than their appearance, as they marched past.' + +'Ah, the attorneys', isn't it--the Devil's Own, as Curran calls them?' + +'Yes, and remarkably well they looked. I say, Parsons, you heard what +poor Rooney said when Sir Charles Asgill read aloud the general order +complimenting them: “May I beg, Sir Charles,” said he, “to ask if the +document in your hand be an attested copy?”' + +'Capital, 'faith! By-the-bye, what's the reason, can any one tell me, +Paul has never invited me to dine for the last two years?' + +'Indeed!' said Curran; 'then your chance is a bad one, for the statute +of limitations is clearly against you.' + +'Ah, Kellar, the Rooneys have cut all their low acquaintances, and your +prospects look very gloomy. You know what took place between Paul and +Lord Manners?' + +'No, Barrington; let's hear it, by all means!' + +'Paul had met him at Kinnegad, where both had stopped to change horses. +“A glass of sherry, my lord?” quoth Paul, with a most insinuating look. + +'“No, sir, thank you,” was the distant reply. + +'“A bowl of gravy, then, my lord?” rejoined he. '“Pray, excuse me,” more +coldly than before. + +'“Maybe a chop and a crisped potato would tempt your lordship?” + +'“Neither, sir, I assure you.” + +'“Nor a glass of egg-flip?” repeated Paul, in an accent bordering on +despair. + +'“Nor even the egg-flip,” rejoined his lordship, in the most pompous +manner. + +'“Then, my lord,” said Paul, drawing himself up to his full height, and +looking him firmly in the face, “I've only to say, the 'onus' is now on +you.” With which he stalked out of the room, leaving the chancellor to +his own reflections.' + +'Brethren, the saint!' cried out the prior, as he rose from the chair. + +'The saint! the saint!' re-echoed from lip to lip; and at the same moment +the door opened, and a monk appeared, bearing a silver image of St. +Patrick, about a foot and a half high, which he deposited in the middle +of the table with the utmost reverence. All the monks rose, filling +their pipkins, while the junior of the order, a fat little monk with +spectacles, began the following ditty, in which all the rest joined, +with every energy of voice and manner:-- + + I + + 'When St. Patrick our order created, + And called us the Monks of the Screw, + Good rules he revealed to our abbot + To guide us in what we should do. + + II + + 'But first he replenished his fountain + With liquor the best in the sky, + And he swore by the word of his saintship + That fountain should never run dry. + + III + + 'My children, be chaste, till you 're tempted; + While sober, be wise and discreet; + And humble your bodies with fasting + Whene'er you 've nothing to eat. + + IV + + 'Then be not a glass in the convent, + Except on a festival, found; + And this rule to enforce, I ordain it + A festival all the year round.' + + +A hip, hip, hurrah! that made the very saint totter on his legs, shook +the room; and once more the reverend fathers reseated themselves to +resume their labours. + +Again the conversation flowed cm in its broader channel; and scarcely +was the laughter caused by one anecdote at an end when another +succeeded, the strangest feature of all this being that he who related +the story was, in almost every instance, less the source of amusement +to the party than they who, listening to the recital, threw a hundred +varied lights upon it, making even the tamest imaginable adventure the +origin of innumerable ludicrous situations and absurd fancies. Besides +all this, there were characteristic differences in the powers of +the party, which deprived the display of any trace or appearance of +sameness: the epigrammatic terseness and nicety of Curran; the jovial +good-humour and mellow raciness of Lawrence Parsons; the happy facility +of converting all before him into a pun or a repartee, so eminently +possessed by Toler; and, perhaps more striking than all, the caustic +irony and piercing sarcasm of Plunket's wit--relieved and displayed one +another, each man's talent having only so much of rivalry as to excite +opposition and give interest to the combat, yet never by any accident +originating a particle of animosity, or even eliciting a shade of +passing irritation. + +With what pleasure could I continue to recount the stories, the songs, +the sayings, I listened to! With what satisfaction do I yet look back +upon that brilliant scene, nearly all the actors in which have since +risen to high rank and eminence in the country! How often, too, in their +bright career, when I have heard the warm praise of the world bestowed +upon their triumphs and their successes, has my memory carried me back +to that glorious night, when with hearts untrammelled by care, high in +hope, and higher in ambition, these bright spirits sported in all the +wanton exuberance of their genius, scattering with profusion the rich +ore of their talent, careless of the depths to which the mine should +be shafted hereafter! Yes, it is true there were giants in those days. +However much one may be disposed to look upon the eulogist of the past, +as one whose fancy is more ardent than his memory is tenacious, yet with +respect to this, there is no denial of the fact, that great convivial +gifts, great conversational power, no longer exist as they did some +thirty or forty years ago. I speak more particularly of the country +where I passed my youth--of Ireland. And who that remembers those names +I have mentioned; who that can recall the fascination, and charm, which +almost every dinner-party of the day could boast; who that can bring to +mind the brilliancy of Curran, the impetuous power of Plunket, or the +elegance of manner and classical perfection of wit that made Burke +the Cicero of his nation; who, I say, with all these things before +his memory, can venture to compare the society of that period with the +present? No, no; the grey hairs that mingle with our brown may convict +us of being a prejudiced witness, but we would call into court every one +whose testimony is available, and confidently await the verdict. + +'And so they ran away!' said the prior, turning towards a tall, +gaunt-looking monk, who with a hollow voice and solemn manner was +recording the singular disappearance of the militia regiment he +commanded on the morning they were to embark for England. 'The story +we heard,' resumed the prior, 'was, that when drawn up in the Fifteen +Acres, one of the light company caught sight of a hare, and flung his +musket at it; that the grenadiers followed the example, and that then +the whole battalion broke loose, with a loud yell, and set off in +pursuit----' + +'No, sir,' said the gaunt man, waving his hand to suppress the laughter +around him. 'They were assembled on the lighthouse wall, as it might +be here, and we told them off by tallies as they marched on board, not +perceiving, however, that as fast as they entered the packet on one side +they left it on the opposite, there being two jolly-boats in waiting to +receive them; and as it was dusk at the time, the scheme was undetected, +until the corporal of a flank company shouted out to them to wait for +him, that being his boat. At this time we had fifty men of our four +hundred and eighty.' + +'Ay, ay, holy father,' cried the prior, as he helped himself to a +devilled bone, 'your fellows were like the grilled bone before me--when +they were mustered, they would not wait to be peppered? + +This sally produced a roar of laughter, not the less hearty that the +grim-visaged hero it was addressed to never relaxed a muscle of his +face. + +It was now late, and what between the noise, the wine, and the laughter, +my faculties were none of the clearest. Without having drunk much, I +felt all the intoxication of liquor, and a whirlwind of confusion in my +ideas, that almost resembled madness. To this state one part of their +proceedings in a great measure contributed; for every now and then, on +some signal from the prior, the whole party would take hands and dance +round the table to the measure of an Irish jig, wilder and even more +eccentric than their own orgies. Indeed, I think this religious exercise +finished me; for after the third time of its performance, the whole +scene became a confused and disturbed mass, and amid the crash of +voices, the ringing of laughter, the tramping of feet, I sank into +something which, if not sleep, was at least unconsciousness; and thus +is a wet sponge drawn over the immediately succeeding portion of my +history. + +[Illustration: 224] + +Some faint recollection I have of terrifying old Corny by my costume; +but what the circumstances, or how they happened, I cannot remember. +I can only call to mind one act in vindication of my wisdom--I went to +bed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. A CONFIDENCE + +I slept late on the morning after my introduction to the Monks of the +Screw, and probably should have continued to indulge still longer, had +not O'Grady awoke me. + +'Come, Jack,' he cried, 'this is the third time I have been here to-day. +I can't have mercy on you any longer; so rub your eyes, and try if +you can't wake sufficiently to listen to me. I have just received my +appointment as captain in the Forty-first, with an order to repair +immediately to Chatham to join the regiment, which is under orders for +foreign service.' + +'And when do you go, Phil?' + +'To-night at eight o'clock. A private note from a friend at the Horse +Guards tells me not to lose a moment; and as I shall have to wait on +the duke to thank him for his great kindness to me, I have no time to +spare.' + +This news so stunned me that for a moment or two I couldn't reply. +O'Grady perceived it, and, patting me gaily on the shoulder, said-- + +'Yes, Jack, I am sorry we are to separate. But as for me, no other +course was open; and as to you, with all your independence from fortune, +and with all your family influence to push your promotion, the time is +not very distant when you will begin to feel the life you are leading +vapid and tiresome. You will long for an excitement more vigorous and +more healthy in its character; and then, my boy, my dearest hope is that +we may be thrown once more together.' + +Had my friend been able at the moment to have looked into the secret +recesses of my heart and read there my inmost thoughts, he could not +more perfectly have depicted my feelings, nor pictured the impressions +that, at the very moment he spoke, were agitating my mind. The time he +alluded to had indeed arrived. The hour had come when I wished to be a +soldier in more than the mere garb; but with that wish came linked +another even stronger still; and this was, that, before I went on +service, I should once more see Louisa Bellew, explain to her the nature +and extent of my attachment to her, and obtain, if possible, some pledge +on her part that, with the distinction I hoped to acquire, I should look +to the possession of her love as my reward and my recompense. Young as I +was, I felt ashamed at avowing to O'Grady the rapid progress of my +passion. I had not courage to confess upon what slight encouragement I +built my hopes, and at the same time was abashed at being compelled to +listen tamely to his prophecy, when the very thoughts that flashed +across me would have indicated my resolve. + +While I thus maintained an awkward silence, he once more resumed-- + +'Meanwhile, Jack, you can serve me, and I shall make no apologies +for enlisting you. You've heard me speak of this great Loughrea +steeplechase: now, somehow or other, with my usual prudence, I have gone +on adding wager to wager, until at last I find myself with a book of +some eight hundred pounds--to lose which at a moment like this, I need +not say, would almost ruin all my plans. To be free of the transaction, +I this morning offered to pay half forfeit, and they refused me. Yes, +Hinton, they knew every man of them the position I stood in. They saw +that not only my prospects but my honour was engaged; that before a week +I should be far away, without any power to control, without any means to +observe them. They knew well that, thus circumstanced, I must lose; and +that if I lost, I must sell my commission, and leave the army beggared +in character and in fortune.' + +'And now, my dear friend,' said I, interrupting, 'how happens it that +you bet with men of this stamp? I understood you it was a friendly +match, got up at a dinnerparty.' + +'Even so, Jack. The dinner was in my own rooms, the claret mine, the men +my _friends_. You may smile, but so the world is pleased to call those +with whom from day to day we associate, with no other bond of union than +the similarity of a pursuit which has nothing more reprehensible in it +than the character of the intimacies it engenders. Yes, Hinton, these +are my sporting friends, sipping my wine while they plot my ruin. +Conviviality with them is not the happy abandonment to good fellowship +and enjoyment, but the season of cold and studied calculation--the hour +when, unexcited themselves, they trade upon the unguarded and unwary +feelings of others. They know how imperative is the code of honour as +regards a bet, and they make a virtue to themselves in the unflinching +firmness of their exaction, as a cruel judge would seek applause for the +stern justice with which he condemns a felon. It is usual, however, to +accept half forfeit in circumstances like these of mine: the condition +did not happen to be inserted, and they rejected my offer.' + +'Is this possible,' said I, 'and that these men call themselves your +friends?' + +'Yes, Jack; a betting-book is like Shylock's bond, and the holder of one +pretty much about as merciful as the worthy Israelite. But come, come! +it is but boyish weakness in one like me to complain of these things; +nor, indeed, would I speak of them now, but with the hope that my words +may prove a warning to you, while they serve to explain the service I +look for from you, and give you some insight into the character of those +with whom you 'll have to deal.' + +'Only tell me,' said I, 'only explain, my dear O'Grady, what I can do, +and how; it is needless for me to say I 'm ready.' + +'I thought as much. Now listen to me. When I made this unlucky match +it was, as I have said, over a dinnerparty, when, excited by wine and +carried away by the enthusiasm of the moment, I made a proposition +which, with a calmer head, I should never have ventured. For a second or +two it was not accepted, and Mr. Burke, of whom you 've heard me speak, +called out from the end of the table, “A sporting offer, by Jove! and +I'll ride for you myself.” This I knew was to give me one of the first +horsemen in Ireland; so, while filling my glass and nodding to him, +accepted his offer, I cried out, “Two to one against any horse named +at this moment!” The words were not spoken when I was taken up, at both +sides of the table; and as I leaned across to borrow a pencil from a +friend, I saw that a smile was curling every lip, and that Burke himself +endeavoured with his wine-glass to conceal the expression of his face. +I needed no stronger proof that the whole match had been a preconcerted +scheme between the parties, and that I had fallen into a snare laid +purposely to entrap me. It was too late, however, to retract; I booked +my bets, drank my wine, congeed my friends, went to bed, and woke the +next morning to feel myself a dupe. + +'But come, Jack; at this rate I shall never have done. The match was +booked, the ground chosen, Mr. Burke to be my jockey, and, in fact, +everything arranged, when, what was my surprise, my indignation, to find +that the horse I destined for the race (at the time in possession of +a friend) was bought up for five hundred and sent off to England! This +disclosed to me how completely I was entrapped. Nothing remained for me +then but to purchase one which offered at the moment! and this one, +I 've told you already, has the pleasant reputation of being the most +wicked devil and the hardest to ride in the whole west; in fact, except +Burke himself, nobody would mount him on a road, and as to crossing a +country with him, even _he_, they say, has no fancy for it. In any case, +he made it the ground of a demand which I could not refuse--that, in the +event of my winning, he was to claim a third of the stakes. At length +the horse is put in training, improves every hour, and matters seem to +be taking a favourable turn. In the midst of this, however, the report +reaches me, as you heard yourself yesterday morning, that Burke will +not ride. However I affected to discredit it at the moment, I had great +difficulty to preserve the appearance of calm. This morning settles the +question by this letter:-- + +'“Red House, Wednesday Morning.” + +'“Dear Sir,--A friendly hint has just reached me that I am to be +arrested on the morning of the Loughrea race for a trifle of a hundred +and eighteen pounds and some odd shillings. If it suits your convenience +to pay the money, or enter into bail for the amount, I'll be very happy +to ride your horse; for, although I don't care for a double ditch, I've +no fancy to take the wall of the county jail, even on the back of as +good a horse as Moddiridderoo.--Yours truly, Ulick Burke.”' + +'Well,' said I, as, after some difficulty, I spelled through this +ill-written and dirty epistle, 'and what do you mean to do here?' + +'If you ask me,' said Phil, 'what I 'd like to do, I tell you fairly +it would be to horsewhip my friend Mr. Burke as a preliminary, pay the +stakes, withdraw my horse, and cut the whole concern; but my present +position is, unhappily, opposed to each of these steps. In the first +place, a rencontre with Burke would do me infinite disservice at the +Horse Guards, and as to the payment of eight hundred pounds, I don't +think I could raise the money, unless some one would advance five +hundred of it for a mortgage on Corny Delany. But to be serious, +Jack--and, as time passes, I must be serious--I believe the best way on +this occasion is to give Burke the money (for as to the bill, that's +an invention); yet as I must start to-night for England, and the affair +will require some management, I must put the whole matter into your +hands, with full instructions how to act.' + +'I am quite ready and willing,' said I; 'only give me the _carte du +pay_.' + +'Well, then, my boy, you'll go down to Loughrea for me the day before +the race, establish yourself as quietly as you can in the hotel, and, as +the riders must be named on the day before the running, contrive to see +Mr. Burke, and inform him that his demand will be complied with. Have +no delicacy with him---it is a mere money question; and although by +the courtesy of the turf he is a gentleman, yet there is no occasion +to treat him with more of ceremony than is due to yourself in your +negotiation. This letter contains the sum he mentions. In addition to +that, I have inclosed a bank cheque for whatever you like to give him; +only remember one thing, Hinton--_he_ must ride, and _I_ must win.' + +All the calmness with which O'Grady had hitherto spoken deserted him +at this moment; his face became scarlet, his brow was bent, and his lip +quivered with passion, while, as he walked the room with hurried steps +he muttered between his teeth-- + +'Yes, though it cost my last shilling, I'll win the race! They thought +to ruin me; the scheme was deeply laid and well planned too, but they +shall fail. No, Hinton,' resumed he in a louder tone--'no, Hinton; +believe me, poor man that I am, this is not with me a question of so +many pounds: it is the wounded _amour propre_ of a man who, all through +his life, held out the right hand of fellowship to those very men who +now conspire to be his ruin. And such, my dear boy, such, for the most +part, are the dealings of the turf. I do not mean to say that men +of high honour and unblemished integrity are not foremost in the +encouragement of a sport which, from its bold and manly character, +is essentially an English one; but this I would assert, that probity, +truth, and honour are the gifts of but a very small number of those who +make a traffic of the turf, and are, what the world calls, “racing men.” + And oh how very hard the struggle, how nice the difficulty, of him who +makes these men his daily companions, to avoid the many artifices which +the etiquette of the racecourse permits, but which the feelings of a +gentleman would reject as unfair and unworthy! How contaminating that +laxity of principle that admits of every stratagem, every trick, as +legitimate, with the sole proviso that it be successful! And what a +position is it that admits of no alternative save being the dupe or the +blackleg! How hard for the young fellow entering upon life with all the +ardour, all the unsuspecting freshness of youth about him, to stop +short at one without passing on to the other stage! How difficult, with +offended pride and wounded self-love, to find himself the mere tool +of sharpers! How very difficult to check the indignant spirit, that +whispers retaliation by the very arts by which he has been cheated! Is +not such a trial as this too much for any boy of twenty? and is it +not to be feared that, in the estimation he sees those held in whose +blackguardism is their pre-eminence, a perverted ambition to be what is +called a sharp fellow may sap and undermine every honourable feeling +of the heart, break down the barriers of rigid truth and scrupulous +fidelity, teaching him to exult at what formerly he had blushed, and to +recognise no folly so contemptible as that of him who believes the word +of another? Such a career as this has many a one pursued, abandoning +bit by bit every grace, every virtue, and every charm of his character, +that, at the end, he should come forth a “sporting gentleman.”' + +He paused for a few seconds, and then, turning towards me, added, in a +voice tremulous from emotion, 'And yet, my boy, to men like this I would +now expose you! No, no, Jack; I' ll not do it. I care not what turn the +thing may take; I 'll not embitter my life with this reflection.' He +seized the letter, and crushing it in his hand, walked towards the +window. + +'Come, come, O'Grady,' said I, 'this is not fair; you first draw a +strong picture of these men, and then you deem me weak enough to fall +into their snares. That would hardly say much for my judgment and good +sense; besides, you have stimulated my curiosity, and I shall be sadly +disappointed if I'm not to see them.' + +'Be it so, Jack!' said he with a sigh. 'I shall give you a couple +of letters to some friends of mine down there; and I know but one +recompense you'll have for all the trouble and annoyance of this +business--your pretty friend, Miss Bellew, is on a visit in the +neighbourhood, and is certain to be at the race.' + +Had O'Grady looked at me while he spoke he would have seen how deeply +this intelligence affected me, while I myself could with difficulty +restrain the increased interest I now felt in all about the matter, +questioning him on every particular, inquiring into a hundred minute +points, and, in fact, displaying an ardour on the subject that nothing +short of my friend's preoccupation could have failed in detecting the +source of. My mind now fixed on one object, I could scarcely follow him +in his directions as to travelling down, secrecy, etc. + +I heard something about the canal-boat, and some confused impression was +on my mind about a cross-road and a jaunting-car; but the prospect of +meeting Louisa, the hope of again being in her society, rendered me +indifferent to all else; and as I thrust the letters he gave me into my +coat-pocket, and promised an implicit observance of all his directions, +I should have been sorely puzzled had he asked me to repeat them. + +'Now,' continued O'Grady, at the end of about half-an-hour's rapid +speaking, 'I believe I've put you in possession of all the bearings +of this case. You understand, I hope, the kind of men you have to deal +with, and I trust Mr. Ulick Burke is thoroughly known to you by this +time?' + +'Oh, perfectly,' said I, half mechanically. + +'Well, then, my boy, I believe I had better say good-bye. Something +tells me we shall meet ere long; meanwhile, Jack, you have my best +wishes.' He paused for a moment and turned away his head, evidently +affected, then added, 'You'll write to me soon, of course; and as that +old fool Corny follows me in a week----' + +'And is Corny going abroad?' + +'Ay, confound him! like the old man in Sindbad, there 's no getting +him off one's shoulders. Besides, he has a kind of superstition that he +ought to close the eyes of the last of the family; and as he has frankly +confessed to me this morning he knows I am in that predicament, he +esteems it a point of duty to accompany me. Poor fellow, with all his +faults, I can't help feeling attached to him; and were I to leave him +behind me, what would become of him? No, Jack, I am fully sensible of +all the inconvenience, all the ridicule of this step, but, 'faith, I +prefer both to the embittering reflection I should have did I desert +him.' + +'Why does he remain after you, Phil? He 'll never find his way to +London.' + +'Oh, trust him! What with scolding, cursing, and abusing every one he +meets, he'll attract notice enough on the road never to be forgotten, or +left behind. But the fact is, it is his own proposition; and Corny +has asked for a few days' leave of absence, for the first time for +seven-and-twenty years!' + +'And what the deuce can that be for?' + +'You 'd never guess if you tried until to-morrow--to see his mother.' + +'Corny's mother! Corny Delany's mother!' + +'Just so--his mother. Ah, Hinton! you still have much to learn about us +all here. And now, before we part, let me instruct you on this point; +not that I pretend to have a reason for it, nor do I know that there +is any, but somehow I'll venture to say that whenever you meet with a +little cross-grained, ill-conditioned, ill-thriven old fellow, with a +face as if carved in the knot of a crab-tree, the odds are about fifteen +to one that the little wretch has a mother alive. Whether it is that the +tenacity of life among such people is greater, or whether Nature has +any peculiar objects of her own in view in the matter, I can't say, but +trust me for the fact. And now, I believe, I have run myself close to +time; so once more, Jack, good-bye, and God bless you!' + +He hurried from the room as he spoke, but, as the door was closing, I +saw that his lip trembled and his cheek was pale; while I leaned against +the window-shutter and looked after him with a heavy and oppressed +heart, for he was my first friend in the world. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE CANAL-BOAT + +In obedience to O'Grady's directions, of which, fortunately for me, +he left a memorandum in writing, I started from Portobello in the +canal-boat on the afternoon of the day after his departure. The day +was dark and lowering, with occasional showers of cold and sleety rain. +However, the casual glance I took of the gloomy cell, denominated cabin, +deterred me from seeking shelter there, and buttoned up in my greatcoat +and with my travelling-cap drawn firmly over my eyes, I walked the deck +for several hours, my own thoughts affording me sufficient occupation; +and even had the opportunity presented itself, I should not have desired +any other. On this score, however, there was no temptation; and as I +looked at my fellow-passengers, there was nothing either in their voice, +air, or appearance to induce me to care for any closer intimacy. + +The majority of them were stout, plain-looking countryfolk, with coats +of brown or grey frieze, leather gaiters, and thick shoes, returning, as +I could guess from some chance expressions they dropped, from the Dublin +market, whither they had proceeded with certain droves of bullocks, +wethers, and hoggets, the qualities of which formed the staple of +conversation. There were also some lady passengers--one a rather +good-looking woman, with a certain air of half gentility about her, +which enabled her at times to display to her companion her profound +contempt for the rest of the company. This companion was a poor +subdued-looking girl of about eighteen or twenty years, who scarcely +ventured to raise her haggard eyes, and spoke with an accent painful +from agitation; her depressed look and her humble manner did not +conceal, however, a certain air of composed and quiet dignity, which +spoke of happier days. A host of ill-bred, noisy, and unmannerly +children accompanied them; and I soon discovered that the mother was +the wife of the great shopkeeper in Loughrea, and her pale companion +a governess she had just procured in Dublin, to initiate the promising +offspring in the accomplished acquirements of French, Italian, +music, and painting. Their only acquaintance on board seemed to be a +jolly-looking man who, although intimate with every one, seemed somehow +not to suffer in the grand lady's esteem from the familiarities he +dispensed on all sides. He was a short, florid-looking little fellow, +with a round bullet head, the features of which seemed at first sight +so incongruous that it was difficult to decide on their prevailing +expression; his large grey eyes, which rolled and twinkled with fun, +caught a character of severity from his heavy overhanging eyebrows, and +there was a stern determination in his compressed lips that every moment +gave way to some burst of jocular good-humour, as he accosted one or +other of his friends. His voice, however, was the most remarkable thing +about him; for while at one moment he would declaim in the full round +tone of a person accustomed to speak in public, in the next he would +drop down into an easy and familiar accent, to which the mellowness of +his brogue imparted a raciness quite peculiar. His dress was a suit of +rusty black, with leather breeches of the same colour, and high boots. +This costume, which pronounced him a priest, might also, had I known +more of the country, have explained the secrets of that universal +understanding he maintained with all on board. He knew every one's +business, whither they were going, where they had been, what success had +attended them in the market, how much the black heifer brought, what the +pigs were sold for; he asked why Tim didn't come to his duties, and +if Molly's child was well of the measles; he had a word too for the +shopkeeper's wife, but that was said in a whisper; and then producing a +copper snuff-box, about the size of a saucer, he presented it to me with +a graceful bow, saying-- + +'This is not the first time I have had the honour of being your +fellow-traveller, Captain. We came over from Liverpool together.' + +I now remembered that this was the same priest whose controversial +powers had kept me awake for nearly half the night, and whose convivial +ones filled up the remainder. I was delighted, however, to renew my +acquaintance, and we soon cemented an intimacy, which ended in his +proposing that we should sit together at dinner, to which I at once +assented. + +'Dacent people, dacent people, Captain; but _bastes_, after all, in the +ways of the world--none of the _usage de société_, as we used to say +at St. Omer's. No, no; _feræ naturæ_, devil a more. But here comes the +dinner; the ould story--leg of mutton and turnips, boiled chickens and +ham, a cod and potatoes! By the Mass, they would boil one's father if +they had him on board,' while he added in a whisper--'by rason they +can't roast! So now, will you move down, if you please?' + +'After your reverence, if you'll permit. _Arma cedant togæ_.' + +'Thrue for you, my son, _sacerdotes priores_; and though I am only a +priest----' + +'More's the pity,' said I, interrupting. + +'You're right,' said he, with a slight pinch of my arm, 'whether you are +joking or not.' + +The dinner was not a very appetising one, nor indeed the company over +seductive, so that I disappeared with the cloth, glad to find +myself once more in the open air, with the deck to myself; for my +fellow-travellers had, one and all, begun a very vigorous attack upon +sundry jugs of hot water and crucibles full of whisky, the fumes of +which, added to the heat, the smoke, and other disagreeables, made me +right happy to escape. + +As the evening wore late, the noise and uproar grew louder and more +vociferous, and, had not frequent bursts of laughter proclaimed the +spirit of the conviviality, I should have been tempted to believe the +party were engaged in deadly strife. Sometimes a single narrator would +seem to hold the company in attentive silence; then a general chorus of +the whole would break in, with shouts of merriment, knocking of knuckles +on the table, stamping of feet, and other signs of approbation and +applause. As this had now continued for some time, and it was already +verging towards midnight, I began to grow impatient; for as sleep stole +over my eyelids, I was desirous of some little quiet, to indulge myself +in a nap. Blessings on my innocent delusion! the gentlemen below-stairs +had as much notion of swimming as sleeping. Of this a rapid glance +through a little window, at the extremity of the cabin, soon satisfied +me. As well as the steamed and heated glass would permit my seeing, the +scene was a strange one. + +About forty persons were seated around a narrow table, so closely packed +that any attitude but the bolt upright was impracticable. There +they were, of every age and sex; some asleep with Welsh wigs and red +pocket-handkerchiefs screening their heads from cold, and their ears +as well as might be from uproar; some were endeavouring to read by the +light of mutton candles, with wicks like a light infantry feather, with +a nob at the head; others, with their heads bent down together, were +confidentially exchanging the secrets of the last market; while here and +there were scattered about little convivial knots of jolly souls, whose +noisy fun and loud laughter indicated but slight respect for their +drowsy neighbours. + +The group, however, which attracted most of my attention was one near +the fire at the end. This consisted of his reverence Father Tom, a +stout, burly-looking old farmer opposite him, the austere lady from +Loughrea, and a little dried-up, potted-herring of a man, who, with a +light-brown coat and standing collar, sat up perpendicularly on his seat +and looked about him with an eye as lively and an accent as sharp as +though it were only noonday. This little personage, who came from +that Irish Pennsylvania called Moate, was endeavouring to maintain a +controversy with the worthy priest, who, in addition to his polemics, +was deep in a game of spoiled five with the farmer, and carrying +on besides another species of warfare with his fair neighbour. The +diversity of all these occupations might possibly have been overmuch for +him, were it not for the aid of a suspicious-looking little kettle that +sat hissing and rocking on the hob, with a look of pert satisfaction +that convinced me its contents were something stronger than water. + +Perceiving a small space yet unoccupied in the party, I made my way +thither by the stair near it, and soon had the satisfaction to find +myself safely installed, without attracting any other notice from the +party than a proud stare from the lady, as she removed a little farther +from beside the priest. + +As to his reverence, far too deeply interested in his immediate pursuits +to pay any attention to me, he had quite enough on his hands with his +three antagonists, none of whom did he ever for a moment permit to +edge in even a word. Conducting his varied warfare with the skill of a +general, who made the artillery, the infantry, and the cavalry of mutual +aid and assistance to one another, he continued to keep the church, +the courtship, and the cards all moving together, in a manner perfectly +miraculous--the vehemence with which he thumped down a trump upon the +table serving as a point in his argument, while the energy of the action +permitted a squeeze of the lady's hand with the other. + +'There ye go, six of spades! Play a spade, av ye have one, Mr. +Larkins---- For a set of shrivelled-up craytures, with nothing but thee +and thou for a creed to deny the real ould ancient faith, that Saint +Peter and---- The ace of diamonds! _that_ tickled you under the short +ribs----- Not you, Mrs. Carney; for a sore time you have of it, and an +angel of a woman ye are; and the husband that could be cruel to you, and +take---- The odd trick out of you, Mr. Larkins---- + +No, no, I deny it--_nego in omnibus, Domine_. What does Origen say? The +rock, says he, is Peter; and if you translate the passage without---- +Another kettleful, if you please. I go for the ten, Misther Larkins. +Trumps! another--another--hurroo! By the tower of Clonmacnoise, I'll +beggar the bank to-night. _Malhereux au jeux, heureux en amour_, as we +used to say formerly. God forgive us!' + +Whether it was the French, or the look that accompanied it, I cannot +aver, but certainly the lady blushed and looked down. In vain did the +poor Quaker essay a word of explanation. In vain did Mrs. Carney herself +try to escape from the awkward inferences some of his allusions seemed +to lead to. Even the old farmer saw his tricks confiscated, and his +games estreated, without a chance of recovery; for, like Coeur de Lion +with his iron mace, the good priest laid about him, smashing, slaying, +and upsetting all before him, and never giving his adversaries a moment +to recover from one blow, ere he dealt another at their heads. + +'To be sure, Mrs. Carney, and why not? It's as mild as mother's milk. +Come, ould square-toes, take a thimbleful of it, and maybe it'll lead +you to a better understanding. I play the five fingers, Mr. Larkins. +There goes Jack, my jewel! Play to that--the trick is mine. Don't be +laughing; I've a bit of fat in the heel of my fist for you yet. There +now, what are you looking at? Don't you see the cards? Troth, you 're +as bad as the Quaker; you won't believe your own eyes---- And ye see, +ma'am'--here he whispered something in the lady's ear for a few seconds, +adding as he concluded--'and thim, Mrs. Carney, thim's the rights of +the Church. Friends, indeed! ye call yourselves friends! Faix, ye're the +least social friends I ever forgathered with, even if the bare look +of you wasn't an antidote to all kinds of amusements---- Cut, Mr. +Larkins---- And it's purgatory ye don't like? Ye know what Father +O'Leary said, “Some of ye may go farther and fare worse,” not to speak +of what a place heaven would be, with the likes of you in it---- Av it +was Mrs. Carney, indeed. Yes, Mary, your own beautiful self, that's +fit to be an angel any day, and discoorse with angels---- Howld, av +you please, I've a club for that---- Don't you see what nonsense you're +talking--the little kettle is laughing at you---- What's that you 're +mumbling about my time of life? Show me the man that'll carry twelve +tumblers with me; show me the man that'll cross a country; show me the +man that 'll---- Never mind, Mrs. Carney---- Time of life, indeed! Faix, +I'll give you a song.' + +With these words, the priest pushed the cards aside, replenished the +glasses, and began the following melody to an air much resembling 'Sir +Roger de Coverley':-- + + 'To-morrow I 'll just be three-score; + May never worse fortune betide me + Than to have a hot tumbler before, + And a beautiful crayture beside me! + If this world 's a stage, as they say, + And that men are the actors, I 'm certain, + In the after-piece I 'd like to play, + And be there at the fall of the curtain. + Whack! fol lol. + +'No, no, Mrs. Carney, I'll take the vestment on it, nothing of the +kind--the allusion is most discreet; but there is more. + + 'For the pleasures of youth are a flam; + To try them again, pray excuse me; + I 'd rather be priest that I am, + With the rights of the Church to amuse me. + Sure, there's naught like a jolly old age, + And the patriarchs knew this, it said is; + For though they looked sober and sage, + 'Faith, they had their own fun with the ladies! + Whack! fol lol. + +'Come now, Captain, you are a man that knows his humanities; 'I be +judged by you.' + +'I protest,' said I laughingly, 'I'd rather pronounce on your punch than +your polemics.' + +'No, would you though?' said the priest, with a joyous twinkle in his +eye, that showed which controversy had more attraction for him. 'Faix, +then, you shall have a fair trial. Beach me that glass, Mr. Larkins; and +if it isn't sweet enough, maybe Mrs. Carney would stir it for you with +her finger. There, now, we'll be comfortable and social, and have no +more bother about creeds, nor councils; for although it is only child's +play for me to demolish a hundred like you, I'd rather be merciful, and +leave you, like Alexander the coppersmith, to get the reward of your +works.' + +Whether it was the polite attention bestowed upon me by his reverence, +or that the magical word 'Captain,' so generic for all things military +in Ireland, had its effect, or that any purely personal reasons were +the cause, I cannot aver; but, certainly, Mrs. Carney's manner became +wonderfully softened. She smiled at me slyly when the priest wasn't +looking, and vouchsafed an inquiry as to whether I had ever served in +the Roscommon yeomanry. + +The kettle once more sent forth its fragrant steam, the glasses were +filled, the vanquished Quaker had extinguished both himself and his +argument beneath his broad beaver; and Father Tom, with a glance +of pleasure at the party, pronounced our arrangements perfect, and +suggested a round game, by way of passing the time. + +'We are now,' said he, 'on the long level for eighteen miles; there's +neither a lock nor a town to disturb us. Give Mrs. Carney the cards.' + +The proposition was met with hearty approval; and thus did I, Lieutenant +Hinton, of the Grenadier Guards, extra aide-de-camp to the viceroy, +discover myself at four in the morning engaged at a game of loo, whose +pecuniary limits were fourpence, but whose boundaries as to joke and +broad humour were wide as the great Atlantic. Day broke, and I found +myself richer by some tumblers of the very strongest whisky punch, a +confounded headache, and two-and-eightpence in bad copper jingling in my +pocket. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. SHANNON HARBOUR + +Little does he know who voyages in a canal-boat, dragged along some +three miles and a half per hour, ignominiously at the tails of two +ambling hackneys, what pride, pomp, and circumstance await him at the +first town he enters. Seated on the deck, watching with a Dutchman's +apathy the sedgy banks, whose tall naggers bow their heads beneath the +ripple that eddies from the bow--now lifting his eyes from earth to sky, +with nothing to interest, nothing to attract him, turning from the +gaze of the long dreary tract of bog and moorland, to look upon his +fellow-travellers, whose features are perhaps neither more striking +nor more pleasing--the monotonous jog of the postillion before, the +impassive placidity of the helmsman behind; the lazy smoke that seems to +lack energy to issue from the little chimney; the brown and leaden +look of all around--have something dreamy and sleep-compelling, almost +impossible to resist. And, already, as the voyager droops his head, and +lets fall his eyelids, a confused and misty sense of some everlasting +journey, toilsome, tedious, and slow, creeps over his besotted +faculties; when suddenly the loud bray of the horn breaks upon his +ears--the sound is re-echoed from a distance--the far-off tinkle of a +bell is borne along the water, and he sees before him, as if conjured +up by some magician's wand, the roofs and chimneys of a little village. +Meanwhile the excitement about him increases: the deck is lumbered with +hampers and boxes, and parcels--the note of departure to many a cloaked +and frieze-coated passenger has rung; for, strange as it may seem, +in that little assemblage of mud hovels, with their dunghills and +duck-pools around them, with its one-slated house and its square chapel, +there are people who live there; and, stranger still, some of those who +have left it, and seen other places, are going back there again, to drag +on life as before. But the plot is thickening: the large brass bell at +the stern of the boat is thundering away with its clanging sound; the +banks are crowded with people; and as if to favour the melodramatic +magic of the scene, the track-rope is cast off, the weary posters +trot away towards their stable, and the stately barge floats on to its +destined haven without the aid of any visible influence. He who watches +the look of proud, important bearing that beams upon 'the captain's' +face at a moment like this, may philosophise upon the charms of that +power which man wields above his fellow-men. Such, at least, were some +of my reflections; and I could not help muttering to myself, if a man +like this feel pride of station, what a glorious service must be the +navy! + +Watching with interest _the_ nautical skill with which, having fastened +a rope to the stern, the boat was swung round, with her head in the +direction from whence she came, intimating thereby the monotonous +character of her avocations, I did not perceive that one by one the +passengers were taking their departure. + +'Good-bye, Captain,' cried Father Tom, as he extended his ample hand to +me; 'we'll meet again in Loughrea. I'm going on Mrs. Carney's car, or +I'd be delighted to join you in a conveyance; but you'll easily get one +at the hotel.' + +I had barely time to thank the good father for his kind advice, when +I perceived him adjusting various duodecimo Carneys in the well of the +car, and then having carefully included himself in the frieze coat that +wrapped Mrs. Carney, he gave the word to drive on. + +As the day following was the time appointed for naming the horses and +the riders, I had no reason for haste. Loughrea, from what I had heard, +was a commonplace country town, in which, as in all similar places +every new-comer was canvassed with a prying and searching curiosity. I +resolved, therefore, to stop where I was; not, indeed, that the scenery +possessed any attractions. A prospect more bleak, more desolate, and +more barren, it would be impossible to' conceive--a wide river with low +and reedy banks, moving sluggishly on its yellow current, between broad +tracts of bog or callow meadow-land; no trace of cultivation, not even a +tree was to be seen. + +Such is Shannon Harbour. No matter, thought I, the hotel at least looks +well. This consolatory reflection of mine was elicited by the prospect +of a large stone building of some storeys high, whose granite portico +and wide steps stood in strange contrast to the miserable mud hovels +that flanked it on either side. It was a strange thought to have placed +such a building in such a situation. I dismissed the ungrateful notion, +as I remembered my own position, and how happy I felt to accept its +hospitality. + +A solitary jaunting-car stood on the canal side--the poorest specimen +of its class I had ever seen. The car--a few boards cobbled up by some +country carpenter--seemed to threaten disunion even with the coughing of +the wretched beast that wheezed between its shafts; while the driver, an +emaciated creature of any age from sixteen to sixty, sat shivering upon +the seat, striking from time to time with his whip at the flies that +played about the animal's ears, as though anticipating their prey. + +'Banagher, yer honour? Loughrea, sir? Bowl ye over in an hour and a +half. Is it Portumna, sir?' + +'No, my good friend,' replied I, 'I stop at the hotel.' + +Had I proposed to take a sail down the Shannon on my portmanteau, I +don't think the astonishment could have been greater. The bystanders, +and they were numerous enough by this time, looked from one to the other +with expressions of mingled surprise and dread; and indeed had I, like +some sturdy knight-errant of old, announced my determination to pass +the night in a haunted chamber, more unequivocal evidences of their +admiration and fear could not have been evoked. + +'In the hotel!' said one. + +'He is going to stop at the hotel!' cried another. + +'Blessed hour!' said a third, 'wonders will never cease!' + +Short as had been my residence in Ireland, it had at least taught me one +lesson--never to be surprised at anything I met with. So many views +of life peculiar to the land met me at every turn, so many strange +prejudices, so many singular notions, that were I to apply my previous +knowledge of the world, such as it was, to my guidance here, I should +be like a man endeavouring to sound the depths of the sea with an +instrument intended to ascertain the distance of a star. Leaving, +therefore, to time the explanation of the mysterious astonishment around +me, I gathered together my baggage, and left the boat. + +The first impressions of a traveller are not uncommonly his best. The +finer and more distinctive features of a land require deep study and +long acquaintance, but the broader traits of nationality are caught in +an instant, or not caught at all Familiarity destroys them, and it is +only at first blush that we learn to appreciate them with force. Who +that has landed at Calais, at Rotterdam, or at Leghorn, has not felt +this? The Flemish peasant, with her long-eared cap and heavy sabots--the +dark Italian, basking his swarthy features in the sun, are striking +objects when we first look on them; but days and weeks roll on, the +wider characteristics of human nature swallow up the smaller and more +narrow features of nationality, and in a short time we forget that the +things which have surprised us at first are not what we have been used +to from our infancy. + +Gifted with but slender powers of observation, such as they were, this +was to me always a moment of their exercise. How often in the rural +districts of my own country had the air of cheery comfort and healthy +contentment spoken to my heart; how frequently, in the manufacturing +ones, had the din of hammers, the black smoke, or the lurid flame of +furnaces, turned my thoughts to those great sources of our national +wealth, and made me look on every dark and swarthy face that passed as +on one who ministered to his country's weal! But now I was to view a +new and very different scene. Scarcely had I put foot on shore when +the whole population of the village thronged around me. What are these, +thought I? What art do they practise? what trade do they profess? Alas! +their wan looks, their tattered garments, their outstretched hands, and +imploring voices, gave the answer--they were all beggars! It was not as +if the old, the decrepit, the sickly, or the feeble, had fallen on +the charity of their fellow-men in their hour of need; but here were +all--all--the old man and the infant, the husband and the wife, the aged +grandfather and the tottering grandchild, the white locks of youth, +the whiter hairs of age--pale, pallid, and sickly--trembling between +starvation and suspense, watching with the hectic eye of fever every +gesture of him on whom their momentary hope was fixed; canvassing, in +muttered tones, every step of his proceeding, and hazarding a doubt upon +its bearing oh their own fate. + +'Oh, the heavens be your bed, noble gentleman! look at me! The Lord +reward you for the little sixpence that you have in your fingers there! +I 'm the mother of ten of them.' + +'Billy Cronin, yer honour; I'm dark since I was nine years old.' + +'I'm the ouldest man in the town-land,' said an old fellow with a white +beard, and a blanket strapped round him. + +[Illustration: 2-0248] + +While bursting through the crowd came a strange, odd-looking figure, +in a huntsman's coat and cap, but both so patched and tattered, it was +difficult to detect their colour. 'Here's Joe, your honour,' cried he, +putting his hand to his mouth at the same moment. 'Tally-ho! ye ho! ye +yo!' he shouted, with a mellow cadence I never heard surpassed. 'Yow! +yow! yow!' he cried, imitating the barking of dogs, and then uttering +a long, low wail, like the bay of a hound, he shouted out, 'Hark away +t hark away!' and at the same moment pranced into the thickest of the +crowd, upsetting men, women, and children as he went--the curses of +some, the cries of others, and the laughter of nearly all ringing +through the motley mass, making their misery look still more frightful. + +[Illustration: 252] + +Throwing what silver I had about me amongst them, I made my way towards +the hotel--not alone, however, but heading a procession of my ragged +friends, who, with loud praises of my liberality, testified their +gratitude by bearing me company. Arrived at the porch, I took my luggage +from the carrier, and entered the house. Unlike any other hotel I had +ever seen, there was neither stir nor bustle, no burly landlord, no +buxom landlady, no dapper waiter with napkin on his arm, no pert-looking +chambermaid with a bedroom candlestick. A large hall, dirty and +unfurnished, led into a kind of bar, upon whose unpainted shelves a few +straggling bottles were ranged together, with some pewter measures and +tobacco-pipes; while the walls were covered with placards, setting forth +the regulations for the Grand Canal Hotel, with a list, copious and +abundant, of all the good things to be found therein, with the prices +annexed; and a pressing entreaty to the traveller, should he not feel +satisfied with his reception, to mention it in a 'book kept for that +purpose by the landlord.' I cast my eye along the bill of fare so +ostentatiously put forth--I read of rump-steaks and roast-fowls, of +red rounds and sirloins, and I turned from the spot resolved to explore +farther. The room opposite was large and spacious, and probably destined +for the coffee-room, but it also was empty; it had neither chair nor +table, and save a pictorial representation of a canal-boat, drawn +by some native artist with a burnt stick upon the wall, it had no +decoration. Having amused myself with the _Lady Caher_--such was the +vessel called--I again set forth on my voyage of discovery, and bent +my steps towards the kitchen. Alas! my success was no better there. The +goodly grate, before which should have stood some of that luscious fare +of which I had been reading, was cold and deserted; in one corner, it +was true, three sods of earth, scarce lighted, supported an antiquated +kettle, whose twisted spout was turned up with a misanthropic curl at +the misery of its existence. I ascended the stairs, my footsteps echoed +along the silent corridor, but still no trace of human habitant could I +see, and I began to believe that even the landlord had departed with the +larder. + +At this moment the low murmur of voices caught my ear. I listened, and +could distinctly catch the sound of persons talking together at the +end of the corridor. Following along this, I came to a door, at which, +having knocked twice with my knuckles, I waited for the invitation to +enter. Either indisposed to admit me, or not having heard my summons, +they did not reply; so turning the handle gently, I opened the door, and +entered the room unobserved. For some minutes I profited but little by +this step; the apartment, a small one, was literally full of smoke, and +it was only when I had wiped the tears from my eyes three times that I +at length began to recognise the objects before me. + +Seated upon two low stools, beside a miserable fire of green wood, that +smoked, not blazed, upon the hearth, were a man and a woman. Between +them a small and rickety table supported a tea equipage of the humblest +description, and a plate of fish whose odour pronounced them red +herrings. Of the man I could see but little, as his back was turned +toward me; but had it been otherwise, I could scarcely have withdrawn my +looks from the figure of his companion. Never had my eyes fallen on +an object so strange and so unearthly. She was an old woman, so old, +indeed, as to have numbered nearly a hundred years; her head, uncovered +by cap, or quoif, displayed a mass of white hair that hung down her +back and shoulders, and even partly across her face, not sufficiently, +however, to conceal two dark orbits, within which her dimmed eyes +faintly glimmered; her nose was thin and pointed, and projecting to the +very mouth, which, drawn backwards at the angles by the tense muscles, +wore an expression of hideous laughter. Over her coarse dress of some +country stuff she wore, for warmth, the cast-off coat of a soldier, +giving to her uncouth figure the semblance of an aged baboon at a +village-show. Her voice, broken with coughing, was a low, feeble treble, +that seemed to issue from passages where lingering life had left scarce +a trace of vitality; and yet she talked on, without ceasing, and moved +her skinny fingers among the tea-cups and knives upon the table, with a +fidgety restlessness, as though in search of something. + +[Illustration: 252] + +'There, acushla, don't smoke; don't now! Sure it is the ruin of your +complexion. I never see boys take to tobacco this way when I was young.' + +'Whisht, mother, and don't be bothering me,' was the cranky reply, given +in a voice which, strange to say, was not quite unknown to me. + +'Ay, ay,' said the old crone; 'always the same, never mindin' a word I +say; and maybe in a few years I won't be to the fore to look after you +and watch you.' + +Here the painful thought of leaving a world, so full of its seductions +and sweets, seemed too much for her feelings, and she began to cry. Her +companion, however, appeared but little affected, but puffed away his +pipe at his ease, waiting with patience till the paroxysm was past. + +'There, now,' said the old lady, brightening up, 'take away the +tay-things, and you may go and take a run on the common; but mind you +don't be pelting Jack Moore's goose; and take care of Bryan's sow, she +is as wicked as the devil now that she has boneens after her. D'ye hear +me, darlin', or is it sick you are? Och, wirra! wirra! What's the matter +with you, Corny _mabouchal?_' + +'Corny!' exclaimed I, forgetful of my incognito. + +'Ay, Corny, nayther more nor less than Corny himself,' said that +redoubted personage, as, rising to his legs, he deposited his pipe upon +the table, thrust his hands into his pockets, and seemed prepared to +give battle. + +'Oh, Corney,' said I, 'I am delighted to find you here. Perhaps you can +assist me. I thought this was an hotel.' + +'And why wouldn't you think it an hotel? hasn't it a bar and a +coffee-room? Isn't the regulations of the house printed, and stuck up +on all the walls? Ay, that's what the directors did--put the price on +everything, as if one was going to cheat the people. And signs on it, +look at the place now! Ugh! the Haythins! the Turks!' + +'Yes, indeed, Corny, look at the place now,' glad to have an opportunity +to chime in with my friend's opinions. + +'Well, and look at it,' replied he, bristling up; 'and what have you to +say agin it? Isn't it the Grand Canal Hotel?' + +'Yes; but,' said I conciliatingly, 'an hotel ought at least to have a +landlord, or a landlady.' + +'And what do you call my mother there?' said he, with indignant energy. + +'Don't bate Corny, sir! don't strike the child!' screamed the old woman, +in an accent of heart-rending terror. 'Sure he doesn't know what he is +saying.' + +'He is telling me it isn't the Grand Canal Hotel, mother,' shouted Corny +in the old lady's ears, while at the same moment he burst into a fit +of the most discordant laughter. By some strange sympathy the old woman +joined in, and I myself, unable to resist the ludicrous effect of a +scene which still had touched my feelings, gave way also, and thus we +all three laughed on for several minutes. + +Suddenly recovering himself in the midst of his cachin-nations, Corny +turned briskly round, fixed his fiery eyes upon me, and said-- + +'And did you come all the way from town to laugh at my mother and me?' + +I hastened to exonerate myself from such a charge, and in a few words +informed him of the object of my journey, whither I was going, and under +what painful delusion I laboured, in supposing the internal arrangements +of the Grand Canal Hotel bore any relation to its imposing exterior. + +'I thought I could have dined here?' + +'No, you can't,' was the reply, 'av ye're not fond of herrins.' + +'And had a bed too?' + +'Nor that either, av ye don't like straw.' + +'And has your mother nothing better than that?' said I, pointing to the +miserable plate of fish. + +'Whisht, I tell you, and don't be putting the like in her head: +sometimes she hears as well as you or me.' Here he dropped his voice +to a whisper. 'Herrins is so cheap that we always make her believe it's +Lent--this is nine years now she's fasting.' Here a fit of laughing at +the success of this innocent ruse again broke from Corny, in which, as +before, his mother joined. + +'Then what am I to do,' asked I, 'if I can get nothing to eat here? Is +there no other house in the village?' + +'No, devil a one.' + +'How far is it to Loughrea?' + +'Fourteen miles and a bit.' + +'I can get a car, I suppose?' + +'Ay, if Mary Doolan's boy is not gone back.' + +The old woman, whose eyes were impatiently fixed upon me during this +colloquy, but who heard not a word of what was going forward, now broke +in-- + +'Why doesn't he pay the bill and go away? Devil a farthing I'll take off +it. Sure, av ye were a raal gentleman ye'd be givin' a fippenny-bit to +the gossoon there, that sarved you. Never mind, Corny dear, I'll buy a +bag of marbles for you at Banagher.' + +Fearful of once more giving way to unseasonable mirth I rushed from the +room and hurried downstairs; the crowd that had so lately accompanied me +was now scattered, each to his several home. The only one who lingered +near the door was the poor idiot (for such he was) that wore the +huntsman's dress. + +'Is the Loughrea car gone, Joe?' said I, for I remembered his name. + +'She is, yer honour, she's away.' + +'Is there any means of getting over to-night?' + +'Barrin' walkin', there's none.' + +'Ay; but,' said I, 'were I even disposed for that, I have got my +luggage.' + +'Is it heavy?' said Joe. + +'This portmanteau and the carpet-bag you see there.' + +'I'll carry them,' was the brief reply. + +'You 'll not be able, my poor fellow,' said I. + +'Ay, and you on the top of them.' + +'You don't know how heavy I am,' said I laughingly. + +'Begorra, I wish you was heavier.' + +'And why so, Joe?' + +'Because one that was so good to the poor is worth his weight in goold +any day.' + +I do not pretend to say whether it was the flattery, or the promise +these words gave me of an agreeable companion _en route_; but, certain +it is, I at once closed with his proposal, and, with a ceremonious bow +to the Grand Canal Hotel, took my departure, and set out for Loughrea. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. LOUGHREA + +With the innate courtesy of his country, my humble companion endeavoured +to lighten the road by song and story. There was not a blackened gable, +not a ruined tower, not even a well we passed, without its legend. The +very mountains themselves, that reared their mighty peaks towards +the clouds, had their tale of superstitious horror; and, though +these stories were simple in themselves, there was something in +the association of the scene, something in the warm fervour of his +enthusiasm that touched and thrilled my heart. + +Like a lamp, whose fitful glare flickers through the gloomy vault of +some rocky cavern, too feeble to illumine it, but yet calling up wild +and goblin shapes on every side, and peopling space with flickering +spectres, so did the small modicum of intellect this poor fellow +possessed enable him to look at life with strange, distorted views. +Accustomed to pass his days in the open air--the fields, the flowers, +the streams, his companions--he had a sympathy in the eddying current +that flowed on beneath--in the white cloud that rolled above him. +Happy--for he had no care--he journeyed about from one county to +another. In the hunting season he would be seen lounging about a kennel, +making or renewing his intimacy with the dogs, who knew and loved him; +then he was always ready to carry a drag, to stop an earth, or do a +hundred other of those minor services that are ever wanted. Many who +lived far from a post-town knew the comfort of falling in with poor +'Tipperary Joe.' for such was he called. Not more fleet of foot than +honest in heart, oftentimes was a letter intrusted to his keeping that +with any other messenger would have excited feelings of anxiety. His was +an April-day temperament--ever varying, ever changing. One moment would +he tell, with quivering lip and broken voice, some story of wild and +thrilling interest; the next, breaking suddenly off, he would burst out +into some joyous rant, generally ending in a loud 'tally-ho,' in which +all his enthusiasm would shine forth, and in his glistening eye and +flushed cheek one could mark the pleasure that stirred his heart He knew +every one, not only in this, but in the surrounding counties; and they +stood severally classed in his estimation by their benevolence to the +poor, and their prowess in the hunting-field. These, with him, were the +two great qualities of mankind. The kind man, and the bold rider, made +his beau-ideal of all that was excellent, and it was strange to watch +with what ingenuity he could support his theory. + +'There's Burton Pearse--that's the darling of a man! + +It's he that's good to the poor, and takes his walls flying. It isn't +a lock of bacon or a bag of meal he cares for--be-gorra, it's not that, +nor a double ditch would ever stop him. Hurroo! I think I'm looking at +him throwing up his whip-hand this way, going over a gate and calling +out to the servant, “Make Joe go in for his dinner, and give +him half-a-crown”--devil a less! And then there's Mr. Power of +Kilfane--maybe your honour knows him? Down in Kilkenny, there. He's +another of them--one of the right sort. I wish you see him facing a +leap--a little up in his stirrups, just to look over and see the ground, +and then--hoo! he's across and away. A beautiful place he has of it, and +an elegant pack of dogs, fourteen hunters in the stable, and as pleasant +a kitchen as ever I broke my fast in. The cook's a mighty nice woman--a +trifle fat, or so; but a good sowl, and a raal warrant for an Irish +stew.' 'And Mr. Ulick Burke, Joe, do you know him?' 'Is it blazing +Burke? Faix, I do know him! I was as near him as I am to you when he +shot Matt Callanan at the mills. “There, now,” says he, when he put a +ball in his hip, and lamed him for life, “you were always fond of your +trade, and I'll make you a hopper.” And sure enough, this is the way he +goes ever since.' + +'He is a good horseman, they tell me, Joe?' 'The best in Ireland; for +following the dogs, flat race, or steeplechase, show me his equal. Och! +it's himself has the seat in a saddle. Mighty short he rides with his +knees up, this way, and his toes out. Not so purty to look at, till you +are used to it; but watch him fingering his baste--feeling his mouth +with the snaffle--never tormenting, but just letting him know who is on +his back. It 's raal pleasure to look at him; and then to see him taking +a little canter before he sets off, with his hand low, and just tickling +the flanks with his spurs, to larn the temper of the horse. May I never! +if it isn't a heavenly sight!' 'You like Mr. Burke, then, I see, Joe?' +'Like him! Who wouldn't like him a-horseback? Isn't he the moral of a +rider, that knows his baste better than I know my Hail Mary? But see +him afoot, he's the greatest divil from here to Croaghpatrick--nothing +civiller in his mouth than a curse and a “bloody end” to ye! Och! it's +himself hates the poor, and they hate him; the beggars run away from him +as if he was the police; and the blind man that sits on Banagher Bridge +takes up his bags, and runs for the bare life the minit he hears the +trot of his horse. Isn't it a wonder how he rides so bowld with all the +curses over him? Faix, myself wouldn't cross that little stream there, +if I was like him. Well, well, he'll have a hard reckoning at last. He's +killed five men already, and wounded a great many more; but they say +he won't be able to go on much further, for when he kills another the +divil's to come for him. The Lord be about us! by rason he never let's +any one kill more nor six.' + +Thus chatting away, the road passed over; and as the sun was setting we +came in sight of the town, now not above a mile distant. + +'That's Loughrea you see there--it's a mighty fine place,' said Joe. +'There's slate houses, and a market and a barrack; but you 'll stop a +few days in the town?' + +'Oh, certainly; I wish to see this race.' + +'That will be the fine race. It is a great country entirely--every kind +of fence, gates, ditches, and stone walls, as thick as they can lie. +I'll show you all the course, for I know it well, and tell you the names +of all the gentlemen, and the names of their horses, and their servants; +and I'll bring you where you 'll see the whole race, from beginning to +end, without stirring an inch. Are you going to bet any money?' + +'I believe not, Joe; but I'm greatly interested for a friend.' + +'And who is he?' + +'Captain O'Grady.' + +'Master Phil! Tare-an'-ages! are you a friend of Master Phil's? Arrah, +why didn't you tell me that before? Why didn't you mintion his name +to me? Och! isn't myself proud this evening to be with a friend of the +Captain's. See now, what's your name?' + +'Hinton,' said I. + +'Ay, but your Christian name?' + +'They who know me best call me Jack Hinton.' + +'Musha! but I'd like to call you Jack Hinton just for this once. Now, +will you do one thing for me?' + +'To be sure, Joe; what is it?' + +'Make them give me a half-pint to drink your health and the Captain's; +for, faix, you must be the right sort, or he wouldn't keep company with +you. It's just like yesterday to me the day I met him, down at Bishop's +Loch. The hounds came to a check, and a hailstorm came on, and all the +gentlemen went into a little shebeen house for shelter. I was standing +outside, as it may be here, when Master Phil saw me. “Come in, Joe,” + says he; “you 're the best company, and the pleasantest fellow over a +mug of egg-nip.” And may I never! if he didn't make me sit down fornint +him at a little table, and drink two quarts of as beautiful flip as +ever I tasted. And Master Phil has a horse here, ye tell me--what's his +name?' + +'That, Joe, I am afraid I can't pronounce for you; it's rather beyond my +English tongue; but I know that his colour's grey, and that he has one +cropped ear.' + +'That's Moddiridderoo!' shouted Joe, as throwing my portmanteau to +the ground, he seated himself leisurely on it, and seemed lost in +meditation. + +'Begorra,' said he at length, 'he chose a good-tempered one, when he was +about it! there never was such a horse foaled in them parts. Ye heard +what he did to Mr. Shea, the man that bred him? He threw him over +a wall, and then jumped after him; and if it wasn't that his +guardian-angel made his leather breeches so strong, he'd have ate him +up entirely! Sure, there's no one can ride him barrin' the man I was +talkin' of.' + +'Well, Joe, I believe Mr. Burke is to ride him.' + +'Musha! but I am sorry for it!' + +'And why so? You seem to think highly of his horsemanship.' + +'There's no mistaken that, ay it was fair; but then, you see, he has +as many tricks in him as the devil. Sometimes he 'll break his stirrup +leather, or he 'll come in a pound too heavy, or he'll slip the snaffle +out of the mouth; for he doesn't care for his neck. Once I see him stake +his baste, and bring him in dead lame.' + +Here ended our conversation; for by this time we entered the town, +and proceeded to Mrs. Doolan's. The house was full, or the apartments +bespoke; and I was turning away in disappointment, when I accidentally +overheard the landlady mention the two rooms ordered by Captain O'Grady. +A little explanation ensued, and I discovered, to my delight, that these +were destined for me by my friend, who had written sometime before to +secure them. A few minutes more saw me comfortably installed in the +little inn, whose unpretending exterior and cheerful comfort within +doors were the direct antithesis to the solemn humbug I had left at +Shannon Harbour. + +Under Joe's auspices--for he had established himself as my own man--tea +and rashers made their appearance. My clothes were unpacked and put by; +and as he placed my dressing-gown and slippers in readiness before +the fire, I could not help observing the servant-like alacrity of his +manner, perfect in everything, save in his habit of singing to himself +as he went, which I can't say, however, that I disliked, and certainly +never dreamed of checking. Having written a few lines to Mr. Burke, +expressing my desire for a few minutes' interview the following morning, +I despatched the note, and prepared for bed. + +I had often listened with apathy to the wise saws of people who, never +having felt either hunger or fatigue, are so fond of pronouncing +a glowing eulogium on such luxuries, when the period of their +gratification has arrived; but, I confess, as I lay down that night in +bed, and drew the clothes around me, I began to believe that they +had underrated the pleasures they spoke of. The house clock ticked +pleasantly in the room without; the cheerful turf-fire threw its mild +red light across the room; the sounds from the street were those of +happy voices and merry laughter, and when I ceased to hear them I had +fallen into a sound and peaceful sleep. + +It was after about a dozen efforts, in which I had gone through all the +usual formula on such occasions--rubbing my eyes, stretching, and even +pinching myself--before I could awake on the following morning. I felt +somewhat stiffened from the unaccustomed exertions of the day before, +but, somehow, my spirits were unusually high, and my heart in its very +lightest mood. I looked about me through the little room, where all was +order, neatness, and propriety. My clothes carefully brushed and folded, +my boots resplendent in their blacking, stood basking before the +fire; even my hat, placed gently on one side, with my gloves carefully +flattened, were laid out in true valet fashion. The door into my +little sitting-room lay open, and I could mark the neat and comfortable +preparations for my breakfast, while at a little distance from the +table, and in an attitude of patient attention, stood poor Joe himself, +who, with a napkin across his arm, was quietly waiting the moment of my +awaking. + +I know not if my reader will have any sympathy with the confession; +but I own I have always felt a higher degree of satisfaction from the +unbought and homely courtesy chance has thrown in my way, than from the +more practised and dearly-paid-for attentions of the most disciplined +household. There is something nattering in the personal devotion which +seems to spring from pure good-will, that insensibly raises one in his +own esteem. In some such reflection as this was I lost, when the door +of my outer room was opened, and a voice inquired if Mr. Hinton stopped +there. + +'Yes, sir,' replied Joe; 'he is in bed and asleep.' + +'Ah! it is you, Joe?' replied the other. 'So you are turned footman, +I see. If the master be like the man, it ought to be a shrewd +establishment.' + +'No,' replied Joe carelessly; 'he's not very like anything down in these +parts, for he appears to be a gentleman.' + +'Tell him I am here, and be d----d to you,' was the indignant reply, as +the speaker threw himself into his chair and stirred the fire with his +foot. + +Suspecting at once who my visitor was, I motioned to Joe to leave +the room, and proceeded to dress myself with all despatch. During the +operation, however, my friend without manifested several symptoms of +impatience: now walking the room with rapid strides, as he whistled +a quick step; now beating the bars of the grate with a poker, and +occasionally performing that popular war-dance, 'The Devil's Tattoo,' +with his knuckles upon the table. At length his endurance seemed pushed +to its limit, and he knocked sharply at the door, calling out at the +same moment-- + +'I say, sir, time's up, if you please.' + +The next moment I was before him. + +Mr. Ulick Burke--for I need not say it was he--was a well-looking man, +of about eight-and-twenty or thirty years of age. Although his height +was below the middle size, he was powerfully and strongly made; his +features would have been handsome, were it not for a certain expression +of vulgar suspicion that played about the eyes, giving him a sidelong +look when he spoke; this, and the loss of two front teeth from a fall, +disfigured a face originally pleasing. His whiskers were large, bushy, +and meeting beneath his chin. As to his dress, it was in character with +his calling--a green coat cut round in jockey fashion, over which he +wore a white 'bang-up,' as it was called, in one pocket of which was +carelessly thrust a lash-whip; a belcher handkerchief, knotted loosely +about his neck, buckskin breeches, reaching far down upon the leg, and +top-boots completed his costume. I had almost forgotten a hat, perhaps +the most characteristic thing of all. This, which once had been white, +was now, by stress of time and weather, of a dirty drab colour, its +crown dinged in several places, and the leaf jagged and broken, bespoke +the hard usage to which it was subjected. While speaking, he held it +firmly clutched in his ungloved hand, and from time to time struck it +against his thigh, with an energy of manner that seemed habitual His +manner was a mixture of timid embarrassment and vulgar assurance, +feeling his way, as it were, with one, while he forgot himself with the +other. With certain remnants of the class he originally belonged to, +he had associated the low habitudes and slang phraseology of his daily +associates, making it difficult for one, at first sight, to discover to +which order he belonged. In the language of his companions, Click Burke +'could be a gentleman when he pleased it.' + +How often have we heard this phrase, and with what a fatal mistake is +it generally applied! He who can be a gentleman when he pleases, never +pleases to be anything else. Circumstances may, and do, every day in +life, throw men of cultivated minds and refined habits into the society +of their inferiors; but while, with the tact and readiness that is their +especial prerogative, they make themselves welcome among those with whom +they have few, if any, sympathies in common, yet never by any accident +do they derogate from that high standard that makes them gentlemen. So, +on the other hand, the man of vulgar tastes and coarse propensities may +simulate, if he be able, the outward habitudes of society, speaking with +practised intonation and bowing with well-studied grace; yet is he no +more a gentleman in his thought or feeling than is the tinselled actor, +who struts the board, the monarch his costume would bespeak him. This +being the 'gentleman when he likes' is but the mere performance of the +character. It has all the smell of the orange-peel and the footlights +about it, and never can be mistaken by any one who knows the world. + +But to come back to Mr. Burke. Having eyed me for a second or two, with +a look of mingled distrust and impertinence, he unfolded my note, which +he held beneath his fingers, and said-- + +'I received this from you last night, Mr. ------' + +'Hinton,' said I, assisting him. + +'Mr. Hinton,' repeated he slowly. + +'Won't you be seated?' said I, pointing to a chair, and taking one +myself. + +He nodded familiarly, and placing himself on the window-sill, with one +foot upon a chair, resumed-- + +'It's about O'Gradys business I suppose you've come down here. The +Captain has treated me very ill.' + +'You are quite right,' said I coolly, 'in guessing the object of my +visit; but I must also let you know, that in any observations you make +concerning Captain O'Grady, they are made to a friend, who will no more +permit his name to be slightingly treated than his own.' + +'Of course,' pronounced with a smile of the most insulting coolness, +was the only reply. 'That, however, is not the matter in hand: _your +friend_, the Captain, never condescended to answer my letter.' + +'He only received it a few days ago.' + +'Why isn't he here himself? Is a gentleman-rider to be treated like a +common jockey that's paid for his race?' + +I confess the distinction was too subtle for me, but I said nothing in +reply. + +'I don't even know where the horse is, nor if he is here at all. Will +you call that handsome treatment Mr. Hinton?' + +'One thing I am quite sure of, Mr. Burke--Captain O'Grady is incapable +of anything unworthy or unbecoming a gentleman; the haste of his +departure for foreign service may have prevented him observing certain +matters of etiquette towards you, but he has commissioned me to accept +your terms. The horse is here, or will be here to-night; and I trust +nothing will interrupt the good understanding that has hitherto +subsisted between you.' + +'And will he take up the writ?' 'He will,' said I firmly. + +'He must have a heavy book on the race.' 'Nearly a thousand pounds.' + +'I'm sorry for it for his sake,' was the cool reply, 'for he'll lose his +money.' + +'Indeed!' said I; 'I understand that you thought well of his horse, and +that with your riding----' + +'Ay; but I won't ride for him.' + +'You won't ride!--not on your own terms?' + +'No; not even on my own terms. Don't be putting yourself into a passion, +Mr. Hinton--you've come down to a country where that never does any +good; we settle all our little matters here in a social, pleasant way +of our own. But, I repeat it, I won't ride for your friend; so you may +withdraw his horse as soon as you like; except,' added he, with a most +contemptuous sneer, 'you have a fancy for riding him yourself.' + +Resolving that whatever course I should follow I would at least keep my +temper for the present, I assumed as much calmness as I could command, +and said-- + +'And what is there against O'Gradys horse?' + +'A chestnut mare of Tom Molloy's, that can beat him over any country. +The rest are withdrawn; so that I'll have a “ride over” for my pains.' + +'Then you ride for Mr. Molloy?' said I. + +'You've guessed it,' replied he with a wink, as throwing his hat +carelessly on one side of his head he gave me an insolent nod and +lounged out of the room. + +I need not say that my breakfast appetite was not improved by Mr. +Burke's visit; in fact, never was a man more embarrassed than I was. +Independent of the loss of his money, I knew how poor Phil would suffer +from the duplicity of the transaction; and in my sorrow for his sake I +could not help accusing myself of ill-management in the matter. Had +I been more conciliating or more blunt--had I bullied, or bid higher, +perhaps a different result might have followed. Alas! in all my +calculations, I knew little or nothing of him with whom I had to deal. +Puzzled and perplexed, uncertain how to act--now resolving on one +course, now deciding on the opposite, I paced my little room for above +an hour, the only conviction I could come to being the unhappy choice +that poor O'Grady had made when he selected me for his negotiator. + +The town clock struck twelve. I remembered suddenly that was the hour +when the arrangements for the race were to be ratified; and without a +thought of what course I should pursue, what plan I should adopt, I took +my hat and sallied forth. + +The main street of the little town was crowded with people, most of +them of that class which, in Irish phrase, goes by the appellation of +squireen--a species of human lurcher, without any of the good properties +of either class from which it derives its origin, but abounding in +the bad traits of both. They lounged along, followed by pointers and +wire-haired greyhounds, their hands stuck in their coat-pockets, and +their hats set well back on their heads. Following in the train of this +respectable cortege, I reached the market-house, upon the steps of which +several 'sporting gentlemen' of a higher order were assembled. Elbowing +my way with some difficulty through these, I mounted a dirty and sandy +stair to a large room, usually employed by the magistrates for their +weekly sessions; here, at a long table, sat the race committee, an +imposing display of books, pens, and papers before them. A short little +man, with a powdered head, and a certain wheezing chuckle when he spoke +that voluntarily suggested the thought of apoplexy, seemed to be the +president of the meeting. + +The room was so crowded with persons of every class that I could with +difficulty catch what was going forward. I looked anxiously round to see +if I could not recognise some friend or acquaintance, but every face +was strange to me. The only one I had ever seen before was Mr. Burke +himself, who with his back to the fire was edifying a select circle of +his friends by what I discovered, from the laughter of his auditory, was +a narrative of his visit to myself. The recital must have owed something +to his ingenuity in telling, for indeed the gentlemen seemed convulsed +with mirth; and when Mr. Burke concluded, it was plain to see that he +stood several feet higher in the estimation of hie acquaintances. + +'Silence!' wheezed the little man with the white head: 'it is a quarter +past twelve o'clock, and I'll not wait any longer.' + +'Read the list, Maurice,' cried some one. 'As it is only “a walk over,” + you needn't lose any time.' + +'Here, then, No. 1--Captain Fortescue's Tramp.' 'Withdrawn,' said a +voice in the crowd. 'No. 2--Harry Studdard's Devil-may-care.' + +'Paid forfeit,' cried another. + +'No. 3--Sir George O'Brien's Billy-the-bowl.' 'Gone home again,' was the +answer. 'No. 4--Tom Molloy's Cathleen.' + +'All right!' shouted Mr. Burke, from the fireplace» 'Who rides?' asked +the president. + +'Ulick!' repeated half-a-dozen voices together. + +'Eleven stone eight,' said the little man. + +'And a pound for the martingale,' chimed in Mr. Burke. + +'Well, I believe that's all. No; there's another horse-Captain O'Grady's +Moddiridderoo.' + +'Scratch him out with the rest,' said Mr. Burke. + +'No!' said I, from the back of the room. + +The word seemed electric; every eye was turned towards the quarter where +I stood; and as I moved forward towards the table the crowd receded to +permit my passage. + +'Are you on the part of Mr. O'Grady, sir?' said the little man, with a +polite smile. + +I bowed an affirmative. + +'He does not withdraw his horse, then?' said he. + +'No,' said I again. + +'But you are aware, sir, that Mr. Burke is going to ride for my friend, +Mr. Molloy, here. Are you prepared with another gentleman?' + +I nodded shortly.' + +'His name, may I ask?' continued he. 'Mr. Hinton.' + +By this time Mr. Burke, attracted by the colloquy, had approached the +table, and, stooping down, whispered some words in the president's ear. + +'You will forgive me, I'm sure,' said the latter, addressing me, 'if I +ask, as the name is unknown to me, if this be a gentleman-rider?' + +The blood rushed to my face and temples. I knew at once from whom this +insult proceeded. It was no time, however, to notice it, so I simply +replied-- + +'Mr. Hinton is an officer of the Guards, an aide-de-camp to the Lord +Lieutenant, and I beg leave respectfully to present him to you.' + +The obsequious civility exhibited by the party as I pronounced these +few words were an ample _amende_ for what I had suffered a few minutes +before. Meanwhile, Mr. Burke had resumed his place at the fire, once +more surrounded by his admiring satellites. + +Being accommodated with a chair at the table, I proceeded to read over +and sign the usual papers, by which I bound myself to abide by the +regulations of the course, and conform in all things to the decision of +the stewards. Scarcely had I concluded, when Mr. Burke called out-- + +'Who'll take eight to one on the race?' + +Not a word was spoken in reply. + +'Who'll take fifty to five?' cried he again. + +'I will,' said a voice from the door. + +'Who is that takes my bet? What is his name?' 'Tom Loftus, P.P. of +Murranakilty.' + +'A better fellow nor an honester couldn't do it, said the president. + +'Book your bet, sir,' said Mr. Burke; 'or if it is equally convenient +for you, you can pay it at present.' + +'I never make a memorandum of such trifles,' said the priest; 'but I'll +stake the money in some decent man's hands.' + +A roar of laughter followed the priest's proposition, than which nothing +could be less to Mr. Burke's taste. This time, however, he was in funds; +and while the good father disengaged his five-pound note from the folds +of a black leather pocket-book as large as a portfolio, his antagonist +threw a fifty on the table, with an air of swaggering importance. +I turned now to shake hands with my friend; but to my surprise and +astonishment he gave me a look of cold and impressive import, that +showed me at once he did not wish to be recognised, and the next moment +left the room. My business there was also concluded, and having promised +to be forthcoming the following day at two o'clock, I bowed to the +chairman and withdrew. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. A MOONLIGHT CANTER + +I was not quite satisfied with the good priest for his having cut me, no +matter what his reasons. I was not overmuch pleased with the tone of the +whole meeting itself, and certainly I was very little satisfied with the +part I had myself taken therein; for as cooler judgment succeeded to hot +excitement, I perceived in what a mesh of difficulties I had involved +myself, and how a momentary flush of passionate indignation had carried +me away beyond the bounds of reason and sense, to undertake what but +half an hour previously I should have shrunk from with shame, and the +very thought of which now filled me with apprehension and dread--not +indeed as to the consequences to myself, physically considered, for most +willingly would I have compounded for a fractured limb, or even two, to +escape the ridicule I was almost certain of incurring. This it was which +I could not bear, and my _amore propre_ recoiled from the thought of +being a laughing-stock to the underbred and ill-born horde that would +assemble to witness me. + +When I arrived at the inn poor Joe was there awaiting me; he had been +down to see the horse, which for precaution's sake was kept at a mill a +little distance from the town, and of whose heart and condition he spoke +in glowing terms. + +'Och! he is a raal beauty--a little thick in fat about the crest, +but they say he always trains fleshy, and his legs are as clean as a +whistle. Sorra bit, but it will give Mr. Ulick as much as he can do to +ride him to-morrow. I know by the way he turns his eyes round to you in +the stable he's in the devil's temper.' + +'But it is not Mr. Burke, Joe--I am going to ride him.' + +'You are going to do it! You! Oh! by the powers! Mr. Ulick wasn't +far out when he said the master was as mad as the man. “Tell me your +company,” says the old proverb; and you see there it is. What comes of +it? If you lie down with dogs, you'll get up with fleas; and that's the +fruits of travelling with a fool.' + +I was in no temper for badinage at the moment, and replied to the poor +fellow in a somewhat harsher tone than I should have used; and as he +left the room without speaking, I felt ashamed and angry with myself +for thus banishing the only one that seemed to feel an interest in my +fortunes. + +I sat down to my dinner discontented and unhappy. But a few hours +previous, and I awoke high in heart and hope; and now without any +adverse stroke of fortune, without any of those casualties of fate which +come on us unlooked for and unthought of, but simply by the un-guided +exercise of a passionate temperament, I found myself surrounded by +embarrassments and environed by difficulties, without one friend to +counsel or advise me. + +Yes--I could not conceal it from myself--my determination to ride the +steeplechase was the mere outbreak of passion. The taunting insolence +of Burke had stung me to adopt a course which I had neither previously +considered, nor, if suggested by another, could ever have consented to. +True, I was what could be called a good horseman. In the two seasons I +had spent in Leicestershire, on a visit to a relative, I had acquitted +myself with credit and character; but a light weight splendidly mounted +on a trained hunter, over his accustomed country, has no parallel with +the same individual upon a horse he has never crossed, over a country he +has never seen. These and a hundred similar considerations came rushing +on me now when it was too late. However, the thing was done, and +there being no possible way of undoing it, there was but one road, the +straightforward, to follow in the case. Alas! half of our philosophy in +difficulties consists in shutting our eyes firmly against consequences, +and, _tête baissée_, rushing headlong at the future. Though few may be +found willing to admit that the bull in the china-shop is the model of +their prudence, I freely own it was mine, and that I made up my mind to +ride the horse with the unspeakable name as long as he would permit +me to ride him, at everything, over everything, or through everything +before me. This conclusion at length come to, I began to feel more easy +in my mind. Like the felon that feels there is no chance of a reprieve, +I could look my fate more steadily in the face. + +I had no great appetite for my dinner, but I sat over an excellent +bottle of port, sipping and sipping, each glass I swallowed lending a +rose tint to the future. The second bottle had just been placed on +the table before me, when O'Gradys groom came in to receive his +instructions. He had heard nothing of my resolution to ride, and +certainly looked aghast when I announced it to him. By this time, +however, I had combated my own fears, and I was not going to permit his +to terrify me. Affecting the easy nonchalance of that excellent type Mr. +Ulick Burke, I thrust my hands into my coat-pockets, and standing with +my back to the fire, began questioning him about the horse. Confound it! +there's no man so hard to humbug as an Irishman, but if he be a groom, +I pronounce the thing impossible. The fellow saw through me in a +moment; and as he sipped the glass of wine I had filled out for him, he +approached me confidentially, while he said in a low tone-- + +'Did you say you 'd ride him?' + +'Yes, to be sure I did.' + +'You did! well, well! there's no helping it, since you said it. There's +only one thing to be done'--he looked cautiously about the room, lest +any one should overhear him. 'There's but one thing I know of---let him +throw you at the first leap. Mind me now, just leave it to himself; hell +give you no trouble in life; and all you have to do is to choose the +soft side. It's not your fault after that, you know, for I needn't tell +you he won't be caught before night.' + +I could not help laughing at this new receipt for riding a steeplechase, +although I confess it did not raise my courage regarding the task before +me. + +'But what does he do?' said I--'this infernal beast; what trick has he?' + +'It isn't one, but a hundred that he has. First of all, it isn't so easy +to get on his back, for he is as handy with his hind foot as a fiddler; +and if you are not mighty quick in mounting, he 'll strike you down with +it. Then, when you are up, maybe he won't move at all, but stand with +his forelegs out, his head down, and his eyes turned back just like a +picture, hitting his flanks between times with his long tail You may +coax him, pet him, and pat him--'faith, you might as well be tickling +a milestone; for it's laughing at you he 'll be all the time. Maybe at +last you 'll get tired, and touch him with the spur. Hurroo! begorra, +you 'll get it then!' + +'Why--what happens then?' + +'What happens, is it? Maybe it's your neck is broke, or your thigh, or +your collar-bone at least. He 'll give you a straight plunge up in the +air, about ten feet high, throw his head forward till he either pulls +the reins out of your hands or lifts you out of the saddle, and at the +same moment he'll give you a blow with his hind-quarters in the small of +the back. Och, murther!' said he, placing both hands upon his loins, and +writhing as he spoke, 'it'll be six weeks to-morrow since he made one of +them buck-leaps with me, and I never walked straight since. But that is +not all.' + +'Come, come,' said I impatiently, 'this is all nonsense; he only wants a +man with a little pluck to bully him out of all this.' + +As I said these valorous words I own that to my own heart I didn't +exactly correspond to the person I described; but as the bottle of port +was now finished, I set forth with my companion to pay my first visit to +this redoubted animal. + +The mill where the stable lay was about a mile from the town; but the +night was a fine moonlight one, with not an air of wind stirring, and +the walk delightful When we reached the little stream that turned the +mill, over which a plank was thrown as a bridge, we perceived that a +country lad was walking a pair of saddle-horses backwards and forwards +near the spot. The suspicion of some trickery, some tampering with the +horse, at once crossed me; and I hinted as much to the groom. + +'No, no,' said he, laughing, 'make your mind easy about that. Mr. Ulick +Burke knows the horse well, and he'll leave it all to himself.' + +The allusion was a pleasant one; but I said nothing, and walked on. + +Having procured a lantern at the mill, the groom preceded me to the +little outhouse, which acted as stable. He opened the door cautiously, +and peeped in. + +'He's lying down,' said he to me in a whisper, and at the same moment +taking the candle from the lantern, he held it up to permit my obtaining +a better view. 'Don't be afeard,' continued he, 'he 'll not stir +now, the thief of the earth! When once he's down that way, he lies as +peaceable as a lamb.' + +As well as I could observe him, he was a magnificent horse--a little too +heavy perhaps about the crest and forehand, but then so strong behind, +such powerful muscle about the haunches, that his balance was well +preserved. As I stood contemplating him in silence, I felt the breath of +some one behind me. I turned suddenly around; it was Father Tom Loftus +himself. There was the worthy priest, mopping his forehead with a huge +pocket-handkerchief and blowing like a rhinoceros. + +'Ugh!' said he at length, 'I have been running up and down the roads +this half-hour after you, and there's not a puff left in me.' + +'Ah, father! I hoped to have seen you at the inn.' 'Whisht! I darn't. +I thought I'd do it better my own way; but, see now, we've no time to +lose. I knew as well as yourself you never intended to ride this race. +No matter; don't say a word, but listen to me. I know the horse better +than any one in these parts; and it isn't impossible, if you can keep +the saddle over the first two or three fences, that you may win. I say, +if you can--for 'faith it's not in a “swing-swong” you'll be! But, come +now, the course was marked out this evening. Burke was over it before +dinner; and, with a blessing, we will be before supper. I've got a +couple of hacks here that'll take us over every bit of it; and perhaps +it is not too much to say you might have a worse guide.' + +''Faith, your reverence,' chimed in the groom, 'he'd find it hard to +have a better.' + +Thanking the kind priest for his good-natured solicitude, I followed him +out upon the road, where the two horses were waiting us. + +'There, now,' said he, 'get up; the stirrups are about your length. He +looks a little low in flesh, but you'll not complain of him when he's +under you.' + +The next moment we were both in the saddle. Taking a narrow path that +led off from the highroad, we entered a large tilled field; keeping +along the headlands of which, we came to a low stone wall, through a gap +of which we passed, and came out upon an extensive piece, of grassland, +that gently sloped away from where we were standing to a little stream +at its base, an arm of that which supplied the mill. + +'Here, now,' said the priest, 'a little to the left yonder is the start. +You come down this hill; you take the water there, and you keep along +by Freney's house, where you see the trees there. There's only a small +stone wall and a clay ditch between this and that; afterwards you turn +off to the right. But, come now, are you ready? We'll explore a bit.' + +As he spoke, the good priest, putting spurs to his hackney, dashed on +before me, and motioning me to follow, cantered down the slope. Taking +the little mill-stream at a fly, he turned in his saddle to watch my +performance. + +'Neat! mighty neat!' cried he, encouraging me. 'Keep your hand a little +low. The next is a wall----' + +Scarcely had he spoke when we both came together at a stone-fence, about +three feet high. This time I was a little in advance, as my horse was +fresher, and took it first. + +'Oh, the devil a better!' said Father Tom. 'Burke himself couldn't beat +that! Here, now: keep this way out of the deep ground, and rush him at +the double ditch there.' + +Resolved on securing his good opinion, I gripped my saddle firmly with +my knees, and rode at the fence. Over we went in capital style; but +lighting on the top of a rotten ditch, the ground gave way, and my +horse's hind legs slipped backwards into the gripe. Being at full +stretch, the poor animal had no power to recover himself, so that, +disengaging his forelegs, I pulled him down into the hollow, and then +with a vigorous dash of the spur and a bold lift carried him clean over +it into the field. + +'Look, now!' said the priest; 'that pleases me better than all you did +before. Presence of mind--that's the real gift for a horseman when he's +in a scrape; but, mind me, it was your own fault, for here's the way to +take the fence.' So saying, he made a slight semicircle in the field, +and then, as he headed his horse towards the leap, rushed him at it +furiously, and came over like the bound of a stag. + +'Now,' said Father Tom, pointing with his whip as he spoke, 'we have a +beautiful bit of galloping-ground before us; and if you ever reach this +far, and I don't see why you shouldn't, here's where you ought to make +play. Listen to me now,' said he, dropping his voice: 'Tom Molloy s mare +isn't thoroughbred, though they think she is. She has got a bad drop in +her. Now, the horse is all right, clean bred, sire and dam, by reason he +'ll be able to go through the dirt when the mare can't; so that all you +'ve to do, if, as I said before, you get this far, is to keep straight +down to the two thorn-bushes--there, you see them yonder. Burke won't +be able to take that line, but must keep upon the headlands, and go all +round yonder; look, now, you see the difference--so that before he can +get over that wide ditch you'll be across it, and making for the stone +wall After that, by the powers, if you don't win, I, can't help you!' + +'Where does the course turn after, father?' said I. + +'Oh! a beautiful line of flat country, intersprinkled with walls, +ditches, and maybe a hedge or two; but all fair, and only one rasping +fence--the last of all. After that, you have a clean gallop of about a +quarter of a mile, over as nice a sod as ever you cantered.' + +'And that last fence, what is it like?' + +''Faith, it is a rasper! It's a wide gully, where there was a _boreen_ +once, and they say it is every inch of sixteen feet--that'll make it +close upon twenty when you clear the clay on both sides. The grey horse, +I'm told, has a way of jumping in and jumping out of these narrow roads; +but take my advice, and go it in a fly. And now, Captain, what between +the running, and the riding, and the talking altogether, I am as dry as +a limekiln; so what do you say if we turn back to town, and have a bit +of supper together? There's a kind of a cousin of mine, one Bob Mahon, +a Major in the Roscommon, and he has got a grouse-pie, and something hot +to dilute it with, waiting for us.' + +'Nothing will give me more pleasure, father; and there's only one thing +more--indeed I had nearly forgotten it altogether----'' + +'What's that?' said the priest, with surprise. + +'Not having any intention to ride, I left town without any racing +equipment; breeches and boots I have, but as to a cap and a jacket----' + +'I 've provided for both,' said Father Tom. 'You saw the little man +with a white head that sat at the head of the table--Tom Dillon of Mount +Brown; you know him?' + +'I am not acquainted with him.' + +'Well, he knows you; that's all the same. His son, that's just gone to +Gibraltar with his regiment, was about your size, and he had a new cap +and jacket made for this very race, and of course they are lying there +and doing nothing. So I sent over a little gossoon with a note, and I +don't doubt but they are all at the inn this moment.' + +'By Jove, father!' said I, 'you are a real friend, and a most thoughtful +one, too.' + +'Maybe I'll do better than that for you,' said he, with a sly wink of +his eye, that somehow suggested to my mind that he knew more of and took +a deeper interest in me than I had reason to believe. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. MAJOR MAHON AND HIS QUARTERS + +The Major's quarters were fixed in one of the best houses in the town, +in the comfortable back-parlour of which was now displayed a little +table laid for three persons. A devilled lobster, the grouse-pie already +mentioned, some fried ham, and crisped potatoes were the viands; but +each was admirable in its kind, and with the assistance of an excellent +bowl of hot punch and the friendly welcome of the host, left nothing to +be desired. + +Major Bob Mahon was a short, thickset little man, with round blue +eyes, a turned-up nose, and a full under lip, which he had a habit of +protruding with an air of no mean pretension; a short crop of curly +black hair covered a head as round as a billiard-ball. These traits, +with a certain peculiar smack of his mouth, by which he occasionally +testified the approval of his own eloquence, were the most remarkable +things about him. His great ambition was to be thought a military man; +but somehow his pretensions in this respect smacked much more of the +militia than the line. Indeed, he possessed a kind of adroit way of +asserting the superiority of the former to the latter, averring that +they who fought _pro arts et focis_--the Major was fond of Latin--stood +on far higher ground than the travelled mercenaries who only warred for +pay. This peculiarity, and an absurd attachment to practical jokes, the +result of which had frequently through life involved him in lawsuits, +damages, compensations, and even duels, formed the great staple of his +character--of all which the good priest informed me most fully on our +way to the house. + +'Captain Hinton, I believe,' said the Major, as he held out his hand in +welcome. + +'Mr. Hinton,' said I, bowing. + +'Ay, yes; Father Tom, there, doesn't know much about these matters. What +regiment, pray?' + +'The Grenadier Guards.' + +'Oh, a very good corps--mighty respectable corps; not that, between +ourselves, I think overmuch of the regulars; between you and me, I never +knew foreign travel do good to man or beast. What do they bring back +with them, I'd like to know?--French cookery and Italian licentiousness. +No, no; give me the native troops! You were a boy at the time, but maybe +you have heard how they behaved in the west, when Hoche landed. Egad! if +it wasn't for the militia the country was sacked. I commanded a company +of the Roscommon at the time. I remember well we laid siege to a +windmill, held by a desperate fellow, the miller--a resolute character, +Mr. Hinton; he had two guns in the place with him.' + +'I wish to the Lord he had shot you with one of them, and we 'd have +been spared this long story!' said the priest. + +'I opened a parallel----' + +'Maybe you 'd open the pie?' said the priest, as he drew his chair, and +sat down to the table. 'Perhaps you forget, Bob, we have had a sharp +ride of it this evening?' + +'Upon my conscience, so I did,' replied the Major good-humouredly. 'So +let us have a bit of supper now, Mr. Hinton, and I'll finish my story +by-and-by.' + +'The Heavens forbid!' piously ejaculated the priest, as he helped +himself to a very considerable portion of the lobster. + +'Is this a fast, Father Loftus?' said I slyly. + +'No, my son, but we'll make it one. That reminds me of what happened +to me going up in the boat. It was a Friday, and the dinner, as you +may suppose, was not over-good; but there was a beautiful cut of fried +salmon just before me--about a pound and a half, maybe two pounds; this +I slipped quietly on my plate, observing to the company, in this way, +“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a fast day with me”--when a big fellow, +with red whiskers, stooped across the table, cut my bit of fish in two +halves, calling out as he carried off one, “Bad scran to ye! d'ye think +nobody has a soul to be saved but yourself?”' + +'Ah, they're a pious people, are the Irish!' said the Major solemnly, +'and you'll remark that when you see more of them. And now, Captain, how +do you like us here?' + +'Exceedingly,' said I, with warmth. 'I have had every reason to be +greatly pleased with Ireland.' + +'That's right! and I'm glad of it! though, to be sure, you have not seen +us in our holiday garb. Ah, if you were here before the Union; if you +saw Dublin as I remember it--and Tom there remembers it--“that was a +pleasant place.” It was not trusting to balls and parties, to dinners +and routs, but to all kinds of fun and devilment besides. All the +members of Parliament used to be skylarking about the city, playing +tricks on one another, and humbugging the Castle people. And, to be +sure, the Castle was not the grave, stupid place it is now--they were +convivial, jovial fellows----' + +'Come, come, Major,' interrupted I; 'you are really unjust--the present +court is not the heavy----' + +'Sure, I know what it is well enough. Hasn't the duke all the privy +council and the bishops as often to dinner as the garrison and the bar? +Isn't he obliged to go to his own apartment when they want to make a +night of it, and sing a good chorus? Don't tell me! Sure, even as late +as Lord Westmorland's time it was another thing--pleasant and happy +times they were, and the country will never be the same till we have +them back again!' + +Being somewhat curious to ascertain in what particular our degeneracy +consisted--for in my ignorance of better, I had hitherto supposed the +present regime about as gay a thing as need be--I gradually led the +Major on to talk of those happier days when Ireland kept all its fun for +home consumption, and never exported even its surplus produce. + +'It was better in every respect,' responded the Major. 'Hadn't we all +the patronage amongst us? There's Jonah, there--Harrington, I mean; +well, he and I could make anything, from a tide-waiter to a master in +Chancery. It's little trouble small debts gave us then; a pipe of sherry +never cost me more than a storekeeper in the ordnance, and I kept my +horses at livery for three years with a washwoman to Kilmainham Hospital +And as for fun--look at the Castle now! Don't I remember the times when +we used to rob the coaches coming from the drawing-rooms; and pretty +girls they were inside of them.' + +'For shame, for shame!' cried Father Tom, with a sly look in the corner +of his eye that by no means bespoke a suitable degree of horror at such +unwarrantable proceedings. + +'Well, if it was a shame it was no sin,' responded the Major; 'for we +never took anything more costly than kisses. Ah, dear me! them was the +times! And, to be sure, every now and then we got a pull-up from the +Lady lieutenant, and were obliged to behave ourselves for a week or two +together. One thing she never could endure was a habit we had of leaving +the Castle before they themselves left the ball-room. I'm not going to +defend it--it was not very polite, I confess; but somehow or other there +was always something going on we couldn't afford to lose--maybe a +supper at the barrack, or a snug party at Daly's, or a bit of fun +elsewhere. Her Excellency, however, got angry about it, and we got a +quiet hint to reform our manners. This, I need not tell you, was a +hopeless course; so we hit on an expedient that answered to the full as +well. It was by our names being called out, as the carriages drove up, +that our delinquency became known. So Matt Fortescue suggested that we +should adopt some feigned nomenclature, which would totally defy every +attempt at discovery; the idea was excellent, and we traded on it for +many a day with complete success. One night, however, from some cause or +other, the carriages were late in arriving, and we were all obliged to +accompany the court into the supper-room. Angry enough we were; but +still there was no help for it; and so, “smiling through tears,” as the +poet says, in we went. Scarcely, however, had we taken our places when a +servant called out something from the head of the stairs; another +re-echoed it at the ante-chamber, and a third at the supper-room shouted +out, “Oliver Cromwell's carriage stops the way!” The roar of laughter +the announcement caused shook the very room; but it had scarcely +subsided when there was another call for “Brian Boru's coach,” quickly +followed by “Guy Fawkes” and “Paddy O'Rafferty's jingle,” which latter +personage was no other than the Dean of Cork. I need not tell you that +we kept our secret, and joined in the universal opinion of the whole +room, “that the household was shamefully disguised in drink”; and indeed +there was no end to the mistakes that night, for every now and then some +character in heathen or modern history would turn up among the +announcements; and as the laughter burst forth, the servants would grow +ashamed for a while, and refuse to call any carriage where the style and +title was a little out of the common. Ah, Mr. Hinton, if you had lived +in those days! Well, well, no matter--here's a glass to their memory, +anyway. It is the first time you 've been in these parts, and I suppose +you haven't seen much of the country?' + +'Very little indeed,' replied I; 'and even that much only by moonlight.' + +'I'm afraid,' said Father Tom, half pensively, 'that many of your +countrymen take little else than a “dark view” of us.' + +'See now,' said the Major, slapping his hand on the table with energy, +'the English know as much about Pat as Pat knows of purgatory--no +offence to you, Mr. Hinton. I could tell you a story of a circumstance +that once happened to myself.' + +No, no, Bob,' said the priest; 'it is bad taste to tell a story _en petit +comité_. I'll leave it to the Captain.' + +'If I am to be the judge,' said I laughingly, 'I decide for the story.' + +'Let's have it, then,' said the priest. 'Come, Bob, a fresh brew, and +begin your tale.' + +'You are a sensual creature, Father Tom,' said the Major, 'and prefer +drink to intellectual discussion; not but that you may have both here +at the same time. But in honour of my friend beside me, I'll not bear +malice, but give you the story; and let me tell you, it is not every day +in the week a man hears a tale with a moral to it, particularly down in +this part of the country.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. THE DEVIL'S GRIP + +'The way of it was this. There was a little estate of mine in the county +of Waterford that I used now and then to visit in the shooting season. +In fact, except for that, there was very little inducement to go there; +it was a bleak, ugly part of the country, a bad market-town near it, and +not a neighbour within twelve miles. Well, I went over there--it was, as +well as I remember, December two years. Never was there such weather; +it rained from morning till night, and blew and rained from night till +morning; the slates were flying about on every side, and we used to keep +fellows up all night, that in case the chimneys were blown away we 'd +know where to find them in the morning. This was the pleasant weather +I selected for my visit to the “Devil's Grip”--that was the name of the +town-land where the house stood; and no bad name either, for, 'faith, if +he hadn't his paw on it, it might have gone in law,-like the rest of the +property. However, down I went there, and only remembered on the evening +of my arrival that I had ordered my gamekeeper to poison the mountain, +to get rid of the poachers; so that, instead of shooting, which, as I +said before, was all you could do in the place, there I was, with three +brace of dogs, two guns, and powder enough to blow up a church, walking +a big dining-parlour, all alone by myself, as melancholy as may be. + +'You may judge how happy I was, looking out upon the bleak country-side, +with nothing to amuse me except when now and then the roof of some cabin +or other would turn upside down, like an umbrella, or watching an old +windmill that had gone clean mad, and went round at such a pace that +nobody dare go near it. All this was poor comfort. However, I got out of +temper with the place; and so I sat down and wrote a long advertisement +for the English papers, describing the Devil's Grip as a little +terrestrial paradise, in the midst of picturesque scenery, a delightful +neighbourhood, and an Arcadian peasantry, the whole to be parted +with---a dead bargain--as the owner was about to leave the country. I +didn't add that he had some thought of blowing his brains out with sheer +disgust of his family residence. I wound up the whole with a paragraph +to the effect that if not disposed of within the month, the proprietor +would break it up into small farms. I said this because I intended to +remain so long there; and, although I knew no purchaser would treat +after he saw the premises, yet still some one might be fool enough to +come over and look at them, and even that would help me to pass the +Christmas. My calculation turned out correct; for before a week was +over, a letter reached me, stating that a Mr. Green, of No. 196 High +Holborn, would pay me a visit as soon as the weather moderated and +permitted him to travel If he waits for that, thought I, he 'll not find +me here; and if it blows as hard for the next week, he 'll not find the +house either; so I mixed another tumbler of punch, and hummed myself to +sleep with the “Battle of Ross.” + +'It was about four or five evenings after I received this letter that +old Dan M'Cormick--a kind of butler I have, a handy fellow; he was a +steward for ten years in the Holyhead packet--burst into the room +about ten o'clock, when I was disputing with myself whether I took six +tumblers or seven--I said one, the decanter said the other. + +'“It's blowing terrible, Mr. Bob,” said Dan. + +'“Let it blow! What else has it to do?” + +'“The trees is tumbling about as if they was drunk; there won't be one +left before morn.” + +'“They're right,” says I, “to leave that, for the soil was never kind +for planting.” + +'“Two of the chimneys is down,” says he. + +'“Devil mend them!” said I, “they were always smoking.” + +'“And the hall door,” cried he, “is blown flat into the hall.” + +'“It's little I care,” said I; “if it couldn't keep out the sheriff it +may let in the storm, if it pleases.” + +'“Murther! murther!” said he, wringing his hands, “I wish we were at +say! It's a cruel thing to have one's life perilled this way.” + +'While we were talking, a gossoon burst into the room with the news that +the Milford packet had just gone ashore somewhere below the Hook Tower, +adding, as is always the case on such occasions, that they were all +drowned. + +'I jumped up at this, put on my shooting-shoes, buttoned up my frieze +coat, and followed by Dan, took a short cut over the hills towards +Passage, where I now found the packet had been driven in. Before we had +gone half a mile I heard the voices of some country-people coming up the +road towards me; but it was so dark you couldn't see your hand. + +'“Who's there?” said I. + +'“Tim Molloy, your honour,” was the answer. + +'“What's the matter, Tim?” said I. “Is there anything wrong?” + +'“Nothing, sir, glory be to God--it's only the corpse of the gentleman +that was drowned there below.” + +'“I ain't dead, I tell you; I'm only faint,” called out a shrill voice. + +'“He says he's better,” said Tim; “and maybe it's only the salt water +that's in him; and, faix, when we found him, there was no more spark in +him than in a wet sod.” + +'Well, the short of it was, we brought him up to the house, rubbed him +with gunpowder before the fire, gave him about half a pint of burnt +spirits, and put him to bed, he being just able to tell me, as he was +dropping asleep, that he was my friend from No. 196 High Holborn. + +'The next morning I sent up Dan to ask how he was, and he came down with +the news that he was fast asleep. “The best thing he could do,” said +I; and I began to think over what a mighty load it would be upon my +conscience if the decent man had been drowned. “For, maybe, after all,” + thought I, “he is in earnest, maybe he wished to buy a beautiful place +like that I have described in the papers”; and so I began to relent, and +wonder with myself how I could make the country pleasant for him during +his stay. “It'll not be a day or two at farthest, particularly after he +sees the place. Ay, there's the rub--the poor devil will find out then +that I have been hoaxing him.” This kept fretting me all day; and I +was continually sending up word to know if he was awake, and the answer +always was--still sleeping. + +'Well, about four o'clock, as it was growing dark, Oakley of the Fifth +and two of his brother officers came bowling up to the door, on their +way to Carrick. Here was a piece of luck! So we got dinner ready for the +party, brought a good store of claret at one side of the fireplace, and +a plentiful stock of bog-fir at the other, and resolved to make a night +of it; and just as I was describing to my friends the arrival of my +guest above-stairs, who should enter the room but himself. He was a +round little fellow, about my size, with a short, quick, business-like +way about him. Indeed, he was a kind of a drysalter, or something of +that nature, in London, had made a large fortune, and wished to turn +country gentleman. I had only time to learn these few particulars, and +to inform him that he was at that moment in the mansion he had come to +visit, when dinner was announced. + +'Down we sat; and, 'faith, a jollier party rarely met f together. +Poor Mr. Green knew but little of Ireland; but we certainly tried to +enlighten him; and he drank in wonders with his wine at such a rate that +by eleven o'clock he was carried to his room pretty much in the same +state as on his arrival the night before, the only difference being, it +was Sneyd, not saltwater, this time that filled him. + +'“I like the cockney,” said Oakley; “that fellow's good fun. I say, Bob, +bring him over with you to-morrow to dinner. We halt at Carrick till the +detachment comes up.” + +'“Could you call it breakfast?” said I. “There's a thought just strikes +me: we'll be over in Carrick with you about six o'clock; well have our +breakfast, whatever you like to give us, and dine with you about eleven +or twelve afterwards.” + +'Oakley liked the project well; and before we parted the whole thing was +arranged for the next day. + +'Towards four o'clock in the afternoon of the following day Mr. Green +was informed by Daniel that, as we had made an engagement to take an +early breakfast some miles off, he ought to be up and stirring; at the +same time a pair of candles were brought into the room, hot water for +shaving, etc; and the astonished cockney, who looked at his watch, +perceived that it was but four. + +'“These are very early people,” thought he. “However, the habits of +the country must be complied with.” So saying, he proceeded with his +toilette, and at last reached the drawing-room, just as my drag dashed +up to the door--the lamps fixed and shining, and everything in readiness +for departure. + +“'We 'll have a little shooting, Mr. Green,” said I. “After breakfast, +we'll see what my friend's preserves offer. I suppose you're a good +shot?” + +“'I can't say much for my performance; but I'm passionately fond of it.” + +'“Well,” added I, “I believe I can answer for it, you 'll have a good +day here.” + +'So chatting, we rolled along, the darkness gradually thickening round +us, and the way becoming more gloomy and deserted. + +'“It's strange,” says Mr. Green, after a while; “it's strange, how very +dark it grows before sunrise; for I perceive it's much blacker now than +when we set out.” + +'“Every climate has its peculiarities,” said I; “and now that we 're +used to this, we like it better than any other. But see there, yonder, +where you observe the light in the valley--that's Carrick. My friend's +house is a little at the side of the town. I hope you 've a good +appetite for breakfast.” + +'“Trust me, I never felt so hungry in my life.” + +'“Ah, here they come!” said Oakley, as he stood with a lantern in his +hand at the barrack-gate; “here they are! Good-morning, Mr. Green. Bob, +how goes it? Heavenly morning!” + +'“Delightful indeed,” said poor Green, though evidently not knowing why. + +'“Come along, boys, now,” said Oakley; “we've a great deal before +us; though I am afraid, Mr. Green, you will think little of our Irish +sporting after your English preserves. However, I have kept a few brace +of pheasants, very much at your service, in a snug clover-field near the +house. So now to breakfast.” + +'There were about half a dozen of the Fifth at that time in the barrack, +who all entered heart and hand into the scheme, and with them we sat +down to a capital meal, which, if it was not for a big tea-pot and an +urn that figured in the middle of the table, might very well have been +called dinner. Poor Mr. Green, who for old prejudice' sake began with +his congo and a muffin, soon afterwards, and by an easy transition, +glided into soup and fish, and went the pace with the rest of us. The +claret began to circulate briskly, and after a couple of hours the +whisky made its appearance. The Englishman, whose attention was +never suffered to flag with singular anecdotes of a country, whose +eccentricities he already began to appreciate, enjoyed himself to the +utmost. He laughed, he drank, he even proposed to sing; and with one +hand on Oakley's shoulder, and the other on mine, he registered a vow to +purchase an estate and spend the rest of his days in Ireland. It was now +about eleven o'clock, when I proposed that we should have a couple of +hours at the woodcocks before luncheon. + +'“Ah, yes,” said Green, rubbing his hands, “let us not forget the +shooting. I 'm passionately fond of sport.” + +'It took some time to caparison ourselves for the field. Shot-bags, +flasks, and powder-horns were distributed about, while three brace of +dogs caracoled round the room, and increased the uproar. We now sallied +forth. It was a dark and starless night--the wind still Mowing a +hurricane from the north-east, and not a thing to be seen two yards from +where you stood. + +'“Glorious weather!” said Oakley. + +'“A delicious morning!” cried another. “When those clouds blow over we +shall have no rain.” + +'“That's a fine line of country, Mr. Green,” said I. + +'“Eh? what? a fine what? I can see nothing--it's pitch dark.” + +'“Ah, I forgot,” said I. “How stupid we were, Oakley, not to remember +that Mr. Green was not used to our climate! We can see everything, you +know; but come along, you'll get better by-and-by.” + +'With this we hurried him down a lane, through a hedge, and into a +ploughed field; while on every side of him pop, pop went the guns, +accompanied by exclamations of enthusiastic pleasure and delight. + +'“There they go--mark! That's yours, Tom! Well done--cock pheasant* by +Jove! Here, Mr. Green! this way, Mr. Green! that dog is pointing--there, +there! don't you see there?” said I, almost lifting the gun to his +shoulder, while poor Mr. Green, almost in a panic of excitement and +trepidation, pulled both triggers, and nearly fell back with the recoil. + +[Illustration: 292] + +'“Splendid shot, begad!--killed both,” said Oakley. “Ah, Mr. Green, we +have no chance with you. Give him another gun at once.” + +'“I should like a little brandy,” said Mr. Green, “for my feet are wet.” + +'I gave him my flask, which he emptied at a pull; while, at the same +time, animated with fresh vigour, he tramped manfully forward, without +fear or dread. The firing still continued hotly around us; and as Mr. +Green discharged his piece whenever he was bid, we calculated that in +about an hour and a half he had fired above a hundred and fifty times. +Wearied and fatigued by his exertions, at length he sat down upon a +bank, while one of the gamekeepers covered the ground about him with +ducks, hens, and turkey-cooks, as the spoils of his exertions. + +'At Oakley's proposal we now agreed to go back to luncheon, which I need +not tell you was a hot supper, followed by mulled claret and more punch. +Here the cockney came out still better than before. His character as a +sportsman raised him in his own esteem, and he sang “The Poacher” for +two hours, until he fell fast asleep on the carpet. He was then +conveyed to bed, where, as on the former day, he slept till late in the +afternoon. + +'Meanwhile, I had arranged another breakfast-party at Ross, where we +arrived about seven o'clock in the evening--and so on for the rest of +the week, occasionally varying the amusement by hunting, fishing, or +coursing. + +'At last poor Mr. Green, when called on one morning to dress, sent down +Dan with his compliments that he wished to speak to me. I went to him at +once, and found him sitting up in his bed. + +'“Ah, Mr. Manon,” said he, “this will never do; it's a pleasant life, no +doubt, but I never could go On with it. Will you tell me one thing--do +you never see the sun here?” + +'“Oh, bless you! yes,” said I; “repeatedly. He was out for two hours on +last Patrick's Day, and we have him now and then, promiscuously!” + +'“How very strange, how very remarkable,” said he, with a sigh, “that +we in England should know so little of all this! But, to tell you the +truth, I don't think I ever could get used to Lapland--it's Ireland I +mean; I beg your pardon for the mistake. And now, may I ask you another +question--Is this the way you always live?” + +'“Why, pretty much in this fashion; during the hazy season we go about +to one another's houses, as you see; and one gets so accustomed to the +darkness----” + +'“Ah, now, don't tell me that! I know I never could--it's no use my +trying it. I 'm used to the daylight; I have seen it, man and boy, for +about fifty years, and I never could grope about this way. Not but that +I am very grateful to you for all your hospitality; but I had rather go +home.” + +'“You'll wait for morning, at all events,” said I; “you will not leave +the house in the dead of the night?” + +'“Oh, indeed, for the matter of that, it doesn't signify much; night and +day is much about the same thing in this country.” + +'And so he grew obstinate, and notwithstanding all I could say, insisted +on his departure; and the same evening he sailed from the quay of +Waterford, wishing me every health and happiness, while he added, with a +voice of trembling earnestness-- + +'“Yes, Mr. Mahon, pardon me if I am wrong, but I wish to heaven _you had +a little more light in Ireland!_“' + +I am unable to say how far the good things of Major Mahon's table +seasoned the story I have just related; but I confess I laughed at it +loud and long, a testimony on my part which delighted the Major's heart; +for, like all anecdote-mongers, he was not indifferent to flattery. + +'The moral particularly pleases me,' said I. + +'Ah, but the whole thing's true as I am here. Whisht! there's somebody +at the door. Come in, whoever you are.' + +At these words the door cautiously opened, and a boy of about twelve +years of age entered. He carried a bundle under one arm, and held a +letter in his hand. + +'Oh, here it is,' said Father Tom. 'Come here, Patsey, my boy, here's the +penny I promised you. There, now, don't make a bad use of your money.' + +The little fellow's eyes brightened, and with a happy smile and a pull +of his forelock for a bow, left the room delighted. + +'Twelve miles--ay, and long miles too--in less than three hours! Not bad +travelling, Captain, for a bit of a gossoon like that.' + +'And for a penny!' said I, almost startled with surprise. + +'To be sure,' said the priest, as he cut the cord of the package, and +opened it on the table. 'Here we are! as nate a jacket as ever I set +my eyes on, green and white, with a cap of the same.' So saying, he +unfolded the racing-costume, which, by the desire of both parties, I was +obliged immediately to try on. 'There, now,' resumed he; 'turn about; it +fits you like your skin.' + +'It looks devilish well, upon my word,' said the Major. 'Put on the cap; +and see too, he has sent a whip--that was very thoughtful of Dillon. But +what's this letter here? for you, I think, Mr. Hinton.' + +The letter was in a lady's hand; I broke the seal and read as follows:-- + +'Mount Brown, Wednesday Evening.' + +'Dear Sir,--My uncle Dillon requests that you will give us the pleasure +of your company to dinner to-morrow at six o'clock. I have taken the +liberty to tell him that as we are old acquaintances you will perhaps +kindly overlook his not having visited you to-day; and I shall feel +happy if, by accepting the invitation, you will sustain my credit on +this occasion. + +'He desires me to add that the racing-jacket, etc, are most perfectly at +your service, as well as any articles of horse-gear you may be in want +of.---Believe me, dear sir, truly yours, Louisa Bellow.' + +A thrill of pleasure ran through me as I read these lines; and, +notwithstanding my efforts to conceal my emotion from my companions, +they but too plainly saw the excitement I felt. + +'Something agreeable there! You don't look, Mr. Hinton, as if that were +a latitat or a bill of costs you were reading.' + +'Not exactly,' said I, laughing. 'It is an invitation to dinner from +Mount Brown--wherever that may be.' + +'The best house in the county,' said the Major; 'and a good fellow he +is, Hugh Dillon. When is it for?' + +'To-morrow at six.' + +'Well, if he has not asked me to meet you, I 'll invite myself, and we +'ll go over together.' + +'Agreed,' said I. 'But how shall I send back the answer?' + +The Major promised to send his servant over with the reply, which I +penned at once. + +'Just tell Hugh,' said the Major, 'that I'll join you.' + +I blushed, stammered, and looked confused. 'I am not writing to Mr. +Dillon,' said I, 'for the invitation came through a lady of the family, +Miss Bellew--his niece, I believe.' + +'Whew!' said the Major, with a long whistle. 'Is it there we are! Oh, by +the powers, Mr. Hinton! that's not fair--to come down here not only to +win our money in a steeplechase, but to want to carry off the belle of +our county besides. That 'll never do.' + +'She doesn't belong to you at all,' said Father Tom; 'she is a +parishioner of mine, and so were her father and grandfather before her. +And moreover than that, she is the prettiest girl, and the best too, in +the county she lives in--and that's no small praise, for it's Galway I'm +talking of. And now here's a bumper to her, and who 'll refuse it?' + +'Not I, certainly.' + +'Nor I,' said the Major, as we drank to her health with all the honours. + +'Now for another jug,' quoth the Major, as he moved towards the +fireplace in search of the kettle. + +'After that toast, not another drop,' said I resolutely. + +'Well said!' chimed in the priest; 'may I never, if that wasn't very +Irish!' + +Firmly resisting all the Major's solicitations to resume my place at +the table, I wished both my friends goodnight; and having accepted Bob +Mahon's offer of a seat in his tax-cart to the race, I shook their hands +warmly, and took my leave. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. THE STEEPLECHASE + +I did not awake till past noon the next day, and had only completed +my dressing when Major Mahon made his appearance. Having pronounced my +costume accurate, and suggested that instead of carrying my racing-cap +in my hat I should tie the string round my neck and let it hang down in +front, he assisted me on with my greatcoat, in which, notwithstanding +that the season was summer, and the day a hot one, he buttoned me up to +the chin and down to the knees. + +'There, now,' said he, 'you look mighty like the thing. Where's your +whip? We have no time to lose, so jump into the tax-cart, and let us be +off.' + +As my reader may remember, the race-ground lay about a mile from the +town; but the road thither, unlike the peaceful quiet of the preceding +night, was now thronged with people on foot and horseback. Vehicles, +too, of every description were there--barouches and landaus, +hack-chaises, buggies, and jaunting-cars, whiskys, noddies, and, in +fact, every species of conveyance pronounced capable of rolling upon its +wheels, was put into requisition. Nor was the turn-out of cavalry of a +character less mixed. Horses of every shape and colour--some fat from +grass; others lean, like anatomical specimens; old and young; the +rich and the poor; the high-sheriff of the county, with his flashy +four-in-hand; the mendicant on his crutches--all pressed eagerly +forward. And as I surveyed the motley mass I felt what pleasure I could +take in the scene, were I not engaged as a principal performer. + +On reaching the course we found it already occupied by numerous +brilliant equipages, and a strong cavalcade of horsemen; of these +the greater number were well mounted, and amused themselves and the +bystanders by leaping the various fences around--a species of pastime +which occasionally afforded food for laughter, many a soiled coat and +broken hat attesting the colour and consistence of the clayey ground. +There were also refreshment-booths, stalls for gaming on a humble scale, +tables laid out with beer, hard eggs, and gingerbread--in a word, all +the ordinary and extraordinary preparations which accompany any great +assemblage of people whose object is amusement. + +A temporary railing of wood, rudely and hastily put together, inclosed +a little space reserved as a weighing-stand; here the stewards of the +course were assembled, along with 'the dons' of the country; and into +this privileged sanctum was I introduced by the Major, in due form. All +eyes were turned on me as I entered; and whether from the guardianship +of him who acted as my chaperon, or that the costume of my coat and +overalls had propitiated their favour, I cannot say; but somehow I +felt that there was more courtesy in their looks, and an air of greater +civility in their bearing, than I had remarked the preceding day at the +Town-hall. True, these were, for the most part, men of better stamp--the +real gentry of the country--who, devotedly attached to field-sports, had +come, not as betting characters, but to witness a race. Several of them +took off their hats as I approached, and saluted me with politeness. +While returning their courtesy, I felt my arm gently touched, and on +looking around perceived Mr. Dillon, of Mount Brown, who, with a look +of most cordial greeting, and an outstretched hand, presented himself +before me. + +'You 'll dine with us, Mr. Hinton, I hope?' said he. 'No apology, pray. +You shall not lose the hall, for my girls insist on going to it, so +that we can all come in together. There, now, that is settled. Will +you permit me to introduce you to a few of my friends? Here's Mr. Barry +Connolly wishes much to know you. You 'll pardon me, Mr. Hinton, but +your name is so familiar to me through my niece, I forget that we are +not old acquaintances.' + +So saying, the little man took my arm and led me about through the +crowd, introducing me right and left. Of the names, the rank, and the +residences of my new friends, I knew as much as I did of the domestic +arrangements of the King of Congo; but one thing I can vouch for--more +unbounded civility and hospitable attention never did man receive. One +gentleman begged me to spend a few days with him at his shooting-lodge +in the mountains--another wanted to make up a coursing-party for me--a +third volunteered to mount me if I'd come down in the hunting season; +one and all gave me most positive assurance that if I remained in the +country I should neither lack bed nor board for many a day to come. + +But a few days before, and in my ignorance I had set down this same +class as rude, underbred, and uncivilised; and had I left the country on +the preceding evening, I should have carried away my prejudices with +me. The bare imitation of his better that the squireen presents was the +source of this blunder; the spurious currency had, by its false glitter, +deteriorated the sterling coin in my esteem; but now I could detect the +counterfeit from the genuine metal. + +'The ladies are on this side,' said Mr. Dillon. 'Shall we make our bow +to them?' + +'You'll not have time, Dillon,' said a friend who overheard his remark: +'here come the horses.' + +As he spoke, a distant cheer rose from the bottom of the hill, which, +gradually taken up by those nearer, grew louder and louder, till it +filled the very air. + +'What is it?' said I eagerly. + +'It's Jug of Punch,' said a person beside me. 'The mare was bred in the +neighbourhood, and excites a great interest among the country-people.' + +The crowd now fell back rapidly, and Mr. Burke, seated in a high tandem, +dashed up to the weighing-stand, and, giving the reins to his servant, +sprang to the ground. His costume was a loose coat of coarse drab cloth, +beset on every side by pockets of various shapes and dimensions; long +gaiters of the same material incased his legs, and the memorable white +hat, set most rakishly on his head, completed his equipment. + +Scarcely had he put foot to the ground when he was surrounded by a +number of his obsequious followers; but, paying little or no attention +to their proffered civilities, he brushed rudely through them, and +walked straight up to where I was standing. There was an air of +swaggering insolence in his manner which could not be mistaken; and I +could mark that, in the sidelong glance he threw about him, he intended +that our colloquy should be for the public ear. Nodding familiarly, +while he touched his hat with one finger, he addressed me. + +'Good-morning, sir; I am happy to have met you so soon. There is a +report that we are to have no race: may I ask you if there be any ground +for it?' + +'Not so far as I am concerned,' replied I, in a tone of quiet +indifference. + +'At least,' resumed he, 'there would seem some colour for the rumour. +Your horse is not here--I understand he has not left the stable--and +your groom is among the crowd below. I only asked the question, as it +affects my betting-book; there are doubtless here many gentlemen among +your friends who would wish to back you.' + +This was said with an air of sneering mockery so palpable as to call +forth an approving titter from the throng of satellites at his back. + +Without deigning any reply to his observation, I whispered a few words +to the Major, who at once, taking a horse from a farmer, threw himself +into the saddle and cantered off to the mill. + +'In fifteen minutes the time will be up,' said Mr. Burke, producing his +watch. 'Isn't that so, Dillon? You are the judge here.' + +'Perfectly correct,' replied the little man, with a hasty confused +manner that showed me in what awe he stood of his redoubted relative. + +'Then in that time I shall call on you to give the word to start; for +I believe the conditions require me to ride over the course, with or +without a competitor.' + +So saying, Mr Burke proceeded leisurely to unbutton his greatcoat, +which, with the assistance of his friends, he drew off. Two sedulous +familiars were meanwhile unbuttoning his gaiters, and in a few seconds +he stood forth what even my most prejudiced judgment could not deny--the +very beau-ideal of a gentleman-rider. His jacket, of black and yellow, +bore the stains of more than one race; but his whole carriage, not less +than his costume, looked like one who felt every inch the jockey. His +mare was led within the ropes to be saddled--a proceeding conducted +under his own eye, and every step of which he watched with critical +nicety. This done, he sat down upon a bench, and, with watch in hand, +seemed to count the minutes as they flew past. + +'Here we are! here we are! all right, Hinton!' shouted the Major, as +he galloped up the hill. 'Jump into the scale, my lad; your saddle is +beside you. Don't lose a moment.' + +'Yes, off with your coat,' said another, 'and jump in!' + +Divesting myself of my outer garments with a speed not second to that +of Mr. Burke, I took my saddle under my arm, and seated myself in the +scale. The groom fortunately had left nothing undone, and my saddle +being leaded to the required weight, the operation took not a minute. + +'Saddle now as quickly as you can,' whispered Dillon; 'for Burke, being +overweight, won't get into the scale.' + +While he was yet speaking, the gallant grey was led in, covered with +clothing from head to tail. + +'All was quite right,' said Mahon, in a low whisper--'your horse won't +bear a crowd, and the groom kept him stabled to the last moment. You are +in luck besides,' continued he: 'they say he is in a good temper this +morning--and, indeed, he walked up from the mill as gently as a lamb.' + +'Mount, gentlemen!' cried Mr. Dillon, as, with watch in hand, he +ascended a little platform in front of the weighing-stand. + +I had but time to throw one glance at my horse when the Major gave me +his hand to lift me into the saddle. + +'After you, sir,' said Mr. Burke, with a mock politeness, as he drew +back to permit me to pass out first. + +I touched my horse gently with the snaffle, but he stood stock-still; I +essayed again, but with no better success. The place was too crowded to +permit of any attempt to bully him, so I once more tried gentle +means. It was of no use--he stood rooted to the ground. Before I could +determine what next to do, Mahon sprang forward and took him by +the head, when the animal walked quietly forward without a show of +restiveness. + +'He's a droll devil,' said the groom, 'and in one of his odd humours +this morning, for that's what I never saw him do before.' + +I could see as I passed out that this little scene, short as it was, had +not impressed the bystanders with any exalted notion of my horsemanship; +for although there was nothing actually to condemn, my first step did +not seem to augur well. Having led me forth before the stand, the +Major pointed with his finger to the line of country before me, and was +repeating the priest's injunctions, when Mr. Burke rode up to my side, +and, with a smile of very peculiar meaning, said-- + +'Are you ready _now_, sir?' + +I nodded assent. The Major let go the bridle. + +'We are all ready, Dillon!' cried Burke, turning in his saddle. + +'All ready!' repeated Dillon; 'then away!' + +As he spoke, the hell rang, and off we went. + +For about thirty yards we cantered side by side--the grey horse keeping +stroke with the other, and not betraying the slightest evidence of bad +temper. Whatever my own surprise, the amazement of Burke was beyond all +bounds. He turned completely round in his saddle to look, and I could +see, in the workings of his features, the distrustful expression of +one who suspected he had been duped. Meanwhile, the cheers of the vast +multitude pealed high on every side; and, as the thought flashed across +me that I might still acquit myself with credit, my courage rose, and I +gripped my saddle with double energy. + +At the foot of the slope there was, as I have already mentioned, a +small fence; towards this we were now approaching at the easy sling of +a hand-gallop, when suddenly Burke's features--which I watched from +time to time with intense anxiety--changed their expression of doubt and +suspicion for a look of triumphant malice. Putting spurs to his horse, +he sprang a couple of lengths in advance, and rode madly at the fence; +the grey stretched out to follow, and already was I preparing for the +leap, when Burke, who had now reached the fence, suddenly swerved his +horse round, and, affecting to baulk, cantered back towards the hill. +The manoeuvre was perfectly successful. My horse, who up to that moment +was going on well, threw his forelegs far out, and came to a dead stop. +In an instant the trick was palpable to my senses; and, in the heat of +my passion, I dashed in both spurs, and endeavoured to lift him by the +rein. Scarcely had I done so, when, as if the very ground beneath had +jerked us upwards, he sprang into the air, dashing his head forward +between the forelegs, and throwing up his haunches behind, till I +thought we should come clean over in the somersault. I kept my seat, +however; and thinking that boldness alone could do at such a moment, I +only waited till he reached the ground, when I again drove the spurs up +to the rowels in his flanks. With a snort of passion he bounded madly +up, and pawing the air for some moments with his forelegs, lit upon the +earth, panting with rage, and trembling in every limb. + +[Illustration: 305] + +The shouts which now filled my ears seemed but like mockery and +derision; and stung almost to madness, I fixed myself in my seat, pulled +my cap upon my brows, and with clenched teeth gathered up the reins to +renew the conflict. There was a pause now for a few seconds; both horse +and man seemed to feel that there was a deadly strife before them, and +each seemed to collect his energy for the blow. The moment came; and +driving in the spurs with all my force, I struck him with the whip +between the ears. With something like a yell, the savage animal sprang +into the air, writhing his body like a fish. Bound after bound he made, +as though goaded on to madness; and, at length, after several fruitless +efforts to unseat me, he dashed straight upwards, struck out with his +forelegs, poised for a second or two, and then with a crash fell back +upon me, rolling me to the ground, bruised, stunned, and senseless. + +How long this state lasted I cannot tell; but when half consciousness +returned to me, I found myself standing in the field, my head reeling +with the shock, my clothes torn and ragged. My horse was standing beside +me, with some one at his head; while another, whose voice I thought I +could recognise, called out-- + +'Get up, man, get up! you 'll do the thing well yet. There, don't lose +time.' + +'No, no,' said another voice, 'it's a shame; the poor fellow is half +killed already--and there, don't you see Burke's at the second fence?' + +Thus much I heard, amid the confusion around me; but more I know not. +The next moment I was in the saddle, with only sense enough left to +feel reckless to desperation. I cried out to leave the way, and turned +towards the fence. + +A tremendous cut of a whip fell upon the horse's quarter from some one +behind, and, like a shell from a mortar, he leaped wildly out. With one +fly he cleared the fence, dashed across the field, and, before I was +firm in my seat, was over the second ditch. Burke had barely time to +look round him ere I had passed. He knew that the horse was away with +me, but he also knew his bottom, and that, if I could but keep my +saddle, the chances were now in my favour. + +Then commenced a terrible struggle. In advance of him, about four +lengths, I took everything before me, my horse flying straight as an +arrow. I dared not turn my head, but I could mark that Burke was making +every effort to get before me. We were now approaching a tall hedge, +beyond which lay the deep ground of which the priest had already spoken. +So long as the fences presented nothing of height, the tremendous pace +I was going was all in my favour; but now there was fully five feet of a +hedge standing before me. Unable to collect himself, my horse came +with his full force against it, and chesting the tangled branches, fell +head-foremost into the field. Springing to my legs unhurt, I lifted him +at once; but ere I could remount, Burke came bounding over the hedge, +and lit safely beside me. With a grin of malice he turned one look +towards me, and dashed on. + +For some seconds my horse was so stunned he could scarcely move, and as +I pressed him forward the heavy action of his shoulder and his drooping +head almost filled me with despair. By degrees, however, he warmed +up and got into his stride. Before me, and nearly a hundred yards +in advance, rode Burke, still keeping up his pace, but skirting the +headlands to my right. I saw now the force of the priest's remark, that +were I to take a straight line through the deep ground the race was +still in my favour. But dare I do so with a horse so dead beat as mine +was? The thought was quick as lightning; it was my only chance to win, +and I resolved to take it. Plunging into the soft and marshy ground +before me, I fixed my eye upon the blue flag which marked the course. +At this moment Burke turned and saw me, and I could perceive that he +immediately slackened his pace. Yes, thought I, he thinks I am pounded; +but it is not come to that yet. In fact, my horse was improving at every +stride, and although the ground was trying, his breeding began to tell, +and I could feel that he had plenty of running still in him. Affecting, +however, to lift him at every stroke, and seeming to labour to help him +through, I induced Burke to hold in, until I gradually crept up to the +fence before he was within several lengths of it. The grey no sooner +caught sight of the wall than he pricked up his ears and rushed towards +it; with a vigorous lift I popped him over, without touching a stone. +Burke followed in splendid style, and in an instant was alongside of me. + +Now began the race in right earnest. The cunning of his craft could +avail him little here, except as regarded the superior management of his +own horse; so Burke, abandoning every ruse, rode manfully on. As for +me, my courage rose at every moment; and so far from feeling any fear, +I only wished that the fences were larger; and like a gambler who would +ruin his adversary at one throw, I would have taken a precipice if he +pledged himself to follow. For some fields we rode within a few yards of +each other, side by side, each man lifting his horse at the same moment +to his leap, and alighting with the same shock beyond it. Already our +heads were turned homewards, and I could mark on the distant hill the +far-off crowds whose echoing shouts came floating towards us. But one +fence of any consequence remained; that was the large gripe that formed +the last of the race. We had cleared a low stone wall, and now entered +the field that led to the great leap. It was evident that Burke's horse, +both from being spared the shocks that mine had met with, and from +his better riding, was the fresher of the two; we had neither of us, +however, much to boast of on that score, and perhaps at a calmer moment +would have little fancied facing such a leap as that before us. It +was evident that the first over must win; and as each man measured +the other's stride, the intense anxiety of the moment nearly rose to +madness. + +From the instant of entering the field I had marked out with my eye +where I meant to take the leap. Burke had evidently done this also; and +we now slightly diverged, each to his allotted spot. The pace was awful. +All thought of danger lost, or forgotten, we came nearer and nearer with +knitted brow and clenched lip--I, the first. Already I was on the side; +with a loud cry and a cut of my whip I rose my horse to it. The noble +beast sprang forward, but his strength was spent, and he fell downwards +on his head. Recovering him without losing my seat, I scrambled up the +opposite bank and looked round. Burke, who had pressed the pace so hotly +before, had only done so to blow my horse and break him down at his +leap; and I saw him now approaching the fence with his mare fully in +hand, and her haunches well under her. Unable to move forward, save at a +walk, I turned in my saddle to watch him. He came boldly to the brink +of the fence; his hand was up prepared to strike; already the mare was +collecting herself for the effort, when from the bottom of the gripe a +figure sprang wildly up, and as the horse rose into the air, he jumped +at the bridle, pulling down both the horse and the rider with a crash +upon him, a loud cry of agony rising amid the struggle. + +As they disappeared from my sight I felt like one in a trance. All +thoughts, however, were lost in the desire to win; and collecting my +energies for a last struggle, I lifted the gallant grey with both hands, +and by dint of spurring and shaking, pressed him to a canter, and rode +in, the winner, amid the deafening cheers and cries of thousands. + +'Keep back! keep back!' cried Mahon, restraining with his whip the crowd +that bore down upon me. 'Hinton, take care that no one touches your +horse; ride inside, take off your saddle and get into the scale.' + +Moving onwards like one in a dream, I mechanically obeyed the direction, +while the cries and shouts around me grew each moment louder and wilder. + +'Here he comes! here he comes!' shouted several voices; and Burke +galloped up, and without drawing rein rode into the weighing-stand. + +'Foul play!' roared he in a tone hoarse with passion. 'I protest against +the race! Holloa, sir!' he shouted, turning towards me. + +'There, there!' said Mahon, as he hurried me along towards the scale, +'you have nothing to do with him.' And at the same moment a number of +others pressed eagerly forward to shake my hand and wish me joy. + +'Look here, Dillon,' cried the Major, 'mark the weight--twelve stone +two, and two pounds over, if he wanted it. There, now,' whispered he, +in a voice which though not meant for my hearing I could distinctly +catch--'there, now, Dillon, take him into your carriage and get him off +the ground as fast as you can.' + +Just at this instant Burke, who had been talking with loud voice and +violent gesticulation, burst through the crowd, and stood before us. + +'Do you say, Dillon, that I have lost this race?' + +'Yes, yes, to be sure!' cried out full twenty voices. + +'My question was not addressed to you, sirs,' said he, boiling with +passion; 'I ask the judge of this course, have I lost?' + +'My dear Ulick----' said Dillon, in a voice scarce audible from +agitation. + +'No cursed palaver with me,' said he, interrupting. 'Lost or won, +sir--one word.' + +'Lost, of course,' replied Dillon, with more of firmness than I believed +him capable. + +'Well, sir,' said Burke, as he turned towards me, his teeth clenched +with passion, 'it may be some alloy to your triumph to know that your +accomplice has smashed his thigh-bone in your service; and yet I can +tell you you have not come to the end of this matter.' + +Before I could reply, Burke's friends tore him from the spot and hurried +him to a carriage; while I, still more than ever puzzled by the words +I had heard, looked from one to the other of those around for an +explanation. + +'Never mind, Hinton,' said Mahon, as, half breathless with running, he +rushed up and seized me by the hand. 'The poor fellow was discharging a +double debt in his own rude way--gratitude on your score, vengeance on +his own.' + +[Illustration: 312] + +'Tally-ho, tally-ho!--hark, there--stole away!' shouted a wild cry from +without, and at the same instant four countrymen came forward, carrying +a door between them, on which was stretched the pale and mangled figure +of Tipperary Joe. 'A drink of water--spirits--tay--anything, for the +love of the Virgin! I'm famished, and I want to drink Captain Phil's +health. Ah, darling!' said he, as he turned his filmy eyes up towards +me, 'didn't I do it beautifully; didn't I pay him off for this?' With +these words he pointed to a blue welt that stretched across his face, +from the mouth to the ear. 'He gave me that yesterday for saying long +life and success to you!' + +'Oh! this is too horrible,' said I, gasping for breath. 'My poor fellow! +and I who had treated you so harshly!' I took his hand in mine, but it +was cold and clammy; his features were sunken too--he had fainted. + +'Come, Hinton,' said the Major, 'we can do no good here; let us move +down to the inn at once, and see after this poor boy.' + +'You are coming with us, Mr. Hinton?' cried Dillon. + +'Not now, not now,' said I, while my throat was swelling with repressed +emotion. Without suffering me to say more, Mahon almost lifted me into +the tax-cart, and putting his horse to the gallop, dashed towards the +town, the cheers of the people following us as we went; for, to their +wild sense of justice, Joe was a genuine martyr, and I shared in the +glory of his self-devotion. + +The whole way towards Loughrea, Mahon continued to talk; but not a +word could I catch. My thoughts were fixed on the poor fellow who had +suffered for my sake; and I would have given all I possessed in the +world to have lost the race, and seen him safe and sound before me. + +'There, there!' said the Major, as he shook me by the arm; 'don't take +it to heart this way. You know little of Ireland, that's plain; that +poor fellow will be prouder for the feeling you have shown towards him +this night than many a king upon his throne. To have served a gentleman, +to have put him under an obligation--_that_ has a charm you can't +estimate the extent of. Beware, only beware of one thing--do not by any +offer of money destroy the illusion; do what you like for him, but take +care of that.' + +We now reached the little inn; and Mahon--for I was incapable of all +thought or exertion--got a room in readiness for Joe, and summoning the +doctor of the place, provided everything for his care and accommodation. + +'Now, Hinton,' said he, as he burst into my room, 'all's right. Joe is +comfortable in bed; the fracture turns out not to be a bad one. So rouse +yourself, for Dillon's carriage with all its ladies is waiting these ten +minutes.' + +'No, no!' cried I; 'I can't go to this dinner-party! I'll not quit----' + +'Nonsense, man!' said he, interrupting me; 'you can only do harm here; +the doctor says he must be left quite quiet» and alone. Besides, Dillon +has behaved so well to-day--so stoutly for _him_, that you mustn't +forget it. There, now, where are your clothes? I'll pack them for you.' + +I started up to obey him, but a giddiness came over me, and I sank into +my chair, weak and sick. + +'This will never do,' said Mahon; 'I had better tell them I'll drive you +over myself. And now, just lie down for an hour or two, and keep quiet.' + +This advice I felt was good; and thanking my kind friend with a squeeze +of the hand, for I could not speak, I threw myself upon my bed, and +strange enough, while such contending emotions disturbed my brain, fell +asleep almost immediately. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. THE DINNER-PARTY AT MOUNT BROWN + +I awoke refreshed after half-an-hour's doze, and then every circumstance +of the whole day was clear and palpable before me. I remembered each +minute particular, and could bring to my mind all the details of the +race itself, notwithstanding the excitement they had passed in, and the +rapidity with which they succeeded one another. + +My first thought was to visit poor Joe; and creeping stealthily to his +room, I opened the door. The poor fellow was fast asleep. His features +had already become coloured with fever, and a red hectic spot on either +cheek told that the work of mischief had begun; yet still his sleep was +tranquil, and a half smile curled; his bloodless lips. On his bed +his old hunting-cap was placed, a bow of white and green ribbons--the +colours I wore--fastened gaudily in the front; upon this, doubtless, +he had been gazing to the last moment of his waking. I now stole +noiselessly back, and began a letter to O'Grady, whose anxiety as to the +result would, I knew, be considerable. + +It was not without pride, I confess, that I narrated the events of the +day; yet when I came to that part of my letter in which Joe was to be +mentioned, I could not avoid a sense of shame in acknowledging the cruel +contrast between _my_ conduct and _his_ gratitude. I did not attempt +to theorise upon what he had done, for I felt that O'Grady's better +knowledge of his countrymen would teach him to sound the depths of a +motive, the surface of which I could but skim. I told him frankly that +the more I saw of Ireland the less I found I knew about it; so much +of sterling good seemed blended with unsettled notions and unfixed +opinions; such warmth of heart, such frank cordiality, with such traits +of suspicion and distrust, that I could make nothing of them. Either, +thought I, these people are born to present the anomaly of all that is +most opposite and contradictory in human nature, or else the fairest +gifts that ever graced manhood have been perverted and abused by +mismanagement and misguidance. + +I had just finished my letter when Bob Mahon drove up, his honest face +radiant with smiles and good-humour. + +'Well, Hinton,' cried he, 'the whole thing is properly settled. The +money is paid over; and if you are writing to O'Grady, you may mention +that he can draw on the Limerick bank, at sight if he pleases. There's +time enough, however, for all this; so get up beside me. We've only half +an hour to do our five miles, and dress for dinner.' + +I took my place beside the Major; and as we flew fast through the air, +the cool breeze and his enlivening conversation rallied and refreshed +me. Such was our pace that we had ten minutes to spare, as we entered a +dark avenue of tall beech-trees, and a few seconds after arrived at the +door of a large old-fashioned-looking manor-house, on the steps of which +stood Hugh Dillon himself, in all the plenitude of a white waistcoat +and black-silk tights. While he hurried me to a dressing-room, he +overwhelmed me with felicitations on the result of the day. + +'You'll think it strange, Mr. Hinton,' said he, 'that I should +congratulate you, knowing that Mr. Burke is a kind of relation of mine; +but I have heard so much of your kindness to my niece Louisa, that I +cannot but rejoice in your success.' + +'I should rather,' said I, 'for many reasons, had it been more +legitimately obtained; and, indeed, were I not acting for another, I +doubt how far I should feel justified in considering myself a winner.' + +'My dear sir,' interrupted Dillon, 'the laws of racing are imperative in +the matter; besides, had you waived your right, all who backed you must +have lost their money.' + +'For that matter,' said I, laughing, 'the number of my supporters was +tolerably limited.' + +'No matter for that; and even if you had not a single bet upon you, +Ulick's conduct, in the beginning, deserved little favour at your +hands.' + +'I confess,' said I, 'that there you have touched on the saving clause +to my feeling of shame. Had Mr. Burke conducted himself in a different +spirit towards my friend and myself, I should feel sorely puzzled this +minute.' + +'Quite right, quite right,' said Dillon; 'and now try if you can't make +as much haste with your toilette as you did over the clover-field.' + +Within a quarter of an hour I made my appearance in the drawing-room, +now crowded with company, the faces of many among whom I remembered +having seen in the morning. Mr. Dillon was a widower, but his +daughters--three fine, tall, handsome-looking girls--did the honours. +While I was making my bows to them, Miss Bellew came forward, and with +an eye bright with pleasure held out her hand towards me. + +'I told you, Mr. Hinton, we should meet in the west. Have I been as good +a prophetess in saying that you would like it?' + +'If it afforded me but this one minute,' said I, in a half-whisper. + +'Dinner!' said the servant, and at the same moment that scene of +pleasant confusion ensued that preludes the formal descent of a party to +the dining-room. + +The host had gracefully tucked a large lady under his arm, beside whose +towering proportions he looked pretty much like what architects call 'a +lean-to,' superadded to a great building. He turned his eye towards me +to go and do likewise, with a significant glance at a heaving mass of +bugles and ostrich feathers that sat panting on a sofa. I parried the +stroke, however, by drawing Miss Bellow's arm within mine, while I +resigned the post of honour to my little friend the Major. + +The dinner passed off like all other dinners. There was the same routine +of eating and drinking, and pretty much the same ritual of table-talk. +As a kind of commentary on the superiority of natural gifts over the +affected and imitated graces of society, I could not help remarking that +those things which figured on the table of homely origin were actually +luxurious, while the exotic resources of the cookery were, in every +instance, miserable failures. Thus the fish was excellent, and the +mutton perfect, while the _fricandeau_ was atrocious, and the _petits +pâtés_ execrable. + +Should my taste be criticised, that with a lovely girl beside me, for +whom I already felt a strong attachment, I could thus set myself to +criticise the cookery, in lieu of any other more agreeable occupation, +let my apology be, that my reflection was an apropos, called forth by +comparing Louisa Bellew with her cousins the Dillons. I have said they +were handsome girls; they were more--they were beautiful. They had +all that fine pencilling of the eyebrow, that deep, square orbit, so +characteristically Irish, which gives an expression to the eye, whatever +be its colour, of inexpressible softness; their voices too, albeit the +accent was provincial, were soft and musical, and their manners quiet +and ladylike--yet, somehow, they stood immeasurably apart from her. + +I have already ventured on one illustration from the cookery, may I take +another from the cellar? How often in wines of the same vintage, of even +the same cask, do we find one bottle whose bouquet is more aromatic, +whose flavour is richer, whose colour is more purely brilliant! +There seems to be no reason why this should be so, nor is the secret +appreciable to our senses; however, the fact is incontestable. So among +women. You meet some half-dozen in an evening party, equally beautiful, +equally lovely; yet will there be found one among the number towards +whom, without any assignable cause, more eyes are turned, and more looks +bent; around whose chair more men are found to linger, and in whose +slightest word some cunning charm seems ever mingled. Why is this so? +I confess I cannot tell you; but trust me for the fact. If, however, it +will satisfy you that I adduce an illustration--Louisa Bellew was one of +these. With all the advantages of a cultivated mind, she possessed that +fearlessness that only girls really innocent of worldly trickery and +deceit ever have; and thus, while her conversation ranged far beyond the +limits the cold ordeal of fashion would prescribe to a London beauty, +the artless enthusiasm of her manner was absolutely captivating. + +In Dublin the most marked feature about her was an air of lofty pride +and hauteur, by which, in the mixed society of Rooney's house, was she +alone enabled to repel the obtrusive and impertinent attentions it was +the habit of the place to practise. Surrounded by those who resorted +there for a lounge, it was a matter of no common difficulty for her, a +young and timid girl, to assert her own position, and exact the respect +that was her due. Here, however, in her uncle's house, it was quite +different. Relieved from all performance of a part, she was natural, +graceful, and easy; and her spirits, untrammelled by the dread of +misconstruction, took their own free and happy flight without fear and +without reproach. + +When we returned to the drawing-room, seated beside her, I entered into +an explanation of all my proceedings since my arrival in the country, +and had the satisfaction to perceive that not only did she approve of +everything I had done, but, assuming a warmer interest than I could +credit in my fortunes, she counselled me respecting the future. +Supposing that my success might induce me to further trials of my +horseman ship, she cautioned me about being drawn into any matches or +wagers. + +'My cousin Ulick,' said she, 'is one of those who rarely let a prey +escape them. I speak frankly to you, for I know I may do so; therefore, +I would beseech you to take care of him, and, above all things, do not +come into collision with him. I have told you, Mr. Hinton, that I wish +you to know my father. For this object, it is essential you should +have no misunderstanding with my cousin; for although his whole conduct +through life has been such as to grieve and afflict him, yet the feeling +for his only sister's child has sustained him against all the +rumours and reports that have reached him, and even against his own +convictions.' + +'You have, indeed,' said I, 'suggested a strong reason for keeping +well with your cousin. My heart is not only bent on being known to your +father, but, if I dare hope it, on being liked by him also.' + +'Yes, yes,' said she quickly, blushing while she spoke, 'I am sure he'll +like you--and I know you'll like him. Our house, perhaps I should tell +you, is not a gay one. We lead a secluded and retired life; and this +has had its effect upon my poor father, giving a semblance of +discontent--only a semblance, though--to a nature mild, manly, and +benevolent.' + +She paused an instant, and, as if fearing that she had been led away +to speak of things she should not have touched upon, added with a more +lively tone-- + +'Still, we may contrive to amuse you. You shall have plenty of fishing +and coursing, the best shooting in the west, and, as for scenery, I'll +answer for it you are not disappointed.' + +While we chatted thus, the time rolled on, and at last the clock on the +mantel-piece apprised us that it was time to set out for the ball. This, +as it may be believed, was anything but a promise of pleasure to me. +With Louisa Bellew beside me, talking in a tone of confidential intimacy +she had never ventured on before, I would have given worlds to have +remained where I was. However, the thing was impossible; 'the ball! the +ball!' passed from lip to lip, and already the carriages were assembled +before the door, and cloaks, hoods, and mantles were distributed on all +sides. + +Resolving, at all events, to secure Miss Bellew as my fellow-traveller, +I took her arm to lead her downstairs. + +'Holloa, Hinton!' cried the Major, 'you 're coming with me, ain't you?' + +I got up a tremendous fit of coughing, as I stammered out an apology +about night-air, etc. + +'Ah, true, my poor fellow,' said the simple-hearted Bob; 'you must take +care of yourself--this has been a severe day's work for you.' + +'With such a heavy cold,' said Louisa, laughing, as her bright eyes +sparkled with fun, 'perhaps you 'll take a seat in our carriage.' + +I pressed her arm gently and murmured my assent, assisted her in, and +placed myself beside her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. THE RACE BALL + +Fast as had been the pace in the Major's tax-cart, it seemed to me as +though the miles flew much more quickly by as I returned to the town. +How, indeed, they passed I cannot well say; but, from the instant that +I quitted Mr. Dillon's house to that of my arrival in Loughrea, there +seemed to be but one brief, delightful moment. I have already said that +Miss Bellew's manner was quite changed; and, as I assisted her from the +carriage, I could not but mark the flashing brilliancy of her eye and +the sparkling animation of her features, lending, as they did, an added +loveliness to her beauty. + +'Am I to dance with you, Mr. Hinton?' said she laughingly, as I led +her up the stairs. 'If so, pray be civil enough to ask me at +once--otherwise, I must accept the first partner that offers himself.' + +'How very stupid I have been! Will you, pray, let me have the honour?' + +'Yes, yes--you shall have the honour; but, now that I think of it, you +mustn't ask me a second time. We countryfolk are very prudish about +these things; and, as you are the lion of the party, I should get into a +sad scrape were I to appear to monopolise you.' + +'But you surely will have compassion on me,' said I, in a tone of +affected bashfulness. 'You know I am a stranger here--neither known to +nor by any one save you.' + +'_Ah_, _trêve de modestie!_' said she coquettishly. 'My cousins will be +quite delighted; and indeed, you owe them some _amende_ already.' + +'As how?' said I. 'What have I done?' + +'Rather, what have you left undone? I'll tell you. You have not come +to the ball in your fine uniform, with your aiguillette and your showy +feathers, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of your dignity as +aide-de-camp. Learn, that in the west we love the infantry, doat on +the dragoons, but we adore the staff. Now, a child would find it as +difficult to recognise a plump gentleman without a star on his breast as +a king, as we western ladies would to believe in the military features +of a person habited in quiet black. You should, at least, have some +symbol of your calling. A little bit of moustache like a Frenchman, a +foreign order at your button-hole, your arm in a sling--from a wound, +as it were--even a pair of brass spurs would redeem you. Poor Mary +here won't believe that you wear a great sword, and are the most +warlike-looking person imaginable on occasions.' + +'Dearest Louisa, how silly you are!' said her cousin, blushing deeply. +'Pray, Mr. Hinton, what do you think of the rooms?' + +This question happily recalled me to myself, for up to that very moment, +forgetful of everything save my fair companion, I had not noticed our +entrance into the ballroom, around which we were promenading with alow +steps. I now looked up, and discovered that we were in the Town-hall, +the great room of which building was generally reserved for occasions +like the present. Nothing could be more simple than the decorations +of the apartment. The walls, which were whitewashed, were tastefully +ornamented with strings and wreaths of flowers suspended between the +iron chandeliers, while over the chimney-piece were displayed the +colours of the marching regiment then quartered in the town. Indeed, to +do them justice, the garrison were the main contributors to the pleasure +of the evening. By _them_ were the garlands so gracefully disposed; +by _them_ were the rat-holes and other dangerous crevices in the floor +caulked with oakum; _their_ band was now blowing 'God Save the King' and +'Rule Britannia' alternately for the last hour, and _their_ officers, in +all the splendour of scarlet, were parading the room, breaking the men's +hearts with envy and the women's with admiration. + +O'Grady was quite right--it is worth while being a soldier in Ireland; +and, if such be the case in the capital, how much more true is it in +Connaught? Would that some minute anatomist of human feeling could +demonstrate that delicate fibre in an Irishwoman's heart that vibrates +so responsively to everything in the army-list! In this happy land you +need no nitrous oxide to promote the high spirits of your party; I had +rather have a sub. in a marching regiment than a whole gasometer full +of it. How often have I watched the sleepy eye of languid loveliness +brighten up--how often have I seen features almost plain in their +character assume a kind of beauty, as some red-coat drew near! Don't +tell me of your insurrection acts, of your nightly outrages, your +outbreaks, and your burnings, as a reason for keeping a large military +force in Ireland--nothing of the kind. A very different object, indeed, +is the reason--Ireland is garrisoned to please the ladies. The +War Office is the most gallant of public bodies; and, with a true +appreciation of the daughters of the west, it inundates the land with +red-coats. + +These observations were forced upon me as I looked about the room, and +saw on every side how completely the gallant Seventy-something had +cut out the country gentry. Poor fellows! you are great people at the +assizes--you are strong men at a road-sessions--but you're mighty small +folk indeed before your wives and daughters when looked at to the +music of 'Paddy Carey,' and by the light of two hundred and fifty +mutton-candles. + +The country-dance was at length formed, and poor Mr. Harkin, the master +of the ceremonies and Coryphaeus-in-ordinary of Loughrea, had, by dint +of scarce less fatigue than I experienced in my steeplechase, by running +hither and thither, imploring, beseeching, wheedling, coaxing, and even +cursing, at length succeeded in assembling sixty-four souls in a double +file upon the floor. Poor fellow! never was there a more disorderly +force. Nobody would keep his own place, but was always trying to get +above his neighbour. In vain did he tell the men to stand at their own +side. Alas! they thought that side their own where the ladies were also. +Then the band added to his miseries; for scarcely had he told them to +play 'The Wind that shakes the Barley,' when some changed it to 'The +Priest in his Boots,' and afterwards to 'The Dead March in Saul.' These +were heavy afflictions; for be it known that he could not give way, +as other men would in such circumstances, to a good outbreak of +passion--for Mr. Harkin was a public functionary, who, like all other +functionaries, had a character to sustain before the world. When kings +are angry, we are told by Shakespeare, Schiller, and others, they +rant it in good royal style. Now, when a dancing-master is excited by +passion, he never loses sight of the unities. If he flies down the floor +to chide the little fat man that is talking loudly, he contrives to do +it with a step, a spring, and a hop, to the time of one, two, three. +Is there a confusion in the figure, he advances to rectify it with a +_chassé_ rigadoon. Does Mr. Somebody turn his toes too much out, or is +Miss So-and-so holding her petticoats too high, he fugles the correction +in his own person--first imitating the deformity he would expose, and +then displaying the perfection he would point to. + +On the evening in question, this gentleman afforded me by far the most +of the amusement of the ball. Nearly half the company had been in time +of yore his pupils, or were actually so at the very moment; so that, +independent of his cares as conductor of the festivities, he had also +the _amour propre_ of one who saw his own triumphs reflected in the +success of his disciples. + +[Illustration: 325] + +At last the dances were arranged. A certain kind of order was +established in the party; and Mr. Harkin, standing in the fifth +position, with all his fingers expanded, gave three symbolic claps of +his hand, and cried out, 'Begin!' Away went the band at once, and +down the middle I flew with my partner, to the measure of a quick +country-dance that no human legs could keep time to. Two others quickly +followed, more succeeding them like wave after wave. Nothing was too +fat, nothing too short, nothing too long, to dance. There they were, as +ill-paired as though, instead of treading a merry measure, they had been +linked in the very bonds of matrimony--old and young, the dwarf and the +brobdingnag, the plump and the lean, each laughing at the eccentricities +of his neighbour, and happily indifferent to the mirth he himself +afforded. By-the-bye, what a glorious thing it would be if we +could carry out this principle of self-esteem into all our +reciprocity-treaties, and, while we enjoyed what we derive from others, +be unconscious of the loss we sustained ourselves! + +Unlike our English performance, the dance here was as free-and-easy a +thing as needs be. Down the middle you went, holding, mayhap squeezing +your partner's hand, laughing, joking, flirting, venturing occasionally +on many a bolder flight than at other times you could have dared; for +there was no time for the lady to be angry, as she tripped along to 'The +Hare in the Corn'; and besides, but little wisdom could be expected from +a man while performing more antics than Punch in a pantomime. With all +this, there was a running fire of questions, replies, and recognitions, +from every one you passed-- + +'That's it, Captain: push along! begad, you're doing it well!'-- +'Don't forget to-morrow!'--'Hands round!'--'Hasn't she a leg of her +own!'--'Keep it up!'--'This way I--turn, Miss Malone!'--'You'll come to +breakfast!'--'How are ye, Joe?' etc. + +Scarcely was the set concluded, when Miss Bellew was engaged by another +partner; while I, at her suggestion, invited her cousin Mary to become +mine. The ball-room was now crowded with people; the mirth and fun grew +fast and furious. The country-dance occupied the whole length of the +room; and round the walls were disposed tables for whist or loo, where +the elders amused themselves with as much pleasure, and not less noise. + +I fear that I gave my fair partner but a poor impression of an +aide-de-camp's gallantry--answering at random, speaking vaguely and +without coherence, my eyes fixed on Miss Bellew, delighted when by +chance I could catch a look from her, and fretful and impatient when she +smiled at some remark of her partner. In fact, love has as many stages +as a fever; and I was in that acute period of the malady when the +feeling of devotion, growing every moment stronger, is checkered by a +doubt lest the object of your affections should really be indifferent +to you--thus suggesting all the torturing agonies of jealousy to your +distracted mind. At such times as these a man can scarcely be very +agreeable even to the girl he loves; but he is a confounded bore to a +chance acquaintance. So, indeed, did poor Mary Dillon seem to think; and +as, at the conclusion of the dance, I resigned her hand to a lieutenant +somebody, with pink cheeks, black eyebrows, and a most martial air, I +saw she looked upon her escape as a direct mercy from Providence. + +Just at this moment, Mr. Dillon, who had only been waiting for the +propitious moment to pounce upon me, seized me by the arm, and led +me down the room. There was a charming woman dying to know me in one +corner; the best cock-shooting in Ireland wished to make my acquaintance +in another; thirty thousand pounds, and a nice little property in +Leitrim, was sighing for me near the fire; and three old ladies, the +_gros bonnets_ of the land, had kept the fourth place at the whist +table vacant for _my_ sake, and were at length growing impatient at my +absence. + +_Non sunt mea verba_, good reader. Such was Mr. Dillon's representation +to me, as he hurried me along, presenting me as he went to every one we +met--a ceremony in which I soon learned to perform my part respectably, +by merely repeating a formula I had adopted for my guidance: 'Delighted +to know you, Mr. Burke!' or, 'Charmed to make your acquaintance, Mrs. +French!' for, as nine-tenths of the men were called by the one, and +nearly all the ladies by the other appellation, I seldom blundered in my +addresses. + +The evening wore on, but the vigour of the party seemed unabated. The +fatigues of fashionable life seemed to be as little known in Ireland +as its apathy and its ennui Poor, benighted people! you appear to enjoy +society, not as a refuge for your own weariness, not as an escape-valve +for your own vapours, but really as a source of pleasurable emotions--an +occasion for drawing closer the bonds of intimacy, for being agreeable +to your friends, and for making yourselves happy. Alas! you have much +to learn in this respect; you know not yet how preferable is the languid +look of _blasé_ beauty to the brilliant eye and glowing cheek of +happy girlhood; you know not how superior is the cutting sarcasm, the +whispered equivoque, to the kind welcome and the affectionate greeting; +and while enjoying the pleasure of meeting your friends, you absolutely +forget to be critical upon their characters or their costume! + +What a pity it is that good-nature is underbred, and good-feeling is +vulgarity; for, after all, while I contrasted the tone of everything +around me with the supercilious cant and unimpassioned coldness of +London manners, I could not but confess to myself that the difference +was great and the interval enormous. To which side my own heart +inclined, it needed not my affection for Louisa Bellew to tell me; yes, +I had seen enough of life to learn how far are the real gifts of worth +and excellence preferable to the adventitious polish of high society. +While these thoughts rushed through my mind, another flashed across it. +What if my lady-mother were here! What if my proud cousin! How would her +dark eyes brighten as some absurd or ludicrous feature of the company +would suggest its _mot_ of malice or its speech of sarcasm! how would +their air, their carriage, their deportment, appear in _her_ sight! I +could picture to myself the cold scorn of her manner towards the men, +the insulting courtesy of her demeanour to the women; the affected +_naïveté_ with which she would question them as to their everyday +habits, and habitudes, their usages and their wants, as though she were +inquiring into the manners and customs of South Sea Islanders! I could +imagine the ineffable scorn with which she would receive what were meant +to be kind and polite attentions; and I could fashion to myself her +look, her manner, and her voice when escaping, as she would call it, +from her _Nuit parmi les sauvages_, she would caricature every trait, +every feature of the party, converting into food for laughter their +frank and hospitable bearing, and making their very warmth of heart the +groundwork of a sarcasm. + +The ball continued with unabated vigour, and as, in obedience to Miss +Bellew's request, I could not again ask her to dance, I myself felt +little inclination to seek for another partner. The practice of the +place seemed, however, as imperatively to exclude idleness as the +discipline of a man-of-war. If you were not dancing you ought to be +playing cards, making love, drinking negus, or exchanging good stories +with some motherly, fat, old lady, too heavy for a reel, too stupid for +loo. In this dilemma I cut into a round game, which I remember often to +have seen at Rooney's, technically called 'speculation.' A few minutes +before, and I was fancying to myself what my mother would think of all +this; and now, as I drew my chair to the table, I muttered a prayer to +my own heart that she might never hear of my doings. How strange it is +that we would much rather be detected in some overt act of vice than +caught in any ludicrous situation or absurd position! I could look my +friends and family steadily enough in the face while standing amid all +the blacklegs of Epsom and the swindlers of Ascot, exchanging with +them the courtesies of life, and talking on terms of easy and familiar +intercourse; yet would I rather have been seen with the veriest +pickpocket in fashionable life, than seated amid that respectable and +irreproachable party who shook their sides with laughter around the +card-table! + +Truly, it was a merry game, and well suited for a novice, as it required +no teaching. Each person had his three cards dealt him, one of which was +displayed to the company in rotation. Did this happen to be a knave or +some other equally reproachful character, the owner was mulcted to the +sum of fivepence; and he must indeed have had a miser's heart who could +regret a penalty so provocative of mirth. Often as the event took +place, the fun never seemed to grow old; and from the exuberance of +the delight, and the unceasing flow of the laughter, I began to wonder +within myself if these same cards had not some secret and symbolic +meaning unknown to the neophyte. But the drollery did not end here: +you might sell your luck and put up your hand to auction. This led to +innumerable droll allusions and dry jokes, and, in fact, if ever a game +was contrived to make one's sides ache, this was it. + +A few sedate and sober people there were, who, with bent brow and +pursed-up lip, watched the whole proceeding. They were the secret police +of the card-table; it was in vain to attempt to conceal your luckless +knave from their prying eyes; with the glance of a tax-collector they +pounced upon the defaulter, and made him pay. Barely or never smiling +themselves, they really felt all the eagerness, all the excitement +of gambling; and I question if, after all, their hard looks and stern +features were not the best fun of the whole. + +After about two hours had been thus occupied, during which I had won +the esteem and affection of several elderly ladies by the equanimity +and high-mindedness with which I bore up against the loss of two whole +baskets of counters, amounting to the sum of four-and-sixpence, I felt +my shoulder gently touched, and at the same moment Bob Mahon whispered +in my ear--'The Dillons are going, and he wants to speak a word with +you; so give me your cards, and slip away.' + +Resigning my place to the Major, whose advent was received with evident +signs of dissatisfaction, inasmuch as he was a shrewd player, I hurried +through the room to find out Dillon. + +'Ah, here he is!' said Miss Bellew to her uncle, while she pointed to +me. 'How provoking to go away so early--isn't it, Mr. Hinton?' + +'You, doubtless, feel it so,' said I, with something of pique in my +manner; 'your evening has been so agreeably passed.' + +'And yours, too, if I am to judge from the laughter of your card-table. +I am sure I never heard so noisy a party. Well, Mary, does he consent?' + +'No; papa is still obstinate, and the carriage is ordered. He says +we shall have so much gaiety this week that we must go home early +to-night.' + +'There! there! now be good girls; get on your muffling, and let us be +off. Ah, Mr. Hinton!--the very man I wanted. Will you do us the very +great favour of coming over for a few days to Mount Brown? We shall have +the partridge-shooting after to-morrow, and I think I can show you some +sport. May I send in for you in the morning? What hour will suit you? +You will not refuse me, I trust?' + +'I need not say, my dear sir, how obliged I feel for and with what +pleasure I should accept your kind invitation; but the truth is, I've +come away without leave of absence. The duke may return any day, and I +shall be in a sad scrape.' + +'Do you think a few days----' + +A look from Louisa Bellew, at this moment, came most powerfully in +aid of her uncle's eloquence. I hesitated, and looked uncertain how to +answer. + +'There, girls! now is your time. He is half persuaded to do a kind +thing; do try and convince him the whole way. Come, Mary! Fanny! +Louisa!' + +A second look from Miss Bellew decided the matter; and as a flush of +pleasure coloured my cheek, I shook Dillon warmly by the hand, and +promised to accept his invitation. + +'That is like a really good fellow,' said the little man, with a face +sparkling with pleasure. 'Now, what say you, if we drive over for you +about two o'clock? The girls are coming in to make some purchases, and +we shall all drive out together.' + +This arrangement, so very palatable to me, was agreed upon, and I now +took Miss Bellow's arm to lead her to the carriage. On descending to +the hall a delay of a few minutes ensued, as the number of vehicles +prevented the carriage coming up. The weather appeared to have changed; +and it was now raining heavily, and blowing a perfect storm. + +As the fitful gusts of wind howled along the dark corridors of the old +building, dashing the rain upon our faces even where we stood, I drew my +fair companion closer to my side, and held her cloak more firmly round +her. What a moment was that! Her arm rested on mine; her very tresses +were blown each moment across my cheek. I know not what I said, but I +felt that in the tones of my voice they were the utterings of my heart +that fell from my lips. I had not remembered that Mr. Dillon had already +placed his daughters in the carriage, and was calling to us loudly to +follow. + +'No, no, I pray you not!' said Louisa, in reply to I know not what. +'Don't you hear my uncle?' + +In her anxiety to press forward she had slightly disengaged her arm from +mine as she spoke. At this instant a man rushed forward, and catching +her hand, drew it rudely within his arm, calling out as he did so-- + +'Never fear, Louisa! you shall not be insulted while your cousin is here +to protect you.' + +She sprang round to reply: 'You are mistaken, Ulick! It is Mr. Hinton!' +She could say no more, for he lifted her into the carriage, and, closing +the door with a loud bang, desired the coachman to drive on. + +Stupefied with amazement, I stood quite motionless. My first impulse was +to strike him to the ground; for although a younger and a weaker man, I +felt within me at the moment the strength to do it. My next thought was +of Louisa's warning not to quarrel with her cousin. The struggle was +indeed a severe one, but I gained the victory over my passion. Unable, +however, to quit the spot, I stood with my arms folded, and my eyes +riveted upon him. He returned my stare, and with a sneer of insufferable +insolence passed me by and walked upstairs. Not a word was spoken on +either side; but there are moments in one's life in which a look or +passing glance rivets an undying hate. Such a one did we exchange and +nothing that the tongue could speak could compass that secret instinct +by which we ratified our enmity. + +With slow, uncertain steps I mounted the stairs. Some strange +fascination led me, as it were, to dog his steps; and although in my +heart I prayed that no collision should ever come between us, yet I +could not resist the headlong impulse to follow and to watch him. +Like that unexplained temptation that leads the gazer over some lofty +precipice to move on, step by step, yet nearer to the brink, conscious +of his danger, yet unable to recede; so did I track this man from place +to place, following him as he passed from one group to the other of his +friends, till at length he seated himself at a table, around which a +number of persons were engaged in noisy and boisterous conversation. +He filled a tumbler to the brim with wine, and drinking it off at a +draught, refilled again. + +'You are thirsty, Ulick,' said some one. + +'Thirsty! On fire, by G----! You'll not believe me when I tell +you--I can't do it; no, by Heaven! there is nothing in the way of +provocation----' + +As he said thus much, some lady passing near induced him to drop his +voice, and the remainder of the sentence was inaudible to me. Hitherto +I had been standing beside his chair; I now moved round to the opposite +side of the table, and, with my arms folded and my eyes firmly fixed, +stood straight before him. For an instant or two he did not remark me, +as he continued to speak with his head bent downwards. Suddenly lifting +up his eyes, he started--pushed his chair slightly back from the +table-- + +'And look! see!' cried he, as with outstretched finger he pointed toward +me--'see! if he isn't there again!' + +Then suddenly changing the tone of his voice to one of affected +softness, he continued, addressing me-- + +'I have been explaining, sir, as well as my poor powers will permit, +the excessive pains I have taken to persuade you to prove yourself a +gentleman. One half the trouble you have put me to would have told an +Irish gentleman what was looked for at his hands; you appear, however, +to be the best-tempered fellows in the world at your side of the +Channel. Come now, boys! if any man likes a bet, I'll wager ten guineas +that even this won't ruffle his amiable nature. Pass the sherry here, +Godfrey! Is that a clean glass beside you?' + +So saying, he took the decanter, and, leisurely filling the glass, stood +up as if to present it, but when he attained the erect position, he +looked at me fixedly for a second, and then dashed the wine in my face. +A roar of laughter burst around me, but I saw and heard no more. The +moment before, and my head was cool, my senses clear, my faculties +unclouded; but now, as if derangement had fallen upon me, I could +see nothing but looks of mockery and scorn, and hear nothing save the +discordant laugh and the jarring accent of derision. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. THE INN FIRE + +How I escaped from that room, and by what means I found myself in the +street, I know not. My first impulse was to tear off my cravat, that I +might breathe more freely; still a sense of suffocation oppressed me, +and I felt stunned and stupefied. + +'Come along, Hinton--rouse yourself, my boy! See, your coat is drenched +with rain,' said a friendly voice behind me; while, grasping me forcibly +by the arm, the Major led me forward. + +'What have I done?' cried I, struggling to get free. 'Tell me--oh, tell +me, have I done wrong? Have I committed any dreadful thing? There is an +aching pain here--here in my forehead, as though----- I dare not speak +my shame.' + +'Nothing of the kind, my boy,' said Mahon: 'you've conducted yourself +admirably. Matt Keane saw it all, and he says he never witnessed +anything finer; and he's no bad judge, let me tell you. So, there now, +be satisfied, and take off your wet clothes.' + +There was something imperative in the tone in which he spoke; besides, +the Major was one of those people who somehow or other always contrive +to have their own way in the world; so that I yielded at once, feeling, +too, that any opposition would only defer my chance of an explanation. + +While I was thus occupied in my inner room, I could overhear my friend +without engaged in the preparation of a little supper, mingling an +occasional soliloquy with the simmering of the grilled bone that browned +upon the fire--the clink of glasses and plates, and all the evidences +of punch-making, breaking every now and then amid such reflections as +these:-- + +'A mighty ugly business! nothing for it but meeting him. Poor lad, +they'll say we murdered him among us! Och, he's far too young +for Galway. Holloa, Hinton, are you ready? Now you look something +reasonable; and when we've eaten a bit, well talk this matter over +coolly and sensibly. And to make your mind easy, I may tell you at once, +I have arranged a meeting for you with Burke at five to-morrow morning.' + +I grasped his hand convulsively within mine, as a gleam of savage +satisfaction shot through me. + +'Yes, yes,' said he, as if replying to my look, 'it's all as it ought to +be. Even his own friends are indignant at his conduct; and indeed I may +say it's the first time a stranger has met with such in our country.' + +'I can well believe it,' Major,' said I; 'for, unless from the +individual in question, I have met with nothing but kindness and +good feeling amongst you. He indeed would seem an exception to his +countrymen.' + +'Therefore the sooner you shoot him the better. But I wish I could +Father Tom.' + +'_Adest, domine_,' cried the priest, at the same moment, as he entered +the room, throwing his wet greatcoat into a corner and giving himself +a shake a Newfoundland dog might have envied. 'Isn't this pretty work, +Bob?' said he, turning to his cousin with a look of indignant reproach: +'he is not twenty-four hours in the town, and you've got him into +a fight already! And sure it's my own fault that ever brought you +together. _Nec fortunam nec gratiam habes_--no indeed, you have neither +luck nor grace. _Mauvaise tête_, as the French say---always in trouble. +Arrah, don't be talking to me at all, at all! reach me over the spirits. +Sorra better I ever saw you!--disturbing me out of my virtuous dreams at +two in the morning. True enough, _dic mihi societatem tuam_; but little +I thought he'd be getting you shot before you left the place.' + +I endeavoured to pacify the good priest as well as I was able; the Major +too made every explanation; but what between his being called out of +bed, his anger at getting wet, and his cousin's well-known character for +affairs of this nature, it was not before he had swallowed his second +tumbler of punch that he would 'listen to rayson.' + +'Well, well, if it is so, God's will be done,' said he with a sigh. '_Un +bon coup d'épee_, as we used to say formerly, is beautiful treatment for +bad blood; but maybe you're going to fight with pistols? Oh, murther, +them's dreadful things!' + +'I begin to suspect,' said the Major slyly, 'that Father Tom's afraid +if you shoot Ulick he'll never get that fifty pounds he won. _Hinc illo +lacrymo_--eh, Tom?' + +'Ah, the spalpeen,' said the priest, with a deep groan, 'didn't he do me +out of that money already?' + +'How so, father?' said I, scarce able to repress my laughter at the +expression of his face. + +'I was coming down the main street yesterday evening with Doctor +Plunkett, the bishop, beside me, discoursing a little theology, and +looking as pious and respectable as may be, when that villain Burke came +running out of a shop, and pulling out his pocket-book, cried-- + +'“Wait a bit, Father Tom, you know I'm a little in your debt about that +race; and as you're a sporting character, it's only fair to book up at +once.” + +'“What is this I hear, Father Loftus?” says the bishop. + +'“Oh, my lord,” say I, “he's a _jocosus puer_--a humbugging bla-guard; +a _farceur_, your reverence, and that's the way he is always cutting his +jokes upon the people.” + +“'And so he does not owe you this money?” said the bishop, looking +mighty hard at us both. + +'“Not a farthing of it, my lord.” + +'“That's comfortable, anyhow,” says Burke, putting up his pocket-book; +“and 'faith, my lord,” said he with a wink, “I wish I had a loan of you +for an hour or two every settling day, for troth you 're a trump!” And +with that he went off laughing, till ye'd have thought he'd split his +sides--and I am sure I wish he had.' + +I don't think Mr. Burke himself could have laughed louder or longer at +his scheme than did we in hearing it, The priest at length joined in the +mirth, and I could perceive, as the punch made more inroads upon him +and the evening wore on, that his holy horror of duelling was gradually +melting away before the warmth of his Hibernian propensities, like a wet +sponge passed across the surface of a dark picture, bringing forth from +the gloom many a figure and feature indistinct before, and displaying +touches of light not hitherto appreciable, so whisky seems to exercise +some strange power of displaying its votaries in all their breadth of +character, divesting them of the adventitious clothes in which position +or profession has invested them. Thus a tipsy Irishman stands forth in +the exuberance of his nationality, _Hibernicis Hibernior_. Forgetting +all his moral declamation on duelling, oblivious of his late indignation +against his cousin, he rubbed his hands pleasantly, and related story +after story of his own early experiences, some of them not a little +amusing. + +The Major, however, seemed not fully to enjoy the priest's anecdotical +powers, but sipped his glass with a grave and sententious air. 'Very +true, Tom,' said he at length, breaking silence; 'you have seen a fair +share of these things for a man of your cloth. But where's the man +living--show him to me, I say--that has had my experience, either as +principal or second? Haven't I had my four men out in the same morning?' + +'Why, I confess,' said I meekly, 'that does seem an extravagant +allowance.' + +'Clear waste, downright profusion, _du luxe, mon cher_, nothing else,' +observed Father Tom. + +Meanwhile, the Major rolled his eyes fearfully at me, and fidgeted in +his chair with impatience to be asked for his story; and as I myself had +some curiosity on the subject, I begged him to relate it. + +'Tom, here, doesn't like a story at supper,' said the Major pompously; +for, perceiving our attitude of attention, he resolved on being a little +tyrannical before telling it. + +The priest made immediate submission; and, slyly hinting that his +objection only lay against stories he had been hearing for the last +thirty years, said he could listen to the narration in question with +much pleasure. + +'You shall have it, then,' said the Major, as he squared himself in his +chair, and thus began:-- + +'You have never been in Castle Connel, Hinton? Well, there is a wide +bleak line of country there, that stretches away to the westward, with +nothing but large round-backed mountains, low boggy swamps, with here +and there a miserable mud hovel, surrounded by, maybe, half an acre of +lumpers, or bad oats; a few small streams struggle through this on +their way to the Shannon, but they are brown and dirty as the soil they +traverse; and the very fish that swim in them are brown and smutty also. + +'In the very heart of this wild country, I took it into my head to build +a house. A strange notion it was, for there was no neighbourhood and no +sporting; but, somehow, I had taken a dislike to mixed society some time +before that, and I found it convenient to live somewhat in retirement; +so that, if the partridges were not in abundance about me, neither were +the process-servers; and the truth was, I kept a much sharper look-out +for the sub-sheriff than I did for the snipe. + +'Of course, as I was over head and ears in debt, my notion was to build +something very considerable and imposing; and, to be sure, I had a fine +portico, and a flight of steps leading up to it; and there were ten +windows in front, and a grand balustrade at the top; and 'faith, taking +it all in all, the building was so strong, the walls so thick, the +windows so narrow, and the stones so black, that my cousin Darcy Mahon +called it Newgate; and not a bad name either--and the devil another +it ever went by. And even that same had its advantages; for when the +creditors used to read that at the top of my letters, they'd say, “Poor +devil! he has enough on his hands: there's no use troubling him any +more.” Well, big as Newgate looked from without, it had not much +accommodation when you got inside. There was, 'tis true, a fine hall, +all flagged; and, out of it, you entered what ought to have been the +dinner-room, thirty-eight feet by seven-and-twenty, but which was used +for herding sheep in winter. On the right hand, there was a cosy little +breakfast-room, just about the size of this we are in. At the back of +the hall, but concealed by a pair of folding-doors, there was a grand +staircase of old Irish oak, that ought to have led up to a great suite +of bedrooms, but it only conducted to one--a little crib I had for +myself. The remainder were never plastered nor floored; and, indeed, in +one of them, that was over the big drawing-room, the joists were never +laid--which was all the better, for it was there we used to keep our hay +and straw. Now, at the time I mention, the harvest was not brought in, +and instead of its being full, as it used to be, it was mighty low; so +that, when you opened the door above the stairs, instead of finding the +hay up beside you, it was about fourteen feet down beneath you. + +'I can't help boring you with all these details; first, because they +are essential to my story; and next, because, being a young man, and a +foreigner to boot, it may lead you to a little better understanding of +some of our national customs. Of all the partialities we Irish have, +after lush and the ladies, I believe our ruling passion is to build a +big house, spend every shilling we have, or that we have not, as the +case may be, in getting it half finished, and then live in a corner of +it, “just for grandeur,” as a body may say. It's a droll notion, +after all; but show me the county in Ireland that hasn't at least six +specimens of what I mention. + +'Newgate was a beautiful one; and although the she lived in the parlour, +and the cows were kept in the blue drawing-room, Darby Whaley slept +in the boudoir, and two bull-dogs and a buck goat kept house in the +library--'faith, upon the outside it looked very imposing; and not one +that saw it, from the highroad to Ennis--and you could see it for twelve +miles in every direction--didn't say, “That Mahon must be a snug fellow: +look what a beautiful place he has of it there!” Little they knew that +it was safer to go up the “Reeks” than my grand staircase, and it was +like rope-dancing to pass from one room to the other. + +'Well, it was about four o'clock in the afternoon of a dark lowering day +in December that I was treading homewards in no very good-humour; for +except a brace and a half of snipe, and a grey plover, I had met with +nothing the whole day. The night was falling fast; so I began to hurry +on as quickly as I could, when I heard a loud shout behind me, and a +voice called out-- + +'“It's Bob Mahon, boys! By the Hill of Scariff, we are in luck!” + +'I turned about, and what should I see but a parcel of fellows in red +coats--they were the Blazers. There was Dan Lambert, Tom Burke, Harry +Eyre, Joe M'Mahon, and the rest of them--fourteen souls in all. They had +come down to draw a cover of Stephen Blake's about ten miles from me; +but, in the strange mountain country, they lost the dogs, they lost +their way and their temper; in truth, to all appearance, they lost +everything but their appetites. Their horses were dead beat too, and +they looked as miserable a crew as ever you set eyes on. + +'“Isn't it lucky, Bob, that we found you at home?” said Lambert. + +'“They told us you were away,” says Burke. + +'“Some said that you were grown so pious that you never went out except +on Sundays,” added old Harry, with a grin. + +'“Begad,” said I, “as to the luck, I won't say much for it; for here's +all I can give you for your dinner”; and so I pulled out the four birds +and shook them at them; “and as to the piety, troth, maybe you'd like to +keep a fast with as devoted a son of the Church as myself.” + +'“But isn't that Newgate up there?” said one. + +'“That same.” + +'“And you don't mean to say that such a house as that hasn't a good +larder and a fine cellar?” + +'“You're right,” said I; “and they're both full at this very moment--the +one with seed-potatoes, and the other with Whitehaven coals.” + +'“Have you got any bacon?” said M'Mahon. + +'“Oh yes!” said I, “there's bacon.” + +'“And eggs?” said another. + +'“For the matter of that, you might swim in batter.” + +'“Come, come,” said Dan Lambert, “we 're not so badly off after all.” + +'“Is there whisky?” cried Eyre. + +'“Sixty-three gallons, that never paid the king sixpence!” + +'As I said this, they gave three cheers you'd have heard a mile off. + +'After about twenty minutes' walking, we got up to the house, and when +poor Darby opened the door, I thought he 'd faint; for, you see, the red +coats made him think it was the army, coming to take me away; and he was +for running off to raise the country, when I caught him by the neck. + +'“It's the Blazers, ye old fool!” said I, “The gentlemen are come to +dine here.” + +'“Hurroo!” said he, clapping his hands on his knees--“there must be +great distress entirely, down about Nenagh, and them parts, or they'd +never think of coming up here for a bit to eat.” + +'“Which way lie the stables, Bob?” said Burke. + +'“Leave all that to Darby,” said I; for ye see he had only to whistle +and bring up as many people as he liked. And so he did too; and as there +was room for a cavalry regiment, the horses were soon bedded down and +comfortable; and in ten minutes' time we were all sitting pleasantly +round a big fire, waiting for the rashers and eggs. + +'“Now, if you'd like to wash your hands before dinner, Lambert, come +along with me.” + +'“By all means,” said he. + +'The others were standing up too; but I observed that as the house was +large, and the ways of it unknown to them, it was better to wait till +I'd come back for them. + +'“This was a real piece of good-luck, Bob,” said Dan, as he followed me +upstairs. “Capital quarters we've fallen into; and what a snug bedroom +ye have here.” + +'“Yes,” said I carelessly; “it's one of the small rooms. There are eight +like this, and five large ones, plainly furnished, as you see; but for +the present, you know----” + +'“Oh, begad! I wish for nothing better. Let me sleep here--the other +fellows may care for your four-posters with satin hangings.” + +'“Well,” said I, “if you are really not joking, I may tell you that the +room is one of the warmest in the house”--and this was telling no lie. + +'“Here I 'll sleep,” said he, rubbing his hands with satisfaction, and +giving the bed a most affectionate look. “And now let us join the rest.” + +'When I brought Dan down, I took up Burke, and after him M'Mahon, and so +on to the last; but every time I entered the parlour, I found them all +bestowing immense praises on my house, and each fellow ready to bet he +had got the best bedroom. + +'Dinner soon made its appearance; for if the cookery was not very +perfect, it was at least wonderfully expeditious. There were two men +cutting rashers, two more frying them in the pan, and another did +nothing but break the eggs, Darby running from the parlour to the +kitchen and back again, as hard as he could trot. + +'Do you know, now, that many a time since, when I have been giving +venison, and Burgundy and claret enough to swim a lifeboat in, I often +thought it was a cruel waste of money; for the fellows weren't half as +pleasant as they were that evening on bacon and whisky! + +'I've a theory on that subject, Hinton, I'll talk to you more about +another time; I'll only observe now, that I'm sure we all overfeed our +company. I've tried both plans; and my honest experience is, that as far +as regards conviviality, fun, and good-fellowship, it is a great mistake +to provide too well for your guests. There is something heroic in eating +your mutton-chop, or your leg of a turkey, among jolly fellows; there +is a kind of reflective flattering about it that tells you you have been +invited for your drollery, and not for your digestion; and that your +jokes and not your flattery have been your recommendation. Lord bless +you! I 've laughed more over red-herrings and poteen than I ever expect +to do again over turtle and toquay. + +'My guests were, to do them justice, a good illustration of my theory. +A pleasanter and a merrier party never sat down together. We had good +songs, good stories, plenty of laughing, and plenty of drink; until at +last poor Darby became so overpowered, by the fumes of the hot water +I suppose, that he was obliged to be carried up to bed, and so we were +compelled to boil the kettle in the parlour. This, I think, precipitated +matters; for, by some mistake, they put punch into it instead of water, +and the more you tried to weaken the liquor, it was only the more tipsy +you were getting. + +'About two o'clock, five of the party were under the table, three more +were nodding backwards and forwards like insane pendulums, and the rest +were mighty noisy, and now and then rather disposed to be quarrelsome. + +'“Bob,” said Lambert to me, in a whisper, “if it's the same thing to +you, I'll slip away and get into bed.” + +'“Of course, if you won't take anything more. Just make yourself at +home; and as you don't know the way here, follow me.” + +'“I 'm afraid,” said he, “I 'd not find my way alone.” + +'“I think,” said I, “it's very likely. But come along!” + +'I walked upstairs before him; but instead of turning to the left, I +went the other way, till I came to the door of the large room that I +have told you already was over the big drawing-room. Just as I put my +hand on the lock, I contrived to blow out the candle, as if it was the +wind. + +'“What a draught there is here,” said I; “but just step in, and I'll go +for a light.” + +'He did as he was bid; but instead of finding himself on my beautiful +little carpet, down he went fourteen feet into the hay at the bottom. I +looked down after him for a minute or two, and then called out-- + +“'As I am doing the honours of Newgate, the least I could do was to show +you the drop. Good-night, Dan! but let me advise you to get a little +farther from the door, as there are more coming.” + +'Well, sir, when they missed Dan and me out of the room, two or three +more stood up, and declared for bed also. The first I took up was +Ffrench, of Green Park; for indeed he wasn't a cute fellow at the best +of times; and if it wasn't that the hay was so low, he'd never have +guessed it was not a feather-bed till he woke in the morning. Well, down +he went. Then came Eyre; then Joe M'Mahon--two-and-twenty stone--no +less! Lord pity them!--this was a great shock entirely! But when I +opened the door for Tom Burke, upon my conscience you'd think it was +Pandemonium they had down there. They were fighting like devils, and +roaring with all their might. + +'“Good-night, Tom,” said I, pushing Burke forward. “It's the cows you +hear underneath.” + +'“Cows!” said he. “If they 're cows, begad they must have got at that +sixty-three gallons of poteen you talked of; for they're all drunk.” + +'With that, he snatched the candle out of my hand and looked down into +the pit. Never was such a sight seen before or since. Dan was pitching +into poor Ffrench, who, thinking he had an enemy before him, was hitting +out manfully at an old turf-creel, that rocked and creaked at every +blow, as he called out-- + +'“I'll smash you! I'll ding your ribs for you, you' infernal scoundrel!” + +'Eyre was struggling in the hay, thinking he was swimming for his life; +and poor Joe M'Mahon was patting him on the head, and saying, “Poor +fellow! good dog!” for he thought it was Towzer, the bull-terrier, that +was prowling round the calves of his legs. + +'“If they don't get tired, there will not be a man of them alive by +morning!” said Tom, as he closed the door. “And now, if you 'll allow me +to sleep on the carpet, I'll take it as a favour.” + +'By this time they were all quiet in the parlour; so I lent Tom a couple +of blankets and a bolster, and having locked my door, went to bed with +an easy mind and a quiet conscience. To be sure, now and then a cry +would burst forth, as if they were killing somebody below-stairs, but I +soon fell asleep and heard no more of them. + +'By daybreak next morning they made their escape; and when I was trying +to awake at half-past ten, I found Colonel M'Morris, of the Mayo, with a +message from the whole four. + +'“A bad business this, Captain Mahon,” said he; “my friends have been +shockingly treated.” + +'“It's mighty hard,” said I, “to want to shoot me because I hadn't +fourteen feather-beds in the house.” + +'“They will be the laugh of the whole country, sir.” + +'“Troth!” said I, “if the country is not in very low spirits, I think +they will.” + +'“There's not a man of them can see!--their eyes are actually closed +up!” + +'“The Lord be praised!” said I. “It's not likely they'll hit me.” + +'But to make a short story of it--out we went. Tom Burke was my friend. +I could scarce hold my pistol with laughing; for such faces no man ever +looked at. But for self-preservation's sake, I thought it best to hit +one of them; so I just pinked Ffrench a little under the skirt of the +coat. '“Come, Lambert!” said the Colonel, “it's your turn now.” + +'“Wasn't that Lambert,” said I, “that I hit?” + +'“No,” said he, “that was Ffrench.” + +'“Begad, I'm sorry for it. Ffrench, my dear fellow, excuse me; for you +see you're all so like each other about the eyes this morning----” + +'With this there was a roar of laughing from them all, in which, I +assure you, Lambert took not a very prominent part; for somehow he +didn't fancy my polite inquiries after him. And so we all shook hands, +and left the ground as good friends as ever--though to this hour the +name of Newgate brings less pleasant recollections to their minds than +if their fathers had been hanged at its prototype.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. THE DUEL + +When morning broke, I started up and opened the window. It was one +of those bright and beauteous daybreaks which would seem to be the +compensation a northern climate possesses for its want of the azure sky +of noon and the silvery moonlight of night, the gifts of happier climes. +The pink hue of the sky was gradually replacing the paler tints, like +a deep blush mantling the cheek of beauty; the lark was singing high in +heaven, and the deep note of the blackbird came mellowed from the leafy +grove; the cattle were still at rest, and seemed half unwilling to break +the tranquil stillness of the scene, as they lay breathing the balmy +odours from the wild flowers that grew around them. Such was the picture +that lay on one side of me. On the other was the long street of a little +town, on which yet the shadows of night were sleeping; the windows were +closed; not a smoke-wreath rose from any chimney, but all was still and +peaceful. + +In my little parlour I found the good priest and the Major fast asleep +in their chairs, pretty much in the same attitudes I had left them in +some hours before. The fire had died away; the square decanter of whisky +was emptied to its last drop, and the kettle lay pensively on one side, +like some shipwrecked craft high and dry upon the shore. I looked at my +watch; it was but four o'clock. Our meeting was appointed for half-past +five; so I crept noiselessly back to my room, not sorry to have half +an hour to myself of undisturbed reflection. When I had finished my +dressing, I threw up the sash and sprang out into the garden. It was +a wild, uncultivated spot; but still there was something of beauty in +those old trees whose rich blossoms scented the air, while the rank +weeds of many a gay and gaudy hue shot up luxuriantly about their +trunks, the pink marsh-mallow and the taper foxglove mingling their +colours with the sprayey meadowsweet and the wild sweet-brier. There +was an air of solitude in the neglect around me that seemed to suit the +habit of my soul; and I strolled along from one walk to another, lost in +my own thoughts. + +There were many things at a moment like that I would fain have written, +fain have said; but so it is, in the wealth of our emotions we can give +nothing, and I could not bring myself to write to my friends even to say +farewell Although I felt that in every stage of this proceeding I had +nothing to reproach myself with, this duel being thrust on me by one who +had singled me out for his hatred, yet I saw as its result nothing but +the wreck of all my hopes. Already had _she_ intimated how strong was +her father's attachment to his nephew, and with an expressive fear +cautioned me against any collision with him. How vain are all our +efforts, how fruitless are all our endeavours, to struggle against +the current of our fate. We may stem for a short time the full tide of +fortune, we may breast with courage high and spirit fierce the rough +billows as they break upon us, but we are certain to succumb in the end. +With some men failure is a question of fear; some want the persevering +courage to drag on amid trials and difficulties; and some are deficient +in the temper which, subduing our actions to a law, governs and presides +over every moment of our lives, rendering us, even in our periods of +excitement and irritation, amenable to the guidance of our reason. This +was my case; and I felt that notwithstanding all my wishes to avoid a +quarrel with Burke, yet in my heart a lurking spirit urged me to seek +him out and offer him defiance. + +While these thoughts were passing through my mind, I suddenly heard a +voice which somehow seemed half familiar to my ear. I listened; it came +from a room of which the window was partly open. I now remembered that +poor Joe lay in that part of the house, and the next moment I knew it +to be his. Placing a ladder against the wall, I crept quietly up till I +could peep into the room. The poor fellow was alone, sitting up in +his bed, with his hunting-cap on, an old whip in his hand, which +he flourished from time to time with no small energy; his cheek was +flushed, and his eye, prominent and flashing, denoted the access of high +fever. It was evident that his faculties, clouded as they were even in +their happiest moments, were now under the wilder influence of delirium. +He was speaking rapidly to himself in a quick undertone, calling the +dogs by name, caressing this one, scolding that; and then, bursting +forth into a loud tally-ho, his face glowed with an ecstatic pleasure, +and he broke forth into a rude chant, the words of which I have +never forgotten, for as he sang them in a voice of wild and touching +sweetness, they seemed the very outpourings of his poor simple heart:-- + + 'I never yet owned a horse or hound, + I never was lord of a foot of ground; + Yet few are richer, I will be bound, + Than me of a hunting morning. + + 'I 'm far better off nor him that pays, + For though I 've no money, I live at my aise, + With hunting and shooting whenever I plase, + And a tally-high-ho in the morning. + + 'As I go on foot, I don't lose my sate, + As I take the gaps, I don't break a gate; + And if I'm not first, why I'm seldom late, + With my tally-high-ho in the morning. + + 'And there's not a man, be he high or low, + In the parts down here, or wherever you go, + That doesn't like poor Tipperary Joe, + With his tally-high-ho in the morning.' + +A loud view-holloa followed this wild chant; and then the poor fellow, +as if exhausted by his efforts, sank back in the bed muttering to +himself in a low broken voice, but with a look so happy, and a smile so +tranquil, he seemed more a thing to envy than one to commiserate and +pity. + +'I say, Hinton!' shouted the Major from the window of my bedroom, +'what the deuce are you doing up that ladder there? Not serenading Mrs. +Doolan, I hope. Are you aware it is five o'clock?' + +I descended with all haste, and joining my friend, took his arm, and set +out towards the rendezvous. + +'I didn't order the horses,' said Mahon, 'for the rumour of such a thing +as this always gets abroad through one's servants.' + +'Ah, yes,' said I; 'and then you have the police.' + +'The police!' repeated he, laughing--'not a bit of it, my boy; don't +forget you're in glorious old Ireland, where no one ever thinks of +spoiling a fair fight. It is possible the magistrate might issue his +warrant if you would not come up to time, but for anything else----' + +'Well,' said I, 'that certainly does afford me another glimpse of your +habits. How far have we to go, Major?' + +'You remember the grass-field below the sunk fence, to the left of the +mill?' + +'Where the stream runs?' + +'Exactly; that's the spot. It was old Pigott chose it, and no man is a +better judge of these things. By-the-bye, it is very lucky that Burke +should have pitched upon a gentleman for his friend--I mean a real +gentleman, for there are plenty of his acquaintances who under that name +would rob the mail.' + +Thus chatting as we went, Mahon informed me that Pigott was an old +half-pay Colonel, whose principal occupation for thirteen years had been +what the French would call 'to assist' at affairs of honour. Even the +Major himself looked up to him as a last appeal in a disputed or a +difficult point; and many a reserved case was kept for his opinion, +with the same ceremonious observance as a knotty point of law for the +consideration of the twelve judges. Crossing the little rivulet near +the mill, we held on by a small bypath which brought us over the +starting-ground of the steeplechase, by the scene of part of my +preceding day's exploits. While I was examining with some curiosity +the ground cut up and trod by the horses' feet, and looking at the +spot where we had taken the fence, the sharp sound of two pistol-shots +quickly aroused me, and I eagerly asked what it was. + +'Snapping the pistols,' said Mahon. 'Ah, by-the-bye, all this kind of +thing is new to you. Never mind; put a careless, half-indifferent kind +of face on the matter. Do you take snuff? It doesn't signify; put your +hands in your pockets, and hum “Tatter Jack Walsh!”' + +As I supposed there was no specific charm in the melody he alluded to, +nor if there had been, had I any time to acquire it, I consoled myself +by observing the first part of his direction, and strolled after him +into the field with a nonchalance only perhaps a little too perfect. + +Mr. Burke and his friends, to the number of about a dozen persons, were +already assembled; and were one to judge from their loud talking and +hearty laughter as we came forward, it would seem difficult to believe +the occasion that brought them there was that of mortal combat. So, at +least, I thought. Not so, however, the Major; for with a hop, step, and +a jump, performed by about the shortest pair of legs in the barony, he +sprang into the midst of the party, with some droll observation on the +benefits of early rising which once more called forth their merriment. +Seating myself on a large moss-covered stone, I waited patiently for +the preliminaries to be settled. As I threw my eye among the group, I +perceived that Burke was not there; but on turning my head, I remarked +two men walking arm-in-arm on the opposite side of the hedge. As they +paced to and fro, I could see, by the violence of his gesticulations and +the energy of his manner, that one was Burke. It seemed as though his +companion was endeavouring to reason with and dissuade him from some +course of proceeding he appeared bent on following; but there was a +savage earnestness in his manner that would not admit of persuasion; and +at last, as if wearied and vexed by his friend's importunities, he broke +rudely from him, and springing over the fence, called out-- + +'Pigott, are you aware it is past six?' Then pulling out his watch, he +added, 'I must be at Ballinasloe by eleven o'clock.' + +'If you speak another word, sir,' said the old Colonel, with an air +of offended dignity, 'I leave the ground. Major Mahon, a word, if you +please.' + +They walked apart from the rest for a few seconds; and then the Colonel, +throwing his glove upon the grass, proceeded to step off the ground +with a military precision and formality that I am sure at any other time +would have highly amused me. + +After a slight demur from the Major, to which I could perceive the +Colonel readily yielded, a walking-stick was stuck at either end of +the measured distance; while the two seconds, placing themselves beside +them, looked at each other with very great satisfaction, and mutually +agreed it was a sweet spot. + +'Would you like to look at these?' said Pigott, taking up the pistols +from where they lay on the grass. + +'Ah, I know them well,' replied the Major, laughing; 'these were poor +Tom Casey's, and a better fellow, and a handier with his iron, never +snapped a trigger. These are ours, Colonel'; presenting, as he spoke, +two splendid-looking Mortimers, in all the brilliancy of their maiden +freshness. A look of contempt from the Colonel, and a most expressive +shrug of his shoulders, was his reply. + +'Begad, I think so,' said Mahon, as if appreciating the gesture; 'I had +rather have that old tool with the cracked stock--not but this is a very +sweet instrument, and elegantly balanced in the hand.' + +'We are ready now,' said Pigott; 'bring up your man, Major.' + +As I started up to obey the summons, a slight bustle near attracted me. +Two or three of Burke's friends were endeavouring as it were to pacify +and subdue him; but his passion knew no bounds, and as he broke from +them, he said in a voice perfectly audible where I stood-- + +'Won't I, by G----! then I'll tell you, if I don't shoot him-----' + +'Sir,' said the Colonel, turning on him a look of passionate +indignation, 'if it were not that you were here to answer the appeal +of wounded honour, I'd leave you to your fate this moment; as it is, +another such expression as that you 've used, and I abandon you on the +spot.' + +Doggedly and without speaking, Burke drew his hat far down upon +his eyes, and took the place marked out for him. + +'Mr. Hinton,' said the Colonel, as he touched his hat with most +courteous politeness, 'will you have the goodness to stand there?' + +Mahon, meanwhile, handed each man his pistol, and whispering in my ear, +'Aim low,' retired. + +'The word, gentlemen,' said the Colonel, 'will be, “One, two, three.” + Mr. Hinton, pray observe, I beg of you, you 'll not reserve your fire +after I say “three.”' With his eyes fixed upon us he walked back about +ten paces. 'Are you ready? Are you both ready?' + +'Yes, yes,' said Burke impatiently. + +'Yes,' said I. + +'One, two, three.' + +I lifted my pistol at the second word, and as the last dropped from the +Colonel's lips one loud report rang through the air, and both pistols +went off together. A quick sharp pang shot through my cheek as though it +had been seared by a hot instrument. I put up my hand, but the ball had +only touched the flesh, and a few drops of blood were all the damage. +Not so Burke; my ball had entered above the hip, and already his +trousers were stained with blood, and notwithstanding his endeavours he +could not stand up straight. + +'Is he hit, Pigott?' cried he, in a voice harsh from agony. 'Is he hit, +I say?' + +'Only grazed,' said I tranquilly, as I wiped the stain from my face. + +'Another pistol, quick! Do you hear me, Pigott?' + +'We are not the arbiters in this case,' replied the Colonel coolly. +'Major Mahon, is your friend satisfied?' + +'Perfectly satisfied on our own account,' said the Major; 'but if the +gentleman desires another shot----' + +'I do, I do!' screamed Burke, as, writhing with pain, he pressed both +hands to his side, from which the blood, now gushing in torrents, formed +a pool about his feet. 'Be quick there, Pigott! I am getting faint.' He +staggered forward as he spoke, his face pale and his lips parted; then +suddenly clutching his pistol by the barrel, he fixed his eyes steadily +on me, while with a curse he hurled the weapon at my head, and fell +senseless to the earth. His aim was true; for straight between the eyes +the weapon struck me, and felled me to the ground. Although stunned +for the moment, I could hear the cry of horror and indignant shame that +broke from the bystanders; but the next instant a dreamy confusion came +over me, and I became unconscious of what was passing around. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. A COUNTRY DOCTOR + +Should my reader feel any interest concerning that portion of my history +which immediately followed the events of my last chapter, I believe I +must refer him to Mrs. Doolan, the amiable hostess of the Bonaveen +Arms. She could probably satisfy any curious inquiry as to the confusion +produced in her establishment by the lively sallies of Tipperary Joe in +one quarter, and the more riotous madness of myself in another. The fact +is, good reader, my head was an English one; and although its contents +were gradually acclimating themselves to the habits of the country, the +external shell had not assumed that proper thickness and due power of +resistance which Irish heads would appear to be gifted with. In plain +words, the injury had brought on delirium. + +It was somewhere in the third week after this unlucky morning that I +found myself lying in my bed with a wet cloth upon my temples, while +over my whole frame was spread that depressing sense of great debility +more difficult to bear than acute bodily suffering. Although unable to +speak, I could distinctly hear the conversation about me, and recognise +the voices of both Father Tom and the Major as they conversed with a +third party, whom I afterwards learned was the Galen of Loughrea. + +Dr. Mopin, surgeon of the Roscommon militia, had been for forty years +the terror of the sick of the surrounding country; for, independent of +a naturally harsh and disagreeable manner, he had a certain slangy and +sneering way of addressing his patients that was perfectly shocking. +Amusing himself the while at their expense, by suggesting the various +unhappy and miserable consequences that might follow on their illness, +he appeared to take a diabolical pleasure in the terror he was capable +of eliciting. There was something almost amusing in the infernal +ingenuity he had acquired in this species of torture. There was no +stage of your illness, no phase of your constitution, no character or +condition of your malady, that was not the immediate forerunner of one +or more afflicting calamities. Were you getting weaker, it was the +way they always died out; did you gain strength, it was a rally before +death; were you despondent, it was the best for you to know your state; +were you sanguine, he would rebuke your good spirits and suggest the +propriety of a priest. However, with all these qualifications people put +up with him; and as he had a certain kind of rude skill, and never stuck +at a bold method, he obtained the best practice of the country and a +widespread reputation. + +'Well,' said Father Tom, in a low voice--'well, Doctor, what do you +think of him this evening?' + +'What do I think of him? Just what I thought before--congestion of the +membranes. This is the low stage he is in now; I wouldn't be surprised +if he'd get a little better in a few days, and then go off like the rest +of them.' + +'Go off! eh? Now you don't mean----' + +'Don't I? Maybe not. The ould story--coma, convulsions, and death.' + +'Damn the fellow!' said the Major, in a muttered voice, 'I feel as if I +was in a well. But I say, Doctor, what are we to do?' + +'Anything you plase. They say his family is mighty respectable, and have +plenty of money. I hope so; for here am I coming three times a day, +and maybe when he dies it will be a mourning ring they'll be sending +me instead of my fee. He was a dissipated chap I am sure: look at the +circles under his eyes!' + +'Ay, ay,' said the priest, 'but they only came since his illness.' + +'So much the worse,' added the invincible Doctor; 'that's always a +symptom that the base of the brain is attacked.' + +'And what happens then?' said the Major. + +'Oh, he might recover. I knew a man once get over it, and he is alive +now, and in Swift's Hospital.' + +'Mad?' said the priest. + +'Mad as a March hare,' grinned the Doctor; 'he thinks himself the +post-office clock, and chimes all the hours and half-hours day and +night.' + +'The heavens be about us!' said Father Tom, crossing himself piously. 'I +had rather be dead than that.' + +'When did you see Burke?' inquired the Major, wishing to change the +conversation. + +'About an hour ago; he is going fast.' + +'Why, I thought he was better,' said Father Tom; 'they told me he ate a +bit of chicken, and took a little wine and water.' + +'Ay, so he did; I bid them give him whatever he liked, as his time was +so short. So, after all, maybe it is as well for this young chap here +not to get over it.' + +'How so?' said the Major. 'What do you mean by that?' + +'Just that it is as good to die of a brain fever as be hanged; and it +won't shock the family.' + +'I 'd break his neck,' muttered Bob Mahon, 'if there was another doctor +within forty miles.' + +Of all his patients, Tipperary Joe was the only one of whom the Doctor +spoke without disparagement. Whether that the poor fellow's indifference +to his powers of terrorising had awed or conciliated him, I know +not; but he expressed himself favourably regarding his case, and his +prospects of recovery. + +'Them chaps always recover,' drawled out the Doctor in a dolorous +cadence. + +'Is it true,' said the Major, with a malicious grin--'is it true that +he changed all the splints and bandages to the sound leg, and that you +didn't discover the mistake for a week afterwards? Mary Doolan told me.' + +'Mrs. Doolan,' said the Doctor, 'ought to be thinking of her own +misfortunes; and with an acute inflammation of the pericardium, she +might be making her sowl.' + +'She ill?--that fine, fat, comfortable-looking woman!' + +'Ay, just so; they're always fat, and have a sleepy look about the eyes, +just like yourself. Do you ever bleed at the nose?' + +'Never without a blow on it. Come, come, I know you well, Doctor; you +shall not terrify me.' + +'You're right not to fret; for it will take you off suddenly, with +a giddiness in your head, and a rolling in your eyes, and a choking +feeling about your throat----' + +'Stop, and be d----d to you!' said the Major, as he cleared his voice a +couple of times, and loosed the tie of his cravat. 'This room is +oppressively hot.' + +'I protest to God,' said Father Tom, 'my heart is in my mouth, and there +isn't a bone in my body that's not aching.' + +'I don't wonder,' chimed in the Doctor; 'you are another of them, and +you are a surprising man to go on so long. Sure, it is two years ago I +warned your niece that when she saw you fall down she must open a vein +in your neck, if it was only with a carving-knife.' + +'The saints in heaven forbid!' said the priest, cutting the sign of the +cross in the air; 'it's maybe the jugular she'd cut!' + +'No,' drawled out the Doctor, 'she needn't go so deep; and if her hand +doesn't shake, there won't be much danger. Good-evening to you both.' + +So saying, with his knees bent, and his hands crossed under the skirts +of his coat, he sneaked out of the room; while the others, overcome, +with fear, shame, and dismay, sat silently, looking misery itself, at +each side of the table. + +'That fellow would kill a regiment,' said the Major at length. 'Come, +Tom, let's have a little punch; I 've a kind of a trembling over me.' + +'Not a drop of anything stronger than water will cross my lips this +blessed night. Do you know, Bob, I think this place doesn't agree with +me? I wish I was back in Murranakilty: the mountain air, and regular +habits of life, that's the thing for me.' + +'We are none of us abstemious enough,' said the Major; 'and then we +bachelors--to be sure you have your niece.' + +'Whisht!' said the priest, 'how do you know who is listening? I vow to +God I am quite alarmed at his telling that to Mary; some night or other, +if I take a little too much, she'll maybe try her anatomy upon me!' + +This unhappy reflection seemed to weigh upon the good priest's mind, and +set him a-mumbling certain Latin offices between his teeth for a quarter +of an hour. + +'I wish,' said the Major, 'Hinton was able to read his letters, for here +is a whole bundle of them--some from England, some from the Castle, and +some marked “On His Majesty's service.”' + +'I'll wait another week anyhow for him,' said the priest. 'To go back to +Dublin in the state he is now would be the ruin of him, after the shake +he has got. The dissipation, the dining-out, and all the devilment +would destroy him entirely; but a few weeks' peace and quietness up at +Murranakilty will make him as sound as a bell.' + +'You are right, Tom, you are right,' said the Major; 'the poor fellow +mustn't be lost for the want of a little care; and now that Dillon has +gone, there is no one here to look after him. Let us go down and see if +the post is in; I think a walk would do us good.' + +Assenting to this proposition, the priest bent over me mournfully for +a moment, shook his head, and having muttered a blessing, walked out of +the room with the Major, leaving me in silence to think over all I had +overheard. + +Whether it was that youth suggested the hope, or that I more quickly +imbibed an appreciation of the Doctor's character from being the +looker-on at the game, I am not exactly sure; but certainly I felt +little depressed by his gloomy forebodings respecting me, and greatly +lightened at my heart by the good news of poor Tipperary Joe. + +Of all the circumstances which attended my illness, the one that most +impressed me was the warm, affectionate solicitude of my two friends, +the priest and his cousin. There was something of kindness and good +feeling in their care of me that spoke rather of a long friendship than +of the weaker ties of chance and passing acquaintance. Again I thought +of home; and while I asked myself if the events which beset my path +in Ireland could possibly have happened to me there, I could not but +acknowledge that if they had so, I could scarcely have hoped to suddenly +conjure up such faithful and benevolent friends, with no other claim, +nor other recommendation, save that of being a stranger. + +The casual observation concerning my letters had, by stimulating my +curiosity, awakened my dormant energy; and by a great effort I stretched +out my hand to the little bell beside my bed, and rang it. The summons +was answered by the barelegged girl who acted as waiter in the inn. When +she had sufficiently recovered from her astonishment to comprehend my +request, I persuaded her to place a candle beside me; and having given +me the packet of letters that lay on the chimney-piece, I desired her +on no account to admit any one, but say that I had fallen into a sound +sleep, and should not be disturbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. THE LETTER-BAG + +The package of letters was a large one, of all sizes. From all quarters +they came--some from home; some from my brother officers of the Guards; +some from the Castle; and even one from O'Grady. + +The first I opened was a short note from Horton, the private secretary +to the viceroy. This informed me that Major Mahon had written a +statement to the duke of all the circumstances attending my duel; and +that his grace had not only expressed himself highly satisfied with +my conduct, but had ordered a very polite reply to be addressed to +the Major, thanking him for his great kindness, and saying with what +pleasure he found that a member of his staff had fallen into such good +hands. + +'His grace desires me to add,' continued the writer, 'that you need only +consult your own health and convenience with respect to your return to +duty; and, in fact, your leave of absence is perfectly discretionary.' + +My mind relieved of a weighty load by the contents of this letter, I +recovered my strength already so far that I sat up in bed to peruse the +others. My next was from my father; it ran thus:-- + +'Dear Jack,--Your friend Major Mahon, to whom I write by this post, +will deliver this letter to you when he deems fit. He has been most +good-natured in conveying to me a narrative of your late doings; and +I cannot express how grateful we all are to him for the truly friendly +part he has taken towards you. After the strictest scrutiny, for +I confess to you I feared lest the Major's might be too partial an +account, I rejoice to say that your conduct meets with my entire +approbation. An older and a wiser head might, it is possible, have +avoided some of the difficulties you have met with; but this I will add, +that once in trouble, no one could have shown better temper or a +more befitting spirit than you did. While I say this, my dear Jack, +understand me clearly that I speak of you as a young, inexperienced man, +thrown, at his very outset of life, not only among strangers, but in a +country where, as I remarked to you at first, everything was different +from those in your own. You have now shown yourself equal to any +circumstances in which you may be placed. I therefore not only expect +that you will meet with fewer embarrassments in future, but that, should +they arise, I shall have the satisfaction of finding your character +and your habits will be as much your safeguard against insult as your +readiness to resent any will be sure and certain. + +'I have seen the duke several times, and he expresses himself as much +pleased with you. From what he mentions, I can collect that you are well +satisfied with Ireland, and therefore I do not wish to remove you from +it. At the same time, bear in mind, that by active service alone can you +ever attain to, or merit, rank in the army; and that hitherto you have +only been a soldier by name.' + +After some further words of advice respecting the future, and some few +details of family matters, he concluded by entrusting to my mother the +mention of what she herself professed to think lay more in her peculiar +province. + +As usual, her letter opened with some meteorological observations upon +the climate of England for the preceding six weeks; then followed a +journal of her own health, whose increasing delicacy, and the imperative +necessity of being near Doctor Y------, rendered a journey to Ireland +too dangerous to think of. + +'Yes, my dearest boy,' wrote she, 'nothing but this would keep me from +you a moment; however, I am much relieved at learning that you are now +rapidly recovering, and hope soon to hear of your return to Dublin. It +is a very dreadful thing to think of, but perhaps, upon the whole, it +is better that you did kill this Mr. Burke. De Grammont tells me that +a _mauvaise tête_ like that must be shot sooner or later. It makes +me nervous to dwell on this odious topic, so that I shall pass on to +something else. + +'The horrid little man that brought your letters, and who calls himself +a servant of Captain O'Grady, insisted on seeing me yesterday. I never +was more shocked in my life. From what he says, I gather that he may +be looked on as rather a favourable specimen of the natives. They must +indeed be a very frightful people; and although he assured me he would +do me no injury, I made Thomas stay in the room the entire time, and +told Chubbs to give the alarm to the police if he heard the slightest +noise. The creature, however did nothing, and I have quite recovered +from my fear already. + +'What a picture, my dear boy, did he present to me of your conduct and +habits! Your intimacy with that odious family I mentioned in my last +seems the root of all your misfortunes. Why will such people thrust +themselves forward? What do they mean by inviting you to their frightful +parties? Have they not their own peculiar horrors?--not but I must +confess that they are more excusable than you; and I cannot conceive +how you could so soon have forgotten the lessons instilled into you from +your earliest years. As your poor dear grandfather, the admiral, used to +say, a vulgar acquaintance is a shifting sand; you can never tell where +you won't meet it--always at the most inopportune moment; and then, +if you remark, your underbred people are never content with a quiet +recognition, but they must always indulge in a detestable cordiality +there is no escaping from. Oh, John, John! when at ten years of age you +made the banker's son at Northampton hold your stirrup as you mounted +your pony, I never thought I should have this reproach to make you. + +'The little fiend who calls himself Corny something, also mentions your +continued familiarity with the young woman I spoke of before. What her +intentions are is perfectly clear; and should she accomplish her object +your position in society and future fortune might possibly procure her +large damages; but pause, my dear boy, before you go any further. I do +not speak of the moral features of the case, for you are of an age to +judge of them yourself; but think, I beseech you, of the difficulties it +will throw around your path in life, and the obstacles it will oppose to +your success. There is poor Lord Henry Effingham; and since that foolish +business with the clergyman's wife or daughter, where somebody went mad, +and some one else drowned or shot himself, they have never given him any +appointment whatever. The world is a frightful and unforgiving thing, as +poor Lord Henry knows; therefore beware! + +'The more I think of it, the more strongly do I feel the force of +my first impressions respecting Ireland; and were it not that we so +constantly hear of battles and bloodshed in the Peninsula, I should even +prefer your being there. There would seem to be an unhappy destiny over +everything belonging to me. My poor dear father, the admiral, had a +life of hardship, almost unrewarded. For eleven years he commanded a +guardship in the Nore; many a night have I seen him, when I was a little +girl, come home dripping with wet, and perfectly insensible from the +stimulants he was obliged to resort to, and be carried in that state to +his bed; and after all this he didn't get his blue ribbon till he was +near sixty. + +'De Vere is constantly with us, and is, I remark, attentive to your +cousin Julia. This is not of so much consequence, as I hear that her +Chancery suit is taking an unhappy turn; should it be otherwise, your +interests will, of course, be looked to. De Vere is most amusing, and +has a great deal of wit; but for him and the Count we should be quite +dreary, as the season is over, and we can't leave town for at least +three weeks. [The epistle concluded with a general summing up of its +contents, and an affectionate entreaty to bear in mind her caution +regarding the Rooneys.] Once more, my dear boy, remember that vulgar +people are a part of our trials in this life. As that delightful man, +the Dean of St. George's, says, they are snares for our feet; and their +subservient admiration of us is a dangerous and a subtle temptation. +Read this letter again, and believe me, my dearest John, your +affectionate and unhappy mother, + +'Charlotte Hinton.' + + +I shall not perform so undutiful a task as to play the critic on my +excellent mother's letter. There were, it is true, many new views of +life presented to me by its perusal, and I should feel sadly puzzled +were I to say at which I was more amused or shocked--at the strictness +of her manners, or the laxity of her morals; but I confess that the part +which most outraged me of all was the eulogy on Lord Dudley de Vere's +conversational gifts. But a few short months before, and it is possible +I should not only have credited but concurred in the opinion; brief, +however, as had been the interval, it had shown me much of life; it +had brought me into acquaintance, and even intimacy, with some of the +brightest spirits of the day; it had taught me to discriminate between +the unmeaning jargon of conventional gossip and the charm of a society +where force of reasoning, warmth of eloquence, and brilliancy of wit +contested for the palm; it had made me feel that the intellectual gifts +reserved in other countries for the personal advancement of their owner +by their public and ostentatious display, can be made the ornament and +the delight of the convivial board, the elegant accompaniment to the +hours of happy intercourse, and the strongest bond of social union. +So gradually had this change of opinion crept over me that I did not +recognise in myself the conversion; and indeed had it not been for my +mother's observations on Lord Dudley, I could not have credited how far +my convictions had gone round. I could now understand the measurement by +which Irishmen were estimated in the London world. I could see that if +such a character as De Vere had a reputation for ability, how totally +impossible it was for those who appreciated him to prize the great and +varied gifts of such men as Grattan and Curran, and many more. + +Lost in such thoughts, I forgot for some moments that O'Grady's letter +lay open before me. It was dated Chatham, and written the night before +he sailed. The first few lines showed me that he knew nothing of +my duel, having only received my own letter with an account of the +steeplechase. He wrote in high spirits. The Commander-in-chief had +been most kind to him, appointing him to a vacant Majority--not, as he +anticipated, in the Forty-first, but in the Ninth light Dragoons. + +'I am anxiously looking out for Corny,' said he, 'and a great letter-bag +from Ireland--the only bit of news from which, except your own, is that +the Rooneys have gone into deep mourning, themselves and their whole +house. Various rumours are afloat as to whether any money speculations +of Paul's may have suggested the propriety of retrenchment, or whether +there may not have been a death in the royal family of OToole. Look to +this for me, Hinton; for even in Canada I shall preserve the memory +of that capital house, its excellent _cuisine_, its charming hostess. +Cultivate them, my dear Jack, for your sake and for mine. One Rembrandt +is as good as a gallery; so sit down before them, and make a study of +the family.' + +The letter concluded as it began, by hearty thanks for the service I had +rendered him, begging me to accept of Moddiridderoo as a souvenir of his +friendship. And in a postscript, to write which the letter had evidently +been reopened, was a warning to me against any chance collision with +Ulick Burke. + +'Not, my dear boy, because he is a dead shot--although that same is +something--but that a quarrel with him could scarcely be reputable in +its commencement, and must be bad whatever the result.' + +After some further cautioning on this matter, the justice of which +was tolerably evident from my own experience, O'Grady concluded with a +hurried postscript:-- + +'Corny has not yet arrived, and we have received our orders for +embarkation within twenty-four hours. I begin half to despair of his +being here in time. Should this be the case, will you, my dear Hinton, +look after the old villain for me, at least until I write to you again +on the subject?' + +While I was yet pondering on these last few lines, I perceived that a +card had fallen from my father's letter. I took it up, and what was +my astonishment to find that it contained a correct likeness of Corny +Delany, drawn with a pen, underneath which was written, in my cousin +Julia's hand, the following few lines:-- + +'The dear old thing has waited three days, and I think I have at length +caught something like him. Dear Jack, if the master be only equal to +the man, we shall never forgive you for not letting us see him.--Yours, +Julia.' + +[Illustration: 367] + +This, of course, explained the secret of Corny's delay--my cousin, +with her habitual wilfulness, preferring the indulgence of a caprice to +anything resembling a duty; and I now had little doubt upon my mind that +O'Grady's fears were well founded, and that he had been obliged to sail +without his follower. + +The exertion it cost me to read my letters, and the excitement produced +by their perusal, fatigued and exhausted me, and as I sank back upon my +pillow I closed my eyes and fell sound asleep, not to wake until late on +the following day. But strange enough, when I did so, it was with a head +clear and faculties collected, my mind refreshed by rest unbroken by +a single dream; and so restored did I feel, that, save in the debility +from long confinement to bed, I was unconscious of any sense of malady. + +From this hour my recovery dated. Advancing every day with rapid steps, +my strength increased; and before a week elapsed, I so far regained my +lost health that I could move about my chamber, and even lay plans for +my departure. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. BOB MAHON AND THE WIDOW + +It was about eight or ten days after the events I have mentioned, when +Father Tom Loftus, whose care and attention to me had been unceasing +throughout, came in to inform me that all the preparations for our +journey were properly made, and that by the following morning at sunrise +we should be on the road. + +I confess that I looked forward to my departure with anxiety. The dreary +monotony of each day, spent either in perambulating my little room or in +a short walk up and down before the inn door, had done more to depress +and dispirit me than even the previous illness. The good priest, it is +true, came often to see me; but then there were hours spent quite alone, +without the solace of a book or the sight of even a newspaper. I knew +the face of every man, woman, and child in the village; I could tell +their haunts, their habits, and their occupations. Even the very hours +of the tedious day were marked in my mind by various little incidents, +that seemed to recur with unbroken precision; and if when the pale +apothecary disappeared from over the half-door of his shop I knew +that he was engaged at his one o'clock dinner, so the clink of the old +ladies' pattens, as they passed to an evening tea, told me that the day +was waning, when the town-clock should strike seven. There was nothing +to break the monotonous jog-trot of daily life save the appearance of +a few raw subalterns, who, from some cause or other, less noticed than +others of the regiment by the neighbouring gentry, strolled about the +town, quizzing and laughing at the humble townsfolk, and endeavouring, +by looks of most questionable gallantry, to impress the female +population with a sense of their merits. + +After all, mankind is pretty much the same in every country and every +age--some men ambitioning the credit of virtues the very garb of which +they know not; others, and a large class too, seeking for the reputation +of vices the world palliates with the appellation of 'fashionable.' We +laugh at the old courtier of Louis xiv.'s time, who in the flattery +of the age he lived in preferred being called a _scélérat_, an _infâme +scélérat_, that by the excesses _he_ professed the vicious habits of the +sovereign might seem less striking; and yet we see the very same thing +under our own eyes every day we live. + +But to return. There was nothing to delay me longer at Loughrea. Poor +Joe was so nearly recovered that in a few days more it was hoped he +might leave his bed. He was in kind hands, however, and I had taken +every precaution that he should want for nothing in my absence. +I listened, then, with pleasure to Father Tom's detail of all his +preparations; and although I knew not whither we were going, nor how +long the journey was likely to prove, yet I looked forward to it with +pleasure, and only longed for the hour of setting out. + +As the evening drew near, I looked anxiously out for the good father's +arrival. He had promised to come in early with Major Mahon, whom I had +not seen for the two days previous--the Major being deeply engaged in +consultations with his lawyer regarding an approaching trial at the +assizes. Although I could gather from his manner, as well as from the +priest's, that something of moment impended, yet as neither of them +more than alluded to the circumstance, I knew nothing of what was going +forward. + +It was eight o'clock when Father Tom made his appearance. He came alone, +and by his flurried look and excited manner I saw there was something +wrong. + +'What is it, father?' said I. 'Where is the Major?' + +'Och, confound him! they have taken him at last,' said he, wiping his +forehead with agitation. + +'Taken him!' said I. 'Why, was he hiding?' + +'Hiding! to be sure he was hiding, and masquerading and disguising +himself! But, 'faith, those Clare fellows, there's no coming up to them; +they have such practice in their own county, they would take the devil +himself if there was a writ out against him. And, to be sure, it was a +clever trick they played old Bob.' + +Here the good priest took such a fit of laughing that he was obliged to +wipe his eyes. + +'May I never,' said he, 'if it wasn't a good turn they played him, after +what he did himself!' + +'Come, father, let's hear it.' + +'This was the way of it. Maybe you never remarked--of course you didn't, +for you were only up there a couple of times--that opposite Bob's +lodgings there was a mighty sweet-looking crayture, a widow-woman; she +was dressed in very discreet black, and had a sorrowful look about her +that somehow or other, I think, made her even more interesting. + +'“I'd like to know that widow,” said Bob; “for now that the fellows have +a warrant against me, I could spend my days so pleasantly over there, +comforting and consoling her.” + +'“Whisht,” said I, “don't you see that she is in grief?” + +'“Not so much in grief,” said he, “but she lets down two beautiful +braids of her brown hair under her widow's cap; and whenever you see +that, Father Tom, take my word for it, the game's not up.” + +[Illustration: 373] + +'I believe there was some reason in what he said, for the last time I +went up to see him he had the window open, and he was playing “Planxty +Kelly” with all his might on an old fiddle; and the widow would come now +and then to the window to draw the little muslin curtain, or she would +open it to give a halfpenny to the beggars, or she would hold out her +hand to see if it was raining--and a beautiful lily-white hand it was; +but all the time, you see, it was only exchanging looks they were. Bob +was a little ashamed when he saw me in the room, but he soon recovered. + +'“A very charming woman that Mrs. Moriarty is,” said he, closing +the window. “It 's a cruel pity that her fortune is all in the Grand +Canal--I mean Canal debentures. But indeed it comes pretty much to the +same thing.” + +'And so he went on raving about the widow; for by this time he knew all +about her. Her maiden name was Cassidy, and her father a distiller; and, +in fact, Bob was quite delighted with his beautiful neighbour. At last +I bid him good-bye, promising to call for him at eight o'clock to come +over here to you; for you see there was a backdoor to the house that +led into a small alley, by which Mahon used to make his escape in the +evening. He was sitting, it seems, at his window, looking out for the +widow, who for some cause or other hadn't made her appearance the entire +of the day. There he sat with his hand on his heart, and a heavenly +smile upon him for a good hour, sipping a little whisky-and-water +between times, to keep up his courage. + +'“She must be out,” said Bob to himself. “She 's gone to pass the day +somewhere. I hope she doesn't know any of these impudent vagabonds up at +the barracks. Maybe, after all, it's sick she is.” + +'While he was ruminating this way, who should he see turn the corner but +the widow herself. There she was, coming along in deep weeds, with her +maid after her--a fine slashing-looking figure, rather taller than her +though, and lustier every way; but it was the first time he saw her in +the streets. As she got near to her door, Bob stood up to make a polite +bow. Just as he did so, the widow slipped her foot, and fell down on the +flags with a loud scream. The maid ran up, endeavouring to assist +her, but she couldn't stir; and as she placed her hand on her leg, Bob +perceived at once she had sprained her ankle. Without waiting for +his hat, he sprang downstairs, and rushed across the street. '“Mrs. +Moriarty, my angel!” said Bob, putting his arm round her waist. “Won't +you permit me to assist you?” + +'She clasped his hand with fervent gratitude, while the maid, putting +her hand into her reticule, seemed fumbling for a handkerchief. + +'“I am a stranger to you, ma'am,” said Bob; “but if Major Mahon, of the +Roscommon----” + +'“The very man we want!” said the maid, pulling a writ out of the +reticule; for a devil a thing else they were but two bailiffs from +Ennis. + +'“The very man we want!” said the bailiffs. + +'“I am caught!” said Bob. + +'“The devil a doubt of it!” + +'At the same moment the window opened overhead, and the beautiful widow +looked out to see what was the matter. + +'“Good-evening to you, ma'am,” says Bob; “and I 'd like to pay my +respects if I wasn't particularly engaged to these ladies here.” And +with that he gave an arm to each of them and led them down the street, +as if it was his mother and sister.' + +'The poor Major!' said I. 'And where is he now? On his way to Ennis +in a post-chaise; for it seems the ladies had a hundred pounds for their +capture. Ah, poor Bob! But there is no use fretting; besides it would +be sympathy thrown away, for he 'll give them the slip before long. And +now, Captain, are you ready for the road? I have got a peremptory letter +from the bishop, and must be back in Murranakilty as soon as I can.' + +'My dear father, I am at your disposal I believe we can do no more for +poor Joe; and as to Mr. Burke--and, by-the-bye, how is he?' + +'Getting better, they say. But I believe you've spoiled a very lucrative +source of his income. He was the best jumper in the west of Ireland; +and they tell me you've lamed him for life. He is down at Milltown, or +Kilkee, or somewhere on the coast; but sure well have time enough to +talk of these things as we go along. I'll be with you by seven o'clock. +We must start early, and get to Portumna before night.' + +Having promised implicit obedience to the worthy priest's directions, +be they what they might, I pledged myself to make up my luggage in +the smallest possible space, and have breakfast ready for him before +starting. After a few other observations and some suggestions as to the +kind of equipment he deemed suitable to the road, he took his leave, and +I sat down alone to a little quiet reckoning with myself as to the past, +the present, and the future. + +From my short experience of Ireland, the only thing approaching to an +abstract principle I could attain to was the utter vanity, the perfect +impossibility, of any man's determining on a given line of action or the +steady pursuit of any one enterprise. No; the inevitable course of fate +seems to have chosen this happy island to exhibit its phenomena. +Whether your days be passed in love or war, or your evenings in drink or +devotion, not yours be the glory; for there would seem to be a kind of +headlong influence at work, impelling you ever forward. Acquaintances +grow up, ripen, and even bear fruit before in other lands their roots +would have caught the earth; by them your tastes are regulated, your +habits controlled, your actions fashioned. You may not, it is true, lisp +in the _patois_ of blarney; you may weed your phraseology of its tropes +and figures; but trust me, that if you live in Ireland, if you like the +people (and who does not?), and if you are liked by them (and who would +not be?), then do I say you will find yourself, without knowing or +perceiving it, going the pace with the natives--courtship, fun, frolic, +and devilment filling up every hour of your day, and no inconsiderable +portion of your night also. One grand feature of the country seemed to +me, that, no matter what particular extravagance you were addicted +to, no matter what strange or absurd passion to do or seem something +remarkable, you were certain of always finding some one to sympathise +with if not actually to follow you. Nothing is too strange, nothing too +ridiculous, nothing too convivial, nothing too daring for Paddy. With +one intuitive bound he springs into your confidence and enters into your +plans. Only be open with him, conceal nothing, and he's yours heart and +hand; ready to endorse your bill, to carry off a young lady, or carry +a message; to burn a house for a joke, or jeopardy his neck for mere +pastime; to go to the world's end to serve you, and on his return shoot +you afterwards out of downright good-nature. + +As for myself, I might have lived in England to the age of Methuselah, +and yet never have seen as much of life as in the few months spent in +Ireland. Society in other lands seems a kind of free-masonry, where +for lack of every real or important secret men substitute signs and +passwords, as if to throw the charm of mystery where, after all, nothing +lies concealed; but in Ireland, where national character runs in a deep +or hidden channel, with cross currents and backwater ever turning and +winding--where all the incongruous and discordant elements of what is +best and worst seem blended together--there, social intercourse is free, +cordial, warm, and benevolent. Men come together disposed to like one +another; and what an Irishman is disposed to, he usually has a way of +effecting. My brief career had not been without its troubles; but who +would not have incurred such, or as many more, to have evoked such +kind interest and such warm friendship? From Phil O'Grady, my first, to +Father Tom, my last friend, I had met with nothing but almost brotherly +affection; and yet I could not help acknowledging to myself, that, but +six short months before, I would have recoiled from the friendship of +the one and the acquaintance of the other, as something to lower and +degrade me. Not only would the outward observances of their manner have +deterred me, but in their very warm and earnest proffers of good-nature, +I would have seen cause for suspecting and avoiding them. Thank Heaven! +I now knew better, and felt deeper. How this revolution became effected +in me I am not myself aware. Perhaps--I only say perhaps--Miss Bellew +had a share in effecting it. + +Such were some of my thoughts as I betook myself to bed, and soon after +to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. THE PRIEST'S GIG + +I am by no means certain that the prejudices of my English education +were sufficiently overcome to prevent my feeling a kind of tingling shame +as I took my place beside Father Tom Loftus in his gig. Early as it was, +there were still some people about; and I cast a hurried glance around +to see if our equipage was not as much a matter of amusement to them as +of affliction to me. + +When Father Tom first spoke of his 'dennet,' I innocently pictured to +myself something resembling the indigenous productions of Loughrea. +'A little heavy or so,' thought I; 'strong for country roads; mayhap +somewhat clumsy in the springs, and not over-refined about the shafts.' +Heaven help my ignorance! I never fancied a vehicle whose component +parts were two stout poles, surmounting a pair of low wheels, high above +which was suspended, on two lofty C springs, the body of an ancient +buggy--the lining of a bright scarlet, a little faded and dimmed +by time, bordered by a lace of the most gaudy pattern; a flaming +coat-of-arms, with splendid blazonry and magnificent quarterings, +ornamented each panel of this strange-looking tub, into which, for +default of steps, you mounted by a ladder. + +'Eh, father,' said I, 'what have we here? This is surely not the----' + +'Ay, Captain,' said the good priest, as a smile of proud satisfaction +curled his lip, 'that's “the convaniency”; and a pleasanter and an +easier never did man sit in. A little heavy, to be sure; but then one +can always walk up the hills; and if they're very stiff ones entirely, +why it's only throwing out the ballast.' + +'The ballast! What do you mean?' + +'Just them,' said he, pointing with his whip to some three or four huge +pieces of limestone rock that lay in the bottom of the gig; 'there's +seven, maybe eight, stone weight, every pound of it.' + +'And for heaven's sake,' said I, 'why do you carry that mass of rubbish +along with you?' + +'I'll just tell you then. The road has holes in it you could bury your +father in; and when the convaniency gets into one of them, she has a way +of springing up into the air, that, if you 're not watching, is sure +to pitch you out--maybe into the bog at the side, maybe on the beast's +back. I was once actually thrown into a public-house window, where +there was a great deal of fun going on, and the bishop came by before +I extricated myself. I assure you I had hard work to explain it to his +satisfaction.' There was a lurking drollery in his eye, as he said +these last few words, that left me to the full as much puzzled about +the accident as his worthy diocesan. 'But look at the springs,' he +continued; 'there's metal for you! And do you mind the shape of the +body? It's for all the world like the ancient _curriculus_. And look at +Bathershin himself--the ould varmint! Sure, he's classical too! +Hasn't he a Roman nose; and ain't I a Roman myself? So get up, +Captain--_ascendite ad currum_; get into the shay. And now for the +_doch-aiv-dhurrss_--the stirrup-cup, Mrs. Doolan: that's the darlin'. +Ah, there's nothing like it! + + “Sit mihi lagena, Ad summum plena.” + +Here, Captain, take a pull--beautiful milk-punch!' + +Draining the goblet to the bottom, which I confess was no unpleasant +task, I pledged my kind hostess, who, curtsying deeply refilled the +vessel for Father Tom. + +'That's it, Mary; froth it up, acushla! Hand it here, my darlin'--my +blessing on ye.' + +As he spoke, the worthy father deposited the reins at his feet, and +lifted the cup with both hands to his mouth; when suddenly the little +window over the inn door was burst open, and a loud tally-ho was shouted +out, in accents the wildest I ever listened to. I had barely time to +catch the merry features of poor Tipperary Joe, when the priest's horse, +more accustomed to the hunting-field than the highroad, caught up the +welcome sound, gave a wild toss of his head, cocked up his tail, and, +with a hearty bang of both hind legs against the front of the chariot, +set off down the street as if the devil were after him. Feeling himself +at liberty, as well as favoured by the ground, which was all down hill, +the pace was really terrific. It was some time before I could gather +up the reins, as Father Tom, jug and all, had been thrown at the +first shock on his knees to the bottom of the convaniency, where, half +suffocated by fright and the milk-punch that went wrong with him, he +bellowed and coughed with all his might. + +[Illustration: 380] + +'Howld him tight I--ugh, ugh, ugh!--not too hard; don't chuck him for +the love of--ugh, ugh, ugh!--the reins is rotten and the traces no +better--ugh, ugh, ugh! Bad luck to the villains, why didn't they catch +his head? And the _stultus execrabilis!_--the damned fool! how he +yelled!' + +Almost fainting with laughter, I pulled my best at the old horse, +not, however, neglecting the priest's caution about the frailty of the +harness. This, however, was not the only difficulty I had to contend +with; for the curriculus, participating in the galloping action of the +horse, swung upwards and downwards, backwards and forwards, and from +one side to the other--all at once too--in a manner so perfectly addling +that it was not before we reached the first turnpike that I succeeded in +arresting our progress. Here a short halt was necessary for the priest +to recover himself, and to examine whether either his bones or any +portion of the harness had given way. Both had happily been found proof +against mishaps, and drew from the reverend father strong encomiums upon +their merits; and after a brief delay we resumed our road, but at a much +more orderly and becoming pace than before. + +Once more _en route_, I bethought me it was high time to inquire about +the direction we were to travel, and the probable length of our journey; +for I confess I was sadly ignorant as to the geography of the land we +were travelling, and the only point I attempted to keep in view was the +number of miles we were distant from the capital The priest's reply was, +however, anything but instructive to me, consisting merely of a long +catalogue of names, in which the syllables 'kill,' 'whack,' 'nock,' +'shock,' and 'bally' jostled and elbowed one another in the rudest +fashion imaginable--the only intelligible portion of his description +being, that a blue mountain scarcely perceptible in the horizon lay +about half-way between us and Murranakilty. + +My attention was not, however, permitted to dwell on these matters; +for my companion had already begun a narrative of the events which had +occurred during my illness. The Dillons, I found, had left for Dublin +soon after my mishap. Louisa Bellew returned to her father; and Mr. +Burke, whose wound had turned out a more serious affair than was at +first supposed, was still confined to his bed, and a lameness for life +anticipated as the inevitable result of the injury. + +'Sir Simon, for once in his life,' said the priest, 'has taken a correct +view of his nephew's character, and has, now that all danger to life is +past, written him a severe letter, reflecting on his conduct. Poor +Sir Simon! his life has been one tissue of trial and disappointment +throughout. Every buttress that supported his venerable house giving +way, one by one, the ruin seems to threaten total downfall, ere the old +man exchanges the home of his fathers for his last narrow rest beside +them in the churchyard. Betrayed on every hand, wronged and ruined, he +seems merely to linger on in life--like the stern-timbers of some mighty +wreck, that marks the spot where once the goodly vessel perished, and +are now the beacon of the quicksand to others. You know the sad story, +of course, that I alluded to----' + +'No; I am completely ignorant of the family history,' said I. + +The priest blushed deeply, as his dark eyebrows met in a heavy frown; +then turning hastily towards me, he said, in a voice whose thick, low +utterance bespoke his agitation-- + +'Do not ask me, I beseech you, to speak further of what, had I been more +collected, I had never alluded to! An unhappy duel, the consequence of +a still more unhappy event, has blasted every hope in life for my poor +friend. I thought--that is, I feared lest the story might have reached +you. As I find this is not so, you will spare my recurring to that the +bare recollection of which comes like a dark cloud over the happiest day +of my existence. Promise me this, or I shall not forgive myself.' + +I readily gave the pledge he required; and we pursued our road--not, +however, as before, but each sunk in his own reflections, silent, +reserved, and thoughtful. + +'In about four days,' said Father Tom, at last breaking the silence, +'perhaps five, we'll be drawing near Murranakilty. He then proceeded, at +more length, to inform me of the various counties through which we were +to pass, detailing with great accuracy the several seats we should see, +the remarkable places, the ruined churches, the old castles, and even +the very fox-covers that lay on our route. And although my ignorance +was but little enlightened by the catalogue of hard names that fell +as glibly from his tongue as Italian from a Roman, yet I was both +entertained and pleased with the many stories he told--some of them +legends of bygone days, some of them the more touching and truth-dealing +records of what had happened in his own time. Could I have borrowed any +portion of his narrative power, were I able to present in his strong but +simple language any of the curious scenes he mentioned, I should perhaps +venture on relating to my reader one of his stories; but when I +think how much of the interest depended on his quaint and homely but +ever-forcible manner, as, pointing with his whip to some ruined house +with blackened walls and fallen chimneys, he told some narrative of +rapine and of murder, I feel how much the force of reality added power +to a story that in repetition might be weak and ineffective. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. THE MOUNTAIN PASS + +On the whole, the journey was to me a delightful one, and certainly not +the least pleasant portion of my life in Ireland. Endowed--partly +from his individual gifts, partly from the nature of his sacred +functions--with influence over all the humble ranks in life, the good +priest jogged along with the assurance of a hearty welcome wherever he +pleased to halt--the only look of disappointment being when he declined +some proffered civility, or refused an invitation to delay his journey. +The chariot was well known in every town and village, and scarcely +was the rumble of its wheels heard coming up the 'street' when the +population might be seen assembling in little groups and knots, to have +a word with 'the father,' to get his blessing, to catch his eye, or even +obtain a nod from him. He knew every one and everything, and with a tact +which is believed to be the prerogative of royalty, he never miscalled +a name nor mistook an event. Inquiring after them, for soul and body, he +entered with real interest into all their hopes and plans, their fears +and anticipations, and talked away about pigs, penances, purgatory, and +potatoes in a way that showed his information on any of these matters to +be of no mean or common order. + +By degrees our way left the more travelled highroad, and took by a +mountain tract through a wild, romantic line of country beside the +Shannon. No villages now presented themselves, and indeed but little +trace of any habitation whatever; large misshapen mountains, whose +granite sides were scarce concealed by the dark fern, the only +vegetation that clothed them, rose around and about us. In the valleys +some strips of bog might be seen, with little hillocks of newly-cut +turf, the only semblance of man's work the eye could rest on. Tillage +there was none. A dreary silence, too, reigned throughout. I listened in +vain for the bleating of a lamb or the solitary tinkle of a sheep-bell; +but no--save the cawing of the rooks or the mournful cry of the plover, +I could hear nothing. Now and then, it is true, the heavy flapping of a +strong wing would point the course of a heron soaring towards the river; +but his low flight even spoke of solitude, and showed he feared not man +in his wild and dreamy mountains. At intervals we could see the Shannon +winding along, far, far down below us, and I could mark the islands in +the bay of Scariff, with their ruined churches and one solitary tower; +but no sail floated on the surface, nor did an oar break the sluggish +current of the stream. It was, indeed, a dreary scene, and somehow my +companion's manner seemed coloured by its influence; for scarcely had we +entered the little valley that led to this mountain track than he became +silent and thoughtful, absorbed in reflection, and when he spoke, either +doing so at random or in a vague and almost incohérent way that showed +his ideas were wandering. + +I remarked that as we stopped at a little forge shortly after daybreak, +the smith had taken the priest aside and whispered to him a few words, +at which he seemed strangely moved; and as they spoke together for some +moments in an undertone, I perceived by the man's manner and gesture, as +well as by the agitation of the good father himself, that something of +importance was being told. Without waiting to finish the little repair +to the carriage which had caused our halt, he remounted hastily, and +beckoning me to take my place, drove on at a pace that spoke of haste +and eagerness. I confess that my curiosity to know the reason was +great; but as I could not with propriety ask, nor did my companion +seem disposed to give the information, I soon relapsed into a silence +unbroken as his own, and we travelled along for some miles without +speaking. Now and then the priest would make an effort to relieve the +weariness of the way by some remark upon the scenery, or some allusion +to the wild grandeur of the pass; but it was plain he spoke only from +constraint, and that his mind was occupied on other and very different +thoughts. + +It was now wearing late, and yet no trace of any house or habitation +could I see, where to rest for the night. Not wishing, however, to +interrupt the current of my friend's thoughts I maintained my silence, +straining my eyes on every side--from the dark mountains that towered +above me, to the narrow gloomy valley that lay several hundred feet +beneath our track--but all in vain. The stillness was unbroken, and not +a roof, not even a smoke-wreath, could be seen far as the view extended. +The road by which we travelled was scarped from the side of a mountain, +and for some miles pursued a gradually descending course. On suddenly +turning the angle of a rocky wall that skirted us for above a mile, we +came in sight of a long reach of the Shannon upon which the sun was now +setting in all its golden lustre. The distant shore of Munster, rich +in tillage and pasture-land, was lit up too with cornfield and green +meadow, leafy wood and blue mountain, all glowing in their brightest +hue. It was a vivid and a gorgeous picture, and I could have looked on +it long with pleasure, when suddenly I felt my arm grasped by a strong +finger. I turned round, and the priest, relaxing his hold, pointed down +into the dark valley below us, as he said in a low and agitated voice-- + +'You see the light? It is there--there.' + +Quickening our pace by every effort, we began rapidly to descend the +mountain by a zigzag road, whose windings soon lost us the view I have +mentioned, and left nothing but the wild and barren mountains around +us. Tired as our poor horse was, the priest pressed him forward; and +regardless of the broken and rugged way he seemed to think of nothing +but his haste, muttering between his teeth with a low but rapid +articulation, while his face grew flushed and pale at intervals, and +his eye had all the lustrous glare and restless look of fever. I +endeavoured, as well as I was able, to occupy my mind with other +thoughts; but with that invincible fascination that turns us ever to +the side we try to shun, I found myself again and again gazing on my +companion's countenance. Every moment now his agitation increased; his +lips were firmly closed, his brow contracted, his cheek flattened and +quivering with a nervous spasm, while his hand trembled violently as he +wiped the big drops of sweat that rolled from his forehead. + +At last we reached the level, where a better road presented itself +before us, and enabled us so to increase our speed that we were rapidly +coming up with the light, which, as the evening closed in, seemed larger +and brighter than before. It was now that hour when the twilight seems +fading into night--a grey and sombre darkness colouring every object, +but yet marking grass and rock, pathway and river, with some seeming of +their noonday hues, so that as we came along I could make out the roof +and walls of a mud cabin built against the very mountainside, in the +gable of which the light was shining. A rapid, a momentary thought +flashed across my mind as to what dreary and solitary man could fix his +dwelling-place in such a spot as this, when in an instant the priest +suddenly pulled up the horse, and, stretching out one hand with a +gesture of listening, whispered-- + +'Hark! Did you not hear that?' + +As he spoke, a cry, wild and fearful, rose through the gloomy valley--at +first in one prolonged and swelling note; then broken as if by sobs, +it altered, sank, and rose again wilder and madder, till the echoes, +catching up the direful sounds, answered and repeated them as though a +chorus of unearthly spirits were calling to one another through the air. + +'O God! too late--too late!' said the priest, as he bowed his face upon +his knees, and his strong frame shook in agony. 'O Father of Mercy!' +he cried, as he lifted his eyes, bloodshot and tearful, toward heaven, +'forgive me this; and if unshriven before Thee--' + +Another cry, more frantic than before, here burst upon us, and the +priest, muttering with rapid utterance, appeared lost in prayer. But at +him I looked no longer, for straight before us on the road, and in +front of the little cabin, now not above thirty paces from us, knelt +the figure of a woman, whom, were it not for the fearful sounds we had +heard, one could scarcely believe a thing of life. Her age was not more +than thirty years; she was pale as death; not a tinge, not a ray of +colour streaked her bloodless cheek; her black hair, long and wild, fell +upon her back and shoulders, straggling and disordered; while her hands +were clasped, as she held her stiffened arms straight before her. Her +dress bespoke the meanest poverty, and her sunken cheek and drawn-in +lips betokened famine and starvation. As I gazed on her almost +breathless with awe and dread, the priest leaped out, and hurrying +forward, cried out to her in Irish; but she heard him not, she saw him +not--dead to every sense, she remained still and motionless. No feature +trembled, no limb was shaken; she knelt before us like an image of +stone; and then, as if by some spell that worked within her, once +more gave forth the heart-rending cry we heard at first. Now low and +plaintive, like the sighing night-wind, it rose fuller and fuller, +pausing and continuing at intervals; and then breaking into short and +fitful efforts, it grew wilder and stronger, till at last with one +outbreak, like the overflowing of a heart of misery, it ceased abruptly. + +The priest bent over her and spoke to her; he called her by her name, +and shook her several times--but all in vain. Her spirit, if indeed +present with her body, had lost all sympathy with things of earth. + +'God help her!' said he; 'God comfort her! This is sore affliction.' + +As he spoke he walked towards the little cabin, the door of which now +stood open. All was still and silent within its walls. Unused to see the +dwellings of the poor in Ireland, my eye ranged over the bare walls, the +damp and earthen floor, the few and miserable pieces of furniture, when +suddenly my attention was called to another and a sadder spectacle. In +one corner of the hovel, stretched upon a bed whose poverty might have +made it unworthy of a dog to lie in, lay the figure of a large and +powerfully-built man, stone dead. His eyes were dosed, his chin bound +up with a white cloth, and a sheet, torn and ragged, was stretched above +his cold limbs, while on either side of him two candles were burning. +His features, though rigid and stiffened, were manly and even +handsome--the bold character of the face heightened in effect by his +beard and moustache, which appeared to have been let grow for some time +previous, and whose black and waving curl looked darker from the pallor +around it. + +Some lines there were about the mouth that looked like harshness and +severity, but the struggle of departing life might have caused them. + +Gently withdrawing the sheet that covered him, the priest placed his +hand upon the man's heart. It was evident to me, from the father's +manner, that he still believed the man living; and as he rolled back the +covering, he felt for his hand. Suddenly starting, he fell back for an +instant; and as he moved his fingers backwards and forwards, I saw that +they were covered with blood. I drew near, and now perceived that the +dead man's chest was laid open by a wound of several inches in extent. +The ribs had been cut across, and some portion of the heart or lung +seemed to protrude. At the slightest touch of the body, the blood gushed +forth anew, and ran in streams upon him. His right hand, too, was cut +across the entire palm, the thumb nearly severed at the joint. This +appeared to have been rudely bound together; but it was evident, from +the nature and the size of the other wound, that he could not have +survived it many hours. + +As I looked in horror at the frightful spectacle before me, my foot +struck at something beneath the bed. I stooped down to examine, and +found it was a carbine, such as dragoons usually carry. It was broken +at the stock and bruised in many places, but still seemed not +unserviceable. Part of the butt-end was also stained with blood. The +clothes of the dead man, clotted and matted with gore, were also there, +adding by their terrible testimony to the dreadful fear that haunted me. +Yes, everything confirmed it--murder had been there. + +A low, muttering sound near made me turn my head, and I saw the priest +kneeling beside the bed, engaged in prayer. His head was bare, and he +wore a kind of scarf of blue silk, and the small case that contained the +last rites of his Church was placed at his feet. Apparently lost to all +around, save the figure of the man that lay dead before him, he muttered +with ceaseless rapidity prayer after prayer--stopping ever and anon to +place his hand on the cold heart, or to listen with his ear upon the +livid lips; and then resuming with greater eagerness, while the big +drops rolled from his forehead, and the agonising torture he felt +convulsed his entire frame. + +'O God!' he exclaimed, after a prayer of some minutes, in which his +features worked like one in a fit of epilepsy--'O God, is it then too +late?' + +[Illustration: 392] + +He started to his feet as he spoke, and bending over the corpse, with +hands clasped above his head, he poured forth a whole torrent of +words in Irish, swaying his body backwards and forwards, as his voice, +becoming broken by emotion, now sank into a whisper, or broke into a +discordant shout. 'Shaun, Shaun!' cried he, as, stooping down to the +ground; he snatched up the little crucifix and held it before the dead +man's face; at the same time he shook him violently by the shoulder, +and cried, in accents I can never forget, some words aloud, among which +alone I could recognise one word, 'Thea'--the Irish word for God. He +shook the man till his head rocked heavily from side to side, and the +blood oozed from the opening wound, and stained the ragged covering of +the bed. + +At this instant the priest stopped suddenly, and fell upon his knees, +while with a low, faint sigh he who seemed dead lifted his eyes and +looked around him; his hands grasped the sides of the bed, and, with +a strength that seemed supernatural, he raised himself to a sitting +posture. His lips were parted and moved, but without a sound, and his +filmy eyes turned slowly in their sockets from one object to another, +till at length they fell upon the little crucifix that had dropped from +the priest's hand upon the bed. In an instant the corpse-like features +seemed inspired with life; a gleam of brightness shot from his eyes; +the head nodded forward a couple of times, and I thought I heard a +discordant, broken sound issue from the open mouth; but a moment after +the head dropped upon the chest, and the hands relaxed, and he fell back +with a crash, never to move more. + +Overcome with horror, I staggered to the door and sank upon a little +bench in front of the cabin. The cool air of the night soon brought me +to myself, and while in my confused state I wondered if the whole might +not be some dreadful dream, my eyes once more fell upon the figure of +the woman, who still knelt in the attitude we had first seen her. Her +hands were clasped before her, and from time to time her wild cry +rose into the air and woke the echoes of that silent valley. A faint +moonlight lay in broken patches around her, and mingled its beams with +the red glare of the little candles within, as their light fell upon her +marble features. From the cabin I could hear the sounds of the priest's +voice, as he continued to pray without ceasing. + +As the hours rolled on, nothing changed; and when, prompted by +curiosity, I looked within the hovel, I saw the priest still kneeling +beside the bed, his face pale and sunk and haggard, as though months of +sickness and suffering had passed over him. I dared not speak; I dared +not disturb him; and I sat down near the door in silence. + +It is one of the strange anomalies of our nature that the feelings which +rend our hearts with agony have a tendency, by their continuance, to +lull us into slumber. The watcher by the bedside of his dying friend, +the felon in his cell but a few hours before death, sleep--and sleep +soundly. The bitterness of grief would seem to blunt sensation, and the +mind, like the body, can only sustain a certain amount of burden, after +which it succumbs and yields. So I found it amid this scene of horror +and anguish, with everything to excite that can operate upon the +mind--the woman stricken motionless and senseless by grief; the dead +man, as it were, recalled to life by the words that were to herald +him into life everlasting; the old man, whom I had known but as a gay +companion, displayed now before my eyes in all the workings of his +feeling heart, called up by the afflictions of one world and the +terrors of another--and this in a wild and dreary valley, far from man's +dwelling. Yet amid all this, and more than all, the harassing conviction +that some deed of blood, some dark hour of crime, had been here at work, +perhaps to be concealed for ever, and go unavenged save of Heaven--with +this around and about me, I slept. How long I know not; but when I woke, +the mist of morning hung in the valley, or rolled in masses of cloudlike +vapour along the mountain-side. In an instant the whole scene of the +previous night was before me, and the priest still knelt beside the bed +and prayed. I looked for the woman, but she was gone. + +The noise of wheels, at some distance, could now be heard on the +mountain-road; and as I walked stealthily from the door, I could see +three figures descending the pass, followed by a car and horse. As +they came along, I marked that beneath the straw on the car something +protruded itself on either side, and this, I soon saw, was a coffin. +As the men approached the angle of the road they halted, and seemed to +converse in an eager and anxious manner, when suddenly one of them broke +from the others, and springing to the top of a low wall that skirted the +road, continued to look steadily at the house for some minutes together. +The thought flashed on me at the moment that perhaps my being a stranger +to them might have caused their hesitation; so I waved my hat a couple +of times above my head. Upon this they resumed their march, and in a few +minutes more were standing beside me. One of them, who was an old man +with hard, weather-beaten features, addressed me, first in Irish, but +correcting himself, at once asked, in a low, steady voice-- + +'Was the priest in time? Did he get the rites?' + +I nodded in reply; when he muttered, as if to himself--'God's will be +done! Shaun didn't tell of Hogan----' + +'Whisht, father! whisht!' said one of the younger men as he laid +his hand upon the old man's arm, while he added something in Irish, +gesticulating with energy as he spoke. + +'Is Mary come back, sir?' said the third, as he touched his hat to me +respectfully. + +'The woman--his wife?' said I. 'I have not seen her to-day.' + +'She was up with us, at Kiltimmon, at two o'clock this morning, but +wouldn't wait for us. She wanted to get back at once, poor crayture! She +bears it well, and has a stout heart. 'Faith, maybe before long she +'ll make some others faint in their hearts that have stricken hers this +night.' + +'Was she calm, then?' said I. + +'As you are this minute; and sure enough she helped me, with her own +hands, to put the horse in the car, for you see I couldn't lift the +shaft with my one arm.' + +I now saw that his arm was bound up, and buttoned within the bosom of +his greatcoat. + +The priest now joined us, and spoke for several minutes in Irish; and +although ignorant of all he said, I could mark in the tone of his voice, +his look, his manner, and his gesture that his words were those of +rebuke and reprobation. The old man heard him in silence, but without +any evidence of feeling. The others, on the contrary, seemed deeply +affected; and the younger of the two, whose arm was broken, seemed +greatly moved, and the tears rolled down his hardy cheeks. + +These signs of emotion were evidently displeasing to the old man, whose +nature was of a sterner and more cruel mould; and as he turned away from +the father's admonition he moved past me, muttering, as he went-- + +'Isn't it all fair? Blood for blood; and sure they dhruv him to it.' + +After a few words from the priest, two of the party took their spades +from the car, and began digging the grave; while Father Loftus, leading +the other aside, talked to him for some time. + +'Begorra,' said the old man, as he shovelled the earth to either side, +'Father Tom isn't like himself, at all, at all. He used to have pity +and the kind word for the poor when they were turned out on the world +to starve, without as much as a sheaf of straw to lie upon, or potatoes +enough for the children to eat.' + +'Whisht, father! or the priest will hear ye,' said the younger one, +looking cautiously around. + +'Sorrow bit o' me cares if he does! it's thruth I'm telling. You are not +long in these parts, sir, av I may make so bowld?' + +'No,' said I, 'I'm quite a stranger.' + +'Well, anyhow, ye may understand that this isn't a fine soil for a +potato-garden; and yet the devil a other poor Shaun had since they +turned him out on the road last Michaelmas Day, himself and his wife and +the little gossoon--the only one they had, too--with a fever and ague +upon him. The poor child, however, didn't feel it long, for he died in +ten days after. Well, well! the way of God there's no saying against it. +But, sure, if the little boy didn't die Shaun was off to America; for he +tuk his passage, and got a sea-chest of a friend, and was all ready +to go. But you see, when the child died, he could not bring himself +to leave the grave; and there he used to go and spend half of his days +fixing it, and settling the sods about it, and wouldn't take a day's +work from any of the neighbours. And at last he went off one night, and +we never knew what was become of him, till a pedlar brought word that +he and Mary was living in the Cluan Beg, away from everybody, without +a friend to say “God save you!” It's deep enough now, Mickey; there's +nobody will turn him out of this. And so, sir, he might have lived for +many a year; but when he heerd that the boys was up, and going to settle +a reckoning with Mr. Tarleton----' + +'Come, you,' cried the priest, who joined us at the moment, and who +I could perceive was evidently displeased at the old man's +communicativeness--'come, you, the sooner you all get back the better. +We must look after Mary, too; for God knows where she is wandering. And +now let us put the poor boy in the earth.' + +With slow and sullen steps the old man entered the house, followed by +the others. I did not accompany them, but stood beside the grave, my +mind full of all I heard. In a few minutes they returned, carrying the +coffin, one corner of which was borne by the priest himself. Their heads +were bare, and their features were pale and care-worn. They placed the +body in the grave, and gazed down after it for some seconds. The priest +spoke a few words in a low, broken voice, the very sounds of which, +though their meaning was unknown to me, sank deep into my heart. He +whispered for an instant to one of the young men, who went into the +cabin and speedily returned, carrying with him some of the clothes of +the deceased and the old carbine that lay beneath the bed. + +'Throw them in the grave, Mickey--throw them in,' said the priest. +'Where's his coat?' + +'It isn't there, sir,' said the man. 'That's everything that has a mark +of blood upon it.' + +'Give me that gun,' cried the priest; and at the same moment he took the +carbine by the end of the barrel, and by one stroke of his strong foot +snapped it at the breech. 'My curse be on you!' said he, as he kicked +the fragments into the grave; 'there was peace and happiness in the land +before men knew ye, and owned ye! Ah, Hugh,' said he, turning his eyes +fiercely on the old man, 'I never said ye hadn't griefs and trials, and +sore ones too, some of them; but God help you, if you think that an +easy conscience and a happy home can be bought by murder.' The old man +started at the words, and as his dark brow lowered and his lip trembled, +I drew near to the priest, fearful lest an attack might be made on him. +'Ay, murder, boys! that's the word, and no less. Don't tell me about +righting yourselves, and blood for blood, and all that. There's a curse +upon the land where these things happen, and the earth is not lucky that +is moistened with the blood of God's creatures.' + +'Cover him up! cover him up!' said the old man, shovelling in the earth +so as to drown the priest's words, 'and let us be going. We ought to be +back by six o'clock, unless,' added he with a sarcastic bitterness that +made him look like a fiend--'unless your reverence is going to set the +police on our track.' + +'God forgive you, Hugh, and turn your heart,' said the priest, as he +shook his outstretched hands at the old man. As the father spoke these +words he took me by the arm, and led me within the house. I could feel +his hand tremble as it leaned upon me, and the big tears rolled down his +cheeks in silence. + +We sat down in the little cabin, but neither of us spoke. After some +time we heard the noise of the cartwheels and the sound of voices, which +grew fainter and fainter as they passed up the glen, and at length all +became still. + +'And the poor wife,' said I, 'what, think you, has become of her?' + +'Gone home to her people, most likely,' answered the priest. 'Her +misfortunes will make her a home in every cabin. None so poor, none so +wretched, as not to succour and shelter her. But let us hence.' + +We walked forth from the hovel, and the priest closing the door after +him fastened it with a padlock that he had found within, and then, +placing the key upon the door-sill, he turned to depart; but suddenly +stopping, he took my hand in both of his, and said, in a voice of +touching earnestness-- + +'This has been a sad scene. Would to God you had not witnessed it! Would +to God, rather, that it might not have occurred! But promise me, on the +faith of a man of honour and the word of a gentleman, that what you +have seen this night you will reveal to no man, until I have passed away +myself, and stand before that judgment to which we all are coming.' + +'I promise you faithfully,' said I. 'And now let us leave a spot +that has thrown a gloom upon my heart which a long life will never +obliterate.' + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. THE JOURNEY + +As we issued from the glen the country became more open; patches of +cultivation presented themselves, and an air of comfort and condition +superior to what we had hitherto seen was observable in the dwellings of +the country-people. The road lead through a broad valley bounded on one +side by a chain of lofty mountains, and on the other separated by +the Shannon from the swelling hills of Munster. Deeply engaged in our +thoughts, we travelled along for some miles without speaking. The scene +we had witnessed was of that kind that seemed to forbid our recurrence +to it, save in our own gloomy reflections. We had not gone far when the +noise of horsemen on the road behind us induced us to turn our heads. +They came along at a sharp trot, and we could soon perceive that +although the two or three foremost were civilians, they who followed +were dragoons. I thought I saw the priest change colour as the clank of +the accoutrements struck upon his ear. I had, however, but little time +for the observation, as the party soon overtook us. + +'You are early on the road, gentlemen,' said a strong, powerfully-built +man, who, mounted upon a grey horse of great bone and action, rode close +up beside us. + +'Ah, Sir Thomas, is it you?' said the priest, affecting at once his +former easy and indifferent manner. 'I'd rather see the hounds at your +back than those beagles of King George there. Is there anything wrong in +the country?' + +'Let me ask you another question,' said the knight in answer. 'How long +have you been in it, and where did you pass the night, not to hear of +what has occurred?' + +''Faith, a home question,' said the priest, summoning up a hearty laugh +to conceal his emotion; 'but if the truth must out, we came round by the +priory at Glenduff, as my friend here being an Englishman--may I beg to +present him to you? Mr. Hinton, Sir Thomas Garland--he heard wonders +of the monks' way of living up there, and I wished to let him judge for +himself.' + +'Ah, that accounts for it,' said the tall man to himself. 'We have had a +sad affair of it, Father Tom. Poor Tarleton has been murdered.' + +'Murdered!' said the priest, with an expression of horror in his +countenance I could scarcely believe feigned. + +'Yes, murdered! The house was attacked a little after midnight. The +party must have been a large one, for while they forced in the hall +door, the haggard and the stables were seen in a blaze. Poor George +had just retired to bed, a little later than usual; for his sons had +returned a few hours before from Dublin, where they had been to attend +their college examination. The villains, however, knew the house well, +and made straight for his room. He got up in an instant, and seizing a +sabre that hung beside his bed, defended himself, with the courage of +desperation, against them all. The scuffle and the noise soon brought +his sons to the spot, who, although mere boys, behaved in the most +gallant manner. Overpowered at last by numbers, and covered with wounds, +they dragged poor Tarleton downstairs, shouting out as they went, “Bring +him down to Freney's! Let the bloody villain see the black walls and +the cold hearth he has made, before he dies!” It was their intention to +murder him on the spot where, a few weeks before, a distress for rent +had been executed against some of his tenants. He grasped the banisters +with a despairing clutch, while fixing his eyes upon his servant, who +had lived with him for some years past, he called out to him in his +agony to save him; but the fellow came deliberately forward and held the +flame of a candle beneath the dying man's fingers, until he relaxed his +hold and fell back among his murderers. Yes, yes, father, Henry Tarleton +saw it with his own eyes, for while his brother was stretched senseless +on the floor, he was struggling with the others at the head of the +staircase; and, strange enough too, they never hurt the boys, but when +they had wreaked their vengeance on the father, bound them back to back, +and left them.' + +'Can you identify any of them?' said the priest, with intense emotion in +his voice and manner. + +'Scarcely, I fear; their faces were blackened, and they wore shirts over +their coats. Henry thinks he could swear to two or three of the number; +but our best chance of discovery lies in the fact that several of them +were badly wounded, and one in particular, whom he saw cut down by +his father's sabre, was carried downstairs by his comrades, bathed in +blood.' + +'He didn't recognise him?' said the priest eagerly. + +'No; but here comes the poor boy, so I'll wish you good-morning.' + +He put spurs to his horse as he spoke and dashed forward, followed by +the dragoons; while at the same moment, on the opposite side of the +road, a young man--pale, with his dress disordered, his arm in a +sling--rode by. He never turned a look aside; his filmy eye was fixed, +as it were, on some far-off object, and he seemed scarce to guide his +horse as he galloped onward over the rugged road. + +The priest relaxed his pace to permit the crowd of horsemen to pass +on, while his countenance once more assumed its drooping and despondent +look, and he relapsed into his former silence. + +'You see that high mountain to the left there?' said he after a long +pause. 'Well, our road lies around the foot of it; and, please God, +by to-morrow evening we 'll be some five-and-twenty miles on the other +side, in the heart of my own wild country, with the big mountains behind +you, and the great blue Atlantic rearing its frothing waves at your +feet.' He stopped for an instant, and then grasping my arm with his +strong hand, continued in a low, distinct voice: 'Never speak to me nor +question me about what we saw last night, and try only to remember it +as a dream. And now let me tell you how I intend to amuse you in the far +west.' + +Here the priest began a spirited and interesting description of the +scenery and the people--their habits, their superstitions, and their +pastimes. He sustained the interest of his account with legend and +story, now grave, now gay--sometimes recalling a trait from the older +history of the land; sometimes detailing an incident of the fair or the +market, but always by his wonderful knowledge of the peasantry, +their modes of thinking and reasoning, and by his imitation of their +figurative and forcible expressions, able to carry me with him, whether +he took the mountain's side for his path, sat beside some cotter's +turf-fire, or skimmed along the surface of the summer sea in the frail +bark of an Achill fisherman. I learned from him that in the wild region +where he lived there were above fifteen thousand persons, scarce one of +whom could speak or understand a word of English. Of these he was not +only the priest, but the ruler and judge. Before him all their disputes +were settled, all their differences reconciled. His word, in the +strongest sense of the phrase, was law--not indeed to be enforced by +bayonets and policemen, by constables and sheriffs' officers, but which +in its moral force demanded obedience, and would have made him who +resisted it an outcast among his fellows. + +'We are poor,' said the priest, 'but we are happy. Crime is unknown +among us, and the blood of man has not been shed in strife for fifty +years within the barony. When will ye learn this in England? When will +ye know that these people may be led, but never driven; that they may be +persuaded, but never compelled? When will ye condescend to bend so far +the prerogative of your birth, your riches, and your rank, as to reason +with the poor and humble peasant that looks up to you for protection? +Alas! my young friend, were you to ask me what is the great source of +misery of this unhappy land, I should tell you the superior intelligence +of its people. I see a smile, but hear me out. Unlike the peasantry of +other countries, they are not content. Their characters are mistaken, +their traits misconstrued---partly from indifference, partly from +prejudice, and in a great measure because it is the fashion to recognise +in the tiller of the soil a mere drudge, with scarce more intelligence +than the cattle in his plough or the oxen in his team. But here you +really have a people quick, sharp-sighted, and intelligent, able to +scan your motives with ten times the accuracy you can guess at theirs; +suspicious, because their credulity has been abused; revengeful, because +their wild nature knows no other vindicator than their own right arm; +lawless, for they look upon your institutions as the sources of their +misery and the instruments of your tyranny towards them; reckless, for +they have nothing to lose; indolent, for they have nothing to gain. +Without an effort to win their confidence or secure their good-will, +you overwhelm them with your institutions, cumbrous, complicated, +and unsuitable; and while you neglect or despise all appeal to their +feelings or affections, you place your faith in your soldiery or a +special commission. Heaven help you! you may thin them off by the +gallows and transportation, but the root of the evil is as far from you +as ever. You do not know them, you will not know them. More prone to +punish than prevent, you are satisfied with the working of the law, and +not shocked with the accumulation of crime; and when, broken by poverty +and paralysed by famine, a gloomy desolation spreads over the land, you +meet in terms of congratulation to talk over tranquilised Ireland.' + +In this strain did the good priest continue to develop his views +concerning his country--the pivot of his argument being, that, to a +people so essentially different in every respect, English institutions +and English laws were inadequate and unsuitable. Sometimes I could +not only but agree with him. At others I could but dimly perceive his +meaning and dissent from the very little I could catch. + +Enough of this, however. In a biography so flimsy as mine, politics +would play but an unseemly part; and even were it otherwise, my +opportunities were too few and my own incapacity too great to make my +opinions of any value on a subject so complicated and so vast. Still, +the topic served to shorten the road, and when towards evening we +found ourselves in the comfortable parlour of the little inn at +Ballyhocsousth,* so far had we both regained our spirits that once more +the priest's jovial good-humour irradiated his happy countenance; and +I myself, hourly improving in health and strength, felt already the +bracing influence of the mountain air, and that strong sense of liberty +never more thoroughly appreciated than when regaining vigour after the +sufferings of a sick-bed. + + * Town of the Fight of Flails. + +We were seated by an open window, looking out upon the landscape. It was +past sunset, and the tall shadows of the mountains were meeting across +the lake, like spirits who waited for the night-hour to interchange +their embraces. A thin pale crescent of a new moon marked the blue sky, +but did not dim the lustre of the thousand stars that glittered round +it. All was hushed and still, save the deep note of the rail, or the +measured plash of oars heard from a long distance. The rich meadows that +sloped down to the water sent up their delicious odours in the balmy +air, and there stole over the senses a kind of calm and peaceful +pleasure as such a scene at such an hour can alone impart. + +'This is beautiful--this is very beautiful, father,' said I. + +'So it is, sir,' said the priest. 'Let no Irishman wander for scenery; +he has as much right to go travel in search of wit and good fellowship. +We don't want for blessings; all we need is, to know how to enjoy them. +And, believe me, there is a plentiful feast on the table if gentlemen +would only pass down the dishes. And, now, that reminds me: what are +you drinking--negus? I wouldn't wish it to my greatest enemy. But, to be +sure, I am always forgetting you are not one of ourselves. There, reach +me over that square decanter. It wouldn't have been so full now if we +had had poor Bob here--poor fellow! But one thing is certain---wherever +he is, he is happy. I believe I never told you how he got into his +present scrape.' + +'No, father; and that's precisely the very thing I wish to ask you.' + +'You shall hear it, and it isn't a bad story in its way. But don't you +think the night-air is a little too much for you? Shall we close the +window?' + +'If it depend on me, father, pray leave it open.' + +'Ha, ha! I was forgetting again,' said the old fellow, laughing +roguishly--'_Stella sunt amantium oculi_, as Pharis says. There now, +don't be blushing, but listen to me. + +'It was somewhere about last November that Bob got a quiet hint from +some one at Daly's that the sooner he got out of Dublin the more +conducive it would be to his personal freedom, as various writs were +flying about the capital after him. He took the hint, and set off the +same night, and reached his beautiful château of Newgate without let +or molestation--which having victualled for the winter, he could, if +necessary, sustain in it a reasonable siege against any force the law +was likely to bring up. The house had an abundant supply of arms. There +were guns that figured in '41, pikes that had done good service a little +later, swords of every shape, from the two-handed weapon of the twelfth +century to a Roman pattern made out of a scythe by a smith in +the neighbourhood; but the grand terror of the country was an old +four-pounder of Cromwell's time, that the Major had mounted on the roof, +and whose effects, if only proportionately injurious to the enemy to the +results nearer home, must indeed have been a formidable engine, for +the only time it was fired--I believe to celebrate Bob's birthday--it +knocked down a chimney with the recoil, blew the gardener and another +man about ten feet into the air, and hurled Bob himself through a +skylight into the housekeeper's room. No matter for that; it had a great +effect in raising the confidence of the country-people, some of whom +verily believed that the ball was rolling for a week after. + +'Bob, I say, victualled the fortress; but he did more, for he assembled +all the tenants, and in a short but pithy speech told them the state of +his affairs, explaining with considerable eloquence what a misfortune it +would be for them if by any chance they were to lose him for a landlord. + +'“See, now, boys,” said he, “there's no knowing what misfortune wouldn't +happen ye; they'd put a receiver on the property--a spalpeen with +bailiffs and constables after him--that would be making you pay up +the rent, and 'faith I wouldn't say but maybe he 'd ask you for the +arrears.” + +'“Oh, murther, murther! did any one ever hear the like!” the people +cried on every side; and Bob, like a clever orator, continued to picture +forth additional miseries and misfortunes to them if such a calamitous +event were to happen, explaining at the same time the contemptible +nature of the persecution practised against him. + +'“No, boys,” cried he, “there isn't a man among them all that has the +courage to come down and ask for his money, face to face; but they set +up a pair of fellows they call John Doe and Richard Roe--there's names +for you! Did you ever hear of a gentleman in the country with names like +that? But that's not the worst of it, for you see even these two chaps +can't be found. It's truth I'm telling you, and some people go so far +as to say that there is no such people at all, and it's only a way they +have to worry and annoy country gentlemen with what they call a fiction +of the law; and my own notion is, that the law is nothing but lies and +fiction from beginning to end.” + +'A very loud cheer from Bob's audience proclaimed how perfectly they +coincided in his opinion; and a keg of whisky being brought into the +lawn, each man drained a glass to his health, uttering at the same time +a determination with respect to the law-officers of the crown that boded +but little happiness to them when they made a tour in the neighbourhood. + +'In about a week after this there was a grand drawing-home: that's, you +understand, what we call in Ireland bringing in the harvest. And sure +enough, the farmyard presented a very comely sight, with ricks of hay, +and stacks of corn and oats and barley, and outhouses full of potatoes, +and in fact everything the country produces, besides cows and horses, +sheep, pigs, goats, and even turkeys; for most of the tenants paid their +rents in kind, and as Bob was an easy landlord, very few came without a +little present--a game-cock, a jackass, a ram, or some amusing beast or +other. Well, the next day--it was a fine dry day with a light frost, and +as the bog was hard, Bob sent them all away to bring in the turf. Why, +then, but it is a beautiful sight, Captain, and I wish you saw it--maybe +two or three hundred cars all going as fast as they can pelt, on a fine +bright day, with a blue sky and a sharp air, the boys standing up in the +kishes driving without rein or halter, always at a gallop--for all the +world like Ajax, Ulysses, and the rest of them that we read of; and the +girls, as pretty craytures as ever you threw an eye upon, with their +short red petticoats, and their hair plaited and fastened up at the back +of their heads: on my conscience the Trojan women was nothing to them! + +'But to come back. Bob Mahon was coming home from the bog about five +o'clock in the evening, cantering along on a little dun pony he had, +thinking of nothing at all, except maybe the elegant rick of turf that +he 'd be bringing home in the morning, when what did he see before him +but a troop of dragoons, and at their head old Basset, the sub-sheriff, +and another fellow whose face he had often seen in the Four Courts of +Dublin. “By the mortial,” said Bob, “I am done for!” for he saw in a +moment that Basset had waited until all the country-people were employed +at a distance, to come over and take him. However, he was no ways +discouraged, but brushing his way through the dragoons, he rode up +beside Basset's gig, and taking a long pistol out of the holster, he +began to examine the priming as cool as may be. + +“'How are you, Nick Basset?” said Bob; “and where are you going this +evening?” + +'“How are you, Major?” said Basset, with his eye all the while upon the +pistol. “It is an unpleasant business, a mighty unpleasant business +to me, Major Bob,” says he; “but the truth is, there is an execution +against you, and my friend here, Mr. Hennessy--Mr. Hennessy, Major +Mahon--asked me to come over with him, because as I knew you----” + +'“Well, well,” said Bob, interrupting him. “Have you a writ against me? +Is it me you want?” + +'“Nothing of the kind, Major Mahon. God forbid we 'd touch a hair of +your head. It's just a kind of a capias, as I may say, nothing more.” + +'“And why did you bring the dragoons with you?” said Bob, looking at him +mighty hard. + +'Basset looked very sheepish, and didn't know what to say; but Mahon +soon relieved him--- + +'“Never mind, Nick, never mind; you can't help your trade. But how would +you look if I was to raise the country on ye?” + +'“You wouldn't do the like, Major; but surely, if you did, the +troops----” + +'“The troops!” said Bob; “God help you! we'd be twenty, ay, thirty to +one. See now, if I give a whistle, this minute----” + +'“Don't distress yourself, Major,” said Basset, “for the decent people +are a good six miles off at the bog, and couldn't hear you if you +whistled ever so loud.” + +'The moment he said this Bob saw that the old rogue was up to him, and +he began to wonder within himself what was best to be done. + +'“See now, Nick,” said he, “it isn't like a friend to bring up all these +red-coats here upon me, before my tenantry, disgracing me in the face +of my people. Send them back to the town, and go up yourself with Mr. +Hennessy there, and do whatever you have to do.” + +'“No, no!” screamed Hennessy, “I'll never part with the soldiers!” + +'“Very well,” said Bob, “take your own way, and see what will come of +it.” + +'He put spurs to his pony as he said this, and was just striking into +the gallop when Nick called out-- + +'“Wait a bit, Major! wait a bit! If we leave the dragoons where we are +now, will you give us your word of honour not to hurt or molest us in +the discharge of our duty, nor let any one else do so?” + +'“I will,” said Bob, “now that you talk reasonably; I'll treat you +well.” + +'After a little parley it was settled that part of the dragoons were +to wait on the road, and the rest of them in the lawn before the house, +while Nick and his friend were to go through the ceremony of seizing +Bob's effects, and make an inventory of everything they could find. + +'“A mere matter of form, Major Mahon,” said he. “We 'll make it as short +as possible, and leave a couple of men in possession; and as I know the +affair will be arranged in a few days----” + +'“Of course,” says Bob, laughing; “nothing easier. So come along now and +let me show you the way.” + +'When they reached the house, Bob ordered up dinner at once, and behaved +as politely as possible, telling them it was early, and they would have +plenty of time for everything in the evening. But whether it was that +they had no appetite just then, or that they were not over-easy in their +minds about Bob himself, they declined everything, and began to set +about their work. To it they went with pen and ink, putting down all the +chairs and tables, the cracked china, the fire-irons, and at last Bob +left them counting over about twenty pairs of old top-boots that stood +along the wall of his dressing-room. + +'“Ned,” said Bob to his own man, “get two big padlocks and put them on +the door of the hayloft as fast as you can.” + +'“Sure it is empty, sir,” said Ned. “Barrin' the rats, there's nothing +in it.” + +'“Don't I know that as well as you?” said Bob; “but can't you do as you +are bid? And when you've done it, take the pony and gallop over to the +bog, and tell the people to throw the turf out of their carts and gallop +up here as fast as they can.” + +'He'd scarcely said it when Nick called out, “Now, Major, for the +farmyard, if you please.” And so taking Hennessy's arm, Bob walked out, +followed by the two big bailiffs, that never left them for a moment. +To be sure it was a great sight when they got outside, and saw all +the ricks and stacks as thick as they could stand; and so they began +counting and putting them down on paper, and the devil a thing they +forgot, not even the boneens and the bantams; and at last Nick fixed +his eye upon the little door into the loft, upon which now two great big +padlocks were hanging. + +'“I suppose it 's oats you have up there, Major?” said he. + +'“No, indeed,” said Bob, looking a little confused. + +'“Maybe seed-potatoes?” said Hennessy. + +'“Nor it neither,” said he. + +'“Barley, it's likely?” cried Nick; “it is a fine dry loft.” + +'“No,” said Bob, “it is empty.” + +'And with that he endeavoured to turn them away and get them back into +the house; but old Basset turned back, and fixing his eye upon the door, +shook his head for a couple of minutes. + +'“Well,” said he, “for an empty loft it has the finest pair of padlocks +I ever looked at. Would there be any objection, Major, to our taking a +peep into it?” + +'“None,” said Bob; “but I haven't a ladder that long in the place.” + +'“I think this might reach,” said Hennessy, as he touched one with his +foot that lay close along the wall, partly covered with straw. + +'“Just the thing,” said Nick; while poor Bob hung down his head and +said nothing. With that they raised the ladder and placed it against the +door. + +'“Might I trouble you for the key, Major Mahon?” said Hennessy. + +'“I believe it is mislaid,” said Bob, in a kind of sulky way, at which +they both grinned at each other, as much as to say, “We have him now.” + +'“You 'll not take it amiss then, Major, if we break the door?” said +Nick. + +'“You may break it and be hanged!” said Bob, as he stuck his hands into +his pockets and walked away. + +'“This will do,” cried one of the bailiffs, taking up a big stone as he +mounted the ladder, followed by Nick, Hennessy, and the other. + +[Illustration: 413] + +'It took some time to smash the locks, for they were both strong ones, +and all the while Nick and his friend were talking together in great +glee; but poor Bob stood by himself against a hayrick, looking as +melancholy as might be. At last the locks gave way, and down went the +door with a bang. The bailiffs stepped in, and then Nick and the other +followed. It took them a couple of minutes to satisfy themselves that +the loft was quite empty; but when they came back again to the door, +what was their surprise to discover that Bob was carrying away the +ladder upon his shoulders to a distant part of the yard. + +'“Holloa, Major!” cried Basset, “don't forget us up here!” + +'“Devil a fear of that,” said Bob; “few that know you ever forget you.” + +'“We are quite satisfied, sir,” said Hennessy; “what you said was +perfectly correct.” + +'“And why didn't you believe it before, Mr. Hennessy? You see what you +have brought upon yourself.” + +'“You are not going to leave us up here, sir,” cried Hennessy; “will you +venture upon false imprisonment?” + +“'I'd venture on more than that, if it were needful; but see now, when +you get back, don't be pretending that I didn't offer to treat you well, +little as you deserved it, I asked you to dinner, and would have given +you your skinful of wine afterwards; but you preferred your own dirty +calling, and so take the consequences.” + +'While he was speaking a great cheer was heard, and all the +country-people came galloping into the yard with their turf cars. + +'“Be alive now, my boys!” cried Bob. “How many cars have you?” + +'“Seventy, sir, here; but there is more coming.” + +'“That'll do,” said he; “so now set to work and carry away all the oats +and the wheat, the hay, barley, and potatoes. Let some of you take the +calves and the pigs, and drive the bullocks over the mountain to Mr. +Bodkin's. Don't leave a turkey behind you, boys, and make haste; for +these gentlemen have so many engagements I can scarcely prevail on them +to pass more than a day or two amongst us.” + +'Bob pointed as he spoke to the four figures that stood trembling at the +hayloft door. A loud cheer, and a roar of laughter to the full as loud, +answered his speech; and at the same moment to it they went, loading +their cars with the harvest or the live-stock as fast as they could. +To be sure, such a scene was never witnessed--the sheep bleating, pigs +grunting, fowls cackling, men and women all running here and there +laughing like mad, and Nick Basset himself swearing like a trooper the +whole time that he'd have them all hanged at the next assizes. Would +you believe, the harvest it took nearly three weeks to bring home was +carried away that night and scattered all over the country at different +farms, where it never could be traced; all the cattle too were taken +away, and before sunrise there wasn't as much as a sheep or a lamb left +to bleat on the lawn. + +'The next day Bob set out on a visit to a friend at some distance, +leaving directions with his people to liberate the gentlemen in the +hayloft in the course of the afternoon. The story made a great noise in +the country; but before people were tired laughing at it an action was +entered against Bob for false imprisonment, and heavy damages awarded +against him. So that you may see there was a kind of poetic justice in +the manner of his capture, for after all it was only trick for trick.' + +The worthy priest now paused to mix another tumbler, which, when he had +stirred and tasted and stirred again, he pushed gently before him on the +table, and seemed lost in reverie. + +'Yes,' said he half aloud, 'it is a droll country we live in; and +there's not one of us doesn't waste more ingenuity and display more +cunning in getting rid of his fortune than the cleverest fellows +elsewhere evince in accumulating theirs. But you are looking a little +pale, I think; these late hours won't suit you, so I 'll just send you +to bed.' + +I felt the whole force of my kind friend's advice, and yielding +obedience at once, I shook him by the hand and wished him good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. MURRANAKILTY + +If my kind reader is not already tired of the mountain-road and the wild +west, may I ask him--dare I say her?--to accompany me a little farther, +while I present another picture of its life? + +You see that bold mountain, jagged and rugged in outline, like the spine +of some gigantic beast, that runs far out into the Atlantic, and ends in +a bold, abrupt headland, against which the waves, from the very coast of +Labrador, are beating without one intervening rock to break their force? +Carry your eye along its base, to where you can mark a little clump of +alder and beech, with here and there a taper poplar interspersed, and +see if you cannot detect the gable of a long, low, thatched house, that +lies almost buried in the foliage. Before the door a little patch of +green stretches down to the shore, where a sandy beach, glowing in all +the richness of a morning sun, glitters with many a shell and brilliant +pebble. That, then, is Murranakilty. + +But approach, I beg you, a little nearer. Let me suppose that you have +traced the winding of that little bay, crossing the wooden bridge over +the bright trout stream, as it hastens on to mingle its waters with the +ocean; you have climbed over the rude stile, and stopped for an instant +to look into the holy well, in whose glassy surface the little wooden +crucifix above is dimly shadowed, and at length you stand upon the lawn +before the cottage. What a glorious scene is now before you! On the +opposite side of the bay, the mountain, whose summit is lost among the +clouds, seems as it were cleft by some earthquake force; and through its +narrow gorge you can trace the blue water of the sea passing in, while +each side of the valley is clothed with wood. The oak of a hundred +years, here sheltered from the rude wind of the Atlantic, spreads its +luxuriant arms, while the frothy waves are breaking at its feet. High, +however, above their tops you may mark the irregular outline of a large +building, with battlements and towers and massive walls, and one tall +and loopholed turret, that rises high into the air, and around whose +summit the noisy rooks are circling in their flight. That is Kilmorran +Castle, the residence of Sir Simon Bellew. There, for centuries past, +his ancestors were born and died; there, in the midst of that wild and +desolate grandeur, the haughty descendants of an ancient house lived on +from youth to age, surrounded by all the observances of feudal state, +and lording it far and near, for many a mile, with a sway and power that +would seem to have long since passed away. + +You carry your eye seaward, and I perceive your attention is fixed upon +the small schooner that lies anchored in the offing; her topsail is in +the clews, and flaps lazily against the mast, as she rolls and pitches +in the breaking surge. The rake of her low masts and the long boom that +stretches out far beyond her taffrail have, you deem it, a somewhat +suspicious look; and you are right. She is _La Belle Louise_, a +smuggling craft from Dieppe, whose crew, half French, half Irish, would +fight her to the gunwale, and sink with but never surrender her. You +hear the plash of oars, and there now you can mark the eight-oared gig +springing to the stroke, as it shoots from the shore and heads out to +sea. Sir Simon loves claret, and like a true old Irish gentleman he +drinks it from the wood; there may, therefore, be some reason why those +wild-looking red-caps have pulled in shore. + +But now I'll ask you to turn to an humbler scene, and look within that +room where the window, opened to the ground, is bordered by blossoming +honeysuckle. It is the priest's parlour. At a little breakfast-table, +whose spotless cloth and neat but simple equipage has a look of +propriety and comfort, is seated one whose gorgeous dressing-gown and +lounging attitude seem strangely at variance with the humble objects +around him. He seems endeavouring to read a newspaper, which ever and +anon he lays down beside him, and turns his eyes in the direction of the +fire; for although it is July, yet a keen freshness of the morning air +makes the blazing turf by no means objectionable. He looks towards the +fire, perhaps you would say, lost in his own thoughts and musings; but +no, truth must out, and his attention is occupied in a very different +way. Kneeling before the fire is a young and lovely country-girl, +engaged in toasting a muffin for the priest's breakfast. Her features +are flushed, partly with shame, partly with heat; and as now and then +she throws back her long hair from her face with an impatient toss of +her head, she steals a glance at the stranger from a pair of eyes so +deeply blue that at first you were unjust enough to think them black. + +Her dress is a low bodice, and a short skirt of that brilliant dye the +Irish peasant of the west seems to possess the secret for. The jupe is +short, I say; and so much the better for you, as it displays a pair of +legs which, bare of shoe or stocking, are perfect in their symmetry--the +rounded instep and the swelling ankle chiselled as cleanly as a statue +of Canova. + +And now, my good reader, having shown you all this, let me proceed with +my narrative. + +'And sure now, sir, wouldn't it be better for you, and you sickly, to +be eating your breakfast, and not be waiting for Father Tom? Maybe he +wouldn't come in this hour yet.' + +'No, thank you, Mary; I had rather wait. I hope you are not so tired of +my company that you want an excuse to get away?' + +'Ah, be aisy now, if you plaze, sir! It's myself that's proud to be +talking to you.' And as she spoke she turned a pair of blue eyes upon me +with such a look that I could not help thinking if the gentlemen of +the west be exposed to such, their blood is not as hot as is reputed. +I suppose I looked as much; for she blushed deeply, and calling out, +'Here's Father Tom!' sprang to her legs and hurried from the room. + +'Where are you scampering that way?' cried the good priest, as he passed +her in the hall. 'Ah, Captain, Captain! behave yourself!' + +'I protest, father----' cried I. + +'To be sure you do! Why wouldn't you protest? But see now, it was your +business brought me out this morning. Hand me over the eggs; I am +as hungry as a hawk. The devil is in that girl--they are as hard as +bullets! I see how it was, plain enough. It's little she was thinking of +the same eggs. Well, well! this is an ungrateful world; and only think +of me, all I was doing for you.' + +'My dear father, you are quite wrong----' + +'No matter. Another slice of bacon. And, after all, who knows if I +have the worst of it? Do you know, now, that Miss Bellew has about the +softest cheek----' + +'What the devil do you mean?' said I, reddening. 'Why, just that I was +saluting her _à la Française_ this morning; and I never saw her look +handsomer in my life. It was scarce seven o'clock when I was over at +Kilmorran, but, early as it was, I caught her making breakfast for me; +and, father and priest that I am, I couldn't help feeling in love with +her. It was a beautiful sight just to watch her light step and graceful +figure moving about the parlour--now opening the window to let in the +fresh air of the morning; now arranging a bouquet of moss-roses; now +busying herself among the breakfast things, and all the while stealing a +glance at Sir Simon, to see if he were pleased with what she was doing. +He'll be over here by-and-by, to call on you; and, indeed, it is an +attention he seldom pays any one, for latterly, poor fellow, he is not +over satisfied with the world--and if the truth were told, he has not +had too much cause to be so.' + +'You mentioned to him, then, that I was here?' 'To be sure I did; and +the doing so cost me a scalded finger; for Miss Louisa, who was pouring +out my tea at the moment, gave a jerk with her hand, and spilled the +boiling water all over me.--Bad cess to you, Mary, but you've spoiled +the toast this morning! half of it never saw the fire, and the other +half is as black as my boot.--But, as I was saying, Sir Simon knows all +about you, and is coming over to ask us to dine there--though I offered +to give the invitation myself, and accept it first; but he is very +punctilious about these things, and wouldn't hear of anything but doing +it in the regular way.' + +'Did he allude to Mr. Ulick Burke's affair?' + +'Not a word. And even when I wished to touch on it for the sake of +a little explanation, he adroitly turned the subject, and spoke of +something else. But it is drawing late, and I have some people to see +this morning; so come along now into my little library here, and I'll +leave you for a while to amuse yourself.' + +The priest led me, as he spoke, into a small room, whose walls were +covered with books from the floor to the ceiling; even the very door +by which we entered had its shelves, like the rest, so that when once +inside you could see no trace of it. A single window looked seaward, +towards the wide Atlantic, and presented a view of many miles of coast, +indented with headland and promontory. Beneath, upon the placid sea, was +a whole fleet of fishing-boats, the crews of which were busily engaged +in collecting the sea-weed to manure the land. The sight was both +curious and picturesque. The light boats, tossing on the heavy swell, +were crowded with figures whose attitude evinced all the eagerness of a +chase. Sometimes an amicable contest would arise between two parties, as +their boat-hooks were fixed in the same mass of tangled weed. Sometimes +two rival crews would be seen stretching upon their oars, as they headed +out to sea in search of a new prize. The merry voices and the loud +laughter, however, that rose above all other sounds, told that +good-humour and goodwill never deserted them in all the ardour of the +contest. + +Long after the priest left me, I continued to watch them. At last I set +myself to explore the good father's shelves, which I found, for the most +part, were filled with portly tomes of divinity and polemics--huge folio +copies of Saint Augustine, Origen, Eusebius, and others; innumerable +volumes of learned tractates on disputed points in theology--none of +which possessed any interest for me. In one corner, however, beside the +fire, whose convenience to the habitual seat of Father Tom argued that +they were not least in favour with his reverence, was an admirable +collection of the French dramatists--Molière, Beaumarchais, Racine, and +several more. These were a real treat; and seating myself beside the +window, I prepared, for about the twentieth time in my life, to read _La +Folle Journée_. + +I had scarcely got to the end of the second act, when the door was +gently opened, and Mary made her appearance--not in the deshabille of +the morning, however, but with a trim cotton gown, and smart shoes and +stockings; her hair, too, was neatly dressed, in the country fashion. +Yet still I was more than half disposed to think she looked even better +in her morning costume. + +The critical scrutiny of my glance had evidently disconcerted her, and +made her, for the moment, forget the object of her coming. She looked +down and blushed; she fiddled with the corner of her apron, and at last, +recollecting herself, she dropped a little curtsy, and, opening the door +wide, announced Sir Simon Bellew. + +'Mr. Hinton, I believe,' said Sir Simon, with a slight smile, as he +bowed himself into the apartment; 'will you allow me to introduce +myself--Sir Simon Bellew.' + +The baronet was a tall, thin, meagre-looking old man, somewhat stooped +by age, but preserving, both in look and gesture, not only the remains +of good looks, but the evident traces of one habituated to the world. +His dress was very plain; but the scrupulous exactitude of his powdered +cue, and the massive gold-headed cane he carried, showed he had not +abandoned those marks of his position so distinctive of rank in those +days. He wore, also, large and handsome buckles in his shoes; but in +every other particular his costume was simplicity itself. Conversing +with an ease which evinced his acquaintance with all the forms of +society, he touched shortly upon my former acquaintance with his +daughter, and acknowledged in terms slight, but suitable, how she had +spoken of me. His manner was, however, less marked by everything I had +deemed to be Irish than that of any other person I had met with in the +country; for while he expressed his pleasure at my visit to the west, +and invited me to pass some days at his house, his manner of doing so +had nothing whatever of the warmth and _empressement_ I had so often +seen. In fact, save a slight difference in accent, it was as English as +need be. + +Whether I felt disappointed at this, or whether I had myself adopted the +habite and prejudices of the land, I am unable to say, but certainly +I felt chilled and repulsed; and although our interview scarce lasted +twenty minutes, I was delighted when he rose to take his leave, and say, +good-morning. + +'You are good enough, then, to promise you 'll dine with us to-morrow, +Mr. Hinton. I need scarcely remark that I can have no party to meet you, +for this wild neighbourhood has denied us that; but as I am aware that +your visit to the west is less for society than scenery, perhaps I may +assure you you will not be disappointed. So now, _au revoir_.' Sir Simon +bowed deeply as he spoke, and, with a wave of his hat that would have +done honour to the court of Louis xv., he took his leave and departed. + +I followed him with my eye, as mounted on his old gray pony, he ambled +quietly down the little path that led to the shore. Albeit an old man, +his seat was firm, and not without a certain air of self-possession and +ease; and as he returned the salutations of the passing country-people, +he did so with the quiet dignity of one who felt he conveyed an honour +even in the recognition. There was something singular in the contrast +of that venerable figure with the wild grandeur of the scene; and as I +gazed after him, it set me thinking on the strange vicissitudes of life +that must have made such as he pass his days in the dreary solitude of +these mountains. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. SIR SIMON + +My journey had so far fatigued me that I wasn't sorry to have a day of +rest; and as Father Tom spent the greater part of it from home, I was +left to myself and my own reflections. The situation in which I found +myself was singular enough--the guest of a man whose acquaintance I had +made by chance, and who, knowing as little of me as I did of him, +yet showed by many an act of kindness, not less than by many a chance +observation, a deep interest in myself and my fortunes. Here, then, +I was--far from the sphere of my duties, neglecting the career I had +adopted, and suffering days, weeks, to pass over without bestowing a +thought upon my soldier life. + +Following on this train of thought, I could not help acknowledging to +myself that my attachment to Miss Bellew was the cause of my journey, +and the real reason of my wandering. However sanguine may be the heart +when touched by the first passion, the doubts that will now and then +shoot across it are painful and poignant; and now, in the calmness of my +judgment, I could not but see the innumerable obstacles my family +would raise to all my hopes. I well knew my father's predilection for a +campaigning life, and that nothing would compensate him for the +defeat of this expectation. I had but too many proofs of my mother's +aristocratic prejudices to suppose that she ever could acknowledge as +her daughter-in-law one whose pretensions to rank, although higher +than her own, were yet neither trumpeted by the world nor blazoned +by fashion. And lastly, changed as I was myself since my arrival in +Ireland, there was yet enough of the Englishman left in me to see how +unsuited was Louisa Bellew, in many respects, to be launched forth in +the torrent of London life, while yet her experience of the world was so +narrow and limited. Still, I loved her. The very artless simplicity of +her manner, the untutored freshness of her mind, had taught me to know +that even great personal attractions may be the second excellence of +a woman. And besides, I was just at that time of life when ambition is +least natural. One deems it more heroic to renounce all that is daring +in enterprise, all that is great in promise, merely to be loved. My mind +was therefore made up. The present opportunity was a good one to see her +frequently and learn thoroughly to know her tastes and her dispositions. +Should I succeed in gaining her affections, however opposed my family +might prove at first, I calculated on their fondness for me as an only +son, and knew that in regard to fortune I should be independent enough +to marry whom I pleased. + +In speculations such as these the time passed over; and although I +waited with impatience for the hour of our visit to Kilmorran Castle, +still, as the time drew near, many a passing doubt would flit across +me--how far I had mistaken the promptings of my own affection for any +return of my love. True it was, that more than once Louisa's look and +manner testified I was not indifferent to her; still, when I remembered +that I had ever seen her surrounded by persons she was anxious to avoid, +a suspicion crossed me that perhaps I owed the little preference +she showed me less to any qualities I possessed than to my own +unobtrusiveness. These were galling and unpleasant reflections; and +whither they might have led me I know not, when the priest tapped with +his knuckles at my window, and called out-- + +'Captain, we shall be late if you don't hurry a bit; and I had rather be +behind time with his gracious Majesty himself than with old Sir Simon.' + +I opened the window at once, and jumped out into the lawn. + +'My dear father, I've been ready this half-hour, but fell into a dreamy +fit and forgot everything. Are we to walk it?' + +'No, no; the distance is much greater than you think. Small as the bay +looks, it is a good three miles from this to Kilmorran; but here comes +your old friend the curriculus.' + +I once more mounted to my old seat, and the priest, guiding the horse +down to the beach, selected the strand, from which the waves had just +receded, as the hardest road, and pressed on at a pace that showed his +desire to be punctual. + +'Get along there. Nabocklish! How lazy the devil is! 'Faith, we'll be +late, do our best. Captain, darling, put your watch back a quarter of an +hour, and I'll stand to it that we are both by Dublin time.' + +'Is he, then, so very particular/ said I, 'as all that comes to?' + +'Particular, is it? 'Faith he is. Why, man, there is as much ringing +of bells before dinner in that house as if every room in it was crammed +with company. And the old butler will be there, all in black, and his +hair powdered, and beautiful silk stockings on his legs, every day in +the week, although, maybe, it is a brace of snipe will be all that is on +the table. Take the whip for a while, and lay into that baste--my heart +is broke flogging him.' + +Had Sir Simon only watched the good priest's exertions for the preceding +quarter of an hour, he certainly would have had a hard heart if he +had criticised his punctuality. Shouting one moment, cursing the next, +thrashing away with his whip, and betimes striding over the splash-board +to give a kick with his foot, he undoubtedly spared nothing in either +voice or gesture. + +'There, glory be to God!' cried he at last, as he turned sharp from the +shady road into a narrow avenue of tall lime-trees; 'take the reins, +Captain, till I wipe my face. Blessed hour, look at the state I am in! +Lift him to it, and don't spare him. May I never, if that isn't the last +bell, and he only gives five minutes after that!' + +Although I certainly should have preferred that Father Tom had continued +his functions as charioteer now that we were approaching the house, +common humanity, however, compelled me to spare him, and I flogged and +chucked the old beast with all my might up the rising ground towards +the house. I had but just time to see that the building before us was +a large embattled structure, which, although irregular and occasionally +incongruous in detail, was yet a fine specimen of the castellated Gothic +of the seventeenth century. Massive square towers flanked the angles, +themselves surmounted by smaller turrets, that shot up into the air high +above the dark woods around them. The whole was surrounded by a fosse, +now dry, and overgrown with weeds; but the terrace, which lay between +this and the castle, was laid out as a flower-garden, with a degree of +taste and beauty that to my mind at least bespoke the fostering hand of +Louisa Bellew. Upon this the windows of a large drawing-room opened, at +one of which I could mark the tall and stately figure of Sir Simon, as +he stood, watch in hand, awaiting our arrival. I confess, it was not +without a sense of shame that I continued my flagellations at +the moment. Under any circumstances, our turn-out was not quite +unexceptionable; but when I thought of my own position, and of the +good priest who sat beside me mopping his head and face with a huge red +cotton handkerchief, I cursed my stars for the absurd exposure. Just at +this instant the skirt of a white robe passed one of the windows, and I +thought--I hope it was but a thought--I heard a sound of laughter. + +'There, that will do. Phoebus himself couldn't do it better. I wouldn't +wish my worst enemy to be in a pair of shafts before you.' + +Muttering a curse on the confounded beast, I pulled short up and sprang +out. + +'Not late, Nicholas, I hope?' said the priest to a tall, thin old +butler, who bore a most absurd resemblance to his master. + +'Your reverence has a minute and a half yet; but the soup's on +the table.' As he spoke, he drew from his pocket a small bit of +looking-glass, in a wooden frame, and with a pocket-comb arranged his +hair in a most orderly and decorous manner; which being done, he turned +gravely round and said, 'Are ye ready, now, gentlemen?' + +The priest nodded, and forward we went. Passing through a suite of rooms +whose furniture, however handsome once, was now worm-eaten and injured +by time, we at length reached the door of the drawing-room, when the +butler, after throwing one more glance at us to assure himself that we +were in presentable array, flung the door wide open, and announced, with +the voice of a king-at-arms-- + +'The Reverend Father Loftus, and Mr. Hinton.' + +'Serve!' said Sir Simon, with a wave of his hand. While, advancing +towards us, he received us with most polished courtesy. 'You are most +welcome to Kilmorran, Mr. Hinton. I need not present my daughter.' + +He turned towards the priest, and the same moment I held Miss Bellow's +hand in mine. Dressed in white, and with her hair plainly braided on her +cheek, I thought she looked handsomer than I had ever seen her. There +was an air of assured calmness in her manner that sat well upon her +lovely features, as, with a tone of winning sweetness, she seconded the +words of her father, and welcomed me to Kilmorran. + +The first step in the knowledge of the female heart is to know how to +interpret any constraint or reserve of manner on the part of the woman +you are in love with. Your mere novice is never more tempted to despair +than at the precise moment his hopes should grow stronger; nor is he +ever so sanguine as when the prospect is gloomy before him. The quick +perceptions of even a very young girl enable her to perceive when she +is loved; and however disposed she may feel towards the individual, a +certain mixture of womanly pride and coquetry will teach her a kind of +reserve towards him. Now, there was a slight dash of this constrained +tone through Miss Bellow's manner to me; and little experience as I had +had in such matters, I knew enough to augur favourably from it. While +doing the honours of her house, a passing timidity would seem every now +and then to check her advances, and I could remark how carefully she +avoided any allusion, however slight, to our past acquaintance. + +The austerity of Sir Simon's manner at his first visit, as well as +the remarks of my friend the priest, had led me to suspect that our +dinner-party would prove cold, formal, and uncomfortable; indeed, the +baronet's constrained and measured courtesy in the drawing-room gave +me but little encouragement to expect anything better. Most agreeable, +therefore, was my disappointment to find that before the soup was +removed he had thawed considerably. The stern wrinkles of his haughty +face relaxed, and a bland and good-humoured smile had usurped the place +of his former fixed and determined look. Doing the honours of his table +with the most perfect tact, he contrived, while almost monopolising +the conversation, to appear the least obtrusive amongst us; his remarks +being ever accompanied by some appeal to his daughter, the priest, or +myself, seemed to link us in the interest of all he said, and make +his very listeners deem themselves entertaining and agreeable. +Unfortunately, I can present but a very meagre picture of this happy +gift; but I remember well how insensibly my prejudices gave way, one +by one, as I listened to his anecdotes, and heard him recount, with +admirable humour, many a story of his early career. To be sure, it +may be said that my criticism was not likely to be severe while seated +beside his beautiful daughter, whose cheek glowed with pleasure, +and whose bright eye glistened with added lustre as she remarked the +impression her father's agree-ability was making on his guests. Such +may, I doubt not, have increased the delight I felt; but Sir Simon's own +claims were still indisputable. + +I know not how far I shall meet my reader's concurrence in the remark, +but it appears to me that conversational talent, like wine, requires +age to make it mellow. The racy flavour that smacks of long knowledge +of life, the reflective tone that deepens without darkening the picture, +the freedom from exaggeration either in praise or censure, are not +the gifts of young men, usually; and certainly they do season the +intercourse of older ones, greatly to its advantage. There is, moreover, +a pleasant flattery in listening to the narratives of those who +were mixing with the busy world--its intrigues, its battles, and its +byplay--while we were but boys. How we like to hear of the social +everyday life of those great men of a bygone day, whose names have +become already historical; what a charm does it lend to reminiscence, +when the names of Burke, Sheridan, Grattan, and Curran start up amid +memories of youthful pleasure; and how we treasure every passing word +that is transmitted to us, and how much, in spite of all the glorious +successes of their after days, do we picture them to ourselves, from +some slight or shadowy trait of their school or college life! + +Sir Simon Bellow's conversation abounded in features of this kind. His +career had begun and continued for a long time in the brightest period +of Ireland's history--when wealth and genius were rife in the land, and +when the joyous traits of Irish character were elicited in all their +force by prosperity and happiness. It was then shone forth in all their +brilliancy the great spirits whose flashing wit and glittering fancy +have cast a sunlight over their native country that even now, in the +twilight of the past, continues to illumine it. Alas! they have had no +heritors to their fame; they have left no successors behind them. + +I have said that Miss Bellew listened with delight to all her father's +stores of amusement--happy to see him once more aroused to the exertion +of his abilities, and pleased to watch how successfully his manner +had won over us. With what added loveliness she looked up to him as +he narrated some circumstances of his political career, where his +importance with his party was briefly alluded to; and how proudly her +features glowed, as some passing sentiment of high and simple patriotism +would break from him! At such moments, the resemblance between them both +became remarkably striking, and I deemed her even more beautiful than +when her face wore its habitual calm and peaceful expression. + +Father Loftus himself seemed also to have undergone a change--no +longer indulging in his accustomed free-and-easy manner, seasoning +his conversation with droll allusions and sly jokes. He now appeared a +shrewd, intelligent reasoner, a well-informed man of the world, and at +times evidenced traits of reading and scholarship I was nowise prepared +for. But how vain is it for one of any other country to fathom one half +the depth of Irish character, or say what part is inapplicable to an +Irishman! My own conviction is that we are all mistaken in our estimate +of them; that the gay and reckless spirit, the wild fun, and frantic, +impetuous devilment are their least remarkable features, and in +fact only the outside emblem of the stirring nature within. Like the +lightning that flashes over the thunder-cloud, but neither influences +the breaking of the storm nor points to its course, so have I seen the +jest break from lips pale with hunger, and heard the laugh come free +and mellow when the heart was breaking in misery. But what a mockery of +mirth! + +When we retired to the drawing-room, Sir Simon, who had something to +communicate to Father Tom, took him apart into one of the deep window +recesses, and I was left for the first time alone beside Miss Bellew. +There was something of awkwardness in the situation; for as neither +of us could allude to the past without evoking recollections we both +shunned to touch on, we knew not well of what to speak. The window lay +open to the ground, displaying before us a garden in all the richness of +fruit and blossom; the clustering honeysuckle and the dog-rose hung in +masses of flower across the casement, and the graceful hyacinth and the +deep carnation were bending to the night-air, scented with the odour of +many a flower. I looked wistfully without. Miss Bellew caught my glance; +a slight hesitation followed, and then, as if assuming more courage, she +said-- + +'Are you fond of a garden? Would you like a walk?' + +The haste with which I caught at the proposal half disconcerted her; +but, with a slight smile, she stepped out into the walk. + +How I do like a large, old-fashioned garden with its venerable +fruit-trees, its shady alleys, its overgrown and tangled beds, in which +the very luxuriance sets all effort of art at defiance, and where rank +growth speaks of wild-ness rather than culture! I like those grassy +walks, where the footstep falls unheard; those shady thickets of +nut-trees, which the blackbird haunts in security, and where the thrush +sings undisturbed. What a sense of quiet home-happiness there breathes +in the leafy darkness of the spot, and how meet for reverie and +reflection does it seem! + +As I sauntered along beside my companion, these thoughts crowded on me. +Neither spoke; but her arm was in mine, our footsteps moved in unison, +our eyes followed the same objects, and I felt as though our hearts beat +responsively. On turning from one of the darker walks we suddenly came +upon an elevated spot, from which, through an opening in the wood, the +coast came into view, broken into many a rocky promontory, and dotted +with small islands. The sea was calm and waveless, and stretched away +towards the horizon in one mass of unbroken blue, where it blended with +the sky. An exclamation of 'How beautiful!' broke from me at once; and +as I turned towards Louisa, I perceived that her eyes sparkled with +pleasure, and a half blush was mantling her cheek. + +'You are not, then, disappointed with the west?' said she, with +animation. + +'No, no! I did not look for anything like this; nor,' added I, in a +lower tone, while the words trembled on my lips, 'did I hope to enjoy it +thus.' + +She seemed slightly confused, but with woman's readiness to turn the +meaning of my speech, added-- + +'Your recovery from illness doubtless gives a heightened pleasure to +everything like this. The dark hour of sickness is often needed to teach +us to feel strongly as we ought the beauty of the fair world we live +in.' + +'It may be so; but still I find that every sorrow leaves a scar upon the +heart, and he who has mourned much loses the zest for happiness.' + +'Or, rather, his views of it are different. I speak, happily for me, in +ignorance; yet it seems as though every trial in life was a preparation +for some higher scale of blissful enjoyment; and that as our +understandings mature in power, so do our hearts in goodness--chastening +at each ordeal of life, till at last the final sorrow, death, bids us +prepare for the eternity where there is no longer grief, and where the +weary are at rest.' + +'Is not your view of life rather derived from the happy experience of +this quiet spot than suited for the collisions of the world, where, as +men grow older, their consciences grow more seared, their hearts less +open?' + +'Perhaps; but is not my philosophy a good one that fits me for my +station? My life has been cast here; I have no wish to leave it. I hope +I never shall.' + +'Never! Surely, you would like to see other countries,--to travel?' + +'No, no! All the brilliant pleasures you can picture for me would never +requite the fears I must suffer lest these objects should grow less dear +to me when I came back to them. The Tyrol is doubtless grander in its +wild magnificence; but can it ever come home to my heart with so many +affections and memories as these bold cliffs I have gazed on in my +infancy; or should I benefit in happiness if it did? Can your Swiss +peasant, be his costume ever so picturesque, interest me one half as +much as yonder poor fisherman, who is carrying up his little child in +his arms from the beach? I know him, his home, his hearth; I have +seen his grateful smile for some small benefit, and heard his words of +thankfulness. And think you not that such recollections as these are all +mingled in every glance I throw around me, and that every sunlit spot +of landscape shines not more brightly in my heart for its human +associations? These may be narrow prejudices--I see you smile at me.' + +'No, no! Trust me, I do not undervalue your reasons.' + +'Well, here comes Father Loftus, and he shall be judge between us. +We were discussing the advantages of contrasting our home with other +countries----' + +'Ahem! A very difficult point,' said the priest, interrupting her, and +drawing himself up with a great air of judicial importance. '_Ubi bene, +ibi patria_--which may be rendered, “There's potatoes everywhere.” Not +that I incline to the doctrine myself. Ireland is the only enjoyable +country I know of. _Utamur creatura, dum possumus_--that means “a +moderate use of creature comforts,” Miss Louisa. But, troth, I'm +so heated with an argument I had with Sir Simon, that I'm no ways +competent---- Did I tell you he was waiting for his tea?' + +'No, indeed you did not,' said Miss Bellew, giving vent to a laugh she +had been struggling against for the last few minutes; and which I did +not at the moment know was caused by her perceiving the priest's air of +chagrin and discontent, the evident proofs of his being worsted by the +old baronet, whose chief pleasure in life was to worry the father into a +discussion, and either confuse or confute him. 'My father seems in such +good spirits to-night! Don't you think so?' said she roguishly, looking +over at the priest. + +'Never saw him better; quite lively and animated, and'--dropping his +voice to a whisper---'as obstinate as ever.' + +As we entered the house we found Sir Simon walking leisurely up and down +the drawing-room, with his hands behind his back, his face radiant with +smiles, and his eye gleaming with conscious triumph towards the corner +where the priest stood tumbling over some books to conceal his sense of +defeat. In a few minutes after we were seated round the tea-table; the +little cloud was dispelled, and a happier party it was difficult to +imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. ST. SENAN'S WELL + +How shall I trace this, the happiest period of my life, when days and +weeks rolled on and left no trace behind, save in that delicious calm +that stole over my senses gradually and imperceptibly! Each morning saw +me on my way to Castle Bellew. The mountain path that led up from the +little strand was well worn by my footsteps; I knew its every turn and +winding; scarcely a dog-rose bloomed along the way with which I had not +grown familiar. And how each object spoke to my heart! For I was happy. +The clouds that moved above, the rippling tide that flowed beneath, the +sunny shore, the shady thicket, were all to me as though I had known +them from boyhood. For so it is, in our glad moments we cling to +all things that surround us; and giving to external Nature the high +colouring of our own hearts, we feel how beautiful is this world. + +Yet was my mind not all tranquil; for often, as I hastened on, some +passing thought would shoot across me. Where is this to end? Can I hope +ever to overcome the deep-rooted prejudices of my family, and induce +them to receive amongst them as my wife the beautiful and artless +daughter of the wild west? Or could I dare to expose her, on whom all +my affections were centred, to the callous criticism of my fine +lady-mother, and her fashionable friends in London? What right had I +to stake Louisa's happiness on such a chance--to take her from all +the objects endeared to her by taste, by time, by long-hallowed +associations, and place her amid those among whom the very charm of her +untarnished nature would have made her their inferior? Is it that trait +of rebellious spirit that would seem to leaven every portion of our +nature which makes our love strongest when some powerful barrier has +been opposed to our hopes and wishes; or is it, rather, that in the +difficulties and trials of life we discover those deeper resources of +our hearts, that under happier auspices had lain dormant and unknown? +I scarcely know; but true it is, after such reflections as these I ever +hurried on the faster to meet Louisa, more resolutely bent than ever, in +weal or woe, to link my fortune with her own. + +Though I returned each night to the priest's cottage, my days were +entirely spent at Castle Bellew. How well do I remember every little +incident that marked their tranquil course! The small breakfast-parlour, +with its old Tudor window looking out upon the flower-garden--how often +have I paced it, impatient for her coming; turning ever and anon to the +opening door, where the old butler, with the invariable habitude of his +kind, continually appeared with some portion of the breakfast equipage! +How I started, as some distant door would shut or open, some far-off +footstep sound upon the stair, and wonder within myself why she felt not +some of this impatient longing! And when at last, tortured with anxiety +and disappointment, I had turned away towards the window, the gentle +step, the rustling dress, and, more than all, the indescribable +something that tells us we are near those we love, bespoke her +coming--oh, the transport of that moment! With what a fervid glow of +pleasure I sprang to meet her, to touch her hand, to look upon her! How +rapidly, too, I endeavoured to speak my few words of greeting, lest her +father's coming might interfere with even this short-lived period +of happiness; and, after all, how little meaning were in the words +themselves, save in the tone I spoke them! + +Then followed our rambles through the large but neglected garden, where +the rich blossoming fruit-tree scented the air, loaded with all the +fragrance of many a wild flower. Now strolling onwards, silent, but full +of thought, we trod some dark and shaded alley; now we entered upon some +open glade, where a view of the far-off mountains would break upon us, +or where some chance vista showed the deep-blue sunny sea swelling with +sullen roar against the rocky coast. How often, at such times as these, +have I asked myself if I could look for greater happiness than thus to +ramble on, turning from the stupendous majesty of Nature to look into +her eyes whose glance met mine so full of tender meaning, while words +would pass between us, few and low-voiced, but all so thrilling; their +very accents spoke of love! + +Yet, amid all this, some agonising doubt would shoot across me that my +affection was not returned. The very frankness of her nature made me +fear; and when we parted at night, and I held my homeward way towards +the priest's cottage, I would stop from time to time, conning over every +word she spoke, calling to mind each trivial circumstance; and if by +accident some passing word of jest» some look of raillery, recurred to +my memory, how have the warm tears rushed to my eyes, as with my heart +full to bursting I muttered to myself, 'She loves me not!' These fears +would then give way to hope, as in my mind's eye she stood before me, +all beaming in smiles. And amid these alternate emotions, I trod my +lonely path, longing for the morrow when we should meet again, when I +vowed within my heart to end my life of doubt by asking if she loved me. +But with that morrow came the same spell of happiness that lulled me; +and like the gambler who had set his life upon the die, and durst not +throw, so did I turn with trembling fear from tempting the chance that +might in a moment dispel the bright dream of my existence, and leave +life bleak and barren to me for ever. + +The month of August was drawing to a close, as we sauntered one fine +evening towards the sea-shore. There was a little path which wound round +the side of a bold crag, partly by steps, partly by a kind of sloping +way, defended at the sides by a rude wooden railing, which led down upon +the beach exactly at the spot where a well of clear spring-water sprang +up, and tracked its tiny stream into the blue ocean. This little spring, +which was always covered by the sea at high-water, was restored, on the +tide ebbing, to its former purity, and bubbled away as before; and from +this cause it had obtained from the simple peasantry the reputation of +being miraculous, and was believed to possess innumerable properties of +healing and consoling. + +I had often heard of it but never visited it before; and thither we now +bent our steps, more intent upon catching the glorious sunset that was +glowing on the Atlantic than of testing the virtues of St. Senan's Well, +for so was it called. The evening, an autumnal one, was calm and still; +not a leaf stirred; the very birds were hushed; and there was all that +solemn silence that sometimes threatens the outbreak of a storm. As we +descended the crag, however, the deep booming of the sea broke upon us, +and between the foliage of the oak-trees we could mark the heavy rolling +of the mighty tide, as wave after wave swelled on, and then was dashed +in foam and spray upon the shore. There was something peculiarly grand +and almost supernatural in the heavy swell of the great sea, rearing +its white crest afar and thundering along the weather-beaten rocks, when +everything else was calm and unmoved around; the deep and solemn roar, +echoing from many a rocky cavern, rose amid the crashing spray that sent +up a thin veil of mist, through which the setting sun was reflected in +many a bright rainbow. It was indeed a glorious sight, and we stopped +for several minutes gazing on it; when suddenly Louisa, letting go my +arm, exclaimed, as she pointed downwards-- + +'See, see the swell beneath that large black rock yonder! The tide is +making fast; we must get quickly down if you wish to test St. Senan's +power.' + +I had no time left me to ask what peculiar virtues the saint dispensed +through the mediation of his well, when she broke from my side and +hurried down the steep descent. In a moment we had reached the shore, +upon which already the tide was fast encroaching, and had marked with +its dark stain the yellow sand within a few feet of the well. As we drew +nearer, I perceived the figure of an old woman hent with age, who seemed +busily occupied sprinkling the water of the spring over something that, +as I came closer, seemed like a sailor's jacket. She was repeating +some words rapidly to herself; but on hearing our approach, she quickly +collected her bundle together under her remnant of a cloak, and sat +waiting our approach in silence. + +'It's Molly Ban!' said Louisa suddenly, and growing pale as she spoke. +'Give her something, if you have any money, I beseech you.' + +There was no opportunity for inquiring further about her now, for the +old woman slowly rose from the stone by the aid of a stick, and stood +confronting us. Her figure was singularly short, scarce four feet in +height; but her head was enormously large, and her features, which were +almost terrific in ugliness, were swarthy as a gypsy's. A man's hat was +fastened upon her head by a red kerchief which was knotted beneath her +chin; a short cloak of faded scarlet, like what the peasantry of the +west usually wear, covered her shoulders, beneath which a patched and +many-coloured petticoat appeared, that reached to the middle of her +legs, which, as well as her feet, were completely naked, giving the old +woman a look of wildness and poverty which I cannot attempt to convey. +The most singular part of her costume, however, was a rude collar she +wore round her neck of sea-shells, among which, here and there, I could +detect some bits of painted and gilded carving, like fragments of a +wreck. This strange apparition now stood opposite me, her dark eyes +fixed steadily on my companion, to whom, unlike the people of the +country, she never made the slightest reverence, or showed any semblance +of respect. + +'And was it to spy after me, Miss Loo, ye brought down yer sweetheart +to the well this evening?' said the hag, in a harsh, grating voice, that +seemed the very last effort of some suppressed passion. + +Louisa's arm grasped mine, and I could feel it tremble with agitation as +she whispered in my ear-- + +'Give her money quickly; I know her.' + +'And is your father going to send me back to jail because the cattle's +got the rot amongst them? Ha, ha, ha!' said she, breaking into a wild, +discordant laugh. 'There will be more mourning than for that at Castle +Bellew before long.' + +Louisa leaned against me, faint and almost falling, while drawing out my +purse hastily I held forth my hand full of silver. The old hag clutched +at it eagerly, and as her dark eyes flashed fire, she thrust the money +into a pocket at her side, and again broke out into a horrid laugh. + +'So, you're beginnin' to know me, are ye? Ye won't mock Molly Ban now, +eh? No, 'faith, nor Mary Lafferty either, that turned me from the door +and shut it agin me. Where 'll her pride be to-morrow night, when they +bring in her husband a corpse to her? Look at that!' + +With these words she threw her cloak on one side, and showed the blue +jacket of a fisherman which I had seen her sprinkling with the water as +we came up. + +'The blue water will be his winding-sheet this night, calm as it is +now.' + +'Oh, Molly dear, don't speak this way!' + +'Molly dear!' echoed the beldame, in an accent of biting derision. 'Who +ever heerd one of your name call me that? Or are ye come for a charm +for that young man beside you? See, now! the sun's just gone; in a minit +more the sea 'll be in, and it'll be too late. Here, come near me! kneel +down there! kneel down, I say! or is it only my curse ye mind?' + +'She's mad, poor thing,' said I, in my companion's ear. 'Let her have +her way; do as she bids you.' + +Sinking with terror, pale as death, and trembling all over, Louisa bent +one knee upon the little rock beside the well, while the old hag took +her fair hand within her own skinny fingers and plunged it rudely in the +well. + +'There, drink,' said the old woman, offering me the fair palm, through +which the clear water was running rapidly, while she chanted rather than +spoke the rude rhyme that follows-- + + + 'By the setting sun, + The flowing sea, + The waters that run, + I swear to thee + That my faith shall be true, at this moment now, + In weal or in woe, wherever or how: + So help me, Saint Senan, to keep my vow!' + +The last words had scarcely been uttered when Louisa, who apparently had +been too much overcome by terror to hear one word the hag had muttered, +sprang up from the stone, her face and neck covered with a deep blush, +her lip trembling with agitation, while her eyes were fixedly directed +towards the old woman with an expression of haughty anger. + +'Ay, ye may look as proud as ye like. It's little I mind ye, in love +or in hate. Ye are well humbled enough now. And as for you,' said she, +turning towards me a look of scornful pity--'you, I wish ye joy of your +fair sweetheart; let her only keep her troth like her own mother, and +ye'll have a happy heart to sit at your fireside with.' + +[Illustration: 442] + +The blood fled from Louisa's cheek as these words were uttered; a deadly +paleness spread over her features; her lips were bloodless and parted; +and her hands firmly clenched together and pressed against her side, +bespoke the agony of the moment. It lasted not longer; for she fell back +fainting and insensible into my arms. I bathed her face and temples +from the well; I called upon her, rubbed her hands within my own, and +endeavoured by every means to arouse her; but in vain. I turned to beg +for aid from the woman, but she was gone. I again endeavoured to awake +Louisa from her stupor, but she lay cold, rigid, and motionless; her +features had stiffened like a corpse, and showed no touch of life. +I shouted aloud for aid; but, alas! we were far from all human +habitations, and the wild cries of the curlew were the only sounds +that met my ear, or the deep rushing of the sea, as it broke nearer and +nearer to where I stood. A sudden pang of horror shot across me as I +looked around and below, and saw no chance of aid from any quarter. +Already the sun was below the horizon, and the grey twilight gave but +gloomy indications all around. The sea, too, was coming fast; the foam +had reached us, and even now the salt tide had mingled its water with +the little spring. No more time was to be lost. A projecting point of +rock intervened between us and the little path by which we had descended +to the beach; over this the spray was now splashing, and its base was +only to be seen at intervals between the advancing or retiring wave. +A low, wailing sound, like distant wind, was creeping over the water, +which from time to time was curled along the round-backed wave with all +the threatening aspect of a coming storm; the sea-birds wheeled round in +circles, waking the echoes with their wild notes, and the heavy swell +of the breaking sea roared through many a rocky cavern with a sad and +mournful melody. I threw one last look above, where the tall beetling +cliff was lost in the gloom of coming night, another on the broad bleak +ocean, and then, catching up my companion in my arms, set forward. + +For the first few moments I felt not my burden. My beating heart +throbbed proudly, and as I pressed her to my bosom, how I nerved myself +for any coming danger by the thought that all the world to me lay in +my arms! Every step, however, brought me farther out; the sea, which +at first washed only to my ankles, now reached my knees; my step became +unsteady, and when for an instant I turned one look on her who lay still +and insensible within my grasp, I felt my head reel and my sight wander +as I again looked out on the dark water that rolled around us. We were +now near the rocky point which, once passed, placed us in safely; and to +reach this I summoned up every effort. Around this the waves had worn +a deeper track, and against its side they heat and lashed themselves to +foam, which boiled in broad sheets around. A loud cheer from some one +on the cliff above us turned my glance upwards, and I could see lights +moving backwards and forwards through the darkness; before I could reply +to the voice, however, a large wave came mantling near, gathering force +as it approached, and swelling its gigantic mass so as to shut out +all besides. I fixed myself firmly to resist the shock, and slightly +bending, opposed my shoulder to the mighty roll of water that now +towered like a wall above us. On it came, till its dark crest frowned +above our heads; for a second or two it seemed to pause, as the white +curl tipped its breaking edge, and then, with a roll like thunder, broke +over us. For an instant I held my footing; at length, however, my step +tottered; I felt myself lifted up, and then hurled headlong beneath +the swollen volume of water that closed above my head. Stunned, but +not senseless, I grasped my burden closer to my heart, and struggled to +regain my footing. The wave passed inwards as I rose to my feet, and +a sea of boiling foam hissed around me. Beyond, all was dim and +indistinct; a brooding darkness stretched towards the sea, and landward +the tall cliffs were wrapped in deep shadow, except when the light that +I had seen flitted from place to place, like the dancing wildfire. A +loud cheer from on high made me suppose that we were perceived; but my +attention was turned away by a low, moaning sound that came floating +over the water; and as I looked, I could see that the black surface +swelled upwards, as if by some mighty force beneath, and rose towering +into the air. The wave that now approached us was much greater than the +former one, and came thundering on as if impatient for its prey. My fear +was of being carried out to sea, and I looked hastily around for some +rocky point to hold on by; but in vain. The very sands beneath me seemed +moving and shifting; the voice of thunder was in my ears; my senses +reeled, and the thought of death by drowning, with all its agony, came +over me. + +'Oh, my father! my poor father!' said a low, plaintive voice beside +my cheek; and the next instant the blood rushed warm to my heart. My +courage rallied; my arm grew nerved and strong; my footsteps seemed to +grasp the very ground, and with a bold and daring spirit I waited for +the coming shock. On it came, a mighty flood, sweeping high above us +as we struggled in the midst. The blue water moved on, unbroken; for a +moment or two I felt we were borne along with a whirlwind speed; then +suddenly we touched the strand--but only for a second, for the returning +wave came thundering back, and carried us along with it. My senses now +began to wander; the dark and gloomy sea stretched around us; the stars +seemed to flit to and fro; the roar of water and the sounds of human +voices were mingled in my ears; my strength, too, was failing me, and +I buffeted the waves with scarcely consciousness. Just at that moment, +when, all dread of danger past, the gloomy indifference to life was +fast succeeding, I saw a bright gleam of light flying rapidly across the +water; the shouts of voices reached me also, but the words I heard not. +Now falling beneath, now rising above the foamy surface, I struggled on, +with only strength to press home closer to my bosom the form of her my +heart was filled by, when of a sudden I felt my arm rudely grasped on +either side. A rope, too, was thrown around my waist, and I was hurried +inwards towards the shore amid cries of 'All safe! all safe! not too +fast, there!' A dreary indistinctness of what followed even still haunts +my mind. A huge wood-fire upon the beach, the figures of the fishermen, +the country-people passing hither and thither, the tumult of voices, and +a rude chair in which lay a pale, half-fainting form. The rest I know +not. + +It was dark--so dark I could not see the persons that moved beside me. +As we passed along the grassy turf in silence, I held a soft hand in +mine, and a fair cheek rested on my shoulder, while masses of long +and dripping hair fell on my neck and bosom. Carried by two stout +peasant-fishermen in a chair, Louisa Bellew, faint but conscious of the +danger past, was borne homeward. I walked beside her, my heart too full +for words. A loud, wild cheer burst suddenly forth, and a bright gleam +of light aroused me from my trance of happiness. The steps were crowded +with people, the large hall so full we scarce could force our way. The +door of the parlour was now thrown open, and there sat the pale, gaunt +figure of Sir Simon Bellew--his eyes staring wildly, and his lips +parted; his hands resting on each arm of his chair--motionless. + +Bursting from those that carried her, Louisa sprang towards her father +with a cry; but ere she reached his arms he had fallen from his seat to +his knees, and with his hands clasped above his head, and upturned eyes, +poured forth a prayer to God. Sinking to his side, she twined her hands +with his; and as if moved by the magic of the scene, the crowd fell to +their knees, and joined in the thanksgiving. It was a moment of deep and +touching feeling to hear the slow, scarce articulate words of that old +man, who turned from the sight of her his heart treasured to thank the +great Father of Mercy, who had not left him childless in his age--to +mark the low sobs of those around, as they strove to stifle them, while +tears coursed down the hard and weather-beaten cheeks of humble +poverty, as they muttered to themselves their heartfelt thanks for her +preservation. There was a pause; the old man turned his eyes upon his +child, and, like a dammed-up torrent breaking forth, the warm tears +gushed out, and with a cry of 'My own--my only one!' he fell upon her +neck and wept. + +I could hear no more. Springing to my feet, I dashed through the hall, +and resisting every effort to detain me, rushed down the steps and +gained the lawn. Once there alone, I sank down upon the sward, and +poured forth my heart in tears of happiness. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX. AN UNLOOKED-FOR MEETING + +I made many ineffectual efforts to awake on the morning after my +adventure. Fatigue and exhaustion, which seem always heaviest when +incurred by danger, had completely worn me out, and scarcely had I +succeeded in opening my eyes and muttering some broken words, ere again +I dropped off to sleep, soundly, and without a dream. It was late in +the afternoon when at length I sat up in my bed and looked about me. A +gentle hand suddenly fell upon my shoulder, and a low voice, which I at +once recognised as Father Tom's, whispered-- + +'There now, my dear fellow, lie down again. You must not stir for a +couple of hours yet.' + +I looked at him fixedly for a moment, and, as I clasped his hand in +mine, asked-- + +'How is she, father?' + +Scarcely were these words spoken when I felt a burning blush upon my +cheek. It was the confidence of long months that found vent in one +second--the pent-up secret of my heart that burst from me unconsciously, +and I hid my face upon the pillow, and felt as though I had betrayed +her. + +'Well--quite well,' said the old man, as he pressed my hand forcibly in +his own. 'But let us not speak now. You must take more rest, and then +have your arm looked to. I believe you have forgotten all about it.' + +'My arm!' repeated I, in some surprise; while, turning down the clothes, +I perceived that my right arm was sorely bruised, and swollen to +an immense size. 'The rocks have done this,' muttered I. 'And she, +father--what of her, for heaven's sake?' + +'Be calm, or I must leave you,' said the priest 'I said before that she +was well. Poor boy!' + +There was something so touching in the tone of the last words that +without my knowing why, I felt a kind of creeping fear pass across me, +and a dread of some unknown evil steal over me. + +'Father,' said I, springing up, and grasping him with both my hands, +while the pain of my wounded arm shot through my very heart, 'you are +an honest man, and you are a man of God: you would not tell me a lie. Is +she well?' The big drop fell from my brow as I spoke. + +He clasped his hands fervently together as he replied, in a voice +tremulous with agitation, 'I have not told you a lie!' He turned away +as he spoke, and I lay down in my bed with a mind relieved, but not at +rest. + +Alas, how hard it is to be happy! The casualties of this world come on +like waves, one succeeding the other. We may escape the heavy roll of +the mighty ocean, and be wrecked in the still, smooth waters of the +landlocked bay. We dread the storm and the hurricane, and we forget how +many have perished within sight of shore. But yet a secret fear is +ever present with us when danger hovers near; and this sense of some +impending evil it was which now darkened me, and whispered me to be +prepared. + +I lay for some time sunk in my reflections, and when I looked up, the +priest was gone. A letter had fallen on the floor, as if by accident» +and I rose to place it on my table, when, to my surprise, I found it +addressed to myself. It was marked 'On His Majesty's service,' and ran +thus:-- + + 'Dublin Castle. + + 'Sir,--I have received his Excellency's + orders to inform you that unless you, on receipt of the + present letter, at once return to your duty as a member of + the staff, your name will be erased from the list, and the + vacancy immediately filled up.--I have the honour to be, + etc., + + 'Henry Horton.' + + +What could have caused the great alteration in his Excellency's feelings +that this order evinced I could not conceive, and I felt hurt and +indignant at the tone of a letter which came on me so completely by +surprise. I knew, however, how much my father looked to my strict +obedience to every call of duty, and resolved that, come what would, I +should at once resume my position on the duke's staff. + +These were but momentary reflections. My thoughts recurred at once to +where my heart was dwelling---with her whose very image lived within +me. Try how I would, I could think of no pleasure in which she took not +part, imagine no scheme of life in which she was not concerned. Ambition +had lost its charm; the path of glory I had longed to tread, I felt now +as nothing beside that heather walk which led me towards her; and if +I were to have chosen between the most brilliant career high station, +influence, and fortune could bestow, and the lowly condition of a +dweller in these wild mountain solitudes, I felt that not a moment of +hesitation or doubt would mark my decision. There was a kind of +heroism in the relinquishing all the blandishments of fortune, all the +seductions of the brilliant world, for one whose peaceful and humble +life strayed not beyond the limits of these rugged mountains; and this +had its charm. There were times when I loved to ask myself whether +Louisa Bellew would not, even amid all the splendour and display of +London life, be as much admired and courted as the most acknowledged +of beauty's daughters: now I turned rather to the thought of how far +happier and better it was to know that a nature so unhackneyed, a heart +so rich in its own emotions, was never to be exposed to the callous +collision of society and all the hardened hypocrisy of the world. My +own lot, too, how many more chances of happiness did it not present as +I looked at the few weeks of the past, and thought of whole years thus +gliding away, loving and beloved! + +A kind of stir, and the sound of voices beneath my window, broke my +musings, and I rose and looked out. It proceeded from the young girl +and the country lad who formed the priest's household. They were talking +together before the door, and pointing in the direction of the highroad, +where a cloud of dust had marked the passage of some carriage--an event +rare enough to attract attention in these wild districts. + +'And did his reverence say that the Captain was to be kept in bed till +he came back?' + +'Ah, then, sure, he knew well enough,' said Mary, 'that the young man +would be up and off to the castle the moment he was able to walk--ay, +and maybe before it too. Troth, Patsey, it's what I'm thinking--there's +nobody knows how to coort like a raal gentleman.' + +'Och, botheration!' said Patsey, with an offended toss of his head, and +a look of half malice. + +'Faix, you may look how you like, but it's truth I'm telling ye. They +know how to do it. It isn't winking at a body, nor putting their great +rough arms round their neck; but it's a quiet, mannerly, dacent way they +have, and soothering voice, and a look under their eyes, as much as to +say, “Maybe ye wouldn't, now?”' + +'Troth, Mary,' said Patsey sharply, 'it strikes me that you know more of +their ways than is just convenient--eh, do you understand me now?' + +'Well, and if I do,' replied Mary, 'there's no one can be evenin' it to +you, for I'm sure it wasn't you taught me!' + +'Ye want to provoke me,' said the young man, rising, and evidently +more annoyed than he felt disposed to confess; 'but, faix, I'll keep my +temper. It's not after spaking to his reverence, and buying a cow and a +dresser, that I 'm going to break it off.' + +'Heigh-ho!' said Mary, as she adjusted a curl that was most coquettishly +half falling across her eyes; 'sure there's many a slip betune the cup +and the lip, as the poor dear young gentleman will find out when he +wakes.' + +A cold fear ran through me as I heard these words, and the presentiment +of some mishap, that for a few moments I had been forgetting, now came +back in double force. I set about dressing myself in all haste, and, +notwithstanding that my wounded arm interfered with me at each instant, +succeeded at last in my undertaking. I looked at my watch; it was +already six o'clock in the afternoon, and the large mountains were +throwing their great shadows over the yellow strand. Collecting from +what I had heard from the priest's servants that it was their intention +to detain me in the house, I locked my door on leaving the room, and +stole noiselessly down the stairs, crossed the little garden, and +passing through the beech hedge, soon found myself upon the mountain +path. My pace quickened as I breasted the hillside, my eyes firmly fixed +upon the tall towers of the old castle, as they stood proudly topping +the dense foliage of the oak-trees. Like some mariner who gazes on the +long-wished-f or beacon that tells of home and friends, so I bent my +steadfast looks to that one object, and conjured up many a picture to +myself of the scene that might be at that moment enacting there. Now I +imagined the old man seated, silent and motionless, beside the bed where +his daughter, overcome with weakness and exhaustion, still slept, her +pale face scarce coloured by a pinkish flush that marked the last trace +of feverish excitement; now I thought of her as if still seated in +her own drawing-room, at the little window that faced seaward, looking +perhaps upon the very spot that marked our last night's adventure, and, +mayhap, blushing at the memory. + +As I came near the park I turned from the regular approach to a small +path, which, opening by a wicket, led to a little flower-garden beside +the drawing-room. I had not walked many paces when the sound of some one +sobbing caught my ear. I stopped to listen, and could distinctly hear +the low broken voice of grief quite near me. My mind was in that excited +state when every breeze that rustled, every leaf that stirred, thrilled +through my heart; the same dread of something, I knew not what, that +agitated me as I awoke came fresh upon me, and a cold tremor crept over +me. The next moment I sprang forward, and as I turned the angle of the +walk beheld--with what relief of heart!--that the cries proceeded from +a little child, who, seated in the grass, was weeping bitterly. It was +a boy of scarce five years old that Louisa used to employ about the +garden--rather to amuse the little fellow, to whom she had taken a +liking, than for the sake of services which at the best were scarcely +harmless. + +'Well, Billy,' said I, 'what has happened to you, my boy? Have you +fallen and hurt yourself?' + +'Na,' was the only reply; and sinking his head between his knees, he +sobbed more bitterly than ever. + +'Has Miss Loo been angry with you, then?' + +'Na, na,' was the only answer, as he poured forth a flood of tears. + +'Come, come, my little man, what is it? Tell me, and perhaps we can set +it all to rights.' + +'Gone! gone away for ever!' cried the child, as a burst of pent-up agony +broke from him; and he cried as though his very heart would break. + +Again the terrible foreboding crossed my mind, and without waiting to +ask another question I rushed forward, cleared the little fence of the +flower-garden at a spring and stood within a few yards of the window. +It lay open as usual; the large china vase of moss-roses that she +had plucked the evening before stood on the little table beside it. +I stopped for an instant to breathe; the beating of my heart was so +painful that I pressed my hand upon my side. At that instant I had given +my life to have heard Louisa's voice; but for one single word I had +bartered my heart's blood. But all was as hushed and still as midnight. +I thought I did hear something like a sigh; yes, and now I could +distinctly hear the rustling sound of some one as if turning in a chair. +Sir Simon Bellew, for some cause, or other, I knew never came into that +room. I listened again: yes, and now too I could see the shadow of +a figure on the floor. I sprang forward to the window and cried out, +'Louisa!' The next instant I was in the room, and my eyes fell upon the +figure of--Ulick Burke! Seated in a deep arm-chair, his leg resting on a +low stool, he was reclining at half-length, his face pale as death, and +his very lips blanched; but there rested on the mouth the same curl of +insolent mockery that marked it when first we met. + +'Disappointed, I fear, sir,' said he, in a tone which, however weakened +by sickness, had lost nothing of its sneering bitterness. + +'I confess, sir,' said I confusedly, 'that this is a pleasure I had not +anticipated.' + +'Nor I either, sir,' replied he, with a dark frown. 'Had I been able to +ring the bell before, the letter that lies there should have been sent +to you, and might have spared both of us this “pleasure,” as you are +good enough to call it.' + +'A letter for me?' said I eagerly; then half ashamed at my own emotion, +and not indifferent to the sickly and apparently dying form before me, I +hesitated, and added, 'I trust that you are recovering from the effects +of your wound.' + +[Illustration: 3-008] + +'Damn the wound, sir; don't speak to me about it! You never came +here for that, I suppose? Take your letter, sir!' A purple flush here +coloured his features, as though some pang of agonising pain had shot +through him, and his livid lip quivered with passion. 'Take your letter, +sir!' and he threw it towards me as he spoke. + +I stood amazed and thunderstruck at this sudden outbreak of anger, and +for a second or two could not recover myself to speak. 'You mistake me,' +said I. + +'Mistake you? No, confound me! I don't mistake you; I know you well and +thoroughly! But you mistake me, ay, and damnably too, if you suppose +that because I 'm crippled here this insolence shall pass unpunished! +Who but a coward, sir, would come thus to taunt a man like me? Yes, sir, +a coward! I spoke it--I said it! Would you like to hear it over again? +Or if you don't like it, the remedy is near you--nearer than you think. +There are two pistols in that case, both loaded with ball; take your +choice, and your own distance; and here, where we are, let us finish +this quarrel! For, mark me!' and here his brow darkened, till the veins, +swelled and knotted in his forehead, looked like indigo--'mark me, the +account shall be closed one day or other!' + +I saw at once that he had lashed his fury up to an ungovernable pitch, +and that to speak to him was only to increase his passion; so I stooped +down without saying a word, and took up the letter that lay at my feet. + +'I am waiting your reply, sir,' said he, with a low voice, subdued by an +inward effort into a seeming quietness of tone. + +'You cannot imagine,' said I mildly, 'that I could accept of such a +challenge as this, nor fight with a man who cannot leave his chair?' + +'And who has made me so, sir? Who has made me a paralytic thing for +life? But if that be all, give me your arm, and help me through that +window; place me against that yew-tree, yonder. I can stand well enough. +You won't?--you refuse me this? Oh, coward! coward! You grow pale and +red again! Let your white lip mutter, and your nails eat into your hands +with passion! Your heart is craven, and you know it!' + +Shall I dare to own it? For an instant or two my resolution tottered, +and involuntarily my eyes turned to the pistol-case upon the table +beside me. He caught the look, and in a tone of triumphant exultation +cried out-- + +'Bravo, bravo! What! you hesitate again? Oh, that this should not be +before the world--in some open and public place--that men should not +look on and see us here!' + +'I leave you, sir,' said I sternly--'thankful, for _your_ sake at least, +that this is not before the world.' + +'Stop, sir! stop!' cried he, hoarse with rage. 'Ring that bell!' I +hesitated, and he called out again, 'Ring that bell, sir!' + +I approached the chimney, and did as he desired. The butler immediately +made his appearance. + +'Nicholas,' cried the sick man, 'bring in the servants--bring them in +here; you hear me well. I want to show them something they have never +seen. Go!' + +The man disappeared at once, and as I met the scowling look of hate that +fixed its glare upon me, once more I felt myself to waver. The struggle +was but momentary. I sprang to the window, and leaped into the garden. +A loud curse broke from Burke as I did so; a cry of disappointed wrath, +like the yell of a famished wolf, followed. The next moment I was beyond +the reach of his insolence and his invective. + +The passionate excitement of the moment over, my first determination was +to gain the approach, and return to the house by the hall door; my next, +to break the seal of the letter which I held in my hand, and see if its +contents might not throw some light upon the events which somehow I +felt were thickening around me, but of whose nature and import I knew +nothing. + +The address was written in a stiff, old-fashioned hand; but the large +seal bore the arms of the Bellew family, and left no doubt upon my +mind that it had come from Sir Simon. I opened it with a trembling and +throbbing heart, and read as follows:-- + +'My dear Sir,--The event of last night has called back upon a failing +and broken memory the darkest hour of a long and blighted life, and made +the old man, whose steadfast gaze looked onward to the tomb, turn once +backward to behold the deepest affliction of his days--misfortune, +crime, remorse. I cannot even now, while already the very shadow of +death is on me, recount the sad story I allude to; enough for the object +I have in view if I say, that, where I once owed the life of one I held +dearest in the world, the hand that saved lived to steal, and the voice +that blessed me was perjured and forsworn. Since that hour I have never +received a service of a fellow-mortal, until the hour when you rescued +my child. And oh! loving her as I do, wrapped up as my soul is in her +image, I could have borne better to see her cold and dripping corpse +laid down beside me than to behold her, as I have done, in your arms. +You must never meet more. The dreadful anticipation of long-suffering +years is creeping stronger and stronger upon me; and I feel in my inmost +heart that I am reserved for another and a last bereavement ere I die. + +'We shall have left before this letter reaches you. You may perhaps +hear the place of our refuge, for such it is; but I trust that to your +feelings as a gentleman and a man of honour I can appeal, in the certain +confidence that you will not abuse my faith--you will not follow us. + +'I know not what I have written, nor dare I read it again. Already my +tears have dimmed my eyes, and are falling on the paper; so let me bid +you farewell--an eternal fare well. My nephew has arrived here. I have +not seen him, nor shall I; but he will forward this letter to you after +our departure.--Yours, S. Bellew.' + +The first stunning feeling past, I looked round me to see if it were not +some horrid dream, and the whole events but the frightful deception of a +sleeping fancy. But bit by bit the entire truth broke upon me; the +full tide of sorrow rushed in upon my heart. The letter I could not +comprehend further than that some deep affliction had been recalled +by my late adventure. But then, the words of the hag--the brief, +half-uttered intimations of the priest--came to my memory. 'Her mother,' +said I--'what of her mother?' I remembered Louisa had never mentioned +or even alluded to her; and now a thousand suspicions crossed my mind, +which all gave way before my own sense of bereavement and the desolation +and desertion I felt, in my own heart. I threw myself upon the ground +where she walked so often beside me, and burst into tears. But a few +brief hours, and how surrounded by visions of happiness and lovet Now, +bereft of everything, what charm had life for me! How valueless, how +worthless did all seem! The evening sun I loved to gaze on, the bright +flowers, the waving grass, the low murmur of the breaking surf that +stole like music over the happy sense, were now but gloomy things or +discordant sounds. The very high and holy thoughts that used to stir +within me were changed to fierce and wrathful passions or the low +drooping of despair. It was night, still and starry night, when I arose +and wended my way towards the priest's cottage. + + + + +CHAPTER XL. THE PRIEST'S KITCHEN + +The candles were burning brightly, and the cheerful bog-fire was blazing +on the hearth, as I drew near the window of the priest's cottage; but +yet there was no one in the room. The little tea-kettle was hissing on +the hob, and the room had all that careful look of watchful attention +bestowed upon it that showed, the zeal of his little household. + +Uncertain how I should meet him, how far explain the affliction that +had fallen on me, I walked for some time up and down before the door; +at length I wandered to the back of the house, and passing the little +stable, I remarked that the pony was absent. The priest had not returned +perhaps since morning; perhaps he had gone some distance off--in all +likelihood accompanied the Bellews; again the few words he had spoken +that morning recurred to me, and I pondered in silence over their +meaning. As I thus mused, a strong flood of mellow light attracted me as +it fell in a broad stream across the little paved court, and I now saw +that it came from the kitchen. I drew near the window in silence, and +looked in. Before the large turf-fire were seated three persons; two +of them, who sat in the shining light, I at once recognised as the +servants; but the third was concealed in the shadow of the chimney, and +I could only trace the outline of his figure against the blaze. I was +not long, however, in doubt as to his identity. + +'Seemingly, then, you're a great traveller,' said Patsey, the priest's +man, addressing the unknown. + +A long whiff of smoke, patiently emitted, and a polite wave of the hand +in assent was the reply. + +'And how far did you come to-day, av I might be so bould?' said Mary. + +'From the cross of Kiltermon, beyond Gurtmore, my darlin'; and sure +it is a real pleasure and a delight to come so far to see as pretty a +crayture as yourself.' Here Patsey looked a little put out, and Mary +gave a half smile of encouragement. 'For,' continued the other, breaking +into a song-- + + 'Though I love a fox in a cover to find, + When the clouds is low, with a sou'west wind, + Faix, a pretty girl is more to my mind + Than the tally-high-ho of a morning.' + +I need scarcely say that the finale of this rude verse was given in a +way that only Tipperary Joe could accomplish, as he continued-- + + 'And just show me one with an instep high, + A saucy look, and a roguish eye, + Who 'd smile ten times for once she 'd sigh, + And I'm her slave till morning.' + +'And that's yoursel', devil a less--ye ho, ye ho, tally-ho! I hope the +family isn't in bed?' + +'Troth, seemingly,' said Patsey, in a tone of evident pique, 'it would +distress you little av they were; you seem mighty well accustomed to +making yourself at home.' + +'And why wouldn't the young man?' said Mary, apparently well pleased +to encourage a little jealousy on the part of her lover, 'and no harm +neither. And ye do be always with the hounds, sir?' + +'Yes, miss, that's what I be doing. But I wonder what's keeping the +Captain; I've a letter here for him that I know ought to have no delay. +I run all the way for fourteen miles over Mey'nacurraghew mountain to be +here quick with him.' + +I opened the door as I heard this, and entered the kitchen. + +'Hurroo! by the mortial,' cried Joe, with one of his wild shouts, 'it 's +himself! Arrah, darlin', how is every bit in your skin?' + +'Well, Joe, my poor fellow, I am delighted to see you safe and sound +once more. Many a day have I reproached myself for the way you suffered +for my sake, and for the manner I left you.' + +'There's only one thing you have any rayson to grieve over,' said the +poor fellow, as the tears started to his eyes, and rolled in heavy drops +down his cheeks, 'and here it is.' + +As he spoke, he drew from his bosom a little green-silk purse, half +filled with gold. + +'Ah, Captain, jewel, why wouldn't you let a poor fellow taste happiness +his own way? Is it because I had no shoes on me that I hadn't any pride +in my heart? And is it because I wasn't rich that you wouldn't let me +be a friend to you, just to myself alone? Oh, little as we know of grand +people and their ways, troth, they don't see our hearts half as plain. +See, now I 'd rather you 'd have come up to the bed that morning and +left me your curse--ay, devil a less--than that purse of money; and it +wouldn't do me as much harm.' + +He dropped his head as he spoke, and his arms fell listlessly to his +side, while he stood mute and sorrow-struck before me. + +'Come, Joe,' said I, holding out my hand to him--'come, Joe, forgive me. +If I didn't know better, remember we were only new acquaintance at that +time: from this hour we are more.' + +The words seemed to act like a spell upon him; he stood proudly up, and +his eyes flashed with their wildest glare, while, seizing my hand, he +pressed it to his lips, and called out-- + +'While there's a drop in my heart, darlin'----' + +'You have a letter for me,' said I, glad to turn the channel of both our +thoughts. 'Where did you get it?' + +'At the Curragh, sir, no less. I was standing beside the staff, among +all the grand generals and the quality, near the Lord Liftinint, and +I heard one of the officers say, “If I knew where to write to him, I'd +certainly do so; but he has never written to any of us since his duel.” + “Ah,” said another, “Binton's an odd fellow that way.” The minit I heard +the name, I up and said to him, “Write the letter, and I'll bring it, +and bring you an answer besides, av ye want it.” + +'“And who the devil are you?” said he. + +'“Troth,” said I, “there's more on this race knows me nor yourself, fine +as ye are.” And they all began laughing at this, for the officer grew +mighty red in the face, and was angry; and what he was going to say it's +hard to tell, for just then Lord Clonmel called out-- + +'“Sure, it's Tipperary Joe himself; begad, every one knows him. Here, +Joe, I owe you half-a-crown since last meeting at the lough.” + +'“Faix, you do,” says I, “and ten shillings to the back of it for Lanty +Cassan's mare that I hired to bring you home when you staked the horse; +you never paid it since.” And then there was another laugh; but the end +of all was, he writ a bit of a note where he was on horseback, with a +pencil, and here it is.' + +So saying, he produced a small crumpled piece of paper, in which I could +with some difficulty trace the following lines:-- + +'Dear Jack,--If the fool who bears this ever arrives with it, come back +at once. Your friends in England have been worrying the duke to command +your return to duty; and there are stories afloat about your western +doings that your presence here can alone contradict.--Yours, J. Horton.' + +It needed not a second for me to make up my mind as to my future course, +and I said-- + +'How can I reach Limerick the shortest way?' 'I know a short cut,' said +Joe, 'and if we could get a pony I'd bring you over the mountain before +to-morrow evening.' + +'And you,' said I--'how are you to go?' 'On my feet, to be sure; how +else would I go?' Despatching Joe, in company with Patsey, in search of +a pony to carry me over the mountain, I walked into the little parlour +which I was now about to take my leave of for ever. + +It was only then when I threw myself upon a seat, alone and in solitude, +that I felt the full force of all my sorrow--the blight that had fallen +on my dearest hopes, and the blank, bleak prospect of life before me. +Sir Simon Bellew's letter I read over once more; but now the mystery it +contained had lost all interest for me, and I had only thoughts for my +own affliction. Suddenly, a deep burning spot glowed on my cheek as I +remembered my interview with Ulick Burke, and I sprang to my legs, and +for a second or two felt undecided whether I would not give him the +opportunity he so longed for. It was but a second, and my better reason +came back, and I blushed even deeper with shame than I had done with +passion. + +Calming myself with a mighty effort, I endeavoured to pen a few lines to +my worthy and kind friend, Father Loftus. I dared not tell him the real +cause of my departure, though indeed I guessed from his absence that he +had accompanied the Bellews, and but simply spoke of my return to duty +as imperative, and my regret that after such proofs of his friendship I +could not shake his hand at parting. The continued flurry of my feelings +doubtless made this a very confused and inexplicit document; but I could +do no better. In fact, the conviction I had long been labouring under, +but never could thoroughly appreciate, broke on me at the moment. It +was this: the sudden vicissitudes of everyday life in Ireland are sadly +unsuited to our English natures and habits of thought and action. These +changes from grave to gay, these outbreaks of high-souled enthusiasm +followed by dark, reflective traits of brooding thought, these noble +impulses of good, these events of more than tragic horror, demand a +changeful, even a forgetful temperament to bear them; and while the +Irishman rises or falls with every emergency of his fate, with us +impressions are eating deeper and deeper into our hearts, and we become +sad and thoughtful, and prematurely old. Thus at least did I feel, and +it seemed to me as though very many years had passed over me since I +left my father's house. + +The tramp of feet and the sounds of speaking and laughter outside +interrupted my musings, and I heard my friend Joe carolling at the top +of his voice-- + + 'Sir Pat bestrode a high-bred steed, + And the huntsman one that was broken-kneed, + And Father Pitz had a wiry weed + With his tally-high-ho in the morning.' + +''Faith, and you're a great beast entirely; and one might dance a jig on +your back, and leave room for the piper besides.' + +I opened the window, and in the bright moonlight beheld the party +leading up a short, rugged-looking pony, whose breadth of beam and +square proportions fully justified all Joe's encomiums. + +'Have you bought this pony for me, Joe?' cried I. 'No, sir, only +borrowed him. He'll take you up to Wheley's mills, where we'll get +Andy's mare to-morrow morning.' + +'Borrowed him?' 'Yes.' + +'Where 's his owner?' + +'He 's in bed, where he ought to be. I tould him through the door who it +was for, and that he needn't get up, as I 'd find the ways of the place +myself; and ye see so I did.' + +'Told him who it was for! Why, he never heard of me in his life.' + +'Devil may care; sure you're the priest's friend, and who has a better +warrant for everything in the place? Don't you know the song-- + + “And Father Fitz had no cows nor sheep, + And the devil a hen or pig to keep; + But a pleasanter house to dine or sleep + You 'd never find till morning.” + + “For Molly, says he, if the fowls be few, + I 've only one counsel to give to you: + There's hens hard by--go kill for two, + For I 've a friend till morning.” + +By the Rock of Cashel, it 'ud be a hard case av the priest was to want. +Look how the ould saddle fits him! faix, ye 'd think he was made for +it!' + +I am not quite sure that I felt all Joe's enthusiasm for the beast's +perfections; nor did the old yeomanry 'demi-pique,' with its brass +mountings and holsters, increase my admiration. Too happy, however, to +leave a spot where all my recollections were now turned to gloom and +despondence, I packed my few traps, and was soon ready for the road. + +It was not without a gulping feeling in my throat, and a kind of +suffocating oppression at my heart, that I turned from the little room +where in happier times I had spent so many pleasant hours, and bidding a +last good-bye to the priest's household, told them to say to Father Tom +how sad I felt at leaving before he returned. This done, I mounted the +little pony, and escorted by Joe, who held the bridle, descended the +hill, and soon found myself by the little rivulet that murmured along +the steep glen through which our path was lying. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI. TIPPERARY JOE + +I have already passingly alluded to Joe's conversational powers; and +certainly they were exercised on this occasion with a more than common +ability. Either taking my silence as a suggestion for him to speak, or +perhaps, and more probably, perceiving that some deep depression was +over me, the kind-hearted fellow poured forth his stores of song and +legend without ceasing. Now amusing me by his wild and fitful snatches +of old ballads, now narrating in his simple but touching eloquence some +bygone story of thrilling interest, the long hours of the night passed +over, and at daybreak we found ourselves descending the mountain towards +a large and cultivated valley, in which I could faintly distinguish in +the misty distance the little mill where our relay was to be found. + +I stopped for a few minutes to gaze upon the scene before me. It was one +of those peaceful landscapes of rural beauty which beam more of soothing +influence upon the sorrow-struck heart than the softest voice of +consolation. Unlike the works of man, they speak directly to our souls +while they appeal to our reason; and the truth comes forced upon us, +that we alone must not repine. A broad and richly cultivated valley was +bounded by mountains whose sides were clothed with deep wood; a stream, +whose wayward course watered every portion of the plain, was seen now +flowing among the grassy meadows, now peeping from the alders that +lined the banks. The heavy mist of morning was rolling lazily up the +mountain-side; and beneath its grey mantle the rich green of pasture +and meadow land was breaking forth, dotted with cattle and sheep. As I +looked, Joe knelt down and placed his ear upon the ground, and seemed +for some minutes absorbed in listening. Then suddenly springing up, he +cried out-- + +'The mill isn't going to-day! I wonder what's the matter. I hope Andy +isn't sick.' + +A shade of sorrow came over his wild features as he muttered between his +teeth the verse of some old song, of which I could but catch the last +two lines-- + + 'And when friends are crying around the dying, + Who wouldn't wish he had lived alone!' + +'Ay,' cried he aloud, as his eye glistened with an unnatural lustre, +'better be poor Tipperary Joe, without house or home, father or mother, +sister or friend, and when the time comes, run to earth, without a wet +eye after him.' + +'Come, come, Joe, you have many a friend! and when you count them over, +don't forget me in the reckoning.' + +'Whisht, whisht!' he whispered in a low voice, as if fearful of being +overheard, 'don't say that; them's dangerous words.' + +I turned towards him with astonishment, and perceived that his whole +countenance had undergone a striking change. The gay and laughing look +was gone; the bright colour had left his cheek, and a cold, ghastly +paleness was spread over his features; and as he cast a hurried and +stealthy look around him, I could mark that some secret fear was working +within him. + +'What is it, Joe?' said I; 'what's the matter? Are you ill?' + +'No,' said he, in a tone scarce audible--'no, but you frightened me just +now when you called me your friend.' + +'How could that frighten you, my poor fellow?' + +'I 'll tell you. That's what they called my father; they said he was +friendly with the gentlemen, and sign's on it.' He paused, and his eye +became rooted to the ground as if on some object there from which he +could not turn his gaze. 'Yes, I mind it well; we were sitting by the +fire in the guard-room all alone by ourselves--the troops was away, +I don't know where--when we heard the tramp of men marching, but not +regular, but coming as if they didn't care how, and horses and carts +rattling and rumbling among them. + +'“Thim's the boys,” says my father. “Give me that ould cockade there, +till I stick it in my cap; and reach me over the fiddle, till I rise a +tune for them.” + +'I mind little more till we was marching at the head of them through the +town, down towards the new college that was building--it's Maynooth, I'm +speaking about--and then we turned to the left, my father scraping away +all the time every tune he thought they 'd like; and if now and then +by mistake he 'd play anything that did not plaze them, they'd damn and +blast him with the dreadfullest curses, and stick a pike into him, till +the blood would come running down his back; and then my father would cry +out-- + +'“I'll tell my friends on you for this--divil a lie in it, but I will” + +'At last we came to the duke's wall, and then my father sat down on the +roadside, and cried out that he wouldn't go a step farther, for I was +crying away with sore feet at the pace we were going, and asking every +moment to be let sit down to rest myself. + +'“Look at the child,” said he, “his feet's all bleeding.” + +'“Ye have only a little farther to go,” says one of them that had +crossed belts on and a green sash about him. + +'“The divil resave another step,” says my father. + +'“Tell Billy to play us 'The Parmer's Daughter' before he goes,” says +one in the crowd. + +'“I 'd rather hear 'The Little Bowld Fox,'” says another. + +'“No, no, 'Baltiorum! Baltiorum!'” says many more behind. + +'“Ye shall have them all,” says my father, “and that'll plaze ye.” + +'And so he set to, and played the three tunes as beautiful as ever ye +heard; and when he was done, the man with the belts ups and says to +him-- + +'“Ye're a fine hand, Billy, and it's a pity to lose you, and your +friends will be sorry for you,” and he said this with a grin; “but take +the spade there and dig a hole, for we must be jogging, it's nigh day.” + +'Well, my father, though he was tired enough, took the spade, and began +digging as they told him; for he thought to himself, “The boys is going +to hide the pikes and the carbines before they go home.” Well, when he +worked half an hour, he threw off his coat, and set to again; and at +last he grew tired and sat down on the side of the big hole, and called +out-- + +'“Isn't it big enough now, boys?” + +'“No,” says the captain, “nor half.” + +'So my father set to once more, and worked away with all his might; and +they all stood by, talking and laughing with one another. + +'“Will it do now?” says my father; “for sure enough I'm clean beat.” + +'“Maybe it might,” says one of them; “lie down, and see if it's the +length.” + +'“Well, is it that it's for?” says my father; “faix, I never guessed it +was a grave.” And so he took off his cap and lay down his full length in +the hole. + +'“That's all right,” says the others, and began with spades and shovels +to cover him up. At first he laughed away as hearty as the rest; but +when the mould grew heavy on him he began to screech out to let him up; +and then his voice grew weaker and fainter, and they waited a little; +then they worked harder, and then came a groan, and all was still; and +they patted the sods over him and heaped them up. And then they took me +and put me in the middle of them, and one called out, “March!” I thought +I saw the green sod moving on the top of the grave as we walked away, +and heard a voice half choking calling out, “There, boys, there!” and +then a laugh. But sure I often hear the same still, when there's nobody +near me, and I do be looking on the ground by myself.' + +'Great God!' cried I, 'is this true?' + +'True as you 're there,' replied he. 'I was ten years of age when it +happened, and I never knew how time went since, nor how long it is ago; +only it was in the year of the great troubles here, when the soldiers +and the country-people never could be cruel enough to one another; and +whatever one did to-day, the others would try to beat it out to-morrow. +But it's truth every word of it; and the place is called “Billy the +fool's grave” to this hour. I go there once a year to see it myself.' + +This frightful story--told, too, with all the simple power of +truth--thrilled through me with horror long after the impression seemed +to have faded away from him who told it; and though he still continued +to speak on, I heard nothing; nor did I mark our progress, until I found +myself beside the little stream which conducted to the mill. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII. THE HIGHROAD + +Joe was right; the mill was not at work, for 'Andy' had been summoned +to Ennis, where the assizes were then going forward. The mare which had +formed part of our calculations was also absent; and we sat down in +the little porch to hold a council of war as to our future proceedings. +After canvassing the question for some time, Joe left me for a few +minutes, and returned with the information that the highroad to Ennis +lay only a couple of miles distant, and that a stage-coach would pass +there in about two hours, by which I could reach the town that evening. +It was therefore decided that he should return with the pony to +Murranakilty; while I, having procured a gossoon to carry my baggage, +made the best of my way towards the Ennis road. + +Joe soon found me an urchin to succeed him as my guide and companion; +and with an affectionate leave-taking, and a faithful promise to meet me +sometime and somewhere, we parted. + +So long as I had journeyed along beside my poor, half-witted follower, +the strange and fickle features of his wandering intellect had somehow +interrupted the channels of my own feelings, and left me no room for +reflection on my changed fortunes. Now, however, my thoughts returned to +the past with all the force of some dammed-up current, and my blighted +hopes threw a dark and sombre shadow over all my features. What cared +I what became of me? Why did I hasten hither and thither? These were my +first reflections. If life had lost its charm, so had misfortune lost +its terror. There seemed something frivolous and contemptible in the +return to those duties which in all the buoyant exhilaration of my +former life had ever seemed unfitting and unmanly. No! rather let me +seek for some employment on active service. The soldier's career I once +longed for, to taste its glorious enthusiasm--that I wished for now, to +enjoy its ceaseless movement and exertion. + +As I thought over all I had seen and gone through since my arrival in +Ireland--its varied scenes of mirth and woe; its reckless pleasures, its +wilder despair--I believed that I had acquired a far deeper insight into +my own heart in proportion as I looked more into those of others. A not +unfrequent error this. The outstretched page of human nature that I had +been gazing on had shown me the passions and feelings of other men laid +bare before me, while my own heart was dark, enshrined, and unvisited +within me. I believed that life had no longer anything to tie me to +it--and I was not then twenty! Had I counted double as many years, I had +had more reason for the belief, and more difficulty to think so. + +Sometimes I endeavoured to console myself by thinking of all the +obstacles that under the happiest circumstances must have opposed +themselves to my union with Louisa Bellew. My mother's pride alone +seemed an insurmountable one. But then I thought of what a noble part +had lain before me, to prefer the object of my love--the prize of my +own winning--to all the caresses of fortune, all the seductions of the +world. Sir Simon Bellew, too--what could he mean? The secret he alluded +to, what was it? Alas! what mattered it? My doom was sealed, my fate +decided; I had no care how. + +Such were my thoughts as I journeyed along the path that conducted +towards the highroad; while my little guide--barelegged and barefooted, +trotted on merrily before me--who, with none of this world's goods, had +no room in his heart for sorrow or repining. + +We at last reached the road, which, dusty and deserted, skirted the side +of a bleak mountain for miles--not a house to be seen; not a traveller, +nor scarce a wheel-track, to mark the course of any one having passed +there. I had not followed it for more than half an hour when I heard +the tramp of horses and the roll which announced the approach of an +equipage. A vast cloud of dust, through which a pair of leaders were +alone visible, appeared at a distance. I seated myself at the roadside +to await its coming, my little gossoon beside me, evidently not sorry +to have reached a resting-place; and once more my thoughts returned to +their well-worn channel, and my head sank on my bosom. I forgot where I +was, when suddenly the prancing of a pair of horses close to me aroused +me from my stupor, and a postillion called out to me in no very subdued +accent-- + +'Will ye hook on that trace there, avick, av ye 're not asleep?' + +Whether it was my look of astonishment at the tone and the nature of the +request, or delay in acceding to it, I know not; but a hearty curse +from the fellow on the wheelers perfectly awakened me, and I replied by +something not exactly calculated to appease the heat of the discussion. + +'Begorra,' said he of the leaders, 'it's always the way with your shabby +genteels!' and he swung himself down from the saddle to perform the +required service himself. + +During this operation I took the opportunity of looking at the +carriage, which was a large and handsome barouche, surrounded by all the +appurtenances of travel--cap-cases, imperials, etc.; a fat-looking, lazy +footman was nodding sleepily on the box, and a well-tanned lady's-maid +was reading a novel in the rumble. Within I saw the figure of a +lady, whose magnificent style of dress but little accorded with the +unfrequented road she was traversing and the wild inhabitants so thinly +scattered through it. As I looked, she turned round suddenly; and, +before I could recognise her, she called out my name. The voice in an +instant reassured me: it was Mrs. Paul Rooney herself! + +'Stop!' cried she, with a wave of her jewelled hand. 'Michael, get down. +Only think of meeting you here, Captain!' + +I stammered out some explanation about a cross-cut over the mountain +to catch the stage, and my desire to reach Ennis; while the unhappy +termination of our intimacy, and my mother's impertinent letter kept +ever uppermost in my mind, and made me confused and uneasy. Mrs. Paul, +however, had evidently no participation in such feelings, but welcomed +me with her wonted cordiality, and shook my hand with a warmth that +proved, if she had not forgotten, she had certainly forgiven, the whole +affair. + +'And so you are going to Ennis!' said she, as I assumed the place beside +her in the barouche, while Michael was busily engaged in fastening on my +luggage behind--the two movements seeming to be as naturally performed +as though the amiable lady had been in the habit of taking up walking +gentlemen with a portmanteau every day of her life. 'Well, how +fortunate! I'm going there too. Pole [so she now designated her +excellent spouse, it being the English for Paul] has some little +business with the chief-justice--two murder cases, and a forcible +abduction--and I promised to take him up on my return from Milltown, +where I have been spending a few weeks. After that we return to our +little place near Bray, where I hope you 'll come and spend a few weeks +with us.' + +'This great pleasure I fear I must deny myself,' said I, 'for I have +already outstayed my leave, and have unfortunately somehow incurred the +displeasure of his Excellency; and unless'--here I dropped my voice, and +stole a half-timid look at the lady under my eyelashes--'some one with +influence over his grace shall interfere on my behalf, I begin to fear +lest I may find myself in a sad scrape.' + +Mrs. Paul blushing, turned away her head; and while pressing my hand +softly in her own, she murmured-- + +'Don't fret about it; it won't signify.' + +I could scarce repress a smile at the success of my bit of flattery, +for as such alone I intended it, when she turned towards me, and, as if +desirous to change the topic, said-- + +'Well, we heard of all your doings--your steeplechase and your duel and +your wound, and all that; but what became of you afterwards?' + +'Oh,' said I hesitatingly, 'I was fortunate enough to make a most +agreeable acquaintance, and with him I have been spending a few weeks on +the coast--Father Tom Loftus.' + +'Father Tom!' said Mrs. Rooney with a laugh--'the pleasantest crayture +in Ireland! There isn't the like of him. Did he sing you the “Priest's +Supper?”' The lady blushed as she said these words, as if carried away +by a momentary excitement to speak of matters not exactly suitable; and +then drawing herself up, she continued in a more measured tone: 'You +know, Captain, one meets such strange people in this world.' + +'To be sure, Mrs. Rooney,' said I encouragingly; 'and to one like +yourself, who can appreciate character, Father Loftus is indeed a gem.' + +Mrs. Rooney, however, only smiled her assent, and again changed the +course of the conversation. + +'You met the Bellews, I suppose, when down in the west?' + +'Yes,' stammered I; 'I saw a good deal of Sir Simon when in that +country.' + +'Ah, the poor man!' said she with real feeling, 'what an unhappy lot his +has been!' + +Supposing that she alluded to his embarrassment as to fortune, the +difficulties which pressed upon him from money causes, I merely muttered +my assent. + +'But I suppose,' continued she, 'you have heard the whole story, though +the unhappy event occurred when you were a mere child.' + +'I am not aware to what you allude,' said I eagerly, while a suspicion +shot across my mind that the secret of Sir Simon Bellow's letter was at +length to be cleared up. + +'Ah,' said Mrs. Rooney with a sigh, 'I mean poor dear Lady Bellow's +affair--when she went away with a major of dragoons; and to be sure +an elegant young man he was, they said. Pole was on the inquest, and I +heard him say he was the handsomest man he ever saw in his life.' + +'He died suddenly, then?' + +'He was shot by Sir Simon in a duel the very day-week after the +elopement.' + +'And she?' said I. + +'Poor thing! she died of a consumption, or some say a broken heart, the +same summer.' + +'That is a sad story, indeed,' said I musingly; 'and I no longer wonder +that the poor old man should be such as he is.' + +'No, indeed; but then he was very much blamed after all, for he never +had that Jerningham out of the house.' + +'Horace Jerningham!' cried I, as a cold sickening fear crept over me. + +'Oh, yes, that was his name. He was the Honourable Horace Jerningham, +the younger son of some very high family in England; and, indeed, +the elder brother has died since, and they say the title has become +extinct.' + +It is needless for me to attempt any description of the feelings that +agitated my heart, when I say that Horace Jerningham was the brother of +my own mother. I remembered when a child to have heard something of +a dreadful duel, when all the family went into deep mourning, and my +mother's health suffered so severely that her life was at one time +feared for; but that fate should have ever thrown me into intimacy with +those upon whom this grievous injury was inflicted, and by whom death +and mourning were brought upon my house, was a sad and overwhelming +affliction that rendered me stunned and speechless. How came it then, +thought I, that my mother never recognised the name of her brother's +antagonist when speaking of Miss Bellew in her letter to me? Before I +had time to revolve this doubt in my mind Mrs. Rooney had explained it. + +'And this was the beginning of all his misfortunes. The friends of the +poor young man were people of great influence, and set every engine to +work to ruin Sir Simon, or, as he then was, Mr. Simon Barrington. At +last they got him outlawed; and it was only the very year he came to the +title and estates of his uncle that the outlawry was taken off, and +he was once more enabled to return to Ireland. However, they had their +revenge if they wished for it; for what between recklessness and bad +company, he took to gambling when abroad, contracted immense debts, and +came into his fortune little better than a beggar. Since then the world +has seen little of him, and indeed he owes it but little favour. Under +Pole's management the property is now rapidly improving; but the old man +cares little for this, and all I believe he wishes for is to have health +enough to go over to the Continent and place his daughter in a convent +before he dies.' + +Little did she guess how every word sank deep into my heart. Every +sentence of the past was throwing its shadow over all my future, and the +utter wreck of my hopes seemed now inevitable. + +While thus I sat brooding over my gloomiest thoughts, Mrs. Rooney, +evidently affected by the subject, maintained a perfect silence. At +last, however, she seemed to have summed up the whole case in her mind, +as turning to me confidentially, with her hand pressed upon my arm, she +added in a true moralising cadence, very different from that she had +employed when her feelings were really engaged-- + +'And that's what always comes of it when a gallant, gay Lutherian gets +admission into a family.' + +Shall I confess, that, notwithstanding the deep sorrow of my heart, +I could scarce repress an outbreak of laughter at these words! We now +chatted away on a variety of subjects, till the concourse of people +pressing onwards to the town, the more thickly populated country, and +the distant view of chimneys apprised us we were approaching Ennis. +Notwithstanding all my wishes to get on as fast as might be, I found it +impossible to resist an invitation to dine that day with the Rooneys, +who had engaged a small select party at the Head Inn, where Mrs. +Rooney's apartments were already awaiting her. + +It was dusk when we arrived, and I could only perceive that the gloomy +and narrow streets were densely crowded with country-people, who +conversed together in groups. Here and there a knot of legal folk were +congregated, chatting in a louder tone; and before the court-house stood +the carriage of the chief-justice, with a guard of honour of the county +yeomanry, whose unsoldierlike attitudes and droll equipments were +strongly provocative of laughter. The postillions, who had with true +tact reserved a 'trot for the town,' whipped and spurred with all their +might; and as we drove through the thronged streets a changed impression +fled abroad that we were the bearers of a reprieve, and a hearty cheer +from the mob followed us to our arrival at the inn door--a compliment +which Mrs. Paul, in nowise attributing to anything save her own peculiar +charms and deserts, most graciously acknowledged by a smile and a wave +of her hand, accompanied by an unlimited order for small beer--which +act of grace was, I think, even more popular than their first impression +concerning us. + +'Ah, Captain,' said the lady, with a compassionate smile, as I handed +her out of the carriage, 'they are so attached to the aristocracy!' + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII. THE ASSIZE TOWN + +When I had dressed, I found that I had above an hour to spare before +dinner; so taking my hat I strolled out into the town. The streets were +even more crowded now than before. The groups of country-people were +larger, and as they conversed together in their native tongue, with +all the violent gesticulation and energetic passion of their nature, an +inexperienced spectator might well have supposed them engaged in active +strife. Now and then a kind of movement, a species of suppressed murmur +from the court-house, would turn every eye in that direction; and then +every voice was hushed, not a man moved. It was evident that some trial +of the deepest interest was going forward, and on inquiry I learned that +it was a murder case, in which six men were concerned. I heard also that +the only evidence against them was from one of their own party, who +had turned, as the lawyers term it, 'approver.' I knew well that no +circumstance was more calculated than this to call forth all that +is best and worst in Irish character, and thought, as I walked along +through the dense crowd, I could trace in the features around me the +several emotions by which they were moved. + +Here was an old grey-headed man leaning on a staff, his lack-lustre eyes +gazing in wonder at some speaker who narrated a portion of the trial, +his face all eagerness, and his hands tremulous with anxiety; but I felt +I could read the deep sorrow of his heart as he listened to the deed of +blood, and wondered how men would risk their tenure of a life which in +a few days more, perhaps, he himself was to leave for ever. Here beside +him was a tall and powerfully-built countryman, his hat drawn upon his +eyes, that peered forth from their shadow dark, lustrous, and almost +wild in their expression; his face, tanned by season and exposure, was +haggard and care-worn, and in his firmly-clenched lips and fast-locked +jaw you could read the resolute purpose of one who could listen +to nothing save the promptings of the spirit of vengeance, and his +determination that blood should have blood. Some there were whose +passionate tones and violent gestures showed that all their sympathy for +the prisoners was merged in the absorbing feeling of detestation for +the informer; and you could mark in such groups as these that more women +were mingled, whose bloodshot eyes and convulsed features made them +appear the very demons of strife itself. But the most painful sight of +all was the children who were assembled around every knot of speakers, +their eyes staring and their ears eagerly drinking in each word that +dropped; no trace of childhood's happy carelessness was there, no sign +of that light-hearted youth that knows no lasting sorrow. No: theirs +were the rigid features of intense passion, in which fear, suspicion, +craft, but above all, the thirst for revenge, were writ. There were some +whose clenched hand and darkened brow betokened the gloomy purpose of +their hearts; there were others whose outpoured wrath heaped curses on +him who had betrayed his fellows. There was grief, violent, wild, and +frantic; there was mute and speechless suffering; but not a tear did I +see, not even on the cheek of childhood or of woman. No! their seared +and withered sorrow no dew of tears had ever watered; like a blighting +simoon the spirit of revenge had passed over them, and scorched and +scathed all the verdant charities of life. The law which in other lands +is looked to for protection and security, was regarded by them as an +instrument of tyranny; they neither understood its spirit nor trusted +its decisions; and when its blow fell upon them, they bent their heads +in mournful submission, to raise them when opportunity offered in wild +and stern defiance. Its denunciations came to them sudden and severe; +they deemed the course of justice wayward and capricious, the only +feature of certainty in its operation being that its victim was ever +the poor man. The passionate elements of their wild natures seemed but +ill-adapted to the slow-sustained current of legal investigation; they +looked upon all the details of evidence as the signs of vindictive +malice, and thought that trickery and deceit were brought in arms +against them. Hence each face among the thousands there bore the traces +of that hardened, dogged suffering that tells us that the heart is +rather steeled with the desire to avenge than bowed to weep over the +doomed. + +Before the court-house a detachment of soldiers was drawn up under arms, +their unmoved features and fixed attitudes presenting a strange contrast +to the excited expressions and changeful gestures of those about them. +The crowd at this part was thickest, and I could perceive in their eager +looks and mute expressions that something more than common had attracted +their attention. My own interest was, however, directed in another +quarter; for through the open window of the court-house I could hear +the words of a speaker, whom I soon recognised as the counsel for the +prisoners addressing the jury. My foraging-cap passed me at once +through the ranks, and after some little crushing I succeeded in gaining +admission to the body of the court. + +Such was the crowd within, I could see nothing but the heads of a +closely-wedged mass of people, save at the distant part of the court +the judges, and to their right the figure of the pleader, whose back was +turned towards me. + +Little as I heard of the speech, I was overwhelmed with surprise at what +I did hear. Touching on the evidence of the 'approver' but slightly, the +advocate dwelt with a terrific force upon the degraded character of a +man who could trade upon the blood of his former friends and associates. +Scarce stopping to canvass how the testimony bore home upon the +prisoners, he burst forth into an impassioned appeal to the hearts of +the jury on faith betrayed and vows forsworn, and pictured forth the man +who could thus surrender his fellows to the scaffold as a monster whose +evidence no man could trust, no jury confide in; and when he had +thus heightened the colouring of his description by every power of an +eloquence that made the very building ring, he turned suddenly towards +the informer himself, as, pale, wan, and conscience-stricken, +he cowered beneath the lightning glance from an eye that seemed to +pierce his secret soul within him, and apostrophising his virtues, he +directed every glance upon the miserable wretch that writhed beneath +his sarcasm. This seemed, indeed, the speakers forte. Never did I hear +anything so tremendous as the irony with which he described the credit +due to one who had so often been sworn and forsworn--'who took an oath +of allegiance to his king, and an oath of fealty to his fellows, and +now is here this day with a third oath, by which, in the blood of his +victim, he is to ratify his perjury to both, and secure himself an +honourable independence.' The caustic satire verged once--only once--on +something that produced a laugh, when the orator suddenly stopped:-- + +'I find, my lord, I have raised a smile. God knows, never did I feel +less merriment. Let me not be condemned. Let not the laugh be mistaken. +Few are those events that are produced by folly and vice that fire the +hearts with indignation, but something in them will shake the sides +with laughter. So, when the two famous moralists of old beheld the sad +spectacle of Life, the one burst into laughter, the other melted into +tears. They were each of them right, and equally right. But these laughs +are the bitter, rueful laughs of honest indignation, or they are the +laughs of hectic melancholy and despair. But look there, and tell me +where is your laughter now!' + +With these words he turned fully round and pointed his finger to +the dock, where the six prisoners side by side leaned their haggard, +deathlike faces upon the rail, and gazed with stupid wonder at the scene +before them. Four of the number did not even know the language, but +seemed by the instinct of their position to feel the nature of the +appeal their advocate was making, and turned their eyes around the court +as if in search of some one look of pity or encouragement that should +bring comfort to their hearts. + +The whole thing was too dreadful to bear longer, so I forced my way +through the crowd, and at last reached the steps in front of the +building. But here a new object of horror presented itself, and one +which to this hour I cannot chase from before me. In the open space +between the line formed by the soldiers and the court knelt a woman, +whose tattered garments scarce covered a figure emaciated nearly to +starvation; her cheeks, almost blue with famine, were pinched inwards, +and her hands, which she held clasped with outstretched arms before her, +were like the skinny claws of some wild animal. As she neither spoke nor +stirred, there was no effort made to remove her; and there she knelt, +her eyes, bloodshot and staring, bent upon the door of the building. A +vague fear took possession of me. Somewhere I had seen that face before. +I drew near, and as a cold thrill ran through my blood, I remembered +where. She was the wife of the man by whose bedside I had watched in the +mountains. A half dread of being recognised by her kept me back for a +moment; then came the better feeling that perhaps I might be able to +serve her, and I walked towards her. But though she turned her eyes +towards me as I approached, her look had no intelligence in it, and I +could plainly see that reason had fled, and left nothing save the poor +suffering form behind it. I endeavoured to attract her attention, but +all in vain. At last I tried by gentle force to induce her to leave the +place; but a piercing shriek, like one whose tones had long dwelt in my +heart, broke from her, with a look of such unutterable anguish, that +I was obliged to desist and leave her. The crowd made way for me as I +passed out, and I could see in their looks and demeanour the expression +of grateful acknowledgment for even this show of feeling on my part; +while some muttered as I went by, 'God reward ye,' 'the Lord be good +to ye,' as though at that moment they had nothing in their hearts save +thoughts of kindness and words of blessing. + +I reached my room, and sat down a sadder, perhaps a wiser man; and yet +I know not this. It would need a clearer head than mine to trace all the +varying and discordant elements of character I had witnessed to their +true source; to sift the evil from the good; to know what to cherish, +what to repress, whereon to build hope or what to fear. Such was this +country once! Has it changed since? + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV. THE BAD DINNER + +At nine o'clock the jury retired, and a little afterwards the front +drawing-room of the Head Inn was becoming every moment more crowded, +as the door opened to admit the several members of the bar, invited to +partake of Mrs. Rooney's hospitalities. Mrs. Rooney's, I say; for +the etiquette of the circuit forbidding the attorney to entertain the +dignitaries of the craft, Paul was only present at his own table on +sufferance, and sought out the least obtrusive place he could find among +the juniors and side-dishes. + +No one who could have seen the gay, laughing, merry mob of shrewd, +cunning-looking men that chatted away there would have imagined them a +few moments previously engaged in a question where the lives of four of +their fellow-men hung in the balance, and where at the very moment the +deliberation was continuing that should, perhaps, sentence them to death +upon the scaffold. + +The instincts of a profession are narrow and humiliating things to +witness. The surgeon who sees but in the suffering agony of his patient +the occasional displacement of certain anatomical details is little +better than a savage; the lawyer who watches the passions of hope and +fear, distrust, dread, and suspicion, only to take advantage of them +in his case, is far worse than a savage. I confess, on looking at these +men, I could never divest myself of the impression that the hired and +paid-for passion of the advocate, the subtlety that is engaged special, +the wit that is briefed, the impetuous rush of indignant eloquence that +is bottled up from town to town in circuit, and like soda-water grows +weaker at every corking, make but a poor _ensemble_ of qualities for the +class who, _par excellence_, stand at the head of professional life. + +One there was, indeed, whose haggard eye and blanched cheek showed no +semblance of forgetting the scene in which so lately he had been an +actor. This was the lawyer who had defended the prisoners. He sat in a +window, resting his head upon his hand--fatigue, exhaustion, but more +than all, intense feeling, portrayed in every lineament of his pale +face. + +'Ah,' said the gay, jovial-looking attorney-general, slapping him +familiarly on the shoulder--'ah, my dear fellow; not tired, I hope. The +court was tremendously hot; but come, rally a bit: we shall want you. +Bennet and O'Grady have disappointed us, it seems; but you are a host in +yourself.' + +'Maybe so,' replied the other faintly, and scarce lifting his eyes; 'but +you can't depend on my elevation.' + +The ease and readiness of the reply, as well as the tones of the voice, +struck me; and I perceived that it was no other than the prior of the +Monks of the Screw who had spoken. Mrs. Rooney made her appearance at +the moment, and my attention was soon taken away by the announcement of +dinner. + +One of the judges arrived in time to offer his arm, and I could not +help feeling amused at the mock-solemnity of the procession, as we moved +along. The judge, I may observe, was a young man, lately promoted, and +one whose bright eye and bold, dashing expression bore many more traces +of the outer bar than it smacked of the dull gravity of the bench. He +took the end of the table beside Mrs. Paul, and the others soon seated +themselves promiscuously along the table. + +There is a species of gladiatorial exhibition in lawyers' society which +is certainly very amusing. No one speaks without the foreknowledge that +he is to be caught up, punned up, or ridiculed, as the case may be. The +whole conversation is therefore a hailstorm of short stories, quips, +and retorts, intermingled with details of successful bar-stratagems, and +practical jokes played off upon juries. With less restraint than at a +military mess, there is a strong professional feeling of deference for +the seniors, and much more tact and knowledge of the world to unite +them. While thus the whole conversation ran on topics of the circuit, I +was amazed at Mrs. Rooney's perfect intimacy with all the niceties of +a law joke, or the fun of a _nisi prius_ story. She knew the chief +peculiarities of the several persons alluded to, and laughed loud and +long at the good things she listened to. The judge alone, above all +others, had the lady's ear. His bold but handsome features, his rich +commanding voice (nothing the worse that it was mellowed by a little +brogue), his graceful action and manly presence, stamped him as one well +suited to be successful wherever good looks, ready tact, and consummate +conversational powers have a field for their display. His stories were +few, but always pertinent and well told; and frequently the last joke at +the table was capped by him, when no one else could have ventured to +try it, while the rich roll of his laugh was a guarantee for mirth that +never failed. + +It was just when my attention was drawn off by Mrs. Booney to some +circumstance of our former intimacy, that a hearty burst of laughing +from the end of the table told that something unusually absurd was being +related. + +'Yes, sir,' said a shrewd-looking, thin old fellow in spectacles, 'we +capitulated, on condition of leaving the garrison with all the honours +of war; and, 'faith, the sheriff was only too glad to comply.' + +'Bob Mahon is certainly a bold fellow, and never hard pushed, whatever +you may do with him.' + +'Bob Mahon!' said I: 'what of him?' + +'Keatley has just been telling how he held the jail of Ennis for four +weeks against the sheriff. The jailer was an old tenant of his, and +readily came into his plans. They were victualled for a long siege, and +as the place was strong they had nothing to fear. When the garrison was +summoned to surrender, they put a charge of No. 4 into the sub-sheriff, +that made him move to the rear; and as the prisoners were all coming +from the assizes, they were obliged to let him have his own terms if he +'d only consent to come out. So they gave him twelve hours' law, and a +clear run for it? and he's away.' + +This was indeed a very quick realisation of Father Tom's prediction, and +I joined in the mirth the story elicited--not the less readily that I +was well acquainted with the principal actor in it. + +While the laughter still continued, the door opened, and a young +barrister stole into the room and whispered a few words into the ear of +the counsel for the prisoners. He leaned back in his chair, and pushed +his wine-glass hurriedly before him. + +'What, Collinson!' cried the attorney-general, 'have they agreed?' 'Yes, +sir--a verdict of guilty.' + +'Of course; the evidence was too home for a doubt,' said he, filling his +glass from the decanter. + +A sharp glance from the dark eye of the opposite counsel was the only +reply, as he rose and left the room. + +'Our friend has taken a more than common interest in this case,' was +the cool observation of the last speaker; 'but there was no getting +over Hanlon's testimony.' Here he entered into some detail of the trial, +while the buzz and confusion of voices became greater than ever. I took +this opportunity of making my escape, and joined Mrs. Rooney, who a +short time before had retired to the drawing-room. + +Mrs. Paul had contrived, even in the short space since her arrival, to +have converted the drawing-room into a semblance of something like an +apartment in a private house--books, prints, and flowers, judiciously +disposed, as well as an open pianoforte, giving it an air of comfort and +propriety far different from its ordinary seeming. She was practising +Moore's newly-published song of, 'My from this world, dear Bessy, with +me,' as I entered. + +'Pray, continue, my dear Mrs. Rooney,' said I: 'I will take it as the +greatest possible favour----' + +'Ah,' said Mrs..Paul, throwing up her eyes in the most languishing +ecstasy--'ah, you have a soul, I know you have!' + +Protesting that I had strong reasons to believe so, I renewed my +entreaty. + +'Yes,' said she, musing, and in a Siddons tone of soliloquy, 'yes, the +poet is right-- + +“Music hath charms to _smooth_ the savage _beast_.” + +But I really can't sing the melodies--they are too much for me. The +allusion to former times, when King O'Toole and the rest of the royal +family---- Ah, you are aware, I believe, that family reasons----' + +Here she pressed her embroidered handkerchief to her eyes with one hand, +while she pressed mine convulsively with the other. + +'Yes, yes,' said I hurriedly, while a strong temptation to laugh +outright seized me; 'I have heard that your descent----' + +'Yes, my dear; if it wasn't for the Danes, and the cruel battle of the +Boyne, there's no saying where I might not be seated now.' + +She leaned on the piano as she spoke, and seemed overpowered with +sorrow. At this instant the door opened, and the judge made his +appearance. + +'A thousand pardons for the indiscretion,' said he, stepping back as he +saw me sitting with the lady's hand in mine. I sprang up, confused and +ashamed, and rushing past him hurried downstairs. + +I knew how soon my adventure, for such it would grow into, would be the +standing jest of the bar mess; and not feeling disposed to be present at +their mirth, I ordered a chaise, and before half an hour elapsed was on +my road to Dublin. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV. THE RETURN + +We never experience to the full how far sorrow has made its inroad upon +us until we come back, after absence, to the places where we have once +been happy, and find them lone and tenantless. While we recognise each +old familiar object, we see no longer those who gave them all their +value in our eyes; every inanimate thing about speaks to our senses, +but where are they who were wont to speak to our hearts? The solitary +chamber is then, indeed, but the body of all our pleasure, from which +the soul has departed for ever. + +These feelings were mine as I paced the old well-worn stairs, and +entered my quarters in the Castle. No more I heard the merry laugh of my +friend O'Grady, nor his quick step upon the stair. The life, the stir, +the bustle of the place itself seemed to have all fled; the court echoed +only to the measured tread of the grenadier, who marched backwards +and forwards beside the flagstaff in the centre of the open space. No +cavalcade of joyous riders, no prancing horses led about by grooms, no +showy and splendid equipages; all was still, sad, and neglected-looking. +The dust whirled about in circling eddies, as the cold wind of an +autumnal day moaned through the arched passages and gloomy corridors of +the old building. A care-worn official, or some slatternly inferior of +the household, would perhaps pass from time to time; but except such as +these, nothing stirred. The closed shutters and drawn-down blinds showed +that the viceroy was absent and I found myself the only occupant of the +building. + +It requires the critical eye of the observant resident of great cities +to mark the changes which season and fashion effect in their appearance. +To one unaccustomed to their phases it seems strange to hear, 'How empty +the town is! how very few people are in London!'--while the heavy tide +of population pours incessantly around him, and his ear is deafened +with the ceaseless roll of equipage. But in such a city as Dublin the +alteration is manifest to the least observant. But little frequented by +the country gentry, and never except for the few months when the court +is there; still less visited by foreigners; deserted by the professional +classes, at least such of them as are independent enough to absent +themselves--the streets are actually empty. The occupations of trade, +the bustle of commerce, that through every season continue their +onward course in the great trading cities such as Liverpool, Hamburg, +Frankfort, and Bourdeaux, scarce exist here; and save that the tattered +garments of mendicancy, and the craving cries of hunger are ever before +you, you might fall into a drowsy reverie as you walked, and dream +yourself in Palmyra. + +I had strolled about for above an hour, in the moody frame of mind my +own reflections and the surrounding objects were well calculated to +suggest, when, meeting by accident a subaltern with whom I was slightly +acquainted, I heard that the court had that morning left the Lodge in +the Park for Kilkenny, where the theatricals of that pleasant city were +going forward--a few members of the household alone remaining, who were +to follow in a day or two. + +For some days previous I had made up my mind not to remain in Ireland. +Every tie that bound me to the country was broken. I had no heart to set +about forming new friendships while the wounds of former ones were +still fresh and bleeding; and I longed for change of scene and active +occupation, that I might have no time to reflect or look back. + +Resolving to tender my resignation on the duke's staff without any +further loss of time, I set out at once for the Park. I arrived there in +the very nick of time; the carriages were at the entrance, waiting for +the private secretary of his grace and two of the aides-de-camp, who +were eating a hurried luncheon before starting. One of the aides-de-camp +I knew but slightly, the other was a perfect stranger to me; but the +secretary, Horton, was an intimate acquaintance. He jumped up from his +chair as my name was announced, and a deep blush covered his face as he +advanced to meet me. + +'My dear Hinton, how unfortunate! Why weren't you here yesterday? It's +too late now.' + +'Too late for what? I don't comprehend you.' + +'Why, my dear fellow,' said he, drawing his arm within mine, and leading +me towards a window, as he dropped his voice to a whisper, 'I believe +you heard from me that his grace was provoked at your continued absence, +and expected at least that you would have written to ask an extension +of your leave. I don't know how it was, but it seemed to me that the +duchess came back from England with some crotchet in her head, about +something she heard in London. In any case, they ordered me to write.' + +'Well, well,' said I impatiently; 'I guess it all. I have got my +dismissal. Isn't that the whole of it?' + +He nodded twice, without speaking. + +'It only anticipates my own wishes,' said I coolly, 'as this note may +satisfy you.' I placed the letter I had written for the purpose of my +resignation in his hand, and continued: 'I am quite convinced in my own +mind that his grace, whose kindness towards me has never varied, would +never have dreamed of this step on such slight grounds as my absence. +No, no; the thing lies deeper. At any other time I should certainly have +wished to trace this matter to its source; now, however, chiming as it +does with my own plans, and caring little how fortune intends to treat +me, I'll submit in silence.' + +'And take no notice of the affair further?' + +'Such is my determination,' said I resolutely. + +'In that case,' said Horton, 'I may tell you that some story of a lady +had reached the duchess, when in London--some girl that it was reported +you endeavoured to seduce, and had actually followed for that purpose +to the west of Ireland. There, there! don't take the matter up that way, +for heaven's sake! My dear fellow, hear me out!' But I could hear no +more; the rushing blood that crowded on my brain stunned and stupefied +me, and it took several minutes before I became sufficiently collected +to ask him to go on. + +'I heard the thing so confusedly,' said he, 'that I cannot attempt +anything like connection in relating it. But the story goes that your +duel in Loughrea did not originate about the steeplechase at all, but in +a quarrel about this girl, with her brother or her cousin, who, having +discovered your intentions regarding her, you wished to get rid of, as a +preliminary. No one but a fool could credit such a thing.' + +'None but such could have invented it,' said I, as my thoughts at once +recurred to Lord Dudley de Vere. + +'The duke, however, spoke to General Hinton----' + +'To my father! And how did he----' + +'Oh, behaved as only he could have done: “Stop, my lord!” said he; “I'll +spare you any further relation of this matter. If it be true, my son is +unworthy of remaining on your staff. If it be false, I'll not permit him +to hold an appointment where his reputation has been assailed without +affording him an opportunity of defence.” High words ensued, and the end +was that if you appeared before to-day, you were to hear the charge and +have an opportunity for reply. If not, your dismissal was to be made +out, and another appointed in your place. Now that I have told you what +I feel the indiscretion of my ever having spoken of, promise me, my +dear Hinton, that you will take no step in the matter. The intrigue is +altogether beneath you, and your character demands no defence on your +part.' + +'I almost suspect I know the person,' said I gloomily. + +'No, no; I'm certain you can't. It is some woman's story; some piece of +tea-table gossip, depend on it--in any case, quite unworthy of caring +about.' + +'At all events, I am too indifferent at this moment to feel otherwise +about anything,' said I. 'So, good-bye; Horton. My regards to all our +fellows; good-bye!' + +'Good-bye, my boy,' said he, warmly shaking my hand. 'But, stop a +moment, I have got some letters for you; they arrived only a few days +since.' + +He took a packet from a drawer as he spoke, and once more bidding him +adieu, I set out on my return to the Castle. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI. FAREWELL TO IRELAND + +My first care on reaching my quarters was to make preparations for my +departure by the packet of the same evening; my next was to sit down and +read over my letters. As I turned them over, I remarked that there +were none from my father or Lady Charlotte; there was, however, one in +Julia's hand, and also a note from O'Grady. The others were the mere +commonplace correspondence of everyday acquaintances, which I merely +threw my eyes carelessly over ere I consigned them to the fire. My +fair cousin's possessed--I cannot explain why--a most unusual degree of +interest for me; and throwing myself back in my chair, I gave myself up +to its perusal. + +The epistle opened by a half-satirical account of the London season then +nearly drawing to its close, in which various characters and incidents +I have not placed before my readers, but all well known to me, +were touched with that quiet, subdued raillery she excelled in. The +flirtations, the jiltings, the matches that were on or off, the rumoured +duels, debts, and difficulties of every one we were acquainted with, +were told with a most amusing smartness--all showing, young as she was, +how thoroughly the wear and tear of fashionable life had invested her +with the intricate knowledge of character, and the perfect acquaintance +with all the intrigues and byplay of the world. 'How unlike Louisa +Bellew!' said I, as I laid down the letter after reading a description +of a manoeuvring mamma and obedient daughter to secure the prize of the +season, with a peerage and some twenty thousand pounds per annum. It was +true they were the vices and the follies of the age which she ridiculed; +but why should she have ever known them? Ought she to have been +conversant with such a state of society as would expose them? Were it +not better, like Louisa Bellew, to have passed her days amid the simple, +unexciting scenes of secluded life, than to have purchased all the +brilliancy of her wit and the dazzle of her genius at the price of true +womanly delicacy and refinement? While I asked and answered myself these +questions to the satisfaction of my own heart, I could not dismiss the +thought, that amid such scenes as London presented, with such associates +as fashion necessitated, the unprotected simplicity of Miss Bellew's +character would expose her to much both of raillery and coldness; and I +felt that she would be nearly as misplaced among the proud daughters of +haughty England as my fair cousin in the unfashionable freedom of Dublin +life. + +I confess, as I read on, that old associations came crowding upon me. +The sparkling brilliancy of Julia's style reminded me of the charms of +her conversational powers, aided by all the loveliness of her beauty, +and all that witchery which your true belle of fashion knows how, so +successfully, to spread around her; and it was with a flush of +burning shame on my cheek I acknowledged to myself how much her +letter interested me. As I continued, I saw O'Grady*s name, and to my +astonishment found the following:-- + +'Lady Charlotte came back from the duke's ball greatly pleased with a +certain Major of dragoons, who, among his other excellent qualities, +turns out to be a friend of yours. This estimable person, whose name is +O'Grady, has done much to dissipate her ladyship's prejudices regarding +Irishmen--the repose of his manner, and the quiet, unassuming, well-bred +tone of his address being all so opposed to her preconceived notions of +his countrymen. He dines here twice or thrice a week, and as he is to +sail soon, may happily preserve the bloom of his reputation to the last. +My estimate of him is somewhat different. I think him a bold _effronté_ +kind of person, esteeming himself very highly, and thinking little +of other people. He has, however, a delightful old thing, his servant +Corny, whom I am never tired of, and shall really miss much when he +leaves us. + +'Now as to yourself, dear cousin, what mean all the secret hints and sly +looks and doubtful speeches about you here! The mysteries of Udolpho are +plain reading compared to your doings. Her ladyship never speaks of +you but as “that poor boy,” accompanying the epithet with the sigh with +which one speaks of a shipwreck. Sir George calls you John, which shows +he is not quite satisfied about you; and, in fact, I begin to suspect +you must have become a United Irishman, with “a lady in the case.” Yet +even this would scarcely demand one half the reserve and caution with +which you are mentioned. Am I indiscreet in saying that I don't think De +Vere likes you? The Major, however, certainly does; and his presence has +banished the lordling, for which, really, I owe him gratitude.' + +The letter concluded by saying that my mother had desired her to write +in her place, as she was suffering from one of her nervous headaches, +which only permitted her to go to the exhibition at Somerset House; my +father, too, was at Woolwich on some military business, and had no time +for anything save to promise to write soon; and that she herself, being +disappointed by the milliner in a new bonnet, dedicated the morning to +me, with a most praiseworthy degree of self-denial and benevolence. I +read the signature some half-dozen times over, and wondered what meaning +in her own heart she ascribed to the words, 'Yours, Julia.' + +'Now for O'Grady,' said I, breaking the seal of the Major's envelope. + +'My dear Jack,--I was sitting on a hencoop, now pondering on my +fortunes, now turning to con over the only book on board--a very erudite +work on naval tactics, with directions how “to moor a ship in the +Downs”--when a gun came booming over the sea, and a frigate with certain +enigmatical colours flying at her main-top compelled the old troop-ship +we were in to back her topsails and lie to. (We were then steering +straight for Madeira, in latitude------, longitude the same--our +intention being, with the aid of Providence, to reach Quebec at some +remote period of the summer, to join our service companies in Canada.) +Having obeyed the orders of H.M.S. _Blast_, to wait until she overtook +us--a measure that nearly cost us two of our masts and the cook's +galley, we not being accustomed to stand still, it seemed--a boat came +alongside with the smallest bit of a midshipman I ever looked at sitting +in the stern-sheets, with orders for us to face about, left shoulder +forward, and march back to England, where, having taken in the second +battalion of the Twenty-eighth, we were to start for Lisbon. + +'I need not tell you what pleasure the announcement afforded us, +delighted as we were to exchange tomahawks and bowie-knives for +civilised warfare, even against more formidable foes. Behold us then in +full sail back to old England, which we reached within a fortnight--only +to touch, however, for the Twenty-eighth were most impatiently expecting +us; and having dedicated three days to taking in water and additional +stores, and once more going through the horrible scene of leave-taking +between soldiers and their wives, we sailed again. I have little +inclination to give you the detail, which newspapers would beat me +hollow in, of our march, or where we first came up with the French. A +smart affair took place at daybreak, in which your humble servant, to +use the appropriate phrase, “distinguished” himself--egad! I had almost +said “extinguished”; for I was shot through the side, losing part of +that conjugal portion of the human anatomy called a rib, and sustaining +several other minor damages, that made me appear to the regimental +doctor a very unserviceable craft for his Majesty's service. The result +was, I was sent back with that plaster for a man's vanity, though not +for his wounds, a despatch-letter to the Horse Guards, and an official +account of the action. As nothing has occurred since in the Peninsula to +eclipse my performance, I continue to star it here with immense success, +and am quite convinced that with a little more loss I might have made an +excellent match out of the affair. + +'Now to the pleasant part of my epistle. Your father found me out a few +evenings since at an evening party at the Duke of York's, and presented +me to your lady-mother, who was most gracious in her reception of me; +an invitation to dinner the next day followed, and since, I have spent +almost every day at your house. Your father, my dear Jack, is a glorious +fellow, a soldier in every great feature of the character; you never can +have a finer object of your imitation, and your best friend cannot wish +you to be more than his equal. Lady Charlotte is the most fascinating +person I ever met; her abilities are first-rate, and her powers of +pleasing exceed all that ever I fancied even of London fashionables. How +you could have left such a house I can scarcely conceive, knowing as I +do something of your taste for comfort and voluptuous ease. Besides, _la +cousine_, Lady Julia--Jack, Jack, what a close fellow you are I and +how very lovely she is! she certainly has not her equal even here. I +scarcely know her, for somehow she rather affects hauteur with my cloth, +and rarely deigns any notice of the red-coats so plentifully sprinkled +along your father's dinner-table. Her kindness to Corny, who has been +domesticated at your house for the last five weeks, I can never forget; +and even he can't, it would appear, conjure up any complaint against +her. What a testimony to her goodness! + +'This life, however, cannot last for ever; and as I have now recovered +so far as to mount a horse once more, I have applied for a regimental +appointment. Your father most kindly interests himself for me, and +before the week is over I may be gazetted. That fellow De Vere was very +intimate here when I arrived; since he has seen me, however, his +visits have become gradually less frequent, and now have almost ceased +altogether. This, _entre nous_, does not seem to have met completely +with Lady Julia's approval, and I think she may have attributed to me a +circumstance in which certainly I was not an active cause. However happy +I may feel at being instrumental in a breach of intimacy between her and +one so very unworthy of her, even as a common acquaintance, I will ask +you, Jack, when opportunity offers, to put the matter in its true light; +for although I may, in all likelihood, never meet her again, I should +be sorry to leave with her a more unfavourable impression of me than I +really deserve.' + +Here the letter broke off; but lower down on the paper were the +following lines, written in evident haste, and with a different ink:-- + +'We sail to-night. Oporto is our destination. Corny is to remain behind, +and I must ask of you to look to him on his arrival in Dublin. Lady +Julia likes De Vere, and you know him too well to permit of such a fatal +misfortune. I am, I find, meddling in what really I have no right to +touch upon; this is, however, _de vous à moi_. God bless you.--Yours +ever, Phil o'Grady.' + +'Poor Phil!' said I, as I laid down the letter; 'in his heart he +believes himself disinterested in all this, but I see plainly he is in +love with her himself.' Alas! I cannot conceive a heavier affliction +to befall the man without fortune than to be thrown among those whose +prospects render an alliance impossible, and to bestow his affections on +an object perfectly beyond his reach of attainment. Many a proud heart +has been torn in the struggle between its own promptings and the +dread of the imputation, which the world so hastily confers, of +'fortune-hunting'; many a haughty spirit has quailed beneath this fear, +and stifled in his bosom the thought that made his life a blessed dream. +My poor friend, how little will she that has stolen away your peace +think of your sorrows! + +A gentle tap at my door aroused me from my musings. I opened it, and +saw, to my surprise, my old companion Tipperary Joe. He was covered with +dust, heated, and travel-stained, and leaned against the door-post to +rest himself. + +'So,' cried he, when he had recovered his breath, 'I'm in time to see +you once more before you go! I run all the way from Carlow, since twelve +o'clock last night.' + +'Come in, my poor boy, and sit down. Here's a glass of wine; 'twill +refresh you. We 'll get something for you to eat presently.' + +'No, I couldn't eat now. My throat is full, and my heart is up here. +And so you are going away--going for good and all, never to come back +again?' + +'Who can say so much as that, Joe? I should, at least, be very sorry to +think so.' + +'And would you, now? And will you really think of ould Ireland when +you 're away? Hurroo! by the mortial, there's no place like it for fun, +divilment, and divarsion. But, musha, musha! I'm forgettin', and it's +gettin' dark. May I go with you to the packet?' + +'To be sure, my poor boy; and I believe we have not many minutes to +spare.' + +I despatched Joe for a car while I threw a last look around my room. Sad +things, these last looks, whether bestowed on the living or the dead, +the lifelike or the inanimate! There is a feeling that resembles death +in the last glance we are ever to bestow on a loved object. The girl +you have treasured in your secret heart, as she passes by on her +wedding-day, it may be happy and blissful, lifts up her laughing eyes, +the symbol of her own light heart, and leaves in that look darkness and +desolation to you for ever. The boy your father-spirit has clung +to, like the very light of your existence, waves his hand from the +quarterdeck, as the gigantic ship bends over to the breeze; the wind +is playing through the locks your hand so oftentimes has smoothed; +the tears have dimmed his eyes, for, mark t he moves his fingers over +them--and this is a last look. My sorrow had no touch of these. My eye +ranged over the humble furniture of my little chamber, while memories +of the past came crowding on me--hopes that I had lived to see blighted, +daydreams dissipated, heartfelt wishes thwarted and scattered. I stood +thus for some minutes, when Joe again joined me. + +Poor fellow! his wayward and capricious flights, now grave, now gay, +were but the mockery of that sympathy my heart required. Still did he +heal the sadness of the moment. We need the voice, the look, the accent +of affection when we are leaving the spot where we have once been happy. +It will not do to part from the objects that have made our home, without +the connecting link of human friendship. The hearth, the roof-tree, +the mountain, and the rivulet are not so eloquent as the once syllabled +'Good-bye,' come it from ever so humble a voice. + +[Illustration: 3-055] + +The bustle and excitement of the scene beside the packet seemed to +afford Joe the most lively gratification; and, like the genius of +confusion, he was to be seen flitting from place to place, assisting +one, impeding another, while snatches of his wild songs broke from him +every moment. I had but time to press his hand, when he was hurried +ashore amongst the crowd; and the instant after the vessel sheered off +from the pier, and got under way. The poor boy stood upon a block of +granite, waving his cap over his head. He tried a faint cheer, but it +was scarcely audible; another, it too failed. He looked wildly around +him on the strange, unknown faces, as if a scene of desolation had +fallen on him, burst into a torrent of tears, and fled wildly from the +spot. And thus I took my leave of Ireland. + +At this period of my narrative I owe it to my reader--I owe it to +myself--to apologise for the mention of incidents, places, and people +that have no other bearing on my story than in the impression they +made upon me while yet young. When I arrived in Ireland I knew scarcely +anything of the world. My opportunities had shown me life only through +the coloured gloss of certain fashionable prejudices; but of the real +character, motives, and habitual modes of acting and thinking of others, +still more of myself, I was in total ignorance. The rapidly succeeding +incidents of Irish life--their interest, variety, and novelty--all +attracted and excited me; and without ever stopping to reflect upon +causes, I found myself becoming acquainted with facts. That the +changeful pictures of existence so profusely scattered through the land +should have made their impression upon me is natural enough; and because +I have found it easier and pleasanter to tell my reader the machinery of +this change in me than to embody that change itself, is the reason why +I have presented before him tableaux of life under so many different +circumstances, and when, frequently, they had no direct relation to the +current of my own fate and the story of my own fortunes. It is enough +of myself to say, that, though scarcely older in time, I had grown so +in thought and feeling. If I felt, on the one hand, how little my +high connections and the position in fashionable life which my family +occupied availed me, I learned, on the other, to know that friends, +and stanch ones, could be made at once, on the emergency of a moment, +without the imposing ceremony of introduction and the diplomatic +interchange of visits. And now to my story. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII. LONDON + +It was late when I arrived in London and drove up to my father's house. +The circumstances under which I had left Ireland weighed more heavily on +me as I drew near home, and as I reflected over the questions I should +be asked and the explanations I should be expected to afford; and I half +dreaded lest my father should disapprove of my conduct before I had an +opportunity of showing him how little I had been to blame throughout. +The noise and din of the carriages, the oaths and exclamations of the +coachmen, and the uproar of the streets turned my attention from these +thoughts, and I asked what was the meaning of the crowd. + +'A great ball, sir, at Lady Charlotte Hinton's.' + +This was a surprise, and not of the pleasantest. I had wished that my +first meeting with my father at least should have been alone and in +quietness, where I could fairly have told him every important event of +my late life, and explained wherefore I so ardently desired immediate +employment on active service and a total change in that career which +weighed so heavily on my spirits. The carriage drew up at the instant, +and I found myself once more at home. + +What a feeling does that simple word convey to his ears who knows the +real blessing of a home--that shelter from the world, its jealousies +and its envies, its turmoils and its disappointments; where, like some +landlocked bay, the still, calm waters sleep in silence, while the storm +and hurricane are roaring without; where glad faces and bright looks +abound; where each happiness is reflected back from every heart and ten +times multiplied, and every sorrow comes softened by consolation and +words of comfort! And how little like this is the abode of the great +leader of fashion; how many of the fairest gifts of humanity are turned +back by the glare of a hundred wax-lights, and the glitter of gilded +lackeys; and how few of the charities of life find entrance where the +splendour and luxury of voluptuous habits have stifled natural feeling, +and made even sympathy unfashionable! + +It was not without difficulty I could persuade the servants, who were +all strangers to me, that the travel-stained, dusty individual before +them was the son of the celebrated and fashionable Lady Charlotte +Hinton, and at length reach my room to dress. + +It was near midnight. The rooms were filled as I entered the +drawing-room. For a few moments I could not help feeling strongly the +full influence of the splendid scene before me. The undoubted evidences +of rank and wealth that meet the eye on every side in London life are +very striking. The splendour of the women's dress, their own beauty, a +certain air of haughty bearing peculiarly English, a kind of conscious +superiority to the rest of the world mark them; and in their easy, +unembarrassed, steady glance you read the proud spirit of Albion's +'haughty dames.' This alone was very different from the laughing spirit +of Erin's daughters, their _espiègle_ looks and smiling lips. The men, +too, were so dissimilar--their reserved and stately carriage, their low +voices, and deferential but composed manner contrasting strongly with +Irish volubility, quickness, and gesticulation. I stood unnoticed and +alone for some time, quietly observant of the scene before me; and as +I heard name after name announced, many of them the greatest and the +highest in the land, there was no semblance of excitement as they +entered, no looks of admiring wonder as they passed on and mingled +with the crowd. This showed me I was in a mighty city, where the chief +spirits that ruled the age moved daily before the public eye; and again +I thought of Dublin, where some third-rate notoriety would have been +hailed with almost acclamation, and lionised to the 'top of his bent.' + +I could remember but few of those around, and even they had either +forgotten me altogether, or, having no recollection of my absence, +saluted me with the easy nonchalance of one who is seen every evening of +his life. + +'How are you, Hinton?' said one, with something more of warmth than the +rest. 'I have not met you for some weeks past.' + +'No,' said I, smiling. 'I have been nearly a year from home.' + +'Ah, indeed! In Spain?' + +'No, in Ireland.' + +'In Ireland? How odd!' + +'Who has been in Ireland?' said a low, plaintive voice. Turning round +as she spoke, my lady-mother stood before me. 'I should like to hear +something---- But, dear me, this must be John!' and she held out her +jewelled hand towards me. + +'My dear mother, I am so happy to see you look so very well----' + +'No, no, my dear,' said she, sighing, 'don't speak of that. When did +you arrive? I beg your Royal Highness's pardon, I hope you have not +forgotten your protege, my son.' + +I bowed reverently as a large, full, handsome man, with bald head and a +most commanding expression, drew himself up before me. + +'No, madam, I have not forgotten him, I assure you!' was the reply, as +he returned my salute with marked coldness, and passed on. + +Before Lady Charlotte could express her surprise at such an unlooked-for +mark of displeasure, my father, who had just heard of my arrival, came +up. + +'Jack, my dear fellow, I am glad to see you. How large you have grown, +boy, and how brown!' + +The warm welcome of his manly voice, the affectionate grasp of his +strong hand, rallied me at once, and I cared little for the looks of +king or kaiser at that moment. He drew his arm within mine, and led me +through the rooms to a small boudoir, where a party at cards were the +only occupants. + +'Here we shall be tolerably alone for a little while, at least,' said +he; 'and now, my lad, tell me everything about you.* + +In less than half an hour I ran over the principal events of my life in +Ireland, omitting only those in which Miss Bellew bore a part. On this +account my rupture with Lord de Vere was only imperfectly alluded to; +and I could perceive that my father's brow became contracted, and his +look assumed a severer expression at this part of my narrative. + +'You have not been very explicit, Jack, about this business; and this it +is which I am really uneasy about. I have never known you do a mean or +a shabby thing; I will never suspect you of one. So, now, let me clearly +understand the ground of this quarrel.' + +There was a tone of command in his voice as he said this which decided +me at once, and without further hesitation I resolved on laying +everything before him. Still, I knew not how to begin; the mention of +Louisa's name alone staggered me, and for a second or two I stammered +and looked confused. + +Unlike his wonted manner, my father looked impatient, almost angry. At +last, when seeing that my agitation only increased upon me, and that my +difficulty grew each moment greater, he looked me sternly in the face, +and with a voice full of meaning, said-- + +'Tell me everything! I cannot bear to doubt you. Was this a play +transaction?' + +'A play transaction! No, sir, nothing like it.' + +'Was there not a bet--some disputed wager---mixed up in it?' + +'Yes, there was a wager, sir; but----' + +Before I could conclude, my father pressed his hand against his eyes, +and a faint sigh broke from him. + +'But hear me out, sir. The wager was none of mine.' In a few moments I +ran over the whole circumstances of De Vere's bet, his conduct to Miss +Bellew, and my own subsequent proceedings; but when I came to the +mention of O'Grady's name, he stopped me suddenly, and said-- + +'Major O'Grady, however, did not approve of your conduct in the affair.' + +'O'Grady! He was my friend all through it!' + +My father remained silent for a few minutes, and then in a low voice +added-- + +'There has been misrepresentation here.' + +The words were not well spoken when Lord Dudley de Vere, with my cousin +Lady Julia on his arm, came up. The easy nonchalance of his manner, the +tone of quiet indifference he assumed, were well known to me; but I +was in nowise prepared for the look of insufferable, patronising +impertinence he had now put on. + +My cousin, more beautiful far than ever I had seen her, took off my +attention from him, however, and I turned with a feeling of half pride, +half wonder, to pay my respects to her. Dressed in the most perfect +taste of the fashion, her handsome features wore the assured and +tranquil expression which conscious beauty gives. And here let no +inexperienced observer rashly condemn the placid loveliness of the queen +of beauty, the sanctioned belle of fashionable life. It is, indeed, +very different from the artless loveliness of innocent girlhood; but its +claim is not less incontestable. The features, like the faculties, can +be cultivated; and when no unnatural effort suggests the expression, who +shall say that the mind habitually exercised in society of the highest +and most gifted circle will not impart a more elevated character to the +look than when the unobtrusive career of everyday life flows on calm and +unruffled, steeping the soul in a dreary monotony, and calling for no +effort save of the commonest kind. + +Julia's was indeed splendid beauty. The lustrous brilliancy of her +dark-blue eyes was shaded by long, black lashes; the contour of her +cheeks was perfect; her full short lips were slightly, so slightly +curled, you knew not if it were no more smile than sarcasm; the low +tones of her voice were rich and musical, and her carriage and demeanour +possessed all the graceful elegance which is only met with in the +society of great cities. Her manner was most frank and cordial; she held +out her hand to me at once, and looked really glad to see me. After a +few brief words of recognition, she turned towards De Vere-- + +'I shall ask you to excuse me, my lord, this set. It is so long since I +have seen my cousin.' + +He bowed negligently, muttered something carelessly about the next +waltz, and with a familiar nod to me, lounged away. O'Grady's caution +about this man's attentions to Julia at once came to my mind, and the +easy tone of his manner towards her alarmed me; but I had no time for +reflection, as she took my arm and sauntered down the room. + +'And so, _mon cher_ cousin, you have been leading a very wild life of +it--fighting duels, riding steeplechases, breaking your own bones and +ladies' hearts, in a manner exceedingly Irish?' said Julia with a smile, +into which not a particle of her habitual raillery entered. + +'From your letters I can learn, Julia, that a very strange account of my +doings must have reached my friends here. Except from yourself, I have +met with scarcely anything but cold looks since my arrival.' + +'Oh, never mind that; people will talk, you know. For my part, Jack, I +never will believe you anything but what I have always known you. The +heaviest charge I have heard against you is that of trifling with a +poor girl's affections; and as I know that the people who spread these +rumours generally don't know at which side either the trifling or the +affection resides, why, I think little about it.' + +'And has this been said of me?' + +'To be sure it has, and ten times as much. As to your gambling sins, +there is no end to their enormity. A certain Mr. Rooney, I think the +name is, a noted play-man----' + +'How absurd, Julia! Mr. Rooney never played in his life; nor have I, +except in the casual way every one does in a drawing-room.' + +_'N'importe_--you are a lady-killer and a gambler. Now as to count +number three--for being a jockey.' + +'My dear Julia, if you had seen my steeplechase you 'd acquit me of +that.' + +'Indeed, I did hear,' said she roguishly, 'that you acquitted +yourself admirably; but still you won. And then we come to the great +offence--your quarrelsome habits. We heard, it is true, that you +behaved, as it is called, very honourably, etc; but really duelling is +so detestable----' + +'Come, come, fair cousin, let us talk of something besides my +delinquencies. What do you think of my friend O'Grady?' + +I said this suddenly, by way of reprisal; but to my utter discomfiture +she replied with perfect calmness-- + +'I rather was amused with him at first. He is very odd, very unlike +other people; but Lady Charlotte took him up so, and we had so much of +him here, I grew somewhat tired of him. He was, however, very fond of +you; and you know that made up for much with us all.' + +There was a tone of sweetness and almost of deep interest in these last +few words that made my heart thrill, and unconsciously I pressed her arm +closer to my side, and felt the touch returned. Just at the instant my +father came forward accompanied by another, who I soon perceived was +the royal duke that had received me so coldly a few minutes before. His +frank, manly face was now all smiles, and his bright eye glanced from my +fair cousin to myself with a quick, meaning expression. + +'Another time, General, will do quite as well, I say, Mr. Hinton, call +on me to-morrow morning about ten, will you? I have something to say to +you.' + +I bowed deeply in reply, and he passed on. + +'And let me see you after breakfast,' said Julia, in a half-whisper, as +she turned towards De Vere, who now came forward to claim her for the +waltz. + +My father, too, mixed with the crowd, and I felt myself alone and a +stranger in what should have been my home. A kind of cold thrill came +over me as I thought how unlike was my welcome to what it would have +been in Ireland; for although I felt that in my father's manner towards +me there was no want of affection or kindness, yet somehow I missed the +exuberant warmth and ready cordiality I had latterly been used to, and +soon turned away, sad and disappointed, to seek my own room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII. AN UNHAPPY DISCLOSURE + +'What!' cried I, as I awoke the next morning, and looked with amazement +at the figure which waddled across the room with a hoot in either +hand--'what! not Corny Delany, surely?' + +'Ugh! that same,' said he, with a cranky croak. 'I don't wonder ye don't +know me; hardship's telling on me every day.' + +Now really, in vindication of my father's household, in which Sir Corny +had been domesticated for the last two months, I must observe that the +alteration in his appearance was not exactly such as to justify his +remark; on the contrary, he had grown fatter and more ruddy, and looked +in far better case than I had ever seen him. His face, however, most +perseveringly preserved its habitual sour and crabbed expression, rather +increased, than otherwise, by his improved condition. + +'So, Corny, you are not comfortable here, I find?' + +'Comfortable! The ways of this place would kill the Danes! Nothing but +ringing bells from morning till night; carriages drivin' like wind up +to the door, and bang, bang away at the rapper; then more ringing to let +them out again; and bells for breakfast and for luncheon and the hall +dinner; and then the sight of vitals that's wasted--meat and fish and +fowl and vegetables without end. Ugh! the Haythins, the Turks! eating +and drinking as if the world was all their own.' + +'Well, apparently they take good care of you in that respect' + +'Devil a bit of care; here it's every man for himself. But I'll give +warning on Saturday; sorrow one o' me 'll be kilt for the like of them.' + +'You prefer Ireland, then, Corny?' + +'Who said I did?' said he snappishly; 'isn't it as bad there? Ugh, +ugh! the Captain won't rest aisy in his grave after the way he +treated me--leaving me here alone and dissolate in this place, amongst +strangers!' + +'Well, you must confess the country is not so bad.' + +'And why would I confess it? What's in it that I don't mislike? Is it +the heap of houses and the smoke and the devil's noise that's always +going on that I'd like? Why isn't it peaceful and quiet like Dublin?' + +And as I conversed further with him, I found that all his dislikes +proceeded from the discrepancy he everywhere discovered from what he +had been accustomed to in Ireland, and which, without liking, he still +preferred to our Saxon observances--the few things he saw worthy of +praise being borrowed or stolen from his own side of the Channel And in +this his ingenuity was striking, insomuch that the very trees in Woburn +Park owed their goodness to the owner having been once a Lord Lieutenant +in Ireland, where, as Corny expressed it, 'devil thank him to have fine +trees! hadn't he the pick of the Fhaynix?' + +I knew that candour formed a most prominent feature in Mr. Delany's +character, and consequently had little difficulty in ascertaining his +opinion of every member of my family; indeed, to do him justice, no one +ever required less of what is called pumping. His judgment on things and +people flowed from him without effort or restraint, so that ere half +an hour elapsed he had expatiated on my mothers pride and vanity, +apostrophised my father's hastiness and determination, and was quite +prepared to enter upon a critical examination of my cousin Julia's +failings, concerning whom, to my astonishment, he was not half so +lenient as I expected. + +'Arrah, isn't she like the rest of them, coorting one day with Captain +Phil, and another with the young lord there, and then laughing at them +both with the ould duke that comes here to dinner! She thinks I don't +be minding her; but didn't I see her taking myself off one day on +paper--making a drawing of me, as if I was a haste! Mayhe there's worse +nor me,' said the little man, looking down upon his crooked shins and +large knee-joints with singular complacency; 'and mayhe she'd get one +of them yet.' À harsh cackle, the substitute for a laugh, closed this +speech. + +'Breakfast on the table, sir,' said a servant, tapping gently at the +door. + +'I'll engage it is, and will be till two o'clock, when they'll be +calling out for luncheon,' said Corny, turning up the whites of his +eyes, as though the profligate waste of the house was a sin he wished to +wash his hands of. 'That wasn't the way at his honour the Jidge's; he'd +never taste a bit from morning till night; and many a man he 'd send to +his long account in the meantime. Ugh! I wish I was back there.' + +'I have spent many happy days in Ireland, too,' said I, scarce following +him in more than the general meaning of his speech. + +A fit of coughing from Corny interrupted his reply, but as he left the +room I could hear his muttered meditations, something in this strain: +'Happy days, indeed! A dacent life you led! tramping about the country +with a fool, horse-riding and fighting! Ugh!' + +I found my cousin in the breakfast-room alone; my father had already +gone out; and as Lady Charlotte never left her room before three or +four o'clock, I willingly took the opportunity of our _tête-à-tête_ to +inquire into the cause of the singular reception I had met with, and to +seek an explanation, if so might be, of the viceroy's change towards me +since his visit to England. + +Julia entered frankly and freely into the whole matter, with the details +of which, though evidently not trusting me to the full, she was somehow +perfectly conversant. + +'My dear John,' said she, 'your whole conduct in Ireland has been much +mistaken----' + +'Calumniated, apparently, were the better word, Julia,' said I hastily. + +'Nay, hear me out. It is so easy, when people have no peculiar reasons +to vindicate another, to misconstrue, perhaps condemn. It is so much the +way of the world to look at things in their worst light, that I am sure +you will see no particular ingenuity was required to make your career +in Dublin appear a wild one, and your life in the country still more so. +Now you are growing impatient; you are getting angry; so I shall stop.' + +'No, no, Julia; a thousand pardons if a passing shade of indignation did +show itself in my face. Pray go on.' + +'Well then, when a young gentleman, whose exclusive leanings were even a +little quizzed here--there, no impatience!--condescends at one spring +to frequent third-rate people's houses; falls in love with a niece, or +daughter, or a something there; plays high among riotous associates; +makes rash wagers; and fights with his friends, who endeavour to rescue +him----' + +'Thank you, Julia--a thousand thanks, sweet cousin! The whole narrative +and its author are palpably before me.' + +A deep blush covered her cheek as I rose hastily from my chair. + +'John, dear John, sit down again,' said she, 'I have only been in jest +all this time. You surely do not suppose me silly enough to credit one +word of all this?' + +'It must have been told you, however,' said I, fixing my eyes on her as +I spoke. + +The redness of her cheek grew deeper, and her confusion increased to +a painful extent, as, taking my hand in hers, she said in a low, soft +voice-- + +'I have been very, very foolish; but you will promise me never to +remember--at least never to act upon--the----' + +The words became fainter and fainter as she spoke, and at last died +away inaudibly; and suddenly there shot across my mind the passage in +O'Grady's letter. The doubt once suggested, gained strength at every +moment: she loved De Vere. I will not attempt to convey the conflicting +storm of passion this thought stirred up within me. + +I turned towards her. Her head was thrown gently back, and her deep-blue +lustrous eyes were fixed on me as if waiting my reply. A tear rolled +heavily along her cheek; it was the first I ever saw her shed. Pressing +her hand to my lips, I muttered the words, 'Trust me, Julia,' and left +the room. 'Sir George wishes to see you, sir, in his own room,' said a +servant, as I stood stunned and overcome by the discovery I had made of +my cousin's affection. I had no time given me for further reflection as +I followed the man to my father's room. + +'Sit down, Jack,' said my father, as he turned the key in the door. 'I +wish to talk to you alone here. I have been with the duke this morning; +a little explanation has satisfied him that your conduct was perfectly +irreproachable in Ireland. He writes by this post to the viceroy to +make the whole thing clear, and indeed he offered to reinstate you at +once--which I refused, however. Now to something graver still, my boy, +and which I wish I could spare you; but it cannot be.' + +As he spoke these words he leaned his head in both his hands, and was +silent. A confused, imperfect sense of some impending bad news almost +stupefied me, and I waited without speaking. When my father lifted up +his head his face was pale and care-worn, and an expression such as +long illness leaves had usurped the strong and manly character of his +countenance. + +'Come, my boy, I must not keep you longer in suspense. Fortune has dealt +hardly with me since we parted. Jack, I am a beggar!' + +A convulsive gulp and a rattling sound in the throat followed the words, +and for a second or two his fixed looks and purple colour made me fear a +fit was approaching. But in a few minutes he recovered his calmness, +and proceeded, still with a broken and tremulous voice, to relate the +circumstances of his altered fortune. + +It appeared that many British officers of high rank had involved +themselves deeply in a loan to the Spanish Government, under the faith +of speedy repayment. The varying chances of the Peninsular struggle had +given this loan all the character of a gambling speculation, the skill +in which consisted in the anticipation of the result of the war we were +then engaged in. My father's sanguine hopes of ultimate success induced +him to enter deeply into the speculation, from which, having once +engaged, there was no retreat. Thousand after thousand followed, to +secure the sum already advanced; and at last, hard pressed by the +increasing demands for money, and confident that the first turn of +fortune would lead to repayment, he had made use of the greater part +of my cousin Julia's fortune, whose guardian he was, and in whose hands +this trust-money had been left My cousin would come of age in about four +months, at which time she would be eighteen; and then, if the money were +not forthcoming, the consequences were utter ruin, with the terrific +blow of blasted character and reputation. + +There was a sum of ten thousand pounds settled on me by my grandfather, +which I at once offered to place at his disposal. + +'Alas, my poor fellow! I have advanced already upwards of thirty +thousand of Julia's fortune! No, no, Jack, I have thought much over +the matter; there is but one way of escaping from this difficulty. By +disposing of these bonds at considerable loss, I shall be enabled to pay +Julia's money. This will leave us little better than above actual want; +still, it must be done. I shall solicit a command abroad; they'll not +refuse me, I know. Lady Charlotte must retire to Bath, or some quiet +place, which in my absence will appear less remarkable. Strict economy +and time will do much. And as to yourself, I know that having once +learned what you have to look to I shall have no cause of complaint on +your score; the duke has promised to take care of you. And now my heart +is lighter than it has been for some months past.' + +Before my father had ceased speaking the shock of his news had gradually +subsided with me, and I was fully intent on the details by which he +hoped to escape his embarrassments. My mother was my first thought. Lady +Charlotte, I knew, could never encounter her changed condition; she was +certain to sink under the very shock of it. My father, however, supposed +that she need not be told its full extent; that, by management, the +circumstances should be gradually made known to her; and he hoped, too, +that her interest in her husband and son, both absent from her, would +withdraw her thoughts in great measure from the routine of fashionable +life, and fix them in a channel more homely and domestic. + +'Besides,' added he, with more animation of voice, 'they may offer me +some military appointment in the colonies, where she could accompany +me; and this will prevent an exposure. And, after all, Jack, there is +nothing else for it.' As he said this he fixed his eyes on me, as though +rather asking than answering the question. + +Not knowing what to reply, I was silent. + +'You were fond of Julia, as a boy,' said he carelessly. + +The blood rushed to my cheek, as I answered, 'Yes, sir; but--but----' + +'But you have outgrown that?' added he, with a smile. + +'Not so much, sir, as that she has forgotten me. In fact, I believe we +are excellent cousins.' + +'And it is not now, my dear boy, I would endeavour to make you more to +each other. What is not a union of inclination shall never be one +of sordid interest. Besides, Jack, why should we not take the field +together? The very thought of it makes me feel young enough!' + +I saw his lip quiver as he spoke; and unable to bear more, I wrung his +hand warmly, and hurried away. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX. THE HORSE GUARDS + +I will not say that my reverse of fortune did not depress me; indeed, +the first blow fell heavily; but that once past, a number of opposing +motives rallied my courage and nerved my heart. My father, I knew, +relied on me in this crisis to support his own strength. I had learned +to care less for extravagant habits and expensive tastes, by living +among those who accorded them little sympathy and less respect. Besides, +if my changed career excluded me from the race of fashion, it opened the +brilliant path of a soldier's life before me; and now every hour seemed +an age, until I should find myself among the gallant fellows who were +winning their laurels in the battlefields of the Peninsula. + +According to the duke's appointment of the preceding evening I found +myself, at ten o'clock punctually, awaiting my turn to be introduced, in +the ante-chamber of the Horse Guards. The room was crowded with officers +in full dress. Some old white-haired generals of division had been +coming daily for years past to solicit commands, their fitness for which +lay only in their own doting imaginations; some, broken by sickness +and crippled with wounds, were seeking colonial appointments they never +could live to reach; hale and stout men in the prime of life were there +also, entreating exchanges which should accommodate their wives and +daughters, who preferred Bath or Cheltenham to the banks of the Tagus +or the snows of Canada. Among these, however, were many fine soldierlike +fellows, whose only request was to be sent where hard knocks were going, +careless of the climate and regardless of the cause. Another class +were thinly sprinkled around--young officers of the staff, many of them +delicate, effeminate-looking figures, herding scrupulously together, +and never condescending, by word or look, to acknowledge their brethren +about them. In this knot De Vere was conspicuous by the loud tone of his +voice and the continued titter of his unmeaning laugh. I have already +mentioned the consummate ease with which he could apparently forget all +unpleasant recollections, and accost the man whom he should have blushed +to meet. Now he exhibited this power in perfection; saluting me across +the room with a familiar motion of his hand, he called out-- + +'Ah, Hinton, you here, too? Sick of Ireland; I knew it would come to +that. Looking for something near town?' + +A cold negative, and a colder bow, was my only answer. + +Nothing abashed by this--indeed, to all seeming, quite indifferent to +it» he continued-- + +'Bad style of thing, Dublin; couldn't stand those con-founded talkers, +with their old jokes from circuit. _You_ were horribly bored, too; I saw +it.' + +'I beg, my lord,' said I, in a tone of seriousness, the best exchange +I could assume for the deep annoyance I felt--'I beg that you will +not include me in your opinions respecting Ireland; I opine we differ +materially in our impressions on that country, and perhaps not without +reason too. These latter words I spoke with marked emphasis, and fixing +my eyes steadily on him. + +'Very possibly,' lisped he, as coolly as before. 'I left it without +regret; you apparently ought to be there still! Ha, ha, ha! he has it +there, I think.' + +The blood mounted to my face and temples as I heard these words, and +stepping close up beside him, I said slowly and distinctly-- + +'I thought, sir, that one lesson might have taught you with whom these +liberties were practicable.' + +As I said thus much the door opened, and his grace the Duke of York +appeared. Abashed at having so far forgotten where I was, I stood +motionless and crimson for shame. Lord Dudley, on the contrary, bowed +reverently to his Royal Highness, without the slightest evidence of +discomposure or irritation, his easy smile curling his lip. + +The duke turned from one to the other of us without speaking, his dark +eyes piercing, as it were, into our very hearts. 'Lord Dudley de Vere,' +said he at length, 'I have signed your appointment. Mr. Hinton, I am +sorry to find that the voice I have heard more than once within the last +five minutes, in an angry tone, was yours. Take care, sir, that this +forgetfulness does not grow upon you. The colonel of the Twenty-seventh +is not the person to overlook it, I promise you.' + +'If your Royal Highness----' + +'I must entreat you to spare me any explanations. You are gazetted +to the Twenty-seventh. I hope you will hold yourself in readiness for +immediate embarkation. Where's the detachment, Sir Howard?' + +'At Chatham, your Royal Highness,' replied an old officer behind the +duke's shoulder. At the same moment his grace passed through the room, +conversing as he went with different persons about him. + +As I turned away, I met Lord Dudley's eyes. They were riveted on me with +an expression of triumphant malice I had never seen in them before, and +I hurried homeward with a heart crushed and wounded. + +I have but one reason for the mention of this trivial incident. It is to +show how often the studied courtesy, the well-practised deception, +that the fashion of the world teaches, will prevail over the heartfelt, +honest indignation which deep feeling evinces; and what a vast +superiority the very affectation of temper confers, in the judgment of +others who stand by the game of life and care nothing for the players at +either side. Let no one suspect me of lauding the mockery of virtue in +what I say here. I would merely impress on the young man who can feel +for the deep sorrow and abasement I suffered the importance of the +attainment of that self-command, of that restraint over any outbreak of +passion, when the very semblance of it insures respect and admiration. + +It is very difficult to witness with indifference the preference of +those we have once loved for some other person; still more so, when that +other chances to be one we dislike. The breach of affection seems then +tinctured with a kind of betrayal; we call to mind how once we swayed +the temper and ruled the thoughts of her who now has thrown off her +allegiance; we feel, perhaps for the first time too, how forgotten are +all our lessons, how dead is all our wonted influence; we remember when +the least word, the slightest action, bent beneath our will; when our +smile was happiness and our very sadness a reproof; and now we see +ourselves unminded and neglected, and no more liberty to advise, no more +power to control, than the merest stranger of the passing hour. What a +wound to our self-love! + +That my cousin Julia loved De Vere, O'Grady's suspicions had already +warned me; the little I had seen of her since my return strengthened +the impression, while his confident manner and assured tone confirmed +my worst fears. In my heart I knew how utterly unworthy he was of such a +girl; but then, if he had already won her affections, my knowledge came +too late. Besides, the changed circumstances of my own fortune, which +must soon become known, would render my interference suspicious, and +consequently of no value; and, after all, if I determined on such a +course, what allegation could I bring against him which he could not +explain away as the mere levity of the young officer associating among +those he looked down upon and despised? + +Such were some of my reflections as I slowly returned homewards from +the Horse Guards. As I arrived, a travelling-carriage stood at the door; +boxes, imperials, and cap-cases littered the hall and steps; servants +were hurrying back and forward, and Mademoiselle Clémence, my mother's +maid, with a poodle under one arm and a macaw's cage in the other, was +adding to the confusion by directions in a composite language that would +have astonished Babel itself. + +'What means all this?' said I. 'Is Lady Charlotte leaving town?' + +'Miladi va partir----' + +'Her ladyship's going to Hastings, sir,' said the butler, interrupting. +'Dr. T-----has been here this morning and recommends an immediate change +of air for her ladyship.' + +'Is Sir George in the house?' + +'No, sir, he's just gone out with the doctor.' + +Ah, thought I, this then is a concerted measure to induce my mother to +leave town. 'Is Lady Julia at home?' + +'Yes, sir, in the drawing-room.' + +'Whose horse is that with the groom?' 'Lord Dudley de Vere's, sir; he's +upstairs.' Already had I turned to go to the drawing-room, when I heard +these words. Suddenly, a faint, half-sick feeling came over me, and I +hastened upstairs to my own room, actually dreading to meet any one as +I went. The blank future before me never seemed so cheerless as at that +moment--separated, without a chance of ever meeting, from the only one I +ever really loved; tortured by my doubts of her feeling for me (for +even now what would I not have given to know she loved me!) my worldly +prospects ruined; without a home; my cousin Julia, the only one who +retained either an interest in me or seemed to care for me, about to +give her hand to the man I hated and despised. 'How soon, and I shall +be alone in the world!' thought I; and already the cold selfishness of +isolation presented itself to my mind. + +A gentle tap came to the door. I opened it; it was a message from Lady +Charlotte, requesting to see me in her room. As I passed the door of the +drawing-room I heard Lady Julia and Lord de Vere talking and laughing +together. He was, as usual, 'so amusing,' as my mother's letter called +him--doubtless, relating my hasty and intemperate conduct at the Horse +Guards. For an instant I stopped irresolute as to whether I should not +break suddenly in, and disconcert his lordship's practical coolness by +a disclosure: my better reason prevented me, and I passed on. Lady +Charlotte was seated in a deep arm-chair, inspecting the packing of +various articles of toilette and jewelry which were going on around her, +her cheek somewhat flushed from even this small excitement. + +'Ah, dearest John, how d'ye do? Find a chair somewhere, and sit down by +me; you see what confusion we 're in. Dr. Y---- found there was not +an hour to spare; the heart he suspects to be sympathetically +engaged--don't put that Chantilly veil there, I shall never get at +it--and he advises Hastings for the present. He's coming with us, +however--I'll wear that ring, Clémence--and I must insist at his looking +at you. You are very pale to-day, and dark under the eyes; have you any +pain in the side?' + +'None whatever, my dear mother; I'm quite well.' + +'Pain is, however, a late symptom; my attack began with an--a sense +of--it was rather---- Has Bundal not sent back that bracelet? How very +provoking! Could you call there, dear John?--that tiresome man never +minds the servants--it's just on your way to the club, or the Horse +Guards, or somewhere.' + +I could scarce help a smile, as I promised not to forget the commission. + +'And now, my dear, how did his grace receive you? You saw him this +morning?' + +'My interview was quite satisfactory on the main point. I am appointed +to the Twenty-seventh.' + +'Why not on the staff, dear John? You surely don't mean to leave +England! Having been abroad already--in Ireland I mean--it's very hard +to expect you to go so soon again. Lady Jane Colthurst's son has never +been farther from her than Knightsbridge; and I'm sure I don't see why +we are to be treated worse than she is.' + +'But my own wish----' + +'Your own wish, my dear, could never be to give me uneasiness, which I +assure you you did very considerably while in Ireland. The horrid people +you made acquaintance with--my health, I'm certain, could never sustain +a repetition of the shock I experienced then.' + +My mother leaned back and closed her eyes, as if some very dreadful +circumstance was passing across her memory; and I, half ashamed of the +position to which she would condemn me, was silent. + +'There, that aigrette will do very well there, I'm sure. I don't know +why you are putting in all these things; I shall never want them again, +in all likelihood.' + +The depressed tone in which these words were spoken did not affect me +much; for I knew well, from long habit, how my mother loved to dwell +on the possibility of that event, the bare suggestion of which, from +another, she couldn't have endured. + +Just at this moment Julia entered in her travelling dress, a shawl +thrown negligently across her shoulders. + +'I hope I have not delayed you. John, are we to have your company too?' + +'No, my dear,' said my mother languidly, 'he's going to leave us. Some +foolish notion of active service----' + +'Indeed!' said Julia, not waiting for the conclusion of the +speech--'indeed!' She drew near me, and as she did so her colour became +heightened, and her dark eyes grew darker and more meaning. 'You never +told me this!' + +'I only knew it about an hour ago myself,' replied I coolly; 'and when I +was about to communicate my news to you I found you were engaged with a +visitor--Lord de Vere, I think.' + +'Ah, yes, very true; he was here,' she said quickly; and then perceiving +that my eyes were fixed upon her, she turned her head hastily, and in +evident confusion. + +'Dear me, is it so late?' said my mother with a sigh. 'I have some calls +to make yet. Don't you think, John, you could take them off my hands? +It's only to drop a card at Lady Blair's; and you could ask if Caroline +'s better--though, poor thing, she can't be, of course; Dr. Y---- says +her malady is exactly my own. And then if you are passing Long's, tell +Sir Charles that our whist-party is put off--perhaps Grammont has told +him already. You may mention to Saunders that I shall not want the +horses till I return; and say I detest greys, they are so like city +people's equipages; and wait an instant'--here her ladyship took a small +ivory memorandum tablet from the table, and began reading from it a list +of commissions, some of them most ludicrously absurd. In the midst of +the catalogue my father entered hastily with his watch in his hand. + +'You'll be dreadfully late on the road, Charlotte; and you forget Y---- +must be back here early to-morrow.' + +'So I had forgotten it,' said she with some animation; 'but we're quite +ready now. Clémence has done everything, I think. Come, John, give me +your arm, my dear: Julia always takes this side. Are you certain it +won't rain, Sir George?' + +'I really cannot be positive,' said my father, smiling. + +'I'm sure there's thunder in the air,' rejoined my mother; 'my nerves +would never bear a storm.' + +Some dreadful catastrophe in the West Indies, where an earthquake had +swallowed up a whole population, occurred to her memory at the instant, +and the possibility of something similar occurring between Seven Oaks +and Tunbridge seemed to engross her entire attention. By this time we +reached the hall, where the servants, drawn up in double file, stood +in respectful silence. My mother's eyes were, however, directed upon +a figure which occupied the place next the door, and whose costume +certainly was strangely at variance with the accurate liveries about +him. An old white greatcoat with some twenty capes reaching nearly to +the ground (for the garment had been originally destined for a much +larger person), a glazed hat fastened down with a handkerchief passed +over it and tied under the chin, and a black-thorn stick with a little +bundle at the end of it were his most remarkable equipments. + +'What is it? What can it be doing there?' said my mother, in a Siddons +tone of voice. + +[Illustration: 3-081] + +'What is it? Corny Delany, no less,' croaked out the little man in the +crankiest tone of his harsh voice. 'It's what remains of me, at laste!' + +'Oh, yes,' said Julia, bursting into a laugh, 'Corny's coming as my +bodyguard. He'll sit in the rumble with Thomas.' + +'What a shocking figure it is!' said my mother, surveying him through +her glass. + +'Time doesn't improve either of us,' said Corny, with the grin of a +demon. Happily the observation was only heard by myself. 'Is it in silk +stockings I'd be trapesing about the roads all night, with the rheumatiz +in the small of my back! Ugh! the Haythina!' + +My mother was at length seated in the carriage, with Julia beside +her--the hundred and one petty annoyances to make travelling +uncomfortable, by way of rendering it supportable, around her; Corny had +mounted to his place beside Thomas, who regarded him with a look of as +profound contempt as a sleek, well-fed pointer would confer upon some +mangy mongrel of the roadside; a hurried good-bye from my mother, a +quick, short glance from Julia, a whisper lost in the crash of the +wheels--and they were gone. + + + + +CHAPTER L. THE RETREAT FROM BURGOS + +Few men have gone through life without passing through certain periods +which, although not marked by positive misfortune, were yet so impressed +by gloom and despondence that their very retrospect is saddening. Happy +it is for us that in after days our memory is but little retentive of +these. We remember the shadows that darkened over the landscape, but we +forget in great part their cause and their duration, and perhaps even +sometimes are disposed to smile at the sources of grief to which long +habit of the world and its ways would have made us callous. + +I was almost alone in the world--bereft of fortune, separated +irrevocably from the woman I loved, and by whom I had reason to think my +affection was returned. In that home to which I should have looked for +fondness I found only gloom and misfortune--my mother grown insensible +to everything save some frivolous narrative of her own health; my +father, once high-spirited and freehearted, care-worn, depressed, and +broken; my cousin, my early playfellow, half sweetheart and half sister, +bestowing her heart and affections on one so unworthy of her. All lost +to me--and at a time, too, when the heart is too weak and tender to +stand alone, but must cling to something, or it sinks upon the earth, +crushed and trodden upon. + +I looked back upon my past life, and thought over the happy hours I had +spent in the wild west, roaming through its deep valleys and over its +heath-clad mountains. I thought of her my companion through many a long +summer day by the rocky shore, against which the white waves were ever +beating, watching the sea-birds careering full many a fathom deep below +us, their shrill cries mixing with the wilder plash of the ever-restless +sea--and how we dreamed away those hours, now half in sadness, now in +bright hope of long years to come, and found ourselves thus wandering +hand in hand, loved and loving; and then I looked out upon the bleak +world before me, without an object to win, without a goal to strive at. + +'Come, Jack,' said my father, laying his hand on my shoulder, and +startling me out of my reverie, 'one piece of good fortune we have had. +The duke has given me the command at Chatham; some hint of my altered +circumstances, it seems, had reached him, and without my applying, he +most kindly sent for me and told me of my appointment. You must join +the service companies of the Twenty-seventh by to-morrow; they are under +sailing-orders, and no time is to be lost. I told his grace that for +all your soft looks and smooth chin there was no lack of spirit in +your heart; and you must take an eagle, Jack, if you would keep up my +credit.' + +Laughingly spoken as these few words were, they somehow struck upon a +chord that had long lain silent in my heart, and as suddenly awoke in me +the burning desire for distinction, and the ambitious thirst of military +glory. + +The next evening at sunset the transport weighed anchor and stood out +to sea. A slight breeze off shore and an ebb-tide carried us gently +away from land; and as night was falling I stood alone, leaning on +the bulwarks, and looking fixedly on the faint shadows of the tall +chalk-cliffs, my father's last words, 'You must take an eagle, Jack!' +still ringing in my ears, and sinking deeply into my heart. + +Had my accidents by flood and field been more numerous and remarkable +than they were, the recently-told adventures of my friend Charles +O'Malley would prevent my giving them to the public. The subaltern of a +marching regiment--a crack corps, it is true--I saw merely the ordinary +detail of a campaigning life; and although my desire to distinguish +myself rose each day higher, the greatest extent of my renown went +no further than the admiration of my comrades that one so delicately +nurtured and brought up should bear so cheerfully and well the roughings +of a soldier's life; and my sobriquet of 'Jack Hinton, the Guardsman,' +was earned among the stormy scenes and blood-stained fields of the +Peninsula. + +My first experiences of military life were indeed but little +encouraging. I joined the army in the disastrous retreat from Burgos. +What a shock to all my cherished notions of a campaign! How sadly +different to my ideas of the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious +war! I remember well we first came up with the retiring forces on the +morning of the 4th of November. The day broke heavily; masses of dark +and weighty clouds drifted across the sky. The ground was soaked with +rain, and a cold, chilling wind swept across the bleak plain, and moaned +dismally in the dark pine-woods. Our party, which consisted of drafts +from the Fiftieth, Twenty-seventh, and Seventy-first regiments, were +stationed in a few miserable hovels on the side of the highroad from +Madrid to Labeyos. By a mistake of the way we had missed a body of +troops on the preceding day, and were now halted here in expectation +of joining some of the corps retiring on the Portuguese frontier. Soon +after daybreak a low rumbling sound, at first supposed to be the noise +of distant cannonading, attracted our attention; but some stragglers +coming up soon after, informed us that it proceeded from tumbrels and +ammunition-waggons of Sir Lowry Cole's brigade, then on the march. +The news was scarcely communicated, when the head of a column appeared +topping the hill. + +As they came nearer, we remarked that the men did not keep their ranks, +but strayed across the road from side to side; some carried their +muskets by the sling, others on the shoulder; some leaned on their +companions, as though faint and sick; and many there were whose savage +looks and bloated features denoted drunkenness. The uniforms were torn +and ragged; several of the men had no shoes, and some even had lost +their caps and shakos, and wore handkerchiefs bound round their heads. +Among these the officers were almost undistinguishable; fatigue, +hardship, and privation had levelled them with the men, and discipline +scarcely remained in that disorganised mass. On they came, their eyes +bent only on the long vista of road that lay before them. Some, silent +and sad, trudged on side by side; others, maddened by drink or wild with +the excitement of fever, uttered frightful and horrible ravings. Some +flourished their bayonets, and threatened all within their reach; and +denunciations of their officers and open avowals of desertion were +heard on every side as they went. The bugle sounded a halt as the column +reached the little hamlet where we were stationed; and in a few seconds +the road and the fields at either side were covered with the figures +of the men, who threw themselves down on the spot where they stood, in +every posture that weariness and exhaustion could suggest. + +All the information we could collect was that this force formed part +of the rear-guard of the army; that the French under Marshal Soult were +hotly in pursuit, having already driven in the cavalry outposts, and +more than once throwing their skirmishers amongst our fellows. In a few +minutes the bugle again sounded to resume the march; and however little +disposed to yield to the dictates of discipline, yet old habit, stronger +than even lawless insubordination, prevailed; the men rose, and falling +in with some semblance of order, continued their way. Nothing struck me +more in that motley mass of ragged uniform and patched clothing than +the ferocious, almost savage, expression of the soldiers as they marched +past our better equipped and better disciplined party. Their dark scowl +betokened deadly hate; and I could see the young men of our detachment +quail beneath the insulting ruffianism of their gaze. Every now and then +some one or other would throw down his pack or knapsack to the ground, +and with an oath asseverate his resolve to carry it no longer. Some even +declared they would abandon their muskets; and more than one sat down +by the wayside, preferring death or imprisonment from the enemy to the +horrors and severities of that dreadful march. + +The Highland regiments and the Guards alone preserved their former +discipline; the latter, indeed, had only lately joined the army, having +landed at Corunna a few weeks previously, and were perfect in every +species of equipment. Joining myself to a group of their officers, +I followed in the march, and was enabled to learn some tidings of my +friend O'Grady, who, I was glad to hear, was only a few miles in advance +of us, with his regiment. + +Towards three o'clock we entered a dark pine-wood, through which the +route continued for several miles. Here the march became extremely +difficult, from the deep clayey soil, the worn and cut-up road, and more +than all the torrents of rain that swept along the narrow gorge, and +threw a darkness almost like night over everything. We plodded on +gloomily and scarcely speaking, when suddenly the galloping of horses +was heard in the rear, and we were joined by Sir Edward Paget, who, +with a single aide-de-camp, rode up to our division. After a few hurried +questions to the officer in command, he wheeled his horse round, and +rode back towards the next column, which, from some accidental delay, +was yet two miles in the rear. The sound of the horse's hoofs was still +ringing along the causeway, when a loud shout, followed by the sharp +reports of pistol-firing, mingled with the voice. In an instant all was +as still as before, and save the crashing of the pine-branches and the +beating rain, no other sound was heard. + +Our conjectures as to the cause of the firing were just making, when +an orderly dragoon, bareheaded and wounded, came up at the top of his +horse's speed. The few hurried words he spoke in a half-whisper to our +commanding officer were soon reported through the lines. Sir Edward +Paget, our second in command, had been taken prisoner, carried away by +a party of French cavalry, who were daring enough to dash in between the +columns, which in no other retreat had they ventured to approach. The +temerity of our enemy, added to our own dispirited and defenceless +condition, was the only thing wanting to complete our gloom and +depression, and the march was now resumed in the dogged sullenness of +despair. + +Day followed day, and all the miseries of our state but increased with +time, till on the morning of the 17th the town of Ciudad Rodrigo came in +view, and the rumour spread that stores of all kinds would be served out +to the famished troops. + +By insubordination and intemperance we had lost seven thousand men since +the day the retreat from Burgos began, and although neither harassed by +night marches nor excessive journeys, losing neither guns, ammunition, +nor standards, yet was the memorable document addressed by Wellington to +the officers commanding divisions but too justly merited, concluding in +these words:-- + +'The discipline of every army, after a long and active campaign, becomes +in some degree relaxed; but I am concerned to observe that the army +under my command has fallen off in this respect to a greater degree than +any army with which I have ever been, or of which I have ever read.' + + + + +CHAPTER LI. A MISHAP + +If I began my career as a soldier at one of the gloomiest periods of our +Peninsular struggle, I certainly was soon destined to witness one of the +most brilliant achievements of our arms in the opening of the campaign +of 1813. + +On the 22nd of May the march began--that forward movement, for the hour +of whose coming many a heart had throbbed, and many a bosom beat high. +From Ciudad Rodrigo to the frontier our way led through the scenes of +former glory; and if the veterans of the army exulted at once again +beholding the battlefields where victory had crowned their arms, the +new soldiers glowed with ambition to emulate their fame. As for myself, +short as the period had been since I quitted England, I felt that my +character had undergone a very great change; the wandering fancies of +the boy had sobered down into the more fixed, determined passions of the +man. The more I thought of the inglorious indolence of my former life, +the stronger was now my desire to deserve a higher reputation than +that of a mere lounger about a court, the military accompaniment of a +pageant. Happily for me, I knew not at the time how few opportunities +for distinction are afforded by the humble position of a subaltern; how +seldom occasions arise where, amid the mass around him, his name can win +praise or honour. I knew not this; and my reverie by day, my dream by +night, presented but one image--that of some bold, successful deed, by +which I should be honourably known and proudly mentioned, or my death be +that of a brave soldier in the field of glory. + +It may be remembered by my reader that in the celebrated march by which +Wellington opened that campaign whose result was the expulsion of the +French armies from the Peninsula, the British left, under the command +of Graham, was always in advance of the main body. Their route traversed +the wild and dreary passes of the Tras-os-Montes, a vast expanse of +country, with scarcely a road to be met with, and but few inhabitants; +the solitary glens and gloomy valleys, whose echoes had waked to no +other sounds save those of the wild heron or the eagle, were now to +resound with the thundering roll of artillery waggons, the clanking +crash of cavalry columns, or the monotonous din of the infantry +battalions, as from sunrise to sunset they poured along--now scaling the +rugged height of some bold mountain, now disappearing among the wooded +depths of some dark ravine. + +Owing to a temporary appointment on the staff, I was continually passing +and repassing between this portion of the army and the force under the +immediate command of Lord Wellington. Starting at daybreak, I have set +off alone through these wild untravelled tracts, where mountains rose in +solemn grandeur, their dark sides wooded with the gloomy cork-tree, or +rent by some hissing torrent whose splash was the only sound that broke +the universal silence--now dashing on with speed across the grassy +plain, now toiling along on foot, the bridle on my arm--I have seen the +sun go down and never heard a human voice, nor seen the footsteps of a +fellow-man; and yet what charms had those lonely hours for me, and what +a crowd of blissful thoughts and happy images they yet bring back to +me! The dark glen, the frowning precipice, the clear rivulet gurgling on +amid the mossy stones, the long and tangled weeds that hung in festoons +down some rocky cliff, through whose fissured sides the water fell in +heavy drops into a little basin at its foot--all spoke to me of the +happiest hours of my life, when, loved and loving, I wandered on the +livelong day. How often, as the day was falling, have I sat down to rest +beneath some tall beech, gazing on the glorious expanse of mountain and +valley, hill and plain, and winding river--all beneath me; and how, as +I looked, have my thoughts wandered away from those to many a far-off +mile; and then what doubts and hopes would crowd upon met Was I +forgotten? Had time and distance wiped away all memory of me? Was I as +one she had never seen, or was she still to me as when we parted? In +such moments as these how often have I recurred to our last meeting at +the holy well--and still, I own it, some vague feeling of superstition +has spoken hope to my heart, when reason alone had bid me despair. + +It was at the close of a sultry day--the first of June; I shall not +readily forget it--that, overcome by fatigue, I threw myself down +beneath the shelter of a grove of acacias, and, tethering my horse with +his bridle, fell into one of my accustomed reveries. The heat of the +day, the drowsy hum of the summer insects, the very monotonous champ of +my horse, feeding beside me--all conspired to make me sleepy, and I fell +into a heavy slumber. My dreams, like my last-waking thoughts, were +of home; but, strangely enough, the scenes through which I had been +travelling, the officers with whom I was intimate, the wild guerilla +chiefs who from time to time crossed my path or shared my bivouac, were +mixed up with objects and persons many a mile away, making that odd and +incongruous collection which we so often experience in sleep. A kind of +low, unbroken sound, like the tramp of cavalry over grass, awoke me; +but still, such was my drowsiness that I was again about to relapse into +sleep, when the sound of a manly voice, singing at the foot of the rock +beneath me, fully aroused me. I started up, and, peeping cautiously +over the head of the cliff, beheld to my surprise and terror a party of +French soldiers stretched upon the greensward around a fire. It was the +first time I had ever seen the imperial troops, and notwithstanding +the danger of my position, I felt a most unaccountable longing to creep +nearer and watch their proceedings. The sounds I had heard at first +became at this moment more audible; and on looking down the glen I +perceived a party of about twenty dragoons cantering up the valley. +They were dressed in the uniform of the Chasseur Légers, and in +their light-blue jackets and silvered helmets had a most striking and +picturesque effect. + +[Illustration: 3-092] + +My astonishment at their appearance was not diminished by the figure who +rode gaily along at their head. She was a young and pretty-looking girl, +dressed in a blue frock and jean trousers; a light foraging-cap, with +the number of the regiment worked in silver on the front, and a small +canteen suspended from one shoulder by a black belt completed her +equipment. Her hair, of a glossy black, was braided richly at either +side of her face, and a couple of bows of light blue attested a degree +of coquetry the rest of her costume gave no evidence of. She rode _en +cavalier_; and the easy attitude in which she sat, and her steady hand +on the bridle, denoted that the regimental riding-school had contributed +to her accomplishments. I had heard before of the Vivandières of the +French army, but was in nowise prepared for the really pretty figure and +costume I now beheld. + +As the riding-party approached, the others sprang to their feet, +and drawing up in line performed a mock salute, which the young lady +returned with perfect gravity; and then, carelessly throwing her bridle +to the one nearest, she dismounted. In a few moments the horses were +picketed; the packs were scattered about the grass; cooking utensils, +provisions, and wine were distributed; and, amid a perfect din of +merry voices and laughter, the preparations for dinner were commenced. +Mademoiselle's part, on the whole, amused me not a little. Not engaging +in any of the various occupations about her, she seated herself on a +pile of cavalry cloaks at a little distance from the rest, and taking +out a much-worn and well-thumbed-looking volume from the pocket of her +coat, she began to read to herself with the most perfect unconcern +of all that was going on about her. Meanwhile the operations of the +_cuisine_ were conducted with a despatch and dexterity that only French +soldiers ever attain to; and, shall I confess it, the rich odour that +steamed upwards from the well-seasoned _potage_, the savoury smell of +the roast kid, albeit partaking of onions, and the brown breasts of +certain _poulets_ made me wish heartily that for half an hour or so I +could have changed my allegiance, converted myself into a _soldat de la +garde_, and led Mademoiselle in to dinner. + +At length the party beneath had arranged their meal upon the grass; +and the corporal, with an air of no inconsiderable pretension, took +Mademoiselle's hand to conduct her to the place of honour at the head of +the feast--calling out as he did, 'Place, Messieurs, place pour Madame +la Duchesse de--de----' + +'N'importe quoi,' said another; 'the Emperor has many a battle to win +yet, and many a kingdom and a duchy to give away. As for myself, I count +upon the _bâton_ of a marshal before the campaign closes.' + +'Have done, I beg you, with such folly, and help me to some of that +_salmi_,' said the lady, with a much more practical look about her than +her expression a few moments before denoted. + +The feast now progressed with all the clatter which little ceremony, +hearty appetites, and good-fellowship produce. The wine went round +freely, and the _qui propos_, if I might judge from their mirth, were +not wanting; for I could but catch here and there a stray word or so of +the conversation. + +All this time my own position was far from agreeable. Independent of +the fact of being a spectator of a good dinner and a jolly party while +famishing with hunger and thirst, my chance of escape depended either +on the party moving forward, or being so insensible from the effects of +their carouse that I might steal away unobserved. While I balanced with +myself which of these alternatives was more likely, an accident decided +the question. My horse, who up to this moment was grazing close beside +me, hearing one of the troop-horses neigh in the valley beneath, pricked +up his ears, plunged upwards, broke the bridle with which I had fastened +him, and cantered gaily down into the midst of the picketed animals. In +an instant every man sprang to his legs; some rushed to their holsters +and drew forth their pistols; others caught up their sabres from the +grass; and the young lady herself tightened her girth and sprang into +her saddle with the alacrity of one accustomed to moments of danger. All +was silence now for a couple of minutes, except the slight noise of the +troopers engaged in bridling their horses and fixing on their packs, +when a loud voice called out, '_Voilà!_; and the same instant every eye +in the party was directed to my shako, which hung on a branch of a tree +above me, and which up to this moment I had forgotten. Before I could +determine on any line of escape, three of the number had rushed up +the rock, and with drawn sabres commanded me to surrender myself their +prisoner. There was no choice; I flung down my sword with an air of +sulky resignation, and complied. My despatches, of which they soon +rifled me, sufficiently explained the cause of my journey, and allayed +any apprehensions they might have felt as to a surprise party. A few +brief questions were all they put to me; and then, conducting me down +the cliff to the scene of their bivouac, they proceeded to examine my +holsters and the flaps of my saddle for any papers which I might have +concealed in these places. + +'Eh, bien! mon colonel,' said the leader of the party, as he drew +himself up before me, and carried his hand to his cap in a salute as +respectful and orderly as though I were his officer, 'what say you to a +little supper ere we move forward?' + +'There's the bill of fare.' said another, laughing, as he pointed to the +remnant of roast fowls and stewed kid that covered the grass. + +I was too young a soldier to comport myself at the moment with that +philosophic resignation to circumstances which the changeful fortunes of +war so forcibly instil, and I merely answered by a brief refusal, while +half unconsciously I threw my eyes around to see if no chance of escape +presented itself. + +'No, no,' cried the corporal, who at once read my look and its meaning; +'don't try _that_, or you reduce me to the extremity of trying _this_,' +patting, as he spoke, the butt of his carbine with an air of easy +determination there was no mistaking. + +'Let me rather recommend Monsieur le Capitaine to try this,' said the +Vivandière, who, unperceived by me, was all this while grilling the half +of a _poulet_ over the embers. + +There was something in the kindness of the act, coupled as it was with +an air of graceful courtesy, that touched me; so, smothering all my +regretful thoughts at my mishap, I summoned up my best bow and my best +French to acknowledge the civility, and the moment after was seated on +the grass beside Mademoiselle Annette, discussing my supper with the +appetite of a man whose sorrows were far inferior to his hunger. + +As the moon rose, the party, who evidently had been waiting for some +others they expected, made preparations for continuing their journey, +the first of which consisted in changing the corporal's pack and +equipments to the back of my English thoroughbred, his own meagre +and raw-boned quadruped being destined for me. Up to this instant the +thought of escape had never left my mind. I knew I could calculate on +the speed of my horse; I had had some trials of his endurance, and the +only thing was to obtain such a start as might carry me out of bullet +range at once, and all was safe. Now this last hope deserted me, as I +beheld the miserable hack to which I was condemned; and yet, poignant +as this feeling was--shall I confess it?--it was inferior in its pain +to the sensation I experienced as I saw the rude French soldier, with +clumsy jack-boots and heavy hand, curvetting about upon my mettlesome +charger, and exhibiting his paces for the amusement of his companions. + +The order was now given to mount, and I took my place in the middle +file--the dragoons on either side of me having unslung their carbines, +and given me laughingly to understand that I was to be made a riddle of +if I attempted an escape. + +The long months of captivity that followed have, somehow, I cannot at +all explain why, left no such deep impression on my mind as the simple +events of that night. I remember it still like a thing of yesterday. We +travelled along the crest of a mountain, the valley lying in deep, dark +shadow beneath; the moon shone brightly out upon the grey granite +rocks beside us; our pace was sometimes pushed to a fast trot, and then +relaxed to a walk, the better, as it appeared to me, to indulge the +conversational tastes of my escort than for any other reason. Their +spirits never flagged for a moment; some jest or story was ever going +forward--some anecdote of the campaign, or some love adventure, of which +the narrator was the hero, commented on by all in turn with a degree +of sharp wit and ready repartee that greatly surprised me. In all +these narratives Mademoiselle played a prominent part, being invariably +referred to for any explanation which the difficulties of female +character seemed to require, her opinion on such points being always +regarded as conclusive. At times, too, they would break forth into some +rude hussar song, some regular specimen of camp lyric poetry, each verse +being sung by a different individual, and chorussed by the whole party +in common. I have said that these trifling details have left a deep +impression behind them. Stranger still, one of those wild strains haunts +my memory yet; and strikingly illustrative as it is, not only of those +songs in general but of that peculiar mixture of levity and pathos, of +reckless heartlessness and deep feeling so eminently French, I cannot +help giving it to my reader. It represents the last love-letter of a +soldier to his mistress, and runs thus:-- + + LE DERNIER ADIEU DU SOLDAT + + I + + 'Rose, l'intention d'la présente + Est de t' informer d'ma santé. + L'armée française est triomphante, + Et moi j'ai l'bras gauche emporté. + Nous avons eu d'grands avantages; + La mitraille m'a brisé les os, + Nous avons pris arm's et baggages; + Pour ma part j'ai deux bals dans l'dos. + + II + + 'J' suis à l'hôpital d'où je pense + Partir bientôt pour chez les morts. + J' t'envois dix francs qu' celui qui me panse + M'a donnés pour avoir mon corps. + Je me suis dit puisq'il faut que je file, + Et que ma Rose perd son épouseur, + Ça fait que je mourrai plus tranquille + D'savoir que j'lui laiss' ma valeur. + + III + + 'Lorsque j'ai quitté ma vieil l'mère, + Elle s'expirait sensiblement; + A rarrivée d'ma lettre j'espère + Qu'ell' sera morte entièrement; + Car si la pauvre femme est guérite + Elle est si bonne qu'elle est dans le cas + De s' faire mourir de mort subite + A la nouvelle de mon trépas. + + IV + + 'Je te recommand' bien, ma p'tit' Rose, + Mon bon chien; ne l'abandonn' pas; + Surtout ne lui dis pas la chose + Qui fait qu'il ne me reverra pas-- + Lui qu' je suis sûr se fait une fête + De me voir rev'nir caporal; + Il va pleurer comme une bête, + En apprenant mon sort fatal. + + V + + 'Quoiqu' ça c'est quelqu' chose qui m'enrage + D'être fait mourir loin du pays-- + Au moins quand on meurt au village, + On peut dire bonsoir aux amis, + On a sa place derrière l'église + On a son nom sur un' croix de bois, + Et puis on espèr' qu' la payse + Viendra pour prière quelque fois. + + VI + + 'Adieu, Rose I adieu! du courage! + A nous r'voir il n' faut plus songer; + Car au régiment où je m'engage + On ne vous accorde pas de congé. + Via tout qui tourne =! j' n'y vois goutte! + Ah, c'est fini! j' sens que j' m'en vas; + J' viens de recevoir ma feuill' de route; + Adieu t Rose, adieu! n' m'oubli' pas.' + + +Fatigue and weariness, that seemed never to weigh upon my companions, +more than once pressed heavily on me. As I awoke from a short and +fitful slumber the same song continued; for having begun it, somehow it +appeared to possess such a charm for them they could not cease singing, +and the + + 'Adieu! Rose, adieu! n' m'oubli' pas,' + +kept ringing through my ears till daybreak. + + + + +CHAPTER LII. THE MARCH + +Such, with little variety, was the history of each day and night of +our march--the days usually passed in some place of security and +concealment, while a reconnaissance would be made by some three or four +of the party; and, as night fell, the route was continued. + +One incident alone broke the monotony of the journey. On the fourth +night we left the mountain and descended into a large open plain, +taking for our guide the course of a river which seemed familiar to +my companions. The night was dark; heavy masses of cloud concealed +the moon, and not a star was visible; the atmosphere was close and +oppressive, and there reigned around a kind of unnatural stillness, +unbroken by the flow of the sluggish river which moved on beside us. Our +pace had been a rapid one for some time; and contrary to their wont the +dragoons neither indulged in their gay songs nor merry stories, but kept +together with more of military precision than they had hitherto assumed. +I conjectured from this that we were probably approaching the French +lines; and on questioning the corporal, was told that such was the case. + +A little after midnight we halted for a few moments to refresh the +horses. Each man dismounted, and stood with his hand upon the bridle; +and I could not but mark how the awful silence of the hour seemed +to prey upon their spirits as they spoke together in low and broken +whispers, as if fearful to interrupt the deep sleep of Nature. It was +just then that every eye was directed to a bright star that burst out +above the horizon, and seemed to expand gradually into a large mass +of great brilliancy, and again to diminish to a mere speck--which it +remained for some time, and then disappeared entirely. We continued +gazing on the dark spot where this phenomenon had appeared, endeavouring +by a hundred conjectures to explain it. Wearied at length with watching, +we were about to continue our journey, when suddenly from the quarter +from where the star had shone a rocket shot up into the dark sky and +broke into ten thousand brilliant fragments, which seemed to hang +suspended on high in the weight of the dense atmosphere. Another +followed, and another; then, after a pause of some minutes, a blue +rocket was seen to mount into the air, and explode with a report +which even at the distance we stood was audible. Scarcely had its last +fragments disappeared in the darkness when a low rumbling noise, like +the booming of distant thunder, seemed to creep along the ground. Then +came a rattling volley, as if of small-arms; and at last the whole +horizon burst into a red glare, which forked up from earth to sky with +a crash that seemed to shake the very ground beneath us. Masses of dark, +misshapen rock sprang into the blazing sky; millions upon millions of +sparks glittered through the air; and a cry, like the last expiring wail +of a drowning crew, rose above all other sounds--and all was still. The +flame was gone; the gloomy darkness had returned; not a sound was heard; +but in that brief moment four hundred of the French army met their +graves beneath the castle of Burgos, which in their hurried retreat they +had blown up, without apprising the troops who were actually marching +beneath its very walls. + +Our route was now resumed in silence; even the levity of the French +soldiers had received a check; and scarcely a word passed as we rode on +through the gloomy darkness, anxiously looking for daybreak, to learn +something of the country about us. + +Towards sunrise we found ourselves at the entrance of a mountain pass +traversed by the Ebro, which in some places almost filled the valley, +and left merely a narrow path between its waters and the dark cliffs +that frowned above. Here we proceeded--sometimes in single file; now +tracing the signs of the retreating force which had just preceded us, +now lost in astonishment at the prodigious strength of the position thus +abandoned. But even these feelings gave way before a stronger one--our +admiration of the exquisite beauty of the scenery. Glen after glen was +seen opening as we advanced into this wide valley, each bearing its +tributary stream to the mighty Ebro--the clear waters reflecting the +broken crags, the waving foliage, and the bright verdure that beamed +around, as orange-trees, laurels, and olives bent over the current, or +shot up in taper spires towards the clear blue sky. How many a sheltered +nook we passed, with an involuntary longing to rest and linger among +scenes so full of romantic beauty! But already the din of the retreating +column was borne towards us on the breeze, the heavy, monotonous roll +of large guns and caissons; while now and then we thought we could catch +the swell of martial music blending through the other sounds. But soon +we came up with waggons carrying the wounded and sick, who, having +joined by another road, had fallen to the rear of the march. From them +we learned that the King of Spain, Joseph himself, was with the advanced +guard, and that the destination of the forces was Vittoria, where a +junction with the _corps darmée_ of the other generals being effected, +it was decided on giving battle to the Anglo-Spanish army. + +As we advanced, our progress became slower and more difficult; close +columns of infantry blocked up the road, or dense masses of cavalry, +with several hundred led horses and baggage mules, prevented all chance +of getting forward. Gradually, however, the valley widened, the mountain +became less steep; and by evening we reached a large plain, closed +towards the north-east by lofty mountains, which I learned were the +Pyrenees, and beheld in the far distance the tall spires of the city of +Vittoria. Several roads crossed the plain towards the city, all of which +were now crowded with troops--some pressing on in the direction of the +town, others taking up their position and throwing up hasty embankments +and stockades. Meanwhile the loaded waggons, with the spoil of the +rich convents and the royal treasure, were seen wending their slow way +beneath the walls of Vittoria on the road to Bayonne, escorted by a +strong cavalry force, whose bright helmets and breastplates pronounced +them Cuirassiers de la Garde. The animation and excitement of the whole +scene was truly intense, and as I rode along beside the corporal, I +listened with eagerness to his account of the various regiments as they +passed hither and thither and took up their positions on the wide plain. + +'There, look yonder,' said he, 'where that dark mass is defiling beside +the pine wood! See how they break into parties; watch them, how they +scatter along the low bank beside the stream under shelter of the +brushwood. There were eight hundred men in that battalion: where are +they now? All concealed--they are the tirailleurs of the army; and see +on that low mound above them where the flag is flying--the guns are +about to occupy that height. I was right, you see; there they come, six, +seven, eight pieces of heavy metal. _Sacrebleu!_ that must be a place of +some consequence.' + +'What are the troops yonder with the red tufts in their caps, and +scarlet trousers?' + +'_Ah, parbleu!_ your countrymen will soon know to their cost: they are +the Infanterie de la Garde. There's not a man in the column you are +looking at who is not _decoré_.' + +'Look at this side, monsieur! See the Chasseurs à Cheval,' said Annette, +putting her hand on my arm, while her bright eyes glanced proudly at the +glittering column which advanced by a road near us--coming along at a +sharp trot, their equipment clattering, their horses highly conditioned, +and the splendid uniform of light blue and silver giving them a most +martial air. + +'Bah!' said the corporal contemptuously, 'these are the dragoons to my +taste.' So saying, he pointed to a dark column of heavy cavalry, who +led their horses slowly along by a narrow causeway; the long black +horse-hair trailed from their dark helmets with something of a gloomy +aspect, to which their flowing cloaks of deep blue added. + +'The Cuirassiers de Milhauds. But look--look yonder! _Tonnerre de ciel!_ +see that!' + +The object to which my attention was now directed was a park of +artillery that covered the whole line of road from the Miranda pass to +the very walls of Vittoria. + +'Two hundred, at least,' exclaimed he, after counting some twenty or +thirty of the foremost. '_Ventre bleu!_ what chance have you before the +batteries of the Guard?' + +As he spoke, the drums beat across the wide plain; a continuous dull +roll murmured along the ground. It ceased; the trumpets brayed forth a +call; a clanging crash followed, and I saw that the muskets were brought +to the shoulder, as the bayonets glanced in the sun and the sharp sabres +glittered along the squadrons. For a second or two all was still, and +then the whole air was rent with a loud cry of '_Vive le Roi!_' while a +mounted party rode slowly from the left, and entering one of the gates +of the city disappeared from our sight. Night was now beginning to fail, +as we wended our way slowly along towards the walls of Vittoria--it +being the corporal's intention to deliver his prisoner into the hands of +the _état major_ of Marshal Jourdan. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII. VITTORIA + +What a contrast to the scene without the walls did the city of Vittoria +present! Scarcely had we left behind us the measured tread of moving +battalions, the dark columns of winding cavalry, when we entered streets +brilliantly lighted. Gorgeous and showy equipages turned everywhere; +music resounded on all sides; servants in splendid liveries made way +for ladies in all the elegance of evening dress, enjoying the delicious +coolness of a southern climate at sunset; groups of officers in full +uniform chatted with their fair friends from the balconies of the large +majestic houses; the sounds of gaiety and mirth were heard from every +open lattice, and the chink of the castanet and the proud step of the +fandango echoed around us. + +Women, dressed in all the perfection of Parisian coquetry, loitered +along the streets, wondering at the strange sights the Spanish city +afforded--themselves scarcely less objects of wonder to the dark-eyed +senoras, who, with close-drawn mantillas, peered cautiously around them +to see the strangers. Young French officers swaggered boastfully about +with the air of conquerors, while now and then some tall and swarthy +Spaniard might be seen lowering with gloomy frown from under the broad +shadow of his sombrero, as if doubting the evidence of his own senses at +seeing his native city in the occupation of the usurper. + +In the open plazas, too, the soldiers were picketed, and stood in +parties around their fires, or lay stretched on the rich tapestries they +had carried away as spoils from the southern provinces. Cups and goblets +of the rarest handiwork and of the most costly materials were strewn +about them. The vessels of the churches; the rich cloths of gold +embroidery that had decorated the altars; pictures, the _chefs-d'oeuvre_ +of the first masters--all were there, in one confused heap, among +baskets of fruit, wine-skins, ancient armour, and modern weapons. From +time to time some brilliant staff would pass, usually accompanied by +ladies, who seemed strangely mixed up with all the military display of +the scene. + +My guide, after conversing for a few moments with a _sous-officier_ +of his regiment, turned from the Plaza into a narrow street, the +termination to which was formed by a large building now brilliantly lit +up. As we approached, I perceived that two sentries were on guard at the +narrow gate, and a large banner, with the imperial 'N' in the centre, +waved heavily over the entrance. 'This is _le quartier général,_ said +the corporal, dropping his voice respectfully, as we drew near. At +the same instant a young officer, whose long plume bespoke him as an +aide-de-camp, pushed past us; but, turning hastily round, said something +I could not catch to the corporal. 'Bien, mon lieutenant,' said the +latter, carrying his hand to his shako. 'Follow me, monsieur,' said the +officer, addressing me, and the next moment I found myself in a large +and richly furnished room, when having motioned me to be seated, he left +me. + +My meditations, such as they were, were not suffered to be long, for in +a few seconds the aide-de-camp made his appearance, and with a low bow +requested me to accompany him. + +'The general will receive you at once,' said he. + +I eagerly asked his name. + +'Le Général Oudinot.' + +'Ah, the Marshal?' + +'No; his brother. I perceive you are a young soldier; so let me give +you a hint. Don't mind his manner; “c'est un brave homme” at bottom, +but'--the loud burst of laughter from a room at the end of the corridor +drowned the conclusion of his speech, and before I had time for another +question the door opened, and I was introduced. + +In a small but richly furnished chamber sat four officers round a table +covered with a magnificent display of silver cups and plate, and upon +which a dessert was spread, with flasks of French and Spanish wine, and +a salver holding cigars; a book, apparently an orderly book, was before +them, from which one of the party was reading as I came in. As the +aide-de-camp announced me they all looked up, and the general, for +I knew him at once, fixing his eyes steadily on me, desired me to +approach. + +As I obeyed his not very courteous order, I had time to perceive that +the figure before me was that of a stout, square-built man of about +fifty-five or sixty. His head was bald; his eyebrows, of a bushy grey, +were large and meeting. A moustache of the same grizzly appearance +shaded his lip, and served to conceal two projecting teeth, which, when +he spoke, displayed themselves like boar's tusks, giving a peculiarly +savage expression to his dark and swarthy countenance. The loose sleeve +of his coat denoted that he had lost his left arm high up; but whenever +excited, I could see that the short stump of the amputated limb jerked +convulsively in a manner it was painful to look at. + +'What, a deserter! a spy! Eh, what is it, Alphonse?' + +The aide-de-camp, blushing, whispered some few words rapidly, and the +general resumed-- + +'Ha! Be seated, monsieur.' The officers of the imperial army know how to +treat their prisoners; though, _pardieu_, they can't teach their enemies +the lesson! You have floating prisons, they tell me, in England, where +my poor countrymen die of disease and starvation. _Sacré Dieu!_ what +cruelty!' + +'You have been misinformed, General. The nation I belong to is uniformly +humane to all whom chance of war has made its prisoners, and never +forgets that the officers of an army are gentlemen.' + +'Ha! what do you mean?' said he, becoming dark with passion, as he half +rose from his seat; then, stopping suddenly short, he continued in a +voice of suppressed anger, 'Where are your troops? What number of men +has your Villainton got with him?' + +'Of course,' said I, smiling, 'you do not expect me to answer such +questions.' + +'Do you refuse it?' said he, with a grim smile. + +'I do distinctly refuse,' was my answer. + +'What rank do you hold in your service?' + +'I am but a subaltern.' + +'_Tenez!_' said another of the party, who for some time past had been +leisurely conning over the despatches which had been taken from me, 'You +are called “capitaine” here, monsieur.' + +'Ha! ha! What say you to that?' cried the general exultingly. 'Read it, +Chamont.' + +'“The despatches which Captain Airey will deliver----” + +Is it not so?' said he, handing me the paper. + +'Yes,' said I coolly; 'he is the senior aide-de-camp; but being employed +on General Graham's staff, now occupied in the pursuit of your army----' + +'_Mille tonnerres!_ Young man, you have chosen an unsuitable place to +cut your jokes!' + +'Sa Majesté le Roi,' said an aide-de-camp, entering hastily, and +throwing the door open to its full extent; and scarcely had the party +time to rise when the Emperor's brother appeared. + +Of the middle size, pale, and with a thoughtful, expressive countenance, +Joseph Bonaparte's appearance was much in his favour. His forehead was +lofty and expansive, his eye large and full, and the sweet smile +which seemed the gift of every member of the family he possessed in +perfection. After a few words with General Oudinot, whose rough manner +and coarse bearing suffered no change by his presence, he turned towards +me, and with much mildness of voice and courtesy of demeanour inquired +if I were wounded. On hearing that I was not, he expressed a hope that +my captivity would be of brief duration, as exchanges were already in +progress. 'Meanwhile,' said he, 'you shall have as little to complain of +as possible.' + +As he concluded these few but to me most comforting words, I received a +hint from the aide-de-camp to withdraw, which I did, into an adjoining +room. The same aide-de-camp by whom I had hitherto been accompanied now +joined me, and, slapping me familiarly on the shoulder, cried out-- + +'_Eh, bien!_ I hope now you are satisfied. Joseph is a fine, generous +fellow, and will take care not to forget his promise to you. Meanwhile, +come and take a share of my supper.' + +He opened a door in the wainscot as he spoke, and introduced me into a +perfectly-fitted-up little boudoir, where a supper had been laid out +for him. Another cover was soon provided for me, and in a few minutes +we were seated at table, chatting away about the war and the opposing +armies, as though instead of partisans we had merely been lookers-on at +the great game before us. My companion, though but a year or two older +than myself, held the grade of colonel, every step to which he won at +the point of his sword; he was strikingly handsome, and his figure, +though slight, powerfully knit. As the champagne passed back and forward +between us, confidences became interchanged, and before midnight sounded +I found my companion quite familiar with the name of Louisa Bellew, +while to my equal astonishment I was on terms of perfect intimacy with +a certain lovely marquise of the Chaussée d'Antin. The tinkle of a sharp +bell suddenly called the aide-de-camp to his legs; so drinking off a +large goblet of cold water, and taking up his chapeau, he left the room. + +I now threw myself back into my chair, and, tossing off a bumper of +champagne, began to reason myself into the belief that there were worse +things even than imprisonment among the French. Flitting thoughts of the +past, vague dreams of the future, confused images of the present, were +all dancing through my brain, when the door again opened, and I heard my +companion's footsteps behind me. + +'Do you know, Alphonse,' said I, without turning in my chair, 'I have +been seriously thinking of making my escape? It is quite clear that a +battle is not far off; and, by Jove! if I only have the good fortune to +meet with your _chef d état major_, that savage old Oudinot, I'll pledge +myself to clear off scores with him.' + +A half chuckle of laughter behind induced me to continue:-- + +'That old fellow certainly must have risen from the ranks--not a touch +of breeding about him. I'm certain his Majesty rated him soundly for his +treatment of me, when I came away. I saw his old moustaches bristling +up; he knew he was in for it.' + +A louder laugh than at first, but in somewhat of a different cadence, +induced me to torn my head, when what was my horror to see before me, +not my new friend the aide-de-camp, but General Oudinot himself, who +all this time had been listening to my polite observations regarding his +future welfare! There was a savage exultation in his look as his eye met +mine, and for a second or two he seemed to enjoy my confusion too much +to permit him to break silence. At last he said-- + +'Are you on parole, sir?' + +'No,' I briefly replied, 'nor shall I be.' + +'What, have I heard you aright? Do you refuse your parole?' + +'Yes; I shall not pledge myself against attempting my escape the very +first opportunity that offers.' + +'Indeed,' said he slowly, 'indeed! What is to become of poor General +Oudinot if such a casualty take place? But come, sir, I have his +Majesty's orders to accept your parole; if you refuse it, you are then +at _my_ disposal. I have received no other instructions about you. Yes +or no--I ask you for the last time.' + +'No! distinctly no!' + +'C'est bien; holla, garde! numéro dix et onze.' + +Two soldiers of the grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, appeared at the +door; a few hurried words were spoken, the only part of which I could +catch was the word _cachot_ I was at once ordered to rise; a soldier +walked on either side of me, and I was in this way conducted through +the city to the prison of the gendarmerie, where for the night I was +to remain, with orders to forward me the next morning at daybreak, with +some Spanish prisoners, on the road to Bayonne. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV. THE RETREAT + +My cell, for such it was, although dignified with the appellation of +chamber, looked out by a small window upon a narrow street, the opposite +side to which was formed by the wall of a churchyard pertaining to a +convent. As day broke, I eagerly took my place at the casement to watch +what was going on without; but except some bareheaded figure of a monk +gliding along between the dark yew avenues, or some female in deep +mourning passing to her morning's devotions beside the grave of a +relative, I could see nothing. A deep silence seemed to brood over the +city, so lately the scene of festivity and mirth. Towards four o'clock, +however, I could hear the distant roll of drums, which gradually +extended from the extreme right to the left of the plain before the +town; then I heard the heavy monotonous tramp of marching, broken +occasionally by the clank of the brass bands of the cavalry, or the deep +sullen thunder of the artillery waggons as they moved along over the +paved roads. The sounds came gradually nearer; the trumpets too joined +the clamour with the shrill reveille, and soon the streets towards +the front of the prison re-echoed with the unceasing clatter of troops +moving forward. I could hear the voices of the officers calling to the +men to move up; heard more than once the names of particular regiments, +as some distinguished corps were passing. The music of the bands was +quick and inspiriting; and as some popular air was struck up, the men +would break forth suddenly into the words, and the rough-voiced chorus +rang through the narrow streets, and fell heavily on my own heart as I +lay there a prisoner. Hour after hour did this continue, yet the silence +behind remained as unbroken as ever; the lonely churchyard, with its +dark walks and sad-looking trees, was still and deserted. By degrees +the din in front diminished; regiments passed now only at intervals, and +their pace, increased to a run, left no time for the bands; the cavalry, +too, trotted rapidly by, and at last all was still as in the gloomy +street before me. + +It was now eight o'clock, and no summons had yet come to me, although +I had heard myself the order for our marching on the Bayonne road by +sunrise. The prison was still as the grave; not a step could I hear; not +a bolt nor a hinge creaked. I looked to the window, but the strong iron +grating that defended it left no prospect of escape; the door was even +stronger, and there was no chimney. The thought occurred to me that the +party had forgotten me, and had gone away with the other prisoners. This +thought somehow had its consolation; but the notion of being left to +starve came suddenly across me, and I hastened to the window to try and +make myself known to some chance passer-by. + +Just then the loud boom of a gun struck upon my ear; another followed, +louder still; and then a long heavy crashing noise, which rose and fell +as the wind bore it, told me that the work of death had begun. The sound +of the large guns, which at first came only at intervals, now swelled +into one loud continuous roar, that drowned all other noise. The strong +frames of the windows shook, and the very ground beneath my feet seemed +to tremble with the dreadful concussion of the artillery; sometimes the +din would die away for a few seconds, and then, as the wind freshened, +it would swell into a thunder so loud as to make me think the battle +was close to where I stood. Hour after hour did this continue; and now, +although the little street beside me was thronged with many an anxious +group, I no longer thought of questioning them. My whole soul was +wrapped up in the one thought--that of the dreadful engagement; and as +I listened, my mind was carrying on with itself some fancied picture +of the fight, with no other guide to my imaginings than the distant +clangour of the battle. Now I thought that the French were advancing, +that their battery of guns had opened; and I could imagine the dark +mass that moved on, their tall shakos and black belts peering amidst +the smoke that lay densely in the field. On they poured, thousand after +thousand; ay, there goes the fusilade--the platoons are firing. But now +they halt; the crash of fixing bayonets is heard; a cheer breaks forth; +the cloud is rent; the thick smoke is severed as if by a lightning +flash; the red-coats have dashed through at the charge; the enemy waits +not; the line wavers and breaks; down come the cavalry, like an eagle on +the swoop! But again the dread artillery opens; the French form beneath +the lines, and the fight is renewed. + +The fever of my mind was at its height. I paced my room with hurried +steps, and springing to the narrow casement, held my ear to the wall to +listen. Forgetting where I was, I called out as though at the head of my +company, with the wild yell of the battle around me, and the foe before +me. + +Suddenly the crowd beneath the window broke; the crash of cavalry +equipments resounded through the street, and the head of a squadron of +cuirassiers came up at a trot, followed by a train of baggage-waggons, +with six horses to each; the drivers whipped and spurred their cattle, +and all betokened haste. From the strength of the guard and the +appearance of the waggons, I conjectured that they were the treasures of +the army--an opinion in which I was strengthened by the word 'Bayonne' +chalked in large letters on a chest thrown on the top of a carriage. +Some open waggons followed, in which the invalids of the army lay, a +pale and sickly mass; their lack-lustre eyes gazed heavily around with a +stupid wonder, like men musing in a dream. Even they, however, had arms +given them, such was the dread of falling into the hands of the guerilla +bands who infested the mountain passes, and who never gave quarter even +to the wounded and the dying. + +The long file at length passed, but only to make way for a still longer +procession of Spanish prisoners, who, bound wrist to wrist, marched +between two files of mounted gendarmes. The greater number of these were +mountaineers, guerillas of the south, condemned to the galleys for life, +their bronzed faces and stalwart figures a striking contrast to their +pale and emaciated companions, the inhabitants of the towns, who could +scarce drag their weary limbs along, and seemed at every step ready to +sink between misery and privation. The ribald jests and coarse language +of the soldiers were always addressed to these, there seeming to be +a kind of respect for the bolder guerillas even in the hour of their +captivity. The tramp of led horses, the roll of waggons, the cracking of +whips, mingled with the oaths of muleteers and the fainter cries of the +sick, now filled the air, and only occasionally did the loud cannonade +rise above them. From every window faces appeared, turned with excited +eagerness towards the dense crowds; and though I could perceive that +inquiries as to the fate of the day were constantly made and answered, +my ignorance of Spanish prevented my understanding what was said. + +The noise in front of the prison, where the thoroughfare was wider and +larger, far exceeded that around me; and at last I could hear the steps +of persons marching overhead, and ascending and descending the stairs. +Doors clapped and slammed on every side; when, suddenly, the door of +my own cell was shaken violently, and a voice cried out in French, 'Try +this; I passed twice without perceiving it.' The next moment the lock +turned, and my room was filled with dragoons, their uniforms splashed +and dirty, and evidently bearing the marks of a long and severe march. + +'Are you the Guerilla Guiposcoa de Condeiga?' said one of the party, +accosting me, as I stood wrapped up in my cloak. + +'No; I am an English officer.' + +'Show your epaulettes, then,' said another, who knew that Spanish +officers never wore such. + +I opened my cloak, when the sight of my red uniform at once satisfied +them. At this instant a clamour of voices without was heard, and several +persons called out, 'We have him! here he is!' The crowd around me +rushed forth at the sound; and following among them I reached the +street, now jammed up with horse and foot, waggons, tumbrels, and +caissons--some endeavouring to hasten forward towards the road to +Bayonne; others as eagerly turned towards the plain of Vittoria, where +the deafening roll of artillery showed the fight was at its fiercest. +The dragoons issued forth, dragging a man amongst them whose enormous +stature and broad chest towered above the others, but who apparently +made not the slightest resistance as they hurried him forward, shouting, +as they went, '_A la grand' place!--à la place!_' + +It was the celebrated Guerilla Guiposcoa, who had distinguished himself +by acts of heroic daring, and sometimes by savage cruelty towards the +French, and who had fallen into their hands that morning. Anxious to +catch a glance at one of whom I had heard so often, I pressed forward +among the rest, and soon found myself in the motley crowd of soldiers +and townspeople that hurried towards the Plaza. + +Scarcely had I entered the square when the movement of the multitude was +arrested, and a low whispering murmur succeeded to the deafening shouts +of vengeance and loud cries of death I had heard before; then came the +deep roll of a muffled drum. I made a strong effort to press forward, +and at length reached the rear of a line of dismounted dragoons who +stood leaning on their carbines, their eyes steadily bent on a figure +some twenty paces in front. He was leisurely employed in divesting +himself of some of his clothes, which, as he took off, he piled in a +little heap beside him; his broad guerilla hat, his dark cloak, his +sheep's-wool jacket slashed with gold, fell one by one from his hand, +and his broad manly chest at last lay bare, heaving with manifest pride +and emotion, as he turned his dark eyes calmly around him. Nothing was +now heard in that vast crowd save when some low, broken sob of grief +would burst from the close-drawn mantillas of the women, as they offered +up their heartfelt prayers for the soul of the patriot. + +A low parapet wall, surmounted by an iron railing, closed in this part +of the Plaza, and separated it from a deep and rapid river that flowed +beneath--a branch of the Ebro. Beyond, the wide plain of Vittoria +stretched away towards the Pyrenees; and two leagues distant the scene +of the battle was discernible, from the heavy mass of cloud that lowered +overhead, and the deep booming of the guns that seemed to make the air +tremulous. + +The Spaniard turned his calm look towards the battlefield, and for an +instant his dark eye flashed back upon his foes with an expression +of triumphant daring, which seemed as it were to say, 'I am avenged +already!' A cry of impatience burst from the crowd of soldiers, and the +crash of their firelocks threatened that they would not wait longer for +his blood. But the guerilla's manner changed at once, and holding up a +small ebony crucifix before him, he seemed to ask a moment's respite for +a short prayer. + +The stillness showed his request was complied with; he turned his back +towards the crowd, and placing the crucifix on the low parapet, he bent +down on both his knees, and seemed lost in his devotions. As he rose +I thought I could perceive that he threw a glance, rapid as lightning, +over the wall towards the river that flowed beneath. He now turned fully +round; and unfastening the girdle of many a gay colour that he wore +round his waist, he threw it carelessly on his left arm; and then, +baring his breast to the full, knelt slowly down, and with his arms wide +apart called out in Spanish, 'Here is my life! come, take it!' The words +were scarcely uttered, when the carbines clanked as they brought them +to the shoulder; the sergeant of the company called out the words, +'_Donnez!_' a pause--'_Feu!_' The fusilade rang out, and as my eyes +pierced the smoke I could see that the guerilla had fallen to the earth, +his arms crossed upon his bosom. + +A shriek wild and terrific burst from the crowd. The blue smoke slowly +rose, and I perceived the French sergeant standing over the body of +the guerilla, which lay covered with blood upon the turf. A kind of +convulsive spasm seemed to twitch the limbs, upon which the Frenchman +drew his sabre. The rattle of the steel scabbard rang through my heart; +the bright weapon glanced as he raised it above his head. At the same +instant the guerilla chief sprang to his legs; he tottered as he did so, +for I could see that his left arm hung powerless at his side, but his +right held a long poniard. He threw himself upon the Frenchman's bosom; +a yell followed, and the same moment the guerilla sprang over the +battlements, and with a loud splash dropped into the river beneath. The +water had scarce covered his body, as the Frenchman fell a corpse upon +the ground. + +A perfect roar of madness and rage burst from the French soldiers, as, +rushing to the parapet, a hundred balls swept the surface of the river; +but the tall reeds of the bank had already concealed the bold guerilla, +whose left arm had received the fire of the soldiers, who now saw the +meaning of that quick movement by which he had thrown his girdle around +it. The incident was but the work of a few brief moments; nor was there +longer time to think on it, for suddenly a squadron of cavalry swept +past at the full speed of their horses, calling out the words, 'Place +there! Make way there in front! The ambulance! the ambulance!' + +A low groan of horror rose around; the quick retreat of the wounded +betokened that the battle was going against the French; the words +'beaten and retreat' reechoed through the crowd; and as the dark +suspicion crept amid the moving mass, the first waggon of the wounded +slowly turned the angle of the square, a white flag hanging above it. I +caught but one glance of the sad convoy; but never shall I forget +that spectacle of blood and agony. Torn and mangled, they lay an +indiscriminate heap--their faces blackened with powder, their bodies +shattered with wounds. High above the other sounds their piercing cries +rent the air, with mingled blasphemies and insane ravings. Meanwhile the +drivers seemed only anxious to get forward, as, deaf to every prayer and +entreaty, they whipped their horses and called out to the crowd to make +way. + +Escape was now open; but where could I go? My uniform exposed me to +immediate detection; should I endeavour to conceal myself, discovery +would be my death. The vast tide of people that poured along the streets +was a current too strong to stem, and I hesitated what course to follow. +My doubts were soon resolved for me; an officer of General Oudinot's +staff, who had seen me the previous night, rode up close to where I +stood, and then turning to his orderly, spoke a few hurried words. The +moment after, two heavy dragoons, in green uniform and brass helmets, +came up, one at either side of me; without a second's delay one of them +unfastened a coil of small rope that hung at his saddle-bow, which with +the assistance of the other was passed over my right wrist and drawn +tight. In this way, secured like a malefactor, I was ordered forward. In +vain I remonstrated; in vain I told them I was a British officer; to no +purpose did I reiterate that hitherto I had made no effort to escape. +It is not in the hour of defeat that a Frenchman can behave either +with humanity or justice. A volley of _sacrés_ was the only answer I +received, and nothing was left me but to yield. + +Meanwhile the tumult and confusion of the town was increasing every +minute. Heavy waggons inscribed in large letters, 'Domaine extérieure de +sa Majesté l'Empereur,' containing the jewels and treasures of Madrid, +passed by, drawn by eight and sometimes ten horses, and accompanied by +strong cavalry detachments. Infantry regiments, blackened with smoke +and gunpowder, newly arrived from the field, hurried past to take up +positions on the Bayonne road to protect the retreat; then came the +nearer din and crash of the artillery as the French army were falling +back upon the town. + +Scarcely had we issued from the walls of the city when the whole scene +of flight and ruin was presented to our eyes. The country for miles +round was one moving mass of fugitives; cannon, waggons, tumbrels, +wounded soldiers, horsemen, and even splendid equipages were all mixed +up together on the Pampeluna road, which lay to our right. The march was +there intercepted by an overturned waggon; the horses were plunging, and +the cries of wounded men could be heard even where we were. The fields +at each side of the way were soon spread over by the crowd, eager to +press on. Guns were now abandoned and thrown into ditches and ravines; +the men broke their muskets, and threw the fragments on the roadside, +and vast magazines of powder were exploded here and there through the +plain. + +But my attention was soon drawn to objects more immediately beside +me. The Bayonne road, which we now reached, was the last hope of the +retiring army. To maintain this line of retreat strong detachments of +infantry, supported by heavy guns, were stationed at every eminence +commanding the position; but the swooping torrent of the retreat had +left little time for these to form, many of whom were borne along with +the flying army. Discipline gave way on every side; the men sprang +upon the waggons, refusing to march; the treasures were broken open and +thrown upon the road. Frequently the baggage-guard interchanged shots +and sabre-cuts with the infuriated soldiers, who only thought of escape; +and the ladies, who but yesterday were the objects of every care and +solicitude, were hurried along amid that rude multitude--some on foot, +others glad to be allowed to take a place in the ambulance among the +wounded, their dresses blood-stained and torn, adding to the horror and +misery of the scene. + +Such was the prospect before us. Behind, a dark mass hovered as if even +yet withstanding the attack of the enemy, whose guns thundered clearer +and clearer every moment. Still the long line of wounded came on--some +in wide open carts, others stretched upon the gun-carriages, mangled and +bleeding. Among these my attention was drawn to one whose head having +fallen over the edge of the cart was endangered by every roll of the +heavy wheel that grazed his very skull. There was a halt, and I seized +the moment to assist the poor fellow as he lay thus in peril. His helmet +had fallen back, and was merely retained by the brass chain beneath his +chin; his temples were actually cleft open by a sabre-cut, and I could +see that he had also received some shot-wounds in the side, where he +pressed his hands, the blood welling up between the fingers. As I lifted +the head to place it within the cart, the eyes opened and turned fully +upon me. A faint smile of gratitude curled his lip; I bent over him, and +to my horror recognised in the mangled and shattered form before me the +gallant fellow with whom the very night before I had formed almost a +friendship. The word 'cold,' muttered between his teeth, was the only +answer I could catch as I called him by his name. The order to march +rang out from the head of the convoy, and I had barely time to unfasten +my cloak and throw it over him ere the waggon moved on. I never saw him +after. + +A squadron of cavalry now galloped past, reckless of all before them; +the traces of their artillery were cut, and the men, mounting the +horses, deserted the guns, and rode for their lives. In the midst of +the flying mass a splendid equipage flew past, its six horses lashed +to madness by the postillions; a straggling guard of honour galloped at +either side, and a grand _écuyer_ in scarlet, who rode in front, called +out incessantly, 'Place, place, pour sa Majesté!' But all to no purpose; +the road, blocked up by broken waggons, dense crowds of horse and +foot, dead and dying, soon became impassable. An effort to pass a +heavily-loaded waggon entangled the coach; the axle was caught by the +huge waggon; the horses plunged when they felt the restraint, and the +next moment the royal carriage was hurled over on its side, and fell +with a crash into the ravine at the roadside. While the officers of +his staff dismounted to rescue the fallen monarch, a ribald burst of +laughter rose from the crowd, and a pioneer actually gave the butt of +his carbine to assist the king as, covered with mud, he scrambled up +the ditch. I had but an instant to look upon his pale countenance, which +even since the night before seemed to have grown many years older, ere I +was myself dragged forward among the crowd. + +Darkness now added its horror to the scene of riot and confusion. The +incessant cries of the fugitives told that the English cavalry were +upon them; the artillery came closer and closer, and the black sky was +traversed by many a line of fire, as the shells poured down upon the +routed army. The English guns, regardless of roads, dashed down on +the terrified masses, raining balls and howitzer-shells on every side. +Already the cheers of my gallant countrymen were within my hearing, and +amid all the misery and danger around me my heart rose proudly at the +glorious victory they had gained. + +Meanwhile my escort, whose feeling towards me became more brutal as +their defeat was more perceptible, urged me forward with many an oath +and imprecation. Leaving the main road, we took the fields, already +crowded with the infantry. At last, as the charges of the English came +closer, my escort seemed to hesitate upon being any longer burdened by +me, and one, after interchanging some angry words with his companion, +rode off, leaving me to the care of him who passed the cord round my +wrist. For a second or two this fellow seemed to waver whether he might +not dispose of me more briefly, and once he half withdrew his pistol +from the holster, and turned round in his saddle to regard me more +steadily. A better feeling, however, gained the mastery; the hope, too, +of promotion, could he bring in an officer his prisoner, had doubtless +its share in his decision. He ordered me to jump up behind him, and, +dashing spurs into his troop-horse, rode forward. + +I have, perhaps, lingered too long in my recollections of this eventful +night; it was, however, the last striking incident which preceded a long +captivity. On the third day of the retreat I was joined to a band of +Spanish prisoners marching towards Bayonne. Of the glorious victory +which rescued the Peninsula from the dominion of the French, and drove +their beaten armies beyond the Pyrenees, or of the great current of +events which followed the battle of Vittoria, I do not purpose to +speak. Neither will I trouble my reader with a narrative of hardship +and suffering; it is enough to mention that my refusal to give my parole +subjected me in all cases to every indignity. Wearied out at length, +however, I accepted this only chance of rendering life endurable; and +on reaching Bayonne I gave my word not to attempt my escape, and was +accordingly separated from my companions in misfortune, and once more +treated as a gentleman. + +The refusal to accept 'parole,' I learned afterwards, was invariably +construed by the French authorities of the day into a direct avowal not +only to attempt escape by any means that might present themselves, but +was also deemed a rejection of the hospitality of the country, which +placed the recusant beyond the pale of its courtesy. No sooner had I +complied with this necessity--for such it was--than I experienced the +greatest kindness and politeness in every quarter. Through every village +in the south, the house of the most respectable inhabitant was always +opened to me; and with a delicacy it would be difficult to match +elsewhere, although the events of the Spanish war were the subjects of +general interest wherever we passed, not a word was spoken nor a hint +dropped before the 'prisoner' which could in the slightest degree offend +his nationality or hurt his susceptibility as an enemy. + +***** + +I shall now beg of my reader to pass over with me a long interval of +time, during which my life presented nothing of interest or incident, +and accompany me to the environs of St. Omer, where, in the commencement +of the year 1814 I found myself domesticated as a prisoner of war on +parole. During the long period that had elapsed since the battle of +Vittoria, I had but once heard from home. Matters there were pretty much +as I had left them. My father had removed to a colonial appointment, +whence he transmitted the rich revenues of his office to my mother, +whose habitual economy enabled her to dispense hospitality at Bath, much +in the same kind of way as she had formerly done at London. My lovely +cousin--in the full possession of her beauty and a large fortune--had +refused some half-dozen brilliant proposals, and was reported to have an +unswerving attachment to some near relative--which happy individual, +my mother suggested, was myself. Of the Bellews, I learned from the +newspapers that Sir Simon was dead; and Miss Bellew, having recovered +most of the great estates of her family through the instrumentality of a +clever attorney (whom I guessed to be my friend Paul), was now the great +belle and fortune of Dublin. I had frequently written home, and once or +twice to the Rooneys and the Major, but never received any answer; so +that at last I began to think myself forgotten by every one, and dreamed +away my life in a state almost of apathy--dead to the exciting events of +the campaign, which, even in the seclusion where I lived, were from time +to time reported. The brilliant march of our victorious troops through +the Pyrenees and the south of France, Nivelle, Orthez, and Toulouse, I +read of as people read of long past events. Life to me appeared to have +run out; and my thoughts turned ever backward to the bright morning +of my career in Ireland--my early burst of manhood, my first and only +passion. + +The old royalist seigneur upon whom I was billeted could evidently +make nothing of the stolid indifference with which I heard him and his +antiquated spouse discuss the glorious prospect of a restoration of +the Bourbons: even the hope of liberty was dying away within me. One +ever-present thought had damped all ardour and all ambition--I had done +nothing as a soldier; my career had ended as it begun; and, while others +had risen to fame and honour, _my_ name had won nothing of distinction +and repute. Instead of anxiously looking forward to a meeting +with Louisa Bellew, I dreaded the very thoughts of it. My mother's +fashionable _morgue_ and indifference I should now feel as a sarcasm +on my own failure; and as to my cousin Julia, the idea alone of her +raillery was insufferable. The only plan I could devise for the future +was, as soon as I should recover my liberty, to exchange into some +regiment in the East Indies, and never to return to England. + +It was, then, with some surprise and not much sympathy that I beheld +my venerable host appear one morning at breakfast with a large white +cockade in the breast of his frock-coat, and a huge white lily in a +wineglass before him. His elated manner and joyous looks were all so +many riddles to me; while the roll of drums in the peaceful little town, +the ringing of bells, and the shouts of the inhabitants were all too +much even for apathy like mine. + +'What is the _tintamarre_ about?' said I pettishly, as I saw the old +gentleman fidget from the table to the window and then back again, +rubbing his hands, admiring his cockade, and smelling at the lily, +alternatively. + +'Tintamarre!' said he indignantly, 'savez-vous, monsieur? Ce n'est pas +le mot, celui-là. We are restored, sir! we have regained our rightful +throne! we are no longer exiles!' + +'Yes!' said the old lady, bursting into the room, and throwing herself +into her husband's arms, and then into mine, in a rapture of +enthusiasm--'yes, brave young man! to you and your victorious companions +in arms we owe the happiness of this moment. We are restored!' + +'Yes! restored! restored!' echoed the old gentleman, throwing open the +window, and shouting as though he would have burst a blood-vessel; while +the mob without, catching up the cry, yelled it louder than ever. + +'These people must be all deranged,' thought I, unable to conjecture +at the moment the reasons for such extravagant joy. Meanwhile, the room +became crowded with townspeople in holiday costume, all wearing the +white cockade, and exchanging with one another the warmest felicitations +at the happy event. + +I now soon learned that the Allies were in the possession of Paris, that +Napoleon had abdicated, and the immediate return of Louis xviii. was +already decided upon. The trumpets of a cavalry regiment on the march +were soon added to the uproar without, accompanied by cries of +'The English! The brave English!' I rushed to the door, and to my +astonishment beheld above the heads of the crowd the tall caps of a +British dragoon regiment towering aloft. Their band struck up as they +approached; and what a sensation did my heart experience as I heard the +well-remembered air of 'Garryowen' resound through the little streets of +a French village! + +'An Irish regiment!' said I, half aloud. + +The word was caught by a bystander, who immediately communicated it to +the crowd, adding, by way of explanation, 'Les Irlandois! oui, ces sont +les Cossaques d'Angleterre.' + +I could not help laughing at the interpretation, when suddenly my own +name was called out loudly by some person from the ranks. I started +at the sound, and forcing my way through the crowd I looked eagerly on +every side, my heart beating with anxiety lest some deception might have +misled me. + +'Hinton! Jack Hinton!' cried the voice again. At the head of the +regiment rode three officers, whose looks were bent steadily on me, +while they seemed to enjoy my surprise and confusion. The oldest of the +party, who rode between the two others, was a large swarthy-looking man, +with a long drooping moustache, at that time rarely worn by officers of +our army. His left arm he wore in a sling; but his right was held in a +certain easy, jaunty manner I could not soon forget. A burst of laughter +broke from him at length, as he called out--' Come, Jack, you must +remember me!' 'What!' cried I,' O'Grady! Is it possible?' 'Even so, my +boy,' said he, as throwing his reins on his wrist he grasped my hand and +shook it with all his heart. 'I knew you were here, and I exerted all +my interest to get quartered near you. This is my regiment--eh?--not +fellows to be ashamed of, Jack? But come along with us; we mustn't part +company now.' + +Amid the wildest cries of rejoicing and frantic demonstrations of +gratitude from the crowd, the regiment moved on to the little square +of the village. Here the billets were speedily arranged; the men betook +themselves to their quarters, the officers broke into small parties, +and O'Grady and myself retired to the inn, where, having dined +_tête-à-tête_, we began the interchange of our various adventures since +we parted. + + + + +CHAPTER LV. THE FOUR-IN-HAND + +My old friend, save in the deeper brown upon his cheek and some scars +from French sabres, was nothing altered from the hour in which we +parted; the same bold, generous temperament, the same blending of +recklessness and deep feeling, the wild spirit of adventure, and the +gentle tenderness of a child were all mixed up in his complex nature, +for he was every inch an Irishman. While the breast of his uniform +glittered with many a cross and decoration, he scarcely ever alluded to +his own feats in the campaign; nor did he more than passingly mention +the actions where his own conduct had been most conspicuous. Indeed, +there was a reserve in his whole manner while speaking of the Peninsular +battles which I soon discovered proceeded from delicacy towards me, +knowing how little I had seen of service owing to my imprisonment, and +fearing lest in the detail of the glorious career of our armies he might +be inflicting fresh wounds on one whose fortune forbade him to share +in it. He often asked me about my father, and seemed to feel deeply the +kindness he had received from him when in London. Of my mother, too, he +sometimes spoke, but never even alluded to Lady Julia; and when once I +spoke of her as the protector of Corny, he fidgeted for a second or two, +seemed uneasy and uncomfortable, and gave me the impression that he felt +sorry to be reduced to accept a favour for his servant, where he himself +had been treated with coldness and distance. + +Apart from this--and it was a topic we mutually avoided--O'Grady's +spirits were as high as ever. Mixing much with the officers of his +corps, he was actually beloved by them. He joined in all their schemes +of pleasure and amusement with the zest of his own buoyant nature; and +the youngest cornet in the regiment felt himself the Colonel's inferior +in the gaiety of the mess as much as at the head of the squadrons. + +At the end of a few days I received from Paris the papers necessary +to relieve me from the restraint of my parole, and was concerting +with O'Grady the steps necessary to be taken to resume my rank in the +service, when an incident occurred which altered all our plans for the +moment, and, by one of those strange casualties which so often occur in +life, gave a new current to my own fate for ever. + +I should mention here, that, amid all the rejoicings which ushered in +the restoration, amid all the flattery by which the allied armies were +received, one portion of the royalists maintained a dogged, ungenial +spirit towards the men by whom their cause was rendered victorious, +and never forgave them the honour of reviving a dynasty to which they +themselves had contributed nothing. These were the old _militaires_ of +Louis xviii.--the men who, too proud or too good-for-nothing to accept +service under the Emperor, had lain dormant during the glorious +career of the French armies, and who now, in their hour of defeat and +adversity, started into life as the representatives of the military +genius of the country. These men, I say, hated the English with a +vindictive animosity which the old Napoleonists could not equal. Without +the generous rivalry of an open foe, they felt themselves humbled by +comparison with the soldiers whose weather-beaten faces and shattered +limbs bore token of a hundred battles, and for the very cause, too, for +which they themselves were the most interested. This ungenerous spirit +found vent for itself in a thousand petty annoyances, which were +practised upon our troops in every town and village of the north of +France; and every officer whose billet consigned him to the house of +a royalist soldier would gladly have exchanged his quarters for the +companionship of the most inveterate follower of Napoleon. To an +instance of what I have mentioned was owing the incident which I am +about to relate. + +To relieve the ennui of a French village, the officers of the Eighteenth +had, with wonderful expenditure of skill and labour, succeeded in +getting up a four-in-hand drag, which, to the astonishment and wonder +of the natives, was seen daily wending its course through the devious +alleys and narrow streets of the little town, the roof covered with +dashing dragoons, whose laughing faces and loud-sounding bugles were +all deemed so many direct insults by the ill-conditioned section I have +mentioned. The unequivocal evidences of dislike they exhibited to this +dashing 'turn-out' formed, I believe, one of its great attractions to +the Eighteenth, who never omitted an occasion, whatever the state of the +weather, to issue forth every day, with all the noise and uproar they +could muster. + +At last, however, the old _commissaire de police_, whose indignation +at the proceeding knew no bounds, devised an admirable expedient for +annoying our fellows--one which, supported as it was by the law of the +country, there was no possibility of evading. This was to demand the +passport of every officer who passed the _barrière_, thus necessitating +him to get down from the roof of the coach, present his papers, and have +them carefully conned and scrutinised, their _visés_ looked into, and +all sorts of questions propounded. + +When it is understood that the only drive led through one or other of +these barriers, it may be imagined how provoking and vexatious such a +course of proceeding became. Representations were made to the mayor +ever and anon, explaining that the passports once produced no further +inconvenience should be incurred; but all to no purpose. Any one who +knows France will acknowledge how totally inadequate a common-sense +argument is in the decision of a question before a government +functionary. The mayor, too, was a royalist, and the matter was decided +against us. + +Argument and reason having failed, the gallant Eighteenth came to +the resolution to try force; and accordingly it was decided that next +morning we should charge the _barrière_ in full gallop, as it was +rightly conjectured that no French employé would feel disposed to +encounter the rush of a four-in-hand, even with the law on his side. To +render the _coup de main_ more brilliant, and perhaps, too, to give an +air of plausibility to the infraction, four dashing thoroughbred +light chestnuts--two of the number having never felt a collar in their +lives--were harnessed for the occasion. A strong force of the wildest +spirits of the regiment took their places on the roof; and amid a cheer +that actually made the street ring, and a tantarara from the trumpets, +the equipage dashed through the town, the leaders bounding with the +swingle-bars every moment over their backs. Away we went, the populace +flying in terror on every side, and every eye turned towards the +_barrière_, where the dignified official stood, in the calm repose of +his station, as if daring us to transgress his frontier. Already had he +stepped forward with his accustomed question. The words, 'Messieurs, +je vous demande,' had just escaped his lips, when he had barely time +to spring into his den as the furious leaders tore past, the pavement +crashing beneath their hoofs, and shouts of laughter mingling with the +uproar. + +[Illustration: 3-132] + +Having driven for a league or so at a slow pace, to breathe our cattle, +we turned homewards, rejoicing in the success of our scheme, which had +fully satisfied our expectations. What was our chagrin, however, as +we neared the _barrière_, to discover that a strong force of mounted +gendarmes stopped the way, their drawn sabres giving us plainly to +understand the fate that awaited our horses if we persisted in our plan! +What was to be done? To force a passage under the circumstances was only +to give an opportunity to the gendarmerie they were long anxious for, to +cut our whole equipage in pieces. To yield was the only alternative; but +what an alternative!--to be laughed at by the whole town on the very day +of our victory! + +'I have it!' said O'Grady, who sat on the box beside the driver--'I have +it, lads! Pull up when they tell you, and do as they direct.' + +With some difficulty the four dashing nags were reined in as we came up +to the _barrière_; and the commissaire, bursting with passion, appeared +at the door of the lodge, and directed us to get down. + +'Your passports will avail little on the present occasion,' said he +insolently, as we produced our papers. 'Your carriage and horses +are confiscated. St. Omer has now privilege as a fortified town. The +fortresses of France enforce a penalty of forty thousand francs----' + +A burst of laughter from the bystanders at our rueful faces prevented us +hearing the remainder of the explanation. Meanwhile, to our horror +and disgust, some half-dozen gendarmes, with their long caps and heavy +boots, were crawling up the sides of the drag, and taking their seats +upon the top. Some crept into the interior, and showed their grinning +faces at the windows; others mounted into the rumble; and two more +aspiring spirits ascended to the box, by one of whom O'Grady was rudely +ordered to get down, a summons enforced by the commissaire himself in +a tone of considerable insolence. O'Grady's face for a minute or two +seemed working with a secret impulse of fun and devilment which I +could not account for at such a moment, as he asked, in a voice of much +humility-- + +'Does Monsieur the Commissaire require me to come down?' + +'Instantly,' roared the Frenchman, whose passion was now boiling over. + +'In that case, gentlemen, take charge of the team.' So saying, he handed +the reins to the passive gendarmes, who took them, without well knowing +why. 'I have only a piece of advice,' continued Phil, as he slowly +descended the side--'keep a steady hand on the near-side leader, and +don't let the bar strike her; and now, good-bye.' + +He flourished his four-in-hand whip as he spoke, and with one tremendous +cut came down on the team, from leader to wheeler, accompanying the +stroke with a yell there was no mistaking. The heavy carriage bounded +from the earth as the infuriated cattle broke away at full gallop. A +narrow street and a sharp angle lay straight in front; but few of those +on the drag waited for the turn, as at every step some bearskin shako +shot into the air, followed by a tall figure, whose heavy boots seemed +ill-adapted for flying in. The corporal himself had abandoned the reins, +and held on manfully by the rail of the box. On every side they fell, +in every attitude of distress. But already the leaders had reached the +corner; round went the swingle-bars, the wheelers followed, the coach +rocked to one side, sprang clean off the pavement, came down with a +crash, and then fell right over, while the maddened horses, breaking +away, dashed through the town, the harness in fragments behind them, and +the pavement flying at every step. + +The immediate consequences of this affair were some severe bruises, +and no small discouragement to the gendarmerie of St. Omer; the +remoter ones, an appeal from the municipal authorities to the +Commander-in-chief, by whom the matter was referred for examination +to the Adjutant-General. O'Grady was accordingly summoned to Paris +to explain, if he could, his conduct in the matter. The order for his +appearance there came down at once, and I, having nothing to detain me +at St. Omer, resolved to accompany my friend for a few days at least, +before I returned to England. Our arrangements were easily made; and the +same night we received the Adjutant-General's letter we started by post +for Paris. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI. ST. DENIS + +We were both suddenly awakened from a sound sleep in the _calèche_ by +the loud cracking of the postillion's whip, the sounds of street noises, +and the increased rattle of the wheels over the unequal pavement. We +started up just as, turning round in his saddle and pointing with his +long whip to either side of him, the fellow called out-- + +'Paris, Messieurs, Paris! This is Faubourg St. Denis; there before you +lies the Rue St. Denis. _Sacristi!_ the streets are as crowded as at +noonday.' + +By this time we had rubbed the sleep from our eyelids and looked +about us, and truly the scene before us was one to excite all our +astonishment. The Quartier St. Denis was then in the occupation of +the Austrian troops, who were not only billeted in the houses, but +bivouacked in the open streets--their horses picketed in long files +along the _pavé_, the men asleep around their watch-fires, or burnishing +arms and accoutrements beside them. The white-clad cuirassier from the +Danube, the active and sinewy Hungarian, the tall and swarthy Croat were +all there, mixed up among groups of peasant girls coming in to market +with fowls and eggs. Carts of forage and waggons full of all manner of +provisions were surrounded by groups of soldiers and country-people, +trading amicably with one another as though the circumstances which had +brought them together were among the ordinary events of commerce. + +Threading our way slowly through these, we came upon the Jager +encampment, their dark-green uniform and brown carbines giving that +air of _sombre_ to their appearance so striking after the steel-clad +cuirassier and the bright helmets of the dragoons. Farther on, around +a fountain, were a body of dismounted dragoons, their tall colbacks +and scarlet trousers bespeaking them Polish lancers; their small but +beautifully formed white horses pawed the ground, and splashed the +water round them, till the dust and foam rose high above them. But +the strangest of all were the tall, gigantic figures, who, stretched +alongside of their horses, slept in the very middle of the wide street. +Lifting their heads lazily for a moment, they gazed on us as we passed, +and then lay down again to sleep. Their red beards hung in masses far +down upon their breasts, and their loose trousers of a reddish dye but +half concealed boots of undressed skin. Their tall lances were piled +around them; but these were not wanting to prove that the savage, +fierce-looking figures before us were the Cossacks of the Don, thus +come for many a hundred mile to avenge the slaughter of Borodino and the +burning of Moscow. As we penetrated farther into the city, the mixture +of nation and costume became still more remarkable. The erect and +soldierlike figure of the Prussian; the loose, wild-eyed Tartar; the +brown-clad Russian, with russet beard and curved sabre; the stalwart +Highlander, with nodding plume and waving tartan; the Bashkir, with +naked scimitar; the gorgeous hussar of Hungary; the tall and manly form +of the English guardsman--all passed and repassed before us, adding, by +the babel of discordant sound, to the wild confusion of the scene. + +It was a strange sight to see the savage soldier from the steppes of +Russia, the dark-eyed, heavy-browed Gallician, the yellow-haired Saxon, +the rude native of the Caucasus, who had thus given themselves a +rendezvous in the very heart of European civilisation, wandering +about--now stopping to admire some magnificent palace, now gazing with +greedy wonder at the rich display of some jeweller, or the costly and +splendid dresses which were exhibited in the shop windows; while here +and there were gathered groups of men whose looks of undisguised hate +and malignity were bent unceasingly upon the moving mass. Their +_bourgeois_ dress could not conceal that they were the old soldiers of +the Empire--the men of Wagram, of Austerlitz, of Jena, and of Wilna--who +now witnessed within their own capital the awful retribution of their +own triumphant aggressions. + +As the morning advanced the crowds increased, and as we approached the +Place du Carrousel, regiments poured in from every street to the morning +parade. Among these the Russian _garde_--the _Bonnets d'or_--were +conspicuous for the splendour of their costume and the soldierlike +precision of their movements, the clash of their brass cymbals and +the wild strains of their martial music adding indescribably to their +singular appearance. As the infantry drew up in line, we stopped to +regard them, when from the Place Louis Quinze the clear notes of a +military band rang out a quick step, and the Twenty-eighth British +marched in to the air of 'The Young May Moon.' O'Grady's excitement +could endure no longer. He jumped up in the _calèche_, and, waving his +hat above his head, gave a cheer that rang through the long corridor +beneath the Louvre. The Irish regiment caught up the cry, and a yell +as wild as ever rose above the din of battle shook the air. A Cossack +picket then cantering up suddenly halted, and, leaning down upon their +horses' manes, seemed to listen; then dashing spurs into their horses' +flanks they made the circuit of the Place at full gallop, while their +'Hurra!' burst forth with all the wild vehemence of their savage nature. + +'We shall get into some precious scrape with all this,' said O'Grady, +as, overcome with laughing, he fell back into the _calèche_. + +Such was my own opinion; so telling the postillion to turn short into +the next street we hurried away unperceived, and drove with all the +speed we could muster for the Rue St. Honoré. The Hôtel de la Paix +fortunately had room for us; and ordering our breakfasts we adjourned to +dress, each resolving to make the most of his few hours at Paris. + +I had just reached the breakfast-room, and was conning over the morning +papers, when O'Grady entered in full uniform, his face radiant with +pleasure, and the same easy, jaunty swagger in his walk as on the first +day I met him. + +'When do you expect to have your audience, Phil?' said I. + +'I have had it, my boy. It's all over, finished, completed. Never was +anything so successful I talked over the old Adjutant in such a strain, +that, instead of dreaming about a court-martial on us, the worthy man is +seriously bent on our obtaining compensation for the loss of the drag. +He looked somewhat serious as I entered; but when once I made him laugh, +the game was my own. I wish you had seen him wiping his dear old eyes +as I described the covey of gendarmes taking the air. However, the main +point is, the regiment is to be moved up to Paris, the commissaire is +to receive a reprimand, our claim for some ten thousand francs is to be +considered, and I am to dine with the Adjutant to-day and tell the story +after dinner.' + +'Do you know, Phil, I have a theory that an Irishman never begins +to prosper but just at the moment that any one else would surely be +ruined.' + +'Don't make a theory of it, Jack, for it may turn out unlucky. But the +practice is pretty much what you represent it. Fortune never treats +people so well as when they don't care a fig about her. She's exactly +like a lady patroness--confoundedly impertinent if you'll bear it, but +all smiles if you won't. Have you ever met Tom Burke--“Burke of Ours,” + as they call him, I believe, in half the regiments in the service?' + +'No, never.' + +'Well, the loss is yours. Tom's a fine fellow in his way; and if you +could get him to tell you his story--or rather one of his stories, for +his life is a succession of them--perhaps you would find that this same +theory of yours has some foundation. Well pick him up one of these days, +and I'll introduce you. But now, Jack, I have a piece of news for you. +What do you think of it, my lad?--Lady Charlotte Hinton 's at Paris.' + +'My mother here? Is it possible?' + +'Yes. Her ladyship resides No. 4 Place Vendôme, opposite the Hôtel de +Londres. There's accuracy for you.' + +'And who is with her? My father?' + +'No. The General is expected in a few days. Lady Julia, I believe, is +her only companion.' + +There was a kind of reserve suddenly in O'Grady's manner as he mentioned +this name, which made us both pause for a few seconds. At length he +broke the awkwardness of the silence by saying, in his usual laughing +way-- + +'I contrived to pick up all the gossip of Paris in half an hour. +The town is full of English--and such English too! The Cossacks are +civilised people, of quiet, retiring habits, compared to them. I verily +believe the French are more frightened by our conviviality than +ever they were by the bayonets of the Allies. I'm dying to hear your +lady-mother's account of everything here.' + +'What say you, then, if you come along with me? I 'm becoming very +impatient to see my people once more. Julia will, I 'm certain, be very +amusing.' + +'Ah, and I have a debt of gratitude in that quarter,' said O'Grady +hesitatingly. 'Lady Julia was so very kind as to extend her protection +to that old villain Corny. I cannot for the life of me understand how +she endured him.' + +'As to that,' said I, 'Julia has a taste for character; and not even the +Chevalier Delany's eccentricity would pain her. So let's forward.' + +'Did I tell you that De Vere is here?' said O'Grady. + +'No; not with my friends, I trust?' + +'On the contrary, I ascertained that he does not visit at Lady +Charlotte's. He is attached to Lord Cathcart's embassy; he's very little +in society, and rarely to be seen but at the salon, where he plays +tremendously high, loses every night, but reappears each day with a +replenished pocket. But I intend to know the secret of all this, and of +many other matters, ere long. So now let us proceed.' + + + + +CHAPTER LVII. PARIS IN 1814 + +If the strange medley of every nation and costume which we beheld on +entering Paris surprised us, how much greater was our astonishment when, +having finished a hurried breakfast, we issued forth into the crowded +streets! Here were assembled, among the soldiers of every country, +visitors from all parts of Europe, attracted by the novel spectacle +thus presented to them, and eager to participate in the pleasures of a +capital whose rejoicings, so far from being checked by the sad reverse +of fortune, were now at the highest pitch; and the city much more +resembled the gay resort of an elated people than a town occupied by +the troops of conquering enemies. The old soldier of the Empire alone +grieved in the midst of this general joy; with the downfall of Napoleon +died his every hope. The spirit of conquest, by which for so many years +the army had been intoxicated, was annihilated by the one line that +signed the treaty of Fontainebleau. Thus among the gay and laughing +groups that hurried onward might now and then be seen some veteran of +the Old Guard scowling with contemptuous look upon that fickle populace, +as eager to celebrate the downfall as ever they had been to greet the +glory of their nation. + +Nothing more strikingly marked the incongruous host that filled the city +than the different guards of honour which were mounted at the several +hotels where officers and generals of distinction resided. At this time +the regulation was not established which prevailed somewhat later, and +gave to the different armies of the Allies the duty of mounting all the +guards in rotation. Thus at one door might be seen the tall cuirassier +of Austria, his white cloak falling in heavy folds over the flank and +haunches of his coal-black horse, looking like some Templar of old; at +another the plumed bonnet of a Highlander fluttered in the breeze, as +some hardy mountaineer paced to and fro, his grey eye and stern look +unmoved by the eager and prying gaze of the crowd that stopped to look +upon so strange and singular a costume. Here was the impatient schimmel +of some Hungarian hussar pawing the ground with restless eagerness, as +his gay dolman slashed with gold glittered in the sun. The Jager from +Bohemia, the deadly marksman with the long rifle, the savage Tartar +of the Ukraine devouring his meal on his guard, and turning his +dark suspicious eye around him, lest every passer-by might mean some +treachery--all denoted that some representative of their country dwelt +within; while every now and then the clank of a musket would be heard, +as a heavy _porte cochere_ opened to permit the passage of an equipage, +as strange and as characteristic as the guard himself. Here would issue +the heavy waggon of some German prince, with emblazoned panels and +scarlet hammer-doth, the horses as fat and lethargic as the smoking +and moustached figure they were drawing; there was a low drosky of a +Russian, three horses abreast, their harness tinkling with brass bells +as the spirited animals plunged and curvetted along. The quiet and +elegant-looking phaeton of English build, with its perfection of +appointment, rolled along with its deep woody sound beside the quaint, +old-fashioned _calèche_ of Northern Germany, above whose cumbrous +side-panels only the heads of the passengers were visible. Nor were the +horsemen less dissimilar; the stately Prussian, with his heel _à plomb_ +beneath his elbow; the Cossack, with short stirrups, crouched upon +his horse's mane; the English horse artilleryman powdering along with +massive accoutrements and gigantic steed; the Polish light cavalry +soldier, standing high in his stirrups, and turning his restless eye on +every side--all were subjects for our curiosity and wonder. + +The novelty of the spectacle seemed, however, to have greatly worn off +for the Parisians, who rarely noticed the strange and uncouth figures +that every moment passed before their eyes, and now talked away as +unconcernedly amid the scene of tumult and confusion as though nothing +new or remarkable was going on about them--their very indifference and +insouciance one of the strangest sights we witnessed. + +Our progress, which at the first was a slow one, ceased entirely at +the corner of the palace, where a considerable crowd was now collected. +Although we asked of the bystanders, no one could tell what was going +forward; but the incessant roars of laughter showed that something droll +or ridiculous had occurred. O'Grady, whose taste in such matters would +suffer no denial, elbowed his way through the mob, I following as well +as I was able. When we reached the first rank of the spectators, we +certainly needed no explanation of the circumstances to make us join in +the mirth about us. + +It was a single combat of a very remarkable description. A tall Cossack, +with a long red beard now waving wildly on every side, was endeavouring +to recover his mutcka cap from a little decrepit old fellow, from whom +he had stolen a basket of eggs. The eggs were all broken on the +ground; and the little man danced among them like an infuriated fiend, +flourishing a stick all the while in the most fearful fashion. The +Cossack, whose hand at every moment sought the naked knife that was +stuck in his girdle, was obliged to relinquish his weapon by the groans +of the mob, who unequivocally showed that they would not permit foul +play, and being thus unarmed, could make nothing of an adversary whose +contemptible appearance caused all the ridicule of the scene. Meanwhile +the little fellow, his clothes in rags, and his head surmounted by a +red Cossack mutcka, capered about like nothing human, uttering the most +frightful sounds of rage and passion; at length, in a paroxysm of fury, +he dealt the tall Cossack a rap on the temples which made him reel +again. Scarcely had the blow descended, when, stung by the insult and +the jeers of the mob, the enraged savage grasped his knife; with one +spring he pounced upon the little man; but as he did so a strong hand +from behind seized him by the collar, and with one tremendous jerk +hurled him back upon the crowd, where he fell stunned and senseless. + +[Illustration: 3-143] + +I had only time to perceive that it was O'Grady who had come to the +rescue, when the little old fellow, turning fully round, looked up in +his protector's face, and, without evincing any emotion of surprise or +wonder or even of gratitude, croaked out-- + +'And it's standin' looking on ye wor all the time, and I fighting my +sowle out! Ugh! bad luck to service! Look at my coat and small-clothes! +Ay, you might laugh, ye grinning bastes as ye are--and a basket of fresh +eggs in smithereens, and this Friday!' + +The convulsions of laughter which this apparition and the speech excited +prevented our hearing more. The mob, too, without understanding a word, +were fully sensible of the absurdity of the scene, and a perfect chorus +of laughter rang through the street. + +'And my elegant beaver, see it now!' said Corny--for we hope our +reader recognises him--as he endeavoured to empty the batter from his +head-piece, and restore it to shape. 'Ugh! the Haythins! the Turks! see +now, Master Phil, it's warning I'm giving you this minit--here, where +I stand. May the divil---- Ah, if ye dare, ye eternal robber!' This +elegant exordium was directed to the poor Cossack, who, having regained +his feet, was skulking away from the field, throwing as he went a +lingering look at his red cap, which Mr. Delany still wore as a spoil of +his victory. + +We now made our way through the crowd, followed by Corny, whose angry +looks on every side elicited peals of laughter; and thus accompanied +we approached the massive _porte cochère_ of a large hotel in the Place +Vendôme, where a Swiss, in full costume of porter, informed us that Lady +Charlotte Hinton resided. While I endeavoured to pass on, he interposed +his burly person, informing me, in very short phrase, that her ladyship +did not receive before four o'clock. + +'Arrah, hould your prate!' cried Corny; sure it's the woman's son you're +talking to. Two pair of stairs to your left hand, and the first door +in the passage. Look at the crowd there, the lazy craytures! that has +nothing better to do than follow a respectable man. Be off! bad luck to +yez! ye ought to be crying over the disgrace ye're in. Be the light that +shines! but you desarved it well.' + +Leaving Corny to his oration before the mob, of which, happily for the +safety of his own skin, they did not comprehend one word, I took the +direction he mentioned, and soon found out the door, on which a visiting +card with my mother's name was fastened. + +We were now introduced into a large and splendidly furnished saloon, +with all that lightness and elegance of decoration which in a foreign +apartment is the compensation--a poor one sometimes--for the more +comfortable look of our English houses. The room was empty, but the +morning papers and all the new publications of the day were scattered +about with profusion. Consigning my friend for a short time to these, I +followed the _femme de chambre_, who had already brought in my card +to my mother, to her ladyship's dressing-room. The door was opened +noiselessly by the maid, who whispered my name. A gentle 'Let him come +in' followed, and I entered. + +[Illustration: 3-147] + +My mother was seated before a glass, under the hands of a coiffeur, +and dared not turn her head. As I approached she reached me her hand, +however, which having kissed dutifully, I drew my chair, and sat down +beside her. 'My dear boy!' said she, as her eyes turned towards me, and +a tear fell from the lid and trickled down her cheek. In spite of the +unnatural coldness of such a meeting, the words, the accents, and the +look that accompanied them came home to my heart, and I was glad to hide +my emotion by again pressing my lips to her hand. Having kindly informed +me that the ceremony she was then submitting to was imperative, +inasmuch as if she had not M. Dejoncourt then, she could not have him at +all--that his time was so filled up, every moment of it, from eight in +the morning till eleven at night, that the Emperor Alexander himself +couldn't obtain his services, if he wished for them--she proceeded to +give me some details of my father, by which I could learn that the +change in his circumstances had never been made known to her, and that +she had gone on since we last met in her old career of extravagance and +expense, the indulgence of which, and the cares of her ever-declining +health, having given her abundant occupation. + +As I looked at her beautiful features and delicately fair complexion, +upon which time had scarcely laid a touch, I sighed to think at what +a frightful sacrifice of feeling, of duty, and of happiness, too, such +loveliness had been purchased. If the fine pencilling of that brow had +never known a wrinkle, the heart had never throbbed to one high or holy +thought; if the smile sat easily on the lip, it was the habitual garb of +fashionable captivation, and not the indication of one kind thought +or one affectionate feeling. I felt shocked, too, that I could thus +criticise my mother; but in truth for a minute or two I forgot she was +such. + +'And Julia,' said I, at length--'what of her?' + +'Very handsome indeed--strikingly so. Beulwitz, the emperor's +aide-de-camp, admires her immensely. I am sincerely glad that you are +come, dear John. You know Julia's fortune has all been saved: but of +that another time. The first point now is to secure you a ticket for +this ball; and how to do it, I'm sure I know not.' + +'My dear mother, believe me I have not the slightest desire----' + +'How very unkind you are to think we could separate from you after such +an absence! Besides, Julia would be seriously offended, and I think with +cause. But the ticket--let's consider about that. Dejoncourt, is it +true that the Princesse de Nassau was refused a card for the ball?' + +'Oui, miladi. The King of Prussia has sent her one of his, and is to +take her; and Madame la Duchesse de St. Bieve was so angry at being left +out that she tried to get up an alarm of conspiracy in the _faubourg_, +to prevent the sovereigns from going.' + +'But they will go, surely--won't they?' + +'Ah, to be sure. _Pardieu_, they would say to-morrow that they had been +omitted too, if they didn't appear.' + +'What are we to do?' said her ladyship with energy. 'Grammont can be of +no use here; for unfortunately these people are not French.' + +'What then,' said I, 'is it some of the crowned heads who are the +entertainers?' + +'Oh, no! Indeed, I don't know who they are; nor do I know any one +who does. The only fact of importance is that this is their third +_fête_--the first two were the most brilliant things ever given in +Paris; that the Emperor of Russia always dances there; that the King of +Prussia makes his whist-party; that Blucher takes the head of one of +the supper-tables; and, in a word, Talleyrand himself has employed +more diplomacy to secure an extra ticket than he has often dispensed in +carving out a new monarchy.' + +My mother handed me a splendidly embossed card, as she spoke, upon +which, in letters of pale burnished gold, were inscribed the following +words: 'Madame de Roni, née Cassidy de Kilmainham, prie honneur,' etc. +A burst of laughter at the absurdity of the title stopped my reading +further. + +'She's an Italian, possibly,' said my mother. + +'I should think not,' I replied; 'the “née Cassidy de Kilmainham” + smacks of something nearer home. What think you of Ireland?' + +'Ireland! Are these people Irish?' said she, starting with horror at the +thought. 'I trust, my dear John, you would not think it proper to jest +on such a subject.' + +'My dear mother, I never heard of them before; the only thing that +strikes me is the name. “Cassidy” is assuredly more Milesian than +Roman.' + +'But she has birth--that's certain,' replied my mother proudly. + +Not caring to argue the point, which after all resolved itself into the +question that the lady was the child of somebody, and that somebody was +called 'Cassidy,' I began to meditate on the singularity of such a phase +in life as the entertainers of sovereigns, kaisers, kings, princes, +archdukes, and ambassadors being a person utterly unknown. + +'But here's Grammont,' said my mother, as a gentle tap was heard at the +door and the Count entered--the only change in his appearance since last +I saw him being the addition of another cordon to his blue coat, and a +certain springiness in his walk, which I afterwards remarked as common +among all the returned _émigrés_ at the restoration. + +'Que diable faut il faire,' said the Count, entering, 'with this Madame +de Roni? She refuses all the world. Ah, Jack, _mon cher_, how do you +do?--safe and sound from all the perils of these terrible French, who +cut you all to pieces in the Peninsula? But only think, _miladi_, no +card for la Duchesse de Tavenne; Madame de Givry left out! _Sapristi!_ I +hope there is nothing against _ce pauvre_ Roi de Prusse.' + +'Well, and here is John,' said my mother; 'what are we to do about him?' + +My renewed disclaimer of any wish in the matter was cut short by a look +of reproof, and I waited the whole discussion with patience. + +'Never was there such a difficulty,' said the Count, musing. 'There +is certainly nothing to be done through the worthy husband of Madame. +Dejoncourt and two or three more gave him a _diner en gourmand_ at +Very's, to seduce him; and after his fifth flask of champagne he frankly +confessed he was sorry he could not return their civilities as he +wished. I 'll entertain you here, and have Blucher and Platon, Fouché, +and any one else you like to meet you. I'll introduce you to old Prussia +and the Czar whenever you please; you shall have permission to shoot +at Fontainebleau any day you mention; but as to Madame de Roni, she is +devilish exclusive. I really cannot manage that for you.' + +'I wish you could prevail on yourself to be serious,' said my mother, in +nowise pleased with the jocular spirit the Count's anecdote had excited. +'But here is Julia--what does she advise?' + +As my mother spoke, the door opened, and my cousin appeared. Her figure +had more of the roundness of womanhood, and her face, though paler, was +fuller, and its expression had assumed a more decided character than +when I last saw her. Her winning smile and her graceful carriage +were all unchanged; and her low soft voice never struck me as more +fascinating than when she held out her hand and said-- + +'My dear cousin, how happy it makes me to see you again!' + +Her dark-blue eyes were tearful as she spoke, and her lip--that haughty +lip--trembled. A strange wild thrill crept through my heart as I pressed +her hand within both of mine--a vague feeling which I dared not suffer +to dwell in my mind, and yet feared lest when it should depart that I +had lost my chance of happiness. Yes, there are times when a man without +the admixture of any coxcombry in the feeling, without a particle +of vanity--nay, with a deep sense of his own un worthiness--can ask +himself, 'Does this woman like me?' And at such moments, if his own +heart give not the ready answer, it were far better that he sought not +the reply from his reason. + +It was only when my mother asked, for the second time, what was to be +done about John's ticket, that Julia seemed aware of the question--a +slight, a very slight, curving of her lip showing the while the sense +she entertained of such an inquiry after long years of separation; and +at last, as if unable to repress the indignation of the moment, she said +abruptly-- + +'But, of course, as we shall not think of going tonight----' + +'We not go! Eh, _pardieu!_ why not?' said the Count. + +'The Colonel below-stairs begs to say that he will call somewhat later,' +said the _femme de chambre_ at this juncture. + +'The Colonel! Whom does she mean?' + +'Oh, my friend O'Grady. Poor fellow! I have been forgetting him all this +while. So allow me to join him, and well wait for your appearance in the +drawing-room.' + +'I remember him perfectly,' said my mother--'an agreeable person, I +think. So take Julia and the Count with you, and I'll follow as soon as +I can.' + +Julia blushed deeply, and as suddenly grew pale again as my mother +spoke. I knew that she had always treated my friend with hauteur and +reserve, without any assignable reason, and had long determined that +when an opportunity arose I would endeavour to get rid of the unjust +impression she had somehow conceived of my warmest, truest friend. This +was not, however, the time for explanations; and I merely said, as I +offered my arm-- + +'Poor O'Grady has been badly wounded; but I think he's now getting on +favourably.' + +She said something in reply, but the words were lost in the noise of +descending the stairs. Just as we reached the landing I caught a glimpse +of my friend issuing from the _porte cochère_, and only in time to call +him by his name-- + +'Holloa, Phil! Don't go away.' + +As he turned back towards the drawing-room, he cried out-- + +'It's only this instant, Jack, I remembered how very awkward it was of +me to come here with you at this hour. You have, of course, so much to +say and hear after your absence--' + +The sight of my fair cousin cut short his speech, as she stood near the +door with her hand out to receive him. As O'Grady took her taper fingers +within his own, there was an air of cold distance in his manner that +actually offended me. Bowing deeply, he said a few brief words in a tone +of gravity and stiffness quite unusual with him; and then, turning to +Grammont, he shook the Count's hand with a warmth and cordiality most +markedly different. I only dared to glance at Julia; but as I did so +I could mark an expression of haughty displeasure that settled on her +brow, while her heightened colour made her turn away towards the window. + +I was myself so much annoyed by the manner in which O'Grady had received +advances which I had never seen made to any one before, that I was +silent. Even Grammont saw the awkwardness of all parties so much in need +of his intervention that he at once opened the whole negotiation of the +ball to O'Grady, describing with a Frenchman's volubility and sarcasm +the stratagems and devices which were employed to obtain invitations, +the triumph of the successful, the despairing malice of the +unfortunate--heightening his narrative by the mystery of the fair +hostess, who, herself unknown and unheard of till now, was at this +moment at the pinnacle of fashion, dictating the laws and distributing +the honours of the beau monde to the greatest sovereigns of Europe. + +'She is very beautiful, no doubt?' asked O'Grady. + +'Oui, pas mal,' said Grammont, with that all-explaining shrug of the +shoulders by which a foreigner conveys so much. + +'Very rich, perhaps?' + +'Millionaire!' said the Frenchman, in a tone of exultation that bespoke +his full acquiescence in that surmise at least. + +'And her rank?' + +'Ah, I don't read riddles. All I know is, her house is the best thing at +Paris; she has secured old Cambaceres' _chef de cuisine_; has bought up +the groom of the chambers of the ex-Emperor; keeps an _estafette_ going +on the Strasbourg road for _pâtés de foie gras_; and is on such terms +with the sovereigns that she has their private bands to play at all her +parties. Que voulez-vous?' + +'Nothing more, indeed!' said O'Grady, laughing. 'Such admirable +supremacy in the world of _bon ton_ it would be rank heresy to +question further, and I no longer wonder at the active canvass for her +invitations.' + +'Oui, parbleu!' said the Frenchman gaily. 'If Monsieur the Comte +d'Artois does not exert himself, people will be more proud of a ticket +to these balls than of the Croix de St. Louis. For my own part, I think +of wearing mine over the cordon.' + +As he spoke, he flourished his card of invitation in the air, and +displayed it in his bosom. + +'Madame de Roni, née Cassidy de Kilmainham,' said O'Grady, bursting into +a perfect roar of laughter. 'This is glorious, Jack! Did you see this?' + +'See! eh? to be sure; and what then?' + +But O'Gradys mirth had burst all bounds, and he sat back in an arm-chair +laughing immoderately. To all our questions he could give no other reply +than renewed bursts of merriment, which, however enjoyed by himself, +were very provoking to us. + +'He knows her,' whispered Grammont in my ear; 'be assured he knows +Madame.' + +'Jack, where shall we meet in half an hour?' said Phil at length, +jumping up and wiping his eyes. + +'Here, if you like,' said I. 'I shall not leave this till you return.' + +'Be it so,' said he; and then with a bow to my cousin and an easy nod to +Grammont, O'Grady took his hat and departed. + +Grammont now looked at his watch, and remembering some half-dozen very +important appointments, took his leave also, leaving me once more, after +so long an interval, _tête-à-tête_ with Julia. + +There were so many things to talk over since we had met, so many +reminiscences which each moment called up, that I never thought of the +hours as they ran over; and it was only by Lady Charlotte's appearance +in the drawing-room that we were apprised it was already past four +o'clock, and that the tide of her morning visitors would now set in, and +break up all hopes of continuing our colloquy. + +'Where is your friend?' said my mother, as she carried her eyes +languidly round the spacious apartment. + +'Gone some hours ago; but he promised to take me up here. We shall see +him soon, I suspect.' + +'Colonel O'Grady,' said a servant; and my cousin had just time to leave +the room by one door as he entered by another. + +Advancing to my mother with a manner of respectful ease which he +possessed in perfection, O'Grady contrived in a few brief words to +resume the ground he had formerly occupied in her acquaintance, throwing +out as he went an occasional compliment to her looks, so naturally and +unaffectedly done as not to need acknowledgment or reply, but yet with +sufficient _empressement_ to show interest. + +'I have heard since my arrival that you were interested about this ball, +and took the opportunity to secure you some tickets, which, though late, +some of your friends may care for.' + +He presented my mother as he spoke with several blank cards of +invitation, who, as she took them, could not conceal her astonishment +nor repress the look of curiosity, which she could scarcely repel in +words, as to how he had accomplished a task the highest people in Paris +had failed in. I saw what was passing in her mind, and immediately +said-- + +'My mother would like to know your secret about these same cards, +O'Grady; for they have been a perfect subject of contention here for the +last three weeks.' + +'Her ladyship must excuse me--at least for the present--if I have one +secret I cannot communicate to her,' said O'Grady, smiling. 'Let me only +assure her that no one shall know it before she herself does.' + +'And there is a secret?' said Lady Charlotte eagerly. + +'Yes, there is a secret,' replied O'Grady, with a most ludicrous gravity +of tone. + +'Well, at least we have profited by it, and so we may wait in patience. +Your friend Colonel O'Grady will give us the pleasure of his company at +dinner, I hope,' continued my mother, with her most winning smile. + +O'Grady declined, having already accepted the invitation of the +Adjutant-General, but begged he might be permitted to join our party at +the ball--which being graciously acceded to by my mother, we both made +our bows, and sauntered out to see more of the sights of Paris. + +'Come, Phil,' said I, when we were once more alone, 'what is the secret? +Who is Madame de Roni?' + +'Not even to you, Jack,' was his answer, and we walked on in silence. + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII THE RONI FÊTE + +There is no epidemic more catching than excitement. The fussy manner +and feverish bustle of the people about you are sure, after a time, to +communicate themselves to you--the very irritation they create being +what the physicians call a predisposing cause. I became an illustration +in point, as the hour of this ball drew nigh. At first I could not but +wonder how in the midst of such stupendous events as were then taking +place--in the heart of a city garrisoned by an enemy, with everything +that could wound national pride and offend national honour--even French +levity could raise itself to the enjoyment of fashionable frivolity; but +by degrees the continual recurrence of the subject familiarised my mind +to it» wearing off my first and more natural impressions, and at last I +began, like my neighbours, not only to listen with patience, but even to +join in the various discussions with animation and interest. + +No sooner had the report gained currency that Lady Charlotte was in +possession of blank invitations, than our hotel was besieged by half +Paris--the unfortunate endeavouring, by every species of flattery +and every imaginable stratagem, to obtain tickets; the lucky ones all +anxious to find out the mystery of her ladyship's success, which at +first seemed almost incredible. The various surmises, guesses, +hints, allusions, and subterfuges which followed one another in rapid +succession, as this motley mob of fashionables came and went, and went +and came again, amused me considerably--the more so, perhaps, as the +occasion called into full play all my cousin Julia's powers of flippant +raillery and sarcasm, both of which she exercised without scruple, but +never within range of discovery by any of her victims. + +Everything gave way to the convenience of this splendid _fête_. The +eight o'clock dinner was anticipated by full two hours; no other subject +of conversation was ever broached by the company; and at nine the +carriages were ordered to the door, it being wisely calculated that +if we reached our destination at eleven we should esteem ourselves +fortunate. + +How often, as the dashing equipage whirls past to some scene of +pleasure, where beauty and rank and riches await the sated votary of +fashion, will the glare of the carriage-lamps fall upon the gloomy +footway, where, wet and weary, some melancholy figure steals along +with downcast head and plodding step, his thoughts turned ever to +some accustomed scene of wretchedness, where want and misery, disease, +neglect, decay, all herd together, and not even hope can enter! The +poor man, startled, looks up; the rich one, lolling back upon his easy +cushion, casts a downward glance; their eyes meet--it is but a second; +there is no sympathy between them--the course of one lies north, the +other south. Thus at each moment did my sad heart turn away from all the +splendour of the preparation about me, to wonder with myself how even +for an instant I could forget my own path in life, which, opening with +every prospect of happiness, yet now offered not a hope for the future. +Between these two alternate states the hours crept on. As I sat beside +Julia in the carriage, I could not but mark that something weighed also +on her spirits. More silent than usual, she replied, when spoken to, +with effort; and more than once returned wrong answers to my mother, who +talked away unceasingly of the ball and the guests. + +It was near midnight when we drove into the large archway of the Hôtel +de Rohan, where Madame de Roni held her court. Brilliantly lighted with +lamps of various colours, the very equipages were made a part of the +spectacle, as they shone in bright and changeful hues, reflected from +gorgeous housings, gilded trappings, and costly liveries. A large, +dark-coloured travelling-carriage, with a single pair of horses, stood +in the corner of the court, the only thing to distinguish it being two +mounted light dragoons who waited beside it, and a chasseur in green and +gold uniform who stood at the door. This simple equipage belonged to +the King of Prussia. Around on every side were splendidly appointed +carriages, glittering with emblazonry and gilding, from which, as the +guests descended and entered the marble vestibule, names of European +celebrity were called out and repeated from voice to voiqe along the +lofty corridors. Le Prince de Schwartzenberg, Count Pozzo di Borgo, +Le Duc de Dal-berg, Milord Cathcart, Le Comte de Nesselrode, Monsieur +Talleyrand de Perigord, with others equally noble and exalted, followed +in rapid succession. + +Our turn came at last; and as we reached the hall we found O'Grady +waiting for our arrival. + +'There 's no use in attempting to get forward for some time,' said he; +'so follow me, and I'll secure you a more comfortable place to wait in.' + +As he spoke he passed through the hall, and, whispering a few words to a +servant, a door was opened in the wainscot, admitting us to a small and +neatly-fitted-up library, where a good fire and some easy-chairs awaited +us. + +'I see your surprise,' said O'Grady, as my mother looked about her with +astonishment at his perfect acquaintance with the whole locality; 'but +I can't explain--it's part of my secret. Meanwhile, Jack, I have another +for your ear,' said he, in a low whisper, as he drew me aside into a +corner. 'I have made a very singular discovery, Jack, to-day, and I +have a notion it may lead to more. I met, by accident, at the +Adjutant-General's table, the brother of a French officer whose life I +saved at Nivelle; he remembered my name in a moment, and we became sworn +friends. I accepted his offer of a seat in his carriage to this ball, +and on the way he informed me that he was the chief of the secret police +of Paris, whose business it is to watch all the doings of the regular +police and report upon them to Fouché, whose spies are in every salon +and at every dinner-table in the capital I have no time at present to +repeat any of the extraordinary stories he told me of this horrible +system; but just as we entered the courtyard of this hotel, our carriage +was jammed up in the line and detained for some minutes. Guillemain +suddenly let down the glass, and gave a low, peculiar whistle, which, +if I had not been paying considerable attention to everything about him, +might have escaped my notice. In about a minute after a man, with a +hat slouched over his face, and a large cravat covering his mouth, +approached the carriage. They conversed together for some time, and I +could perceive that the new-comer spoke his French in a broken manner +and with a foreign accent. By a slight movement of the horses one of the +lamps threw the light full upon this man's face; I fixed my eyes rapidly +on him, and recognised--whom, think you? But you'd never guess: no other +than your old antagonist, Ulick Burke!' + +'Ulick Burke! You must have been mistaken.' + +'No, no. I knew him at once; the light rested on him for full five +minutes, and I had time enough to scan every feature of his face. I +could swear to the man now. He left us at last, and I watched him till +he disappeared among the crowd of servants that filled the courtyard.' + +'“That's one of your people,” said I carelessly, as Guillemain drew up +the glass, and sat back in the carriage. + +'“Yes, and a thorough scoundrel he is--capable of anything.” + +'“He's not French,” said I, with the same indifference of manner I had +feigned at first. + +'Guillemain started as I spoke; and I half feared I had destroyed all by +venturing too much. At length, after a short pause, he replied: “You're +right, he's not French; but we have them of all nations--Poles, Swedes, +Germans, Italians, Greeks. That fellow is English.” + +'“Say Irish, rather,” said I, determining to risk all, to know all. + +'“You know him, then?” said Guillemain hurriedly; “where did you see +Fitzgerald?” + +'“Fitzgerald!” said I, repeating the name after him; and then affecting +disappointment, added, “That's not the name.” + +'“Ha! I knew you were mistaken,” said Guillemain, with animation; “the +fellow told me he defies recognition; and I certainly have tried him +often among his countrymen, and he has never been detected. And yet he +knows the English thoroughly and intimately. It was through him that I +first found out these very people we are going to.” + +'Here, Jack, he entered upon a long account of our worthy hosts, who +with great wealth, great pretensions, and as great vulgarity came to +Paris some weeks ago in that mighty flood of all sorts of people that +flocked here since the peace. Their desire to be ranked among the +fashionable entertainers of the day was soon reported to the minister +of police, who, after considering how far such a house might be useful, +where persons of all shades of political opinion might meet--friends of +the Bourbons, Jacobites, Napoleonists, the men of '88, and the admirers +of the old _régime_--measures were accordingly taken that their +invitations should go out to the first persons in Paris, and, more +still, should be accepted by them. + +'While these worthy people are therefore distributing their +hospitalities with all the good faith imaginable, their hotel is nothing +more nor less than a _cabinet de police_, where Fouché and his agents +are unravelling the intrigues of Paris, or weaving fresh ones for their +own objects.' + +'Infamous system! But how comes it, Phil, that they have never +discovered their anomalous position?' + +'What a question, Jack! Vulgar pretension is a triple shield that no eye +can pierce; and as you know the parties----' + +'Know them! no, I never heard of them before.' 'What, Jack! Is your +memory so short-lived? And yet there was a pretty girl in the house who +might have rested longer in your memory.' + +The announcement of Lady Charlotte and my cousin's names by the servant +at the foot of the stairs broke up our conference; and we had only time +to join our party as we fell into that closely-wedged phalanx that wound +its slow length up the spacious staircase. O'Grady's last words had +excited my curiosity to the highest pitch; but as he preceded me with my +mother on his arm, I was unable to ask for an explanation. + +At last we reached the ante-chamber, from which a vista of salons +suddenly broke upon the view; and although anticipating much, I had +formed no conception whatever of the splendour of the scene before me. +More brilliant than noonday itself, the room was a blaze of wax-lights; +the ceilings of fretted gold and blue enamel glittered like a gorgeous +firmament; the walls were covered with pictures in costly frames of +Venetian taste. But the decorations, magnificent and princely as they +were, were as nothing to that splendid crowd of jewelled dames and +glittering nobles, of all that was distinguished in beauty, in rank, in +military glory, or in the great contest of political life. Here were +the greatest names of Europe--the kings and princes of the earth, the +leaders of mighty armies, the generals of a hundred battles; here was +the collective greatness of the world, all that can influence +mankind--hereditary rank, military power, stupendous intellect, beauty, +wealth--mixing in the vast vortex of fashionable dissipation, and +plunging into all the excesses of voluptuous pleasure. The band of the +Imperial Guard stationed near the staircase were playing with all the +delicious softness of their national instrument--the Russian horn--a +favourite mazurka of the emperor as we entered, and a partial silence +reigned among the hundred listeners. + +O'Grady conveyed my mother through the crowd to a seat, where, having +placed my cousin beside her, he once more came near me. + +'Jack,' whispered he, 'come a little this way.' He drew aside a curtain +as he spoke, and we entered a boudoir, where a buffet of refreshments +was placed. Here the scene was ludicrous in the extreme, from the +incongruous mixture-of persons of so many nations and languages who +were chatting away and hobnobbing to one another in all the dismembered +phrases of every tongue in Europe; loud laughter, however, poured +from one corner of the room, whither O'Grady directed his steps, still +holding my arm. A group of Cossack officers in full scarlet costume, +their loose trousers slashed with gold embroidery and thrust into wide +boots of yellow leather, stood in a circle round a person whom we could +not yet perceive, but who, we were enabled to discover, was exercising +his powers of amusement for this semi-savage audience, whose wild shouts +of laughter broke forth at every moment. We made our way at length +through the crowd, and my eyes at last fell upon the figure within. I +stared; I rubbed my eyes; I actually began to doubt my very senses, when +suddenly turning his joyous face beaming with good-humour towards me, he +held forth his hand and called out, 'Captain, my darling, the top of the +morning to you. This beats Stephen's Green, doesn't it?' + +[Illustration: 3-164] + +'Mr. Paul Rooney!' said I. + +'No, no! Monsieur de Roni, if you please,' said he, again breaking out +into a fit of laughing. 'Lord help you, man, I've been christened since +I came abroad. Let me present you to my friends.' Here Paul poked a tall +Cossack in the ribs to attract his attention, and then pointing to +me, said: 'This is Captain Hinton; his name's a poser--a cross between +chincough and a house-key. Eh, old fellow?' + +A Tartar grin was the reply to this very intelligible speech; but a +bumper of champagne made everything comprehensible between them. Mr. +Rooney's hilarity soon showed me that he had not forgotten his native +habits, and was steadily bent upon drinking glass for glass with his +company, even though they only came in detachments. With Bashkir +chiefs, Pomeranian barons, Rhine graaf s, and Polish counts he seemed as +intimate as though he had passed as much of his time in the Caucasus as +the Four Courts, and was as familiar with the banks of the Don as ever +he had been with those of the Dodder. + +'And is it really our old friend Mrs. Paul who entertains this host of +czars and princes?' + +'Is it really only now that you've guessed it?' said O'Grady, as he +carried me away with him through the salon. 'But I see Lady Charlotte is +amongst her friends, and your cousin is dancing; so now let's make the +most of our time. I say, Jack, your lady-mother scarcely supposes that +her host is the same person she once called on for his bill. By Jove, +what a discovery it would be to her! and the little girl she had such a +horror of is now the belle of Paris. You remember Louisa Bellew, don't +you? Seven thousand a year, my boy, and beauty worth double the money. +But there she is, and how handsome!' + +As he spoke, a lady passed us leaning on her partner's arm, her head +turned slightly over her shoulder. I caught but one glance, and as I did +so, the rushing torrent of blood that mounted to my face made my very +brain grow dizzy. I knew not where I stood. I sprang forward to speak +to her, and then became rooted to the ground. It was she, indeed, as +beautiful as ever; her pale face wore the very look I had last seen the +night I saved her from the flood. + +'Did you observe her companion?' said O'Grady, who fortunately had not +noticed my confusion. 'It was De Vere. I knew he was here; and I suspect +I see his plans.' + +'De Vere!' said I, starting. 'De Vere with Miss Bellew! Are you +certain?' + +'Quite certain; I seldom mistake a face, and his I can't forget. But +here's Guillemain. I'll join you in a moment.' + +So saying, O'Grady left my side, and I saw him take the arm of a small +man in black, who was standing at a doorway. The rush of sensations that +crowded on me as I stood there alone made me forget the time, and I knew +not that O'Grady had been above half an hour away when he again came to +my side. + +'How the plot thickens, Hinton!' said he, in a low whisper. 'Only think, +the villain Burke has actually made the hand and fortune of that lovely +girl the price of obtaining secret information from De Vere of the +proceedings of the British embassy. Guillemain did not confess this +to me; but he spoke in such a way, that, with my knowledge of all the +parties, I made out the clue.' + +'Burke! but what influence has he over her?' + +'None over her, but much over the Rooneys, whom, independent of threats +about exposing their real condition in life, he has persuaded that such +a marriage for their ward secures them in fashionable society for ever. +This with Paul would do nothing; but Madame de Roni, as you know, sets +a high price on such a treasure. Besides, he is in possession of some +family secret about her mother, which he uses as a means of intimidation +to Paul, who would rather die than hurt Miss Bellew's feelings. Now, +Jack, De Vere only wants intellect to be as great a scoundrel as Master +Ulick, so we must rescue this poor girl, come what will.' + +'We must and we will,' said I, with a tone of eagerness that made O'Grady +start. + +'Not a moment is to be lost,' said he, after a brief pause. 'I 'll try +what can be done with Guillemain.' + +An opening of the crowd as he spoke compelled us to fall back, and as we +did so I could perceive that an avenue was made along the room. + +'One of the sovereigns,' whispered O'Grady. + +I leaned forward, and perceived two aides-de-camp in green uniform, who +were retreating step by step slowly before some persons farther back. + +'The Emperor of Russia,' whispered a voice near me; and the same instant +I saw the tall and fine-looking figure of Alexander, his broad +massive forehead, and frank manly face turning from side to side as +he acknowledged the salutations of the room. On his arm he supported a +lady, whose nodding plumes waved in concert with every inclination of +the Czar himself. Curious to see what royal personage shared thus with +him the homage of the assembly, I stooped to catch a glance. The lady +turned--our eyes met; a slight flush coloured her cheek as she quickly +moved her head away. It was Mrs. Paul Rooney herself! Yes, she whom I +had once seen with an effort subdue her pride of station when led in to +dinner by some Irish attorney-general, or some going judge of assize, +now leaned on the arm of an emperor, and divided with him the honours of +the moment! + +While O'Grady sought out his new friend, the minister of police, I went +in search of my mother and Lady Julia, whom I found surrounded by a knot +of their own acquaintances, actively engaged in surmises as to the lady +of the house--her rank, fortune, and pretensions. For some time I could +not but feel amused at the absurd assertions of many of the party, who +affected to know all about Madame de Roni and her secret mission at +Paris. + +'My dear John,' said my mother in a whisper, 'you must find out all +about her. Your friend, the Colonel, is evidently in the secret. Pray, +now, don't forget it. But really you seem in a dream. There's Beulwitz +paying Julia all the attention imaginable the entire evening, and you +'ve never gone near her. Apropos, have you seen this ward of Madame +de Roni? She is very pretty, and they speak of her as a very suitable +person.' (This phrase was a kind of cant with my mother and her set, +which expressed in brief that a lady was enormously rich and a very +desirable match for a man with nothing.) 'I forget her name.' + +'Miss Bellew, perhaps,' said I, trembling lest any recollection of ever +having heard it before should cross her mind. + +'Yes, that's the name; somehow it seems familiar to me. Do you know her +yet, for my friend Lady Middleton knows every one, and will introduce +you?' + +'Oh, I have the pleasure of being acquainted with her already,' said I, +turning away to hide my confusion. + +'That's quite proper,' said her ladyship encouragingly. 'But here she +comes; I think you must introduce me, John.' + +As my mother spoke, Louisa Bellew came up, leaning on a lady's arm. +A moment's hesitation on my part would have only augmented the +embarrassment which increased at every instant; so I stepped forward and +pronounced her name. No sooner had the words 'Miss Bellew' escaped +my lips than she turned round; her large full eyes were fixed upon me +doubtingly for a second, and her face grew deep scarlet, and then as +suddenly pale again. She made an effort to speak, but could not; a +tottering weakness seemed to creep over her frame, and as she pressed +her companion's arm closely I heard her mutter--'Oh, pray move on!' + +'Lady Charlotte Hinton--'Miss Bellew,' said the lady at her side, who +had paid no attention whatever to Louisa's agitated manner. + +My mother smiled in her sweetest manner, while Miss Bellow's +acknowledgments were made with the most distant coldness. + +'My son had deemed himself fortunate enough to be known to you,' said +Lady Charlotte. + +Miss Bellew became pale as death; her very lips were bloodless, as with +a voice tremulous with emotion, she replied-- + +'We were acquainted once, madam; but----' + +What was to be the remainder of the speech I know not, for as the crowd +moved on she passed with it, leaving me like one whose senses were +forsaking him one by one. I could only hear my mother say, 'How very +impertinent!' and then my brain became a chaos. A kind of wild reckless +feeling, the savage longing that in moments of dark passion stirs within +a man for some act of cruelty, some deed of vengeance, ran through my +breast. I had been spurned, despised, disowned by her of whom through +many a weary month my heart alone was full. I hurried away from the spot, +my brain on fire. I saw nothing, I heeded nothing, of the bright looks +and laughing faces that passed me; scornful pity and contempt for one +so low as I was seemed to prevail in every face I looked at. A strange +impulse to seek out Lord Dudley de Vere was uppermost in my mind; and as +I turned on every side to find him, I felt my arm grasped tightly, and +heard O'Grady's voice in my ear-- + +'Be calm, Jack, for heaven's sake! Your disturbed looks make every one +stare at you.' + +He drew me along with him through the crowd, and at length reached a +card-room, where, except the players, no one was present. + +'Come, my dear boy, I saw what has annoyed you.' + +'You saw it!' said I, my eyeballs straining as I spoke. + +'Yes, yes; and what signifies it? So very handsome a girl, and the +expectation of a large fortune, must always have followers. But you know +Lady Julia well enough----' + +'Lady Julia!' repeated I, in amazement. + +'Yes. I say you know her well enough to believe that Beulwitz is not +exactly the person----' + +A burst of laughter at his mistake broke from me at the moment; but so +wild and discordant was it that O'Grady misconstrued its meaning, and +went at some length to assure me that my cousin's affection for me was +beyond my suspicion. + +Stunned by my own overwhelming sorrow, I felt no inclination to +undeceive him, and let him persist in his error without even a word of +reply. + +'Rouse yourself, Jack,' said he, at length. 'This depression is unworthy +of you, had you even cause for grief. There's many a heart heavier than +your own, my boy, where the lip is smiling this minute.' + +There was a tone of deep affliction in the cadence of his voice as +these words fell from him, and he turned away his head as he spoke. Then +rallying in an instant, he added-- + +'Do you know, our dear friend Mrs. Paul has scarcely ventured to +acknowledge me to-night, and I feel a kind of devilish spirit of +vengeance working within me in consequence. To out me! I that trained +her infant mind to greatness; that actually smuggled for her a +contraband viceroy, and brought him alive into her dominions! What dire +ingratitude! Come, what say you to champagne?' + +He poured me out a large glassful as he spoke, and, filling his own, +called out, laughing-- + +'Here, I give you a toast--“La Vendetta!” eh, Jack? Corsican vengeance +on all who maltreat us!' + +Glass after glass followed; and I felt my brain, instead of being +excited, grow calmer, steadier; a firm and determined resolution usurped +the flitting thoughts and wandering fancies of before. + +'They're moving towards the supper-room,' said O'Grady, who for some +time past had talked away, without my paying any attention to what he +said. + +As we descended the stairs, I heard my mother's carriage announced, and +could just see her and my cousin handed to it by some Austrian officers +as we entered the supper-room. + +The incessant crash and din of the enormous banquet-ing-room, its crowd +and heat, its gorgeous table-equipage and splendid guests, were scarce +noticed by me as I followed O'Grady half mechanically towards the end of +the room. For some time I remained stupidly unconscious of all around; +and it was only after a very considerable time that I descried that +immediately in front of where we stood Mrs. Paul Rooney was seated--the +Emperor of Russia on her right, the King of Prussia on her left hand; +Swartzenburg, Blucher, Talleyrand, Nesselrode, and many others equally +distinguished occupying places along the board. Her jocund laugh and +merry voice, indeed, first attracted my attention. + +'By Jove! she does it admirably,' said O'Grady, who for full five +minutes had been most critically employed scrutinising Mrs. Paul's +manner. 'Do you remark the tact with which she graduates her attentions +to the emperor and the king? And look at the hauteur of her bearing to +old Blucher! But, hush! what's coming?' + +A kind of suppressed murmur buzzed along the crowded room, which, +subsiding into a dead silence, the Emperor Alexander rose, and +addressing the guests in a few but well-chosen words in English, +informed them he had received permission from their amiable and +captivating hostess to propose a toast, and he took the opportunity with +unqualified delight to give the health of 'the Prince Regent.' A perfect +thunder of applause acknowledged this piece of gracious courtesy, and +a 'hip! hip! hurrah!' which astonished the foreigners, shook the very +roof. While the deafening shouts rose on every side, Mrs. Paul wrote a +line with her pencil hastily on her card, and turning round gave it to a +Cossack aide-de-camp of the emperor to deliver into Mr. Rooney's hands. +Either from the excitement of the moment or his imperfect acquaintance +with English, the unlucky Cossack turned for an explanation towards the +first British officer near him, who happened to be O'Grady. + +'What does this mean?' said he in French. + +'Ah,' said Phil, looking at it, 'this is intended for that gentleman +at the foot of the table. You see him yonder--he's laughing now. Come +along, I'll pilot you towards him.' + +Suspecting that O'Grady's politeness had some deeper motive than mere +civility, I leaned over his shoulder and asked the reason of it. + +'Look here,' said he, showing me the card as he spoke, on which was +written the following words: 'Make the band play “God Save the King “; +the emperor wishes it.' + +'Come with us, Jack,' whispered O'Grady; 'we had better keep near the +door.' + +I followed them through the dense crowd, who were still cheering with +all their might, and at last reached the end of the table, where Paul +himself was amusing a select party of Tartar chiefs, Prussian colonels, +Irish captains, and Hungarian nobles. + +'Look here,' said Phil, showing me the card, which in his passage down +the room he had contrived to alter, by rubbing out the first part and +interpolating a passage of his own; making the whole run thus-- + +'Sing the “Cruiskeen Lawn”; the emperor wishes it.' + +I had scarcely time to thrust my handkerchief to my mouth and prevent an +outbreak of laughter, when I saw the Cossack officer present the card to +Paul with a deep bow. Mr. Rooney read it--surveyed the bearer; read it +again--rubbed his eyes, drew over a branch of wax-candles to inspect +it better, and then, directing a look to the opposite extremity of +the table, exchanged glances with his spouse, as if interrogating her +intentions once more. A quick, sharp nod from Mrs. Paul decided the +question thus tacitly asked; and Paul, clearing off a tumbler of sherry, +muttered to himself, 'What the devil put the “Cruiskeen Lawn” into his +Majesty's head I can't think; but I suppose there's no refusing.* + +A very spirited tapping with the handle of his knife was now heard to +mix with the other convivial sounds, and soon indeed to overtop them, as +Paul, anxious to fulfil a royal behest, cleared his throat a couple of +times, and called out, 'I'll do the best I can, your Majesty'; and at +once struck up-- + + 'Let the farmer praise his grounds, + Let the huntsman praise his hounds, + And talk of the deeds they had done; + But I more blest than they----' + +Here Paul quavered, and at last the pent-up mirth of the whole room +could endure no more, but burst forth into one continuous shout of +laughter, in which kings, dukes, ambassadors, and field-marshals joined +as loudly as their neighbours. To hear the song was utterly impossible; +and though from Mr. Paul's expanded cheeks and violent gesticulation it +was evident he was in full chant, nothing could be heard save the scream +of laughing which shook the building--an emotion certainly not the +less difficult to repress, as Mrs. Paul, shaking her hand at him with +passionate energy, called out-- + +'Oh, the baste! he thinks he's on circuit this minit!' As for myself, +half choking and with sore sides, I never recovered till I reached the +street, when O'Grady dragged me along, saying as he did so-- + +'We must reach home at once. Nothing but a strong alibi will save my +character.' + + + + +CHAPTER LIX. FRESCATI'S + +I was not sorry when I heard the following morning that my mother would +not appear before dinner-hour. I dreaded the chance of any allusion to +Miss Bellow's name requiring explanation on my part; and the more so, +as I myself was utterly lost in conjectures as to the reason of her +singular reception of me. + +Julia, too, appeared more out of spirits than usual She pleaded fatigue; +but I could see that something lay heavily on her mind. She conversed +with evident effort, and seemed to have a difficulty in recalling her +faculties to the ordinary topics of the day. A thought struck me that +perhaps De Vere's conduct might have given cause for her depression; +and gradually I drew the conversation to the mention of his name, when I +soon became undeceived on this point. She told me with perfect unconcern +how my father had tracked out the whole line of his duplicity and +calumny regarding me, and had followed the matter up by a representation +to the duke at the head of the army, who immediately commanded his +retirement from the Guards. Later on, his family influence had obtained +his appointment as _attaché_ to the embassy at Paris; but since their +first rupture he had discontinued his visits, and now had ceased to be +acknowledged by them when they met. + +My cousin's melancholy not being then attributable to anything connected +with De Vere, I set myself to work to ascertain whence it proceeded; and +suddenly the thought struck me that perhaps my mother's surmise might +have some foundation, and that Julia, feeling an affection for me, might +have been hurt at my evident want of attention towards her since we met. + +I have already begged of my reader to separate such suspicions from the +coxcombry of the lady-killer, who deems every girl he meets his victim. +If I did for a moment imagine that my cousin liked me, I did so with a +stronger sense of my own unworthiness to merit her love than if I myself +had sought her affection. I had felt her superiority to myself too early +in life to outlive the memory of it as we grew older. The former feeling +of dread which I entertained of Julia's sarcasm still lived within me, +and I felt keenly that she who knew the weaknesses of the boy was little +likely to forget them in reflecting over the failures of the man; and +thus, if she did care for me, I well knew that her affection must be +checkered by too many doubts and uncertainties to give it that character +of abiding love which alone could bring happiness. I perceived clearly +enough that she disliked O'Grady. Was it, then, that, being interested +for me, she was grieved at my great intimacy with one she herself did +not admire, and who evidently treated her with marked coldness and +reserve? + +Harassed with these suspicions, and annoyed that those I had hoped would +regard each other as friends avoided every opportunity of intimacy, +I strolled forth to walk alone, my mind brooding over dark and +disagreeable images, and my brain full of plans all based upon +disappointed hopes and blighted expectations. To my mother's invitation +to dinner for that day O'Grady had returned an apology; he was engaged +to his friend M. Guillemain, with whom he was also to pass the morning; +so that I was absolutely without a companion. + +When first I issued from the Place Vendôme, I resolved at all hazards +to wait on the Rooneys, at once to see Miss Bellew, and seek an +explanation, if possible, for her manner towards me. As I hastened on +towards the Chaussée, however, I began to reflect on the impropriety of +such a course, after the evident refusal she had given to any renewal +of acquaintance. 'I did know Mr. Hinton,' were the words she used--words +which, considering all that had passed between us, never could have been +spoken lightly or without reason. A hundred vague conjectures as to +the different ways in which my character and motives might have been +slandered to her occupied me as I sauntered along. De Vere and Burke +were both my enemies, and I had little doubt that with them originated +the calumny from which I now was suffering; and as I turned over in my +thoughts all the former passages of our hatred, I felt how gladly they +would embrace the opportunity of wounding me where the injury would +prove the keenest. + +Without knowing it, I had actually reached the street where the Rooneys +lived, and was within a few paces of their house. Strangely enough, the +same scene I had so often smiled at before their house in Dublin was now +enacting here--the great difference being, that instead of the lounging +subs, of marching regiments, the swaggering cornets of dragoons, the +overdressed and underbred crowds of would-be fashionables who then +congregated before the windows or curvetted beneath the balcony, were +now the generals of every foreign service, field-marshals glittering +with orders, powdered diplomatists, cordoned political writers, savants +from every country in Europe, and idlers whose _bons mots_ and smart +sayings were the delight of every dinner-table in the capital; all happy +to have some neutral ground where the outposts of politics might be +surveyed without compromise or danger, and where, amid the excellences +of the table and the pleasures of society, intrigues could be fathomed +or invented under the auspices of that excellent attorney's wife, who +deemed herself meanwhile the great attraction of her courtly visitors +and titled guests. + +As I drew near the house I scarcely ventured to look towards the +balcony, in which a number of well-dressed persons were now standing +chatting together. One voice I soon recognised, and its every accent cut +my very heart as I listened. It was Lord Dudley de Vere, talking in his +usual tone of loud assumption. I could hear the same vacant laugh +which had so often offended me; and I actually dreaded lest some chance +allusion to myself might reach me where I stood. There must be something +intensely powerful in the influence of the human voice, when its very +cadence alone can elevate to rapture or sting to madness. Who has not +felt the ecstasy of some one brief word from 'lips beloved,' after long +years of absence; and who has not experienced the tumultuous conflict +of angry passions that rise unbidden at the mere sound of speaking from +those we like not? My heart burned within me as I thought of her who +doubtless was then among that gay throng, and for whose amusement those +powers of his lordship's wit were in all likelihood called forth; and I +turned away in anger and in sorrow. + +As the day wore on I could not face towards home. I felt I dare not meet +the searching questions my mother was certain to ask me; nor could I +endure the thought of mixing with a crowd of strangers, when my own +spirits were hourly sinking. I dined alone at a small _café_ in the +Palais Royal, and sat moodily over my wine till past eleven o'clock. The +stillness of the room startled me at length, and I looked up and found +the tables deserted; a sleepy waiter lounged lazily on a bench, and the +un-trimmed candles and disordered look of everything indicated that no +other guests were then expected. + +'Where have they gone to?' said I, curious to know what so suddenly had +taken the crowd away. + +'To Frescati's, monsieur,' said the waiter; 'the salon is filling fast +by this time.' + +A strange feeling of dislike to being alone had taken hold on me, and +having inquired the way to the Rue Richelieu from the servant, I issued +forth. + +What a contrast to the dark and gloomy streets of Paris, with their +irregular pavement, was the brilliantly lighted vestibule, with its +marble pillars and spacious stair rising gracefully beyond it, which met +my eyes as I entered Frescati's! Mingling with the crowd of persons who +pressed their way along, I reached a large antechamber where several +servants in rich liveries received the hats and canes of the visitors +who thronged eagerly forward, their merry voices and gay laughter +resounding through the arched roof. + +As the wide doors were thrown open noiselessly, I was quite unprepared +for the splendour of the scene. Here were not only officers of rank in +all the gala of their brilliant uniforms, and civilians in full dress, +shining in stars and decorations, but ladies also, with that perfection +of toilette only known to Parisian women, their graceful figures +scattered through the groups, or promenading slowly up and down, +conversing in a low tone; while servants passed to and fro with +champagne and fruit-ices on massive silver salvers, their noiseless +gesture and quiet demeanour in perfect keeping with the hushed and +tranquil look of all around. As I drew closer to the table I could mark +that the stillness was even more remarkable; not a voice was heard but +of the croupier of the table, as with ceaseless monotony he repeated: +'Faites le jeu, messieurs! Le jeu est fait. Noir perd, et couleur gagne. + +Rouge perd, et la couleur----' The rattle of the rake and the chink of +the gold followed, a low muttered 'Sacre!' being the only sound that +mingled with them. + +But I could mark, that, although the etiquette of ruin demanded this +unbroken silence, passion worked in every feature there. On one side was +an old man, his filmy eyes shaded by his hand from the strong glare of +wax-lights, peering with eagerness and tremulous from age and excitement +as the cards fell from the banker's hands, his blanched lips muttering +each word after the croupier, and his wasted cheek quivering as the +chances inclined against him. Here was a bold and manly face, flushed +and heated, whose bloodshot eye ranged quickly over the board, while +every now and then some effort to seem calm and smile would cross +the features, and in its working show the dreadful struggle that was +maintained within. And then again a beautiful girl, her dark eye dilated +almost to a look of wild insanity, her lips parted, her cheeks marked +with patches of white and red, and her fair hands clenched, while her +bosom heaved and fell as though some pent-up agony was eating at her +very heart. + +At the end of the table was a vacant chair, beside which an officer in +a Prussian uniform was standing, while before him was a small +brass-clasped box. Curious to know what this meant, I turned to see +to which of those about me I might venture to address a question, when +suddenly my curiosity became satisfied without inquiry. A loud voice +talking German with a rough accent, the heavy tramp of a cavalry boot +clanking with large spurs, announced the approach of some one who cared +little for the conventional silence of the rooms; and as the crowd +opened I saw an old man in blue uniform, covered with stars, elbow his +way towards the chair. His eyebrows of shaggy grey almost concealed +his eyes as effectually as his heavy moustache did his mouth. He walked +lame, and leaned on a stick, which, as he took his place in the chair, +he placed unceremoniously on the table before him. The box, which was +opened the moment he sat down, he now drew towards him, and plunging his +hand into it drew forth a handful of napoleons, and, without waiting to +count, he threw on the table, uttering in a thick guttural voice the one +word 'Rouge.' The impassive coldness of the croupier as he pronounced +his habitual exordium seemed to move the old man's impatience, as he +rattled his fingers hurriedly among the gold and muttered some broken +words of German between his teeth. The enormous sum he betted drew +every eye towards his part of the table--of all which he seemed totally +regardless, as he raked in his winnings, or frowned with a heavy +lowering look as often as fortune turned against him. Marshal +Blucher--for it was he--was an impassioned gambler, and needed not the +excitement of the champagne, which he drank eagerly from time to time, +to stimulate his passion for play. + +As I turned from the _rouge et noir_ table, I remarked that every now +and then some person left the room by a small door, which, concealed by +a mirror, had escaped my attention when I entered. On inquiry I found +that this passage led to a secret part of the establishment, which only +a certain set of players frequented, and where the tables were kept open +during the entire day and night. Curious to see the interior of this +den of greater iniquity, I presented myself at it, and on opening found +myself in a narrow corridor, where a servant demanded my billet. Having +informed him that I was merely there from motives of curiosity, I +offered him a napoleon, which speedily satisfied his scruples. He +conducted me to the end of the gallery, where, touching a spring, the +door opened, and I found myself in a room considerably smaller than +the salon, and, with the exception of being less brilliantly lighted, +equally splendid in its decorations. Around on all sides were small +partitions, like the cells in a London coffee-house, where tables were +provided for parties to sup at. These were now unoccupied, the greater +attraction of high play having drawn every one around the table, where +the same monotonous sounds of the croupier's voice, the same patter of +the cards, and the same clinking of the gold continued unceasingly. The +silence of the salon was as nothing to the stillness that reigned here. +Not a voice save the banker's was ever heard; each player placed his +money on the red or black square of the table without speaking, and the +massive rouleaus were passed backwards and forwards with no other sound +save the noise of the rake. I remarked, too, that the stakes seemed far +heavier; crumpled rolls of _billets de banque_ were often thrown down, +and from the muffled murmur of the banker I could hear such sums as +'seven thousand francs,' 'ten thousand francs,' called out. + +It was some time before I could approach near enough to see the play; +at last I edged my way to the front, and obtained a place behind the +croupier's chair, where a good view of the table was presented to me. +The different nations, with their different costumes, tongues, and +expressions so strangely congregated, were a study that might have +amused me for a long time, had not a chance word of English spoken close +by me drawn off my attention. + +Immediately in front, but with their backs towards me, sat two persons, +who seemed, as was often the habit, to play in concert. A large heap of +gold and notes lay before them, and several cards, marked with pin-holes +to chronicle the run of the game, were scattered about. Unable to see +their faces, I was struck by one singular but decisive mark of their +difference in condition and rank. The hands of one were fair and +delicate almost as a woman's--the blue veins circling clearly through +them, and rings of great price and brilliancy glittering on the fingers; +those of the other were coarse, brown-stained, and ill cared for--the +sinewy fingers and strong bony knuckles denoting one accustomed to +laborious exertions. It was strange that two persons, evidently so wide +apart in their walks in life, should be thus associated; and feeling +a greater interest from the chance phrase of English one of them had +dropped, I watched them closely. By degrees I could mark that their +difference in dress was no less conspicuous; for although the more +humble was well and even fashionably attired, he had not the same +distinctive marks which characterised his companion as a person of +class and condition. While I looked, the pile of gold before them had +gradually melted down to some few pieces; and as they bent down their +heads over the cards, and concerted as to their play, it was clear that +by their less frequent ventures they were becoming more cautious. + +'No, no I' said he, who seemed to be the superior, 'I'll not risk it.' + +'I say yes, yes!' muttered the other, in a deeper voice; 'the _rouge_ +can't go on for ever: it has passed eleven times.' + +'I know,' said the former bitterly; 'and I have lost seventeen thousand +francs.' + +'_You_ have lost!' retorted the other savagely, but in the same low +tone; 'why not _we?_ Am _I_ for nothing in all this?' + +'Come, come, Ulick, don't be in a passion!' + +The name and the tone of the speaker startled me. I leaned forward; +my very head reeled as I looked. It was Lord Dudley de Vere and Ulick +Burke. The rush of passionate excitement that ran through me for a +minute or two, to be thus thrown beside the two only enemies I had ever +had, unnerved me so far that I could not collect myself. To call them +forth at once, and charge them with their baseness towards me; to dare +them openly, and denounce them before that crowded assembly--was my +first rapid thought. But from this wild thrill of anger I was soon +turned, as Burke's voice, elevated to a tone of passion, called out-- + +'Hold! I am going to bet!' + +The banker stopped; the cards still rested in his hands. + +'I say, sir, I will do it,' said Burke, turning to De Vere, whose +cheek was now pale as death, and whose disordered and haggard air was +increased by his having torn off his cravat and opened the collar of his +shirt. '_I_ say I will; do _you_ gainsay me?' continued he, laying on +the words an accent of such contemptuous insolence that even De Vere's +eye fired at it. 'Vingt mille francs, noir,' said Burke, placing his +last billet on the table; and the words were scarce spoken when the +banker cried out-- + +'Noir perd et passe.' + +A horrible curse broke from Burke as he fixed his staring eyeballs on +the outspread cards, and counted over the numbers to himself. + +'You see, Burke,' said De Vere. + +'Don't speak to me, now, damn you!' said the other, with clenched teeth. + +De Vere pushed back his chair, and rising, moved through the crowd +towards an open window. Burke sat with his head buried between his hands +for some seconds, and then starting up at the banker s call, cried out-- + +'Dix mille, noir!' + +A kind of half-suppressed laugh ran round the table at seeing that he +had no funds while he still offered to bet. He threw his eyes upon the +board, and then as quickly turned them on the players. One by one his +dark look was bent on them, as if to search out some victim for his +hate; but all were hushed. Many as reckless as himself were there, many +as utterly ruined, but not one so lost to hope. + +'Who laughed?' said he in French, while the thick veins of his forehead +stood out like cordage; and then, as none answered to his challenge, he +rose slowly, still scowling with the malignity of a demon. + +'May I have your seat, monsieur?' said a dapper little Frenchman, with a +smile and a bow, as Burke moved away. + +'Yes, take it,' said he, as lifting the strong chair with one hand he +dashed it upon the floor, smashing it to pieces with a crash that shook +the room. + +The crowd, which made way for him to pass out, as speedily closed again +around the table, where the work of ruin still went forward. Not a +passing glance was turned from the board to look after the beggared +gambler. + +The horrible indifference the players had shown to the sufferings of +this wretched man so thoroughly disgusted me that I could no longer bear +even to look on the game. The passion of play had shown itself to me now +in all its most repulsive form, and I turned with abhorrence from the +table. + +My mind agitated by a number of emotions, and my heart now swelling with +triumphant vengeance, now filled with pity for the sake of him who had +ruined my fortunes for ever, I sat in one of the small boxes I have +mentioned, which, dimly lighted, had not yet been sought by any of the +players to sup in. A closely drawn curtain separated the little place +I occupied from the adjoining one, where from time to time I heard the +clink of glasses and the noise of champagne corks. At first I supposed +that some other solitary individual had established himself there to +enjoy his winnings or brood over his losses, when at last I could hear +the low muttering of voices, which ere long I recognised as belonging to +Burke and De Vere. + +Burke, who evidently from his tone and manner possessed the mastery over +his companion, no longer employed the insulting accents I had witnessed +at the table; on the contrary, he condescended to flatter--affected +to be delighted with De Vere's wit and sharpness, and more than once +insinuated that with such an associate he cared little what tricks +fortune played them, as, to use his own phrase, 'they were sure to come +round.' + +De Vere's voice, which I could only hear at rare intervals, told that +he had drunk deeply, and that between wine and his losses a kind of +reckless desperation had seized him, which gave to his manner and words +a semblance of boldness which his real character lacked completely. + +When I knew that Burke and De Vere were the persons near me, I rose +to leave the spot; the fear of playing the eavesdropper forbade my +remaining. But as I stood up, the mention of my name, uttered in a tone +of vengeance by Burke, startled me, and I listened. + +'Yes,' said he, striking his hand upon the table, and confirming his +assertion with a horrible oath. 'Yes; for him and through him my uncle +left me a beggar. But already I have had my revenge; though it shan't +end there.' + +'You don't mean to have him out again? Confound him, he's a devilish +good shot; winged you already--eh?' + +Burke, unmindful of the interruption, continued-- + +'It was I that told my uncle how this fellow was the nephew of the man +who seduced his own wife. I worked upon the old man so that he +left house and home, and wandered through the country, till mental +irritation, acting on a broken frame, became fever, and then death.' + +'Died--eh? Glorious nephew you are, by Jove! What next?' + +'I'll tell you. I forged a letter in his handwriting to Louisa, written +as if on his death-bed, commanding as his last prayer that she should +never see Hinton again; or if by any accident they should meet, that she +should not recognise him nor know him.' + +'Devilish clever, that; egad, a better martingale than that you invented +a while ago. I say, pass the wine! red fourteen times--wasn't it +fourteen?--and if it had not been for your cursed obstinacy I'd have +backed the red. See, fifty naps! one hundred, four, eight, sixteen, +thirty-four, or six--which is it? Oh, confounded stupidity!' + +'Come, come, Dudley! better luck another time. Louisa's eyes must have +been too kindly bent on you, or you 'd have been more fortunate.' + +'Eh, you think she likes me?--Capital champagne that!--I always thought +she did from the first. That's what I call walking inside of Hinton. How +he'll look! Ha! ha! ha!' + +'Yes, how he'll look!' echoed Burke, endeavouring to join the laugh. +'But now one thing is yet wanting.' + +'You mean those despatches,' replied De Vere suddenly. 'You always come +back to that. Well, once for all, I say no!' + +'Just hear me, Dudley! Nothing is easier; nothing incurs less risk.' + +'Less risk! what do you mean? No risk for me to steal the papers of the +embassy, and give them to you to hand over to that scoundrel at the head +of the secret police? Devilish green I may be, but not so green as that, +Master Burke!' + +'Guillemain will give us forty thousand francs. Forty thousand! with +half that, and your luck, De Vere, we'll break every bank in Paris. I +know you don't wish to marry Louisa.' + +'No; hang it, that's always the wind-up. Keep that for the last throw, +eh?--There's heavy play there; see how silent they are.' + +'Ay; and with forty thousand francs we might join them,' said Burke, as +if musing; 'and so safely it may be done.' + +'I say no!' replied De Vere resolutely. + +'What do you fear? Is it me?' + +'No, not you! I believe you are true enough. Your own neck will be +in the rope too; so you'll say nothing. But I won't do it!--pass the +champagne!--there's something so devilish blackguard in stealing a man's +papers.' + +Burke started, as if the tones of his companion's voice had stung him +like an adder. + +'Have you thought over your present condition?' said Burke firmly. 'You +have not a guinea left; your debts in Paris alone, to my knowledge, are +above forty thousand francs!' + +'I'll never pay a franc of them--damned swindlers and Jew +money-lenders!' was the cool reply. + +'Might not some scrupulous moralist hint there was something blackguard +in that?' said Burke, with slow and distinct articulation. + +'What!' replied De Vere; 'do you come here to tutor me--a low-bred +horse-jockey, a spy? Take off your hands, sir, or I'll alarm the room; +let loose my collar!' + +'Come, come, my lord, we 're both in fault,' said Burke, smothering his +passion with a terrible effort; 'we of all men must not quarrel. Play is +to us the air we breathe, the light we live in. Give me your hand.' + +'Allow me to draw on my glove first,' said De Vere, in a tone of +incomparable insolence. + +'Champagne here!' said Burke to the waiter as he passed, and for some +minutes neither spoke. + +The clock chimed a quarter to two, and Burke started to his feet. + +'I must be going,' said he hastily; 'I should have been at the Porte St. +Martin by half-past one.' + +'Salute the Jacobite Club, _de ma part_,' said De Vere, with an +insulting laugh, 'and tell them to cut everybody's throat in Paris save +old Lafitte's; he has promised to do a bill for me in the morning.' + +'You 'll not need his kindness so soon,' replied Burke, 'if you are +willing to take my advice. Forty thousand francs----' + +'Would he make it sixty, think you?' + +'Sixty!' said Burke, with animation; 'I'm not sure, but shall I say for +sixty you 'll do it?' + +'No, I don't mean that; I was only anxious to know if these confounded +rigmaroles I have to copy sometimes could possibly interest any one to +that amount.' + +Burke tried to laugh, but the hollow chuckle sounded like the gulping of +a smothering man. + +'Laugh out!' said De Vere, whose voice became more and more indistinct +as his courage became stronger; 'that muttering is so devilish like a +spy, a rascally, low-bred----' + +A heavy blow, a half-uttered cry, followed, and De Vere fell with a +crash to the floor, his face and temples bathed with blood, while Burke, +springing to the door, darted downstairs and gained the street before +pursuit was thought of. A few of the less interested about the table +assisted me to raise the fallen man, from whose nose and mouth the blood +flowed freely. He was perfectly senseless, and evinced scarcely a sign +of life as we carried him downstairs and placed him in a carriage. + +'Where to?' said the coachman, as I stood beside the door. + +'I hesitated for a second, and then said, 'No. 4 Place Vendôme.' + + + + +CHAPTER LX. DISCLOSURES + +I have more than once heard physicians remark the singular immunity a +fool's skull seems to possess from the evil effects of injury--as if +Nature, when denying a governing faculty, had, in kind compensation, +imparted a triple thickness to the head thus exposed. It is well known +how among the educated and thinking classes many maladies are fatal +which are comparatively innocuous among those whose hands alone are +called on to labour. A very ingenious theory might be spun from this +fact, to the manifest self-gratulation of foxhunters, sailors, gentlemen +who assault the new police, tithe-proctors, and others. For the present +I have no further use for the remark than as it bore upon the head-piece +of Lord Dudley de Vere, whose admirable developments had received little +or no damage from the rude assault of his companion. When he awoke the +next morning, he was only aware that something unusual had occurred; +and gradually by 'trying back' in his sensations, he remembered every +particle that took place--had the clearest recollection of the 'run upon +red'; knew the number of bottles of champagne he had partaken of; and +was only puzzled by one thing--what could possibly have suggested the +courage with which he confronted Burke, and the hardihood that led to +insulting him. As to any awkwardness at being brought home to the house +of the person he had himself so ill-treated, he never felt anything +approaching to it; the extent of his reasoning on this point only went +to his satisfaction that 'some one' took care of him, and that he was +not left to lie on the floor of the salon. + +This admirable philosophy of De Vere served in a great measure to +relieve me from the constraint I felt in presenting myself before him, +and soon put me perfectly at my ease in our interview. After learning, +that, except some headaching sensations, the only inconvenience he +experienced was an unconquerable thirst, I touched lightly on the cause +of his misfortune; when, what was my astonishment to discern that he not +only did not entertain a particle of ill-will towards the man who had +so brutally ill-treated him, but actually grew warm in his panegyric +of Burkes consummate skill and address at play--such qualities in his +estimation being well worthy to cover any small blemishes of villainy +his character might suffer under. + +'I say, don't you think Burke a devilish sharp fellow? He's up to +everything, and so cool, so confoundedly cool! Not last night, though; +no, by Jove! he lost temper completely. I shall be marked with that +knock, eh? Damn me, it was too bad; he must apologise for it. You +know he was drunk, and somehow he was all wrong the whole evening; +he wouldn't let me back the “rouge,” and such a run--you saw that, I +suppose?' + +I assented with a nod, for I still hesitated how far I should +communicate to him my knowledge of Burke's villainy towards myself. + +'By-the-bye, it's rather awkward my being here; you know your people +have cut me. Don't you think I might get a cab to bring me over to the +Rue d'Alger?' + +There was something which touched me in the simplicity of this remark, +and I proceeded to assure him that any former impressions of my friends +would not be remembered against him at that moment. + +'Oh, that I'm sure of; no one ever thinks it worth while to bear malice +against a poor devil like me. But if I'd have backed the red----' + +'Colonel O'Grady is in the drawing-room,' said a servant in a low voice +to me at this instant; and leaving Lord Dudley to speculate on the +contingencies of his having 'backed the red,' I joined my friend, whom I +had not seen on the previous day. We were alone, and in ten minutes +I explained to him the entire discovery I had fallen upon, concealing +only my affection for Louisa Bellew, which I could not bring myself even +to allude to. + +'I see,' said Phil, when I concluded--'I see you are half disposed to +forgive De Vere all his rascality. Now, what a different estimate we +take of men! Perhaps--I can't say--it is because I am an Irishman, but +I lean to the bold-faced villain Burke; the miserable, contemptible +weakness of the one is far more intolerable to me than the ruffian +effrontery of the other. Don't forget the lesson I gave you many a year +ago: a fool is always a blackguard. Now, if that fellow could see his +companion this minute, there is not a circumstance he has noticed here +that he would not retail if it bore to your disadvantage. Untouched by +your kindness to him, he would sell you--ay, to the very man you saved +him from! But, after all, what have we to do with him? Our first point +is to rescue this poor girl's name from being ever mixed with his; +anything further is, of course, out of the question. The Rooneys are +going back: I saw Paul this morning. “The Cruiskeen Lawn” has been +their ruin. All the Irish officers who had taken Madame de Roni for +an illustrious stranger have found out the true scent; and so many +distinguished persons are involved in the ridicule of their parties that +the old _chef de police_, my friend, has sent them a private order to +leave Paris in a week. Paul is in raptures at it. He has spent eighteen +thousand in two months; detests the place; is dying to be back in +Dublin; and swears that except one Cossack officer he hasn't met a +pleasant fellow since he came abroad.' + +'And Mrs. Paul?' + +'Oh, the old story. I put Guilemain up to it, and he has hinted that +the Empress of Russia has heard of the Czar's attentions; that there's +the devil to pay in St. Petersburg; and that if she doesn't manage to +steal out of Paris slyly, some confounded boyard or other will slip a +sack over her head and carry her off to Tobolsk. + +_Elizabeth and the Exiles_ has formed part of her reading, and Madame +de Roni will dream every night of the knout till she reaches her dear +native land.--But now to business. I, too, have made my discoveries +since we met. De Vere's high play has been a matter of surprise to all +who know him. I have found out his secret--he plays with forged _billets +de banque_.' + +'And has the wretched fellow gone so far as this?' + +'He doesn't know it; he believes that the money is the proceeds of +bills he has given to Burke, who affects to get them discounted. See +here--here are a handful of their notes. Guillemain knows all, and +retains the secret as a hold over Burke, whose honesty to himself he +already suspects. If he catch him tripping----' + +'Then----' + +'Why, then, the galleys for life. Such is the system; a villain with +them is worthless if his life isn't at their disposal Satan's bond +completely--all, all. But show me De Vere's room, and leave me alone +with him for half an hour. Let us then meet at my hotel, and concert +future measures.' + +Having left O'Grady with De Vere, I walked out upon the boulevards, my +head full of the extraordinary facts so suddenly thronging one upon the +other. A dash of hope, that for many a day had not visited me, was now +mingled through all my meditations, and I began to think that there was +yet a chance of happiness for me. + +I had not gone many paces when an arm was thrust into mine, and a hearty +chuckling laugh at the surprise rang in my ear. I turned: it was Mr. +Paul Booney, taking his morning's promenade of Paris, and now on his way +home with an enormous bouquet for Madame, which she had taught him to +present to her each day on her appearing in the drawing-room. + +'Ah, Captain, the very man I wanted! We haven't had a moment to +ourselves since your arrival. You must come and take a bit of dinner +with us to-day--thank Heaven, we've no company! I have a leg of pork, +smuggled into the house as if it was a bale of goods from Alexandria; +nobody knows of it but myself and Tim.' + +'Tim! why, have you brought Tim to Paris?' + +'Hush!' said he in a low, cautious voice; 'I 'd be ruined entirely if +Madame was to find him out. Tim is dressed like a Tartar, and stands in +the hall; and Mrs. Rooney believes that he never heard of a civil bill +in his life. But here we are.' + +So saying, he opened a small wicket with a latchkey, and led me into a +large and well-trimmed garden, across which we walked at a rapid pace, +Paul speculating from the closed shutters of his wife's room that he +needed not have hurried home so fast. + +'She's not down yet--one o'clock as I'm a sinner! Come along and sit +down in the library; I'll join you presently.' + +Scarcely had Paul left the room when I began to think over the +awkwardness of my position should I meet Miss Bellew. What course to +follow under the circumstances I knew not; when just at the moment the +door opened, and she entered. Not perceiving me, as I stood in a deep +window-recess, she drew a chair to the fire and sat down. I hardly +ventured to breathe. I felt like one who had no right to obtrude himself +there, and had become, as it were, a spy upon her. A long-drawn breath +burst from me; she started up. I moved slightly forward, and stood +before her. She leaned her hand upon the arm of the chair for support; +her cheek grew deadly pale, and a tremulous quiver shook her lip. + +'Mr. Hinton,' she began; and then as if the very sound of her voice had +terrified her, she paused. 'Mr. Hinton,' resumed she, 'I am sure--nay, +I know--if you were aware of the reasons of my conduct towards you, you +would not only acquit me of all blame, but spare me the pain of our ever +meeting again.' + +'I know them--I do know them,' said I passionately. 'I have been +slandered.' + +'No, you do not, cannot know what I mean,' interrupted she. 'It is a +secret between my own heart and one who is now no more.' + +The last words fell from her one by one, while a single tear rolled from +her eyelid and trickled along her cheek. + +'Yes, yes, Louisa; I do know it--I know all. A chance has told me how +your dear father's name has been used to banish me for ever from your +sight; how a forgery of his handwriting----' + +'What! who could have told you what my father's last note contained?' + +'He who wrote it confessed it in my hearing--Ulick Burke. Nay, I can +even repeat the words' But as I spoke, a violent trembling seized her; +her lips became bloodless; she tottered, and sank upon the chair. I had +only time to spring forward and catch her in my arms, and her head fell +heavily back, and dropped on my shoulder. + +I cannot, if I would, repeat the words which in all the warm eloquence +of affection I spoke. I could mark by her heightened colour that the +life-blood again coursed freely in her veins, and could see that she +heard me. I told her how through every hardship and suffering, in all +the sorrow of disappointed ambition, in the long hours of captivity, +my heart had ever turned to her; and then, when we did meet, to see her +changed! + +'But you do not blame--you cannot blame me if I believed----' + +'No, if you tell me now that but for this falsehood you have not +altered; that your heart is still as much my own as I once thought it.' + +A faint smile played on her lips as her eyes were turned upon me; while +her voice muttered-- + +'And do you still love me?' + +I pressed her hand to my lips in rapture, when suddenly the door opened +and Paul Rooney rushed in. + +'Another candidate for the leg of---- Eh! what's this?' said he, as I +rose and advanced to meet him; while Louisa, blushing deeply, buried her +head in her hand, and then starting up, left the room. + +'Captain, Captain,' said Paul gravely, 'what does this mean? Do you +suppose that because there is some difference in our rank in life, +that you are privileged to insult one who is under my protection? Is it +because you are the Guardsman and I the attorney that you have dared to +take a liberty here which in your own walk you couldn't venture on?' + +'My dear Mr. Rooney, you mistake me sadly.' + +'If I do not mistake you, I'll put a hole in your body as sure as my +name's Paul,' was the quick reply. + +'You do, then, and wrong me to boot. I have been long and ardently +attached to Miss Bellew. From the hour I met her at your house I loved +her. It is the first time we have met since our long separation: I +determined it should not be lost. I 've asked her to be my wife.' + +'You have! And what does she say?' + +'She has consented.' + +'Rum-ti-iddity, iddity!' said Paul, snapping his fingers, and capering +about the room like a man deranged. 'Give me your hand, my buck! I 'd +rather draw the settlements, so help me, than I 'd see the warrant to +make me Master of the Rolls. Who 'd say there isn't luck in a leg of +pork? She's a darling girl; and beautiful as she is, her looks isn't +the best of her--an angel as sure as I am here! And look here'--here +he dropped his voice--'seven thousand a year, that may be made nine! +Hennessy's farm is out of lease in October; and the Cluangoff estate is +let at ten shillings an acre. Hurroo! maybe I won't be drunk to-night; +and bad luck to the Cossack, Tartar, Bohemian, or any other blackguard +I'll let into the house this day or night! Sworn, my lord.' + +After some little discussion, it was arranged that if Louisa would give +her consent to the arrangement, the marriage should take place before +the Rooneys left Paris. Meanwhile, Paul agreed with me in keeping +the whole matter a perfect secret from everybody, Mrs. Rooney herself +included. Our arrangements were scarcely completed when O'Grady +appeared. Having waited for me some time at his hotel, he had set out in +search of me. + +'I'm your man to-day, Paul,' said he. 'You got my note, I suppose?' + +'All right,' said Mr. Rooney, whose double secret of the marriage and +the leg of pork seemed almost too much for him to bear. + +'I suppose I may tell Phil,' said I in a whisper. + +'No one else,' said Paul, as we left the house, and I took O'Grady's arm +down the street. + +'Well, I have frightened De Vere to some purpose,' said O'Grady. 'He has +made a full confession about Burke, who was even a deeper villain than +we supposed. What do you think? He has been the spy of the Bonapartist +faction all this time, and selling old Guillemain as regularly as the +others. To indulge his passion for play, he received the pay of four +different parties, whom he pitted against one another exactly as he +saw proper. Consummate clever scoundrel!--he had to deal with men whose +whole lives are passed in the very practice of every chicanery and +deceit, and yet he has jockied them all. What a sad thing to think that +such abilities and knowledge of mankind should be prostituted to the +lowest and most debasing uses; and that the sole tendency of such +talent should be to dishonour and disgrace its possessor! Some of his +manufactured despatches were masterpieces of cleverness.' + +'Well, where is he now? Still in Paris?' + +'No. The moment he had so far forgotten himself as to strike De Vere, +he forged a passport and returned to London, carrying with him hosts of +papers of the French authorities, which to our Foreign Office will +be very acceptable. De Vere meanwhile feels quite at his ease. He +was always afraid of his companion, yet can't forgive him his last +indignity. + +'No! A blow!' + +'Not at all; you mistake. His regrets have a different origin. It is for +not backing the “rouge” that he is inexorable towards him. Besides, he +is under the impression that all these confessions he has been making +establish for him a kind of moral insolvency act, by which he is to come +forth irresponsible for the past, and quite ready to contract new debts +for the future. At this moment his greatest point of doubt consists in +whether he should marry your cousin, Lady Julia, or Miss Bellew; for, in +his own phrase, “he must do something that way to come round.”' + +'Impudent scoundrel!' + +'Fact, I assure you; and so easy, so unaffected, so free from +embarrassment of any kind is he, that I'm really quite a convert to this +modern school of good manners, when associating with even such as Burke +conveys no feeling of shame or discomfort. More than could be said some +forty years ago, I fancy.' + +It was the hour of my mother's morning reception, and we found the +drawing-room crowded with loungers and fashionable idlers, discussing +the news of the day, and above all the Roni _fête_, the extraordinary +finale to which gave rise to a hundred conjectures--some asserting that +Monsieur de Roni's song was a violent pasquinade against the Emperor +Alexander; others, equally well informed, alleging it was the concerted +signal for a general massacre of the Allies, which was to have begun +at the same moment in the Rue Montmartre. She is a Bonapartist, +a Legitimist, a Neapolitan, an Anversoise,' contended one after +another--my only fear being that some one would enlighten the party by +saying she was the wife of an Irish attorney. All agreed, however, she +was _bien mauvais ton_; that her _fête_ was, with all its magnificence, +anything but select; her supper superb, but too crowded by half; and, +in fact, that Madame Roni had enjoyed the pleasure of ruining herself +to very little other purpose than that of being generally ridiculed and +laughed at. + +'And this niece, or ward, or whatever it is--who can tell anything of +her?' said my mother. + +'Ah, _pardieu!_ she's very handsome,' said Grammont, with a malicious +smile. + +'Perfect,' said another; 'quite perfect; but a little, a very little too +graceful Don't you think so?' + +'Why what do you mean?' said Lady Charlotte, as her eyes sparkled with +animation at the thought of a secret. + +'Nothing,' replied the last speaker carelessly; 'except that one always +detects the _danseuse_. She was thinner when I saw her at Naples.' + +I whispered one word--but one--in his ear, and his face became purple +with shame and confusion. + +'Eh, what is it?' said my mother eagerly. 'John knows something of her +too. John, dearest, let us hear it?' + +'I am in your ladyship's debt as regards one secret,' said O'Grady, +interrupting; 'perhaps I may be permitted to pay it on this occasion. +The lady in question is the daughter of an Irish baronet, the descendant +of a family as old as any of those who now hear me. That baronet +would have been a peer of the realm had he consented to vote once--but +once--with the minister, on a question where his conscience told him to +oppose him. His refusal was repaid by neglect; others were promoted to +rank and honours before him; but the frown of a minister could neither +take away the esteem of his country nor his own self-respect. He is now +dead; but his daughter is the worthy inheritor of his virtues and his +name. Perhaps I might interest the present company as much in her favour +by adding, she possesses something like eight thousand per annum.' + +'Two hundred thousand _livres de rente!_ said Grammont, smacking his +lips with astonishment, 'and perfectly insensible to the tone of mockery +in which O'Grady's last words were spoken. + +'And you are sure of all this?' said my mother. + +O'Grady bowed deeply, but without speaking, while his features assumed +an expression of severe determination I had never witnessed before. I +could not help remarking, that, amid the dismay such an announcement +created in that gossiping and calumnious assembly, my cousin Julia's +eyes shone with an added lustre, and her whole face beamed with a look +of proud and exalted beauty. + +This was now the time to tell O'Grady my secret; and drawing him towards +a window, I said-- + +'Phil, I can wait no longer--you must hear it. I'm going to be married.' + +The words had not left my lips, when O'Grady started back, his face +as pale as death, and his whole frame trembling with eagerness. By a +violent effort, however, he rallied; and as he clutched my arm with his +fingers, he said-- + +'I must be going; these good people have made me forget an appointment. +Make my respectful homage to her ladyship--and the bride. I shall see +you before I leave.' + +'Leave! Why, where are you thinking of going?' + +'To India.' + +'To India!' said Julia, starting round as he spoke. + +'To India!' said I, in amazement. + +He nodded, and turning quickly round, left the room. + +I hastened after him with all my speed, and dashing downstairs was +making for the _porte cochère_, when a shadow beside the doorway caught +my eye. I stopped. It was O'Grady; he was leaning against the wall, +his head buried in his hands. A horrible doubt shot through my heart. +I dared not dwell upon it; but rushing towards him, I called him by his +name. He turned quickly round, while a fierce, wild look glistened in +his eyes. + +'Not now, Hinton, not now!' said he, motioning me away with his hand; +and then, as a cold shudder passed over him, he drew his hand across +his face, and added in a lower tone, 'I never thought to have betrayed +myself thus. Good-bye, my dear fellow, good-bye! It were better we +shouldn't meet again.' + +'My dearest, best friend! I never dreamed that the brightest hour of my +life was to throw this gloom over your heart.' + +'Yes, Jack,' said he, in a voice low and broken, 'from the first hour I +saw her I loved her. The cold manner she maintained towards me at your +father's house----' + +'In my father's house! What do you mean?' + +'When in London, I speak of--when I joined first--your cousin--' + +'My cousin!' + +'Yes, Lady Julia. Are you so impatient to call her wife that you will +not remember her as cousin?' + +'Call her wife! My dear boy, you're raving. It's Louisa Bellew!' + +'What! Is it Miss Bellew you are to marry?' + +'To be sure----' + +But I could not finish the sentence, as O'Grady fell upon my shoulder, +and his strong frame was convulsed with emotion. + +In an instant, however, I tore myself away; and calling out, 'Wait for +me, O'Grady!' I rushed upstairs, peeped hastily into the drawing-room, +and then hurrying along the corridor opened a door at the end. The +blinds of the windows were down, and the room so dark that I could +scarcely perceive if any one were there had not my steps been guided by +a low sob which I heard issue from the end of the sofa. + +'Julia,' said I, rushing forward--'Julia, my dearest cousin! this is no +time to deceive ourselves. He loves you--loved you from the first hour +he met you. Let me have but one word. Can he, dare he hope that you are +not indifferent to him? Let him but see you, but speak to you. Believe +me, you have bent a heart as proud and haughty as your own; and you will +have broken it if you refuse him. There, dearest girl---- Thanks! my +heart's thanks for that!' + +The slightest pressure of her taper fingers sent a thrill through me, +as I sprang up and dashed down the stairs. In an instant I had seized +O'Grady's arm, and the next moment whispered in his ear-- + +'You 've won her!' + + + +CHAPTER LXI. NEW ARRIVALS + +Mr. Paul Rooney's secret was destined to be inviolable as regarded his +leg of pork; for Madame de Roni, either from chagrin or fatigue, did not +leave her room the entire day. Miss Bellew declined joining us; and we +sat down, a party of three, each wrapped up in his own happiness in a +degree far too great to render us either social or conversational It is +true the wine circulated briskly, and we nodded pleasantly now and then +to one another; but all our efforts to talk led to so many blunders and +cross answers that we scarcely ventured on more than a chance phrase or +a good-humoured smile. There were certainly several barriers in the +way of our complete happiness, in the innumerable prejudices of my +lady-mother, who would be equally averse to O'Grady's project as to +my own; but now was not the time to speculate on these, and we wrapped +ourselves up in the glorious anticipation of our success, and cared +little for such sources of opposition as might now arise. Meanwhile, +Paul entered into a long and doubtless very accurate statement of the +Bellew property, to which, I confess, I paid little attention, save +when the name of Louisa occurred, which momentarily aroused me from my +dreaminess. All the wily stratagems by which he had gained his points +with Galway juries, all the cunning devices by which he had circumvented +opposing lawyers and obtained verdicts in almost hopeless cases, however +I might have relished another time, I only now listened to without +interest, or heard without understanding. + +Towards ten o'clock I received more than one hint from O'Grady that +we had promised to take tea at the Place Vendôme; while I myself was +manoeuvring to find out, if we were to adjourn for coffee, what prospect +there might be of seeing Louisa Bellew in the drawing-room. + +It was in that dusky twilight we sat, a time which seems so suited to +the quiet enjoyment of one's claret with a small and chosen party; where +intimacy prevails sufficiently to make conversation more a thing of +choice than necessity; where each man can follow out his own path in +thought and only let his neighbour have a peep here and there into his +dreamings, when some vista opens, or some bold prospect stretches away. +Next to the blazing fire of a winter's hearth, this is the pleasantest +thing I know of. Thus was it, when the door opened, and a dusky outline +of a figure appeared at the entrance. + +'Is Master Phil here?' said a cranky voice there was no mistaking as Mr. +Delany's. + +'Yes, Corny. What's wrong? Anything new?' + +'Where's the Captain?' said he in the same tone. + +'I 'm here, Corny,' said L + +'Well, there's them looking for you without,' said he, 'that'll maybe +surprise you, pleasant as ye are now.' + +A detestable effort at a laugh here brought on a fit of coughing that +lasted a couple of minutes. + +'Who is it?' said I. 'Where are they?' + +A significant gesture with his thumb over his shoulder was the only +reply to my question, while he barked out, 'Don't you see me coughing +the inside out o' me?' + +I started up, and without attending to Paul's suggestion to bring my +friends in, or to O'Grady's advice to be cautious if it were Burke, +hurried outside, where a servant of the house was in waiting to conduct +me. + +'Two gentlemen in the drawing-room, sir,' said he, as he preceded me +down the corridor. + +The next instant the door opened, and I saw my father, accompanied by +another person, who being wrapped up in travelling equipment, I could +not recognise. + +'My dear father I' said I, rushing towards him, when suddenly I stopped +short, as I perceived that instead of the affectionate welcome I looked +for he had crossed his hands behind his back, and fixed on me a look of +stern displeasure. + +'What does this mean?' said I, in amazement; 'it was not thus I +expected----' + +'It was not thus I hoped to have received my son,' said he resolutely, +'after a long and eventful separation. But this is too painful to +endure longer. Answer me, and with the same truth I have always found in +you--is there a young lady in this house called Miss Bellew?' + +'Yes, sir,' said I, and a cold perspiration broke over me, and I could +scarcely support myself. + +'Did you make her acquaintance in Ireland?' + +'Yes, sir.' + +'Did you at that time use every effort to win her affections, and give +her to understand that she had yours?' + +'Yes, sir,' said I more faintly than before, for already some horrible +doubt was creeping on my mind. + +'And have you now, sir,' continued he, in a voice elevated to a higher +pitch--'have you now, sir, when a prospect of a richer alliance presents +itself, dishonoured yourself and my name, by deserting the girl whose +affections you have so gained?' + +'No, sir! that is untrue.' + +'Stop, young man! I have one at hand this moment who may compel you to +retract your words as shamefully as you have boldly said them. Do you +know this gentleman?' + +'Father Loft us!' said I, starting back with astonishment, as the good +priest unfolded a huge comforter from his throat, and stood forth. + +'Yes, indeed! no other,' said he, in a voice of great sadness; 'and +sorry I am to see you this way.' + +'You, surely, my dear friend,' said I--'you cannot believe thus harshly +of me?' + +'If it wasn't for your handwriting, I'd not have believed the Pope of +Rome,' was his reply, as he wiped his eyes. 'But there it is.' + +So saying, he handed to me, with trembling fingers, a letter, bearing +the Paris postmark. + +I tore it open, and found it was written in my own name, and addressed +to Father Loftus, informing him of my deep regret that, having +discovered the unhappy circumstance of her mother's conduct, I was +obliged to relinquish all thoughts of an alliance with Miss Bellow's +family, whose connection with my own had been so productive of heavy +misfortune. This also contained an open note, to be handed by the priest +to Miss Bellew, in which I was made formally to renounce her hand, for +reasons in the possession of Father Loftus. + +In a second the truth flashed across me from whom this plot proceeded; +and scarcely permitting myself time to read the letter through, I called +out-- + +'This is a forgery! I never wrote it, never saw it before!' + +'What!' said my father, starting round, and fixing his eye on the +priest. + +'You never wrote it?' echoed Father Tom. 'Do you say so? Is that your +word as a gentleman?' + +'It is,' said I firmly. 'This day, this very day, I have asked Miss +Bellew to be my wife, and she has consented.' + +Before my father could seize my hand, the good priest had thrown his +arms round my neck and given me an embrace a bear might have envied. +The scene that followed I cannot describe. My poor father, quite +overpowered, sat down upon a chair, holding my hand within both his; +while Father Tom bustled about the room, looking into all the glass and +china ornaments for something to drink, as his mouth, he said, was like +a lime-burner's hat. The honest fellow, it appeared, on receiving the +letters signed with my name, left his home the same night and travelled +with all speed to London, where he found my father just on the eve of +leaving for Paris. Very little persuasion was necessary to induce him to +continue his journey farther. On their arrival at Paris they had gone +to O'Grady's hotel, where, securing Corny*s services, they lost not a +moment in tracking me out in the manner I have mentioned. + +O'Grady's surprise was little inferior to my own, as I introduced +General Hinton and Father Loftus. But as to Mr. Rooney, he actually +believed the whole to be a dream; and even when candles were brought, +and he had taken a patient survey of the priest, he was far from +crediting that my parent was not performed by deputy, till my father's +tact and manner convinced him of his mistake. + +While the priest was recounting some circumstances of his journey, I +took occasion to tell my father of O'Grady's intentions regarding Julia, +which with all the warmth of his nature he at once responded to; and +touching his glass gaily with Phil's, merely added, 'With my best +wishes.' Poor O'Grady caught up the meaning at once, and grasped his +hand with enthusiasm, while the tears started to his eyes. + +It would lead me too far, and perhaps where the goodnature of my reader +might not follow me, were I to speak more of that happy evening. It is +enough to say that Father Loftus won every moment on my father, who also +was delighted with the hearty racinees of honest Paul. Their stores of +pleasantry and fun, so new to him, were poured forth with profusion; and +a party every member of which was more disposed to like one another and +be pleased, never met together. + +I myself, however, was not without my feeling of impatience to reach +the drawing-room, which I took the first favourable opportunity of +effecting--only then perceiving that O'Grady had anticipated me, having +stolen away some time before. + + + + +CHAPTER LXII. CONCLUSION + +It would be even more wearisome to my reader than the fact was worrying +to myself, were I to recount the steps by which my father communicated +to Lady Charlotte the intended marriages, and finally obtained her +consent to both. Fortunately, for some time previous she had been +getting tired of Paris, and was soon brought to suppose that these +little family arrangements were as much 'got up' to afford her an +agreeable surprise and a healthful stimulant to her weak nerves as for +any other cause whatever.' + +With Mrs. Rooney, on the other hand, there was considerable difficulty. +The holy alliance she had contracted with the sovereigns had suggested +so much of grandeur to her expectations that she dreamed of nothing but +archdukes and counts of the empire, and was at first quite inexorable +at the bare idea of the _mésalliance_ that awaited her ward. A chance +decided what resisted every species of argument. Corny Delany, who had +been sent with a note to Mr. Rooney, happened to be waiting in the hall +while Mrs. Rooney passed out to her carriage escorted by the 'Tartar' +of whom we have already made mention. Mrs. Rooney was communicating her +orders to her bearded attendant by a code of signals on her fingers, +when Corny, who watched the proceeding with increasing impatience, +exclaimed-- + +'Arrah, can't you tell the man what you want? Sure, though you have him +dressed like a wild baste, he doesn't forget English.' + +[Illustration: 3-208] + +It is a Tartar!' said Mrs. Rooney, with a contemptuous sneer at Corny +and a forbidding wave of her hand ordaining silence. + +'A Tarther! Oh, blessed Timothy! there's a name for one that comes of +dacent people! He's a county Oarlow man, and well known he is in the +same parts. Many a writ he served--eh, Tim?' + +'Tim!' said Mrs. Rooney, in horror, as she beheld her wild-looking +friend grin from ear to ear, with a most fearful significance of what he +heard. + +'It wasn't my fault, ma'am, at all,' said the Tartar, with a very Dublin +accent in the words; 'it was the master made me.' + +What further explanation Tim might have afforded it is difficult to say, +for Mrs. Rooney's nerves had received too severe and too sudden a shock. +A horrible fear lest all the kingly and royal personages by whom she had +been for some weeks surrounded might only turn out to be Garlow men, or +something as unsubstantial, beset her; a dreadful unbelief of everything +and everybody seized upon her, and quite overcome, she fainted. O'Grady, +who happened to come up at the instant, learned the whole secret at +once, and with his wonted readiness resolved to profit by it. Mrs. Paul +returned to the drawing-room, and ere half an hour was fully persuaded +that as General Hinton was about to depart for Ireland as Commander of +the Forces, the alliance was on the whole not so deplorable as she had +feared. + +To reconcile so many conflicting interests, to conciliate so many +totally opposite characters, was a work I should completely have failed +in without O'Grady's assistance. He, however, entered upon it _con +amore_; and under his auspices, not only did Lady Charlotte receive the +visits of Father Tom Loftus, but Mr. Paul became actually a favourite +with my cousin Julia; and, finally, the grand catastrophe of the drama +was accomplished, and my lady-mother proceeded in all state to wait on +Mrs. Rooney herself, who, whatever her previous pretensions, was so awed +by the condescension of her ladyship's manner that she actually struck +her colours at the first broadside. + +Weddings are stupid things in reality, but on paper they are detestable. +Not even the _Morning Post_ can give them a touch of interest. I shall +not, then, trouble my reader with any narrative of white satin and +orange-flowers, bouquets, breakfasts, and Bishop Luscombe; neither shall +I entertain him with the article in the French _Feuilleton_ as to +which of the two brides was the more strictly beautiful, and which more +lovely. + +Having introduced my reader to certain acquaintances--some of them +rather equivocal ones, I confess--I ought perhaps to add a word of their +future fortunes. + +Mr. Ulick Burke escaped to America, where, by the exercise of his +abilities and natural sharpness, he accumulated a large fortune, and +distinguished by his anti-English prejudices, became a leading member of +Congress. + +Of Lord Dudley de Vere I only know that he has lived long enough, if not +to benefit by experience, to take advantage of Lord Brougham's change in +the law of imprisonment for debt. I saw his name in a late number of +the _Times_, with a debt of some fifteen thousand annexed to it, against +which his available property was eleven pounds odd shillings. + +Father Loftus sleeps in Murranakilty. No stone marks his resting-place; +but not a peasant's foot, for many a mile round, has not pressed the +little pathway that leads to his grave, to offer up a prayer for a good +man and a friend to the poor. + +Tipperary Joe is still to be met on the Kilkenny road. His old red coat, +now nearly russet colour, is torn and ragged; the top-boots have given +place to bare legs, as well tanned as their predecessors; but his merry +voice and cheerful 'Tally-ho!' are still as rich as of yore, and his +heart, poor fellow! as light as ever it was. + +Corny Delany is the amiable proprietor of a hotel in the neighbourhood +of Castlebar, where his habitual courtesy and amenity are as conspicuous +as of yore. He has requested me to take this opportunity of recommending +his establishment to the 'Haythins and Turks' that yearly perform tours +in his vicinity. + +The Rooneys live, and are as hospitable as ever. I dare not venture to +give their address, lest you should take advantage of the information. + +O'Grady and his wife are now at Malta. + +Jack Hinton and his are, as they have every right to be-- + +Your very grateful and obedient Servants. + + +My dear Friends,--You must often have witnessed, in the half-hour which +preludes departure from a dinner-party, the species of quiet bustle +leave-taking produces. The low-voiced announcement of Mr. Somebody's +carriage, the whispered good-night, the bow, the slide, the half-pressed +finger--and he is gone. Another and another succeed him, and the few who +linger on turn ever towards the opening door, and while they affect to +seem at ease, are cursing their coachman and wondering at the delay. + +The position of the host on such an occasion is precisely that of the +author at the close of a volume. The same doubts are his whether the +entertainment he has provided has pleased his guests; whether the +persons he has introduced to one another are mutually satisfied. And, +finally, the same solitude which visits him who 'treads alone some +banquet-hall deserted' settles down upon the weary writer who watches +one by one the spirits he has conjured up depart for ever, and, worse +still, sees the tie snapped that for so long a period has bound him to +his readers; and while they have turned to other and newer sources of +amusement, he is left to brood over the time when they walked together, +and his voice was heard amongst them. + +Like all who look back, he sees how much better he could have done +were he again to live over the past. He regrets many an opportunity of +interesting you lost for ever, many an occasion to amuse you which may +never occur again. It is thus that somehow--insensibly, I believe--a +kind of sadness creeps over one at the end of a volume; misgivings as to +success mingle with sorrows for the loss of our accustomed studies; and, +altogether, the author is little to be envied, who, having enjoyed your +sympathy and good wishes for twelve months, finds himself at last at +the close of the year at the limit of your kindness, and obliged to say +'Good-bye,' even though it condemns him to solitude. + +I did wish, before parting with you at this season, to justify myself +before you for certain things which my critics have laid to my charge; +but on second thoughts I have deemed it better to say nothing, lest by +my defence against manslaughter a new indictment should be framed, and +convict me of murder. + +Such is the simple truth. The faults, the very great faults, of my book +I am as well aware of as I feel myself unable to correct them. But in +justice to my monitors I must say, that they have less often taken me up +when tripping than when I stood erect upon good and firm ground. Yet let +me be grateful for all their kindness, which for critics is certainly +long-lived; and that I may still continue for a season to enjoy their +countenance and yours is the most sincere desire of your very devoted +servant, + +Harry Lorrequer. + +P.S.--A bashful friend desires an introduction to you. May I present Tom +Burke, of Ours? H. 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