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diff --git a/35755.txt b/35755.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0bf2ae2 --- /dev/null +++ b/35755.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16245 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II), 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: The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II) + +Author: Charles James Lever + +Illustrator: Phiz. + +Release Date: April 2, 2011 [EBook #35755] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE, VOL. I *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE + +By Charles James Lever + +With Illustrations By Phiz. + +In Two Volumes + +Vol. I. + +Boston: Little, Brown, And Company + +1899. + + + +TO ALEXANDER SPENCER, ESQ. + +If the public would only prove as indulgent to the faults and demerits +of this volume as You have ever been to those of him who wrote it, I +should be as sanguine of its success as I am now happy in dedicating it +to the Oldest Friend I + +HAVE IN THE WORLD. + +Ever yours, most affectionately, + +Charles Lever. + +Schloss-Riedenburg, Tyrol, + +June 20, 1847. + + + + +PREFACE. + +I wrote this story in the Tyrol. The accident of my residence there was +in this wise: I had travelled about the Continent for a considerable +time in company with my family with my own horses. Our carriage was a +large and comfortable caleche, and our team, four horses; the leaders +of which, well-bred and thriving-looking, served as saddle horses when +needed. + +There was something very gypsy-like in this roving, uncertain existence, +that had no positive bent or limit, and left every choice of place an +open question, that gave me intense enjoyment. It opened to me views of +Continental life, scenery, people and habits I should certainly never +have attained to by other modes of travel. + +Not only were our journeys necessarily short each day, but we frequently +sojourned in little villages, and out-of-the-world spots, where, if +pleased by the place itself, and the accommodation afforded, we would +linger on for days, having at our disposal the total liberty of our +time, and all our nearest belongings around us. + +In the course of these rambles we had arrived at the town of Bregenz, +on the Lake of Constance; where the innkeeper, to whom I was known, +accosted me with all the easy freedom of his calling, and half-jestingly +alluded to my mode of travelling as a most unsatisfactory and wasteful +way of life, which could never turn out profitably to myself or to mine. +From the window where we were standing as we talked, I could descry the +tall summit of an ancient castle, or schloss, about two miles away; +and rather to divert my antagonist from his argument than with any more +serious purpose, I laughingly told my host, if he could secure me such +a fine old chateau as that I then looked at, I should stable my nags and +rest where I was. On the following day, thinking of nothing less than +my late conversation, the host entered my room to assure me that he had +been over to the castle, had seen the baron, and learned that he would +have no objection to lease me his chateau, provided I took it for a +fixed term, and with all its accessories, not only of furniture but cows +and farm requisites. One of my horses, accidentally pricked in shoeing, +had obliged me at the moment to delay a day or two at the inn, and +for want of better to do, though without the most remote intention +of becoming a tenant of the castle, I yielded so far to my host's +solicitation,--to walk over and see it. + +If the building itself was far from faultless it was spacious and +convenient, and its position on a low hill in the middle of a lawn finer +than anything I can convey; the four sides of the schloss commanding +four distinct and perfectly dissimilar views. By the north it looked +over a wooded plain, on which stood the Convent of Mehreran; and beyond +this, the broad expanse of the Lake of Constance. The south opened a +view towards the Upper Rhine, and the valley that led to the Via Mala. +On the east you saw the Gebhardsberg and its chapel, and the lovely +orchards that bordered Bregenz; while to the west rose the magnificent +Lenten and the range of the Swiss Alps,--their summits lost in the +clouds. + +I was so enchanted by the glorious panorama around me, and so carried +away by the thought of a life of quiet labor and rest in such a spot, +that after hearing a very specious account of the varied economies I +should secure by this choice of a residence, and the resources I should +have in excursions on all sides, that I actually contracted to take the +chateau, and became master of the Rieden Schloss from that day. + +Having thus explained by what chance I came to pitch my home in this +little-visited spot, I have no mind to dwell further on my Tyrol +experiences than as they concern the story which I wrote there. + +If the scene in which I was living, the dress of the peasants, the daily +ways and interests had been my prompters, I could not have addressed +myself to an Irish theme; but long before I had come to settle at +Predeislarg, when wandering amongst the Rhine villages, on the vine-clad +slopes of the Bergstrasse, I had been turning over in my mind the Union +period of Ireland as the era for a story. It was a time essentially +rich in the men we are proud of as a people, and peculiarly abounding +in traits of self-denial and devotion which, in the corruption of a few, +have been totally lost sight of; the very patriotism of the time having +been stigmatized as factious opposition, or unreasoning resistance to +wiser counsels. That nearly every man of ability in the land was against +the Minister, that not only all the intellect of Ireland, but all the +high spirit of its squirearchy, and the generous impulses of its people, +were opposed to the Union,--there is no denying. If eloquent appeal and +powerful argument could have saved a nation, Henry Grattan or Plunkett +would not have spoken in vain; but the measure was decreed before it +was debated, and the annexation of Ireland was made a Cabinet decision +before it came to Irishmen to discuss it. + +I had no presumption to imagine I could throw any new light on the +history of the period, or illustrate the story of the measure by any +novel details; but I thought it would not be uninteresting to sketch the +era itself; what aspect society presented; how the country gentleman of +the time bore himself in the midst of solicitations and temptings the +most urgent and insidious; what, in fact, was the character of that man +whom no national misfortunes could subdue, no Ministerial blandishments +corrupt; of him, in short, that an authority with little bias to the +land of his birth has called,--_The First Gentleman of Europe_. + +I know well, I feel too acutely, how inadequately I have pictured what I +desired to paint; but even now, after the interval of years, I look +back on my poor attempt with the satisfaction of one whose aim was not +ignoble. A longer and deeper experience of life has succeeded to the +time since I wrote this story, but in no land nor amongst any people +have I ever found the type of what we love to emblematize by the word +Gentleman, so distinctly marked out as in the educated and travelled +Irishman of that period. The same unswerving fidelity of friendship, the +same courageous devotion to a cause, the same haughty contempt for all +that was mean or unworthy; these, with the lighter accessories of genial +temperament, joyous disposition, and a chivalrous respect for women, +made up what I had at least in my mind when I tried to present to my +readers my Knight of Gwynne. + +That my character of him was not altogether ideal, I can give no better +proof than the fact that during the course of the publication I received +several letters from persons unknown to me, asking whether I had not +drawn my portrait from this or that original, several concurring in +the belief that I had taken as my model The Knight of Kerry, whose +qualities, I am well assured, fully warranted the suspicion. + +For my attempt to paint the social habits of the period, I had but to +draw on my memory. In my boyish days I had heard much of that day, and +was familiar with most of the names of its distinguished men. Anecdotes +of Henry Grattan, Flood, Parsons, Ponsonby, and Curran jostled in my +mind with stories of their immediate successors, the Bushes and the +Plunketts, whose fame has come down to the very day we live in. As a +boy, it was my fortune to listen to the narratives of the men who had +been actors in the events of that exciting era, and who could even show +me in modern Dublin the scenes where memorable events occurred, and not +unfrequently the very houses where celebrated convivialities occurred. +And thus from Drogheda Street, the modern Sackville Street, where the +beaux of the day lounged in all their bravery, to the Circular road, +where a long file of carriages, six in hand, evidenced the luxury and +tone of display of the capital. I was deeply imbued with the features +of the time, and ransacked the old newspapers and magazines with a zest +which only great familiarity with the names of the leading characters +could have inspired. + +Though I have many regrets on the same score, there is no period of my +life in which I have the same sorrow for not having kept some sort of +note-book, instead of trusting to a memory most fatally unretentive +and uncertain. Through this omission I have lost traces of innumerable +epigrams, and _jeux d'esprit_ of a time that abounded in such effusions, +and even where my memory has occasionally relieved the effort, I have +forgotten the author. To give an instance, the witty lines,-- + + "With a name that is borrowed, a title that 's bought, + Sir William would fain be a gentleman thought; + His wit is but cunning, his courage but vapor, + His pride is but money, his money but paper:"-- + +which, wrongfully attributed to a political leader in the Irish house, +were in reality written by Lovel Edgeworth on the well-known Sir William +Gladowes, who became Lord Newcomen; and the verse was not only poetry +but prophecy, for in his bankruptcy some years afterwards the sarcasm +became fact,--"his money was but paper." + +This circumstance of the authorship was communicated to me by Miss Maria +Edgeworth, whose letter was my first step in acquaintance with her, and +gave me a pleasure and a pride which long years have not been able to +obliterate. + +I remember in that letter her having told me how she was in the habit +of reading my story aloud to the audience of her nephews and nieces; a +simple announcement that imparted such a glow of proud delight to me, +that I can yet recall the courage with which I resumed the writing of my +tale, and the hope it suggested of my being able one day to win a place +of honor amongst those who, like herself, had selected Irish traits as +the characteristics to adorn fiction. + +For Con Heffernan I had an original. For Bagenal Daly, too, I was not +without a model. His sister is purely imaginary, but that she is not +unreal I am bold enough to hope, since several have assured me that they +know where I found my type. In my brief sketch of Lord Castlereagh I was +not, I need scarcely say, much aided by the journals and pamphlets +of the time, where his character and conduct were ruthlessly and most +falsely assailed. It was my fortune, however, to have possessed the +close intimacy of one who had acted as his private secretary, and whose +abilities have since raised him to high station and great employment; +and from him I came to know the real nature of one of the ablest +statesmen of his age, as he was one of the most attractive companions, +and most accomplished gentlemen. I have no vain pretence to believe +that by my weak and unfinished sketch I have in any way vindicated the +Minister who carried the Union against the attacks of his opponents, but +I have tried at least to represent him such as he was in the society of +his intimates; his gay and cheerful temperament, his frank nature, and +what least the world is disposed to concede to him, his sincere belief +in the honesty of men whose convictions were adverse to him, and who +could not be won over to his opinions. + +I have not tried to conceal the gross corruption of an era which remains +to us as a national shame, but I would wish to lay stress on the fact +that not a few resisted offers and temptations, which to men struggling +with humble fortune, and linked for life with the fate of the weaker +country, must redound to their high credit. All the nobler their +conduct, as around them on every side were the great names of the land +trafficking for title and place, and shamelessly demanding office for +their friends and relatives as the price of their own adhesion. + +For that degree of intimacy which I have represented as existing +between Bagenal Daly and Freney the robber, I have been once or twice +reprehended as conveying a false and unreal view of the relations of +the time; but the knowledge I myself had of Freney, his habits and his +exploits, were given to me by a well-known and highly-connected Irish +gentleman, who represented a county in the Irish Parliament, and was a +man of unblemished honor, conspicuous alike in station and ability. And +there is still, and once the trait existed more remarkably in Ireland, a +wonderful sympathy between all classes and conditions of people: so that +the old stories and traditions that amuse the crouching listener round +the hearth of the cottage, find their way into luxurious drawing-rooms; +and by their means a brotherhood of sentiment was maintained between the +highest class in the land and the humblest peasant who labored for his +daily bread. + +I tried to display the effect of this strange teaching on the mind of a +cultivated gentleman when describing the Knight of Gwynne. I endeavored +to show the "Irishry" of his nature was no other than the play of those +qualities by which he appreciated his countrymen and was appreciated by +them. So powerful is this sympathy, and so strong the sense of national +humor through all classes of the people, that each is able to entertain +a topic from the same point of view as his neighbor, and the subtle +_equivoque_ in the polished witticism that amuses the gentleman is never +lost on the untutored ear of the unlettered peasant. Is there any other +land of which one can say as much? + +If this great feature of attractiveness pertains to the country and adds +to its adaptiveness as the subject of fiction, I cannot but feel that to +un-Irish ears it is necessary to make an explanation which will serve to +show that which would elsewhere imply a certain blending of station +and condition, is here but a proof of that widespread understanding by +which, however divided by race, tradition, and religion, we are always +able to appeal to certain sympathies and dispositions in common, and +feel the tie of a common country. + +At the period in which I have placed this story the rivalry between +the two nations was, with all its violence, by no means ungenerous. +No contemptuous estimate of Irishmen formed the theme of English +journalism; and between the educated men of both countries there was +scarcely a jealousy that the character which political contest assumed +later on, changed much of this spirit and dyed nationalities with an +amount of virulence which, with all its faults and all its shortcomings, +we do not find in the times of the Knight of Gwynne. + +CHARLES LEVER. + +Trieste, 1872. + + + + + +THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. A FIRESIDE GROUP + +It was exactly forty-five years ago that a group, consisting of three +persons, drew their chairs around the fire of a handsome dinner-room +in Merrion Square, Dublin. The brilliantly lighted apartment, the table +still cumbered with decanters and dessert, and the sideboard resplendent +with a gorgeous service of plate, showed that the preparations had +been made for a much larger party, the last of whom had just taken his +departure. + +Of the three who now drew near the cheerful blaze, more intent, as it +seemed, on confidential intercourse than the pleasures of the table, he +who occupied the centre was a tall and singularly handsome man, of some +six or seven-and-twenty years of age. His features, perfectly classical +in their regularity, conveyed the impression of one of a cold and +haughty temperament, unmoved by sudden impulse, but animated by a spirit +daringly ambitious. His dress was in the height of the then mode, and he +wore it with the air of a man of fashion and elegance. + +This was Lord Castlereagh, the youthful Secretary for Ireland, one whose +career was then opening with every promise of future distinction. + +At his right hand sat, or rather lounged, in all the carelessness +of habitual indolence, a young man some years his junior, his dark +complexion and eyes, his aquiline features, and short, thin upper lip +almost resembling a Spanish face. + +His dress was the uniform of the Foot Guards,--a costume which well +became him, and set off to the fullest advantage a figure of perfect +symmetry. A manner of careless inattention in which he indulged, +contrasted strongly with the quick impatience of his dark glances and +the eager rapidity of his utterance when momentarily excited; for +the Honorable Dick Forester was only cool by training, and not by +temperament, and, at the time we speak of, his worldly education was +scarcely more than well begun. + +The third figure--strikingly unlike the other two--was a man of fifty or +thereabouts, short and plethoric. His features, rosy and sensual, were +lit up by two gray eyes whose twinkle was an incessant provocative to +laughter. The mouth was, however, the great index to his character. It +was large and full, the under lip slightly projecting,--a circumstance +perhaps acquired in the long habit of a life where the tasting function +had been actively employed; for Con Heffernan was a gourmand of the +first water, and the most critical judge of a vintage the island could +boast. Two fingers of either hand were inserted in the capacious pockets +of a white vest, while, his head jauntily leaning to one side, he sat +the very ideal of self-satisfied ease and contentment. The _aplomb_--why +should there be a French word for an English quality?--he possessed was +not the vulgar ease of a presuming or underbred man,--far from it; +it was the impress of certain gifts which gave him an acknowledged +superiority in the society he moved in. He was shrewd, without +over-caution; he was ready-witted, but never rash; he possessed that +rare combination of quick intelligence with strong powers of judgment; +and, above all, he knew men, or at least such specimens of the race as +came before him in a varied life, well and thoroughly. + +If he had a weak point in his character, it was a love of +popularity,--not that vulgar mob-worship which some men court and seek +after; no, it was the estimation of his own class and set he desired to +obtain. He was proud of his social position, and nervously sensitive in +whatever might prejudice or endanger it. His enemies--and Con was too +able a man not to have made some--said that his low origin was the +secret of his nature; that his ambiguous position in society demanded +exertions uncalled for from others less equivocally circumstanced; and +that Mr. Heffernan was, in secret, very far from esteeming the high and +titled associates with whom his daily life brought him in contact. If +this were the case, he was assuredly a consummate actor. No man ever +went through a longer or more searching trial unscathed, nor could an +expression be quoted, or an act mentioned, in which he derogated, even +for a moment, from the habits of "his order." + +"You never did the thing better in your life, my Lord," said Con, as the +door closed upon the last departing guest. "You hit off Jack Massy to +perfection; and as for Watson, though he said nothing at the time, +I 'll wager my roan cob against Deane Moore's hackney--long odds, +I fancy--that you find him at the Treasury to-morrow morning, with a sly +request for five minutes' private conversation." + +"I'm of your mind, Heffernan. I saw that he took the bait,--indeed, to +do the gentlemen justice, they are all open to conviction." + +"You surely cannot blame them," said Con, "if they take a more +conciliating view of your Lordship's opinions when assisted by such +claret as this: this is old '72, if I mistake not." + +"They sold it to me as such; but I own to you I 'm the poorest +connoisseur in the world as regards wine. Some one remarked this evening +that the '95 was richer in bouquet." + +"It was Edward Harvey, my Lord. I heard him; but that was the year he +got his baronetcy, and he thinks the sun never shone so brightly +before; his father was selling Balbriggan stockings when this grape was +ripening, and now, the son has more than one foot on the steps of the +peerage." This was said with a short, quick glance beneath the eyelids, +and evidently more as a feeler than with any strong conviction of its +accuracy. + +"No Government can afford to neglect its supporters, and the +acknowledgments must be proportioned to the sacrifices, as well as to +the abilities of the individuals who second it." + +"By Jove! if these gentlemen are in the market," said Forester, who +broke silence for the first time, "I don't wonder at their price being a +high one; in consenting to the 'Union,' they are virtually voting their +own annihilation." + +"By no means," said the Secretary, calmly; "the field open to their +ambition is imperial, and not provincial; the English Parliament will +form an arena for the display of ability as wide surely as this of +Dublin. Men of note and capacity will not be less rewarded: the losers +will be the small talkers, county squires of noisy politics, and crafty +lawyers of no principles; they will, perhaps, be obliged to remain at +home and look after their own affairs; but will the country be the worse +for that, while the advantages to trade and commerce are inconceivable?" + +"I agree with you there," said Con; "we are likely to increase our +exports, by sending every clever fellow out of the country." + +"Why not, if the market be a better one?" + +"Would n't you spare us a few luxuries for home consumption?" said Con, +as he smacked his lips and looked at his glass through the candle. + +His Lordship paid no attention to the remark, but, taking a small tablet +from his waistcoat-pocket, seemed to study its contents. "Are we certain +of Cuffe; is he pledged to us, Heffernan?" + +"Yes, my Lord, he has no help for it; we are sure of him; he owes the +Crown eleven thousand pounds, and says the only ambition he possesses is +to make the debt twelve, and never pay it." + +"What of that canting fellow from the North,--New-land?" + +"He accepts your terms conditionally, my Lord," said Con, with a sly +roll of his eye. "If the arguments are equal to your liberality, he will +vote for you; but as yet he does not _see_ the advantages of a Union." + +"Not _see_ them!" said Lord Castlereagh, with a look of irony; "why did +you not let him look at them from your own windows, Heffernan? The view +is enchanting for the Barrack Department." + +"The poor man is short-sighted," said Con, with a sigh, "and never could +stretch his vision beyond the Custom House." + +"Be it so, in the devil's name; a commissioner more or less shall never, +stop us!" + +"What a set of rascals," muttered Forester between his teeth, as he +tossed off a bumper to swallow his indignation. + +"Well, Forester, what of your mission? Have you heard from your friend +Darcy?" + +"Yes; I have his note here. He cannot come over just now, but he has +given me an introduction to his father, and pledges himself I shall be +well received." + +"What Darcy is that?" said Heffernan. + +"The Knight of Gwynne," said his Lordship; "do you know him?" + +"I believe, my Lord, there is not a gentleman in Ireland who could not +say yes to that question; while west of the Shannon, Maurice Darcy is a +name to swear by." + +"We want such a man much," said the Secretary, in a low, distinct +utterance; "some well-known leader of public opinion is of great +value just now. How does he vote usually? I don't see his name in the +divisions." + +"Oh, he rarely comes up to town, never liked Parliament; but when he +did attend the House, he usually sat with the Opposition, but, without +linking himself to party, spoke and voted independently, and, strange +to say, made considerable impression by conduct which in any other man +would have proved an utter failure." + +"Did he speak well, then?" + +"For the first five minutes you could think of nothing but his look +and appearance; he was the handsomest man in the House, a little +too particular, perhaps, in dress, but never finical; as he went on, +however, the easy fluency of his language, the grace and elegance of +his style, and the frank openness of his statements, carried his hearers +with him; and many who were guarded enough against the practised power +of the great speakers were entrapped by the unstudied, manly tone of the +Knight of Gwynne. You say truly, he would be a great card in your hands +at this time." + +"We must have him at his own price, if he has one. Is he rich?" + +"He has an immense estate, but, as I hear, greatly encumbered; but don't +think of money with him, that will never do." + +"What's the bait, then? Does he care for rank? Has he any children grown +up?" + +"One son and one daughter are all his family; and as for title, I don't +think that he 'd exchange that of Knight of Gwynne for a Dukedom. His +son is a lieutenant in the Guards." + +"Yes; and the best fellow in the regiment," broke in Forester. "In every +quality of a high-spirited gentleman, Lionel Darcy has no superior." + +"The better deserving of rapid promotion," said his Lordship, smiling +significantly. + +"I should be sorry to offer it to him at the expense of his father's +principles," said Forester. + +"Very little fear of your having to do so," said Heffernan, quickly; +"the Knight would be no easy purchase." + +"You must see him, however, Dick." said the Secretary; "there is no +reason why he should not be with us on grounds of conviction. He is a +man of enlightened and liberal mind, and surely will not think the worse +of a measure because its advocates are in a position to serve his son's +interests." + +"If that topic be kept very studiously out of sight, it were all the +more prudent," said Con, dryly. + +"Of course; Forester will pay his visit, and only advert to the matter +with caution and delicacy. To gain him to our side is a circumstance of +so much moment that I say _carte blanche_ for the terms." + +"I knew the time that a foxhound would have been a higher bribe than a +blue ribbon with honest Maurice; but it's many years since we met, now, +and Heaven knows what changes time may have wrought in him. A smile +and a soft speech from a pretty woman, or a bold exploit of some +hare-brained fellow, were sure to find favor with him, when he would +have heard flattery from the lips of royalty without pride or emotion." + +"His colleague in the county is with us; has he any influence over the +Knight?" + +"Far from it. Mr. Hickman O'Reilly is the last man in the world to have +weight with Maurice Darcy, and if it be your intention to make O'Reilly +a peer, you could have taken no readier method to arm the Knight against +you. No, no; if you really are bent on having him, leave all thought of +a purchase aside; let Forester, as the friend and brother officer of +young Darcy, go down to Gwynne, make himself as agreeable to the Knight +as may be, and when he has one foot on the carriage-step at his +departure, turn sharply round, and say, 'Won't you vote with us, +Knight?' What between surprise and courtesy, he may be taken too short +for reflection, and if he say but 'Yes,' ever so low, he's yours. That's +_my_ advice to you. It may seem a poor chance, but I fairly own I see no +better one." + +"I should have thought rank might be acceptable in such a quarter," said +the Secretary, proudly. + +"He has it, my Lord,--at least as much as would win all the respect any +rank could confer; and besides, these new peerages have no prestige +in their favor yet a while; we must wait for another generation. This +claret is perfect now, but I should not say it were quite so delicate in +flavor the first year it was bottled. The squibs and epigrams on the new +promotions are remembered where the blazons of the Heralds' College are +forgotten; that unlucky banker, for instance, that you made a Viscount +the other day, both his character and his credit have suffered for it." + +"What was that you allude to?--an epigram, was it?" + +"Yes, very short, but scarcely sweet. Here it is:-- + + "'With a name that is borrowed, a title that's bought,--' + +you, remember, my Lord, how true both allegations are,-- + +"'With a name that is borrow'd, a title that's bought, Sir William would +fain be a gentleman thought; While his Wit is mere cunning, his Courage +but vapor, His Pride is but money, his Money but paper.'" + +"Very severe, certainly," said his Lordship, in the same calm tone he +ever spoke. "Not your lines, Mr. Heffernan?" + +"No, my Lord; a greater than Con Heffernan indited these,--one who did +not scruple to reply to yourself in the House in an imitation of your +own inimitable manner." + +"Oh, I know whom you mean,--a very witty person indeed," said the +Secretary, smiling; "and if we were to be laughed out of office, +he might lead the Opposition. But these are very business-like, +matter-of-fact days we 're fallen upon. The cabinet that can give away +blue ribbons may afford to be indifferent to small jokers. But to revert +to matters more immediate: you must start at once, Forester, for the +West, see the Knight, and do whatever you can to bring him towards us. +I say _carte blanche_ for the terms; I only wish our other elevations to +the peerage had half the pretension he has; and, whatever our friend Mr. +Heffernan may say, I opine to the mere matter of compact, which says, so +much for so much." + +"Here's success to the mission, however its negotiations incline," said +Heffernan, as he drained off his glass and rose to depart. "We shall see +you again within ten days or a fortnight, I suppose?" + +"Oh, certainly; I'll not linger in that wild district an hour longer +than I must." And so, with good night and good wishes, the party +separated,--Forester to make his preparations for a journey which, in +those days, was looked on as something formidable. + + + + +CHAPTER II. A TRAVELLING ACQUAINTANCE. + +Whatever the merits or demerits of the great question, the legislative +union between England and Ireland,--and assuredly we have neither the +temptation of duty nor inclination to discuss such here,--the means +employed by Ministers to carry the measure through Parliament were in +the last degree disgraceful. Never was bribery practised with more +open effrontery, never did corruption display itself with more daring +indifference to public opinion; the Treasury office was an open mart, +where votes were purchased, and men sold their country, delighted, as a +candid member of the party confessed,--delighted "to have a country to +sell." + +The ardor of a political career, like the passion for the chase, would +seem in its high excitement to still many compunctious murmurings +of conscience which in calmer moments could not fail to be heard and +acknowledged: the desire to succeed, that ever-present impulse to +win, steels the heart against impressions which, under less pressing +excitements, had been most painful to endure; and, in this way, +honorable and high-minded men have often stooped to acts which, +with calmer judgment to guide them, they would have rejected with +indignation. + +Such was Dick Forester's position at the moment. An aide-de-camp on the +staff of the Viceroy, a near relative of the Secretary, he was intrusted +with many secret and delicate negotiations, affairs in which, had he +been a third party, he would have as scrupulously condemned the tempter +as the tempted; the active zeal of agency allayed, however, all such +qualms of conscience, and every momentary pang of remorse was swallowed +up in the ardor for success. + + + +Few men will deny in the abstract the cruelty of many field-sports they +persist in following; fewer still abandon them on such scruples; and +while Forester felt half ashamed to himself of the functions committed +to him, he would have been sorely disappointed if he had been passed +over in the selection of his relative's political adherents. + +Of this nature were some of Dick Forester's reflections as he posted +along towards the West; nor was the scene through which he journeyed +suggestive of pleasanter thoughts. If any of our readers should +perchance be acquainted with that dreary line of country which lies +along the great western road of Ireland, they will not feel surprised +if the traveller's impressions of the land were not of the brightest or +fairest. The least reflective of mortals cannot pass through a dreary +and poverty-stricken district without imbibing some of the melancholy +which broods over the place. Forester was by no means such, and felt +deeply and sincerely for the misery he witnessed on every hand, and was +in the very crisis of some most patriotic scheme of benevolence, when +his carriage arrived in front of the little inn of Kilbeggan. Resisting, +without much violence to his inclinations, the civil request of the +landlord to alight, he leaned back to resume the broken thread of his +lucubrations, while fresh horses were put to. How long he thus waited, +or what progress his benign devices accomplished in the mean while, this +true history is unable to record; enough if we say that when he next +became aware of the incidents then actually happening around him, he +discovered that his carriage was standing fast in the same place as at +the moment of his arrival, and the rain falling in torrents, as before. + +To let down the glass and call out to the postilions was a very natural +act; to do so with the addition of certain expletives not commonly used +in good society, was not an extraordinary one. Forester did both; but he +might have spared his eloquence and his indignation, for the postilions +were both in the stable, and his servant agreeably occupied in the bar +over the comforts of a smoking tumbler of punch. The merciful schemes so +late the uppermost object of his thoughts were routed in a moment, and, +vowing intentions of a very different purport to the whole household, +he opened the door and sprang out. Dark as the night was, he could see +that there were no horses to the carriage, and, with redoubled anger at +the delay, he strode into the inn. + +"Holloa, I say--house here! Linwood! Where the devil is the fellow?" + +"Here, sir," cried a smart-looking London servant, as he sprang from +the bar with his eyes bolting out of his head from the heat of the last +mouthful, swallowed in a second. "I've been a trying for horses, sir; +but they've never got 'em, though they 've been promising to let us have +a pair this half-hour." + +"No horses! Do you mean that they've not got a pair of posters in a town +like this?" + +"Yes, indeed, sir," interposed a dirty waiter in a nankeen jacket; +for the landlord was too indignant at the rejection of his proposal to +appear again, "we've four pair, besides a mare in foal; but there's a +deal of business on the line this week past, and there's a gentleman in +the parlor now has taken four of them." + +"Taken four! Has he more than one carriage?" + +"No, sir, a light chariot it is; but he likes to go fast." + +"And so do I--when I can," muttered Forester, the last words being an +addition almost independent of him. "Could n't you tell him that there's +a gentleman here very much pressed to push on, and would take it as a +great favor if he'd divide the team?" + +"To be sure, sir, I'll go and speak to him," said the waiter, as he +hurried away on the errand. + +"I see how it is, sir," said Linwood, who, with true servant dexterity, +thought to turn his master's anger into any other channel than towards +himself, "they wants to get you to stop the night here." + +"Confound this trickery! I'll pay what they please for the horses, only +let us have them.--Well, waiter, what does he say?" + +"He says, sir," said the waiter, endeavoring to suppress a laugh, "if +you 'll come in and join him at supper, you shall have whatever you +like." + +"Join him at supper! No, no; I'm hurried, I'm anxious to get forward, +and not the least hungry besides." + +"Hadn't you better speak a word to him, anyhow?" said the waiter, +half opening the parlor door. And Forester, accepting the suggestion, +entered. + +[Illustration: 041] + +In the little low-ceilinged apartment of the small inn, at a table +very amply and as temptingly covered, sat a large and, for his age, +singularly handsome man. A forehead both high and broad surmounted +two clear blue eyes, whose brilliancy seemed to defy the wear of time; +regular and handsome teeth; and a complexion the very type of +health appeared to vouch for a strength of constitution rare at his +advanced age. His dress was the green coat so commonly worn by country +gentlemen, with leather breeches and boots, nor, though the season was +winter, did he appear to have any great-coat, or other defence against +the weather. He was heaping some turf upon the fire as Forester entered, +and, laughingly interrupting the operation, he stood up and bowed +courteously. + +"I have taken a great liberty, sir, first, to suppose that any man at +this hour of the night is not the worse for something to eat and drink; +and, secondly, that he might have no objection to partake of either in +my company." Forester was not exactly prepared for a manner so palpably +that of the best society, and, at once repressing every sign of his +former impatience, replied by apologizing for a request which might +inconvenience the granter. "Let me help you to this grouse-pie, and +fill yourself a glass of sherry; and by the time you have taken some +refreshment, the horses will be put to. I am most happy to offer you a +seat." + +"I am afraid there is a mistake somewhere," said Forester, half timidly. +"I heard you had engaged the only four horses here, and as my carriage +is without, my request was to obtain two if you--" + +"But why not come with me? I 'm pressed, and must be up, if possible, +before morning. Remember, we are forty-eight miles from Dublin." + +"Dublin! But I'm going the very opposite road. I'm for Westport." + +"Oh, by Jove! that is different. What a stupid fellow the waiter is! +Never mind; sit down. Let us have a glass of wine together. You shall +have two of the horses. Old Wilkins must only make his spurs supply the +place of the leaders." + +There was a hearty good-nature in every accent of the old man's voice, +and Forester drew his chair to the table, by no means sorry to spend +some time longer in his company. + +There is a kind of conversation sacred to the occupations of the +table,--a mixture of the culinary and the social, the gustatory with +the agreeable. And the stranger led the way to this, with the art of +an accomplished proficient, and while recommending the good things to +Forester's attention, contrived to season their enjoyment by a tone at +once pleasing and cordial. + +"I could have sworn you were hungry," said he, laughing, as Forester +helped himself for the second time to the grouse-pie. "I know you did +not expect so appetizing a supper in such a place; but Rickards has +always something in the larder for an old acquaintance, and I have been +travelling this road close upon sixty years now." + +"And a dreary way it is," said Forester, "except for this most agreeable +incident. I never came so many miles before with so little to interest +me." + +"Very true; it is a flat, monotonous-looking country, and poor besides; +but nothing like what I remember it as a boy." + +"You surely do not mean that the people were ever worse off than they +seem now to be?" + +"Ay, a hundred times worse off. They may be rack-rented and over-taxed +in some instances now,--not as many as you would suppose, after +all,--but then, they were held in actual slavery, nearly famished, +and all but naked; no roads, no markets; subject to the caprice of the +landowners on every occasion in life, and the faction fights--those +barbarous vestiges of a rude time--kept up and encouraged by those who +should have set the better example of mutual charity and good feeling. +These unhappy practices have not disappeared, but they are far less +frequent than formerly; and however the confession may seem to you a sad +one, to me there is a pride in saying, Ireland is improving." + +"It is hard to conceive a people more miserably off than these," said +Forester, with a sigh. + +"So they seem to your eyes; but let me remark that there is a transition +state between rude barbarism and civilization which always appears +more miserable than either; habits of life which suggest wants that +can rarely, if ever, be supplied. The struggle between poverty and +the desire for better, is a bitter conflict, and such is the actual +condition of this people. You are young enough to witness the fruits +of the reformation; I am too old ever to hope to see them, but I feel +assured that the day is coming." + +"I like your theory well; it has Hope for its ally," said Forester, as +he gazed on the benevolent features of the old squire. + +"It has even better, sir, it has truth; and hence it is that the +peasantry, as they approach nearer to the capital,--the seat of +civilization,--have fewest of those traits that please or attract +strangers; they are in the transition state I speak of; while down in +_my_ wild country, you can see them in their native freshness, reckless +and improvident, but light-hearted and happy." + +"Where may the country be you speak of, sir?" said Forester. + +"The Far West, beside the Atlantic. You have heard of Mayo?" + +"Oh, that is my destination at this moment; I am going beyond Westport, +to visit one of the chieftains there. I have not the honor to know him, +but I conclude that his style of living and habits will not be a bad +specimen of the gentry customs generally." + +"I know that neighborhood tolerably well. May I ask the name of your +future host?" + +"The Knight of Gwynne is his title--Mr. Darcy--" + +"Oh! an old acquaintance,--I may almost say an old friend of mine," said +the other, smiling. "And so you are going to pass some time at Gywnne?" + +"A week or so; I scarcely think I can spare more." + +"They 'll call that a very inhospitable visit at Gwynne, sir; the +Knight's guests rarely stay less than a month. I have just left it, +and there were some there who had been since the beginning of the +partridge-shooting, and not the least welcome of the party." + +"I am sorry I had not the good fortune to meet you there," said +Forester. + +"Make your visit a fortnight, and I 'll join you, then," said the +old man, gayly. "I 'm going up to town to settle a wager,--a foolish +excursion, you 'll say, at my time of life; but it's too late to mend." + +"The horses is put to, sir," said the waiter, announcing the fact for +something like the fourth time, without being attended to. + +"Well, then, it is time to start. Am I to take it as a pledge that I +shall find you at Gwynne this day fortnight?" + +"I cannot answer for my host," said Forester, laughing. + +"Oh! old Darcy is sure to ask you to stay. By the way, would you permit +me to trouble you with five lines to a friend who is now stopping +there?" + +"Of course; I shall be but too happy to be of any service to you." + +The old gentleman sat down, and, tearing a leaf from a capacious +pocket-book, wrote a few hurried lines, which, having folded and sealed, +he addressed, "Bagenal Daly, Esquire, Gwynne Abbey." + +"There, that's my commission; pray add my service to the Knight himself, +when you see him." + +"Permit me to ask, how shall I designate his friend?" + +"Oh! I forgot, you don't know me," said he, laughing. "I have half a +mind to leave the identification with your own descriptive powers." + +"I'd wager five guineas I could make the portrait a resemblance." + +"Done, then; I take the bet," said the other; "and I promise you, on the +word of a gentleman, I am known to every visitor in the house." + +Each laughed heartily at the drollery of such a wager, and, with many a +profession of the pleasure a future meeting would afford to both, they +parted, less like casual acquaintances than as old and intimate friends. + + + + +CHAPTER III. GWYNNE ABBEY + +When Forester parted with his chance companion at Kilbeggan, he pursued +his way without meeting a single incident worth recording; nor, although +he travelled with all the speed of posters, aided by the persuasive +power of additional half-crowns, shall we ask of our reader to accompany +him, but, at one bound, cross the whole island, and stand with us on the +margin of that glorious sheet of water which, begirt with mountains and +studded with its hundred islands, is known as Clue Bay. + +At the southern extremity of the bay rises the great mountain of Croagh +Patrick, its summit nearly five thousand feet above the sea; on the side +next the ocean, it is bold and precipitous, crag rising above crag in +succession, and not even the track of a mountain goat visible on the +dangerous surface; landward, however, a gentle slope descends about the +lower third of the mountain, and imperceptibly is lost in the rich and +swelling landscape beneath. Here, sheltered from the western gales, and +favored by the fertility of the soil, the trees are seen to attain a +girth and height rarely met with elsewhere, while they preserve their +foliage to a much later period than in other parts of the country. + +The ruins of an ancient church, whose very walls are washed by the +Atlantic, show that the luxuriant richness of the spot was known in +times past. They who founded these goodly edifices were no mean judges +of the resources of the land, and the rich woods and blossoming orchards +that still shelter their ruined shrines evidence with what correctness +they selected their resting-places. + +The coast-road which leads from Westport skirts along the edge of the +bay, and is diversified by many a pretty cottage whose trellised walls +and rose-covered porches vouch for the mildness of the climate, and +are in summer resorted to as bathing-lodges by numbers from the inland +counties. The high-road has, however, a grander destiny than to such +humble, though picturesque, dwellings, for it suddenly ceases at the +gate of an immense demesne, whose boundary wall may be seen stretching +away for miles, and at last is traced high up the mountain side, where +it forms the enclosure of a deer park. + +Two square and massive towers connected by an arch form the gateway, +and though ivy and honeysuckle have covered many an architectural device +which once were looked on with pride, a massive armorial escutcheon in +yellow stone forms the key of the arch, while two leopards supporting +a crown, with the motto, "Ne la touchez pas!" proclaim the territory of +the Knight of Gwynne. + +Within, an avenue wide enough for a high-road led through a park of +great extent, dotted with trees single or in groups, and bounded by +a vast wood, whose waving tops were seen for miles of distance. If a +landscape-gardener would have deplored with uplifted hands the glorious +opportunities of embellishment which neglect or ignorance had suffered +to lie undeveloped within these grounds, a true lover of scenery would +have felt delighted at the wild and picturesque beauty around him, as, +sometimes, the road would dip into a deep glade, where the overhanging +banks were clothed with the dog-rose and the sweet-brier, still and +hushed to every sound save the song of the thrush or the not less sweet +ripple of the little stream that murmured past; and again, emerging from +the shade, it wound along some height whence the great mountain might +be seen, or, between the dark foliage, the blue surface of the sea, +swelling and heaving with ever-restless motion. All the elements of +great picturesque beauty were here, and in that glorious profusion with +which nature alone diffuses her wealth,--the mountain, the forest, and +the ocean, the greensward, the pebbly shore, the great rocks, the +banks blue with the violet and the veronica,--and all diversified and +contrasted to produce effects the most novel and enchanting. + +Many a road and many a pathway led through these woods and valleys, +some grass-grown, as though disused, others bearing the track of recent +wheels, still, as you went, the hares and the rabbits felt no terror, +the wood-pigeon sat upon the branch above your head, nor was scared at +your approach; for though the Knight was a passionate lover of sport, it +was his fancy to preserve the demesne intact, nor would he suffer a shot +to be fired within its precincts. These may seem small and insignificant +matters to record, but they added indescribably to the charms of the +spot, completing, as they did, the ideas of tranquillity and peace +suggested by the scene. + +The approach was of some miles in extent, not needlessly prolonged by +every device of sweep and winding, but in reality proceeding by its +nearest way to the house, which, for the advantage of a view over the +sea, was situated on the slope of the mountain. Nor was the building +unworthy of its proud position: originally an abbey, its architecture +still displayed the elaborate embellishment which characterized the +erections of the latter part of the sixteenth century. + +A long facade, interrupted at intervals by square towers, formed the +front, the roof consisting of a succession of tall and pointed gables, +in each of which some good saint stood enshrined in stone; the windows, +throughout this long extent, were surmounted by pediments and figures +not rudely chiselled, but with high pretension as works of art, and +evidencing both taste and skill in the designer; while the great +entrance was a miracle of tracery and carving, the rich architraves +retreating one within another to the full depth of twelve feet, such +being the thickness of the external wall. + +Spacious and imposing as this great mass of building appeared at first +sight, it formed but a fragment of the whole, and was in reality but the +side of a great quadrangle, the approach to which led through one of the +large towers, defended by fosse and drawbridge, while overhead the iron +spikes of a massive portcullis might be seen; for the Abbot of Gwynne +had been a "puissance" in days long past, and had his servitors in +steel, as well as his followers in sackcloth. This road, which was +excessively steep and difficult of access, was yet that by which +carriages were accustomed to approach the house; for the stables +occupied one entire wing of the quadrangle, the servants, of whom +there were a goodly company, holding possession of the suite of rooms +overhead, once the ancient dormitory of the monks of Gwynne. + +In the middle of the courtyard was a large fountain, over which an +effigy of St. Francis had formerly stood; but the saint had unhappily +been used as a lay figure whereupon to brush hunting-coats and soiled +leathers, and gradually his proportions had suffered grievous injury, +till at last nothing remained of him save the legs, which were still +profaned as a saddle-tree; for grooms and stable-boys are irreverent in +their notions, and, probably, deemed it no disgrace for a saint to carry +such honorable trappings. + +The appearance of the abbey from within was even more picturesque than +when seen from the outside, each side of the quadrangle displaying a +different era and style of architecture; for they had been built with +long intervals of time between them, and one wing, a low, two-storied +range, with jail-like windows and a small, narrow portal, bore, on a +three-cornered stone, the date 1304. + +We shall not ask of our readers to accompany us further in our dry +description, nor even cast a glance up at that myriad of strange beasts +which, in dark gray stone, are frowning or grinning, or leaping or +rearing, from every angle and corner of the building,--a strange +company, whose representatives in real life it would puzzle the +zoologist to produce; but there they were, some with a coat-of-arms +between their paws, some supporting an ornamental capital, and others +actually, as it seemed, cutting their uncouth capers out of pure +idleness. + +At the back of the abbey, and terraced on the mountain side, lay a +perfect wilderness of flower-gardens and fishponds, amid which a taste +more profane than that of the founders had erected sundry summer-houses +in rockwork, hermitages without hermits, and shrines without +worshippers, but all moss-grown, and old enough to make them objects of +curiosity, while some afforded glorious points of view over the distant +bay and the rich valley where stands the picturesque town of Westport. + +The interior of this noble edifice was worthy of its appearance from +without. Independent of the ample accommodation for a great household, +there was a suite of state apartments running along the entire front and +part of one wing, and these were fitted up and furnished with a luxury +and costliness that would not have disgraced a royal palace. Here were +seen velvet hangings and rich tapestries upon the walls, floors inlaid +with tulip and sandal-wood, windows of richly stained glass threw a +mysterious and mellow light over richly carved furniture, the triumphs +of that art which the Netherlands once boasted; cabinets, curiously +inlaid with silver and tortoiseshell, many of them gifts of +distinguished donors, few without their associations of story; while +one chamber, the ancient hall of audience, was hung round with armor and +weapons, the trophies of long-buried ancestors, the proud memorials of +a noble line; dark suits of Milan mail, or richly inlaid cuirasses of +Spanish workmanship, with great two-handed swords and battle-axes, and, +stranger still, weapons of Eastern mould and fashion, for more than one +of the house had fought against the Turks, and crossed his broadsword +with the scimitar. + +There were objects rare and curious enough within these walls to stay +and linger over; but even if we dared to take such a liberty with our +reader, our duty would not permit the dalliance, and it is to a very +different part of the building, and one destined for far other uses, +that we must now for a brief space conduct him. + +In a small chamber of the ground-floor, whose curiously groined roof and +richly stained window showed that its occupancy had once been held +by those in station above the common, now sat two persons at a +well-garnished table, while before them, on the wide hearth, blazed a +cheerful fire of bog deal. On either side of the fireplace was a niche, +in which formerly some saintly effigy had stood, but now--such are +Time's chances--an earthenware pitcher, with a pewter lid, decorated +each, of whose contents the boon companions drank jovially to each +other. One of these was a short, fat old fellow of nigh eighty years; +his bowed legs and wide round shoulders the still surviving signs of +great personal strength in days gone by; his hair, white as snow, was +carefully brushed back from his forehead, and tied into "queue" behind. +Old as he was, the features were intelligent and pleasing, the hale and +hearty expression of good health and good temper animated them when +he spoke, nor were the words the less mellow to an Irish ear that they +smacked of the "sweet south," for Tate Sullivan was a Kerry man, and +possessed in full measure the attributes of that pleasant kingdom; he +was courteous and obliging, faithful in his affections, and if a bit +hasty in temper, the very first to discover and correct it. His failing +was the national one,--the proneness to conceal a truth if its +disclosure were disagreeable: he could not bring himself to bear bad +tidings; and this tendency had so grown with years that few who knew his +weakness could trust any version of a fact from his lips without making +due allowance for blarney. + +[Illustration: 051] + +For eight-and-forty years he had been a butler in the Knight's family, +and his reverence for his master went on increasing with his years; +in his eyes he was the happy concentration of every good quality of +humanity, nor could he bring himself to believe that his like would ever +come again. + +Opposite to him sat one as unlike him in form and appearance as he was +in reality by character: a gaunt, thin, hollow-cheeked man of sixty-six +or seven, rueful and sad-looking, with a greenish gray complexion, and a +head of short, close gray hair, cut horseshoe fashion over the temples, +his long thin nose, pointed chin, and his cold green eye only wanted +the additional test of his accent to pronounce him from the North. So it +was, Sandy M'Grane was from Antrim, and a keener specimen of the "cold +countrie" need not have been looked for. + +His dress was a wide-skirted, deep-cuffed brown coat, profusely studded +with large silver buttons richly crested, one sleeve of which, armless +and empty, was attached to his breast; a dark-crimson waistcoat, edged +with silver lace, descended below the hips; black leather breeches +and high black boots,--a strange costume, uniting in some respects the +attributes of in-door life and the road. On the high back of his oaken +chair hung a wide-brimmed felt hat and a black leather belt, from +which a short straight sword depended, the invariable companion of his +journeys; for Sandy had travelled in strange lands, where protective +police were unknown, and his master, Mr. Bagenal Daly, was one who ever +preferred his own administration of criminal law, when the occasion +required such, to the slower process of impartial justice. + +Meagre and fleshless as he looked, he was possessed of great personal +strength, and it needed no acute physiognomist to pronounce, from the +character of his head and features, that courage had not been omitted +among the ingredients of his nature. + +A word of explanation may be necessary as to how a western gentleman, +as Bagenal Daly was, should have attached to his person for some +forty years a native of a distant county, and one all whose habits and +sympathies seemed so little in unison with his own part of the country. +Short as the story is, we should not feel warranted in obtruding it on +our readers if it did not to a certain extent serve to illustrate the +characters of both master and man. + +Mr. Daly when a very young man chanced to make an excursion to the +northern part of the island, the principal object of which was to see +the Giant's Causeway, and the scenery in the neighborhood. The visit was +undertaken with little foresight or precaution, and happened at the very +time of the year when severe gales from the north and west prevail, and +a heavy sea breaks along that iron-bound coast. Having come so far to +see the spot, he was unwilling to be baulked in his object; but still, +the guides and boatmen of the neighborhood refused to venture out, and, +notwithstanding the most tempting offers, would not risk their lives by +an enterprise so full of danger. + +Daly's ardor for the expedition seemed to increase as the difficulty +to its accomplishment grew greater, and he endeavored, now by profuse +offers of money, now by taunting allusions to their want of courage, to +stimulate the men to accompany him; when, at last, a tall, hard-featured +young fellow stood forward and offered, if Daly himself would pull an +oar, to go along with him. Overjoyed at his success, Daly agreed to the +proposal; and although a heavy sea was then running, and the coast +for miles was covered with fragments of a wreck, the skiff was Boon +launched, and stood out to sea. + +"I'll ga wi'ye to the twa caves and Dunluce; but I 'll no engage to ga +to Carrig-a-rede," said Sandy, as the sea broke in masses on the bow, +and fell in torrents over them. + +After about an hour's rowing, during which the boat several times +narrowly escaped being swamped, and was already more than half full of +water, they arrived off the great cave, and could see the boiling surf +as, sent back with force, it issued beneath the rock, with a music +louder than thunder, while from the great cliffs overhead the water +poured in a thick shower, as each receding wave left a part behind it. + +"The cobble" (so is the boat termed there) "is aye drawing in to shore," +said Sandy; "I trow we 'd better pull back, noo." + +"Not till we 've seen Carrig-a-rede, surely," said Daly, on whom danger +acted like the most exciting of all stimulants. + +"Ye may go there by yersel," said Sandy, "when ye put me ashore; I tauld +you, I 'd no ga so far." + +"Come, come, it's no time to flinch now," said Daly; "turn her head +about, and lean down to your oar." + +"I 'll no do it," said Sandy, "nor will I let you either." And as he +spoke, he leaned forward to take the oar from Daly's hand. The young +man, irritated at the attempt, rudely repulsed him, and Sandy, whose +temper, if not as violent, was at least as determined, grappled with him +at once. + +"You'll upset the boat--curse the fellow!" said Daly, who now found that +he had met his match in point of strength and daring. + +"Let go the oar, man," cried Sandy, savagely. + +"Never," said Daly, with a violent effort to free his hands. + +"Then swim for it, if ye like better," said Sandy; and, placing one foot +on the gunwale, he gave a tremendous push, and the next instant they +were both struggling in the sea. For a long time they continued, almost +side by side, to buffet the dark water; but at last Daly began to +falter, his efforts became more labored, and his strength seemed +failing; Sandy turned his head, and seized him in the very struggle that +precedes sinking. They were still far from shore, but the hardy Northern +never hesitated; he held him by the arm, and after a long and desperate +effort succeeded in gaining the land. + +"Ye got a bra wetting for your pains, anyhow," said Sandy; "but I 'm no +the best off either: I 'll never see the cobble mair." + +Such were the first words Bagenal Daly heard when consciousness returned +to him; the rest of the story is soon told. Daly took Sandy into his +service, not without all due thought and consideration on the latter's +part, for he owned a small fishing-hut, for which he expected and +received due compensation, as well as for the cobble and the damage to +his habiliments by salt water,--all matters of which, as they were +left to his own uncontrolled valuation, he was well satisfied with the +arrangement; and thus began a companionship which had lasted to the very +moment we have presented him to our readers. + +It is but fair to say that in all this time no one had ever heard from +Sandy's lips one syllable of the adventure we have related, nor did +he ever, in the remotest degree, allude to it in intercourse with his +master. Sandy was little disposed to descant either on the life or +the character of his master; the Scotch element of caution was mingled +strongly through his nature, and he preferred any other topic of +conversation than such as led to domestic events. Whether that he was +less on his guard on this evening, or that, esteeming Tate's perceptions +at no very high rate, so it is, he talked more freely and unadvisedly +than was his wont. + +"Ye hae a bra berth o' it here, Maister Sullivan," said he, as he +smacked his lips after the smoking compound, whose odor pronounced it +mulled port; "I maun say, that a man wha has seen a good deal of life +might do far war' than settle down in a snug little nook like this; +maybe, ye hae no journeyed far in your time either." + +"Indeed, 'tis true for you, Mr. M'Grane, I had not the opportunities you +had of seeing the world, and the strange people in foreign parts; they +tell me you was in Jericho, and Jerusalem, and Gibraltar." + +"Further than that, Maister Sullivan. I hae been in very curious places +wi' Mr. Daly; this day nine years we were in the Rocky Mountains, among +the Red Indians." + +"The Red Indians! blood alive! them was dangerous neighbors." + +"Not in our case. My master was a chief among them, I was the doctor of +the tribe,--the 'Great Mystery Man,' they cau'd me; my master's name was +the 'Howling Wind.'" + +"Sorra doubt, but it was not a bad one,--listen to him now;" and Tate +lifted his hand to enforce silence, while a cheer loud and sonorous rang +out, and floated in rich cadence along the arched corridors of the old +abbey; "'tis singing he is," added Tate, lower, while he opened the door +to listen. + +"That's no a sang, that's the war-cry of the Manhattas," said Sandy, +gravely. + +"The saints be praised it's no worse!" remarked Tate, with pious horror +in every feature. "I thought he was going to raise the divil. And who +was the man-haters, Mr. M'Grane?" added he, meekly. + +"A vara fine set o' people; a leetle fond o' killing and eating their +neighbors, but friendly and ceevil to strangers; I hae a wife amang them +mysel." + +"A wife! Is she a Christian, then?" + +"Nae muck le o' that, but a douce, good-humored lassie for a' that." + +"And she'sa black?" + +"Na, na; she was a rich copper tint, something deeper than my waistcoat +here, but she had twa yellow streaks over her forehead, and the tip o' +her nose was blue." + +"The mother of Heaven be near us! she was a beauty, by all accounts." + +"Ay, that she was; the best-looking squaw of the tribe, and rare handy +wi' a hatchet." + +"Divil fear her," muttered Tate, between his teeth. "And what was her +name, now?" + +"Her name was Orroawaccanaboo, the 'Jumping Wild Cat.'" + +"Oh, holy Moses!" exclaimed Tate, unable any longer to subdue his +feelings, "I would n't be her husband for a mine of goold." + +"You are no sae far wrong there, my auld chap," said Sandy, without +showing any displeasure at this burst of feeling. + +"And Mr. Daly, had he another--of these craytures?" said Tate, who felt +scruples in applying the epithet of the Church in such a predicament. + +"He had twa," said Sandy, "forbye anein the mountains, that was too auld +to come down; puir lone body, she was unco' fond of a child's head and +shoulders wi' fish gravy!" + +"To ate it! Do you mane for ating, Mr. M'Grane?" + +"Ay, just so; butchers' shops is no sae plenty down in them parts. But +what's that! dinna ye hear a ringing o' the bell at the gate there?" + +"I hear nothing, I can think of nothing! sorra bit! with the thought of +that ould baste in my head, bad luck to her!" exclaimed Tate, ruefully. +"A child's head and shoulders! Sure enough, that's the bell, and them +that's ringing it knows the way, too." And with these words Tate lighted +his lantern and issued forth to the gate tower, the keys of which were +each night deposited in his care. + +As the massive gates fell back, four splashed and heated horses drew +forward a caleche, from which, disengaging himself with speed, Dick +Forester descended, and endeavored, as well as the darkness would +permit, to survey the great pile of building around him. + +"Coming to stop, yer honor?" said Tate, courteously uncovering his white +head. + +"Yes. Will you present these letters and this card to your master?" + +"I must show you your room first,--that's my orders always.--Tim, bring +up this luggage to 27.--Will yer honor have supper in the hall, or in +your own dressing-room?" + +There is nothing more decisive as to the general tone of hospitality +pervading any house than the manner of the servants towards strangers; +and thus, few and simple as the old butler's words were, they were amply +sufficient to satisfy Forester that his reception would be a kindly one, +even though less ably accredited than by Lionel Darcy's introduction; +and he followed Tate Sullivan with the pleasant consciousness that he +was to lay his head beneath a friendly roof. + +"Never mind the supper," said he; "a good night's rest is what I stand +most in need of. Show me to my room, and to-morrow I 'll pay my respects +to the Knight." + +"This way then, sir," said Tate, entering a large hall, and leading +the way up a wide oak staircase, at the top of which was a corridor of +immense extent. Turning short at the head of this, Tate opened a small +empanelled door, and with a gesture of caution moved forwards. Forester +followed, not a little curious to know the meaning of the precaution, +and at the same instant the loud sounds of merry voices laughing and +talking reached him, but from what quarter he could not guess, when, +suddenly, his guide drew back a heavy cloth curtain, and he perceived +that they were traversing a long gallery, which ran along the entire +length of a great room, in the lower part of which a large company was +assembled. So sudden and unexpected was the sight that Forester started +with amazement, and stood uncertain whether to advance or retire, while +Tate Sullivan, as if enjoying his surprise, leaned his hands on his +knees and stared steadily at him. + +The scene below was indeed enough to warrant his astonishment. In the +great hail, which had once been the refectory of the abbey, a party +of about thirty gentlemen were now seated around a table covered with +drinking vessels of every shape and material, as the tastes of the +guests inclined their potations. Claret, in great glass jugs holding +the quantity of two or three ordinary bottles; port, in huge square +decanters, both being drunk from the wood, as was the fashion of the +day; large china bowls of mulled wine, in which the oranges and limes +floated fragrantly; and here and there a great measure made of wood and +hooped with silver, called the "mether," contained the native beverage +in all its simplicity, and supplied the hard drinker with the liquor he +preferred to all,--"poteen." The guests were no less various than the +good things of which they partook. Old, young, and middle-aged; some men +stamped with the air and seeming of the very highest class; others as +undeniably drawn from the ranks of the mere country squire; a few were +dressed in all the accuracy of dinner costume; some wore the well-known +livery of Daly's Club, and others were in the easy negligence of morning +dress; while, scattered up and down, could be seen the red coat of a +hunter, whose splashed and stained scarlet spoke rather for the daring +than the dandyism of its wearer. But conspicuous above all was a figure +who, on an elevated seat, sat at the head of the table and presided over +the entertainment. He was a tall--a very tall--and powerfully built man, +whose age might have been guessed at anything, from five-and-forty to +seventy; for though his frame and figure indicated few touches of time, +his seared and wrinkled forehead boded advanced life. His head was long +and narrow, and had been entirely bald, were it not for a single stripe +of coal-black hair which grew down the very middle of it, and came to a +point on the forehead, looking exactly like the scalplock of an Indian +warrior. The features were long and melancholy in expression,--a +character increased by a drooping moustache of black hair, the points of +which descended below the chin. His eyes were black as a raven's wing, +and glanced with all the brilliancy and quickness of youth, while the +incessant motion of his arched eyebrows gave to their expression +a character of almost demoniac intelligence. His voice was low and +sonorous, and, although unmistakably Irish in accent, occasionally +lapsed into traits which might be called foreign, for no one that knew +him would have accused him of the vice of affectation. His dress was a +claret-colored coat edged with narrow silver lace, and a vest of white +satin, over which, by a blue ribbon, hung the medal of a foreign order; +white satin breeches and silk stockings, with shoes fastened by large +diamond buckles, completed a costume which well became a figure that had +lost nothing of its pretension to shapeliness and symmetry. His hands, +though remarkably large and bony, were scrupulously white and cared for, +and more than one ring of great value ornamented his huge and massive +fingers. Altogether, he was one whom the least critical would have +pronounced not of the common herd of humanity, and yet whose character +was by no means so easy to guess at from external traits. + +Amid all the tumult and confusion of the scene, his influence seemed +felt everywhere, and his rich, solemn tones could be heard high above +the crash and din around. As Forester stood and leaned over the balcony, +the noise seemed to have reached its utmost; one of the company--a +short, square, bull-faced little squire--being interrupted in a song +by some of the party, while others--the greater number--equally loud, +called on him to proceed. It was one of the slang ditties of the +time,--a lyric suggested by that topic which furnished matter for +pamphlets and speeches and songs, dinners, debates, and even duels,--the +Union. + +"Go on, Bodkin; go on, man! You never were in better voice in your +life," mingled with, "No, no; why introduce any party topic here?"--with +a murmured remark: "It's unfair, too. Hickman O'Reilly is with the +Government." + +The tumult, which, without being angry, increased every moment, was at +last stilled by the voice of the chairman, saying,-- + +"If the song have a moral, Bodkin--" + +"It has, I pledge my honor it has, your 'Grandeur.'" said Bodkin. + +"Then finish it. Silence there, gentlemen." And Bodkin resumed his +chant:-- + + "'Trust me, Squire,' the dark man cried, + 'I 'll follow close and mind you, + Nor however high the fence you ride, + I 'll ever be far behind you.' + + "And true to his word, like a gentleman + He rode, there 'a no denying; + And though full twenty miles they ran, + He took all his ditches flying. + + "The night now came, and down they sat, + And the Squire drank while he was able; + But though glass for glass the dark man took, + He left him under the table. + + "When morning broke, the Squire's brains, + Though racking, were still much clearer. + 'I know you well,' said he to his guest, + 'Now that I see you nearer. + + "'You 've play'd me a d----d scurvy trick: + Come, what have I lost--don't tease me. + Is it my soul?' 'Not at all,' says Nick; + 'Just vote for the Union, to please me.'" + +Amid the loud hurrahs and the louder laughter that fol-lowed this rude +chant Forester hurried on to his room, fully convinced that his mission +was not altogether so promising as he anticipated. + +Undeniable in every respect as was the accommodation of his bed-chamber, +Forester lay awake half the night, the singular circumstances in which +he found himself occupied his thoughts, while at intervals came +the swelling sounds of some loud cheers from the party below, whose +boisterous gayety seemed to continue without interruption. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. THE DINNER-PARTY + +It was late on the following day when Forester awoke, nor was it for +some time that he could satisfy himself how far he had been an actor, or +a mere spectator in the scene he had witnessed the preceding night. +The room and the guests were vividly impressed upon his memory, and the +excitement of the party, so different in its character from anything he +had seen in his own country, convinced him that the sea, narrow as it +was, separated two races very unlike in temperament. + +What success should he have in this, his first, mission? was the +question ever rising to his mind; how should he acquit himself among +persons to whose habits of life, thought, and expression he felt himself +an utter stranger? Little as he had seen of the party, that little +showed him that the anti-Union feeling was in the ascendant, and that, +if a stray convert to the Ministerial doctrines was here and there to +be found, he was rather ashamed of his new convictions than resolute to +uphold and defend them. From these thoughts he wandered on to others, +about the characters of the party, and principally of the host himself, +who in every respect was unlike his anticipations. He opened his friend +Lionel's letter, and was surprised to find how filial affection had +blinded his judgment,--keen enough when exercised without the trammels +of prejudice. "If this," thought he, "be a fair specimen of Lionel's +portrait-painting, I must take care to form no high-flown expectations +of his mother and sister; and as he calls one somewhat haughty and +reserved in manner, and the other a blending of maternal pride with a +dash of his father's wilful but happy temperament, I take it for granted +that Lady Eleanor is a cold, disagreeable old lady, and her daughter +Helen a union of petted vanity and capriciousness, pretty much what my +good friend Lionel himself was when he joined us, but what he had the +good sense to cease to be very soon after." + +Having satisfied himself that he fairly estimated the ladies of the +house, he set himself, with all the ingenuity of true speculation, to +account for the traits of character he had so good-naturedly conferred +on them. "Living in a remote, half-civilized neighborhood," thought he, +"without any intercourse save with some country squires and their wives +and daughters, they have learned, naturally enough, to feel their own +superiority to those about them; and possessing a place with such claims +to respect from association, as well as from its actual condition, they, +like all people who have few equals and no superiors, give themselves +a license to think and act independent of the world's prescription, +and become, consequently, very intolerable to every one unaccustomed +to acknowledge their sovereignty. I heartily wish Lionel had left these +worthy people to my own unassisted appreciation of them; his flourish +of trumpets has sadly spoiled the effect of the scene for me;" and with +this not over gracious reflection he proceeded to dress for the day. + +"The squire has been twice at the door this morning, sir," said Lin +wood, as he arranged the dressing apparatus on the table; "he would +not let me awake you, however, and at last said, 'Present my cordial +respects to Mr. Forester, and say, that if he should like to ride with +the hounds, he'll find a horse ready for him, and a servant who will +show him the way.'" + +"And are they out already?" said Forester. + +"Yes, sir, gone two hours ago; they breakfasted at eight, and I heard a +whipper-in say they 'd twelve miles to go to the first cover." + +"Why, it appeared to me that they were up all night." + +"They broke up at four, sir, and except two gentlemen that are gone over +to Westport on business, but to be back for dinner, they're all mounted +to-day." + +"And what is the dinner-hour, Linwood?" + +"Six, sir, to the minute." + +"And it's now only eleven," said Forester to himself, with a wearied +sigh; "how am I to get through the rest of the day? Are the ladies in +the drawing-room, Linwood?" + +"Ladies! no, sir; there are no ladies in the house as I hear of." + +"So much the better, then," thought his master; "passive endurance +is better any day than active boredom, and with all respect for Lady +Eleanor and her daughter, I 'd rather believe them such as Lionel paints +them, than have the less flattering impression nearer acquaintance would +as certainly leave behind it." + +"The old butler wishes to know if you will breakfast in the library, +sir?" asked Linwood. + +"Yes, that will do admirably; delighted I am to hear there is such a +thing here," muttered he; for already he had suffered the disappointment +the host's appearance had caused him to tinge all his thoughts with +bitterness, and make him regard his visit as an act of purgatorial +endurance. + +In a large and well-furnished library, with a projecting window +offering a view over the entire of Clue Bay, Forester found a small +breakfast-table laid beside the fireplace. From the aspect of comfort +in everything around, to the elegance of the little service of Dresden, +with its accompaniment of ancient silver, the most fastidious critic +would not have withheld his praise, and the young Englishman fell into +a puzzled revery how so much of taste for the refinements of daily life +could consort with the strange specimen of society he had witnessed +the preceding evening. The book-shelves, too, in all their later +acquisitions, exhibited judgment in the works selected, and as Forester +ran his eye over the titles, he was more than ever at fault to reconcile +such readings with such habits. On the tables lay scattered the latest +of those political pamphlets which the great contested question of the +day evoked, many of them ably and powerfully written, and abounding +in strong sarcasm; of these, the greater number were attacks on the +meditated Union; some of them, too, bore pencil-marks and annotations, +from which Forester collected that the Knight's party leanings were by +no means to the Government side of the question. + +"It will be hard, however," thought he, "but some inducement may be +found to tempt a man whose house and habits evidence such a taste for +enjoyment; he must have ambitions of one kind or other, and if not +for himself, his son, at least, must enter into his calculations. Your +ascetic or your anchorite may be difficult to treat with, but show me +the man with a good cook, a good stable, a good cellar, and the odds are +there is a lurking void somewhere in his heart, to discover which is to +have the mastery over him forever." Such were the conclusions the young +aide-de-camp came to after long and mature thought, nor were they very +unnatural in one whose short experience of life had shown him few, if +any, exceptions to his theory. He deemed it possible, besides, that, +although the Knight's politics should incline to the side of Opposition, +there might be no very determined or decided objection to the plans +of Government, and that, while proof against the temptations of vulgar +bribery, he might be won over by the flatteries and seductions of which +a Ministry can always be the dispensers. To open the negotiation with +this view was then the great object with Forester, to sound the depth of +the prejudices with which he had to deal, to examine their bearings +and importance, to avoid even to ruffle the slightest of national +susceptibilities, and to make it appear that, while Government could +have little doubt of the justice of their own views, they would not +permit a possibility of misconstruction to interfere with the certainty +of securing the adhesion of one so eminent and influential as the Knight +of Gwynne. + +The old adage has commemorated the facility of that arithmetic which +consists in reckoning "without one's host," and there are few men of +warm and generous temperament who have not fallen, some time or other, +into the error. Forester was certainly not the exception; and so +thoroughly was he imbued with the spirit of his mission, and so +completely captivated by the force of his own argument, that he +walked up and down the ample apartment, repeating aloud, in broken and +disjointed sentences, some of those irrefutable positions and plausible +inducements by which he speculated on success. It was already the dusk +of the evening, the short hours of a wintry day had hurried to a close, +and, except where the bright glare of the wood fire was reflected on the +polished oaken floor, all was shrouded in shadow within that spacious +library. Now pushing aside some great deep-cushioned chair, now removing +from his path the projecting end of a table, Forester succeeded in +clearing a space in which, as he walked, he occasionally gave vent to +such reflections as these:-- + +"The necessities of the Empire, growing power and influence of England, +demand a consolidation of her interests and her efforts--this only to +be effected by the Act of Union--an English Parliament, the real seat +of legislation, and, as such, the suitable position for you, Sir Knight, +whose importance will now increase with the sphere in which you exercise +your abilities. I do not venture," said he, aloud, and with a voice +attuned to its most persuasive accents,--"I do not venture to discuss +with you a question in which your opportunities and judgment have given +you every advantage over me; I would merely direct your attention to +those points on which my relative, Lord Castlereagh, founds the hopes of +obtaining your support, and those views by which, in the success of the +measure, a more extended field of utility will open before you. If I do +not speak more fully on the gratitude which the Ministry will feel for +your co-operation, and the pledges they are most ready and willing to +advance, it is because I know--that is, I am certain that you--in fact, +it is the conviction that--in short--" + +"In short, it is because bribery is an ugly theme, sir, and, like a bad +picture, only comes out the worse the more varnish you lay on it." These +words, uttered in a low, solemn voice from a corner of the apartment, +actually stunned Forester, who now stood peering through the gloom to +where the indistinct figure of a man was seen seated in the recess of a +large chair. + +"Excuse me, Captain Forester," said he, rising, and coming forward with +his hand out; "but it has so seldom been my fortune to hear any argument +in defence of this measure that I could not bring myself to interrupt +you before. Let me, however, perform a more pleasing task, in bidding +you welcome to Gwynne Abbey. You slept well, I trust, for I left you in +a happy unconsciousness of this world and its cares." It required all +Forester's tact to subdue the uncomfortable sensations his surprise +excited, and receive the proffered welcome with becoming cordiality. But +in this he soon succeeded, not less from his own efforts than from the +easy and familiar tone of the speaker. "I have to thank you for a very +pleasant note you were kind enough to bring me," continued he, as he +seated himself beside the fire. "And how have you left Dublin? Is +the popular excitement as great as some weeks ago? or are the people +beginning to see that they have nothing to say to a measure which, like +venison and turtle, is a luxury only to be discussed by their betters?" + +"I should say that there is more of moderation in the tone of all +parties of late," said Forester, diffidently, for he felt all the +awkwardness of alluding to a topic in which his own game had been so +palpably discovered. + +"In that case, your friends have gained the victory. Patriotism, as we +call it in Ireland, requires to be fed by mob adulation; and when +the 'canaille' get hoarse, their idols walk over to the Treasury +benches.--But there 's the bell to dress; and I may as well tell you +that we are the models of punctuality in this house, and you have only +fifteen minutes for your toilet." With these words the old gentleman +arose and strode out of the room, while Forester hastened, on his side, +to prepare for the dinner-hour. + +When the aide-de-camp had accomplished his dressing, he found the party +at table, where a vacant place was left for himself at the right hand of +the host. + +"We gave you three minutes' grace, Captain Forester. I knew a candidate +lose his election in the county by very little more,"--and here he +dropped his voice to a whisper, only audible to Forester,--"and I'd +rather contract to keep the peace in a menagerie full of tigers than +hold in check the passions of twenty hungry fox-hunters while waiting +for dinner." + +Forester cast his eyes over the table, and thought he perceived that his +delay had not prepossessed the company in his favor. The glances which +met his own round the board bore an expression of very unmistakable +dissatisfaction, and although the conversation was free and +unrestrained, he felt all the awkwardness of his position. + +There was at the time we speak of--has it quite disappeared even yet?--a +very prevalent notion in most Irish circles that Englishmen in general, +and English officials in particular, assumed airs of superiority over +the natives of the country, treating them as very subordinate persons +in all the relations in which good-breeding and social intercourse are +concerned; and this impression, whether well or ill founded, induced +many to suspect intentional insult in those chance occurrences which +arise out of thoughtlessness and want of memory. + +If the party now assembled manifested any portion of this feeling, it +was not sufficient to interrupt the flow of conversation, which took its +course in channels the most various and dissimilar. The individuals were +intimate, or, at least, familiar with each other, and, through all the +topics of hunting, farming, politics, and horse-racing, ran a tone of +free and easy raillery that kept a laugh moving up and down the table, +or occasionally occupying it entirely. The little chill which marked +Forester's first entrance into the room wore off soon, and ere the +dinner was over he had drunk wine with nearly every man of the party, +and accepted invitations to hunt, course, and shoot in at least a dozen +different quarters. Lionel Darcy's friend, as he was soon known to be, +was speedily made the object of every attention and civility among +the younger members of the company, while even the older and less +susceptible reserved their judgments on one they had at first received +with some distrust. + +Forester had seen in the capital some specimens of those hard-drinking +habits which characterized the period, but was still unprepared for the +determined and resolute devotion to the bottle which at once succeeded +to the dinner. The claret-jugs coursed round the table with a rapidity +that seemed sleight of hand, and few refrained from filling a bumper +every time. With all his determination to preserve a cool head and a +calm judgment, Forester felt that, what between the noisy tumult of the +scene, the fumes of wine, and the still more intoxicating excitement of +this exaggerated conviviality, he could listen to tales of miraculous +performances in the hunting-field, or feats of strength and activity +more than mortal, with a degree of belief, or, at least, sufferance, he +could scarcely have summoned a few hours earlier. + +If wine expands the heart, it has a similar influence on the credulity; +and belief, when divested of the trammels of cool judgment, takes a +flight which even imagination might envy. It was in a frame of mind +reduced to something like this, amid the loud voices of some, the louder +laughter of others, strange and absurd bets as eagerly accepted as +proffered, that he became suddenly mindful of his own wager made with +the stranger at Kilbeggan, and the result of which he had pledged +himself to test at the very first opportunity. + +No sooner had he mentioned the fact than the interests of the company, +directed before into so many different channels, became centred upon the +circumstance, and questions and inquiries were rapidly poured in +upon him to explain the exact nature of the wager, which in the then +hallucination of the party was not an over-easy task. + +"You are to describe the stranger, Captain Forester, and we are to +guess his name: that I take it is the substance of the bet," said a +thin-faced, dark-eyed man, with a soft silkiness of accent very unlike +the others. This was Mr. Hickman O'Reilly, member for the county, and +colleague of "the Knight" himself. + +"Yes, that is exactly what I mean. If my portrait be recognized, I 've +won my bet." + +"May I ask another question?" said Mr. O'Reilly. "Are we to pronounce +only from the evidence before us, or are we at liberty to guess the +party from other circumstances known to ourselves?" + +"Of course, from the evidence only," interrupted a red-faced man of +about five-and-thirty, with an air and manner which boded no small +reliance on his own opinion; then, mimicking the solemnity of a judge, +he addressed the assembled party thus: "The gentlemen of the jury will +dismiss from their minds everything they may hear touching the case +outside this court, and base their verdict solely on the testimony +they shall now hear." These few words were delivered in a pompous and +snuffling tone, and, it was easy to see, from the laughter they excited, +were an accurate imitation of some one well known to the company. + +Mr. Alexander MacDonough was, however, a tolerably successful mimic, and +had practised as an attorney until the death of an uncle enabled him +to exercise his abilities in the not less crafty calling of a squireen +gentleman; he was admitted by a kind of special favor into the best +county society, for no other reason, as it seemed, than that it never +occurred to any one to exclude him. He was a capital horseman, never +turned from a fence in his life, and a noted shot with the pistol, +in which his prowess had been more than once tried on "the ground." +Probably, however, these qualities would scarcely have procured him +acceptance where he now sat, if it were not that he was looked upon as +the necessary accompaniment of Mr. Hickman O'Reilly and his son Beecham, +not indeed to illustrate their virtues and display their good gifts, but +as a species of moral blister, irritating and maddening them eternally. + +They had both more money and ambition than MacDonough, had taken higher +and wider views of life, and were strenuously working up from the slough +of a plebeian origin to the high and dry soil of patrician security. To +them, MacDonough was a perfect curse; he was what sailors call "a point +of departure," everlastingly reminding them of the spot from which they +had sailed, and tauntingly hinting how, with all their canvas spread, +they had scarcely gained blue water. + +Of the O'Reillys a few words are necessary. Three generations were +still living, each depicting most strikingly the gradations by which +successful thrift and industry transmute the man of humble position into +the influential grade of an estated gentleman: the grandfather was an +apothecary of Loughrea; the son, an agent, a money-lender, and an M. P.; +and the grandson, an Etonian and a fellow-commoner of Balliol, emerging +into life with the prospect of a great estate, unencumbered with debt, +considerable county influence, and, not least of all, the _ricochet_ of +that favor with which the Government regarded his pliant parent. + +To all of these, MacDonough was insupportable, nor was there any visible +escape from the insolent familiarity of his manner. Flattery had been +tried in vain; all their blandishments could do nothing with one who +well knew that his own acceptance into society depended on his powers of +annoying; if not performing the part of torturer, he had no share in +the piece; a quarrel with him was equally out of the question, for even +supposing such an appeal safe,--which it was very far from being,--it +would have reflected most disadvantageously on the O'Reillys to have +been mixed up in altercation with a man so much beneath themselves as +Alexander MacDonough of "The Tenement;" for such, in slang phrase, did +he designate his country residence. + +Let us now return from this long but indispensable digression to the +subject which suggested it. + +So many questions were put, explanations demanded, doubts suggested, +and advices thrown out to Forester that it was not until after a +considerable lapse of time he was enabled to commence his description of +the unknown traveller, nor even then was he suffered to proceed +without interruption, a demand being made by MacDonough that the absent +individual was entitled to counsel, who should look after his interests, +and, if necessary, cross-examine the evidence. All this was done in that +style of comic seriousness to which Forester was so little accustomed +that, what with the effect of wine, heat, and noise, combined with the +well-assumed gravity of the party, he really forgot the absurdity of the +whole affair, and became as eager and attentive as though the event were +one of deep importance. + +It was at last decided that MacDonough should act as counsel for the +unknown, and the company should vote separately, each writing down on a +slip of paper their impression of the individual designated, the result +being tested by the majority in favor of any one person. + +"Gentlemen of the jury," said the host, in a voice of deep solemnity, +"you will hear and well weigh the evidence before you touching this +case, and decide with truth and conscience on its merits; so fill a +bumper and let us begin. Make your statement, Captain Forester." + +The sudden silence succeeding to the tumultuous uproar, the directed +gaze of so many eager faces, and the evident attention with which his +statement was awaited, conspired to make Forester nervous and uneasy; +nor was it without something of an effort that he began the recital +of his adventure at Kilbeggan. Warming as he proceeded, he told of +the accident by which his acquaintance with the unknown traveller was +opened, and at length, having given so much of preliminary, entered upon +the description of the individual. + +Whatever Forester's own impression of the stranger, he soon felt how +very difficult a task portrait-painting was, and how very unlike was his +representation of the individual in question. The sure way to fail in +any untried career is to suspect a failure; this he soon discovered, and +cut short a most imperfect description by abruptly saying, "If you +guess him now, gentlemen, I acknowledge the merit is far more in _your_ +perspicuity than in _my_ powers of description." + +"Only a few questions before you leave the table, sir," said MacDonough, +addressing him with the mock sternness of a cross-examining barrister. +"You said the unknown was gifted with a most courteous and prepossessing +manner: pray what is the exact meaning of your phrase? for we uncouth +inhabitants of a remote region have very imperfect notions on such +subjects. My friend Dan Mahon here would call any man agreeable who +could drink fourteen tumblers, and not forget the whiskey in mixing the +fifteenth; Tom Callaghan, on the other hand, would test his breeding +by what he knew of a wether or a 'short-horn;' Giles, my neighbor here, +would ask, Did he lend you any money? and Mr. Hickman O'Reilly would +whisper a hope that he came of an old family." + +The leer by which these words were accompanied gave them an impertinence +even greater than their simple signification; but however coarse the +sarcasm, it suited well the excited tone of the party, who laughed loud +and vociferously as he uttered it. + +Strange as he was to the party, Forester saw that the allusion had a +personal application, and was very far from relishing a pleasantry +whose whole merit was its coarseness; he therefore answered in a tone of +rather haughty import, "The person I met, sir, was a gentleman; and the +word, so far as I know, has an easy signification, at least to all who +have had opportunities to learn it." + +"I have no doubt of that, Captain Forester," replied MacDonough; "but +if we divided the house on it here, some of us might differ about the +definition. Your neighbor there, Mr. Beecham O'Reilly, thinks his own +countrymen very far down in the scale." + +"A low fellow,--nobody pays attention to him," muttered young O'Reilly +in Forester's ear, as, with a cheek pale as death, he affected to seem +totally indifferent to the continued insolence of his tormentor. + +"I beg your pardon, Mr. Beecham O'Reilly," interposed MacDonough, with a +significant smile, "but your observation was, I think, meant to apply to +me." + +The young man made no answer, but proceeded to fill his glass with +claret, while his hand trembled so much that he spilled the wine about +the table. Forester stared at him, expecting each instant to hear his +reply to this appeal; but not a word escaped him, nor did he even look +towards the quarter from which the taunt proceeded. + +"Didn't I tell you so, sir?" exclaimed MacDonough, with a triumphant +laugh. "There are various descriptions of gentlemen: some are contented +with qualities of home growth, and satisfied to act, think, and deport +themselves like their neighbors; others travel for this improvement, and +bring back habits and customs that seem strange in their own country; +now, I don't doubt but in England that young gentleman would be thought +all that was spirited and honorable." + +"I have nothing to say to that, sir!" replied Forester, sternly; "but +if you would like to hear the opinion my fellow-countrymen would have of +yourself, I could perhaps favor you." + +"Stop, stop! where are you hurrying to? No more of this nonsense," cried +the host, who had suddenly caught the last few words, while conversing +with a person on his left. + +"I beg your pardon most humbly, sir," said MacDonough, whose faced was +flushed with passion, and whose lip trembled, notwithstanding all his +efforts to seem calm and collected, "but the gentleman was about to +communicate a trait of English society. I know you misunderstood him." + +"Perhaps so," said the host; "what was it, Captain Forester? I believe I +did not hear you quite accurately." + +"A very simple fact, sir," said Forester, coolly, "and one that can +scarcely astonish Mr. MacDonough to hear." + +"And which is--?" said MacDonough, affecting a bland smile. + +"Perhaps you 'd ask for a definition, if I employ a single word." + +"Not this time," said MacDonough, still smiling in the same way. + +"You are right, sir, it would be affectation to do so; for though you +may feel very natural doubts about what constitutes a gentleman, you +ought to be pretty sure what makes a blackguard." + +The words seemed to fall like a shell in the company; one burst of +tumultuous uproar broke forth, voices in every tone and accent of +eagerness and excitement, when suddenly the host cried out, "Lock the +doors; no man leaves the room till this matter is settled; there shall +be no quarrelling beneath this roof so long as Bagenal Daly sits here +for his friend." + +The caution came too late--MacDonough was gone. + + + + +CHAPTER V. AN AFTER-DINNER STORY + +The unhappy event which so suddenly interrupted the conviviality of the +party scarcely made a more than momentary impression. Altercations +which ended most seriously were neither rare nor remarkable at the +dinner-tables of the country gentlemen, and if the present instance +caused an unusual interest, it was only because one of the parties was +an Englishman. + +As for Forester himself, his first burst of anger over, he forgot all +in his astonishment that the host was not "the Knight" himself, but only +his representative and friend, Bagenal Daly. + +"Come, Captain Forester," said he, "I owe you an _amende_ for the +mystification I have practised upon you. You shall have it. Your +travelling acquaintance at Kilbeggan was the 'Knight of Gwynne;' and the +few lines he sent through your hands contained an earnest desire that +your stay here might be sufficiently prolonged to admit of his meeting +you at his return." + +"I shall be extremely sorry," said Forester, in a low voice, "if +anything that has occurred to-night shall deprive me of that pleasure." + +"No, no--nothing of the kind," said Daly, with a significant nod of his +head. "Leave that to me." Then, raising his voice, he added: "What do +you say to that claret, Conolly?" + +"I agree with you," replied a rosy-cheeked old squire in a +hunting-dress, "it 's too old,--there's little spirit left in it." + +"Quite true, Tom. Wine has its dotage, like the rest of us. All that the +best can do is to keep longest; and, after all, we scarcely can complain +of the vintage that has a taste of its once flavor at our age. It's a +long time since we were schoolfellows." + +"It is not an hour less than--" + +"Stop, Tom,--no more of that. Of all scores to go back upon, that of +years past is the saddest." + +"By Jove! I don't think so," said the hearty old squire, as he tossed +off a bumper. "I never remember riding better than I did to-day. Ask +Beecham O'Reilly there which of us was first over the double ditch at +the red barn." + +"You forget, sir," said the young gentleman referred to, "that I was on +an English-bred mare, and she doesn't understand these fences." + +"Faith, she wasn't worse off, in that respect, than the man on her +back," said old Conolly, with a hearty chuckle. "If to look before you +leap be wisdom, you ought to be the shrewdest fellow in the country." + +"Beecham, I believe, keeps a good place in Northamptonshire," said his +father, half proudly. + +"Another argument in favor of the Union, I suppose," whispered a guest +in Conolly's ear. + +"Well, well," sighed the old squire, "when I was a young man, we 'd +have thought of bringing over a dromedary from Asia as soon as an +English horse to cross the country with." + +"Dick French was the only one I ever heard of backing a dromedary," said +a fat old farmer-like man, from the end of the table. + +"How was that, Martin?" said Daly, with a look that showed he either +knew the story or anticipated something good. + +"And by all accounts, it 's the devil to ride," resumed the old fellow; +"now it's the head down and the loins up, and then a roll to one side, +and then to the other, and a twist in the small of your back, as if it +were coming in two. Oh, by the good day! Dick gave me as bad as a stitch +in the side just telling me about it." + +"But where did he get his experience, Martin? I never heard of it +before," said Daly. + +"He was a fortnight in Egypt, sir," said the old farmer. "He was in a +frigate, or a man-of-war of one kind or another, off--the devil a one o' +me knows well where it was, but there was a consul there, a son of one +of his father's tenants--indeed, ould French got him the place from the +Government--and when he found out that Dick was on board the ship, what +does he do but writes him an invitation to pass a week or ten days with +him at his house, and that he 'd show him some sport. 'We 've elegant +hunting,' says he; 'not foxes or hares, but a big bird, bigger nor a +goose, they call--'By my conscience, I 'll forget my own name next, for +I heard Dick tell the story at least twenty times." + +"Was it an ostrich?" said Tom. + +"No; nor an oyster either, Mr. Conolly," said the old fellow, who +thought the question was meant to quiz him. + +"'T was an ibis, Martin," cried Daly,--"an ibis." + +"The devil a doubt of it,--that's the name. A crayture with legs as +long as Mr. Beecham O'Reilly's, and a way of going--half-flying, +half-walking--almost impossible to catch; and they hunt him on +dromedaries. Dick liked the notion well, and as he was a favorite on +board, he got lave for three days to go on shore and have his fun; +though the captain said, at parting, 'It's not many dromedaries you'll +see, Dick, for the Pasha has them all up the country at this time.' This +was true enough; sorra a bit of a camel or dromedary could be seen for +miles round. But however it was, the consul kept his word, and had one +for Dick the next morning,--a great strapping baste, all covered with +trappings of one kind or other; elegant shawls and little hearthrugs all +over him. + +"The others were mounted on mules or asses, any way they could, and away +they went to look after the goose--the 'ibis,' I mean. Well, to be short +with it, they came up with one on the bank of the river, and soon gave +chase; he was a fine strong fellow, and well able to run. I wish you +heard Dick tell this part of it; never was there such sport in the +world, blazing away all together as fast as they could prime and load, +at one time at the goose, more times at each other; the mules kicking, +the asses braying, and Dick cantering about on his dromedary, upsetting +every one near him, and shouting like mad. At last he pinned the goose +up in a narrow corner among some old walls, and Dick thought he 'd +have the brush; but sorra step the dromedary would stir; he spurred and +kicked, and beat away with a stick as hard as he could, but it was all +no good,--it was the carpets maybe, that saved him; for there he stood +fast, just for all the world as if he was made of stone. + +[Illustration: 077] + +"Dick pulled out a pistol and fired a shot in his ear, but all to no +use; he minded it no more than before. 'Bad luck to you for a baste,' +says Dick, 'what ails you at all--are you going to die on me? Get along +now.' The divil receave the step I 'll go till I get some spirits +and wather!' says the dromedary, 'for I 'm clean smothered with them +b------y blankets;' and with them same words the head of the baste fell +off, and Dick saw the consul's own man wiping the perspiration off his +face, and blowing like a porpoise. 'How the divil the hind legs bears +it I can't think,' says he; 'for I 'm nigh dead, though I had a taste of +fresh air.' + +"The murther was out, gentlemen, for ye see the consul could n't get +a raal dromedary, and was obliged to make one out of a Christian and a +black fellow he had for a cook, and sure enough in the beginning of the +day Dick says he went like a clipper; 'twas doubling after the goose +destroyed him." + +Whether the true tale had or had not been familiar to most of the +company before, it produced the effect Bagenal Daly desired, by at first +creating a hearty roar of laughter, and then, as seems the consequence +in all cases of miraculous narrative, set several others upon recounting +stories of equal credibility. Daly encouraged this new turn of +conversation with all the art of one who knew how to lead men's thoughts +into a particular channel without exciting suspicion of his intentions +by either abruptness or over zeal: to any ordinary observer, indeed, he +would have now appeared a mere enjoyer of the scene, and not the spirit +who gave it guidance and direction. + +In this way passed the hours long after midnight, when, one by one, +the guests retired to their rooms; Forester remaining at the table +in compliance with a signal which Daly had made him, until at length +Hickman O'Reilly stood up to go, the last of all, save Daly and the +young guardsman. + +Passing round the table, he leaned over Forester's chair, and in a low, +cautious whisper, said, "You have put down the greatest bully in this +country, Captain Forester; do not spoil your victory by being drawn into +a disreputable quarrel! Good night, gentlemen both," said he, aloud, and +with a polite bow left the room. + +"What was that he whispered?" said Daly, as the door closed and they +were left alone together. + +Forester repeated the words. + +"Ah, I guessed why he sat so late; he sees the game clearly enough. +You, sir, have taken up the glaive that was thrown down for his son's +acceptance, and he knows the consequence--clever fellow that he is! Had +you been less prompt, Beecham's poltroonery might have escaped notice; +and even now, if you were to decline a meeting--" + +"But I have no intention of doing any such thing." + +"Of course, I never supposed you had; but were you to be swayed by wrong +counsels and do so, Master Beecham would be saved even yet. Well, well, +I am sorry, Captain Forester, you should have met such a reception +amongst us, and my friend Darcy will be deeply grieved at it. However, +we have other occupation now than vain regret, so to bed as fast as you +can, and to sleep; the morning is not very far off, and we shall have +some one from MacDonough here by daybreak." + +With a cordial shake-hands, like men who already knew and felt kindly +towards each other, they separated for the night. + +While Forester was thus sensible of the manliness and straightforward +resolution that marked Bagenal Daly's character, he was very far from +feeling satisfied with the position in which he found himself placed. A +duel under any circumstances is scarcely an agreeable incident in one's +life; but a meeting whose origin is at a drinking-bout, and where +the antagonist is a noted fire-eater, and by that very reputation +discreditable, is still a great aggravation of the evil. + +To have embroiled himself in a quarrel of this kind would, he well knew, +greatly prejudice him in the estimation of his cold-tempered relative, +Lord Castlereagh, who would not readily forgive an indiscretion that +should mar his own political views. As he sat in his dressing-room +revolving such unpleasant reflections, there came a gentle tap at the +door; he had but time to say, "Come in," when Mr. Hickman O'Reilly +entered. + +"Will you excuse this intrusion, Captain Forester?" said he, with an +accent in which the blandest courtesy was mingled with a well-affected +cordiality; "but I really could not lay my head on a pillow in +tranquillity until I had seen and spoken to you in confidence. This +foolish altercation--" + +"Oh, pray don't let that give you a moment's uneasiness! I believe I +understand the position the gentleman you allude to occupies in your +country society: that license is accorded him, and freedoms taken with +him, not habitually the case in the world at large." + +"You are quite right, your views are strictly accurate. MacDonough is a +low fellow of very small fortune, no family,--indeed, what pretension he +has to associate with the gentry I am unable to guess, nor would you +have ever seen him under this roof had the Knight been at home; Mr. +Daly, however, who, being an old schoolfellow and friend of Darcy's, +does the honors here in his absence, is rather indiscriminate in his +hospitalities. You may have remarked around the table some +singular-looking guests,--in fact, he not only invites the whole +hunting-field, but half the farmers over whose ground we 've ridden, +and, were it not that they have sense and shame enough to see their own +place with truer eyes, we should have an election mob here every day of +the week; but this is not exactly the topic which led to my intruding +upon you. I wished, in the first place, to rest assured that you had no +intention of noticing the man's impertinence, or of accepting any +provocation on his part; in fact, were he admissible to such a +privilege, my son Beecham would have at once taken the whole upon +himself, it being more properly his quarrel than yours." + +Forester, with all his efforts, was unable to repress a slight smile +at these words. O'Reilly noticed it, and colored up, while he added: +"Beecham, however, knew the impossibility of such a course,--in fact, +Captain Forester, I may venture to say, without any danger of being +misunderstood by you, that my son has imbibed more correct notions of +the world and its habits at _your_ side of St. George's Channel than +could have fallen to him had his education been merely Irish." + +This compliment, if well meant, was scarcely very successful, for +Forester bit his lip impatiently, but never made any answer. Whether +O'Reilly perceived the cause of this, or that, like a skilful painter, +he knew when to take his brush off the canvas, he arose at once and +said, "I leave you, then, with a mind much relieved. I feared that a +mistaken estimate of MacDonough's claims in society, and probably some +hot-brained counsels of Mr. Bagenal Daly--" + +"You are quite in error there; let me assure you, sir, his view of the +matter is exactly my own," interrupted Forester, calmly. + +"I am delighted to hear it, and have now only one request: will you +favor us with a few days' visit at Mount O'Reilly? I may say, without +vanity, that my son is more likely to be a suitable companion to you +than the company here may afford; we 've some good shooting and--" + +"I must not suffer you to finish the catalogue of temptations," said +Forester, smiling courteously; "my hours are numbered already, and I +must be back in Dublin within a few days." + +"Beecham will be sorely disappointed; in fact, we came back here to-day +for no other reason than to meet you at dinner. Daly told us of your +arrival. May we hope to see you at another opportunity? are your +engagements formed for Christmas yet?" + +"I believe so,--Dorsetshire, I think," muttered Forester, with a tone +that plainly indicated a desire to cushion the subject at once; and Mr. +O'Reilly, with a ready tact, accepted the hint, and, wishing him a most +cordial goodnight, departed. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. A MESSAGE + +While Forester slept soundly and without a dream, his long, light +breathing scarce audible within the quiet chamber, a glance within the +room of Bagenal Daly would have shown that, whatever the consequences +of the past night's troubles, he, at least, was not likely to be taken +unprepared. On the table in the middle of the apartment two wax candles +burned, two others, as yet unlighted, stood ready on the chimney-piece, +a pistol case lay open, displaying the weapons, whose trim and orderly +appearance denoted recent care, a fact attested by certain cloths +and flannels which lay about; a mould for bullets, and about a dozen +newly-cast balls most carefully filed and rubbed smooth with sandpaper, +were flanked by a small case of surgical instruments, with an ample +supply of lint and ligatures such as are used to secure bleeding +vessels, in the use of which few unprofessional persons could vie with +Bagenal Daly. A few sheets of paper lay also there, on which appeared +some recent writing; and in a large, deep armchair, ready dressed for +the day, sat Daly himself, sound asleep; one arm hung listlessly over +the chair, the other was supported in the breast of his waistcoat. The +strong, stern features, unrelaxed by repose, had the same impassive +expression of cold defiance as when awake, and if his lips muttered, +the accents were not less determined and firm than in his moments of +self-possession. He awoke from time to time and looked at his watch, and +once threw open the sash, and held out his hand to ascertain if it were +raining; but these interruptions did not interfere with his rest, for, +the minute after, he slept as soundly as before. Nor was he the only one +within that house who counted the hours thus anxiously. A lantern in the +stable beamed brightly, showing three horses ready saddled, the bridles +on the neck of each, and ready at a moment's notice to be bitted; while +pacing slowly to and fro, like a sentinel on his post, was the tall +figure of Sandy M'Grane, wrapped in a long cloth cloak, and his head +covered by a cap, whose shape and material spoke of a far-off land +and wild companionship; for it was the skin of a black fox, and the +workmanship the product of a squaw's fair fingers. + +Sandy's patrol was occasionally extended to the gateway, where he +usually halted for a few seconds to listen, and then resumed his path as +leisurely as before. At last, he remained somewhat longer at the gate, +and bent his head more cautiously to hear; then, noiselessly unbarring +and unlocking the door, he leaned out. To an ear less practised than +his own the silence would have been complete. Not so with Sandy, whose +perceptions had received the last finish of an Indian education. He +retired hastily, and, approaching that part of the court beneath his +master's window, gave a long, low whistle. The next moment the casement +was opened, and Daly's head appeared. + +"What now, Sandy? It is but a quarter past five." + +"It may be so; but there 's a horse coming fast up the lower road." + +"Listen again, and try if you hear it still." + +Sandy did so, and was back in a few moments. "He's crossing the bridge +at 'the elms' now, and will be here in less than three minutes more." + +"Watch the gate, then--let there be no noise--and come up by the back +stairs." With these words Daly closed the sash, and Sandy returned to +his post. + +Ere many minutes elapsed, the door of Mr. Daly's chamber was opened, and +Sandy announced Major Hackett of Brough. As Bagenal Daly rose to meet +him, an expression of more than ordinary sternness was stamped upon his +bold features. + +"Your servant informed me that I should find you in readiness to receive +me, Mr. Bagenal Daly," said the Major, a coarse-looking, carbuncled-face +man of about forty; "but perhaps the object of my visit would be better +accomplished if I could have a few minutes' conversation with a Captain +Forester who is here." + +"If you can show me no sufficient cause to the contrary, sir," replied +Daly, proudly, "I shall act for him on this occasion." + +"I beg pardon," said Hackett, smiling dubiously. "The business I came +upon induced me to suspect that, at your time of life--" + +"Go on, sir,--finish your speech," said Daly, with' a fixed and steady +stare which, very far from reassuring, seemed only to increase the +Major's confusion. + +"After all, Mr. Daly," resumed he, more hurriedly, "I have nothing +whatever to do with that. My duty is to convey a message from Mr. +Alexander MacDonough to a gentleman named Forester, here. If you will +accept the proposition, and assist in the necessary arrangements--" + +"We are ready, sir,--quite ready. One of the consequences of admitting +dubious acquaintances to the intimacy of the table is such a case as the +present. I was guilty of one fault in this respect, but I shall show you +I was not unprepared for what might follow it." And as he spoke he +threw open the window and called out, "Sandy! awaken Captain Forester. I +suppose you are ready, Major Hackett, with your friend?" + +"Yes, sir. Mr. MacDonough expects us at Cluan Point." + +"And bridle the horses, Sandy," continued Daly, speaking from the +window. + +"I conclude, from what I see," said Hackett, "that your friend is not +only decided against offering an apology for his offence, but desirous +of a meeting." + +"Who said so, sir?--or what right have you to suppose that any gentleman +of good family and good prospects should indulge such an unnatural +caprice as to wish to risk character and life in a quarrel with Mr. +Alexander MacDonough?" + +"Circumstanced as that gentleman is at this moment, your observations +are unsuitable, sir," replied the Major. + +"So they are," said Daly, hastily; "or, rather, so they would have been, +if not provoked by your remark. But, hang me! if I think it signifies +much; if it were not that some of our country neighbors were +good-natured enough to treat this same Mr. MacDonough on terms of +equality before, I 'd have advised Captain Forester not to mind him. +_My_ maxim is, there are always low fellows enough to shoot one another, +and never come trespassing among the manors of their betters." + +"I must confess myself unprepared, sir, to hear language like this," +said Hackett, sternly. + +"Not a whit more than I feel at seeing myself negotiating a meeting with +a man turned out of the army with disgrace," said Daly, as his face grew +purple with anger. "Were it not that I would not risk a hint of dishonor +on this young Englishman's fame, I 'd never interchange three words with +Major Hackett." + +"You shall answer for this, sir, and speedily too, by G----d!" said +Hackett, moving towards the door. + +Daly burst into an insolent laugh, and said, "Your friend waits us at +Cluan?" The other bowed. "Well, within an hour we'll be there also," +continued the old man; and Hackett retired without adding a syllable. + +"We 've about five miles to ride, Captain Forester," said Daly, as they +issued forth beneath the deeply arched gate of the abbey; "but the road +is a mountain one, and will not admit of fast riding. A fine old place +it is," said he, as, halting his horse, he bestowed a gaze of admiration +on the venerable building, now dimly visible in the gray of the breaking +dawn. "The pious founders little dreamt of men leaving its portals on +such an errand as ours." Then, suddenly, with a changed voice, he added, +"Men are the same in every age and country; what our ancestors did in +steel breastplates, we do now in broadcloth; the law, as they call it, +must always be subservient to human passions, and the judge and the jury +come too late, since their function is penalty, and not prevention." + +"But surely you do not think the world was better in the times when +might was right?" said Forester. + +"The system worked better than we suspect," said the old man, gravely; +"there was such a thing as public opinion among men in those days, +although its exponents were neither pamphlets nor scurrilous newspapers. +The unjust and the cruel were held in reprobation, and the good and the +charitable had a fame as pure, although their deeds were not trumpeted +aloud or graven on marble. Believe me, sir, we are not by any means so +much wiser or better than those who went before us, and even if we were +both, we certainly are not happier. This eternal warfare, this hand to +hand and foot to foot straggle for rank, apd wealth, and power, that +goes on amongst us now, had no existence then, when a man's destiny was +carved out for him, and he was all but powerless to alter or control +it." + +"That alone was no small evil," said Forester, interrupting him; "the +humbly born and the lowly were debarred from all the prizes of life, no +matter how great their deserts or how shining their abilities." + +"Every rank and class had wherewithal to supply its own requirements," +answered Daly, proudly, "and the menial had more time to indulge +affection for his master, when removed from the temptation to rival him. +That strong bond of attachment has all but disappeared from amongst us." +As he spoke, he turned in his saddle and called out, "Can we cross the +sands now, or is the tide making, Sandy?" + +"It's no just making yet," said the servant, cautiously; "but when the +breakers are so heavy off the Point, it's aye safer to keep the road." + +"The road be it, then," muttered Daly to himself; "men never are so +chary of life as when about to risk it." + +The observation, although not intended, reached Forester's ears, and +he smiled and said, "Naturally enough, perhaps we ought not to be too +exacting with fortune." + +Daly turned suddenly round, and, after a brief pause, asked, "What skill +have you with the pistol?" + +"When the mark is a shilling I can hit it, three times out of four, at +twenty paces; but I never fired at a man." + +"That does make a difference," said Daly, musingly; "nothing short of an +arrant coward could look calmly on a fellow-creature while he pointed a +loaded pistol at his heart. A brave man will always have self-possession +enough to feel the misery of his position. Had the feat been one of +vengeance, and not of love, Tell had never hit the apple, sir. But +there,--is not that a fire yonder?" + +"Yes, I see a red glare through the mist." + +"There's a fire on Cluan Point," said Sandy, riding up to his master's +side; "I trow it's a signal." + +"Ah! meant to quicken us, perhaps; some fear of being surprised," said +Daly, hastily; "let us move on faster." And they spurred their horses to +a sharp trot as they descended the gentle slope, which, projecting far +out to sea, formed the promontory of Cluan. + +It was at this moment the glorious panorama of Clue Bay broke forth +before Forester's astonished eyes. He looked with rapture on that +spacious sheet of water, which, in all the majesty of the great ocean, +came heaving and swelling against the rocky coast, or pouring its flood +of foam through the narrow channels between the islands. Of these, the +diversity seemed endless, some rich and verdant, teeming with abundance +and dotted with cottages; others, less fertile, were covered with sheep +or goats; while some, rugged and barren, frowned gloomily amid the +watery waste, and one, far out to sea, a bold and lofty cliff, showed +a faint twinkling star upon its side, the light for the homeward-bound +ships over the Atlantic. + +"That's Clare Island yonder," said Bagenal Daly, as he observed the +direction of Forester's gaze; "I must show you the great cliff there. +What say you if we go to-morrow?" + +"To-morrow!" repeated Forester, smiling faintly; "perhaps so." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. A MOTHER AND DAUGHTER + +When speaking of Gwynne Abbey to our readers, we omitted to mention +a very beautiful portion of the structure,--a small building which +adjoined the chapel, and went, for some reason or other, by name of the +"Sub-Prior's house." More recent in date than the other parts of the +abbey, it seemed as if here the architect had expended his skill in +showing of how much ornament and decoration the Gothic was capable. +The stone selected was of that pinkish hue that is seen in many of the +cathedrals in the North of England,--a material peculiarly favorable to +the labors of the chisel, and when protected from the rude influence +of weather possessing qualities of great endurance. This building +was surrounded on three sides by a flower-garden, which descended by +successive terraces to the edge of a small river pursuing its course to +the sea, into which it emerged about a mile distant. A very unmindful +observer would have been struck at once with the aspect of greater +care and cultivation bestowed here than on other portions of the +abbey grounds. The trim and orderly appearance of everything, from the +flowering shrubs that mingled their blossoms with the rich tracery of +the architraves, to the bright gravel of the walks, denoted attention, +while flowers of rare beauty, and plants of foreign growth, were seen +blending their odors with the wild heaths that shed their perfume +from the mountain side. The brilliant beauty of the spot was, indeed, +heightened by the wild and rugged grandeur of the scene, like a diamond +glittering brighter amid the dark dross of the mine. + +On the side nearest to the bay, and with a view extending to the far-off +Island of Achill, an apartment opened by three large windows, the upper +compartments of which exhibited armorial bearings in stained glass. +If the view without presented a scene of the most grand and varied +loveliness, within this chamber art seemed to have vied in presenting +objects the most strange and beautiful. It was furnished in all the +gorgeous taste of the time of Louis XV. The ceiling, a deep mass +of carving relieved by gold, presented masses of fruit and flowers +fantastically interwoven, and hanging, as though suspended, above the +head. The walls were covered with cabinet pictures of great price, the +very frames objects of wonder and admiration. Large vases of Dresden +and Sevres porcelain stood on brackets of massive silver, and one great +cabinet of ebony, inlaid with gold and tortoiseshell, displayed an +inscription that showed it was a present from the great Louis XIV. +himself. + +It is not, however, to linger over the objects of rare and costly +excellence which here abounded that we have conducted our reader to this +chamber, and whither we would beg of him to accompany us about two hours +later than the events we have narrated in our last chapter. + +At a breakfast-table whose equipage was, in price and elegance, in +exact keeping with all around, were two ladies. The elder of the two was +advanced in life, and although her hair was perfectly white, her regular +features and finely pencilled brow bore, even yet, great marks of +beauty. If the expression of the face was haughty, it was so without +anything of severity; it was a look of pride that denoted rather a +conscious sense of position and its duties, than any selfish assumption +of personal importance. Habitual delicacy of health contributed to +strengthen this expression, lending to it a character which, to an +incautious observer, might convey the notion of weariness or ennui. The +tones of her voice were low and measured, and perfectly devoid of any +peculiar accent. If to those more familiar with the cordial familiarity +of Irish manner, Lady Eleanor Darcy might seem cold and frigid, such +as knew more of the world at large, and were more conversant with +the general habits of society, could detect, through all the seeming +impassive-ness of her air, that desire to please, that anxiety to make +a favorable impression, which marked the character of one who in early +life had been the beauty of her circle. Even now, as she lay back +indolently within the deep recess of a cushioned chair, her attitude +evinced a gracefulness and ease which long habit seemed to have +identified with her nature. + +At the opposite side of the table, and busy in the preparation of the +breakfast, stood a young girl whose age could not have been more than +eighteen. So striking was the resemblance between them that the least +acute of physiognomists must have pronounced her the daughter. She was +dressed with remarkable simplicity; but not all the absence of ornament +could detract from the first impression her appearance conveyed, that +she was one of birth and station. Her beauty was of that character +which, although attributed peculiarly to the Celtic race, seems +strangely enough to present its most striking examples among the +Anglo-Irish. Rich auburn hair, the color varying from dark brown to +a deep golden hue as the light falls more or less strongly on it, was +braided over a brow of classic beauty; her eyes were of blue, that deep +color which, in speaking or in moments of excitement, looks like dark +hazel or even black; these were fringed with long dark lashes which +habitually hung heavily over the eyes, giving them a character of +sleepy, almost indolent, beauty. The rest of her features, in unison +with these, were of that Greek mould which our historians attribute to +the Phoenician origin of our people,--a character by no means rare to be +seen to this day among the peasantry. If the mild and gentle indications +of womanly delicacy were told in every lineament of her face, there were +traits of decision and determination when she spoke not less evident. +From her mother she inherited the placid tenderness of English manner, +while from her father her nature imbibed the joyous animation and +buoyant light-heartedness of the Irish character. + +"And there are but two letters, Mamma," said Helen, "in the bag this +morning?" + +"But two," said Lady Eleanor; "one of them from Lionel." + +"Oh, from Lionel!" cried the young girl, eagerly; "let me see it." + +"Read this first," said Lady Eleanor, as she handed across the table +a letter bearing a large seal impressed with an Earl's coronet; "if I +mistake not very much, Helen, that's my cousin Lord Netherby's writing; +but what eventful circumstance could have caused his affectionate +remembrance of me, after something nigh twenty years' silence, is beyond +my power of divination." + +Helen Darcy well knew that the theme on which her mother now touched was +the sorest subject on her mind, and, however anxiously she might, under +other circumstances, have pressed for a sight of her brother's letter, +she controlled all appearance of the wish, and opened the other without +speaking. + +"It is dated from Carlton House, Mamma, the 2d------" + +"He is in waiting, I suppose," said Lady Eleanor, calmly; and Helen +began. + +"'My dear cousin--'" + +"Ah! so he remembers the relationship at least," muttered the old lady +to herself. + +"'My dear cousin, it would be a sad abuse of the small space a letter +affords, to inquire into the cause of our long silence; faults on both +sides might explain much of it. I was never a brilliant correspondent, +you were always an indolent one; if I wrote stupid letters, you sent +me very brief answers; and if you at last grew weary of giving gold for +brass, I can scarcely reproach you for stopping the exchange. Still, at +the risk of remaining unanswered, once more--'" + +"This is intolerable," broke in Lady Eleanor; "he never replied to the +letter in which I asked him to be your godfather." + +"'Still, at the risk of remaining unanswered, once more I must throw +myself on your mercy. In the selfishness of age,--don't forget, my dear +coz, I am eleven years your senior,--in the selfishness of age--'" + +The old lady smiled dubiously at these words, and Helen read on:-- + +"'I desire to draw closer around me those ties of kindred and family +which, however we may affect to think lightly of, all our experiences in +life tend to strengthen and support. Yes, my dear Eleanor, we are the +only two remaining of all those light-hearted boys and bright-eyed girls +that once played upon the terrace at Netherby. Poor Harry, your old +sweetheart at Eton, fell at Mysore. Dudley, with ability for anything, +would not wait patiently for the crowning honors of his career, took a +judgeship in Madras, and he, too, sleeps in the land of the stranger! +And our sweet Catherine! your only rival amongst us, how short-lived was +her triumph!--for so the world called her marriage with the Margrave: +she died of a broken heart at two-and-twenty! I know not why I have +called up these sad memories, except it be in the hope that, as +desolation deals heavily around us, we may draw more closely to each +other.'" + +Lady Eleanor concealed her face with her handkerchief, and Helen, who +had gradually dropped her voice as she read, stopped altogether at these +words. + +"Read on, dear," said the old lady, in a tone whose firmness was +slightly shaken. + +"'A heart more worldly than yours, my dear Eleanor, would exclaim that +the _parti_ was unequal,--that I, grown old and childless, with few +friends left, and no ambitions to strive for, stood in far more need +of _your_ affectionate regard, than you, blessed with every tie to +existence, did of _mine_; and the verdict would be a just one, for, by +the law of that Nemesis we all feel more or less, even in this world, +_you_, whom we deemed rash and imprudent, have alone amongst us secured +the prize of that happiness we each sought by such different paths.'" + +A heavy sigh that broke from her mother made Helen cease reading, but +at a motion of her hand she resumed: "'For all our sakes, then, my +dear cousin, only remember so much of the past as brings back pleasant +memories. Make my peace with your kind-hearted husband. If I can forgive +_him_ all the pangs of jealousy he inflicted on _me, he_ may well pardon +any slight transgressions on _my_ part, and Lionel, too.--But, first, +tell me how have I offended my young kinsman? I have twice endeavored to +make his acquaintance, but in vain. Two very cold and chilling answers +to my invitations to Netherby are all I have been able to obtain from +him: the first was a plea of duty, which I could easily have arranged; +but the second note was too plain to be mistaken: "I'll none of you," +was the tone of every line of it. But I will not be so easily repulsed: +I am determined to know him, and, more still, determined that he shall +know me. If you knew, my dear Eleanor, how proudly my heart beat at +hearing his Royal Highness speak of him!--he had seen him at Hounslow at +a review. It was a slight incident, but I am certain your son never told +it, and so I must. Lionel, in passing with his company, forgot to +lower the regimental flag before the Prince, on which Lord Maxwell, the +colonel, the most passionate man in England, rode up, and said something +in an angry tone. "I beg pardon, Colonel," said the Prince, "if I +interfere with the details of duty, but I have remarked that young +officer before, and, trust me, he 'll come off 'with flying colors,' on +more occasions than the present." The _mot_ was slight, but the flattery +was perfect; indeed, there is not another man in the kingdom can compete +with his Royal Highness on this ground. Fascination is the only +word that can express the charm of his manner. To bring Lionel more +particularly under the Prince's notice, has long been a favorite scheme +of mine; and I may say, without arrogance, that my opportunities are not +inferior to most men's in this respect; I am an old courtier now,--no +small boast for one who still retains his share of favor. If the son +have any of his father's gifts, his success with the Prince is +certain. The manner of the highly-bred Irish gentleman has been already +pronounced by his Royal Highness as the type of what manner should +be, and, with your assistance, I have little doubt of seeing Lionel +appointed on the staff, here. + +"'Now, I must hazard my reputation a little, and ask what is the name of +your second boy, and what is he doing?'" + +Helen burst into a fit of laughter at these words, nor could Lady +Eleanor's chagrin prevent her joining in the emotion. + +"This, he shall certainly have an answer to," said the old lady, +recovering her self-possession and her pride; "he shall hear that my +second boy is called Helen." + +"After all, Mamma, is it not very kind of him to remember even so much?" + +"I remember even more, Helen," interrupted Lady Eleanor; "and no great +kindness in the act either." + +"Shall I read all the possible and impossible chances of pushing my +fortune in the Army or Navy, Mamma?" said Helen, archly, "for I see that +his Lordship is most profuse in offers for my advancement,--nay, if +I have a clerical vocation, here is a living actually waiting my +acceptance." + +"Let us rather look for something that may explain the riddle, my dear," +said Lady Eleanor, taking the letter in her own hand, while she lightly +skimmed over the last page. "No, I can find no clew to it here--Stay, +what have we in this corner?--'Politically speaking, there is no news +here; indeed, in that respect, _your_ side of the Channel engrosses +all the interest; the great question of the "Union" still occupies all +attention. Virtually, _we_ know the ministry have the majority, but +there will be still a very respectable fight, to amuse the world withal. +How does the Knight vote? With us, I hope and trust, for although I may +tell you, in confidence, the result is certain, his support would be +very grateful to the Government, and, while he himself can afford to +smile at ministerial flatteries, Lionel is a young fellow whom rapid +promotion would well become, and who would speedily distinguish himself, +if the occasion were favorable. At all events, let the Knight not vote +_against_ the minister; this would be a crime never to be forgiven, and +personally offensive to his Royal Highness; and I trust Darcy is too +good a sportsman to prefer riding the last horse, even should he not +wish to mount the winner.'" + +Here the letter concluded, amid protestations of regard most +affectionately worded, and warm wishes for a renewal of intimacy, only +to cease with life. Across this was written, with a different ink, and +in a hurried hand: "I have this moment seen Mr. Pitt; the Knight's vote +is very important. He may make any terms he pleases,--Pitt spoke of a +peerage; but I suppose that would not be thought advisable. Let me hear +_your_ opinion. Lionel has been gazetted to a company this morning, _en +attendant_ better." + +Lady Eleanor, who had read these last lines to herself, here laid down +the letter without speaking, while the slight flush of her cheek and the +increased brilliancy of her eyes showed that her feelings were deeply +and powerfully excited. + +"Well, Mamma, have you found the solution to this mystery?" said Helen, +as she gazed with affectionate solicitude on her mother's features. + +"How unchangeable a thing is nature!" muttered Lady Eleanor, +unconsciously, aloud; "that boy was a crafty tuft-hunter at Eton." + +"Of whom are you speaking, Mamma?" + +"Lord Netherby, my dear, who would seem to have cultivated his natural +gift with great success; but," added she, after a pause, and in a voice +scarcely above a whisper, "I am scarcely as easy a dupe now as when he +persuaded me to take ash-berries in exchange for cherries. Let us hear +what Lionel says." + +"As usual, Mamma, four lines in each page, and the last a blank," said +Helen, laughing:--"'My dear mother, what blandishments have you been +throwing over the War Office? They have just given me my company, which, +by the ordinary rules of the service, I had no pretension to hope for, +these five years to come! Our colonel, too, a perfect Tartar, overwhelms +me with civilities, and promises me a leave of absence on the first +vacancy. Have you seen Forester, of ours? and how do you like him? A +little cold or so at first, but _you_ will not dislike that. His riding +will please my father. Get him to sing, if you can; his taste and voice +are both first-rate. Your worthy relative, Lord Netherby, bores me with +invitations to his houses, town and country. I say "No;" but he won't +be denied. Was he not rude, or indifferent, or something or other, once +upon a time, to the ancient house of Darcy? Give me the _consigne_, I +pray you, for I hear he has the best cock-shooting in England; and let +my virtue, if possible, be rewarded by a little indulgence. Tell Helen +they are all giving up powder here, and wear their hair as she does; but +not one of them half as good-looking. + +Yours, as ever, + +Lionel Darcy. + +Hounslow, January 1st, 1800'" + + +"Is that Sullivan, there?" said Lady Eleanor, as her daughter finished +the reading of this brief epistle. "What does he mean by staring so at +the window? The old man seems to have lost his senses!" + +"Ochone arie! ochone! ochone!" cried Tate, wringing his hands with the +gestures of violent grief, as he moved up and down before the windows. + +"What has happened, Tate?" said Helen, as she threw open the sash to +address him. + +"Ochone! he's kilt--he's murthered--cut down like a daisy in a May +morning. And he, the iligant, fine young man!" + +"Whom do you mean? Speak plainly, Sullivan," said the commanding voice +of Lady Eleanor. "What is it?" + +"'Tis the young officer from England, my lady, that came down the night +before last to see the master. Oh, murther! murther! if his honor was +here, the sorra bit of this grief we 'd have to-day--ochone!" + +"Well, go on," said his mistress, sternly. + +"And if he came down for joy, ''t is sorrow he supped for it,' the young +crayture! They soon finished him." + +"Once for all, sir, speak out plainly, and say what has occurred." + +"It's Mr. Bagenal Daly done it all, my lady,--divil a one of me cares +who hears me say it. He's a cruel man, ould as he is. He made him fight +a duel, the darling young man,--the 'moral' of Master Lionel himself; +and now he's kilt--ochone! ochone!" + +"Can this dreadful story be true, Helen?" said Lady Eleanor, as the +faint color left her features. "Call Margaret; or, stay--Sullivan, is +Mr. Daly here?" + +"That he is, never fear him. He's looking at his morning's work--he's in +the room where they carried the corpse; and the fine corpse it is." + +"Go tell Mr. Daly that Lady Eleanor desires to see him at once." + +"Go, and lose no time, Tate," said Helen, as, almost fainting with +terror, she half pushed the old man on his errand. + +The mother and daughter sat silently gazing on each other for several +minutes, terror and dismay depicted in the face of each, nor were they +conscious of the lapse of time, when the door opening presented Mr. +Bagenal Daly before them. He was dressed in his usual suit of dark +brown, and with all his accustomed neatness. His long cravat, which, +edged with deep lace, hung negligently over his waistcoat, was spotless +in color and accurate in every fold, while his massive features were +devoid of the slightest signs of emotion or excitement. + +For an instant Lady Eleanor was deceived by all these evidences of +tranquillity, but a glance at old Tate's face, as he stood near the +door, assured her that from such signs she had nothing to hope. Twice +had Mr. Bagenal Daly performed his courteous salutations, which, in the +etiquette of a past time, he made separately to each lady, and still +Lady Eleanor had not summoned courage to address him. At last he said,-- + +"Have I been mistaken, and must I apologize for a visit at an hour so +unseemly? But I heard that your Ladyship wished to see me." + +"Quite true, Mr. Daly," interrupted Lady Eleanor, her habitual tact +supplying a courage her heart was far from feeling. "Will you be seated? +Leave the room, Sullivan. My daughter and I," continued she, speaking +with increased rapidity, to cover the emotion of the moment, "have just +heard something of a dreadful event which is said to have occurred this +morning. Old Sullivan so often exaggerates that we indulge the hope that +there may be little or no foundation for the story. Is it true, sir, +there has been a duel fought near this?" Her voice grew fainter as she +spoke, and at last became a mere whisper. + +"Yes, madam," replied Daly, with an air of perfect calmness. "Two +gentlemen met this morning at Cluan Point, and both were wounded." + +"Neither of them killed?" + +"Wounded, madam," reiterated Daly, as if correcting a misconstruction. + +"Are the wounds deemed dangerous, sir?" + +"Mr. MacDonough's, madam, is not so. The inconvenience of using his left +hand on any similar occasion, in future, will be probably the extent +of the mishap. The other gentleman has not been equally fortunate,--his +life is in peril." Mr. Daly paused for a second, and then, perceiving +that Lady Eleanor still awaited a further explanation, added, with +gravity, "When taking his position on the ground, madam, instead of +standing half-front, as I took pains to point out to him, Captain +Forester--" + +"Forester!--is that his name, sir?" interrupted Helen, as, in a hand +trembling with terror, she held out Lionel's letter towards her mother. + +"A friend of my son's,--is he in the same regiment with Lionel?" asked +Lady Eleanor, eagerly. + +Daly bowed, and answered, "The same, madam." + +A low, faint sigh broke from Lady Eleanor, and, covering her eyes with +her hand, she sat for some moments without speaking. + +"Has any one seen him, sir?" asked Helen, suddenly, and in a voice +that showed energy of character had the mastery over every feeling of +grief,--"is there a surgeon with him?" + +"No, Miss Darcy," said Daly, with a certain haughtiness of manner. "I +believe, however, that, although not a professional person, my knowledge +of a gunshot wound is scarcely inferior to most men's. I have sent in +two directions for a surgeon; meanwhile, with my servant's aid, I have +succeeded in extracting the ball--I beg pardon, ladies, I think I heard +the noise of wheels; it is probably the doctor." And, with a deep bow +and a measured step, Mr. Bagenal Daly withdrew, leaving Lady Eleanor and +her daughter speechless, between grief and terror. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE "HEAD" OF A FAMILY + +When Bagenal Daly reached the courtyard, he was disappointed at finding +that, instead of the surgeon whose arrival was so anxiously looked for, +the visitor was no other than old Dr. Hickman, the father of Hickman +O'Reilly, M. P. for the county, and grandfather of that very promising +young gentleman slightly presented to our reader in an early chapter. + +If the acorn be a very humble origin for the stately oak of the forest, +assuredly Peter Hickman, formerly of Loughrea, "Apothecary and Surgeon," +was the most unpretending source for the high and mighty house of +O'Reilly. More strictly speaking, the process was only a "graft," and +it is but justice to him to say, that of this fact no one was more +thoroughly convinced than old Peter himself. Industry and thrift had +combined to render him tolerably well off in the world, when the death +of a brother who had sought his fortunes in the East--when fortunes were +to be found in that region--put him in possession of something above two +hundred thousand pounds. Even before this event, he had been known as +a shrewd contriver of small speculations, a safe investor of little +capital, was conversant, from the habits of his professional life, with +the private circumstances of every family of the country where money +was wanting, and where repayment was sure; the very temperament of +his patients suggested to him the knowledge by which he guided his +operations, and he could bring his skill as a medical man into his +service, and study his creditors with the eye of a physiologist. +When this great accession of wealth so suddenly occurred, far from +communicating his good fortune to his friends and neighbors, he merely +gave out that poor Tom had left him "his little savings," "though God +knows, in that faraway country, if he'd ever see any of it." His +guarded caution on the subject, and the steady persistence with which he +maintained his former mode of life, gave credence to the story, and the +utmost estimate of his wealth would not have gone beyond being a snug +old fellow "that might give up his business any day." This was, +however, the very last thing in his thoughts; the title of "Doctor," so +courteously bestowed in Ireland on the humbler walks of medicine, was +a "letter of marque" enabling him to cruise in latitudes otherwise +inaccessible. Any moneyed embarrassment of the country gentry, any +severe pressure to be averted by an opportune loan or the sale of landed +property, was speedily made available by him as a call to see whether +"the cough was easier;" or "how was the gouty ankle;" if the "mistress +was getting better of the nerves," "and the children gaining strength by +the camomile." And in this way he made one species of gain subservient +to another, while his character for kindness and benevolence was the +theme of the whole neighborhood. + +For several years long he pursued this course without deviating, and +in that space had become the owner of estated property to a very great +extent, not only in his own, but in three neighboring counties. How +much longer he might have persisted in growing rich by stealth it is +difficult to say, when accident compelled him to change his _tactique_. +A very large property had been twice put up for sale in the county Mayo, +under the will of its late owner, the trustees being empowered to make a +great reduction in the price to any purchaser of the whole,--a condition +which, from the great value of the estates, seemed of little avail, no +single individual being supposed able to make such a purchase. + +At last, and as a final effort to comply with the wishes of the +testator, the estate was offered at ten thousand pounds below the +original demand, when a bidder made his appearance, the offer was +accepted, and the apothecary of Lough-rea became the owner of one of the +most flourishing properties of the West, with influence sufficient to +return a member for the county. + +The murder was now out, and the next act was to build a handsome but +unpretentious dwelling-house on a part of the estate, to which he +removed with his son, a widower with one child. The ancient family of +O'Reilly had been the owners of the property, and the name was still +retained to grace the new demesne, which was called Mount O'Reilly, +while Tom Hickman became Hickman O'Reilly, under the plea of some +relationship to the defunct,--a point which gained little credence in +the county, and drew from Bagenal Daly the remark "that he trusted that +they had a better title to the acres than the arms of the O'Reillys." +When old Peter had made this great spring, he would gladly have retired +to Loughrea once more, and pursued his old habits; but, like a blackleg +who has accidentally discovered his skill at the game, no one would play +with him again, and so he was fain to put up with his changed condition, +and be a "gentleman," as he called it, in spite of himself. + +He it was who, under the pretence of a friendly call to see the Knight, +now drove into the courtyard of Gwynne Abbey. His equipage was a small +four-wheeled chair close to the ground, and drawn by a rough mountain +pony which, in size and shape, closely resembled a water-dog. The owner +of this unpretending conveyance was a very diminutive, thin old +man, with a long, almost transparent nose, the tip of which was of a +raspberry red; a stiff queue, formed of his wiry gray hair carefully +brushed back, even from the temples, made a graceful curve on his back, +or occasionally appeared in front of his left shoulder. His voice was +a feeble treble, with a tremulous quiver through all he said, while +he usually finished each sentence with a faint effort content with +his opinion; and this, on remarkable occasions, at a laugh, a kind +of acknowledgment to himself that he was would be followed by the +monosyllable "ay,"--a word which, brief as it was, struck terror into +many a heart, intimating, as it did, that old Peter had just satisfied +himself that he had made a good bargain, and that the other party was +"done." + +The most remarkable circumstance of his appearance was his mode of +walking, and even here was displayed his wonted ingenuity. A partial +paralysis had for some years affected his limbs, and particularly the +muscles which raise and flex the legs; to obviate this infirmity, he +fastened a cord with a loop to either foot, and by drawing them up +alternately he was enabled to move forward, at a slow pace, to be sure, +and in a manner it was rather difficult to witness for the first time +with becoming gravity. This was more remarkable when he endeavored to +get on faster, for then the flexion, a process which required a little +time, was either imperfectly performed or altogether omitted, and +consequently he remained stationary, and only hopped from one leg to +the other after the fashion of a stage procession. His dress was a +rusty black coat with a standing collar, black shorts, and white cotton +stockings, over which the short black gaiters reached half way up the +leg; on the present occasion he also wore a spencer of light gray cloth, +as the day was cold and frosty, and his hat was fastened under his chin +by a ribbon. + +"And so he is n't at home, Tate," said he, as he sat whipping the +pony from habit,--a process which the beast seemed to regard with a +contemptuous indifference. + +"No, Docther," for by this title the old man was always addressed by +preference, "the Knight's up in Dublin; he went on Monday last." + +"And this is the seventh of the month," muttered the other to himself. +"Faith, he takes it easy, anyhow! And you don't know when he'll be +home?" + +"The sorra know I know, Docther; 't is maybe to-night he 'd come--maybe +to-morrow--maybe it would be three weeks or a month; and it's not but we +want him badly this day, if it was God's will he was here!" These +words were uttered in a tone that Tate intended should provoke +further questioning, for he was most eager to tell of the duel and its +consequences; but the "doctor" never noticed them, but merely muttered a +short "Ay." + +"How do you do, Hickman?" cried out the deep voice of Bagenal Daly at +the same moment. "You did n't chance to see Mulville on the road, did +you?" + +"How d'ye do, Mister Daly? I hope I see you well. I did n't meet Dr. +Mulville this morning,--is there anything that's wrong here? Who is it +that's ill?" + +"A young fellow, a stranger, who has been burning powder with Mr. +MacDonough up at Cluan, and has been hit under the rib here." + +"Well, well, what folly it is, and all about nothing, I 'll engage." + +"So your grandson would tell you," said Daly, sternly; "for if he felt +it to be anything, this quarrel should have been his." + +"Faix, and I'm glad he left it alone," said the other, complacently; +"'t is little good comes of the same fighting. I 'll be eighty-five if +I live to March next, and I never drew sword nor trigger yet against any +man." + +"One reason for which forbearance is, sir, that you thereby escaped a +similar casualty to yourself. A laudable prudence, and likely to become +a family virtue." + +The old doctor felt all the severity of this taunt against his grandson, +but he merely gave one of his half-subdued laughs, and said, in a low +voice, "Did you get a note from me, about a fortnight ago? Ay!" + +"I received one from your attorney," said Daly, carelessly, "and I threw +it into the fire without reading it." + +"That was hasty, that was rash, Mr. Daly," resumed the other, calmly; +"it was about the bond for the four thousand six hundred--" + +"D----n me if I care what was the object of it! I happened to have some +weightier things to think of than usury and compound interest, as I, +indeed, have at this moment. By the by, if you have not forgotten the +old craft, come in and see this poor fellow. I 'm much mistaken, or his +time will be but short." + +"Ay, ay, that's a debt there's no escaping!" muttered the old man, +combining his vein of moralizing with a sly sarcasm at Daly, while he +began the complicated series of manouvres by which he usually effected +his descent from the pony carriage. + +In the large library, and on a bed hastily brought down for the purpose, +lay Forester, his dress disordered, and his features devoid of all +color. The glazed expression of his eye, and his pallid, half-parted +lips showed that he was suffering from great loss of blood, for, +unhappily, Mr. Daly's surgery had not succeeded in arresting this +symptom. His breathing was short and irregular, and in the convulsive +movement of his fingers might be seen the evidence of acute suffering. +At the side of the bed, calm, motionless, and self-possessed, with an +air as stern as a soldier at his post, stood Sandy M'Grane; he had been +ordered by his master to maintain a perfect silence, and to avoid, if +possible, even a reply to Forester's questions, should he speak to him. +The failure of the first few efforts on Forester's part to obtain an +infraction of this rule ended in his submitting to his destiny, and +supplying by signs the want of speech; in this way he had just succeeded +in procuring a drink of water, when Daly entered, followed by Hickman. +As with slow and noiseless steps they came forward, Forester turned +his head, and, catching a glance of the mechanism by which old Peter +regulated his progression, he burst into a fit of uncontrollable +laughter. + +"Ye mauna do it, ye mauna do it, sir," said Sandy, sternly; "ye are +lying in a pool of blood this minute, and it's no time for a hearty +laugh. Ech! ech! sir," continued he, turning towards his master, "if we +had that salve the Delawares used to put on their wounds, I wadna say +but we 'd stap it yet." + +By this time old Peter had laid his hand on the sick man's wrist, and, +with a large watch laid before him on the bed, was counting his pulse +aloud. + +"It's a hundred and fifty," said he, in a whisper, which, although +intended for Daly's ear, was overheard by Forester; "but it's thin as a +thread, and looks like inward bleeding." + +"What's to be done, then? have you anything to advise?" said Daly, +almost savagely. + +"Very little," said Hickman, with a malignant grin, "except writing to +his friends. I know nothing else to serve him." + +A brief shudder passed over Daly's stern features, rather like the +momentary sense of cold than proceeding from any mental emotion, and +then he said, "I spoke to you as a doctor, sir; and I ask you again, is +there nothing can be done for him?" + +"Well, well, we might plug up the wound, to be sure, and give him a +little wine, for he's sinking fast. I 've got a case of instruments and +some lint in the gig--never go without the tools, Mr. Daly--there's no +knowing when one may meet a little accident like this." + +"In Heaven's name, then, lose no time!" said Daly. "Whatever you can do, +do it at once." + +The tone of command in which he spoke seemed to act like a charm on the +old doctor, for he turned at once to hobble from the room. + +"My servant will bring what you want," said Daly, impatiently. + +"No, no," said Peter, shaking his head, "I have them under lock and key +in the driving-box; there's no one opens that but myself." + +Daly turned away with a muttered execration at the miser's suspicions, +and then, fixing his eyes steadily on Sandy's face, he gave a short +and significant nod. The servant instinctively looked after the doctor; +then, slowly moving across the floor, the nod was repeated, and Sandy, +wheeling round, made three strides, and, catching the old man round the +body with his remaining arm, carried him out of the room with the same +indifference to his struggles or his cries as a nurse would bestow on a +misbehaving urchin. + +[Illustration: 108] + +When Sandy deposited his burden beside the pony-carriage, old Peter's +passion had reached its climax, and assuredly, if the will could have +prompted the act, he would have stamped as roundly as he swore. + +"It's an awfu' thing," observed Sandy, quaintly, "to see an auld carle, +wi' his twa legs in the grave, blaspheming that gate; but come awa', +tak' your gimcracks, and let's get back again, or, by the saul of my +body, I 'll pit you in the fountain!" + +Reasoning on that excellent principle of analogy, that what had happened +might happen again even in a worse form, old Hickman unlocked the box +and delivered into Sandy's hands a black leather case, bearing as many +signs of long years and service as his own. + +"Let me walk I let me walk!" cried he, in a supplicating tone. + +"Av you ca' it walking," said Sandy, grimly; "but it's mair, far mair, +like the step o' a goose than a Christian man." + +What success might have attended Peter's request it is difficult to +say, for at this moment the noise of a horse was heard galloping up the +avenue, and, immediately after, Mulville, the surgeon sent for by Mr. +Daly, entered the courtyard. Without deigning a look towards Hickman, +or paying even the slightest attention to his urgent demands for the +restoration of his pocket-case, Sandy seized Mulville by the arm and +hurried him away to the house. + +The newly arrived doctor was an army surgeon, and proceeded, with all +the readiness experience had taught him, to examine Forester's wound; +while Sandy, to save time, opened old Hickman's case on the bed, and +arranged the instruments. + +"Look here, Mr. Daly," said the doctor, as he drew some lint from the +antiquated leather pocket,--"look here, and see how our old friend +practises the art of medicine." He took up, as he spoke, a roll of +paper, and held it towards Daly: it was a packet of bill stamps of +various value, for old Peter could never suffer himself to be taken +short, and was always provided with the ready means of transacting money +affairs with his patients. + +"Here's my d----d old bond," said Daly, laughing, as he drew forth a +much-crumpled and time-discolored parchment; "I'd venture to say the +man would deserve well of his country who would throw this confounded +pocket-book, and its whole contents, into that fire." + +"Ye maybe want some o' the tools yet," said Sandy, dryly, for, taking +his master's observations in the light of a command, he was about to +commit the case and the paper to the flames. + +"Take care! take care!" said Mulville, in a whisper; "it might be a +felony." + +"It's devilish little Sandy would care what name they would give it," +replied Daly; "he 'd put the owner on the top of them, and burn all +together, on a very brief hint;" then, lowering his voice, he added, +"What's his chance?" + +"The chance of every young fellow of two or three-and-twenty to live +through what would kill any man of my time of life. With good care and +quiet, but quiet above all, he may rub through it. We must leave him +now." + +"You 'll remain here," said Daly; "you 'll not quit this, I hope?" + +"For a day or two at least, I 'll not leave him." And with this +satisfactory assurance Daly closed the door, leaving Sandy on guard over +the patient. + +"Here's your case of instruments, Hickman," said Daly, as the old doctor +sat motionless in his gig, awaiting their reappearance; for, in his +dread of further violence, he had preferred thus patiently to await +their return, than venture once more into the company of Sandy M'Grane. +"We 've robbed you of nothing except some lint; and," added he in a +whisper to Muiville, "I very much doubt if that case were ever opened +and closed before with so slight an offence against the laws of +property." + +Old Hickman by this time had opened the pocket-book, and was busily +engaged inspecting its contents. + +"Ay, that's the bond!" said Daly, laughing; "you may well think how +small the chance of repayment is, when I did not think it worth while +burning it." + +"It will be paid in good time," said Hickman, in a low cackle, "and the +interest too, maybe--ay!" And with sundry admonitions from the whip, and +successive chucks of the rein, the old pony threw up his head, shook his +tail crossly, and, with a step almost as measured as that of his master, +moved slowly out of the courtyard. + +"So much for our century and our civilization!" said Daly, as he looked +after him; "the old miser that goes there has more power over our +country and its gentry than ever a feudal chief wielded in the days of +vassalage." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. "DALY'S." + +It was upon one of the very coldest evenings of the memorably severe +January of 1800 that the doors of Daly's Club House were besieged by +carriages of every shape and description: some brilliant in all the +lustre of a perfect equipage; others more plainly denoting the country +gentleman or the professional man; and others, again, the chance +occupants of the various coach-stands, displayed every variety of +that now extinct family whose members went under the denominations of +"whiskeys," "jingles," and "noddies." + +A heavy fall of sleet, accompanied with a cutting north wind, did not +prevent the assemblage of a considerable crowd, who, by the strange +sympathy of gregarious curiosity, were drawn up in front of the +building, satisfied to think that something unusual, of what nature they +knew not, was going forward within, and content to gaze on the brilliant +glare of the lustres as seen through the drawn curtains, and mark the +shadowy outlines of figures as they passed and repassed continually. + +Leaving the mob, for it was in reality such, to speculate on the cause +of this extraordinary gathering, we shall at once proceed up the ample +stair and enter the great saloon of the Club, which, opening by eight +windows upon College Green, formed the conversation-room of the members. + +Here were now assembled between three and four hundred persons, gathered +in groups and knots, and talking with all the eagerness some engrossing +topic could suggest. In dress, air, and manner they seemed to represent +sections of every social circle of the capital: some, in full Castle +costume, had just escaped from the table of the Viceroy; others, in +military uniform or the dress of the Club, contrasted with coats of +country squires or the even more ungainly quaintness of the lawyers' +costume. They were of every age, from the young man emerging into life, +to the old frequenter of the Club, who had occupied his own place and +chair for half a century, and in manner and style as various, many +preserving the courteous observances of the old school in all its +polished urbanity, and the younger part of the company exhibiting the +traits of a more independent, but certainly less graceful, politeness. +Happily for the social enjoyments of the time, political leanings had +not contributed their bitterness to private life, and men of opinions +the most opposite, and party connections most antagonistic, were here +met, willing to lay aside for a season the arms of encounter, or to use +them with only the sportive pleasantry of a polished wit. If this manly +spirit of mutual forbearance did not characterize the very last debates +of the Irish Parliament, it may in a great measure be attributed to the +nature of that influence by which the measure of the Union was carried; +for bribery not only corrupted the venal, but it soured and irritated +the men who rejected its seductions; and in this wise a difference was +created between the two parties, wider and more irreconcilable than all +which political animosity or mere party dislike could effect. + +On the present occasion, however, the animating spirit of the assemblage +seemed to partake of nothing less than a feature of political acrimony; +and amid the chance phrases which met the ear, and the hearty bursts of +laughter that every moment broke forth, it was easy to collect that no +question of a party nature occupied their attention. + +At the end of the room a group of some twenty persons stood or sat +around a chair in which a thin elderly gentleman was seated, his fine +and delicately marked features far more unequivocally proclaiming rank +than even the glittering star he wore on his breast. Without being in +reality very old, Lord Drogheda seemed so, for, partly from delicacy of +health, and partly, as some affirmed, from an affectation of age (a more +frequent thing than is expected), he had contracted a stoop, and walked +with every sign of debility. + +"Well, gentlemen, how does time go?" said he, with an easy smile. "Are +we not near the hour?" + +"Yes; it wants but eleven minutes of ten now, my Lord," said one of the +group. "Do you mean to hold him sharp to time?" + +"Egad, I should think so," interrupted a red-whiskered squire, in +splashed top-boots. "I've ridden in from Kildare to-night to see the +match, and I protest against any put-off." + +Lord Drogheda turned his eyes towards the speaker with a look in which +mildness was so marked, it could not be called reproof, but it evidently +confused him, as he added, "Of course, if the gentlemen who have heavy +wagers on it are content I must be also." + +"I, for one, say 'sharp time,'" cried out a dapperly dressed young +fellow, with an open pocket-book in his hand; "play or pay is the only +rule in these cases." + +"I 've backed my Lord at eight to ten, in hundreds," said another, "and +certainly I 'll claim my bet if the Knight is one minute late." + +"Then you have just three to decide that question," said one at his +side. "My watch is with the Post-office." + +"Quite, time enough left to order my carriage," said Lord Drogheda, +rising with an energy very different from his ordinary indolent habit. +"If the Knight of Gwynne should be accidentally delayed, gentlemen, I, +for my part, prefer being also absent. It will then be a matter of some +difficulty for the parties betting to say who is the delinquent." He +took his hat as he spoke, and was moving through the crowd, when a +sudden cheer from without was heard, and then, almost the instant after, +a confused sound of acclamation as the Knight of Gwynne entered, leaning +on the arm of Con Heffernan. Making his way with difficulty through the +crowd of welcoming friends and acquaintances, the Knight approached the +end of the room where Lord Drogheda now awaited him, standing. + +"Not late, my Lord, though very near it," said he, extending his +hand. "If I should apologize, however, I have an excuse you will not +reject,--Con Heffernan's Burgundy is hard to part with." + +"Very true, Knight," said his Lordship, smiling. "With a friend one sees +so seldom, a little dalliance is most pardonable." + +This sarcasm was met by a ready laugh, for Heffernan was better known +as a guest at other tables than a host at his own; nor did he, at whose +expense the jest was made, refrain from joining in the mirth, while he +added,-- + +"The Burgundy, like one of your Lordship's _bons mots_, is perhaps +appreciated the more highly because of its rarity." + +"Very true, Heffernan," replied Lord Drogheda; "we should keep our wit +and wine only for our best friends." + +"Faith, then," whispered the red-whiskered squire who spoke before, "if +the liquor does not gain more by keeping than the wit, I'd recommend Con +to drink it off a little faster." + +"Or, better still," interposed the Knight, "only give it to those +who understand its flavor. But we are, if I mistake not, losing very +valuable time. What say you to the small room off the library, or will +your Lordship remain here?" + +"Here, if equally agreeable to you. We are both of us too old in the +harness to care much for being surrounded by spectators." + +"Is it true, Con," said a friend in Heffernan's ear, "that Darcy has +laid fifty thousand on this party?" + +"I believe you are rather under than over the mark," whispered +Heffernan. "The wager has been off and on these last eight or ten years. +It was made at Hutchinson's one evening when we all had drunk a good +deal of wine. At first, whist was talked of; but Drogheda objected to +Darcy's naming Vicars as his partner." + +"More fool he! Vicars is a first-rate player, but confoundedly unlucky." + +"Be that as it may, they fixed on piquet as the game, and, if accounts +be true, all the better for Darcy. They say he has beaten the best +players in France." + +"And what is really the stake? One hears so many absurd versions of it." + +"The Ballydermot property." + +"The whole of it?" + +"Every acre, with the demesne, house, plate, pictures, carriages, +wine,--begad! I 'm not sure if the livery servants are not +included,--against fifty thousand pounds. You know Drogheda has lent him +a very large sum on a mortgage of that property already, and this will +make the thing about double or quits." + +"Well, Heffernan," cried the Knight, "are you making your book there? +When you've quite finished, let me have a pinch of that excellent snuff +of yours." + +"Why not try mine?" said Lord Drogheda, pushing a magnificently jewelled +box, containing a miniature, across the table. + +"'T would be a bad augury, my Lord," said Darcy, laughing. "If I +remember aright, you won this handsome box from the Duke de Richelieu." + +"Ah! you know that story, then?" + +"I was present at the time, and remember the circumstance perfectly. The +King was leaning over the Duke's chair, watching the game--" + +"Quite true. The Duke affected not to know that his Majesty was there, +and when he placed the box on the table, cried, 'A thousand louis +against the portrait of the King!' There was no declining such a wager +at such a moment, although, intrinsically, the box was not worth half +the sum. I accepted, and won it." + +"And the Duke then offered to give you twice the money for it back +again?" + +"He did so, and I refused. I shall not readily forget the sweet, sad +smile of the King as he tapped the wily courtier on the shoulder, and +said, 'Ah! Monsieur le Duc, do you only value your King when you've lost +him?' They were prophetic words! Well, well! we 've got upon a sorrowful +theme; let's change it." + +"Here are the cards, at last," said the Knight, taking a sealed packet +from the waiter's hand, and breaking it open on the table. "Now, +Heffernan, order me a glass of claret negus, and take care that no one +comes to worry us with news of the House." + +"It's a sugar bill, or a new clause in the Corporation Act, or something +of that kind, they 're working at," said Lord Drogheda, negligently. + +"No, my Lord," interposed Heffernan, slyly, "it's a bill to permit your +Lordship's nephew to hold the living of Ardragh with his deanery." + +"All right and proper," said his Lordship, endeavoring to hide a rising +flush on his cheek by an opportune laugh. "Tom is a capital fellow, and +a good parson too." + +"And ought never to omit the prayer for the Parliament!" muttered +Heffernan, loud enough to be heard by the bystanders, who relished the +allusion heartily. + +"The deal is with you, Knight," said Lord Drogheda, pushing the cards +across the table. + +The moment afterwards, a pin could not have fallen unheard in that +crowded assembly. Even they who were not themselves bettors felt the +deepest interest in the game where the stake was so great, and all who +could set value on skill and address were curious to watch the progress +of the contest. Not a word was spoken on either side as the cards fell +upon the table, and although many of the bystanders displayed looks +of more eager anxiety, the players showed by their intentness how +strenuously each struggled for the victory. + +After the lapse of about half an hour, a low, murmuring noise spread +through the room, and the news was circulated that the first game was +over, and the Knight was the winner. The players, however, were silent +as before, and the deal went over without a word. + +"One moment, my Lord," said Darcy, as he gently interposed his hand to +prevent Lord Drogheda taking up his cards,--"a single moment. You will +call me faint-hearted for it, but I do not care. I beseech you, let the +party cease here. It is a great favor; but as I could not ask it if I +had lost the game, give me, I pray, so much of advantage for my good +luck." + +"You forget, Knight, that I, as a loser, could not accede to your +proposal; what would be said of any man who, with such a stake at issue, +accepted an offer like this?" + +"My dear Lord, don't you think that you and I might afford to have our +actions canvassed, and yet be very little afraid of criticism?" said +Darcy, proudly. + +"No, no, my dear Darcy, I really could not do this; besides, you must +concede something to mortified vanity. Now, I am anxious to have my +revenge." + +"Be it so, my Lord," said the Knight, with a sigh, and the game began. + +The looks and glances which were interchanged by those about during +this brief colloquy showed how little sympathy there was felt with the +generosity of either side. The bettors had set their hearts on gain, and +cared little for the feelings of the players. + +"You see he was right," whispered the red-whiskered squire to his +neighbor; "my Lord has won the game in one hand." And so it was; in less +than five minutes the party was over. + +"Now for the conqueror," cried the Knight of Gwynne, who, somewhat +nettled at a success which seemed to lessen the generous character of +his own proposal, dealt the cards hastily, as if anxious to conclude. + +"Now, Darcy, we have a better opportunity," said Lord Drogheda, smiling; +"what say you to draw stakes as we stand?" + +"Willingly, most willingly, my Lord. If a bad cause saps courage, I have +reason to be low at heart. This foolish wager has cost me the loss of +three nights' sleep, and if you are content--" + +"But are these gentlemen here satisfied?" said Lord Drogheda; and an +almost universal cry of "No" was the reply. + +"Then if we are to play for the bystanders, my Lord, let us not delay +them," said the Knight, as he took up his cards and began to arrange +them. + +"Darcy has it, by Jove!--the game is his," was muttered from one to +another in the crowd behind his chair, and the report, gaining currency, +was soon circulated in the larger room without. + +"Have you anything heavy on it, Con?" said a fashionably dressed man to +Heffernan, who endeavored to force his way through the crowd to where +the Knight sat. + +"Look at Heffernan!" said another. "They say he never bets; but mark the +excitement of his face now!" + +"What is it, Heffernan?" said the Knight, as the other leaned over his +chair and tried to whisper something in his ear. "Is that a queen, my +Lord? In that case I believe the game is mine.--What is it, Heffernan?" +and he bent his ear to listen; then, suddenly dashing the cards upon the +table, cried out, "Great Heaven! is this true?--the young fellow I met +at Kilbeggan?" + +"The same," whispered Heffernan, rapidly; "a brother officer of your son +Lionel's--a cousin of Lord Castle-reagh's--a fine, dashing fellow, too." + +"Where is he wounded?" asked Darcy, eagerly. + +"Finish your game--I must tell you all about it," said Heffernan, +folding up a letter which he had taken from his pocket a few minutes +before. + +"Your pardon, my Lord," said Darcy, with a look full of agitation; "I +have just heard very bad news.--I play the knave." A murmur ran through +the crowd behind him. + +"You meant the king, I know, Knight," said Lord Drogheda, restoring the +card to his hand as he spoke, but a loud expression of dissatisfaction +arose from those at his side. + +"You are right, my Lord, I did intend the king," said the Knight; "but +these gentlemen insist upon the knave, and, if you 'll permit me, I 'll +play it." + +The whole fortune of the game hung upon the card, and, after a brief +struggle, the Knight was beaten. + +"Even so, my Lord," said the Knight, smiling calmly, "you have beaten +me against luck; Fortune will not do everything. The Roman satirist goes +even further, and says she can do nothing." He rose as he said these +words, and looked around for Heffernan. + +"If you want Con Heffernan, Knight," said one of the party, "I think he +has gone down to the House." + +"The very man," said Darcy. "Good-night, my Lord,--good-night, gentlemen +all." + +"I did not believe that anything could shake Darcy's nerve, but he +certainly played that game ill," said a bystander. + +"Heffernan could tell us more about it," said another; "rely on it, +Master Con and the devil knew why that knave was played." + + + + +CHAPTER X. AN INTRIGUE DETECTED + +Of all the evil influences which swayed the destinies of Ireland in +latter days, none can compare, in extent of importance, with the fatal +taste for prodigality that characterized the habits of the gentry. +Reckless, wasteful extravagance, in every detail of life, suggested +modes of acting and thinking at variance with all individual and, +consequently, all national prosperity. Hospitality was pushed to +profusion, liberality became a spendthrift habit. The good and the bad +qualities of the Irish temperament alike contributed to this passion; +there was the wish to please, the desire to receive courteously, and +entertain with splendor within doors, and to appear with proportionate +magnificence without. + +A proud sense of what they deemed befitting their station induced the +gentry to vie in expenditure with the richly endowed officials of the +Government, and the very thought of prudence or foresight in matters of +expense would have been stigmatized as a meanness by those who believed +they were sustaining the honor of their country while sapping the +foundation of its prosperity. + +If we have little to plead in defence or in palliation of such habits, +we can at least affirm that in many cases they were practised with a +taste and elegance that shed lustre over the period. Unlike the vulgar +displays of newly acquired wealth, they exhibited in a striking light +the generous and high-spirited features of the native character, which +deemed that nothing could be too good for the guest, nor any expenditure +for his entertainment either too costly or too difficult. The fatal +facility of Irish nature, and the still more ruinous influence of +example, hurried men along on this road to ruin; and as political +prospects grew darker, a reckless indifference to the future succeeded, +in which little care was taken for the morrow, until, at last, +thoughtless extravagance became a habit, and moneyed difficulties the +lot of almost every family of Ireland. + +That a gentry so embarrassed, and with such prospects of ruin before +them, should have been easy victims to Ministerial seduction, is far +less surprising than that so many were to be seen who could prefer +their integrity to the rich bribes of Government patronage; and it is +a redeeming feature of the day that amid all the lavish and heedless +course of prodigality and excess there were some who could face +poverty with stouter hearts than they could endure the stigma of gilded +corruption: nor is it the history of every Parliament that can say as +much. + +Let us leave this theme, even at the hazard of being misunderstood, for +the moment, by our reader, and turn to the Knight of Gwynne, who now +was seated at his breakfast in a large parlor of his house in Henrietta +Street. Sad and deserted as it seems now, this was in those days the +choice residence of Irish aristocracy, and the names of peers and +baronets on every door told of a class which, now, should be sought for +in scattered fragments among the distant cities of the Continent. + +The Knight was reading the morning papers, in which, amid the +fashionable news, was an account of his own wager with Lord Drogheda, +when a carriage drove up hastily to the door, and, immediately after, +the loud summons of a footman resounded through the street. + +While the Knight was yet wondering who this early visitor should prove, +the servant announced Mr. Con Heffernan. + +"The very man I wished to see," cried Darcy, eagerly; "tell me all about +this unfortunate business. But, first of all, is he out of danger?" + +"Quite safe. I understand, for a time, it was a very doubtful thing; +Daly's surgery, it would seem, rather increased the hazard. He began +searching for the ball regardless of the bleeding, and the young fellow +was very near sinking under loss of blood." + +"The whole affair was his doing!" said the Knight, impatiently. "How Mr. +MacDonough could have found himself at _my_ table is more than I can +well imagine; that when he got there, something like this would follow, +does not surprise me. Daly is really too bad. Well, well, I hoped to +have set off for the abbey to-day, but I must stay here, I find; +Drogheda is kind enough to let me redeem Ballydermot, and I must see +Gleeson about it. It's rather a heavy blow just now." + +"I am afraid I am not altogether blameless," said Heffernan, timidly. +"I ought not to have mentioned that unlucky business till the game was +over; but I thought your nerve was proof against anything." + +"So it was, Heffernan," said the Knight, laughing, "some five-and-twenty +years ago; but this shattered wreck has little remains of the old +three-decker. I should have won that game." + +"It's all past and over now, so never think more about it." + +"Yes, I should have won the game. Drogheda saw my advantage: he went +on with the very suit in my hand, and when he reached over for his +snuff-box, his hand trembled like in an ague-fit." + +"Come, don't let the thing dwell in your mind. There is another and a +heavier game to play, and you 're certain to win there, if you do but +like it." + +"I don't clearly understand you," said Darcy, doubtingly. + +"I'll be explicit enough, then," said Heffernan, taking a chair and +seating himself directly in front of the Knight. "You know the position +of the Government at this moment. They have secured a safe and certain +majority,--the 'Union' is carried. When I say 'carried,' I mean that +there is not a doubt on any reasonable mind but that the bill will pass. +The lists show a majority of seven, perhaps eight, for the Ministry; +and if they had but one in their favor, Pitt is determined to go through +with it. Now, we all very well know how this has been done. Our people +have behaved infamously, disgracefully,--there's no mincing the matter. +You heard of Fox--?" + +"No. What of him?" + +"He has just accepted the escheatorship of--I forget what or where, but +he vacates his seat to make room for Courtenay." + +"Sam Courtenay?--Scrub, as we used to call him?" + +"Scrub,--exactly so. Well, he comes in for Roscommon, and is to have a +place under the new commission of twelve hundred a year. But to go back +to what I was saying: Castlereagh has bought these fellows at his +price or their own; some were dear enough, some were cheap. Barton, for +instance, takes it out in Castle dinners, and has sold his birthright +for the Viceroy's venison." + +"May good digestion wait on appetite!" repeated Darcy, laughing. + +"Well, let's not waste more time on them, but come to what I mean. +Castlereagh wants to know how you mean to vote: some have told him you +would be on his side; others, myself among the number, say the reverse. +In fact, little as you may think about the matter, heavy bets are laid +at this moment on the question, and--But I won't mention names; enough +if I say a friend of ours--an old friend, too--has a thousand on it." + +The Knight tapped his snuff-box calmly, and with his blandest smile +begged Heffernan to proceed. + +"Faith! I 've nearly told all I had to say. Every one well knows that, +whatever decision you come to, it will be unbiassed by everything save +your own conscientious sense of right; and as arguments are pretty +nearly equal on the question,--for, in truth, after having heard +and read most of what has been written or spoken on the point,--I +'m regularly nonplussed on which side to see the advantage. The real +question seems to be, Can we go on as we are?" + +"I think not," observed the Knight, gravely. "A Parliament which has +exhibited its venality so openly can have little pretension to public +confidence." + +"The very remark I made myself," cried Heffernan, triumphantly. + +"The men who sell themselves to-day to the Crown will, if need be, sell +themselves to-morrow to the mob." + +"My own words, by Jove!--my very words." + +"A dependent Parliament, attempting separate and independent +legislation, means an absurdity." + +"There is no other name for it," cried Heffernan, in ecstasy. + +"I have known Ireland for something more than half a century now," said +the Knight, with a touch of melancholy in his voice, "and yet never +before saw so much of social disorder as at present, and perhaps we are +only at the beginning of it. The scenes we have witnessed in France +have been more bloody and more cruel, but they will leave less permanent +results behind them than our own revolution; for such, after all, it is. +The property of the country is changing hands, the old aristocracy are +dying out, if not dead; their new successors have neither any hold on +the affection of the people, nor a bond of union with each other. See +what will come of it; the old game of feudalism will be tried by these +men of yesterday, and the peasantry, whose reverence for birth is a +religion, will turn on them, and the time is not very distant, perhaps, +when the men who would not harm the landlord's dog will have little +reverence for the landlord's self." + +"You have drawn a sad picture," said Heffernan, either feeling or +affecting to feel the truthfulness of the Knight's delineation. + +"Our share in the ruin," said the Knight, rising, and pacing the room +with rapid strides,--"our share is not undeserved. We had a distinct +and defined duty to perform, and we neglected it; instead of extending +civilization, we were the messengers of barbarism among the people." + +"Your own estates, I have heard, are a refutation of your theory," +interposed Heffernan, insinuatingly. + +"My estates--" repeated the Knight; and then, stopping suddenly, with +a changed voice, he said, "Heffernan, we have got into a long and +very unprofitable theme; let us try back, if we can, and see whence we +started: we were talking of the Union." + +"Just so," said Heffernan, not sorry to resume the subject which induced +his visit. + +"I have determined not to vote on the measure," said the Knight, +solemnly; "my reasons for the course I adopt I hope to be able to +justify when the proper time arrives; meanwhile, it will prevent +unnecessary speculation, and equally unnecessary solicitation, if I tell +you frankly what I mean to do. Such is my present resolve." + +The word "solicitation" fell from the Knight's lips with such a peculiar +expression that Heffernan at once saw his own game was detected, +and, like a clever tactician, resolved to make the best of his forced +position. + +"You have been frank with me, Knight; I'll not be less candid +with _you_, I came here to convey to you a distinct offer from the +Government,--not of any personal favor or advantage, _that_, they well +knew, you would reject,--but, in the event of your support, to take +any suggestion you might make on the new Bill into their serious and +favorable consideration; to advise with you how, in short, the measure +might be made to meet your views, and, so to say, admit you into +conclave with the Cabinet." + +"All this is very flattering," said the Knight, with a smile of evident +satisfaction, "but I scarcely see how the opinions of a very humble +country gentleman can weigh in the grave councils of a Government." + +"The best proof is the fact itself," replied Heffernan, artfully. "Were +I to tell you of other reasons, you might suspect me of an intention to +canvass your support on very different grounds." + +"I confess I'm in the dark; explain yourself more fully." + +"This is a day for sincerity," said Heffernan, smiling, "and so, here +it is: the Prince has taken a special liking to your son Lionel, and has +given him his company." + +"His company! I never heard of it." + +"Strange enough that he should not have written to you on the subject, +but the fact is unquestionable; and, as I was saying, he is a frequent +guest at Carlton House, and admitted into the choice circle of his Royal +Highness's parties: if, in the freedom of that intimacy with which he is +honored by the Prince, the question should have arisen, how his father +meant to vote, the fact was not surprising, no more than that Captain +Darcy should have replied--" + +"Lionel never pledged himself to control _my_ vote, depend upon that, +Mr. Heffernan," said the Knight, reddening. + +"Nor did I say so," interposed Heffernan. "Hear me out: your son is +reported to have answered, 'My father's family have been too trained in +loyalty, sire, not to give their voice for what they believe the best +interests of the empire: your Royal Highness may doubt his judgment, +his honor will, I am certain, never be called in question.' The Prince +laughed good-naturedly, and said, 'Enough, Darcy,--quite enough; it will +give me great satisfaction to think as highly of the father as I do of +the son; there is a vacancy on the staff, and I can offer you the post +of an extra aide-de-camp.'" + +"This is very good news,--the best I 've heard for many a day, +Heffernan; and for its accuracy--" + +"Lord Castlereagh is the guarantee," added Heffernan, hastily; "I had it +from his own lips." + +"I 'll wait on him this morning. I can at least express my gratitude for +his Royal Highness's kindness to my boy." + +"You 'll not have far to go," said Heffernan, smiling. + +"How so?--what do you mean?" + +"Lord Castlereagh is at the door this moment in that carriage;" and +Hefifernan pointed to the chariot which, with its blinds closely drawn, +stood before the street door. + +The Knight moved hastily towards the door, and then, turning suddenly, +burst into a hearty laugh,--a laugh so racy and full of enjoyment that +Heffernan himself joined in it, without knowing wherefore. + +"You are a clever fellow, Hefifernan!" said the Knight, as he lay back +in a deep-cushioned chair, and wiped his eyes, now streaming with tears +of laughter,--"a devilish clever fellow! The whole affair reminds me of +poor Jack Morris." + +"Faith! I don't see your meaning," said Hefifernan, half fearful that +all was not right. + +"You knew Jack,--we all knew him. Well, poor Morris was going home one +night,--from the theatre, I believe it was,--but, just as he reached Ely +Place, he saw, by the light of a lamp, a gentlemanlike fellow trying to +make out an address on a letter, and endeavoring, as well as he could, +to spell out the words by the uncertain light. 'Devilish provoking!' +said the stranger, half aloud; 'I wrote it myself, and yet cannot read +a word of it.' 'Can I be of any service?' said Jack. Poor fellow! he was +always ready for anything kind or good-natured. 'Thank you,' said the +other; 'but I 'm a stranger in Dublin,--only arrived this evening from +Liverpool,--and cannot remember the name or the street of my hotel, +although I noted both down on this letter.' 'Show it to me,' said Jack, +taking the document. But although he held it every way, and tried all +manner of guesses, he never could hit on the name the stranger wanted. +'Never mind,' said Jack; 'don't bother yourself about it. Come home +with, me and have an oyster,--I 'll give you a bed; 't will be time +enough after breakfast to-morrow to hunt out the hotel.' To make short +of it, the stranger complied; after all the natural expressions of +gratitude and shame, home they went, supped, finished two bottles of +claret, and chatted away till past two o'clock. 'You 'd like to get to +bed, I see,' said Jack, as the stranger seemed growing somewhat drowsy, +and so he rang the bell and ordered the servant to show the gentleman +to his room. 'And, Martin,' said he, 'take care that everything is +comfortable, and be sure you have a nightcap.' 'Oh! I 've a nightcap +myself,' said the stranger, pulling one, neatly folded, out of his coat +pocket. 'Have you, by G--d!' said Jack. 'If you have, then, you 'll not +sleep here. A man that's so ready for a contingency has generally some +hand in contriving it.' And so he put him out of doors, and never saw +more of him. Eh, Heffernan, was Jack right?" And again the old man +broke into a hearty laugh, in which Heffernan, notwithstanding his +discomfiture, could not refrain from participating. + +"Well," said he, as he arose to leave the room, "I feel twenty years +younger for that hearty laugh. It reminds me of the jolly days we used +to have long ago, with Price Godfrey and Bagenal Daly. By the way, where +is Bagenal now, and what is he doing?" + +"Pretty much what he always was doing,--mischief and devilment," said +the Knight, half angrily. + +"Is he still the member for Old-Castle? I forget what fate the petition +had." + +"The fate of the counsel that undertook it is easily remembered," said +the Knight. "Bagenal called him out for daring to take such a liberty +with a man who had represented the borough for thirty years, and shot +him in the hip. 'You shall have a plumper, by Jove,' said Bagenal; +and he gave him one. Men grew shy of the case afterwards, and it was +dropped, and so Bagenal still represents the place. Good-by, Heffernan; +don't forget Jack Morris." And so saying, the Knight took leave of his +visitor, and returned to his chair at the breakfast-table. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. THE KNIGHT AND HIS AGENT. + +The news of Lionel's promotion, and the flattering notice which the +Prince had taken of him, made the Knight very indifferent about his +heavy loss of the preceding evening. It was, to be sure, an immense sum; +but as Gleeson was arranging his affairs, it was only "raising" so much +more, and thus preventing the estate from leaving the family. Such was +his own very mode of settling the matter in his own mind, nor did he +bestow more time on the consideration than enabled him to arrive at this +satisfactory conclusion. + +If ever there was an agent designed to compensate for the easy, +careless habits of such a principal, it was Mr. Gleeson, or, as he was +universally known in the world of that day, "Honest Tom Gleeson." In him +seemed concentrated all those peculiar gifts which made up the perfect +man of business. He was cautious, painstaking, and methodical; of a +temper which nothing could ruffle, and with a patience no provocation +could exhaust; punctual as a clock, neither precipitate nor dilatory, he +appeared prompt to the slow, and seemed almost tardy to the hasty man. + +In the management of several large estates--he might have had many +more if he would have accepted the charge--Mr. Gleeson had amassed a +considerable fortune; but so devotedly did he attach himself to the +interests of his employers, so thoroughly identify their fortunes +with his own, that he gave little time to the cares of his immediate +property. By his skill and intelligence many country gentlemen had +emerged from embarrassments that threatened to engulf their entire +fortunes; and his aid in a difficulty was looked upon as a certain +guarantee of success. It was not very surprising if a man endowed with +qualities like these should have usurped something of ascendency over +his employers. To a certain extent their destiny lay in his hands. Of +the difficulties by which they were pressed he alone knew either the +nature or amount, while by what straits these should be overcome none +but himself could offer a suggestion. If in all his dealings the most +strict regard to honor was observable, so did he seem also inexhaustible +in his contrivances to rescue an embarrassed or encumbered estate. There +was often the greatest difficulty in securing his services, solicitation +and interest were even required to engage him; but once retained, he +applied his energies to the task, and with such zeal and acuteness that +it was said no case, however desperate, had yet failed in his hands. + +For several years past he had managed all the Knight's estates; and +such was the complication and entanglement of the property, loaded with +mortgages and rent-charges, embarrassed with dowries and annuities, that +nothing short of his admirable skill could have supported the means of +that expensive and wasteful mode of life which the Knight insisted on +pursuing, and all restriction on which he deemed unfitting his station. +If Gleeson represented the urgent necessity of retrenchment, the very +word was enough to cut short the negotiation; until, at last, the agent +was fain to rest content with the fruits of good management, and merely +venture from time to time on a cautious suggestion regarding the immense +expense of the Knight's household. + +With all his guardedness and care, these representations were not always +safe; for though the Knight would sometimes meet them with some jocular +or witty reply, or some bantering allusion to the agent's taste +for money-getting, at other times he would receive the advice with +impatience or ill-humor, so that, at last, Gleeson limited all +complaints on this score to his letters to Lady Eleanor, with whom he +maintained a close and confidential correspondence. + +This reserve on Gleeson's part had its effects on the Knight, who felt +a proportionate delicacy in avowing any act of extravagance that should +demand a fresh call for money, and thus embarrass the negotiation by +which the agent was endeavoring to extricate the property. + +If Darcy felt the loss of the preceding night, it was far more from the +necessity of avowing it to Gleeson than from the amount of the money, +considerable as it was; and he, therefore, set out to call upon him, in +a frame of mind far less at ease than he desired to persuade himself he +enjoyed. + +Mr. Gleeson lived about three miles from Dublin, so that the Knight had +abundant time to meditate as he went along, and think over the interview +that awaited him. His revery was only broken by a sudden change from the +high-road to the noiseless quiet of the neat avenue which led up to the +house. + +Mr. Gleeson's abode had been an ancient manor-house in the Gwynne +family, a building of such antiquity as to date from the time of the +Knights Templars; and though once a favored residence of the Darcys, +had, from the circumstances of a dreadful crime committed beneath its +roof,--the murder of a servant by his master,--been at first deserted, +and subsequently utterly neglected by the owners, so that at last it +fell into ruin and decay. The roof was partly fallen in, the windows +shattered and broken, the rich ceilings rotten and discolored with damp; +it presented an aspect of desolation, when Mr. Gleeson proposed to +take it on lease. Nor was the ruin only within doors, but without; the +ornamental planting had been torn up, or used as firewood; the gardens +pillaged and overrun with cattle; and the large trees--among which +were some rare and remarkable ones--were lopped and torn by the country +people, who trespassed and committed their depredations without fear or +impediment. Now, however, the whole aspect was changed; the same spirit +of order that exercised its happy influence in the management of distant +properties had arrested the progress of destruction here, and, happily, +in sufficient time to preserve some of the features which, in days past, +had made this the most beautiful seat in the county. + +It was not without a feeling of astonishment that the Knight surveyed +the change. An interval of twelve years--for such had been the length of +time since he was last there--had worked magic in all around. Clumps had +sprung up into ornamental groups, saplings become graceful trees, sickly +evergreens that leaned their frail stems against a stake were now richly +leaved hollies or fragrant laurustinas; and the marshy pond, that seemed +stagnant with rank grass and duckweed, was a clear lake fed by a silvery +cascade which descended in quaint but graceful terraces from the very +end of the neat lawn. + +In Darcy's eyes, the only fault was the excessive neatness perceptible +in everything; the very gravel seemed to shine with a peculiar lustre, +the alleys were swept clean, not even a withered leaf was suffered to +disfigure them, while the shrubs had an air of trim propriety, like the +self-satisfied air of a Sunday citizen. + +The brilliant lustre of the heavy brass knocker, the white and spotless +flags of the stone hall, and the immaculate accuracy of the staid +footman who opened the door, were types of the prevailing tastes and +habits of the proprietor. A mere glance at the orderly arrangement of +Mr. Gleeson's study would have confirmed the impression of his strict +notions and regularity of discipline: not a book was out of place; +the boxes, labelled with high and titled names, were ranged with a +drill-like precision upon the shelves; the very letters that lay in +the baskets beside the table fell with an attention to staid decorum +becoming the rigid habits of the place. + +The Knight had some minutes to bestow in contemplation of these objects +before Gleeson entered; he had only that morning arrived from a distant +journey, and was dressing when the Knight was announced. With a bland, +soft manner, and an air compounded of diffidence and self-importance, +Mr. Gleeson made his approaches. + +"You have anticipated me, sir," said he, placing a chair for the Knight; +"I had ordered the carriage to call upon you. May I beg you to excuse +the question, but my anxiety will not permit me to defer it: there is +no truth, or very little, I trust, in the paragraph I 've just read in +Carrick's paper--" + +"About a party at piquet with Lord Drogheda?" interrupted Darcy. + +"The same." + +"Every word of it correct, Gleeson," said the Knight, who, +notwithstanding the occasion, could not control the temptation to laugh +at the terrified expression of the agent's face. + +"But surely the sum was exaggerated; the paper says, the lands and +demesne of Ballydermot, with the house, furniture, plate, wine, +equipage, garden utensils--" + +"I 'm not sure that we mentioned the watering-pots," said Darcy, +smiling; "but the wine hogsheads are certainly included." + +"A rental of clear three thousand four hundred and seventy-eight pounds, +odd shillings, on a lease of lives renewable forever--pepercorn fine!" +exclaimed Gleeson, closing his eyes, and folding his hands upon his +breast, like a martyr resigning himself to the torture. + +"So much for going on spades without the head of the suit!" observed +the Knight; "and yet any man might have made the same blunder; and then, +Heffernan, with his interruption,--altogether, Gleeson, the whole was +mismanaged sadly." + +"The greater, part of the land tithe free," moaned Gleeson to himself; +"it was a grant from the Crown to your ancestor, Everard Darcy." + +"If it was the king gave it, Gleeson, it was the queen lost it." + +"The lands of Corrabeg, Dunragheedaghan, and Muscarooney, let +at fifteen shillings an acre, with a right to cut turf on the +Derryslattery bog! not to speak of Knocksadowd! lost, and no +redemption!" + +"Yes, Gleeson, that's the point I'm coming to; there is a proviso in +favor of redemption, whenever your grief will permit you to hear it." + +Gleeson gave a brief cough, blew his nose with considerable energy, +and with an air of submissive sorrow apologized for yielding to his +feelings. "I have been so many years, sir, the guardian--if I may so +say--of that property that I cannot think of being severed from its +interests without deep, very deep, regret." + +"By Jove! Gleeson, so do I! you have no monopoly of the sorrow, believe +me. I acknowledge, readily, the full extent of my culpability. This +foolish bet came to pass at a dinner at Hutchison's,--it was the +crowning point of a bragging conversation about play,--and Drogheda, it +seems, booked it, though I totally forgot all about it. I'm certain +he never intended to push the wager on me, but when reminded of it, of +course I had nothing else for it but to express my readiness to meet +him. I must say he behaved nobly all through; and even when Heffer-nan's +stupid interruption had somewhat ruffled my nerves, he begged I +would reconsider the card--he saw I had made a mistake--very handsome +that!--his backers, I assure you, did not seem as much disposed to +extend the courtesy. I relieved their minds, however, I stood by my +play, and--" + +"And lost an estate of three thousand--" + +"Quite correct; I'm sure no man knows the rental better. And now, let us +see how to keep it in the family." + +The stare of amazement with which Gleeson heard these words might have +met a proposition far more extravagant still, and he repeated the speech +to himself, as if weighing every syllable in a balance. + +"Yes, Gleeson, that was exactly what I said; now that we are engaged +in liquidating, let us proceed with the good work. If I have given you +enlarged occasion for the exercise of your abilities, I 'm only acting +like Peter Henessy,--old Peter, that held the mill at Brown's Barn." + +The agent looked up with an expression in which all interest to learn +the precedent alluded to was lost in astonishment at the levity of a man +who could jest at such a moment. + +"I see you never heard it, and, as the lawyers say, the rule will apply. +I 'll tell it to you. When Peter was dying, he sent for old Rush of the +Priory to give him absolution; he would not have the parish priest, for +he was a 'hard man,' as Peter said, with little compassion for human +weakness, never loved pork nor 'poteen,' but seemed to have a relish for +fasts and vigils. 'Rush will do,' said he to all the family applications +in favor of the other,--'I 'll have Father Rush;' and so he had, and +Rush came, and they were four hours at it, for Peter had a long score +of reminiscences to bring up, and it was not without considerable +difficulty, it is said, that Rush could apply the remedies of the Church +to the various infractions of the old sinner. At last, however, it was +arranged, and Peter lay back in bed very tired and fatigued; for, I +assure you, Gleeson, whatever you may think of it, confessing one's +iniquities is excessively wearying to the spirits. 'Is it all right, +Father?' said he, as the good priest counted over the roll of ragged +bank-notes that were to be devoted to the purchase of different masses +and offerings. 'It will do well,' said Rush; 'make your mind easy, your +peace is made now.' 'And are you sure it's quite safe?' said Peter; +'a pound more or less is nothing now compared to--what you know,'--for +Peter was polite, and followed the poet's counsel. ''Tis safe and sure +both,' said Rush; 'I have the whole of the sins under my thumb now, and +don't fret yourself.' 'Take another thirty shillings then, Father,' said +he, pushing the note over to him, 'and let Whaley have the two barrels +of seed oats--the smut is in them, and they 're not worth sixpence; +but, when we are at it, Father, dear, let us do the thing complete: +what signifies a trifle like that among the rest?' Such was Peter's +philosophy, Gleeson, and, if not very laudable as he applied it, it +would seem to suit our present emergency remarkably well." + +Gleeson vouchsafed but a very sickly smile as the Knight finished, and, +taking up a bundle of papers from the table, proceeded to search for +something amongst them. + +"This loss was most inopportune, sir--" + +"No doubt of it, Gleeson; it were far better had I won my wager," +said the Knight, half testily; but the agent, scarce noticing the +interruption, went on:-- + +"Mr. Lionel has drawn on me for seven hundred, and so late as Wednesday +last I was obliged to meet a bill of his amounting to twelve hundred and +eighty pounds. Thus, you will perceive that he has this year overdrawn +his allowance considerably. He seems to have been as unlucky as +yourself, sir." + +Soft and silky as the accents were, there was a tincture of sarcasm in +the way these words were uttered that did not escape Darcy's notice; +but he made no reply, and appeared to listen attentively as the other +resumed:-- + +"Then, the expenses of the abbey have been enormous this year; you would +scarcely credit the outlay for the hunting establishment; and, as I +learn from Lady Eleanor that you rarely, if ever, take the field +yourself--" + +"Never mind that, Gleeson," broke in the Knight, suddenly. "I 'll not +sell a horse or part with a dog amongst them. My income must well be +able to afford me the luxuries I have always been used to. I 'm not to +be told that, with a rental of eighteen thousand a year--" + +"A rental, sir, I grant you," said Gleeson, interrupting him; "you said +quite correctly,--the rental is even more than you stated; but consider +the charges on that rental,--the heavy sums raised on mortgages, the +debt incurred by building, the two contested elections, your losses on +the turf: these make sad inroads in the amount of your income." + +"I tell you frankly, Gleeson," said the Knight, starting up and pacing +the room with hasty steps, "I 've neither head nor patience for details +of this kind. I was induced to believe that my embarrassments, such as +they are, were in course of liquidation; that by raising two hundred +and fifty thousand pounds at four-and-a-half, or even five per cent, we +should be enabled to clear off the heavy debts, for which we are paying +ten, twelve,--ay, by Jove! I believe fifteen per cent." + +"Upon my word, I believe you do not exaggerate," said Gleeson, in a +conciliating accent. "Hickman's bond, though nominally bearing six per +cent, is actually treble that sum. He holds 'The Grove' at the rent of +a cottier's tenure, and with the right of cutting timber in Clon-a-gauve +wood,--a right he is by no means chary of exercising." + +"That must be stopped, and at once," broke in Darcy, with a heightened +color. "The old man is actually making a clearing of the whole mountain +side; the last time I was up there, Lionel and I counted two hundred and +eighteen trees marked for the hatchet. I ordered Finn not to permit one +of them to be touched; to go with a message from me to Hickman, saying +that there was a wide difference between cutting timber for farm +purposes and carrying on a trade in rivalry with the Baltic. Oaks of +twenty, eighty, ay, a hundred and fifty years' growth, the finest trees +on the property, were among those I counted." + +"And did he desist, sir?" asked Gleeson, with a half cunning look. + +"Did he?--what a question you ask me! By Heavens! if he barked a sapling +in that wood after my warning, I 'd have sent the Derrahinchy boys +down to his place, and they would not have left a twig standing on his +cockney territory. Devilish lucky he 'd be if they stopped there, and +left him a house to shelter him." + +"He's a very unsafe enemy, sir," observed Gleeson, timidly. + +"By Jove! Gleeson, I think you are bent on driving me distracted this +morning. You have hit upon perhaps the only theme on which I cannot +control my irritability, and I beg of you, once and for all, to change +it." + +"I should never have alluded to Mr. Hickman, sir, but that I wished +to remark to you that he is in a position which requires all our +watchfulness; he has within the last three weeks bought up Drake's +mortgage, and also Belson's bond for seventeen thousand, and, I know +from a source of unquestionable accuracy, is at this moment negotiating +for the purchase of Martin Hamilton's bond, amounting to twenty-one +thousand more; so that, in fact, with the exception of that small debt +to Batty and Rowe, he will remain the sole creditor." + +"The sole creditor!" exclaimed Darcy, growing pale as marble,--"Peter +Hickman the sole creditor!" + +"To be sure, this privilege he will not long enjoy," said Gleeson, with +a degree of alacrity he had not assumed before; "when our arrangements +are perfected with the London house of Bicknell and Jervis, we can pay +off Hickman at once; he shall have a check for the whole amount the very +same day." + +"And how soon may we hope for this happy event, Gleeson?" cried the +Knight, recovering his wonted voice and manner. + +"It will not be distant now, sir; one of the deeds is ready at this +moment, or at least will be to-morrow. On your signing it, we shall have +some very trifling delays, and the money can be forthcoming by the end +of the next week. The other will be perfected and compared by Wednesday +week." + +"So that within three weeks, or a month at furthest, Gieeson, we shall +have cut the cable with the old pirate?" + +"Three weeks, I trust, will see all finished; that is, if this affair of +Ballydermot does not interfere." + +"It shall not do so," cried the Knight, resolutely; "let it go. Drogheda +is a gentleman at least, and if our old acres are to fall into other +hands, let their possessor have blood in his veins, and he will not +tyrannize over the people; but Hickman--" + +"Very right, sir, Hickman might foreclose on the 24th of this month." + +"Gieeson, no more of this; I 'm not equal to it," said the Knight, +faintly; and he sat down with a wearied sigh, and covered his face with +his hands. The emotion, painful as it was, passed over soon, and the +Knight, with a voice calm and measured as before, said, "You will +take care, Gieeson, that my son's bills are provided for; London is +an expensive place, and particularly for a young fellow situated like +Lionel; you may venture on a gentle--mind, a very gentle--remonstrance +respecting his repeated calls for money; hint something about +arrangements just pending, which require a little more prudence than +usual. Do it cautiously, Gieeson; be very guarded. I remember when I +was a young fellow being driven to the Jews by an old agent of my +grandfather's; he wrote me a regular homily on thrift and economy, and +to show I had benefited by the lesson, I went straightway and raised a +loan at something very like sixty per cent." + +"You may rely upon my prudence, sir," said Gieeson. "I think I can +promise that Mr. Lionel will not take offence at my freedom. May I say +Tuesday to wait on you with the deeds,--Tuesday morning?" + +"Of course, whenever you appoint, I 'll be ready. I hoped to have +left town this week; but these are too important matters to bear +postponement. Tuesday, then, be it." And with a friendly shake-hands, +they parted,--Gleeson, to the duties of his laborious life; the Knight, +with a mind less at ease than was his wont, but still bearing no trace +of discomposure on his manly and handsome countenance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. A FIRST VISIT + +"Whenever Captain Forester is quite able to bear the fatigue, +Sullivan,--mind that you say 'quite able,'--it will give me much +pleasure to receive him." + +Such was the answer Lady Eleanor Darcy returned to a polite message from +the young officer, expressing his desire to visit Lady Eleanor and +thank her for the unwearied kindness she had bestowed on him during his +illness. + +Lady Eleanor and her daughter were seated in the same chamber in which +they have already been introduced to the reader. It was towards the +close of a dark and gloomy day, the air heavy and overcast towards the +land, while, over the sea, masses of black, misshapen cloud were drifted +along hurriedly, the presage of a coming storm. The pine wood blazed +brightly on the wide hearth, and threw its mellow lustre over the +antique carvings and the porcelain ornaments of the chamber, contrasting +the glow of in-door comfort with the bleak and cheerless look of all +without, where the crashing noise of breaking branches mingled with the +yet sadder sound of the swollen torrent from the mountain. + +It may be remarked that persons who have lived much on the seaside, +and near a coast abounding in difficulties or dangers, are far more +susceptible of the influences of weather than those who pass their +lives inland. Storm and shipwreck become, in a measure, inseparably +associated. The loud beating of the waves upon the rocky shore, the +deafening thunder of the swollen breakers, speak with a voice to _their_ +hearts, full of most meaning terror. The moaning accents of the spent +wind, and the wailing cry of the petrel, awake thoughts of those who +journey over "the great waters," amid perils more dreadful than all of +man's devising. + +Partly from these causes, partly from influences of a different kind, +both mother and daughter felt unusually sad and depressed, and had +sat for a long interval without speaking, when Forester's message was +delivered, requesting leave to pay his personal respects. + +Had the visit been one of mere ceremony, Lady Eleanor would have +declined it at once; her thoughts were wandering far away, engrossed by +topics of dear and painful interest, and she would not have constrained +herself to change their current and direction for an ordinary matter of +conventional intercourse. But this was a different case; it was her son +Lionel's friend, his chosen companion among his brother officers, the +guest, too, who, wounded and almost dying beneath her roof, had been a +charge of intense anxiety to her for weeks past. + +"There is something strange, Helen, is there not, in this notion of +acquaintanceship with one we have never seen; but now, after weeks of +watching and inquiry, after nights of anxiety and days of care, I feel +as if I ought to be very intimate with this same friend of Lionel's." + +"It is more for that very reason, Mamma, and simply because he is +Lionel's friend." + +"No, my dear child, not so; it is the tie that binds us to all for whom +we have felt interested, and in whose sorrows we have taken a share. +Lionel has doubtless many friends in his regiment, and yet it is very +unlikely any of them would cause me even a momentary impatience to see +and know what they are like." + +"And do you confess to such in the present case?" said Helen, smiling. + +"I own it, I have a strange feeling of half curiosity, and should +be disappointed if the real Captain Forester does not come up to the +standard of the ideal one." + +"Captain Forester, my Lady," said Sullivan, as he threw open the door of +the apartment, and, with a step which all his efforts could not render +firm, and a frame greatly reduced by suffering, he entered. So little +was he prepared for the appearance of the ladies who now stood to +receive him, that, despite his habitual tact, a slight expression of +surprise marked his features, and a heightened color dyed his cheek as +he saluted them in turn. + +With an air which perfectly blended kindliness and grace, Lady Eleanor +held out her hand, and said, "My daughter, Captain Forester;" and then, +pointing to a chair beside her own, begged of him to be seated. +The unaccustomed exertion, the feeling of surprise, and the nervous +irritability of convalescence, all conspired to make Forester ill at +ease, and it was with a low, faint sigh he sank into the chair. + +"I had hoped, madam," said he, in a weak and tremulous accent,--"I had +hoped to be able to speak my gratitude to you,--to express at least +some portion of what I feel for kindness to which I owe my life; but +the greatness of the obligation would seem too much for such strength as +mine. I must leave it to my mother to say how deeply your kindness has +affected us." + +The accents in which these few words were uttered, particularly that +which marked the mention of his mother, seemed to strike a chord in +Lady Eleanor's heart, and her hand trembled as she took from Forester a +sealed letter which he withdrew from another. + +"Julia Wallincourt," said Lady Eleanor, unconsciously reading half aloud +the signature on the envelope of the letter. + +"My mother, madam," said Forester, bowing. + +"The Countess of Wallincourt!" exclaimed Lady Eleanor, with a heightened +color and a look of excited and even anxious import. + +"Yes, madam, the widowed Countess of the Earl of Wallincourt, late +Ambassador at Madrid; am I to have the happiness of hearing that my +mother is known to you?" + +"I had, sir, the pleasure,--the honor of meeting Lady Julia D'Esterre; +to have enjoyed that pleasure, even once, is quite enough never to +forget it." Then, turning to her daughter, she added: "You have often +heard me speak of Lady Julia's beauty, Helen; she was certainly the +most lovely person I ever saw, but the charm of her appearance was even +inferior to the fascination of her manner." + +"She retains it all, madam," cried Forester, as his eyes sparkled +with enthusiastic delight; "she has lost nothing of that power of +captivating; and as for beauty, I confess I know nothing higher in +that quality than what conveys elevation of sentiment, with purity and +tenderness of heart: this she possesses still." + +"And your elder brother, Captain Forester?" inquired Lady Eleanor, with +a manner intended to express interest, but in reality meant to direct +the conversation into another channel. + +"He is in Spain still, madam; he was Secretary of the Embassy when my +father died, and replaced him in the mission." + +There was a pause, a long and chilling silence, after these words, that +each party felt embarrassing, and yet were unable to break; at last +Forester, turning towards Helen, asked "when she had heard from her +brother?" + +"Not for some days past," replied she; "but Lionel is such an irregular +correspondent, we think nothing of his long intervals of silence. You +have heard of his promotion, perhaps?" + +"No; pray let me learn the good news." + +"He has got his company. Some very unexpected--I might say, from +Lionel's account, some very inexplicable--piece of good fortune has +aided his advancement, and he now writes himself, greatly to his own +delight, it would appear, Captain Darcy." + +"His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," said Lady Eleanor, with a look +of pride, "has been pleased to notice my son, and has appointed him an +extra aide-de-camp." + +"Indeed!" cried Forester; "I am rejoiced at it, with all my heart. I +always thought, if the Prince were to know him, he 'd be charmed with +his agreeability. Lionel has the very qualities that win their way +at Carlton House: buoyant spirit, courtly address, tact equal to any +emergency,--all these are his; and the Prince likes to see handsome +fellows about his Court. I am overjoyed at this piece of intelligence." + +There was a hearty frankness with which he spoke this that captivated +both mother and daughter. + +There are few more winning traits of human nature than the unaffected, +heartfelt admiration of one young man for the qualities and endowments +of another, and never are they more likely to meet appreciation than +when exhibited in presence of the mother of the lauded one. And thus the +simple expression of Forester's delight at his friend's advancement went +further to exalt himself in the good graces of Lady Eleanor than the +display of any powers of pleasing, however ingeniously or artfully +exercised. + +As through the openings of a dense wood we come unexpectedly upon a view +of a wide tract of country, unfolding features of landscape unthought of +and unlooked for, so occasionally doth it happen that, in conversation, +a chance allusion, a mere word, will develop sources of interest buried +up to that very moment, and display themes of mutual enjoyment which +were unknown before. This was now the case. Lionel's name, which evoked +the mother's pride and the sister's affection, called also into play the +generous warmth of Forester's attachment to him. + +Thus pleasantly glided on the hours, and none remarked how time was +passing, or even heeded the howling storm that raged without, while +anecdotes and traits of Lionel were recorded, and comments passed upon +his character and temper such as a friend might utter and a mother love +to hear. + +At last Forester rose. More than once during the interview a +consciousness crossed his mind that he was outstaying the ordinary +limits of a visit; but at each moment some observation of Lady Eleanor +or her daughter, or some newly remembered incident in Lionel's career, +would occur, and delay his departure. At last he stood up, and, warned +by the thickening darkness of how time had sped, was endeavoring to +mutter some words of apology, when Lady Eleanor interrupted him with,-- + +"Pray do not let us suppose you felt the hours too long, Captain +Forester; the theme you selected will always make my daughter and +myself insensible to the lapse of time. If I did not fear we should be +trespassing on both your kindness and health together, I should venture +to request you would dine with us." + +Forester's sparkling eyes and flushed cheek replied to the invitation +before he had words to say how gladly he accepted it. + +"I feel more reconciled to making this request, sir," said Lady Eleanor, +"because in your present state of weakness you cannot enjoy the society +of a pleasanter party, and it is a fortunate thing that you can combine +a prudent action with a kind one." + +Forester appreciated the flattery of the remark, and, with a broken +acknowledgment of its import, moved towards the door. + +"No, no," said Lady Eleanor, "pray don't think of dressing; you have all +the privilege of an invalid, and a--friend also." + +The pause which preceded the word brought a slight blush into her cheek, +but when it was uttered, she seemed to have resumed her self-possession. + +"We shall leave you now with the newspapers, which I suppose you are +longing to look at, and join you at the dinner-table." And as she spoke, +she took her daughter's arm and passed into an adjoining room, leaving +Forester in one of those pleasant reveries which so often break in upon +the hours of returning health, and compensate for all the sufferings of +a sick-bed. + +"How strange and how unceasing are the anomalies of Irish life!" +thought he, as he sat alone, ruminating on the past. "Splendor, poverty, +elevation of sentiment, savage ferocity, delicacy the most refined, +barbarism the most revolting, pass before the mind's eye in the quick +succession of the objects in a magic lantern. Here, in these few +weeks, what characters and incidents have been revealed to me! and how +invariably have I found myself wrong in every effort to decipher +them! Nor are the indications of mind and temper in themselves so +very singular, as the fact of meeting them under circumstances and in +situations so unlikely. For instance, who would have expected to see +a Lady Eleanor Darcy here, in this wild region, with all the polished +grace and dignity of manner the best circles alone possess; and her +daughter, haughtier, perhaps, than the mother, more reserved, more timid +it may be, and yet with all the elegance of a Court in every gesture +and every movement. Lionel told me she was handsome,--he might have +said downright beautiful. Where were these, fascinations nurtured and +cultivated? Is it here, on the margin of this lonely bay, amid scenes of +reckless dissipation?" + +Of this kind were his musings; nor, amid them all, did one thought +obtrude of the cause which threw him first into such companionship, +nor of that mission, to discharge which was the end and object of his +coming. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. A TREATY REJECTED + +Forester's recovery was slow, at least so his friends in the capital +thought it, for to each letter requiring to know when he might be +expected back again, the one reply forever was returned, "As soon as +he felt able to leave Gwynne Abbey." Nor was the answer, perhaps, +injudiciously couched. + +From the evening of his first introduction to Lady Eleanor and her +daughter, his visits were frequent, sometimes occupying the entire +morning, and always prolonged far into the night. Never did an intimacy +make more rapid progress; so many tastes and so many topics were in +common to all, for while the ladies had profited by reading and study in +matters which he had little cultivated, yet the groundwork of an early +good education enabled him to join in discussions, and take part +in conversation which both interested at the time, and suggested +improvement afterward; and if Lady Eleanor knew less of the late events +which formed the staple of London small-talk, she was well informed on +the characters and passages of the early portion of the reign, which +gave all the charm of a history to reminiscences purely personal. + +With the wits and distinguished men of that day she had lived in great +intimacy, and felt a pride in contrasting the displays of intellectual +wealth, so common then, with the flatter and more prosaic habita since +introduced into society. "Eccentricities and absurdities," she would +say, "have replaced in the world the more brilliant exhibitions of +cultivated and gifted minds, and I must confess to preferring the social +qualities of Horace Walpole to the exaggerations of Bagenal Daly, or the +ludicrous caprices of Buck Whaley." + +"I think Mr. Daly charming, for my part," said Helen, laughing. "I'm +certain that he is a miracle of truth, as he is of adventure; if +everything he relates is not strictly accurate and matter of fact, it is +because the real is always inferior to the ideal. The things _ought_ to +have happened as he states." + +"It is, at least, _ben trovato_," broke in Forester; "yet I go further, +and place perfect confidence in his narratives, and truly I have heard +some strange ones in our morning rides together." + +"I suspected as much," said Lady Eleanor, "a new listener is such a +boon to him; so, then, you have heard how he carried away the Infanta of +Spain, compelled the Elector of Saxony to take off his boots, made +the Doge of Venice drunk, and instructed the Pasha of Trebizond in the +mysteries of an Irish jig." + +"Not a word of these have I heard as yet." + +"Indeed! then what, in all mercy, has he been talking of,--India, China, +or North America, perhaps?" + +"Still less; he has never wandered from Ireland and Irish life, and I +must say, as far as adventure and incident are concerned, it would have +been quite unnecessary for him to have strayed beyond it." + +"You are perfectly right there," said Lady Eleanor, with some +seriousness in the tone; "our home anomalies may shame all foreign +wonders: he himself could scarcely find his parallel in any land." + +"He has a sincere affection for Lionel, Mamma," said Helen, in an accent +of deprecating meaning. + +"And that very same regard gave the bias to Lionel's taste for every +species of absurdity! Believe me, Helen, Irish blood is too stimulating +an ingredient to enter into a family oftener than once in four +generations. Mr. Daly's has been unadulterated for centuries, and the +consequence is, that, although neither deficient in strong sense or +quick perception, he acts always on the impulse that precedes judgment, +and both his generosity and his injustice outrun the mark." + +"I love that same rash temperament," said Helen, flushing as she spoke; +"it is a fine thing to see so much of warm and generous nature survive +all that he must have seen of the littleness of mankind." + +"There! Captain Forester, there! Have I not reason on my side? You +thought me very unjust towards poor Mr. Daly,--I know you did; but it +demands all my watchfulness to prevent him being equally the model for +my daughter, as he is for my son's imitation." + +"There are traits in his character any might well be proud to +imitate," said Helen, warmly; "his life has been a series of generous, +single-minded actions; and," added she, archly "if Mamma thinks it +prudent and safe to warn her children against some of Mr. Daly's +eccentricities, no one is more ready to acknowledge his real worth than +she is." + +"Helen is right," said Lady Eleanor; "if we could always be certain +that Mr. Daly's imitators would copy the truly great features of his +character, we might forgive them falling into his weaknesses; and now, +can any one tell me why we have not seen him for some days past? He is +in the Abbey?" + +"Yes, we rode out together yesterday morning to look at the wreck near +the Sound of Achill; strange enough, I only learned from a chance remark +of one of the sailors that Daly had been in the boat, the night before, +that took the people off the wreck." + +"So like him!" exclaimed Helen, with enthusiasm. + +"He is angry with me, I know he is," said Lady Eleanor, musingly. +"I asked his advice respecting the answer I should send to a certain +letter, and then rejected the counsel. He would have forgiven me had I +run counter to his opinions without asking; but when I called him into +consultation, the offence became a grave one." + +"I declare, Mamma, I side with him; his arguments were clear, strong, +and unanswerable, and the best proof of it is, you have never had the +courage to follow your own determination since you listened to him." + +"I have a great mind to choose an umpire between us. What say you, +Captain Forester, will you hear the case? Helen shall take Mr. Daly's +side; I will make my own statement." + +"It's a novel idea," said Helen, laughing, "that the umpire should be +selected by one of the litigating parties." + +"Then you doubt my impartiality, Miss Darcy?" + +"If I am to accept you as a judge, I 'll not prejudice the Court against +myself, by avowing my opinions of it," said she, archly. + +"When I spoke of your arbitration, Captain Forester," said Lady Eleanor, +"I really meant fairly, for upon all the topics we have discussed +together, politics, or anything bordering on political opinions, have +never come uppermost; and, up to this moment, I have not the slightest +notion what are your political leanings, Whig or Tory." + +"So the point in dispute is a political one?" asked Forester, +cautiously. + +"Not exactly," interposed Helen; "the policy of a certain reply to a +certain demand is the question at issue; but the advice of any party in +the matter might be tinged by his party leanings, if he have any." + +"If I judge Captain Forester aright, he has troubled his head very +little about party squabbles," said Lady Eleanor; "and in any case, +he can scarcely take a deep interest in a question which is almost +peculiarly Irish." + +Forester bowed,--partly in pretended acquiescence of this speech, partly +to conceal a deep flush that mounted suddenly to his cheek; for he felt +by no means pleased at a remark that might be held to reflect on his +political knowledge. + +"Be thou the judge, then," said Lady Eleanor. "And, first of all, read +that letter." And she took from her work-box her cousin Lord Netherby's +letter, and handed it to Forester. + +"I reserve my right to dispute that document being evidence," said +Helen, laughing; "nor is there any proof of the handwriting being Lord +Netherby's. Mamma herself acknowledges she has not heard from him for +nearly twenty years." + +This cunning speech, meant to intimate the precise relation of the two +parties, was understood at once by Forester, who could with difficulty +control a smile, although Lady Eleanor looked far from pleased. + +There was now a pause, while Forester read over the long letter with due +attention, somewhat puzzled to conceive to what particular portion of it +the matter in dispute referred. + +"You have not read the postscript," said Helen, as she saw him folding +the letter, without remarking the few concluding lines. + +Forester twice read over the passage alluded to, and at once whatever +had been mysterious or difficult was revealed before him. Lord +Netherby's wily temptation was made manifest, not the less palpably, +perhaps, because the reader was himself involved in the very same +scheme. + +"You have now seen my cousin's letter," said Lady Eleanor, "and the +whole question is whether the reply should be limited to a suitable +acknowledgment of its kind expressions, and a grateful sense of the +Prince's condescension, or should convey--" + +"Mamma means," interrupted Helen, laughingly,--"Mamma means, that we +might also avow our sincere gratitude for the rich temptation offered in +requital of my father's vote on the 'nion.'" + +"No minister would dare to make such a proposition to the Knight of +Gwynne," said Lady Eleanor, haughtily. + +"Ministers are very enterprising nowadays, Mamma," rejoined Helen; +"I have never heard any one speak of Mr. Pitt's cowardice, and Lord +Castlereagh has had courage to invite old Mr. Hickman to dinner!" + +Forester would gladly have acknowledged his relationship to the +Secretary, but the moment seemed unpropitious, and the avowal would have +had the semblance of a rebuke; so he covered his confusion by a laugh, +and said nothing. + +"We can scarcely contemn the hardihood of a Government that has made +Crofton a bishop, and Hawes a general," said Helen, with a flashing +eye and a lip curled in superciliousness. "Nothing short of a profound +reliance on the piety of the Church and the bravery of the Army would +support such a policy as that!" + +Lady Eleanor seemed provoked at the hardy tone of Helen's speech; but +the mother's look was proud, as she gazed on the brilliant expression of +her daughter's beauty, now heightened by the excitement of the moment. + +"Is it not possible, Miss Darcy," said Forester, in a voice at +once timid and insinuating,--"is it not possible that the measure +contemplated by the Government may have results so beneficial as to more +than compensate for evils like these?" + +"A Jesuit, or a Tory, or both," cried Helen. "Mamma, you have chosen +your umpire most judiciously; his is exactly the impartiality needed." + +"Nay, but hear me out," cried the young officer, whose cheek was +crimsoned with shame. "If the measure be a good one,--well, let me beg +the question, if it be a good one--and yet, the time for propounding it +is either inopportune or unfortunate, and, consequently, the support it +might claim on its own merits be withheld either from prejudice, +party connection, or any similar cause,--you would not call a ministry +culpable who should anticipate the happy working of a judicious Act, by +securing the assistance of those whose convictions are easily won +over, in preference to the slower process of convincing the men of more +upright and honest intentions." + +"You have begged so much in the commencement, and assumed so much in +the conclusion, sir, that I am at a loss to which end of your speech to +address my answer; but I will say this much: it is but sorry evidence +of a measure's goodness when it can only meet with the approval of the +venal. I don't prize the beauty so highly that is only recognized by the +blind man." + +"Distorted vision, Miss Darcy, may lead to impressions more erroneous +than even blindness." + +"I may have the infirmity you speak of," said she, quickly, "but +assuredly I'll not wear Government spectacles to correct it." + +If Forester was surprised at finding a young lady so deeply interested +in a political question, he was still more so on hearing the tone of +determination she spoke in, and would gladly, had he known how, have +given the conversation a less serious turn. + +"We have been all the time forgetting the real question at issue," said +Lady Eleanor. "I 'm sure I never intended to listen to a discussion on +the merits or demerits of the Union, on which you both grow so eloquent; +will you then kindly return to whence we started, and advise me as to +the reply to this letter." + +[Illustration: 152] + +"I do not perceive any remarkable difficulty, madam," said Forester, +addressing himself exclusively to Lady Eleanor. "The Knight of Gwynne +has doubtless strong opinions on this question; they are either in favor +of, or adverse to, the Government views: if the former, your reply is +easy and most satisfactory; if the latter, perhaps he would condescend +to explain the nature of his objections, to state whether it be to +anything in the detail of the measure he is adverse to, or to the +principle of the Bill itself. A declaration like this will open a door +to negotiation, without the slightest imputation on either side. A +minister may well afford to offer his reasons for any line of policy to +one as eminent in station and ability as the Knight of Gwynne, and I +trust I am not indiscreet in assuming that the Knight would not be +derogating from that station in listening to, and canvassing, such +explanations." + +"Lord Castlereagh, 'aut---,'" said Helen, starting up from her seat, and +making a low courtesy before Forester, who, feeling himself in a measure +detected, blushed till his face became scarlet. + +"My dear Helen, at this rate we shall never--But what is this?--who have +we here?" + +This sudden exclamation was caused by the appearance of a small +four-wheeled carriage drawn up at the gate of the flower-garden, from +which old Hickman's voice could now be heard, inquiring if Lady Eleanor +were at home. + +"Yes, Sullivan," said she, with a sigh, "and order luncheon." Then, as +the servant left the room, she added, "I am always better pleased when +the visits of that family are paid by the old gentleman, whom I prefer +to the son or the grandson. They are better performers, I admit, but he +is an actor of nature's own making." + +"Do you know him, Captain Forester?" asked Helen. + +But, before he could reply, the door was opened, and Sullivan announced, +by his ancient title, "Doctor Hickman." + +Strange and grotesque as in every respect he looked, the venerable +character of old age secured him a respectful, almost a cordial, +reception; and as Lady Eleanor advanced to him, there was that urbanity +and courtesy in her manner which are so nearly allied to the expression +of actual esteem. It was true, there was little in the old man's +nature to elicit such feelings towards him; he was a grasping miser, +covetousness and money-getting filled up his heart, and every avenue +leading to it. The passion for gain had alone given the interest to his +life, and developed into activity any intelligence he possessed. While +his son valued wealth as the only stepping-stone to a position of +eminence and rank, old Hickman loved riches for their own sake. The bank +was, in his estimation, the fountain of all honor, and a strong credit +there better than all the reputation the world could confer. These were +harsh traits. But then he was old; long years of infirmity were bringing +him each hour closer to the time when the passion of his existence must +be abandoned; and a feeling of pity was excited at the sight of that +withered, careworn face, to which the insensate cravings of avarice lent +an unnatural look of shrewdness and intelligence. + +"What a cold morning for your drive, Mr. Hickman," said Lady Eleanor, +kindly. "Captain Forester, may I ask you to stir the fire? Mr. +Hickman--Captain Forester." + +"Ah, Miss Helen, beautiful as ever!" exclaimed the old man, as, with a +look of real admiration, he gazed on Miss Darcy. "I don't know how +it is, Lady Eleanor, but the young ladies never dressed so becomingly +formerly. Captain Forester, your humble servant; I'm glad to see you +about again,--indeed, I did n't think it very likely once that you'd +ever leave the library on your own feet; Mac-Donough 's a dead shot they +tell me--ay, ay!" + +"I hope your friends at 'The Grove' are well, sir?" said Lady Eleanor, +desirous of interrupting a topic she saw to be particularly distressing +to Forester. + +"No, indeed, my Lady; my son Bob--Mr. Hickman O'Reilly, I mean--God +forgive me, I'm sure they take trouble enough to teach me that +name--he's got a kind of a water-brash, what we call a pyrosis. I tell +him it's the French dishes he eats for dinner, things he never was +brought op to, concoctions of lemon juice, and cloves, and saffron, and +garlic, in meat roasted--no, but stewed into chips." + +"You prefer our national cookery, Mr. Hickman?" + +"Yes, my Lady, with the gravy in it; the crag-end,--if your Ladyship +knows what's the crag-end of a--" + +"Indeed, Mr. Hickman," said Lady Eleanor, smiling, "I'm deplorably +ignorant about everything that concerns the household. Helen affects to +be very deep in these matters; but I suspect it is only a superficial +knowledge, got up to amuse the Knight." + +"I beg, Mamma, you will not infer any such reproach on my skill in +_menage_. Papa called my _omelette a la cure_ perfect." + +"I should like to hear Mr. Hickman's judgment on it," said Lady Eleanor, +with a sly smile. + +"If it's a plain joint, my Lady, boiled or roasted, without spices or +devilment in it, but just the way Providence intended--" + +"May I ask, sir, how you suppose Providence intended to recommend any +particular kind of cookery?" said Helen, seriously. + +"Whatever is most natural, most simple, the easiest to do," stammered +out Hickman, not over pleased at being asked for an explanation. + +"Then the Cossack ranks first in the art," exclaimed Forester; "for +nothing can be more simple or easier than to take a slice of a live ox +and hang it up in the sun for ten or fifteen minutes." + +"Them's barbarians," said Hickman, with an emphasis that made the +listeners find it no easy task to keep down a laugh. + +"Luncheon, my Lady," said old Tate Sullivan, as with a reverential bow +he opened the folding-doors into a small breakfast parlor, where an +exquisitely served table was laid out. + +"Practice before precept, Mr. Hickman," said Lady Eleanor; "will +you join us at luncheon, where I hope you may find something to your +liking?" + +As the old man seated himself at the table, his eye ranged over the +cabinet pictures that covered the walls, the richly chased silver on the +table, and the massive wine-coolers that stood on the sideboard, with an +eye whose brilliancy betokened far more the covetous taste of the miser +than the pleased expression of mere connoisseurship; nor could he +recall himself from their admiration to hear Forester's twice-repeated +question as to what he would eat. + +"'T is elegant fine plate, no doubt of it," muttered he, below his +breath; "and the pictures may be worth as much more--ay!" + +The last monosyllable was the only part of his speech audible, and being +interpreted by Forester as a reply to his request, he at once helped the +old gentleman to a very highly seasoned French dish before him. + +"Eh! what's this?" said Hickman, as he surveyed his plate with unfeigned +astonishment; "if I did n't see it laid down on your Ladyship's table, I +'d swear it was a bit of Gal way marble." + +"It's a _gelatine truffee_, Mr. Hickman," said Forester, who was well +aware of its merits. + +"Be it so, in the name of God!" said Hickman, with resignation, as +though to say that any one who could eat it might take the trouble to +learn the name. "Ay, my Lady, that 's what I like, a slice of Kerry +beef,--a beast made for man's eating." + +"Mr. Hickman's pony is more of an epicure than his master," said +Forester, as he arose from his chair and moved towards the glass-door +that opened on the garden; "he has just eaten the top of your +lemon-tree." + +"And by way of dessert, he is now cropping my japonica," cried Helen, +as she sprang from the room to rescue her favorite plant. Forester +followed her, and Lady Eleanor was left alone with the doctor. + +"Now, my Lady, that I have the opportunity,--and sure it was luck +gave it to me,--would you give me the favor of a little private +conversation?" + +"If the matter be on business, Mr. Hickman, I must frankly own I should +prefer your addressing yourself to the Knight; he will be home early +next week." + +"It is--and it is not, my Lady--but, there! they're coming back, now, +and it is too late;" and so he heaved a heavy sigh, and lay back in his +chair, as though worn out and disappointed. + +"Well, then, in the library, Mr. Hickman," said Lady Eleanor, +compassionately, "when you've eaten some luncheon." + +"No more, my Lady; 'tis elegant fine beef as ever I tasted, and the +gravy in it, but I'm not hungry now." + +Lady Eleanor, without a guess as to what might form the subject of +his communication, perceived that he was agitated and anxious; and so, +requesting Forester and her daughter to continue their luncheon, she +added: "And I have something to tell Mr. Hickman, if he will give five +minutes of his company in the next room." + +Taking a chair near the fire, Lady Eleanor motioned to the doctor to +be seated; but the old man was so engaged in admiring the room and its +furniture that he seemed insensible to all else. As his eye wandered +over the many objects of taste and luxury on every side, his lips +muttered unceasingly, but the sound was inarticulate. + +"I cannot pledge myself that we shall remain long uninterrupted, Mr. +Hickman," said Lady Eleanor, "so pray lose no time in the communication +you have to make." + +"I humbly ask pardon, my Lady," said the old man, in a voice of +deep humility; "I'm old and feeble now, and my senses none of the +clearest,--but sure it's time for them to be worn out; ninety-one I +'ll be, if I live to Lady-day." It was his habit to exaggerate his +age; besides, there was a tremulous pathos in his accents to which Lady +Eleanor was far from feeling insensible, and she awaited in silence what +was to follow. + +"Well, well," sighed the old man, "if I succeed in this, the last act of +my long life, I 'm well content to go whenever the Lord pleases." And +so saying, he took from his coat-pocket the ominous-looking old leather +case to which we have already alluded, and searched for some time amid +its contents. "Ay! here it is--that is it--it is only a memorandum, my +Lady, but it will show what I mean." And he handed the paper to Lady +Eleanor. + +It was some time before she had arranged her spectacles and adjusted +herself to peruse the document; but before she had concluded, her hand +trembled violently, and all color forsook her cheek. Meanwhile; the +doctor sat with his filmy eyes directed towards her, as if watching +the working of his spell; and when the paper fell from her fingers, he +uttered a low "Ay," as though to say his success was certain. + +"Two hundred thousand pounds!" exclaimed she, with a shudder; "this +cannot be true." + +"It is all true, my Lady, and so is this too;" and he took from his hat +a newspaper and presented it to her. + +"The Ballydermot property! The whole estate lost at cards! This is a +calumny, sir,--the libellous impertinence of a newspaper paragraphist. +I'll not believe it." + +"''T 's true, notwithstanding, my Lady. Harvey Dawson was there himself, +and saw it all; and as for the other, the deeds and mortgages are at +this moment in the hands of my son's solicitor." + +"And this may be foreclosed--" + +"On the 24th, at noon, my Lady," continued Hickman, as he folded the +memorandum and replaced it in his pocket-book. + +"Well, sir," said she, as, with a great effort to master her emotion, +she addressed him in a steady and even commanding voice, "the next thing +is to learn what are your intentions respecting this debt? You have not +purchased all these various liabilities of my husband's without some +definite object. Speak it out--what is it? Has Mr. Hickman O'Reilly's +ambition increased so rapidly that he desires to date his letters from +Gwynne Abbey?" + +"The Saints forbid it, my Lady," said the old man, with a pious horror. +"I 'd never come here this day on such an errand as that. If it was not +to propose what was agreeable, you 'd not see me here--" + +"Well, sir, what is the proposition? Let me hear it at once, for my +patience never bears much dallying with." + +"I am coming to it, my Lady," muttered Hickman, who already felt really +ashamed at the deep emotion his news evoked. "There are two ways of +doing it--" A gesture of impatience from Lady Eleanor stopped him, but, +after a brief pause, he resumed: "Bear with me, my Lady. Old age and +infirmity are always prolix; but I'll do my best." + +It would be as unfair a trial of the reader's endurance as it proved to +Lady Eleanor's, were we to relate the slow steps by which Mr. Hickman +announced his plan, the substance of which, divested of all his own +circumlocution and occasional interruptions, was simply this: a promise +had been made by Lord Castlereagh to Hickman O'Reilly that if, through +his influence, exercised by means of moneyed arrangements or otherwise, +the Knight of Gwynne would vote with the Government on the "Union," +he should be elevated to the Peerage, an object which, however +inconsiderable in the old man's esteem, both his son and grandson had +set their hearts upon. For this service they, in requital, would extend +the loan to another period of seven years, stipulating only for some +trifling advantages regarding the right of cutting timber, some coast +fisheries, and other matters to be mentioned afterwards,--points which, +although evidently of minor importance, were recapitulated by the old +man with a circumstantial minuteness. + +It was only by a powerful effort that Lady Eleanor could control her +rising indignation at this proposal, while the very thought of Hickman +O'Reilly as a Peer, and member of that proud "Order" of which her own +haughty family formed a part, was an insult almost beyond endurance. + +"Go on, sir," said she, with a forced composure which deceived old +Hickman completely, and made him suppose that his negotiation was +proceeding favorably. + +"I 'm sure, my Lady, it 's little satisfaction all this grandeur would +give me. I 'd rather be twenty years younger, and in the back parlor of +my old shop at Loughrea than the first peer in the kingdom." + +"Ambition is not your failing, then, sir," said she, with a glance +which, to one more quick-sighted, would have conveyed the full measure +of her scorn. + +"That it is n't, my Lady; but they insist upon it." + +"And is the Peerage to be enriched by the enrolment of your name among +its members? I thought, sir, it was your son." + +"Bob--Mr. Hickman, I mean--suggests that I should be the first lord in +the family, my Lady, because then Beecham's title won't seem so new when +it comes to him. 'T is the only use they can make of me now--ay!" and +the word was accented with a venomous sharpness that told the secret +anger he had himself awakened by his remark. + +"The Knight of Gwynne," said Lady Eleanor, proudly, "has often regretted +to me the few opportunities he had embraced through life of serving his +country; I have no doubt, sir, when he hears your proposal, that he will +rejoice at this occasion of making an _amende_. I will write to him by +this post. Is there anything more you wish to add, Mr. Hickman?" said +she, as, having risen from her chair, she perceived that the old man +remained seated. + +"Yes, indeed, my Lady, there is, and I don't think I 'd have the heart +for it, if it was n't your Ladyship's kindness about the other business; +and even now, maybe, it would take you by surprise." + +"You can scarcely do that, sir, after what I have just listened to," +said she, with a smile. + +"Well, there 's no use in going round about the bush, and this is what +I mean. We thought there might be a difficulty, perhaps, about the vote; +that the Knight might have promised his friends, or said something or +other how he 'd go, and would n't be able to get out of it so easily, +so we saw another way of serving his views about the money. You see, my +Lady, we considered it all well amongst us." + +"We should feel deeply grateful, sir, to know how far this family has +occupied your kind solicitude. But proceed." + +"If the Knight does n't like to vote with the Government, of course +there is no use in Bob doing it; so he 'll be a Patriot, my Lady,--and +why not? Ha! ha! ha! they 'll be breaking the windows all over Dublin, +and he may as well save the glass!--ay!" + +"Forgive me, sir, if I cannot see how this has any reference to my +family." + +"I'm coming to it--coming fast, my Lady. We were thinking then how we +could help the Knight, and do a good turn to ourselves; and the way we +hit upon was this: to reduce the interest on the whole debt to five per +cent, make a settlement of half the amount on Miss Darcy, and then, if +the young lady had no objection to my grandson, Beecham--" + +"Stop, sir," said Lady Eleanor; "I never could suppose you meant to +offend me intentionally,--I cannot permit of your doing so through +inadvertence or ignorance. I will therefore request that this +conversation may cease. Age has many privileges, Mr. Hickman, but there +are some it can never confer: one of these is the right to insult a lady +and--a mother." + +The last words were sobbed rather than spoken: affection and pride, both +outraged together, almost choked her utterance, and Lady Eleanor sat +down trembling in every limb, while the old man, only half conscious of +the emotion he had evoked, peered at her in stolid amazement through his +spectacles. + +Any one who knew nothing of old Hickman's character might well have +pitied his perplexity at that moment; doubts of every kind and sort +passed through his mind as rapidly as his timeworn faculties permitted, +and at last he settled down into the conviction that Lady Eleanor might +have thought his demand respecting fortune too exorbitant, although +not deeming the proposition, in other respects, ineligible. To this +conclusion the habits of his own mind insensibly disposed him. + +"Ay, my Lady," said he, after a pause, "'tis a deal of money, no doubt; +but it won't be going out of the family, and that's more than could be +said if you refuse the offer." + +"Sir!" exclaimed Lady Eleanor, in a tone that to any one less obtusely +endowed would have been an appeal not requiring repetition; but the old +man had only senses for his own views, and went on:-- + +"They tell me that Mr. Lionel is just as free with his money as his +father; throws it out with both hands, horse-racing and high play, and +every extravagance he can think of. Well, and if that's true, my Lady, +sure it 's well worth while to think that you 'll have a decent house to +put your head under when your daughter's married to Beecham. He has no +wasteful ways, but can look after the main chance as well as any boy +ever I seen. This notion about Miss Helen is the only thing like +expense I ever knew him take up, and sure"--here he dropped his voice to +soliloquy--"sure, maybe, that same will pay well, after all--ay!" + +"My head! my head is bursting with blood," sighed Lady Eleanor; but the +last words alone reached Hickman's ears. + +"Ay! blood's a fine thing, no doubt of it, but, faith, it won't pay +interest on a mortgage; nor I never heard of it staying the execution of +a writ! 'T is little good blood I had in my veins, and yet I contrived +to scrape a trifle together notwithstanding--ay!" + +"I do not feel myself very well, Mr. Hickman," said Lady Eleanor; "may +I request you will send my daughter to me, and excuse me if I wish you a +good morning." + +"Shall I hint anything to the young lady about what we were saying?" +said he, in a tone of most confidential import. + +"At your peril, sir!" said Lady Eleanor, with a look that at once seemed +to transfix him; and the old man, muttering his adieu, hobbled from +the room, while Lady Eleanor leaned back in her chair, overcome by the +conflict of her emotions. + +"Is he gone?" said Lady Eleanor, faintly, as her daughter entered. + +"Yes, Mamma; but are you ill? You look dreadfully pale and agitated." + +"Wearied--fatigued, my dear, nothing more. Tell Captain Forester I must +release him from his engagement to us to-day; I cannot come to dinner." +And, so saying, she covered her eyes with her hand, and seemed lost in +deep thought. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. "THE MECHANISM OP CORRUPTION" + +"Well, Heffernan," said Lord Castlereagh, as they sat over their wine +alone in a small dining-room of the Secretary's Lodge,--"well, even with +Hackett, we shall be run close. I don't fancy the thought of another +division so nearly matched; our fellows don't see the honor of a +Thermopylae." + +"Very true, my Lord; and the desertions are numerous, as they always +will be when men receive the bounty before they are enlisted." + +"Yes; but what would you do? We make a man a Commissioner or a +sinecurist for his vote,--he vacates his seat on taking office; and, +instead of standing the brunt of another election, coolly says, 'That, +differing as he must do from his constituents on an important measure, +he restores the trust they had committed into his hands--'" + +"'He hopes unsullied,'--don't forget that, my Lord." + +"Yes,--'he hopes unsullied,--and prefers to retire from the active +career of politics, carrying with him the esteem and regard of his +former friends, rather than endanger their good opinion by supporting +measures to which they are conscientiously opposed.'" + +"Felicitous conjuncture, that unites patriotism and profit!" exclaimed +Heffernan. "Happy man, that can draw tears from the Mob, and two +thousand a year from the Treasury!" + +"And yet I see no remedy for it," sighed the Secretary. + +"There is one, notwithstanding; but it demands considerable address and +skill. You have always been too solicitous about the estimation of the +men you bought were held in,--always thinking of what would be said +and thought of them. You pushed the system so far that the fellows +themselves caught up the delusion, and began to fancy they had +characters to lose. All this was wrong,--radically, thoroughly wrong. +When the butcher smears a red streak round a lamb's neck,--we call it +'raddling' in Ireland, my Lord,--any child knows he 's destined for +the knife; now, when you 'raddled' your flock, you wanted the world to +believe you were going to make pets of them, and you said as much, and +so often that the beasts themselves believed it, and began cutting their +gambols accordingly. Why not have paraded them openly to the shambles? +It was their bleating you wanted, and nothing else." + +"You forget, Heffernan, how many men would have refused our offers if we +had not made a show, at least, of respect for their scruples." + +"I don't think so, my Lord; you offered a bonus on prudery, and hence +you met nothing but coyness. I'd have taken another line with them." + +"And what might that be?" asked Lord Castlereagh, eagerly. + +"Compromise them," said Heffernan, sternly. "I never knew the man +yet, nor woman either, that you could n't place in such a position of +entanglement that every effort to go right should seem a struggle to do +wrong; and _vice versa_. You don't agree with me! Well, my Lord, I ask +you if, in your experience of public men, you have ever met one less +likely to be captured in this way than my friend Darcy?" + +"From what I have seen and heard of the Knight of Gwynne, I acknowledge +his character has all those elements of frankness and candor which +should except him from such an embarrassment." + +"Well, he 's in the net already," said Heffernan, rubbing his hands +gleefully. + +"Why, you told me he refused to join us, and actually saw through your +negotiation." + +"So he did, and, in return for his keen-sightedness, I 've compromised +him with his party,--you did n't perceive it, but the trick succeeded to +perfection. When the Knight told me that he would not vote on the Union, +or any measure pertaining to it, I waited for Ponsonby's motion, and +made Holmes and Dawson spread the rumor at Daly's and through town that +Darcy was to speak on the division, well knowing he would not rise. +About eleven o'clock, just as Toler sat down, Prendergast got up to +reply, but there was a shout of 'Darcy! Darcy!' and Prendergast resumed +his seat amid great confusion. At that moment I left the bench beside +you, and walked over to Darcy's side of the House, and whispered a few +words in his ear--an invitation to sup, I believe it was; but while he +was answering me, I nodded towards you, and, as I went down the steps, +muttered loud enough to be heard, 'All right!' Every eye was turned at +once towards him, and he, having no intention of speaking, nor having +made any preparation, felt both confused and amazed, and left the House +about five minutes afterwards, while Prendergast was bungling out his +tiresome reply. Before Darcy reached the Club House, the report was +current that he was bought, and old Gillespie was circumstantially +recounting how that his title was 'Lord Darcy in England,'--'Baron +Gwynne in that part of the United Kingdom called Ireland.'" + +"Not even success, Heffernan," said the Secretary, with an air of +severity,--"not even success will excuse a trick of this kind." + +Heffernan looked steadily towards him, as if he half doubted the +sincerity of the speech; it seemed something above or beyond his +comprehension. + +"Yes," said Lord Castlereagh, "you heard me quite correctly. I repeat +it, advantages obtained in this fashion are too dearly purchased." + +"What an admirable actor John Kemble is, my Lord," said Heffernan, with +a quiet smile; "don't you think so?" + +Lord Castlereagh nodded his assent: the transition was too abrupt to +please him, and he appeared to suspect that it concealed some other +object than that of changing the topic. + +"Kemble," continued Heffernan, while he sipped his wine carelessly,--" +Kemble is, I suspect strongly, the greatest actor we have ever had on +the English stage. Have you seen him in 'Macbeth'?" + +"Several times, and always with renewed pleasure," said the Secretary, +gradually recovering from his reserve. + +"What a force of passion he throws into the part! How terrible he makes +the conflict between a great purpose and a weak nature! Do you remember +his horror at the murderers who come to tell of Banquo's death? The +sight of their bloody hands shocks him as though they were not the +evidences of his own success." + +Lord Castlereagh's calm countenance became for a second crimson, and his +lip trembled with struggling indignation; and then, as if subduing +the temptation of anger, he broke into a low, easy laugh, and with +an imitation at Kemble's manner, called out, "There 's blood upon thy +face!" + +"Talking of a bloody hand, my Lord," said Heffernan, at once resuming +his former easy jocularity, "reminds me of that Mr. Hickman, or Hickman +O'Reilly, as the fashion is to call him: is he to have the baronetcy?" + +"Not, certainly, if we can secure him without it." + +"And I think we ought. It should be quite sufficient remuneration for a +man like him to vote with the Government; his father became a Protestant +because it was the gentlemanly faith; and I don't see why the son should +not choose his politics on the same principle. Have you ever asked him +to dinner, my Lord?" + +"Yes, and his father, too. I have had the three generations, but I +rather fear the party did not go off well. I had not in those days, +Heffernan, the benefit of your admirable counsels, and picked my company +unwisely." + +"A great mistake with such men as these," said Heffernan, oracularly; +"the guests should have been the cream of your Lordship's noble +acquaintance. I 'd have had an Earl and a Marquis at either side of each +of them; I 'd have turned their heads with noble names, and pelted them +with the Peerage the whole time of dinner; when he had taken wine with +a chamberlain and some lords-in-waiting, if your Lordship would +only address him, in a voice loud enough to be heard, as 'O'Reilly,' +referring to him on a point of sporting etiquette or country gentleman's +life, I think you might spare the baronetage the honor of his alliance. +Do you think, on a proper representation, and with due securities +against the repetition of the offence, the chancellor would let himself +be called 'Clare'? only for once, remember,--because I 'm satisfied, if +this could be arranged, O'Reilly is yours." + +"I 'd rather depute you to ask the question," said Lord Castlereagh, +laughing; "assuredly I 'll not do so myself. But when do these people +come to town?--to-morrow or next day, I suppose." + +"On Friday next they will all be here. Old Hickman comes up to receive +something like two hundred and twenty thousand pounds,--for Darcy has +raised the money to pay off the incumbrances,--the son is coming for the +debate, and the grandson is to be balloted for at Daly's." + +"You have made yourself master of all their arrangements, Heffernan: may +I ask if they afford you any clew to assisting us in our object?" + +"When can you give a dinner, my Lord?" said the other. + +"Any day after Wednesday,--nay, Wednesday itself; I might easily get off +Brooke's dinner for that day." + +"The sooner the better; time is of great consequence now. Shall we say +Wednesday?" + +"Be it so; now for the party." + +"A small one: selectness is the type of cordiality. The invitation must +be verbal, done in your own admirable way: 'Don't be late, gentlemen, +for Beerhaven and Drogheda are to meet you, and you know they scold if +the soup suffers,'--something in that style. Now let us see who are our +men." + +"Begin with Beerhaven and Drogheda, they are sure cards." + +"Well, then, Massey Hamilton,--but he's only a commoner,--to be sure his +uncle's a Duke, but, confound him, he never talks of him! I might draw +him out about the Highlands and deer-stalking, and the Christmas revels +at Clanchattagan; he 's three--Kilgoff four; he 's first-rate, and will +discuss his noble descent till his carriage is announced. Loughdooner, +five--" + +"He's another bore, Heffernan." + +"I know he is, my Lord; but he has seven daughters, and will +consequently make up to young Beecham, who is a great prize in the wheel +matrimonial. We shall want a Bishop to say grace; I think Dunmore is the +man: he is the last of your Lordship's making, and can't refuse a short +invitation." + +"Six, and the three Hickmans nine, and ourselves eleven; now for the +twelfth--" + +"Darcy, of course," said Heffernan; "he must be asked, and, if possible, +induced to come; Hickman O'Reilly will be far more easily managed if we +make him suppose that we have already secured Darcy ourselves." + +"He'll decline, Heffernan; depend upon it, he'll not come." + +"You think he saw through my _ruse_ in the House,--not a bit of it; +he is the least suspecting man in Ireland, and I 'll make that very +circumstance the reason of his coming. Hint to him that rumor says he +is coquetting with the Government, and he 'll go any lengths to brave +public opinion by confronting it,--that's Darcy, or I 'm much mistaken +in my man; and, to say truth, my Lord, it's an error I rarely fall +into." A smile of self-satisfaction lit up Heffernan's features as he +spoke; for, like many cunning people, his weak point was vanity. + +"You may call me as a witness to character whenever you please," said +Lord Castlereagh, who, in indulging the self-glorification of the other, +was now taking his own revenge; "you certainly knew Upton better than I +did." + +"Depend upon it," said Heffernan, as he leaned back in his chair and +delivered his words in a tone of authority,--"depend upon it, the great +events of life never betray the man, it is the small, every-day dropping +occurrences both make and mar him. I made Upton my friend for life by +missing a woodcock he aimed at; _he_ brought down the bird, and I bagged +the sportsman. Ah, my Lord, the real science of life is knowing how to +be gracefully in the wrong; how to make those slips that reflect on your +own prudence, by exhibiting the superior wisdom of your acquaintances. +Of the men who compassionate your folly or deplore your weakness, you +may borrow money, from the fellows who envy your abilities and extol +your capacity, you 'll never get sixpence." + +"How came it, Heffernan, that you never took office?" said Lord +Castlereagh, suddenly, as if the idea forced itself abruptly upon him. + +"I'll tell you, my Lord," replied Heffernan, speaking in a lower tone, +and as if imparting a deep secret, "they could not spare me--that's the +real fact--they could not spare me. Reflect, for a moment, what kind +of thing the Government of Ireland is; see the difficulty, nay, the +impossibility, of any set of men arriving here fresh from England being +able to find out their way, or make any guess at the leading +characters about them: every retiring official likes to embarrass his +successor,--that's all natural and fair; then, what a mass of blunders +and mistakes await the newly come Viceroy or Secretary! In the midst +of the bleak expanse of pathless waste I was the sign-post. The new +players, who took up the cards when the game was half over, could know +nothing of what trumps were in, or what tricks were taken. I was there +to tell them all; they soon saw that I could do this; and they also saw +that I wanted nothing from any party." + +"That must be confessed on every hand, Heffernan. Never was support more +generous and independent than yours! and the subject reminds me of +a namesake, and, as I hear, a nephew of yours, the Reverend Joshua +Heffernan,--is not that the name?" + +"It is, my Lord, my nephew; but I'm not aware of having asked anything +for him; I never--" + +"But I did, Heffernan, and I do. He shall have the living of Drumslade; +I spoke to the Lord-Lieutenant about it yesterday. There is a hitch +somewhere, but we'll get over it." + +"What may be the obstacle you allude to?" said Heffernan, with more +anxiety than he wished to evince. + +"Lord Killgobbin says the presentation was promised to his brother, for +his influence over Rochfort." + +"Not a bit of it, my Lord. It was I secured Rochfort. The case was +this. He is separated from his wife, Lady Mary, who had a life annuity +chargeable on Rochfort's pension from the Ordnance. Cook enabled me to +get him twelve thousand pounds on the secret service list, provided he +surrendered the pension. Rochfort was only too happy to do so, because +it would spite his wife; and the next Gazette announced 'that the member +for Dun raven had declared his intention of voting with the Government, +but, to prevent even the breath of slander on his motives, had +surrendered his retiring pension as a Store-keeper-General.' There never +was a finer theme for editorial panegyric, and in good sooth your +Lordship's press made the most of it. What a patriot!" + +"What a scoundrel!" muttered Lord Castlereagh; and it would have +puzzled a listener, had there been one, to say on whom the epithet was +conferred. + +"As for Killgobbin or his brother having influence over Rochfort, it's +all absurd. Why, my Lord, it was that same brother married Rochfort to +Lady Mary." + +"That is conclusive," said Lord Castlereagh, laughing. + +"Faith, I think so," rejoined Heffernan; "if you do recover after being +hanged, I don't see that you want to make a friend of the fellow that +pinioned your hands in the 'press-room.' If there's no other reason +against Jos's promotion than this--" + +"If there were, I 'd endeavor to overcome it," said Lord Castlereagh. +"Won't you take more wine? Pray let's have another bottle." + +"No more, my Lord; it's only in such safe company I ever drink so +freely," said Heffernan, laughing, as he rose to say, "Good-night." + +"You 'll take measures for Wednesday, then; that is agreed upon?" + +"All settled," said Heffernan, as he left the room. "Good-bye." + +"There's a building debt on that same living of seventeen hundred +pounds," said Lord Castlereagh, musing; "I'll easily satisfy Killgobbin +that we mean to do better for his brother." + +"Take office, indeed!" muttered Heffernan, as he lay back in his +carriage; "there 's something better than that,--governing the men that +hold office, holding the reins, pocketing the fare, and never paying the +breakage when the coach upsets. No, no, my Lord, you are a clever +fellow for your years, but you must live longer before you measure Con +Heffernan." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. THE KNIGHT'S NOTIONS OF FINANCE + +Heffernan's calculations were all correct, and the Knight accepted Lord +Castlereagh's invitation, simply because rumor attributed to him an +alliance with the Government "It is a pity," said he, laughing, "so much +good calumny should have so little to feed upon; so here goes to give it +something." + +Darcy had as little time as inclination to waste on the topic, as the +whole interval was occupied in law business with Gleeson, who arrived +each morning with a chariot full of parchments, and almost worried the +Knight to death by reciting deeds and indentures, to one word of which +throughout he could not pay the least attention. He affected to listen, +however, as he saw how much Gleeson desired it, and he wrote his name +everywhere and to everything he was asked. + +"By Jove!" cried he, at last, "I could have run through the whole estate +with less fatigue of mind or body than it has cost me to keep a hold of +it." + +Through all the arrangements, there was but one point on which he felt +anxious, and the same question recurred at every moment, "This cannot +compromise Lionel in any way?--this will lead to no future charge upon +the estate after my death?" Indeed, he would not consent to any plan +which in the slightest degree affected his son's interests, being +determined that whatever his extravagances, the penalty should end with +himself. + +While these matters were progressing, old Hickman studiously avoided +meeting the Knight; a sense of his discomfiture at the abbey--a fact +he supposed must have reached Darcy's ears--and the conviction that his +long-cherished game to obtain the property was seen through, abashed the +old man, and led him to affect illness when the Knight called. + +A pleasant letter which the post had brought from Lionel routed every +other consideration from Darcy's mind. His son was coming over to see +him, and bringing three or four of his brother officers to have a peep +at "the West," and a few days' hunting with the Knight's pack. Every +line of this letter glowed with buoyancy and high spirits; schemes for +amusement alternating with the anticipated amazement of his English +friends at the style of living they were to witness at Gwynne Abbey. + +"We shall have but eight days with you, my leave from the Prince will +go no further," wrote he; "but I know well how much may be done in +that short space. Above all, secure Daly; I wish our fellows to see him +particularly. I do not ask about the stable, because I know the horses +are always in condition; but let Dan give the black horse plenty of work +every day; and if the brown mare we got from Mulloch can be ridden by +any one, she must have a saddle on her now. We hope to have four days' +hunting; and let the woodcocks take care of themselves in the intervals, +for we are bent on massacre." + +The postscript was brief, but it surprised Darcy more than all the rest. + +"Only think of my spending four days last week down in Essex with a +worthy kinsman of my mother's, Lord Netherby: a splendid place, glorious +shooting, and the best greyhounds I ever saw run. He understands +everything but horses; but I have taken on me to enlighten him a little, +and have sent down four grays from Guildfords' yesterday,--better than +any we have in the Prince's stables; he is a fine fellow, though I +did n't like him at first; a great courtier in his way, but _au fond_ +warm-hearted and generous. Keep my secret from my mother, but he intends +coming over with us. Adieu! dear father. Look to Forester, don't let +him run away before we arrive. Cut Dublin and its confounded politics. +Netherby says the ministers have an immense majority,--the less reason +for swelling or decreasing it. + +"Yours ever, + +"Lionel Darcy." + + +"And so our trusty and well-beloved cousin of Netherby is coming to +visit us," said the Knight, musing. "Well, Lionel, I confess myself half +of your mind. I did not like him at first: the better impression is yet +to come. In any case, let us receive him suitably; and, fortunately, +here's Gleeson to help the arrangement--Well, Gleeson, I hope matters +are making some progress. Are we to see the last of these parchments +soon? Here's a letter from my son. Read it, and you 'll see I must get +back to 'the West' at once." + +Gleeson perused the letter, and when he had finished, returned it into +the Knight's hand without speaking. + +"Can we conclude this week?" asked Darcy. + +"There are several points yet, sir, of great difficulty. Some I have +already submitted for counsel's opinion; one in particular, as regards +the serving the notice of repayment: there would appear to be a doubt on +this head." + +"There can be none in reality," said Darcy, hastily. "I have Hickman's +letter, in his own handwriting, averring his readiness to release the +mortgage at any day." + +"Is the document witnessed, and on a stamp?" asked Gleeson, cautiously. + +"Of course it is not. Those are scarcely the forms of a note between two +private gentlemen." + +"It might be of use in equity, no doubt," muttered Gleeson, "or before +a jury; but we have no time for these considerations now. The +Attorney-General thinks--" + +"Never mind the Attorney-General. Have we the money to repay? Well, does +Hickman refuse to accept it?" + +"He has not been asked as yet, sir," said Gleeson, whose business +notions were not a little ruffled by this abrupt mode of procedure. + +"And, in Heaven's name, Gleeson! why pester yourself and me with +overcoming obstacles that may never arise? Wait on Hickman at +once,--to-day. Tell him we are prepared, and desirous of paying off +these incumbrances. If he objects, hear his objection." + +"He will refer me to his solicitor, sir,--Mr. Kennedy, of Hume +Street,--a very respectable man, no higher in the profession, but I may +remark, in confidence, one who has no objection to a suit in equity or a +trial at bar. It is not money Hickman wants, sir. He is perfectly +satisfied with his security." + +"What the devil is it, then? He's not Shylock, is he?" said Darcy, +laughing. + +"Not very unlike, perhaps, sir; but in the present instance, it is your +influence with the Government he desires." + +"But I have none, Gleeson,--actually none. No man knows that better than +you do. I could not make a gauger or a tide-waiter to-morrow." + +"But you might, sir,--you might make a peer of the realm if you wished +it. Hickman knows this; and whatever scruples _you_ might have in +adopting the necessary steps, _his_ conscience could never recognize +them as worthy a moment's consideration." + +"This is a topic I 'll scarcely discuss with him," said the Knight, +proudly. "I never, so far as I know, promised to pay a percentage in my +principles as well as in my gold. Mr. Hickman has a fair claim on the +one; on the other, neither he nor any other man shall make an unjust +demand. I am not of Christie Ford's mind," added he, laughingly. +"He says, Gleeson, that if the English are bent on taking away _our_ +Parliament, the only revenge we have left is to spoil _their_ peerage. +This is but a sorry theme to joke upon, after all; and, to come back, +what say you to trying my plan? I am to meet the old fellow at dinner, +on Wednesday next, at Lord Castlereagh's." + +"Indeed, sir!" said Gleeson, with a mixture of surprise and agitation +greatly disproportioned to the intelligence. + +"Yes. Why does that astonish you? The Secretary is too shrewd to neglect +such men as these; they are the rising influences of Ireland." + +Gleeson muttered a half assent; but evidently too much occupied with his +own reflections to pay due attention to the Knight's remark, continued +to himself, "on Wednesday!" then added aloud, "On Monday he is to be in +Kildare. He told me he would remain there to receive his rents, and on +Wednesday return to town. I believe, sir, there may be good counsel in +your words. I 'll try on Monday. I 'll follow him down to Kildare, and +as the papers relative to the abbey property are all in readiness, I'll +endeavor to conclude that at once. So you are to meet at dinner?" + +"That same dinner-party seems to puzzle you," said the Knight, smiling. + +"No, not at all, sir," replied Gleeson, hurriedly. "You were desirous +of getting home next week to meet Mr. Lionel--Captain Darcy I must call +him; if this arrangement can be made, there will be no difficulty +in your return. But of course you will not leave town before it is +completed." + +The Knight pledged himself to be guided by his man of business in all +respects; but when they parted, he could not conceal from himself that +Gleeson's agitated and troubled manner, so very unlike his usual calm +deportment, boded difficulties and embarrassments which to his own eyes +were invisible. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. A HURRIED VISIT + +It was on a severe night, with frequent gusts of stormy wind shaking the +doors and window-frames, or carrying along the drifted flakes of snow +with which the air was charged, that Lady Eleanor, her daughter, and +Forester, were seated round the fire. All the appliances of indoor +comfort by which they were surrounded seemed insufficient to dispel a +sense of sadness that pervaded the little party. Conversation flowed +not as it was wont, in its pleasant current, diverging here and there as +fancy or caprice suggested; the sentences were few and brief, the pauses +between them long and frequent; a feeling of awkwardness, too, mingled +with the gloom, for, at intervals, each would make an endeavor to +relieve the weariness of time, and in the effort show a consciousness of +constraint. + +Lady Eleanor lay back in her deep chair, and, with half-closed lids, +seemed lost in thought. Helen was working at her embroidery, and, +apparently, diligently too, although a shrewd observer might have +remarked on the slow progress the work was making, and how inevitably +her balls of colored worsted seemed bent on entanglement; while Forester +sat silently gazing on the wood fire, and watching the bright sparks as +they flitted and danced above the red flame; his brow was clouded, and +his look sorrowful; not without reason, perhaps: it was to be his last +evening at the abbey; the last of those hours of happiness which seemed +all the fairer when about to part with them forever. + +Lady Eleanor seemed grieved at his approaching departure. From the habit +of his mind, and the nature of his education, he was more companionable +to her than Lionel. + +She saw in him many qualities of high and sterling value, and even in +his prejudices she could trace back several of those traits which marked +her own youth, when, in the pride of her English breeding, she would +tolerate no deviation from the habits of her own country. It was true, +many of these notions had given way since his residence at the abbey; +many of his opinions had undergone modification or change, but still he +was distinctively English. + +Helen, who possessed no standard by which to measure such prejudices, +was far less indulgent towards them; her joyous, happy nature--the +heirloom of her father's house--led her rather to jest than argue on +these topics, and she contrasted the less apt and ready apprehension +of Forester with the native quickness of her brother Lionel, +disadvantageous to the former. She was sorry, too, that he was going; +more so, because his society was so pleasing to her mother, and that +before him, Lady Eleanor exerted herself in a way which eventually +reacted favorably on her own health and spirits. Further than this, her +interest in him was weak. + +Not so Forester: he was hopelessly, inextricably, in love, not the less +so that he would not acknowledge it to himself; far more so because he +had made no impression on the object of his passion. There is a period +in every story of affection when the flame grows the brighter because +unreflected, and seems the more concentrated because unreturned. +Forester was in this precise stage of the malady; he was as much piqued +by the indifference as fascinated by the charms of Helen Darcy. The very +exertions he made for victory stimulated his own passion; while, in her +efforts to interest or amuse him, he could not help feeling the evidence +of her indifference to him. + +We have said that the conversation was broken and interrupted; at length +it almost ceased altogether, a stray remark of Lady Eleanor's, followed +by a short reply from Forester, alone breaking the silence. Nor +were these always very pertinent, inasmuch as the young aide-de-camp +occasionally answered his own reflections, and not the queries of his +hostess. + +"An interesting time in Dublin, no doubt," said Lady Eleanor, half +talking to herself; "for though the forces are unequal, and victory and +defeat predestined, there will be a struggle still." + +"Yes, madam, a brief one," answered Forester, dreamily, comprehending +only a part of her remark. + +"A brief and a vain one," echoed Lady Eleanor. + +"Say, rather, a glorious one," interposed Helen; "the last cheer of a +sinking crew!" + +Forester looked up, startled into attention by the energy of these few +words. + +"I should say so too, Helen," remarked her mother, "if they were not +accessory to their own misfortunes." + +"Nay, nay, Mamma, you must not remember their failings in their hour of +distress; there is a noble-hearted minority untainted yet." + +"There will be a majority of eighteen," said Forester, whose thoughts +were wandering away, while he endeavored to address himself to what he +believed they were saying; nor was he aware of his error till aroused by +the laughter of Lady Eleanor and her daughter. + +"Eighteen!" reiterated he, solemnly. + +"How few!" remarked Lady Eleanor, almost scornfully. + +"You should say, how costly, Mamma!" exclaimed Helen. "These gentlemen +are as precious from their price as their rarity!" + +"That is scarcely fair, Miss Darcy," said Forester, at once recalled to +himself by the tone of mockery she spoke in; "many adopted the views +of Government, after duly weighing every consideration of the measure: +some, to my own knowledge, resisted offers of great personal advantage, +and Lord Castlereagh was not aware of their adhesion--" + +"Till he had them _en poche_, I suppose," said Helen, sarcastically; +"just as you have been pleased to do with my ball of yellow worsted, and +for which I shall be thankful if you will restore it to me." + +Forester blushed deeply, as he drew from his coat-pocket the worsted, +which in a moment of abstraction he had lifted from the ground, and +thrust into his pocket, without knowing. + +Had any moderately shrewd observer witnessed his confusion, and her +enjoyment of it, he would easily have understood the precise relation of +the two parties to each other. Forester's absence of mind betrayed +his engaged affection as palpably as Helen's laughter did her own +indifference. + +Lady Eleanor did not remark either; her thoughts still rested on +the topic of which they had spoken, for it was a subject of no +inconsiderable difficulty to her. Whatever her sense of indignant +contempt for the bribed adherents of the Ministry, her convictions +always inclined to these measures, whose origin was from her native +country; her predilections were strongly English; not only her happiest +days had been passed there, but she was constantly contrasting the +position they would have occupied and sustained in that favored land, +against the wasteful and purposeless extravagance of their life in +Ireland. + +Was it too late to amend? was the question ever rising to her mind, now +if even yet the Knight should be induced to adopt the more ambitious +course? Every accidental circumstance seemed favorable to the notion: +the Government craving his support; her own relatives, influential +as they were from rank and station, soliciting it; the Prince himself +according favors which could no more be rejected than acknowledged +ungraciously. + +"What a career for Lionel! What a future for Helen!" such were +reflections that would press themselves upon her, but to whose +disentanglement her mind suggested no remedy. + +"'Tis Mr. Daly, my Lady," said Tate, for something like the fourth time, +without being attended to. "'T is Mr. Daly wants leave to visit you." + +"Mr. Bagenal Daly, Mamma, wishes to know if you'll receive him?" + +"Mr. Daly is exactly the kind of person to suggest this impracticable +line of policy," said Lady Eleanor, with half-closed eyes; for the name +alone had struck her, and she had not heard what was said. + +"My dear Mamma," said Helen, rising, and leaning over her chair, "it is +a visit he proposes; nothing so very impracticable in that, I hope!" +and then, at a gesture from her mother, continued to Tate, "Lady Eleanor +will be very happy to see Mr. Daly." + +Lady Eleanor had scarcely aroused herself from her revery when Bagenal +Daly entered. His manner was stately, perhaps somewhat colder than +usual, and he took his seat with an air of formal politeness. + +"I have come, my Lady," said he, slowly, "to learn if I can be of any +service in the capital; unexpected news has just reached me, requiring +my immediate departure for Dublin." + +"Not to-night, sir, I hope; it is very severe, and likely, I fear, to +continue so." + +"To-night, madam, within an hour, I expect to be on the road." + +"Could you defer a little longer, and we may be fellow-travellers," said +Forester; "I was to start to-morrow morning, but my packing can soon be +made." + +"I should hope," said Lady Eleanor, smiling, "that you will not leave us +unprotected, gentlemen, and that one, at least, will remain here." +This speech, apparently addressed to both, was specially intended for +Forester, whose cheek tingled with a flush of pleasure as he heard it. + +"I have no doubt, madam, that Captain Forester, whose age and profession +are more in accordance with gallantry, will respond to your desire." + +"If I could really fancy that I was not yielding to my own wishes only," +stammered out Forester. + +"Nay, I make it a request." + +"There, sir, how happy to be entreated to what one's wishes incline +them," added Daly; "you may go through a deal of life without being +twice so fortunate. I should apologize for so brief a notice of my +departure, Lady Eleanor, but the intelligence I have received is +pressing." Here he dropped his voice to a whisper. "The Ministers have +hurried forward their bill, and I shall scarcely be in time for the +second reading." + +"All accounts agree in saying that the Government majority is certain," +observed Lady Eleanor, calmly. + +"It is to be feared, madam, that such rumors are well founded, but the +party who form the forlorn hope have their devoirs also." + +"I am a very indifferent politician, Mr. Daly, but it strikes me that +a body so manifestly corrupt, give the strongest possible reasons for +their own destruction." + +"Were they all so, madam, I should join in the sentiment as freely as +you utter it," replied Daly, proudly; "but it is a heavy sentence that +would condemn the whole crew because there was a mutiny in the steerage; +besides, these rights and privileges are held only in trust; no man can +in honor or justice vote away that of which he is only the temporary +occupant; forgive me, I beg, for daring to discuss the topic, but I +thought the Knight had made you a convert to his own opinions." + +"We have never spoken on the subject, Mr. Daly," replied Lady Eleanor, +coldly; "the Knight dislikes the intrusion of a political matter within +the circle of his family, and for that reason, perhaps," added she, with +a smile, "my daughter and myself feel for it all the temptation of a +forbidden pleasure." + +"Oh, yes!" exclaimed Helen, who heard the last few words of her mother's +speech, "I am as violent a partisan as Mr. Daly could ask for; indeed, +I am not certain if all my doctrines are not of his own teaching; I fear +the Premier, distrust the Cabinet, and put no faith in the Secretary for +Ireland; is not that the first article of our creed?--nay, nay, fear was +no part of your instruction." + +"And yet I have fears, my dear Helen, and very great fears just now," +said Daly in a low whisper, only audible by herself, and she turned +her full and beaming eyes upon him for an explanation. As if anxious +to escape the interrogatory, Daly arose hastily. "I must crave +your indulgence for an abrupt leave-taking, Lady Eleanor," said he, +approaching, as he kissed the hand held out to him; "I shall be able to +tell the Knight that I left you both well, and under safe protection. +Captain Forester, adieu; you need no admonition of mine respecting your +charge;" and, with a low and courtly salute, he departed. + +"Rely upon it, Captain Forester, he's bent on mischief now. I never +saw him particularly mild and quiet in his manner that it was not the +prelude to some desperate ebullition," said Lady Eleanor. + +"He is the very strangest of all mortals." + +"Say, the most single-minded and straightforward," interposed Helen, +"and I 'll agree with you." + +"When men of strong minds and ambitious views are curbed and held +in within the petty sphere of a small social circle, they are, to my +thinking, intolerable. It is making a drawing-room pet of a tiger; every +step he takes upsets a vase or smashes a jar. You smile at my simile." + +"I 'm sure it's a most happy one," said Forester, continuing. + +"I enter a dissent," cried Helen, playfully. "He's a tiger, if you will, +with his foes, but in all the relations of private life, gentleness +itself; for my part, I can imagine no more pleasing contrast to the +modern code of manners than Mr. Bagenal Daly." + +"There, Captain Forester, if you would win Miss Darcy's favor, you have +now the model for your imitation." + +Forester's face flushed, and he appeared overwhelmed with confusion, +while Helen went on with her embroidery, tranquil as before. + +"I believe," resumed Lady Eleanor,--"I believe, after all, I am unjust +to him; but much may be forgiven me for being so; he has made my son a +wild, thoughtless boy, and my daughter--" + +"No indiscretions, Mamma," cried Helen, holding up her hand. + +"Well, he has made my daughter _telle que vous la voyez_." + +Forester was too well bred to venture on a word of flattery or +compliment, but his glowing color and sparkling eyes spoke his +admiration. + +Lady Eleanor's quick glance remarked this; and, as if the thought had +never occurred before, she seemed amazed, either at the fact or at her +own previous inattention. + +"Let us finish that second volume you were reading, Captain Forester," +said she, glad to cut short the discussion. And, without a word, he took +the book and began to read. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. BAGENAL DALY'S JOURNEY TO DUBLIN + +It is not our desire to practise any mystery with our reader, nor would +the present occasion warrant such. Mr. Daly's hurried departure for +Dublin was caused by the receipt of tidings which had that morning +reached him, conveying the startling intelligence that his friend the +Knight had accepted terms from the Government, and pledged himself to +support their favored measure. + +It was a time when men were accustomed to witness the most flagrant +breaches of honor and good faith. No station was too high to be above +the reach of this reproach, no position too humble not to make its +possessor a mark for corruption. It was an epidemic of dishonesty, and +people ceased to wonder as they heard of each new victim to the malady. + +Bagenal Daly well knew that no man could be more exempt from an +imputation of this nature than the Knight of Gwynne: every act of his +life, every sentiment he professed, every trait of his character, flatly +contradicted the supposition. But he also knew that though Darcy was +unassailable by all the temptations of bribery, come in what shape +they might, that his frank and generous spirit would expose him to the +stratagems and devices of a wily and insidious party, and that if, by +any accident, an expression should fall from him in all the freedom of +convivial enjoyment that could be tortured into even the resemblance +of a pledge, he well knew that his friend would deem any sacrifice of +personal feeling light in the balance, rather than not adhere to it. + +Resolved not to lose a moment, he despatched Sandy to order horses along +the line, and having passed the remainder of the day in the preparations +for his departure, he left the abbey before midnight. A less determined +traveller might have hesitated on setting out on such a night: the long +menacing storm had at length burst forth, and the air resounded with a +chaos of noise, amid which the roaring breakers and the crash of falling +trees were uppermost; with difficulty the horses were enabled to keep +their feet, as the sea washed heavily over the wall and deluged the +road, while at intervals the fallen timber obstructed the way and +delayed his progress. Difficulty was, however, the most enjoyable +stimulant to Daly's nature; he loved an obstacle as other men enjoy a +pleasure, and, as he grew older, so far from yielding to the indolence +of years, his hardy spirit seemed to revel in the thought that amid +dangers and perils his whole life had been passed, yet never had he +suffered himself to be a beaten enemy. + +The whole of that night, and all the following day, the violence of the +storm was unabated; uprooted trees and wrecked villages met his eye as +he passed, while, in the larger towns, the houses were strongly barred +and shuttered, and scarcely one living thing to be seen through +the streets. Nothing short of the united influence of bribery and +intimidation could procure horses in such a season, and had any +messenger of less sturdy pretensions than honest Sandy been despatched +to order them, they would have been flatly refused. Bagenal Daly and his +man were, however, too well known in that part of Ireland to make such a +course advisable, and though postboys and ostlers condoled together, the +signal of Daly's appearance silenced every thought of opposition, and +the words, "I 'm ready!" were an order to dash forward none dared to +disobey. + +So had it continued until he reached Moate, where he found a message +from Sandy, informing him that no horses could be procured, and that he +must bring on those from Athlone the entire way to Kilbeggan. + +"You hear me," cried Daly to the astonished postboy, who for the last +two miles had spared neither whip nor spur, in the glad anticipation of +a speedy shelter,--"you hear me. To Kilbeggan." + +"Oh, begorra! that's impossible, yer honor. If it was the month of May, +and the road was a bowling-green, the bastes couldn't do it." + +"Go on!" cried Daly, shutting up the glass, and throwing himself back in +the chaise. + +[Illustration: 185] + +But the postboy only buttoned up the collar of his coat around his face, +thrust his whip into his boot, and, drawing his sleeves over his hands, +sat a perfect picture of fatalism. + +"I say, go on!" shouted Daly, as he lowered the front window of the +chaise. + +A low muttering from the driver, still impassive as before, was all the +reply, and at the same instant a sharp report was heard, and a pistol +bullet whizzed beside his hat. + +"Will you go _now?_" cried Bagenal Daly, as he levelled another weapon +on the window; but no second entreaty was necessary, and, with his +bead bent down almost to the mane, and with a mingled cry for mercy +and imprecation together, he drove the spurs into his jaded beast, and +whipped with all his might through the almost deserted town. With the +despairing energy of one who felt his life was in peril, the wretched +postboy hurried madly forward, urging the tired animals up the hills, +and caring neither for rut nor hollow on his onward course, till at +length, blown and exhausted, the animals came to a dead stand, and, +with heaving flanks and outstretched forelegs, refused to budge a step +farther. + +"There!" cried the postboy, as, dropping from the saddle, he fell on his +knees upon the road, "shoot, and be d------d to you; I can do no more." + +The terrified expression of the fellow's face as the lamp of the +chaise threw its light upon him, seemed to change the current of Daly's +thoughts, for he laughed loud and heartily as he looked upon him. + +"Come, come," said he, good-humoredly, "is not that Kilbeggan where I +see the lights yonder?" + +"Sorra bit of it," sighed the other, "it is only Horseleap." + +"Well, push on to Horseleap; perhaps they 've horses there." + +"Begorra! you might as well look for black tay in a bog-hole; 't is a +poor 'shebeen' is the only thing in the village;" and, so saying, he +took the bridle on his arm, and walked along before the horses, who, +with drooping heads, tottered after at a foot pace. + +About half an hour of such travelling brought Daly in front of a +miserable cabin, over the door of which a creaking sign proclaimed +accommodation for man and beast. To the partial truth of this statement +the bright glare of a fire that shone between the chinks of the shutters +bore witness, and, disengaging himself from the chaise, Daly knocked +loudly for admission. There are few less conciliating sounds to the +ears of a hot-tempered man than those hesitating whispers which, while +exposed to a storm himself, he hears deliberating on the question of his +admission. Such were the mutterings Daly now listened to, and to which +he was about to reply by forcing his entrance, when the door was opened +by a man in the dress of a peasant, who somewhat sulkily demanded what +he wanted. + +"Horses, if you have them, to reach Kilbeggan," said Daly, "and if you +have not, a good fire and shelter until they can be procured;" and as +he spoke, he pushed past the man, and entered the room from which the +blazing light proceeded. + +With his back to the fire, and hands thrust carelessly into the pockets +of his coat, stood a man of eight-and-thirty or forty years of age; +in dress, air, and appearance he might have been taken for a country +horse-dealer; and so, indeed, his well-worn top-boots and green coat, +cut in jockey fashion, seemed to bespeak him. He was rather under the +middle size, but powerfully built, his wide chest, long arms, and bowed +legs all indicating the possession of that strength which is never the +accompaniment of more perfect symmetry. + +Although Daly's appearance unquestionably proclaimed his class in +life, the other exhibited no mark of deference or respect to him as he +entered, but maintained his position with the same easy indifference as +at first. + +"You make yourself at home here, good friend, if one might judge from +the way you knocked at the door," said he, addressing Daly with a look +whose easy familiarity was itself an impertinence. + +"I have yet to learn," said Daly, sternly, "that a gentleman must +practise any peculiar ceremony when seeking the shelter of a 'shebeen,' +not to speak of the right by which such as you address me as your good +friend." + +An insolent laugh, that Daly fancied was re-echoed by some one without, +was the first reply to this speech; when, after a few minutes, the man +added, "I see you 're a stranger in these parts." + +"If I had not been so, the chance is I should have taught you somewhat +better manners before this time. Move aside, sir, and let me see the +fire." + +But the other never budged in the slightest, standing in the same easy +posture as before. + +Daly's dark face grew darker, and his heavy brows met in a deep frown, +while, with a spring that showed no touch of time in his strong frame, +he bounded forward and seized the man by the collar. Few men were Daly's +equals in point of strength; but although he with whom he now grappled +made no resistance whatever, Daly never stirred him from the spot, to +which he seemed fast and firmly rooted. + +"Well, that's enough of it!" said the fellow, as with a rough jerk he +freed himself from the grasp, and sent Daly several paces back into the +room. + +"Not so!" cried Daly, whose passion now boiled over, and, drawing a +pistol from his bosom, he levelled it at him. Quick as the motion was, +the other was equally ready, for his hand now presented a similar weapon +at Daly's head. + +"Move aside, or--" + +A coarse, insulting laugh drowned Daly's words, and he pulled the +trigger; but the pistol snapped without exploding. + +"There it is, now," cried the fellow, rudely; "luck's against you, old +boy, so you 'd better keep yourself cool and easy;" and with these words +he uncocked the weapon and replaced it in his bosom. Daly watched the +moment, and with a bound placed himself beside him, when, bringing +his leg in front, he caught the man round the middle, and hurled him +headlong on the ground. + +He fell as if he had been shot; but, rolling over, he leaned upon his +elbow and looked up, without the slightest sign of passion or even +excitement on his features. + +"I 'd know that trip in a thousand; begad, you 're Bagenal Daly, and +nobody else!" + +Although not a little surprised at the recognition, Daly suffered no +sign of astonishment to escape him, but drew his chair to the fire, and +stretched out his legs before the blaze. Meanwhile, the other, having +arisen, leaned over the back of a chair, and stared at him steadfastly. + +"I am as glad as a hundred-pound note, now, you did n't provoke me to +lay a hand on you, Mr. Daly," said he, slowly, and in a voice not devoid +of a touch of feeling; "'t is n't often I bear malice, but I 'd never +forgive myself the longest day I 'd live." + +Daly turned his eyes towards him, and, for some minutes, they continued +to look at each other without speaking. + +"I see you don't remember me, sir," said the stranger, at length; "but +I 've a better memory, and a better reason to have it besides: you saved +my life once." + +"Saved your life!" repeated Daly, thoughtfully; "I 've not the slightest +recollection of ever having seen you before." + +"It's all true I 'm telling, for all that," replied the other; "and +although it happened above five-and-twenty years since, I'm not much +changed, they tell me, in look or appearance." He paused at these words, +as if to give Daly time to recognize him; but the effort seemed in vain, +as, after along and patient scrutiny, Daly said, "No, I cannot remember +you." + +"Let me see, then," said the man, "if I can't refresh your memory. Were +you in Dublin in the winter of '75?" + +"Yes; I had a house in Stephen's Green--" + +"And used to drive four black thoroughbreds without winkers?" + +"It's clear that _you_ know me, at least," said Daly; "go on." + +"Well, sir, do you remember, it was about a week before Christmas, +that Captain Burke Fitzsimon was robbed of a pair of pistols in the +guard-room of the Upper Castle Yard, in noonday, ay, and tied with his +own sash to the guard-bed?" + +"By Jove! I do. He was regularly laughed out of the regiment." + +"Faix, and many that laughed at him mightn't have behaved a deal better +than he did," replied the other, with a dogged sternness in his +manner. He became silent after these words, and appeared deeply sunk in +meditation, when suddenly he drew two splendidly chased pistols from +his bosom, and held them out to Daly as he said, "There they are, and as +good as they are handsome, true at thirty paces, and never fail." + +Daly gazed alternately from the pistols to their owner, but never +uttered a word. + +"That same day," resumed the man, "you were walking down the quay near +the end of Watling Street, when there was a cry of 'Stop thief!--stop +him!--a hundred guineas to the man that takes him!' and shortly after +a man crossed the quay, pursued closely by several people, one of them, +and the foremost, being Tom Lambert, the constable, the strongest man, +they said, of his day, in Ireland. The fellow that ran could beat them +all, and was doing it too, when, just as he had gained Bloody Bridge, +he saw a child on the pathway all covered with blood, and a bulldog +standing over him, worrying him--" + +"I have it all," said Daly, interrupting him; "'tis as fresh before me +as if it happened yesterday. The robber stopped to save the child, and, +seizing the bulldog by the throat, hurled him over the wall into the +Liffey. Lambert, as you call him, had by this time come close up, and +was within two yards of the man, when I, feeling compassion for a fellow +that could be generous at such a moment, laid my hand on the constable's +arm to stop him; he struck me; but if he did, he had his reward, for +I threw him over the hip on the crown of his head, and he had a brain +fever after it that almost brought him to death's door. And where were +you all this time, and what were you doing?" + +"I was down Barrack Street, across the park, and near Knockmaroon Gate, +before they could find a door to stretch Tom Lambert on." + +"You!" said Daly, staring at him; "why, it was Freney, they told me, +performed that exploit for a wager." + +"So it was, sir," said the man, standing up and crossing his arms, not +without something of pride in his look,--"I'm Freney." + +Daly arose and gazed at the man with all that curious scrutiny one +bestows upon some remarkable object, measuring his strong, athletic +frame with the eye of a connoisseur, and, as it were, calculating the +physical resources of so powerful a figure. + +"You see, sir," said the robber, at last, "I was right when I told you +that you saved my life: there were thirteen indictments hanging over my +head that day, and if I 'd been taken they 'd have hanged me as round as +a turnip." + +"You owe it to yourself," said Daly; "had you not stopped for the child, +it was just as likely that I 'd have tripped you up myself." + +"'Tis a feeling I never could get over," said the robber; "'twas a +little boy, about the same age as that, that saved the Kells coach the +night I stopped it near Dangan. And now, sir, let me ask you what in the +world brought you into the village of Horseleap? For I am sure," added +he with a laugh, "it was never to look after me." + +"You are right there, friend; I'm on my way up to town to be present at +the debate in Parliament on the Union,--a question that has its interest +for yourself too." + +"How so, sir?" said the other, curiously. + +"Plainly enough, man; if they carry the Union, they'll not leave a man +worth robbing in the island. You 'll have to take to an honest calling, +Freney,--turn cattle-drover. By the way, they tell me you 're a good +judge of a horse." + +"Except yourself, there's not a better in the island; and if you 've no +objection, I 'll mount and keep you company as far as Maynooth, where +you 'll easily get horses--and it will be broad daylight by that +time--to bring you into Dublin." + +"I accept the offer willingly. I'll venture to say we shall not be +robbed on the journey." + +"Well, sir, the horses won't be here for an hour yet, and if you 'll +join me in a bit of supper I was going to have when you came in, it will +help to pass the time till we are ready to start." + +Daly assented, not the less readily that he had not eaten anything since +morning, and Freney left the room to hasten the preparations for the +meal. + +"Come, Freney," said Daly, as the other entered the room a few moments +after, "was it the strength of conscious rectitude that made you stand +my fire as you did a while ago, or did you think me so bad a marksman at +four paces?" + +"Neither, sir," replied the robber, laughing; "I saw the pan of the lock +half open as you drew it from your pocket, and I knew the priming must +have fallen out; but for that--" + +"You had probably fired, yourself?" + +"Just so," rejoined he, with a short nod. "I could have shot you before +you levelled at me. Now, sir, here's something far better than burning +powder. I am sure you are too old a traveller not to be able to eat a +rasher of bacon." + +"And this I take to be as free of any allegiance to the king as +yourself," said Daly, as he poured out a wineglass-ful of "poteen" from +a short black bottle. + +"You 're right, sir," said Freney, with a laugh. "We 're both duty free. +Let me help you to an egg." + +"I never ate better bacon in my life," said Daly, who seemed to relish +his supper with considerable gusto. + +"I'm glad you like it, sir. It is a notion of mine that Costy Moore of +Kilcock cures a pig better than any man in this part of Ireland; and +though his shop is next the police-barracks, I went in there myself to +buy this." + +Daly stared, with something of admiration in his look, at the man whose +epicurism was indulged at the hazard of his neck; and he pledged the +robber with a motion of the head that betokened a high sense of his +daring. "I've heard you have had some close escapes, Freney." + +"I was never taken but once, sir. A woman hid my shoes when I was +asleep. I was at the foot of the Galtee mountains: the ground is hard +and full of sharp shingle, and I could n't run. They brought me into +Clonmel, and I was in the heaviest irons in the jail before two hours +were over. That's the strong jail, Mr. Daly; they 've the best walls and +the thickest doors there I have ever seen in any jail in Ireland. For," +added he, with a sly laugh, "I went over them all, in a friendly sort of +a way." + +"A kind of professional tour, Freney?" + +"Just so, sir; taking a bird's-eye view of the country from the drop, +because, maybe, I would n't have time for it at another opportunity." + +"You 're a hardened villain!" said Daly, looking at him with an +expression the robber felt to be a finished compliment. + +"That's no lie, Mr. Daly; and if I wasn't, could I go on for twenty +years, hunted down like a wild beast, with fellows tracking me all day, +and lying in watch for me all night? Where we are sitting now is the +only spot in the whole island where I can say I 'm safe. This is my +brother's cabin." + +"Your brother is the same man that opened the door for me?" + +Freney nodded, and went on: "He's a poor laboring man, with four acres +of wet bog for a farm, and a young woman, in the ague, for a wife, and +if it was n't for myself he 'd be starving; and would you believe it, +now, he 'd not take to the road for one night--just one single night--to +be as rich as the Duke of Leinster; and here am I"--and, as he spoke, +his chest expanded, and his dark eyes flashed wildly--"here am I, that +would rather be on my black mare's back, with my holsters at the +saddle, watching the sounds of wheels on a lonely road, than I 'd be any +gentleman in the land, barring your own self." + +"And why me?" said Daly, in a voice whose melancholy cadence made it +solemn as a death-bell. + +"Just because you 're the only man I ever heard tell of that was fond of +danger for the fun of it. Did n't I see the leap you took at the Black +Lough, just to show the English Lord-Lieutenant how an Irish gentleman +rides, with the rein in your mouth, and your hands behind your back? +Isn't that true?" + +Daly nodded, and muttered, "I have the old horse still." + +"By the good day! I 'd spend a week in Newgate to see you on his back." + +"Well, Freney," said Daly, who seemed not disposed to encourage +a conversation so personal in its allusions, "where have you been +lately?--in the South?" + +"No, sir; I spent the last fortnight watching an old fox that doubled on +me at last,--old Hickman, of Loughrea, that used to be." + +"Old Hickman!--what of him?" cried Daly, whose interest became at once +excited by the mention of the name. + +"I found out, sir, that he was to be down here at Kildare to receive his +rents,--for he owns a fine estate here,--and that, besides, Tom Gleeson, +the great agent from Dublin, was to meet him, as some said, to pay him +a large sum of money for the Knight of Gwynne,--some heavy debt, I +believe, owing for many a year." + +"Yes, go on. What then?" + +"Well. I knew the reason Hickman wanted the money here: Lord Tyrawley +was going to sell him a part of Gore's Wood, for hard cash--d 'ye +mind, sir, hard cash--down on the nail, for my Lord likes high play at +Daly's--" + +"D----n Lord Tyrawley!" said Daly, impatiently. "What of Hickman?" + +"Well, d----n him too! He's a shabby negur. I stopped 'him at Ball's +Bridge once, and got but three guineas and some shillings for my pains. +But to come back to old Hickman: I found he had arrived at the 'Black +Dog,' and that Gleeson had come the same evening, and so I disguised +myself like an old farmer the next morning, and pretended I wanted +his advice about an asthma that I had, just to see the lie of the old +premises, and whether he was alone, or had the two bailiffs with him, +as usual. There they were, sir, sure enough, and well armed too, and +fresh hasps on the door, to lock it inside, all secure as a bank. I saw +these things while the old doctor was writing the prescription, for +he tore a leaf out of his pocket-book to order me some stuff for the +cough,--faith, 't is pills of another kind they 'd have given me if they +found me out. That was all I got for my guinea in goold, not to speak +of the danger;" and, so saying, he pulled a crumpled piece of paper from +his pocket, and held it out towards Daly. "That's not it, sir; 't is the +other side the writing is on." + +But Daly's eyes were fixed upon the paper, which he held firmly between +both hands. + +"Ay, I see what you are looking at," said Freney; "that was a kind of +memorandum the old fellow made of the money Gleeson paid him the day +before." + +Daly paid no attention to the remark, but muttered half aloud the +contents of the document before him: "Check on Ball for eighteen +thousand, payable at sight,--thirty-six thousand eight hundred and +ten pounds in notes of the Bank of England,--gold, seventeen hundred +guineas." + +"There was a lob," cried Freney, as he rubbed his hands together. "I was +set up for life if I got half of it! And now, Mr. Daly, just tell me one +thing: isn't Mr. Darcy there as bad as myself, to take all this money +for his vote?" + +"How do you mean?" said Daly, sternly. + +"I mean that a gentleman born and bred as he is, oughtn't to sell his +country for goold; that if a blackguard like myself takes to the road, +it's all natural and reasonable, and the world's little worse off when +they hang half a dozen of my kind; but for a real born gentleman of the +old stock of the land to go and take money for his vote in Parliament!" + +"And who dares to say he did so?" cried Daly, indignantly. + +"Faix, that's the story up in Dublin; they say he 'd no other way of +clearing off the debts on his property. Bad cess to me if I 'd do it! +Here I am, a robber and a highwayman, I don't deny it, but may I wear +hemp for a handkerchief if I 'd sell my country. Bad luck to the Union, +and all that votes for it," said he, as, filling a bumper of whiskey, he +tossed it off to this laudable sentiment. + +"If you had n't wronged my friend the Knight of Gwynne, I'm not certain +that I wouldn't have pledged your toast myself." + +"If he 's a friend of yours I say nothing against him; but sure when +he--" + +"Once for all," said Daly, sternly, "this story is false;" while he +added, in a low muttering to himself, "corruption must needs have +spread widely when such a calumny was even ventured on.--And so, Freney, +Hickman escaped you?" + +"He did, sir," said Freney, sighing; "he made a lodgment in Kildare next +day, and more of the money he carried up to town, guarded all the way +by the two fellows I told you. Ah! Mr. Daly, if all the world was as +cunning as old Peter, I might give up the road as a bad job. There! do +you hear that? Listen, sir." + +"What is it?" said Daly, after a moment's silence. + +"They're my nags, sir, coming up the road. I'd know their trot if I +heard it among a troop of dragoons. 'T is clippers they are." + +As he spoke he arose from the table, and, lighting a small lantern he +always carried with him, hastened to the door, where already the two +horses were standing, a bare-legged "gossoon" holding the bridles. + +[Illustration: 197] + +"Well, Jemmy, what 's the news to-night?" said Freney. + +"Nothing, sir, at all. I passed the down mail at Seery's Mill, and when +the coachman heard the step of the horses, he laid on the wheelers +wid all his might, and sat down on the footboard, and the two outside +passengers lay flat as a pancake on the top when I passed. I could n't +help giving a screech out of me for fun, and the old guard let fly, +and sent a ball through my 'caubeen;'" and as he said these words he +exhibited his ragged felt hat, which, in addition to its other injuries, +now displayed a round bullet-hole through either side. + +"Serve you right," said Freney, harshly; "I wish he'd levelled three +inches lower. That young rascal, sir, keeps the whole road in a state of +alarm that stops all business on it." Then he added, in a whisper, "but +he never failed me in his life. I 've only to say when and where I want +the horses, and I 'd lay my neck on it he's there." + +Daly, who had been for some minutes examining the two horses by the +lantern with all the skill of an adept, now turned the light full upon +the figure of the boy whose encomium was thus pronounced. The urchin, +as if conscious that he was passing an inspection, set his tattered +hat jauntily on one side, and with one arm a-kimbo, and a leg advanced, +stood the very perfection of ragged, self-sufficient rascality. Though +at most not above fourteen years of age, and short in size even for +that, his features had the shrewd intelligence of manhood; a round, +wide head, covered with dark red hair, projected over two eyes set +wide apart, whose bad expression was ingeniously improved by a habit of +squinting at pleasure,--a practice with which he now amused himself, as +Mr. Daly continued to stare at him. His nose, which a wound had partly +separated from the forehead, was short and wide, leaving an unnatural +length to the lower part of the face, where an enormous mouth, garnished +with large and regular teeth, was seen,--a feature that actually gave a +look of ferocity even to a face so young. + +"It's plain to see what destiny awaits that young scoundrel," said Daly, +as he gazed almost sadly at the assemblage of bad passions so palpably +displayed in his countenance. + +"I 'd wager the young devil knows it himself, and can see the gallows +even now before him." + +A wild burst of frantic laughter broke from the urchin as, in the +exuberance of his merriment, he capered round Daly with gambols the most +strange and uncouth, and then, mimicking an air of self-admiration, +he strutted past, while he broke into one of the slang ditties of the +day:-- + + "With beauty and manners to plaze, + I 'll seek a rich wife, and I 'll find her, + And live like a Lord all my days, + And sing, Tally-high-ho the Grinder!" + +Freney actually screamed with laughter as he watched the mingled +astonishment and horror depicted in Daly's face. + +"That fellow's fate will lie heavily on your heart yet," said Daly, in a +voice whose solemn tones at once arrested Freney's merriment, while +the "gossoon," with increased animation and in a wilder strain, burst +forth,-- + + "My Lord cheats at play like a rogue, + And my Lady flings honor behind her; + And why wold n't I be in vogue, + And sing, Tally-high-ho the Grinder!" + +"Come," said Daly, turning away, for, amid all his disgust, a sense of +the ludicrous was stealing over him, and the temptation to laugh was +struggling in him,--"come, let us be off; you have nothing to wait for, +I suppose?" + +"Nothing, sir; I'm ready this instant. Here, Jemmy, take this +portmanteau, and meet us outside of Maynooth, under the old castle +wall." + +"Stay," cried Daly, whose misgivings about the safe arrival of his +luggage would have made him prefer any other mode of transmission; "he +'ll scarcely be in time." + +"Not in time! I wish I'd a bet of fifty guineas on it that he would +not visit every stable on the road, and know every traveller's name and +business, and yet be a good half hour before us. Off with you! Away!" + +Diving under the two horses, the "gossoon" appeared at the other side +of the road, and then, with a wild spring in the air, and an unearthly +shout of laughter, he cleared the fence before him and disappeared, +while as he went the strain of his slang song still floated in the air, +and the refrain, "Tally-high-ho the Grinder," could be heard through the +stillness of the night. + +"Take the dark horse, sir; you 're heavier than me," said Freney, as he +held the stirrup. + +"A clever hack, faith," said Daly, as he seated himself in the saddle, +and gathered up the reins. + +"And mounts you well," cried Freney, admiring both horse and rider once +more by the light before he extinguished the lantern. + +The storm had now considerably abated, and they rode on at a brisk pace, +nor did they draw rein till the tall ruined castle of Maynooth could be +seen, rearing its dark head against the murky sky. + +"We part here," said Daly, who for some time had been lost in thought, +"and I have nothing but thanks to offer you for this night's service, +Freney; but if the time should come that I can do you a good turn--" + +"I 'll never ask it, sir," said Freney, interrupting him. + +"And why not? Are you too proud?" + +"Not too proud to be under any obligation to you," said the robber, +stopping him, "but too proud of the honor you did me this night by +keeping my company, ever to hurt your fame by letting the world know it. +No, Mr. Daly, I knew your courage well; but this was the bravest thing +ever you did." + +He sprang from his horse as he spoke, and gave a long, shrill whistle. A +deep silence followed, and he repeated the signal, and, soon after, the +tramp of naked feet was heard on the road, and Jemmy advanced towards +them at his ordinary sling trot. + +"Take the trunk up to the town." + +"No, no," said Daly, "I'll do that myself;" and he relieved the urchin +of his burden, taking the opportunity to slip some crown-pieces into his +willing hand while he did so. + +"Good-bye, sir," said Freney, taking off his hat with courteous +deference. + +"Good-bye, Freney," said Daly, as he seized the robber's hand and shook +it warmly. "I 'll soon be shaking hands with twenty fellows not a whit +more honest," said Daly, as he looked after him through the gloom. +"Hang me if I don't think he's better company, too!" and with this very +flattering reflection on some parties unknown, he plodded along towards +the town. + +Here, again, new disappointment awaited him: a sudden summons had called +the members of both political parties to the capital, and horses were +not to be had at any price. + +"'T is the Lord's marciful providence left him only the one arm," said +a waiter, as he ushered Daly into a sitting-room, and cast a glance of +most meaning terror at the retiring figure of Sandy. + +"What do you mean?" asked Daly, hastily. + +"It's what he smashed the best chaise in the yard, as if it was a +taycup, this morning. Mr. Tisdal ordered it to be ready at seven +o'clock, to take him up to town, and, when it came to the door, up +comes that long fellow with his one arm, and says, 'This will do for my +master,' says he, and cool and aisy he gets up into the chaise, and sits +down, and when he was once there, by my conscience you might as well try +to drain the canal with a cullender as get him out again! We had a fight +that lasted nigh an hour, and signs on it, there's many a black eye in +the stable-yard to show for it; but he beat them all off, and kept his +ground. 'Never mind,' said Mr. Tisdal, and he whispered a word to the +master; and what did they do, sir, but nailed him up fast in the chaise, +and unharnessed the horses, put them to a jaunting-car, and started with +Mr. Tisdal before you could turn round." + +"And Sandy," cried Daly, "what did he do?" + +"Sandy?--av it's that you call him,--a divil a doubt but he's sandy and +stony too,--he made a drive at the front panel wid one leg, and away +it went; and he smashed open the door with his fist; and put that short +stump of an arm through the wood as if it was cheese. 'T is a holy +show, the same chaise now! And when he got out, may I never spread a +tablecloth if you'd see a crayture in the street: they run in every +direction, as if it was the duke's bull was out of the paddock, and it's +only a while ago he grew raysonable." + +However little satisfactory the exploit was to the innkeeper and his +household, it seemed to sharpen Daly's enjoyment of his breakfast, and +compensate him for the delay to which he was condemned. The messenger +sent to seek for horses returned at last without them, and there was now +no alternative but to await, with such patience as he could muster, some +chaise for town, and thus reach Dublin before nightfall. + +A return chaise from Kilcock was at last secured, and Daly, with his +servant on the box, proceeded towards Dublin. + +It was dark when they reached the capital, and drove with all the speed +they could accomplish to the Knight's house in Henrietta Street. Great +was Daly's discomfort to learn that his friend Darcy had just driven +from the door. + +"Where to?" said he, as he held his watch in his hand, as if considering +the chances of still overtaking him. + +"To a dinner-party, sir, at Lord Castlereagh's," said the servant. + +"At Lord Castlereagh's!" And nothing but the presence of the man +repressed the passionate exclamation that quivered on his lip. + +"Yes, sir, his Lordship and Mr. Heffernan called here--" + +"Mr. Heffernan,--Mr. Con Heffernan do you mean?" interrupted he, +quickly. "Ah! I have it now. And when was this visit?" + +"On Monday last, sir." + +"On Monday," said Daly to himself. "The very day the letter was written +to me: there's something in it, after all. Drive to Kildare Place, and +as fast as you can," said he, aloud, as he sprang into the chaise. + +The steps were up, the door banged to, the horses lashed into a gallop, +and the next moment saw the chaise at the end of the street. + +Short as the distance was,--scarcely a mile to Heffer-nan's +house,--Daly's impatient anxiety made him think it an eternity. His +object was to reach the house before Heffernan started; for he judged +rightly that not only was the Secretary's dinner planned by that astute +gentleman, but that its whole conduct and machinery rested on his +dexterity. + +"I know the fellow well," muttered Daly,--"ay, and, by Heaven! he knows +_me_. His mock candor and his counterfeit generosity have but a +bad chance with such men as myself; but Darcy's open, unsuspecting +temperament is the very metal he can weld and fashion to his liking." + +It was in the midst of reflections like these, mingled with passionate +bursts of impatience at the pace, which was, notwithstanding, a sharp +gallop, that they dashed up to Heffer-nan's door. To make way for them, +a chariot that stood there was obliged to move on. + +"Whose carriage is this?" said Daly, as, without waiting for the steps +to be lowered, he sprang to the ground. + +"Mr. Heffernan's, sir." + +"He is at home, then?" + +"Yes, sir; but just about to leave for a dinner-party." + +"Stand by that chariot, Sandy, and take care that no one enters it till +I come back," whispered Daly in his servant's ear. And Sandy took up bis +post at the door like a sentinel on duty. "Tell your master," said +Daly to the servant, who stood at the open hall-door, "that a gentleman +desires to speak with him." + +"He's just going out, sir." + +"Give my message," said Daly, sternly. + +"With what name, sir?" + +"Repeat the words as I have given them to you, and don't dictate to me +how I am to announce myself," said he, harshly, as he opened the door +and walked into the parlor. + +Scarcely had he reached the fireplace when a bustle without proclaimed +that Heffernan was passing downstairs, and the confused sound of voices +was heard as he and his servant spoke together. "Ah! very well," said +Heffernan, aloud; "you may tell the gentleman, John, that I can't see +him at present. I 've no notion of keeping dinner waiting half an hour." +And so saying, he passed out to enter the carriage. + +"Na, na," said Sandy, as the footman offered his arm to assist his +master to mount the steps; "ye maun wait a wee. I trow ye hae no seen my +master yet." + +"What means this insolence? Who is this fellow?--push him aside." + +"That's na sae easy to do," replied Sandy, gravely; "and though I hae +but one arm, ye 'll no be proud of yer-sel 'gin you try the game." + +"Who are you? By what right do you stop me here?" said Heffernan, who, +contrary to his wont, was already in a passion. + +"I'm Bagenal Daly's man; and there's himsel in the parlor, and he'll +tell you mair, maybe." + +The mention of that name seemed to act like a spell upon Heffernan, and, +without waiting for another word, he turned back hastily, and re-entered +the house. He stopped as he laid his hand on the handle of the door, and +his face, when the light fell on it, was pale as death; and although no +other sign of agitation was perceptible, the expression of his features +was very different from ordinary. The pause, brief as it was, seemed +sufficient to rally him, for, opening the door with an appearance +of haste, he advanced towards Daly, and, with an outstretched hand, +exclaimed,-- + +"My dear Mr. Daly, I little knew who it was I declined to see. They gave +me no name, and I was just stepping into my carriage when your servant +told me you were here. I need not tell you that I would not deny myself +to _you_." + +"I believe not, sir," said Daly, with a strong emphasis on the words. "I +have come a long journey to see and speak with you." + +"May I ask it, as a great favor, that you will let our interview be for +to-morrow morning? You may name your hour, or as many of them as you +like--or will you dine with me?" + +"We 'll dine together to-day, sir," said Daly. + +"That's impossible," said Heffernan, with a smile which all his tact +could not make an easy one. "I have been engaged for four days to +Lord Castlereagh,--a party which I had some share in assembling +together,--and, indeed, already I am five-and-twenty minutes late." + +"I regret deeply, sir," said Daly, as, crossing his hands behind his +back, he slowly walked up and down the room,--"I regret deeply that +I must deprive the noble Secretary's dinner-party of so very gifted a +guest. I know something of Mr. Heffernan's entertaining powers, and I +have heard even more of them; but for all that, I must be unrelenting, +and--" + +"The thing is really impossible." + +"You will dine with me to-day," was the cool answer of Daly, as, fixing +his eyes steadily on him, he uttered the words in a low, determined +tone. + +"Once for all, sir--" said Heffernan, as he moved towards the door. + +"Once for all," repeated Daly, "I will have my way. This is no piece of +caprice,--no sudden outbreak of that eccentricity which you and others +affect to fasten on me. No, Mr. Heffernan; I have come a hundred and +fifty miles with an object, and not all the wily dexterity of even you +shall balk me. To be plain, sir, there are reports current in the clubs +and society generally that you have been the means of securing the +Knight of Gwynne to the side of Government. I know--ay, and you +know--how many of these rumors originate on the shallow foundation of +men being seen together in public, and cultivating an intimacy on purely +social grounds. Now, Mr. Heffernan, Darcy's opinions, it is well known, +are not those of the Ministry, and the only result of such calumnies +will be that he, the head of a family, and a country gentleman of the +highest rank, will be drawn into a dangerous altercation with some of +those lounging puppies that circulate such slanders. I am his friend, +and, as it happens, with no such ties to life and station as he +possesses. I will, if possible, place myself in a similar position, and, +to do so, I know no readier road than by keeping your company. I will +give the gentlemen every pretext to talk of me as they have done of him; +and if I hear a mutter, or if I see a signal that the most suspicious +nature can torture into an affront, I will teach the parties that +if they let their tongues run glibly, they at least shall keep their +hair-triggers in order. Now, sir, you 'll not only dine with me to-day, +but you 'll do so in the large room of the Club. I 've given you my +reasons, and I tell you flatly that I will hear nothing in opposition to +them; for I am quite ready to open the ball with Mr. Con Heffernan." + +Heffernan's courage had been proved on more than one occasion; but, +somehow, he had his own reasons, it would seem, for declining the gage +of battle here. That they were valid ones would appear from the evident +struggle compliance cost him, as, with a quivering lip and whisper, he +said: + +"There may be much force in what you say, Mr. Daly,--your motives, +at least, are unquestionable. I will offer, therefore, no further +opposition." So saying, he opened the door to permit Daly to pass out. +"To the Club," said he to the footman, as they both seated themselves in +the chariot. + +"The Club, sir!" repeated the astonished servant. + +"Yes, to Daly's Club," said Bagenal himself. And they drove off. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. LORD CASTLEREAGH'S DINNER-PARTY. + +The day of Lord Castlereagh's dinner-party had arrived, and the guests, +all save Mr. Heffernan, were assembled in the drawing-room. The party +was small and select, and his Lordship had gone through the usual +routine of introducings, when Hamilton asked if he still expected any +one. + +"Yes; Mr. Heffernan promised to make one of our twelve; he is generally +punctuality itself, and I cannot understand what detains him." + +"He said he 'd call for me on his way," said Lord Beerhaven, "and I +waited some time for him; but as I would not risk spoiling your +Lordship's _entrees_, I came away at last." + +This speech was made by one who felt no small uneasiness on his own part +respecting the cookery, and took the occasion of suggesting his fears, +as a hint to order dinner. + +"Shall we vote him present, then?" said Lord Castle-reagh, who saw the +look of dismay the further prospect of waiting threw over the party. + +"By all means," said Lord Beerhaven; "Heffernan never eats soup." + +"I don't think he cares much for fish, either," said Hamilton. + +"I think our friend Con is fond of walnuts," said the Knight, dryly. + +"Them 's the unwholesomest things he could eat," muttered old Hickman, +who, although seated in a corner of the room, and partly masked by his +son and grandson, could not be altogether secluded from earshot. + +"Are they indeed?" said the bishop, turning sharply round; for the theme +of health was one that engaged all his sympathies; and although his +short apron covered a goodly rotundity of form, eating exacted to the +full as many pains as it afforded pleasures to the Churchman. + +"Yes, my Lord," said Hickman, highly gratified to obtain such exalted +notice; "there's an essential oil in them that destroys the mucous +membrane--" + +"Destroys the mucous membrane!" said the bishop, interrupting him. + +"Mine is pretty much in that way already," said Lord Beerhaven, +querulously; "five-and-twenty minutes past six." + +"No, no, my dear Darcy," said Lord Drogheda, who, having drawn the +Knight aside, was speaking in an earnest but low tone, "I never was +easier in my life, on the score of money; don't let the thing give you +any trouble; consult Gleeson about it, he's a clever fellow, and take +your own time for the payment." + +"Gleeson is a clever fellow, my Lord, but there are straits that prove +too much even for his ingenuity." + +"Ah! I know what you mean," said Lord Drogheda, secretly, "you 've heard +of that Spanish-American affair,--yes, he made a bad hit there; some say +he'll lose fifty thousand by it." + +Dinner was at this moment announced, and the Knight was unable to learn +further on a subject the little he had heard of which gave him great +sorrow. Unfortunately, too, his position at table was opposite, not +next, to Lord Drogheda, and he was thus compelled to wait for another +opportunity of interrogating him. + +Lord Castlereagh has left behind him one reputation which no political +or party animosity has ever availed to detract from, that of being the +most perfect host that ever dispensed the honors of a table. Whatever +seeming reserve or coldness he maintained at other times, here he +was courteous to cordiality; his manner, the happy union of thorough +good-breeding and friendly ease. Gifted with a most retentive memory, +and well versed on almost every topic that could arise, he possessed +that most difficult art, the power of developing the resources and +information of others, without ever making any parade of his own +acquirements; or, what is still harder, without betraying the effort +which, in hands less adroit, becomes the most vulgar of all tricks, +called "drawing out." + +With all these advantages, and well suited as he was to meet every +emergency of a social meeting, he felt on the present occasion far +less at ease than was his wont. The party was one of Heffernan's +contriving,--the elements were such as he himself would never have +dreamed of collecting together,--and he relied upon his "ancient" to +conduct the plan he had so skilfully laid down. It was, as he muttered +to himself, "Heffernan's Bill," and he was not coming forward to explain +its provisions or state its object. + +Happily for the success of such meetings in general, the adjuncts +contribute almost equally with the intellectual resources of the party; +and here Heffernan, although absent, had left a trace of his skill. The +dinner was admirable. Lord Castlereagh knew nothing of such matters; +the most simple, nay, the most ill-dressed, meats would have met equal +approval from him with the greatest triumphs of the art; and as to wine, +he mixed up his madeira, his claret, and his burgundy together in a +fashion which sadly deteriorated him in the estimation of many of his +more cultivated acquaintances. + +All the detail of the dinner was perfect, and Lord Beer-haven, his +fears on that score allayed, emerged from the cloud of his own dreary +anticipations, and became one of the pleasantest of the party. And thus +the influence of good cheer and easy converse extended its happy sway +until even Mr. Hickman O'Reilly began to suffer less anxiety respecting +his father's presence, and felt relieved at the preoccupation the good +things of the table exacted from the old doctor. + +The party was of that magnitude which, while enabling the guests to form +into the twos and threes of conversational intimacy, yet affords, from +time to time, the opportunity of generalizing the subject discussed, and +drawing, as it were, into a common centre the social abilities of each. +And there Lord Castlereagh shone conspicuously, for at the same time +that he called forth all the anecdotic stores of Lord Beerhaven, and the +witty repartee for which Hamilton was noted, he shrouded the obtrusive +old Hickman, or gave a character of quaint originality to remarks which, +with less flattering introduction, had been deemed low-lived and vulgar. + +The wine went freely round, and claret, whose flavor might have found +acceptance with the most critical, began to work its influence upon +the party, producing that pleasant amalgamation in which individual +peculiarities are felt to be the attractive, and not the repelling, +properties of social intercourse. + +"What splendid action that horse you drive has, Mr. Beecham O'Reilly," +said Lord Loughdooner, who had paid the most marked attention to him +during dinner. "That's the style of moving they 're so mad after in +London,--high and fast at the same time." + +"I gave three hundred and fifty for him," lisped out the youth, +carelessly, "and think him cheap." + +"Cheap at three hundred and fifty!" exclaimed old Hickman, who had heard +the fact for the first time. "May I never stir from the spot, but you +told me forty pounds." + +"When you can pick up another at that price let me know, I beg you," +said Lord Loughdooner, coming to the rescue, and with a smile that +seemed to say, "How well you quizzed the old gentleman! I say, Hamilton, +who bought your gray?" + +"Ecclesmere bought him for his uncle." + +"Why, he starts, or shies, or something of that sort, don't he?" + +"No, my Lord, he 'comes down,' which is what the uncle does not; and as +he stands between Ecclesmere and the Marquisate--" + +"That's what I've always maintained," said the bishop to Lord +Castlereagh. "The potato disposes to acidity. I know the poor people +correct that by avoiding animal food,--a most invaluable fact." + +"There are good grounds for your remark," said Lord Castlereagh to the +Knight, while he smiled an easy assent to the bishop, without attending +to him, "and the social relations of the country will demand the +earliest care of the Government whenever measures of immediate +importance permit this consideration. We have been unfortunate in not +drawing closer to us men who, like yourself, are thoroughly acquainted +with the condition of the people generally. It is not too late--" + +"Too late for what?" interrupted Lord Drogheda. "Not too late for more +claret, I trust; and the decanter has been standing opposite to me these +ten minutes." + +"A thousand pardons!--O'Reilly, will you touch that bell? Thanks." + +The tone of easy familiarity with which he spoke covered Hickman with a +flush of ecstatic pleasure. + +"They ginger them up so, nowadays," said Lord Loughdooner to Beecham +O'Reilly. + +"Ginger!" chimed in Hickman,--"the devil a finer thing for the stomach. +I ask your pardon, my Lord, for saying his name, but I 'll give you a +receipt for the windy bile worth a guinea-note." + +"Take a pinch of snuff, Dr. Hickman," said Lord Castle-reagh, who saw +the mortification of the two generations at the old man's vulgarity. + +"Thank you, my Lord. 'Tis blackguard I like best: them brown snuffs +ruins the nose entirely.--I was saying about the mixture," said he, +addressing the bishop. "Take a pint of infusion of gentian, and put a +pinch of coriander seeds, and the peel of a Chaney orange--" + +"I recommend a bumper of that claret, my Lord," said Lord Castlereagh, +determined to cut short the prescription, which now was being listened +to by the whole board; "and when I add the health of the primate, I +'m sure you 'll not refuse me." The toast was drunk with all suitable +honors, and the Secretary resumed in a whisper: "He wants our best +wishes on that score, poor fellow, if they could serve him. He's not +long to be with us, I fear." + +"Indeed, my Lord!" said the bishop, eagerly. + +"Alas! too true," sighed Lord Castlereagh; "he 'll be a severe loss, +too. I wanted to have some minutes' talk with you on the matter. These +are times of no common emergency, and the men we promote are of great +consequence at this moment. Say to-morrow, about one." + +"I 'll be punctual," said the bishop, taking out his tablets to make a +note of what his memory would retain to the end of his life. + +Lord Castlereagh caught the Knight's eye at the instant, and they both +smiled, without being able to control their emotion. + +"And so," said Lord Castlereagh, hastening to conceal his laugh, "my +young relation continues to enjoy the hospitalities of your house. +I don't doubt in the least that he reckons that wound the luckiest +incident of his life." + +"My friend Darcy paid even more dearly for it," said Lord Drogheda, +overhearing the remark; "but for Heffernan's tidings, I should certainly +have lost my wager." + +"I assure you, Knight," broke in Hickman O'Reilly, "it was through no +fault of mine that the altercation ended so seriously. I visited Captain +Forester in his room, and thought I obtained his pledge to take no +further notice of the affair." + +"And I, too, told him the style of fellow MacDonough was," said Beecham, +affectedly. + +"I have heard honorable mention of both facts, gentlemen," said Darcy, +dryly; "that nothing could have less contributed to a breach of the +peace than Mr. Beecham O'Reilly's conduct, my friend Daly is willing to +vouch for." + +"I wish his own had been equally prudent and pacific," said Hickman +O'Reilly, reddening at the taunt conveyed in the Knight's speech. + +"Daly is unquestionably the best friend on the ground--" + +"On or off the ground, my Lord Loughdooner," interrupted the Knight, +warmly; "he may be, now and then, somewhat hasty or rash; but rich as +our country is in men of generous natures, Bagenal Daly is second to +none." + +"I protest, gentlemen," said the bishop, gravely; "I wish I could hear a +better reason for the panegyric than his skill as a duellist." + +"True for you, my Lord," muttered old Hickman, in a whisper; "he's +readier with a pistol-bullet than with the interest on his bond." + +"He 'd favor you with a discharge in full, sir, if he heard the +observation," said Hamilton, laughing. + +"A letter, my Lord," said a servant, presenting a sealed epistle to the +Secretary. + +"Heffernan's writing, gentlemen, so I shall, with your permission, read +it." He broke the seal, and read aloud: "'My dear Lord,--An adventure, +which would be laughable if it were not so provoking, prevents my coming +to dinner, so I must leave the menagerie--'" Here he dropped his voice, +and, crumpling up the letter, laughingly remarked, "Oh, we shall hear it +all later on, I 've no doubt." + +"By the by, my Lord, there's a House to-night, is there not?" + +"No, bishop; we moved an adjournment for to-morrow evening. You 'll come +down for the debate, won't you?" + +The bishop nodded significantly, and sipped his wine. There was now a +pause. This was the great topic of the day, and yet, up to this moment, +not even a chance allusion to politics had been dropped, and all +recoiled from adventuring, even by a word, on a theme which might lead +to disagreement or discordance. Old Hickman, however, dated his origin +in life too far back for such scruples, and, leaning across the table, +said, with an accent to which wine imparted a tone of peculiar cunning, +"I wish you well through it, my Lord; for, by all accounts, it is dirty +work." + +The roar of laughter that followed the speech actually shook the table, +Lord Castlereagh giving way to it with as much zest as the guests +themselves. Twice he essayed to speak, but each time a fresh burst of +mirth interrupted him, while old Hickman, unable to divine the source of +the merriment, stared at each person in turn, and at last muttered his +consolatory "Ay," but with a voice that showed he was far from feeling +satisfied. + +"I wish you'd made that speech in the House, Mr. Hickman," said +Lord Drogheda; "I do believe you'd have been the most popular man in +Ireland." + +"I confess," said Lord Castlereagh, wiping his eyes, "I cannot conceive +a more dangerous opponent to the Bill." + +"If he held your own bill, with a protest on it," whispered Hamilton, +"your opinion would not be easily gainsaid." + +"May I ask for a cup of coffee?" said the bishop, rising, for he saw +that although as yet no untoward results had followed, at any moment +something unpleasant might occur. The party rose with him, and adjourned +to the drawing-room. + +"Singular old man!" said Lord Castlereagh, in a whisper to the Knight. +"Shrewd and cunning, no doubt, but scarcely calculated, as our friend +Drogheda thinks, to distinguish himself in the House of Commons." + +"Do you think the Upper House would suit him better, my Lord?" said +Darcy, slyly. + +"I see, Knight," said Lord Castlereagh, laughing, "you have caught up +the popular joke of the day." + +"I trust, my Lord, it may be no more than a joke." + +"Can you doubt it?" + +"At the present moment," said the Knight, gravely, "I see no reason +for doubting anything merely on the score of its unlikelihood; your +Lordship's colleagues have given us some sharp lessons on the subject of +credulity, and we should be more unteachable than the savage if we had +not learnt something by this time." + +Lord Castlereagh was about to answer, when Lord Drogheda came forward +to say "Good night." The others were going too, and in the bustle of +leave-taking some moments were passed. + +"Your carriage has not come yet, sir," replied a servant to the Knight. + +"Shall we take you home, Darcy," said Lord Drogheda; "or are you going +to the Club?" + +"Let me say no to that offer, Knight," interposed Lord Castlereagh, "and +give me the pleasure of your company till the carriage arrives." + +Darcy acceded to a request, the courteous mode of making which had +already secured its acceptance, and the Knight sat down at the fire +_tete-a-tete_ with the Secretary. + +"I was most anxious for a moment like this," said Lord Castlereagh, with +the air of one abandoning himself to the full liberty of sincerity. "It +very seldom happens to men placed like myself to have even a few brief +minutes' intercourse with any out of the rank of partisans or opponents. + +"I will not disguise from you how highly I should value the alliance of +yourself to our party; I place the greatest price upon such support, but +there is something better and more valuable than even a vote in a strong +division, and that is, the candid judgment of a man who has enjoyed +your opportunities and your powers of forming an opinion. Tell me now, +frankly,--for we are here in all freedom of intercourse,--what do you +object to? What do you fear from this contemplated enactment?" + +"Let me rather hear," said the Knight, smiling, "what do you hope from +it,--how you propose it to become the remedy of our existing evils? +Because I shall thereby see whether your Lordship and myself are +like-minded on the score of the disease, before we begin to discuss the +remedy." + +"Be it so, then," said the Secretary, gayly; and at once, without +hesitation, he commenced a short and most explicit statement of +the Government intentions. Arguments that formed the staple of long +Parliamentary harangues he condensed into a sentence or two; views that, +dilated upon, sufficed to fill the columns of a newspaper, he displayed +palpably and boldly, exhibiting powers of clear and rapid eloquence +for which so few gave him credit in public life. Not an epithet nor +an expression could have been retrenched from a detail which denoted +faculties of admirable training, assisted by a memory almost miraculous. +Stating in order the various objections to the measure, he answered +each in turn; and wherever the reply was not sufficiently ample and +conclusive, he adroitly took occasion to undervalue either the opinion +or the source from which it originated, exhibiting, while restraining, +considerable powers of sarcasm, and a thorough insight into the +character of the public men of the period. + +If the Knight was unconvinced by the arguments, he was no less +astonished by the abilities of the Secretary. Up to that hour he had +been a follower of the popular notion of the Opposition party, which +agreed in decrying his talents, and making his displays as a speaker +the touchstone of his capacity. Darcy was too clever himself to linger +longer in this delusion. He saw the great and varied resources of +the youthful statesman tested by a question of no common difficulty, and +he could not control the temptation of telling him, as he concluded,-- + +"You have made me a convert to the union--" + +"Have I, indeed?" cried the Secretary, in an ecstasy of pleasure. + +"Hear me out, my Lord,--to the union of great political abilities with +the most captivating powers of conversation. Yes, my Lord, I am +old enough to make such a remark without the hazard of being deemed +impertinent or a flatterer,--_your_ success in life is certain." + +"But the Bill!" cried Lord Castlereagh, while his handsome face was +flushed between delight and eagerness,--"the Bill!" + +"Is an admirable Bill for England, my Lord, and were there not two +sides to a contract, would be perfect,--indeed, until I heard the +lucid statement you have just made, I never saw one-tenth part of the +advantages it must render to your country, nor, consequently,--for we +move not in parallel lines,--the great danger with which it is fraught +to mine. Let me now explain more fully." + +With these words the Knight entered upon the question of the Union +in all its relations to Ireland; and while never conceding, nor even +extenuating, the difficulties attendant upon a double legislature, he +proceeded to show the probable train of events that must result on the +passing of the measure, strengthening his anticipations by facts derived +from deep knowledge of the country. + +Far be it from us to endeavor to recapitulate his arguments: some of +them, now forgotten, were difficult enough to answer; others, treasured +up, have been fashionable fallacies in our own day. Such as they were, +they were the reasons why an Irish gentleman demurred to surrendering +privileges that gave his own country rank, place, and preeminence, +without the evidence of any certain or adequate compensation. + +"Do not tell me, my Lord, that we shall hold our influence and our +station in the Imperial Parliament. There are many reasons against such +a belief. We shall be in the minority, a great minority; a minority +branded with provincialism as our badge, and accused of prejudice and +narrow-sightedness, from the very fact of our nationality. No, no; we +shall occupy a very different position in your country: and who will +take our places here? That's a point your Lordship has not touched upon, +but I 'll tell you. The demagogue, the public disturber, the licensed +hawker of small grievances, every briefless lawyer of bad fortune +and worse language, every mendicant patriot that can minister to the +passions of a people deserted by their natural protectors,--the day will +come, my Lord, when these men will grow ambitious, their aspirings may +become troublesome; if you coerce them, they are martyrs,--conciliate +them, and they are privileged. What will happen then? You will be asked +to repeal the Union, you will be charged with all the venality by which +you carried your Bill, every injustice with which it is chargeable, and +with a hundred other faults and crimes with which it is unconnected. You +will be asked, I say, to repeal the Union, and make of this miserable +rabble, these dregs and sweepings of party, a Parliament. You shake your +head. No, no, it is by no means impossible,--nay, I don't think it even +remote. I speak as an old man, and age, if it have many deficiencies as +regards the past, has at least some prophetic foresight for the future. +You will be asked to repeal the Union, to give a Parliament to a country +which you have drained of its wealth, from which you have seduced the +aristocracy; to restore a deliberative body to a land whose resources +for self-legislation you have studiously and industriously ruined. +Think, then, twice of a measure from which, if it fail, there is no +retreat, and the opposition to which may come in a worse form than a +vote in the House of Commons. I see you deem my anticipations have more +gloom than truthfulness; I hope it may be so." + +"The Knight of Gwynne's carriage," cried a servant, throwing wide the +door. + +"How opportune!" said Darcy, laughing; "it is so satisfactory to have +the last shot at the enemy." + +"Pray don't go yet,--a few moments more." + +"Not a second, my Lord; I dare not. The fact is, I have strenuously +avoided this subject; an old friend of mine, Bagenal Daly, has wearied +me of it,--he is an Anti-Unionist, but on grounds I scarcely concur in. +Your Lordship's defence of the measure I also demur to. I am like poor +old Murray, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, who, when called on +for his opinion in a case where Judge Wallace was in favor of a rule, +and Judge Mayne against it, he said, 'I agree with my brother Mayne for +the cogent reasons laid down by my brother Wallace.'" + +"So," said the Secretary, laughing heartily, "I have convinced you +against myself." + +"Exactly, my Lord. I came here this evening intending not to vote on the +Bill,--indeed, I accepted your Lordship's hospitality without a thought +upon a party question; I am equally certain you will acquit me of being +a spy in the camp. To-morrow I intend to vote against you." + +"I wish I could have the same esteem for my friends that I now pledge +for my--" + +"Don't say 'enemy,' my Lord; we both aspire to the same end,--our +country's good. If we take different roads, it is because each thinks +his own path the shortest. Good night." + +Lord Castlereagh accompanied the Knight to his carriage, and again shook +his hand cordially as they parted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. A DAY OF EXCITEMENT + +Great was the Knight's astonishment, and not less his satisfaction, +as he entered the breakfast-room the morning after his dinner with the +Secretary, to find Bagenal Daly there before him. They met with all +the cordial warmth of men whose friendship had continued without +interruption for nigh half a century; each well disposed to prize good +faith and integrity at a time when so many lapsed from the path of honor +and principle. + +"Well, Darcy," cried Daly, the first greetings over, "there is little +hope left us; that rascally newspaper already proclaims the triumph,--a +majority of twenty-eight." + +"They calculate on many more; you remember what old Hayes, of the +Recruiting Staff, used to say: 'There was no getting fellows to enlist +when the bounty was high; make it half-a-crown,' said he, 'and I 'll +raise a battalion in a fortnight.'" + +"Is Castlereagh adopting the policy?" + +"Yes, and with infinite success! Some that held out for English Peerages +are fain to take Irish Baronetcies, expectant Bishops put up with +Deaneries, and an acquaintance of ours, that would take nothing below +a separate command, is now satisfied to make his son a clerk in the War +Office." + +"I 'm sorry for it," said Daly, as he arose and paced the room backwards +and forwards, "sincerely sorry. I had fostered the hope that if they +succeeded in corrupting _our_ gentry, they had polluted _their own_ +Peerage. I wish every fellow had been bought by an Earldom at least. I +would like to think that this Judas Peerage might become a jest and a +scoff among their order." + +"Have no such expectation, Bagenal," said the Knight, reflectively; +"their origin will be forgiven before the first generation dies out. +To all purposes of worldly respect and esteem, they 'll be as high and +mighty Lords as the best blood of all the Howards. The penalty will fall +upon England in another form." + +"How? Where?" + +"In the Lower House, politics will become a trade to live by, and the +Irish party, with such an admirable market for grievances, will be a +strong and compact body in Parliament, too numerous to be bought by +anything save great concessions. Englishmen will never understand the +truth of the condition of the country from these men, nor how little +personal importance they possess at home. They will be regarded as the +exponents of Irish opinion; they will browbeat, denounce, threaten, +fawn, and flatter by turns; and Ireland, instead of being easier to +govern, will be rendered ten times more difficult, by all the obscuring +influences of falsehood and misrepresentation. But let us quit the +theme. How have you left all at the Abbey?" + +"Well and happy; here are my despatches." And he laid on the table +several letters, the first the Knight had received since his arrival, +save a few hurried lines from Lady Eleanor. Darcy broke the envelopes, +and skimmed the contents of each. + +"How good!" cried he, handing Lord Netherby's letter across the table; +"this is really amusing!" + +"I have seen it," said Daly, dryly. "Lady Eleanor asked my opinion as to +what answer she should make." + +"Insolent old miser!" broke in Darcy, who, without attending to Daly's +remark, had been reading Lady Eleanor's account of Dr. Hickman's +proposal. "I say, Bagenal, you 'll not believe this. What social +earthquakes are we to look for next? Read that." And with a trembling +hand he presented the letter to Daly. + +If the Knight's passion had been more openly displayed, Daly's +indignation seemed to evoke deeper emotion, for his brows met, and his +stern lips were clenched, as he perused the lines. + +"Darcy," said he, at length, "O'Reilly must apologize for this; he must +be made to disavow any share in the old man's impertinence--" + +"No, no," interrupted Darcy, "never speak of it again; rest assured that +Lady Eleanor received the offer suitably. The best thing we can do is to +forget it. If," added he, after a pause, "the daring that prompted such +a proposition has not a deeper foundation than mere presumption. You +know these Hickmans have purchased up my bonds and other securities?" + +"I heard as much." + +"Well, Gleeson is making arrangements for the payment. One large sum, +something like L20,000--" + +"Was paid the day before yesterday," said Daly; "here is a memorandum of +the moneys." + +"How the deuce came you by the information? I have heard nothing of it +yet." + +"That entails somewhat of a story," said Daly; "but I 'll be brief with +it." And in a few words he narrated his meeting with the robber Freney, +and how he had availed himself of his hospitality and safe convoy as far +as Maynooth. + +"Ireland forever!" said the Knight, in a burst of happy laughter; "for +every species of incongruity, where was ever its equal? An independent +member of the Legislature sups with a highwayman, and takes a loan of +his hackney!" + +"Ay, faith," said Daly, joining in the laugh; "and had I not been one +of the Opposition, I had been worth robbing, and consequently not so +civilly treated. By Jove! Darcy, I felt an evening with Freney to be +a devilish good preparation for the company I should be keeping up in +town." + +"I'll wager ten pounds you talked politics together." + +"That we did, and he is as stout an Anti-Unionist as the best of +us, though he told me he signed a petition in favor of the Bill when +confined in Clonmel jail." + +"Is that true, Bagenal? did they hawk a petition for signature among the +prisoners of a jail?" + +"He took his oath of it to me, and I intend to declare it in the House." + +"What if asked for your authority?" + +"I 'll give it," said Daly, determinedly. "Ay, faith, and if I catch a +sneer or a scoff amongst them, I 'll tell them that a highwayman is +about as respectable and somewhat more courageous than a bribed +representative." + +If the Knight enjoyed the absurdity of Daly's supper with the noted +Freney, he laughed till the tears came at the account of his dining with +Con Heffernan. Darcy could appreciate the dismay of Heffernan, and the +cool, imperturbable tyranny of Daly's manner throughout, and would have +given largely to have witnessed the _tete-a-tete_. + +"I will do him the justice to say," said Daly, "that when he found +escape impossible, he behaved as well as any man, his conversation was +easy and unaffected, and his manner perfectly well-bred. Freney was more +anecdotic, but Heffernan saw deeper into mankind." + +"I hope you hinted the comparison?" said Darcy, slyly. + +"Yes, I observed upon the superiority practical men possess in all +the relations of social intercourse, and quoted Freney and himself as +instances!" + +"And he took it well?" + +"Admirably. Once, and only once, did he show a little disposition to +turn restive; it was when I remarked upon the discrepancy in point of +destiny, the one being employed to empty, the other to fill, the pockets +of his Majesty's lieges. He winced, but it was over in a second. His +time was up at ten o'clock, but we sat chatting till near twelve, and +we parted with what the French term a 'sense of the most distinguished +consideration' on each side." + +"By Jove! I envy the fellows who sat at the other tables and saw you." + +"They were most discreet in their observations," remarked Daly, +significantly. "One young fellow, it is true, coughed twice or thrice as +a signal to a friend across the room, but I ordered the waiter to bring +me a plate, and, taking three or four bullets out of my pocket, sent +them over to him, with my respectful compliments, as 'admirable pills +for a cough.' The cure was miraculous." + +"Excellent! Men have taken out a patent for a poorer remedy. And now, +Bagenal, for the reason of your journey. What, in the name of everything +strange and eccentric, brought you up to town? Don't affect to tell me +you came for the debate." + +"And why not?" said Daly, who, unwilling to reveal the true cause, +preferred to do battle on this pretence. "I admit as freely as ever I +did, I'm no lover of Parliament. I have slight respect or esteem +for deliberative assemblies split up into factions and parties. A +Government, to my thinking, should represent unity as the chief element +of strength; but such as it is,--bad enough and base enough, in all +conscience,--yet it is the last remnant of national power left, the +frail barrier between us and downright provincialism. But I had another +reason for coming up,--half-a-dozen other reasons, for that matter,--one +of them was, to see your invaluable business man, Gleeson, who, from +some caprice or other about a higher rate of interest, has withdrawn +my sister's fortune from the funds to invest it in some confounded +mortgage. I suppose it's all right, and judicious to boot; but Maria, +like every other Daly I ever heard of, has a will of her own, and has +commissioned me to have the money restored to its former destination. +I verily believe, Darcy, the most troublesome animal on the face of +the globe is an old maid with a small funded capital. At one moment +deploring the low rate of interest and dying for a more profitable +use of the money; at another, decrying all deposit save the Bank, +she inveighs against public theft and private credit, and takes off +three-and-a-half per cent of her happiness in pure fretting." + +"Is she quite well?" said the Knight, in an accent which a more shrewd +observer than Daly might have perceived was marked by some agitation. + +"I never knew her better; as fearless as we both remember her at +sixteen; and, save those strange intervals of depression she has labored +under all through her life, the same gay-hearted spirit she was when the +flattered heiress and beauty long, long years ago." + +The Knight heaved a sigh. It might have been for the years thus passed, +the pleasant days of early youth and manhood so suddenly called up +before him; it might have been that other and more tender memories +were crowding on his mind; but he turned away, and leaned on the +chimney-piece, lost in deep thought. + +"Poor girl," said Daly, "there is no question of it, Darcy, but she must +have formed some unfortunate attachment; she had pride enough always to +rescue her from the dangers of an unsuitable marriage, but her heart, I +feel convinced, was touched, and yet I never could find a clew to it. I +suspected something of the kind when she refused Donington,--a +handsome fellow, and an old title. I pressed her myself on the +subject,--it was the only time I did so,--and I guessed at once, from +a chance phrase she dropped, that there had been an old attachment +somewhere. Well, well, what a lesson might be read from both our +fortunes! The beauty--and you remember how handsome she was--the beauty +with a splendid fortune, a reduced maiden lady; and myself"--he heaved +a heavy sigh, and, with clasped hands, sat back in the chair, as he +added--"the shattered wreck of every hope I once set out with." + +The two old men's eyes met, and, although undesignedly, exchanged looks +of deepest, most affectionate interest. Daly was the first to rally from +his brief access of despondency, and he did so with the physical effort +he would have used to shake a load from his shoulders. + +"Well, Darcy, let us be up and stirring; there's a meeting at +Barrington's at two: we must not fail to be there." + +"I wish to see Gleeson in the mean while," said the Knight; "I am uneasy +to learn what has been done with Hickman, and what day I can leave +town." + +"Send Sandy out with a note, and tell him to come to dinner here at +six." + +"Agreed; nothing could be better; we can talk over our business matters +comfortably, and be down at the House by nine or ten." + +The note was soon written, and Sandy despatched, with orders to wait for +Gleeson's return, in case he should be absent when he arrived. + +The day for the evening of which was fixed the second reading of the +Bill of Union, was a busy one in Dublin. Accounts the most opposite and +contradictory were everywhere in circulation: some asserting that the +Ministerial majority was certain; others, equally positive, alleging +that many of their supposed supporters had lapsed in their allegiance, +and that the most enormous offers had been made, without success, to +parties hitherto believed amongst the ranks of the Government. The +streets were crowded, not by persons engaged in the usual affairs of +trade and traffic, but by groups and knots talking eagerly over +the coming event, and discussing every rumor that chance or scandal +suggested. + +Various meetings were held in different parts of the town: at some, +the Government party were canvassing the modes of reaching the House +in safety, and how best they might escape the violence of the mob; at +others, the Opposition deliberated on the prospects before them, and by +what stratagems the debate might be prolonged till the period when, the +Wicklow election over, Mr. Grattan might be expected to take his seat +in the House, since, by a trick of "the Castle party," the writ had been +delayed to that very morning. + +Con Heffernan's carriage was seen everywhere, and some avowed that at +five o'clock he was driving with the third pair of posters he had that +day employed. Bagenal Daly was also a conspicuous character "on town;" +on foot and alone, he was at once recognized by the mob, who cheered him +as an old but long-lost-sight-of acquaintance. The densest crowd made +way for him as he came, and every mark of respect was shown him by those +who set a higher price on his eccentricity and daring than even upon his +patriotism; and a murmuring commentary on his character followed him as +he went. + +"By my conscience! it 's well for them they have n't to fight for the +Union, or they would n't like old Bagenal Daly agin them!" + +"He looks as fresh and bould as ever he did," said another; "sorra a day +oulder than he was twenty-eight years ago, when I seen him tried for his +life at Newgate." + +"Was you there, Mickey?" cried two or three in a breath. + +"Faix was I, as near as I am to you. 'Twas a coal-heaver he kilt, a +chap that was called Big Sam; and they say he was bribed by some of the +gentlemen at Daly's Club House to come up to Bagenal Daly in the street +and insult him about the beard he wears on his upper lip, and sure +enough so he did,--it was Ash Wednesday mor by token,--and Sam had a +smut on his face just to imitat(e) Mr. Daly's. 'We are a purty pair, +ain't we?' says Sam, grinning at him, when they met on Essex Bridge. And +wid that he slips his arm inside Mr. Daly's to hook wid his." + +"To walk beside him, is't?" + +"Just so, divil a less. 'Come round to the other side of me,' says Daly, +'for I want to step into Kertland's shop.' And in they went together, +and Daly asks for a pound of strong white soap, and pays down +one-and-eight-pence for it, and out they comes again quite friendly +as before. 'Where to now?' says Sam, for he held a grip of him like +a bailiff. 'Across the bridge,' says Daly; and so it was. When they +reached the middle arch of the bridge, Daly made a spring and got +himself free, and then, stooping down, caught Sam by the knees, and +before you could say 'Jack Robinson,' hurled him over the battlements +into the Liffey. 'You can wash your face now,' says he, and he threw the +soap after him; divil a word more he said, but walked on, as cool as you +saw him there." + +"And Sam?" said several together. + +"Sam was drowned; there came a fresh in the river, and they took him up +beyond the North Wall--a corpse." + +"Millia murther! what did Daly do?" + +"He took his trial for it, and sorra excuse he gave one way or other, +but that he 'did n't know the blackguard couldn't swim.'" + +"And they let him off?" + +"Let him off? Arrah, is it hang a gentleman?" + +"True for you," chimed in the bystanders; "them that makes the laws +knows better than that!" + +Such was one of the narratives his reappearance in Dublin again brought +up; and, singular enough, by the respect shown him by the mob, derived +much of its source in that same feeling of awe and dread they manifested +towards one they believed privileged to do whatever he pleased. Alas +for human nature! the qualities which find favor with the multitude are +never the finer and better traits of the heart, but rather the sterner +features that emanate from a strong will and firm purpose. + +[Illustration: 229] + +If the voices of the closely compacted mass which filled the streets and +avenues of Dublin on that day could have been taken, it would have been +found that Bagenal Daly had an overwhelming majority; while, on a +converse scrutiny, it would appear that not a gentleman in Ireland +entertained for that mob sentiments of such thorough contempt as he did. +Nor was the sentiment concealed by him. The crowd which, growing as it +went, followed him from place to place throughout the city, would break +forth at intervals into some spontaneous shout of admiration, and a +cheer for Bagenal Daly, commanded by some deep throat, would be answered +in a deafening roar of voices. Then would Daly turn, and, as the moving +mass fell back, scowl upon their unwashed faces with such a look of +scorn that even they half felt the insult. In such wise was his progress +through the streets of Dublin, now moving slowly onward, now turning to +confront the mob that in slavish adulation still tracked his steps. + +It was at a moment like this, when, standing at bay, he scowled upon the +dense throng, Heffernan's carriage drove slowly past, and Con, leaning +from the window, called out in a dramatic tone, "Thy friends, Siccius +Dentatus, thy friends!" + +Daly started, and as his cheek reddened, answered, "Ay, and by my soul, +for the turning of a straw, I 'd make them your enemies." And as if +responsive to the threat, a groan for "the Castle hack, three groans for +Con Heffernan," were shouted out in tones that shook the street. For +a second or two Daly's face brightened, and his eyes sparkled with the +fire of enterprise, and he gazed on the countless mass with a look of +indecision; but, suddenly folding his arms, he dropped his head, and +muttered, "No, no, it would n't do; robbery and pillage would be +the whole of it;" and, without raising his eyes again, walked slowly +homewards. + +The hours wore on, and six o'clock came, but no sign of Gleeson, nor had +Sandy returned with any answer. + +"And yet I am positive he is not from home," said Darcy. "He pledged +himself not to leave this until the whole business was completed. Honest +Tom Gleeson is a man to keep to the strictest letter of his word." + +"I 'd not think that less likely," said Daly, sententiously, "if the +world had spared him the epithet. I hate the cant of calling a man +by some title that should be common to all men,--at least, to all +gentlemen." + +"I cannot agree with you," said Darcy. "I deem it a proud thing for any +one so to have impressed his reputation for honorable dealing on society +that the very mention of his name suggests his character." + +"Perhaps I am soured by what we have seen around us," said Daly; "but +the mention of every virtue latterly has been generally followed by the +announcement of the purchase of its possessor. I never hear of a +good character that I don't think it is a puffing advertisement of 'a +high-priced article to be had cheap for cash.'" + +"You'll think better of the world after a glass or two of Madeira," said +Darcy, laughing; "and rather than hear you inveigh against mankind, I'll +let Gleeson eat his soup cold." And, so saying, he rang the bell and +ordered dinner. + +The two friends dined pleasantly, and although, from time to time, some +stray thought of Gleeson's absence would obtrude, they chatted away +agreeably till past nine o'clock. + +"I begin to suspect that Sandy may have met some acquaintance, and +lingered to pledge 'old times' with him," said Darcy, looking at his +watch. "It is now nearly twenty minutes past nine." + +"I'll stake my life on it, Sandy is true to his mission. He'd not turn +from the duty intrusted to him to hobnob with a Prince of the Blood. +Here he comes, however; there was a knock at the door." + +But no; it was a few hurried lines in pencil from the House, begging +of them to come up at once, as the Ministerial party was mustering +in strength, and the Opposition benches filling but slowly. While +deliberating on what course to take, a second summons came from one of +the leading men of the party. It was brief, but significant: "Come up +quickly. They are evidently pushed hard. Toler has sent a message to +O'Donnell, and they are gone out, and Harvey says Castlereagh has six of +his fellows ready to provoke us.--W. T." + +"That looks like business, Darcy," cried Daly, in a transport of +delight. "Let us lose no time; there's no knowing how soon so much good +valor may ooze out." + +"But Gleeson--" + +"If he comes, let him follow us to the House. We can walk; there's no +use waiting for the carriage." Then added, in a mutter to himself, "I 'd +give a hundred down to have a shot at the Attorney-General. There, +that 's Sandy's voice in the hall;" and at the same instant the trusty +servant entered. + +"Well, have you seen him?" + +"Is he at home?" + +"No, sirs, he's no at hame, that's clear. When I asked for him, they +told me he was in bed, asleep, for that he was just arrived after a +long journey; and so I waited a bit, and gaed out for a walk into the +shrubberies, where I could have a look at his chamber windows, and sure +enough they were a' closed. I waited a while longer, but he was still +sleeping, and they dared na wake him; and so it came to nigh five +o'clock, and then I was fain to send up the bit letter by the flunkie, +and ask for the answer; but none came." + +"Did you say that the letter was from me?" said the Knight, hastily. + +"Na, sir; but I tauld them what most people mind as well, that Mister +Bagenal Daly sent me. It's a name few folk are fond to trifle wi'." + +"Go on, Sandy," said Daly, "What then?" + +"Weel, sir, I sat down on the stair at the foot of the big clock, and +said to mysel, 'I 'll gie ye ten minutes mair, but not a second after.' +And sure enough ye might hear every tick of her through the house, a' +was so still and silent. Short as the time was, I thought it wad never +gae past, for I did no tak my eyes aff o' her face. When the ten minutes +was up, I stole gently up the stair, and opened the door. A was dark +inside, so I opened the window, and there was the bed--empty; nobody +had lain in it syne it was made. There was a bit ashes in the grate, +and some burned paper on the hearth, but na other sign that onybody +was there at a', sae I crept back again, and met the flunkie as he was +coming up, for he had just missed me, and was in a real fright where I +was gone to. I saw by his face that he was found out, and so I laid my +hand on his shoulder, and said, 'Ye ha tauld me ane lee; ye maun tak +care no to tell me anither. Where is yer maister?' Then came out the +truth. Mr. Gleeson was gane awa to England. He sailed for Liverpool in +the 'Shamrock.'" + +"Impossible!" said Darcy. "He could not be away from Dublin at this +moment." + +"It's even sae," replied Sandy, gravely; "for when I heard a' that I +could from the flunkie, I put him into the library, and locked the door +on him, and then went round to the stable-yard, where the coachman was +sitting in the harness-room, smoking. 'And so he's off to England,' said +I to him, as if I kenned it a'. + +"'Just sae,' said he, wi' the pipe in his mouth. "'And he's nae to be +back for some time,' said I, speerin' at him. + +"'On Friday,' said he; and he smoked away, and never a word mair could I +get out o' him." + +"Why, Sandy," said the Knight, laughing, "they'd make you a prefect of +police if they had you in France." + +"I dinna ken, sir," said Sandy, not exactly appreciating what the nature +of the appointment might portend. + +"I only hope Gleeson may not hear of the perquisition on his return," +said the Knight, in a whisper to Daly. "Our friend Sandy pushes his +spirit of inquiry somewhat far." + +"I don't know that," said Daly, thoughtfully; "he's a shrewd fellow, +and rarely makes a mistake of that kind. But come, let us lose no more +time." + +"I half suspect the reason of this mystery about Gleeson," said the +Knight, who stood musing deeply on the event; "a few words Drogheda let +fall yesterday, going in to dinner,--some unfortunate speculation in +South America: this may require his keeping out of the way for a little +time. But why not say so, manfully?--I'm sure I'm ready to assist him." + +"Come along, Darcy, we must walk; they say no carriage can get through +the mob." And, with these words, he took the Knight's arm and sallied +forth, while Sandy followed, conveying a large cloth cloak over his arm, +which only partially concealed an ominous-looking box of mahogany wood, +strapped with brass. + +A crowd awaited them as they reached the street, by which they were +escorted through the denser mass that thronged the great thoroughfare, +the mere mention of their names being sufficient to force a passage even +where the mob stood thickest. + +The space in front of the Parliament House and before the College was +filled with soldiers; while patrols of cavalry traversed every avenue +leading to it, for information had reached the Government that violence +might be apprehended from a mob whose force and numbers were alluded +to by members within the House in terms meant to intimidate, while the +presence of the soldiery was retorted by the Opposition as a measure of +tyranny and oppression of the Castle party. Brushing somewhat roughly +through the armed line, Daly, with the Knight beside him, entered the +space, and was passing onward, when a bustle and a confused uproar +behind him arrested his steps. Believing that it might be to Sandy's +progress some objection was offered, Daly wheeled round, when he saw two +policemen in the act of dragging away a boy, whose loud cries for help +from the mob were incessant, while he mingled the name of Mr. Daly +through his entreaties. + +"What is it?" said Daly. "Does the fellow want me?" + +[Illustration: 234] + +"Never mind him," said Darcy; "the boy has caught up your name, and +that's all." + +But the urchin struggled and kicked with all his might; and, although +overpowered by superior strength, gave battle to the last, screaming at +the top of his voice, "One word with Mr. Daly,--just one word!" + +Bagenal Daly turned back, and, approaching the scene of contest, said, +"Have you anything to say to me? I am Mr. Daly." + +"If they 'd let me go my hands, I 've something to give you," said the +boy, who, although sorely bruised and beaten, seemed to care less for +his own troubles than for the object of his enterprise. + +At a word from Daly, the policemen relinquished their hold, and stood +guard on either side, while the boy, giving himself a shake, leered up +in Daly's face with an expression he could not fail to recognize. + +"There's a way to treat a young gentleman at home for the Christmas +holidays!" said the imp, with a compassionate glance at his torn and +tattered garments, while the words and the tone they were uttered in +sent a shout of laughter through the mob. + +"What, Jemmy!" said Daly, stooping down and accosting him in a whisper, +for it was no other than that reputable youth himself, "you here?" + +"Just so, sir. Ain't I in a nice way to appear at the Privy Council?" + +The police were growing impatient at the continued insolence of +the fellow, and were about to lay hold on him once more, when Daly +interposed, and said, in a still lower voice, "Have you anything to tell +me?" + +"I 've a bit of paper for you somewhere, from one you know, if them +blackguards the 'polis' has not made me lose it." + +"Be quick, then," said Daly, "and see after it." For Darcy was chafed at +a delay he could not see any reason for. + +"Here it is," said the imp, taking a piece of dirty and crumpled paper +from the lining of his hat; "there, you have it now safe and sure. Give +my best respects to Alderman Darby," added he to the police; "say I was +too hurried to call;" and with that he dived between the legs of one of +them, dashed through the line of soldiers, and was speedily concealed +among the dense crowd outside, where shouts of approving laughter +welcomed him. + +"A rendezvous or a challenge, Bagenal,--which?" said the Knight, +laughing, as Daly stood endeavoring, by the light of a lamp in the +corridor, to decipher the torn scrawl. + +The other made no reply, but, holding the paper close to his eyes, stood +silent and motionless. At last an expression of impatient anger burst +from him: "That imp of h--ll has almost effaced the words,--I cannot +make them out!" Then he added, in a low muttering, "I trust in Heaven I +have not read them aright. Come here, Darcy." And, so saying, he grasped +the Knight's hand, and led him along to one of the many small chambers +used as offices of the House. + +"Ah! they're looking anxiously out for you, sir," said a young man who +stood with his back to the fire, reading a paper. "Mr. Ponsonby has just +been here." + +"Leave us together here for a few minutes," said Daly, "and let there +be no interruption." And as he spoke, he motioned to the door with a +gesture there was no mistaking. The clerk left the room, and they were +alone. + +"Maurice Darcy," said Daly, as he turned the key in the lock, "you have +a stout heart and a courage I never saw fail, and you need both at this +moment." + +"What is it, Bagenal?" gasped the Knight, as a most deadly pallor +covered his face. "Is my wife--are my children--" + +"No, no; be calm, Darcy, they are all well." + +"Go on, then," cried he, with a firmer voice; "I'll listen to you +patiently." + +"Read that," said Daly, as he held the paper near the candle; and +the Knight read aloud: "'Honored Sir,--I saw the other night you were +troubled when I spoke of Gleeson, and I take the occasion of--'" +"'warning you,' I think the words are," broke in Daly. + +"So it is:--'warning you honest Tom is away to America!'" The paper fell +from Darcy's hand, and he staggered back into a seat. + +"With they say above a hundred thousand pounds, Darcy," continued Daly, +taking up the fragment. "If the news be true--" + +"If so, I'm ruined; he received the whole loan on Saturday last,--he +could not delay Hickman's payment beyond Wednesday without suspicion." + +"Ah! I see it all, and the American packet does not sail till to-morrow +morning from Liverpool." + +"But it may all be false," said Darcy. "Who writes you this story?" + +"It is signed 'F.,' and Freney is the man; I know the fellow that +brought it." + +"I 'll not believe a word of it, Bagenal," said the Knight, impetuously. +"I 'll not credit the calumny of a highwayman against the honor of one I +have known and respected for years. It is false, depend upon it." + +"Yet how it tallies with Sandy's tidings; there is something in it. +Hush! Darcy, don't speak; there is some one passing." + +The sounds of feet and voices were heard at the same instant without, +and among them the clear, distinctive accents of Hickman O'Reilly. + +"Yes," said he, "if the news had come a little earlier, Lord +Castlereagh, would have found some of our patriots less stern in virtue. +Gleeson will have carried away half a province with him." + +"There," whispered Daly, "you heard that,--the news is about already." + +But Darcy was now totally overcome, and, with his head resting on the +table, neither spoke nor stirred. "Bagenal," said he, at length, but in +a voice faint as a whisper, "I am too ill to face the House; let us turn +homewards." + +"I 'll see for a carriage," said Daly, who issued forth to take the +first he could find. + +"I say, Hamilton," cried a member, as he alighted from his chariot, +"there's the Knight of Gwynne and Bagenal Daly in Castlereagh's +carriage." + +"Daly said he could drive a coach-and-six through the Bill!" replied the +other; "perhaps he's gone to practise with a pair first." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE ADJOURNED DEBATE + +Although the debate had commenced at seven o'clock, none of the great +speakers on either side arose before eleven. Some fierce skirmishes had, +indeed, occurred; personalities and sarcasms the most cutting had been +interchanged with a freedom that showed that if shame were in a great +measure departed, personal daring and intrepidity were qualities still +in repute. The Ministerial party, no longer timid or wavering, took +no pains to conceal their sense of coming victory, and even Lord +Castlereagh, usually so guarded on every outward observance, entered the +House and took his seat with a smile of conscious triumph that did not +escape observation from either friends or opponents. + +The tactics of the Treasury benches, too, seemed changed: not waiting, +as hitherto, to receive and repel the attack of the Opposition, they +now became themselves the assailants, and evinced, by the readiness and +frequency of their assaults, the perfect organization they had attained. +The Opposition members, who opened the debate, were suffered to proceed +without any attempt at reply, an ironical cheer, a well-put question, +some home-thrust as to former opinions, alone breaking the thread of an +argument which, even from its monotony, was becoming less effective. + +Sir Henry Parnell, the late Chancellor of the Exchequer, and who had +been dismissed from office for his opinions on the Union, was the first +speaker; with a moderation, in part the result of his former position +with regard to those who had been his colleagues, he limited himself to +a strict examination of the measure in its bearings and consequences, +and never, even for a moment, digressed into anything like reflection on +the motives of its advocates. His speech was able and argumentative, but +evidently unsatisfactory to his party, who seemed impatient and uneasy +till he concluded, and hailed Ponsonby, who rose after him, with cheers +that showed their expectations were now, at least, more likely to be +realized. + +Whether the occasion alone was the cause, or that catching the +excitement of his supporters, Ponsonby deviated from the usually calm +and temperate character he was accustomed to assume in the House, and +became warm and impassioned. Disdaining to examine the relative merits +or demerits of the proposed Bill, he boldly pronounced Parliament +incompetent to decide it, and concluded by declaring that, if carried, +the measure might endanger not only the ties of amity between the two +nations, but dissolve those of allegiance also. A loud burst of mingled +indignation and irony broke from the Treasury benches at this daring +flight, when the speaker, at once collecting himself, turned the whole +force of his attack on the Secretary. With slow and measured intonation, +he depicted the various stages of his political career, recalling to +memory the liberal pledges he had once contracted, and the various +shades of defection by which he had at last reached the position in +which he could "betray Ireland." + +None were prepared for the degree of eloquent power Ponsonby displayed +on this occasion; and the effect of such a speech from one habitually +calm, even to coldness, was overwhelming. It was not Lord Castlereagh's +intention to have spoken at this early hour of the debate; but, +apologizing for occupying the time of the House by a personality, he +arose, not self-possessed and at ease, but flushed and excited. + +Without adverting for a second to the measure in debate, he launched +forth into a most violent invective on his adversary. With a vehement +passion that only his nearest friends knew him to possess, he exposed +every act of his political life; taunted him with holding opinions +liberal enough to be a patriot, but sufficiently plastic to be +marketable; he accused his very calmness as being a hypocritical +affectation of fairness, while in reality it was but the tacit admission +of his readiness to be bought; and at length pushed his violent sarcasm +so far that a loud cry of "Order!" burst forth from the Opposition, +while cheers of defiance were heard along the densely crowded ranks of +the Ministerial party. + +From this moment the discussion assumed a most bitter character; +assertions and denials, uttered in language the most insulting, were +heard at every moment, and no speaker could proceed without some +interruption which demanded several minutes to subdue. More than one +member was seen to cross the floor and interchange a few words with +an adversary, the import of which, as he returned to his place, no +physiognomist need have doubted. It was not debate or discussion, it was +the vehement outpouring of personal and political hatred, by men whose +passions were no longer restrainable, and many of whom saw in this +the last occasion of their ever being able to confront their enemies. +Language that could not be uttered with impunity elsewhere, was heard at +every moment; open declarations were made that, the Bill once carried, +allegiance and loyalty were dissolved; and Sir Neil O'Donnell went so +far as to say that he regarded the measure as an act of treason, and +would place himself at the head of his regiment to oppose and annul it. + +It was in a momentary pause of this bitter conflict that rumor announced +the arrival of the Knight of Gwynne and Bagenal Daly at the House. Never +were reinforcements more gladly hailed by a weakened and disabled army; +cheers of triumphant delight broke from the Opposition benches, answered +by others, not less loud and taunting, from the Ministerial side, +and every eye was turned eagerly towards the door by which they were +expected to enter. + +To such a pitch of violence had partisanship carried the members on both +sides, expressions of open defiance and insult were exchanged in the +midst of this scene of tumult, nor was the authority of the Speaker able +to restore order for several minutes; when at last the doors were thrown +open, and Hickman O'Reilly entered, and walked up the body of the +House. Shouts of loud laughter now resounded from either side; such +an apparition at the moment was the most ludicrous contrast to that +expected, and a boisterous gayety succeeded to the late scene of +acrimony and intemperance. + +The individual himself seemed somewhat puzzled at these unlooked-for +marks of public notice, and stared around him in astonishment, till his +eyes rested on the spot where Lord Castlereagh sat whispering with +Mr. Corry. Brief as was the glance, it seemed to have conveyed some +momentous intelligence to the gazer, for he became at first scarlet, and +then pale as death; he looked again, but the Secretary had turned his +head away, and Corry was coolly unfolding the plaits of a white cambric +handkerchief, and apparently only occupied with that object. At this +moment Hickman was standing with one foot upon the steps which led +towards the Treasury benches: he wheeled abruptly round, and walked +over to the other side of the House, where he sat down between Egan and +Ponsonby. + +The cheers of the Opposition now burst forth anew, and with a deafening +clamor, while from back and cross benches, and everywhere within reach, +hands were eagerly stretched forth to grasp O'Reilly's. Never was +support less expected, never an alliance less speculated on, and +the cries of exultation were almost maddening. How long the scene of +tumultuous excitement might have lasted, it is difficult to say, when +Lord Castlereagh rose, with a calm dignity of manner that never in the +most trying moments forsook him. "He begged to remind the gentlemen +opposite that if these triumphant expressions were not indecorous, they +were at least premature; that the momentous occasion on which they were +met demanded all the temperate and calm consideration which they could +bestow upon it; that the time for the adoption of any course would +not be distant, and would sufficiently show to which side, with most +propriety, the expression of triumph belonged." + +The hint was significant; the foreshadowed victory was too plainly +and too palpably predicted to admit of a doubt, and a chilling silence +succeeded to the former uproar. The individual whose address this long +scene of tumult had interrupted was now suffered to proceed. He was a +law-serjeant, a man of inferior capacity and small professional repute, +whose advocacy of the Government plan had raised him to an unbecoming +and dangerous eminence at the Bar. Without the slightest pretensions as +a speaker, or one quality that should adorn a statesman, he possessed +other gifts scarcely less valuable at that day: he was a ready +pistol; he came of a fighting family, not one of whom did not owe some +advancement in life to a cool hand and a steady eye; and he occupied his +place in the Ministerial van by virtue of this signal accomplishment. +As incapable of feeling the keen sarcasm of his opponents as he was +of using a similar weapon, he was yet irascible from temperament, +and overbearing in manner, and was used by his party as men employ a +fire-ship,--with a strong conviction that it may damage more than the +enemy. + +To cover the deficiencies of his oratory, as well as to add poignancy to +his personalities, it was the invariable custom of his friends to cheer +him vociferously at the end of every sentence which contained anything +like attack on the Opposition; and to this species of backing he was +indebted for the courage that made him assail men incomparably above him +in every quality of intellect. + +Mr. Plunkett was now the object of his invective, nor was the boldness +of such a daring its least recommendation. Few of the Government side +of the House would have adventured to cross weapons with this master +of sarcasm and irony; none but the Serjeant Nickolls could have done so +without a strong fear of consequences. He, however, was unconcerned for +the result as it affected himself personally; and as for the withering +storm that awaited him, the triple hide of his native dulness was an +armor of proof that nothing could penetrate. From Plunkett he passed on +to Bushe, from Bushe to Grattan; no game flew too high for his shafts, +nor was any invective coarse enough to level at the great leaders of the +Opposition. If the overbearing insolence of his harangue delighted his +own party, it called down peals of laughter from his opponents, who +cheered every figurative absurdity and every illogical conclusion with +shouts of ironical admiration. + +Lord Castlereagh saw the mischief, and would gladly have cut short the +oration; but the speaker was revelling in an imaginary victory, and +would listen to no suggestions whatever. Passing from the great names of +the Irish party, he launched forth in terms of insult towards the +county members, whom he openly accused of holding their opinions under +a mistaken hope that they were a marketable commodity, and that as +some stanch adherents of the Crown had reaped the honors due to "their +loyalty," these quasi-patriots were only waiting for their price. The +allusion was so palpable that every eye was turned to where Hickman +O'Reilly sat, and whose confusion was now overwhelming. + +"Ay," continued the speaker, now carried beyond all self-restraint by +the evident sensation he had caused, "there are gentlemen opposite whose +confessions would reveal much of this kind of independence. I have my +eye on some of them,--men who will be Patriots if they cannot be Peers, +ready to put on the cap of liberty for the Mob if they cannot get the +coronet from the Crown. Many, too, are absent from this debate: they +stand out, perhaps, for high terms; they have got Peerages for their +wives, and now, like a hackney-coachman, not content with their fare, +they want 'something for themselves.' I heard of two such a while ago; +they even came as far as the lobby of this House, where they halted and +hesitated: a mitre or a regiment, a blue ribbon or a red one, would have +turned the scale, perhaps. Why are they not here now? I ask, what has +become of them?" + +"Name! name!" screamed the Opposition, in a torrent of mad excitement, +while the Government party, outrageous at the blundering folly of the +whole harangue, endeavored to pull the speaker back into his seat. Never +was such a scene: one party lashed to madness by suspected treachery and +open insult; the other indignant at the stupidity of a man who, in his +attempts at attack, had raked up every calumny against his own friends. +Already, more than one hand was laid on his arms to press him down +into his seat, when he, with the obstinacy of thorough dullness, shook +himself free, and called out, "I 'm ready to name." + +Again the cries of "Name!" were shouted, mingled with no less vociferous +cries of "No, no!" and the struggle now had every appearance of a +personal one, when the Speaker, calling to order, asked if it was the +sense of the House that the Serjeant should gives the names he alluded +to. + +"I 'll soon cut the matter short," called out the Serjeant, in a voice +that resounded through every corridor of the House. "I mean the Knight +of Gwynne and Bagenal Daly." + +A cry of "Order! order!" now arose from all parts of the House, the +direct mention of any member by name being a liberty unprecedented. + +"I beg to correct myself," said the Serjeant. "I should have said the +honorable members for Mayo and Old Castle. I ask again, why are they not +here?" + +"Better you had never put the question," said a deep, low voice from +beneath the gallery; and at the same instant Bagenal Daly advanced along +one of the passages, and took his place at the table directly in front +of the Serjeant. A tremendous cheer now broke from the Opposition +benches, which the Ministerial party in vain essayed to return. + +"I perceive, sir," said the Serjeant, with an effort to resume his +former ease,--"I perceive I have succeeded in conjuring up one at least +of these truant spirits, and I cannot do better than leave him to make +his explanations to the House." + +With this lame, disjointed conclusion the learned Serjeant sat down; and +although the greatest exertions were made by his friends to cover this +palpable failure, the cries of derision drowned all other sounds, and +before they were silenced, a shout of "Daly! Daly!--Bagenal Daly!" +resounded through the building. + +Daly arose slowly, and saluted the Speaker with a most deferential +courtesy. It was several minutes before the tumult had sufficiently +subsided to make his words audible; but when silence prevailed, he was +heard to regret, in terms of unaffected ease, that any circumstance +might occur which should occupy the time of the House by observations +from one so rude and unlettered as himself, nor would he now venture +on the trespass, were the occasion merely a personal one. From this +he proceeded to state that great emergencies were always occurring, in +which even the humblest opinions should be made known as evidencing the +probable impressions upon others as lowly circumstanced as he who now +addressed them. + +"Such is the present one," said he, raising his voice, and looking +around him with a glance of bold defiance. "You are about to take away +the right of self-government from a nation, and every man in the land, +not only such as sit here, sir, but every man to whose future ambition +a seat in this House may form a goal, every man has a deep interest in +your proceedings. It is a grave and weighty question, whose +conditions impose the conviction that we are unfit to legislate for +ourselves,--that we are too weak, or too venal, or too ignorant, or too +dishonest. To that conclusion you must come, or no other. Absence from +Ireland must suggest enlightenment on her interests; distance must lend +knowledge as well as enchantment, or an English Parliament cannot be +better than our own. I have listened attentively, but unconvinced, to +all arguments on this head; I have heard over and over again the long +catalogue of benefits to accrue to this country when the power of +realizing them herself has been wrested from her, and I have thought of +Lear and his daughters! It would seem to me, however, that the social +welfare and the commercial prosperity of a people are themes too vulgar +for the high consideration of our times. The real question at issue is +not whether a Parliament should or should not continue to sit here, but +what shall I, and others like me, benefit by voting it away forever?" + +"Order! order!" called out several voices. + +But Daly resumed: "I ask pardon. It is more parliamentary to put the +case differently, and I shall, under correction, do so. Well, sir, +we may benefit largely. I trust I am not disorderly in saying that +peerages, bishoprics, regiments, frigates, commissionerships, and Heaven +knows what more, will reward us when our utility to the State has met +the approval of an Imperial Parliament. I can well credit every promise +of such gratitude, and have only to ask in turn, Are these the arguments +that should sway us now? Is it because we are bungling legislators that +they wish for us in London?--is it because we are venal they seek our +company, because we are inefficient they ask for our cooperation? Are +they so supremely right-minded, honorable, and far-seeing that they need +the alloy of our dulness to make them mortal? And suppose such the case, +will it be gratifying to us to become the helots to this people? Will +our national pride be flattered because our eloquence is sneered at, +our law derided, our political knowledge a scoff, and our very accent a +joke? Do not tell me such things are unlikely; we are far weaker on the +point than we like to confess. For myself, I can imagine the sense of +shame--of deep, heartfelt, abasing shame--I should feel at seeing some +of those I see here rise in a British House of Commons to address that +body, while the rumor should run, 'He is the member for Meath or for +Wicklow.' I can picture to myself such a man: a man of low origin and +mean capacity; a man who carves his path in life less from his own +keen abilities than that others shrink from his contact, and leave him +unopposed in every struggle; a pettifogger at the Bar; a place-hunter +at the Parliament; half beggar, half bravo, with a petition for the +Minister, and a pistol for the Opposition. Imagine a man like this, +and reflect upon the feeling of every gentleman at hearing the rumor +announce, 'Ay, that's a learned Serjeant, a leader at the Bar of +Ireland.'" + +The last words were delivered in a tone of direct personality, as, +turning towards where Nickolls sat, Daly threw at him a look of +defiance. The whole House arose as if one man, with cheers and +counter-cheers, and loud yells of insult, mingled with cries of "Order!" +Nor was it till after a long and desperate wordy altercation that the +clamor was subdued, and decorum at length restored. Then it was remarked +that Nickolls had left the House. + +The Speaker immediately ordered the Serjeant of the House to place Daly +under arrest,--a measure which, however dictated by propriety, seemed to +call forth a burst of indignation from the Opposition benches. + +"I hope, sir," said Daly, rising with an air of most admirably feigned +humility,--"I hope, sir, you will not execute this threat,--the +inconvenience to me will be very great: I was about to pair off with the +honorable and learned member for Newry." + +The mention of the town for which the Serjeant sat in Parliament renewed +the laughter which now prevailed on both sides of the House. + +"I cannot understand the mirth of the gentlemen opposite," said Daly, +with affected simplicity, "without it be from their astonishment that +the Government can spare so able and so eloquent an advocate as the +honorable and learned gentleman; but let them reassure themselves and +look around, and, believe me, they'll find the Treasury benches filled +by gentlemen as like him as possible." + +The Speaker reissued the order to the Serjeant-at-Arms, and Daly now +came forward to the table and begged in all form to know the reason of +such severity. "If, sir," said he, in conclusion,--"if I could believe +it possible that you anticipate any personal collision between myself +and any member of this House, I have only to say that I am bound over +in the sum of two thousand pounds to keep the peace within the limits of +this kingdom. I take out a license at two pounds fifteen to kill game, +it is true; but I 'd not pay sixpence for the privilege to shoot a +lawyer." + +The fact of the heavy recognizances to which Daly alluded was at once +confirmed by several members, and after a brief conversation with the +Speaker the matter was dropped. + +It was, as may be supposed, a considerable time before the debate could +assume its due decorum and solemnity after an incident like this; for +although hostile collisions were neither few nor unfrequent, an insult +of so violent a character had never before been witnessed. + +At length, however, order was restored, and another speaker addressed +the House. All had assumed its wonted propriety, when a messenger +delivered into Daly's hands a small sealed note; he glanced at the +contents and rose immediately. Lord Castlereagh's quick eye caught +the motion, and he at once called on the Speaker to interfere. "I have +myself seen a letter conveyed to the honorable member's hands," said he; +"it requires no peculiar gift of divination to guess the object." + +"I will satisfy the noble lord at once," said Daly; "there is the letter +I have received: I pledge my word of honor the subject is purely a +private one, having no reference whatever to anything that has passed +here." He held out the letter as he spoke, but Lord Castlereagh declined +to peruse it, and expressed his regret at having made the remark. Daly +bowed courteously to him, and left the House. + +"Well, Sandy," said he, as soon as he reached the corridor, where his +faithful follower stood waiting his coming, "what success?" + +"No sae bad," said Sandy. "I 've got a wherry, ane of them Wicklow +craft; she's only half-decked, but she's a stout-looking sea-boat, and +broad in the beam." + +"And the wind, how's that?" + +"As it should be,--west, or west wi' a point north." + +"Is there enough of it?" + +"Enough! I trow there is," said Sanders, with a grin; "if there be no a +blast too much. Hear till it now." And, as if waiting for the remark, +a tremendous gust of wind shook the strong building, while the clanking +sound of falling slates and chimney-pots resounded through the street. + +"There's music for ye," said Sandy; "there came a clap like that when I +had a'maist made the bargain, and the carles would no budge without ten +guineas mair. I promised them fifty, and the handsel whatever your honor +liked after." + +"It's all right,--quite right," said Daly, wishing to stop details he +never listened to with patience. + +"It's a' right, I know weel enough," said Sandy, querulously; "but it +wad no be a' right av ye went yersel'; they 'd have a gude penny, forbye +what I say." + +"And what say the fellows of this wind,--is it like to last?" + +"It will blow hard from the west for three or four days mair, and then +draw round to the north." + +"But we shall get to Liverpool before noon to-morrow." + +"Maybe," said Sandy, with a low, dry laugh. + +"Well, I mean if we do get there. You told them I 'd double the pay if +we catch the American ship in the Mersey. I'd triple it; let them know +that." + +"They canna do mair than they can do: ten pounds is as good as ten +hundred." + +While this conversation was going forward, they had walked on together, +and were now at the entrance door of the House, where a group of four +persons stood under the shadow of the portico. + +"Mr. Daly, I presume," said one, advancing, and touching his hat in +salutation. "We have waited somewhat impatiently for your coming." + +"I should regret it, sir, if I was aware you did me the honor to expect +me." + +"I am the friend of Serjeant Nickolls, sir," said the other, in a voice +meant to be eloquently meaning. + +"For your sake, the fact is to be deplored," answered Daly, calmly. "But +proceed." + +With a great effort to subdue his passion, the other resumed: "It does +not require your experience in such matters to know that the insult you +have passed upon a high-minded and honorable gentleman--the gross and +outrageous insult--should be atoned for by a meeting. We are here for +this purpose, ready to accompany you, as soon as you have provided +yourself with a friend, to wherever you appoint." + +"Are you aware," said Daly, in a whisper, "that I am bound over in heavy +recognizances--" + +"Ah, indeed!" interrupted the other; "that, perhaps, may explain--" + +"Explain what, sir?" said Daly, as he grasped the formidable weapon +which, more club than walking-stick, he invariably carried. + +"I meant nothing; I would only observe--" + +"Never observe, sir, when there's nothing to be remarked. I was +informing you that I am bound over to keep the peace in this same +kingdom of Ireland; circumstances compel me to be in England to-morrow +morning,--circumstances of such moment that I have myself hired a vessel +to convey me thither,--and although the object of my journey is far from +agreeable, I shall deem it one of the happiest coincidences of my life +if it can accommodate your friend's wishes. Nothing prevents my giving +him the satisfaction he desires on English ground. I have sincere +pleasure in offering him, and every gentleman of his party, a passage +over--the tide serves in half an hour. Eh, Sandy?" + +"At a quarter to twelve, sir." + +"The wind is fair." + +"It is a hurricane," replied the other, almost shuddering. + +"It blows fresh," was Daly's cool remark. + +For a moment or two the stranger returned to his party, with whom he +talked eagerly, and the voices of the others were also heard, speaking +in evident excitement. + +"You have the pistols safe, Sandy?" whispered Daly. + +"They 're a' safe, and in the wherry; but you 'll no want them this +time, I trow," said Sandy, with a shrug of his shoulders; "yon folk +would rather bide where they are the night, than tak' a bit o' pleasure +in the Channel." + +Daly smiled, and turned away to hide it, when the stranger again came +forward. "I have consulted with my friends, Mr. Daly, who are also +the friends of Serjeant Nickolls; they are of opinion that, under +the circumstances of your being bound over, this affair cannot with +propriety go further, although it might not, perhaps, be unreasonable +to expect that you, feeling the peculiar situation in which you stand, +might express some portion of regret at the utterance of this most +severe attack." + +"You are really misinformed on the whole of the business," said Daly. +"In the few words I offered to the House, I was but responding to the +question of your friend, who asked, I think somewhat needlessly, 'Where +was Bagenal Daly?' I have no regrets to express for any terms I applied +to him, though I may feel sorry that the forms of the House prevented +my saying more. I am ready to meet him now; or, as he seems to dislike +a breeze, when the weather is calmer. Tell him so; but tell him besides, +that if he utters one syllable in my absence that the most malevolent +gossip of a club-room can construe into an imputation on me, by G--d +I'll break every bone in his cowardly carcass! Come, Sandy, lead on. +Good evening, sir. I wish you a bolder friend, or better weather." So +saying, he moved forward, and was soon hastening towards the North Wall, +where the wherry was moored. + +"It's unco like the night we were wrecked in the Gulf," said Sandy. "I +mind the moon had that same blue color, and the clouds were a' below, +and none above her." + +"So it is, Sandy,--there 's a heavy sea outside, I 'm sure. How many men +have we?" + +"Four, and a bit o' a lad that's as gude as anither. Lord save us! there +was a flash! I wish it wud come to rain, and beat down the sea; we 'd +have aye wind enough after." + +"Where does she lie?" + +"Yonder, sir, where you see the light bobbing. By my certie, but the +chiels were no far wrang. A bit fighting 's hard bought by a trip to sea +on such a night as this." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. TWO OF A TRADE + +When the newspapers announced the division on the adjourned debate, +they also proclaimed the flight of the defaulter; and, wide as was the +disparity between the two events in point of importance, it would be +difficult to say which more engaged the attention of the Dublin public +on that morning, the majority for the Minister, or the published perfidy +of "Honest Tom Gleeson." + +Such is, however, the all-engrossing interest of a local topic, aided, +as in the present case, by almost incredulous amazement, the agent's +flight was talked of and discussed in circles where the great political +event was heard as a matter of course. Where had he fled to? What sum +had he carried away with him? Who would be the principal losers? were +all the questions eagerly discussed, but none of which excited so +much diversity of opinion as the single one: What was the cause of his +defalcation? His agencies were numerous and profitable, his mode of life +neither extravagant nor ostentatious; how could a man with so few habits +of expense have contracted debts of any considerable amount, or what +circumstances could induce him to relinquish a station of respectability +and competence for a life-long of dishonorable exile? + +Such has been our progress of late years in the art of revealing to the +world at large the hidden springs of every action and event around us +that a secret is in reality the only thing now impossible. Forty-five +years ago, this wonderful exercise of knowledge was in a great measure +unknown; the guessers were then a large and respectable class +in society, and men were content with what mathematicians call +approximation. In our own more accurate days, what between the +newspaper, the club-room, and "'Change," such mystery is no longer +practicable. One day, or two at furthest, would now proclaim every item +in a man's schedule, and afford that most sympathetic of all bodies, +the world, the fruitful theme of expatiating on his folly or his +criminality. In the times we refer to, however, it was only the "Con +Heffermans" of society that ventured even to speculate on the secret +causes of these events. + +Although the debate had lasted from eight o'clock in the evening to past +eleven on the following morning, before twelve Mr. Heffernan's carriage +was at the door, and the owner, without any trace of fatigue, set off +to ascertain so much as might be learned of this strange and unexpected +catastrophe. It was no mere passion to know the current gossip of the +day, no prying taste for the last piece of scandal in circulation,--Con +Heffernan was above such weaknesses; but he had a habit--one which +some men practise even yet with success--of whenever the game was safe, +taking credit to himself for casualties in which he had no possible +connection, and attributing events in which he had no share to his own +direct influence. After all, he was in this only imitating the great +navigators of the globe, who have established the rule that discovery +gives a right only second to actual creation. + +This was, however, a really provoking case; no one knew anything of +Gleeson's embarrassments. Several of those for whom he acted as agent +were in Dublin, but they were more amazed than all others at his flight; +most of them had settled accounts with him very lately, some men owed +him small sums. "Darcy perhaps knows something about him," was a speech +Heffernan heard more than once repeated; but Darcy's house was shut +up, and the servant announced "he had left town that morning." Hickman +O'Reilly was the next chance; not that he had any direct intercourse +with Gleeson, but his general acquaintanceship with moneyed men and +matters made him a likely source of information; while a small sealed +note addressed to Dr. Hickman was in possession of a banker with whom +Gleeson had transacted business the day before his departure. But +O'Reilly had left town with his son. "The doctor, sir, is here still; +he does not go before to-morrow," said the servant, who, knowing that +Heffernan was a person of some consequence in the Dublin world, thought +proper to give this piece of unasked news. + +"Will you give Mr. Con Heffernan's compliments, and say he would be glad +to have the opportunity of a few minutes' conversation?" The servant +returned immediately, and showed him upstairs into a back drawing-room, +where, before a table covered with law papers and parchments, sat the +venerable doctor. He had not as yet performed the usual offices of +a toilet, and, with unshaven chin and uncombed hair, looked the most +melancholy contrast of age, neglect, and misery, with the gorgeous +furniture of a most splendid apartment. + +He lifted his head as the door opened, and stared fixedly at the +new-comer, with an expression at once fierce and anxious, so that +Heffernan, when speaking of him afterwards, said that, "Dressed as he +was, in an old flannel morning-gown, dotted with black tufts, he looked +for all the world like a sick tiger making his will." + +"Your humble servant, sir," said he, coldly, as Heffernan advanced +with an air of cordiality; nor were the words and the accents they were +uttered in lost upon the man they were addressed to. He saw how the land +lay, in a second, and said eagerly, "He has not left town, I trust, sir; +I sincerely hope your son has not gone." + +"Yes, sir, he's off; I'm sure I don't know what he'd wait for." + +"Too precipitate,--too rash by far, Mr. Hickman," said Heffernan, +seating himself, and wiping his forehead with an air of well-assumed +chagrin. + +"Maybe so," repeated the old man two or three times over, while he +lowered his spectacles to his nose, and began hunting among his papers, +as though he had other occupation in hand of more moment than the +present topic. + +"Are you aware, sir," said Heffernan, drawing his chair close up, and +speaking in a most confidential whisper,--"are you aware, sir, that your +son mistook the signal,--that when Mr. Corry took out his handkerchief +and opened it on his knee, that it was in token of Lord Castlereagh's +acquiescence of Mr. O'Reilly's demand,--that, in short, the peerage was +at that moment his own if he wished it?" + +The look of dogged incredulity in the old man's face would have silenced +a more sensitive advocate than Heffer-nan; but he went on: "If any +one should feel angry at what has occurred, I am the person; I was the +guarantee for your son's vote, and I have now to meet Lord Castle-reagh +without one word of possible explanation." + +"Hickman told me," said the old man, with a voice steady and composed, +"that if Mr. Corry did not raise the handkerchief to his mouth, the +terms were not agreed upon; that opening it before him only meant the +bargain was not quite off: more delay, more talk, Mr. Heffernan; and I +think there was enough of that already." + +"A complete mistake, sir,--a total misconception on his part." + +"Just like Beecham being blackballed at the club," said the doctor, with +a sarcastic bitterness all his own. + +"With that, of course, we cannot be charged," said Heffernan. "Why was +he put up without our being apprised of it? The blackballing was Bagenal +Daly's doing--" + +"So I heard," interrupted the other; "they told me that; and here, look +here, here's Daly's bond for four thousand six hundred. Maybe he won't +be so ready with his bank-notes as he was with his black ball--ay!" + +"But, to go back to the affair of the House--" + +"We won't go back to it, sir, if it's the same to you. I 'm glad, with +all my heart, the folly is over,--sorra use I could see in it, except +the expense, and there's plenty of that. The old families, as they +call them, can't last forever, no more than old houses and old castles; +there's an end of everything in time, and if Hickman waits, maybe his +turn will come as others' did before him. Where 's the Darcys now, I 'd +like to know?--" Here he paused and stammered, and at last stopped dead +short, an expression of as much confusion as age and wrinkles would +permit covering his hard, contracted features. + +"You say truly," said Heffernan, finishing what he guessed to be the +sentiment,--"you say truly, the Darcys have run their race; when men's +incumbrances have reached the point that his have, family influence soon +decays. Now, this business of Gleeson's--" Had he fired a shot close to +the old man's ear he could not have startled him more effectually than +by the mention of this name. + +"What of Gleeson?" said he, drawing in his breath, and holding on the +chair with both hands. + +"You know that he is gone,--fled away no one knows where?" + +"Gleeson! Honest Tom Gleeson ran away!" exclaimed Hickman; "no, no, +that's impossible,--I'd never believe that." + +"Strange enough, sir, that the paragraphs here have not convinced you," +said Heffernan, taking up the newspaper which lay on the table, and +where the mark of snuffy fingers denoted the very passage in question. + +"Ay! I did n't notice it before," muttered the doctor, as he took up the +paper, affecting to read, but in reality to conceal his own confusion. + +"They say the news nearly killed Darcy; he only heard it when going into +the House last night, and was seized with an apoplectic fit, and carried +home insensible." This latter was, it is perhaps needless to say, pure +invention of Heffernan, who found it necessary to continue talking as +a means of detecting old Hickman's game. "Total ruin to that family of +course results. Gleeson had raised immense sums to pay off the debts, +and carried all away with him." + +"Ay!" muttered the doctor, as he seemed greatly occupied in arranging +his papers on the table. + +"You 'll be a loser too, sir, by all accounts," added Heffernan. + +"Not much,--a mere trifle," said the doctor, without looking up from the +papers. "But maybe he's not gone, after all; I won't believe it yet." + +"There seems little doubt on that head," said Heffernan; "he changed +three thousand pounds in notes for gold at Ball's after the bank was +closed on Tuesday, and then went over to Finlay's, where he said he had +a lodgment to make. He left his great-coat behind him, and never came +back for it. I found that paper--it was the only one--in the breast +pocket." + +"What is it? what is it?" repeated the old man, clutching eagerly at it. + +"Nothing of any consequence," said Heffernan, smiling; and he handed +him a printed notice, setting forth that the United States barque, the +"Congress," of five hundred tons burden, would sail for New York on +Wednesday, the 16th instant, at an hour before high water. "That looked +suspicious, didn't it?" said Heffernan; "and on inquiry I found he +had drawn largely out of, not only the banks in town, but from the +provincial ones also. Now, that note addressed to yourself, for +instance--" + +"What note?" said Hickman, starting round as his face became pale as +ashes; "give it to me--give it at once!" + +But Heffernan held it firmly between his fingers, and merely shook his +head, while, with a gentle smile, he said, "The banker who intrusted +this letter to my hands was well aware of what importance it might +prove in a court of justice, should this disastrous event demand a legal +investigation." + +The old doctor listened with breathless interest to every word of this +speech, and merely muttered at the close the words, "The note, the +note!" + +"I have promised to restore the paper to the banker," said Heffernan. + +"So you shall,--let me read it," cried Hickman, eagerly; and he clutched +from Heffernan's fingers the document, before the other had seemingly +determined whether he would yield to his demand. + +"There it is for you, sir," said the doctor; "make what you can of it;" +and he threw the paper across the table. + +The note contained merely the words, "Ten thousand pounds." There was no +signature or any date, but the handwriting was Gleeson's. + +"Ten thousand pounds," repeated Heffernan, slowly; "a large sum!" + +"So it is," chimed in Hickman, with a grin of self-satisfaction, while +a consciousness that the mystery, whatever it might be, was beyond the +reach of Heffernan's skill, gave him a look of excessive cunning, which +sat strangely on features so old and time-worn. + +"Well, Mr. Hickman," said Heffernan, as he arose to take leave, "I have +neither the right nor the inclination to pry into any man's secrets. +This affair of Gleeson's will be sifted to the bottom one day or other, +and that small transaction of the ten thousand pounds as well as the +rest. It was not to discuss him or his fortunes I came here. I hoped to +have seen Mr. O'Reilly, and explained away a very serious misconception. +Lord Castlereagh regrets it, not for the sake of the loss of Mr. +O'Reilly's support, valuable as that unquestionably is, but because +a wrong interpretation would seem to infer that the conduct of +the Treasury bench was disingenuous. You will, I trust, make this +explanation for me, and in the name of his Lordship." + +"Faith, I won't promise it," said old Hickman, looking up from a long +column of figures which he was for some minutes poring over; "I don't +understand them things at all; if Bob wanted to be a lord, 't is +more than ever I did,--I don't see much pleasure there is in being a +gentleman. I know, for my part, I 'd rather sit in the back parlor of +my little shop in Loughrea, where I could have a chat over a tumbler of +punch with a neighbor, than all the grandeur in life." + +"These simple, unostentatious tastes do you credit before the world, +sir," said Heffernan, with a well put-on look of admiration. + +"I don't know whether they do or not," said Hickman, "but I know they +help to make a good credit with the bank, and that's better--ay!" + +Heffernan affected to relish the joke, and descended the stairs, +laughing as he went; but scarcely had he reached his carriage, however, +than he muttered a heavy malediction on the sordid old miser whose +iniquities were not less glaring because Con had utterly failed to +unravel anything of his mystery. + +"To Lord Castlereagh's," said he to the footman, and then lay back to +ponder over his late interview. + +The noble Secretary was not up when Con arrived, but had left orders +that Mr. Heffernan should be shown up to his room whenever he came. +It was now about five o'clock in the afternoon, and Lord Castlereagh, +wrapped up in a loose morning-gown, lay on the bed where he had thrown +himself, without undressing, on reaching home. A debate of more than +fifteen hours, with all its strong and exciting passages, had completely +exhausted his strength, while the short and disturbed sleep had wearied +rather than refreshed him. The bed and the table beside it were covered +with the morning papers and open letters and despatches, for, tired as +he was, he could not refrain from learning the news of the day. + +"Well, my Lord," said Heffernan, with his habitual smile, as he +stepped noiselessly across the floor, "I believe I may wish you joy at +last,--the battle is gained now." + +"Heigho!" was the reply of the Secretary, while he extended two fingers +of his hand in salutation. "What hour is it, Heffernan?" + +"It is near five; but really there 's not a creature to be seen in the +streets, and, except old Killgobbin airing his pocket-handkerchief +at the fire, not a soul at the Club. Last night's struggle has nearly +killed every one." + +"Who is this Mr. Gleeson that has run off with so much money,--did you +know him?" + +"Oh, yes, we all knew 'honest Tom Gleeson.'" + +"Ah! that was his sobriquet, was it?" said the Secretary, smiling. + +"Yes, my Lord, such was he,--or such, at least, was he believed to be, +till yesterday evening. You know it's the last glass of wine always +makes a man tipsy." + +"And who is ruined, Heffernan,--any of our friends?" + +"As yet there's no saying. Drogheda will lose something considerable, I +believe; but at the banks the opinion is that Darcy will be the heaviest +loser of any." + +"The Knight?" + +"Yes, the Knight of Gwynne." + +"I am sincerely sorry to hear it," said Lord Castlereagh, with an energy +of tone he had not displayed before; "if I had met half-a-dozen such +men as he is, I should have had some scruples--" He paused, and at the +instant caught sight of a very peculiar smile on Heffernan's features; +then, suddenly changing the topic, he said, "What of Nickolls,--is he +shot?" + +"No, my Lord, there was no meeting. Bagenal Daly, so goes the story, +proposed going over to the Isle of Man in a row-boat." + +"What, last night!" said the Secretary, laughing. + +"Yes, when it was blowing the roof off the Custom House; he offered +him his choice of weapons, from a blunderbuss to a harpoon, and his own +distance, over a handkerchief, or fifty yards with a rifle." + +"And was Nickolls deaf to all such seductions?" + +"Quite so, my Lord; even when Daly said to him, 'I think it a public +duty to shoot a fellow like you, for, if you are suffered to live, the +Government will make a judge of you one of these days.'" + +"What profound solicitude for the purity of the judgment seat!" + +"Daly has reason to think of these things; he has been in the dock +already, and perhaps suspects he may be again." + +"Poor Darcy!" said Lord Castlereagh to himself, in a half whisper, "I +wish I knew you were not a sufferer by this fellow's flight. By the bye, +Heffernan, sit down and write a few lines to Forester; say that Lord +Cornwallis is greatly displeased at his protracted absence. I am tired +of making excuses for him, and as I dine there to-day, I shall be +tormented all the evening." + +"Darcy's daughter is very good-looking, I hear," said Heffernan, smiling +slyly, "and should have a large fortune if matters go right." + +"Very possibly; but old Lady Wallincourt is the proudest dowager +in England, and looks to the blood-royal for alliances. Forester is +entirely dependent on her; and that reminds me of a most solemn pledge I +made her to look after her 'dear Dick,' and prevent any entanglement +in this barbarous land,--as if I had nothing else to think of! Write at +once, Heffernan, and order him up; say he 'll lose his appointment by +any further delay, and that I am much annoyed at his absence." + +While Heffernan descended to the library to write, Lord Castlereagh +turned once more to sleep until it was time to dress for the Viceroy's +dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. "A WARNING" AND "A PARTING." + +If we wanted any evidence of how little avail all worldly wisdom is, +we might take it from the fact that our severest calamities are +often impending us at the moments we deem ourselves most secure from +misfortune. Thus was it that while the events were happening whose +influence was to shadow over all the sunshine of her life, Lady Eleanor +Darcy never felt more at ease. That same morning the post had brought +her a letter from the Knight,--only a few lines, hastily written, but +enough to allay all her anxiety. He spoke of law arrangements, then +almost completed, by which any immediate pressure regarding money might +be at once obviated, and promised, for the very first time in his life, +to submit to any plan of retrenchment she desired to adopt. Had it been +in her power, she could not have dictated lines more full of pleasant +anticipation. The only drawback on the happiness of her lot in life was +the wasteful extravagance of a mode of living which savored far more of +feudal barbarism than of modern luxury. + +Partly from long habit and association, partly from indolence of +character, but more than either from a compassionate consideration +of those whose livelihood might be impaired by any change in his +establishment, the Knight had resisted all suggestion of alteration. He +viewed the very peculations around him as vested rights, and the most +he could pledge himself to was, that when the present race died out he +would not appoint any successors. + +The same post that brought this pleasant letter, conveyed one of far +less grateful import to Forester. It was a long epistle from his mother, +carefully worded, and so characteristic withal, that if it were any part +of our object to introduce that lady to our readers, we could not more +easily do so than through her own letter. Such is not, however, our +intention; enough if we say that it was a species of domestic homily, +where moral principles and worldly wisdom found themselves so +inextricably interwoven, no mean skill could have disentangled them. She +had learned, as careful mothers somehow always contrive to learn, that +her son was domesticated in the house with a very charming and beautiful +girl, and the occasion seemed suitable to enforce some of those +excellent precepts which hitherto had been deficient in force for want +of a practical example. + +Had Lady Wallincourt limited herself to cautious counsels about falling +in love with some rustic beauty in a remote region, Forester might have +treated the advice as one of those matter-of-course events which cause +no more surprise than the receipt of a printed circular; but she went +further. She deemed this a fitting occasion to instruct her son into +the mystery of that craft, which, in her own experience of life, she had +seen make more than one man's fortune, and by being adepts in which many +of her own family had attained to high and lasting honors. This science +was neither more nor less than success in female society. "I will not +insult either your good taste or your understanding," wrote she, "by +any warning against falling in love in Ireland. Beauty is--France +excepted--pretty equally distributed through the world; neither is there +any nationality in good looks, for, nowadays, admixture of race has +obliterated every peculiarity of origin. In all, then, that concerns +manner, tone, and breeding, your own country possesses the true +standard: every deviation from this is a fault. What is conventional +must be right, because it is the exponent of general opinion on those +topics for which each feels interested. Now, the Irish, my dear boy, the +Irish are never conventional; they are clannish, provincial, peculiar, +but never conventional. Their pride would seem to be rather to ruffle +than fall in with the general sympathies of society. They forget that +the social world is a great compact, and they are always striving for +individual successes by personal distinction: this is the very acme of +vulgarity. + +"If they, however, are very indifferent models for imitation, they +afford an excellent school for your own training; they are a shrewd, +quick-sighted race, with a strong sense of the ludicrous, and are what +the French call _malin_ to a degree. To win favor among them without any +subservient imitation of their own habits, which would be contemptible, +is not over easy. + +"If I am rightly informed, you are at present well circumstanced to +profit by my counsels. I am told of a very agreeable and very pretty +girl with whom you ride and walk out constantly, and, far from feeling +any maternal uneasiness,--for I trust I know my son,--I am rejoiced at +the circumstance. Make the most of such an advantage by exercising your +own abilities and powers of pleasing, give yourself the habit of +talking your very best on every topic, without pedantry or any sign +of premeditation. Practise that blending of courteous deference to a +woman's opinions with a subdued consciousness of your own powers, which +I have spoken to you of in your dear father's character. Seldom venture +on an axiom, never tell an anecdote; be most guarded in any indulgence +of humor: a laugh is the most dangerous of all triumphs. It is the +habit to reproach us with our frigidity,--I believe not without reason; +cultivate, then, a certain amount of warmth which may suggest the idea +of earnestness, apart from all suspicion of enthusiasm, which I have +often told you is low-lived. Watch carefully by what qualities your +success is more advanced; examine yourself as to what defects you +experience in your own character; make yourself esteemed as a means of +being estimable; win regard, and the habit of pleasing will give a charm +to your manner, even when you are not desirous to secure affection. Your +poor dear father often confessed the inestimable advantages of his first +affairs of the heart, and used to say, whenever by any adroit exercise +of his captivation he had gained over an adverse Maid of Honor, I owe +that to Louisa, for such was the name of the young lady,--I forget now +who she was. The mechanism of the heart is alike in all lands; the means +of success in Ireland will win victory where the prize is higher. In all +this, remember, I by no means advise you to sport with any young lady's +feelings, nor to win more of her affection than may assure you that +the entire could also become yours: a polite chess-player will rest +satisfied to say, 'check,' without pushing the adversary to 'mate.' + +"It will soon be time you should leave the army, and I hope to find you +have acquired some other education by the pursuit than mere knowledge of +dress." + +This is a short specimen of the maternal Machiavelism by which "the most +fascinating woman of her set" hoped to instruct her son, and teach him +the road to fortune. + +Such is the fatal depravity of every human heart that any subtle appeal +to selfishness, if it fail to flex the victim to the will, at least +shakes the strong sense of conscious rectitude, and makes our very +worthiness seem weakness. + +Forester's first impression was almost anger as he read these lines, +the second time he perused them he was far less shocked, and at last +was puzzled whether more to wonder at the keen worldly knowledge they +betrayed, or the solicitude of that affection which consented to unveil +so much of life for his guidance. The result of all these conflicting +emotions was depression of spirits, and a discontent with himself and +all the world; nor could the fascinations of that little circle in which +he lived so intimately, subdue the feeling. + +Lady Eleanor saw this, and exerted herself with all her wonted powers to +amuse and interest him; Helen, too, delighted at the favorable change in +her mother's spirits, contributed to sustain the tone of light-hearted +pleasantry, while she could not restrain a jest upon Forester's unusual +gloominess. + +The manner whose fascinations had hitherto so many charms, now almost +irritated him; the poison of suspicion had been imbibed, and he +continually asked himself, what if the very subtlety his mother's letter +spoke of was now practised by her? If all the varied hues of captivation +her changing humor wore were but the deep practised lures of coquetry? +His self-love was piqued by the thought, as well as his perceptive +shrewdness, and he set himself, as he believed, to decipher her real +nature; but, such is the blindness of mere egotism, in reality to +misunderstand and mistake her. + +How often it happens in life that the moment a doubt prevails as to some +trait or feature of our character, we should exactly seize upon that +very instant to indulge in some weakness or passing levity that may +strengthen a mere suspicion, or make it a certainty. + +Helen never seemed gayer than on this evening, scarcely noticing +Forester, save when to jest upon his morose and silent mood; she talked, +and laughed, and sang in all the free joyousness of a happy heart, +unconsciously displaying powers of mind and feeling which, in calmer +moments, lay dormant and concealed. + +The evening wore on, and Helen had just risen from her harp,--where she +was playing one of those wild, half-sad, half-playful melodies of her +country,--when a gentle tap came to the door, and, without waiting for +leave to enter, old Tate appeared. + +The old man was pale, and his features wore an expression of extreme +terror; but he was doing his very utmost, as it seemed, to struggle +against some inward fear, as, with a smile of far more melancholy than +mirth, he said, "Did ye hear it, my Lady? I 'm sure ye heerd it." + +"Heard what, Tate?" said Lady Eleanor. + +"The--but I see Miss Helen's laughing at me. Ah! don't then, Miss, +darlin',--don't laugh." + +"What was it, Tate? Tell us what you heard." + +"The Banshee, my Lady! Ay, there 's the way,--I knew how 't would be; +you 'd only laugh when I tould you." + +"Where was it you heard it?" said Lady Eleanor, affecting seriousness to +gratify the old man's superstition. + +"Under the east window, my Lady; then it moved across the flower-garden, +and down to the shore beneath the big rocks." + +"What was it like, Tate?" + +"'T was like a funeral 'coyne' first, Miss, when ye heerd it far away in +the mountain; and then it rose, and swelled fuller and stronger, till +it swam all round me, and at last died away to the light, soft cry of an +infant." + +"Exactly, Tate; it was Captain Forester sighing. I never heard a better +description in my life." + +"Ah! don't laugh, my Lady,--don't now, Miss Helen, dear. I never knew +luck nor grace come of laughing when the warnin' was come. 'T is the +Captain, there, looks sad and thoughtful,--the Heavens bless him for it! +He knows 'tis no time for laughing." + +Forester might have accepted the eulogy in better part, perhaps, had he +understood it; but as it was, he turned abruptly about, and asked Lady +Eleanor for an explanation of the whole mystery. + +"Tate thinks he has heard--" + +"Thinks!" interrupted the old man, with a sorrowful gesture of both +hands. "Musha! I'd take the Gospel on it; I heard it as plain as I hear +your Ladyship now." + +Lady Eleanor smiled, and went on--"the cry of the Banshee, that dreadful +warning which, in the superstition of the country, always betokens +death, or at least some great calamity, to the house it is heard to wail +over." + +"A polite attention, to say the least," said Forester, smiling +sarcastically, "of the witch or fairy or whatever it is, to announce +to people an approaching misfortune. And has every cabin got its own +Ban--what do you call it?" + +"The cabins has none," said Tate, with a loot of severe reproach, the +most remote possible from his habitual air of deference; "'tis only the +ouldest and most ancient families, like his honor the Knight's, has a +Banshee. But it's no use talking; I see nobody believes me." + +"Yes, Tate, I do," cried Helen, with an earnestness of manner, either +really felt, or assumed to gratify the poor old man's superstitious +veneration; "just tell me how you heard it first." + +"Like that!" whispered Tate, as he held up his hand to enforce silence; +and at the same instant a low, plaintive cry was heard, as if beneath +the very window. The accent was not of pain or suffering, but of +melancholy so soft, so touching, and yet so intense, that it stilled +every voice within the room, where now each long-drawn breath was +audible. + +There is a lurking trait of superstition in every human heart, which +will resist, at some one moment or other, every effort of reason and +every scoff of irony. An instant before, and Forester was ready to jest +with the old man's terrors, and now his own spirit was not all devoid +of them. The feeling was, however, but of a moment's duration; suspicion +again assumed its sway, and, seizing his hat, he rushed from the room, +to search the flower-garden and examine every spot where any one might +lie concealed. + +"There he goes now, as if he could see _her_; and maybe 't would be +as well for him he did n't," said Tate, as, in contempt of the English +incredulity, he gazed after the eager youth. "Is his honor well, my +Lady?--when did you hear from him?" + +"We heard this very day, Tate; he is perfectly well." + +"And Master Lionel--the captain, I mane--but I only think he's a child +still." + +"Quite well, too," said Helen. "Don't alarm yourself, Tate; you know how +sadly the wind can sigh through these old walls at times, and under the +yew-trees, too, it sounds drearily; I 've shuddered to myself often, as +I 've heard it." + +"God grant it!" said old Tate, piously; but the shake of his head and +the muttering sounds between his teeth attested that he laid no such +flattering unction to his heart as mere disbelief might offer. "'T is +n't a death-cry, anyhow, Miss Helen," whispered he to Miss Darcy, as he +moved towards the door; "for I went down to the back of the abbey, where +Sir Everard was buried, and all was still there." + +"Well, go to bed now, Tate, and don't think more about it; if the +wind--" + +"Ah! the wind! the wind!" said he, querulously; "that's the way it +always is,--as if God Almighty had no other way of talking to our hearts +than the cry of the night-wind." + +"Well, Captain Forester, what success? Have you confronted the spectre?" +said Lady Eleanor, as he re-entered the apartment. + +"Except having fallen into a holly-bush, where I rivalled the +complaining accents of the old witch, I have no adventure to recount; +all is perfectly still and tranquil without." + +"You have got your cheek scratched for following the siren," said Lady +Eleanor, laughing; "pray put another log on the fire, it is fearfully +chilly here." + +Old Tate withdrew slowly and unwillingly; he saw that his intelligence +had failed to produce a proper sense of terror on their minds; and his +own load of anxiety was heavier, from want of participation. + +The conversation, by that strange instinct which influences the least +as well as the most credulous people, now turned on the superstitions +of the peasantry, and many a legend and story were remembered by Lady +Eleanor and her daughter, in which these popular beliefs formed a chief +feature. + +"It is unfair and unwise," said Lady Eleanor, at the conclusion of one +of these stories, "to undervalue such influences; the sailor, who passes +his life in dangers, watches the elements with an eye and an air that +training have rendered almost preternaturally observant, and he sees the +sign of storm where others would but mark the glow of a red sunset; +so among a primitive people communing much with their own hearts in +solitary, unfrequented places, imagination becomes developed in undue +proportion, and the mind seeks relief in creative efforts from the +wearying sense of loneliness; but even these are less idle fancies than +conclusions come to from long and deep thought. Some strange process +of analogy would seem the parent of superstitions which we know to be +common to all lands." + +"Which means, that you half believe in a Banshee!" said Forester, +smiling. + +"Not so; but that I cannot consent to despise the frame of mind which +suggests these beliefs, although I have no faith in the apparitions. +Poor Tate, there, had never dreamed of hearing the Banshee cry if some +painful thought of impending misfortune had not suggested her presence; +his fears may not be unfounded, although the form they take be +preternatural." + +"I protest against all such plausibilities," said Helen. "I 'm for the +Banshee, as the Republicans say in France, 'one and indivisible.' I 'll +not accept of natural explanations. Mr. Bagenal Daly says, we may +well believe in spirits, when we put faith in the mere ghost of a +Parliament." + +"Helen is throwing out a bait for a political discussion," said Lady +Eleanor, laughing, "and so I 'll even say good night, Captain Forester, +and pleasant dreams of the Banshee." + +Forester rose and took his leave, which, somehow, was colder than usual. +His mother's counsels had got possession of his mind, and distrust +perverted every former source of pleasure. + +"Her manner is all coquetry," said he, angrily, to himself, as he walked +towards his room. + +Poor fellow! and what if it were? Coquetry is but a gilding, to be +sure; but it can never be well laid on if the substance beneath is not a +precious metal. + +There was, at the place where the river opened into the sea, a small +inlet of the bay guarded by two bold and rocky headlands, between which +the tide swept with uncommon violence, accumulating in time a kind +of bar, over which, even in calm weather, the waves were lashed into +breakers, while the waters within were still as a mountain lake. The +ancient ruin we have already alluded to passingly, stood on a little +eminence fronting this small creek, and although unmarked by any +architectural beauty, or any pretensions, save the humble possession of +four rude walls pierced by narrow windows, and a low doorway formed of +three large stones, was yet, in the eyes of the country people, endowed +with some superior holiness,--so it is certain the little churchyard +around bespoke. It was crowded with graves, whose humble monuments +consisted in wooden crosses, decorated in recent cases with little +garlands of paper or wild flowers, as piety or affection suggested. The +fragments of ship-timber around showed that they who slept beneath had +been mostly fishermen, for the chapel was peculiarly esteemed by them; +and at the opening of the fishing season a mass was invariably offered +here for the success of the herring-fishery, by a priest from a +neighboring parish, whose expenses were willingly and liberally rewarded +by the fishermen. + +In exact proportion with the reverence in which this spot was regarded +by day was the fear and dread entertained of it by night. Stories of +ghosts and evil spirits were rife far and near of that lonely ruin, and +the hardiest seamen, who would brave the wild waves of the Atlantic, +would not venture alone within these deserted walls after dark. Helen +remembered, as a child, having been once there after sunset, induced by +an intense curiosity to hear or see something of those sounds and shapes +her nurse had told of, and what alarm her absence created among the +household increased when it was discovered where she had been. + +The same strange desire to hear if it might be that sad and wailing +voice which all had so distinctly heard in the drawing-room, led her, +when she had wished her mother good-night, to leave her chamber, and, +crossing the flower-garden, to descend to the beach by a small door +which opened to a little pathway down to the sea. When the superstitions +whose terrors have affrighted childhood are either conquered by reason +or uprooted by worldly influence, they still leave behind them a +strange passion for the marvellous, which in imaginative temperaments is +frequently greatly developed, and becomes a great source of enjoyment or +suffering to its possessor. Helen Darcy's nature was of this kind, +and she would gladly have accepted all the tremors and terrors of +her nursery days to feel once again that intense awe, that anxious +heart-beating expectancy, a ghost story used to create within her. + +The night was calm and starlit, the sea was tranquil and unruffled, +except where the bar broke the flow of the tide, and marked by a long +line of foam the struggling breakers, whose hoarse plash was heard above +the rippling on the strand. Even in the rocky caves all was still, +not an echo resounded within those dreary caverns where at times the +thunder's self was not louder. Helen reached the little churchyard; +she knew every path and foot-track through it, and at last, strolling +leisurely onward, entered the ruin and sat down within the deep window +that looked over the sea. + +For some time her attention was directed seaward, watching the waves as +they reflected back the spangled heaven, or sank again in dark shadow, +when suddenly she perceived the figure of a man, who appeared slowly +pacing the beach immediately beneath where she sat. + +What could have brought any one there at such an hour she could not +imagine; and however few her terrors of the world of spirits, she would +gladly at this moment have been safe within the abbey. While she debated +with herself how to act--whether to remain in her present concealment, +or venture on a sudden flight--the figure halted exactly under the +window. Her doubts and fears were now speedily resolved, for she +perceived it was Forester, who, induced by the beauty of the night, had +thus strolled out upon the shore. "What if I should put his courageous +incredulity to the test?" thought Helen; "the moment is propitious now. +I could easily imitate the cry of the Banshee!" The temptation was too +strong to be resisted, and without further thought she uttered a low, +thrilling wail, in an accent of most touching sorrow. Forester started +and looked up, but the dark walls were in deep shadow; whatever his real +feelings at the moment, he lost no time in clambering up the bank +on which the ruin stood, and from which he rightly judged the sound +proceeded. Helen was yet uncertain whether to attribute this step to +terror or the opposite, when she heard his foot as he traversed the +thickly-studded graveyard,--a moment more, and he would be in the church +itself, where he could not fail to discover her by her white dress. But +one chance offered of escape, which was to leap from the window down +upon the strand: it was deeper than she fancied, nearly twice her own +height; but then detection, for more than one good reason, was not to be +thought of. + +Helen was not one of those who long hesitate when their minds are to be +made up; she slipped noiselessly between the stone mullion and the side +of the window, and sprang out; unfortunately one foot turned on a +small stone, and she fell on the sand, while a slight accent of pain +unconsciously broke from her. Before she could rise, Forester was beside +her; with one arm round her waist, he half pressed, as he assisted her +to recover her feet. + +"So, fair spirit," said he, jocularly, "I have tracked you, it would +seem;" then, for the first time discovering it was Helen, he muttered in +a different tone, "I ask pardon, Miss Darcy; I really did not know--" + +"I am sure of that, Captain Forester," said she, disengaging herself +from his aid. "I certainly deserve a lesson for my silly attempt to +frighten you, and I believe I have sprained my ankle. Will you kindly +send Florence to me?" + +"I cannot leave you here alone, Miss Darcy; pray take my arm, and let me +assist you back to the abbey." + +The tone of deference he now spoke in, and the increasing pain, +concurred to persuade her, and she accepted the proffered assistance. + +"The absurdity of this adventure is not repaid by the pleasure of having +frightened you," said she, laughing; "if I could only say how terrified +you were--" + +"You might indeed have said so," interrupted Forester, "had I guessed +the figure I saw leap out was yours." + +"It was even higher than I thought," said she, avoiding to remark the +fervent accents in which these words were spoken. + +Forester was silent; his heart was full to bursting; the passion so +lately dashed by doubts and suspicions returned with tenfold force now +that he felt her arm within his own as step by step they moved along. + +"You are in great pain, I fear," said he, tremulously. + +"No, not now. I am so much more ashamed of my folly than a sufferer +from it that I could forgive the sprain if I could the silly notion that +caused it. 'Twas an unlucky fancy, to say the least of it." + +Again there was a pause, and although they walked but slowly, they were +fast approaching the little gate that opened into the flower-garden. +Forester was silent. "Was it from this cause, or by some secret +freemasonry of the female heart that she suspected what was passing in +his mind, and exerted herself to move on more rapidly? + +"Take time, Miss Darcy; not so fast; if not for your sake, for mine at +least." + +The last few words were scarcely above a whisper, but every one of them +reached her to whom they were addressed; whether affecting not to hear +them, or preferring to mistake their meaning, Helen made no answer. + +"I said for _my_ sake," resumed he, with a courage that demanded all +his energy, "because on these few moments the whole fortune of my future +life is placed. I love you." + +"Nay, Captain Forester," said she, smiling, "this is not quite fair; I +failed in my attempt to terrify you, and have paid the penalty: let +there not be a further one of my listening to what I should not hear." + +"And why not hear it, Helen? Is the devotion of one even humble as I am, +a thing to offend? Is it the less sincere that I feel how much you are +above me in every way? Will not my very presumption prove how fervent is +the passion that has made me forget all save itself,--all save you?" + +Truth has its own accents, however weak the words it syllables. Helen +laughed not now, but walked on with quicker steps; while the youth, the +barrier once passed, poured forth with heartfelt eloquence his tale +of love, recalling to her mind by many a slight, unnoticed trait, his +long-pledged devotion; how he had watched and worshipped her, seeking to +win favor in her eyes, and seem not all unworthy of her heart. + +"It is true," said he, "I cannot, dare not, ask in return for an +affection which should repay my own; but let me hope that what I now +speak, the devotion I pledge, is no rejected offering; that although you +care not for me, you will not crush forever one who lives but in your +smile, that you will give me time to show myself more worthy of the +prize I strive for. There is no trial I would not dare--" + +"I must interrupt you, Captain Forester," said Helen, with a voice +that all her efforts had not rendered quite steady; "it would be an +ungenerous requital for the sentiments you say you feel--" + +"Say!--nay, Helen, I swear it, by every hope that now thrills within +me--" + +"It would be," resumed she, tremulously, "an ungenerous requital for +this, were I to practise any deception on you. I am sincerely, deeply +sorry to hear you speak as you have done. I had long since learned to +regard you as the friend of Lionel, almost like a brother. The pleasure +your society afforded one I am most attached to increased the feeling; +and as intimacy increased between us, I thought how happy were it if the +ambitions of life did not withdraw from home the sons whose kindness can +be as thoughtful and as tender as that of the daughters of the house. +Shall I confess it? I almost wished my brother like you; but yet all +this was not love,--nay, for I will be frank, at whatever cost,--I had +never felt this towards you, if I suspected your sentiments towards +me--" + +"But, dearest Helen--" + +"Hear me out. There is but one way in which the impropriety of such a +meeting as this can be obviated, chance though it be, and that is, +by perfect candor. I have told you the simple truth, not with any +undervaluing sense of the affection you proffer, still less with any +coquetry of reserve. I should be unworthy of the heart you offer me, +since I could not give my own in exchange." + +"Do you deny me all hope?" said he, in an accent almost bursting with +grief. + +"I am not arrogant enough to say I shall never change; but I am honest +enough to tell you that I do not expect it." + +"Farewell, then, Helen! I do not love you less that you have taught me +to think more humbly of myself. Good-by--forever!" + +"It is better it should come to this," said Helen, faintly; and she held +out her hand towards him. "Good-by, Forester!" + +He pressed one long and burning kiss upon her hand, and turned away, +while she, pushing open the door, entered the little garden. Scarcely, +however, was the door closed behind her, when the calm courage in which +she spoke forsook her, and she burst into tears. + +So is it, the heart can be moved, even its most tender chords, when the +touch that stirs it is less of love than sorrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. SOME SAD REVELATIONS + +It was on the fourth day after the memorable debate we have briefly +alluded to, that the Knight of Gwynne was sitting alone in one of the +large rooms of his Dublin mansion. Although his servants had strict +orders to say he had left town, he had not quitted the capital, but +passed each day, from sunrise till late at night, in examining his +various accounts, and endeavoring with what slight business knowledge +he possessed, to ascertain the situation in which he stood, and how far +Gleeson's flight had compromised him. There is no such chaotic confusion +to the unaccustomed mind as the entangled web of long-standing moneyed +embarrassments, and so Darcy found it. Bills for large sums had been +passed, to provide for which, renewals had been granted, and this for +a succession of years, until the debt accumulating had been met by a +mortgage or a bond: many of these bills were missing--where were they? +was the question, and what liability might yet attach to them? + +Again, loans had been raised more than once to pay off these +encumbrances, the interest on which was duly charged in his account, and +yet there was no evidence of these payments having been made; nor among +the very last sent papers from Gleeson was there any trace of that bond, +to release which the enormous sum of seventy thousand pounds had +been raised. That the money was handed to Hickman, Bagenal Daly was +convinced; the memorandum given him by Freney was a corroboration of the +probability at least, but still there was no evidence of the transaction +here. Even this was not the worst, for the Knight now discovered that +the rental charged in his accounts was more than double the reality, +Gleeson having for many years back practised the fraud of granting +leases at a low, sometimes a merely nominal, rent, while he accepted +renewal fines from the tenants, which he applied to his own purposes. In +fact, it at length became manifest to Darcy's reluctant belief that his +trusted agent had for years long pursued a systematic course of perfidy, +merely providing money sufficient for the exigencies of the time, while +he was, in reality, selling every acre of his estate. + +The Knight's last hope was in the entail. "I am ruined--I am a beggar, +it is true!" muttered he, as each new discovery broke upon him, "but +my boy, my dear Lionel, at my death will have his own again." This +cherished dream was not of long duration, for to his horror he +discovered a sale of a considerable part of the estate in which Lionel's +name was signed as a concurring party. This was the crowning point +of his affliction; the ruin was now utter, without one gleam of hope +remaining. + +The property thus sold was that in the possession of the O'Reillys, and +the sale was dated the very day Lionel came of age. Darcy remembered +well having signed his name to several papers on that morning. Gleeson +had followed him from place to place, through the crowds of happy and +rejoicing people assembled by the event, and at last, half vexed at the +importunity, he actually put his name to several papers as he sat on +horseback on the lawn: this very identical deed was thus signed; the +writing was straggling and irregular as the motion of the horse shook +his hand. So much for his own inconsiderate rashness, but how, or by +what artifice was Lionel's signature obtained? + +Never had Lionel Darcy practised the slightest deception on his father; +never concealed from him any difficulty or any embarrassment, but +frankly confided to him his cares, as he would to one of his own age. +How, then, had he been drawn into a step of this magnitude without +apprising him? There was one explanation, and this was, that Glee-son +persuaded the young man, that by thus sacrificing his own future rights +he would be assisting his father, who, from motives of delicacy, could +not admit of any negotiation in the matter, and that by ceding so +much of his own property, he should relieve his father from present +embarrassment. + +Through all the revelation of the agent's guilt now opening before him, +not one word of anger, one expression of passion, escaped the Knight +till his eyes fell upon this paper; but then, grasping it in both hands, +he shook in every limb with indignant rage, and in accents of bitterest +hate invoked a curse upon his betrayer. The very sound of his own voice +in that sileut chamber startled him, while a sick tremor crept through +his frame at the unhallowed wish he uttered. "No, no," said he, with +clasped hands, "it is not for one like me, whose sensual carelessness +has brought my own to ruin, to speak thus of another; may Heaven assist +me, and pardon him that injured me!" + +The stunning effects of heavy calamity are destined in all likelihood +to give time to rally against the blow--to permit exhausted Nature to +fortify herself by even a brief repose against the harassing influences +of deep sorrow. One who saw far into the human heart tells us that it +is not the strongest natures are the first to recover from the shock of +great misfortunes, but that "light and frivolous spirits regain their +elasticity sooner than those of loftier character." + +The whole extent of his ruin unfolded itself gradually before Darcy's +eyes, until at length the accumulated load became too great to bear, and +he sat in almost total unconsciousness gazing at the mass of law +papers and accounts before him, only remembering at intervals, and then +faintly, the nature of the investigation he was engaged in, and by +an effort recalling himself again to the task: in this way passed the +entire day we speak of. Brief struggles to exert himself in examining +the various papers and letters on the table were succeeded by long +pauses of apparent apathy, until, as evening drew near, these intervals +of indifference grew longer, and he sat for hours in this scarce-waking +condition. + +It was long past midnight as a loud knocking was heard at the street +door, and ere Darcy could sufficiently recall his wandering faculties +from their revery, he felt a hand grasp his own--he looked up, and saw +Bagenal Daly. + +"Well, Darcy," said he, in a low whisper, "how stand matters here?" + +"Ruined!" said he, in an accent hardly audible, but with a look that +thrilled through the stern heart of Daly. + +"Come, come, there must be a long space between _your_ fortune and ruin +yet. Have you seen any legal adviser?" + +"What of Gleeson, Bagenal, has he been heard of?" said the Knight, not +attending to Daly's question. + +"He has had the fitting end of a scoundrel. He leaped overboard in the +Channel--" + +"Poor fellow!" said Darcy, while he passed his hand across his eyes; +"his spirit was not all corrupted, Bagenal; he dared not to face the +world." + +"Face the world! the villain, it was the gallows he had not courage to +face. Don't speak one word of compassion about a wretch like him, or you +'ll drive me mad. There's no iniquity in the greatest crimes to compare +with the slow, dastardly scoundrelism of your fair-faced swindler. It +seems so, at least. The sailors told us that he went below immediately +on their leaving the river, and, having locked the cabin door, spent his +time in writing till they were in sight of the Holyhead light, when a +sudden splash was heard, and a cry of 'A man overboard!' called every +one to the deck; then it was discovered that the fellow had opened one +of the stern-windows and thrown himself into the sea. They brought +me this open letter, the last, it is said, he ever wrote, and, though +unaddressed, evidently meant for you. You need not read it; it contains +nothing but the whining excuses of a scoundrel who bases his virtue on +the fact that he was more coward than cheat. Strangest thing of all, +he had no property with him beyond some few clothes, a watch, and about +three hundred guineas in a purse. This was deposited by the skipper with +the authorities in Liverpool; not a paper, not a document of any kind. +Don't read that puling scrawl, Darcy; I have no patience with your +pity!" + +"I wish he had escaped with life, Bagenal," said Darcy, feelingly; "it +is a sad aggravation of all my sorrow to think of this man's suicide." + +"And so he might, had he had the courage to take his chance. The +'Congress' passed us as we went up the river; she had her studding-sails +set, and, with the strong tide in her favor, was cutting through +the water as fast as ever a runaway scoundrel could wish or ask for. +Gleeson's servant contrived to reach her in time, and got away safe, not +improbably with a heavy booty, if the truth were known." + +Daly continued to dwell on the theme, repeating circumstantially the +whole of the examination before the Liverpool Justices, where the +depositions of the case were taken, and the investigation conducted with +strict accuracy; but Darcy paid little attention. The sad end of one +for whom through years long he had entertained feelings of respect and +friendship, seemed to obliterate all memory of his crime, and he had no +other feelings in his heart than those of sincere grief for the suicide. + +"There is but one circumstance in the whole I cannot understand," said +Daly, "and that is why Gleeson paid off Hickman's bond last week, when +he had evidently made up his mind to fly,--seventy thousand was such a +sum to carry away with him, all safe and sound as he had it." + +"But where's the evidence of such a payment?" said Darcy, sorrowfully; +"the bond is not to be found, nor is it among the papers discovered at +Gleeson's house." + +"It may be found yet," said Daly, confidently. "That the money was paid +I have not a particle of doubt on my mind; Freney's information, and +the memorandum I showed you, are strong in corroborating the fact; old +Hickman dared not deny it, if the bond never were to turn up." + +"Heaven grant it!" said Darcy, fervently; "that will at least save the +abbey, and rescue our old house from the pollution I dreaded." + +"All that, however, does not explain the difficulty," said Daly, +thoughtfully; "I wish some shrewder head than mine had the matter before +him. But now that I have told you so much, let me have some supper, +Darcy, for we forgot to victual our sloop, and had no sea-store but +whiskey on either voyage." + +Though this was perfectly true, Daly's proposition was made rather to +induce the Knight to take some refreshment, which it was so evident he +needed, than from any personal motive. + +"They carried the second reading by a large majority; I read it in +Liverpool," said Daly, as the servant laid the table for supper. + +The Knight nodded an assent, and Daly resumed: "I saw also that +an address was voted by the patriotic members of Daly's to Hickman +O'Reilly, Esquire, M.P., for his manly and independent conduct in the +debate, when he taunted the Government with their ineffectual attempts +at corruption, and spurned indignantly every offer of their patronage." + +"Is that the case?" said the Knight, smiling faintly. + +"'All fact; while the mob drew his carriage home, and nearly smoked the +entire of Merrion Square into blackness with burning tar-barrels." + +"He has improved on Johnson's definition, Bagenal, and made patriotism +the first as well as the last refuge of a scoundrel." + +"I looked out in the House that evening, but could not see him, for I +wanted him to second a motion for me." + +"Indeed! of what nature?" + +"A most patriotic one, to this effect: that all bribes to members of +either House should be in money, that we might have at least the benefit +of introducing so much capital into Ireland." + +"You forget, Bagenal, how it would spoil old Hickman's market: loans +would then be had for less than ten per cent." + +"So it would, by Jove! That shows the difficulty of legislating for +conflicting interests." + +This conversation was destined only to occupy the time the servant was +engaged about the table, but when he had withdrawn, the Knight and his +friend at once returned to the eventful theme that engaged all their +anxieties, and where the altered tones of their voices and eager looks +betokened the deepest interest. + +It would have been difficult to find two men more generally well +informed, and less capable of comprehending or unravelling the +complicated tissue of a business matter. At the same time, by dint of +much mutual inquiry and discussion, they attained to that first and +greatest of discoveries, namely, their own insufficiency to conduct the +investigation, and the urgent necessity of employing some able man +of law to go through all Gleeson's accounts, and ascertain the real +condition of Darcy's fortune. With this prudent resolve, they parted: +Darcy to his room, where he sat with unclosed eyes till morning; while +Daly, who had disciplined his temperament more rigidly, soon fell fast +asleep, and never awoke till roused by the voice of his servant Sandy. + +"You must find out the fellow that brought the note from Freney," said +Daly, the moment he opened his eyes. + +"I was thinking so," said Sandy, sententiously. + +"You'd know him again?" + +"I 'd ken his twa eyes amang a thousand." + +"Very well, then, set off after breakfast and search for him; you used +to know where devils of this kind were to be found." + +"Maybe I havna quite forgot it yet," replied he, dryly; "but it winna do +to gae there before nightfall." + +"Lose no more time than you can help about it," said Daly; "bring him +here if you can find him." + +We have not the necessity, and more certainly it is far from our +inclination, to dwell upon the accumulated calamities of the Knight, nor +recount more particularly the sad disclosures which the few succeeding +days made regarding his fortunes. His own words were correct; he was +utterly ruined. Every species of iniquity which perfidy could practise +upon unbounded confidence had been effected. His property subdivided +and leased at nominal rents, debts long supposed to have been paid yet +outstanding; mortgages alleged to have been redeemed still impending; +while of the large sums raised to meet these encumbrances not one +shilling had been paid by Gleeson, save perhaps the bond for seventy +thousand; but even of this there was no evidence, except the vague +assertion of one whose testimony the law would reject. + +Such, in brief, were the sad results of that investigation to which the +Knight's affairs were submitted, nor could all the practised subtlety +of the lawyer suggest one reasonable chance of extrication from the +difficulty. + +"Your friend is a ruined man, sir," said he to Daly, as they both arose +after a seven hours' examination of the various documents; "there is a +strong presumption that many of these signatures are forged, and that +the Knight of Gwynne never even saw the papers; but he appears to have +written his name so carelessly, and in so many ways, as to have no clear +recollection of what he did sign, and what he did not. It would be very +difficult to submit a good case for a jury." + +That the payment of the seventy thousand had been made he regarded as +more than doubtful, coupling the fact of Gleeson's immediate flight with +the temptation of so large a sum, while nothing could be less accurate +than the robber's testimony. "We must watch the enemy closely on this +point," said he; "we must exhibit not the slightest apparent doubt upon +it. They must not be led to suspect that we have not the bond in our +possession. This question will admit of a long contest, and does not +press like the others. As to young Darcy's concurrence in the sale--" + +"Ay, that is the great matter in my friend's eyes." + +"He must be written to at once,--let him come over here without loss of +time, and if it can be shown that this signature is a forgery, we might +make it the ground of a compromise with the O'Reillys, who, to obtain a +good title, would be glad to admit us to liberal terms." + +"Darcy will never listen to that, depend upon it," said Daly; "his +greatest affliction is for his son's ruin." + +"We 'll see, we 'll see--the game shall open its own combinations as +we go on; for the present, all the task of your friend the Knight is to +carry a bold face to the world, let no rumor get abroad that matters are +in their real condition. Our chance of extrication lies in the front we +can show to the enemy." + +"You are making a heavier demand than you are aware of,--Darcy detests +anything like concealment. I don't believe he would practise the +slightest mystery that would involve insincerity for twelve hours to +free the whole estate." + +"Very honorable indeed; but at this moment we must waive a punctilio." + +"Don't give it that name to him,--that's all," said Daly, sternly. "I +am as little for subterfuge as any man, and yet I did my best to prevent +him resigning his seat in the House; this morning he would send a +request to Lord Castlereagh, begging he might be permitted to accept an +escheatorship; I need not say how willingly the proposal was accepted, +and his name will appear in the 'Gazette' to-morrow morning." + +"This conduct, if persisted in, will ruin our case," said the lawyer, +despondingly. "I cannot comprehend his reasons for it." + +"They are simple enough: his own words were, 'I can never continue to be +a member of the legislature when the only privilege it would confer is +freedom from arrest.'" + +"A very valuable one at this crisis, if he knew but all," muttered the +other. "You will write to young Darcy at once." + +"That he has done already, and to Lady Eleanor also; and as he expects +me at seven, I 'll take my leave of you till to-morrow." + +"Well, Daly," said the Knight, as his friend entered the drawing-room +before dinner, "how do you like the lawyer?" + +"He's a shrewd fellow, and I suppose, for his calling, an honest one; +but the habit of making the wrong seem right leads to a very great +inclination to reverse the theorem, and make the right seem wrong." + +"He thinks badly of our case, is n't that so?" + +"He 'd think much better of it, and of us too, I believe, if both were +worse." + +"I am just as well pleased that it is not so," said Darcy, smiling; "a +bad case is far more endurable than a bad conscience. But here comes +dinner, and I have got my appetite back again." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. A GLANCE AT "THE FULL MOON." + +To rescue our friend Bagenal Daly from any imputation the circumstance +might suggest, it is as well to observe here, that when he issued the +order to his servant to seek out the boy who brought the intelligence of +Gleeson's flight, he was merely relying on that knowledge of the obscure +recesses of Old Dublin which Sandy possessed, and not by any means upon +a distinct acquaintance with gentlemen of the same rank and station as +Jemmy. + +When Daly first took up his residence in the capital, many, many years +before, he was an object of mob worship. He had every quality necessary +for such. He was immensely rich, profusely spendthrift, and eccentric to +an extent that some characterized as insanity. His dress, his equipage, +his liveries, his whole retinue and style of living were strange and +unlike other men's, while his habits of life bid utter defiance to every +ordinance of society. + +In the course of several years' foreign travel he had made acquaintances +the most extraordinary and dissimilar, and many of these were led to +visit him in his own country. Dublin being less resorted to by strangers +than most cities, the surprise of its inhabitants was proportionably +great as they beheld, not only Hungarians and Russian nobles, with +gorgeous equipages and splendid retinues, driving through the streets, +but Turks, Armenians, and Greeks, in full costume; and, on one occasion, +Daly's companion on a public promenade was no less remarkable a person +than a North American chief, in all the barbaric magnificence of his +native dress. To obviate the inconvenience of that mob accompaniment +such spectacles would naturally attract, Daly entered into a compact +with the leaders of the varions sets or parties of low Dublin, by which, +on payment of a certain sum, he was guaranteed in the enjoyment of +appearing in public without a following of several hundred ragged +wretches in full cry after him. Nothing could be more honorable and fair +than the conduct of both parties in this singular treaty; the subsidy +was regularly paid through the hands of Sandy M'Grane, while the +subsidized literally observed every article of the contract, and not +only avoided any molestation on their own parts, but were a formidable +protective force in the event of any annoyance from others of a superior +rank in society. + +The hawkers of the various newspapers were the deputies with whom +Sandy negotiated this treaty, they being recognized as the legitimate +interpreters of mob opinion through the capital; men who combined an +insight into local grievances with a corresponding knowledge of general +politics; and certain it is, their sway must have been both respected +and well protected, for a single transgression of the compact with Daly +never occurred. + +Bagenal Daly troubled his head very little in the matter, it is true; +for his own sake he would never have thought of such a bargain, but he +detested the thought of foreigners carrying away with them from Ireland +any unpleasant memories of mob outrage or insult; and desired that the +only remembrance they should preserve of his native country should be of +its cordial and hospitable reception. A great many years had now elapsed +since these pleasant times, and Daly's name was scarcely more than a +tradition among those who now lounged in rags and idleness through the +capital,--a fact of which he could have had little doubt himself, if he +had reflected on that crowd which followed his own steps but a few days +before. Of this circumstance, however, he took little or no notice, and +gave his orders to Sandy with the same conscious power he had wielded +nearly fifty years back. + +A small public-house, called the Moon, in Duck Alley, a narrow lane off +the Cross Poddle, was the resort of this Rump Parliament, and thither +Sandy betook himself on a Saturday evening, the usual night of meeting, +as, there being no issue of newspapers the next morning, nothing +interfered with a prolonged conviviality. Often and often had he taken +the same journey at the same hour; but now, such is the effect of a long +interval of years, the way seemed narrower and more crooked than ever, +while as he went not one familiar face welcomed him as he passed; nor +could he recognize, as of yore, his acquaintances amid the various +disguises of black eyes and smashed noses, which were frequent on every +side. It was the hour when crime and guilt, drunken rage and grief, +mingled together their fearful agencies; and every street and alley was +crowded by half-naked wretches quarrelling and singing: some screaming +in accents of heartbroken anguish; others shouting their blasphemies +with voices hoarse from passion; age and infancy, manhood in its prime, +the mother and the young girl, were all there, reeling from drunkenness, +or faint from famine; some struggling in deadly conflict, others bathing +the lips and temples of ebbing life. + +Through this human hell Sandy wended his way, occasionally followed by +the taunting ribaldry of such as remarked him: such testimonies were +very unlike his former welcomes in these regions; but for this honest +Sandy cared little; his real regret was to see so much more evidence of +depravity and misery than before. Drunkenness and its attendant vices +were no new evils, it is true; but he thought all these were fearfully +aggravated by what he now witnessed: loud and violent denunciations +against every rank above their own, imprecations on the Parliament and +the gentry that "sowld Ireland:" as if any political perfidy could +be the origin of their own degraded and revolting condition! Such +is, however, the very essence of that spirit that germinates amid +destitution and crime, and it is a dangerous social crisis when the +masses begin to attribute their own demoralization to the vices of their +betters. It well behooves those in high places to make their actions and +opinions conform to their great destinies. + +Sandy's Northern blood revolted at these brutal excesses, and the savage +menaces he heard on every side; but perhaps his susceptibilities were +more outraged by one trail of popular injustice than all the rest, and +that was to hear Hickman O'Reilly extolled by the mob for his patriotic +rejection of bribery, while the Knight of Gwynne was held up to +execration by every epithet of infamy; ribald jests and low ballads +conveying the theme of attack upon his spotless character. + +The street lyrics of the day were divided in interest between the late +rebellion and the act of Union; the former being, however, the favorite +theme, from a species of irony peculiar to this class of poetry, in +which certain living characters were held up to derision or execration. +The chief chorist appeared to be a fiend-like old woman, with one +eye, and a voice like a cracked bassoon: she was dressed in a cast-off +soldier's coat and a man's hat, and neither from face nor costume had +few feminine traits. This fair personage, known by the name of Rhoudlum, +was, on her appearing, closely followed by a mob of admiring amateurs, +who seemed to form both her body-guard and her chorus. When Sandy found +himself fast wedged up in this procession, the enthusiasm was at its +height, in honor of an elegant new ballad called "The Two Majors." +The air, should our reader be musically given, was the well-known one, +"There was a Miller had Three Sons:"-- + + "Says Major Sirr to Major Swan, + You have two rebels, give me one; + They pay the same for one as two, + I 'll get five pounds, and I 'll share with you. + Toi! loi! loi! lay." + +"That's the way the blackguards sowld yer blood, boys!" said the hag, in +recitative; "pitch caps, the ridin' house, and the gallows was iligant +tratement for wearin' the green." + +"Go on, Rhoudlum, go on wid the song," chimed in her followers, who +cared more for the original text than prose vulgate. + +"Arn't I goin' on wid it?" said the hag, as fire flashed in her eye; "is +it the likes of you is to tache me how to modulate a strain?" And she +resumed:-- + + "Says Major Swan to Major Sirr, + One man's a woman! ye may take her. + 'T is little we gets for them at all-- + Oh! the curse of Cromwell be an ye all! + Toi! loi! loll lay." + +The grand Demosthenic abruptness of the last line was the signal for +an applauding burst of voices, whose sincerity it would be unfair to +question. + +[Illustration: 288] + +"Where are you pushin' to! bad scran to ye! ye ugly varmint!" said the +lady, as Sandy endeavored to force his passage through the crowd. + +"Hurroo! by the mortial, it's Daly's man!" screamed she, in transport, +as the accidental light of a window showed Sandy's features. + +Few, if any, of those around had ever seen him; but his name and his +master's were among the favored traditions of the place, and however +unwilling to acknowledge the acquaintance, Sandy had no help for it but +to exchange greetings and ask the way to "the Moon," which he found he +had forgotten. + +"There it is fornint ye, Mr. M'Granes," said the lady, in the most +dulcet tones; "and if it's thinking of trating me ye are, 't is a +'crapper' in a pint of porter I 'd take; nothing stronger would sit on +my heart now." + +"Ye shall hae it," said Sandy; "but come into the house." + +"I darn't do it, sir; the committee is sittin'--don't ye see, besides, +the moon lookin' at you?" And she pointed to a rude representation of a +crescent moon, formed by a kind of transparency in the middle of a large +window, a signal which Sandy well knew portended that the council were +assembled within. + +"Wha's the man, noo?" said Sandy, with one foot on the threshold. + +"The ould stock still, darlint," said Rhoudlum,--"don't ye know his +voice?" + +"That's Paul Donellan,--I ken him noo." + +"Be my conscience! there's no mistake. Ye can hear his screech from the +Poddle to the Pigeon House when the wind's fair." + +Sandy put a shilling into the hag's hand, and, without waiting for +further parley, entered the little dark hall, and turning a corner he +well remembered, pressed a button and opened the door into the room +where the party were assembled. + +"Who the blazes are you? What brings you here?" burst from a score of +rude voices together, while every hand grasped some projectile to hurl +at the devoted intruder. + +"Ask Paul Donellan who I am, and he'll tell ye," said Sandy, sternly, +while, with a bold contempt for the hostile demonstrations, he walked +straight up to the head of the room. + +The recognition on which he reckoned so confidently was not forthcoming, +for the old decrepit creature who, cowering beneath the wig of some +defunct chancellor, presided, stared at him with eyes bleared with age +and intemperance, but seemed unable to detect him as an acquaintance. + +"Holy Paul does n't know him!" said half-a-dozen together, as, in +passionate indignation, they arose to resent the intrusion. + +"He may remember this better," said Sandy, as, seizing a full bumper +of whiskey from the board, he threw it into the lamp beneath the +transparency, and in a moment the moon flashed forth, and displayed its +face at the full. The spell was magical, and a burst of savage welcome +broke from every mouth, while Donellan, as if recalled to consciousness, +put his hand trumpet-fashion to his lips, and gave a shout that made the +very glasses ring upon the board. Place was now made for Sandy at the +table, and a wooden vessel called "a noggin" set before him, whose +contents he speedily tested by a long draught. + +"I may as weel tell you," said Sandy, "that I am Bagenal Daly's man. I +mind the time it wad na hae been needful to say so much,--my master's +picture used to hang upon that wall." + +Had Sandy proclaimed himself the Prince of Wales the announcement could +not have met with more honor, and many a coarse and rugged grasp of the +hand attested the pleasure his presence there afforded. + +"We have the picture still," said a young fellow, whose frank, +good-humored face contrasted strongly with many of those around him; +"but that old divil, Paul, always told us it was a likeness of himself +when he was young." + +"Confound the scoundrel!" said Sandy, indignantly; "he was no mair like +my maister than a Dutch skipper is like a chief of the Delawares. Has +the creature lost his senses a'togither?" + +"By no manner of manes. He wakes up every now and then wid a speech, or +a bit of poethry, or a sentiment." + +"Ay," said another, "or if a couple came in to be married, see how the +old chap's eyes would brighten, and how he would turn the other side of +his wig round before you could say 'Jack Robinson.'" + +This was literally correct, and was the simple manouvre by which Holy +Paul converted himself into a clerical character, the back of his wig +being cut in horse-shoe fashion, in rude imitation of that worn by +several of the bishops. + +"Watch him now--watch him now!" said one in Sandy's ears; and the old +fellow passed his hand across his eyes as if to dispel some painful +thought, while his careworn features were lit up with a momentary flash +of sardonic drollery. + +"Your health, sir," said he to Sandy; "or, as Terence has it, 'Hic tibi, +Dave'--here 's to you, Davy." + +"A toast, Paul! a toast! Something agin the Union,--something agin old +Darcy." + +"Fill up, gentlemen," said Paul, in a clear and distinct voice. "I +beg to propose a sentiment which you will drink with a bumper. Are you +ready?" + +"Ready!" screamed all together. + +"Here, then,--repeat after me:-- + + "Whether he's out, or whether he's in, + It does n't signify one pin; + Here's every curse of every sin + On Maurice Darcy, Knight of Gwynne." + +"Hold!" shouted Sandy, as he drew a double-barrelled pistol from his +bosom. "By the saul o' my body the man that drinks that toast shall +hae mair in his waim than hot water and whiskey. Maurice Darcy is my +maister's friend, and a better gentleman never stepped in leather: who +dar say no?" + +"Are we to drink it, Paul?" + +"As I live by drink," cried Paul, stretching out both hands, "this is +my _alter ego_, my duplicate self, Sanders M'Grane's, 'revisiting the +glimpses of the moon,' _post totidem annos!_" And a cordial embrace now +followed, which at once dispelled the threatened storm. + +"Mr. M'Grane's health in three times three, gentlemen;" and, rising, +Paul gave the signal for each cheer as he alone could give it. + +Sandy had now time to throw a glance around the table, where, however, +not one familiar face met his own; that they were of the same calling +and order as his quondam associates in the same place he could have +little doubt, even had that fact not been proclaimed by the names of +various popular journals affixed to their hats, and by whose titles +they were themselves addressed. The conversation, too, had the same +sprinkling of politics, town gossip, and late calamities he well +remembered of yore, interspersed with lively commentaries on public men +which, if printed, would have been suggestive of libel. + +[Illustration: 292] + +The new guest soon made himself free of the guild by a proposal to treat +the company, on the condition that he might be permitted to have five +minutes' conversation with their president in an adjoining room. He +might have asked much more in requital for his liberality, and without a +moment's delay, or even apprising Paul of what was intended, the "Dublin +Journal" and the "Free Press" took him boldly between them and carried +him into a closet off the room where the carouse was held. + +"I know what you are at," said Paul, as soon as the door closed. "Daly +wants a rising of the Liberty boys for the next debate,--don't deny it, +it's no use. Well, now, listen, and don't interrupt me. Tom Conolly came +down from the Castle yesterday and offered me five pounds for a good +mob to rack a house, and two-ten if they'd draw Lord Clare home; but +I refused,--I did, on the virtue of my oath. There's patriotism for +ye!--yer soul, where 's the man wid only one shirt and a supplement to +his back would do the same?" + +"You 're wrang,--we dinna want them devils at a'; it 's a sma' matter of +inquiry I cam about. Ye ken Freney?" + +"Is it the Captain? Whew!" said Paul, with a long whistle. + +"It's no him," resumed Sandy, "but a wee bit of a callant they ca' +Jamie." + +"Jemmy the diver,--the divil's own grandson, that he is." + +"Where can I find him?" said Sandy, impatiently. + +"Wait a bit, and you'll be sure to see him at home in his lodgings in +Newgate." + +"I must find him out at once; put me on his track, and I 'll gie a +goold guinea in yer hand, mon. I mean the young rascal no harm; it's a +question I want him to answer me, that's all." + +"Well, I'll do my best to find him for you, but I must send down to the +country. I'll have to get a man to go beyond Kilcullen." + +"We 'll pay any expense." + +"Sure I know that." And here Paul began a calculation to himself of +distances and charges only audible to Sandy's ears at intervals: "Two +and four, and six, with a glass of punch at Naas--half an hour at +Tims'--the coach at Athy--ay, that will do it. Have ye the likes of a +pair of ould boots or shoes? I 've nothing but them, and the soles +is made out of two pamphlets of Roger Connor's, and them's the driest +things I could get." + +"I'll gie ye a new pair." + +"You 're the son of Fingal of the Hills, divil a less. And now if ye had +a cast-off waistcoat--I don't care for the color--orange or green, blue +or yellow, _Tros Tyriusve mihiy_ as we said in Trinity." + +"Ye shall hae a coat to cover your old bones. But let us hae nae mair o' +this--when may I expect to see the boy?" + +"The evening after next, at eight o'clock, at the corner of Essex +Bridge, Capel Street--'on the Rialto'--eh? that's the cue. And now let +us join the revellers--_per Jove_, but I'm dry." And so saying, the +miserable old creature broke from Sandy, and, assisted by the wall, +tottered back to the room to his drunken companions, where his voice was +soon heard high above the discord and din around him. + +And yet this man, so debased and degraded, had been once a scholar of +the University, and carried off its prizes from men whose names stood +high among the great and valued of the land. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. BAGENAL DALY'S COUNSELS + +Every hour seemed to complicate the Knight of Gwynne's difficulties, and +to increase that intricacy by which he already was so much embarrassed. +The forms of law, never grateful to him, became now perfectly odious, +obscuring instead of explaining the questions on which he desired +information. He hated, besides, the small and narrow expedients so +constantly suggested in cases where his own sense of right convinced him +of the justice of his cause, nor could he listen with common patience to +the detail of all those legal subtleties by which an adverse claim might +be, if not resisted, at least protracted indefinitely. + +His presence, far from affording any assistance, was, therefore, only an +embarrassment both to Daly and the lawyer, and they heard with unmixed +satisfaction of his determination to hasten down to the West, and +communicate more freely with his family, for as yet his letter to +Lady Eleanor, far from disclosing the impending ruin, merely mentioned +Gleeson's flight as a disastrous event in the life of a man esteemed +and respected, and adverting but slightly to his own difficulties in +consequence. + +"We must leave the abbey, Bagenal, I foresee that," said Darcy, as he +took his friend aside a few minutes before starting. + +Daly made no reply, for already his own convictions pointed the same +way. + +"I could not live there with crippled means and broken fortune; 'twould +kill me in a month, by Jove, to see the poor fellows wandering about +idle and unemployed, the stables nailed up, the avenue grass-grown, and +not hear the cry of a hound when I crossed the courtyard. But what +is to be done? Humbled as I am, I cannot think of letting it to +some Hickman O'Reilly or other, some vulgar upstart, feasting his low +companions in those old halls, or plotting our utter ruin at our own +hearthstone; could we not make some other arrangement?" + +"I have thought of one," said Daly, calmly; "my only fear is how to ask +Lady Eleanor's concurrence to a plan which must necessarily press most +heavily on her." + +"What is it?" said Darcy, hastily. + +"Of course, your inclination would be, for a time at least, perfect +seclusion." + +"That, above all and everything." + +"Well, then, what say you to taking up your abode in a little cottage of +mine on the Antrim coast? It is a wild and lonely spot, it's true, but +you may live there without attracting notice or observation. I see you +are surprised at my having such a possession. I believe I never told +you, Darcy, that I bought Sandy's cabin from him the day he entered my +service, and fitted it up, and intended it as an asylum for the poor +fellow if he should grow weary of my fortunes, or happily survive me. By +degrees, I have added a room here and a closet there, till it has grown +into a dwelling that any one, as fond of salmon-fishing as you and I +were, would not despise; come, will you have it?" Darcy grasped his +friend's hand without speaking, and Daly went on: "That's right; I'll +give orders to have everything in readiness at once; I'll go down, too, +and induct you. Ay, Darcy, and if the fellows could take a peep at us +over our lobster and a glass of Isla whiskey, they 'd stare to think +those two jovial old fellows, so merry and contented, started, the day +they came of age, with the two best estates in Ireland." + +"If I had not brought ruin on others, Bagenal--" + +"No more of that, Darcy; the most scandal-loving gossip of the Club will +never impute, for he dare not, more than carelessness to your conduct, +and I promise you, if you 'll only fall back on a good conscience, +you 'll not be unhappy under the thatched roof of my poor shieling. +My sincerest regards to Lady Eleanor and Helen. I see there is a crowd +collecting at the sight of the four posters, so don't delay." + +Darcy could do no more than squeeze the cordial hand that held his own, +and, passing hastily out, he stepped into the travelling-carriage at the +door, not unobserved, indeed, for about a hundred ragged creatures had +now assembled, who saluted his appearance with groans and hisses, +accompanied with ruffianly taunts about bribery and corruption; while +one, more daring than the rest, mounted on the step, and with his face +to the window, cried out: "My Lord, my Lord, won't you give us a trifle +to drown your new coronet?" + +The words were scarcely out, when, seizing him by the neck with one +hand, and taking a leg in the other, Daly hurled the fellow into the +middle of the mob, who, such is their consistency, laughed loud and +heartily at the fellow's misfortunes; meanwhile, the postilions plied +whip and spur, and ere the laughter had subsided, the carriage was out +of sight. + +"There is a gentleman in the drawing-room wishes to speak to you, sir," +said a servant to Daly, who had just sat down to a conference with the +lawyer. + +"Present my respectful compliments, and say that I am engaged on most +important and pressing business." + +"Had you not better ask his name?" said the lawyer. + +"No, no, there is nothing but interruptions here; at one moment it is +Heffernan, with a polite message from Lord Castlereagh; then some one +from the Club, to know if I have any objection to waive a standing +order, and have that young O'Reilly balloted for once more; and here +was George Falkner himself a while ago, asking if the Knight had really +taken office, with a seat in the Cabinet. I said it was perfectly +correct, and that he was at liberty to state it in his paper." + +"You did!" + +"Yes; and that he might add that I myself had refused the see of +Llandaff, preferring the command of the West India Squadron. But, what's +this? What do you want now, Richard?" + +"The gentleman upstairs, sir, insists on my presenting his card." + +"Oh, indeed!--Captain Forester!--I 'll see him at once." And, so saying, +Daly hastened upstairs to the drawing-room, where the young officer +awaited him. + +Daly was not in a mood to scrutinize very closely the appearance of his +visitor, but he could not fail to feel struck at the alteration in his +looks since last they met; his features were paler and marked by sorrow, +so much so that Daly's first question was, "Have you been ill?" and as +Forester answered in the negative, the old man fixed his eyes steadily +on him, and said, "You have heard of our misfortune, then?" + +"Misfortune! no. What do you mean?" + +Daly hesitated, uncertain how to reply, whether to leave to time and +some other channel to announce the Knight's ruin, or at once communicate +it with his own lips. + +"Yes, it is the better way," said he, half aloud, while, taking +Forester's hand, he led him over to a sofa, and pressed him down +beside him. "I seldom have made an error in guessing a man's character, +throughout a long and somewhat remarkable life. I think I am safe in +saying that you feel a warm interest in my friend Darcy's family?" + +"You do me but justice; gratitude alone, if I had no stronger motive, +secures them every good wish of mine." + +"But you have stronger motives, young man," said Daly, looking at him +with a piercing glance; "if you had not, I 'd think but meanly of you, +nor did I want that blush to tell me so." + +Forester looked down in confusion. The abruptness of the address so +completely unmanned him that he could make no answer. While Daly went +on: "I force no confidences, young man, nor have I any right to ask +them; enough for my present purpose that I know you care deeply for this +family; now, sir, but a week back the ambition to be allied with them +had satisfied the proudest wish of the proudest house--to-day they are +ruined." + +Overwhelmed with surprise and sorrow, Forester sat silently, while +Daly rapidly, but circumstantially, narrated the story of the Knight's +calamity, and the total wreck of his once princely fortune. + +"Yes," said Daly, as with flashing eyes he arose and uttered +aloud,--"yes, the broad acres won by many a valiant deed, the lands +which his ancestors watered with their blood, lost forever; not by great +crimes, not forfeited by any bold but luckless venture, for there is +something glorious in that,--but stolen, filched away by theft. By +Heaven! our laws and liberties do but hedge round crime with so many +defences that honesty has nothing left but to stand shivering outside. +Better were the days when the strong hand avenged the deep wrong, or, +if the courage were weak, there was the Throne to appeal to against +oppression. Forester, I see how this news afflicts you; I judged you too +well to think that your own dashed hopes entered into your sorrow. No, +no, I know you better. But come, we have other duties than to mourn over +the past. Has Lord Castlereagh received Darcy's note, resigning his seat +in Parliament?" + +"He has; a new writ is preparing for Mayo." "Sharp practice; I think I +can detect the fair round hand of Mr. Heffernan there,--no matter, a +few days more and the world will know all; ay, the world, so full of +honorable sentiments and noble aspirations, will smile and jest +on Darcy's ruin, that they may with better grace taunt the vulgar +assumption of Hickman O'Reilly. I know it well,--some would say I bought +the knowledge dearly. When I set out in life, my fortune was nearly +equal to the Knight's, my ideas of living and expenditure based on the +same views as his own,--that same barbaric taste for profusion which has +been transmitted to us from father to son. Ay, we retained everything +of feudalism save its chivalry! Well, I never knew a day nor an hour of +independence till the last acre of that great estate was sold, and +gone from me forever. Fawning flattery, intrigue, and trickery beset +me wherever I went; ruined gamblers, match-making mothers, bankrupt +speculators, plotting political adventurers, dogged me at every step; +nor could I break through the trammels by which they fettered me, except +at the price of my ruin; when there was no longer a stake to play for, +they left the table. Poor Darcy, however, is not a lonely stem, like me, +riven and lightning-struck; he has a wife and children; but for that, +I would not fear to grasp his stout hand and say, 'Come on to fortune.' +Poor Maurice, whose heart could never stand the slightest wrong done the +humblest cottier on his land, how will he bear up now? Forester, you can +do me a great service. Could you obtain leave for a day or two?" + +"Command me how and in what way you please," said the youth, eagerly. + +"I understand that proffer, and accept it as freely as it is given." + +"Nay, you are mistaken," said Forester, faltering. "I will be candid +with you; you have a right to all my confidence, for you have trusted +in me. Your suspicions are only correct in part; my affection is indeed +engaged, but I have received none in return: Miss Darcy has rejected +me." + +"But not without hope?" + +"Without the slightest hope." + +"By Heaven, it is the only gleam of light in all the gloomy business," +said Daly, energetically; "had Helen's love been yours, this calamity +had been ten thousand times worse. Nay, nay, this is not the sentiment +of cold and selfish old age; you wrong me, Forester, but the hour is +come when every feeling within that noble girl's heart is due to those +who have loved and cherished her from childhood. Now is the time to +repay the watchful care of infancy, and recompense the anxious fears +that spring from parental affection; not a sentiment, not a thought, +should be turned from that channel now. It would be treason to win one +smile, one passing look of kind meaning from those eyes, every beam of +which is claimed by 'Home.' Helen is equal to her destiny,--that I know +well; and you, if you would strive to be worthy of her, do not endeavor +to make her falter in her duty. Trust me, there is but one road to a +heart like hers,--the path of high and honorable ambition." + +"You are right," said Forester, in a sad and humble voice,--"you are +right; I offered her a heart before it was worthy of her acceptance." + +"That avowal is the first step towards rendering it such one day," said +Daly, grasping his hand in both his own. "Now to my request: you can +obtain this leave, can you?" + +"Yes, yes; how can I make it of any service to you?" + +"Simply thus: I have offered, and Darcy has accepted, a humble cottage +on the northern coast, as a present asylum for the family. The remote +and secluded nature of the place will at least withdraw them from +the impertinence of curiosity, or the greater impertinence of vulgar +sympathy. A maiden sister of mine is the present occupant, and I wish to +communicate the intelligence to her, that she may make any preparations +which may be necessary for their coming, and also provide herself with +some other shelter. Maria is as great a Bedouin as myself, and with as +strong a taste for vagabondage; she 'll have no difficulty in housing +herself, that's certain. The only puzzle is how to apprise her of the +intended change: there is not a post-office within eight or ten miles of +the place, nor, if there were, would she think of sending to look for +a letter; there 's nothing for it but a special envoy: will you be the +man?" + +"Most willingly; only give me the route, and my instructions." + +"You shall have both. Come and dine with me here at five--order horses +to your carriage for eight o'clock, and I'll take care of the rest." + +"Agreed," said Forester; "I'll lose no time in getting ready for the +road--the first thing is my leave." + +"Is there a difficulty there?" + +"There shall be none," said Forester, hurriedly, as he seized his hat, +and, bidding Daly good-bye, hastened downstairs and into the street. +"They 'll refuse me, I know that," muttered he, as he went along; "and +if they do, I'll pitch up the appointment on the spot; this slight +service over, I'm ready to join my regiment." And so saying, he turned +his steps towards the Castle, resolved on the course to follow. + +Meanwhile Daly, after a brief consultation with the lawyer, sat down to +write to his sister. Simple and easy as the act is to many--far too much +so, as most men's correspondence would testify--letter-writing, to some +people, is an affair of no common difficulty. Perhaps every one in this +world has some stumbling-block of this kind ever before him: some men +cannot learn chess, some never can be taught to ride, others, if they +were to get the world for it, could not carve a hare. It would be unfair +to quote newly introduced difficulties, such as how to bray in the House +of Commons, the back step in the polka, and so on; the original evils +are enough for our illustration. + +Bagenal Daly's literary difficulties were manifold; he was a discursive +thinker, passionate and vehement whenever the occasion prompted, and as +unable to control such influences when writing as speaking; and, with +very liberal ideas on the score of spelling, he wrote a hand which, if +only examined upside down, might have passed for Hebrew, with an undue +proportion of points; besides these defects, he entertained a thorough +contempt for all writing as an exponent of men's sentiments. His opinion +was, that speech was the great prerogative of living men, all other +modes of expression being feeble and miserable expedients; and, to do +him justice, he conformed, as far as in him lay, to his own theory, and +made his writing as like his speaking as could be. Brevity was the +great quality he studied, and for this reason we venture to present the +epistle to our readers:-- + +Dear Molly,-- + +The bill is carried--or, what comes to the same, the third reading comes +on next Tuesday, and they 'll have a majority--d----n their majority, I +forget the number. I was told that bribes were plenty as blackberries. +I wish they 'd leave as many stains after them. They offered me +nothing--they were right there. There is a kind of bottle-nosed whale +the Indians never harpoon; they call him "Hik-na-critchka,"--more bone +than blubber. Darcy might have been an Earl, or a Marquis, or a Duke, +perhaps; they wanted one gentleman so much, they 'd have bid high for +him. Poor fellow, he is ruined now! that scoundrel Gleeson has run away +with everything, forged, falsified, and thieved to any extent. Your +unlucky four thousand, of course, is gone to the devil with the rest. +I 'm sick of cant. People talk of badgers and such like, and yet no one +says a word about exterminating attorneys! The rascal jumped over in +the Channel, and was drowned--the shark got a bitter pill that swallowed +him. I have told Darcy he might have "the Corvy;" you can easily find a +wigwam down the coast. Forester, who brings this, knows all. We must +all economize, I suppose. I 've given up Maccabaw already, and taken +to Blackguard, in compliment to the Secretary. I must sell or shoot old +Drummer at last, he can't draw his breath, and won't draw the gig. +I only remain here till the House is up, when I must be up too and +stirring--there is a confounded bond--no matter, more at another time. + +Yours ever, + +Bagenal Daly. + +St. George is to be the Chief Baron--an improvement of the allegory, +"Justice will be deaf as well as blind." Devil take them all! + +The chorus of a Greek play, so seemingly abstruse and incoherent to our +present thinking, was, we are told, made easily comprehensible by the +aid of gesture and pantomime; and in the same way, by supplying the +fancied accompaniment of her brother's voice and action, Miss Daly +was enabled to read and understand this strange epistle. Bagenal gave +himself little trouble in examining how far it conveyed his meaning; +but, like a careless traveller who huddles his clothes into his +portmanteau, and is only anxious to make the lock meet, his greatest +care was to fold up the document and inclose it within an envelope; +that done, he hoped it was all right,--in any case, his functions +were concluded regarding it, for, as he muttered to himself, he only +contracted to write, not to read, his own letter. + +Forester was punctual to the hour appointed; and if not really less +depressed than before, the stimulating sense of having a service to +perform made him seem less so. His self-esteem was flattered, too, by +his own bold line of acting, for he had just resigned his appointment on +the Staff, his application for leave having been unsuccessful. The fact +that his rash conduct might involve him in trouble or difficulty was not +without its own sense of pleasure, for, so is it in all rebellion, the +great prompter is personal pride. He would gladly have told Daly what +had happened; but a delicate fear of increasing the apparent load of +obligation prevented him, and he consequently confined his remarks on +the matter to bis being free, and at liberty to go wherever his friend +pleased. + +"Here, then," said Daly, leading him across the room to a table, on +which a large map of Ireland lay open, "I have marked your route the +entire way. Follow that dark line with your eye northwards to +Coleraine,--so far you can travel with your carriage and post-horses; +how to cross this bit of desert here I must leave to yourself: there may +be a road for a wheeled carriage or not, in my day there was none; that +is, however, a good many years back; the point to strive for should be +somewhere hereabouts. This is Dunluce Castle--well, if I remember +aright, the spot is here: you must ask for 'the Corvy,'--the fishermen +all know the cabin by that name; it was originally built out of the +wreck of a French vessel that was lost there, and the word Corvy is a +Northern version of Corvette. Once there,--and I know you 'll not find +any difficulty in reaching it,--my sister will be glad to receive you; I +need not say the accommodation does not rival Gwynne Abbey, no more than +poor Molly does Helen Darcy; you will be right welcome, however,--so +much I can pledge myself, not the less so that your journey was +undertaken from a motive of true kindness. I don't well know how much or +how little I have said in that letter; you can explain all I may have +omitted,--the chief thing is to get the cabin ready for the Darcys as +soon as may be. Give her this pocket-book,--I was too much hurried +to-day to transact business at the bank; but the north road is a safe one, +and you 'll not incur any risk. And now one glass to the success of the +enterprise, and I 'll not detain you longer; I 'll give you old Martin's +toast:-- + + "May better days soon be our lot, + Or better courage, if we have them not." + +Forester pledged the sentiment in a bumper, and they parted. + +"Good stuff in that young fellow," muttered Daly, as he looked after +him; "I wish he had some Irish blood, though; these Saxons require a +deal of the hammer to warm them, and never come to a white heat after +all." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. "THE corvy." + +If the painter's license enables him to arrange the elements of scenery +into new combinations, disposing and grouping anew, as taste or fancy +may dictate, the novelist enjoys the lesser privilege of conveying his +reader at will from place to place, and thus, by varying the point +of view, procuring new aspects to his picture; less in virtue of this +privilege than from sheer necessity, we will now ask our readers to +accompany us on our journey northward. + +Whether it be the necessary condition of that profusion of nature's +gifts, so evident in certain places, or a mere accident, certain it is +there is scarcely any one spot remarkable for great picturesque beauty +to arrive at which some bleak and uninteresting tract must not be +traversed. To this rule, if it be such, the northern coast of Ireland +offers no exception. + +The country, as you approach "the Causeway," has an aspect of dreary +desolation that only needs the leaden sky and the drifting storm of +winter to make it the most melancholy of all landscapes. A slightly +undulating surface extends for miles on every side, scarcely a house +to be seen, and save where the dip of the ground affords shelter, not a +tree of any kind. A small isolated spot of oats, green even in the late +autumn, is here and there to be descried, or a flock of black sheep +wandering half wild o'er these savage wastes; vast masses of cloud, dark +and lowering as rain and thunder can make them, hang gloomily overhead, +for the tableland is still a lofty one, and the horizon is formed by the +edge of those giant cliffs that stand the barriers of the western ocean, +and against whose rocky sides the waves beat with the booming of distant +artillery. + +It was in one of those natural hollows of the soil, whose frequency +seems to acknowledge a diluvian origin, that the little cottage which +Sandy once owned stood. Sheltered on the south and east by rising +banks, it was open on the other sides, and afforded a view seaward which +extended from the rocky promontory of Port Rush to the great bluff of +Fairhead, whose summit is nigh one thousand seven hundred feet above the +sea. + +Perhaps in all the sea-board of the empire, nothing of the same extent +can vie in awful sublimity with this iron-bound coast. Gigantic cliffs +of four and five hundred feet, straight as a wall, are seen perforated +beneath by lofty tunnels, through which the wild waters plunge madly. +Fragments of basalt, large enough to be called islands, are studded +along the shore, the outlines fanciful and strange as beating waves and +winds can make them, while, here and there, in some deep-creviced bay, +the water flows in with long and measured sweep, and, at each moment +retiring, leaves a trace upon the strand, fleeting as the blush upon the +cheek of beauty; and here a little group of fisher children may be seen +at play, while the nets are drying on the beach, the only sight or sound +of human life, save that dark moving speck, alternately seen as the +great waves roll on, be such, and, while tossing to and fro, seems by +some charmed influence fettered to the spot. Yes, it is a +fishing-boat that has ventured out at the half ebb, with the wind off +shore,--hazardous exploit, that only poverty suggests the courage to +encounter! + +In front of one of these little natural bays stood "the Corvy;" and +the situation might have been chosen by a painter, for, while combining +every grand feature of the nearer landscape, the Scottish coast and +even Staffa might be seen of a clear evening; while westward, the rich +sunsets were descried in all their golden glory, tipping the rolling +waves with freckled lustre, and throwing a haze of violet-colored light +over the white rocks. And who is to say that, while the great gifts of +the artist are not his who dwells in some rude cot like this, yet +the heart is not sensitively alive to all the influences of such +a scene,--its lonely grandeur, its tranquil beauty, or its fearful +sublimity,--and that the peasant, whose associations from infancy to +age are linked with every barren rock and fissured crag around, has not +created for himself his own store of fancied images, whose power is not +less deeply felt that it has asked for no voice to tell its workings. + +"The Corvy" was a strange specimen of architecture, and scarcely capable +of being classified in any of the existing orders. Originally, the hut +was formed of the stern of the corvette, which, built of timbers of +great size and strength, alone of all the vessel resisted the waves. +This, being placed keel uppermost, as most consisting with terrestrial +notions of building, and accommodated with a door and two windows, the +latter being filled with two ship-lenses, comprised the entire edifice. +Rude and uncouth as it unquestionably was, it was regarded with mingled +feelings of envy and admiration by all the fishermen for miles round, +for while they had contributed their tackle and their personal aid to +place the mass where it stood, they never contemplated its becoming the +comfortable dwelling they soon beheld, nor were these jealous murmurings +allayed by the assumption of a lofty flagstaff, which, in the pride of +conquest, old M'Grane displayed above his castle, little wotting that +the banner that floated overhead waved with the lilies of France, and +not the Union Jack of England. + +Sandy's father, however, possessed those traits of character which +confer ascendency, whether a man's lot be cast among the great or the +humble; and he soon not only subdued those ungenerous sentiments, +but even induced his neighbors to assist him in placing a small brass +carronade on the keel, or, as he now termed it, the ridge of his +dwelling, where, however little serviceable for warlike purposes, it +made a very specious and imposing ornament. + +Such was the inheritance to which Sandy succeeded, and such the +possession he ceded for a consideration to Bagenal Daly, on that +eventful morning their acquaintance began. In course of time, however, +it fell to ruin, and lay untenanted and uncared for, when Miss Daly, in +one of her rambling excursions, chanced to hear of it, and, being +struck by the beauty of the situation, resolved to refit it as a summer +residence. Her first intentions on this head were humble enough; two +small chambers at either side of the original edifice--now converted +into a species of hall and a kitchen--comprised the whole, and thither +she betook herself, with that strange secret pleasure a life of perfect +solitude possesses for certain minds. For a year she endured the +inconveniences of her narrow dwelling tolerably well; but as she grew +more attached to the spot, she determined on making it more comfortable; +and, communicating the resolve to her brother, he not only concurred in +the notion, but half anticipated his assent by despatching an architect +to the spot, under whose direction a cottage containing several +comfortable rooms was added, and with such attention to the +circumstances of the ground, and such regard for the ancient character +of the building, that the traces of its origin could still be +discovered, and its old name of "the Corvy," be, even yet, not +altogether inapplicable. The rude hulk was now, however, the centre of +a long cottage, the timbers, partly covered by the small-leaved ivy, +partly concealed by a rustic porch, displaying overhead the great keel +and the flagstaff,--an ornament which no remonstrance of the unhappy +architect could succeed in removing. As a sort of compromise, indeed, +the carronade was dismounted, and placed beside the hall-door. This was +the extreme stretch of compliance to which Daly assented. + +The hall, which was spacious and lofty in proportion with other parts of +the building, was fitted with weapons of war and the chase, brought from +many a far-off land, and assembled with an incongruity that was no mean +type of the owner. Turkish scimitars and lances, yataghans, and Malay +creeses were grouped with Indian bows, tomahawks, and whale harpoons, +while richly embroidered pelisses hung beside coats of Esquimaux seal, +of boots made from the dried skin of the sun-fish. A long Swiss rifle +was suspended by a blue silk scarf from one wall, and, over it, a damp, +discolored parchment bore testimony, to its being won as a prize in the +great shooting match of the Oberland, nearly forty years before. Beneath +these, and stretching away into a nook contrived for the purpose, was +the bark canoe in which Daly and Sandy made their escape from the tribe +of the Sioux, by whom they were held in captivity for six years. Two +very unprepossessing figures, costumed as savages, sat in this frail +bark, paddle in hand, and to all seeming resolutely intent on their +purpose of evasion. It would have been pardonable, however, for the +observer not to have identified in these tattooed and wild-looking +personages a member of Parliament and his valet, even though assisted +to the discovery by their Indian names, which, with a laudable care for +public convenience, had been written on a card, and suspended round the +neck of each. Opposite to them, and in the corner of the hall, stood a +large black bear, with fiery eyeballs and snow-white teeth, so admirably +counterfeiting life as almost to startle the beholder; while over his +head was a fearful, misshapen figure, whose malignant look and distorted +proportions at once proclaimed it an Indian idol. But why enumerate +the strange and curious objects which, notwithstanding their seeming +incongruity, were yet all connected with Daly's history, and formed, in +fact, a kind of pictorial narrative of his life? Here stood the cup,--a +splendid specimen of Benvenuto's chisel, given him by the Doge of +Venice,--and there was the embossed dagger presented by a King of Spain, +with a patent of Grandee of the first class; while in a small glass +case, covered with dust, and scarce noticeable, was a small and +beautifully shaped satin slipper, with a rosette of now faded silver. +But of this only one knew the story, and _he_ never revealed it. + +If we have taken an unwarrantable liberty with our reader by this too +prolix description, our excuse is, that we might have been far more +tiresome had we been so disposed, leaving, as we have, the greater part +of this singular chamber unnoticed; while our _amende_ is ready, and +we will spare any further detail of the rest of the cottage, merely +observing that it was both commodious and well arranged, and furnished +not only with taste, but even elegance. And now to resume our +long-neglected story. + +It was about eight o'clock of a cold, raw February night, with +occasional showers of sleet and sudden gusts of fitful wind,--that happy +combination which makes up the climate of the north of Ireland, and, +with a trifling abatement of severity, constitutes its summer as well +as its winter,--that Miss Daly sat reading in that strange apartment we +have just mentioned, and which, from motives of economy, she occupied +frequently during the rainy season, as the necessity of keeping it aired +required constant fires, not so necessary in the other chambers. + +A large hearth displayed the cheerful blaze of burning bog-deal, and an +old Roman lamp, an ancient patern, threw its lustre on the many curious +and uncouth objects on every side. If the flashing jets of light that +broke from the dry wood gave at times a false air of vitality to the +stuffed figures around, in compensation it made the only living thing +there seem as unreal as the rest. + +Wrapped up in the great folds of a wide Greek capote she had taken from +the wall, and the hood of which she had drawn over her head, Miss Daly +bent over the yellow pages of an old quarto volume. Of her figure no +trace could be marked, nor any guess concerning it, save that she was +extremely tall. Her features were bold and commanding, and in youth must +have been eminently handsome. The eyebrows were large and arched, the +eyes dark and piercing, and the whole contour of the face had that +character of thoughtful beauty so often seen in the Jewish race. Age and +solitude, perhaps, had deepened the lines around the angles of the mouth +and brought down the brows, so as to give a look of severity to features +which, from this cause, became strikingly resembling her brother's. +If time had made its sad inroad on those lineaments once so lovely, +it seemed to spare even the slightest touch to that small white hand, +which, escaping from the folds of her mantle, was laid upon the volume +before her. The taper fingers were covered with rings, and more than +one bracelet of great price glittered upon her wrist; nor did this taste +seem limited to these displays, for in the gold combs that fastened, on +either temple, her masses of gray hair, rich gems were set profusely, +forming the strangest contrast to the coarse folds of that red-brown +cloak in which she was enveloped. + +However disposed to profit by her studies, Miss Daly was occasionally +broken in upon by the sound of voices from the kitchen, which, by an +unlucky arrangement of the architect, was merely separated from the hall +by a narrow corridor. Sometimes the sound was of laughter and merriment; +far oftener, however, the noises betokened strife; for so it is, in +the very smallest household--there were but two in the present +case--unanimity will not always prevail. The contention was no less a +one than that great national dispute which has separated the island into +two wide and opposing parties; Miss Daly's butler, or man of all work, +being a stout representative of southern Ireland; her cook an equally +rigid upholder of the northern province. If little Dan Nelligan had the +broader cause, he was the smaller advocate, being scarcely four feet in +height; while Mrs. M'Kerrigan was fifteen stone of honest weight, and +with a _torso_ to rival the Farnese Hercules. Their altercations were +daily, almost hourly; for, living in a remote, unvisited spot, they +seemed to console themselves for want of collision with the world by +mutual disputes and disagreements. + +To these family jars, habit had so reconciled Miss Daly that she seldom +noticed them; indeed, the probability is that, like the miller who wakes +up when the mill ceases its clamors, she might have felt a kind of shock +had matters taken a quieter course. People who employ precisely the same +weapons cannot long continue a warfare without the superiority of one or +the other being sure to evince itself. The diversity of the forces, on +the contrary, suggests new combinations, and with dissimilar armor the +combat may be prolonged to any extent. Thus was it here; Dan's forte +was aggravation,--that peculiarly Irish talent which makes much out +of little, and, when cultivated with the advantages of natural gifts, +enables a man to assume the proud political position of an Agitator, and +in time a Liberator. + +Mrs. M'Kerrigan, slow of thought, and slower of speech, was ill-suited +to repel the assaults of so wily and constant a foe; she consequently +fell back on the prerogatives of her office in the household, and repaid +all Dan's declamation by changes in his diet,--a species of retribution +the heaviest she could have hit upon. + +Such was the present cause of disturbance, and such the reason for Dan's +loud denunciations on the "black north," uttered with a volubility and +vehemence that pertain to a very different portion of the empire. Twice +had Miss Daly rung the little hand-bell that stood beside her to enforce +order, but it was unnoticed in the clamor of the fray, while louder and +louder grew the angry voice of Dan Nelligan, which at length was plainly +audible in the hall. + +"Look now, see then, may the divil howld a looking-glass to your sins, +but I 'll show it to the mistress! I may, may I? That 's what you 're +grumbling, ye ould black-mouthed Prasbytarien! 'T is the fine supper to +put before a crayture wet to the skin!" + +"Dinna ye hear the bell, Nelly?" This was an epithet of insult the +little man could not endure. "Ye 'd ken the tinkle o' that, av ye heard +it at the mass." + +"Oh, listen to the ould heretic! Oh, holy Joseph! there 's the way to +talk of the blessed ould ancient religion! Give me the dish; I 'll bring +it into the parlor this minit, I will. I 'll lave the place,--my time's +up in March. I would n't live in the house wid you for a mine of goold!" + +"Are ye no goin' to show the fish to the leddy?" growled out the cook, +in her quiet barytone. + +At this moment Miss Daly's bell announced that endurance had reached +its limit, and Dan, without waiting to return the fire, hastened to the +hall, muttering as he went, loud enough to be heard, "There, now, that's +the mistress ringing, I 'm sure; but sorra bit one can hear wid your +noise and ballyragging!" + +"What is the meaning of this uproar?" said Miss Daly, as the little man +entered, with a very different aspect from what he wore in the kitchen. + +"'Tis Mrs. M'Kerrigan, my Lady; she was abusin' the ould families in the +county Mayo, and I could n't bear it; and because I would n't hear the +master trated that way, she gives me nothing but fish the day after a +black fast, though she does be ating beef under my nose when I darn't +touch meat, and it's what, she put an ould baste of a cod before me +this evening for my supper, and here 's Lent will be on us in a few days +more." + +"How often have I told you," said Miss Daly, sternly, "that I 'll not +suffer these petty, miserable squabbles to reach me? Go back to the +kitchen; and, mark me, if I hear a whisper, or muttering ever so low in +your voice, I 'll put you to spend the night upon the rocks." + +Dan skulked from the room like a culprit remanded to jail; but no sooner +had he reached the kitchen than, assuming a martial air and bearing, he +strutted up to the fire and turned his back to it. + +"Ay," said he, in a stage soliloquy, "it was what it must come to sooner +or later; and now she may go on her knees, and divil a foot I 'll stay! +It's not like the last time, sorra bit! I know what she 's at--' 'T is +my way, Danny, you must have a pound at Avster '--bother! I 'm used to +that now." + +"There's the bell again, ye auld blethering deevil." + +But Mrs. M'Kerrigan ran no risk of a reply now, for at the first tinkle +Dan was back in the hall. + +"There is some one knocking at the wicket without; see who it may be at +this late hour of the night," said Miss Daly, without raising her head +from the book, for, strange as were such sounds in that solitary place, +her attention was too deeply fixed on the page before her to admit of +even a momentary distraction of thought. Dan left the room with becoming +alacrity, but in reality bent on anything rather than the performance of +his errand. Of all the traits of his southern origin, none had the +same predominance in his nature as a superstitious fear of spirits +and goblins,--a circumstance not likely to be mitigated by his present +lonely abode, independently of the fact that more than one popular +belief attributed certain unearthly sights and sounds to the old +timbers of "the Corvy," whose wreck was associated with tales of horror +sufficient to shake stouter nerves than "Danny's." + +When he received this order from his mistress, he heard it pretty much +as a command to lead a forlorn hope, and sat himself down at the +outside of the door to consider what course to take. While he was thus +meditating, the sounds became plainly audible, a loud and distinct +knocking was heard high above the whistling wind and drifting rain, +accompanied from time to time by a kind of shout, or, as it seemed to +Dan's ears, a scream like the cry of a drowning man. + +"Dinna ye hear that, ye auld daft body?" said Nancy, as, pale with fear, +and trembling in every limb, Dan entered the kitchen. + +"I do indeed, Mrs. Mac,"--this was the peace appellation he always +conferred on Nancy,--"I hear it, and my heart 's beatin' for every +stroke I listen to; 't is n't afeard I am, but a kind of a notion I +have, like a dhrame, you know "--(here he gave a sort of hysterical +giggle)--"as if the ould French Captain was coming to look after his +hand, that was chopped off with the hatchet when he grasped hold of the +rock." + +"He canna hae muckle use for it noo," responded Nancy, dryly, as she +smoked away as unconcerned as possible. + +"Or the mate!" said Dan, giving full vent to his store of horrors; "they +say, when he got hold of the rope, that they gave it out so fast as he +hauled on it, till he grew faint, and sank under the waves." + +"He's no likely to want a piece of spunyarn at this time o' day," +rejoined Nancy again. "He's knocking brawly, whoever he be; had ye no +better do the leddy's bidding, and see who 's there?" + +"Would it be plazing to you, Mrs. Mac," said Dan, in his most melting +accents, "to come as far as the little grass-plot, just out of +curiosity, ye know, to say ye seen it?" + +"Na, na, my bra' wee mon, ye maun ee'n gae by your-sel'; I dinna ken +mickle about sperits and ghaists, but I hae a gude knowledge of the +rheumatiz without seekin' it on a night like this. There's the leddy's +bell again, she 's no pleased wi' yer delay." + +"Say I was puttin' on my shoes, Nancy," said Dan, as his teeth chattered +with fear, while he took down an old blunderbuss from its place above +the fire, and which had never been stirred for years past. + +"Lay her back agen where ye found her," said Nancy, dryly; "is na every +fule kens the like o' them! Take your mass-book, and the gimcracks ye +hae ower your bed, but dinna try mortal weapons with them creatures." + +Ironical as the tone of this counsel unquestionably was, Dan was in no +mood to reject it altogether, and he slipped from its place within his +breast to a more ostensible position a small blessed token, or "gospel," +as it is called, which he always wore round his neck. By this time the +clank of the bell kept pace with the knocking sounds without, and +poor Dan was fairly at his wits' end which enemy to face. Some vague +philosophy about the "devil you know, and the devil you don't," seemed +to decide his course, for he rushed from the kitchen in a state of +frenzied desperation, and, with the blunderbuss at full cock, took the +way towards the gate. + +The wicket, as it was termed, was in reality a strong oak gate, +garnished at top with a row of very formidable iron spikes, and as it +was hung between two jagged and abrupt masses of rock, formed a very +sufficient outwork, though a very needless one, since the slightest turn +to either side would have led to the cottage without any intervening +barrier to pass. This fact it was which now increased Dan Nelligan's +terrors, as he reasoned that nobody but a ghost or evil spirit would be +bothering himself at the wicket, when there was a neat footpath close +by. + +"Who's there?" cried Dan, with a voice that all his efforts could not +render steady. + +"Come out and open the gate," shouted a deep voice in return. + +"Not till you tell me where you come from, and who you are, if you are +'lucky.'" + +"That I 'm not," cried the other, with something very like a deep groan; +"if I were, I 'd scarce be here now." + +"That's honest? anyhow," muttered Dan, who interpreted the phrase in its +popular acceptation among the southern peasantry. "And what are you come +back for, alanah?" continued he, in a most conciliating tone. + +"Open the gate, and don't keep me here answering your stupid questions." + +Though these words were uttered with a round, strong intonation that +sounded very like the present world, Dan made no other reply than an +endeavor to repeat a Latin prayer against evil spirits, when suddenly, +and with a loud malediction on his obstinacy, Dan saw "the thing," as he +afterwards described it, take a flying leap over the gate, at least +ten feet high, and come with a bang on the grass, not far from where he +stood. To fire off his blunderbuss straight at the drifting clouds over +his head, and to take to flight was Dan's only impulse, screaming out, +"the Captain 's come! he's come!" at the very top of his lungs. The +little strength he possessed only carried him to the kitchen door, +where, completely overcome with terror, he dropped senseless on the +ground. + +While this was occurring, Miss Daly, alarmed by the report of fire-arms, +but without any personal fears of danger, threw open the hall door and +called out, "Who is there?" and as the dark shadow of a figure came +nearer, "Who are you, sir?" + +"My name is Forester, madam,--a friend of your brother's; for I perceive +I have the honor to address Miss Daly." + +By this time the stranger had advanced into the full light of the +lamp within, where his appearance, tired and travel-stained as he was, +corroborated his words. + +"You have had a very uncourteous welcome, sir," said Miss Daly, +extending her hand and leading him within the cottage. + +"The reception was near being a warm one, I fear," said Forester, +smiling; "for as I unfortunately, growing rather impatient, threw my +carpet bag over the gate, intending to climb it afterwards, some one +fired at me,--not with a good aim, however; for I heard the slugs +rattling on a high cliff behind me." + +"Old Dan, I am certain, mistook you for a ghost or a goblin," said Miss +Daly, laughing, as if the affair were an excellent joke devoid of all +hazard; "we have few visitors down here from either world." + +"Really, madam, I will confess it, if the roads are only as impassable +for ghosts as for men of mortal mould, I 'm not surprised at it. I left +Coleraine at three o'clock to-day, where I was obliged to exchange my +travelling carriage for a car, and I have been travelling ever since, +sometimes on what seemed a highway, far oftener, however, across fields +with now and then an intervening wall to throw down,--which we did, I +own, unceremoniously; while lifting the horse twice out of deep holes, +mending a shaft, and splicing the traces, lost some time. The driver, +too, was once missing,--a fact I only discovered after leaving him half +a mile behind. In fact, the whole journey was full of small adventures +up to the moment when we came to a dead stand at the foot of a high +cliff, where the driver told me the road stopped, and that the rest of +my way must be accomplished on foot; and on my asking what direction +to take, he brought me some distance off to the top of a rock, whence I +could perceive the twinkling of a light, and said, 'That's the Corvy.' I +did my best to secure his services as a guide, but no offer of money nor +persuasions could induce him to leave his horse and come any further; +and now, perhaps, I can guess the reason,--there is some superstition +about the place at nightfall." + +"No, no, you 're mistaken there, sir; few of these people, however they +may credit such tales, are terrified by them. It was the northern spirit +dictated the refusal: his contract was to go so far, it would have 'put +him out of his way' to go further, and his calculation was that all +the profit he could fairly derive--and he never speculated on anything +unfair--would not repay him. Such are the people of this province." + +"The trait is honest, I 've no doubt, but it can scarcely be the +source of many amiable ones," said Forester, smarting under the recent +inconvenience. + +"We 'll talk of that after supper," said Miss Daly, rising, "and I leave +you to make a good fire while I go to give some orders." + +"May I not have the honor to present my credentials first?" said +Forester, handing Bagenal Daly's letter to her. + +"My brother is quite well, is he not?" + +"In excellent health; I left him but two days since." + +"The despatch will keep, then," said she, thrusting it into a +letter-rack over the chimney-piece, while she left the room to make the +arrangement she spoke of. + +Miss Daly's absence was not of long duration, but, brief as it was, it +afforded Forester time enough to look around at the many strange +and incongruous decorations of the apartment, nor had he ceased his +wonderment when Dan, pale and trembling in every limb, entered, tray in +hand, to lay the supper-table. + +With many a sidelong, stealthy look, Dan performed his duties, as it was +easy to see that however disposed to regard the individual before him as +of this world's company, "the thing that jumped out of the sky," as he +called it, was yet an unexplained phenomenon. + +"I see you are surprised by the motley companionship that surrounds +me," said Miss Daly; "but, as a friend of Bagenal's, and acquainted, +doubtless, with his eccentric habits, they will astonish you less. Come, +let me hear about him,--is he going to pay me a visit down here?" + +"I fear not, at this moment," said Forester, with an accent of +melancholy; "his friendship is heavily taxed at the present juncture. +You have heard, perhaps, of the unhappy event which has spread such +dismay in Dublin?" + +"No! what is it? I hear of nothing, and see nobody here." + +"A certain Mr. Gleeson, the trusted agent of many country gentlemen, has +suddenly fled--" + +Before Forester could continue, Miss Daly arose, and tore open her +brother's letter. For a few seconds Forester was struck with the +wonderful resemblance to her brother, as, with indrawn breath and +compressed lips, she read; but gradually her color faded away, her hands +trembled, and the paper fell from them, while, with a voice scarcely +audible, she whispered: "And it has come to this!" Covering her face +with the folds of her cloak, she sat for some minutes buried in deep +sorrow; and when she again looked up, years seemed to have passed over, +and left their trace upon her countenance: it was pale and haggard, and +a braid of gray hair, escaping beneath her cap, had fallen across her +cheek, and increased the sad expression. + +"So is it," said she, aloud, but speaking as though to herself,--"so +is it: the heavy hand is laid on all in turn; happier they who meet +misfortune early in life, when the courage is high and the heart +unshrinking: if the struggle be life-long, the victory is certain; +but after years of all the world can give of enjoyment--You know +Maurice?--you know the Knight, sir?" + +"Yes, madam, slightly; but with Lady Eleanor and her daughter I have the +honor of intimate acquaintance." + +"I will not ask how he bears up against a blow like this. If his own +fate only hung in the balance, I could tell that myself; but for his +wife, to whom they say he is so devotedly attached--you know it was a +love-match, so they called it in England, because the daughter of an +Earl married the first Commoner in Ireland. And Bagenal advises their +coming here! Well, perhaps he is right; they will at least escape the +insolence of pity in this lonely spot. Oh! sir, believe me, there is a +weighty load of responsibility on those who rule us; these things are +less the faults of individuals than of a system. You began here by +confiscation, you would finish by corruption. Stimulating to excesses +of every kind a people ten times more excitable than your own,--now +flattering, now goading,--teaching them to vie with you in display +while you mocked the recklessness of their living, you chafed them into +excesses of alternate loyalty or rebellion." + +However satisfied of its injustice, Forester made no reply to this burst +of passion, but sat without speaking as she resumed:-- + +"You will say there are knaves in every country, and that this Gleeson +was of our rearing; but I deny it, sir. I tell you he was a base +counterfeit we have borrowed from yourselves. That meek, submissive +manner, that patient drudgery of office, that painstaking, petty +rectitude, make up 'your respectable men;' and in this garb of character +the business of life goes on with you. And why? Because you take it +at its worth. But here, in Ireland, we go faster; trust means full +confidence,--confidence without limit or bound; and then, too often, +ruin without redemption. Forgive me, sir; age and sorrow both have +privileges, and I perhaps have more cause than most others to speak +warmly on this theme. Now, let me escape my egotism by asking you to +eat, for I see we have forgotten our supper all this time." + +From that moment Miss Daly never adverted further to the burden of her +brother's letter, but led Forester to converse about his journey and the +people whom, even in his brief experience, he perceived to be so unlike +the peasantry of the West. + +"Yes," said she, in reply to an observation of his, "these diversities +of character observable in different places are doubtless intended, +like the interminable varieties of natural productions, to increase our +interest in life, and, while extending the sphere of speculation, to +contribute to our own advancement. Few people, perhaps not any, are to +be found without some traits of amiability; here there is much to +be respected, and, when habit has dulled the susceptibility of first +impressions, much also to be liked. But shall I not have the pleasure of +showing you my neighbors and my neighborhood?" + +"My visit must be of the shortest; I rather took than obtained my leave +of absence." + +"Well, even a brief visit will do something; for my neighbors all dwell +in cottages, and my neighborhood comprises the narrow strip of coast +between this hut and the sea, whose plash you hear this minute. +To-morrow you will be rested from your journey, and if the day permits +we 'll try the Causeway." + +Forester accepted the invitation so frankly proffered, and went to his +room not sorry to lay his head upon a pillow after two weary nights upon +the road. + +Forester was almost shocked as he entered the breakfast-room on the +following morning to see the alteration in Miss Daly's appearance. She +had evidently passed a night of great sorrow, and seemed with difficulty +to bear up against the calamitous tidings of which he was the bearer. +She endeavored, it is true, to converse on matters of indifference,--the +road he had travelled, the objects he had seen, and so on; but the +effort was ever interrupted by broken snatches of reflection that would +vent themselves in words, and all of which bore on the Knight and his +fortunes. + +To Forester's account of her brother Bagenal's devotion to his friend +she listened with eager interest, asking again and again what part he +had taken, whether his counsels were deemed wise ones, and if he still +enjoyed to the fullest extent the confidence of his old friend. + +"It is no friendship of yesterday, sir," said she, with a heightened +color and a flashing eye; "they knew each other as boys, they walked +the mountains together as young men, speculated on the future paths +fate might open before them, and the various ambitions which, even then, +stirred within them. Bagenal was ever rash, headstrong, and impetuous, +rarely firm in purpose till some obstacle seemed to defy its +accomplishment. Maurice--the Knight, I mean--was not less resolute when +roused, but more often so much disposed to concede to others that he +would postpone his wishes to their own; and once believing himself in +any way pledged to a course, would forget all, save the fulfilment of +the implied promise. Such were the two dispositions, which, acting and +reacting on each other, effected the ruin of both: the one wasted in +eccentricity what the other squandered in listless indifference; and +with abilities enough to have won distinction for humble men, they have +earned no other reputation than that of singularity or convivialism. + +"As for Bagenal," she said, after a pause, "wealth was never but an +incumbrance to him; he was one of those persons who never saw any use +for money, save in the indulgence of mere caprice; he treated his great +fortune as a spoiled child will do a toy, and never rested till he +had pulled it to pieces, and perhaps derived the same moral lesson +too,--astonishment at the mere trifle which once amused him. But Maurice +Darcy,--whose tastes were ever costly and cultivated, who regarded +splendor not as the means of vulgar display, but as the fitting +accompaniment of a house illustrious by descent and deeds, and deemed +that all about and around him should bear the impress of himself, +generous and liberal as he was,--how is he to bear this reverse? Tell +me of Lady Eleanor; and Miss Darcy, is she like the Knight, or has her +English blood given the character to her beauty?" + +"She is very like her father," said Forester, "but more so even in +disposition than in features." + +"How happy I am to hear it," said Miss Daly, hastily; "and she is, then, +high-spirited and buoyant? What gifts in an hour like this!" + +"You say truly, madam, she will not sink beneath the stroke, believe +me." + +"Well, this news has reconciled me to much of your gloomier tidings," +said Miss Daly; "and now let us wander out upon the hills; I feel as if +we could talk more freely as we stroll along the beach." + +Miss Daly arose as she spoke, and led the way through the little garden +wicket, which opened on a steep pathway down to the shore. + +"This will be a favorite walk with Helen, I'm certain," said she. "The +caves are all accessible at low water, and the view of Fairhead finer +than from any other point. I must instruct you to be a good and a safe +guide. I must teach you all the art and mystery of the science, make +you learned in the chronicles of Dunluce, and rake up for you legends of +ghostcraft and shipwreck enough to make the fortunes of a romancer." + +"I thank you heartily," said Forester; "but I cannot remain here to meet +my friends." + +"Oh, I understand you," said Miss Daly, who in reality put a wrong +interpretation on his words; "but you shall be my guest. There is a +little village about four miles from this, where I intend to take up my +abode. I hope you will not decline hospitality which, if humble, is at +least freely proffered." + +"I regret deeply," said Forester, and he spoke in a tone of sorrow, +"that I cannot accept your kindness. I stand in a position of no common +difficulty at this moment." He hesitated, as if doubting whether to +proceed or not, and then, in a more hurried voice, resumed: "There is no +reason why I should obtrude my own petty cares and trials where greater +misfortunes are impending; but I cannot help telling you that I have +been rash enough, in a moment of impatience, to throw up an appointment +I held on the Viceroy's Staff, and I know not how far the step may yet +involve me with my relatives." + +"Tell me how came you first acquainted with the Darcys?" said Miss Daly, +as if following out in her own mind a train of thought. + +"I will be frank with you," said Forester, "for I cannot help being so; +there are cases where confidence is not a virtue, but a necessity. Every +word you speak, every tone of your voice, is so much your brother's that +I feel as if I were confiding to him in another form. I learned to know +the Knight of Gwynne in a manner which you may deem, perhaps, little +creditable to myself, though I trust you will see that I neither abused +the knowledge nor perverted the honor of the acquaintanceship. It was in +this wise." + +Briefly, but without reserve, Forester narrated the origin of his first +journey to the West, and, without implicating the honor of his relative, +Lord Castlereagh, explained the nature of his mission, to ascertain the +sentiments of the Knight, and the possibility of winning him to the side +of the Government. His own personal adventures could not, of course, be +omitted, in such a narrative; but he touched on the theme as slightly as +he could, and only dwelt on the kindness he had experienced in his long +and dangerous illness, and the long debt of gratitude which bound him to +the family. + +Of the intimacy that succeeded he could not help speaking, and, whether +from his studied avoidance of her name, or that, when replying to any +question of Miss Daly's concerning Helen Darcy, his manner betrayed +agitation, certain it is that when he concluded, Miss Daly's eyes were +turned towards him with an expression of deep significance that called +the color to his cheek. + +"And so, sir," said she, in a slow and measured voice, "you went down +to play the tempter, and were captured yourself. Come, come, I know +your secret; you have told it by signs less treacherous than words; and +Helen,--for I tell you freely my interest is stronger for her,--how is +she disposed towards you?" + +Forester never spoke, but hung his head abashed and dejected. + +"Yes, yes, I see it all," said Miss Daly, hurriedly; "you would win +the affection of a generous and high-souled girl by the arts which +find favor in your more polished world, and you have found that the +fascinations of manner and the glittering _eclat_ of an aide-de-camp +have failed. Now, take my counsel. But first let me ask, is this +affection the mere prompting of an idle or capricious moment, or do you +love her with a passion round which the other objects of your life are +to revolve and depend? I understand that pressure of the hand; it is +enough. My advice is simple. You belong to a profession second to none +in its high and great rewards: do not waste its glorious opportunities +by the life of a courtier; be a soldier in feeling as well as in garb; +let her whose heart you would win, feel that in loving you she is paying +the tribute to qualities that make men esteem and respect you; that she +is not bestowing her hand upon the mere favorite of a Court, but on +one whose ambitions are high, and whose darings are generous. Oh! leave +nothing, or as little as you may, to mere influence; let your boast be, +and it will be a proud one, that with high blood and a noble name you +have started fairly in the race, and distanced your competitors. This is +my counsel. What think you of it?" + +"I will follow it," said Forester, firmly; "I will follow it, though, I +own it to you, it suggests no hope, where hope would be happiness." + +"Well, then," said Miss Daly, "you shall spend this day with me, and +I will not keep you another; you have made me your friend by this +confidence, and I will use the trust with delicacy and with fidelity." + +"May I write to you?" said Forester, "and will you let me hear from you +again?" + +"With pleasure; I should have asked it myself had you not done so. Now, +let us talk of the first steps to be taken in this affair; and here is a +bench where we can rest ourselves while we chat." + +Forester sat down beside her, and, in the freedom of one to whom fortune +had so unexpectedly presented a confidante, opened all the secret store +of his cares and hopes and fears. It was late when they turned again +towards "the Corvy," but the youth's step was lighter, and his brow more +open, while his heart was higher than many a previous day had found him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. THE KNIGHT'S RETURN + +We must now for a brief space, return to the Knight, as with a heavy +heart he journeyed homeward. Never did the long miles seem so wearisome +before, often and often as he had travelled them. The little accidental +delays, which once he had met with a ready jest, and in a spirit of +kindly indulgence, he now resented as so many intentional insults upon +his changed and ruined fortune. The gossiping landlords, to whom he +had ever extended so much of freedom, he either acknowledged coldly, or +repelled with distance; their liberties were now construed into want of +deference and respect; the very jestings of the postboys to each other +seemed so many covert impertinences, and equivocal allusions to himself; +for even so much will the stroke of sudden misfortune change the nature, +and convert the contented and happy spirit into a temperament of gloomy +sorrow and suspicion. + +Unconscious of his own altered feelings, and looking at every object +through the dim light of his own calamity, he hurried along, not, as +of old, recognizing each well-known face, saluting this one, inquiring +after that; he sat back in his carriage, and, with his hat drawn almost +over his eyes, neither noticed the way nor the wayfarers. + +In this mood it was he entered Castlebar. The sight of his +well-remembered carriage drew crowds of beggars to the door of the inn, +every one of whom had some special prayer for aid, or some narrative +of sickness for his hearing. By the time the horses drew up, the +crowd numbered some hundreds of every variety, not only in age, but +in raggedness, all eagerly calling on him by name, and imploring his +protection on grounds the most strange and dissimilar. + +"I knew the sound of the wheels; ax Biddy if I did n't say it was his +honor was coming!" cried one, in a sort of aside intended for the Knight +himself. + +"Ye 're welcome home, sir; long may you reign over us," said an old +fellow with a beard like a pilgrim. "I dreamed I seen you last night +standing at the door there, wid a half-crown in your fingers. 'Ouid +Luke,' says you, 'come here!----'" + +A burst of rude laughter drowned this sage parable, while a good-looking +young woman, with an expression of softness in features degraded by +poverty and its consequences, courtesied low, and tried to attract +his notice, as she held up a miserable-looking infant to the carriage +window. "Clap them, acushla! 't is proud he is to see you back again, +sir; he never forgets the goold guinea ye gave him on New Year's Day! +Don't be pushin' that way, you rude cray-tures; you want to hurt the +child, and it's the image of his honor." + +"Many returns of the blessed sason to you," growled out a creature in a +bonnet, but in face and figure far more like a man than a woman; "throw +us out a fippenny to buy two ounces of tay. Asy, asy; don't be drivin' +me under the wheels--ugh! it's no place for a faymale, among such +rapscallions." + +"What did they give you, Maurice? how much did you get, honey?" cried +a tall and almost naked fellow, that leaned over the heads of several +others, and put his face close to the glass of the carriage, which, for +safety's sake, the Knight now let down, while he called aloud to the +postboys to make haste and bring out the horses. + +"Tell us all about it, Maurice, my boy,--are you a lord, or a bishop?" +cried the tall fellow, with an eagerness of face that told his own sad +bereavement, for he was deranged in intellect from a fall from one of +the cliffs on the coast. "By my conscience, I think I must change my +politics myself soon; my best pantaloons is like Nat Fitzgibbon,--it has +resigned its sate! Out with a bit of silver here!--quick, I didn't kiss +the King's face this ten days." + +To all these entreaties Darcy seemed perfectly deaf; if his eyes +wandered over the crowd, they noticed nothing there, nor did he appear +to listen to a word around him, while he again asked why the horses were +not coming. + +"We're doing our best, your honor," cried a postboy, "but it's mighty +hard to get through these divils; they won't stir till the beasts is +trampling them down." + +"Drive on, then, and let them take care of themselves," said the Knight, +sternly. + +"O blessed Father! there's a way to talk of the poor! O heavenly Vargin! +but you are come back cruel to us, after all!" + +"Drive on!" shouted out Darcy, in a voice of angry impatience. + +The postboys sprang into their saddles, cracked their whips, and dashed +forward, while the mob, rent in a hundred channels, fled on every side, +with cries of terror and shouts of laughter, according as the distance +suggested danger or security. All escaped safely, except the poor idiot, +Flury, who, having one foot on the step when the carriage started, was +thrown backward, when, to save himself, he grasped the spring, and was +thus half dragged, half carried along to the end of the street, and +there, failing strength and fear combining, he relinquished his hold and +fell senseless to the ground, where the wheel grazed but did not injure +him as he lay. + +With a cry of terror, the Knight called out "Stop!" and, flinging wide +the door, sprang out. To lift the poor fellow up to a sitting posture +was the work of a second, while he asked, in accents the very kindest, +if he were hurt. + +"Sorra bit, Maurice," said the fellow, whose faculties sooner rallied +than if they were habitually under better control. "I was on the wrong +side of the coach, that's all; 't is safer to be within. The clothes is +not the better of it," said he, looking at his sleeve, now hanging in +stripes. + +"Never mind that, Flury; we'll soon repair that misfortune; it does not +signify much." + +"Does n't it, faith?" said the other, shaking his head dubiously; "'tis +asy talking, but I can't turn my coat without showing the hole in it. 'T +is only the rich can do that." + +The Knight bit his lip; for even from the fool's sarcasm he could +gather the imputations already rife upon his conduct. Another and a very +different thought succeeded to this, and he blushed with shame to think +how far his sense of his own misfortune had rendered him indifferent, +not only to the kindly feelings, but the actual misery, of others. The +right impulses of high-minded men are generally rapid in their action, +like the spring of the bent bow when the cord is cut asunder. It did +not cost Darcy many minutes to be again the warm-hearted, generous soul +nature had made him. + +"Come, Flury," said he to the poor fellow, as he stood ruefully +surveying his damaged drapery, "give that among the people there in the +town, and keep this for yourself." + +"This is goold, Maurice,--yellow goold!" + +"So it is; but you're not the less welcome to it; tell them, too, that +I have had troubles of my own lately; and that's the reason I hurried on +without exchanging a word with them." + +"How do you know, Maurice, but I'll keep it all to myself?". + +"I'd trust you with a heavier sum," said the Knight, smiling. + +"I know why,--I know why, well enough,--because I'm a fool. Never mind, +there's greater fools nor me going. What did they give you up there for +your vote, Maurice,--tell me, how much was it?" + +The Knight shook his head, and Flury resumed: "Didn't I say it? Wasn't +I right? By my ould hat! there's two fools in the country now;--Maurice +Darcy and Red Flury; and Maurice the biggest of the two! Whoop, the more +the merrier; there 's room for us all!" And with this wise reflection, +Flury gave a very wild caper and a wilder shout, and set off at the +speed of a hare towards Castlebar. + +The Knight resumed his journey, and in a more contented mood. The little +incident had called on him for an exertion, and his faculties only +needed the demand to respond to the call. He summoned to his aid, +besides, every comforting reflection in his power; he persuaded himself +that there were some hopes remaining still, and tried to believe the +evil not beyond remedy. "After all," thought he, "we are together; it is +not death has been dealing with us, nor is there any stain upon our fair +fame; and, save these, all ills are light, and can be borne." + +From thoughts like these he was aroused by the heavy clank of the iron +gate, as it fell back to admit the carriage within the park, while a +thousand welcomes saluted him. + +"Thank you, Darby!--thank you, Mary! All well up at the abbey?" + +But the carriage dashed past at full speed, and the answer was drowned +in the tumult. The postboys, true to the etiquette of their calling, had +reserved their best pace for the finish, and it was at the stride of a +hunting gallop they now tore along. + +It was a calm night, with a young faint moon and a starry sky, which, +without displaying in bright light the details of the scenery, yet +exhibited them in strong, bold masses, making all seem even more +imposing and grander than in reality; the lofty mountain appeared +higher, the dark woods vaster, and the wide-spreading lawn seemed to +stretch away into immense plains. Darcy's heart swelled with pride as +he looked, while a pang shot through him as he thought, if even at that +hour he could call them his own. + +They had now reached a little glen, where the postboys were obliged to +walk their blown cattle; emerging from this, they passed a thick grove +of beech, and at once came in sight of the abbey. Darcy leaned anxiously +from the window to catch the first sight of home, when what was his +amazement to perceive that the whole was lighted up from end to end. The +great suite of state rooms were a blaze of lustres, which even at that +distance glittered in their starry brilliancy, and showed the shadows of +figures moving within. He well knew that Lady Eleanor never saw company +in his absence,--what could this mean? Tortured with doubts that in his +then state of mind took every painful form, he ordered the postilions to +get on faster, and at the very top of their speed they tore along, over +the wide lawn, across the terrace drive, up the steep ascent to the gate +tower into the courtyard. + +This was also brilliantly lighted by lamps from the walls, and also by +the lights of numerous carriage lamps which crowded the ample space. + +"What is this? Can no one tell me?" muttered the Knight, as he leaped +from the carriage, and, seizing a livery servant who was passing, said, +"What is going on here? What company has the abbey?" + +"Full of company," said the man, in an English accent; "there 's my +Lord--" + +"Who do you mean?" + +"The Earl of Netherby, sir, and Sir Harry Beauclerk, and Colonel +Crofton, and--" + +"When did they arrive?" said the Knight, interrupting a catalogue, every +name of which, although unknown, sent a feeling like a stab through his +heart. + +"They came the evening before last, sir; Mr. Lionel Darcy, who arrived +the same morning--" + +"Is he here?" cried the Knight; and, without waiting for more, hastened +forward. + +The servants, of whom there seemed a great number about, were in strange +liveries, and unknown to the Knight; nor was it without undergoing a +very cool scrutiny from them that Darcy succeeded in gaining admittance +to his own house. At last he reached the foot of the great stair, whence +the sounds of music and the din of voices filled the air; servants +hurried along with refreshments, or carried orders to others in waiting; +all was bustle and excitement, in the midst of which Darcy stood only +half conscious of the reality of what he saw, and endeavoring to reason +himself into a conviction of what he heard. It was at this moment that +several officers of a newly quartered regiment passed up, admiring, as +they went, the splendor of the house, and the magnificent preparations +they witnessed on every side. + +[Illustration: 330] + +"I say, Dallas," cried one, "you're always talking of your uncle +Beverley: does he do the thing in this style, eh?" + +"By Jove!" interposed a short, thick-set major, with a bushy beard and +eyebrows, "this is what I call going the pace: do they give dinners +here?" + +"Yes, that they do," said a white-faced, ghostly looking ensign; "I +heard all about this place from Giles of the 40th; he was quartered +six months in this county, and used to grub here half the week. The old +fellow is n't at home now, but they say he's a trump." + +"Let's drink his health, Watkins," cried the first speaker, "here's +champagne going up;" and so saying, the party gathered around two +servants, one of whom carried an ice-pail with some bottles, and the +other a tray of glasses. + +"Does any one know his name, though?" said the major, as he held his +glass to be filled. + +"Yes, it's something like--Oh, you know that fellow that joined us at +Coventry?" + +"Brereton, is it?" + +"No, hang it! I mean the fellow that had the crop-eared cob with the +white legs. Never mind, here he goes, anyhow." + +"Oh, I know who you mean,--it was Jack Quin." + +"That's the name; and your friend here is called 'Gwynne,' I think. +Here, gentlemen, I give you Gwynne's health, and all the honors; may he +live a few centuries more--" + +"With a warm heart and a cool cellar," added one. + +"Pink champagne, and red-coats to drink it," chimed in the ensign. + +"May I join you in that pleasant sentiment, gentlemen?" said the Knight, +bowing courteously, as he took a glass from the tray and held it towards +the servant. + +"Make no apology, sir," said the major, eying him rather superciliously, +for the travelling dress concealed the Knight's appearance, and +distinguished him but slightly from many of those lounging around the +doors. + +"Capital ginger-beer that! eh?" said the ensign, as, winking at his +companions, he proceeded to quiz the stranger. + +"I have certainly drunk worse," said the Knight, gravely,--"at an +infantry mess." + +There was a pause before he uttered the last three words, which gave +them a more direct application; a stare, half stupid, half impertinent, +was, however, all they elicited, and the group moved on, while the +Knight, disencumbering himself of his travelling gear, slowly followed +them. + +"Grim old gentlemen these, ain't they?" said the major, gazing at the +long line of family portraits that covered the walls; "that fellow with +the truncheon does not seem to like the look of us." + +"Here's a bishop, I take it, with the great wig." + +"That's a chancellor, man; don't you see the mace? But he's not a whit +more civil-looking than the other; commend me to the shepherdess yonder, +in blue satin. But come on, we 're losing time; I hear the flourish of +a new dance. I say," said he, in a whisper, "do you see who we've got +behind us?" And they turned and saw the Knight as he mounted the stairs +behind them. + +"A friend of the family, sir?" asked the major, in a voice that might +bear the equivocal meaning of either impertinence or mere inquiry. + +The Knight seemed to prefer taking it in the latter acceptation, as he +answered mildly, "I have that honor." + +"Ah! indeed; well, we 've the misfortune to be strangers in these +parts; only arrived in the neighborhood last week, and were invited here +through our colonel. Would you have any objection to present us?--Major +Hopecot of the 5th, Captain Mills, Mr. Dallas, Mr. Fothergill, Mr. +Watkins." + +"How the major _is_ going it!" lisped the ensign, while his goggle eyes +rolled fearfully, and the others seemed struggling to control their +enjoyment of such drollery. + +"It will afford me much pleasure, sir, to do your bidding," said the +Knight, calmly. + +"Take the head of the column, then," resumed the major, making way for +him to pass; and the Knight entered, with the others after him. + +"My father--my dearest father!" cried a voice at the moment, and, +escaping from her partner, Helen was in a moment in bis arms. The next +instant Lionel was also at his side. + +"My dear children!--my sweet Helen!--and Lionel, how well you 're +looking, boy! Ah! Eleanor, what a pleasant surprise you have managed for +me." + +"Then perhaps you never got our letter," said Lady Eleanor, as she took +his arm and walked forward. "I wrote the moment I heard from Lionel." + +"And I, too, wrote you a long letter from London," said Lionel. + +"Neither reached me; but the last few days I have been so busy, and so +much occupied.--How are you, Conolly? Delighted to see you, Martin.--And +Lady Julia, is she here? I must take a tour and see all my friends. +First of all, I have a duty to perform; let me introduce these +gentlemen. But where are they? Oh, I see them yonder." And, as he spoke, +he led Lady Eleanor across the room to the group of officers, who, +overwhelmed with shame at their discovery, stood uncertain whether they +should remain or retire. + +"Let me introduce Major Hopecot and the officers of the 5th," said he, +bowing courteously. "These gentlemen are strangers, Lady Eleanor; will +you take care that they find partners." + +While the abashed subalterns left their major to make his speeches to +Lady Eleanor, the Knight moved round the room with Helen still leaning +on his arm. By this time Darcy's arrival was generally known, and all +his old friends came pressing forward to see and speak to him. + +"Lord Netherby," whispered Helen in the Knight's ear, as a tall and very +thin old man, with an excessive affectation of youthfulness, tripped +forward to meet him. + +"My dear Lord," exclaimed Darcy, "what a pleasure, and what an honor to +see you here!" + +"You would not come to me, Knight, so there was nothing else for it," +replied the other, laughing, as he shook hands with a great display of +cordiality. "And you were quite right," continued he; "I could not have +received you like this. There 's not so splendid a place in England, +nor has it ever been my fortune to witness so much beauty." A half bow +accompanied the last words, as he turned towards Helen. + +"Take care, my Lord," said the Knight, smiling; "the flatteries of a +courtier are very dangerous things when heard out of the atmosphere that +makes them commonplace. We may take you literally, and have our heads +turned by them." + +At this moment Lionel joined them, to introduce several of his friends +and brother officers who accompanied him from England, all of whom were +received by the Knight with that winning courtesy of manner of which he +was a perfect master; for, not affecting either the vices or frivolities +of youth as a claim to the consideration of younger men, the Knight +possessed the happy temper that can concede indulgence without asking +to partake of it, and, while losing nothing of the relish for wit and +humor, chasten both by the fruits of a life's experience. + +"Now, Helen, you must go back to your partner; that young guardsman +looks very sulkily at me for having taken you off--yes, I insist on +it. Lionel, look to your friends, and I 'll join Lord Netherby's +whist-table, and talk whenever permitted. Where 's poor Tate?" whispered +he in Lady Eleanor's ear, as she just came up. + +"Poor fellow! he has been ill for some days back; you know what +a superstitious creature he is; and about a week since he got a +fright,--some warning of a Banshee, I think; but it shook his nerves +greatly, and he has kept his bed almost ever since. Lionel brought over +some of these servants with him; but Lord Netherby's people are Legion, +and the servants' hall now numbers something like seventy, I hear." + +The Knight heaved a sigh; but, catching himself, tried to conceal it by +a cough. Lady Eleanor had heard it, however, and stole a quick glance +towards him, to evade which he turned abruptly round and spoke to some +one near. + +"Seventy, my dear Eleanor!" said he, after a pause, and as if he had +been reflecting over his last observation; "and what a Babel, too, it +must be! I heard French, German, and Italian in the hall; I think we can +promise Irish ourselves." + +"Yes," said Lionel, "it is the most amusing scene in the world. They had +a ball last night in the lower gallery, where boleros and jigs succeeded +each other, while the refreshments ranged from iced lemonade to burnt +whiskey." + +"And what did our worthy folk think of their visitors?" said Darcy, +smiling. + +"Not over much. Paddy Lennan looked with great contempt at the men +sipping _orgeat_, and when he saw the waltzing, merely remarked, 'We've +a betther way of getting round the girls in Ireland;' while old Pierre +Dulange, Netherby's valet, persists in addressing the native company as +'Messieurs les Sauvages.'" + +"I hope, for the sake of the public peace, they 've not got an +interpreter among them." + +"No, no, all's safe on that score, and freedom of speech has suggested +the most perfect code of good manners; for it would seem, as they can +indulge themselves in the most liberal reflections on each other, they +have no necessity of proceeding to overt acts." + +"Now," said the Knight, "let me not interrupt the revelry longer. To +your place, Lionel, and leave me to pay my devoirs to my friends and +kind neighbors." + +The Knight's presence seemed alone wanting to fill up the measure of +enjoyment. Most of those present were his old familiar friends, glad +to see once more amongst them the great promoter of kind feeling and +hospitality, while from such as were strangers he easily won golden +opinions, the charm of courtesy being with him like a well-fitting +garment, which graced, but did not impede, the wearer's motions. + +He had a hundred questions to ask and to answer. The news of the capital +travelled in those days by slow and easy stages, and the moment was +sufficiently eventful to warrant curiosity; and so, as he passed from +group to group, he gave the current gossip of the time as each in turn +asked after this circumstance or that. + +At length he took his place beside Lord Netherby, as he sat engaged at +a whist-table, where the gathering crowd that gradually collected soon +converted the game into a social circle of eager talkers. + +Who could have suspected that easy, unconstrained manner, that winning +smile, that ready laugh, the ever-present jest, to cover the working of +a heart so nigh to breaking? And yet he talked pleasantly and freely, +narrating with all his accustomed humor the chit-chat of the time; and +while of course, the great question of the hour occupied every tongue +and ear, all Lord Netherby's practised shrewdness could not enable him +to detect the exact part the Knight himself had taken. + +"And so they have carried the bill," said Conolly, with a sigh, as he +listened to Darcy's account of the second reading. "Well, though I never +was a Parliament man, nor expected to be one, I'm sorry for it. You +think that strange, my Lord?" + +"By no means, sir. A man may love monarchy without being the heir +apparent." + +"Quite true," chimed in the Knight. "I would even go further, and say +that, without any warm devotion to a king, a man may hate a regicide." + +Lord Netherby's eyes met Darcy's, and the wily peer smiled with a +significance that seemed to say, "I know you _now_." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIIII. THE HUNT-BREAKFAST + +The ball lasted till nigh daybreak; and while the greater number of the +guests departed, some few remained, by special invitation, at the abbey, +to join a hunting party on the following day. For this Lionel had made +every possible preparation, desiring to let his English friends witness +a favorable specimen of Irish sport and horsemanship. The stud and +kennel were both in high condition, the weather favorable, and, as the +old huntsman said, "'It would be hard if a fox would n't be agreeable +enough to give the strange gentlemen a run." + +In high anticipation of the coming morning, and with many a prayer +against a frost, they separated for the night. All within the abbey were +soon sound asleep,--all save the Knight himself, who, the restraint of +an assumed part withdrawn, threw himself on a sofa in his dressing-room, +worn out and exhausted by his struggle. Ruin was inevitable,--that he +well knew; but as yet the world knew it not, and for Lionel's sake he +resolved to keep his own secret a few days longer. The visit was to last +but eight days; two were already over; for the remaining six, then, he +determined--whatever it might cost him--to preserve all the appearances +of his former estate, to wear the garb and seeming of prosperity, and do +the princely honors of a house that was never again to be his home. + +"Poor Lionel!" thought he; "'twould break the boy's heart if such a +disclosure should be made now; the high and daring promptings of his +bold spirit would not quail before misfortune, although his courage +might not sustain him in the very moment of the reverse. I will not risk +the whole fortune of his future happiness in such a trial; he shall know +nothing till they are gone; one week of triumphant pleasure he shall +have, and then let him brace himself to the struggle, and breast the +current manfully." + +While endeavoring to persuade himself that Lionel's lot was uppermost in +his mind, his heart would force the truth upon him that Lady Eleanor and +Helen's fate was, in reality, a heavier stroke of fortune. Lionel was +a soldier, ardent and daring, fond of his profession, and far more +ambitious of distinction than attached to the life of pleasure a court +and a great capital suggested; but they who had never known the want +of every luxury that can embellish life, whose whole existence had been +like some fairy dream of pleasure, how were they to bear up against +the dreadful shock? Lady Eleanor's health was frail and delicate in the +extreme; Helen's attachment to her mother such that any impression on +her would invariably recoil upon herself. What might be the consequences +of the disclosure to them Darcy could not, dared not, contemplate. + +As he revolved all these things in his mind, and thought upon the +difficulties that beset him, he was at a loss whether to deplore the +necessity of wearing a false face of pleasure a few days longer, or +rejoice at the occasion of even this brief reprieve from ruin. Thus +passed the weary hours that preceded daybreak, and while others slept +soundly, or reviewed in their dreams the pleasures of the past night, +Darcy's gloomy thoughts were fixed upon the inevitable calamity of his +fate, and the years, few but sad, that in all likelihood were now before +him. + +The stir and bustle of the servants preparing breakfast for the hunting +party broke in upon his dreary revery, and he suddenly bethought him of +the part he had assigned himself to play. He dreaded the possibility of +an interview with Lady Eleanor, in which she would inevitably advert to +Gleeson, and the circumstances of his flight; this could not be avoided, +however, were he to pass the day at home, and so he resolved to join the +hunting-field, where perhaps some lingering trace of his old enthusiasm +for the sport might lead him to hope for a momentary relief of mind. + +"Lionel, too, will be glad to see me in the saddle--it's some years +since I crossed the sward at a gallop--and I am curious to know if a +man's nerve is stouter when the world looks fair before him, or when the +night of calamity is lowering above his head." Muttering these words to +himself, he passed out into the hall, and crossing which, entered the +courtyard, and took his way towards the stables. It was still dark, but +many lights were moving to and fro, and the groom population were all +about and stirring. Darcy opened the door and looked down the long +range of stalls, where above twenty saddle-horses were now standing, the +greater number of them highly bred and valuable animals, and all in the +highest possible condition. Great was the astonishment of the stablemen +as the Knight moved along, throwing a glance as he went at each stall, +while a muttered "Welcome home to yer honor" ran from mouth to mouth. + +"The bastes is looking finely, sir," said Bob Carney, who, as stud-groom +and huntsman, had long presided over his department. + +"So they are, Bob, but I don't know half of them; where did this strong +brown horse come from?" + +"That's Clipper, yer honor; I knew you wouldn't know him. He took up +finely after his run last winter." + +"And the fore leg, is it strong again?" + +"As stout as a bar of iron; one of the boys had him out two days ago, +and he took the yellow ditch flying: we measured nineteen feet between +the mark of his hoofs." + +"He ought to be strong enough to carry me, Bob." + +"Don't ride him, sir, he's an uncertain divil; and though he 'll go +straight over everything for maybe twenty minutes or half an hour, he +'ll stop short at a drain not wider than a potato furrow, and the power +of man would n't get him over it." + +"That's a smart gray yonder,--what is she?" + +"She's the one we tried as a leader one day; yer honor remembers you bid +me shoot her, or get rid of her, for she kicked the traces, and nearly +the wheel-horse, all to smash; and now she's the sweetest tiling to +ride, for eleven stone, in the whole country. There's an English colonel +to try her to-day; my only advice to him is, let her have her own way of +it, for, if he begins pulling at her, 't is maybe in Donegal he 'll be +before evening." + +"And what have you for me?" said the Knight; "for I scarcely know any of +my old friends here." + +"There's the mouse-colored cob----" + +"No, no," said the Knight, laughing; "I want to keep my place, Bob. You +must give me something better than that." + +"Faith, an' your honor might have worse; but if it's for riding you +are, take Black Peter, and you 'll never find the fence too big, or the +ground too heavy for him. I was going to give him to the English lord; I +suppose, after all, he 'll be better pleased with the cob." + +"Well, then, Peter for me. And now let's see what Mr. Lionel has to +ride." + +"There she is, and a beauty!" said Bob, as, with a dexterous jerk, he +chucked a sheet off her haunches, and displayed the shining flanks and +splendid proportions of a thoroughbred mare. "That's Cushleen," said he, +as he fixed his eyes on the Knight's face to enjoy the reflection of his +own delight. "That's the darlin' can do it!--a child can hould her, +but it takes a man to sit on her back--racing speed over a flat, and a +jump!--'t is more like the bound of a football than anything else." + +"She has the eye of a hot one, Bob." + +"And why would n't she? But she knows when to be so. Let her take her +place at the head of the whole field, with a light finger to guide and a +stout heart to direct her, and she's a kitten; but the divil a tiger was +ever as fierce if another passes her, or a cowardly hand would try to +hold her back. And there 's a nate tool, that black horse,--that 's for +another of the English gentlemen. Master Lionel calls him Sir Harry. +They tell me he 's a fine rider, and has a pack of hounds himself in his +own place, and I am mistaken if he has the baste in his stable will +give him a betther day's sport. The chestnut here is for Miss Helen, for +she's coming to see them throw off, and it'll be a fine sight; we 'll +be thirty-six out of your honor's stables, Mr. Conolly is bringing nine +more, and all the Martins, and the Lynches, and Dalys, and Mr. Hickman +O'Reilly and his son,--though, to be sure, _they_ won't do much for the +honor of ould Ireland." + +The Knight turned away laughing, and re-entered the house. + +Early as it yet was, the inmates of the abbey were stirring, and a great +breakfast, laid for above thirty, was prepared in the library, for +the supper-tables occupied the dining-rooms, and the debris of the +magnificent entertainment of the night before still lingered there. Two +cheerful fires blazed on the ample hearths, and threw a mellow lustre +over that spacious room, where old Tate now busied himself in those +little harmless duties he fancied indispensable to the Knight's comfort, +for the poor fellow, on hearing of his master's return, had once more +resumed his office. + +The Knight's meeting with him was one of true friendship; difference +of station interposed no barrier to affection, and Darcy shook the old +man's hand as cordially as though they were brothers. Yet each was sad +with a secret sorrow, which all their efforts could scarce conceal +from the other. In vain the Knight endeavored to turn away old Tate's +attention by inquiries after his health, questions about home, or little +flatteries about his preparations, Tate's filmy eyes were fixed upon his +master with a keenness that age could not dim. + +"'T is maybe tired your honor is," said he, in a voice half meant as +inquiry, half insinuation; "the Parliament, they tell me, destroys the +health entirely." + +"Very true, Tate; late hours, heated rooms, and some fatigue will not +serve a man of my age; but I am tolerably well for all that." + +"God be praised for it!" said Tate, piously, but in a voice that showed +it was rather a wish he expressed than a conviction, when, suspecting +that he had suffered some portion of his fears to escape, he added more +cheerfully, "And is n't Master Lionel grown an iligant, fine young man! +When I seen him comin' up the stairs, it was just as if the forty-eight +years that's gone over was only a dhrame, and I was looking at your +honor the day you came home from college; he has the same way with bis +arms, and carries his head like you, and the same light step. Musha!" +muttered he, below his breath, "the ould families never die out, but +keep their looks to the last." + +"He's a fine fellow, Tate!" said the Knight, turning towards the window, +for, while flattered by the old man's praises of his son, a deep pang +shot through his heart at the wide disparity of fortune with which life +opened for both of them. At the instant an arm was drawn round him, and +Helen stood at his side: she was in her riding-habit, and looking in +perfect beauty. Darcy gazed at her for a few seconds, and with such +evident admiration that she, as if accepting the compliment, drew +herself up, and, smiling, said, "Yes, nothing short of conquest. Lionel +told his friends to expect a very unformed country girl; they shall see +at least she can ride." + +"No harebrained risks, Helen, dearest. I'm to take the field to-day, +and you must n't shake my nerve; for I want to bring no disgrace on my +county." + +"I was but jesting, my own dear papa," said she, drawing closer to +him; "but I really felt so curious to see these English horsemen's +performance that I asked Lionel to train Alice for me." + +"And Lionel, of course, but too happy to show his pretty sister--" + +"Nay, nay, if you will quiz, I must only confess that my head is quite +turned already; our noble cousin overwhelms me with flatteries which, +upon the principle the Indian accepts glass beads and spangles as gems, +and gold, I take as real value. But here he comes." + +And Lord Netherby, attired for the field in all the accuracy of +costume, slipped towards them. After came Colonel Crofton, a well-known +fashionable of the clubs and a hanger-on of the peer; then Sir Harry +Beauclerk, a young baronet of vast fortune, gay, good-tempered, and +extravagant; while several others of lesser note, brother officers of +Lionel's and men about town, brought up the rear, one only deserving +remark, a certain Captain, or, as he was better known, Tom Nolan,--a +strange, ambiguous kind of fellow, always seen in the world, constantly +met at the best houses, and yet nobody being able to explain why he was +asked, nor--as it very often happened--who asked him. + +Lady Eleanor never appeared early in the day, but there was a sprinkling +of lady-visitors through the room, guests at the abbey: a very pretty, +but not over-afflicted widow, a Mrs. Somerville, with several Mrs. +and Miss Lynches, Brownes, and Martins, comprising the beauties of +the neighborhood. Lionel was the last to make his appearance, so many +directions had he to give about earth-stoppers and cover-hacks, drags, +phaetons, fresh horses, and all the contingent requirements of a day's +sport. Besides, he had pledged himself most faithfully to give Mrs. +Somerville's horse, a very magnificent barb, a training canter himself, +with a horse-sheet round his legs, for she was a timid rider,--on some +occasions,--though certain calumnious people averred that, when alone, +she would take any fence in the whole barony. + +At length they were seated, and such a merry, happy party! There was but +one sad heart in the company, and that none could guess at. And what a +running fire of pleasant raillery rattled round the table! How brimful +of wit and good-humor were they all! How ready each to take the jest +against himself, and even heighten its flavor by some new touch of +drollery. Harmless wagers respecting the places they would occupy at the +finish, gentle quiz-zings about safe riding through the gaps, and joking +counsels as to the peculiar difficulties of an Irish country, were heard +on all sides; while the Knight recounted the Galway anecdote of Dick +Perse taking an immense leap and disappearing afterwards. "'Call the +ground, Dick!' cried Lord Clanricarde, who was charging up at top +speed--'call the ground! What's at the other side?' + +"'I _am_, thank God!' was the short reply, and the words came from the +depth of a gravel-pit." + +At last, venison pasties and steaks, rolls and coffee, with their due +accompaniment of liqueurs, came to an end, and a very sufficient uproar +without, of men, dogs, and horses commingled, bespoke the activity of +preparation there, while old Bob Carney's voice topped every other, as +he swore at or commended men and beasts indiscriminately. + +"What a glorious morning for our sport!" said the Knight, as he threw +open the sash, and let into the room the heavy perfume of the earth, +borne on a southerly wind. The sea was calm as an inland lake, and the +dark clouds over it were equally motionless. "We shall be unlucky, my +Lord, if we do not show you some sport on such a day. Ah, there go the +dogs!" And, as he spoke, the hounds issued from beneath the deep arch of +the gateway, and with Bob and the whipper-in at their head, took their +way across the lawn. + +"To horse! to horse!" shouted Lionel, gayly, from the courtyard, for +the riding party were not to proceed to the cover by the short path the +hounds were gone, but to follow by a more picturesque and circuitous +route. + +"I hope sincerely that beast is not intended for me," said Lord +Netherby, as a powerful black horse crossed the courtyard, in a series +of bounds, and finished by landing the groom over his head. + +"Never fear, my Lord," said Lionel, laughing; "Billy Pitt is meant for +Beauclerk." + +"You surely never named that animal after the minister, Knight?" said +his Lordship. + +"Yes, my Lord," said Darcy, with a smile; "it's just as unsafe to +back one as the other. But here comes the heavy brigade. Which is your +choice,--Black Peter, or Mouse?" + +"If I may choose, I will confess this is more to my liking than anything +I have seen yet. You know that I don't mean to take any part in the +debate, so I may as well secure a quiet seat under the gallery. But, my +dear Miss Darcy, what a mettlesome thing you 've got there!" + +"She's only fidgety; if I can hold her when they throw off, I 'll have +no trouble afterwards." And the graceful girl sat back easily in her +saddle as the animal bounded and swerved with every stroke of her long +riding-habit. + +"There goes Beauclerk!" cried Lionel, as the young baronet shot like an +arrow through the archway on the back of Billy Pitt; for no sooner had +he touched the saddle than the unmanageable animal broke away from the +groom's hands, and set off at full speed down the lawn. + +"I say, Darcy," cried Colonel Crofton, "is n't Beauclerk a step over +you in the 'Army List'?" + +But Lionel never heard the question, for he was most busily occupied +about Mrs. Somerville and her horse. + +"Who drives the phaeton?--where's a safe whip to be found for Mrs. +Martin?" said the Knight; and, seizing on a young Guardsman, he promoted +him to the box, with a very pretty girl beside him. A drag, with four +grays, was filling at the same instant, with a mixed population of +horsemen and spectators, among whom Captain Nolan seemed the presiding +spirit, as, seated beside a brother officer of Lionel's on the box, he +introduced the several parties to each other, and did "the honors" of +the conveyance. + +Troops of horses, sheeted and hooded, now passed out with a number of +grooms and stable-boys, on their way to cover; and at last the great +cavalcade moved forward, the Knight, his daughter, and Lord Netherby +gayly cantering on the grass, to permit the carriages to take the road. +The drag came last; and although but newly met, the company were already +in the full enjoyment of that intimacy which high spirits and pleasure +beget, while Tom Nolan contributed his utmost to the merriment by jests +which lost nothing of their poignancy from any scruples of their maker. + +"There they go at last," said he, as Lionel and Mrs. Somerville cantered +forth, followed by two grooms. "I never heard of a stirrup so hard to +arrange as that, in all my life!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. THE HUNT + +The cover lay in a small valley, almost deep enough to be called a +glen, watered by a stream which in winter and summer took the alternate +character of torrent or rivulet; gently sloping hills rose on either +side, their banks clad with low furze and fern, and behind them a wide +plain extended to the foot of the great mountains of Connemara. + +Both sides of the little glen were now occupied by groups on foot or +horseback, as each calculated on the likelihood of the fox taking this +direction or that. On the narrow road which led along the crest of the +lower hill were many equipages to be seen, some of which were filled +with ladies, whose waving feathers and gay colors served to heighten +the effect of the landscape. The horsemen were dotted about, some on the +ridge of the rising ground, some lower down on the sloping sides, and +others walked their horses through the dense cover, watching as the dogs +sprang and bounded from copse to copse, and made the air vibrate with +their deep voices. + +The arrival of the Knight's party created no slight sensation as +carriages and horsemen came dashing up the hill, and took their station +on an eminence, from whence all who were not mounted might have a view +of the field. No sooner was he recognized, than such as had the honor +of personal acquaintance moved forward to pay their respects and welcome +him home again; among whom Beecham O'Reilly appeared, but with such +evident diffidence of manner and reserve that Darcy, from motives of +delicacy, was forced to take a more than ordinary notice of him. + +"We were sorry not to have your company at the abbey last night; you 've +had a cold, I hear," said the Knight. + +"Yes, sir; this is the first day I've ventured out." + +"Let me introduce you to Lord Netherby. One of our foremost riders, my +Lord, Mr. Beecham O'Reilly. You may see that the merit is not altogether +his own,--splendid horse you have there." + +"He's very powerful," said the young man, accepting the praise with an +air of easy indifference. + +"In my country," interposed Lord Netherby, "we should value him at three +hundred guineas, if his performance equal his appearance." + +"I say, Lionel, come here a moment," cried the Knight. "What do you +think of that horse?--but don't you know your old playfellow, Beecham? +Have you both forgotten each other?" + +"How are you, Beecham? I'd never have guessed you. To be sure, it is +six years since we met. You were in Dublin, I think, when I was over on +leave last?" + +"No, at Oxford," said Beecham, with a slight flush as he spoke; for +although he accepted the warm shake-hands Lionel proffered, his manner +was one of constraint all through. Young Darcy was, however, too much +occupied in admiring the horse to bestow much attention on the rider. + +"He 'd carry you well," said Beecham, as if interpreting what was +passing in his mind, "and as I have no fancy for him,--a worse horse +will carry my weight as well,--I 'd sell him." + +"At what price?" + +"Lord Netherby has valued him at three hundred," said the young man. "I +gave nearly as much myself." + +The Knight, who heard this conversation, without being able to interrupt +it, was in perfect misery. The full measure of his ruin rushed suddenly +on his mind, and the thought that, at the very moment his son was +meditating this piece of extravagance, he was himself actually a beggar, +sickened him to the heart. Meanwhile, Lionel walked his horse slowly +round, the better to observe the animal he coveted, and then cantered +back to his place at Mrs. Somerville's side. + +Beecham seemed to hesitate for a second or two, then, riding forward, +he approached Lionel: "Perhaps you would try him to-day, Captain Darcy?" +The words came hesitatingly and with difficulty. + +"Oh, no! he 's beyond my reach," said Lionel, laughing. + +"I'd really take it as a favor if you would ride him; I 'm not strong +enough to hold him, consequently cannot do him justice." + +"Take the offer, Darcy," said Lord Netherby, in a whisper, as he rode up +to his side; "I have a great liking for that horse myself, and will buy +him if you report favorably." + +"In that case, my Lord, I'll do it with pleasure. I accept your kind +proposal, and will change nags if you agree." + +Beecham at once dismounted, and, beckoning to his servant, ordered him +to change the saddles. + +While this little scene was enacting, old Conolly rode up to the Knight, +with a warning to keep the ladies in the road. "The fox will take the +country towards Burnadarig," said he; "the start's with the wind; and as +the fences are large and the ground heavy, they had better not attempt +to follow the run." + +"We will take your advice, Tom," said the Knight. "Come here, +Helen--Colonel Crofton, will you kindly bring Mrs. Somerville up here, +and tell Lord Netherby to join us--the day will be for the fast ones +only. There they go,--are they off?" + +"Not yet, not yet," said Conolly, as, standing in his stirrups, he +looked down into the glen; "they're hunting him through the furze cover +this half hour. I know that fox well; he never breaks till the dogs are +actually on him." + +By this time the scene in the valley was becoming highly exciting; the +hounds, yelping and barking, bounded hither and thither; some, with +uplifted throats, bayed deeply a long, protracted note; others, with +noses to the earth, ran swiftly along, and then, stopping, burst into a +sharp cry, as if of pain, while old Bob Carney's voice, encouraging this +one, and cursing that, was high above the tumult. + +"Tiresome work, this is," said Sir Harry Beauclerk; for his horse, mad +with impatience, was white with sweat, and trembled in every limb. + +"You'll have it very soon, sir," said old Conolly; "the dogs are +together now. I wish that young gentleman there would move a little up +the hill." This was said of a young officer who took his station at the +exit of the cover. "There they go, now! Tally-ho!" cried he, in ecstasy, +and the shout re-echoed from a hundred voices, as the hounds, in full +cry, burst from the cover, and were seen, in one compact mass, rising +the opposite hill. + +In a second every horse was away, save that little group around the +Knight, and which, notwithstanding all the efforts of the servants, +bounded and plunged in mad impatience. Beauclerk was the first down the +hill, and over the brook, which he cleared gallantly. Conolly followed +close; and then came Crofton in a group of others, among whom rode +O'Reilly, all riding well and safely; and last of all was Lionel, +mounted on the brown thoroughbred, and holding him together, in spite of +all his eagerness to get on. + +The Knight forgot everything that lay heavily on his heart as he watched +his son nearing the brook, which he took flying. "He knows his horse; +now! see!" cried Darcy, as his whole face beamed with enthusiastic +delight; "look a little this way, my dear Mrs. Somerville, Lionel's +gaining on them!" + +Mrs. Somerville scarcely needed the direction, for, notwithstanding her +horse's plunging, she had never taken her glass from her eye. + +"Is that a wall on the side of the hill? I really believe it is!" said +Lord Netherby, with an accent of amazement and horror. + +"A stone wall, and a stout one. I know it well," said Darcy. "There goes +Sir Harry Beauclerk at it. Too fast, sir! too fast!" screamed out the +Knight, as if his advice could be heard and followed at that distance. + +"He's down! he's down!" cried several voices together, as horse and +rider balanced for a second on the top, and rolled headlong on the +opposite side, while Helen grasped her father's arm, but never uttered a +word. + +"His horse is away--there he goes!--but the young man is on his +legs again!" called out the Knight; "see how the rest are scattering +now--they 've no fancy for it;" for so it was, Beauclerk's catastrophe, +mounted, as they knew him to be, on one of the most perfect of hunters, +had terrified the field, and they broke up into different groups, +searching an exit where they could. + +"There he goes,--that's the way to take it!" cried Darcy, as Lionel, +emerging from the little valley, was seen ascending the hill in a sharp +canter; "see, my Lord! Do you mark how he holds his horse together? The +hind legs are well forward--beautifully done!" + +"Oh, beautifully done!" re-echoed Mrs. Somerville, as the young man, +with one cut of his whip, rose the horse to the wall, topped, poised for +an instant on its summit, and bounded down with the seeming lightness of +a bird. + +"They're all together again," said Helen. "Mr. Conolly has found a gap, +and there they go." + +For a few moments the whole field were in sight, as they rode in a +waving line, only a few stragglers in their rear; but the gradual dip +of the ground soon hid them from view, and nothing remained save the +occasional glance of a red coat as some rider, "thrown out" for a +moment, sought to recover his place by an adroit "cast." + +"I suppose we are not destined to see much more of the day's sport?" +said Mrs. Somerville, with a pouting look; for she would infinitely +rather have braved all the hazards of the field than have remained +behind with the spectators. + +"I trust we shall have another peep at them," said the Knight. "By +following this by-road to Burris Hill, the chances are that we see them +winding along at our feet; the fox generally runs from this cover to +the scrub beneath Nephin. We may go slowly, for if I be right in my +calculation, they have a wide circuit to make yet." + +The Knight, after a few words to the parties in the carriage, took the +lead with Lord Netherby, while Mrs. Somerville and Helen followed, an +indiscriminate crowd of carriages and horsemen bringing up the rear. + +This was an arrangement artfully accomplished by the Earl, who had been +most impatiently awaiting some opportunity of conferring with the Knight +on the question of politics, and ascertaining how far he himself might +adventure on claiming the merit of converting him, when he returned to +England. He had already remarked that Darcy's name did not appear in the +division on the second reading of the Bill of Union, and the fact seemed +so far indicative of a disposition not to oppose the Government. The +subject was one to be approached with skill, and it was at last by an +adroit congratulation on the pleasant contrast of a country life with +the fatigues of Parliament, that he opened the discussion. + +"I believe, my Lord," said the Knight, laughing, "that Irish gentlemen +are very likely to enjoy in future a fair proportion of that agreeable +retirement you have so justly lauded. The wisdom of our rulers +has thought fit to relieve us of the burden of self-government in +Parliament, and left us, if we can succeed in effecting it, to govern +ourselves at home." + +"That will be unquestionably the lot of many, Knight. I am quite aware +that men of second-rate importance will no longer possess any at all; +but estated gentlemen, of high position and liberal fortunes, like +yourself, for instance, will not lose their influence by the greater +extent of the field in which it is exercised." + +Darcy sighed, but made no reply; the thought of his utter ruin came too +painfully across him to permit of an answer. Lord Netherby interpreted +his silence as doubt, and continued: "You are unjust, not only to +yourself, but to us, by any discredit of this point. Men of real +knowledge about Ireland and her interests will have a greater position +than ever they enjoyed before; no longer buried and lost among the +impracticable horde of theorists and false patriots of a Dublin +Parliament, they will be known and appreciated by a deliberative +assembly where the greatest men of the empire hold council." + +"I am forced to differ with you on every point, my Lord," said the +Knight, calmly; "we are united to England, not that we may make an +integral portion of your empire, but simply that we may be more easily +governed. Up to this hour, you have ruled this country through the +instrumentality of certain deputed individuals here amongst us; your +system has had but indifferent success. You are now about to try another +method, and govern us through the means of Party. Into the subdivisions +of these parties Irishmen will fall,--with such success, personally, as +their abilities and weight may obtain for them; but Party, I assert, +will now rule Ireland, not with any regard to Irish interests or +objects, but simply to put this man into power, and to put that man out. +Now I, my Lord, humble as my station is, have no fancy for such contests +as these,--contests in which the advantages of my country will always be +subordinate to some Cabinet intrigue or Ministerial stratagem. To-day, +the Government may find it suit their views to administer the affairs of +Ireland ably, justly, and fearlessly; to-morrow, a powerful faction may +spring up here, who, by intimidation without, and by votes within the +House, shall be able to thwart the administration in their Home +measures. What will happen then? This faction will be bought off. By +concessions to them _in Ireland_, they will obtain all their demands, +for the sake of pliancy about interests of which they care little, and +know nothing. This will succeed for a time; the 'King's Government' will +go well and flippantly on; you may tax the people, promote your +followers, and bully your opponents to your heart's content: but, +meanwhile, Ireland will be gaining on you; your allies, grown exacting +by triumph, will ask more than you dare, or even have, to give; and the +question will then arise, that the party who aspires to power must bid +for it by further concession; and who is to vouch for the moderation of +such demands, or what limit will there be to them? I see a train of such +evils in the vista; and although I neither pretend to think our domestic +legislature safe nor faultless, I think the dangers we have before us +are even greater than such as would spring from an Irish Parliament." + +Lord Netherby listened with great impatience--as perhaps the reader may +have done also--to this declaration of the Knight's views, and was about +to reply, when suddenly a cheer from some country people, stationed on +a rocky height at a short distance, drew all eyes towards the valley, +where now the hounds were seen in full cry, three horsemen alone +following. One of these was the huntsman; Lionel another; the third was +in plain clothes, and not known to any of the party. He was mounted on a +powerful horse, and even at that distance could be seen to manage him +with the address of a perfect rider. The rest of the field were far +behind, some still standing on the verge of a mountain torrent, which +appeared to have formed the obstacle to the run, and into which more +than one seemed to have fallen. + +Groups were gathered here and there along the bank, and dismounted +horses galloped wildly to and fro, showing that the catastrophes had +been numerous. While Lord Netherby looked with some alarm at the fearful +chasm which had arrested all but three out of the entire field, the +Knight followed Lionel with anxious eyes, as he led over the most +desperate line of country in the West. + +"I never knew a fox take that line but once," said Darcy, pointing to a +wide expanse of bleak country, which stretched away to the base of the +great mountain of Nephin. "I was a child at the time, but I remember +the occurrence well; horse, men, and hounds tailed off one by one, some +sorely injured, others dead beat, for the fellow was a most powerful +dog-fox, and ran straight ahead for thirty-four miles of a desperate +country. The following morning, at a little after daybreak, the fox was +seen in a half trot near Ballycroy, still followed by two of the dogs, +and he lived many years afterwards as a pensioner at the abbey; the dogs +were never worth anything from that day." + +While the Knight related this anecdote, the hounds and the hunters were +gradually receding from view; and although at intervals some thought +they could catch glimpses of them, at last they disappeared altogether. + +"I am sorry, Helen," said the Knight, "that our visitors should have +been so unfortunate in their sport." + +"I am more grieved to think that Lionel should follow over such a +country," said Lord Netherby. + +"He's well mounted, my Lord; and though many would call him a reckless +rider, he has as much judgment as he has daring. I am tolerably easy +about him." + +Helen did not seem so confident as her father; and as for Mrs. +Somerville, she was considerably paler than usual, and managed her +mettlesome horse with far less than her customary address. + +As well to meet their friends who were thrown out, as to show some of +the scenery of the coast, the Knight proposed they should retrace their +steps for a short distance, and take a view of the bay on their way back +to the abbey. Leaving them, therefore, to follow their route, and +not delaying our reader by an account of the various excuses of the +discomfited, or the banterings of Tom Nolan, we will turn to the wide +plain, where, still in full cry, the dogs pursued their game. + +The Knight had not exaggerated when calling it a dreadful country to +ride over; yawning trenches, deep enough to engulf horse and rider, were +cut in the bog, and frequently so close together that, in clearing one, +a few strides more presented another; the ground itself, only in part +reclaimed, was deep and heavy, demanding great strength both of horse +and horseman. Through this dangerous and intricate track the fox +serpentined and wound his way with practised cunning, while at every +turning some unlucky hound would miss his spring, or lose his footing in +the slippery soil, and their cries could be heard far over the plain, as +they struggled in vain to escape from a deep trench. It was in such an +endeavor that a hound was catching at the bank with his fore-legs, as +the huntsman dashed forward to take the leap; the horse, suddenly taking +fright, swerved, and, before he could recover, the frail ground gave +way, and the animal plunged headlong down, fortunately flinging bis +rider over the head on the opposite bank. + +"All safe, Bob?" cried Lionel, as he turned in his saddle. But he had +no time for more, for the strange rider was fast nearing on him, and the +chase had now become a trial of speed and skill. By degrees they emerged +from this unsafe tract and gained the grass country, where high ditches +and stone walls presented a more fair, but scarcely less dangerous, kind +of fencing. Here the stranger made an effort to pass Lionel and take the +lead, and more than once they took their leaps exactly side by side. + +As they rode along close to each other, Lionel from time to time +caught glimpses of his companion, who was a strong-built man of +five-and-thirty, frank and fresh-looking, but clearly not of the rank of +gentleman. His horse was a powerful thoroughbred, with more bone than is +usually found in Irish breeding, and trained to perfection. + +"Now, sir," said the stranger, "we're coming near the Crumpawn river; +that line of mist yonder is over the torrent. I warn you, the leap is a +big one." + +Lionel turned a haughty glance towards the man, for there was a tone +of assumed superiority in the words he could ill brook. That instant, +however, his eyes were directed to the front, where the roaring of +a mountain stream mingled with the sharp cry of the hounds as they +struggled in the torrent, or fell back in their efforts to climb the +steep bank. + +"Ride him fairly at it,--no flinching; and d----me if I care what your +father was, I'll say you're a gentleman." + +Lionel bit his lip almost through with passion; and, had the occasion +permitted, the heavy stroke of his whip had fallen on a very different +quarter from his horse's flank; but he never uttered a word. + +"Badly done! Never punish your horse at the stride!" said the fellow, +who seemed bent on provoking him. + +Lionel bounded in his saddle at this taunt on his riding; but there was +no time for bandying words of anger; the roar of rushing water, and the +misty foam, proclaimed the torrent near. + +"The best man is first over!" shouted the stranger, as he rushed at the +terrific chasm. Lionel dashed forward; so close were they, they could +have touched; when, with a wild cheer, the stranger gave his horse a +tremendous cut, and the animal bounded from the earth like a stag, and, +soaring over the mad torrent, descended lightly on the sward beyond. + +Lionel had lifted his horse at the very same instant; but the +treacherous bank gave way beneath the animal's forelegs: he struggled +dreadfully to regain his footing, and, half rearing and half backing, +tried to retire; but the effort was in vain, the slippery earth carried +him with it, and down both horse and rider came into the stream. + +"Keep his head to the current, and sit steady!" shouted the stranger, +who now watched the struggle with breathless eagerness. "Well done! well +done!--don't press him, he 'll do it himself." + +The counsel was wise, for the noble animal needed neither spur nor whip, +but breasted the white torrent with vigorous effort, sometimes plunging +madly above, and again sinking, all save the head, beneath the flood. At +last they reached the side, and the strong beast, with one bold spring, +placed his fore-legs on the high bank. This was the most dangerous +moment, for, unable to follow with his hind-legs, he stood opposed to +the whole force of the current, that threatened every instant to engulf +him. Lionel's efforts were tremendous; he lifted, he spurred, he +strained, he shouted, but all in vain: the animal, worn out by exertion, +faltered, and would have fallen back, when the stranger, springing from +his saddle, leaned over the bank, and, seizing Lionel by the collar, +jerked him from his horse. The beast, relieved of the weight, at once +rallied and bounded up the bank, where Lionel now found himself, +stunned, but not senseless. + +"Let them say what they like," muttered the stranger, as he stood over +him, "you 're a devilish fine young fellow! D----me if I'll ever think +so much about good blood again!" + +Lionel was too weak and too much exhausted to reply, and even his +fingers could scarcely close upon the whip he tried to grasp; yet, for +all that, the stranger's insolence sickened him to the very heart. Pride +of race was the strongest feeling of his nature, and this fellow seemed +determined to outrage it at every turn. + +"Here, take a pull at this; you 'll be all right presently," said the +man, as he presented a little leather flask to the youth's lips. But +Lionel repulsed the offer rudely, and turned his head away. "The +more fool you!" said he, coarsely; "your grandfather mixed many a +worse-flavored one, and charged more for it;" and, so saying, he emptied +the measure at a draught. + +Lionel pondered on the words for some seconds, and suddenly the thought +occurred to him that the stranger had mistaken him for another. "Ah! I +see it all now!" thought he, and he turned his head to undeceive him; +when, what was his surprise, as he looked up, to see that the fellow was +gone. Mounted on his own horse, he was leading Lionel's by the bridle, +and, at a smart trot, moving down the glen. + +The young man sprang to his feet and shouted aloud; he even tried to +follow him; but both efforts were fruitless. At the turn of the road the +man halted, and, looking round, waved his hat as in sign of adieu; then, +moving forward, disappeared, while Lionel, his passion giving way to +his sense of the absurdity of the whole adventure, burst into a fit of +hearty laughter. + +"I 'll be laughed at to the day of my death about this," thought he, as +he turned his steps to seek the path homeward on foot. + +It was late in the evening when Lionel reached the abbey. The guests had +for the most part left the dinner-room, and were dropping by twos and +threes into the drawing-room, when he made his appearance in the midst +of them, splashed and travel-stained from head to foot. + +A burst of merry laughter rang out as they beheld his torn habiliments +and mud-colored dress, in which none joined more heartily than the +Knight himself, as he called aloud, "Well, Lionel, did you kill him, +boy, or run him to earth below Nephin?" + +"By Jove, sir! if old Carney is safe, I think nobody has been killed +to-day." + +"Well, Bob is all right; he came back three hours ago. He has lamed +Scaltheen; but she 'll get over it." + +"But your own adventures," interposed Lord Netherby; "for so they ought +to be, judging from the state of your toilet. Let us hear them." + +"Yes, by all means," added Beauclerk; "the huntsman says that the last +he saw of you was riding by the side of some one in green, with three of +the pack in front, the rest tailed off, and himself in a bog-hole." + +"But there was no one in green in the field," said Crofton; "at least I +did not see any one riding, except the red coats." + +"Let us not be too critical about the color of the dress," said Lord +Netherby; "I am sure it would puzzle any of us to pronounce on the exact +hue of Lionel's at this moment." + +"Well, Lionel, will you decide it?" said the Knight; "is the green man +apocryphal, or not?" + +"I 'll decide nothing," said Lionel, "till I get something to eat. Any +one that wishes to hear my exploits must come into the dinner-room;" +and, so saying, he arose, and walked into the parlor, where, under +Tate's superintendence, a little table was already spread for him beside +the fire. To the tempting fare before him the young man devoted all the +energy of a hunter's appetite, regardless of the crowd who had followed +him from the drawing-room, and stood in a circle around him. + +Many were the jests, and sharp the raillery, on his singular appearance, +and certainly it presented a most ludicrous contrast with the massive +decorations of the table at which he sat, and the full dress of the +party around him. + +"I remember," said Lord Netherby, "seeing the King of France--when +such a functionary existed--eat his dinner in public on the terrace of +Versailles; but I confess, great as was my admiration of the monarch's +powers, I think Lionel exceeds them." + +"Another leg?" said Beauclerk, who, with knife and fork in hand, +performed the duty of carver. + +"Why don't you say another turkey?" said Nolan; then, turning to Mrs. +Somerville, he added, "I am sure that negus is perfect." + +The pretty widow, who had been contributing, as she thought unobserved, +to Lionel's comfort, blushed deeply; and Lionel, at last roused from +his apathy, said, "I am ready now, ladies and gentlemen all, to satisfy +every reasonable demand upon your curiosity. But first, where is Mr. +Beecham O'Reilly?" + +"He went home," said the Knight; "he resisted all my efforts to detain +him to dinner." + +"Perhaps he only came over to sell that horse," said Nolan, in a half +whisper. + +"I wish I had bought him, with all my heart," said Lionel. + +"Do you like him so much," said the Knight, with a meaning smile. + +"I sincerely hope you do," said Lord Netherby, "for he is yours +already,--at least, if you will do me the honor to accept him; I often +hoped to have mounted you one day--" + +"I accept him, my Lord," interposed Lionel, "most willingly and most +gratefully. You have, literally speaking, mounted me 'one day,' and I +very much doubt if I ever mount the same animal another." + +"What! is he lame?--or staked?--did he break down?--is he a devil to +ride?" broke from several of the party. + +"Not one of all these; but if you'll bestow five minutes' patience on me +I 'll perhaps inform you of a mode of being unhorsed, novel at least to +most fox-hunters." With this, Lionel narrated the conclusion of the +run, the leap of the Crumpawn river, and the singular departure of his +companion at the end. + +"Is this a practical joke, Knight?" said Lord Netherby. + +"I think so, my Lord; one of those admirable jests which the statutes +record among their own Joe Millers." + +"Then you suspect he was a robber?" + +"I confess it looks very like it." + +"I read the riddle otherwise," said Lionel; "the fellow, whoever he was, +mistook me for somebody else, and there was evidently something more +like a reprisal than a theft in the whole transaction." + +"But you have really lost him?" said Beanclerk. + +"When I assure you that I came home on foot, I hope that question is +answered." + +"By Jove! you have most singular ways of doing matters in this country," +cried the colonel; "but I suppose when a man is used to Ireland, he gets +pretty much accustomed to hear of his horse being stolen away as well as +the fox." + +"Oh! we'll chance upon him one of these days yet," said the Knight; "I +am half of Lionel's mind myself now,--the thing does not look like a +robbery." + +"There's no end of the eccentricity of these people," muttered Lord +Netherby to himself; "they can get into a towering passion and become +half mad about trifles, but they take a serious loss as coolly as +possible." And with this reflection on national character he moved into +the drawing-room, where soon afterwards the party repaired to talk over +Lionel's adventure, with every turn that fancy or raillery could give +it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. BAGENAL DALY'S VISITORS + +It was at a late hour of a night, some days after this event occurred, +that Bagenal Daly sat closeted with Darcy's lawyer, endeavoring, by deep +and long thought, to rescue him from some at least of the perils that +threatened him. Each day, since the Knight's departure, had added to the +evil tidings of his fortune. While Gleeson had employed his powers of +attorney to withdraw large sums from the banker's hands, no information +could be had concerning the great loan he had raised from the London +company, nor was there to be found among the papers left behind him the +bond passed to Hickman, and which he should have received had the money +been paid. That such was the case, Bagenal Daly firmly believed; the +memorandum given him by Freney was corroborated by the testimony of the +clerks in two separate banking-houses, who both declared that Gleeson +drew these sums on the morning before he started for Kildare, and to one +of Daly's rapid habits of judgment such evidence was quite conclusive. +This view of the subject was, unhappily, not destined to continue +undisturbed, for, on the very morning after the Knight's departure from +Dublin, came a formal letter from Hickman's solicitor, demanding payment +of the interest on the sum of seventy-four thousand eight hundred and +twenty pounds, odd shillings, at five per cent, owing by seven weeks, +and accompanying which was a notice of foreclosure of the mortgage on +the ensuing 17th of March, in case the full sum aforesaid were not duly +paid. + +To meet these demands Daly well knew Darcy had no disposable property; +the large sums raised by Gleeson, at a lower rate of interest, were +intended for that purpose; and although he persisted in believing that +this debt, at least, was satisfied, the lawyer's opinion was strongly +opposed to that notion. + +Mr. Bicknell was a shrewd man, deep not only in the lore of his +professional knowledge, but a keen scrutinizer of motives, and a +far-seeing observer of the world. He argued thus: Gleeson would never +have parted with such a sum on the eve of his own flight; a day was of +no consequence, he could easily have put off the payment to Hickman to +the time of the American ship's sailing--why, then, hand over so large +an amount, all in his possession? It was strange, of course, what had +become of the money; but then they heard that his servant had made his +escape. Why might not he have possessed himself of it after his master's +suicide? Who was to interfere or prevent it? Besides, if he had paid +Hickman, the bond would, in all likelihood, be forthcoming; to retain +possession of it could have been no object with Gleeson; he had met with +nothing but kind and friendly treatment from Darcy, and was not likely +to repay him by an act of useless, gratuitous cruelty. + +As to the testimony of the bank clerks, it was as applicable to one view +of the case as the other. Gleeson would, of course, draw out everything +at his disposal; and although the sums tallied with those in the +memorandum, that signified little, as they were the full amount in each +banker's hands to the Knight's credit. Lastly, as to the memorandum, it +was the only real difficulty in the case; but that paper might have been +in Gleeson's possession, and in the course of business discussion either +might have been dropped inadvertently, or have been given to Hickman as +explaining the moneys already prepared for his acceptance. + +Mr. Bicknell's reasonings were confirmed by the application of Hickman's +solicitors, who were men of considerable skill and great reputed +caution. "Harris and Long make no such mistakes as this, depend upon +that, sir; they see their case very clearly, or would never adventure on +such an application." + +"D----n their caution! The question is not of their shrewdness." + +"Yes, but it is, though; we are weighing probabilities: let us see to +which side the balance inclines. Would they serve notice of foreclosure, +not knowing whether or not we had the receipt in our possession? That is +the whole matter." + +"I don't pretend to say what they would do, but I know well what I +should." + +"And pray what may that be?" + +"Hold possession of the abbey, stand fast by the old walls, call in the +tenantry,--and they are ready to answer such a call at a moment, if need +be,--and while I proclaimed to the wide world by what right I resisted, +I 'd keep the place against any force they dared to bring. These +are ticklish times, Bicknell; the Government have just cheated this +country,--they 'd scarcely risk the hazard of a civil war for an old +usurer,--old Hickman would be left to his remedies in Banco or Equity; +and who knows what might turn up one day or other to strengthen the +honest cause?" + +"I scarcely concur in your suggestion, sir." + +"How the devil should you? There are neither declarations to draw, +nor affidavits to swear, no motions, nor rules, nor replies, no +declarations, no special juries! No, Bicknell, I never suspected your +approval of my plan. It would not cost a single skin of parchment." + +Though Daly spoke this sarcasm bitterly, it produced no semblance of +irritation in the man of law, who was composedly occupied in perusing a +document before him. + +"I have made memoranda," said Bicknell, "of certain points for counsel's +opinion, and as soon as we can obtain some information as to the +authenticity of young Darcy's signature, we shall see our way more +clearly. The case is not only a complicated but a gloomy one; our +antagonists are acute and wealthy, and I own to you the prospect is far +from good." + +"The better counsel mine," said Daly, sternly; "I have little faith in +the justice that hangs upon the intelligence of what you facetiously +call twelve honest men; methinks the world is scarcely so well supplied +with the commodity that they are sure to answer the call of +the sheriff. It is probable, however,--nay, it is more than +probable,--Darcy will be of your mind, and reject my advice; if so, +there is nothing for it but the judge and jury, and he will be despoiled +of his property by the law of the land." + +Bicknell knew too well the eccentric nature of Daly's character, in +which no feature was more prominent than his hatred of everything like +the recognized administration of the law, to offer him any opposition, +and merely repeating his previous determination to seek the advice of +able counsel, he took his leave. + +"There is some deep mystery in this business," said Daly to himself, as +he paced the room alone; "Bicknell is right in saying that Gleeson would +not have committed an act of unnecessary cruelty, nor, if he had paid +the money, would he have failed to leave the bond among his papers. +Every circumstance of this fellow's flight is enveloped in doubt, and +Freney, the only man who appears to have suspected his intention, +by some mischance is not now to be found; Sandy has not succeeded in +meeting with the boy, notwithstanding all his efforts. What can this be +owing to? What machinery is at work here? Have the Hick-mans their +share in this?" Such were the broken sentences he muttered, as, in turn, +suspicions tracked each other in his mind. + +Daly was far too rash, and too impetuous in temper, to be well +qualified for an investigation of so much difficulty. Unable to weigh +probabilities with calmness, he was always the victim of his own +prejudices in favor of certain things and people; and to escape from the +chaotic trouble of his own harassed thoughts, he was ever ready to adopt +some headlong and desperate expedient, in preference to the quieter +policy of more patient minds. + +"Yes, faith," said he, "my plan is the best after all; and who knows but +by showing the bold front we may reduce old Hickman's pretensions, or +at least make a compromise with him. There are plenty of arms and +ammunition,--eight stout fellows would hold the inner gate tower against +a battalion,--we could raise the country from Mur-risk to Killery +Harbor; and one gun fired from the Boat Quay would bring the fishermen +from Clare Island and Achill to the rescue,--we 'd soon make a signal +they 'd recognize; old Hickman's house, with all its porticos and +verandas, would burn like tinder. If they are for law, let them begin, +then." + +The door opened as he spoke these words, and Sandy entered cautiously. +"There is a countryman without wha says he's come a long way to see your +honor, and maun see you this night." + +"Where from?" + +"Fra' the West, I think, for he said the roads were heavy down in them +parts." + +"Let him come in," said Daly; and, with his hands crossed behind his +back, he continued to walk the room. "Some poor fellow for a renewal of +his lease, or an abatement, or something of that kind,--they 'll never +learn that I 'm no longer the owner of that estate that still bears my +name, and they cling to me as though I had the power to assist them, +when I'm defenceless for myself. Well, what is it? Speak out, man,--what +do you want with me?" + +The individual to whom this question was addressed stood with his +back to the door, which he had cautiously shut close on entering, but, +instead of returning an answer to the question, he cast a long and +searching glance around the room, as if to ascertain whether any other +person was in it. The apartment was large, and, being dimly lighted, it +took some time to assure him that they were alone; but when he had +so satisfied himself-, he walked slowly forward into the light, and, +throwing open his loose coat of gray frieze, exhibited the well-known +figure of Freney the robber. + +"What, Freney!--the man of all Ireland I wish to see." + +"I thought so, sir," said the other, wiping his forehead with his +hand, for he was flushed and heated, and seemed to have come off a +long journey. "I know you sent for me, but I was unable to meet your +messenger, and I can seldom venture to send that young villain Jemmy +into the capital,--the police are beginning to know him, and he 'll be +caught one of these days." + +"You were n't in Kildare, then?" said Daly. + +"No, sir, I was in the far West,--down in Mayo. I had a little business +in Ballina a short time back, and some fellow who knew me, and thought +the game a safe one, stole my brown horse out of the inn-stable, in the +broad noon-day, and sold him at the fair green at Ballinasloe. When I +tell you that he was the best animal I ever crossed, I need n't say +what the loss was to me; the nags you saw were broken-down hackneys in +comparison. He was strong in bone and untiring, and I kept him for the +heavy country around Boyle and down by Longford. It is not once, nor +twice, but a dozen times, Matchlock has saved me from a loop and a +leap in the air; but the rascal that took him well knew the theft was +safe,--Freney, the highwayman, could scarcely lodge informations with a +magistrate." + +"And you never could hear traces of him?" "Yes, that I did, but it cost +me time and trouble too. I found that he was twice sold within one week. +Dean Harris bought him, and sold him the day after." Here Freney gave a +low cunning laugh, while his eyes twinkled with malignant drollery. + +"He did n't think as highly of him as you did, Freney?" "Perhaps he had +n't as good reason," said the robber, laughing. "He was riding home from +an early dinner with the bishop, and as he was cantering along the side +of the road, a chaise with four horses came tearing past. Matchlock, +true to his old instinct, but not knowing who was on his back, broke +into a gallop, and in half a dozen strides brought the dean close up to +the chaise window, when the traveller inside sent a bullet past his ear +that very nearly made a vacancy in the best living of the diocese. As I +said, sir, the dean had had enough of him; he sold him the next morning, +and that day week he was bought by a young fellow in the West whom I +found out to be a grandson of old Hickman." + +"Was he able to ride a horse like this?" said Daly, doubtfully. + +"Ride him?--ay; and never a man in the province brought a beast to a +leap with a lighter hand and a closer seat in the saddle. We were side +by side for three miles of a stiff country, and I don't believe I 'm +much of a coward,--at any rate, I set very little value on my neck; but, +I 'll tell you what, sir, he pushed me hard." + +"How was this, then? Had you a race together?" "It was something very +like it, sir," said Freney, laughing; "for when I reached Westport, I +heard that young O'Reilly was to ride a new brown horse that day +with the hounds, and a great hunt was expected, to show some English +gentlemen who were staying at Gwynne Abbey. So I went off early to +Hooley's forge, near the cross-roads, to see the meet, and look out for +my man. I did n't want any one to tell me which he was, for I 'd know +Matchlock at half a mile distance. There he was, in splendid condition +too, and looking as I never saw him look before; by my conscience, +Mr. Daly, there's a wide difference between the life of a beast in the +stables of a county member, and one that has to stretch his bones in the +shealing of such as myself. My plan was to go down to the cover, and the +moment the fox broke away, to drive a bullet through my horse's head, +and be off as hard as I could; for, to tell you the truth, it was spite +more than the value of him was grieving me; so I took my own horse +by the bridle, and walked down to where they were all gathered. I was +scarcely there when the dogs gave tongue, and away they went,--a grand +sight it was, more than a hundred red-coats, and riding close every man +of them. Just then, up comes Matchlock, and takes the fence into the +field where I was standing, a stone wall and a ditch, his rider handling +him elegantly, and with an easy smile, sitting down in his saddle as if +it was child's play. Faith, I could n't bring myself to fire the shot, +partly for the sake of the horse, more too, maybe, for the sake of the +rider. 'I 'll go a bit beside him,' said I to myself; for it was a real +pleasure to me to watch the way how both knew their business well. I +'m making a long story of it, but the end of it was this: I took the +Crumpawn river just to dare him, and divil a bit but he fell in,--no +fault of his, but the bank was rotten, and down they went; the young +fellow had a narrow escape of it, but he got through it at last, and, as +he lay on the grass more dead than alive, I saw Matchlock grazing just +close to me. Temptations are bad things, Mr. Daly, particularly when a +man has never trained himself off them; so I slipped the bridle over his +head, and rode away with him beside me." + +[Illustration: 368] + +"Carried him off?" + +"Clean and clever; he's at the hall-door this minute: and, by the same +token, sixty-four miles he has covered this day." + +"There's only one part of the whole story surprises me; it is that this +fellow should have ridden so boldly and so well. I know such courage is +often no more than habit: yet even that lower quality of daring I never +should have given him credit for. Was he hurt by his fall?" + +"Stunned, perhaps, but nothing the worse." + +"Well, well, enough of him. I wanted to see you, Freney, to learn +anything you may know of this fellow Gleeson's flight. It's a sad affair +for my friend the Knight of Gwynne." + +"So I've heard, sir. It's bad enough for myself, too." + +"For you! He was not your man of business, was he?" said Daly, with a +sly laugh. + +"No, sir, I generally manage my money matters myself; but he happened to +have a butler, one Garrett by name, who betted smartly on the turf, and +played a little with the bones besides. He was a steady-going chap that +knew a thing or two, but honest enough in booking up when he lost; he +borrowed two hundred from me on the very day they started; he owed me +nearly three besides, and I never saw him since. They say that when his +master jumped overboard, Jack Garrett laid hands on all his property, +and sailed for America; but I don't believe it, sir." + +"Well, but, Freney, you may believe it, for I was the means of an +investigation at Liverpool in which the fact transpired, and the name +of John Garrett was entered in the ship-agent's books; I read it there +myself." + +"No matter for that, he dared not venture into the States. I know +something of Jack's doings among the Yankees, and depend upon it, Mr. +Daly, he's not gone; it's only a blind to stop pursuit." + +Daly shook his head dubiously, for, having satisfied himself of +Garrett's escape when at Liverpool, he felt annoyed at any discredit +attaching to what he deemed his own discovery. + +"Take my word for it, Mr. Daly, I 'm right this time; you cannot think +what an advantage a man like me possesses in guessing at the way another +rogue would play his game. Why, sir, I know every turn and double such +a fellow as Garrett would make. Now, I 'd wager Matchlock against a +car-horse that he has not left England, and I 'd take an even bet he 'll +be at the Spring Meeting at Doncaster." + +"This may be all as you say, Freney," said Daly, after a pause, "and yet +I see no reason to suppose it can interest me, or my friend either. He +might know something of Gleeson's affairs; he might, perhaps, be able to +tell something of the payment of that sum at Kildare; if so--" + +"If so," interrupted Freney, "money would buy the secret; at all events, +I'm determined he shall not escape me so easily. I 'll follow the fellow +to the very threshold of Newgate but I 'll have my own,--it is for +that purpose I 'm on my way now. A fishing-boat will sail from Howth by +to-morrow's tide, and land me somewhere on the Welsh coast, and, if I +can serve you, why, it's only doing two jobs at the same time. What are +the points you are anxious to discover?" + +Daly reflected for a few moments, and then with distinctness detailed +the several matters on which he desired information, not only regarding +the reasons of Gleeson's embarrassments, but the nature of his intimacy +with old Hickman, of which he entertained deep suspicions. + +"I see it all," said Freney. "You think that Gleeson was in league with +the doctor?" + +Daly nodded. + +"That was my own notion, too. Ah, sir, if I 'd only the King's pardon in +my pocket this night, and the power of an honest man for one month, I +'d stake my head on it, but I would have the whole mystery as clear as +water." + +"You 'll want some money, Freney," said Daly, as he turned to the table, +and, taking up a key, unlocked the writing-case. "I 'm not as rich just +now as a Member of Parliament might be after such a Bill as the Union, +but I hope this may be of some service;" and he took a fifty-pound note +from the desk to hand it to him, but Freney was gone. He had slipped +noiselessly from the room; the bang of the hall-door was heard at the +instant, and immediately after the tramp of a horse as he trotted down +the street. + +"The world all over!" said Daly to himself. "If the man of honor and +integrity has his flaws and defects, even fellows like that have their +notions of principle and delicacy too. Confound it! mankind will never +let me love or hate them." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. "A LEAVE-TAKING." + +At Gwynne Abbey, time sped fast and pleasantly; each day brought its own +enjoyments, and of the Knight's guests there was not one who did not in +his heart believe that Maurice Darcy was the very happiest man in the +kingdom. + +Lord Netherby, the frigid courtier, felt, for the first time, perhaps, +in his life, how much cordiality can heighten the pleasures of social +intercourse, and how the courtesy of kind feeling can add to the +enjoyments of refined and cultivated tastes. Lady Eleanor had lost +nothing of the powers of fascination for which her youth had been +celebrated, and there was, in the very seclusion of her life, that +which gave the charm of novelty to her remarks on people and events. The +Knight himself, abounding in resources of every kind, was a companion +the most fastidious or exacting could not weary of; and as for Helen, +her captivations were acknowledged by those who, but a week before, +would not have admitted the possibility of any excellence that had not +received the stamp of London approval. + +Crofton could never expatiate sufficiently on the delights of an +establishment which, with the best cook, the best cellar, and the best +stable, called not upon him for the exercise of the small talents and +petty attentions by which his invitations to great houses were usually +purchased; while the younger men of the party agreed in regarding their +friend Lionel as the most to be envied of all their acquaintance. + +Happiness, perhaps, shines more brightly by reflected light; certainly +Lionel Darcy never felt more disposed to be content with the world, +and, although not devoid of a natural pride at exhibiting to his English +friends the style of his father's house and habits, yet was he far more +delighted at the praises he heard on every side of the Knight himself. +Maurice Darcy possessed that rarest of all gifts, the power of being +a delightful companion to younger men, without ever detracting in +the slightest degree from the most rigid tone of good taste and +good principle. The observation may seem an illiberal one, but it is +unhappily too true, that even among those who from right feeling would +be incapable of anything mean or sordid, there often prevails a laxity +in expression and a libertinism of sentiment very far remote from their +real opinions, and, consequently, such as flatter this tendency are +frequently the greatest favorites among them. The Knight, not less from +high principle than pride, rejected every such claim; his manly, joyous +temperament needed no aids to its powers of interesting and amusing; +his sympathies went with young men in all their enthusiasm for sport; he +gloried in the exuberance of their high spirits, and felt his own youth +come back in the eager pleasure with which he listened to their plans of +amusement. + +It may well be believed with what sorrow to each the morning dawned that +was to be the last of their visit. These last times are sad things! +They are the deaths of our affections and attachments; for assuredly the +memory we retain of past pleasures is only the unreal spirit of a world +we are to know of no more,--not alone the records of friends lost or +dead, but of ourselves, such as we once were, and can never again be; +of a time when hope was fed by credulity, and could not be exhausted by +disappointment. They must have had but a brief experience of life who do +not see in every separation from friends the many chances against their +meeting again, least of all, of meeting unchanged, with all around them +as they parted. + +These thoughts, and others like them, weighed heavily on the hearts of +those who now assembled for the last time beneath the roof of Gwynne +Abbey. + +It was in vain that Lionel suggested various schemes of pleasure for the +day; the remembrance that it was the last was ever present, and while +every moment seemed precious, there was a fidgety impatience to be about +and stirring, mingled with a desire to loiter and linger over the spot +so associated with pleasant memories. + +A boating party to Clare Island, long planned and talked over, could +find now no advocates. All Lionel's descriptions of the shooting along +the rocky shores of the bay were heard unheeded; every one clung to the +abbey, as if to enjoy to the very last the sense of home happiness +they had known there. Even those less likely to indulge feelings of +attachment were not free from the depressing influence of a last day. +Nor were these sentiments confined to the visitors only. Lady Eleanor +experienced a return of her former spirits in her intercourse with those +whose habits and opinions all reminded her of the past, and would gladly +have prolonged a visit so full of pleasant recollections. The request +was, however, in vain; the Earl was to be in waiting early in the +following week, Lionel's leave was only regimental, and equally limited, +and each of the others had engagements and projects no less fixed and +immutable. + +In little knots of two and three they spent the day wandering about from +place to place, to take a last look of the great cliff, to visit for the +last time the little wood path, whose every turning presented some new +aspect of the bay and the shore. Lord Netherby attached himself to the +Knight, devoting himself with a most laudable martyrdom to a morning in +the farm-yard and the stable, where, notwithstanding all his efforts, +his blunders betrayed how ill-suited were his habits to country life and +its interests. He bore all, however, well and heroically, for he had an +object in view, and that, with him, was always sufficient to induce +any degree of endurance. Up to this moment he had scarcely enjoyed an +opportunity of conversing with the Knight on the subject of politics. +The few words they had exchanged at the cover side were all that passed +between them, and although they conveyed sentiments very remote from his +own, he did not entirely despair of gaining over one who evidently was +less actuated by party motives than impressed by the force of strong +personal convictions. + +"Such a man will, of course," thought the Earl, "be in the Imperial +Parliament, and carry with him great influence on every question +connected with Ireland; his support of the Ministry will be all the more +valuable that his reputation is intact from every stain of corruption. +To withdraw him from his own country by the seductions of London life +would not be easy, but he may be attached to England by ties still more +binding." Such were some of the reasonings which the wily peer revolved +in his mind, and to whose aid a fortunate accident had in some measure +contributed. + +"I believe I have never shown you our garden, my Lord," said the Knight, +who, at last taking compassion on the suffering complaisance of the +Earl, proposed this change. "The season is scarcely the most flattering, +but we are early in this part of Ireland. What say you if we walk +thither?" + +The plan was at once approved of, and after a short circuit through a +shrubbery, they crossed a large orchard, and, ascending a gentle slope, +they entered the garden, which rose in successive terraces behind the +abbey, and commanded a wide prospect over the bay and the sea beyond it. +Lord Netherby's admiration was not feigned, as he turned his eyes around +and beheld the extent and beauty of that cultivated scene, which, in the +brightness of a spring morning, glittered like a gem on the mountain's +side. The taste alone was not the engrossing thought of his mind, but +he reflected on the immense expenditure such a caprice must have cost, +terraced as the ground was into the very granite rock, and the earth all +supplied artificially. The very keeping these parterres in order was a +thing of no mean cost. Not all the terrors of his own approaching fate +could deprive Darcy of a sense of pride as he watched the expression of +the Earl's features, surprise and wonder depicted in every lineament. + +"How extensive the park is," said the courtier, at length, half ashamed, +as it seemed, of giving way to his amazement; "are those trees yonder +within your grounds?" + +"Yes, my Lord: the wood at that point where you see the foam splashing +up is our limit in that direction; on this side we stretch away somewhat +further." + +"Whose property, then, have we yonder, where I see the village?" + +"It is all the Gwynne estate," said the Knight, with difficulty +repressing the sigh that rose as he spoke. + +"And the town?" + +"The town also. The worthy monks took a wide circuit, and, by all +accounts, did not misuse their wealth. I sadly fear, my Lord, their +successors were not as blameless." + +"A noble possession, indeed!" said the Earl, half aloud, and not +attending to Darcy's remark. "Are you certain, my dear Knight, that you +have made your political influence at all commensurate with the amount +of either your property or your talents? An English gentleman with an +estate like this, and ability such as yours, might command any position +he pleased." + +"In other words, my Lord, he might barter his independence for the +exercise of a precarious power, and, in ceasing to dispense the duties +of a landed proprietor, he might become a very considerable ingredient +in a party." + +"I hope you do not deem the devoir of a country gentleman incompatible +with the duties of a statesman?" + +"By no means; but I greatly regret the gradual desertion of social +influence in the search after political ascendency. I am not for the +working of a system that spoils the gentry, and yet does not make them +statesmen." + +"And yet the very essence of our Constitution is to connect the power of +Government with the possession of landed property." + +"And justly so, too; none other offers so little in return as a mere +speculation. None is so little exposed to the casualties which affect +every other kind of wealth. The legitimate influence of the landed +gentry is the safeguard of the State; but if, by the attractions of +power, the flatteries of a Court, or the seductions of Party, you +withdraw them from the rightful sphere of its exercise, you reduce them +to the level of the Borough members, without, perhaps, their technical +knowledge or professional acquirements. I am for giving them a +higher position,--the heritage of the bold barons, from whom they are +descended: but to maintain this, they must live on their own estates, +dispense the influences of their wealth and their morals in their own +native districts, be the friend of the poor man, the counsellor of the +misguided, the encourager of the weak; know and be known to all around, +not as the corrupt dispensers of Government patronage, but the guardians +of those whose rights are in their keeping for defence and protection. +I would have them with their rightful influence in the Senate; an +influence which should preponderate in both Houses. Their rank and +education would be the best guarantee for the safety and wisdom of +their counsels, their property the best surety for the permanence of +the institutions of the State. Suddenly acquired wealth can scarcely be +intrusted with political power; it lacks the element of prudent caution, +by which property is maintained as well as accumulated; it wants also +the prestige of antiquity as a claim to respect; and, legislate as you +will, men will look back as well as forward." + +Lord Netherby made no reply; he thought the Knight, perhaps, was venting +his own regrets at the downfall of a political ascendency he wished to +see vested in men of his own station,--a position they had long enjoyed, +and which, in some respects, had placed them above the law. + +"You lay more store by such ties, Knight," said the Earl, in a low, +insinuating voice, "than we are accustomed to do. Blood and birth have +suffered less admixture with mere wealth here than with us." + +"Perhaps we do, my Lord," said Darcy, smiling; "it is the compensation +for our poverty. Unmixed descent is the boast of many who have retained +nothing of their ancestors save the name." + +"But you yourself can scarcely be an advocate for the maintenance of +these opinions: this spirit of clan and chieftainship is opposed, not +only to progress, but to liberty." + +"I have given the best proof of the contrary," said Darcy, laughing, +"by marrying an Englishwoman,--a dereliction, I assure you, that cost me +many a warm supporter in this very country." + +"Indeed! By the way, I am reminded of a subject I wished to speak of +to you, and which I have been hesitating whether I should open with my +cousin Eleanor or yourself; the moment seems, however, propitious,--may +I broach it?" + +Darcy bowed courteously, and the other resumed:-- + +"I will be brief, then. Young Beauclerk, a friend of your son Lionel, +has been, as every one younger and older than himself must be, greatly +taken by the charms of Miss Darcy. Brief as the acquaintance here has +been, the poor fellow is desperately in love, and, while feeling how +such an acknowledgment might prejudice his chance of success on so short +an intimacy, he cannot leave this without the effort to secure for his +pretensions a favorable hearing hereafter. In fact, my dear Knight, he +has asked of me to be his intercessor with you,--not to receive him as a +son-in-law, but to permit him to pay such attentions as, in the event of +your daughter's acceptance, may enable him to make the offer of his hand +and fortune. I need not tell you that in point of position and means he +is unexceptionable; a very old Baronetcy,--not one of these yesterday +creations made up of State Physicians and Surgeons in Ordinary,--an +estate of above twelve thousand a year. Such are claims to look high +with; but I confess I think he could not lay them at the feet of one +more captivating than my fair Helen." + +Darcy made no reply for several minutes; he pressed his hand across his +eyes, and turned his head away, as if to escape observation; then, with +an effort that seemed to demand all his strength, he said,-- + +"This is impossible, my Lord. There are reasons--there are circumstances +why I cannot entertain this proposition. I am not able to explain them; +a few days more, and I need not trouble myself on that subject." + +The evident agitation of manner the Knight displayed astonished his +companion, who, while he forebore to ask more directly for its reason, +yet gently hinted that the obstacles alluded to might be less stringent +than Darcy deemed them. + +Darcy shook his head mournfully, and Lord Netherby, though most anxious +to divine the secret of his thoughts, had too much breeding to continue +the subject. + +Without any abruptness, which might have left an unpleasant impression +after it, the polished courtier once more adverted to Beauclerk, but +rather in a tone of regret for the youth's own sake than with any +reference to the Knight's refusal. + +"There was a kind of selfishness in my advocacy, Knight," said he, +smiling. "I was--I am--very much depressed at quitting a spot where I +have tasted more true happiness than it has been my fortune for many +years to know, and I wish to carry away with me the reflection that +I had left the germ of even greater happiness behind me; if Helen, +however--" + +"Hush!" said Darcy; "here she comes, with her mother." + +"My dear Lady Eleanor," said Lord Netherby, "you have come to see me +forget all the worldliness it has cost me a life to learn, and actually +confess that I cannot tear myself away from the abbey." + +"Well, my Lord," interposed Tom Nolan, who had just come up with a +large walking party, "I suppose it's only ordering away the posters, and +staying another day." + +"No, no, by Jove!" cried Crofton; "my Lord is in waiting, and I'm on +duty." + +While the groups now gathered together from the different parts of the +garden, Lord Netherby joined Beauclerk, who awaited him in a distant +alley, and soon after the youth was seen returning alone to the abbey. + +The time of bustle and leave-taking--that moment when many a false smile +and merry speech ill conceals the secret sorrow--was come, and each +after each spoke his farewell; and Lord Netherby, kindly pledging +himself to make Lionel's peace at the Horse Guards for an extended +absence of some days, thus conferred upon Lady Eleanor the very greatest +of favors. + +"Our next meeting is to be in London, remember," said the peer, in his +blandest accents. "I stand pledged to show my countrymen that I have +nothing extenuated in speaking of Irish beauty;--nay, Helen, it is my +last time, forgive it." + +"There they go," said Darcy, as he looked after the retiring equipages. +"Now, Eleanor, and my dear children, come along with me into the +library. I have long been struggling against a secret sorrow; another +moment would be more than I could bear." + +They turned silently towards the abbey, none daring, even by a look, to +interrogate him whose sad accents foreboded so much evil; yet as they +walked they drew closer around him, and seemed even by that gesture to +show that, come what might, they would meet their fortune boldly. + +Darcy moved on for some minutes sunk in thought; but as he ascended the +wide steps of the terrace, appearing to read the motives of those who +clung so closely to his side, he smiled sadly, and said, "Ay! I knew it +well,--in weal or woe--together!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. "SAD DISCLOSURES." + +The vicissitudes of life are never more palpably displayed before us +than when the space of a few brief hours has converted the scene of +festivity and pleasure into one of gloom and sorrow, when the same +silent witnesses of our joy should be present at our affliction. Thus +was it now in the richly adorned chambers of Gwynne Abbey, so lately +filled with happy faces and resounding with pleasant voices,--all +was silent. Iu the courtyard, but a day before crowded with brilliant +equipages and gay horsemen, the long shadows lay dark and unbroken, and +the plash of the fountain was the only sound in the stillness. Over that +wide lawn no groups on foot or horseback were to be seen; the landscape +was fair and soft to look upon; the mild radiance of a spring morning +beamed on the water and the shore, the fresh budding trees, and the tall +towers; and the passing traveller who might have stopped to gaze upon +that princely dwelling and its swelling woods, might have thought it an +earthly paradise, and that they who owned it must needs be above worldly +cares and afflictions. + +The scene within the walls was very unlike this impression. In a +darkened room, where the close-drawn curtains excluded every ray of +sunshine, sat Helen Darcy by the bedside of her mother. Lady Eleanor had +fallen asleep after a night of intense suffering, both of mind and +body, and her repose even yet exhibited, in short and fitful starts, the +terrible traces of an agony not yet subdued. Helen was pale as death; +two dark circles of almost purple hue surrounded her eyes, and her +cheeks seemed wasted: yet she had not wept. The overwhelming amount of +misfortune had stunned her for a moment or two, but, recalled to active +exertion by her mother's illness, she addressed herself to her task, and +seemed to have no thought or care save to watch and tend her. It was +only at last when, wearied out by suffering, Lady Eleanor fell into a +slumber that Helen's feelings found their vent, and the tears rolled +heavily along her cheek, and dropped one by one upon her neck. + +Her sorrow was indeed great, for it was unalloyed by one selfish +feeling; her grief was for those a thousand times more dear to her than +herself, nor through all her affliction did a single thought intrude of +how this ruin was also her own. + +The Knight was in the library, where he had passed the night, lying down +at short intervals to catch some moments' rest, and again rising to +walk the room and reflect upon the coming stroke of fortune. Lionel had +parted from him at a late hour, promising to go to bed; but, unable to +endure the gloom of his own thoughts in his chamber, he wandered out +into the woods, and strolled on without knowing or caring whither, till +day broke. The bodily exertion at length induced sleep, and after a few +hours' deep repose he joined his father, with few traces of weariness or +even sorrow. + +It was not without a struggle on either side that they met on that +morning, and as Darcy grasped his son's hand in both his own, his lip +trembled, and his strong frame shook with agitation. Lionel's ruddy +cheek and clear blue eye seemed to reassure the old man's courage; and +after gazing on him steadfastly with a look where fatherly love and +pride were blended, he said, "I see, my boy, the old blood of a Darcy +has not degenerated--you are well to-day?" + +"Never was better in my life," said Lionel, boldly; "and if I could +only think that you, my mother, and Helen had no cause for sorrow, I 'd +almost say I never felt my spirits higher." + +"My own brave-hearted boy," said Darcy, throwing his arms around the +youth's neck, while the tears gushed from his eyes and a choking stopped +his utterance. + +"I see your letters have come," said Lionel, gently disengaging himself, +and affecting a degree of calmness his heart was very far from feeling. +"Do they bring us any news?" + +"Nothing to hope from," said Darcy, sorrowfully. "Daly has seen +Hickman's solicitors, and the matter is as I expected: Gleeson did not +pay the bond debt; his journey to Kildare was, probably, undertaken to +gain time until the moment of the American ship's sailing. He must have +meditated this step for a considerable time, for it now appears that his +losses in South America occurred several years back, though carefully +screened from public knowledge. The man was a cold, calculating +scoundrel, who practised peculation systematically and slowly; his +resolve to escape was not a sudden notion,--these are Bagenal Daly's +impressions at least, and I begin to feel their force myself." + +"Does Daly offer any suggestion for our guidance, or say how we should +act?" said Lionel, far more eager to meet the present than speculate on +either the past or the future. + +"Yes; he gives us a choice of counsels, honestly confessing that his own +advice meets little support or sympathy with the lawyers. It is to hold +forcible possession of the abbey, to leave Hickman to his remedy by +law, and to defy him when he has even got a verdict; he enumerates very +circumstantially all our means of defence, and exhibits a very hopeful +array of lawless probabilities in our favor. But this is a counsel +I would never follow; it would not become one who has in a long +life endeavored to set the example among the people of obedience and +observance to law, to obliterate by one act of rashness and folly the +whole force of his teaching. No, Lionel, we are cleanhanded on this +score, and if the lesson, be a heavy one for ourselves, let it not be +profitless for our poor neighbors. This is your own feeling too, my boy, +I'm certain." + +Lionel bit his lip, and his cheek grew scarlet; when, after a pause, he +said, "And the other plan, what is that?" + +"The renewed offer of his cottage on the northern coast, a lonely +and secluded spot, where we can remain at least until we determine on +something better." + +"Perhaps that may be a wiser course," muttered the youth, half aloud; +"my mother and Helen are to be thought of first. And yet, father, I. +cannot help thinking Daly's first counsel has something in it." + +"Something in it! ay, Lionel, that it has,--the whole story of our +country's misery and degradation. The owner of the soil has diffused +little else among the people than the licentious terror of his own +unbridled passion; he has taught lawless outrage, when he should have +inculcated obedience and submission. The corruption of our people has +come from above downwards; the heavy retribution will come one day; and +when the vices of the peasant shall ascend to the master, the social +ruin will be complete. To this dreadful consummation let us lend no aid. +No, no, Lionel, sorrow may be lessened by time; but remorse is undying +and eternal." + +"I must leave the Guards at once," said the young man, pacing the room +slowly, and endeavoring to speak with an air of calm composure, while +every feature of his face betrayed the agitation he suffered; "an +exchange will not be difficult to manage." + +"You have some debts, too, in London: they must be cared for +immediately." + +"Nothing of any large amount; my horses and carriages when sold will +more than meet all I owe. Have you formed any guess as to what income +will be left you to live on?" said he, in a voice which anxiety made +weak and tremulous. + +"Without Daly's assistance, I cannot answer that point; the extent of +this fellow Gleeson's iniquity seems but half explored. The likelihood +is, that your mother's jointure will be the utmost we can save from the +wreck. Even that, however, will be enough for all we need, although, +from motives of delicacy on her part, it was originally set down at a +very small sum,--not more than a thousand per annum." + +A long silence now ensued. The Knight, buried in thought, sat with his +arms crossed, and his eyes bent upon the ground. Lionel leaned on the +window-frame and looked out upon the lawn; nothing stirred, no sound was +heard save the sharp ticking of the clock upon the mantelpiece, which +marked with distinctness every second, as if reminding them of the +fleeting moments that were to be their last beneath that roof. + +"This is the 24th, if I remember aright," said Darcy, looking up at the +dial; "at noon, to-day, we are no longer masters here." + +"The Hickmans will scarcely venture to push matters to such extremities; +an assurance that we are willing to surrender peaceable possession will, +I trust, be sufficient to prevent the indecency of a rapid flight from +our own house and home." + +"There are legal forms of possession to be gone through, I believe," +said the Knight, sorrowfully; "certain observances the law exacts, which +would be no less painful for us to witness than the actual presence of +our successors." + +"Who can this be? I saw a carriage disappear behind the copse yonder. +There it is again, coming along by the lake." + +"Daly--Bagenal Daly, I hope and trust!" exclaimed Darcy, as he stood +straining his eyes to catch the moving object. + +"I think not; the horses do not look like posters. Heaven grant we have +no visitors at such a time as this!" + +The carriage, although clearly visible the moment before, was now +concealed from view by an angle of the wood, nor would it again be in +sight before reaching the abbey. + +"Your mother's indisposition is reason sufficient not to receive them," +said Darcy, almost sternly. "I would not continue the part I have played +during the last week, no, not for an hour longer, to be assured of +rescue from every difficulty. The duplicity went nigh to break my heart; +ay, and it would have done so, or driven me mad, had the effort been +sustained any further." + +"You did not expect any one, did you?" asked Lionel, eagerly. + +"Not one; there's a mass of letters, with invitations and civil +messages, there on the table, but no proffered visits among them." + +Lionel walked to the table and turned over the various notes which lay +along with newspapers and pamphlets scattered about. + +"Ay," muttered the Knight, in a low tone, "they read strangely now, +these plans of pleasure and festivity, when ruin is so near us; the kind +pressings to spend a week here, and a fortnight there. It reminds me, +Lionel,"--and here a smile of sad but sweet melancholy passed across his +features,--"it reminds me of the old story they tell of my grand-uncle +Robert. He commanded the 'Dreadnought,' under Drake, at Cape St. +Vincent, and at the close of a very sharp action was signalled to come +on board the admiral's vessel to dinner. The poor 'Dreadnought' was like +a sieve, the sea running in and out through her shot-holes, and her +sails hanging like rags around her, her deck covered with wounded, and +slippery with gore. Captain Darcy, however, hastened to obey the command +of his superior, changed his dress and ordered his boat to be manned; +but this was no easy matter, there was scarcely a boat's crew to be had +without taking away the men necessary to work the ship. The difficulty +soon became more pressing, for a plank had suddenly sprung from a +double-headed shot, and all the efforts of the pumps could not keep the +vessel afloat, with a heavy sea rolling at the same time. + +"'The admiral's signal is repeated, sir,' said the lieutenant on duty. + +"'Very well, Mr. Hay; keep her before the wind,' was the answer. + +"'The ship is settling fast, sir,' said the master; 'no boat could live +in that sea; they 're all damaged by shot.' + +"'Signal the flag-ship,' cried out Darcy; 'signal the admiral that I am +ready to obey him, but we 're sinking.' + +"The bunting floated at the mast-head for a moment or two, but the waves +were soon many fathoms over it, and the 'Dreadnought' was never seen +more." + +"So it would seem," said Lionel, with a half-bitter laugh, "we are not +the first of the family who went down head foremost. But I hear a voice +without. Surely old Tate is not fool enough to admit any one." + +"Is it possible--" But before the Knight could finish, the old butler +entered to announce Mr. Hickman O'Reilly. Advancing towards the Knight +with a most cordial air, he seemed bent on anticipating any possible +expression of displeasure at his unexpected appearance. + +"I am aware, Knight," said he, in an accent the most soft and +conciliating, "how indelicate a visit from me at such a moment may +seem; but if you accord me a few moments of private interview, I hope to +dispel the unpleasant impression." He looked towards Lionel as he spoke, +and though he smiled his blandest of all smiles, evidently hinted at the +possibility of his leaving them alone together. + +"I have no confidences apart from my son, sir," said Darcy, coldly. + +"Oh, of course not--perfectly natural at Captain Darcy's age--such a +thought would be absurd; still, there are circumstances which might +possibly excuse my request--I mean--" + +Lionel did not suffer him to finish the sentence, but, turning abruptly +round, left the room, saying as he went, "I have some orders to give in +the stable, but I'll not go further away if you want me." + +"Now, sir," said the Knight, haughtily, "we are alone, and not likely to +be interrupted; may I ask, as a great favor, that in any communication +you may have to make, you will be as brief as consists with your object; +for, to say truth, I have many things on my mind, and many important +calls to attend to." + +"In the first place, then," said Hickman, assuming a manner intended to +convey the impression of perfect frankness and candor, "let me make +a confession, which, however humiliating to avow, would be still +more injurious to hold in reserve. I have neither act nor part in the +proceedings my father has lately taken respecting your mutual dealings. +Not only that he has not consulted me, but every attempt on my part to +ascertain the course of events, or mitigate their rigor, has been met +by a direct, not unfrequently a rude, repulse." He waited at this +pause for the Knight to speak, but a cold and dignified bow was all the +acknowledgment returned. "This may appear strange and inexplicable in +your eyes," said O'Reilly, who mistook the Knight's indifference for +incredulity, "but perhaps I can explain." + +"There is not the slightest necessity to do so, Mr. O'Reilly; I have no +reason to doubt one word you have stated; for not only am I ignorant of +what the nature and extent of the proceedings you allude to may be, but +I am equally indifferent as to the spirit that dictates or the number of +advisers that suggest them; pardon me if I seem rude or uncourteous, but +there are circumstances in life in which not to be selfish would be +to become insensible; my present condition is, perhaps, one of them. A +breach of trust on the part of one who possessed my fullest confidence +has involved all, or nearly all, I had in the world. The steps by which +I am to be deprived of what was once my own are, as regards myself, +matters of comparative indifference; with respect to others"--here he +almost faltered--"I hope they may be dictated by proper feeling and +consideration." + +"Be assured they shall, sir," said Mr. O'Reilly; and then, as if +correcting a too hasty avowal, added, "but I have the strongest hopes +that the matters are not yet in such an extremity as you speak of. It is +true, sir, I will not conceal from you, my father is not free from the +faults of age; his passion for money-getting has absorbed his whole +heart, to the exclusion of many amiable and estimable traits; to enforce +a legal right with him seems a duty, and not an option; and I may +mention here that your friend, Mr. Daly, has not taken any particular +pains towards conciliating him; indeed, he has scarcely acted a prudent +part as regards you, by the unceasing rancor he has exhibited towards +our family." + +"I must interrupt you, sir," said the Knight, "and assure you that, +while there are unfortunately but too many topics which could pain me +at this moment, there is not one more certain to offend me than any +reflection, even the slightest, on the oldest friend I have in the +world." + +Mr. O'Reilly denied the most remote intention of giving pain, and +proceeded. "I was speaking of my father," said he, "and however +unpleasant the confession from a son's lips, I must say that the +legality of his acts is the extent to which they claim his observance. +When his solicitors informed him that the interest was unpaid on your +bond, he directed the steps to enforce the payment, and subsequently to +foreclose the deed. These are, after all, mere preliminary proceedings, +and in no way preclude an arrangement for a renewal." + +"Such a proposition--let me interrupt you--such a proposition is wholly +out of the question; the ruin that has cost us our house and home has +spared nothing. I have no means by which I could anticipate the payment +of so large a sum, nor is it either my intention or my wish to reside +longer beneath this roof." + +"I hope, sir, your determination is not unalterable; it would be the +greatest affliction of my life to think that the loss to this county of +its oldest family was even in the remotest degree ascribed to us. The +Darcys have been the boast and pride of western Ireland for centuries; +our county would be robbed of its fairest ornament by the departure of +those who hold a princely state and derive a more than princely devotion +among us." + +"If our claims had no other foundation, Mr. O'Reilly, our altered +circumstances would now obliterate them. To live here with diminished +fortune--But I ask pardon for being led away in this manner; may I beg +that you will now inform me to what peculiar circumstances I owe the +honor of your visit?" + +"I thought," said O'Reilly, insinuatingly, "that I had mentioned the +difference of feeling entertained by my father and myself respecting +certain proceedings at law." + +"You are quite correct, you did so; but I may observe, without +incivility, that however complimentary to your own sense of delicacy +such a difference is, for me the matter has no immediate interest." + +"Perhaps, with your kind permission, I can give it some," replied +O'Reilly, drawing his chair close, and speaking in a low and +confidential voice; "but in order to let my communication have the value +I would wish it, may I bespeak for myself a favorable hearing and a kind +construction on what I shall say? If by an error of judgment--" + +"Ah!" said Darcy, sighing, while a sad smile dimpled his mouth--"ah! no +man should be more lenient to such than myself." + +As if reassured by the kindly tone of these few words, O'Reilly +resumed:-- + +"Some weeks ago my father waited upon Lady Eleanor Darcy with a +proposition which, whether on its own merits, or from want of proper +tact in his advocacy of it, met with a most unfavorable reception. It is +not because circumstances have greatly altered in that brief +interval--which I deeply regret to say is the case--that I dare to augur +a more propitious hearing, but simply because I hope to show that in +making it we were actuated by a spirit of honorable, if not of laudable, +ambition. The rank and position my son will enjoy in this county, his +fortune and estate, are such as to make any alliance, save with your +family, a question of no possible pretension. I am well aware, sir, of +the great disparity between a new house and one ennobled by centuries of +descent. I have thought long and deeply on the interval that separates +the rank of the mere country gentleman from the position of him who +claims even higher station than nobility itself; but we live in +changeful times: the Peerage has its daily accessions of rank as humble +as my own; its new creations are the conscripts drawn from wealth as +well as distinction in arms or learning, and in every case the new +generation obliterates the memory of its immediate origin. I see you +agree with me; I rejoice to find it." + +"Your observations are quite just," said Darcy, calmly, and O'Reilly +went on:-- + +"Now, sir, I would not only reiterate my father's proposal, but I would +add to it what I hope and trust will be deemed no ungenerous offer, +which is, that the young lady's fortune should be this estate of Gwynne +Abbey, not to be endowed by her future husband, but settled on her by +her father as her marriage portion. I see your meaning,--it is no longer +his to give: but we are ready to make it so; the bond we hold shall be +thrown into the fire the moment your consent is uttered. We prefer a +thousand times it should be thus, than that the ancient acres of this +noble heritage should even for a moment cease to be the property of your +house. Let me recapitulate a little--" + +"I think that is unnecessary," said Darcy, calmly; "I have bestowed +the most patient attention to your remarks, and have no difficulty in +comprehending them. Have you anything to add?" + +"Nothing of much consequence," said O'Reilly, not a little pleased by +the favorable tone of the Knight's manner; "what I should suggest in +addition is that my son should assume the name and arms of Darcy--" + +The noise of footsteps and voices without at this moment interrupted +the speaker, the door suddenly opened, and Bagenal Daly entered. He +was splashed from head to foot, his high riding-boots stained with +the saddle and the road, and his appearance vouching for a long and +wearisome journey. + +"Good morrow, Darcy," said he, grasping the Knight's hand with the grip +of his iron fingers.--"Your servant, sir; I scarcely expected to see you +here _so soon_." + +The emphasis with which he spoke the last words brought the color to +O'Reilly's cheek, who seemed very miserable at the interruption. + +"You came to take possession," continued Daly, fixing his eyes on him +with a steadfast stare. + +"You mistake, Bagenal," said the Knight, gently; "Mr. O'Reilly is come +with a very different object,--one which I trust he will deem it no +breach of confidence or propriety in me if I mention it to you." + +"I regret to say, sir," said O'Reilly, hastily, "that I cannot give my +permission in this instance. Whatever the fate of the proposal I +have made to you, I beg it to be understood as made under the seal of +honorable secrecy." + +Darcy bowed deeply, but made no reply. + +"Confound me," cried Daly, "if I understand any compact between two such +men as you to require all this privacy, unless you were hardy enough to +renew your old father's proposal for my friend's daughter, and now had +modesty enough to feel ashamed of your own impudence." + +"I am no stranger, sir, to the indecent liberties you permit your tongue +to take," said Hickman, moving towards the door; "but this is neither +the time nor place to notice them." + +"So then I was right," cried Daly; "I guessed well the game you would +play--" + +"Bagenal," interposed the Knight, "I must atop this. Mr. Hickman is now +beneath my roof--" + +"Is he, faith?--not in his own estimation then. Why, his fellows are +taking an inventory of the furniture at this very moment." + +"Is this true, sir?" said Darcy, turning a fierce look towards O'Reilly, +whose face became suddenly of an ashy paleness. + +"If so," muttered he, "I can only assure you that it is without any +orders of mine." + +"How good!" said Daly, bursting into an insolent laugh; "why, Darcy, +when you meet with a fellow in your plantations with a gun in his hand +and a lurcher at his heels, are you disposed to regard him as one in +search of the picturesque, or a poacher? So, when a gentleman travels +about the country with a sub-sheriff in his carriage and two bailiffs in +the rumble, does it seem exactly the guise of one paying morning calls +to his neighbors?" + +"Mr. O'Reilly, I ask you to explain this proceeding." + +"I confess, sir," stammered out the other, "I came accompanied by +certain persons in authority, but who have acted in this matter entirely +without my permission. The proposal I have made this day was the cause +of my visit." + +"It is a subject on which I can no longer hold any secrecy," said the +Knight, haughtily. "Bagenal, you were quite correct in your surmise. Mr. +O'Reilly not only intended us the honor of an alliance, but offered to +merge the ancient glories of his house by assuming the more humble name +and shield of Darcy." + +"What! eh! did I hear aright?" said Daly, with a broken voice; while, +walking to the window, he looked down into the lawn beneath, as if +calculating the height from the ground. "By Heaven, Darcy, you 're the +best-tempered fellow in Europe--that 's all," he muttered, as he walked +away. + +The door opened at this moment, and the shock bullet head of a bailiff +appeared. + +"That's Mr. Daly! there he is!" cried out O'Reilly, who, pale with +passion and trembling all over, supported himself against the back of +a chair with one hand, while with the other he pointed to where Daly +stood. + +"In that case," said the fellow, entering, while he drew a slip of paper +from his breast, "I 'll take the opportunity of sarvin' him where he +stands." + +"One step nearer! one step!" said Daly, as he took a pistol from the +pocket of his coat. + +The man hesitated and looked at O'Reilly, as if for advice or +encouragement; but terror and rage had now deprived him of all +self-possession, and he neither spoke nor signed to him. + +"Leave the room, sir," said the Knight, with a motion of his hand to the +bailiff; and the ruffian, whose office had familiarized him long with +scenes of outrage and violence, shrank back ashamed and abashed, and +slipped from the room without a word. + +"I believe, Mr. O'Reilly," continued Darcy, with an accent calm and +unmoved,--"I believe our conference is now concluded. I will not insult +your own acuteness by saying how unnecessary I feel any reply to your +demand." + +"In that case," said O'Reilly, "may I presume that there is no objection +to proceed with those legal formalities which, although begun without my +knowledge, may be effected now as well as at any other period?" + +"Darcy, there is but one way of dealing with that gentleman--" + +"Bagenal, I must insist upon your leaving this matter solely with me." + +"Depend upon it, sir, your interests will not gain by your friend's +counsels," said O'Reilly, with an insolent sneer. + +"Such another remark from your lips," said Darcy, sternly, "would make +me follow them, if they went so far as--" + +"Throwing him neck and heels out of that window," broke in Daly; "for I +own to you it's the course I 'd have taken half an hour ago." + +"I wish you good morning, Mr. Darcy," said O'Reilly, addressing him +for the first time by the name of his family instead of his usual +designation; and without vouchsafing a word to Daly, he retired from the +room. + +It was not until O'Reilly's carriage drove past the window that either +Darcy or his friend uttered a syllable; they stood apparently lost in +thought up to that moment, when the noise of wheels and the tramp of +horses aroused them. + +"We must lose no time, Bagenal," said the Knight, hastily; "I cannot +count very far on that gentleman's delicacy or forbearance. Lady Eleanor +must not be exposed to the indignities the law will permit him to +practise towards us; we must, if possible, leave this to-night;" and +so saying, he left the room to make arrangements in accordance with his +resolve. + +Bagenal Daly looked after him for a moment. "Poor fellow!" muttered he, +"how manfully he bears it!" When a sudden flush that covered his cheek +bespoke a rapid change of sentiment, and at the same instant he left the +room, and, crossing the hall and the courtyard, walked hastily towards +the stables. + +"Saddle a horse for me, Carney, and as fast as may be." + +"Here's a mare ready this minute, sir; she was going out to take her +gallop." + +"I'll give it, then," said Daly, as he buttoned up his coat; and then, +breaking off a branch of the old willow that hung over the fountain, +sprang in the saddle with an alertness that would not have disgraced a +youth of twenty. + +"There he goes," muttered the old huntsman, as he looked after him, "and +there is n't the man between this and Killy-begs can take as much out +of a baste as himself. 'T is quiet enough the mare will be when he turns +her head into this yard again." + +Whatever Daly's purpose, it seemed one which brooked little delay, for +no sooner was he on the sward than he pushed the mare to a fast gallop, +and was seen sweeping along the lawn at a tremendous pace. In less than +ten minutes he saw O'Reilly's carriage, as, in a rapid trot, the horses +advanced along the level avenue, and almost the moment after, he +had stationed himself in the road, so as to prevent their proceeding +further. The coachman, who knew him well, came to a stop at his signal, +and before his master could ask the reason, Daly was beside the window +of the chariot. + +"I would wish a word with you, Mr. O'Reilly," said he, in a low, subdued +voice, so as to be inaudible to the sub-sheriff, who was seated beside +him. "You made use of an expression a few moments ago, which, if I +understood aright, convinces me I have unwittingly done you great +injustice." + +O'Reilly, whose ashy cheek and affrighted air bespoke a heart but ill at +ease, made no reply, and Daly went on,-- + +"You said, sir, that neither the time nor the place suited the notice +you felt called upon to take of my remarks on your conduct. May I ask, +as a very great favor, what time and what place will be more convenient +to you? And I cannot better express my own sense of regret for a hasty +expression than by assuring you that I shall hold myself bound to be at +your service in both respects." + +"A hostile meeting, sir, is that your proposition?" said O'Reilly, +aloud. + +"How admirably you read a riddle!" said Daly, laughing. + +"There, Mr. Jones!" cried O'Reilly, turning to his companion, "I call +on you to witness the words,--a provocation to a duel offered by this +gentleman." + +"Not at all," rejoined Daly; "the provocation came from yourself,--at +least, you used a phrase which men with blood in their veins understand +but one way. My error--and I 'll not forgive myself in haste for it--was +the belief that an upstart need not of necessity be a poltroon.--Drive +on," cried he to the coachman, with a sneering laugh; "your master is +looking pale." And, with these words, he turned his horse's head, and +cantered slowly back towards the abbey. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. TATE SULLIVAN'S FAREWELL + +The sorrows and sufferings of noble minds are melancholy themes to dwell +upon; they may "point a moral," but they scarcely "adorn a tale," least +of all such a tale as ours is intended to be. While, therefore, we would +spare our readers and ourselves the pain of this narration, we cannot +leave that old abbey, which we remember so full of happiness, without +one parting look at it, in company with those about to quit it forever. + +From the time of Mr. O'Reilly's leave-taking, the day, notwithstanding +its gloomy presage, went over rapidly. The Knight busied himself +with internal arrangements, while Lionel took into his charge all the +preparations for their departure on the morrow, Bagenal Daly +assisting each in turn, and displaying an amount of calm foresight and +circumspection in details which few would have given him credit for. +Meanwhile, Lady Eleanor slept long and heavily, and awoke, not +only refreshed in body, but with an appearance of quiet energy and +determination she had not shown for years past. Great indeed was the +Knight's astonishment on hearing that she intended joining them at +dinner; in her usual habit she dined early, and with Helen alone for her +companion, so that her present resolve created the more surprise. + +Dinner was ordered in the library, and poor old Tate, by some strange +motive of sympathy, took a more than common pains in all the decorations +of the table. The flowers which Lady Eleanor was fondest of decked the +centre--alas, there was no need to husband them now! on the morrow who +was to care for them?--a little bouquet of fresh violets marked her +place at the table, and more than a dozen times did the old man hesitate +how the light should fall through the large window, and whether it +would be more soothing to his mistress to look abroad upon that fair +and swelling landscape so dear to her, or more painful to gaze upon the +scenes she should never see more. + +"If it was myself," muttered old Tate, "I'd like to be looking at it +as long as I could, and make it follow me in my dhrames after; but sure +there 's no knowing how great people feels! they say they never has the +same kind of thought as us!" + +Poor fellow, he little knew how levelling is misfortune, and that the +calamities of life evoke the same sufferings in the breast of the king +and the peasant. With a delicacy one more highly born might have been +proud of, the old butler alone waited at dinner, well judging that his +familiar face would be less irksome to them than the prying looks of the +other servants. + +If there are people who can expend much eloquent indignation on those +social usages which exact a certain amount of decorous observance in +all the trials and crosses of life, there is a great deal to be said +in favor of that system of conventional good-breeding whose aim is to +repress selfish indulgence, and make the individual feel that, whatever +his own griefs, the claims of the world demand a fortitude and a bearing +that shall not obtrude his sorrows on his neighbors. That the code +may be abused, and become occasionally hypocritical in practice, is no +argument against it; we would merely speak in praise of that well-bred +forbearance which always merges private afflictions in the desire to +make others happy. To instance our meaning, we would speak of those who +now met at dinner in the old library of Gwynne Abbey. + +It would be greatly to mistake us to suppose that we uphold any show +or counterfeit of kindliness where there is no substance of the feeling +behind it; we merely maintain that the very highest and most acute +sympathy is not inconsistent with a bearing of easy, nay, almost +cheerful character. So truly was it the case here that old Tate Sullivan +more than once stood still in amazement at the tranquil faces and +familiar quietude of those who, in his own condition of life, could have +found no accents loud or piercing enough to bewail their sorrow, and +whom, even with his long knowledge of them, he could scarcely acquit of +insensibility. + +There is a contagion in an effort of this kind most remarkable. The +light and gentle attempts made by Lady Eleanor to sustain the spirits of +the party were met by sallies of manly good-humor by the Knight himself, +in which Lionel and Helen were not slow to join, while Bagenal Daly +could scarcely repress his enthusiastic delight at the noble and +high-souled courage that sustained them one and all. + +While by a tacit understanding they avoided any allusion to the painful +circumstances of their late misfortune, the Knight adroitly turned the +conversation to their approaching journey northwards, and drew from Daly +a description of "the Corvy" that actually evoked a burst of downright +laughter. From this he passed on to speak of the peasantry, so unlike in +every trait those of the South and West; the calm, reflective character +of their minds, uninfluenced by passion and unmarked by enthusiasm, were +a strong contrast to the headlong impulse and ardent temperament of the +"real Irish." + +"You 'll scarcely like them at first, my dear Helen--" + +"Still less on a longer acquaintance," broke in Helen. "I 'll not +quarrel with the caution and reserve of the Scotchman,--the very mists +of his native mountains may teach him doubt and uncertainty of purpose; +but here at home, what have such frames of mind and thought in common +with our less calculating natures?" + +"It were far better had they met oftener," said the Knight, +thoughtfully; "impulse is only noble when well directed; the passionate +pilots are more frequently the cause of shipwreck than of safety." + +"Nothing so wearisome as the trade-winds," said Helen, with a saucy toss +of the head; "eh, Lionel, you are of my mind?" + +"They do push one's temper very hard now and then," said Daly, with a +stern frown; "that impassive habit they have of taking everything as in +the common order of events is, I own, somewhat difficult to bear with. +I remember being run away with on a blood mare from a little village +called Ballintray. The beast was in high condition, and I turned her, +without knowing the country, at the first hill I could see; she breasted +it boldly, and, though full a quarter of a mile in length, never +shortened stride to the very summit. What was my surprise, when I gained +the top, to see that we were exactly over the sea. It was a cliff which, +projecting for some distance out, was fissured by an immense chasm, +through which the waves passed; not very wide, but deep enough to make +it a very awful leap. Over it she went, and then, when I expected her to +dash onwards, and was already preparing to fling myself from the saddle, +she stood stock still, trembling all over, and snorting with fear at +the danger around her. At the same instant, a hard-featured old fellow +popped his head up from amid the tall fern which he had been cutting +for thatch for his cabin, and looked at me, not the slightest sign of +astonishment in his cold, rigid countenance. + +"'Ye 'll no get back so easy, my bonnie mon,' said he, with the +slightest possible approach to a smile. + +"'Get back! no, faith, I 'll not try it,' said I, looking at the yawning +gulf, through which the wild waves boiled, and the opposite bank several +feet higher than the ground I stood upon. + +"'I thought sae,' was the rejoinder; when, rising slowly, he leisurely +walked round the mare, as she stood riveted by fear to the one spot. +'I 'll gie ye sax shilling for the hide o' her forbye the shoes,' added +he, with a voice as imperturbable as though he were pricing the +commonest commodity of a market. + +"I confess it was fortunate that the ludicrous was stronger in me at the +moment than indignation, for if I had not laughed at him I might have +done worse." + +"I could not endure such a peasantry," said Helen, as soon as the mirth +the anecdote called forth had subsided. + +"It's quite true," said Daly, "they have burlesqued Scotch prudence +in the same way that the Anglo-Hibernian has travestied the Irish +temperament. It is the danger of all imitators, they always transgress +the limits of their model." + +"It is fortunate," broke in the Knight, "that traits which conciliate so +little the stranger should win their way on nearer intimacy; and such I +believe to be the case with the Ulster peasant." + +"You are right," said Daly; "no man can detest more cordially than I +do the rudeness that is assumed to heighten a contrast with any good +quality behind it. In most instances the kernel is not worth the trouble +of breaking off the husk; but with the Northerner this is not the case: +in his independence he neither apes the equality of the Frenchman nor +the license of the Yankee. That he suffices for himself, and seeks +neither patron nor protector, is the source of honest pride, and if +this sometimes takes the guise of stubbornness, let us remember that the +virtue was reared in poverty, without encouragement or example." + +"And the gentry," said Lady Eleanor, "have they any trace of these +peculiarities observable among the people?" + +"Gentry!" said Daly, impetuously, "I know of none. There are some +thrifty families, who, by some generations of hard saving, have risen +to affluence and wealth. They are keen fellows, given to +money-getting,--millers some of them, bleachers most, with a tenantry +of weavers, and estates like the grass-plot of a laundry. They are as +crafty and as calculating as the peasant, shrewd as stockbrokers at a +bargain, and as pretentious as a Prince Palatine with a territory +the size of Merrion Square. Gentry! they have neither ancestry nor +tradition; they hold their estates from certain Guilds, whose +very titles are a parody upon gentle breeding,--fishmongers and +clothworkers!" + +"I will not be their champion against you, Bagenal, but I cannot help +feeling how heavily they might retort upon us. These same prudent and +prosaic landlords have not spent their fortunes in wasteful extravagance +and absurd display; they have not rackrented their tenantry that they +might rival a neighbor." + +"I am sincerely rejoiced," interposed Lady Eleanor, smiling, "that my +English relative, Lord Netherby, was not a witness to this discussion, +lest he should fancy that, between the wastefulness of the South and +the thrift of the North, this poor island was but ill provided with a +gentry. Pray, Mr. Daly, how does your sister like the North? She is our +neighbor, is she not?" + +"Yes,--that is to say, a few miles distant," said Daly, confusedly; +for he had never acknowledged that "the Corvy" had been Miss Daly's +residence. "Of the neighborhood she knows nothing; she is not free from +my own prejudices, and lives a very secluded life." + +The conversation now became broken and unconnected, and the party soon +after retired to the drawing-room, where, while Lady Eleanor and Helen +sat together, the Knight, Daly, and Lionel gathered in a little knot, +and discussed, in a low tone, the various steps for the coming journey, +and the probable events of the morrow. + +It was agreed upon that Daly should accompany the Darcys to the North, +whither Sandy was already despatched, but that Lionel should remain at +the abbey for some days longer, to complete the arrangements necessary +for the removal of certain family papers and the due surrender of the +property to its new owner; after which he should repair to London, and +procure his exchange into some regiment of the line, and, if +possible, one on some foreign station,--the meeting with friends and +acquaintances, under his now altered fortunes, being judged as a trial +too painful and too difficult to undergo. + +Again they all met around the tea-table, and once more they talked in +the same vein of mutual confidence; each conscious of the effort by +which he sustained his part, and wondering how the others summoned +courage to do what cost himself so much. They chatted away till near +midnight, and when they shook hands at separating, it was with feelings +of affection to which sorrow had only added fresh and stronger ties. + +Daly stood for some time alone in the library, wondering within himself +at the noble fortitude with which they severally sustained their +dreadful reverse. It is only the man of stout heart can truly estimate +the higher attributes of courage; but even to him these efforts seemed +surprising. "Ay," muttered he, "each nobly upholds the other; it is +opposing a hollow square to fortune: so long as they stand firm and +together, well! let but one quail and falter, let the line be broken, +and they would be swept away at once and forever." Taking a caudle from +the table, he left the room, and ascended the wide staircase towards his +chamber. All was still and noiseless, and to prevent his footsteps being +heard, he entered the little corridor which opened on the gallery of the +refectory, the same from which Forester first caught sight of the party +at the dinner-table. + +He had scarcely, with careful hand, closed the door behind him, when, +looking over the balustrades of the gallery, he beheld a figure moving +slowly along in the great apartment beneath, guided by a small lamp, +which threw its uncertain light rather on the wall than on the form of +him who carried it. Suddenly stopping before one of the large portraits +which in a long succession graced the chamber, the light was turned +fully round, so as to display the broad and massive features of old Tate +Sullivan. Curious to ascertain what the old man might be about in such +a place at such an hour, Daly extinguished the candle to watch him +unobserved. Tate was dressed in his most accurate costume: his long +cravat, edged with deep lace, descended in front of his capacious white +waistcoat; silver buckles, of a size that showed there was no parsimony +of the precious metal, shone in his shoes; and his newly powdered wig +displayed an almost snowy lustre. His gestures were in accordance with +the careful observances of his toilet; he moved along the floor with a +slow, sliding step, bowing deeply and reverentially as he went, and with +all the courtesy he would have displayed if ushering a goodly company +into the state drawing-room. + +Bagenal Daly was not left long to speculate on honest Tate's intentions; +and although to a stranger's eyes the motives might have seemed strange +and dubious, the mystery was easily solved to him, who knew the old man +well and thoroughly. He was there to take a last look, and bid farewell +to those venerable portraits, who for more than half a century were +enshrined in his memory like saints. Around them were associated all the +little incidents of his peaceful life; they were the chroniclers of his +impressions in boyhood, in manhood, and in age; he could call to mind +the first moments he gazed on them in awe-struck veneration; he could +remember the proud period when the duty first devolved upon him of +describing them to the strangers who came to see the abbey; in the +history of all and each of them he was well read, versed in their noble +achievements, their triumphs in camp or cabinet. To his eyes they formed +a long line of heroic characters, of which the world had produced no +equal; they realized in his conception the proud eulogy of the Bayards, +"where all the men were brave, and all the women virtuous;" and it is +not improbable that his devotion to his master was in a great measure +ascribable to that awe-struck admiration with which he regarded his +glorious ancestors. + +The old man stood, and, holding the lamp above his head, gazed in +respectful admiration at the grim figure of a Knight in armor. There +might have been little to charm the lover of painting in the execution +of the picture, and the mere castle-builder could scarcely have indulged +his fancy in weaving a story from the countenance of the portrait, for +the vizor was down, and he stood in all the unmoved sternness of his +iron prison, with his glaived hands elapsed upon the cross of a long +straight sword. Tate gazed on him for some moments. Heaven knows with +what qualities of mind or person the old man had endowed him, for while +to others he was only Sir Gavin Darcy, first Knight of Gwynne, Tate in +all likelihood had invested him with traits of character and appearance, +of which that external shell was the mere envelope. + +"We're going, Sir Gavin," muttered the old man, as if addressing the +portrait; "'tis the ould stock is laving the place, never to see it +more; 't is your own proud heart will be sorry to-day to look down upon +us. Ah, ah!" muttered he, "the world is changed; there was times when a +Darcy would n't quit the house of his fathers without a blow for it--aud +they say we are better now!" With a heavy sigh he passed on, and stood +before the next picture. "Yes, my Lady," said he, "ye may well cry that +lost the two beautiful boys the same morning, fighting side by side; but +there's heavier grief here now: the brave youths sleep in peace and in +honor; but we have no home to shelter us!" + +With a slow step and bent-down head, he tottered on, and, placing the +lamp upon the floor, crossed his arms upon his breast. "'Tis you that +can help us now," said he as he cast a timid and imploring glance at the +goodly countenance and rotund figure of Bernhard Emmeric, fourth Abbot +of Gwynne; "'tis your reverence can offer a prayer for your own blood +that's in sore trouble and distress. Do it, my Lord; do it in the name +of the Vargin. Smiling and happy you look, but it 's sorrowful your +heart is in you to see what's going on here. Them, them was the happy +days, when it was n't the cry of grief was heard beneath this roof, but +the heavenly chants of holy men, and the prayers of the blessed mass." +He knelt down as he said this, and with trembling lips and tearful eyes +recited some verses from his breviary. + +This done, he arose, and, as if with renovated courage, proceeded on his +way. + +"Reginald Herbert de Guyon! ah! second Baron of Gwynne, Lord Protector +of Munster, Knight of Malta, Chevalier of St. John of Jerusalem, +Standard-Bearer to the Queen! and well you desarve it all! 'T is +yourself sits your horse like a proud nobleman!" He stood with eyes +riveted upon the picture, while his face glowed with intense enthusiasm, +and at last, as a bitter sneer passed across his lips, he added, "Ay, +faith! and them that comes after us won't like the look of you. 'T is +you that 'll never disguise from them your real mind, and every day they +'ll dine in the hall, that same frown will darken, and that same hand +will threaten them." + +He moved on now, and passed several portraits without stopping, +muttering as he went, "'T is more English than Irish blood is in your +veins, and you won't feel as much for us as the rest;" then, halting +suddenly, he stood before a tall figure, dressed in black velvet, with a +deep collar of point lace. A connoisseur of higher pretensions than poor +Tate might have gazed with even greater rapture at that splendid canvas, +for it was from the hand of Vandyke, and in his very best manner. The +picture represented the person of Sir Everard Darcy, Lord Privy Seal to +Charles I. It was a specimen of manly beauty and high blood such as the +great Fleming loved to paint; and even yet the proud and lofty forehead, +the deep-set brown eyes, the thin compressed lip, the long and somewhat +projecting chin, seemed to address themselves to the beholder with +traits of character more than mere painting is able to convey. Tate +approached the spot with an almost trembling veneration, and bowed +deeply before the haughty figure. "There was a time, Sir Everard, when +your word could make a duke or a marquis,--when your whisper in the +king's ear could bring grief or joy to any heart in the empire. Could +you do nothing for us now? They say you never were at a loss, no matter +what came to pass--that you were always ready-witted to save your master +from trouble--and oh! if the power hasn't left you, stand by us now. It +is not because your eyes are so bright, and that quiet smile is on your +lips, that your heart does not feel, for I know well that the day you +were beheaded you had the same look on you as you have now. I think I +see you this minute, as you lifted your head off the block to settle the +lace collar that the villain, the executioner, rumpled with his bloody +fingers,--I think I hear the words you spoke: 'Honest Martin, for all +your practice, you are but a clumsy valet.' Weil, well! 't is a +happier and a prouder day that same than to-morrow's dawn will bring to +ourselves. Yes, yes, my darlings," said Tate, with a benevolent smile, +as he waved his hand towards a picture where two beautiful children were +represented, sitting on the grass, and playing with flowers, "be happy +and amuse yourselves, in God's name; 'tis the only time for happiness +your lives ever gave you. Ah! and here 's your father, with a smile on +his face and a cheerful brow, for he had both till the day misfortune +robbed him of his children;" and he stood in front of a portrait of an +officer in an admiral's uniform. He was a distinguished member of +the Darcy family; but from the nature of his services, which were all +maritime, and the great number of years he had spent away from Ireland, +possessed less of Tate's sympathy than most of the others. + +"They say you didn't like Ireland; but I don't believe them. There never +was a Darcy did n't love the ould island; but I know well whose fault +it was if you did n't,--it was that dark villain that's standing at your +side, ould Harry Inchiquin, the renegade, that turned many a man against +his country. Ye may frown and scowl at me; but if you were alive this +minute, I 'd say it to your face. It was you that first brought gambling +and dicing under this blessed roof; it was you that sent the ould acres +to the hammer; 'twas you that loved rioting, and duelling, and every +wickedness, just like old Bagenal Daly himself, that never could sleep +in his bed if he had n't a fight on hand." + +[Illustration: 408] + +"What ho! you old reprobate!" called out Daly, in a voice which, echoing +under the arched roof, seemed rather to float through the atmosphere +than issue from any particular quarter. + +"Oh! marciful Father!" cried Tate, as, falling on his knees, the lamp +dropped from his fingers, and became extinguished,--"oh! marciful +Father! sure I did n't mane it; 't is what the lying books said of +you,--bad luck to the villains that wrote them! O God! pardon me; I +never thought you 'd hear me; and if it 's in trouble you are, I 'll say +a mass for you every day till Aaster, and one every Friday as long as I +live." + +A hoarse burst of laughter broke from Daly, while, pacing the gallery +with heavy tread, he went forth, banging the door behind him. The terror +was too great for poor Tate's endurance, and, with a faint cry for +mercy, he rolled down upon the floor almost insensible. + +When morning broke, he was found seated in the refectory, pale and +careworn; but no entreaty, nor no pressing, could elicit from him one +word of a secret in which he believed were equally involved the honor of +the dead and the safety of himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. A GLANCE AT PUBLIC OPINION IN THE YEAR 1800. + +Among the arrangements for the departure of the family from the abbey, +all of which were confided to Bagenal Daly, was one which he pressed +with a more than ordinary zeal and anxiety; this was, that they should +set out at a very early hour of the morning,--at dawn of day, if +possible. Lady Eleanor's habits made such a plan objectionable, and +it was only by representing the great sacrifice of feeling a later +departure would exact, when crowds of country people would assemble to +take their farewells of them forever, that she consented. While Daly +depicted the unnecessary sorrow to which they would expose themselves by +the sight of their old and attached tenantry, he strenuously preserved +silence on the real reason which actuated him, and to explain which a +brief glance at the state of public feeling at the period is necessary. + +To such a pitch of acrimony and animosity were parties borne by the +agitation which preceded the carrying of the "Union," that all previous +character and conduct of those who voted on the question were deemed as +nothing in comparison with the line they adopted on the one absorbing +subject. If none who advocated the Ministerial plan escaped the foulest +animadversions, all who espoused the opposite side were exalted to the +dignity of patriots; argument and reason went for little, principle for +still less: a vote was deemed the touchstone of honesty. Such rash and +hasty judgments suited the temper of the times, and, it may be said in +extenuation, were not altogether without some show of reason. Each day +revealed some desertion from the popular party of men who, up to that +moment, had rejected all the seductions of the Crown; country gentlemen, +hitherto supposed inaccessible to all the temptations of bribery, were +found suddenly addressing speculative letters to their constituencies, +wherein they ingeniously discussed all the contingencies of a measure +they had once opposed without qualification. Noblemen of high rank and +fortune were seen to pay long visits at the Castle, and, by a strange +fatality, were found to have modified their opinions exactly at the +period selected by the Crown to bestow on them designations of honor or +situations of trust and dignity. Lawyers in high practice at the bar, +men esteemed by their profession, and held in honor by the public, +were seen to abandon their position of proud independence, and accept +Government appointments, in many cases inferior both in profit and rank +to what they had surrendered. + +There seemed a kind of panic abroad. Men feared to walk without the +protective mantle of the Crown being extended over them; the barriers of +shame were broken down by the extent to which corruption had spread. +The examples of infamy were many, and several were reconciled to the +ignominy of their degradation by their associates in disgrace. That in +such general corruption the judgments of the public should have been +equally wholesale, is little to be wondered at; the regret is rather +that they were so rarely unjust and ill-bestowed. + +Public confidence was utterly uprooted; there was a national bankruptcy +of honor, and none were trusted; all the guarantees for high principle +and rectitude a lifetime had given, all the hostages to good faith years +of unimpeached honor bestowed, were forgotten in a moment, and such as +opposed the Government measure with less of acrimony or activity than +their neighbors, were set down "as waiting for or soliciting the bribery +of the Crown." + +To this indiscriminating censure the Knight of Gwynne was a victim. It +may be remarked that in times of popular excitement, when passions are +rife and the rude enthusiasm of the mass has beaten down the more calmly +weighed opinion of the few, that there is a strange pleasure felt in the +detection of any real or supposed lapse of one once esteemed. It were +well if this malignant delight were limited to the mere mob, but it is +not so; men of education and position are not exempt from its taint. +It would seem as if society were so thoroughly disorganized that every +feeling was perverted, and all the esteem for what is good and great had +degenerated into a general cry of exultation over each new instance of +tarnished honor. + +Accustomed as we now are to the most free and unfettered criticisms +of all public men and their acts, it would yet astonish any one not +conversant with that period, to look back to the newspapers of the time, +and see the amount of violence and personality with which every man +obnoxious to a party was visited; coarse invective stood in the place +of argument, a species of low humor had replaced the light brilliancy +of wit. The public mind, fed on grosser materials, had lost all appetite +for the piquancy of more highly flavored food, and the purveyors were +not sorry to find a market for a commodity which cost them so little +to procure. In this spirit was it that one of the most popular of the +Opposition journals announced for the amusement of its readers a series +of sketches under the title of "The Gallery of Traitors,"--a supposed +collection of portraits to be painted for the Viceroy, and destined to +decorate one of the chambers of the Castle. + +Not satisfied with aspersing the reputation, and mistaking the views of +any who sided with the Minister, the attack went further, and actually +ascribed the casualties which occurred to such persons or their families +as instances of divine vengeance. In this diabolical temper the Knight +of Gwynne was held up to reprobation; it was a bold thought to venture +on calumniating a man every action of whose life had placed him above +even slander, but its boldness was the warranty of success. The whole +story of his arrival in Dublin, his dinner with the Secretary, his +intimacy with Heffernan, was related circumstantially. The night on +which Heffernan entrapped him by the trick already mentioned, was quoted +as the eventful moment of his change. Then came the history of his +appearance in the House on the evening of the second reading: his +hesitation to enter, his doubts and waverings were all described, ending +with a minute detail of his compact with Lord Castlereagh, by which +his voting was dispensed with, and his absence from the division deemed +enough. + +Gleeson's flight and its consequences were soon known. The ruin of +Darcy's large fortune was a circumstance not likely to lose by public +discussion, particularly when the daily columns of a newspaper devoted +a considerable space to the most minute details of that catastrophe. It +was asserted that the Knight had sold himself for a Marqui-sate and a +seat in the English peerage; that his vote was deemed so great a prize +by the Minister that he might have made even higher terms, but in the +confidence of possessing a large fortune he had only bargained for rank, +and rejected every offer of mere emolument; and now came the dreadful +retribution on his treachery, the downfall of his fortune by the villany +of his agent. To assume a title when the very expense of the patent +could not be borne, was an absurdity, and this explained why Maurice +Darcy remained ungazetted. Such was the plausible calumny generally +circulated, and, alas for the sake of charity! scarcely less generally +believed. + +There are epidemics of credulity as of infidelity, and such a plague +raged at this period. Anything was believed, were it only bad enough. +While men, therefore, went about deploring, with all the sanctity of +self-esteem, the fall of Maurice Darcy, public favor, by one of those +caprices all its own, adopted the cause of his colleague, Hickman +O'Reilly. His noble refusal of every offer (and what a catalogue of +seductions did they not enumerate!) was given in the largest type. +They recounted, with all the eloquence of their calling, the glittering +coronets rejected, the places of honor and profit declined, the +dignities proffered in vain, preferring as he did the untitled rank of +a country gentleman, and the unpurchasable station of a true friend to +Ireland. + +He was eulogized in capital letters, and canonized among the martyrs +of patriotism; public orators belabored him with praises, and +ballad-singers chanted his virtues through the streets. Nor was this +turn of feeling a thing to be neglected by one so shrewd in worldly +matters. His sudden accession to increased fortune and the position +attendant on it, would, he well knew, draw down upon him many a sneer +upon his origin, and some unpleasant allusions to the means by which the +wealth was amassed. To anticipate such an ungrateful inquiry, he seized +the lucky accident of his popularity, and turned it to the best account. + +Whole "leaders" were devoted to the laudation of his character: the +provincial journals, less scrupulous than the metropolitan, boldly +asserted their knowledge of the various bribes tendered to him, and +threw out dark hints of certain disclosures which, although at +present refrained from out of motives of delicacy, should Mr. O'Reilly +ultimately be persuaded to make, the public would be horrified at the +extent to which corruption had been carried. + +The O'Reilly liveries, hitherto a modest snuff color, were now changed +to an emerald green; an Irish motto ornamented the garter of the family +crest; while the very first act of his return to the West was a splendid +donation to the chapel of Ballyraggan, or, as it was subsequently and +more politely named, the Church of St. Barnabas of Treves: all measures +dictated by a high-spirited independence, and a mind above the vulgar +bigotry of party. + +Had O'Reilly stopped here; had he contented himself with the preliminary +arrangements for being a patriot, it is probable that Bagenal Daly had +never noticed them, or done so merely with some passing sarcasm; but +the fact was otherwise. Daly discovered, in the course of his journey +westward, that the rumors of the Knight's betrayal of his party were +generally disseminated in exact proportion with the new-born popularity +of O'Reilly; that the very town of Westport, where Darcy's name was once +adored, was actually placarded with insulting notices of the Knight's +conduct, and scandalous aspersions on his character: jeering allusions +to his altered fortunes were sung in the villages as he passed along, +and it was plain that the whole current of popular opinion had set +strong against him. + +To spare his friend Darcy a mortification which Daly well knew would be +one of the greatest to his feelings, the early departure was planned and +decided on. It must not be inferred that because the Knight would have +felt deeply the unjust censure of the masses, he was a man to care or +bend beneath the angry menace of a mob; far from it. The ingratitude +towards himself would have called forth the least of his regrets; it was +rather a heartfelt sorrow at the hopeless ignorance and degradation +of those who could be so easily deceived,--at that populace whose +fickleness preferred the tinsel and trappings of patriotism to the acts +and opinions of one they had known and respected for years. + +Long before day broke, Daly was stirring and busied with all the +preparations of the journey; the travelling carriage, covered with its +various boxes and imperials, stood before the door in the courtyard; +the horses were harnessed and bridled in the stables; everything was +in readiness for a start; and yet, save himself and the stablemen, all +within the abbey seemed buried in slumber. + +Although it was scarcely more than five o'clock, Daly's impatience at +the continued quietude around him began to manifest itself; he walked +hastily to and fro, endeavoring to occupy his thoughts by a hundred +little details, till at last he found himself returning to the same +places and with the self-same objects again and again, while he muttered +broken sentences of angry comments on people who could sleep so soundly +at such a time. + +It was in one of those fretful moods he had approached the little +flower-garden of the sub-prior's house, when the twinkling of a light +attracted him: it came from the window of Lady Eleanor's favorite +drawing-room, and glittered like a star in the gloom of the morning. +Curious to see who was stirring in that part of the house, he drew near, +and, opening the wicket, noiselessly approached the window. He there +beheld Lady Eleanor, who, supported by Helen's arm, moved slowly along +the room, stopping at intervals, and again proceeding; she seemed to be +taking a last farewell of the various well-known objects endeared to her +by years of companionship; her handkerchief was often raised to her eyes +as she went, but neither uttered a syllable. Ashamed to have obtruded +even thus upon a scene of private sorrow, Daly turned back again to the +courtyard, where now the loud voice of the Knight was heard giving his +orders to the servants. + +The first greetings over, the Knight took Daly's arm and walked beside +him. + +"I have been thinking over the matter in the night, Bagenal," said he, +"and am convinced it were far better that you should remain with +Lionel; we can easily make our journey alone,--the road is open, and +no difficulty in following it; but that poor boy will need advice and +counsel. You will probably receive letters from Dublin by the post, with +some instructions how to act; in any case my heart fails me at leaving +Lionel to himself." + +"I 'll remain, then," replied Daly; "I'll see you the first stage out of +Westport, and then return here. It is, perhaps, better as you say." + +"There is another point," said Darcy, after a pause, and with evident +hesitation in his manner; "it is perfectly impossible for me to walk +through this labyrinth without your guidance, Bagenal,--I have neither +head nor heart for it,--you must be the pilot, and if you quit the helm +for a moment--" + +"Trust me, Maurice, I'll not do it," said Daly, grasping his hand with a +firm grip. + +"I know that well," said the Knight, as his voice trembled with +agitation; "I never doubted the will, Bagenal, it was the power only I +suspected. I see you will not understand me. Confound it! why should old +friends, such as we are, keep beating about the bush, or fencing like a +pair of diplomatists? I wanted to speak to you about that bond of yours: +there is something like seven thousand pounds lying to my credit +at Henshaw's; take what is necessary, and get rid of that scoundrel +Hickman's claim. If they should arrest you--" + +"I wish he had done so yesterday,--my infernal temper, that never will +let matters take due course, stopped the fellow; you can't see why, but +I'll tell you. I paid the money to Hickman's law-agent, in Dublin, the +morning I started from town, and they had not time to stop the execution +of the writ down here. Yes, Darcy, there was one drop more in the stoup, +and I drained it! The last few acres I possessed in the world, the old +estate of Hardress Daly, is now in the ownership of one Samuel Kerney, +grocer of Bride Street. I paid off Hickman, however, and found something +like one hundred and twenty-eight pounds afterwards in my pocket--but +let us talk of something else: you must not yield to these people +without a struggle; Bicknell says there are abundant grounds for a trial +at bar in the affair. If collusion between Hickman and Gleeson should +be proved, that many of the leases were granted with false signatures +annexed--" + +"I 'll do whatever men of credit and character counsel me," said the +Knight; "if there be any question of right, I 'll neither compromise nor +surrender it: I can promise no more. But here comes Lionel,--to announce +breakfast, perhaps." + +And so it was; the young man came towards them with an easy smile, +presenting a hand to each. If sorrow had sunk deeply into his heart, few +traces of grief were apparent in his manly, handsome countenance. + +Notwithstanding the efforts of the party, the breakfast did not pass +over as lightly as the dinner of the previous day; the eventful moment +of parting was now too near not to exclude every other subject, and even +when by an exertion some allusion to a different topic would be made, a +chance question, the entrance of a servant for orders, or the tramp of +horses in the courtyard, would suddenly bring back the errant thoughts, +and place the sad reality in all its force before them. + +Breakfast was over, and yet no one stirred; a heavy, dreary revery +seemed to have settled on all except Daly,--and he, from delicacy, +restrained the impatience that was working within him. In vain he sought +to catch Darcy's eye, and then Lionel's,--both were bent downward. Lady +Eleanor at last looked up, and at once seemed to read what was passing +in his mind. + +"I am ready," said she, in a low, gentle voice, "and I see Mr. Daly is +not sorry at it. Helen, dearest, fetch me my gloves." + +She arose, and the others with her. The calmness in which she spoke on +the theme that none dared approach, seemed also to electrify them, +when suddenly a low sob was heard, and the mother fell, in a burst of +anguish, into the arms of her son. + +"Eleanor, my dearest Eleanor!" said Darcy, as his pale cheek shook and +his lip trembled. As if recalled to herself by the words, she raised her +head, and, with a smile of deep-meaning sorrow, said,-- + +"It's the first tear I have yet shed; it shall be the last." Then, +taking Daly's arm, she walked steadily forward. + +"I have often wondered," said she, "at the prayer of a condemned felon +for a few hours longer of life; but I can understand it now. I feel as +if I could give life itself for another day within these walls, where +often I have pined with _ennui_. You will watch over Lionel for me, Mr. +Daly. When the world went fairly with us, calamities came softened,--as +the summer rain falls lighter in sunshine; but now, now that we have +lost so much, we cannot afford more." + +Daly's stern features grew sterner and darker; his lips were compressed +more firmly; he tried to say a few words, but a low, indistinct +muttering was all that came. + +The next moment the carriage door was closed on the party--they were +gone. + +Lionel stood gazing after them till they disappeared, and then, with a +slow step, re-entered the abbey. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. BAGENAL DALY'S RETURN + +Lionel Darcy bore up manfully against his altered fortunes so long as +others were around him, and that the necessity for exertion existed; but +once more alone within that silent and deserted house, all his courage +failed him at once, and he threw himself upon a seat and gave way to +grief. Never were the brighter prospects of opening life more cruelly +dashed, and yet his sorrow was for others. Every object about brought up +thoughts of that dear mother and sister, to whom the refinements of +life were less luxuries than wants. How were they to engage in the +stern conflict with daily poverty,--to see themselves bereft of all +the appliances which filled up the hours of each day? Could his mother, +frail and delicate as she was, much longer sustain the effort by which +she first met the stroke of fortune? Would not the reaction, whenever it +came, be too terrible to be borne? And Helen, too,--his sweet and lovely +sister,--she whom he had loved to think of as the admired of a splendid +Court; on whose appearance in the world he had so often speculated, +castle-building over the sensations her beauty and her gracefulness +would excite,--what was to be her lot? Deep and heartfelt as his sorrow +was for them, it was only when he thought of his father that Lionel's +anguish burst its bounds, and he broke into a torrent of tears. From +very boyhood he had loved and admired him; but never had the high +features of his character so impressed Lionel Darcy as when the reverse +of fortune called up that noble spirit whose courage displayed itself +in manly submission and the generous effort to support the hearts of +others. How cruel did the decrees of fate seem to him, that such a man +should be visited so heavily, while vice and meanness prospered on every +side. He knew not that virtue has no nobler attribute than its power of +sustaining unmerited affliction, and that the destiny of the good man is +never more nobly carried out than when he points the example of patience +in suffering. + +Immersed in such gloomy thoughts, he wandered on from room to room, +feeding, as it were, the appetite for sorrow, by the sight of every +object that could remind him of past happiness; nor were they few. There +was the window-seat he loved to sit in as a boy, when all the charm +of some high-wrought story could not keep his eyes from wandering at +intervals over the green hills where the lambs were playing, or adown +by that dark stream where circling eddies marked the leaping trout. Here +was Helen's favorite room, a little octagon boudoir, from every window +of which a different prospect opened; it seemed to breathe of her sweet +presence even yet; the open desk, from which she had taken some letter, +lay there upon the table, the pen she had last touched, the chair she +sat upon, all, even to the little nosegay of scarce-faded flowers, +the last she had plucked, teemed with her memory. He walked on with +bent-down head and tardy step, and entered the little room which, +opening on the lawn, was used by the Knight to receive such of the +tenantry as came to him for assistance or advice; many an hour had +he sat there beside his father, and, while listening with the eager +curiosity of youth to the little stories of the poor man's life, his +trials and his difficulties, imbibed lessons of charity and benevolence +never to be forgotten. + +The great square volume in which the Knight used to record his notes of +the neighboring poor, lay on the table; his chair was placed near it; +all was in readiness for his coming who was to come there no more! As +Lionel stood in silent sorrow, surveying these objects, the shadow of a +man darkened the window. He turned suddenly, and saw the tall, scarecrow +figure of Flury the madman. A large placard decorated the front of his +hat, on which the words "Down with the Darcys!" were written in capital +letters, and he carried in his hand a bundle of papers, like handbills, +which he shook with a menacing air at Lionel. + +"What is this, Flury?" said the youth, opening the window, and at the +same time snatching one of the papers from his hand. + + + +"It's the full account of the grand auction of Government hacks," said +Flury, with the sing-song intonation of a street-crier, "no longer +needed for the services of the Crown, and to be sowld without resarve." + +"And who sent you here with this?" said the young man, moderating his +tone, to avoid startling the other. + +"Connor Egan, Hickman's man, gave me a pint and a noggin of spirits to +cry the auction, and tould me to come up here and maybe you'd like to +hear of it ye'selves." + +Lionel threw his eyes over the offensive lines, where in coarse ribaldry +names the most venerable were held up to scorn and derision. If it was +some satisfaction to find that his father was linked in the ruffianly +attack with men of honor as unblemished as his own, he was not less +outraged at the vindictive cowardice that had suggested this insult. + +"There'll be a fine sight of people there, by all accounts," said Flury, +gravely, "for the auction-bills is far and near over the country, and +the Castlebar coach has one on each door." + +"Is popular feeling always as corrupt a thing as this?" muttered Lionel, +with a bitter sneer, while at the same time the door of the room was +opened, and Daly entered. His face was marked by a severe cut on one +cheek, from which the blood had flowed freely; a dark blue stain, as +of a blow, was on his chin, and one hand he carried enveloped in his +handkerchief; his clothes were torn besides in many places, and bore +traces of a severe personal conflict. + +"What has happened?" said Lionel, as he looked in alarm at the swollen +and blood-stained features. "Did you fall?" + +"Fall! no such thing, boy," replied Daly, sternly; "but some worthy folk +in Castlebar planned a little surprise for me this morning. They heard, +it seems, that we passed through the town by daybreak, but that I was to +return before noon; and so they placed some cars and turf creels in the +main street, opposite the inn, in such a way that, while seeming merely +accident, would effectually stop a horseman from proceeding. When I +arrived at the spot, I halted, and called out to the fellows to move +on, and let me pass. They took no heed of my words, and then I saw in a +moment what was intended. I had no arms; I had purposely left my +pistols behind me, for I feared something might provoke me, though not +anticipating such as this. So I got down and drew this wattle from the +side of a turf creel,--you see it is a strong blackthorn, and good +stuff too. Before I was in the saddle the word was passed, and the +whole street was full of people, and I now perceived that, by the same +manouvre as they employed in front, they had also closed the rear upon +me, and cut off my retreat. 'Now for it! now for it!' they shouted. +'Where's Bully Dodd?--Where's the Bully?' I suppose you know the +fellow?" + +"The man that was transported?" + +"The same. The greatest ruffian the country was cursed with. He came at +the call, without coat or waistcoat, his shirt-sleeves tucked up to his +shoulders, and a handkerchief round his waist ready for a fight. There +was an old quarrel between us, for it was I captured the fellow the day +after he burnt down Dawson's house. He came towards me, the mob opening +a way for him, with a pewter pot of porter in his hand. + +"'We want you to dhrink a toast for us, Mr. Daly,' said he, with a +marked courtesy, and a grin that amused the fellows around him. 'You +were always a patriot, and won't make any objections to it.' + +"'What is the liquor?' said I. + +"'Good porter,--divil a less,' cried the mob; 'Mol Heavyside's best.' +And so I took the vessel in my hands, and before they could say a +syllable, drained it to the bottom; for I was very thirsty with the +ride, and in want of something to refresh myself. + +"'But you did n't dhrink the toast,' said Dodd savagely. + +"'Where was the toast? He didn't say the words,' shouted the mob. + +"'Off with his hat, and make him drink it,' cried out several others +from a distance. They saved me one part of the trouble, for they knocked +off my hat with a stone. + +"'Here's health and long life to Hickman O'Reilly!' cried out +Dodd,--'that's the toast.' + +"'And what have I to wish him either?' said I, while at the same time I +tore open the pewter measure, and then with one strong dash of my band +drove it down on the ruffian's head, down to the very brows. I lost no +time afterwards, but, striking right and left, plunged forwards; the mob +fled as I followed, and by good luck the carthorses, getting frightened, +sprang forward also, and so I rode on with a few slight cuts; a stone +or two struck me, nothing more; but they 'll need a plumber to rid my +friend Dodd of his helmet." + +[Illustration: 424] + +"And we used to call this town our own," said Lionel, bitterly. + +"Nothing is a man's own but his honor, sir. That base cowardice yonder +believes itself honest and independent, as if a single right feeling, a +single good or virtuous thought, could consort with habits like +theirs; but they are less base than those who instigate them. The real +scoundrels are the Hickmans of this world, the men who compensate for +low birth and plebeian origin by calumniating the wellborn and the +noble.--What is Flury wanting here?" said he, as, attracted by Daly's +narrative, the poor fellow had drawn near to listen. + +"'I 'm glad you put the pewter pot on the Bully's head, he 's a disgrace +to the town," said Flury, with a laugh; and he turned away, as if +enjoying the downfall of an enemy. + +"Oh! I see," said Daly, taking up one of the papers that had fallen to +the ground, "this is the first act of the drama. Come along, Lionel, let +us talk of matters nearer to our hearts." + +They walked along together to the library, each silently following +his own train of thought, and for some time neither seemed disposed to +speak. Lionel at length broke silence, as he said,-- + +"I have been thinking over it, and am convinced my father will never be +able to endure this life of inactivity before him." + +"That is exactly the fear I entertain myself for him; altered fortunes +will impress themselves more in the diminished sphere to which his +influence and utility will be reduced, than in anything else: but how to +remedy this?" + +"I have been considering that also; but you must advise me if the plan +be a likely one. He held the rank of colonel once--" + +"To be sure he did, and with good right,--he raised the regiment +himself. Darcy's Light Horse were as handsome a set of fellows as the +service could boast of." + +"Well, then, my notion is, that although the Government did not buy his +vote on the Union, there would be no just reason why they should not +appoint him to some one of those hundred situations which the service +includes. His former rank, his connection and position, his unmerited +misfortunes, are, in some sense, claims. I can scarcely suppose his +opposition in Parliament would be remembered against him at such a +moment." + +"I hardly think it would," said Daly, musingly; "there is much in what +you propose. Would Lord Netherby support such a request if it were +made?" + +"He could not well decline it; almost the last thing he said at parting +was, that whatever favor he enjoyed should be gladly employed in our +behalf. Besides, we really seek nothing to which we may not lay fair and +honest claim. My intention would be to write at once to Lord Netherby. +acquainting him briefly with our altered fortunes." + +"The more briefly on that topic the better," said Daly, dryly. + +"To mention my father's military rank and services, to state that, +having raised and equipped a company at his own expense, without +accepting the slightest aid from the Government, now, in his present +change of condition, he would be proud of any recognition of those +services which once he was but too happy to render unrewarded by the +Crown. There are many positions, more or less lucrative, which would +well become him, and which no right-minded gentleman could say were +ill-bestowed on such a man." + +"All true," said Daly, whose eye brightened as he gazed on the youth, +whose character seemed already about to develop itself under the +pressure of misfortune with traits of more thoughtful meaning than yet +appeared iu him. + +"Then I will write to Lord Netherby at once," resumed Lionel; "there +can be no indelicacy in making such a request: he is our relative, the +nearest my mother has." + +"He is far better, he 's a Lord in Waiting, and a very subtle courtier," +said Daly. "Write this day, and, if you like it, I 'll dictate the +letter." + +Lionel accepted the offer with all the pleasure possible. He had been +from boyhood a firm believer in the resources and skill of Daly in every +possible contingency of life, and looked on him as one of those persons +who invariably succeed when everybody else fails. + +There is a species of promptitude in action, the fruit generally of a +strong will and a quick imagination, which young men mistake for a much +higher gift, and estimate at a price very far above its value. Bagenal +Daly had, however, other qualities than these; but truth compels us to +own that, in Lionel's eyes, his supremacy on such grounds was no small +merit. He had ever found him ready for every emergency, prompt to +decide, no less quick to act, and, without stopping to inquire how far +success followed such rapid resolves, this very energy charmed him. It +was, then, in perfect confidence in the skill and address of his adviser +that Lionel sat down, pen in hand, to write at his dictation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. THE LAW AND ITS CHANCES. + +We left Mr. Daly at the conclusion of our last chapter in the exercise +of--what to him was always a critical matter--the functions of a polite +letter-writer. His faults, it is but justice to say, were much less +those of style than of the individual himself; for if he rarely failed +to convey a clear notion of his views and intentions, he still more +rarely omitted to impart considerable insight into his own character. + +His abrupt and broken sentences, his sudden outbreaks of intelligence +or passion, were not inaptly conveyed by the character of a handwriting +which was bold, careless, and hurried. Indifferent to everything like +neatness or accuracy, generally blotted, and never very legible, these +defects, if they did not palliate, they might, in a measure, explain +something of his habits of thought and action; but now, when about to +dictate to another, the case was different, and those interruptions +which Daly would have set down by a dash of his pen, were to be conveyed +by the less significant medium of mere blanks. + +"I 'm ready," said Lionel, at length, as he sat for some time in silent +expectation of Daly's commencement. But that gentleman was walking up +and down the room with his hands behind his back, occasionally stopping +to look out upon the lawn. + +"Very well, begin--'My dear Lord Netherby,' or 'My dear Lord,'--it does +n't signify which, though I suppose he would be of another mind, and +find a whole world of difference between the two. Have you that?--very +well. Then go on to mention, in such terms as you like yourself, the +sudden change of fortune that has befallen your family,--briefly, but +decisively." + +"Dictate it, I'll follow you," said Lionel, somewhat put out by this +mode of composition. + +"Oh! it doesn't matter exactly what the words are,--say, that a d----d +scoundrel, Gleeson--Honest Tom we always called him--has cut and +run with something like a hundred thousand pounds, after forging and +falsifying every signature to our leases for the last ten or fifteen +years; we are, in consequence, ruined--obliged to leave the abbey, take +to a cottage--a devilish poor one, too." + +"Don't go so fast--'we are in consequence--'" + +"Utterly smashed--broken up--no home, and devilish little to live +upon,--my mother's jointure being barely sufficient for herself and +Helen. I want, therefore, to remind you--your Lordship, that is--to +remind your Lordship of the kind pledge which you so lately made us, at +a time when we little anticipated the early necessity we should have +to recall it. My father, some forty-five or six years back, raised the +Darcy Light Horse, equipped, armed, and mounted six hundred men, at his +own expense. This regiment, of which he took the head, did good service +in the Low Countries, and although distinguished in many actions, he +received nothing but thanks,--happily not wanting more, if so much. +Times are changed now with him, and it would be a seasonable act of +kindness and a suitable reward to an old officer--highly esteemed as +he is and has been through life--to make up for past neglect by some +appointment--the service has many such--Confound them! the pension-list +shows what fellows there are--'governors and deputy-governors,' 'acting +adjutants' of this, and 'deputy assistant commissaries' of that." + +"I 'm not to write that, I suppose?" + +"No, you needn't,--it would do no harm, though, to give them a hint +on the subject; but never mind it now. 'As for myself, I 'll leave the +Guards, and take service in the Line. I am only anxious for a regiment +on a foreign station, and if in India, so much the better.' Is that +down? Well--eh! that will do, I think. You may just say, that the +matter ought to be arranged without any communication with your father, +inasmuch as, from motives of delicacy, he might feel bound to decline +what was tendered as an offer, though he would hold himself pledged to +accept what was called by the name of duty. Yes, Lionel, that's the +way to put the case; active service, by all means active service,--no +guard-mounting at Windsor or Carlton House; no Hounslow Heath +engagements." + +Lionel followed, as well as he was able, the suggestions, to which +sundry short interjections and broken "hems!" and "ha's!" gave no small +confusion, and at last finished a letter, which, if it conveyed some +part of the intention, was even a stronger exponent of the character, of +him who dictated it. + +"Shall I read it over to you?" + +"Heaven forbid! If you did, I 'd alter every word of it. I never +reconsidered a note that I did not change my mind about it, and I don't +believe I ever counted a sum of money over more than once without making +the tot vary each time. Send it off as it is--' Yours truly, Lionel +Darcy.'" + +It was about ten days after the events we have just related that Bagenal +Daly sat in consultation with Darcy's lawyer in the back parlor of the +Knight's Dublin residence. Lionel, who had been in conclave with them +for several hours, had just left the room, and they now remained in +thoughtful silence, pondering over their late discussion. + +"That young man," said Bicknell, at length, "is very far from being +deficient in ability, but he is wayward and reckless as the rest of the +family; he seems to have signed his name everywhere they told him, +and to anything. Here are leases forever at nominal rents--no fines +in renewal--rights of fishery disposed of--oak timber--marble +quarries--property of every kind--made away with. Never was there such +wasteful, ruinous expenditure coupled with peculation and actual robbery +at the same time." + +"What's to be done?" said Daly, interrupting a catalogue of disasters he +could scarcely listen to with patience; "have you anything to propose?" + +"We must move in Equity for an inquiry into the validity of these +documents; many of the signatures are probably false; we can lay a case +for a jury--" + +"Well, I don't want to hear the details,--you mean to go to law; now, +has Darcy wherewithal to sustain a suit? These Hickmans are rich." + +"Very wealthy people indeed," said Bicknell, dryly. "The Knight cannot +engage in a legal contest with them without adequate means. I am not +sufficiently in possession of Mr. Darcy's resources to pronounce on the +safety of such a step." + +"I can tell you, then: they have nothing left to live upon save his +wife's jointure. Lady Eleanor has something like a thousand a year in +settlement,--certainly not more." + +"If they can contrive to live on half this sum," said the lawyer, +cautiously, "we may, perhaps, find the remainder enough for our +purposes. The first expenses will be, of course, very heavy: drafts to +prepare, searches to make, witnesses to examine, with opinion of high +counsel, will all demand considerable outlay." + +"This is a point I can give no opinion upon," said Daly; "they have been +accustomed to live surrounded with luxuries of every kind: whether they +can at once descend to actual poverty, or would rather cling to the +remnant of their former comforts, is not in my power to tell." + +"The very bond under which they have foreclosed," said Bicknell, "admits +of great question. Unfortunately, that fellow Gleeson destroyed all +the papers before his suicide, or we could ascertain if a clause of +redemption were not inserted; there was no registry of the judgment, and +we are consequently in the hands of the enemy." + +"I cannot help saying," said Daly, sternly, "that if it were not for +the confounded subtleties of your craft, roguery would have a less +profitable sphere of employment: so many hitches, so many small +crotchety conjunctures influence the mere question of right and wrong +that a man is led at last to think less of justice itself than of the +petty artifices to secure a superiority." + +"I must assure you that you are in a great error," said Bicknell, +calmly; "the complication of a suit is the necessary security the law +has recourse to against the wiles and stratagems of designing men. What +you call its hitches and subtleties are the provisions against craft by +which mere honesty is protected: that they are sometimes employed to +defeat justice, is saying no more than that they are only human +contrivances; for what good institution cannot be so perverted?" + +"So much the better, if you can think so. Now, what are Darcy's chances +of success?--never mind recapitulating details, which remind me a +great deal too much of my own misfortunes, but say, in one word, is the +prospect good or bad, or has it a tinge of both?" + +"It may be any of the three, according to the way in which the claim is +prosecuted; if there be sufficient means--" + +"Is that the great question?" + +"Undoubtedly; large fees to the leading counsel, retainers, if a record +be kept for trial at the Assizes, and payment to special juries: all are +expensive, and all necessary." + +"I 'll write to Darcy to-night, then,--or, better still, I 'll write to +Lady Eleanor, repeating what you have told me, and asking her advice and +opinion; meanwhile, lose no time in consulting Mr. Boyle,--you prefer +him?" + +"Certainly, in a case like this he cannot be surpassed; besides, he is +already well acquainted with all the leading facts, and has taken a deep +interest in the affair. There are classes and gradations of ability at +the bar, irrespective of degrees of actual capacity; we have the heavy +artillery of the Equity Court, the light field-pieces of the King's +Bench, and the Congreve rockets of Assize display: to misplace or +confound them would be a grave error." + +"I know where I 'd put them all, if _my_ pleasure were to be consulted," +muttered Daly, in an undergrowl. + +"Now, if we have a case for a jury, we must secure Mr. O'Halloran--" + +"He who made a speech to the mob in Smithfield the other day?" + +"The same. I perceive you scarcely approve of my suggestion; but his +success at the bar is very considerable: he knows a good deal of law, +and a great deal more about mankind. A rising man, sir, I assure you." + +"It must be in a falling state of society, then," said Daly, bitterly. +"Time was when the first requisite of a barrister was to be a gentleman. +An habitual respect for the decorous observances of polite life was +deemed an essential in one whose opinions were as often to be listened +to in questions of right feeling as of right doing. His birth, his +social position, and his acquirements were the guarantees he gave the +world that, while discussing subtleties, he would not be seduced into +anything low or unworthy. I am sorry that notion has become antiquated." + +"You would not surely exclude men of high talents from a career because +their origin was humble?" said Bicknell. + +"And why not, sir? Upon what principle was the bodyguard of noble +persons selected to surround the person of the sovereign, save that +blood was deemed the best security for allegiance? And why should not +the law, only second in sacred respect to the person of the monarch, +be as rigidly protected? The Church excludes from her ministry all who, +even by physical defect, may suggest matter of ridicule or sarcasm to +the laity; for the same reason I would reject from all concern with the +administration of justice those coarser minds whose habits familiarize +them with vulgar tastes and low standards of opinion." + +"I confess this seems to me very questionable doctrine, not to speak of +the instances which the law exhibits of her brightest ornaments derived +from the very humblest walks in life." + +"Such cases are probably esteemed the more because of that very reason," +said Daly, haughtily; "they are like the pearl in the oyster-shell, not +very remarkable in itself, but one must go so low down to seek for it. +I have an excuse for warmth; I have lost the greater part of a large +fortune in contesting a right pronounced by high authority to be +incontrovertible. Besides," added he, with a courteous smile, "if Mr. +Bicknell may oppose my opinion, he has the undoubted superiority that +attaches to liberality, his own family claiming alliance with the best +in the land." + +This happy turn seemed to divert the course of a conversation which half +threatened angrily. Again the business topic was resumed, and after a +short discussion, Bicknell took his leave, while Daly prepared to write +his letter to Lady Eleanor. + +He had not proceeded far in his task when Lionel entered with a +newspaper in his hand. + +"Have you heard the news of the notorious robber being taken?" said he. + +"Who do you mean? Barrington, is it?" + +"No; Freney." + +"Freney! taken?--when--how--where?" + +"It's curious enough," said Lionel, coolly, seating himself to read the +paragraph, without noticing the eagerness of Daly's manner; "the fellow +seems to have had a taste for sporting matters which no personal fear +could eradicate. His capture took place this wise. He went over to +Doncaster, to be present at the Spring Meeting, where he betted freely, +and won largely. There happened, however, to come a reverse to his +fortune, and on the last day of the running he lost everything, and was +obliged to apply for assistance to a former companion, who, it would +seem, was some hundred pounds in his debt; this worthy, having no desire +to refund, threatened the police; Freney became exasperated, knocked him +down on the spot, and then, turning smartly round, chucked one of the +jockeys from his saddle, sprang on the horse's back, and made off like +lightning. The other, only stunned for a moment, was soon on his legs +again, and the cry of 'Freney! it was Freney the robber!' resounded +throughout the race-course. The scene must then have been a most +exciting one, for the whole mounted population, with one accord, +gave chase. Noblemen and country gentlemen, fox-hunters, farmers, and +blacklegs, away they went, Freney about a quarter of a mile in front, +and riding splendidly." + +"That I 'm sure of," said Daly, earnestly. "Go on!" + +"Mellington took the lead of every one, mounted on that great +steeplechase horse he is so proud of,--no fences too large for him, they +say; but the robber--and what a good judge of country the fellow must +be--left the heavy ground and preferred even breasting a long hill of +grass-land, with several high rails, to the open country below, +where the clay soil distressed his horse. By this manoeuvre, says the +newspaper, he was obliged to make a circuit which again brought the +great body of his pursuers close up with him; and now his dexterity as +a horseman became apparent, for while riding at top speed, and handling +his horse with the most perfect judgment, he actually contrived to +divest himself of his heavy greatcoat. He had but just accomplished this +very difficult task, when Lord Mellington once more came up. There was +a heavy dike in front, with a double post and rail, and at this they +rushed desperately, each, apparently, calculating on the other being +thrown, or at least checked. + +"Freney, now only a dozen strides in advance, turned in his saddle, and +drawing a pistol from his breast, took an aim,--as steadily, too, as +if firing at a mark. Lord Mellington saw the dreadful purpose of the +robber; he shouted aloud, and, pulling up with all his might, he bent +down to the very mane of his horse. Freney pulled the trigger, and with +one mad plunge Lord Mellington's horse came headforemost to the ground, +with his rider under him. Freney was not long the victor; the racer he +bestrode breasted the high rail, and, unable to clear it, fell heavily +forward, smashing the frail timbers before him, and pitching the rider +on his head. He was up in a second and away; for about twenty yards +his speed was immense, then, reeling, he staggered forwards and fell +senseless; before he rallied he was taken, and in handcuffs. There is a +description of the fellow," said Lionel, "and, by Jove! one would think +they were describing some wild denizen of the woods, or some strange +animal of savage life, so eloquent is the paragraph about his appearance +and personal strength." + +"A well-knit fellow, no doubt, and more than a match for most in single +combat," said Daly, musing. + +"You have seen him, then?" + +"Ay, that I have, and must see him again. Where is he confined?" + +"In Newgate." + +"That is so far fortunate, because the jailer is an old acquaintance of +mine." + +"I have a great curiosity to see this Freney." + +"Come along with me, then," said Daly, as he arose and rang the bell to +order a carriage; "you shall gratify your curiosity; but I must ask you +to leave us alone together afterwards, for, strange as it may seem, we +have a little affair of confidence between us." + +It did, indeed, appear not a little strange that any secret negotiation +or understanding should exist between two such men; but Lionel did not +venture to ask any explanation of the difficulty, but silently prepared +to accompany him. As they went along towards Newgate, Daly related +several anecdotes of Freney, all of which tended to show that the fellow +had all his life felt that strange passion for danger so attractive to +certain minds, and that his lawless career was more probably adopted +from this tendency than any mere desire of money-getting. Many of his +robberies resembled feats of daring rather than cautious schemes to +obtain property. "Society," added Daly, "is truly not much benefited +because the highwayman is capricious; but still, one cannot divest +oneself of a certain interest for a rascal who has always shown himself +ready to risk his neck, and who has never been charged with any distinct +act of cruelty. When I say this much, I must caution you against +indulging a sympathy for a law-breaker because he is not a perfect +monster of iniquity; such fellows are very rare, and we are always too +well inclined to admire the few good qualities of a bad man, just as we +are astonished at a few words spoken plain by a parrot. + + "'The things themselves are neither strange nor rare; + We wonder how the devil they came there.'" + +While Daly wisely cautioned his young companion against the indulgence +of a false and mawkish sympathy for the criminal, he in his own heart +could not help feeling the strongest interest for any misfortune of a +spirit so wild and so reckless. + +Daly's card, passed through the iron grating of the strong door, soon +procured them admission, and they were conducted into a small and +neatly furnished room, where a mild-looking middle-aged man was seated, +reading. He rose as they entered, and saluted them respectfully. + +"Good evening, Dunn; I hope I see you well. My friend Captain Darcy--Mr. +Dunn. We have just heard that the noted Freney has taken up his lodgings +here, and are curious to see him." + +"I 'm afraid I must refuse your request, Mr. Daly; my orders are most +positive about the admission of any one to the prisoner: there have been +I can't say how many people here on the same errand since four o'clock, +when he arrived." + +"I think I ought to be free of the house," said Daly, laughing; "I +matriculated here at least, if I didn't take out a high degree." + +"So you did, sir," said Dunn, joining in the laugh. "Freney is in the +very same cell you occupied for four months." + +"Come, come, then, you can't refuse me paying a visit to my old +quarters." + +"There is another objection, and a stronger one,--. Freney himself +declines seeing any one, and asked a special leave of the sheriff to +refuse all comers admission to him." + +"This surprises me," said Daly. "Why, the fellow has a prodigious deal +of personal vanity, and I cannot conceive his having adopted such a +resolution." + +"Perhaps I can guess his meaning," said the jailer, shrewdly; "the +greater number of those who came here, and also who tried to see him in +Liverpool, were artists of one kind or other, wanting to take busts +or profiles of him. Now, my surmise is, Freney would not dislike the +notoriety, if it were not that it might be inconvenient one of these +days. To be plain, sir, though he is doubly ironed, and in the strongest +part of the strongest jail in Ireland, he is at this moment meditating +on an escape, in the event of which he calculates all the trouble and +annoyance it would give him to have his picture or his cast stuck up in +every town and village of the kingdom. This, at least, is my reading of +the mystery; but I think it is not without some show of probability." + +"Well, the objection could scarcely apply to me," said Daly; "if his +portrait be not taken by a more skilful artist than I am, he may be very +easy on the score of recognition. Pray let me send in my name to him, +and if he refuses to see me, I 'll not press the matter further." + +Partly from an old feeling of kindness towards Daly, Dunn gave no +further opposition, but in reality he was certain that Freney's refusal +would set the matter at rest. His surprise was consequently great when +the turnkey returned with a civil message from Freney that he would be +very glad to see Mr. Daly. + +"Your friend can remain here," said Dunn, in a voice that plainly showed +he was not quite easy in his mind as to the propriety of the +interview; and Daly, to alleviate suspicions natural enough in one so +circumstanced, assented, and walked on after the turnkey, alone. + +"That's the way he spends his time; listen to him now," whispered the +turnkey, as they stopped at the door of the cell, from within which the +deep tones of a man's voice were heard singing to himself, as he slowly +paced the narrow chamber, his heavy fetters keeping a melancholy time to +the melody:-- + + "'T was afther two when he quitted Naas, + But he gave the spar, and he went the pace, + 'As many an like may now give chase,' + Says he, 'I give you warning. + You may raise the country far and near, + From Malin Head down to Cape Clear, + But the divil a man of ye all I fear, + I 'll be far away before morning.' + + "By break of day he reach'd Kildare, + The black horse never turn'd a hair; + Says Freney, 'We 've some time to spare, + This stage we 've rather hasten'd.' + So he eat four eggs and a penny rowl, + And he mix'd of whiskey such a bowl! + The drink he shared with the beast, by my sowl, + For Jack was always dacent. + + "'You might tighten the girths,' Jack Freney cried, + 'For I 've soon a heavy road to ride.' + 'Twas the truth he tould, for he never lied; + The way was dark and rainy. + 'Good-by,' says he, 'I 'll soon be far, + And many a mile from Mullingar.' + So he kiss'd the girl behind the bar, + 'T is the divil you wor, Jack Freney!" + +"Sorra lie in that, any way," said the robber, as he repeated the last +line over once more, with evident self-satisfaction. + +"Who comes there?" cried he, sternly, as the heavy bolts were shot back, +and the massive door opened. + +"Why don't you say, 'Stand and deliver'?" said the turnkey, with a laugh +as harsh and grating as the creak of the rusty hinges. + +"And many a time I did to a better man," said Freney. + +"You may leave us now," said Daly, to the turnkey. + +"Mr. Daly, your sarvant," said the robber, saluting him; "you 're the +only man in Ireland I wanted to see." + +"I wish our meeting had been anywhere else," said Daly, sorrowfully, as +he took his seat on a stool opposite the bed where Freney sat. + +"Well, well, so it is, sir; it's just what every one prophesied this +many a day,--as if there was much cunning in saying that I 'd be hanged +some time or other; why, if they wanted to surprise me, they 'd have +tould me I 'd never be taken. You heard how it was, I suppose?" + +Daly nodded, and Freney went on:-- + +"The English horse wouldn't rise to the rail; if I was on the chestnut +mare or Black Billy, I would n't be where I am now." + +"I have several things to ask you about, Freney; but first, how I can +serve you? You must have counsel in this business." + +"No, sir, I thank you; it's only throwing good money after bad. I'll +plead guilty,--it will save time with us all." + +"But you give yourself no chance, man." + +"Faix, I spoiled my chance long ago, Mr. Daly. Do you know, sir,"--here +he spoke in a low, determined tone,--"there's not a mail in Ireland I +did n't stop at one time or other. There's few country gentlemen I have +n't lightened of their guineas; the court wouldn't hold the witnesses +against me if I were to stand my trial." + +"With all that, you must still employ a lawyer; these fellows are as +crafty in _their_ walk as ever you were in _yours_. Who will you have? +Name the man, and leave the rest to me." + +Freney seemed to deliberate for a few moments, and he threw his +eyes down at the heavy irons on his legs, and he gazed at the strong +stanchions of the windows, and then said, in a low voice,-- + +"There's a chap called Hosey M'Garry, in a cellar in Charles Street: +he's an ould man with one eye, and not a tooth in his head; but he's the +only man that could sarve me now." + +"Hosey M'Garry," repeated Daly, "Charles Street," as he wrote down the +address with his pencil: "a strange name and residence for a lawyer." + +"I did n't say he was, sir," said Freney, laughing. + +"And who and what is he, then?" + +"The only man, now alive, that can make a cowld chisel to cut iron +without noise." + +[Illustration: 440] + +"Ah! that's what you're thinking of; you'd rather trust to the flaws of +the iron than of the indictment. Perhaps you are not far wrong, after +all." + +"If I was in the court below without the fetters," said Freney, eagerly, +"I could climb the wall with a holdfast and a chisel, and get down the +same way on the other side; once there, Mr. Daly, I 'd sing the ould +ballad,-- + + "For the divil a man of ye all I fear, + I 'll be far away before morning." + +"And how are these tools to reach you here? If they admit any of your +friends, won't they search them first?" + +"So they will, barrin' it was a gentleman," replied Freney, while his +eyes twinkled with a peculiarly cunning lustre. + +"So, then, you rely on _me_ for this piece of service?" said Daly, after +a pause. + +"Troth, you're the only gentleman of my acquaintance," said Freney, +quaintly. + +"Well, I suppose I must not give you a bad impression of the order; I +'ll do it." + +"I knew you would," rejoined Freney, calmly. "You might bring two files +at the same time, and a phial of sweet oil to keep down the noise. Hush! +here's Gavin coming to turn you out,--he said ten minutes." + +"Well, then, you shall see me to-morrow, Freney, and I 'll endeavor to +see your friend in the mean time." This was said as the turnkey stood at +the open door. + +"This gentleman wants to have a look at you, Freney," said the +jailer,--"as if he could n't see you for nothing, some Saturday morning +soon." + +"Maybe he 'd not know me in a nightcap," replied Freney, laughing, while +he turned the lamplight full on Lionel Darcy's features. + +"The very fellow that rode off with the horse!" exclaimed Lionel as he +saw him. + +"Young O'Reilly!" said Freney. "What signifies that charge now? Won't it +satisfy you if they hang me for something else?" + +"That's Captain Darcy, man," broke in Daly. "Is all your knowledge of +mankind of so little use to you that you cannot distinguish between a +born gentleman and an upstart?" + +"By my oath," said the robber, aloud, "I 'm as glad as a ten-pound note +to know that it wasn't a half-bred one that showed the spirit you did! +Hurrah! there's hopes for ould Ireland yet, when the blood and bone is +still left in her! And wasn't it real luck that I saw you this night? If +I did n't, I 'd have done you a bad turn. One word, Mr. Daly, one word +in your ear." + +The robber drew Daly towards him, and whispered eagerly for some +seconds. + +A violent exclamation burst from Daly as he listened, and then he cried +out, "What! are you sure of this? Don't deceive me, man!" + +"May I never, but it's true." + +"Why, then, not have told it before?" + +"Because"--here he faltered--"because--faix, I 'll tell the truth--I +thought that young gentleman was Hickman's grandson, and I could n't +bring myself to do him a spite after what I had seen." + +"The time is up, gentlemen," said the turnkey, who, out of the delicacy +of his official feeling, was slowly pacing the corridor up and down +while they talked together. + +"If this be but true," muttered Daly to himself, "there's another cast +of the dice for it yet." + +"I am sorry for that fellow," said Lionel, aloud; "he did me a good turn +once: I might have gone down the torrent, were it not for his aid." + +"So you might, man," said Daly, speaking in a half-soliloquy; "he gives +the only chance of victory I've seen yet." + +These words, so evidently inapplicable to Lionel's observations, were +a perfect enigma; but he did not dare to ask for any explanation, and +walked on in silence beside him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. A SCENE OF HOME. + +If the climate of northern Ireland be habitually one of storm and +severity, it must be confessed that, in the rare but happy intervals of +better weather, the beauty of the coast scenery is unsurpassed. Indented +with little bays, whose sides are formed of immense cliffs of chalk, +or the more stately grandeur of that columnar basalt which extends for +miles on either side of the Causeway, the most vivid coloring unites +with forms the wildest and most fantastic; crag and precipice, sandy +beach and rocky shore, alternate in endless variety; while islands are +there, some, green and sheep-clad, others, dark and frowning, form the +home of nothing but the sea-gull. + +It was on such an evening of calm as displayed the scene to its greatest +advantage, when a long column of burnished golden light floated over the +sea, tipping each crested wave, and darkened into deeper beauty between +them, that the Knight, Lady Eleanor, and Helen sat under the little +porch of their cottage and gazed upon the fair and gorgeous picture. + +If the leafy grove or the dark wood seem sweeter to our senses when the +thrilling notes of the blackbird or the thrush sing in their solitude, +so the deepest silence, the most unbroken stillness, has a wonderful +effect of soothing to the mind beside the seashore we have so often seen +terrible in the fury of the storm. A gentle calm steals over us as +we listen to the long sweeping of the waves, heaving and breaking in +measured melody; and our thoughts, enticed by some dreaming ecstasy, +wander away over the boundless ocean, not to the far-off lands of other +climes alone, but into worlds of brighter and more beauteous mould. + +They sat in silence, at first only occupied by the lovely scene that +stretched away before them, but at last each deeply immersed in his own +thoughts,--thoughts which, unconnected with the objects around, yet +by some strange mystery were tinctured by all their calm and tranquil +beauty. A fisherman was mending his net upon the little beach below, +and his children were playing around him, now running merrily along the +strand, now dabbling in the white foam left by the retreating waves; +the father looked up from time to time to watch them, but without +interrupting the low monotonous chant by which he lightened his labor. + +Towards the little group at length their eyes were turned. "Yes," said +the Knight, as if interpreting what was passing in the minds of those at +his side, "that is about as near to human happiness as life affords. I +believe there would be very few abortive ambitions if men were content +to see their children occupy the same station as themselves; and yet, +when the time of one's own reverses arrives, how very little of true +happiness is lost by the change of fortune." + +"My dearest father!" said Helen, as in a transport of delight she threw +her arms around him, "how happy your words make me! You are, then, +contented?" + +"Do I not look so, my sweet Helen? And your mother, too, when have you +seen her so well?--when do you remember her walking, as she did to-day, +to the top of the great cliff of Dunluce?" + +"With no other ill consequence," said Lady Eleanor, smiling, "than a +most acute attack of vanity; for I begin to fancy myself quite young +again." + +"Well, Mamma, don't forget we have a visit to pay, some of these days, +to Ballintray,--that's the name of the place, I think, Miss Daly resides +at." + +"Yes, we really must not neglect it. There was a delicacy in her note of +welcome to us here, judging that we might not be prepared for a personal +visit, which prepossesses me in her favor. You promised to make our +acknowledgments, but I believe you forgot all about it." + +"No, not that," said the Knight, hesitatingly; "but in the midst of so +many things to do and think about, I deferred it from day to day." + +"Shall we go to-morrow, then?" cried Helen, eagerly. + +"I think it were better if your father went first, lest the way should +prove too long for us. I am so proud of my pedestrianism, Helen, I'll +not risk any failure." + +"Be it so," said the Knight, quietly. "And now of this other matter +Bagenal presses so strongly upon us. I feel the greatest repugnance +to assume any name but that I have always borne, and, I hope, not +disgraced; he says we shall be objects of impertinent curiosity here to +the neighborhood." + +"Ruins to dispute the honors of lionship with Dunluce," said Lady +Eleanor, smiling faintly. + +"Just so; that might, however, be borne patiently; they will soon +leave off talking of us when we give them little matter for speculative +gossip. Besides, we are so far away from anything that could be called +neighborhood." + +"But he suggests some other reasons, if I mistake not," said Lady +Eleanor. + +"He does, but so darkly and mysteriously that I cannot even guess his +drift. Here is his letter." And the Knight took several papers from +his pocket, from among which he selected one, whose large and blotted +writing unmistakably pronounced it Bagenal Daly's. "Yes, here it is: +'Bicknell says that Hickman's people are fully persuaded that you have +left Ireland with the intention of never returning; that this impression +should be maintained, because it will induce them to be less guarded +than if they believed you were still here, directing any legal +proceeding. The only case, therefore, he will prepare for trial will be +one respecting the leases falsely signed. The bond and its details must +be unravelled by time; here also your incognito is all-essential,--it +need only be for a short time, and on scruples of delicacy so easily got +over: your grandfather called himself Gwynne, and wrote it also.' +That is quite true, Eleanor, so he did; his letters are signed Matthew +Gwynne, Knight of--------. I remember the signature well." + +"I think, with Mr. Daly," said Lady Eleanor, "it will save us a world of +observant impertinence; this place is tranquil and solitary enough just +now, but in summer the coast and the Causeway have many visitors, and +although 'the Corvy' is out of the common track, if our names be bruited +about, we shall not escape that least graceful of all attentions, the +tender commiseration of mere acquaintances." + +"Mamma is right," said Helen; "we should be hunted out by every tourist +to report on how we bore our reverses, and tormented with anonymous +condolences in prose, and short stanzas on the beauty of resignation." + +"Well, and, my dear Helen, perhaps the lessons might not be so very +inapplicable," said the Knight, smiling affectionately. + +"But very inefficient, sir," replied Helen, with a toss of her head; +"I'm not a bit resigned." + +"Helen, dearest," interposed Lady Eleanor, rebukingly. + +"Not a bit, Mamma; I am happy,--happier than I ever knew myself before, +if you like that phrase better,--because we are together, because this +life realizes to me all I ever dreamed of,--that quiet and tranquil +pleasure people might, but somehow never please to, taste of; but if you +ask me am I resigned to see you and my dear father in a station so much +beneath your expectations and your habits, I cannot say that I am." + +"Then, my dear girl, you accuse us of bearing our misfortunes badly, +if we cannot partake of your enjoyments on account of our own vain +regrets?" + +"No, no, Papa, don't mistake me; if I grieve over the altered fortunes +that limit your sphere of usefulness as well as of pleasure, it is +because I know how well you understood the privileges and demands of +your high station, and how little a life so humble as this is can exact +of qualities that were not given to be wasted in obscurity." + +"My sweet child," said the Knight, fondly, "it is a very dangerous +practice to blend up affection with principle; depend upon it, the +former will always coerce the latter, and bend it to its will; and as +for those good gifts you speak of, had I really as many of them as your +fond heart would endow me with, believe me there is no station so humble +as not to admit of their exercise. There never yet was a walk in life +without its sphere of duties; now I intend that not only are we to be +happy here, but that we should contribute to the well-being of those +about us." + +There was a pause after the Knight had done speaking, during which he +busied himself in turning over some letters, the seals of which were +still unbroken; he knew the handwriting on most of them, and yet +hesitated about inflicting on himself the pain of reading allusions to +that condition he had once occupied. "Yes," muttered he to himself, "we +are always flattering ourselves of how essential we are to our friends, +our party, and so forth; and yet, when any events occur which despoil us +of our brief importance, we see the whole business of the world go on as +currently as ever. What a foretaste this gives one of death! So it is, +the stream of life flows on, whether the bubble on its surface float or +burst." + +"That's Lord Netherby's hand, is it not?" said Lady Eleanor, as she +lifted a letter which had fallen to the ground. + +"Yes," said Darcy, carelessly; "written probably soon after his return +to England. I have no doubt it contains a most courtly acknowledgment of +our poor hospitality, and an assurance of undying regard." + +"If it be of that tenor, I have no curiosity to read it," said Lady +Eleanor, handing the letter to the Knight. + +"Helen would like to study so great a master of epistolary flatteries," +said the Knight, smiling; "and provided she will keep the whole for her +private reading, I am willing to indulge her." + +"I accept the favor with thanks," said Helen, receiving the letter; +"you know I plead guilty to liking our noble relative. I 'm not skilled +enough to distinguish between an article trebly gilded and one of pure +gold, and his Lordship, to my eyes, looked as like the true metal as +possible: he said so many pretty things to Mamma, and so many fine +things of you and Lionel--" + +"And paid so many compliments to the fair Helen herself," interposed the +Knight. + +"With so much of good tact--" + +"And good taste, Helen," added Lady Eleanor, smiling; "why not say +that?" + +"Well, I see I shall have to defend myself as well as my champion, so I +'ll even go and read my letter." + +And so saying, she arose, and sauntered down to the shore; under the +shelter of a tall rock, from whence the view extended for miles along, +she sat down. "What a contrast!" said she, as she broke the seal, "a +courtier's letter in such a scene as this!" + +Lord Netherby's letter was, as the Knight suspected, written soon after +his return to England, expressing, in his own most courtly phrase, +the delightful memory he retained of his visit to Ireland. Gracefully +contrasting the brilliant excitement of that brief period with the more +staid quietude of the life to which he returned, he lightly suggested +that none other than one native to the soil could support an existence +so overflowing with pleasurable emotions. With all the artifice of +a courtier, he recalled certain little incidents, too small, as mere +matters of memory, to find a resting-place in the mind, but all of them +indicative of the deep impression made, upon him who remarked them. + +He spoke also of the delight with which his Royal Highness the Prince +listened to his narrative of life in Ireland. "In truth," wrote his +Lordship, "I do not believe that the exigencies of his station ever cost +him more than when he reflected on the impossibility of his witnessing +such perfection in the life of a country house as I feebly endeavored to +convey to him. Again and again has he asked me to repeat the tale of the +hunt--the brilliant ball the night of your arrival--and I have earned a +character for story-telling of which Kelly and Sheridan are beginning to +feel jealous, by the mere retail of your anecdotes. Lionel's return +is anxiously looked for by all here, and the Prince has more than once +expressed himself impatient to see him back again. My sweet favorite +Helen, too,--when is she to be presented? There will be a court in the +early part of next month, of which I shall not fail to apprise you, most +earnestly entreating that my cousin Eleanor will not think the journey +too far which shall bring her once again among those scenes she so +gracefully adorned, and where her triumphs will be renewed in the +admiration of her lovely daughter. I need not tell you that my house +in town is entirely at her disposal, either as _my_ guests, or, if you +prefer it, I shall be _theirs_, whenever I am not in waiting." + +Here the writer detailed, with an eloquence all his own, the advantage +to Helen of making her _entree_ into life under circumstances so +favorable, remarking, with that conventional philosophy just then the +popular cant of the day, that the enthusiasm of the world was never +long-lived, and that even his beautiful cousin Helen should not be above +profiting by the favorable reception the kindly disposition of the court +was sure to procure for her. This was said in a tone of half-serious +banter, but at the same time the invitation was reiterated with an +evident desire for its acceptance. + +As the letter drew near its conclusion, the lines became more closely +written, as though some circumstances hitherto forgotten had suddenly +occurred to the writer; and so it proved. + +"I was about, my dear Knight, to write myself, with what truth I will +not say, your 'most affectionate friend, Netherby,' when I received a +letter which requires some mention at my hands. It is, indeed, one +of the most extraordinary documents I have ever perused; nothing +very wonderful in that, when I tell you from whom it comes,--your old +sweetheart, Julia Wallincourt, or, as you will better remember her, +Julia d'Esterre; she is still very beautiful, and just as capricious, +just as _maligne_, as when she endeavored, by every artifice of her +coquetry, to make you jilt my cousin Eleanor. There 's no doubt of +it, Darcy, this woman loved you! at least, as much as she could love +anything, except the pleasure of torturing her fellow-creatures. Well, +it would seem that a younger son of hers, popularly known as Dick +Forester, paid you a visit in Ireland, and, no very unnatural +occurrence, fell desperately in love with your daughter,--not so Helen +with him. She probably regarded him as one of that class upon which +London has so stamped its impress of habit and manner that all +individualism is lost in the quiet observance of certain proprieties. +He must have been a rare contrast to the high-souled enthusiasm and +waywardness of her own brother! Certain it is she refused him; and he, +taking the thing much more to heart than a young Guardsman usually does +a similar catastrophe, hastened home, and endeavored to interest his +mother in his suit. Lady Julia had an old vengeance to exact, and, like +a true woman, could not forego it; she not only positively refused all +intercession on her part, but went what you and I will probably feel +to be a very unnecessary length, and actually declared she never would +consent to such an alliance. We used to remember (some years ago), at +Eton, of a certain Dido who never forgave, and we are told how, for many +years after, the _lethalis arundo lateri adhosit_; but assuredly the +poet was speaking less of the woes of an individual than of the sorrows +of fine ladies in all ages. Unfortunately, the similitude between her +ladyship and Dido ends here; the classic fair one exhibited, as we are +told, the most delicate fondness for the son of her lover. But, to grow +serious, Lady Wallincourt's conduct must have been peremptory and harsh; +she actually went the length of writing to the Duke of York to request +an exchange for her son into a regiment serving in India: whether +Forester obtained some clew to this manouvre or not, he anticipated the +stroke by selling out and leaving the army altogether; whither he is +gone, or what has become of him since, no one can tell. Such, my dear +Knight, is the emergency in which Lady Wallincourt addresses her letter +to me,--a letter so peculiarly her own, so full of reproaches against +you, and vindication of herself, that I actually scruple to transmit to +you this palpable evidence of still enduring affection. + +"Were you both thirty years younger, I should claim great credit to my +morality for the forbearance. Let that pass, however, and let me rather +ask you if you know, or have heard anything, of this wayward boy? +Personally, I am unacquainted with him; but his friends agree in saying +that he is high-spirited, honorable, and brave; and it would be a great +pity that his affection for a young lady, and his anger with an old one, +should mar all the prospects of his life. Could you, by any means, find +a clew to him? I do not, of course, ask you to interfere in person, lest +it might seem that you encouraged an attachment which you have far more +reason to discountenance for your daughter than has Lady Wallincourt for +her son; however, your doing so would go far to reconcile the young man +to his mother by showing that, if there was a difficulty on one side, a +still greater obstacle existed on the other." + +Requesting a speedy answer, and begging that the whole might be in +strict confidence between them, the letter concluded. + +"I do not doubt, my dear Knight," said the postscript, "that you +will see in all this a reason the more for coming up to town. Helen's +appearance at the Drawing-Room would be the best, if not the only, +rebuke Lady Wallin-court's insolence could receive. By all means, come. + +"Another complication! Lady W., on first hearing of her son's duel, and +the kind treatment he met with after being wounded, wrote a letter of +grateful acknowledgments, which she enclosed to her son, neither knowing +nor caring for the address of his benefactor. When she did hear it at +length, she was excessively angry that she had been, as she terms it, +'the first to make advances.' Ainsi, telles sont les femmes du monde!" + +Such was Lord Netherby's letter. With what a succession of emotions +Helen read it we confess ourselves unable to depict. If she sometimes +hesitated to read on, an influence, too powerful to control, impelled +her to continue, while a secret interest in Forester's fortunes--a +feeling she had never known till now--induced her to learn his fate. +More than once, in the alteration of her condition, had she recalled the +proffer of affection she had with such determination rejected, and with +what gratitude did she remember the firmness of her decision! + +"Poor fellow!" thought she, "I deemed it the mere caprice of one whose +gratitude for kindness had outrun his calmer convictions. And so he +really loved me!" + +We must avow the fact: Helen's indifference to Forester had, in the +main, proceeded from a false estimate of his character; she saw in him +nothing but a well-bred, good-looking youth, who, with high connections +and moderate abilities, had formed certain ambitious views, to be +realized rather by the adventitious aid of fortune than his own merits. +He was, in her eyes, a young politician, cautions and watchful, trained +up to regard Lord Castlereagh as the model of statesmen, and political +intrigue as the very climax of intellectual display. To know that she +had wronged him was to make a great revolution in her feelings towards +him, to see that this reserved and calmly minded youth should have +sacrificed everything--position, prospects, all--rather than resign his +hope, faint as it was, of one day winning her affection! + +If these were her first thoughts on reading that letter, those that +followed were far less pleasurable. How should she ever be able to show +it to her father? The circumstances alluded to were of a nature he never +could be cognizant of without causing the greatest pain both to him and +herself. To ask Lady Eleanor's counsel would be even more difficult. +Helen witnessed the emotion the sight of Lady Wallincourt's name had +occasioned her mother the day Forester first visited them; the old +rivalry had, then, left its trace on her mind as well as on that of Lady +Julia! What embarrassment on every hand! Where could she seek counsel, +and in whom? Bagenal Daly, the only one she could have opened her +heart to, was away; and was it quite certain she would have ventured +to disclose, even to him, the story of that affection which already +appeared so different from at first? Forester was not now in her eyes +the fashionable guardsman, indulging a passing predilection, or whiling +away the tedious hours of a country-house by a flirtation, in which he +felt interested because repulsed; he was elevated in her esteem by his +misfortunes, and the very uncertainty of his fate augmented her concern. +And yet she must forego the hope of saving him, or else, by showing +the letter to her father, acknowledge her acquaintance with events she +should never have known, or, knowing, should never reveal. + +There was no help for it, the letter could not be shown. In all +likelihood neither the Knight nor Lady Eleanor would ever think more +about it; and if they did, there was still enough to speak of in the +courteous sentiments of the writer, and the polite attention of his +invitation,--a civility which even Helen's knowledge of life informed +her was rather proffered in discharge of a debt than as emanating from +any real desire to play their host in London. + +Thus satisfying herself that no better course offered for the present, +she turned homewards, but with a heavier heart and more troubled mind +than had ever been her fortune in life to have suffered. + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Knight Of Gwynne, Vol. I (of II), by +Charles James Lever + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KNIGHT OF GWYNNE, VOL. 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