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diff --git a/8123-h/8123-h.htm b/8123-h/8123-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d4af6c --- /dev/null +++ b/8123-h/8123-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,39763 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Virginians, by William Makepeace Thackeray + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Virginians, by William Makepeace Thackeray + +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 Virginians + +Author: William Makepeace Thackeray + +Release Date: July 24, 2009 [EBook #8123] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VIRGINIANS *** + + + + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE VIRGINIANS + </h1> + <h2> + A TALE OF THE LAST CENTURY + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William Makepeace Thackeray + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <h4> + <br /> <br /> TO SIR HENRY MADISON, Chief Justice of Madras,<br /> this book + is inscribed by an affectionate old friend.<br /><br /> London, September 7, + 1859. <br /> <br /> + </h4> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>THE VIRGINIANS</b></big> </a><br /> + <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> In which + one of the Virginians visits home <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0002"> + CHAPTER II. </a> In which Harry has to pay for his Supper + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> The + Esmonds in Virginia <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> In + which Harry finds a New Relative <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> + CHAPTER V. </a> Family Jars <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> + CHAPTER VI. </a> The Virginians begin to see the World <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> Preparations for + War <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> In + which George suffers from a Common Disease <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> Hospitalities <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> A Hot Afternoon + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> Wherein + the two Georges prepare for Blood <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> + CHAPTER XII. </a> News from the Camp <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> Profitless Quest + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> Harry + in England <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. </a> A + Sunday at Castlewood <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. + </a> In which Gumbo shows Skill with the Old English Weapon + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> On the + Scent <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> An + Old Story <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. </a> Containing + both Love and Luck <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. </a> Facilis + Descensus <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI. </a> Samaritans + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0022"> CHAPTER XXII. </a> In + Hospital <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0023"> CHAPTER XXIII. </a> Holidays + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0024"> CHAPTER XXIV. </a> From + Oakhurst to Tunbridge <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0025"> CHAPTER XXV. + </a> New Acquaintances <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0026"> + CHAPTER XXVI. </a> In which we are at a very Great Distance + from Oakhurst <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0027"> CHAPTER XXVII. </a> Plenus + Opus Aleae <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0028"> CHAPTER XXVIII. </a> The + Way of the World <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0029"> CHAPTER XXIX. </a> In + which Harry continues to enjoy Otium sine Dignitate <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0030"> CHAPTER XXX. </a> Contains a Letter to + Virginia <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0031"> CHAPTER XXXI. </a> The + Bear and the Leader <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0032"> CHAPTER XXXII. + </a> In which a Family Coach is ordered <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0033"> CHAPTER XXXIII. </a> Contains a + Soliloquy by Hester <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0034"> CHAPTER XXXIV. + </a> In which Mr. Warrington treats the Company with Tea and + a Ball <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0035"> CHAPTER XXXV. </a> Entanglements + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0036"> CHAPTER XXXVI. </a> Which + seems to mean Mischief <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0037"> CHAPTER + XXXVII. </a> In which various Matches are fought <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0038"> CHAPTER XXXVIII. </a> Sampson and + the Philistines <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0039"> CHAPTER XXXIX. </a> Harry + to the Rescue <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0040"> CHAPTER XL. </a> In + which Harry pays off an Old Debt, and incurs some New Ones <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0041"> CHAPTER XLI. </a> Rake's Progress <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0042"> CHAPTER XLII. </a> Fortunatus Nimium + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0043"> CHAPTER XLIII. </a> In + which Harry flies High <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0044"> CHAPTER XLIV. + </a> Contains what might, perhaps, have been expected <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0045"> CHAPTER XLV. </a> In which Harry + finds two Uncles <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0046"> CHAPTER XLVI. </a> Chains + and Slavery <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0047"> CHAPTER XLVII. </a> Visitors + in Trouble <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0048"> CHAPTER XLVIII. </a> An + Apparition <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0049"> CHAPTER XLIX. </a> Friends + in Need <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0050"> CHAPTER L. </a> Contains + a Great deal of the Finest Morality <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0051"> + CHAPTER LI. </a> Conticuere Omnes <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0052"> CHAPTER LII. </a> Intentique Ora + tenebant <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0053"> CHAPTER LIII. </a> Where + we remain at the Court End of the Town <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0054"> + CHAPTER LIV. </a> During which Harry sits smoking his Pipe at + Home <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0055"> CHAPTER LV. </a> Between + Brothers <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0056"> CHAPTER LVI. </a> Ariadne + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0057"> CHAPTER LVII. </a> In + which Mr. Harry's Nose continues to be put out of joint <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0058"> CHAPTER LVIII. </a> Where we do what + Cats may do <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0059"> CHAPTER LIX. </a> In + which we are treated to a Play <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0060"> + CHAPTER LX. </a> Which treats of Macbeth, a Supper, and a + Pretty Kettle of <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0061"> CHAPTER LXI. </a> In + which the Prince marches up the Hill and down again <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0062"> CHAPTER LXII. </a> Arma Virumque <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0063"> CHAPTER LXIII. </a> Melpomene <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0064"> CHAPTER LXIV. </a> In which Harry + lives to fight another Day <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0065"> CHAPTER + LXV. </a> Soldier's Return <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0066"> + CHAPTER LXVI. </a> In which we go a-courting <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0067"> CHAPTER LXVII. </a> In which a Tragedy + is acted, and two more are begun <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0068"> + CHAPTER LXVIII. </a> In which Harry goes westward <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0069"> CHAPTER LXIX. </a> A Little Innocent + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0070"> CHAPTER LXX. </a> In + which Cupid plays a Considerable Part <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0071"> + CHAPTER LXXI. </a> White Favours <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0072"> CHAPTER LXXII. </a> (From the + Warrington MS.) In which My Lady is on the Top <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0073"> CHAPTER LXXIII. </a> We keep Christmas + at Castlewood. 1759 <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0074"> CHAPTER LXXIV. + </a> News from Canada <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0075"> + CHAPTER LXXV. </a> The Course of True Love <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0076"> CHAPTER LXXVI. </a> Informs us how Mr. + Warrington jumped into a Landau <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0077"> + CHAPTER LXXVII. </a> And how everybody got out again <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0078"> CHAPTER LXXVIII. </a> Pyramus and + Thisbe <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0079"> CHAPTER LXXIX. </a> Containing + both Comedy and Tragedy <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0080"> CHAPTER + LXXX. </a> Pocahontas <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0081"> + CHAPTER LXXXI. </a> Res Angusta Domi <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0082"> CHAPTER LXXXII. </a> Miles's Moidore + <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0083"> CHAPTER LXXXIII. </a> Troubles + and Consolations <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0084"> CHAPTER LXXXIV. + </a> In which Harry submits to the Common Lot <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0085"> CHAPTER LXXXV. </a> Inveni Portum <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0086"> CHAPTER LXXXVI. </a> At Home <br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0087"> CHAPTER LXXXVII. </a> The Last of + God Save the King <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0088"> CHAPTER LXXXVIII. + </a> Yankee Doodle comes to Town <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0089"> CHAPTER LXXXIX. </a> A Colonel without + a Regiment <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0090"> CHAPTER XC. </a> In + which we both fight and run away <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0091"> + CHAPTER XCI. </a> Satis Pugnae <br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0092"> CHAPTER XCII. </a> Under Vine and + Fig-Tree <br /><br /> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + THE VIRGINIANS + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. In which one of the Virginians visits home + </h2> + <p> + On the library wall of one of the most famous writers of America, there + hang two crossed swords, which his relatives wore in the great War of + Independence. The one sword was gallantly drawn in the service of the + king, the other was the weapon of a brave and honoured republican soldier. + The possessor of the harmless trophy has earned for himself a name alike + honoured in his ancestors' country and his own, where genius such as his + has always a peaceful welcome. + </p> + <p> + The ensuing history reminds me of yonder swords in the historian's study + at Boston. In the Revolutionary War, the subjects of this story, natives + of America, and children of the Old Dominion, found themselves engaged on + different sides in the quarrel, coming together peaceably at its + conclusion, as brethren should, their love ever having materially + diminished, however angrily the contest divided them. The colonel in + scarlet, and the general in blue and buff, hang side by side in the + wainscoted parlour of the Warringtons, in England, where a descendant of + one of the brothers has shown their portraits to me, with many of the + letters which they wrote, and the books and papers which belonged to them. + In the Warrington family, and to distinguish them from other personages of + that respectable race, these effigies have always gone by the name of “The + Virginians”; by which name their memoirs are christened. + </p> + <p> + They both of them passed much time in Europe. They lived just on the verge + of that Old World from which we are drifting away so swiftly. They were + familiar with many varieties of men and fortune. Their lot brought them + into contact with personages of whom we read only in books, who seem + alive, as I read in the Virginians' letters regarding them, whose voices I + almost fancy I hear, as I read the yellow pages written scores of years + since, blotted with the boyish tears of disappointed passion, dutifully + despatched after famous balls and ceremonies of the grand Old World, + scribbled by camp-fires, or out of prison; nay, there is one that has a + bullet through it, and of which a greater portion of the text is blotted + out with the blood of the bearer. + </p> + <p> + These letters had probably never been preserved, but for the affectionate + thrift of one person, to whom they never failed in their dutiful + correspondence. Their mother kept all her sons' letters, from the very + first, in which Henry, the younger of the twins, sends his love to his + brother, then ill of a sprain at his grandfather's house of Castlewood, in + Virginia, and thanks his grandpapa for a horse which he rides with his + tutor, down to the last, “from my beloved son,” which reached her but a + few hours before her death. The venerable lady never visited Europe, save + once with her parents in the reign of George the Second; took refuge in + Richmond when the house of Castlewood was burned down during the war; and + was called Madam Esmond ever after that event; never caring much for the + name or family of Warrington, which she held in very slight estimation as + compared to her own. + </p> + <p> + The letters of the Virginians, as the reader will presently see, from + specimens to be shown to him, are by no means full. They are hints rather + than descriptions—indications and outlines chiefly: it may be, that + the present writer has mistaken the forms, and filled in the colour + wrongly: but, poring over the documents, I have tried to imagine the + situation of the writer, where he was, and by what persons surrounded. I + have drawn the figures as I fancied they were; set down conversations as I + think I might have heard them; and so, to the best of my ability, + endeavoured to revivify the bygone times and people. With what success the + task has been accomplished, with what profit or amusement to himself, the + kind reader will please to determine. + </p> + <p> + One summer morning in the year 1756, and in the reign of his Majesty King + George the Second, the Young Rachel, Virginian ship, Edward Franks master, + came up the Avon river on her happy return from her annual voyage to the + Potomac. She proceeded to Bristol with the tide, and moored in the stream + as near as possible to Trail's wharf, to which she was consigned. Mr. + Trail, her part owner, who could survey his ship from his counting-house + windows, straightway took boat and came up her side. The owner of the + Young Rachel, a large grave man in his own hair, and of a demure aspect, + gave the hand of welcome to Captain Franks, who stood on his deck, and + congratulated the captain upon the speedy and fortunate voyage which he + had made. And, remarking that we ought to be thankful to Heaven for its + mercies, he proceeded presently to business by asking particulars relative + to cargo and passengers. + </p> + <p> + Franks was a pleasant man, who loved a joke. “We have,” says he, “but + yonder ugly negro boy, who is fetching the trunks, and a passenger who has + the state cabin to himself.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Trail looked as if he would have preferred more mercies from Heaven. + “Confound you, Franks, and your luck! The Duke William, which came in last + week, brought fourteen, and she is not half of our tonnage.” + </p> + <p> + “And this passenger, who has the whole cabin, don't pay nothin',” + continued the Captain. “Swear now, it will do you good, Mr. Trail, indeed + it will. I have tried the medicine.” + </p> + <p> + “A passenger take the whole cabin and not pay? Gracious mercy, are you a + fool, Captain Franks?” + </p> + <p> + “Ask the passenger himself, for here he comes.” And, as the master spoke, + a young man of some nineteen years of age came up the hatchway. He had a + cloak and a sword under his arm, and was dressed in deep mourning, and + called out, “Gumbo, you idiot, why don't you fetch the baggage out of the + cabin? Well, shipmate, our journey is ended. You will see all the little + folks to-night whom you have been talking about. Give my love to Polly, + and Betty, and Little Tommy; not forgetting my duty to Mrs. Franks. I + thought, yesterday, the voyage would never be done, and now I am almost + sorry it is over. That little berth in my cabin looks very comfortable now + I am going to leave it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Trail scowled at the young passenger who had paid no money for his + passage. He scarcely nodded his head to the stranger, when Captain Franks + said, “This here gentleman is Mr. Trail, sir, whose name you have a-heerd + of.” + </p> + <p> + “It's pretty well known in Bristol, sir,” says Mr. Trail, majestically. + </p> + <p> + “And this is Mr. Warrington, Madam Esmond Warrington's son, of + Castlewood,” continued the Captain. + </p> + <p> + The British merchant's hat was instantly off his head, and the owner of + the beaver was making a prodigious number of bows as if a crown prince + were before him. + </p> + <p> + “Gracious powers, Mr. Warrington! This is a delight, indeed! What a + crowning mercy that your voyage should have been so prosperous! You must + have my boat to go on shore. Let me cordially and respectfully welcome you + to England: let me shake your hand as the son of my benefactress and + patroness, Mrs. Esmond Warrington, whose name is known and honoured on + Bristol 'Change, I warrant you. Isn't it, Franks?” + </p> + <p> + “There's no sweeter tobacco comes from Virginia, and no better brand than + the Three Castles,” says Mr. Franks, drawing a great brass tobacco-box + from his pocket, and thrusting a quid into his jolly mouth. “You don't + know what a comfort it is, sir! you'll take to it, bless you, as you grow + older. Won't he, Mr. Trail? I wish you had ten shiploads of it instead of + one. You might have ten shiploads: I've told Madam Esmond so; I've rode + over her plantation; she treats me like a lord when I go to the house; she + don't grudge me the best of wine, or keep me cooling my heels in the + counting-room as some folks does” (with a look at Mr. Trail). “She is a + real born lady, she is; and might have a thousand hogsheads as easy as her + hundreds, if there were but hands enough.” + </p> + <p> + “I have lately engaged in the Guinea trade, and could supply her ladyship + with any number of healthy young negroes before next fall,” said Mr. + Trail, obsequiously. + </p> + <p> + “We are averse to the purchase of negroes from Africa,” said the young + gentleman, coldly. “My grandfather and my mother have always objected to + it, and I do not like to think of selling or buying the poor wretches.” + </p> + <p> + “It is for their good, my dear young sir! for their temporal and their + spiritual good!” cried Mr. Trail. “And we purchase the poor creatures only + for their benefit; let me talk this matter over with you at my own house. + I can introduce you to a happy home, a Christian family, and a British + merchant's honest fare. Can't I, Captain Franks?” + </p> + <p> + “Can't say,” growled the Captain. “Never asked me to take bite or sup at + your table. Asked me to psalm-singing once, and to hear Mr. Ward preach: + don't care for them sort of entertainments.” + </p> + <p> + Not choosing to take any notice of this remark, Mr. Trail continued in his + low tone: “Business is business, my dear young sir, and I know, 'tis only + my duty, the duty of all of us, to cultivate the fruits of the earth in + their season. As the heir of Lady Esmond's estate—for I speak, I + believe, to the heir of that great property?—” + </p> + <p> + The young gentleman made a bow. + </p> + <p> + “—I would urge upon you, at the very earliest moment, the propriety, + the duty of increasing the ample means with which Heaven has blessed you. + As an honest factor, I could not do otherwise; as a prudent man, should I + scruple to speak of what will tend to your profit and mine? No, my dear + Mr. George.” + </p> + <p> + “My name is not George; my name is Henry,” said the young man as he turned + his head away, and his eyes filled with tears. + </p> + <p> + “Gracious powers! what do you mean, sir? Did you not say you were my + lady's heir? and is not George Esmond Warrington, Esq.——” + </p> + <p> + “Hold your tongue, you fool!” cried Mr. Franks, striking the merchant a + tough blow on his sleek sides, as the young lad turned away. “Don't you + see the young gentleman a-swabbing his eyes, and note his black clothes?” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean, Captain Franks, by laying your hand on your owners? Mr. + George is the heir; I know the Colonel's will well enough.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. George is there,” said the Captain, pointing with his thumb to the + deck. + </p> + <p> + “Where?” cries the factor. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. George is there!” reiterated the Captain, again lifting up his finger + towards the topmast, or the sky beyond. “He is dead a year, sir, come next + 9th of July. He would go out with General Braddock on that dreadful + business to the Belle Riviere. He and a thousand more never came back + again. Every man of them was murdered as he fell. You know the Indian way, + Mr. Trail?” And here the Captain passed his hand rapidly round his head. + “Horrible! ain't it, sir? horrible! He was a fine young man, the very + picture of this one; only his hair was black, which is now hanging in a + bloody Indian wigwam. He was often and often on board of the Young Rachel, + and would have his chests of books broke open on deck before they was + landed. He was a shy and silent young gent: not like this one, which was + the merriest, wildest young fellow, full of his songs and fun. He took on + dreadful at the news; went to his bed, had that fever which lays so many + of 'em by the heels along that swampy Potomac, but he's got better on the + voyage: the voyage makes every one better; and, in course, the young + gentleman can't be for ever a-crying after a brother who dies and leaves + him a great fortune. Ever since we sighted Ireland he has been quite gay + and happy, only he would go off at times, when he was most merry, saying, + 'I wish my dearest Georgy could enjoy this here sight along with me, and + when you mentioned the t'other's name, you see, he couldn't stand it.'” + And the honest Captain's own eyes filled with tears, as he turned and + looked towards the object of his compassion. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Trail assumed a lugubrious countenance befitting the tragic compliment + with which he prepared to greet the young Virginian; but the latter + answered him very curtly, declined his offers of hospitality, and only + stayed in Mr. Trail's house long enough to drink a glass of wine and to + take up a sum of money of which he stood in need. But he and Captain + Franks parted on the very warmest terms, and all the little crew of the + Young Rachel cheered from the ship's side as their passenger left it. + </p> + <p> + Again and again Harry Warrington and his brother had pored over the + English map, and determined upon the course which they should take upon + arriving at Home. All Americans who love the old country—and what + gently-nurtured man or woman of Anglo-Saxon race does not?—have ere + this rehearsed their English travels, and visited in fancy the spots with + which their hopes, their parents' fond stories, their friends' + descriptions, have rendered them familiar. There are few things to me more + affecting in the history of the quarrel which divided the two great + nations than the recurrence of that word Home, as used by the younger + towards the elder country. Harry Warrington had his chart laid out. Before + London, and its glorious temples of St. Paul's and St. Peter's; its grim + Tower, where the brave and loyal had shed their blood, from Wallace down + to Balmerino and Kilmarnock, pitied by gentle hearts; before the awful + window of Whitehall, whence the martyr Charles had issued, to kneel once + more, and then ascend to Heaven;—before Playhouses, Parks, and + Palaces, wondrous resorts of wit, pleasure, and splendour;—before + Shakspeare's Resting-place under the tall spire which rises by Avon, + amidst the sweet Warwickshire pastures;—before Derby, and Falkirk, + and Culloden, where the cause of honour and loyalty had fallen, it might + be to rise no more:—before all these points of their pilgrimage + there was one which the young Virginian brothers held even more sacred, + and that was the home of their family,—that old Castlewood in + Hampshire, about which their parents had talked so fondly. From Bristol to + Bath, from Bath to Salisbury, to Winchester, to Hexton, to Home; they knew + the way, and had mapped the journey many and many a time. + </p> + <p> + We must fancy our American traveller to be a handsome young fellow, whose + suit of sables only made him look the more interesting. The plump landlady + from her bar, surrounded by her china and punch-bowls, and stout gilded + bottles of strong waters, and glittering rows of silver flagons, looked + kindly after the young gentleman as he passed through the inn-hall from + his post-chaise, and the obsequious chamberlain bowed him upstairs to the + Rose or the Dolphin. The trim chambermaid dropped her best curtsey for his + fee, and Gumbo, in the inn-kitchen, where the townsfolk drank their mug of + ale by the great fire, bragged of his young master's splendid house in + Virginia, and of the immense wealth to which he was heir. The postchaise + whirled the traveller through the most delightful home-scenery his eyes + had ever lighted on. If English landscape is pleasant to the American of + the present day, who must needs contrast the rich woods and glowing + pastures, and picturesque ancient villages of the old country with the + rough aspect of his own, how much pleasanter must Harry Warrington's + course have been, whose journeys had lain through swamps and forest + solitudes from one Virginian ordinary to another log-house at the end of + the day's route, and who now lighted suddenly upon the busy, happy, + splendid scene of English summer? And the highroad, a hundred years ago, + was not that grass-grown desert of the present time. It was alive with + constant travel and traffic: the country towns and inns swarmed with life + and gaiety. The ponderous waggon, with its bells and plodding team; the + light post-coach that achieved the journey from the White Hart, Salisbury, + to the Swan with Two Necks, London, in two days; the strings of packhorses + that had not yet left the road; my lord's gilt postchaise-and-six, with + the outriders galloping on ahead; the country squire's great coach and + heavy Flanders mares; the farmers trotting to market, or the parson + jolting to the cathedral town on Dumpling, his wife behind on the pillion—all + these crowding sights and brisk people greeted the young traveller on his + summer journey. Hodge, the farmer's boy, took off his hat, and Polly, the + milkmaid, bobbed a curtsey, as the chaise whirled over the pleasant + village-green, and the white-headed children lifted their chubby faces and + cheered. The church-spires glistened with gold, the cottage-gables glared + in sunshine, the great elms murmured in summer, or cast purple shadows + over the grass. Young Warrington never had such a glorious day, or + witnessed a scene so delightful. To be nineteen years of age, with high + health, high spirits, and a full purse, to be making your first journey, + and rolling through the country in a postchaise at nine miles an hour—O + happy youth! almost it makes one young to think of him! But Harry was too + eager to give more than a passing glance at the Abbey at Bath, or gaze + with more than a moment's wonder at the mighty Minster at Salisbury. Until + he beheld Home it seemed to him he had no eyes for any other place. + </p> + <p> + At last the young gentleman's postchaise drew up at the rustic inn on + Castlewood Green, of which his grandsire had many a time talked to him, + and which bears as its ensign, swinging from an elm near the inn porch, + the Three Castles of the Esmond family. They had a sign, too, over the + gateway of Castlewood House, bearing the same cognisance. This was the + hatchment of Francis, Lord Castlewood, who now lay in the chapel hard by, + his son reigning in his stead. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington had often heard of Francis, Lord Castlewood. It was for + Frank's sake, and for his great love towards the boy, that Colonel Esmond + determined to forgo his claim to the English estates and rank of his + family, and retired to Virginia. The young man had led a wild youth; he + had fought with distinction under Marlborough; he had married a foreign + lady, and most lamentably adopted her religion. At one time he had been a + Jacobite (for loyalty to the sovereign was ever hereditary in the Esmond + family), but had received some slight or injury from the Prince, which had + caused him to rally to King George's side. He had, on his second marriage, + renounced the errors of Popery which he had temporarily embraced, and + returned to the Established Church again. He had, from his constant + support of the King and the Minister of the time being, been rewarded by + his Majesty George II., and died an English peer. An earl's coronet now + figured on the hatchment which hung over Castlewood gate—and there + was an end of the jolly gentleman. Between Colonel Esmond, who had become + his stepfather, and his lordship there had ever been a brief but + affectionate correspondence—on the Colonel's part especially, who + loved his stepson, and had a hundred stories to tell about him to his + grandchildren. Madam Esmond, however, said she could see nothing in her + half-brother. He was dull, except when he drank too much wine, and that, + to be sure, was every day at dinner. Then he was boisterous, and his + conversation not pleasant. He was good-looking—yes—a fine tall + stout animal; she had rather her boys should follow a different model. In + spite of the grandfather's encomium of the late lord, the boys had no very + great respect for their kinsman's memory. The lads and their mother were + staunch Jacobites, though having every respect for his present Majesty; + but right was right, and nothing could make their hearts swerve from their + allegiance to the descendants of the martyr Charles. + </p> + <p> + With a beating heart Harry Warrington walked from the inn towards the + house where his grandsire's youth had been passed. The little + village-green of Castlewood slopes down towards the river, which is + spanned by an old bridge of a single broad arch, and from this the ground + rises gradually towards the house, grey with many gables and buttresses, + and backed by a darkling wood. An old man sate at the wicket on a stone + bench in front of the great arched entrance to the house, over which the + earl's hatchment was hanging. An old dog was crouched at the man's feet. + Immediately above the ancient sentry at the gate was an open casement with + some homely flowers in the window, from behind which good-humoured girls' + faces were peeping. They were watching the young traveller dressed in + black as he walked up gazing towards the castle, and the ebony attendant + who followed the gentleman's steps also accoutred in mourning. So was he + at the gate in mourning, and the girls when they came out had black + ribbons. + </p> + <p> + To Harry's surprise, the old man accosted him by his name. “You have had a + nice ride to Hexton, Master Harry, and the sorrel carried you well.” + </p> + <p> + “I think you must be Lockwood,” said Harry, with rather a tremulous voice, + holding out his hand to the old man. His grandfather had often told him of + Lockwood, and how he had accompanied the Colonel and the young Viscount in + Marlborough's wars forty years ago. The veteran seemed puzzled by the mark + of affection which Harry extended to him. The old dog gazed at the + new-comer, and then went and put his head between his knees. “I have heard + of you often. How did you know my name?” + </p> + <p> + “They say I forget most things,” says the old man, with a smile; “but I + ain't so bad as that quite. Only this mornin', when you went out, my + darter says, 'Father, do you know why you have a black coat on?' 'In + course I know why I have a black coat,' says I. 'My lord is dead. They say + 'twas a foul blow, and Master Frank is my lord now, and Master Harry'—why, + what have you done since you've went out this morning? Why, you have + a-grow'd taller and changed your hair—though I know—I know + you.” + </p> + <p> + One of the young women had tripped out by this time from the porter's + lodge, and dropped the stranger a pretty curtsey. “Grandfather sometimes + does not recollect very well,” she said, pointing to her head. “Your + honour seems to have heard of Lockwood?” + </p> + <p> + “And you, have you never heard of Colonel Francis Esmond?” + </p> + <p> + “He was Captain and Major in Webb's Foot, and I was with him in two + campaigns, sure enough,” cries Lockwood. “Wasn't I, Ponto?” + </p> + <p> + “The Colonel as married Viscountess Rachel, my late lord's mother? and + went to live amongst the Indians? We have heard of him. Sure we have his + picture in our gallery, and hisself painted it.” + </p> + <p> + “Went to live in Virginia, and died there seven years ago, and I am his + grandson.” + </p> + <p> + “Lord, your honour! Why, your honour's skin's as white as mine,” cries + Molly. “Grandfather, do you hear this? His honour is Colonel Esmond's + grandson that used to send you tobacco, and his honour have come all the + way from Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + “To see you, Lockwood,” says the young man, “and the family. I only set + foot on English ground yesterday, and my first visit is for home. I may + see the house, though the family are from home?” Molly dared to say Mrs. + Barker would let his honour see the house, and Harry Warrington made his + way across the court, seeming to know the place as well as if he had been + born there, Miss Molly thought, who followed, accompanied by Mr. Gumbo + making her a profusion of polite bows and speeches. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. In which Harry has to pay for his Supper + </h2> + <p> + Colonel Esmond's grandson rang for a while at his ancestors' house of + Castlewood, before any one within seemed inclined to notice his summons. + The servant, who at length issued from the door, seemed to be very little + affected by the announcement that the visitor was a relation of the + family. The family was away, and in their absence John cared very little + for their relatives, but was eager to get back to his game at cards with + Thomas in the window-seat. The housekeeper was busy getting ready for my + lord and my lady, who were expected that evening. Only by strong + entreaties could Harry gain leave to see my lady's sitting-room and the + picture-room, where, sure enough, was a portrait of his grandfather in + periwig and breastplate, the counterpart of their picture in Virginia, and + a likeness of his grandmother, as Lady Castlewood, in a yet earlier habit + of Charles II.'s time; her neck bare, her fair golden hair waving over her + shoulders in ringlets which he remembered to have seen snowy white. From + the contemplation of these sights the sulky housekeeper drove him. Her + family was about to arrive. There was my lady the Countess, and my lord + and his brother, and the young ladies, and the Baroness, who was to have + the state bedroom. Who was the Baroness? The Baroness Bernstein, the young + ladies' aunt. Harry wrote down his name on a paper from his own + pocket-book, and laid it on a table in the hall. “Henry Esmond Warrington, + of Castlewood, in Virginia, arrived in England yesterday—staying at + the Three Castles in the village.” The lackeys rose up from their cards to + open the door to him, in order to get their “wails,” and Gumbo quitted the + bench at the gate, where he had been talking with old Lockwood, the + porter, who took Harry's guinea, hardly knowing the meaning of the gift. + During the visit to the home of his fathers, Harry had only seen little + Polly's countenance that was the least unselfish or kindly: he walked + away, not caring to own how disappointed he was, and what a damp had been + struck upon him by the aspect of the place. They ought to have known him. + Had any of them ridden up to his house in Virginia, whether the master + were present or absent, the guests would have been made welcome, and, in + sight of his ancestors' hall, he had to go and ask for a dish of bacon and + eggs at a country alehouse! + </p> + <p> + After his dinner, he went to the bridge and sate on it, looking towards + the old house, behind which the sun was descending as the rooks came + cawing home to their nests in the elms. His young fancy pictured to itself + many of the ancestors of whom his mother and grandsire had told him. He + fancied knights and huntsmen crossing the ford;—cavaliers of King + Charles's days; my Lord Castlewood, his grandmother's first husband, + riding out with hawk and hound. The recollection of his dearest lost + brother came back to him as he indulged in these reveries, and smote him + with a pang of exceeding tenderness and longing, insomuch that the young + man hung his head and felt his sorrow renewed for the dear friend and + companion with whom, until of late, all his pleasures and griefs had been + shared. As he sate plunged in his own thoughts, which were mingled up with + the mechanical clinking of the blacksmith's forge hard by, the noises of + the evening, the talk of the rooks, and the calling of the birds round + about—a couple of young men on horseback dashed over the bridge. One + of them, with an oath, called him a fool, and told him to keep out of the + way—the other, who fancied he might have jostled the foot-passenger, + and possibly might have sent him over the parapet, pushed on more quickly + when he reached the other side of the water, calling likewise to Tom to + come on; and the pair of young gentlemen were up the hill on their way to + the house before Harry had recovered himself from his surprise at their + appearance, and wrath at their behaviour. In a minute or two, this + advanced guard was followed by two livery servants on horseback, who + scowled at the young traveller on the bridge a true British welcome of + Curse you, who are you? After these, in a minute or two, came a + coach-and-six, a ponderous vehicle having need of the horses which drew + it, and containing three ladies, a couple of maids, and an armed man on a + seat behind the carriage. Three handsome pale faces looked out at Harry + Warrington as the carriage passed over the bridge, and did not return the + salute which, recognising the family arms, he gave it. The gentleman + behind the carriage glared at him haughtily. Harry felt terribly alone. He + thought he would go back to Captain Franks. The Rachel and her little + tossing cabin seemed a cheery spot in comparison to that on which he + stood. The inn-folks did not know his name of Warrington. They told him + that was my lady in the coach, with her stepdaughter, my Lady Maria, and + her daughter, my Lady Fanny; and the young gentleman in the grey frock was + Mr. William, and he with powder on the chestnut was my lord. It was the + latter had sworn the loudest, and called him a fool; and it was the grey + frock which had nearly galloped Harry into the ditch. + </p> + <p> + The landlord of the Three Castles had shown Harry a bedchamber, but he had + refused to have his portmanteaux unpacked, thinking that, for a certainty, + the folks of the great house would invite him to theirs. One, two, three + hours passed, and there came no invitation. Harry was fain to have his + trunks open at last, and to call for his slippers and gown. Just before + dark, about two hours after the arrival of the first carriage, a second + chariot with four horses had passed over the bridge, and a stout, + high-coloured lady, with a very dark pair of eyes, had looked hard at Mr. + Warrington. That was the Baroness Bernstein, the landlady said, my lord's + aunt, and Harry remembered the first Lady Castlewood had come of a German + family. Earl, and Countess, and Baroness, and postillions, and gentlemen, + and horses, had all disappeared behind the castle gate, and Harry was fain + to go to bed at last, in the most melancholy mood and with a cruel sense + of neglect and loneliness in his young heart. He could not sleep, and, + besides, ere long, heard a prodigious noise, and cursing, and giggling, + and screaming from my landlady's bar, which would have served to keep him + awake. + </p> + <p> + Then Gumbo's voice was heard without, remonstrating, “You cannot go in, + sar—my master asleep, sar!” but a shrill voice, with many oaths, + which Harry Warrington recognised, cursed Gumbo for a stupid, negro + woolly-pate, and he was pushed aside, giving entrance to a flood of oaths + into the room, and a young gentleman behind them. + </p> + <p> + “Beg your pardon, Cousin Warrington,” cried the young blasphemer, “are you + asleep? Beg your pardon for riding you over on the bridge. Didn't know you—course + shouldn't have done it—thought it was a lawyer with a writ—dressed + in black, you know. Gad! thought it was Nathan come to nab me.” And Mr. + William laughed incoherently. It was evident that he was excited with + liquor. + </p> + <p> + “You did me great honour to mistake me for a sheriff's-officer, cousin,” + says Harry, with great gravity, sitting up in his tall nightcap. + </p> + <p> + “Gad! I thought it was Nathan, and was going to send you souse into the + river. But I ask your pardon. You see I had been drinking at the Bell at + Hexton, and the punch is good at the Bell at Hexton. Hullo! you, Davis! a + bowl of punch; d'you hear?” + </p> + <p> + “I have had my share for to-night, cousin, and I should think you have,” + Harry continues, always in the dignified style. + </p> + <p> + “You want me to go, Cousin What's-your-name, I see,” Mr. William said, + with gravity. “You want me to go, and they want me to come, and I didn't + want to come. I said, I'd see him hanged first,—that's what I said. + Why should I trouble myself to come down all alone of an evening, and look + after a fellow I don't care a pin for? Zackly what I said. Zackly what + Castlewood said. Why the devil should he go down? Castlewood says, and so + said my lady, but the Baroness would have you. It's all the Baroness's + doing, and if she says a thing, it must be done; so you must just get up + and come.” Mr. Esmond delivered these words with the most amiable rapidity + and indistinctness, running them into one another, and tacking about the + room as he spoke. But the young Virginian was in great wrath. “I tell you + what, cousin,” he cried, “I won't move for the Countess, or for the + Baroness, or for all the cousins in Castlewood.” And when the landlord + entered the chamber with the bowl of punch, which Mr. Esmond had ordered, + the young gentleman in bed called out fiercely to the host, to turn that + sot out of the room. + </p> + <p> + “Sot, you little tobacconist! Sot, you Cherokee!” screams out Mr. William. + “Jump out of bed, and I'll drive my sword through your body. Why didn't I + do it to-day when I took you for a bailiff—a confounded pettifogging + bum-bailiff!” And he went on screeching more oaths and incoherencies, + until the landlord, the drawer, the hostler, and all the folks of the + kitchen were brought to lead him away. After which Harry Warrington closed + his tent round him in sulky wrath, and, no doubt, finally went fast to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + My landlord was very much more obsequious on the next morning when he met + his young guest, having now fully learned his name and quality. Other + messengers had come from the castle on the previous night to bring both + the young gentlemen home, and poor Mr. William, it appeared, had returned + in a wheelbarrow, being not altogether unaccustomed to that mode of + conveyance. “He never remembers nothin' about it the next day. He is of a + real kind nature, Mr. William,” the landlord vowed, “and the men get + crowns and half-crowns from him by saying that he beat them overnight when + he was in liquor. He's the devil when he's tipsy, Mr. William, but when he + is sober he is the very kindest of young gentlemen.” + </p> + <p> + As nothing is unknown to writers of biographies of the present kind, it + may be as well to state what had occurred within the walls of Castlewood + House, whilst Harry Warrington was without, awaiting some token of + recognition from his kinsmen. On their arrival at home the family had + found the paper on which the lad's name was inscribed, and his appearance + occasioned a little domestic council. My Lord Castlewood supposed that + must have been the young gentleman whom they had seen on the bridge, and + as they had not drowned him they must invite him. Let a man go down with + the proper messages, let a servant carry a note. Lady Fanny thought it + would be more civil if one of the brothers would go to their kinsman, + especially considering the original greeting which they had given. Lord + Castlewood had not the slightest objection to his brother William going—yes, + William should go. Upon this Mr. William said (with a yet stronger + expression) that he would be hanged if he would go. Lady Maria thought the + young gentleman whom they had remarked at the bridge was a pretty fellow + enough. Castlewood is dreadfully dull, I am sure neither of my brothers do + anything to make it amusing. He may be vulgar—no doubt, he is vulgar—but + let us see the American. Such was Lady Maria's opinion. Lady Castlewood + was neither for inviting nor for refusing him, but for delaying. “Wait + till your aunt comes, children; perhaps the Baroness won't like to see the + young man; at least, let us consult her before we ask him.” And so the + hospitality to be offered by his nearest kinsfolk to poor Harry Warrington + remained yet in abeyance. + </p> + <p> + At length the equipage of the Baroness Bernstein made its appearance, and + whatever doubt there might be as to the reception of the Virginian + stranger, there was no lack of enthusiasm in this generous family + regarding their wealthy and powerful kinswoman. The state-chamber had + already been prepared for her. The cook had arrived the previous day with + instructions to get ready a supper for her such as her ladyship liked. The + table sparkled with old plate, and was set in the oak dining-room with the + pictures of the family round the walls. There was the late Viscount, his + father, his mother, his sister—these two lovely pictures. There was + his predecessor by Vandyck, and his Viscountess. There was Colonel Esmond, + their relative in Virginia, about whose grandson the ladies and gentlemen + of the Esmond family showed such a very moderate degree of sympathy. + </p> + <p> + The feast set before their aunt, the Baroness, was a very good one, and + her ladyship enjoyed it. The supper occupied an hour or two, during which + the whole Castlewood family were most attentive to their guest. The + Countess pressed all the good dishes upon her, of which she freely + partook: the butler no sooner saw her glass empty than he filled it with + champagne: the young folks and their mother kept up the conversation, not + so much by talking, as by listening appropriately to their friend. She was + full of spirits and humour. She seemed to know everybody in Europe, and + about those everybodies the wickedest stories. The Countess of Castlewood, + ordinarily a very demure, severe woman, and a stickler for the + proprieties, smiled at the very worst of these anecdotes; the girls looked + at one another and laughed at the maternal signal; the boys giggled and + roared with especial delight at their sisters' confusion. They also + partook freely of the wine which the butler handed round, nor did they, or + their guest, disdain the bowl of smoking punch, which was laid on the + table after the supper. Many and many a night, the Baroness said, she had + drunk at that table by her father's side. “That was his place,” she + pointed to the place where the Countess now sat. She saw none of the old + plate. That was all melted to pay his gambling debts. She hoped, “Young + gentlemen, that you don't play.” + </p> + <p> + “Never, on my word,” says Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “Never, 'pon honour,” says Will—winking at his brother. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness was very glad to hear they were such good boys. Her face grew + redder with the punch; and she became voluble, might have been thought + coarse, but that times were different, and those critics were inclined to + be especially favourable. + </p> + <p> + She talked to the boys about their father, their grandfather—other + men and women of the house. “The only man of the family was that,” she + said, pointing (with an arm that was yet beautifully round and white) + towards the picture of the military gentleman in the red coat and cuirass, + and great black periwig. + </p> + <p> + “The Virginian? What is he good for? I always thought he was good for + nothing but to cultivate tobacco and my grandmother,” says my lord, + laughing. + </p> + <p> + She struck her hand upon the table with an energy that made the glasses + dance. “I say he was the best of you all. There never was one of the male + Esmonds that had more brains than a goose, except him. He was not fit for + this wicked, selfish old world of ours, and he was right to go and live + out of it. Where would your father have been, young people, but for him?” + </p> + <p> + “Was he particularly kind to our papa?” says Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Old stories, my dear Maria!” cries the Countess. “I am sure my dear Earl + was very kind to him in giving him that great estate in Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + “Since his brother's death, the lad who has been here to-day is heir to + that. Mr. Draper told me so! Peste! I don't know why my father gave up + such a property.” + </p> + <p> + “Who has been here to-day?” asked the Baroness, highly excited. + </p> + <p> + “Harry Esmond Warrington, of Virginia,” my lord answered: “a lad whom Will + nearly pitched into the river, and whom I pressed my lady the Countess to + invite to stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “You mean that one of the Virginian boys has been to Castlewood, and has + not been asked to stay here?” + </p> + <p> + “There is but one of them, my dear creature,” interposes the Earl. “The + other, you know, has just been——” + </p> + <p> + “For shame, for shame!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! it ain't pleasant, I confess, to be se——” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that a grandson of Henry Esmond, the master of this house, + has been here, and none of you have offered him hospitality?” + </p> + <p> + “Since we didn't know it, and he is staying at the Castles?” interposes + Will. + </p> + <p> + “That he is staying at the Inn, and you are sitting there!” cries the old + lady. “This is too bad—call somebody to me. Get me my hood—I'll + go to the boy myself. Come with me this instant, my Lord Castlewood.” + </p> + <p> + The young man rose up, evidently in wrath. “Madame the Baroness of + Bernstein,” he said, “your ladyship is welcome to go; but as for me, I + don't choose to have such words as 'shameful' applied to my conduct. I + won't go and fetch the young gentleman from Virginia, and I propose to sit + here and finish this bowl of punch. Eugene! Don't Eugene me, madam. I know + her ladyship has a great deal of money, which you are desirous should + remain in our amiable family. You want it more than I do. Cringe for it—I + won't.” And he sank back in his chair. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness looked at the family, who held their heads down, and then at + my lord, but this time without any dislike. She leaned over to him and + said rapidly in German, “I had unright when I said the Colonel was the + only man of the family. Thou canst, if thou willest, Eugene.” To which + remark my lord only bowed. + </p> + <p> + “If you do not wish an old woman to go out at this hour of the night, let + William, at least, go and fetch his cousin,” said the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “The very thing I proposed to him.” + </p> + <p> + “And so did we—and so did we!” cried the daughters in a breath. + </p> + <p> + “I am sure, I only wanted the dear Baroness's consent!” said their mother, + “and shall be charmed for my part to welcome our young relative.” + </p> + <p> + “Will! Put on thy pattens and get a lantern, and go fetch the Virginian,” + said my lord. + </p> + <p> + “And we will have another bowl of punch when he comes,” says William, who + by this time had already had too much. And he went forth—how we have + seen; and how he had more punch; and how ill he succeeded in his embassy. + </p> + <p> + The worthy lady of Castlewood, as she caught sight of young Harry + Warrington by the river-side, must have seen a very handsome and + interesting youth, and very likely had reasons of her own for not desiring + his presence in her family. All mothers are not eager to encourage the + visits of interesting youths of nineteen in families where there are + virgins of twenty. If Harry's acres had been in Norfolk or Devon, in place + of Virginia, no doubt the good Countess would have been rather more eager + in her welcome. Had she wanted him she would have given him her hand + readily enough. If our people of ton are selfish, at any rate they show + they are selfish; and, being cold-hearted, at least have no hypocrisy of + affection. + </p> + <p> + Why should Lady Castlewood put herself out of the way to welcome the young + stranger? Because he was friendless? Only a simpleton could ever imagine + such a reason as that. People of fashion, like her ladyship, are friendly + to those who have plenty of friends. A poor lad, alone, from a distant + country, with only very moderate means, and those not as yet in his own + power, with uncouth manners very likely, and coarse provincial habits; was + a great lady called upon to put herself out of the way for such a youth? + Allons donc! He was quite as well at the alehouse as at the castle. + </p> + <p> + This, no doubt, was her ladyship's opinion, which her kinswoman, the + Baroness Bernstein, who knew her perfectly well, entirely understood. The + Baroness, too, was a woman of the world, and, possibly, on occasion, could + be as selfish as any other person of fashion. She fully understood the + cause of the deference which all the Castlewood family showed to her—mother, + and daughter, and sons,—and being a woman of great humour, played + upon the dispositions of the various members of this family, amused + herself with their greedinesses, their humiliations, their artless respect + for her money-box, and clinging attachment to her purse. They were not + very rich; Lady Castlewood's own money was settled on her children. The + two elder had inherited nothing but flaxen heads from their German mother, + and a pedigree of prodigious distinction. But those who had money, and + those who had none, were alike eager for the Baroness's; in this matter + the rich are surely quite as greedy as the poor. + </p> + <p> + So if Madam Bernstein struck her hand on the table, and caused the glasses + and the persons round it to tremble at her wrath, it was because she was + excited with plenty of punch and champagne, which her ladyship was in the + habit of taking freely, and because she may have had a generous impulse + when generous wine warmed her blood, and felt indignant as she thought of + the poor lad yonder, sitting friendless and lonely on the outside of his + ancestors' door; not because she was specially angry with her relatives, + who she knew would act precisely as they had done. + </p> + <p> + The exhibition of their selfishness and humiliation alike amused her, as + did Castlewood's act of revolt. He was as selfish as the rest of the + family, but not so mean; and, as he candidly stated, he could afford the + luxury of a little independence, having tolerable estate to fall back + upon. + </p> + <p> + Madam Bernstein was an early woman, restless, resolute, extraordinarily + active for her age. She was up long before the languid Castlewood ladies + (just home from their London routs and balls) had quitted their + feather-beds, or jolly Will had slept off his various potations of punch. + She was up, and pacing the green terraces that sparkled with the sweet + morning dew, which lay twinkling, also, on a flowery wilderness of trim + parterres, and on the crisp walls of the dark box hedges, under which + marble fauns and dryads were cooling themselves, whilst a thousand birds + sang, the fountains plashed and glittered in the rosy morning sunshine, + and the rooks cawed from the great wood. + </p> + <p> + Had the well-remembered scene (for she had visited it often in childhood) + a freshness and charm for her? Did it recall days of innocence and + happiness, and did its calm beauty soothe or please, or awaken remorse in + her heart? Her manner was more than ordinarily affectionate and gentle, + when, presently, after pacing the walks for a half-hour, the person for + whom she was waiting came to her. This was our young Virginian, to whom + she had despatched an early billet by one of the Lockwoods. The note was + signed B. Bernstein, and informed Mr. Esmond Warrington that his relatives + at Castlewood, and among them a dear friend of his grandfather, were most + anxious that he should come to “Colonel Esmond's house in England.” And + now, accordingly, the lad made his appearance, passing under the old + Gothic doorway, tripping down the steps from one garden terrace to + another, hat in hand, his fair hair blowing from his flushed cheeks, his + slim figure clad in mourning. The handsome and modest looks, the comely + face and person, of the young lad pleased the lady. He made her a low bow + which would have done credit to Versailles. She held out a little hand to + him, and, as his own palm closed over it, she laid the other hand softly + on his ruffle. She looked very kindly and affectionately in the honest + blushing face. + </p> + <p> + “I knew your grandfather very well, Harry,” she said. “So you came + yesterday to see his picture, and they turned you away, though you know + the house was his of right?” + </p> + <p> + Harry blushed very red. “The servants did not know me. A young gentleman + came to me last night,” he said, “when I was peevish, and he, I fear, was + tipsy. I spoke rudely to my cousin, and would ask his pardon. Your + ladyship knows that in Virginia our manners towards strangers are + different. I own I had expected another kind of welcome. Was it you, + madam, who sent my cousin to me last night?” + </p> + <p> + “I sent him; but you will find your cousins most friendly to you to-day. + You must stay here. Lord Castlewood would have been with you this morning, + only I was so eager to see you. There will be breakfast in an hour; and + meantime you must talk to me. We will send to the Three Castles for your + servant and your baggage. Give me your arm. Stop, I dropped my cane when + you came. You shall be my cane.” + </p> + <p> + “My grandfather used to call us his crutches,” said Harry. + </p> + <p> + “You are like him, though you are fair.” + </p> + <p> + “You should have seen—you should have seen George,” said the boy, + and his honest eyes welled with tears. The recollection of his brother, + the bitter pain of yesterday's humiliation, the affectionateness of the + present greeting—all, perhaps, contributed to soften the lad's + heart. He felt very tenderly and gratefully towards the lady who had + received him so warmly. He was utterly alone and miserable a minute since, + and here was a home and a kind hand held out to him. No wonder he clung to + it. In the hour during which they talked together, the young fellow had + poured out a great deal of his honest heart to the kind new-found friend; + when the dial told breakfast-time, he wondered to think how much he had + told her. She took him to the breakfast-room; she presented him to his + aunt, the Countess, and bade him embrace his cousins. Lord Castlewood was + frank and gracious enough. Honest Will had a headache, but was utterly + unconscious of the proceedings of the past night. The ladies were very + pleasant and polite, as ladies of their fashion know how to be. How should + Harry Warrington, a simple truth-telling lad from a distant colony, who + had only yesterday put his foot upon English shore, know that my ladies, + so smiling and easy in demeanour, were furious against him, and aghast at + the favour with which Madam Bernstein seemed to regard him? + </p> + <p> + She was folle of him, talked of no one else, scarce noticed the Castlewood + young people, trotted with him over the house, and told him all its story, + showed him the little room in the courtyard where his grandfather used to + sleep, and a cunning cupboard over the fireplace which had been made in + the time of the Catholic persecutions; drove out with him in the + neighbouring country, and pointed out to him the most remarkable sites and + houses, and had in return the whole of the young man's story. + </p> + <p> + This brief biography the kind reader will please to accept, not in the + precise words in which Mr. Harry Warrington delivered it to Madam + Bernstein, but in the form in which it has been cast in the Chapters next + ensuing. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. The Esmonds in Virginia + </h2> + <p> + Henry Esmond, Esq., an office who had served with the rank of Colonel + during the wars of Queen Anne's reign, found himself, at its close, + compromised in certain attempts for the restoration of the Queen's family + to the throne of these realms. Happily for itself, the nation preferred + another dynasty; but some of the few opponents of the house of Hanover + took refuge out of the three kingdoms, and amongst others, Colonel Esmond + was counselled by his friends to go abroad. As Mr. Esmond sincerely + regretted the part which he had taken, and as the august Prince who came + to rule over England was the most pacable of sovereigns, in a very little + time the Colonel's friends found means to make his peace. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Esmond, it has been said, belonged to the noble English family which + takes its title from Castlewood, in the county of Hants; and it was pretty + generally known that King James II. and his son had offered the title of + Marquis to Colonel Esmond and his father, and that the former might have + assumed the (Irish) peerage hereditary in his family, but for an + informality which he did not choose to set right. Tired of the political + struggles in which he had been engaged, and annoyed by family + circumstances in Europe, he preferred to establish himself in Virginia, + where he took possession of a large estate conferred by King Charles I. + upon his ancestor. Here Mr. Esmond's daughter and grandsons were born, and + his wife died. This lady, when she married him, was the widow of the + Colonel's kinsman, the unlucky Viscount Castlewood, killed in a duel by + Lord Mohun, at the close of King William's reign. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Esmond called his American house Castlewood, from the patrimonial home + in the old country. The whole usages of Virginia, indeed, were fondly + modelled after the English customs. It was a loyal colony. The Virginians + boasted that King Charles II. had been king in Virginia before he had been + king in England. English king and English church were alike faithfully + honoured there. The resident gentry were allied to good English families. + They held their heads above the Dutch traders of New York, and the + money-getting Roundheads of Pennsylvania and New England. Never were + people less republican than those of the great province which was soon to + be foremost in the memorable revolt against the British Crown. + </p> + <p> + The gentry of Virginia dwelt on their great lands after a fashion almost + patriarchal. For its rough cultivation, each estate had a multitude of + hands—of purchased and assigned servants—who were subject to + the command of the master. The land yielded their food, live stock, and + game. The great rivers swarmed with fish for the taking. From their banks + the passage home was clear. Their ships took the tobacco off their private + wharves on the banks of the Potomac or the James river, and carried it to + London or Bristol,—bringing back English goods and articles of home + manufacture in return for the only produce which the Virginian gentry + chose to cultivate. Their hospitality was boundless. No stranger was ever + sent away from their gates. The gentry received one another, and travelled + to each other's houses, in a state almost feudal. The question of Slavery + was not born at the time of which we write. To be the proprietor of black + servants shocked the feelings of no Virginian gentleman; nor, in truth, + was the despotism exercised over the negro race generally a savage one. + The food was plenty; the poor black people lazy and not unhappy. You might + have preached negro emancipation to Madam Esmond of Castlewood as you + might have told her to let the horses run loose out of her stables; she + had no doubt but that the whip and the corn-bag were good for both. + </p> + <p> + Her father may have thought otherwise, being of a sceptical turn on very + many points, but his doubts did not break forth in active denial, and he + was rather disaffected than rebellious. At one period, this gentleman had + taken a part in active life at home, and possibly might have been eager to + share its rewards; but in latter days he did not seem to care for them. A + something had occurred in his life, which had cast a tinge of melancholy + over all his existence. He was not unhappy—to those about him most + kind—most affectionate, obsequious even to the women of his family, + whom be scarce ever contradicted; but there had been some bankruptcy of + his heart, which his spirit never recovered. He submitted to life, rather + than enjoyed it, and never was in better spirits than in his last hours + when he was going to lay it down. + </p> + <p> + Having lost his wife, his daughter took the management of the Colonel and + his affairs; and he gave them up to her charge with an entire + acquiescence. So that he had his books and his quiet, he cared for no + more. When company came to Castlewood, he entertained them handsomely, and + was of a very pleasant, sarcastical turn. He was not in the least sorry + when they went away. + </p> + <p> + “My love, I shall not be sorry to go myself,” he said to his daughter, + “and you, though the most affectionate of daughters, will console yourself + after a while. Why should I, who am so old, be romantic? You may, who are + still a young creature.” This he said, not meaning all he said, for the + lady whom he addressed was a matter-of-fact little person, with very + little romance in her nature. + </p> + <p> + After fifteen years' residence upon his great Virginian estate, affairs + prospered so well with the worthy proprietor, that he acquiesced in his + daughter's plans for the building of a mansion much grander and more + durable than the plain wooden edifice in which he had been content to + live, so that his heirs might have a habitation worthy of their noble + name. Several of Madam Warrington's neighbours had built handsome houses + for themselves; perhaps it was her ambition to take rank in the country, + which inspired this desire for improved quarters. Colonel Esmond, of + Castlewood, neither cared for quarters nor for quarterings. But his + daughter had a very high opinion of the merit and antiquity of her + lineage; and her sire, growing exquisitely calm and good-natured in his + serene, declining years, humoured his child's peculiarities in an easy, + bantering way,—nay, helped her with his antiquarian learning, which + was not inconsiderable, and with his skill in the art of painting, of + which he was a proficient. A knowledge of heraldry, a hundred years ago, + formed part of the education of most noble ladies and gentlemen: during + her visit to Europe, Miss Esmond had eagerly studied the family history + and pedigrees, and returned thence to Virginia with a store of documents + relative to her family on which she relied with implicit gravity and + credence, and with the most edifying volumes then published in France and + England, respecting the noble science. These works proved, to her perfect + satisfaction, not only that the Esmonds were descended from noble Norman + warriors, who came into England along with their victorious chief, but + from native English of royal dignity: and two magnificent heraldic trees, + cunningly painted by the hand of the Colonel, represented the family + springing from the Emperor Charlemagne on the one hand, who was drawn in + plate-armour, with his imperial mantle and diadem, and on the other from + Queen Boadicea, whom the Colonel insisted upon painting in the light + costume of an ancient British queen, with a prodigious gilded crown, a + trifling mantle of furs, and a lovely symmetrical person, tastefully + tattooed with figures of a brilliant blue tint. From these two illustrious + stocks the family-tree rose until it united in the thirteenth century + somewhere in the person of the fortunate Esmond who claimed to spring from + both. + </p> + <p> + Of the Warrington family, into which she married, good Madam Rachel + thought but little. She wrote herself Esmond Warrington, but was + universally called Madam Esmond of Castlewood, when after her father's + decease she came to rule over that domain. It is even to be feared that + quarrels for precedence in the colonial society occasionally disturbed her + temper; for though her father had had a marquis's patent from King James, + which he had burned and disowned, she would frequently act as if that + document existed and was in full force. She considered the English Esmonds + of an inferior dignity to her own branch; and as for the colonial + aristocracy, she made no scruple of asserting her superiority over the + whole body of them. Hence quarrels and angry words, and even a scuffle or + two, as we gather from her notes, at the Governor's assemblies at + Jamestown. Wherefore recall the memory of these squabbles? Are not the + persons who engaged in them beyond the reach of quarrels now, and has not + the republic put an end to these social inequalities? Ere the + establishment of Independence, there was no more aristocratic country in + the world than Virginia; so the Virginians, whose history we have to + narrate, were bred to have the fullest respect for the institutions of + home, and the rightful king had not two more faithful little subjects than + the young twins of Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + When the boys' grandfather died, their mother, in great state, proclaimed + her eldest son George her successor and heir of the estate; and Harry, + George's younger brother by half an hour, was always enjoined to respect + his senior. All the household was equally instructed to pay him honour; + the negroes, of whom there was a large and happy family, and the assigned + servants from Europe, whose lot was made as bearable as it might be under + the government of the lady of Castlewood. In the whole family there + scarcely was a rebel save Mrs. Esmond's faithful friend and companion, + Madam Mountain, and Harry's foster-mother, a faithful negro woman, who + never could be made to understand why her child should not be first, who + was handsomer, and stronger, and cleverer than his brother, as she vowed; + though, in truth, there was scarcely any difference in the beauty, + strength, or stature of the twins. In disposition, they were in many + points exceedingly unlike; but in feature they resembled each other so + closely, that but for the colour of their hair it had been difficult to + distinguish them. In their beds, and when their heads were covered with + those vast ribboned nightcaps which our great and little ancestors wore, + it was scarcely possible for any but a nurse or mother to tell the one + from the other child. + </p> + <p> + Howbeit alike in form, we have said that they differed in temper. The + elder was peaceful, studious, and silent; the younger was warlike and + noisy. He was quick at learning when he began, but very slow at beginning. + No threats of the ferule would provoke Harry to learn in an idle fit, or + would prevent George from helping his brother in his lesson. Harry was of + a strong military turn, drilled the little negroes on the estate and caned + them like a corporal, having many good boxing-matches with them, and never + bearing malice if he was worsted;—whereas George was sparing of + blows and gentle with all about him. As the custom in all families was, + each of the boys had a special little servant assigned him; and it was a + known fact that George, finding his little wretch of a blackamoor asleep + on his master's bed, sat down beside it and brushed the flies off the + child with a feather fan, to the horror of old Gumbo, the child's father, + who found his young master so engaged, and to the indignation of Madam + Esmond, who ordered the young negro off to the proper officer for a + whipping. In vain George implored and entreated—burst into + passionate tears, and besought a remission of the sentence. His mother was + inflexible regarding the young rebel's punishment, and the little negro + went off beseeching his young master not to cry. + </p> + <p> + A fierce quarrel between mother and son ensued out of this event. Her son + would not be pacified. He said the punishment was a shame—a shame; + that he was the master of the boy, and no one—no, not his mother,—had + a right to touch him; that she might order him to be corrected, and that + he would suffer the punishment, as he and Harry often had, but no one + should lay a hand on his boy. Trembling with passionate rebellion against + what he conceived the injustice of procedure, he vowed—actually + shrieking out an oath, which shocked his fond mother and governor, who + never before heard such language from the usually gentle child—that + on the day he came of age he would set young Gumbo free—went to + visit the child in the slaves' quarters, and gave him one of his own toys. + </p> + <p> + The young black martyr was an impudent, lazy, saucy little personage, who + would be none the worse for a whipping, as the Colonel no doubt thought; + for he acquiesced in the child's punishment when Madam Esmond insisted + upon it, and only laughed in his good-natured way when his indignant + grandson called out, + </p> + <p> + “You let mamma rule you in everything, grandpapa.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, so I do,” says grandpapa. “Rachel, my love, the way in which I am + petticoat-ridden is so evident that even this baby has found it out.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why don't you stand up like a man?” says little Harry', who always + was ready to abet his brother. + </p> + <p> + Grandpapa looked queerly. + </p> + <p> + “Because I like sitting down best, my dear,” he said. “I am an old + gentleman, and standing fatigues me.” + </p> + <p> + On account of a certain apish drollery and humour which exhibited itself + in the lad, and a liking for some of the old man's pursuits, the first of + the twins was the grandfather's favourite and companion, and would laugh + and talk out all his infantine heart to the old gentleman, to whom the + younger had seldom a word to say. George was a demure studious boy, and + his senses seemed to brighten up in the library, where his brother was so + gloomy. He knew the books before he could well-nigh carry them, and read + in them long before he could understand them. Harry, on the other hand, + was all alive in the stables or in the wood, eager for all parties of + hunting and fishing, and promised to be a good sportsman from a very early + age. Their grandfather's ship was sailing for Europe once when the boys + were children, and they were asked, what present Captain Franks should + bring them back? George was divided between books and a fiddle; Harry + instantly declared for a little gun: and Madam Warrington (as she then was + called) was hurt that her elder boy should have low tastes, and applauded + the younger's choice as more worthy of his name and lineage. “Books, papa, + I can fancy to be a good choice,” she replied to her father, who tried to + convince her that George had a right to his opinion, “though I am sure you + must have pretty nigh all the books in the world already. But I never can + desire—I may be wrong, but I never can desire—that my son, and + the grandson of the Marquis of Esmond, should be a fiddler.” + </p> + <p> + “Should be a fiddlestick, my dear,” the old Colonel answered. + </p> + <p> + “Remember that Heaven's ways are not ours, and that each creature born has + a little kingdom of thought of his own, which it is a sin in us to invade. + Suppose George loves music? You can no more stop him than you can order a + rose not to smell sweet, or a bird not to sing.” + </p> + <p> + “A bird! A bird sings from nature; George did not come into the world with + a fiddle in his hand,” says Mrs. Warrington, with a toss of her head. “I + am sure I hated the harpsichord when a chit at Kensington School, and only + learned it to please my mamma. Say what you will, dear sir, I can not + believe that this fiddling is work for persons of fashion.” + </p> + <p> + “And King David who played the harp, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish my papa would read him more, and not speak about him in that way,” + said Mrs. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, my dear, it was but by way of illustration,” the father replied + gently. It was Colonel Esmond's nature, as he has owned in his own + biography, always to be led by a woman; and, his wife dead, he coaxed and + dandled and spoiled his daughter; laughing at her caprices, but humouring + them; making a joke of her prejudices, but letting them have their way; + indulging, and perhaps increasing, her natural imperiousness of character, + though it was his maxim that we can't change dispositions by meddling, and + only make hypocrites of our children by commanding them over-much. + </p> + <p> + At length the time came when Mr. Esmond was to have done with the affairs + of this life, and he laid them down as if glad to be rid of their burthen. + We must not ring in an opening history with tolling bells, or preface it + with a funeral sermon. All who read and heard that discourse, wondered + where Parson Broadbent of Jamestown found the eloquence and the Latin + which adorned it. Perhaps Mr. Dempster knew, the boys' Scotch tutor, who + corrected the proofs of the oration, which was printed, by desire of his + Excellency and many persons of honour, at Mr. Franklin's press in + Philadelphia. No such sumptuous funeral had ever been seen in the country + as that which Madam Esmond Warrington ordained for her father, who would + have been the first to smile at that pompous grief. The little lads of + Castlewood, almost smothered in black trains and hatbands, headed the + procession, and were followed by my Lord Fairfax from Greenway Court, by + his Excellency the Governor of Virginia (with his coach), by the + Randolphs, the Careys, the Harrisons, the Washingtons, and many others, + for the whole county esteemed the departed gentleman, whose goodness, + whose high talents, whose benevolence and unobtrusive urbanity had earned + for him the just respect of his neighbours. When informed of the event, + the family of Colonel Esmond's stepson, the Lord Castlewood of Hampshire + in England, asked to be at the charges of the marble slab which recorded + the names and virtues of his lordship's mother and her husband; and after + due time of preparation, the monument was set up, exhibiting the arms and + coronet of the Esmonds, supported by a little chubby group of weeping + cherubs, and reciting an epitaph which for once did not tell any + falsehoods. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. In which Harry finds a New Relative + </h2> + <p> + Kind friends, neighbours hospitable, cordial, even respectful,—an + ancient name, a large estate and a sufficient fortune, a comfortable home, + supplied with all the necessaries and many of the luxuries of life, and a + troop of servants, black and white, eager to do your bidding; good health, + affectionate children, and, let us humbly add, a good cook, cellar, and + library—ought not a person in the possession of all these benefits + to be considered very decently happy? Madam Esmond Warrington possessed + all these causes for happiness; she reminded herself of them daily in her + morning and evening prayers. She was scrupulous in her devotions, good to + the poor, never knowingly did anybody a wrong. Yonder I fancy her + enthroned in her principality of Castlewood, the country gentlefolks + paying her court, the sons dutiful to her, the domestics tumbling over + each other's black heels to do her bidding, the poor whites grateful for + her bounty and implicitly taking her doses when they were ill, the smaller + gentry always acquiescing in her remarks, and for ever letting her win at + backgammon—well, with all these benefits, which are more sure than + fate allots to most mortals, I don't think the little Princess Pocahontas, + as she was called, was to be envied in the midst of her dominions. The + Princess's husband, who was cut off in early life, was as well perhaps out + of the way. Had he survived his marriage by many years, they would have + quarrelled fiercely, or, he would infallibly have been a henpecked + husband, of which sort there were a few specimens still extant a hundred + years ago. The truth is, little Madam Esmond never came near man or woman, + but she tried to domineer over them. If people obeyed, she was their very + good friend; if they resisted, she fought and fought until she or they + gave in. We are all miserable sinners that's a fact we acknowledge in + public every Sunday—no one announced it in a more clear resolute + voice than the little lady. As a mortal, she may have been in the wrong, + of course; only she very seldom acknowledged the circumstance to herself, + and to others never. Her father, in his old age, used to watch her freaks + of despotism, haughtiness, and stubbornness, and amuse himself with them. + She felt that his eye was upon her; his humour, of which quality she + possessed little herself, subdued and bewildered her. But, the Colonel + gone, there was nobody else whom she was disposed to obey,—and so I + am rather glad for my part that I did not live a hundred years ago at + Castlewood in Westmorland County in Virginia. I fancy, one would not have + been too happy there. Happy, who is happy? Was not there a serpent in + Paradise itself? and if Eve had been perfectly happy beforehand, would she + have listened to him? + </p> + <p> + The management of the house of Castlewood had been in the hands of the + active little lady long before the Colonel slept the sleep of the just. + She now exercised a rigid supervision over the estate; dismissed Colonel + Esmond's English factor and employed a new one; built, improved, planted, + grew tobacco, appointed a new overseer, and imported a new tutor. Much as + she loved her father, there were some of his maxims by which she was not + inclined to abide. Had she not obeyed her papa and mamma during all their + lives, as a dutiful daughter should? So ought all children to obey their + parents, that their days might be long in the land. The little Queen + domineered over her little dominion, and the Princes her sons were only + her first subjects. Ere long she discontinued her husband's name of + Warrington and went by the name of Madam Esmond in the country. Her family + pretensions were known there. She had no objection to talk of the + Marquis's title which King James had given to her father and grandfather. + Her papa's enormous magnanimity might induce him to give up his titles and + rank to the younger branch of the family, and to her half-brother, my Lord + Castlewood and his children; but she and her sons were of the elder branch + of the Esmonds, and she expected that they should be treated accordingly. + Lord Fairfax was the only gentleman in the colony of Virginia to whom she + would allow precedence over her. She insisted on the pas before all + Lieutenant-Governors' and Judges' ladies; before the wife of the Governor + of a colony she would, of course, yield as to the representative of the + Sovereign. Accounts are extant, in the family papers and letters, of one + or two tremendous battles which Madam fought with the wives of colonial + dignitaries upon these questions of etiquette. As for her husband's family + of Warrington, they were as naught in her eyes. She married an English + baronet's younger son out of Norfolk to please her parents, whom she was + always bound to obey. At the early age at which she married—a chit + out of a boarding-school—she would have jumped overboard if her papa + had ordered. “And that is always the way with the Esmonds,” she said. + </p> + <p> + The English Warringtons were not over-much flattered by the little + American Princess's behaviour to them, and her manner of speaking about + them. Once a year a solemn letter used to be addressed to the Warrington + family, and to her noble kinsmen the Hampshire Esmonds; but a Judge's lady + with whom Madam Esmond had quarrelled returning to England out of Virginia + chanced to meet Lady Warrington, who was in London with Sir Miles + attending Parliament, and this person repeated some of the speeches which + the Princess Pocahontas was in the habit of making regarding her own and + her husband's English relatives, and my Lady Warrington, I suppose, + carried the story to my Lady Castlewood; after which the letters from + Virginia were not answered, to the surprise and wrath of Madam Esmond, who + speedily left off writing also. + </p> + <p> + So this good woman fell out with her neighbours, with her relatives, and, + as it must be owned, with her sons also. + </p> + <p> + A very early difference which occurred between the Queen and Crown Prince + arose out of the dismissal of Mr. Dempster, the lad's tutor and the late + Colonel's secretary. In her father's life Madam Esmond bore him with + difficulty, or it should be rather said Mr. Dempster could scarce put up + with her. She was jealous of books somehow, and thought your bookworms + dangerous folks, insinuating bad principles. She had heard that Dempster + was a Jesuit in disguise, and the poor fellow was obliged to go build + himself a cabin in a clearing, and teach school and practise medicine + where he could find customers among the sparse inhabitants of the + province. Master George vowed he never would forsake his old tutor, and + kept his promise. Harry had always loved fishing and sporting better than + books, and he and the poor Dominie had never been on terms of close + intimacy. Another cause of dispute presently ensued. + </p> + <p> + By the death of an aunt, and at his father's demise, the heir of Mr. + George Warrington became entitled to a sum of six thousand pounds, of + which their mother was one of the trustees. She never could be made to + understand that she was not the proprietor, and not merely the trustee of + this money; and was furious with the London lawyer, the other trustee, who + refused to send it over at her order. “Is not all I have my sons'?” she + cried, “and would I not cut myself into little pieces to serve them? With + the six thousand pounds I would have bought Mr. Boulter's estate and + negroes, which would have given us a good thousand pounds a year, and made + a handsome provision for my Harry.” Her young friend and neighbour, Mr. + Washington of Mount Vernon, could not convince her that the London agent + was right, and must not give up his trust except to those for whom he held + it. Madam Esmond gave the London lawyer a piece of her mind, and, I am + sorry to say, informed Mr. Draper that he was an insolent pettifogger, and + deserved to be punished for doubting the honour of a mother and an Esmond. + It must be owned that the Virginian Princess had a temper of her own. + </p> + <p> + George Esmond, her firstborn, when this little matter was referred to him, + and his mother vehemently insisted that he should declare himself, was of + the opinion of Mr. Washington, and Mr. Draper, the London lawyer. The boy + said he could not help himself. He did not want the money: he would be + very glad to think otherwise, and to give the money to his mother, if he + had the power. But Madam Esmond would not hear any of these reasons. + Feelings were her reasons. Here was a chance of making Harry's fortune—dear + Harry, who was left with such a slender younger brother's; pittance—and + the wretches in London would not help him; his own brother, who inherited + all her papa's estate, would not help him. To think of a child of hers + being so mean at fourteen year of age! etc. etc. Add tears, scorn, + frequent innuendo, long estrangement, bitter outbreak, passionate appeals + to Heaven, and the like, and we may fancy the widow's state of mind. Are + there not beloved beings of the gentler sex who argue in the same way + nowadays? The book of female logic is blotted all over with tears, and + Justice in their courts is for ever in a passion. + </p> + <p> + This occurrence set the widow resolutely saving for her younger son, for + whom, as in duty bound, she was eager to make a portion. The fine + buildings were stopped which the Colonel had commenced at Castlewood, who + had freighted ships from New York with Dutch bricks, and imported, at + great charges, mantelpieces, carved cornice-work, sashes and glass, + carpets and costly upholstery from home. No more books were bought. The + agent had orders to discontinue sending wine. Madam Esmond deeply + regretted the expense of a fine carriage which she had had from England, + and only rode in it to church groaning in spirit, and crying to the sons + opposite her, “Harry, Harry! I wish I had put by the money for thee, my + poor portionless child—three hundred and eighty guineas of ready + money to Messieurs Hatchett!” + </p> + <p> + “You will give me plenty while you live, and George will give me plenty + when you die,” says Harry, gaily. + </p> + <p> + “Not unless he changes in spirit, my dear,” says the lady, with a grim + glance at her elder boy. “Not unless Heaven softens his heart and teaches + him charity, for which I pray day and night; as Mountain knows; do you + not, Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mountain, Ensign Mountain's widow, Madam Esmond's companion and + manager, who took the fourth seat in the family coach on these Sundays, + said, “Humph! I know you are always disturbing yourself and crying out + about this legacy, and I don't see that there is any need.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no! no need!” cries the widow, rustling in her silks; “of course I + have no need to be disturbed, because my eldest born is a disobedient son + and an unkind brother—because he has an estate, and my poor Harry, + bless him, but a mess of pottage.” + </p> + <p> + George looked despairingly at his mother until he could see her no more + for eyes welled up with tears. “I wish you would bless me, too, O my + mother!” he said, and burst into a passionate fit of weeping. Harry's arms + were in a moment round his brother's neck, and he kissed George a score of + times. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, George. I know whether you are a good brother or not. Don't + mind what she says. She don't mean it.” + </p> + <p> + “I do mean it, child,” cries the mother. “Would to Heaven——” + </p> + <p> + “HOLD YOUR TONGUE, I SAY” roars out Harry. “It's a shame to speak so to + him, ma'am.” + </p> + <p> + “And so it is, Harry,” says Mrs. Mountain, shaking his hand. “You never + said a truer word in your life.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Mountain, do you dare to set my children against me?” cries the + widow. “From this very day, madam——” + </p> + <p> + “Turn me and my child into the street? Do,” says Mrs. Mountain. “That will + be a fine revenge because the English lawyer won't give you the boy's + money. Find another companion who will tell you black is white, and + flatter you: it is not my way, madam. When shall I go? I shan't be long + a-packing. I did not bring much into Castlewood House, and I shall not + take much out.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! the bells are ringing for church, Mountain. Let us try, if you + please, and compose ourselves,” said the widow, and she looked with eyes + of extreme affection, certainly at one—perhaps at both—of her + children. George kept his head down, and Harry, who was near, got quite + close to him during the sermon, and sat with his arm round his brother's + neck. + </p> + <p> + Harry had proceeded in his narrative after his own fashion, interspersing + it with many youthful ejaculations, and answering a number of incidental + questions asked by his listener. The old lady seemed never tired of + hearing him. Her amiable hostess and her daughters came more than once, to + ask if she would ride, or walk, or take a dish of tea, or play a game at + cards; but all these amusements Madam Bernstein declined, saying that she + found infinite amusement in Harry's conversation. Especially when any of + the Castlewood family were present, she redoubled her caresses, insisted + upon the lad speaking close to her ear, and would call out to the others, + “Hush, my dears! I can't hear our cousin speak.” And they would quit the + room, striving still to look pleased. + </p> + <p> + “Are you my cousin, too?” asked the honest boy. “You see kinder than my + other cousins.” + </p> + <p> + Their talk took place in the wainscoted parlour, where the family had + taken their meals in ordinary for at least two centuries past, and which, + as we have said, was hung with portraits of the race. Over Madam + Bernstein's great chair was a Kneller, one of the most brilliant pictures + of the gallery, representing a young lady of three or four and twenty, in + the easy flowing dress and loose robes of Queen Anne's time—a hand + on a cushion near her, a quantity of auburn hair parted off a fair + forehead, and flowing over pearly shoulders and a lovely neck. Under this + sprightly picture the lady sate with her knitting-needles. + </p> + <p> + When Harry asked, “Are you my cousin, too?” she said, “That picture is by + Sir Godfrey, who thought himself the greatest painter in the world. But he + was not so good as Lely, who painted your grandmother—my—my + Lady Castlewood, Colonel Esmond's wife; nor he so good as Sir Anthony Van + Dyck, who painted your great-grandfather, yonder—and who looks, + Harry, a much finer gentleman than he was. Some of us are painted blacker + than we are. Did you recognise your grandmother in that picture? She had + the loveliest fair hair and shape of any woman of her time.” + </p> + <p> + “I fancied I knew the portrait from instinct, perhaps, and a certain + likeness to my mother.” + </p> + <p> + “Did Mrs. Warrington—I beg her pardon, I think she calls herself + Madam or my Lady Esmond now——?” + </p> + <p> + “They call my mother so in our province,” said the boy. + </p> + <p> + “Did she never tell you of another daughter her mother had in England, + before she married your grandfather?” + </p> + <p> + “She never spoke of one.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor your grandfather?” + </p> + <p> + “Never. But in his picture-books, which he constantly made for us + children, he used to draw a head very like that above your ladyship. That, + and Viscount Francis, and King James III., he drew a score of times, I am + sure.” + </p> + <p> + “And the picture over me reminds you of no one, Harry?” + </p> + <p> + “No, indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Here is a sermon!” says the lady, with a sigh. “Harry, that was my + face once—yes, it was—and then I was called Beatrix Esmond. + And your mother is my half-sister, child, and she has never even mentioned + my name!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. Family Jars + </h2> + <p> + As Harry Warrington related to his new-found relative the simple story of + his adventures at home, no doubt Madam Bernstein, who possessed a great + sense of humour and a remarkable knowledge of the world, formed her + judgment respecting the persons and events described; and if her opinion + was not in all respects favourable, what can be said but that men and + women are imperfect, and human life not entirely pleasant or profitable? + The court and city-bred lady recoiled at the mere thought of her American + sister's countrified existence. Such a life would be rather wearisome to + most city-bred ladies. But little Madam Warrington knew no better, and was + satisfied with her life, as indeed she was with herself in general. + Because you and I are epicures or dainty feeders, it does not follow that + Hodge is miserable with his homely meal of bread and bacon. Madam + Warrington had a life of duties and employments which might be humdrum, + but at any rate were pleasant to her. She was a brisk little woman of + business, and all the affairs of her large estate came under her + cognisance. No pie was baked at Castlewood but her little finger was in + it. She set the maids to their spinning, she saw the kitchen wenches at + their work, she trotted afield on her pony, and oversaw the overseers and + the negro hands as they worked in the tobacco-and corn-fields. If a slave + was ill, she would go to his quarters in any weather, and doctor him with + great resolution. She had a book full of receipts after the old fashion, + and a closet where she distilled waters and compounded elixirs, and a + medicine-chest which was the terror of her neighbours. They trembled to be + ill, lest the little lady should be upon them with her decoctions and her + pills. + </p> + <p> + A hundred years back there were scarce any towns in Virginia; the + establishments of the gentry were little villages in which they and their + vassals dwelt. Rachel Esmond ruled like a little queen in Castlewood; the + princes, her neighbours, governed their estates round about. Many of these + were rather needy potentates, living plentifully but in the roughest + fashion, having numerous domestics whose liveries were often ragged; + keeping open houses, and turning away no stranger from their gates; proud, + idle, fond of all sorts of field sports as became gentlemen of good + lineage. The widow of Castlewood was as hospitable as her neighbours, and + a better economist than most of them. More than one, no doubt, would have + had no objection to share her life-interest in the estate, and supply the + place of papa to her boys. But where was the man good enough for a person + of her ladyship's exalted birth? There was a talk of making the Duke of + Cumberland viceroy, or even king, over America. Madam Warrington's gossips + laughed, and said she was waiting for him. She remarked, with much gravity + and dignity, that persons of as high birth as his Royal Highness had made + offers of alliance to the Esmond family. + </p> + <p> + She had, as lieutenant under her, an officer's widow who has been before + named, and who had been Madam Esmond's companion at school, as her late + husband had been the regimental friend of the late Mr. Warrington. When + the English girls at the Kensington Academy, where Rachel Esmond had her + education, teased and tortured the little American stranger, and laughed + at the princified airs which she gave herself from a very early age, Fanny + Parker defended and befriended her. They both married ensigns in + Kingsley's. They became tenderly attached to each other. It was “my Fanny” + and “my Rachel” in the letters of the young ladies. Then, my Fanny's + husband died in sad out-at-elbowed circumstances, leaving no provision for + his widow and her infant; and, in one of his annual voyages, Captain + Franks brought over Mrs. Mountain, in the Young Rachel, to Virginia. + </p> + <p> + There was plenty of room in Castlewood House, and Mrs. Mountain served to + enliven the place. She played cards with the mistress: she had some + knowledge of music, and could help the eldest boy in that way: she laughed + and was pleased with the guests: she saw to the strangers' chambers, and + presided over the presses and the linen. She was a kind, brisk, + jolly-looking widow, and more than one unmarried gentleman of the colony + asked her to change her name for his own. But she chose to keep that of + Mountain, though, and perhaps because, it had brought her no good fortune. + One marriage was enough for her, she said. Mr. Mountain had amiably spent + her little fortune and his own. Her last trinkets went to pay his funeral; + and, as long as Madam Warrington would keep her at Castlewood, she + preferred a home without a husband to any which as yet had been offered to + her in Virginia. The two ladies quarrelled plentifully; but they loved + each other: they made up their differences: they fell out again, to be + reconciled presently. When either of the boys was ill, each lady vied with + the other in maternal tenderness and care. In his last days and illness, + Mrs. Mountain's cheerfulness and kindness had been greatly appreciated by + the Colonel, whose memory Madam Warrington regarded more than that of any + living person. So that, year after year, when Captain Franks would ask + Mrs. Mountain, in his pleasant way, whether she was going back with him + that voyage? she would decline, and say that she proposed to stay a year + more. + </p> + <p> + And when suitors came to Madam Warrington, as come they would, she would + receive their compliments and attentions kindly enough, and asked more + than one of these lovers whether it was Mrs. Mountain he came after? She + would use her best offices with Mountain. Fanny was the best creature, was + of a good English family, and would make any gentleman happy. Did the + Squire declare it was to her and not her dependant that he paid his + addresses; she would make him her gravest curtsey, say that she really had + been utterly mistaken as to his views, and let him know that the daughter + of the Marquis of Esmond lived for her people and her sons, and did not + propose to change her condition. Have we not read how Queen Elizabeth was + a perfectly sensible woman of business, and was pleased to inspire not + only terror and awe, but love in the bosoms of her subjects? So the little + Virginian princess had her favourites, and accepted their flatteries, and + grew tired of them, and was cruel or kind to them as suited her wayward + imperial humour. There was no amount of compliment which she would not + graciously receive and take as her due. Her little foible was so well + known that the wags used to practise upon it. Rattling Jack Firebrace of + Henrico county had free quarters for months at Castlewood, and was a prime + favourite with the lady there, because he addressed verses to her which he + stole out of the pocket-books. Tom Humbold of Spotsylvania wagered fifty + hogsheads against five that he would make her institute an order of + knighthood, and won his wager. + </p> + <p> + The elder boy saw these freaks and oddities of his good mother's + disposition, and chafed and raged at them privately. From very early days + he revolted when flatteries and compliments were paid to the little lady, + and strove to expose them with his juvenile satire; so that his mother + would say gravely, “The Esmonds were always of a jealous disposition, and + my poor boy takes after my father and mother in this.” George hated Jack + Firebrace and Tom Humbold, and all their like; whereas Harry went out + sporting with them, and fowling, and fishing, and cock-fighting, and + enjoyed all the fun of the country. + </p> + <p> + One winter, after their first tutor had been dismissed, Madam Esmond took + them to Williamsburg, for such education as the schools and college there + afforded, and there it was the fortune of the family to listen to the + preaching of the famous Mr. Whitfield, who had come into Virginia, where + the habits and preaching of the established clergy were not very edifying. + Unlike many of the neighbouring provinces, Virginia was a Church of + England colony: the clergymen were paid by the State and had glebes + allotted to them; and, there being no Church of England bishop as yet in + America, the colonists were obliged to import their divines from the + mother-country. Such as came were not, naturally, of the very best or most + eloquent kind of pastors. Noblemen's hangers-on, insolvent parsons who had + quarrelled with justice or the bailiff, brought their stained cassocks + into the colony in the hopes of finding a living there. No wonder that + Whitfield's great voice stirred those whom harmless Mr. Broadbent, the + Williamsburg chaplain, never could awaken. At first the boys were as much + excited as their mother by Mr. Whitfield: they sang hymns, and listened to + him with fervour, and, could he have remained long enough among them, + Harry and George had both worn black coats probably instead of epaulettes. + The simple boys communicated their experiences to one another, and were on + the daily and nightly look-out for the sacred “call,” in the hope or the + possession of which such a vast multitude of Protestant England was + thrilling at the time. + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Whitfield could not stay always with the little congregation of + Williamsburg. His mission was to enlighten the whole benighted people of + the Church, and from the East to the West to trumpet the truth and bid + slumbering sinners awaken. However, he comforted the widow with precious + letters, and promised to send her a tutor for her sons who should be + capable of teaching them not only profane learning, but of strengthening + and confirming them in science much more precious. + </p> + <p> + In due course, a chosen vessel arrived from England. Young Mr. Ward had a + voice as loud as Mr. Whitfield's, and could talk almost as readily and for + as long a time. Night and evening the hall sounded with his exhortations. + The domestic negroes crept to the doors to listen to him. Other servants + darkened the porch windows with their crisp heads to hear him discourse. + It was over the black sheep of the Castlewood flock that Mr. Ward somehow + had the most influence. These woolly lamblings were immensely affected by + his exhortations, and, when he gave out the hymn, there was such a negro + chorus about the house as might be heard across the Potomac—such a + chorus as would never have been heard in the Colonel's time—for that + worthy gentleman had a suspicion of all cassocks, and said he would never + have any controversy with a clergyman but upon backgammon. Where money was + wanted for charitable purposes no man was more ready, and the good, easy + Virginian clergyman, who loved backgammon heartily, too, said that the + worthy Colonel's charity must cover his other shortcomings. + </p> + <p> + Ward was a handsome young man. His preaching pleased Madam Esmond from the + first, and, I daresay, satisfied her as much as Mr. Whitfield's. Of course + it cannot be the case at the present day when they are so finely educated, + but women, a hundred years ago, were credulous, eager to admire and + believe, and apt to imagine all sorts of excellences in the object of + their admiration. For weeks, nay, months, Madam Esmond was never tired of + hearing Mr. Ward's great glib voice and voluble commonplaces: and, + according to her wont, she insisted that her neighbours should come and + listen to him, and ordered them to be converted. Her young favourite, Mr. + Washington, she was especially anxious to influence; and again and again + pressed him to come and stay at Castlewood and benefit by the spiritual + advantages there to be obtained. But that young gentleman found he had + particular business which called him home or away from home, and always + ordered his horse of evenings when the time was coming for Mr. Ward's + exercises. And—what boys are just towards their pedagogue?—the + twins grew speedily tired and even rebellious under their new teacher. + </p> + <p> + They found him a bad scholar, a dull fellow, and ill-bred to boot. George + knew much more Latin and Greek than his master, and caught him in + perpetual blunders and false quantities. Harry, who could take much + greater liberties than were allowed to his elder brother, mimicked Ward's + manner of eating and talking, so that Mrs. Mountain and even Madam Esmond + were forced to laugh, and little Fanny Mountain would crow with delight. + Madam Esmond would have found the fellow out for a vulgar quack but for + her sons' opposition, which she, on her part, opposed with her own + indomitable will. “What matters whether he has more or less of profane + learning?” she asked; “in that which is most precious, Mr. W. is able to + be a teacher to all of us. What if his manners are a little rough? Heaven + does not choose its elect from among the great and wealthy. I wish you + knew one book, children, as well as Mr. Ward does. It is your wicked pride—the + pride of all the Esmonds—which prevents you from listening to him. + Go down on your knees in your chamber and pray to be corrected of that + dreadful fault.” Ward's discourse that evening was about Naaman the + Syrian, and the pride he had in his native rivers of Abana and Pharpar, + which he vainly imagined to be superior to the healing waters of Jordan—the + moral being, that he, Ward, was the keeper and guardian of the undoubted + waters of Jordan, and that the unhappy, conceited boys must go to + perdition unless they came to him. + </p> + <p> + George now began to give way to a wicked sarcastic method, which, perhaps, + he had inherited from his grandfather, and with which, when a quiet, + skilful young person chooses to employ it, he can make a whole family + uncomfortable. He took up Ward's pompous remarks and made jokes of them, + so that that young divine chafed and almost choked over his great meals. + He made Madam Esmond angry, and doubly so when he sent off Harry into fits + of laughter. Her authority was defied, her officer scorned and insulted, + her youngest child perverted, by the obstinate elder brother. She made a + desperate and unhappy attempt to maintain her power. + </p> + <p> + The boys were fourteen years of age, Harry being taller and much more + advanced than his brother, who was delicate, and as yet almost childlike + in stature and appearance. The baculine method was a quite common mode of + argument in those days. Sergeants, schoolmasters, slave-overseers, used + the cane freely. Our little boys had been horsed many a day by Mr. + Dempster, their Scotch tutor, in their grandfather's time; and Harry, + especially, had got to be quite accustomed to the practice, and made very + light of it. But, in the interregnum after Colonel Esmond's death, the + cane had been laid aside, and the young gentlemen of Castlewood had been + allowed to have their own way. Her own and her lieutenant's authority + being now spurned by the youthful rebels, the unfortunate mother thought + of restoring it by means of coercion. She took counsel of Mr. Ward. That + athletic young pedagogue could easily find chapter and verse to warrant + the course which he wished to pursue—in fact, there was no doubt + about the wholesomeness of the practice in those clays. He had begun by + flattering the boys, finding a good berth and snug quarters at Castlewood, + and hoping to remain there. + </p> + <p> + But they laughed at his flattery, they scorned his bad manners, they + yawned soon at his sermons; the more their mother favoured him, the more + they disliked him; and so the tutor and the pupils cordially hated each + other. Mrs. Mountain, who was the boys' friend, especially George's + friend, whom she thought unjustly treated by his mother, warned the lads + to be prudent, and that some conspiracy was hatching against them. “Ward + is more obsequious than ever to your mamma. It turns my stomach, it does, + to hear him flatter, and to see him gobble—the odious wretch! You + must be on your guard, my poor boys—you must learn your lessons, and + not anger your tutor. A mischief will come, I know it will. Your mamma was + talking about you to Mr. Washington the other day, when I came into the + room. I don't like that Major Washington, you know I don't. Don't say—O + Mounty! Master Harry. You always stand up for your friends, you do. The + Major is very handsome and tall, and he may be very good, but he is much + too old a young man for me. Bless you, my dears, the quantity of wild oats + your father sowed and my own poor Mountain when they were ensigns in + Kingsley's, would fill sacks full! Show me Mr. Washington's wild oats, I + say—not a grain! Well, I happened to step in last Tuesday, when he + was here with your mamma; and I am sure they were talking about you, for + he said, 'Discipline is discipline, and must be preserved. There can be + but one command in a house, ma'am, and you must be the mistress of + yours.'” + </p> + <p> + “The very words he used to me,” cries Harry. “He told me that he did not + like to meddle with other folks' affairs, but that our mother was very + angry, dangerously angry, he said, and he begged me to obey Mr. Ward, and + specially to press George to do so.” + </p> + <p> + “Let him manage his own house, not mine,” says George, very haughtily. And + the caution, far from benefiting him, only rendered the lad more + supercilious and refractory. + </p> + <p> + On the next day the storm broke, and vengeance fell on the little rebel's + head. Words passed between George and Mr. Ward during the morning study. + The boy was quite insubordinate and unjust: even his faithful brother + cried out, and owned that he was in the wrong. Mr. Ward kept his temper—to + compress, bottle up, cork down, and prevent your anger from present + furious explosion, is called keeping your temper—and said he should + speak upon this business to Madam Esmond. When the family met at dinner, + Mr. Ward requested her ladyship to stay, and, temperately enough, laid the + subject of dispute before her. + </p> + <p> + He asked Master Harry to confirm what he had said: and poor Harry was + obliged to admit all the dominie's statements. + </p> + <p> + George, standing under his grandfather's portrait by the chimney, said + haughtily that what Mr. Ward had said was perfectly correct. + </p> + <p> + “To be a tutor to such a pupil is absurd,” said Mr. Ward, making a long + speech, interspersed with many of his usual Scripture phrases, at each of + which, as they occurred, that wicked young George smiled, and pished + scornfully, and at length Ward ended by asking her honour's leave to + retire. + </p> + <p> + “Not before you have punished this wicked and disobedient child,” said + Madam Esmond, who had been gathering anger during Ward's harangue, and + especially at her son's behaviour. + </p> + <p> + “Punish!” says George. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir, punish! If means of love and entreaty fail, as they have with + your proud heart, other means must be found to bring you to obedience. I + punish you now, rebellious boy, to guard you from greater punishment + hereafter. The discipline of this family must be maintained. There can be + but one command in a house, and I must be the mistress of mine. You will + punish this refractory boy, Mr. Ward, as we have agreed that you should + do, and if there is the least resistance on his part, my overseer and + servants will lend you aid.” + </p> + <p> + In some such words the widow no doubt must have spoken, but with many + vehement Scriptural allusions, which it does not become this chronicler to + copy. To be for ever applying to the Sacred Oracles, and accommodating + their sentences to your purpose—to be for ever taking Heaven into + your confidence about your private affairs, and passionately calling for + its interference in your family quarrels and difficulties—to be so + familiar with its designs and schemes as to be able to threaten your + neighbour with its thunders, and to know precisely its intentions + regarding him and others who differ from your infallible opinion—this + was the schooling which our simple widow had received from her impetuous + young spiritual guide, and I doubt whether it brought her much comfort. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of his mother's harangue, in spite of it, perhaps, George + Esmond felt he had been wrong. “There can be but one command in the house, + and you must be mistress—I know who said those words before you,” + George said, slowly, and looking very white—“and—and I know, + mother, that I have acted wrongly to Mr. Ward.” + </p> + <p> + “He owns it! He asks pardon!” cries Harry. “That's right, George! That's + enough: isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “No, it is not enough!” cried the little woman. “The disobedient boy must + pay the penalty of his disobedience. When I was headstrong, as I sometimes + was as a child before my spirit was changed and humbled, my mamma punished + me, and I submitted. So must George. I desire you will do your duty, Mr. + Ward.” + </p> + <p> + “Stop, mother!—you don't quite know what you are doing,” George + said, exceedingly agitated. + </p> + <p> + “I know that he who spares the rod spoils the child, ungrateful boy!” says + Madam Esmond, with more references of the same nature, which George heard, + looking very pale and desperate. + </p> + <p> + Upon the mantelpiece, under the Colonel's portrait, stood a china cup, by + which the widow set great store, as her father had always been accustomed + to drink from it. George suddenly took it, and a strange smile passed over + his pale face. + </p> + <p> + “Stay one minute. Don't go away yet,” he cried to his mother, who was + leaving the room. “You—you are very fond of this cup, mother?”—and + Harry looked at him, wondering. “If I broke it, it could never be mended, + could it? All the tinkers' rivets would not make it a whole cup again. My + dear old grandpapa's cup! I have been wrong. Mr. Ward, I ask pardon. I + will try and amend.” + </p> + <p> + The widow looked at her son indignantly, almost scornfully. “I thought,” + she said, “I thought an Esmond had been more of a man than to be afraid, + and—” here she gave a little scream as Harry uttered an exclamation, + and dashed forward with his hands stretched out towards his brother. + </p> + <p> + George, after looking at the cup, raised it, opened his hand, and let it + fall on the marble slab below him. Harry had tried in vain to catch it. + </p> + <p> + “It is too late, Hal,” George said. “You will never mend that again—never. + Now, mother, I am ready, as it is your wish. Will you come and see whether + I am afraid? Mr. Ward, I am your servant. Your servant? Your slave! And + the next time I meet Mr. Washington, madam, I will thank him for the + advice which he gave you.” + </p> + <p> + “I say, do your duty, sir!” cried Mrs. Esmond, stamping her little foot. + And George, making a low bow to Mr. Ward, begged him to go first out of + the room to the study. + </p> + <p> + “Stop! For God's sake, mother, stop!” cried poor Hal. But passion was + boiling in the little woman's heart, and she would not hear the boy's + petition. “You only abet him, sir!” she cried.—“If I had to do it + myself, it should be done!” And Harry, with sadness and wrath in his + countenance, left the room by the door through which Mr. Ward and his + brother had just issued. + </p> + <p> + The widow sank down on a great chair near it, and sat a while vacantly + looking at the fragments of the broken cup. Then she inclined her head + towards the door—one of half a dozen of carved mahogany which the + Colonel had brought from Europe. For a while there was silence: then a + loud outcry, which made the poor mother start. + </p> + <p> + In another minute Mr. Ward came out bleeding, from a great wound on his + head, and behind him Harry, with flaring eyes, and brandishing a little + couteau-de-chasse of his grandfather, which hung, with others of the + Colonel's weapons, on the library wall. + </p> + <p> + “I don't care. I did it,” says Harry. “I couldn't see this fellow strike + my brother; and, as he lifted his hand, I flung the great ruler at him. I + couldn't help it. I won't bear it; and, if one lifts a hand to me or my + brother, I'll have his life,” shouts Harry, brandishing the hanger. + </p> + <p> + The widow gave a great gasp and a sigh as she looked at the young champion + and his victim. She must have suffered terribly during the few minutes of + the boys' absence; and the stripes which she imagined had been inflicted + on the elder had smitten her own heart. She longed to take both boys to + it. She was not angry now. Very likely she was delighted with the thought + of the younger's prowess and generosity. “You are a very naughty + disobedient child,” she said, in an exceedingly peaceable voice. “My poor + Mr. Ward! What a rebel, to strike you! Papa's great ebony ruler, was it? + Lay down that hanger, child. 'Twas General Webb gave it to my papa after + the siege of Lille. Let me bathe your wound, my good Mr. Ward, and thank + Heaven it was no worse. Mountain! Go fetch me some court-plaster out of + the middle drawer in the japan cabinet. Here comes George. Put on your + coat and waistcoat, child! You were going to take your punishment, sir, + and that is sufficient. Ask pardon, Harry, of good Mr. Ward, for your + wicked rebellious spirit,—I do, with all my heart, I am sure. And + guard against your passionate nature, child—and pray to be forgiven. + My son, O my son!” Here, with a burst of tears which she could no longer + control, the little woman threw herself on the neck of her eldest-born; + whilst Harry, laying the hanger down, went up very feebly to Mr. Ward, and + said, “Indeed, I ask your pardon, sir. I couldn't help it; on my honour I + couldn't; nor bear to see my brother struck.” + </p> + <p> + The widow was scared, as after her embrace she looked up at George's pale + face. In reply to her eager caresses, he coldly kissed her on the + forehead, and separated from her. “You meant for the best, mother,” he + said, “and I was in the wrong. But the cup is broken; and all the king's + horses and all the king's men cannot mend it. There—put the fair + side outwards on the mantelpiece, and the wound will not show.” + </p> + <p> + Again Madam Esmond looked at the lad, as he placed the fragments of the + poor cup on the ledge where it had always been used to stand. Her power + over him was gone. He had dominated her. She was not sorry for the defeat; + for women like not only to conquer, but to be conquered; and from that day + the young gentleman was master at Castlewood. His mother admired him as he + went up to Harry, graciously and condescendingly gave Hal his hand, and + said, “Thank you, brother!” as if he were a prince, and Harry a general + who had helped him in a great battle. + </p> + <p> + Then George went up to Mr. Ward, who was still piteously bathing his eye + and forehead in the water. “I ask pardon for Hal's violence, sir,” George + said, in great state. “You see, though we are very young, we are + gentlemen, and cannot brook an insult from strangers. I should have + submitted, as it was mamma's desire; but I am glad she no longer + entertains it.” + </p> + <p> + “And pray, sir, who is to compensate me?” says Mr. Ward; “who is to repair + the insult done to me?” + </p> + <p> + “We are very young,” says George, with another of his old-fashioned bows. + “We shall be fifteen soon. Any compensation that is usual amongst + gentlemen” + </p> + <p> + “This, sir, to a minister of the Word!” bawls out Ward, starting up, and + who knew perfectly well the lads' skill in fence, having a score of times + been foiled by the pair of them. + </p> + <p> + “You are not a clergyman yet. We thought you might like to be considered + as a gentleman. We did not know.” + </p> + <p> + “A gentleman! I am a Christian, sir!” says Ward, glaring furiously, and + clenching his great fists. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, if you won't fight, why don't you forgive?” says Harry. “If + you don't forgive, why don't you fight? That's what I call the horns of a + dilemma;” and he laughed his frank, jolly laugh. + </p> + <p> + But this was nothing to the laugh a few days afterwards, when, the quarrel + having been patched up, along with poor Mr. Ward's eye, the unlucky tutor + was holding forth according to his custom. He tried to preach the boys + into respect for him, to reawaken the enthusiasm which the congregation + had felt for him; he wrestled with their manifest indifference, he + implored Heaven to warm their cold hearts again, and to lift up those who + were falling back. All was in vain. The widow wept no more at his + harangues, was no longer excited by his loudest tropes and similes, nor + appeared to be much frightened by the very hottest menaces with which he + peppered his discourse. Nay, she pleaded headache, and would absent + herself of an evening, on which occasion the remainder of the little + congregation was very cold indeed. One day, then, Ward, still making + desperate efforts to get back his despised authority, was preaching on the + beauty of subordination, the present lax spirit of the age, and the + necessity of obeying our spiritual and temporal rulers. “For why, my dear + friends,” he nobly asked (he was in the habit of asking immensely dull + questions, and straightway answering them with corresponding platitudes), + “why are governors appointed, but that we should be governed? Why are + tutors engaged, but that children should be taught?” (here a look at the + boys). “Why are rulers——” Here he paused, looking with a sad, + puzzled face at the young gentlemen. He saw in their countenances the + double meaning of the unlucky word he had uttered, and stammered, and + thumped the table with his fist. “Why, I say, are rulers——” + </p> + <p> + “Rulers,” says George, looking at Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Rulers!” says Hal, putting his hand to his eye, where the poor tutor + still bore marks of the late scuffle. Rulers, o-ho! It was too much. The + boys burst out in an explosion of laughter. Mrs. Mountain, who was full of + fun, could not help joining in the chorus; and little Fanny, who had + always behaved very demurely and silently at these ceremonies, crowed + again, and clapped her little hands at the others laughing, not in the + least knowing the reason why. + </p> + <p> + This could not be borne. Ward shut down the book before him; in a few + angry, but eloquent and manly words, said he would speak no more in that + place; and left Castlewood not in the least regretted by Madam Esmond, who + had doted on him three months before. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. The Virginians begin to see the World + </h2> + <p> + After the departure of her unfortunate spiritual adviser and chaplain, + Madam Esmond and her son seemed to be quite reconciled: but although + George never spoke of the quarrel with his mother, it must have weighed + upon the boy's mind very painfully, for he had a fever soon after the last + recounted domestic occurrences, during which illness his brain once or + twice wandered, when he shrieked out, “Broken! Broken! It never, never can + be mended!” to the silent terror of his mother, who sate watching the poor + child as he tossed wakeful upon his midnight bed. His malady defied her + skill, and increased in spite of all the nostrums which the good widow + kept in her closet and administered so freely to her people. She had to + undergo another humiliation, and one day little Mr. Dempster beheld her at + his door on horseback. She had ridden through the snow on her pony, to + implore him to give his aid to her poor boy. “I shall bury my resentment, + madam,” said he, “as your ladyship buried your pride. Please God, I maybe + time enough to help my dear young pupil!” So he put up his lancet, and his + little provision of medicaments; called his only negro-boy after him, shut + up his lonely hut, and once more returned to Castlewood. That night and + for some days afterwards it seemed very likely that poor Harry would + become heir of Castlewood; but by Mr. Dempster's skill the fever was got + over, the intermittent attacks diminished in intensity, and George was + restored almost to health again. A change of air, a voyage even to + England, was recommended, but the widow had quarrelled with her children's + relatives there, and owned with contrition that she had been too hasty. A + journey to the north and east was determined on, and the two young + gentlemen, with Mr. Dempster as their tutor, and a couple of servants to + attend them, took a voyage to New York, and thence up the beautiful Hudson + river to Albany, where they were received by the first gentry of the + province, and thence into the French provinces, where they had the best + recommendations, and were hospitably entertained by the French gentry. + Harry camped with the Indians, and took furs and shot bears. George, who + never cared for field-sports, and whose health was still delicate, was a + special favourite with the French ladies, who were accustomed to see very + few young English gentlemen speaking the French language so readily as our + young gentlemen. George especially perfected his accent so as to be able + to pass for a Frenchman. He had the bel air completely, every person + allowed. He danced the minuet elegantly. He learned the latest imported + French catches and songs, and played them beautifully on his violin, and + would have sung them too but that his voice broke at this time, and + changed from treble to bass; and, to the envy of poor Harry, who was + absent on a bear-hunt, he even had an affair of honour with a young ensign + of the regiment of Auvergne, the Chevalier de la Jabotiere, whom he pinked + in the shoulder, and with whom he afterwards swore an eternal friendship. + Madame de Mouchy, the superintendent's lady, said the mother was blest who + had such a son, and wrote a complimentary letter to Madam Esmond upon Mr. + George's behaviour. I fear, Mr. Whitfield would not have been over-pleased + with the widow's elation on hearing of her son's prowess. + </p> + <p> + When the lads returned home at the end of ten delightful months, their + mother was surprised at their growth and improvement. George especially + was so grown as to come up to his younger-born brother. The boys could + hardly be distinguished one from another, especially when their hair was + powdered; but that ceremony being too cumbrous for country life, each of + the gentlemen commonly wore his own hair, George his raven black, and + Harry his light locks tied with a ribbon. + </p> + <p> + The reader who has been so kind as to look over the first pages of the + lad's simple biography, must have observed that Mr. George Esmond was of a + jealous and suspicious disposition, most generous and gentle and incapable + of an untruth, and though too magnanimous to revenge, almost incapable of + forgiving any injury. George left home with no goodwill towards an + honourable gentleman, whose name afterwards became one of the most famous + in the world; and he returned from his journey not in the least altered in + his opinion of his mother's and grandfather's friend. Mr. Washington, + though then but just of age, looked and felt much older. He always + exhibited an extraordinary simplicity and gravity; he had managed his + mother's and his family's affairs from a very early age, and was trusted + by all his friends and the gentry of his county more than persons twice + his senior. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Mountain, Madam Esmond's friend and companion, who dearly loved the + two boys and her patroness, in spite of many quarrels with the latter, and + daily threats of parting, was a most amusing, droll letter-writer, and + used to write to the two boys on their travels. Now, Mrs. Mountain was of + a jealous turn likewise; especially she had a great turn for match-making, + and fancied that everybody had a design to marry everybody else. There + scarce came an unmarried man to Castlewood but Mountain imagined the + gentleman had an eye towards the mistress of the mansion. She was positive + that odious Mr. Ward intended to make love to the widow, and pretty sure + the latter liked him. She knew that Mr. Washington wanted to be married, + was certain that such a shrewd young gentleman would look out for a rich + wife, and, as for the differences of ages, what matter that the Major + (major was his rank in the militia) was fifteen years younger than Madam + Esmond? They were used to such marriages in the family; my lady her mother + was how many years older than the Colonel when she married him?—When + she married him and was so jealous that she never would let the poor + Colonel out of her sight. The poor Colonel! after his wife, he had been + henpecked by his little daughter. And she would take after her mother, and + marry again, be sure of that. Madam was a little chit of a woman, not five + feet in her highest headdress and shoes, and Mr. Washington a great tall + man of six feet two. Great tall men always married little chits of women: + therefore, Mr. W. must be looking after the widow. What could be more + clear than the deduction? + </p> + <p> + She communicated these sage opinions to her boy, as she called George, who + begged her, for Heaven's sake, to hold her tongue. This she said she could + do, but she could not keep her eyes always shut; and she narrated a + hundred circumstances which had occurred in the young gentleman's absence, + and which tended, as she thought, to confirm her notions. Had Mountain + imparted these pretty suspicions to his brother? George asked sternly. No. + George was her boy; Harry was his mother's boy. “She likes him best, and I + like you best, George,” cries Mountain. “Besides, if I were to speak to + him, he would tell your mother in a minute. Poor Harry can keep nothing + quiet, and then there would be a pretty quarrel between Madam and me!” + </p> + <p> + “I beg you to keep this quiet, Mountain,” said Mr. George, with great + dignity, “or you and I shall quarrel too. Neither to me nor to any one + else in the world must you mention such an absurd suspicion.” + </p> + <p> + Absurd! Why absurd? Mr. Washington was constantly with the widow. His name + was forever in her mouth. She was never tired of pointing out his virtues + and examples to her sons. She consulted him on every question respecting + her estate and its management. She never bought a horse or sold a barrel + of tobacco without his opinion. There was a room at Castlewood regularly + called Mr. Washington's room. “He actually leaves his clothes here and his + portmanteau when he goes away. Ah! George, George! One day will come when + he won't go away,” groaned Mountain, who, of course, always returned to + the subject of which she was forbidden to speak. Meanwhile Mr. George + adopted towards his mother's favourite a frigid courtesy, at which the + honest gentleman chafed but did not care to remonstrate, or a stinging + sarcasm, which he would break through as he would burst through so many + brambles on those hunting excursions in which he and Harry Warrington rode + so constantly together; whilst George, retreating to his tents, read + mathematics, and French, and Latin, and sulked in his book-room more and + more lonely. + </p> + <p> + Harry was away from home with some other sporting friends (it is to be + feared the young gentleman's acquaintances were not all as eligible as Mr. + Washington), when the latter came to pay a visit at Castlewood. He was so + peculiarly tender and kind to the mistress there, and received by her with + such special cordiality, that George Warrington's jealousy had well-nigh + broken out in open rupture. But the visit was one of adieu, as it + appeared. + </p> + <p> + Major Washington was going on a long and dangerous journey, quite to the + western Virginia frontier and beyond it. The French had been for some time + past making inroads into our territory. The government at home, as well as + those of Virginia and Pennsylvania, were alarmed at this aggressive spirit + of the Lords of Canada and Louisiana. Some of our settlers had already + been driven from their holdings by Frenchmen in arms, and the governors of + the British provinces were desirous to stop their incursions, or at any + rate to protest against their invasion. + </p> + <p> + We chose to hold our American colonies by a law that was at least + convenient for its framers. The maxim was, that whoever possessed the + coast had a right to all the territory inland as far as the Pacific; so + that the British charters only laid down the limits of the colonies from + north to south, leaving them quite free from east to west. The French, + meanwhile, had their colonies to the north and south, and aimed at + connecting them by the Mississippi and the St. Lawrence and the great + intermediate lakes and waters lying to the westward of the British + possessions. In the year 1748, though peace was signed between the two + European kingdoms, the colonial question remained unsettled, to be opened + again when either party should be strong enough to urge it. In the year + 1753, it came to an issue, on the Ohio river, where the British and French + settlers met. To be sure, there existed other people besides French and + British, who thought they had a title to the territory about which the + children of their White Fathers were battling, namely, the native Indians + and proprietors of the soil. But the logicians of St. James's and + Versailles wisely chose to consider the matter in dispute as a European + and not a Red-man's question, eliminating him from the argument, but + employing his tomahawk as it might serve the turn of either litigant. + </p> + <p> + A company, called the Ohio Company, having grants from the Virginia + government of lands along that river, found themselves invaded in their + settlements by French military detachments, who roughly ejected the + Britons from their holdings. These latter applied for protection to Mr. + Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, who determined upon sending an + ambassador to the French commanding officer on the Ohio, demanding that + the French should desist from their inroads upon the territories of his + Majesty King George. + </p> + <p> + Young Mr. Washington jumped eagerly at the chance of distinction which + this service afforded him, and volunteered to leave his home and his rural + and professional pursuits in Virginia, to carry the governor's message to + the French officer. Taking a guide, an interpreter, and a few attendants, + and following the Indian tracks, in the fall of the year 1753, the + intrepid young envoy made his way from Williamsburg almost to the shores + of Lake Erie, and found the French commander at Fort le Boeuf. That + officer's reply was brief: his orders were to hold the place and drive all + the English from it. The French avowed their intention of taking + possession of the Ohio. And with this rough answer the messenger from + Virginia had to return through danger and difficulty, across lonely forest + and frozen river, shaping his course by the compass, and camping at night + in the snow by the forest fires. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington cursed his ill-fortune that he had been absent from home + on a cock-fight, when he might have had chance of sport so much nobler; + and on his return from his expedition, which he had conducted with an + heroic energy and simplicity, Major Washington was a greater favourite + than ever with the lady of Castlewood. She pointed him out as a model to + both her sons. “Ah, Harry!” she would say, “think of you, with your + cock-fighting and your racing-matches, and the Major away there in the + wilderness, watching the French, and battling with the frozen rivers! Ah, + George! learning may be a very good thing, but I wish my eldest son were + doing something in the service of his country!” + </p> + <p> + “I desire no better than to go home and seek for employment, ma'am,” says + George. “You surely will not have me serve under Mr. Washington, in his + new regiment, or ask a commission from Mr. Dinwiddie?” + </p> + <p> + “An Esmond can only serve with the king's commission,” says Madam, “and as + for asking a favour from Mr. Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddie, I would rather + beg my bread.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Washington was at this time raising such a regiment as, with the + scanty pay and patronage of the Virginian government, he could get + together, and proposed, with the help of these men-of-war, to put a more + peremptory veto upon the French invaders than the solitary ambassador had + been enabled to lay. A small force under another officer, Colonel Trent, + had been already despatched to the west, with orders to fortify themselves + so as to be able to resist any attack of the enemy. The French troops, + greatly outnumbering ours, came up with the English outposts, who were + fortifying themselves at a place on the confines of Pennsylvania where the + great city of Pittsburg now stands. A Virginian officer with but forty men + was in no condition to resist twenty times that number of Canadians, who + appeared before his incomplete works. He was suffered to draw back without + molestation; and the French, taking possession of his fort, strengthened + it, and christened it by the name of the Canadian governor, Du Quesne. Up + to this time no actual blow of war had been struck. The troops + representing the hostile nations were in presence—the guns were + loaded, but no one as yet had cried “Fire.” It was strange, that in a + savage forest of Pennsylvania, a young Virginian officer should fire a + shot, and waken up a war which was to last for sixty years, which was to + cover his own country and pass into Europe, to cost France her American + colonies, to sever ours from us, and create the great Western republic; to + rage over the Old World when extinguished in the New; and, of all the + myriads engaged in the vast contest, to leave the prize of the greatest + fame with him who struck the first blow! + </p> + <p> + He little knew of the fate in store for him. A simple gentleman, anxious + to serve his king and do his duty, he volunteered for the first service, + and executed it with admirable fidelity. In the ensuing year he took the + command of the small body of provincial troops with which he marched to + repel the Frenchmen. He came up with their advanced guard and fired upon + them, killing their leader. After this he had himself to fall back with + his troops, and was compelled to capitulate to the superior French force. + On the 4th of July, 1754, the Colonel marched out with his troops from the + little fort where he had hastily entrenched himself (and which they called + Fort Necessity), gave up the place to the conqueror, and took his way + home. + </p> + <p> + His command was over: his regiment disbanded after the fruitless, + inglorious march and defeat. Saddened and humbled in spirit, the young + officer presented himself after a while to his old friends at Castlewood. + He was very young: before he set forth on his first campaign he may have + indulged in exaggerated hopes of success, and uttered them. “I was angry + when I parted from you,” he said to George Warrington, holding out his + hand, which the other eagerly took. “You seemed to scorn me and my + regiment, George. I thought you laughed at us, and your ridicule made me + angry. I boasted too much of what we would do.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, you have done your best, George,” says the other, who quite forgot + his previous jealousy in his old comrade's misfortune. “Everybody knows + that a hundred and fifty starving men, with scarce a round of ammunition + left, could not face five times their number perfectly armed, and + everybody who knows Mr. Washington knows that he would do his duty. Harry + and I saw the French in Canada last year. They obey but one will: in our + provinces each governor has his own. They were royal troops the French + sent against you...” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but that some of ours were here!” cries Madam Esmond, tossing her + head up. “I promise you a few good English regiments would make the + white-coats run.” + </p> + <p> + “You think nothing of the provincials: and I must say nothing now we have + been so unlucky,” said the Colonel, gloomily. “You made much of me when I + was here before. Don't you remember what victories you prophesied for me—how + much I boasted myself very likely over your good wine? All those fine + dreams are over now. 'Tis kind of your ladyship to receive a poor beaten + fellow as you do:” and the young soldier hung down his head. + </p> + <p> + George Warrington, with his extreme acute sensibility, was touched at the + other's emotion and simple testimony of sorrow under defeat. He was about + to say something friendly to Mr. Washington, had not his mother, to whom + the Colonel had been speaking, replied herself: “Kind of us to receive + you, Colonel Washington!” said the widow. “I never heard that when men + were unhappy, our sex were less their friends.” + </p> + <p> + And she made the Colonel a very fine curtsey, which straightway caused her + son to be more jealous of him than ever. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. Preparations for War + </h2> + <p> + Surely no man can have better claims to sympathy than bravery, youth, good + looks, and misfortune. Madam Esmond might have had twenty sons, and yet + had a right to admire her young soldier. Mr. Washington's room was more + than ever Mr. Washington's room now. She raved about him and praised him + in all companies. She more than ever pointed out his excellences to her + sons, contrasting his sterling qualities with Harry's love of pleasure + (the wild boy!) and George's listless musings over his books. George was + not disposed to like Mr. Washington any better for his mother's + extravagant praises. He coaxed the jealous demon within him until he must + have become a perfect pest to himself and all the friends round about him. + He uttered jokes so deep that his simple mother did not know their + meaning, but sate bewildered at his sarcasms, and powerless what to think + of his moody, saturnine humour. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, public events were occurring which were to influence the + fortunes of all our homely family. The quarrel between the French and + English North Americans, from being a provincial, had grown to be a + national, quarrel. Reinforcements from France had already arrived in + Canada; and English troops were expected in Virginia. “Alas! my dear + friend!” wrote Madame la Presidente de Mouchy, from Quebec, to her young + friend George Warrington. “How contrary is the destiny to us! I see you + quitting the embrace of an adored mother to precipitate yourself in the + arms of Bellona. I see you pass wounded after combats. I hesitate almost + to wish victory to our lilies when I behold you ranged under the banners + of the Leopard. There are enmities which the heart does not recognise—ours + assuredly are at peace among the tumults. All here love and salute you, as + well as Monsieur the Bear-hunter, your brother (that cold Hippolyte who + preferred the chase to the soft conversation of our ladies!) Your friend, + your enemy, the Chevalier de la Jabotiere, burns to meet on the field of + Mars his generous rival. M. Du Quesne spoke of you last night at supper. + M. Du Quesne, my husband, send affectuous remembrances to their young + friend, with which are ever joined those of your sincere Presidente de + Mouchy.” + </p> + <p> + “The banner of the Leopard,” of which George's fair correspondent wrote, + was, indeed, flung out to the winds, and a number of the king's soldiers + were rallied round it. It was resolved to wrest from the French all the + conquests they had made upon British dominion. A couple of regiments were + raised and paid by the king in America, and a fleet with a couple more was + despatched from home under an experienced commander. In February, 1755, + Commodore Keppel, in the famous ship Centurion, in which Anson had made + his voyage round the world, anchored in Hampton Roads with two ships of + war under his command, and having on board General Braddock, his staff, + and a part of his troops. Mr. Braddock was appointed by the Duke. A + hundred years ago the Duke of Cumberland was called The Duke par + excellence in England—as another famous warrior has since been + called. Not so great a Duke certainly was that first-named Prince as his + party esteemed him, and surely not so bad a one as his enemies have + painted him. A fleet of transports speedily followed Prince William's + general, bringing stores, and men, and money in plenty. + </p> + <p> + The great man landed his troops at Alexandria on the Potomac river, and + repaired to Annapolis in Maryland, where he ordered the governors of the + different colonies to meet him in council, urging them each to call upon + their respective provinces to help the common cause in this strait. + </p> + <p> + The arrival of the General and his little army caused a mighty excitement + all through the provinces, and nowhere greater than at Castlewood. Harry + was off forthwith to see the troops under canvas at Alexandria. The sight + of their lines delighted him, and the inspiring music of their fifes and + drums. He speedily made acquaintance with the officers of both regiments; + he longed to join in the expedition upon which they were bound, and was a + welcome guest at their mess. + </p> + <p> + Madam Esmond was pleased that her sons should have an opportunity of + enjoying the society of gentlemen of good fashion from England. She had no + doubt their company was improving, that the English gentlemen were very + different from the horse-racing, cock-fighting Virginian squires, with + whom Master Harry would associate, and the lawyers, and pettifoggers, and + toad-eaters at the lieutenant-governor's table. Madam Esmond had a very + keen eye for detecting flatterers in other folks' houses. Against the + little knot of official people at Williamsburg she was especially + satirical, and had no patience with their etiquettes and squabbles for + precedence. + </p> + <p> + As for the company of the king's officers, Mr. Harry and his elder brother + both smiled at their mamma's compliments to the elegance and propriety of + the gentlemen of the camp. If the good lady had but known all, if she + could but have heard their jokes and the songs which they sang over their + wine and punch, if she could have seen the condition of many of them as + they were carried away to their lodgings, she would scarce have been so + ready to recommend their company to her sons. Men and officers swaggered + the country round, and frightened the peaceful farm and village folk with + their riot: the General raved and stormed against his troops for their + disorder; against the provincials for their traitorous niggardliness; the + soldiers took possession almost as of a conquered country, they scorned + the provincials, they insulted the wives even of their Indian allies, who + had come to join the English warriors, upon their arrival in America, and + to march with them against the French. The General was compelled to forbid + the Indian women his camp. Amazed and outraged their husbands retired, and + but a few months afterwards their services were lost to him, when their + aid would have been most precious. + </p> + <p> + Some stories against the gentlemen of the camp, Madam Esmond might have + heard, but she would have none of them. Soldiers would be soldiers, that + everybody knew; those officers who came over to Castlewood on her son's + invitation were most polite gentlemen, and such indeed was the case. The + widow received them most graciously, and gave them the best sport the + country afforded. Presently, the General himself sent polite messages to + the mistress of Castlewood. His father had served with hers under the + glorious Marlborough, and Colonel Esmond's name was still known and + respected in England. With her ladyship's permission, General Braddock + would have the honour of waiting upon her at Castlewood, and paying his + respects to the daughter of so meritorious an officer. + </p> + <p> + If she had known the cause of Mr. Braddock's politeness, perhaps his + compliments would not have charmed Madam Esmond so much. The + Commander-in-Chief held levees at Alexandria, and among the gentry of the + country, who paid him their respects, were our twins of Castlewood, who + mounted their best nags, took with them their last London suits, and, with + their two negro-boys, in smart liveries behind them, rode in state to wait + upon the great man. He was sulky and angry with the provincial gentry, and + scarce took any notice of the young gentlemen, only asking, casually, of + his aide-de-camp at dinner, who the young Squire Gawkeys were in blue and + gold and red waistcoats? + </p> + <p> + Mr. Dinwiddie, the Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, the Agent from + Pennsylvania, and a few more gentlemen, happened to be dining with his + Excellency. “Oh!” says Mr. Dinwiddie, “those are the sons of the Princess + Pocahontas;” on which, with a tremendous oath, the General asked, “Who the + deuce was she?” + </p> + <p> + Dinwiddie, who did not love her, having indeed undergone a hundred + pertnesses from the imperious little lady, now gave a disrespectful and + ridiculous account of Madam Esmond, made merry with her pomposity and + immense pretensions, and entertained General Braddock with anecdotes + regarding her, until his Excellency fell asleep. + </p> + <p> + When he awoke, Dinwiddie was gone, but the Philadelphia gentleman was + still at table, deep in conversation with the officers there present. The + General took up the talk where it had been left when he fell asleep, and + spoke of Madam Esmond in curt, disrespectful terms, such as soldiers were + in the habit of using in those days, and asking, again, what was the name + of the old fool about whom Dinwiddie had been talking? He then broke into + expressions of contempt and wrath against the gentry, and the country in + general. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Franklin of Philadelphia repeated the widow's name, took quite a + different view of her character from that Mr. Dinwiddie had given, seemed + to know a good deal about her, her father, and her estate; as, indeed, he + did about every man or subject which came under discussion; explained to + the General that Madam Esmond had beeves, and horses, and stores in + plenty, which might be very useful at the present juncture, and + recommended him to conciliate her by all means. The General had already + made up his mind that Mr. Franklin was a very shrewd, intelligent person, + and graciously ordered an aide-de-camp to invite the two young men to the + next day's dinner. When they appeared he was very pleasant and + good-natured; the gentlemen of the General's family made much of them. + They behaved, as became persons of their name, with modesty and + good-breeding; they returned home delighted with their entertainment, nor + was their mother less pleased at the civilities which his Excellency had + shown to her boys. In reply to Braddock's message, Madam Esmond penned a + billet in her best style, acknowledging his politeness, and begging his + Excellency to fix the time when she might have the honour to receive him + at Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + We may be sure that the arrival of the army and the approaching campaign + formed the subject of continued conversation in the Castlewood family. To + make the campaign was the dearest wish of Harry's life. He dreamed only of + war and battle; he was for ever with the officers at Williamsburg; he + scoured and cleaned and polished all the guns and swords in the house; he + renewed the amusements of his childhood, and had the negroes under arms. + His mother, who had a gallant spirit, knew that the time was come when one + of her boys must leave her and serve the king. She scarce dared to think + on whom the lot should fall. She admired and respected the elder, but she + felt that she loved the younger boy with all the passion of her heart. + </p> + <p> + Eager as Harry was to be a soldier, and with all his thoughts bent on that + glorious scheme, he too scarcely dared to touch on the subject nearest his + heart. Once or twice when he ventured on it with George, the latter's + countenance wore an ominous look. Harry had a feudal attachment for his + elder brother, worshipped him with an extravagant regard, and in all + things gave way to him as the chief. So Harry saw, to his infinite terror, + how George, too, in his grave way, was occupied with military matters. + George had the wars of Eugene and Marlborough down from his bookshelves, + all the military books of his grandfather, and the most warlike of + Plutarch's lives. He and Dempster were practising with the foils again. + The old Scotchman was an adept in the military art, though somewhat shy of + saying where he learned it. + </p> + <p> + Madam Esmond made her two boys the bearers of the letter in reply to his + Excellency's message, accompanying her note with such large and handsome + presents for the General's staff and the officers of the two Royal + Regiments, as caused the General more than once to thank Mr. Franklin for + having been the means of bringing this welcome ally into the camp. “Would + not one of the young gentlemen like to see the campaign?” the General + asked. “A friend of theirs, who often spoke of them—Mr. Washington, + who had been unlucky in the affair of last year—had already promised + to join him as aide-de-camp, and his Excellency would gladly take another + young Virginian gentleman into his family.” Harry's eyes brightened and + his face flushed at this offer. “He would like with all his heart to go!” + he cried out. George said, looking hard at his younger brother, that one + of them would be proud to attend his Excellency, whilst it would be the + other's duty to take care of their mother at home. Harry allowed his + senior to speak. His will was even still obedient to George's. However + much he desired to go, he would not pronounce until George had declared + himself. He longed so for the campaign, that the actual wish made him + timid. He dared not speak on the matter as he went home with George. They + rode for miles in silence, or strove to talk upon indifferent subjects; + each knowing what was passing in the other's mind, and afraid to bring the + awful question to an issue. + </p> + <p> + On their arrival at home the boys told their mother of General Braddock's + offer. “I knew it must happen,” she said; “at such a crisis in the country + our family must come forward. Have you—have you settled yet which of + you is to leave me?” and she looked anxiously from one to another, + dreading to hear either name. + </p> + <p> + “The youngest ought to go, mother; of course I ought to go!” cries Harry, + turning very red. + </p> + <p> + “Of course he ought,” said Mrs. Mountain, who was present at their talk. + </p> + <p> + “There! Mountain says so! I told you so!” again cries Harry, with a + sidelong look at George. + </p> + <p> + “The head of the family ought to go, mother,” says George, sadly. + </p> + <p> + “No! no! you are ill, and have never recovered your fever. Ought he to go, + Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + “You would make the best soldier, I know that, dearest Hal. You and George + Washington are great friends, and could travel well together, and he does + not care for me, nor I for him, however much he is admired in the family. + But, you see, 'tis the law of Honour, my Harry.” (He here spoke to his + brother with a voice of extraordinary kindness and tenderness.) “The grief + I have had in this matter has been that I must refuse thee. I must go. Had + Fate given you the benefit of that extra half-hour of life which I have + had before you, it would have been your lot, and you would have claimed + your right to go first, you know you would.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, George,” said poor Harry, “I own I should.” + </p> + <p> + “You will stay at home, and take care of Castlewood and our mother. If + anything happens to me, you are here to fill my place. I would like to + give way, my dear, as you, I know, would lay down your life to serve me. + But each of us must do his duty. What would our grandfather say if he were + here?” + </p> + <p> + The mother looked proudly at her two sons. “My papa would say that his + boys were gentlemen,” faltered Madam Esmond, and left the young men, not + choosing, perhaps, to show the emotion which was filling her heart. It was + speedily known amongst the servants that Mr. George was going on the + campaign. Dinah, George's foster-mother, was loud in her lamentations at + losing him; Phillis, Harry's old nurse, was as noisy because Master + George, as usual, was preferred over Master Harry. Sady, George's servant, + made preparations to follow his master, bragging incessantly of the deeds + which he would do, while Gumbo, Harry's boy, pretended to whimper at being + left behind, though, at home, Gumbo was anything but a fire-eater. + </p> + <p> + But, of all in the house, Mrs. Mountain was the most angry at George's + determination to go on the campaign. She had no patience with him. He did + not know what he was doing by leaving home. She begged, implored, insisted + that he should alter his determination; and vowed that nothing but + mischief would come from his departure. + </p> + <p> + George was surprised at the pertinacity of the good lady's opposition. “I + know, Mountain,” said he, “that Harry would be the better soldier; but, + after all, to go is my duty.” + </p> + <p> + “To stay is your duty!” says Mountain, with a stamp of her foot. + </p> + <p> + “Why did not my mother own it when we talked of the matter just now?” + </p> + <p> + “Your mother!” says Mrs. Mountain, with a most gloomy, sardonic laugh; + “your mother, my poor child!” + </p> + <p> + “What is the meaning of that mournful countenance, Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + “It may be that your mother wishes you away, George!” Mrs. Mountain + continued, wagging her head. “It may be, my poor deluded boy, that you + will find a father-in-law when you come back.” + </p> + <p> + “What in heaven do you mean?” cried George, the blood rushing into his + face. + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose I have no eyes, and cannot see what is going on? I tell + you, child, that Colonel Washington wants a rich wife. When you are gone, + he will ask your mother to marry him, and you will find him master here + when you come back. That is why you ought not to go away, you poor, + unhappy, simple boy! Don't you see how fond she is of him? how much she + makes of him? how she is always holding him up to you, to Harry, to + everybody who comes here?” + </p> + <p> + “But he is going on the campaign, too,” cried George. + </p> + <p> + “He is going on the marrying campaign, child!” insisted the widow. + </p> + <p> + “Nay; General Braddock himself told me that Mr. Washington had accepted + the appointment of aide-de-camp.” + </p> + <p> + “An artifice! an artifice to blind you, my poor child!” cries Mountain. + “He will be wounded and come back—you will see if he does not. I + have proofs of what I say to you—proofs under his own hand—look + here!” And she took from her pocket a piece of paper in Mr. Washington's + well-known handwriting. + </p> + <p> + “How came you by this paper?” asked George, turning ghastly pale. + </p> + <p> + “I—I found it in the Major's chamber!” says Mrs. Mountain, with a + shamefaced look. + </p> + <p> + “You read the private letters of a guest staying in our house?” cried + George. “For shame! I will not look at the paper!” And he flung it from + him on to the fire before him. + </p> + <p> + “I could not help it, George; 'twas by chance, I give you my word, by the + merest chance. You know Governor Dinwiddie is to have the Major's room, + and the state-room is got ready for Mr. Braddock, and we are expecting + ever so much company, and I had to take the things which the Major leaves + here—he treats the house just as if it was his own already—into + his new room, and this half-sheet of paper fell out of his writing-book, + and I just gave one look at it by the merest chance, and when I saw what + it was it was my duty to read it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you are a martyr to duty, Mountain!” George said grimly. “I dare say + Mrs. Bluebeard thought it was her duty to look through the keyhole.” + </p> + <p> + “I never did look through the keyhole, George. It's a shame you should say + so! I, who have watched, and tended, and nursed you, like a mother; who + have sate up whole weeks with you in fevers, and carried you from your bed + to the sofa in these arms. There, sir, I don't want you there now. My dear + Mountain, indeed! Don't tell me! You fly into a passion, and, call names, + and wound my feelings, who have loved you like your mother—like your + mother?—I only hope she may love you half as well. I say you are all + ungrateful. My Mr. Mountain was a wretch, and every one of you is as bad.” + </p> + <p> + There was but a smouldering log or two in the fireplace, and no doubt + Mountain saw that the paper was in no danger as it lay amongst the ashes, + or she would have seized it at the risk of burning her own fingers, and + ere she uttered the above passionate defence of her conduct. Perhaps + George was absorbed in his dismal thoughts; perhaps his jealousy + overpowered him, for he did not resist any further when she stooped down + and picked up the paper. + </p> + <p> + “You should thank your stars, child, that I saved the letter,” cried she. + “See! here are his own words, in his great big handwriting like a clerk. + It was not my fault that he wrote them, or that I found them. Read for + yourself, I say, George Warrington, and be thankful that your poor dear + old Mounty is watching over you!” + </p> + <p> + Every word and letter upon the unlucky paper was perfectly clear. George's + eyes could not help taking in the contents of the document before him. + “Not a word of this, Mountain,” he said, giving her a frightful look. “I—I + will return this paper to Mr. Washington.” + </p> + <p> + Mountain was scared at his face, at the idea of what she had done, and + what might ensue. When his mother, with alarm in her countenance, asked + him at dinner what ailed him that he looked so pale? “Do you suppose, + madam,” says he, filling himself a great bumper of wine, “that to leave + such a tender mother as you does not cause me cruel grief?” + </p> + <p> + The good lady could not understand his words, his strange, fierce looks, + and stranger laughter. He bantered all at the table; called to the + servants and laughed at them, and drank more and more. Each time the door + was opened, he turned towards it; and so did Mountain, with a guilty + notion that Mr. Washington would step in. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. In which George suffers from a Common Disease + </h2> + <p> + On the day appointed for Madam Esmond's entertainment to the General, the + house of Castlewood was set out with the greatest splendour; and Madam + Esmond arrayed herself in a much more magnificent dress than she was + accustomed to wear. Indeed, she wished to do every honour to her guest, + and to make the entertainment—which, in reality, was a sad one to + her—as pleasant as might be for her company. The General's new + aide-de-camp was the first to arrive. The widow received him in the + covered gallery before the house. He dismounted at the steps, and his + servants led away his horses to the well-known quarters. No young + gentleman in the colony was better mounted or a better horseman than Mr. + Washington. + </p> + <p> + For a while ere the Major retired to divest himself of his riding-boots, + he and his hostess paced the gallery in talk. She had much to say to him; + she had to hear from him a confirmation of his own appointment as + aide-de-camp to General Braddock, and to speak of her son's approaching + departure. The negro servants bearing the dishes for the approaching feast + were passing perpetually as they talked. They descended the steps down to + the rough lawn in front of the house, and paced a while in the shade. Mr. + Washington announced his Excellency's speedy approach, with Mr. Franklin + of Pennsylvania in his coach. + </p> + <p> + This Mr. Franklin had been a common printer's boy, Mrs. Esmond had heard; + a pretty pass things were coming to when such persons rode in the coach of + the Commander-in-Chief! Mr. Washington said, a more shrewd and sensible + gentleman never rode in coach or walked on foot. Mrs. Esmond thought the + Major was too liberally disposed towards this gentleman; but Mr. + Washington stoutly maintained against the widow that the printer was a + most ingenious, useful, and meritorious man. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad, at least, that, as my boy is going to make the campaign, he + will not be with tradesmen, but with gentlemen, with gentlemen of honour + and fashion,” says Madam Esmond, in her most stately manner. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Washington had seen the gentlemen of honour and fashion over their + cups, and perhaps thought that all their sayings and doings were not + precisely such as would tend to instruct or edify a young man on his + entrance into life; but he wisely chose to tell no tales out of school, + and said that Harry and George, now they were coming into the world, must + take their share of good and bad, and hear what both sorts had to say. + </p> + <p> + “To be with a veteran officer of the finest army in the world,” faltered + the widow; “with gentlemen who have been bred in the midst of the Court; + with friends of his Royal Highness, the Duke——” + </p> + <p> + The widow's friend only inclined his head. He did not choose to allow his + countenance to depart from its usual handsome gravity. + </p> + <p> + “And with you, dear Colonel Washington, by whom my father always set such + store. You don't know how much he trusted in you. You will take care of my + boy, sir, will not you? You are but five years older, yet I trust to you + more than to his seniors; my father always told the children, I alway bade + them, to look up to Mr. Washington.” + </p> + <p> + “You know I would have done anything to win Colonel Esmond's favour. + Madam, how much would I not venture to merit his daughter's?” + </p> + <p> + The gentleman bowed with not too ill a grace. The lady blushed, and + dropped one of the lowest curtsies. (Madam Esmond's curtsey was considered + unrivalled over the whole province.) “Mr. Washington,” she said, “will be + always sure of a mother's affection, whilst he gives so much of his to her + children.” And so saying she gave him her hand, which he kissed with + profound politeness. The little lady presently re-entered her mansion, + leaning upon the tall young officer's arm. Here they were joined by + George, who came to them, accurately powdered and richly attired, saluting + his parent and his friend alike with low and respectful bows. Nowadays, a + young man walks into his mother's room with hobnailed high-lows, and a + wideawake on his head; and instead of making her a bow, puffs a cigar into + her face. + </p> + <p> + But George, though he made the lowest possible bow to Mr. Washington and + his mother, was by no means in good-humour with either of them. A polite + smile played round the lower part of his countenance, whilst watchfulness + and wrath glared out from the two upper windows. What had been said or + done? Nothing that might not have been performed or uttered before the + most decent, polite, or pious company. Why then should Madam Esmond + continue to blush, and the brave Colonel to look somewhat red, as he shook + his young friend's hand? + </p> + <p> + The Colonel asked Mr. George if he had had good sport? “No,” says George, + curtly. “Have you?” And then he looked at the picture of his father, which + hung in the parlour. + </p> + <p> + The Colonel, not a talkative man ordinarily, straightway entered into a + long description of his sport, and described where he had been in the + morning, and what woods he had hunted with the king's officers; how many + birds they had shot, and what game they had brought down. Though not a + jocular man ordinarily, the Colonel made a long description of Mr. + Braddock's heavy person and great boots, as he floundered through the + Virginian woods, hunting, as they called it, with a pack of dogs gathered + from various houses, with a pack of negroes barking as loud as the dogs, + and actually shooting the deer when they came in sight of him. “Great God, + sir!” says Mr. Braddock, puffing and blowing, “what would Sir Robert have + said in Norfolk, to see a man hunting with a fowling-piece in his hand, + and a pack of dogs actually laid on to a turkey!” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, Colonel, you are vastly comical this afternoon!” cries Madam + Esmond, with a neat little laugh, whilst her son listened to the story, + looking more glum than ever. “What Sir Robert is there at Norfolk? Is he + one of the newly arrived army-gentlemen?” + </p> + <p> + “The General meant Norfolk at home, madam, not Norfolk in Virginia,” said + Colonel Washington. “Mr. Braddock had been talking of a visit to Sir + Robert Walpole, who lived in that county, and of the great hunts the old + Minister kept there, and of his grand palace, and his pictures at + Houghton. I should like to see a good field and a good fox-chase at home + better than any sight in the world,” the honest sportsman added with a + sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Nevertheless, there is good sport here, as I was saying,” said young + Esmond, with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “What sport?” cries the other, looking at him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, sure you know, without looking at me so fiercely, and stamping your + foot, as if you were going to charge me with the foils. Are you not the + best sportsman of the country-side? Are there not all the fish of the + field, and the beasts of the trees, and the fowls of the sea—no—the + fish of the trees, and the beasts of the sea—and the—bah! You + know what I mean. I mean shad, and salmon, and rock-fish, and roe-deer, + and hogs, and buffaloes, and bisons, and elephants, for what I know. I'm + no sportsman.” + </p> + <p> + “No, indeed,” said Mr. Washington, with a look of scarcely repressed + scorn. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I understand you. I am a milksop. I have been bred at my mamma's + knee. Look at these pretty apron-strings, Colonel! Who would not like to + be tied to them? See of what a charming colour they are! I remember when + they were black—that was for my grandfather.” + </p> + <p> + “And who would not mourn for such a gentleman?” said the Colonel, as the + widow, surprised, looked at her son. + </p> + <p> + “And, indeed, I wish my grandfather were here, and would resurge, as he + promises to do on his tombstone; and would bring my father, the Ensign, + with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Harry!” cries Mrs. Esmond, bursting into tears, as at this juncture + her second son entered the room—in just such another suit, + gold-corded frock, braided waistcoat, silver-hilted sword, and solitaire, + as that which his elder brother wore. “Oh, Harry, Harry!” cries Madam + Esmond, and flies to her younger son. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, mother?” asks Harry, taking her in his arms. “What is the + matter, Colonel?” + </p> + <p> + “Upon my life, it would puzzle me to say,” answered the Colonel, biting + his lips. + </p> + <p> + “A mere question, Hal, about pink ribbons, which I think vastly becoming + to our mother; as, no doubt, the Colonel does.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir, will you please to speak for yourself?” cried the Colonel, bustling + up, and then sinking his voice again. + </p> + <p> + “He speaks too much for himself,” wept the widow. + </p> + <p> + “I protest I don't any more know the source of these tears, than the + source of the Nile,” said George, “and if the picture of my father were to + begin to cry, I should almost as much wonder at the paternal tears. What + have I uttered? An allusion to ribbons! Is there some poisoned pin in + them, which has been struck into my mother's heart by a guilty fiend of a + London mantua-maker? I professed to wish to be led in these lovely reins + all my life long,” and he turned a pirouette on his scarlet heels. + </p> + <p> + “George Warrington! what devil's dance are you dancing now?” asked Harry, + who loved his mother, who loved Mr. Washington, but who, of all creatures, + loved and admired his brother George. + </p> + <p> + “My dear child, you do not understand dancing—you care not for the + politer arts—you can get no more music out of a spinet than by + pulling a dead hog by the ear. By nature you were made for a man—a + man of war—I do not mean a seventy-four, Colonel George, like that + hulk which brought the hulking Mr. Braddock into our river. His + Excellency, too, is a man of warlike turn, a follower of the sports of the + field. I am a milksop, as I have had the honour to say.” + </p> + <p> + “You never showed it yet. You beat that great Maryland man was twice your + size,” breaks out Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Under compulsion, Harry. 'Tis tuptu, my lad, or else 'tis tuptomai, as + thy breech well knew when we followed school. But I am of a quiet turn, + and would never lift my hand to pull a trigger, no, nor a nose, nor + anything but a rose,” and here he took and handled one of Madam Esmond's + bright pink apron ribbons. “I hate sporting, which you and the Colonel + love, and I want to shoot nothing alive, not a turkey, nor a titmouse, nor + an ox, nor an ass, nor anything that has ears. Those curls of Mr. + Washington's are prettily powdered.” + </p> + <p> + The militia colonel, who had been offended by the first part of the talk, + and very much puzzled by the last, had taken a modest draught from the + great china bowl of apple-toddy which stood to welcome the guests in this + as in all Virginian houses, and was further cooling himself by pacing the + balcony in a very stately manner. + </p> + <p> + Again almost reconciled with the elder, the appeased mother stood giving a + hand to each of her sons. George put his disengaged hand on Harry's + shoulder. “I say one thing, George,” says he with a flushing face. + </p> + <p> + “Say twenty things, Don Enrico,” cries the other. + </p> + <p> + “If you are not fond of sporting and that, and don't care for killing game + and hunting, being cleverer than me, why shouldst thou not stop at home + and be quiet, and let me go out with Colonel George and Mr. Braddock?—that's + what I say,” says Harry, delivering himself of his speech. + </p> + <p> + The widow looked eagerly from the dark-haired to the fair-haired boy. She + knew not from which she would like to part. + </p> + <p> + “One of our family must go because honneur oblige, and my name being + number one, number one must go first,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “Told you so,” said poor Harry. + </p> + <p> + “One must stay, or who is to look after mother at home? We cannot afford + to be both scalped by Indians or fricasseed by French.” + </p> + <p> + “Fricasseed by French!” cries Harry; “the best troops of the world! + Englishmen! I should like to see them fricasseed by the French!—What + a mortal thrashing you will give them!” and the brave lad sighed to think + he should not be present at the battue. + </p> + <p> + George sate down to the harpsichord and played and sang “Malbrouk s'en + va-t-en guerre, Mironton, mironton, mirontaine,” at the sound of which + music the gentleman from the balcony entered. “I am playing 'God save the + King,' Colonel, in compliment to the new expedition.” + </p> + <p> + “I never know whether thou art laughing or in earnest,” said the simple + gentleman, “but surely methinks that is not the air.” + </p> + <p> + George performed ever so many trills and quavers upon his harpsichord, and + their guest watched him, wondering, perhaps, that a gentleman of George's + condition could set himself to such an effeminate business. Then the + Colonel took out his watch, saying that his Excellency's coach would be + here almost immediately, and asking leave to retire to his apartment, and + put himself in a fit condition to appear before her ladyship's company. + </p> + <p> + “Colonel Washington knows the way to his room pretty well,” said George, + from the harpsichord, looking over his shoulder, but never offering to + stir. + </p> + <p> + “Let me show the Colonel to his chamber,” cried the widow, in great wrath, + and sailed out of the apartment, followed by the enraged and bewildered + Colonel, as George continued crashing among the keys. Her high-spirited + guest felt himself insulted, he could hardly say how; he was outraged and + he could not speak; he was almost stifling with anger. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington remarked their friend's condition. “For heaven's sake, + George, what does this all mean?” he asked his brother. “Why shouldn't he + kiss her hand?” (George had just before fetched out his brother from their + library, to watch this harmless salute.) “I tell you it is nothing but + common kindness.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing but common kindness!” shrieked out George. “Look at that, Hal! Is + that common kindness?” and he showed his junior the unlucky paper over + which he had been brooding for some time. It was but a fragment, though + the meaning was indeed clear without the preceding text. + </p> + <p> + The paper commenced: “... is older than myself, but I, again, am older + than my years; and you know, dear brother, have ever been considered a + sober person. All children are better for a father's superintendence, and + her two, I trust, will find in me a tender friend and guardian.” + </p> + <p> + “Friend and guardian! Curse him!” shrieked out George, clenching his fists—and + his brother read on: + </p> + <p> + “... The flattering offer which General Braddock hath made me, will, of + course, oblige me to postpone this matter until after the campaign. When + we have given the French a sufficient drubbing, I shall return to repose + under my own vine and fig-tree.” + </p> + <p> + “He means Castlewood. These are his vines,” George cries again, shaking + his fist at the creepers sunning themselves on the wall. + </p> + <p> + “... Under my own vine and fig-tree; where I hope soon to present my dear + brother to his new sister-in-law. She has a pretty Scripture name, which + is...”—and here the document ended. + </p> + <p> + “Which is Rachel,” George went on bitterly. “Rachel is by no means weeping + for her children, and has every desire to be comforted. Now, Harry! Let us + upstairs at once, kneel down as becomes us, and say, 'Dear papa, welcome + to your house of Castlewood.'” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. Hospitalities + </h2> + <p> + His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief set forth to pay his visit to Madam + Esmond in such a state and splendour as became the first personage in all + his Majesty's colonies, plantations, and possessions of North America. His + guard of dragoons preceded him out of Williamsburg in the midst of an + immense shouting and yelling of a loyal, and principally negro, + population. The General rode in his own coach. Captain Talmadge, his + Excellency's Master of the Horse, attended him at the door of the + ponderous emblazoned vehicle, and riding by the side of the carriage + during the journey from Williamsburg to Madam Esmond's house. Major + Danvers, aide-de-camp, sate in the front of the carriage with the little + postmaster from Philadelphia, Mr. Franklin, who, printer's boy as he had + been, was a wonderful shrewd person, as his Excellency and the gentlemen + of his family were fain to acknowledge, having a quantity of the most + curious information respecting the colony, and regarding England too, + where Mr. Franklin had been more than once. “'Twas extraordinary how a + person of such humble origin should have acquired such a variety of + learning and such a politeness of breeding too, Mr. Franklin!” his + Excellency was pleased to observe, touching his hat graciously to the + postmaster. + </p> + <p> + The postmaster bowed, said it had been his occasional good fortune to fall + into the company of gentlemen like his Excellency, and that he had taken + advantage of his opportunity to study their honours' manners, and adapt + himself to them as far as he might. As for education, he could not boast + much of that—his father being but in straitened circumstances, and + the advantages small in his native country of New England: but he had done + to the utmost of his power, and gathered what he could—he knew + nothing like what they had in England. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Braddock burst out laughing, and said, “As for education, there were + gentlemen of the army, by George, who didn't know whether they should + spell bull with two b's or one. He had heard the Duke of Marlborough was + no special good penman. He had not the honour of serving under that noble + commander—his Grace was before his time—but he thrashed the + French soundly, although he was no scholar.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Franklin said he was aware of both those facts. + </p> + <p> + “Nor is my Duke a scholar,” went on Mr. Braddock—“aha, Mr. + Postmaster, you have heard that, too—I see by the wink in your eye.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Franklin instantly withdrew the obnoxious or satirical wink in his + eye, and looked in the General's jolly round face with a pair of orbs as + innocent as a baby's. “He's no scholar, but he is a match for any French + general that ever swallowed the English for fricassee de crapaud. He saved + the crown for the best of kings, his royal father, his Most Gracious + Majesty King George.” + </p> + <p> + Off went Mr. Franklin's hat, and from his large buckled wig escaped a + great halo of powder. + </p> + <p> + “He is the soldier's best friend, and has been the uncompromising enemy of + all beggarly red-shanked Scotch rebels and intriguing Romish Jesuits who + would take our liberty from us, and our religion, by George. His Royal + Highness, my gracious master, is not a scholar neither, but he is one of + the finest gentlemen in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “I have seen his Royal Highness on horseback, at a review of the Guards, + in Hyde Park,” says Mr. Franklin. “The Duke is indeed a very fine + gentleman on horseback.” + </p> + <p> + “You shall drink his health to-day, Postmaster. He is the best of masters, + the best of friends, the best of sons to his royal old father; the best of + gentlemen that ever wore an epaulet.” + </p> + <p> + “Epaulets are quite out of my way, sir,” says Mr. Franklin, laughing. “You + know I live in a Quaker City.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course they are out of your way, my good friend. Every man to his + business. You, and gentlemen of your class, to your books, and welcome. We + don't forbid you; we encourage you. We, to fight the enemy and govern the + country. Hey, gentlemen? Lord! what roads you have in this colony, and how + this confounded coach plunges! Who have we here, with the two negro boys + in livery? He rides a good gelding.” + </p> + <p> + “It is Mr. Washington,” says the aide-de-camp. + </p> + <p> + “I would like him for a corporal of the Horse Grenadiers,” said the + General. “He has a good figure on a horse. He knows the country too, Mr. + Franklin.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “And is a monstrous genteel young man, considering the opportunities he + has had. I should have thought he had the polish of Europe, by George I + should.” + </p> + <p> + “He does his best,” says Mr. Franklin, looking innocently at the stout + chief, the exemplar of English elegance, who sat swagging from one side to + the other of the carriage, his face as scarlet as his coat—swearing + at every other word; ignorant on every point off parade, except the merits + of a bottle and the looks of a woman; not of high birth, yet absurdly + proud of his no-ancestry; brave as a bulldog; savage, lustful, prodigal, + generous; gentle in soft moods; easy of love and laughter; dull of wit; + utterly unread; believing his country the first in the world, and he as + good a gentleman as any in it. “Yes, he is mighty well for a provincial, + upon my word. He was beat at Fort What-d'ye-call-um last year, down by the + Thingamy river. What's the name on't, Talmadge?” + </p> + <p> + “The Lord knows, sir,” says Talmadge; “and I dare say the Postmaster, too, + who is laughing at us both.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Captain!” + </p> + <p> + “Was caught in a regular trap. He had only militia and Indians with him. + Good day, Mr. Washington. A pretty nag, sir. That was your first affair, + last year?” + </p> + <p> + “That at Fort Necessity? Yes, sir,” said the gentleman, gravely saluting, + as he rode up, followed by a couple of natty negro grooms, in smart + livery-coats and velvet hunting-caps. “I began ill, sir, never having been + in action until that unlucky day.” + </p> + <p> + “You were all raw levies, my good fellow. You should have seen our militia + run from the Scotch, and be cursed to them. You should have had some + troops with you.” + </p> + <p> + “Your Excellency knows 'tis my passionate desire to see and serve with + them,” said Mr. Washington. + </p> + <p> + “By George, we shall try and gratify you, sir,” said the General, with one + of his usual huge oaths; and on the heavy carriage rolled towards + Castlewood; Mr. Washington asking leave to gallop on ahead, in order to + announce his Excellency's speedy arrival to the lady there. + </p> + <p> + The progress of the Commander-in-Chief was so slow, that several humbler + persons who were invited to meet his Excellency came up with his carriage, + and, not liking to pass the great man on the road, formed quite a + procession in the dusty wake of his chariot-wheels. First came Mr. + Dinwiddie, the Lieutenant-Governor of his Majesty's province, attended by + his negro servants, and in company of Parson Broadbent, the jolly + Williamsburg chaplain. These were presently joined by little Mr. Dempster, + the young gentlemen's schoolmaster, in his great Ramillies wig, which he + kept for occasions of state. Anon appeared Mr. Laws, the judge of the + court, with Madam Laws on a pillion behind him, and their negro man + carrying a box containing her ladyship's cap, and bestriding a mule. The + procession looked so ludicrous, that Major Danvers and Mr. Franklin + espying it, laughed outright, though not so loud as to disturb his + Excellency, who was asleep by this time, bade the whole of this queer + rearguard move on, and leave the Commander-in-Chief and his escort of + dragoons to follow at their leisure. There was room for all at Castlewood + when they came. There was meat, drink, and the best tobacco for his + Majesty's soldiers; and laughing and jollity for the negroes; and a + plenteous welcome for their masters. + </p> + <p> + The honest General required to be helped to most dishes at the table, and + more than once, and was for ever holding out his glass for drink; Nathan's + sangaree he pronounced to be excellent, and had drunk largely of it on + arriving before dinner. There was cider, ale, brandy, and plenty of good + Bordeaux wine, some which Colonel Esmond himself had brought home with him + to the colony, and which was fit for ponteeficis coenis, said little Mr. + Dempster, with a wink to Mr. Broadbent, the clergyman of the adjoining + parish. Mr. Broadbent returned the wink and nod, and drank the wine + without caring about the Latin, as why should he, never having hitherto + troubled himself about the language? Mr. Broadbent was a gambling, + guzzling, cock-fighting divine, who had passed much time in the Fleet + Prison, at Newmarket, at Hockley-in-the-Hole; and having gone of all sorts + of errands for his friend, Lord Cingbars, Lord Ringwood's son (my Lady + Cingbars's waiting-woman being Mr. B.'s mother—I dare say the modern + reader had best not be too particular regarding Mr. Broadbent's father's + pedigree), had been of late sent out to a church-living in Virginia. He + and young George had fought many a match of cocks together, taken many a + roe in company, hauled in countless quantities of shad and salmon, slain + wild geese and wild swans, pigeons and plovers, and destroyed myriads of + canvas-backed ducks. It was said by the envious that Broadbent was the + midnight poacher on whom Mr. Washington set his dogs, and whom he caned by + the river-side at Mount Vernon. The fellow got away from his captor's + grip, and scrambled to his boat in the dark; but Broadbent was laid up for + two Sundays afterwards, and when he came abroad again had the evident + remains of a black eye and a new collar to his coat. All the games at the + cards had George Esmond and Parson Broadbent played together, besides + hunting all the birds in the air, the beasts in the forest, and the fish + of the sea. Indeed, when the boys rode together to get their reading with + Mr. Dempster, I suspect that Harry stayed behind and took lessons from the + other professor of European learning and accomplishments,—George + going his own way, reading his own books, and, of course, telling no tales + of his younger brother. + </p> + <p> + All the birds of the Virginia air, and all the fish of the sea in season + were here laid on Madam Esmond's board to feed his Excellency and the rest + of the English and American gentlemen. The gumbo was declared to be + perfection (young Mr. George's black servant was named after this dish, + being discovered behind the door with his head in a bowl of this delicious + hotch-potch, by the late Colonel, and grimly christened on the spot), the + shad were rich and fresh, the stewed terrapins were worthy of London + aldermen (before George, he would like the Duke himself to taste them, his + Excellency deigned to say), and indeed, stewed terrapins are worthy of any + duke or even emperor. The negro-women have a genius for cookery, and in + Castlewood kitchens there were adepts in the art brought up under the keen + eye of the late and the present Madam Esmond. Certain of the dishes, + especially the sweets and flan, Madam Esmond prepared herself with great + neatness and dexterity; carving several of the principal pieces, as the + kindly cumbrous fashion of the day was, putting up the laced lappets of + her sleeves, and showing the prettiest round arms and small hands and + wrists as she performed this ancient rite of a hospitality not so languid + as ours. The old law of the table was that the mistress was to press her + guests with a decent eagerness, to watch and see whom she could encourage + to further enjoyment, to know culinary anatomic secrets, and execute + carving operations upon fowls, fish, game, joints of meat, and so forth; + to cheer her guests to fresh efforts, to whisper her neighbour, Mr. + Braddock “I have kept for your Excellency the jowl of this salmon.—I + will take no denial! Mr. Franklin, you drink only water, sir, though our + cellar has wholesome wine which gives no headaches.—Mr. Justice, you + love woodcock pie?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I know who makes the pastry,” says Mr. Laws, the judge, with a + profound bow. “I wish, madam, we had such a happy knack of pastry at home + as you have at Castlewood. I often say to my wife, 'My dear, I wish you + had Madam Esmond's hand.'” + </p> + <p> + “It is a very pretty hand; I am sure others would like it too,” says Mr. + Postmaster of Boston, at which remark Mr. Esmond looks but half-pleased at + the little gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Such a hand for a light pie-crust,” continues the Judge, “and my service + to you, madam.” And he thinks the widow cannot but be propitiated by this + compliment. She says simply that she had lessons when she was at home in + England for her education, and that there were certain dishes which her + mother taught her to make, and which her father and sons both liked. She + was very glad if they pleased her company. More such remarks follow: more + dishes; ten times as much meat as is needful for the company. Mr. + Washington does not embark in the general conversation much, but he and + Mr. Talmadge, and Major Danvers, and the Postmaster, are deep in talk + about roads, rivers, conveyances, sumpter-horses and artillery train; and + the provincial militia Colonel has bits of bread laid at intervals on the + table before him, and stations marked out, on which he has his finger, and + regarding which he is talking to his brother aides-de-camp, till a negro + servant, changing the courses, brushes off the Potomac with a napkin, and + sweeps up the Ohio in a spoon. + </p> + <p> + At the end of dinner, Mr. Broadbent leaves his place and walks up behind + the Lieutenant-Governor's chair, where he says grace, returning to his + seat and resuming his knife and fork when this work of devotion is over. + And now the sweets and puddings are come, of which I can give you a list, + if you like; but what young lady cares for the puddings of to-day, much + more for those which were eaten a hundred years ago, and which Madam + Esmond had prepared for her guests with so much neatness and skill? Then, + the table being cleared, Nathan, her chief manager, lays a glass to every + person, and fills his mistress's. Bowing to the company, she says she + drinks but one toast, but knows how heartily all the gentlemen present + will join her. Then she calls, “His Majesty,” bowing to Mr. Braddock, who + with his aides-de-camp and the colonial gentlemen all loyally repeat the + name of their beloved and gracious Sovereign. And hereupon, having drunk + her glass of wine and saluted all the company, the widow retires between a + row of negro servants, performing one of her very handsomest curtsies at + the door. + </p> + <p> + The kind Mistress of Castlewood bore her part in the entertainment with + admirable spirit, and looked so gay and handsome, and spoke with such + cheerfulness and courage to all her company, that the few ladies who were + present at the dinner could not but congratulate Madam Esmond upon the + elegance of the feast, and especially upon her manner of presiding at it. + But they were scarcely got to her drawing-room when her artificial courage + failed her, and she burst into tears on the sofa by Mrs. Laws' side, just + in the midst of a compliment from that lady. “Ah, madam!” she said, “it + may be an honour, as you say, to have the King's representative in my + house, and our family has received greater personages than Mr. Braddock. + But he comes to take one of my sons away from me. Who knows whether my boy + will return, or how? I dreamed of him last night as wounded, and quite + white, with blood streaming from his side. I would not be so ill-mannered + as to let my grief be visible before the gentlemen; but, my good Mrs. + Justice, who has parted with children, and who has a mother's heart of her + own, would like me none the better, if mine were very easy this evening.” + </p> + <p> + The ladies administered such consolations as seemed proper or palatable to + their hostess, who tried not to give way further to her melancholy, and + remembered that she had other duties to perform, before yielding to her + own sad mood. “It will be time enough, madam, to be sorry when they are + gone,” she said to the Justice's wife, her good neighbour. “My boy must + not see me following him with a wistful face, and have our parting made + more dismal by my weakness. It is good that gentlemen of his rank and + station should show themselves where their country calls them. That has + always been the way of the Esmonds, and the same Power which graciously + preserved my dear father through twenty great battles in the Queen's time, + I trust and pray, will watch over my son now his turn is come to do his + duty.” And, now, instead of lamenting her fate, or further alluding to it, + I dare say the resolute lady sate down with her female friends to a pool + of cards and a dish of coffee, whilst the gentlemen remained in the + neighbouring parlour, still calling their toasts and drinking their wine. + When one lady objected that these latter were sitting rather long, Madam + Esmond said: “It would improve and amuse the boys to be with the English + gentlemen. Such society was very rarely to be had in their distant + province, and though their conversation sometimes was free, she was sure + that gentleman and men of fashion would have regard to the youth of her + sons, and say nothing before them which young people should not hear.” + </p> + <p> + It was evident that the English gentlemen relished the good cheer provided + for them. Whilst the ladies were yet at their cards, Nathan came in and + whispered Mrs. Mountain, who at first cried out—“No! she would give + no more—the common Bordeaux they might have, and welcome, if they + still wanted more—but she would not give any more of the Colonel's.” + It appeared that the dozen bottles of particular claret had been already + drunk up by the gentlemen, “besides ale, cider, Burgundy, Lisbon, and + Madeira,” says Mrs. Mountain, enumerating the supplies. + </p> + <p> + But Madam Esmond was for having no stint in the hospitality of the night. + Mrs. Mountain was fain to bustle away with her keys to the sacred vault + where the Colonel's particular Bordeaux lay, surviving its master, who, + too, had long passed underground. As they went on their journey, Mrs. + Mountain asked whether any of the gentlemen had had too much? Nathan + thought Mister Broadbent was tipsy—he always tipsy; be then thought + the General gentleman was tipsy; and he thought Master George was a lilly + drunk. + </p> + <p> + “Master George!” cries Mrs. Mountain: “why, he will sit for days without + touching a drop.” + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, Nathan persisted in his notion that Master George was a + lilly drunk. He was always filling his glass, he had talked, he had sung, + he had cut jokes, especially against Mr. Washington, which made Mr. + Washington quite red and angry, Nathan said. “Well, well!” Mrs. Mountain + cried eagerly; “it was right a gentleman should make himself merry in good + company, and pass the bottle along with his friends.” And she trotted to + the particular Bordeaux cellar with only the more alacrity. + </p> + <p> + The tone of freedom and almost impertinence which young George Esmond had + adopted of late days towards Mr. Washington had very deeply vexed and + annoyed that gentleman. There was scarce half a dozen years' difference of + age between him and the Castlewood twins;—but Mr. Washington had + always been remarked for a discretion and sobriety much beyond his time of + life, whilst the boys of Castlewood seemed younger than theirs. They had + always been till now under their mother's anxious tutelage, and had looked + up to their neighbour of Mount Vernon as their guide, director, friend—as, + indeed, almost everybody seemed to do who came in contact with the simple + and upright young man. Himself of the most scrupulous gravity and good + breeding, in his communication with other folks he appeared to exact, or, + at any rate, to occasion, the same behaviour. His nature was above levity + and jokes: they seemed out of place when addressed to him. He was slow of + comprehending them: and they slunk as it were abashed out of his society. + “He always seemed great to me,” says Harry Warrington, in one of his + letters many years after the date of which we are writing; “and I never + thought of him otherwise than of a hero. When he came over to Castlewood + and taught us boys surveying, to see him riding to hounds was as if he was + charging an army. If he fired a shot, I thought the bird must come down, + and if be flung a net, the largest fish in the river were sure to be in + it. His words were always few, but they were always wise; they were not + idle, as our words are, they were grave, sober, and strong, and ready on + occasion to do their duty. In spite of his antipathy to him, my brother + respected and admired the General as much as I did—that is to say, + more than any mortal man.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Washington was the first to leave the jovial party which were doing so + much honour to Madam Esmond's hospitality. Young George Esmond, who had + taken his mother's place when she left it, had been free with the glass + and with the tongue. He had said a score of things to his guest which + wounded and chafed the latter, and to which Mr. Washington could give no + reply. Angry beyond all endurance, he left the table at length, and walked + away through the open windows into the broad verandah or porch which + belonged to Castlewood as to all Virginian houses. + </p> + <p> + Here Madam Esmond caught sight of her friend's tall frame as it strode up + and down before the windows; and, the evening being warm, or her game + over, she gave up her cards to one of the other ladies, and joined her + good neighbour out of doors. He tried to compose his countenance as well + as he could: it was impossible that he should explain to his hostess why + and with whom he was angry. + </p> + <p> + “The gentlemen are long over their wine,” she said; “gentlemen of the army + are always fond of it.” + </p> + <p> + “If drinking makes good soldiers, some yonder are distinguishing + themselves greatly, madam,” said Mr. Washington. + </p> + <p> + “And I dare say the General is at the head of his troops?” + </p> + <p> + “No doubt, no doubt,” answered the Colonel, who always received this + lady's remarks, playful or serious, with a peculiar softness and kindness. + “But the General is the General, and it is not for me to make remarks on + his Excellency's doings at table or elsewhere. I think very likely that + military gentlemen born and bred at home are different from us of the + colonies. We have such a hot sun, that we need not wine to fire our blood + as they do. And drinking toasts seems a point of honour with them. + Talmadge hiccupped to me—I should say, whispered to me just now, + that an officer could no more refuse a toast than a challenge, and he said + that it was after the greatest difficulty and dislike at first that he + learned to drink. He has certainly overcome his difficulty with uncommon + resolution.” + </p> + <p> + “What, I wonder, can you talk of for so many hours?” asked the lady. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I can tell you all we talk of, madam, and I must not tell + tales out of school. We talked about the war, and of the force Mr. + Contrecoeur has, and how we are to get at him. The General is for making + the campaign in his coach, and makes light of it and the enemy. That we + shall beat them, if we meet them, I trust there is no doubt.” + </p> + <p> + “How can there be?” says the lady, whose father had served under + Marlborough. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Franklin, though he is only from New England,” continued the + gentleman, “spoke great good sense, and would have spoken more if the + English gentlemen would let him; but they reply invariably that we are + only raw provincials, and don't know what disciplined British troops can + do. Had they not best hasten forwards and make turnpike roads and have + comfortable inns ready for his Excellency at the end of the day's march?—'There's + some sort of inns, I suppose,' says Mr. Danvers, 'not so comfortable as we + have in England: we can't expect that.'—'No, you can't expect that,' + says Mr. Franklin, who seems a very shrewd and facetious person. He drinks + his water, and seems to laugh at the Englishmen, though I doubt whether it + is fair for a water-drinker to sit by and spy out the weaknesses of + gentlemen over their wine.” + </p> + <p> + “And my boys? I hope they are prudent?” said the widow, laying her hand on + her guest's arm. “Harry promised me, and when he gives his word, I can + trust him for anything. George is always moderate. Why do you look so + grave?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, to be frank with you, I do not know what has come over George in + these last days,” says Mr. Washington. “He has some grievance against me + which I do not understand, and of which I don't care to ask the reason. He + spoke to me before the gentlemen in a way which scarcely became him. We + are going the campaign together, and 'tis a pity we begin such ill + friends.” + </p> + <p> + “He has been ill. He is always wild and wayward, and hard to understand. + But he has the most affectionate heart in the world. You will bear with + him, you will protect him—promise me you will.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear lady, I will do so with my life,” Mr. Washington said with great + fervour. “You know I would lay it down cheerfully for you or any you + love.” + </p> + <p> + “And my father's blessing and mine go with you, dear friend!” cried the + widow, full of thanks and affection. + </p> + <p> + As they pursued their conversation, they had quitted the porch under which + they had first began to talk, and where they could hear the laughter and + toasts of the gentlemen over their wine, and were pacing a walk on the + rough lawn before the house. Young George Warrington, from his place at + the head of the table in the dining-room, could see the pair as they + passed to and fro, and had listened for some time past, and replied in a + very distracted manner to the remarks of the gentlemen round about him, + who were too much engaged with their own talk and jokes, and drinking, to + pay much attention to their young host's behaviour. Mr. Braddock loved a + song after dinner, and Mr. Danvers, his aide-de-camp, who had a fine tenor + voice, was delighting his General with the latest ditty from Marybone + Gardens, when George Warrington, jumping up, ran towards the window, and + then returned and pulled his brother Harry by the sleeve, who sate with + his back towards the window. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” says Harry, who, for his part, was charmed, too, with the + song and chorus. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” cried George, with a stamp of his foot, and the younger followed + obediently. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” continued George, with a bitter oath. “Don't you see what it + is? They were billing and cooing this morning; they are billing and cooing + now before going to roost. Had we not better both go into the garden, and + pay our duty to our mamma and papa?” and he pointed to Mr. Washington, who + was taking the widow's hand very tenderly in his. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. A Hot Afternoon + </h2> + <p> + General Braddock and the other guests of Castlewood being duly consigned + to their respective quarters, the boys retired to their own room, and + there poured out to one another their opinions respecting the great event + of the day. They would not bear such a marriage—no. Was the + representative of the Marquises of Esmond to marry the younger son of a + colonial family, who had been bred up as a land-surveyor? Castlewood, and + the boys at nineteen years of age, handed over to the tender mercies of a + stepfather of three-and-twenty! Oh, it was monstrous! Harry was for going + straightway to his mother in her bedroom—where her black maidens + were divesting her ladyship of the simple jewels and fineries which she + had assumed in compliment to the feast—protesting against the odious + match, and announcing that they would go home, live upon their little + property there, and leave her for ever, if the unnatural union took place. + </p> + <p> + George advocated another way of stopping it, and explained his plan to his + admiring brother. “Our mother,” he said, “can't marry a man with whom one + or both of us has been out on the field, and who has wounded us or killed + us, or whom we have wounded or killed. We must have him out, Harry.” + </p> + <p> + Harry saw the profound truth conveyed in George's statement, and admired + his brother's immense sagacity. “No, George,” says he, “you are right. + Mother can't marry our murderer; she won't be as bad as that. And if we + pink him he is done for. 'Cadit quaestio,' as Mr. Dempster used to say. + Shall I send my boy with a challenge to Colonel George now?” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Harry,” the elder replied, thinking with some complacency of his + affair of honour at Quebec, “you are not accustomed to affairs of this + sort.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” owned Harry, with a sigh, looking with envy and admiration on his + senior. + </p> + <p> + “We can't insult a gentleman in our own house,” continued George, with + great majesty; “the laws of honour forbid such inhospitable treatment. + But, sir, we can ride out with him, and, as soon as the park gates are + closed, we can tell him our mind.” + </p> + <p> + “That we can, by George!” cries Harry, grasping his brother's hand, “and + that we will, too. I say, Georgy...” Here the lad's face became very red, + and his brother asked him what he would say? + </p> + <p> + “This is my turn, brother,” Harry pleaded. “If you go the campaign, I + ought to have the other affair. Indeed, indeed, I ought.” And he prayed + for this bit of promotion. + </p> + <p> + “Again the head of the house must take the lead, my dear,” George said, + with a superb air. “If I fall, my Harry will avenge me. But I must fight + George Washington, Hal: and 'tis best I should; for, indeed, I hate him + the worst. Was it not he who counselled my mother to order that wretch, + Ward, to lay hands on me?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, George,” interposed the more pacable younger brother, “you ought to + forget and forgive.” + </p> + <p> + “Forgive? Never, sir, as long as I remember. You can't order remembrance + out of a man's mind; and a wrong that was a wrong yesterday must be a + wrong to-morrow. I never, of my knowledge, did one to any man, and I never + will suffer one, if I can help it. I think very ill of Mr. Ward, but I + don't think so badly of him as to suppose he will ever forgive thee that + blow with the ruler. Colonel Washington is our enemy, mine especially. He + has advised one wrong against me, and he meditates a greater. I tell you, + brother, we must punish him.” + </p> + <p> + The grandsire's old Bordeaux had set George's ordinarily pale countenance + into a flame. Harry, his brother's fondest worshipper, could not but + admire George's haughty bearing and rapid declamation, and prepared + himself, with his usual docility, to follow his chief. So the boys went to + their beds, the elder conveying special injunctions to his junior to be + civil to all the guests so long as they remained under the maternal roof + on the morrow. + </p> + <p> + Good manners and a repugnance to telling tales out of school, forbid us + from saying which of Madam Esmond's guests was the first to fall under the + weight of her hospitality. The respectable descendants of Messrs. Talmadge + and Danvers, aides-de-camp to his Excellency, might not care to hear how + their ancestors were intoxicated a hundred years ago; and yet the + gentlemen themselves took no shame in the fact, and there is little doubt + they or their comrades were tipsy twice or thrice in the week. Let us + fancy them reeling to bed, supported by sympathising negroes; and their + vinous General, too stout a toper to have surrendered himself to a + half-dozen bottles of Bordeaux, conducted to his chamber by the young + gentlemen of the house, and speedily sleeping the sleep which friendly + Bacchus gives. The good lady of Castlewood saw the condition of her guests + without the least surprise or horror; and was up early in the morning, + providing cooling drinks for their hot palates, which the servants carried + to their respective chambers. At breakfast, one of the English officers + rallied Mr. Franklin, who took no wine at all, and therefore refused the + morning cool draught of toddy, by showing how the Philadelphia gentleman + lost two pleasures, the drink and the toddy. The young fellow said the + disease was pleasant and the remedy delicious, and laughingly proposed to + continue repeating them both. The General's new American aide-de-camp, + Colonel Washington, was quite sober and serene. The British officers vowed + they must take him in hand, and teach him what the ways of the English + army were; but the Virginian gentleman gravely said he did not care to + learn that part of the English military education. + </p> + <p> + The widow, occupied as she had been with the cares of a great dinner, + followed by a great breakfast on the morning ensuing, had scarce leisure + to remark the behaviour of her sons very closely, but at least saw that + George was scrupulously polite to her favourite, Colonel Washington, as to + all the other guests of the house. + </p> + <p> + Before Mr. Braddock took his leave, he had a private audience of Madam + Esmond, in which his Excellency formally offered to take her son into his + family; and when the arrangements for George's departure were settled + between his mother and future chief, Madam Esmond, though she might feel + them, did not show any squeamish terrors about the dangers of the bottle, + which she saw were amongst the severest and most certain which her son + would have to face. She knew her boy must take his part in the world, and + encounter his portion of evil and good. “Mr. Braddock is a perfect fine + gentleman in the morning,” she said stoutly to her aide-de-camp, Mrs. + Mountain; “and though my papa did not drink, 'tis certain that many of the + best company in England do.” The jolly General good-naturedly shook hands + with George, who presented himself to his Excellency after the maternal + interview was over, and bade George welcome, and to be in attendance at + Frederick three days hence; shortly after which time the expedition would + set forth. + </p> + <p> + And now the great coach was again called into requisition, the General's + escort pranced round it, the other guests and their servants went to + horse. The lady of Castlewood attended his Excellency to the steps of the + verandah in front of her house, the young gentlemen followed, and stood on + each side of his coach-door. The guard trumpeter blew a shrill blast, the + negroes shouted “Huzzay, and God sabe de King,” as Mr. Braddock most + graciously took leave of his hospitable entertainers, and rolled away on + his road to headquarters. + </p> + <p> + As the boys went up the steps, there was the Colonel once more taking + leave of their mother. No doubt she had been once more recommending George + to his namesake's care; for Colonel Washington said: “With my life. You + may depend on me,” as the lads returned to their mother and the few guests + still remaining in the porch. The Colonel was booted and ready to depart. + “Farewell, my dear Harry,” he said. “With you, George, 'tis no adieu. We + shall meet in three days at the camp.” + </p> + <p> + Both the young men were going to danger, perhaps to death. Colonel + Washington was taking leave of her, and she was to see him no more before + the campaign. No wonder the widow was very much moved. + </p> + <p> + George Warrington watched his mother's emotion, and interpreted it with a + pang of malignant scorn. “Stay yet a moment, and console our mamma,” he + said with a steady countenance, “only the time to get ourselves booted, + and my brother and I will ride with you a little way, George.” George + Warrington had already ordered his horses. The three young men were + speedily under way, their negro grooms behind them, and Mrs. Mountain, who + knew she had made mischief between them and trembled for the result, felt + a vast relief that Mr. Washington was gone without a quarrel with the + brothers, without, at any rate, an open declaration of love to their + mother. + </p> + <p> + No man could be more courteous in demeanour than George Warrington to his + neighbour and namesake, the Colonel. The latter was pleased and surprised + at his young friend's altered behaviour. The community of danger, the + necessity of future fellowship, the softening influence of the long + friendship which bound him to the Esmond family, the tender adieux which + had just passed between him and the mistress of Castlewood, inclined the + Colonel to forget the unpleasantness of the past days, and made him more + than usually friendly with his young companion. George was quite gay and + easy: it was Harry who was melancholy now: he rode silently and wistfully + by his brother, keeping away from Colonel Washington, to whose side he + used always to press eagerly before. If the honest Colonel remarked his + young friend's conduct, no doubt he attributed it to Harry's known + affection for his brother, and his natural anxiety to be with George now + the day of their parting was so near. + </p> + <p> + They talked further about the war, and the probable end of the campaign: + none of the three doubted its successful termination. Two thousand veteran + British troops with their commander must get the better of any force the + French could bring against them, if only they moved in decent time. The + ardent young Virginian soldier had an immense respect for the experienced + valour and tactics of the regular troops. King George II. had no more + loyal subject than Mr. Braddock's new aide-de-camp. + </p> + <p> + So the party rode amicably together, until they reached a certain rude + log-house, called Benson's, of which the proprietor, according to the + custom of the day and country, did not disdain to accept money from his + guests in return for hospitalities provided. There was a recruiting + station here, and some officers and men of Halkett's regiment assembled, + and here Colonel Washington supposed that his young friends would take + leave of him. + </p> + <p> + Whilst their horses were baited, they entered the public room, and found a + rough meal prepared for such as were disposed to partake. George + Warrington entered the place with a particularly gay and lively air, + whereas poor Harry's face was quite white and woebegone. + </p> + <p> + “One would think, Squire Harry, 'twas you who was going to leave home and + fight the French and Indians, and not Mr. George,” says Benson. + </p> + <p> + “I may be alarmed about danger to my brother,” said Harry, “though I might + bear my own share pretty well. 'Tis not my fault that I stay at home.” + </p> + <p> + “No, indeed, brother,” cries George. + </p> + <p> + “Harry Warrington's courage does not need any proof!” cries Mr. + Washington. + </p> + <p> + “You do the family honour by speaking so well of us, Colonel,” says Mr. + George, with a low bow. “I dare say we can hold our own, if need be.” + </p> + <p> + Whilst his friend was vaunting his courage, Harry looked, to say the + truth, by no means courageous. As his eyes met his brother's, he read in + George's look an announcement which alarmed the fond faithful lad. “You + are not going to do it now?” he whispered his brother. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, now,” says Mr. George, very steadily. + </p> + <p> + “For God's sake, let me have the turn. You are going on the campaign, you + ought not to have everything—and there may be an explanation, + George. We may be all wrong.” + </p> + <p> + “Psha, how can we? It must be done now—don't be alarmed. No names + shall be mentioned—I shall easily find a subject.” + </p> + <p> + A couple of Halkett's officers, whom our young gentlemen knew, were + sitting under the porch, with the Virginian toddy-bowl before them. + </p> + <p> + “What are you conspiring, gentlemen?” cried one of them. “Is it a drink?” + </p> + <p> + By the tone of their voices and their flushed cheeks, it was clear the + gentlemen had already been engaged in drinking that morning. + </p> + <p> + “The very thing, sir,” George said gaily. “Fresh glasses, Mr. Benson! + What, no glasses? Then we must have at the bowl.” + </p> + <p> + “Many a good man has drunk from it,” says Mr. Benson; and the lads one + after another, and bowing first to their military acquaintance, touched + the bowl with their lips. The liquor did not seem to be much diminished + for the boys' drinking, though George especially gave himself a toper's + airs, and protested it was delicious after their ride. He called out to + Colonel Washington, who was at the porch, to join his friends, and drink. + </p> + <p> + The lad's tone was offensive, and resembled the manner lately adopted by + him, and which had so much chafed Mr. Washington. He bowed, and said he + was not thirsty. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, the liquor is paid for,” says George; “never fear, Colonel.” + </p> + <p> + “I said I was not thirsty. I did not say the liquor was not paid for,” + said the young Colonel, drumming with his foot. + </p> + <p> + “When the King's health is proposed, an officer can hardly say no. I drink + the health of his Majesty, gentlemen,” cried George. “Colonel Washington + can drink it or leave it. The King!” + </p> + <p> + This was a point of military honour. The two British officers of + Halkett's, Captain Grace and Mr. Waring, both drank “The King.” Harry + Warrington drank “The King.” Colonel Washington, with glaring eyes, + gulped, too, a slight draught from the bowl. + </p> + <p> + Then Captain Grace proposed “The Duke and the Army,” which toast there was + likewise no gainsaying. Colonel Washington had to swallow “The Duke and + the Army.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't seem to stomach the toast, Colonel,” said George. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you again, I don't want to drink,” replied the Colonel. “It seems + to me the Duke and the Army would be served all the better if their + healths were not drunk so often.” + </p> + <p> + “You are not up to the ways of regular troops as yet,” said Captain Grace, + with rather a thick voice. + </p> + <p> + “May be not, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “A British officer,” continues Captain Grace, with great energy but + doubtful articulation, “never neglects a toast of that sort, nor any other + duty. A man who refuses to drink the health of the Duke—hang me, + such a man should be tried by a court-martial!” + </p> + <p> + “What means this language to me? You are drunk, sir!” roared Colonel + Washington, jumping up, and striking the table with his fist. + </p> + <p> + “A cursed provincial officer say I'm drunk!” shrieks out Captain Grace. + “Waring, do you hear that?” + </p> + <p> + “I heard it, sir!” cried George Warrington. “We all heard it. He entered + at my invitation—the liquor called for was mine: the table was mine—and + I am shocked to hear such monstrous language used at it as Colonel + Washington has just employed towards my esteemed guest, Captain Waring.” + </p> + <p> + “Confound your impudence, you infernal young jackanapes!” bellowed out + Colonel Washington. “You dare to insult me before British officers, and + find fault with my language? For months past, I have borne with such + impudence from you, that if I had not loved your mother—yes, sir, + and your good grandfather and your brother—I would—I would—” + Here his words failed him, and the irate Colonel, with glaring eyes and + purple face, and every limb quivering with wrath, stood for a moment + speechless before his young enemy. + </p> + <p> + “You would what, sir?” says George, very quietly, “if you did not love my + grandfather, and my brother, and my mother. You are making her petticoat a + plea for some conduct of yours—you would do what, sir, may I ask + again?” + </p> + <p> + “I would put you across my knee and whip you, you snarling little puppy, + that's what I would do!” cried the Colonel, who had found breath by this + time, and vented another explosion of fury. + </p> + <p> + “Because you have known us all our lives, and made our house your own, + that is no reason you should insult either of us!” here cried Harry, + starting up. “What you have said, George Washington, is an insult to me + and my brother alike. You will ask pardon, sir!” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon?” + </p> + <p> + “Or give us the reparation that is due to gentlemen,” continues Harry. + </p> + <p> + The stout Colonel's heart smote him to think that he should be at mortal + quarrel or called upon to shed the blood of one of the lads he loved. As + Harry stood facing him, with his fair hair, flushing cheeks, and quivering + voice, an immense tenderness and kindness filled the bosom of the elder + man. “I—I am bewildered,” he said. “My words, perhaps, were very + hasty. What has been the meaning of George's behaviour to me for months + back? Only tell me, and, perhaps——” + </p> + <p> + The evil spirit was awake and victorious in young George Warrington: his + black eyes shot out scorn and hatred at the simple and guileless gentleman + before him. “You are shirking from the question, sir, as you did from the + toast just now,” he said. “I am not a boy to suffer under your arrogance. + You have publicly insulted me in a public place, and I demand a + reparation.” + </p> + <p> + “In Heaven's name, be it!” says Mr. Washington, with the deepest grief in + his face. + </p> + <p> + “And you have insulted me,” continues Captain Grace, reeling towards him. + “What was it he said? Confound the militia captain—colonel, what is + he? You've insulted me! Oh, Waring! to think I should be insulted by a + captain of militia!” And tears bedewed the noble Captain's cheek as this + harrowing thought crossed his mind. + </p> + <p> + “I insult you, you hog!” the Colonel again yelled out, for he was little + affected by humour, and had no disposition to laugh as the others had at + the scene. And, behold, at this minute a fourth adversary was upon him. + </p> + <p> + “Great Powers, sir!” said Captain Waring, “are three affairs not enough + for you, and must I come into the quarrel, too? You have a quarrel with + these two young gentlemen.” + </p> + <p> + “Hasty words, sir!” cries poor Harry once more. + </p> + <p> + “Hasty words, sir!” cries Captain Waring. “A gentleman tells another + gentleman that he will put him across his knees and whip him, and you call + those hasty words? Let me tell you if any man were to say to me, 'Charles + Waring,' or 'Captain Waring, I'll put you across my knees and whip you,' + I'd say, 'I'll drive my cheese-toaster through his body,' if he were as + big as Goliath, I would. That's one affair with young Mr. George + Warrington. Mr. Harry, of course, as a young man of spirit, will stand by + his brother. That's two. Between Grace and the Colonel apology is + impossible. And, now—run me through the body!—you call an + officer of my regiment—of Halkett's, sir!—a hog before my + face! Great heavens, sir! Mr. Washington, are you all like this in + Virginia? Excuse me, I would use no offensive personality, as, by George! + I will suffer none from any man! but, by Gad, Colonel! give me leave to + tell you that you are the most quarrelsome man I ever saw in my life. Call + a disabled officer of my regiment—for he is disabled, ain't you, + Grace?—call him a hog before me! You withdraw it, sir—you + withdraw it?” + </p> + <p> + “Is this some infernal conspiracy in which you are all leagued against + me?” shouted the Colonel. “It would seem as if I was drunk, and not you, + as you all are. I withdraw nothing. I apologise for nothing. By heavens! I + will meet one or half a dozen of you in your turn, young or old, drunk or + sober.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not wish to hear myself called more names,” cried Mr. George + Warrington. “This affair can proceed, sir, without any further insult on + your part. When will it please you to give me the meeting?” + </p> + <p> + “The sooner the better, sir!” said the Colonel, fuming with rage. + </p> + <p> + “The sooner the better,” hiccupped Captain Grace, with many oaths needless + to print—(in those days, oaths were the customary garnish of all + gentlemen's conversation)—and he rose staggering from his seat, and + reeled towards his sword, which he had laid by the door, and fell as he + reached the weapon. “The sooner the better!” the poor tipsy wretch again + cried out from the ground, waving his weapon and knocking his own hat over + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “At any rate, this gentleman's business will keep cool till to-morrow,” + the militia Colonel said, turning to the other king's officer. “You will + hardly bring your man out to-day, Captain Waring?” + </p> + <p> + “I confess that neither his hand nor mine are particularly steady,” said + Waring. + </p> + <p> + “Mine is!” cried Mr. Warrington, glaring at his enemy. + </p> + <p> + His comrade of former days was as hot and as savage. “Be it so—with + what weapon, sir?” Washington said sternly. + </p> + <p> + “Not with small-swords, Colonel. We can beat you with them. You know that + from our old bouts. Pistols had better be the word.” + </p> + <p> + “As you please, George Warrington—and God forgive you, George! God + pardon you, Harry! for bringing me into this quarrel,” said the Colonel, + with a face full of sadness and gloom. + </p> + <p> + Harry hung his head, but George continued with perfect calmness: “I, sir? + It was not I who called names, who talked of a cane, who insulted a + gentleman in a public place before gentlemen of the army. It is not the + first time you have chosen to take me for a negro, and talked of the whip + for me.” + </p> + <p> + The Colonel started back, turning very red, and as if struck by a sudden + remembrance. + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens, George! is it that boyish quarrel you are still + recalling?” + </p> + <p> + “Who made you the overseer of Castlewood?” said the boy, grinding his + teeth. “I am not your slave, George Washington, and I never will be. I + hated you then, and I hate you now. And you have insulted me, and I am a + gentleman, and so are you. Is that not enough?” + </p> + <p> + “Too much, only too much,” said the Colonel, with a genuine grief on his + face, and at his heart. “Do you bear malice too, Harry? I had not thought + this of thee!” + </p> + <p> + “I stand by my brother,” said Harry, turning away from the Colonel's look, + and grasping George's hand. The sadness on their adversary's face did not + depart. “Heaven be good to us! 'Tis all clear now,” he muttered to + himself. “The time to write a few letters, and I am at your service, Mr. + Warrington,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “You have your own pistols at your saddle. I did not ride out with any; + but will send Sady back for mine. That will give you time enough, Colonel + Washington?” + </p> + <p> + “Plenty of time, sir.” And each gentleman made the other a low bow, and, + putting his arm in his brother's, George walked away. The Virginian + officer looked towards the two unlucky captains, who were by this time + helpless with liquor. Captain Benson, the master of the tavern, was + propping the hat of one of them over his head. + </p> + <p> + “It is not altogether their fault, Colonel,” said my landlord, with a grim + look of humour. “Jack Firebrace and Tom Humbold of Spotsylvania was here + this morning, chanting horses with 'em. And Jack and Tom got 'em to play + cards; and they didn't win—the British Captains didn't. And Jack and + Tom challenged them to drink for the honour of Old England, and they + didn't win at that game, neither, much. They are kind, free-handed fellows + when they are sober, but they are a pretty pair of fools—they are.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Benson, you are an old frontier man, and an officer of ours, + before you turned farmer and taverner. You will help me in this matter + with yonder young gentlemen?” said the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “I'll stand by and see fair play, Colonel. I won't have no hand in it, + beyond seeing fair play. Madam Esmond has helped me many a time, tended my + poor wife in her lying-in, and doctored our Betty in the fever. You ain't + a-going to be very hard with them poor boys? Though I seen 'em both shoot: + the fair one hunts well, as you know, but the old one's a wonder at an ace + of spades.” + </p> + <p> + “Will you be pleased to send my man with my valise, Captain, into any + private room which you can spare me? I must write a few letters before + this business comes on. God grant it were well over!” And the Captain led + the Colonel into almost the only other room of his house, calling, with + many oaths, to a pack of negro servants, to disperse thence, who were + chattering loudly among one another, and no doubt discussing the quarrel + which had just taken place. Edwin, the Colonel's man, returned with his + master's portmanteau, and as he looked from the window, he saw Sady, + George Warrington's negro, galloping away upon his errand, doubtless, and + in the direction of Castlewood. The Colonel, young and naturally + hot-headed, but the most courteous and scrupulous of men, and ever keeping + his strong passions under guard, could not but think with amazement of the + position in which he found, himself, and of the three, perhaps four + enemies, who appeared suddenly before him, menacing his life. How had this + strange series of quarrels been brought about? He had ridden away a few + hours since from Castlewood, with his young companions, and, to all + seeming, they were perfect friends. A shower of rain sends them into a + tavern, where there are a couple of recruiting officers, and they are not + seated for half an hour at a social table, but he has quarrelled with the + whole company, called this one names, agreed to meet another in combat, + and threatened chastisement to a third, the son of his most intimate + friend! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. Wherein the two Georges prepare for Blood + </h2> + <p> + The Virginian Colonel remained in one chamber of the tavern, occupied with + gloomy preparations for the ensuing meeting; his adversary in the other + room thought fit to make his testamentary dispositions, too, and dictated, + by his obedient brother and secretary, a grandiloquent letter to his + mother, of whom, and by that writing, he took a solemn farewell. She would + hardly, he supposed, pursue the scheme which she had in view (a peculiar + satirical emphasis was laid upon the scheme which she had in view), after + the event of that morning, should he fall, as, probably, would be the + case. + </p> + <p> + “My dear, dear George, don't say that!” cried the affrighted secretary. + </p> + <p> + “'As probably will be the case,'” George persisted with great majesty. + “You know what a good shot Colonel George is, Harry. I, myself, am pretty + fair at a mark, and 'tis probable that one or both of us will drop.—'I + scarcely suppose you will carry out the intentions you have at present in + view.'” This was uttered in a tone of still greater bitterness than George + had used even in the previous phrase. Harry wept as he took it down. + </p> + <p> + “You see I say nothing; Madame Esmond's name does not even appear in the + quarrel. Do you not remember in our grandfather's life of himself, how he + says that Lord Castlewood fought Lord Mohun on a pretext of a quarrel at + cards? and never so much as hinted at the lady's name, who was the real + cause of the duel? I took my hint, I confess, from that, Harry. Our mother + is not compromised in the—Why, child, what have you been writing, + and who taught thee to spell?” Harry had written the last words “in view,” + in vew, and a great blot of salt water from his honest, boyish eyes may + have obliterated some other bad spelling. + </p> + <p> + “I can't think about the spelling now, Georgy,” whimpered George's clerk. + “I'm too miserable for that. I begin to think, perhaps it's all nonsense, + perhaps Colonel George never——” + </p> + <p> + “Never meant to take possession of Castlewood; never gave himself airs, + and patronised us there; never advised my mother to have me flogged, never + intended to marry her; never insulted me, and was insulted before the + king's officers; never wrote to his brother to say we should be the better + for his parental authority? The paper is there,” cried the young man, + slapping his breast-pocket, “and if anything happens to me, Harry + Warrington, you will find it on my corse!” + </p> + <p> + “Write yourself, Georgy, I can't write,” says Harry, digging his fists + into his eyes, and smearing over the whole composition, bad spelling and + all, with his elbows. + </p> + <p> + On this, George, taking another sheet of paper, sate down at his brother's + place, and produced a composition in which he introduced the longest + words, the grandest Latin quotations, and the most profound satire of + which the youthful scribe was master. He desired that his negro boy, Sady, + should be set free; that his Horace, a choice of his books, and, if + possible, a suitable provision should be made for his affectionate tutor, + Mr. Dempster; that his silver fruit-knife, his music-books, and + harpsichord, should be given to little Fanny Mountain; and that his + brother should take a lock of his hair, and wear it in memory of his ever + fond and faithfully attached George. And he sealed the document with the + seal of arms that his grandfather had worn. + </p> + <p> + “The watch, of course, will be yours,” said George, taking out his + grandfather's gold watch, and looking at it. “Why, two hours and a-half + are gone! 'Tis time that Sady should be back with the pistols. Take the + watch, Harry dear.” + </p> + <p> + “It's no good!” cried out Harry, flinging his arms round his brother. “If + he fights you, I'll fight him, too. If he kills my Georgy, —— + him, he shall have a shot at me!” and the poor lad uttered more than one + of those expressions, which are said peculiarly to affect recording + angels, who have to take them down at celestial chanceries. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, General Braddock's new aide-de-camp had written five letters in + his large resolute hand, and sealed them with his seal. One was to his + mother, at Mount Vernon; one to his brother; one was addressed M. C. only; + and one to his Excellency, Major-General Braddock. “And one, young + gentleman, is for your mother, Madam Esmond,” said the boys' informant. + </p> + <p> + Again the recording angel had to fly off with a violent expression, which + parted from the lips of George Warrington. The chancery previously + mentioned was crowded with such cases, and the messengers must have been + for ever on the wing. But I fear for young George and his oath there was + no excuse; for it was an execration uttered from a heart full of hatred, + and rage, and jealousy. + </p> + <p> + It was the landlord of the tavern who communicated these facts to the + young men. The Captain had put on his old militia uniform to do honour to + the occasion, and informed the boys that the Colonel was walking up and + down the garden a-waiting for 'em, and that the Reg'lars was a'most sober, + too, by this time. + </p> + <p> + A plot of ground near the Captain's log-house had been enclosed with + shingles, and cleared for a kitchen-garden; there indeed paced Colonel + Washington, his hands behind his back, his head bowed down, a grave sorrow + on his handsome face. The negro servants were crowded at the palings, and + looking over. The officers under the porch had wakened up also, as their + host remarked. Captain Waring was walking, almost steadily, under the + balcony formed by the sloping porch and roof of the wooden house; and + Captain Grace was lolling over the railing, with eyes which stared very + much, though perhaps they did not see very clearly. Benson's was a famous + rendezvous for cock-fights, horse-matches, boxing, and wrestling-matches, + such as brought the Virginian country-folks together. There had been many + brawls at Benson's, and men who came thither sound and sober, had gone + thence with ribs broken and eyes gouged out. And squires, and farmers, and + negroes, all participated in the sport. + </p> + <p> + There, then, stalked the tall young Colonel, plunged in dismal meditation. + There was no way out of his scrape, but the usual cruel one, which the + laws of honour and the practice of the country ordered. Goaded into fury + by the impertinence of a boy, he had used insulting words. The young man + had asked for reparation. He was shocked to think that George Warrington's + jealousy and revenge should have rankled in the young fellow so long but + the wrong had been the Colonel's, and he was bound to pay the forfeit. + </p> + <p> + A great hallooing and shouting, such as negroes use, who love noise at all + times, and especially delight to yell and scream when galloping on + horseback, was now heard at a distance, and all the heads, woolly and + powdered, were turned in the direction of this outcry. It came from the + road over which our travellers had themselves passed three hours before, + and presently the clattering of a horse's hoofs was heard, and now Mr. + Sady made his appearance on his foaming horse, and actually fired a pistol + off in the midst of a prodigious uproar from his woolly brethren. Then he + fired another pistol off, to which noises Sady's horse, which had carried + Harry Warrington on many a hunt, was perfectly accustomed; and now he was + in the courtyard, surrounded by a score of his bawling comrades, and was + descending amidst fluttering fowls and turkeys, kicking horses and + shrieking frantic pigs; and brother-negroes crowded round him, to whom he + instantly began to talk and chatter. + </p> + <p> + “Sady, sir, come here!” roars out Master Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Sady, come here! Confound you!” shouts Master George. (Again the + recording angel is in requisition, and has to be off on one of his endless + errands to the register office.) “Come directly, mas'r,” says Sady, and + resumes his conversation with his woolly brethren. He grins. He takes the + pistols out of the holster. He snaps the locks. He points them at a + grunter, which plunges through the farmyard. He points down the road, over + which he has just galloped, and towards which the woolly heads again turn. + He says again, “Comin', mas'r. Everybody a-comin'.” And now, the gallop of + other horses is heard. And who is yonder? Little Mr. Dempster, spurring + and digging into his pony; and that lady in a riding-habit on Madam + Esmond's little horse, can it be Madam Esmond? No. It is too stout. As I + live it is Mrs. Mountain on Madam's grey! + </p> + <p> + “O Lor! O Golly! Hoop! Here dey come! Hurray!” A chorus of negroes rises + up. “Here dey are!” Dr. Dempster and Mrs. Mountain have clattered into the + yard, have jumped from their horses, have elbowed through the negroes, + have rushed into the house, have run through it and across the porch, + where the British officers are sitting in muzzy astonishment; have run + down the stairs to the garden where George and Harry are walking, their + tall enemy stalking opposite to them; and almost ere George Warrington has + had time sternly to say, “What do you do here, madam?” Mrs. Mountain has + flung her arms round his neck and cries: “Oh, George, my darling! It's a + mistake! It's a mistake, and is all my fault!” + </p> + <p> + “What's a mistake?” asks George, majestically separating himself from the + embrace. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Mounty?” cries Harry, all of a tremble. + </p> + <p> + “That paper I took out of his portfolio, that paper I picked up, children; + where the Colonel says he is going to marry a widow with two children. Who + should it be but you, children, and who should it be but your mother?” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, it's—it's not your mother. It's that little widow Custis whom + the Colonel is going to marry. He'd always take a rich one; I knew he + would. It's not Mrs. Rachel Warrington. He told Madam so to-day, just + before he was going away, and that the marriage was to come off after the + campaign. And—and your mother is furious, boys. And when Sady came + for the pistols, and told the whole house how you were going to fight, I + told him to fire the pistols off; and I galloped after him, and I've + nearly broken my poor old bones in coming to you.” + </p> + <p> + “I have a mind to break Mr. Sady's,” growled George. “I specially enjoined + the villain not to say a word.” + </p> + <p> + “Thank God he did, brother!” said poor Harry. “Thank God he did!” + </p> + <p> + “What will Mr. Washington and those gentlemen think of my servant telling + my mother at home that I was going to fight a duel?” asks Mr. George, + still in wrath. + </p> + <p> + “You have shown your proofs before, George,” says Harry, respectfully. + “And, thank Heaven, you are not going to fight our old friend,—our + grandfather's old friend. For it was a mistake and there is no quarrel + now, dear, is there? You were unkind to him under a wrong impression.” + </p> + <p> + “I certainly acted under a wrong impression,” owns George, “but——” + </p> + <p> + “George! George Washington!” Harry here cries out, springing over the + cabbage-garden towards the bowling-green, where the Colonel was stalking, + and though we cannot hear him, we see him, with both his hands out, and + with the eagerness of youth, and with a hundred blunders, and with love + and affection thrilling in his honest voice we imagine the lad telling his + tale to his friend. + </p> + <p> + There was a custom in those days which has disappeared from our manners + now, but which then lingered. When Harry had finished his artless story, + his friend the Colonel took him fairly to his arms, and held him to his + heart: and his voice faltered as he said, “Thank God, thank God for this!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, George,” said Harry, who felt now how he loved his friend with all + his heart, “how I wish I was going with you on the campaign!” The other + pressed both the boy's hands, in a grasp of friendship, which each knew + never would slacken. + </p> + <p> + Then the Colonel advanced, gravely holding out his hand to Harry's elder + brother. Perhaps Harry wondered that the two did not embrace as he and the + Colonel had just done. But, though hands were joined, the salutation was + only formal and stern on both sides. + </p> + <p> + “I find I have done you a wrong, Colonel Washington,” George said, “and + must apologise, not for the error, but for much of my late behaviour which + has resulted from it.” + </p> + <p> + “The error was mine! It was I who found that paper in your room, and + showed it to George, and was jealous of you, Colonel. All women are + jealous,” cried Mrs. Mountain. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis a pity you could not have kept your eyes off my paper, madam,” said + Mr. Washington. “You will permit me to say so. A great deal of mischief + has come because I chose to keep a secret which concerned only myself and + another person. For a long time George Warrington's heart has been black + with anger against me, and my feeling towards him has, I own, scarce been + more friendly. All this pain might have been spared to both of us, had my + private papers only been read by those for whom they were written. I shall + say no more now, lest my feelings again should betray me into hasty words. + Heaven bless thee, Harry! Farewell, George! And take a true friend's + advice, and try and be less ready to think evil of your friends. We shall + meet again at the camp, and will keep our weapons for the enemy. + Gentlemen! if you remember this scene to-morrow, you will know where to + find me.” And with a very stately bow to the English officers, the Colonel + left the abashed company, and speedily rode away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. News from the Camp + </h2> + <p> + We must fancy that the parting between the brothers is over, that George + has taken his place in Mr. Braddock's family, and Harry has returned home + to Castlewood and his duty. His heart is with the army, and his pursuits + at home offer the boy no pleasure. He does not care to own how deep his + disappointment is, at being obliged to stay under the homely, quiet roof, + now more melancholy than ever since George is away. Harry passes his + brother's empty chamber with an averted face; takes George's place at the + head of the table, and sighs as he drinks from his silver tankard. Madam + Warrington calls the toast of “The King” stoutly every day; and, on + Sundays, when Harry reads the service, and prays for all travellers by + land and by water, she says, “We beseech Thee to hear us,” with a peculiar + solemnity. She insists on talking about George constantly, but quite + cheerfully, and as if his return was certain. She walks into his vacant + room, with head upright, and no outward signs of emotion. She sees that + his books, linen, papers, etc., are arranged with care; talking of him + with a very special respect, and specially appealing to the old servants + at meals, and so forth, regarding things which are to be done “when Mr. + George comes home.” Mrs. Mountain is constantly on the whimper when + George's name is mentioned, and Harry's face wears a look of the most + ghastly alarm; but his mother's is invariably grave and sedate. She makes + more blunders at piquet and backgammon than you would expect from her; and + the servants find her awake and dressed, however early they may rise. She + has prayed Mr. Dempster to come back into residence at Castlewood. She is + not severe or haughty (as her wont certainly was) with any of the party, + but quiet in her talk with them, and gentle in assertion and reply. She is + for ever talking of her father and his campaigns, who came out of them all + with no very severe wounds to hurt him; and so she hopes and trusts will + her eldest son. + </p> + <p> + George writes frequent letters home to his brother, and, now the army is + on its march, compiles a rough journal, which he forwards as occasion + serves. This document is perused with great delight and eagerness by the + youth to whom it is addressed, and more than once read out in family + council, on the long summer nights, as Madam Esmond sits upright at her + tea-table—(she never condescends to use the back of a chair)—as + little Fanny Mountain is busy with her sewing, as Mr. Dempster and Mrs. + Mountain sit over their cards, as the hushed old servants of the house + move about silently in the gloaming, and listen to the words of the young + master. Hearken to Harry Warrington reading out his brother's letter! As + we look at the slim characters on the yellow page, fondly kept and put + aside, we can almost fancy him alive who wrote and who read it—and + yet, lo! they are as if they never had been; their portraits faint images + in frames of tarnished gold. Were they real once, or are they mere + phantasms? Did they live and die once? Did they love each other as true + brothers, and loyal gentlemen? Can we hear their voices in the past? Sure + I know Harry's, and yonder he sits in the warm summer evening, and reads + his young brother's simple story: + </p> + <p> + “It must be owned that the provinces are acting scurvily by his Majesty + King George II., and his representative here is in a flame of fury. + Virginia is bad enough, and poor Maryland not much better, but + Pennsylvania is worst of all. We pray them to send us troops from home to + fight the French; and we promise to maintain the troops when they come. We + not only don't keep our promise, and make scarce any provision for our + defenders, but our people insist upon the most exorbitant prices for their + cattle and stores, and actually cheat the soldiers who are come to fight + their battles. No wonder the General swears, and the troops are sulky. The + delays have been endless. Owing to the failure of the several provinces to + provide their promised stores and means of locomotion, weeks and months + have elapsed, during which time, no doubt, the French have been + strengthening themselves on our frontier and in the forts they have turned + us out of. Though there never will be any love lost between me and Colonel + Washington, it must be owned that your favourite (I am not jealous, Hal) + is a brave man and a good officer. The family respect him very much, and + the General is always asking his opinion. Indeed, he is almost the only + man who has seen the Indians in their war-paint, and I own I think he was + right in firing upon Mons. Jumonville last year. + </p> + <p> + “There is to be no more suite to that other quarrel at Benson's Tavern + than there was to the proposed battle between Colonel W. and a certain + young gentleman who shall be nameless. Captain Waring wished to pursue it + on coming into camp, and brought the message from Captain Grace, which + your friend, who is as bold as Hector, was for taking up, and employed a + brother aide-de-camp, Colonel Wingfield, on his side. But when Wingfield + heard the circumstances of the quarrel, how it had arisen from Grace being + drunk, and was fomented by Waring being tipsy, and how the two 44th + gentlemen had chosen to insult a militia officer, he swore that Colonel + Washington should not meet the 44th men; that he would carry the matter + straightway to his Excellency, who would bring the two captains to a + court-martial for brawling with the militia, and drunkenness, and indecent + behaviour, and the captains were fain to put up their toasting-irons, and + swallow their wrath. They were good-natured enough out of their cups, and + ate their humble-pie with very good appetites at a reconciliation dinner + which Colonel W. had with the 44th, and where he was as perfectly stupid + and correct as Prince Prettyman need be. Hang him! He has no faults, and + that's why I dislike him. When he marries that widow—ah me! what a + dreary life she will have of it.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder at the taste of some men, and the effrontery of some women,” + says Madam Esmond, laying her teacup down. “I wonder at any woman who has + been married once, so forgetting herself as to marry again! Don't you, + Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + “Monstrous!” says Mountain, with a queer look. + </p> + <p> + Dempster keeps his eyes steadily fixed on his glass of punch. Harry looks + as if he was choking with laughter, or with some other concealed emotion, + but his mother says, “Go on, Harry! Continue with your brother's journal. + He writes well: but, ah, will he ever be able to write like my papa?” + </p> + <p> + Harry resumes: “We keep the strictest order here in camp, and the orders + against drunkenness and ill-behaviour on the part of the men are very + severe. The roll of each company is called at morning, noon, and night, + and a return of the absent and disorderly is given in by the officer to + the commanding officer of the regiment, who has to see that they are + properly punished. The men are punished, and the drummers are always at + work. Oh, Harry, but it made one sick to see the first blood drawn from a + great strong white back, and to hear the piteous yell of the poor fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, horrid!” says Madam Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “I think I should have murdered Ward if he had flogged me. Thank Heaven he + got off with only a crack of the ruler! The men, I say, are looked after + carefully enough. I wish the officers were. The Indians have just broken + up their camp, and retired in dudgeon, because the young officers were for + ever drinking with the squaws—and—and—hum—ha.” + Here Mr. Harry pauses, as not caring to proceed with the narrative, in the + presence of little Fanny, very likely, who sits primly in her chair by her + mother's side, working her little sampler. + </p> + <p> + “Pass over that about the odious tipsy creatures,” says Madam. And Harry + commences, in a loud tone, a much more satisfactory statement: “Each + regiment has Divine Service performed at the head of its colours every + Sunday. The General does everything in the power of mortal man to prevent + plundering, and to encourage the people round about to bring in + provisions. He has declared soldiers shall be shot who dare to interrupt + or molest the market-people. He has ordered the price of provisions to be + raised a penny a pound, and has lent money out of his own pocket to + provide the camp. Altogether, he is a strange compound, this General. He + flogs his men without mercy, but he gives without stint. He swears most + tremendous oaths in conversation, and tells stories which Mountain would + be shocked to hear—” + </p> + <p> + “Why me?” asks Mountain; “and what have I to do with the General's silly + stories?” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind the stories; and go on, Harry,” cries the mistress of the + house. + </p> + <p> + “—would be shocked to hear after dinner; but he never misses + service. He adores his Great Duke, and has his name constantly on his + lips. Our two regiments both served in Scotland, where I dare say Mr. + Dempster knew the colour of their facings.” + </p> + <p> + “We saw the tails of their coats, as well as their facings,” growls the + little Jacobite tutor. + </p> + <p> + “Colonel Washington has had the fever very smartly, and has hardly been + well enough to keep up with the march. Had he not better go home and be + nursed by his widow? When either of us is ill, we are almost as good + friends again as ever. But I feel somehow as if I can't forgive him for + having wronged him. Good Powers! How I have been hating him for these + months past! Oh, Harry! I was in a fury at the tavern the other day, + because Mountain came up so soon, and put an end to our difference. We + ought to have burned a little gunpowder between us, and cleared the air. + But though I don't love him, as you do, I know he is a good soldier, a + good officer, and a brave, honest man; and, at any rate, shall love him + none the worse for not wanting to be our stepfather.” + </p> + <p> + “A stepfather, indeed!” cries Harry's mother. “Why, jealousy and prejudice + have perfectly maddened the poor child! Do you suppose the Marquis of + Esmond's daughter and heiress could not have found other stepfathers for + her sons than a mere provincial surveyor? If there are any more such + allusions in George's journal, I beg you skip 'em, Harry, my dear. About + this piece of folly and blundering, there hath been quite talk enough + already.” + </p> + <p> + “'Tis a pretty sight,” Harry continued, reading from his brother's + journal, “to see a long line of redcoats, threading through the woods or + taking their ground after the march. The care against surprise is so great + and constant, that we defy prowling Indians to come unawares upon us, and + our advanced sentries and savages have on the contrary fallen in with the + enemy and taken a scalp or two from them. They are such cruel villains, + these French and their painted allies, that we do not think of showing + them mercy. Only think, we found but yesterday a little boy scalped but + yet alive in a lone house, where his parents had been attacked and + murdered by the savage enemy, of whom—so great is his indignation at + their cruelty—our General has offered a reward of five pounds for + all the Indian scalps brought in. + </p> + <p> + “When our march is over, you should see our camp, and all the care + bestowed on it. Our baggage and our General's tents and guard are placed + quite in the centre of the camp. We have outlying sentries by twos, by + threes, by tens, by whole companies. At the least surprise, they are + instructed to run in on the main body and rally round the tents and + baggage, which are so arranged themselves as to be a strong fortification. + Sady and I, you must know, are marching on foot now, and my horses are + carrying baggage. The Pennsylvanians sent such rascally animals into camp + that they speedily gave in. What good horses were left, 'twas our duty to + give up: and Roxana has a couple of packs upon her back instead of her + young master. She knows me right well, and whinnies when she sees me, and + I walk by her side, and we have many a talk together on the march. + </p> + <p> + “July 4. To guard against surprises, we are all warned to pay especial + attention to the beat of the drum; always halting when they hear the long + roll beat, and marching at the beat of the long march. We are more on the + alert regarding the enemy now. We have our advanced pickets doubled, and + two sentries at every post. The men on the advanced pickets are constantly + under arms, with fixed bayonets, all through the night, and relieved every + two hours. The half that are relieved lie down by their arms, but are not + suffered to leave their pickets. 'Tis evident that we are drawing very + near to the enemy now. This packet goes out with the General's to Colonel + Dunbar's camp, who is thirty miles behind us; and will be carried thence + to Frederick, and thence to my honoured mother's house at Castlewood, to + whom I send my duty, with kindest remembrances, as to all friends there, + and bow much love I need not say to my dearest brother from his + affectionate—GEORGE E. WARRINGTON.” + </p> + <p> + The whole land was now lying parched and scorching in the July heat. For + ten days no news had come from the column advancing on the Ohio. Their + march, though it toiled but slowly through the painful forest, must bring + them ere long up with the enemy; the troops, led by consummate captains, + were accustomed now to the wilderness, and not afraid of surprise. Every + precaution had been taken against ambush. It was the outlying enemy who + were discovered, pursued, destroyed, by the vigilant scouts and + skirmishers of the British force. The last news heard was that the army + had advanced considerably beyond the ground of Mr. Washington's + discomfiture on the previous year, and two days after must be within a + day's march of the French fort. About taking it no fears were entertained; + the amount of the French reinforcements from Montreal was known. Mr. + Braddock, with his two veteran regiments from Britain, and their allies of + Virginia and Pennsylvania, were more than a match for any troops that + could be collected under the white flag. + </p> + <p> + Such continued to be the talk, in the sparse towns of our Virginian + province, at the gentry's houses, and the rough roadside taverns, where + people met and canvassed the war. The few messengers who were sent back by + the General reported well of the main force. 'Twas thought the enemy would + not stand or defend himself at all. Had he intended to attack, he might + have seized a dozen occasions for assaulting our troops at passes through + which they had been allowed to go entirely free. So George had given up + his favourite mare, like a hero as he was, and was marching afoot with the + line? Madam Esmond vowed that he should have the best horse in Virginia or + Carolina in place of Roxana. There were horses enough to be had in the + provinces, and for money. It was only for the King's service that they + were not forthcoming. + </p> + <p> + Although at their family meetings and repasts the inmates of Castlewood + always talked cheerfully, never anticipating any but a triumphant issue to + the campaign, or acknowledging any feeling of disquiet, yet, it must be + owned they were mighty uneasy when at home, quitting it ceaselessly, and + for ever on the trot from one neighbour's house to another in quest of + news. It was prodigious how quickly reports ran and spread. When, for + instance, a certain noted border warrior, called Colonel Jack, had offered + himself and his huntsmen to the General, who had declined the ruffian's + terms or his proffered service, the defection of Jack and his men was the + talk of thousands of tongues immediately. The house negroes, in their + midnight gallops about the country, in search of junketing or sweethearts, + brought and spread news over amazingly wide districts. They had a curious + knowledge of the incidents of the march for a fortnight at least after its + commencement. They knew and laughed at the cheats practised on the army, + for horses, provisions, and the like; for a good bargain over the + foreigner was not an unfrequent or unpleasant practice among New Yorkers, + Pennsylvanians, or Marylanders; though 'tis known that American folks have + become perfectly artless and simple in later times, and never grasp, and + never overreach, and are never selfish now. For three weeks after the + army's departure, the thousand reports regarding it were cheerful; and + when our Castlewood friends met at their supper, their tone was confident + and their news pleasant. + </p> + <p> + But on the 10th of July a vast and sudden gloom spread over the province. + A look of terror and doubt seemed to fall upon every face. Affrighted + negroes wistfully eyed their masters and retired, and hummed and whispered + with one another. The fiddles ceased in the quarters: the song and laugh + of those cheery black folk were hushed. Right and left, everybody's + servants were on the gallop for news. The country taverns were thronged + with horsemen, who drank and cursed and brawled at the bars, each bringing + his gloomy story. The army had been surprised. The troops had fallen into + an ambuscade, and had been cut up almost to a man. All the officers were + taken down by the French marksmen and the savages. The General had been + wounded, and carried off the field in his sash. Four days afterwards the + report was that the General was dead, and scalped by a French Indian. + </p> + <p> + Ah, what a scream poor Mrs. Mountain gave, when Gumbo brought this news + from across the James River, and little Fanny sprang crying to her + mother's arms! “Lord God Almighty, watch over us, and defend my boy!” said + Mrs. Esmond, sinking down on her knees, and lifting her rigid hands to + Heaven. The gentlemen were not at home when this rumour arrived, but they + came in an hour or two afterwards, each from his hunt for news. The Scots + tutor did not dare to look up and meet the widow's agonising looks. Harry + Warrington was as pale as his mother. It might not be true about the + manner of the General's death—but he was dead. The army had been + surprised by Indians, and had fled, and been killed without seeing the + enemy. An express had arrived from Dunbar's camp. Fugitives were pouring + in there. Should he go and see? He must go and see. He and stout little + Dempster armed themselves and mounted, taking a couple of mounted servants + with them. + </p> + <p> + They followed the northward track which the expeditionary army had hewed + out for itself, and at every step which brought them nearer to the scene + of action, the disaster of the fearful day seemed to magnify. The day + after the defeat a number of the miserable fugitives from the fatal battle + of the 9th July had reached Dunbar's camp, fifty miles from the field. + Thither poor Harry and his companions rode, stopping stragglers, asking + news, giving money, getting from one and all the same gloomy tale—a + thousand men were slain—two-thirds of the officers were down—all + the General's aides-de-camp were hit. Were hit?—but were they + killed? Those who fell never rose again. The tomahawk did its work upon + them. O brother, brother! All the fond memories of their youth, all the + dear remembrances of their childhood, the love and the laughter, the + tender romantic vows which they had pledged to each other as lads, were + recalled by Harry with pangs inexpressibly keen. Wounded men looked up and + were softened by his grief: rough women melted as they saw the woe written + on the handsome young face: the hardy old tutor could scarcely look at him + for tears, and grieved for him even more than for his dear pupil who lay + dead under the savage Indian knife. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. Profitless Quest + </h2> + <p> + At every step which Harry Warrington took towards Pennsylvania, the + reports of the British disaster were magnified and confirmed. Those two + famous regiments which had fought in the Scottish and Continental wars, + had fled from an enemy almost unseen, and their boasted discipline and + valour had not enabled them to face a band of savages and a few French + infantry. The unfortunate commander of the expedition had shown the utmost + bravery and resolution. Four times his horse had been shot under him. + Twice he had been wounded, and the last time of the mortal hurt which + ended his life three days after the battle. More than one of Harry's + informants described the action to the poor lad,—the passage of the + river, the long line of advance through the wilderness, the firing in + front, the vain struggle of the men to advance, and the artillery to clear + the way of the enemy; then the ambushed fire from behind every bush and + tree, and the murderous fusillade, by which at least half of the + expeditionary force had been shot down. But not all the General's suite + were killed, Harry heard. One of his aides-de-camp, a Virginian gentleman, + was ill of fever and exhaustion at Dunbar's camp. + </p> + <p> + One of them—but which? To the camp Harry hurried, and reached it at + length. It was George Washington Harry found stretched in a tent there, + and not his brother. A sharper pain than that of the fever Mr. Washington + declared he felt, when he saw Harry Warrington, and could give him no news + of George. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Washington did not dare to tell Harry all. For three days after the + fight his duty had been to be near the General. On the fatal 9th of July, + he had seen George go to the front with orders from the chief, to whose + side he never returned. After Braddock himself died, the aide-de-camp had + found means to retrace his course to the field. The corpses which remained + there were stripped and horribly mutilated. One body he buried which he + thought to be George Warrington's. His own illness was increased, perhaps + occasioned, by the anguish which he underwent in his search for the + unhappy young volunteer. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, George! If you had loved him you would have found him dead or alive,” + Harry cried out. Nothing would satisfy him but that he, too, should go to + the ground and examine it. With money he procured a guide or two. He + forded the river at the place where the army had passed over: he went from + one end to the other of the dreadful field. It was no longer haunted by + Indians now. The birds of prey were feeding on the mangled festering + carcases. Save in his own grandfather, lying very calm, with a sweet smile + on his lip, Harry had never yet seen the face of Death. The horrible + spectacle of mutilation caused him to turn away with shudder and loathing. + What news could the vacant woods, or those festering corpses lying under + the trees, give the lad of his lost brother? He was for going, unarmed and + with a white flag, to the French fort, whither, after their victory, the + enemy had returned; but his guides refused to advance with him. The French + might possibly respect them, but the Indians would not. “Keep your hair + for your lady mother, my young gentleman,” said the guide. “'Tis enough + that she loses one son in this campaign.” + </p> + <p> + When Harry returned to the English encampment at Dunbar's, it was his turn + to be down with the fever. Delirium set in upon him, and he lay some time + in the tent and on the bed from which his friend had just risen + convalescent. For some days he did not know who watched him; and poor + Dempster, who had tended him in more than one of these maladies, thought + the widow must lose both her children; but the fever was so far subdued + that the boy was enabled to rally somewhat, and get to horseback. Mr. + Washington and Dempster both escorted him home. It was with a heavy heart, + no doubt, that all three beheld once more the gates of Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + A servant in advance had been sent to announce their coming. First came + Mrs. Mountain and her little daughter, welcoming Harry with many tears and + embraces, but she scarce gave a nod of recognition to Mr. Washington; and + the little girl caused the young officer to start, and turn deadly pale, + by coming up to him with her hands behind her, and asking, “Why have you + not brought George back too?” Harry did not hear. The sobs and caresses of + his good friend and nurse luckily kept him from listening to little Fanny. + </p> + <p> + Dempster was graciously received by the two ladies. “Whatever could be + done, we know you would do, Mr. Dempster,” says Mrs. Mountain, giving him + her hand. “Make a curtsey to Mr. Dempster, Fanny, and remember, child, to + be grateful to all who have been friendly to our benefactors. Will it + please you to take any refreshment before you ride, Colonel Washington?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Washington had had a sufficient ride already, and counted as certainly + upon the hospitality of Castlewood, as he would upon the shelter of his + own house. + </p> + <p> + “The time to feed my horse, and a glass of water for myself, and I will + trouble Castlewood hospitality no further,” Mr. Washington said. + </p> + <p> + “Sure, George, you have your room here, and my mother is above-stairs + getting it ready!” cries Harry. “That poor horse of yours stumbled with + you, and can't go farther this evening.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Your mother won't see him, child,” whispered Mrs. Mountain. + </p> + <p> + “Not see George? Why, he is like a son of the house,” cries Harry. + </p> + <p> + “She had best not see him. I don't meddle any more in family matters, + child: but when the Colonel's servant rode in, and said you were coming, + Madam Esmond left this room, my dear, where she was sitting reading + Drelincourt, and said she felt she could not see Mr. Washington. Will you + go to her?” Harry took his friend's arm, and excusing himself to the + Colonel, to whom he said he would return in a few minutes, he left the + parlour in which they had assembled, and went to the upper rooms, where + Madam Esmond was. + </p> + <p> + He was hastening across the corridor, and, with an averted head, passing + by one especial door, which he did not like to look at, for it was that of + his brother's room; but as he came to it, Madam Esmond issued from it, and + folded him to her heart, and led him in. A settee was by the bed, and a + book of psalms lay on the coverlet. All the rest of the room was exactly + as George had left it. + </p> + <p> + “My poor child! How thin thou art grown—how haggard you look! Never + mind. A mother's care will make thee well again. 'Twas nobly done to go + and brave sickness and danger in search of your brother. Had others been + as faithful, he might be here now. Never mind, my Harry; our hero will + come back to us,—I know he is not dead. One so good, and so brave, + and so gentle, and so clever as he was, I know is not lost to us + altogether.” (Perhaps Harry thought within himself that his mother had not + always been accustomed so to speak of her eldest son.) “Dry up thy tears, + my dear! He will come back to us, I know he will come.” And when Harry + pressed her to give a reason for her belief, she said she had seen her + father two nights running in a dream, and he had told her that her boy was + a prisoner among the Indians. + </p> + <p> + Madam Esmond's grief had not prostrated her as Harry's had when first it + fell upon him; it had rather stirred and animated her: her eyes were + eager, her countenance angry and revengeful. The lad wondered almost at + the condition in which he found his mother. + </p> + <p> + But when he besought her to go downstairs, and give a hand of welcome to + George Washington, who had accompanied him, the lady's excitement + painfully increased. She said she should shudder at touching his hand. She + declared Mr. Washington had taken her son from her, she could not sleep + under the same roof with him. + </p> + <p> + “He gave me his bed when I was ill, mother; and if our George is alive, + how has George Washington a hand in his death? Ah! please God it be only + as you say,” cried Harry, in bewilderment. + </p> + <p> + “If your brother returns, as return he will, it will not be through Mr. + Washington's help,” said Madam Esmond. “He neither defended George on the + field, nor would he bring him out of it.” + </p> + <p> + “But he tended me most kindly in my fever,” interposed Harry. “He was yet + ill when he gave up his bed to me, and was thinking only of his friend, + when any other man would have thought only of himself.” + </p> + <p> + “A friend! A pretty friend!” sneers the lady. “Of all his Excellency's + aides-de-camp, my gentleman is the only one who comes back unwounded. The + brave and noble fall, but he, to be sure, is unhurt. I confide my boy to + him, the pride of my life, whom he will defend with his, forsooth! And he + leaves my George in the forest, and brings me back himself! Oh, a pretty + welcome I must give him!” + </p> + <p> + “No gentleman,” cried Harry, warmly, “was ever refused shelter under my + grandfather's roof.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no—no gentleman!” exclaims the little widow; “let us go down, if + you like, son, and pay our respects to this one. Will you please to give + me your arm?” And taking an arm which was very little able to give her + support, she walked down the broad stairs, and into the apartment where + the Colonel sate. + </p> + <p> + She made him a ceremonious curtsey, and extended one of the little hands, + which she allowed for a moment to rest in his. “I wish that our meeting + had been happier, Colonel Washington,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “You do not grieve more than I do that it is otherwise, madam,” said the + Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “I might have wished that the meeting had been spared, that I might not + have kept you from friends whom you are naturally anxious to see,—that + my boy's indisposition had not detained you. Home and his good nurse + Mountain, and his mother and our good Doctor Dempster, will soon restore + him. 'Twas scarce necessary, Colonel, that you, who have so many affairs + on your hands, military and domestic, should turn doctor too.” + </p> + <p> + “Harry was ill and weak, and I thought it was my duty to ride by him,” + faltered the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “You yourself, sir, have gone through the fatigues and dangers of the + campaign in the most wonderful manner,” said the widow, curtseying again, + and looking at him with her impenetrable black eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I wish to Heaven, madam, some one else had come back in my place!” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, you have ties which must render your life more than ever + valuable and dear to you, and duties to which, I know, you must be anxious + to betake yourself. In our present deplorable state of doubt and distress, + Castlewood can be a welcome place to no stranger, much less to you, and so + I know, sir, you will be for leaving us ere long. And you will pardon me + if the state of my own spirits obliges me for the most part to keep my + chamber. But my friends here will bear you company as long as you favour + us, whilst I nurse my poor Harry upstairs. Mountain, you will have the + cedar-room on the ground-floor ready for Mr. Washington, and anything in + the house is at his command. Farewell, sir. Will you be pleased to present + my compliments to your mother, who will be thankful to have her son safe + and sound out of the war,—as also to my young friend Martha Custis, + to whom and to whose children I wish every happiness. Come, my son!” and + with these words, and another freezing curtsey, the pale little woman + retreated, looking steadily at the Colonel, who stood dumb on the floor. + </p> + <p> + Strong as Madam Esmond's belief appeared to be respecting her son's + safety, the house of Castlewood naturally remained sad and gloomy. She + might forbid mourning for herself and family; but her heart was in black, + whatever face the resolute little lady persisted in wearing before the + world. To look for her son, was hoping against hope. No authentic account + of his death had indeed arrived, and no one appeared who had seen him + fall; but hundreds more had been so stricken on that fatal day, with no + eyes to behold their last pangs, save those of the lurking enemy and the + comrades dying by their side. A fortnight after the defeat, when Harry was + absent on his quest, George's servant, Sady, reappeared wounded and maimed + at Castlewood. But he could give no coherent account of the battle, only + of his flight from the centre, where he was with the baggage. He had no + news of his master since the morning of the action. For many days Sady + lurked in the negro quarters away from the sight of Madam Esmond, whose + anger he did not dare to face. That lady's few neighbours spoke of her as + labouring under a delusion. So strong was it, that there were times when + Harry and the other members of the little Castlewood family were almost + brought to share in it. It seemed nothing strange to her, that her father + out of another world should promise her her son's life. In this world or + the next, that family sure must be of consequence, she thought. Nothing + had ever yet happened to her sons, no accident, no fever, no important + illness, but she had a prevision of it. She could enumerate half a dozen + instances, which, indeed, her household was obliged more or less to + confirm, how, when anything had happened to the boys at ever so great a + distance, she had known of their mishap and its consequences. No, George + was not dead; George was a prisoner among the Indians; George would come + back and rule over Castlewood; as sure, as sure as his Majesty would send + a great force from home to recover the tarnished glory of the British + arms, and to drive the French out of the Americas. + </p> + <p> + As for Mr. Washington, she would never with her own goodwill behold him + again. He had promised to protect George with his life. Why was her son + gone and the Colonel alive? How dared he to face her after that promise, + and appear before a mother without her son? She trusted she knew her duty. + She bore illwill to no one: but as an Esmond, she had a sense of honour, + and Mr. Washington had forfeited hers in letting her son out of his sight. + He had to obey superior orders (some one perhaps objected)? Psha! a + promise was a promise. He had promised to guard George's life with his + own, and where was her boy? And was not the Colonel (a pretty Colonel, + indeed!) sound and safe? Do not tell me that his coat and hat had shots + through them! (This was her answer to another humble plea in Mr. + Washington's behalf.) Can't I go into the study this instant and fire two + shots with my papa's pistols through this paduasoy skirt,—and should + I be killed? She laughed at the notion of death resulting from any such + operation; nor was her laugh very pleasant to hear. The satire of people + who have little natural humour is seldom good sport for bystanders. I + think dull men's faceticae are mostly cruel. + </p> + <p> + So, if Harry wanted to meet his friend, he had to do so in secret, at + court-houses, taverns, or various places of resort; or in their little + towns, where the provincial gentry assembled. No man of spirit, she vowed, + could meet Mr. Washington after his base desertion of her family. She was + exceedingly excited when she heard that the Colonel and her son absolutely + had met. What a heart must Harry have to give his hand to one whom she + considered as little better than George's murderer! “For shame to say so! + For shame upon you, ungrateful boy, forgetting the dearest, noblest, most + perfect of brothers, for that tall, gawky, fox-hunting Colonel, with his + horrid oaths! How can he be George's murderer, when I say my boy is not + dead? He is not dead, because my instinct never deceived me: because, as + sure as I see his picture now before me,—only 'tis not near so noble + or so good as he used to look,—so surely two nights running did my + papa appear to me in my dreams. You doubt about that, very likely? 'Tis + because you never loved anybody sufficiently, my poor Harry; else you + might have leave to see them in dreams, as has been vouchsafed to some.” + </p> + <p> + “I think I loved George, mother,” cried Harry. “I have often prayed that I + might dream about him, and I don't.” + </p> + <p> + “How you can talk, sir, of loving George, and then—go and meet your + Mr. Washington at horse-races, I can't understand! Can you, Mountain?” + </p> + <p> + “We can't understand many things in our neighbours' characters. I can + understand that our boy is unhappy, and that he does not get strength, and + that he is doing no good here, in Castlewood, or moping at the taverns and + court-houses with horse-coupers and idle company,” grumbled Mountain in + reply to her patroness; and, in truth, the dependant was right. + </p> + <p> + There was not only grief in the Castlewood House, but there was disunion. + “I cannot tell how it came,” said Harry, as he brought the story to an + end, which we have narrated in the last two numbers, and which he confided + to his new-found English relative, Madame de Bernstein; “but since that + fatal day of July, last year, and my return home, my mother never has been + the same woman. She seemed to love none of us as she used. She was for + ever praising George, and yet she did not seem as if she liked him much + when he was with us. She hath plunged, more deeply than ever, into her + books of devotion, out of which she only manages to extract grief and + sadness, as I think. Such a gloom has fallen over our wretched Virginian + house of Castlewood, that we all grew ill, and pale as ghosts, who + inhabited it. Mountain told me, madam, that, for nights, my mother would + not close her eyes. I have had her at my bedside, looking so ghastly, that + I have started from my own sleep, fancying a ghost before me. By one means + or other she has wrought herself into a state of excitement which if not + delirium, is akin to it. I was again and again struck down by the fever, + and all the Jesuits' bark in America could not cure me. We have a + tobacco-house and some land about the new town of Richmond, in our + province, and went thither, as Williamsburg is no wholesomer than our own + place; and there I mended a little, but still did not get quite well, and + the physicians strongly counselled a sea-voyage. My mother, at one time, + had thoughts of coming with me, but—” (and here the lad blushed and + hung his head down) “—we did not agree very well, though I know we + loved each other very heartily, and 'twas determined that I should see the + world for myself. So I took passage in our ship from the James River, and + was landed at Bristol. And 'twas only on the 9th of July, this year, at + sea, as had been agreed between me and Madam Esmond, that I put mourning + on for my dear brother.” + </p> + <p> + So that little Mistress of the Virginian Castlewood, for whom, I am sure, + we have all the greatest respect, had the knack of rendering the people + round about her uncomfortable; quarrelled with those she loved best, and + exercised over them her wayward jealousies and imperious humours, until + they were not sorry to leave her. Here was money enough, friends enough, a + good position, and the respect of the world; a house stored with all + manner of plenty, and good things, and poor Harry Warrington was glad to + leave them all behind him. Happy! Who is happy? What good in a stalled ox + for dinner every day, and no content therewith? Is it best to be loved and + plagued by those you love, or to have an easy, comfortable indifference at + home; to follow your fancies, live there unmolested, and die without + causing any painful regrets or tears? + </p> + <p> + To be sure, when her boy was gone, Madam Esmond forgot all these little + tiffs and differences. To hear her speak of both her children, you would + fancy they were perfect characters, and had never caused her a moment's + worry or annoyance. These gone, Madam fell naturally upon Mrs. Mountain + and her little daughter, and worried and annoyed them. But women bear with + hard words more easily than men, are more ready to forgive injuries, or, + perhaps, to dissemble anger. Let us trust that Madam Esmond's dependants + found their life tolerable, that they gave her ladyship sometimes as good + as they got, that if they quarrelled in the morning they were reconciled + at night, and sate down to a tolerably friendly game at cards and an + amicable dish of tea. + </p> + <p> + But, without the boys, the great house of Castlewood was dreary to the + widow. She left an overseer there to manage her estates, and only paid the + place an occasional visit. She enlarged and beautified her house in the + pretty little city of Richmond, which began to grow daily in importance. + She had company there, and card-assemblies, and preachers in plenty; and + set up her little throne there, to which the gentlefolks of the province + were welcome to come and bow. All her domestic negroes, who loved society + as negroes will do, were delighted to exchange the solitude of Castlewood + for the gay and merry little town; where, for a time, and while we pursue + Harry Warrington's progress in Europe, we leave the good lady. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. Harry in England + </h2> + <p> + When the famous Trojan wanderer narrated his escapes and adventures to + Queen Dido, her Majesty, as we read, took the very greatest interest in + the fascinating story-teller who told his perils so eloquently. A history + ensued, more pathetic than any of the previous occurrences in the life of + Pius Aeneas, and the poor princess had reason to rue the day when she + listened to that glib and dangerous orator. Harry Warrington had not pious + Aeneas's power of speech, and his elderly aunt, we may presume, was by no + means so soft-hearted as the sentimental Dido; but yet the lad's narrative + was touching, as he delivered it with his artless eloquence and cordial + voice; and more than once, in the course of his story, Madam Bernstein + found herself moved to a softness to which she had very seldom before + allowed herself to give way. There were not many fountains in that desert + of a life—not many sweet, refreshing resting-places. It had been a + long loneliness, for the most part, until this friendly voice came and + sounded in her ears and caused her heart to beat with strange pangs of + love and sympathy. She doted on this lad, and on this sense of compassion + and regard so new to her. Save once, faintly, in very very early youth, + she had felt no tender sentiment for any human being. Such a woman would, + no doubt, watch her own sensations very keenly, and must have smiled after + the appearance of this boy, to mark how her pulses rose above their + ordinary beat. She longed after him. She felt her cheeks flush with + happiness when he came near. Her eyes greeted him with welcome, and + followed him with fond pleasure. “Ah, if she could have had a son like + that, how she would have loved him!” “Wait,” says Conscience, the dark + scoffer mocking within her, “wait, Beatrix Esmond! You know you will weary + of this inclination, as you have of all. You know, when the passing fancy + has subsided, that the boy may perish, and you won't have a tear for him; + or talk, and you weary of his stories; and that your lot in life is to be + lonely—lonely.” Well? suppose life be a desert? There are + halting-places and shades, and refreshing waters; let us profit by them + for to-day. We know that we must march when to-morrow comes, and tramp on + our destiny onward. + </p> + <p> + She smiled inwardly, whilst following the lad's narrative, to recognise in + his simple tales about his mother, traits of family resemblance. Madam + Esmond was very jealous?—Yes, that Harry owned. She was fond of + Colonel Washington? She liked him, but only as a friend, Harry declared. A + hundred times he had heard his mother vow that she had no other feeling + towards him. He was ashamed to have to own that he himself had been once + absurdly jealous of the Colonel. “Well, you will see that my half-sister + will never forgive him,” said Madam Beatrix. “And you need not be + surprised, sir, at women taking a fancy to men younger than themselves; + for don't I dote upon you; and don't all these Castlewood people crevent + with jealousy?” + </p> + <p> + However great might be their jealousy of Madame de Bernstein's new + favourite, the family of Castlewood allowed no feeling of illwill to + appear in their language or behaviour to their young guest and kinsman. + After a couple of days' stay in the ancestral house, Mr. Harry Warrington + had become Cousin Harry with young and middle-aged. Especially in Madame + Bernstein's presence, the Countess of Castlewood was most gracious to her + kinsman, and she took many amiable private opportunities of informing the + Baroness how charming the young Huron was, of vaunting the elegance of his + manners and appearance, and wondering how, in his distant province, the + child should ever have learned to be so polite? + </p> + <p> + These notes of admiration or interrogation, the Baroness took with equal + complacency (speaking parenthetically, and, for his own part, the present + chronicler cannot help putting in a little respectful remark here, and + signifying his admiration of the conduct of ladies towards one another, + and of the things which they say, which they forbear to say, and which + they say behind each other's backs. With what smiles and curtseys they + stab each other! with what compliments they hate each other! with what + determination of long-suffering they won't be offended! with what innocent + dexterity they can drop the drop of poison into the cup of conversation, + hand round the goblet, smiling, to the whole family to drink, and make the + dear, domestic circle miserable!)—I burst out of my parenthesis. I + fancy my Baroness and Countess smiling at each other a hundred years ago, + and giving each other the hand or the cheek, and calling each other, My + dear, My dear creature, My dear Countess, My dear Baroness, My dear sister—even, + when they were most ready to fight. + </p> + <p> + “You wonder, my dear Maria, that the boy should be so polite?” cries + Madame de Bernstein. “His mother was bred up by two very perfect + gentlefolks. Colonel Esmond had a certain grave courteousness, and a grand + manner, which I do not see among the gentlemen nowadays.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh, my dear, we all of us praise our own time! My grandmamma used to + declare there was nothing like Whitehall and Charles the Second.” + </p> + <p> + “My mother saw King James the Second's court for a short while, and though + not a court-educated person, as you know,—her father was a country + clergyman—yet was exquisitely well-bred. The Colonel, her second + husband, was a person of great travel and experience, as well as of + learning, and had frequented the finest company of Europe. They could not + go into their retreat and leave their good manners behind them, and our + boy has had them as his natural inheritance.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, excuse me, my dear, for thinking you too partial about your mother. + She could not have been that perfection which your filial fondness + imagines. She left off liking her daughter—my dear creature, you + have owned that she did—and I cannot fancy a complete woman who has + a cold heart. No, no, my dear sister-in-law! Manners are very requisite, + no doubt, and, for a country parson's daughter, your mamma was very well—I + have seen many of the cloth who are very well. Mr. Sampson, our chaplain, + is very well. Dr. Young is very well. Mr. Dodd is very well; but they have + not the true air—as how should they? I protest, I beg pardon! I + forgot my lord bishop, your ladyship's first choice. But, as I said + before, to be a complete woman, one must have, what you have, what I may + say and bless Heaven for, I think I have—a good heart. Without the + affections, all the world is vanity, my love! I protest I only live, + exist, eat, drink, rest, for my sweet, sweet children!—for my wicked + Willy, for my self-willed Fanny, dear naughty loves!” (She rapturously + kisses a bracelet on each arm which contains the miniature representations + of those two young persons.) “Yes, Mimi! yes, Fanchon! you know I do, you + dear, dear little things! and if they were to die, or you were to die, + your poor mistress would die too!” Mimi and Fanchon, two quivering Italian + greyhounds, jump into their lady's arms, and kiss her hands, but respect + her cheeks, which are covered with rouge. “No, my dear! For nothing do I + bless Heaven so much (though it puts me to excruciating torture very + often) as for having endowed me with sensibility and a feeling heart!” + </p> + <p> + “You are full of feeling, dear Anna,” says the Baroness. “You are + celebrated for your sensibility. You must give a little of it to our + American nephew—cousin—I scarce know his relationship.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, I am here but as a guest in Castlewood now. The house is my Lord + Castlewood's, not mine, or his lordship's whenever he shall choose to + claim it. What can I do for the young Virginian that has not been done? He + is charming. Are we even jealous of him for being so, my dear? and though + we see what a fancy the Baroness de Bernstein has taken for him, do your + ladyship's nephews and nieces—your real nephews and nieces—cry + out? My poor children might be mortified, for indeed, in a few hours, the + charming young man has made as much way as my poor things have been able + to do in all their lives: but are they angry? Willy hath taken him out to + ride. This morning, was not Maria playing the harpsichord whilst my Fanny + taught him the minuet? 'Twas a charming young group, I assure you, and it + brought tears into my eyes to look at the young creatures. Poor lad! we + are as fond of him as you are, dear Baroness!” + </p> + <p> + Now, Madame de Bernstein had happened, through her own ears or her maid's, + to overhear what really took place in consequence of this harmless little + scene. Lady Castlewood had come into the room where the young people were + thus engaged in amusing and instructing themselves, accompanied by her son + William, who arrived in his boots from the kennel. + </p> + <p> + “Bravi, bravi! Oh, charming!” said the Countess, clapping her hands, + nodding with one of her best smiles to Harry Warrington, and darting a + look at his partner, which my Lady Fanny perfectly understood; and so, + perhaps, did my Lady Maria at her harpsichord, for she played with + redoubled energy, and nodded her waving curls, over the chords. + </p> + <p> + “Infernal young Choctaw! Is he teaching Fanny the war-dance? and is Fan + going to try her tricks upon him now?” asked Mr. William, whose temper was + not of the best. + </p> + <p> + And that was what Lady Castlewood's look said to Fanny. “Are you going to + try your tricks upon him now?” + </p> + <p> + She made Harry a very low curtsey, and he blushed, and they both stopped + dancing, somewhat disconcerted. Lady Maria rose from the harpsichord and + walked away. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, go on dancing, young people! Don't let me spoil sport, and let me + play for you,” said the Countess; and she sate down to the instrument and + played. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know how to dance,” says Harry, hanging his head down, with a + blush that the Countess's finest carmine could not equal. + </p> + <p> + “And Fanny was teaching you? Go on teaching him, dearest Fanny!” + </p> + <p> + “Go on, do!” says William, with a sidelong growl. + </p> + <p> + “I—I had rather not show off my awkwardness in company,” adds Harry, + recovering himself. “When I know how to dance a minuet, be sure I will ask + my cousin to walk one with me.” + </p> + <p> + “That will be very soon, dear Cousin Warrington, I am certain,” remarks + the Countess, with her most gracious air. + </p> + <p> + “What game is she hunting now?” thinks Mr. William to himself, who cannot + penetrate his mother's ways; and that lady, fondly calling her daughter to + her elbow, leaves the room. + </p> + <p> + They are no sooner in the tapestried passage leading away to their own + apartment, but Lady Castlewood's bland tone entirely changes. “You booby!” + she begins to her adored Fanny. “You double idiot! What are you going to + do with the Huron? You don't want to marry a creature like that, and be a + squaw in a wigwam?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't, mamma!” gasps Lady Fanny. Mamma was pinching her ladyship's arm + black-and-blue. “I am sure our cousin is very well,” Fanny whimpers, “and + you said so yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “Very well! Yes; and heir to a swamp, a negro, a log-cabin and a barrel of + tobacco! My Lady Frances Esmond, do you remember what your ladyship's rank + is, and what your name is, and who was your ladyship's mother, when, at + three days' acquaintance, you commence dancing—a pretty dance, + indeed—with this brat out of Virginia?” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington is our cousin,” pleads Lady Fanny. + </p> + <p> + “A creature come from nobody knows where is not your cousin! How do we + know he is your cousin? He may be a valet who has taken his master's + portmanteau, and run away in his postchaise.” + </p> + <p> + “But Madame de Bernstein says he is our cousin,” interposes Fanny; “and he + is the image of the Esmonds.” + </p> + <p> + “Madame de Bernstein has her likes and dislikes, takes up people and + forgets people; and she chooses to profess a mighty fancy for this young + man. Because she likes him to-day, is that any reason why she should like + him to-morrow? Before company, and in your aunt's presence, your ladyship + will please to be as civil to him as necessary; but, in private, I forbid + you to see him or encourage him.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care, madam, whether your ladyship forbids me or not!” cries out + Lady Fanny, wrought up to a pitch of revolt. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, Fanny! then I speak to my lord, and we return to Kensington. + If I can't bring you to reason, your brother will.” + </p> + <p> + At this juncture the conversation between mother and daughter stopped, or + Madame de Bernstein's informer had no further means of hearing or + reporting it. + </p> + <p> + It was only in after days that she told Harry Warrington a part of what + she knew. At present he but saw that his kinsfolks received him not + unkindly. Lady Castlewood was perfectly civil to him; the young ladies + pleasant and pleased; my Lord Castlewood, a man of cold and haughty + demeanour, was not more reserved towards Harry than to any of the rest of + the family; Mr. William was ready to drink with him, to ride with him, to + go to races with him, and to play cards with him. When he proposed to go + away, they one and all pressed him to stay. Madame de Bernstein did not + tell him how it arose that he was the object of such eager hospitality. He + did not know what schemes he was serving or disarranging, whose or what + anger he was creating. He fancied he was welcome because those around him + were his kinsmen, and never thought that those could be his enemies out of + whose cup he was drinking, and whose hand he was pressing every night and + morning. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. A Sunday at Castlewood + </h2> + <p> + The second day after Harry's arrival at Castlewood was a Sunday. The + chapel appertaining to the castle was the village church. A door from the + house communicated with a great state pew which the family occupied, and + here after due time they all took their places in order, whilst a rather + numerous congregation from the village filled the seats below. A few + ancient dusty banners hung from the church roof; and Harry pleased himself + in imagining that they had been borne by retainers of his family in the + Commonwealth wars, in which, as he knew well, his ancestors had taken a + loyal and distinguished part. Within the altar-rails was the effigy of the + Esmond of the time of King James the First, the common forefather of all + the group assembled in the family pew. Madame de Bernstein, in her quality + of Bishop's widow, never failed in attendance, and conducted her devotions + with a gravity almost as exemplary as that of the ancestor yonder, in his + square beard and red gown, for ever kneeling on his stone hassock before + his great marble desk and book, under his emblazoned shield of arms. The + clergyman, a tall, high-coloured, handsome young man, read the service in + a lively, agreeable voice, giving almost a dramatic point to the chapters + of Scripture which he read. The music was good—one of the young + ladies of the family touching the organ—and would have been better + but for an interruption and something like a burst of laughter from the + servants' pew, which was occasioned by Mr. Warrington's lacquey Gumbo, + who, knowing the air given out for the psalm, began to sing it in a voice + so exceedingly loud and sweet, that the whole congregation turned towards + the African warbler; the parson himself put his handkerchief to his mouth, + and the liveried gentlemen from London were astonished out of all + propriety. Pleased, perhaps, with the sensation which he had created, Mr. + Gumbo continued his performance until it became almost a solo, and the + voice of the clerk himself was silenced. For the truth is, that though + Gumbo held on to the book, along with pretty Molly, the porter's daughter, + who had been the first to welcome the strangers to Castlewood, he sang and + recited by ear and not by note, and could not read a syllable of the + verses in the book before him. + </p> + <p> + This choral performance over, a brief sermon in due course followed, + which, indeed, Harry thought a deal too short. In a lively, familiar, + striking discourse the clergyman described a scene of which he had been + witness the previous week—the execution of a horse-stealer after + Assizes. He described the man and his previous good character, his family, + the love they bore one another, and his agony at parting from them. He + depicted the execution in a manner startling, terrible, and picturesque. + He did not introduce into his sermon the Scripture phraseology, such as + Harry had been accustomed to hear it from those somewhat Calvinistic + preachers whom his mother loved to frequent, but rather spoke as one man + of the world to other sinful people, who might be likely to profit by good + advice. The unhappy man just gone, had begun as a farmer of good + prospects; he had taken to drinking, card-playing, horse-racing, + cock-fighting, the vices of the age; against which the young clergyman was + generously indignant. Then he had got to poaching and to horse-stealing, + for which he suffered. The divine rapidly drew striking and fearful + pictures of these rustic crimes. He startled his hearers by showing that + the Eye of the Law was watching the poacher at midnight, and setting traps + to catch the criminal. He galloped the stolen horse over highway and + common, and from one county into another, but showed Retribution ever + galloping after, seizing the malefactor in the country fair, carrying him + before the justice, and never unlocking his manacles till he dropped them + at the gallows-foot. Heaven be pitiful to the sinner! The clergyman acted + the scene. He whispered in the criminal's ear at the cart. He dropped his + handkerchief on the clerk's head. Harry started back as that handkerchief + dropped. The clergyman had been talking for more than twenty minutes. + Harry could have heard him for an hour more, and thought he had not been + five minutes in the pulpit. The gentlefolks in the great pew were very + much enlivened by the discourse. Once or twice, Harry, who could see the + pew where the house servants sate, remarked these very attentive; and + especially Gumbo, his own man, in an attitude of intense consternation. + But the smockfrocks did not seem to heed, and clamped out of church quite + unconcerned. Gaffer Brown and Gammer Jones took the matter as it came, and + the rosy-cheeked, red-cloaked village lasses sate under their broad hats + entirely unmoved. My lord, from his pew, nodded slightly to the clergyman + in the pulpit, when that divine's head and wig surged up from the cushion. + </p> + <p> + “Sampson has been strong to-day,” said his lordship. “He has assaulted the + Philistines in great force.” + </p> + <p> + “Beautiful, beautiful!” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Bet five to four it was his Assize sermon. He has been over to Winton to + preach, and to see those dogs,” cries William. + </p> + <p> + The organist had played the little congregation out into the sunshine. + Only Sir Francis Esmond, temp. Jac. I., still knelt on his marble hassock, + before his prayer-book of stone. Mr. Sampson came out of his vestry in his + cassock, and nodded to the gentlemen still lingering in the great pew. + </p> + <p> + “Come up, and tell us about those dogs,” says Mr. William, and the divine + nodded a laughing assent. + </p> + <p> + The gentlemen passed out of the church into the gallery of their house, + which connected them with that sacred building. Mr. Sampson made his way + through the court, and presently joined them. He was presented by my lord + to the Virginian cousin of the family, Mr. Warrington: the chaplain bowed + very profoundly, and hoped Mr. Warrington would benefit by the virtuous + example of his European kinsmen. Was he related to Sir Miles Warrington of + Norfolk? Sir Miles was Mr. Warrington's father's elder brother. What a + pity he had a son! 'Twas a pretty estate, and Mr. Warrington looked as if + he would become a baronetcy, and a fine estate in Norfolk. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me about my uncle,” cried Virginian Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Tell us about those dogs!” said English Will, in a breath. + </p> + <p> + “Two more jolly dogs, two more drunken dogs, saving your presence, Mr. + Warrington, than Sir Miles and his son, I never saw. Sir Miles was a + staunch friend and neighbour of Sir Robert's. He can drink down any man in + the county, except his son and a few more. The other dogs about which Mr. + William is anxious, for Heaven hath made him a prey to dogs and all kinds + of birds, like the Greeks in the Iliad——” + </p> + <p> + “I know that line in the Iliad,” says Harry, blushing. “I only know five + more, but I know that one.” And his head fell. He was thinking, “Ah, my + dear brother George knew all the Iliad and all the Odyssey, and almost + every book that was ever written besides!” + </p> + <p> + “What on earth” (only he mentioned a place under the earth) “are you + talking about now?” asked Will of his reverence. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain reverted to the dogs and their performance. He thought Mr. + William's dogs were more than a match for them. From dogs they went off to + horses. Mr. William was very eager about the Six Year Old Plate at + Huntingdon. “Have you brought any news of it, Parson?” + </p> + <p> + “The odds are five to four on Brilliant against the field,” says the + parson, gravely, “but, mind you, Jason is a good horse.” + </p> + <p> + “Whose horse?” asks my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Duke of Ancaster's. By Cartouche out of Miss Langley,” says the divine. + “Have you horse-races in Virginia, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Haven't we!” cries Harry; “but oh! I long to see a good English race!” + </p> + <p> + “Do you—do you—bet a little?” continues his reverence. + </p> + <p> + “I have done such a thing,” replies Harry with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “I'll take Brilliant even against the field, for ponies with you, cousin!” + shouts out Mr. William. + </p> + <p> + “I'll give or take three to one against Jason!” says the clergyman. + </p> + <p> + “I don't bet on horses I don't know,” said Harry, wondering to hear the + chaplain now, and remembering his sermon half an hour before. + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't you better write home, and ask your mother?” says Mr. William, + with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “Will, Will!” calls out my lord, “our cousin Warrington is free to bet, or + not, as he likes. Have a care how you venture on either of them, Harry + Warrington. Will is an old file, in spite of his smooth face, and as for + Parson Sampson, I defy our ghostly enemy to get the better of him.” + </p> + <p> + “Him and all his works, my lord!” said Mr. Sampson, with a bow. + </p> + <p> + Harry was highly indignant at this allusion to his mother. “I'll tell you + what, cousin Will,” he said, “I am in the habit of managing my own affairs + in my own way, without asking any lady to arrange them for me. And I'm + used to make my own bets upon my own judgment, and don't need any + relations to select them for me, thank you. But as I am your guest, and, + no doubt, you want to show me hospitality, I'll take your bet—there. + And so Done and Done.” + </p> + <p> + “Done,” says Will, looking askance. + </p> + <p> + “Of course it is the regular odds that's in the paper which you give me, + cousin?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, no, it isn't,” growled Will. “The odds are five to four, that's the + fact, and you may have 'em, if you like.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, cousin, a bet is a bet; and I take you, too, Mr. Sampson.” + </p> + <p> + “Three to one against Jason. I lay it. Very good,” says Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Is it to be ponies too, Mr. Chaplain?” asks Harry with a superb air, as + if he had Lombard Street in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “No, no. Thirty to ten. It is enough for a poor priest to win.” + </p> + <p> + “Here goes a great slice out of my quarter's hundred,” thinks Harry. + “Well, I shan't let these Englishmen fancy that I am afraid of them. I + didn't begin, but for the honour of Old Virginia I won't go back.” + </p> + <p> + These pecuniary transactions arranged, William Esmond went away scowling + towards the stables, where he loved to take his pipe with the grooms; the + brisk parson went off to pay his court to the ladies, and partake of the + Sunday dinner which would presently be served. Lord Castlewood and Harry + remained for a while together. Since the Virginian's arrival my lord had + scarcely spoken with him. In his manners he was perfectly friendly, but so + silent that he would often sit at the head of his table, and leave it + without uttering a word. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose yonder property of yours is a fine one by this time?” said my + lord to Harry. + </p> + <p> + “I reckon it's almost as big as an English county,” answered Harry, “and + the land's as good, too, for many things.” Harry would not have the Old + Dominion, nor his share in it, underrated. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!” said my lord, with a look of surprise. “When it belonged to my + father it did not yield much.” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, my lord. You know how it belonged to your father,” cried the + youth, with some spirit. “It was because my grandfather did not choose to + claim his right.” [This matter is discussed in the Author's previous work, + The Memoirs of Colonel Esmond.] + </p> + <p> + “Of course, of course,” says my lord, hastily. + </p> + <p> + “I mean, cousin, that we of the Virginian house owe you nothing but our + own,” continued Harry Warrington; “but our own, and the hospitality which + you are now showing me.” + </p> + <p> + “You are heartily welcome to both. You were hurt by the betting just now?” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” replied the lad, “I am sort o' hurt. Your welcome, you see, is + different to our welcome, and that's the fact. At home we are glad to see + a man, hold out a hand to him, and give him of our best. Here you take us + in, give us beef and claret enough, to be sure, and don't seem to care + when we come, or when we go. That's the remark which I have been making + since I have been in your lordship's house; I can't help telling it out, + you see, now 'tis on my mind; and I think I am a little easier now I have + said it.” And with this, the excited young fellow knocked a billiard-ball + across the table, and then laughed, and looked at his elder kinsman. + </p> + <p> + “A la bonne heure! We are cold to the stranger within and without our + gates. We don't take Mr. Harry Warrington into our arms, and cry when we + see our cousin. We don't cry when he goes away—but do we pretend?” + </p> + <p> + “No, you don't. But you try to get the better of him in a bet,” says + Harry, indignantly. + </p> + <p> + “Is there no such practice in Virginia, and don't sporting men there try + to overreach one another? What was that story I heard you telling our + aunt, of the British officers and Tom somebody of Spotsylvania!” + </p> + <p> + “That's fair!” cries Harry. “That is, it's usual practice, and a stranger + must look out. I don't mind the parson; if he wins, he may have, and + welcome. But a relation! To think that my own blood cousin wants money out + of me!” + </p> + <p> + “A Newmarket man would get the better of his father. My brother has been + on the turf since he rode over to it from Cambridge. If you play at cards + with him—and he will if you will let him—he will beat you if + he can.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm ready!” cries Harry. “I'll play any game with him that I know, + or I'll jump with him, or I'll ride with him, or I'll row with him, or + I'll wrestle with him, or I'll shoot with him—there—now.” + </p> + <p> + The senior was greatly entertained, and held out his hand to the boy. + “Anything, but don't fight with him,” said my lord. + </p> + <p> + “If I do, I'll whip him! hanged if I don't!” cried the lad. But a look of + surprise and displeasure on the nobleman's part recalled him to better + sentiments. “A hundred pardons, my lord!” he said, blushing very red, and + seizing his cousin's hand. “I talked of ill manners, being angry and hurt + just now; but 'tis doubly ill-mannered of me to show my anger, and boast + about my prowess to my own host and kinsman. It's not the practice with us + Americans to boast, believe me, it's not.” + </p> + <p> + “You are the first I ever met,” says my lord, with a smile, “and I take + you at your word. And I give you fair warning about the cards, and the + betting, that is all, my boy.” + </p> + <p> + “Leave a Virginian alone! We are a match for most men, we are,” resumed + the boy. + </p> + <p> + Lord Castlewood did not laugh. His eyebrows only arched for a moment, and + his grey eyes turned towards the ground. “So you can bet fifty guineas, + and afford to lose them? So much the better for you, cousin. Those great + Virginian estates yield a great revenue, do they?” + </p> + <p> + “More than sufficient for all of us—for ten times as many as we are + now,” replied Harry. (“What, he is pumping me,” thought the lad.) + </p> + <p> + “And your mother makes her son and heir a handsome allowance?” + </p> + <p> + “As much as ever I choose to draw, my lord!” cried Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Peste! I wish I had such a mother!” cried my lord. “But I have only the + advantage of a stepmother, and she draws me. There is the dinner-bell. + Shall we go into the eating-room?” And taking his young friend's arm, my + lord led him to the apartment where that meal was waiting. + </p> + <p> + Parson Sampson formed the delight of the entertainment, and amused the + ladies with a hundred agreeable stories. Besides being chaplain to his + lordship, he was a preacher in London, at the new chapel in Mayfair, for + which my Lady Whittlesea (so well known in the reign of George I.) had + left an endowment. He had the choicest stories of all the clubs and + coteries—the very latest news of who had run away with whom—the + last bon-mot of Mr. Selwyn—the last wild bet of March and + Rockingham. He knew how the old king had quarrelled with Madame Walmoden, + and the Duke was suspected of having a new love; who was in favour at + Carlton House with the Princess of Wales, and who was hung last Monday, + and how well he behaved in the cart. My lord's chaplain poured out all + this intelligence to the amused ladies and the delighted young provincial, + seasoning his conversation with such plain terms and lively jokes as made + Harry stare, who was newly arrived from the colonies, and unused to the + elegances of London life. The ladies, old and young, laughed quite + cheerfully at the lively jokes. Do not be frightened, ye fair readers of + the present day! We are not going to outrage your sweet modesties, or call + blushes on your maiden cheeks. But 'tis certain that their ladyships at + Castlewood never once thought of being shocked, but sate listening to the + parson's funny tales, until the chapel bell, clinking for afternoon + service, summoned his reverence away for half an hour. There was no + sermon. He would be back in the drinking of a bottle of Burgundy. Mr. Will + called a fresh one, and the chaplain tossed off a glass ere he ran out. + </p> + <p> + Ere the half-hour was over, Mr. Chaplain was back again bawling for + another bottle. This discussed, they joined the ladies, and a couple of + card-tables were set out, as, indeed, they were for many hours every day, + at which the whole of the family party engaged. Madame de Bernstein could + beat any one of her kinsfolk at piquet, and there was only Mr. Chaplain in + the whole circle who was at all a match for her ladyship. + </p> + <p> + In this easy manner the Sabbath-day passed. The evening was beautiful, and + there was talk of adjourning to a cool tankard and a game of whist in a + summer-house; but the company voted to sit indoors, the ladies declaring + they thought the aspect of three honours in their hand, and some good + court-cards, more beautiful than the loveliest scene of nature; and so the + sun went behind the elms, and still they were at their cards; and the + rooks came home cawing their evensong, and they never stirred except to + change partners; and the chapel clock tolled hour after hour unheeded, so + delightfully were they spent over the pasteboard; and the moon and stars + came out; and it was nine o'clock, and the groom of the chambers announced + that supper was ready. + </p> + <p> + Whilst they sate at that meal, the postboy's twanging horn was heard, as + he trotted into the village with his letter-bag. My lord's bag was brought + in presently from the village, and his letters, which he put aside, and + his newspaper which he read. He smiled as he came to a paragraph, looked + at his Virginian cousin, and handed the paper over to his brother Will, + who by this time was very comfortable, having had pretty good luck all the + evening, and a great deal of liquor. + </p> + <p> + “Read that, Will,” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + Mr. William took the paper, and, reading the sentence pointed out by his + brother, uttered an exclamation which caused all the ladies to cry out. + </p> + <p> + “Gracious heavens, William! What has happened?” cries one or the other + fond sister. + </p> + <p> + “Mercy, child, why do you swear so dreadfully?” asks the young man's fond + mamma. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter?” inquires Madame de Bernstein, who has fallen into a + doze after her usual modicum of punch and beer. + </p> + <p> + “Read it, Parson!” says Mr. William, thrusting the paper over to the + chaplain, and looking as fierce as a Turk. + </p> + <p> + “Bit, by the Lord!” roars the chaplain, dashing down the paper. + </p> + <p> + “Cousin Harry, you are in luck,” said my lord, taking up the sheet, and + reading from it. “The Six Year Old Plate at Huntingdon was won by Jason, + beating Brilliant, Pytho, and Ginger. The odds were five to four on + Brilliant against the field, three to one against Jason, seven to two + against Pytho, and twenty to one against Ginger.” + </p> + <p> + “I owe you a half-year's income of my poor living, Mr. Warrington,” + groaned the parson. “I will pay when my noble patron settles with me.” + </p> + <p> + “A curse upon the luck!” growls Mr. William; “that comes of betting on a + Sunday,”—and he sought consolation in another great bumper. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, cousin Will. It was but in jest,” cried Harry. “I can't think of + taking my cousin's money.” + </p> + <p> + “Curse me, sir, do you suppose, if I lose, I can't pay?” asks Mr. William; + “and that I want to be beholden to any man alive? That is a good joke. + Isn't it, Parson?” + </p> + <p> + “I think I have heard better,” said the clergyman; to which William + replied, “Hang it, let us have another bowl.” + </p> + <p> + Let us hope the ladies did not wait for this last replenishment of liquor, + for it is certain they had had plenty already during the evening. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. In which Gumbo shows Skill with the Old English Weapon + </h2> + <p> + Our young Virginian having won these sums of money from his cousin and the + chaplain, was in duty bound to give them a chance of recovering their + money, and I am afraid his mamma and other sound moralists would scarcely + approve of his way of life. He plays at cards a great deal too much. + Besides the daily whist or quadrille with the ladies, which set in soon + after dinner at three o'clock, and lasted until supper-time, there + occurred games involving the gain or loss of very considerable sums of + money, in which all the gentlemen, my lord included, took part. Since + their Sunday's conversation, his lordship was more free and confidential + with his kinsman than he had previously been, betted with him quite + affably, and engaged him at backgammon and piquet. Mr. William and the + pious chaplain liked a little hazard; though this diversion was enjoyed on + the sly, and unknown to the ladies of the house, who had exacted repeated + promises from cousin Will that he would not lead the Virginian into + mischief, and that he would himself keep out of it. So Will promised as + much as his aunt or his mother chose to demand from him, gave them his + word that he would never play—no, never; and when the family retired + to rest, Mr. Will would walk over with a dice-box and a rum-bottle to + cousin Harry's quarters, where he, and Hal, and his reverence would sit + and play until daylight. + </p> + <p> + When Harry gave to Lord Castlewood those flourishing descriptions of the + maternal estate in America, he had not wished to mislead his kinsman, or + to boast, or to tell falsehoods, for the lad was of a very honest and + truth-telling nature; but, in his life at home, it must be owned that the + young fellow had had acquaintance with all sorts of queer company,—horse-jockeys, + tavern loungers, gambling and sporting men, of whom a great number were + found in his native colony. A landed aristocracy, with a population of + negroes to work their fields, and cultivate their tobacco and corn, had + little other way of amusement than in the hunting-field, or over the cards + and the punch-bowl. The hospitality of the province was unbounded: every + man's house was his neighbour's; and the idle gentlefolks rode from one + mansion to another, finding in each pretty much the same sport, welcome, + and rough plenty. The Virginian squire had often a barefooted valet, and a + cobbled saddle; but there was plenty of corn for the horses, and abundance + of drink and venison for the master within the tumble-down fences, and + behind the cracked windows of the hall. Harry had slept on many a straw + mattress, and engaged in endless jolly night-bouts over claret and punch + in cracked bowls till morning came, and it was time to follow the hounds. + His poor brother was of a much more sober sort, as the lad owned with + contrition. So it is that Nature makes folks; and some love books and tea, + and some like Burgundy and a gallop across country. Our young fellow's + tastes were speedily made visible to his friends in England. None of them + were partial to the Puritan discipline; nor did they like Harry the worse + for not being the least of a milksop. Manners, you see, were looser a + hundred years ago; tongues were vastly more free-and-easy; names were + named, and things were done, which we should screech now to hear + mentioned. Yes, madam, we are not as our ancestors were. Ought we not to + thank the Fates that have improved our morals so prodigiously, and made us + so eminently virtuous? + </p> + <p> + So, keeping a shrewd keen eye upon people round about him, and fancying, + not incorrectly, that his cousins were disposed to pump him, Harry + Warrington had thought fit to keep his own counsel regarding his own + affairs, and in all games of chance or matters of sport was quite a match + for the three gentlemen into whose company he had fallen. Even in the + noble game of billiards he could hold his own after a few days' play with + his cousins and their revered pastor. His grandfather loved the game, and + had over from Europe one of the very few tables which existed in his + Majesty's province of Virginia. Nor, though Mr. Will could beat him at the + commencement, could he get undue odds out of the young gamester. After + their first bet, Harry was on his guard with Mr. Will, and cousin William + owned, not without respect, that the American was his match in most + things, and his better in many. But though Harry played so well that he + could beat the parson, and soon was the equal of Will, who of course could + beat both the girls, how came it, that in the contests with these, + especially with one of them, Mr. Warrington frequently came off second? He + was profoundly courteous to every being who wore a petticoat; nor has that + traditional politeness yet left his country. All the women of the + Castlewood establishment loved the young gentleman. The grim housekeeper + was mollified by him: the fat cook greeted him with blowsy smiles; the + ladies'-maids, whether of the French or the English nation, smirked and + giggled in his behalf; the pretty porter's daughter at the lodge had + always a kind word in reply to his. Madame de Bernstein took note of all + these things, and, though she said nothing, watched carefully the boy's + disposition and behaviour. + </p> + <p> + Who can say how old Lady Maria Esmond was? Books of the Peerage were not + so many in those days as they are in our blessed times, and I cannot tell + to a few years, or even a lustre or two. When Will used to say she was + five-and-thirty, he was abusive, and, besides, was always given to + exaggeration. Maria was Will's half-sister. She and my lord were children + of the late Lord Castlewood's first wife, a German lady, whom, 'tis known, + my lord married in the time of Queen Anne's wars. Baron Bernstein, who + married Maria's Aunt Beatrix, Bishop Tusher's widow, was also a German, a + Hanoverian nobleman, and relative of the first Lady Castlewood. If my Lady + Maria was born under George I., and his Majesty George II. had been thirty + years on the throne, how could she be seven-and-twenty, as she told Harry + Warrington she was? “I am old, child,” she used to say. She used to call + Harry “child” when they were alone. “I am a hundred years old. I am + seven-and-twenty. I might be your mother almost.” To which Harry would + reply, “Your ladyship might be the mother of all the cupids, I am sure. + You don't look twenty, on my word you do Dot!” + </p> + <p> + Lady Maria looked any age you liked. She was a fair beauty with a dazzling + white and red complexion, an abundance of fair hair which flowed over her + shoulders, and beautiful round arms which showed to uncommon advantage + when she played at billiards with cousin Harry. When she had to stretch + across the table to make a stroke, that youth caught glimpses of a little + ankle, a little clocked stocking, and a little black satin slipper with a + little red heel, which filled him with unutterable rapture, and made him + swear that there never was such a foot, ankle, clocked stocking, satin + slipper in the world. And yet, oh, you foolish Harry! your mother's foot + was ever so much more slender, and half an inch shorter, than Lady + Maria's. But, somehow, boys do not look at their mammas' slippers and + ankles with rapture. + </p> + <p> + No doubt Lady Maria was very kind to Harry when they were alone. Before + her sister, aunt, stepmother, she made light of him, calling him a + simpleton, a chit, and who knows what trivial names? Behind his back, and + even before his face, she mimicked his accent, which smacked somewhat of + his province. Harry blushed and corrected the faulty intonation, under his + English monitresses. His aunt pronounced that they would soon make him a + pretty fellow. + </p> + <p> + Lord Castlewood, we have said, became daily more familiar and friendly + with his guest and relative. Till the crops were off the ground there was + no sporting, except an occasional cock-match at Winchester, and a + bull-baiting at Hexton Fair. Harry and Will rode off to many jolly fairs + and races round about the young Virginian was presented to some of the + county families—the Henleys of the Grange, the Crawleys of Queen's + Crawley, the Redmaynes of Lionsden, and so forth. The neighbours came in + their great heavy coaches, and passed two or three days in country + fashion. More of them would have come, but for the fear all the Castlewood + family had of offending Madame de Bernstein. She did not like country + company; the rustical society and conversation annoyed her. “We shall be + merrier when my aunt leaves us,” the young folks owned. “We have cause, as + you may imagine, for being very civil to her. You know what a favourite + she was with our papa? And with reason. She got him his earldom, being + very well indeed at Court at that time with the King and Queen. She + commands here naturally, perhaps a little too much. We are all afraid of + her: even my elder brother stands in awe of her, and my stepmother is much + more obedient to her than she ever was to my papa, whom she ruled with a + rod of iron. But Castlewood is merrier when our aunt is not here. At least + we have much more company. You will come to us in our gay days, Harry, + won't you? Of course you will: this is your home, sir. I was so pleased—oh, + so pleased—when my brother said he considered it was your home!” + </p> + <p> + A soft hand is held out after this pretty speech, a pair of very well + preserved blue eyes look exceedingly friendly. Harry grasps his cousin's + hand with ardour. I do not know what privilege of cousinship he would not + like to claim, only he is so timid. They call the English selfish and + cold. He at first thought his relatives were so: but how mistaken he was! + How kind and affectionate they are, especially the Earl,—and dear, + dear Maria! How he wishes he could recall that letter which he had written + to Mrs. Mountain and his mother, in which he hinted that his welcome had + been a cold one! The Earl his cousin was everything that was kind, had + promised to introduce him to London society, and present him at Court, and + at White's. He was to consider Castlewood as his English home. He had been + most hasty in his judgment regarding his relatives in Hampshire. All this, + with many contrite expressions, he wrote in his second despatch to + Virginia. And he added, for it hath been hinted that the young gentleman + did not spell at this early time with especial accuracy, “My cousin, the + Lady Maria, is a perfect Angle.” + </p> + <p> + “Ille praeter omnes angulus ridet,” muttered little Mr. Dempster, at home + in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “The child can't be falling in love with his angle, as he calls her!” + cries out Mountain. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, pooh! my niece Maria is forty!” says Madam Esmond. “I perfectly + well recollect her when I was at home—a great, gawky, carroty + creature, with a foot like a pair of bellows.” Where is truth, forsooth, + and who knoweth it? Is Beauty beautiful, or is it only our eyes that make + it so? Does Venus squint? Has she got a splay-foot, red hair, and a + crooked back? Anoint my eyes, good Fairy Puck, so that I may ever consider + the Beloved Object a paragon! Above all, keep on anointing my mistress's + dainty peepers with the very strongest ointment, so that my noddle may + ever appear lovely to her, and that she may continue to crown my honest + ears with fresh roses! + </p> + <p> + Now, not only was Harry Warrington a favourite with some in the + drawing-room, and all the ladies of the servants'-hall, but, like master + like man, his valet Gumbo was very much admired and respected by very many + of the domestic circle. Gumbo had a hundred accomplishments. He was famous + as a fisherman, huntsman, blacksmith. He could dress hair beautifully, and + improved himself in the art under my lord's own Swiss gentleman. He was + great at cooking many of his Virginian dishes, and learned many new + culinary secrets from my lord's French man. We have heard how exquisitely + and melodiously he sang at church; and he sang not only sacred but secular + music, often inventing airs and composing rude words after the habit of + his people. He played the fiddle so charmingly, that he set all the girls + dancing in Castlewood Hall, and was ever welcome to a gratis mug of ale at + the Three Castles in the village, if he would but bring his fiddle with + him. He was good-natured and loved to play for the village children: so + that Mr. Warrington's negro was a universal favourite in all the + Castlewood domain. + </p> + <p> + Now it was not difficult for the servants'-hall folks to perceive that Mr. + Gumbo was a liar, which fact was undoubted in spite of all his good + qualities. For instance, that day at church, when he pretended to read out + of Molly's psalm-book, he sang quite other words than those which were + down in the book, of which he could not decipher a syllable. And he + pretended to understand music, whereupon the Swiss valet brought him some, + and Master Gumbo turned the page upside down. These instances of long-bow + practice daily occurred, and were patent to all the Castlewood household. + They knew Gumbo was a liar, perhaps not thinking the worse of him for this + weakness; but they did not know how great a liar he was, and believed him + much more than they had any reason for doing, and because, I suppose, they + liked to believe him. + </p> + <p> + Whatever might be his feelings of wonder and envy on first viewing the + splendour and comforts of Castlewood, Mr. Gumbo kept his sentiments to + himself, and examined the place, park, appointments, stables, very coolly. + The horses, he said, were very well, what there were of them; but at + Castlewood in Virginia they had six times as many, and let me see, + fourteen eighteen grooms to look after them. Madam Esmond's carriages were + much finer than my lord's,—great deal more gold on the panels. As + for her gardens, they covered acres, and they grew every kind of flower + and fruit under the sun. Pineapples and peaches? Pineapples and peaches + were so common, they were given to pigs in his country. They had twenty + forty gardeners, not white gardeners, all black gentlemen, like hisself. + In the house were twenty forty gentlemen in livery, besides women-servants—never + could remember how many women-servants,—dere were so many: tink dere + were fifty women-servants—all Madam Esmond's property, and worth + ever so many hundred pieces of eight apiece. How much was a piece of + eight? Bigger than a guinea, a piece of eight was. Tink, Madam Esmond have + twenty thirty thousand guineas a year,—have whole rooms full of gold + and plate. Came to England in one of her ships; have ever so many ships, + Gumbo can't count how many ships; and estates, covered all over with + tobacco and negroes, and reaching out for a week's journey. Was Master + Harry heir to all this property? Of course, now Master George was killed + and scalped by the Indians. Gumbo had killed ever so many Indians, and + tried to save Master George, but he was Master Harry's boy,—and + Master Harry was as rich,—oh, as rich as ever he like. He wore black + now, because Master George was dead; but you should see his chests full of + gold clothes, and lace, and jewels at Bristol. Of course, Master Harry was + the richest man in all Virginia, and might have twenty sixty servants; + only he liked travelling with one best, and that one, it need scarcely be + said, was Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + This story was not invented at once, but gradually elicited from Mr. + Gumbo, who might have uttered some trifling contradictions during the + progress of the narrative, but by the time he had told his tale twice or + thrice in the servants'-hall or the butler's private apartment, he was + pretty perfect and consistent in his part, and knew accurately the number + of slaves Madam Esmond kept, and the amount of income which she enjoyed. + The truth is, that as four or five blacks are required to do the work of + one white man, the domestics in American establishments are much more + numerous than in ours; and, like the houses of most other Virginian landed + proprietors, Madam Esmond's mansion and stables swarmed with negroes. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gumbo's account of his mistress's wealth and splendour was carried to + my lord by his lordship's man, and to Madame de Bernstein and my ladies by + their respective waiting-women, and, we may be sure, lost nothing in the + telling. A young gentleman in England is not the less liked because he is + reputed to be the heir to vast wealth and possessions; when Lady + Castlewood came to hear of Harry's prodigious expectations, she repented + of her first cool reception of him, and of having pinched her daughter's + arm till it was black-and-blue for having been extended towards the youth + in too friendly a manner. Was it too late to have him back into those fair + arms? Lady Fanny was welcome to try, and resumed the dancing-lessons. The + Countess would play the music with all her heart. But, how provoking! that + odious, sentimental Maria would always insist upon being in the room; and, + as sure as Fanny walked in the gardens or the park, so sure would her + sister come trailing after her. As for Madame de Bernstein, she laughed, + and was amused at the stories of the prodigious fortune of her Virginian + relatives. She knew her half-sister's man of business in London, and very + likely was aware of the real state of Madame Esmond's money matters; but + she did not contradict the rumours which Gumbo and his fellow-servants had + set afloat; and was not a little diverted by the effect which these + reports had upon the behaviour of the Castlewood family towards their + young kinsman. + </p> + <p> + “Hang him! Is he so rich, Molly?” said my lord to his elder sister. “Then + good-bye to our chances with your aunt. The Baroness will be sure to leave + him all her money to spite us, and because he doesn't want it. + Nevertheless, the lad is a good lad enough, and it is not his fault being + rich, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “He is very simple and modest in his habits for one so wealthy,” remarks + Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Rich people often are so,” says my lord. “If I were rich, I often think I + would be the greatest miser, and live in rags and on a crust. Depend on it + there is no pleasure so enduring as money-getting. It grows on you, and + increases with old age. But because I am as poor as Lazarus, I dress in + purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day.” + </p> + <p> + Maria went to the book-room and got the History of Virginia, by R. B. Gent—and + read therein what an admirable climate it was, and how all kinds of fruit + and corn grew in that province, and what noble rivers were those of + Potomac and Rappahannoc, abounding in all sorts of fish. And she wondered + whether the climate would agree with her, and whether her aunt would like + her? And Harry was sure his mother would adore her, so would Mountain. And + when he was asked about the number of his mother's servants, he said, they + certainly had more servants than are seen in England—he did not know + how many. But the negroes did not do near as much work as English servants + did hence the necessity of keeping so great a number. As for some others + of Gumbo's details which were brought to him, he laughed and said the boy + was wonderful as a romancer, and in telling such stories he supposed was + trying to speak out for the honour of the family. + </p> + <p> + So Harry was modest as well as rich! His denials only served to confirm + his relatives' opinion regarding his splendid expectations. More and more + the Countess and the ladies were friendly and affectionate with him. More + and more Mr. Will betted with him, and wanted to sell him bargains. + Harry's simple dress and equipage only served to confirm his friends' idea + of his wealth. To see a young man of his rank and means with but one + servant, and without horses or a carriage of his own—what modesty! + When he went to London he would cut a better figure? Of course he would. + Castlewood would introduce him to the best society in the capital, and he + would appear as he ought to appear at St. James's. No man could be more + pleasant, wicked, lively, obsequious than the worthy chaplain, Mr. + Sampson. How proud he would be if he could show his young friend a little + of London life!—if he could warn rogues off him, and keep him out of + the way of harm! Mr. Sampson was very kind: everybody was very kind. Harry + liked quite well the respect that was paid to him. As Madam Esmond's son + he thought perhaps it was his due: and took for granted that he was the + personage which his family imagined him to be. How should he know better, + who had never as yet seen any place but his own province, and why should + he not respect his own condition when other people respected it so? So all + the little knot of people at Castlewood House, and from these the people + in Castlewood village, and from thence the people in the whole county, + chose to imagine that Mr. Harry Esmond Warrington was the heir of immense + wealth, and a gentleman of very great importance, because his negro valet + told lies about him in the servants'-hall. + </p> + <p> + Harry's aunt, Madame de Bernstein, after a week or two, began to tire of + Castlewood and the inhabitants of that mansion, and the neighbours who + came to visit them. This clever woman tired of most things and people + sooner or later. So she took to nodding and sleeping over the chaplain's + stories, and to doze at her whist and over her dinner, and to be very + snappish and sarcastic in her conversation with her Esmond nephews and + nieces, hitting out blows at my lord and his brother the jockey, and my + ladies, widowed and unmarried, who winced under her scornful remarks, and + bore them as they best might. The cook, whom she had so praised on first + coming, now gave her no satisfaction; the wine was corked; the house was + damp, dreary, and full of draughts; the doors would not shut, and the + chimneys were smoky. She began to think the Tunbridge waters were very + necessary for her, and ordered the doctor, who came to her from the + neighbouring town of Hexton, to order those waters for her benefit. + </p> + <p> + “I wish to heaven she would go!” growled my lord, who was the most + independent member of his family. “She may go to Tunbridge, or she may go + to Bath, or she may go to Jericho, for me.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall Fanny and I come with you to Tunbridge, dear Baroness?” asked Lady + Castlewood of her sister-in-law. + </p> + <p> + “Not for worlds, my dear! The doctor orders me absolute quiet, and if you + came I should have the knocker going all day, and Fanny's lovers would + never be out of the house,” answered the Baroness, who was quite weary of + Lady Castlewood's company. + </p> + <p> + “I wish I could be of any service to my aunt!” said the sentimental Lady + Maria, demurely. + </p> + <p> + “My good child, what can you do for me? You cannot play piquet so well as + my maid, and I have heard all your songs till I am perfectly tired of + them! One of the gentlemen might go with me: at least make the journey, + and see me safe from highwaymen.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure, ma'am, I shall be glad to ride with you,” said Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not you! I don't want you, William,” cried the young man's aunt. “Why + do not you offer, and where are your American manners, you ungracious + Harry Warrington? Don't swear, Will, Harry is much better company than you + are, and much better ton too, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Tong, indeed! Confound his tong,” growled envious Will to himself. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say I shall be tired of him, as I am of other folks,” continued + the Baroness. “I have scarcely seen Harry at all in these last days. You + shall ride with me to Tunbridge, Harry!” + </p> + <p> + At this direct appeal, and to no one's wonder more than that of his aunt, + Mr. Harry Warrington blushed, and hemmed and ha'd and at length said, “I + have promised my cousin Castlewood to go over to Hexton Petty Sessions + with him to-morrow. He thinks I should see how the Courts here are + conducted—and—and—the partridge-shooting will soon + begin, and I have promised to be here for that, ma'am.” Saying which + words, Harry Warrington looked as red as a poppy, whilst Lady Maria held + her meek face downwards, and nimbly plied her needle. + </p> + <p> + “You actually refuse to go with me to Tunbridge Wells?” called out Madame + Bernstein, her eyes lightening, and her face flushing up with anger, too. + </p> + <p> + “Not to ride with you, ma'am; that I will do with all my heart; but to + stay there—I have promised...” + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough, sir! I can go alone, and don't want your escort,” cried + the irate old lady, and rustled out of the room. + </p> + <p> + The Castlewood family looked at each other with wonder. Will whistled. + Lady Castlewood glanced at Fanny, as much as to say, His chance is over. + Lady Maria never lifted up her eyes from her tambour-frame. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. On the Scent + </h2> + <p> + Young Harry Warrington's act of revolt came so suddenly upon Madame de + Bernstein, that she had no other way of replying to it, than by the prompt + outbreak of anger with which we left her in the last chapter. She darted + two fierce glances at Lady Fanny and her mother as she quitted the room. + Lady Maria over her tambour-frame escaped without the least notice, and + scarcely lifted up her head from her embroidery, to watch the aunt + retreating, or the looks which mamma-in-law and sister threw at one + another. + </p> + <p> + “So, in spite of all, you have, madam?” the maternal looks seemed to say. + </p> + <p> + “Have what?” asked Lady Fanny's eyes. But what good in looking innocent? + She looked puzzled. She did not look one-tenth part as innocent as Maria. + Had she been guilty, she would have looked not guilty much more cleverly; + and would have taken care to study and compose a face so as to be ready to + suit the plea. Whatever was the expression of Fanny's eyes, mamma glared + on her as if she would have liked to tear them out. + </p> + <p> + But Lady Castlewood could not operate upon the said eyes then and there, + like the barbarous monsters in the stage-direction in King Lear. When her + ladyship was going to tear out her daughter's eyes, she would retire + smiling, with an arm round her dear child's waist, and then gouge her in + private. + </p> + <p> + “So you don't fancy going with the old lady to Tunbridge Wells?” was all + she said to Cousin Warrington, wearing at the same time a perfectly + well-bred simper on her face. + </p> + <p> + “And small blame to our cousin!” interposed my lord. (The face over the + tambour-frame looked up for one instant.) “A young fellow must not have it + all idling and holiday. Let him mix up something useful with his + pleasures, and go to the fiddles and pump-rooms at Tunbridge or the Bath + later. Mr. Warrington has to conduct a great estate in America: let him + see how ours in England are carried on. Will hath shown him the kennel and + the stables; and the games in vogue, which I think, cousin, you seem to + play as well as your teachers. After harvest we will show him a little + English fowling and shooting: in winter we will take him out a-hunting. + Though there has been a coolness between us and our aunt-kinswoman in + Virginia, yet we are of the same blood. Ere we send our cousin back to his + mother, let us show him what an English gentleman's life at home is. I + should like to read with him as well as sport with him, and that is why I + have been pressing him of late to stay and bear me company.” + </p> + <p> + My lord spoke with such perfect frankness that his mother-in-law and + half-brother and sister could not help wondering what his meaning could + be. The three last-named persons often held little conspiracies together, + and caballed or grumbled against the head of the house. When he adopted + that frank tone, there was no fathoming his meaning: often it would not be + discovered until months had passed. He did not say, “This is true,” but, + “I mean that this statement should be accepted and believed in my family.” + It was then a thing convenue, that my Lord Castlewood had a laudable + desire to cultivate the domestic affections, and to educate, amuse, and + improve his young relative; and that he had taken a great fancy to the + lad, and wished that Harry should stay for some time near his lordship. + </p> + <p> + “What is Castlewood's game now?” asked William of his mother and sister as + they disappeared into the corridors. “Stop! By George, I have it!” + </p> + <p> + “What, William?” + </p> + <p> + “He intends to get him to play, and to win the Virginia estate back from + him. That's what it is!” + </p> + <p> + “But the lad has not got the Virginia estate to pay, if he loses,” remarks + mamma. + </p> + <p> + “If my brother has not some scheme in view, may I be——.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Of course he has a scheme in view. But what is it?” + </p> + <p> + “He can't mean Maria—Maria is as old as Harry's mother,” muses Mr. + William. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh! with her old face and sandy hair and freckled skin! Impossible!” + cries Lady Fanny, with somewhat of a sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Of course, your ladyship had a fancy for the Iroquois, too!” cried mamma. + </p> + <p> + “I trust I know my station and duty better, madam! If I had liked him, + that is no reason why I should marry him. Your ladyship hath taught me as + much as that.” + </p> + <p> + “My Lady Fanny!” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure you married our papa without liking him. You have told me so a + thousand times!” + </p> + <p> + “And if you did not love our father before marriage, you certainly did not + fall in love with him afterwards,” broke in Mr. William, with a laugh. + “Fan and I remember how our honoured parents used to fight. Don't us, Fan? + And our brother Esmond kept the peace.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't recall those dreadful low scenes, William!” cries mamma. “When your + father took too much drink, he was like a madman; and his conduct should + be a warning to you, sir, who are fond of the same horrid practice.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure, madam, you were not much the happier for marrying the man you + did not like, and your ladyship's title hath brought very little along + with it,” whimpered out Lady Fanny. “What is the use of a coronet with the + jointure of a tradesman's wife?—how many of them are richer than we + are? There is come lately to live in our Square, at Kensington, a grocer's + widow from London Bridge, whose daughters have three gowns where I have + one; and who, though they are waited on but by a man and a couple of + maids, I know eat and drink a thousand times better than we do with our + scraps of cold meat on our plate, and our great flaunting, trapesing, + impudent, lazy lacqueys!” + </p> + <p> + “He! he! glad I dine at the palace, and not at home!” said Mr. Will. (Mr. + Will, through his aunt's interest with Count Puffendorff, Groom of the + Royal {and Serene Electoral} Powder-Closet, had one of the many small + places at Court, that of Deputy Powder.) + </p> + <p> + “Why should I not be happy without any title except my own?” continued + Lady Frances. “Many people are. I dare say they are even happy in + America.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!—with a mother-in-law who is a perfect Turk and Tartar, for all + I hear—with Indian war-whoops howling all around you and with a + danger of losing your scalp, or of being eat up by a wild beast every time + you went to church.” + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't go to church,” said Lady Fanny. + </p> + <p> + “You'd go with anybody who asked you, Fan!” roared out Mr. Will: “and so + would old Maria, and so would any woman, that's the fact.” And Will + laughed at his own wit. + </p> + <p> + “Pray, good folks, what is all your merriment about?” here asked Madame + Bernstein, peeping in on her relatives from the tapestried door which led + into the gallery where their conversation was held. + </p> + <p> + Will told her that his mother and sister had been having a fight (which + was not a novelty, as Madame Bernstein knew), because Fanny wanted to + marry their cousin, the wild Indian, and my lady Countess would not let + her. Fanny protested against this statement. Since the very first day when + her mother had told her not to speak to the young gentleman, she had + scarcely exchanged two words with him. She knew her station better. She + did not want to be scalped by wild Indians, or eat up by bears. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein looked puzzled. “If he is not staying for you, for + whom is he staying?” she asked. “At the houses to which he has been + carried, you have taken care not to show him a woman that is not a fright + or in the nursery; and I think the boy is too proud to fall in love with a + dairymaid, Will.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! That is a matter of taste, ma'am,” says Mr. William, with a shrug + of his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “Of Mr. William Esmond's taste, as you say; but not of yonder boy's. The + Esmonds of his grandfather's nurture, sir, would not go a-courting in the + kitchen.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, ma'am, every man to his taste, I say again. A fellow might go + farther and fare worse than my brother's servants'-hall, and besides Fan, + there's only the maids or old Maria to choose from.” + </p> + <p> + “Maria! Impossible!” And yet, as she spoke the very words, a sudden + thought crossed Madame Bernstein's mind, that this elderly Calypso might + have captivated her young Telemachus. She called to mind half a dozen + instances in her own experience of young men who had been infatuated by + old women. She remembered how frequent Harry Warrington's absences had + been of late—absences which she attributed to his love for field + sports. She remembered how often, when he was absent, Maria Esmond was + away too. Walks in cool avenues, whisperings in garden temples, or behind + clipt hedges, casual squeezes of the hand in twilight corridors, or sweet + glances and ogles in meetings on the stairs,—a lively fancy, an + intimate knowledge of the world, very likely a considerable personal + experience in early days, suggested all these possibilities and chances to + Madame de Bernstein, just as she was saying that they were impossible. + </p> + <p> + “Impossible, ma'am! I don't know,” Will continued. “My mother warned Fan + off him.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, your mother did warn Fanny off?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, my dear Baroness!” + </p> + <p> + “Didn't she? Didn't she pinch Fanny's arm black-and-blue? Didn't they + fight about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, William! For shame, William!” cry both the implicated ladies in + a breath. + </p> + <p> + “And now, since we have heard how rich he is, perhaps it is sour grapes, + that is all. And now, since he is warned off the young bird, perhaps he is + hunting the old one, that's all. Impossible why impossible? You know old + Lady Suffolk, ma'am?” + </p> + <p> + “William, how can you speak about Lady Suffolk to your aunt?” + </p> + <p> + A grin passed over the countenance of the young gentleman. “Because Lady + Suffolk was a special favourite at Court? Well, other folks have succeeded + her.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir!” cries Madame de Bernstein, who may have had her reasons to take + offence. + </p> + <p> + “So they have, I say; or who, pray, is my Lady Yarmouth now? And didn't + old Lady Suffolk go and fall in love with George Berkeley, and marry him + when she was ever so old? Nay, ma'am, if I remember right—and we + hear a deal of town-talk at our table—Harry Estridge went mad about + your ladyship when you were somewhat rising twenty; and would have changed + your name a third time if you would but have let him.” + </p> + <p> + This allusion to an adventure of her own later days, which was, indeed, + pretty notorious to all the world, did not anger Madame de Bernstein, like + Will's former hint about his aunt having been a favourite at George the + Second's Court; but, on the contrary, set her in good-humour. + </p> + <p> + “Au fait,” she said, musing, as she played a pretty little hand on the + table, and no doubt thinking about mad young Harry Estridge; “'tis not + impossible, William, that old folks, and young folks, too, should play the + fool.” + </p> + <p> + “But I can't understand a young fellow being in love with Maria,” + continued Mr. William, “however he might be with you, ma'am. That's oter + shose, as our French tutor used to say. You remember the Count, ma'am; he! + he!—and so does Maria!” + </p> + <p> + “William!” + </p> + <p> + “And I dare say the Count remembers the bastinado Castlewood had given to + him. A confounded French dancing-master calling himself a count, and + daring to fall in love in our family! Whenever I want to make myself + uncommonly agreeable to old Maria, I just say a few words of parly voo to + her. She knows what I mean.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you abused her to your cousin, Harry Warrington?” asked Madame de + Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “Well—I know she is always abusing me—and I have said my mind + about her,” said Will. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you idiot!” cried the old lady. “Who but a gaby ever spoke ill of a + woman to her sweetheart? He will tell her everything, and they both will + hate you.” + </p> + <p> + “The very thing, ma'am!” cried Will, bursting into a great laugh. “I had a + sort of a suspicion, you see, and two days ago, as we were riding + together, I told Harry Warrington a bit of my mind about Maria;—why + shouldn't I, I say? She is always abusing me, ain't she, Fan? And your + favourite turned as red as my plush waistcoat—wondered how a + gentleman could malign his own flesh and blood, and, trembling all over + with rage, said I was no true Esmond.” + </p> + <p> + “Why didn't you chastise him, sir, as my lord did the dancing-master?” + cried Lady Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “Well, mother,—you see that at quarter-staff there's two sticks + used,” replied Mr. William; “and my opinion is, that Harry Warrington can + guard his own head uncommonly well. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why + I did not offer to treat my cousin to a caning. And now you say so, ma'am, + I know he has told Maria. She has been looking battle, murder, and sudden + death at me ever since. All which shows——” and here he turned + to his aunt. + </p> + <p> + “All which shows what?” + </p> + <p> + “That I think we are on the right scent; and that we've found Maria—the + old fox!” And the ingenuous youth here clapped his hand to his mouth, and + gave a loud halloo. + </p> + <p> + How far had this pretty intrigue gone? now was the question. Mr. Will + said, that at her age, Maria would be for conducting matters as rapidly as + possible, not having much time to lose. There was not a great deal of love + lost between Will and his half-sister. + </p> + <p> + “Who would sift the matter to the bottom? Scolding one party or the other + was of no avail. Threats only serve to aggravate people in such cases. I + never was in danger but once, young people,” said Madame de Bernstein, + “and I think that was because my poor mother contradicted me. If this boy + is like others of his family, the more we oppose him, the more entete he + will be; and we shall never get him out of his scrape.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, ma'am, suppose we leave him in it?” grumbled Will. “Old Maria and + I don't love each other too much, I grant you; but an English earl's + daughter is good enough for an American tobacco-planter, when all is said + and done.” + </p> + <p> + Here his mother and sister broke out. They would not hear of such a union. + To which Will answered, “You are like the dog in the manger. You don't + want the man yourself, Fanny” + </p> + <p> + “I want him, indeed!” cries Lady Fanny, with a toss of her head. + </p> + <p> + “Then why grudge him to Maria? I think Castlewood wants her to have him.” + </p> + <p> + “Why grudge him to Maria, sir?” cried Madame de Bernstein, with great + energy. “Do you remember who the poor boy is, and what your house owes to + his family? His grandfather was the best friend your father ever had, and + gave up this estate, this title, this very castle, in which you are + conspiring against the friendless Virginian lad, that you and yours might + profit by it. And the reward for all this kindness is, that you all but + shut the door on the child when he knocks at it, and talk of marrying him + to a silly elderly creature who might be his mother! He shan't marry her.” + </p> + <p> + “The very thing we were saying and thinking, my dear Baroness!” interposes + Lady Castlewood. “Our part of the family is not eager about the match, + though my lord and Maria may be.” + </p> + <p> + “You would like him for yourself, now that you hear he is rich—and + may be richer, young people, mind you that,” cried Madam Beatrix, turning + upon the other women. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington may be ever so rich, madam, but there is no need why your + ladyship should perpetually remind us that we are poor,” broke in Lady + Castlewood, with some spirit. “At least there is very little disparity in + Fanny's age and Mr. Harry's; and you surely will be the last to say that a + lady of our name and family is not good enough for any gentleman born in + Virginia or elsewhere.” + </p> + <p> + “Let Fanny take an English gentleman, Countess, not an American. With such + a name and such a mother to help her, and with all her good looks and + accomplishments, sure, she can't fail of finding a man worthy of her. But + from what I know about the daughters of this house, and what I imagine + about our young cousin, I am certain that no happy match could be made + between them.” + </p> + <p> + “What does my aunt know about me?” asked Lady Fanny, turning very red. + </p> + <p> + “Only your temper, my dear. You don't suppose that I believe all the + tittle-tattle and scandal which one cannot help hearing in town? But the + temper and early education are sufficient. Only fancy one of you condemned + to leave St. James's and the Mall, and live in a plantation surrounded by + savages! You would die of ennui, or worry your husband's life out with + your ill-humour. You are born, ladies, to ornament courts—not + wigwams. Let this lad go back to his wilderness with a wife who is suited + to him.” + </p> + <p> + The other two ladies declared in a breath that, for their parts, they + desired no better, and, after a few more words, went on their way, while + Madame de Bernstein, lifting up her tapestried door, retired into her own + chamber. She saw all the scheme now; she admired the ways of women, + calling a score of little circumstances back to mind. She wondered at her + own blindness during the last few days, and that she should not have + perceived the rise and progress of this queer little intrigue. How far had + it gone? was now the question. Was Harry's passion of the serious and + tragical sort, or a mere fire of straw which a day or two would burn out? + How deeply was he committed? She dreaded the strength of Harry's passion, + and the weakness of Maria's. A woman of her age is so desperate, Madame + Bernstein may have thought, that she will make any efforts to secure a + lover. Scandal, bah! She will retire and be a princess in Virginia, and + leave the folks in England to talk as much scandal as they choose. + </p> + <p> + Is there always, then, one thing which women do not tell to one another, + and about which they agree to deceive each other? Does the concealment + arise from deceit or modesty? A man, as soon as he feels an inclination + for one of the other sex, seeks for a friend of his own to whom he may + impart the delightful intelligence. A woman (with more or less skill) + buries her secret away from her kind. For days and weeks past, had not + this old Maria made fools of the whole house,—Maria, the butt of the + family? + </p> + <p> + I forbear to go into too curious inquiries regarding the Lady Maria's + antecedents. I have my own opinion about Madame Bernstein's. A hundred + years ago people of the great world were not so straitlaced as they are + now, when everybody is good, pure, moral, modest; when there is no + skeleton in anybody's closet; when there is no scheming; no slurring over + old stories; when no girl tries to sell herself for wealth, and no mother + abets her. Suppose my Lady Maria tries to make her little game, wherein is + her ladyship's great eccentricity? + </p> + <p> + On these points no doubt the Baroness de Bernstein thought, as she + communed with herself in her private apartment. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. An Old Story + </h2> + <p> + As my Lady Castlewood and her son and daughter passed through one door of + the saloon where they had all been seated, my Lord Castlewood departed by + another issue; and then the demure eyes looked up from the tambour-frame + on which they had persisted hitherto in examining the innocent violets and + jonquils. The eyes looked up at Harry Warrington, who stood at an + ancestral portrait under the great fireplace. He had gathered a great heap + of blushes (those flowers which bloom so rarely after gentlefolks' + springtime), and with them ornamented his honest countenance, his cheeks, + his forehead, nay, his youthful ears. + </p> + <p> + “Why did you refuse to go with our aunt, cousin?” asked the lady of the + tambour frame. + </p> + <p> + “Because your ladyship bade me stay,” answered the lad. + </p> + <p> + “I bid you stay! La! child! What one says in fun, you take in earnest! Are + all you Virginian gentlemen so obsequious as to fancy every idle word a + lady says is a command? Virginia must be a pleasant country for our sex if + it be so!” + </p> + <p> + “You said—when—when we walked in the terrace two nights since,—O + heaven!” cried Harry, with a voice trembling with emotion. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, that sweet night, cousin!” cries the Tambour-frame. + </p> + <p> + “Whe—whe—when you gave me this rose from your own neck,”—roared + out Harry, pulling suddenly a crumpled and decayed vegetable from his + waistcoat—“which I will never part with—with, no, by heavens, + whilst this heart continues to beat! You said, 'Harry, if your aunt asks + you to go away, you will go, and if you go, you will forget me.'—Didn't + you say so?” + </p> + <p> + “All men forget!” said the Virgin, with a sigh. + </p> + <p> + “In this cold selfish country they may, cousin, not in ours,” continues + Harry, yet in the same state of exaltation—“I had rather have lost + an arm almost than refused the old lady. I tell you it went to my heart to + say no to her, and she so kind to me, and who had been the means of + introducing me to—to—O heaven!” + </p> + <p> + (Here a kick to an intervening spaniel, which flies yelping from before + the fire, and a rapid advance on the tambour-frame.) “Look here, cousin! + If you were to bid me jump out of yonder window, I should do it; or + murder, I should do it.” + </p> + <p> + “La! but you need not squeeze one's hand so, you silly child!” remarks + Maria. + </p> + <p> + “I can't help it—we are so in the south. Where my heart is, I can't + help speaking my mind out, cousin—and you know where that heart is! + Ever since that evening—that—O heaven! I tell you I have + hardly slept since—I want to do something—to distinguish + myself—to be ever so great. I wish there was giants, Maria, as I + have read of in—in books, that I could go and fight 'em. I wish you + was in distress, that I might help you, somehow. I wish you wanted my + blood, that I might spend every drop of it for you. And when you told me + not to go with Madame Bernstein...” + </p> + <p> + “I tell thee, child? never.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought you told me. You said you knew I preferred my aunt to my + cousin, and I said then what I say now, 'Incomparable Maria! I prefer thee + to all the women in the world and all the angels in Paradise—and I + would go anywhere, were it to dungeons, if you ordered me!' And do you + think I would not stay anywhere, when you only desired that I should be + near you?” he added, after a moment's pause. + </p> + <p> + “Men always talk in that way—that is,—that is, I have heard + so,” said the spinster, correcting herself; “for what should a + country-bred woman know about you creatures? When you are near us, they + say you are all raptures and flames and promises and I don't know what; + when you are away, you forget all about us.” + </p> + <p> + “But I think I never want to go away as long as I live,” groaned out the + young man. “I have tired of many things; not books and that, I never cared + for study much, but games and sports which I used to be fond of when I was + a boy. Before I saw you, it was to be a soldier I most desired; I tore my + hair with rage when my poor dear brother went away instead of me on that + expedition in which we lost him. But now, I only care for one thing in the + world, and you know what that is.” + </p> + <p> + “You silly child! don't you know I am almost old enough to be...?” + </p> + <p> + “I know—I know! but what is that to me? Hasn't your br...—well, + never mind who, some of 'em-told me stories against you, and didn't they + show me the Family Bible, where all your names are down, and the dates of + your birth?” + </p> + <p> + “The cowards! Who did that?” cried out Lady Maria. “Dear Harry, tell me + who did that? Was it my mother-in-law, the grasping, odious, abandoned, + brazen harpy? Do you know all about her? How she married my father in his + cups—the horrid hussey!—and...” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed it wasn't Lady Castlewood,” interposed the wondering Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Then it was my aunt,” continued the infuriate lady. “A pretty moralist, + indeed! A bishop's widow, forsooth, and I should like to know whose widow + before and afterwards. Why, Harry, she intrigue: with the Pretender, and + with the Court of Hanover, and, I dare say, would with the Court of Rome + and the Sultan of Turkey if she had had the means. Do you know who her + second husband was? A creature who...” + </p> + <p> + “But our aunt never spoke a word against you,” broke in Harry, more and + more amazed at the nymph's vehemence. + </p> + <p> + She checked her anger. In the inquisitive countenance opposite to her she + thought she read some alarm as to the temper which she was exhibiting. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well! I am a fool,” she said. “I want thee to think well of me, + Harry!” + </p> + <p> + A hand is somehow put out and seized and, no doubt, kissed by the + rapturous youth. “Angel!” he cries, looking into her face with his eager, + honest eyes. + </p> + <p> + Two fish-pools irradiated by a pair of stars would not kindle to greater + warmth than did those elderly orbs into which Harry poured his gaze. + Nevertheless, he plunged into their blue depths, and fancied he saw heaven + in their calm brightness. So that silly dog (of whom Aesop or the + Spelling-book used to tell us in youth) beheld a beef-bone in the pond, + and snapped at it, and lost the beef-bone he was carrying. O absurd cur! + He saw the beefbone in his own mouth reflected in the treacherous pool, + which dimpled, I dare say, with ever so many smiles, coolly sucked up the + meat, and returned to its usual placidity. Ah! what a heap of wreck lie + beneath some of those quiet surfaces! What treasures we have dropped into + them! What chased golden dishes, what precious jewels of love, what bones + after bones, and sweetest heart's flesh! Do not some very faithful and + unlucky dogs jump in bodily, when they are swallowed up heads and tails + entirely? When some women come to be dragged, it is a marvel what will be + found in the depths of them. Cavete, canes! Have a care how ye lap that + water. What do they want with us, the mischievous siren sluts? A + green-eyed Naiad never rests until she has inveigled a fellow under the + water; she sings after him, she dances after him; she winds round him, + glittering tortuously; she warbles and whispers dainty secrets at his + cheek, she kisses his feet, she leers at him from out of her rushes: all + her beds sigh out, “Come, sweet youth! Hither, hither, rosy Hylas!” Pop + goes Hylas. (Surely the fable is renewed for ever and ever?) Has his + captivator any pleasure? Doth she take any account of him? No more than a + fisherman landing at Brighton does of one out of a hundred thousand + herrings.... The last time. Ulysses rowed by the Sirens' bank, he and his + men did not care though a whole shoal of them were singing and combing + their longest locks. Young Telemachus was for jumping overboard: but the + tough old crew held the silly, bawling lad. They were deaf, and could not + hear his bawling nor the sea-nymphs' singing. They were dim of sight, and + did not see how lovely the witches were. The stale, old, leering witches! + Away with ye! I dare say you have painted your cheeks by this time; your + wretched old songs are as out of fashion as Mozart, and it is all false + hair you are combing! + </p> + <p> + In the last sentence you see Lector Benevolus and Scriptor Doctissimus + figure as tough old Ulysses and his tough old Boatswain, who do not care a + quid of tobacco for any Siren at Sirens' Point; but Harry Warrington is + green Telemachus, who, be sure, was very unlike the soft youth in the good + Bishop of Cambray's twaddling story. He does not see that the siren paints + the lashes from under which she ogles him; will put by into a box when she + has done the ringlets into which she would inveigle him; and if she eats + him, as she proposes to do, will crunch his bones with a new set of + grinders just from the dentist's, and warranted for mastication. The song + is not stale to Harry Warrington, nor the voice cracked or out of tune + that sings it. But—but—oh, dear me, Brother Boatswain! Don't + you remember how pleasant the opera was when we first heard it? Cosi fan + tutti was its name—Mozart's music. Now, I dare say, they have other + words, and other music, and other singers and fiddlers, and another great + crowd in the pit. Well, well, Cosi fan tutti is still upon the bills, and + they are going on singing it over and over and over. + </p> + <p> + Any man or woman with a pennyworth of brains, or the like precious amount + of personal experience, or who has read a novel before, must, when Harry + pulled out those faded vegetables just now, have gone off into a + digression of his own, as the writer confesses for himself he was + diverging whilst he has been writing the last brace of paragraphs. If he + sees a pair of lovers whispering in a garden alley or the embrasure of a + window, or a pair of glances shot across the room from Jenny to the + artless Jessamy, he falls to musing on former days when, etc. etc. These + things follow each other by a general law, which is not as old as the + hills, to be sure, but as old as the people who walk up and down them. + When, I say, a lad pulls a bunch of amputated and now decomposing greens + from his breast and falls to kissing it, what is the use of saying much + more? As well tell the market-gardener's name from whom the slip-rose was + bought—the waterings, clippings, trimmings, manurings, the plant has + undergone—as tell how Harry Warrington came by it. Rose, elle a vecu + la vie des roses, has been trimmed, has been watered, has been potted, has + been sticked, has been cut, worn, given away, transferred to yonder boy's + pocket-book and bosom, according to the laws and fate appertaining to + roses. + </p> + <p> + And how came Maria to give it to Harry? And how did he come to want it and + to prize it so passionately when he got the bit of rubbish? Is not one + story as stale as the other? Are not they all alike? What is the use, I + say, of telling them over and over? Harry values that rose because Maria + has ogled him in the old way; because she has happened to meet him in the + garden in the old way; because he has taken her hand in the old way; + because they have whispered to one another behind the old curtain (the + gaping old rag, as if everybody could not peep through it!); because, in + this delicious weather, they have happened to be early risers and go into + the park; because dear Goody Jenkins in the village happened to have a bad + knee, and my lady Maria went to read to her, and gave her calves'-foot + jelly, and because somebody, of course, must carry the basket. Whole + chapters might have been written to chronicle all these circumstances, but + A quoi bon? The incidents of life, and love-making especially, I believe + to resemble each other so much, that I am surprised, gentlemen and ladies, + you read novels any more. Psha! Of course that rose in young Harry's + pocket-book had grown, and had budded, and had bloomed, and was now + rotting, like other roses. I suppose you will want me to say that the + young fool kissed it next? Of course he kissed it. What were lips made + for, pray, but for smiling and simpering, and (possibly) humbugging, and + kissing, and opening to receive mutton-chops, cigars, and so forth? I + cannot write this part of the story of our Virginians, because Harry did + not dare to write it himself to anybody at home, because, if he wrote any + letters to Maria (which, of course, he did, as they were in the same + house, and might meet each other as much as they liked), they were + destroyed; because he afterwards chose to be very silent about the story, + and we can't have it from her ladyship, who never told the truth about + anything. But cui bono? I say again. What is the good of telling the + story? My gentle reader, take your story: take mine. To-morrow it shall be + Miss Fanny's, who is just walking away with her doll to the schoolroom and + the governess (poor victim! she has a version of it in her desk): and next + day it shall be Baby's, who is bawling out on the stairs for his bottle. + </p> + <p> + Maria might like to have and exercise power over the young Virginian; but + she did not want that Harry should quarrel with his aunt for her sake, or + that Madame de Bernstein should be angry with her. Harry was not the Lord + of Virginia yet: he was only the Prince, and the Queen might marry and + have other Princes, and the laws of primogeniture might not be established + in Virginia, qu'en savait elle? My lord her brother and she had exchanged + no words at all about the delicate business. But they understood each + other, and the Earl had a way of understanding things without speaking. He + knew his Maria perfectly well: in the course of a life of which not a + little had been spent in her brother's company and under his roof, Maria's + disposition, ways, tricks, faults, had come to be perfectly understood by + the head of the family; and she would find her little schemes checked or + aided by him, as to his lordship seemed good, and without need of any + words between them. Thus three days before, when she happened to be going + to see that poor dear old Goody, who was ill with the sore knee in the + village (and when Harry Warrington happened to be walking behind the elms + on the green too), my lord with his dogs about him, and his gardener + walking after him, crossed the court, just as Lady Maria was tripping to + the gate-house—and his lordship called his sister, and said: “Molly, + you are going to see Goody Jenkins. You are a charitable soul, my dear. + Give Gammer Jenkins this half-crown for me—unless our cousin, + Warrington, has already given her money. A pleasant walk to you. Let her + want for nothing.” And at supper, my lord asked Mr. Warrington many + questions about the poor in Virginia, and the means of maintaining them, + to which the young gentleman gave the best answers he might. His lordship + wished that in the old country there were no more poor people than in the + new: and recommended Harry to visit the poor and people of every degree, + indeed, high and low—in the country to look at the agriculture, in + the city at the manufactures and municipal institutions—to which + edifying advice Harry acceded with becoming modesty and few words, and + Madame Bernstein nodded approval over her piquet with the chaplain. Next + day, Harry was in my lord's justice-room: the next day he was out ever so + long with my lord on the farm—and coming home, what does my lord do, + but look in on a sick tenant? I think Lady Maria was out on that day, too; + she had been reading good books to that poor dear Goody Jenkins, though I + don't suppose Madame Bernstein ever thought of asking about her niece. + </p> + <p> + “CASTLEWOOD, HAMPSHIRE, ENGLAND, August 5, 1757. + </p> + <p> + “MY DEAR MOUNTAIN—At first, as I wrote, I did not like Castlewood, + nor my cousins there, very much. Now, I am used to their ways, and we + begin to understand each other much better. With my duty to my mother, + tell her, I hope, that considering her ladyship's great kindness to me, + Madam Esmond will be reconciled to her half-sister, the Baroness de + Bernstein. The Baroness, you know, was my Grandmamma's daughter by her + first husband, Lord Castlewood (only Grandpapa really was the real lord); + however, that was not his, that is, the other Lord Castlewood's fault, you + know, and he was very kind to Grandpapa, who always spoke most kindly of + him to us as you know. + </p> + <p> + “Madame the Baroness Bernstein first married a clergyman, Reverend Mr. + Tusher, who was so learned and good, and such a favourite of his Majesty, + as was my aunt too, that he was made a Bishop. When he died, Our gracious + King continued his friendship to my aunt; who married a Hanoverian + nobleman, who occupied a post at the Court—and, I believe, left the + Baroness very rich. My cousin, my Lord Castlewood, told me so much about + her, and I am sure I have found from her the greatest kindness and + affection. + </p> + <p> + “The (Dowiger) Countess Castlewood and my cousins Will and Lady Fanny have + been described per last, that went by the Falmouth packet on the 20th ult. + The ladies are not changed since then. Me and Cousin Will are very good + friends. We have rode out a good deal. We have had some famous cocking + matches at Hampton and Winton. My cousin is a sharp blade, but I think I + have shown him that we in Virginia know a thing or two. Reverend Mr. + Sampson, chaplain of the famaly, most excellent preacher, without any + biggatry. + </p> + <p> + “The kindness of my cousin the Earl improves every day, and by next year's + ship I hope my mother will send his lordship some of our best roll tobacco + (for tennants) and hamms. He is most charatable to the poor. His sister, + Lady Maria, equally so. She sits for hours reading good books to the sick: + she is most beloved in the village.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense!” said a lady to whom Harry submitted his precious manuscript. + “Why do you flatter me, cousin?” + </p> + <p> + “You are beloved in the village and out of it,” said Harry, with a knowing + emphasis, “and I have flattered you, as you call it, a little more still, + farther on.” + </p> + <p> + “There is a sick old woman there, whom Madam Esmond would like, a most + raligious, good, old lady. + </p> + <p> + “Lady Maria goes very often to read to her; which, she says, gives her + comfort. But though her Ladyship hath the sweetest voice, both in speaking + and singeing (she plays the church organ, and singes there most + beautifully), I cannot think Gammer Jenkins can have any comfort from it, + being very deaf, by reason of her great age. She has her memory perfectly, + however, and remembers when my honoured Grandmother Rachel Lady Castlewood + lived here. She says, my Grandmother was the best woman in the whole + world, gave her a cow when she was married, and cured her husband, Gaffer + Jenkins, of the collects, which he used to have very bad. I suppose it was + with the Pills and Drops which my honoured Mother put up in my boxes, when + I left dear Virginia. Having never been ill since, have had no use for the + pills. Gumbo hath, eating and drinking a great deal too much in the + Servants' Hall. The next angel to my Grandmother (N.B. I think I spelt + angel wrong per last), Gammer Jenkins says, is Lady Maria, who sends her + duty to her Aunt in Virginia, and remembers her, and my Grandpapa and + Grandmamma when they were in Europe, and she was a little girl. You know + they have Grandpapa's picture here, and I live in the very rooms which he + had, and which are to be called mine, my Lord Castlewood says. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +“Having no more to say, at present, I close with best love and duty to +my honoured Mother, and with respects to Mr. Dempster, and a kiss for +Fanny, and kind remembrances to Old Gumbo, Nathan, Old and Young Dinah, +and the pointer dog and Slut, and all friends, from their well-wisher + +“HENRY ESMOND WARRINGTON.” + </pre> + <p> + “Have wrote and sent my duty to my Uncle Warrington in Norfolk. No anser + as yet.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope the spelling is right, cousin?” asked the author of the letter, + from the critic to whom he showed it. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis quite well enough spelt for any person of fashion,” answered Lady + Maria, who did not choose to be examined too closely regarding the + orthography. + </p> + <p> + “One word 'Angel,' I know, I spelt wrong in writing to my mamma, but I + have learned a way of spelling it right, now.” + </p> + <p> + “And how is that, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “I think 'tis by looking at you, cousin;” saying which words, Mr. Harry + made her ladyship a low bow, and accompanied the bow by one of his best + blushes, as if he were offering her a bow and a bouquet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. Containing both Love and Luck + </h2> + <p> + At the next meal, when the family party assembled, there was not a trace + of displeasure in Madame de Bernstein's countenance, and her behaviour to + all the company, Harry included, was perfectly kind and cordial. She + praised the cook this time, declared the fricassee was excellent, and that + there were no eels anywhere like those in the Castlewood moats; would not + allow that the wine was corked, or hear of such extravagance as opening a + fresh bottle for a useless old woman like her; gave Madam Esmond + Warrington, of Virginia, as her toast, when the new wine was brought, and + hoped Harry had brought away his mamma's permission to take back an + English wife with him. He did not remember his grandmother; her, Madame de + Bernstein's, dear mother? The Baroness amused the company with numerous + stories of her mother, of her beauty and goodness, of her happiness with + her second husband, though the wife was so much older than Colonel Esmond. + To see them together was delightful, she had heard. Their attachment was + celebrated all through the country. To talk of disparity in marriages was + vain after that. My Lady Castlewood and her two children held their peace + whilst Madame Bernstein prattled. Harry was enraptured, and Maria + surprised. Lord Castlewood was puzzled to know what sudden freak or scheme + had occasioned this prodigious amiability on the part of his aunt; but did + not allow the slightest expression of solicitude or doubt to appear on his + countenance, which wore every mark of the most perfect satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness's good-humour infected the whole family; not one person at + table escaped a gracious word from her. In reply to some compliment to Mr. + Will, when that artless youth uttered an expression of satisfaction and + surprise at his aunt's behaviour, she frankly said: “Complimentary, my + dear! Of course I am. I want to make up with you for having been + exceedingly rude to everybody this morning. When I was a child, and my + father and mother were alive, and lived here, I remember I used to adopt + exactly the same behaviour. If I had been naughty in the morning, I used + to try and coax my parents at night. I remember in this very room, at this + very table—oh, ever so many hundred years ago!—so coaxing my + father, and mother, and your grandfather, Harry Warrington; and there were + eels for supper, as we have had them to-night, and it was that dish of + collared eels which brought the circumstance back to my mind. I had been + just as wayward that day, when I was seven years old, as I am to-day, when + I am seventy, and so I confess my sins, and ask to be forgiven, like a + good girl.” + </p> + <p> + “I absolve your ladyship!” cried the chaplain, who made one of the party. + </p> + <p> + “But your reverence does not know how cross and ill-tempered I was. I + scolded my sister, Castlewood: I scolded her children, I boxed Harry + Warrington's ears: and all because he would not go with me to Tunbridge + Wells.” + </p> + <p> + “But I will go, madam; I will ride with you with all the pleasure in + life,” said Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “You see, Mr. Chaplain, what good, dutiful children they all are. 'Twas I + alone who was cross and peevish. Oh, it was cruel of me to treat them so! + Maria, I ask your pardon, my dear.” + </p> + <p> + “Sure, madam, you have done me no wrong,” says Maria to this humble + suppliant. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, I have, a very great wrong, child! Because I was weary of myself, + I told you that your company would be wearisome to me. You offered to come + with me to Tunbridge, and I rudely refused you.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, ma'am, if you were sick, and my presence annoyed you... + </p> + <p> + “But it will not annoy me! You were most kind to say that you would come. + I do, of all things, beg, pray, entreat, implore, command that you will + come.” + </p> + <p> + My lord filled himself a glass, and sipped it. Most utterly unconscious + did his lordship look. This, then, was the meaning of the previous comedy. + </p> + <p> + “Anything which can give my aunt pleasure, I am sure, will delight me,” + said Maria, trying to look as happy as possible. + </p> + <p> + “You must come and stay with me, my dear, and I promise to be good and + good-humoured. My dear lord, you will spare your sister to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Lady Maria Esmond is quite of age to judge for herself about such a + matter,” said his lordship, with a bow. “If any of us can be of use to + you, madam, you sure ought to command us.” Which sentence, being + interpreted, no doubt meant, “Plague take the old woman! She is taking + Maria away in order to separate her from this young Virginian.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Tunbridge will be delightful!” sighed Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Sampson will go and see Goody Jones for you,” my lord continued. + </p> + <p> + Harry drew pictures with his finger on the table. What delights had he not + been speculating on? What walks, what rides, what interminable + conversations, what delicious shrubberies and sweet sequestered + summer-houses, what poring over music-books, what moonlight, what billing + and cooing, had he not imagined! Yes, the day was coming. They were all + departing—my Lady Castlewood to her friends, Madame Bernstein to her + waters—and he was to be left alone with his divine charmer—alone + with her and unutterable rapture! The thought of the pleasure was + maddening. That these people were all going away. That he was to be left + to enjoy that heaven—to sit at the feet of that angel and kiss the + hem of that white robe. O Gods! 'twas too great bliss to be real! “I knew + it couldn't be,” thought poor Harry. “I knew something would happen to + take her from me.” + </p> + <p> + “But you will ride with us to Tunbridge, nephew Warrington, and keep us + from the highwaymen?” said Madame de Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington hoped the company did not see how red he grew. He tried + to keep his voice calm and without tremor. Yes, he would ride with their + ladyships, and he was sure they need fear no danger. Danger! Harry felt he + would rather like danger than not. He would slay ten thousand highwaymen + if they approached his mistress's coach. At least, he would ride by that + coach, and now and again see her eyes at the window. He might not speak to + her, but he should be near her. He should press the blessed hand at the + inn at night, and feel it reposing on his as he led her to the carriage at + morning. They would be two whole days going to Tunbridge, and one day or + two he might stay there. Is not the poor wretch who is left for execution + at Newgate thankful for even two or three days of respite? + </p> + <p> + You see, we have only indicated, we have not chosen to describe, at + length, Mr. Harry Warrington's condition, or that utter depth of + imbecility into which the poor young wretch was now plunged. Some boys + have the complaint of love favourably and gently. Others, when they get + the fever, are sick unto death with it; or, recovering, carry the marks of + the malady down with them to the grave, or to remotest old age. I say, it + is not fair to take down a young fellow's words when he is raging in that + delirium. Suppose he is in love with a woman twice as old as himself; have + we not all read of the young gentleman who committed suicide in + consequence of his fatal passion for Mademoiselle Ninon de l'Enclos who + turned out to be his grandmother? Suppose thou art making an ass of + thyself, young Harry Warrington, of Virginia! are there not people in + England who heehaw too? Kick and abuse him, you who have never brayed; but + bear with him, all honest fellow-cardophagi: long-eared messmates, + recognise a brother-donkey! + </p> + <p> + “You will stay with us for a day or two at the Wells,” Madame Bernstein + continued. “You will see us put into our lodgings. Then you can return to + Castlewood and the partridge-shooting, and all the fine things which you + and my lord are to study together.” + </p> + <p> + Harry bowed an acquiescence. A whole week of heaven! Life was not + altogether a blank, then. + </p> + <p> + “And as there is sure to be plenty of company at the Wells, I shall be + able to present you,” the lady graciously added. + </p> + <p> + “Company! ah! I shan't need company,” sighed out Harry. “I mean that I + shall be quite contented in the company of you two ladies,” he added, + eagerly; and no doubt Mr. Will wondered at his cousin's taste. + </p> + <p> + As this was to be the last night of cousin Harry's present visit to + Castlewood, cousin Will suggested that he, and his reverence, and + Warrington should meet at the quarters of the latter and make up accounts, + to which process, Harry, being a considerable winner in his play + transactions with the two gentlemen, had no objection. Accordingly, when + the ladies retired for the night, and my lord withdrew—as his custom + was—to his own apartments, the three gentlemen all found themselves + assembled in Mr. Harry's little room before the punch-bowl, which was + Will's usual midnight companion. + </p> + <p> + But Will's method of settling accounts was by producing a couple of fresh + packs of cards, and offering to submit Harry's debt to the process of + being doubled or acquitted. The poor chaplain had no more ready cash than + Lord Castlewood's younger brother. Harry Warrington wanted to win the + money of neither. Would he give pain to the brother of his adored Maria, + or allow any one of her near kinsfolk to tax him with any want of + generosity or forbearance? He was ready to give them their revenge, as the + gentlemen proposed. Up to midnight he would play with them for what stakes + they chose to name. And so they set to work, and the dice-box was rattled + and the cards shuffled and dealt. + </p> + <p> + Very likely he did not think about the cards at all. Very likely he was + thinking;—“At this moment, my beloved one is sitting with her + beauteous golden locks outspread under the fingers of her maid. Happy + maid! Now she is on her knees, the sainted creature, addressing prayers to + that Heaven which is the abode of angels like her. Now she has sunk to + rest behind her damask curtains. Oh, bless, bless her!” “You double us all + round? I will take a card upon each of my two. Thank you, that will do—a + ten—now, upon the other, a queen,—two natural vingt-et-uns, + and as you doubled us you owe me so-and-so.” + </p> + <p> + I imagine volleys of oaths from Mr. William, and brisk pattering of + imprecations from his reverence, at the young Virginian's luck. He won + because he did not want to win. Fortune, that notoriously coquettish jade, + came to him, because he was thinking of another nymph, who possibly was as + fickle. Will and the chaplain may have played against him, solicitous + constantly to increase their stakes, and supposing that the wealthy + Virginian wished to let them recover all their losings. But this was by no + means Harry Warrington's notion. When he was at home he had taken a part + in scores of such games as these (whereby we may be led to suppose that he + kept many little circumstances of his life mum from his lady mother), and + had learned to play and pay. And as he practised fair play towards his + friends he expected it from them in return. + </p> + <p> + “The luck does seem to be with me, cousin,” he said, in reply to some more + oaths and growls of Will, “and I am sure I do not want to press it; but + you don't suppose I'm going to be such a fool as to fling it away + altogether? I have quite a heap of your promises on paper by this time. If + we are to go on playing, let us have the dollars on the table, if you + please; or, if not the money, the worth of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Always the way with you rich men,” grumbled Will. “Never lend except on + security—always win because you are rich.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, cousin, you have been of late for ever flinging my riches into my + face. I have enough for my wants and for my creditors.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that we could all say as much!” groaned the chaplain. “How happy we, + and how happy the duns would be! What have we got to play against our + conqueror? There is my new gown, Mr. Warrington. Will you set me five + pieces against it? I have but to preach in stuff if I lose. Stop! I have a + Chrysostom, a Foxe's Martyrs, a Baker's Chronicle, and a cow and her calf. + What shall we set against these?” + </p> + <p> + “I will bet one of cousin Will's notes for twenty pounds,” cried Mr. + Warrington, producing one of those documents. + </p> + <p> + “Or I have my brown mare, and will back her red against your honour's + notes of hand, but against ready money.” + </p> + <p> + “I have my horse. I will back my horse against you for fifty,” bawls out + Will. + </p> + <p> + Harry took the offers of both gentlemen. In the course of ten minutes the + horse and the bay mare had both changed owners. Cousin William swore more + fiercely than ever. The parson dashed his wig to the ground, and emulated + his pupil in the loudness of his objurgations. Mr. Harry Warrington was + quite calm, and not the least elated by his triumph. They had asked him to + play, and he had played. He knew he should win. O beloved slumbering + angel! he thought, am I not sure of victory when you are kind to me? He + was looking out from his window towards the casement on the opposite side + of the court, which he knew to be hers. He had forgot about his victims + and their groans, and ill-luck, ere they crossed the court. Under yonder + brilliant flickering star, behind yonder casement where the lamp was + burning faintly, was his joy, and heart, and treasure. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. Facilis Descensus + </h2> + <p> + Whilst the good old Bishop of Cambray, in his romance lately mentioned, + described the disconsolate condition of Calypso at the departure of + Ulysses, I forget whether he mentioned the grief of Calypso's lady's maid + on taking leave of Odysseus's own gentleman. The menials must have wept + together in the kitchen precincts whilst the master and mistress took a + last wild embrace in the drawing-room; they must have hung round each + other in the fore-cabin, whilst their principals broke their hearts in the + grand saloon. When the bell rang for the last time, and Ulysses's mate + bawled, “Now! any one for shore!” Calypso and her female attendant must + have both walked over the same plank, with beating hearts and streaming + eyes; both must have waved pocket-handkerchiefs (of far different value + and texture), as they stood on the quay, to their friends on the departing + vessel, whilst the people on the land, and the crew crowding in the ship's + bows, shouted hip, hip, huzzay (or whatever may be the equivalent Greek + for the salutation) to all engaged on that voyage. But the point to be + remembered is, that if Calypso ne pouvait se consoler, Calypso's maid ne + pouvait se consoler non plus. They had to walk the same plank of grief, + and feel the same pang of separation; on their return home, they might not + use pocket-handkerchiefs of the same texture and value, but the tears, no + doubt, were as salt and plentiful which one shed in her marble halls, and + the other poured forth in the servants' ditto. + </p> + <p> + Not only did Harry Warrington leave Castlewood a victim to love, but Gumbo + quitted the same premises a prey to the same delightful passion. His wit, + accomplishments, good-humour, his skill in dancing, cookery, and music, + had endeared him to the whole female domestic circle. More than one of the + men might be jealous of him, but the ladies all were with him. There was + no such objection to the poor black men then in England as has obtained + since among white-skinned people. Theirs was a condition not perhaps of + equality, but they had a sufferance and a certain grotesque sympathy from + all; and from women, no doubt, a kindness much more generous. When Ledyard + and Parke, in Blackmansland, were persecuted by the men, did they not find + the black women pitiful and kind to them? Women are always kind towards + our sex. What (mental) negroes do they not cherish? what (moral) + hunchbacks do they not adore? what lepers, what idiots, what dull + drivellers, what misshapen monsters (I speak figuratively) do they not + fondle and cuddle? Gumbo was treated by the women as kindly as many people + no better than himself: it was only the men in the servants'-hall who + rejoiced at the Virginian lad's departure. I should like to see him taking + leave. I should like to see Molly housemaid stealing to the + terrace-gardens in the grey dawning to cull a wistful posy. I should like + to see Betty kitchenmaid cutting off a thick lock of her chestnut ringlets + which she proposed to exchange for a woolly token from young Gumbo's pate. + Of course he said he was regum progenies, a descendant of Ashantee kings. + In Caffraria, Connaught and other places now inhabited by hereditary + bondsmen, there must have been vast numbers of these potent sovereigns in + former times, to judge from their descendants now extant. + </p> + <p> + At the morning announced for Madame de Bernstein's departure, all the + numerous domestics of Castlewood crowded about the doors and passages, + some to have a last glimpse of her ladyship's men and the fascinating + Gumbo, some to take leave of her ladyship's maid, all to waylay the + Baroness and her nephew for parting fees, which it was the custom of that + day largely to distribute among household servants. One and the other gave + liberal gratuities to the liveried society, to the gentlemen in black and + ruffles, and to the swarm of female attendants. Castlewood was the home of + the Baroness's youth; and as for her honest Harry, who had not only lived + at free charges in the house, but had won horses and money—or + promises of money—from his cousin and the unlucky chaplain, he was + naturally of a generous turn, and felt that at this moment he ought not to + stint his benevolent disposition. “My mother, I know,” he thought, “will + wish me to be liberal to all the retainers of the Esmond family.” So he + scattered about his gold pieces to right and left, and as if he had been + as rich as Gumbo announced him to be. There was no one who came near him + but had a share in his bounty. From the major-domo to the shoeblack, Mr. + Harry had a peace-offering for them all. To the grim housekeeper in her + still-room, to the feeble old porter in his lodge, he distributed some + token of his remembrance. When a man is in love with one woman in a + family, it is astonishing how fond he becomes of every person connected + with it. He ingratiates himself with the maids; he is bland with the + butler; he interests himself about the footman; he runs on errands for the + daughters; he gives advice and lends money to the young son at college; he + pats little dogs which he would kick otherwise; he smiles at old stories + which would make him break out in yawns, were they uttered by any one but + papa; he drinks sweet port wine for which he would curse the steward and + the whole committee of a club; he bears even with the cantankerous old + maiden aunt; he beats time when darling little Fanny performs her piece on + the piano; and smiles when wicked, lively little Bobby upsets the coffee + over his shirt. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington, in his way, and according to the customs of that age, + had for a brief time past (by which I conclude that only for a brief time + had his love been declared and accepted) given to the Castlewood family + all these artless testimonies of his affection for one of them. Cousin + Will should have won back his money and welcome, or have won as much of + Harry's own as the lad could spare. Nevertheless, the lad, though a lover, + was shrewd, keen, and fond of sport and fair play, and a judge of a good + horse when he saw one. Having played for and won all the money which Will + had, besides a great number of Mr. Esmond's valuable autographs, Harry was + very well pleased to win Will's brown horse—that very quadruped + which had nearly pushed him into the water on the first evening of his + arrival at Castlewood. He had seen the horse's performance often, and in + the midst of all his passion and romance, was not sorry to be possessed of + such a sound, swift, well-bred hunter and roadster. When he had gazed at + the stars sufficiently as they shone over his mistress's window, and put + her candle to bed, he repaired to his own dormitory, and there, no doubt, + thought of his Maria and his horse with youthful satisfaction, and how + sweet it would be to have one pillioned on the other, and to make the tour + of all the island on such an animal with such a pair of white arms round + his waist. He fell asleep ruminating on these things, and meditating a + million of blessings on his Maria, in whose company he was to luxuriate at + least for a week more. + </p> + <p> + In the early morning poor Chaplain Sampson sent over his little black mare + by the hands of his groom, footman, and gardener, who wept and bestowed a + great number of kisses on the beast's white nose as he handed him over to + Gumbo. Gumbo and his master were both affected by the fellow's + sensibility; the negro servant showing his sympathy by weeping, and Harry + by producing a couple of guineas, with which he astonished and speedily + comforted the chaplain's boy. Then Gumbo and the late groom led the beast + away to the stable, having commands to bring him round with Mr. William's + horse after breakfast, at the hour when Madam Bernstein's carriages were + ordered. + </p> + <p> + So courteous was he to his aunt, or so grateful for her departure, that + the master of the house even made his appearance at the morning meal, in + order to take leave of his guests. The ladies and the chaplain were + present—the only member of the family absent was Will: who, however, + left a note for his cousin, in which Will stated, in exceedingly bad + spelling, that he was obliged to go away to Salisbury Races that morning, + but that he had left the horse which his cousin won last night, and which + Tom, Mr. Will's groom, would hand over to Mr. Warrington's servant. Will's + absence did not prevent the rest of the party from drinking a dish of tea + amicably, and in due time the carriages rolled into the courtyard, the + servants packed them with the Baroness's multiplied luggage, and the + moment of departure arrived. + </p> + <p> + A large open landau contained the stout Baroness and her niece; a couple + of men-servants mounting on the box before them with pistols and + blunderbusses ready in event of a meeting with highwaymen. In another + carriage were their ladyships' maids, and another servant in guard of the + trunks, which, vast and numerous as they were, were as nothing compared to + the enormous baggage-train accompanying a lady of the present time. Mr. + Warrington's modest valises were placed in this second carriage under the + maid's guardianship, and Mr. Gumbo proposed to ride by the window for the + chief part of the journey. + </p> + <p> + My lord, with his stepmother and Lady Fanny, accompanied their kinswoman + to the carriage steps, and bade her farewell with many dutiful embraces. + Her Lady Maria followed in a riding-dress, which Harry Warrington thought + the most becoming costume in the world. A host of servants stood around, + and begged Heaven bless her ladyship. The Baroness's departure was known + in the village, and scores of the folks there stood waiting under the + trees outside the gates, and huzzayed and waved their hats as the + ponderous vehicles rolled away. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo was gone for Mr. Warrington's horses, as my lord, with his arm under + his young guest's, paced up and down the court. “I hear you carry away + some of our horses out of Castlewood?” my lord said. + </p> + <p> + Harry blushed. “A gentleman cannot refuse a fair game at the cards,” he + said. “I never wanted to play, nor would have played for money had not my + cousin William forced me. As for the chaplain, it went to my heart to win + from him, but he was as eager as my cousin.” + </p> + <p> + “I know—I know! There is no blame to you, my boy. At Rome you can't + help doing as Rome does; and I am very glad that you have been able to + give Will a lesson. He is mad about play—would gamble his coat off + his back—and I and the family have had to pay his debts ever so many + times. May I ask how much you have won of him?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, some eighteen pieces the first day or two, and his note for a + hundred and twenty more, and the brown horse, sixty—that makes nigh + upon two hundred. But, you know, cousin, all was fair, and it was even + against my will that we played at all. Will ain't a match for me, my lord—that + is the fact. Indeed he is not.” + </p> + <p> + “He is a match for most people, though,” said my lord. “His brown horse, I + think you said?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. His brown horse—Prince William, out of Constitution. You don't + suppose I would set him sixty against his bay, my lord?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I didn't know. I saw Will riding out this morning; most likely I did + not remark what horse he was on. And you won the black mare from the + parson?” + </p> + <p> + “For fourteen. He will mount Gumbo very well. Why does not the rascal come + round with the horses?” Harry's mind was away to lovely Maria. He longed + to be trotting by her side. + </p> + <p> + “When you get to Tunbridge, cousin Harry, you must be on the look-out + against sharper players than the chaplain and Will. There is all sorts of + queer company at the Wells.” + </p> + <p> + “A Virginian learns pretty well to take care of himself, my lord, says + Harry, with a knowing nod. + </p> + <p> + “So it seems! I recommend my sister to thee, Harry. Although she is not a + baby in years, she is as innocent as one. Thou wilt see that she comes to + no mischief?” + </p> + <p> + “I will guard her with my life, my lord!” cries Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Thou art a brave fellow. By the way, cousin, unless you are very fond of + Castlewood, I would in your case not be in a great hurry to return to this + lonely, tumble-down old house. I want myself to go to another place I + have, and shall scarce be back here till the partridge-shooting. Go you + and take charge of the women, of my sister and the Baroness, will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed I will,” said Harry, his heart beating with happiness at the + thought. + </p> + <p> + “And I will write thee word when you shall bring my sister back to me. + Here come the horses. Have you bid adieu to the Countess and Lady Fanny? + They are kissing their hands to you from the music-room balcony.” + </p> + <p> + Harry ran up to bid these ladies a farewell. He made that ceremony very + brief, for he was anxious to be off to the charmer of his heart; and came + downstairs to mount his newly-gotten steed, which Gumbo, himself astride + on the parson's black mare, held by the rein. + </p> + <p> + There was Gumbo on the black mare, indeed, and holding another horse. But + it was a bay horse, not a brown—a bay horse with broken knees—an + aged, worn-out quadruped. + </p> + <p> + “What is this?” cries Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Your honour's new horse,” says the groom, touching his cap. + </p> + <p> + “This brute?” exclaims the young gentleman, with one or more of those + expressions then in use in England and Virginia. “Go and bring me round + Prince William, Mr. William's horse, the brown horse.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. William have rode Prince William this morning away to Salisbury + Races. His last words was, 'Sam, saddle my bay horse, Cato, for Mr. + Warrington this morning. He is Mr. Warrington's horse now. I sold him to + him last night.' And I know your honour is bountiful: you will consider + the groom.” + </p> + <p> + My lord could not help breaking into a laugh at these words of Sam the + groom, whilst Harry, for his part, indulged in a number more of those + remarks which politeness does not admit of our inserting here. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. William said he never could think of parting with the Prince under a + hundred and twenty,” said the groom, looking at the young man. + </p> + <p> + Lord Castlewood only laughed the more. “Will has been too much for thee, + Harry Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “Too much for me, my lord! So may a fellow with loaded dice throw sixes, + and be too much for me. I do not call this betting, I call it ch——” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington! Spare me bad words about my brother, if you please. + Depend on it, I will take care that you are righted. Farewell. Ride + quickly, or your coaches will be at Farnham before you;” and waving him an + adieu, my lord entered into the house, whilst Harry and his companion rode + out of the courtyard. The young Virginian was much too eager to rejoin the + carriages and his charmer, to remark the unutterable love and affection + which Gumbo shot from his fine eyes towards a young creature in the + porter's lodge. + </p> + <p> + When the youth was gone, the chaplain and my lord sate down to finish + their breakfast in peace and comfort. The two ladies did not return to + this meal. + </p> + <p> + “That was one of Will's confounded rascally tricks,” says my lord. “If our + cousin breaks Will's head I should not wonder.” + </p> + <p> + “He is used to the operation, my lord, and yet,” adds the chaplain, with a + grin, “when we were playing last night, the colour of the horse was not + mentioned. I could not escape, having but one: and the black boy has + ridden off on him. The young Virginian plays like a man, to do him + justice.” + </p> + <p> + “He wins because he does not care about losing. I think there can be + little doubt but that he is very well to do. His mother's law-agents are + my lawyers, and they write that the property is quite a principality, and + grows richer every year.” + </p> + <p> + “If it were a kingdom I know whom Mr. Warrington would make queen of it,” + said the obsequious chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Who can account for taste, parson?” asks his lordship, with a sneer. “All + men are so. The first woman I was in love with myself was forty; and as + jealous as if she had been fifteen. It runs in the family. Colonel Esmond + (he in scarlet and the breastplate yonder) married my grandmother, who was + almost old enough to be his. If this lad chooses to take out an elderly + princess to Virginia, we must not balk him.” + </p> + <p> + “'Twere a consummation devoutly to be wished!” cries the chaplain. “Had I + not best go to Tunbridge Wells myself, my lord, and be on the spot, and + ready to exercise my sacred function in behalf of the young couple?” + </p> + <p> + “You shall have a pair of new nags, parson, if you do,” said my lord. And + with this we leave them peaceable over a pipe of tobacco after breakfast. + </p> + <p> + Harry was in such a haste to join the carriages that he almost forgot to + take off his hat, and acknowledge the cheers of the Castlewood villagers: + they all liked the lad, whose frank cordial ways and honest face got him a + welcome in most places. Legends were still extant in Castlewood, of his + grandparents, and how his grandfather, Colonel Esmond, might have been + Lord Castlewood, but would not. Old Lockwood at the gate often told of the + Colonel's gallantry in Queen Anne's wars. His feats were exaggerated, the + behaviour of the present family was contrasted with that of the old lord + and lady: who might not have been very popular in their time, but were + better folks than those now in possession. Lord Castlewood was a hard + landlord: perhaps more disliked because he was known to be poor and + embarrassed than because he was severe. As for Mr. Will, nobody was fond + of him. The young gentleman had had many brawls and quarrels about the + village, had received and given broken heads, had bills in the + neighbouring towns which he could not or would not pay; had been arraigned + before the magistrates for tampering with village girls, and waylaid and + cudgelled by injured husbands, fathers, sweethearts. A hundred years ago + his character and actions might have been described at length by the + painter of manners; but the Comic Muse, nowadays, does not lift up Molly + Seagrim's curtain; she only indicates the presence of some one behind it, + and passes on primly, with expressions of horror, and a fan before her + eyes. The village had heard how the young Virginian squire had beaten Mr. + Will at riding, at jumping, at shooting, and finally at card-playing, for + everything is known; and they respected Harry all the more for this + superiority. Above all, they admired him on account of the reputation of + enormous wealth which Gumbo had made for his master. This fame had + travelled over the whole county, and was preceding him at this moment on + the boxes of Madame Bernstein's carriages, from which the valets, as they + descended at the inns to bait, spread astounding reports of the young + Virginian's rank and splendour. He was a prince in his own country. He had + gold mines, diamond mines, furs, tobaccos, who knew what, or how much? No + wonder the honest Britons cheered him and respected him for his + prosperity, as the noble-hearted fellows always do. I am surprised city + corporations did not address him, and offer gold boxes with the freedom of + the city—he was so rich. Ah, a proud thing it is to be a Briton, and + think that there is no country where prosperity is so much respected as in + ours; and where success receives such constant affecting testimonials of + loyalty! + </p> + <p> + So, leaving the villagers bawling, and their hats tossing in the air, + Harry spurred his sorry beast, and galloped, with Gumbo behind him, until + he came up with the cloud of dust in the midst of which his charmer's + chariot was enveloped. Penetrating into this cloud, he found himself at + the window of the carriage. The Lady Maria had the back seat to herself; + by keeping a little behind the wheels, he could have the delight of seeing + her divine eyes and smiles. She held a finger to her lip. Madame Bernstein + was already dozing on her cushions. Harry did not care to disturb the old + lady. To look at his cousin was bliss enough for him. The landscape around + him might be beautiful, but what did he heed it? All the skies and trees + of summer were as nothing compared to yonder face; the hedgerow birds sang + no such sweet music as her sweet monosyllables. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness's fat horses were accustomed to short journeys, easy paces, + and plenty of feeding; so that, ill as Harry Warrington was mounted, he + could, without much difficulty, keep pace with his elderly kinswoman. At + two o'clock they baited for a couple of hours for dinner. Mr. Warrington + paid the landlord generously. What price could be too great for the + pleasure which he enjoyed in being near his adored Maria, and having the + blissful chance of a conversation with her, scarce interrupted by the soft + breathing of Madame de Bernstein, who, after a comfortable meal, indulged + in an agreeable half-hour's slumber? In voices soft and low, Maria and her + young gentleman talked over and over again those delicious nonsenses which + people in Harry's condition never tire of hearing and uttering. + </p> + <p> + They were going to a crowded watering-place, where all sorts of beauty and + fashion would be assembled; timid Maria was certain that amongst the young + beauties, Harry would discover some, whose charms were far more worthy to + occupy his attention, than any her homely face and figure could boast of. + By all the gods, Harry vowed that Venus herself could not tempt him from + her side. It was he who for his part had occasion to fear. When the young + men of fashion beheld his peerless Maria they would crowd round her car; + they would cause her to forget the rough and humble American lad who knew + nothing of fashion or wit, who had only a faithful heart at her service. + </p> + <p> + Maria smiles, she casts her eyes to heaven, she vows that Harry knows + nothing of the truth and fidelity of women; it is his sex, on the + contrary, which proverbially is faithless, and which delights to play with + poor female hearts. A scuffle ensues; a clatter is heard among the knives + and forks of the dessert; a glass tumbles over and breaks. An “Oh!” + escapes from the innocent lips of Maria, The disturbance has been caused + by the broad cuff of Mr. Warrington's coat, which has been stretched + across the table to seize Lady Maria's hand, and has upset the wine-glass + in so doing. Surely nothing could be more natural, or indeed necessary, + than that Harry, upon hearing his sex's honour impeached, should seize + upon his fair accuser's hand, and vow eternal fidelity upon those charming + fingers? + </p> + <p> + What a part they play, or used to play, in love-making, those hands! How + quaintly they are squeezed at that period of life! How they are pushed + into conversation! what absurd vows and protests are palmed off by their + aid! What good can there be in pulling and pressing a thumb and four + fingers? I fancy I see Alexis laugh, who is haply reading this page by the + side of Araminta. To talk about thumbs indeed!... Maria looks round, for + her part, to see if Madame Bernstein has been awakened by the crash of + glass; but the old lady slumbers quite calmly in her arm-chair, so her + niece thinks there can be no harm in yielding to Harry's gentle pressure. + </p> + <p> + The horses are put to: Paradise is over—at least until the next + occasion. When my landlord enters with the bill, Harry is standing quite + at a distance from his cousin, looking from the window at the cavalcade + gathering below. Madame Bernstein wakes up from her slumber, smiling and + quite unconscious. With what profound care and reverential politeness Mr. + Warrington hands his aunt to her carriage! how demure and simple looks + Lady Maria as she follows! Away go the carriages, in the midst of a + profoundly bowing landlord and waiters; of country-folks gathered round + the blazing inn-sign; of shopmen gazing from their homely little doors; of + boys and market-folks under the colonnade of the old town-hall; of + loungers along the gabled street. “It is the famous Baroness Bernstein. + That is she, the old lady in the capuchin. It is the rich young American + who is just come from Virginia, and is worth millions and millions. Well, + sure, he might have a better horse.” The cavalcade disappears, and the + little town lapses into its usual quiet. The landlord goes back to his + friends at the club, to tell how the great folks are going to sleep at The + Bush, at Farnham, to-night. + </p> + <p> + The inn dinner had been plentiful, and all the three guests of the inn had + done justice to the good cheer. Harry had the appetite natural to his + period of life. Maria and her aunt were also not indifferent to a good + dinner: Madame Bernstein had had a comfortable nap after hers, which had + no doubt helped her to bear all the good things of the meal—the meat + pies, and the fruit pies, and the strong ale, and the heady port wine. She + reclined at ease on her seat of the landau, and looked back affably, and + smiled at Harry and exchanged a little talk with him as he rode by the + carriage side. But what ailed the beloved being who sate with her back to + the horses? Her complexion, which was exceedingly fair, was further + ornamented with a pair of red cheeks, which Harry took to be natural + roses. (You see, madam, that your surmises regarding the Lady Maria's + conduct with her cousin are quite wrong and uncharitable, and that the + timid lad had made no such experiments as you suppose, in order to + ascertain whether the roses were real or artificial. A kiss, indeed! I + blush to think you should imagine that the present writer could indicate + anything so shocking!) Maria's bright red cheeks, I say still, continued + to blush as it seemed with a strange metallic bloom: but the rest of her + face, which had used to rival the lily in whiteness, became of a jonquil + colour. Her eyes stared round with a ghastly expression. Harry was alarmed + at the agony depicted in the charmer's countenance; which not only + exhibited pain, but was exceedingly unbecoming. Madame Bernstein also at + length remarked her niece's indisposition, and asked her if sitting + backwards in the carriage made her ill, which poor Maria confessed to be + the fact. On this, the elder lady was forced to make room for her niece on + her own side, and, in the course of the drive to Farnham, uttered many + gruff, disagreeable, sarcastic remarks to her fellow-traveller, indicating + her great displeasure that Maria should be so impertinent as to be ill on + the first day of a journey. + </p> + <p> + When they reached the Bush Inn at Farnham, under which name a famous inn + has stood in Farnham town for these three hundred years—the dear + invalid retired with her maid to her bedroom: scarcely glancing a piteous + look at Harry as she retreated, and leaving the lad's mind in a strange + confusion of dismay and sympathy. Those yellow, yellow cheeks, those livid + wrinkled eyelids, that ghastly red—how ill his blessed Maria looked! + And not only how ill, but how—away, horrible thought, unmanly + suspicion! He tried to shut the idea out from his mind. He had little + appetite for supper, though the jolly Baroness partook of that repast as + if she had had no dinner; and certainly as if she had no sympathy with her + invalid niece. + </p> + <p> + She sent her major-domo to see if Lady Maria would have anything from the + table. The servant brought back word that her ladyship was still very + unwell, and declined any refreshment. + </p> + <p> + “I hope she intends to be well to-morrow morning,” cried Madame Bernstein, + rapping her little hand on the table. “I hate people to be ill in an inn, + or on a journey. Will you play piquet with me, Harry?” + </p> + <p> + Harry was happy to be able to play piquet with his aunt. “That absurd + Maria!” says Madame Bernstein, drinking from a great glass of negus, “she + takes liberties with herself. She never had a good constitution. She is + forty-one years old. All her upper teeth are false, and she can't eat with + them. Thank Heaven, I have still got every tooth in my head. How clumsily + you deal, child!” + </p> + <p> + Deal clumsily indeed! Had a dentist been extracting Harry's own grinders + at that moment, would he have been expected to mind his cards and deal + them neatly? When a man is laid on the rack at the Inquisition, is it + natural that he should smile and speak politely and coherently to the + grave, quiet Inquisitor? Beyond that little question regarding the cards, + Harry's Inquisitor did not show the smallest disturbance. Her face + indicated neither surprise, nor triumph, nor cruelty. Madame Bernstein did + not give one more stab to her niece that night: but she played at cards, + and prattled with Harry, indulging in her favourite talk about old times, + and parting from him with great cordiality and good-humour. Very likely he + did not heed her stories. Very likely other thoughts occupied his mind. + Maria is forty-one years old, Maria has false ——. Oh, + horrible, horrible! Has she a false eye? Has she false hair? Has she a + wooden leg? I envy not that boy's dreams that night. + </p> + <p> + Madame Bernstein, in the morning, said she had slept as sound as a top. + She had no remorse, that was clear. (Some folks are happy and easy in mind + when their victim is stabbed and done for.) Lady Maria made her appearance + at the breakfast-table, too. Her ladyship's indisposition was fortunately + over: her aunt congratulated her affectionately on her good looks. She + sate down to her breakfast. She looked appealingly in Harry's face. He + remarked, with his usual brilliancy and originality, that he was very glad + her ladyship was better. Why, at the tone of his voice, did she start, and + again gaze at him with frightened eyes? There sate the Chief Inquisitor, + smiling, perfectly calm, eating ham and muffins. O poor writhing, + rack-rent victim! O stony Inquisitor! O Baroness Bernstein! It was cruel! + cruel! + </p> + <p> + Round about Farnham the hops were gloriously green in the sunshine, and + the carriages drove through the richest, most beautiful country. Maria + insisted upon taking her old seat. She thanked her dear aunt. It would not + in the least incommode her now. She gazed, as she had done yesterday, in + the face of the young knight riding by the carriage side. She looked for + those answering signals which used to be lighted up in yonder two windows, + and told that love was burning within. She smiled gently at him, to which + token of regard he tried to answer with a sickly grin of recognition. + Miserable youth! Those were not false teeth he saw when she smiled. He + thought they were, and they tore and lacerated him. + </p> + <p> + And so the day sped on—sunshiny and brilliant overhead, but all over + clouds for Harry and Maria. He saw nothing: he thought of Virginia: he + remembered how he had been in love with Parson Broadbent's daughter at + Jamestown, and how quickly that business had ended. He longed vaguely to + be at home again. A plague on all these cold-hearted English relations! + Did they not all mean to trick him? Were they not all scheming against + him? Had not that confounded Will cheated him about the horse? + </p> + <p> + At this very juncture, Maria gave a scream so loud and shrill that Madame + Bernstein woke, that the coachman pulled his horses up, and the footman + beside him sprang down from his box in a panic. + </p> + <p> + “Let me out! let me out!” screamed Maria. “Let me go to him! let me go to + him!” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + It was that Will's horse had come down on his knees and nose, had sent his + rider over his head, and Mr. Harry, who ought to have known better, was + lying on his own face quite motionless. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo, who had been dallying with the maids of the second carriage, + clattered up, and mingled his howls with Lady Maria's lamentations. Madame + Bernstein descended from her landau, and came slowly up, trembling a good + deal. + </p> + <p> + “He is dead—he is dead!” sobbed Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Don't be a goose, Maria!” her aunt said. “Ring at that gate, some one!” + </p> + <p> + Will's horse had gathered himself up and stood perfectly quiet after his + feat: but his late rider gave not the slightest sign of life. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI. Samaritans + </h2> + <p> + Lest any tender-hearted reader should be in alarm for Mr. Harry + Warrington's safety, and fancy that his broken-kneed horse had carried him + altogether out of this life and history, let us set her mind easy at the + beginning of this chapter by assuring her that nothing very serious has + happened. How can we afford to kill off our heroes, when they are scarcely + out of their teens, and we have not reached the age of manhood of the + story? We are in mourning already for one of our Virginians, who has come + to grief in America; surely we cannot kill off the other in England? No, + no. Heroes are not despatched with such hurry and violence unless there is + a cogent reason for making away with them. Were a gentleman to perish + every time a horse came down with him, not only the hero, but the author + of this chronicle would have gone under ground, whereas the former is but + sprawling outside it, and will be brought to life again as soon as he has + been carried into the house where Madame de Bernstein's servants have rung + the bell. + </p> + <p> + And to convince you that at least this youngest of the Virginians is still + alive, here is an authentic copy of a letter from the lady into whose + house he was taken after his fall from Mr. Will's brute of a broken-kneed + horse, and in whom he appears to have found a kind friend: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “TO MRS. ESMOND WARRINGTON, OF CASTLEWOOD + + “At her House at Richmond, in Virginia +</pre> + <p> + “If Mrs. Esmond Warrington of Virginia can call to mind twenty-three years + ago, when Miss Rachel Esmond was at Kensington Boarding School, she may + perhaps remember Miss Molly Benson, her class-mate, who has forgotten all + the little quarrels which they used to have together (in which Miss Molly + was very often in the wrong), and only remembers the generous, + high-spirited, sprightly, Miss Esmond, the Princess Pocahontas, to whom so + many of our school-fellows paid court. + </p> + <p> + “Dear madam! I cannot forget that you were dear Rachel once upon a time, + as I was your dearest Molly. Though we parted not very good friends when + you went home to Virginia, yet you know how fond we once were. I still, + Rachel, have the gold etui your papa gave me when he came to our + speech-day at Kensington, and we two performed the quarrel of Brutus and + Cassius out of Shakspeare; and 'twas only yesterday morning I was dreaming + that we were both called up to say our lesson before the awful Miss + Hardwood, and that I did not know it, and that as usual Miss Rachel Esmond + went above me. How well remembered those old days are! How young we grow + as we think of them! I remember our walks and our exercises, our good King + and Queen as they walked in Kensington Gardens, and their court following + them, whilst we of Miss Hardwood's school curtseyed in a row. I can tell + still what we had for dinner on each day of the week, and point to the + place where your garden was, which was always so much better kept than + mine. So was Miss Esmond's chest of drawers a model of neatness, whilst + mine were in a sad condition. Do you remember how we used to tell stories + in the dormitory, and Madame Hibou, the French governess, would come out + of bed and interrupt us with her hooting? Have you forgot the poor + dancing-master, who told us he had been waylaid by assassins, but who was + beaten, it appears, by my lord your brother's footmen? My dear, your + cousin, the Lady Maria Esmond (her papa was, I think, but Viscount + Castlewood in those times), has just been on a visit to this house, where + you may be sure I did not recall those sad times to her remembrance, about + which I am now chattering to Mrs. Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “Her ladyship has been staying here, and another relative of yours, the + Baroness of Bernstein, and the two ladies are both gone on to Tunbridge + Wells; but another and dearer relative still remains in my house, and is + sound asleep, I trust, in the very next room, and the name of this + gentleman is Mr. Henry Esmond Warrington. Now, do you understand how you + come to hear from an old friend? Do not be alarmed, dear madam! I know you + are thinking at this moment, 'My boy is ill. That is why Miss Molly Benson + writes to me.' No, my dear; Mr. Warrington was ill yesterday, but to-day + he is very comfortable; and our doctor, who is no less a person than my + dear husband, Colonel Lambert, has blooded him, has set his shoulder, + which was dislocated, and pronounces that in two days more Mr. Warrington + will be quite ready to take the road. + </p> + <p> + “I fear I and my girls are sorry that he is so soon to be well. Yesterday + evening, as we were at tea, there came a great ringing at our gate, which + disturbed us all, as the bell very seldom sounds in this quiet place, + unless a passing beggar pulls it for charity; and the servants, running + out, returned with the news, that a young gentleman, who had a fall from + his horse, was lying lifeless on the road, surrounded by the friends in + whose company he was travelling. At this, my Colonel (who is sure the most + Samaritan of men!) hastens away, to see how he can serve the fallen + traveller, and presently, with the aid of the servants, and followed by + two ladies, brings into the house such a pale, lifeless, beautiful, young + man! Ah, my dear, how I rejoice to think that your child has found shelter + and succour under my roof! that my husband has saved him from pain and + fever, and has been the means of restoring him to you and health! We shall + be friends again now, shall we not? I was very ill last year, and 'twas + even thought I should die. Do you know, that I often thought of you then, + and how you had parted from me in anger so many years ago? I began then a + foolish note to you, which I was too sick to finish, to tell you that if I + went the way appointed for us all, I should wish to leave the world in + charity with every single being I had known in it. + </p> + <p> + “Your cousin, the Right Honourable Lady Maria Esmond, showed a great deal + of maternal tenderness and concern for her young kinsman after his + accident. I am sure she hath a kind heart. The Baroness de Bernstein, who + is of an advanced age, could not be expected to feel so keenly as we young + people; but was, nevertheless, very much moved and interested until Mr. + Warrington was restored to consciousness, when she said she was anxious to + get on towards Tunbridge, whither she was bound, and was afraid of all + things to lie in a place where there was no doctor at hand. My Aesculapius + laughingly said, he would not offer to attend upon a lady of quality, + though he would answer for his young patient. Indeed, the Colonel, during + his campaigns, has had plenty of practice in accidents of this nature, and + I am certain, were we to call in all the faculty for twenty miles round, + Mr. Warrington could get no better treatment. So, leaving the young + gentleman to the care of me and my daughters, the Baroness and her + ladyship took their leave of us, the latter very loth to go. When he is + well enough, my Colonel will ride with him as far as Westerham, but on his + own horses, where an old army-comrade of Mr. Lambert's resides. And, as + this letter will not take the post for Falmouth until, by God's blessing, + your son is well and perfectly restored, you need be under no sort of + alarm for him whilst under the roof of, madam, your affectionate, humble + servant, MARY LAMBERT. + </p> + <p> + “P.S. Thursday. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad to hear (Mr. Warrington's coloured gentleman hath informed our + people of the gratifying circumstance) that Providence hath blessed Mrs. + Esmond with such vast wealth, and with an heir so likely to do credit to + it. Our present means are amply sufficient, but will be small when divided + amongst our survivors. Ah, dear madam! I have heard of your calamity of + last year. Though the Colonel and I have reared many children (five), we + have lost two, and a mother's heart can feel for yours! I own to you, mine + yearned to your boy to-day, when (in a manner inexpressibly affecting to + me and Mr. Lambert) he mentioned his dear brother. 'Tis impossible to see + your son, and not to love and regard him. I am thankful that it has been + our lot to succour him in his trouble, and that in receiving the stranger + within our gates we should be giving hospitality to the son of an old + friend.” + </p> + <p> + Nature has written a letter of credit upon some men's faces, which is + honoured almost wherever presented. Harry Warrington's countenance was so + stamped in his youth. His eyes were so bright, his cheek so red and + healthy, his look so frank and open, that almost all who beheld him, nay, + even those who cheated him, trusted him. Nevertheless, as we have hinted, + the lad was by no means the artless stripling he seemed to be. He was + knowing enough with all his blushing cheeks; perhaps more wily and wary + than he grew to be in after-age. Sure, a shrewd and generous man (who has + led an honest life and has no secret blushes for his conscience) grows + simpler as he grows older; arrives at his sum of right by more rapid + processes of calculation; learns to eliminate false arguments more + readily, and hits the mark of truth with less previous trouble of aiming, + and disturbance of mind. Or is it only a senile delusion, that some of our + vanities are cured with our growing years, and that we become more just in + our perceptions of our own and our neighbour's shortcomings? ... I would + humbly suggest that young people, though they look prettier, have larger + eyes, and not near so many wrinkles about their eyelids, are often as + artful as some of their elders. What little monsters of cunning your frank + schoolboys are! How they cheat mamma! how they hoodwink papa! how they + humbug the housekeeper! how they cringe to the big boy for whom they fag + at school! what a long lie and five years' hypocrisy and flattery is their + conduct towards Dr. Birch! And the little boys' sisters? Are they any + better, and is it only after they come out in the world that the little + darlings learn a trick or two? + </p> + <p> + You may see, by the above letter of Mrs. Lambert, that she, like all good + women (and, indeed, almost all bad women), was a sentimental person; and, + as she looked at Harry Warrington laid in her best bed, after the Colonel + had bled him and clapped in his shoulder, as holding by her husband's hand + she beheld the lad in a sweet slumber, murmuring a faint inarticulate word + or two in his sleep, a faint blush quivering on his cheek, she owned he + was a pretty lad indeed, and confessed with a sort of compunction that + neither of her two boys—Jack who was at Oxford, and Charles who was + just gone back to school after the Bartlemytide holidays—was half so + handsome as the Virginian. What a good figure the boy had! and when papa + bled him, his arm was as white as any lady's! + </p> + <p> + “Yes, as you say, Jack might have been as handsome but for the small-pox: + and as for Charley——” “Always took after his papa, my dear + Molly,” said the Colonel, looking at his own honest face in a little + looking-glass with a cut border and a japanned frame, by which the chief + guests of the worthy gentleman and lady had surveyed their patches and + powder, or shaved their hospitable beards. + </p> + <p> + “Did I say so, my love?” whispered Mrs. Lambert, looking rather scared. + </p> + <p> + “No; but you thought so, Mrs. Lambert.” + </p> + <p> + “How can you tell one's thoughts so, Martin?” asks the lady. + </p> + <p> + “Because I am a conjurer, and because you tell them yourself, my dear,” + answered her husband. “Don't be frightened: he won't wake after that + draught I gave him. Because you never see a young fellow but you are + comparing him with your own. Because you never hear of one but you are + thinking which of our girls he shall fall in love with and marry.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be foolish, sir,” says the lady, putting a hand up to the Colonel's + lips. They have softly trodden out of their guest's bedchamber by this + time, and are in the adjoining dressing-closet, a snug little wainscoted + room looking over gardens, with India curtains, more Japan chests and + cabinets, a treasure of china, and a most refreshing odour of fresh + lavender. + </p> + <p> + “You can't deny it, Mrs. Lambert,” the Colonel resumes; “as you were + looking at the young gentleman just now, you were thinking to yourself + which of my girls will he marry? Shall it be Theo, or shall it be Hester? + And then you thought of Lucy who was at boarding-school.” + </p> + <p> + “There is no keeping anything from you, Martin Lambert,” sighs the wife. + </p> + <p> + “There is no keeping it out of your eyes, my dear. What is this burning + desire all you women have for selling and marrying your daughters? We men + don't wish to part with 'em. I am sure, for my part, I should not like + yonder young fellow half as well if I thought he intended to carry one of + my darlings away with him.” + </p> + <p> + “Sure, Martin, I have been so happy myself,” says the fond wife and + mother, looking at her husband with her very best eyes, “that I must wish + my girls to do as I have done, and be happy, too!” + </p> + <p> + “Then you think good husbands are common, Mrs. Lambert, and that you may + walk any day into the road before the house and find one shot out at the + gate like a sack of coals?” + </p> + <p> + “Wasn't it providential, sir, that this young gentleman should be thrown + over his horse's head at our very gate, and that he should turn out to be + the son of my old schoolfellow and friend?” asked the wife. “There is + something more than accident in such cases, depend upon that, Mr. + Lambert!” + </p> + <p> + “And this was the stranger you saw in the candle three nights running, I + suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “And in the fire, too, sir; twice a coal jumped out close by Theo. You may + sneer, sir, but these things are not to be despised. Did I not see you + distinctly coming back from Minorca, and dream of you at the very day and + hour when you were wounded in Scotland?” + </p> + <p> + “How many times have you seen me wounded, when I had not a scratch, my + dear? How many times have you seen me ill when I had no sort of hurt? You + are always prophesying, and 'twere very hard on you if you were not + sometimes right. Come! Let us leave our guest asleep comfortably, and go + down and give the girls their French lesson.” + </p> + <p> + So saying, the honest gentleman put his wife's arm under his, and they + descended together the broad oak staircase of the comfortable old hall, + round which hung the effigies of many foregone Lamberts, worthy + magistrates, soldiers, country gentlemen, as was the Colonel whose + acquaintance we have just made. The Colonel was a gentleman of pleasant, + waggish humour. The French lesson which he and his daughters conned + together was a scene out of Monsieur Moliere's comedy of “Tartuffe,” and + papa was pleased to be very facetious with Miss Theo, by calling her + Madam, and by treating her with a great deal of mock respect and ceremony. + The girls read together with their father a scene or two of his favourite + author (nor were they less modest in those days, though their tongues were + a little more free), and papa was particularly arch and funny as he read + from Orgon's part in that celebrated play: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “ORGON. + Or sus, nous voila bien. J'ai, Mariane, en vous + Reconnu de tout temps un esprit assez doux, + Et de tout temps aussi vous m'avez ete chere. + + MARIANE. + Je suis fort redevable a cet amour de pere. + + ORGON. + Fort bien. Que dites-vous de Tartuffe notre hote? + + MARIANE. + Qui? Moi? + + ORGON. + Vous. Voyez bien comme vous repondrez. + + MARIANE. + Helas! J'en dirai, moi, tout ce que vous voudrez! +</pre> + <p> + (Mademoiselle Mariane laughs and blushes in spite of herself, whilst + reading this line.) + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + ORGON. + C'est parler sagement. Dites-moi donc, ma fille, + Qu'en toute sa personne un haut merite brille, + Qu'il touche votre coeur, et qu'il vous seroit doux + De le voir par men choix devenir votre epoux!” + </pre> + <p> + “Have we not read the scene prettily, Elmire?” says the Colonel, laughing, + and turning round to his wife. + </p> + <p> + Elmira prodigiously admired Orgon's reading, and so did his daughters, and + almost everything besides which Mr. Lambert said or did. Canst thou, O + friendly reader, count upon the fidelity of an artless and tender heart or + two, and reckon among the blessings which Heaven hath bestowed on thee the + love of faithful women! Purify thine own heart, and try to make it worthy + theirs. On thy knees, on thy knees, give thanks for the blessing awarded + thee! All the prizes of life are nothing compared to that one. All the + rewards of ambition, wealth, pleasure, only vanity and disappointment—grasped + at greedily and fought for fiercely, and, over and over again, found + worthless by the weary winners. But love seems to survive life, and to + reach beyond it. I think we take it with us past the grave. Do we not + still give it to those who have left us? May we not hope that they feel it + for us, and that we shall leave it here in one or two fond bosoms, when we + also are gone? + </p> + <p> + And whence, or how, or why, pray, this sermon? You see I know more about + this Lambert family than you do to whom I am just presenting them: as how + should you who never heard of them before! You may not like my friends; + very few people do like strangers to whom they are presented with an + outrageous flourish of praises on the part of the introducer. You say + (quite naturally), What? Is this all? Are these the people he is so fond + of? Why, the girl's not a beauty—the mother is good-natured, and may + have been good-looking once, but she has no trace of it now—and, as + for the father, he is quite an ordinary man. Granted but don't you + acknowledge that the sight of an honest man, with an honest, loving wife + by his side, and surrounded by loving and obedient children, presents + something very sweet and affecting to you? If you are made acquainted with + such a person, and see the eager kindness of the fond faces round about + him, and that pleasant confidence and affection which beams from his own, + do you mean to say you are not touched and gratified? If you happen to + stay in such a man's house, and at morning or evening see him and his + children and domestics gathered together in a certain name, do you not + join humbly in the petitions of those servants, and close them with a + reverent Amen? That first night of his stay at Oakhurst, Harry Warrington, + who had had a sleeping potion, and was awake sometimes rather feverish, + thought he heard the Evening Hymn, and that his dearest brother George was + singing it at home, in which delusion the patient went off again to sleep. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXII. In Hospital + </h2> + <p> + Sinking into a sweet slumber, and lulled by those harmonious sounds, our + young patient passed a night of pleasant unconsciousness, and awoke in the + morning to find a summer sun streaming in at the window, and his kind host + and hostess smiling at his bed-curtains. He was ravenously hungry, and his + doctor permitted him straightway to partake of a mess of chicken, which + the doctor's wife told him had been prepared by the hands of one of her + daughters. + </p> + <p> + One of her daughters? A faint image of a young person—of two young + persons—with red cheeks and black waving locks, smiling round his + couch, and suddenly departing thence, soon after he had come to himself, + arose in the young man's mind. Then, then, there returned the remembrance + of a female—lovely, it is true, but more elderly—certainly + considerably older—and with f——. Oh, horror and remorse! + He writhed with anguish, as a certain recollection crossed him. An immense + gulf of time gaped between him and the past. How long was it since he had + heard that those pearls were artificial,—that those golden locks + were only pinchbeck? A long, long time ago, when he was a boy, an innocent + boy. Now he was a man,—quite an old man. He had been bled copiously; + he had a little fever; he had had nothing to eat for very many hours; he + had a sleeping-draught, and a long, deep slumber after. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, my dear child?” cries kind Mrs. Lambert, as he started. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, madam; a twinge in my shoulder,” said the lad. “I speak to my + host and hostess? Sure you have been very kind to me.” + </p> + <p> + “We are old friends, Mr. Warrington. My husband, Colonel Lambert, knew + your father, and I and your mamma were schoolgirls together at Kensington. + You were no stranger to us when your aunt and cousin told us who you + were.” + </p> + <p> + “Are they here?” asked Harry, looking a little blank. + </p> + <p> + “They must have lain at Tunbridge Wells last night. They sent a horseman + from Reigate yesterday for news of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! I remember,” says Harry, looking at his bandaged arm. + </p> + <p> + “I have made a good cure of you, Mr. Warrington. And now Mrs. Lambert and + the cook must take charge of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay; Theo prepared the chicken and rice, Mr. Lambert,” said the lady. + “Will Mr. Warrington get up after he has had his breakfast? We will send + your valet to you.” + </p> + <p> + “If howling proves fidelity, your man must be a most fond, attached + creature,” says Mr. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “He let your baggage travel off after all in your aunt's carriage,” said + Mrs. Lambert. “You must wear my husband's linen, which, I dare say, is not + so fine as yours.” + </p> + <p> + “Pish, my dear! my shirts are good shirts enough for any Christian,” cries + the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “They are Theo's and Hester's work,” says mamma. At which her husband + arches his eyebrows and looks at her. “And Theo hath ripped and sewed your + sleeve to make it quite comfortable for your shoulder,” the lady added. + </p> + <p> + “What beautiful roses!” cries Harry, looking at a fine China vase full of + them that stood on the toilet-table, under the japan-framed glass. + </p> + <p> + “My daughter Theo cut them this morning. Well, Mr. Lambert? She did cut + them!” + </p> + <p> + I suppose the Colonel was thinking that his wife introduced Theo too much + into the conversation, and trod on Mrs. Lambert's slipper, or pulled her + robe, or otherwise nudged her into a sense of propriety. + </p> + <p> + “And I fancied I heard some one singing the Evening Hymn very sweetly last + night—or was it only a dream?” asked the young patient. + </p> + <p> + “Theo again, Mr. Warrington!” said the Colonel, laughing. “My servants + said your negro man began to sing it in the kitchen as if he was a church + organ.” + </p> + <p> + “Our people sing it at home, sir. My grandpapa used to love it very much. + His wife's father was a great friend of good Bishop Ken, who wrote it; and—and + my dear brother used to love it too;” said the boy, his voice dropping. + </p> + <p> + It was then, I suppose, that Mrs. Lambert felt inclined to give the boy a + kiss. His little accident, illness and recovery, the kindness of the + people round about him, had softened Harry Warrington's heart, and opened + it to better influences than those which had been brought to bear on it + for some six weeks past. He was breathing a purer air than that tainted + atmosphere of selfishness, and worldliness, and corruption, into which he + had been plunged since his arrival in England. Sometimes the young man's + fate, or choice, or weakness, leads him into the fellowship of the giddy + and vain; happy he, whose lot makes him acquainted with the wiser company, + whose lamps are trimmed, and whose pure hearts keep modest watch. + </p> + <p> + The pleased matron left her young patient devouring Miss Theo's mess of + rice and chicken, and the Colonel seated by the lad's bedside. Gratitude + to his hospitable entertainers, and contentment after a comfortable meal, + caused in Mr. Warrington a very pleasant condition of mind and body. He + was ready to talk now more freely than usually was his custom; for, unless + excited by a strong interest or emotion, the young man was commonly + taciturn and cautious in his converse with his fellows, and was by no + means of an imaginative turn. Of books our youth had been but a very + remiss student, nor were his remarks on such simple works as he had read, + very profound or valuable; but regarding dogs, horses, and the ordinary + business of life, he was a far better critic; and, with any person + interested in such subjects, conversed on them freely enough. + </p> + <p> + Harry's host, who had considerable shrewdness, and experience of books, + and cattle, and men, was pretty soon able to take the measure of his young + guest in the talk which they now had together. It was now, for the first + time, the Virginian learned that Mrs. Lambert had been an early friend of + his mother's, and that the Colonel's own father had served with Harry's + grandfather, Colonel Esmond, in the famous wars of Queen Anne. He found + himself in a friend's country. He was soon at ease with his honest host, + whose manners were quite simple and cordial, and who looked and seemed + perfectly a gentleman, though he wore a plain fustian coat, and a + waistcoat without a particle of lace. + </p> + <p> + “My boys are both away,” said Harry's host, “or they would have shown you + the country when you got up, Mr. Warrington. Now you can only have the + company of my wife and her daughters. Mrs. Lambert hath told you already + about one of them, Theo, our eldest, who made your broth, who cut your + roses, and who mended your coat. She is not such a wonder as her mother + imagines her to be: but little Theo is a smart little housekeeper, and a + very good and cheerful lass, though her father says it.” + </p> + <p> + “It is very kind of Miss Lambert to take so much care for me,” says the + young patient. + </p> + <p> + “She is no kinder to you than to any other mortal, and doth but her duty.” + Here the Colonel smiled. “I laugh at their mother for praising our + children,” he said, “and I think I am as foolish about them myself. The + truth is, God hath given us very good and dutiful children, and I see no + reason why I should disguise my thankfulness for such a blessing. You have + never a sister, I think?” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir, I am alone now,” Mr. Warrington said. + </p> + <p> + “Ay, truly, I ask your pardon for my thoughtlessness. Your man hath told + our people what befell last year. I served with Braddock in Scotland; and + hope he mended before he died. A wild fellow, sir, but there was a fund of + truth about the man, and no little kindness under his rough swaggering + manner. Your black fellow talks very freely about his master and his + affairs. I suppose you permit him these freedoms as he rescued you——” + </p> + <p> + “Rescued me?” cries Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “From ever so many Indians on that very expedition. My Molly and I did not + know we were going to entertain so prodigiously wealthy a gentleman. He + saith that half Virginia belongs to you; but if the whole of North America + were yours, we could but give you our best.” + </p> + <p> + “Those negro boys, sir, lie like the father of all lies. They think it is + for our honour to represent us as ten times as rich as we are. My mother + has what would be a vast estate in England, and is a very good one at + home. We are as well off as most of our neighbours, sir, but no better; + and all our splendour is in Mr. Gumbo's foolish imagination. He never + rescued me from an Indian in his life, and would run away at the sight of + one, as my poor brother's boy did on that fatal day when he fell.” + </p> + <p> + “The bravest man will do so at unlucky times,” said the Colonel. “I myself + saw the best troops in the world run at Preston, before a ragged mob of + Highland savages.” + </p> + <p> + “That was because the Highlanders fought for a good cause, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think,” asks Harry's host, “that the French Indians had the good + cause in the fight of last year?” + </p> + <p> + “The scoundrels! I would have the scalp of every murderous redskin among + 'em!” cried Harry, clenching his fist. “They were robbing and invading the + British territories, too. But the Highlanders were fighting for their + king.” + </p> + <p> + “We, on our side, were fighting for our king; and we ended by winning the + battle,” said the Colonel, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” cried Harry; “if his Royal Highness the Prince had not turned back + at Derby, your king and mine, now, would be his Majesty King James the + Third!” + </p> + <p> + “Who made such a Tory of you, Mr. Warrington?” asked Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, the Esmonds were always loyal!” answered the youth. “Had we + lived at home, and twenty years sooner, brother and I often and often + agreed that our heads would have been in danger. We certainly would have + staked them for the king's cause.” + </p> + <p> + “Yours is better on your shoulders than on a pole at Temple Bar. I have + seen them there, and they don't look very pleasant, Mr. Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall take off my hat, and salute them, whenever I pass the gate,” + cried the young man, “if the king and the whole court are standing by!” + </p> + <p> + “I doubt whether your relative, my Lord Castlewood, is as staunch a + supporter of the king over the water,” said Colonel Lambert, smiling: “or + your aunt, the Baroness of Bernstein, who left you in our charge. Whatever + her old partialities may have been, she has repented of them; she has + rallied to our side, landed her nephews in the Household, and looks to + find a suitable match for her nieces. If you have Tory opinions, Mr. + Warrington, take an old soldier's advice, and keep them to yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, sir, I do not think that you will betray me!” said the boy. + </p> + <p> + “Not I, but others might. You did not talk in this way at Castlewood? I + mean the old Castlewood which you have just come from.” + </p> + <p> + “I might be safe amongst my own kinsmen, surely, sir!” cried Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Doubtless. I would not say no. But a man's own kinsmen can play him + slippery tricks at times, and he finds himself none the better for + trusting them. I mean no offence to you or any of your family; but + lacqueys have ears as well as their masters, and they carry about all + sorts of stories. For instance, your black fellow is ready to tell all he + knows about you, and a great deal more besides, as it would appear.” + </p> + <p> + “Hath he told about the broken-kneed horse?” cried out Harry, turning very + red. + </p> + <p> + “To say truth, my groom seemed to know something of the story, and said it + was a shame a gentleman should sell another such a brute; let alone a + cousin. I am not here to play the Mentor to you, or to carry about + servants' tittle-tattle. When you have seen more of your cousins, you will + form your own opinion of them; meanwhile, take an old soldier's advice, I + say again, and be cautious with whom you deal, and what you say.” + </p> + <p> + Very soon after this little colloquy, Mr. Lambert's guest rose, with the + assistance of Gumbo, his valet, to whom he, for the hundredth time at + least, promised a sound caning if ever he should hear that Gumbo had + ventured to talk about his affairs again in the servants'-hall,—which + prohibition Gumbo solemnly vowed and declared he would for ever obey; but + I dare say he was chattering the whole of the Castlewood secrets to his + new friends of Colonel Lambert's kitchen; for Harry's hostess certainly + heard a number of stories concerning him which she could not prevent her + housekeeper from telling; though of course I would not accuse that worthy + lady, or any of her sex or ours, of undue curiosity regarding their + neighbours' affairs. But how can you prevent servants talking, or + listening when the faithful attached creatures talk to you? + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lambert's house stood on the outskirts of the little town of Oakhurst, + which, if he but travels in the right direction, the patient reader will + find on the road between Farnham and Reigate,—and Madame Bernstein's + servants naturally pulled at the first bell at hand, when the young + Virginian met with his mishap. A few hundred yards farther, was the long + street of the little old town, where hospitality might have been found + under the great swinging ensigns of a couple of tuns, and medical relief + was to be had, as a blazing gilt pestle and mortar indicated. But what + surgeon could have ministered more cleverly to a patient than Harry's + host, who tended him without a fee, or what Boniface could make him more + comfortably welcome? + </p> + <p> + Two tall gates, each surmounted by a couple of heraldic monsters, led from + the highroad up to a neat, broad stone terrace, whereon stood Oakhurst + House; a square brick building, with windows faced with stone, and many + high chimneys, and a tall roof surmounted by a fair balustrade. Behind the + house stretched a large garden, where there was plenty of room for + cabbages as well as roses to grow; and before the mansion, separated from + it by the highroad, was a field of many acres, where the Colonel's cows + and horses were at grass. Over the centre window was a carved shield + supported by the same monsters who pranced or ramped upon the + entrance-gates; and a coronet over the shield. The fact is, that the house + had been originally the jointure-house of Oakhurst Castle, which stood + hard by,—its chimneys and turrets appearing over the surrounding + woods, now bronzed with the darkest foliage of summer. Mr. Lambert's was + the greatest house in Oakhurst town; but the Castle was of more importance + than all the town put together. The Castle and the jointure-house had been + friends of many years' date. Their fathers had fought side by side in + Queen Anne's wars. There were two small pieces of ordnance on the terrace + of the jointure-house, and six before the Castle, which had been taken out + of the same privateer, which Mr. Lambert and his kinsman and commander, + Lord Wrotham, had brought into Harwich in one of their voyages home from + Flanders with despatches from the great Duke. + </p> + <p> + His toilet completed with Mr. Gumbo's aid, his fair hair neatly dressed by + that artist, and his open ribboned sleeve and wounded shoulder supported + by a handkerchief which hung from his neck, Harry Warrington made his way + out of the sick-chamber, preceded by his kind host, who led him first down + a broad oak stair, round which hung many pikes and muskets of ancient + shape, and so into a square marble-paved room, from which the living-rooms + of the house branched off. There were more arms in this hall-pikes and + halberts of ancient date, pistols and jack-boots of more than a century + old, that had done service in Cromwell's wars, a tattered French guidon + which had been borne by a French gendarme at Malplaquet, and a pair of + cumbrous Highland broadswords, which, having been carried as far as Derby, + had been flung away on the fatal field of Culloden. Here were breastplates + and black morions of Oliver's troopers, and portraits of stern warriors in + buff jerkins and plain bands and short hair. “They fought against your + grandfathers and King Charles, Mr. Warrington,” said Harry's host. “I + don't hide that. They rode to join the Prince of Orange at Exeter. We were + Whigs, young gentleman, and something more. John Lambert, the + Major-General, was a kinsman of our house, and we were all more or less + partial to short hair and long sermons. You do not seem to like either?” + Indeed, Harry's face manifested signs of anything but pleasure whilst he + examined the portraits of the Parliamentary heroes. “Be not alarmed, we + are very good Churchmen now. My eldest son will be in orders ere long. He + is now travelling as governor to my Lord Wrotham's son in Italy, and as + for our women, they are all for the Church, and carry me with 'em. Every + woman is a Tory at heart. Mr. Pope says a rake, but I think t'other is the + more charitable word. Come, let us go see them,” and, flinging open the + dark oak door, Colonel Lambert led his young guest into the parlour where + the ladies were assembled. + </p> + <p> + “Here is Miss Hester,” said the Colonel, “and this is Miss Theo, the + soup-maker, the tailoress, the harpsichord-player, and the songstress, who + set you to sleep last night. Make a curtsey to the gentleman, young + ladies! Oh, I forgot, and Theo is the mistress of the roses which you + admired a short while since in your bedroom. I think she has kept some of + them in her cheeks.” + </p> + <p> + In fact, Miss Theo was making a profound curtsey and blushing most + modestly as her papa spoke. I am not going to describe her person,—though + we shall see a great deal of her in the course of this history. She was + not a particular beauty. Harry Warrington was not over head and ears in + love with her at an instant's warning, and faithless to—to that + other individual with whom, as we have seen, the youth had lately been + smitten. Miss Theo had kind eyes and a sweet voice; a ruddy freckled cheek + and a round white neck, on which, out of a little cap such as misses wore + in those times, fell rich curling clusters of dark brown hair. She was not + a delicate or sentimental-looking person. Her arms, which were worn bare + from the elbow like other ladies' arms in those days, were very jolly and + red. Her feet were not so miraculously small but that you could see them + without a telescope. There was nothing waspish about her waist. This young + person was sixteen years of age, and looked older. I don't know what call + she had to blush so when she made her curtsey to the stranger. It was such + a deep ceremonial curtsey as you never see at present. She and her sister + both made these “cheeses” in compliment to the new comer, and with much + stately agility. + </p> + <p> + As Miss Theo rose up out of this salute, her papa tapped her under the + chin (which was of the double sort of chins), and laughingly hummed out + the line which he had read the day. “Eh bien! que dites-vous, ma fille, de + notre hote?” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, Mr. Lambert!” cries mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense is sometimes the best kind of sense in the world,” said Colonel + Lambert. His guest looked puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Are you fond of nonsense?” the Colonel continued to Harry, seeing by the + boy's face that the latter had no great love or comprehension of his + favourite humour. “We consume a vast deal of it in this house. Rabelais is + my favourite reading. My wife is all for Mr. Fielding and Theophrastus. I + think Theo prefers Tom Brown, and Mrs. Hetty here loves Dean Swift.” + </p> + <p> + “Our papa is talking what he loves,” says Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “And what is that, miss?” asks the father of his second daughter. + </p> + <p> + “Sure, sir, you said yourself it was nonsense,” answers the young lady, + with a saucy toss of her head. + </p> + <p> + “Which of them do you like best, Mr. Warrington?” asked the honest + Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “Which of whom, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “The Curate of Meudon, or the Dean of St. Patrick's, or honest Tom, or Mr. + Fielding?” + </p> + <p> + “And what were they, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “They! Why, they wrote books.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, sir. I never heard of either one of 'em,” said Harry, hanging + down his head. “I fear my book-learning was neglected at home, sir. My + brother had read every book that ever was wrote, I think. He could have + talked to you about 'em for hours together.” + </p> + <p> + With this little speech Mrs. Lambert's eyes turned to her daughter, and + Miss Theo cast hers down and blushed. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, honesty is better than books any day, Mr. Warrington!” cried + the jolly Colonel. “You may go through the world very honourably without + reading any of the books I have been talking of, and some of them might + give you more pleasure than profit.” + </p> + <p> + “I know more about horses and dogs than Greek and Latin, sir. We most of + us do in Virginia,” said Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “You are like the Persians; you can ride and speak the truth.” + </p> + <p> + “Are the Prussians very good on horseback, sir? I hope I shall see their + king and a campaign or two, either with 'em or against 'em,” remarked + Colonel Lambert's guest. Why did Miss Theo look at her mother, and why did + that good woman's face assume a sad expression? + </p> + <p> + Why? Because young lasses are bred in humdrum country towns, do you + suppose they never indulge in romances? Because they are modest and have + never quitted mother's apron, do you suppose they have no thoughts of + their own? What happens in spite of all those precautions which the King + and Queen take for their darling princess, those dragons, and that + impenetrable forest, and that castle of steel? The fairy prince penetrates + the impenetrable forest, finds the weak point in the dragon's scale + armour, and gets the better of all the ogres who guard the castle of + steel. Away goes the princess to him. She knew him at once. Her bandboxes + and portmanteaux are filled with her best clothes and all her jewels. She + has been ready ever so long. + </p> + <p> + That is in fairy tales, you understand—where the blessed hour and + youth always arrive, the ivory horn is blown at the castle gate; and far + off in her beauteous bower the princess hears it, and starts up, and knows + that there is the right champion. He is always ready. Look! how the + giants' heads tumble off as, falchion in hand, he gallops over the bridge + on his white charger! How should that virgin, locked up in that + inaccessible fortress, where she has never seen any man that was not + eighty, or humpbacked, or her father, know that there were such beings in + the world as young men? I suppose there's an instinct. I suppose there's a + season. I never spoke for my part to a fairy princess, or heard as much + from any unenchanted or enchanting maiden. Ne'er a one of them has ever + whispered her pretty little secrets to me, or perhaps confessed them to + herself, her mamma, or her nearest and dearest confidante. But they will + fall in love. Their little hearts are constantly throbbing at the window + of expectancy on the lookout for the champion. They are always hearing his + horn. They are for ever on the tower looking out for the hero. Sister Ann, + Sister Ann, do you see him? Surely 'tis a knight with curling mustachios, + a flashing scimitar, and a suit of silver armour. Oh no! it is only a + costermonger with his donkey and a pannier of cabbage! Sister Ann, Sister + Ann, what is that cloud of dust? Oh, it is only a farmer's man driving a + flock of pigs from market. Sister Ann, Sister Ann, who is that splendid + warrior advancing in scarlet and gold? He nears the castle, he clears the + drawbridge, he lifts the ponderous hammer at the gate. Ah me, he knocks + twice! 'Tis only the postman with a double letter from Northamptonshire! + So it is we make false starts in life. I don't believe there is any such + thing known as first love—not within man's or woman's memory. No + male or female remembers his or her first inclination any more than his or + her own christening. What? You fancy that your sweet mistress, your + spotless spinster, your blank maiden just out of the schoolroom, never + cared for any but you? And she tells you so? Oh, you idiot! When she was + four years old she had a tender feeling towards the Buttons who brought + the coals up to the nursery, or the little sweep at the crossing, or the + music-master, or never mind whom. She had a secret longing towards her + brother's schoolfellow, or the third charity boy at church, and if + occasion had served, the comedy enacted with you had been performed along + with another. I do not mean to say that she confessed this amatory + sentiment, but that she had it. Lay down this page, and think how many and + many and many a time you were in love before you selected the present Mrs. + Jones as the partner of your name and affections! + </p> + <p> + So, from the way in which Theo held her head down, and exchanged looks + with her mother, when poor unconscious Harry called the Persians the + Prussians, and talked of serving a campaign with them, I make no doubt she + was feeling ashamed, and thinking within herself, “Is this the hero with + whom my mamma and I have been in love for these twenty-four hours, and + whom we have endowed with every perfection? How beautiful, pale, and + graceful he looked yesterday as he lay on the ground! How his curls fell + over his face! How sad it was to see his poor white arm, and the blood + trickling from it when papa bled him! And now he is well and amongst us, + he is handsome certainly, but oh, is it possible he is—he is + stupid?” When she lighted the lamp and looked at him, did Psyche find + Cupid out; and is that the meaning of the old allegory? The wings of love + drop off at this discovery. The fancy can no more soar and disport in + skyey regions, the beloved object ceases at once to be celestial, and + remains plodding on earth, entirely unromantic and substantial. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIII. Holidays + </h2> + <p> + Mrs. Lambert's little day-dream was over. Miss Theo and her mother were + obliged to confess in their hearts that their hero was but an ordinary + mortal. They uttered few words on the subject, but each knew the other's + thoughts as people who love each other do; and mamma, by an extra + tenderness and special caressing manner towards her daughter, sought to + console her for her disappointment. “Never mind, my dear”—the + maternal kiss whispered on the filial cheek—“our hero has turned out + to be but an ordinary mortal, and none such is good enough for my Theo. + Thou shalt have a real husband ere long, if there be one in England. Why, + I was scarce fifteen when your father saw me at the Bury Assembly, and + while I was yet at school, I used to vow that I never would have any other + man. If Heaven gave me such a husband—the best man in the whole + kingdom—sure it will bless my child equally, who deserves a king if + she fancies him!” Indeed, I am not sure that Mrs. Lambert—who, of + course, knew the age of the Prince of Wales, and was aware how handsome + and good a young prince he was—did not expect that he too would come + riding by her gate, and perhaps tumble down from his horse there, and be + taken into the house, and be cured, and cause his royal grandpapa to give + Martin Lambert a regiment, and fall in love with Theo. + </p> + <p> + The Colonel for his part, and his second daughter, Miss Hetty, were on the + laughing, scornful, unbelieving side. Mamma was always match-making. + Indeed, Mrs. Lambert was much addicted to novels, and cried her eyes out + over them with great assiduity. No coach ever passed the gate, but she + expected a husband for her girls would alight from it and ring the bell. + As for Miss Hetty, she allowed her tongue to wag in a more than usually + saucy way: she made a hundred sly allusions to their guest. She introduced + Prussia and Persia into their conversation with abominable pertness and + frequency. She asked whether the present King of Prussia was called the + Shaw or the Sophy, and how far it was from Ispahan to Saxony, which his + Majesty was at present invading, and about which war papa was so busy with + his maps and his newspapers? She brought down the Persian Tales from her + mamma's closet, and laid them slily on the table in the parlour where the + family sate. She would not marry a Persian prince for her part; she would + prefer a gentleman who might not have more than one wife at a time. She + called our young Virginian Theo's gentleman, Theo's prince. She asked her + mamma if she wished her, Hetty, to take the other visitor, the black + prince, for herself? Indeed, she rallied her sister and her mother + unceasingly on their sentimentalities, and would never stop until she had + made them angry, when she would begin to cry herself, and kiss them + violently one after the other, and coax them back into good-humour. Simple + Harry Warrington, meanwhile, knew nothing of all the jokes, the tears, + quarrels, reconciliations, hymeneal plans, and so forth, of which he was + the innocent occasion. A hundred allusions to the Prussians and Persians + were shot at him, and those Parthian arrows did not penetrate his hide at + all. A Shaw? A Sophy? Very likely he thought a Sophy was a lady, and would + have deemed it the height of absurdity that a man with a great black beard + should have any such name. We fall into the midst of a quiet family: we + drop like a stone, say, into a pool,—we are perfectly compact and + cool, and little know the flutter and excitement we make there, disturbing + the fish, frightening the ducks, and agitating the whole surface of the + water. How should Harry know the effect which his sudden appearance + produced in this little, quiet, sentimental family? He thought quite well + enough of himself on many points, but was diffident as yet regarding + women, being of that age when young gentlemen require encouragement and to + be brought forward, and having been brought up at home in very modest and + primitive relations towards the other sex. So Miss Hetty's jokes played + round the lad, and he minded them no more than so many summer gnats. It + was not that he was stupid, as she certainly thought him: he was simple, + too much occupied with himself and his own honest affairs to think of + others. Why, what tragedies, comedies, interludes, intrigues, farces, are + going on under our noses in friends' drawing-rooms where we visit every + day, and we remain utterly ignorant, self-satisfied, and blind! As these + sisters sate and combed their flowing ringlets of nights, or talked with + each other in the great bed where, according to the fashion of the day, + they lay together, how should Harry know that he had so great a share in + their thoughts, jokes, conversation? Three days after his arrival, his new + and hospitable friends were walking with him in my Lord Wrotham's fine + park, where they were free to wander; and here, on a piece of water, they + came to some swans, which the young ladies were in the habit of feeding + with bread. As the birds approached the young women, Hetty said, with a + queer look at her mother and sister, and then a glance at her father, who + stood by, honest, happy, in a red waistcoat,—Hetty said: “Mamma's + swans are something like these, papa.” + </p> + <p> + “What swans, my dear?” says mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Something like, but not quite. They have shorter necks than these, and + are, scores of them, on our common,” continues Miss Hetty. “I saw Betty + plucking one in the kitchen this morning. We shall have it for dinner, + with apple-sauce and——” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be a little goose!” says Miss Theo. + </p> + <p> + “And sage and onions. Do you love swan, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “I shot three last winter on our river,” said the Virginian gentleman. + “Ours are not such white birds as these—they eat very well, though.” + The simple youth had not the slightest idea that he himself was an + allegory at that very time, and that Miss Hetty was narrating a fable + regarding him. In some exceedingly recondite Latin work I have read that, + long before Virginia was discovered, other folks were equally dull of + comprehension. + </p> + <p> + So it was a premature sentiment on the part of Miss Theo—that little + tender flutter of the bosom which we have acknowledged she felt on first + beholding the Virginian, so handsome, pale, and bleeding. This was not the + great passion which she knew her heart could feel. Like the birds, it had + wakened and begun to sing at a false dawn. Hop back to thy perch, and + cover thy head with thy wing, thou tremulous little fluttering creature! + It is not yet light, and roosting is as yet better than singing. Anon will + come morning, and the whole sky will redden, and you shall soar up into it + and salute the sun with your music. + </p> + <p> + One little phrase, some three-and-thirty lines back, perhaps the fair and + suspicious reader has remarked: “Three days after his arrival, Harry was + walking with,” etc. etc. If he could walk—which it appeared he could + do perfectly well—what business had he to be walking with anybody + but Lady Maria Esmond on the Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells? His shoulder was + set: his health was entirely restored: he had not even a change of coats, + as we have seen, and was obliged to the Colonel for his raiment. Surely a + young man in such a condition had no right to be lingering on at Oakhurst, + and was bound by every tie of duty and convenience, by love, by + relationship, by a gentle heart waiting for him, by the washerwoman + finally, to go to Tunbridge. Why did he stay behind, unless he was in love + with either of the young ladies (and we say he wasn't)? Could it be that + he did not want to go? Hath the gracious reader understood the meaning of + the mystic S with which the last chapter commences, and in which the + designer has feebly endeavoured to depict the notorious Sinbad the Sailor, + surmounted by that odious old man of the sea? What if Harry Warrington + should be that sailor, and his fate that choking, deadening, inevitable + old man? What if for two days past he has felt those knees throttling him + round the neck? if his fell aunt's purpose is answered, and if his late + love is killed as dead by her poisonous communications as fair Rosamond + was by her royal and legitimate rival? Is Hero then lighting the lamp up, + and getting ready the supper, whilst Leander is sitting comfortably with + some other party, and never in the least thinking of taking to the water? + Ever since that coward's blow was struck in Lady Maria's back by her own + relative, surely kind hearts must pity her ladyship. I know she has faults—ay, + and wears false hair and false never mind what. But a woman in distress, + shall we not pity her—a lady of a certain age, are we going to laugh + at her because of her years? Between her old aunt and her unhappy + delusion, be sure my Lady Maria Esmond is having no very pleasant time of + it at Tunbridge Wells. There is no one to protect her. Madam Beatrix has + her all to herself. Lady Maria is poor, and hopes for money from her aunt. + Lady Maria has a secret or two which the old woman knows, and brandishes + over her. I for one am quite melted and grow soft-hearted as I think of + her. Imagine her alone, and a victim to that old woman! Paint to yourself + that antique Andromeda (if you please we will allow that rich flowing head + of hair to fall over her shoulders) chained to a rock on Mount Ephraim, + and given up to that dragon of a Baroness! Succour, Perseus! Come quickly + with thy winged feet and flashing falchion! Perseus is not in the least + hurry. The dragon has her will of Andromeda for day after day. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington, who would not have allowed his dislocated and mended + shoulder to keep him from going out hunting, remained day after day + contentedly at Oakhurst, with each day finding the kindly folks who + welcomed him more to his liking. Perhaps he had never, since his + grandfather's death, been in such good company. His lot had lain amongst + fox-hunting Virginian squires, with whose society he had put up very + contentedly, riding their horses, living their lives, and sharing their + punch-bowls. The ladies of his own and mother's acquaintance were very + well bred, and decorous, and pious, no doubt, but somewhat narrow-minded. + It was but a little place, his home, with its pompous ways, small + etiquettes and punctilios, small flatteries, small conversations and + scandals. Until he had left the place, some time after, he did not know + how narrow and confined his life had been there. He was free enough + personally. He had dogs and horses, and might shoot and hunt for scores of + miles round about: but the little lady-mother domineered at home, and when + there he had to submit to her influence and breathe her air. + </p> + <p> + Here the lad found himself in the midst of a circle where everything about + him was incomparably gayer, brighter, and more free. He was living with a + man and woman who had seen the world, though they lived retired from it, + who had both of them happened to enjoy from their earliest times the use + not only of good books, but of good company—those live books, which + are such pleasant and sometimes such profitable reading. Society has this + good at least: that it lessens our conceit, by teaching us our + insignificance, and making us acquainted with our betters. If you are a + young person who read this, depend upon it, sir or madam, there is nothing + more wholesome for you than to acknowledge and to associate with your + superiors. If I could, I would not have my son Thomas first Greek and + Latin prize boy, first oar, and cock of the school. Better for his soul's + and body's welfare that he should have a good place, not the first—a + fair set of competitors round about him, and a good thrashing now and + then, with a hearty shake afterwards of the hand which administered the + beating. What honest man that can choose his lot would be a prince, let us + say, and have all society walking backwards before him, only obsequious + household-gentlemen to talk to, and all mankind mum except when your High + Mightiness asks a question and gives permission to speak? One of the great + benefits which Harry Warrington received from this family, before whose + gate Fate had shot him, was to begin to learn that he was a profoundly + ignorant young fellow, and that there were many people in the world far + better than he knew himself to be. Arrogant a little with some folks, in + the company of his superiors he was magnanimously docile. We have seen how + faithfully he admired his brother at home, and his friend, the gallant + young Colonel of Mount Vernon: of the gentlemen, his kinsmen at + Castlewood, he had felt himself at least the equal. In his new + acquaintance at Oakhurst he found a man who had read far more books than + Harry could pretend to judge of, who had seen the world and come unwounded + out of it, as he had out of the dangers and battles which he had + confronted, and who had goodness and honesty written on his face and + breathing from his lips, for which qualities our brave lad had always an + instinctive sympathy and predilection. + </p> + <p> + As for the women, they were the kindest, merriest, most agreeable he had + as yet known. They were pleasanter than Parson Broadbent's black-eyed + daughter at home, whose laugh carried as far as a gun. They were quite as + well-bred as the Castlewood ladies, with the exception of Madam Beatrix + (who, indeed, was as grand as an empress on some occasions). But somehow, + after a talk with Madam Beatrix, and vast amusement and interest in her + stories, the lad would come away as with a bitter taste in his mouth, and + fancy all the world wicked round about him. They were not in the least + squeamish; and laughed over pages of Mr. Fielding, and cried over volumes + of Mr. Richardson, containing jokes and incidents which would make Mrs. + Grundy's hair stand on end, yet their merry prattle left no bitterness + behind it: their tales about this neighbour and that were droll, not + malicious; the curtseys and salutations with which the folks of the little + neighbouring town received them, how kindly and cheerful! their bounties + how cordial! Of a truth it is good to be with good people. How good Harry + Warrington did not know at the time, perhaps, or until subsequent + experience showed him contrasts, or caused him to feel remorse. Here was a + tranquil, sunshiny day of a life that was to be agitated and stormy—a + happy hour or two to remember. Not much happened during the happy hour or + two. It was only sweet sleep, pleasant waking, friendly welcome, serene + pastime. The gates of the old house seemed to shut the wicked world out + somehow, and the inhabitants within to be better, and purer, and kinder + than other people. He was not in love; oh no! not the least, either with + saucy Hetty or generous Theodosia but when the time came for going away, + he fastened on both their hands, and felt an immense regard for them. He + thought he should like to know their brothers, and that they must be fine + fellows; and as for Mrs. Lambert, I believe she was as sentimental at his + departure as if he had been the last volume of Clarissa Harlowe. + </p> + <p> + “He is very kind and honest,” said Theo, gravely, as, looking from the + terrace, they saw him and their father and servants riding away on the + road to Westerham. + </p> + <p> + “I don't think him stupid at all now,” said little Hetty; “and, mamma, I + think, he is very like a swan indeed.” + </p> + <p> + “It felt just like one of the boys going to school,” said mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Just like it,” said Theo, sadly. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad he has got papa to ride with him to Westerham,” resumed Miss + Hetty, “and that he bought Farmer Briggs's horse. I don't like his going + to those Castlewood people. I am sure that Madame Bernstein is a wicked + old woman. I expected to see her ride away on her crooked stick.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, Hetty!” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think she would float if they tried her in the pond, as poor old + mother Hely did at Elmhurst? The other old woman seemed fond of him—I + mean the one with the fair tour. She looked very melancholy when she went + away; but Madame Bernstein whisked her off with her crutch, and she was + obliged to go. I don't care, Theo. I know she is a wicked woman. You think + everybody good, you do, because you never do anything wrong yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “My Theo is a good girl,” says the mother, looking fondly at both her + daughters. + </p> + <p> + “Then why do we call her a miserable sinner?” + </p> + <p> + “We are all so, my love,” said mamma. + </p> + <p> + “What, papa too? You know you don't think so,” cries Miss Hester. And to + allow this was almost more than Mrs. Lambert could afford. + </p> + <p> + “What was that you told John to give to Mr. Warrington's black man?” + </p> + <p> + Mamma owned, with some shamefacedness, it was a bottle of her cordial + water and a cake which she had bid Betty make. “I feel quite like a mother + to him, my dears, I can't help owning it,—and you know both our boys + still like one of our cakes to take to school or college with them.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0024" id="link2HCH0024"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIV. From Oakhurst to Tunbridge + </h2> + <p> + Having her lily handkerchief in token of adieu to the departing + travellers, Mrs. Lambert and her girls watched them pacing leisurely on + the first few hundred yards of their journey, and until such time as a + tree-clumped corner of the road hid them from the ladies' view. Behind + that clump of limes the good matron had many a time watched those she + loved best disappear. Husband departing to battle and danger, sons to + school, each after the other had gone on his way behind yonder green + trees, returning as it pleased Heaven's will at his good time, and + bringing pleasure and love back to the happy little family. Besides their + own instinctive nature (which to be sure aids wonderfully in the matter), + the leisure and contemplation attendant upon their home life serve to + foster the tenderness and fidelity of our women. The men gone, there is + all day to think about them, and to-morrow and to-morrow—when there + certainly will be a letter—and so on. There is the vacant room to go + look at, where the boy slept last night, and the impression of his carpet + bag is still on the bed. There is his whip hung up in the hall, and his + fishing-rod and basket—mute memorials of the brief bygone pleasures. + At dinner there comes up that cherry-tart, half of which our darling ate + at two o'clock in spite of his melancholy, and with a choking little + sister on each side of him. The evening prayer is said without that young + scholar's voice to utter the due responses. Midnight and silence come, and + the good mother lies wakeful, thinking how one of the dear accustomed + brood is away from the nest. Morn breaks, home and holidays have passed + away, and toil and labour have begun for him. So those rustling limes + formed, as it were, a screen between the world and our ladies of the house + at Oakhurst. Kind-hearted Mrs. Lambert always became silent and + thoughtful, if by chance she and her girls walked up to the trees in the + absence of the men of the family. She said she would like to carve their + names up on the grey silvered trunks, in the midst of true-lovers' knots, + as was then the kindly fashion; and Miss Theo, who had an exceeding + elegant turn that way, made some verses regarding the trees, which her + delighted parent transmitted to a periodical of those days. + </p> + <p> + “Now we are out of sight of the ladies,” says Colonel Lambert, giving a + parting salute with his hat, as the pair of gentlemen trotted past the + limes in question. “I know my wife always watches at her window until we + are round this corner. I hope we shall have you seeing the trees and the + house again, Mr. Warrington; and the boys being at home, mayhap there will + be better sport for you.” + </p> + <p> + “I never want to be happier, sir, than I have been,” replied Mr. + Warrington; “and I hope you will let me say, that I feel as if I am + leaving quite old friends behind me.” + </p> + <p> + “The friend at whose house we shall sup to-night hath a son, who is an old + friend of our family, too; and my wife, who is an inveterate + marriage-monger, would have made a match between him and one of my girls, + but that the Colonel hath chosen to fall in love with somebody else.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” sighed Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Other folks have done the same thing. There were brave fellows before + Agamemnon.” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, sir. Is the gentleman's name—Aga——? + I did not quite gather it,” meekly inquired the young traveller. + </p> + <p> + “No, his name is James Wolfe,” cried the Colonel, smiling. “He is a young + fellow still, or what we call so, being scarce thirty years old. He is the + youngest lieutenant-colonel in the army, unless, to be sure, we except a + few scores of our nobility, who take rank before us common folk.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course of course!” says the Colonel's young companion with true + colonial notions of aristocratic precedence. + </p> + <p> + “And I have seen him commanding captains, and very brave captains, who + were thirty years his seniors, and who had neither his merit nor his good + fortune. But, lucky as he hath been, no one envies his superiority, for, + indeed, most of us acknowledge that he is our superior. He is beloved by + every man of our old regiment and knows every one of them. He is a good + scholar as well as a consummate soldier, and a master of many languages.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, sir!” said Harry Warrington, with a sigh of great humility; “I feel + that I have neglected my own youth sadly; and am come to England but an + ignoramus. Had my dear brother been alive, he would have represented our + name and our colony, too, better than I can do. George was a scholar; + George was a musician; George could talk with the most learned people in + our country, and I make no doubt would have held his own here. Do you + know, sir, I am glad to have come home, and to you especially, if but to + learn how ignorant I am.” + </p> + <p> + “If you know that well, 'tis a great gain already,” said the Colonel, with + a smile. + </p> + <p> + “At home, especially of late, and since we lost my brother, I used to + think myself a mighty fine fellow, and have no doubt that the folks round + about flattered me. I am wiser now,—that is, I hope I am,—though + perhaps I am wrong, and only bragging again. But you see, sir, the gentry + in our colony don't know very much, except about dogs and horses, and + betting and games. I wish I knew more about books, and less about them.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay. Dogs and horses are very good books, too, in their way, and we may + read a deal of truth out of 'em. Some men are not made to be scholars, and + may be very worthy citizens and gentlemen in spite of their ignorance. + What call have all of us to be especially learned or wise, or to take a + first place in the world? His Royal Highness is commander, and Martin + Lambert is colonel, and Jack Hunt, who rides behind yonder, was a private + soldier, and is now a very honest, worthy groom. So as we all do our best + in our station, it matters not much whether that be high or low. Nay, how + do we know what is high and what is low? and whether Jack's currycomb, or + my epaulets, or his Royal Highness's baton, may not turn out to be pretty + equal? When I began life, et militavi non sine—never mind what—I + dreamed of success and honour; now I think of duty, and yonder folks, from + whom we parted a few hours ago. Let us trot on, else we shall not reach + Westerham before nightfall.” + </p> + <p> + At Westerham the two friends were welcomed by their hosts, a stately + matron, an old soldier, whose recollections and services were of + five-and-forty years back, and the son of this gentleman and lady, the + Lieutenant-Colonel of Kingsley's regiment, that was then stationed at + Maidstone, whence the Colonel had come over on a brief visit to his + parents. Harry looked with some curiosity at this officer, who, young as + he was, had seen so much service, and obtained a character so high. There + was little of the beautiful in his face. He was very lean and very pale; + his hair was red, his nose and cheek-bones were high; but he had a fine + courtesy towards his elders, a cordial greeting towards his friends, and + an animation in conversation which caused those who heard him to forget, + even to admire, his homely looks. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington was going to Tunbridge? Their James would bear him company, + the lady of the house said, and whispered something to Colonel Lambert at + supper, which occasioned smiles and a knowing wink or two from that + officer. He called for wine, and toasted “Miss Lowther.” “With all my + heart,” cried the enthusiastic Colonel James, and drained his glass to the + very last drop. Mamma whispered her friend how James and the lady were + going to make a match, and how she came of the famous Lowther family of + the North. + </p> + <p> + “If she was the daughter of King Charlemagne,” cries Lambert, “she is not + too good for James Wolfe, or for his mother's son.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Lambert would not say so if he knew her,” the young Colonel declared. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, of course, she is the priceless pearl, and you are nothing,” cries + mamma. “No. I am of Colonel Lambert's opinion; and, if she brought all + Cumberland to you for a jointure, I should say it was my James's due. That + is the way with 'em, Mr. Warrington. We tend our children through fevers, + and measles, and whooping-cough, and small-pox; we send them to the army + and can't sleep at night for thinking; we break our hearts at parting with + 'em, and have them at home only for a week or two in the year, or maybe + ten years, and, after all our care, there comes a lass with a pair of + bright eyes, and away goes our boy, and never cares a fig for us + afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + “And pray, my dear, how did you come to marry James's papa?” said the + elder Colonel Wolfe. “And why didn't you stay at home with your parents?” + </p> + <p> + “Because James's papa was gouty, and wanted somebody to take care of him, + I suppose; not because I liked him a bit,” answers the lady: and so with + much easy talk and kindness the evening passed away. + </p> + <p> + On the morrow, and with many expressions of kindness and friendship for + his late guest, Colonel Lambert gave over the young Virginian to Mr. + Wolfe's charge, and turned his horse's head homewards, while the two + gentlemen sped towards Tunbridge Wells. Wolfe was in a hurry to reach the + place, Harry Warrington was, perhaps, not quite so eager: nay, when + Lambert rode towards his own home, Harry's thoughts followed him with a + great deal of longing desire to the parlour at Oakhurst, where he had + spent three days in happy calm. Mr. Wolfe agreed in all Harry's + enthusiastic praises of Mr. Lambert, and of his wife, and of his + daughters, and of all that excellent family. “To have such a good name, + and to live such a life as Colonel Lambert's,” said Wolfe, “seem to me now + the height of human ambition.” + </p> + <p> + “And glory and honour?” asked Warrington, “are those nothing? and would + you give up the winning of them?” + </p> + <p> + “They were my dreams once,” answered the Colonel, who had now different + ideas of happiness, “and now my desires are much more tranquil. I have + followed arms ever since I was fourteen years of age. I have seen almost + every kind of duty connected with my calling. I know all the garrison + towns in this country, and have had the honour to serve wherever there has + been work to be done during the last ten years. I have done pretty near + the whole of a soldier's duty, except, indeed, the command of an army, + which can hardly be hoped for by one of my years; and now, methinks, I + would like quiet, books to read, a wife to love me, and some children to + dandle on my knee. I have imagined some such Elysium for myself, Mr. + Warrington. True love is better than glory; and a tranquil fireside, with + the woman of your heart seated by it, the greatest good the gods can send + to us.” + </p> + <p> + Harry imagined to himself the picture which his comrade called up. He said + “Yes,” in answer to the other's remark; but, no doubt, did not give a very + cheerful assent, for his companion observed upon the expression of his + face. + </p> + <p> + “You say 'Yes' as if a fireside and a sweetheart were not particularly to + your taste.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, look you, Colonel, there are other things which a young fellow might + like to enjoy. You have had sixteen years of the world: and I am but a few + months away from my mother's apron-strings. When I have seen a campaign or + two, or six, as you have: when I have distinguished myself like Mr. Wolfe, + and made the world talk of me, I then may think of retiring from it.” + </p> + <p> + To these remarks, Mr. Wolfe, whose heart was full of a very different + matter, replied by breaking out in a further encomium of the joys of + marriage; and a special rhapsody upon the beauties and merits of his + mistress—a theme intensely interesting to himself, though not so, + possibly, to his hearer, whose views regarding a married life, if he + permitted himself to entertain any, were somewhat melancholy and + despondent. A pleasant afternoon brought them to the end of their ride; + nor did any accident or incident accompany it, save, perhaps, a mistake + which Harry Warrington made at some few miles' distance from Tunbridge + Wells, where two horsemen stopped them, whom Harry was for charging, + pistol in hand, supposing them to be highwaymen. Colonel Wolfe, laughing, + bade Mr. Warrington reserve his fire, for these folks were only + innkeepers' agents, and not robbers (except in their calling). Gumbo, + whose horse ran away with him at this particular juncture, was brought + back after a great deal of bawling on his master's part, and the two + gentlemen rode into the little town, alighted at their inn, and then + separated, each in quest of the ladies whom he had come to visit. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington found his aunt installed in handsome lodgings, with a guard + of London lacqueys in her anteroom, and to follow her chair when she went + abroad. She received him with the utmost kindness. His cousin, my Lady + Maria, was absent when he arrived: I don't know whether the young + gentleman was unhappy at not seeing her: or whether he disguised his + feelings, or whether Madame de Bernstein took any note regarding them. + </p> + <p> + A beau in a rich figured suit, the first specimen of the kind Harry had + seen, and two dowagers with voluminous hoops and plenty of rouge, were on + a visit to the Baroness when her nephew made his bow to her. She + introduced the young man to these personages as her nephew, the young + Croesus out of Virginia, of whom they had heard. She talked about the + immensity of his estate, which was as large as Kent; and, as she had read, + infinitely more fruitful. She mentioned how her half-sister, Madam Esmond, + was called Princess Pocahontas in her own country. She never tired in her + praises of mother and son, of their riches and their good qualities. The + beau shook the young man by the hand, and was delighted to have the honour + to make his acquaintance. The ladies praised him to his aunt so loudly + that the modest youth was fain to blush at their compliments. They went + away to inform the Tunbridge society of the news of his arrival. The + little place was soon buzzing with accounts of the wealth, the good + breeding, and the good looks of the Virginian. + </p> + <p> + “You could not have come at a better moment, my dear,” the Baroness said + to her nephew, as her visitors departed with many curtseys and congees. + “Those three individuals have the most active tongues in the Wells. They + will trumpet your good qualities in every company where they go. I have + introduced you to a hundred people already, and, Heaven help me! have told + all sorts of fibs about the geography of Virginia in order to describe + your estate. It is a prodigious large one, but I am afraid I have + magnified it. I have filled it with all sorts of wonderful animals, gold + mines, spices; I am not sure I have not said diamonds. As for your + negroes, I have given your mother armies of them, and, in fact, + represented her as a sovereign princess reigning over a magnificent + dominion. So she has a magnificent dominion: I cannot tell to a few + hundred thousand pounds how much her yearly income is, but I have no doubt + it is a very great one. And you must prepare, sir, to be treated here as + the heir-apparent of this royal lady. Do not let your head be turned. From + this day forth you are going to be flattered as you have never been + flattered in your life.” + </p> + <p> + “And to what end, ma'am?” asked the young gentleman. “I see no reason why + I should be reputed so rich, or get so much flattery.” + </p> + <p> + “In the first place, sir, you must not contradict your old aunt, who has + no desire to be made a fool of before her company. And as for your + reputation, you must know we found it here almost ready-made on our + arrival. A London newspaper has somehow heard of you, and come out with a + story of the immense wealth of a young gentleman from Virginia lately + landed, and a nephew of my Lord Castlewood. Immensely wealthy you are, and + can't help yourself. All the world is eager to see you. You shall go to + church to-morrow morning, and see how the whole congregation will turn + away from its books and prayers, to worship the golden calf in your + person. You would not have had me undeceive them, would you, and speak ill + of my own flesh and blood?” + </p> + <p> + “But how am I bettered by this reputation for money?” asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “You are making your entry into the world, and the gold key will open most + of its doors to you. To be thought rich is as good as to be rich. You need + not spend much money. People will say that you hoard it, and your + reputation for avarice will do you good rather than harm. You'll see how + the mothers will smile upon you, and the daughters will curtsey! Don't + look surprised! When I was a young woman myself I did as all the rest of + the world did, and tried to better myself by more than one desperate + attempt at a good marriage. Your poor grandmother, who was a saint upon + earth to be sure, bating a little jealousy, used to scold me, and called + me worldly. Worldly, my dear! So is the world worldly; and we must serve + it as it serves us; and give it nothing for nothing. Mr. Henry Esmond + Warrington—I can't help loving the two first names, sir, old woman + as I am, and that I tell you—on coming here or to London, would have + been nobody. Our protection would have helped him but little. Our family + has little credit, and, entre nous, not much reputation. I suppose you + know that Castlewood was more than suspected in '45, and hath since ruined + himself by play?” + </p> + <p> + Harry had never heard about Lord Castlewood or his reputation. + </p> + <p> + “He never had much to lose, but he has lost that and more: his wretched + estate is eaten up with mortgages. He has been at all sorts of schemes to + raise money:—my dear, he has been so desperate at times, that I did + not think my diamonds were safe with him; and have travelled to and from + Castlewood without them. Terrible, isn't it, to speak so of one's own + nephew? But you are my nephew, too, and not spoiled by the world yet, and + I wish to warn you of its wickedness. I heard of your play-doings with + Will and the chaplain, but they could do you no harm,—nay, I am told + you had the better of them. Had you played with Castlewood, you would have + had no such luck: and you would have played, had not an old aunt of yours + warned my Lord Castlewood to keep his hands off you.” + </p> + <p> + “What, ma'am, did you interfere to preserve me?” + </p> + <p> + “I kept his clutches off from you: be thankful that you are come out of + that ogre's den with any flesh on your bones! My dear, it has been the + rage and passion of all our family. My poor silly brother played; both his + wives played, especially the last one, who has little else to live upon + now but her nightly assemblies in London, and the money for the cards. I + would not trust her at Castlewood alone with you: the passion is too + strong for them, and they would fall upon you, and fleece you; and then + fall upon each other, and fight for the plunder. But for his place about + the Court my poor nephew hath nothing, and that is Will's fortune, too, + sir, and Maria's and her sister's.” + </p> + <p> + “And are they, too, fond of the cards?” + </p> + <p> + “No; to do poor Molly justice, gaming is not her passion: but when she is + amongst them in London, little Fanny will bet her eyes out of her head. I + know what the passion is, sir: do not look so astonished; I have had it, + as I had the measles when I was a child. I am not cured quite. For a poor + old woman there is nothing left but that. You will see some high play at + my card-tables to-night. Hush! my dear. It was that I wanted, and without + which I moped so at Castlewood! I could not win of my nieces or their + mother. They would not pay if they lost. 'Tis best to warn you, my dear, + in time, lest you should be shocked by the discovery. I can't live without + the cards, there's the truth!” + </p> + <p> + A few days before, and while staying with his Castlewood relatives, Harry, + who loved cards, and cock-fighting, and betting, and every conceivable + sport himself, would have laughed very likely at this confession. Amongst + that family into whose society he had fallen, many things were laughed at, + over which some folks looked grave. Faith and honour were laughed at; pure + lives were disbelieved; selfishness was proclaimed as common practice; + sacred duties were sneeringly spoken of, and vice flippantly condoned. + These were no Pharisees: they professed no hypocrisy of virtue, they flung + no stones at discovered sinners:—they smiled, shrugged their + shoulders, and passed on. The members of this family did not pretend to be + a whit better than their neighbours, whom they despised heartily; they + lived quite familiarly with the folks about whom and whose wives they told + such wicked, funny stories; they took their share of what pleasure or + plunder came to hand, and lived from day to day till their last day came + for them. Of course there are no such people now; and human nature is very + much changed in the last hundred years. At any rate, card-playing is + greatly out of mode: about that there can be no doubt: and very likely + there are not six ladies of fashion in London who know the difference + between Spadille and Manille. + </p> + <p> + “How dreadfully dull you must have found those humdrum people at that + village where we left you—but the savages were very kind to you, + child!” said Madame de Bernstein, patting the young man's cheek with her + pretty old hand. + </p> + <p> + “They were very kind; and it was not at all dull, ma'am, and I think they + are some of the best people in the world,” said Harry, with his face + flushing up. His aunt's tone jarred upon him. He could not bear that any + one should speak or think lightly of the new friends whom he had found. He + did not want them in such company. + </p> + <p> + The old lady, imperious and prompt to anger, was about to resent the check + she had received, but a second thought made her pause. “Those two girls,” + she thought, “a sick-bed—an interesting stranger—of course he + has been falling in love with one of them.” Madame Bernstein looked round + with a mischievous glance at Lady Maria, who entered the room at this + juncture. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0025" id="link2HCH0025"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXV. New Acquaintances + </h2> + <p> + Cousin Maria made her appearance, attended by a couple of gardener's boys + bearing baskets of flowers, with which it was proposed to decorate Madame + de Bernstein's drawing-room against the arrival of her ladyship's company. + Three footmen in livery, gorgeously laced with worsted, set out twice as + many card-tables. A major-domo in black and a bag, with fine laced + ruffles; and looking as if he ought to have a sword by his side, followed + the lacqueys bearing fasces of wax candles, which he placed a pair on each + card-table, and in the silver sconces on the wainscoted wall that was now + gilt with the slanting rays of the sun, as was the prospect of the green + common beyond, with its rocks and clumps of trees and houses twinkling in + the sunshine. Groups of many-coloured figures in hoops and powder and + brocade sauntered over the green, and dappled the plain with their + shadows. On the other side from the Baroness's windows you saw the + Pantiles, where a perpetual fair was held, and heard the clatter and + buzzing of the company. A band of music was here performing for the + benefit of the visitors to the Wells. Madame Bernstein's chief + sitting-room might not suit a recluse or a student, but for those who + liked bustle, gaiety, a bright cross light, and a view of all that was + going on in the cheery busy place, no lodging could be pleasanter. And + when the windows were lighted up, the passengers walking below were aware + that her ladyship was at home and holding a card-assembly, to which an + introduction was easy enough. By the way, in speaking of the past, I think + the night-life of society a hundred years since was rather a dark life. + There was not one wax-candle for ten which we now see in a lady's + drawing-room: let alone gas and the wondrous new illuminations of clubs. + Horrible guttering tallow smoked and stunk in passages. The candle-snuffer + was a notorious officer in the theatre. See Hogarth's pictures: how dark + they are, and how his feasts are, as it were, begrimed with tallow! In + “Marriage a la Mode,” in Lord Viscount Squanderfield's grand saloons, + where he and his wife are sitting yawning before the horror-stricken + steward when their party is over—there are but eight candles—one + on each card-table, and half a dozen in a brass chandelier. If Jack + Briefless convoked his friends to oysters and beer in his chambers, Pump + Court, he would have twice as many. Let us comfort ourselves by thinking + that Louis Quatorze in all his glory held his revels in the dark, and + bless Mr. Price and other Luciferous benefactors of mankind, for banishing + the abominable mutton of our youth. + </p> + <p> + So Maria with her flowers (herself the fairest flower), popped her roses, + sweet-williams, and so forth, in vases here and there, and adorned the + apartment to the best of her art. She lingered fondly over this bowl and + that dragon jar, casting but sly timid glances the while at young cousin + Harry, whose own blush would have become any young woman, and you might + have thought that she possibly intended to outstay her aunt; but that + Baroness, seated in her arm-chair, her crooked tortoiseshell stick in her + hand, pointed the servants imperiously to their duty; rated one and the + other soundly: Tom for having a darn in his stocking; John for having + greased his locks too profusely out of the candle-box; and so forth—keeping + a stern domination over them. Another remark concerning poor Jeames of a + hundred years ago: Jeames slept two in a bed, four in a room, and that + room a cellar very likely, and he washed in a trough such as you would + hardly see anywhere in London now out of the barracks of her Majesty's + Foot Guards. + </p> + <p> + If Maria hoped a present interview, her fond heart was disappointed. + “Where are you going to dine, Harry?” asks Madame de Bernstein. “My niece + Maria and I shall have a chicken in the little parlour—I think you + should go to the best ordinary. There is one at the White Horse at three, + we shall hear his bell in a minute or two. And you will understand, sir, + that you ought not to spare expense, but behave like Princess Pocahontas's + son. Your trunks have been taken over to the lodging I have engaged for + you. It is not good for a lad to be always hanging about the aprons of two + old women. Is it, Maria?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” says her ladyship, dropping her meek eyes; whilst the other lady's + glared in triumph. I think Andromeda had been a good deal exposed to the + Dragon in the course of the last five or six days: and if Perseus had cut + the latter's cruel head off he would have committed not unjustifiable + monstricide. But he did not bare sword or shield; he only looked + mechanically at the lacqueys in tawny and blue as they creaked about the + room. + </p> + <p> + “And there are good mercers and tailors from London always here to wait on + the company at the Wells. You had better see them, my dear, for your suit + is not of the very last fashion—a little lace——” + </p> + <p> + “I can't go out of mourning, ma'am,” said the young man, looking down at + his sables. + </p> + <p> + “Ho, sir,” cried the lady, rustling up from her chair and rising on her + cane, “wear black for your brother till you are as old as Methuselah, if + you like. I am sure I don't want to prevent you. I only want you to dress, + and to do like other people, and make a figure worthy of your name.” + </p> + <p> + “Madam,” said Mr. Warrington with great state, “I have not done anything + to disgrace it that I know.” + </p> + <p> + Why did the old Woman stop and give a little start as if she had been + struck? Let bygones be bygones. She and the boy had a score of little + passages of this kind in which swords were crossed and thrusts rapidly + dealt or parried. She liked Harry none the worse for his courage in facing + her. “Sure a little finer linen than that shirt you wear will not be a + disgrace to you, sir,” she said, with rather a forced laugh. + </p> + <p> + Harry bowed and blushed. It was one of the homely gifts of his Oakhurst + friends. He felt pleased somehow to think he wore it; thought of the new + friends, so good, so pure, so simple, so kindly, with immense tenderness, + and felt, while invested in this garment, as if evil could not touch him. + He said he would go to his lodging, and make a point of returning arrayed + in the best linen he had. + </p> + <p> + “Come back here, sir,” said Madame Bernstein, “and if our company has not + arrived, Maria and I will find some ruffles for you!” And herewith, under + a footman's guidance, the young fellow walked off to his new lodgings. + </p> + <p> + Harry found not only handsome and spacious apartments provided for him, + but a groom in attendance waiting to be engaged by his honour, and a + second valet, if he was inclined to hire one to wait upon Mr. Gumbo. Ere + he had been many minutes in his rooms, emissaries from a London tailor and + bootmaker waited him with the cards and compliments of their employers, + Messrs. Regnier and Tull; the best articles in his modest wardrobe were + laid out by Gumbo, and the finest linen with which his thrifty Virginian + mother had provided him. Visions of the snow-surrounded home in his own + country, of the crackling logs and the trim quiet ladies working by the + fire, rose up before him. For the first time a little thought that the + homely clothes were not quite smart enough, the home-worked linen not so + fine as it might be, crossed the young man's mind. That he should be + ashamed of anything belonging to him or to Castlewood! That was strange. + The simple folks there were only too well satisfied with all things that + were done, or said, or produced at Castlewood; and Madam Esmond, when she + sent her son forth on his travels, thought no young nobleman need be + better provided. The clothes might have fitted better and been of a later + fashion, to be sure—but still the young fellow presented a comely + figure enough when he issued from his apartments, his toilet over; and + Gumbo calling a chair, marched beside it, until they reached the ordinary + where the young gentleman was to dine. + </p> + <p> + Here he expected to find the beau whose acquaintance he had made a few + hours before at his aunt's lodging, and who had indicated to Harry that + the White Horse was the most modish place for dining at the Wells, and he + mentioned his friend's name to the host: but the landlord and waiters + leading him into the room with many smiles and bows assured his honour + that his honour did not need any other introduction than his own, helped + him to hang up his coat and sword on a peg, asked him whether he would + drink Burgundy, Pontac, or champagne to his dinner, and led him to a + table. + </p> + <p> + Though the most fashionable ordinary in the village, the White Horse did + not happen to be crowded on this day. Monsieur Barbeau, the landlord, + informed Harry that there was a great entertainment at Summer Hill, which + had taken away most of the company; indeed, when Harry entered the room, + there were but four other gentlemen in it. Two of these guests were + drinking wine, and had finished their dinner: the other two were young men + in the midst of their meal, to whom the landlord, as he passed, must have + whispered the name of the new-comer, for they looked at him with some + appearance of interest, and made him a slight bow across the table as the + smiling host bustled away for Harry's dinner. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington returned the salute of the two gentlemen, who bade him + welcome to Tunbridge, and hoped he would like the place upon better + acquaintance. Then they smiled and exchanged waggish looks with each + other, of which Harry did not understand the meaning, nor why they cast + knowing glances at the two other guests over their wine. + </p> + <p> + One of these persons was in a somewhat tarnished velvet coat with a huge + queue and bag, and voluminous ruffles and embroidery. The other was a + little beetle-browed, hook-nosed, high-shouldered gentleman, whom his + opposite companion addressed as milor, or my lord, in a very high voice. + My lord, who was sipping the wine before him, barely glanced at the + new-comer, and then addressed himself to his own companion. + </p> + <p> + “And so you know the nephew of the old woman—the Croesus who comes + to arrive?” + </p> + <p> + “You're thrown out there, Jack!” says one young gentleman to the other. + </p> + <p> + “Never could manage the lingo,” said Jack. The two elders had begun to + speak in the French language. + </p> + <p> + “But assuredly, my dear lord!” says the gentleman with the long queue. + </p> + <p> + “You have shown energy, my dear Baron! He has been here but two hours. My + people told me of him only as I came to dinner.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew him before!—I have met him often in London with the Baroness + and my lord, his cousin,” said the Baron. + </p> + <p> + A smoking soup for Harry here came in, borne by the smiling host. “Behold, + sir! Behold a potage of my fashion!” says my landlord, laying down the + dish and whispering to Harry the celebrated name of the nobleman opposite. + Harry thanked Monsieur Barbeau in his own language, upon which the foreign + gentleman, turning round, grinned most graciously at Harry, and said, + “Fous bossedez notre langue barfaidement, monsieur.” Mr. Warrington had + never heard the French language pronounced in that manner in Canada. He + bowed in return to the foreign gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me more about the Croesus, my good Baron,” continued his lordship, + speaking rather superciliously to his companion, and taking no notice of + Harry, which perhaps somewhat nettled the young man. + </p> + <p> + “What will you, that I tell you, my dear lord? Croesus is a youth like + other youths; he is tall, like other youths; he is awkward, like other + youths; he has black hair, as they all have who come from the Indies. + Lodgings have been taken for him at Mrs. Rose's toy-shop.” + </p> + <p> + “I have lodgings there too,” thought Mr. Warrington. “Who is Croesus they + are talking of? How good the soup is!” + </p> + <p> + “He travels with a large retinue,” the Baron continued, “four servants, + two postchaises, and a pair of outriders. His chief attendant is a black + man who saved his life from the savages in America, and who will not hear, + on any account, of being made free. He persists in wearing mourning for + his elder brother from whom he inherits his principality.” + </p> + <p> + “Could anything console you for the death of yours, Chevalier?” cried out + the elder gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Milor! his property might,” said the Chevalier, “which you know is not + small.” + </p> + <p> + “Your brother lives on his patrimony—which you have told me is + immense—you by your industry, my dear Chevalier.” + </p> + <p> + “Milor!” cries the individual addressed as Chevalier. + </p> + <p> + “By your industry or your esprit,—how much more noble! Shall you be + at the Baroness's to-night? She ought to be a little of your parents, + Chevalier?” + </p> + <p> + “Again I fail to comprehend your lordship,” said the other gentleman, + rather sulkily. + </p> + <p> + “Why, she is a woman of great wit—she is of noble birth—she + has undergone strange adventures—she has but little principle (there + you happily have the advantage of her). But what care we men of the world? + You intend to go and play with the young Creole, no doubt, and get as much + money from him as you can. By the way, Baron, suppose he should be a + guet-apens, that young Creole? Suppose our excellent friend has invented + him up in London, and brings him down with his character for wealth to + prey upon the innocent folks here?” + </p> + <p> + “J'y ai souvent pense, milor,” says the little Baron, placing his finger + to his nose very knowingly, “that Baroness is capable of anything.” + </p> + <p> + “A Baron—a Baroness, que voulez-vous, my friend? I mean the late + lamented husband. Do you know who he was?” + </p> + <p> + “Intimately. A more notorious villain never dealt a card. At Venice, at + Brussels, at Spa, at Vienna—the gaols of every one of which places + he knew. I knew the man, my lord.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought you would. I saw him at the Hague, where I first had the honour + of meeting you, and a more disreputable rogue never entered my doors. A + minister must open them to all sorts of people, Baron,—spies, + sharpers, ruffians of every sort.” + </p> + <p> + “Parbleu, milor, how you treat them!” says my lord's companion. + </p> + <p> + “A man of my rank, my friend—of the rank I held then—of + course, must see all sorts of people—entre autres your acquaintance. + What his wife could want with such a name as his I can't conceive.” + </p> + <p> + “Apparently, it was better than the lady's own.” + </p> + <p> + “Effectively! So I have heard of my friend Paddy changing clothes with the + scarecrow. I don't know which name is the most distinguished, that of the + English bishop or the German baron.” + </p> + <p> + “My lord,” cried the other gentleman, rising and laying his hand on a + large star on his coat, “you forget that I, too, am a Baron and a + Chevalier of the Holy Roman——” + </p> + <p> + “—Order of the Spur!—not in the least, my dear knight and + baron! You will have no more wine? We shall meet at Madame de Bernstein's + to-night.” The knight and baron quitted the table, felt in his embroidered + pockets, as if for money to give the waiter, who brought him his great + laced hat, and waving that menial off with a hand surrounded by large + ruffles and blazing rings, he stalked away from the room. + </p> + <p> + It was only when the person addressed as my lord had begun to speak of the + bishop's widow and the German baron's wife that Harry Warrington was aware + how his aunt and himself had been the subject of the two gentlemen's + conversation. Ere the conviction had settled itself on his mind, one of + the speakers had quitted the room, and the other, turning to a table at + which two gentlemen sate, said, “What a little sharper it is! Everything I + said about Bernstein relates mutato nomine to him. I knew the fellow to be + a spy and a rogue. He has changed his religion I don't know how many + times. I had him turned out of the Hague myself when I was ambassador, and + I know he was caned in Vienna.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder my Lord Chesterfield associates with such a villain!” called out + Harry from his table. The other couple of diners looked at him. To his + surprise the nobleman so addressed went on talking. + </p> + <p> + “There cannot be a more fieffe coquin than this Poellnitz. Why, Heaven be + thanked, he has actually left me my snuff-box! You laugh?—the fellow + is capable of taking it.” And my lord thought it was his own satire at + which the young men were laughing. + </p> + <p> + “You are quite right, sir,” said one of the two diners, turning to Mr. + Warrington, “though, saving your presence, I don't know what business it + is of yours. My lord will play with anybody who will set him. Don't be + alarmed, he is as deaf as a post, and did not hear a word that you said; + and that's why my lord will play with anybody who will put a pack of cards + before him, and that is the reason why he consorts with this rogue.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, I know other noblemen who are not particular as to their company,” + says Mr. Jack. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean because I associate with you? I know my company, my good + friend, and I defy most men to have the better of me.” + </p> + <p> + Not having paid the least attention to Mr. Warrington's angry + interruption, my lord opposite was talking in his favourite French with + Monsieur Barbeau, the landlord, and graciously complimenting him on his + dinner. The host bowed again and again; was enchanted that his Excellency + was satisfied: had not forgotten the art which he had learned when he was + a young man in his Excellency's kingdom of Ireland. The salmi was to my + lord's liking? He had just served a dish to the young American seigneur + who sate opposite, the gentleman from Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “To whom?” My lord's pale face became red for a moment, as he asked this + question, and looked towards Harry Warrington, opposite to him. + </p> + <p> + “To the young gentleman from Virginia who has just arrived, and who + perfectly possesses our beautiful language!” says Mr. Barbeau, thinking to + kill two birds, as it were, with this one stone of a compliment. + </p> + <p> + “And to whom your lordship will be answerable for language reflecting upon + my family, and uttered in the presence of these gentlemen,” cried out Mr. + Warrington, at the top of his voice, determined that his opponent should + hear. + </p> + <p> + “You must go and call into his ear, and then he may perchance hear you,” + said one of the younger guests. + </p> + <p> + “I will take care that his lordship shall understand my meaning, one way + or other,” Mr. Warrington said, with much dignity; “and will not suffer + calumnies regarding my relatives to be uttered by him or any other man!” + </p> + <p> + Whilst Harry was speaking, the little nobleman opposite to him did not + hear him, but had time sufficient to arrange his own reply. He had risen, + passing his handkerchief once or twice across his mouth, and laying his + slim fingers on the table. “Sir,” said he, “you will believe, on the word + of a gentleman, that I had no idea before whom I was speaking, and it + seems that my acquaintance, Monsieur de Poellnitz, knew you no better than + myself. Had I known you, believe me that I should have been the last man + in the world to utter a syllable that should give you annoyance; and I + tender you my regrets and apologies, before my Lord March and Mr. Morris + here present.” + </p> + <p> + To these words, Mr. Warrington could only make a bow, and mumble out a few + words of acknowledgment: which speech having made believe to hear, my lord + made Harry another very profound bow, and saying he should have the honour + of waiting upon Mr. Warrington at his lodgings, saluted the company, and + went away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0026" id="link2HCH0026"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVI. In which we are at a very Great Distance from Oakhurst + </h2> + <p> + Within the precinct of the White Horse Tavern, and coming up to the + windows of the eating-room, was a bowling-green, with a table or two, + where guests might sit and partake of punch or tea. The three gentlemen + having come to an end of their dinner about the same time, Mr. Morris + proposed that they should adjourn to the Green, and there drink a cool + bottle. “Jack Morris would adjourn to the Dust Hole, as a pretext for a + fresh drink,” said my lord. On which Jack said he supposed each gentleman + had his own favourite way of going to the deuce. His weakness, he owned, + was a bottle. + </p> + <p> + “My Lord Chesterfield's deuce is deuce-ace,” says my Lord March. “His + lordship can't keep away from the cards or dice.” + </p> + <p> + “My Lord March has not one devil, but several devils. He loves gambling, + he loves horse-racing, he loves betting, he loves drinking, he loves + eating, he loves money, he loves women; and you have fallen into bad + company, Mr. Warrington, when you lighted upon his lordship. He will play + you for every acre you have in Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + “With the greatest pleasure in life, Mr. Warrington!” interposes my lord. + </p> + <p> + “And for all your tobacco, and for all your spices, and for all your + slaves, and for all your oxen and asses, and for everything that is + yours.” + </p> + <p> + “Shall we begin now? Jack, you are never without a dice-box or a + bottle-screw. I will set Mr. Warrington for what he likes.” + </p> + <p> + “Unfortunately, my lord, the tobacco, and the slaves, and the asses, and + the oxen, are not mine, as yet. I am just of age, and my mother, scarce + twenty years older, has quite as good chance of long life as I have.” + </p> + <p> + “I will bet you that you survive her. I will pay you a sum now against + four times the sum to be paid at her death. I will set you a fair sum over + this table against the reversion of your estate in Virginia at the old + lady's departure. What do you call your place?” + </p> + <p> + “Castlewood.” + </p> + <p> + “A principality, I hear it is. I will bet that its value has been + exaggerated ten times at least amongst the quidnuncs here. How came you by + the name of Castlewood?—you are related to my lord? Oh, stay: I + know,—my lady, your mother, descends from the real head of the + house. He took the losing side in '15. I have had the story a dozen times + from my old Duchess. She knew your grandfather. He was friend of Addison + and Steele, and Pope and Milton, I dare say, and the bigwigs. It is a pity + he did not stay at home, and transport the other branch of the family to + the plantations.” + </p> + <p> + “I have just been staying at Castlewood with my cousin there,” remarked + Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Hm! Did you play with him? He's fond of pasteboard and bones.” + </p> + <p> + “Never, but for sixpences and a pool of commerce with the ladies.” + </p> + <p> + “So much the better for both of you. But you played with Will Esmond if he + was at home? I will lay ten to one you played with Will Esmond.” + </p> + <p> + Harry blushed, and owned that of an evening his cousin and he had had a + few games at cards. + </p> + <p> + “And Tom Sampson, the chaplain,” cried Jack Morris, “was he of the party? + I wager that Tom made a third, and the Lord deliver you from Tom and Will + Esmond together!” + </p> + <p> + “Nay; the truth is, I won of both of them,” said Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “And they paid you? Well, miracles will never cease!” + </p> + <p> + “I did not say anything about miracles,” remarked Mr. Harry, smiling over + his wine. + </p> + <p> + “And you don't tell tales out of school—the volto sciolto—hey, + Mr. Warrington?” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” said downright Harry, “French is the only language + besides my own of which I know a little.” + </p> + <p> + “My Lord March has learned Italian at the Opera, and a pretty penny his + lessons have cost him,” remarked Jack Morris. “We must show him the Opera—mustn't + we, March?” + </p> + <p> + “Must we, Morris?” said my lord, as if he only half liked the other's + familiarity. + </p> + <p> + Both of the two gentlemen were dressed alike, in small scratch-wigs + without powder, in blue frocks with plate buttons, in buckskins and + riding-boots, in little hats with a narrow cord of lace, and no outward + mark of fashion. + </p> + <p> + “I don't care about the Opera much, my lord,” says Harry, warming with his + wine; “but I should like to go to Newmarket, and long to see a good + English hunting-field.” + </p> + <p> + “We will show you Newmarket and the hunting-field, sir. Can you ride + pretty well?” + </p> + <p> + “I think I can,” Harry said; “and I can shoot pretty well, and jump some.” + </p> + <p> + “What's your weight? I bet you we weigh even, or I weigh most. I bet you + Jack Morris beats you at birds or a mark, at five-and-twenty paces. I bet + you I jump farther than you on flat ground, here on this green.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know Mr. Morris's shooting—I never saw either gentleman + before—but I take your bets, my lord, at what you please,” cries + Harry, who by this time was more than warm with Burgundy. + </p> + <p> + “Ponies on each!” cried my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Done and done!” cried my lord and Harry together. The young man thought + it was for the honour of his country not to be ashamed of any bet made to + him. + </p> + <p> + “We can try the last bet now, if your feet are pretty steady,” said my + lord, springing up, stretching his arms and limbs, and looking at the + crisp, dry grass. He drew his boots off, then his coat and waistcoat, + buckling his belt round his waist, and flinging his clothes down to the + ground. + </p> + <p> + Harry had more respect for his garments. It was his best suit. He took off + the velvet coat and waistcoat, folded them up daintily, and, as the two or + three tables round were slopped with drink, went to place the clothes on a + table in the eating-room, of which the windows were open. + </p> + <p> + Here a new guest had entered; and this was no other than Mr. Wolfe, who + was soberly eating a chicken and salad, with a modest pint of wine. Harry + was in high spirits. He told the Colonel he had a bet with my Lord March—would + Colonel Wolfe stand him halves? The Colonel said he was too poor to bet. + Would he come out and see fair play? That he would with all his heart. + Colonel Wolfe set down his glass, and stalked through the open window + after his young friend. + </p> + <p> + “Who is that tallow-faced Put with the carroty hair?” says Jack Morris, on + whom the Burgundy had had its due effect. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington explained that this was Lieutenant-Colonel Wolfe, of the + 20th Regiment. + </p> + <p> + “Your humble servant, gentlemen!” says the Colonel, making the company a + rigid military bow. + </p> + <p> + “Never saw such a figure in my life!” cries Jack Morris. “Did you—March?” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, I think you said March?” said the Colonel, looking + very much surprised. + </p> + <p> + “I am the Earl of March, sir, at Colonel Wolfe's service,” said the + nobleman, bowing. “My friend, Mr. Morris, is so intimate with me, that, + after dinner, we are quite like brothers.” + </p> + <p> + Why is not all Tunbridge Wells by to hear this? thought Morris. And he was + so delighted that he shouted out, “Two to one on my lord!” + </p> + <p> + “Done!” calls out Mr. Warrington; and the enthusiastic Jack was obliged to + cry “Done!” too. + </p> + <p> + “Take him, Colonel,” Harry whispers to his friend. + </p> + <p> + But the Colonel said he could not afford to lose, and therefore could not + hope to win. + </p> + <p> + “I see you have won one of our bets already, Mr. Warrington,” my Lord + March remarked. “I am taller than you by an inch or two, but you are + broader round the shoulders.” + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, my dear Will! I bet you you weigh twice as much as he does!” cries + Jack Morris. + </p> + <p> + “Done, Jack!” says my lord, laughing. “The bets are all ponies. Will you + take him, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “No, my dear fellow—one's enough,” says Jack. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, my dear fellow,” says my lord; “and now we will settle the + other wager.” + </p> + <p> + Having already arrayed himself in his best silk stockings, black satin-net + breeches, and neatest pumps, Harry did not care to take off his shoes as + his antagonist had done, whose heavy riding-boots and spurs were, to be + sure, little calculated for leaping. They had before them a fine even + green turf of some thirty yards in length, enough for a run and enough for + a jump. A gravel walk ran around this green, beyond which was a wall and + gate-sign—a field azure, bearing the Hanoverian White Horse rampant + between two skittles proper, and for motto the name of the landlord and of + the animal depicted. + </p> + <p> + My lord's friend laid a handkerchief on the ground as the mark whence the + leapers were to take their jump, and Mr. Wolfe stood at the other end of + the grass-plat to note the spot where each came down. “My lord went + first,” writes Mr. Warrington, in a letter to Mrs. Mountain, at + Castlewood, Virginia, still extant. “He was for having me take the lead; + but, remembering the story about the Battel of Fontanoy which my dearest + George used to tell, I says, 'Monseigneur le Comte, tirez le premier, s'il + vous play.' So he took his run in his stocken feet, and for the honour of + Old Virginia, I had the gratafacation of beating his lordship by more than + two feet—viz., two feet nine inches—me jumping twenty-one feet + three inches, by the drawer's measured tape, and his lordship only + eighteen six. I had won from him about my weight before (which I knew the + moment I set my eye upon him). So he and Mr. Jack paid me these two betts. + And with my best duty to my mother—she will not be displeased with + me, for I bett for the honor of the Old Dominion, and my opponent was a + nobleman of the first quality, himself holding two Erldomes, and heir to a + Duke. Betting is all the rage here, and the bloods and young fellows of + fashion are betting away from morning till night. + </p> + <p> + “I told them—and that was my mischief perhaps—that there was a + gentleman at home who could beat me by a good foot; and when they asked + who it was, and I said Col. G. Washington, of Mount Vernon—as you + know he can, and he's the only man in his county or mine that can do it—Mr. + Wolfe asked me ever so many questions about Col. G. W., and showed that he + had heard of him, and talked over last year's unhappy campane as if he + knew every inch of the ground, and he knew the names of all our rivers, + only he called the Potowmac Pottamac, at which we had a good laugh at him. + My Lord of March and Ruglen was not in the least ill-humour about losing, + and he and his friend handed me notes out of their pocket-books, which + filled mine that was getting very empty, for the vales to the servants at + my cousin Castlewood's house and buying a horse at Oakhurst have very + nearly put me on the necessity of making another draft upon my honoured + mother or her London or Bristol agent.” + </p> + <p> + These feats of activity over, the four gentlemen now strolled out of the + tavern garden into the public walk, where, by this time, a great deal of + company was assembled: upon whom Mr. Jack, who was of a frank and free + nature, with a loud voice, chose to make remarks that were not always + agreeable. And here, if my Lord March made a joke, of which his lordship + was not sparing, Jack roared, “Oh, ho, ho! Oh, good Gad! Oh, my dear earl! + Oh, my dear lord, you'll be the death of me!” “It seemed as if he wished + everybody to know,” writes Harry sagaciously to Mrs. Mountain, “that his + friend and companion was an Erl!” + </p> + <p> + There was, indeed, a great variety of characters who passed. M. Poellnitz, + no finer dressed than he had been at dinner, grinned, and saluted with his + great laced hat and tarnished feathers. Then came by my Lord Chesterfield, + in a pearl-coloured suit, with his blue ribbon and star, and saluted the + young men in his turn. + </p> + <p> + “I will back the old boy for taking his hat off against the whole kingdom, + and France either,” says my Lord March. “He has never changed the shape of + that hat of his for twenty years. Look at it. There it goes again! Do you + see that great, big, awkward, pock-marked, snuff-coloured man, who hardly + touches his clumsy beaver in reply. D—— his confounded + impudence—do you know who that is?” + </p> + <p> + “No, curse him! Who is it, March?” asks Jack, with an oath. + </p> + <p> + “It's one Johnson, a Dictionary-maker, about whom my Lord Chesterfield + wrote some most capital papers, when his dixonary was coming out, to + patronise the fellow. I know they were capital. I've heard Horry Walpole + say so, and he knows all about that kind of thing. Confound the impudent + schoolmaster!” + </p> + <p> + “Hang him, he ought to stand in the pillory!” roars Jack. + </p> + <p> + “That fat man he's walking with is another of your writing fellows,—a + printer,—his name is Richardson; he wrote Clarissa, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens! my lord, is that the great Richardson? Is that the man who + wrote Clarissa?” called out Colonel Wolfe and Mr. Warrington, in a breath. + </p> + <p> + Harry ran forward to look at the old gentleman toddling along the walk + with a train of admiring ladies surrounding him. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my very dear sir,” one was saying, “you are too great and good to + live in such a world; but sure you were sent to teach it virtue!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, my Miss Mulso! Who shall teach the teacher?” said the good, fat old + man, raising a kind, round face skywards. “Even he has his faults and + errors! Even his age and experience does not prevent him from stumbl—-. + Heaven bless my soul, Mr. Johnson! I ask your pardon if I have trodden on + your corn.” + </p> + <p> + “You have done both, sir. You have trodden on the corn, and received the + pardon,” said Mr. Johnson, and went on mumbling some verses, swaying to + and fro, his eyes turned towards the ground, his hands behind him, and + occasionally endangering with his great stick the honest, meek eyes of his + companion-author. + </p> + <p> + “They do not see very well, my dear Mulso,” he says to the young lady, + “but such as they are, I would keep my lash from Mr. Johnson's cudgel. + Your servant, sir.” Here he made a low bow, and took off his hat to Mr. + Warrington, who shrank back with many blushes, after saluting the great + author. The great author was accustomed to be adored. A gentler wind never + puffed mortal vanity. Enraptured spinsters flung tea-leaves round him, and + incensed him with the coffee-pot. Matrons kissed the slippers they had + worked for him. There was a halo of virtue round his nightcap. All Europe + had thrilled, panted, admired, trembled, wept, over the pages of the + immortal little, kind, honest man with the round paunch. Harry came back + quite glowing and proud at having a bow from him. “Ah!” says he, “my lord, + I am glad to have seen him!” + </p> + <p> + “Seen him! why, dammy, you may see him any day in his shop, I suppose?” + says Jack, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “My brother declared that he, and Mr. Fielding, I think, was the name, + were the greatest geniuses in England; and often used to say, that when we + came to Europe, his first pilgrimage would be to Mr. Richardson,” cried + Harry, always impetuous, honest, and tender, when he spoke of the dearest + friend. + </p> + <p> + “Your brother spoke like a man,” cried Mr. Wolfe, too, his pale face + likewise flushing up. “I would rather be a man of genius, than a peer of + the realm.” + </p> + <p> + “Every man to his taste, Colonel,” says my lord, much amused. “Your + enthusiasm—I don't mean anything personal—refreshes me, on my + honour it does.” + </p> + <p> + “So it does me—by gad—perfectly refreshes me,” cries Jack + </p> + <p> + “So it does Jack—you see—it actually refreshes Jack! I say, + Jack, which would you rather be?—a fat old printer, who has written + a story about a confounded girl and a fellow that ruins her,—or a + peer of Parliament with ten thousand a year?” + </p> + <p> + “March—my Lord March, do you take me for a fool?” says Jack, with a + tearful voice. “Have I done anything to deserve this language from you?” + </p> + <p> + “I would rather win honour than honours: I would rather have genius than + wealth. I would rather make my name than inherit it, though my father's, + thank God, is an honest one,” said the young Colonel. “But pardon me, + gentlemen,” and here making, them a hasty salutation, he ran across the + parade towards a young and elderly lady and a gentleman, who were now + advancing. + </p> + <p> + “It is the beautiful Miss Lowther. I remember now,” says my lord. “See! he + takes her arm! The report is, he is engaged to her.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean to say such a fellow is engaged to any of the Lowthers of + the North?” cries out Jack. “Curse me, what is the world come to, with + your printers, and your half-pay ensigns, and your schoolmasters, and your + infernal nonsense?” + </p> + <p> + The Dictionary-maker, who had shown so little desire to bow to my Lord + Chesterfield, when that famous nobleman courteously saluted him, was here + seen to take off his beaver, and bow almost to the ground, before a florid + personage in a large round hat, with bands and a gown, who made his + appearance in the Walk. This was my Lord Bishop of Salisbury, wearing + complacently the blue riband and badge of the Garter, of which Noble Order + his lordship was prelate. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Johnson stood, hat in hand, during the whole time of his conversation + with Dr. Gilbert; who made many flattering and benedictory remarks to Mr. + Richardson, declaring that he was the supporter of virtue, the preacher of + sound morals, the mainstay of religion, of all which points the honest + printer himself was perfectly convinced. + </p> + <p> + Do not let any young lady trip to her grandpapa's bookcase in consequence + of this eulogium, and rashly take down Clarissa from the shelf. She would + not care to read the volumes, over which her pretty ancestresses wept and + thrilled a hundred years ago; which were commended by divines from pulpits + and belauded all Europe over. I wonder, are our women more virtuous than + their grandmothers, or only more squeamish? If the former, then Miss Smith + of New York is certainly more modest than Miss Smith of London, who still + does not scruple to say that tables, pianos, and animals have legs. Oh, my + faithful, good old Samuel Richardson! Hath the news yet reached thee in + Hades that thy sublime novels are huddled away in corners, and that our + daughters may no more read Clarissa than Tom Jones? Go up, Samuel, and be + reconciled with thy brother-scribe, whom in life thou didst hate so. I + wonder whether a century hence the novels of to-day will be hidden behind + locks and wires, and make pretty little maidens blush? + </p> + <p> + “Who is yonder queer person in the high headdress of my grandmother's + time, who stops and speaks to Mr. Richardson?” asked Harry, as a + fantastically dressed lady came up, and performed a curtsey and a + compliment to the bowing printer. + </p> + <p> + Jack Morris nervously struck Harry a blow in the side with the butt end of + his whip. Lord March laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Yonder queer person is my gracious kinswoman, Katharine, Duchess of Dover + and Queensberry, at your service, Mr. Warrington. She was a beauty price! + She is changed now, isn't she? What an old Gorgon it is! She is a great + patroness of your book-men and when that old frump was young, they + actually made verses about her.” + </p> + <p> + The Earl quitted his friends for a moment to make his bow to the old + Duchess, Jack Morris explaining to Mr. Warrington how, at the Duke's + death, my Lord of March and Ruglen would succeed to his cousin's dukedoms. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose,” says Harry, simply, “his lordship is here in attendance upon + the old lady?” + </p> + <p> + Jack burst into a loud laugh. + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes! very much! exactly!” says he. “Why, my dear fellow, you don't + mean to say you haven't heard about the little Opera-dancer?” + </p> + <p> + “I am but lately arrived in England, Mr. Morris,” said Harry, with a + smile, “and in Virginia, I own, we have not heard much about the little + Opera-dancer.” + </p> + <p> + Luckily for us, the secret about the little Opera-dancer never was + revealed, for the young men's conversation was interrupted by a lady in a + cardinal cape, and a hat by no means unlike those lovely headpieces which + have returned into vogue a hundred years after the date of our present + history, who made a profound curtsey to the two gentlemen and received + their salutation in return. She stopped opposite to Harry; she held out + her hand, rather to his wonderment: + </p> + <p> + “Have you so soon forgotten me, Mr. Warrington?” she said. + </p> + <p> + Off went Harry's hat in an instant. He started, blushed, stammered, and + called out Good Heavens! as if there had been any celestial wonder in the + circumstance! It was Lady Maria come out for a walk. He had not been + thinking about her. She was, to say truth, for the moment so utterly out + of the young gentleman's mind, that her sudden re-entry there and + appearance in the body startled Mr. Warrington's faculties, and caused + those guilty blushes to crowd into his cheeks. + </p> + <p> + No. He was not even thinking of her! A week ago—a year, a hundred + years ago it seemed—he would not have been surprised to meet her + anywhere. Appearing from amidst darkling shrubberies, gliding over green + garden terraces, loitering on stairs or corridors, hovering even in his + dreams, all day or all night, bodily or spiritually, he had been + accustomed to meet her. A week ago his heart used to beat. A week ago, and + at the very instant when he jumped out of his sleep, there was her idea + smiling on him. And it was only last Tuesday that his love was stabbed and + slain, and he not only had left off mourning for her, but had forgotten + her! + </p> + <p> + “You will come and walk with me a little?” she said. “Or would you like + the music best? I dare say you will like the music best.” + </p> + <p> + “You know,” said Harry, “I don't care about any music much, except”—he + was thinking of the evening hymn—“except of your playing.” He turned + very red again as he spoke, he felt he was perjuring himself horribly. + </p> + <p> + The poor lady was agitated herself by the flutter and agitation which she + saw in her young companion. Gracious Heaven! Could that tremor and + excitement mean that she was mistaken, and that the lad was still + faithful? “Give me your arm, and let us take a little walk,” she said, + waving round a curtsey to the other two gentlemen: “my aunt is asleep + after her dinner.” Harry could not but offer the arm, and press the hand + that lay against his heart. Maria made another fine curtsey to Harry's + bowing companions, and walked off with her prize. In her griefs, in her + rages, in the pains and anguish of wrong and desertion, how a woman + remembers to smile, curtsey, caress, dissemble! How resolutely they + discharge the social proprieties; how they have a word, or a hand, or a + kind little speech or reply for the passing acquaintance who crosses + unknowing the path of the tragedy, drops a light airy remark or two (happy + self-satisfied rogue!) and passes on. He passes on, and thinks that woman + was rather pleased with what I said. “That joke I made was rather neat. I + do really think Lady Maria looks rather favourably at me, and she's a + dev'lish fine woman, begad she is!” O you wiseacre! Such was Jack Morris's + observation and case as he walked away leaning on the arm of his noble + friend, and thinking the whole Society of the Wells was looking at him. He + had made some exquisite remarks about a particular run of cards at Lady + Flushington's the night before, and Lady Maria had replied graciously and + neatly, and so away went Jack perfectly happy. + </p> + <p> + The absurd creature! I declare we know nothing of anybody (but that for my + part I know better and better every day). You enter smiling to see your + new acquaintance, Mrs. A. and her charming family. You make your bow in + the elegant drawing-room of Mr. and Mrs. B.? I tell you that in your + course through life you are for ever putting your great clumsy foot upon + the mute invisible wounds of bleeding tragedies. Mrs. B.'s closets for + what you know are stuffed with skeletons. Look there under the + sofa-cushion. Is that merely Missy's doll, or is it the limb of a stifled + Cupid peeping out? What do you suppose are those ashes smouldering in the + grate?—Very likely a suttee has been offered up there just before + you came in: a faithful heart has been burned out upon a callous corpse, + and you are looking on the cineri doloso. You see B. and his wife + receiving their company before dinner. Gracious powers! Do you know that + that bouquet which she wears is a signal to Captain C., and that he will + find a note under the little bronze Shakespeare on the mantelpiece in the + study? And with all this you go up and say some uncommonly neat thing (as + you fancy) to Mrs. B. about the weather (clever dog!), or about Lady E.'s + last party (fashionable buck!), or about the dear children in the nursery + (insinuating rogue!). Heaven and earth, my good sir, how can you tell that + B. is not going to pitch all the children out of the nursery window this + very night, or that his lady has not made an arrangement for leaving them, + and running off with the Captain? How do you know that those footmen are + not disguised bailiffs?—that yonder large-looking butler (really a + skeleton) is not the pawnbroker's man? and that there are not skeleton + rotis and entrees under every one of the covers? Look at their feet + peeping from under the tablecloth. Mind how you stretch out your own + lovely little slippers, madam, lest you knock over a rib or two. Remark + the death's-head moths fluttering among the flowers. See, the pale + winding-sheets gleaming in the wax-candles! I know it is an old story, and + especially that this preacher has yelled vanitas vanitatum five hundred + times before. I can't help always falling upon it, and cry out with + particular loudness and wailing, and become especially melancholy, when I + see a dead love tied to a live love. Ha! I look up from my desk, across + the street: and there come in Mr. and Mrs. D. from their walk in + Kensington Gardens. How she hangs on him! how jolly and happy he looks, as + the children frisk round! My poor dear benighted Mrs. D., there is a + Regent's Park as well as a Kensington Gardens in the world. Go in, fond + wretch! Smilingly lay before him what you know he likes for dinner. Show + him the children's copies and the reports of their masters. Go with Missy + to the piano, and play your artless duet together; and fancy you are + happy! + </p> + <p> + There go Harry and Maria taking their evening walk on the common, away + from the village which is waking up from its after-dinner siesta, and + where the people are beginning to stir and the music to play. With the + music Maria knows Madame de Bernstein will waken: with the candles she + must be back to the tea-table and the cards. Never mind. Here is a minute. + It may be my love is dead, but here is a minute to kneel over the grave + and pray by it. He certainly was not thinking about her: he was startled + and did not even know her. He was laughing and talking with Jack Morris + and my Lord March. He is twenty years younger than she. Never mind. To-day + is to-day in which we are all equal. This moment is ours. Come, let us + walk a little way over the heath, Harry. She will go, though she feels a + deadly assurance that he will tell her all is over between them, and that + he loves the dark-haired girl at Oakhurst. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0027" id="link2HCH0027"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVII. Plenus Opus Aleae + </h2> + <p> + “Let me hear about those children, child, whom I saw running about at the + house where they took you in, poor dear boy, after your dreadful fall?” + says Maria, as they paced the common. “Oh, that fall, Harry! I thought I + should have died when I saw it! You needn't squeeze one's arm so. You know + you don't care for me?” + </p> + <p> + “The people are the very best, kindest, dearest people I have ever met in + the world,” cries Mr. Warrington. “Mrs. Lambert was a friend of my mother + when she was in Europe for her education. Colonel Lambert is a most + accomplished gentleman, and has seen service everywhere. He was in + Scotland with his Royal Highness, in Flanders, at Minorca. No natural + parents could be kinder than they were to me. How can I show my gratitude + to them? I want to make them a present: I must make them a present,” says + Harry, clapping his hand into his pocket, which was filled with the crisp + spoils of Morris and March. + </p> + <p> + “We can go to the toy-shop, my dear, and buy a couple of dolls for the + children,” says Lady Maria. “You would offend the parents by offering + anything like payment for their kindness.” + </p> + <p> + “Dolls for Hester and Theo! Why, do you think a woman is not woman till + she is forty, Maria?” (The arm under Harry's here gave a wince perhaps,—ever + so slight a wince.) “I can tell you Miss Hester by no means considers + herself a child, and Miss Theo is older than her sister. They know ever so + many languages. They have read books—oh! piles and piles of books! + They play on the harpsichord and sing together admirable; and Theo + composes, and sings songs of her own.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed! I scarcely saw them. I thought they were children. They looked + quite childish. I had no idea they had all these perfections, and were + such wonders of the world.” + </p> + <p> + “That's just the way with you women! At home, if me or George praised a + woman, Mrs. Esmond, and Mountain, too, would be sure to find fault with + her!” cries Harry. + </p> + <p> + “I am sure I would find fault with no one who is kind to you, Mr. + Warrington,” sighed Maria, “though you are not angry with me for envying + them because they had to take care of you when you were wounded and ill—whilst + I—I had to leave you?” + </p> + <p> + “You dear good Maria!” + </p> + <p> + “No, Harry! I am not dear and good. There, sir, you needn't be so pressing + in your attentions. Look! There is your black man walking with a score of + other wretches in livery. The horrid creatures are going to fuddle at the + tea-garden, and get tipsy like their masters. That dreadful Mr. Morris was + perfectly tipsy when I came to you, and frightened you so.” + </p> + <p> + “I had just won great bets from both of them. What shall I buy for you, my + dear cousin?” And Harry narrated the triumphs which he had just achieved. + He was in high spirits: he laughed, he bragged a little. “For the honour + of Virginia I was determined to show them what jumping was,” he said. + “With a little practice I think I could leap two foot farther.” + </p> + <p> + Maria was pleased with the victories of her young champion. “But you must + beware about play, child,” she said. “You know it hath been the ruin of + our family. My brother Castlewood, Will, our poor father, our aunt, Lady + Castlewood herself, they have all been victims to it: as for my Lord + March, he is the most dreadful gambler and the most successful of all the + nobility.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't intend to be afraid of him, nor of his friend Mr. Jack Morris + neither,” says Harry, again fingering the delightful notes. “What do you + play at Aunt Bernstein's? Cribbage, all-fours, brag, whist, commerce, + piquet, quadrille? I'm ready at any of 'em. What o'clock is that striking—sure + 'tis seven!” + </p> + <p> + “And you want to begin now,” said the plaintive Maria. “You don't care + about walking with your poor cousin. Not long ago you did.” + </p> + <p> + “Hey! Youth is youth, cousin!” cried Mr. Harry, tossing up his head, “and + a young fellow must have his fling!” and he strutted by his partner's + side, confident, happy, and eager for pleasure. Not long ago he did like + to walk with her. Only yesterday, he liked to be with Theo and Hester, and + good Mrs. Lambert; but pleasure, life, gaiety, the desire to shine and to + conquer, had also their temptations for the lad, who seized the cup like + other lads, and did not care to calculate on the headache in store for the + morning. Whilst he and his cousin were talking, the fiddles from the open + orchestra on the Parade made a great tuning and squeaking, preparatory to + their usual evening concert. Maria knew her aunt was awake again, and that + she must go back to her slavery. Harry never asked about that slavery, + though he must have known it, had he taken the trouble to think. He never + pitied his cousin. He was not thinking about her at all. Yet when his + mishap befell him, she had been wounded far more cruelly than he was. He + had scarce ever been out of her thoughts, which of course she had had to + bury under smiling hypocrisies, as is the way with her sex. I know, my + dear Mrs. Grundy, you think she was an old fool? Ah! do you suppose fools' + caps do not cover grey hair, as well as jet or auburn? Bear gently with + our elderly fredaines, O you Minerva of a woman! Or perhaps you are so + good and wise that you don't read novels at all. This I know, that there + are late crops of wild oats, as well as early harvests of them; and (from + observation of self and neighbour) I have an idea that the avena fatua + grows up to the very last days of the year. + </p> + <p> + Like worldly parents anxious to get rid of a troublesome child, and go out + to their evening party, Madame Bernstein and her attendants had put the + sun to bed, whilst it was as yet light, and had drawn the curtains over + it, and were busy about their cards and their candles, and their tea and + negus, and other refreshments. One chair after another landed ladies at + the Baroness's door, more or less painted, patched, brocaded. To these + came gentlemen in gala raiment. Mr. Poellnitz's star was the largest, and + his coat the most embroidered of all present. My Lord of March and Ruglen, + when he made his appearance, was quite changed from the individual with + whom Harry had made acquaintance at the White Horse. His tight brown + scratch was exchanged for a neatly curled feather top, with a bag and grey + powder, his jockey-dress and leather breeches replaced by a rich and + elegant French suit. Mr. Jack Morris had just such another wig and a suit + of stuff as closely as possible resembling his lordship's. Mr. Wolfe came + in attendance upon his beautiful mistress, Miss Lowther, and her aunt who + loved cards, as all the world did. When my Lady Maria Esmond made her + appearance, 'tis certain that her looks belied Madame Bernstein's account + of her. Her shape was very fine, and her dress showed a great deal of it. + Her complexion was by nature exceeding fair, and a dark frilled ribbon, + clasped by a jewel, round her neck, enhanced its snowy whiteness. Her + cheeks were not redder than those of other ladies present, and the roses + were pretty openly purchased by everybody at the perfumery-shops. An + artful patch or two, it was supposed, added to the lustre of her charms. + Her hoop was not larger than the iron contrivances which ladies of the + present day hang round their persons; and we may pronounce that the + costume, if absurd in some points, was pleasing altogether. Suppose our + ladies took to wearing of bangles and nose-rings? I dare say we should + laugh at the ornaments, and not dislike them, and lovers would make no + difficulty about lifting up the ring to be able to approach the rosy lips + underneath. + </p> + <p> + As for the Baroness de Bernstein, when that lady took the pains of making + a grand toilette, she appeared as an object, handsome still, and + magnificent, but melancholy, and even somewhat terrifying to behold. You + read the past in some old faces, while some others lapse into mere + meekness and content. The fires go quite out of some eyes, as the + crow's-feet pucker round them; they flash no longer with scorn, or with + anger, or love; they gaze, and no one is melted by their sapphire glances; + they look, and no one is dazzled. My fair young reader, if you are not so + perfect a beauty as the peerless Lindamira, Queen of the Ball; if, at the + end of it, as you retire to bed, you meekly own that you have had but two + or three partners, whilst Lindamira has had a crowd round her all night—console + yourself with thinking that, at fifty, you will look as kind and pleasant + as you appear now at eighteen. You will not have to lay down your + coach-and-six of beauty and see another step into it, and walk yourself + through the rest of life. You will have to forgo no long-accustomed + homage; you will not witness and own the depreciation of your smiles. You + will not see fashion forsake your quarter; and remain all dust, gloom, + cobwebs within your once splendid saloons, and placards in your sad + windows, gaunt, lonely, and to let! You may not have known any grandeur, + but you won't feel any desertion. You will not have enjoyed millions, but + you will have escaped bankruptcy. “Our hostess,” said my Lord Chesterfield + to his friend in a confidential whisper, of which the utterer did not in + the least know the loudness, “puts me in mind of Covent Garden in my + youth. Then it was the court end of the town, and inhabited by the highest + fashion. Now, a nobleman's house is a gaming-house, or you may go in with + a friend and call for a bottle.” + </p> + <p> + “Hey! a bottle and a tavern are good things in their way,” says my Lord + March, with a shrug of his shoulders. “I was not born before the Georges + came in, though I intend to live to a hundred. I never knew the Bernstein + but as an old woman; and if she ever had beauty, hang me if I know how she + spent it.” + </p> + <p> + “No, hang me, how did she spend it?” laughs out Jack Morris. + </p> + <p> + “Here's a table! Shall we sit down and have a game?—Don't let the + Frenchman come in. He won't pay. Mr. Warrington, will you take a card?” + Mr. Warrington and my Lord Chesterfield found themselves partners against + Mr. Morris and the Earl of March. “You have come too late, Baron,” says + the elder nobleman to the other nobleman who was advancing. “We have made + our game. What, have you forgotten Mr. Warrington of Virginia—the + young gentleman whom you met in London?” + </p> + <p> + “The young gentleman whom I met at Arthur's Chocolate House had black + hair, a little cocked nose, and was by no means so fortunate in his + personal appearance as Mr. Warrington,” said the Baron, with much presence + of mind. “Warrington, Dorrington, Harrington? We of the continent cannot + retain your insular names. I certify that this gentleman is not the + individual of whom I spoke at dinner.” And, glancing kindly upon him, the + old beau sidled away to a farther end of the room, where Mr. Wolfe and + Miss Lowther were engaged in deep conversation in the embrasure of a + window. Here the Baron thought fit to engage the Lieutenant-Colonel upon + the Prussian manual exercise, which had lately been introduced into King + George II.'s army—a subject with which Mr. Wolfe was thoroughly + familiar, and which no doubt would have interested him at any other moment + but that. Nevertheless the old gentleman uttered his criticisms and + opinions, and thought he perfectly charmed the two persons to whom he + communicated them. + </p> + <p> + At the commencement of the evening the Baroness received her guests + personally, and as they arrived engaged them in talk and introductory + courtesies. But as the rooms and tables filled, and the parties were made + up, Madame de Bernstein became more and more restless, and finally + retreated with three friends to her own corner, where a table specially + reserved for her was occupied by her major-domo. And here the old lady + sate down resolutely, never changing her place or quitting her game till + cock-crow. The charge of receiving the company devolved now upon my Lady + Maria, who did not care for cards, but dutifully did the honours of the + house to her aunt's guests, and often rustled by the table where her young + cousin was engaged with his three friends. + </p> + <p> + “Come and cut the cards for us,” said my Lord March to her ladyship as she + passed on one of her wistful visits. “Cut the cards and bring us luck, + Lady Maria! We have had none to-night, and Mr. Warrington is winning + everything.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope you are not playing high, Harry?” said the lady, timidly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, only sixpences,” cried my lord, dealing. + </p> + <p> + “Only sixpences,” echoed Mr. Morris, who was Lord March's partner. But Mr. + Morris must have been very keenly alive to the value of sixpence, if the + loss of a few such coins could make his round face look so dismal. My Lord + Chesterfield sate opposite Mr. Warrington, sorting his cards. No one could + say, by inspecting that calm physiognomy, whether good or ill fortune was + attending his lordship. + </p> + <p> + Some word, not altogether indicative of delight, slipped out of Mr. + Morris's lips, on which his partner cried out, “Hang it, Morris, play your + cards, and hold your tongue!” Considering they were only playing for + sixpences, his lordship, too, was strangely affected. + </p> + <p> + Maria, still fondly lingering by Harry's chair, with her hand at the back + of it, could see his cards, and that a whole covey of trumps was ranged in + one corner. She had not taken away his luck. She was pleased to think she + had cut that pack which had dealt him all those pretty trumps. As Lord + March was dealing, he had said in a quiet voice to Mr. Warrington, “The + bet as before, Mr. Warrington, or shall we double it?” + </p> + <p> + “Anything you like, my lord,” said Mr. Warrington, very quietly. + </p> + <p> + “We will say, then,—shillings.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, shillings,” says Mr. Warrington, and the game proceeded. + </p> + <p> + The end of the day's, and some succeeding days' sport may be gathered from + the following letter, which was never delivered to the person to whom it + was addressed, but found its way to America in the papers of Mr. Henry + Warrington: + </p> + <p> + “TUNBRIDGE WELLS, August 10, 1756. + </p> + <p> + “DEAR GEORGE—As White's two bottles of Burgundy and a pack of cards + constitute all the joys of your life, I take for granted that you are in + London at this moment, preferring smoke and faro to fresh air and fresh + haystacks. This will be delivered to you by a young gentleman with whom I + have lately made acquaintance, and whom you will be charmed to know. He + will play with you at any game for any stake, up to any hour of the night, + and drink any reasonable number of bottles during the play. Mr. Warrington + is no other than the Fortunate Youth about whom so many stories have been + told in the Public Advertiser and other prints. He has an estate in + Virginia as big as Yorkshire, with the incumbrance of a mother, the + reigning Sovereign; but, as the country is unwholesome, and fevers + plentiful, let us hope that Mrs. Esmond will die soon, and leave this + virtuous lad in undisturbed possession. She is aunt of that polisson of a + Castlewood, who never pays his play-debts, unless he is more honourable in + his dealings with you than he has been with me. Mr. W. is de bonne race. + We must have him of our society, if it be only that I may win my money + back from him. + </p> + <p> + “He has had the devil's luck here, and has been winning everything, whilst + his old card-playing beldam of an aunt has been losing. A few nights ago, + when I first had the ill-luck to make his acquaintance, he beat me in + jumping (having practised the art amongst the savages, and running away + from bears in his native woods); he won bets off me and Jack Morris about + my weight; and at night, when we sat down to play, at old Bernstein's, he + won from us all round. If you can settle our last Epsom account please + hand over to Mr. Warrington 350 pounds, which I still owe him, after + pretty well emptying my pocket-book. Chesterfield has dropped six hundred + to him, too; but his lordship does not wish to have it known, having sworn + to give up play and live cleanly. Jack Morris, who has not been hit as + hard as either of us, and can afford it quite as well, for the fat chuff + has no houses nor train to keep up, and all his misbegotten father's money + in hand, roars like a bull of Bashan about his losses. We had a second + night's play, en petit comite, and Barbeau served us a fair dinner in a + private room. Mr. Warrington holds his tongue like a gentleman, and none + of us have talked about our losses; but the whole place does, for us. + Yesterday the Cattarina looked as sulky as thunder, because I would not + give her a diamond necklace, and says I refuse her because I have lost + five thousand to the Virginian. My old Duchess of Q. has the very same + story, besides knowing to a fraction what Chesterfield and Jack have lost. + </p> + <p> + “Warrington treated the company to breakfast and music at the rooms; and + you should have seen how the women tore him to pieces. That fiend of a + Cattarina ogled him out of my vis-a-vis, and under my very nose, + yesterday, as we were driving to Penshurst, and I have no doubt has sent + him a billet-doux ere this. He shot Jack Morris all to pieces at a mark: + we shall try him with partridges when the season comes. + </p> + <p> + “He is a fortunate fellow, certainly. He has youth (which is not deboshed + by evil courses in Virginia, as ours is in England); he has good health, + good looks, and good luck. + </p> + <p> + “In a word, Mr. Warrington has won our money in a very gentlemanlike + manner; and, as I like him, and wish to win some of it back again, I put + him under your worship's saintly guardianship. Adieu! I am going to the + North, and shall be back for Doncaster. + </p> + <p> + “Yours ever, dear George, + </p> + <p> + “M. et R.” + </p> + <p> + “To George Augustus Selwyn, Esq., at White's Chocolate House, St. James's + Street.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0028" id="link2HCH0028"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXVIII. The Way of the World + </h2> + <p> + Our young Virginian found himself, after two or three days at Tunbridge + Wells, by far the most important personage in that merry little + watering-place. No nobleman in the place inspired so much curiosity. My + Lord Bishop of Salisbury himself was scarce treated with more respect. + People turned round to look after Harry as he passed, and country-folks + stared at him as they came into market. At the rooms, matrons encouraged + him to come round to them, and found means to leave him alone with their + daughters, most of whom smiled upon him. Everybody knew, to an acre and a + shilling, the extent of his Virginian property, and the amount of his + income. At every tea-table in the Wells, his winnings at play were told + and calculated. Wonderful is the knowledge which our neighbours have of + our affairs! So great was the interest and curiosity which Harry inspired, + that people even smiled upon his servant, and took Gumbo aside and treated + him with ale and cold meat, in order to get news of the young Virginian. + Mr. Gumbo fattened under the diet, became a leading member of the Society + of Valets in the place, and lied more enormously than ever. No party was + complete unless Mr. Warrington attended it. The lad was not a little + amused and astonished by this prosperity, and bore his new honours pretty + well. He had been bred at home to think too well of himself, and his + present good fortune no doubt tended to confirm his self-satisfaction. But + he was not too much elated. He did not brag about his victories or give + himself any particular airs. In engaging in play with the gentlemen who + challenged him, he had acted up to his queer code of honour. He felt as if + he was bound to meet them when they summoned him, and that if they invited + him to a horse-race, or a drinking-bout, or a match at cards, for the sake + of Old Virginia he must not draw back. Mr. Harry found his new + acquaintances ready to try him at all these sports and contests. He had a + strong head, a skilful hand, a firm seat, an unflinching nerve. The + representative of Old Virginia came off very well in his friendly rivalry + with the mother-country. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein, who got her fill of cards every night, and, no doubt, + repaired the ill-fortune of which we heard in the last chapter, was + delighted with her nephew's victories and reputation. He had shot with + Jack Morris and beat him; he had ridden a match with Mr. Scamper and won + it. He played tennis with Captain Batts, and, though the boy had never + tried the game before, in a few days he held his own uncommonly well. He + had engaged in play with those celebrated gamesters, my Lords of + Chesterfield and March; and they both bore testimony to his coolness, + gallantry, and good breeding. At his books Harry was not brilliant + certainly; but he could write as well as a great number of men of fashion; + and the naivete of his ignorance amused the old lady. She had read books + in her time, and could talk very well about them with bookish people: she + had a relish for humour and delighted in Moliere and Mr. Fielding, but she + loved the world far better than the library, and was never so interested + in any novel but that she would leave it for a game of cards. She + superintended with fond pleasure the improvements of Harry's toilette: + rummaged out fine laces for his ruffles and shirt, and found a pretty + diamond-brooch for his frill. He attained the post of prime favourite of + all her nephews and kinsfolk. I fear Lady Maria was only too well pleased + at the lad's successes, and did not grudge him his superiority over her + brothers; but those gentlemen must have quaked with fear and envy when + they heard of Mr. Warrington's prodigious successes, and the advance which + he had made in their wealthy aunt's favour. + </p> + <p> + After a fortnight of Tunbridge, Mr. Harry had become quite a personage. He + knew all the good company in the place. Was it his fault if he became + acquainted with the bad likewise? Was he very wrong in taking the world as + he found it, and drinking from that sweet sparkling pleasure-cup, which + was filled for him to the brim? The old aunt enjoyed his triumphs, and for + her part only bade him pursue his enjoyments. She was not a rigorous old + moralist, nor, perhaps, a very wholesome preceptress for youth. If the + Cattarina wrote him billets-doux, I fear Aunt Bernstein would have bade + him accept the invitations: but the lad had brought with him from his + colonial home a stock of modesty which he still wore along with the honest + homespun linen. Libertinism was rare in those thinly-peopled regions from + which he came. The vices of great cities were scarce known or practised in + the rough towns of the American continent. Harry Warrington blushed like a + girl at the daring talk of his new European associates: even Aunt + Bernstein's conversation and jokes astounded the young Virginian, so that + the worldly old woman would call him Joseph, or simpleton. + </p> + <p> + But, however innocent he was, the world gave him credit for being as bad + as other folks. How was he to know that he was not to associate with that + saucy Cattarina? He had seen my Lord March driving her about in his + lordship's phaeton. Harry thought there was no harm in giving her his arm, + and parading openly with her in the public walks. She took a fancy to a + trinket at the toy-shop; and, as his pockets were full of money, he was + delighted to make her a present of the locket, which she coveted. The next + day it was a piece of lace: again Harry gratified her. The next day it was + something else: there was no end to Madame Cattarina's fancies: but here + the young gentleman stopped, turning off her request with a joke and a + laugh. He was shrewd enough, and not reckless or prodigal, though + generous. He had no idea of purchasing diamond drops for the petulant + little lady's pretty ears. + </p> + <p> + But who was to give him credit for his Modesty? Old Bernstein insisted + upon believing that her nephew was playing Don Juan's part, and + supplanting my Lord March. She insisted the more when poor Maria was by; + loving to stab the tender heart of that spinster, and enjoying her niece's + piteous silence and discomfiture. + </p> + <p> + “Why, my dear,” says the Baroness, “boys will be boys, and I don't want + Harry to be the first milksop in his family!” The bread which Maria ate at + her aunt's expense choked her sometimes. O me, how hard and indigestible + some women know how to make it! + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wolfe was for ever coming over from Westerham to pay court to the lady + of his love; and, knowing that the Colonel was entirely engaged in that + pursuit, Mr. Warrington scarcely expected to see much of him, however much + he liked that officer's conversation and society. It was different from + the talk of the ribald people round about Harry. Mr. Wolfe never spoke of + cards, or horses' pedigrees; or bragged of his performances in the + hunting-field; or boasted of the favours of women; or retailed any of the + innumerable scandals of the time. It was not a good time. That old world + was more dissolute than ours. There was an old king with mistresses openly + in his train, to whom the great folks of the land did honour. There was a + nobility, many of whom were mad and reckless in the pursuit of pleasure; + there was a looseness of words and acts which we must note, as faithful + historians, without going into particulars, and needlessly shocking honest + readers. Our young gentleman had lighted upon some of the wildest of these + wild people, and had found an old relative who lived in the very midst of + the rout. + </p> + <p> + Harry then did not remark how Colonel Wolfe avoided him, or when they + casually met, at first, notice the Colonel's cold and altered demeanour. + He did not know the stories that were told of him. Who does know the + stories that are told of him? Who makes them? Who are the fathers of those + wondrous lies? Poor Harry did not know the reputation he was getting; and + that, whilst he was riding his horse and playing his game and taking his + frolic, he was passing amongst many respectable persons for being the most + abandoned and profligate and godless of young men. + </p> + <p> + Alas, and alas! to think that the lad whom we liked so, and who was so + gentle and quiet when with us, so simple and so easily pleased, should be + a hardened profligate, a spendthrift, a confirmed gamester, a frequenter + of abandoned women! These stories came to honest Colonel Lambert at + Oakhurst: first one bad story, then another, then crowds of them, till the + good man's kind heart was quite filled with grief and care, so that his + family saw that something annoyed him. At first he would not speak on the + matter at all, and put aside the wife's fond queries. Mrs. Lambert thought + a great misfortune had happened; that her husband had been ruined; that he + had been ordered on a dangerous service; that one of the boys was ill, + disgraced, dead; who can resist an anxious woman, or escape the + cross-examination of the conjugal pillow? Lambert was obliged to tell a + part of what he knew about Harry Warrington. The wife was as much grieved + and amazed as her husband had been. From papa's and mamma's bedroom the + grief, after being stifled for a while under the bed-pillows there, came + downstairs. Theo and Hester took the complaint after their parents, and + had it very bad. O kind, little, wounded hearts! At first Hester turned + red, flew into a great passion, clenched her little fists, and vowed she + would not believe a word of the wicked stories; but she ended by believing + them. Scandal almost always does master people; especially good and + innocent people. Oh, the serpent they had nursed by their fire! Oh, the + wretched, wretched boy! To think of his walking about with that horrible + painted Frenchwoman, and giving her diamond necklaces, and parading his + shame before all the society at the Wells! The three ladies having cried + over the story, and the father being deeply moved by it, took the parson + into their confidence. In vain he preached at church next Sunday his + favourite sermon about scandal, and inveighed against our propensity to + think evil. We repent we promise to do so no more; but when the next bad + story comes about our neighbour we believe it. So did those kind, wretched + Oakhurst folks believe what they heard about poor Harry Warrington. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington meanwhile was a great deal too well pleased with himself + to know how ill his friends were thinking of him, and was pursuing a very + idle and pleasant, if unprofitable, life, without having the least notion + of the hubbub he was creating, and the dreadful repute in which he was + held by many good men. Coming out from a match at tennis with Mr. Batts, + and pleased with his play and all the world, Harry overtook Colonel Wolfe, + who had been on one of his visits to the lady of his heart. Harry held out + his hand, which the Colonel took, but the latter's salutation was so cold, + that the young man could not help remarking it, and especially noting how + Mr. Wolfe, in return for a fine bow from Mr. Batts's hat, scarcely touched + his own with his forefinger. The tennis Captain walked away looking + somewhat disconcerted, Harry remaining behind to talk with his friend of + Westerham. Mr. Wolfe walked by him for a while, very erect, silent, and + cold. + </p> + <p> + “I have not seen you these many days,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “You have had other companions,” remarks Mr. Wolfe, curtly. + </p> + <p> + “But I had rather be with you than any of them,” cries the young man. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed I might be better company for you than some of them,” says the + other. + </p> + <p> + “Is it Captain Batts you mean?” asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “He is no favourite of mine, I own; he bore a rascally reputation when he + was in the army, and I doubt has not mended it since he was turned out. + You certainly might find a better friend than Captain Batts. Pardon the + freedom which I take in saying so,” says Mr. Wolfe, grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Friend! he is no friend: he only teaches me to play tennis: he is + hand-in-glove with my lord, and all the people of fashion here who play.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not a man of fashion,” says Mr. Wolfe. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Colonel, what is the matter? Have I angered you in any way? You + speak almost as if I had, and I am not conscious of having done anything + to forfeit your regard,” said Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “I will be free with you, Mr. Warrington,” said the Colonel, gravely, “and + tell you with frankness that I don't like some of your friends!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, sure, they are men of the first rank and fashion in England,” cries + Harry, not choosing to be offended with his companion's bluntness. + </p> + <p> + “Exactly, they are men of too high rank and too great fashion for a + hard-working poor soldier like me; and if you continue to live with such, + believe me, you will find numbers of us humdrum people can't afford to + keep such company. I am here, Mr. Warrington, paying my addresses to an + honourable lady. I met you yesterday openly walking with a French + ballet-dancer, and you took off your hat. I must frankly tell you, that I + had rather you would not take off your hat when you go out in such + company.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” said Mr. Warrington, growing very red, “do you mean that I am to + forgo the honour of Colonel Wolfe's acquaintance altogether?” + </p> + <p> + “I certainly shall request you to do so when you are in company with that + person,” said Colonel Wolfe, angrily; but he used a word not to be written + at present, though Shakespeare puts it in the mouth of Othello. + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens! what a shame it is to speak so of any woman!” cries Mr. + Warrington. “How dare any man say that that poor creature is not honest?” + </p> + <p> + “You ought to know best, sir,” says the other, looking at Harry with some + surprise, “or the world belies you very much.” + </p> + <p> + “What ought I to know best? I see a poor little French dancer who is come + hither with her mother, and is ordered by the doctors to drink the waters. + I know that a person of my rank in life does not ordinarily keep company + with people of hers; but really, Colonel Wolfe, are you so squeamish? Have + I not heard you say that you did not value birth, and that all honest + people ought to be equal? Why should I not give this little unprotected + woman my arm? there are scarce half a dozen people here who can speak a + word of her language. I can talk a little French, and she is welcome to + it; and if Colonel Wolfe does not choose to touch his hat to me, when I am + walking with her, by George he may leave it alone,” cried Harry, flushing + up. + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean to say,” says Mr. Wolfe, eyeing him, “that you don't know + the woman's character?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course, sir, she is a dancer, and, I suppose, no better or worse than + her neighbours. But I mean to say that, had she been a duchess, or your + grandmother, I couldn't have respected her more.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean to say that you did not win her at dice, from Lord March?” + </p> + <p> + “At what?” + </p> + <p> + “At dice, from Lord March. Everybody knows the story. Not a person at the + Wells is ignorant of it. I heard it but now, in the company of that good + old Mr. Richardson, and the ladies were saying that you would be a + character for a colonial Lovelace.” + </p> + <p> + “What on earth else have they said about me?” asked Harry Warrington; and + such stories as he knew the Colonel told. The most alarming accounts of + his own wickedness and profligacy were laid before him. He was a corrupter + of virtue, an habitual drunkard and gamester, a notorious blasphemer and + freethinker, a fitting companion for my Lord March, finally, and the + company into whose society he had fallen. “I tell you these things,” said + Mr. Wolfe, “because it is fair that you should know what is said of you, + and because I do heartily believe, from your manner of meeting the last + charge brought against you, that you are innocent of most of the other + counts. I feel, Mr. Warrington, that I, for one, have been doing you a + wrong; and sincerely ask you to pardon me.” + </p> + <p> + Of course, Harry was eager to accept his friend's apology, and they shook + hands with sincere cordiality this time. In respect of most of the charges + brought against him, Harry rebutted them easily enough: as for the play, + he owned to it. He thought that a gentleman should not refuse a fair + challenge from other gentlemen, if his means allowed him: and he never + would play beyond his means. After winning considerably at first, he could + afford to play large stakes, for he was playing with other people's money. + Play, he thought, was fair,—it certainly was pleasant. Why, did not + all England, except the Methodists, play? Had he not seen the best company + at the Wells over the cards—his aunt amongst them? + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wolfe made no immediate comment upon Harry's opinion as to the persons + who formed the best company at the Wells, but he frankly talked with the + young man, whose own frankness had won him, and warned him that the life + he was leading might be the pleasantest, but surely was not the most + profitable of lives. “It can't be, sir,” said the Colonel, “that a man is + to pass his days at horse-racing and tennis, and his nights carousing or + at cards. Sure, every man was made to do some work: and a gentleman, if he + has none, must make some. Do you know the laws of your country, Mr. + Warrington? Being a great proprietor, you will doubtless one day be a + magistrate at home. Have you travelled over the country, and made yourself + acquainted with its trades and manufactures? These are fit things for a + gentleman to study, and may occupy him as well as a cock-fight or a + cricket-match. Do you know anything of our profession? That, at least, you + will allow, is a noble one; and, believe me, there is plenty in it to + learn, and suited, I should think, to you. I speak of it rather than of + books and the learned professions, because, as far as I can judge, your + genius does not lie that way. But honour is the aim of life,” cried Mr. + Wolfe, “and every man can serve his country one way or the other. Be sure, + sir, that idle bread is the most dangerous of all that is eaten; that + cards and pleasure may be taken by way of pastime after work, but not + instead of work, and all day. And do you know, Mr. Warrington, instead of + being the Fortunate Youth, as all the world calls you, I think you are + rather Warrington the Unlucky, for you are followed by daily idleness, + daily flattery, daily temptation, and the Lord, I say, send you a good, + deliverance out of your good fortune.” + </p> + <p> + But Harry did not like to tell his aunt that afternoon why it was he + looked so grave. He thought he would not drink, but there were some jolly + fellows at the ordinary who passed the bottle round; and he meant not to + play in the evening, but a fourth was wanted at his aunt's table, and how + could he resist? He was the old lady's partner several times during the + night, and he had Somebody's own luck to be sure; and once more he saw the + dawn, and feasted on chickens and champagne at sunrise. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0029" id="link2HCH0029"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXIX. In which Harry continues to enjoy Otium sine Dignitate + </h2> + <p> + Whilst there were card-players enough to meet her at her lodgings and the + assembly-rooms, Madame de Bernstein remained pretty contentedly at the + Wells, scolding her niece, and playing her rubber. At Harry's age almost + all places are pleasant, where you can have lively company, fresh air, and + your share of sport and diversion. Even all pleasure is pleasant at + twenty. We go out to meet it with alacrity, speculate upon its coming, and + when its visit is announced, count the days until it and we shall come + together. How very gently and coolly we regard it towards the close of + Life's long season! Madam, don't you recollect your first ball; and does + not your memory stray towards that happy past, sometimes, as you sit + ornamenting the wall whilst your daughters are dancing? I, for my part, + can remember when I thought it was delightful to walk three miles and back + in the country to dine with old Captain Jones. Fancy liking to walk three + miles, now, to dine with Jones and drink his half-pay port! No doubt it + was bought from the little country-town wine-merchant, and cost but a + small sum; but 'twas offered with a kindly welcome, and youth gave it a + flavour which no age of wine or man can impart to it nowadays. Viximus + nuper. I am not disposed to look so severely upon young Harry's conduct + and idleness, as his friend the stern Colonel of the Twentieth Regiment. O + blessed idleness! Divine lazy nymph! Reach me a novel as I lie in my + dressing-gown at three o'clock in the afternoon; compound a sherry-cobbler + for me, and bring me a cigar! Dear slatternly, smiling Enchantress! They + may assail thee with bad names—swear thy character away, and call + thee the Mother of Evil; but, for all that, thou art the best company in + the world! + </p> + <p> + My Lord of March went away to the North; and my Lord Chesterfield, finding + the Tunbridge waters did no good to his deafness, returned to his solitude + at Blackheath; but other gentlemen remained to sport and take their + pleasure, and Mr. Warrington had quite enough of companions at his + ordinary at the White Horse. He soon learned to order a French dinner as + well as the best man of fashion out of St. James's; could talk to Monsieur + Barbeau, in Monsieur B.'s native language, much more fluently than most + other folks,—discovered a very elegant and decided taste in wines, + and could distinguish between Clos Vougeot and Romande with remarkable + skill. He was the young King of the Wells, of which the general + frequenters were easygoing men of the world, who were by no means shocked + at that reputation for gallantry and extravagance which Harry had got, and + which had so frightened Mr. Wolfe. + </p> + <p> + Though our Virginian lived amongst the revellers, and swam and sported in + the same waters with the loose fish, the boy had a natural shrewdness and + honesty which kept him clear of the snares and baits which are commonly + set for the unwary. He made very few foolish bets with the jolly idle + fellows round about him, and the oldest hands found it difficult to take + him in. He engaged in games outdoors and in, because he had a natural + skill and aptitude for them, and was good to hold almost any match with + any fair competitor. He was scrupulous to play only with those gentlemen + whom he knew, and always to settle his own debts on the spot. He would + have made but a very poor figure at a college examination; though he + possessed prudence and fidelity, keen, shrewd perception, great + generosity, and dauntless personal courage. + </p> + <p> + And he was not without occasions for showing of what stuff he was made. + For instance, when that unhappy little Cattarina, who had brought him into + so much trouble, carried her importunities beyond the mark at which Harry + thought his generosity should stop, he withdrew from the advances of the + Opera-House Siren with perfect coolness and skill, leaving her to exercise + her blandishments upon some more easy victim. In vain the mermaid's + hysterical mother waited upon Harry, and vowed that a cruel bailiff had + seized all her daughter's goods for debt, and that her venerable father + was at present languishing in a London gaol. Harry declared that between + himself and the bailiff there could be no dealings, and that because he + had had the good fortune to become known to Mademoiselle Cattarina, and to + gratify her caprices by presenting her with various trinkets and + knick-knacks for which she had a fancy, he was not bound to pay the past + debts of her family, and must decline being bail for her papa in London, + or settling her outstanding accounts at Tunbridge. The Cattarina's mother + first called him a monster and an ingrate, and then asked him, with a + veteran smirk, why he did not take pay for the services he had rendered to + the young person? At first, Mr. Warrington could not understand what the + nature of the payment might be: but when that matter was explained by the + old woman, the honest lad rose up in horror, to think that a woman should + traffic in her child's dishonour, told her that he came from a country + where the very savages would recoil from such a bargain; and, having bowed + the old lady ceremoniously to the door, ordered Gumbo to mark her well, + and never admit her to his lodgings again. No doubt she retired breathing + vengeance against the Iroquois: no Turk or Persian, she declared, would + treat a lady so: and she and her daughter retreated to London as soon as + their anxious landlord would let them. Then Harry had his perils of + gaming, as well as his perils of gallantry. A man who plays at bowls, as + the phrase is, must expect to meet with rubbers. After dinner at the + ordinary, having declined to play piquet any further with Captain Batts, + and being roughly asked his reason for refusing, Harry fairly told the + Captain that he only played with gentlemen who paid, like himself: but + expressed himself so ready to satisfy Mr. Batts, as soon as their + outstanding little account was settled, that the Captain declared himself + satisfied d'avance, and straightway left the Wells without paying Harry or + any other creditor. Also he had an occasion to show his spirit by beating + a chairman who was rude to old Miss Whiffler one evening as she was going + to the assembly: and finding that the calumny regarding himself and that + unlucky opera-dancer was repeated by Mr. Hector Buckler, one of the + fiercest frequenters of the Wells, Mr. Warrington stepped up to Mr. + Buckler in the pump-room, where the latter was regaling a number of + water-drinkers with the very calumny, and publicly informed Mr. Buckler + that the story was a falsehood, and that he should hold any person + accountable to himself who henceforth uttered it. So that though our + friend, being at Rome, certainly did as Rome did, yet he showed himself to + be a valorous and worthy Roman; and, hurlant avec les loups, was + acknowledged by Mr. Wolfe himself to be as brave as the best of the + wolves. + </p> + <p> + If that officer had told Colonel Lambert the stories which had given the + latter so much pain, we may be sure that when Mr. Wolfe found his young + friend was innocent, he took the first opportunity to withdraw the odious + charges against him. And there was joy among the Lamberts, in consequence + of the lad's acquittal—something, doubtless, of that pleasure, which + is felt by higher natures than ours, at the recovery of sinners. Never had + the little family been so happy—no, not even when they got the news + of Brother Tom winning his scholarship—as when Colonel Wolfe rode + over with the account of the conversation which he had with Harry + Warrington. “Hadst thou brought me a regiment, James, I think I should not + have been better pleased,” said Mr. Lambert. Mrs. Lambert called to her + daughters who were in the garden, and kissed them both when they came in, + and cried out the good news to them. Hetty jumped for joy, and Theo + performed some uncommonly brilliant operations upon the harpsichord that + night; and when Dr. Boyle came in for his backgammon, he could not, at + first, account for the illumination in all their faces, until the three + ladies, in a happy chorus, told him how right he had been in his sermon, + and how dreadfully they had wronged that poor dear, good young Mr. + Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “What shall we do, my dear?” says the Colonel to his wife. “The hay is in, + the corn won't be cut for a fortnight,—the horses have nothing to + do. Suppose we...” And here he leans over the table and whispers in her + ear. + </p> + <p> + “My dearest Martin! The very thing!” cries Mrs. Lambert, taking her + husband's hand and pressing it. + </p> + <p> + “What's the very thing, mother?” cries young Charley, who is home for his + Bartlemytide holidays. + </p> + <p> + “The very thing is to go to supper. Come, Doctor! We will have a bottle of + wine to-night, and drink repentance to all who think evil.” + </p> + <p> + “Amen,” says the Doctor; “with all my heart!” And with this the worthy + family went to their supper. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0030" id="link2HCH0030"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXX. Contains a Letter to Virginia + </h2> + <p> + Having repaired one day to his accustomed dinner at the White Horse + ordinary, Mr. Warrington was pleased to see amongst the faces round the + table the jolly, good-looking countenance of Parson Sampson, who was + regaling the company when Harry entered, with stories and bons-mots, which + kept them in roars of laughter. Though he had not been in London for some + months, the parson had the latest London news, or what passed for such + with the folks at the ordinary: what was doing in the King's house at + Kensington; and what in the Duke's in Pall Mall: how Mr. Byng was behaving + in prison, and who came to him: what were the odds at Newmarket, and who + was the last reigning toast in Covent Garden;—the jolly chaplain + could give the company news upon all these points,—news that might + not be very accurate indeed, but was as good as if it were for the country + gentlemen who heard it. For suppose that my Lord Viscount Squanderfield + was ruining himself for Mrs. Polly, and Sampson called her Mrs. Lucy? that + it was Lady Jane who was in love with the actor, and not Lady Mary? that + it was Harry Hilton, of the Horse Grenadiers, who had the quarrel with + Chevalier Solingen, at Marybone Garden, and not Tommy Ruffler, of the Foot + Guards? The names and dates did not matter much. Provided the stories were + lively and wicked, their correctness was of no great importance; and Mr. + Sampson laughed and chattered away amongst his country gentlemen, charmed + them with his spirits and talk, and drank his share of one bottle after + another, for which his delighted auditory persisted in calling. A hundred + years ago, the Abbe Parson, the clergyman who frequented the theatre, the + tavern, the racecourse, the world of fashion, was no uncommon character in + English society: his voice might be heard the loudest in the + hunting-field; he could sing the jolliest song at the Rose or the Bedford + Head, after the play was over at Covent Garden, and could call a main as + well as any at the gaming-table. + </p> + <p> + It may have been modesty, or it may have been claret, which caused his + reverence's rosy face to redden deeper, but when he saw Mr. Warrington + enter, he whispered “Maxima debetur” to the laughing country squire who + sat next him in his drab coat and gold-laced red waistcoat, and rose up + from his chair and ran, nay, stumbled forward, in his haste to greet the + Virginian: “My dear sir, my very dear sir, my conqueror of spades, and + clubs, and hearts, too, I am delighted to see your honour looking so fresh + and well,” cries the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + Harry returned the clergyman's greeting with great pleasure: he was glad + to see Mr. Sampson; he could also justly compliment his reverence upon his + cheerful looks and rosy gills. + </p> + <p> + The squire in the drab coat knew Mr. Warrington; he made a place beside + himself; he called out to the parson to return to his seat on the other + side, and to continue his story about Lord Ogle and the grocer's wife in———. + Where he did not say, for his sentence was interrupted by a shout and an + oath addressed to the parson for treading on his gouty toe. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain asked pardon, hurriedly turned round to Mr. Warrington, and + informed him, and the rest of the company indeed, that my Lord Castlewood + sent his affectionate remembrances to his cousin, and had given special + orders to him (Mr. Sampson) to come to Tunbridge Wells and look after the + young gentleman's morals; that my Lady Viscountess and my Lady Fanny were + gone to Harrogate for the waters; that Mr. Will had won his money at + Newmarket, and was going on a visit to my Lord Duke; that Molly the + housemaid was crying her eyes out about Gumbo, Mr. Warrington's valet;—in + fine, all the news of Castlewood and its neighbourhood. Mr. Warrington was + beloved by all the country round, Mr. Sampson told the company, managing + to introduce the names of some persons of the very highest rank into his + discourse. “All Hampshire had heard of his successes at Tunbridge, + successes of every kind,” says Mr. Sampson, looking particularly arch; my + lord hoped, their ladyships hoped, Harry would not be spoilt for his quiet + Hampshire home. + </p> + <p> + The guests dropped off one by one, leaving the young Virginian to his + bottle of wine and the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Though I have had plenty,” says the jolly chaplain, “that is no reason + why I should not have plenty more,” and he drank toast after toast, and + bumper after bumper, to the amusement of Harry, who always enjoyed his + society. + </p> + <p> + By the time when Sampson had had his “plenty more,” Harry, too, was become + specially generous, warm-hearted, and friendly. A lodging—why should + Mr. Sampson go to the expense of an inn, when there was a room at Harry's + quarters? The chaplain's trunk was ordered thither, Gumbo was bidden to + make Mr. Sampson comfortable—most comfortable; nothing would satisfy + Mr. Warrington but that Sampson should go down to his stables and see his + horses; he had several horses now; and when at the stable Sampson + recognised his own horse which Harry had won from him; and the fond beast + whinnied with pleasure, and rubbed his nose against his old master's coat; + Harry rapped out a brisk energetic expression or two, and vowed by Jupiter + that Sampson should have his old horse back again: he would give him to + Sampson, that he would; a gift which the chaplain accepted by seizing + Harry's hand, and blessing him,—by flinging his arms round the + horse's neck, and weeping for joy there, weeping tears of Bordeaux and + gratitude. Arm-in-arm the friends walked to Madame Bernstein's from the + stable, of which they brought the odours into her ladyship's apartment. + Their flushed cheeks and brightened eyes showed what their amusement had + been. Many gentlemen's cheeks were in the habit of flushing in those days, + and from the same cause. + </p> + <p> + Madame Bernstein received her nephew's chaplain kindly enough. The old + lady relished Sampson's broad jokes and rattling talk from time to time, + as she liked a highly-spiced dish or a new entree composed by her cook, + upon its two or three first appearances. The only amusement of which she + did not grow tired, she owned, was cards. “The cards don't cheat,” she + used to say. “A bad hand tells you the truth to your face: and there is + nothing so flattering in the world as a good suite of trumps.” And when + she was in a good humour, and sitting down to her favourite pastime, she + would laughingly bid her nephew's chaplain say grace before the meal. + Honest Sampson did not at first care to take a hand at Tunbridge Wells. + Her ladyship's play was too high for him, he would own, slapping his + pocket with a comical piteous look, and its contents had already been + handed over to the fortunate youth at Castlewood. Like most persons of her + age, and indeed her sex, Madame Bernstein was not prodigal of money. I + suppose it must have been from Harry Warrington, whose heart was + overflowing with generosity as his purse with guineas, that the chaplain + procured a small stock of ready coin, with which he was presently enabled + to appear at the card-table. + </p> + <p> + Our young gentleman welcomed Mr. Sampson to his coin, as to all the rest + of the good things which he had gathered about him. 'Twas surprising how + quickly the young Virginian adapted himself to the habits of life of the + folks amongst whom he lived. His suits were still black, but of the finest + cut and quality. “With a star and ribbon, and his stocking down, and his + hair over his shoulder, he would make a pretty Hamlet,” said the gay old + Duchess Queensberry. “And I make no doubt he has been the death of a dozen + Ophelias already, here and amongst the Indians,” she added, thinking not + at all the worse of Harry for his supposed successes among the fair. + Harry's lace and linen were as fine as his aunt could desire. He purchased + fine shaving-plate of the toy-shop women, and a couple of magnificent + brocade bedgowns, in which his worship lolled at ease, and sipped his + chocolate of a morning. He had swords and walking-canes, and French + watches with painted backs and diamond settings, and snuff boxes enamelled + by artists of the same cunning nation. He had a levee of grooms, jockeys, + tradesmen, daily waiting in his anteroom, and admitted one by one to him + and Parson Sampson, over his chocolate, by Gumbo, the groom of the + chambers. We have no account of the number of men whom Mr. Gumbo now had + under him. Certain it is that no single negro could have taken care of all + the fine things which Mr. Warrington now possessed, let alone the horses + and the postchaise which his honour had bought. Also Harry instructed + himself in the arts which became a gentleman in those days. A French + fencing-master, and a dancing-master of the same nation, resided at + Tunbridge during that season when Harry made his appearance: these men of + science the young Virginian sedulously frequented, and acquired + considerable skill and grace in the peaceful and warlike accomplishments + which they taught. Ere many weeks were over he could handle the foils + against his master or any frequenter of the fencing-school,—and, + with a sigh, Lady Maria (who danced very elegantly herself) owned that + there was no gentleman at court who could walk a minuet more gracefully + than Mr. Warrington. As for riding, though Mr. Warrington took a few + lessons on the great horse from a riding-master who came to Tunbridge, he + declared that their own Virginian manner was well enough for him, and that + he saw no one amongst the fine folks and the jockeys who could ride better + than his friend Colonel George Washington of Mount Vernon. + </p> + <p> + The obsequious Sampson found himself in better quarters than he had + enjoyed for ever so long a time. He knew a great deal of the world, and + told a great deal more, and Harry was delighted with his stories, real or + fancied. The man of twenty looks up to the man of thirty, admires the + latter's old jokes, stale puns, and tarnished anecdotes, that are slopped + with the wine of a hundred dinner-tables. Sampson's town and college + pleasantries were all new and charming to the young Virginian. A hundred + years ago,—no doubt there are no such people left in the world now,—there + used to be grown men in London who loved to consort with fashionable + youths entering life; to tickle their young fancies with merry stories; to + act as Covent Garden Mentors and masters of ceremonies at the Round-house; + to accompany lads to the gaming-table, and perhaps have an understanding + with the punters; to drink lemonade to Master Hopeful's Burgundy, and to + stagger into the streets with perfectly cool heads when my young lord + reeled out to beat the watch. Of this, no doubt, extinct race, Mr. Sampson + was a specimen: and a great comfort it is to think (to those who choose to + believe the statement) that in Queen Victoria's reign there are no + flatterers left, such as existed in the reign of her royal + great-grandfather, no parasites pandering to the follies of young men; in + fact, that all the toads have been eaten off the face of the island + (except one or two that are found in stones, where they have lain perdus + these hundred years), and the toad-eaters have perished for lack of + nourishment. + </p> + <p> + With some sauces, as I read, the above-mentioned animals are said to be + exceedingly fragrant, wholesome, and savoury eating. Indeed, no man could + look more rosy and healthy, or flourish more cheerfully, than friend + Sampson upon the diet. He became our young friend's confidential leader, + and, from the following letter, which is preserved in the Warrington + correspondence, it will be seen that Mr. Harry not only had dancing and + fencing masters, but likewise a tutor, chaplain, and secretary:— + </p> + <p> + TO MRS. ESMOND WARRINGTON OF CASTLEWOOD AT HER HOUSE AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Bligh's Lodgings, Pantiles, Tunbridge Wells, + </p> + <p> + “August 25th, 1756. + </p> + <p> + “HONOURED MADAM—Your honoured letter of 20 June, per Mr. Trail of + Bristol, has been forwarded to me duly, and I have to thank your goodness + and kindness for the good advice which you are pleased to give me, as also + for the remembrances of dear home, which I shall love never the worse for + having been to the home of our ancestors in England. + </p> + <p> + “I writ you a letter by the last monthly packet, informing my honoured + mother of the little accident I had on the road hither, and of the kind + friends who I found and whom took me in. Since then I have been profiting + of the fine weather and the good company here, and have made many friends + among our nobility, whose acquaintance I am sure you will not be sorry + that I should make. Among their lordships I may mention the famous Earl of + Chesterfield, late Ambassador to Holland, and Viceroy of the Kingdom of + Ireland; the Earl of March and Ruglen, who will be Duke of Queensberry at + the death of his Grace; and her Grace the Duchess, a celebrated beauty of + the Queen's time, when she remembers my grandpapa at Court. These and many + more persons of the first fashion attend my aunt's assemblies, which are + the most crowded at this crowded place. Also on my way hither I stayed at + Westerham, at the house of an officer, Lieut.-Gen. Wolfe, who served with + my grandfather and General Webb in the famous wars of the Duke of + Marlborough. Mr. Wolfe has a son, Lieut.-Col. James Wolfe, engaged to be + married to a beautiful lady now in this place, Miss Lowther of the North—and + though but 30 years old he is looked up to as much as any officer in the + whole army, and has served with honour under his Royal Highness the Duke + wherever our arms have been employed. + </p> + <p> + “I thank my honoured mother for announcing to me that a quarter's + allowance of 52l. 10s. will be paid me by Mr. Trail. I am in no present + want of cash, and by practising a rigid economy, which will be necessary + (as I do not disguise) for the maintenance of horses, Gumbo, and the + equipage and apparel requisite for a young gentleman of good family, hope + to be able to maintain my credit without unduly trespassing upon yours. + The linnen and clothes which I brought with me will with due care last for + some years—as you say. 'Tis not quite so fine as worn here by + persons of fashion, and I may have to purchase a few very fine shirts for + great days: but those I have are excellent for daily wear. + </p> + <p> + “I am thankful that I have been quite without occasion to use your + excellent family pills. Gumbo hath taken them with great benefit, who + grows fat and saucy upon English beef, ale, and air. He sends his humble + duty to his mistress, and prays Mrs. Mountain to remember him to all his + fellow-servants, especially Dinah and Lily, for whom he has bought + posey-rings at Tunbridge Fair. + </p> + <p> + “Besides partaking of all the pleasures of the place, I hope my honoured + mother will believe that I have not been unmindful of my education. I have + had masters in fencing and dancing, and my Lord Castlewood's chaplain, the + Reverend Mr. Sampson, having come hither to drink the waters, has been so + good as to take a vacant room at my lodging. Mr. S. breakfasts with me, + and we read together of a morning—he saying that I am not quite such + a dunce as I used to appear at home. We have read in Mr. Rapin's History, + Dr. Barrow's Sermons, and, for amusement, Shakspeare, Mr. Pope's Homer, + and (in French) the translation of an Arabian Work of Tales, very + diverting. Several men of learning have been staying here besides the + persons of fashion; and amongst the former was Mr. Richardson, the author + of the famous books which you and Mountain and my dearest brother used to + love so. He was pleased when I told him that his works were in your closet + in Virginia, and begged me to convey his respectful compliments to my + lady-mother. Mr. R. is a short fat man, with little of the fire of genius + visible in his eye or person. + </p> + <p> + “My aunt and my cousin, the Lady Maria, desire their affectionate + compliments to you, and with best regards for Mountain, to whom I enclose + a note, I am,—Honoured madam, your dutiful son, H. ESMOND + WARRINGTON.” + </p> + <p> + Note in Madam Esmond's Handwriting, + </p> + <p> + “From my son. Received October 15 at Richmond. Sent 16 jars preserved + peaches, 224 lbs. best tobacco, 24 finest hams, per Royal William of + Liverpool, 8 jars peaches, 12 hams for my nephew, the Rt. Honourable the + Earl of Castlewood. 4 jars, 6 hams for the Baroness Bernstein, ditto ditto + for Mrs. Lambert of Oakhurst, Surrey, and 1/2 cwt. tobacco. Packet of + Infallible Family Pills for Gumbo. My Papa's large silver-gilt + shoe-buckles for H., and red silver-laced saddle-cloth.” + </p> + <p> + II. (enclosed in No. I.) + </p> + <p> + “For Mrs. Mountain. + </p> + <p> + “What do you mien, you silly old Mountain, by sending an order for your + poor old divadends dew at Xmas? I'd have you to know I don't want your 7l. + 10, and have toar your order up into 1000 bitts. I've plenty of money. But + I'm obleaged to you all same. A kiss to Fanny from—Your loving + HARRY.” + </p> + <p> + Note in Madam Esmond's Handwriting + </p> + <p> + “This note, which I desired M. to show to me, proves that she hath a good + heart, and that she wished to show her gratitude to the family, by giving + up her half-yearly divd. (on L500 3 per ct.) to my boy. Hence I + reprimanded her very slightly for daring to send money to Mr. E. + Warrington, unknown to his mother. Note to Mountain not so well spelt as + letter to me. + </p> + <p> + “Mem. to write to Revd. Mr. Sampson desire to know what theolog. books he + reads with H. Recommend Law, Baxter, Drelincourt.—Request H. to say + his catechism to Mr. S., which he has never quite been able to master. By + next ship peaches (3), tobacco 1/2 cwt. Hams for Mr. S.” + </p> + <p> + The mother of the Virginians and her sons have long long since passed + away. So how are we to account for the fact, that of a couple of letters + sent under one enclosure and by one packet, one should be well spelt, and + the other not entirely orthographical? Had Harry found some wonderful + instructor, such as exists in the present lucky times, and who would + improve his writing in six lessons? My view of the case, after + deliberately examining the two notes, is this: No. 1, in which there + appears a trifling grammatical slip (“the kind, friends who I found and + whom took me in”), must have been re-written from a rough copy which had + probably undergone the supervision of a tutor or friend. The more artless + composition, No. 2, was not referred to the scholar who prepared No. 1 for + the maternal eye, and to whose corrections of “who” and “whom” Mr. + Warrington did not pay very close attention. Who knows how he may have + been disturbed? A pretty milliner may have attracted Harry's attention out + of window—a dancing bear with pipe and tabor may have passed along + the common—a jockey come under his windows to show off a horse + there? There are some days when any of us may be ungrammatical and spell + ill. Finally, suppose Harry did not care to spell so elegantly for Mrs. + Mountain as for his lady-mother, what affair is that of the present + biographer, century, reader? And as for your objection that Mr. + Warrington, in the above communication to his mother, showed some little + hypocrisy and reticence in his dealings with that venerable person, I dare + say, young folks, you in your time have written more than one prim letter + to your papas and mammas in which not quite all the transactions of your + lives were narrated, or if narrated, were exhibited in the most favourable + light for yourselves—I dare say, old folks! you, in your time, were + not altogether more candid. There must be a certain distance between me + and my son Jacky. There must be a respectful, an amiable, a virtuous + hypocrisy between us. I do not in the least wish that he should treat me + as his equal, that he should contradict me, take my arm-chair, read the + newspaper first at breakfast, ask unlimited friends to dine when I have a + party of my own, and so forth. No; where there is not equality there must + be hypocrisy. Continue to be blind to my faults; to hush still as mice + when I fall asleep after dinner; to laugh at my old jokes; to admire my + sayings; to be astonished at the impudence of those unbelieving reviewers; + to be dear filial humbugs, O my children! In my castle I am king. Let all + my royal household back before me. 'Tis not their natural way of walking, + I know: but a decorous, becoming, and modest behaviour highly agreeable to + me. Away from me they may do, nay, they do do, what they like. They may + jump, skip, dance, trot, tumble over heads and heels, and kick about + freely, when they are out of the presence of my majesty. Do not then, my + dear young friends, be surprised at your mother and aunt when they cry + out, “Oh, it was highly immoral and improper of Mr. Warrington to be + writing home humdrum demure letters to his dear mamma, when he was playing + all sorts of merry pranks!”—but drop a curtsey, and say, “Yes, dear + grandmamma (or aunt, as may be), it was very wrong of him: and I suppose + you never had your fun when you were young.” Of course, she didn't! And + the sun never shone, and the blossoms never budded, and the blood never + danced, and the fiddles never sang, in her spring-time. Eh, Babet! mon + lait de poule et mon bonnet de nuit! Ho, Betty! my gruel and my slippers! + And go, ye frisky, merry little souls! and dance, and have your merry + little supper of cakes and ale! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0031" id="link2HCH0031"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXI. The Bear and the Leader + </h2> + <p> + Our candid readers know the real state of the case regarding Harry + Warrington and that luckless Cattarina; but a number of the old ladies at + Tunbridge Wells supposed the Virginian to be as dissipated as any young + English nobleman of the highest quality, and Madame de Bernstein was + especially incredulous about her nephew's innocence. It was the old lady's + firm belief that Harry was leading not only a merry life, but a wicked + one, and her wish was father to the thought that the lad might be no + better than his neighbours. An old Roman herself, she liked her nephew to + do as Rome did. All the scandal regarding Mr. Warrington's Lovelace + adventures she eagerly and complacently accepted. We have seen how, on one + or two occasions, he gave tea and music to the company at the Wells; and + he was so gallant and amiable to the ladies (to ladies of a much better + figure and character than the unfortunate Cattarina), that Madame + Bernstein ceased to be disquieted regarding the silly love affair which + had had a commencement at Castlewood, and relaxed in her vigilance over + Lady Maria. Some folks—many old folks—are too selfish to + interest themselves long about the affairs of their neighbours. The + Baroness had her trumps to think of, her dinners, her twinges of + rheumatism: and her suspicions regarding Maria and Harry, lately so + lively, now dozed, and kept a careless, unobservant watch. She may have + thought that the danger was over, or she may have ceased to care whether + it existed or not, or that artful Maria, by her conduct, may have quite + cajoled, soothed, and misguided the old Dragon, to whose charge she was + given over. At Maria's age, nay, earlier indeed, maidens have learnt to be + very sly, and at Madame Bernstein's time of life dragons are not so fierce + and alert. They cannot turn so readily, some of their old teeth have + dropped out, and their eyes require more sleep than they needed in days + when they were more active, venomous, and dangerous. I, for my part, know + a few female dragons, de par le monde, and, as I watch them and remember + what they were, admire the softening influence of years upon these whilom + destroyers of man- and woman-kind. Their scales are so soft that any + knight with a moderate power of thrust can strike them: their claws, once + strong enough to tear out a thousand eyes, only fall with a feeble pat + that scarce raises the skin: their tongues, from their toothless old gums, + dart a venom which is rather disagreeable than deadly. See them trailing + their languid tails, and crawling home to their caverns at roosting-time! + How weak are their powers of doing injury! their maleficence how feeble! + How changed are they since the brisk days when their eyes shot wicked + fire; their tongue spat poison; their breath blasted reputation; and they + gobbled up a daily victim at least! + </p> + <p> + If the good folks at Oakhurst could not resist the testimony which was + brought to them regarding Harry's ill-doings, why should Madame Bernstein, + who in the course of her long days had had more experience of evil than + all the Oakhurst family put together, be less credulous than they? Of + course every single old woman of her ladyship's society believed every + story that was told about Mr. Harry Warrington's dissipated habits, and + was ready to believe as much more ill of him as you please. When the + little dancer went back to London, as she did, it was because that + heartless Harry deserted her. He deserted her for somebody else, whose + name was confidently given,—whose name?—whose half-dozen names + the society at Tunbridge Wells would whisper about; where there + congregated people of all ranks and degrees, women of fashion, women of + reputation, of demi-reputation, of virtue, of no virtue,—all + mingling in the same rooms, dancing to the same fiddles, drinking out of + the same glasses at the Wells, and alike in search of health, or society, + or pleasure. A century ago, and our ancestors, the most free or the most + straitlaced, met together at a score of such merry places as that where + our present scene lies, and danced, and frisked, and gamed, and drank at + Epsom, Bath, Tunbridge, Harrogate, as they do at Homburg and Baden now. + </p> + <p> + Harry's bad reputation, then, comforted his old aunt exceedingly, and + eased her mind in respect to the boy's passion for Lady Maria. So easy was + she in her mind, that when the chaplain said he came to escort her + ladyship home, Madame Bernstein did not even care to part from her niece. + She preferred rather to keep her under her eye, to talk to her about her + wicked young cousin's wild extravagances, to whisper to her that boys + would be boys, to confide to Maria her intention of getting a proper wife + for Harry,—some one of a suitable age,—some one with a + suitable fortune,—all which pleasantries poor Maria had to bear with + as much fortitude as she could muster. + </p> + <p> + There lived, during the last century, a certain French duke and marquis, + who distinguished himself in Europe, and America likewise, and has obliged + posterity by leaving behind him a choice volume of memoirs, which the + gentle reader is specially warned not to consult. Having performed the + part of Don Juan in his own country, in ours, and in other parts of + Europe, he has kindly noted down the names of many court-beauties who fell + victims to his powers of fascination; and very pleasant reading no doubt + it must be for the grandsons and descendants of the fashionable persons + amongst whom our brilliant nobleman moved, to find the names of their + ancestresses adorning M. le Duc's sprightly pages, and their frailties + recorded by the candid writer who caused them. + </p> + <p> + In the course of the peregrinations of this nobleman, he visited North + America, and, as had been his custom in Europe, proceeded straightway to + fall in love. And curious it is to contrast the elegant refinements of + European society, where, according to monseigneur, he had but to lay siege + to a woman in order to vanquish her, with the simple lives and habits of + the colonial folks, amongst whom this European enslaver of hearts did not, + it appears, make a single conquest. Had he done so, he would as certainly + have narrated his victories in Pennsylvania and New England, as he + described his successes in this and his own country. Travellers in America + have cried out quite loudly enough against the rudeness and barbarism of + transatlantic manners; let the present writer give the humble testimony of + his experience that the conversation of American gentlemen is generally + modest, and, to the best of his belief, the lives of the women pure. + </p> + <p> + We have said that Mr. Harry Warrington brought his colonial modesty along + with him to the old country; and though he could not help hearing the free + talk of the persons amongst whom he lived, and who were men of pleasure + and the world, he sat pretty silent himself in the midst of their rattle; + never indulged in double entendre in his conversation with women; had no + victories over the sex to boast of; and was shy and awkward when he heard + such narrated by others. + </p> + <p> + This youthful modesty Mr. Sampson had remarked during his intercourse with + the lad at Castlewood, where Mr. Warrington had more than once shown + himself quite uneasy whilst cousin Will was telling some of his choice + stories; and my lord had curtly rebuked his brother, bidding him keep his + jokes for the usher's table at Kensington, and not give needless offence + to their kinsman. Hence the exclamation of “Reverentia pueris,” which the + chaplain had addressed to his neighbour at the ordinary on Harry's first + appearance there. Mr. Sampson, if he had not strength sufficient to do + right himself, at least had grace enough not to offend innocent young + gentlemen by his cynicism. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain was touched by Harry's gift of the horse; and felt a genuine + friendliness towards the lad. “You see, sir,” says he, “I am of the world, + and must do as the rest of the world does. I have led a rough life, Mr. + Warrington, and can't afford to be more particular than my neighbours. + Video meliora, deteriora sequor, as we said at college. I have got a + little sister, who is at boarding-school, not very far from here, and, as + I keep a decent tongue in my head when I am talking with my little Patty, + and expect others to do as much, sure I may try and do as much by you.” + </p> + <p> + The chaplain was loud in his praises of Harry to his aunt, the old + Baroness. She liked to hear him praised. She was as fond of him as she + could be of anything; was pleased in his company, with his good looks, his + manly courageous bearing, his blushes, which came so readily, his bright + eyes, his deep youthful voice. His shrewdness and simplicity constantly + amused her; she would have wearied of him long before, had he been clever, + or learned, or witty, or other than he was. “We must find a good wife for + him, Chaplain,” she said to Mr. Sampson. “I have one or two in my eye, + who, I think, will suit him. We must set him up here; he never will bear + going back to his savages again, or to live with his little Methodist of a + mother.” + </p> + <p> + Now about this point Mr. Sampson, too, was personally anxious, and had + also a wife in his eye for Harry. I suppose he must have had some + conversations with his lord at Castlewood, whom we have heard expressing + some intention of complimenting his chaplain with a good living or other + provision, in event of his being able to carry out his lordship's wishes + regarding a marriage for Lady Maria. If his good offices could help that + anxious lady to a husband, Sampson was ready to employ them: and he now + waited to see in what most effectual manner he could bring his influence + to bear. + </p> + <p> + Sampson's society was most agreeable, and he and his young friend were + intimate in the course of a few hours. The parson rejoiced in high + spirits, good appetite, good humour; pretended to no sort of + squeamishness, and indulged in no sanctified hypocritical conversation; + nevertheless, he took care not to shock his young friend by any needless + outbreaks of levity or immorality of talk, initiating his pupil, perhaps + from policy, perhaps from compunction, only into the minor mysteries, as + it were; and not telling him the secrets with which the unlucky adept + himself was only too familiar. With Harry, Sampson was only a brisk, + lively, jolly companion, ready for any drinking bout, or any sport, a + cock-fight, a shooting-match, a game at cards, or a gallop across the + common; but his conversation was decent, and he tried much more to amuse + the young man, than to lead him astray. The chaplain was quite successful: + he had immense animal spirits as well as natural wit, and aptitude as well + as experience in that business of toad-eater which had been his calling + and livelihood from his very earliest years,—ever since he first + entered college as a servitor, and cast about to see by whose means he + could make his fortune in life. That was but satire just now, when we said + there were no toad-eaters left in the world. There are many men of + Sampson's profession now, doubtless; nay, little boys at our public + schools are sent thither at the earliest age, instructed by their parents, + and put out apprentices to toad-eating. But the flattery is not so + manifest as it used to be a hundred years since. Young men and old have + hangers-on, and led captains, but they assume an appearance of equality, + borrow money, or swallow their toads in private, and walk abroad + arm-in-arm with the great man, and call him by his name without his title. + In those good old times, when Harry Warrington first came to Europe, a + gentleman's toad-eater pretended to no airs of equality at all; openly + paid court to his patron, called him by that name to other folks, went on + his errands for him,—any sort of errands which the patron might + devise,—called him sir in speaking to him, stood up in his presence + until bidden to sit down, and flattered him ex officio. Mr. Sampson did + not take the least shame in speaking of Harry as his young patron,—as + a young Virginian nobleman recommended to him by his other noble patron, + the Earl of Castlewood. He was proud of appearing at Harry's side, and as + his humble retainer, in public talked about him to the company, gave + orders to Harry's tradesmen, from whom, let us hope, he received a + percentage in return for his recommendations, performed all the functions + of aide-de-camp—others, if our young gentleman demanded them from + the obsequious divine, who had gaily discharged the duties of ami du + prince to ever so many young men of fashion, since his own entrance into + the world. It must be confessed that, since his arrival in Europe, Mr. + Warrington had not been uniformly lucky in the friendships which he had + made. + </p> + <p> + “What a reputation, sir, they have made for you in this place!” cries Mr. + Sampson, coming back from the coffee-house to his patron. “Monsieur de + Richelieu was nothing to you!” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean, Monsieur de Richelieu?—Never was at Minorca in my + life,” says downright Harry, who had not heard of those victories at home, + which made the French duke famous. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Sampson explained. The pretty widow Patcham who had just arrived was + certainly desperate about Mr. Warrington: her way of going on at the + rooms, the night before, proved that. As for Mrs. Hooper, that was a known + case, and the Alderman had fetched his wife back to London for no other + reason. It was the talk of the whole Wells. + </p> + <p> + “Who says so?” cries out Harry, indignantly. “I should like to meet the + man who dares say so, and confound the villain!” + </p> + <p> + “I should not like to show him to you,” says Mr. Sampson, laughing. “It + might be the worse for him.” + </p> + <p> + “It's a shame to speak with such levity about the character of ladies or + of gentlemen either,” continues Mr. Warrington, pacing up and down the + room in a fume. + </p> + <p> + “So I told them,” says the chaplain, wagging his head and looking very + much moved and very grave, though, if the truth were known, it had never + come into his mind at all to be angry at hearing charges of this nature + against Harry. + </p> + <p> + “It's a shame, I say, to talk away the reputation of any man or woman as + people do here. Do you know, in our country, a fellow's ears would not be + safe; and a little before I left home, three brothers shot down a man, for + having spoken ill of their sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Serve the villain right!” cries Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Already they have had that calumny about me set a-going here, Sampson,—about + me and the poor little French dancing-girl.” + </p> + <p> + “I have heard,” says Mr. Sampson, shaking powder out of his wig. + </p> + <p> + “Wicked; wasn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Abominable.” + </p> + <p> + “They said the very same thing about my Lord March. Isn't it shameful?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed it is,” says Mr. Sampson, preserving a face of wonderful gravity. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what I should do if these stories were to come to my + mother's ears. It would break her heart, I do believe it would. Why, only + a few days before you came, a military friend of mine, Mr. Wolfe, told me + how the most horrible lies were circulated about me. Good heavens! What do + they think a gentleman of my name and country can be capable of—I a + seducer of women? They might as well say I was a horse-stealer or a + housebreaker. I vow if I hear any man say so, I'll have his ears!” + </p> + <p> + “I have read, sir, that the Grand Seignior of Turkey has bushels of ears + sometimes sent in to him,” says Mr. Sampson, laughing. “If you took all + those that had heard scandal against you or others, what basketsful you + would fill!” + </p> + <p> + “And so I would, Sampson, as soon as look at 'em:—any fellow's who + said a word against a lady or a gentleman of honour!” cries the Virginian. + </p> + <p> + “If you'll go down to the Well, you'll find a harvest of 'em. I just came + from there. It was the high tide of Scandal. Detraction was at its height. + And you may see the nymphas discentes and the aures satyrorum acutas,” + cries the chaplain, with a shrug of his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “That may be as you say, Sampson,” Mr. Warrington replies, “but if ever I + hear any man speak against my character I'll punish him. Mark that.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall be very sorry for his sake, that I should; for you'll mark him in + a way he won't like, sir; and I know you are a man of your word.” + </p> + <p> + “You may be sure of that, Sampson. And now shall we go to dinner, and + afterwards to my Lady Trumpington's tea?” + </p> + <p> + “You know, sir, I can't resist a card or a bottle,” says Mr. Sampson. “Let + us have the last first and then the first shall come last.” And with this + the two gentlemen went off to their accustomed place of refection. + </p> + <p> + That was an age in which wine-bibbing was more common than in our politer + time; and, especially since the arrival of General Braddock's army in his + native country, our young Virginian had acquired rather a liking for the + filling of bumpers and the calling of toasts; having heard that it was a + point of honour among the officers never to decline a toast or a + challenge. So Harry and his chaplain drank their claret in peace and + plenty, naming, as the simple custom was, some favourite lady with each + glass. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain had reasons of his own for desiring to know how far the + affair between Harry and my Lady Maria had gone; whether it was advancing, + or whether it was ended; and he and his young friend were just warm enough + with the claret to be able to talk with that great eloquence, that + candour, that admirable friendliness, which good wine taken in rather + injudicious quantity inspires. O kindly harvests of the Aquitanian grape! + O sunny banks of Garonne! O friendly caves of Gledstane and Morol, where + the dusky flasks lie recondite! May we not say a word of thanks for all + the pleasure we owe you? Are the Temperance men to be allowed to shout in + the public places? are the Vegetarians to bellow “Cabbage for ever?” and + may we modest Enophilists not sing the praises of our favourite plant? + After the drinking of good Bordeaux wine, there is a point (I do not say a + pint) at which men arrive, when all the generous faculties of the soul are + awakened and in full vigour; when the wit brightens and breaks out in + sudden flashes; when the intellects are keenest; when the pent-up words + and confined thoughts get a night-rule, and rush abroad and disport + themselves; when the kindliest affection, come out and shake hands with + mankind, and the timid Truth jumps up naked out of his well and proclaims + himself to all the world. How, by the kind influence of the wine-cup, we + succour the poor and humble! How bravely we rush to the rescue of the + oppressed! I say, in the face of all the pumps which ever spouted, that + there is a moment in a bout of good wine at which, if a man could but + remain, wit, wisdom, courage, generosity, eloquence, happiness were his; + but the moment passes, and that other glass somehow spoils the state of + beatitude. There is a headache in the morning; we are not going into + Parliament for our native town; we are not going to shoot those French + officers who have been speaking disrespectfully of our country; and poor + Jeremy Diddler calls about eleven o'clock for another half-sovereign, and + we are unwell in bed, and can't see him, and send him empty away. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, as they sate over their generous cups, the company having + departed, and the bottle of claret being brought in by Monsieur Barbeau, + the chaplain found himself in an eloquent state, with a strong desire for + inculcating sublime moral precepts whilst Harry was moved by an extreme + longing to explain his whole private history, and to impart all his + present feelings to his new friend. Mark that fact. Why must a man say + everything that comes uppermost in his noble mind, because, forsooth, he + has swallowed a half-pint more wine than he ordinarily drinks? Suppose I + had committed a murder (of course I allow the sherry, and champagne at + dinner), should I announce that homicide somewhere about the third bottle + (in a small party of men) of claret at dessert? Of course: and hence the + fidelity to water-gruel announced a few pages back. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad to hear what your conduct has really been with regard to the + Cattarina, Mr. Warrington; I am glad from my soul,” says the impetuous + chaplain. “The wine is with you. You have shown that you can bear down + calumny, and resist temptation. Ah! my dear sir, men are not all so + fortunate. What famous good wine this is!” and he sucks up a glass with “A + toast from you, my dear sir, if you please?” + </p> + <p> + “I give you 'Miss Fanny Mountain, of Virginia,'” says Mr. Warrington, + filling a bumper as his thoughts fly straightway, ever so many thousand + miles, to home. + </p> + <p> + “One of your American conquests, I suppose?” says the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, she is but ten years old, and I have never made any conquests at all + in Virginia, Mr. Sampson,” says the young gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “You are like a true gentleman, and don't kiss and tell, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “I neither kiss nor tell. It isn't the custom of our country, Sampson, to + ruin girls, or frequent the society of low women. We Virginian gentlemen + honour women: we don't wish to bring them to shame,” cries the young + toper, looking very proud and handsome. “The young lady whose name I + mentioned hath lived in our family since her infancy, and I would shoot + the man who did her a wrong;—by Heaven, I would!” + </p> + <p> + “Your sentiments do you honour! Let me shake hands with you! I will shake + hands with you, Mr. Warrington,” cried the enthusiastic Sampson. “And let + me tell you 'tis the grasp of honest friendship offered you, and not + merely the poor retainer paying court to the wealthy patron. No! with such + liquor as this, all men are equal;—faith, all men are rich, whilst + it lasts! and Tom Sampson is as wealthy with his bottle as your honour + with all the acres of your principality!” + </p> + <p> + “Let us have another bottle of riches,” says Harry, with a laugh. “Encore + du cachet jaune, mon bon Monsieur Barbeau!” and exit Monsieur Barbeau to + the caves below. + </p> + <p> + “Another bottle of riches! Capital, capital! How beautifully you speak + French, Mr. Harry!” + </p> + <p> + “I do speak it well,” says Harry. “At least, when I speak, Monsieur + Barbeau understands me well enough.” + </p> + <p> + “You do everything well, I think. You succeed in whatever you try. That is + why they have fancied here you have won the hearts of so many women, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “There you go again about the women! I tell you I don't like these stories + about women. Confound me, Sampson, why is a gentleman's character to be + blackened so?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, at any rate, there is one, unless my eyes deceive me very much + indeed, sir!” cries the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Whom do you mean?” asked Harry, flushing very red. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, I name no names. It isn't for a poor chaplain to meddle with his + betters' doings, or to know their thoughts,” says Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Thoughts! what thoughts, Sampson?” + </p> + <p> + “I fancied I saw, on the part of a certain lovely and respected lady at + Castlewood, a preference exhibited. I fancied, on the side of a certain + distinguished young gentleman, a strong liking manifested itself: but I + may have been wrong, and ask pardon.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sampson, Sampson!” broke out the young man. “I tell you I am + miserable. I tell you I have been longing for some one to confide in, or + ask advice of. You do know, then, that there has been something going on—something + between me and—help Mr. Sampson, Monsieur Barbeau—and—and + some one else?” + </p> + <p> + “I have watched it this month past,” says the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Confound me, sir, do you mean you have been a spy on me?” says the other + hotly. + </p> + <p> + “A spy! You made little disguise of the matter, Mr. Warrington, and her + ladyship wasn't a much better hand at deceiving. You were always together. + In the shrubberies, in the walks, in the village, in the galleries of the + house,—you always found a pretext for being together, and plenty of + eyes besides mine watched you.” + </p> + <p> + “Gracious powers! What did you see, Sampson?” cries the lad. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, 'tis forbidden to kiss and tell. I say so again,” says the + chaplain. + </p> + <p> + The young man turned very red. “Oh, Sampson!” he cried, “can I—can I + confide in you?” + </p> + <p> + “Dearest sir—dear generous youth—you know I would shed my + heart's blood for you!” exclaimed the chaplain, squeezing his patron's + hand, and turning a brilliant pair of eyes ceilingwards. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sampson! I tell you I am miserable. With all this play and wine, + whilst I have been here, I tell you I have been trying to drive away care. + I own to you that when we were at Castlewood there were things passed + between a certain lady and me.” + </p> + <p> + The parson gave a slight whistle over his glass of Bordeaux. + </p> + <p> + “And they've made me wretched, those things have. I mean, you see, that if + a gentleman has given his word, why, it's his word, and he must stand by + it, you know. I mean that I thought I loved her,—and so I do very + much, and she's a most dear, kind, darling, affectionate creature, and + very handsome, too,—quite beautiful; but then, you know, our ages, + Sampson! Think of our ages, Sampson! She's as old as my mother!” + </p> + <p> + “Who would never forgive you.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't intend to let anybody meddle in my affairs, not Madam Esmond nor + anybody else,” cries Harry: “but you see, Sampson, she is old—and, + oh, hang it! Why did Aunt Bernstein tell me——?” + </p> + <p> + “Tell you what?” + </p> + <p> + “Something I can't divulge to anybody, something that tortures me!” + </p> + <p> + “Not about the—the——” the chaplain paused: he was going + to say about her ladyship's little affair with the French dancing-master; + about other little anecdotes affecting her character. But he had not drunk + wine enough to be quite candid, or too much, and was past the real moment + of virtue. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, every one of 'em false—every one of 'em!” shrieks out + Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Great powers, what do you mean?” asks his friend. + </p> + <p> + “These, sir, these!” says Harry, beating a tattoo on his own white teeth. + “I didn't know it when I asked her. I swear I didn't know it. Oh, it's + horrible—it's horrible! and it has caused me nights of agony, + Sampson. My dear old grandfather had a set a Frenchman at Charleston made + them for him, and we used to look at 'em grinning in a tumbler, and when + they were out, his jaws used to fall in—I never thought she had + 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Had what, sir?” again asked the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Confound it, sir, don't you see I mean teeth?” says Harry, rapping the + table. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, only two.” + </p> + <p> + “And how the devil do you know, sir?” asks the young man, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “I—I had it from her maid. She had two teeth knocked out by a stone + which cut her lip a little, and they have been replaced.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sampson, do you mean to say they ain't all sham ones?” cries the boy. + </p> + <p> + “But two, sir, at least so Peggy told me, and she would just as soon have + blabbed about the whole two-and-thirty—the rest are as sound as + yours, which are beautiful.” + </p> + <p> + “And her hair, Sampson, is that all right, too?” asks the young gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis lovely—I have seen that. I can take my oath to that. Her + ladyship can sit upon it; and her figure is very fine; and her skin is as + white as snow; and her heart is the kindest that ever was; and I know, + that is I feel sure, it is very tender about you, Mr. Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sampson! Heaven, Heaven bless you! What a weight you've taken off my + mind with those—those—never mind them! Oh, Sam! How happy—that + is, no, no—ob, how miserable I am! She's as old as Madam Esmond—by + George she is—she's as old as my mother. You wouldn't have a fellow + marry a woman as old as his mother? It's too bad: by George it is. It's + too bad.” And here, I am sorry to say, Harry Esmond Warrington, Esquire, + of Castlewood, in Virginia, began to cry. The delectable point, you see, + must have been passed several glasses ago. + </p> + <p> + “You don't want to marry her, then?” asks the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “What's that to you, sir? I've promised her, and an Esmond—a + Virginia Esmond mind that—Mr. What's-your-name—Sampson—has + but his word!” The sentiment was noble, but delivered by Harry with rather + a doubtful articulation. + </p> + <p> + “Mind you, I said a Virginia Esmond,” continued poor Harry, lifting up his + finger. “I don't mean the younger branch here. I don't mean Will, who + robbed me about the horse, and whose bones I'll break. I give you Lady + Maria—Heaven bless her, and Heaven bless you, Sampson, and you + deserve to be a bishop, old boy!” + </p> + <p> + “There are letters between you, I suppose?” says Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Letters! Dammy, she's always writing me letters!—never lets me into + a window but she sticks one in my cuff. Letters! that is a good idea! Look + here! Here's letters!” And he threw down a pocket-book containing a heap + of papers of the poor lady's composition. + </p> + <p> + “Those are letters, indeed. What a post-bag!” says the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “But any man who touches them—dies—dies on the spot!” shrieks + Harry, starting from his seat, and reeling towards his sword; which he + draws, and then stamps with his foot, and says, “Ha! ha!” and then lunges + at M. Barbeau, who skips away from the lunge behind the chaplain, who + looks rather alarmed. I know we could have had a much more exciting + picture than either of those we present of Harry this month, and the lad, + with his hair dishevelled, raging about the room flamberge au vent, and + pinking the affrighted innkeeper and chaplain, would have afforded a good + subject for the pencil. But oh, to think of him stumbling over a stool, + and prostrated by an enemy who has stole away his brains! Come, Gumbo! and + help your master to bed! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0032" id="link2HCH0032"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXII. In which a Family Coach is ordered + </h2> + <p> + Our pleasing duty now is to divulge the secret which Mr. Lambert whispered + in his wife's ear at the close of the antepenultimate chapter, and the + publication of which caused such great pleasure to the whole of the + Oakhurst family. As the hay was in, the corn not ready for cutting, and by + consequence the farm horses disengaged, why, asked Colonel Lambert, should + they not be put into the coach, and should we not all pay a visit to + Tunbridge Wells, taking friend Wolfe at Westerham on our way? + </p> + <p> + Mamma embraced this proposal, and I dare say the honest gentleman who made + it. All the children jumped for joy. The girls went off straightway to get + together their best calamancoes, paduasoys, falbalas, furbelows, capes, + cardinals, sacks, negligees, solitaires, caps, ribbons, mantuas, clocked + stockings, and high-heeled shoes, and I know not what articles of toilet. + Mamma's best robes were taken from the presses, whence they only issued on + rare, solemn occasions, retiring immediately afterwards to lavender and + seclusion; the brave Colonel produced his laced hat and waistcoat and + silver-hilted hanger; Charley rejoiced in a rasee holiday suit of his + father's, in which the Colonel had been married, and which Mrs. Lambert + cut up, not without a pang. Ball and Dumpling had their tails and manes + tied with ribbon, and Chump, the old white cart-horse, went as unicorn + leader, to help the carriage-horses up the first hilly five miles of the + road from Oakhurst to Westerham. The carriage was an ancient vehicle, and + was believed to have served in the procession which had brought George I. + from Greenwich to London, on his first arrival to assume the sovereignty + of these realms. It had belonged to Mr. Lambert's father, and the family + had been in the habit of regarding it, ever since they could remember + anything, as one of the most splendid coaches in the three kingdoms. + Brian, coachman, and—must it also be owned?—ploughman, of the + Oakhurst family, had a place on the box, with Mr. Charley by his side. The + precious clothes were packed in imperials on the roof. The Colonel's + pistols were put in the pockets of the carriage, and the blunderbuss hung + behind the box, in reach of Brian, who was an old soldier. No highwayman, + however, molested the convoy; not even an innkeeper levied contributions + on Colonel Lambert, who, with a slender purse and a large family, was not + to be plundered by those or any other depredators on the king's highway; + and a reasonable cheap modest lodging had been engaged for them by young + Colonel Wolfe, at the house where he was in the habit of putting up, and + whither he himself accompanied them on horseback. + </p> + <p> + It happened that these lodgings were opposite Madame Bernstein's; and as + the Oakhurst family reached their quarters on a Saturday evening, they + could see chair after chair discharging powdered beaux and patched and + brocaded beauties at the Baroness's door, who was holding one of her many + card-parties. The sun was not yet down (for our ancestors began their + dissipations at early hours, and were at meat, drink, or cards, any time + after three o'clock in the afternoon until any time in the night or + morning), and the young country ladies and their mother from their window + could see the various personages as they passed into the Bernstein rout. + Colonel Wolfe told the ladies who most of the characters were. 'Twas + almost as delightful as going to the party themselves, Hetty and Theo + thought, for they not only could see the guests arriving, but look into + the Baroness's open casements and watch many of them there. Of a few of + the personages we have before had a glimpse. When the Duchess of + Queensberry passed, and Mr. Wolfe explained who she was, Martin Lambert + was ready with a score of lines about “Kitty, beautiful and young,” from + his favourite Mat Prior. + </p> + <p> + “Think that that old lady was once like you, girls!” cries the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “Like us, papa? Well, certainly we never set up for being beauties!” says + Miss Hetty, tossing up her little head. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, like you, you little baggage; like you at this moment, who want to + go to that drum yonder:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Inflamed with rage at sad restraint + Which wise mamma ordained, + And sorely vexed to play the saint + Whilst wit and beauty reigned.'” + </pre> + <p> + “We were never invited, papa; and I am sure if there's no beauty more + worth seeing than that, the wit can't be much worth the hearing,” again + says the satirist of the family. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, but he's a rare poet, Mat Prior!” continues the Colonel; “though, + mind you, girls, you'll skip over all the poems I have marked with a + cross. A rare poet! and to think you should see one of his heroines! + 'Fondness prevailed, mamma gave way' (she always will, Mrs. Lambert!)— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 'Fondness prevailed, mamma gave way, + Kitty at heart's desire + Obtained the chariot for a day, + And set the world on fire!'” + </pre> + <p> + “I am sure it must have been very inflammable,” says mamma. + </p> + <p> + “So it was, my dear, twenty years ago, much more inflammable than it is + now,” remarks the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, Mr. Lambert,” is mamma's answer. + </p> + <p> + “Look, look!” cries Hetty, running forward and pointing to the little + square, and the covered gallery, where was the door leading to Madame + Bernstein's apartments, and round which stood a crowd of street urchins, + idlers, and yokels, watching the company. + </p> + <p> + “It's Harry Warrington!” exclaims Theo, waving a handkerchief to the young + Virginian: but Warrington did not see Miss Lambert. The Virginian was + walking arm-in-arm with a portly clergyman in a crisp rustling silk gown, + and the two went into Madame de Bernstein's door. + </p> + <p> + “I heard him preach a most admirable sermon here last Sunday,” says Mr. + Wolfe; “a little theatrical, but most striking and eloquent.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to be here most Sundays, James,” says Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “And Monday, and soon till Saturday,” adds the Colonel. “See, Harry has + beautified himself already, hath his hair in buckle, and I have no doubt + is going to the drum too.” + </p> + <p> + “I had rather sit quiet generally of a Saturday evening,” says sober Mr. + Wolfe; “at any rate, away from card-playing and scandal; but I own, dear + Mrs. Lambert, I am under orders. Shall I go across the way and send Mr. + Warrington to you?” + </p> + <p> + “No, let him have his sport. We shall see him to-morrow. He won't care to + be disturbed amidst his fine folks by us country-people,” said meek Mrs. + Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad he is with a clergyman who preaches so well,” says Theo, + softly; and her eyes seemed to say, You see, good people, he is not so bad + as you thought him, and as I, for my part, never believed him to be. “The + clergyman has a very kind, handsome face.” + </p> + <p> + “Here comes a greater clergyman,” cries Mr. Wolfe. “It is my Lord of + Salisbury, with his blue ribbon, and a chaplain behind him.” + </p> + <p> + “And whom a mercy's name have we here?” breaks in Mrs. Lambert, as a + sedan-chair, covered with gilding, topped with no less than five earl's + coronets, carried by bearers in richly laced clothes, and preceded by + three footmen in the same splendid livery, now came up to Madame de + Bernstein's door. The Bishop, who had been about to enter, stopped, and + ran back with the most respectful bows and curtseys to the sedan-chair, + giving his hand to the lady who stepped thence. + </p> + <p> + “Who on earth is this?” asks Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Sprechen sie Deutsch? Ja, meinherr. Nichts verstand,” says the waggish + Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, Martin.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you can't understand High Dutch, my love, how can I help it? + Your education was neglected at school. Can you understand heraldry?—I + know you can.” + </p> + <p> + “I make.” cries Charley, reciting the shield, “three merions on a field + or, with an earl's coronet.” + </p> + <p> + “A countess's coronet, my son. The Countess of Yarmouth, my son.” + </p> + <p> + “And pray who is she?” + </p> + <p> + “It hath ever been the custom of our sovereigns to advance persons of + distinction to honour,” continues the Colonel, gravely, “and this eminent + lady hath been so promoted by our gracious monarch, to the rank of + Countess of this kingdom.” + </p> + <p> + “But why, papa?” asked the daughters together. + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, girls!” said mamma. + </p> + <p> + But that incorrigible Colonel would go on. + </p> + <p> + “Y, my children, is one of the last and the most awkward letters of the + whole alphabet. When I tell you stories, you are always saying Why. Why + should my Lord Bishop be cringing to that lady? Look at him rubbing his + fat hands together, and smiling into her face! It's not a handsome face + any longer. It is all painted red and white like Scaramouch's in the + pantomime. See, there comes another blue-riband, as I live. My Lord + Bamborough. The descendant of the Hotspurs. The proudest man in England. + He stops, he bows, he smiles; he is hat in hand, too. See, she taps him + with her fan. Get away, you crowd of little blackguard boys, and don't + tread on the robe of the lady whom the King delights to honour.” + </p> + <p> + “But why does the King honour her?” ask the girls once more. + </p> + <p> + “There goes that odious last letter but one! Did you ever hear of her + Grace the Duchess of Kendal? No. Of the Duchess of Portsmouth? Non plus. + Of the Duchess of La Valliore? Of Fair Rosamond, then?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, papa! There is no need to bring blushes on the cheeks of my dear + ones, Martin Lambert!” said the mother, putting her finger to her + husband's lips. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis not I; it is their sacred Majesties who are the cause of the shame,” + cries the son of the old republican. “Think of the bishops of the Church + and the proudest nobility of the world cringing and bowing before that + painted High Dutch Jezebel. Oh, it's a shame! a shame!” + </p> + <p> + “Confusion!” here broke out Colonel Wolfe, and making a dash at his hat, + ran from the room. He had seen the young lady whom he admired and her + guardian walking across the Pantiles on foot to the Baroness's party, and + they came up whilst the Countess of Yarmouth-Walmoden was engaged in + conversation with the two lords spiritual and temporal, and these two made + the lowest reverences and bows to the Countess, and waited until she had + passed in at the door on the Bishop's arm. + </p> + <p> + Theo turned away from the window with a sad, almost awestricken face. + Hetty still remained there, looking from it with indignation in her eyes, + and a little red spot on each cheek. + </p> + <p> + “A penny for little Hetty's thoughts,” says mamma, coming to the window to + lead the child away. + </p> + <p> + “I am thinking what I should do if I saw papa bowing to that woman,” says + Hetty. + </p> + <p> + Tea and a hissing kettle here made their appearance, and the family sate + down to partake of their evening meal,—leaving, however, Miss Hetty, + from her place, command of the window, which she begged her brother not to + close. That young gentleman had been down amongst the crowd to inspect the + armorial bearings of the Countess's and other sedans, no doubt, and also + to invest sixpence in a cheese-cake, by mamma's order and his own desire, + and he returned presently with this delicacy wrapped up in a paper. + </p> + <p> + “Look, mother,” he comes back and says, “do you see that big man in brown + beating all the pillars with a stick? That is the learned Mr. Johnson. He + comes to the Friars sometimes to see our master. He was sitting with some + friends just now at the tea-table before Mrs. Brown's tart-shop. They have + tea there, twopence a cup; I heard Mr. Johnson say he had had seventeen + cups—that makes two-and-tenpence—what a sight of money for + tea!” + </p> + <p> + “What would you have, Charley?” asks Theo. + </p> + <p> + “I think I would have cheese-cakes,” says Charley, sighing, as his teeth + closed on a large slice, “and the gentleman whom Mr. Johnson was with,” + continues Charley, with his mouth quite full, “was Mr. Richardson who + wrote——” + </p> + <p> + “Clarissa!” cry all the women in a breath, and run to the window to see + their favourite writer. By this time the sun was sunk, the stars were + twinkling overhead, and the footman came and lighted the candles in the + Baroness's room opposite our spies. + </p> + <p> + Theo and her mother were standing together looking from their place of + observation. There was a small illumination at Mrs. Brown's tart- and + tea-shop, by which our friends could see one lady getting Mr. Richardson's + hat and stick, and another tying a shawl round his neck, after which he + walked home. + </p> + <p> + “Oh dear me! he does not look like Grandison!” cries Theo. + </p> + <p> + “I rather think I wish we had not seen him, my dear,” says mamma, who has + been described as a most sentimental woman and eager novel-reader; and + here again they were interrupted by Miss Hetty, who cried: + </p> + <p> + “Never mind that little fat man, but look yonder, mamma.” + </p> + <p> + And they looked yonder. And they saw, in the first place, Mr. Warrington + undergoing the honour of a presentation to the Countess of Yarmouth, who + was still followed by the obsequious peer and prelate with blue ribands. + And now the Countess graciously sate down to a card-table, the Bishop and + the Earl and a fourth person being her partners. And now Mr. Warrington + came into the embrasure of the window with a lady whom they recognised as + the lady whom they had seen for a few minutes at Oakhurst. + </p> + <p> + “How much finer he is!” remarks mamma. + </p> + <p> + “How he is improved in his looks! What has he done to himself?” asks Theo. + </p> + <p> + “Look at his grand lace frills and rules! My dear, he has not got on our + shirts any more,” cries the matron. + </p> + <p> + “What are you talking about, girls?” asks papa, reclining on his sofa, + where, perhaps, he was dozing after the fashion of honest house-fathers. + </p> + <p> + The girls said how Harry Warrington was in the window, talking with his + cousin Lady Maria Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “Come away!” cries papa. “You have no right to be spying the young fellow. + Down with the curtains, I say!” + </p> + <p> + And down the curtains went, so that the girls saw no more of Madame + Bernstein's guests or doings for that night. + </p> + <p> + I pray you be not angry at my remarking, if only by way of contrast + between these two opposite houses, that while Madame Bernstein and her + guests—bishop, dignitaries, noblemen, and what not—were + gambling or talking scandal, or devouring champagne and chickens (which I + hold to be venial sin), or doing honour to her ladyship the king's + favourite, the Countess of Yarmouth-Walmoden, our country friends in their + lodgings knelt round their table, whither Mr. Brian the coachman came as + silently as his creaking shoes would let him, whilst Mr. Lambert, standing + up, read in a low voice, a prayer that Heaven would lighten their darkness + and defend them from the perils of that night, and a supplication that it + would grant the request of those two or three gathered together. + </p> + <p> + Our young folks were up betimes on Sunday morning, and arrayed themselves + in those smart new dresses which were to fascinate the Tunbridge folks, + and, with the escort of brother Charley, paced the little town, and the + quaint Pantiles, and the pretty common, long ere the company was at + breakfast, or the bells had rung to church. It was Hester who found out + where Harry Warrington's lodging must be, by remarking Mr. Gumbo in an + undress, with his lovely hair in curl-papers, drawing a pair of red + curtains aside, and opening a window-sash, whence he thrust his head and + inhaled the sweet morning breeze. Mr. Gumbo did not happen to see the + young people from Oakhurst, though they beheld him clearly enough. He + leaned gracefully from the window; he waved a large feather brush, with + which he condescended to dust the furniture of the apartment within; he + affably engaged in conversation with a cherry-cheeked milkmaid, who was + lingering under the casement, and kissed his lily hand to her. Gumbo's + hand sparkled with rings, and his person was decorated with a profusion of + jewellery—gifts, no doubt, of the fair who appreciated the young + African. Once or twice more before breakfast-time the girls passed near + that window. It remained opened, but the room behind it was blank. No face + of Harry Warrington appeared there. Neither spoke to the other of the + subject on which both were brooding. Hetty was a little provoked with + Charley, who was clamorous about breakfast, and told him he was always + thinking of eating. In reply to her sarcastic inquiry, he artlessly owned + he should like another cheese-cake, and good-natured Theo, laughing, said + she had a sixpence, and if the cake-shop were open of a Sunday morning + Charley should have one. The cake-shop was open: and Theo took out her + little purse, netted by her dearest friend at school, and containing her + pocket-piece, her grandmother's guinea, her slender little store of + shillings—nay, some copper money at one end; and she treated Charley + to the meal which he loved. + </p> + <p> + A great deal of fine company was at church. There was that funny old + Duchess, and old Madame Bernstein, with Lady Maria at her side; and Mr. + Wolfe, of course, by the side of Miss Lowther, and singing with her out of + the same psalm-book; and Mr. Richardson with a bevy of ladies. One of them + is Miss Fielding, papa tells them after church, Harry Fielding's sister. + “Oh, girls, what good company he was! And his books are worth a dozen of + your milksop Pamelas and Clarissas, Mrs. Lambert: but what woman ever + loved true humour? And there was Mr. Johnson sitting amongst the charity + children. Did you see how he turned round to the altar at the Belief, and + upset two or three of the scared little urchins in leather breeches? And + what a famous sermon Harry's parson gave, didn't he? A sermon about + scandal. How, he touched up some of the old harridans who were seated + round! Why wasn't Mr. Warrington at church? It was a shame he wasn't at + church.” + </p> + <p> + “I really did not remark whether he was there or not,” says Miss Hetty, + tossing her head up. + </p> + <p> + But Theo, who was all truth, said, “Yes, I thought of him, and was sorry + he was not there; and so did you think of him, Hetty.” + </p> + <p> + “I did no such thing, miss,” persists Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “Then why did you whisper to me it was Harry's clergyman who preached?” + </p> + <p> + “To think of Mr. Warrington's clergyman is not to think of Mr. Warrington. + It was a most excellent sermon, certainly, and the children sang most + dreadfully out of tune. And there is Lady Maria at the window opposite, + smelling at the roses; and that is Mr. Wolfe's step, I know his great + military tramp. Right left—right left! How do you do, Colonel + Wolfe?” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you look so glum, James?” asks Colonel Lambert, good-naturedly. + “Has the charmer been scolding thee, or is thy conscience pricked by the + sermon. Mr. Sampson, isn't the parson's name? A famous preacher, on my + word!” + </p> + <p> + “A pretty preacher, and a pretty practitioner!” says Mr. Wolfe, with a + shrug of his shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I thought the discourse did not last ten minutes, and madam did not + sleep one single wink during the sermon, didst thou, Molly?” + </p> + <p> + “Did you see when the fellow came into church?” asked the indignant + Colonel Wolfe. “He came in at the open door of the common, just in time, + and as the psalm was over.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he had been reading the service probably to some sick person; there + are many here,” remarks Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Reading the service! Oh, my good Mrs. Lambert! Do you know where I found + him? I went to look for your young scapegrace of a Virginian.” + </p> + <p> + “His own name is a very pretty name, I'm sure,” cries out Hetty. “It isn't + Scapegrace! It is Henry Esmond Warrington, Esquire.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hester, I found the parson in his cassock, and Henry Esmond + Warrington, Esquire, in his bedgown, at a quarter before eleven o'clock in + the morning, when all the Sunday bells were ringing, and they were playing + over a game of piquet they had had the night before!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, numbers of good people play at cards of a Sunday. The King plays at + cards of a Sunday.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, my dear!” + </p> + <p> + “I know he does,” says Hetty, “with that painted person we saw yesterday—that + Countess what-d'you-call-her?” + </p> + <p> + “I think, my dear Miss Hester, a clergyman had best take to God's books + instead of the Devil's books on that day—and so I took the liberty + of telling your parson.” Hetty looked as if she thought it was a liberty + which Mr. Wolfe had taken. “And I told our young friend that I thought he + had better have been on his way to church than there in his bedgown.” + </p> + <p> + “You wouldn't have Harry go to church in a dressing-gown and nightcap, + Colonel Wolfe? That would be a pretty sight, indeed!” again says Hetty, + fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “I would have my little girl's tongue not wag quite so fast,” remarks + papa, patting the girl's flushed little cheek. + </p> + <p> + “Not speak when a friend is attacked, and nobody says a word in his + favour? No; nobody!” + </p> + <p> + Here the two lips of the little mouth closed on each other: the whole + little frame shook: the child flung a parting look of defiance at Mr. + Wolfe, and went out of the room, just in time to close the door, and burst + out crying on the stair. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wolfe looked very much discomfited. “I am sure, Aunt Lambert, I did + not intend to hurt Hester's feelings.” + </p> + <p> + “No, James,” she said, very kindly—the young officer used to call + her Aunt Lambert in quite early days—and she gave him her hand. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lambert whistled his favourite tune of “Over the hills and far away,” + with a drum accompaniment performed by his fingers on the window. “I say, + you mustn't whistle on Sunday, papa!” cries the artless young gown-boy + from Grey Friars; and then suggested that it was three hours from + breakfast, and he should like to finish Theo's cheese-cake. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you greedy child!” cries Theo. But here, hearing a little exclamatory + noise outside, she ran out of the room, closing the door behind her. And + we will not pursue her. The noise was that sob which broke from Hester's + panting, overloaded heart; and, though we cannot see, I am sure the little + maid flung herself on her sister's neck, and wept upon Theo's kind bosom. + </p> + <p> + Hetty did not walk out in the afternoon when the family took the air on + the common, but had a headache and lay on her bed, where her mother + watched her. Charley had discovered a comrade from Grey Friars: Mr. Wolfe + of course paired off with Miss Lowther: and Theo and her father, taking + their sober walk in the Sabbath sunshine, found Madame Bernstein basking + on a bench under a tree, her niece and nephew in attendance. Harry ran up + to greet his dear friends: he was radiant with pleasure at beholding them—the + elder ladies were most gracious to the Colonel and his wife, who had so + kindly welcomed their Harry. + </p> + <p> + How noble and handsome he looked! Theo thought: she called him by his + Christian name, as if he were really her brother. “Why did we not see you + sooner to-day, Harry?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “I never thought you were here, Theo.” + </p> + <p> + “But you might have seen us if you wished.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “There, sir,” she said, pointing to the church. And she held her hand up + as if in reproof; but a sweet kindness beamed in her honest face. Ah, + friendly young reader, wandering on the world and struggling with + temptation, may you also have one or two pure hearts to love and pray for + you! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0033" id="link2HCH0033"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIII. Contains a Soliloquy by Hester + </h2> + <p> + Martin Lambert's first feeling, upon learning the little secret which his + younger daughter's emotion had revealed, was to be angry with the lad who + had robbed his child's heart away from him and her family. “A plague upon + all scapegraces, English or Indian!” cried the Colonel to his wife. “I + wish this one had broke his nose against any doorpost but ours.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps we are to cure him of being a scapegrace, my dear,” says Mrs. + Lambert, mildly interposing, “and the fall at our door hath something + providential in it. You laughed at me, Mr. Lambert, when I said so before; + but if Heaven did not send the young gentleman to us, who did? And it may + be for the blessing and happiness of us all that he came, too.” + </p> + <p> + “It's hard, Molly!” groaned the Colonel. “We cherish and fondle and rear + 'em: we tend them through sickness and health: we toil and we scheme: we + hoard away money in the stocking, and patch our own old coats: if they've + a headache we can't sleep for thinking of their ailment; if they have a + wish or fancy, we work day and night to compass it, and 'tis darling daddy + and dearest pappy, and whose father is like ours? and so forth. On Tuesday + morning I am king of my house and family. On Tuesday evening Prince + Whippersnapper makes his appearance, and my reign is over. A whole life is + forgotten and forsworn for a pair of blue eyes, a pair of lean shanks, and + a head of yellow hair.” + </p> + <p> + “'Tis written that we women should leave all to follow our husband. I + think our courtship was not very long, dear Martin!” said the matron, + laying her hand on her husband's arm. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis human nature, and what can you expect of the jade?” sighed the + Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “And I think I did my duty to my husband, though I own I left my papa for + him,” added Mrs. Lambert, softly. + </p> + <p> + “Excellent wench! Perdition catch my soul! but I do love thee, Molly!” + says the good Colonel; “but, then, mind you, your father never did me; and + if ever I am to have sons-in-law——” + </p> + <p> + “Ever, indeed! Of course my girls are to have husbands, Mr. Lambert!” + cries mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Well, when they come, I'll hate them, madam, as your father did me; and + quite right too, for taking his treasure away from him.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't be irreligious and unnatural, Martin Lambert! I say you are + unnatural, sir!” continues the matron. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, my dear, I have an old tooth in my left jaw, here; and 'tis natural + that the tooth should come out. But when the toothdrawer pulls it, 'tis + natural that I should feel pain. Do you suppose, madam, that I don't love + Hetty better than any tooth in my head?” asks Mr. Lambert. But no woman + was ever averse to the idea of her daughter getting a husband, however + fathers revolt against the invasion of the son-in-law. As for mothers and + grandmothers, those good folks are married over again in the marriage of + their young ones; and their souls attire themselves in the laces and + muslins of twenty-forty years ago; the postillion's white ribbons bloom + again, and they flutter into the postchaise, and drive away. What woman, + however old, has not the bridal favours and raiment stowed away, and + packed in lavender, in the inmost cupboards of her heart? + </p> + <p> + “It will be a sad thing, parting with her,” continued Mrs. Lambert, with a + sigh. + </p> + <p> + “You have settled that point already, Molly,” laughs the Colonel. “Had I + not best go out and order raisins and corinths for the wedding-cake?” + </p> + <p> + “And then I shall have to leave the house in their charge when I go to + her, you know, in Virginia. How many miles is it to Virginia, Martin? I + should think it must be thousands of miles.” + </p> + <p> + “A hundred and seventy-three thousand three hundred and ninety-one and + three-quarters, my dear, by the near way,” answers Lambert, gravely; “that + through Prester John's country. By the other route, through Persia——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, give me the one where there is the least of the sea, and your horrid + ships, which I can't bear!” cries the Colonel's spouse. “I hope Rachel + Esmond and I shall be better friends. She had a very high spirit when we + were girls at school.” + </p> + <p> + “Had we not best go about the baby-linen, Mrs. Martin Lambert?” here + interposed her wondering husband. Now, Mrs. Lambert, I dare say, thought + there was no matter for wonderment at all, and had remarked some very + pretty lace caps and bibs in Mrs. Bobbinit's toy-shop. And on that Sunday + afternoon, when the discovery was made, and while little Hetty was lying + upon her pillow with feverish cheeks, closed eyes, and a piteous face, her + mother looked at the child with the most perfect ease of mind, and seemed + to be rather pleased than otherwise at Hetty's woe. + </p> + <p> + The girl was not only unhappy, but enraged with herself for having + published her secret. Perhaps she had not known it until the sudden + emotion acquainted her with her own state of mind; and now the little maid + chose to be as much ashamed as if she had done a wrong, and been + discovered in it. She was indignant with her own weakness, and broke into + transports of wrath against herself. She vowed she never would forgive + herself for submitting to such a humiliation. So the young pard, wounded + by the hunter's dart, chafes with rage in the forest, is angry with the + surprise of the rankling steel in her side, and snarls and bites at her + sister-cubs, and the leopardess, her spotted mother. + </p> + <p> + Little Hetty tore and gnawed, and growled, so that I should not like to + have been her fraternal cub, or her spotted dam or sire. “What business + has any young woman,” she cried out, “to indulge in any such nonsense? + Mamma, I ought to be whipped, and sent to bed. I know perfectly well that + Mr. Warrington does not care a fig about me. I dare say he likes French + actresses and the commonest little milliner-girl in the toy-shop better + than me. And so he ought, and so they are better than me. Why, what a fool + I am to burst out crying like a ninny about nothing, and because Mr. Wolfe + said Harry played cards of a Sunday! I know he is not clever, like papa. I + believe he is stupid—I am certain he is stupid: but he is not so + stupid as I am. Why, of course, I can't marry him. How am I to go to + America, and leave you and Theo? Of course, he likes somebody else, at + America, or at Tunbridge, or at Jericho, or somewhere. He is a prince in + his own country, and can't think of marrying a poor half-pay officer's + daughter, with twopence to her fortune. Used not you to tell me how, when + I was a baby, I cried and wanted the moon? I am a baby now, a most absurd, + silly, little baby—don't talk to me, Mrs. Lambert, I am. Only there + is this to be said, he don't know anything about it, and I would rather + cut my tongue out than tell him.” + </p> + <p> + Dire were the threats with which Hetty menaced Theo, in case her sister + should betray her. As for the infantile Charley, his mind being altogether + set on cheese-cakes, he had not remarked or been moved by Miss Hester's + emotion; and the parents and the kind sister of course all promised not to + reveal the little maid's secret. + </p> + <p> + “I begin to think it had been best for us to stay at home,” sighed Mrs. + Lambert to her husband. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, my dear,” replied the other. “Human nature will be human nature; + surely Hetty's mother told me herself that she had the beginning of a + liking for a certain young curate before she fell over head and ears in + love with a certain young officer of Kingsley's. And as for me, my heart + was wounded in a dozen places ere Miss Molly Benson took entire possession + of it. Our sons and daughters must follow in the way of their parents + before them, I suppose. Why, but yesterday, you were scolding me for + grumbling at Miss Het's precocious fancies. To do the child justice, she + disguises her feelings entirely, and I defy Mr. Warrington to know from + her behaviour how she is disposed towards him.” + </p> + <p> + “A daughter of mine and yours, Martin,” cries the mother, with great + dignity, “is not going to fling herself at a gentleman's head!” + </p> + <p> + “Neither herself nor the teacup, my dear,” answers the Colonel. “Little + Miss Het treats Mr. Warrington like a vixen. He never comes to us, but she + boxes his ears in one fashion or t'other. I protest she is barely civil to + him; but, knowing what is going on in the young hypocrite's mind, I am not + going to be angry at her rudeness.” + </p> + <p> + “She hath no need to be rude at all, Martin; and our girl is good enough + for any gentleman in England or America. Why, if their ages suit, + shouldn't they marry after all, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, if he wants her, shouldn't he ask her, my dear? I am sorry we came. + I am for putting the horses into the carriage, and turning their heads + towards home again.” + </p> + <p> + But mamma fondly said, “Depend on it, my dear, that these matters are + wisely ordained for us. Depend upon it, Martin, it was not for nothing + that Harry Warrington was brought to our gate in that way; and that he and + our children are thus brought together again. If that marriage has been + decreed in Heaven, a marriage it will be.” + </p> + <p> + “At what age, Molly, I wonder, do women begin and leave off match-making? + If our little chit falls in love and falls out again, she will not be the + first of her sex, Mrs. Lambert. I wish we were on our way home again, and, + if I had my will, would trot off this very night.” + </p> + <p> + “He has promised to drink his tea here to-night. You would not take away + our child's pleasure, Martin?” asked the mother, softly. + </p> + <p> + In his fashion, the father was not less good-natured. “You know, my dear,” + says Lambert, “that if either of 'em had a fancy to our ears, we would cut + them off and serve them in a fricassee.” + </p> + <p> + Mary Lambert laughed at the idea of her pretty little delicate ears being + so served. When her husband was most tender-hearted, his habit was to be + most grotesque. When he pulled the pretty little delicate ear, behind + which the matron's fine hair was combed back, wherein twinkled a shining + line or two of silver, I dare say he did not hurt her much. I dare say she + was thinking of the soft, well-remembered times of her own modest youth + and sweet courtship. Hallowed remembrances of sacred times! If the sight + of youthful love is pleasant to behold, how much more charming the aspect + of the affection that has survived years, sorrows, faded beauty perhaps, + and life's doubts, differences, trouble! + </p> + <p> + In regard of her promise to disguise her feelings for Mr. Warrington in + that gentleman's presence, Miss Hester was better, or worse if you will, + than her word. Harry not only came to take tea with his friends, but + invited them for the next day to an entertainment at the Rooms, to be + given in their special honour. + </p> + <p> + “A dance, and given for us!” cries Theo. “Oh, Harry, how delightful! I + wish we could begin this very minute!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, for a savage Virginian, I declare, Harry Warrington, thou art the + most civilised young man possible!” says the Colonel. “My dear, shall we + dance a minuet together?” + </p> + <p> + “We have done such a thing before, Martin Lambert!” says the soldier's + fond wife. Her husband hums a minuet tune; whips a plate from the + tea-table, and makes a preparatory bow and flourish with it as if it were + a hat, whilst madam performs her best curtsey. + </p> + <p> + Only Hetty, of the party, persists in looking glum and displeased. “Why, + child, have you not a word of thanks to throw to Mr. Warrington?” asks + Theo of her sister. + </p> + <p> + “I never did care for dancing much,” says Hetty. “What is the use of + standing up opposite a stupid man, and dancing down a room with him?” + </p> + <p> + “Merci du compliment!” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “I don't say that you are stupid—that is—that is, I—I + only meant country dances,” says Hetty, biting her lips, as she caught her + sister's eye. She remembered she had said Harry was stupid, and Theo's + droll humorous glance was her only reminder. + </p> + <p> + But with this Miss Hetty chose to be as angry as if it had been quite a + cruel rebuke. “I hate dancing—there—I own it,” she says, with + a toss of her head. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, you used to like it well enough, child!!” interposes her mother. + </p> + <p> + “That was when she was a child: don't you see she is grown up to be an old + woman?” remarks Hetty's father. “Or perhaps Miss Hester has got the gout?” + </p> + <p> + “Fiddle!” says Hester, snappishly, drubbing with her little feet. + </p> + <p> + “What's a dance without a fiddle?” says imperturbed papa. + </p> + <p> + Darkness has come over Harry Warrington's face. “I come to try my best, + and give them pleasure and a dance,” he thinks, “and the little thing + tells me she hates dancing. We don't practise kindness, or acknowledge + hospitality so in our country. No—nor speak to our parents so, + neither.” I am afraid, in this particular usages have changed in the + United States during the last hundred years, and that the young folks + there are considerably Hettified. + </p> + <p> + Not content with this, Miss Hester must proceed to make such fun of all + the company at the Wells, and especially of Harry's own immediate pursuits + and companions, that the honest lad was still further pained at her + behaviour; and, when he saw Mrs. Lambert alone, asked how or in what he + had again offended, that Hester was so angry with him? The kind matron + felt more than ever well disposed towards the boy, after her daughter's + conduct to him. She would have liked to tell the secret which Hester hid + so fiercely. Theo, too, remonstrated with her sister in private; but + Hester would not listen to the subject, and was as angry in her bedroom, + when the girls were alone, as she had been in the parlour before her + mother's company. “Suppose he hates me?” says she. “I expect he will. I + hate myself, I do, and scorn myself for being such an idiot. How ought he + to do otherwise than hate me? Didn't I abuse him, call him goose, all + sorts of names? And know he is not clever all the time. I know I have + better wits than he has. It is only because he is tall, and has blue eyes, + and a pretty nose that I like him. What an absurd fool a girl must be to + like a man merely because he has a blue nose and hooked eyes! So I am a + fool, and I won't have you say a word to the contrary, Theo!” + </p> + <p> + Now Theo thought that her little sister, far from being a fool, was a + wonder of wonders, and that if any girl was worthy of any prince in + Christendom, Hetty was that spinster. “You are silly sometimes, Hetty,” + says Theo, “that is when you speak unkindly to people who mean you well, + as you did to Mr. Warrington at tea to-night. When he proposed to us his + party at the Assembly Rooms, and nothing could be more gallant of him, why + did you say you didn't care for music, or dancing, or tea? You know you + love them all!” + </p> + <p> + “I said it merely to vex myself, Theo, and annoy myself, and whip myself, + as I deserve, child. And, besides, how can you expect such an idiot as I + am to say anything but idiotic things? Do you know, it quite pleased me to + see him angry. I thought, ah! now I have hurt his feelings! Now he will + say, Hetty Lambert is an odious little set-up, sour-tempered vixen. And + that will teach him, and you, and mamma, and papa, at any rate, that I am + not going to set my cap at Mr. Harry. No; our papa is ten times as good as + he is. I will stay by our papa, and if he asked me to go to Virginia with + him to-morrow, I wouldn't, Theo. My sister is worth all the Virginians + that ever were made since the world began.” + </p> + <p> + And here, I suppose, follow osculations between the sisters, and mother's + knock comes to the door, who has overheard their talk through the + wainscot, and calls out, “Children, 'tis time to go to sleep.” Theo's eyes + close speedily, and she is at rest; but ob, poor little Hetty! Think of + the hours tolling one after another, and the child's eyes wide open, as + she lies tossing and wakeful with the anguish of the new wound! + </p> + <p> + “It is a judgment upon me,” she says, “for having thought and spoke + scornfully of him. Only, why should there be a judgment upon me? I was + only in fun. I knew I liked him very much all the time: but I thought Theo + liked him too, and I would give up anything for my darling Theo. If she + had, no tortures should ever have drawn a word from me—I would have + got a rope-ladder to help her to run away with Harry, that I would, or + fetched the clergyman to marry them. And then I would have retired alone, + and alone, and alone, and taken care of papa and mamma, and of the poor in + the village, and have read sermons, though I hate 'em, and would have died + without telling a word—not a word—and I shall die soon, I know + I shall.” But when the dawn rises, the little maid is asleep, nestling by + her sister, the stain of a tear or two upon her flushed downy cheek. + </p> + <p> + Most of us play with edged tools at some period of our lives, and cut + ourselves accordingly. At first the cut hurts and stings, and down drops + the knife, and we cry out like wounded little babies as we are. Some very + very few and unlucky folks at the game cut their heads sheer off, or stab + themselves mortally, and perish outright, and there is an end of them. + But,—heaven help us!—many people have fingered those ardentes + sagittas which Love sharpens on his whetstone, and are stabbed, scarred, + pricked, perforated, tattooed all over with the wounds, who recovered, and + live to be quite lively. Wir auch have tasted das irdische Glueck; we also + have gelebt and—und so weiter. Warble your death-song, sweet Thekla! + Perish off the face of the earth, poor pulmonary victim, if so minded! Had + you survived to a later period of life, my dear, you would have thought of + a sentimental disappointment without any reference to the undertaker. Let + us trust there is no present need of a sexton for Miss Hetty. But + meanwhile, the very instant she wakes, there, tearing at her little heart, + will that Care be, which has given her a few hours' respite, melted, no + doubt, by her youth and her tears. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0034" id="link2HCH0034"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIV. In which Mr. Warrington treats the Company with Tea and a + Ball + </h2> + <p> + Generous with his very easily gotten money, hospitable and cordial to all, + our young Virginian, in his capacity of man of fashion, could not do less + than treat his country friends to an entertainment at the Assembly Rooms, + whither, according to the custom of the day, he invited almost all the + remaining company at the Wells. Card-tables were set in one apartment, for + all those who could not spend an evening without the pastime then common + to all European society: a supper with champagne in some profusion and + bowls of negus was prepared in another chamber: the large assembly-room + was set apart for the dance, of which enjoyment Harry Warrington's guests + partook in our ancestors' homely fashion. I cannot fancy that the + amusement was especially lively. First, minuets were called, two or three + of which were performed by as many couple. The spinsters of the highest + rank in the assembly went out for the minuet, and my Lady Maria Esmond, + being an earl's daughter, and the person of the highest rank present (with + the exception of Lady Augusta Crutchley, who was lame), Mr. Warrington + danced the first minuet with his cousin, acquitting himself to the + satisfaction of the whole room, and performing much more elegantly than + Mr. Wolfe, who stood up with Miss Lowther. Having completed the dance with + Lady Maria, Mr. Warrington begged Miss Theo to do him the honour of + walking the next minuet, and accordingly Miss Theo, blushing and looking + very happy, went through her exercise to the great delight of her parents + and the rage of Miss Humpleby, Sir John Humpleby's daughter, of Liphook, + who expected, at least, to have stood up next after my Lady Maria. Then, + after the minuets, came country dances, the music being performed by a + harp, fiddle, and flageolet, perched in a little balcony, and thrumming + through the evening rather feeble and melancholy tunes. Take up an old + book of music, and play a few of those tunes now, and one wonders how + people at any time could have found the airs otherwise than melancholy. + And yet they loved and frisked and laughed and courted to that sad + accompaniment. There is scarce one of the airs that has not an amari + aliquid, a tang of sadness. Perhaps it is because they are old and + defunct, and their plaintive echoes call out to us from the limbo of the + past, whither they have been consigned for this century. Perhaps they were + gay when they were alive; and our descendants when they hear—well, + never mind names—when they hear the works of certain maestri now + popular, will say: Bon Dieu, is this the music which amused our + forefathers? + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington had the honour of a duchess's company at his tea-drinking—Colonel + Lambert's and Mr. Prior's heroine, the Duchess of Queensberry. And though + the duchess carefully turned her back upon a countess who was present, + laughed loudly, glanced at the latter over her shoulder, and pointed at + her with her fan, yet almost all the company pushed, and bowed, and + cringed, and smiled, and backed before this countess, scarcely taking any + notice of her Grace of Queensberry and her jokes, and her fan, and her + airs. Now this countess was no other than the Countess of + Yarmouth-Walmoden, the lady whom his Majesty George the Second, of Great + Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, delighted to + honour. She had met Harry Warrington in the walks that morning, and had + been mighty gracious to the young Virginian. She had told him they would + have a game at cards that night; and purblind old Colonel Blinkinsop, who + fancied the invitation had been addressed to him, had made the profoundest + of bows. “Pooh! pooh!” said the Countess of England and Hanover, “I don't + mean you. I mean the young Firshinian!” And everybody congratulated the + youth on his good fortune. At night, all the world, in order to show their + loyalty, doubtless, thronged round my Lady Yarmouth; my Lord Bamborough + was eager to make her parti at quadrille. My Lady Blanche Pendragon, that + model of virtue; Sir Lancelot Quintain, that pattern of knighthood and + valour; Mr. Dean of Ealing, that exemplary divine and preacher; numerous + gentlemen, noblemen, generals, colonels, matrons, and spinsters of the + highest rank, were on the watch for a smile from her, or eager to jump up + and join her card-table. Lady Maria waited upon her with meek respect, and + Madame de Bernstein treated the Hanoverian lady with profound gravity and + courtesy. + </p> + <p> + Harry's bow had been no lower than hospitality required; but, such as it + was, Miss Hester chose to be indignant with it. She scarce spoke a word to + her partner during their dance together; and when he took her to the + supper-room for refreshment she was little more communicative. To enter + that room they had to pass by Madame Walmoden's card-table, who + good-naturedly called out to her host as he was passing, and asked him if + his “breddy liddle bardner liked tanzing?” + </p> + <p> + “I thank your ladyship, I don't like tanzing, and I don't like cards,” + says Miss Hester, tossing up her head; and, dropping a curtsey like a + “cheese,” she strutted away from the Countess's table. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington was very much offended. Sarcasm from the young to the old + pained him: flippant behaviour towards himself hurt him. Courteous in his + simple way to all persons whom he met, he expected a like politeness from + them. Hetty perfectly well knew what offence she was giving; could mark + the displeasure reddening on her partner's honest face, with a sidelong + glance of her eye; nevertheless she tried to wear her most ingenuous + smile; and, as she came up to the sideboard where the refreshments were + set, artlessly said: + </p> + <p> + “What a horrid, vulgar old woman that is; don't you think so?” + </p> + <p> + “What woman?” asked the young man. + </p> + <p> + “That German woman—my Lady Yarmouth—to whom all the men are + bowing and cringing.” + </p> + <p> + “Her ladyship has been very kind to me,” says Harry, grimly. “Won't you + have some of this custard?” + </p> + <p> + “And you have been bowing to her, too! You look as if your negus was not + nice,” harmlessly continues Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “It is not very good negus,” says Harry, with a gulp. + </p> + <p> + “And the custard is bad too! I declare 'tis made with bad eggs!” cries + Miss Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “I wish, Hester, that the entertainment and the company had been better to + your liking,” says poor Harry. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis very unfortunate; but I dare say you could not help it,” cries the + young woman, tossing her little curly head. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington groaned in spirit, perhaps in body, and clenched his fists + and his teeth. The little torturer artlessly continued, “You seem + disturbed: shall we go to my mamma?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, let us go to your mamma,” cries Mr. Warrington, with glaring eyes + and a “Curse you, why are you always standing in the way?” to an unlucky + waiter. + </p> + <p> + “La! Is that the way you speak in Virginia?” asks Miss Pertness. + </p> + <p> + “We are rough there sometimes, madam, and can't help being disturbed,” he + says slowly, and with a quiver in his whole frame, looking down upon her + with fire flashing out of his eyes. Hetty saw nothing distinctly + afterwards, and until she came to her mother. Never had she seen Harry + look so handsome or so noble. + </p> + <p> + “You look pale, child!” cries mamma, anxious, like all pavidae matres. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis the cold—no, I mean the heat. Thank you, Mr. Warrington.” And + she makes him a faint curtsey, as Harry bows a tremendous bow, and walks + elsewhere amongst his guests. He hardly knows what is happening at first, + so angry is he. + </p> + <p> + He is aroused by another altercation, between his aunt and the Duchess of + Queensberry. When the royal favourite passed the Duchess, her Grace gave + her Ladyship an awful stare out of eyes that were not so bright now as + they had been in the young days when they “set the world on fire;” turned + round with an affected laugh to her neighbour, and shot at the jolly + Hanoverian lady a ceaseless fire of giggles and sneers. The Countess + pursued her game at cards, not knowing, or not choosing, perhaps, to know + how her enemy was gibing at her. There had been a feud of many years' date + between their Graces of Queensberry and the family on the throne. + </p> + <p> + “How you all bow down to the idol! Don't tell me! You are as bad as the + rest, my good Madame Bernstein!” the Duchess says. “Ah, what a true + Christian country this is! and how your dear first husband, the Bishop, + would have liked to see such a sight!” + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, if I fail quite to understand your Grace.” + </p> + <p> + “We are both of us growing old, my good Bernstein, or, perhaps, we won't + understand when we don't choose to understand. That is the way with us + women, my good young Iroquois.” + </p> + <p> + “Your Grace remarked, that it was a Christian country,” said Madame de + Bernstein, “and I failed to perceive the point of the remark.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my good creature, there is very little point in it! I meant we + were such good Christians, because we were so forgiving. Don't you + remember reading, when you were young, or your husband the Bishop reading, + when he was in the pulpit, how when a woman amongst the Jews was caught + doing wrong, the Pharisees were for stoning her out of hand? Far from + stoning such a woman now, look, how fond we are of her! Any man in this + room would go round it on his knees if yonder woman bade him. Yes, Madame + Walmoden, you may look up from your cards with your great painted face, + and frown with your great painted eyebrows at me. You know I am talking + about you; and intend to go on talking about you, too. I say any man here + would go round the room on his knees, if you bade him!” + </p> + <p> + “I think, madam, I know two or three who wouldn't!” says Mr. Warrington, + with some spirit. + </p> + <p> + “Quick, let me hug them to my heart of hearts!” cries the old Duchess. + “Which are they? Bring 'em to me, my dear Iroquois! Let us have a game of + four—of honest men and women; that is to say, if we can find a + couple more partners, Mr. Warrington!” + </p> + <p> + “Here are we three,” says the Baroness Bernstein, with a forced laugh; + “let us play a dummy.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, madam, where is the third?” asks the old Duchess, looking round. + </p> + <p> + “Madam!” cries out the other elderly lady, “I leave your Grace to boast of + your honesty, which I have no doubt is spotless: but I will thank you not + to doubt mine before my own relatives and children!” + </p> + <p> + “See how she fires up at a word! I am sure, my dear creature, you are + quite as honest as most of the company,” says the Duchess. + </p> + <p> + “Which may not be good enough for her Grace the Duchess of Queensberry and + Dover, who, to be sure, might have stayed away in such a case, but it is + the best my nephew could get, madam, and his best he has given you. You + look astonished, Harry, my dear—and well you may. He is not used to + our ways, madam.” + </p> + <p> + “Madam, he has found an aunt who can teach him our ways, and a great deal + more!” cries the Duchess, rapping her fan. + </p> + <p> + “She will teach him to try and make all his guests welcome, old or young, + rich or poor. That is the Virginian way, isn't it, Harry? She will tell + him, when Catherine Hyde is angry with his old aunt, that they were + friends as girls, and ought not to quarrel now they are old women. And she + will not be wrong, will she, Duchess?” And herewith the one dowager made a + superb curtsey to the other, and the battle just impending between them + passed away. + </p> + <p> + “Egad, it was like Byng and Galissoniere!” cried Chaplain Sampson, as + Harry talked over the night's transactions with his tutor next morning. + “No power on earth, I thought, could have prevented those two from going + into action!” + </p> + <p> + “Seventy-fours at least—both of 'em!” laughs Harry. + </p> + <p> + “But the Baroness declined the battle, and sailed out of fire with + inimitable skill.” + </p> + <p> + “Why should she be afraid? I have heard you say my aunt is as witty as any + woman alive, and need fear the tongue of no dowager in England.” + </p> + <p> + “Hem! Perhaps she had good reasons for being peaceable!” Sampson knew very + well what they were, and that poor Bernstein's reputation was so + hopelessly flawed and cracked, that any sarcasms levelled at Madame + Walmoden were equally applicable to her. + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” cried Harry, in great amazement, “you don't mean to say there is + anything against the character of my aunt, the Baroness de Bernstein!” + </p> + <p> + The chaplain looked at the young Virginian with such an air of utter + wonderment, that the latter saw there must be some history against his + aunt, and some charge which Sampson did not choose to reveal. “Good + heavens!” Harry groaned out, “are there two then in the family, who are——?” + </p> + <p> + “Which two?” asked the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + But here Harry stopped, blushing very red. He remembered, and we shall + presently have to state, whence he had got his information regarding the + other family culprit, and bit his lip, and was silent. + </p> + <p> + “Bygones are always unpleasant things, Mr. Warrington,” said the chaplain; + “and we had best hold our peace regarding them. No man or woman can live + long in this wicked world of ours without some scandal attaching to them, + and I fear our excellent Baroness has been no more fortunate than her + neighbours. We cannot escape calumny, my dear young friend! You have had + sad proof enough of that in your brief stay amongst us. But we can have + clear consciences, and that is the main point!” And herewith the chaplain + threw his handsome eyes upward, and tried to look as if his conscience was + as white as the ceiling. + </p> + <p> + “Has there been anything very wrong, then, about my Aunt Bernstein?” + continued Harry, remembering how at home his mother had never spoken of + the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “O sancta simplicitas!” the chaplain muttered to himself. “Stories, my + dear sir, much older than your time or mine. Stories such as were told + about everybody, de me, de te; you know with what degree of truth in your + own case.” + </p> + <p> + “Confound the villain! I should like to hear any scoundrel say a word + against the dear old lady,” cries the young gentleman. “Why, this world, + parson, is full of lies and scandal!” + </p> + <p> + “And you are just beginning to find it out, my dear sir,” cries the + clergyman, with his most beatified air. “Whose character has not been + attacked? My lord's, yours, mine,—every one's. We must bear as well + as we can, and pardon to the utmost of our power.” + </p> + <p> + “You may. It's your cloth, you know; but, by George, I won't!” cries Mr. + Warrington, and again goes down the fist with a thump on the table. “Let + any fellow say a word in my hearing against that dear old creature, and + I'll pull his nose, as sure as my name is Harry Esmond. How do you do, + Colonel Lambert? You find us late again, sir. Me and his reverence kept it + up pretty late with some of the young fellows, after the ladies went away. + I hope the dear ladies are well, sir?” and here Harry rose, greeting his + friend the Colonel very kindly, who had come to pay him a morning visit, + and had entered the room followed by Mr. Gumbo (the latter preferred + walking very leisurely about all the affairs of life), just as Harry—suiting + the action to the word—was tweaking the nose of Calumny. + </p> + <p> + “The ladies are purely. Whose nose were you pulling when I came in, Mr. + Warrington?” says the Colonel, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Isn't it a shame, sir? The parson, here, was telling me that there are + villains here who attack the character of my aunt, the Baroness of + Bernstein!” + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean to say so!” cries Mr. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “I tell Mr. Harry that everybody is calumniated!” says the chaplain, with + a clerical intonation; but, at the same time, he looks at Colonel Lambert + and winks, as much as to say, “He knows nothing—keep him in the + dark.” + </p> + <p> + The Colonel took the hint. “Yes,” says he, “the jaws of slander are for + ever wagging. Witness that story about the dancing-girl, that we all + believed against you, Harry Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “What, all, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “No, not all. One didn't—Hetty didn't. You should have heard her + standing up for you, Harry, t'other day, when somebody—a little bird—brought + us another story about you; about a game at cards on Sunday morning, when + you and a friend of yours might have been better employed.” And here there + was a look of mingled humour and reproof at the clergyman. + </p> + <p> + “Faith, I own it, sir!” says the chaplain. “It was mea culpa, mea maxima—no, + mea minima culpa, only the rehearsal of an old game at piquet, which we + had been talking over.” + </p> + <p> + “And did Miss Hester stand up for me?” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Hester did. But why that wondering look?” asks the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “She scolded me last night like—like anything,” says downright + Harry. “I never heard a young girl go on so. She made fun of everybody—hit + about at young and old—so that I couldn't help telling her, sir, + that in our country, leastways in Virginia (they say the Yankees are very + pert), young people don't speak of their elders so. And, do you know, sir, + we had a sort of a quarrel, and I'm very glad you've told me she spoke + kindly of me,” says Harry, shaking his friend's hand, a ready boyish + emotion glowing in his cheeks and in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “You won't come to much hurt if you find no worse enemy than Hester, Mr. + Warrington,” said the girl's father, gravely, looking not without a deep + thrill of interest at the flushed face and moist eyes of his young friend. + “Is he fond of her?” thought the Colonel. “And how fond? 'Tis evident he + knows nothing, and Miss Het has been performing some of her tricks. He is + a fine, honest lad, and God bless him!” And Colonel Lambert looked towards + Harry with that manly, friendly kindness which our lucky young Virginian + was not unaccustomed to inspire, for he was comely to look at, prone to + blush, to kindle, nay, to melt, at a kind story. His laughter was cheery + to hear: his eyes shone confidently: his voice spoke truth. + </p> + <p> + “And the young lady of the minuet? She distinguished herself to + perfection: the whole room admired,” asked the courtly chaplain. “I trust + Miss—Miss——” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Theodosia is perfectly well, and ready to dance at this minute with + your reverence,” says her father. “Or stay, Chaplain, perhaps you only + dance on Sunday?” The Colonel then turned to Harry again. “You paid your + court very neatly to the great lady, Mr. Flatterer. My Lady Yarmouth has + been trumpeting your praises at the Pump Room. She says she has got a + leedel boy in Hannover dat is wery like you, and you are a sharming young + mans.” + </p> + <p> + “If her ladyship were a queen, people could scarcely be more respectful to + her,” says the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Let us call her a vice-queen, parson,” says the Colonel, with a twinkle + of his eye. + </p> + <p> + “Her Majesty pocketed forty of my guineas at quadrille,” cries Mr. + Warrington, with a laugh. + </p> + <p> + “She will play you on the same terms another day. The Countess is fond of + play, and she wins from most people,” said the Colonel, drily. “Why don't + you bet her ladyship five thousand on a bishopric, parson? I have heard of + a clergyman who made such a bet, and who lost it, and who paid it, and who + got the bishopric. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! who will lend me the five thousand? Will you, sir? asked the + chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir! I won't give her five thousand to be made Commander-in-Chief or + Pope of Rome,” says the Colonel, stoutly. “I shall fling no stones at the + woman; but I shall bow no knee to her, as I see a pack of rascals do. No + offence—I don't mean you. And I don't mean Harry Warrington, who was + quite right to be civil to her, and to lose his money with good-humour. + Harry, I am come to bid thee farewell, my boy. We have had our pleasuring—my + money is run out, and we must jog back to Oakhurst. Will you ever come and + see the old place again?” + </p> + <p> + “Now, sir, now! I'll ride back with you!” cries Harry, eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Why—no—not now,” says the Colonel, in a hurried manner. “We + haven't got room—that is, we're—we're expecting some friends.” + [“The Lord forgive me for the lie!” he mutters.] “But—but you'll + come to us when—when Tom's at home—yes, when Tom's at home. + That will be famous fun—and I'd have you to know, sir, that my wife + and I love you sincerely, sir—and so do the girls, however much they + scold you. And if you ever are in a scrape—and such things have + happened, Mr. Chaplain! you will please to count upon me. Mind that, sir!” + </p> + <p> + And the Colonel was for taking leave of Harry then and there, on the spot, + but the young man followed him down the stairs, and insisted upon saying + good-bye to his dear ladies. + </p> + <p> + Instead, however, of proceeding immediately to Mr. Lambert's lodging, the + two gentlemen took the direction of the common, where, looking from + Harry's windows, Mr. Sampson saw the pair in earnest conversation. First, + Lambert smiled and looked roguish. Then, presently, at a farther stage of + the talk, he flung up both his hands and performed other gestures + indicating surprise and agitation. + </p> + <p> + “The boy is telling him,” thought the chaplain. When Mr. Warrington came + back in an hour, he found his reverence deep in the composition of a + sermon. Harry's face was grave and melancholy; he flung down his hat, + buried himself in a great chair, and then came from his lips something + like an execration. + </p> + <p> + “The young ladies are going, and our heart is affected?” said the + chaplain, looking up from his manuscript. + </p> + <p> + “Heart!” sneered Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Which of the young ladies is the conqueror, sir? I thought the youngest's + eyes followed you about at your ball.” + </p> + <p> + “Confound the little termagant!” broke out Harry. “What does she mean by + being so pert to me? She treats me as if I was a fool!” + </p> + <p> + “And no man is, sir, with a woman!” said the scribe of the sermon. + </p> + <p> + “Ain't they, Chaplain?” And Harry growled out more naughty words + expressive of inward disquiet. + </p> + <p> + “By the way, have you heard anything of your lost property?” asked the + chaplain, presently looking up from his pages. + </p> + <p> + Harry said “No!” with another word, which I would not print for the world. + </p> + <p> + “I begin to suspect, sir, that there was more money than you like to own + in that book. I wish I could find some.” + </p> + <p> + “There were notes in it,” said Harry, very gloomily, “and—and papers + that I am very sorry to lose. What the deuce has come of it? I had it when + we dined together.” + </p> + <p> + “I saw you put it in your pocket,” cried the chaplain. “I saw you take it + out and pay at the toy-shop a bill for a gold thimble and workbox for one + of your young ladies. Of course you have asked there, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I have,” says Mr. Warrington, plunged in melancholy. + </p> + <p> + “Gumbo put you to bed—at least, if I remember right. I was so cut + myself that I scarce remember anything. Can you trust those black fellows, + sir?” + </p> + <p> + “I can trust him with my head. With my head?” groaned out Mr. Warrington, + bitterly., “I can't trust myself with it.” + </p> + <p> + “'Oh, that a man should put an enemy into his mouth to steal away his + brains!'” + </p> + <p> + “You may well call it an enemy, Chaplain. Hang it, I have a great mind to + make a vow never to drink another drop! A fellow says anything when he is + in drink.” + </p> + <p> + The chaplain laughed. “You, sir,” he said, “are close enough!” And the + truth was, that, for the last few days, no amount of wine would unseal Mr. + Warrington's lips, when the artless Sampson by chance touched on the + subject of his patron's loss. + </p> + <p> + “And so the little country nymphs are gone, or going, sir?” asked the + chaplain. “They were nice, fresh little things; but I think the mother was + the finest woman of the three. I declare, a woman at five-and-thirty or so + is at her prime. What do you say, sir?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington looked, for a moment, askance at the clergyman. “Confound + all women, I say!” muttered the young misogynist. For which sentiment + every well-conditioned person will surely rebuke him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0035" id="link2HCH0035"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXV. Entanglements + </h2> + <p> + Our good Colonel had, no doubt, taken counsel with his good wife, and they + had determined to remove their little Hetty as speedily as possible out of + the reach of the charmer. In complaints such as that under which the poor + little maiden was supposed to be suffering, the remedy of absence and + distance often acts effectually with men; but I believe women are not so + easily cured by the alibi treatment. Some of them will go away ever so + far, and forever so long, and the obstinate disease hangs by them, spite + of distance or climate. You may whip, abuse, torture, insult them, and + still the little deluded creatures will persist in their fidelity. Nay, if + I may speak, after profound and extensive study and observation, there are + few better ways of securing the faithfulness and admiration of the + beautiful partners of our existence than a little judicious ill-treatment, + a brisk dose of occasional violence as an alterative, and, for general and + wholesome diet, a cooling but pretty constant neglect. At sparing + intervals administer small quantities of love and kindness; but not every + day, or too often, as this medicine, much taken, loses its effect. Those + dear creatures who are the most indifferent to their husbands, are those + who are cloyed by too much surfeiting of the sugar-plums and lollipops of + Love. I have known a young being, with every wish gratified, yawn in her + adoring husband's face, and prefer the conversation and petits soins of + the merest booby and idiot; whilst, on the other hand, I have seen Chloe,—at + whom Strephon has flung his bootjack in the morning, or whom he has cursed + before the servants at dinner,—come creeping and fondling to his + knee at tea-time, when he is comfortable after his little nap and his good + wine; and pat his head and play him his favourite tunes; and, when old + John, the butler, or old Mary, the maid, comes in with the bed-candles, + look round proudly, as much as to say, Now, John, look how good my dearest + Henry is! Make your game, gentlemen, then! There is the coaxing, fondling, + adoring line, when you are henpecked, and Louisa is indifferent, and bored + out of her existence. There is the manly, selfish, effectual system, where + she answers to the whistle and comes in at “Down Charge;” and knows her + master; and frisks and fawns about him; and nuzzles at his knees; and + “licks the hand that's raised”—that's raised to do her good, as (I + quote from memory) Mr. Pope finely observes. What used the late lamented + O'Connell to say, over whom a grateful country has raised such a + magnificent testimonial? “Hereditary bondsmen,” he used to remark, “know + ye not, who would be free, themselves must strike the blow?” Of course you + must, in political as in domestic circles. So up with your cudgels, my + enslaved, injured boys! + </p> + <p> + Women will be pleased with these remarks, because they have such a taste + for humour and understand irony; and I should not be surprised if young + Grubstreet, who corresponds with three penny papers and describes the + persons and conversation of gentlemen whom he meets at his “clubs,” will + say, “I told you so! He advocates the thrashing of women! He has no + nobility of soul! He has no heart!” Nor have I, my eminent young + Grubstreet! any more than you have ears. Dear ladies! I assure you I am + only joking in the above remarks,—I do not advocate the thrashing of + your sex at all,—and, as you can't understand the commonest bit of + fun, beg leave flatly to tell you, that I consider your sex a hundred + times more loving and faithful than ours. + </p> + <p> + So, what is the use of Hetty's parents taking her home, if the little maid + intends to be just as fond of Harry absent as of Harry present? Why not + let her see him before Ball and Dobbin are put to, and say, “Good-bye, + Harry! I was very wilful and fractious last night, and you were very kind: + but good-bye, Harry!” She will show no special emotion: she is so ashamed + of her secret, that she will not betray it. Harry is too much preoccupied + to discover it for himself. He does not know what grief is lying behind + Hetty's glances, or hidden under the artifice of her innocent young + smiles. He has, perhaps, a care of his own. He will part from her calmly, + and fancy she is happy to get back to her music and her poultry and her + flower-garden. + </p> + <p> + He did not even ride part of the way homewards by the side of his friend's + carriage. He had some other party arranged for, that afternoon, and when + he returned thence, the good Lamberts were gone from Tunbridge Wells. + There were their windows open, and the card in one of them signifying that + the apartments were once more to let. A little passing sorrow at the blank + aspect of the rooms lately enlivened by countenances so frank and + friendly, may have crossed the young gentleman's mind; but he dines at the + White Horse at four o'clock, and eats his dinner and calls fiercely for + his bottle. Poor little Hester will choke over her tea about the same hour + when the Lamberts arrive to sleep at the house of their friends at + Westerham. The young roses will be wan in her cheeks in the morning, and + there will be black circles round her eyes. It was the thunder: the night + was hot: she could not sleep: she will be better when she gets home again + the next day. And home they come. There is the gate where he fell. There + is the bed he lay in, the chair in which he used to sit—what ages + seem to have passed! What a gulf between to-day and yesterday! Who is that + little child calling her chickens, or watering her roses yonder? Are she + and that girl the same Hester Lambert? Why, she is ever so much older than + Theo now—Theo, who has always been so composed, and so clever, and + so old for her age. But in a night or two Hester has lived—oh, long, + long years! So have many besides: and poppy and mandragora will never + medicine them to the sweet sleep they tasted yesterday. + </p> + <p> + Maria Esmond saw the Lambert cavalcade drive away, and felt a grim relief. + She looks with hot eyes at Harry when he comes into his aunt's + card-tables, flushed with Barbeau's good wine. He laughs, rattles in reply + to his aunt, who asks him which of the girls is his sweetheart? He gaily + says he loves them both like sisters. He has never seen a better + gentleman, nor better people, than the Lamberts. Why is Lambert not a + general? He has been a most distinguished officer: his Royal Highness the + Duke is very fond of him. Madame Bernstein says that Harry must make + interest with Lady Yarmouth for his protege. + </p> + <p> + “Elle ravvole de fous, cher bedid anche!” says Madame Bernstein, mimicking + the Countess's German accent. The Baroness is delighted with her boy's + success. “You carry off the hearts of all the old women, doesn't he, + Maria?” she says, with a sneer at her niece, who quivers under the stab. + </p> + <p> + “You were quite right, my dear, not to perceive that she cheated at cards, + and you play like a grand seigneur,” continues Madame de Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “Did she cheat?” cries Harry, astonished. “I am sure, ma'am, I saw no + unfair play.” + </p> + <p> + “No more did I, my dear, but I am sure she cheated. Bah! every woman + cheats, I and Maria included, when we can get a chance. But when you play + with the Walmoden, you don't do wrong to lose in moderation; and many men + cheat in that way. Cultivate her. She has taken a fancy to your beaux + yeux. Why should your Excellency not be Governor of Virginia, sir? You + must go and pay your respects to the Duke and his Majesty at Kensington. + The Countess of Yarmouth will be your best friend at court.” + </p> + <p> + “Why should you not introduce me, aunt?” asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + The old lady's rouged cheek grew a little redder. “I am not in favour at + Kensington,” she said. “I may have been once; and there are no faces so + unwelcome to kings as those they wish to forget. All of us want to forget + something or somebody. I dare say our ingenu here would like to wipe a sum + or two off the slate. Wouldst thou not, Harry?” + </p> + <p> + Harry turned red, too, and so did Maria, and his aunt laughed one of those + wicked laughs which are not altogether pleasant to hear. What meant those + guilty signals on the cheeks of her nephew and niece? What account was + scored upon the memory of either, which they were desirous to efface? I + fear Madame Bernstein was right, and that most folks have some ugly + reckonings written up on their consciences, which we were glad to be quit + of. + </p> + <p> + Had Maria known one of the causes of Harry's disquiet, the middle-aged + spinster would have been more unquiet still. For some days he had missed a + pocket-book. He had remembered it in his possession on that day when he + drank so much claret at the White Horse, and Gumbo carried him to bed. He + sought for it in the morning, but none of his servants had seen it. He had + inquired for it at the White Horse, but there were no traces of it. He + could not cry the book, and could only make very cautious inquiries + respecting it. He must not have it known that the book was lost. A pretty + condition of mind Lady Maria Esmond would be in, if she knew that the + outpourings of her heart were in the hands of the public! The letters + contained all sorts of disclosures: a hundred family secrets were narrated + by the artless correspondent: there were ever so much satire and abuse of + persons with whom she and Mr. Warrington came in contact. There were + expostulations about his attentions to other ladies. There was scorn, + scandal, jokes, appeals, protests of eternal fidelity; the usual farrago, + dear madam, which you may remember you wrote to your Edward, when you were + engaged to him, and before you became Mrs. Jones. Would you like those + letters to be read by any one else? Do you recollect what you said about + the Miss Browns in two or three of those letters, and the unfavourable + opinion you expressed of Mrs. Thompson's character? Do you happen to + recall the words which you used regarding Jones himself, whom you + subsequently married (for in consequence of disputes about the settlements + your engagement with Edward was broken off)? and would you like Mr. J. to + see those remarks? You know you wouldn't. Then be pleased to withdraw that + imputation which you have already cast in your mind upon Lady Maria + Esmond. No doubt her letters were very foolish, as most love-letters are, + but it does not follow that there was anything wrong in them. They are + foolish when written by young folks to one another, and how much more + foolish when written by an old man to a young lass, or by an old lass to a + young lad! No wonder Lady Maria should not like her letters to be read. + Why, the very spelling—but that didn't matter so much in her + ladyship's days, and people are just as foolish now, though they spell + better. No, it is not the spelling which matters so much; it is the + writing at all. I for one, and for the future, am determined never to + speak or write my mind out regarding anything or anybody. I intend to say + of every woman that she is chaste and handsome; of every man that he is + handsome, clever, and rich; of every book that it is delightfully + interesting; of Snobmore's manners that they are gentlemanlike; of + Screwby's dinners that they are luxurious; of Jawkins's conversation that + it is lively and amusing; of Xantippe, that she has a sweet temper; of + Jezebel, that her colour is natural; of Bluebeard, that he really was most + indulgent to his wives, and that very likely they died of bronchitis. + What? a word against the spotless Messalina? What an unfavourable view of + human nature! What? King Cheops was not a perfect monarch? Oh, you railer + at royalty and slanderer of all that is noble and good! When this book is + concluded, I shall change the jaundiced livery which my books have worn + since I began to lisp in numbers, have rose-coloured coats for them with + cherubs on the cover, and all the characters within shall be perfect + angels. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile we are in a society of men and women, from whose shoulders no + sort of wings have sprouted as yet, and who, without any manner of doubt, + have their little failings. There is Madame Bernstein: she has fallen + asleep after dinner, and eating and drinking too much,—those are her + ladyship's little failings. Mr. Harry Warrington has gone to play a match + at billiards with Count Caramboli: I suspect idleness is his failing. That + is what Mr. Chaplain Sampson remarks to Lady Maria, as they are talking + together in a low tone, so as not to interrupt Aunt Bernstein's doze in + the neighbouring room. + </p> + <p> + “A gentleman of Mr. Warrington's means can afford to be idle,” says Lady + Maria. “Why, sure you love cards and billiards yourself, my good Mr. + Sampson?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't say, madam, my practice is good, only my doctrine is sound,” says + Mr. Chaplain with a sigh. “This young gentleman should have some + employment. He should appear at court, and enter the service of his + country, as befits a man of his station. He should settle down, and choose + a woman of a suitable rank as his wife.” Sampson looks in her ladyship's + face as he speaks. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my cousin is wasting his time,” says Lady Maria, blushing + slightly. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington might see his relatives of his father's family,” suggests + Mr. Chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Suffolk country boobies drinking beer and hallooing after foxes! I don't + see anything to be gained by his frequenting them, Mr. Sampson!” + </p> + <p> + “They are of an ancient family, of which the chief has been knight of the + shire these hundred years,” says the chaplain. “I have heard Sir Miles + hath a daughter of Mr. Harry's age—and beauty, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I know nothing, sir, about Sir Miles Warrington, and his daughters, and + his beauties!” cries Maria, in a fluster. + </p> + <p> + “The Baroness stirred—no—her ladyship is in a sweet sleep,” + says the chaplain, in a very soft voice. “I fear, madam, for your + ladyship's cousin, Mr. Warrington. I fear for his youth; for designing + persons who may get about him; for extravagances, follies, intrigues even + into which he will be led, and into which everybody will try to tempt him. + His lordship, my kind patron, bade me to come and watch over him, and I am + here accordingly, as your ladyship knoweth. I know the follies of young + men. Perhaps I have practised them myself. I own it with a blush,” adds + Mr. Sampson with much unction—not, however, bringing the promised + blush forward to corroborate the asserted repentance. + </p> + <p> + “Between ourselves, I fear Mr. Warrington is in some trouble now, madam,” + continues the chaplain, steadily looking at Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “What, again?” shrieks the lady. + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Your ladyship's dear invalid!” whispers the chaplain again pointing + towards Madame Bernstein. “Do you think your cousin has any partiality for + any—any member of Mr. Lambert's family? for example, Miss Lambert?” + </p> + <p> + “There is nothing between him and Miss Lambert,” says Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Your ladyship is certain?” + </p> + <p> + “Women are said to have good eyes in such matters, my good Sampson,” says + my lady, with an easy air. “I thought the little girl seemed to be + following him.” + </p> + <p> + “Then I am at fault once more,” the frank chaplain said. “Mr. Warrington + said of the young lady, that she ought to go back to her doll, and called + her a pert, stuck-up little hussy.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” sighed Lady Maria, as if relieved by the news. + </p> + <p> + “Then, madam, there must be somebody else,” said the chaplain. “Has he + confided nothing to your ladyship?” + </p> + <p> + “To me, Mr. Sampson? What? Where? How?” exclaims Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Some six days ago, after we had been dining at the White Horse, and + drinking too freely, Mr. Warrington lost a pocket-book containing + letters.” + </p> + <p> + “Letters?” gasps Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “And probably more money than he likes to own,” continues Mr. Sampson, + with a grave nod of the head. “He is very much disturbed about the book. + We have both made cautious inquiries about it. We have——Gracious + powers, is your ladyship ill?” + </p> + <p> + Here my Lady Maria gave three remarkably shrill screams, and tumbled off + her chair. + </p> + <p> + “I will see the Prince. I have a right to see him. What's this?—Where + am I?—What's the matter?” cries Madame Bernstein, waking up from her + sleep. She had been dreaming of old days, no doubt. The old lady shook in + all her limbs—her face was very much flushed. She stared about + wildly a moment, and then tottered forward on her tortoiseshell cane. + “What—what's the matter?” she asked again. “Have you killed her, + sir?” + </p> + <p> + “Some sudden qualm must have come over her ladyship. Shall I cut her + laces, madam? or send for a doctor?” cries the chaplain, with every look + of innocence and alarm. + </p> + <p> + “What has passed between you, sir?” asked the old lady, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “I give you my honour, madam, I have done I don't know what. I but + mentioned that Mr. Warrington had lost a pocket-book containing letters, + and my lady swooned, as you see.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Bernstein dashed water on her niece's face. A feeble moan told + presently that the lady was coming to herself. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness looked sternly after Mr. Sampson, as she sent him away on his + errand for the doctor. Her aunt's grim countenance was of little comfort + to poor Maria when she saw it on waking up from her swoon. + </p> + <p> + “What has happened?” asked the younger lady, bewildered and gasping. + </p> + <p> + “H'm! You know best what has happened, madam, I suppose. What hath + happened before in our family?” cried the old Baroness, glaring at her + niece with savage eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, yes! the letters have been lost—ach lieber Himmel!” And Maria, + as she would sometimes do, when much moved, began to speak in the language + of her mother. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! the seal has been broken, and the letters have been lost, 'tis the + old story of the Esmonds,” cried the elder, bitterly. + </p> + <p> + “Seal broken, letters lost? What do you mean,—aunt?” asked Maria, + faintly. + </p> + <p> + “I mean that my mother was the only honest woman that ever entered the + family!” cried the Baroness, stamping her foot. “And she was a parson's + daughter of no family in particular, or she would have gone wrong, too. + Good heavens! is it decreed that we are all to be...?” + </p> + <p> + “To be what, madam?” cried Maria. + </p> + <p> + “To be what my Lady Queensberry said we were last night. To be what we + are! You know the word for it!” cried the indignant old woman. “I say, + what has come to the whole race? Your father's mother was an honest woman, + Maria. Why did I leave her? Why couldn't you remain so?” + </p> + <p> + “Madam!” exclaims Maria, “I declare, before Heaven, I am as——” + </p> + <p> + “Bah! Don't madam me! Don't call heaven to witness—there's nobody + by! And if you swore to your innocence till the rest of your teeth dropped + out of your mouth, my Lady Maria Esmond, I would not believe you!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! it was you told him!” gasped Maria. She recognised an arrow out of + her aunt's quiver. + </p> + <p> + “I saw some folly going on between you and the boy, and I told him that + you were as old as his mother. Yes, I did! Do you suppose I am going to + let Henry Esmond's boy fling himself and his wealth away upon such a + battered old rock as you? The boy shan't be robbed and cheated in our + family. Not a shilling of mine shall any of you have if he comes to any + harm amongst you. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! you told him!” cried Maria, with a sudden burst of rebellion. “Well, + then! I'd have you to know that I don't care a penny, madam, for your + paltry money! I have Mr. Harry Warrington's word—yes, and his + letters—and I know he will die rather than break it.” + </p> + <p> + “He will die if he keeps it!” (Maria shrugged her shoulders.) + </p> + <p> + “But you don't care for that—you've no more heart——” + </p> + <p> + “Than my father's sister, madam!” cries Maria again. The younger woman, + ordinarily submissive, had turned upon here persecutor. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Why did not I marry an honest man?” said the of lady, shaking her + head sadly. “Henry Esmond was noble and good, and perhaps might have made + me so. But no, no—we have all got the taint in us—all! You + don't mean to sacrifice this boy, Maria?” + </p> + <p> + “Madame ma tante, do you take me for a fool at my age?” asks Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Set him free! I'll give you five thousand pounds—in my—in my + will, Maria. I will, on my honour!” + </p> + <p> + “When you were young, and you liked Colonel Esmond, you threw him aside + for an earl, and the earl for a duke?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! Bon sang ne peut mentir! I have no money, I have no friends. My + father was a spendthrift, my brother is a beggar. I have Mr. Warrington's + word, and I know, madam, he will keep it. And that's what I tell your + ladyship!” cries Lady Maria with a wave of her hand. “Suppose my letters + are published to all the world to-morrow? Apres? I know they contain + things I would as lieve not tell. Things not about me alone. Comment! Do + you suppose there are no stories but mine in the family? It is not my + letters that I am afraid of, so long as I have his, madam. Yes, his and + his word, and I trust them both.” + </p> + <p> + “I will send to my merchant, and give you the money now, Maria,” pleaded + the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “No, I shall have my pretty Harry, and ten times five thousand pounds!” + cries Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Not till his mother's death, madam, who is just your age!” + </p> + <p> + “We can afford to wait, aunt. At my age, as you say, I am not so eager as + young chits for a husband.” + </p> + <p> + “But to wait my sister's death, at least, is a drawback?” + </p> + <p> + “Offer me ten thousand pounds, Madam Tusher, and then we will see!” cries + Maria. + </p> + <p> + “I have not so much money in the world, Maria,” said the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “Then, madam, let me make what I can for myself!” says Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, if he heard you?” + </p> + <p> + “Apres? I have his word. I know he will keep it. I can afford to wait, + madam,” and she flung out of the room, just as the chaplain returned. It + was Madame Bernstein who wanted cordials now. She was immensely moved and + shocked by the news which had been thus suddenly brought to her. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0036" id="link2HCH0036"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVI. Which seems to mean Mischief + </h2> + <p> + Though she had clearly had the worst of the battle described in the last + chapter, the Baroness Bernstein, when she next met her niece showed no + rancour or anger. “Of course, my Lady Maria,” she said, “you can't suppose + that I, as Harry Warrington's near relative, can be pleased at the idea of + his marrying a woman who is as old as his mother, and has not a penny to + her fortune; but if he chooses to do so silly a thing, the affair is none + of mine; and I doubt whether I should have been much inclined to be taken + au serieux with regard to that offer of five thousand pounds which I made + in the heat of our talk. So it was already at Castlewood that this pretty + affair was arranged? Had I known how far it had gone, my dear, I should + have spared some needless opposition. When a pitcher is broken, what + railing can mend it?” + </p> + <p> + “Madam!” here interposed Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me—I mean nothing against your ladyship's honour or + character, which, no doubt, are quite safe. Harry says so, and you say so—what + more can one ask?” + </p> + <p> + “You have talked to Mr. Warrington, madam?” + </p> + <p> + “And he has owned that he made you a promise at Castlewood: that you have + it in his writing.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly I have, madam!” says Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” (the elder lady did not wince at this). “And I own, too, that at + first I put a wrong construction upon the tenor of your letters to him. + They implicate other members of the family——” + </p> + <p> + “Who have spoken most wickedly of me, and endeavoured to prejudice me in + every way in my dear Mr. Warrington's eyes. Yes, madam, I own I have + written against them, to justify myself.” + </p> + <p> + “But, of course, are pained to think that any wretch should get possession + of stories to the disadvantage of our family, and make them public + scandal. Hence your disquiet just now.” + </p> + <p> + “Exactly so,” said Lady Maria. “From Mr. Warrington I could have nothing + concealed henceforth, and spoke freely to him. But that is a very + different thing from wishing all the world to know the disputes of a noble + family.” + </p> + <p> + “Upon my word, Maria, I admire you, and have done you injustice. These—these + twenty years, let us say.” + </p> + <p> + “I am very glad, madam, that you end by doing me justice at all,” said the + niece. + </p> + <p> + “When I saw you last night, opening the ball with my nephew, can you guess + what I thought of, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “I really have no idea what the Baroness de Bernstein thought of,” said + Lady Maria, haughtily. + </p> + <p> + “I remembered that you had performed to that very tune with the + dancing-master at Kensington, my dear!” + </p> + <p> + “Madam, it was an infamous calumny.” + </p> + <p> + “By which the poor dancing-master got a cudgelling for nothing!” + </p> + <p> + “It is cruel and unkind, madam, to recall that calumny—and I shall + beg to decline living any longer with any one who utters it,” continued + Maria, with great spirit. + </p> + <p> + “You wish to go home? I can fancy you won't like Tunbridge. It will be + very hot for you if those letters are found.” + </p> + <p> + “There was not a word against you in them, madam: about that I can make + your mind easy.” + </p> + <p> + “So Harry said, and did your ladyship justice. Well, my dear, we are tired + of one another, and shall be better apart for a while.” + </p> + <p> + “That is precisely my own opinion,” said Lady Maria, dropping a curtsey. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Sampson can escort you to Castlewood. You and your maid can take a + postchaise.” + </p> + <p> + “We can take a postchaise, and Mr. Sampson can escort me,” echoed the + younger lady. “You see, madam, I act like a dutiful niece.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you know, my dear, I have a notion that Sampson has got the letters?” + said the Baroness, frankly. + </p> + <p> + “I confess that such a notion has passed through my own mind.” + </p> + <p> + “And you want to go home in the chaise, and coax the letters from him! + Delilah! Well, they can be no good to me, and I trust you may get them. + When will you go? The sooner the better, you say? We are women of the + world, Maria. We only call names when we are in a passion. We don't want + each other's company; and we part on good terms. Shall we go to my Lady + Yarmouth's? 'Tis her night. There is nothing like a change of scene after + one of those little nervous attacks you have had, and cards drive away + unpleasant thoughts better than any doctor.” + </p> + <p> + Lady Maria agreed to go to Lady Yarmouth's cards, and was dressed and + ready first, awaiting her aunt in the drawing-room. Madame Bernstein, as + she came down, remarked Maria's door was left open. “She has the letters + upon her,” thought the old lady. And the pair went off to their + entertainment in their respective chairs, and exhibited towards each other + that charming cordiality and respect which women can show after, and even + during, the bitterest quarrels. + </p> + <p> + That night, on their return from the Countess's drum, Mrs. Brett, Madame + Bernstein's maid, presented herself to my Lady Maria's call, when that + lady rang her hand-bell upon retiring to her room. Betty, Mrs. Brett was + ashamed to say, was not in a fit state to come before my lady. Betty had + been a-junketing and merry-making with Mr. Warrington's black gentleman, + with my Lord Bamborough's valet, and several more ladies and gentlemen of + that station, and the liquor—Mrs. Brett was shocked to own it—had + proved too much for Mrs. Betty. Should Mrs. Brett undress my lady? My lady + said she would undress without a maid, and gave Mrs. Brett leave to + withdraw. “She has the letters in her stays,” thought Madame Bernstein. + They had bidden each other an amicable good-night on the stairs. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Betty had a scolding the next morning, when she came to wait on her + mistress, from the closet adjoining Lady Maria's apartment, in which Betty + lay. She owned, with contrition, her partiality for rum-punch, which Mr. + Gumbo had the knack of brewing most delicate. She took her scolding with + meekness, and, having performed her usual duties about her lady's person, + retired. + </p> + <p> + Now Betty was one of the Castlewood girls who had been so fascinated by + Gumbo, and was a very good-looking, blue-eyed lass, upon whom Mr. Case, + Madame Bernstein's confidential man, had also cast the eyes of affection. + Hence, between Messrs. Gumbo and Case, there had been jealousies and even + quarrels; which had caused Gumbo, who was of a peaceful disposition, to be + rather shy of the Baroness's gentlemen, the chief of whom vowed he would + break the bones, or have the life of Gumbo, if he persisted in his + attentions to Mrs. Betty. + </p> + <p> + But on the night of the rum-punch, though Mr. Case found Gumbo and Mrs. + Betty whispering in the doorway, in the cool breeze, and Gumbo would have + turned pale with fear had he been able so to do, no one could be more + gracious than Mr. Case. It was he who proposed the bowl of punch, which + was brewed and drunk in Mrs. Betty's room, and which Gumbo concocted with + exquisite skill. He complimented Gumbo on his music. Though a sober man + ordinarily, he insisted upon more and more drinking, until poor Mrs. Betty + was reduced to the state which occasioned her ladyship's just censure. + </p> + <p> + As for Mr. Case himself, who lay out of the house, he was so ill with the + punch, that he kept his bed the whole of the next day, and did not get + strength to make his appearance, and wait on his ladies, until + supper-time; when his mistress good-naturedly rebuked him, saying that it + was not often he sinned in that way. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Case, I could have made oath it was you I saw on horseback this + morning galloping on the London road,” said Mr. Warrington, who was + supping with his relatives. + </p> + <p> + “Me! law bless you, sir! I was a-bed, and I thought my head would come off + with the aching. I ate a bit at six o'clock, and drunk a deal of small + beer, and I am almost my own man again now. But that Gumbo, saving your + honour's presence, I won't taste none of his punch again.” And the honest + major-domo went on with his duties among the bottles and glasses. + </p> + <p> + As they sate after their meal, Madame Bernstein was friendly enough. She + prescribed strong fortifying drinks for Maria, against the recurrence of + her fainting fits. The lady had such attacks not unfrequently. She urged + her to consult her London physician, and to send up an account of her case + by Harry. By Harry! asked the lady. Yes. Harry was going for two days on + an errand for his aunt to London. “I do not care to tell you, my dear, + that it is on business which will do him good. I wish Mr. Draper to put + him into my will, and as I am going travelling upon a round of visits when + you and I part, I think, for security, I shall ask Mr. Warrington to take + my trinket-box in his postchaise to London with him, for there have been + robberies of late, and I have no fancy for being stopped by highwaymen.” + </p> + <p> + Maria looked blank at the notion of the young gentleman's departure, but + hoped that she might have his escort back to Castlewood, whither her elder + brother had now returned. “Nay,” says his aunt, “the lad hath been tied to + our apron-strings long enough. A day in London will do him no harm. He can + perform my errand for me and be back with you by Saturday.” + </p> + <p> + “I would offer to accompany Mr. Warrington, but I preach on Friday before + her ladyship,” says Mr. Sampson. He was anxious that my Lady Yarmouth + should judge of his powers as a preacher; and Madame Bernstein had exerted + her influence with the king's favourite to induce her to hear the + chaplain. + </p> + <p> + Harry relished the notion of a rattling journey to London, and a day or + two of sport there. He promised that his pistols were good, and that he + would hand the diamonds over in safety to the banker's strong-room. Would + he occupy his aunt's London house? No, that would be a dreary lodging with + only a housemaid and a groom in charge of it. He would go to the Star and + Garter in Pall Mall, or to an inn in Covent Garden. “Ah! I have often + talked over that journey,” said Harry, his countenance saddening. + </p> + <p> + “And with whom, sir?” asked Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + “With one who promised to make it with me,” said the young man, thinking, + as he always did, with an extreme tenderness of the lost brother. + </p> + <p> + “He has more heart, my good Maria, than some of us!” says Harry's aunt, + witnessing his emotion. Uncontrollable gusts of grief would, not + unfrequently, still pass over our young man. The parting from his brother; + the scene and circumstances of George's fall last year; the recollection + of his words, or of some excursion at home which they had planned + together; would recur to him and overcome him. “I doubt, madam,” whispered + the chaplain, demurely, to Madame Bernstein, after one of these bursts of + sorrow, “whether some folks in England would suffer quite so much at the + death of their elder brother.” + </p> + <p> + But, of course, this sorrow was not to be perpetual; and we can fancy Mr. + Warrington setting out on his London journey eagerly enough, and very gay + and happy, if it must be owned, to be rid of his elderly attachment. Yes. + There was no help for it. At Castlewood, on one unlucky evening, he had + made an offer of his heart and himself to his mature cousin, and she had + accepted the foolish lad's offer. But the marriage now was out of the + question. He must consult his mother. She was the mistress for life of the + Virginian property. Of course she would refuse her consent to such a + union. The thought of it was deferred to a late period. Meanwhile, it hung + like a weight round the young man's neck, and caused him no small remorse + and disquiet. + </p> + <p> + No wonder that his spirits rose more gaily as he came near London, and + that he looked with delight from his postchaise windows upon the city as + he advanced towards it. No highwayman stopped our traveller on Blackheath. + Yonder are the gleaming domes of Greenwich, canopied with woods. There is + the famous Thames, with its countless shipping; there actually is the + Tower of London. “Look, Gumbo! There is the Tower!” “Yes, master,” says + Gumbo, who has never heard of the Tower; but Harry has, and remembers how + he has read about it in Howell's Medulla, and how he and his brother used + to play at the Tower, and he thinks with delight now, how he is actually + going to see the armour and the jewels and the lions. They pass through + Southwark and over that famous London Bridge, which was all covered with + houses like a street two years ago. Now there is only a single gate left, + and that is coming down. Then the chaise rolls through the city; and, + “Look, Gumbo, that is Saint Paul's!” “Yes, master; Saint Paul's,” says + Gumbo, obsequiously, but little struck by the beauties of the + architecture. And so by the well-known course we reach the Temple, and + Gumbo and his master look up with awe at the rebel heads on Temple Bar. + </p> + <p> + The chaise drives to Mr. Draper's chambers in Middle Temple Lane, where + Harry handed the precious box over to Mr. Draper, and a letter from his + aunt, which the gentleman read with some interest seemingly, and carefully + put away. He then consigned the trinket-box to his strong closet, went + into the adjoining room, taking his clerk with him, and then was at Mr. + Warrington's service to take him to an hotel. An hotel in Covent Garden + was fixed upon as the best place for his residence. “I shall have to keep + you for two or three days, Mr. Warrington,” the lawyer said. “I don't + think the papers which the Baroness wants can be ready until then. + Meanwhile, I am at your service to see the town. I live out of it myself, + and have a little box at Camberwell, where I shall be proud to have the + honour of entertaining Mr. Warrington; but a young man, I suppose, will + like his inn and his liberty best, sir?” + </p> + <p> + Harry said yes, he thought the inn would be best; and the postchaise, and + a clerk of Mr. Draper's inside, was despatched to the Bedford, whither the + two gentlemen agreed to walk on foot. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Draper and Mr. Warrington sat and talked for a while. The Drapers, + father and son, had been lawyers time out of mind to the Esmond family, + and the attorney related to the young gentleman numerous stories regarding + his ancestors of Castlewood. Of the present Earl Mr. Draper was no longer + the agent: his father and his lordship had had differences, and his + lordship's business had been taken elsewhere: but the Baroness was still + their honoured client, and very happy indeed was Mr. Draper to think that + her ladyship was so well disposed towards her nephew. + </p> + <p> + As they were taking their hats to go out, a young clerk of the house + stopped his principal in the passage, and said: “If you please, sir, them + papers of the Baroness was given to her ladyship's man, Mr. Case, two days + ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Just please to mind your own business, Mr. Brown,” said the lawyer, + rather sharply. “This way, Mr. Warrington. Our Temple stairs are rather + dark. Allow me to show you the way.” + </p> + <p> + Harry saw Mr. Draper darting a Parthian look of anger at Mr. Brown. “So it + was Case I saw on the London Road two days ago,” he thought. “What + business brought the old fox to London?” Wherewith, not choosing to be + inquisitive about other folks' affairs, he dismissed the subject from his + mind. + </p> + <p> + Whither should they go first? First, Harry was for going to see the place + where his grandfather and Lord Castlewood had fought a duel fifty-six + years ago, in Leicester Field. Mr. Draper knew the place well, and all + about the story. They might take Covent Garden on their way to Leicester + Field, and see that Mr. Warrington was comfortably lodged. “And order + dinner,” says Mr. Warrington. No, Mr. Draper could not consent to that. + Mr. Warrington must be so obliging as to honour him on that day. In fact, + he had made so bold as to order a collation from the Cock. Mr. Warrington + could not decline an invitation so pressing, and walked away gaily with + his friend, passing under that arch where the heads were, and taking off + his hat to them, much to the lawyer's astonishment. + </p> + <p> + “They were gentlemen who died for their king, sir. My dear brother George + and I always said we would salute 'em when we saw 'em,” Mr. Warrington + said. + </p> + <p> + “You'll have a mob at your heels if you do, sir,” said the alarmed lawyer. + </p> + <p> + “Confound the mob, sir,” said Mr. Harry, loftily, but the passers-by, + thinking about their own affairs, did not take any notice of Mr. + Warrington's conduct; and he walked up the thronging Strand, gazing with + delight upon all he saw, remembering, I dare say, for all his life after, + the sights and impressions there presented to him, but maintaining a + discreet reserve; for he did not care to let the lawyer know how much he + was moved, or the public perceive that he was a stranger. He did not hear + much of his companion's talk, though the latter chattered ceaselessly on + the way. Nor was Mr. Draper displeased by the young Virginian's silent and + haughty demeanour. A hundred years ago a gentleman was a gentleman, and + his attorney his very humble servant. + </p> + <p> + The chamberlain at the Bedford showed Mr. Warrington to his rooms, bowing + before him with delightful obsequiousness, for Gumbo had already trumpeted + his master's greatness, and Mr. Draper's clerk announced that the + new-comer was a “high fellar.” Then, the rooms surveyed, the two gentlemen + went to Leicester Field, Mr. Gumbo strutting behind his master: and, + having looked at the scene of his grandsire's wound, and poor Lord + Castlewood's tragedy, they returned to the Temple to Mr. Draper's + chambers. + </p> + <p> + Who was that shabby-looking big man Mr. Warrington bowed to as they went + out after dinner for a walk in the gardens? That was Mr. Johnson, an + author, whom he had met at Tunbridge Wells. “Take the advice of a man of + the world, sir,” says Mr. Draper, eyeing the shabby man of letters very + superciliously; “the less you have to do with that kind of person, the + better. The business we have into our office about them literary men is + not very pleasant, I can tell you.” “Indeed!” says Mr. Warrington. He did + not like his new friend the more as the latter grew more familiar. The + theatres were shut. Should they go to Sadler's Wells? or Marybone Gardens? + or Ranelagh? or how? “Not Ranelagh,” says Mr. Draper, “because there's + none of the nobility in town;” but, seeing in the newspaper that at the + entertainment at Sadler's Wells, Islington, there would be the most + singular kind of diversion on eight hand-bells by Mr. Franklyn, as well as + the surprising performances of Signora Catherina, Harry wisely determined + that he would go to Marybone Gardens, where they had a concert of music, a + choice of tea, coffee, and all sorts of wines, and the benefit of Mr. + Draper's ceaseless conversation. The lawyer's obsequiousness only ended at + Harry's bedroom door, where, with haughty grandeur, the young gentleman + bade his talkative host good night. + </p> + <p> + The next morning Mr. Warrington, arrayed in his brocade bedgown, took his + breakfast, read the newspaper, and enjoyed his ease in his inn. He read in + the paper news from his own country. And when he saw the words, + Williamsburg, Virginia, June 7th, his eyes grew dim somehow. He had just + had letters by that packet of June 7th, but his mother did not tell how—“A + great number of the principal gentry of the colony have associated + themselves under the command of the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esquire, + to march to the relief of their distressed fellow-subjects, and revenge + the cruelties of the French and their barbarous allies. They are in a + uniform: viz., a plain blue frock, nanquin or brown waistcoats and + breeches, and plain hats. They are armed each with a light firelock, a + brace of pistols, and a cutting sword.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, why ain't we there, Gumbo?” cried out Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Why ain't we dar?” shouted Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + “Why am I here, dangling at women's trains?” continued the Virginian. + </p> + <p> + “Think dangling at women's trains very pleasant, Master Harry!” says the + materialistic Gumbo, who was also very little affected by some further + home news which his master read, viz., that The Lovely Sally, Virginia + ship, had been taken in sight of port by a French privateer. + </p> + <p> + And now, reading that the finest mare in England, and a pair of very + genteel bay geldings, were to be sold at the Bull Inn, the lower end of + Hatton Garden, Harry determined to go and look at the animals, and + inquired his way to the place. He then and there bought the genteel bay + geldings, and paid for them with easy generosity. He never said what he + did on that day, being shy of appearing like a stranger; but it is + believed that he took a coach and went to Westminster Abbey, from which he + bade the coachman drive him to the Tower, then to Mrs. Salmon's Waxwork, + then to Hyde Park and Kensington Palace; then he had given orders to go to + the Royal Exchange, but catching a glimpse of Covent Garden, on his way to + the Exchange, he bade Jehu take him to his inn, and cut short his + enumeration of places to which he had been, by flinging the fellow a + guinea. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Draper had called in his absence, and said he would come again; but + Mr. Warrington, having dined sumptuously by himself, went off nimbly to + Marybone Gardens again, in the same noble company. + </p> + <p> + As he issued forth the next day, the bells of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, + were ringing for morning prayers, and reminded him that friend Sampson was + going to preach his sermon. Harry smiled. He had begun to have a shrewd + and just opinion of the value of Mr. Sampson's sermons. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0037" id="link2HCH0037"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVII. In which various Matches are fought + </h2> + <p> + Reading in the London Advertiser, which was served to his worship with his + breakfast, an invitation to all lovers of manly British sport to come and + witness a trial of skill between the great champions Sutton and Figg, Mr. + Warrington determined upon attending these performances, and accordingly + proceeded to the Wooden House, in Marybone Fields, driving thither the + pair of horses which he had purchased on the previous day. The young + charioteer did not know the road very well, and veered and tacked very + much more than was needful upon his journey from Covent Garden, losing + himself in the green lanes behind Mr. Whitfield's round Tabernacle of + Tottenham Road, and the fields in the midst of which Middlesex Hospital + stood. He reached his destination at length, however, and found no small + company assembled to witness the valorous achievements of the two + champions. + </p> + <p> + A crowd of London blackguards was gathered round the doors of this temple + of British valour; together with the horses and equipages of a few persons + of fashion, who came, like Mr. Warrington, to patronise the sport. A + variety of beggars and cripples hustled round the young gentleman, and + whined to him for charity. Shoeblack-boys tumbled over each other for the + privilege of blacking his honour's boots; nosegay-women and flying + fruiterers plied Mr. Gumbo with their wares; piemen, pads, tramps, + strollers of every variety, hung round the battle-ground. A flag was + flying upon the building; and, on to the stage in front, accompanied by a + drummer and a horn-blower, a manager repeatedly issued to announce to the + crowd that the noble English sports were just about to begin. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington paid his money, and was accommodated with a seat in a + gallery commanding a perfect view of the platform whereon the sports were + performed; Mr. Gumbo took his seat in the amphitheatre below; or, when + tired, issued forth into the outer world to drink a pot of beer, or play a + game at cards with his brother-lacqueys, and the gentlemen's coachmen on + the boxes of the carriages waiting without. Lacqueys, liveries, footmen—the + old society was encumbered with a prodigious quantity of these. Gentlemen + or women could scarce move without one, sometimes two or three, vassals in + attendance. Every theatre had its footman's gallery: an army of the + liveried race hustled around every chapel-door: they swarmed in anterooms: + they sprawled in halls and on landings: they guzzled, devoured, debauched, + cheated, played cards, bullied visitors for vails:—that noble old + race of footmen is well-nigh gone. A few thousand of them may still be + left among us. Grand, tall, beautiful, melancholy, we still behold them on + levee days, with their nosegays and their buckles, their plush and their + powder. So have I seen in America specimens, nay camps and villages, of + Red Indians. But the race is doomed. The fatal decree has gone forth, and + Uncas with his tomahawk and eagle's plume, and Jeames with his cocked hat + and long cane, are passing out of the world where they once walked in + glory. + </p> + <p> + Before the principal combatants made their appearance, minor warriors and + exercises were exhibited. A boxing-match came off, but neither of the men + were very game or severely punished, so that Mr. Warrington and the rest + of the spectators had but little pleasure out of that encounter. Then + ensued some cudgel-playing; but the heads broken were of so little note, + and the wounds given so trifling and unsatisfactory, that no wonder the + company began to hiss, grumble, and show other signs of discontent. “The + masters, the masters!” shouted the people, whereupon those famous + champions at length thought fit to appear. + </p> + <p> + The first who walked up the steps to the stage was the intrepid Sutton, + sword in hand, who saluted the company with his warlike weapon, making an + especial bow and salute to a private box or gallery in which sate a stout + gentleman, who was seemingly a person of importance. Sutton was speedily + followed by the famous Figg, to whom the stout gentleman waved a hand of + approbation. Both men were in their shirts, their heads were shaven clean, + but bore the cracks and scars of many former glorious battles. On his + burly sword-arm, each intrepid champion wore an “armiger,” or ribbon of + his colour. And now the gladiators shook hands, and, as a contemporary + poet says: “The word it was bilboe.” [The antiquarian reader knows the + pleasant poem in the sixth volume of Dodsley's Collection, in which the + above combat is described.] + </p> + <p> + At the commencement of the combat the great Figg dealt a blow so + tremendous at his opponent, that had it encountered the other's honest + head, that comely noddle would have been shorn off as clean as the + carving-knife chops the carrot. But Sutton received his adversary's blade + on his own sword, whilst Figg's blow was delivered so mightily that the + weapon brake in his hands, less constant than the heart of him who wielded + it. Other sword were now delivered to the warriors. The first blood drawn + spouted from the panting side of Figg amidst a yell of delight from + Sutton's supporters; but the veteran appealing to his audience, and + especially, as it seemed, to the stout individual in the private gallery, + showed that his sword broken in the previous encounter had caused the + wound. + </p> + <p> + Whilst the parley occasioned by this incident was going on, Mr. Warrington + saw a gentleman in a riding-frock and plain scratch-wig enter the box + devoted to the stout personage, and recognised with pleasure his Tunbridge + Wells friend, my Lord of March and Ruglen. Lord March, who was by no means + prodigal of politeness seemed to show singular deference to the stout + gentleman, and Harry remarked how his lordship received, with a profound + bow, some bank-bills which the other took out from a pocket-book and + handed to him. Whilst thus engaged, Lord March spied out our Virginian, + and, his interview with the stout personage finished, my lord came over to + Harry's gallery and warmly greeted his young friend. They sat and beheld + the combat waging with various success, but with immense skill and valour + on both sides. After the warriors had sufficiently fought with swords, + they fell to with the quarter-staff, and the result of this long and + delightful battle was, that victory remained with her ancient champion + Figg. + </p> + <p> + Whilst the warriors were at battle, a thunderstorm had broken over the + building, and Mr. Warrington gladly enough accepted a seat in my Lord + March's chariot, leaving his own phaeton to be driven home by his groom. + Harry was in great delectation with the noble sight he had witnessed: be + pronounced this indeed to be something like sport, and of the best he had + seen since his arrival in England: and, as usual, associating any pleasure + which he enjoyed with the desire that the dear companion of his boyhood + should share the amusement in common with him, he began by sighing out, “I + wish...” then he stopped. “No, I don't,” says he. + </p> + <p> + “What do you wish and what don't you wish?” asks Lord March. + </p> + <p> + “I was thinking, my lord, of my elder brother, and wished he had been with + me. We had promised to have our sport together at home, you see; and + many's the time we talked of it. But he wouldn't have liked this rough + sort of sport, and didn't care for fighting, though he was the bravest lad + alive.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! he was the bravest lad alive, was he?” asks my lord, lolling on his + cushion, and eyeing his Virginian friend with some curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “You should have seen him in a quarrel with a very gallant officer, our + friend—an absurd affair, but it was hard to keep George off him. I + never saw a fellow so cool, nor more savage and determined, God help me. + Ah! I wish for the honour of the country, you know, that he could have + come here instead of me, and shown you a real Virginian gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, you'll do very well. What is this I hear of Lady Yarmouth + taking you into favour?” said the amused nobleman. + </p> + <p> + “I will do as well as another. I can ride, and, I think, I can shoot + better than George; but then my brother had the head, sir, the head!” says + Harry, tapping his own honest skull. “Why, I give you my word, my lord, + that he had read almost every book that was ever written; could play both + on the fiddle and harpsichord, could compose poetry and sermons most + elegant. What can I do? I am only good to ride and play at cards, and + drink Burgundy.” And the penitent hung down his head. “But them I can do + as well as most fellows, you see. In fact, my lord, I'll back myself,” he + resumed, to the other's great amusement. + </p> + <p> + Lord March relished the young man's naivete, as the jaded voluptuary still + to the end always can relish the juicy wholesome mutton-chop. “By Gad, Mr. + Warrington,” says he, “you ought to be taken to Exeter 'Change, and put in + a show.” + </p> + <p> + “And for why?” + </p> + <p> + “A gentleman from Virginia who has lost his elder brother and absolutely + regrets him. The breed ain't known in this country. Upon my honour and + conscience, I believe that you would like to have him back again.” + </p> + <p> + “Believe!” cries the Virginian, growing red in the face. + </p> + <p> + “That is, you believe you believe you would like him back again. But + depend on it you wouldn't. 'Tis not in human nature, sir; not as I read + it, at least. Here are some fine houses we are coming to. That at the + corner is Sir Richard Littleton's, that great one was my Lord Bingley's. + 'Tis a pity they do nothing better with this great empty space of + Cavendish Square than fence it with these unsightly boards. By George! I + don't know where the town's running. There's Montagu House made into a + confounded Don Saltero's museum, with books and stuffed birds and + rhinoceroses. They have actually run a cursed cut—New Road they call + it—at the back of Bedford House Gardens, and spoilt the Duke's + comfort, though, I guess, they will console him in the pocket. I don't + know where the town will stop. Shall we go down Tyburn Road and the Park, + or through Swallow Street, and into the habitable quarter of the town? We + can dine at Pall Mall, or, if you like, with you; and we can spend the + evening as you like—with the Queen of Spades, or...” + </p> + <p> + “With the Queen of Spades, if your lordship pleases,” says Mr. Warrington, + blushing. So the equipage drove to his hotel in Covent Garden, where the + landlord came forward with his usual obsequiousness, and recognising my + Lord of March and Ruglen, bowed his wig on to my lord's shoes in his + humble welcomes to his lordship. A rich young English peer in the reign of + George the Second; a wealthy patrician in the reign of Augustus; which + would you rather have been? There is a question for any young gentlemen's + debating-clubs of the present day. + </p> + <p> + The best English dinner which could be produced, of course, was at the + service of the young Virginian and his noble friend. After dinner came + wine in plenty, and of quality good enough even for the epicurean earl. + Over the wine there was talk of going to see the fireworks at Vauxhall, or + else of cards. Harry, who had never seen a firework beyond an exhibition + of a dozen squibs at Williamsburg on the fifth of November (which he + thought a sublime display), would have liked the Vauxhall, but yielded to + his guest's preference for piquet; and they were very soon absorbed in + that game. + </p> + <p> + Harry began by winning as usual; but, in the course of a half-hour, the + luck turned and favoured my Lord March, who was at first very surly when + Mr. Draper, Mr. Warrington's man of business, came bowing into the room, + where he accepted Harry's invitation to sit and drink. Mr. Warrington + always asked everybody to sit and drink, and partake of his best. Had he a + crust, he would divide it; had he a haunch, he would share it; had he a + jug of water, he would drink about with a kindly spirit; had he a bottle + of Burgundy, it was gaily drunk with a thirsty friend. And don't fancy the + virtue is common. You read of it in books, my dear sir, and fancy that you + have it yourself because you give six dinners of twenty people and pay + your acquaintance all round; but the welcome, the friendly spirit, the + kindly heart? Believe me, these are rare qualities in our selfish world. + We may bring them with us from the country when we are young, but they + mostly wither after transplantation, and droop and perish in the stifling + London air. + </p> + <p> + Draper did not care for wine very much, but it delighted the lawyer to be + in the company of a great man. He protested that he liked nothing better + than to see piquet played by two consummate players and men of fashion; + and, taking a seat, undismayed by the sidelong scowls of his lordship, + surveyed the game between the gentlemen. Harry was not near a match for + the experienced player of the London clubs. To-night, too, Lord March held + better cards to aid his skill. + </p> + <p> + What their stakes were was no business of Mr. Draper's. The gentlemen said + they would play for shillings, and afterwards counted up their gains and + losses, with scarce any talking, and that in an undertone. A bow on both + sides, a perfectly grave and polite manner on the part of each, and the + game went on. + </p> + <p> + But it was destined to a second interruption, which brought an execration + from Lord March's lips. First was heard a scuffling without—then a + whispering—then an outcry as of a woman in tears, and then, finally, + a female rushed into the room, and produced that explosion of naughty + language from Lord March. + </p> + <p> + “I wish your women would take some other time for coming, confound 'em,” + says my lord, laying his cards down in a pet. + </p> + <p> + “What, Mrs. Betty!” cried Harry. + </p> + <p> + Indeed it was no other than Mrs. Betty, Lady Maria's maid; and Gumbo stood + behind her, his fine countenance beslobbered with tears. + </p> + <p> + “What has happened?” asks Mr. Warrington, in no little perturbation of + spirit. “The Baroness is well?” + </p> + <p> + “Help! help! sir, your honour!” ejaculates Mrs. Betty, and proceeds to + fall on her knees. + </p> + <p> + “Help whom?” + </p> + <p> + A howl ensues from Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + “Gumbo! you scoundrel! has anything happened between Mrs. Betty and you?” + asks the black's master. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gumbo steps back with great dignity, laying his hand on his heart, and + saying, “No, sir; nothing hab happened 'twix' this lady and me.” + </p> + <p> + “It's my mistress, sir,” cries Betty. “Help! help! here's the letter she + have wrote, sir! They have gone and took her, sir!” + </p> + <p> + “Is it only that old Molly Esmond? She's known to be over head and heels + in debt! Dry your eyes in the next room, Mrs. Betty, and let me and Mr. + Warrington go on with our game,” says my lord, taking up his cards. + </p> + <p> + “Help! help her!” cries Betty again. “Oh, Mr. Harry! you won't be a-going + on with your cards, when my lady calls out to you to come and help her! + Your honour used to come quick enough when my lady used to send me to + fetch you at Castlewood!” + </p> + <p> + “Confound you! can't you hold your tongue?” says my lord, with more choice + words and oaths. + </p> + <p> + But Betty would not cease weeping, and it was decreed that Lord March was + to cease winning for that night. Mr. Warrington rose from his seat, and + made for the bell, saying: + </p> + <p> + “My dear lord, the game must be over for to-night. My relative writes to + me in great distress, and I am bound to go to her.” + </p> + <p> + “Curse her! Why couldn't she wait till to-morrow?” cries my lord, testily. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington ordered a postchaise instantly. His own horses would take + him to Bromley. + </p> + <p> + “Bet you, you don't do it within the hour! bet you, you don't do it within + five quarters of an hour! bet you four to one—or I'll take your bet, + which you please—that you're not robbed on Blackheath! Bet you, you + are not at Tunbridge Wells before midnight!” cries Lord March. + </p> + <p> + “Done!” says Mr. Warrington. And my lord carefully notes down the terms of + the four wagers in his pocket-book. + </p> + <p> + Lady Maria's letter ran as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “MY DEAR COUSIN—I am fell into a trapp, which I perceive the + machinations of villians. I am a prisner. Betty will tell you all. Ah, my + Henrico! come to the resque of your MOLLY.” + </p> + <p> + In half an hour after the receipt of this missive, Mr. Warrington was in + his postchaise and galloping over Westminster Bridge on the road to + succour his kinswoman. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0038" id="link2HCH0038"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXVIII. Sampson and the Philistines + </h2> + <p> + My happy chance in early life led me to become intimate with a respectable + person who was born in a certain island, which is pronounced to be the + first gem of the ocean by, no doubt, impartial judges of maritime + jewellery. The stories which that person imparted to me regarding his + relatives who inhabited the gem above-mentioned, were such as used to make + my young blood curdle with horror to think there should be so much + wickedness in the world. Every crime which you can think of; the entire + Ten Commandments broken in a general smash; such rogueries and knaveries + as no storyteller could invent; such murders and robberies as Thurtell or + Turpin scarce ever perpetrated;—were by my informant accurately + remembered, and freely related, respecting his nearest kindred, to any one + who chose to hear him. It was a wonder how any of the family still lived + out of the hulks. Me brother Tim had brought his fawther's gree hairs with + sorrow to the greeve; me brother Mick had robbed the par'sh church + repaytedly; me sisther Annamaroia had jilted the Captain and run off with + the Ensign, forged her grandmother's will, and stole the spoons, which + Larry the knife-boy was hanged for. The family of Atreus was as nothing + compared to the race of O'What-d'ye-call-'em, from which my friend sprung; + but no power on earth would, of course, induce me to name the country + whence he came. + </p> + <p> + How great then used to be my naif astonishment to find these murderers, + rogues, parricides, habitual forgers of bills of exchange, and so forth, + every now and then writing to each other as “my dearest brother,” “my + dearest sister,” and for months at a time living on the most amicable + terms! With hands reeking with the blood of his murdered parents, Tim + would mix a screeching tumbler, and give Maria a glass from it. With lips + black with the perjuries he had sworn in court respecting his + grandmother's abstracted testament, or the murder of his poor brother + Thady's helpless orphans, Mick would kiss his sister Julia's bonny cheek, + and they would have a jolly night, and cry as they talked about old times, + and the dear old Castle What-d'ye-call-'em, where they were born, and the + fighting Onetyoneth being quarthered there, and the Major proposing for + Cyaroloine, and the tomb of their seented mother (who had chayted them out + of the propertee). Heaven bless her soul! They used to weep and kiss so + profusely at meeting and parting, that it was touching to behold them. At + the sight of their embraces one forgot those painful little stories, and + those repeated previous assurances that, did they tell all, they could + hang each other all round. + </p> + <p> + What can there be finer than forgiveness? What more rational than, after + calling a man by every bad name under the sun, to apologise, regret hasty + expressions, and so forth, withdraw the decanter (say) which you have + flung at your enemy's head, and be friends as before? Some folks possess + this admirable, this angellike gift of forgiveness. It was beautiful, for + instance, to see our two ladies at Tunbridge Wells forgiving one another, + smiling, joking, fondling almost in spite of the hard words of yesterday—yes, + and forgetting bygones, though they couldn't help remembering them + perfectly well. I wonder, can you and I do as much? Let us strive, my + friend, to acquire this pacable, Christian spirit. My belief is that you + may learn to forgive bad language employed to you; but, then, you must + have a deal of practice, and be accustomed to hear and use it. You embrace + after a quarrel and mutual bad language. Heaven bless us! Bad words are + nothing when one is accustomed to them, and scarce need ruffle the temper + on either side. + </p> + <p> + So the aunt and niece played cards very amicably together, and drank to + each other's health, and each took a wing of the chicken, and pulled a + bone of the merry-thought, and (in conversation) scratched their + neighbours', not each other's, eyes out. Thus we have read how the + Peninsular warriors, when the bugles sang truce, fraternised and exchanged + tobacco-pouches and wine, ready to seize their firelocks and knock each + other's heads off when the truce was over; and thus our old soldiers, + skilful in war, but knowing the charms of a quiet life, laid their weapons + down for the nonce, and hob-and-nobbed gaily together. Of course, whilst + drinking with Jack Frenchman, you have your piece handy to blow his brains + out if he makes a hostile move: but, meanwhile, it is A votre sante, mon + camarade! Here's to you, mounseer! and everything is as pleasant as + possible. Regarding Aunt Bernstein's threatened gout? The twinges had gone + off. Maria was so glad! Maria's fainting fits? She had no return of them. + A slight recurrence last night. The Baroness was so sorry! Her niece must + see the best doctor, take everything to fortify her, continue to take the + steel, even after she left Tunbridge. How kind of Aunt Bernstein to offer + to send some of the bottled waters after her! Suppose Madame Bernstein + says in confidence to her own woman, “Fainting fits!—pooh!—epilepsy! + inherited from that horrible scrofulous German mother!” What means have we + of knowing the private conversation of the old lady and her attendant? + Suppose Lady Maria orders Mrs. Betty, her ladyship's maid, to taste every + glass of medicinal water, first declaring that her aunt is capable of + poisoning her? Very likely such conversations take place. These are but + precautions—these are the firelocks which our old soldiers have at + their sides, loaded and cocked, but at present lying quiet on the grass. + </p> + <p> + Having Harry's bond in her pocket, the veteran Maria did not choose to + press for payment. She knew the world too well for that. He was bound to + her, but she gave him plenty of day-rule, and leave of absence on parole. + It was not her object needlessly to chafe and anger her young slave. She + knew the difference of ages, and that Harry must have his pleasures and + diversions. “Take your ease and amusement, cousin,” says Lady Maria. + “Frisk about, pretty little mousekin,” says grey Grimalkin, purring in the + corner, and keeping watch with her green eyes. About all that Harry was to + see and do on his first visit to London, his female relatives had of + course talked and joked. Both of the ladies knew perfectly what were a + young gentleman's ordinary amusements in those days, and spoke of them + with the frankness which characterised those easy times. + </p> + <p> + Our wily Calypso consoled herself, then, perfectly, in the absence of her + young wanderer, and took any diversion which came to hand. Mr. Jack + Morris, the gentleman whom we have mentioned as rejoicing in the company + of Lord March and Mr. Warrington, was one of these diversions. To live + with titled personages was the delight of Jack Morris's life; and to lose + money at cards to an earl's daughter was almost a pleasure to him. Now, + the Lady Maria Esmond was an earl's daughter who was very glad to win + money. She obtained permission to take Mr. Morris to the Countess of + Yarmouth's assembly, and played cards with him—and so everybody was + pleased. + </p> + <p> + Thus the first eight-and-forty hours after Mr. Warrington's departure + passed pretty cheerily at Tunbridge Wells, and Friday arrived, when the + sermon was to be delivered which we have seen Mr. Sampson preparing. The + company at the Wells were ready enough to listen to it. Sampson had a + reputation for being a most amusing and eloquent preacher; and if there + were no breakfast, conjurer, dancing bears, concert going on, the good + Wells folk would put up with a sermon. He knew Lady Yarmouth was coming, + and what a power she had in the giving of livings and the dispensing of + bishoprics, the Defender of the Faith of that day having a remarkable + confidence in her ladyship's opinion upon these matters;—and so we + may be sure that Mr. Sampson prepared his very best discourse for her + hearing. When the Great Man is at home at the Castle, and walks over to + the little country church, in the park, bringing the Duke, the Marquis, + and a couple of Cabinet Ministers with him, has it ever been your lot to + sit among the congregation, and watch Mr. Trotter the curate and his + sermon? He looks anxiously at the Great Pew; he falters as he gives out + his text, and thinks, “Ah! perhaps his lordship may give me a living!” + Mrs. Trotter and the girls look anxiously at the Great Pew too, and watch + the effects of papa's discourse—the well-known favourite discourse—upon + the big-wigs assembled. Papa's first nervousness is over: his noble voice + clears, warms to his sermon: he kindles: he takes his pocket-handkerchief + out: he is coming to that exquisite passage which has made them all cry at + the parsonage: he has begun it! Ah! What is that humming noise, which + fills the edifice, and causes hob-nailed Melibaeus to grin at + smock-frocked Tityrus? It is the Right Honourable Lord Naseby snoring in + the pew by the fire! And poor Trotter's visionary mitre disappears with + the music. + </p> + <p> + Sampson was the domestic chaplain of Madame Bernstein's nephew. The two + ladies of the Esmond family patronised the preacher. On the day of the + sermon, the Baroness had a little breakfast in his honour, at which + Sampson made his appearance, rosy and handsome, with a fresh-flowered wig, + and a smart, rustling, new cassock, which he had on credit from some + church-admiring mercer at the Wells. By the side of his patronesses, their + ladyships' lacqueys walking behind them with their great gilt + prayer-books, Mr. Sampson marched from breakfast to church. Every one + remarked how well the Baroness Bernstein looked; she laughed, and was + particularly friendly with her niece; she had a bow and a stately smile + for all, as she moved on, with her tortoiseshell cane. At the door there + was a dazzling conflux of rank and fashion—all the fine company of + the Wells trooping in; and her ladyship of Yarmouth, conspicuous with + vermilion cheeks, and a robe of flame-coloured taffeta. There were shabby + people present, besides the fine company, though these latter were by far + the most numerous. What an odd-looking pair, for instance, were those in + ragged coats, one of them with his carroty hair appearing under his + scratch-wig, and who entered the church just as the organ stopped! Nay, he + could not have been a Protestant, for he mechanically crossed himself as + he entered the place, saying to his comrade, “Bedad, Tim, I forgawt!” by + which I conclude that the individual came from an island which has been + mentioned at the commencement of this chapter. Wherever they go a rich + fragrance of whisky spreads itself. A man may be a heretic, but possess + genius: these Catholic gentlemen have come to pay homage to Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + Nay, there are not only members of the old religion present, but disciples + of a creed still older. Who are those two individuals with hooked noses + and sallow countenances, who worked into the church in spite of some + little opposition on the part of the beadle? Seeing the greasy appearance + of these Hebrew strangers, Mr. Beadle was for denying them admission. But + one whispered into his ear, “We wants to be conwerted, gov'nor!” another + slips money into his hand,—Mr. Beadle lifts up the mace with which + he was barring the doorway, and the Hebrew gentlemen enter. There goes the + organ! the doors have closed. Shall we go in, and listen to Mr. Sampson's + sermon, or lie on the grass without? + </p> + <p> + Preceded by that beadle in gold lace, Sampson walked up to the pulpit, as + rosy and jolly a man as you could wish to see. Presently, when he surged + up out of his plump pulpit cushion, why did his Reverence turn as pale as + death? He looked to the western church-door—there, on each side of + it, were those horrible Hebrew caryatides. He then looked to the + vestry-door, which was hard by the rector's pew, in which Sampson had been + sitting during the service, alongside of their ladyships his patronesses. + Suddenly a couple of perfumed Hibernian gentlemen slipped out of an + adjacent seat, and placed themselves on a bench close by that vestry-door + and rector's pew, and so sate till the conclusion of the sermon, with eyes + meekly cast down to the ground. How can we describe that sermon, if the + preacher himself never knew how it came to an end? + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, it was considered an excellent sermon. When it was over, the + fine ladies buzzed into one another's ears over their pews, and uttered + their praise and comments. Madame Walmoden, who was in the next pew to our + friends, said it was bewdiful, and made her dremble all over. Madame + Bernstein said it was excellent. Lady Maria was pleased to think that the + family chaplain should so distinguish himself. She looked up at him, and + strove to catch his reverence's eye, as he still sate in his pulpit; she + greeted him with a little wave of the hand and flutter of her + handkerchief. He scarcely seemed to note the compliment; his face was + pale, his eyes were looking yonder, towards the font, where those Hebrews + still remained. The stream of people passed by them—in a rush, when + they were lost to sight,—in a throng—in a march of twos and + threes—in a dribble of one at a time. Everybody was gone. The two + Hebrews were still there by the door. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness de Bernstein and her niece still lingered in the rector's + pew, where the old lady was deep in conversation with that gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Who are those horrible men at the door? and what a smell of spirits there + is!” cries Lady Maria, to Mrs. Brett, her aunt's woman, who had attended + the two ladies. + </p> + <p> + “Farewell, doctor; you have a darling little boy: is he to be a clergyman, + too?” asks Madame de Bernstein. “Are you ready, my dear?” And the pew is + thrown open, and Madame Bernstein, whose father was only a viscount, + insists that her niece, Lady Maria, who was an earl's daughter, should go + first out of the pew. + </p> + <p> + As she steps forward, those individuals whom her ladyship designated as + two horrible men, advance. One of them pulls a long strip of paper out of + his pocket, and her ladyship starts and turns pale. She makes for the + vestry, in a vague hope that she can clear the door and close it behind + her. The two whiskified gentlemen are up with her, however; one of them + actually lays his hand on her shoulder, and says: + </p> + <p> + “At the shuit of Misthress Pincott, of Kinsington, mercer, I have the + honour of arresting your leedyship. Me neem is Costigan, madam, a poor + gentleman of Oireland, binding to circumstances and forced to follow a + disagrayable profession. Will your leedyship walk, or shall me man go + fetch a cheer?” + </p> + <p> + For reply Lady Maria Esmond gives three shrieks, and falls swooning to the + ground. “Keep the door, Mick!” shouts Mr. Costigan. “Best let in no one + else, madam,” he says, very politely, to Madame de Bernstein. “Her + ladyship has fallen in a feenting fit, and will recover here, at her + aise.” + </p> + <p> + “Unlace her, Brett!” cries the old lady, whose eyes twinkle oddly; and as + soon as that operation is performed, Madame Bernstein seizes a little bag + suspended by a hair chain, which Lady Maria wears round her neck, and + snips the necklace in twain. “Dash some cold water over her face, it + always recovers her!” says the Baroness. “You stay with her, Brett. How + much is your suit gentlemen?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Costigan says, “The deem we have against her leedyship for one hundred + and thirty-two pounds, in which she is indebted to Misthress Eliza + Pincott” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, where is the Reverend Mr. Sampson? Like the fabled opossum we + have read of, who, when he spied the unerring gunner from his gum-tree, + said: “It's no use Major, I will come down,” so Sampson gave himself up to + his pursuers. “At whose suit, Simons?” he sadly asked. Sampson knew + Simons: they had met many a time before. + </p> + <p> + “Buckleby Cordwainer,” says Mr. Simons. + </p> + <p> + “Forty-eight pound and charges, I know,” says Mr. Sampson, with a sigh. “I + haven't got the money. What officer is there here?” Mr. Simons's + companion, Mr. Lyons, here stepped forward, and said his house was most + convenient, and often used by gentlemen, and he should be most happy and + proud to accommodate his reverence. + </p> + <p> + Two chairs happened to be in waiting outside the chapel. In those two + chairs my Lady Maria Esmond and Mr. Sampson placed themselves, and went to + Mr. Lyons's residence, escorted by the gentlemen to whom we have just been + introduced. + </p> + <p> + Very soon after the capture the Baroness Bernstein sent Mr. Case, her + confidential servant, with a note to her niece, full of expressions of the + most ardent affection: but regretting that her heavy losses at cards + rendered the payment of such a sum as that in which Lady Maria stood + indebted quite impossible. She had written off to Mrs. Pincott, by that + very post, however, to entreat her to grant time, and as soon as ever she + had an answer, would not fail to acquaint her dear unhappy niece. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Betty came over to console her mistress: and the two poor women cast + about for money enough to provide a horse and chaise for Mrs. Betty, who + had very nearly come to misfortune, too. Both my Lady Maria and her maid + had been unlucky at cards, and could not muster more than eighteen + shillings between them: so it was agreed that Betty should sell a gold + chain belonging to her lady, and with the money travel to London. Now, + Betty took the chain to the very toy-shop man who had sold it to Mr. + Warrington, who had given it to his cousin; and the toy-shop man, + supposing that she had stolen the chain, was for bringing in a constable + to Betty. Hence, she had to make explanations, and to say how her mistress + was in durance; and, ere the night closed, all Tunbridge Wells knew that + my Lady Maria Esmond was in the hands of bailiffs. Meanwhile, however, the + money was found, and Mrs. Betty whisked up to London in search of the + champion in whom the poor prisoner confided. + </p> + <p> + “Don't say anything about that paper being gone! Oh, the wretch, the + wretch! She shall pay it me!” I presume that Lady Maria meant her aunt by + the word “wretch.” Mr. Sampson read a sermon to her ladyship, and they + passed the evening over revenge and backgammon; with well-grounded hopes + that Harry Warrington would rush to their rescue as soon as ever he heard + of their mishap. + </p> + <p> + Though, ere the evening was over, every soul at the Wells knew what had + happened to Lady Maria, and a great deal more; though they knew she was + taken in execution, the house where she lay, the amount—nay, ten + times the amount—for which she was captured, and that she was + obliged to pawn her trinkets to get a little money to keep her in jail; + though everybody said that old fiend of a Bernstein was at the bottom of + the business, of course they were all civil and bland in society; and, at + my Lady Trumpington's cards that night, where Madame Bernstein appeared, + and as long as she was within hearing, not a word was said regarding the + morning's transactions. Lady Yarmouth asked the Baroness news of her + breddy nephew, and heard Mr. Warrington was in London. My Lady Maria was + not coming to Lady Trumpington's that evening? My Lady Maria was + indisposed, had fainted at church that morning, and was obliged to keep + her room. The cards were dealt, the fiddles sang, the wine went round, the + gentlefolks talked, laughed, yawned, chattered, the footmen waylaid the + supper, the chairmen drank and swore, the stars climbed the sky, just as + though no Lady Maria was imprisoned, and no poor Sampson arrested. 'Tis + certain, dearly beloved brethren, that the little griefs, stings, + annoyances, which you and I feel acutely in our own persons, don't prevent + our neighbours from sleeping; and that when we slip out of the world the + world does not miss us. Is this humiliating to our vanity? So much the + better. But, on the other hand, is it not a comfortable and consoling + truth? And mayn't we be thankful for our humble condition? If we were not + selfish—passez-moi le mot, s.v.p.—and if we had to care for + other people's griefs as much as our own, how intolerable human life would + be! If my neighbour's tight boot pinched my corn; if the calumny uttered + against Jones set Brown into fury; if Mrs. A's death plunged Messrs. B, C, + D, E, F, into distraction, would there be any bearing of the world's + burthen? Do not let us be in the least angry or surprised if all the + company played on, and were happy, although Lady Maria had come to grief. + Countess, the deal is with you! Are you going to Stubblefield to shoot as + usual, Sir John? Captain, we shall have you running off to the Bath after + the widow! So the clatter goes on; the lights burns; the beaux and the + ladies flirt, laugh, ogle; the prisoner rages in his cell; the sick man + tosses on his bed. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps Madame de Bernstein stayed at the assembly until the very last, + not willing to allow the company the chance of speaking of her as soon as + her back should be turned. Ah, what a comfort it is, I say again, that we + have backs, and that our ears don't grow on them! He that has ears to + hear, let him stuff them with cotton. Madame Bernstein might have heard + folks say it was heartless of her to come abroad, and play at cards, and + make merry when her niece was in trouble. As if she could help Maria by + staying at home, indeed! At her age, it is dangerous to disturb an old + lady's tranquillity. “Don't tell me!” says Lady Yarmouth. “The Bernstein + would play at cards over her niece's coffin. Talk about her heart! who + ever said she had one? That old spy lost it to the Chevalier a thousand + years ago, and has lived ever since perfectly well without one. For how + much is the Maria put in prison? If it were only a small sum we would pay + it, it would vex her aunt so. Find out, Fuchs, in the morning, for how + much Lady Maria Esmond is put in prison.” And the faithful Fuchs bowed, + and promised to do her Excellency's will. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, about midnight, Madame de Bernstein went home, and presently + fell into a sound sleep, from which she did not wake up until a late hour + of the morning, when she summoned her usual attendant, who arrived with + her ladyship's morning dish of tea. If I told you she took a dram with it, + you would be shocked. Some of our great-grandmothers used to have cordials + in their “closets.” Have you not read of the fine lady in Walpole, who + said, “If I drink more, I shall be 'muckibus!'?” As surely as Mr. Gough is + alive now, our ancestresses were accustomed to partake pretty freely of + strong waters. + </p> + <p> + So, having tipped off the cordial, Madame Bernstein rouses and asks Mrs. + Brett the news. + </p> + <p> + “He can give it you,” says the waiting-woman, sulkily. + </p> + <p> + “He? Who?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Brett names Harry, and says Mr. Warrington arrived about midnight + yesterday—and Betty, my Lady Maria's maid, was with him. “And my + Lady Maria sends your ladyship her love and duty, and hopes you slept + well,” says Brett. + </p> + <p> + “Excellently, poor thing! Is Betty gone to her?” + </p> + <p> + “No; she is here,” says Mrs. Brett. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see her directly,” cries the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell her,” replies the obsequious Brett, and goes away upon her + mistress's errand, leaving the old lady placidly reposing on her pillows. + Presently, two pairs of high-heeled shoes are heard pattering over the + deal floor of the bedchamber. Carpets were luxuries scarcely known in + bedrooms of those days. + </p> + <p> + “So, Mrs. Betty, you were in London yesterday?” calls Bernstein from her + curtains. + </p> + <p> + “It is not Betty—it is I! Good morning, dear aunt! I hope you slept + well?” cries a voice which made old Bernstein start on her pillow. It was + the voice of Lady Maria, who drew the curtains aside, and dropped her aunt + a low curtsey. Lady Maria looked very pretty, rosy, and happy. And with + the little surprise incident at her appearance through Madame Bernstein's + curtains, I think we may bring this chapter to a close. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0039" id="link2HCH0039"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXXIX. Harry to the Rescue + </h2> + <p> + “My dear Lord March” (wrote Mr. Warrington from Tunbridge Wells, on + Saturday morning, the 25th August, 1756): “This is to inform you (with + satisfaction) that I have one all our three betts. I was at Bromley two + minutes within the hour; my new horses kep a-going at a capital rate. I + drove them myself, having the postilion by me to show me the way, and my + black man inside with Mrs. Betty. Hope they found the drive very pleasant. + We were not stopped on Blackheath, though two fellows on horseback rode up + to us, but not liking the looks of our countenantses, rode off again; and + we got into Tunbridge Wells (where I transacted my business) at forty-five + minutes after eleven. This makes me quitts with your lordship after + yesterday's piquet, which I shall be very happy to give your revenge, and + am— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> +“Your most obliged, faithful servant, + +“H. ESMOND WARRINGTON.” + </pre> + <p> + And now, perhaps, the reader will understand by what means Lady Maria + Esmond was enabled to surprise her dear aunt in her bed on Saturday + morning, and walk out of the house of captivity. Having despatched Mrs. + Betty to London, she scarcely expected that her emissary would return on + the day of her departure; and she and the chaplain were playing their + cards at midnight, after a small refection which the bailiff's wife had + provided for them, when the rapid whirling of wheels was heard approaching + their house, and caused the lady to lay her trumps down, and her heart to + beat with more than ordinary emotion. Whirr came the wheels—the + carriage stopped at the very door: there was a parley at the gate: then + appeared Mrs. Betty, with a face radiant with joy, though her eyes were + full of tears; and next, who is that tall young gentleman who enters? Can + any of my readers guess? Will they be very angry if I say that the + chaplain slapped down his cards with a huzzay, whilst Lady Maria, turning + as white as a sheet, rose up from her chair, tottered forward a step or + two, and, with an hysterical shriek, flung herself in her cousin's arms? + How many kisses did he give her? If they were mille, deinde centum, dein + mille altera, dein secunda centum, and so on, I am not going to cry out. + He had come to rescue her. She knew he would; he was her champion, her + preserver from bondage and ignominy. She wept a genuine flood of tears + upon his shoulder, and as she reclines there, giving way to a hearty + emotion, I protest I think she looks handsomer than she has looked during + the whole course of this history. She did not faint this time; she went + home, leaning lovingly on her cousin's arm, and may have had one or two + hysterical outbreaks in the night; but Madame Bernstein slept soundly, and + did not hear her. + </p> + <p> + “You are both free to go home,” were the first words Harry said. “Get my + lady's hat and cardinal, Betty, and, Chaplain, we'll smoke a pipe together + at our lodgings, it will refresh me after my ride.” The chaplain, who, + too, had a great deal of available sensibility, was very much overcome; he + burst into tears as he seized Harry's hand, and kissed it, and prayed God + to bless his dear, generous, young patron. Mr. Warrington felt a glow of + pleasure thrill through his frame. It is good to be able to help the + suffering and the poor; it is good to be able to turn sorrow into joy. Not + a little proud and elated was our young champion, as, with his hat cocked, + he marched by the side of his rescued princess. His feelings came out to + meet him, as it were, and beautiful happinesses with kind eyes and smiles + danced before him, and clad him in a robe of honour, and scattered flowers + on his path, and blew trumpets and shawms of sweet gratulation, calling, + “Here comes the conqueror! Make way for the champion!” And so they led him + up to the king's house, and seated him in the hall of complacency, upon + the cushions of comfort. And yet it was not much he had done. Only a + kindness. He had but to put his hand in his pocket, and with an easy + talisman, drive off the dragon which kept the gate, and cause the tyrant + to lay down his axe, who had got Lady Maria in execution. Never mind if + his vanity is puffed up; he is very good-natured; he has rescued two + unfortunate people, and pumped tears of goodwill and happiness out of + their eyes:—and if he brags a little to-night, and swaggers somewhat + to the chaplain, and talks about London, and Lord March, and White's, and + Almack's, with the air of a macaroni, I don't think we need like him much + the less. + </p> + <p> + Sampson continued to be prodigiously affected. This man had a nature most + easily worked upon, and extraordinarily quick to receive pain and + pleasure, to tears, gratitude, laughter, hatred, liking. In his preaching + profession he had educated and trained his sensibilities so that they were + of great use to him; he was for the moment what he acted. He wept quite + genuine tears, finding that he could produce them freely. He loved you + whilst he was with you; he had a real pang of grief as he mingled his + sorrow with the widow or orphan; and, meeting Jack as he came out of the + door, went to the tavern opposite, and laughed and roared over the bottle. + He gave money very readily, but never repaid when he borrowed. He was on + this night in a rapture of gratitude and flattery towards Harry + Warrington. In all London, perhaps, the unlucky Fortunate Youth could not + have found a more dangerous companion. + </p> + <p> + To-night he was in his grateful mood, and full of enthusiasm for the + benefactor who had released him from durance. With each bumper his + admiration grew stronger. He exalted Harry as the best and noblest of men, + and the complacent young simpleton, as we have said, was disposed to take + these praises as very well deserved. “The younger branch of our family,” + said Mr. Harry, with a superb air, “have treated you scurvily; but, by + Jove, Sampson my boy, I'll stand by you!” At a certain period of + Burgundian excitement Mr. Warrington was always very eloquent respecting + the splendour of his family. “I am very glad I was enabled to help you in + your strait. Count on me whenever you want me, Sampson. Did you not say + you had a sister at boarding-school? You will want money for her, sir. + Here is a little bill which may help to pay her schooling.” And the + liberal young fellow passed a bank-note across to the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + Again the man was affected to tears. Harry's generosity smote him. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington,” he said, putting the bank-note a short distance from + him, “I—I don't deserve your kindness—by George, I don't!” and + he swore an oath to corroborate his passionate assertion. + </p> + <p> + “Psha!” says Harry. “I have plenty more of 'em. There was no money in that + confounded pocket-book which I lost last week.” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir. There was no money!” says Mr. Sampson, dropping his head. + </p> + <p> + “Hallo! How do you know, Mr. Chaplain?” asks the young gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “I know because I am a villain, sir. I am not worthy of your kindness. I + told you so. I found the book, sir, that night, when you had too much wine + at Barbeau's.” + </p> + <p> + “And read the letters?” asked Mr. Warrington, starting up and turning very + red. + </p> + <p> + “They told me nothing I did not know, sir,” said the chaplain “You have + had spies about you whom you little suspect—from whom you are much + too young and simple to be able to keep your secret.” + </p> + <p> + “Are those stories about Lady Fanny, and my cousin Will and his doings, + true then?” inquired Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, they are true,” sighed the chaplain. “The house of Castlewood has + not been fortunate, sir, since your honour's branch, the elder branch, + left it.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir, you don't dare for to breathe a word against my Lady Maria?” Harry + cried out. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not for worlds!” says Mr. Sampson, with a queer look at his young + friend. “I may think she is too old for your honour, and that 'tis a pity + you should not have a wife better suited to your age, though I admit she + looks very young for hers, and hath every virtue and accomplishment.” + </p> + <p> + “She is too old, Sampson, I know she is,” says Mr. Warrington, with much + majesty; “but she has my word, and you see, sir, how fond she is of me. Go + bring me the letters, sir, which you found, and let me try and forgive you + for having seized upon them.” + </p> + <p> + “My benefactor, let me try and forgive myself!” cries Mr. Sampson, and + departed towards his chamber, leaving his young patron alone over his + wine. + </p> + <p> + Sampson returned presently, looking very pale. “What has happened, sir?” + says Harry, with an imperious air. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain held out a pocket-book. “With your name in it, sir,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “My brother's name in it,” says Harry; “it was George who gave it to me.” + </p> + <p> + “I kept it in a locked chest, sir, in which I left it this morning before + I was taken by those people. Here is the book, sir, but the letters are + gone. My trunk and valise have also been tampered with. And I am a + miserable, guilty man, unable to make you the restitution which I owe + you.” Sampson looked the picture of woe as he uttered these sentiments. He + clasped his hands together, and almost knelt before Harry in an attitude + the most pathetic. + </p> + <p> + Who had been in the rooms in Mr. Sampson's and Mr. Warrington's absence? + The landlady was ready to go on her knees, and declare that nobody had + come in: nor, indeed, was Mr. Warrington's chamber in the least disturbed, + nor anything abstracted from Mr. Sampson's scanty wardrobe and + possessions, except those papers of which he deplored the absence. + </p> + <p> + Whose interest was it to seize them? Lady Maria's? The poor woman had been + a prisoner all day, and during the time when the capture was effected. + </p> + <p> + She certainly was guiltless of the rape of the letters. The sudden seizure + of the two—Case, the house-steward's secret journey to London,—Case, + who knew the shoemaker at whose house Sampson lodged in London, and all + the secret affairs of the Esmond family,—these points, considered + together and separately, might make Mr. Sampson think that the Baroness + Bernstein was at the bottom of this mischief. But why arrest Lady Maria? + The chaplain knew nothing as yet about that letter which her ladyship had + lost; for poor Maria had not thought it necessary to confide her secret to + him. + </p> + <p> + As for the pocket-book and its contents, Mr. Harry was so swollen up with + self-satisfaction that evening, at winning his three bets, at rescuing his + two friends, at the capital premature cold supper of partridges and + ancient Burgundy which obsequious Monsieur Barbeau had sent over to the + young gentleman's lodgings, that he accepted Sampson's vows of contrition, + and solemn promises of future fidelity, and reached his gracious hand to + the chaplain, and condoned his offence. When the latter swore his great + gods, that henceforth he would be Harry's truest, humblest friend and + follower, and at any moment would be ready to die for Mr. Warrington, + Harry said, majestically, “I think, Sampson, you would; I hope you would. + My family—the Esmond family—has always been accustomed to have + faithful friends round about 'em—and to reward 'em too. The wine's + with you, Chaplain. What toast do you call, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “I call a blessing on the house of Esmond-Warrington!” cries the chaplain, + with real tears in his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “We are the elder branch, sir. My grandfather was the Marquis of Esmond,” + says Mr. Harry, in a voice noble but somewhat indistinct. “Here's to you, + Chaplain—and I forgive you, sir—and God bless you, sir—and + if you had been took for three times as much, I'd have paid it. Why, + what's that I see through the shutters? I am blest if the sun hasn't risen + again! We have no need of candles to go to bed, ha, ha!” And once more + extending his blessing to his chaplain, the young fellow went off to + sleep. + </p> + <p> + About noon Madame de Bernstein sent over a servant to say that she would + be glad if her nephew would come over and drink a dish of chocolate with + her, whereupon our young friend rose and walked to his aunt's lodgings. + She remarked, not without pleasure, some alteration in his toilette: in + his brief sojourn in London he had visited a tailor or two, and had been + introduced by my Lord March to some of his lordship's purveyors and + tradesmen. + </p> + <p> + Aunt Bernstein called him “my dearest child,” and thanked him for his + noble, his generous behaviour to dear Maria. What a shock that seizure in + church had been to her! A still greater shock that she had lost three + hundred only on the Wednesday night to Lady Yarmouth, and was quite a sec. + “Why,” said the Baroness, “I had to send Case to London to my agent to get + me money to pay—I could not leave Tunbridge in her debt.” + </p> + <p> + “So Case did go to London?” says Mr. Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Of course he did: the Baroness de Bernstein can't afford to say she is + court d'argent. Canst thou lend me some, child?” + </p> + <p> + “I can give your ladyship twenty-two pounds,” said Harry, blushing very + red: “I have but forty-four left till I get my Virginian remittances. I + have bought horses and clothes, and been very extravagant, aunt.” + </p> + <p> + “And rescued your poor relations in distress, you prodigal good boy. No, + child, I do not want thy money. I can give thee some. Here is a note upon + my agent for fifty pounds, vaurien! Go and spend it, and be merry! I dare + say thy mother will repay me, though she does not love me.” And she looked + quite affectionate, and held out a pretty hand, which the youth kissed. + </p> + <p> + “Your mother did not love me, but your mother's father did once. Mind, + sir, you always come to me when you have need of me.” + </p> + <p> + When bent on exhibiting them, nothing could exceed Beatrix Bernstein's + grace or good-humour. “I can't help loving you, child,” she continued, + “and yet I am so angry with you that I have scarce the patience to speak + to you. So you have actually engaged yourself to poor Maria, who is as old + as your mother? What will Madam Esmond say? She may live three hundred + years, and you will not have wherewithal to support yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “I have ten thousand pounds from my father, of my own, now my poor brother + is gone,” said Harry, “that will go some way.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, the interest will not keep you in card-money.” + </p> + <p> + “We must give up cards,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “It is more than Maria is capable of. She will pawn the coat off your back + to play. The rage for it runs in all my brother's family—in me too, + I own it. I warned you. I prayed you not to play with them, and now a lad + of twenty to engage himself to a woman of forty-two!—to write + letters on his knees and signed with his heart's blood (which he spells + like hartshorn), and say that he will marry no other woman than his + adorable cousin, Lady Maria Esmond. Oh! it's cruel—cruel!” + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens! madam, who showed you my letter?” asked Harry, burning + with a blush again. + </p> + <p> + “An accident. She fainted when she was taken by those bailiffs. Brett cut + her laces for her; and when she was carried off, poor thing, we found a + little sachet on the floor, which I opened, not knowing in the least what + it contained. And in it was Mr. Harry Warrington's precious letter. And + here, sir, is the case.” + </p> + <p> + A pang shot through Harry's heart. “Great heavens! why didn't she destroy + it?” he thought. + </p> + <p> + “I—I will give it back to Maria,” he said, stretching out his hand + for the little locket. + </p> + <p> + “My dear, I have burned the foolish letter,” said the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “If you choose to betray me I must take the consequence. If you choose to + write another, I cannot help thee. But, in that case, Harry Esmond, I had + rather never see thee again. Will you keep my secret? Will you believe an + old woman who loves you and knows the world better than you do? I tell + you, if you keep that foolish promise, misery and ruin are surely in store + for you. What is a lad like you in the hands of a wily woman of the world, + who makes a toy of you? She has entrapped you into a promise, and your old + aunt has cut the strings and set you free. Go back again! Betray me if you + will, Harry.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not angry with you, aunt—I wish I were,” said Mr. Warrington, + with very great emotion. “I—I shall not repeat what you told me.” + </p> + <p> + “Maria never will, child—mark my words!” cried the old lady, + eagerly. “She will never own that she has lost that paper. She will tell + you that she has it.” + </p> + <p> + “But I am sure she—she is very fond of me; you should have seen her + last night,” faltered Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Must I tell more stories against my own flesh and blood?” sobs out the + Baroness. “Child, you do not know her past life!” + </p> + <p> + “And I must not, and I will not!” cries Harry, starting up. “Written or + said—it does not matter which! But my word is given; they may play + with such things in England, but we gentlemen of Virginia don't break 'em. + If she holds me to my word, she shall have me. If we are miserable, as I + dare say we shall be, I'll take a firelock, and go join the King of + Prussia, or let a ball put an end to me.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I have no more to say. Will you be pleased to ring that bell? I—I + wish you a good morning, Mr. Warrington,” and dropping a very stately + curtsey, the old lady rose on her tortoiseshell stick, and turned towards + the door. But, as she made her first step, she put her hand to her heart, + sank on the sofa again, an shed the first tears that had dropped for long + years from Beatrix Esmond's eyes. + </p> + <p> + Harry was greatly moved, too. He knelt down by her. He seized her cold + hand, and kissed it. He told her, in his artless way, how very keenly he + had felt her love for him, and how, with all his heart, he returned it. + “Ah, aunt!” said he, “you don't know what a villain I feel myself. When + you told me, just now how that paper was burned—oh! I was ashamed to + think how glad I was.” He bowed his comely head over her hand. She felt + hot drops from his eyes raining on it. She had loved this boy. For half a + century past—never, perhaps, in the course of her whole worldly + life, had she felt a sensation so tender and so pure. The hard heart was + wounded now, softened, overcome. She put her two hands on his shoulders, + and lightly kissed his forehead. + </p> + <p> + “You will not tell her what I have done, child?” she said. + </p> + <p> + He declared never! never! And demure Mrs. Brett, entering at her + mistress's summons, found the nephew and aunt in this sentimental + attitude. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0040" id="link2HCH0040"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XL. In which Harry pays off an Old Debt, and incurs some New Ones + </h2> + <p> + Our Tunbridge friends were now weary of the Wells, and eager to take their + departure. When the autumn should arrive, Bath was Madame de Bernstein's + mark. There were more cards, company, life, there. She would reach it + after paying a few visits to her country friends. Harry promised, with + rather a bad grace, to ride with Lady Maria and the chaplain to + Castlewood. Again they passed by Oakhurst village, and the hospitable + house where Harry had been so kindly entertained. Maria made so many keen + remarks about the young ladies of Oakhurst, and their setting their caps + at Harry, and the mother's evident desire to catch him for one of them, + that, somewhat in a pet, Mr. Warrington said he would pass his friends' + door, as her ladyship disliked and abused them; and was very haughty and + sulky that evening at the inn where they stopped, some few miles farther + on the road. At supper, my Lady Maria's smiles brought no corresponding + good-humour to Harry's face; her tears (which her ladyship had at command) + did not seem to create the least sympathy from Mr. Warrington; to her + querulous remarks he growled a surly reply; and my lady was obliged to go + to bed at length without getting a single tete-a-tete with her cousin,—that + obstinate chaplain, as if by order, persisting in staying in the room. Had + Harry given Sampson orders to remain? She departed with a sigh. He bowed + her to the door with an obstinate politeness, and consigned her to the + care of the landlady and her maid. + </p> + <p> + What horse was that which galloped out of the inn-yard ten minutes after + Lady Maria had gone to her chamber? An hour after her departure from their + supper-room, Mrs. Betty came in for her lady's bottle of smelling-salts, + and found Parson Sampson smoking a pipe alone. Mr. Warrington was gone to + bed—was gone to fetch a walk in the moonlight—how should he + know where Mr. Harry was? Sampson answered, in reply to the maid's + interrogatories. Mr. Warrington was ready to set forward the next morning, + and took his place by the side of Lady Maria's carriage. But his brow was + black—the dark spirit was still on him. He hardly spoke to her + during the journey. “Great heavens! she must have told him that she stole + it!” thought Lady Maria within her own mind. + </p> + <p> + The fact is, that, as they were walking up that steep hill which lies + about three miles from Oakhurst, on the Westerham road, Lady Maria Esmond, + leaning on her fond youth's arm, and indeed very much in love with him, + had warbled into his ear the most sentimental vows, protests, and + expressions of affection. As she grew fonder, he grew colder. As she + looked up in his face, the sun shone down upon hers, which, fresh and + well-preserved as it was, yet showed some of the lines and wrinkles of + twoscore years; and poor Harry, with that arm leaning on his, felt it + intolerably weighty, and by no means relished his walk up the hill. To + think that all his life, that drag was to be upon him! It was a dreary + look forward and he cursed the moonlight walk, and the hot evening, and + the hot wine which had made him give that silly pledge by which he was + fatally bound. + </p> + <p> + Maria's praises and raptures annoyed Harry beyond measure. The poor thing + poured out scraps of the few plays which she knew that had reference to + her case, and strove with her utmost power to charm her young companion. + She called him, over and over again, her champion, her Henrico, her + preserver, and vowed that his Molinda would be ever, ever faithful to him. + She clung to him. “Ah, child! have I not thy precious image, thy precious + hair, thy precious writing here?” she said, looking in his face. “Shall it + not go with me to the grave? It would, sir, were I to meet with unkindness + from my Henrico!” she sighed out. + </p> + <p> + Here was a strange story! Madame Bernstein had given him the little silken + case—she had burned the hair and the note which the case contained, + and Maria had it still on her heart! It was then, at the start which Harry + gave, as she was leaning on his arm—at the sudden movement as if he + would drop hers—that Lady Maria felt her first pang of remorse that + she had told a fib, or rather, that she was found out in telling a fib, + which is a far more cogent reason for repentance. Heaven help us! if some + people were to do penance for telling lies, would they ever be out of + sackcloth and ashes? + </p> + <p> + Arrived at Castlewood, Mr. Harry's good-humour was not increased. My lord + was from home; the ladies also were away; the only member of the family + whom Harry found, was Mr. Will, who returned from partridge-shooting just + as the chaise and cavalcade reached the gate, and who turned very pale + when he saw his cousin, and received a sulky scowl of recognition from the + young Virginian. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he thought to put a good face on the matter, and they met at + supper, where, before my Lady Maria, their conversation was at first + civil, but not lively. Mr. Will had been to some races? To several. He had + been pretty successful in his bets? Mr. Warrington hopes. Pretty well. + “And you have brought back my horse sound?” asked Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Your horse! what horse?” asked Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “What horse? my horse!” says Mr. Harry, curtly. + </p> + <p> + “Protest I don't understand you,” says Will. + </p> + <p> + “The brown horse for which I played you, and which I won of you the night + before you rode away upon it,” says Mr. Warrington, sternly. “You remember + the horse, Mr. Esmond.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington, I perfectly well remember playing you for a horse, which + my servant handed over to you on the day of your departure.” + </p> + <p> + “The chaplain was present at our play. Mr. Sampson, will you be umpire + between us?” Mr. Warrington said, with much gentleness. + </p> + <p> + “I am bound to decide that Mr. Warrington played for the brown horse,” + says Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Well, he got the other one,” said sulky Mr. Will, with a grin. + </p> + <p> + “And sold it for thirty shillings!” said Mr. Warrington, always preserving + his calm tone. + </p> + <p> + Will was waggish. “Thirty shillings? and a devilish good price, too, for + the broken-kneed old rip. Ha, ha!” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word more. 'Tis only a question about a bet, my dear Lady Maria. + Shall I serve you some more chicken?” Nothing could be more studiously + courteous and gay than Mr. Warrington was, so long as the lady remained in + the room. When she rose to go, Harry followed her to the door, and closed + it upon her with the most courtly bow of farewell. He stood at the closed + door for a moment, and then he bade the servants retire. When those + menials were gone, Mr. Warrington locked the heavy door before them, and + pocketed the key. + </p> + <p> + As it clicked in the lock, Mr. Will, who had been sitting over his punch, + looking now and then askance at his cousin, asked, with one of the oaths + which commonly garnished his conversation, what the—Mr. Warrington + meant by that? + </p> + <p> + “I guess there's going to be a quarrel,” said Mr. Warrington, blandly, + “and there is no use in having these fellows look on at rows between their + betters.” + </p> + <p> + “Who is going to quarrel here, I should like to know?” asked Will, looking + very pale, and grasping a knife. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Sampson, you were present when I played Mr. Will fifty guineas + against his brown horse?” + </p> + <p> + “Against his horse!” bawls out Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “I am not such a something fool as you take me for,” says Mr. Warrington, + “although I do come from Virginia!” And he repeated his question: “Mr. + Sampson, you were here when I played the Honourable William Esmond, + Esquire, fifty guineas against his brown horse?” + </p> + <p> + “I must own it, sir,” says the chaplain, with a deprecatory look towards + his lord's brother. + </p> + <p> + “I don't own no such a thing,” says Mr. Will, with rather a forced laugh. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir: because it costs you no more pains to lie than to cheat,” said + Mr. Warrington, walking up to his cousin. “Hands off, Mr. Chaplain, and + see fair play! Because you are no better than a—ha!——” + </p> + <p> + No better than a what we can't say, and shall never know, for as Harry + uttered the exclamation, his dear cousin flung a wine bottle at Mr. + Warrington's head, who bobbed just in time, so that the missile flew + across the room, and broke against the wainscot opposite, breaking the + face of a pictured ancestor of the Esmond family, and then itself against + the wall, whence it spirted a pint of good port wine over the chaplain's + face and flowered wig. “Great heavens, gentlemen, I pray you to be quiet!” + cried the parson, dripping with gore. + </p> + <p> + But gentlemen are not inclined at some moments to remember the commands of + the Church. The bottle having failed, Mr. Esmond seized the large + silver-handled knife and drove at his cousin. But Harry caught up the + other's right hand with his left, as he had seen the boxers do at + Marybone; and delivered a rapid blow upon Mr. Esmond's nose, which sent + him reeling up against the oak panels, and I dare say caused him to see + ten thousand illuminations. He dropped his knife in his retreat against + the wall, which his rapid antagonist kicked under the table. + </p> + <p> + Now Will, too, had been at Marybone and Hockley-in-the-Hole, and after a + gasp for breath and a glare over his bleeding nose at his enemy, he dashed + forward his head as though it had been a battering-ram, intending to + project it into Mr. Henry Warrington's stomach. + </p> + <p> + This manoeuvre Harry had seen, too, on his visit to Marybone, and amongst + the negroes upon the maternal estate, who would meet in combat like two + concutient cannon-balls, each harder than the other. But Harry had seen + and marked the civilised practice of the white man. He skipped aside, and, + saluting his advancing enemy with a tremendous blow on the right ear, + felled him, so that he struck his head against the heavy oak table and + sank lifeless to the ground. + </p> + <p> + “Chaplain, you will bear witness that it has been a fair fight!” said Mr. + Warrington, still quivering with the excitement of the combat, but + striving with all his might to restrain himself and look cool. And he drew + the key from his pocket and opened the door in the lobby, behind which + three or four servants were gathered. A crash of broken glass, a cry, a + shout, an oath or two, had told them that some violent scene was occurring + within, and they entered, and behold two victims bedabbled with red—the + chaplain bleeding port wine, and the Honourable William Esmond, Esquire, + stretched in his own gore. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Sampson will bear witness that I struck fair, and that Mr. Esmond hit + the first blow,” said Mr. Warrington. “Undo his neckcloth, somebody—he + may be dead; and get a fleam, Gumbo, and bleed him. Stop! He is coming to + himself! Lift him up, you, and tell a maid to wash the floor.” + </p> + <p> + Indeed, in a minute, Mr. Will did come to himself. First his eyes rolled + about, or rather, I am ashamed to say, his eye, one having been closed by + Mr. Warrington's first blow. First, then, his eye rolled about; then he + gasped and uttered an inarticulate moan or two, then he began to swear and + curse very freely and articulately. + </p> + <p> + “He is getting well,” said Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, praise be Mussy!” sighs the sentimental Betty. + </p> + <p> + “Ask him, Gumbo, whether he would like any more?” said Mr. Warrington, + with a stern humour. + </p> + <p> + “Massa Harry say, wool you like any maw?” asked obedient Gumbo, bowing + over the prostrate gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “No, curse you, you black devil!” says Mr. Will, hitting up at the black + object before him. (“So he nearly cut my tongue in to in my mouf!” Gumbo + explained to the pitying Betty.) “No, that is, yes! You infernal Mohock! + Why does not somebody kick him out of the place?” + </p> + <p> + “Because nobody dares, Mr. Esmond,” says Mr. Warrington, with great state, + arranging his ruffles—his ruffled ruffles. + </p> + <p> + “And nobody won't neither,” growled the men. They had all grown to love + Harry, whereas Mr. Will had nobody's good word. + </p> + <p> + “We know all's fair, sir. It ain't the first time Master William have been + served so.” + </p> + <p> + “And I hope it won't be the last,” cries shrill Betty. “To go for to + strike a poor black gentleman so!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Will had gathered himself up by this time, had wiped his bleeding face + with a napkin, and was skulking off to bed. + </p> + <p> + “Surely it's manners to say good night to the company. Good night, Mr. + Esmond,” says Mr. Warrington, whose jokes, though few, were not very + brilliant; but the honest lad relished the brilliant sally and laughed at + it inwardly. + </p> + <p> + “He's ad his zopper, and he goes to baid!” says Betty, in her native + dialect, at which everybody laughed outright, except Mr. William, who went + away leaving a black fume of curses, as it were, rolling out of that + funnel, his mouth. + </p> + <p> + It must be owned that Mr. Warrington continued to be witty the next + morning. He sent a note to Mr. Will begging to know whether he was for a + ride to town or anywheres else. If he was for London, that he would friten + the highwaymen on Hounslow Heath, and look a very genteel figar at the + Chocolate House. Which letter, I fear, Mr. Will received with his usual + violence, requesting the writer to go to some place—not Hounslow. + </p> + <p> + And, besides the parley between Will and Harry, there comes a maiden + simpering to Mr. Warrington's door, and Gumbo advances, holding something + white and triangular in his ebon fingers. + </p> + <p> + Harry knew what it was well enough. “Of course it's a letter,” groans he. + Molinda greets her Enrico, etc. etc. etc. No sleep has she known that + night, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth. Has Enrico slept well in + the halls of his fathers? und so weiter, und so weiter. He must never + never quaril and be so cruel again. Kai ta loipa. And I protest I shan't + quote any more of this letter. Ah, tablets, golden once,—are ye now + faded leaves? Where is the juggler who transmuted you, and why is the + glamour over? + </p> + <p> + After the little scandal with cousin Will, Harry's dignity would not allow + him to stay longer at Castlewood: he wrote a majestic letter to the lord + of the mansion, explaining the circumstances which had occurred, and, as + he called in Parson Sampson to supervise the document, no doubt it + contained none of those eccentricities in spelling which figured in his + ordinary correspondence at this period. He represented to poor Maria, that + after blackening the eye and damaging the nose of a son of the house, he + should remain in it with a very bad grace; and she was forced to acquiesce + in the opinion that, for the present, his absence would best become him. + Of course, she wept plentiful tears at parting with him. He would go to + London, and see younger beauties: he would find none, none who would love + him like his fond Maria. I fear Mr. Warrington did not exhibit any + profound emotion on leaving her: nay, he cheered up immediately after he + crossed Castlewood Bridge, and made his horses whisk over the road at ten + miles an hour: he sang to them to go along: he nodded to the pretty girls + by the roadside: he chucked my landlady under the chin: he certainly was + not inconsolable. Truth is, he longed to be back in London again, to make + a figure at St. James's, at Newmarket, wherever the men of fashion + congregated. All that petty Tunbridge society of women and card-playing + seemed child's-play to him now he had tasted the delight of London life. + </p> + <p> + By the time he reached London again, almost all the four-and-forty pounds + which we have seen that he possessed at Tunbridge had slipped out of his + pocket, and further supplies were necessary. Regarding these he made + himself presently easy. There were the two sums of 5000 pounds in his own + and his brother's name, of which he was the master. He would take up a + little money, and with a run or two of good luck at play he could easily + replace it. Meantime he must live in a manner becoming his station, and it + must be explained to Madam Esmond that a gentleman of his rank cannot keep + fitting company, and appear as becomes him in society, upon a miserable + pittance of two hundred a year. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington sojourned at the Bedford Coffee-House as before, but only + for a short while. He sought out proper lodgings at the Court end of the + town, and fixed on some apartments in Bond Street, where he and Gumbo + installed themselves, his horses standing at a neighbouring livery-stable. + And now tailors, mercers, and shoemakers were put in requisition. Not + without a pang of remorse, he laid aside his mourning and figured in a + laced hat and waistcoat. Gumbo was always dexterous in the art of dressing + hair, and with a little powder flung into his fair locks Mr. Warrington's + head was as modish as that of any gentleman in the Mall. He figured in the + Ring in his phaeton. Reports of his great wealth had long since preceded + him to London, and not a little curiosity was excited about the fortunate + Virginian. + </p> + <p> + Until our young friend could be balloted for at the proper season, my Lord + March had written down his name for the club at White's Chocolate-House, + as a distinguished gentleman from America. There were as yet but few + persons of fashion in London, but with a pocket full of money at + one-and-twenty, a young fellow can make himself happy even out of the + season; and Mr. Harry was determined to enjoy. + </p> + <p> + He ordered Mr. Draper, then, to sell five hundred pounds of his stock. + What would his poor mother have said had she known that the young + spendthrift was already beginning to dissipate his patrimony? He dined at + the tavern, he supped at the club, where Jack Morris introduced him, with + immense eulogiums, to such gentlemen as were in town. Life and youth and + pleasure were before him, the wine was set a-running, and the eager lad + was greedy to drink. Do you see, far away in the west yonder, the pious + widow at her prayers for her son? Behind the trees at Oakhurst a tender + little heart, too, is beating for him, perhaps. When the Prodigal Son was + away carousing, were not love and forgiveness still on the watch for him? + </p> + <p> + Amongst the inedited letters of the late Lord Orford, there is one which + the present learned editor, Mr. Peter Cunningbam, has omitted from his + collection, doubting possibly the authenticity of the document. Nay, I + myself have only seen a copy of it in the Warrington papers in Madam + Esmond's prim handwriting, and noted “Mr. H. Walpole's account of my son + Henry at London, and of Baroness Tusher,—wrote to General Conway.” + </p> + <p> + “ARLINGTON STREET, Friday Night. + </p> + <p> + “I have come away, child, for a day or two from my devotions to our Lady + of Strawberry. Have I not been on my knees to her these three weeks, and + aren't the poor old joints full of rheumatism? A fit took me that I would + pay London a visit, that I would go to Vauxhall and Ranelagh. Quoi! May I + not have my rattle as well as other elderly babies? Suppose, after being + so long virtuous, I take a fancy to cakes and ale, shall your reverence + say nay to me? George Selwyn and Tony Storer and your humble servant took + boat at Westminster t'other night. Was it Tuesday?—no, Tuesday I was + with their Graces of Norfolk, who are just from Tunbridge—it was + Wednesday. How should I know? Wasn't I dead drunk with a whole pint of + lemonade I took at White's? + </p> + <p> + “The Norfolk folk had been entertaining me on Tuesday with the account of + a young savage Iroquois, Choctaw, or Virginian, who has lately been making + a little noise in our quarter of the globe. He is an offshoot of that + disreputable family of Esmond, Castlewood, of whom all the men are + gamblers and spendthrifts, and all the women—well, I shan't say the + word, lest Lady Ailesbury should be looking over your shoulder. Both the + late lords, my father told me, were in his pay, and the last one, a beau + of Queen Anne's reign, from a viscount advanced to be an earl through the + merits and intercession of his notorious old sister Bernstein, late + Tusher, nee Esmond—a great beauty, too, of her day, a favourite of + the old Pretender. She sold his secrets to my papa, who paid her for them; + and being nowise particular in her love for the Stuarts, came over to the + august Hanoverian house at present reigning over us. 'Will Horace + Walpole's tongue never stop scandal?' says your wife over your shoulder. I + kiss your ladyship's hand. I am dumb. The Bernstein is a model of virtue. + She had no good reasons for marrying her father's chaplain. Many of the + nobility omit the marriage altogether. She wasn't ashamed of being Mrs. + Tusher, and didn't take a German Baroncino for a second husband, whom + nobody out of Hanover ever saw. The Yarmouth bears no malice. Esther and + Vashti are very good friends, and have been cheating each other at + Tunbridge at cards all the summer. + </p> + <p> + “'And what has all this to do with the Iroquois?' says your ladyship. The + Iroquois has been at Tunbridge, too—not cheating, perhaps, but + winning vastly. They say he has bled Lord March of thousands—Lord + March, by whom so much blood hath been shed, that he has quarrelled with + everybody, fought with everybody, rode over everybody, been fallen in love + with by everybody's wife except Mr. Conway's, and not excepting her + present Majesty, the Countess of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, + Queen of Walmoden and Yarmouth, whom Heaven preserve to us. + </p> + <p> + “You know an offensive little creature, de par le monde, one Jack Morris, + who skips in and out of all the houses of London. When we were at + Vauxhall, Mr. Jack gave us a nod under the shoulder of a pretty young + fellow enough, on whose arm he was leaning, and who appeared hugely + delighted with the enchantments of the garden. Lord, how he stared at the + fireworks! Gods, how he huzzayed at the singing of a horrible painted + wench who shrieked the ears off my head! A twopenny string of glass beads + and a strip of tawdry cloth are treasures in Iroquois-land, and our savage + valued them accordingly. + </p> + <p> + “A buzz went about the place that this was the fortunate youth. He won + three hundred at White's last night very genteelly from Rockingham and my + precious nephew, and here he was bellowing and huzzaying over the music so + as to do you good to hear. I do not love a puppet-show, but I love to + treat children to one, Miss Conway! I present your ladyship my + compliments, and hope we shall go and see the dolls together. + </p> + <p> + “When the singing woman came down from her throne, Jack Morris must + introduce my Virginian to her. I saw him blush up to the eyes, and make + her, upon my word, a very fine bow, such as I had no idea was practised in + wigwams. 'There is a certain jenny squaw about her, and that's why the + savage likes her,' George said—a joke certainly not as brilliant as + a firework. After which it seemed to me that the savage and the savages + retired together. + </p> + <p> + “Having had a great deal too much to eat and drink three hours before, my + partners must have chicken and rack-punch at Vauxhall, where George fell + asleep straightway, and for my sins I must tell Tony Storer what I knew + about this Virginian's amiable family, especially some of the Bernstein's + antecedents, and the history of another elderly beauty of the family, a + certain Lady Maria, who was au mieux with the late Prince of Wales. What + did I say? I protest not half of what I knew, and of course not a tenth + part of what I was going to tell, for who should start out upon us but my + savage, this time quite red in the face; and in his war paint. The wretch + had been drinking fire-water in the next box! + </p> + <p> + “He cocked his hat, clapped his hand to his sword, asked which of the + gentleman was it that was maligning his family? so that I was obliged to + entreat him not to make such a noise, lest he should wake my friend, Mr. + George Selwyn. And I added, 'I assure you, sir, I had no idea that you + were near me, and most sincerely apologise for giving you pain.' + </p> + <p> + “The Huron took his hand off his tomahawk at this pacific rejoinder, made + a bow not ungraciously, said he could not, of course, ask more than an + apology from a gentleman of my age (Merci, monsieur!), and, hearing the + name of Mr. Selwyn, made another bow to George, and said he had a letter + to him from Lord March, which he had had the ill-fortune to mislay. George + has put him up for the club, it appears, in conjunction with March, and no + doubt these three lambs will fleece each other. Meanwhile, my pacified + savage sate down with us, and buried the hatchet in another bowl of punch, + for which these gentlemen must call. Heaven help us! 'Tis eleven o'clock, + and here comes Bedson with my gruel! H. W. + </p> + <p> + “To the Honourable. H. S. Conway.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0041" id="link2HCH0041"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLI. Rake's Progress + </h2> + <p> + People were still very busy in Harry Warrington's time (not that our young + gentleman took much heed of the controversy) in determining the relative + literary merits of the ancients and the moderns; and the learned, and the + world with them, indeed, pretty generally pronounced in favour of the + former. The moderns of that day are the ancients of ours, and we speculate + upon them in the present year of grace, as our grandchildren, a hundred + years hence, will give their judgment about us. As for your book-learning, + O respectable ancestors (though, to be sure, you have the mighty Gibbon + with you), I think you will own that you are beaten, and could point to a + couple of professors at Cambridge and Glasgow who know more Greek than was + to be had in your time in all the universities of Europe, including that + of Athens, if such an one existed. As for science, you were scarce more + advanced than those heathen to whom in literature you owned yourselves + inferior. And in public and private morality? Which is the better, this + actual year 1858, or its predecessor a century back? Gentlemen of Mr. + Disraeli's House of Commons! has every one of you his price, as in + Walpole's or Newcastle's time,—or (and that is the delicate + question) have you almost all of you had it? Ladies, I do not say that you + are a society of Vestals—but the chronicle of a hundred years since + contains such an amount of scandal, that you may be thankful you did not + live in such dangerous times. No: on my conscience, I believe that men and + women are both better; not only that the Susannas are more numerous, but + that the Elders are not nearly so wicked. Did you ever hear of such books + as Clarissa, Tom Jones, Roderick Random; paintings by contemporary + artists, of the men and women, the life and society, of their day? Suppose + we were to describe the doings of such a person as Mr. Lovelace or my Lady + Bellaston, or that wonderful “Lady of Quality” who lent her memoirs to the + author of Peregrine Pickle. How the pure and outraged Nineteenth Century + would blush, scream, run out of the room, call away the young ladies, and + order Mr. Mudie never to send one of that odious author's books again! You + are fifty-eight years old, madam, and it may be that you are too + squeamish, that you cry out before you are hurt, and when nobody had any + intention of offending your ladyship. Also, it may be that the novelist's + art is injured by the restraints put upon him as many an honest, harmless + statue at St. Peter's and the Vatican is spoiled by the tin draperies in + which ecclesiastical old women have swaddled the fair limbs of the marble. + But in your prudery there is reason. So there is in the state censorship + of the Press. The page may contain matter dangerous to bonos mores. Out + with your scissors, censor, and clip off the prurient paragraph! We have + nothing for it but to submit. Society, the despot, has given his imperial + decree. We may think the statue had been seen to greater advantage without + the tin drapery; we may plead that the moral were better might we recite + the whole fable. Away with him—not a word! I never saw the pianofortes + in the United States with the frilled muslin trousers on their legs; but, + depend on it, the muslin covered some of the notes as well as the + mahogany, muffled the music, and stopped the player. + </p> + <p> + To what does this prelude introduce us? I am thinking of Harry Warrington, + Esquire, in his lodgings in Bond Street, London, and of the life which he + and many of the young bucks of fashion led in those times, and how I can + no more take my faire young reader into them, than Lady Squeams can take + her daughter to Cremorne Gardens on an ordinary evening. My dear Miss + Diana (psha! I know you are eight-and-thirty, although you are so + wonderfully shy, and want to make us believe you have just left off + schoolroom dinners and a pinafore), when your grandfather was a young man + about town, and a member of one of the clubs at White's, and dined at + Pontac's off the feasts provided by Braund and Lebeck, and rode to + Newmarket with March and Rockingham, and toasted the best in England with + Gilly Williams and George Selwyn (and didn't understand George's jokes, of + which, indeed, the flavour has very much evaporated since the bottling)—the + old gentleman led a life of which your noble aunt (author of Legends of + the Squeams's; or, Fair Fruits of a Family Tree) has not given you the + slightest idea. + </p> + <p> + It was before your grandmother adopted those serious views for which she + was distinguished during her last long residence at Bath, and after + Colonel Tibbalt married Miss Lye, the rich soap-boiler's heiress, that her + ladyship's wild oats were sown. When she was young, she was as giddy as + the rest of the genteel world. At her house in Hill Street, she had ten + card-tables on Wednesdays and Sunday evenings, except for a short time + when Ranelagh was open on Sundays. Every night of her life she gambled for + eight, nine, ten hours. Everybody else in society did the like. She lost; + she won; she cheated; she pawned her jewels; who knows what else she was + not ready to pawn, so as to find funds to supply her fury for play? What + was that after-supper duel at the Shakspeare's Head in Covent Garden, + between your grandfather and Colonel Tibbalt: where they drew swords and + engaged only in the presence of Sir John Screwby, who was drunk under the + table? They were interrupted by Mr. John Fielding's people, and your + grandfather was carried home to Hill Street wounded in a chair. I tell you + those gentlemen in powder and ruffles, who turned out the toes of their + buckled pumps so delicately, were terrible fellows. Swords were + perpetually being drawn; bottles after bottles were drunk; oaths roared + unceasingly in conversation; tavern-drawers and watchmen were pinked and + maimed; chairmen belaboured; citizens insulted by reeling + pleasure-hunters. You have been to Cremorne with proper “vouchers” of + course? Do you remember our great theatres thirty years ago? You were too + good to go to a play. Well, you have no idea what the playhouses were, or + what the green boxes were, when Garrick and Mrs. Pritchard were playing + before them! And I, for my children's sake, thank that good Actor in his + retirement who was the first to banish that shame from the theatre. No, + madam, you are mistaken; I do not plume myself on my superior virtue. I do + not say you are naturally better than your ancestress in her wild, rouged, + gambling, flaring tearing days; or even than poor Polly Fogle, who is just + taken up for shoplifting, and would have been hung for it a hundred years + ago. Only, I am heartily thankful that my temptations are less, having + quite enough to do with those of the present century. + </p> + <p> + So, if Harry Warrington rides down to Newmarket to the October meeting, + and loses or wins his money there; if he makes one of a party at the + Shakspeare or Bedford Head; if he dines at White's ordinary, and sits down + to macco and lansquenet afterwards; if he boxes the watch, and makes his + appearance at the Roundhouse; if he turns out for a short space a wild + dissipated, harum-scarum young Harry Warrington; I, knowing the weakness + of human nature, am not going to be surprised; and, quite aware of my own + shortcomings, don't intend to be very savage at my neighbour's. Mr. + Sampson was: in his chapel in Long Acre he whipped Vice tremendously; gave + Sin no quarter; out-cursed Blasphemy with superior Anathemas; knocked + Drunkenness down, and trampled on the prostrate brute wallowing in the + gutter; dragged out conjugal Infidelity, and pounded her with endless + stones of rhetoric—and, after service, came to dinner at the Star + and Garter, made a bowl of punch for Harry and his friends at the Bedford + Head, or took a hand at whist at Mr. Warrington's lodgings or my Lord + March's, or wherever there was a supper and good company for him. + </p> + <p> + I often think, however, in respect of Mr. Warrington's doings at this + period of his coming to London, that I may have taken my usual degrading + and uncharitable views of him—for, you see, I have not uttered a + single word of virtuous indignation against his conduct, and if it was not + reprehensible, have certainly judged him most cruelly. O the Truthful, O + the Beautiful, O Modesty, O Benevolence, O Pudor, O Mores, O Blushing + Shame, O Namby Pamby—each with your respective capital letters to + your honoured names! O Niminy, O Piminy! how shall I dare for to go for to + say that a young man ever was a young man? + </p> + <p> + No doubt, dear young lady, I am calumniating Mr. Warrington according to + my heartless custom. As a proof here is a letter out of the Warrington + collection, from Harry to his mother in which there is not a single word + that would lead you to suppose he was leading a wild life. And such a + letter from an only son to a fond and exemplary parent, we know must be + true:— + </p> + <p> + “BOND STREET, LONDON, October 25, 1756. + </p> + <p> + “HONORD MADAM—I take up my pen to acknowledge your honored favor of + 10 July per Lively Virginia packet, which has duly come to hand, forwarded + by our Bristol agent, and rejoice to hear that the prospect of the crops + is so good. 'Tis Tully who says that agriculture is the noblest pursuit; + how delightful when that pursuit is also prophetable! + </p> + <p> + “Since my last, dated from Tunbridge Wells, one or two insadence have + occurred of which it is nessasery [This word has been much operated upon + with the penknife, but is left sic, no doubt to the writer's + satisfaction.] I should advise my honored Mother. Our party there broke up + end of August: the partridge-shooting commencing. Baroness Bernstein, + whose kindness to me has been most invariable, has been to Bath, her usual + winter resort, and has made me a welcome present of a fifty-pound bill. I + rode back with Rev. Mr. Sampson, whose instruction I find most valluble, + and my cousin, Lady Maria, to Castlewood. [Could Parson Sampson have been + dictating the above remarks to Mr. Warrington?] I paid a flying visit on + the way to my dear kind friends Col. and Mrs. Lambert, Oakhurst House, who + send my honored mother their most affectionate remembrances. The youngest + Miss Lambert, I grieve to say, was dellicate; and her parents in some + anxiety. + </p> + <p> + “At Castlewood I lament to state my stay was short, owing to a quarrel + with my cousin William. He is a young man of violent passions, and alas! + addicted to liquor, when he has no controul over them. In a triffling + dispute about a horse, high words arose between us, and he aymed a blow at + me or its equivulent—which my Grandfathers my honored mothers child + could not brook. I rejoyned, and feld him to the ground, whents he was + carried almost sencelis to bed. I sent to enquire after his health in the + morning: but having no further news of him, came away to London where I + have been ever since with brief intavles of absence. + </p> + <p> + “Knowing you would wish me to see my dear Grandfathers University of + Cambridge, I rode thither lately in company with some friends, passing + through part of Harts, and lying at the famous bed of Ware. The October + meeting was just begun at Cambridge when I went. I saw the students in + their gownds and capps, and rode over to the famous Newmarket Heath, where + there happened to be some races—my friend Lord Marchs horse + Marrowbones by Cleaver coming off winner of a large steak. It was an + amusing day—the jockeys, horses, etc., very different to our poor + races at home—the betting awful—the richest noblemen here mix + with the jox, and bett all round. Cambridge pleased me: especially King's + College Chapel, of a rich but elegant Gothick. + </p> + <p> + “I have been out into the world, and am made member of the Club at + White's, where I meet gentlemen of the first fashion. My Lords Rockingham, + Carlisle, Orford, Bolingbroke, Coventry are of my friends, introduced to + me by my Lord March, of whom I have often wrote before. Lady Coventry is a + fine woman, but thinn. Every lady paints here, old and young; so, if you + and Mountain and Fanny wish to be in fashion, I must send you out some + roogepots: everybody plays—eight, ten, card-tables at every house on + every receiving-night. I am sorry to say all do not play fair, and some do + not pay fair. I have been obliged to sit down, and do as Rome does, and + have actually seen ladies whom I could name take my counters from before + my face! + </p> + <p> + “One day, his regiment the 20th being paraded in St. James's Park, a + friend of mine, Mr. Wolfe, did me the honour to present me to his Royal + Highness the Captain-General, who was most gracious; a fat, jolly Prince, + if I may speak so without disrespect, reminding me in his manner of that + unhappy General Braddock; whom we knew to our sorrow last year. When he + heard my name, and how dearest George had served and fallen in Braddock's + unfortunate campaign, he talked a great deal with me; asked why a young + fellow like me did not serve too; why I did not go to the King of Prussia, + who was a great General, and see a campaign or two; and whether that would + not be better than dawdling about at routs and card-parties in London? I + said, I would like to go with all my heart, but was an only son now, on + leave from my mother, and belonged to our estate in Virginia. His Royal + Highness said, Mr. Braddock had wrote home accounts of Mrs. Esmond's + loyalty, and that he would gladly serve me. Mr. Wolfe and I have waited on + him since, at his Royal Highness's house in Pall Mall. The latter, who is + still quite a young man, made the Scots campaign with his Highness, whom + Mr. Dempster loves so much at home. To be sure, he was too severe: if + anything can be top severe against rebels in arms. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Draper has had half the Stock, my late Papa's property, transferred + to my name. Until there can be no doubt of that painful loss in our family + which I would give my right hand to replace, the remaining stock must + remain in the trustees' name in behalf of him who inherited it. Ah, dear + mother! There is no day, scarce any hour, when I don't think of him. I + wish he were by me often. I feel like as if I was better when I am + thinking of him, and would like, for the honour of my family, that he was + representing of it here instead of—Honored madam, your dutiful and + affectionate son, HENRY ESMOND WARRINGTON.” + </p> + <p> + “P.S.—I am like your sex, who always, they say, put their chief news + in a poscrip. I had something to tell you about a person to whom my heart + is engaged. I shall write more about it, which there is no hurry. Safice + she is a nobleman's daughter, and her family as good as our own.” + </p> + <p> + “CLARGIS STREET, LONDON, October 23, 1756. + </p> + <p> + “I think, my good sister, we have been all our lives a little more than + kin and less than kind, to use the words of a poet whom your dear father + loved dearly. When you were born in our Western Principallitie, my mother + was not as old as Isaac's; but even then I was much more than old enough + to be yours. And though she gave you all she could leave or give, + including the little portion of love that ought to have been my share, + yet, if we can have good will for one another, we may learn to do without + affection: and some little kindness you owe me, for your son's sake; as + well as your father's, whom I loved and admired more than any man I think + ever I knew in this world: he was greater than almost all, though he made + no noyse in it. I have seen very many who have, and, believe me, have + found but few with such good heads and good harts as Mr. Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “Had we been better acquainted, I might have given you some advice + regarding your young gentleman's introduction to Europe, which you would + have taken or not, as people do in this world. At least you would have sed + afterwards, 'What she counselled me was right, and had Harry done as Madam + Beatrix wisht, it had been better for him.' My good sister, it was not for + you to know, or for me to whom you never wrote to tell you, but your boy + in coming to England and Castlewood found but ill friends there; except + one, an old aunt, of whom all kind of evil hath been spoken and sed these + fifty years past—and not without cawse too, perhaps. + </p> + <p> + “Now, I must tell Harry's mother what will doubtless scarce astonish her, + that almost everybody who knows him loves him. He is prudent of his + tongue, generous of his money, as bold as a lyon, with an imperious + domineering way that sets well upon him; you know whether he is handsome + or not: my dear, I like him none the less for not being over witty or + wise, and never cared for your sett-the-Thames afire gentlemen, who are so + much more clever than their neighbours. Your father's great friend, Mr. + Addison, seemed to me but a supercillious prig, and his follower, Sir Dick + Steele, was not pleasant in his cupps, nor out of 'em. And (revenons a + luy) your Master Harry will certainly, pot burn the river up with his + wits. Of book-learning he is as ignorant as any lord in England, and for + this I hold him none the worse. If Heaven have not given him a turn that + way, 'tis of no use trying to bend him. + </p> + <p> + “Considering the place he is to hold in his own colony when he returns, + and the stock he comes from, let me tell you, that he hath not means + enough allowed him to support his station, and is likely to make the more + depence from the narrowness of his income—from sheer despair + breaking out of all bounds, and becoming extravagant, which is not his + turn. But he likes to live as well as the rest of his company, and, + between ourselves, has fell into some of the finist and most rakish in + England. He thinks 'tis for the honour of the family not to go back, and + many a time calls for ortolans and champaign when he would as leaf dine + with a stake and a mugg of beer. And in this kind of spirit I have no + doubt from what he hath told me in his talk (which is very naif, as the + French say), that his mamma hath encouraged him in his high opinion of + himself. We women like our belongings to have it, however little we love + to pay the cost. Will you have your ladd make a figar in London? Trebble + his allowance at the very least, and his Aunt Bernstein (with his honored + mamma's permission) will add a little more on to whatever summ you give + him. Otherwise he will be spending the little capital I learn he has in + this country, which, when a ladd once begins to manger, there is very soon + an end to the loaf. Please God, I shall be able to leave Henry Esmond's + grandson something at my death; but my savings are small, and the pension + with which my gracious Sovereign hath endowed me dies with me. As for feu + M. de Bernstein, he left only debt at his decease: the officers of his + Majesty's Electoral Court of Hannover are but scantily paid. + </p> + <p> + “A lady who is at present very high in his Majesty's confidence hath taken + a great phancy to your ladd, and will take an early occasion to bring him + to the Sovereign's favorable notice. His Royal Highness the Duke he hath + seen. If live in America he must, why should not Mr. Esmond Warrington + return as Governor of Virginia, and with a title to his name? That is what + I hope for him. + </p> + <p> + “Meanwhile, I must be candid with you, and tell you I fear he hath + entangled himself here in a very silly engagement. Even to marry an old + woman for money is scarce pardonable—the game ne valant gueres la + chandelle—Mr. Bernstein, when alive, more than once assured me of + this fact, and I believe him, poor gentleman! to engage yourself to an old + woman without money, and to marry her merely because you have promised + her, this seems to me a follie which only very young lads fall into, and I + fear Mr. Warrington is one. How, or for what consideration, I know not, + but my niece Maria Esmond hath escamote a promise from Harry. He knows + nothing of her antecedens, which I do. She hath laid herself out for + twenty husbands these twenty years past. I care not how she hath got the + promise from him. 'Tis a sin and a shame that a woman more than forty + years old should surprize the honour of a child like that, and hold him to + his word. She is not the woman she pretends to be. A horse jockey (he + saith) cannot take him in—but a woman! + </p> + <p> + “I write this news to you advisedly, displeasant as it must be. Perhaps + 'twill bring you to England: but I would be very cautious, above all, very + gentle, for the bitt will instantly make his high spirit restive. I fear + the property is entailed, so that threats of cutting him off from it will + not move Maria. Otherwise I know her to be so mercenary that (though she + really hath a great phancy for this handsome ladd) without money she would + not hear of him. All I could, and more than I ought, I have done to + prevent the match. What and more I will not say in writing; but that I am, + for Henry Esmond's sake, his grandson's sincerest friend, and madam,—Your + faithful sister and servant, BEATRIX BARONESS DE BERNSTEIN. + </p> + <p> + “To Mrs. Esmond Warrington of Castlewood, in Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + On the back of this letter is written, in Madam Esmond's hand, “My sister + Bernstein's letter, received with Henry's December 24 on receipt of which + it was determined my son should instantly go home.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0042" id="link2HCH0042"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLII. Fortunatus Nimium + </h2> + <p> + Though Harry Warrington persisted in his determination to keep that dismal + promise which his cousin had extracted from him, we trust no benevolent + reader will think so ill of him as to suppose that the engagement was to + the young fellow's taste, and that he would not be heartily glad to be rid + of it. Very likely the beating administered to poor Will was to this end; + and Harry may have thought, “A boxing-match between us is sure to bring on + a quarrel with the family; in the quarrel with the family, Maria may take + her brother's side. I, of course, will make no retraction or apology. + Will, in that case, may call me to account, when I know which is the + better man. In the midst of the feud, the agreement may come to an end, + and I may be a free man once more.” + </p> + <p> + So honest Harry laid his train, and fired it: but, the explosion over, no + harm was found to be done, except that William Esmond's nose was swollen, + and his eye black for a week. He did not send a challenge to his cousin, + Harry Warrington; and, in consequence, neither killed Harry, nor was + killed by him. Will was knocked down, and he got up again. How many men of + sense would do the same, could they get their little account settled in a + private place, with nobody to tell how the score was paid! Maria by no + means took her family's side in the quarrel, but declared for her cousin, + as did my lord, when advised of the disturbance. Will had struck the first + blow, Lord Castlewood said, by the chaplain's showing. It was not the + first or the tenth time he had been found quarrelling in his cups. Mr. + Warrington only showed a proper spirit in resenting the injury, and it was + for Will, not for Harry, to ask pardon. + </p> + <p> + Harry said he would accept no apology as long as his horse was not + returned or his bet paid. The chronicler has not been able to find out, + from any of the papers which have come under his view, how that affair of + the bet was finally arranged; but 'tis certain the cousins presently met + in the houses of various friends, and without mauling each other. + </p> + <p> + Maria's elder brother had been at first quite willing that his sister, who + had remained unmarried for so many years, and on the train of whose robe, + in her long course over the path of life, so many briars, so much mud, so + many rents and stains had naturally gathered, should marry with any + bridegroom who presented himself, and if with a gentleman from Virginia, + so much the better. She would retire to his wigwam in the forest, and + there be disposed of. In the natural course of things, Harry would survive + his elderly bride, and might console himself or not, as he preferred, + after her departure. + </p> + <p> + But, after an interview with Aunt Bernstein, which his lordship had on his + coming to London, he changed his opinion: and even went so far as to try + and dissuade Maria from the match; and to profess a pity for the young + fellow who was made to undergo a life of misery on account of a silly + promise given at one-and-twenty! + </p> + <p> + Misery, indeed! Maria was at a loss to know why he was to be miserable. + Pity, forsooth! My lord at Castlewood had thought it was no pity at all. + Maria knew what pity meant. Her brother had been with Aunt Bernstein: Aunt + Bernstein had offered money to break this match off. She understood what + my lord meant, but Mr. Warrington was a man of honour, and she could trust + him. Away, upon this, walks my lord to White's, or to whatever haunts he + frequented. It is probable that his sister had guessed too accurately what + the nature of his conversation wit Madame Bernstein had been. + </p> + <p> + “And so,” thinks he, “the end of my virtue is likely to be that the Mohock + will fall a prey to others, and that there is no earthly use in my sparing + him. 'Quem deus vult'—what was that schoolmaster's adage? If I don't + have him, somebody else will, that is clear. My brother has had a slice; + my dear sister wants to swallow the whole of him bodily. Here have I been + at home respecting his youth and innocence forsooth, declining to play + beyond the value of a sixpence, and acting guardian and Mentor to him. + Why, I am but a fool to fatten a goose for other people to feed off! Not + many a good action have I done in this life, and here is this one, that + serves to benefit whom?—other folks. Talk of remorse! By all the + fires and furies, the remorse I have is for things I haven't done and + might have done! Why did I spare Lucretia? She hated me ever after, and + her husband went the way for which he was predestined. Why have I let this + lad off?—that March and the rest, who don't want him, may pluck him! + And I have a bad repute; and I am the man people point at, and call the + wicked lord, and against whom women warn their sons! Pardi, I am not a + penny worse, only a great deal more unlucky than my neighbours, and 'tis + only my cursed weakness that has been my greatest enemy!” Here, + manifestly, in setting down a speech which a gentleman only thought, a + chronicler overdraws his account with the patient reader, who has a right + not to accept this draft on his credulity. But have not Livy, and + Thucydides, and a score more of historians, made speeches for their + heroes, which we know the latter never thought of delivering? How much + more may we then, knowing my Lord Castlewood's character so intimately as + we do, declare what was passing in his mind, and transcribe his thoughts + on this paper? What? a whole pack of the wolves are on the hunt after this + lamb, and will make a meal of him presently, and one hungry old hunter is + to stand by, and not have a single cutlet? Who has not admired that noble + speech of my Lord Clive, when reproached on his return from India with + making rather too free with jaghires, lakhs, gold mohurs, diamonds, + pearls, and what not? “Upon my life,” said the hero of Plassy, “when I + think of my opportunities, I am surprised I took so little!” + </p> + <p> + To tell disagreeable stories of a gentleman, until one is in a manner + forced to impart them, is always painful to a feeling mind. Hence, though + I have known, before the very first page of this history was written, what + sort of a person my Lord Castlewood was, and in what esteem he was held by + his contemporaries, I have kept back much that was unpleasant about him, + only allowing the candid reader to perceive that he was a nobleman who + ought not to be at all of our liking. It is true that my Lord March, and + other gentlemen of whom he complained, would have thought no more of + betting with Mr. Warrington for his last shilling, and taking their + winnings, than they would scruple to pick the bones of a chicken; that + they would take any advantage of the game, or their superior skill in it, + of the race, and their private knowledge of the horses engaged; in so far, + they followed the practice of all gentlemen: but when they played, they + played fair; and when they lost, they paid. + </p> + <p> + Now Madame Bernstein was loth to tell her Virginian nephew all she knew to + his family's discredit; she was even touched by my lord's forbearance in + regard to Harry on his first arrival in Europe; and pleased with his + lordship's compliance with her wishes in this particular. But in the + conversation which she had with her nephew Castlewood regarding Maria's + designs on Harry, he had spoken his mind out with his usual cynicism, + voted himself a fool for having spared a lad whom no sparing would + eventually keep from ruin; pointed out Mr. Harry's undeniable + extravagances and spendthrift associates, his nights at faro and hazard, + and his rides to Newmarket, and asked why he alone should keep his hands + from the young fellow? In vain Madame Bernstein pleaded that Harry was + poor. Bah! he was heir to a principality which ought to have been his, + Castlewood's, and might have set up their ruined family. (Indeed Madame + Bernstein thought Mr. Warrington's Virginian property much greater than it + was.) Were there not money-lenders in the town who would give him money on + postobits in plenty? Castlewood knew as much to his cost: he had applied + to them in his father's lifetime, and the cursed crew had eaten up + two-thirds of his miserable income. He spoke with such desperate candour + and ill-humour, that Madame Bernstein began to be alarmed for her + favourite, and determined to caution him at the first opportunity. + </p> + <p> + That evening she began to pen a billet to Mr. Warrington: but all her life + long she was slow with her pen, and disliked using it. “I never knew any + good come of writing more than bon jour or business,” she used to say. + “What is the use of writing ill, when there are so many clever people who + can do it well? and even then it were best left alone.” So she sent one of + her men to Mr. Harry's lodgings, bidding him come and drink a dish of tea + with her next day, when she proposed to warn him. + </p> + <p> + But the next morning she was indisposed, and could not receive Mr. Harry + when he came: and she kept her chamber for a couple of days, and the next + day there was a great engagement, and the next day Mr. Harry was off on + some expedition of his own. In the whirl of London life, what man sees his + neighbour, what brother his sister, what schoolfellow his old friend? Ever + so many days passed before Mr. Warrington and his aunt had that + confidential conversation which the latter desired. + </p> + <p> + She began by scolding him mildly about his extravagance and madcap frolics + (though, in truth, she was charmed with him for both)—he replied + that young men will be young men, and that it was in dutifully waiting in + attendance on his aunt, he had made the acquaintance with whom he mostly + lived at present. She then with some prelude, began to warn him regarding + his cousin, Lord Castlewood; on which he broke into a bitter laugh, and + said the good-natured world had told him plenty about Lord Castlewood + already. “To say of a man of his lordship's rank, or of any gentleman, + 'Don't play with him,' is more than I like to do,” continued the lady; + “but...” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you may say on, aunt!” said Harry, with something like an imprecation + on his lips. + </p> + <p> + “And have you played with your cousin already?” asked the young man's + worldly old monitress. + </p> + <p> + “And lost and won, madam!” answers Harry, gallantly. “It don't become me + to say which. If we have a bout with a neighbour in Virginia, a bottle, or + a pack of cards, or a quarrel, we don't go home and tell our mothers. I + mean no offence, aunt!” And, blushing, the handsome young fellow went up + and kissed the old lady. He looked very brave and brilliant, with his rich + lace, his fair face and hair, his fine new suit of velvet and gold. On + taking leave of his aunt he gave his usual sumptuous benefaction to her + servants, who crowded round him. It was a rainy wintry day, and my + gentleman, to save his fine silk stockings, must come in a chair. “To + White's!” he called out to the chairmen, and away they carried him to the + place where he passed a great deal of his time. + </p> + <p> + Our Virginian's friends might have wished that he had been a less sedulous + frequenter of that house of entertainment; but so much may be said in + favour of Mr. Warrington that, having engaged in play, he fought his + battle like a hero. He was not flustered by good luck, and perfectly calm + when the chances went against him. If Fortune is proverbially fickle to + men at play, how many men are fickle to Fortune, run away frightened from + her advances; and desert her, who, perhaps, had never thought of leaving + them but for their cowardice. “By George, Mr. Warrington,” said Mr. + Selwyn, waking up in a rare fit of enthusiasm, “you deserve to win! You + treat your luck as a gentleman should, and as long as she remains with + you, behave to her with the most perfect politeness. Si celeres quatit + pennas—you know the rest—no? Well, you are not much the worse + off—you will call her ladyship's coach, and make her a bow at the + step. Look at Lord Castlewood yonder, passing the box. Did you ever hear a + fellow curse and swear so at losing five or six pieces? She must be a jade + indeed, if she long give her favours to such a niggardly canaille as + that!” + </p> + <p> + “We don't consider our family canaille, sir,” says Mr. Warrington, “and my + Lord Castlewood is one of them.” + </p> + <p> + “I forgot. I forgot, and ask your pardon! And I make you my compliment + upon my lord, and Mr. Will Esmond, his brother,” says Harry's neighbour at + the hazard-table. “The box is with me. Five's the main! Deuce Ace! my + usual luck. Virtute mea me involvo!” and he sinks back in his chair. + </p> + <p> + Whether it was upon this occasion of taking the box, that Mr. Harry threw + the fifteen mains mentioned in one of those other letters of Mr. + Walpole's, which have not come into his present learned editor's hands, I + know not; but certain it is, that on his first appearance at White's, + Harry had five or six evenings of prodigious good luck, and seemed more + than ever the Fortunate Youth. The five hundred pounds withdrawn from his + patrimonial inheritance had multiplied into thousands. He bought fine + clothes, purchased fine horses, gave grand entertainments, made handsome + presents, lived as if he had been as rich as Sir James Lowther, or his + Grace of Bedford, and yet the five thousand pounds never seemed to + diminish. No wonder that he gave where giving was so easy; no wonder that + he was generous with Fortunatus's purse in his pocket. I say no wonder + that he gave, for such was his nature. Other Fortunati tie up the endless + purse, drink small beer, and go to bed with a tallow candle. + </p> + <p> + During this vein of his luck, what must Mr. Harry do, but find out from + Lady Maria what her ladyship's debts were, and pay them off to the last + shilling. Her stepmother and half-sister, who did not love her, he treated + to all sorts of magnificent presents. “Had you not better get yourself + arrested, Will?” my lord sardonically said to his brother. “Although you + bit him in that affair of the horse, the Mohock will certainly take you + out of pawn.” It was then that Mr. William felt a true remorse, although + not of that humble kind which sent the repentant Prodigal to his knees. + “Confound it,” he groaned, “to think that I have let this fellow slip for + such a little matter as forty pound! Why, he was good for a thousand at + least.” + </p> + <p> + As for Maria, that generous creature accepted the good fortune sent her + with a grateful heart; and was ready to accept as much more as you + pleased. Having paid off her debts to her various milliners, tradesmen, + and purveyors, she forthwith proceeded to contract new ones. Mrs. Betty, + her ladyship's maid, went round informing the tradespeople that her + mistress was about to contract a matrimonial alliance with a young + gentleman of immense fortune; so that they might give my lady credit to + any amount. Having heard the same story twice or thrice before, the + tradesfolk might not give it entire credit, but their bills were paid: + even to Mrs. Pincott, of Kensington, my lady showed no rancour, and + affably ordered fresh supplies from her: and when she drove about from the + mercer to the toy-shop, and from the toy-shop to the jeweller in a coach, + with her maid and Mr. Warrington inside, they thought her a fortunate + woman indeed, to have secured the Fortunate Youth, though they might + wonder at the taste of this latter in having selected so elderly a beauty. + Mr. Sparks, of Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, took the liberty of + waiting upon Mr. Warrington at his lodgings in Bond Street, with the pearl + necklace and the gold etwee which he had bought in Lady Maria's company + the day before; and asking whether he, Sparks, should leave them at his + honour's lodging, or send them to her ladyship with his honour's + compliments? Harry added a ring out of the stock which the jeweller + happened to bring with him, to the necklace and the etwee; and sumptuously + bidding that individual to send him in the bill, took a majestic leave of + Mr. Sparks, who retired, bowing even to Gumbo, as he quitted his honour's + presence. + </p> + <p> + Nor did his bounties end here. Ere many days the pleased young fellow + drove up in his phaeton to Mr. Sparks' shop, and took a couple of trinkets + for two young ladies, whose parents had been kind to him, and for whom he + entertained a sincere regard. “Ah!” thought he, “how I wish I had my poor + George's wit, and genius for poetry! I would send these presents with + pretty verses to Hetty and Theo. I am sure, if goodwill and real regard + could make a poet of me, I should have no difficulty in finding rhymes.” + And so he called in Parson Sampson, and they concocted a billet together. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0043" id="link2HCH0043"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIII. In which Harry flies High + </h2> + <p> + So Mr. Harry Warrington, of Virginia, had his lodgings in Bond Street, + London, England, and lived upon the fat of the land, and drank bumpers of + the best wine thereof. His title of Fortunate Youth was pretty generally + recognised. Being young, wealthy, good-looking, and fortunate, the + fashionable world took him by the hand and made him welcome. And don't, my + dear brethren, let us cry out too loudly against the selfishness of the + world for being kind to the young, handsome, and fortunate, and frowning + upon you and me, who may be, for argument's sake, old, ugly, and the + miserablest dogs under the sun. If I have a right to choose my + acquaintance, and—at the club, let us say prefer the company of a + lively, handsome, well-dressed, gentleman like young man, who amuses me, + to that of a slouching, ill-washed, misanthropic H-murderer, a ceaselessly + prating coxcomb, or what not; has not society—the aggregate you and + I—a right to the same choice? Harry was liked because he was + likeable; because he was rich, handsome, jovial, well-born, well-bred, + brave; because, with jolly topers, he liked a jolly song and a bottle; + because, with gentlemen sportsmen, he loved any game that was a-foot or + a-horseback; because, with ladies, he had a modest blushing timidity which + rendered the lad interesting; because, to those humbler than himself in + degree he was always magnificently liberal, and anxious to spare + annoyance. Our Virginian was very grand, and high and mighty, to be sure; + but, in those times, when the distinction of ranks yet obtained, to be + high and distant with his inferiors, brought no unpopularity to a + gentleman. Remember that, in those days, the Secretary of State always + knelt when he went to the king with his despatches of a morning, and the + Under-Secretary never dared to sit down in his chief's presence. If I were + Secretary of State (and such there have been amongst men of letters since + Addison's days) I should not like to kneel when I went in to my audience + with my despatch-bog. If I were Under-Secretary, I should not like to have + to stand, whilst the Right Honourable Benjamin or the Right Honourable Sir + Edward looked over the papers. But there is a modus in rebus: there are + certain lines which must be drawn: and I am only half pleased for my part, + when Bob Bowstreet, whose connection with letters is through Policeman X + and Y, and Tom Garbage, who is an esteemed contributor to the Kennel + Miscellany, propose to join fellowship as brother literary men, slap me on + the back, and call me old boy, or by my Christian name. + </p> + <p> + As much pleasure as the town could give in the winter season of 1756-57, + Mr. Warrington had for the asking. There were operas for him, in which he + took but moderate delight. (A prodigious deal of satire was brought to + bear against these Italian Operas, and they were assailed for being + foolish, Popish, unmanly, unmeaning; but people went, nevertheless.) There + were the theatres, with Mr. Garrick and Mrs. Pritchard at one house, and + Mrs. Clive at another. There were masquerades and ridottos frequented by + all the fine society; there were their lordships' and ladyships' own + private drums and assemblies, which began and ended with cards, and which + Mr. Warrington did not like so well as White's, because the play there was + neither so high nor so fair as at the club-table. + </p> + <p> + One day his kinsman, Lord Castlewood, took him to court, and presented + Harry to his Majesty, who was now come to town from Kensington. But that + gracious sovereign either did not like Harry's introducer, or had other + reasons for being sulky. His Majesty only said, “Oh, heard of you from + Lady Yarmouth. The Earl of Castlewood” (turning to his lordship, and + speaking in German) “shall tell him that he plays too much!” And so + saying, the Defender of the Faith turned his royal back. + </p> + <p> + Lord Castlewood shrank back quite frightened at this cold reception of his + august master. + </p> + <p> + “What does he say?” asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “His Majesty thinks they play too high at White's, and is displeased,” + whispered the nobleman. + </p> + <p> + “If he does not want us, we had better not come again, that is all,” said + Harry, simply. “I never, somehow, considered that German fellow a real + King of England.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! for Heaven's sake, hold your confounded colonial tongue!” cries out + my lord. “Don't you see the walls here have ears!” + </p> + <p> + “And what then?” asks Mr. Warrington. “Why, look at the people! Hang me, + if it is not quite a curiosity! They were all shaking hands with me, and + bowing to me, and flattering me just now; and at present they avoid me as + if I were the plague!” + </p> + <p> + “Shake hands, nephew,” said a broad-faced, broad-shouldered gentleman, in + a scarlet-laced waistcoat, and a great old-fashioned wig. “I heard what + you said. I have ears like the wall, look you. And, now, if other people + show you the cold shoulder, I'll give you my hand;” and so saying, the + gentleman put out a great brown hand, with which he grasped Harry's. + “Something of my brother about your eyes and face. Though I suppose in + your island you grow more wiry and thin like. I am thine uncle, child. My + name is Sir Miles Warrington. My lord knows me well enough.” + </p> + <p> + My lord looked very frightened and yellow. “Yes, my dear Harry. This is + your paternal uncle, Sir Miles Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “Might as well have come to see us in Norfolk, as dangle about playing the + fool at Tunbridge Wells, Mr. Warrington, or Mr. Esmond,—which do you + call yourself?” said the Baronet. “The old lady calls herself Madam + Esmond, don't she?” + </p> + <p> + “My mother is not ashamed of her father's name, nor am I, uncle,” said Mr. + Harry, rather proudly. + </p> + <p> + “Well said, lad! Come home and eat a bit of mutton with Lady Warrington, + at three, in Hill Street,—that is if you can do without your White's + kickshaws. You need not look frightened, my Lord Castlewood! I shall tell + no tales out of school.” + </p> + <p> + “I—I am sure Sir Miles Warrington will act as a gentleman!” says my + lord, in much perturbation. + </p> + <p> + “Belike, he will,” growled the Baronet, turning on his heel. “And thou + wilt come, young man, at three; and mind, good roast mutton waits for + nobody. Thou hast a great look of thy father. Lord bless us, how we used + to beat each other! He was smaller than me, and in course younger; but + many a time he had the best of it. Take it he was henpecked when he + married, and Madam Esmond took the spirit out of him when she got him in + her island. Virginia is an island. Ain't it an island?” + </p> + <p> + Harry laughed, and said “No!” And the jolly Baronet, going off, said, + “Well, island or not, thou must come and tell all about it to my lady. + She'll know whether 'tis an island or not.” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mr. Warrington,” said my lord, with an appealing look, “I need + not tell you that, in this great city, every man has enemies, and that + there is a great, great deal of detraction and scandal. I never spoke to + you about Sir Miles Warrington, precisely because I did know him, and + because we have had differences together. Should he permit himself remarks + to my disparagement, you will receive them cum grano, and remember that it + is from an enemy they come.” And the pair walked out of the King's + apartments and into Saint James's Street. Harry found the news of his cold + reception at court had already preceded him to White's. The King had + turned his back upon him. The King was jealous of Harry's favour with the + favourite. Harry was au mieux with Lady Yarmouth. A score of gentlemen + wished him a compliment upon his conquest. Before night it was a settled + matter that this was amongst the other victories of the Fortunate Youth. + </p> + <p> + Sir Miles told his wife and Harry as much, when the young man appeared at + the appointed hour at the Baronet's dinner-table, and he rallied Harry in + his simple rustic fashion. The lady, at first a grand and stately + personage, told Harry, on their further acquaintance, that the reputation + which the world had made for him was so bad, that at first she had given + him but a frigid welcome. With the young ladies, Sir Miles's daughters, it + was “How d'ye do, cousin?” and “No, thank you, cousin,” and a number of + prim curtseys to the Virginian, as they greeted him and took leave of him. + The little boy, the heir of the house, dined at table, under the care of + his governor; and, having his glass of port by papa after dinner, gave a + loose to his innocent tongue, and asked many questions of his cousin. At + last the innocent youth said, after looking hard in Harry's face, “Are you + wicked, cousin Harry? You don't look very wicked!” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Master Miles!” expostulates the tutor, turning very red. + </p> + <p> + “But you know you said he was wicked!” cried the child. + </p> + <p> + “We are all miserable sinners, Miley,” explains papa. “Haven't you heard + the clergyman say so every Sunday?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but not so very wicked as cousin Harry. Is it true that you gamble, + cousin, and drink all night with wicked men, and frequent the company of + wicked women? You know you said so, Mr. Walker—and mamma said so, + too, that Lady Yarmouth was a wicked woman.” + </p> + <p> + “And you are a little pitcher,” cries papa: “and my wife, nephew Harry, is + a staunch Jacobite—you won't like her the worse for that. Take Miles + to his sisters, Mr. Walker, and Topsham shall give thee a ride in the + park, child, on thy little horse.” The idea of the little horse consoled + Master Miles; for, when his father ordered him away to his sisters, he had + begun to cry bitterly, bawling out that he would far rather stay with his + wicked cousin. + </p> + <p> + “They have made you a sad reputation among 'em, nephew!” says the jolly + Baronet. “My wife, you must know, of late years, and since the death of my + poor eldest son, has taken to,—to, hum!—to Tottenham Court + Road and Mr. Whitfield's preaching: and we have had one Ward about the + house, a friend of Mr. Walker's yonder, who has recounted sad stories + about you and your brother at home.” + </p> + <p> + “About me, Sir Miles, as much as he pleases,” cries Harry, warm with port: + “but I'll break any man's bones who dares say a word against my brother! + Why, sir, that fellow was not fit to buckle my dear George's shoe; and if + I find him repeating at home what he dared to say in our house in + Virginia, I promise him a second caning.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to stand up for your friends, nephew Harry,” says the Baronet. + “Fill thy glass, lad, thou art not as bad as thou hast been painted. I + always told my lady so. I drink Madam Esmond Warrington's health, of + Virginia, and will have a full bumper for that toast.” + </p> + <p> + Harry, as in duty bound, emptied his glass, filled again, and drank Lady + Warrington and Master Miles. + </p> + <p> + “Thou wouldst be heir to four thousand acres in Norfolk, did he die, + though,” said the Baronet. + </p> + <p> + “God forbid, sir, and be praised that I have acres enough in Virginia of + my own!” says Mr. Warrington. He went up presently and took a dish of + coffee with Lady Warrington: he talked to the young ladies of the house. + He was quite easy, pleasant, and natural. There was one of them somewhat + like Fanny Mountain, and this young lady became his special favourite. + When he went away, they all agreed their wicked cousin was not near so + wicked as they had imagined him to be: at any rate, my lady had strong + hopes of rescuing him from the pit. She sent him a good book that evening, + whilst Mr. Harry was at White's; with a pretty note, praying that Law's + Call might be of service to him: and, this despatched, she and her + daughters went off to a rout at the house of a minister's lady. But Harry, + before he went to White's, had driven to his friend Mr. Sparks, in + Tavistock Street, and purchased more trinkets for his female cousins—“from + their aunt in Virginia,” he said. You see, he was full of kindness: he + kindled and warmed with prosperity. There are men on whom wealth hath no + such fortunate influence. It hardens base hearts: it makes those who were + mean and servile, mean and proud. If it should please the gods to try me + with ten thousand a year, I will, of course, meekly submit myself to their + decrees, but I will pray them to give me strength enough to bear the + trial. All the girls in Hill Street were delighted at getting the presents + from Aunt Warrington in Virginia and addressed a collective note, which + must have astonished that good lady when she received it in spring-time, + when she and Mountain and Fanny were on a visit to grim deserted + Castlewood, when the snows had cleared away and a thousand peach-trees + flushed with blossoms. “Poor boy!” the mother thought “This is some + present he gave his cousins in my name, in the time of his prosperity—nay, + of his extravagance and folly. How quickly his wealth has passed away! But + he ever had a kind heart for the poor Mountain; and we must not forget him + in his need. It behoves us to be more than ever careful of our own + expenses, my good people!” And so, I dare say, they warmed themselves by + one log, and ate of one dish, and worked by one candle. And the widow's + servants, whom the good soul began to pinch more and more I fear, lied, + stole, and cheated more and more: and what was saved in one way, was stole + in another. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon, Mr. Harry sate in his Bond Street lodgings, arrayed in his + dressing-gown, sipping his chocolate, surrounded by luxury, encased in + satin, and yet enveloped in care. A few weeks previously when the luck was + with him, and he was scattering his benefactions to and fro, he had + royally told Parson Sampson to get together a list of his debts which he, + Mr. Warrington, would pay. Accordingly Sampson had gone to work, and had + got together a list, not of all his debts—no man ever does set down + all,—but such a catalogue as he thought sufficient to bring in to + Mr. Warrington, at whose breakfast-table the divine had humbly waited + until his honour should choose to attend it. + </p> + <p> + Harry appeared at length, very pale and languid, in curl-papers, and + scarce any appetite for his breakfast; and the chaplain, fumbling with his + schedule in his pocket, humbly asked if his patron had had a bad night? He + had been brought home from White's by two chairmen at five o'clock in the + morning; had caught a confounded cold, for one of the windows of the chair + would not shut, and the rain and snow came in, finally, was in such a bad + humour, that all poor Sampson's quirks and jokes could scarcely extort a + smile from him. + </p> + <p> + At last, to be sure, Mr. Warrington burst into a loud laugh. It was when + the poor chaplain, after a sufficient discussion of muffins, eggs, tea, + the news, the theatres, and so forth, pulled a paper out of his pocket and + in a piteous tone said, “Here is that schedule of debts which your honour + asked for—two hundred and forty-three pounds—every shilling I + owe in the world, thank Heaven!—that is—ahem!—every + shilling of which the payment will in the least inconvenience me—and + I need not tell my dearest patron that I shall consider him my saviour and + benefactor!” + </p> + <p> + It was then that Harry, taking the paper and eyeing the chaplain with + rather a wicked look, burst into a laugh, which was, however, anything but + jovial. Wicked execrations, moreover, accompanied this outbreak of humour, + and the luckless chaplain felt that his petition had come at the wrong + moment. + </p> + <p> + “Confound it, why didn't you bring it on Monday?” Harry asked. + </p> + <p> + “Confound me, why did I not bring it on Monday?” echoed the chaplain's + timid soul. “It is my luck—my usual luck. Have the cards been + against you, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes: a plague on them. Monday night, and last night, have both gone + against me. Don't be frightened, chaplain, there's money enough in the + locker yet. But I must go into the City and get some.” + </p> + <p> + “What, sell out, sir?” asks his reverence, with a voice that was + reassured, though it intended to be alarmed. + </p> + <p> + “Sell out, sir? Yes! I borrowed a hundred off Mackreth in counters last + night, and must pay him at dinner-time. I will do your business for you + nevertheless, and never fear, my good Mr. Sampson. Come to breakfast + to-morrow, and we will see and deliver your reverence from the + Philistines.” But though he laughed in Sampson's presence, and strove to + put a good face upon the matter, Harry's head sank down on his chest when + the parson quitted him, and he sate over the fire, beating the coals about + with the poker, and giving utterance to many disjointed naughty words, + which showed, but did not relieve, the agitation of his spirit. + </p> + <p> + In this mood, the young fellow was interrupted by the appearance of a + friend, who, on any other day—even on that one when his conscience + was so uneasy—was welcome to Mr. Warrington. This was no other than + Mr. Lambert, in his military dress, but with a cloak over him, who had + come from the country, had been to the Captain-General's levee that + morning, and had come thence to visit his young friend in Bond Street. + </p> + <p> + Harry may have thought Lambert's greeting rather cold; but being occupied + with his own affairs, he put away the notion. How were the ladies of + Oakhurst, and Miss Hetty, who was ailing when he passed through in the + autumn? Purely? Mr. Warrington was very glad. They were come to stay a + while in London with their friend, Lord Wrotham? Mr. Harry was delighted—though + it must be confessed his face did not exhibit any peculiar signs of + pleasure when he heard the news. + </p> + <p> + “And so you live at White's, and with the great folks; and you fare + sumptuously every day, and you pay your court at St. James's, and make one + at my Lady Yarmouth's routs, and at all the card-parties in the Court end + of the town?” asks the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Colonel, I do what other folks do,” says Harry, with rather a + high manner. + </p> + <p> + “Other folks are richer folks than some folks, my dear lad.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir!” says Mr. Warrington, “I would thank you to believe that I owe + nothing for which I cannot pay!” + </p> + <p> + “I should never have spoken about your affairs,” said the other, not + noticing the young man's haughty tone, “but that you yourself confided + them to me. I hear all sorts of stories about the Fortunate Youth. Only at + his Royal Highness's even today, they were saying how rich you were + already, and I did not undeceive them——” + </p> + <p> + “Colonel Lambert, I cannot help the world gossiping about me!” cries Mr. + Warrington, more and more impatient. + </p> + <p> + “—And what prodigious sums you had won. Eighteen hundred one night—two + thousand another—six or eight thousand in all! Oh! there were + gentlemen from White's at the levee too, I can assure you, and the army + can fling a main as well as you civilians!” + </p> + <p> + “I wish they would meddle with their own affairs,” says Harry, scowling at + his old friend. + </p> + <p> + “And I, too, you look as if you were going to say. Well, my boy, it is my + affair and you must let Theo's father and Hetty's father, and Harry + Warrington's father's old friend say how it is my affair.” Here the + Colonel drew a packet out of his pocket, whereof the lappets and the + coat-tails and the general pocket accommodations were much more ample than + in the scant military garments of present warriors. “Look you, Harry. + These trinkets which you sent with the kindest heart in the world to + people who love you, and would cut off their little hands to spare you + needless pain, could never be bought by a young fellow with two or three + hundred a year. Why, a nobleman might buy these things, or a rich City + banker, and send them to his—to his daughters, let us say.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir, as you say, I meant only kindness,” says Harry, blushing + burning-red. + </p> + <p> + “But you must not give them to my girls, my boy. Hester and Theodosia + Lambert must not be dressed up with the winnings off the gaming-table, + saving your presence. It goes to my heart to bring back the trinkets. Mrs. + Lambert will keep her present, which is of small value, and sends you her + love and a God bless you—and so say I, Harry Warrington, with all my + heart.” Here the good Colonel's voice was much moved, and his face grew + very red, and he passed his hand over his eyes ere he held it out. + </p> + <p> + But the spirit of rebellion was strong in Mr. Warrington. He rose up from + his seat, never offering to take the hand which his senior held out to + him. “Give me leave to tell Colonel Lambert,” he said, “that I have had + somewhat too much advice from him. You are for ever volunteering it, sir, + and when I don't ask it. You make it your business to inquire about my + gains at play, and about the company I keep. What right have you to + control my amusements or my companions? I strive to show my sense of your + former kindness by little presents to your family, and you fling—you + bring them back.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't do otherwise, Mr. Warrington,” says the Colonel, with a very sad + face. + </p> + <p> + “Such a slight may mean nothing here, sir, but in our country it means + war, sir!” cries Mr. Warrington. “God forbid I should talk of drawing a + sword against the father of ladies who have been as mother and sister to + me: but you have wounded my heart, Colonel Lambert—you have, I won't + say insulted, but humiliated me, and this is a treatment I will bear from + no man alive! My servants will attend you to the door, sir!” Saying which, + and rustling in his brocade dressing-gown, Mr. Warrington, with much + state, walked off to his bedroom. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0044" id="link2HCH0044"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIV. Contains what might, perhaps, have been expected + </h2> + <p> + On the rejection of his peace-offerings, our warlike young American chief + chose to be in great wrath not only against Colonel Lambert, but the whole + of that gentleman's family. “He has humiliated me before the girls!” + thought the young man. “He and Mr. Wolfe, who were forever preaching + morality to me, and giving themselves airs of superiority and protection, + have again been holding me up to the family as a scapegrace and prodigal. + They are so virtuous that they won't shake me by the hand, forsooth; and + when I want to show them a little common gratitude, they fling my presents + in my face!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, sir, the things must be worth a little fortune!” says Parson + Sampson, casting an eye of covetousness on the two morocco boxes, in + which, on their white satin cushions, reposed Mr. Sparks's golden gewgaws. + </p> + <p> + “They cost some money, Sampson,” says the young man. “Not that I would + grudge ten times the amount to people who have been kind to me.” + </p> + <p> + “No, faith, sir, not if I know your honour!” interjects Sampson, who never + lost a chance of praising his young patron to his face. + </p> + <p> + “The repeater, they told me, was a great bargain, and worth a hundred + pounds at Paris. Little Miss Hetty I remember saying that she longed to + have a repeating watch.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what a love!” cries the chaplain, “with a little circle of pearls on + the back, and a diamond knob for the handle! Why, 'twould win any woman's + heart, Sir!” + </p> + <p> + “There passes an apple-woman with a basket. I have a mind to fling the + thing out to her!” cries Mr. Warrington, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + When Harry went out upon business, which took him to the City and the + Temple, his parasite did not follow him very far into the Strand; but + turned away, owning that he had a terror of Chancery Lane, its + inhabitants, and precincts. Mr. Warrington went then to his broker, and + they walked to the Bank together, where they did some little business, at + the end of which, and after the signing of a trifling signature or two, + Harry departed with a certain number of crisp bank-notes in his pocket. + The broker took Mr. Warrington to one of the great dining-houses for which + the City was famous then as now; and afterwards showed Mr. Warrington the + Virginian walk upon 'Change, through which Harry passed rather + shamefacedly. What would a certain lady in Virginia say, he thought, if + she knew that he was carrying off in that bottomless gambler's pocket a + great portion of his father's patrimony? Those are all Virginia merchants, + thinks he, and they are all talking to one another about me, and all + saying, “That is young Esmond, of Castlewood, on the Potomac, Madam + Esmond's son; and he has been losing his money at play, and he has been + selling out so much, and so much, and so much.” + </p> + <p> + His spirits did not rise until he had passed under the traitors' heads of + Temple Bar, and was fairly out of the City. From the Strand Mr. Harry + walked home, looking in at St. James's Street by the way; but there was + nobody there as yet, the company not coming to the Chocolate-House till a + later hour. + </p> + <p> + Arrived at home, Mr. Harry pulls out his bundle of bank-notes; puts three + of them into a sheet of paper, which he seals carefully, having previously + written within the sheet the words, “Much good may they do you. H. E. W.” + And this packet he directs to the Reverend Mr. Sampson,—leaving it + on the chimney-glass, with directions to his servants to give it to that + divine when he should come in. + </p> + <p> + And now his honour's phaeton is brought to the door, and he steps in, + thinking to drive round the park; but the rain coming on, or the east wind + blowing, or some other reason arising, his honour turns his horses' heads + down St. James's Street, and is back at White's at about three o'clock. + Scarce anybody has come in yet. It is the hour when folks are at dinner. + There, however, is my cousin Castlewood, lounging over the Public + Advertiser, having just come off from his duty at Court hard by. + </p> + <p> + Lord Castlewood is yawning over the Public Advertiser. What shall they do? + Shall they have a little piquet? Harry has no objections to a little + piquet. “Just for an hour,” says Lord Castlewood. “I dine at Arlington + Street at four.” “Just for an hour,” says Mr. Warrington; and they call + for cards. + </p> + <p> + “Or shall we have 'em in upstairs?” says my lord. “Out of the noise?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly, out of the noise,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + At five o'clock a half-dozen of gentlemen have come in after their dinner, + and are at cards, or coffee, or talk. The folks from the ordinary have not + left the table yet. There the gentlemen of White's will often sit till + past midnight. + </p> + <p> + One toothpick points over the coffee-house blinds into the street. “Whose + phaeton?” asks Toothpick 1 of Toothpick 2. + </p> + <p> + “The Fortunate Youth's,” says No. 2. + </p> + <p> + “Not so fortunate the last three nights. Luck confoundedly against him. + Lost, last night, thirteen hundred to the table. Mr. Warrington been here + to-day, John?” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington is in the house now, sir. In the little tea-room with Lord + Castlewood since three o'clock. They are playing at piquet,” says John. + </p> + <p> + “What fun for Castlewood!” says No. 1, with a shrug. + </p> + <p> + The second gentleman growls out an execration. “Curse the fellow!” he + says. “He has no right to be in this club at all. He doesn't pay if he + loses. Gentlemen ought not to play with him. Sir Miles Warrington told me + at court the other day, that Castlewood has owed him money on a bet these + three years.” + </p> + <p> + “Castlewood,” says No. 1, “don't lose if he plays alone. A large company + flurries him, you see—that's why he doesn't come to the table.” And + the facetious gentleman grins, and shows all his teeth, polished perfectly + clean. + </p> + <p> + “Let's go up and stop 'em,” growls No. 2. + </p> + <p> + “Why?” asks the other. “Much better look out a-window. Lamplighter going + up the ladder—famous sport. Look at that old putt in the chair: did + you ever see such an old quiz?” + </p> + <p> + “Who is that just gone out of the house? As I live, it's Fortunatus! He + seems to have forgotten that his phaeton has been here, waiting all the + time. I bet you two to one he has been losing to Castlewood.” + </p> + <p> + “Jack, do you take me to be a fool?” asks the one gentleman of the other. + “Pretty pair of horses the youth has got. How he is flogging 'em!” And + they see Mr. Warrington galloping up the street, and scared coachmen and + chairmen clearing before him: presently my Lord Castlewood is seen to + enter a chair, and go his way. + </p> + <p> + Harry drives up to his own door. It was but a few yards, and those poor + horses have been beating the pavement all this while in the rain. Mr. + Gumbo is engaged at the door in conversation with a countrified-looking + lass, who trips off with a curtsey. Mr. Gumbo is always engaged with some + pretty maid or other. + </p> + <p> + “Gumbo, has Mr. Sampson been here?” asks Gumbo's master from his + driving-seat. + </p> + <p> + “No, sar. Mr. Sampson have not been here!” answers Mr. Warrington's + gentleman. Harry bids him to go upstairs and bring down a letter addressed + to Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Addressed to Mr. Sampson? Oh yes, sir,” says Mr. Gumbo, who can't read. + </p> + <p> + “A sealed letter, stupid! on the mantelpiece, in the glass!” says Harry; + and Gumbo leisurely retires to fetch that document. As soon as Harry has + it, he turns his horses' heads towards St. James's Street, and the two + gentlemen, still yawning out of the window at White's, behold the + Fortunate Youth, in an instant, back again. + </p> + <p> + As they passed out of the little tea-room where he and Lord Castlewood had + had their piquet together, Mr. Warrington had seen that several gentlemen + had entered the play-room, and that there was a bank there. Some were + already steadily at work, and had their gaming jackets on: they kept such + coats at the club, which they put on when they had a mind to sit down to a + regular night's play. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington goes to the clerk's desk, pays his account of the previous + night, and, sitting down at the table, calls for fresh counters. This has + been decidedly an unlucky week with the Fortunate Youth, and to-night is + no more fortunate than previous nights have been. He calls for more + counters, and more presently. He is a little pale and silent, though very + easy and polite when talked to. But he cannot win. + </p> + <p> + At last he gets up. “Hang it! stay and mend your luck!” says Lord March, + who is sitting by his side with a heap of counters before him, green and + white. “Take a hundred of mine, and go on!” + </p> + <p> + “I have had enough for to-night, my lord,” says Harry, and rises and goes + away, and eats a broiled bone in the coffee-room, and walks back to his + lodgings some time about midnight. A man after a great catastrophe + commonly sleeps pretty well. It is the waking in the morning which is + sometimes queer and unpleasant. Last night you proposed to Miss Brown: you + quarrelled over your cups with Captain Jones, and valorously pulled his + nose: you played at cards with Colonel Robinson, and gave him—oh, + how many I O U's! These thoughts, with a fine headache, assail you in the + morning watches. What a dreary, dreary gulf between to-day and yesterday! + It seems as if you are years older. Can't you leap back over that chasm + again, and is it not possible that Yesterday is but a dream? There you + are, in bed. No daylight in at the windows yet. Pull your nightcap over + your eyes, the blankets over your nose, and sleep away Yesterday. Psha, + man, it was but a dream! Oh no, no! The sleep won't come. The watchman + bawls some hour—what hour? Harry minds him that he has got the + repeating watch under his pillow which he had bought for Hester. Ting, + ting, ting! the repeating watch sings out six times in the darkness, with + a little supplementary performance indicating the half-hour. Poor dear + little Hester!—so bright, so gay, so innocent! he would have liked + her to have that watch. What will Maria say? (Oh, that old Maria! what a + bore she is beginning to be! he thinks.) What will Madam Esmond at home + say when she hears that he has lost every shilling of his ready money—of + his patrimony? All his winnings, and five thousand pounds besides, in + three nights. Castlewood could not have played him false? No. My lord + knows piquet better than Harry does, but he would not deal unfairly with + his own flesh and blood. No, no. Harry is glad his kinsman, who wanted the + money, has got it. And for not one more shilling than he possessed, would + he play. It was when he counted up his losses at the gaming-table, and + found they would cover all the remainder of his patrimony, that he passed + the box and left the table. But, O cursed bad company! O extravagance and + folly! O humiliation and remorse! “Will my mother at home forgive me?” + thinks the young prodigal. “Oh, that I were there, and had never left it!” + </p> + <p> + The dreary London dawn peeps at length through shutters and curtains. The + housemaid enters to light his honour's fire and admit the dun morning into + his windows. Her Mr. Gumbo presently follows, who warms his master's + dressing-gown and sets out his shaving-plate and linen. Then arrives the + hairdresser to curl and powder his honour, whilst he reads his morning's + letters; and at breakfast-time comes that inevitable Parson Sampson, with + eager looks and servile smiles, to wait on his patron. The parson would + have returned yesterday according to mutual agreement, but some jolly + fellows kept him to dinner at the St. Alban's, and, faith, they made a + night of it. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Parson!” groans Harry, “'twas the worst night you ever made in your + life! Look here, sir!” + </p> + <p> + “Here is a broken envelope with the words, 'Much good may it do you,' + written within,” says the chaplain, glancing at the paper. + </p> + <p> + “Look on the outside, sir!” cries Mr. Warrington. “The paper was directed + to you.” The poor chaplain's countenance exhibited great alarm. “Has some + one broke it open, sir?” he asks. + </p> + <p> + “Some one, yes. I broke it open, Sampson. Had you come here as you + proposed yesterday afternoon, you would have found that envelope full of + bank-notes. As it is, they were all dropped at the infernal macco-table + last night.” + </p> + <p> + “What, all?” says Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, all, with all the money I brought away from the city, and all the + ready money I have left in the world. In the afternoon I played piquet + with my cous—with a gentleman at White's—and he eased me of + all the money I had about me. Remembering that there was still some money + left here, unless you had fetched it, I came home and carried it back and + left it at the macco-table, with every shilling besides that belongs to me—and—great + heaven, Sampson, what's the matter, man?” + </p> + <p> + “It's my luck, it's my usual luck,” cries out the unfortunate chaplain, + and fairly burst into tears. + </p> + <p> + “What! You are not whimpering like a baby at the loss of a loan of a + couple of hundred pounds?” cries out Mr. Warrington, very fierce and + angry. “Leave the room, Gumbo! Confound you! why are you always poking + your woolly head in at that door!” + </p> + <p> + “Some one below wants to see master with a little bill,” says Mr. Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + “Tell him to go to Jericho!” roars out Mr. Warrington. “Let me see nobody! + I am not at home, sir, at this hour of the morning!” + </p> + <p> + A murmur or two, a scuffle is heard on the landing-place, and silence + finally ensues. Mr. Warrington's scorn and anger are not diminished by + this altercation. He turns round savagely upon unhappy Sampson, who sits + with his head buried in his breast. + </p> + <p> + “Hadn't you better take a bumper of brandy to keep your spirits up, Mr. + Sampson?” he asks. “Hang it, man! don't be snivelling like a woman!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it's not me!” says Sampson, tossing his head. “I am used to it, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Not you! Who, then? Are you crying because somebody else is hurt, pray?” + asks Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sir!” says the chaplain, with some spirit; “because somebody else is + hurt, and through my fault. I have lodged for many years in London with a + bootmaker, a very honest man: and, a few days since, having a perfect + reliance upon—upon a friend who had promised to accommodate me with + a loan—I borrowed sixty pounds from my landlord which he was about + to pay to his own. I can't get the money. My poor landlord's goods will be + seized for rent; his wife and dear young children will be turned into the + street; and this honest family will be ruined through my fault. But, as + you say, Mr. Warrington, I ought not to snivel like a woman. I will + remember that you helped me once, and will bid you farewell, sir.” + </p> + <p> + And, taking his broad-leafed hat, Mr. Chaplain walked out of the room. + </p> + <p> + An execration and a savage laugh, I am sorry to say, burst out of Harry's + lips at this sudden movement of the chaplain's. He was in such a passion + with himself, with circumstances, with all people round about him, that he + scarce knew where to turn, or what he said. Sampson heard the savage + laughter, and then the voice of Harry calling from the stairs, “Sampson, + Sampson! hang you! come back! It's a mistake! I beg your pardon!” But the + chaplain was cut to the soul, and walked on. Harry heard the door of the + street as the parson slammed it. It thumped on his own breast. He entered + his room, and sank back on his luxurious chair there. He was Prodigal, + amongst the swine—his foul remorses; they had tripped him up, and + were wallowing over him. Gambling, extravagance, debauchery, dissolute + life, reckless companions, dangerous women—they were all upon him in + a herd, and were trampling upon the prostrate young sinner. + </p> + <p> + Prodigal was not, however, yet utterly overcome, and had some fight left + in him. Dashing the filthy importunate brutes aside, and, as it were, + kicking his ugly remembrances away from him, Mr. Warrington seized a great + glass of that fire-water which he had recommended to poor humiliated + Parson Sampson, and, flinging off his fine damask robe, rang for the + trembling Gumbo, and ordered his coat. “Not that!” roars he, as Gumbo + brings him a fine green coat with plated buttons and a gold cord. “A plain + suit—the plainer the better! The black clothes.” And Gumbo brings + the mourning-coat which his master had discarded for some months past. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Harry then takes:—1, his fine new gold watch; 2, his repeater + (that which he had bought for Hetty), which he puts into his other fob; 3, + his necklace, which he had purchased for Theo; 4, his rings, of which my + gentleman must have half a dozen at least (with the exception of his + grandfather's old seal ring, which he kisses and lays down on the + pincushion again); 5, his three gold snuff boxes: and 6, his purse, + knitted by his mother, and containing three shillings and sixpence and a + pocket-piece brought from Virginia: and, putting on his hat, issues from + his door. + </p> + <p> + At the landing he is met by Mr. Ruff, his landlord, who bows and cringes + and puts into his honour's hand a strip of paper a yard long. “Much + obliged if Mr. Warrington will settle. Mrs. Ruff has a large account to + make up to-day.” Mrs. Ruff is a milliner. Mr. Ruff is one of the + head-waiters and aides-de-camp of Mr. Mackreth, the proprietor of White's + Club. The sight of the landlord does not add to the lodger's good-humour. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps his honour will have the kindness to settle the little account?” + asks Mr. Ruff. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I will settle the account,” says Harry, glumly looking down + over Mr. Ruffs head from the stair above him. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps Mr. Warrington will settle it now?” + </p> + <p> + “No, Sir, I will not settle it now!” says Mr. Warrington, bullying + forward. + </p> + <p> + “I'm very—very much in want of money, sir,” pleads the voice under + him. “Mrs. Ruff is——” + </p> + <p> + “Hang you, sir, get out of the way!” cries Mr. Warrington, ferociously, + and driving Mr. Ruff backward to the wall, sending him almost topsy-turvy + down his own landing, he tramps down the stair, and walks forth into Bond + Street. + </p> + <p> + The Guards were at exercise at the King's Mews at Charing Cross, as Harry + passed, and he heard their drums and fifes, and looked in at the gate, and + saw them at drill. “I can shoulder a musket at any rate,” thought he to + himself gloomily, as he strode on. He crossed St. Martin's Lane (where he + transacted some business), and so made his way into Long Acre, and to the + bootmaker's house where friend Sampson lodged. The woman of the house said + Mr. Sampson was not at home, but had promised to be at home at one; and, + as she knew Mr. Warrington, showed him up to the parson's apartments, + where he sate down, and, for want of occupation, tried to read an + unfinished sermon of the chaplain's. The subject was the Prodigal Son. Mr. + Harry did not take very accurate cognisance of the sermon. + </p> + <p> + Presently he heard the landlady's shrill voice on the stair, pursuing + somebody who ascended, and Sampson rushed into the room, followed by the + sobbing woman. + </p> + <p> + At seeing Harry, Sampson started, and the landlady stopped. Absorbed in + her own domestic cares, she had doubtless forgot that a visitor was + awaiting her lodger. “There's only thirteen pound in the house, and he + will be here at one, I tell you!” she was bawling out, as she pursued her + victim. + </p> + <p> + “Hush, hush! my good creature!” cries the gasping chaplain, pointing to + Harry, who rose from the window-seat. “Don't you see Mr. Warrington? I've + business with him—most important business. It will be all right, I + tell you!” And he soothed and coaxed Mrs. Landlady out of the room, with + the crowd of anxious little ones hanging at her coats. + </p> + <p> + “Sampson, I have come to ask your pardon again,” says Mr. Warrington, + rising up. “What I said to-day to you was very cruel and unjust, and + unlike a gentleman.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word more, sir,” says the other, coldly and sadly, bowing and + scarcely pressing the hand which Harry offered him. + </p> + <p> + “I see you are still angry with me,” Harry continues. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, an apology is an apology. A man of my station can ask for no + more from one of yours. No doubt you did not mean to give me pain. And + what if you did? And you are not the only one of the family who has,” he + said, as he looked piteously round the room. “I wish I had never known the + name of Esmond or Castlewood,” he continues, “or that place yonder of + which the picture hangs over my fireplace, and where I have buried myself + these long, long years. My lord, your cousin, took a fancy to me, said he + would make my fortune, has kept me as his dependant till fortune has + passed by me, and now refuses me my due.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean your due, Mr. Sampson?” asks Harry. + </p> + <p> + “I mean three years' salary which he owes me as chaplain of Castlewood. + Seeing you could give me no money, I went to his lordship this morning and + asked him. I fell on my knees, and asked him, sir. But his lordship had + none. He gave me civil words, at least (saving your presence, Mr. + Warrington), but no money—that is, five guineas, which he declared + was all he had and which I took. But what are five guineas amongst so many + Oh, those poor little children! those poor little children!” + </p> + <p> + “Lord Castlewood said he had no money?” cries out Harry. “He won eleven + hundred pounds, yesterday, of me at piquet—which I paid him out of + this pocket-book.” + </p> + <p> + “I dare say, sir, I dare say, sir. One can't believe a word his lordship + says, sir,” says Mr. Sampson; “but I am thinking of execution in this + house, and ruin upon these poor folks to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “That need not happen,” says Mr. Warrington. “Here are eighty guineas, + Sampson. As far as they go, God help you! 'Tis all I have to give you. I + wish to my heart I could give more as I promised; but you did not come at + the right time, and I am a poor devil now until I get my remittances from + Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + The chaplain gave a wild look of surprise, and turned quite white. He + flung himself down on his knees and seized Harry's hand. + </p> + <p> + “Great powers, sir!” says he, “are you a guardian angel that Heaven hath + sent me? You quarrelled with my tears this morning, Mr. Warrington. I + can't help them now. They burst, sir, from a grateful heart. A rock of + stone would pour them forth, sir, before such goodness as yours! May + Heaven eternally bless you, and give you prosperity! May my unworthy + prayers be heard in your behalf, my friend, my best benefactor! May——” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, nay! get up, friend—get up, Sampson!” says Harry, whom the + chaplain's adulation and fine phrases rather annoyed. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad to have been able to do you a service—sincerely glad. + There—there! Don't be on your knees to me!” + </p> + <p> + “To Heaven who sent you to me, sir!” cries the chaplain. “Mrs. Weston! + Mrs. Weston!” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, sir?” says the landlady, instantly, who, indeed, had been at + the door the whole time. “We are saved, Mrs. Weston! We are saved!” cries + the chaplain. “Kneel, kneel, woman, and thank our benefactor! Raise your + innocent voices, children, and bless him!” A universal whimper arose round + Harry, which the chaplain led off, whilst the young Virginian stood, + simpering and well pleased, in the midst of this congregation. They would + worship, do what he might. One of the children, not understanding the + kneeling order, and standing up, the mother fetched her a slap on the ear, + crying, “Drat it, Jane, kneel down, and bless the gentleman, I tell + 'ee!”... We leave them performing this sweet benedictory service. Mr. + Harry walks off from Long Acre, forgetting almost the griefs of the former + four or five days, and tingling with the consciousness of having done a + good action. + </p> + <p> + The young woman with whom Gumbo had been conversing on that evening when + Harry drove up from White's to his lodging, was Mrs. Molly, from Oakhurst, + the attendant of the ladies there. Wherever that fascinating Gumbo went, + he left friends and admirers in the servants'-hall. I think we said it was + on a Wednesday evening he and Mrs. Molly had fetched a walk together, and + they were performing the amiable courtesies incident upon parting, when + Gumbo's master came up, and put an end to their twilight whisperings and + what not. + </p> + <p> + For many hours on Wednesday, on Thursday, on Friday, a pale little maiden + sate at a window in Lord Wrotham's house, in Hill Street, her mother and + sister wistfully watching her. She would not go out. They knew whom she + was expecting. He passed the door once, and she might have thought he was + coming, but he did not. He went into a neighbouring house. Papa had never + told the girls of the presents which Harry had sent, and only whispered a + word or two to their mother regarding his quarrel with the young + Virginian. + </p> + <p> + On Saturday night there was an opera of Mr. Handel's, and papa brought + home tickets for the gallery. Hetty went this evening. The change would do + her good, Theo thought, and—and, perhaps there might be Somebody + amongst the fine company; but Somebody was not there; and Mr. Handel's + fine music fell blank upon the poor child. It might have been Signor + Bononcini's, and she would have scarce known the difference. + </p> + <p> + As the children are undressing and taking off those smart new satin sacks + in which they appeared at the Opera, looking so fresh and so pretty + amongst all the tawdry rouged folks, Theo remarks how very sad and + woebegone Mrs. Molly their maid appears. Theo is always anxious when other + people seem in trouble; not so Hetty, now, who is suffering, poor thing, + one of the most selfish maladies which ever visits mortals. Have you ever + been amongst insane people, and remarked how they never, never think of + any but themselves? + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter, Molly?” asks kind Theo: and indeed, Molly has been + longing to tell her young ladies. “Oh, Miss Theo! Oh, Miss Hetty!” she + says. “How ever can I tell you? Mr. Gumbo have been here, Mr. Warrington's + coloured gentleman, miss; and he says Mr. Warrington have been took by two + bailiffs this evening, as he comes out of Sir Miles Warrington's house + three doors off.” + </p> + <p> + “Silence!” cries Theo, quite sternly. Who is it that gives those three + shrieks? It is Mrs. Molly, who chooses to scream, because Miss Hetty has + fallen fainting from her chair. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0045" id="link2HCH0045"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLV. In which Harry finds two Uncles + </h2> + <p> + We have all of us, no doubt, had a fine experience of the world, and a + vast variety of characters have passed under our eyes; but there is one + sort of men not an uncommon object of satire in novels and plays—of + whom I confess to have met with scarce any specimens at all in my + intercourse with this sinful mankind. I mean, mere religious hypocrites, + preaching for ever, and not believing a word of their own sermons; + infidels in broad brims and sables, expounding, exhorting, comminating, + blessing, without any faith in their own paradise, or fear about their + pandemonium. Look at those candid troops of hobnails clumping to church on + a Sunday evening; those rustling maid-servants in their ribbons whom the + young apprentices follow; those little regiments of schoolboys; those trim + young maidens and staid matrons, marching with their glistening + prayer-books, as the chapel bell chinks yonder (passing Ebenezer, very + likely, where the congregation of umbrellas, great bonnets, and pattens, + is by this time assembled under the flaring gas-lamps). Look at those! How + many of them are hypocrites, think you? Very likely the maid-servant is + thinking of her sweetheart: the grocer is casting about how he can buy + that parcel of sugar, and whether the County Bank will take any more of + his paper: the head-schoolboy is conning Latin verses for Monday's + exercise: the young scapegrace remembers that after his service and + sermon, there will be papa's exposition at home, but that there will be + pie for supper: the clerk who calls out the psalm has his daughter in + trouble, and drones through his responses scarcely aware of their meaning: + the very moment the parson hides his face on his cushion, he may be + thinking of that bill which is coming due on Monday. These people are not + heavenly-minded; they are of the world, worldly, and have not yet got + their feet off of it; but they are not hypocrites, look you. Folks have + their religion in some handy mental lock-up, as it were—a valuable + medicine, to be taken in ill health; and a man administers his nostrum to + his neighbour, and recommends his private cure for the other's complaint. + “My dear madam, you have spasms? You will find these drops infallible!” + “You have been taking too much wine, my good sir? By this pill you may + defy any evil consequences from too much wine, and take your bottle of + port daily.” Of spiritual and bodily physic, who are more fond and eager + dispensers than women? And we know that, especially a hundred years ago, + every lady in the country had her still-room, and her medicine chest, her + pills, powders, potions, for all the village round. + </p> + <p> + My Lady Warrington took charge of the consciences and the digestions of + her husband's tenants and family. She had the faith and health of the + servants'-hall in keeping. Heaven can tell whether she knew how to doctor + them rightly: but, was it pill or doctrine, she administered one or the + other with equal belief in her own authority, and her disciples swallowed + both obediently. She believed herself to be one of the most virtuous, + self-denying, wise, learned women in the world; and, dinning this opinion + perpetually into the ears of all round about her, succeeded in bringing + not few persons to join in her persuasion. + </p> + <p> + At Sir Miles's dinner there was so fine a sideboard of plate, and such a + number of men in livery, that it required some presenter: of mind to + perceive that the beer was of the smallest which the butler brought round + in the splendid tankard, and that there was but one joint of mutton on the + grand silver dish. When Sir Miles called the King's health, and smacked + his jolly lips over his wine, he eyed it and the company as if the liquor + was ambrosia. He asked Harry Warrington whether they had port like that in + Virginia? He said that was nothing to the wine Harry should taste in + Norfolk. He praised the wine so, that Harry almost believed that it was + good, and winked into his own glass, trying to see some of the merits + which his uncle perceived in the ruby nectar. + </p> + <p> + Just as we see in many a well-regulated family of this present century, + the Warringtons had their two paragons. Of the two grown daughters, the + one was the greatest beauty, the other the greatest genius and angel of + any young lady then alive, as Lady Warrington told Harry. The eldest, the + Beauty, was engaged to dear Tom Claypool, the fond mother informed her + cousin Harry in confidence. But the second daughter, the Genius and Angel, + was for ever set upon our young friend to improve his wits and morals. She + sang to him at the harpsichord—rather out of tune for an angel, + Harry thought; she was ready with advice, instruction, conversation—with + almost too much instruction and advice, thought Harry, who would have far + preferred the society of the little cousin who reminded him of Fanny + Mountain at home. But the last-mentioned young maiden after dinner retired + to her nursery commonly. Beauty went off on her own avocations; mamma had + to attend to her poor or write her voluminous letters; papa dozed in his + arm-chair; and the Genius remained to keep her young cousin company. + </p> + <p> + The calm of the house somehow pleased the young man, and he liked to take + refuge there away from the riot and dissipation in which he ordinarily + lived. Certainly no welcome could be kinder than that which he got. The + doors were opened to him at all hours. If Flora was not at home, Dora was + ready to receive him. Ere many days' acquaintance, he and his little + cousin Miles had been to have a galloping-match in the Park, and Harry, + who was kind and generous to every man alive who came near him, had in + view the purchase of a little horse for his cousin, far better than that + which the boy rode, when the circumstances occurred which brought all our + poor Harry's coaches and horses to a sudden breakdown. + </p> + <p> + Though Sir Miles Warrington had imagined Virginia to be an island, the + ladies were much better instructed in geography, and anxious to hear from + Harry all about his home and his native country. He, on his part, was not + averse to talk about it. He described to them the length and breadth of + his estate; the rivers which it coasted; the produce which it bore. He had + had with a friend a little practice of surveying in his boyhood. He made a + map of his county, with some fine towns here and there, which, in truth, + were but log-huts (but, for the honour of his country, he was desirous + that they should wear as handsome a look as possible). Here was Potomac; + here was James river; here were the wharves whence his mother's ships and + tobacco were brought to the sea. In truth, the estate was as large as a + county. He did not brag about the place overmuch. To see the handsome + young fellow, in a fine suit of velvet and silver lace, making his + draught, pointing out this hill and that forest or town, you might have + imagined him a travelling prince describing the realms of the queen his + mother. He almost fancied himself to be so at times. He had miles where + gentlemen in England had acres. Not only Dora listened but the beauteous + Flora bowed her fair head and heard him with attention. Why, what was + young Tom Claypool, their brother baronet's son in Norfolk with his great + boots, his great voice, and his heirdom to a poor five thousand acres, + compared to this young American prince and charming stranger? Angel as she + was, Dora began to lose her angelic temper, and to twit Flora for a flirt. + Claypool in his red waistcoat, would sit dumb before the splendid Harry in + his ruffles and laces, talking of March and Chesterfield, Selwyn and + Bolingbroke, and the whole company of macaronis. Mamma began to love Harry + more and more as a son. She was anxious about the spiritual welfare of + those poor Indians, of those poor negroes in Virginia. What could she do + to help dear Madam Esmond (a precious woman, she knew!) in the good work? + She had a serious butler and housekeeper: they were delighted with the + spiritual behaviour and sweet musical gifts of Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Harry, Harry! you have been a sad wild boy! Why did you not come + sooner to us, sir, and not lose your time amongst the spendthrifts and the + vain world? But 'tis not yet too late. We must reclaim thee, dear Harry! + Mustn't we, Sir Miles? Mustn't we Dora? Mustn't we, Flora?” + </p> + <p> + The three ladies all look up to the ceiling. They will reclaim the dear + prodigal. It is which shall reclaim him most. Dora sits by and watches + Flora. As for mamma when the girls are away, she talks to him more and + more seriously, more and more tenderly. She will be a mother to him in the + absence of his own admirable parent. She gives him a hymn-book. She kisses + him on the forehead. She is actuated by the purest love, tenderness, + religious regard, towards her dear, wayward, wild, amiable nephew. + </p> + <p> + Whilst these sentimentalities were going on, it is to be presumed that Mr. + Warrington kept his own counsel about his affairs out-of-doors, which we + have seen were in the very worst condition. He who had been favoured by + fortune for so many weeks was suddenly deserted by her, and a few days had + served to kick down all his heap of winnings. Do we say that my Lord + Castlewood, his own kinsman, had dealt unfairly by the young Virginian, + and in the course of a couple of afternoons' closet practice had robbed + him? We would insinuate nothing so disrespectful to his lordship's + character; but he had won from Harry every shilling which properly + belonged to him, and would have played him for his reversions, but that + the young man flung up his hands when he saw himself so far beaten, and + declared that he must continue the battle no more. Remembering that there + still remained a spar out of the wreck, as it were—that portion + which he had set aside for poor Sampson—Harry ventured it at the + gaming-table; but that last resource went down along with the rest of + Harry's possessions, and Fortune fluttered off in the storm, leaving the + luckless adventurer almost naked on the shore. + </p> + <p> + When a man is young and generous and hearty the loss of money scarce + afflicts him. Harry would sell his horses and carriages, and diminish his + train of life. If he wanted immediate supplies of money, would not his + Aunt Bernstein be his banker, or his kinsman who had won so much from him, + or his kind Uncle Warrington and Lady Warrington who were always talking + virtue and benevolence, and declaring that they loved him as a son? He + would call upon these, or any one of them whom he might choose to favour, + at his leisure; meanwhile, Sampson's story of his landlord's distress + touched the young gentleman, and, in order to raise a hasty supply for the + clergyman, he carried off all his trinkets to a certain pawnbroker's shop + in St. Martin's Lane. + </p> + <p> + Now this broker was a relative or partner of that very Mr. Sparks of + Tavistock Street, from whom Harry had purchased—purchased did we + say?—no; taken the trinkets which he had intended to present to his + Oakhurst friends; and it chanced that Mr. Sparks came to visit his + brother-tradesman very soon after Mr. Warrington had disposed of his + goods. Recognising immediately the little enamelled diamond-handled + repeater which he had sold to the Fortunate Youth, the jeweller broke out + into expressions regarding Harry which I will not mention here, being + already accused of speaking much too plainly. A gentleman who is + acquainted with a pawnbroker, we may be sure has a bailiff or two amongst + his acquaintances; and those bailiffs have followers who, at the bidding + of the impartial Law, will touch with equal hand the fiercest captain's + epaulet or the finest macaroni's shoulder. The very gentlemen who had + seized upon Lady Maria at Tunbridge were set upon her cousin in London. + They easily learned from the garrulous Gumbo that his honour was at Sir + Miles Warrington's house in Hill Street, and whilst the black was courting + Mrs. Lambert's maid at the adjoining mansion, Mr. Costigan and his + assistant lay in wait for poor Harry, who was enjoying the delights of + intercourse with a virtuous family circle assembled round his aunt's + table. Never had Uncle Miles been more cordial, never had Aunt Warrington + been more gracious, gentle, and affectionate; Flora looked unusually + lovely, Dora had been more than ordinarily amiable. At parting, my lady + gave him both her hands, and called benedictions from the ceiling down + upon him. Papa had said in his most jovial manner, “Hang it, nephew! when + I was thy age I should have kissed two such fine girls as Do and Flo ere + this, and my own flesh and blood too! Don't tell me! I should, my Lady + Warrington! Odds-fish! 'tis the boy blushes, and not the girls! I think—I + suppose they are used to it. He, he!” + </p> + <p> + “Papa!” cry the virgins. + </p> + <p> + “Sir Miles!” says the august mother at the same instant. + </p> + <p> + “There, there!” says papa. “A kiss won't do no harm, and won't tell no + tales: will it, nephew Harry?” I suppose, during the utterance of the + above three brief phrases, the harmless little osculatory operation has + taken place, and blushing cousin Harry has touched the damask cheek of + cousin Flora and cousin Dora. + </p> + <p> + As he goes downstairs with his uncle, mamma makes a speech to the girls, + looking, as usual, up to the ceiling, and saying, “What precious qualities + your poor dear cousin has! What shrewdness mingled with his simplicity, + and what a fine genteel manner, though upon mere worldly elegance I set + little store. What a dreadful pity to think that such a vessel should ever + be lost! We must rescue him, my loves. We must take him away from those + wicked companions, and those horrible Castlewoods—not that I would + speak ill of my neighbours. But I shall hope, I shall pray, that he may be + rescued from his evil courses!” And again Lady Warrington eyes the cornice + in a most determined manner, as the girls wistfully look towards the door + behind which their interesting cousin has just vanished. + </p> + <p> + His uncle will go downstairs with him. He calls “God bless you, my boy!” + most affectionately: he presses Harry's hand, and repeats his valuable + benediction at the door. As it closes, the light from the hall within + having sufficiently illuminated Mr. Warrington's face and figure, two + gentlemen, who have been standing on the opposite side of the way, advance + rapidly, and one of them takes a strip of paper out of his pocket, and + putting his hand upon Mr. Warrington's shoulder, declares him his + prisoner. A hackney-coach is in attendance, and poor Harry goes to sleep + in Chancery Lane. + </p> + <p> + Oh, to think that a Virginian prince's back should be slapped by a ragged + bailiffs follower!—that Madam Esmond's son should be in a + spunging-house in Cursitor Street! I do not envy our young prodigal his + rest on that dismal night. Let us hit him now he is down, my beloved young + friends. Let us imagine the stings of remorse keeping him wakeful on his + dingy pillow; the horrid jollifications of other hardened inmates of the + place ringing in his ears from the room hard by, where they sit boozing; + the rage and shame and discomfiture. No pity on him, I say, my honest + young gentlemen, for you, of course, have never indulged in extravagance + or folly, or paid the reckoning of remorse. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0046" id="link2HCH0046"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVI. Chains and Slavery + </h2> + <p> + Remorse for past misdeeds and follies Harry sincerely felt, when he found + himself a prisoner in that dismal lock-up house, and wrath and annoyance + at the idea of being subjected to the indignity of arrest; but the present + unpleasantry he felt sure could only be momentary. He had twenty friends + who would release him from his confinement: to which of them should he + apply, was the question. Mr. Draper, the man of business, who had been so + obsequious to him: his kind uncle the Baronet, who had offered to make his + house Harry's home, who loved him as a son: his cousin Castlewood, who had + won such large sums from him: his noble friends at the Chocolate-House, + his good Aunt Bernstein—any one of these Harry felt sure would give + him a help in his trouble, though some of the relatives, perhaps, might + administer to him a little scolding for his imprudence. The main point + was, that the matter should be transacted quietly, for Mr. Warrington was + anxious that as few as possible of the public should know how a gentleman + of his prodigious importance had been subject to such a vulgar process as + an arrest. As if the public does not end by knowing everything it cares to + know. As if the dinner I shall have to-day, and the hole in the stocking + which I wear at this present writing, can be kept a secret from some enemy + or other who has a mind to pry it out—though my boots are on, and my + door was locked when I dressed myself! I mention that hole in the stocking + for sake of example merely. The world can pry out everything about us + which it has a mind to know. But then there is this consolation, which men + will never accept in their own cases, that the world doesn't care. + Consider the amount of scandal it has been forced to hear in its time, and + how weary and blase it must be of that kind of intelligence. You are taken + to prison, and fancy yourself indelibly disgraced? You are bankrupt under + odd circumstances? You drive a queer bargain with your friends and are + found out, and imagine the world will punish you? Psha! Your shame is only + vanity. Go and talk to the world as if nothing had happened, and nothing + has happened. Tumble down; brush the mud off your clothes; appear with a + smiling countenance, and nobody cares. Do you suppose Society is going to + take out its pocket-handkerchief and be inconsolable when you die? Why + should it care very much, then, whether your worship graces yourself or + disgraces yourself? Whatever happens it talks, meets, jokes, yawns, has + its dinner, pretty much as before. Therefore don't be so conceited about + yourself as to fancy your private affairs of so much importance, mi fili. + Whereas Mr. Harry Warrington chafed and fumed as though all the world was + tingling with the touch of that hand which had been laid on his sublime + shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “A pretty sensation my arrest must have created at the club!” thought + Harry. “I suppose that Mr. Selwyn will be cutting all sorts of jokes about + my misfortune, plague take him! Everybody round the table will have heard + of it. March will tremble about the bet I have with him; and, faith, + 'twill be difficult to pay him when I lose. They will all be setting up a + whoop of congratulation at the Savage, as they call me, being taken + prisoner. How shall I ever be able to appear in the world again? Whom + shall I ask to come to my help? No,” thought he, with his mingled + acuteness and simplicity, “I will not send in the first instance to any of + my relations or my noble friends at White's. I will have Sampson's + counsel. He has often been in a similar predicament, and will know how to + advise me.” Accordingly, as soon as the light of dawn appeared, after an + almost intolerable delay—for it seemed to Harry as if the sun had + forgotten to visit Cursitor Street in his rounds that morning—and as + soon as the inmates of the house of bondage were stirring, Mr. Warrington + despatched a messenger to his friend in Long Acre, acquainting the + chaplain with the calamity just befallen him, and beseeching his reverence + to give him the benefit of his advice and consolation. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington did not know, to be sure, that to send such a message to + the parson was as if he said, “I am fallen amongst the lions. Come down, + my dear friend, into the pit with me.” Harry very likely thought Sampson's + difficulties were over; or, more likely still, was so much engrossed with + his own affairs and perplexities, as to bestow little thought upon his + neighbour's. Having sent off his missive, the captive's mind was somewhat + more at ease, and he condescended to call for breakfast, which was brought + to him presently. The attendant who served him with his morning repast + asked him whether he would order dinner, or take his meal at Mrs. + Bailiff's table with some other gentlemen? No. Mr. Warrington would not + order dinner. He should quit the place before dinner-time, he informed the + chamberlain who waited on him in that grim tavern. The man went away, + thinking no doubt that this was not the first young gentleman who had + announced that he was going away ere two hours were over. “Well, if your + honour does stay, there is good beef and carrot at two o'clock,” says the + sceptic, and closes the door on Mr. Harry and his solitary meditations. + </p> + <p> + Harry's messenger to Mr. Sampson brought back a message from that + gentleman to say that he would be with his patron as soon as might be: but + ten o'clock came, eleven o'clock, noon, and no Sampson. No Sampson + arrived, but about twelve Gumbo with a portmanteau of his master's + clothes, who flung himself, roaring with grief, at Harry's feet: and with + a thousand vows of fidelity, expressed himself ready to die, to sell + himself into slavery over again, to do anything to rescue his beloved + Master Harry from this calamitous position. Harry was touched with the + lad's expressions of affection, and told him to get up from the ground + where he was grovelling on his knees, embracing his master's. “All you + have to do, sir, is to give me my clothes to dress, and to hold your + tongue about this business. Mind you, not a word, sir, about it to + anybody!” says Mr. Warrington, severely. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, sir, never to nobody!” says Gumbo, looking most solemnly, and + proceeded to dress his master carefully, who had need of a change and a + toilette after his yesterday's sudden capture, and night's dismal rest. + Accordingly Gumbo flung a dash of powder in Harry's hair, and arrayed his + master carefully and elegantly, so that he made Mr. Warrington look as + fine and splendid as if he had been stepping into his chair to go to St. + James's. + </p> + <p> + Indeed all that love and servility could do Mr. Gumbo faithfully did for + his master, for whom he had an extreme regard and attachment. But there + were certain things beyond Gumbo's power. He could not undo things which + were done already; and he could not help lying and excusing himself when + pressed upon points disagreeable to himself. The language of slaves is + lies (I mean black slaves and white). The creature slinks away and hides + with subterfuges, as a hunted animal runs to his covert at the sight of + man, the tyrant and pursuer. Strange relics of feudality, and consequence + of our ever-so-old social life! Our domestics (are they not men, too, and + brethren?) are all hypocrites before us. They never speak naturally to us, + or the whole truth. We should be indignant: we should say, confound their + impudence: we should turn them out of doors if they did. But quo me rapis, + O my unbridled hobby? + </p> + <p> + Well, the truth is, that as for swearing not to say a word about his + master's arrest—such an oath as that was impossible to keep for, + with a heart full of grief, indeed, but with a tongue that never could + cease wagging, bragging, joking, and lying, Mr. Gumbo had announced the + woeful circumstance to a prodigious number of his acquaintances already, + chiefly gentlemen of the shoulder-knot and worsted lace. We have seen how + he carried the news to Colonel Lambert's and Lord Wrotham's servants: he + had proclaimed it at the footman's club to which he belonged, and which + was frequented by the gentlemen of some of the first nobility. He had + subsequently condescended to partake of a mug of ale in Sir Miles + Warrington's butler's room, and there had repeated and embellished the + story. Then he had gone off to Madame Bernstein's people, with some of + whom he was on terms of affectionate intercourse, and had informed that + domestic circle of his grief and, his master being captured, and there + being no earthly call for his personal services that evening, Gumbo had + stepped up to Lord Castlewood's, and informed the gentry there of the + incident which had just come to pass. So when, laying his hand on his + heart, and with gushing floods of tears, Gumbo says, in reply to his + master's injunction, “Oh no, master! nebber to nobody!” we are in a + condition to judge of the degree of credibility which ought to be given to + the lad's statement. + </p> + <p> + The black had long completed his master's toilet: the dreary breakfast was + over: slow as the hours went to the prisoner, still they were passing one + after another, but no Sampson came in accordance with the promise sent in + the morning. At length, some time after noon, there arrived, not Sampson, + but a billet from him, sealed with a moist wafer, and with the ink almost + yet wet. The unlucky divine's letter ran as follows: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, sir, dear sir, I have done all that a man can at the command and in + the behalf of his patron! You did not know, sir, to what you were + subjecting me, did you? Else, if I was to go to prison, why did I not + share yours, and why am I in a lock-up house three doors off? + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Such is the fact. As I was hastening to you, knowing full well the + danger to which I was subject:—but what danger will I not affront at + the call of such a benefactor as Mr. Warrington hath been to me?—I + was seized by two villains who had a writ against me, and who have lodged + me at Naboth's, hard by, and so close to your honour, that we could almost + hear each other across the garden walls of the respective houses where we + are confined. + </p> + <p> + “I had much and of importance to say, which I do not care to write down on + paper regarding your affairs. May they mend! May my cursed fortunes, too, + better themselves, is the prayer of— + </p> + <p> + “Your honour's afflicted Chaplain-in-Ordinary, J. S.” + </p> + <p> + And now, as Mr. Sampson refuses to speak, it will be our duty to acquaint + the reader with those matters whereof the poor chaplain did not care to + discourse on paper. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo's loquacity had not reached so far as Long Acre, and Mr. Sampson was + ignorant of the extent of his patron's calamity until he received Harry's + letter and messenger from Chancery Lane. The divine was still ardent with + gratitude for the service Mr. Warrington had just conferred on him, and + eager to find some means to succour his distressed patron. He knew what a + large sum Lord Castlewood had won from his cousin, had dined in company + with his lordship on the day before, and now ran to Lord Castlewood's + house, with a hope of arousing him to some pity for Mr. Warrington. + Sampson made a very eloquent and touching speech to Lord Castlewood about + his kinsman's misfortune, and spoke with a real kindness and sympathy, + which, however, failed to touch the nobleman to whom he addressed himself. + </p> + <p> + My lord peevishly and curtly put a stop to the chaplain's passionate + pleading. “Did I not tell you, two days since, when you came for money, + that I was as poor as a beggar, Sampson,” said his lordship, “and has + anybody left me a fortune since? The little sum I won from my cousin was + swallowed up by others. I not only can't help Mr. Warrington, but, as I + pledge you my word, not being in the least aware of his calamity, I had + positively written to him this morning to ask him to help me.” And a + letter to this effect did actually reach Mr. Warrington from his lodgings, + whither it had been despatched by the penny post. + </p> + <p> + “I must get him money, my lord. I know he had scarcely anything left in + his pocket after relieving me. Were I to pawn my cassock and bands, he + must have money,” cried the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Amen. Go and pawn your bands, your cassock, anything you please. Your + enthusiasm does you credit,” said my lord; and resumed the reading of his + paper, whilst, in the deepest despondency, poor Sampson left him. + </p> + <p> + My Lady Maria meanwhile had heard that the chaplain was with her brother, + and conjectured what might be the subject on which they had been talking. + She seized upon the parson as he issued from out his fruitless interview + with my lord. She drew him into the dining-room: the strongest marks of + grief and sympathy were in her countenance. “Tell me, what is this has + happened to Mr. Warrington?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Your ladyship, then, knows?” asked the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Have I not been in mortal anxiety ever since his servant brought the + dreadful news last night?” asked my lady. “We had it as we came from the + opera—from my Lady Yarmouth's box—my lord, my Lady Castlewood, + and I.” + </p> + <p> + “His lordship, then, did know?” continued Sampson. + </p> + <p> + “Benson told the news when we came from the playhouse to our tea,” repeats + Lady Maria. + </p> + <p> + The chaplain lost all patience and temper at such duplicity. “This is too + bad,” he said, with an oath; and he told Lady Maria of the conversation + which he had just had with Lord Castlewood, and of the latter's refusal to + succour his cousin, after winning great sums of money from him, and with + much eloquence and feeling, of Mr. Warrington's most generous behaviour to + himself. + </p> + <p> + Then my Lady Maria broke out with a series of remarks regarding her own + family, which were by no means complimentary to her own kith and kin. + Although not accustomed to tell truth commonly, yet, when certain families + fall out, it is wonderful what a number of truths they will tell about one + another. With tears, imprecations, I do not like to think how much + stronger language, Lady Maria burst into a furious and impassioned tirade, + in which she touched upon the history of almost all her noble family. She + complimented the men and the ladies alike; she shrieked out + interrogatories to Heaven, inquiring why it had made such (never mind what + names she called her brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, parents); and, + emboldened with wrath, she dashed at her brother's library door, so shrill + in her outcries, so furious in her demeanour, that the alarmed chaplain, + fearing the scene which might ensue, made for the street. + </p> + <p> + My lord, looking up from the book or other occupation which engaged him, + regarded the furious woman with some surprise, and selected a good strong + oath to fling at her, as it were, and check her onset. + </p> + <p> + But, when roused, we have seen how courageous Maria could be. Afraid as + she was ordinarily of her brother, she was not in a mood to be frightened + now by any language of abuse or sarcasm at his command. + </p> + <p> + “So, my lord!” she called out, “you sit down with him in private to cards, + and pigeon him! You get the poor boy's last shilling, and you won't give + him a guinea out of his own winnings now he is penniless!” + </p> + <p> + “So that infernal chaplain has been telling tales!” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Dismiss him: do! Pay him his wages, and let him go,—he will be glad + enough!” cries Maria. + </p> + <p> + “I keep him to marry one of my sisters, in case he is wanted,” says + Castlewood, glaring at her. + </p> + <p> + “What can the women be in a family where there are such men?” says the + lady. + </p> + <p> + “Effectivement!” says my lord, with a shrug of his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “What can we be, when our fathers and brothers are what they are? We are + bad enough, but what are you? I say, you neither have courage—no, + nor honour, nor common feeling. As your equals won't play with you, my + Lord Castlewood, you must take this poor lad out of Virginia, your own + kinsman, and pigeon him! Oh, it's a shame—a shame!” + </p> + <p> + “We are all playing our own game, I suppose. Haven't you played and won + one, Maria? Is it you that are squeamish of a sudden about the poor lad + from Virginia? Has Mr. Harry cried off, or has your ladyship got a better + offer?” cried my Lord. “If you won't have him, one of the Warrington girls + will, I promise you; and the old Methodist woman in Hill Street will give + him the choice of either. Are you a fool, Maria Esmond? A greater fool, I + mean, than in common?” + </p> + <p> + “I should be a fool if I thought that either of my brothers could act like + an honest man, Eugene!” said Maria. “I am a fool to expect that you will + be other than you are; that if you find any relative in distress you will + help him; that if you can meet with a victim you won't fleece him.” + </p> + <p> + “Fleece him! Psha! What folly are you talking! Have you not seen, from the + course which the lad has been running for months past, how he would end? + If I had not won his money, some other would? I never grudged thee thy + little plans regarding him. Why shouldst thou fly in a passion, because I + have just put out my hand to take what he was offering to all the world? I + reason with you, I don't know why, Maria. You should be old enough to + understand reason, at any rate. You think this money belonged of right to + Lady Maria Warrington and her children? I tell you that in three months + more every shilling would have found its way to White's macco-table, and + that it is much better spent in paying my debts. So much for your + ladyship's anger, and tears, and menaces, and naughty language. See! I am + a good brother, and repay them with reason and kind words.” + </p> + <p> + “My good brother might have given a little more than kind words to the lad + from whom he has just taken hundreds,” interposed the sister of this + affectionate brother. + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens, Maria! Don't you see that even out of this affair, + unpleasant as it seems, a clever woman may make her advantage,” cries my + lord. Maria said she failed to comprehend. + </p> + <p> + “As thus. I name no names; I meddle in no person's business, having quite + enough to do to manage my own cursed affairs. But suppose I happen to know + of a case in another family which may be applicable to ours. It is this. A + green young lad of tolerable expectations, comes up from the country to + his friends in town—never mind from what country: never mind to what + town. An elderly female relative, who has been dragging her spinsterhood + about these—how many years shall we say?—extort a promise of + marriage from my young gentleman, never mind on what conditions.” + </p> + <p> + “My lord, do you want to insult your sister as well as to injure your + cousin?” asks Maria. + </p> + <p> + “My good child, did I say a single word about fleecing or cheating, or + pigeoning, or did I fly into a passion when you insulted me? I know the + allowance that must be made for your temper, and the natural folly of your + sex. I say I treated you with soft words—I go on with my story. The + elderly relative extracts a promise of marriage from the young lad, which + my gentleman is quite unwilling to keep. No, he won't keep it. He is + utterly tired of his elderly relative: he will plead his mother's refusal: + he will do anything to get out of his promise.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; if he was one of us Esmonds, my Lord Castlewood. But this is a man + of honour we are speaking of,” cried Maria, who, I suppose, admired truth + in others, however little she saw it in her own family. + </p> + <p> + “I do not contradict either of my dear sister's remarks. One of us would + fling the promise to the winds, especially as it does not exist in + writing.” + </p> + <p> + “My lord!” gasps out Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Bah! I know all. That little coup of Tunbridge was played by the Aunt + Bernstein with excellent skill. The old woman is the best man of our + family. While you were arrested, your boxes were searched for the Mohock's + letters to you. When you were let loose, the letters had disappeared, and + you said nothing, like a wise woman, as you are sometimes. You still + hanker after your Cherokee. Soit. A woman of your mature experience knows + the value of a husband. What is this little loss of two or three hundred + pounds?” + </p> + <p> + “Not more than three hundred, my lord?” interposes Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Eh! never mind a hundred or two, more or less. What is this loss at + cards? A mere bagatelle! You are playing for a principality. You want your + kingdom in Virginia; and if you listen to my opinion, the little + misfortune which has happened to your swain is a piece of great + good-fortune to you.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand you, my lord.” + </p> + <p> + “C'est possible; but sit down, and I will explain what I mean in a manner + suited to your capacity.” And so Maria Esmond, who had advanced to her + brother like a raging lion, now sate down at his feet like a gentle lamb. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein was not a little moved at the news of her nephew's + arrest, which Mr. Gumbo brought to Clarges Street on the night of the + calamity. She would have cross-examined the black, and had further + particulars respecting Harry's mishap; but Mr. Gumbo, anxious to carry his + intelligence to other quarters, had vanished when her ladyship sent for + him. Her temper was not improved by the news, or by the sleepless night + which she spent. I do not envy the dame de compagnie who played cards with + her, or the servant who had to lie in her chamber. An arrest was an + everyday occurrence, as she knew very well as a woman of the world. Into + what difficulties had her scapegrace of a nephew fallen? How much money + should she be called upon to pay to release him? And had he run through + all his own? Provided he had not committed himself very deeply, she was + quite disposed to aid him. She liked even his extravagances and follies. + He was the only being in the world on whom, for long, long years, that + weary woman had been able to bestow a little natural affection. So, on + their different beds, she and Harry were lying wakeful together; and quite + early in the morning the messengers which each sent forth on the same + business may have crossed each other. + </p> + <p> + Madame Bernstein's messenger was despatched to the chambers of her man of + business, Mr. Draper, with an order that Mr. D. should ascertain for what + sums Mr. Warrington had been arrested, and forthwith repair to the + Baroness. Draper's emissaries speedily found out that Mr. Warrington was + locked up close beside them, and the amount of detainers against him so + far. Were there other creditors, as no doubt there were, they would + certainly close upon him when they were made acquainted with his + imprisonment. + </p> + <p> + To Mr. Sparks, the jeweller, for those unlucky presents, so much; to the + landlord in Bond Street, for board, fire, lodging, so much: these were at + present the only claims against Mr. Warrington, Mr. Draper found. He was + ready, at a signal from her ladyship, to settle them at a moment. The + jeweller's account ought especially to be paid, for Mr. Harry had acted + most imprudently in taking goods from Mr. Sparks on credit, and pledging + them with a pawnbroker. He must have been under some immediate pressure + for money; intended to redeem the goods immediately, meant nothing but + what was honourable of course; but the affair would have an ugly look, if + made public, and had better be settled out of hand. “There cannot be the + least difficulty regarding a thousand pounds more or less, for a gentleman + of Mr. Warrington's rank and expectations,” said Madame de Bernstein. Not + the least: her ladyship knew very well that there were funds belonging to + Mr. Warrington, on which money could be at once raised with her ladyship's + guarantee. + </p> + <p> + Should he go that instant and settle the matter with Messrs. Amos? Mr. + Harry might be back to dine with her at two, and to confound the people at + the clubs, “who are no doubt rejoicing over his misfortunes,” said the + compassionate Mr. Draper. + </p> + <p> + But the Baroness had other views. “I think, my good Mr. Draper,” she said, + “that my young gentleman has sown wild oats enough; and when he comes out + of prison I should like him to come out clear, and without any liabilities + at all. You are not aware of all his.” + </p> + <p> + “No gentleman ever does tell all his debts, madam,” says Mr. Draper; “no + one I ever had to deal with.” + </p> + <p> + “There is one which the silly boy has contracted, and from which he ought + to be released, Mr. Draper. You remember a little circumstance which + occurred at Tunbridge Wells in the autumn? About which I sent up my man + Case to you?” + </p> + <p> + “When your ladyship pleases to recall it, I remember it—not + otherwise,” says Mr. Draper, with a bow. “A lawyer should be like a Popish + confessor,—what is told him is a secret for ever, and for + everybody.” So we must not whisper Madame Bernstein's secret to Mr. + Draper; but the reader may perhaps guess it from the lawyer's conduct + subsequently. + </p> + <p> + The lawyer felt pretty certain that ere long he would receive a summons + from the poor young prisoner in Cursitor Street, and waited for that + invitation before he visited Mr. Warrington. Six-and-thirty hours passed + ere the invitation came, during which period Harry passed the dreariest + two days which he ever remembered to have spent. + </p> + <p> + There was no want of company in the lock-up house, the bailiff's rooms + were nearly always full; but Harry preferred the dingy solitude of his own + room to the society round his landlady's table, and it was only on the + second day of his arrest, and when his purse was emptied by the heavy + charges of the place, that he made up his mind to apply to Mr. Draper. He + despatched a letter then to the lawyer at the Temple, informing him of his + plight, and desiring him, in an emphatic postscript, not to say one word + about the matter to his aunt, Madame de Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + He had made up his mind not to apply to the old lady except at the very + last extremity. She had treated him with so much kindness that he revolted + from the notion of trespassing on her bounty, and for a while tried to + please himself with the idea that he might get out of durance without her + even knowing that any misfortune at all had befallen him. There seemed to + him something humiliating in petitioning a woman for money. No! He would + apply first to his male friends, all of whom might help him if they would. + It had been his intention to send Sampson to one or other of them as a + negotiator, had not the poor fellow been captured on his way to succour + his friend. + </p> + <p> + Sampson gone, Harry was obliged to have recourse to his own negro servant, + who was kept on the trot all day between Temple Bar and the Court end of + the town with letters from his unlucky master. Firstly, then, Harry sent + off a most private and confidential letter to his kinsman, the Right + Honourable the Earl of Castlewood, saying how he had been cast into + prison, and begging Castlewood to lend him the amount of the debt. “Please + to keep my application, and the cause of it, a profound secret from the + dear ladies,” wrote poor Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Was ever anything so unfortunate?” wrote back Lord Castlewood, in reply. + “I suppose you have not got my note of yesterday? It must be lying at your + lodgings, where—I hope in heaven!—you will soon be, too. My + dear Mr. Warrington, thinking you were as rich as Croesus—otherwise + I never should have sate down to cards with you—I wrote to you + yesterday, begging you to lend me some money to appease some hungry duns + whom I don't know how else to pacify. My poor fellow! every shilling of + your money went to them, and but for my peer's privilege I might be + hob-and-nob with you now in your dungeon. May you soon escape from it, is + the prayer of your sincere CASTLEWOOD.” + </p> + <p> + This was the result of application number one: and we may imagine that Mr. + Harry read the reply to his petition with rather a blank face. Never mind! + There was kind, jolly Uncle Warrington. Only last night his aunt had + kissed him and loved him like a son. His uncle had called down blessings + on his head, and professed quite a paternal regard for him. With a feeling + of shyness and modesty in presence of those virtuous parents and family. + Harry had never said a word about his wild doings, or his horse-racings, + or his gamblings, or his extravagances. It must all out now. He must + confess himself a Prodigal and a Sinner, and ask for their forgiveness and + aid. So Prodigal sate down and composed a penitent letter to Uncle + Warrington, and exposed his sad case, and besought him to come to the + rescue. Was not that a bitter nut to crack for our haughty young + Virginian? Hours of mortification and profound thought as to the pathos of + the composition did Harry pass over that letter; sheet after sheet of Mr. + Amos's sixpence-a-sheet letter-paper did he tear up before the missive was + complete, with which poor blubbering Gumbo (much vilified by the bailiff's + followers and parasites, whom he was robbing, as they conceived, of their + perquisites) went his way. + </p> + <p> + At evening the faithful negro brought back a thick letter in his aunt's + handwriting. Harry opened the letter with a trembling hand. He thought it + was full of bank-notes. Ah me! it contained a sermon (Daniel in the Lions' + Den) by Mr. Whitfield, and a letter from Lady Warrington saying that, in + Sir Miles's absence from London, she was in the habit of opening his + letters, and hence, perforce, was become acquainted with a fact which she + deplored from her inmost soul to learn, namely, that her nephew Warrington + had been extravagant and was in debt. Of course, in the absence of Sir + Miles, she could not hope to have at command such a sum as that for which + Mr. Warrington wrote, but she sent him her heartfelt prayers, her deepest + commiseration, and a discourse by dear Mr. Whitfield, which would comfort + him in his present (alas! she feared not undeserved) calamity. She added + profuse references to particular Scriptural chapters which would do him + good. If she might speak of things worldly, she said, at such a moment, + she would hint to Mr. Warrington that his epistolary orthography was + anything but correct. She would not fail for her part to comply with his + express desire that his dear cousins should know nothing of this most + painful circumstance, and with every wish for his welfare here and + elsewhere, she subscribed herself his loving aunt, MARGARET WARRINGTON. + </p> + <p> + Poor Harry hid his face between his hands, and sate for a while with + elbows on the greasy table blankly staring into the candle before him. The + bailiff's servant, who was touched by his handsome face, suggested a mug + of beer for his honour, but Harry could not drink, nor eat the meat that + was placed before him. Gumbo, however, could, whose grief did not deprive + him of appetite, and who, blubbering the while, finished all the beer, and + all the bread and the meat. Meanwhile, Harry had finished another letter, + with which Gumbo was commissioned to start again, and away the faithful + creature ran upon his errand. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo ran as far as White's Club, to which house he was ordered in the + first instance to carry the letter, and where he found the person to whom + it was addressed. Even the prisoner, for whom time passed so slowly, was + surprised at the celerity with which his negro had performed his errand. + </p> + <p> + At least the letter which Harry expected had not taken long to write. “My + lord wrote it at the hall-porter's desk, while I stood there then with Mr + Mr. Morris,” said Gumbo, and the letter was to this effect:— + </p> + <p> + “DEAR SIR—I am sorry I cannot comply with your wish, I'm short of + money at present, having paid large sums to you as well as to other + gentlemen.—Yours obediently, MARCH AND R. + </p> + <p> + “Henry Warrington, Esq.” + </p> + <p> + “Did Lord March say anything?” asked Mr. Warrington looking very pale. + </p> + <p> + “He say it was the coolest thing he ever knew. So did Mr. Morris. He + showed him your letter, Master Harry. Yes, Mr. Morris say, 'Dam his + imperence!'” added Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + Harry burst into such a yell of laughter that his landlord thought he had + good news, and ran in in alarm lest he was about to lose his tenant. But + by this time poor Harry's laughter was over, and he was flung down in his + chair gazing dismally in the fire. + </p> + <p> + “I—I should like to smoke a pipe of Virginia” he groaned. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo burst into tears: he flung himself at Harry's knees. He kissed his + knees and his hands. “Oh, master, my dear master, what will they say at + home?” he sobbed out. + </p> + <p> + The jailor was touched at the sight of the black's grief and fidelity, and + at Harry's pale face as he sank back in his chair quite overcome and + beaten by his calamity. + </p> + <p> + “Your honour ain't eat anything these two days,” the man said, in a voice + of rough pity. “Pluck up a little, sir. You aren't the first gentleman who + has been in and out of grief before this. Let me go down and get you a + glass of punch and a little supper.” + </p> + <p> + “My good friend,” said Harry, a sickly smile playing over his white face, + “you pay ready money for everything in this house, don't you? I must tell + you that I haven't a shilling left to buy a dish of meat. All the money I + have I want for letter-paper.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, master, my master!” roared out Gumbo. “Look here, my dear Master + Harry! Here's plenty of money—here's twenty-three five-guineas. + Here's gold moidore from Virginia—here—no, not that—that's + keepsakes the girls gave me. Take everything—everything. I go sell + myself to-morrow morning; but here's plenty for to-night, master!” + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, Gumbo!” Harry said, laying his hand on the lad's woolly + head. “You are free if I am not, and Heaven forbid I should not take the + offered help of such a friend as you. Bring me some supper: but the pipe + too, mind—the pipe too!” And Harry ate his supper with a relish: and + even the turnkeys and bailiff's followers, when Gumbo went out of the + house that night, shook hands with him, and ever after treated him well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0047" id="link2HCH0047"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVII. Visitors in Trouble + </h2> + <p> + Mr. Gumbo's generous and feeling conduct soothed and softened the angry + heart of his master, and Harry's second night in the spunging-house was + passed more pleasantly than the first. Somebody at least there was to help + and compassionate with him. Still, though softened in that one particular + spot, Harry's heart was hard and proud towards almost all the rest of the + world. They were selfish and ungenerous, he thought. His pious Aunt + Warrington, his lordly friend March, his cynical cousin Castlewood,—all + had been tried, and were found wanting. Not to avoid twenty years of + prison would he stoop to ask a favour of one of them again. Fool that he + had been, to believe in their promises, and confide in their friendship! + There was no friendship in this cursed, cold, selfish country. He would + leave it. He would trust no Englishman, great or small. He would go to + Germany, and make a campaign with the king; or he would go home to + Virginia, bury himself in the woods there, and hunt all day; become his + mother's factor and land-steward; marry Polly Broadbent, or Fanny + Mountain; turn regular tobacco-grower and farmer; do anything, rather than + remain amongst these English fine gentlemen. So he arose with an outwardly + cheerful countenance, but an angry spirit; and at an early hour in the + morning the faithful Gumbo was in attendance in his master's chamber, + having come from Bond Street, and brought Mr. Harry's letters thence. “I + wanted to bring some more clothes,” honest Gumbo said; “but Mr. Ruff, the + landlord, he wouldn't let me bring no more.” + </p> + <p> + Harry did not care to look at the letters: he opened one, two, three; they + were all bills. He opened a fourth; it was from the landlord, to say that + he would allow no more of Mr. Warrington's things to go out of the house,—that + unless his bill was paid he should sell Mr. W.'s goods and pay himself: + and that his black man must go and sleep elsewhere. He would hardly let + Gumbo take his own clothes and portmanteau away. The black said he had + found refuge elsewhere—with some friends at Lord Wrotham's house. + “With Colonel Lambert's people,” says Mr. Gumbo, looking very hard at his + master. “And Miss Hetty she fall down in a faint, when she hear you taken + up; and Mr. Lambert, he very good man, and he say to me this morning, he + say, 'Gumbo, you tell your master if he want me he send to me, and I come + to him.'” + </p> + <p> + Harry was touched when he heard that Hetty had been afflicted by his + misfortune. He did not believe Gumbo's story about her fainting; he was + accustomed to translate his black's language and to allow for + exaggeration. But when Gumbo spoke of the Colonel the young Virginian's + spirit was darkened again. “I send to Lambert” he thought, grinding his + teeth, “the man who insulted me, and flung my presents back in my face! If + I were starving I would not ask him for a crust!” And presently, being + dressed, Mr. Warrington called for his breakfast, and despatched Gumbo + with a brief note to Mr. Draper in the Temple, requiring that gentleman's + attendance. + </p> + <p> + “The note was as haughty as if he was writing to one of his negroes, and + not to a freeborn English gentleman,” Draper said; whom indeed Harry had + always treated with insufferable condescension. “It's all very well for a + fine gentleman to give himself airs; but for a fellow in a spunging-house! + Hang him!” says Draper, “I've a great mind not to go!” Nevertheless, Mr. + Draper did go, and found Mr. Warrington in his misfortune even more + arrogant than he had ever been in the days of his utmost prosperity. Mr. + W. sat on his bed, like a lord, in a splendid gown with his hair dressed. + He motioned his black man to fetch him a chair. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, madam, but such haughtiness and airs I ain't accustomed to!” + said the outraged attorney. + </p> + <p> + “Take a chair and go on with your story, my good Mr. Draper!” said Madame + de Bernstein, smiling, to whom he went to report proceedings. She was + amused at the lawyer's anger. She liked her nephew for being insolent in + adversity. + </p> + <p> + The course which Draper was to pursue in his interview with Harry had been + arranged between the Baroness and her man of business on the previous day. + Draper was an able man, and likely in most cases to do a client good + service: he failed in the present instance because he was piqued and + angry, or, more likely still, because he could not understand the + gentleman with whom he had to deal. I presume that he who casts his eye on + the present page is the most gentle of readers. Gentleman, as you + unquestionably are, then, my dear sir, have you not remarked in your + dealings with people who are no gentlemen, that you offend them not + knowing the how or the why? So the man who is no gentleman offends you in + a thousand ways of which the poor creature has no idea himself. He does or + says something which provokes your scorn. He perceives that scorn (being + always on the watch, and uneasy about himself, his manners and behaviour) + and he rages. You speak to him naturally, and he fancies still that you + are sneering at him. You have indifference towards him, but he hates you, + and hates you the worse because you don't care. “Gumbo, a chair to Mr. + Draper!” says Mr. Warrington, folding his brocaded dressing-gown round his + legs as he sits on the dingy bed. “Sit down, if you please, and let us + talk my business over. Much obliged to you for coming so soon in reply to + my message. Had you heard of this piece of ill-luck before?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Draper had heard of the circumstance. “Bad news travel quick, Mr. + Warrington,” he said; “and I was eager to offer my humble services as soon + as ever you should require them. Your friends, your family, will be much + pained that a gentleman of your rank should be in such a position.” + </p> + <p> + “I have been very imprudent, Mr. Draper. I have lived beyond my means.” + (Mr. Draper bowed.) “I played in company with gentlemen who were much + richer than myself, and a cursed run of ill-luck has carried away all my + ready money, leaving me with liabilities to the amount of five hundred + pounds, and more.” + </p> + <p> + “Five hundred now in the office,” says Mr. Draper. + </p> + <p> + “Well, this is such a trifle that I thought by sending to one or two + friends, yesterday, I could have paid my debt and gone home without + further to do. I have been mistaken; and will thank you to have the + kindness to put me in the way of raising the money as soon as may be.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Draper said “Hm!” and pulled a very grave and long face. + </p> + <p> + “Why, sir, it can be done!” says Mr. Warrington, staring at the lawyer. + </p> + <p> + It not only could be done, but Mr. Draper had proposed to Madame Bernstein + on the day before instantly to pay the money, and release Mr. Warrington. + That lady had declared she intended to make the young gentleman her heir. + In common with the rest of the world, Draper believed Harry's hereditary + property in Virginia to be as great in money-value as in extent. He had + notes in his pocket, and Madame Bernstein's order to pay them under + certain conditions: nevertheless, when Harry said, “It can be done!” + Draper pulled his long face, and said, “It can be done in time, sir; but + it will require a considerable time. To touch the property in England + which is yours on Mr. George Warrington's death, we must have the event + proved, the trustees released: and who is to do either? Lady Esmond + Warrington in Virginia, of course, will not allow her son to remain in + prison, but we must wait six months before we hear from her. Has your + Bristol agent any authority to honour your drafts?” + </p> + <p> + “He is only authorised to pay me two hundred pounds a year,” says Mr. + Warrington. “I suppose I have no resource, then, but to apply to my aunt, + Madame de Bernstein. She will be my security.” + </p> + <p> + “Her ladyship will do anything for you, sir; she has said so to me, often + and often,” said the lawyer; “and, if she gives the word at that moment + you can walk out of this place.” + </p> + <p> + “Go to her, then, from me, Mr. Draper. I did not want to have troubled my + relations: but rather than continue in this horrible needless + imprisonment, I must speak to her. Say where I am, and what has befallen + me. Disguise nothing! And tell her, that I confide in her affection and + kindness for me to release me from this—this disgrace,” and Mr. + Warrington's voice shook a little, and he passed his hand across his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” says Mr. Draper, eyeing the young man, “I was with her ladyship + yesterday, when we talked over the whole of this here most unpleasant—I + won't say as you do, disgraceful business.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean, sir? Does Madame de Bernstein know of my misfortune?” + asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Every circumstance, sir; the pawning the watches, and all.” + </p> + <p> + Harry turned burning red. “It is an unfortunate business, the pawning them + watches and things which you had never paid for,” continued the lawyer. + The young man started up from the bed, looking so fierce that Draper felt + a little alarmed. + </p> + <p> + “It may lead to litigation and unpleasant remarks being made, in court, + sir. Them barristers respect nothing; and when they get a feller in the + box——” + </p> + <p> + “Great Heaven, sir, you don't suppose a gentleman of my rank can't take a + watch upon credit without intending to cheat the tradesman?” cried Harry, + in the greatest agitation. + </p> + <p> + “Of course you meant everything that's honourable; only, you see, the law + mayn't happen to think so,” says Mr. Draper, winking his eye. (“Hang the + supercilious beast; I touch him there!) Your aunt says it's the most + imprudent thing ever she heard of—to call it by no worse name.” + </p> + <p> + “You call it by no worse name yourself, Mr. Draper?” says Harry, speaking + each word very slow, and evidently trying to keep a command of himself. + </p> + <p> + Draper did not like his looks. “Heaven forbid that I should say anything + as between gentleman and gentleman,—but between me and my client, + it's my duty to say, 'Sir, you are in a very unpleasant scrape,' just as a + doctor would have to tell his patient, 'Sir, you are very ill.'” + </p> + <p> + “And you can't help me to pay this debt off,—and you have come only + to tell me that I may be accused of roguery?” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Of obtaining goods under false pretences? Most undoubtedly, yes. I can't + help it, sir. Don't look as if you would knock me down. (Curse him, I am + making him wince, though.) A young gentleman, who has only two hundred a + year from his ma', orders diamonds and watches, and takes 'em to a + pawnbroker. You ask me what people will think of such behaviour, and I + tell you honestly. Don't be angry with me, Mr. Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “Go on, sir!” says Harry, with a groan. + </p> + <p> + The lawyer thought the day was his own. “But you ask if I can't help to + pay this debt off? And I say Yes—and that here is the money in my + pocket to do it now, if you like—not mine, sir, my honoured + client's, your aunt, Lady Bernstein. But she has a right to impose her + conditions, and I've brought 'em with me.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell them, sir,” says Mr. Harry. + </p> + <p> + “They are not hard. They are only for your own good: and if you say Yes, + we can call a hackney-coach, and go to Clarges Street together, which I + have promised to go there, whether you will or no. Mr. Warrington, I name + no names, but there was a question of marriage between you and a certain + party.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said Harry; and his countenance looked more cheerful than it had yet + done. + </p> + <p> + “To that marriage my noble client, the Baroness, is most averse—having + other views for you, and thinking it will be your ruin to marry a party,—of + noble birth and title it is true; but, excuse me, not of first-rate + character, and so much older than yourself. You had given an imprudent + promise to that party.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; and she has it still,” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “It has been recovered. She dropped it by an accident at Tunbridge,” says + Mr. Draper, “so my client informed me; indeed her ladyship showed it me, + for the matter of that. It was wrote in bl——” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, sir!” cries Harry, turning almost as red as the ink which he + had used to write his absurd promise, of which the madness and folly had + smote him with shame a thousand times over. + </p> + <p> + “At the same time letters, wrote to you, and compromising a noble family, + were recovered,” continues the lawyer. “You had lost 'em. It was no fault + of yours. You were away when they were found again. You may say that that + noble family, that you yourself, have a friend such as few young men have. + Well, sir, there's no earthly promise to bind you—only so many idle + words said over a bottle, which very likely any gentleman may forget. Say + you won't go on with this marriage—give me and my noble friend your + word of honour. Cry off, I say, Mr. W.! Don't be such a d——fool, + saving your presence, as to marry an old woman who has jilted scores of + men in her time. Say the word, and I step downstairs, pay every shilling + against you in the office, and put you down in my coach, either at your + aunt's or at White's Club, if you like, with a couple of hundred in your + pocket. Say yes; and give us your hand! There's no use in sitting grinning + behind these bars all day!” + </p> + <p> + So far Mr. Draper had had the best of the talk. Harry only longed himself + to be rid of the engagement from which his aunt wanted to free him. His + foolish flame for Maria Esmond had died out long since. If she would + release him, how thankful would he be! “Come! give us your hand, and say + done!” says the lawyer, with a knowing wink. “Don't stand + shilly-shallying, sir. Law bless you, Mr. W., if I had married everybody I + promised, I should be like the Grand Turk, or Captain Macheath in the + play!” + </p> + <p> + The lawyer's familiarity disgusted Harry, who shrank from Draper, scarcely + knowing that he did so. He folded his dressing gown round him, and stepped + back from the other's proffered hand. “Give me a little time to think of + the matter, if you please, Mr. Draper,” he said, “and have the goodness to + come to me again in an hour. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, sir, very good, sir!” says the lawyer, biting his lips, and, + as he seized up his hat, turning very red. “Most parties would not want an + hour to consider about such an offer as I make you: but I suppose my time + must be yours, and I'll come again, and see whether you are to go or to + stay. Good morning, sir, good morning:” and he went his way, growling + curses down the stairs. “Won't take my hand, won't he? Will tell me in an + hour's time! Hang his impudence! I'll show him what an hour is!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Draper went to his chambers in dudgeon then; bullied his clerks all + round, sent off a messenger to the Baroness, to say that he had waited on + the young gentleman, who had demanded a little time for consideration, + which was for form's sake, as he had no doubt; the lawyer then saw + clients, transacted business, went out to his dinner in the most leisurely + manner; and then finally turned his steps towards the neighbouring + Cursitor Street. “He'll be at home when I call, the haughty beast!” says + Draper, with a sneer. “The Fortunate Youth in his room?” the lawyer asked + of the sheriff's officer's aide-de-camp who came to open the double doors. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington is in his apartment,” said the gentleman, “but——” + and here the gentleman winked at Mr. Draper, and laid his hand on his + nose. + </p> + <p> + “But what, Mr. Paddy from Cork?” said the lawyer. + </p> + <p> + “My name is Costigan; me familee is noble, and me neetive place is the + Irish methrawpolis, Mr. Six-and-eightpence!” said the janitor, scowling at + Draper. A rich odour of spirituous liquors filled the little space between + the double doors where he held the attorney in conversation. + </p> + <p> + “Confound you, sir, let me pass!” bawled out Mr. Draper. + </p> + <p> + “I can hear you perfectly well, Six-and-eightpence, except your h's, which + you dthrop out of your conversation. I'll thank ye not to call neems, me + good friend, or me fingers and your nose will have to make an intimate + hic-quaintance. Walk in, sir! Be polite for the future to your shupariors + in birth and manners, though they may be your infariors in temporary + station. Confound the kay! Walk in, sir, I say!—Madam, I have the + honour of saluting ye most respectfully!” + </p> + <p> + A lady with her face covered with a capuchin, and further hidden by her + handkerchief, uttered a little exclamation as of alarm as she came down + the stairs at this instant and hurried past the lawyer. He was pressing + forward to look at her—for Mr. Draper was very cavalier in his + manners to women—but the bailiff's follower thrust his leg between + Draper and the retreating lady, crying, “Keep your own distance, if you + plaise! This way, madam! I at once recognised your ladysh——” + Here he closed the door on Draper's nose, and left that attorney to find + his own way to his client upstairs. + </p> + <p> + At six o'clock that evening the old Baroness de Bernstein was pacing up + and down her drawing-crutch, and for ever running to the window when the + noise of a coach was heard passing in Clarges Street. She had delayed her + dinner from hour to hour: she who scolded so fiercely, on ordinary + occasions, if her cook was five minutes after his time. She had ordered + two covers to be laid, plate to be set out, and some extra dishes to be + prepared as if for a little fete. Four—five o'clock passed, and at + six she looked from the window, and a coach actually stopped at her door. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Draper” was announced, and entered bowing profoundly. + </p> + <p> + The old lady trembled on her stick. “Where is the boy?” she said quickly. + “I told you to bring him, sir! How dare you come without him?” + </p> + <p> + “It is not my fault, madam, that Mr. Warrington refuses to come.” And + Draper gave his version of the interview which had just taken place + between himself and the young Virginian. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0048" id="link2HCH0048"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLVIII. An Apparition + </h2> + <p> + Going off in his wrath from his morning's conversation with Harry, Mr. + Draper thought he heard the young prisoner speak behind him; and, indeed, + Harry had risen, and uttered a half-exclamation to call the lawyer back. + But he was proud, and the other offended: Harry checked words, and Draper + did not choose to stop. It wound Harry's pride to be obliged to humble + himself before the lawyer, and to have to yield from mere lack and desire + of money. “An hour hence will do as well,” thought Harry, and lapsed + sulkily on to the bed again. No, he did not care for Maria Esmond! No: he + was ashamed of the way in which he had been entrapped into that + engagement. A wily and experienced woman, she had cheated his boyish + ardour. She had taken unfair advantage of him, as her brother had at play. + They were his own flesh and blood, and they ought to have spared him. + Instead, one and the other had made a prey of him, and had used him for + their selfish ends. He thought how they had betrayed the rights of + hospitality: how they had made a victim of the young kinsman who came + confiding within their gates. His heart was sore wounded: his head sank + back on his pillow: bitter tears wetted it. “Had they come to Virginia,” + he thought, “I had given them a different welcome!” + </p> + <p> + He was roused from this mood of despondency by Gumbo's grinning face at + his door, who said a lady was come to see Master Harry, and behind the lad + came the lady in the capuchin, of whom we have just made mention. Harry + sat up, pale and haggard, on his bed. The lady, with a sob, and almost ere + the servant-man withdrew, ran towards the young prisoner, put her arms + round his neck with real emotion and a maternal tenderness, sobbed over + his pale cheek and kissed it in the midst of plentiful tears, and cried + out— + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my Harry! Did I ever, ever think to see thee here?” + </p> + <p> + He started back, scared as it seemed at her presence, but she sank down at + the bedside, and seized his feverish hand, and embraced his knees. She had + a real regard and tenderness for him. The wretched place in which she + found him, his wretched look, filled her heart with a sincere love and + pity. + </p> + <p> + “I—I thought none of you would come!” said poor Harry, with a groan. + </p> + <p> + More tears, more kisses of the hot young hand, more clasps and pressure + with hers, were the lady's reply for a moment or two. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my dear! my dear! I cannot bear to think of thee in misery,” she + sobbed out. + </p> + <p> + Hardened though it might be, that heart was not all marble—that + dreary life not all desert. Harry's mother could not have been fonder, nor + her tones more tender than those of his kinswoman now kneeling at his + feet. + </p> + <p> + “Some of the debts, I fear, were owing to my extravagance!” she said (and + this was true). “You bought trinkets and jewels in order to give me + pleasure. Oh, how I hate them now! I little thought I ever could! I have + brought them all with me, and more trinkets—here! and here! and all + the money I have in the world!” + </p> + <p> + And she poured brooches, rings, a watch, and a score or so of guineas into + Harry's lap. The sight of which strangely agitated and immensely touched + the young man. + </p> + <p> + “Dearest, kindest cousin!” he sobbed out. + </p> + <p> + His lips found no more words to utter, but yet, no doubt they served to + express his gratitude, his affection, his emotion. + </p> + <p> + He became quite gay presently, and smiled as he put away some of the + trinkets, his presents to Maria, and told her into what danger he had + fallen by selling other goods which he had purchased on credit; and how a + lawyer had insulted him just now upon this very point. He would not have + his dear Maria's money—he had enough, quite enough for the present: + but he valued her twenty guineas as much as if they had been twenty + thousand. He would never forget her love and kindness: no, by all that was + sacred he would not! His mother should know of all her goodness. It had + had cheered him when he was just on the point of breaking down under his + disgrace and misery. Might Heaven bless her for it! There is no need to + pursue beyond this, the cousins' conversation. The dark day seemed + brighter to Harry after Maria's visit: the imprisonment not so hard to + bear. The world was not all selfish and cold. Here was a fond creature who + really and truly loved him. Even Castlewood was not so bad as he had + thought. He had expressed the deepest grief at not being able to assist + his kinsman. He was hopelessly in debt. Every shilling he had won from + Harry he had lost on the next day to others. Anything that lay in his + power he would do. He would come soon and see Mr. Warrington: he was in + waiting to-day, and as much a prisoner as Harry himself. So the pair + talked on cheerfully and affectionately until the darkness began to close + in, when Maria, with a sigh, bade Harry farewell. + </p> + <p> + The door scarcely closed upon her, when it opened to admit Draper. + </p> + <p> + “Your humble servant, sir,” says the attorney. His voice jarred upon + Harry's ear, and his presence offended the young man. + </p> + <p> + “I had expected you some hours ago, sir,” he curtly said. + </p> + <p> + “A lawyer's time is not always his own, sir,” said Mr. Draper, who had + just been in consultation with a bottle of port at the Grecian. “Never + mind, I'm at your orders now. Presume it's all right, Mr. Warrington. + Packed your trunk? Why, now there you are in your bedgown still. Let me go + down and settle whilst you call in your black man and titivate a bit. I've + a coach at the door, and we'll be off and dine with the old lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you going to dine with the Baroness de Bernstein, pray?” + </p> + <p> + “Not me—no such honour. Had my dinner already. It's you are a-going + to dine with your aunt, I suppose?” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Draper, you suppose a great deal more than you know,” says Mr. + Warrington, looking very fierce and tall, as he folds his brocade + dressing-gown round him. + </p> + <p> + “Great goodness, sir, what do you mean?” asks Draper. + </p> + <p> + “I mean, sir, that I have considered, and, that having given my word to a + faithful and honourable lady, it does not become me to withdraw it.” + </p> + <p> + “Confound it, sir!” shrieks the lawyer, “I tell you she has lost the + paper. There's nothing to bind you—nothing. Why she's old enough to + be——” + </p> + <p> + “Enough, sir,” says Mr. Warrington, with a stamp of his foot. “You seem to + think you are talking to some other pettifogger. I take it, Mr. Draper, + you are not accustomed to have dealings with men of honour.” + </p> + <p> + “Pettifogger, indeed!” cries Draper in a fury. “Men of honour, indeed! I'd + have you to know, Mr. Warrington, that I'm as good a man of honour as you. + I don't know so many gamblers and horse-jockeys, perhaps. I haven't + gambled away my patrimony, and lived as if I was a nobleman on two hundred + a year. I haven't bought watches on credit, and pawned—touch me if + you dare, sir,” and the lawyer sprang to the door. + </p> + <p> + “That is the way out, sir. You can't go through the window, because it is + barred,” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “And the answer I take to my client is No, then!” screamed out Draper. + </p> + <p> + Harry stepped forward, with his two hands clenched. “If you utter another + word,” he said, “I'll——” The door was shut rapidly—the + sentence was never finished, and Draper went away furious to Madame de + Bernstein, from whom, though he gave her the best version of his story, he + got still fiercer language than he had received from Mr. Warrington + himself. + </p> + <p> + “What? Shall she trust me, and I desert her?” says Harry, stalking up and + down his room in his flowing, rustling brocade. “Dear, faithful, generous + woman! If I lie in prison for years, I'll be true to her.” + </p> + <p> + Her lawyer dismissed after a stormy interview, the desolate old woman was + fain to sit down to the meal which she had hoped to share with her nephew. + The chair was before her which he was to have filled, the glasses shining + by the silver. One dish after another was laid before her by the silent + major-domo, and tasted and pushed away. The man pressed his mistress at + last. “It is eight o'clock,” he said. “You have had nothing all day. It is + good for you to eat.” She could not eat. She would have her coffee. Let + Case go get her her coffee. The lacqueys bore the dishes off the table, + leaving their mistress sitting at it before the vacant chair. + </p> + <p> + Presently the old servant re-entered the room without his lady's coffee + and with a strange scared face, and said, “Mr. WARRINGTON!” + </p> + <p> + The old woman uttered an exclamation, got up from her armchair, but sank + back in it trembling very much. “So you are come, sir, are you?” she said, + with a fond shaking voice. “Bring back the——Ah!” here she + screamed, “Gracious God, who is it?” Her eyes stared wildly: her white + face looked ghastly through her rouge. She clung to the arms of her chair + for support, as the visitor approached her. + </p> + <p> + A gentleman whose face and figure exactly resembled Harry Warrington and + whose voice, when he spoke, had tones strangely similar, had followed the + servant into the room. He bowed towards the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “You expected my brother, madam?” he said “I am but now arrived in London. + I went to his house. I met his servant at your door, who was bearing this + letter for you. I thought I would bring it to your ladyship before going + to him,”—and the stranger laid down a letter before Madam Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “Are you”—gasped out the Baroness—“are you my nephew, that we + supposed was——” + </p> + <p> + “Was killed—and is alive! I am George Warrington, madam and I ask + his kinsfolk what have you done with my brother?” + </p> + <p> + “Look, George!” said the bewildered old lady “I expected him here to-night—that + chair was set for him—I have been waiting for him, sir, till now—till + I am quite faint—I don't like—I don't like being alone. Do + stay an sup with me!” + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, madam. Please God, my supper will be with Harry tonight!” + </p> + <p> + “Bring him back. Bring him back here on any conditions! It is but five + hundred pounds! Here is the money, sir, if you need it!” + </p> + <p> + “I have no want, madam. I have money with me that can't be better employed + than in my brother's service.” + </p> + <p> + “And you will bring him to me, sir! Say you will bring him to me!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington made a very stately bow for answer, and quitted the room, + passing by the amazed domestics, and calling with an air of authority to + Gumbo to follow him. + </p> + <p> + Had Mr. Harry received no letters from home? Master Harry had not opened + all his letters the last day or two. Had he received no letter announcing + his brother's escape from the French settlements and return to Virginia? + Oh no! No such letter had come, else Master Harry certainly tell Gumbo. + Quick, horses! Quick by Strand to Temple Bar! Here is the house of + Captivity and the Deliverer come to the rescue! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0049" id="link2HCH0049"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XLIX. Friends in Need + </h2> + <p> + Quick, hackneycoach steeds, and bear George Warrington through Strand and + Fleet Street to his imprisoned brother's rescue! Any one who remembers + Hogarth's picture of a London hackneycoach and a London street road at + that period, may fancy how weary the quick time was, and how long seemed + the journey:—scarce any lights, save those carried by link-boys; + badly hung coaches; bad pavements; great holes in the road, and vast + quagmires of winter mud. That drive from Piccadilly to Fleet Street seemed + almost as long to our young man, as the journey from Marlborough to London + which he had performed in the morning. + </p> + <p> + He had written to Harry, announcing his arrival at Bristol. He had + previously written to his brother, giving the great news of his existence + and his return from captivity. There was war between England and France at + that time; the French privateers were for ever on the look-out for British + merchant-ships, and seized them often within sight of port. The letter + bearing the intelligence of George's restoration must have been on board + one of the many American ships of which the French took possession. The + letter telling of George's arrival in England was never opened by poor + Harry; it was lying at the latter's apartments, which it reached on the + third morning after Harry's captivity, when the angry Mr. Ruff had refused + to give up any single item more of his lodger's property. + </p> + <p> + To these apartments George first went on his arrival in London, and asked + for his brother. Scared at the likeness between them, the maid-servant who + opened the door screamed, and ran back to her mistress. The mistress not + liking to tell the truth, or to own that poor Harry was actually a + prisoner at her husband's suit, said Mr. Warrington had left his lodgings; + she did not know where Mr. Warrington was. George knew that Clarges Street + was close to Bond Street. Often and often had he looked over the London + map. Aunt Bernstein would tell him where Harry was. He might be with her + at that very moment. George had read in Harry's letters to Virginia about + Aunt Bernstein's kindness to Harry. Even Madam Esmond was softened by it + (and especially touched by a letter which the Baroness wrote—the + letter which caused George to pack off post-haste for Europe, indeed). She + heartily hoped and trusted that Madam Beatrix had found occasion to repent + of her former bad ways. It was time, indeed, at her age; and Heaven knows + that she had plenty to repent of! I have known a harmless, good old soul + of eighty, still bepommelled and stoned by irreproachable ladies of the + straitest sect of the Pharisees, for a little slip which occurred long before + the present century was born, or she herself was twenty years old. Rachel + Esmond never mentioned her eldest daughter: Madam Esmond Warrington never + mentioned her sister. No. In spite of the order for remission of the + sentence—in spite of the handwriting on the floor of the Temple—there + is a crime which some folks never will pardon, and regarding which female + virtue, especially, is inexorable. + </p> + <p> + I suppose the Virginians' agent at Bristol had told George fearful stories + of his brother's doings. Gumbo, whom he met at his aunt's door, as soon as + the lad recovered from his terror at the sudden reappearance of the master + whom he supposed dead, had leisure to stammer out a word or two respecting + his young master's whereabouts, and present pitiable condition; and hence + Mr. George's sternness of demeanour when he presented himself to the old + lady. It seemed to him a matter of course that his brother in difficulty + should be rescued by his relations. Oh, George, how little you know about + London and London ways! Whenever you take your walks abroad how many poor + you meet—if a philanthropist were for rescuing all of them, not all + the wealth of all the provinces of America would suffice him! + </p> + <p> + But the feeling and agitation displayed by the old lady touched her + nephew's heart when, jolting through the dark streets towards the house of + his brother's captivity, George came to think of his aunt's behaviour. + “She does feel my poor Harry's misfortune,” he thought to himself, “I have + been too hasty in judging her.” Again and again, in the course of his + life, Mr. George had to rebuke himself with the same crime of being too + hasty. How many of us have not? And, alas, the mischief done, there's no + repentance will mend it. Quick, coachman! We are almost as slow as you are + in getting from Clarges Street to the Temple. Poor Gumbo knows the way to + the bailiff's house well enough. Again the bell is set ringing. The first + door is opened to George and his negro; then that first door is locked + warily upon them, and they find themselves in a little passage with a + little Jewish janitor; then a second door is unlocked, and they enter into + the house. The Jewish janitor stares, as by his flaring tallow-torch he + sees a second Mr. Warrington before him. Come to see that gentleman? Yes. + But wait a moment. This is Mr. Warrington's brother from America. Gumbo + must go and prepare his master first. Step into this room. There's a + gentleman already there about Mr. W.'s business (the porter says), and + another upstairs with him now. There's no end of people have been about + him. + </p> + <p> + The room into which George was introduced was a small apartment which went + by the name of Mr. Amos's office, and where, by a guttering candle, and + talking to the bailiff, sat a stout gentleman in a cloak and a laced hat. + The young porter carried his candle, too, preceding Mr. George, so there + was a sufficiency of light in the apartment. + </p> + <p> + “We are not angry any more, Harry!” says the stout gentleman, in a cheery + voice, getting up and advancing with an outstretched hand to the + new-comer. “Thank God, my boy! Mr. Amos here says, there will be no + difficulty about James and me being your bail, and we will do your + business by breakfast-time in the morning. Why... Angels and ministers of + grace! who are you?” And he started back as the other had hold of his + hand. + </p> + <p> + But the stranger grasped it only the more strongly. “God bless you, sir!” + he said, “I know who you are. You must be Colonel Lambert, of whose + kindness to him my poor Harry wrote. And I am the brother whom you have + heard of, sir; and who was left for dead in Mr. Braddock's action; and + came to life again after eighteen months amongst the French; and live to + thank God and thank you for your kindness to my Harry,” continued the lad + with a faltering voice. + </p> + <p> + “James! James! Here is news!” cries Mr. Lambert to a gentleman in red, who + now entered the room. “Here are the dead come alive! Here is Harry + Scapegrace's brother come back, and with his scalp on his head, too!” + (George had taken his hat off, and was standing by the light.) “This is my + brother-bail, Mr. Warrington! This is Lieutenant-Colonel James Wolfe, at + your service. You must know there has been a little difference between + Harry and me, Mr. George. He is pacified, is he, James?” + </p> + <p> + “He is full of gratitude,” says Mr. Wolfe, after making his bow to Mr. + Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Harry wrote home about Mr. Wolfe, too, sir,” said the young man, “and I + hope my brother's friends will be so kind as to be mine.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish he had none other but us, Mr. Warrington. Poor Harry's fine folks + have been too fine for him, and have ended by landing him here.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, your honours, I have done my best to make the young gentleman + comfortable; and, knowing your honour before, when you came to bail + Captain Watkins, and that your security is perfectly good,—if your + honour wishes, the young gentleman can go out this very night, and I will + make it all right with the lawyer in the morning,” says Harry's landlord, + who knew the rank and respectability of the two gentlemen who had come to + offer bail for his young prisoner. + </p> + <p> + “The debt is five hundred and odd pounds, I think?” said Mr. Warrington. + “With a hundred thanks to these gentlemen, I can pay the amount at this + moment into the officers' hands, taking the usual acknowledgment and + caution. But I can never forget, gentlemen, that you helped my brother at + his need, and, for doing so, I say thank you, and God bless you, in my + mother's name and mine.” + </p> + <p> + Gumbo had, meanwhile, gone upstairs to his master's apartment, where Harry + would probably have scolded the negro for returning that night, but that + the young gentleman was very much soothed and touched by the conversation + he had had with the friend who had just left him. He was sitting over his + pipe of Virginia in a sad mood (for, somehow, even Maria's goodness and + affection, as she had just exhibited them, had not altogether consoled + him; and he had thought, with a little dismay, of certain consequences to + which that very kindness and fidelity bound him), when Mr. Wolfe's homely + features and eager outstretched hand came to cheer the prisoner, and he + heard how Mr. Lambert was below, and the errand upon which the two + officers had come. In spite of himself, Lambert would be kind to him. In + spite of Harry's ill-temper, and needless suspicion and anger, the good + gentleman was determined to help him if he might—to help him even + against Mr. Wolfe's own advice, as the latter frankly told Harry, “For you + were wrong, Mr. Warrington,” said the Colonel, “and you wouldn't be set + right; and you, a young man, used hard words and unkind behaviour to your + senior, and what is more, one of the best gentlemen who walks God's earth. + You see, sir, what his answer hath been to your wayward temper. You will + bear with a friend who speaks frankly with you? Martin Lambert hath acted + in this as he always doth, as the best Christian, the best friend, the + most kind and generous of men. Nay, if you want another proof of his + goodness, here it is: He has converted me, who, as I don't care to + disguise, was angry with you for your treatment of him, and has absolutely + brought me down here to be your bail. Let us both cry Peccavimus! Harry, + and shake our friend by the hand! He is sitting in the room below. He + would not come here till he knew how you would receive him.” + </p> + <p> + “I think he is a good man!” groaned out Harry. “I was very angry and wild + at the time when he and I met last, Colonel Wolfe. Nay, perhaps he was + right in sending back those trinkets, hurt as I was at his doing so. Go + down to him, will you be so kind, sir? and tell him I am sorry, and ask + his pardon, and—and, God bless him for his generous behaviour.” And + here the young gentleman turned his head away, and rubbed his hand across + his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Tell him all this thyself, Harry!” cries the Colonel, taking the young + fellow's hand. “No deputy will ever say it half so well. Come with me + now.” + </p> + <p> + “You go first, and I'll—I'll follow,—on my word I will. See! I + am in my morning-gown! I will but put on a coat and come to him. Give him + my message first. Just—just prepare him for me!” says poor Harry, + who knew he must do it, but yet did not much like that process of eating + of humble-pie. + </p> + <p> + Wolfe went out smiling—understanding the lad's scruples well enough, + perhaps. As he opened the door, Mr. Gumbo entered it; almost forgetting to + bow to the gentleman, profusely courteous as he was on ordinary occasions,—his + eyes glaring round, his great mouth grinning—himself in a state of + such high excitement and delight that his master remarked his condition. + </p> + <p> + “What, Gum? What has happened to thee? Hast thou got a new sweetheart?” + </p> + <p> + No, Gum had not got no new sweetheart, master. + </p> + <p> + “Give me my coat. What has brought thee back?” + </p> + <p> + Gum grinned prodigiously. “I have seen a ghost, mas'r!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “A ghost! and whose, and where?” + </p> + <p> + “Whar? Saw him at Madame Bernstein's house. Come with him here in the + coach! He downstairs now with Colonel Lambert!” Whilst Gumbo is speaking, + as he is putting on his master's coat, his eyes are rolling, his head is + wagging, his hands are trembling, his lips are grinning. + </p> + <p> + “Ghost—what ghost?” says Harry, in a strange agitation. “Is anybody—is—my + mother come?” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir; no, Master Harry!” Gumbo's head rolls nearly off its violent + convolutions, and his master, looking oddly at him, flings the door open, + and goes rapidly down the stair. + </p> + <p> + He is at the foot of it, just as a voice within the little office, of + which the door is open, is saying, “and for doing so, I say thank you, and + God bless you, in my mother's name and mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Whose voice is that?” calls out Harry Warrington, with a strange cry in + his own voice. + </p> + <p> + “It's the ghost's, mas'r!” says Gumbo, from behind; and Harry runs forward + to the room,—where, if you please, we will pause a little minute + before we enter. The two gentlemen who were there, turned their heads + away. The lost was found again. The dead was alive. The prodigal was on + his brother's heart,—his own full of love, gratitude, repentance. + </p> + <p> + “Come away, James! I think we are not wanted any more here,” says the + Colonel. “Good-night, boys. Some ladies in Hill Street won't be able to + sleep for this strange news. Or will you go home and sup with 'em, and + tell them the story?” + </p> + <p> + No, with many thanks, the boys would not go and sup to-night. They had + stories of their own to tell. “Quick, Gumbo, with the trunks! Good-bye, + Mr. Amos!” Harry felt almost unhappy when he went away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0050" id="link2HCH0050"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER L. Contains a Great deal of the Finest Morality + </h2> + <p> + When first we had the honour to be presented to Sir Miles Warrington at + the King's drawing-room, in St. James's Palace, I confess that I, for one—looking + at his jolly round face, his broad round waistcoat, his hearty country + manner,—expected that I had lighted upon a most eligible and + agreeable acquaintance at last, and was about to become intimate with that + noblest specimen of the human race, the bepraised of songs and men, the + good old English country gentleman. In fact, to be a good old country + gentleman is to hold a position nearest the gods, and at the summit of + earthly felicity. To have a large unencumbered rent-roll, and the rents + regularly paid by adoring farmers, who bless their stars at having such a + landlord as his honour; to have no tenant holding back with his money, + excepting just one, perhaps, who does so in order to give occasion to Good + Old Country Gentleman to show his sublime charity and universal + benevolence of soul; to hunt three days a week, love the sport of all + things, and have perfect good health and good appetite in consequence; to + have not only good appetite, but a good dinner; to sit down at church in + the midst of a chorus of blessings from the villagers, the first man in + the parish, the benefactor of the parish, with a consciousness of + consummate desert, saying, “Have mercy upon us, miserable sinners,” to be + sure, but only for form's sake, because the words are written in the book, + and to give other folks an example—a G. O. C. G. a miserable sinner! + So healthy, so wealthy, so jolly, so much respected by the vicar, so much + honoured by the tenants, so much beloved and admired by his family, + amongst whom his story of grouse in the gunroom causes laughter from + generation to generation;—this perfect being a miserable sinner! + Allons donc! Give any man good health and temper, five thousand a year, + the adoration of his parish, and the love and worship of his family, and + I'll defy you to make him so heartily dissatisfied with his spiritual + condition as to set himself down a miserable anything. If you were a Royal + Highness, and went to church in the most perfect health and comfort, the + parson waiting to begin the service until your R. H. came in, would you + believe yourself to be a miserable, etc.? You might when racked with gout, + in solitude, the fear of death before your eyes, the doctor having cut off + your bottle of claret, and ordered arrowroot and a little sherry,—you + might then be humiliated, and acknowledge your own shortcomings, and the + vanity of things in general; but, in high health, sunshine, spirits, that + word miserable is only a form. You can't think in your heart that you are + to be pitied much for the present. If you are to be miserable, what is + Colin Ploughman, with the ague, seven children, two pounds a year rent to + pay for his cottage, and eight shillings a week? No: a healthy, rich, + jolly, country gentleman, if miserable, has a very supportable misery: if + a sinner, has very few people to tell him so. + </p> + <p> + It may be he becomes somewhat selfish; but at least he is satisfied with + himself. Except my lord at the castle, there is nobody for miles and miles + round so good or so great. His admirable wife ministers to him, and to the + whole parish, indeed: his children bow before him: the vicar of the parish + reverences him: he is respected at quarter-sessions: he causes poachers to + tremble: off go all hats before him at market: and round about his great + coach, in which his spotless daughters and sublime lady sit, all the + country-town tradesmen cringe, bareheaded, and the farmeers' women drop + innumerable curtseys. From their cushions in the great coach the ladies + look down beneficently, and smile on the poorer folk. They buy a yard of + ribbon with affability; they condescend to purchase an ounce of salts, or + a packet of flower-seeds: they deign to cheapen a goose: their drive is + like a royal progress; a happy people is supposed to press round them and + bless them. Tradesmen bow, farmers' wives bob, town-boys, waving their + ragged hats, cheer the red-faced coachman as he drives the fat bays, and + cry, “Sir Miles for ever! Throw us a halfpenny, my lady!” + </p> + <p> + But suppose the market-woman should hide her fat goose when Sir Miles's + coach comes, out of terror lest my lady, spying the bird, should insist on + purchasing it a bargain? Suppose no coppers ever were known to come out of + the royal coach window? Suppose Sir Miles regaled his tenants with + notoriously small beer, and his poor with especially thin broth? This may + be our fine old English gentleman's way. There have been not a few fine + English gentlemen and ladies of this sort; who patronised the poor without + ever relieving them, who called out “Amen!” at church as loud as the + clerk; who went through all the forms of piety, and discharged all the + etiquette of old English gentlemanhood; who bought virtue a bargain, as it + were, and had no doubt they were honouring her by the purchase. Poor Harry + in his distress asked help from his relations: his aunt sent him a tract + and her blessing; his uncle had business out of town, and could not, of + course, answer the poor boy's petition. How much of this behaviour goes on + daily in respectable life, think you? You can fancy Lord and Lady Macbeth + concocting a murder, and coming together with some little awkwardness, + perhaps, when the transaction was done and over; but my Lord and Lady + Skinflint, when they consult in their bedroom about giving their luckless + nephew a helping hand, and determine to refuse, and go down to family + prayers, and meet their children and domestics, and discourse virtuously + before them, and then remain together, and talk nose to nose,—what + can they think of one another? and of the poor kinsman fallen among the + thieves, and groaning for help unheeded? How can they go on with those + virtuous airs? How can they dare look each other in the face? + </p> + <p> + Dare? Do you suppose they think they have done wrong? Do you suppose + Skinflint is tortured with remorse at the idea of the distress which + called to him in vain, and of the hunger which he sent empty away? Not he. + He is indignant with Prodigal for being a fool: he is not ashamed of + himself for being a curmudgeon. What? a young man with such opportunities + throw them away? A fortune spent amongst gamblers and spendthrifts? + Horrible, horrible! Take warning, my child, by this unfortunate young + man's behaviour, and see the consequences of extravagance. According to + the great and always Established Church of the Pharisees, here is an + admirable opportunity for a moral discourse, and an assertion of virtue. + “And to think of his deceiving us so!” cries out Lady Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Very sad, very sad, my dear!” says Sir Miles, wagging his head. + </p> + <p> + “To think of so much extravagance in one so young!” cries Lady Warrington. + “Cards, bets, feasts at taverns of the most wicked profusion, carriage and + riding horses, the company of the wealthy and profligate of his own sex, + and, I fear, of the most iniquitous persons of ours.” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, my Lady Warrington!” cries her husband, glancing towards the + spotless Dora and Flora, who held down their blushing heads, at the + mention of the last naughty persons. + </p> + <p> + “No wonder my poor children hide their faces!” mamma continues. “My dears, + I wish even the existence of such creatures could be kept from you!” + </p> + <p> + “They can't go to an opera, or the park, without seeing 'em, to be sure,” + says Sir Miles. + </p> + <p> + “To think we should have introduced such a young serpent into the bosom of + our family! and have left him in the company of that guileless darling!” + and she points to Master Miles. + </p> + <p> + “Who's a serpent, mamma?” inquires that youth. “First you said cousin + Harry was bad: then he was good: now he is bad again. Which is he, Sir + Miles?” + </p> + <p> + “He has faults, like all of us, Miley, my dear. Your cousin has been wild, + and you must take warning by him.” + </p> + <p> + “Was not my elder brother, who died—my naughty brother—was not + he wild too? He was not kind to me when I was quite a little boy. He never + gave me money, nor toys, nor rode with me, nor—why do you cry, + mamma? Sure I remember how Hugh and you were always fight——” + </p> + <p> + “Silence, sir!” cry out papa and the girls in a breath. “Don't you know + you are never to mention that name?” + </p> + <p> + “I know I love Harry, and I didn't love Hugh,” says the sturdy little + rebel. “And if cousin Harry is in prison, I'll give him my half-guinea + that my godpapa gave me, and anything I have—yes, anything, except—except + my little horse—and my silver waistcoat—and—and Snowball + and Sweetlips at home—and—and, yes, my custard after dinner.” + This was in reply to a hint of sister Dora. “But I'd give him some of it,” + continues Miles, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + “Shut thy mouth with it, child, and then go about thy business,” says + papa, amused. Sir Miles Warrington had a considerable fund of easy humour. + </p> + <p> + “Who would have thought he should ever be so wild?” mamma goes on. + </p> + <p> + “Nay. Youth is the season for wild oats, my dear.” + </p> + <p> + “That we should be so misled in him!” sighed the girls. + </p> + <p> + “That he should kiss us both!” cries papa. + </p> + <p> + “Sir Miles Warrington, I have no patience with that sort of vulgarity!” + says the majestic matron. + </p> + <p> + “Which of you was the favourite yesterday, girls?” continues the father. + </p> + <p> + “Favourite, indeed! I told him over and over again of my engagement to + dear Tom—I did, Dora—why do you sneer, if you please?” says + the handsome sister. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, to do her justice, so did Dora too,” said papa. + </p> + <p> + “Because Flora seemed to wish to forget her engagement with dear Tom + sometimes,” remarks the sister. + </p> + <p> + “I never, never, never wished to break with Tom! It's wicked of you to say + so, Dora! It is you who were for ever sneering at him: it is you who are + always envious because I happen—at least, because gentlemen imagine + that I am not ill-looking, and prefer me to some folks, in spite of all + their learning and wit!” cries Flora, tossing her head over her shoulder, + and looking at the glass. + </p> + <p> + “Why are you always looking there, sister?” says the artless Miles junior. + “Sure, you must know your face well enough!” + </p> + <p> + “Some people look at it just as often, child, who haven't near such good + reason,” says papa, gallantly. + </p> + <p> + “If you mean me, Sir Miles, I thank you,” cries Dora. “My face is as + Heaven made it, and my father and mother gave it me. 'Tis not my fault if + I resemble my papa's family. If my head is homely, at least I have got + some brains in it. I envious of Flora, indeed, because she has found + favour in the sight of poor Tom Claypool! I should as soon be proud of + captivating a ploughboy!” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, miss, was your Mr. Harry, of Virginia, much wiser than Tom + Claypool? You would have had him for the asking!” exclaims Flora. + </p> + <p> + “And so would you, miss, and have dropped Tom Claypool into the sea!” + cries Dora. + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't.” + </p> + <p> + “You would.” + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't;”—and da capo goes the conversation—the + shuttlecock of wrath being briskly battled from one sister to another. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my children! Is this the way you dwell together in unity?” exclaims + their excellent female parent, laying down her embroidery. “What an + example you set to this Innocent!” + </p> + <p> + “Like to see 'em fight, my lady!” cries the Innocent, rubbing his hands. + </p> + <p> + “At her, Flora! Worry her, Dora! To it again, you little rogues!” says + facetious papa. “'Tis good sport, ain't it, Miley?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Sir Miles! Oh, my children! These disputes are unseemly. They tear a + fond mother's heart,” says mamma, with majestic action, though bearing the + laceration of her bosom with much seeming equanimity. “What cause for + thankfulness ought we to have that watchful parents have prevented any + idle engagements between you and your misguided cousin. If we have been + mistaken in him, is it not a mercy that we have found out our error in + time? If either of you had any preference for him, your excellent good + sense, my loves, will teach you to overcome, to eradicate, the vain + feeling. That we cherished and were kind to him can never be a source of + regret. 'Tis a proof of our good-nature. What we have to regret, I fear, + is, that your cousin should have proved unworthy of our kindness, and, + coming away from the society of gamblers, play-actors, and the like, + should have brought contamination—pollution, I had almost said—into + this pure family!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, bother mamma's sermons!” says Flora, as my lady pursues a harangue of + which we only give the commencement here, but during which papa, + whistling, gently quits the room on tiptoe, whilst the artless Miles + junior winds his top and pegs it under the robes of his sisters. It has + done humming, and staggered and tumbled over, and expired in its usual + tipsy manner, long ere Lady Warrington has finished her sermon. + </p> + <p> + “Were you listening to me, my child?” she asks, laying her hand on her + darling's head. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mother,” says he, with the whipcord in his mouth, and proceeding to + wind up his sportive engine. “You was a-saying that Harry was very poor + now, and that we oughtn't to help him. That's what you was saying; wasn't + it, madam?” + </p> + <p> + “My poor child, thou wilt understand me better when thou art older!” says + mamma, turning towards that ceiling to which her eyes always have + recourse. + </p> + <p> + “Get out, you little wretch!” cries one of the sisters. The artless one + has pegged his top at Dora's toes, and laughs with the glee of merry + boyhood at his sister's discomfiture. + </p> + <p> + But what is this? Who comes here? Why does Sir Miles return to the + drawing-room, and why does Tom Claypool, who strides after the Baronet, + wear a countenance so disturbed? + </p> + <p> + “Here's a pretty business, my Lady Warrington!” cries Sir Miles. “Here's a + wonderful wonder of wonders, girls!” + </p> + <p> + “For goodness' sake, gentlemen, what is your intelligence?” asks the + virtuous matron. + </p> + <p> + “The whole town's talking about it, my lady!” says Tom Claypool puffing + for breath. + </p> + <p> + “Tom has seen him,” continued Sir Miles. + </p> + <p> + “Seen both of them, my Lady Warrington. They were at Ranelagh last night, + with a regular mob after 'em. And so like, that but for their different + ribbons you would hardly have told one from the other. One was in blue, + the other in brown; but I'm certain he has worn both the suits here.” + </p> + <p> + “What suits?” + </p> + <p> + “What one,—what other?” call the girls. + </p> + <p> + “Why, your fortunate youth, to be sure.” + </p> + <p> + “Our precious Virginian, and heir to the principality!” says Sir Miles. + </p> + <p> + “Is my nephew, then, released from his incarceration?” asks her ladyship. + “And is he again plunged in the vortex of dissip——” + </p> + <p> + “Confound him!” roars out the Baronet, with an expression which I fear was + even stronger. “What should you think, my Lady Warrington, if this + precious nephew of mine should turn out to be an impostor; by George! no + better than an adventurer?” + </p> + <p> + “An inward monitor whispered me as much!” cried the lady; “but I dashed + from me the unworthy suspicion. Speak, Sir Miles, we burn with impatience + to listen to your intelligence.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll—speak, my love, when you've done,” says Sir Miles. “Well, what + do you think of my gentleman, who comes into my house, dines at my table, + is treated as one of this family, kisses my—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” asks Tom Claypool, firing as red as his waistcoat. + </p> + <p> + “—Hem! Kisses my wife's hand, and is treated in the fondest manner, + by George! What do you think of this fellow, who talks of his property and + his principality, by Jupiter!—turning out to be a beggarly SECOND + SON! A beggar, my Lady Warrington, by——” + </p> + <p> + “Sir Miles Warrington, no violence of language before these dear ones! I + sink to the earth, confounded by this unutterable hypocrisy. And did I + entrust thee to a pretender, my blessed boy? Did I leave thee with an + impostor, my innocent one?” the matron cries, fondling her son. + </p> + <p> + “Who's an impostor, my lady?” asks the child. + </p> + <p> + “That confounded young scamp of a Harry Warrington!” bawls out papa; on + which the little Miles, after wearing a puzzled look for a moment, and + yielding to I know not what hidden emotion, bursts out crying. + </p> + <p> + His admirable mother proposes to clutch him to her heart, but he rejects + the pure caress, bawling only the louder, and kicking frantically about + the maternal gremium, as the butler announces “Mr. George Warrington, Mr. + Henry Warrington!” Miles is dropped from his mother's lap. Sir Miles's + face emulates Mr. Claypool's waistcoat. The three ladies rise up, and make + three most frigid curtseys, as our two young men enter the room. + </p> + <p> + Little Miles runs towards them. He holds out a little hand. “Oh, Harry! + No! which is Harry? You're my Harry,” and he chooses rightly this time. + “Oh, you dear Harry! I'm so glad you are come! and they've been abusing + you so!” + </p> + <p> + “I am come to pay my duty to my uncle,” says the dark-haired Mr. + Warrington; “and to thank him for his hospitalities to my brother Henry.” + </p> + <p> + “What, nephew George? My brother's face and eyes! Boys both, I am + delighted to see you!” cries their uncle, grasping affectionately a hand + of each, as his honest face radiates with pleasure. + </p> + <p> + “This indeed hath been a most mysterious and a most providential + resuscitation,” says Lady Warrington. “Only I wonder that my nephew Henry + concealed the circumstance until now,” she adds, with a sidelong glance at + both young gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + “He knew it no more than your ladyship,” says Mr. Warrington. The young + ladies looked at each other with downcast eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, sir! a most singular circumstance,” says mamma, with another + curtsey. “We had heard of it, sir; and Mr. Claypool, our county neighbour, + had just brought us the intelligence, and it even now formed the subject + of my conversation with my daughters.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” cries out a little voice, “and do you know, Harry, father and + mother said you was a—a imp——” + </p> + <p> + “Silence, my child! Screwby, convey Master Warrington to his own + apartment! These, Mr. Warrington—or, I suppose I should say nephew + George—are your cousins.” Two curtseys—two cheeses are made—two + hands are held out. Mr. Esmond Warrington makes a profound low bow, which + embraces (and it is the only embrace which the gentleman offers) all three + ladies. He lays his hat to his heart. He says, “It is my duty, madam, to + pay my respects to my uncle and cousins, and to thank your ladyship for + such hospitality as you have been enabled to show to my brother.” + </p> + <p> + “It was not much, nephew, but it was our best. Ods bobs!” cries the hearty + Sir Miles, “it was our best!” + </p> + <p> + “And I appreciate it, sir,” says Mr. Warrington, looking gravely round at + the family. + </p> + <p> + “Give us thy hand. Not a word more,” says Sir Miles “What? do you think + I'm a cannibal, and won't extend the hand of hospitality to my dear + brother's son? What say you, lads? Will you eat our mutton at three? This + is my neighbour, Tom Claypool, son to Sir Thomas Claypool, Baronet, and my + very good friend. Hey, Tom! Thou wilt be of the party, Tom? Thou knowest + our brew, hey, my boy?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know it, Sir Miles,” replies Tom, with no peculiar expression of + rapture on his face. + </p> + <p> + “And thou shalt taste it, my boy, thou shalt taste it! What is there for + dinner, my Lady Warrington? Our food is plain, but plenty, lads—plain, + but plenty!” + </p> + <p> + “We cannot partake of it to-day, sir. We dine with a friend who occupies + my Lord Wrotham's house, your neighbour. Colonel Lambert—Major-General + Lambert he has just been made.” + </p> + <p> + “With two daughters, I think—countrified-looking girls—are + they not?” asks Flora. + </p> + <p> + “I think I have remarked two little rather dowdy things,” says Dora. + </p> + <p> + “They are as good girls as any in England!” breaks out Harry, to whom no + one had thought of saying a single word. His reign was over, you see. He + was nobody. What wonder, then, that he should not be visible? + </p> + <p> + “Oh, indeed, cousin!” says Dora, with a glance at the young man, who sate + with burning cheeks, chafing at the humiliation put upon him, but not + knowing how or whether he should notice it. “Oh, indeed, cousin! You are + very charitable—or very lucky, I'm sure! You see angels where we + only see ordinary little persons. I'm sure I could not imagine who were + those odd-looking people in Lord Wrotham's coach, with his handsome + liveries. But if they were three angels, I have nothing to say.” + </p> + <p> + “My brother is an enthusiast,” interposes George. “He is often mistaken + about women.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, really!” says Dora, looking a little uneasy. + </p> + <p> + “I fear my nephew Henry has indeed met with some unfavourable specimens of + our sex,” the matron remarks, with a groan. + </p> + <p> + “We are so easily taken in, madam—we are both very young yet—we + shall grow older and learn better.” + </p> + <p> + “Most sincerely, nephew George, I trust you may. You have my best wishes, + my prayers, for your brother's welfare and your own. No efforts of ours + have been wanting. At a painful moment, to which I will not further allude—” + </p> + <p> + “And when my uncle Sir Miles was out of town,” says George, looking + towards the Baronet, who smiles at him with affectionate approval. + </p> + <p> + “—I sent your brother a work which I thought might comfort him, and + I know might improve him. Nay, do not thank me; I claim no credit; I did + but my duty—a humble woman's duty—for what are this world's + goods, nephew, compared to the welfare of a soul? If I did good, I am + thankful; if I was useful, I rejoice. If, through my means, you have been + brought, Harry, to consider——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! the sermon, is it?” breaks in downright Harry. “I hadn't time to read + a single syllable of it, aunt—thank you. You see I don't care much + about that kind of thing—but thank you all the same.” + </p> + <p> + “The intention is everything,” says Mr. Warrington, “and we are both + grateful. Our dear friend, General Lambert, intended to give bail for + Harry; but, happily, I had funds of Harry's with me to meet any demands + upon us. But the kindness is the same, and I am grateful to the friend who + hastened to my brother's rescue when he had most need of aid, and when his + own relations happened—so unfortunately—to be out of town.” + </p> + <p> + “Anything I could do, my dear boy, I'm sure—my brother's son—my + own nephew—ods bobs! you know—that is, anything—anything, + you know!” cries Sir Miles, bringing his own hand into George's with a + generous smack. “You can't stay and dine with us? Put off the Colonel—the + General—do, now! Or name a day. My Lady Warrington, make my nephew + name a day when he will sit under his grandfather's picture, and drink + some of his wine!” + </p> + <p> + “His intellectual faculties seem more developed than those of his unlucky + younger brother,” remarked my lady, when the young gentlemen had taken + their leave. “The younger must be reckless and extravagant about money + indeed, for did you remark, Sir Miles, the loss of his reversion in + Virginia—the amount of which has, no doubt, been grossly + exaggerated, but, nevertheless, must be something considerable—did + you, I say, remark that the ruin of Harry's prospects scarcely seemed to + affect him?” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't be at all surprised that the elder turns out to be as poor as + the young one,” says Dora, tossing her head. + </p> + <p> + “He! he! Did you see that cousin George had one of cousin Harry's suits of + clothes on—the brown and gold—that one he wore when he went + with you to the oratorio, Flora?” + </p> + <p> + “Did he take Flora to an oratorio?” asks Mr. Claypool, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “I was ill and couldn't go, and my cousin went with her,” says Dora. + </p> + <p> + “Far be it from me to object to any innocent amusement, much less to the + music of Mr. Handel, dear Mr. Claypool,” says mamma. “Music refines the + soul, elevates the understanding, is heard in our churches, and 'tis well + known was practised by King David. Your operas I shun as deleterious; your + ballets I would forbid to my children as most immoral; but music, my + dears! May we enjoy it, like everything else in reason—may we——” + </p> + <p> + “There's the music of the dinner-bell,” says papa, rubbing his hands. + “Come, girls. Screwby, go and fetch Master Miley. Tom take down my lady.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, dear Thomas, I walk but slowly. Go you with dearest Flora + downstairs,” says Virtue. + </p> + <p> + But Dora took care to make the evening pleasant by talking of Handel and + oratorios constantly during dinner. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0051" id="link2HCH0051"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LI. Conticuere Omnes + </h2> + <p> + Across the way, if the gracious reader will please to step over with us, + he will find our young gentlemen at Lord Wrotham's house, which his + lordship has lent to his friend the General, and that little family party + assembled, with which we made acquaintance at Oakhurst and Tunbridge + Wells. James Wolfe has promised to come to dinner; but James is dancing + attendance upon Miss Lowther, and would rather have a glance from her eyes + than the finest kickshaws dressed by Lord Wrotham's cook, or the dessert + which is promised for the entertainment at which you are just going to sit + down. You will make the sixth. You may take Mr. Wolfe's place. You may be + sure he won't come. As for me, I will stand at the sideboard and report + the conversation. + </p> + <p> + Note first, how happy the women look! When Harry Warrington was taken by + those bailiffs, I had intended to tell you how the good Mrs. Lambert, + hearing of the boy's mishap, had flown to her husband, and had begged, + implored, insisted, that her Martin should help him. “Never mind his + rebeldom of the other day; never mind about his being angry that his + presents were returned—of course anybody would be angry, much more + such a high-spirited lad as Harry! Never mind about our being so poor, and + wanting all our spare money for the boys at college; there must be some + way of getting him out of the scrape. Did you not get Charles Watkins out + of the scrape two years ago; and did he not pay you back every halfpenny? + Yes; and you made a whole family happy, blessed be God! and Mrs. Watkins + prays for you and blesses you to this very day, and I think everything has + prospered with us since. And I have no doubt it has made you a + major-general—no earthly doubt,” says the fond wife. + </p> + <p> + Now, as Martin Lambert requires very little persuasion to do a kind + action, he in this instance lets himself be persuaded easily enough, and + having made up his mind to seek for friend James Wolfe, and give bail for + Harry, he takes his leave and his hat, and squeezes Theo's hand, who seems + to divine his errand (or perhaps that silly mamma has blabbed it), and + kisses little Hetty's flushed cheek, and away he goes out of the apartment + where the girls and their mother are sitting, though he is followed out of + the room by the latter. + </p> + <p> + When she is alone with him, that enthusiastic matron cannot control her + feelings any longer. She flings her arms round her husband's neck, kisses + him a hundred and twenty-five times in an instant—calls God to bless + him—cries plentifully on his shoulder; and in this sentimental + attitude is discovered by old Mrs. Quiggett, my lord's housekeeper, who is + bustling about the house, and, I suppose, is quite astounded at the + conjugal phenomenon. + </p> + <p> + “We have had a tiff, and we are making it up! Don't tell tales out of + school, Mrs. Quiggett!” says the gentleman, walking off. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I never!” says Mrs. Quiggett, with a shrill, strident laugh, like a + venerable old cockatoo—which white, hook-nosed, long-lived bird Mrs. + Quiggett strongly resembles. “Well, I never!” says Quiggett, laughing and + shaking her old sides till all her keys, and, as one may fancy, her old + ribs clatter and jingle. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Quiggett!” sobs out Mrs. Lambert, “what a man that is!” + </p> + <p> + “You've been a-quarrelling, have you, mum, and making it up? That's + right.” + </p> + <p> + “Quarrel with him? He never told a greater story. My General is an angel, + Quiggett. I should like to worship him. I should like to fall down at his + boots and kiss 'em, I should! There never was a man so good as my General. + What have I done to have such a man? How dare I have such a good husband?” + </p> + <p> + “My dear, I think there's a pair of you,” says the old cockatoo; “and what + would you like for your supper?” + </p> + <p> + When Lambert comes back very late to that meal, and tells what has + happened, how Harry is free, and how his brother has come to life, and + rescued him, you may fancy what a commotion the whole of those people are + in! If Mrs. Lambert's General was an angel before, what is he now! If she + wanted to embrace his boots in the morning, pray what further office of + wallowing degradation would she prefer in the evening? Little Hetty comes + and nestles up to her father quite silent, and drinks a little drop out of + his glass. Theo's and mamma's faces beam with happiness, like two moons of + brightness.... After supper, those four at a certain signal fall down on + their knees—glad homage paying in awful mirth-rejoicing, and with + such pure joy as angels do, we read, for the sinner that repents. There + comes a great knocking at the door whilst they are so gathered together. + Who can be there? My lord is in the country miles off. It is past midnight + now; so late have they been, so long have they been talking! I think Mrs. + Lambert guesses who is there. + </p> + <p> + “This is George,” says a young gentleman, leading in another. “We have + been to Aunt Bernstein. We couldn't go to bed, Aunt Lambert, without + coming to thank you too. You dear, dear, good——” There is no + more speech audible. Aunt Lambert is kissing Harry, Theo has snatched up + Hetty who is as pale as death, and is hugging her into life again. George + Warrington stands with his hat off, and then (when Harry's transaction is + concluded) goes up and kisses Mrs. Lambert's hand: the General passes his + across his eyes. I protest they are all in a very tender and happy state. + Generous hearts sometimes feel it, when Wrong is forgiven, when Peace is + restored, when Love returns that had been thought lost. + </p> + <p> + “We came from Aunt Bernstein's; we saw lights here, you see; we couldn't + go to sleep without saying good-night to you all,” says Harry. “Could we, + George?” + </p> + <p> + “'Tis certainly a famous nightcap you have brought us, boys,” says the + General. “When are you to come and dine with us? To-morrow?” No, they must + go to Madame Bernstein's to-morrow. + </p> + <p> + The next day, then? Yes, they would come the next day—and that is + the very day we are writing about: and this is the very dinner, at which, + in the room of Lieutenant-Colonel James Wolfe, absent on private affairs, + my gracious reader has just been invited to sit down. + </p> + <p> + To sit down, and why, if you please? Not to a mere Barmecide dinner—no, + no—but to hear MR. GEORGE ESMOND WARRINGTON'S STATEMENT, which of + course he is going to make. Here they all sit—not in my lord's grand + dining-room, you know, but in the snug study or parlour in front. The + cloth has been withdrawn, the General has given the King's health, the + servants have left the room, the guests sit conticent, and so, after a + little hemming and blushing, Mr. George proceeds:— + </p> + <p> + “I remember, at the table of our General, how the little Philadelphia + agent, whose wit and shrewdness we had remarked at home, made the very + objections to the conduct of the campaign of which its disastrous issue + showed the justice. 'Of course,' says he, 'your Excellency's troops once + before Fort Duquesne, such a weak little place will never be able to + resist such a general, such an army, such artillery, as will there be + found attacking it. But do you calculate, sir, on the difficulty of + reaching the place? Your Excellency's march will be through woods almost + untrodden, over roads which you will have to make yourself, and your line + will be some four miles long. This slender line, having to make its way + through the forest, will be subject to endless attacks in front, in rear, + in flank, by enemies whom you will never see, and whose constant practice + in war is the dexterous laying of ambuscades.'—'Psha, sir!' says the + General, 'the savages may frighten your raw American militia' (Thank your + Excellency for the compliment, Mr. Washington seems to say, who is sitting + at the table), 'but the Indians will never make any impression on his + Majesty's regular troops.'—'I heartily hope not, sir,' says Mr. + Franklin, with a sigh; and of course the gentlemen of the General's family + sneered at the postmaster, as at a pert civilian who had no call to be + giving his opinion on matters entirely beyond his comprehension. + </p> + <p> + “We despised the Indians on our own side, and our commander made light of + them and their service. Our officers disgusted the chiefs who were with us + by outrageous behaviour to their women. There were not above seven or + eight who remained with our force. Had we had a couple of hundred in our + front on that fatal 9th of July, the event of the day must have been very + different. They would have flung off the attack of the French Indians; + they would have prevented the surprise and panic which ensued. 'Tis known + now that the French had even got ready to give up their fort, never + dreaming of the possibility of a defence, and that the French Indians + themselves remonstrated against the audacity of attacking such an + overwhelming force as ours. + </p> + <p> + “I was with our General with the main body of the troops when the firing + began in front of us, and one aide-de-camp after another was sent + forwards. At first the enemy's attack was answered briskly by our own + advanced people, and our men huzzaed and cheered with good heart. But very + soon our fire grew slacker, whilst from behind every tree and bush round + about us came single shots, which laid man after man low. We were marching + in orderly line, the skirmishers in front, the colours and two of our + small guns in the centre, the baggage well guarded bringing up the rear, + and were moving over a ground which was open and clear for a mile or two, + and for some half mile in breadth, a thick tangled covert of brushwood and + trees on either side of us. After the firing had continued for some brief + time in front, it opened from both sides of the environing wood on our + advancing column. The men dropped rapidly, the officers in greater number + than the men. At first, as I said, these cheered and answered the enemy's + fire, our guns even opening on the wood, and seeming to silence the French + in ambuscade there. But the hidden rifle-firing began again. Our men + halted, huddled up together, in spite of the shouts and orders of the + General and officers to advance, and fired wildly into the brushwood—of + course making no impression. Those in advance came running back on the + main body frightened, and many of them wounded. They reported there were + five thousand Frenchmen and a legion of yelling Indian devils in front, + who were scalping our people as they fell. We could hear their cries from + the wood around as our men dropped under their rifles. There was no + inducing the people to go forward now. One aide-de-camp after another was + sent forward, and never returned. At last it came to be my turn, and I was + sent with a message to Captain Fraser of Halkett's in front, which he was + never to receive nor I to deliver. + </p> + <p> + “I had not gone thirty yards in advance when a rifle-ball struck my leg, + and I fell straightway to the ground. I recollect a rush forward of + Indians and Frenchmen after that, the former crying their fiendish + war-cries, the latter as fierce as their savage allies. I was amazed and + mortified to see how few of the whitecoats there were. Not above a score + passed me; indeed there were not fifty in the accursed action in which two + of the bravest regiments of the British army were put to rout. + </p> + <p> + “One of them, who was half Indian half Frenchman, with mocassins and a + white uniform coat and cockade, seeing me prostrate on the ground, turned + back and ran towards me, his musket clubbed over his head to dash my + brains out and plunder me as I lay. I had my little fusil which my Harry + gave me when I went on the campaign; it had fallen by me and within my + reach, luckily: I seized it, and down fell the Frenchman dead at six yards + before me. I was saved for that time, but bleeding from my wound and very + faint. I swooned almost in trying to load my piece, and it dropped from my + hand, and the hand itself sank lifeless to the ground. + </p> + <p> + “I was scarcely in my senses, the yells and shots ringing dimly in my + ears, when I saw an Indian before me, busied over the body of the + Frenchman I had just shot, but glancing towards me as I lay on the ground + bleeding. He first rifled the Frenchman, tearing open his coat, and + feeling in his pockets: he then scalped him, and with his bleeding knife + in his mouth advanced towards me. I saw him coming as through a film, as + in a dream—I was powerless to move, or to resist him. + </p> + <p> + “He put his knee upon my chest: with one bloody hand he seized my long + hair and lifted my head from the ground, and as he lifted it, he enabled + me to see a French officer rapidly advancing behind him. + </p> + <p> + “Good God! It was young Florac, who was my second in the duel at Quebec. + 'A moi, Florac!' I cried out. 'C'est Georges! aide moi!' + </p> + <p> + “He started; ran up to me at the cry, laid his hand on the Indian's + shoulder, and called him to hold. But the savage did not understand + French, or choose to understand it. He clutched my hair firmer, and waving + his dripping knife round it, motioned to the French lad to leave him to + his prey. I could only cry out again and piteously, 'A moi!' + </p> + <p> + “'Ah, canaille, tu veux du sang? Prends!' said Florac, with a curse; and + the next moment, and with an ugh, the Indian fell over my chest dead, with + Florac's sword through his body. + </p> + <p> + “My friend looked round him. 'Eh!' says he, 'la belle affaire! Where art + thou wounded? in the leg?' He bound my leg tight round with his sash. 'The + others will kill thee if they find thee here. Ah, tiens! Put me on this + coat, and this hat with the white cockade. Call out in French if any of + our people pass. They will take thee for one of us. Thou art Brunet of the + Quebec Volunteers. God guard thee, Brunet! I must go forward. 'Tis a + general debacle, and the whole of your redcoats are on the run, my poor + boy.' Ah, what a rout it was! What a day of disgrace for England! + </p> + <p> + “Florac's rough application stopped the bleeding of my leg, and the kind + creature helped me to rest against a tree, and to load my fusil, which he + placed within reach of me, to protect me in case any other marauder should + have a mind to attack me. And he gave me the gourd of that unlucky French + soldier, who had lost his own life in the deadly game which he had just + played against me, and the drink the gourd contained served greatly to + refresh and invigorate me. Taking a mark of the tree against which I lay, + and noting the various bearings of the country, so as to be able again to + find me, the young lad hastened on to the front. 'Thou seest how much I + love thee, George,' he said, 'that I stay behind in a moment like this.' I + forget whether I told thee Harry, that Florac was under some obligation to + me. I had won money of him at cards, at Quebec—only playing at his + repeated entreaty—and there was a difficulty about paying, and I + remitted his debt to me, and lighted my pipe with his note-of-hand. You + see, sir, that you are not the only gambler in the family. + </p> + <p> + “At evening, when the dismal pursuit was over, the faithful fellow came + back to me, with a couple of Indians, who had each reeking scalps at their + belts, and whom he informed that I was a Frenchman, his brother, who had + been wounded early in the day, and must be carried back to the fort. They + laid me in one of their blankets, and carried me, groaning, with the + trusty Florac by my side. Had he left me, they would assuredly have laid + me down, plundered me, and added my hair to that of the wretches whose + bleeding spoils hung at their girdles. He promised them brandy at the + fort, if they brought me safely there: I have but a dim recollection of + the journey: the anguish of my wound was extreme: I fainted more than + once. We came to the end of our march at last. I was taken into the fort, + and carried to the officer's log-house, and laid upon Florac's own bed. + </p> + <p> + “Happy for me was my insensibility. I had been brought into the fort as a + wounded French soldier of the garrison. I heard afterwards, that during my + delirium the few prisoners who had been made on the day of our disaster, + had been brought under the walls of Duquesne by their savage captors, and + there horribly burned, tortured, and butchered by the Indians, under the + eyes of the garrison.” + </p> + <p> + As George speaks, one may fancy a thrill of horror running through his + sympathising audience. Theo takes Hetty's hand, and looks at George in a + very alarmed manner. Harry strikes his fist upon the table, and cries, + “The bloody, murderous, red-skinned villains! There will never be peace + for us until they are all hunted down!” + </p> + <p> + “They were offering a hundred and thirty dollars apiece for Indian scalps + in Pennsylvania, when I left home,” says George, demurely, “and fifty for + women.” + </p> + <p> + “Fifty for women, my love! Do you hear that, Mrs. Lambert?” cries the + Colonel, lifting up his wife's hair. + </p> + <p> + “The murderous villains!” says Harry, again. “Hunt 'em down, sir! Hunt 'em + down!” + </p> + <p> + “I know not how long I lay in my fever,” George resumed. “When I awoke to + my senses, my dear Florac was gone. He and his company had been despatched + on an enterprise against an English fort on the Pennsylvanian territory, + which the French claimed, too. In Duquesne, when I came to be able to ask + and understand what was said to me, there were not above thirty Europeans + left. The place might have been taken over and over again, had any of our + people had the courage to return after their disaster. + </p> + <p> + “My old enemy the ague-fever set in again upon me as I lay here by the + river-side. 'Tis a wonder how I ever survived. But for the goodness of a + half-breed woman in the fort, who took pity on me, and tended me, I never + should have recovered, and my poor Harry would be what he fancied himself + yesterday, our grandfather's heir, our mother's only son. + </p> + <p> + “I remembered how, when Florac laid me in his bed, he put under my pillow + my money, my watch, and a trinket or two which I had. When I woke to + myself these were all gone; and a surly old sergeant, the only officer + left in the quarter, told me, with a curse, that I was lucky enough to be + left with my life at all; that it was only my white cockade and coat had + saved me from the fate which the other canaille of Rosbifs had deservedly + met with. + </p> + <p> + “At the time of my recovery the fort was almost emptied of the garrison. + The Indians had retired enriched with British plunder, and the chief part + of the French regulars were gone upon expeditions northward. My good + Florac had left me upon his service, consigning me to the care of an + invalided sergeant. Monsieur de Contrecoeur had accompanied one of these + expeditions, leaving an old lieutenant, Museau by name, in command at + Duquesne. + </p> + <p> + “This man had long been out of France, and serving in the colonies. His + character, doubtless, had been indifferent at home; and he knew that, + according to the system pursued in France, where almost all promotion is + given to the noblesse, he never would advance in rank. And he had made + free with my guineas, I suppose, as he had with my watch, for I saw it one + day on his chest when I was sitting with him in his quarter. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur Museau and I managed to be pretty good friends. If I could be + exchanged, or sent home, I told him that my mother would pay liberally for + my ransom; and I suppose this idea excited the cupidity of the commandant, + for a trapper coming in the winter, whilst I still lay very ill with + fever, Museau consented that I should write home to my mother, but that + the letter should be in French, that he should see it, and that I should + say I was in the hands of the Indians, and should not be ransomed under + ten thousand livres. + </p> + <p> + “In vain I said I was a prisoner to the troops of his Most Christian + Majesty, that I expected the treatment of a gentleman and an officer. + Museau swore that letter should go, and no other; that if I hesitated, he + would fling me out of the fort, or hand me over to the tender mercies of + his ruffian Indian allies. He would not let the trapper communicate with + me except in his presence. Life and liberty are sweet. I resisted for a + while, but I was pulled down with weakness, and shuddering with fever; I + wrote such a letter as the rascal consented to let pass, and the trapper + went away with my missive, which he promised, in three weeks, to deliver + to my mother in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “Three weeks, six, twelve, passed. The messenger never returned. The + winter came and went, and all our little plantations round the fort, where + the French soldiers had cleared corn-ground and planted gardens and peach- + and apple-trees down to the Monongahela, were in full blossom. Heaven + knows how I crept through the weary time! When I was pretty well, I made + drawings of the soldiers of the garrison, and of the half-breed and her + child (Museau's child), and of Museau himself, whom, I am ashamed to say, + I flattered outrageously; and there was an old guitar left in the fort, + and I sang to it, and played on it some French airs which I knew, and + ingratiated myself as best I could with my gaolers; and so the weary + months passed, but the messenger never returned. + </p> + <p> + “At last news arrived that he had been shot by some British Indians in + Maryland: so there was an end of my hope of ransom for some months more. + This made Museau very savage and surly towards me; the more so as his + sergeant inflamed his rage by telling him that the Indian woman was + partial to me—as I believe, poor thing, she was. I was always gentle + with her, and grateful to her. My small accomplishments seemed wonders in + her eyes; I was ill and unhappy, too, and these are always claims to a + woman's affection. + </p> + <p> + “A captive pulled down by malady, a ferocious gaoler, and a young woman + touched by the prisoner's misfortunes—sure you expect that, with + these three prime characters in a piece, some pathetic tragedy is going to + be enacted? You, Miss Hetty, are about to guess that the woman saved me?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course she did!” cries mamma. + </p> + <p> + “What else is she good for?” says Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “You, Miss Theo, have painted her already as a dark beauty—is it not + so? A swift huntress—” + </p> + <p> + “Diana with a baby,” says the Colonel. + </p> + <p> + “—Who scours the plain with her nymphs, who brings down the game + with her unerring bow, who is queen of the forest—and I see by your + looks that you think I am madly in love with her?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I suppose she is an interesting creature, Mr. George?” says Theo, + with a blush. + </p> + <p> + “What think you of a dark beauty, the colour of new mahogany with long + straight black hair, which was usually dressed with a hair-oil or pomade + by no means pleasant to approach, with little eyes, with high cheek-bones, + with a flat nose, sometimes ornamented with a ring, with rows of glass + beads round her tawny throat, her cheeks and forehead gracefully tattooed, + a great love of finery, and inordinate passion for—oh! must I own + it?” + </p> + <p> + “For coquetry. I know you are going to say that!” says Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “For whisky, my dear Miss Hester—in which appetite my gaoler + partook; so that I have often sate by, on the nights when I was in favour + with Monsieur Museau, and seen him and his poor companion hob-and-nobbing + together until they could scarce hold the noggin out of which they drank. + In these evening entertainments, they would sing, they would dance, they + would fondle, they would quarrel, and knock the cans and furniture about; + and, when I was in favour, I was admitted to share their society, for + Museau, jealous of his dignity, or not willing that his men should witness + his behaviour, would allow none of them to be familiar with him. + </p> + <p> + “Whilst the result of the trapper's mission to my home was yet uncertain, + and Museau and I myself expected the payment of my ransom, I was treated + kindly enough, allowed to crawl about the fort, and even to go into the + adjoining fields and gardens, always keeping my parole, and duly returning + before gun-fire. And I exercised a piece of hypocrisy, for which, I hope, + you will hold me excused. When my leg was sound (the ball came out in the + winter, after some pain and inflammation, and the wound healed up + presently), I yet chose to walk as if I was disabled and a cripple; I + hobbled on two sticks, and cried Ah! and Oh! at every minute, hoping that + a day might come when I might treat my limbs to a run. + </p> + <p> + “Museau was very savage when he began to give up all hopes of the first + messenger. He fancied that the man might have got the ransom-money and + fled with it himself. Of course he was prepared to disown any part in the + transaction, should my letter be discovered. His treatment of me varied + according to his hopes or fears, or even his mood for the time being. He + would have me consigned to my quarters for several days at a time; then + invite me to his tipsy supper-table, quarrel with me there, and abuse my + nation; or again break out into maudlin sentimentalities about his native + country of Normandy, where he longed to spend his old age, to buy a field + or two, and to die happy. + </p> + <p> + “'Eh, Monsieur Museau!' says I, 'ten thousand livres of your money would + buy a pretty field or two in your native country? You can have it for the + ransom of me, if you will but let me go. In a few months you must be + superseded in your command here, and then adieu the crowns and the fields + in Normandy! You had better trust a gentleman and a man of honour. Let me + go home, and I give you my word the ten thousand livres shall be paid to + any agent you may appoint in France or in Quebec.' + </p> + <p> + “'Ah, young traitor!' roars he, 'do you wish to tamper with my honour? Do + you believe an officer of France will take a bribe? I have a mind to + consign thee to my black-hole, and to have thee shot in the morning.' + </p> + <p> + “'My poor body will never fetch ten thousand livres,' says I; 'and a + pretty field in Normandy with a cottage...' + </p> + <p> + “'And an orchard. Ah, sacre bleu!' says Museau, whimpering, 'and a dish of + tripe a la mode du pays!...” + </p> + <p> + “This talk happened between us again and again, and Museau would order me + to my quarters, and then ask me to supper the next night, and return to + the subject of Normandy, and cider, and trippes a la mode de Caen. My + friend is dead now—” + </p> + <p> + “He was hung, I trust?” breaks in Colonel Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “—And I need keep no secret about him. Ladies, I wish I had to offer + you the account of a dreadful and tragical escape; how I slew all the + sentinels of the fort; filed through the prison windows, destroyed a score + or so of watchful dragons, overcame a million of dangers, and finally + effected my freedom. But, in regard of that matter, I have no heroic deeds + to tell of, and own that, by bribery and no other means, I am where I am.” + </p> + <p> + “But you would have fought, Georgy, if need were,” says Harry; “and you + couldn't conquer a whole garrison, you know!” And herewith Mr. Harry + blushed very much. + </p> + <p> + “See the women, how disappointed they are!” says Lambert. “Mrs. Lambert, + you bloodthirsty woman, own that you are balked of a battle; and look at + Hetty, quite angry because Mr. George did not shoot the commandant.” + </p> + <p> + “You wished he was hung yourself, papa!” cries Miss Hetty, “and I am sure + I wish anything my papa wishes.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, ladies,” says George, turning a little red, “to wink at a prisoner's + escape was not a very monstrous crime; and to take money? Sure other folks + besides Frenchmen have condescended to a bribe before now. Although + Monsieur Museau set me free, I am inclined, for my part, to forgive him. + Will it please you to hear how that business was done? You see, Miss + Hetty, I cannot help being alive to tell it.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, George!—that is, I mean, Mr. Warrington!—that is, I mean, + I beg your pardon!” cries Hester. + </p> + <p> + “No pardon, my dear! I never was angry yet or surprised that any one + should like my Harry better than me. He deserves all the liking that any + man or woman can give him. See, it is his turn to blush now,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “Go on, Georgy, and tell them about the escape out of Duquesne!” cries + Harry, and he said to Mrs. Lambert afterwards in confidence, “You know he + is always going on saying that he ought never to have come to life again, + and declaring that I am better than he is. The idea of my being better + than George, Mrs. Lambert! a poor, extravagant fellow like me! It's + absurd!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0052" id="link2HCH0052"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LII. Intentique Ora tenebant + </h2> + <p> + “We continued for months our weary life at the fort, and the commandant + and I had our quarrels and reconciliations, our greasy games at cards, our + dismal duets with his asthmatic flute and my cracked guitar. The poor Fawn + took her beatings and her cans of liquor as her lord and master chose to + administer them; and she nursed her papoose, or her master in the gout, or + her prisoner in the ague; and so matters went on until the beginning of + the fall of last year, when we were visited by a hunter who had important + news to deliver to the commandant, and such as set the little garrison in + no little excitement. The Marquis de Montcalm had sent a considerable + detachment to garrison the forts already in the French hands, and to take + up further positions in the enemy's—that is, in the British—possessions. + The troops had left Quebec and Montreal, and were coming up the St. + Lawrence and the lakes in bateaux, with artillery and large provisions of + warlike and other stores. Museau would be superseded in his command by an + officer of superior rank, who might exchange me, or who might give me up + to the Indians in reprisal for cruelties practised by our own people on + many and many an officer and soldier of the enemy. The men of the fort + were eager for the reinforcements; they would advance into Pennsylvania + and New York; they would seize upon Albany and Philadelphia; they would + drive the Rosbifs into the sea, and all America should be theirs from the + Mississippi to Newfoundland. + </p> + <p> + “This was all very triumphant: but yet, somehow, the prospect of the + French conquest did not add to Mr. Museau's satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + “'Eh, commandant!' says I, ''tis fort bien, but meanwhile your farm in + Normandy, the pot of cider, and the trippes a la mode de Caen, where are + they?' + </p> + <p> + “'Yes; 'tis all very well, my garcon,' says he. 'But where will you be + when poor old Museau is superseded? Other officers are not good companions + like me. Very few men in the world have my humanity. When there is a great + garrison here, will my successors give thee the indulgences which honest + Museau has granted thee? Thou wilt be kept in a sty like a pig ready for + killing. As sure as one of our officers falls into the hands of your + brigands of frontier-men, and evil comes to him, so surely wilt thou have + to pay with thy skin for his. Thou wilt be given up to our red allies—to + the brethren of La Biche yonder. Didst thou see, last year, what they did + to thy countrymen whom we took in the action with Braddock? Roasting was + the very smallest punishment, ma foi—was it not, La Biche?' + </p> + <p> + “And he entered into a variety of jocular descriptions of tortures + inflicted, eyes burned out of their sockets, teeth and nails wrenched out, + limbs and bodies gashed—You turn pale, dear Miss Theo! Well, I will + have pity, and will spare you the tortures which honest Museau recounted + in his pleasant way as likely to befall me. + </p> + <p> + “La Biche was by no means so affected as you seem to be, ladies, by the + recital of these horrors. She had witnessed them in her time. She came + from the Senecas, whose villages lie near the great cataract between + Ontario and Erie; her people made war for the English, and against them: + they had fought with other tribes; and, in the battles between us and + them, it is difficult to say whether whiteskin or redskin is most savage. + </p> + <p> + “'They may chop me into cutlets and broil me, 'tis true, commandant,' says + I, coolly. 'But again, I say, you will never have the farm in Normandy.' + </p> + <p> + “'Go get the whisky-bottle, La Biche,' says Museau. + </p> + <p> + “'And it is not too late, even now. I will give the guide who takes me + home a large reward. And again I say, I promise, as a man of honour, ten + thousand livres to—whom shall I say? to one who shall bring me any + token—who shall bring me, say, my watch and seal with my + grandfather's arms—which I have seen in a chest somewhere in this + fort.' + </p> + <p> + “'Ah, scelerat!' roars out the commandant, with a hoarse yell of laughter. + 'Thou hast eyes, thou! All is good prize in war.' + </p> + <p> + “'Think of a house in your village, of a fine field hard by with a + half-dozen of cows—of a fine orchard all covered with fruit.' + </p> + <p> + “'And Javotte at the door with her wheel, and a rascal of a child, or two, + with cheeks as red as the apples! O my country! O my mother!” whimpers out + the commandant. 'Quick, La Biche, the whisky!' + </p> + <p> + “All that night the commandant was deep in thought, and La Biche, too, + silent and melancholy. She sate away from us, nursing her child, and + whenever my eyes turned towards her I saw hers were fixed on me. The poor + little infant began to cry, and was ordered away by Museau, with his usual + foul language, to the building which the luckless Biche occupied with her + child. When she was gone, we both of us spoke our minds freely; and I put + such reasons before monsieur as his cupidity could not resist. + </p> + <p> + “'How do you know,' he asked, 'that this hunter will serve you?' + </p> + <p> + “'That is my secret,' says I. But here, if you like, as we are not on + honour, I may tell it. When they come into the settlements for their + bargains, the hunters often stop a day or two for rest and drink and + company, and our new friend loved all these. He played at cards with the + men: he set his furs against their liquor: he enjoyed himself at the fort, + singing, dancing, and gambling with them. I think I said they liked to + listen to my songs, and for want of better things to do, I was often + singing and guitar-scraping: and we would have many a concert, the men + joining in chorus, or dancing to my homely music, until it was interrupted + by the drums and the retraite. + </p> + <p> + “Our guest the hunter was present at one or two of these concerts, and I + thought I would try if possibly he understood English. After we had had + our little stock of French songs, I said, 'My lads, I will give you an + English song,' and to the tune of 'Over the hills and far away,' which my + good old grandfather used to hum as a favourite air in Marlborough's camp, + I made some doggerel words:—'This long, long year, a prisoner drear; + Ah, me! I'm tired of lingering here: I'll give a hundred guineas gay, To + be over the hills and far away.' + </p> + <p> + “'What is it?' says the hunter. 'I don't understand.' + </p> + <p> + “''Tis a girl to her lover,' I answered; but I saw by the twinkle in the + man's eye that he understood me. + </p> + <p> + “The next day, when there were no men within hearing, the trapper showed + that I was right in my conjecture, for as he passed me he hummed in a low + tone, but in perfectly good English, 'Over the hills and far away,' the + burden of my yesterday's doggerel. + </p> + <p> + “'If you are ready,' says he, 'I am ready. I know who your people are, and + the way to them. Talk to the Fawn, and she will tell you what to do. What! + You will not play with me?' Here he pulled out some cards, and spoke in + French as two soldiers came up. 'Milor est trop grand seigneur? Bonjour, + my lord!' + </p> + <p> + “And the man made me a mock bow, and walked away, shrugging up his + shoulders, to offer to play and drink elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + “I knew now that the Biche was to be the agent in the affair, and that my + offer to Museau was accepted. The poor Fawn performed her part very + faithfully and dexterously. I had not need of a word more with Museau; the + matter was understood between us. The Fawn had long been allowed free + communication with me. She had tended me during my wound and in my + illnesses, helped to do the work of my little chamber, my cooking, and so + forth. She was free to go out of the fort, as I have said, and to the + river and the fields whence the corn and garden-stuff of the little + garrison were brought in. + </p> + <p> + “Having gambled away most of the money which he received for his peltries, + the trapper now got together his store of flints, powder, and blankets, + and took his leave. And, three days after his departure, the Fawn gave me + the signal that the time was come for me to make my little trial for + freedom. + </p> + <p> + “When first wounded, I had been taken by my kind Florac and placed on his + bed in the officers' room. When the fort was emptied of all officers + except the old lieutenant left in command, I had been allowed to remain in + my quarters, sometimes being left pretty free, sometimes being locked up + and fed on prisoners' rations, sometimes invited to share his mess by my + tipsy gaoler. + </p> + <p> + “This officers' house, or room, was of logs like the half-dozen others + within the fort, which mounted only four guns of small calibre, of which + one was on the bastion behind my cabin. Looking westward over this gun, + you could see a small island at the confluence of the two rivers Ohio and + Monongahela whereon Duquesne is situated. On the shore opposite this + island were some trees. + </p> + <p> + “'You see those trees?' my poor Biche said to me the day before, in her + French jargon. 'He wait for you behind those trees.' + </p> + <p> + “In the daytime the door of my quarters was open, and the Biche free to + come and go. On the day before she came in from the fields with a pick in + her hand and a basketful of vegetables and potherbs for soup. She sat down + on a bench at my door, the pick resting against it, and the basket at her + side. I stood talking to her for a while: but I believe I was so idiotic + that I never should have thought of putting the pick to any use had she + actually pushed it into my open door, so that it fell into my room. 'Hide + it' she said; 'want it soon.' And that afternoon it was, she pointed out + the trees to me. + </p> + <p> + “On the next day, she comes, pretending to be very angry, and calls out, + 'My lord! my lord! why you not come to commandant's dinner? He very bad! + Entendez-vows?' And she peeps into the room as she speaks, and flings a + coil of rope at me. + </p> + <p> + “'I am coming, La Biche,' says I, and hobbled after her on my crutch. As I + went in to the commandant's quarters she says, 'Pour ce soir.' And then I + knew the time was come. + </p> + <p> + “As for Museau, he knew nothing about the matter. Not he! He growled at + me, and said the soup was cold. He looked me steadily in the face, and + talked of this and that; not only whilst his servant was present, but + afterwards as we smoked our pipes and played our game at piquet; whilst + according to her wont, the poor Biche sate cowering in a corner. + </p> + <p> + “My friend's whisky-bottle was empty; and he said, with rather a knowing + look, he must have another glass—we must both have a glass that + night. And rising from the table he stumped to the inner room where he + kept his fire-water under lock and key, and away from the poor Biche, who + could not resist that temptation. + </p> + <p> + “As he turned his back the Biche raised herself; and he was no sooner gone + but she was at my feet, kissing my hand, pressing it to her heart, and + bursting into tears over my knees. I confess I was so troubled by this + testimony of the poor creature's silent attachment and fondness, the + extent of which I scarce had suspected before, that when Museau returned, + I had not recovered my equanimity, though the poor Fawn was back in her + corner again and shrouded in her blanket. + </p> + <p> + “He did not appear to remark anything strange in the behaviour of either. + We sate down to our game, though my thoughts were so preoccupied that I + scarcely knew what cards were before me. + </p> + <p> + “'I gain everything from you to-night, milor,' says he, grimly. 'We play + upon parole.' + </p> + <p> + “'And you may count upon mine,' I replied. + </p> + <p> + “'Eh! 'tis all that you have!' says he. + </p> + <p> + “'Monsieur,' says I, 'my word is good for ten thousand livres;' and we + continued our game. + </p> + <p> + “At last he said he had a headache, and would go to bed, and I understood + the orders too, that I was to retire. 'I wish you a good night, mon petit + milor,' says he,—'stay, you will fall without your crutch,'—and + his eyes twinkled at me, and his face wore a sarcastic grin. In the + agitation of the moment I had quite forgotten that I was lame, and was + walking away at a pace as good as a grenadier's. + </p> + <p> + “'What a vilain night!' says he, looking out. In fact there was a tempest + abroad, and a great roaring, and wind. 'Bring a lanthorn, La Tulipe, and + lock my lord comfortably into his quarters!' He stood a moment looking at + me from his own door, and I saw a glimpse of the poor Biche behind him. + </p> + <p> + “The night was so rainy that the sentries preferred their boxes, and did + not disturb me in my work. The log-house was built with upright posts, + deeply fixed in the ground, and horizontal logs laid upon it. I had to dig + under these, and work a hole sufficient to admit my body to pass. I began + in the dark, soon after tattoo. It was some while after midnight before my + work was done, when I lifted my hand up under the log and felt the rain + from without falling upon it. I had to work very cautiously for two hours + after that, and then crept through to the parapet and silently flung my + rope over the gun; not without a little tremor of heart, lest the sentry + should see me and send a charge of lead into my body. + </p> + <p> + “The wall was but twelve feet, and my fall into the ditch easy enough. I + waited a while there, looking steadily under the gun, and trying to see + the river and the island. I heard the sentry pacing up above and humming a + tune. The darkness became more clear to me ere long, and the moon rose, + and I saw the river shining before me, and the dark rocks and trees of the + island rising in the waters. + </p> + <p> + “I made for this mark as swiftly as I could, and for the clump of trees to + which I had been directed. Oh, what a relief I had when I heard a low + voice humming there, 'Over the hills and far away'!” + </p> + <p> + When Mr. George came to this part of his narrative, Miss Theo, who was + seated by a harpsichord, turned round and dashed off the tune on the + instrument, whilst all the little company broke out into the merry chorus. + </p> + <p> + “Our way,” the speaker went on, “lay through a level tract of forest with + which my guide was familiar, upon the right bank of the Monongahela. By + daylight we came to a clearer country, and my trapper asked me—Silverheels + was the name by which he went—had I ever seen the spot before? It + was the fatal field where Braddock had fallen, and whence I had been + wonderfully rescued in the summer of the previous year. Now, the leaves + were beginning to be tinted with the magnificent hues of our autumn.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, brother!” cries Harry, seizing his brother's hand. “I was gambling + and making a fool of myself at the Wells and in London, when my George was + flying for his life in the wilderness! Oh, what a miserable spendthrift I + have been!” + </p> + <p> + “But I think thou art not unworthy to be called thy mother's son,” said + Mrs. Lambert, very softly, and with moistened eyes. Indeed, if Harry had + erred, to mark his repentance, his love, his unselfish joy and generosity, + was to feel that there was hope for the humbled and kind young sinner. + </p> + <p> + “We presently crossed the river” George resumed, “taking our course along + the base of the western slopes of the Alleghanies; and through a grand + forest region of oaks and maple, and enormous poplars that grow a hundred + feet high without a branch. It was the Indians whom we had to avoid, + besides the outlying parties of French. Always of doubtful loyalty, the + savages have been specially against us, since our ill-treatment of them, + and the French triumph over us two years ago. + </p> + <p> + “I was but weak still, and our journey through the wilderness lasted a + fortnight or more. As we advanced, the woods became redder and redder. The + frost nipped sharply of nights. We lighted fires at our feet, and slept in + our blankets as best we might. At this time of year the hunters who live + in the mountains get their sugar from the maples. We came upon more than + one such family, camping near their trees by the mountain streams; and + they welcomed us at their fires, and gave us of their venison. So we + passed over the two ranges of the Laurel Hills and the Alleghanies. The + last day's march of my trusty guide and myself took us down that wild, + magnificent pass of Will's Creek, a valley lying between cliffs near a + thousand feet high—bald, white, and broken into towers like huge + fortifications, with eagles wheeling round the summits of the rocks, and + watching their nests among the crags. + </p> + <p> + “And hence we descended to Cumberland, whence we had marched in the year + before, and where there was now a considerable garrison of our people. Oh! + you may think it was a welcome day when I saw English colours again on the + banks of our native Potomac!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0053" id="link2HCH0053"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LIII. Where we remain at the Court End of the Town + </h2> + <p> + George Warrington had related the same story, which we have just heard, to + Madame de Bernstein on the previous evening—a portion, that is, of + the history; for the old lady nodded off to sleep many times during the + narration, only waking up when George paused, saying it was most + interesting, and ordering him to continue. The young gentleman hem'd and + ha'd, and stuttered, and blushed, and went on, much against his will, and + did not speak half so well as he did to his friendly little auditory in + Hill Street, where Hetty's eyes of wonder and Theo's sympathising looks, + and mamma's kind face, and papa's funny looks, were applause sufficient to + cheer any modest youth who required encouragement for his eloquence. As + for mamma's behaviour, the General said, 'twas as good as Mr. Addison's + trunk-maker, and she would make the fortune of any tragedy by simply being + engaged to cry in the front boxes. That is why we chose my Lord Wrotham's + house as the theatre where George's first piece should be performed, + wishing that he should speak to advantage, and not as when he was heard by + that sleepy, cynical old lady, to whom he had to narrate his adventures. + </p> + <p> + “Very good and most interesting, I am sure, my dear sir,” says Madame + Bernstein, putting up three pretty little fingers covered with a lace + mitten, to hide a convulsive movement of her mouth. “And your mother must + have been delighted to see you.” + </p> + <p> + George shrugged his shoulders ever so little, and made a low bow, as his + aunt looked up at him for a moment with her keen old eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Have been delighted to see you” she continued drily, “and killed the + fatted calf, and—and that kind of thing. Though why I say calf, I + don't know, nephew George, for you never were the prodigal. I may say calf + to thee, my poor Harry! Thou hast been amongst the swine sure enough. And + evil companions have robbed the money out of thy pocket and the coat off + thy back. + </p> + <p> + “He came to his family in England, madam,” says George, with some heat, + “and his friends were your ladyship's.” + </p> + <p> + “He could not have come to worse advisers, nephew Warrington, and so I + should have told my sister earlier, had she condescended to write to me by + him, as she has done by you,” said the old lady, tossing up her head. + “Hey! hey!” she said, at night, as she arranged herself for the rout to + which she was going, to her waiting-maid: “this young gentleman's mother + is half sorry that he has come to life again, I could see that in his + face. She is half sorry, and I am perfectly furious! Why didn't he lie + still when he dropped there under the tree, and why did that young Florac + carry him to the fort? I knew those Floracs when I was at Paris, in the + time of Monsieur le Regent. They were of the Floracs of Ivry. No great + house before Henri IV. His ancestor was the king's favourite. His ancestor—he! + he!—his ancestress! Brett! entendez-vous? Give me my card-purse. I + don't like the grand airs of this Monsieur George; and yet he resembles, + very much, his grandfather—the same look and sometimes the same + tones. You have heard of Colonel Esmond when I was young? This boy has his + eyes. I suppose I liked the Colonel's because he loved me.” + </p> + <p> + Being engaged, then, to a card-party,—an amusement which she never + missed, week-day or Sabbath, as long as she had strength to hold trumps or + sit in a chair,—very soon after George had ended his narration the + old lady dismissed her two nephews, giving to the elder a couple of + fingers and a very stately curtsey; but to Harry two hands and a kindly + pat on the cheek. + </p> + <p> + “My poor child, now thou art disinherited, thou wilt see how differently + the world will use thee!” she said. “There is only, in all London, a + wicked, heartless old woman who will treat thee as before. Here is a + pocket-book for you, child! Do not lose it at Ranelagh to-night. That suit + of yours does not become your brother half so well as it sat upon you! You + will present your brother to everybody, and walk up and down the room for + two hours at least, child. Were I you, I would then go to the + Chocolate-House, and play as if nothing had happened. Whilst you are + there, your brother may come back to me and eat a bit of chicken with me. + My Lady Flint gives wretched suppers, and I want to talk his mother's + letter over with him. Au revoir, gentlemen!” and she went away to her + toilette. Her chairmen and flambeaux were already waiting at the door. + </p> + <p> + The gentlemen went to Ranelagh, where but a few of Mr. Harry's + acquaintances chanced to be present. They paced the round, and met Mr. Tom + Claypool with some of his country friends; they heard the music; they + drank tea in a box; Harry was master of ceremonies, and introduced his + brother to the curiosities of the place; and George was even more excited + than his brother had been on his first introduction to this palace of + delight. George loved music much more than Harry ever did; he heard a full + orchestra for the first time, and a piece of Mr. Handel satisfactorily + performed; and a not unpleasing instance of Harry's humility and regard + for his elder brother was, that he could even hold George's love of music + in respect at a time when fiddling was voted effeminate and unmanly in + England, and Britons were, every day, called upon by the patriotic prints + to sneer at the frivolous accomplishments of your Squallinis, Monsieurs, + and the like. Nobody in Britain is proud of his ignorance now. There is no + conceit left among us. There is no such thing as dulness. Arrogance is + entirely unknown... Well, at any rate, Art has obtained her letters of + naturalisation, and lives here on terms of almost equality. If Mrs. Thrale + chose to marry a music-master now, I don't think her friends would shudder + at the mention of her name. If she had a good fortune and kept a good + cook, people would even go and dine with her in spite of the misalliance, + and actually treat Mr. Piozzi with civility. + </p> + <p> + After Ranelagh, and pursuant to Madam Bernstein's advice, George returned + to her ladyship's house, whilst Harry showed himself at the club, where + gentlemen were accustomed to assemble at night to sup, and then to gamble. + No one, of course, alluded to Mr. Warrington's little temporary absence, + and Mr. Ruff, his ex-landlord, waited upon him with the utmost gravity and + civility, and as if there had never been any difference between them. Mr. + Warrington had caused his trunks and habiliments to be conveyed away from + Bond Street in the morning, and he and his brother were now established in + apartments elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + But when the supper was done, and the gentlemen, as usual, were about to + seek the macco-table upstairs, Harry said he was not going to play any + more. He had burned his fingers already, and could afford no more + extravagance. + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says Mr. Morris, in a rather flippant manner, “you must have won + more than you have lost, Mr. Warrington, after all is said and done.” + </p> + <p> + “And of course I don't know my own business as well as you do, Mr. + Morris,” says Harry sternly, who had not forgotten the other's behaviour + on hearing of his arrest; “but I have another reason. A few months or days + ago, I was heir to a great estate, and could afford to lose a little + money. Now, thank God, I am heir to nothing.” And he looked round, + blushing not a little, to the knot of gentlemen, his gaming associates, + who were lounging at the tables or gathered round the fire. + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean, Mr. Warrington?” cries my Lord March, “Have you lost + Virginia, too? Who has won it? I always had a fancy to play you myself for + that stake.” + </p> + <p> + “And grow an improved breed of slaves in the colony,” says another. + </p> + <p> + “The right owner has won it. You have heard me tell of my twin elder + brother?” + </p> + <p> + “Who was killed in that affair of Braddock's two years ago! Yes. Gracious + goodness, my dear sir, I hope in heaven he has not come to life again?” + </p> + <p> + “He arrived in London two days since. He has been a prisoner in a French + fort for eighteen months; he only escaped a few months ago, and left our + house in Virginia very soon after his release.” + </p> + <p> + “You haven't had time to order mourning, I suppose, Mr. Warrington?” asks + Mr. Selwyn very good-naturedly, and simple Harry hardly knew the meaning + of his joke until his brother interpreted it to him. + </p> + <p> + “Hang me, if I don't believe the fellow is absolutely glad of the + reappearance of his confounded brother!” cries my Lord March, as they + continued to talk of the matter when the young Virginian had taken his + leave. + </p> + <p> + “These savages practise the simple virtues of affection—they are + barely civilised in America yet,” yawns Selwyn. + </p> + <p> + “They love their kindred, and they scalp their enemies,” simpers Mr. + Walpole. “It's not Christian, but natural. Shouldn't you like to be + present at a scalping-match, George, and see a fellow skinned alive?” + </p> + <p> + “A man's elder brother is his natural enemy,” says Mr. Selwyn, placidly + ranging his money and counters before him. + </p> + <p> + “Torture is like broiled bones and pepper. You wouldn't relish simple + hanging afterwards, George!” continues Horry. + </p> + <p> + “I'm hanged if there's any man in England who would like to see his elder + brother alive,” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + “No, nor his father either, my lord!” cries Jack Morris. + </p> + <p> + “First time I ever knew you had one, Jack. Give me counters for five + hundred.” + </p> + <p> + “I say, 'tis all mighty fine about dead brothers coming to life again,” + continues Jack. “Who is to know that it wasn't a scheme arranged between + these two fellows? Here comes a young fellow who calls himself the + Fortunate Youth, who says he is a Virginian Prince and the deuce knows + what, and who gets into our society——” + </p> + <p> + A great laugh ensues at Jack's phrase of “our society.” + </p> + <p> + “Who is to know that it wasn't a cross?” Jack continues. “The young one is + to come first. He is to marry an heiress, and, when he has got her, up is + to rise the elder brother! When did this elder brother show? Why, when the + younger's scheme was blown, and all was up with him! Who shall tell me + that the fellow hasn't been living in Seven Dials, or in a cellar dining + off tripe and cow-heel until my younger gentleman was disposed of? Dammy, + as gentlemen, I think we ought to take notice of it: and that this Mr. + Warrington has been taking a most outrageous liberty with the whole club.” + </p> + <p> + “Who put him up? It was March, I think, put him up?” asks a bystander. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. But my lord thought he was putting up a very different person. + Didn't you, March?” + </p> + <p> + “Hold your confounded tongue, and mind your game!” says the nobleman + addressed: but Jack Morris's opinion found not a few supporters in the + world. Many persons agreed that it was most indecorous of Mr. Harry + Warrington to have ever believed in his brother's death: that there was + something suspicious about the young man's first appearance and subsequent + actions, and, in fine, that regarding these foreigners, adventurers, and + the like, we ought to be especially cautious. + </p> + <p> + Though he was out of prison and difficulty; though he had his aunt's + liberal donation of money in his pocket; though his dearest brother was + restored to him, whose return to life Harry never once thought of + deploring, as his friends at White's supposed he would do; though Maria + had shown herself in such a favourable light by her behaviour during his + misfortune: yet Harry, when alone, felt himself not particularly cheerful, + and smoked his pipe of Virginia with a troubled mind. It was not that he + was deposed from his principality; the loss of it never once vexed him; he + knew that his brother would share with him as he would have done with his + brother; but after all those struggles and doubts in his own mind, to find + himself poor, and yet irrevocably bound to his elderly cousin! Yes, she + was elderly, there was no doubt about it. When she came to that horrible + den in Cursitor Street and the tears washed her rouge off, why, she looked + as old as his mother! her face was all wrinkled and yellow, and as he + thought of her he felt just such a qualm as he had when she was taken ill + that day in the coach on their road to Tunbridge. What would his mother + say when he brought her home, and, Lord, what battles there would be + between them! He would go and live on one of the plantations—the + farther from home the better—and have a few negroes, and farm as + best he might, and hunt a good deal; but at Castlewood or in her own home, + such as he could make it for her, what a life for poor Maria, who had been + used to go to court and to cards and balls and assemblies every night! If + he could be but the overseer of the estates—oh, he would be an + honest factor, and try and make up for his useless life and extravagance + in these past days! Five thousand pounds, all his patrimony and the + accumulations of his long minority squandered in six months! He a beggar, + except for dear George's kindness, with nothing in life left to him but an + old wife,—a pretty beggar, dressed out in velvet and silver lace + forsooth—the poor lad was arrayed in his best clothes—a pretty + figure he had made in Europe, and a nice end he was come to! With all his + fine friends at White's and Newmarket, with all his extravagance, had he + been happy a single day since he had been in Europe? Yes, three days, four + days, yesterday evening, when he had been with dear dear Mrs. Lambert, and + those affectionate kind girls, and that brave good Colonel. And the + Colonel was right when he rebuked him for his spendthrift follies, and he + had been a brute to be angry as he had been, and God bless them all for + their generous exertions in his behalf! Such were the thoughts which Harry + put into his pipe, and he smoked them whilst he waited his brother's + return from Madame Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0054" id="link2HCH0054"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LIV. During which Harry sits smoking his Pipe at Home + </h2> + <p> + The maternal grandfather of our Virginians, the Colonel Esmond of whom + frequent mention has been made, and who had quitted England to reside in + the New World, had devoted some portion of his long American leisure to + the composition of the memoirs of his early life. In these volumes, Madame + de Bernstein (Mrs. Beatrice Esmond was her name as a spinster) played a + very considerable part; and as George had read his grandfather's + manuscript many times over, he had learned to know his kinswoman long + before he saw her,—to know, at least, the lady, young, beautiful, + and wilful, of half a century since, with whom he now became acquainted in + the decline of her days. When cheeks are faded and eyes are dim, is it sad + or pleasant, I wonder, for the woman who is a beauty no more, to recall + the period of her bloom! When the heart is withered, do the old love to + remember how it once was fresh and beat with warm emotions? When the + spirits are languid and weary, do we like to think how bright they were in + other days, the hope how buoyant, the sympathies how ready, the enjoyment + of life how keen and eager? So they fall—the buds of prime, the + roses of beauty, the florid harvests of summer,—fall and wither, and + the naked branches shiver in the winter. + </p> + <p> + “And that was a beauty once!” thinks George Warrington, as his aunt, in + her rouge and diamonds, comes in from her rout, “and that ruin was a + splendid palace. Crowds of lovers have sighed before those decrepit feet, + and been bewildered by the brightness of those eyes.” He remembered a + firework at home, at Williamsburg, on the King's birthday, and afterwards + looking at the skeleton-wheel and the sockets of the exploded Roman + candles. The dazzle and brilliancy of Aunt Beatrice's early career passed + before him, as he thought over his grandsire's journals. Honest Harry had + seen them, too, but Harry was no bookman, and had not read the manuscript + very carefully: nay, if he had, he would probably not have reasoned about + it as his brother did, being by no means so much inclined to moralising as + his melancholy senior. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington thought that there was no cause why he should tell his aunt + how intimate he was with her early history, and accordingly held his peace + upon that point. When their meal was over, she pointed with her cane to + her escritoire, and bade her attendant bring the letter which lay under + the inkstand there; and George, recognising the superscription, of course + knew the letter to be that of which he had been the bearer from home. + </p> + <p> + “It would appear by this letter,” said the old lady, looking hard at her + nephew, “that ever since your return, there have been some differences + between you and my sister.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed? I did not know that Madam Esmond had alluded to them,” George + said. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness puts a great pair of glasses upon eyes which shot fire and + kindled who knows how many passions in old days, and, after glancing over + the letter, hands it to George, who reads as follows:— + </p> + <p> + “RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, December 26th, 1756. + </p> + <p> + “HONOURED MADAM! AND SISTER!—I have received, and thankfully + acknowledge, your ladyship's favour, per Rose packet, of October 23 ult.; + and straightway answer you at a season which should be one of goodwill and + peace to all men: but in which Heaven hath nevertheless decreed we should + still bear our portion of earthly sorrow and trouble. My reply will be + brought to you by my eldest son, Mr. Esmond Warrington, who returned to us + so miraculously out of the Valley of the Shadow of Death (as our previous + letters have informed my poor Henry), and who is desirous, not without my + consent to his wish, to visit Europe, though he has been amongst us so + short a while. I grieve to think that my dearest Harry should have + appeared at home—I mean in England—under false colours, as it + were; and should have been presented to his Majesty, to our family, and + his own, as his father's heir, whilst my dear son George was still alive, + though dead to us. Ah, madam! During the eighteen months of his captivity, + what anguish have his mother's, his brother's, hearts undergone! My + Harry's is the tenderest of any man's now alive. In the joy of seeing Mr. + Esmond Warrington returned to life, he will forget the worldly misfortune + which befalls him. He will return to (comparative) poverty without a pang. + The most generous, the most obedient of human beings, of sons, he will + gladly give up to his elder brother that inheritance which had been his + own but for the accident of birth, and for the providential return of my + son George. + </p> + <p> + “Your beneficent intentions towards dearest Harry will be more than ever + welcome, now he is reduced to a younger brother's slender portion! Many + years since, an advantageous opportunity occurred of providing for him in + this province, and he would by this time have been master of a noble + estate and negroes, and have been enabled to make a figure with most here, + could his mother's wishes have been complied with, and his father's small + portion, now lying at small interest in the British funds, have been + invested in this most excellent purchase. But the forms of the law, and, I + grieve to own, my elder son's scruples, prevailed, and this admirable + opportunity was lost to me! Harry will find the savings of his income have + been carefully accumulated—long, long may he live to enjoy them! May + Heaven bless you, dear sister, for what your ladyship may add to his + little store! As I gather from your letter, that the sum which has been + allowed to him has not been sufficient for his expenses in the fine + company which he has kept (and the grandson of the Marquis of Esmond—one + who had so nearly been his lordship's heir—may sure claim equality + with any other nobleman in Great Britain), and having a sum by me which I + had always intended for the poor child's establishment, I entrust it to my + eldest son, who, to do him justice, hath a most sincere regard for his + brother, to lay it out for Harry's best advantage.” + </p> + <p> + “It took him out of prison yesterday, madam. I think that was the best use + to which we could put it,” interposed George, at this stage of his + mother's letter. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, I don't know any such thing! Why not have kept it to buy a pair + of colours for him, or to help towards another estate and some negroes, if + he has a fancy for home?” cried the old lady. “Besides, I had a fancy to + pay that debt myself.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope you will let his brother do that. I ask leave to be my brother's + banker in this matter, and consider I have borrowed so much from my + mother, to be paid back to my dear Harry.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you say so, sir? Give me a glass of wine! You are an extravagant + fellow! Read on, and you will see your mother thinks so. I drink to your + health, nephew George! 'Tis good Burgundy. Your grandfather never loved + Burgundy. He loved claret, the little he drank.” + </p> + <p> + And George proceeded with the letter: + </p> + <p> + “This remittance will, I trust, amply cover any expenses which, owing to + the mistake respecting his position, dearest Harry may have incurred. I + wish I could trust his elder brother's prudence as confidently as my + Harry's! But I fear that, even in his captivity, Mr. Esmond W. has learned + little of that humility which becomes all Christians, and which I have + ever endeavoured to teach to my children. Should you by chance show him + these lines, when, by the blessing of Heaven on those who go down to the + sea in ships, the Great Ocean divides us! he will know that a fond + mother's blessing and prayers follow both her children, and that there is + no act I have ever done, no desire I have ever expressed (however little + he may have been inclined to obey it!) but hath been dictated by the + fondest wishes for my dearest boys' welfare.” + </p> + <p> + “There is a scratch with a penknife, and a great blot upon the letter + there, as if water had fallen on it. Your mother writes well, George. I + suppose you and she had a difference?” said George's aunt, not unkindly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, ma'am, many,” answered the young man, sadly. “The last was about a + question of money—of ransom which I promised to the old lieutenant + of the fort who aided me to make my escape. I told you he had a mistress, + a poor Indian woman, who helped me, and was kind to me. Six weeks after my + arrival at home, the poor thing made her appearance at Richmond, having + found her way through the wood by pretty much the same track which I had + followed, and bringing me the token which Museau had promised to send me + when he connived to my flight. A commanding officer and a considerable + reinforcement had arrived at Duquesne. Charges, I don't know of what + peculation (for his messenger could not express herself very clearly), had + been brought against this Museau. He had been put under arrest, and had + tried to escape; but, less fortunate than myself, he had been shot on the + rampart, and he sent the Indian woman to me, with my grandfather's watch, + and a line scrawled in his prison on his deathbed, begging me to send ce + que je scavais to a notary at Havre de Grace in France to be transmitted + to his relatives at Caen in Normandy. My friend Silverheels, the hunter, + had helped my poor Indian on her way. I don't know how she would have + escaped scalping else. But at home they received the poor thing sternly. + They hardly gave her a welcome. I won't say what suspicions they had + regarding her and me. The poor wretch fell to drinking whenever she could + find means. I ordered that she should have food and shelter, and she + became the jest of our negroes, and formed the subject of the scandal and + tittle-tattle of the old fools in our little town. Our Governor was, + luckily, a man of sense, and I made interest with him, and procured a pass + to send her back to her people. Her very grief at parting with me only + served to confirm the suspicions against her. A fellow preached against me + from the pulpit, I believe; I had to treat another with a cane. And I had + a violent dispute with Madam Esmond—a difference which is not healed + yet—because I insisted upon paying to the heirs Museau pointed out + the money I had promised for my deliverance. You see that scandal + flourishes at the borders of the wilderness, and in the New World as well + as the Old.” + </p> + <p> + “I have suffered from it myself, my dear!” said Madame Bernstein, + demurely. “Fill thy glass, child! A little tass of cherry-brandy! 'Twill + do thee all the good in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “As for my poor Harry's marriage,” Madam Esmond's letter went on, “though + I know too well, from sad experience, the dangers to which youth is + subject, and would keep my boy, at any price, from them, though I should + wish him to marry a person of rank, as becomes his birth, yet my Lady + Maria Esmond is out of the question. Her age is almost the same as mine; + and I know my brother Castlewood left his daughters with the very smallest + portions. My Harry is so obedient that I know a desire from me will be + sufficient to cause him to give up this imprudent match. Some foolish + people once supposed that I myself once thought of a second union, and + with a person of rank very different from ours. No! I knew what was due to + my children. As succeeding to this estate after me, Mr. Esmond W. is amply + provided for. Let my task now be to save for his less fortunate younger + brother: and, as I do not love to live quite alone, let him return without + delay to his fond and loving mother. + </p> + <p> + “The report which your ladyship hath given of my Harry fills my heart with + warmest gratitude. He is all indeed a mother may wish. A year in Europe + will have given him a polish and refinement which he could not acquire in + our homely Virginia. Mr. Stack, one of our invaluable ministers in + Richmond, hath a letter from Mr. Ward—my darlings' tutor of early + days—who knows my Lady Warrington and her excellent family, and + saith that my Harry has lived much with his cousins of late. I am grateful + to think that my boy has the privilege of being with his good aunt. May he + follow her counsels, and listen to those around him who will guide him on + the way of his best welfare! Adieu, dear madam and sister! For your + kindness to my boy accept the grateful thanks of a mother's heart. Though + we have been divided hitherto, may these kindly ties draw us nearer and + nearer. I am thankful that you should speak of my dearest father so. He + was, indeed, one of the best of men! He, too, thanks you, I know, for the + love you have borne to one of his children; and his daughter subscribes + herself,—With sincere thanks, your ladyship's most dutiful and + grateful sister and servant, RACHEL ESMOND WN. + </p> + <p> + “P.S.—I have communicated with my Lady Maria; but there will no need + to tell her and dear Harry that his mother or your ladyship hope to be + able to increase his small fortune. The match is altogether unsuitable.” + </p> + <p> + “As far as regards myself, madam,” George said, laying down the paper, “my + mother's letter conveys no news to me. I always knew that Harry was the + favourite son with Madam Esmond, as he deserves indeed to be. He has a + hundred good qualities which I have not the good fortune to possess. He + has better looks——” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, that is not your fault,” said the old lady, slily looking at him; + “and, but that he is fair and you are brown, one might almost pass for the + other.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. George bowed, and a faint blush tinged his pale cheek. + </p> + <p> + “His disposition is bright, and mine is dark,” he continued; “Harry is + cheerful, and I am otherwise, perhaps. He knows how to make himself + beloved by every one, and it has been my lot to find but few friends.” + </p> + <p> + “My sister and you have pretty little quarrels. There were such in old + days in our family,” the Baroness said; “and if Madam Esmond takes after + our mother——” + </p> + <p> + “My mother has always described hers as an angel upon earth,” interposed + George. + </p> + <p> + “Eh! That is a common character for people when they are dead!” cried the + Baroness; “and Rachel Castlewood was an angel, if you like—at least + your grandfather thought so. But let me tell you, sir, that angels are + sometimes not very commodes a vivre. It may be they are too good to live + with us sinners, and the air down below here don't agree with them. My + poor mother was so perfect that she never could forgive me for being + otherwise. Ah, mon Dieu! how she used to oppress me with those angelical + airs!” + </p> + <p> + George cast down his eyes, and thought of his own melancholy youth. He did + not care to submit more of his family secrets to the cynical inquisition + of this old worldling, who seemed, however, to understand him in spite of + his reticence. + </p> + <p> + “I quite comprehend you, sir, though you hold your tongue,” the Baroness + continued. “A sermon in the morning: a sermon at night: and two or three + of a Sunday. That is what people call being good. Every pleasure cried fie + upon; all us worldly people excommunicated; a ball an abomination of + desolation; a play a forbidden pastime; and a game of cards perdition! + What a life! Mon Dieu, what a life!” + </p> + <p> + “We played at cards every night, if we were so inclined,” said George, + smiling; “and my grandfather loved Shakspeare so much, that my mother had + not a word to say against her father's favourite author.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember. He could say whole pages by heart; though, for my part, I + like Mr. Congreve a great deal better. And then, there was that dreadful, + dreary Milton, whom he and Mr. Addison pretended to admire!” cried the old + lady, tapping her fan. + </p> + <p> + “If your ladyship does not like Shakspeare, you will not quarrel with my + mother for being indifferent to him, too,” said George. “And indeed I + think, and I am sure, that you don't do her justice. Wherever there are + any poor she relieves them; wherever there are any sick she——” + </p> + <p> + “She doses them with her horrible purges and boluses!” cried the Baroness. + “Of course, just as my mother did!” + </p> + <p> + “She does her best to cure them! She acts for the best, and performs her + duty as far as she knows it.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't blame you, sir, for doing yours, and keeping your own counsel + about Madam Esmond,” said the old lady. “But at least there is one point + upon which we all three agree—that this absurd marriage must be + prevented. Do you know how old the woman is? I can tell you, though she + has torn the first leaf out of the family Bible at Castlewood.” + </p> + <p> + “My mother has not forgotten her cousin's age, and is shocked at the + disparity between her and my poor brother. Indeed, a city-bred lady of her + time of life, accustomed to London gaiety and luxury, would find but a + dismal home in our Virginian plantation. Besides, the house, such as it + is, is not Harry's. He is welcome there, Heaven knows; more welcome, + perhaps, than I, to whom the property comes in natural reversion; but, as + I told him, I doubt how his wife would—would like our colony,” + George said, with a blush, and a hesitation in his sentence. + </p> + <p> + The old lady laughed shrilly. “He, he! nephew Warrington!” she said, “you + need not scruple to speak your mind out. I shall tell no tales to your + mother: though 'tis no news to me that she has a high temper, and loves + her own way. Harry has held his tongue, too; but it needed no conjurer to + see who was the mistress at home, and what sort of a life my sister led + you. I love my niece, my Lady Molly, so well, that I could wish her two or + three years of Virginia, with your mother reigning over her. You may well + look alarmed, sir! Harry has said quite enough to show me who governs the + family.” + </p> + <p> + “Madam,” said George, smiling, “I may say as much as this, that I don't + envy any woman coming into our house against my mother's will: and my poor + brother knows this perfectly well.” + </p> + <p> + “What? You two have talked the matter over? No doubt you have. And the + foolish child considers himself bound in honour—of course he does, + the gaby!” + </p> + <p> + “He says Lady Maria has behaved most nobly to him. When he was sent to + prison, she brought him her trinkets and jewels, and every guinea she had + in the world. This behaviour has touched him so, that he feels more deeply + than ever bound to her ladyship. But I own my brother seems bound by + honour rather than love—such at least is his present feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “My good creature,” cries Madame Bernstein, “don't you see that Maria + brings a few twopenny trinkets and a half-dozen guineas to Mr. Esmond, the + heir of the great estate in Virginia,—not to the second son, who is + a beggar, and has just squandered away every shilling of his fortune? I + swear to you, on my credit as a gentlewoman, that, knowing Harry's + obstinacy, and the misery he had in store for himself, I tried to bribe + Maria to give up her engagement with him, and only failed because I could + not bribe high enough! When he was in prison, I sent my lawyer to him, + with orders to pay his debts immediately, if he would but part from her, + but Maria had been beforehand with us, and Mr. Harry chose not to go back + from his stupid word. Let me tell you what has passed in the last month!” + And here the old lady narrated at length the history which we know + already, but in that cynical language which was common in her times, when + the finest folks and the most delicate ladies called things and people by + names which we never utter in good company nowadays. And so much the + better on the whole. We mayn't be more virtuous, but it is something to be + more decent: perhaps we are not more pure, but of a surety we are more + cleanly. + </p> + <p> + Madame Bernstein talked so much, so long, and so cleverly, that she was + quite pleased with herself and her listener; and when she put herself into + the hands of Mrs. Brett to retire for the night, informed the waiting-maid + that she had changed her opinion about her eldest nephew, and that Mr. + George was handsome, that he was certainly much wittier than poor Harry + (whom Heaven, it must be confessed, had not furnished with a very great + supply of brains), and that he had quite the bel air—a something + melancholy—a noble and distinguished je ne scais quoy—which + reminded her of the Colonel. Had she ever told Brett about the Colonel? + Scores of times, no doubt. And now she told Brett about the Colonel once + more. Meanwhile, perhaps, her new favourite was not quite so well pleased + with her as she was with him. What a strange picture of life and manners + had the old lady unveiled to her nephew! How she railed at all the world + round about her! How unconsciously did she paint her own family—her + own self; how selfish, one and all; pursuing what mean ends; grasping and + scrambling frantically for what petty prizes; ambitious for what shabby + recompenses; trampling—from life's beginning to its close—through + what scenes of stale dissipations and faded pleasures! “Are these the + inheritors of noble blood?” thought George, as he went home quite late + from his aunt's house, passing by doors whence the last guests of fashion + were issuing, and where the chairmen were yawning over their expiring + torches. “Are these the proud possessors of ancestral honours and ancient + names, and were their forefathers, when in life, no better? We have our + pedigree at home with noble coats-of-arms emblazoned all over the + branches, and titles dating back before the Conquest and the Crusaders. + When a knight of old found a friend in want, did he turn his back upon + him, or an unprotected damsel, did he delude her and leave her? When a + nobleman of the early time received a young kinsman, did he get the better + of him at dice, and did the ancient chivalry cheat in horseflesh? Can it + be that this wily woman of the world, as my aunt has represented, has + inveigled my poor Harry into an engagement, that her tears are false, and + that as soon as she finds him poor she will desert him? Had we not best + pack the trunks and take a cabin in the next ship bound for home?” George + reached his own door revolving these thoughts, and Gumbo came up yawning + with a candle, and Harry was asleep before the extinguished fire, with the + ashes of his emptied pipe on the table beside him. + </p> + <p> + He starts up; his eyes, for a moment dulled by sleep, lighten with + pleasure as he sees his dear George. He puts his arm round his brother + with a boyish laugh. + </p> + <p> + “There he is in flesh and blood, thank God!” he says; “I was dreaming of + thee but now, George, and that Ward was hearing us our lesson! Dost thou + remember the ruler, Georgy? Why, bless my soul, 'tis three o'clock! Where + have you been a-gadding, Mr. George? Hast thou supped? I supped at + White's, but I'm hungry again. I did not play, sir,—no, no; no more + of that for younger brothers! And my Lord March paid me fifty he lost to + me. I bet against his horse and on the Duke of Hamilton's! They both rode + the match at Newmarket this morning, and he lost because he was under + weight. And he paid me, and he was as sulky as a bear. Let us have one + pipe, Georgy!—just one.” + </p> + <p> + And after the smoke the young men went to bed, where I, for one, wish them + a pleasant rest, for sure it is a good and pleasant thing to see brethren + who love one another. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0055" id="link2HCH0055"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LV. Between Brothers + </h2> + <p> + Of course our young men had had their private talk about home, and all the + people and doings there, and each had imparted to the other full + particulars of his history since their last meeting. How were Harry's + dogs, and little Dempster, and good old Nathan, and the rest of the + household? Was Mountain well, and Fanny grown to be a pretty girl? So + Parson Broadbent's daughter was engaged to marry Tom Barker of Savannah, + and they were to go and live in Georgia! Harry owns that at one period he + was very sweet upon Parson Broadbent's daughter, and lost a great deal of + pocket-money at cards, and drank a great quantity of strong-waters with + the father, in order to have a pretext for being near the girl. But, + Heaven help us! Madam Esmond would never have consented to his throwing + himself away upon Polly Broadbent. So Colonel G. Washington's wife was a + pretty woman, very good-natured and pleasant, and with a good fortune? He + had brought her into Richmond, and paid a visit of state to Madam Esmond. + George described, with much humour, the awful ceremonials at the interview + between these two personages, and the killing politeness of his mother to + Mr. Washington's young wife. “Never mind, George, my dear!” says Mrs. + Mountain. “The Colonel has taken another wife, but I feel certain that at + one time two young gentlemen I know of ran a very near chance of having a + tall stepfather six feet two in his boots.” To be sure, Mountain was for + ever match-making in her mind. Two people could not play a game at cards + together, or sit down to a dish of tea, but she fancied their conjunction + was for life. It was she—the foolish tattler—who had set the + report abroad regarding the poor Indian woman. As for Madam Esmond, she + had repelled the insinuation with scorn when Parson Stack brought it to + her, and said, “I should as soon fancy Mr. Esmond stealing the spoons, or + marrying a negro woman out of the kitchen.” But, though she disdained to + find the poor Biche guilty, and even thanked her for attending her son in + his illness, she treated her with such a chilling haughtiness of + demeanour, that the Indian slunk away into the servants' quarters, and + there tried to drown her disappointments with drink. It was not a cheerful + picture that which George gave of his two months at home. “The birthright + is mine, Harry,” he said, “but thou art the favourite, and God help me! I + think my mother almost grudges it to me. Why should I have taken the pas, + and preceded your worship into the world? Had you been the eider, you + would have had the best cellar, and ridden the best nag, and been the most + popular man in the country, whereas I have not a word to say for myself, + and frighten people by my glum face: I should have been second son, and + set up as lawyer, or come to England and got my degrees, and turned + parson, and said grace at your honour's table. The time is out of joint, + sir. O cursed spite, that ever I was born to set it right!” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Georgy, you are talking verses, I protest you are!” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “I think, my dear, some one else talked those verses before me,” says + George, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “It's out of one of your books. You know every book that ever was wrote, + that I do believe!” cries Harry, and then told his brother how he had seen + the two authors at Tunbridge, and how he had taken off his hat to them. + “Not that I cared much about their books, not being clever enough. But I + remembered how my dear old George used to speak of 'em,” says Harry, with + a choke in his voice, “and that's why I liked to see them. I say, dear, + it's like a dream seeing you over again. Think of that bloody Indian with + his knife at my George's head! I should like to give that Monsieur de + Florac something for saving you—but I haven't got much now, only my + little gold knee-buckles, and they ain't worth two guineas.” + </p> + <p> + “You have got the half of what I have, child, and we'll divide as soon as + I have paid the Frenchman,” George said. + </p> + <p> + On which Harry broke out not merely into blessings but actual + imprecations, indicating his intense love and satisfaction; and he swore + that there never was such a brother in the world as his brother George. + Indeed, for some days after his brother's arrival his eyes followed George + about: he would lay down his knife and fork, or his newspaper, when they + were sitting together, and begin to laugh to himself. When he walked with + George on the Mall or in Hyde Park, he would gaze round at the company, as + much as to say, “Look here, gentlemen! This is he. This is my brother, + that was dead and is alive again! Can any man in Christendom produce such + a brother as this?” + </p> + <p> + Of course he was of opinion that George should pay to Museau's heirs the + sum which he had promised for his ransom. This question had been the cause + of no small unhappiness to poor George at home. Museau dead, Madam Esmond + argued with much eagerness, and not a little rancour, the bargain fell to + the ground, and her son was free. The man was a rogue in the first + instance. She would not pay the wages of iniquity. Mr. Esmond had a small + independence from his father, and might squander his patrimony if he + chose. He was of age, and the money was in his power; but she would be no + party to such extravagance, as giving twelve thousand livres to a parcel + of peasants in Normandy with whom we were at war, and who would very + likely give it all to the priests and the pope. She would not subscribe to + any such wickedness. If George wanted to squander away his father's money + (she must say that formerly he had not been so eager, and when Harry's + benefit was in question had refused to touch a penny of it!)—if he + wished to spend it now, why not give it to his own flesh and blood, to + poor Harry, who was suddenly deprived of his inheritance, and not to a set + of priest-ridden peasants in France? This dispute had raged between mother + and son during the whole of the latter's last days in Virginia. It had + never been settled. On the morning of George's departure, Madam Esmond had + come to his bedside after a sleepless night, and asked him whether he + still persisted in his intention to fling away his father's property? + </p> + <p> + He replied in a depth of grief and perplexity, that his word was passed, + and he must do as his honour bade him. She answered that she would + continue to pray that Heaven might soften his proud heart, and enable her + to bear her heavy trials: and the last view George had of his mother's + face was as she stood yet a moment by his bedside, pale and with tearless + eyes, before she turned away and slowly left his chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Where didst thou learn the art of winning over everybody to thy side, + Harry?” continued George; “and how is it that you and all the world begin + by being friends? Teach me a few lessons in popularity, nay, I don't know + that I will have them; and when I find and hear certain people hate me, I + think I am rather pleased than angry. At first, at Richmond, Mr. Esmond + Warrington, the only prisoner who had escaped from Braddock's field—the + victim of so much illness and hardship—was a favourite with the + town-folks, and received privately and publicly with no little kindness. + The parson glorified my escape in a sermon; the neighbours came to visit + the fugitive; the family coach was ordered out, and Madam Esmond and I + paid our visits in return. I think some pretty little caps were set at me. + But these our mother routed off, and frightened with the prodigious + haughtiness of her demeanour; and my popularity was already at the + decrease before the event occurred which put the last finishing stroke to + it. I was not jolly enough for the officers, and didn't care for their + drinking-bouts, dice-boxes, and swearing. I was too sarcastic for the + ladies, and their tea and tattle stupefied me almost as much as the men's + blustering and horse-talk. I cannot tell thee, Harry, how lonely I felt in + that place, amidst the scandal and squabbles: I regretted my prison + almost, and found myself more than once wishing for the freedom of + thought, and the silent ease of Duquesne. I am very shy, I suppose: I can + speak unreservedly to very few people. Before most, I sit utterly silent. + When we two were at home, it was thou who used to talk at table, and get a + smile now and then from our mother. When she and I were together we had no + subject in common, and we scarce spoke at all until we began to dispute + about law and divinity. + </p> + <p> + “So the gentlemen had determined I was supercilious, and a dull companion + (and, indeed, I think their opinion was right), and the ladies thought I + was cold and sarcastic,—could never make out whether I was in + earnest or no, and, I think, generally voted I was a disagreeable fellow, + before my character was gone quite away; and that went with the appearance + of the poor Biche. Oh, a nice character they made for me, my dear!” cried + George, in a transport of wrath, “and a pretty life they led me after + Museau's unlucky messenger had appeared amongst us! The boys hooted the + poor woman if she appeared in the street; the ladies dropped me + half-curtseys, and walked over to the other side. That precious clergyman + went from one tea-table to another preaching on the horrors of seduction, + and the lax principles which young men learned in popish countries and + brought back thence. The poor Fawn's appearance at home a few weeks after + my return home, was declared to be a scheme between her and me; and the + best informed agreed that she had waited on the other side of the river + until I gave her the signal to come and join me in Richmond. The officers + bantered me at the coffee-house, and cracked their clumsy jokes about the + woman I had selected. Oh, the world is a nice charitable world! I was so + enraged that I thought of going to Castlewood and living alone there,—for + our mother finds the place dull, and the greatest consolation in precious + Mr. Stack's ministry,—when the news arrived of your female + perplexity, and I think we were all glad that I should have a pretext for + coming to Europe.” + </p> + <p> + “I should like to see any of the infernal scoundrels who said word against + you, and break their rascally bones,” roars out Harry, striding up and + down the room. + </p> + <p> + “I had to do something like it for Bob Clubber.” + </p> + <p> + “What! that little sneaking, backbiting, toad-eating wretch, who is always + hanging about my lord at Greenway Court, and spunging on every gentleman + in the country? If you whipped him, I hope you whipped him well, George?” + </p> + <p> + “We were bound over to keep the peace; and I offered to go into Maryland + with him and settle our difference there, and of course the good folk + said, that having made free with the seventh commandment I was inclined to + break the sixth. So, by this and by that—and being as innocent of + the crime imputed to me as you are—I left home, my dear Harry, with + as awful a reputation as ever a young gentleman earned.” + </p> + <p> + Ah, what an opportunity is there here to moralise! If the esteemed reader + and his humble servant could but know—could but write down in a book—could + but publish, with illustrations, a collection of the lies which have been + told regarding each of us since we came to man's estate,—what a + harrowing and thrilling work of fiction that romance would be! Not only is + the world informed of everything about you, but of a great deal more. Not + long since the kind postman brought a paper containing a valuable piece of + criticism, which stated—“This author states he was born in such and + such a year. It is a lie. He was born in the year so and so.” The critic + knew better: of course he did. Another (and both came from the country + which gave MULLIGAN birth) warned some friend, saying, “Don't speak of New + South Wales to him. He has a brother there, and the family never mention + his name.” But this subject is too vast and noble for a mere paragraph. I + shall prepare a memoir, or let us have rather, par une societe de gens de + lettres, a series of biographies, of lives of gentlemen, as told by their + dear friends whom they don't know. + </p> + <p> + George having related his exploits as champion and martyr, of course Harry + had to unbosom himself to his brother, and lay before his elder an account + of his private affairs. He gave up all the family of Castlewood—my + lord, not for getting the better of him at play; for Harry was a sporting + man, and expected to pay when he lost, and receive when he won; but for + refusing to aid the chaplain in his necessity, and dismissing him with + such false and heartless pretexts. About Mr. Will he had made up his mind, + after the horse-dealing matter, and freely marked his sense of the + latter's conduct upon Mr. Will's eyes and nose. Respecting the Countess + and Lady Fanny, Harry spoke in a manner more guarded, but not very + favourable. He had heard all sorts of stories about them. The Countess was + a card-playing old cat; Lady Fanny was a desperate flirt. Who told him? + Well, he had heard the stories from a person who knew them both very well + indeed. In fact, in those days of confidence, of which we made mention in + the last volume, Maria had freely imparted to her cousin a number of + anecdotes respecting her stepmother and her half-sister, which were by no + means in favour of those ladies. + </p> + <p> + But in respect to Lady Maria herself, the young man was staunch and + hearty. “It may be imprudent: I don't say no, George. I may be a fool: I + think I am. I know there will be a dreadful piece of work at home, and + that Madam and she will fight. Well! we must live apart. Our estate is big + enough to live on without quarrelling, and I can go elsewhere than to + Richmond or Castlewood. When you come to the property, you'll give me a + bit—at any rate, Madam will let me off at an easy rent—or I'll + make a famous farmer or factor. I can't and won't part from Maria. She has + acted so nobly by me, that I should be a rascal to turn my back on her. + Think of her bringing me every jewel she had in the world, dear brave + creature! and flinging them into my lap with her last guineas,—and—and—God + bless her!” Here Harry dashed his sleeve across his eyes, with a stamp of + his foot, and said, “No, brother, I won't part with her—not to be + made Governor of Virginia tomorrow; and my dearest old George would never + advise me to do so, I know that.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sent here to advise you,” George replied. “I am sent to break the + marriage off, if I can: and a more unhappy one I can't imagine. But I + can't counsel you to break your word, my boy.” + </p> + <p> + “I knew you couldn't! What's said is said, George. I have made my bed, and + must lie on it,” says Mr. Harry, gloomily. + </p> + <p> + Such had been the settlement between our two young worthies, when they + first talked over Mr. Harry's love affair. But after George's conversation + with his aunt, and the further knowledge of his family, which he acquired + through the information of that keen old woman of the world, Mr. + Warrington, who was naturally of a sceptical turn, began to doubt about + Lady Maria, as well as regarding her brothers and sister, and looked at + Harry's engagement with increased distrust and alarm. Was it for his + wealth that Maria wanted Harry? Was it his handsome young person that she + longed after? Were those stories true which Aunt Bernstein had told of + her? Certainly he could not advise Harry to break his word; but he might + cast about in his mind for some scheme for putting Maria's affection to + the trial; and his ensuing conduct, which appeared not very amiable, I + suppose resulted from this deliberation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0056" id="link2HCH0056"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LVI. Ariadne + </h2> + <p> + My Lord Castlewood had a house in Kensington Square spacious enough to + accommodate the several members of his noble family, and convenient for + their service at the palace hard by, when his Majesty dwelt there. Her + ladyship had her evenings, and gave her card-parties here for such as + would come; but Kensington was a long way from London a hundred years + since, and George Selwyn said he for one was afraid to go, for fear of + being robbed of a night,—whether by footpads with crape over their + faces, or by ladies in rouge at the quadrille-table, we have no means of + saying. About noon on the day after Harry had made his reappearance at + White's, it chanced that all his virtuous kinsfolks partook of breakfast + together, even Mr. Will being present, who was to go into waiting in the + afternoon. + </p> + <p> + The ladies came first to their chocolate: them Mr. Will joined in his + court suit; finally, my lord appeared, languid, in his bedgown and + nightcap, having not yet assumed his wig for the day. Here was news which + Will had brought home from the Star and Garter last night, when he supped + in company with some men who had heard it at White's and seen it at + Ranelagh! + </p> + <p> + “Heard what? seen what?” asked the head of the house, taking up his Daily + Advertiser. + </p> + <p> + “Ask Maria!” says Lady Fanny. My lord turns to his elder sister, who wears + a face of portentous sadness, and looks as pale as a tablecloth. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis one of Will's usual elegant and polite inventions,” says Maria. + </p> + <p> + “No,” swore Will, with several of his oaths; “it was no invention of his. + Tom Claypool of Norfolk saw 'em both at Ranelagh; and Jack Morris came out + of White's, where he heard the story from Harry Warrington's own lips. + Curse him, I'm glad of it!” roars Will, slapping the table. “What do you + think of your Fortunate Youth, your Virginian, whom your lordship made so + much of, turning out to be a second son?” + </p> + <p> + “The elder brother not dead?” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + “No more dead than you are. Never was. It's my belief that it was a cross + between the two.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington is incapable of such duplicity!” cries Maria. + </p> + <p> + “I never encouraged the fellow, I am sure you will do me justice there,” + says my lady. “Nor did Fanny: not we, indeed!” + </p> + <p> + “Not we, indeed!” echoes my Lady Fanny. + </p> + <p> + “The fellow is only a beggar, and, I dare say, has not paid for the + clothes on his back,” continues Will. “I'm glad of it, for, hang him, I + hate him!” + </p> + <p> + “You don't regard him with favourable eyes; especially since he blacked + yours, Will!” grins my lord. “So the poor fellow has found his brother, + and lost his estate!” And here he turned towards his sister Maria, who, + although she looked the picture of woe, must have suggested something + ludicrous to the humourist near whom she sate; for his lordship, having + gazed at her for a minute, burst into a shrill laugh, which caused the + poor lady's face to flush, and presently her eyes to pour over with tears. + “It's a shame! it's a shame!” she sobbed out, and hid her face in her + handkerchief. Maria's stepmother and sister looked at each other. “We + never quite understand your lordship's humour,” the former lady remarked, + gravely. + </p> + <p> + “I don't see there is the least reason why you should,” said my lord, + coolly. “Maria, my dear, pray excuse me if I have said—that is, done + anything, to hurt your feelings.” + </p> + <p> + “Done anything! You pillaged the poor lad in his prosperity, and laugh at + him in his ruin!” says Maria, rising from table, and glaring round at all + her family. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, my dear sister, I was not laughing at him,” said my lord, + gently. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, never mind at what or whom else, my lord! You have taken from him all + he had to lose. All the world points at you as the man who feeds on his + own flesh and blood. And now you have his all, you make merry over his + misfortune!” And away she rustled from the room, flinging looks of + defiance at all the party there assembled. + </p> + <p> + “Tell us what has happened, or what you have heard, Will, and my sister's + grief will not interrupt us.” And Will told, at great length, and with + immense exultation at Harry's discomfiture, the story now buzzed through + all London, of George Warrington's sudden apparition. Lord Castlewood was + sorry for Harry: Harry was a good, brave lad, and his kinsman liked him, + as much as certain worldly folks like each other. To be sure he played + Harry at cards, and took the advantage of the market upon him; but why + not? The peach which other men would certainly pluck, he might as well + devour. Eh! if that were all my conscience had to reproach me with, I need + not be very uneasy! my lord thought. “Where does Mr. Warrington live?” + </p> + <p> + Will expressed himself ready to enter upon a state of reprobation if he + knew or cared. + </p> + <p> + “He shall be invited here, and treated with every respect,” said my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Including piquet, I suppose!” growls Will. + </p> + <p> + “Or will you take him to the stables, and sell him one of your bargains of + horseflesh, Will?” asks Lord Castlewood. “You would have won of Harry + Warrington fast enough, if you could; but you cheat so clumsily at your + game that you got paid with a cudgel. I desire, once more, that every + attention may be paid to our cousin Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “And that you are not to be disturbed, when you sit down to play, of + course, my lord!” cries Lady Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “Madam, I desire fair play, for Mr. Warrington, and for myself, and for + every member of this amiable family,” retorted Lord Castlewood, fiercely. + </p> + <p> + “Heaven help the poor gentleman if your lordship is going to be kind to + him,” said the stepmother, with a curtsey; and there is no knowing how far + this family dispute might have been carried, had not, at this moment, a + phaeton driven up to the house, in which were seated the two young + Virginians. + </p> + <p> + It was the carriage which our young Prodigal had purchased in the days of + his prosperity. He drove it still: George sate in it by his side; their + negroes were behind them. Harry had been for meekly giving the whip and + reins to his brother, and ceding the whole property to him. “What business + has a poor devil like me with horses and carriages, Georgy?” Harry had + humbly said. “Beyond the coat on my back, and the purse my aunt gave me, I + have nothing in the world. You take the driving-seat, brother; it will + ease my mind if you will take the driving-seat.” George laughingly said he + did not know the way, and Harry did; and that, as for the carriage, he + would claim only a half of it, as he had already done with his brother's + wardrobe. “But a bargain is a bargain; if I share thy coats, thou must + divide my breeches' pocket, Harry; that is but fair dealing!” Again and + again Harry swore there never was such a brother on earth. How he rattled + his horses over the road! How pleased and proud he was to drive such a + brother! They came to Kensington in famous high spirits; and Gumbo's + thunder upon Lord Castlewood's door was worthy of the biggest footman in + all St. James's. + </p> + <p> + Only my Lady Castlewood and her daughter Lady Fanny were in the room into + which our young gentlemen were ushered. Will had no particular fancy to + face Harry, my lord was not dressed, Maria had her reasons for being away, + at least till her eyes were dried. When we drive up to friends' houses + nowadays in our coaches-and-six, when John carries up our noble names, + when, finally, we enter the drawing-room with our best hat and best Sunday + smile foremost, does it ever happen that we interrupt a family row! that + we come simpering and smiling in, and stepping over the delusive ashes of + a still burning domestic heat? that in the interval between the hall-door + and the drawing-room, Mrs., Mr., and the Misses Jones have grouped + themselves in a family tableau; this girl artlessly arranging flowers in a + vase, let us say; that one reclining over an illuminated work of devotion; + mamma on the sofa, with the butcher's and grocer's book pushed under the + cushion, some elegant work in her hand, and a pretty little foot pushed + out advantageously; while honest Jones, far from saying, “Curse that + Brown, he is always calling here!” holds out a kindly hand, shows a + pleased face, and exclaims, “What, Brown my boy, delighted to see you! + Hope you've come to lunch!” I say, does it ever happen to us to be made + the victims of domestic artifices, the spectators of domestic comedies got + up for our special amusement? Oh, let us be thankful, not only for faces, + but for masks! not only for honest welcome, but for hypocrisy, which hides + unwelcome things from us! Whilst I am talking, for instance, in this easy, + chatty way, what right have you, my good sir, to know what is really + passing in my mind? It may be that I am racked with gout, or that my + eldest son has just sent me in a thousand pounds' worth of college-bills, + or that I am writhing under an attack of the Stoke Pogis Sentinel, which + has just been sent me under cover, or that there is a dreadfully scrappy + dinner, the evident remains of a party to which I didn't invite you, and + yet I conceal my agony, I wear a merry smile; I say, “What! come to take + pot-luck with us, Brown my boy! Betsy! put a knife and fork for Mr. Brown. + Eat! Welcome! Fall to! It's my best!” I say that humbug which I am + performing is beautiful self-denial—that hypocrisy is true virtue. + Oh, if every man spoke his mind what an intolerable society ours would be + to live in! + </p> + <p> + As the young gentlemen are announced, Lady Castlewood advances towards + them with perfect ease and good-humour. “We have heard, Harry,” she says, + looking at the latter with a special friendliness, “of this most + extraordinary circumstance. My Lord Castlewood said at breakfast that he + should wait on you this very day, Mr. Warrington, and, cousin Harry, we + intend not to love you any the less because you are poor.” + </p> + <p> + “We shall be able to show now that it is not for your acres that we like + you, Harry!” says Lady Fanny, following her mamma's lead. + </p> + <p> + “And I to whom the acres have fallen?” says Mr. George, with a smile and a + bow. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cousin, we shall like you for being like Harry!” replies the arch + Lady Fanny. + </p> + <p> + Ah! who that has seen the world, has not admired that astonishing ease + with which fine ladies drop you and pick you up again? Both the ladies now + addressed themselves almost exclusively to the younger brother. They were + quite civil to Mr. George: but with Mr. Harry they were fond, they were + softly familiar, they were gently kind, they were affectionately + reproachful. Why had Harry not been for days and days to see them? + </p> + <p> + “Better to have had a dish of tea and a game at piquet with them than with + some other folks,” says Lady Castlewood. “If we had won enough to buy a + paper of pins from you we should have been content; but young gentlemen + don't know what is for their own good,” says mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Now you have no more money to play with, you can come and play with us, + cousin!” cries fond Lady Fanny, lifting up a finger, “and so your + misfortune will be good fortune to us.” + </p> + <p> + George was puzzled. This welcome of his brother was very different from + that to which he had looked. All these compliments and attentions paid to + the younger brother, though he was without a guinea! Perhaps the people + were not so bad as they were painted? The Blackest of all Blacks is said + not to be of quite so dark a complexion as some folks describe him. + </p> + <p> + This affectionate conversation continued for some twenty minutes, at the + end of which period my Lord Castlewood made his appearance, wig on head, + and sword by side. He greeted both the young men with much politeness: one + not more than the other. “If you were to come to us—and I, for one, + cordially rejoice to see you—what a pity it is you did not come a + few months earlier! A certain evening at piquet would then most likely + never have taken place. A younger son would have been more prudent.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed,” said Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Or a kinsman more compassionate. But I fear that love of play runs in the + blood of all of us. I have it from my father, and it has made me the + poorest peer in England. Those fair ladies whom you see before you are not + exempt. My poor brother Will is a martyr to it; and what I, for my part, + win on one day, I lose on the next. 'Tis shocking, positively, the rage + for play in England. All my poor cousin's bank-notes parted company from + me within twenty-four hours after I got them.” + </p> + <p> + “I have played, like other gentlemen, but never to hurt myself, and never + indeed caring much for the sport,” remarked Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “When we heard that my lord had played with Harry, we did so scold him,” + cried the ladies. + </p> + <p> + “But if it had not been I, thou knowest, cousin Warrington, some other + person would have had thy money. 'Tis a poor consolation, but as such + Harry must please to take it, and be glad that friends won his money, who + wish him well, not strangers, who cared nothing for him, and fleeced him.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! a tooth out is a tooth out, though it be your brother who pulls it, + my lord!” said Mr. George, laughing. “Harry must bear the penalty of his + faults, and pay his debts, like other men.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure I have never said or thought otherwise. 'Tis not like an + Englishman to be sulky because he is beaten,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Your hand, cousin! You speak like a man!” cries my lord, with delight. + The ladies smiled to each other. + </p> + <p> + “My sister, in Virginia, has known how to bring up her sons as gentlemen!” + exclaims Lady Castlewood, enthusiastically. + </p> + <p> + “I protest you must not be growing so amiable now you are poor, cousin + Harry!” cries cousin Fanny. “Why, mamma, we did not know half his good + qualities when he was only Fortunate Youth and Prince of Virginia! You are + exactly like him, cousin George, but I vow you can't be as amiable as your + brother!” + </p> + <p> + “I am the Prince of Virginia, but I fear I am not the Fortunate Youth,” + said George, gravely. + </p> + <p> + Harry was beginning, “By Jove, he is the best——” when the + noise of a harpsichord was heard from the upper room. The lad blushed: the + ladies smiled. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis Maria, above,” said Lady Castlewood. “Let some of us go up to her.” + </p> + <p> + The ladies rose, and made way towards the door; and Harry followed them, + blushing very much. George was about to join the party, but Lord + Castlewood checked him. “Nay, if all the ladies follow your brother” his + lordship said, “let me at least have the benefit of your company and + conversation. I long to hear the account of your captivity and rescue, + cousin George!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we must hear that too!” cried one of the ladies, lingering. + </p> + <p> + “I am greedy, and should like it all by myself,” said Lord Castlewood, + looking at her very sternly; and followed the women to the door, and + closed it upon them with a low bow. + </p> + <p> + “Your brother has no doubt acquainted you with the history of all that has + happened to him in this house, cousin George?” asked George's kinsman. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, including the quarrel with Mr. Will and the engagement to my Lady + Maria,” replies George, with a bow. “I may be pardoned for saying that he + hath met with but ill fortune here, my lord.” + </p> + <p> + “Which no one can deplore more cordially than myself. My brother lives + with horse jockeys and trainers, and the wildest bloods of the town, and + between us there is very little sympathy. We should not all live together, + were we not so poor. This is the house which our grandmother occupied + before she went to America and married Colonel Esmond. Much of the + furniture belonged to her.” George looked round the wainscoted parlour + with some interest. “Our house has not flourished in the last twenty + years; though we had a promotion of rank a score of years since, owing to + some interest we had at court, then. But the malady of play has been the + ruin of us all. I am a miserable victim to it: only too proud to sell + myself and title to a roturiere, as many noblemen, less scrupulous, have + done. Pride is my fault, my dear cousin. I remember how I was born!” And + his lordship laid his hand on his shirt-frill, turned out his toe, and + looked his cousin nobly in the face. + </p> + <p> + Young George Warrington's natural disposition was to believe everything + which everybody said to him. When once deceived, however, or undeceived + about the character of a person, he became utterly incredulous, and he + saluted this fine speech of my lord's with a sardonical, inward laughter, + preserving his gravity, however, and scarce allowing any of his scorn to + appear in his words. + </p> + <p> + “We have all our faults, my lord. That of play hath been condoned over and + over again in gentlemen of our rank. Having heartily forgiven my brother, + surely I cannot presume to be your lordship's judge in the matter; and + instead of playing and losing, I wish sincerely that you had both played + and won!” + </p> + <p> + “So do I, with all my heart!” says my lord with a sigh. “I augur well for + your goodness when you can speak in this way, and for your experience and + knowledge of the world, too, cousin, of which you seem to possess a + greater share than most young men of your age. Your poor Harry hath the + best heart in the world; but I doubt whether his head be very strong.” + </p> + <p> + “Not very strong, indeed. But he hath the art to make friends wherever he + goes, and in spite of all his imprudences most people love him.” + </p> + <p> + “I do—we all do, I'm sure! as if he were our brother!” cries my + lord. + </p> + <p> + “He has often described in his letters his welcome at your lordship's + house. My mother keeps them all, you may be sure. Harry's style is not + very learned, but his heart is so good, that to read him is better than + wit.” + </p> + <p> + “I may be mistaken, but I fancy his brother possesses a good heart and a + good wit, too!” says my lord, obstinately gracious. + </p> + <p> + “I am as Heaven made me, cousin; and perhaps some more experience and + sorrow than has fallen to the lot of most young men.” + </p> + <p> + “This misfortune of your poor brother—I mean this piece of good + fortune, your sudden reappearance—has not quite left Harry without + resources?” continued Lord Castlewood, very gently. + </p> + <p> + “With nothing but what his mother can leave him, or I, at her death, can + spare him. What is the usual portion here of a younger brother, my lord?” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! a younger brother here is—you know—in fine, everybody + knows what a younger brother is,” said my lord, and shrugged his shoulders + and looked his guest in the face. + </p> + <p> + The other went on: “We are the best of friends, but we are flesh and + blood: and I don't pretend to do more for him than is usually done for + younger brothers. Why give him money? That he should squander it at cards + or horse-racing? My lord, we have cards and jockeys in Virginia, too; and + my poor Harry hath distinguished himself in his own country already, + before he came to yours. He inherits the family failing for dissipation.” + </p> + <p> + “Poor fellow, poor fellow, I pity him!” + </p> + <p> + “Our estate, you see, is great, but our income is small. We have little + more money than that which we get from England for our tobacco—and + very little of that too—for our tobacco comes back to us in the + shape of goods, clothes, leather, groceries, ironmongery, nay, wine and + beer for our people and ourselves. Harry may come back and share all + these: there is a nag in the stable for him, a piece of venison on the + table, a little ready money to keep his pocket warm, and a coat or two + every year. This will go on whilst my mother lives, unless, which is far + from improbable, he gets into some quarrel with Madam Esmond. Then, whilst + I live he will have the run of the house and all it contains: then, if I + die leaving children, he will be less and less welcome. His future, my + lord, is a dismal one, unless some strange piece of luck turn up on which + we were fools to speculate. Henceforth he is doomed to dependence, and I + know no worse lot than to be dependent on a self-willed woman like our + mother. The means he had to make himself respected at home he hath + squandered away here. He has flung his patrimony to the dogs, and poverty + and subserviency are now his only portion.” Mr. Warrington delivered this + speech with considerable spirit and volubility, and his cousin heard him + respectfully. + </p> + <p> + “You speak well, Mr. Warrington. Have you ever thought of public life?” + said my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Of course I have thought of public life like every man of my station—every + man, that is, who cares for something beyond a dice-box or a stable,” + replies George. “I hope, my lord, to be able to take my own place, and my + unlucky brother must content himself with his. This I say advisedly, + having heard from him of certain engagements which he has formed, and + which it would be misery to all parties were he to attempt to execute + now.” + </p> + <p> + “Your logic is very strong,” said my lord. “Shall we go up and see the + ladies? There is a picture above-stairs which your grandfather is said to + have executed. Before you go, my dear cousin, you will please to fix a day + when our family may have the honour of receiving you. Castlewood, you + know, is always your home when we are there. It is something like your + Virginian Castlewood, cousin, from your account. We have beef, and mutton, + and ale, and wood, in plenty; but money is woefully scarce amongst us.” + </p> + <p> + They ascended to the drawing-room, where, however, they found only one of + the ladies of the family. This was my Lady Maria, who came out of the + embrasure of a window, where she and Harry Warrington had been engaged in + talk. + </p> + <p> + George made his best bow, Maria her lowest curtsey. “You are indeed + wonderfully like your brother,” she said, giving him her hand. “And from + what he says, cousin George, I think you are as good as he is.” + </p> + <p> + At the sight of her swollen eyes and tearful face George felt a pang of + remorse. “Poor thing!” he thought. “Harry has been vaunting my generosity + and virtue to her, and I have beer, playing the selfish elder brother + downstairs! How old she looks! How could he ever have a passion for such a + woman as that?” How? Because he did not see with your eyes, Mr. George. He + saw rightly too now with his own, perhaps. I never know whether to pity or + congratulate a man on coming to his senses. + </p> + <p> + After the introduction a little talk took place, which for a while Lady + Maria managed to carry on in an easy manner: but though ladies in this + matter of social hypocrisy are, I think, far more consummate performers + than men, after a sentence or two the poor lady broke out into a sob, and, + motioning Harry away with her hand, fairly fled from the room. + </p> + <p> + Harry was rushing forward, but stopped—checked by that sign. My lord + said his poor sister was subject to these fits of nerves, and had already + been ill that morning. After this event our young gentlemen thought it was + needless to prolong their visit. Lord Castlewood followed them downstairs, + accompanied them to the door, admired their nags in the phaeton, and waved + them a friendly farewell. + </p> + <p> + “And so we have been coaxing and cuddling in the window, and we part good + friends, Harry? Is it not so?” says George to his charioteer. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, she is a good woman!” cries Harry, lashing the horses. “I know you'll + think so when you come to know her.” + </p> + <p> + “When you take her home to Virginia? A pretty welcome our mother will give + her. She will never forgive me for not breaking the match off, nor you for + making it.” + </p> + <p> + “I can't help it, George! Don't you be popping your ugly head so close to + my ears, Gumbo! After what has passed between us, I am bound in honour to + stand by her. If she sees no objection, I must find none. I told her all. + I told her that Madam would be very rusty at first; but that she was very + fond of me, and must end by relenting. And when you come to the property, + I told her that I knew my dearest George so well, that I might count upon + sharing with him.” + </p> + <p> + “The deuce you did! Let me tell you, my dear, that I have been telling my + Lord Castlewood quite a different story. That as an elder brother I intend + to have all my rights—there, don't flog that near horse so—and + that you can but look forward to poverty and dependence.” + </p> + <p> + “What! You won't help me?” cries Harry, turning quite pale. + </p> + <p> + “George, I don't believe it, though I hear it out of your own mouth! There + was a minute's pause after this outbreak, during which Harry did not even + look at his brother, but sate, gazing blindly before him, the picture of + grief and gloom. He was driving so near to a road-post that the carriage + might have been upset but for George's pulling the rein. + </p> + <p> + “You had better take the reins, sir,” said Harry. “I told you you had + better take them.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever know me fail you, Harry?” George asked. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said the other, “not till now”—the tears were rolling down his + cheeks as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “My dear, I think one day you will say I have done my duty.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you done? asked Harry. + </p> + <p> + “I have said you were a younger brother—that you have spent all your + patrimony, and that your portion at home must be very slender. Is it not + true?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but I would not have believed it, if ten thousand men had told me,” + said Harry. “Whatever happened to me, I thought I could trust you, George + Warrington.” And in this frame of mind Harry remained during the rest of + the drive. + </p> + <p> + Their dinner was served soon after their return to their lodgings, of + which Harry scarce ate any, though he drank freely of the wine before him. + </p> + <p> + “That wine is a bad consoler in trouble, Harry,” his brother remarked. + </p> + <p> + “I have no other, sir,” said Harry, grimly; and having drunk glass after + glass in silence, he presently seized his hat, and left the room. + </p> + <p> + He did not return for three hours. George, in much anxiety about his + brother, had not left home meanwhile, but read his book, and smoked the + pipe of patience. “It was shabby to say I would not aid him, and, God help + me, it was not true. I won't leave him, though he marries a blackamoor,” + thought George “have I not done him harm enough already, by coming to life + again? Where has he gone; has he gone to play?” + </p> + <p> + “Good God! what has happened to thee?” cried George Warrington, presently, + when his brother came in, looking ghastly pale. + </p> + <p> + He came up and took his brother's hand. “I can take it now, Georgy,” he + said. “Perhaps what you did was right, though. I for one will never + believe that you would throw your brother off in distress. I'll tell you + what. At dinner, I thought suddenly, I'll go back to her and speak to her. + I'll say to her, 'Maria, poor as I am, your conduct to me has been so + noble, that, by heaven! I am yours to take or to leave. If you will have + me, here I am: I will enlist: I will work: I will try and make a + livelihood for myself somehow, and my bro——my relations will + relent, and give us enough to live on.' That's what I determined to tell + her; and I did, George. I ran all the way to Kensington in the rain—look, + I am splashed from head to foot,—and found them all at dinner, all + except Will, that is. I spoke out that very moment to them all, sitting + round the table, over their wine. 'Maria,' says I, 'a poor fellow wants to + redeem his promise which he made when he fancied he was rich. Will you + take him?' I found I had plenty of words, and didn't hem and stutter as + I'm doing now. I spoke ever so long, and I ended by saying I would do my + best and my duty by her, so help me God! + </p> + <p> + “When I had done, she came up to me quite kind. She took my hand, and + kissed it before the rest. 'My dearest, best Harry!' she said (those were + her words, I don't want otherwise to be praising myself), 'you are a noble + heart, and I thank you with all mine. But, my dear, I have long seen it + was only duty, and a foolish promise made by a young man to an old woman, + that has held you to your engagement. To keep it would make you miserable, + my dear. I absolve you from it, thanking you with all my heart for your + fidelity, and blessing and loving my dear cousin always.' And she came up + and kissed me before them all, and went out of the room quite stately, and + without a single tear. They were all crying, especially my lord, who was + sobbing quite loud. I didn't think he had so much feeling. And she, + George? Oh, isn't she a noble creature?” + </p> + <p> + “Here's her health!” cries George, filling one of the glasses that still + stood before him. + </p> + <p> + “Hip, hip, huzzay!” says Harry. He was wild with delight at being free. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0057" id="link2HCH0057"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LVII. In which Mr. Harry's Nose continues to be put out of joint + </h2> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein was scarcely less pleased than her Virginian nephews + at the result of Harry's final interview with Lady Maria. George informed + the Baroness of what had passed, in a billet which he sent to her the same + evening; and shortly afterwards her nephew Castlewood, whose visits to his + aunt were very rare, came to pay his respects to her, and frankly spoke + about the circumstances which had taken place; for no man knew better than + my Lord Castlewood how to be frank upon occasion, and now that the + business between Maria and Harry was ended what need was there of + reticence or hypocrisy? The game had been played, and was over: he had no + objection now to speak of its various moves, stratagems, finesses. “She is + my own sister,” said my lord, affectionately; “she won't have many more + chances—many more such chances of marrying and establishing herself. + I might not approve of the match in all respects, and I might pity your + ladyship's young Virginian favourite: but of course such a piece of good + fortune was not to be thrown away, and I was bound to stand by my own + flesh and blood.” + </p> + <p> + “Your candour does your lordship honour,” says Madame de Bernstein, “and + your love for your sister is quite edifying!” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, we have lost the game, and I am speaking sans rancune. It is not for + you, who have won, to bear malice,” says my lord, with a bow. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein protested she was never in her life in better humour. + “Confess, now, Eugene, that visit of Maria to Harry at the spunging-house—that + touching giving up of all his presents to her, was a stroke of thy + invention?” + </p> + <p> + “Pity for the young man, and a sense of what was due from Maria to her + friend—her affianced lover—in misfortune, sure these were + motives sufficient to make her act as she did,” replies Lord Castlewood, + demurely. + </p> + <p> + “But 'twas you advised her, my good nephew?” + </p> + <p> + Castlewood, with a shrug of his shoulders, owned that he did advise his + sister to see Mr. Henry Warrington. “But we should have won, in spite of + your ladyship,” he continued, “had not the elder brother made his + appearance. And I have been trying to console my poor Maria by showing her + what a piece of good fortune it is after all, that we lost.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose she had married Harry, and then cousin George had made his + appearance?” remarks the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “Effectivement,” cries Eugene, taking snuff. “As the grave was to give up + its dead, let us be thankful to the grave for disgorging in time! I am + bound to say, that Mr. George Warrington seems to be a man of sense, and + not more selfish than other elder sons and men of the world. My poor Molly + fancied that he might be a—what shall I say?—a greenhorn + perhaps is the term—like his younger brother. She fondly hoped that + he might be inclined to go share and share alike with Twin junior; in + which case, so infatuated was she about the young fellow, that I believe + she would have taken him. 'Harry Warrington, with half a loaf, might do + very well,' says I, 'but Harry Warrington with no bread, my dear!'” + </p> + <p> + “How no bread?” asks the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no bread except at his brother's side-table. The elder said as + much.” + </p> + <p> + “What a hard-hearted wretch!” cries Madame de Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, bah! I play with you, aunt, cartes sur table! Mr. George only did + what everybody else would do; and we have no right to be angry with him, + really we haven't. Molly herself acknowledged as much, after her first + burst of grief was over, and I brought her to listen to reason. The silly + old creature! to be so wild about a young lad at her time of life!” + </p> + <p> + “'Twas a real passion, I almost do believe,” said Madame de Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “You should have heard her take leave of him. C'etait touchant, ma parole + d'honneur! I cried. Before George, I could not help myself. The young + fellow with muddy stockings, and his hair about his eyes, flings himself + amongst us when we were at dinner; makes his offer to Molly in a very + frank and noble manner, and in good language too; and she replies. Begad, + it put me in mind of Mrs. Woffington in the new Scotch play, that Lord + Bute's man has wrote—Douglas—what d'ye call it? She clings + round the lad: she bids him adieu in heartrending accents. She steps out + of the room in a stately despair—no more chocolate, thank you. If + she had made a mauvais pas no one could retire from it with more dignity. + 'Twas a masterly retreat after a defeat. We were starved out of our + position, but we retired with all the honours of war.” + </p> + <p> + “Molly won't die of the disappointment!” said my lord's aunt, sipping her + cup. + </p> + <p> + My lord snarled a grin, and showed his yellow teeth. “He, he!” he said, + “she hath once or twice before had the malady very severely, and recovered + perfectly. It don't kill, as your ladyship knows, at Molly's age.” + </p> + <p> + How should her ladyship know? She did not marry Doctor Tusher until she + was advanced in life. She did not become Madame de Bernstein until still + later. Old Dido, a poet remarks, was not ignorant of misfortune, and hence + learned to have compassion on the wretched. + </p> + <p> + People in the little world, as I have been told, quarrel and fight, and go + on abusing each other, and are not reconciled for ever so long. But people + in the great world are surely wiser in their generation. They have + differences; they cease seeing each other. They make it up and come + together again, and no questions are asked. A stray prodigal, or a stray + puppy-dog, is thus brought in under the benefit of an amnesty, though you + know he has been away in ugly company. For six months past, ever since the + Castlewoods and Madame de Bernstein had been battling for possession of + poor Harry Warrington, these two branches of the Esmond family had + remained apart. Now, the question being settled, they were free to meet + again, as though no difference ever had separated them: and Madame de + Bernstein drove in her great coach to Lady Castlewood's rout, and the + Esmond ladies appeared smiling at Madame de Bernstein's drums, and loved + each other just as much as they previously had done. + </p> + <p> + “So, sir, I hear you have acted like a hard-hearted monster about your + poor brother Harry!” says the Baroness, delighted, and menacing George + with her stick. + </p> + <p> + “I acted but upon your ladyship's hint, and desired to see whether it was + for himself or his reputed money that his kinsfolk wanted to have him,” + replies George, turning rather red. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, Maria could not marry a poor fellow who was utterly penniless, and + whose elder brother said he would give him nothing!” + </p> + <p> + “I did it for the best, madam,” says George, still blushing. + </p> + <p> + “And so thou didst, O thou hypocrite!” cries the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “Hypocrite, madam! and why?” asks Mr. Warrington, drawing himself up in + much state. + </p> + <p> + “I know all, my infant!” says the Baroness in French. “Thou art very like + thy grandfather. Come, that I embrace thee! Harry has told me all, and + that thou hast divided thy little patrimony with him!” + </p> + <p> + “It was but natural, madam. We have had common hearts and purses since we + were born. I but feigned hard-heartedness in order to try those people + yonder,” says George, with filling eyes. + </p> + <p> + “And thou wilt divide Virginia with him too?” asks the Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “I don't say so. It were not just,” replied Mr. Warrington. “The land must + go to the eldest born, and Harry would not have it otherwise: and it may + be I shall die, or my mother outlive the pair of us. But half of what is + mine is his: and he, it must be remembered, only was extravagant because + he was mistaken as to his position.” + </p> + <p> + “But it is a knight of old, it is a Bayard, it is the grandfather come to + life!” cried Madame de Bernstein to her attendant, as she was retiring for + the night. And that evening, when the lads left her, it was to poor Harry + she gave the two fingers, and to George the rouged cheek, who blushed, for + his part, almost as deep as that often-dyed rose, at such a mark of his + old kinswoman's favour. + </p> + <p> + Although Harry Warrington was the least envious of men, and did honour to + his brother as in all respects his chief, guide, and superior, yet no + wonder a certain feeling of humiliation and disappointment oppressed the + young man after his deposition from his eminence as Fortunate Youth and + heir to boundless Virginian territories. Our friends at Kensington might + promise and vow that they would love him all the better after his fall; + Harry made a low bow and professed himself very thankful; but he could not + help perceiving, when he went with his brother to the state entertainment + with which my Lord Castlewood regaled his new-found kinsman, that George + was all in all to his cousins: had all the talk, compliments, and petits + soins for himself, whilst of Harry no one took any notice save poor Maria, + who followed him with wistful looks, pursued him with eyes conveying + dismal reproaches, and, as it were, blamed him because she had left him. + “Ah!” the eyes seemed to say, “'tis mighty well of you, Harry, to have + accepted the freedom which I gave you; but I had no intention, sir, that + you should be so pleased at being let off.” She gave him up, but yet she + did not quite forgive him for taking her at her word. She would not have + him, and yet she would. Oh, my young friends, how delightful is the + beginning of a love-business, and how undignified, sometimes, the end! + What a romantic vista is before young Damon and young Phillis (or + middle-aged ditto ditto) when, their artless loves made known to each + other, they twine their arms round each other's waists and survey that + charming pays du tendre which lies at their feet! Into that country, so + linked together, they will wander from now until extreme old age. There + may be rocks and roaring rivers, but will not Damon's strong true love + enable him to carry Sweetheart over them? There may be dragons and dangers + in the path, but shall not his courageous sword cut them down? Then at + eve, how they will rest cuddled together, like two pretty babes in the + wood, the moss their couch, the stars their canopy, their arms their + mutual pillows! This is the wise plan young folks make when they set out + on the love journey; and—O me!—they have not got a mile when + they come to a great wall and find they must walk back again. They are + squabbling with the post-boy at Barnet (the first stage on the Gretna + Road, I mean), and, behold, perhaps Strephon has not got any money, or + here is papa with a whacking horsewhip, who takes Miss back again, and + locks her up crying in the schoolroom. The parting is heart-breaking; but, + when she has married the banker and had eight children, and he has become, + it may be, a prosperous barrister,—it may be, a seedy raff who has + gone twice or thrice into the Gazette; when, I say, in after years + Strephon and Delia meet again, is not the meeting ridiculous? + Nevertheless, I hope no young man will fall in love, having any doubt in + his mind as to the eternity of his passion. 'Tis when a man has had a + second or third amorous attack that he begins to grow doubtful; but some + women are romantic to the end, and from eighteen to eight-and-fifty (for + what I know) are always expecting their hearts to break. In fine, when you + have been in love and are so no more, when the King of France, with twenty + thousand men, with colours flying, music playing, and all the pomp of war, + having marched up the hill, then proceeds to march down again, he and you + are in an absurd position. + </p> + <p> + This is what Harry Warrington, no doubt, felt when he went to Kensington + and encountered the melancholy, reproachful eyes of his cousin. Yes! it is + a foolish position to be in; but it is also melancholy to look into a + house you have once lived in, and see black casements and emptiness where + once shone the fires of welcome. Melancholy? Yes; but, ha! how bitter, how + melancholy, how absurd to look up as you pass sentimentally by No. 13, and + see somebody else grinning out of window, and evidently on the best terms + with the landlady. I always feel hurt, even at an inn which I frequent, if + I see other folks' trunks and boots at the doors of the rooms which were + once mine. Have those boots lolled on the sofa which once I reclined on? I + kick you from before me, you muddy, vulgar highlows! + </p> + <p> + So considering that his period of occupation was over, and Maria's rooms, + if not given up to a new tenant, were, at any rate, to let, Harry did not + feel very easy in his cousin's company, nor she possibly in his. He found + either that he had nothing to say to her, or that what she had to say to + him was rather dull and commonplace, and that the red lip of a + white-necked pipe of Virginia was decidedly more agreeable to him now than + Maria's softest accents and most melancholy moue. When George went to + Kensington, then, Harry did not care much about going, and pleaded other + engagements. + </p> + <p> + At his uncle's house in Hill Street the poor lad was no better amused, + and, indeed, was treated by the virtuous people there with scarce any + attention at all. The ladies did not scruple to deny themselves when he + came; he could scarce have believed in such insincerity after their + caresses, their welcome, their repeated vows of affection; but happening + to sit with the Lamberts for an hour after he had called upon his aunt, he + saw her ladyship's chairmen arrive with an empty chair, and his aunt step + out and enter the vehicle, and not even blush when he made her a bow from + the opposite window. To be denied by his own relations—to have that + door which had opened to him so kindly, slammed in his face! He would not + have believed such a thing possible, poor simple Harry said. Perhaps he + thought the door-knocker had a tender heart, and was not made of brass; + not more changed than the head of that knocker was my Lady Warrington's + virtuous face when she passed her nephew. + </p> + <p> + “My father's own brother's wife! What have I done to offend her? Oh, Aunt + Lambert, Aunt Lambert, did you ever see such cold-heartedness?” cries out + Harry, with his usual impetuosity. + </p> + <p> + “Do we make any difference to you, my dear Harry?” says Aunt Lambert, with + a side look at her youngest daughter. “The world may look coldly at you, + but we don't belong to it: so you may come to us in safety.” + </p> + <p> + “In this house you are different from other people,” replies Harry. “I + don't know how, but I always feel quiet and happy somehow when I come to + you.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Quis me uno vivit felicior? aut magis hac est + Optandum vita dicere quis potuit?” + </pre> + <p> + calls out General Lambert. “Do you know where I got these verses, Mr. + Gownsman?” and he addresses his son from college, who is come to pass an + Easter holiday with his parents. “You got them out of Catullus, sir,” says + the scholar. + </p> + <p> + “I got them out of no such thing, sir. I got them out of my favourite + Democritus Junior—out of old Burton, who has provided many + indifferent scholars with learning;” and who and Montaigne, were favourite + authors with the good General. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0058" id="link2HCH0058"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LVIII. Where we do what Cats may do + </h2> + <p> + We have said how our Virginians, with a wisdom not uncommon in youth, had + chosen to adopt strong Jacobite opinions, and to profess a prodigious + affection for the exiled royal family. The banished prince had recognised + Madam Esmond's father as Marquis of Esmond, and she did not choose to be + very angry with an unfortunate race, that, after all, was so willing to + acknowledge the merits of her family. As for any little scandal about her + sister, Madame de Bernstein, and the Old Chevalier, she tossed away from + her with scorn the recollection of that odious circumstance, asserting, + with perfect truth, that the two first monarchs of the House of Hanover + were quite as bad as any Stuarts in regard to their domestic morality. But + the king de facto was the king, as well as his Majesty de jure. De Facto + had been solemnly crowned and anointed at church, and had likewise utterly + discomfited De Jure, when they came to battle for the kingdom together. + Madam's clear opinion was, then, that her sons owed it to themselves as + well as the sovereign to appear at his royal court. And if his Majesty + should have been minded to confer a lucrative post, or a blue or red + ribbon upon either of them, she, for her part, would not have been in the + least surprised. She made no doubt but that the King knew the Virginian + Esmonds as well as any other members of his nobility. The lads were + specially commanded, then, to present themselves at court, and, I dare + say, their mother would have been very angry had she known that George + took Harry's laced coat on the day when he went to make his bow at + Kensington. + </p> + <p> + A hundred years ago the King's drawing-room was open almost every day to + his nobility and gentry; and loyalty—especially since the war had + begun—could gratify itself a score of times in a month with the + august sight of the sovereign. A wise avoidance of the enemy's ships of + war, a gracious acknowledgment of the inestimable loss the British Isles + would suffer by the seizure of the royal person at sea, caused the monarch + to forgo those visits to his native Hanover which were so dear to his + royal heart, and compelled him to remain, it must be owned, unwillingly + amongst his loving Britons. A Hanoverian lady, however, whose virtues had + endeared her to the prince, strove to console him for his enforced absence + from Herrenhausen. And from the lips of the Countess of Walmoden (on whom + the imperial beneficence had gracefully conferred a high title of British + honour) the revered Defender of the Faith could hear the accents of his + native home. + </p> + <p> + To this beloved Sovereign, Mr. Warrington requested his uncle, an + assiduous courtier, to present him; and as Mr. Lambert had to go to court + likewise, and thank his Majesty for his promotion, the two gentlemen made + the journey to Kensington together, engaging a hackney-coach for the + purpose, as my Lord Wrotham's carriage was now wanted by its rightful + owner, who had returned to his house in town. They alighted at Kensington + Palace Gate, where the sentries on duty knew and saluted the good General, + and hence modestly made their way on foot to the summer residence of the + sovereign. Walking under the portico of the Palace, they entered the + gallery which leads to the great black marble staircase (which hath been + so richly decorated and painted by Mr. Kent), and then passed through + several rooms, richly hung with tapestry and adorned with pictures and + bustos, until they came to the King's great drawing-room, where that + famous “Venus” by Titian is, and, amongst other masterpieces, the picture + of “St. Francis adoring the infant Saviour,” performed by Sir Peter Paul + Rubens; and here, with the rest of the visitors to the court, the + gentlemen waited until his Majesty issued from his private apartments, + where he was in conference with certain personages who were called in the + newspaper language of that day his M-j-ty's M-n-st-rs. + </p> + <p> + George Warrington, who had never been in a palace before, had leisure to + admire the place, and regard the people round him. He saw fine pictures + for the first time too, and I dare say delighted in that charming piece of + Sir Athony Vandyck, representing King Charles the First, his Queen and + Family, and the noble picture of “Esther before Ahasuerus,” painted by + Tintoret, and in which all the figures are dressed in the magnificent + Venetian habit. With the contemplation of these works he was so + enraptured, that he scarce heard all the remarks of his good friend the + General, who was whispering into his young companion's almost heedless ear + the names of some of the personages round about them. + </p> + <p> + “Yonder,” says Mr. Lambert, “are two of my Lords of the Admiralty, Mr. + Gilbert Elliot and Admiral Boscawen: your Boscawen, whose fleet fired the + first gun in your waters two years ago. That stout gentleman all belated + with gold is Mr. Fox, that was Minister, and is now content to be + Paymaster with a great salary. + </p> + <p> + “He carries the auri fames on his person. Why, his waistcoat is a perfect + Potosi!” says George. + </p> + <p> + “Aliena appetens—how goes the text? He loves to get money and to + spend it,” continues General Lambert. “Yon is my Lord Chief Justice + Willes, talking to my Lord of Salisbury, Doctor Headley, who, if he serve + his God as he serves his King, will be translated to some very high + promotion in Heaven. He belongs to your grandfather's time, and was loved + by Dick Steele and hated by the Dean. With them is my Lord of London, the + learned Doctor Sherlock. My lords of the lawn sleeves have lost half their + honours now. I remember when I was a boy in my mother's hand, she made me + go down on my knees to the Bishop of Rochester; him who went over the + water, and became Minister to somebody who shall be nameless—Perkin's + Bishop. That handsome fair man is Admiral Smith. He was president of poor + Byng's court-martial, and strove in vain to get him off his penalty; Tom + of Ten Thousand they call him in the fleet. The French Ambassador had him + broke, when he was a lieutenant, for making a French man-of-war lower + topsails to him, and the King made Tom a captain the next day. That tall, + haughty-looking man is my Lord George Sackville, who, now I am a + Major-General myself, will treat me somewhat better than a footman. I wish + my stout old Blakeney were here; he is the soldier's darling, and as kind + and brave as yonder poker of a nobleman is brave and—I am your + lordship's very humble servant. This is a young gentleman who is just from + America, and was in Braddock's sad business two years ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, indeed!” says the poker of a nobleman. “I have the honour of speaking + to Mr.——?” + </p> + <p> + “To Major-General Lambert, at your lordship's service, and who was in his + Majesty's some time before you entered it. That, Mr. Warrington, is the + first commoner in England, Mr. Speaker Onslow. Where is your uncle? I + shall have to present you myself to his Majesty if Sir Miles delays much + longer.” As he spoke, the worthy General addressed himself entirely to his + young friend, making no sort of account of his colleague, who stalked away + with a scared look as if amazed at the other's audacity. A hundred years + ago, a nobleman was a nobleman, and expected to be admired as such. + </p> + <p> + Sir Miles's red waistcoat appeared in sight presently, and many cordial + greetings passed between him, his nephew, and General Lambert: for we have + described how Sir Miles was the most affectionate of men. So the General + had quitted my Lord Wrotham's house? It was time, as his lordship himself + wished to occupy it? Very good; but consider what a loss for the + neighbours! + </p> + <p> + “We miss you, we positively miss you, my dear General,” cries Sir Miles. + “My daughters were in love with those lovely young ladies—upon my + word, they were; and my Lady Warrington and my girls were debating over + and over again how they should find an opportunity of making the + acquaintance of your charming family. We feel as if we were old friends + already; indeed we do, General, if you will permit me the liberty of + saying so; and we love you, if I may be allowed to speak frankly, on + account of your friendship and kindness to our dear nephews: though we + were a little jealous, I own a little jealous of them, because they went + so often to see you. Often and often have I said to my Lady Warrington, + 'My dear, why don't we make acquaintance with the General? Why don't we + ask him and his ladies to come over in a family way and dine with some + other plain country gentlefolks?' Carry my most sincere respects to Mrs. + Lambert, I pray, sir; and thank her for her goodness to these young + gentlemen. My own flesh and blood, sir; my dear, dear brother's boys!” He + passed his hand across his manly eyes: he was choking almost with generous + and affectionate emotion. + </p> + <p> + Whilst they were discoursing—George Warrington the while restraining + his laughter with admirable gravity—the door of the King's + apartments opened, and the pages entered, preceding his Majesty. He was + followed by his burly son, his Royal Highness the Duke, a very corpulent + Prince, with a coat and face of blazing scarlet: behind them came various + gentlemen and officers of state; among whom George at once recognised the + famous Mr. Secretary Pitt, by his tall stature, his eagle eye and beak, + his grave and majestic presence. As I see that solemn figure passing, even + a hundred years off, I protest I feel a present awe, and a desire to take + my hat off. I am not frightened at George the Second; nor are my eyes + dazzled by the portentous appearance of his Royal Highness the Duke of + Culloden and Fontenoy; but the Great Commoner, the terrible Cornet of + Horse! His figure bestrides our narrow isle of a century back like a + Colossus; and I hush as he passes in his gouty shoes, his thunderbolt hand + wrapped in flannel. Perhaps as we see him now, issuing with dark looks + from the royal closet, angry scenes have been passing between him and his + august master. He has been boring that old monarch for hours with + prodigious long speeches, full of eloquence, voluble with the noblest + phrases upon the commonest topics; but, it must be confessed, utterly + repulsive to the little shrewd old gentleman, “at whose feet he lays + himself,” as the phrase is, and who has the most thorough dislike for fine + boedry and for fine brose too! The sublime Minister passes solemnly + through the crowd; the company ranges itself respectfully round the wall; + and his Majesty walks round the circle, his royal son lagging a little + behind, and engaging select individuals in conversation for his own part. + </p> + <p> + The monarch is a little, keen, fresh-coloured old man, with very + protruding eyes, attired in plain, old-fashioned, snuff-coloured clothes + and brown stockings, his only ornament the blue ribbon of his Order of the + Garter. He speaks in a German accent, but with ease, shrewdness, and + simplicity, addressing those individuals whom he has a mind to notice, or + passing on with a bow. He knew Mr. Lambert well, who had served under his + Majesty at Dettingen, and with his royal son in Scotland, and he + congratulated him good-humouredly on his promotion. + </p> + <p> + “It is not always,” his Majesty was pleased to say, “that we can do as we + like; but I was glad when, for once, I could give myself that pleasure in + your case, General; for my army contains no better officer as you.” + </p> + <p> + The veteran blushed and bowed, deeply gratified at this speech. Meanwhile, + the Best of Monarchs was looking at Sir Miles Warrington (whom his Majesty + knew perfectly, as the eager recipient of all favours from all Ministers), + and at the young gentleman by his side. + </p> + <p> + “Who is this?” the Defender of the Faith condescended to ask, pointing + towards George Warrington, who stood before his sovereign in a respectful + attitude, clad in poor Harry's best embroidered suit. + </p> + <p> + With the deepest reverence Sir Miles informed his King, that the young + gentleman was his nephew, Mr. George Warrington, of Virginia, who asked + leave to pay his humble duty. + </p> + <p> + “This, then, is the other brother?” the Venerated Prince deigned to + observe. “He came in time, else the other brother would have spent all the + money. My Lord Bishop of Salisbury, why do you come out in this bitter + weather? You had much better stay at home!” and with this, the revered + wielder of Britannia's sceptre passed on to other lords and gentlemen of + his court. Sir Miles Warrington was deeply affected at the royal + condescension. He clapped his nephew's hands. “God bless you, my boy,” he + cried; “I told you that you would see the greatest monarch and the finest + gentleman in the world. Is he not so, my Lord Bishop?” + </p> + <p> + “That, that he is!” cried his lordship, clasping his ruffled hands, and + turning his fine eyes up to the sky, “the best of princes and of men.” + </p> + <p> + “That is Master Louis, my Lady Yarmouth's favourite nephew,” says Lambert, + pointing to a young gentleman who stood with a crowd round him; and + presently the stout Duke of Cumberland came up to our little group. + </p> + <p> + His Royal Highness held out his hand to his old companion-in-arms. + “Congratulate you on your promotion, Lambert,” he said good-naturedly. Sir + Miles Warrington's eyes were ready to burst out of his head with rapture. + </p> + <p> + “I owe it, sir, to your Royal Highness's good offices,” said the grateful + General. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all; not at all: ought to have had it a long time before. Always + been a good officer; perhaps there'll be some employment for you soon. + This is the gentleman whom James Wolfe introduced to me?” + </p> + <p> + “His brother, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, the real Fortunate Youth! You were with poor Ned Braddock in America—a + prisoner, and lucky enough to escape. Come and see me, sir, in Pall Mall. + Bring him to my levee, Lambert.” And the broad back of the Royal Prince + was turned to our friends. + </p> + <p> + “It is raining! You came on foot, General Lambert? You and George must + come home in my coach. You must and shall come home with me, I say. By + George, you must! I'll have no denial,” cried the enthusiastic Baronet; + and he drove George and the General back to Hill Street, and presented the + latter to my Lady Warrington and his darlings, Flora and Dora, and + insisted upon their partaking of a collation, as they must be hungry after + their ride. “What, there is only cold mutton? Well, an old soldier can eat + cold mutton. And a good glass of my Lady Warrington's own cordial, + prepared with her own hands, will keep the cold wind out. Delicious + cordial! Capital mutton! Our own, my dear General,” says the hospitable + Baronet, “our own from the country, six years old if a day. We keep a + plain table; but all the Warringtons since the Conqueror have been + remarkable for their love of mutton; and our meal may look a little + scanty, and is, for we are plain people, and I am obliged to keep my + rascals of servants on board-wages. Can't give them seven-year-old mutton, + you know.” + </p> + <p> + Sir Miles, in his nephew's presence and hearing, described to his wife and + daughters George's reception at court in such flattering terms that George + hardly knew himself, or the scene at which he had been present, or how to + look his uncle in the face, or how to contradict him before his family in + the midst of the astonishing narrative he was relating. Lambert sat by for + a while with open eyes. He, too, had been at Kensington. He had seen none + of the wonders which Sir Miles described. + </p> + <p> + “We are proud of you, dear George. We love you, my dear nephew—we + all love you, we are all proud of you—” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but I like Harry best,” says a little voice. + </p> + <p> + “—not because you are wealthy! Screwby, take Master Miles to his + governor. Go, dear child. Not because you are blest with great estates and + an ancient name; but because, George, you have put to good use the talents + with which Heaven has adorned you; because you have fought and bled in + your country's cause, in your monarch's cause, and as such are indeed + worthy of the favour of the best of sovereigns. General Lambert, you have + kindly condescended to look in on a country family, and partake of our + unpretending meal. I hope we may see you some day when our hospitality is + a little less homely. Yes, by George, General, you must and shall name a + day when you and Mrs. Lambert, and your dear girls, will dine with us. + I'll take no refusal now, by George I won't,” bawls the knight. + </p> + <p> + “You will accompany us, I trust, to my drawing-room?” says my lady, + rising. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lambert pleaded to be excused; but the ladies on no account would let + dear George go away. No, positively, he should not go. They wanted to make + acquaintance with their cousin. They must hear about that dreadful battle + and escape from the Indians. Tom Claypool came in and heard some of the + story. Flora was listening to it with her handkerchief to her eyes, and + little Miles had just said— + </p> + <p> + “Why do you take your handkerchief, Flora? You're not crying a bit.” + </p> + <p> + Being a man of great humour, Martin Lambert, when he went home, could not + help entertaining his wife with an account of the new family with which he + had made acquaintance. A certain cant word called humbug had lately come + into vogue. Will it be believed that the General used it to designate the + family of this virtuous country gentleman? He described the eager + hospitalities of the father, the pompous flatteries of the mother, and the + daughters' looks of admiration; the toughness and security of the mutton, + and the abominable taste and odour of the cordial; and we may be sure Mrs. + Lambert contrasted Lady Warrington's recent behaviour to poor Harry with + her present conduct to George. + </p> + <p> + “Is this Miss Warrington really handsome?” asks Mrs Lambent. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; she is very handsome indeed, and the most astounding flirt I have + ever set eyes on,” replies the General. + </p> + <p> + “The hypocrite! I have no patience with such people!” cries the lady. + </p> + <p> + To which the General, strange to say, only replied by the monosyllable + “Bo!” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you say 'Bo!' Martin?” asks the lady. + </p> + <p> + “I say 'Bo!' to a goose, my dear,” answers the General. + </p> + <p> + And his wife vows she does not know what he means, or of what he is + thinking, and the General says— + </p> + <p> + “Of course not.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0059" id="link2HCH0059"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LIX. In which we are treated to a Play + </h2> + <p> + The real business of life, I fancy, can form but little portion of the + novelist's budget. When he is speaking of the profession of arms, in which + men can show courage or the reverse, and in treating of which the writer + naturally has to deal with interesting circumstances, actions, and + characters, introducing recitals of danger, devotedness, heroic deaths, + and the like, the novelist may perhaps venture to deal with actual affairs + of life: but otherwise, they scarcely can enter into our stories. The main + part of Ficulnus's life, for instance, is spent in selling sugar, spices + and cheese; of Causidicus's in poring over musty volumes of black-letter + law; of Sartorius's in sitting, cross-legged, on a board after measuring + gentlemen for coats and breeches. What can a story-teller say about the + professional existence of these men? Would a real rustical history of + hobnails and eighteenpence a day be endurable? In the days whereof we are + writing, the poets of the time chose to represent a shepherd in pink + breeches and a chintz waistcoat, dancing before his flocks, and playing a + flageolet tied up with a blue satin ribbon. I say, in reply to some + objections which have been urged by potent and friendly critics, that of + the actual affairs of life the novelist cannot be expected to treat—with + the almost single exception of war before named. But law, stockbroking, + polemical theology, linen-drapery, apothecary-business, and the like, how + can writers manage fully to develop these in their stories? All authors + can do, is to depict men out of their business—in their passions, + loves, laughters, amusements, hatreds, and what not—and describe + these as well as they can, taking the business part for granted, and + leaving it as it were for subaudition. + </p> + <p> + Thus, in talking of the present or the past world, I know I am only + dangling about the theatre-lobbies, coffee-houses, ridottos, + pleasure-haunts, fair-booths, and feasting- and fiddling-rooms of life; + that, meanwhile, the great serious past or present world is plodding in + its chambers, toiling at its humdrum looms, or jogging on its accustomed + labours, and we are only seeing our characters away from their work. + Corydon has to cart the litter and thresh the barley, as well as to make + love to Phillis; Ancillula has to dress and wash the nursery, to wait at + breakfast and on her misses, to take the children out, etc., before she + can have her brief sweet interview through the area-railings with Boopis, + the policeman. All day long have his heels to beat the stale pavement + before he has the opportunity to snatch the hasty kiss or the furtive cold + pie. It is only at moments, and away from these labours, that we can light + upon one character or the other; and hence, though most of the persons of + whom we are writing have doubtless their grave employments and avocations, + it is only when they are disengaged and away from their work, that we can + bring them and the equally disengaged reader together. + </p> + <p> + The macaronis and fine gentlemen at White's and Arthur's continued to show + poor Harry Warrington such a very cold shoulder, that he sought their + society less and less, and the Ring and the Mall and the gaming-table knew + him no more. Madame de Bernstein was for her nephew's braving the + indifference of the world, and vowed that it would be conquered, if he + would but have courage to face it; but the young man was too honest to + wear a smiling face when he was discontented; to disguise mortification or + anger; to parry slights by adroit flatteries or cunning impudence; as many + gentlemen and gentlewomen must and do who wish to succeed in society. + </p> + <p> + “You pull a long face, Harry, and complain of the world's treatment of + you,” the old lady said. “Fiddlededee, sir! Everybody has to put up with + impertinences: and if you get a box on the ear now you are poor and cast + down, you must say nothing about it, bear it with a smile, and if you can, + revenge it ten years after. Moi qui vous parle, sir!—do you suppose + I have had no humble-pie to eat? All of us in our turn are called upon to + swallow it: and, now you are no longer the Fortunate Youth, be the Clever + Youth, and win back the place you have lost by your ill luck. Go about + more than ever. Go to all the routs and parties to which you are asked, + and to more still. Be civil to everybody—to all women especially. + Only of course take care to show your spirit, of which you have plenty. + With economy, and by your brother's, I must say, admirable generosity, you + can still make a genteel figure. With your handsome person, sir, you can't + fail to get a rich heiress. Tenez! You should go amongst the merchants in + the City, and look out there. They won't know that you are out of fashion + at the Court end of the town. With a little management, there is not the + least reason, sir, why you should not make a good position for yourself + still. When did you go to see my Lady Yarmouth, pray? Why did you not + improve that connexion? She took a great fancy to you. I desire you will + be constant at her ladyship's evenings, and lose no opportunity of paying + court to her.” + </p> + <p> + Thus the old woman who had loved Harry so on his first appearance in + England, who had been so eager for his company, and pleased with his + artless conversation, was taking the side of the world, and turning + against him. Instead of the smiles and kisses with which the fickle old + creature used once to greet him, she received him with coldness; she + became peevish and patronising; she cast gibes and scorn at him before her + guests, making his honest face flush with humiliation, and awaking the + keenest pangs of grief and amazement in his gentle, manly heart. Madame de + Bernstein's servants, who used to treat him with such eager respect, + scarcely paid him now any attention. My lady was often indisposed or + engaged when he called on her; her people did not press him to wait; did + not volunteer to ask whether he would stay and dine, as they used in the + days when he was the Fortunate Youth and companion of the wealthy and + great. Harry carried his woes to Mrs. Lambert. In a passion of sorrow he + told her of his aunt's cruel behaviour to him. He was stricken down and + dismayed by the fickleness and heartlessness of the world in its treatment + of him. While the good lady and her daughters would move to and fro, and + busy themselves with the cares of the house, our poor lad would sit glum + in a window-seat, heart-sick and silent. + </p> + <p> + “I know you are the best people alive,” he would say to the ladies, “and + the kindest, and that I must be the dullest company in the world—yes, + that I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you are not very lively, Harry,” says Miss Hetty, who began to + command him, and perhaps to ask herself, “What? Is this the gentleman whom + I took to be such a hero?” + </p> + <p> + “If he is unhappy, why should he be lively?” asks Theo, gently. “He has a + good heart, and is pained at his friends' desertion of him. Sure there is + no harm in that?” + </p> + <p> + “I would have too much spirit to show I was hurt, though,” cries Hetty, + clenching her little fists. “And I would smile, though that horrible old + painted woman boxed my ears. She is horrible, mamma. You think so + yourself, Theo! Own, now, you think so yourself! You said so last night, + and acted her coming in on her crutch, and grinning round to the company.” + </p> + <p> + “I mayn't like her,” said Theo, turning very red. “But there is no reason + why I should call Harry's aunt names before Harry's face.” + </p> + <p> + “You provoking thing; you are always right!” cries Hetty, “and that's what + makes me so angry. Indeed, Harry, it was very wrong of me to make rude + remarks about any of your relations.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't care about the others, Hetty; but it seems hard that this one + should turn upon me. I had got to be very fond of her; and you see, it + makes me mad, somehow, when people I'm very fond of turn away from me, or + act unkind to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose George were to do so?” asks Hetty. You see, it was George and + Hetty, and Theo and Harry, amongst them now. + </p> + <p> + “You are very clever and very lively, and you may suppose a number of + things; but not that, Hetty, if you please,” cried Harry, standing up and + looking very resolute and angry. “You don't know my brother as I know him—or + you wouldn't take—such a—liberty as to suppose—my + brother George could do anything unkind or unworthy!” Mr. Harry was quite + in a flush as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + Hetty turned very white. Then she looked up at Harry, and then she did not + say a single word. + </p> + <p> + Then Harry said, in his simple way, before taking leave, “I'm very sorry, + and I beg your pardon, Hetty, if I said anything rough, or that seemed + unkind; but I always fight up if anybody says anything against George.” + </p> + <p> + Hetty did not answer a word out of her pale lips, but gave him her hand, + and dropped a prim little curtsey. + </p> + <p> + When she and Theo were together at night, making curl-paper confidences, + “Oh!” said Hetty, “I thought it would be so happy to see him every day, + and was so glad when papa said we were to stay in London! And now I do see + him, you see, I go on offending him. I can't help offending him; and I + know he is not clever, Theo. But oh! isn't he good, and kind, and brave? + Didn't he look handsome when he was angry?” + </p> + <p> + “You silly little thing, you are always trying to make him look handsome,” + Theo replied. + </p> + <p> + It was Theo and Hetty, and Harry and George, among these young people, + then; and I dare say the reason why General Lambert chose to apply the + monosyllable “Bo” to the mother of his daughters, was as a rebuke to that + good woman for the inveterate love of sentiment and propensity to + match-making which belonged to her (and every other woman in the world + whose heart is worth a fig); and as a hint that Madam Lambert was a goose + if she fancied the two Virginian lads were going to fall in love with the + young women of the Lambert house. Little Het might have her fancy; little + girls will; but they get it over: “and you know, Molly” (which dear, + soft-hearted Mrs. Lambert could not deny), “you fancied somebody else + before you fancied me,” says the General; but Harry had evidently not been + smitten by Hetty; and now he was superseded, as it were, by having an + elder brother over him, and could not even call the coat upon his back his + own, Master Harry was no great catch. + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes: now he is poor we will show him the door, as all the rest of the + world does, I suppose,” says Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “That is what I always do, isn't it, Molly? turn my back on my friends in + distress?” asks the General. + </p> + <p> + “No, my dear! I am a goose, now, and that I own, Martin!” says the wife, + having recourse to the usual pocket-handkerchief. + </p> + <p> + “Let the poor boy come to us and welcome: ours is almost the only house in + this selfish place where so much can be said for him. He is unhappy, and + to be with us puts him at ease; in God's name let him be with us!” says + the kind-hearted officer. Accordingly, whenever poor crestfallen Hal + wanted a dinner, or an evening's entertainment, Mr. Lambert's table had a + corner for him. So was George welcome, too. He went among the Lamberts, + not at first with the cordiality which Harry felt for these people, and + inspired among them: for George was colder in his manner, and more + mistrustful of himself and others than his twin-brother: but there was a + goodness and friendliness about the family which touched almost all people + who came into frequent contact with them; and George soon learned to love + them for their own sake, as well as for their constant regard and kindness + to his brother. He could not but see and own how sad Harry was, and pity + his brother's depression. In his sarcastic way, George would often take + himself to task before his brother for coming to life again, and say, + “Dear Harry, I am George the Unlucky, though you have ceased to be Harry + the Fortunate. Florac would have done much better not to pass his sword + through that Indian's body, and to have left my scalp as an ornament for + the fellow's belt. I say he would, sir! At White's the people would have + respected you. Our mother would have wept over me, as a defunct angel, + instead of being angry with me for again supplanting her favourite—you + are her favourite, you deserve to be her favourite: everybody's favourite: + only, if I had not come back, your favourite, Maria, would have insisted + on marrying you; and that is how the gods would have revenged themselves + upon you for your prosperity.” + </p> + <p> + “I never know whether you are laughing at me or yourself, George” says the + brother. I never know whether you are serious or jesting. + </p> + <p> + “Precisely my own case, Harry, my dear!” says George. + </p> + <p> + “But this I know, that there never was a better brother in the world; and + never better people than the Lamberts.” + </p> + <p> + “Never was truer word said!” cries George, taking his brother's hand. + </p> + <p> + “And if I'm unhappy, 'tis not your fault—nor their fault—nor + perhaps mine, George,” continues the younger. “'Tis fate, you see, 'tis + the having nothing to do. I must work; and how, George? that is the + question.” + </p> + <p> + “We will see what our mother says. We must wait till we hear from her,” + says George. + </p> + <p> + “I say, George! Do you know, I don't think I should much like going back + to Virginia?” says Harry, in a low, alarmed voice. + </p> + <p> + “What! in love with one of the lasses here?” + </p> + <p> + “Love 'em like sisters—with all my heart, of course, dearest, best + girls! but, having come out of that business, thanks to you, I don't want + to go back, you know. No! no! It is not for that I fancy staying in Europe + better than going home. But, you see, I don't fancy hunting, + duck-shooting, tobacco-planting, whist-playing, and going to sermon, over + and over and over again, for all my life, George. And what else is there + to do at home? What on earth is there for me to do at all, I say? That's + what makes me miserable. It would not matter for you to be a younger son + you are so clever you would make your way anywhere; but, for a poor fellow + like me, what chance is there? Until I do something, George, I shall be + miserable, that's what I shall!” + </p> + <p> + “Have I not always said so? Art thou not coming round to my opinion?” + </p> + <p> + “What opinion, George? You know pretty much whatever you think, I think, + George!” says the dutiful junior. + </p> + <p> + “That Florac had best have left the Indian to take my scalp, my dear!” + </p> + <p> + At which Harry bursts away with an angry exclamation; and they continue to + puff their pipes in friendly union. + </p> + <p> + They lived together, each going his own gait; and not much intercourse, + save that of affection, was carried on between them. Harry never would + venture to meddle with George's books, and would sit as dumb as a mouse at + the lodgings whilst his brother was studying. They removed presently from + the Court end of the town, Madame de Bernstein pishing and pshaing at + their change of residence. But George took a great fancy to frequenting + Sir Hans Sloane's new reading-room and museum, just set up in Montagu + House, and he took cheerful lodgings in Southampton Row, Bloomsbury, + looking over the delightful fields towards Hampstead, at the back of the + Duke of Bedford's gardens. And Lord Wrotham's family coming to Mayfair, + and Mr. Lambert having business which detained him in London, had to + change his house, too, and engaged furnished apartments in Soho, not very + far off from the dwelling of our young men; and it was, as we have said, + with the Lamberts that Harry, night after night, took refuge. + </p> + <p> + George was with them often, too; and, as the acquaintance ripened, he + frequented their house with increasing assiduity, finding their company + more to his taste than that of Aunt Bernstein's polite circle of gamblers, + than Sir Miles Warrington's port and mutton, or the daily noise and + clatter of the coffee-houses. And as he and the Lambert ladies were alike + strangers in London, they partook of its pleasures together, and, no + doubt, went to Vauxhall and Ranelagh, to Marybone Gardens, and the play, + and the Tower, and wherever else there was honest amusement to be had in + those days. Martin Lambert loved that his children should have all the + innocent pleasure which he could procure for them, and Mr. George, who was + of a most generous, open-handed disposition, liked to treat his friends + likewise, especially those who had been so admirably kind to his brother. + </p> + <p> + With all the passion of his heart Mr. Warrington loved a play. He had + never enjoyed this amusement in Virginia, and only once or twice at + Quebec, when he visited Canada; and when he came to London, where the two + houses were in their full glory, I believe he thought he never could have + enough of the delightful entertainment. Anything he liked himself, he + naturally wished to share amongst his companions. No wonder that he was + eager to take his friends to the theatre, and we may be sure our young + countryfolks were not unwilling. Shall it be Drury Lane or Covent Garden, + ladies? There was Garrick and Shakspeare at Drury Lane. Well, will it be + believed, the ladies wanted to hear the famous new author whose piece was + being played at Covent Garden? + </p> + <p> + At this time a star of genius had arisen, and was blazing with quite a + dazzling brilliancy. The great Mr. John Home, of Scotland, had produced a + tragedy, than which, since the days of the ancients, there had been + nothing more classic and elegant. What had Mr. Garrick meant by refusing + such a masterpiece for his theatre? Say what you will about Shakspeare; in + the works of that undoubted great poet (who had begun to grow vastly more + popular in England since Monsieur Voltaire attacked him) there were many + barbarisms that could not but shock a polite auditory; whereas, Mr. Home, + the modern author, knew how to be refined in the very midst of grief and + passion; to represent death, not merely as awful, but graceful and + pathetic; and never condescended to degrade the majesty of the Tragic Muse + by the ludicrous apposition of buffoonery and familiar punning, such as + the elder playwright certainly had resort to. Besides, Mr. Home's + performance had been admired in quarters so high, and by personages whose + taste was known to be as elevated as their rank, that all Britons could + not but join in the plaudits for which august hands had given the signal. + Such, it was said, was the opinion of the very best company, in the + coffee-houses, and amongst the wits about town. Why, the famous Mr. Gray, + of Cambridge, said there had not been for a hundred years any dramatic + dialogue of such a true style; and as for the poet's native capital of + Edinburgh, where the piece was first brought out, it was even said that + the triumphant Scots called out from the pit (in their dialect), “Where's + Wully Shakspeare noo?” + </p> + <p> + “I should like to see the man who could beat Willy Shakspeare?” says the + General, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Mere national prejudice,” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Beat Shakspeare, indeed!” cries Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh, pooh! you have cried more over Mr. Sam Richardson than ever you did + over Mr. Shakspeare, Molly!” remarks the General. “I think few women love + to read Shakspeare: they say they love it, but they don't.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, papa!” cry three ladies, throwing up three pair of hands. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, why do you all three prefer Douglas? And you, boys, who are + such Tories, will you go see a play which is wrote by a Whig Scotchman, + who was actually made prisoner at Falkirk?” + </p> + <p> + “Relicta non bene parmula,” says Mr. Jack the scholar. + </p> + <p> + “Nay; it was relicta bene parmula,” cried the General. “It was the + Highlanders who flung their targes down, and made fierce work among us + redcoats. If they had fought all their fields as well as that, and young + Perkin had not turned back from Derby——” + </p> + <p> + “I know which side would be rebels, and who would be called the Young + Pretender,” interposed George. + </p> + <p> + “Hush! you must please to remember my cloth, Mr. Warrington,” said the + General, with some gravity; “and that the cockade I wear is a black, not a + white one! Well, if you will not love Mr. Home for his politics, there is, + I think, another reason, George, why you should like him.” + </p> + <p> + “I may have Tory fancies, Mr. Lambert, but I think I know how to love and + honour a good Whig,” said George, with a bow to the General: “but why + should I like this Mr. Home, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “Because, being a Presbyterian clergyman, he has committed the heinous + crime of writing a play, and his brother-parsons have barked out an + excommunication at him. They took the poor fellow's means of livelihood + away from him for his performance; and he would have starved, but that the + young Pretender on our side of the water has given him a pension.” + </p> + <p> + “If he has been persecuted by the parsons, there is hope for him,” said + George, smiling. “And henceforth I declare myself ready to hear his + sermons.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Woffington is divine in it, though not generally famous in tragedy. + Barry is drawing tears from all eyes; and Garrick is wild at having + refused the piece. Girls, you must bring each half a dozen handkerchiefs! + As for mamma, I cannot trust her; and she positively must be left at + home.” + </p> + <p> + But mamma persisted she would go; and, if need were to weep, she would sit + and cry her eyes out in a corner. They all went to Covent Garden, then; + the most of the party duly prepared to see one of the masterpieces of the + age and drama. Could they not all speak long pages of Congreve; had they + not wept and kindled over Otway and Rowe? O ye past literary glories, that + were to be eternal, how long have you been dead? Who knows much more now + than where your graves are? Poor, neglected Muse of the bygone theatre! + She pipes for us, and we will not dance; she tears her hair, and we will + not weep. And the Immortals of our time, how soon shall they be dead and + buried, think you? How many will survive? How long shall it be ere Nox et + Domus Plutonia shall overtake them? + </p> + <p> + So away went the pleased party to Covent Garden to see the tragedy of the + immortal John Home. The ladies and the General were conveyed in a glass + coach, and found the young men in waiting to receive them at the theatre + door. Hence they elbowed their way through a crowd of torch-boys, and a + whole regiment of footmen. Little Hetty fell to Harry's arm in this + expedition, and the blushing Miss Theo was handed to the box by Mr. + George. Gumbo had kept the places until his masters arrived, when he + retired, with many bows, to take his own seat in the footman's gallery. + They had good places in a front box, and there was luckily a pillar behind + which mamma could weep in comfort. And opposite them they had the honour + to see the august hope of the empire, his Royal Highness George Prince of + Wales, with the Princess Dowager his mother, whom the people greeted with + loyal, but not very enthusiastic, plaudits. That handsome man standing + behind his Royal Highness was my Lord Bute, the Prince's Groom of the + Stole, the patron of the poet whose performance they had come to see, and + over whose work the Royal party had already wept more than once. + </p> + <p> + How can we help it, if during the course of the performance, Mr. Lambert + would make his jokes and mar the solemnity of the scene? At first, as the + reader of the tragedy well knows, the characters are occupied in making a + number of explanations. Lady Randolph explains how it is that she is so + melancholy. Married to Lord Randolph somewhat late in life, she owns, and + his lordship perceives, that a dead lover yet occupies all her heart; and + her husband is fain to put up with this dismal, second-hand regard, which + is all that my lady can bestow. Hence, an invasion of Scotland by the + Danes is rather a cause of excitement than disgust to my lord, who rushes + to meet the foe, and forgets the dreariness of his domestic circumstances. + Welcome, Vikings and Norsemen! Blow, northern blasts, the invaders' keels + to Scotland's shore! Randolph and other heroes will be on the beach to + give the foemen a welcome! His lordship has no sooner disappeared behind + the trees of the forest, but Lady Randolph begins to explain to her + confidante the circumstances of her early life. The fact was, she had made + a private marriage, and what would the confidante say, if, in early youth, + she, Lady Randolph, had lost a husband? In the cold bosom of the earth was + lodged the husband of her youth, and in some cavern of the ocean lies her + child and his! + </p> + <p> + Up to this the General behaved with as great gravity as any of his young + companions to the play; but when Lady Randolph proceeded to say, “Alas! + Hereditary evil was the cause of my misfortunes,” he nudged George + Warrington, and looked so droll, that the young man burst out laughing. + </p> + <p> + The magic of the scene was destroyed after that. These two gentlemen went + on cracking jokes during the whole of the subsequent performance, to their + own amusement, but the indignation of their company, and perhaps of the + people in the adjacent boxes. Young Douglas, in those days, used to wear a + white satin “shape” slashed at the legs and body, and when Mr. Barry + appeared in this droll costume, the General vowed it was the exact dress + of the Highlanders in the late war. The Chevalier's Guard, he declared, + had all white satin slashed breeches, and red boots—“only they left + them at home, my dear,” adds this wag. Not one pennyworth of sublimity + would he or George allow henceforth to Mr. Home's performance. As for + Harry, he sate in very deep meditation over the scene; and when Mrs. + Lambert offered him a penny for his thoughts, he said, “That he thought, + Young Norval, Douglas, What-d'ye-call-'em, the fellow in white satin—who + looked as old as his mother—was very lucky to be able to distinguish + himself so soon. I wish I could get a chance, Aunt Lambert,” says he, + drumming on his hat; on which mamma sighed, and Theo, smiling, said, “We + must wait, and perhaps the Danes will land.” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean?” asks simple Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, the Danes always land, pour qui scait attendre!” says kind Theo, who + had hold of her sister's little hand, and, I dare say, felt its pressure. + </p> + <p> + She did not behave unkindly—that was not in Miss Theo's nature—but + somewhat coldly to Mr. George, on whom she turned her back, addressing + remarks, from time to time, to Harry. In spite of the gentlemen's scorn, + the women chose to be affected. A mother and son, meeting in love and + parting in tears, will always awaken emotion in female hearts. + </p> + <p> + “Look, papa! there is an answer to all your jokes!” says Theo, pointing + towards the stage. + </p> + <p> + At a part of the dialogue between Lady Randolph and her son, one of the + grenadiers on guard on each side of the stage, as the custom of those days + was, could not restrain his tears, and was visibly weeping before the + side-box. + </p> + <p> + “You are right, my dear,” says papa. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't I tell you she always is?” interposes Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “Yonder sentry is a better critic than we are, and a touch of nature + masters us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Tamen usque recurrit!” cries the young student from college. + </p> + <p> + George felt abashed somehow, and interested too. He had been sneering, and + Theo sympathising. Her kindness was better—nay, wiser—than his + scepticism, perhaps. Nevertheless, when, at the beginning of the fifth act + of the play, young Douglas, drawing his sword and looking up at the + gallery, bawled out— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “Ye glorious stars! high heaven's resplendent host! + To whom I oft have of my lot complained, + Hear and record my soul's unaltered wish + Living or dead, let me but be renowned! + May Heaven inspire some fierce gigantic Dane + To give a bold defiance to our host! + Before he speaks it out, I will accept, + Like Douglas conquer, or like Douglas die!”— +</pre> + <p> + The gods, to whom Mr. Barry appealed, saluted this heroic wish with + immense applause, and the General clapped his hands prodigiously. His + daughter was rather disconcerted. + </p> + <p> + “This Douglas is not only brave, but he is modest!” says papa. + </p> + <p> + “I own I think he need not have asked for a gigantic Dane,” says Theo, + smiling, as Lady Randolph entered in the midst of the gallery thunder. + </p> + <p> + When the applause had subsided, Lady Randolph is made to say— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “My son, I heard a voice!” + </pre> + <p> + “I think she did hear a voice!” cries papa. “Why, the fellow was bellowing + like a bull of Bashan.” And the General would scarcely behave himself from + thenceforth to the end of the performance. He said he was heartily glad + that the young gentleman was put to death behind the scenes. When Lady + Randolph's friend described how her mistress had “flown like lightning up + the hill, and plunged herself into the empty air,” Mr. Lambert said he was + delighted to be rid of her. “And as for that story of her early marriage,” + says he, “I have my very strongest doubts about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Nonsense, Martin! Look, children! their Royal Highnesses are moving.” + </p> + <p> + The tragedy over, the Princess Dowager and the Prince were, in fact, + retiring; though, I dare say, the latter, who was always fond of a farce, + would have been far better pleased with that which followed than he had + been with Mr. Home's dreary tragic masterpiece. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0060" id="link2HCH0060"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LX. Which treats of Macbeth, a Supper, and a Pretty Kettle of + </h2> + <p> + Fish + </p> + <p> + When the performances were concluded, our friends took coach for Mr. + Warrington's lodging, where the Virginians had provided an elegant supper. + Mr. Warrington was eager to treat them in the handsomest manner, and the + General and his wife accepted the invitation of the two bachelors, pleased + to think that they could give their young friends pleasure. General and + Mrs. Lambert, their son from college, their two blooming daughters, and + Mr. Spencer of the Temple, a new friend whom George had met at the + coffee-house, formed the party, and partook with cheerfulness of the + landlady's fare. The order of their sitting I have not been able exactly + to ascertain; but, somehow, Miss Theo had a place next to the chickens and + Mr. George Warrington, whilst Miss Hetty and a ham divided the attentions + of Mr. Harry. Mrs. Lambert must have been on George's right hand, so that + we have but to settle the three places of the General, his son, and the + Templar. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Spencer had been at the other theatre, where, on a former day, he had + actually introduced George to the greenroom. The conversation about the + play was resumed, and some of the party persisted in being delighted with + it. + </p> + <p> + “As for what our gentlemen say, sir,” cries Mrs. Lambert to Mr. Spencer, + “you must not believe a word of it. 'Tis a delightful piece, and my + husband and Mr. George behaved as ill as possible.” + </p> + <p> + “We laughed in the wrong place, and when we ought to have cried,” the + General owned, “that's the truth.” + </p> + <p> + “You caused all the people in the boxes about us to look round and cry + 'Hush!' You made the pit folks say, 'Silence in the boxes, yonder!' Such + behaviour I never knew, and quite blushed for you, Mr. Lambert!” + </p> + <p> + “Mamma thought it was a tragedy, and we thought it was a piece of fun,” + says the General. “George and I behaved perfectly well, didn't we, Theo?” + </p> + <p> + “Not when I was looking your way, papa!” Theo replies. At which the + General asks, “Was there ever such a saucy baggage seen?” + </p> + <p> + “You know, sir, I didn't speak till I was bid,” Theo continues, modestly. + “I own I was very much moved by the play, and the beauty and acting of + Mrs. Woffington. I was sorry that the poor mother should find her child, + and lose him. I am sorry, too, papa, if I oughtn't to have been sorry!” + adds the young lady, with a smile. + </p> + <p> + “Women are not so clever as men, you know, Theo,” cries Hetty from her end + of the table, with a sly look at Harry. “The next time we go to the play, + please, brother Jack, pinch us when we ought to cry, or give us a nudge + when it is right to laugh.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish we could have had the fight,” said General Lambert, “the fight + between little Norval and the gigantic Norwegian—that would have + been rare sport: and you should write, Jack, and suggest it to Mr. Rich, + the manager.” + </p> + <p> + “I have not seen that: but I saw Slack and Broughton at Marybone Gardens!” + says Harry, gravely; and wondered if he had said something witty, as all + the company laughed so? “It would require no giant,” he added, “to knock + over yonder little fellow in the red boots. I, for one, could throw him + over my shoulder.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Garrick is a little man. But there are times when he looks a giant,” + says Mr. Spencer. “How grand he was in Macbeth, Mr. Warrington! How awful + that dagger-scene was! You should have seen our host, ladies! I presented + Mr. Warrington, in the greenroom, to Mr. Garrick and Mrs. Pritchard, and + Lady Macbeth did him the honour to take a pinch out of his box.” + </p> + <p> + “Did the wife of the Thane of Cawdor sneeze?” asked the General, in an + awful voice. + </p> + <p> + “She thanked Mr. Warrington, in tones so hollow and tragic, that he + started back, and must have upset some of his rappee, for Macbeth sneezed + thrice.” + </p> + <p> + “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth!” cries the General. + </p> + <p> + “And the great philosopher who was standing by Mr. Johnson, says, 'You + must mind, Davy, lest thy sneeze should awaken Duncan!' who, by the way, + was talking with the three witches as they sat against the wall.” + </p> + <p> + “What! Have you been behind the scenes at the play? Oh, I would give + worlds to go behind the scenes!” cries Theo. + </p> + <p> + “And see the ropes pulled, and smell the tallow-candles, and look at the + pasteboard gold, and the tinsel jewels, and the painted old women, Theo? + No. Do not look too close,” says the sceptical young host, demurely + drinking a glass of hock. “You were angry with your papa and me.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, George!” cries the girl. + </p> + <p> + “Nay? I say, yes! You were angry with us because we laughed when you were + disposed to be crying. If I may speak for you, sir, as well as myself,” + says George (with a bow to his guest, General Lambert), “I think we were + not inclined to weep, like the ladies, because we stood behind the + author's scenes of the play, as it were. Looking close up to the young + hero, we saw how much of him was rant and tinsel; and as for the pale, + tragical mother, that her pallor was white chalk, and her grief her + pocket-handkerchief. Own now, Theo, you thought me very unfeeling?” + </p> + <p> + “If you find it out, sir, without my owning it,—what is the good of + my confessing?” says Theo. + </p> + <p> + “Suppose I were to die?” goes on George, “and you saw Harry in grief, you + would be seeing a genuine affliction, a real tragedy; you would grieve + too. But you wouldn't be affected if you saw the undertaker in weepers and + a black cloak!” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, but I should, sir!” says Mrs. Lambert; “and so, I promise you, + would any daughter of mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps we might find weepers of our own, Mr. Warrington,” says Theo, “in + such a case.” + </p> + <p> + “Would you?” cries George, and his cheeks and Theo's simultaneously + flushed up with red; I suppose because they both saw Hetty's bright young + eyes watching them. + </p> + <p> + “The elder writers understood but little of the pathetic,” remarked Mr. + Spencer, the Temple wit. + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of Sophocles and Antigone?” calls out Mr. John Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Faith, our wits trouble themselves little about him, unless an Oxford + gentleman comes to remind us of him! I did not mean to go back farther + than Mr. Shakspeare, who, as you will all agree, does not understand the + elegant and pathetic as well as the moderns. Has he ever approached + Belvidera, or Monimia, or Jane Shore; or can you find in his comic female + characters the elegance of Congreve?” and the Templar offered snuff to the + right and left. + </p> + <p> + “I think Mr. Spencer himself must have tried his hand?” asks some one. + </p> + <p> + “Many gentlemen of leisure have. Mr. Garrick, I own, has had a piece of + mine and returned it.” + </p> + <p> + “And I confess that I have four acts of a play in one of my boxes,” says + George. + </p> + <p> + “I'll be bound to say it's as good as any of 'em,” whispers Harry to his + neighbour. + </p> + <p> + “Is it a tragedy or a comedy?” asks Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, a tragedy, and two or three dreadful murders at least!” George + replies. + </p> + <p> + “Let us play it, and let the audience look to their eyes! Yet my chief + humour is for a tyrant,” says the General. + </p> + <p> + “The tragedy, the tragedy! Go and fetch the tragedy this moment, Gumbo!” + calls Mrs. Lambert to the black. Gumbo makes a low bow and says, “Tragedy? + yes, madam.” + </p> + <p> + “In the great cowskin trunk, Gumbo,” George says, gravely. + </p> + <p> + Gumbo bows and says, “Yes, sir,” with still superior gravity. + </p> + <p> + “But my tragedy is at the bottom of I don't know how much linen, packages, + books, and boots, Hetty.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind, let us have it, and fling the linen out of window!” cries + Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “And the great cowskin trunk is at our agent's at Bristol: so Gumbo must + get post-horses, and we can keep it up till he returns the day after + to-morrow,” says George. + </p> + <p> + The ladies groaned a comical “Oh!” and papa, perhaps more seriously, said, + “Let us be thankful for the escape. Let us be thinking of going home too. + Our young gentlemen have treated us nobly, and we will all drink a parting + bumper to Madam Esmond Warrington of Castlewood, in Virginia. Suppose, + boys, you were to find a tall, handsome stepfather when you got home? + Ladies as old as she have been known to marry before now.” + </p> + <p> + “To Madam Esmond Warrington, my old schoolfellow!” cries Mrs. Lambert. “I + shall write and tell her what a pretty supper her sons have given us: and, + Mr. George, I won't say how ill you behaved at the play!” And, with this + last toast, the company took leave; the General's coach and servant, with + a flambeau, being in waiting to carry his family home. + </p> + <p> + After such an entertainment as that which Mr. Warrington had given, what + could be more natural or proper than a visit from him to his guests, to + inquire how they had reached home and rested? Why, their coach might have + taken the open country behind Montague House, in the direction of Oxford + Road, and been waylaid by footpads in the fields. The ladies might have + caught cold or slept ill after the excitement of the tragedy. In a word, + there was no reason why he should make any excuse at all to himself or + them for visiting his kind friends; and he shut his books early at the + Sloane Museum, and perhaps thought, as he walked away thence, that he + remembered very little about what he had been reading. + </p> + <p> + Pray what is the meaning of this eagerness, this hesitation, this pshaing + and shilly-shallying, these doubts, this tremor as he knocks at the door + of Mr. Lambert's lodgings in Dean Street, and survey the footman who comes + to his summons? Does any young man read? does any old one remember? does + any wearied, worn, disappointed pulseless heart recall the time of its + full beat and early throbbing? It is ever so many hundred years since some + of us were young; and we forget, but do not all forget. No, madam, we + remember with advantages, as Shakspeare's Harry promised his soldiers they + should do if they survived Agincourt and that day of St. Crispin. Worn old + chargers turned out to grass, if the trumpet sounds over the hedge, may we + not kick up our old heels, and gallop a minute or so about the paddock, + till we are brought up roaring? I do not care for clown and pantaloon now, + and think the fairy ugly, and her verses insufferable: but I like to see + children at a pantomime. I do not dance, or eat supper any more; but I + like to watch Eugenio and Flirtilla twirling round in a pretty waltz, or + Lucinda and Ardentio pulling a cracker. Burn your little fingers, + children! Blaze out little kindly flames from each other's eyes! And then + draw close together and read the motto (that old namby-pamby motto, so + stale and so new!)—I say, let her lips read it, and his construe it; + and so divide the sweetmeat, young people, and crunch it between you. I + have no teeth. Bitter almonds and sugar disagree with me, I tell you; but, + for all that, shall not bonbons melt in the mouth? + </p> + <p> + We follow John upstairs to the General's apartments, and enter with Mr. + George Esmond Warrington, who makes a prodigious fine bow. There is only + one lady in the room, seated near a window: there is not often much + sunshine in Dean Street: the young lady in the window is no especial + beauty: but it is spring-time, and she is blooming vernally. A bunch of + fresh roses is flushing in her honest cheek. I suppose her eyes are + violets. If we lived a hundred years ago, and wrote in the Gentleman's or + the London Magazine, we should tell Mr. Sylvanus Urban that her neck was + the lily, and her shape the nymph's: we should write an acrostic about + her, and celebrate our Lambertella in an elegant poem, still to be read + between a neat new engraved plan of the city of Prague and the King of + Prussia's camp, and a map of Maryland and the Delaware counties. + </p> + <p> + Here is Miss Theo blushing like a rose. What could mamma have meant an + hour since by insisting that she was very pale and tired, and had best not + come out to-day with the rest of the party? They were gone to pay their + compliments to my Lord Wrotham's ladies, and thank them for the house in + their absence; and papa was at the Horse Guards. He is in great spirits. I + believe he expects some command, though mamma is in a sad tremor lest he + should again be ordered abroad. + </p> + <p> + “Your brother and mine are gone to see our little brother at his school at + the Chartreux. My brothers are both to be clergymen, I think,” Miss Theo + continues. She is assiduously hemming at some article of boyish wearing + apparel as she talks. A hundred years ago, young ladies were not afraid + either to make shirts, or to name them. Mind, I don't say they were the + worse or the better for that plain stitching or plain speaking: and have + not the least desire, my dear young lady, that you should make puddings or + I should black boots. + </p> + <p> + So Harry has been with them? “He often comes, almost every day,” Theo + says, looking up in George's face. “Poor fellow! He likes us better than + the fine folks, who don't care for him now—now he is no longer a + fine folk himself,” adds the girl, smiling. “Why have you not set up for + the fashion, and frequented the chocolate-houses and the racecourses, Mr. + Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Has my brother got so much good out of his gay haunts or his grand + friends, that I should imitate him?” + </p> + <p> + “You might at least go to Sir Miles Warrington; sure his arms are open to + receive you. Her ladyship was here this morning in her chair, and to hear + her praises of you! She declares you are in a certain way to preferment. + She says his Royal Highness the Duke made much of you at court. When you + are a great man will you forget us, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, when I am a great man I will, Miss Lambert.” + </p> + <p> + “Well! Mr. George, then——” + </p> + <p> + “—Mr. George!” + </p> + <p> + “When papa and mamma are here, I suppose there need be no mistering,” says + Theo, looking out of the window, ever so little frightened. “And what have + you been doing, sir? Reading books, or writing more of your tragedy? Is it + going to be a tragedy to make us cry, as we like them, or only to frighten + us, as you like them?” + </p> + <p> + “There is plenty of killing, but, I fear, not much crying. I have not met + many women. I have not been very intimate with those. I daresay what I + have written is only taken out of books or parodied from poems which I + have read and imitated like other young men. Women do not speak to me, + generally; I am said to have a sarcastic way which displeases them.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you never cared to please them?” inquires Miss Theo, with a + blush. + </p> + <p> + “I displeased you last night; you know I did?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; only it can't be called displeasure, and afterwards thought I was + wrong.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you think about me at all when I was away, Theo?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, George—that is, Mr.—well, George! I thought you and papa + were right about the play; and, as you said, that it was no real sorrow, + only affectation, which was moving us. I wonder whether it is good or ill + fortune to see so clearly? Hetty and I agreed that we would be very + careful, for the future, how we allowed ourselves to enjoy a tragedy. So, + be careful when yours comes! What is the name of it?” + </p> + <p> + “He is not christened. Will you be the godmother? The name of the chief + character is——” But at this very moment mamma and Miss Hetty + arrived from their walk; and mamma straightway began protesting that she + never expected to see Mr. Warrington at all that day—that is, she + thought he might come—that is, it was very good of him to come, and + the play and the supper of yesterday were all charming, except that Theo + had a little headache this morning. + </p> + <p> + “I dare say it is better now, mamma,” says Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my dear, it never was of any consequence; and I told mamma so,” + says Miss Theo, with a toss of her head. + </p> + <p> + Then they fell to talking about Harry. He was very low. He must have + something to do. He was always going to the Military Coffee-House, and + perpetually poring over the King of Prussia's campaigns. It was not fair + upon him, to bid him remain in London, after his deposition, as it were. + He said nothing, but you could see how he regretted his previous useless + life, and felt his present dependence, by the manner in which he avoided + his former haunts and associates. Passing by the guard at St. James's, + with John Lambert, he had said to brother Jack, “Why mayn't I be a soldier + too? I am as tall as yonder fellow, and can kill with a fowling-piece as + well as any man I know. But I can't earn so much as sixpence a day. I have + squandered my own bread, and now I am eating half my brother's. He is the + best of brothers, but so much the more shame that I should live upon him. + Don't tell my brother, Jack Lambert.” “And my boy promised he wouldn't + tell,” says Mrs. Lambert. No doubt. The girls were both out of the room + when their mother made this speech to George Warrington. He, for his part, + said he had written home to his mother—that half his little + patrimony, the other half likewise, if wanted, were at Harry's disposal, + for purchasing a commission, or for any other project which might bring + him occupation or advancement. + </p> + <p> + “He has got a good brother, that is sure. Let us hope for good times for + him,” sighs the lady. + </p> + <p> + “The Danes always come pour qui scait attendre,” George said, in a low + voice. + </p> + <p> + “What, you heard that? Ah, George! my Theo is an——Ah! never + mind what she is, George Warrington,” cried the pleased mother, with + brimful eyes. “Bah! I am going to make a gaby of myself, as I did at the + tragedy.” + </p> + <p> + Now Mr. George had been revolving a fine private scheme, which he thought + might turn to his brother's advantage. After George's presentation to his + Royal Highness at Kensington, more persons than one, his friend General + Lambert included, had told him that the Duke had inquired regarding him, + and had asked why the young man did not come to his levee. Importunity so + august could not but be satisfied. A day was appointed between Mr. Lambert + and his young friend, and they went to pay their duty to his Royal + Highness at his house in Pall Mall. + </p> + <p> + When it came to George's turn to make a bow, the Prince was especially + gracious; he spoke to Mr. Warrington at some length about Braddock and the + war, and was apparently pleased with the modesty and intelligence of the + young gentleman's answers. George ascribed the failure of the expedition + to the panic and surprise certainly, but more especially to the delays + occasioned by the rapacity, selfishness, and unfair dealing of the people + of the colonies towards the King's troops who were come to defend them. + “Could we have moved, sir, a month sooner, the fort was certainly ours, + and the little army had never been defeated,” Mr. Warrington said; in + which observation his Royal Highness entirely concurred. + </p> + <p> + “I am told you saved yourself, sir, mainly by your knowledge of the French + language,” the Royal Duke then affably observed. Mr. Warrington modestly + mentioned how he had been in the French colonies in his youth, and had + opportunities of acquiring that tongue. + </p> + <p> + The Prince (who had a great urbanity when well pleased, and the finest + sense of humour) condescended to ask who had taught Mr. Warrington the + language; and to express his opinion, that, for the pronunciation, the + French ladies were by far the best teachers. + </p> + <p> + The young Virginian gentleman made a low bow, and said it was not for him + to gainsay his Royal Highness; upon which the Duke was good enough to say + (in a jocose manner) that Mr. Warrington was a sly dog. + </p> + <p> + Mr. W. remaining respectfully silent, the Prince continued, most kindly: + “I take the field immediately against the French, who, as you know, are + threatening his Majesty's Electoral dominions, If you have a mind to make + the campaign with me, your skill in the language may be useful, and I hope + we shall be more fortunate than poor Braddock!” Every eye was fixed on a + young man to whom so great a Prince offered so signal a favour. + </p> + <p> + And now it was that Mr. George thought he would make his very cleverest + speech. “Sir,” he said, “your Royal Highness's most kind proposal does me + infinite honour, but——” + </p> + <p> + “But what, sir?” says the Prince, staring at him. + </p> + <p> + “But I have entered myself of the Temple, to study our laws, and to fit + myself for my duties at home. If my having been wounded in the service of + my country be any claim on your kindness, I would humbly ask that my + brother, who knows the French language as well as myself, and has far more + strength, courage, and military genius, might be allowed to serve your + Royal Highness; in the place of——” + </p> + <p> + “Enough, enough, sir!” cried out the justly irritated son of the monarch. + “What? I offer you a favour, and you hand it over to your brother? Wait, + sir, till I offer you another!” And with this the Prince turned his back + upon Mr. Warrington, just as abruptly as he turned it on the French a few + months afterwards. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, George! oh, George! Here's a pretty kettle of fish!” groaned General + Lambert, as he and his young friend walked home together. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0061" id="link2HCH0061"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXI. In which the Prince marches up the Hill and down again + </h2> + <p> + We understand the respectful indignation of all loyal Britons when they + come to read of Mr. George Warrington's conduct towards a gallant and + gracious Prince, the beloved son of the best of monarchs, and the + Captain-General of the British army. What an inestimable favour has not + the young man slighted! What a chance of promotion had he not thrown away! + Will Esmond, whose language was always rich in blasphemies, employed his + very strongest curses in speaking of his cousin's behaviour, and expressed + his delight that the confounded young Mohock was cutting his own throat. + Cousin Castlewood said that a savage gentleman had a right to scalp + himself if he liked; or perhaps, he added charitably, our cousin Mr. + Warrington heard enough of the war-whoop in Braddock's affair, and has no + more stomach for fighting. Mr. Will rejoiced that the younger brother had + gone to the deuce, and he rejoiced to think that the elder was following + him. The first time he met the fellow, Will said, he should take care to + let Mr. George know what he thought of him. + </p> + <p> + “If you intend to insult George, at least you had best take care that his + brother Harry is out of hearing!” cried Lady Maria—on which we may + fancy more curses uttered by Mr. Will, with regard to his twin kinsfolk. + </p> + <p> + “Ta, ta, ta!” says my lord. “No more of this squabbling! We can't be all + warriors in the family!” + </p> + <p> + “I never heard your lordship laid claim to be one!” says Maria. + </p> + <p> + “Never, my dear; quite the contrary! Will is our champion, and one is + quite enough in the house. So I dare say with the two Mohocks;—George + is the student, and Harry is the fighting man. When you intended to + quarrel, Will, what a pity it was you had not George, instead of t'other, + to your hand!” + </p> + <p> + “Your lordship's hand is famous—at piquet,” says Will's mother. + </p> + <p> + “It is a pretty one,” says my lord, surveying his fingers, with a simper. + “My Lord Hervey's glove and mine were of a size. Yes, my hand, as you say, + is more fitted for cards than for war. Yours, my Lady Castlewood, is + pretty dexterous, too. How I bless the day when you bestowed it on my + lamented father!” In this play of sarcasm, as in some other games of + skill, his lordship was not sorry to engage, having a cool head, and being + able to beat his family all round. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Bernstein, when she heard of Mr. Warrington's bevue, was + exceedingly angry, stormed, and scolded her immediate household; and would + have scolded George but she was growing old, and had not the courage of + her early days. Moreover, she was a little afraid of her nephew, and + respectful in her behaviour to him. “You will never make your fortune at + court, nephew!” she groaned, when, soon after his discomfiture, the young + gentleman went to wait upon her. + </p> + <p> + “It was never my wish, madam,” said Mr. George, in a very stately manner. + </p> + <p> + “Your wish was to help Harry? You might hereafter have been of service to + your brother, had you accepted the Duke's offer. Princes do not love to + have their favours refused, and I don't wonder that his Royal Highness was + offended.” + </p> + <p> + “General Lambert said the same thing,” George confessed, turning rather + red; “and I see now that I was wrong. But you must please remember that I + had never seen a court before, and I suppose I am scarce likely to shine + in one.” + </p> + <p> + “I think possibly not, my good nephew,” says the aunt, taking snuff. + </p> + <p> + “And what then?” asked George. “I never had ambition for that kind of + glory, and can make myself quite easy without it. When his Royal Highness + spoke to me—most kindly, as I own—my thought was, I shall make + a very bad soldier, and my brother would be a very good one. He has a + hundred good qualities for the profession, in which I am deficient; and + would have served a Commanding Officer far better than I ever could. Say + the Duke is in battle, and his horse is shot, as my poor chief's was at + home, would he not be better for a beast that had courage and strength to + bear him anywhere, than with one that could not carry his weight?” + </p> + <p> + “Au fait. His Royal Highness's charger must be a strong one, my dear!” + says the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “Expende Hannibalem,” mutters George, with a shrug. “Our Hannibal weighs + no trifle.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't quite follow you, sir, and your Hannibal,” the Baroness remarks. + </p> + <p> + “When Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Lambert remonstrated with me as you have done, + madam,” George rejoins, with a laugh, “I made this same defence which I am + making to you. I said I offered to the Prince the best soldier in the + family, and the two gentlemen allowed that my blunder at least had some + excuse. Who knows but that they may set me right with his Royal Highness? + The taste I have had of battles has shown me how little my genius inclines + that way. We saw the Scotch play which everybody is talking about t'other + night. And when the hero, young Norval, said how he longed to follow to + the field some warlike lord, I thought to myself, 'how like my Harry is to + him, except that he doth not brag.' Harry is pining now for a red coat, + and if we don't mind, will take the shilling. He has the map of Germany + for ever under his eyes, and follows the King of Prussia everywhere. He is + not afraid of men or gods. As for me, I love my books and quiet best, and + to read about battles in Homer or Lucan.” + </p> + <p> + “Then what made a soldier of you at all, my dear? And why did you not send + Harry with Mr. Braddock, instead of going yourself?” asked Madame de + Bernstein. + </p> + <p> + “My mother loved her younger son the best,” said George, darkly. “Besides, + with the enemy invading our country, it was my duty, as the head of our + family, to go on the campaign. Had I been a Scotchman twelve years ago, I + should have been a——” + </p> + <p> + “Hush, sir! or I shall be more angry than ever!” said the old lady, with a + perfectly pleased face. + </p> + <p> + George's explanation might thus appease Madame de Bernstein, an old woman + whose principles we fear were but loose: but to the loyal heart of Sir + Miles Warrington and his lady, the young man's conduct gave a severe blow + indeed! “I should have thought,” her ladyship said, “from my sister Esmond + Warrington's letter, that my brother's widow was a woman of good sense and + judgment, and that she had educated her sons in a becoming manner. But + what, Sir Miles, what, my dear Thomas Claypool, can we think of an + education which has resulted so lamentably for both these young men?” + </p> + <p> + “The elder seems to know a power of Latin, though, and speaks the French + and the German too. I heard him with the Hanover Envoy, at the Baroness's + rout,” says Mr. Claypool. “The French he jabbered quite easy: and when he + was at a loss for the High Dutch, he and the Envoy began in Latin, and + talked away till all the room stared.” + </p> + <p> + “It is not language, but principles, Thomas Claypool!” exclaims the + virtuous matron. “What must Mr. Warrington's principles be, when he could + reject an offer made him by his Prince? Can he speak the High Dutch? So + much the more ought he to have accepted his Royal Highness's + condescension, and made himself useful in the campaign! Look at our son, + look at Miles!” + </p> + <p> + “Hold up thy head, Miley, my boy!” says papa. + </p> + <p> + “I trust, Sir Miles, that, as a member of the House of Commons, as an + English gentleman, you will attend his Royal Highness's levee to-morrow, + and say, if such an offer had been made to us for that child, we would + have taken it, though our boy is but ten years of age.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, Miley, thou wouldst make a good little drummer or fifer!” says + papa. “Shouldst like to be a little soldier, Miley?” + </p> + <p> + “Anything, sir, anything! a Warrington ought to be ready at any moment to + have himself cut in pieces for his sovereign!” cries the matron, pointing + to the boy; who, as soon as he comprehended his mother's proposal, + protested against it by a loud roar, in the midst of which he was removed + by Screwby. In obedience to the conjugal orders, Sir Miles went to his + Royal Highness's levee the next day, and made a protest of his love and + duty, which the Prince deigned to accept, saying: + </p> + <p> + “Nobody ever supposed that Sir Miles Warrington would ever refuse any + place offered to him.” + </p> + <p> + A compliment gracious indeed, and repeated everywhere by Lady Warrington, + as showing how implicitly the august family on the throne could rely on + the loyalty of the Warringtons. + </p> + <p> + Accordingly, when this worthy couple saw George, they received him with a + ghastly commiseration, such as our dear relatives or friends will + sometimes extend to us when we have done something fatal or clumsy in + life; when we have come badly out of our lawsuit; when we enter the room + just as the company has been abusing us; when our banker has broke; or we + for our sad part have had to figure in the commercial columns of the + London Gazette;—when, in a word, we are guilty of some notorious + fault, or blunder, or misfortune. Who does not know that face of pity? + Whose dear relations have not so deplored him, not dead, but living? Not + yours? Then, sir, if you have never been in scrapes; if you have never + sowed a handful of wild oats or two; if you have always been fortunate, + and good, and careful, and butter has never melted in your mouth, and an + imprudent word has never come out of it; if you have never sinned and + repented, and been a fool and been sorry—then, sir, you are a + wiseacre who won't waste your time over an idle novel, and it is not de te + that the fable is narrated at all. + </p> + <p> + Not that it was just on Sir Miles's part to turn upon George, and be angry + with his nephew for refusing the offer of promotion made by his Royal + Highness, for Sir Miles himself had agreed in George's view of pursuing + quite other than a military career, and it was in respect to this plan of + her son's that Madam Esmond had written from Virginia to Sir Miles + Warrington. George had announced to her his intention of entering at the + Temple, and qualifying himself for the magisterial and civil duties which, + in the course of nature, he would be called to fulfil; nor could any one + applaud his resolution more cordially than his uncle Sir Miles, who + introduced George to a lawyer of reputation, under whose guidance we may + fancy the young gentleman reading leisurely. Madam Esmond from home + signified her approval of her son's course, fully agreeing with Sir Miles + (to whom and his lady she begged to send her grateful remembrances) that + the British Constitution was the envy of the world, and the proper object + of every English gentleman's admiring study. The chief point to which + George's mother objected was the notion that Mr. Warrington should have to + sit down in the Temple dinner-ball, and cut at a shoulder of mutton, and + drink small-beer out of tin pannikins, by the side of rough students who + wore gowns like the parish-clerk. George's loyal younger brother shared + too this repugnance. Anything was good enough for him, Harry said; he was + a younger son, and prepared to rough it; but George, in a gown, and dining + in a mess with three nobody's sons off dirty pewter platters! Harry never + could relish this condescension on his brother's part, or fancy George in + his proper place at any except the high table; and was sorry that a plan + Madam Esmond hinted at in her letters was not feasible—viz., that an + application should be made to the Master of the Temple, who should be + informed that Mr. George Warrington was a gentleman of most noble birth, + and of great property in America, and ought only to sit with the very best + company in the Hall. Rather to Harry's discomfiture, when he communicated + his own and his mother's ideas to the gentlemen's new coffee-house friend, + Mr. Spencer, Mr. Spencer received the proposal with roars of laughter; and + I cannot learn, from the Warrington papers, that any application was made + to the Master of the Temple on this subject. Besides his literary and + historical pursuits, which were those he most especially loved, Mr. + Warrington studied the laws of his country, attended the courts at + Westminster, where he heard a Henley, a Pratt, a Murray, and those other + great famous schools of eloquence and patriotism, the two houses of + parliament. + </p> + <p> + Gradually Mr. Warrington made acquaintance with some of the members of the + House and the Bar; who, when they came to know him, spoke of him as a + young gentleman of good parts and good breeding, and in terms so generally + complimentary, that his good uncle's heart relented towards him, and Dora + and Flora began once more to smile upon him. This reconciliation dated + from the time when his Royal Highness the Duke, after having been defeated + by the French, in the affair of Hastenbeck, concluded the famous + capitulation with the French, which his Majesty George II. refused to + ratify. His Royal Highness, as 'tis well known, flung up his commissions + after this disgrace, laid down his commander's baton—which, it must + be confessed, he had not wielded with much luck or dexterity—and + never again appeared at the head of armies or in public life. The stout + warrior would not allow a word of complaint against his father and + sovereign to escape his lips; but, as he retired with his wounded honour, + and as he would have no interest or authority more, nor any places to + give, it may be supposed that Sir Miles Warrington's anger against his + nephew diminished as his respect for his Royal Highness diminished. + </p> + <p> + As our two gentlemen were walking in St. James's Park, one day, with their + friend Mr. Lambert, they met his Royal Highness in plain clothes and + without a star, and made profound bows to the Prince, who was pleased to + stop and speak to them. + </p> + <p> + He asked Mr. Lambert how he liked my Lord Ligonier, his new chief at the + Horse Guards, and the new duties there in which he was engaged? And, + recognising the young men, with that fidelity of memory for which his + Royal race hath ever been remarkable, he said to Mr. Warrington: + </p> + <p> + “You did well, sir, not to come with me when I asked you in the spring.” + </p> + <p> + “I was sorry, then, sir,” Mr. Warrington said, making a very low + reverence, “but I am more sorry now.” + </p> + <p> + On which the Prince said, “Thank you, sir,” and, touching his hat, walked + away. And the circumstances of this interview, and the discourse which + passed at it, being related to Mrs. Esmond Warrington in a letter from her + younger son, created so deep an impression in that lady's mind, that she + narrated the anecdote many hundreds of times until all her friends and + acquaintances knew and, perhaps, were tired of it. + </p> + <p> + Our gentlemen went through the Park, and so towards the Strand, where they + had business. And Mr. Lambert, pointing to the lion on the top of the Earl + of Northumberland's house at Charing Cross, says: + </p> + <p> + “Harry Warrington! your brother is like yonder lion.” + </p> + <p> + “Because he is as brave as one,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Because I respect virgins!” says George, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Because you are a stupid lion. Because you turn your back on the East, + and absolutely salute the setting sun. Why, child, what earthly good can + you get by being civil to a man in hopeless dudgeon and disgrace? Your + uncle will be more angry with you than ever—and so am I, sir.” But + Mr. Lambert was always laughing in his waggish way, and, indeed, he did + not look the least angry. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0062" id="link2HCH0062"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXII. Arma Virumque + </h2> + <p> + Indeed, if Harry Warrington had a passion for military pursuits and + studies, there was enough of war stirring in Europe, and enough talk in + all societies which he frequented in London, to excite and inflame him. + Though our own gracious Prince of the house of Hanover had been beaten, + the Protestant Hero, the King of Prussia, was filling the world with his + glory, and winning those astonishing victories in which I deem it + fortunate on my own account that my poor Harry took no part; for then his + veracious biographer would have had to narrate battles the description + whereof has been undertaken by another pen. I am glad, I say, that Harry + Warrington was not at Rossbach on that famous Gunpowder Fete-day, on the + 5th of November, in the year 1757; nor at that tremendous + slaughtering-match of Leuthen, which the Prussian king played a month + afterwards; for these prodigious actions will presently be narrated in + other volumes, which I and all the world are eager to behold. Would you + have this history compete with yonder book? Could my jaunty, yellow + park-phaeton run counter to that grim chariot of thundering war? Could my + meek little jog-trot Pegasus meet the shock of yon steed of foaming bit + and flaming nostril? Dear, kind reader (with whom I love to talk from time + to time, stepping down from the stage where our figures are performing, + attired in the habits and using the parlance of past ages),—my kind, + patient reader! it is a mercy for both of us that Harry Warrington did not + follow the King of the Borussians, as he was minded to do, for then I + should have had to describe battles which Carlyle is going to paint; and I + don't wish you should make odious comparisons between me and that master. + </p> + <p> + Harry Warrington not only did not join the King of the Borussians, but he + pined and chafed at not going. He led a sulky useless life, that is the + fact. He dangled about the military coffee-houses. He did not care for + reading anything save a newspaper. His turn was not literary. He even + thought novels were stupid; and, as for the ladies crying their eyes out + over Mr. Richardson, he could not imagine how they could be moved by any + such nonsense. He used to laugh in a very hearty jolly way, but a little + late, and some time after the joke was over. Pray, why should all + gentlemen have a literary turn? And do we like some of our friends the + worse because they never turned a couplet in their lives? Ruined, perforce + idle, dependent on his brother for supplies, if he read a book falling + asleep over it, with no fitting work for his great strong hands to do—how + lucky it is that he did not get into more trouble! Why, in the case of + Achilles himself, when he was sent by his mamma to the court of King + What-d'ye-call-'em in order to be put out of harm's reach, what happened + to him amongst a parcel of women with whom he was made to idle his life + away? And how did Pyrrhus come into the world? A powerful mettlesome young + Achilles ought not to be leading-stringed by women too much; is out of his + place dawdling by distaffs or handing coffee-cups; and when he is not + fighting, depend on it, is likely to fall into much worse mischief. + </p> + <p> + Those soft-hearted women, the two elder ladies of the Lambert family, with + whom he mainly consorted, had an untiring pity and kindness for Harry, + such as women only—and only a few of those—can give. If a man + is in grief, who cheers him; in trouble, who consoles him; in wrath, who + soothes him; in joy, who makes him doubly happy; in prosperity, who + rejoices; in disgrace, who backs him against the world, and dresses with + gentle unguents and warm poultices the rankling wounds made by the slings + and arrows of outrageous Fortune? Who but woman, if you please? You who + are ill and sore from the buffets of Fate, have you one or two of these + sweet physicians? Return thanks to the gods that they have left you so + much of consolation. What gentleman is not more or less a Prometheus? Who + has not his rock (ai, ai), his chain (ea, ea), and his liver in a deuce of + a condition? But the sea-nymphs come—the gentle, the sympathising; + they kiss our writhing feet; they moisten our parched lips with their + tears; they do their blessed best to console us Titans; they don't turn + their backs upon us after our overthrow. + </p> + <p> + Now Theo and her mother were full of pity for Harry; but Hetty's heart was + rather hard and seemingly savage towards him. She chafed that his position + was not more glorious; she was angry that he was still dependent and idle. + The whole world was in arms, and could he not carry a musket? It was + harvest-time, and hundreds of thousands of reapers were out with their + flashing sickles; could he not use his, and cut down his sheaf or two of + glory? + </p> + <p> + “Why, how savage the little thing is with him!” says papa, after a scene + in which, according to her wont, Miss Hetty had been firing little shots + into that quivering target which came and set itself up in Mrs. Lambert's + drawing-room every day. + </p> + <p> + “Her conduct is perfectly abominable!” cries mamma; “she deserves to be + whipped, and sent to bed.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps, mother, it is because she likes him better than any of us do,” + says Theo, “and it is for his sake that Hetty is angry. If I were fond of—of + some one, I should like to be able to admire and respect him always—to + think everything he did right—and my gentleman better than all the + gentlemen in the world.” + </p> + <p> + “The truth is, my dear,” answers Mrs. Lambert, “that your father is so + much better than all the world, he has spoiled us. Did you ever see any + one to compare with him?” + </p> + <p> + “Very few, indeed,” owns Theo, with a blush. + </p> + <p> + “Very few. Who is so good-tempered?” + </p> + <p> + “I think nobody, mamma,” Theo acknowledges. + </p> + <p> + “Or so brave?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I dare say Mr. Wolfe, or Harry, or Mr. George, are very brave.” + </p> + <p> + “Or so learned and witty?” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure Mr. George seems very learned, and witty too, in his way,” says + Theo; “and his manners are very fine—you own they are. Madame de + Bernstein says they are, and she hath seen the world. Indeed, Mr. George + has a lofty way with him, which I don't see in other people; and, in + reading books, I find he chooses the fine noble things always, and loves + them in spite of all his satire. He certainly is of a satirical turn, but + then he is only bitter against mean things and people. No gentleman hath a + more tender heart I am sure; and but yesterday, after he had been talking + so bitterly as you said, I happened to look out of window, and saw him + stop and treat a whole crowd of little children to apples at the stall at + the corner. And the day before yesterday, when he was coming and brought + me the Moliere, he stopped and gave money to a beggar, and how charmingly, + sure, he reads the French! I agree with him though about Tartuffe, though + 'tis so wonderfully clever and lively, that a mere villain and hypocrite + is a figure too mean to be made the chief of a great piece. Iago, Mr. + George said, is near as great a villain; but then he is not the first + character of the tragedy, which is Othello, with his noble weakness. But + what fine ladies and gentlemen Moliere represents—so Mr. George + thinks—and—but oh, I don't dare to repeat the verses after + him.” + </p> + <p> + “But you know them by heart, my dear?” asks Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + And Theo replies, “Oh yes, mamma! I know them by... Nonsense!” + </p> + <p> + I here fancy osculations, palpitations, and exit Miss Theo, blushing like + a rose. Why had she stopped in her sentence? Because mamma was looking at + her so oddly. And why was mamma looking at her so oddly? And why had she + looked after Mr. George when he was going away, and looked for him when he + was coming? Ah, and why do cheeks blush, and why do roses bloom? Old Time + is still a-flying. Old spring and bud time; old summer and bloom time; old + autumn and seed time; old winter time, when the cracking, shivering old + tree-tops are bald or covered with snow. + </p> + <p> + A few minutes after George arrived, Theo would come downstairs with a + fluttering heart, may be, and a sweet nosegay in her cheeks, just culled, + as it were, fresh in his honour; and I suppose she must have been + constantly at that window which commanded the street, and whence she could + espy his generosity to the sweep, or his purchases from the apple-woman. + But if it was Harry who knocked, she remained in her own apartment with + her work or her books, sending her sister to receive the young gentleman, + or her brothers when the elder was at home from college, or Doctor Crusius + from the Chartreux gave the younger leave to go home. And what good eyes + Theo must have had—and often in the evening, too—to note the + difference between Harry's yellow hair and George's dark locks—and + between their figures, though they were so like that people continually + were mistaking one for the other brother. Now it is certain that Theo + never mistook one or t'other; and that Hetty, for her part, was not in the + least excited, or rude, or pert, when she found the black-haired gentleman + in her mother's drawing-room. + </p> + <p> + Our friends could come when they liked to Mr. Lambert's house, and stay as + long as they chose; and, one day, he of the golden locks was sitting on a + couch there, in an attitude of more than ordinary idleness and + despondency, when who should come down to him but Miss Hetty? I say it was + a most curious thing (though the girls would have gone to the rack rather + than own any collusion), that when Harry called, Hetty appeared; when + George arrived, Theo somehow came; and so, according to the usual + dispensation, it was Miss Lambert, junior, who now arrived to entertain + the younger Virginian. + </p> + <p> + After usual ceremonies and compliments we may imagine that the lady says + to the gentleman: + </p> + <p> + “And pray, sir, what makes your honour look so glum this morning?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Hetty!” says he, “I have nothing else to do but to look glum. I + remember when we were boys—and I a rare idle one, you may be sure—I + would always be asking my tutor for a holiday, which I would pass very + likely swinging on a gate, or making ducks and drakes over the pond, and + those do-nothing days were always the most melancholy. What have I got to + do now from morning till night?” + </p> + <p> + “Breakfast, walk—dinner, walk—tea, supper, I suppose; and a + pipe of your Virginia,” says Miss Hetty, tossing her head. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you what, when I went back with Charley to the Chartreux, t'other + night, I had a mind to say to the master, 'Teach me, sir. Here's a boy + knows a deal more Latin and Greek, at thirteen, than I do, who am ten + years older. I have nothing to do from morning till night, and I might as + well go to my books again, and see if I can repair my idleness as a boy.' + Why do you laugh, Hetty?” + </p> + <p> + “I laugh to fancy you at the head of a class, and called up by the + master!” cries Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't be at the head of the class,” Harry says, humbly. “George + might be at the head of any class, but I am not a bookman, you see; and + when I was young neglected myself, and was very idle. We would not let our + tutors cane us much at home, but, if we had, it might have done me good.” + </p> + <p> + Hetty drubbed with her little foot, and looked at the young man sitting + before her—strong, idle, melancholy. + </p> + <p> + “Upon my word, it might do you good now!” she was minded to say. “What + does Tom say about the caning at school? Does his account of it set you + longing for it, pray?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “His account of his school,” Harry answered simply, “makes me see that I + have been idle when I ought to have worked, and that I have not a genius + for books, and for what am I good? Only to spend my patrimony when I come + abroad, or to lounge at coffee-houses or racecourses, or to gallop behind + dogs when I am at home. I am good for nothing, I am.” + </p> + <p> + “What, such a great, brave, strong fellow as you good for nothing?” cries + Het. “I would not confess as much to any woman, if I were twice as good + for nothing!” + </p> + <p> + “What am I to do? I ask for leave to go into the army, and Madam Esmond + does not answer me. 'Tis the only thing I am fit for. I have no money to + buy. Having spent all my own, and so much of my brother's, I cannot and + won't ask for more. If my mother would but send me to the army, you know I + would jump to go.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! A gentleman of spirit does not want a woman to buckle his sword on + for him or to clean his firelock! What was that our papa told us of the + young gentleman at court yesterday?—Sir John Armytage——” + </p> + <p> + “Sir John Armytage? I used to know him when I frequented White's and the + club-houses—a fine, noble young gentleman, of a great estate in the + North.” + </p> + <p> + “And engaged to be married to a famous beauty, too—Miss Howe, my + Lord Howe's sister—but that, I suppose, is not an obstacle to + gentlemen?” + </p> + <p> + “An obstacle to what?” asks the gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “An obstacle to glory!” says Miss Hetty. “I think no woman of spirit would + say 'Stay!' though she adored her lover ever so much, when his country + said 'Go!' Sir John had volunteered for the expedition which is preparing, + and being at court yesterday his Majesty asked him when he would be ready + to go? 'Tomorrow, please your Majesty,' replies Sir John, and the king + said, that was a soldier's answer. My father himself is longing to go, + though he has mamma and all us brats at home. Oh dear, oh dear! Why wasn't + I a man myself? Both my brothers are for the Church; but, as for me, I + know I should have made a famous little soldier!” And, so speaking, this + young person strode about the room, wearing a most courageous military + aspect, and looking as bold as Joan of Arc. + </p> + <p> + Harry beheld her with a tender admiration. “I think,” says he, “I would + hardly like to see a musket on that little shoulder, nor a wound on that + pretty face, Hetty.” + </p> + <p> + “Wounds! who fears wounds?” cries the little maid. “Muskets? If I could + carry one, I would use it. You men fancy that we women are good for + nothing but to make puddings or stitch samplers. Why wasn't I a man, I + say? George was reading to us yesterday out of Tasso—look, here it + is, and I thought the verses applied to me. See! Here is the book, with + the mark in it where we left off.” + </p> + <p> + “With the mark in it?” says Harry dutifully. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! it is about a woman who is disappointed because—because her + brother does not go to war, and she says of herself— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'Alas! why did not Heaven these members frail + With lively force and vigour strengthen, so + That I this silken gown...'” + </pre> + <p> + “Silken gown?” says downright Harry, with a look of inquiry. + </p> + <p> + “Well, sir, I know 'tis but Calimanco;—but so it is in the book— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'... this silken gown and slender veil + Might for a breastplate and a helm forgo; + Then should not heat, nor cold, nor rain, nor hail, + Nor storms that fall, nor blust'ring winds that blow, + Withhold me; but I would, both day and night, + In pitched field or private combat, fight—' +</pre> + <p> + “Fight? Yes, that I would! Why are both my brothers to be parsons, I say? + One of my papa's children ought to be a soldier!” + </p> + <p> + Harry laughed, a very gentle, kind laugh, as he looked at her. He felt + that he would not like much to hit such a tender little warrior as that. + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says he, holding a finger out, “I think here is a finger nigh as + big as your arm. How would you stand up before a great, strong man? I + should like to see a man try and injure you, though; I should just like to + see him! You little, delicate, tender creature! Do you suppose any + scoundrel would dare to do anything unkind to you?” And, excited by this + flight of his imagination, Harry fell to walking up and down the room, + too, chafing at the idea of any rogue of a Frenchman daring to be rude to + Miss Hester Lambert. + </p> + <p> + It was a belief in this silent courage of his which subjugated Hetty, and + this quality which she supposed him to possess, which caused her specially + to admire him. Miss Hetty was no more bold, in reality, than Madam + Erminia, whose speech she had been reading out of the book, and about whom + Mr. Harry Warrington never heard one single word. He may have been in the + room when brother George was reading his poetry out to the ladies, but his + thoughts were busy with his own affairs, and he was entirely bewildered + with your Clotildas and Erminias, and giants, and enchanters, and + nonsense. No, Miss Hetty, I say and believe, had nothing of the virago in + her composition; else, no doubt, she would have taken a fancy to a soft + young fellow with a literary turn, or a genius for playing the flute, + according to the laws of contrast and nature provided in those cases; and + who has not heard how great, strong men have an affinity for frail, tender + little women; how tender little women are attracted by great, honest, + strong men; and how your burly heroes and champions of war are constantly + henpecked? If Mr. Harry Warrington falls in love with a woman who is like + Miss Lambert in disposition, and if he marries her—without being + conjurers, I think we may all see what the end will be. + </p> + <p> + So, whilst Hetty was firing her little sarcasms into Harry, he for a while + scarcely felt that they were stinging him, and let her shoot on without so + much as taking the trouble to shake the little arrows out of his hide. Did + she mean by her sneers and innuendoes to rouse him into action? He was too + magnanimous to understand such small hints. Did she mean to shame him by + saying that she, a weak woman, would don the casque and breastplate? The + simple fellow either melted at the idea of her being in danger, or at the + notion of her fighting fell a-laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Pray what is the use of having a strong hand if you only use it to hold a + skein of silk for my mother?” cries Miss Hester; “and what is the good of + being ever so strong in a drawing-room? Nobody wants you to throw anybody + out of window, Harry! A strong man, indeed! I suppose there's a stronger + at Bartholomew Fair. James Wolfe is not a strong man. He seems quite + weakly and ill. When he was here last he was coughing the whole time, and + as pale as if he had seen a ghost.” + </p> + <p> + “I never could understand why a man should be frightened at a ghost,” says + Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Pray, have you seen one, sir?” asks the pert young lady. + </p> + <p> + “No. I thought I did once at home—when we were boys; but it was only + Nathan in his night-shirt; but I wasn't frightened when I thought he was a + ghost. I believe there's no such things. Our nurses tell a pack of lies + about 'em,” says Harry, gravely. “George was a little frightened; but then + he's——” Here he paused. + </p> + <p> + “Then George is what?” asked Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “George is different from me, that's all. Our mother's a bold woman as + ever you saw, but she screams at seeing a mouse—always does—can't + help it. It's her nature. So, you see, perhaps my brother can't bear + ghosts. I don't mind 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “George always says you would have made a better soldier than he.” + </p> + <p> + “So I think I should, if I had been allowed to try. But he can do a + thousand things better than me, or anybody else in the world. Why didn't + he let me volunteer on Braddock's expedition? I might have got knocked on + the head, and then I should have been pretty much as useful as I am now, + and then I shouldn't have ruined myself, and brought people to point at me + and say that I had disgraced the name of Warrington. Why mayn't I go on + this expedition, and volunteer like Sir John Armytage? Oh, Hetty! I'm a + miserable fellow—that's what I am,” and the miserable fellow paced + the room at double quick time. “I wish I had never come to Europe,” he + groaned out. + </p> + <p> + “What a compliment to us! Thank you, Harry!” But presently, on an + appealing look from the gentleman, she added, “Are you—are you + thinking of going home?” + </p> + <p> + “And have all Virginia jeering at me! There's not a gentleman there that + wouldn't, except one, and him my mother doesn't like. I should be ashamed + to go home now, I think. You don't know my mother, Hetty. I ain't afraid + of most things; but, somehow, I am of her. What shall I say to her, when + she says, 'Harry, where's your patrimony?' 'Spent, mother,' I shall have + to say. 'What have you done with it?' 'Wasted it, mother, and went to + prison after.' 'Who took you out of prison?' 'Brother George, ma'am, he + took me out of prison; and now I'm come back, having done no good for + myself, with no profession, no prospects, no nothing—only to look + after negroes, and be scolded at home; or to go to sleep at sermons; or to + play at cards, and drink, and fight cocks at the taverns about.' How can I + look the gentlemen of the country in the face? I'm ashamed to go home in + this way, I say. I must and will do something! What shall I do, Hetty? Ah! + what shall I do?” + </p> + <p> + “Do? What did Mr. Wolfe do at Louisbourg? Ill as he was, and in love as we + knew him to be, he didn't stop to be nursed by his mother, Harry, or to + dawdle with his sweetheart. He went on the King's service, and hath come + back covered with honour. If there is to be another great campaign in + America, papa says he is sure of a great command.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish he would take me with him, and that a ball would knock me on the + head and finish me,” groaned Harry. “You speak to me, Hetty, as though it + were my fault that I am not in the army, when you know I would give—give, + forsooth, what have I to give?—yes! my life to go on service!” + </p> + <p> + “Life indeed!” says Miss Hetty, with a shrug of her shoulders. + </p> + <p> + “You don't seem to think that of much value, Hetty,” remarked Harry, + sadly. “No more it is—to anybody. I'm a poor useless fellow. I'm not + even free to throw it away as I would like, being under orders here and at + home.” + </p> + <p> + “Orders indeed! Why under orders?” cries Miss Hetty. “Aren't you tall + enough, and old enough, to act for yourself, and must you have George for + a master here, and your mother for a schoolmistress at home? If I were a + man, I would do something famous before I was two-and-twenty years old, + that I would! I would have the world speak of me. I wouldn't dawdle at + apron-strings. I wouldn't curse my fortune—I'd make it. I vow and + declare I would!” + </p> + <p> + Now, for the first time, Harry began to wince at the words of his young + lecturer. + </p> + <p> + “No negro on our estate is more a slave than I am, Hetty,” he said, + turning very red as he addressed her; “but then, Miss Lambert, we don't + reproach the poor fellow for not being free. That isn't generous. At + least, that isn't the way I understand honour. Perhaps with women it's + different, or I may be wrong, and have no right to be hurt at a young girl + telling me what my faults are. Perhaps my faults are not my faults—only + my cursed luck. You have been talking ever so long about this gentleman + volunteering, and that man winning glory, and cracking up their courage as + if I had none of my own. I suppose, for the matter of that, I'm as well + provided as other gentlemen. I don't brag but I'm not afraid of Mr. Wolfe, + nor of Sir John Armytage, nor of anybody else that ever I saw. How can I + buy a commission when I've spent my last shilling, or ask my brother for + more who has already halved with me? A gentleman of my rank can't go a + common soldier—else, by Jupiter, I would! And if a ball finished me, + I suppose Miss Hetty Lambert wouldn't be very sorry. It isn't kind, Hetty—I + didn't think it of you.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it I have said?” asks the young lady. “I have only said Sir John + Armytage has volunteered, and Mr. Wolfe has covered himself with honour, + and you begin to scold me! How can I help it if Mr. Wolfe is brave and + famous? Is that any reason you should be angry, pray?” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't say angry,” said Harry, gravely. “I said I was hurt.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, indeed! I thought such a little creature as I am couldn't hurt + anybody! I'm sure 'tis mighty complimentary to me to say that a young lady + whose arm is no bigger than your little finger can hurt such a great + strong man as you!” + </p> + <p> + “I scarce thought you would try, Hetty,” the young man said. “You see, I'm + not used to this kind of welcome in this house.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, my poor boy?” asks kind Mrs. Lambert, looking in at the door + at this juncture, and finding the youth with a very woeworn countenance. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we have heard the story before, mamma!” says Hetty, hurriedly. “Harry + is making his old complaint of having nothing to do. And he is quite + unhappy; and he is telling us so over and over again, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “So are you hungry over and over again, my dear! Is that a reason why your + papa and I should leave off giving you dinner?” cries mamma, with some + emotion. “Will you stay and have ours, Harry? 'Tis just three o'clock!” + Harry agreed to stay, after a few faint negations. “My husband dines + abroad. We are but three women, so you will have a dull dinner,” remarks + Mrs. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “We shall have a gentleman to enliven us, mamma, I dare say!” says Madam + Pert, and then looked in mamma's face with that admirable gaze of blank + innocence which Madam Pert knows how to assume when she has been specially + and successfully wicked. + </p> + <p> + When the dinner appeared. Miss Hetty came downstairs, and was exceedingly + chatty, lively, and entertaining. Theo did not know that any little + difference had occurred (such, alas, my Christian friends, will happen in + the most charming families), did not know, I say, that anything had + happened until Hetty's uncommon sprightliness and gaiety roused her + suspicions. Hetty would start a dozen subjects of conversation—the + King of Prussia, and the news from America; the last masquerade, and the + highwayman shot near Barnet; and when her sister, admiring this + volubility, inquired the reason of it, with her eyes,— + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my dear, you need not nod and wink at me!” cries Hetty. “Mamma asked + Harry on purpose to enliven us, and I am talking until he begins, just + like the fiddles at the playhouse, you know, Theo! First the fiddles. Then + the play. Pray begin, Harry!” + </p> + <p> + “Hester!” cries mamma. + </p> + <p> + “I merely asked Harry to entertain us. You said yourself, mother, that we + were only three women, and the dinner would be dull for a gentleman; + unless, indeed, he chose to be very lively.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm not that on most days—and, Heaven knows, on this day less than + most,” says poor Harry. + </p> + <p> + “Why on this day less than another? Tuesday is as good a day to be lively + as Wednesday. The only day when we mustn't be lively is Sunday. Well, you + know it is, ma'am! We mustn't sing, nor dance, nor do anything on Sunday.” + </p> + <p> + And in this naughty way the young woman went on for the rest of the + evening, and was complimented by her mother and sister when poor Harry + took his leave. He was not ready of wit, and could not fling back the + taunts which Hetty cast against him. Nay, had he been able to retort, he + would have been silent. He was too generous to engage in that small war, + and chose to take all Hester's sarcasms without an attempt to parry or + evade them. Very likely the young lady watched and admired that + magnanimity, while she tried it so cruelly. And after one of her fits of + ill-behaviour, her parents and friends had not the least need to scold + her, as she candidly told them, because she suffered a great deal more + than they would ever have had her, and her conscience punished her a great + deal more severely than her kind elders would have thought of doing. I + suppose she lies awake all that night, and tosses and tumbles in her bed. + I suppose she wets her pillow with tears, and should not mind about her + sobbing: unless it kept her sister awake; unless she was unwell the next + day, and the doctor had to be fetched; unless the whole family is to be + put to discomfort; mother to choke over her dinner in flurry and + indignation; father to eat his roast-beef in silence and with bitter + sauce; everybody to look at the door each time it opens, with a vague hope + that Harry is coming in. If Harry does not come, why at least does not + George come? thinks Miss Theo. + </p> + <p> + Some time in the course of the evening comes a billet from George + Warrington, with a large nosegay of lilacs, per Mr. Gumbo. “'I send my + best duty and regards to Mrs. Lambert and the ladies,'” George says, “'and + humbly beg to present to Miss Theo this nosegay of lilacs, which she says + she loves in the early spring. You must not thank me for them, please, but + the gardener of Bedford House, with whom I have made great friends by + presenting him with some dried specimens of a Virginian plant which some + ladies don't think as fragrant as lilacs. + </p> + <p> + “'I have been in the garden almost all the day. It is alive with sunshine + and spring; and I have been composing two scenes of you know what, and + polishing the verses which the Page sings in the fourth act, under + Sybilla's window, which she cannot hear, poor thing, because she has just + had her head off.'” + </p> + <p> + “Provoking! I wish he would not always sneer and laugh! The verses are + beautiful,” says Theo. + </p> + <p> + “You really think so, my dear? How very odd!” remarks papa. + </p> + <p> + Little Het looks up from her dismal corner with a faint smile of humour. + Theo's secret is a secret for nobody in the house, it seems. Can any young + people guess what it is? Our young lady continues to read: + </p> + <p> + “'Spencer has asked the famous Mr. Johnson to breakfast to-morrow, who + condescends to hear the play, and who won't, I hope, be too angry because + my heroine undergoes the fate of his in Irene. I have heard he came up to + London himself as a young man with only his tragedy in his wallet. Shall I + ever be able to get mine played? Can you fancy the catcall music + beginning, and the pit hissing at that perilous part of the fourth act, + where my executioner comes out from the closet with his great sword, at + the awful moment when he is called upon to amputate? They say Mr. + Fielding, when the pit hissed at a part of one of his pieces, about which + Mr. Garrick had warned him, said, 'Hang them, they have found it out, have + they?' and finished his punch in tranquillity. I suppose his wife was not + in the boxes. There are some women to whom I would be very unwilling to + give pain, and there are some to whom I would give the best I have.'” + </p> + <p> + “Whom can he mean? The letter is to you, my dear. I protest he is making + love to your mother before my face!” cries papa to Hetty, who only gives a + little sigh, puts her hand in her father's hand, and then withdraws it. + </p> + <p> + “'To whom I would give the best I have. To-day it is only a bunch of + lilacs. To-morrow it may be what?—a branch of rue—a sprig of + bays, perhaps—anything, so it be my best and my all. + </p> + <p> + “'I have had a fine long day, and all to myself. What do you think of + Harry playing truant?'” (Here we may imagine, what they call in France, or + what they used to call, when men dared to speak or citizens to hear, + sensation dans l'auditoire.) + </p> + <p> + “'I suppose Carpezan wearied the poor fellow's existence out. Certain it + is he has been miserable for weeks past; and a change of air and scene may + do him good. This morning, quite early, he came to my room, and told me he + had taken a seat in the Portsmouth machine, and proposed to go to the Isle + of Wight, to the army there.'” + </p> + <p> + The army! Hetty looks very pale at this announcement, and her mother + continues: + </p> + <p> + “'And a little portion of it, namely, the thirty-second regiment, is + commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Richmond Webb—the nephew of the + famous old General under whom my grandfather Esmond served in the great + wars of Marlborough. Mr. Webb met us at our uncle's, accosting us very + politely, and giving us an invitation to visit him at his regiment. Let my + poor brother go and listen to his darling music of fife and drum! He bade + me tell the ladies that they should hear from him. I kiss their hands, and + go to dress for dinner, at the Star and Garter, in Pall Mall. We are to + have Mr. Soame Jenyns, Mr. Cambridge, Mr. Walpole, possibly, if he is not + too fine to dine in a tavern; a young Irishman, a Mr. Bourke, who they say + is a wonder of eloquence and learning—in fine, all the wits of Mr. + Dodsley's shop. Quick, Gumbo, a coach, and my French grey suit! And if + gentlemen ask me, 'Who gave you that sprig of lilac you wear on your + heart-side?' I shall call a bumper, and give Lilac for a toast.'” + </p> + <p> + I fear there is no more rest for Hetty on this night than on the previous + one, when she had behaved so mutinously to poor Harry Warrington. Some + secret resolution must have inspired that gentleman, for, after leaving + Mr. Lambert's table, he paced the streets for a while, and appeared at a + late hour in the evening at Madame de Bernstein's house in Clarges Street. + Her ladyship's health had been somewhat ailing of late, so that even her + favourite routs were denied her, and she was sitting over a quiet game of + ecarte, with a divine of whom our last news were from a lock-up house hard + by that in which Harry Warrington had been himself confined. George, at + Harry's request, had paid the little debt under which Mr. Sampson had + suffered temporarily. He had been at his living for a year. He may have + paid and contracted ever so many debts, have been in and out of jail many + times since we saw him. For some time past he had been back in London + stout and hearty as usual, and ready for any invitation to cards or + claret. Madame de Bernstein did not care to have her game interrupted by + her nephew, whose conversation had little interest now for the fickle old + woman. Next to the very young, I suppose the very old are the most + selfish. Alas, the heart hardens as the blood ceases to run. The cold snow + strikes down from the head, and checks the glow of feeling. Who wants to + survive into old age after abdicating all his faculties one by one, and be + sans teeth, sans eyes, sans memory, sans hope, sans sympathy? How fared it + with those patriarchs of old who lived for their nine centuries, and when + were life's conditions so changed that, after threescore years and ten, it + became but a vexation and a burden? + </p> + <p> + Getting no reply but Yes and No to his brief speeches, poor Harry sat a + while on a couch opposite his aunt, who shrugged her shoulders, had her + back to her nephew, and continued her game with the chaplain. Sampson sat + opposite Mr. Warrington, and could see that something disturbed him. His + face was very pale, and his countenance disturbed and full of gloom. + “Something has happened to him, ma'am,” he whispered to the Baroness. + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” She shrugged her shoulders again, and continued to deal her cards. + “What is the matter with you, sir,” she at last said, at a pause in the + game, “that you have such a dismal countenance? Chaplain, that last game + makes us even, I think!” + </p> + <p> + Harry got up from his place. “I am going on a journey: I am come to bid + you good-bye, aunt,” he said, in a very tragical voice. + </p> + <p> + “On a journey! Are you going home to America? I mark the king, Chaplain, + and play him.” + </p> + <p> + No, Harry said: he was not going to America yet going to the Isle of Wight + for the present. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed!—a lovely spot!” says the Baroness. “Bon jour, mon ami, et + bon voyage!” And she kissed a hand to her nephew. + </p> + <p> + “I mayn't come back for some time, aunt,” he groaned out. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed! We shall be inconsolable without you! Unless you have a spade, + Mr. Sampson, the game is mine. Good-bye, my child! No more about your + journey at present: tell us about it when you come back!” And she gaily + bade him farewell. He looked for a moment piteously at her, and was gone. + </p> + <p> + “Something grave has happened, madam,” says the chaplain. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! The boy is always getting into scrapes! I suppose he has been falling + in love with one of those country girls—what are their names, + Lamberts?—with whom he is ever dawdling about. He has been doing no + good here for some time. I am disappointed in him, really quite grieved + about him—I will take two cards, if you please—again?—quite + grieved. What do you think they say of his cousin—the Miss + Warrington who made eyes at him when she thought he was a prize—they + say the King has remarked her, and the Yarmouth is creving with rage. He, + be!—those methodistical Warringtons! They are not a bit less worldly + than their neighbours; and, old as he is, if the Grand Seignior throws his + pocket-handkerchief, they will jump to catch it!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, madam; how your ladyship knows the world!” sighs the chaplain. “I + propose, if you please!” + </p> + <p> + “I have lived long enough in it, Mr. Sampson, to know something of it. + 'Tis sadly selfish, my dear sir, sadly selfish; and everybody is + struggling to pass his neighbour! No, I can't give you any more cards. You + haven't the king? I play queen, knave, and a ten,—a sadly selfish + world, indeed. And here comes my chocolate!” + </p> + <p> + The more immediate interest of the cards entirely absorbs the old woman. + The door shuts out her nephew and his cares. Under his hat, he bears them + into the street, and paces the dark town for a while. + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” he thinks, “what a miserable fellow I am, and what a + spendthrift of my life I have been! I sit silent with George and his + friends. I am not clever and witty as he is. I am only a burthen to him; + and, if I would help him ever so much, don't know how. My dear Aunt + Lambert's kindness never tires, but I begin to be ashamed of trying it. + Why, even Hetty can't help turning on me; and when she tells me I am idle + and should be doing something, ought I to be angry? The rest have left me. + There's my cousins and uncle and my lady my aunt, they have shown me the + cold shoulder this long time. They didn't even ask me to Norfolk when they + went down to the country, and offer me so much as a day's + partridge-shooting. I can't go to Castlewood—after what has + happened; I should break that scoundrel William's bones; and, faith, am + well out of the place altogether.” + </p> + <p> + He laughs a fierce laugh as he recalls his adventures since he has been in + Europe. Money, friends, pleasure, all have passed away, and he feels the + past like a dream. He strolls into White's Chocolate-House, where the + waiters have scarce seen him for a year. The parliament is up. Gentlemen + are away; there is not even any play going on:—not that he would + join it, if there were. + </p> + <p> + He has but a few pieces in his pocket; George's drawer is open, and he may + take what money he likes thence; but very, very sparingly will he avail + himself of his brother's repeated invitation. He sits and drinks his glass + in moody silence. Two or three officers of the Guards enter from St. + James's. He knew them in former days, and the young men, who have been + already dining and drinking on guard, insist on more drink at the club. + The other battalion of their regiment is at Winchester: it is going on + this great expedition, no one knows whither, which everybody is talking + about. Cursed fate that they do not belong to the other battalion; and + must stay and do duty in London and at Kensington! There is Webb, who was + of their regiment: he did well to exchange his company in the Coldstreams + for the lieutenant-colonelcy of the thirty-second. He will be of the + expedition. Why, everybody is going; and the young gentlemen mention a + score of names of men of the first birth and fashion who have volunteered. + “It ain't Hanoverians this time, commanded by the big Prince,” says one + young gentleman (whose relatives may have been Tories forty years ago)—“it's + Englishmen, with the Guards at the head of 'em, and a Marlborough for a + leader! Will the Frenchmen ever stand against them? No, by George, they + are irresistible.” And a fresh bowl is called, and loud toasts are drunk + to the success of the expedition. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington, who is a cup too low, the young Guardsmen say, walks away + when they are not steady enough to be able to follow him, thinks over the + matter on his way to his lodgings, and lies thinking of it all through the + night. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, my boy?” asks George Warrington of his brother, when the + latter enters his chamber very early on a blushing May morning. + </p> + <p> + “I want a little money out of the drawer,” says Harry, looking at his + brother. “I am sick and tired of London.” + </p> + <p> + “Good heavens! Can anybody be tired of London?” George asks, who has + reasons for thinking it the most delightful place in the world. + </p> + <p> + “I am for one. I am sick and ill,” says Harry. + </p> + <p> + “You and Hetty have been quarrelling?” + </p> + <p> + “She don't care a penny-piece about me, nor I for her neither,” says + Harry, nodding his head. “But I am ill, and a little country air will do + me good,” and he mentions how he thinks of going to visit Mr. Webb in the + Isle of Wight, and how a Portsmouth coach starts from Holborn. + </p> + <p> + “There's the till, Harry,” says George, pointing from his bed. “Put your + hand in, and take what you will. What a lovely morning, and how fresh the + Bedford House garden looks!” + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, brother!” Harry says. + </p> + <p> + “Have a good time, Harry!” and down goes George's head on the pillow + again, and he takes his pencil and notebook from under his bolster, and + falls to polishing his verses, as Harry, with his cloak over his shoulder + and a little valise in his hand, walks to the inn in Holborn whence the + Portsmouth machine starts. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0063" id="link2HCH0063"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXIII. Melpomene + </h2> + <p> + George Warrington by no means allowed his legal studies to obstruct his + comfort and pleasures, or interfere with his precious health. Madam Esmond + had pointed out to him in her letters that though he wore a student's + gown, and sate down with a crowd of nameless people to hall-commons, he + had himself a name, and a very ancient one, to support, and could take + rank with the first persons at home or in his own country; and desired + that he would study as a gentleman, not a mere professional drudge. With + this injunction the young man complied obediently enough: so that he may + be said not to have belonged to the rank and file of the law, but may be + considered to have been a volunteer in her service, like some young + gentlemen of whom we have just heard. Though not so exacting as she since + has become—though she allowed her disciples much more leisure, much + more pleasure, much more punch, much more frequenting of coffee-houses and + holiday-making, than she admits nowadays, when she scarce gives her + votaries time for amusement, recreation, instruction, sleep, or dinner—the + law a hundred years ago was still a jealous mistress, and demanded a + pretty exclusive attention. Murray, we are told, might have been an Ovid, + but he preferred to be Lord Chief Justice, and to wear ermine instead of + bays. Perhaps Mr. Warrington might have risen to a peerage and the + woolsack, had he studied very long and assiduously,—had he been a + dexterous courtier, and a favourite of attorneys: had he been other than + he was, in a word. He behaved to Themis with a very decent respect and + attention; but he loved letters more than law always; and the black-letter + of Chaucer was infinitely more agreeable to him than the Gothic pages of + Hale and Coke. + </p> + <p> + Letters were loved indeed in those quaint times, and authors were actually + authorities. Gentlemen appealed to Virgil or Lucan in the Courts or the + House of Commons. What said Statius, Juvenal—let alone Tully or + Tacitus—on such and such a point? Their reign is over now, the good + old Heathens: the worship of Jupiter and Juno is not more out of mode than + the cultivation of Pagan poetry or ethics. The age of economists and + calculators has succeeded, and Tooke's Pantheon is deserted and + ridiculous. Now and then, perhaps, a Stanley kills a kid, a Gladstone + bangs up a wreath, a Lytton burns incense, in honour of the Olympians. But + what do they care at Lambeth, Birmingham, the Tower Hamlets, for the + ancient rites, divinities, worship? Who the plague are the Muses, and what + is the use of all that Greek and Latin rubbish? What is Elicon, and who + cares? Who was Thalia, pray, and what is the length of her i? Is + Melpomene's name in three syllables or four? And do you know from whose + design I stole that figure of Tragedy which adorns the initial G of this + chapter? + </p> + <p> + Now, it has been said how Mr. George in his youth, and in the long leisure + which he enjoyed at home, and during his imprisonment in the French fort + on the banks of Monongahela, had whiled away his idleness by paying court + to Melpomene; and the result of their union was a tragedy, which has been + omitted in Bell's Theatre, though I dare say it is no worse than some of + the pieces printed there. Most young men pay their respects to the Tragic + Muse first, as they fall in love with women who are a great deal older + than themselves. Let the candid reader own, if ever he had a literary + turn, that his ambition was of the very highest, and that however, in his + riper age, he might come down in his pretensions, and think that to + translate an ode of Horace, or to turn a song of Waller or Prior into + decent alcaics or sapphics, was about the utmost of his capability, + tragedy and epic only did his green unknowing youth engage, and no prize + but the highest was fit for him. + </p> + <p> + George Warrington, then, on coming to London, attended the theatrical + performances at both houses, frequented the theatrical coffee-houses, and + heard the opinions of the critics, and might be seen at the Bedford + between the plays, or supping at the Cecil along with the wits and actors + when the performances were over. Here he gradually became acquainted with + the players and such of the writers and poets as were known to the public. + The tough old Macklin, the frolicsome Foote, the vivacious Hippisley, the + sprightly Mr. Garrick himself, might occasionally be seen at these houses + of entertainment; and our gentleman, by his wit and modesty, as well, + perhaps, as for the high character for wealth which he possessed, came to + be very much liked in the coffee-house circles, and found that the actors + would drink a bowl of punch with him, and the critics sup at his expense + with great affability. To be on terms of intimacy with an author or an + actor has been an object of delight to many a young man; actually to hob + and nob with Bobadil or Henry the Fifth or Alexander the Great, to accept + a pinch out of Aristarchus's own box, to put Juliet into her coach, or + hand Monimia to her chair, are privileges which would delight most young + men of a poetic turn; and no wonder George Warrington loved the theatre. + Then he had the satisfaction of thinking that his mother only half + approved of plays and playhouses, and of feasting on fruit forbidden at + home. He gave more than one elegant entertainment to the players, and it + was even said that one or two distinguished geniuses had condescended to + borrow money of him. + </p> + <p> + And as he polished and added new beauties to his masterpiece, we may be + sure that he took advice of certain friends of his, and that they gave him + applause and counsel. Mr. Spencer, his new acquaintance, of the Temple, + gave a breakfast at his chambers in Fig Tree Court, when Mr. Warrington + read part of his play, and the gentlemen present pronounced that it had + uncommon merit. Even the learned Mr. Johnson, who was invited, was good + enough to say that the piece had showed talent. It warred against the + unities, to be sure; but these had been violated by other authors, and Mr. + Warrington might sacrifice them as well as another. There was in Mr. W.'s + tragedy a something which reminded him both of Coriolanus and Othello. + “And two very good things too, sir!” the author pleaded. “Well, well, + there was no doubt on that point; and 'tis certain your catastrophe is + terrible, just, and being in part true, is not the less awful,” remarks + Mr. Spencer. + </p> + <p> + Now the plot of Mr. Warrington's tragedy was quite full indeed of battle + and murder. A favourite book of his grandfather had been the life of old + George Frundsberg of Mindelheim, a colonel of foot-folk in the Imperial + service at Pavia fight, and during the wars of the Constable Bourbon: and + one of Frundsberg's military companions was a certain Carpzow, or + Carpezan, whom our friend selected as his tragedy hero. His first act, as + it at present stands in Sir George Warrington's manuscript, is supposed to + take place before a convent on the Rhine, which the Lutherans, under + Carpezan, are besieging. A godless gang these Lutherans are. They have + pulled the beards of Roman friars, and torn the veils of hundreds of + religious women. A score of these are trembling within the walls of the + convent yonder, of which the garrison, unless the expected succours arrive + before midday, has promised to surrender. Meanwhile there is armistice, + and the sentries within look on with hungry eyes, as the soldiers and camp + people gamble on the grass before the gate. Twelve o'clock, ding, ding, + dong! it sounds upon the convent bell. No succours have arrived. Open + gates, warder! and give admission to the famous Protestant hero, the + terror of Turks on the Danube, and Papists in the Lombard plains—Colonel + Carpezan! See, here he comes, clad in complete steel, his hammer of battle + over his shoulder, with which he has battered so many infidel sconces, his + flags displayed, his trumpets blowing. “No rudeness, my men,” says + Carpezan; “the wine is yours, and the convent larder and cellar are good: + the church plate shall be melted: any of the garrison who choose to take + service with Gaspar Carpezan are welcome, and shall have good pay. No + insult to the religious ladies! I have promised them a safe-conduct, and + he who lays a finger on them, hangs! Mind that Provost Marshal!” The + Provost Marshal, a huge fellow in a red doublet, nods his head. + </p> + <p> + “We shall see more of that Provost Marshal, or executioner,” Mr. Spencer + explains to his guests. + </p> + <p> + “A very agreeable acquaintance, I am sure,—shall be delighted to + meet the gentleman again!” says Mr. Johnson, wagging his head over his + tea. “This scene of the mercenaries, the camp followers, and their wild + sports, is novel and stirring, Mr. Warrington, and I make you my + compliments on it. The Colonel has gone into the convent, I think? Now let + us hear what he is going to do there.” + </p> + <p> + The Abbess, and one or two of her oldest ladies, make their appearance + before the conqueror. Conqueror as he is, they heard him in their sacred + halls. They have heard of his violent behaviour in conventual + establishments before. That hammer, which he always carries in action, has + smashed many sacred images in religious houses. Pounds and pounds of + convent plate is he known to have melted, the sacrilegious plunderer! No + wonder the Abbess-Princess of St. Mary's, a lady of violent prejudices, + free language, and noble birth, has a dislike to the lowborn heretic who + lords it in her convent, and tells Carpezan a bit of her mind, as the + phrase is. This scene, in which the lady gets somewhat better of the + Colonel, was liked not a little by Mr. Warrington's audience at the + Temple. Terrible as he might be in war, Carpezan was shaken at first by + the Abbess's brisk opening charge of words; and, conqueror as he was, + seemed at first to be conquered by his actual prisoner. But such an old + soldier was not to be beaten ultimately by any woman. “Pray, madam,” says + he, “how many ladies are there in your convent, for whom my people shall + provide conveyance?” The Abbess, with a look of much trouble and anger, + says that, “besides herself, the noble sisters of Saint Mary's House are + twenty—twenty-three.” She was going to say twenty-four, and now says + twenty-three? “Ha! why this hesitation?” asks Captain Ulric, one of + Carpezan's gayest officers. + </p> + <p> + The dark chief pulls a letter from his pocket. “I require from you, + madam,” he says sternly to the Lady Abbess, “the body of the noble lady + Sybilla of Hoya. Her brother was my favourite captain, slain by my side, + in the Milanese. By his death, she becomes heiress of his lands. 'Tis said + a greedy uncle brought her hither; and fast immured the lady against her + will. The damsel shall herself pronounce her fate—to stay a + cloistered sister of Saint Mary's, or to return to home and liberty, as + Lady Sybil, Baroness of ———.” Ha! The Abbess was greatly + disturbed by this question. She says, haughtily: “There is no Lady Sybil + in this house: of which every inmate is under your protection, and sworn + to go free. The Sister Agnes was a nun professed, and what was her land + and wealth revert to this Order.” + </p> + <p> + “Give me straightway the body of the Lady Sybil of Hoya!” roars Carpezan, + in great wrath. “If not, I make a signal to my Reiters, and give you and + your convent up to war.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, if I lead the storm, and have my right, 'tis not my Lady Abbess + that I'll choose,” says Captain Ulric, “but rather some plump, smiling, + red-lipped maid like—like——” Here, as he, the sly + fellow, is looking under the veils of the two attendant nuns, the stern + Abbess cries, “Silence, fellow, with thy ribald talk! The lady, warrior, + whom you ask of me is passed away from sin, temptation, vanity, and three + days since our Sister Agnes—died.” + </p> + <p> + At this announcement Carpezan is immensely agitated. The Abbess calls upon + the chaplain to confirm her statement. Ghastly and pale, the old man has + to own that three days since the wretched Sister Agnes was buried. + </p> + <p> + This is too much! In the pocket of his coat of mail Carpezan has a letter + from Sister Agnes herself, in which she announces that she is going to be + buried indeed, but in an oubliette of the convent, where she may either be + kept on water and bread, or die starved outright. He seizes the + unflinching Abbess by the arm, whilst Captain Ulric lays hold of the + chaplain by the throat. The Colonel blows a blast upon his horn: in rush + his furious Lanzknechts from without. Crash, bang! They knock the convent + walls about. And in the midst of flames, screams, and slaughter, who is + presently brought in by Carpezan himself, and fainting on his shoulder, + but Sybilla herself? A little sister nun (that gay one with the red lips) + had pointed out to the Colonel and Ulric the way to Sister Agnes's + dungeon, and, indeed, had been the means of making her situation known to + the Lutheran chief. + </p> + <p> + “The convent is suppressed with a vengeance,” says Mr. Warrington. “We end + our first act with the burning of the place, the roars of triumph of the + soldiery, and the outcries of the nuns. They had best go change their + dresses immediately, for they will have to be court ladies in the next act—as + you will see.” Here the gentlemen talked the matter over. If the piece + were to be done at Drury Lane, Mrs. Pritchard would hardly like to be Lady + Abbess, as she doth but appear in the first act. Miss Pritchard might make + a pretty Sybilla, and Miss Gates the attendant nun. Mr. Garrick was scarce + tall enough for Carpezan—though, when he is excited, nobody ever + thinks of him but as big as a grenadier. Mr. Johnson owns Woodward will be + a good Ulric, as he plays the Mercutio parts very gaily; and so, by one + and t'other, the audience fancies the play already on the boards, and + casts the characters. + </p> + <p> + In act the second, Carpezan has married Sybilla. He has enriched himself + in the wars, has been ennobled by the Emperor, and lives at his castle on + the Danube in state and splendour. + </p> + <p> + But, truth to say, though married, rich, and ennobled, the Lord Carpezan + was not happy. It may be that in his wild life, as leader of condottieri + on both sides, he had committed crimes which agitated his mind with + remorse. It may be that his rough soldier-manners consorted ill with his + imperious highborn bride. She led him such a life—I am narrating as + it were the Warrington manuscript, which is too long to print in entire—taunting + him with his low birth, his vulgar companions, whom the old soldier loved + to see about him, and so forth—that there were times when he rather + wished that he had never rescued this lovely, quarrelsome, wayward vixen + from the oubliette out of which he fished her. After the bustle of the + first act this is a quiet one, and passed chiefly in quarrelling between + the Baron and Baroness Carpezan, until horns blow, and it is announced + that the young King of Bohemia and Hungary is coming bunting that way. + </p> + <p> + Act III. is passed at Prague, whither his Majesty has invited Lord + Carpezan and his wife, with noble offers of preferment to the latter. From + Baron he shall be promoted to be Count, from Colonel he shall be + General-in-Chief. His wife is the most brilliant and fascinating of all + the ladies of the court—and as for Carpzoff—— + </p> + <p> + “Oh, stay—I have it—I know your story, sir, now,” says Mr. + Johnson. “'Tis in 'Meteranus,' in the Theatrum Universum. I read it in + Oxford as a boy—Carpezanus or Carpzoff——” + </p> + <p> + “That is the fourth act,” says Mr. Warrington. In the fourth act the young + King's attentions towards Sybilla grow more and more marked; but her + husband, battling against his jealousy, long refuses to yield to it, until + his wife's criminality is put beyond a doubt—and here he read the + act, which closes with the terrible tragedy which actually happened. Being + convinced of his wife's guilt, Carpezan caused the executioner who + followed his regiment to slay her in her own palace. And the curtain of + the act falls just after the dreadful deed is done, in a side-chamber + illuminated by the moon shining through a great oriel window, under which + the King comes with his lute, and plays the song which was to be the + signal between him and his guilty victim. + </p> + <p> + This song (writ in the ancient style, and repeated in the piece, being + sung in the third act previously at a great festival given by the King and + Queen) was pronounced by Mr. Johnson to be a happy imitation of Mr. + Waller's manner, and its gay repetition at the moment of guilt, murder, + and horror, very much deepened the tragic gloom of the scene. + </p> + <p> + “But whatever came afterwards?” he asked. “I remember in the Theatrum, + Carpezan is said to have been taken into favour again by Count Mansfield, + and doubtless to have murdered other folks on the reformed side.” + </p> + <p> + Here our poet has departed from historic truth. In the fifth act of + Carpezan King Louis of Hungary and Bohemia (sufficiently terror-stricken, + no doubt, by the sanguinary termination of his intrigue) has received word + that the Emperor Solyman is invading his Hungarian dominions. Enter two + noblemen who relate how, in the council which the King held upon the news, + the injured Carpezan rushed infuriated into the royal presence, broke his + sword, and flung it at the King's feet—along with a glove which he + dared him to wear, and which he swore he would one day claim. After that + wild challenge the rebel fled from Prague, and had not since been heard + of; but it was reported that he had joined the Turkish invader, assumed + the turban, and was now in the camp of the Sultan, whose white tents + glance across the river yonder, and against whom the King was now on his + march. Then the King comes to his tent with his generals, prepares his + order of battle; and dismisses them to their posts, keeping by his side an + aged and faithful knight, his master of the horse, to whom he expresses + his repentance for his past crimes, his esteem for his good and injured + Queen, and his determination to meet the day's battle like a man. + </p> + <p> + “What is this field called?” + </p> + <p> + “Mohacz, my liege!” says the old warrior, adding the remark that “Ere set + of sun, Mohacz will see a battle bravely won.” + </p> + <p> + Trumpets and alarms now sound; they are the cymbals and barbaric music of + the Janissaries: we are in the Turkish camp, and yonder, surrounded by + turbaned chiefs, walks the Sultan Solyman's friend, the conqueror of + Rhodes, the redoubted Grand Vizier. + </p> + <p> + Who is that warrior in an Eastern habit, but with a glove in his cap? 'Tis + Carpezan. Even Solyman knew his courage and ferocity as a soldier. He + knows; the ordnance of the Hungarian host; in what arms King Louis is + weakest: how his cavalry, of which the shock is tremendous, should be + received, and inveigled into yonder morass, where certain death may await + them—he prays for a command in the front, and as near as possible to + the place where the traitor King Louis will engage. “'Tis well,” says the + grim Vizier, “our invincible Emperor surveys the battle from yonder tower. + At the end of the day, he will know how to reward your valour.” The + signal-guns fire—the trumpets blow—the Turkish captains + retire, vowing death to the infidel, and eternal fidelity to the Sultan. + </p> + <p> + And now the battle begins in earnest, and with those various incidents + which the lover of the theatre knoweth. Christian knights and Turkish + warriors clash and skirmish over the stage. Continued alarms are sounded. + Troops on both sides advance and retreat. Carpezan, with his glove in his + cap, and his dreadful hammer smashing all before him, rages about the + field, calling for King Louis. The renegade is about to slay a warrior who + faces him, but recognising young Ulric, his ex-captain, he drops the + uplifted hammer, and bids him fly, and think of Carpezan. He is softened + at seeing his young friend, and thinking of former times when they fought + and conquered together in the cause of Protestantism. Ulric bids him to + return, but of course that is now out of the question. They fight. Ulric + will have it, and down he goes under the hammer. The renegade melts in + sight of his wounded comrade, when who appears but King Louis, his plumes + torn, his sword hacked, his shield dented with a thousand blows which he + has received and delivered during the day's battle. Ha! who is this? The + guilty monarch would turn away (perhaps Macbeth may have done so before), + but Carpezan is on him. All his softness is gone. He rages like a fury. + “An equal fight!” he roars. “A traitor against a traitor! Stand, King + Louis! False King, false knight, false friend—by this glove in my + helmet, I challenge you!” And he tears the guilty token out of his cap, + and flings it at the King. + </p> + <p> + Of course they set to, and the monarch falls under the terrible arm of the + man whom he has injured. He dies, uttering a few incoherent words of + repentance, and Carpezan, leaning upon his murderous mace, utters a + heartbroken soliloquy over the royal corpse. The Turkish warriors have + gathered meanwhile: the dreadful day is their own. Yonder stands the dark + Vizier, surrounded by his Janissaries, whose bows and swords are tired of + drinking death. He surveys the renegade standing over the corpse of the + King. + </p> + <p> + “Christian renegade!” he says, “Allah has given us a great victory. The + arms of the Sublime Emperor are everywhere triumphant. The Christian King + is slain by you.” + </p> + <p> + “Peace to his soul! He died like a good knight,” gasps Ulric, himself + dying on the field. + </p> + <p> + “In this day's battle,” the grim Vizier continues, “no man hath comported + himself more bravely than you. You are made Bassa of Transylvania! Advance + bowmen—Fire!” + </p> + <p> + An arrow quivers in the breast of Carpezan. + </p> + <p> + “Bassa of Transylvania, you were a traitor to your King, who lies murdered + by your hand!” continues grim Vizier. “You contributed more than any + soldier to this day's great victory. 'Tis thus my sublime Emperor meetly + rewards you. Sound trumpets! We march for Vienna to-night!” + </p> + <p> + And the curtain drops as Carpezan, crawling towards his dying comrade, + kisses his hands, and gasps— + </p> + <p> + “Forgive me, Ulric!” + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Warrington has finished reading his tragedy, he turns round to + Mr. Johnson, modestly, and asks,— + </p> + <p> + “What say you, sir? Is there any chance for me?” + </p> + <p> + But the opinion of this most eminent critic is scarce to be given, for Mr. + Johnson had been asleep for some time, and frankly owned that he had lost + the latter part of the play. + </p> + <p> + The little auditory begins to hum and stir as the noise of the speaker + ceased. George may have been very nervous when he first commenced to read; + but everybody allows that he read the last two acts uncommonly well, and + makes him a compliment upon his matter and manner. Perhaps everybody is in + good-humour because the piece has come to an end. Mr. Spencer's servant + hands about refreshing drinks. The Templars speak out their various + opinions whilst they sip the negus. They are a choice band of critics, + familiar with the pit of the theatre, and they treat Mr. Warrington's play + with the gravity which such a subject demands. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Fountain suggests that the Vizier should not say “Fire!” when he bids + the archers kill Carpezan, as you certainly don't fire with a bow and + arrows. A note is taken of the objection. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Figtree, who is of a sentimental turn, regrets that Ulric could not be + saved, and married to the comic heroine. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, there was an utter annihilation of the Hungarian army at + Mohacz,” says Mr. Johnson, “and Ulric must take his knock on the head with + the rest. He could only be saved by flight, and you wouldn't have a hero + run away! Pronounce sentence of death against Captain Ulric, but kill him + with honours of war.” + </p> + <p> + Messrs. Essex and Tanfield wonder to one another who is this queer-looking + pert whom Spencer has invited, and who contradicts everybody; and suggest + a boat up the river and a little fresh air after the fatigues of the + tragedy. + </p> + <p> + The general opinion is decidedly favourable to Mr. Warrington's + performance; and Mr. Johnson's opinion, on which he sets a special value, + is the most favourable of all. Perhaps Mr. Johnson is not sorry to + compliment a young gentleman of fashion and figure like Mr. W. “Up to the + death of the heroine,” he says, “I am frankly with you, sir. And I may + speak, as a playwright who have killed my own heroine, and had my share of + the plausus in the atro. To hear your own lines nobly delivered to an + applauding house, is indeed a noble excitement. I like to see a young man + of good name and lineage who condescends to think that the Tragic Muse is + not below his advances. It was to a sordid roof that I invited her, and I + asked her to rescue me from poverty and squalor. Happy you, sir, who can + meet her upon equal terms, and can afford to marry her without a portion!” + </p> + <p> + “I doubt whether the greatest genius is not debased who has to make a + bargain with Poetry,” remarks Mr. Spencer. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir,” Mr. Johnson answered, “I doubt if many a great genius would + work at all without bribes and necessities; and so a man had better marry + a poor Muse for good and all, for better or worse, than dally with a rich + one. I make you my compliment to your play, Mr. Warrington, and if you + want an introduction to the stage, shall be very happy if I can induce my + friend Mr. Garrick to present you.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Garrick shall be his sponsor,” cried the florid Mr. Figtree. + “Melpomene shall be his godmother, and he shall have the witches' caldron + in Macbeth for a christening font.” + </p> + <p> + “Sir, I neither said font nor godmother!”—remarks the man of + letters. “I would have no play contrary to morals or religion nor, as I + conceive, is Mr. Warrington's piece otherwise than friendly to them. Vice + is chastised, as it should be, even in kings, though perhaps we judge of + their temptations too lightly. Revenge is punished—as not to be + lightly exercised by our limited notion of justice. It may have been + Carpezan's wife who perverted the King, and not the King who led the woman + astray. At any rate, Louis is rightly humiliated for his crime, and the + Renegade most justly executed for his. I wish you a good afternoon, + gentlemen!” And with these remarks, the great author took his leave of the + company. + </p> + <p> + Towards the close of the reading, General Lambert had made his appearance + at Mr. Spencer's chambers, and had listened to the latter part of the + tragedy. The performance over, he and George took their way to the + latter's lodgings in the first place, and subsequently to the General's + own house, where the young author was expected, in order to recount the + reception which his play had met from his Temple critics. + </p> + <p> + At Mr. Warrington's apartments in Southampton Row, they found a letter + awaiting George, which the latter placed in his pocket unread, so that he + might proceed immediately with his companion to Soho. We may be sure the + ladies there were eager to know about the Carpezan's fate in the morning's + small rehearsal. + </p> + <p> + Hetty said George was so shy, that perhaps it would be better for all + parties if some other person had read the play. Theo, on the contrary, + cried out: + </p> + <p> + “Read it, indeed! Who can read a poem better than the author who feels it + in his heart? And George had his whole heart in the piece!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lambert very likely thought that somebody else's whole heart was in + the piece too, but did not utter this opinion to Miss Theo. + </p> + <p> + “I think Harry would look very well in your figure of a Prince,” says the + General. “That scene where he takes leave of his wife before departing for + the wars reminds me of your brother's manner not a little.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, papa! surely Mr. Warrington himself would act the Prince's part + best!” cries Miss Theo. + </p> + <p> + “And be deservedly slain in battle at the end?” asks the father of the + house. + </p> + <p> + “I did not say that,—only that Mr. George would make a very good + Prince, papa!” cries Miss Theo. + </p> + <p> + “In which case he would find a suitable Princess, I have no doubt. What + news of your brother Harry?” + </p> + <p> + George, who had been thinking about theatrical triumphs; about monumentum + aere perennius; about lilacs; about love whispered and tenderly accepted, + remembers that he has a letter from Harry in his pocket, and gaily + produces it. + </p> + <p> + “Let us hear what Mr. Truant says for himself, Aunt Lambert!” cries + George, breaking the seal. + </p> + <p> + Why is he so disturbed, as he reads the contents of his letter? Why do the + women look at him with alarmed eyes? And why, above all, is Hetty so pale? + </p> + <p> + “Here is the letter,” says George, and begins to read it: + </p> + <p> + “RYDE, June 1, 1758. + </p> + <p> + “I did not tell my dearest George what I hoped and intended, when I left + home on Wednesday. 'Twas to see Mr. Webb at Portsmouth or the Isle of + Wight, wherever his Regiment was, and if need was to go down on my knees + to him to take me as volunteer on the Expedition. I took boat from + Portsmouth, where I learned that he was with our regiment incampt at the + village of Ryde. Was received by him most kindly, and my petition granted + out of hand. That is why I say our regiment. We are eight gentlemen + volunteers with Mr. Webb, all men of birth, and good fortunes except poor + me, who don't deserve one. We are to mess with the officers; we take the + right of the collumn, and have always the right to be in front, and in an + hour we embark on board his Majesty's Ship the Rochester of 60 guns, while + our Commodore's, Mr. Howe's, is the Essex, 70. His squadron is about 20 + ships, and I should think 100 transports at least. Though 'tis a secret + expedition, we make no doubt France is our destination—where I hope + to see my friends the Monsieurs once more, and win my colours, a la point + de mon epee, as we used to say in Canada. Perhaps my service as + interpreter may be useful; I speaking the language not so well as some one + I know, but better than most here. + </p> + <p> + “I scarce venture to write to our mother to tell her of this step. Will + you, who have a coxing tongue will wheadle any one, write to her as soon + as you have finisht the famous tradgedy? Will you give my affectionate + respects to dear General Lambert and ladies? and if any accident should + happen, I know you will take care of poor Gumbo as belonging to my dearest + best George's most affectionate brother, HENRY E. WARRINGTON. + </p> + <p> + “P.S.—Love to all at home when you write, including Dempster, + Mountain, and Fanny M. and all the people, and duty to my honoured mother, + wishing I had pleased her better. And if I said anything unkind to dear + Miss Hester Lambert, I know she will forgive me, and pray God bless all.—H. + E. W.” + </p> + <p> + “To G. Esmond Warrington, Esq., at Mr. Scrace's House in Southampton Row, + Opposite Bedford House Gardens, London.” + </p> + <p> + He has not read the last words with a very steady voice. Mr. Lambert sits + silent, though not a little moved. Theo and her mother look at one + another; but Hetty remains with a cold face and a stricken heart. She + thinks, “He is gone to danger, perhaps to death, and it was I sent him!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0064" id="link2HCH0064"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXIV. In which Harry lives to fight another Day + </h2> + <p> + The trusty Gumbo could not console himself for the departure of his + beloved master: at least, to judge from his tears and howls on first + hearing the news of Mr. Harry's enlistment, you would have thought the + negro's heart must break at the separation. No wonder he went for sympathy + to the maid-servants at Mr. Lambert's lodgings. Wherever that dusky youth + was, he sought comfort in the society of females. Their fair and tender + bosoms knew how to feel pity for the poor African, and the darkness of + Gumbo's complexion was no more repulsive to them than Othello's to + Desdemona. I believe Europe has never been so squeamish in regard to + Africa, as a certain other respected Quarter. Nay, some Africans—witness + the Chevalier de St. Georges, for instance—have been notorious + favourites with the fair sex. + </p> + <p> + So, in his humbler walk, was Mr. Gumbo. The Lambert servants wept freely + in his company; the maids kindly considered him not only as Mr. Harry's + man, but their brother. Hetty could not help laughing when she found Gumbo + roaring because his master had gone a volumteer, as he called it, and had + not taken him. He was ready to save Master Harry's life any day, and would + have done it and had himself cut in twenty thousand hundred pieces for + Master Harry, that he would! Meanwhile, Nature must be supported, and he + condescended to fortify her by large supplies of beer and cold meat in the + kitchen. That he was greedy, idle, and told lies, is certain; but yet + Hetty gave him half a crown, and was especially kind to him. Her tongue, + that was wont to wag so pertly, was so gentle now, that you might fancy it + had never made a joke. She moved about the house mum and meek. She was + humble to mamma; thankful to John and Betty when they waited at dinner; + patient to Polly when the latter pulled her hair in combing it; + long-suffering when Charley from school trod on her toes, or deranged her + workbox; silent in papa's company,—oh, such a transmogrified little + Hetty! If papa had ordered her to roast the leg of mutton, or walk to + church arm-in-arm with Gumbo, she would have made a curtsey, and said, + “Yes, if you please, dear papa!” Leg of mutton! What sort of meal were + some poor volunteers having, with the cannon-balls flying about their + heads? Church! When it comes to the prayer in time of war, oh, how her + knees smite together as she kneels, and hides her head in the pew! She + holds down her head when the parson reads out, “Thou shalt do no murder,” + from the communion-rail, and fancies he must be looking at her. How she + thinks of all travellers by land or by water! How she sickens as she runs + to the paper to read if there is news of the Expedition! How she watches + papa when he comes home from his Ordnance Office, and looks in his face to + see if there is good news or bad! Is he well? Is he made a General yet? Is + he wounded and made a prisoner? ah me! or, perhaps, are both his legs + taken off by one shot, like that pensioner they saw in Chelsea Garden + t'other day? She would go on wooden legs all her life, if his can but + bring him safe home; at least, she ought never to get up off her knees + until he is returned. “Haven't you heard of people, Theo,” says she, + “whose hair has grown grey in a single night? I shouldn't wonder if mine + did,—shouldn't wonder in the least.” And she looks in the glass to + ascertain that phenomenon. + </p> + <p> + “Hetty dear, you used not to be so nervous when papa was away in Minorca,” + remarks Theo. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Theo! one may very well see that George is not with the army, but + safe at home,” rejoins Hetty; whereat the elder sister blushes, and looks + very pensive. Au fait, if Mr. George had been in the army, that, you see, + would have been another pair of boots. Meanwhile, we don't intend to + harrow anybody's kind feelings any longer, but may as well state that + Harry is, for the present, as safe as any officer of the Life Guards at + Regent's Park Barracks. + </p> + <p> + The first expedition in which our gallant volunteer was engaged may be + called successful, but certainly was not glorious. The British Lion, or + any other lion, cannot always have a worthy enemy to combat, or a + battle-royal to deliver. Suppose he goes forth in quest of a tiger who + won't come, and lays his paws on a goose, and gobbles him up? Lions, we + know, must live like any other animals. But suppose, advancing into the + forest in search of the tiger aforesaid, and bellowing his challenge of + war, he espies not one but six tigers coming towards him? This manifestly + is not his game at all. He puts his tail between his royal legs, and + retreats into his own snug den as quickly as he may. Were he to attempt to + go and fight six tigers, you might write that Lion down an Ass. + </p> + <p> + Now, Harry Warrington's first feat of war was in this wise. He and about + 13,000 other fighting men embarked in various ships and transports on the + 1st of June, from the Isle of Wight, and at daybreak on the 5th the fleet + stood in to the Bay of Cancale in Brittany. For a while he and the + gentlemen volunteers had the pleasure of examining the French coast from + their ships, whilst the Commander-in-Chief and the Commodore reconnoitred + the bay in a cutter. Cattle were seen, and some dragoons, who trotted off + into the distance; and a little fort with a couple of guns had the + audacity to fire at his Grace of Marlborough and the Commodore in the + cutter. By two o'clock the whole British fleet was at anchor, and signal + was made for all the grenadier companies of eleven regiments to embark on + board flat-bottomed boats and assemble round the Commodore's ship, the + Essex. Meanwhile, Mr. Howe, hoisting his broad pennant on board the + Success frigate, went in as near as possible to shore, followed by the + other frigates, to protect the landing of the troops; and, now, with Lord + George Sackville and General Dury in command, the gentlemen volunteers, + the grenadier companies, and three battalions of guards pulled to shore. + </p> + <p> + The gentlemen volunteers could not do any heroic deed upon this occasion, + because the French, who should have stayed to fight them, ran away, and + the frigates having silenced the fire of the little fort which had + disturbed the reconnaissance of the Commander-in-Chief, the army presently + assaulted it, taking the whole garrison prisoner, and shooting him in the + leg. Indeed, he was but one old gentleman, who gallantly had fired his two + guns, and who told his conquerors, “If every Frenchman had acted like me, + you would not have landed at Cancale at all.” + </p> + <p> + The advanced detachment of invaders took possession of the village of + Cancale, where they lay upon their arms all night; and our volunteer was + joked by his comrades about his eagerness to go out upon the war-path, and + bring in two or three scalps of Frenchmen. None such, however, fell under + his tomahawk; the only person slain on the whole day being a French + gentleman, who was riding with his servant, and was surprised by volunteer + Lord Downe, marching in the front with a company of Kingsley's. My Lord + Downe offered the gentleman quarter, which he foolishly refused, whereupon + he, his servant, and the two horses, were straightway shot. + </p> + <p> + Next day the whole force was landed, and advanced from Cancale to St. + Malo. All the villages were emptied through which the troops passed, and + the roads were so narrow in many places that the men had to march single + file, and might have been shot down from behind the tall leafy hedges had + there been any enemy to disturb them. + </p> + <p> + At nightfall the army arrived before St. Malo, and were saluted by a fire + of artillery from that town, which did little damage in the darkness. + Under cover of this, the British set fire to the ships, wooden buildings, + pitch and tar magazines in the harbour, and made a prodigious + conflagration that lasted the whole night. + </p> + <p> + This feat was achieved without any attempt on the part of the French to + molest the British force: but, as it was confidently asserted that there + was a considerable French force in the town of St. Malo, though they + wouldn't come out, his Grace the Duke of Marlborough and my Lord George + Sackville determined not to disturb the garrison, marched back to Cancale + again, and—and so got on board their ships. + </p> + <p> + If this were not a veracious history, don't you see that it would have + been easy to send our Virginian on a more glorious campaign? Exactly four + weeks after his departure from England, Mr. Warrington found himself at + Portsmouth again, and addressed a letter to his brother George, with which + the latter ran off to Dean Street so soon as ever he received it. + </p> + <p> + “Glorious news, ladies!” cries he, finding the Lambert family all at + breakfast. “Our champion has come back. He has undergone all sorts of + dangers, but has survived them all. He has seen dragons—upon my + word, he says so.” + </p> + <p> + “Dragons! What do you mean, Mr. Warrington?” + </p> + <p> + “But not killed any—he says so, as you shall hear. He writes: + </p> + <p> + “'DEAREST BROTHER—I think you will be glad to hear that I am + returned, without any commission as yet; without any wounds or glory; but,—at + any rate, alive and harty. On board our ship, we were almost as crowded as + poor Mr. Holwell and his friends in their Black Hole at Calicutta. We had + rough weather, and some of the gentlemen volunteers, who prefer smooth + water, grumbled not a little. My gentlemen's stomachs are dainty; and + after Braund's cookery and White's kick-shaws, they don't like plain + sailor's rum and bisket. But I, who have been at sea before, took my + rations and can of flip very contentedly: being determined to put a good + face on everything before our fine English macaronis, and show that a + Virginia gentleman is as good as the best of 'em. I wish, for the honour + of old Virginia, that I had more to brag about. But all I can say in truth + is, that we have been to France and come back again. Why, I don't think + even your tragick pen could make anything of such a campaign as ours has + been. We landed on the 6 at Cancalle Bay, we saw a few dragons on a + hill...' + </p> + <p> + “There! Did I not tell you there were dragons?” asks George, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Mercy! What can he mean by dragons?” cries Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “Immense, long-tailed monsters, with steel scales on their backs, who + vomit fire, and gobble up a virgin a day. Haven't you read about them in + The Seven Champions?” says papa. “Seeing St. George's flag, I suppose, + they slunk off.” + </p> + <p> + “I have read of 'em,” says the little boy from Chartreux, solemnly. “They + like to eat women. One was going to eat Andromeda, you know, papa; and + Jason killed another, who was guarding the apple-tree.” + </p> + <p> + “... A few dragons on a hill,” George resumes, “who rode away from us + without engaging. We slept under canvass. We marched to St. Malo, and + burned ever so many privateers there. And we went on board shipp again, + without ever crossing swords with an enemy or meeting any except a few + poor devils whom the troops plundered. Better luck next time! This hasn't + been very much nor particular glorious: but I have liked it for my part. I + have smelt powder, besides a good deal of rosn and pitch we burned. I've + seen the enemy; have sleppt under canvass, and been dredful crowdid and + sick at sea. I like it. My best compliments to dear Aunt Lambert, and tell + Miss Hetty I wasn't very much fritened when I saw the French horse.—Your + most affectionate brother, H. E. WARRINGTON.” + </p> + <p> + We hope Miss Hetty's qualms of conscience were allayed by Harry's + announcement that his expedition was over, and that he had so far taken no + hurt. Far otherwise. Mr. Lambert, in the course of his official duties, + had occasion to visit the troops at Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and + George Warrington bore him company. They found Harry vastly improved in + spirits and health from the excitement produced by the little campaign, + quite eager and pleased to learn his new military duties, active, + cheerful, and healthy, and altogether a different person from the listless + moping lad who had dawdled in London coffee-houses and Mrs. Lambert's + drawing-room. The troops were under canvas; the weather was glorious, and + George found his brother a ready pupil in a fine brisk open-air school of + war. Not a little amused, the elder brother, arm-in-arm with the young + volunteer, paced the streets of the warlike city, recalled his own brief + military experiences of two years back, and saw here a much greater army + than that ill-fated one of which he had shared the disasters. The + expedition, such as we have seen it, was certainly not glorious, and yet + the troops and the nation were in high spirits with it. We were said to + have humiliated the proud Gaul. We should have vanquished as well as + humbled him had he dared to appear. What valour, after all, is like + British valour? I dare say some such expressions have been heard in later + times. Not that I would hint that our people brag much more than any + other, or more now than formerly. Have not these eyes beheld the + battle-grounds of Leipzig, Jena, Dresden, Waterloo, Blenheim, Bunker's + Hill, New Orleans? What heroic nation has not fought, has not conquered, + has not run away, has not bragged in its turn? Well, the British nation + was much excited by the glorious victory of St. Malo. Captured treasures + were sent home and exhibited in London. The people were so excited, that + more laurels and more victories were demanded, and the enthusiastic army + went forth to seek some. + </p> + <p> + With this new expedition went a volunteer so distinguished, that we must + give him precedence of all other amateur soldiers or sailors. This was our + sailor Prince, H.R.H. Prince Edward, who was conveyed on board the Essex + in the ship's twelve-oared barge, the standard of England flying in the + bow of the boat, the Admiral with his flag and boat following the + Prince's, and all the captains following in seniority. + </p> + <p> + Away sails the fleet, Harry, in high health and spirits, waving his hat to + his friends as they cheer from the shore. He must and will have his + commission before long. There can be no difficulty about that, George + thinks. There is plenty of money in his little store to buy his brother's + ensigncy; but if he can win it without purchase by gallantry and good + conduct, that were best. The colonel of the regiment reports highly of his + recruit; men and officers like him. It is easy to see that he is a young + fellow of good promise and spirit. + </p> + <p> + Hip, hip, huzzay! What famous news are these which arrive ten days after + the expedition has sailed? On the 7th and 8th of August his Majesty's + troops had effected a landing in the Bay des Marais, two leagues westward + of Cherbourg, in the face of a large body of the enemy. Awed by the + appearance of British valour, that large body of the enemy has + disappeared. Cherbourg has surrendered at discretion; and the English + colours are hoisted on the three outlying forts. Seven-and-twenty ships + have been burned in the harbours, and a prodigious number of fine brass + cannon taken. As for your common iron guns, we have destroyed 'em, + likewise the basin (about which the mounseers bragged so), and the two + piers at the entrance to the harbour. + </p> + <p> + There is no end of jubilation in London; just as Mr. Howe's guns arrive + from Cherbourg, come Mr. Wolfe's colours captured at Louisbourg. The + colours are taken from Kensington to St Paul's, escorted by fourscore + life-guards and fourscore horse-grenadiers with officers in proportion, + their standards, kettle-drums, and trumpets. At St. Paul's they are + received by the Dean and Chapter at the West Gate, and at that minute—bang, + bong, bung—the Tower and Park guns salute them! Next day is the turn + of the Cherbourg cannon and mortars. These are the guns we took. Look at + them with their carving and flaunting emblems—their lilies, and + crowns, and mottoes! Here they are, the Teneraire, the Malfaisant, the + Vainqueur (the Vainqueur, indeed! a pretty vainqueur of Britons!), and + ever so many more. How the people shout as the pieces are trailed through + the streets in procession! As for Hetty and Mrs. Lambert, I believe they + are of opinion that Harry took every one of the guns himself, dragging + them out of the batteries, and destroying the artillerymen. He has + immensely risen in the general estimation in the last few days. Madame de + Bernstein has asked about him. Lady Maria has begged her dear cousin + George to see her, and, if possible, give her news of his brother. George, + who was quite the head of the family a couple of months since, finds + himself deposed, and of scarce any account, in Miss Hetty's eyes at least. + Your wit, and your learning, and your tragedies, may be all very well; but + what are these in comparison to victories and brass cannon? George takes + his deposition very meekly. They are fifteen thousand Britons. Why should + they not march and take Paris itself? Nothing more probable, think some of + the ladies. They embrace; they congratulate each other; they are in a high + state of excitement. For once, they long that Sir Miles and Lady + Warrington were in town, so that they might pay her ladyship a visit, and + ask, “What do you say to your nephew now, pray? Has he not taken + twenty-one finest brass cannon; flung a hundred and twenty iron guns into + the water, seized twenty-seven ships in the harbour, and destroyed the + basin and the two piers at the entrance?” As the whole town rejoices and + illuminates, so these worthy folks display brilliant red hangings in their + cheeks, and light up candles of joy in their eyes, in honour of their + champion and conqueror. + </p> + <p> + But now, I grieve to say, comes a cloudy day after the fair weather. The + appetite of our commanders, growing by what it fed on, led them to think + they had not feasted enough on the plunder of St. Malo; and thither, after + staying a brief time at Portsmouth and the Wight, the conquerors of + Cherbourg returned. They were landed in the Bay of St. Lunar, at a + distance of a few miles from the place, and marched towards it, intending + to destroy it this time. Meanwhile the harbour of St. Lunar was found + insecure, and the fleet moved up to St. Cas, keeping up its communication + with the invading army. + </p> + <p> + Now the British Lion found that the town of St. Malo—which he had + proposed to swallow at a single mouthful—was guarded by an army of + French, which the Governor of Brittany had brought to the succour of his + good town, and the meditated coup-de-main being thus impossible, our + leaders marched for their ships again, which lay duly awaiting our + warriors in the Bay of St. Cas. + </p> + <p> + Hide, blushing glory, hide St. Cas's day! As our troops were marching down + to their ships they became aware of an army following them, which the + French governor of the province had sent from Brest. Two-thirds of the + troops, and all the artillery, were already embarked, when the Frenchmen + came down upon the remainder. Four companies of the first regiment of + guards and the grenadier companies of the army, faced about on the beach + to await the enemy, whilst the remaining troops were carried off in the + boats. As the French descended from the heights round the bay, these + guards and grenadiers marched out to attack them, leaving an excellent + position which they had occupied—a great dyke raised on the shore, + and behind which they might have resisted to advantage. And now, eleven + hundred men were engaged with six—nay, ten times their number; and, + after a while, broke and made for the boats with a sauve qui peut! Seven + hundred out of the eleven were killed, drowned, or taken prisoners—the + General himself was killed—and, ah! where were the volunteers? + </p> + <p> + A man of peace myself, and little intelligent of the practice or the + details of war, I own I think less of the engaged troops than of the + people they leave behind. Jack the Guardsman and La Tulipe of the Royal + Bretagne are face to face, and striving to knock each other's brains out. + Bon! It is their nature to—like the bears and lions—and we + will not say Heaven, but some power or other has made them so to do. But + the girl of Tower Hill, who hung on Jack's neck before he departed; and + the lass at Quimper, who gave the Frenchman his brule-gueule and + tobacco-box before he departed on the noir trajet? What have you done, + poor little tender hearts, that you should grieve so? My business is not + with the army, but with the people left behind. What a fine state Miss + Hetty Lambert must be in, when she hears of the disaster to the troops and + the slaughter of the grenadier companies! What grief and doubt are in + George Warrington's breast; what commiseration in Martin Lambert's, as he + looks into his little girl's face and reads her piteous story there! Howe, + the brave Commodore, rowing in his barge under the enemy's fire, has + rescued with his boats scores and scores of our flying people. More are + drowned; hundreds are prisoners, or shot on the beach. Among these, where + is our Virginian? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0065" id="link2HCH0065"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXV. Soldier's Return + </h2> + <p> + Great Powers! will the vainglory of men, especially of Frenchmen, never + cease? Will it be believed, that after the action of St. Cas—a mere + affair of cutting off a rearguard, as you are aware—they were so + unfeeling as to fire away I don't know how much powder at the Invalides at + Paris, and brag and bluster over our misfortune? Is there any magnanimity + in hallooing and huzzaying because five or six hundred brave fellows have + been caught by ten thousand on a seashore, and that fate has overtaken + them which is said to befall the hindmost? I had a mind to design an + authentic picture of the rejoicings at London upon our glorious success at + St. Malo. I fancied the polished guns dragged in procession by our gallant + tars; the stout horse-grenadiers prancing by; the mob waving hats, roaring + cheers, picking pockets, and our friends in a balcony in Fleet Street + looking on and blessing this scene of British triumph. But now that the + French Invalides have been so vulgar as to imitate the Tower, and set up + their St. Cas against our St. Malo, I scorn to allude to the stale + subject. I say Nolo, not Malo: content, for my part, if Harry has returned + from one expedition and t'other with a whole skin. And have I ever said he + was so much as bruised? Have I not, for fear of exciting my fair young + reader, said that he was as well as ever he had been in his life? The sea + air had browned his cheek, and the ball whistling by his side-curl had + spared it. The ocean had wet his gaiters and other garments, without + swallowing up his body. He had, it is true, shown the lapels of his coat + to the enemy; but for as short a time as possible, withdrawing out of + their sight as quick as might be. And what, pray, are lapels but reverses? + Coats have them, as well as men; and our duty is to wear them with courage + and good-humour. + </p> + <p> + “I can tell you,” said Harry, “we all had to run for it; and when our line + broke, it was he who could get to the boats who was most lucky. The French + horse and foot pursued us down to the sea, and were mingled among us, + cutting our men down, and bayoneting them on the ground. Poor Armytage was + shot in advance of me, and fell; and I took him up and staggered through + the surf to a boat. It was lucky that the sailors in our boat weren't + afraid; for the shot were whistling about their ears, breaking the blades + of their oars, and riddling their flag with shot; but the officer in + command was as cool as if he had been drinking a bowl of punch at + Portsmouth, which we had one on landing, I can promise you. Poor Sir John + was less lucky than me. He never lived to reach the ship, and the service + has lost a fine soldier, and Miss Howe a true gentleman to her husband. + There must be these casualties, you see; and his brother gets the + promotion—the baronetcy.” + </p> + <p> + “It is of the poor lady I am thinking,” says Miss Hetty (to whom haply our + volunteer is telling his story); “and the King. Why did the King encourage + Sir John Armytage to go? A gentleman could not refuse a command from such + a quarter. And now the poor gentleman is dead! Oh, what a state his + Majesty must be in!” + </p> + <p> + “I have no doubt his Majesty will be in a deep state of grief,” says papa, + wagging his head. + </p> + <p> + “Now you are laughing! Do you mean, sir, that when a gentleman dies in his + service, almost at his feet, the King of England won't feel for him?” + Hetty asks. “If I thought that, I vow I would be for the Pretender!” + </p> + <p> + “The sauce-box would make a pretty little head for Temple Bar,” says the + General, who could see Miss Hetty's meaning behind her words, and was + aware in what a tumult of remorse, of consternation, of gratitude that the + danger was over, the little heart was beating. “No,” says he, “my dear. + Were kings to weep for every soldier, what a life you would make for them! + I think better of his Majesty than to suppose him so weak; and, if Miss + Hester Lambert got her Pretender, I doubt whether she would be any the + happier. That family was never famous for too much feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “But if the King sent Harry—I mean Sir John Armytage—actually + to the war in which he lost his life, oughtn't his Majesty to repent very + much?” asks the young lady. + </p> + <p> + “If Harry had fallen, no doubt the court would have gone into mourning: as + it is, gentlemen and ladies were in coloured clothes yesterday,” remarks + the General. + </p> + <p> + “Why should we not make bonfires for a defeat, and put on sackcloth and + ashes after a victory?” asks George. “I protest I don't want to thank + Heaven for helping us to burn the ships at Cherbourg.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes you do, George! Not that I have a right to speak, and you ain't ever + so much cleverer. But when your country wins you're glad—I know I + am. When I run away before Frenchmen I'm ashamed—I can't help it, + though I done it,” says Harry. “It don't seem to me right somehow that + Englishmen should have to do it,” he added, gravely. And George smiled; + but did not choose to ask his brother what, on the other hand, was the + Frenchman's opinion. + </p> + <p> + “'Tis a bad business,” continued Harry, gravely; “but 'tis lucky 'twas no + worse. The story about the French is, that their Governor, the Duke of + Aiguillon, was rather what you call a moistened chicken. Our whole retreat + might have been cut off, only, to be sure, we ourselves were in a mighty + hurry to move. The French local militia behaved famous, I am happy to say; + and there was ever so many gentlemen volunteers with 'em, who showed, as + they ought to do, in the front. They say the Chevalier of Tour d'Auvergne + engaged in spite of the Duke of Aiguillon's orders. Officers told us, who + came off with a list of our prisoners and wounded to General Bligh and + Lord Howe. He is a lord now, since the news came of his brother's death to + home, George. He is a brave fellow, whether lord or commoner.” + </p> + <p> + “And his sister, who was to have married poor Sir John Armytage, think + what her state must be!” sighs Miss Hetty, who has grown of late so + sentimental. + </p> + <p> + “And his mother!” cries Mrs. Lambert. “Have you seen her ladyship's + address in the papers to the electors of Nottingham? 'Lord Howe being now + absent upon the publick service, and Lieutenant-Colonel Howe with his + regiment at Louisbourg, it rests upon me to beg the favour of your votes + and interests that Lieutenant-Colonel Howe may supply the place of his + late brother as your representative in Parliament.' Isn't this a gallant + woman?” + </p> + <p> + “A Laconic woman,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “How can sons help being brave who have been nursed by such a mother as + that?” asks the General. + </p> + <p> + Our two young men looked at each other. + </p> + <p> + “If one of us were to fall in defence of his country, we have a mother in + Sparta who would think and write so too,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “If Sparta is anywhere Virginia way, I reckon we have,” remarks Mr. Harry. + “And to think that we should both of us have met the enemy, and both of us + been whipped by him, brother!” he adds pensively. + </p> + <p> + Hetty looks at him, and thinks of him only as he was the other day, + tottering through the water towards the boats, his comrade bleeding on his + shoulder, the enemy in pursuit, the shot flying round. And it was she who + drove him into the danger! Her words provoked him. He never rebukes her + now he is returned. Except when asked, he scarcely speaks about his + adventures at all. He is very grave and courteous with Hetty; with the + rest of the family especially frank and tender. But those taunts of hers + wounded him. “Little hand!” his looks and demeanour seem to say, “thou + shouldst not have been lifted against me! It is ill to scorn any one, much + more one who has been so devoted to you and all yours. I may not be over + quick of wit, but in as far as the heart goes, I am the equal of the best, + and the best of my heart your family has had.” + </p> + <p> + Harry's wrong, and his magnanimous endurance of it, served him to regain + in Miss Hetty's esteem that place which he had lost during the previous + months' inglorious idleness. The respect which the fair pay to the brave + she gave him. She was no longer pert in her answers, or sarcastic in her + observations regarding his conduct. In a word, she was a humiliated, an + altered, an improved Miss Hetty. + </p> + <p> + And all the world seemed to change towards Harry, as he towards the world. + He was no longer sulky and indolent: he no more desponded about himself, + or defied his neighbours. The colonel of his regiment reported his + behaviour as exemplary, and recommended him for one of the commissions + vacated by the casualties during the expedition. Unlucky as its + termination was, it at least was fortunate to him. His brother-volunteers, + when they came back to St. James's Street, reported highly of his + behaviour. These volunteers and their actions were the theme of + everybody's praise. Had he been a general commanding, and slain in the + moment of victory, Sir John Armytage could scarce have had more sympathy + than that which the nation showed him. The papers teemed with letters + about him, and men of wit and sensibility vied with each other in + composing epitaphs in his honour. The fate of his affianced bride was + bewailed. She was, as we have said, the sister of the brave Commodore who + had just returned from this unfortunate expedition, and succeeded to the + title of his elder brother, an officer as gallant as himself, who had just + fallen in America. + </p> + <p> + My Lord Howe was heard to speak in special praise of Mr. Warrington, and + so he had a handsome share of the fashion and favour which the town now + bestowed on the volunteers. Doubtless there were thousands of men employed + who were as good as they but the English ever love their gentlemen, and + love that they should distinguish themselves; and these volunteers were + voted Paladins and heroes by common accord. As our young noblemen will, + they accepted their popularity very affably. White's and Almack's + illuminated when they returned, and St. James's embraced its young + knights. Harry was restored to full favour amongst them. Their hands were + held out eagerly to him again. Even his relations congratulated him; and + there came a letter from Castlewood, whither Aunt Bernstein had by this + time betaken herself, containing praises of his valour, and a pretty + little bank-bill, as a token of his affectionate aunt's approbation. This + was under my Lord Castlewood's frank, who sent his regards to both his + kinsmen, and an offer of the hospitality of his country-house, if they + were minded to come to him. And besides this, there came to him a private + letter through the post—not very well spelt, but in a handwriting + which Harry smiled to see again, in which his affeetionate cousin, Maria + Esmond, told him she always loved to hear his praises (which were in + everybody's mouth now), and sympathised in his good or evil fortune; and + that, whatever occurred to him, she begged to keep a little place in his + heart. Parson Sampson, she wrote, had preached a beautiful sermon about + the horrors of war, and the noble actions of men who volunteered to face + battle and danger in the service of their country. Indeed, the chaplain + wrote himself, presently, a letter full of enthusiasm, in which he saluted + Mr. Harry as his friend, his benefactor, his glorious hero. Even Sir Miles + Warrington despatched a basket of game from Norfolk: and one bird (shot + sitting), with love to my cousin, had a string and paper round the leg, + and was sent as the first victim of young Miles's fowling-piece. + </p> + <p> + And presently, with joy beaming in his countenance, Mr. Lambert came to + visit his young friends at their lodgings in Southampton Row, and + announced to them that Mr. Henry Warrington was forthwith to be gazetted + as Ensign in the Second Battalion of Kingsley's, the 20th Regiment, which + had been engaged in the campaign, and which now at this time was formed + into a separate regiment, the 67th. Its colonel was not with his regiment + during its expedition to Brittany. He was away at Cape Breton, and was + engaged in capturing those guns at Louisbourg, of which the arrival in + England had caused such exultation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0066" id="link2HCH0066"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXVI. In which we go a-courting + </h2> + <p> + Some of my amiable readers no doubt are in the custom of visiting that + famous garden in the Regent's Park, in which so many of our finned, + feathered, four-footed fellow-creatures are accommodated with board and + lodging, in return for which they exhibit themselves for our instruction + and amusement: and there, as a man's business and private thoughts follow + him everywhere, and mix themselves with all life and nature round about + him, I found myself, whilst looking at some fish in the aquarium, still + actually thinking of our friends the Virginians. + </p> + <p> + One of the most beautiful motion-masters I ever beheld, sweeping through + his green bath in harmonious curves, now turning his black glistening back + to me, now exhibiting his fair white chest, in every movement active and + graceful, turned out to be our old homely friend the flounder, whom we + have all gobbled up out of his bath of water souchy at Greenwich, without + having the slightest idea that he was a beauty. + </p> + <p> + As is the race of man, so is the race of flounders. If you can but see the + latter in his right element, you may view him agile, healthy, and comely: + put him out of his place, and behold his beauty is gone, his motions are + disgraceful: he flaps the unfeeling ground ridiculously with his tail, and + will presently gasp his feeble life out. Take him up tenderly, ere it be + too late, and cast him into his native Thames again——But stop: + I believe there is a certain proverb about fish out of water, and that + other profound naturalists have remarked on them before me. Now Harry + Warrington had been floundering for ever so long a time past, and out of + his proper element. As soon as he found it, health, strength, spirits, + energy, returned to him, and with the tap of the epaulet on his shoulder + he sprang up an altered being. He delighted in his new profession; he + engaged in all its details, and mastered them with eager quickness. Had I + the skill of my friend Lorrequer, I would follow the other Harry into + camp, and see him on the march, at the mess, on the parade-ground; I would + have many a carouse with him and his companions; I would cheerfully live + with him under the tents; I would knowingly explain all the manoeuvres of + war, and all the details of the life military. As it is, the reader must + please, out of his experience and imagination, to fill in the colours of + the picture of which I can give but meagre hints and outlines, and, above + all, fancy Mr. Harry Warrington in his new red coat and yellow facings, + very happy to bear the King's colours, and pleased to learn and perform + all the duties of his new profession. + </p> + <p> + As each young man delighted in the excellence of the other, and cordially + recognised his brother's superior qualities, George, we may be sure, was + proud of Harry's success, and rejoiced in his returning good fortune. He + wrote an affectionate letter to his mother in Virginia, recounting all the + praises which he had heard of Harry, and which his brother's modesty, + George knew, would never allow him to repeat. He described how Harry had + won his own first step in the army, and how he, George, would ask his + mother leave to share with her the expense of purchasing a higher rank for + him. + </p> + <p> + Nothing, said George, would give him a greater delight, than to be able to + help his brother, and the more so, as, by his sudden return into life, as + it were, he had deprived Harry of an inheritance which he had legitimately + considered as his own. Labouring under that misconception, Harry had + indulged in greater expenses than he ever would have thought of incurring + as a younger brother; and George thought it was but fair, and as it were, + as a thank-offering for his own deliverance, that he should contribute + liberally to any scheme for his brother's advantage. + </p> + <p> + And now, having concluded his statement respecting Harry's affairs, George + took occasion to speak of his own, and addressed his honoured mother on a + point which very deeply concerned himself. She was aware that the best + friends he and his brother had found in England were the good Mr. and Mrs. + Lambert, the latter Madam Esmond's schoolfellow of earlier years. Where + their own blood relations had been worldly and unfeeling, these true + friends had ever been generous and kind. The General was respected by the + whole army, and beloved by all who knew him. No mother's affection could + have been more touching than Mrs. Lambert's for both Madam Esmond's + children; and now, wrote Mr. George, he himself had formed an attachment + for the elder Miss Lambert, on which he thought the happiness of his life + depended, and which he besought his honoured mother to approve. He had + made no precise offers to the young lady or her parents; but he was bound + to say that he had made little disguise of his sentiments, and that the + young lady, as well as her parents, seemed favourable to him. She had been + so admirable and exemplary a daughter to her own mother, that he felt sure + she would do her duty by his. In a word, Mr. Warrington described the + young lady as a model of perfection, and expressed his firm belief that + the happiness or misery of his own future life depended upon possessing or + losing her. Why do you not produce this letter? haply asks some + sentimental reader, of the present Editor, who has said how he has the + whole Warrington correspondence in his hands. Why not? Because 'tis cruel + to babble the secrets of a young man's love; to overhear his incoherent + vows and wild raptures, and to note, in cold blood, the secrets—it + may be, the follies—of his passion. Shall we play eavesdropper at + twilight embrasures, count sighs and hand-shakes, bottle hot tears: lay + our stethoscope on delicate young breasts, and feel their heart-throbs? I + protest, for one, love is sacred. Wherever I see it (as one sometimes may + in this world) shooting suddenly out of two pair of eyes; or glancing + sadly even from one pair; or looking down from the mother to the baby in + her lap; or from papa at his girl's happiness as she is whirling round the + room with the captain; or from John Anderson, as his old wife comes into + the room—the bonne vieille, the ever peerless among women; wherever + we see that signal, I say, let us salute it. It is not only wrong to kiss + and tell, but to tell about kisses. Everybody who has been admitted to the + mystery,—hush about it. Down with him qui Deae sacrum vulgarit + arcanae. Beware how you dine with him, he will print your private talk: as + sure as you sail with him, he will throw you over. + </p> + <p> + Whilst Harry's love of battle has led him to smell powder—to rush + upon reluctantes dracones, and to carry wounded comrades out of fire, + George has been pursuing an amusement much more peaceful and delightful to + him; penning sonnets to his mistress's eyebrow, mayhap; pacing in the + darkness under her window, and watching the little lamp which shone upon + her in her chamber; finding all sorts of pretexts for sending little notes + which don't seem to require little answers, but get them; culling bits out + of his favourite poets, and flowers out of Covent Garden for somebody's + special adornment and pleasure; walking to St. James's Church, singing + very likely out of the same Prayer-book, and never hearing one word of the + sermon, so much do other thoughts engross him; being prodigiously + affectionate to all Miss Theo's relations—to her little brother and + sister at school; to the elder at college; to Miss Hetty, with whom he + engages in gay passages of wit; and to mamma, who is half in love with him + herself, Martin Lambert says; for if fathers are sometimes sulky at the + appearance of the destined son-in-law, is it not a fact that mothers + become sentimental and, as it were, love their own loves over again? + </p> + <p> + Gumbo and Sady are for ever on the trot between Southampton Row and Dean + Street. In the summer months all sorts of junketings and pleasure-parties + are devised; and there are countless proposals to go to Ranelagh, to + Hampstead, to Vauxhall, to Marylebone Gardens, and what not. George wants + the famous tragedy copied out fair for the stage, and who can write such a + beautiful Italian hand as Miss Theo? As the sheets pass to and fro they + are accompanied by little notes of thanks, of interrogation, of + admiration, always. See, here is the packet, marked in Warrington's neat + hand, “T's letters, 1758-9.” Shall we open them and reveal their tender + secrets to the public gaze? Those virgin words were whispered for one ear + alone. Years after they were written, the husband read, no doubt, with + sweet pangs of remembrance, the fond lines addressed to the lover. It were + a sacrilege to show the pair to public eyes: only let kind readers be + pleased to take our word that the young lady's letters are modest and + pure, the gentleman's most respectful and tender. In fine, you see, we + have said very little about it; but, in these few last months, Mr. George + Warrington has made up his mind that he has found the woman of women. She + mayn't be the most beautiful. Why, there is Cousin Flora, there is Coelia, + and Ardelia, and a hundred more, who are ever so much more handsome: but + her sweet face pleases him better than any other in the world. She mayn't + be the most clever, but her voice is the dearest and pleasantest to hear; + and in her company he is so clever himself; he has such fine thoughts; he + uses such eloquent words; he is so generous, noble, witty, that no wonder + he delights in it. And, in regard to the young lady,—as thank Heaven + I never thought so ill of women as to suppose them to be just, we may be + sure that there is no amount of wit, of wisdom, of beauty, of valour, of + virtue with which she does not endow her young hero. + </p> + <p> + When George's letter reached home, we may fancy that it created no small + excitement in the little circle round Madam Esmond's fireside. So he was + in love, and wished to marry! It was but natural, and would keep him out + of harm's way. If he proposed to unite himself with a well-bred Christian + young woman, Madam saw no harm. + </p> + <p> + “I knew they would be setting their caps at him,” says Mountain. “They + fancy that his wealth is as great as his estate. He does not say whether + the young lady has money. I fear otherwise.” + </p> + <p> + “People would set their caps at him here, I dare say,” says Madam Esmond, + grimly looking at her dependant, “and try and catch Mr. Esmond Warrington + for their own daughters, who are no richer than Miss Lambert may be.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose your ladyship means me!” says Mountain. “My Fanny is poor, as + you say; and 'tis kind of you to remind me of her poverty!” + </p> + <p> + “I said people would set their caps at him. If the cap fits you, tant pis! + as my papa used to say.” + </p> + <p> + “You think, madam, I am scheming to keep George for my daughter? I thank + you, on my word! A good opinion you seem to have of us after the years we + have lived together!” + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mountain, I know you much better than to suppose you could ever + fancy your daughter would be a suitable match for a gentleman of Mr. + Esmond's rank and station,” says Madam, with much dignity. + </p> + <p> + “Fanny Parker was as good as Molly Benson at school, and Mr. Mountain's + daughter is as good as Mr. Lambert's!” Mrs. Mountain cries out. + </p> + <p> + “Then you did think of marrying her to my son! I shall write to Mr. Esmond + Warrington, and say how sorry I am that you should be disappointed!” says + the mistress of Castlewood. And we, for our parts, may suppose that Mrs. + Mountain was disappointed, and had some ambitious views respecting her + daughter—else, why should she have been so angry at the notion of + Mr. Warrington's marriage? + </p> + <p> + In reply to her son, Madam Esmond wrote back that she was pleased with the + fraternal love George exhibited; that it was indeed but right in some + measure to compensate Harry, whose expectations had led him to adopt a + more costly mode of life than he would have entered on had he known he was + only a younger son. And with respect to purchasing his promotion, she + would gladly halve the expense with Harry's elder brother, being thankful + to think his own gallantry had won him his first step. This bestowal of + George's money, Madam Esmond added, was at least much more satisfactory + than some other extravagances to which she would not advert. + </p> + <p> + The other extravagance to which Madam alluded was the payment of the + ransom to the French captain's family, to which tax George's mother never + would choose to submit. She had a determined spirit of her own, which her + son inherited. His persistence she called pride and obstinacy. What she + thought of her own pertinacity, her biographer, who lives so far from her + time, does not pretend to say. Only I dare say people a hundred years ago + pretty much resembled their grandchildren of the present date, and loved + to have their own way, and to make others follow it. + </p> + <p> + Now, after paying his own ransom, his brother's debts, and half the price + for his promotion, George calculated that no inconsiderable portion of his + private patrimony would be swallowed up: nevertheless he made the + sacrifice with a perfect good heart. His good mother always enjoined him + in her letters to remember who his grandfather was, and to support the + dignity of his family accordingly. She gave him various commissions to + purchase goods in England, and though she as yet had sent him very + trifling remittances, she alluded so constantly to the exalted rank of the + Esmonds, to her desire that he should do nothing unworthy of that + illustrious family; she advised him so peremptorily and frequently to + appear in the first society of the country, to frequent the court where + his ancestors had been accustomed to move, and to appear always in the + world in a manner worthy of his name, that George made no doubt his + mother's money would be forthcoming when his own ran short, and generously + obeyed her injunctions as to his style of life. I find in the Esmond + papers of this period, bills for genteel entertainments, tailors' bills + for court suits supplied, and liveries for his honour's negro servants and + chairmen, horse-dealers' receipts, and so forth; and am thus led to + believe that the elder of our Virginians was also after a while living at + a considerable expense. + </p> + <p> + He was not wild or extravagant like his brother. There was no talk of + gambling or racehorses against Mr. George; his table was liberal, his + equipages handsome, his purse always full, the estate to which he was heir + was known to be immense. I mention these circumstances because they may + probably have influenced the conduct both of George and his friends in + that very matter concerning which, as I have said, he and his mother had + been just corresponding. The young heir of Virginia was travelling for his + pleasure and improvement in foreign kingdoms. The queen, his mother, was + in daily correspondence with his Highness, and constantly enjoined him to + act as became his lofty station. There could be no doubt from her letters + that she desired he should live liberally and magnificently. He was + perpetually making purchases at his parent's order. She had not settled as + yet; on the contrary, she had wrote out by the last mail for twelve new + sets of waggon harness, and an organ that should play fourteen specified + psalm-tunes: which articles George dutifully ordered. She had not paid as + yet, and might not to-day or to-morrow, but eventually, of course, she + would: and Mr. Warrington never thought of troubling his friends about + these calculations, or discussing with them his mother's domestic affairs. + They, on their side, took for granted that he was in a state of competence + and ease, and, without being mercenary folks, Mr. and Mrs. Lambert were no + doubt pleased to see an attachment growing up between their daughter and a + young gentleman of such good principles, talents, family, and + expectations. There was honesty in all Mr. Esmond Warrington's words and + actions, and in his behaviour to the world a certain grandeur and + simplicity, which showed him to be a true gentleman. Somewhat cold and + haughty in his demeanour to strangers, especially towards the great, he + was not in the least supercilious: he was perfectly courteous towards + women, and with those people whom he loved, especially kind, amiable, + lively, and tender. + </p> + <p> + No wonder that one young woman we know of got to think him the best man in + all the world—alas! not even excepting papa. A great love felt by a + man towards a woman makes him better, as regards her, than all other men. + We have said that George used to wonder himself when he found how witty, + how eloquent, how wise he was, when he talked with the fair young creature + whose heart had become all his.... I say we will not again listen to their + love whispers. Those soft words do not bear being written down. If you + please—good sir, or madam, who are sentimentally inclined—lay + down the book and think over certain things for yourself. You may be ever + so old now; but you remember. It may be all dead and buried; but in a + moment, up it springs out of its grave, and looks, and smiles, and + whispers as of yore when it clung to your arm, and dropped fresh tears on + your heart. It is here, and alive, did I say? O far, far away! O lonely + hearth and cold ashes! Here is the vase, but the roses are gone; here is + the shore, and yonder the ship was moored; but the anchors are up, and it + has sailed away for ever. + </p> + <p> + Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This, however, is mere sentimentality; + and as regards George and Theo, is neither here nor there. What I mean to + say is, that the young lady's family were perfectly satisfied with the + state of affairs between her and Mr. Warrington; and though he had not as + yet asked the decisive question, everybody else knew what the answer would + be when it came. + </p> + <p> + Mamma perhaps thought the question was a long time coming. + </p> + <p> + “Psha! my dear!” says the General. “There is time enough in all + conscience. Theo is not much more than seventeen; George, if I mistake + not, is under forty; and, besides, he must have time to write to Virginia, + and ask mamma.” + </p> + <p> + “But suppose she refuses?” + </p> + <p> + “That will be a bad day for old and young,” says the General, “Let us + rather say, suppose she consents, my love?—I can't fancy anybody in + the world refusing Theo anything she has set her heart on,” adds the + father: “and I am sure 'tis bent upon this match.” + </p> + <p> + So they all waited with the utmost anxiety until an answer from Madam + Esmond should arrive; and trembled lest the French privateers should take + the packet-ship by which the precious letter was conveyed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0067" id="link2HCH0067"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXVII. In which a Tragedy is acted, and two more are begun + </h2> + <p> + James Wolfe, Harry's new Colonel, came back from America a few weeks after + our Virginian had joined his regiment. Wolfe had previously been + Lieutenant-Colonel of Kingsley's, and a second battalion of the regiment + had been formed and given to him in reward for his distinguished gallantry + and services at Cape Breton. Harry went with quite unfeigned respect and + cordiality to pay his duty to his new commander, on whom the eyes of the + world began to be turned now,—the common opinion being that he was + likely to become a great general. In the late affairs in France, several + officers of great previous repute had been tried and found lamentably + wanting. The Duke of Marlborough had shown himself no worthy descendant of + his great ancestor. About my Lord George Sackville's military genius there + were doubts, even before his unhappy behaviour at Minden prevented a great + victory. The nation was longing for military glory, and the Minister was + anxious to find a general who might gratify the eager desire of the + people. Mr. Wolfe's and Mr. Lambert's business keeping them both in + London, the friendly intercourse between those officers was renewed, no + one being more delighted than Lambert at his younger friend's good + fortune. + </p> + <p> + Harry, when he was away from his duty, was never tired of hearing Mr. + Wolfe's details of the military operations of the last year, about which + Wolfe talked very freely and openly. Whatever thought was in his mind, he + appears to have spoken it out generously. He had that heroic simplicity + which distinguished Nelson afterwards: he talked frankly of his actions. + Some of the fine gentlemen at St. James's might wonder and sneer at him; + but amongst our little circle of friends we may be sure he found admiring + listeners. The young General had the romance of a boy on many matters. He + delighted in music and poetry. On the last day of his life he said he + would rather have written Gray's Elegy than have won a battle. We may be + sure that with a gentleman of such literary tastes our friend George would + become familiar; and as they were both in love, and both accepted lovers, + and both eager for happiness, no doubt they must have had many sentimental + conversations together which would be very interesting to report could we + only have accurate accounts of them. In one of his later letters, + Warrington writes: + </p> + <p> + “I had the honour of knowing the famous General Wolfe, and seeing much of + him during his last stay in London. We had a subject of conversation then + which was of unfailing interest to both of us, and I could not but admire + Mr. Wolfe's simplicity, his frankness, and a sort of glorious bravery + which characterised him. He was much in love, and he wanted heaps and + heaps of laurels to take to his mistress. 'If it be a sin to covet + honour,' he used to say with Harry the Fifth (he was passionately fond of + plays and poetry), 'I am the most offending soul alive.' Surely on his + last day he had a feast which was enough to satisfy the greediest appetite + for glory. He hungered after it. He seemed to me not merely like a soldier + going resolutely to do his duty, but rather like a knight in quest of + dragons and giants. My own country has furnished of late a chief of a very + different order, and quite an opposite genius. I scarce know which to + admire most. The Briton's chivalrous ardour, or the more than Roman + constancy of our great Virginian.” + </p> + <p> + As Mr. Lambert's official duties detained him in London, his family + remained contentedly with him, and I suppose Mr. Warrington was so + satisfied with the rural quiet of Southampton Row and the beautiful + flowers and trees of Bedford Gardens, that he did not care to quit London + for any long period. He made his pilgrimage to Castlewood, and passed a + few days there, occupying the chamber of which he had often heard his + grandfather talk, and which Colonel Esmond had occupied as a boy and he + was received kindly enough by such members of the family as happened to be + at home. But no doubt he loved better to be in London by the side of a + young person in whose society he found greater pleasure than any which my + Lord Castlewood's circle could afford him, though all the ladies were + civil, and Lady Maria especially gracious, and enchanted with the tragedy + which George and Parson Sampson read out to the ladies. The chaplain was + enthusiastic in its praises, and indeed it was through his interest and + not through Mr. Johnson's after all, that Mr. Warrington's piece ever came + on the stage. Mr. Johnson, it is true, pressed the play on his friend Mr. + Garrick for Drury Lane, but Garrick had just made an arrangement with the + famous Mr. Home for a tragedy from the pen of the author of Douglas. + Accordingly, Carpezan was carried to Mr. Rich at Covent Garden, and + accepted by that manager. + </p> + <p> + On the night of the production of the piece, Mr. Warrington gave an + elegant entertainment to his friends at the Bedford Head, in Covent + Garden, whence they adjourned in a body to the theatre; leaving only one + or two with our young author, who remained at the coffee-house, where + friends from time to time came to him with an account of the performance. + The part of Carpezan was filled by Barry, Shuter was the old nobleman, + Reddish, I need scarcely say, made an excellent Ulric, and the King of + Bohemia was by a young actor from Dublin, Mr. Geoghegan, or Hagan as he + was called on the stage, and who looked and performed the part to + admiration. Mrs. Woffington looked too old in the first act as the + heroine, but her murder in the fourth act, about which great doubts were + expressed, went off to the terror and delight of the audience. Miss Wayn + sang the ballad which is supposed to be sung by the king's page, just at + the moment of the unhappy wife's execution, and all agreed that Barry was + very terrible and pathetic as Carpezan, especially in the execution scene. + The grace and elegance of the young actor, Hagan, won general applause. + The piece was put very elegantly on the stage by Mr. Rich, though there + was some doubt whether, in the march of Janissaries in the last, the + manager was correct in introducing a favourite elephant, which had figured + in various pantomimes, and by which one of Mr. Warrington's black servants + marched in a Turkish habit. The other sate in the footman's gallery, and + uproariously wept and applauded at the proper intervals. + </p> + <p> + The execution of Sybilla was the turning-point of the piece. Her head off, + George's friends breathed freely, and one messenger after another came to + him at the coffee-house, to announce the complete success of the tragedy. + Mr. Barry, amidst general applause, announced the play for repetition, and + that it was the work of a young gentleman of Virginia, his first attempt + in the dramatic style. + </p> + <p> + We should like to have been in the box where all our friends were seated + during the performance, to have watched Theo's flutter and anxiety whilst + the success of the play seemed dubious, and have beheld the blushes and + the sparkles in her eyes, when the victory was assured. Harry, during the + little trouble in the fourth act, was deadly pale—whiter, Mrs. + Lambert said, than Barry, with all his chalk. But if Briareus could have + clapped hands, he could scarcely have made more noise than Harry at the + end of the piece. Mr. Wolfe and General Lambert huzzayed enthusiastically. + Mrs. Lambert, of course, cried: and though Hetty said, “Why do you cry, + mamma? I you don't want any of them alive again; you know it serves them + all right”—the girl was really as much delighted as any person + present, including little Charley from the Chartreux, who had leave from + Dr. Crusius for that evening, and Miss Lucy, who had been brought from + boarding-school on purpose to be present on the great occasion. My Lord + Castlewood and his sister, Lady Maria, were present; and his lordship went + from his box and complimented Mr. Barry and the other actors on the stage; + and Parson Sampson was invaluable in the pit, where he led the applause, + having, I believe, given previous instructions to Gumbo to keep an eye + upon him from the gallery, and do as he did. + </p> + <p> + Be sure there was a very jolly supper of Mr. Warrington's friends that + night—much more jolly than Mr. Garrick's, for example, who made but + a very poor success with his Agis and its dreary choruses, and who must + have again felt that he had missed a good chance, in preferring Mr. Home's + tragedy to our young author's. A jolly supper, did we say?—Many + jolly suppers. Mr. Gumbo gave an entertainment to several gentlemen of the + shoulder-knot, who had concurred in supporting his master's masterpiece: + Mr. Henry Warrington gave a supper at the Star and Garter, in Pall Mall, + to ten officers of his new regiment, who had come up for the express + purpose of backing Carpezan; and finally, Mr. Warrington received the + three principal actors of the tragedy, our family party from the side box, + Mr. Johnson and his ingenious friend, Mr. Reynolds the painter, my Lord + Castlewood and his sister, and one or two more. My Lady Maria happened to + sit next to the young actor who had performed the part of the King. Mr. + Warrington somehow had Miss Theo for a neighbour, and no doubt passed a + pleasant evening beside her. The greatest animation and cordiality + prevailed, and when toasts were called, Lady Maria gaily gave “The King of + Hungary” for hers. That gentleman, who had plenty of eloquence and fire, + and excellent manners, on as well as off the stage, protested that he had + already suffered death in the course of the evening, hoped that he should + die a hundred times more on the same field; but, dead or living, vowed he + knew whose humble servant he ever should be. Ah, if he had but a real + crown in place of his diadem of pasteboard and tinsel, with what joy would + he lay it at her ladyship's feet! Neither my lord nor Mr. Esmond were over + well pleased with the gentleman's exceeding gallantry—a part of + which they attributed, no doubt justly, to the wine and punch, of which he + had been partaking very freely. Theo and her sister, who were quite new to + the world, were a little frightened by the exceeding energy of Mr. Hagan's + manner—but Lady Maria, much more experienced, took it in perfectly + good part. At a late hour coaches were called, to which the gentlemen + attended the ladies, after whose departure some of them returned to the + supper-room, and the end was that Carpezan had to be carried away in a + chair, and that the King of Hungary had a severe headache; and that the + Poet, though he remembered making a great number of speeches, was quite + astounded when half a dozen of his guests appeared at his house the next + day, whom he had invited overnight to come and sup with him once more. + </p> + <p> + As he put Mrs. Lambert and her daughters into their coach on the night + previous, all the ladies were flurried, delighted, excited; and you may be + sure our gentleman was with them the next day, to talk of the play and the + audience, and the actors, and the beauties of the piece, over and over + again. Mrs. Lambert had heard that the ladies of the theatre were + dangerous company for young men. She hoped George would have a care, and + not frequent the greenroom too much. + </p> + <p> + George smiled, and said he had a preventive against all greenroom + temptations, of which he was not in the least afraid; and as he spoke he + looked in Theo's face, as if in those eyes lay the amulet which was to + preserve him from all danger. + </p> + <p> + “Why should he be afraid, mamma?” asks the maiden simply. She had no idea + of danger or of guile. + </p> + <p> + “No, my darling, I don't think he need be afraid,” says the mother, + kissing her. + </p> + <p> + “You don't suppose Mr. George would fall in love with that painted old + creature who performed the chief part?” asks Miss Hetty, with a toss of + her head. “She must be old enough to be his mother.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, do you suppose that at our age nobody can care for us, or that we + have no hearts left?” asks mamma, very tartly. “I believe, or I may say, I + hope and trust, your father thinks otherwise. He is, I imagine, perfectly + satisfied, miss. He does not sneer at age, whatever little girls out of + the schoolroom may do. And they had much better be back there, and they + had much better remember what the fifth commandment is—that they + had, Hetty!” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't think I was breaking it by saying that an actress was as old as + George's mother,” pleaded Hetty. + </p> + <p> + “George's mother is as old as I am, miss!—at least she was when we + were at school. And Fanny Parker—Mrs. Mountain who now is—was + seven months older, and we were in the French class together; and I have + no idea that our age is to be made the subject of remarks and ridicule by + our children, and I will thank you to spare it, if you please! Do you + consider your mother too old, George?” + </p> + <p> + “I am glad my mother is of your age, Aunt Lambert,” says George, in the + most sentimental manner. + </p> + <p> + Strange infatuation of passion—singular perversity of reason! At + some period before his marriage, it not unfrequently happens that a man + actually is fond of his mother-in-law! At this time our good General + vowed, and with some reason, that he was jealous. Mrs. Lambert made much + more of George than of any other person in the family. She dressed up Theo + to the utmost advantage in order to meet him; she was for ever caressing + her, and appealing to her when he spoke. It was, “Don't you think he looks + well?”—“Don't you think he looks pale, Theo, to-day?”—“Don't + you think he has been sitting up over his books too much at night?” and so + forth. If he had a cold, she would have liked to make gruel for him and + see his feet in hot water. She sent him recipes of her own for his health. + When he was away, she never ceased talking about him to her daughter. I + dare say Miss Theo liked the subject well enough. When he came, she was + sure to be wanted in some other part of the house, and would bid Theo take + care of him till she returned. Why, before she returned to the room, could + you hear her talking outside the door to her youngest innocent children, + to her servants in the upper regions, and so forth? When she reappeared, + was not Mr. George always standing or sitting at a considerable distance + from Miss Theo—except, to be sure, on that one day when she had just + happened to drop her scissors, and he had naturally stooped down to pick + them up? Why was she blushing? Were not youthful cheeks made to blush, and + roses to bloom in the spring? Not that mamma ever noted the blushes, but + began quite an artless conversation about this or that, as she sate down + brimful of happiness to her worktable. + </p> + <p> + And at last there came a letter from Virginia in Madam Esmond's neat, + well-known hand, and over which George trembled and blushed before he + broke the seal. It was in answer to the letter which he had sent home, + respecting his brother's commission and his own attachment to Miss + Lambert. Of his intentions respecting Harry, Madam Esmond fully approved. + As for his marriage, she was not against early marriages. She would take + his picture of Miss Lambert with the allowance that was to be made for + lovers' portraits, and hope, for his sake, that the young lady was all he + described her to be. With money, as Madam Esmond gathered from her son's + letter, she did not appear to be provided at all, which was a pity, as, + though wealthy in land, their family had but little ready-money. However, + by Heaven's blessing, there was plenty at home for children and children's + children, and the wives of her sons should share all she had. When she + heard more at length from Mr. and Mrs. Lambert, she would reply for her + part more fully. She did not pretend to say that she had not greater hopes + for her son, as a gentleman of his name and prospects might pretend to the + hand of the first lady of the land; but as Heaven had willed that her + son's choice should fall upon her old friend's daughter, she acquiesced, + and would welcome George's wife as her own child. This letter was brought + by Mr. Van den Bosch of Albany, who had lately bought a very large estate + in Virginia, and who was bound for England to put his granddaughter to a + boarding-school. She, Madam Esmond, was not mercenary, nor was it because + this young lady was heiress of a very great fortune that she desired her + sons to pay Mr. Van d. B. every attention. Their properties lay close + together, and could Harry find in the young lady those qualities of person + and mind suitable for a companion for life, at least she would have the + satisfaction of seeing both her children near her in her declining years. + Madam Esmond concluded by sending her affectionate compliments to Mrs. + Lambert, from whom she begged to hear further, and her blessing to the + young lady who was to be her daughter-in-law. + </p> + <p> + The letter was not cordial, and the writer evidently but half satisfied; + but, such as it was, her consent was here formally announced. How eagerly + George ran away to Soho with the long-desired news in his pocket! I + suppose our worthy friends there must have read his news in his + countenance—else why should Mrs. Lambert take her daughter's hand + and kiss her with such uncommon warmth, when George announced that he had + received letters from home? Then, with a break in his voice, a pallid + face, and a considerable tremor, turning to Mr. Lambert, he said: “Madam + Esmond's letter, sir, is in reply to one of mine, in which I acquainted + her that I had formed an attachment in England, for which I asked my + mother's approval. She gives her consent, I am grateful to say, and I have + to pray my dear friends to be equally kind to me.” + </p> + <p> + “God bless thee, my dear boy!” says the good General, laying a hand on the + young man's head. “I am glad to have thee for a son, George. There, there, + don't go down on your knees, young folks! George may, to be sure, and + thank God for giving him the best little wife in all England. Yes, my + dear, except when you were ill, you never caused me a heartache—and + happy is the man, I say, who wins thee!” + </p> + <p> + I have no doubt the young people knelt before their parents, as was the + fashion in those days; and am perfectly certain that Mrs. Lambert kissed + both of them, and likewise bedewed her pocket-handkerchief in the most + plentiful manner. Hetty was not present at this sentimental scene, and + when she heard of it, spoke with considerable asperity, and a laugh that + was by no means pleasant, saying: “Is this all the news you have to give + me? Why, I have known it these months past. Do you think I have no eyes to + see, and no ears to hear, indeed?” But in private she was much more + gentle. She flung herself on her sister's neck, embracing her + passionately, and vowing that never, never would Theo find any one to love + her like her sister. With Theo she became entirely mild and humble. She + could not abstain from her jokes and satire with George, but he was too + happy to heed her much, and too generous not to see the cause of her + jealousy. + </p> + <p> + When all parties concerned came to read Madam Esmond's letter, that + document, it is true, appeared rather vague. It contained only a promise + that she would receive the young people at her house, and no sort of + proposal for a settlement. The General shook his head over the letter—he + did not think of examining it until some days after the engagement had + been made between George and his daughter: but now he read Madam Esmond's + words, they gave him but small encouragement. + </p> + <p> + “Bah!” says George. “I shall have three hundred pounds for my tragedy. I + can easily write a play a year; and if the worst comes to the worst, we + can live on that.” + </p> + <p> + “On that and your patrimony,” says Theo's father. + </p> + <p> + George now had to explain, with some hesitation, that what with paying + bills for his mother, and Harry's commission and debts, and his own ransom—George's + patrimony proper was well-nigh spent. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Lambert's countenance looked graver still at this announcement, but he + saw his girl's eyes turned towards him with an alarm so tender, that he + took her in his arms and vowed that, let the worst come to the worst, his + darling should not be balked of her wish. + </p> + <p> + About the going back to Virginia, George frankly owned that he little + liked the notion of returning to be entirely dependent on his mother. He + gave General Lambert an idea of his life at home, and explained how little + to his taste that slavery was. No. Why should he not stay in England, + write more tragedies, study for the bar, get a place, perhaps? Why, + indeed? He straightway began to form a plan for another tragedy. He + brought portions of his work, from time to time, to Miss Theo and her + sister: Hetty yawned over the work, but Theo pronounced it to be still + more beautiful and admirable than the last, which was perfect. + </p> + <p> + The engagement of our young friends was made known to the members of their + respective families, and announced to Sir Miles Warrington, in a + ceremonious letter from his nephew. For a while Sir Miles saw no + particular objection to the marriage; though, to be sure, considering his + name and prospects, Mr. Warrington might have looked higher. The truth + was, that Sir Miles imagined that Madam Esmond had made some considerable + settlement on her son, and that his circumstances were more than easy. But + when he heard that George was entirely dependent on his mother, and that + his own small patrimony was dissipated, as Harry's had been before, Sir + Miles's indignation at his nephew's imprudence knew no bounds; he could + not find words to express his horror and anger at the want of principle + exhibited by both these unhappy young men: he thought it his duty to speak + his mind about them, and wrote his opinion to his sister Esmond in + Virginia. As for General and Mrs. Lambert, who passed for respectable + persons, was it to be borne that such people should inveigle a penniless + young man into a marriage with their penniless daughter? Regarding them, + and George's behaviour, Sir Miles fully explained his views to Madam + Esmond, gave half a finger to George whenever his nephew called on him in + town, and did not even invite him to partake of the famous family + small-beer. Towards Harry his uncle somewhat unbent; Harry had done his + duty in the campaign, and was mentioned with praise in high quarters. He + had sown his wild oats,—he at least was endeavouring to amend; but + George was a young prodigal, fast careering to ruin, and his name was only + mentioned in the family with a groan. Are there any poor fellows nowadays, + I wonder, whose polite families fall on them and persecute them; groan + over them and stone them, and hand stones to their neighbours that they + may do likewise? All the patrimony spent! Gracious heavens! Sir Miles + turned pale when he saw his nephew coming. Lady Warrington prayed for him + as a dangerous reprobate; and, in the meantime, George was walking the + town, quite unconscious that he was occasioning so much wrath and so much + devotion. He took little Miley to the play and brought him back again. He + sent tickets to his aunt and cousins which they could not refuse, you + know; it would look too marked were they to break altogether. So they not + only took the tickets, but whenever country constituents came to town they + asked for more, taking care to give the very worst motives to George's + intimacy with the theatre, and to suppose that he and the actresses were + on terms of the most disgraceful intimacy. An august personage having been + to the theatre, and expressed his approbation of Mr. Warrington's drama to + Sir Miles, when he attended his R-y-l H-ghn-ss's levee at Saville House, + Sir Miles, to be sure, modified his opinion regarding the piece, and spoke + henceforth more respectfully of it. Meanwhile, as we have said, George was + passing his life entirely careless of the opinion of all the uncles, + aunts, and cousins in the world. + </p> + <p> + Most of the Esmond cousins were at least more polite and cordial than + George's kinsfolk of the Warrington side. In spite of his behaviour over + the cards, Lord Castlewood, George always maintained, had a liking for our + Virginians, and George was pleased enough to be in his company. He was a + far abler man than many who succeeded in life. He had a good name, and + somehow only stained it; a considerable wit, and nobody trusted it; and a + very shrewd experience and knowledge of mankind, which made him mistrust + them, and himself most of all, and which perhaps was the bar to his own + advancement. My Lady Castlewood, a woman of the world, wore always a bland + mask, and received Mr. George with perfect civility, and welcomed him to + lose as many guineas as he liked at her ladyship's card-tables. Between + Mr. William and the Virginian brothers there never was any love lost; but, + as for Lady Maria, though her love affair was over, she had no rancour; + she professed for her cousins a very great regard and affection, a part of + which the young gentlemen very gratefully returned. She was charmed to + hear of Harry's valour in the campaign; she was delighted with George's + success at the theatre; she was for ever going to the play, and had all + the favourite passages of Carpezan by heart. One day, as Mr. George and + Miss Theo were taking a sentimental walk in Kensington Gardens, whom + should they light upon but their cousin Maria in company with a gentleman + in a smart suit and handsome laced hat, and who should the gentleman be + but his Majesty King Louis of Hungary, Mr. Hagan? He saluted the party, + and left them presently. Lady Maria had only just happened to meet him. + Mr. Hagan came sometimes, he said, for quiet, to study his parts in + Kensington Gardens, and George and the two ladies walked together to Lord + Castlewood's door in Kensington Square, Lady Maria uttering a thousand + compliments to Theo upon her good looks, upon her virtue, upon her future + happiness, upon her papa and mamma, upon her destined husband, upon her + paduasoy cloak and dear little feet and shoe-buckles. + </p> + <p> + Harry happened to come to London that evening, and slept at his accustomed + quarters. When George appeared at breakfast, the Captain was already in + the room (the custom of that day was to call all army gentlemen Captains), + and looking at the letters on the breakfast-table. + </p> + <p> + “Why, George,” he cries, “there is a letter from Maria!” + </p> + <p> + “Little boy bring it from Common Garden last night—Master George + asleep,” says Gumbo. + </p> + <p> + “What can it be about?” asks Harry, as George peruses his letter with a + queer expression of face. + </p> + <p> + “About my play, to be sure,” George answers, tearing up the paper, and + still wearing his queer look. + </p> + <p> + “What, she is not writing love-letters to you, is she, Georgy?” + </p> + <p> + “No, certainly not to me,” replies the other. But he spoke no word more + about the letter; and when at dinner in Dean Street Mrs. Lambert said, “So + you met somebody walking with the King of Hungary yesterday in Kensington + Gardens?” + </p> + <p> + “What little tell-tale told you? A mere casual rencontre—the King + goes there to study his parts, and Lady Maria happened to be crossing the + garden to visit some of the other King's servants at Kensington Palace.” + And so there was an end to that matter for the time being. + </p> + <p> + Other events were at hand fraught with interest to our Virginians. One + evening after Christmas, the two gentlemen, with a few more friends, were + met round General Lambert's supper-table; and among the company was + Harry's new Colonel of the 67th, Major-General Wolfe. The young General + was more than ordinarily grave. The conversation all related to the war. + Events of great importance were pending. The great minister now in power + was determined to carry on the war on a much more extended scale than had + been attempted hitherto: an army was ordered to Germany to help Prince + Ferdinand, another great expedition was preparing for America, and here, + says Mr. Lambert, “I will give you the health of the Commander—a + glorious campaign, and a happy return to him!” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you not drink the toast, General James!” asked the hostess of her + guest. + </p> + <p> + “He must not drink his own toast,” says General Lambert; “it is we must do + that!” + </p> + <p> + What? was James appointed?—All the ladies must drink such a toast as + that, and they mingled their kind voices with the applause of the rest of + the company. + </p> + <p> + Why did he look so melancholy? the ladies asked of one another when they + withdrew. In after days they remembered his pale face. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps he has been parting from his sweetheart,” suggests tender-hearted + Mrs. Lambert. And at this sentimental notion, no doubt all the ladies + looked sad. + </p> + <p> + The gentlemen, meanwhile, continued their talk about the war and its + chances. Mr. Wolfe did not contradict the speakers when they said that the + expedition was to be directed against Canada. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, sir,” says Harry, “I wish your regiment was going with you, and that + I might pay another visit to my old friends at Quebec.” + </p> + <p> + What, had Harry been there? Yes. He described his visit to the place five + years before, and knew the city, and the neighbourhood, well. He lays a + number of bits of biscuit on the table before him, and makes a couple of + rivulets of punch on each side. “This fork is the Isle d'Orleans,” says + he, “with the north and south branches of St. Lawrence on each side. + Here's the Low Town, with a battery—how many guns was mounted there + in our time, brother?—but at long shots from the St. Joseph shore + you might play the same game. Here's what they call the little river, the + St. Charles, and a bridge of boats with a tete du pont over to the place + of arms. Here's the citadel, and here's convents—ever so many + convents—and the cathedral; and here, outside the lines to the west + and south, is what they call the Plains of Abraham—where a certain + little affair took place, do you remember, brother? He and a young officer + of the Rousillon regiment ca ca'd at each other for twenty minutes, and + George pinked him, and then they jure'd each other an amitie eternelle. + Well it was for George: for his second saved his life on that awful day of + Braddock's defeat. He was a fine little fellow, and I give his toast: Je + bois a la sante du Chevalier de Florac!” + </p> + <p> + “What, can you speak French, too, Harry?” asks Mr. Wolfe. The young man + looked at the General with eager eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” says he, “I can speak, but not so well as George.” + </p> + <p> + “But he remembers the city, and can place the batteries, you see, and + knows the ground a thousand times better than I do!” cries the elder + brother. + </p> + <p> + The two elder officers exchanged looks with one another; Mr. Lambert + smiled and nodded, as if in reply to the mute queries of his comrade: on + which the other spoke. “Mr. Harry,” he said, “if you have had enough of + fine folks, and White's, and horse-racing——” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, sir!” says the young man, turning very red. + </p> + <p> + “And if you have a mind to a sea voyage at a short notice, come and see me + at my lodgings to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + What was that sudden uproar of cheers which the ladies heard in their + drawing-room? It was the hurrah which Harry Warrington gave when he leaped + up at hearing the General's invitation. + </p> + <p> + The women saw no more of the gentlemen that night. General Lambert had to + be away upon his business early next morning, before seeing any of his + family; nor had he mentioned a word of Harry's outbreak on the previous + evening. But when he rejoined his folks at dinner, a look at Miss Hetty's + face informed the worthy gentleman that she knew what had passed on the + night previous, and what was about to happen to the young Virginian. After + dinner Mrs. Lambert sat demurely at her work, Miss Theo took her book of + Italian Poetry. Neither of the General's customary guests happened to be + present that evening. + </p> + <p> + He took little Hetty's hand in his, and began to talk with her. He did not + allude to the subject which he knew was uppermost in her mind, except that + by a more than ordinary gentleness and kindness he perhaps caused her to + understand that her thoughts were known to him. + </p> + <p> + “I have breakfasted,” says he, “with James Wolfe this morning, and our + friend Harry was of the party. When he and the other guests were gone, I + remained and talked with James about the great expedition on which he is + going to sail. Would that his brave father had lived a few months longer + to see him come back covered with honours from Louisbourg, and knowing + that all England was looking to him to achieve still greater glory! James + is dreadfully ill in body—so ill that I am frightened for him—and + not a little depressed in mind at having to part from the young lady whom + he has loved so long. A little rest, he thinks, might have set his + shattered frame up; and to call her his has been the object of his life. + But, great as his love is (and he is as romantic as one of you young folks + of seventeen), honour and duty are greater, and he leaves home, and wife, + and ease, and health, at their bidding. Every man of honour would do the + like; every woman who loves him truly would buckle on his armour for him. + James goes to take leave of his mother to-night; and though she loves him + devotedly, and is one of the tenderest women in the world, I am sure she + will show no sign of weakness at his going away.” + </p> + <p> + “When does he sail, papa?” the girl asked. + </p> + <p> + “He will be on board in five days.” And Hetty knew quite well who sailed + with him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0068" id="link2HCH0068"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXVIII. In which Harry goes westward + </h2> + <p> + Our tender hearts are averse to all ideas and descriptions of parting; and + I shall therefore say nothing of Harry Warrington's feelings at taking + leave of his brother and friends. Were not thousands of men in the same + plight? Had not Mr. Wolfe his mother to kiss (his brave father had quitted + life during his son's absence on the glorious Louisbourg campaign), and + his sweetheart to clasp in a farewell embrace? Had not stout Admiral + Holmes, before sailing westward with his squadron, The Somerset, The + Terrible, The Northumberland, The Royal William, The Trident, The Diana, + The Seahorse—his own flag being hoisted on board The Dublin—to + take leave of Mrs. and the Misses Holmes? Was Admiral Saunders, who sailed + the day after him, exempt from human feeling? Away go William and his crew + of jovial sailors, ploughing through the tumbling waves, and poor + Black-eyed Susan on shore watches the ship as it dwindles in the sunset. + </p> + <p> + It dwindles in the West. The night falls darkling over the ocean. They are + gone: but their hearts are at home yet a while. In silence, with a heart + inexpressibly soft and tender, how each man thinks of those he has left! + What a chorus of pitiful prayer rises up to the Father, at sea and on + shore, on that parting night at home by the vacant bedside, where the wife + kneels in tears; round the fire, where the mother and children together + pour out their supplications: or on deck, where the seafarer looks up to + the stars of heaven, as the ship cleaves through the roaring midnight + waters! To-morrow the sun rises upon our common life again, and we + commence our daily task of toil and duty. + </p> + <p> + George accompanies his brother, and stays a while with him at Portsmouth + whilst they are waiting for a wind. He shakes Mr. Wolfe's hand, looks at + his pale face for the last time, and sees the vessels depart amid the + clangour of bells, and the thunder of cannon from the shore. Next day he + is back at his home, and at that business which is sure one of the most + selfish and absorbing of the world's occupations, to which almost every + man who is thirty years old has served ere this his apprenticeship. He has + a pang of sadness, as he looks in at the lodgings to the little room which + Harry used to occupy, and sees his half-burned papers still in the grate. + In a few minutes he is on his way to Dean Street again, and whispering by + the fitful firelight in the ear of the clinging sweetheart. She is very + happy—oh, so happy! at his return. She is ashamed of being so. Is it + not heartless to be so, when poor Hetty is so melancholy? Poor little + Hetty! Indeed, it is selfish to be glad when she is in such a sad way. It + makes one quite wretched to see her. “Don't, sir! Well, I ought to be + wretched, and it's very, very wicked of me if I'm not,” says Theo; and one + can understand her soft-hearted repentance. What she means by “Don't” who + can tell? I have said the room was dark, and the fire burned fitfully—and + “Don't” is no doubt uttered in one of the dark fits. Enter servants with + supper and lights. The family arrives; the conversation becomes general. + The destination of the fleet is known everywhere now. The force on board + is sufficient to beat all the French in Canada; and, under such an officer + as Wolfe, to repair the blunders and disasters of previous campaigns. He + looked dreadfully ill, indeed. But he has a great soul in a feeble body. + The ministers, the country hope the utmost from him. After supper, + according to custom, Mr. Lambert assembles his modest household, of whom + George Warrington may be said quite to form a part; and as he prays for + all travellers by land and water, Theo and her sister are kneeling + together. And so, as the ship speeds farther and farther into the West, + the fond thoughts pursue it; and the night passes, and the sun rises. + </p> + <p> + A day or two more, and everybody is at his books or his usual work. As for + George Warrington, that celebrated dramatist is busy about another + composition. When the tragedy of Carpezan had run some thirty or twoscore + nights, other persons of genius took possession of the theatre. + </p> + <p> + There may have been persons who wondered how the town could be so fickle + as ever to tire of such a masterpiece as the Tragedy—who could not + bear to see the actors dressed in other habits, reciting other men's + verses; but George, of a sceptical turn of mind, took the fate of his + Tragedy very philosophically, and pocketed the proceeds with much quiet + satisfaction. From Mr. Dodsley, the bookseller, he had the usual + complement of a hundred pounds; from the manager of the theatre two + hundred or more; and such praises from the critics and his friends, that + he set to work to prepare another piece, with which he hoped to achieve + even greater successes than by his first performance. + </p> + <p> + Over these studies, and the other charming business which occupies him, + months pass away. Happy business! Happiest time of youth and life, when + love is first spoken and returned; when the dearest eyes are daily shining + welcome, and the fondest lips never tire of whispering their sweet + secrets; when the parting look that accompanies “Good night!” gives + delightful warning of to-morrow; when the heart is so overflowing with + love and happiness, that it has to spare for all the world; when the day + closes with glad prayers, and opens with joyful hopes; when doubt seems + cowardice, misfortune impossible, poverty only a sweet trial of constancy! + Theo's elders, thankfully remembering their own prime, sit softly by and + witness this pretty comedy performed by their young people. And in one of + his later letters, dutifully written to his wife during a temporary + absence from home, George Warrington records how he had been to look up at + the windows of the dear old house in Dean Street, and wondered who was + sitting in the chamber where he and Theo had been so happy. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile we can learn how the time passes, and our friends are engaged, + by some extracts from George's letters to his brother. + </p> + <p> + “From the old window opposite Bedford Gardens, this 20th August 1759. + </p> + <p> + “Why are you gone back to rugged rocks, bleak shores, burning summers, + nipping winters, at home, when you might have been cropping ever so many + laurels in Germany? Kingsley's are coming back as covered with 'em as + Jack-a-Green on May-day. Our six regiments did wonders; and our horse + would have done if my Lord George Sackville only had let them. But when + Prince Ferdinand said 'Charge!' his lordship could not hear, or could not + translate the German word for 'Forward;' and so we only beat the French, + without utterly annihilating them, as we might, had Lord Granby or Mr. + Warrington had the command. My lord is come back to town, and is shouting + for a Court-Martial. He held his head high enough in prosperity: in + misfortune he shows such a constancy of arrogance that one almost admires + him. He looks as if he rather envied poor Mr. Byng, and the not shooting + him were a manque d'egards towards him. + </p> + <p> + “The Duke has had notice to get himself in readiness for departing from + this world of grandeurs and victories, and downfalls and disappointments. + An attack of palsy has visited his Royal Highness; and pallida mors has + just peeped in at his door, as it were, and said, 'I will call again.' + Tyrant as he was, this prince has been noble in disgrace; and no king has + ever had a truer servant than ours has found in his son. Why do I like the + losing side always, and am I disposed to revolt against the winners? Your + famous Mr. P——, your chief's patron and discoverer, I have + been to hear in the House of Commons twice or thrice. I revolt against his + magniloquence. I wish some little David would topple over that swelling + giant. His thoughts and his language are always attitudinising. I like + Barry's manner best, though the other is the more awful actor. + </p> + <p> + “Pocahontas gets on apace. Barry likes his part of Captain Smith; and, + though he will have him wear a red coat and blue facings and an epaulet, I + have a fancy to dress him exactly like one of the pictures of Queen + Elizabeth's gentlemen at Hampton Court: with a ruff and a square beard and + square shoes. 'And Pocahontas—would you like her to be tattooed?' + asks Uncle Lambert. Hagan's part as the warrior who is in love with her, + and, seeing her partiality for the captain, nobly rescues him from death, + I trust will prove a hit. A strange fish is this Hagan: his mouth full of + stage-plays and rant, but good, honest, and brave, if I don't err. He is + angry at having been cast lately for Sir O'Brallaghan, in Mr. Macklin's + new farce of Love A-la-mode. He says that he does not keer to disgreece + his tongue with imiteetions of that rascal brogue. As if there was any + call for imiteetions, when he has such an admirable twang of his own! + </p> + <p> + “Shall I tell you? Shall I hide the circumstance? Shall I hurt your + feelings? Shall I set you in a rage of jealousy, and cause you to ask for + leave to return to Europe? Know, then, that though Carpezan is long since + dead, cousin Maria is for ever coming to the playhouse. Tom Spencer has + spied her out night after night in the gallery, and she comes on the + nights when Hagan performs. Quick, Burroughs, Mr. Warrington's boots and + portmanteau! Order a chaise and four for Portsmouth immediately! The + letter which I burned one morning when we were at breakfast (I may let the + cat out of the bag, now puss has such a prodigious way to run) was from + cousin M., hinting that she wished me to tell no tales about her: but I + can't help just whispering to you that Maria at this moment is busy + consoling herself as fast as possible. Shall I spoil sport? Shall I tell + her brother? Is the affair any business of mine? What have the Esmonds + done for you and me but win our money at cards? Yet I like our noble + cousin. It seems to me that he would be good if he could—or rather, + he would have been once. He has been set on a wrong way of life, from + which 'tis now probably too late to rescue him. O beati agricolae! Our + Virginia was dull, but let us thank Heaven we were bred there. We were + made little slaves, but not slaves to wickedness, gambling, bad male and + female company. It was not until my poor Harry left home that he fell + among thieves. I mean thieves en grand, such as waylaid him and stripped + him on English highroads. I consider you none the worse because you were + the unlucky one, and had to deliver your purse up. And now you are going + to retrieve, and make a good name for yourself; and kill more 'French + dragons,' and become a great commander. And our mother will talk of her + son the Captain, the Colonel, the General, and have his picture painted + with all his stars and epaulets, when poor I shall be but a dawdling + poetaster, or, if we may hope for the best, a snug placeman, with a little + box at Richmond or Kew, and a half-score of little picaninnies, that will + come and bob curtseys at the garden-gate when their uncle the General + rides up on his great charger, with his aide-de-camp's pockets filled with + gingerbread for the nephews and nieces. 'Tis for you to brandish the sword + of Mars. As for me, I look forward to a quiet life: a quiet little home, a + quiet little library full of books, and a little Some one dulce ridentem, + dulce loquentem, on t'other side of the fire, as I scribble away at my + papers. I am so pleased with this prospect, so utterly contented and + happy, that I feel afraid as I think of it, lest it should escape me; and, + even to my dearest Hal, am shy of speaking of my happiness. What is + ambition to me, with this certainty? What do I care for wars, with this + beatific peace smiling near? + </p> + <p> + “Our mother's friend, Mynheer Van den Bosch, has been away on a tour to + discover his family in Holland, and, strange to say, has found one. Miss + (who was intended by maternal solicitude to be a wife for your worship) + has had six months at Kensington School, and is coming out with a hundred + pretty accomplishments, which are to complete her a perfect fine lady. Her + papa brought her to make a curtsey in Dean Street, and a mighty elegant + curtsey she made. Though she is scarce seventeen, no dowager of sixty can + be more at her ease. She conversed with Aunt Lambert on an equal footing; + she treated the girls as chits—to Hetty's wrath and Theo's + amusement. She talked politics with the General, and the last routs, + dresses, operas, fashions, scandal, with such perfect ease that, but for a + blunder or two, you might have fancied Miss Lydia was born in Mayfair. At + the Court end of the town she will live, she says; and has no patience + with her father, who has a lodging in Monument Yard. For those who love a + brown beauty, a prettier little mignonne creature cannot be seen. But my + taste, you know, dearest brother, and...” + </p> + <p> + Here follows a page of raptures and quotations of verse, which, out of a + regard for the reader, and the writer's memory, the editor of the present + pages declines to reprint. Gentlemen and ladies of a certain age may + remember the time when they indulged in these rapturous follies on their + own accounts; when the praises of the charmer were for ever warbling from + their lips or trickling from their pens; when the flowers of life were in + full bloom, and all the birds of spring were singing. The twigs are now + bare, perhaps, and the leaves have fallen; but, for all that, shall we + not,—remember the vernal time? As for you, young people, whose May + (or April, is it?) has not commenced yet, you need not be detained over + other folks' love-rhapsodies; depend on it, when your spring-season + arrives, kindly Nature will warm all your flowers into bloom, and rouse + your glad bosoms to pour out their full song. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0069" id="link2HCH0069"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXIX. A Little Innocent + </h2> + <p> + George Warrington has mentioned in the letter just quoted, that in spite + of my Lord Castlewood's previous play transactions with Harry, my lord and + George remained friends, and met on terms of good kinsmanship. Did George + want franks, or an introduction at court, or a place in the House of Lords + to hear a debate, his cousin was always ready to serve him, was a pleasant + and witty companion, and would do anything which might promote his + relative's interests, provided his own were not prejudiced. + </p> + <p> + Now he even went so far as to promise that he would do his best with the + people in power to provide a place for Mr. George Warrington, who daily + showed a greater disinclination to return to his native country, and place + himself once more under the maternal servitude. George had not merely a + sentimental motive for remaining in England: the pursuits and society of + London pleased him infinitely better than any which he could have at home. + A planter's life of idleness might have suited him, could he have enjoyed + independence with it. But in Virginia he was only the first, and, as he + thought, the worst treated, of his mother's subjects. He dreaded to think + of returning with his young bride to his home, and of the life which she + would be destined to lead there. Better freedom and poverty in England, + with congenial society, and a hope perchance of future distinction, than + the wearisome routine of home life, the tedious subordination, the + frequent bickerings, the certain jealousies and differences of opinion, to + which he must subject his wife so soon as they turned their faces + homeward. + </p> + <p> + So Lord Castlewood's promise to provide for George was very eagerly + accepted by the Virginian. My lord had not provided very well for his own + brother to be sure, and his own position, peer as he was, was anything but + enviable; but we believe what we wish to believe, and George Warrington + chose to put great stress upon his kinsman's offer of patronage. Unlike + the Warrington family, Lord Castlewood was quite gracious when he was made + acquainted with George's engagement to Miss Lambert; came to wait upon her + parents; praised George to them and the young lady to George, and made + himself so prodigiously agreeable in their company that these charitable + folk forgot his bad reputation, and thought it must be a very wicked and + scandalous world which maligned him. He said, indeed, that he was improved + in their society, as every man must be who came into it. Among them he was + witty, lively, good for the time being. He left his wickedness and + worldliness with his cloak in the hall, and only put them on again when he + stepped into his chair. What worldling on life's voyage does not know of + some such harbour of rest and calm, some haven where he puts in out of the + storm? Very likely Lord Castlewood was actually better whilst he stayed + with those good people, and for the time being at least no hypocrite. + </p> + <p> + And, I dare say, the Lambert elders thought no worse of his lordship for + openly proclaiming his admiration for Miss Theo. It was quite genuine, and + he did not profess it was very deep. + </p> + <p> + “It don't affect my sleep, and I am not going to break my heart because + Miss Lambert prefers somebody else,” he remarked. “Only I wish when I was + a young man, madam, I had had the good fortune to meet with somebody so + innocent and good as your daughter. I might have been kept out of a deal + of harm's way: but innocent and good young women did not fall into mine, + or they would have made me better than I am.” + </p> + <p> + “Sure, my lord, it is not too late!” says Mrs. Lambert, very softly. + </p> + <p> + Castlewood started back, misunderstanding her. + </p> + <p> + “Not too late, madam?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + She blushed. “It is too late to court my dear daughter, my lord, but not + too late to repent. We read, 'tis never too late to do that. If others + have been received at the eleventh hour, is there any reason why you + should give up hope?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps I know my own heart better than you,” he says in a plaintive + tone. “I can speak French and German very well, and why? because I was + taught both in the nursery. A man who learns them late can never get the + practice of them on his tongue. And so 'tis the case with goodness, I + can't learn it at my age. I can only see others practise it, and admire + them. When I am on—on the side opposite to Lazarus, will Miss Theo + give me a drop of water? Don't frown! I know I shall be there, Mrs. + Lambert. Some folks are doomed so; and I think some of our family are + amongst these. Some people are vacillating, and one hardly knows which way + the scale will turn. Whereas some are predestined angels, and fly + Heavenwards naturally, and do what they will.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my lord, and why should you not be of the predestined? Whilst there + is a day left—whilst there is an hour—there is hope!” says the + fond matron. + </p> + <p> + “I know what is passing in your mind, my dear madam—nay, I read your + prayers in your looks; but how can they avail?” Lord Castlewood asked + sadly. “You don't know all, my good lady. You don't know what a life ours + is of the world; how early it began; how selfish Nature, and then + necessity and education, have made us. It is Fate holds the reins of the + chariot, and we can't escape our doom. I know better: I see better people: + I go my own way. My own? No, not mine—Fate's: and it is not + altogether without pity for us, since it allows us, from time to time, to + see such people as you.” And he took her hand and looked her full in the + face, and bowed with a melancholy grace. Every word he said was true. No + greater error than to suppose that weak and bad men are strangers to good + feelings, or deficient of sensibility. Only the good feeling does not last—nay, + the tears are a kind of debauch of sentiment, as old libertines are said + to find that the tears and grief of their victims add a zest to their + pleasure. But Mrs. Lambert knew little of what was passing in this man's + mind (how should she?), and so prayed for him with the fond persistence of + woman. He was much better—yes, much better than he was supposed to + be. He was a most interesting man. There were hopes, why should there not + be the most precious hopes for him still? + </p> + <p> + It remains to be seen which of the two speakers formed the correct + estimate of my lord's character. Meanwhile, if the gentleman was right, + the lady was mollified, and her kind wishes and prayers for this + experienced sinner's repentance, if they were of no avail for his + amendment, at least could do him no harm. Kind-souled doctors (and what + good woman is not of the faculty?) look after a reprobate as physicians + after a perilous case. When the patient is converted to health their + interest ceases in him, and they drive to feel pulses and prescribe + medicines elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + But, while the malady was under treatment, our kind lady could not see too + much of her sick man. Quite an intimacy sprung up between my Lord + Castlewood and the Lamberts. I am not sure that some worldly views might + not suit even with good Mrs. Lambert's spiritual plans (for who knows into + what pure Eden, though guarded by flaming-sworded angels, worldliness will + not creep?). Her son was about to take orders. My Lord Castlewood feared + very much that his present chaplain's, Mr. Sampson's, careless life and + heterodox conversations might lead him to give up his chaplaincy: in which + case, my lord hinted the little modest cure would be vacant, and at the + service of some young divine of good principles and good manners, who + would be content with a small stipend, and a small but friendly + congregation. + </p> + <p> + Thus an acquaintance was established between the two families, and the + ladies of Castlewood, always on their good behaviour, came more than once + to make their curtseys in Mrs. Lambert's drawing-room. They were civil to + the parents and the young ladies. My Lady Castlewood's card assemblies + were open to Mrs. Lambert and her family. There was play, certainly—all + the world played—his Majesty, the Bishops, every Peer and Peeress in + the land. But nobody need play who did not like; and surely nobody need + have scruples regarding the practice, when such august and venerable + personages were daily found to abet it. More than once Mrs. Lambert made + her appearance at her ladyship's routs, and was grateful for the welcome + which she received, and pleased with the admiration which her daughters + excited. + </p> + <p> + Mention has been made, in a foregoing page and letter, of an American + family of Dutch extraction, who had come to England very strongly + recommended by Madam Esmond, their Virginian neighbour, to her sons in + Europe. The views expressed in Madam Esmond's letter were so clear, that + that arch match-maker, Mrs. Lambert, could not but understand them. As for + George, he was engaged already; as for poor Hetty's flame, Harry, he was + gone on service, for which circumstance Hetty's mother was not very sorry + perhaps. She laughingly told George that he ought to obey his mamma's + injunctions, break off his engagement with Theo, and make up to Miss + Lydia, who was ten times—ten times! a hundred times as rich as her + poor girl, and certainly much handsomer. “Yes, indeed,” says George, “that + I own: she is handsomer, and she is richer, and perhaps even cleverer.” + (All which praises Mrs. Lambert but half liked.) “But say she is all + these? So is Mr. Johnson much cleverer than I am: so is, whom shall we + say?—so is Mr. Hagan the actor much taller and handsomer: so is Sir + James Lowther much richer: yet pray, ma'am, do you suppose I am going to + be jealous of any one of these three, or think my Theo would jilt me for + their sakes? Why should I not allow that Miss Lydia is handsomer, then? + and richer, and clever, too, and lively, and well bred, if you insist on + it, and an angel if you will have it so? Theo is not afraid: art thou, + child?” + </p> + <p> + “No, George,” says Theo, with such an honest look of the eyes as would + convince any scepticism, or shame any jealousy. And if, after this pair of + speeches, mamma takes occasion to leave the room for a minute to fetch her + scissors, or her thimble, or a bootjack and slippers, or the cross and + ball on the top of St. Paul's, or her pocket-handkerchief which she has + forgotten in the parlour—if, I say, Mrs. Lambert quits the room on + any errand or pretext, natural or preposterous, I shall not be in the + least surprised, if, at her return in a couple of minutes, she finds + George in near proximity to Theo, who has a heightened colour, and whose + hand George is just dropping—I shall not have the least idea of what + they have been doing. Have you, madam? Have you any remembrance of what + used to happen when Mr. Grundy came a-courting? Are you, who, after all, + were not in the room with our young people, going to cry out fie and for + shame? Then fie and for shame upon you, Mrs. Grundy! + </p> + <p> + Well, Harry being away, and Theo and George irrevocably engaged, so that + there was no possibility of bringing Madam Esmond's little plans to bear, + why should not Mrs. Lambert have plans of her own; and if a rich, + handsome, beautiful little wife should fall in his way, why should not + Jack Lambert from Oxford have her? So thinks mamma, who was always + thinking of marrying and giving in marriage, and so she prattles to + General Lambert, who, as usual, calls her a goose for her pains. At any + rate, Mrs. Lambert says beauty and riches are no objection; at any rate, + Madam Esmond desired that this family should be hospitably entertained, + and it was not her fault that Harry was gone away to Canada. Would the + General wish him to come back; leave the army and his reputation, perhaps; + yes, and come to England and marry this American, and break poor Hetty's + heart—would her father wish that? Let us spare further arguments, + and not be so rude as to hint that Mr. Lambert was in the right in calling + a fond wife by the name of that absurd splay-footed bird, annually + sacrificed at the Feast of St. Michael. + </p> + <p> + In those early days, there were vast distinctions of rank drawn between + the court and city people: and Mr. Van den Bosch, when he first came to + London, scarcely associated with any but the latter sort. He had a lodging + near his agent's in the city. When his pretty girl came from school for a + holiday, he took her an airing to Islington or Highgate, or an occasional + promenade in the Artillery Ground in Bunhill Fields. They went to that + Baptist meeting-house in Finsbury Fields, and on the sly to see Mr. + Garrick once or twice, or that funny rogue Mr. Foote, at the Little + Theatre. To go to a Lord Mayor's feast was a treat to the gentleman of the + highest order: and to dance with a young mercer at Hampstead Assembly gave + the utmost delight to the young lady. When George first went to wait upon + his mother's friends, he found our old acquaintance, Mr. Draper, of the + Temple, sedulous in his attentions to her; and the lawyer, who was + married, told Mr. Warrington to look out, as the young lady had a plumb to + her fortune. Mr. Drabshaw, a young Quaker gentleman, and nephew of Mr. + Trail, Madam Esmond's Bristol agent, was also in constant attendance upon + the young lady, and in dreadful alarm and suspicion when Mr. Warrington + first made his appearance. Wishing to do honour to his mother's + neighbours, Mr. Warrington invited them to an entertainment at his own + apartments; and who should so naturally meet them as his friends from + Soho? Not one of them but was forced to own little Miss Lydia's beauty. + She had the foot of a fairy: the arms, neck, flashing eyes of a little + brown huntress of Diana. She had brought a little plaintive accent from + home with her—of which I, moi qui vous parle, have heard a hundred + gross Cockney imitations, and watched as many absurd disguises, and which + I say (in moderation) is charming in the mouth of a charming woman. Who + sets up to say No, forsooth? You dear Miss Whittington, with whose h's + fate has dealt so unkindly?—you lovely Miss Nicol Jarvie, with your + northern burr?—you beautiful Miss Molony, with your Dame Street + warble? All accents are pretty from pretty lips, and who shall set the + standard up? Shall it be a rose, or a thistle, or a shamrock, or a star + and stripe? As for Miss Lydia's accent, I have no doubt it was not odious + even from the first day when she set foot on these polite shores, + otherwise Mr. Warrington, as a man of taste, had certainly disapproved of + her manner of talking, and her schoolmistress at Kensington had not done + her duty by her pupil. + </p> + <p> + After the six months were over, during which, according to her father's + calculation, she was to learn all the accomplishments procurable at the + Kensington Academy, Miss Lydia returned nothing loth to her grandfather, + and took her place in the world. A narrow world at first it was to her; + but she was a resolute little person, and resolved to enlarge her sphere + in society; and whither she chose to lead the way, the obedient + grandfather followed her. He had been thwarted himself in early life, he + said, and little good came of the severity he underwent. He had thwarted + his own son, who had turned out but ill. As for little Lyddy, he was + determined she should have as pleasant a life as was possible. Did not Mr. + George think he was right? 'Twas said in Virginia—he did not know + with what reason—that the young gentlemen of Castlewood had been + happier if Madam Esmond had allowed them a little of their own way. George + could not gainsay this public rumour, or think of inducing the benevolent + old gentleman to alter his plans respecting his granddaughter. As for the + Lambert family, how could they do otherwise than welcome the kind old man, + the parent so tender and liberal, Madam Esmond's good friend? + </p> + <p> + When Miss came from school, grandpapa removed from Monument Yard to an + elegant house in Bloomsbury; whither they were followed at first by their + city friends. There were merchants from Virginia Walk; there were worthy + tradesmen, with whom the worthy old merchant had dealings; there were + their ladies and daughters and sons, who were all highly gracious to Miss + Lyddy. It would be a long task to describe how these disappeared one by + one—how there were no more junketings at Belsize, or trips to + Highgate, or Saturday jaunts to Deputy Higgs' villa, Highbury, or + country-dances at honest Mr. Lutestring's house at Hackney. Even the + Sunday practice was changed; and, oh, abomination of abominations! Mr. Van + den Bosch left Bethesda Chapel in Bunhill Row, and actually took a pew in + Queen Square Church! + </p> + <p> + Queen Square Church, and Mr. George Warrington lived hard by in + Southampton Row! 'Twas easy to see at whom Miss Lyddy was setting her cap, + and Mr. Draper, who had been full of her and her grandfather's praises + before, now took occasion to warn Mr. George, and gave him very different + reports regarding Mr. Van den Bosch to those which had first been current. + Mr. Van d. B., for all he bragged so of his Dutch parentage, came from + Albany, and was nobody's son at all. He had made his money by land + speculation, or by privateering (which was uncommonly like piracy), and by + the Guinea trade. His son had married—if marriage it could be + called, which was very doubtful—an assigned servant, and had been + cut off by his father, and had taken to bad courses, and had died, luckily + for himself, in his own bed. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Draper has told you bad tales about me,” said the placid old + gentleman to George. “Very likely we are all sinners, and some evil may be + truly said of all of us, with a great deal more that is untrue. Did he + tell you that my son was unhappy with me? I told you so too. Did he bring + you wicked stories about my family? He liked it so well that he wanted to + marry my Lyddy to his brother. Heaven bless her! I have had a many offers + for her. And you are the young gentleman I should have chose for her, and + I like you none the worse because you prefer somebody else; though what + you can see in your Miss, as compared to my Lyddy, begging your honour's + pardon, I am at a loss to understand.” + </p> + <p> + “There is no accounting for tastes, my good sir,” said Mr. George, with + his most superb air. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir; 'tis a wonder of nature, and daily happens. When I kept store to + Albany, there was one of your tiptop gentry there that might have married + my dear daughter that was alive then, and with a pretty piece of money, + whereby—for her father and I had quarrelled—Miss Lyddy would + have been a pauper, you see: and in place of my beautiful Bella, my + gentleman chooses a little homely creature, no prettier than your Miss, + and without a dollar to her fortune. The more fool he, saving your + presence, Mr. George.” + </p> + <p> + “Pray don't save my presence, my good sir,” says George, laughing. “I + suppose the gentleman's word was given to the other lady, and he had seen + her first, and hence was indifferent to your charming daughter.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose when a young fellow gives his word to perform a cursed piece of + folly, he always sticks to it, my dear sir, begging your pardon. But Lord, + Lord, what am I speaking of? I am aspeaking of twenty year ago. I was + well-to-do then, but I may say Heaven has blessed my store, and I am three + times as well off now. Ask my agents how much they will give for Joseph + Van den Bosch's bill at six months on New York—or at sight may be + for forty thousand pound? I warrant they will discount the paper.” + </p> + <p> + “Happy he who has the bill, sir!” says George, with a bow, not a little + amused with the candour of the old gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Lord, Lord, how mercenary you young men are!” cries the elder, simply. + “Always thinking about money nowadays! Happy he who has the girl, I should + say—the money ain't the question, my dear sir, when it goes along + with such a lovely young thing as that—though I humbly say it, who + oughtn't, and who am her fond silly old grandfather. We were talking about + you, Lyddy darling—come, give me a kiss, my blessing! We were + talking about you, and Mr. George said he wouldn't take you with all the + money your poor old grandfather can give you.” + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you are right to say nay, for I didn't say all, that's the truth. + My Blessing will have a deal more than that trifle I spoke of, when it + shall please Heaven to remove me out of this world to a better—when + poor old Gappy is gone, Lyddy will be a rich little Lyddy, that she will. + But she don't wish me to go yet, does she?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you darling dear grandpapa!” says Lyddy. + </p> + <p> + “This young gentleman won't have you.” (Lyddy looks an arch “Thank you, + sir,” from her brown eyes.) “But at any rate he is honest, and that is + more than we can say of some folks in this wicked London. Oh, Lord, Lord, + how mercenary they are! Do you know that yonder, in Monument Yard, they + were all at my poor little Blessing for her money? There was Tom + Lutestring; there was Mr. Draper, your precious lawyer; there was actually + Mr. Tubbs, of Bethesda Chapel; and they must all come buzzing like flies + round the honey-pot. That is why we came out of the quarter where my + brother-tradesmen live.” + </p> + <p> + “To avoid the flies,—to be sure!” says Miss Lydia, tossing up her + little head. + </p> + <p> + “Where my brother-tradesmen live,” continues the old gentleman. “Else who + am I to think of consorting with your grandees and fine folk? I don't care + for the fashions, Mr. George; I don't care for plays and poetry, begging + your honour's pardon; I never went to a play in my life, but to please + this little minx.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, sir, 'twas lovely! and I cried so, didn't I, grandpapa?” says the + child. + </p> + <p> + “At what, my dear?” + </p> + <p> + “At—at Mr. Warrington's play, grandpapa.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you, my dear? I dare say; I dare say! It was mail day: and my letters + had come in: and my ship the Lovely Lyddy had just come into Falmouth; and + Captain Joyce reported how he had mercifully escaped a French privateer; + and my head was so full of thanks for that escape, which saved me a deal + of money, Mr. George—for the rate at which ships is underwrote this + war-time is so scandalous that I often prefer to venture than to insure—that + I confess I didn't listen much to the play, sir, and only went to please + this little Lyddy.” + </p> + <p> + “And you did please me, dearest Gappy!” cries the young lady. + </p> + <p> + “Bless you! then it's all I want. What does a man want more here below + than to please his children, Mr. George? especially me, who knew what was + to be unhappy when I was young, and to repent of having treated this + darling's father too hard.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, grandpapa!” cries the child, with more caresses. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I was too hard with him, dear; and that's why I spoil my little + Lydkin so!” + </p> + <p> + More kisses ensue between Lyddy and Gappy. The little creature flings the + pretty polished arms round the old man's neck, presses the dark red lips + on his withered cheek, surrounds the venerable head with a halo of powder + beaten out of his wig by her caresses; and eyes Mr. George the while, as + much as to say, There, sir! should you not like me to do as much for you? + </p> + <p> + We confess;—but do we confess all? George certainly told the story + of his interview with Lyddy and Gappy, and the old man's news regarding + his granddaughter's wealth; but I don't think he told everything; else + Theo would scarce have been so much interested, or so entirely amused and + good-humoured with Lyddy when next the two young ladies met. + </p> + <p> + They met now pretty frequently, especially after the old American + gentleman took up his residence in Bloomsbury. Mr. Van den Bosch was in + the city for the most part of the day, attending to his affairs, and + appearing at his place upon 'Change. During his absence Lyddy had the + command of the house, and received her guests there like a lady, or rode + abroad in a fine coach, which she ordered her grandpapa to keep for her, + and into which he could very seldom be induced to set his foot. Before + long Miss Lyddy was as easy in the coach as if she had ridden in one all + her life. She ordered the domestics here and there; she drove to the + mercer's and the jeweller's, and she called upon her friends with the + utmost stateliness, or rode abroad with them to take the air. Theo and + Hetty were both greatly diverted with her: but would the elder have been + quite as well pleased had she known all Miss Lyddy's doings? Not that Theo + was of a jealous disposition,—far otherwise; but there are cases + when a lady has a right to a little jealousy, as I maintain, whatever my + fair readers may say to the contrary. + </p> + <p> + It was because she knew he was engaged, very likely, that Miss Lyddy + permitted herself to speak so frankly in Mr. George's praise. When they + were alone—and this blessed chance occurred pretty often at Mr. Van + den Bosch's house, for we have said he was constantly absent on one errand + or the other—it was wonderful how artlessly the little creature + would show her enthusiasm, asking him all sorts of simple questions about + himself, his genius, his way of life at home and in London, his projects + of marriage, and so forth. + </p> + <p> + “I am glad you are going to be married, oh, so glad!” she would say, + heaving the most piteous sigh the while; “for I can talk to you frankly, + quite frankly as a brother, and not be afraid of that odious politeness + about which they were always scolding me at boarding-school. I may speak + to you frankly; and if I like you, I may say so, mayn't I, Mr. George?” + </p> + <p> + “Pray, say so,” says George, with a bow and a smile. “That is a kind of + talk which most men delight to hear, especially from such pretty lips as + Miss Lydia's.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you know about my lips?” says the girl, with a pout and an + innocent look into his face. + </p> + <p> + “What, indeed?” asks George. “Perhaps I should like to know a great deal + more.” + </p> + <p> + “They don't tell nothin' but truth, anyhow!” says the girl; “that's why + some people don't like them! If I have anything on my mind, it must come + out. I am a country-bred girl, I am—with my heart in my mouth—all + honesty and simplicity; not like your English girls, who have learned I + don't know what at their boarding-schools, and from the men afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + “Our girls are monstrous little hypocrites, indeed!” cries George. + </p> + <p> + “You are thinking of Miss Lamberts? and I might have thought of them; but + I declare I did not then. They have been at boarding-school; they have + been in the world a great deal—so much the greater pity for them, + for be certain they learned no good there. And now I have said so, of + course you will go and tell Miss Theo, won't you, sir?” + </p> + <p> + “That she has learned no good in the world? She has scarce spoken to men + at all, except her father, her brother, and me. Which of us would teach + her any wrong, think you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not you! Though I can understand its being very dangerous to be with + you!” says the girl, with a sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed there is no danger, and I don't bite!” says George, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't say bite,” says the girl, softly. “There's other things + dangerous besides biting, I should think. Aren't you very witty? Yes, and + sarcastic, and clever, and always laughing at people? Haven't you a + coaxing tongue? If you was to look at me in that kind of way, I don't know + what would come to me. Was your brother like you, as I was to have + married? Was he as clever and witty as you? I have heard he was like you: + but he hadn't your coaxing tongue. Heigho! 'Tis well you are engaged, + Master George, that is all. Do you think if you had seen me first, you + would have liked Miss Theo best?” + </p> + <p> + “They say marriages were made in Heaven, my dear, and let us trust that + mine has been arranged there,” says George. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose there was no such thing never known, as a man having two + sweethearts?” asks the artless little maiden. “Guess it's a pity. O me! + What nonsense I'm a-talking; there now! I'm like the little girl who cried + for the moon; and I can't have it. 'Tis too high for me—too high and + splendid and shining: can't reach up to it nohow. Well, what a foolish, + wayward, little spoilt thing I am now! But one thing you promise.-on your + word and your honour, now, Mr. George?” + </p> + <p> + “And what is that?” + </p> + <p> + “That you won't tell Miss Theo, else she'll hate me.” + </p> + <p> + “Why should she hate you?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I hate her, and wish she was dead!” breaks out the young lady. + And the eyes that were looking so gentle and lachrymose but now, flame + with sudden wrath, and her cheeks flush up. “For shame!” she adds, after a + pause. “I'm a little fool to speak! But whatever is in my heart must come + out. I am a girl of the woods, I am. I was bred where the sun is hotter + than in this foggy climate. And I am not like your cold English girls; + who, before they speak, or think, or feel, must wait for mamma to give + leave. There, there! I may be a little fool for saying what I have. I know + you'll go and tell Miss Lambert. Well, do!” + </p> + <p> + But, as we have said, George didn't tell Miss Lambert. Even from the + beloved person there must be some things kept secret; even to himself, + perhaps, he did not quite acknowledge what was the meaning of the little + girl's confession; or, if he acknowledged it, did not act on it; except in + so far as this, perhaps, that my gentleman, in Miss Lydia's presence, was + particularly courteous and tender; and in her absence thought of her very + kindly, and always with a certain pleasure. It were hard, indeed, if a man + might not repay by a little kindness and gratitude the artless affection + of such a warm young heart. + </p> + <p> + What was that story meanwhile which came round to our friends, of young + Mr. Lutestring and young Mr. Drabshaw the Quaker having a boxing-match at + a tavern in the city, and all about this young lady? They fell out over + their cups, and fought probably. Why did Mr. Draper, who had praised her + so at first, tell such stories now against her grandfather? “I suspect,” + says Madame de Bernstein, “that he wants the girl for some client or + relation of his own; and that he tells these tales in order to frighten + all suitors from her. When she and her grandfather came to me, she behaved + perfectly well; and I confess, sir, I thought it was a great pity that you + should prefer yonder red-cheeked countrified little chit, without a + halfpenny, to this pretty, wild, artless girl, with such a fortune as I + hear she has.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, she has been with you, has she, aunt?” asks George of his relative. + </p> + <p> + “Of course she has been with me,” the other replies, curtly. “Unless your + brother has been so silly as to fall in love with that other little + Lambert girl——” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, ma'am, I think I can say he has not,” George remarks. + </p> + <p> + “Why, then, when he comes back with Mr. Wolfe, should he not take a fancy + to this little person, as his mamma wishes—only, to do us justice, + we Esmonds care very little for what our mammas wish—and marry her, + and set up beside you in Virginia? She is to have a great fortune, which + you won't touch. Pray, why should it go out of the family?” + </p> + <p> + George now learned that Mr. Van den Bosch and his granddaughter had been + often at Madame de Bernstein's house. Taking his favourite walk with his + favourite companion to Kensington Gardens, he saw Mr. Van den Bosch's + chariot turning into Kensington Square. The Americans were going to visit + Lady Castlewood, then? He found, on some little inquiry, that they had + been more than once with her ladyship. It was, perhaps, strange that they + should have said nothing of their visits to George; but, being little + curious of other people's affairs, and having no intrigues or mysteries of + his own, George was quite slow to imagine them in other people. What + mattered to him how often Kensington entertained Bloomsbury, or Bloomsbury + made its bow at Kensington? + </p> + <p> + A number of things were happening at both places, of which our Virginian + had not the slightest idea. Indeed, do not things happen under our eyes, + and we not see them? Are not comedies and tragedies daily performed before + us of which we understand neither the fun nor the pathos? Very likely + George goes home thinking to himself, “I have made an impression on the + heart of this young creature. She has almost confessed as much. Poor + artless little maiden! I wonder what there is in me that she should like + me?” Can he be angry with her for this unlucky preference? Was ever a man + angry at such a reason? He would not have been so well pleased, perhaps, + had he known all; and that he was only one of the performers in the + comedy, not the principal character by any means; Rosencrantz and + Guildenstern in the Tragedy, the part of Hamlet by a gentleman unknown. + How often are our little vanities shocked in this way, and subjected to + wholesome humiliation! Have you not fancied that Lucinda's eyes beamed on + you with a special tenderness, and presently become aware that she ogles + your neighbour with the very same killing glances? Have you not exchanged + exquisite whispers with Lalage at the dinner-table (sweet murmurs heard + through the hum of the guests, and clatter of the banquet!) and then + overheard her whispering the very same delicious phrases to old Surdus in + the drawing-room? The sun shines for everybody; the flowers smell sweet + for all noses; and the nightingale and Lalage warble for all ears—not + your long ones only, good Brother! + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0070" id="link2HCH0070"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXX. In which Cupid plays a Considerable Part + </h2> + <p> + We must now, however, and before we proceed with the history of Miss Lydia + and her doings, perform the duty of explaining that sentence in Mr. + Warrington's letter to his brother which refers to Lady Maria Esmond, and + which, to some simple readers, may be still mysterious. For how, indeed, + could well-regulated persons divine such a secret? How could innocent and + respectable young people suppose that a woman of noble birth, of ancient + family, of mature experience,—a woman whom we have seen exceedingly + in love only a score of months ago,—should so far forget herself as + (oh, my very finger-tips blush as I write the sentence!)—as not only + to fall in love with a person of low origin, and very many years her + junior, but actually to marry him in the face of the world? That is, not + exactly in the face, but behind the back of the world, so to speak; for + Parson Sampson privily tied the indissoluble knot for the pair at his + chapel in Mayfair. + </p> + <p> + Now stop before you condemn her utterly. Because Lady Maria had had, and + overcome, a foolish partiality for her young cousin, was that any reason + why she should never fall in love with anybody else? Are men to have the + sole privilege of change, and are women to be rebuked for availing + themselves now and again of their little chance of consolation? No + invectives can be more rude, gross, and unphilosophical than, for + instance, Hamlet's to his mother about her second marriage. The truth, + very likely, is, that that tender, parasitic creature wanted a something + to cling to, and, Hamlet senior out of the way, twined herself round + Claudius. Nay, we have known females so bent on attaching themselves, that + they can twine round two gentlemen at once. Why, forsooth, shall there not + be marriage-tables after funeral baked-meats? If you said grace for your + feast yesterday, is that any reason why you shall not be hungry to-day? + Your natural fine appetite and relish for this evening's feast, shows that + to-morrow evening at eight o'clock you will most probably be in want of + your dinner. I, for my part, when Flirtilla or Jiltissa were partial to me + (the kind reader will please to fancy that I am alluding here to persons + of the most ravishing beauty and lofty rank), always used to bear in mind + that a time would come when they would be fond of somebody else. We are + served a la Russe, and gobbled up a dish at a time, like the folks in + Polyphemus's cave. 'Tis hodie mihi, cras tibi: there are some + Anthropophagi who devour dozens of us, the old, the young, the tender, the + tough, the plump, the lean, the ugly, the beautiful: there's no escape, + and one after another, as our fate is, we disappear down their omnivorous + maws. Look at Lady Ogresham! We all remember, last year, how she served + poor Tom Kydd: seized upon him, devoured him, picked his bones, and flung + them away. Now it is Ned Suckling she has got into her den. He lies under + her great eyes, quivering and fascinated. Look at the poor little trepid + creature, panting and helpless under the great eyes! She trails towards + him nearer and nearer; he draws to her, closer and closer. Presently there + will be one or two feeble squeaks for pity, and—hobblegobble—he + will disappear! Ah me! it is pity, too. I knew, for instance, that Maria + Esmond had lost her heart ever so many times before Harry Warrington found + it; but I like to fancy that he was going to keep it; that, bewailing + mischance and times out of joint, she would yet have preserved her love, + and fondled it in decorous celibacy. If, in some paroxysm of senile folly, + I should fall in love to-morrow, I shall still try and think I have + acquired the fee-simple of my charmer's heart;—not that I am only a + tenant, on a short lease, of an old battered furnished apartment, where + the dingy old wine-glasses have been clouded by scores of pairs of lips, + and the tumbled old sofas are muddy with the last lodger's boots. Dear, + dear nymph! Being beloved and beautiful! Suppose I had a little passing + passion for Glycera (and her complexion really was as pure as splendent + Parian marble); suppose you had a fancy for Telephus, and his low collars + and absurd neck;—those follies are all over now, aren't they? We + love each other for good now, don't we? Yes, for ever; and Glycera may go + to Bath, and Telephus take his cervicem roseam to Jack Ketch, n'est-ce + pas? + </p> + <p> + No. We never think of changing, my dear. However winds blow, or time + flies, or spoons stir, our potage, which is now so piping hot, will never + get cold. Passing fancies we may have allowed ourselves in former days; + and really your infatuation for Telephus (don't frown so, my darling + creature! and make the wrinkles in your forehead worse)—I say, + really it was the talk of the whole town; and as for Glycera, she behaved + confoundedly ill to me. Well, well, now that we understand each other, it + is for ever that our hearts are united, and we can look at Sir Cresswell + Cresswell, and snap our fingers at his wig. But this Maria of the last + century was a woman of an ill-regulated mind. You, my love, who know the + world, know that in the course of this lady's career a great deal must + have passed that would not bear the light, or edify in the telling. You + know (not, my dear creature, that I mean you have any experience; but you + have heard people say—you have heard your mother say) that an old + flirt, when she has done playing the fool with one passion, will play the + fool with another; that flirting is like drinking; and the brandy being + drunk up, you—no, not you—Glycera—the brandy being drunk + up, Glycera, who has taken to drinking, will fall upon the gin. So, if + Maria Esmond has found a successor for Harry Warrington, and set up a new + sultan in the precious empire of her heart, what, after all, could you + expect from her? That territory was like the Low Countries, accustomed to + being conquered, and for ever open to invasion. + </p> + <p> + And Maria's present enslaver was no other than Mr. Geoghegan or Hagan, the + young actor who had performed in George's tragedy. His tones were so + thrilling, his eye so bright, his mien so noble, he looked so beautiful in + his gilt leather armour and large buckled periwig, giving utterance to the + poet's glowing verses, that the lady's heart was yielded up to him, even + as Ariadne's to Bacchus when her affair with Theseus was over. The young + Irishman was not a little touched and elated by the highborn damsel's + partiality for him. He might have preferred a Lady Maria Hagan more tender + in years, but one more tender in disposition it were difficult to + discover. She clung to him closely, indeed. She retired to his humble + lodgings in Westminster with him, when it became necessary to disclose + their marriage, and when her furious relatives disowned her. + </p> + <p> + General Lambert brought the news home from his office in Whitehall one + day, and made merry over it with his family. In those homely times a joke + was none the worse for being a little broad; and a fine lady would laugh + at a jolly page of Fielding, and weep over a letter of Clarissa, which + would make your present ladyship's eyes start out of your head with + horror. He uttered all sorts of waggeries, did the merry General, upon the + subject of this marriage; upon George's share in bringing it about; upon + Barry's jealousy when he should hear of it, He vowed it was cruel that + cousin Hagan had not selected George as groomsman; that the first child + should be called Carpezan or Sybilla, after the tragedy, and so forth. + They would not quite be able to keep a coach, but they might get a chariot + and pasteboard dragons from Mr. Rich's theatre. The baby might be + christened in Macbeth's caldron; and Harry and harlequin ought certainly + to be godfathers. + </p> + <p> + “Why shouldn't she marry him if she likes him?” asked little Hetty. “Why + should he not love her because she is a little old? Mamma is a little old, + and you love her none the worse. When you married my mamma, sir, I have + heard you say you were very poor; and yet you were very happy, and nobody + laughed at you!” Thus this impudent little person spoke by reason of her + tender age, not being aware of Lady Maria Esmond's previous follies. + </p> + <p> + So her family has deserted her? George described what wrath they were in; + how Lady Castlewood had gone into mourning; how Mr. Will swore he would + have the rascal's ears; how furious Madame de Bernstein was, the most + angry of all. “It is an insult to the family,” says haughty little Miss + Hett; “and I can fancy how ladies of that rank must be indignant at their + relative's marriage with a person of Mr. Hagan's condition; but to desert + her is a very different matter.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, my dear child,” cries mamma, “you are talking of what you don't + understand. After my Lady Maria's conduct, no respectable person can go to + see her.” + </p> + <p> + “What conduct, mamma?” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind,” cries mamma. “Little girls can't be expected to know, and + ought not to be too curious to inquire, what Lady Maria's conduct has + been! Suffice it, miss, that I am shocked her ladyship should ever have + been here; and I say again, no honest person should associate with her!” + </p> + <p> + “Then, Aunt Lambert, I must be whipped and sent to bed,” says George, with + mock gravity. “I own to you (though I did not confess sooner, seeing that + the affair was not mine) that I have been to see my cousin the player, and + her ladyship his wife. I found them in very dirty lodgings in Westminster, + where the wretch has the shabbiness to keep not only his wife, but his old + mother, and a little brother, whom he puts to school. I found Mr. Hagan, + and came away with a liking, and almost a respect for him, although I own + he has made a very improvident marriage. But how improvident some folks + are about marriage, aren't they, Theo?” + </p> + <p> + “Improvident, if they marry such spendthrifts as you,” says the General. + “Master George found his relations, and I'll be bound to say he left his + purse behind him.” + </p> + <p> + “No, not the purse, sir,” says George, smiling very tenderly. “Theo made + that. But I am bound to own it came empty away. Mr. Rich is in great + dudgeon. He says he hardly dares have Hagan on his stage, and is afraid of + a riot, such as Mr. Garrick had about the foreign dancers. This is to be a + fine gentleman's riot. The macaronis are furious, and vow they will pelt + Mr. Hagan, and have him cudgelled afterwards. My cousin Will, at Arthur's, + has taken his oath he will have the actor's ears. Meanwhile, as the poor + man does not play, they have cut off his salary; and without his salary, + this luckless pair of lovers have no means to buy bread and cheese.” + </p> + <p> + “And you took it to them, sir? It was like you, George!” says Theo, + worshipping him with her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “It was your purse took it, dear Theo!” replies George. + </p> + <p> + “Mamma, I hope you will go and see them to-morrow!” prays Theo. + </p> + <p> + “If she doesn't, I shall get a divorce, my dear!” cries papa. “Come and + kiss me, you little wench—that is, avec la bonne permission de + monsieur mon beau-fils.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur mon beau fiddlestick, papa!” says Miss Lambert, and I have no + doubt complies with the paternal orders. And this was the first time + George Esmond Warrington, Esquire, was ever called a fiddlestick. + </p> + <p> + Any man, even in our time, who makes an imprudent marriage, knows how he + has to run the gauntlet of the family, and undergo the abuse, the scorn, + the wrath, the pity of his relations. If your respectable family cry out + because you marry the curate's daughter, one in ten, let us say, of his + charming children; or because you engage yourself to the young barrister + whose only present pecuniary resources come from the court which he + reports, and who will have to pay his Oxford bills out of your slender + little fortune;—if your friends cry out for making such engagements + as these, fancy the feelings of Lady Maria Hagan's friends, and even those + of Mr. Hagan's, on the announcement of this marriage. + </p> + <p> + There is old Mrs. Hagan, in the first instance. Her son has kept her + dutifully and in tolerable comfort, ever since he left Trinity College at + his father's death, and appeared as Romeo at Crow Street Theatre. His + salary has sufficed of late years to keep the brother at school, to help + the sister who has gone out as companion, and to provide fire, clothing, + tea, dinner, and comfort for the old clergyman's widow. And now, forsooth, + a fine lady, with all sorts of extravagant habits, must come and take + possession of the humble home, and share the scanty loaf and mutton! Were + Hagan not a high-spirited fellow, and the old mother very much afraid of + him, I doubt whether my lady's life at the Westminster lodgings would be + very comfortable. It was very selfish perhaps to take a place at that + small table, and in poor Hagan's narrow bed. But Love in some passionate + and romantic dispositions never regards consequences, or measures + accommodation. Who has not experienced that frame of mind; what thrifty + wife has not seen and lamented her husband in that condition; when, with + rather a heightened colour and a deuce-may-care smile on his face, he + comes home and announces that he has asked twenty people to dinner next + Saturday? He doesn't know whom exactly; and he does know the dining-room + will only hold sixteen. Never mind! Two of the prettiest girls can sit + upon young gentlemen's knees: others won't come: there's sure to be + plenty! In the intoxication of love people venture upon this dangerous + sort of housekeeping; they don't calculate the resources of their + dining-table, or those inevitable butchers' and fishmongers' bills which + will be brought to the ghastly housekeeper at the beginning of the month. + </p> + <p> + Yes: it was rather selfish of my Lady Maria to seat herself at Hagan's + table and take the cream off the milk, and the wings of the chickens, and + the best half of everything where there was only enough before; and no + wonder the poor old mamma-in-law was disposed to grumble. But what was her + outcry compared to the clamour at Kensington among Lady Maria's noble + family? Think of the talk and scandal all over the town! Think of the + titters and whispers of the ladies in attendance at the Princess's court, + where Lady Fanny had a place; of the jokes of Mr. Will's brother-officers + at the usher's table; of the waggeries in the daily prints and magazines; + of the comments of outraged prudes; of the laughter of the clubs and the + sneers of the ungodly! At the receipt of the news Madame Bernstein had + fits and ran off to the solitude of her dear rocks at Tunbridge Wells, + where she did not see above forty people of a night at cards. My lord + refused to see his sister; and the Countess in mourning, as we have said, + waited upon one of her patronesses, a gracious Princess, who was pleased + to condole with her upon the disgrace and calamity which had befallen her + house. For one, two, three whole days the town was excited and amused by + the scandal; then there came other news—a victory in Germany; + doubtful accounts from America; a general officer coming home to take his + trial; an exquisite new soprano singer from Italy; and the public forgot + Lady Maria in her garret, eating the hard-earned meal of the actor's + family. + </p> + <p> + This is an extract from Mr. George Warrington's letter to his brother, in + which he describes other personal matters, as well as a visit he had paid + to the newly married pair:— + </p> + <p> + “My dearest little Theo,” he writes, “was eager to accompany her mamma + upon this errand of charity; but I thought Aunt Lambert's visit would be + best under the circumstances, and without the attendance of her little + spinster aide-de-camp. Cousin Hagan was out when we called; we found her + ladyship in a loose undress, and with her hair in not the neatest papers, + playing at cribbage with a neighbour from the second floor, while good + Mrs. Hagan sate on the other side of the fire with a glass of punch, and + the Whole Duty of Man. + </p> + <p> + “Maria, your Maria once, cried a little when she saw us; and Aunt Lambert, + you may be sure, was ready with her sympathy. While she bestowed it on + Lady Maria, I paid the best compliments I could invent to the old lady. + When the conversation between Aunt L. and the bride began to flag, I + turned to the latter, and between us we did our best to make a dreary + interview pleasant. Our talk was about you, about Wolfe, about war; you + must be engaged face to face with the Frenchmen by this time, and God send + my dearest brother safe and victorious out of the battle! Be sure we + follow your steps anxiously—we fancy you at Cape Breton. We have + plans of Quebec, and charts of the St. Lawrence. Shall I ever forget your + face of joy that day when you saw me return safe and sound from the little + combat with the little Frenchman? So will my Harry, I know, return from + his battle. I feel quite assured of it; elated somehow with the prospect + of your certain success and safety. And I have made all here share my + cheerfulness. We talk of the campaign as over, and Captain Warrington's + promotion as secure. Pray Heaven, all our hopes may be fulfilled one day + ere long. + </p> + <p> + “How strange it is that you who are the mettlesome fellow (you know you + are) should escape quarrels hitherto, and I, who am a peaceful youth, + wishing no harm to anybody, should have battles thrust upon me! What do + you think actually of my having had another affair upon my wicked hands, + and with whom, think you? With no less a personage than your old enemy, + our kinsman, Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “What or who set him to quarrel with me, I cannot think. Spencer (who + acted as second for me, for matters actually have gone this length;—don't + be frightened; it is all over, and nobody is a scratch the worse) thinks + some one set Will on me, but who, I say? His conduct has been most + singular; his behaviour quite unbearable. We have met pretty frequently + lately at the house of good Mr. Van den Bosch, whose pretty granddaughter + was consigned to both of us by our good mother. Oh, dear mother! did you + know that the little thing was to be such a causa belli, and to cause + swords to be drawn, and precious lives to be menaced? But so it has been. + To show his own spirit, I suppose, or having some reasonable doubt about + mine, whenever Will and I have met at Mynheer's house—and he is for + ever going there—he has shown such downright rudeness to me, that I + have required more than ordinary patience to keep my temper. He has + contradicted me once, twice, thrice in the presence of the family, and out + of sheer spite and rage, as it appeared to me. Is he paying his addresses + to Miss Lydia, and her father's ships, negroes, and forty thousand pounds? + I should guess so. The old gentleman is for ever talking about his money, + and adores his granddaughter, and as she is a beautiful little creature, + numbers of folk here are ready to adore her too. Was Will rascal enough to + fancy that I would give up my Theo for a million of guineas, and negroes, + and Venus to boot? Could the thought of such baseness enter into the man's + mind? I don't know that he has accused me of stealing Van den Bosch's + spoons and tankards when we dine there, or of robbing on the highway. But + for one reason or the other he has chosen to be jealous of me, and as I + have parried his impertinences with little sarcastic speeches (though + perfectly civil before company), perhaps I have once or twice made him + angry. Our little Miss Lydia has unwittingly added fuel to the fire on + more than one occasion, especially yesterday, when there was talk about + your worship. + </p> + <p> + “'Ah!' says the heedless little thing, as we sat over our dessert, ''tis + lucky for you, Mr. Esmond, that Captain Harry is not here.' + </p> + <p> + “'Why, miss?' asks he, with one of his usual conversational ornaments. He + must have offended some fairy in his youth, who has caused him to drop + curses for ever out of his mouth, as she did the girl to spit out toads + and serpents. (I know some one from whose gentle lips there only fall pure + pearls and diamonds.) 'Why?' says Will, with a cannonade of oaths. + </p> + <p> + “'O fie!' says she, putting up the prettiest little fingers to the + prettiest little rosy ears in the world. 'O fie, sir! to use such naughty + words. 'Tis lucky the Captain is not here, because he might quarrel with + you; and Mr. George is so peaceable and quiet, that he won't. Have you + heard from the Captain, Mr. George?' + </p> + <p> + “'From Cape Breton,' says I. 'He is very well, thank you; that is——' + I couldn't finish the sentence, for I was in such a rage that I scarce + could contain myself. + </p> + <p> + “'From the Captain, as you call him, Miss Lyddy,' says Will. 'He'll + distinguish himself as he did at Saint Cas! Ho, ho!' + </p> + <p> + “'So I apprehend he did, sir,' says Will's brother. + </p> + <p> + “'Did he?' says our dear cousin; 'always thought he ran away; took to his + legs; got a ducking, and ran away as if a bailiff was after him.' + </p> + <p> + “'La!' says Miss, 'did the Captain ever have a bailiff after him?' + </p> + <p> + “'Didn't he? Ho, ho!' laughs Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I must have looked very savage, for Spencer, who was dining + with us, trod on my foot under the table. 'Don't laugh so loud, cousin,' I + said, very gently; 'you may wake good old Mr. Van den Bosch.' The good old + gentleman was asleep in his arm-chair, to which he commonly retires for a + nap after dinner. + </p> + <p> + “'Oh, indeed, cousin,' says Will, and he turns and winks at a friend of + his, Captain Deuceace, whose own and whose wife's reputation I dare say + you heard of when you frequented the clubs, and whom Will has introduced + into this simple family as a man of the highest fashion. 'Don't be afraid, + miss,' says Mr. Will, 'nor my cousin needn't be.' + </p> + <p> + “'Oh, what a comfort!' cries Miss Lyddy. 'Keep quite quiet, gentlemen, and + don't quarrel, and come up to me when I send to say the tea is ready.' And + with this she makes a sweet little curtsey, and disappears. + </p> + <p> + “'Hang it, Jack, pass the bottle, and don't wake the old gentleman!' + continues Mr. Will. 'Won't you help yourself, cousin?' he continues; being + particularly facetious in the tone of that word cousin. + </p> + <p> + “'I am going to help myself,' I said; 'but I am not going to drink the + glass; and I'll tell you what I am going to do with it, if you will be + quite quiet, cousin.' (Desperate kicks from Spencer all this time.) + </p> + <p> + “'And what the deuce do I care what you are going to do with it?' asks + Will, looking rather white. + </p> + <p> + “'I am going to fling it into your face, cousin,' says I, very rapidly + performing that feat. + </p> + <p> + “'By Jove, and no mistake!' cries Mr. Deuceace; and as he and William + roared out an oath together, good old Van den Bosch woke up, and, taking + the pocket-handkerchief off his face, asked what was the matter. + </p> + <p> + “I remarked it was only a glass of wine gone the wrong way and the old man + said; 'Well, well, there is more where that came from! Let the butler + bring you what you please, young gentlemen!' and he sank back in his great + chair, and began to sleep again. + </p> + <p> + “'From the back of Montagu House Gardens there is a beautiful view of + Hampstead at six o'clock in the morning; and the statue of the King on St. + George's Church is reckoned elegant, cousin!' says I, resuming the + conversation. + </p> + <p> + “'D—— the statue!' begins Will; but I said, 'Don't, cousin! or + you will wake up the old gentleman. Had we not best go upstairs to Miss + Lyddy's tea-table?' + </p> + <p> + “We arranged a little meeting for the next morning; and a coroner might + have been sitting upon one or other, or both, of our bodies this + afternoon; but, would you believe it? just as our engagement was about to + take place, we were interrupted by three of Sir John Fielding's men, and + carried to Bow Street, and ignominiously bound over to keep the peace. + </p> + <p> + “Who gave the information? Not I, or Spencer, I can vow. Though I own I + was pleased when the constables came running to us; bludgeon in hand: for + I had no wish to take Will's blood, or sacrifice my own to such a rascal. + Now, sir, have you such a battle as this to describe to me?—a battle + of powder and no shot?—a battle of swords as bloody as any on the + stage? I have filled my paper, without finishing the story of Maria and + her Hagan. You must have it by the next ship. You see, the quarrel with + Will took place yesterday, very soon after I had written the first + sentence or two of my letter. I had been dawdling till dinner-time (I + looked at the paper last night, when I was grimly making certain little + accounts up, and wondered shall I ever finish this letter?), and now the + quarrel has been so much more interesting to me than poor Molly's + love-adventures, that behold my paper is full to the brim! Wherever my + dearest Harry reads it, I know that there will be a heart full of love for—His + loving brother, + </p> + <p> + “G. E. W.” <a name="link2HCH0071" id="link2HCH0071"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXI. White Favours + </h2> + <p> + The little quarrel between George and his cousin caused the former to + discontinue his visits to Bloomsbury in a great measure; for Mr. Will was + more than ever assiduous in his attentions; and, now that both were bound + over to peace, so outrageous in his behaviour, that George found the + greatest difficulty in keeping his hands from his cousin. The artless + little Lydia had certainly a queer way of receiving her friends. But six + weeks before madly jealous of George's preference for another, she now + took occasion repeatedly to compliment Theo in her conversation. Miss Theo + was such a quiet, gentle creature, Lyddy was sure George was just the + husband for her. How fortunate that horrible quarrel had been prevented! + The constables had come up just in time; and it was quite ridiculous to + hear Mr. Esmond cursing and swearing, and the rage he was in at being + disappointed of his duel! “But the arrival of the constables saved your + valuable life, dear Mr. George, and I am sure Miss Theo ought to bless + them forever,” says Lyddy, with a soft smile. “You won't stop and meet Mr. + Esmond at dinner to-day? You don't like being in his company? He can't do + you any harm; and I am sure you will do him none.” Kind speeches like + these addressed by a little girl to a gentleman, and spoken by a strange + inadvertency in company, and when other gentlemen and ladies were present, + were not likely to render Mr. Warrington very eager for the society of the + young American lady. + </p> + <p> + George's meeting with Mr. Will was not known for some days in Dean Street, + for he did not wish to disturb those kind folks with his quarrel; but when + the ladies were made aware of it, you may be sure there was a great flurry + and to-do. “You were actually going to take a fellow-creature's life, and + you came to see us, and said not a word! Oh, George, it was shocking!” + said Theo. + </p> + <p> + “My dear, he had insulted me and my brother,” pleaded George. “Could I let + him call us both cowards, and sit by and say, Thank you?” + </p> + <p> + The General sate by and looked very grave. + </p> + <p> + “You know you think, papa, it is a wicked and un-Christian practice; and + have often said you wished gentlemen would have the courage to refuse!” + </p> + <p> + “To refuse? Yes,” says Mr. Lambert, still very glum. + </p> + <p> + “It must require a prodigious strength of mind to refuse,” says Jack + Lambert, looking as gloomy as his father; “and I think if any man were to + call me a coward, I should be apt to forget my orders.” + </p> + <p> + “You see brother Jack is with me!” cries George. + </p> + <p> + “I must not be against you, Mr. Warrington,” says Jack Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Warrington!” cries George, turning very red. + </p> + <p> + “Would you, a clergyman, have George break the Commandments, and commit + murder, John?” asks Theo, aghast. + </p> + <p> + “I am a soldier's son, sister,” says the young divine, drily. “Besides, + Mr. Warrington has committed no murder at all. We must soon be hearing + from Canada, father. The great question of the supremacy of the two races + must be tried there ere long!” He turned his back on George as he spoke, + and the latter eyed him with wonder. + </p> + <p> + Hetty, looking rather pale at this original remark of brother Jack, is + called out of the room by some artful pretext of her sister. George + started up and followed the retreating girls to the door. + </p> + <p> + “Great powers, gentlemen!” says he, coming back, “I believe, on my honour, + you are giving me the credit of shirking this affair with Mr. Esmond!” The + clergyman and his father looked at one another. + </p> + <p> + “A man's nearest and dearest are always the first to insult him,” says + George, flashing out. + </p> + <p> + “You mean to say, 'Not guilty?' God bless thee, my boy!” cries the + General. “I told thee so, Jack.” And he rubbed his hand across his eyes, + and blushed, and wrung George's hand with all his might. + </p> + <p> + “Not guilty of what, in heaven's name?” asks Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” said the General, “Mr. Jack, here, brought the story. Let him tell + it. I believe 'tis a ——— lie, with all my heart.” And + uttering this wicked expression, the General fairly walked out of the + room. + </p> + <p> + The Rev. J. Lambert looked uncommonly foolish. + </p> + <p> + “And what is this—this d——d lie, sir, that somebody has + been telling of me?” asked George, grinning at the young clergyman. + </p> + <p> + “To question the courage of any man is always an offence to him,” says Mr. + Lambert, “and I rejoice that yours has been belied.” + </p> + <p> + “Who told the falsehood, sir, which you repeated?” bawls out Mr. + Warrington. “I insist on the man's name!” + </p> + <p> + “You forget you are bound over to keep the peace,” says Jack. + </p> + <p> + “Curse the peace, sir! We can go and fight in Holland. Tell me the man's + name, I say!” + </p> + <p> + “Fair and softly, Mr. Warrington!” cries the young parson; “my hearing is + perfectly good. It was not a man who told me the story which, I confess, I + imparted to my father.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” asks George, the truth suddenly occurring. “Was it that artful, + wicked little vixen in Bloomsbury Square?” + </p> + <p> + “Vixen is not the word to apply to any young lady, George Warrington!” + exclaims Lambert, “much less to the charming Miss Lydia. She artful—the + most innocent of Heaven's creatures! She wicked—that angel! With + unfeigned delight that the quarrel should be over—with devout + gratitude to think that blood consanguineous should not be shed—she + spoke in terms of the highest praise of you for declining this quarrel, + and of the deepest sympathy with you for taking the painful but only + method of averting it.” + </p> + <p> + “What method?” demands George, stamping his foot. + </p> + <p> + “Why, of laying an information, to be sure!” says Mr. Jack; on which + George burst forth into language much too violent for us to repeat here, + and highly uncomplimentary to Miss Lydia. + </p> + <p> + “Don't utter such words, sir!” cried the parson, who, as it seemed, now + took his turn to be angry. “Do not insult, in my hearing, the most + charming, the most innocent of her sex! If she has been mistaken in her + information regarding you, and doubted your willingness to commit what, + after all, is a crime—for a crime homicide is, and of the most awful + description—you, sir, have no right to blacken that angel's + character with foul words: and, innocent yourself, should respect the most + innocent as she is the most lovely of women! Oh, George, are you to be my + brother?” + </p> + <p> + “I hope to have that honour,” answered George, smiling. He began to + perceive the other's drift. + </p> + <p> + “What, then, what—though 'tis too much bliss to be hoped for by + sinful man—what, if she should one day be your sister? Who could see + her charms without being subjugated by them? I own that I am a slave. I + own that those Latin Sapphics in the September number of the Gentleman's + Magazine, beginning Lydicae quondam cecinit venustae (with an English + version by my friend Hickson of Corpus), were mine. I have told my mother + what hath passed between us, and Mrs. Lambert also thinks that the most + lovely of her sex has deigned to look favourably on me. I have composed a + letter—she another. She proposes to wait on Miss Lydia's grandpapa + this very day, and to bring me the answer, which shall make me the + happiest or the most wretched of men! It was in the unrestrained + intercourse of family conversation that I chanced to impart to my father + the sentiments which my dear girl had uttered. Perhaps I spoke slightingly + of your courage, which I don't doubt—by Heaven, I don't doubt: it + may be, she has erred, too, regarding you. It may be that the fiend + jealousy has been gnawing at my bosom, and—horrible suspicion!—that + I thought my sister's lover found too much favour with her I would have + all my own. Ah, dear George, who knows his faults? I am as one distracted + with passion. Confound it, sir! What right have you to laugh at me? I + would have you to know that risu inepto.” + </p> + <p> + “What, have you two boys made it up?” cries the General, entering at this + moment, in the midst of a roar of laughter from George. + </p> + <p> + “I was giving my opinion to Mr. Warrington upon laughter, and upon his + laughter in particular,” says Jack Lambert, in a fume. + </p> + <p> + “George is bound over to keep the peace, Jack! Thou canst not fight him + for two years; and between now and then, let us trust you will have made + up your quarrel. Here is dinner, boys! We will drink absent friends, and + an end to the war, and no fighting out of the profession!” + </p> + <p> + George pleaded an engagement, as a reason for running away early from his + dinner; and Jack must have speedily followed him, for when the former, + after transacting some brief business at his own lodgings, came to Mr. Van + den Bosch's door, in Bloomsbury Square, he found the young parson already + in parley with a servant there. “His master and mistress had left town + yesterday,” the servant said. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Jack! And you had the decisive letter in your pocket?” George asked + of his future brother-in-law. + </p> + <p> + “Well, yes,”—Jack owned he had the document—“and my mother has + ordered a chair, and was coming to wait on Miss Lyddy,” he whispered + piteously, as the young men lingered on the steps. + </p> + <p> + George had a note, too, in his pocket for the young lady, which he had not + cared to mention to Jack. In truth, his business at home had been to write + a smart note to Miss Lyddy, with a message for the gentleman who had + brought her that funny story of his giving information regarding the duel! + The family being absent, George, too, did not choose to leave his note. + “If cousin Will has been the slander-bearer, I will go and make him + recant,” thought George. “Will the family soon be back?” he blandly asked. + </p> + <p> + “They are gone to visit the quality,” the servant replied. “Here is the + address on this paper;” and George read, in Miss Lydia's hand, “The box + from Madam Hocquet's to be sent by the Farnham Flying Coach; addressed to + Miss Van den Bosch, at the Right Honourable the Earl of Castlewood's, + Castlewood, Hants.” + </p> + <p> + “Where?” cried poor Jack, aghast. + </p> + <p> + “His lordship and their ladyships have been here often,” the servant said, + with much importance. “The families is quite intimate.” + </p> + <p> + This was very strange; for, in the course of their conversation, Lyddy had + owned but to one single visit from Lady Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “And they must be a-going to stay there some time, for Miss have took a + power of boxes and gowns with her!” the man added. And the young men + walked away, each crumpling his letter in his pocket. + </p> + <p> + “What was that remark you made?” asks George of Jack, at some exclamation + of the latter. “I think you said——” + </p> + <p> + “Distraction! I am beside myself, George! I—I scarce know what I am + saying,” groans the clergyman. “She is gone to Hampshire, and Mr. Esmond + is gone with her!” + </p> + <p> + “Othello could not have spoken better! and she has a pretty scoundrel in + her company!” says Mr. George. “Ha! here is your mother's chair!” Indeed, + at this moment poor Aunt Lambert came swinging down Great Russell Street, + preceded by her footman. “'Tis no use going farther, Aunt Lambert!” cries + George. “Our little bird has flown.” + </p> + <p> + “What little bird?” + </p> + <p> + “The bird Jack wished to pair with:—the Lyddy bird, aunt. Why, Jack, + I protest you are swearing again! This morning 'twas the Sixth Commandment + you wanted to break; and now——” + </p> + <p> + “Confound it! leave me alone, Mr. Warrington, do you hear?” growls Jack, + looking very savage; and away he strides far out of the reach of his + mother's bearers. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter, George?” asks the lady. + </p> + <p> + George, who has not been very well pleased with brother Jack's behaviour + all day, says: “Brother Jack has not a fine temper, Aunt Lambert. He + informs you all that I am a coward, and remonstrates with me for being + angry. He finds his mistress gone to the country, and he bawls, and + stamps, and swears. O fie! Oh, Aunt Lambert, beware of jealousy! Did the + General ever make you jealous?” + </p> + <p> + “You will make me very angry if you speak to me in this way,” says poor + Aunt Lambert from her chair. + </p> + <p> + “I am respectfully dumb. I make my bow. I withdraw,” says George, with a + low bow, and turns towards Holborn. His soul was wrath within him. He was + bent on quarrelling with somebody. Had he met cousin Will that night, it + had gone ill with his sureties. + </p> + <p> + He sought Will at all his haunts, at Arthur's, at his own house. There + Lady Castlewood's servants informed him that they believed Mr. Esmond had + gone to join the family in Hants. He wrote a letter to his cousin: + </p> + <p> + “My dear, kind cousin William,” he said, “you know I am bound over, and + would not quarrel with any one, much less with a dear, truth-telling, + affectionate kinsman, whom my brother insulted by caning. But if you can + find any one who says that I prevented a meeting the other day by giving + information, will you tell your informant that I think it is not I but + somebody else is the coward? And I write to Mr. Van den Bosch by the same + post, to inform him and Miss Lyddy that I find some rascal has been + telling them lies to my discredit, and to beg them to have a care of such + persons.” And, these neat letters being despatched, Mr. Warrington dressed + himself, showed himself at the play, and took supper cheerfully at the + Bedford. + </p> + <p> + In a few days George found a letter on his breakfast-table franked + “Castlewood,” and, indeed, written by that nobleman. + </p> + <p> + “Dear Cousin,” my lord wrote, “there has been so much annoyance in our + family of late, that I am sure 'tis time our quarrels should cease. Two + days since my brother William brought me a very angry letter, signed G. + Warrington, and at the same time, to my great grief and pain, acquainted + me with a quarrel that had taken place between you, in which, to say the + least, your conduct was violent. 'Tis an ill use to put good wine to—that + to which you applied good Mr. Van den Bosch's. Sure, before an old man, + young ones should be more respectful. I do not deny that Wm.'s language + and behaviour are often irritating. I know he has often tried my temper, + and that within the 24 hours. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! why should we not all live happily together? You know, cousin, I have + ever professed a sincere regard for you—that I am a sincere admirer + of the admirable young lady to whom you are engaged, and to whom I offer + my most cordial compliments and remembrances. I would live in harmony with + all my family where 'tis possible—the more because I hope to + introduce to it a Countess of Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “At my mature age, 'tis not uncommon for a man to choose a young wife. My + Lydia (you will divine that I am happy in being able to call mine the + elegant Miss Van den Bosch) will naturally survive me. After soothing my + declining years, I shall not be jealous if at their close she should + select some happy man to succeed me; though I shall envy him the + possession of so much perfection and beauty. Though of a noble Dutch + family, her rank, the dear girl declares, is not equal to mine, which she + confesses that she is pleased to share. I, on the other hand, shall not be + sorry to see descendants to my house, and to have it, through my Lady + Castlewood's means, restored to something of the splendour which it knew + before two or three improvident predecessors impaired it. My Lydia, who is + by my side, sends you and the charming Lambert family her warmest + remembrances. + </p> + <p> + “The marriage will take place very speedily here. May I hope to see you at + church? My brother will not be present to quarrel with you. When I and + dear Lydia announced the match to him yesterday, he took the intelligence + in bad part, uttered language that I know he will one day regret, and is + at present on a visit to some neighbours. The Dowager Lady Castlewood + retains the house at Kensington; we having our own establishment, where + you will ever be welcomed, dear cousin, by your affectionate humble + servant, CASTLEWOOD.” + </p> + <p> + From the London Magazine of November 1759: + </p> + <p> + “Saturday, October 13th, married, at his seat, Castlewood, Hants, the + Right Honourable Eugene, Earl of Castlewood, to the beautiful Miss Van den + Bosch, of Virginia. 70,000 pounds.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0072" id="link2HCH0072"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXII. (From the Warrington MS.) In which My Lady is on the Top + </h2> + <p> + of the Ladder + </p> + <p> + Looking across the fire, towards her accustomed chair, who has been the + beloved partner of my hearth during the last half of my life, I often ask + (for middle aged gentlemen have the privilege of repeating their jokes, + their questions, their stories) whether two young people ever were more + foolish and imprudent than we were when we married, as we did, in the year + of the old King's death? My son, who has taken some prodigious leaps in + the heat of his fox-hunting, says he surveys the gaps and rivers which he + crossed so safely over with terror afterwards, and astonishment at his own + foolhardiness in making such desperate ventures; and yet there is no more + eager sportsman in the two counties than Miles. He loves his amusement so + much that he cares for no other. He has broken his collar-bone, and had a + hundred tumbles (to his mother's terror); but so has his father (thinking, + perhaps, of a copy of verse, or his speech at Quarter Sessions) been + thrown over his old mare's head, who has slipped on a stone as they were + both dreaming along a park road at four miles an hour; and Miles's + reckless sport has been the delight of his life, as my marriage has been + the blessing of mine; and I never think of it but to thank Heaven. Mind, I + don't set up my worship as an example. I don't say to all young folks, “Go + and marry upon twopence a year;” or people would look very black at me at + our vestry-meetings; but my wife is known to be a desperate match-maker; + and when Hodge and Susan appear in my justice-room with a talk of + allowance, we urge them to spend their half-crown a week at home, add a + little contribution of our own, and send for the vicar. + </p> + <p> + Now, when I ask a question of my dear oracle, I know what the answer will + be; and hence, no doubt, the reason why I so often consult her. I have but + to wear a particular expression of face and my Diana takes her reflection + from it. Suppose I say, “My dear, don't you think the moon was made of + cream cheese to-night?” She will say, “Well, papa, it did look very like + cream cheese, indeed—there's nobody like you for droll similes.” Or, + suppose I say, “My love, Mr. Pitt's speech was very fine, but I don't + think he is equal to what I remember his father.” “Nobody was equal to my + Lord Chatham,” says my wife. And then one of the girls cries, “Why, I have + often heard our papa say Lord Chatham was a charlatan!” On which mamma + says, “How like she is to her Aunt Hetty!” + </p> + <p> + As for Miles, Tros Tyriusve is all one to him. He only reads the sporting + announcements in the Norwich paper. So long as there is good scent, he + does not care about the state of the country. I believe the rascal has + never read my poems, much more my tragedies (for I mentioned Pocahontas to + him the other day, and the dunce thought she was a river in Virginia); and + with respect to my Latin verses, how can he understand them when I know he + can't construe Corderius? Why, this notebook lies publicly on the little + table at my corner of the fireside, and any one may read in it who will + take the trouble of lifting my spectacles off the cover: but Miles never + hath. I insert in the loose pages caricatures of Miles: jokes against him: + but he never knows nor heeds them. Only once, in place of a neat drawing + of mine, in China-ink, representing Miles asleep after dinner, and which + my friend Bunbury would not disown, I found a rude picture of myself going + over my mare Sultana's head, and entitled “The Squire on Horseback, or + Fish out of Water.” And the fellow to roar with laughter, and all the + girls to titter, when I came upon the page! My wife said she never was in + such a fright as when I went to my book: but I can bear a joke against + myself, and have heard many, though (strange to say, for one who has lived + among some of the chief wits of the age) I never heard a good one in my + life. Never mind, Miles, though thou art not a wit, I love thee none the + worse (there never was any love lost between two wits in a family); though + thou hast no great beauty, thy mother thinks thee as handsome as Apollo, + or his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who was born in the very same + year with thee. Indeed, she always think Coates's picture of the Prince is + very like her eldest boy, and has the print in her dressing-room to this + very day. + </p> + <p> + [Note, in a female hand: “My son is not a spendthrift, nor a breaker of + women's hearts, as some gentlemen are; but that he was exceeding like + H.R.H. when they were both babies, is most certain, the Duchess of + Aneaster having herself remarked him in St. James's Park, where Gumbo and + my poor Molly used often to take him for an airing. Th. W.”] + </p> + <p> + In that same year, with what different prospects! my Lord Esmond, Lord + Castlewood's son, likewise appeared to adorn the world. My Lord C. and his + humble servant had already come to a coolness at that time, and, heaven + knows! my honest Miles's godmother, at his entrance into life, brought no + gold pap-boats to his christening! Matters have mended since, laus Deo—laus + Deo, indeed! for I suspect neither Miles nor his father would ever have + been able to do much for themselves, and by their own wits. + </p> + <p> + Castlewood House has quite a different face now from that venerable one + which it wore in the days of my youth, when it was covered with the + wrinkles of time, the scars of old wars, the cracks and blemishes which + years had marked on its hoary features. I love best to remember it in its + old shape, as I saw it when young Mr. George Warrington went down at the + owner's invitation, to be present at his lordship's marriage with Miss + Lydia Van den Bosch—“an American lady of noble family of Holland,” + as the county paper announced her ladyship to be. Then the towers stood as + Warrington's grandfather the Colonel (the Marquis, as Madam Esmond would + like to call her father) had seen them. The woods (thinned not a little to + be sure) stood, nay, some of the self-same rooks may have cawed over them, + which the Colonel had seen threescore years back. His picture hung in the + hall which might have been his, had he not preferred love and gratitude to + wealth and worldly honour; and Mr. George Esmond Warrington (that is, + Egomet Ipse who write this page down), as he walked the old place, pacing + the long corridors, the smooth dew-spangled terraces and cool darkling + avenues, felt a while as if he was one of Mr. Walpole's cavaliers with + ruff, rapier, buff-coat, and gorget, and as if an Old Pretender, or a + Jesuit emissary in disguise, might appear from behind any tall tree-trunk + round about the mansion, or antique carved cupboard within it. I had the + strangest, saddest, pleasantest, old-world fancies as I walked the place; + I imagined tragedies, intrigues, serenades, escaladoes, Oliver's + Roundheads battering the towers, or bluff Hal's Beefeaters pricking over + the plain before the castle. I was then courting a certain young lady + (madam, your ladyship's eyes had no need of spectacles then, and on the + brow above them there was never a wrinkle or a silver hair), and I + remember I wrote a ream of romantic description, under my Lord + Castlewood's franks, to the lady who never tired of reading my letters + then. She says I only send her three lines now, when I am away in London + or elsewhere. 'Tis that I may not fatigue your old eyes, my dear! + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington thought himself authorised to order a genteel new suit of + clothes for my lord's marriage, and with Mons. Gumbo in attendance, made + his appearance at Castlewood a few days before the ceremony. I may mention + that it had been found expedient to send my faithful Sady home on board a + Virginia ship. A great inflammation attacking the throat and lungs, and + proving fatal in very many cases, in that year of Wolfe's expedition, had + seized and well-nigh killed my poor lad, for whom his native air was + pronounced to be the best cure. We parted with an abundance of tears, and + Gumbo shed as many when his master went to Quebec: but he had attractions + in this country and none for the military life, so he remained attached to + my service. We found Castlewood House full of friends, relations, and + visitors. Lady Fanny was there upon compulsion, a sulky bridesmaid. Some + of the virgins of the neighbourhood also attended the young Countess. A + bishop's widow herself, the Baroness Beatrix brought a holy brother-in-law + of the bench from London to tie the holy knot of matrimony between Eugene + Earl of Castlewood and Lydia Van den Bosch, spinster; and for some time + before and after the nuptials the old house in Hampshire wore an + appearance of gaiety to which it had long been unaccustomed. The country + families came gladly to pay their compliments to the newly married couple. + The lady's wealth was the subject of everybody's talk, and no doubt did + not decrease in the telling. Those naughty stories which were rife in + town, and spread by her disappointed suitors there, took some little time + to travel into Hampshire; and when they reached the country found it + disposed to treat Lord Castlewood's wife with civility, and not inclined + to be too curious about her behaviour in town. Suppose she had jilted this + man, and laughed at the other? It was her money they were anxious about, + and she was no more mercenary than they. The Hampshire folks were + determined that it was a great benefit to the country to have Castlewood + House once more open, with beer in the cellars, horses in the stables, and + spits turning before the kitchen fires. The new lady took her place with + great dignity, and 'twas certain she had uncommon accomplishments and wit. + Was it not written, in the marriage advertisements, that her ladyship + brought her noble husband seventy thousand pounds? On a beaucoup d'esprit + with seventy thousand pounds. The Hampshire people said this was only a + small portion of her wealth. When the grandfather should fall, ever so + many plums would be found on that old tree. + </p> + <p> + That quiet old man, and keen reckoner, began quickly to put the + dilapidated Castlewood accounts in order, of which long neglect, poverty, + and improvidence had hastened the ruin. The business of the old + gentleman's life now, and for some time henceforth, was to advance, + improve, mend my lord's finances; to screw the rents up where practicable, + to pare the expenses of the establishment down. He could, somehow, look to + every yard of worsted lace on the footmen's coats, and every pound of beef + that went to their dinner. A watchful old eye noted every flagon of beer + which was fetched from the buttery, and marked that no waste occurred in + the larder. The people were fewer, but more regularly paid; the liveries + were not so ragged, and yet the tailor had no need to dun for his money; + the gardeners and grooms grumbled, though their wages were no longer + overdue: but the horses fattened on less corn, and the fruit and + vegetables were ever so much more plentiful—so keenly did my lady's + old grandfather keep a watch over the household affairs, from his lonely + little chamber in the turret. + </p> + <p> + These improvements, though here told in a paragraph or two, were the + affairs of months and years at Castlewood; where, with thrift, order, and + judicious outlay of money (however, upon some pressing occasions, my lord + might say he had none), the estate and household increased in prosperity. + That it was a flourishing and economical household no one could deny: not + even the dowager lady and her two children, who now seldom entered within + Castlewood gates, my lady considering them in the light of enemies—for + who, indeed, would like a stepmother-in-law? The little reigning Countess + gave the dowager battle, and routed her utterly and speedily. Though + educated in the colonies, and ignorant of polite life during her early + years, the Countess Lydia had a power of language and a strength of will + that all had to acknowledge who quarrelled with her. The dowager and my + Lady Fanny were no match for the young American: they fled from before her + to their jointure house in Kensington, and no wonder their absence was not + regretted by my lord, who was in the habit of regretting no one whose back + was turned. Could cousin Warrington, whose hand his lordship pressed so + affectionately on coming and parting, with whom cousin Eugene was so gay + and frank and pleasant when they were together, expect or hope that his + lordship would grieve at his departure, at his death, at any misfortune + which could happen to him, or any souls alive? Cousin Warrington knew + better. Always of a sceptical turn, Mr. W. took a grim delight in watching + the peculiarities of his neighbours, and could like this one even though + he had no courage and no heart. Courage? Heart? What are these to you and + me in the world? A man may have private virtues as he may have half a + million in the funds. What we du monde expect is, that he should be + lively, agreeable, keep a decent figure, and pay his way. Colonel Esmond + Warrington's grandfather (in whose history and dwelling-place Mr. W. took + an extraordinary interest), might once have been owner of this house of + Castlewood, and of the titles which belonged to its possessor. The + gentleman often looked at the Colonel's grave picture as it still hung in + the saloon, a copy or replica of which piece Mr. Warrington fondly + remembered in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “He must have been a little touched here,” my lord said, tapping his own + tall, placid forehead. + </p> + <p> + There are certain actions, simple and common with some men, which others + cannot understand, and deny as utter lies, or deride as acts of madness. + </p> + <p> + “I do you the justice to think, cousin,” says Mr. Warrington to his + lordship, “that you would not give up any advantage for any friend in the + world.” + </p> + <p> + “Eh! I am selfish: but am I more selfish than the rest of the world?” asks + my lord, with a French shrug of his shoulders, and a pinch out of his box. + Once, in their walks in the fields, his lordship happening to wear a fine + scarlet coat, a cow ran towards him; and the ordinarily languid nobleman + sprang over a stile with the agility of a schoolboy. He did not conceal + his tremor, or his natural want of courage. “I dare say you respect me no + more than I respect myself, George,” he would say, in his candid way, and + begin a very pleasant sardonical discourse upon the fall of man, and his + faults, and shortcomings; and wonder why Heaven had not made us all brave + and tall, and handsome and rich? As for Mr. Warrington, who very likely + loved to be king of his company (as some people do), he could not help + liking this kinsman of his, so witty, graceful, polished, high-placed in + the world—so utterly his inferior. Like the animal in Mr. Sterne's + famous book, “Do not beat me,” his lordship's look seemed to say, “but, if + you will, you may.” No man, save a bully and coward himself, deals hardly + with a creature so spiritless. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0073" id="link2HCH0073"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXIII. We keep Christmas at Castlewood. 1759 + </h2> + <p> + We know, my dear children, from our favourite fairy story-books, how at + all christenings and marriages some one is invariably disappointed, and + vows vengeance; and so need not wonder that good cousin Will should curse + and rage energetically at the news of his brother's engagement with the + colonial heiress. At first, Will fled the house, in his wrath, swearing he + would never return. But nobody, including the swearer, believed much in + Master Will's oaths; and this unrepentant prodigal, after a day or two, + came back to the paternal house. The fumes of the marriage-feast allured + him: he could not afford to resign his knife and fork at Castlewood table. + He returned, and drank and ate there in token of revenge. He pledged the + young bride in a bumper, and drank perdition to her under his breath. He + made responses of smothered maledictions as her father gave her away in + the chapel, and my lord vowed to love, honour and cherish her. He was not + the only grumbler respecting that marriage, as Mr. Warrington knew: he + heard, then and afterwards, no end of abuse of my lady and her + grandfather. The old gentleman's City friends, his legal adviser, the + Dissenting clergyman at whose chapel they attended on their first arrival + in England, and poor Jack Lambert, the orthodox young divine, whose + eloquence he had fondly hoped had been exerted over her in private, were + bitter against the little lady's treachery, and each had a story to tell + of his having been enslaved, encouraged, jilted, by the young American. + The lawyer, who had had such an accurate list of all her properties, + estates, moneys, slaves, ships, expectations, was ready to vow and swear + that he believed the whole account was false; that there was no such place + as New York or Virginia; or at any rate, that Mr. Van den Bosch had no + land there; that there was no such thing as a Guinea trade, and that the + negroes were so many black falsehoods invented by the wily old planter. + The Dissenting pastor moaned over his stray lambling—if such a + little, wily, mischievous monster could be called a lamb at all. Poor Jack + Lambert ruefully acknowledged to his mamma the possession of a lock of + black hair, which he bedewed with tears and apostrophised in quite + unclerical language: and, as for Mr. William Esmond, he, with the shrieks + and curses in which he always freely indulged, even at Castlewood, under + his sister-in-law's own pretty little nose, when under any strong emotion, + called Acheron to witness, that out of that region there did not exist + such an artful young devil as Miss Lydia. He swore that she was an + infernal female Cerberus, and called down all the wrath of this world and + the next upon his swindling rascal of a brother, who had cajoled him with + fair words, and filched his prize from him. + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says Mr. Warrington (when Will expatiated on these matters with + him), “if the girl is such a she-devil as you describe her, you are all + the better for losing her. If she intends to deceive her husband, and to + give him a dose of poison, as you say, how lucky for you, you are not the + man! You ought to thank the gods, Will, instead of cursing them, for + robbing you of such a fury, and can't be better revenged on Castlewood + than by allowing him her sole possession.” + </p> + <p> + “All this was very well,” Will Esmond said; but—not unjustly, + perhaps,—remarked that his brother was not the less a scoundrel for + having cheated him out of the fortune which he expected to get, and which + he had risked his life to win, too. + </p> + <p> + George Warrington was at a loss to know how his cousin had been made so to + risk his precious existence (for which, perhaps, a rope's end had been a + fitting termination), on which Will Esmond, with the utmost candour, told + his kinsman how the little Cerbera had actually caused the meeting between + them, which was interrupted somehow by Sir John Fielding's men; how she + was always saying that George Warrington was a coward for ever sneering at + Mr. Will, and the latter doubly a poltroon for not taking notice of his + kinsman's taunts; how George had run away and nearly died of fright in + Braddock's expedition; and “Deuce take me,” says Will, “I never was more + surprised, cousin, than when you stood to your ground so coolly in + Tottenham Court Fields yonder, for me and my second offered to wager that + you would never come!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Warrington laughed, and thanked Mr. Will for this opinion of him. + </p> + <p> + “Though,” says he, “cousin, 'twas lucky for me the constables came up, or + you would have whipped your sword through my body in another minute. + Didn't you see how clumsy I was as I stood before you? And you actually + turned white and shook with anger!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, curse me,” says Mr. Will (who turned very red this time), “that's my + way of showing my rage; and I was confoundedly angry with you, cousin! But + now 'tis my brother I hate, and that little devil of a Countess—a + countess! a pretty countess, indeed!” And with another rumbling cannonade + of oaths, Will saluted the reigning member of his family. + </p> + <p> + “Well, cousin,” says George, looking him queerly in the face, “you let me + off easily, and I dare say I owe my life to you, or at any rate a whole + waistcoat, and I admire your forbearance and spirit. What a pity that a + courage like yours should be wasted as a mere court usher! You are a loss + to his Majesty's army. You positively are!” + </p> + <p> + “I never know whether you are joking or serious, Mr. Warrington,” growls + Will. + </p> + <p> + “I should think very few gentlemen would dare to joke with you, cousin, if + they had a regard for their own lives or ears! cries Mr. Warrington, who + loved this grave way of dealing with his noble kinsman, and used to watch, + with a droll interest, the other choking his curses, grinding his teeth + because afraid to bite, and smothering his cowardly anger. + </p> + <p> + “And you should moderate your expressions, cousin, regarding the dear + Countess and my lord your brother,” Mr. Warrington resumed. “Of you they + always speak most tenderly. Her ladyship has told me everything.” + </p> + <p> + “What everything?” cries Will, aghast. + </p> + <p> + “As much as women ever do tell, cousin. She owned that she thought you had + been a little epris with her. What woman can help liking a man who has + admired her?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, she hates you, and says you were wild about her, Mr. Warrington!” + says Mr. Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “Spretae injuria formae, cousin!” + </p> + <p> + “For me—what's for me?” asks the other. + </p> + <p> + “I never did care for her, and hence, perhaps, she does not love me. Don't + you remember that case of the wife of the Captain of the Guard?” + </p> + <p> + “Which Guard?” asks Will. + </p> + <p> + “My Lord Potiphar,” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Lord Who? My Lord Falmouth is Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, and my + Lord Berkeley of the Pensioners. My Lord Hobart had 'em before. Suppose + you haven't been long enough in England to know who's who, cousin!” + remarks Mr. William. + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Warrington explained that he was speaking of a Captain of the + Guard of the King of Egypt, whose wife had persecuted one Joseph for not + returning her affection for him. On which Will said that, as for Egypt, he + believed it was a confounded long way off; and that if Lord + What-d'ye-call's wife told lies about him, it was like her sex, who he + supposed were the same everywhere. + </p> + <p> + Now the truth is, that when he paid his marriage-visit to Castlewood, Mr. + Warrington had heard from the little Countess her version of the story of + differences between Will Esmond and herself. And this tale differed, in + some respects, though he is far from saying it is more authentic than the + ingenuous narrative of Mr. Will. The lady was grieved to think how she had + been deceived in her brother-in-law. She feared that his life about the + court and town had injured those high principles which all the Esmonds are + known to be born with; that Mr. Will's words were not altogether to be + trusted; that a loose life and pecuniary difficulties had made him + mercenary, blunted his honour, perhaps even impaired the high chivalrous + courage “which we Esmonds, cousin,” the little lady said, tossing her + head, “which we Esmonds must always possess—leastways, you and me, + and my lord, and my cousin Harry have it, I know!” says the Countess. “Oh, + cousin George! and must I confess that I was led to doubt of yours, + without which a man of ancient and noble family like ours isn't worthy to + be called a man! I shall try, George, as a Christian lady, and the head of + one of the first families in this kingdom and the whole world, to forgive + my brother William for having spoke ill of a member of our family, though + a younger branch and by the female side, and made me for a moment doubt of + you. He did so. Perhaps he told me ever so many bad things you had said of + me.” + </p> + <p> + “I, my dear lady!” cries Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Which he said you said of me, cousin, and I hope you didn't, and heartily + pray you didn't; and I can afford to despise 'em. And he paid me his + court, that's a fact; and so have others, and that I'm used to; and he + might have prospered better than he did perhaps (for I did not know my + dear lord, nor come to vally his great and eminent qualities, as I do out + of the fulness of this grateful heart now!), but, oh! I found William was + deficient in courage, and no man as wants that can ever have the esteem of + Lydia, Countess of Castlewood, no more he can! He said 'twas you that + wanted for spirit, cousin, and angered me by telling me that you was + always abusing of me. But I forgive you, George, that I do! And when I + tell you that it was he was afraid—the mean skunk!—and + actually sent for them constables to prevent the match between you and he, + you won't wonder I wouldn't vally a feller like that—no, not that + much!” and her ladyship snapped her little fingers. “I say, noblesse + oblige, and a man of our family who hasn't got courage, I don't care not + this pinch of snuff for him—there, now, I don't! Look at our + ancestors, George, round these walls! Haven't the Esmonds always fought + for their country and king? Is there one of us that, when the moment + arrives, ain't ready to show that he's an Esmond and a nobleman? If my + eldest son was to show the white feather, 'My Lord Esmond!' I would say to + him (for that's the second title in our family), 'I disown your + lordship!'” And so saying, the intrepid little woman looked round at her + ancestors, whose effigies, depicted by Lely and Kneller, figured round the + walls of her drawing-room at Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + Over that apartment, and the whole house, domain, and village, the new + Countess speedily began to rule with an unlimited sway. It was surprising + how quickly she learned the ways of command; and, if she did not adopt + those methods of precedence usual in England among great ladies, invented + regulations for herself, and promulgated them, and made others submit. + Having been bred a Dissenter, and not being over-familiar with the + Established Church service, Mr. Warrington remarked that she made a + blunder or two during the office (not knowing, for example, when she was + to turn her face towards the east, a custom not adopted, I believe, in + other Reforming churches besides the English); but between Warrington's + first bridal visit to Castlewood and his second, my lady had got to be + quite perfect in that part of her duty, and sailed into chapel on her + cousin's arm, her two footmen bearing her ladyship's great Prayer-book + behind her, as demurely as that delightful old devotee with her lackey, in + Mr. Hogarth's famous picture of “Morning,” and as if my Lady Lydia had + been accustomed to have a chaplain all her life. She seemed to patronise + not only the new chaplain, but the service and the church itself, as if + she had never in her own country heard a Ranter in a barn. She made the + oldest established families in the country—grave baronets and their + wives—worthy squires of twenty descents, who rode over to Castlewood + to pay the bride and bridegroom honour—know their distance, as the + phrase is, and give her the pas. She got an old heraldry book; and a + surprising old maiden lady from Winton, learned in politeness and + genealogies, from whom she learned the court etiquette (as the old Winton + lady had known it in Queen Anne's time); and ere long she jabbered gules + and sables, bends and saltires, not with correctness always, but with a + wonderful volubility and perseverance. She made little progresses to the + neighbouring towns in her gilt coach-and-six, or to the village in her + chair, and asserted a quasi-regal right of homage from her tenants and + other clodpoles. She lectured the parson on his divinity; the bailiff on + his farming; instructed the astonished housekeeper how to preserve and + pickle; would have taught the great London footmen to jump behind the + carriage, only it was too high for her little ladyship to mount; gave the + village gossips instructions how to nurse and take care of their children + long before she had one herself; and as for physic, Madam Esmond in + Virginia was not more resolute about her pills and draughts than Miss + Lydia, the earl's new bride. Do you remember the story of the Fisherman + and the Genie, in the Arabian Nights? So one wondered with regard to this + lady, how such a prodigious genius could have been corked down into such a + little bottle as her body. When Mr. Warrington returned to London after + his first nuptial visit, she brought him a little present for her young + friends in Dean Street, as she called them (Theo being older, and Hetty + scarce younger than herself), and sent a trinket to one and a book to the + other—G. Warrington always vowing that Theo's present was a doll, + while Hetty's share was a nursery-book with words of one syllable. As for + Mr. Will, her younger brother-in-law, she treated him with a maternal + gravity and tenderness, and was in the habit of speaking of and to him + with a protecting air, which was infinitely diverting to Warrington, + although Will's usual curses and blasphemies were sorely increased by her + behaviour. + </p> + <p> + As for old age, my Lady Lydia had little respect for that accident in the + life of some gentlemen and gentlewomen; and, once the settlements were + made in her behalf, treated the ancient Van den Bosch and his large + periwig with no more ceremony than Dinah her black attendant, whose great + ears she would pinch, and whose woolly pate she would pull without + scruple, upon offence given—so at least Dinah told Gumbo, who told + his master. All the household trembled before my lady the Countess: the + housekeeper, of whom even my lord and the dowager had been in awe; the + pampered London footmen, who used to quarrel if they were disturbed at + their cards, and grumbled as they swilled the endless beer, now stepped + nimbly about their business when they heard her ladyship's call; even old + Lockwood, who had been gate-porter for half a century or more, tried to + rally his poor old wandering wits when she came into his lodge to open his + window, inspect his wood-closet, and turn his old dogs out of doors. + Lockwood bared his old bald head before his new mistress, turned an + appealing look towards his niece, and vaguely trembled before her little + ladyship's authority. Gumbo, dressing his master for dinner, talked about + Elisha (of whom he had heard the chaplain read in the morning), “and his + bald head and de boys who call um names, and de bars eat em up, and serve + um right,” says Gumbo. But as for my lady, when discoursing with her + cousin about the old porter, “Pooh, pooh! Stupid old man!” says she; “past + his work, he and his dirty old dogs! They are as old and ugly as those old + fish in the pond!” (Here she pointed to two old monsters of carp that had + been in a pond in Castlewood gardens for centuries, according to + tradition, and had their backs all covered with a hideous grey mould.) + “Lockwood must pack off; the workhouse is the place for him; and I shall + have a smart, good-looking, tall fellow in the lodge that will do credit + to our livery.” + </p> + <p> + “He was my grandfather's man, and served him in the wars of Queen Anne,” + interposed Mr. Warrington. On which my lady cried, petulantly, “O Lord! + Queen Anne's dead, I suppose, and we ain't a-going into mourning for her.” + </p> + <p> + This matter of Lockwood was discussed at the family dinner, when her + ladyship announced her intention of getting rid of the old man. + </p> + <p> + “I am told,” demurely remarks Mr. Van den Bosch, “that, by the laws, poor + servants and poor folks of all kinds are admirably provided in their old + age here in England. I am sure I wish we had such an asylum for our folks + at home, and that we were eased of the expense of keeping our old hands.” + </p> + <p> + “If a man can't work he ought to go!” cries her ladyship. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, indeed, and that's a fact!” says grandpapa. + </p> + <p> + “What! an old servant?” asks my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Van den Bosch possibly was independent of servants when he was + young,” remarks Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Greased my own boots, opened my own shutters, sanded and watered my own——” + </p> + <p> + “Sugar, sir?” says my lord. + </p> + <p> + “No; floor, son-in-law!” says the old man, with a laugh; “though there is + such tricks, in grocery stores, saving your ladyship's presence.” + </p> + <p> + “La, pa! what should I know about stores and groceries?” cries her + ladyship. + </p> + <p> + “He! Remember stealing the sugar, and what came on it, my dear ladyship?” + says grandpapa. + </p> + <p> + “At any rate, a handsome, well-grown man in our livery will look better + than that shrivelled old porter creature!” cries my lady. + </p> + <p> + “No livery is so becoming as old age, madam, and no lace as handsome as + silver hairs,” says Mr. Warrington. “What will the county say if you + banish old Lockwood?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! if you plead for him, sir, I suppose he must stay. Hadn't I better + order a couch for him out of my drawing-room, and send him some of the + best wine from the cellar?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed your ladyship couldn't do better,” Mr. Warrington remarked, very + gravely. + </p> + <p> + And my lord said, yawning, “Cousin George is perfectly right, my dear. To + turn away such an old servant as Lockwood would have an ill look.” + </p> + <p> + “You see those mouldy old carps are, after all, a curiosity, and attract + visitors,” continues Mr. Warrington, gravely. “Your ladyship must allow + this old wretch to remain. It won't be for long. And you may then engage + the tall porter. It is very hard on us, Mr. Van den Bosch, that we are + obliged to keep our old negroes when they are past work. I shall sell that + rascal Gumbo in eight or ten years.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't tink you will, master!” says Gumbo, grinning. + </p> + <p> + “Hold your tongue, sir! He doesn't know English ways, you see, and perhaps + thinks an old servant has a claim on his master's kindness,” says Mr. + Warrington. + </p> + <p> + The next day, to Warrington's surprise, my lady absolutely did send a + basket of good wine to Lockwood, and a cushion for his armchair. + </p> + <p> + “I thought of what you said, yesterday, at night when I went to bed; and + guess you know the world better than I do, cousin; and that it's best to + keep the old man, as you say.” + </p> + <p> + And so this affair of the porter's lodge ended, Mr. Warrington wondering + within himself at this strange little character out of the West, with her + naivete and simplicities, and a heartlessness would have done credit to + the most battered old dowager who ever turned trumps in St. James's. + </p> + <p> + “You tell me to respect old people. Why? I don't see nothin' to respect in + the old people, I know,” she said to Warrington. “They ain't so funny, and + I'm sure they ain't so handsome. Look at grandfather; look at Aunt + Bernstein. They say she was a beauty once! That picture painted from her! + I don't believe it, nohow. No one shall tell me that I shall ever be as + bad as that! When they come to that, people oughtn't to live. No, that + they oughtn't.” + </p> + <p> + Now, at Christmas, Aunt Bernstein came to pay her nephew and niece a + visit, in company with Mr. Warrington. They travelled at their leisure in + the Baroness's own landau; the old lady being in particular good health + and spirits, the weather delightfully fresh and not too cold; and, as they + approached her paternal home, Aunt Beatrice told her companion a hundred + stories regarding it and old days. Though often lethargic, and not seldom, + it must be confessed, out of temper, the old lady would light up at times, + when her conversation became wonderfully lively, her wit and malice were + brilliant, and her memory supplied her with a hundred anecdotes of a + bygone age and society. Sure, 'tis hard with respect to Beauty, that its + possessor should not have even a life-enjoyment of it, but be compelled to + resign it after, at the most, some forty years' lease. As the old woman + prattled of her former lovers and admirers (her auditor having much more + information regarding her past career than her ladyship knew of), I would + look in her face, and, out of the ruins, try to build up in my fancy a + notion of her beauty in its prime. What a homily I read there! How the + courts were grown with grass, the towers broken, the doors ajar, the fine + gilt saloons tarnished, and the tapestries cobwebbed and torn! Yonder + dilapidated palace was all alive once with splendour and music, and those + dim windows were dazzling and blazing with light! What balls and feasts + were once here, what splendour and laughter! I could see lovers in + waiting, crowds in admiration, rivals furious. I could imagine twilight + assignations, and detect intrigues, though the curtains were close and + drawn. I was often minded to say to the old woman as she talked, “Madam, I + know the story was not as you tell it, but so and so”—(I had read at + home the history of her life, as my dear old grandfather had wrote it): + and my fancy wandered about in her, amused and solitary, as I had walked + about our father's house at Castlewood, meditating on departed glories, + and imagining ancient times. + </p> + <p> + When Aunt Bernstein came to Castlewood, her relatives there, more, I + think, on account of her own force of character, imperiousness, and + sarcastic wit, than from their desire to possess her money, were + accustomed to pay her a great deal of respect and deference, which she + accepted as her due. She expected the same treatment from the new + Countess, whom she was prepared to greet with special good-humour. The + match had been of her making. “As you, you silly creature, would not have + the heiress,” she said, “I was determined she should not go out of the + family,” and she laughingly told of many little schemes for bringing the + marriage about. She had given the girl a coronet and her nephew a hundred + thousand pounds. Of course she should be welcome to both of them. She was + delighted with the little Countess's courage and spirit in routing the + Dowager and Lady Fanny. Almost always pleased with pretty people on her + first introduction to them, Madame Bernstein raffled of her niece Lydia's + bright eyes and lovely little figure. The marriage was altogether + desirable. The old man was an obstacle, to be sure, and his talk and + appearance somewhat too homely. But he will be got rid of. He is old and + in delicate health. “He will want to go to America, or perhaps farther,” + says the Baroness, with a shrug. “As for the child, she had great fire and + liveliness, and a Cherokee manner which is not without its charm,” said + the pleased old Baroness. “Your brother had it—so have you, Master + George! Nous la formerons, cette petite. Eugene wants character and + vigour, but he is a finished gentleman, and between us we shall make the + little savage perfectly presentable.” In this way we discoursed on the + second afternoon as we journeyed towards Castlewood. We lay at the King's + Arms at Bagshot the first night, where the Baroness was always received + with profound respect, and thence drove post to Hexton, where she had + written to have my lord's horses in waiting for her; but these were not + forthcoming at the inn, and after a couple of hours we were obliged to + proceed with our Bagshot horses to Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + During this last stage of the journey, I am bound to say the old aunt's + testy humour returned, and she scarce spoke a single word for three hours. + As for her companion; being prodigiously in love at the time, no doubt he + did not press his aunt for conversation, but thought unceasingly about his + Dulcinea, until the coach actually reached Castlewood Common, and rolled + over the bridge before the house. + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper was ready to conduct her ladyship to her apartments. My + lord and lady were both absent. She did not know what had kept them, the + housekeeper said, heading the way. + </p> + <p> + “Not that door, my lady!” cries the woman, as Madame de Bernstein put her + hand upon the door of the room which she had always occupied. “That's her + ladyship's room now. This way,” and our aunt followed, by no means in + increased good-humour. I do not envy her maids when their mistress was + displeased. But she had cleared her brow before she joined the family, and + appeared in the drawing-room before supper-time with a countenance of + tolerable serenity. + </p> + <p> + “How d'ye do, aunt?” was the Countess's salutation. “I declare now, I was + taking a nap when your ladyship arrived! Hope you found your room fixed to + your liking!” + </p> + <p> + Having addressed three brief sentences to the astonished old lady, the + Countess now turned to her other guests, and directed her conversation to + them. Mr. Warrington was not a little diverted by her behaviour, and by + the appearance of surprise and wrath which began to gather over Madame + Bernstein's face. “La petite,” whom the Baroness proposed to “form,” was + rather a rebellious subject, apparently, and proposed to take a form of + her own. Looking once or twice rather anxiously towards his wife, my lord + tried to atone for her pertness towards his aunt by profuse civility on + his own part; indeed, when he so wished, no man could be more courteous or + pleasing. He found a score of agreeable things to say to Madame Bernstein. + He warmly congratulated Mr. Warrington on the glorious news which had come + from America, and on his brother's safety. He drank a toast at supper to + Captain Warrington. “Our family is distinguishing itself, cousin,” he + said; and added, looking with fond significance towards his Countess, “I + hope the happiest days are in store for us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, George!” says the little lady. “You'll write and tell Harry that we + are all very much pleased with him. This action at Quebec is a most + glorious action; and now we have turned the French king out of the + country, shouldn't be at all surprised if we set up for ourselves in + America.” + </p> + <p> + “My love, you are talking treason!” cries Lord Castlewood. + </p> + <p> + “I am talking reason, anyhow, my lord. I've no notion of folks being kept + down, and treated as children for ever!” + </p> + <p> + George! Harry! I protest I was almost as much astonished as amused. “When + my brother hears that your ladyship is satisfied with his conduct, his + happiness will be complete,” I said gravely. + </p> + <p> + Next day, when talking beside her sofa, where she chose to lie in state, + the little Countess no longer called her cousin “George,” but “Mr. + George,” as before; on which Mr. George laughingly said she had changed + her language since the previous day. + </p> + <p> + “Guess I did it to tease old Madam Buzwig,” says her ladyship. “She wants + to treat me as a child, and do the grandmother over me. I don't want no + grandmothers, I don't. I'm the head of this house, and I intend to let her + know it. And I've brought her all the way from London in order to tell it + her, too! La! how she did look when I called you George! I might have + called you George—only you had seen that little Theo first, and + liked her best, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I suppose I like her best,” says Mr. George. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I like you because you tell the truth. Because you was the only one + of 'em in London who didn't seem to care for my money, though I was + downright mad and angry with you once, and with myself too, and with that + little sweetheart of yours, who ain't to be compared to me, I know she + ain't.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't let us make the comparison, then!” I said, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose people must lie on their beds as they make 'em,” says she, with + a little sigh. “Dare say Miss Theo is very good, and you'll marry her and + go to Virginia, and be as dull as we are here. We were talking of Miss + Lambert, my lord, and I was wishing my cousin joy. How is old Goody + to-day? What a supper she did eat last night, and drink!—drink like + a dragoon! No wonder she has got a headache, and keeps her room. Guess it + takes her ever so long to dress herself.” + </p> + <p> + “You, too, may be feeble when you are old, and require rest and wine to + warm you!” says Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “Hope I shan't be like her when I'm old, anyhow!” says the lady. “Can't + see why I am to respect an old woman, because she hobbles on a stick, and + has shaky hands, and false teeth!” And the little heathen sank back on her + couch, and showed twenty-four pearls of her own. + </p> + <p> + “Law!” she adds, after gazing at both her hearers through the curled + lashes of her brilliant dark eyes. “How frightened you both look! My lord + has already given me ever so many sermons about old Goody. You are both + afraid of her: and I ain't, that's all. Don't look so scared at one + another! I ain't a-going to bite her head off. We shall have a battle, and + I intend to win. How did I serve the Dowager, if you please, and my Lady + Fanny, with their high and mighty airs, when they tried to put down the + Countess of Castlewood in her own house, and laugh at the poor American + girl? We had a fight, and which got the best of it, pray? Me and Goody + will have another, and when it is over, you will see that we shall both be + perfect friends!” + </p> + <p> + When at this point of our conversation the door opened, and Madame + Beatrix, elaborately dressed according to her wont, actually made her + appearance, I, for my part, am not ashamed to own that I felt as great a + panic as ever coward experienced. My lord, with his profoundest bows and + blandest courtesies, greeted his aunt and led her to the fire, by which my + lady (who was already hoping for an heir to Castlewood) lay reclining on + her sofa. She did not attempt to rise, but smiled a greeting to her + venerable guest. And then, after a brief talk, in which she showed a + perfect self-possession, while the two gentlemen blundered and hesitated + with the most dastardly tremor, my lord said: + </p> + <p> + “If we are to look for those pheasants, cousin, we had better go now.” + </p> + <p> + “And I and aunt will have a cosy afternoon. And you will tell me about + Castlewood in the old times, won't you, Baroness?” says the new mistress + of the mansion. + </p> + <p> + O les laches que les hommes! I was so frightened, that I scarce saw + anything, but vaguely felt that Lady Castlewood's dark eyes were following + me. My lord gripped my arm in the corridor, we quickened our paces till + our retreat became a disgraceful run. We did not breathe freely till we + were in the open air in the courtyard, where the keepers and the dogs were + waiting. + </p> + <p> + And what happened? I protest, children, I don't know. But this is certain: + if your mother had been a woman of the least spirit, or had known how to + scold for five minutes during as many consecutive days of her early + married life, there would have been no more humble, henpecked wretch in + Christendom than your father. When Parson Blake comes to dinner, don't you + see how at a glance from his little wife he puts his glass down and says, + “No, thank you, Mr. Gumbo,” when old Gum brings him wine? Blake wore a red + coat before he took to black, and walked up Breeds Hill with a thousand + bullets whistling round his ears, before ever he saw our Bunker Hill in + Suffolk. And the fire-eater of the 43rd now dare not face a glass of old + port wine! 'Tis his wife has subdued his courage. The women can master us, + and did they know their own strength, were invincible. + </p> + <p> + Well, then, what happened I know not on that disgraceful day of panic when + your father fled the field, nor dared to see the heroines engage; but when + we returned from our shooting, the battle was over. America had revolted, + and conquered the mother country. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0074" id="link2HCH0074"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXIV. News from Canada + </h2> + <p> + Our Castlewood relatives kept us with them till the commencement of the + new year, and after a fortnight's absence (which seemed like an age to the + absurd and infatuated young man) he returned to the side of his charmer. + Madame de Bernstein was not sorry to leave the home of her father. She + began to talk more freely as we got away from the place. What passed + during that interview in which the battle-royal between her and her niece + occurred, she never revealed. But the old lady talked no more of forming + cette petite, and, indeed, when she alluded to her, spoke in a nervous, + laughing way, but without any hostility towards the young Countess. Her + nephew Eugene, she said, was doomed to be henpecked for the rest of his + days that she saw clearly. A little order brought into the house would do + it all the good possible. The little old vulgar American gentleman seemed + to be a shrewd person, and would act advantageously as a steward. The + Countess's mother was a convict, she had heard, sent out from England, + where no doubt she had beaten hemp in most of the gaols; but this news + need not be carried to the town-crier; and, after all, in respect to + certain kind of people, what mattered what their birth was? The young + woman would be honest for her own sake now: was shrewd enough, and would + learn English presently; and the name to which she had a right was great + enough to get her into any society. A grocer, a smuggler, a slave-dealer, + what mattered Mr. Van den Bosch's pursuit or previous profession? The + Countess of Castlewood could afford to be anybody's daughter, and as soon + as my nephew produced her, says the old lady, it is our duty to stand by + her. + </p> + <p> + The ties of relationship binding Madame de Bernstein strongly to her + nephew, Mr. Warrington hoped that she would be disposed to be equally + affectionate to her niece; and spoke of his visit to Mr. Hagan and his + wife, for whom he entreated her aunt's favour. But the old lady was + obdurate regarding Lady Maria; begged that her name might never be + mentioned, and immediately went on for two hours talking about no one + else. She related a series of anecdotes regarding her niece, which, as + this book lies open virginibus puerisque, to all the young people of the + family, I shall not choose to record. But this I will say of the kind + creature, that if she sinned, she was not the only sinner of the family, + and if she repented, that others will do well to follow her example. + Hagan, 'tis known, after he left the stage, led an exemplary life, and was + remarkable for elegance and eloquence in the pulpit. His lady adopted + extreme views, but was greatly respected in the sect which she joined; and + when I saw her last, talked to me of possessing a peculiar spiritual + illumination, which I strongly suspected at the time to be occasioned by + the too free use of liquor: but I remember when she and her husband were + good to me and mine, at a period when sympathy was needful, and many a + Pharisee turned away. + </p> + <p> + I have told how easy it was to rise and fall in my fickle aunt's favour, + and how each of us brothers, by turns, was embraced and neglected. My turn + of glory had been after the success of my play. I was introduced to the + town-wits; held my place in their company tolerably well; was pronounced + to be pretty well bred by the macaronis and people of fashion, and might + have run a career amongst them had my purse been long enough; had I chose + to follow that life; had I not loved at that time a pair of kind eyes + better than the brightest orbs of the Gunnings or Chudleighs, or all the + painted beauties of the Ranelagh ring. Because I was fond of your mother, + will it be believed, children, that my tastes were said to be low, and + deplored by my genteel family? So it was, and I know that my godly Lady + Warrington and my worldly Madame Bernstein both laid their elderly heads + together and lamented my way of life. “Why, with his name, he might marry + anybody,” says meek Religion, who had ever one eye on Heaven and one on + the main chance. “I meddle with no man's affairs, and admire genius,” says + uncle, “but it is a pity you consort with those poets and authors, and + that sort of people, and that, when you might have had a lovely creature, + with a hundred thousand pounds, you let her slip and make up to a country + girl without a penny-piece.” + </p> + <p> + “But if I had promised her, uncle?” says I. + </p> + <p> + “Promise, promise! these things are matters of arrangement and prudence, + and demand a careful look-out. When you first committed yourself with + little Miss Lambert, you had not seen the lovely American lady whom your + mother wished you to marry, as a good mother naturally would. And your + duty to your mother, nephew,—your duty to the Fifth Commandment, + would have warranted your breaking with Miss L., and fulfilling your + excellent mother's intentions regarding Miss—What was the Countess's + Dutch name? Never mind. A name is nothing; but a plumb, Master George, is + something to look at! Why, I have my dear little Miley at a dancing-school + with Miss Barwell, Nabob Barwell's daughter, and I don't disguise my wish + that the children may contract an attachment which may endure through + their lives! I tell the Nabob so. We went from the House of Commons one + dancing-day and saw them. 'Twas beautiful to see the young things walking + a minuet together! It brought tears into my eyes, for I have a feeling + heart, George, and I love my boy!” + </p> + <p> + “But if I prefer Miss Lambert, uncle, with twopence to her fortune, to the + Countess, with her hundred thousand pounds?” + </p> + <p> + “Why then, sir, you have a singular taste, that's all,” says the old + gentleman, turning on his heel and leaving me. And I could perfectly + understand his vexation at my not being able to see the world as he viewed + it. + </p> + <p> + Nor did my Aunt Bernstein much like the engagement which I had made, or + the family with which I passed so much of my time. Their simple ways + wearied, and perhaps annoyed, the old woman of the world, and she no more + relished their company than a certain person (who is not so black as he is + painted) likes holy water. The old lady chafed at my for ever dangling at + my sweetheart's lap. Having risen mightily in her favour, I began to fall + again: and once more Harry was the favourite, and his brother, Heaven + knows, not jealous. + </p> + <p> + He was now our family hero. He wrote us brief letters from the seat of war + where he was engaged; Madame Bernstein caring little at first about the + letters or the writer, for they were simple, and the facts he narrated not + over interesting. We had early learned in London the news of the action on + the glorious first of August at Minden, where Wolfe's old regiment was one + of the British six which helped to achieve the victory on that famous day. + At the same hour, the young General lay in his bed, in sight of Quebec, + stricken down by fever, and perhaps rage and disappointment at the check + which his troops had just received. + </p> + <p> + Arriving in the St. Lawrence in June, the fleet which brought Wolfe and + his army had landed them on the last day of the month on the Island of + Orleans, opposite which rises the great cliff of Quebec. After the great + action in which his General fell, the dear brother who accompanied the + chief, wrote home to me one of his simple letters, describing his modest + share in that glorious day, but added nothing to the many descriptions + already wrote of the action of the 13th of September, save only I remember + he wrote, from the testimony of a brother aide-de-camp who was by his + side, that the General never spoke at all after receiving his death-wound, + so that the phrase which has been put into the mouth of the dying hero may + be considered as no more authentic than an oration of Livy or Thucydides. + </p> + <p> + From his position on the island, which lies in the great channel of the + river to the north of the town, the General was ever hungrily on the + look-out for a chance to meet and attack his enemy. Above the city and + below it he landed,—now here and now there; he was bent upon + attacking wherever he saw an opening. 'Twas surely a prodigious fault on + the part of the Marquis of Montcalm, to accept a battle from Wolfe on + equal terms, for the British General had no artillery, and when we had + made our famous scalade of the heights, and were on the Plains of Abraham, + we were a little nearer the city, certainly, but as far off as ever from + being within it. + </p> + <p> + The game that was played between the brave chiefs of those two gallant + little armies, and which lasted from July until Mr. Wolfe won the crowning + hazard in September, must have been as interesting a match as ever eager + players engaged in. On the very first night after the landing (as my + brother has narrated it) the sport began. At midnight the French sent a + flaming squadron of fireships down upon the British ships which were + discharging their stores at Orleans. Our seamen thought it was good sport + to tow the fireships clear of the fleet, and ground them on the shore, + where they burned out. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the French commander heard that our ships had entered the + river, he marched to Beauport in advance of the city and there took up a + strong position. When our stores and hospitals were established, our + General crossed over from his island to the left shore, and drew nearer to + his enemy. He had the ships in the river behind him, but the whole country + in face of him was in arms. The Indians in the forest seized our advanced + parties as they strove to clear it, and murdered them with horrible + tortures. The French were as savage as their Indian friends. The + Montmorenci River rushed between Wolfe and the enemy. He could neither + attack these nor the city behind them. + </p> + <p> + Bent on seeing whether there was no other point at which his foe might be + assailable, the General passed round the town of Quebec and skirted the + left shore beyond. Everywhere it was guarded, as well as in his immediate + front, and having run the gauntlet of the batteries up and down the river, + he returned to his post at Montmorenci. On the right of the French + position, across the Montmorenci River, which was fordable at low tide, + was a redoubt of the enemy. He would have that. Perhaps, to defend it the + French chief would be forced out from his lines, and a battle be brought + on. Wolfe determined to play these odds. He would fetch over the body of + his army from the Island of Orleans, and attack from the St. Lawrence. He + would time his attack, so that, at shallow water, his lieutenants, Murray + and Townsend, might cross the Montmorenci, and, at the last day of July, + he played this desperate game. + </p> + <p> + He first, and General Monckton, his second in command (setting out from + Point Levi, which he occupied), crossed over the St. Lawrence from their + respective stations, being received with a storm of shot and artillery as + they rowed to the shore. No sooner were the troops landed than they rushed + at the French redoubt without order, were shot down before it in great + numbers, and were obliged to fall back. At the preconcerted signal the + troops on the other side of the Montmorenci avanced across the river in + perfect order. The enemy even evacuated the redoubt and fell back to their + lines; but from these the assailants were received with so severe a fire + that an impression on them was hopeless, and the General had to retreat. + </p> + <p> + The battle of Montmorenci (which my brother Harry and I have fought again + many a time over our wine) formed the dismal burthen of the first despatch + from Mr. Wolfe which reached England and plunged us all in gloom. What + more might one expect of a commander so rash? What disasters might one not + foretell? Was ever scheme so wild as to bring three great bodies of men, + across broad rivers, in the face of murderous batteries, merely on the + chance of inducing an enemy, strongly entrenched and guarded, to leave his + position and come out and engage us? 'Twas the talk of the town. No wonder + grave people shook their heads, and prophesied fresh disaster. The + General, who took to his bed after this failure, shuddering with fever, + was to live barely six weeks longer, and die immortal! How is it, and by + what, and whom, that Greatness is achieved? Is Merit—is Madness the + patron? Is it Frolic or Fortune? Is it Fate that awards successes and + defeats? Is it the Just Cause that ever wins? How did the French gain + Canada from the savage, and we from the French, and after which of the + conquests was the right time to sing Te Deum? We are always for + implicating Heaven in our quarrels, and causing the gods to intervene + whatever the nodus may be. Does Broughton, after pummelling and beating + Slack, lift up a black eye to Jove and thank him for the victory? And if + ten thousand boxers are to be so heard, why not one? And if Broughton is + to be grateful, what is Slack to be? + </p> + <p> + “By the list of disabled officers (many of whom are of rank) you may + perceive, sir, that the army is much weakened. By the nature of this river + the most formidable part of the armament is deprived of the power of + acting, yet we have almost the whole force of Canada to oppose. In this + situation there is such a choice of difficulties, that I own myself at a + loss how to determine. The affairs of Great Britain, I know, require the + most vigorous measures; but then the courage of a handful of brave men + should be exerted only where there is some hope of a favourable event. The + admiral and I have examined the town with a view to a general assault: and + he would readily join in this or any other measure for the public service; + but I cannot propose to him an undertaking of so dangerous a nature, and + promising so little success.... I found myself so ill, and am still so + weak, that I begged the general officers to consult together for the + public utility. They are of opinion that they should try by conveying up a + corps of 4000 or 5000 men (which is nearly the whole strength of the army, + after the points of Levi and Orleans are put in a proper state of defence) + to draw the enemy from their present position, and bring them to an + action. I have acquiesced in their proposal, and we are preparing to put + it into execution.” + </p> + <p> + So wrote the General (of whose noble letters it is clear our dear scribe + was not the author or secretary) from his headquarters at Montmorenci + Falls on 2nd day of September; and on the 14th of October following, the + Rodney cutter arrived with the sad news in England. The attack had failed, + the chief was sick, the army dwindling, the menaced city so strong that + assault was almost impossible; “the only chance was to fight the Marquis + of Montcalm upon terms of less disadvantage than attacking his + entrenchments, and, if possible, to draw him from his present position.” + Would the French chief, whose great military genius was known in Europe, + fall into such a snare? No wonder there were pale looks in the City at the + news, and doubt and gloom wheresoever it was known. + </p> + <p> + Three days after this first melancholy intelligence, came the famous + letters announcing that wonderful consummation of fortune with which Mr. + Wolfe's wonderful career ended. If no man is to be styled happy till his + death, what shall we say of this one? His end was so glorious, that I + protest not even his mother nor his mistress ought to have deplored it, or + at any rate have wished him alive again. I know it is a hero we speak of; + and yet I vow I scarce know whether in the last act of his life I admire + the result of genius, invention, and daring, or the boldness of a gambler + winning surprising odds. Suppose his ascent discovered a half-hour sooner, + and his people, as they would have been assuredly, beaten back? Suppose + the Marquis of Montcalm not to quit his entrenched lines to accept that + strange challenge? Suppose these points—and none of them depend upon + Mr. Wolfe at all—and what becomes of the glory of the young hero, of + the great minister who discovered him, of the intoxicated nation which + rose up frantic with self-gratulation at the victory? I say, what fate is + it that shapes our ends, or those of nations? In the many hazardous games + which my Lord Chatham played, he won this prodigious one. And as the + greedy British hand seized the Canadas, it let fall the United States out + of its grasp. + </p> + <p> + To be sure this wisdom d'apres coup is easy. We wonder at this man's + rashness now the deed is done, and marvel at the other's fault. What + generals some of us are upon paper! what repartees come to our mind when + the talk is finished! and, the game over, how well we see how it should + have been played! Writing of an event at a distance of thirty years, 'tis + not difficult now to criticise and find fault. But at the time when we + first heard of Wolfe's glorious deeds upon the Plains of Abraham—of + that army marshalled in darkness and carried silently up the midnight + river—of those rocks scaled by the intrepid leader and his troops—of + that miraculous security of the enemy, of his present acceptance of our + challenge to battle, and of his defeat on the open plain by the sheer + valour of his conqueror—we were all intoxicated in England by the + news. The whole nation rose up and felt itself the stronger for Wolfe's + victory. Not merely all men engaged in the battle, but those at home who + had condemned its rashness, felt themselves heroes. Our spirit rose as + that of our enemy faltered. Friends embraced each other when they met. + Coffee-houses and public places were thronged with people eager to talk + the news. Courtiers rushed to the King and the great Minister by whose + wisdom the campaign had been decreed. When he showed himself, the people + followed him with shouts and blessings. People did not deplore the dead + warrior, but admired his euthanasia. Should James Wolfe's friends weep and + wear mourning, because a chariot had come from the skies to fetch him + away? Let them watch with wonder, and see him departing, radiant; rising + above us superior. To have a friend who had been near or about him was to + be distinguished. Every soldier who fought with him was a hero. In our + fond little circle I know 'twas a distinction to be Harry's brother. We + should not in the least wonder but that he, from his previous knowledge of + the place, had found the way up the heights which the British army took, + and pointed it out to his General. His promotion would follow as a matter + of course. Why, even our Uncle Warrington wrote letters to bless Heaven + and congratulate me and himself upon the share Harry had had in the + glorious achievement. Our Aunt Beatrix opened her house and received + company upon the strength of the victory. I became a hero from my likeness + to my brother. As for Parson Sampson, he preached such a sermon that his + auditors (some of whom had been warned by his reverence of the coming + discourse) were with difficulty restrained from huzzaing the orator, and + were mobbed as they left the chapel. “Don't talk to me, madam, about + grief,” says General Lambert to his wife, who, dear soul, was for allowing + herself some small indulgence of her favourite sorrow on the day when + Wolfe's remains were gloriously buried at Greenwich. “If our boys could + come by such deaths as James's, you know you wouldn't prevent them from + being shot, but would scale the Abraham heights to see the thing done! + Wouldst thou mind dying in the arms of victory, Charley?” he asks of the + little hero from the Chartreux. “That I wouldn't,” says the little man; + “and the doctor gave us a holiday, too.” + </p> + <p> + Our Harry's promotion was insured after his share in the famous battle, + and our aunt announced her intention of purchasing a company for him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0075" id="link2HCH0075"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXV. The Course of True Love + </h2> + <p> + Had your father, young folks, possessed the commonest share of prudence, + not only would this chapter of his history never have been written, but + you yourselves would never have appeared in the world to plague him in a + hundred ways to shout and laugh in the passages when he wants to be quiet + at his books; to wake him when he is dozing after dinner, as a healthy + country gentleman should: to mislay his spectacles for him, and steal away + his newspaper when he wants to read it; to ruin him with tailors' bills, + mantua-makers' bills, tutors' bills, as you all of you do: to break his + rest of nights when you have the impudence to fall ill, and when he would + sleep undisturbed but that your silly mother will never be quiet for half + an hour; and when Joan can't sleep, what use, pray, is there in Darby + putting on his nightcap? Every trifling ailment that any one of you has + had, has scared her so that I protest I have never been tranquil; and, + were I not the most long-suffering creature in the world, would have liked + to be rid of the whole pack of you. And now, forsooth, that you have grown + out of childhood, long petticoats, chicken-pox, small-pox, whooping-cough, + scarlet fever, and the other delectable accidents of puerile life, what + must that unconscionable woman propose but to arrange the south rooms as a + nursery for possible grandchildren, and set up the Captain with a wife, + and make him marry early because we did! He is too fond, she says, of + Brookes's and Goosetree's when he is in London. She has the perversity to + hint that, though an entree to Carlton House may be very pleasant, 'tis + very dangerous for a young gentleman: and she would have Miles live away + from temptation, and sow his wild oats, and marry, as we did. Marry! my + dear creature, we had no business to marry at all! By the laws of common + prudence and duty, I ought to have backed out of my little engagement with + Miss Theo (who would have married somebody else), and taken a rich wife. + Your Uncle John was a parson and couldn't fight, poor Charley was a boy at + school, and your grandfather was too old a man to call me to account with + sword and pistol. I repeat there never was a more foolish match in the + world than ours, and our relations were perfectly right in being angry + with us. What are relations made for, indeed, but to be angry and find + fault? When Hester marries, do you mind, Master George, to quarrel with + her if she does not take a husband of your selecting. When George has got + his living, after being senior wrangler and fellow of his college, Miss + Hester, do you toss up your little nose at the young lady he shall fancy. + As for you, my little Theo, I can't part with your. You must not quit your + old father; for he likes you to play Haydn to him, and peel his walnuts + after dinner. + </p> + <p> + [On the blank leaf opposite this paragraph is written, in a large, girlish + hand: + </p> + <p> + “I never intend to go.—THEODOSIA.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor I.—HESTER.” + </p> + <p> + They both married, as I see by the note in the family Bible—Miss + Theodosia Warrington to Joseph Clinton, son of the Rev. Joseph Blake, and + himself subsequently Master of Rodwell Regis Grammar School; and Miss + Hester Mary, in 1804, to Captain F. Handyman, R.N.—ED.] + </p> + <p> + Whilst they had the blessing (forsooth!) of meeting, and billing and + cooing every day, the two young people, your parents, went on in a fool's + paradise, little heeding the world round about them, and all its tattling + and meddling. Rinaldo was as brave a warrior as ever slew Turk, but you + know he loved dangling in Armida's garden. Pray, my Lady Armida, what did + you mean by flinging your spells over me in youth, so that not glory, not + fashion, not gaming-tables, not the society of men of wit in whose way I + fell, could keep me long from your apron-strings, or out of reach of your + dear simple prattle? Pray, my dear, what used we to say to each other + during those endless hours of meeting? I never went to sleep after dinner + then. Which of us was so witty? Was it I or you? And how came it our + conversations were so delightful? I remember that year I did not even care + to go and see my Lord Ferrers tried and hung, when all the world was + running after his lordship. The King of Prussia's capital was taken; had + the Austrians and Russians been encamped round the Tower there could + scarce have been more stir in London: yet Miss Theo and her young + gentleman felt no inordinate emotion of pity or indignation. What to us + was the fate of Leipzig or Berlin? The truth is, that dear old house in + Dean Street was an enchanted garden of delights. I have been as idle + since, but never as happy. Shall we order the postchaise, my dear, leave + the children to keep house; and drive up to London and see if the old + lodgings are still to be let? And you shall sit at your old place in the + window, and wave a little handkerchief as I walk up the street. Say what + we did was imprudent. Would we not do it over again? My good folks, if + Venus had walked into the room and challenged the apple, I was so + infatuated, I would have given it your mother. And had she had the choice, + she would have preferred her humble servant in a threadbare coat to my + Lord Clive with all his diamonds. + </p> + <p> + Once, to be sure, and for a brief time in that year, I had a notion of + going on the highway in order to be caught and hung as my Lord Ferrers: or + of joining the King of Prussia, and requesting some of his Majesty's + enemies to knock my brains out; or of enlisting for the India service, and + performing some desperate exploit which should end in my bodily + destruction. Ah me! that was indeed a dreadful time! Your mother scarce + dares speak of it now, save in a whisper of terror; or think of it—it + was such cruel pain. She was unhappy years after on the anniversary of the + day, until one of you was born on it. Suppose we had been parted: what had + come to us? What had my lot been without her? As I think of that + possibility, the whole world is a blank. I do not say were we parted now. + It has pleased God to give us thirty years of union. We have reached the + autumn season. Our successors are appointed and ready; and that one of us + who is first called away, knows the survivor will follow ere long. But we + were actually parted in our youth; and I tremble to think what might have + been, had not a dearest friend brought us together. + </p> + <p> + Unknown to myself, and very likely meaning only my advantage, my relatives + in England had chosen to write to Madam Esmond in Virginia, and represent + what they were pleased to call the folly of the engagement I had + contracted. Every one of them sang the same song: and I saw the letters, + and burned the whole cursed pack of them years afterwards when my mother + showed them to me at home in Virginia. Aunt Bernstein was forward with her + advice. A young person, with no wonderful good looks, of no family, with + no money;—was ever such an imprudent connexion, and ought it not for + dear George's sake to be broken off? She had several eligible matches in + view for me. With my name and prospects, 'twas a shame I should throw + myself away on this young lady; her sister ought to interpose—and so + forth. + </p> + <p> + My Lady Warrington must write, too, and in her peculiar manner. Her + ladyship's letter was garnished with scripture texts. + </p> + <p> + She dressed her worldliness out in phylacteries. She pointed out how I was + living in an unworthy society of player-folks, and the like people, who + she could not say were absolutely without religion (Heaven forbid!), but + who were deplorably worldly. She would not say an artful woman had + inveigled me for her daughter, having in vain tried to captivate my + younger brother. She was far from saying any harm of the young woman I had + selected; but at least this was certain, Miss L. had no fortune or + expectations, and her parents might naturally be anxious to compromise me. + She had taken counsel, etc. etc. She had sought for guidance where it was, + etc. Feeling what her duty was, she had determined to speak. Sir Miles, a + man of excellent judgment in the affairs of this world (though he knew and + sought a better), fully agreed with her in opinion, nay, desired her to + write, and entreat her sister to interfere, that the ill-advised match + should not take place. + </p> + <p> + And who besides must put a little finger into the pie but the new Countess + of Castlewood? She wrote a majestic letter to Madam Esmond, and stated, + that having been placed by Providence at the head of the Esmond family, it + was her duty to communicate with her kinswoman and warn her to break off + this marriage. I believe the three women laid their heads together + previously; and, packet after packet, sent off their warnings to the + Virginian lady. + </p> + <p> + One raw April morning, as Corydon goes to pay his usual duty to Phillis, + he finds, not his charmer with her dear smile as usual ready to welcome + him, but Mrs. Lambert, with very red eyes, and the General as pale as + death. “Read this, George Warrington!” says he, as his wife's head drops + between her hands; and he puts a letter before me, of which I recognised + the handwriting. I can hear now the sobs of the good Aunt Lambert, and to + this day the noise of fire-irons stirring a fire in a room overhead gives + me a tremor. I heard such a noise that day in the girls' room where the + sisters were together. Poor, gentle child! Poor Theo! + </p> + <p> + “What can I do after this, George, my poor boy?” asks the General, pacing + the room with desperation in his face. + </p> + <p> + I did not quite read the whole of Madam Esmond's letter, for a kind of + sickness and faintness came over me; but I fear I could say some of it now + by heart. Its style was good, and its actual words temperate enough, + though they only implied that Mr. and Mrs. Lambert had inveigled me into + the marriage; that they knew such an union was unworthy of me; that (as + Madam E. understood) they had desired a similar union for her younger son, + which project, not unluckily for him, perhaps, was given up when it was + found that Mr. Henry Warrington was not the inheritor of the Virginian + property. If Mr. Lambert was a man of spirit and honour, as he was + represented to be, Madam Esmond scarcely supposed that, after her + representations, he would persist in desiring this match. She would not + lay commands upon her son, whose temper she knew; but for the sake of Miss + Lambert's own reputation and comfort, she urged that the dissolution of + the engagement should come from her family, and not from the just + unwillingness of Rachel Esmond Warrington of Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “God help us, George!” the General said, “and give us all strength to bear + this grief, and these charges which it has pleased your mother to bring! + They are hard, but they don't matter now. What is of most importance, is + to spare as much sorrow as we can to my poor girl. I know you love her so + well, that you will help me and her mother to make the blow as tolerable + as we may to that poor gentle heart. Since she was born she has never + given pain to a soul alive, and 'tis cruel that she should be made to + suffer.” And as he spoke he passed his hand across his dry eyes. + </p> + <p> + “It was my fault, Martin! It was my fault!” weeps the poor mother. + </p> + <p> + “Your mother spoke us fair, and gave her promise,” said the father. + </p> + <p> + “And do you think I will withdraw mine?” cried I; and protested, with a + thousand frantic vows, what they knew full well, that I was bound to Theo + before Heaven, and that nothing should part me from her. + </p> + <p> + “She herself will demand the parting. She is a good girl, God help me! and + a dutiful. She will not have her father and mother called schemers, and + treated with scorn. Your mother knew not, very likely, what she was doing, + but 'tis done. You may see the child, and she will tell you as much. Is + Theo dressed, Molly? I brought the letter home from my office last evening + after you were gone. The women have had a bad night. She knew at once by + my face that there was bad news from America. She read the letter quite + firmly. She said she would like to see you and say good-bye. Of course, + George, you will give me your word of honour not to try and see her + afterwards. As soon as my business will let me we will get away from this, + but mother and I think we are best all together. 'Tis you, perhaps, had + best go. But give me your word, at any rate, that you will not try and see + her. We must spare her pain, sir! We must spare her pain!” And the good + man sate down in such deep anguish himself that I, who was not yet under + the full pressure of my own grief, actually felt his, and pitied it. It + could not be that the dear lips I had kissed yesterday were to speak to me + only once more. We were all here together; loving each other, sitting in + the room where we met every day; my drawing on the table by her little + workbox; she was in the chamber upstairs; she must come down presently. + </p> + <p> + Who is this opens the door? I see her sweet face. It was like our little + Mary's when we thought she would die of the fever. There was even a smile + upon her lips. She comes up and kisses me. “Good-bye, dear George!” she + says. Great Heaven! An old man sitting in this room,—with my wife's + workbox opposite, and she but five minutes away, my eyes grow so dim and + full that I can't see the book before me. I am three-and-twenty years old + again. I go through every stage of that agony. I once had it sitting in my + own postchaise, with my wife actually by my side. Who dared to sully her + sweet love with suspicion? Who had a right to stab such a soft bosom? + Don't you see my ladies getting their knives ready, and the poor child + baring it? My wife comes in. She has been serving out tea or tobacco to + some of her pensioners. “What is it makes you look so angry, papa?” she + says. “My love!” I say, “it is the thirteenth of April.” A pang of pain + shoots across her face, followed by a tender smile. She has undergone the + martyrdom, and in the midst of the pang comes a halo of forgiveness. I + can't forgive; not until my days of dotage come, and I cease remembering + anything. “Hal will be home for Easter; he will bring two or three of his + friends with him from Cambridge,” she says. And straightway she falls to + devising schemes for amusing the boys. When is she ever occupied, but with + plans for making others happy? + </p> + <p> + A gentleman sitting in spectacles before an old ledger, and writing down + pitiful remembrances of his own condition, is a quaint and ridiculous + object. My corns hurt me, I know, but I suspect my neighbour's shoes pinch + him too. I am not going to howl much over my own grief, or enlarge at any + great length on this one. Many another man, I dare say, has had the light + of his day suddenly put out, the joy of his life extinguished, and has + been left to darkness and vague torture. I have a book I tried to read at + this time of grief—Howel's Letters—and when I come to the part + about Prince Charles in Spain, up starts the whole tragedy alive again. I + went to Brighthelmstone, and there, at the inn, had a room facing the + east, and saw the sun get up ever so many mornings, after blank nights of + wakefulness, and smoked my pipe of Virginia in his face. When I am in that + place by chance, and see the sun rising now, I shake my fist at him, + thinking, O orient Phoebus, what horrible grief and savage wrath have you + not seen me suffer! Though my wife is mine ever so long, I say I am angry + just the same. Who dared, I want to know, to make us suffer so? I was + forbidden to see her. I kept my promise, and remained away from the house: + that is, after that horrible meeting and parting. But at night I would go + and look at her window, and watch the lamp burning there; I would go to + the Chartreux (where I knew another boy), and call for her brother, and + gorge him with cakes and half-crowns. I would meanly have her elder + brother to dine, and almost kiss him when he went away. I used to + breakfast at a coffee-house in Whitehall, in order to see Lambert go to + his office; and we would salute each other sadly, and pass on without + speaking. Why did not the women come out? They never did. They were + practising on her, and persuading her to try and forget me. Oh, the weary, + weary days! Oh, the maddening time! At last a doctor's chariot used to + draw up before the General's house every day. Was she ill? I fear I was + rather glad she was ill. My own suffering was so infernal, that I greedily + wanted her to share my pain. And would she not? What grief of mine has it + not felt, that gentlest and most compassionate of hearts? What pain would + it not suffer to spare mine a pang? + </p> + <p> + I sought that doctor out. I had an interview with him. I told my story, + and laid bare my heart to him, with an outburst of passionate sincerity, + which won his sympathy. My confession enabled him to understand his young + patient's malady; for which his drugs had no remedy or anodyne. I had + promised not to see her, or to go to her: I had kept my promise. I had + promised to leave London: I had gone away. Twice, thrice I went back and + told my sufferings to him. He would take my fee now and again, and always + receive me kindly, and let me speak. Ah, how I clung to him! I suspect he + must have been unhappy once in his own life, he knew so well and gently + how to succour the miserable. + </p> + <p> + He did not tell me how dangerously, though he did not disguise from me how + gravely and seriously, my dearest girl had been ill. I told him everything—that + I would marry her and brave every chance and danger; that, without her, I + was a man utterly wrecked and ruined, and cared not what became of me. My + mother had once consented, and had now chosen to withdraw her consent, + when the tie between us had been, as I held, drawn so closely together, as + to be paramount to all filial duty. + </p> + <p> + “I think, sir, if your mother heard you, and saw Miss Lambert, she would + relent,” said the doctor. Who was my mother to hold me in bondage; to + claim a right of misery over me; and to take this angel out of my arms? + </p> + <p> + “He could not,” he said, “be a message-carrier between young ladies who + were pining and young lovers on whom the sweethearts' gates were shut: but + so much he would venture to say, that he had seen me, and was prescribing + for me, too.” Yes, he must have been unhappy once, himself. I saw him, you + may be sure, on the very day when he had kept his promise to me. He said + she seemed to be comforted by hearing news of me. + </p> + <p> + “She bears her suffering with an angelical sweetness. I prescribe Jesuit's + bark, which she takes; but I am not sure the hearing of you has not done + more good than the medicine.” The women owned afterwards that they had + never told the General of the doctor's new patient. + </p> + <p> + I know not what wild expressions of gratitude I poured out to the good + doctor for the comfort he brought me. His treatment was curing two unhappy + sick persons. 'Twas but a drop of water, to be sure; but then a drop of + water to a man raging in torment. I loved the ground he trod upon, blessed + the hand that took mine, and had felt her pulse. I had a ring with a + pretty cameo head of a Hercules on it. 'Twas too small for his finger, nor + did the good old man wear such ornaments. I made him hang it to his + watch-chain, in hopes that she might see it, and recognise that the token + came from me. How I fastened upon Spencer at this time (my friend of the + Temple who also had an unfortunate love-match), and walked with him from + my apartments to the Temple, and he back with me to Bedford Gardens, and + our talk was for ever about our women! I dare say I told everybody my + grief. My good landlady and Betty the housemaid pitied me. My son Miles, + who, for a wonder, has been reading in my MS., says, “By Jove, sir, I + didn't know you and my mother were took in this kind of way. The year I + joined, I was hit very bad myself. An infernal little jilt that threw me + over for Sir Craven Oaks of our regiment. I thought I should have gone + crazy.” And he gives a melancholy whistle, and walks away. + </p> + <p> + The General had to leave London presently on one of his military + inspections, as the doctor casually told me; but, having given my word + that I would not seek to present myself at his house, I kept it, availing + myself, however, as you may be sure, of the good physician's leave to + visit him, and have news of his dear patient. His accounts of her were, + far from encouraging. “She does not rally,” he said. “We must get her back + to Kent again, or to the sea.” I did not know then that the poor child had + begged and prayed so piteously not to be moved, that her parents, + divining, perhaps, the reason of her desire to linger in London, and + feeling that it might be dangerous not to humour her, had yielded to her + entreaty, and consented to remain in town. + </p> + <p> + At last one morning I came, pretty much as usual, and took my place in my + doctor's front parlour, whence his patients were called in their turn to + his consulting-room. Here I remained, looking heedlessly over the books on + the table and taking no notice of any person in the room, which speedily + emptied itself of all, save me and one lady who sate with her veil down. I + used to stay till the last, for Osborn, the doctor's man, knew my + business, and that it was not my own illness I came for. + </p> + <p> + When the room was empty of all save me and the lady, she puts out two + little hands, cries in a voice which made me start “Don't you know me, + George?” And the next minute I have my arms round her, and kissed her as + heartily as ever I kissed in my life, and gave way to a passionate outgush + of emotion the most refreshing, for my parched soul had been in rage and + torture for six weeks past, and this was a glimpse of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Who was it, children? You think it was your mother whom the doctor had + brought to me? No. It was Hetty. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0076" id="link2HCH0076"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXVI. Informs us how Mr. Warrington jumped into a Landau + </h2> + <p> + The emotion at the first surprise and greeting over, the little maiden + began at once. + </p> + <p> + “So you are come at last to ask after Theo, and you feel sorry that your + neglect has made her so ill? For six weeks she has been unwell, and you + have never asked a word about her! Very kind of you, Mr. George, I'm + sure!” + </p> + <p> + “Kind!” gasps out Mr. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you call it kind to be with her every day and all day for a + year, and then to leave her without a word?” + </p> + <p> + “My dear, you know my promise to your father?” I reply. + </p> + <p> + “Promise!” says Miss Hetty, shrugging her shoulders. “A very fine promise, + indeed, to make my darling ill, and then suddenly, one fine day, to say, + 'Good-bye, Theo,' and walk away for ever. I suppose gentlemen make these + promises, because they wish to keep 'em. I wouldn't trifle with a poor + child's heart, and leave her afterwards, if I were a man. What has she + ever done to you, but be a fool and too fond of you? Pray, sir, by what + right do you take her away from all of us, and then desert her, because an + old woman in America don't approve of her? She was happy with us before + you came. She loved her sister—there never was such a sister—until + she saw you. And now, because your mamma thinks her young gentleman might + do better, you must leave her forsooth!” + </p> + <p> + “Great powers, child!” I cried, exasperated at this wrongheadedness. “Was + it I that drew back? Is it not I that am forbidden your house? and did not + your father require, on my honour, that I should not see her?” + </p> + <p> + “Honour! And you are the men who pretend to be our superiors; and it is we + who are to respect you and admire you! I declare, George Warrington, you + ought to go back to your schoolroom in Virginia again; have your black + nurse to tuck you up in bed, and ask leave from your mamma when you might + walk out. Oh, George! I little thought that my sister was giving her heart + away to a man who hadn't the spirit to stand by her; but, at the first + difficulty, left her! When Doctor Heberden said he was attending you, I + determined to come and see you, and you do look very ill, that I am glad + to see; and I suppose it's your mother you are frightened of. But I shan't + tell Theo that you are unwell. She hasn't left off caring for you. She + can't walk out of a room, break her solemn engagements, and go into the + world the next day as if nothing had happened! That is left for men, our + superiors in courage and wisdom; and to desert an angel—yes, an + angel ten thousand times too good for you; an angel who used to love me + till she saw you, and who was the blessing of life and of all of us—is + what you call honour? Don't tell me, sir! I despise you all! You are our + betters, are you? We are to worship and wait on you, I suppose? I don't + care about your wit, and your tragedies, and your verses; and I think they + are often very stupid. I won't set up of nights copying your manuscripts, + nor watch hour after hour at a window wasting my time and neglecting + everybody because I want to see your worship walk down the street with + your hat cocked! If you are going away, and welcome, give me back my + sister, I say! Give me back my darling of old days, who loved every one of + us, till she saw you. And you leave her because your mamma thinks she can + find somebody richer for you! Oh, you brave gentleman! Go and marry the + person your mother chooses, and let my dear die here deserted!” + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens, Hetty!” I cry, amazed at the logic of the little woman. + “Is it I who wish to leave your sister? Did I not offer to keep my + promise, and was it not your father who refused me, and made me promise + never to try and see her again? What have I but my word, and my honour?” + </p> + <p> + “Honour, indeed! You keep your word to him, and you break it to her! + Pretty honour! If I were a man, I would soon let you know what I thought + of your honour! Only I forgot—you are bound to keep the peace and + mustn't... Oh, George, George! Don't you see the grief I am in? I am + distracted, and scarce know what I say. You must not leave my darling. + They don't know it at home. They don't think so but I know her best of + all, and she will die if you leave her. Say you won't! Have pity upon me, + Mr. Warrington, and give me my dearest back!” Thus the warm-hearted, + distracted creature ran from anger to entreaty, from scorn to tears. Was + my little doctor right in thus speaking of the case of her dear patient? + Was there no other remedy than that which Hetty cried for? Have not others + felt the same cruel pain of amputation, undergone the same exhaustion and + fever afterwards, lain hopeless of anything save death, and yet recovered + after all, and limped through life subsequently? Why, but that love is + selfish, and does not heed other people's griefs and passions, or that + ours was so intense and special that we deemed no other lovers could + suffer like ourselves;—here in the passionate young pleader for her + sister, we might have shown an instance that a fond heart could be + stricken with the love malady and silently suffer it, live under it, + recover from it. What had happened in Hetty's own case? Her sister and I, + in our easy triumph and fond confidential prattle, had many a time talked + over that matter, and, egotists as we were, perhaps drawn a secret zest + and security out of her less fortunate attachment. 'Twas like sitting by + the fireside and hearing the winter howling without; 'twas like walking by + the maxi magno, and seeing the ship tossing at sea. We clung to each other + only the more closely, and, wrapped in our own happiness, viewed others' + misfortunes with complacent pity. Be the truth as it may. Grant that we + might have been sundered, and after a while survived the separation, so + much my sceptical old age may be disposed to admit. Yet, at that time, I + was eager enough to share my ardent little Hetty's terrors and + apprehensions, and willingly chose to believe that the life dearest to me + in the world would be sacrificed if separated from mine. Was I wrong? I + would not say as much now. I may doubt about myself (or not doubt, I + know), but of her, never; and Hetty found in her quite a willing sharer in + her alarms and terrors. I was for imparting some of these to our doctor; + but the good gentleman shut my mouth. “Hush,” says he, with a comical look + of fright. “I must hear none of this. If two people who happen to know + each other chance to meet and talk in my patients' room, I cannot help + myself; but as for match-making and love-making, I am your humble servant! + What will the General do when he comes back to town? He will have me + behind Montagu House as sure as I am a live doctor, and alive I wish to + remain, my good sir!” and he skips into his carriage, and leaves me there + meditating. “And you and Miss Hetty must have no meetings here again, mind + you that,” he had said previously. + </p> + <p> + Oh no! Of course we would have none! We are gentlemen of honour, and so + forth, and our word is our word. Besides, to have seen Hetty, was not that + an inestimable boon, and would we not be for ever grateful? I am so + refreshed with that drop of water I have had, that I think I can hold out + for ever so long a time now. I walk away with Hetty to Soho, and never + once thought of arranging a new meeting with her. But the little emissary + was more thoughtful, and she asks me whether I go to the Museum now to + read? And I say, “Oh yes, sometimes, my dear; but I am too wretched for + reading now; I cannot see what is on the paper. I do not care about my + books. Even Pocahontas is wearisome to me. I...” I might have continued + ever so much further, when, “Nonsense!” she says, stamping her little + foot. “Why, I declare, George, you are more stupid than Harry!” + </p> + <p> + “How do you mean, my dear child?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + “When do you go? You go away at three o'clock. You strike across on the + road to Tottenham Court. You walk through the village, and return by the + Green Lane that leads back towards the new hospital. You know you do! If + you walk for a week there, it can't do you any harm. Good morning, sir! + You'll please not follow me any farther.” And she drops me a curtsey, and + walks away with a veil over her face. + </p> + <p> + That Green Lane, which lay to the north of the new hospital, is built all + over with houses now. In my time, when good old George II. was yet king, + 'twas a shabby rural outlet of London; so dangerous, that the City folks + who went to their villas and junketing houses at Hampstead and the + outlying villages, would return in parties of nights, and escorted by + waiters with lanthorns, to defend them from the footpads who prowled about + the town outskirts. Hampstead and Highgate churches, each crowning its + hill, filled up the background of the view which you saw as you turned + your back to London; and one, two, three days Mr. George Warrington had + the pleasure of looking upon this landscape, and walking back in the + direction of the new hospital. + </p> + <p> + Along the lane were sundry small houses of entertainment; and I remember + at one place, where they sold cakes and beer, at the sign of the + Protestant Hero, a decent woman smiling at me on the third or fourth day, + and curtseying in her clean apron, as she says, “It appears the lady don't + come, sir! Your honour had best step in, and take a can of my cool beer.” + </p> + <p> + At length, as I am coming back through Tottenham Road, on the 25th of May—O + day to be marked with the whitest stone!—a little way beyond Mr. + Whitefield's Tabernacle, I see a landau before me, and on the box-seat by + the driver is my young friend Charley, who waves his hat to me and calls + out, “George! George!” I ran up to the carriage, my knees knocking + together so that I thought I should fall by the wheel; and inside I see + Hetty, and by her my dearest Theo, propped with a pillow. How thin the + little hand had become since last it was laid in mine! The cheeks were + flushed and wasted, the eyes strangely bright, and the thrill of the voice + when she spoke a word or two, smote me with a pang, I know not of grief or + joy was it, so intimately were they blended. + </p> + <p> + “I am taking her an airing to Hampstead,” says Hetty, demurely. “The + doctor says the air will do her good.” + </p> + <p> + “I have been ill, but I am better now, George,” says Theo. There came a + great burst of music from the people in the chapel hard by, as she was + speaking. I held her hand in mine. Her eyes were looking into mine once + more. It seemed as if we had never been parted. + </p> + <p> + I can never forget the tune of that psalm. I have heard it all through my + life. My wife has touched it on her harpsichord, and her little ones have + warbled it. Now, do you understand, young people, why I love it so? + Because 'twas the music played at our amoris redintegratio. Because it + sang hope to me, at the period of my existence the most miserable. Yes, + the most miserable: for that dreary confinement of Duquesne had its + tendernesses and kindly associations connected with it; and many a time in + after days I have thought with fondness of the poor Biche and my tipsy + jailor, and the reveille of the forest birds and the military music of my + prison. + </p> + <p> + Master Charley looks down from his box-seat upon his sister and me engaged + in beatific contemplation, and Hetty listening too, to the music. “I think + I should like to go and hear it. And that famous Mr. Whitfield, perhaps he + is going to preach this very day! Come in with me, Charley—and + George can drive for half an hour with dear Theo towards Hampstead and + back.” + </p> + <p> + Charley did not seem to have any very strong desire for witnessing the + devotional exercises of good Mr. Whitfield and his congregation, and + proposed that George Warrington should take Hetty in; but Het was not to + be denied. “I will never help you in another exercise as long as you live, + sir,” cries Miss Hetty, “if you don't come on,”—while the youth + clambered down from his box-seat, and they entered the temple together. + </p> + <p> + Can any moralist, bearing my previous promises in mind, excuse me for + jumping into the carriage and sitting down once more by my dearest Theo? + Suppose I did break 'em? Will he blame me much? Reverend sir, you are + welcome. I broke my promise; and if you would not do as much, good friend, + you are welcome to your virtue. Not that I for a moment suspect my own + children will ever be so bold as to think of having hearts of their own, + and bestowing them according to their liking. No, my young people, you + will let papa choose for you; be hungry when he tells you; be thirsty when + he orders; and settle your children's marriages afterwards. + </p> + <p> + And now of course you are anxious to hear what took place when papa jumped + into the landau by the side of poor little mamma, propped up by her + pillows. “I am come to your part of the story, my dear,” says I, looking + over to my wife as she is plying her needles. + </p> + <p> + “To what, pray?” says my lady. “You should skip all that part, and come to + the grand battles, and your heroic defence of——” + </p> + <p> + “Of Fort Fiddlededee in the year 1778, when I pulled off Mr. Washington's + epaulet, gouged General Gates's eye, cut off Charles Lee's head, and + pasted it on again!” + </p> + <p> + “Let us hear all about the fighting,” say the boys. Even the Captain + condescends to own he will listen to any military details, though only + from a militia officer. + </p> + <p> + “Fair and softly, young people! Everything in its turn. I am not yet + arrived at the war. I am only a young gentleman, just stepping into a + landau, by the side of a young lady whom I promised to avoid. I am taking + her hand, which, after a little ado, she leaves in mine. Do you remember + how hot it was, the little thing, how it trembled, and how it throbbed and + jumped a hundred and twenty in a minute? And as we trot on towards + Hampstead, I address Miss Lambert in the following terms——” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, ah, ah!” say the girls in a chorus with mademoiselle, their French + governess, who cries, “Nous ecoutons maintenant. La parole est a vous, + Monsieur le Chevalier!” + </p> + <p> + Here we have them all in a circle: mamma is at her side of the fire, papa + at his; Mademoiselle Eleonore, at whom the Captain looks rather sweetly + (eyes off, Captain!); the two girls, listening like—like nymphas + discentes to Apollo, let us say; and John and Tummas (with obtuse ears), + who are bringing in the tea-trays and urns. + </p> + <p> + “Very good,” says the Squire, pulling out the MS., and waving it before + him. “We are going to tell your mother's secrets and mine.” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure you may, papa,” cries the house matron. “There's nothing to be + ashamed of.” And a blush rises over her kind face. + </p> + <p> + “But before I begin, young folks, permit me two or three questions.” + </p> + <p> + “Allons, toujours des questions!” says mademoiselle, with a shrug of her + pretty shoulders. (Florac has recommended her to us, and I suspect the + little Chevalier has himself an eye upon this pretty Mademoiselle de + Blois.) + </p> + <p> + To the questions, then. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0077" id="link2HCH0077"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXVII. And how everybody got out again + </h2> + <p> + “You, Captain Miles Warrington, have the honour of winning the good graces + of a lady—of ever so many ladies—of the Duchess of Devonshire, + let us say, of Mrs. Crew, of Mrs. Fitzherbert, of the Queen of Prussia, of + the Goddess Venus, of Mademoiselle Hillisberg of the Opera—never + mind of whom, in fine. If you win a lady's good graces, do you always go + to the mess and tell what happened?” + </p> + <p> + “Not such a fool, Squire!” says the Captain, surveying his side curl in + the glass. + </p> + <p> + “Have you, Miss Theo, told your mother every word you said to Mr. Joe + Blake, junior, in the shrubbery this morning?” + </p> + <p> + “Joe Blake, indeed!” cries Theo junior. + </p> + <p> + “And you, mademoiselle? That scented billet which came to you under Sir + Thomas's frank, have you told us all the letter contains? Look how she + blushes! As red as the curtain, on my word! No, mademoiselle, we all have + our secrets” (says the Squire, here making his best French bow). “No, + Theo, there was nothing in the shrubbery—only nuts, my child! No, + Miles, my son, we don't tell all, even to the most indulgent of fathers—and + if I tell what happened in a landau on the Hampstead Road, on the 25th of + May, 1760, may the Chevalier Ruspini pull out every tooth in my head!” + </p> + <p> + “Pray tell, papa!” cries mamma: “or, as Jobson, who drove us, is in your + service now, perhaps you will have him in from the stables! I insist upon + your telling!” + </p> + <p> + “What is, then, this mystery?” asks mademoiselle, in her pretty French + accent, of my wife. + </p> + <p> + “Eh, ma fille!” whispers the lady. “Thou wouldst ask me what I said? I + said 'Yes!'—behold all I said.” And so 'tis my wife has peached, and + not I; and this was the sum of our conversation, as the carriage, all too + swiftly as I thought, galloped towards Hampstead, and flew back again. + Theo had not agreed to fly in the face of her honoured parents—no + such thing. But we would marry no other person; no, not if we lived to be + as old as Methuselah; no, not the Prince of Wales himself would she take. + Her heart she had given away with her papa's consent—nay, order—it + was not hers to resume. So kind a father must relent one of these days; + and, if George would keep his promise—were it now, or were it in + twenty years, or were it in another world, she knew she should never break + hers. + </p> + <p> + Hetty's face beamed with delight when, my little interview over, she saw + Theo's countenance wearing a sweet tranquillity. All the doctor's medicine + has not done her so much good, the fond sister said. The girls went home + after their act of disobedience. I gave up the place which I had held + during a brief period of happiness by my dear invalid's side. Hetty + skipped back into her seat, and Charley on to his box. He told me in after + days, that it was a very dull, stupid sermon he had heard. The little chap + was too orthodox to love dissenting preachers' sermons. + </p> + <p> + Hetty was not the only one of the family who remarked her sister's altered + countenance and improved spirits. I am told that on the girls' return home + their mother embraced both of them, especially the invalid, with more than + common ardour of affection. “There was nothing like a country ride,” Aunt + Lambert said, “for doing her dear Theo good. She had been on the road to + Hampstead, had she? She must have another ride to-morrow. Heaven be + blessed, my Lord Wrotham's horses were at their orders three or four times + a week, and the sweet child might have the advantage of them!” As for the + idea that Mr. Warrington might have happened to meet the children on their + drive, Aunt Lambert never once entertained it,—at least spoke of it. + I leave anybody who is interested in the matter to guess whether Mrs. + Lambert could by any possibility have supposed that her daughter and her + sweetheart could ever have come together again. Do women help each other + in love perplexities? Do women scheme, intrigue, make little plans, tell + little fibs, provide little amorous opportunities, hang up the + rope-ladder, coax, wheedle, mystify the guardian or Abigail, and turn + their attention away while Strephon and Chloe are billing and cooing in + the twilight, or whisking off in the postchaise to Gretna Green? My dear + young folks, some people there are of this nature; and some kind souls who + have loved tenderly and truly in their own time, continue ever after to be + kindly and tenderly disposed towards their young successors, when they + begin to play the same pretty game. + </p> + <p> + Miss Prim doesn't. If she hears of two young persons attached to each + other, it is to snarl at them for fools, or to imagine of them all + conceivable evil. Because she has a hump-back herself, she is for biting + everybody else's. I believe if she saw a pair of turtles cooing in a wood, + she would turn her eyes down, or fling a stone to frighten them; but I am + speaking, you see, young ladies, of your grandmother, Aunt Lambert, who + was one great syllabub of human kindness; and, besides, about the affair + at present under discussion, how am I ever to tell whether she knew + anything regarding it or not? + </p> + <p> + So, all she says to Theo on her return home is, “My child, the country air + has done you all the good in the world, and I hope you will take another + drive to-morrow, and another, and another, and so on.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you think, papa, the ride has done the child most wonderful good, + and must not she be made to go out in the air?” Aunt Lambert asks of the + General, when he comes in for supper. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, sure, if a coach-and-six will do his little Theo good, she shall + have it,” Lambert says, “or he will drag the landau up Hampstead Hill + himself, if there are no horses;” and so the good man would have spent, + freely, his guineas, or his breath, or his blood, to give his child + pleasure. He was charmed at his girl's altered countenance; she picked a + bit of chicken with appetite: she drank a little negus, which he made for + her: indeed it did seem to be better than the kind doctor's best medicine, + which hitherto, God wot, had been of little benefit. Mamma was gracious + and happy. Hetty was radiant and rident. It was quite like an evening at + home at Oakhurst. Never for months past, never since that fatal, cruel + day, that no one spoke of, had they spent an evening so delightful. + </p> + <p> + But, if the other women chose to coax and cajole the good, simple father, + Theo herself was too honest to continue for long even that sweet and fond + delusion. When, for the third or fourth time, he comes back to the + delightful theme of his daughter's improved health, and asks, “What has + done it? Is it the country air? is it the Jesuit's bark? is it the new + medicine?” + </p> + <p> + “Can't you think, dear, what it is?” she says, laying a hand upon her + father's, with a tremor in her voice, perhaps, but eyes that are quite + open and bright. + </p> + <p> + “And what is it, my child?” asks the General. + </p> + <p> + “It is because I have seen him again, papa!” she says. + </p> + <p> + The other two women turned pale, and Theo's heart too begins to palpitate, + and her cheek to whiten, as she continues to look in her father's scared + face. + </p> + <p> + “It was not wrong to see him,” she continues, more quickly; “it would have + been wrong not to tell you.” + </p> + <p> + “Great God!” groans the father, drawing his hand back, and with such a + dreadful grief in his countenance, that Hetty runs to her almost swooning + sister, clasps her to her heart, and cries out, rapidly, “Theo knew + nothing of it, sir! It was my doing—it was all my doing!” + </p> + <p> + Theo lies on her sister's neck, and kisses it twenty, fifty times. + </p> + <p> + “Women, women! are you playing with my honour?” cries the father, bursting + out with a fierce exclamation. + </p> + <p> + Aunt Lambert sobs, wildly, “Martin! Martin! Don't say a word to her!” + again calls out Hetty, and falls back herself staggering towards the wall, + for Theo has fainted on her shoulder. + </p> + <p> + I was taking my breakfast next morning, with what appetite I might, when + my door opens, and my faithful black announces, “General Lambert.” At once + I saw, by the General's face, that the yesterday's transaction was known + to him. “Your accomplices did not confess,” the General said, as soon as + my servant had left us, “but sided with you against their father—a + proof how desirable clandestine meetings are. It was from Theo herself I + heard that she had seen you.” + </p> + <p> + “Accomplices, sir!” I said (perhaps not unwilling to turn the conversation + from the real point at issue). “You know how fondly and dutifully your + young people regard their father. If they side against you in this + instance, it must be because justice is against you. A man like you is not + going to set up sic volo sic jubeo as the sole law in his family!” + </p> + <p> + “Psha, George!” cries the General. “For though we are parted, God forbid I + should desire that we should cease to love each other. I had your promise + that you would not seek to see her.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor did I go to her, sir,” I said, turning red, no doubt; for though this + was truth, I own it was untrue. + </p> + <p> + “You mean she was brought to you?” says Theo's father, in great agitation. + “Is it behind Hester's petticoat that you will shelter yourself? What a + fine defence for a gentleman!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I won't screen myself behind the poor child,” I replied. “To speak + as I did was to make an attempt at evasion, and I am ill-accustomed to + dissemble. I did not infringe the letter of my agreement, but I acted + against the spirit of it. From this moment I annul it altogether.” + </p> + <p> + “You break your word given to me!” cries Mr. Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “I recall a hasty promise made on a sudden at a moment of extreme + excitement and perturbation. No man can be for ever bound by words uttered + at such a time; and, what is more, no man of honour or humanity, Mr. + Lambert, would try to bind him.” + </p> + <p> + “Dishonour to me! sir,” exclaims the General. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if the phrase is to be shuttlecocked between us!” I answered, hotly. + “There can be no question about love, or mutual regard, or difference of + age, when that word is used: and were you my own father—and I love + you better than a father, Uncle Lambert,—I would not bear it! What + have I done? I have seen the woman whom I consider my wife before God and + man, and if she calls me I will see her again. If she comes to me, here is + my home for her, and the half of the little I have. 'Tis you, who have no + right, having made me the gift, to resume it. Because my mother taunts you + unjustly, are you to visit Mrs. Esmond's wrong upon this tender, innocent + creature? You profess to love your daughter, and you can't bear a little + wounded pride for her sake. Better she should perish away in misery, than + an old woman in Virginia should say that Mr. Lambert had schemed to marry + one of his daughters. Say that to satisfy what you call honour and I call + selfishness, we part, we break our hearts well nigh, we rally, we try to + forget each other, we marry elsewhere? Can any man be to my dear as I have + been? God forbid! Can any woman be to me what she is? You shall marry her + to the Prince of Wales to-morrow, and it is a cowardice and treason. How + can we, how can you, undo the promises we have made to each other before + Heaven? You may part us: and she will die as surely as if she were + Jephthah's daughter. Have you made any vow to Heaven to compass her + murder? Kill her if you conceive your promise so binds you: but this I + swear, that I am glad you have come, so that I may here formally recall a + hasty pledge which I gave, and that, call me when she will, I will come to + her!” + </p> + <p> + No doubt this speech was made with the flurry and agitation belonging to + Mr. Warrington's youth, and with the firm conviction that death would + infallibly carry off one or both of the parties, in case their worldly + separation was inevitably decreed. Who does not believe his first passion + eternal? Having watched the world since, and seen the rise, progress, and—alas, + that I must say it!—decay of other amours, I may smile now as I + think of my own youthful errors and ardours; but, if it be a superstition, + I had rather hold it; I had rather think that neither of us could have + lived with any other mate, and that, of all its innumerable creatures, + Heaven decreed these special two should be joined together. + </p> + <p> + “We must come, then, to what I had fain have spared myself,” says the + General, in reply to my outbreak; “to an unfriendly separation. When I + meet you, Mr. Warrington, I must know you no more. I must order—and + they will not do other than obey me—my family and children not to + recognise you when they see you, since you will not recognise in your + intercourse with me the respect due to my age, the courtesy of gentlemen. + I had hoped so far from your sense of honour, and the idea I had formed of + you, that, in my present great grief and perplexity, I should have found + you willing to soothe and help me as far as you might—for, God + knows, I have need of everybody's sympathy. But, instead of help, you + fling obstacles in my way. Instead of a friend—a gracious Heaven + pardon me!—I find in you an enemy! An enemy to the peace of my home + and the honour of my children, sir! And as such I shall treat you, and + know how to deal with you, when you molest me!” + </p> + <p> + And, waving his hand to me, and putting on his hat, Mr. Lambert hastily + quitted my apartment. + </p> + <p> + I was confounded, and believed, indeed, there was war between us. The + brief happiness of yesterday was clouded over and gone, and I thought that + never since the day of the first separation had I felt so exquisitely + unhappy as now, when the bitterness of quarrel was added to the pangs of + parting, and I stood not only alone but friendless. In the course of one + year's constant intimacy I had come to regard Lambert with a reverence and + affection which I had never before felt for any mortal man except my + dearest Harry. That his face should be turned from me in anger was as if + the sun had gone out of my sphere, and all was dark around me. And yet I + felt sure that in withdrawing the hasty promise I had made not to see + Theo, I was acting rightly—that my fidelity to her, as hers now to + me, was paramount to all other ties of duty or obedience, and that, + ceremony or none, I was hers, first and before all. Promises were passed + between us, from which no parent could absolve either; and all the priests + in Christendom could no more than attest and confirm the sacred contract + which had tacitly been ratified between us. + </p> + <p> + I saw Jack Lambert by chance that day, as I went mechanically to my not + unusual haunt, the library of the new Museum; and with the impetuousness + of youth, and eager to impart my sorrow to some one, I took him out of the + room and led him about the gardens, and poured out my grief to him. I did + not much care for Jack (who in truth was somewhat of a prig, and not a + little pompous and wearisome with his Latin quotations) except in the time + of my own sorrow, when I would fasten upon him or any one; and having + suffered himself in his affair with the little American, being haud + ignarus mali (as I knew he would say), I found the college gentleman ready + to compassionate another's misery. I told him, what has here been + represented at greater length, of my yesterday's meeting with his sister; + of my interview with his father in the morning; of my determination at all + hazards never to part with Theo. When I found from the various quotations + from the Greek and Latin authors which he uttered that he leaned to my + side in the dispute, I thought him a man of great sense, clung eagerly to + his elbow, and bestowed upon him much more affection than he was + accustomed at other times to have from me. I walked with him up to his + father's lodgings in Dean Street; saw him enter at the dear door; surveyed + the house from without with a sickening desire to know from its exterior + appearance how my beloved fared within; and called for a bottle at the + coffee-house where I waited Jack's return. I called him Brother when I + sent him away. I fondled him as the condemned wretch at Newgate hangs + about the jailor or the parson, or any one who is kind to him in his + misery. I drank a whole bottle of wine at the coffee-house—by the + way, Jack's Coffee-House was its name—called another. I thought Jack + would never come back. + </p> + <p> + He appeared at length with rather a scared face; and, coming to my box, + poured out for himself two or three bumpers from my second bottle, and + then fell to his story, which, to me at least, was not a little + interesting. My poor Theo was keeping her room, it appeared, being much + agitated by the occurrences of yesterday; and Jack had come home in time + to find dinner on table; after which his good father held forth upon the + occurrences of the morning, being anxious and able to speak more freely, + he said, because his eldest son was present and Theodosia was not in the + room. The General stated what had happened at my lodgings between me and + him. He bade Hester be silent, who indeed was as dumb as a mouse, poor + thing! he told Aunt Lambert (who was indulging in that madefaction of + pocket-handkerchiefs which I have before described), and with something + like an imprecation, that the women were all against him, and pimps (he + called them) for one another; and frantically turning round to Jack, asked + what was his view in the matter? + </p> + <p> + To his father's surprise and his mother's and sister's delight, Jack made + a speech on my side. He ruled with me (citing what ancient authorities I + don't know), that the matter had gone out of the hands of the parents on + either side; that having given their consent, some months previously, the + elders had put themselves out of court. Though he did not hold with a + great, a respectable, he might say a host of divines, those sacramental + views of the marriage-ceremony—for which there was a great deal to + be said—yet he held it, if possible, even more sacredly than they; + conceiving that though marriages were made before the civil magistrate, + and without the priest, yet they were, before Heaven, binding and + indissoluble. + </p> + <p> + “It is not merely, sir,” says Jack, turning to his father, “those whom I, + John Lambert, Priest, have joined, let no man put asunder; it is those + whom God has joined let no man separate.” (Here he took off his hat, as he + told the story to me.) “My views are clear upon the point, and surely + these young people were joined, or permitted to plight themselves to each + other by the consent of you, the priest of your own family. My views, I + say, are clear, and I will lay them down at length in a series of two or + three discourses which, no doubt, will satisfy you. Upon which,” says + Jack, “my father said, 'I am satisfied already, my dear boy,' and my + lively little Het (who has much archness) whispers to me, 'Jack, mother + and I will make you a dozen shirts, as sure as eggs is eggs.'” + </p> + <p> + “Whilst we were talking,” Mr. Lambert resumed, “my sister Theodosia made + her appearance, I must say very much agitated and pale, kissed our father, + and sate down at his side, and took a sippet of toast—(my dear + George, this port is excellent, and I drink your health)—and took a + sippet of toast and dipped it in his negus. + </p> + <p> + “'You should have been here to hear Jack's sermon!' says Hester. 'He has + been preaching most beautifully.' + </p> + <p> + “'Has he?' asks Theodosia, who is too languid and weak, poor thing, much + to care for the exercises of eloquence, or the display of authorities, + such as I must own,” says Jack, “it was given to me this afternoon to + bring forward. + </p> + <p> + “'He has talked for three quarters of an hour by Shrewsbury clock,' says + my father, though I certainly had not talked so long or half so long by my + own watch. 'And his discourse has been you, my dear,' says papa, playing + with Theodosia's hand. + </p> + <p> + “'Me, papa?' + </p> + <p> + “'You and—and Mr. Warrington—and—and George, my love,' + says papa. Upon which” (says Mr. Jack). “my sister came closer to the + General, and laid her head upon him, and wept upon his shoulder. + </p> + <p> + “'This is different, sir,' says I, 'to a passage I remember in Pausanias.' + </p> + <p> + “'In Pausanias? Indeed!' said the General. 'And pray who was he?' + </p> + <p> + “I smiled at my father's simplicity in exposing his ignorance before his + children. 'When Ulysses was taking away Penelope from her father, the king + hastened after his daughter and bridegroom, and besought his darling to + return. Whereupon, it is related, Ulysses offered her her choice,—whether + she would return, or go on with him? Upon which the daughter of Icarius + covered her face with her veil. For want of a veil my sister has taken + refuge in your waistcoat, sir,' I said, and we all laughed; though my + mother vowed that if such a proposal had been made to her, or Penelope had + been a girl of spirit, she would have gone home with her father that + instant. + </p> + <p> + “'But I am not a girl of any spirit, dear mother!' says Theodosia, still + in gremio patris. I do not remember that this habit of caressing was + frequent in my own youth,” continues Jack. “But after some more discourse, + Brother Warrington! bethought me of you, and left my parents insisting + upon Theodosia returning to bed. The late transactions have, it appears, + weakened and agitated her much. I myself have experienced, in my own case, + how full of solliciti timoris is a certain passion; how it racks the + spirits; and I make no doubt, if carried far enough, or indulged to the + extent to which women who have little philosophy will permit it to go—I + make no doubt, I say, is ultimately injurious to the health. My service to + you, brother!” + </p> + <p> + From grief to hope, how rapid the change was! What a flood of happiness + poured into my soul, and glowed in my whole being! Landlord, more port! + Would honest Jack have drunk a binful I would have treated him; and, to + say truth, Jack's sympathy was large in this case, and it had been + generous all day. I decline to score the bottles of port: and place to the + fabulous computations of interested waiters, the amount scored against me + in the reckoning. Jack was my dearest, best of brothers. My friendship for + him I swore should be eternal. If I could do him any service, were it a + bishopric, by George! he should have it. He says I was interrupted by the + watchman rhapsodising verses beneath the loved one's window. I know not. I + know I awoke joyfully and rapturously, in spite of a racking headache the + next morning. + </p> + <p> + Nor did I know the extent of my happiness quite, or the entire conversion + of my dear noble enemy of the previous morning. It must have been galling + to the pride of an elder man to have to yield to representations and + objections couched in language so little dutiful as that I had used + towards Mr. Lambert. But the true Christian gentleman, retiring from his + talk with me, mortified and wounded by my asperity of remonstrance, as + well as by the pain which he saw his beloved daughter suffer, went + thoughtfully and sadly to his business, as he subsequently told me, and in + the afternoon (as his custom not unfrequently was) into a church which was + open for prayers. And it was here, on his knees, submitting his case in + the quarter whither he frequently, though privately, came for guidance and + comfort, that it seemed to him that his child was right in her persistent + fidelity to me, and himself wrong in demanding her utter submission. Hence + Jack's cause was won almost before he began to plead it; and the brave, + gentle heart, which could bear no rancour, which bled at inflicting pain + on those it loved, which even shrank from asserting authority or demanding + submission, was only too glad to return to its natural pulses of love and + affection. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0078" id="link2HCH0078"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXVIII. Pyramus and Thisbe + </h2> + <p> + In examining the old papers at home, years afterwards, I found, docketed + and labelled with my mother's well-known neat handwriting, “From London, + April, 1760. My son's dreadful letter.” When it came to be mine I burnt + the document, not choosing that that story of domestic grief and disunion + should remain amongst our family annals for future Warringtons to gaze on, + mayhap, and disobedient sons to hold up as examples of foregone domestic + rebellions. For similar reasons, I have destroyed the paper which my + mother despatched to me at this time of tyranny, revolt, annoyance, and + irritation. + </p> + <p> + Maddened by the pangs of separation from my mistress, and not unrightly + considering that Mrs. Esmond was the prime cause of the greatest grief and + misery which had ever befallen me in the world, I wrote home to Virginia a + letter, which might have been more temperate, it is true, but in which I + endeavoured to maintain the extremest respect and reticence. I said I did + not know by what motives she had been influenced, but that I held her + answerable for the misery of my future life, which she had chosen wilfully + to mar and render wretched. She had occasioned a separation between me and + a virtuous and innocent young creature, whose own hopes, health, and + happiness were cast down for ever by Mrs. Esmond's interference. The deed + was done, as I feared, and I would offer no comment upon the conduct of + the perpetrator, who was answerable to God alone; but I did not disguise + from my mother that the injury which she had done me was so dreadful and + mortal, that her life or mine could never repair it; that the tie of my + allegiance was broken towards her, and that I never could be, as + heretofore, her dutiful and respectful son. + </p> + <p> + Madam Esmond replied to me in a letter of very great dignity (her style + and correspondence were extraordinarily elegant and fine). She uttered not + a single reproach or hard word, but coldly gave me to understand that it + was before that awful tribunal of God she had referred the case between + us, and asked for counsel; that, in respect of her own conduct, as a + mother, she was ready, in all humility, to face it. Might I, as a son, be + equally able to answer for myself, and to show, when the Great Judge + demanded the question of me, whether I had done my own duty, and honoured + my father and mother! O popoi! My grandfather has quoted in his memoir a + line of Homer, showing how in our troubles and griefs the gods are always + called in question. When our pride, our avarice, our interest, our desire + to domineer, are worked upon, are we not for ever pestering Heaven to + decide in their favour? In our great American quarrel, did we not on both + sides appeal to the skies as to the justice of our causes, sing Te Deum + for victory, and boldly express our confidence that the right should + prevail? Was America right because she was victorious? Then I suppose + Poland was wrong because she was defeated?—How am I wandering into + this digression about Poland, America, and what not, and all the while + thinking of a little woman now no more, who appealed to Heaven and + confronted it with a thousand texts out of its own book, because her son + wanted to make a marriage not of her liking? We appeal, we imprecate, we + go down on our knees, we demand blessings, we shriek out for sentence + according to law; the great course of the great world moves on; we pant, + and strive, and struggle; we hate; we rage; we weep passionate tears; we + reconcile; we race and win; we race and lose; we pass away, and other + little strugglers succeed; our days are spent; our night comes, and + another morning rises, which shines on us no more. + </p> + <p> + My letter to Madam Esmond, announcing my revolt and disobedience (perhaps + I myself was a little proud of the composition of that document), I showed + in duplicate to Mr. Lambert, because I wished him to understand what my + relations to my mother were, and how I was determined, whatever of threats + or quarrels the future might bring, never for my own part to consider my + separation from Theo as other than a forced one. Whenever I could see her + again I would. My word given to her was in secula seculorum, or binding at + least as long as my life should endure. I implied that the girl was + similarly bound to me, and her poor father knew indeed as much. He might + separate us; as he might give her a dose of poison, and the gentle, + obedient creature would take it and die; but the death or separation would + be his doing: let him answer them. Now he was tender about his children to + weakness, and could not have the heart to submit any one of them—this + one especially—to torture. We had tried to part: we could not. He + had endeavoured to separate us: it was more than was in his power. The + bars were up, but the young couple—the maid within and the knight + without—were loving each other all the same. The wall was built, but + Pyramus and Thisbe were whispering on either side. In the midst of all his + grief and perplexity, Uncle Lambert had plenty of humour, and could not + but see that his role was rather a sorry one. Light was beginning to show + through that lime and rough plaster of the wall: the lovers were getting + their hands through, then their heads through—indeed, it was wall's + best business to retire. + </p> + <p> + I forget what happened stage by stage and day by day; nor, for the + instruction of future ages, does it much matter. When my descendants have + love scrapes of their own, they will find their own means of getting out + of them. I believe I did not go back to Dean Street, but that practice of + driving in the open air was considered most healthful for Miss Lambert. I + got a fine horse, and rode by the side of her carriage. The old woman at + Tottenham Court came to know both of us quite well, and nod and wink in + the most friendly manner when we passed by. I fancy the old goody was not + unaccustomed to interest herself in young couples, and has dispensed the + hospitality of her roadside cottage to more than one pair. + </p> + <p> + The doctor and the country air effected a prodigious cure upon Miss + Lambert. Hetty always attended as duenna, and sometimes of his holiday, + Master Charley rode my horse when I got into the carriage. What a deal of + love-making Miss Hetty heard!—with what exemplary patience she + listened to it! I do not say she went to hear the Methodist sermons any + more, but 'tis certain that when we had a closed carriage she would very + kindly and considerately look out of the window. Then, what heaps of + letters there were!—what running to and fro! Gumbo's bandy legs were + for ever on the trot from my quarters to Dean Street; and, on my account + or her own, Mrs. Molly, the girl's maid, was for ever bringing back + answers to Bloomsbury. By the time when the autumn leaves began to turn + pale, Miss Theo's roses were in full bloom again, and my good Doctor + Heberden's cure was pronounced to be complete. What else happened during + this blessed period? Mr. Warrington completed his great tragedy of + Pocahontas, which was not only accepted by Mr. Garrick this time (his + friend Dr. Johnson having spoken not unfavourably of the work), but my + friend and cousin, Hagan, was engaged by the manager to perform the part + of the hero, Captain Smith. Hagan's engagement was not made before it was + wanted. I had helped him and his family with means disproportioned, + perhaps, to my power, especially considering my feud with Madam Esmond, + whose answer to my angry missive of April came to me towards autumn, and + who wrote back from Virginia with war for war, controlment for + controlment. These menaces, however, frightened me little: my poor + mother's thunder could not reach me; and my conscience, or casuistry, + supplied me with other interpretations for her texts of Scripture, so that + her oracles had not the least weight with me in frightening me from my + purpose. How my new loves speeded I neither informed her, nor any other + members of my maternal or paternal family, who, on both sides, had been + bitter against my marriage. Of what use wrangling with them? It was better + to carpere diem and its sweet loves and pleasures, and to leave the + railers to grumble, or the seniors to advise, at their ease. + </p> + <p> + Besides Madam Esmond I had, it must be owned, in the frantic rage of my + temporary separation, addressed notes of wondrous sarcasm to my Uncle + Warrington, to my Aunt Madame de Bernstein, and to my Lord or Lady of + Castlewood (I forget to which individually), thanking them for the trouble + which they had taken in preventing the dearest happiness of my life, and + promising them a corresponding gratitude from their obliged relative. + Business brought the jovial Baronet and his family to London somewhat + earlier than usual, and Madame de Bernstein was never sorry to get back to + Clarges Street and her cards. I saw them. They found me perfectly well. + They concluded the match was broken off, and I did not choose to undeceive + them. The Baroness took heart at seeing how cheerful I was, and made many + sly jokes about my philosophy, and my prudent behaviour as a man of the + world. She was, as ever, bent upon finding a rich match for me: and I fear + I paid many compliments at her house to a rich young soap-boiler's + daughter from Mile End, whom the worthy Baroness wished to place in my + arms. + </p> + <p> + “You court her with infinite wit and esprit, my dear,” says my pleased + kinswoman, “but she does not understand half you say, and the other half, + I think, frightens her. This ton de persiflage is very well in our + society, but you must be sparing of it, my dear nephew, amongst these + roturiers.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Badge married a young gentleman of royal dignity, though shattered + fortunes, from a neighbouring island; and I trust Mrs. Mackshane has ere + this pardoned my levity. There was another person besides Miss at my + aunt's house, who did not understand my persiflage much better than Miss + herself; and that was a lady who had seen James the Second's reign, and + who was alive and as worldly as ever in King George's. I loved to be with + her: but that my little folks have access to this volume, I could put down + a hundred stories of the great old folks whom she had known in the great + old days—of George the First and his ladies, of St. John and + Marlborough, of his reigning Majesty and the late Prince of Wales, and the + causes of the quarrel between them—but my modest muse pipes for boys + and virgins. Son Miles does not care about court stories, or if he doth, + has a fresh budget from Carlton House, quite as bad as the worst of our + old Baroness. No, my dear wife, thou hast no need to shake thy powdered + locks at me! Papa is not going to scandalise his nursery with old-world + gossip, nor bring a blush over our chaste bread-and-butter. + </p> + <p> + But this piece of scandal I cannot help. My aunt used to tell it with + infinite gusto; for, to do her justice, she hated your would-be good + people, and sniggered over the faults of the self-styled righteous with + uncommon satisfaction. In her later days she had no hypocrisy, at least; + and in so far was better than some whitewashed... Well, to the story. My + Lady Warrington, one of the tallest and the most virtuous of her sex, who + had goodness for ever on her lips and “Heaven in her eye,” like the woman + in Mr. Addison's tedious tragedy (which has kept the stage, from which + some others, which shall be nameless, have disappeared), had the world in + her other eye, and an exceedingly shrewd desire of pushing herself in it. + What does she do, when my marriage with your ladyship yonder was supposed + to be broken off, but attempt to play off on me those arts which she had + tried on my poor Harry with such signal ill success, and which failed with + me likewise! It was not the Beauty—Miss Flora was for my master—(and + what a master! I protest I take off my hat at the idea of such an + illustrious connexion!)—it was Dora, the Muse, was set upon me to + languish at me and to pity me, and to read even my godless tragedy, and + applaud me and console me. Meanwhile, how was the Beauty occupied? Will it + be believed that my severe aunt gave a great entertainment to my Lady + Yarmouth, presented her boy to her, and placed poor little Miles under her + ladyship's august protection? That, so far, is certain; but can it be that + she sent her daughter to stay at my lady's house, which our gracious lord + and master daily visited, and with the views which old Aunt Bernstein + attributed to her? “But for that fit of apoplexy, my dear,” Bernstein + said, “that aunt of yours intended there should have been a Countess in + her own right in the Warrington family!” [Compare Walpole's letters in Mr. + Cunningham's excellent new edition. See the story of the supper at N. + House, to show what great noblemen would do for a king's mistress, and the + pleasant account of the waiting for the Prince of Wales before Holland + House.-EDITOR.] My neighbour and kinswoman, my Lady Claypole, is dead and + buried. Grow white, ye daisies, upon Flora's tomb! I can see my pretty + Miles, in a gay little uniform of the Norfolk Militia, led up by his + parent to the lady whom the King delighted to honour, and the good-natured + old Jezebel laying her hand upon the boy's curly pate. I am accused of + being but a lukewarm royalist; but sure I can contrast those times with + ours, and acknowledge the difference between the late sovereign and the + present, who, born a Briton, has given to every family in the empire an + example of decorum and virtuous life. [The Warrington MS. is dated + 1793.-ED.] + </p> + <p> + Thus my life sped in the pleasantest of all occupation; and, being so + happy myself, I could afford to be reconciled to those who, after all, had + done me no injury, but rather added to the zest of my happiness by the + brief obstacle which they had placed in my way. No specific plans were + formed, but Theo and I knew that a day would come when we need say + Farewell no more. Should the day befall a year hence—ten years hence—we + were ready to wait. Day after day we discussed our little plans, with + Hetty for our confidante. On our drives we spied out pretty cottages that + we thought might suit young people of small means; we devised all sorts of + delightful schemes and childish economies. We were Strephon and Chloe to + be sure. A cot and a brown loaf should content us! Gumbo and Molly should + wait upon us (as indeed they have done from that day until this). At + twenty, who is afraid of being poor? Our trials would only confirm our + attachment. The “sweet sorrow” of every day's parting but made the + morrow's meeting more delightful; and when we separated we ran home and + wrote each other those precious letters which we and other young gentlemen + and ladies write under such circumstances; but though my wife has them all + in a great tin sugar-box in the closet in her bedroom, and, I own, I + myself have looked at them once, and even thought some of them pretty,—I + hereby desire my heirs and executors to burn them all, unread, at our + demise; specially desiring my son the Captain (to whom I know the perusal + of MSS. is not pleasant) to perform this duty. Those secrets whispered to + the penny-post, or delivered between Molly and Gumbo, were intended for us + alone, and no ears of our descendants shall overhear them. + </p> + <p> + We heard in successive brief letters how our dear Harry continued with the + army, as Mr. General Amherst's aide-de-camp, after the death of his own + glorious general. By the middle of October there came news of the + Capitulation of Montreal and the whole of Canada, and a brief postscript + in which Hal said he would ask for leave now, and must go and see the old + lady at home, who wrote as sulky as a bare, Captain Warrington remarked. I + could guess why, though the claws could not reach me. I had written pretty + fully to my brother how affairs were standing with me in England. + </p> + <p> + Then, on the 25th October, comes the news that his Majesty has fallen down + dead at Kensington, and that George III. reigned over us. I fear we + grieved but little. What do those care for the Atridae whose hearts are + strung only to erota mounon? A modest, handsome, brave new Prince, we + gladly accept the common report that he is endowed with every virtue; and + we cry huzzay with the loyal crowd that hails his accession: it could make + little difference to us, as we thought, simple young sweethearts, + whispering our little love-stories in our corner. + </p> + <p> + But who can say how great events affect him? Did not our little Charley, + at the Chartreux, wish impiously for a new king immediately, because on + his gracious Majesty's accession Doctor Crusius gave his boys a holiday? + He and I, and Hetty, and Theo (Miss Theo was strong enough to walk many a + delightful mile now), heard the Heralds proclaim his new Majesty before + Savile House in Leicester Fields, and a pickpocket got the watch and chain + of a gentleman hard by us, and was caught and carried to Bridewell, all on + account of his Majesty's accession. Had the king not died, the gentleman + would not have been in the crowd; the chain would not have been seized; + the thief would not have been caught and soundly whipped: in this way many + of us, more or less remotely, were implicated in the great change which + ensued, and even we humble folks were affected by it presently. + </p> + <p> + As thus. My Lord Wrotham was a great friend of the august family of Savile + House, who knew and esteemed his many virtues. Now, of all living men, my + Lord Wrotham knew and loved best his neighbour and old fellow-soldier, + Martin Lambert, declaring that the world contained few better gentlemen. + And my Lord Bute, being all potent, at first, with his Majesty, and a + nobleman, as I believe, very eager at the commencement of his brief and + luckless tenure of power, to patronise merit wherever he could find it, + was strongly prejudiced in Mr. Lambert's favour by the latter's old and + constant friend. + </p> + <p> + My (and Harry's) old friend Parson Sampson, who had been in and out of + gaol I don't know how many times of late years, and retained an + ever-enduring hatred for the Esmonds of Castlewood, and as lasting a + regard for me and my brother, was occupying poor Hal's vacant bed at my + lodgings at this time (being, in truth, hunted out of his own by the + bailiffs). I liked to have Sampson near me, for a more amusing Jack-friar + never walked in cassock; and, besides, he entered into all my rhapsodies + about Miss Theo; was never tired (so he vowed) of hearing me talk of her; + admired Pocahontas and Carpezan with, I do believe, an honest enthusiasm; + and could repeat whole passages of those tragedies with an emphasis and + effect that Barry or cousin Hagan himself could not surpass. Sampson was + the go-between between Lady Maria and such of her relations as had not + disowned her; and, always in debt himself, was never more happy than in + drinking a pot, or mingling his tears with his friends in similar poverty. + His acquaintance with pawnbrokers' shops was prodigious. He could procure + more money, he boasted, on an article than any gentleman of his cloth. He + never paid his own debts, to be sure, but he was ready to forgive his + debtors. Poor as he was, he always found means to love and help his needy + little sister, and a more prodigal, kindly, amiable rogue never probably + grinned behind bars. They say that I love to have parasites about me. I + own to have had a great liking for Sampson, and to have esteemed him much + better than probably much better men. + </p> + <p> + When he heard how my Lord Bute was admitted into the cabinet, Sampson + vowed and declared that his lordship—a great lover of the drama, who + had been to see Carpezan, who had admired it, and who would act the part + of the king very finely in it—he vowed, by George! that my lord must + give me a place worthy of my birth and merits. He insisted upon it that I + should attend his lordship's levee. I wouldn't? The Esmonds were all as + proud as Lucifer; and, to be sure, my birth was as good as that of any man + in Europe. Demmy! Where was my lord himself when the Esmonds were lords of + great counties, warriors, and Crusaders? Where were they? Beggarly + Scotchmen, without a rag to their backs—by George! tearing raw fish + in their islands. But now the times were changed. The Scotchmen were in + luck. Mum's the word! “I don't envy him,” says Sampson, “but he shall + provide for you and my dearest, noblest, heroic captain! He SHALL, by + George!” would my worthy parson roar out. And when, in the month after his + accession, his Majesty ordered the play of Richard III. at Drury Lane, my + chaplain cursed, vowed, swore, but he would have him to Covent Garden to + see Carpezan too. And now, one morning, he bursts into my apartment, where + I happened to lie rather late, waving the newspaper in his hand, and + singing “Huzza!” with all his might. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Sampson?” says I. “Has my brother got his promotion?” + </p> + <p> + “No, in truth: but some one else has. Huzzay! huzzay! His Majesty has + appointed Major-General Martin Lambert to be Governor and + Commander-in-Chief of the Island of Jamaica.” + </p> + <p> + I started up. Here was news, indeed! Mr. Lambert would go to his + government: and who would go with him? I had been supping with some + genteel young fellows at the Cocoa-Tree. The rascal Gumbo had a note for + me from my dear mistress on the night previous, conveying the same news to + me, and had delayed to deliver it. Theo begged me to see her at the old + place at midday the next day without fail. [In the Warrington MS. there is + not a word to say what the “old place” was. Perhaps some obliging reader + of Notes and Queries will be able to inform me, and who Mrs. Goodison + was.-ED.] + </p> + <p> + There was no little trepidation in our little council when we reached our + place of meeting. Papa had announced his acceptance of the appointment, + and his speedy departure. He would have a frigate given him, and take his + family with him. Merciful powers! and were we to be parted? My Theo's old + deathly paleness returned to her. Aunt Lambert thought she would have + swooned; one of Mrs. Goodison's girls had a bottle of salts, and ran up + with it from the workroom. “Going away? Going away in a frigate, Aunt + Lambert? Going to tear her away from me? Great God! Aunt Lambert, I shall + die!” She was better when mamma came up from the workroom with the young + lady's bottle of salts. You see the women used to meet me: knowing dear + Theo's delicate state, how could they refrain from compassionating her! + But the General was so busy with his levees and his waiting on Ministers, + and his outfit, and the settlement of his affairs at home, that they never + happened to tell him about our little walks and meetings; and even when + orders for the outfit of the ladies were given, Mrs. Goodison, who had + known and worked for Miss Molly Benson as a schoolgirl (she remembered + Miss Esmond of Virginia perfectly, the worthy lady told me, and a dress + she made for the young lady to be presented at her Majesty's Ball)—“even + when the outfit was ordered for the three ladies,” says Mrs. Goodison, + demurely, “why, I thought I could do no harm in completing the order.” + </p> + <p> + Now I need not say in what perturbation of mind Mr. Warrington went home + in the evening to his lodgings, after the discussion with the ladies of + the above news. No, or at least a very few, more walks; no more rides to + dear, dear Hampstead or beloved Islington; no more fetching and carrying + of letters for Gumbo and Molly! The former blubbered so, that Mr. + Warrington was quite touched by his fidelity, and gave him a crown-piece + to go to supper with the poor girl, who turned out to be his sweetheart. + What, you too unhappy, Gumbo, and torn from the maid you love? I was ready + to mingle with him tear for tear. + </p> + <p> + What a solemn conference I had with Sampson that evening! He knew my + affairs, my expectations, my mother's anger. Psha! that was far off, and + he knew some excellent liberal people (of the order of Melchizedek) who + would discount the other. The General would not give his consent? Sampson + shrugged his broad shoulders and swore a great roaring oath. My mother + would not relent? What then? A man was a man, and to make his own way in + the world? he supposed. He is only a churl who won't play for such a stake + as that, and lose or win, by George! shouts the chaplain, over a bottle of + Burgundy at the Bedford Head, where he dined. I need not put down our + conversation. We were two of us, and I think there was only one mind + between us. Our talk was of a Saturday night.... + </p> + <p> + I did not tell Theo, nor any relative of hers, what was being done. But + when the dear child faltered and talked, trembling, of the coming + departure, I bade her bear up, and vowed all would be well, so + confidently, that she, who ever has taken her alarms and joys from my face + (I wish, my dear, it were sometimes not so gloomy), could not but feel + confidence; and placed (with many fond words that need not here be + repeated) her entire trust in me—murmuring those sweet words of Ruth + that must have comforted myriads of tender hearts in my dearest maiden's + plight; that whither I would go she would go, and that my people should be + hers. At last, one day, the General's preparations being made, the trunks + encumbering the passages of the dear old Dean Street lodging, which I + shall love as long as I shall remember at all—one day, almost the + last of his stay, when the good man (his Excellency we called him now) + came home to his dinner—a comfortless meal enough it was in the + present condition of the family—he looked round the table at the + place where I had used to sit in happy old days, and sighed out: “I wish, + Molly, George was here.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you, Martin?” says Aunt Lambert, flinging into his arms. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do; but I don't wish you to choke me, Molly,” he says. “I love him + dearly. I may go away and never see him again, and take his foolish little + sweetheart along with me. I suppose you will write to each other, + children? I can't prevent that, you know; and until he changes his mind, I + suppose Miss Theo won't obey papa's orders, and get him out of her foolish + little head. Wilt thou, Theo?” + </p> + <p> + “No, dearest, dearest, best papa!” + </p> + <p> + “What! more embraces and kisses! What does all this mean?” + </p> + <p> + “It means that—that George is in the drawing-room,” says mamma. + </p> + <p> + “Is he! My dearest boy!” cries the General. “Come to me—come in!” + And when I entered he held me to his heart, and kissed me. + </p> + <p> + I confess at this I was so overcome that I fell down on my knees before + the dear, good man, and sobbed on his own. + </p> + <p> + “God bless you, my dearest boy!” he mutters hurriedly. “Always loved you + as a son—haven't I, Molly? Broke my heart nearly when I quarrelled + with you about this little—What!—odds marrowbones!—all + down on your knees! Mrs. Lambert, pray what is the meaning of all this?” + </p> + <p> + “Dearest, dearest papa! I will go with you all the same!” whimpers one of + the kneeling party. “And I will wait—oh!—as long as ever my + dearest father wants me!” + </p> + <p> + “In Heaven's name!” roars the General, “tell me what has happened?” + </p> + <p> + What had happened was, that George Esmond Warrington and Theodosia Lambert + had been married in Southwark that morning, their banns having been duly + called in the church of a certain friend of the Reverend Mr. Sampson. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0079" id="link2HCH0079"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXIX. Containing both Comedy and Tragedy + </h2> + <p> + We, who had been active in the guilty scene of the morning, felt trebly + guilty when we saw the effect which our conduct had produced upon him, + who, of all others, we loved and respected. The shock to the good man was + strange, and pitiful to us to witness who had administered it. The child + of his heart had deceived and disobeyed him—I declare I think, my + dear, now, we would not or could not do it over again; his whole family + had entered into a league against him. Dear, kind friend and father! We + know thou hast pardoned our wrong—in the Heaven where thou dwellest + amongst purified spirits who learned on earth how to love and pardon! To + love and forgive were easy duties with that man. Beneficence was natural + to him, and a sweet, smiling humility; and to wound either was to be + savage and brutal, as to torture a child, or strike blows at a nursing + woman. The deed done, all we guilty ones grovelled in the earth, before + the man we had injured. I pass over the scenes of forgiveness, of + reconciliation, of common worship together, of final separation when the + good man departed to his government, and the ship sailed away before us, + leaving me and Theo on the shore. We stood there hand in hand, horribly + abashed, silent, and guilty. My wife did not come to me till her father + went: in the interval between the ceremony of our marriage and his + departure, she had remained at home, occupying her old place by her + father, and bed by her sister's side: he as kind as ever, but the women + almost speechless among themselves; Aunt Lambert, for once, unkind and + fretful in her temper; and little Hetty feverish and strange, and saying, + “I wish we were gone. I wish we were gone.” Though admitted to the house, + and forgiven, I slunk away during those last days, and only saw my wife + for a minute or two in the street, or with her family. She was not mine + till they were gone. We went to Winchester and Hampton for what may be + called our wedding. It was but a dismal business. For a while we felt + utterly lonely: and of our dear father as if we had buried him, or drove + him to the grave by our undutifulness. + </p> + <p> + I made Sampson announce our marriage in the papers. (My wife used to hang + down her head before the poor fellow afterwards.) I took Mrs. Warrington + back to my old lodgings in Bloomsbury, where there was plenty of room for + us, and our modest married life began. I wrote home a letter to my mother + in Virginia, informing her of no particulars, but only that Mr. Lambert + being about to depart for his government, I considered myself bound in + honour to fulfil my promise towards his dearest daughter; and stated that + I intended to carry out my intention of completing my studies for the Bar, + and qualifying myself for employment at home, or in our own or any other + colony. My good Mrs. Mountain answered this letter, by desire of Madam + Esmond, she said, who thought that for the sake of peace my communications + had best be conducted that way. I found my relatives in a fury which was + perfectly amusing to witness. The butler's face, as he said, “Not at + home,” at my uncle's house in Hill Street, was a blank tragedy that might + have been studied by Garrick when he sees Banque. My poor little wife was + on my arm, and we were tripping away, laughing at the fellow's accueil, + when we came upon my lady in a street stoppage in her chair. I took off my + hat and made her the lowest possible bow. I affectionately asked after my + dear cousins. “I—I wonder you dare look me in the face!” Lady + Warrington gasped out. “Nay, don't deprive me of that precious privilege!” + says I. “Move on, Peter,” she screams to her chairman. “Your ladyship + would not impale your own husband's flesh and blood!” says I. She rattles + up the glass of her chair in a fury. I kiss my hand, take off my hat, and + perform another of my very finest bows. + </p> + <p> + Walking shortly afterwards in Hyde Park with my dearest companion, I met + my little cousin exercising on horseback with a groom behind him. As soon + as he sees us, he gallops up to us, the groom powdering afterwards and + bawling out, “Stop, Master Miles, stop!” + </p> + <p> + “I am not to speak to my cousin,” says Miles, “but telling you to send my + love to Harry is not speaking to you, is it? Is that my new cousin? I'm + not told not to speak to her. I'm Miles, cousin, Sir Miles Warrington + Baronet's son, and you are very pretty!” “Now, duee now, Master Miles,” + says the groom, touching his hat to us; and the boy trots away laughing + and looking at us over his shoulder. “You see how my relations have + determined to treat me,” I say to my partner. “As if I married you for + your relations!” says Theo, her eyes beaming joy and love into mine. Ah, + how happy we were! how brisk and pleasant the winter! How snug the kettle + by the fire (where the abashed Sampson sometimes came and made the punch); + how delightful the night at the theatre, for which our friends brought us + tickets of admission, and where we daily expected our new play of + Pocahontas would rival the successes of all former tragedies. + </p> + <p> + The fickle old aunt of Clarges Street, who received me, on my first coming + to London with my wife, with a burst of scorn, mollified presently, and as + soon as she came to know Theo (who she had pronounced to be an + insignificant little country-faced chit), fell utterly in love with her, + and would have her to tea and supper every day when there was no other + company. “As for company, my dears,” she would say, “I don't ask you. You + are no longer du monde. Your marriage has put that entirely out of the + question.” So she would have had us come to amuse her, and go in and out + by the back-stairs. My wife was fine lady enough to feel only amused at + this reception; and, I must do the Baroness's domestics the justice to say + that, had we been duke and duchess, we could not have been received with + more respect. Madame de Bernstein was very much tickled and amused with my + story of Lady Warrington and the chair. I acted it for her, and gave her + anecdotes of the pious Baronet's lady and her daughters, which pleased the + mischievous, lively old woman. + </p> + <p> + The Dowager Countess of Castlewood, now established in her house at + Kensington, gave us that kind of welcome which genteel ladies extend to + their poorer relatives. We went once or twice to her ladyship's drums at + Kensington; but, losing more money at cards, and spending more money in + coach-hire than I liked to afford, we speedily gave up those + entertainments, and, I dare say, were no more missed or regretted than + other people in the fashionable world, who are carried by death, debt, or + other accident out of the polite sphere. My Theo did not in the least + regret this exclusion. She had made her appearance at one of these drums, + attired in some little ornaments which her mother left behind her, and by + which the good lady set some store; but I thought her own white neck was a + great deal prettier than these poor twinkling stones; and there were + dowagers, whose wrinkled old bones blazed with rubies and diamonds, which, + I am sure, they would gladly have exchanged for her modest parure of + beauty and freshness. Not a soul spoke to her—except, to be sure, + Beau Lothair, a friend of Mr. Will's, who prowled about Bloomsbury + afterwards, and even sent my wife a billet. I met him in Covent Garden + shortly after, and promised to break his ugly face if ever I saw it in the + neighbourhood of my lodgings, and Madam Theo was molested no further. + </p> + <p> + The only one of our relatives who came to see us (Madame de Bernstein + never came; she sent her coach for us sometimes, or made inquiries + regarding us by her woman or her major-domo) was our poor Maria, who, with + her husband, Mr. Hagan, often took a share of our homely dinner. Then we + had friend Spencer from the Temple, who admired our Arcadian felicity, and + gently asked our sympathy for his less fortunate loves; and twice or + thrice the famous Doctor Johnson came in for a dish of Theo's tea. A dish? + a pailful! “And a pail the best thing to feed him, sar!” says Mr. Gumbo, + indignantly: for the Doctor's appearance was not pleasant, nor his linen + particularly white. He snorted, he grew red, and sputtered in feeding; he + flung his meat about, and bawled out in contradicting people: and annoyed + my Theo, whom he professed to admire greatly, by saying, every time he saw + her, “Madam, you do not love me; I see by your manner you do not love me; + though I admire you, and come here for your sake. Here is my friend Mr. + Reynolds that shall paint you: he has no ceruse in his paint-box that is + as brilliant as your complexion.” And so Mr. Reynolds, a most perfect and + agreeable gentleman, would have painted my wife; but I knew what his price + was, and did not choose to incur that expense. I wish I had now, for the + sake of the children, that they might see what yonder face was like some + five-and-thirty years ago. To me, madam, 'tis the same now as ever; and + your ladyship is always young! + </p> + <p> + What annoyed Mrs. Warrington with Dr. Johnson more than his + contradictions, his sputterings, and his dirty nails, was, I think, an + unfavourable opinion which he formed of my new tragedy. Hagan once + proposed that he should read some scenes from it after tea. + </p> + <p> + “Nay, sir, conversation is better,” says the Doctor. “I can read for + myself, or hear you at the theatre. I had rather hear Mrs. Warrington's + artless prattle than your declamation of Mr. Warrington's decasyllables. + Tell us about your household affairs, madam, and whether his Excellency + your father is well, and whether you made the pudden and the butter sauce. + The butter sauce was delicious!” (He loved it so well that he had kept a + large quantity in the bosom of a very dingy shirt.) “You made it as though + you loved me. You helped me as though you loved me, though you don't.” + </p> + <p> + “Faith, sir, you are taking some of the present away with you in your + waistcoat,” says Hagan, with much spirit. + </p> + <p> + “Sir, you are rude!” bawls the Doctor. “You are unacquainted with the + first principles of politeness, which is courtesy before ladies. Having + received an university education, I am surprised that you have not learned + the rudiments of politeness. I respect Mrs. Warrington. I should never + think of making personal remarks about her guests before her!” + </p> + <p> + “Then, sir,” says Hagan, fiercely, “why did you speak of my theatre?” + </p> + <p> + “Sir, you are saucy!” roars the Doctor. + </p> + <p> + “De te fabula,” says the actor. “I think it is your waistcoat that is + saucy. Madam, shall I make some punch in the way we make it in Ireland?” + </p> + <p> + The Doctor, puffing, and purple in the face, was wiping the dingy shirt + with a still more dubious pocket-handkerchief, which he then applied to + his forehead. After this exercise, he blew a hyperborean whistle, as if to + blow his wrath away. “It is de me, sir—though, as a young man, + perhaps you need not have told me so.” + </p> + <p> + “I drop my point, sir! If you have been wrong, I am sure I am bound to ask + your pardon for setting you so!” says Mr. Hagan, with a fine bow. + </p> + <p> + “Doesn't he look like a god?” says Maria, clutching my wife's hand: and + indeed Mr. Hagan did look like a handsome young gentleman. His colour had + risen; he had put his hand to his breast with a noble air: Chamont or + Castalio could not present himself better. + </p> + <p> + “Let me make you some lemonade, sir; my papa has sent us a box of fresh + limes. May we send you some to the Temple?” + </p> + <p> + “Madam, if they stay in your house, they will lose their quality and turn + sweet,” says the Doctor. “Mr. Hagan, you are a young sauce-box, that's + what you are! Ho! ho! It is I have been wrong.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my lord, my Polidore!” bleats Lady Maria, when she was alone in my + wife's drawing-room: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'Oh, I could hear thee talk for ever thus, + Eternally admiring,—fix and gaze + On those dear eyes, for every glance they send + Darts through my soul, and fills my heart with rapture!' +</pre> + <p> + “Thou knowest not, my Theo, what a pearl and paragon of a man my Castalio + is; my Chamont, my—oh, dear me, child, what a pity it is that in + your husband's tragedy he should have to take the horrid name of Captain + Smith!” + </p> + <p> + Upon this tragedy not only my literary hopes, but much of my financial + prospects were founded. My brother's debts discharged, my mother's drafts + from home duly honoured, my own expenses paid, which, though moderate, + were not inconsiderable,—pretty nearly the whole of my patrimony had + been spent, and this auspicious moment I must choose for my marriage! I + could raise money on my inheritance: that was not impossible, though + certainly costly. My mother could not leave her eldest son without a + maintenance, whatever our quarrels might be. I had health, strength, good + wits, some friends, and reputation—above all, my famous tragedy, + which the manager had promised to perform, and upon the proceeds of this I + counted for my present support. What becomes of the arithmetic of youth? + How do we then calculate that a hundred pounds is a maintenance, and a + thousand a fortune? How did I dare play against Fortune with such odds? I + succeeded, I remember, in convincing my dear General, and he left home + convinced that his son-in-law had for the present necessity at least a + score of hundred pounds at his command. He and his dear Molly had begun + life with less, and the ravens had somehow always fed them. As for the + women, the question of poverty was one of pleasure to those sentimental + souls, and Aunt Lambert, for her part, declared it would be wicked and + irreligious to doubt of a provision being made for her children. Was the + righteous ever forsaken? Did the just man ever have to beg his bread? She + knew better than that! “No, no, my dears! I am not going to be afraid on + that account, I warrant you! Look at me and my General!” + </p> + <p> + Theo believed all I said and wished to believe myself. So we actually + began life upon a capital of Five Acts, and about three hundred pounds of + ready money in hand! + </p> + <p> + Well, the time of the appearance of the famous tragedy drew near, and my + friends canvassed the town to get a body of supporters for the opening + night. I am ill at asking favours from the great; but when my Lord Wrotham + came to London, I went, with Theo in my hand, to wait on his lordship, who + received us kindly, out of regard for his old friend, her father—though + he good-naturedly shook a finger at me (at which my little wife hung down + her head), for having stole a march on the good General. However, he would + do his best for her father's daughter; hoped for a success; said he had + heard great things of the piece; and engaged a number of places for + himself and his friends. But this patron secured, I had no other. “Mon + cher, at my age,” says the Baroness, “I should bore myself to death at a + tragedy: but I will do my best; and I will certainly send my people to the + boxes. Yes! Case in his best black looks like a nobleman; and Brett in one + of my gowns has a faux air de moi which is quite distinguished. Put down + my name for two in the front boxes. Good-bye, my dear. Bonne chance!” The + Dowager Countess presented compliments (on the back of the nine of clubs), + had a card-party that night, and was quite sorry she and Fanny could not + go to my tragedy. As for my uncle and Lady Warrington, they were out of + the question. After the affair of the sedan-chair I might as well have + asked Queen Elizabeth to go to Drury Lane. These were all my friends—that + host of aristocratic connexions about whom poor Sampson had bragged; and + on the strength of whom, the manager, as he said, had given Mr. Hagan his + engagement! “Where was my Lord Bute? Had I not promised his lordship + should come?” he asks, snappishly, taking snuff (how different from the + brisk, and engaging, and obsequious little manager of six months ago!)—“I + promised Lord Bute should come?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” says Mr. Garrick, “and her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, + and his Majesty too.” + </p> + <p> + Poor Sampson owned that he, buoyed up by vain hopes, had promised the + appearance of these august personages. + </p> + <p> + The next day, at rehearsal, matters were worse still, and the manager in a + fury. + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens, sir!” says he, “into what a pretty guet-a-pens have you + led me! Look at that letter, sir!—read that letter!” And he hands me + one: + </p> + <p> + “MY DEAR SIR” (said the letter)—“I have seen his lordship, and + conveyed to him Mr. Warrington's request that he would honour the tragedy + of Pocahontas by his presence. His lordship is a patron of the drama, and + a magnificent friend of all the liberal arts; but he desires me to say + that he cannot think of attending himself, much less of asking his + Gracious Master to witness the performance of a play, a principal part in + which is given to an actor who has made a clandestine marriage with a + daughter of one of his Majesty's nobility.—Your well-wisher, + SAUNDERS MCDUFF.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. D. Garrick, at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane.” + </p> + <p> + My poor Theo had a nice dinner waiting for me after the rehearsal. I + pleaded fatigue as the reason for looking so pale: I did not dare to + convey to her this dreadful news. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0080" id="link2HCH0080"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXX. Pocahontas + </h2> + <p> + The English public not being so well acquainted with the history of + Pocahontas as we of Virginia, who still love the memory of that simple and + kindly creature, Mr. Warrington, at the suggestion of his friends, made a + little ballad about this Indian princess, which was printed in the + magazines a few days before the appearance of the tragedy. This proceeding + Sampson and I considered to be very artful and ingenious. “It is like + ground-bait, sir,” says the enthusiastic parson, “and you will see the + fish rise in multitudes, on the great day!” He and Spencer declared that + the poem was discussed and admired at several coffee-houses in their + hearing, and that it had been attributed to Mr. Mason, Mr. Cowper of the + Temple, and even to the famous Mr. Gray. I believe poor Sam had himself + set abroad these reports; and, if Shakspeare had been named as the author + of the tragedy, would have declared Pocahontas to be one of the poet's + best performances. I made acquaintance with brave Captain Smith, as a boy + in my grandfather's library at home, where I remember how I would sit at + the good old man's knees, with my favourite volume on my own, spelling out + the exploits of our Virginian hero. I loved to read of Smith's travels, + sufferings, captivities, escapes, not only in America but Europe. I become + a child again almost as I take from the shelf before me in England the + familiar volume, and all sorts of recollections of my early home come + crowding over my mind. The old grandfather would make pictures for me of + Smith doing battle with the Turks on the Danube, or led out by our Indian + savages to death. Ah, what a terrific fight was that in which he was + engaged with the three Turkish champions, and how I used to delight over + the story of his combat with Bonny Molgro, the last and most dreadful of + the three! What a name Bonny Molgro was, and with what a prodigious + turban, scimitar, and whiskers we represented him! Having slain and taken + off the heads of his first two enemies, Smith and Bonny Molgro met, + falling to (says my favourite old book) “with their battle-axes, whose + piercing bills made sometimes the one, sometimes the other, to have scarce + sense to keep their saddles: especially the Christian received such a + wound that he lost his battle-axe, whereat the supposed conquering Turke + had a great shout from the rampires. Yet, by the readinesse of his horse, + and his great judgment and dexteritie, he not only avoided the Turke's + blows, but, having drawn his falchion, so pierced the Turke under the + cutlets, through back and body, that though hee alighted from his horse, + he stood not long ere hee lost his head as the rest had done. In reward + for which deed, Duke Segismundus gave him 3 Turke's head in a shield for + armes and 300 Duckats yeerely for a pension.” Disdaining time and place + (with that daring which is the privilege of poets) in my tragedy, Smith is + made to perform similar exploits on the banks of our Potomac and James's + river. Our “ground-bait” verses, ran thus:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “POCAHONTAS + + “Wearied arm and broken sword + Wage in vain the desperate fight + Round him press the countless horde, + He is but a single knight. + Hark! a cry of triumph shrill + Through the wilderness resounds, + As, with twenty bleeding wounds, + Sinks the warrior, fighting still. + + “Now they heap the fatal pyre, + And the torch of death they light + Ah! 'tis hard to die of fire! + Who will shield the captive knight? + Round the stake with fiendish cry + Wheel and dance the savage crowd, + Cold the victim's mien and proud, + And his breast is bared to die. + + “Who will shield the fearless heart? + Who avert the murderous blade? + From the throng, with sudden start, + See, there springs an Indian maid. + Quick she stands before the knight, + 'Loose the chain, unbind the ring, + I am daughter of the king, + And I claim the Indian right!' + + “Dauntlessly aside she flings + Lifted axe and thirsty knife; + Fondly to his heart she clings, + And her bosom guards his life! + In the woods of Powhattan, + Still 'tis told, by Indian fires, + How a daughter of their sires + Saved the captive Englishman.” + </pre> + <p> + I need not describe at length the plot of my tragedy, as my children can + take it down from the shelves any day and peruse it for themselves. Nor + shall I, let me add, be in a hurry to offer to read it again to my young + folks, since Captain Miles and the parson both chose to fall asleep last + Christmas, when, at mamma's request, I read aloud a couple of acts. But + any person having a moderate acquaintance with plays and novels can soon, + out of the above sketch, fill out a picture to his liking. An Indian king; + a loving princess, and her attendant, in love with the British captain's + servant; a traitor in the English fort; a brave Indian warrior, himself + entertaining an unhappy passion for Pocahontas; a medicine-man and priest + of the Indians (very well played by Palmer), capable of every treason, + stratagem, and crime, and bent upon the torture and death of the English + prisoner;—these, with the accidents of the wilderness, the + war-dances and cries (which Gumbo had learned to mimic very accurately + from the red people at home), and the arrival of the English fleet, with + allusions to the late glorious victories in Canada, and the determination + of Britons ever to rule and conquer in America, some of us not unnaturally + thought might contribute to the success of our tragedy. + </p> + <p> + But I have mentioned the ill omens which preceded the day: the + difficulties which a peevish, and jealous, and timid management threw in + the way of the piece, and the violent prejudice which was felt against it + in certain high quarters. What wonder then, I ask, that Pocahontas should + have turned out not to be a victory? I laugh to scorn the malignity of the + critics who found fault with the performance. Pretty critics, forsooth, + who said that Carpezan was a masterpiece, whilst a far superior and more + elaborate work received only their sneers! I insist on it that Hagan acted + his part so admirably that a certain actor and manager of the theatre + might well be jealous of him; and that, but for the cabal made outside, + the piece would have succeeded. The order had been given that the play + should not succeed; so at least Sampson declared to me. “The house swarmed + with Macs, by George, and they should have the galleries washed with + brimstone,” the honest fellow swore, and always vowed that Mr. Garrick + himself would not have had the piece succeed for the world; and was never + in such a rage as during that grand scene in the second act, where Smith + (poor Hagan) being bound to the stake, Pocahontas comes and saves him, and + when the whole house was thrilling with applause and sympathy. + </p> + <p> + Anybody who has curiosity sufficient, may refer to the published tragedy + (in the octavo form, or in the subsequent splendid quarto edition of my + Collected Works, and Poems Original and Translated), and say whether the + scene is without merit, whether the verses are not elegant, the language + rich and noble? One of the causes of the failure was my actual fidelity to + history. I had copied myself at the Museum, and tinted neatly, a figure of + Sir Walter Raleigh in a frill and beard; and (my dear Theo giving some of + her mother's best lace for the ruff) we dressed Hagan accurately after + this drawing, and no man could look better. Miss Pritchard as Pocahontas, + I dressed too as a Red Indian, having seen enough of that costume in my + own experience at home. Will it be believed the house tittered when she + first appeared? They got used to her, however, but just at the moment when + she rushes into the prisoner's arms, and a number of people were actually + in tears, a fellow in the pit bawls out, “Bedad! here's the Belle Savage + kissing the Saracen's Head;” on which an impertinent roar of laughter + sprang up in the pit, breaking out with fitful explosions during the + remainder of the performance. As the wag in Mr. Sheridan's amusing Critic + admirably says about the morning guns, the playwrights were not content + with one of them, but must fire two or three; so with this wretched + pothouse joke of the Belle Savage (the ignorant people not knowing that + Pocahontas herself was the very Belle Sauvage from whom the tavern took + its name!). My friend of the pit repeated it ad nauseam during the + performance, and as each new character appeared, saluted him by the name + of some tavern—for instance, the English governor (with a long + beard) he called the Goat and Boots; his lieutenant (Barker), whose face + certainly was broad, the Bull and Mouth, and so on! And the curtain + descended amidst a shrill storm of whistles and hisses, which especially + assailed poor Hagan every time he opened his lips. Sampson saw Master Will + in the green boxes, with some pretty acquaintances of his, and has no + doubt that the treacherous scoundrel was one of the ringleaders in the + conspiracy. “I would have flung him over into the pit,” the faithful + fellow said (and Sampson was man enough to execute his threat), “but I saw + a couple of Mr. Nadab's followers prowling about the lobby, and was + obliged to sheer off.” And so the eggs we had counted on selling at market + were broken, and our poor hopes lay shattered before us! + </p> + <p> + I looked in at the house from the stage before the curtain was lifted, and + saw it pretty well filled, especially remarking Mr. Johnson in the front + boxes, in a laced waistcoat, having his friend Mr. Reynolds by his side; + the latter could not hear, and the former could not see, and so they came + good-naturedly A deux to form an opinion of my poor tragedy. I could see + Lady Maria (I knew the hood she wore) in the lower gallery, where she once + more had the opportunity of sitting and looking at her beloved actor + performing a principal character in a piece. As for Theo, she fairly owned + that, unless I ordered her, she had rather not be present, nor had I any + such command to give, for, if things went wrong, I knew that to see her + suffer would be intolerable pain to myself, and so acquiesced in her + desire to keep away. + </p> + <p> + Being of a pretty equanimous disposition, and, as I flatter myself, able + to bear good or evil fortune without disturbance, I myself, after taking a + light dinner at the Bedford, went to the theatre a short while before the + commencement of the play, and proposed to remain there, until the defeat + or victory was decided. I own now, I could not help seeing which way the + fate of the day was likely to turn. There was something gloomy and + disastrous in the general aspect of all things around. Miss Pritchard had + the headache: the barber who brought home Hagan's wig had powdered it like + a wretch: amongst the gentlemen and ladies in the greenroom, I saw none + but doubtful faces: and the manager (a very flippant, not to say + impertinent gentleman, in my opinion, and who himself on that night looked + as dismal as a mute at a funeral) had the insolence to say to me, “For + Heaven's sake, Mr. Warrington, go and get a glass of punch at the Bedford, + and don't frighten us all here by your dismal countenance!” + </p> + <p> + “Sir,” says I, “I have a right, for five shillings, to comment upon your + face, but I never gave you any authority to make remarks upon mine.” + “Sir,” says he in a pet, “I most heartily wish I had never seen your face + at all!” “Yours, sir!” said I, “has often amused me greatly; and when + painted for Abel Drugger is exceedingly comic”—and indeed I have + always done Mr. G. the justice to think that in low comedy he was + unrivalled. I made him a bow, and walked off to the coffee-house, and for + five years after never spoke a word to the gentleman, when he apologised + to me, at a nobleman's house where we chanced to meet. I said I had + utterly forgotten the circumstance to which he alluded, and that, on the + first night of a play, no doubt author and manager were flurried alike. + And added, “After all, there is no shame in not being made for the + theatre. Mr. Garrick—you were.” A compliment with which he appeared + to be as well pleased as I intended he should. + </p> + <p> + Fidus Achates ran over to me at the end of the first act to say that all + things were going pretty well; though he confessed to the titter in the + house upon Miss Pritchard's first appearance, dressed exactly like an + Indian princess. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot help it, Sampson,” said I (filling him a bumper of good punch), + “if Indians are dressed so.” + </p> + <p> + “Why,” says he, “would you have had Caractacus painted blue like an + ancient Briton, or Bonduca with nothing but a cow-skin?” And indeed it may + be that the fidelity to history was the cause of the ridicule cast on my + tragedy, in which case I, for one, am not ashamed of its defeat. + </p> + <p> + After the second act, my aide-de-camp came from the field with dismal news + indeed. I don't know how it is that, nervous before action, in disaster I + become pretty cool and cheerful. [The writer seems to contradict himself + here, having just boasted of possessing a pretty equanimous disposition. + He was probably mistaken in his own estimate of himself, as other folks + have been besides.-ED.] “Are things going ill?” says I. I call for my + reckoning, put on my hat, and march to the theatre as calmly as if I was + going to dine at the Temple; fidus Achates walking by my side, pressing my + elbow, kicking the link-boys out of the way, and crying, “By George, Mr. + Warrington, you are a man of spirit—a Trojan, sir!” So, there were + men of spirit in Troy; but alas! fate was too strong for them. + </p> + <p> + At any rate, no man can say that I did not bear my misfortune with + calmness: I could no more help the clamour and noise of the audience than + a captain can help the howling and hissing of the storm in which his ship + goes down. But I was determined that the rushing waves and broken masts + should impavidum ferient, and flatter myself that I bore my calamity + without flinching. “Not Regulus, my dear madam, could step into his barrel + more coolly,” Sampson said to my wife. 'Tis unjust to say of men of the + parasitic nature that they are unfaithful in misfortune. Whether I was + prosperous or poor, the wild parson was equally true and friendly, and + shared our crust as eagerly as ever he had partaken of our better fortune. + </p> + <p> + I took my place on the stage, whence I could see the actors of my poor + piece, and a portion of the audience who condemned me. I suppose the + performers gave me a wide berth out of pity for me. I must say that I + think I was as little moved as any spectator; and that no one would have + judged from my mien that I was the unlucky hero of the night. + </p> + <p> + But my dearest Theo, when I went home, looked so pale and white, that I + saw from the dear creature's countenance that the knowledge of my disaster + had preceded my return. Spencer, Sampson, cousin Hagan, and Lady Maria + were to come after the play, and congratulate the author, God wot! (Poor + Miss Pritchard was engaged to us likewise, but sent word that I must + understand that she was a great deal too unwell to sup that night.) My + friend the gardener of Bedford House had given my wife his best flowers to + decorate her little table. There they were; the poor little painted + standards—and the battle lost! I had borne the defeat well enough, + but as I looked at the sweet pale face of the wife across the table, and + those artless trophies of welcome which she had set up for her hero, I + confess my courage gave way, and my heart felt a pang almost as keen as + any that ever has smitten it. + </p> + <p> + Our meal, it may be imagined, was dismal enough, nor was it rendered much + gayer by the talk we strove to carry on. Old Mrs. Hagan was, luckily, very + ill at this time; and her disease, and the incidents connected with it, a + great blessing to us. Then we had his Majesty's approaching marriage, + about which there was a talk. (How well I remember the most futile + incidents of the day down to a tune which a carpenter was whistling by my + side at the playhouse, just before the dreary curtain fell!) Then we + talked about the death of good Mr. Richardson, the author of Pamela and + Clarissa, whose works we all admired exceedingly. And as we talked about + Clarissa, my wife took on herself to wipe her eyes once or twice, and say, + faintly, “You know, my love, mamma and I could never help crying over that + dear book. Oh, my dearest, dearest mother” (she adds), “how I wish she + could be with me now!” This was an occasion for more open tears, for of + course a young lady may naturally weep for her absent mother. And then we + mixed a gloomy bowl with Jamaica limes, and drank to the health of his + Excellency the Governor: and then, for a second toast, I filled a bumper, + and, with a smiling face, drank to “our better fortune!” + </p> + <p> + This was too much. The two women flung themselves into each other's arms, + and irrigated each other's neck-handkerchiefs with tears. “Oh, Maria! Is + not—is not my George good and kind?” sobs Theo. “Look at my Hagan—how + great, how godlike he was in his part!” gasps Maria. “It was a beastly + cabal which threw him over—and I could plunge this knife into Mr. + Garrick's black heart—the odious little wretch!” and she grasps a + weapon at her side. But throwing it presently down, the enthusiastic + creature rushes up to her lord and master, flings her arms round him, and + embraces him in the presence of the little company. + </p> + <p> + I am not sure whether some one else did not do likewise. We were all in a + state of extreme excitement and enthusiasm. In the midst of grief, Love + the consoler appears amongst us, and soothes us with such fond + blandishments and tender caresses, that one scarce wishes the calamity + away. Two or three days afterwards, on our birthday, a letter was brought + me in my study, which contained the following lines:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “FROM POCAHONTAS + + “Returning from the cruel fight + How pale and faint appears my knight! + He sees me anxious at his side; + 'Why seek, my love, your wounds to hide? + Or deem your English girl afraid + To emulate the Indian maid?' + + “Be mine my husband's grief to cheer, + In peril to be ever near; + Whate'er of ill or woe betide, + To bear it clinging at his side; + The poisoned stroke of fate to ward, + His bosom with my own to guard; + Ah! could it spare a pang to his, + It could not know a purer bliss! + 'Twould gladden as it felt the smart, + And thank the hand that flung the dart!” + </pre> + <p> + I do not say the verses are very good, but that I like them as well as if + they were—and that the face of the writer (whose sweet young voice I + fancy I can hear as I hum the lines), when I went into her drawing-room + after getting the letter, and when I saw her blushing and blessing me—seemed + to me more beautiful than any I can fancy out of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0081" id="link2HCH0081"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXI. Res Angusta Domi + </h2> + <p> + I have already described my present feelings as an elderly gentleman, + regarding that rash jump into matrimony, which I persuaded my dear partner + to take with me when we were both scarce out of our teens. As a man and a + father—with a due sense of the necessity of mutton chops, and the + importance of paying the baker—with a pack of rash children round + about us who might be running off to Scotland to-morrow, and pleading + papa's and mamma's example for their impertinence,—I know that I + ought to be very cautious in narrating this early part of the married life + of George Warrington, Esquire, and Theodosia his wife—to call out + mea culpa, and put on a demure air, and, sitting in my comfortable + easy-chair here, profess to be in a white sheet and on the stool of + repentance, offering myself up as a warning to imprudent and hot-headed + youth. + </p> + <p> + But, truth to say, that married life, regarding which my dear relatives + prophesied so gloomily, has disappointed all those prudent and respectable + people. It has had its trials; but I can remember them without bitterness—its + passionate griefs, of which time, by God's kind ordinance, has been the + benign consoler—its days of poverty, which we bore, who endured it, + to the wonder of our sympathising relatives looking on—its precious + rewards and blessings, so great that I scarce dare to whisper them to this + page; to speak of them, save with awful respect and to One Ear, to which + are offered up the prayers and thanks of all men. To marry without a + competence is wrong and dangerous, no doubt, and a crime against our + social codes; but do not scores of thousands of our fellow-beings commit + the crime every year with no other trust but in, Heaven, health, and their + labour? Are young people entering into the married life not to take hope + into account, nor dare to begin their housekeeping until the cottage is + completely furnished, the cellar and larder stocked, the cupboard full of + plate, and the strong-box of money? The increase and multiplication of the + world would stop, were the laws which regulate the genteel part of it to + be made universal. Our gentlefolks tremble at the brink in their silk + stockings and pumps, and wait for whole years, until they find a bridge or + a gilt barge to carry them across; our poor do not fear to wet their bare + feet, plant them in the brook, and trust to fate and strength to bear them + over. Who would like to consign his daughter to poverty? Who would counsel + his son to undergo the countless risks of poor married life, to remove the + beloved girl from comfort and competence, and subject her to debt, misery, + privation, friendlessness, sickness, and the hundred gloomy consequences + of the res angusta domi? I look at my own wife and ask her pardon for + having imposed a task so fraught with pain and danger upon one so gentle. + I think of the trials she endured, and am thankful for them and for that + unfailing love and constancy with which God blessed her and strengthened + her to bear them all. On this question of marriage, I am not a fair judge: + my own was so imprudent—and has been so happy, that I must not dare + to give young people counsel. I have endured poverty, but scarcely ever + found it otherwise than tolerable: had I not undergone it, I never could + have known the kindness of friends, the delight of gratitude, the + surprising joys and consolations which sometimes accompany the scanty meal + and narrow fire, and cheer the long day's labour. This at least is + certain, in respect of the lot of the decent poor, that a great deal of + superfluous pity is often thrown away upon it. Good-natured fine folks, + who sometimes stepped out of the sunshine of their riches into a narrow + obscurity, were blinded as it were, whilst we could see quite cheerfully + and clearly: they stumbled over obstacles which were none to us: they were + surprised at the resignation with which we drank small beer, and that we + could heartily say grace over such very cold mutton. + </p> + <p> + The good General, my father-in-law, had married his Molly, when he was a + subaltern of a foot regiment, and had a purse scarce better filled than my + own. They had had their ups and downs of fortune. I think (though my wife + will never confess to this point) they had married, as people could do in + their young time, without previously asking papa's and mamma's leave. [The + Editor has looked through Burn's Registers of Fleet Marriages without + finding the names of Martin Lambert and Mary Benson.] At all events, they + were so well pleased with their own good luck in matrimony, that they did + not grudge their children's, and were by no means frightened at the idea + of any little hardships which we in the course of our married life might + be called upon to undergo. And I suppose when I made my own pecuniary + statements to Mr. Lambert, I was anxious to deceive both of us. Believing + me to be master of a couple of thousand pounds, he went to Jamaica quite + easy in his mind as to his darling daughter's comfort and maintenance, at + least for some years to come. After paying the expenses of his family's + outfit, the worthy man went away not much richer than his son-in-law; and + a few trinkets, and some lace of Aunt Lambert's, with twenty new guineas + in a purse which her mother and sisters made for her, were my Theo's + marriage portion. But in valuing my stock, I chose to count as a good debt + a sum which my honoured mother never could be got to acknowledge up to the + day when the resolute old lady was called to pay the last debt of all. The + sums I had disbursed for her, she argued, were spent for the improvement + and maintenance of the estate which was to be mine at her decease. What + money she could spare was to be for my poor brother, who had nothing, who + would never have spent his own means had he not imagined himself to be + sole heir of the Virginian property, as he would have been—the good + lady took care to emphasise this point in many of her letters—but + for a half-hour's accident of birth. He was now distinguishing himself in + the service of his king and country. To purchase his promotion was his + mother's, she should suppose his brother's duty! When I had finished my + bar-studies and my dramatic amusements, Madam Esmond informed me that I + was welcome to return home and take that place in our colony to which my + birth entitled me. This statement she communicated to me more than once + through Mountain, and before the news of my marriage had reached her. + </p> + <p> + There is no need to recall her expressions of maternal indignation when + she was informed of the step I had taken. On the pacification of Canada, + my dear Harry asked for leave of absence, and dutifully paid a visit to + Virginia. He wrote, describing his reception at home, and the splendid + entertainments which my mother made in honour of her son. Castlewood, + which she had not inhabited since our departure for Europe, was thrown + open again to our friends of the colony; and the friend of Wolfe, and the + soldier of Quebec, was received by all our acquaintance with every + becoming honour. Some dismal quarrels, to be sure, ensued, because my + brother persisted in maintaining his friendship with Colonel Washington, + of Mount Vernon, whose praises Harry never was tired of singing. Indeed I + allow the gentleman every virtue; and in the struggles which terminated so + fatally for England a few years since, I can admire as well as his warmest + friends, General Washington's glorious constancy and success. + </p> + <p> + If these battles between Harry and our mother were frequent, as, in his + letters, he described them to be, I wondered, for my part, why he should + continue at home? One reason naturally suggested itself to my mind, which + I scarcely liked to communicate to Mrs. Warrington; for we had both talked + over our dear little Hetty's romantic attachment for my brother, and + wondered that he had never discovered it. I need not say, I suppose, that + my gentleman had found some young lady at home more to his taste than our + dear Hester, and hence accounted for his prolonged stay in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + Presently there came, in a letter from him, not a full confession but an + admission of this interesting fact. A person was described, not named—a + Being all beauty and perfection, like other young ladies under similar + circumstances. My wife asked to see the letter: I could not help showing + it, and handed it to her, with a very sad face. To my surprise she read + it, without exhibiting any corresponding sorrow of her own. + </p> + <p> + “I have thought of this before, my love,” I said. “I feel with you for + your disappointment regarding poor Hetty.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! poor Hetty,” says Theo, looking down at the carpet. + </p> + <p> + “It would never have done,” says I. + </p> + <p> + “No—they would not have been happy,” sighs Theo. + </p> + <p> + “How strange he never should have found out her secret!” I continued. + </p> + <p> + She looked me full in the face with an odd expression. “Pray, what does + that look mean?” I asked. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, my dear—nothing! only I am not surprised!” says Theo, + blushing. + </p> + <p> + “What,” I ask, “can there be another?” + </p> + <p> + “I am sure I never said so, George,” says the lady, hurriedly. “But if + Hetty has overcome her childish folly, ought we not all to be glad? Do you + gentlemen suppose that you only are to fall in love and grow tired, + indeed?” + </p> + <p> + “What!” I say, with a strange commotion of my mind. “Do you mean to tell + me, Theo, that you ever cared for any one but me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, George,” she whimpers, “when I was at school, there was—there + was one of the boys of Doctor Backhouse's school, who sate in the loft + next to us; and I thought he had lovely eyes, and I was so shocked when I + recognised him behind the counter at Mr. Grigg's the mercer's, when I went + to buy a cloak for baby, and I wanted to tell you, my dear, and I didn't + know how!” + </p> + <p> + I went to see this creature with the lovely eyes, having made my wife + describe the fellow's dress to me, and I saw a little bandy-legged wretch + in a blue camlet coat, with his red hair tied with a dirty ribbon, about + whom I forbore generously even to reproach my wife; nor will she ever know + that I have looked at the fellow, until she reads the confession in this + page. If our wives saw us as we are, I thought, would they love us as they + do? Are we as much mistaken in them, as they in us? I look into one candid + face at least, and think it never has deceived me. + </p> + <p> + Lest I should encourage my young people to an imitation of my own + imprudence, I will not tell them with how small a capital Mrs. Theo and I + commenced life. The unfortunate tragedy brought us nothing; though the + reviewers, since its publication of late, have spoken not unfavourably as + to its merits, and Mr. Kemble himself has done me the honour to commend + it. Our kind friend Lord Wrotham was for having the piece published by + subscription, and sent me a bank-note, with a request that I would let him + have a hundred copies for his friends; but I was always averse to that + method of levying money, and, preferring my poverty sine dote, locked up + my manuscript, with my poor girl's verses inserted at the first page. I + know not why the piece should have given such offence at court, except for + the fact that an actor who had run off with an earl's daughter, performed + a principal part in the play; but I was told that sentiments which I had + put into the mouths of some of the Indian characters (who were made to + declaim against ambition, the British desire of rule, and so forth), were + pronounced dangerous and unconstitutional; so that the little hope of + royal favour, which I might have had, was quite taken away from me. + </p> + <p> + What was to be done? A few months after the failure of the tragedy, as I + counted up the remains of my fortune (the calculation was not long or + difficult), I came to the conclusion that I must beat a retreat out of my + pretty apartments in Bloomsbury, and so gave warning to our good landlady, + informing her that my wife's health required that we should have lodgings + in the country. But we went no farther than Lambeth, our faithful Gumbo + and Molly following us; and here, though as poor as might be, we were + waited on by a maid and a lackey in livery, like any folks of condition. + You may be sure kind relatives cried out against our extravagance; indeed, + are they not the people who find our faults out for us, and proclaim them + to the rest of the world? + </p> + <p> + Returning home from London one day, whither I had been on a visit to some + booksellers, I recognised the family arms and livery on a grand gilt + chariot which stood before a public-house near to our lodgings. A few + loitering inhabitants were gathered round the splendid vehicle, and + looking with awe at the footmen, resplendent in the sun, and quaffing + blazing pots of beer. I found my Lady Castlewood seated opposite to my + wife in our little apartment (whence we had a very bright, pleasant + prospect of the river, covered with barges and wherries, and the ancient + towers and trees of the Archbishop's palace and gardens), and Mrs. Theo, + who has a very droll way of describing persons and scenes, narrated to me + all the particulars of her ladyship's conversation, when she took her + leave. + </p> + <p> + “I have been here this ever-so-long,” says the Countess, “gossiping with + cousin Theo, while you have been away at the coffee-house, I dare say, + making merry with your friends, and drinking your punch and coffee. Guess + she must find it rather lonely here, with nothing to do but work them + little caps and hem them frocks. Never mind, dear; reckon you'll soon have + a companion who will amuse you when cousin George is away at his + coffee-house! What a nice lodging you have got here, I do declare! Our new + house which we have took is twenty times as big, and covered with gold + from top to bottom; but I like this quite as well. Bless you being rich is + no better than being poor. When we lived to Albany, and I did most all the + work myself, scoured the rooms, biled the kettle, helped the wash, and + all, I was just as happy as I am now. We only had one old negro to keep + the store. Why don't you sell Gumbo, cousin George? He ain't no use here + idling and dawdling about, and making love to the servant-girl. Fogh! + guess they ain't particular, these English people!” So she talked, + rattling on with perfect good-humour, until her hour for departure came; + when she produced a fine repeating watch, and said it was time for her to + pay a call upon her Majesty at Buckingham House. “And mind you come to us, + George,” says her ladyship, waving a little parting hand out of the gilt + coach. “Theo and I have settled all about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Here, at least,” said I, when the laced footmen had clambered up behind + the carriage, and our magnificent little patroness had left us;—“here + is one who is not afraid of our poverty, nor ashamed to remember her own.” + </p> + <p> + “Ashamed!” said Theo, resuming her lilliputian needlework. “To do her + justice, she would make herself at home in any kitchen or palace in the + world. She has given me and Molly twenty lessons in housekeeping. She + says, when she was at home to Albany, she roasted, baked, swept the house, + and milked the cow.” (Madam Theo pronounced the word cow archly in our + American way, and imitated her ladyship's accent very divertingly.) + </p> + <p> + “And she has no pride,” I added. “It was good-natured of her to ask us to + dine with her and my lord. When will Uncle Warrington ever think of + offering us a crust again, or a glass of his famous beer?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, it was not ill-natured to invite us,” says Theo, slily. “But, my + dear, you don't know all the conditions!” And then my wife, still + imitating the Countess's manner, laughingly informed me what these + conditions were. “She took out her pocket-book, and told me,” says Theo, + “what days she was engaged abroad and at home. On Monday she received a + Duke and a Duchess, with several other members of my lord's house, and + their ladies. On Tuesday came more earls, two bishops, and an ambassador. + 'Of course you won't come on them days?' says the Countess. 'Now you are + so poor, you know, that fine company ain't no good for you. Lord bless + you! father never dines on our company days! he don't like it; he takes a + bit of cold meat anyways.' On which,” says Theo, laughing, “I told her + that Mr. Warrington did not care for any but the best of company, and + proposed that she should ask us on some day when the Archbishop of + Canterbury dined with her, and his Grace must give us a lift home in his + coach to Lambeth. And she is an economical little person, too,” continues + Theo. “'I thought of bringing with me some of my baby's caps and things, + which his lordship has outgrown 'em, but they may be wanted again, you + know, my dear.' And so we lose that addition to our wardrobe,” says Theo, + smiling, “and Molly and I must do our best without her ladyship's charity. + 'When people are poor, they are poor,' the Countess said, with her usual + outspokenness, 'and must get on the best they can. What we shall do for + that poor Maria, goodness only knows! we can't ask her to see us as we can + you, though you are so poor: but an earl's daughter to marry a play-actor! + La, my dear, it's dreadful: his Majesty and the Princess have both spoken + of it! Every other noble family in this kingdom as has ever heard of it + pities us; though I have a plan for helping those poor unhappy people, and + have sent down Simons, my groom of the chambers, to tell them on it.' This + plan was, that Hagan, who had kept almost all his terms at Dublin College, + should return thither and take his degree, and enter into holy orders, + 'when we will provide him with a chaplaincy at home, you know,' Lady + Castlewood added.” And I may mention here, that this benevolent plan was + executed a score of months later; when I was enabled myself to be of + service to Mr. Hagan, who was one of the kindest and best of our friends + during our own time of want and distress. Castlewood then executed his + promise loyally enough, got orders and a colonial appointment for Hagan, + who distinguished himself both as soldier and preacher, as we shall + presently hear; but not a guinea did his lordship spare to aid either his + sister or his kinsman in their trouble. I never asked him, thank Heaven, + to assist me in my own; though, to do him justice, no man could express + himself more amiably, and with a joy which I believe was quite genuine, + when my days of poverty were ended. + </p> + <p> + As for my Uncle Warrington, and his virtuous wife and daughters, let me do + them justice likewise, and declare that throughout my period of trial, + their sorrow at my poverty was consistent and unvarying. I still had a few + acquaintances who saw them, and of course (as friends will) brought me a + report of their opinions and conversation; and I never could hear that my + relatives had uttered one single good word about me or my wife. They spoke + even of my tragedy as a crime—I was accustomed to hear that + sufficiently maligned—of the author as a miserable reprobate, for + ever reeling about Grub Street, in rags and squalor. They held me out no + hand of help. My poor wife might cry in her pain, but they had no twopence + to bestow upon her. They went to church a half-dozen times in the week. + They subscribed to many public charities. Their tribe was known eighteen + hundred years ago, and will flourish as long as men endure. They will + still thank Heaven that they are not as other folks are; and leave the + wounded and miserable to other succour. + </p> + <p> + I don't care to recall the dreadful doubts and anxieties which began to + beset me; the plan after plan which I tried, and in which I failed, for + procuring work and adding to our dwindling stock of money. I bethought me + of my friend Mr. Johnson, and when I think of the eager kindness with + which he received me, am ashamed of some pert speeches which I own to have + made regarding his manners and behaviour. I told my story and difficulties + to him, the circumstance of my marriage, and the prospects before me. He + would not for a moment admit they were gloomy, or, si male nunc, that they + would continue to be so. I had before me the chances, certainly very + slender, of a place in England; the inheritance which must be mine in the + course of nature, or at any rate would fall to the heir I was expecting. I + had a small stock of money for present actual necessity—a + possibility, “though, to be free with you, sir” (says he), “after the + performance of your tragedy, I doubt whether nature has endowed you with + those peculiar qualities which are necessary for achieving a remarkable + literary success”—and finally a submission to the maternal rule, and + a return to Virginia, where plenty and a home were always ready for me. + “Why, sir!” he cried, “such a sum as you mention would have been a fortune + to me when I began the world, and my friend Mr. Goldsmith would set up a + coach-and-six on it. With youth, hope, to-day, and a couple of hundred + pounds in cash—no young fellow need despair. Think, sir, you have a + year at least before you, and who knows what may chance between now and + then. Why, sir, your relatives here may provide for you, or you may + succeed to your Virginian property, or you may come into a fortune!” I did + not in the course of that year, but he did. My Lord Bute gave Mr. Johnson + a pension, which set all Grub Street in a fury against the recipient, who, + to be sure, had published his own not very flattering opinion upon + pensions and pensioners. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he did not altogether discourage my literary projects, + promised to procure me work from the booksellers, and faithfully performed + that kind promise. “But,” says he, “sir, you must not appear amongst them + in forma pauperis.—Have you never a friend's coach, in which we can + ride to see them? You must put on your best laced hat and waistcoat; and + we must appear, sir, as if we were doing them a favour.” This stratagem + answered, and procured me respect enough at the first visit or two; but + when the booksellers knew that I wanted to be paid for my work, their + backs refused to bend any more, and they treated me with a familiarity + which I could ill stomach. I overheard one of them, who had been a + footman, say, “Oh, it's Pocahontas, is it? let him wait.” And he told his + boy to say as much to me. “Wait, sir?” says I, fuming with rage and + putting my head into his parlour, “I'm not accustomed to waiting, but I + have heard you are.” And I strode out of the shop into Pall Mall in a + mighty fluster. + </p> + <p> + And yet Mr. D. was in the right. I came to him, if not to ask a favour, at + any rate to propose a bargain, and surely it was my business to wait his + time and convenience. In more fortunate days I asked the gentleman's + pardon, and the kind author of the Muse in Livery was instantly appeased. + </p> + <p> + I was more prudent, or Mr. Johnson more fortunate, in an application + elsewhere, and Mr. Johnson procured me a little work from the booksellers + in translating from foreign languages, of which I happen to know two or + three. By a hard day's labour I could earn a few shillings; so few that a + week's work would hardly bring me a guinea: and that was flung to me with + insolent patronage by the low hucksters who employed me. I can put my + finger upon two or three magazine articles written at this period, and + paid for with a few wretched shillings, which papers as I read them awaken + in me the keenest pangs of bitter remembrance. [Mr. George Warrington, of + the Upper Temple, says he remembers a book, containing his grandfather's + book-plate, in which were pasted various extracts from reviews and + newspapers in an old type, and lettered outside Les Chains de l'Esclavage. + These were no doubt the contributions above mentioned; but the volume has + not been found, either in the town-house or in the library at Warrington + Manor. The Editor, by the way, is not answerable for a certain + inconsistency, which may be remarked in the narrative. The writer says + earlier, that he speaks without bitterness of past times, and presently + falls into a fury with them. The same manner of forgiving our enemies is + not uncommon in the present century.] I recall the doubts and fears which + agitated me, see the dear wife nursing her infant and looking up into my + face with hypocritical smiles that vainly try to mask her alarm: the + struggles of pride are fought over again: the wounds under which I smarted + re-open. There are some acts of injustice committed against me which I + don't know how to forgive; and which, whenever I think of them, awaken in + me the same feelings of revolt and indignation. The gloom and darkness + gather over me—till they are relieved by a reminiscence of that love + and tenderness which through all gloom and darkness have been my light and + consolation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0082" id="link2HCH0082"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXII. Miles's Moidore + </h2> + <p> + Little Miles made his appearance in this world within a few days of the + gracious Prince who commands his regiment. Illuminations and cannonading + saluted the Royal George's birth, multitudes were admitted to see him as + he lay behind a gilt railing at the Palace with noble nurses watching over + him. Few nurses guarded the cradle of our little Prince; no courtiers, no + faithful retainers saluted it, except our trusty Gumbo and kind Molly, who + to be sure loved and admired the little heir of my poverty as loyally as + our hearts could desire. Why was our boy not named George like the other + paragon just mentioned, and like his father? I gave him the name of a + little scapegrace of my family, a name which many generations of + Warringtons had borne likewise; but my poor little Miles's love and + kindness touched me at a time when kindness and love were rare from those + of my own blood, and Theo and I agreed that our child should be called + after that single little friend of my paternal race. + </p> + <p> + We wrote to acquaint our royal parents with the auspicious event, and + bravely inserted the child's birth in the Daily Advertiser, and the place, + Church Street, Lambeth, where he was born. “My dear,” says Aunt Bernstein, + writing to me in reply to my announcement, “how could you point out to all + the world that you live in such a trou as that in which you have buried + yourself? I kiss the little mamma, and send a remembrance for the child.” + This remembrance was a fine silk coverlid, with a lace edging fit for a + prince. It was not very useful: the price of the lace would have served us + much better, but Theo and Molly were delighted with the present, and my + eldest son's cradle had a cover as fine as any nobleman's. + </p> + <p> + Good Dr. Heberden came over several times to visit my wife, and see that + all things went well. He knew and recommended to us a surgeon in the + vicinage, who took charge of her; luckily, my dear patient needed little + care, beyond that which our landlady and her own trusty attendant could + readily afford her. Again our humble precinct was adorned with the gilded + apparition of Lady Castlewood's chariot wheels; she brought a pot of + jelly, which she thought Theo might like, and which, no doubt, had been + served at one of her ladyship's banquets on a previous day. And she told + us of all the ceremonies at court, and of the splendour and festivities + attending the birth of the august heir to the crown; Our good Mr. Johnson + happened to pay me a visit on one of those days when my lady countess's + carriage flamed up to our little gate. He was not a little struck by her + magnificence, and made her some bows, which were more respectful than + graceful. She called me cousin very affably, and helped to transfer the + present of jelly from her silver dish into our crockery pan with much + benignity. The Doctor tasted the sweetmeat, and pronounced it to be + excellent. “The great, sir,” says he, “are fortunate in every way. They + can engage the most skilful practitioners of the culinary art, as they can + assemble the most amiable wits round their table. If, as you think, sir, + and, from the appearance of the dish, your suggestion at least is + plausible, this sweetmeat may have appeared already at his lordship's + table, it has been there in good company. It has quivered under the eyes + of celebrated beauties, it has been tasted by ruby lips, it has divided + the attention of the distinguished company, with fruits, tarts, and + creams, which I make no doubt were like itself delicious.” And so saying, + the good Doctor absorbed a considerable portion of Lady Castlewood's + benefaction; though as regards the epithet delicious I am bound to say, + that my poor wife, after tasting the jelly, put it away from her as not to + her liking; and Molly, flinging up her head, declared it was mouldy. + </p> + <p> + My boy enjoyed at least the privilege of having an earl's daughter for his + godmother; for this office was performed by his cousin, our poor Lady + Maria, whose kindness and attention to the mother and the infant were + beyond all praise; and who, having lost her own solitary chance for + maternal happiness, yearned over our child in a manner not a little + touching to behold. Captain Miles is a mighty fine gentleman, and his + uniforms of the Prince's Hussars as splendid as any that ever bedizened a + soldier of fashion; but he hath too good a heart, and is too true a + gentleman, let us trust, not to be thankful when he remembers that his own + infant limbs were dressed in some of the little garments which had been + prepared for the poor player's child. Sampson christened him in that very + chapel in Southwark, where our marriage ceremony had been performed. Never + were the words of the Prayer-book more beautifully and impressively read + than by the celebrant of the service; except at its end, when his voice + failed him, and he and the rest of the little congregation were fain to + wipe their eyes. “Mr. Garrick himself, sir,” says Hagan, “could not have + read those words so nobly. I am sure little innocent never entered the + world accompanied by wishes and benedictions more tender and sincere.” + </p> + <p> + And now I have not told how it chanced that the Captain came by his name + of Miles. A couple of days before his christening, when as yet I believe + it was intended that our firstborn should bear his father's name, a little + patter of horse's hoofs comes galloping up to our gate; and who should + pull at the bell but young Miles, our cousin? I fear he had disobeyed his + parents when he galloped away on that undutiful journey. + </p> + <p> + “You know,” says he, “cousin Harry gave me my little horse; and I can't + help liking you, because you are so like Harry, and because they're always + saying things of you at home, and it's a shame; and I have brought my + whistle and coral that my godmamma Lady Suckling gave me, for your little + boy; and if you're so poor, cousin George, here's my gold moidore, and + it's worth ever so much, and it's no use to me, because I mayn't spend it, + you know.” + </p> + <p> + We took the boy up to Theo in her room (he mounted the stair in his little + tramping boots, of which he was very proud); and Theo kissed him, and + thanked him; and his moidore has been in her purse from that day. + </p> + <p> + My mother, writing through her ambassador as usual, informed me of her + royal surprise and displeasure on learning that my son had been christened + Miles—a name not known, at least in the Esmond family. I did not + care to tell the reason at the time; but when, in after years, I told + Madam Esmond how my boy came by his name, I saw a tear roll down her + wrinkled cheek, and I heard afterwards that she had asked Gumbo many + questions about the boy who gave his name to our Miles—our Miles + Gloriosus of Pall Mall, Valenciennes, Almack's, Brighton. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0083" id="link2HCH0083"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXIII. Troubles and Consolations + </h2> + <p> + In our early days at home, when Harry and I used to be so undutiful to our + tutor, who would have thought that Mr. Esmond Warrington of Virginia would + turn Bearleader himself? My mother (when we came together again) never + could be got to speak directly of this period of my life; but would allude + to it as “that terrible time, my love, which I can't bear to think of,” + “those dreadful years when there was difference between us,” and so forth; + and though my pupil, a worthy and grateful man, sent me out to Jamestown + several barrels of that liquor by which his great fortune was made, Madam + Esmond spoke of him as “your friend in England,” “your wealthy Lambeth + friend,” etc., but never by his name; nor did she ever taste a drop of his + beer. We brew our own too at Warrington Manor, but our good Mr. Foker + never fails to ship to Ipswich every year a couple of butts of his entire. + His son is a young sprig of fashion, and has married an earl's daughter; + the father is a very worthy and kind gentleman, and it is to the luck of + making his acquaintance that I owe the receipt of some of the most welcome + guineas that ever I received in my life. + </p> + <p> + It was not so much the sum, as the occupation and hope given me by the + office of Governor, which I took on myself, which were then so precious to + me. Mr. F.'s Brewery (the site has since been changed) then stood near to + Pedlar's Acre in Lambeth and the surgeon who attended my wife in her + confinement, likewise took care of the wealthy brewer's family. He was a + Bavarian, originally named Voelker. Mr. Lance, the surgeon, I suppose, + made him acquainted with my name and history. The worthy doctor would + smoke many a pipe of Virginia in my garden, and had conceived an + attachment for me and my family. He brought his patron to my house; and + when Mr. F. found that I had a smattering of his language, and could sing + “Prinz Eugen the noble Ritter” (a song that my grandfather had brought + home from the Marlborough wars), the German conceived a great friendship + for me: his lady put her chair and her chariot at Mrs. Warrington's + service: his little daughter took a prodigious fancy to our baby (and to + do him justice, the Captain, who is as ugly a fellow now as ever wore a + queue, was beautiful as an infant) [The very image of the Squire at 30, + everybody says so. M. W. (Note in the MS.)]: and his son and heir, Master + Foker, being much maltreated at Westminster School because of his father's + profession of brewer, the parents asked if I would take charge of him; and + paid me a not insufficient sum for superintending his education. + </p> + <p> + Mr. F. was a shrewd man of business, and as he and his family really + interested themselves in me and mine, I laid all my pecuniary affairs + pretty unreservedly before him; and my statement, he was pleased to say, + augmented the respect and regard which he felt for me. He laughed at our + stories of the aid which my noble relatives had given me—my aunt's + coverlid, my Lady Castlewood's mouldy jelly, Lady Warrington's + contemptuous treatment of us. But he wept many tears over the story of + little Miles's moidore; and as for Sampson and Hagan, “I wow,” says he, + “dey shall have so much beer als ever dey can drink.” He sent his wife to + call upon Lady Maria, and treated her with the utmost respect and + obsequiousness, whenever she came to visit him. It was with Mr. Foker that + Lady Maria stayed when Hagan went to Dublin to complete his college terms; + and the good brewer's purse also ministered to our friend's wants and + supplied his outfit. + </p> + <p> + When Mr. Foker came fully to know my own affairs and position, he was + pleased to speak of me with terms of enthusiasm, and as if my conduct + showed some extraordinary virtue. I have said how my mother saved money + for Harry, and how the two were in my debt. But when Harry spent money, he + spent it fancying it to be his; Madam Esmond never could be made to + understand she was dealing hardly with me—the money was paid and + gone, and there was an end of it. Now, at the end of '62, I remember Harry + sent over a considerable remittance for the purchase of his promotion, + begging me at the same time to remember that he was in my debt, and to + draw on his agents if I had any need. He did not know how great the need + was, or how my little capital had been swallowed. + </p> + <p> + Well, to take my brother's money would delay his promotion, and I + naturally did not draw on him, though I own I was tempted; nor, knowing my + dear General Lambert's small means, did I care to impoverish him by asking + for supplies. These simple acts of forbearance my worthy brewer must + choose to consider as instances of exalted virtue. And what does my + gentleman do but write privately to my brother in America, lauding me and + my wife as the most admirable of human beings, and call upon Madame de + Bernstein, who never told me of his visit indeed, but who, I perceived, + about this time treated us with singular respect and gentleness, that + surprised me in one whom I could not but consider as selfish and worldly. + In after days I remember asking him how he had gained admission to the + Baroness? He laughed: “De Baroness!” says he. “I knew de Baron when he was + a walet at Munich, and I was a brewer-apprentice.” I think our family had + best not be too curious about our uncle the Baron. + </p> + <p> + Thus, the part of my life which ought to have been most melancholy was in + truth made pleasant by many friends, happy circumstances, and strokes of + lucky fortune. The bear I led was a docile little cub, and danced to my + piping very readily. Better to lead him about, than to hang round + booksellers' doors, or wait the pleasure or caprice of managers! My wife + and I, during our exile, as we may call it, spent very many pleasant + evenings with these kind friends and benefactors. Nor were we without + intellectual enjoyments; Mrs. Foker and Mrs. Warrington sang finely + together; and sometimes when I was in the mood, I read my own play of + Pocahontas, to this friendly audience, in a manner better than Hagan's + own, Mr. Foker was pleased to say. + </p> + <p> + After that little escapade of Miles Warrington, junior, I saw nothing of + him, and heard of my paternal relatives but rarely. Sir Miles was + assiduous at court (as I believe he would have been at Nero's), and I + laughed one day when Mr. Foker told me that he had heard on 'Change “that + they were going to make my uncle a Beer.”—“A Beer?” says I in + wonder. “Can't you understand de vort, ven I say it?” says the testy old + gentleman. “Vell, veil, a Lort!” Sir, Miles indeed was the obedient humble + servant of the Minister, whoever he might be. I am surprised he did not + speak English with a Scotch accent during the first favourite's brief + reign. I saw him and his wife coming from court, when Mrs. Claypool was + presented to her Majesty on her marriage. I had my little boy on my + shoulder. My uncle and aunt stared resolutely at me from their gilt coach + window. The footmen looked blank over their nosegays. Had I worn the + Fairy's cap and been invisible, my father's brother could not have passed + me with less notice. + </p> + <p> + We did not avail ourselves much, or often, of that queer invitation of + Lady Castlewood, to go and drink tea and sup with her ladyship when there + was no other company. Old Van den Bosch, however shrewd his intellect, and + great his skill in making a fortune, was not amusing in conversation, + except to his daughter, who talked household and City matters, bulling and + bearing, raising and selling farming-stock, and so forth, quite as keenly + and shrewdly as her father. Nor was my Lord Castlewood often at home, or + much missed by his wife when absent, or very much at ease in the old + father's company. The Countess told all this to my wife in her simple way. + “Guess,” says she, “my lord and father don't pull well together nohow. + Guess my lord is always wanting money, and father keeps the key of the box + and quite right, too. If he could have the fingering of all our money, my + lord would soon make away with it, and then what's to become of our noble + family? We pay everything, my dear (except play-debts, and them we won't + have nohow). We pay cooks, horses, wine-merchants, tailors, and everybody—and + lucky for them too—reckon my lord wouldn't pay 'em! And we always + take care that he has a guinea in his pocket, and goes out like a real + nobleman. What that man do owe to us: what he did before we come—gracious + goodness only knows! Me and father does our best to make him respectable: + but it's no easy job, my dear. Law! he'd melt the plate, only father keeps + the key of the strong-room; and when we go to Castlewood, my father + travels with me, and papa is armed too, as well as the people.” + </p> + <p> + “Gracious heavens!” cries my wife, “your ladyship does not mean to say you + suspect your own husband of a desire to——” + </p> + <p> + “To what?—Oh no, nothing, of course! And I would trust our brother + Will with untold money, wouldn't I? As much as I'd trust the cat with the + cream-pan! I tell you, my dear, it's not all pleasure being a woman of + rank and fashion: and if I have bought a countess's coronet, I have paid a + good price for it—that I have!” + </p> + <p> + And so had my Lord Castlewood paid a large price for having his estate + freed from incumbrances, his houses and stables furnished, and his debts + discharged. He was the slave of the little wife and her father. No wonder + the old man's society was not pleasant to the poor victim, and that he + gladly slunk away from his own fine house, to feast at the club when he + had money, or at least to any society save that which he found at home. To + lead a bear, as I did, was no very pleasant business, to be sure: to wait + in a bookseller's anteroom until it should please his honour to finish his + dinner and give me audience, was sometimes a hard task for a man of my + name and with my pride; but would I have exchanged my poverty against + Castlewood's ignominy, or preferred his miserable dependence to my own? At + least I earned my wage, such as it was; and no man can say that I ever + flattered my patrons, or was servile to them; or indeed, in my dealings + with them, was otherwise than sulky, overbearing, and, in a word, + intolerable. + </p> + <p> + Now there was a certain person with whom Fate had thrown me into a + life-partnership, who bore her poverty with such a smiling sweetness and + easy grace, that niggard Fortune relented before her, and, like some + savage Ogre in the fairy tales, melted at the constant goodness and + cheerfulness of that uncomplaining, artless, innocent creature. However + poor she was, all who knew her saw that here was a fine lady; and the + little tradesmen and humble folks round about us treated her with as much + respect as the richest of our neighbours. “I think, my dear,” says + good-natured Mrs. Foker, when they rode out in the latter's chariot, “you + look like the mistress of the carriage, and I only as your maid.” Our + landladies adored her; the tradesfolk executed her little orders as + eagerly as if a duchess gave them, or they were to make a fortune by + waiting on her. I have thought often of the lady in Comus, and how, + through all the rout and rabble, she moves, entirely serene and pure. + </p> + <p> + Several times, as often as we chose indeed, the good-natured parents of my + young bear lent us their chariot to drive abroad or to call on the few + friends we had. If I must tell the truth, we drove once to the Protestant + Hero and had a syllabub in the garden there: and the hostess would insist + upon calling my wife her ladyship during the whole afternoon. We also + visited Mr. Johnson, and took tea with him (the ingenious Mr. Goldsmith + was of the company); the Doctor waited upon my wife to her coach. But our + most frequent visits were to Aunt Bernstein, and I promise you I was not + at all jealous because my aunt presently professed to have a wonderful + liking for Theo. + </p> + <p> + This liking grew so that she would have her most days in the week, or to + stay altogether with her, and thought that Theo's child and husband were + only plagues to be sure, and hated us in the most amusing way for keeping + her favourite from her. Not that my wife was unworthy of anybody's favour; + but her many forced absences, and the constant difficulty of intercourse + with her, raised my aunt's liking for a while to a sort of passion. She + poured in notes like love-letters; and her people were ever about our + kitchen. If my wife did not go to her, she wrote heartrending appeals, and + scolded me severely when I saw her; and, the child being ill once (it hath + pleased Fate to spare our Captain to be a prodigious trouble to us, and a + wholesome trial for our tempers), Madame Bernstein came three days running + to Lambeth; vowed there was nothing the matter with the baby;—nothing + at all;—and that we only pretended his illness, in order to vex her. + </p> + <p> + The reigning Countess of Castlewood was just as easy and affable with her + old aunt, as with other folks great and small. “What air you all about, + scraping and bowing to that old woman, I can't tell, noways!” her ladyship + would say. “She a fine lady! Nonsense! She ain't no more fine than any + other lady: and I guess I'm as good as any of 'em with their high heels + and their grand airs! She a beauty once! Take away her wig, and her rouge, + and her teeth; and what becomes of your beauty, I'd like to know? Guess + you'd put it all in a bandbox, and there would be nothing left but a + shrivelled old woman!” And indeed the little homilist only spoke too + truly. All beauty must at last come to this complexion; and decay, either + underground or on the tree. Here was old age, I fear, without reverence. + Here were grey hairs, that were hidden or painted. The world was still + here, and she tottering on it, and clinging to it with her crutch. For + fourscore years she had moved on it, and eaten of the tree, forbidden and + permitted. She had had beauty, pleasure, flattery: but what secret rages, + disappointments, defeats, humiliations! what thorns under the roses! what + stinging bees in the fruit! “You are not a beauty, my dear,” she would say + to my wife: “and may thank your stars that you are not.” (If she + contradicted herself in her talk, I suppose the rest of us occasionally do + the like.) “Don't tell me that your husband is pleased with your face, and + you want no one else's admiration! We all do. Every woman would rather be + beautiful than be anything else in the world—ever so rich, or ever + so good, or have all the gifts of the fairies! Look at that picture, + though I know 'tis but a bad one, and that stupid vapouring Kneller could + not paint my eyes, nor my hair, nor my complexion. What a shape I had then—and + look at me now, and this wrinkled old neck! Why have we such a short time + of our beauty? I remember Mademoiselle de l'Enclos at a much greater age + than mine, quite fresh and well-conserved. We can't hide our ages. They + are wrote in Mr. Collins's books for us. I was born in the last year of + King James's reign. I am not old yet. I am but seventy-six. But what a + wreck, my dear: and isn't it cruel that our time should be so short?” + </p> + <p> + Here my wife has to state the incontrovertible proposition, that the time + of all of us is short here below. + </p> + <p> + “Ha!” cries the Baroness. “Did not Adam live near a thousand years, and + was not Eve beautiful all the time? I used to perplex Mr. Tusher with that—poor + creature! What have we done since, that our lives are so much lessened, I + say?” + </p> + <p> + “Has your life been so happy that you would prolong it ever so much more?” + asks the Baroness's auditor. “Have you, who love wit, never read Dean + Swift's famous description of the deathless people in Gulliver? My papa + and my husband say 'tis one of the finest and most awful sermons ever + wrote. It were better not to live at all, than to live without love; and + I'm sure,” says my wife, putting her handkerchief to her eyes, “should + anything happen to my dearest George, I would wish to go to Heaven that + moment.” + </p> + <p> + “Who loves me in Heaven? I am quite alone, child—that is why I had + rather stay here,” says the Baroness, in a frightened and rather piteous + tone. “You are kind to me, God bless your sweet face! Though I scold, and + have a frightful temper, my servants will do anything to make me + comfortable, and get up at any hour of the night, and never say a cross + word in answer. I like my cards still. Indeed, life would be a blank + without 'em. Almost everything is gone except that. I can't eat my dinner + now, since I lost those last two teeth. Everything goes away from us in + old age. But I still have my cards—thank Heaven, I still have my + cards!” And here she would begin to doze: waking up, however, if my wife + stirred or rose, and imagining that Theo was about to leave her. “Don't go + away, I can't bear to be alone. I don't want you to talk. But I like to + see your face, my dear! It is much pleasanter than that horrid old + Brett's, that I have had scowling about my bedroom these ever so long + years.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Baroness! still at your cribbage?” (We may fancy a noble Countess + interrupting a game at cards between Theo and Aunt Bernstein.) “Me and my + Lord Esmond have come to see you! Go and shake hands with grandaunt, + Esmond! and tell her ladyship that your lordship's a good boy!” + </p> + <p> + “My lordship's a good boy,” says the child. (Madam Theo used to act these + scenes for me in a very lively way.) + </p> + <p> + “And if he is, I guess he don't take after his father,” shrieks out Lady + Castlewood. She chose to fancy that Aunt Bernstein was deaf, and always + bawled at the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “Your ladyship chose my nephew for better or for worse,” says Aunt + Bernstein, who was now always very much flurried in the presence of the + young Countess. + </p> + <p> + “But he is a precious deal worse than ever I thought he was. I am speaking + of your Pa, Ezzy. If it wasn't for your mother, my son, Lord knows what + would become of you! We are a-going to see his little Royal Highness. + Sorry to see your ladyship not looking quite so well to-day. We can't + always remain young and law! how we do change as we grow old! Go up and + kiss that lady, Ezzy. She has got a little boy, too. Why, bless us! have + you got the child downstairs?” Indeed, Master Miles was down below, for + special reasons accompanying his mother on her visits to Aunt Bernstein + sometimes; and our aunt desired the mother's company so much, that she was + actually fain to put up with the child. “So you have got the child here? + Oh, you slyboots!” says the Countess. “Guess you come after the old lady's + money! Law bless you! Don't look so frightened. She can't hear a single + word I say. Come, Ezzy. Good-bye, aunt!” And my lady Countess rustles out + of the room. + </p> + <p> + Did Aunt Bernstein hear her or not? Where was the wit for which the old + lady had been long famous? and was that fire put out, as well as the + brilliancy of her eyes? With other people—she was still ready + enough, and unsparing of her sarcasms. When the Dowager of Castlewood and + Lady Fanny visited her (these exalted ladies treated my wife with perfect + indifference and charming good breeding),—the Baroness, in their + society, was stately, easy, and even commanding. She would mischievously + caress Mrs. Warrington before them; in her absence, vaunt my wife's good + breeding; say that her nephew had made a foolish match, perhaps, but that + I certainly had taken a charming wife. “In a word, I praise you so to + them, my dear,” says she, “that I think they would like to tear your eyes + out.” But, before the little American, 'tis certain that she was uneasy + and trembled. She was so afraid, that she actually did not dare to deny + her door; and, the Countess's back turned, did not even abuse her. However + much they might dislike her, my ladies did not tear out Theo's eyes. Once—they + drove to our cottage at Lambeth, where my wife happened to be sitting at + the open window, holding her child on her knee, and in full view of her + visitors. A gigantic footman strutted through our little garden, and + delivered their ladyships' visiting tickets at our door. Their hatred hurt + us no more than their visit pleased us. When next we had the loan of our + friend the Brewer's carriage Mrs. Warrington drove to Kensington, and + Gumbo handed over to the giant our cards in return for those which his + noble mistresses had bestowed on us. + </p> + <p> + The Baroness had a coach, but seldom thought of giving it to us: and would + let Theo and her maid and baby start from Clarges Street in the rain, with + a faint excuse that she was afraid to ask her coachman to take his horses + out. But, twice on her return home, my wife was frightened by rude fellows + on the other side of Westminster Bridge; and I fairly told my aunt that I + should forbid Mrs. Warrington to go to her, unless she could be brought + home in safety; so grumbling Jehu had to drive his horses through the + darkness. He grumbled at my shillings: he did not know how few I had. Our + poverty wore a pretty decent face. My relatives never thought of relieving + it, nor I of complaining before them. I don't know how Sampson got a + windfall of guineas; but, I remember, he brought me six once; and they + were more welcome than any money I ever had in my life. He had been + looking into Mr. Miles's crib, as the child lay asleep; and, when the + parson went away, I found the money in the baby's little rosy hand. Yes, + Love is best of all. I have many such benefactions registered in my heart—precious + welcome fountains springing up in desert places, kind, friendly lights + cheering our despondency and gloom. + </p> + <p> + This worthy divine was willing enough to give as much of his company as + she chose to Madame de Bernstein, whether for cards or theology. Having + known her ladyship for many years now, Sampson could see, and averred to + us, that she was breaking fast; and as he spoke of her evidently + increasing infirmities, and of the probability of their fatal termination, + Mr. S. would discourse to us in a very feeling manner of the necessity for + preparing for a future world; of the vanities of this, and of the hope + that in another there might be happiness for all repentant sinners. + </p> + <p> + “I have been a sinner for one,” says the chaplain, bowing his head. “God + knoweth, and I pray Him to pardon me. I fear, sir, your aunt, the Lady + Baroness, is not in such a state of mind as will fit her very well for the + change which is imminent. I am but a poor weak wretch, and no prisoner in + Newgate could confess that more humbly and heartily. Once or twice of + late, I have sought to speak on this matter with her ladyship, but she has + received me very roughly. 'Parson,' says she, 'if you come for cards, 'tis + mighty well, but I will thank you to spare me your sermons.' What can I + do, sir? I have called more than once of late, and Mr. Case hath told me + his lady was unable to see me.” In fact Madame Bernstein told my wife, + whom she never refused, as I said, that the poor chaplain's ton was + unendurable, and as for his theology, “Haven't I been a Bishop's wife?” + says she, “and do I want this creature to teach me?” + </p> + <p> + The old lady was as impatient of doctors as of divines; pretending that my + wife was ailing, and that it was more convenient for our good Doctor + Heberden to visit her in Clarges Street than to travel all the way to our + Lambeth lodgings, we got Dr. H. to see Theo at our aunt's house, and + prayed him if possible to offer his advice to the Baroness: we made Mrs. + Brett, her woman, describe her ailments, and the doctor confirmed our + opinion that they were most serious, and might speedily end. She would + rally briskly enough of some evenings, and entertain a little company; but + of late she scarcely went abroad at all. A somnolence, which we had + remarked in her, was attributable in part to opiates which she was in the + habit of taking; and she used these narcotics to smother habitual pain. + One night, as we two sat with her (Mr. Miles was weaned by this time, and + his mother could leave him to the charge of our faithful Molly), she fell + asleep over her cards. We hushed the servants who came to lay out the + supper-table (she would always have this luxurious, nor could any + injunction of ours or the Doctor's teach her abstinence), and we sat a + while as we had often done before, waiting in silence till she should + arouse from her doze. + </p> + <p> + When she awoke, she looked fixedly at me for a while, fumbled with the + cards, and dropt them again in her lap, and said, “Henry, have I been long + asleep?” I thought at first that it was for my brother she mistook me; but + she went on quickly, and with eyes fixed as upon some very far distant + object, and said, “My dear, 'tis of no use, I am not good enough for you. + I love cards, and play, and court; and oh, Harry, you don't know all!” + Here her voice changed, and she flung her head up. “His father married + Anne Hyde, and sure the Esmond blood is as good as any that's not royal. + Mamma, you must please to treat me with more respect. Vos sermons me + fatiguent; entendez-vous?—faites place a mon Altesse royale: + mesdames, me connaissez-vous? je suis la——” Here she broke out + into frightful hysterical shrieks and laughter, and as we ran up to her, + alarmed, “Oui, Henri,” she says, “il a jure de m'epouser et les princes + tiennent parole—n'est-ce pas? O oui! ils tiennent parole; si non, tu + le tueras, cousin; tu le—ah! que je suis folle!” And the pitiful + shrieks and laughter recommenced. Ere her frightened people had come up to + her summons, the poor thing had passed out of this mood into another; but + always labouring under the same delusion—that I was the Henry of + past times, who had loved her and had been forsaken by her, whose bones + were lying far away by the banks of the Potomac. + </p> + <p> + My wife and the women put the poor lady to bed as I ran myself for medical + aid. She rambled, still talking wildly, through the night, with her nurses + and the surgeon sitting by her. Then she fell into a sleep, brought on by + more opiate. When she awoke, her mind did not actually wander; but her + speech was changed, and one arm and side were paralysed. + </p> + <p> + 'Tis needless to relate the progress and termination of her malady, or + watch that expiring flame of life as it gasps and flickers. Her senses + would remain with her for a while (and then she was never satisfied unless + Theo was by her bedside), or again her mind would wander, and the poor + decrepit creature, lying upon her bed, would imagine herself young again, + and speak incoherently of the scenes and incidents of her early days. Then + she would address me as Henry again, and call upon me to revenge some + insult or slight, of which (whatever my suspicions might be) the only + record lay in her insane memory. “They have always been so,” she would + murmur: “they never loved man or woman but they forsook them. Je me + vengerai, O oui, je me vengerai! I know them all: I know them all: and I + will go to my Lord Stair with the list. Don't tell me! His religion can't + be the right one. I will go back to my mother's though she does not love + me. She never did. Why don't you, mother? Is it because I am too wicked? + Ah! Pitie, pitie. O mon pere! I will make my confession”—and here + the unhappy paralysed lady made as if she would move in her bed. + </p> + <p> + Let us draw the curtain round it. I think with awe still, of those rapid + words, uttered in the shadow of the canopy, as my pallid wife sits by her, + her Prayer-book on her knee; as the attendants move to and fro + noiselessly; as the clock ticks without, and strikes the fleeting hours; + as the sun falls upon the Kneller picture of Beatrix in her beauty, with + the blushing cheeks, the smiling lips, the waving auburn tresses, and the + eyes which seem to look towards the dim figure moaning in the bed. I could + not for a while understand why our aunt's attendants were so anxious that + we should quit it. But towards evening, a servant stole in, and whispered + her woman; and then Brett, looking rather disturbed, begged us to go + downstairs, as the—as the Doctor was come to visit the Baroness. I + did not tell my wife, at the time, who “the Doctor” was; but as the + gentleman slid by us, and passed upstairs, I saw at once that he was a + Catholic ecclesiastic. When Theo next saw our poor lady, she was + speechless; she never recognised any one about her, and so passed + unconsciously out of life. During her illness her relatives had called + assiduously enough, though she would see none of them save us. But when + she was gone, and we descended to the lower rooms after all was over, we + found Castlewood with his white face, and my lady from Kensington, and Mr. + Will already assembled in the parlour. They looked greedily at us as we + appeared. They were hungry for the prey. + </p> + <p> + When our aunt's will was opened, we found it dated five years back, and + everything she had was left to her dear nephew, Henry Esmond Warrington, + of Castlewood, in Virginia, “in affectionate love and remembrance of the + name which he bore.” The property was not great. Her revenue had been + derived from pensions from the Crown as it appeared (for what services I + cannot say), but the pension of course died with her, and there were only + a few hundred pounds, besides jewels, trinkets, and the furniture of the + house in Clarges Street, of which all London came to the sale. Mr. Walpole + bid for her portrait, but I made free with Harry's money so far as to buy + the picture in: and it now hangs over the mantelpiece of the chamber in + which I write. What with jewels, laces, trinkets, and old china which she + had gathered—Harry became possessed of more than four thousand + pounds by his aunt's legacy. I made so free as to lay my hand upon a + hundred, which came, just as my stock was reduced to twenty pounds; and I + procured bills for the remainder, which I forwarded to Captain Henry + Esmond in Virginia. Nor should I have scrupled to take more (for my + brother was indebted to me in a much greater sum), but he wrote me there + was another wonderful opportunity for buying an estate and negroes in our + neighbourhood at home; and Theo and I were only too glad to forgo our + little claim, so as to establish our brother's fortune. As to mine, poor + Harry at this time did not know the state of it. My mother had never + informed him that she had ceased remitting to me. She helped him with a + considerable sum, the result of her savings, for the purchase of his new + estate; and Theo and I were most heartily thankful at his prosperity. + </p> + <p> + And how strange ours was! By what curious good fortune, as our purse was + emptied, was it filled again! I had actually come to the end of our stock, + when poor Sampson brought me his six pieces—and with these I was + enabled to carry on, until my half-year's salary, as young Mr. Foker's + Governor, was due: then Harry's hundred, on which I laid main basse, + helped us over three months (we were behindhand with our rent, or the + money would have lasted six good weeks longer): and when this was pretty + near expended, what should arrive but a bill of exchange for a couple of + hundred pounds from Jamaica, with ten thousand blessings, from the dear + friends there, and fond scolding from the General that we had not sooner + told him of our necessity—of which he had only heard through our + friend, Mr. Foker, who spoke in such terms of Theo and myself as to make + our parents more than ever proud of their children. Was my quarrel with my + mother irreparable? Let me go to Jamaica. There was plenty there for all, + and employment which his Excellency as Governor would immediately procure + for me. “Come to us!” writes Hetty. “Come to us!” writes Aunt Lambert. + “Have my children been suffering poverty, and we rolling in our + Excellency's coach, with guards to turn out whenever we pass? Has Charley + been home to you for ever so many holidays, from the Chartreux, and had + ever so many of my poor George's half-crowns in his pocket, I dare say?” + (this was indeed the truth, for where was he to go for holidays but to his + sister? and was there any use in telling the child how scarce half-crowns + were with us?). “And you always treating him with such goodness, as his + letters tell me, which are brimful of love for George and little Miles! + Oh, how we long to see Miles!” wrote Hetty and her mother; “and as for his + godfather” (writes Het), “who has been good to my dearest and her child, I + promise him a kiss whenever I see him!” + </p> + <p> + Our young benefactor was never to hear of our family's love and gratitude + to him. That glimpse of his bright face over the railings before our house + at Lambeth, as he rode away on his little horse, was the last we ever were + to have of him. At Christmas a basket comes to us, containing a great + turkey, and three brace of partridges, with a card, and “shot by M. W.” + wrote on one of them. And on receipt of this present, we wrote to thank + the child and gave him our sister's message. + </p> + <p> + To this letter, there came a reply from Lady Warrington, who said she was + bound to inform me, that in visiting me her child had been guilty of + disobedience, and that she learned his visit to me now for the first time. + Knowing my views regarding duty to my parents (which I had exemplified in + my marriage), she could not wish her son to adopt them. And fervently + hoping that I might be brought to see the errors of my present course, she + took leave of this most unpleasant subject, subscribing herself, etc. etc. + And we got this pretty missive as sauce for poor Miles's turkey, which was + our family feast for New Year's Day. My Lady Warrington's letter choked + our meal, though Sampson and Charley rejoiced over it. + </p> + <p> + Ah me! Ere the month was over, our little friend was gone from amongst us. + Going out shooting, and dragging his gun through a hedge after him, the + trigger caught in a bush, and the poor little man was brought home to his + father's house, only to live a few days and expire in pain and torture. + Under the yew-trees yonder, I can see the vault which covers him, and + where my bones one day no doubt will be laid. And over our pew at church, + my children have often wistfully spelt the touching epitaph in which + Miles's heartbroken father has inscribed his grief and love for his only + son. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0084" id="link2HCH0084"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXIV. In which Harry submits to the Common Lot + </h2> + <p> + Hard times were now over with me, and I had to battle with poverty no + more. My little kinsman's death made a vast difference in my worldly + prospects. I became next heir to a good estate. My uncle and his wife were + not likely to have more children. “The woman is capable of committing any + crime to disappoint you,” Sampson vowed; but, in truth, my Lady Warrington + was guilty of no such treachery. Cruelly smitten by the stroke which fell + upon them, Lady Warrington was taught by her religious advisers to + consider it as a chastisement of Heaven, and submit to the Divine Will. + “Whilst your son lived, your heart was turned away from the better world” + (her clergyman told her), “and your ladyship thought too much of this. For + your son's advantage you desired rank and title. You asked and might have + obtained an earthly coronet. Of what avail is it now, to one who has but a + few years to pass upon earth—of what importance compared to the + heavenly crown, for which you are an assured candidate?” The accident + caused no little sensation. In the chapels of that enthusiastic sect, + towards which, after her son's death, she now more than ever inclined, + many sermons were preached bearing reference to the event. Far be it from + me to question the course which the bereaved mother pursued, or to regard + with other than respect and sympathy any unhappy soul seeking that refuge + whither sin and grief and disappointment fly for consolation. Lady + Warrington even tried a reconciliation with myself. A year after her loss, + being in London, she signified that she would see me, and I waited on her; + and she gave me, in her usual didactic way, a homily upon my position and + her own. She marvelled at the decree of Heaven, which had permitted, and + how dreadfully punished! her poor child's disobedience to her—a + disobedience by which I was to profit. (It appeared my poor little man had + disobeyed orders, and gone out with his gun, unknown to his mother.) She + hoped that, should I ever succeed to the property, though the Warringtons + were, thank Heaven, a long-lived family, except in my own father's case, + whose life had been curtailed by the excesses of a very ill-regulated + youth,—but should I ever succeed to the family estate and honours, + she hoped, she prayed, that my present course of life might be altered; + that I should part from my unworthy associates; that I should discontinue + all connexion with the horrid theatre and its licentious frequenters; that + I should turn to that quarter where only peace was to be had; and to those + sacred duties which she feared—she very much feared that I had + neglected. She filled her exhortation with Scripture language, which I do + not care to imitate. When I took my leave she gave me a packet of sermons + for Mrs. Warrington, and a little book of hymns by Miss Dora, who has been + eminent in that society of which she and her mother became avowed + professors subsequently, and who, after the dowager's death, at Bath, + three years since, married young Mr. Juffles, a celebrated preacher. The + poor lady forgave me then, but she could not bear the sight of our boy. We + lost our second child, and then my aunt and her daughter came eagerly + enough to the poor suffering mother, and even invited us hither. But my + uncle was now almost every day in our house. He would sit for hours + looking at our boy. He brought him endless toys and sweetmeats. He begged + that the child might call him Godpapa. When we felt our own grief (which + at times still, and after the lapse of five-and-twenty years, strikes me + as keenly as on the day when we first lost our little one)—when I + felt my own grief, I knew how to commiserate his. But my wife could pity + him before she knew what it was to lose a child of her own. The mother's + anxious heart had already divined the pang which was felt by the + sorrow-stricken father; mine, more selfish, has only learned pity from + experience, and I was reconciled to my uncle by my little baby's coffin. + </p> + <p> + The poor man sent his coach to follow the humble funeral, and afterwards + took out little Miles, who prattled to him unceasingly, and forgot any + grief he might have felt in the delights of his new black clothes, and the + pleasures of the airing. How the innocent talk of the child stabbed the + mother's heart! Would we ever wish that it should heal of that wound? I + know her face so well that, to this day, I can tell when, sometimes, she + is thinking of the loss of that little one. It is not a grief for a + parting so long ago; it is a communion with a soul we love in Heaven. + </p> + <p> + We came back to our bright lodgings in Bloomsbury soon afterwards, and my + young bear, whom I could no longer lead, and who had taken a prodigious + friendship for Charley, went to the Chartreux School, where his friend + took care that he had no more beating than was good for him, and where (in + consequence of the excellence of his private tutor, no doubt) he took and + kept a good place. And he liked the school so much, that he says, if ever + he has a son, he shall be sent to that seminary. + </p> + <p> + Now, I could no longer lead my bear, for this reason, that I had other + business to follow. Being fully reconciled to us, I do believe, for Mr. + Miles's sake, my uncle (who was such an obsequious supporter of + Government, that I wonder the Minister ever gave him anything, being + perfectly sure of his vote) used his influence in behalf of his nephew and + heir; and I had the honour to be gazetted as one of his Majesty's + Commissioners for licensing hackney-coaches, a post I filled, I trust, + with credit, until a quarrel with the Minister (to be mentioned in its + proper place) deprived me of that one. I took my degree also at the + Temple, and appeared in Westminster Hall in my gown and wig. And, this + year, my good friend, Mr. Foker, having business at Paris, I had the + pleasure of accompanying him thither, where I was received a bras ouverts + by my dear American preserver, Monsieur de Florac, who introduced me to + his noble family, and to even more of the polite society of the capital + than I had leisure to frequent; for I had too much spirit to desert my + kind patron Foker, whose acquaintance lay chiefly amongst the bourgeoisie, + especially with Monsieur Santerre, a great brewer of Paris, a scoundrel + who hath since distinguished himself in blood and not beer. Mr. F. had + need of my services as interpreter, and I was too glad that he should + command them, and to be able to pay back some of the kindness which he had + rendered to me. Our ladies, meanwhile, were residing at Mr. Foker's new + villa at Wimbledon, and were pleased to say that they were amused with the + “Parisian letters” which I sent to them, through my distinguished friend + Mr. Hume, then of the Embassy, and which subsequently have been published + in a neat volume. + </p> + <p> + Whilst I was tranquilly discharging my small official duties in London, + those troubles were commencing which were to end in the great separation + between our colonies and the mother country. When Mr. Grenville proposed + his stamp-duties, I said to my wife that the bill would create a mighty + discontent at home, for we were ever anxious to get as much as we could + from England, and pay back as little; but assuredly I never anticipated + the prodigious anger which the scheme created. It was with us as with + families or individuals. A pretext is given for a quarrel: the real cause + lies in long bickerings and previous animosities. Many foolish exactions + and petty tyrannies, the habitual insolence of Englishmen towards all + foreigners, all colonists, all folk who dare to think their rivers as good + as our Abana and Pharpar, the natural spirit of men outraged by our + imperious domineering spirit, set Britain and her colonies to quarrel; and + the astonishing blunders of the system adopted in England brought the + quarrel to an issue, which I, for one, am not going to deplore. Had I been + in Virginia instead of London, 'tis very possible I should have taken the + provincial side, if out of mere opposition to that resolute mistress of + Castlewood, who might have driven me into revolt, as England did the + colonies. Was the Stamp Act the cause of the revolution?—a tax no + greater than that cheerfully paid in England. Ten years earlier, when the + French were within our territory, and we were imploring succour from home, + would the colonies have rebelled at the payment of this tax? Do not most + people consider the tax-gatherer the natural enemy? Against the British in + America there were arrayed thousands and thousands of the high-spirited + and brave, but there were thousands more who found their profit in the + quarrel, or had their private reasons for engaging in it. I protest I + don't know now whether mine were selfish or patriotic, or which side was + in the right, or whether both were not. I am sure we in England had + nothing to do but to fight the battle out; and, having lost the game, I do + vow and believe that, after the first natural soreness, the loser felt no + rancour. + </p> + <p> + What made brother Hal write home from Virginia, which he seemed + exceedingly loth to quit, such flaming patriotic letters? My kind, best + brother was always led by somebody; by me when we were together (he had + such an idea of my wit and wisdom, that if I said the day was fine, he + would ponder over the observation as though it was one of the sayings of + the Seven Sages), by some other wiseacre when I was away. Who inspired + these flaming letters, this boisterous patriotism, which he sent to us in + London? “He is rebelling against Madam Esmond,” said I. “He is led by some + colonial person—by that lady, perhaps,” hinted my wife. Who “that + lady” was Hal never had told us; and, indeed, besought me never to allude + to the delicate subject in my letters to him; “for Madam wishes to see 'em + all, and I wish to say nothing about you know what until the proper + moment,” he wrote. No affection could be greater than that which his + letters showed. When he heard (from the informant whom I have mentioned) + that in the midst of my own extreme straits I had retained no more than a + hundred pounds out of his aunt's legacy, he was for mortgaging the estate + which he had just bought; and had more than one quarrel with his mother in + my behalf, and spoke his mind with a great deal more frankness than I + should ever have ventured to show. Until her angry recriminations (when + she charged him with ingratitude, after having toiled and saved so much + and so long for him), the poor fellow did not know that our mother had cut + off my supplies to advance his interests; and by the time this news came + to him his bargains were made, and I was fortunately quite out of want. + </p> + <p> + Every scrap of paper which we ever wrote, our thrifty parent at Castlewood + taped and docketed and put away. We boys were more careless about our + letters to one another: I especially, who perhaps chose rather to look + down upon my younger brother's literary performances; but my wife is not + so supercilious, and hath kept no small number of Harry's letters, as well + as those of the angelic being whom we were presently to call sister. + </p> + <p> + “To think whom he has chosen, and whom he might have had! Oh, 'tis cruel!” + cries my wife, when we got that notable letter in which Harry first made + us acquainted with the name of his charmer. + </p> + <p> + “She was a very pretty little maid when I left home, she may be a perfect + beauty now,” I remarked, as I read over the longest letter Harry ever + wrote on private affairs. + </p> + <p> + “But is she to compare to my Hetty?” says Mrs. Warrington. + </p> + <p> + “We agreed that Hetty and Harry were not to be happy together, my love,” + say I. + </p> + <p> + Theo gives her husband a kiss. “My dear, I wish they had tried,” she says + with a sigh. “I was afraid lest—lest Hetty should have led him, you + see; and I think she hath the better head. But, from reading this, it + appears that the new lady has taken command of poor Harry,” and she hands + me the letter:— + </p> + <p> + “My dearest George hath been prepared by previous letters to understand + how a certain lady has made a conquest of my heart, which I have given + away in exchange for something infinitely more valuable, namely, her own. + She is at my side as I write this letter, and if there is no bad spelling, + such as you often used to laugh at, 'tis because I have my pretty + dictionary at hand, which makes no faults in the longest word, nor in + anything else I know of: being of opinion that she is perfection. + </p> + <p> + “As Madam Esmond saw all your letters, I writ you not to give any hint of + a certain delicate matter—but now 'tis no secret, and is known to + all the country. Mr. George is not the only one of our family who has made + a secret marriage, and been scolded by his mother. As a dutiful younger + brother I have followed his example; and now I may tell you how this + mighty event came about. + </p> + <p> + “I had not been at home long before I saw my fate was accomplisht. I will + not tell you how beautiful Miss Fanny Mountain had grown since I had been + away in Europe. She saith, 'You never will think so,' and I am glad, as + she is the only thing in life I would grudge to my dearest brother. + </p> + <p> + “That neither Madam Esmond nor my other mother (as Mountain is now) should + have seen our mutual attachment, is a wonder—only to be accounted + for by supposing that love makes other folks blind. Mine for my Fanny was + increased by seeing what the treatment was she had from Madam Esmond, who + indeed was very rough and haughty with her, which my love bore with a + sweetness perfectly angelic (this I will say, though she will order me not + to write any such nonsense). She was scarce better treated than a servant + of the house—indeed our negroes can talk much more free before Madam + Esmond than ever my Fanny could. + </p> + <p> + “And yet my Fanny says she doth not regret Madam's unkindness, as without + it I possibly never should have been what I am to her. Oh, dear brother! + when I remember how great your goodness hath been, how, in my own want, + you paid my debts, and rescued me out of prison; how you have been living + in poverty which never need have occurred but for my fault; how you might + have paid yourself back my just debt to you and would not, preferring my + advantage to your own comfort, indeed I am lost at the thought of such + goodness; and ought I not to be thankful to Heaven that hath given me such + a wife and such a brother? + </p> + <p> + “When I writ to you requesting you to send me my aunt's legacy money, for + which indeed I had the most profitable and urgent occasion, I had no idea + that you were yourself suffering poverty. That you, the head of our + family, should condescend to be governor to a brewer's son!—that you + should have to write for booksellers (except in so far as your own genius + might prompt you), never once entered my mind, until Mr. Foker's letter + came to us, and this would never have been shown—for Madam kept it + secret—had it not been for the difference which sprang up between + us. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Tom Diggle's estate and negroes being for sale, owing to Tom's + losses and extravagance at play, and his father's debts before him—Madam + Esmond saw here was a great opportunity of making a provision for me, and + that with six thousand pounds for the farm and stock, I should be put in + possession of as pretty a property as falls to most younger sons in this + country. It lies handy enough to Richmond, between Kent and Hanover Court + House—the mansion nothing for elegance compared to ours at + Castlewood, but the land excellent and the people extraordinary healthy. + </p> + <p> + “Here was a second opportunity, Madam Esmond said, such as never might + again befall. By the sale of my commissions and her own savings I might + pay more than half of the price of the property, and get the rest of the + money on mortgage; though here, where money is scarce to procure, it would + have been difficult and dear. At this juncture, with our new relative, Mr. + Van den Bosch, bidding against us (his agent is wild that we should have + bought the property over him), my aunt's legacy most opportunely fell in. + And now I am owner of a good house and negroes in my native country, shall + be called, no doubt, to our House of Burgesses, and hope to see my dearest + brother and family under my own roof-tree. To sit at my own fireside, to + ride my own horses to my own hounds, is better than going a-soldiering, + now war is over, and there are no French to fight. Indeed, Madam Esmond + made a condition that I should leave the army, and live at home, when she + brought me her 1750 pounds of savings. She had lost one son, she said, who + chose to write play-books, and live in England—let the other stay + with her at home. + </p> + <p> + “But, after the purchase of the estate was made, and my papers for selling + out were sent home, my mother would have had me marry a person of her + choosing, but by no means of mine. You remember Miss Betsy Pitts at + Williamsburgh? She is in no wise improved by having had her face + dreadfully scarred with small-pock, and though Madam Esmond saith the + young lady hath every virtue, I own her virtues did not suit me. Her eyes + do not look straight; she hath one leg shorter than another; and oh, + brother! didst thou never remark Fanny's ankles when we were boys? Neater + I never saw at the Opera. + </p> + <p> + “Now, when 'twas agreed that I should leave the army, a certain dear girl + (canst thou guess her name?) one day, when we were private, burst into + tears of such happiness, that I could not but feel immensely touched by + her sympathy. + </p> + <p> + “'Ah!' says she, 'do you think, sir, that the idea of the son of my + revered benefactress going to battle doth not inspire me with terror? Ah, + Mr. Henry! do you imagine I have no heart? When Mr. George was with + Braddock, do you fancy we did not pray for him? And when you were with Mr. + Wolfe—oh!' + </p> + <p> + “Here the dear creature hid her eyes in her handkerchief, and had hard + work to prevent her mama, who came in, from seeing that she was crying. + But my dear Mountain declares that, though she might have fancied, might + have prayed in secret for such a thing (she owns to that now), she never + imagined it for one moment. Nor, indeed, did my good mother, who supposed + that Sam Lintot, the apothecary's lad at Richmond, was Fanny's flame—an + absurd fellow that I near kicked into James River. + </p> + <p> + “But when the commission was sold, and the estate bought, what does Fanny + do but fall into a deep melancholy? I found her crying one day, in her + mother's room, where the two ladies had been at work trimming hats for my + negroes. + </p> + <p> + “'What! crying, miss?' says I. 'Has my mother been scolding you?' + </p> + <p> + “'No,' says the dear creature. 'Madam Esmond has been kind to-day.' + </p> + <p> + “And her tears drop down on a cockade which she is sewing on to a hat for + Sady, who is to be head-groom. + </p> + <p> + “'Then, why, miss, are those dear eyes so red?' say I. + </p> + <p> + “'Because I have the toothache,' she says, 'or because—because I am + a fool.' Here she fairly bursts out. 'Oh, Mr. Harry! oh, Mr. Warrington! + You are going to leave us, and 'tis as well. You will take your place in + your country, as becomes you. You will leave us poor women in our solitude + and dependence. You will come to visit us from time to time. And when you + are happy and honoured, and among your gay companions, you will remember + your——' + </p> + <p> + “Here she could say no more, and hid her face with one hand as I, I + confess, seized the other. + </p> + <p> + “'Dearest, sweetest Miss Mountain!' says I. 'Oh, could I think that the + parting from me has brought tears to those lovely eyes! Indeed, I fear, I + should be almost happy! Let them look upon your——' + </p> + <p> + “'Oh, sir!' cries my charmer. 'Oh, Mr. Warrington! consider who I am, sir, + and who you are! Remember the difference between us! Release my hand, sir! + What would Madam Esmond say if—if——' + </p> + <p> + “If what, I don't know, for here our mother was in the room. + </p> + <p> + “'What would Madam Esmond say?' she cries out. 'She would say that you are + an ungrateful, artful, false, little——' + </p> + <p> + “'Madam!' says I. + </p> + <p> + “'Yes, an ungrateful, artful, false, little wretch!' cries out my mother. + 'For shame, miss! What would Mr. Lintot say if he saw you making eyes at + the Captain? And for you, Harry, I will have you bring none of your + garrison manners hither. This is a Christian family, sir, and you will + please to know that my house is not intended for captains and their + misses!' + </p> + <p> + “'Misses, mother!' says I. 'Gracious powers, do you ever venture for to + call Miss Mountain by such a name? Miss Mountain, the purest of her sex!' + </p> + <p> + “'The purest of her sex! Can I trust my own ears?' asks Madam, turning + very pale. + </p> + <p> + “'I mean that if a man would question her honour, I would fling him out of + window,' says I. + </p> + <p> + “'You mean that you—your mother's son—are actually paying + honourable attention to this young person?' + </p> + <p> + “'He would never dare to offer any other,' cries my Fanny; 'nor any woman + but you, madam, to think so!' + </p> + <p> + “'Oh, I didn't know, miss!' says mother, dropping her a fine curtsey, 'I + didn't know the honour you were doing our family! You propose to marry + with us, do you? Do I understand Captain Warrington aright, that he + intends to offer me Miss Mountain as a daughter-in-law?' + </p> + <p> + “''Tis to be seen, madam, that I have no protector, or you would not + insult me so!' cries my poor victim. + </p> + <p> + “'I should think the apothecary protection sufficient!' says our mother. + </p> + <p> + “'I don't, mother!' I bawl out, for I was very angry; 'and if Lintot + offers her any liberty, I'll brain him with his own pestle!' + </p> + <p> + “'Oh! if Lintot has withdrawn, sir, I suppose I must be silent. But I did + not know of the circumstance. He came hither, as I supposed, to pay court + to Miss: and we all thought the match equal, and I encouraged it.' + </p> + <p> + “'He came because I had the toothache!' cries my darling (and indeed she + had a dreadful bad tooth. And he took it out for her, and there is no end + to the suspicions and calumnies of women). + </p> + <p> + “'What more natural than that he should marry my housekeeper's daughter—'twas + a very suitable match!' continues Madam, taking snuff. 'But I confess,' + she adds, going on, 'I was not aware that you intended to jilt the + apothecary for my son!' + </p> + <p> + “'Peace, for Heaven's sake, peace, Mr. Warrington!' cries my angel. + </p> + <p> + “'Pray, sir, before you fully make up your mind, had you not better look + round the rest of my family?' says Madam. 'Dinah is a fine tall girl, and + not very black; Cleopatra is promised to Ajax the blacksmith, to be sure; + but then we could break the marriage, you know. If with an apothecary, why + not with a blacksmith? Martha's husband has run away, and——' + </p> + <p> + “Here, dear brother, I own I broke out a-swearing. I can't help it; but at + times, when a man is angry, it do relieve him immensely. I'm blest, but I + should have gone wild, if it hadn't been for them oaths. + </p> + <p> + “'Curses, blasphemy, ingratitude, disobedience,' says mother, leaning now + on her tortoiseshell stick, and then waving it—something like a + queen in a play. 'These are my rewards!' says she. 'O Heaven, what have I + done, that I should merit this awful punishment? and does it please you to + visit the sins of my fathers upon me? Where do my children inherit their + pride? When I was young, had I any? When my papa bade me marry, did I + refuse? Did I ever think of disobeying? No, sir. My fault hath been, and I + own it, that my love was centred upon you, perhaps to the neglect of your + elder brother.' (Indeed, brother, there was some truth in what Madam + said.) 'I turned from Esau, and I clung to Jacob. And now I have my + reward, I have my reward! I fixed my vain thoughts on this world, and its + distinctions. To see my son advanced in worldly rank was my ambition. I + toiled, and spared, that I might bring him worldly wealth. I took unjustly + from my eldest son's portion, that my younger might profit. And oh! that I + should see him seducing the daughter of my own housekeeper under my own + roof, and replying to my just anger with oaths and blasphemies!' + </p> + <p> + “'I try to seduce no one, madam,' I cried out. 'If I utter oaths and + blasphemies, I beg your pardon; but you are enough to provoke a saint to + speak 'em. I won't have this young lady's character assailed—no, not + by own mother nor any mortal alive. No, dear Miss Mountain! If Madam + Esmond chooses to say that my designs on you are dishonourable,—let + this undeceive her!' And, as I spoke, I went down on my knees, seizing my + adorable Fanny's hand. 'And if you will accept this heart and hand, miss,' + says I, 'they are yours for ever.' + </p> + <p> + “'You, at least, I knew, sir,' says Fanny, with a noble curtsey, 'never + said a word that was disrespectful to me, or entertained any doubt of my + honour. And I trust it is only Madam Esmond, in the world, who can have + such an opinion of me. After what your ladyship hath said of me, of course + I can stay no longer in your house.' + </p> + <p> + “'Of course, madam, I never intended you should; and the sooner you leave + it the better,' cries our mother. + </p> + <p> + “'If you are driven from my mother's house, mine, miss, is at your + service,' says I, making her a low bow. 'It is nearly ready now. If you + will take it and stay in it for ever, it is yours! And as Madam Esmond + insulted your honour, at least let me do all in my power to make a + reparation!' I don't know what more I exactly said, for you may fancy I + was not a little flustered and excited by the scene. But here Mountain + came in, and my dearest Fanny, flinging herself into her mother's arms, + wept upon her shoulder; whilst Madam Esmond, sitting down in her chair, + looked at us as pale as a stone. Whilst I was telling my story to Mountain + (who, poor thing, had not the least idea, not she, that Miss Fanny and I + had the slightest inclination for one another), I could hear our mother + once or twice still saying, 'I am punished for my crime!' + </p> + <p> + “Now, what our mother meant by her crime I did not know at first, or + indeed take much heed of what she said; for you know her way, and how, + when she is angry, she always talks sermons. But Mountain told me + afterwards, when we had some talk together, as we did at the tavern, + whither the ladies presently removed with their bag and baggage—for + not only would they not stay at Madam's house after the language she used, + but my mother determined to go away likewise. She called her servants + together, and announced her intention of going home instantly to + Castlewood; and I own to you 'twas with a horrible pain I saw the family + coach roll by, with six horses, and ever so many of the servants on mules + and on horseback, as I and Fanny looked through the blinds of the Tavern. + </p> + <p> + “After the words Madam used to my spotless Fanny, 'twas impossible that + the poor child or her mother should remain in our house: and indeed M. + said that she would go back to her relations in England: and a ship bound + homewards lying in James River, she went and bargained with the captain + about a passage, so bent was she upon quitting the country, and so little + did she think of making a match between me and my angel. But the cabin was + mercifully engaged by a North Carolina gentleman and his family, and + before the next ship sailed (which bears this letter to my dearest George) + they have agreed to stop with me. Almost all the ladies in this + neighbourhood have waited on them. When the marriage takes place, I hope + Madam Esmond will be reconciled. My Fanny's father was a British officer; + and sure, ours was no more. Some day, please Heaven, we shall visit + Europe, and the places where my wild oats were sown, and where I committed + so many extravagances from which my dear brother rescued me. + </p> + <p> + “The ladies send you their affection and duty, and to my sister. We hear + his Excellency General Lambert is much beloved in Jamaica: and I shall + write to our dear friends there announcing my happiness. My dearest + brother will participate in it, and I am ever his grateful and + affectionate H. E. W. + </p> + <p> + “P.S.—Till Mountain told me, I had no more notion than the ded that + Madam E. had actially stopt your allowances; besides making you pay for + ever so much—near upon 1000 pounds Mountain says—for goods, + etc., provided for the Virginian proparty. Then there was all the charges + of me out of prison, which I. O. U. with all my hart. Draw upon me, + please, dearest brother—to any amount—adressing me to care of + Messrs. Horn and Sandon, Williamsburg, privit; who remitt by present + occasion a bill for 225 pounds, payable by their London agents on demand. + Please don't acknolledge this in answering; as there's no good in + bothering women with accounts—and with the extra 5 pounds by a capp + or what she likes for my dear sister, and a toy for my nephew from Uncle + Hal.” + </p> + <p> + The conclusion to which we came on the perusal of this document was, that + the ladies had superintended the style and spelling of my poor Hal's + letter, but that the postscript was added without their knowledge. And I + am afraid we argued that the Virginian Squire was under female domination—as + Hercules, Samson, and fortes multi had been before him. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0085" id="link2HCH0085"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXV. Inveni Portum + </h2> + <p> + When my mother heard of my acceptance of a place at home, I think she was + scarcely well pleased. She may have withdrawn her supplies, in order to + starve me into a surrender, and force me to return with my family to + Virginia, and to dependence under her. We never, up to her dying day, had + any explanation on the pecuniary dispute between us. She cut off my + allowances: I uttered not a word; but managed to live without her aid. I + never heard that she repented of her injustice, or acknowledged it, except + from Harry's private communication to me. In after days, when we met, by a + great gentleness in her behaviour, and an uncommon respect and affection + shown to my wife, Madam Esmond may have intended I should understand her + tacit admission that she had been wrong; but she made no apology, nor did + I ask one. Harry being provided for (whose welfare I could not grudge), + all my mother's savings and economical schemes went to my advantage, who + was her heir. Time was when a few guineas would have been more useful to + me than hundreds which might come to me when I had no need; but when Madam + Esmond and I met, the period of necessity was long passed away; I had no + need to scheme ignoble savings, or to grudge the doctor his fee: I had + plenty, and she could but bring me more. No doubt she suffered in her own + mind to think that my children had been hungry, and she had offered them + no food; and that strangers had relieved the necessity from which her + proud heart had caused her to turn aside. Proud? Was she prouder than I? A + soft word of explanation between us might have brought about a + reconciliation years before it came but I would never speak, nor did she. + When I commit a wrong, and know it subsequently, I love to ask pardon; but + 'tis as a satisfaction to my own pride, and to myself I am apologising for + having been wanting to myself. And hence, I think (out of regard to that + personage of ego), I scarce ever could degrade myself to do a meanness. + How do men feel whose whole lives (and many men's lives are) are lies, + schemes, and subterfuges? What sort of company do they keep when they are + alone? Daily in life I watch men whose every smile is an artifice, and + every wink is an hypocrisy. Doth such a fellow wear a mask in his own + privacy, and to his own conscience? If I choose to pass over an injury, I + fear 'tis not from a Christian and forgiving spirit: 'tis because I can + afford to remit the debt, and disdain to ask a settlement of it. One or + two sweet souls I have known in my life (and perhaps tried) to whom + forgiveness is no trouble—a plant that grows naturally, as it were, + in the soil. I know how to remit, I say, not forgive. I wonder are we + proud men proud of being proud? + </p> + <p> + So I showed not the least sign of submission towards my parent in Virginia + yonder, and we continued for years to live in estrangement, with + occasionally a brief word or two (such as the announcement of the birth of + a child, or what not) passing between my wife and her. After our first + troubles in America about the Stamp Act, troubles fell on me in London + likewise. Though I have been on the Tory side in our quarrel (as indeed + upon the losing side in most controversies), having no doubt that the + Imperial Government had a full right to levy taxes in the colonies, yet at + the time of the dispute I must publish a pert letter to a member of the + House of Burgesses in Virginia, in which the question of the habitual + insolence of the mother country to the colonies was so freely handled, and + sentiments were uttered so disagreeable to persons in power, that I was + deprived of my place as hackney-coach licenser, to the terror and horror + of my uncle, who never could be brought to love people in disgrace. He had + grown to have an extreme affection for my wife as well as my little boy; + but towards myself, personally, entertained a kind of pitying contempt + which always infinitely amused me. He had a natural scorn and dislike for + poverty, and a corresponding love for success and good fortune. Any + opinion departing at all from the regular track shocked and frightened + him, and all truth-telling made him turn pale. He must have had originally + some warmth of heart and genuine love of kindred: for, spite of the + dreadful shocks I gave him, he continued to see Theo and the child (and me + too, giving me a mournful recognition when we met); and though + broken-hearted by my free-spokenness, he did not refuse to speak to me as + he had done at the time of our first differences, but looked upon me as a + melancholy lost creature, who was past all worldly help or hope. Never + mind, I must cast about for some new scheme of life; and the repayment of + Harry's debt to me at this juncture enabled me to live at least for some + months even, or years to come. O strange fatuity of youth! I often say. + How was it that we dared to be so poor and so little cast down? + </p> + <p> + At this time his Majesty's royal uncle of Cumberland fell down and + perished in a fit; and, strange to say, his death occasioned a remarkable + change in my fortune. My poor Sir Miles Warrington never missed any court + ceremony to which he could introduce himself. He was at all the + drawing-rooms, christenings, balls, funerals of the court. If ever a + prince or princess was ailing, his coach was at their door: Leicester + Fields, Carlton House, Gunnersbury, were all the same to him, and nothing + must satisfy him now but going to the stout duke's funeral. He caught a + great cold and an inflammation of the throat from standing bareheaded at + this funeral in the rain; and one morning, before almost I had heard of + his illness, a lawyer waits upon me at my lodgings in Bloomsbury, and + salutes me by the name of Sir George Warrington. + </p> + <p> + Party and fear of the future were over now. We laid the poor gentleman by + the side of his little son, in the family churchyard where so many of his + race repose. Little Miles and I were the chief mourners. An obsequious + tenantry bowed and curtseyed before us, and did their utmost to conciliate + my honour and my worship. The dowager and her daughter withdrew to Bath + presently; and I and my family took possession of the house, of which I + have been master for thirty years. Be not too eager, O my son! Have but a + little patience, and I too shall sleep under yonder yew-trees, and the + people will be tossing up their caps for Sir Miles. + </p> + <p> + The records of a prosperous country life are easily and briefly told. The + steward's books show what rents were paid and forgiven, what crops were + raised, and in what rotation. What visitors came to us, and how long they + stayed: what pensioners my wife had, and how they were doctored and + relieved, and how they died: what year I was sheriff, and how often the + hounds met near us; all these are narrated in our house journals, which + any of my heirs may read who choose to take the trouble. We could not + afford the fine mansion in Hill Street, which my predecessor had occupied; + but we took a smaller house, in which, however, we spent more money. We + made not half the show (with liveries, equipages, and plate) for which my + uncle had been famous; but our beer was stronger, and my wife's charities + were perhaps more costly than those of the Dowager Lady Warrington. No + doubt she thought there was no harm in spoiling the Philistines; for she + made us pay unconscionably for the goods she left behind her in our + country-house, and I submitted to most of her extortions with unutterable + good-humour. What a value she imagined the potted plants in her + greenhouses bore! What a price she set upon that horrible old spinet she + left in her drawing-room! and the framed pieces of worsted-work, performed + by the accomplished Dora and the lovely Flora, had they been masterpieces + of Titian or Vandyck, to be sure my lady dowager could hardly have valued + them at a higher price. But though we paid so generously, though we were, + I may say without boast, far kinder to our poor than ever she had been, + for a while we had the very worst reputation in the county, where all + sorts of stories had been told to my discredit. I thought I might perhaps + succeed to my uncle's seat in Parliament, as well as to his landed + property; but I found, I knew not how, that I was voted to be a person of + very dangerous opinions. I would not bribe: I would not coerce my own + tenants to vote for me in the election of '68. A gentleman came down from + Whitehall with a pocket-book full of bank-notes; and I found that I had no + chance against my competitor. + </p> + <p> + Bon Dieu! Now that we were at ease in respect of worldly means,—now + that obedient tenants bowed and curtseyed as we went to church; that we + drove to visit our friends, or to the neighbouring towns, in the great + family coach with the four fat horses; did we not often regret poverty, + and the dear little cottage at Lambeth, where Want was ever prowling at + the door? Did I not long to be bear-leading again, and vow that + translating for booksellers was not such very hard drudgery? When we went + to London, we made sentimental pilgrimages to all our old haunts. I dare + say my wife embraced all her landladies. You may be sure we asked all the + friends of those old times to share the comforts of our new home with us. + The Reverend Mr. Hagan and his lady visited us more than once. His + appearance in the pulpit at B———(where he preached very + finely, as we thought) caused an awful scandal there. Sampson came too, + another unlucky Levite, and was welcome as long as he would stay among us. + Mr. Johnson talked of coming, but he put us off once or twice. I suppose + our house was dull. I know that I myself would be silent for days, and + fear that my moodiness must often have tried the sweetest-tempered woman + in the world who lived with me. I did not care for field sports. The + killing one partridge was so like killing another, that I wondered how men + could pass days after days in the pursuit of that kind of slaughter. Their + fox-hunting stories would begin at four o'clock, when the tablecloth was + removed, and last till supper-time. I sate silent, and listened: day after + day I fell asleep: no wonder I was not popular with my company. + </p> + <p> + What admission is this I am making? Here was the storm over, the rocks + avoided, the ship in port and the sailor not overcontented? Was Susan I + had been sighing for during the voyage, not the beauty I expected to find + her? In the first place, Susan and all the family can look in her + William's logbook, and so, madam, I am not going to put my secrets down + there. No, Susan, I never had secrets from thee. I never cared for another + woman. I have seen more beautiful, but none that suited me as well as your + ladyship. I have met Mrs. Carter and Miss Mulso, and Mrs. Thrale and Madam + Kaufmann, and the angelical Gunnings, and her Grace of Devonshire, and a + host of beauties who were not angelic, by any means: and I was not dazzled + by them. Nay, young folks, I may have led your mother a weary life, and + been a very Bluebeard over her, but then I had no other heads in the + closet. Only, the first pleasure of taking possession of our kingdom over, + I own I began to be quickly tired of the crown. When the captain wears it + his Majesty will be a very different Prince. He can ride a-hunting five + days in the week, and find the sport amusing. I believe he would hear the + same sermon at church fifty times, and not yawn more than I do at the + first delivery. But sweet Joan, beloved Baucis! being thy faithful husband + and true lover always, thy Darby is rather ashamed of having been testy so + often! and, being arrived at the consummation of happiness, Philemon asks + pardon for falling asleep so frequently after dinner. There came a period + of my life, when having reached the summit of felicity I was quite tired + of the prospect I had there: I yawned in Eden, and said, “Is this all? + What, no lions to bite? no rain to fall? no thorns to prick you in the + rose-bush when you sit down?—only Eve, for ever sweet and tender, + and figs for breakfast, dinner, supper, from week's end to week's end!” + Shall I make my confessions? Hearken! Well, then, if I must make a clean + breast of it. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * * * * * * +</pre> + <p> + Here three pages are torn out of Sir George Warrington's MS. book, for + which the editor is sincerely sorry. + </p> + <p> + I know the theory and practice of the Roman Church; but, being bred of + another persuasion (and sceptical and heterodox regarding that), I can't + help doubting the other, too, and wondering whether Catholics, in their + confessions, confess all? Do we Protestants ever do so; and has education + rendered those other fellow-men so different from us? At least, amongst + us, we are not accustomed to suppose Catholic priests or laymen more frank + and open than ourselves. Which brings me back to my question,—does + any man confess all? Does yonder dear creature know all my life, who has + been the partner of it for thirty years; who, whenever I have told her a + sorrow, has been ready with the best of her gentle power to soothe it; who + has watched when I did not speak, and when I was silent has been silent + herself, or with the charming hypocrisy of woman has worn smiles and an + easy appearance so as to make me imagine she felt no care, or would not + even ask to disturb her lord's secret when he seemed to indicate a desire + to keep it private? Oh, the dear hypocrite! Have I not watched her hiding + the boys' peccadilloes from papa's anger? Have I not known her cheat out + of her housekeeping to pay off their little extravagances; and talk to me + with an artless face, as if she did not know that our revered captain had + had dealings with the gentlemen of Duke's Place, and our learned + collegian, at the end of his terms, had very pressing reasons for sporting + his oak (as the phrase is) against some of the University tradesmen? Why, + from the very earliest days, thou wise woman, thou wert for ever + concealing something from me,—this one stealing jam from the + cupboard; that one getting into disgrace at school; that naughty rebel + (put on the caps, young folks, according to the fit) flinging an inkstand + at mamma in a rage, whilst I was told the gown and the carpet were spoiled + by accident. We all hide from one another. We have all secrets. We are all + alone. We sin by ourselves, and, let us trust, repent too. Yonder dear + woman would give her foot to spare mine a twinge of the gout; but, when I + have the fit, the pain is in my slipper. At the end of the novel or the + play, the hero and heroine marry or die, and so there is an end of them as + far as the poet is concerned, who huzzas for his young couple till the + postchaise turns the corner; or fetches the hearse and plumes, and shovels + them underground. But when Mr. Random and Mr. Thomas Jones are married, is + all over? Are there no quarrels at home? Are there no Lady Bellastons + abroad? are there no constables to be outrun? no temptations to conquer + us, or be conquered by us? The Sirens sang after Ulysses long after his + marriage, and the suitors whispered in Penelope's ear, and he and she had + many a weary day of doubt and care, and so have we all. As regards money I + was put out of trouble by the inheritance I made: but does not Atra Cura + sit behind baronets as well as equites? My friends in London used to + congratulate me on my happiness. Who would not like to be master of a good + house and a good estate? But can Gumbo shut the hall-door upon blue + devils, or lay them always in a red sea of claret? Does a man sleep the + better who has four-and-twenty hours to doze in? Do his intellects + brighten after a sermon from the dull old vicar; a ten minutes' cackle and + flattery from the village apothecary; or the conversation of Sir John and + Sir Thomas with their ladies, who come ten moonlight muddy miles to eat a + haunch, and play a rubber? 'Tis all very well to have tradesmen bowing to + your carriage-door, room made for you at quarter-sessions, and my lady + wife taken down the second or the third to dinner: but these pleasures + fade—nay, have their inconveniences. In our part of the country, for + seven years after we came to Warrington Manor, our two what they called + best neighbours were my Lord Tutbury and Sir John Mudbrook. We are of an + older date than the Mudbrooks; consequently, my Lady Tutbury always fell + to my lot, when we dined together, who was deaf and fell asleep after + dinner; or if I had Lady Mudbrook, she chattered with a folly so incessant + and intense, that even my wife could hardly keep her complacency + (consummate hypocrite as her ladyship is), knowing the rage with which I + was fuming at the other's clatter. I come to London. I show my tongue to + Dr. Heberden. I pour out my catalogue of complaints. “Psha, my dear Sir + George!” says the unfeeling physician. “Headaches, languor, bad sleep, bad + temper—” (“Not bad temper: Sir George has the sweetest temper in the + world, only he is sometimes a little melancholy,” says my wife.) “—Bad + sleep, bad temper,” continues the implacable doctor. “My dear lady, his + inheritance has been his ruin, and a little poverty and a great deal of + occupation would do him all the good in life.” + </p> + <p> + No, my brother Harry ought to have been the squire, with remainder to my + son Miles, of course. Harry's letters were full of gaiety and good + spirits. His estate prospered: his negroes multiplied; his crops were + large; he was a member of our House of Burgesses; he adored his wife; + could he but have a child his happiness would be complete. Had Hal been + master of Warrington Manor-house, in my place, he would have been beloved + through the whole country; he would have been steward at all the races, + the gayest of all the jolly huntsmen, the bien venu at all the mansions + round about, where people scarce cared to perform the ceremony of welcome + at sight of my glum face. As for my wife, all the world liked her, and + agreed in pitying her. I don't know how the report got abroad, but 'twas + generally agreed that I treated her with awful cruelty, and that for + jealousy I was a perfect Bluebeard. Ah me! And so it is true that I have + had many dark hours; that I pass days in long silence; that the + conversation of fools and whipper-snappers makes me rebellious and + peevish, and that, when I feel contempt, I sometimes don't know how to + conceal it, or I should say did not. I hope as I grow older I grow more + charitable. Because I do not love bawling and galloping after a fox, like + the captain yonder, I am not his superior; but, in this respect, humbly + own that he is mine. He has perceptions which are denied me; enjoyments + which I cannot understand. Because I am blind the world is not dark. I try + now and listen with respect when Squire Codgers talks of the day's run. I + do my best to laugh when Captain Rattleton tells his garrison stories. I + step up to the harpsichord with old Miss Humby (our neighbour from + Beccles) and try and listen as she warbles her ancient ditties. I play + whist laboriously. Am I not trying to do the duties of life? and I have a + right to be garrulous and egotistical, because I have been reading + Montaigne all the morning. + </p> + <p> + I was not surprised, knowing by what influences my brother was led, to + find his name in the list of Virginia burgesses who declared that the sole + right of imposing taxes on the inhabitants of this colony is now, and ever + hath been, legally and constitutionally vested in the House of Burgesses, + and called upon the other colonies to pray for the Royal interposition in + favour of the violated rights of America. And it was now, after we had + been some three years settled in our English home, that a correspondence + between us and Madam Esmond began to take place. It was my wife who (upon + some pretext such as women always know how to find) re-established the + relations between us. Mr. Miles must need have the small-pox, from which + he miraculously recovered without losing any portion of his beauty; and on + his recovery the mother writes her prettiest little wheedling letter to + the grandmother of the fortunate babe. She coaxes her with all sorts of + modest phrases and humble offerings of respect and goodwill. She narrates + anecdotes of the precocious genius of the lad (what hath subsequently + happened, I wonder, to stop the growth of that gallant young officer's + brains?), and she must have sent over to his grandmother a lock of the + darling boy's hair, for the old lady, in her reply, acknowledged the + receipt of some such present. I wonder, as it came from England, they + allowed it to pass our custom-house at Williamsburg. In return for these + peace-offerings and smuggled tokens of submission, comes a tolerably + gracious letter from my Lady of Castlewood. She inveighs against the + dangerous spirit pervading the colony: she laments to think that her + unhappy son is consorting with people who, she fears, will be no better + than rebels and traitors. She does not wonder, considering who his friends + and advisers are. How can a wife taken from an almost menial situation be + expected to sympathise with persons of rank and dignity who have the + honour of the Crown at heart? If evil times were coming for the monarchy + (for the folks in America appeared to be disinclined to pay taxes, and + required that everything should be done for them without cost), she + remembered how to monarchs in misfortune, the Esmonds—her father the + Marquis especially—had ever been faithful. She knew not what + opinions (though she might judge from my newfangled Lord Chatham) were in + fashion in England. She prayed, at least, she might hear that one of her + sons was not on the side of rebellion. When we came, in after days, to + look over old family papers in Virginia, we found “Letters from my + daughter Lady Warrington,” neatly tied up with a ribbon. My Lady Theo + insisted I should not open them; and the truth, I believe, is, that they + were so full of praises of her husband that she thought my vanity would + suffer from reading them. + </p> + <p> + When Madam began to write, she gave us brief notices of Harry and his + wife. “The two women,” she wrote, “still govern everything with my poor + boy at Fannystown (as he chooses to call his house). They must save money + there, for I hear but a shabby account of their manner of entertaining. + The Mount Vernon gentleman continues to be his great friend, and he votes + in the House of Burgesses very much as his guide advises him. Why he + should be so sparing of his money I cannot understand: I heard, of five + negroes who went with his equipages to my Lord Bottetourt's, only two had + shoes to their feet. I had reasons to save, having sons for whom I wished + to provide, but he hath no children, wherein he certainly is spared from + much grief, though, no doubt, Heaven in its wisdom means our good by the + trials which, through our children, it causes us to endure. His + mother-in-law,” she added in one of her letters, “has been ailing. Ever + since his marriage, my poor Henry has been the creature of these two + artful women, and they rule him entirely. Nothing, my dear daughter, is + more contrary to common sense and to Holy Scripture than this. Are we not + told, Wives, be obedient to your husbands? Had Mr. Warrington lived, I + should have endeavoured to follow up that sacred precept, holding that + nothing so becomes a woman as humility and obedience.” + </p> + <p> + Presently we had a letter sealed with black, and announcing the death of + our dear good Mountain, for whom I had a hearty regret and affection, + remembering her sincere love for us as children. Harry deplored the event + in his honest way, and with tears which actually blotted his paper. And + Madam Esmond, alluding to the circumstance, said: “My late housekeeper, + Mrs. Mountain, as soon as she found her illness was fatal, sent to me + requesting a last interview on her deathbed, intending, doubtless, to pray + my forgiveness for her treachery towards me. I sent her word that I could + forgive her as a Christian, and heartily hope (though I confess I doubt + it) that she had a due sense of her crime towards me. But our meeting, I + considered, was of no use, and could only occasion unpleasantness between + us. If she repented, though at the eleventh hour, it was not too late, and + I sincerely trusted that she was now doing so. And, would you believe her + lamentable and hardened condition? she sent me word through Dinah, my + woman, whom I dispatched to her with medicines for her soul's and her + body's health, that she had nothing to repent of as far as regarded her + conduct to me, and she wanted to be left alone! Poor Dinah distributed the + medicine to my negroes, and our people took it eagerly—whilst Mrs. + Mountain, left to herself, succumbed to the fever. Oh, the perversity of + human kind! This poor creature was too proud to take my remedies, and is + now beyond the reach of cure and physicians. You tell me your little Miles + is subject to fits of cholic. My remedy, and I will beg you to let me know + if effectual, is,” etc. etc.—and here followed the prescription, + which thou didst not take, O my son, my heir, and my pride! because thy + fond mother had her mother's favourite powder, on which in his infantine + troubles our firstborn was dutifully nurtured. Did words not exactly + consonant with truth pass between the ladies in their correspondence? I + fear my Lady Theo was not altogether candid: else how to account for a + phrase in one of Madam Esmond's letters, who said: “I am glad to hear the + powders have done the dear child good. They are, if not on a first, on a + second or third application, almost infallible, and have been the blessed + means of relieving many persons round me, both infants and adults, white + and coloured. I send my grandson an Indian bow and arrows. Shall these old + eyes never behold him at Castlewood, I wonder, and is Sir George so busy + with his books and his politics that he can't afford a few months to his + mother in Virginia? I am much alone now. My son's chamber is just as he + left it: the same books are in the presses: his little hanger and + fowling-piece over the bed, and my father's picture over the mantelpiece. + I never allow anything to be altered in his room or his brother's. I fancy + the children playing near me sometimes, and that I can see my dear + father's head as he dozes in his chair. Mine is growing almost as white as + my father's. Am I never to behold my children ere I go hence? The Lord's + will be done.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0086" id="link2HCH0086"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXVI. At Home + </h2> + <p> + Such an appeal as this of our mother would have softened hearts much less + obdurate than ours; and we talked of a speedy visit to Virginia, and of + hiring all the Young Rachel's cabin accommodation. But our child must fall + ill, for whom the voyage would be dangerous, and from whom the mother of + course could not part; and the Young Rachel made her voyage without us + that year. Another year there was another difficulty, in my worship's + first attack of the gout (which occupied me a good deal, and afterwards + certainly cleared my wits and enlivened my spirits); and now came another + much sadder cause for delay in the sad news we received from Jamaica. Some + two years after our establishment at the Manor, our dear General returned + from his government, a little richer in the world's goods than when he + went away, but having undergone a loss for which no wealth could console + him, and after which, indeed, he did not care to remain in the West + Indies. My Theo's poor mother—the most tender and affectionate + friend (save one) I have ever had—died abroad of the fever. Her last + regret was that she should not be allowed to live to see our children and + ourselves in prosperity. + </p> + <p> + “She sees us, though we do not see her; and she thanks you, George, for + having been good to her children,” her husband said. + </p> + <p> + He, we thought, would not be long ere he joined her. His love for her had + been the happiness and business of his whole life. To be away from her + seemed living no more. It was pitiable to watch the good man as he sate + with us. My wife, in her air and in many tones and gestures, constantly + recalled her mother to the bereaved widower's heart. What cheer we could + give him in his calamity we offered; but, especially, little Hetty was + now, under Heaven, his chief support and consolation. She had refused more + than one advantageous match in the Island, the General told us; and on her + return to England, my Lord Wrotham's heir laid himself at her feet. But + she loved best to stay with her father, Hetty said. As long as he was not + tired of her she cared for no husband. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” said we, when this last great match was proposed, “let the General + stay six months with us at the Manor here, and you can have him at + Oakhurst for the other six.” + </p> + <p> + But Hetty declared her father never could bear Oakhurst again now that her + mother was gone; and she would marry no man for his coronet and money—not + she! The General, when we talked this matter over, said gravely that the + child had no desire for marrying, owing possibly to some disappointment in + early life, of which she never spoke; and we, respecting her feelings, + were for our parts equally silent. My brother Lambert had by this time a + college living near to Winchester, and a wife of course to adorn his + parsonage. We professed but a moderate degree of liking for this lady, + though we made her welcome when she came to us. Her idea regarding our + poor Hetty's determined celibacy was different to that which I had. This + Mrs. Jack was a chatterbox of a woman, in the habit of speaking her mind + very freely, and of priding herself excessively on her skill in giving + pain to her friends. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Sir George,” she was pleased to say, “I have often and often told + our dear Theo that I wouldn't have a pretty sister in my house to make tea + for Jack when I was upstairs, and always to be at hand when I was wanted + in the kitchen or nursery, and always to be dressed neat and in her best + when I was very likely making pies or puddings or looking to the children. + I have every confidence in Jack, of course. I should like to see him look + at another woman, indeed! And so I have in Jemima but they don't come + together in my house when I'm upstairs—that I promise you! And so I + told my sister Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I to understand,” says the General, “that you have done my Lady + Warrington the favour to warn her against her sister, my daughter Miss + Hester?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, pa, of course I have. A duty is a duty, and a woman is a woman, and + a man's a man, as I know very well. Don't tell me! He is a man. Every man + is a man, with all his sanctified airs!” + </p> + <p> + “You yourself have a married sister, with whom you were staying when my + son Jack first had the happiness of making your acquaintance?” remarks the + General. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, of course I have a married sister; every one knows that and I have + been as good as a mother to her children, that I have!” + </p> + <p> + “And am I to gather from your conversation that your attractions proved a + powerful temptation for your sister's husband?” + </p> + <p> + “Law, General! I don't know how you can go for to say I ever said any such + a thing!” cries Mrs. Jack, red and voluble. + </p> + <p> + “Don't you perceive, my dear madam, that it is you who have insinuated as + much, not only regarding yourself, but regarding my own two daughters?” + </p> + <p> + “Never, never, never, as I'm a Christian woman! And it's most cruel of you + to say so, sir. And I do say a sister is best out of the house, that I do! + And as Theo's time is coming, I warn her, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Have you discovered, my good madam, whether my poor Hetty has stolen any + of the spoons? When I came to breakfast this morning, my daughter was + alone, and there must have been a score of pieces of silver on the table.” + </p> + <p> + “Law, sir! who ever said a word about spoons? Did I ever accuse the poor + dear? If I did, may I drop down dead at this moment on this hearth-rug! + And I ain't used to be spoke to in this way. And me and Jack have both + remarked it; and I've done my duty, that I have.” And here Mrs. Jack + flounces out of the room, in tears. + </p> + <p> + “And has the woman had the impudence to tell you this, my child?” asks the + General, when Theo (who is a little delicate) comes to the tea-table. + </p> + <p> + “She has told me every day since she has been here. She comes into my + dressing-room to tell me. She comes to my nursery, and says, 'Ah, I + wouldn't have a sister prowling about my nursery, that I wouldn't.' Ah, + how pleasant it is to have amiable and well-bred relatives, say I.” + </p> + <p> + “Thy poor mother has been spared this woman,” groans the General. + </p> + <p> + “Our mother would have made her better, papa,” says Theo, kissing him. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, dear.” And I see that both of them are at their prayers. + </p> + <p> + But this must be owned, that to love one's relatives is not always an easy + task; to live with one's neighbours is sometimes not amusing. From Jack + Lambert's demeanour next day, I could see that his wife had given him her + version of the conversation. Jack was sulky, but not dignified. He was + angry, but his anger did not prevent his appetite. He preached a sermon + for us which was entirely stupid. And little Miles, once more in sables, + sate at his grandfather's side, his little hand placed in that of the kind + old man. + </p> + <p> + Would he stay and keep house for us during our Virginian trip? The + housekeeper should be put under the full domination of Hetty. The butler's + keys should be handed over to him; for Gumbo, not I thought with an over + good grace, was to come with us to Virginia: having, it must be premised, + united himself with Mrs. Molly in the bonds of matrimony, and peopled a + cottage in my park with sundry tawny Gumbos. Under the care of our good + General and his daughter we left our house, then; we travelled to London, + and thence to Bristol, and our obsequious agent there had the opportunity + of declaring that he should offer up prayers for our prosperity, and of + vowing that children so beautiful as ours (we had an infant by this time + to accompany Miles) were never seen on any ship before. We made a voyage + without accident. How strange the feeling was as we landed from our boat + at Richmond! A coach and a host of negroes were there in waiting to + receive us; and hard by a gentleman on horseback, with negroes in our + livery, too, who sprang from his horse and rushed up to embrace us. Not a + little charmed were both of us to see our dearest Hal. He rode with us to + our mother's door. Yonder she stood on the steps to welcome us; and Theo + knelt down to ask her blessing. + </p> + <p> + Harry rode in the coach with us as far as our mother's house; but would + not, as he said, spoil sport by entering with us. “She sees me,” he owned, + “and we are pretty good friends; but Fanny and she are best apart; and + there is no love lost between 'em, I can promise you. Come over to me at + the Tavern, George, when thou art free. And to-morrow I shall have the + honour to present her sister to Theo. 'Twas only from happening to be in + town yesterday that I heard the ship was signalled, and waited to see you. + I have sent a negro boy home to my wife, and she'll be here to pay her + respects to my Lady Warrington.” And Harry, after this brief greeting, + jumped out of the carriage, and left us to meet our mother alone. + </p> + <p> + Since I parted from her I had seen a great deal of fine company, and Theo + and I had paid our respects to the King and Queen at St. James's; but we + had seen no more stately person than this who welcomed us, and raising my + wife from her knee, embraced her and led her into the house. 'Twas a + plain, wood-built place, with a gallery round, as our Virginian houses + are; but if it had been a palace, with a little empress inside, our + reception could not have been more courteous. There was old Nathan, still + the major-domo, a score of kind black faces of blacks, grinning welcome. + Some whose names I remembered as children were grown out of remembrance, + to be sure, to be buxom lads and lasses; and some I had left with black + pates were grizzling now with snowy polls: and some who were born since my + time were peering at doorways with their great eyes and little naked feet. + It was, “I'm little Sip, Master George!” and “I'm Dinah, Sir George!” and + “I'm Master Miles's boy!” says a little chap in a new livery and boots of + nature's blacking. Ere the day was over the whole household had found a + pretext for passing before us, and grinning and bowing and making us + welcome. I don't know how many repasts were served to us. In the evening + my Lady Warrington had to receive all the gentry of the little town, which + she did with perfect grace and good-humour, and I had to shake hands with + a few old acquaintances—old enemies I was going to say; but I had + come into a fortune and was no longer a naughty prodigal. Why, a drove of + fatted calves was killed in my honour! My poor Hal was of the + entertainment, but gloomy and crestfallen. His mother spoke to him, but it + was as a queen to a rebellious prince, her son who was not yet forgiven. + We two slipped away from the company, and went up to the rooms assigned to + me: but there, as we began a free conversation, our mother, taper in hand, + appeared with her pale face. Did I want anything? Was everything quite as + I wished it? She had peeped in at the dearest children, who were sleeping + like cherubs. How she did caress them, and delight over them! How she was + charmed with Miles's dominating airs, and the little Theo's smiles and + dimples! “Supper is just coming on the table, Sir George. If you like our + cookery better than the tavern, Henry, I beg you to stay.” What a + different welcome there was in the words and tone addressed to each of us! + Hal hung down his head, and followed to the lower room. A clergyman begged + a blessing on the meal. He touched with not a little art and eloquence + upon our arrival at home, upon our safe passage across the stormy waters, + upon the love and forgiveness which awaited us in the mansions of the + Heavenly Parent when the storms of life were over. + </p> + <p> + Here was a new clergyman, quite unlike some whom I remembered about us in + earlier days, and I praised him, but Madam Esmond shook her head. She was + afraid his principles were very dangerous: she was afraid others had + adopted those dangerous principles. Had I not seen the paper signed by the + burgesses and merchants at Williamsburg the year before—the Lees, + Randolphs, Bassets, Washingtons, and the like, and oh, my dear, that I + should have to say it, our name, that is, your brother's (by what + influence I do not like to say), and this unhappy Mr. Belman's who begged + a blessing last night? + </p> + <p> + If there had been quarrels in our little colonial society when I left + home, what were these to the feuds I found raging on my return? We had + sent the Stamp Act to America, and been forced to repeal it. Then we must + try a new set of duties on glass, paper, and what not, and repeal that Act + too, with the exception of a duty on tea. From Boston to Charleston the + tea was confiscated. Even my mother, loyal as she was, gave up her + favourite drink; and my poor wife would have had to forgo hers, but we had + brought a quantity for our private drinking on board ship, which had paid + four times as much duty at home. Not that I for my part would have + hesitated about paying duty. The home Government must have some means of + revenue, or its pretensions to authority were idle. They say the colonies + were tried and tyrannised over; I say the home Government was tried and + tyrannised over. ('Tis but an affair of argument and history, now; we + tried the question, and were beat; and the matter is settled as completely + as the conquest of Britain by the Normans.) And all along, from conviction + I trust, I own to have taken the British side of the quarrel. In that + brief and unfortunate experience of war which I had had in my early life, + the universal cry of the army and well-affected persons was, that Mr. + Braddock's expedition had failed, and defeat and disaster had fallen upon + us in consequence of the remissness, the selfishness, and the rapacity of + many of the very people for whose defence against the French arms had been + taken up. The colonists were for having all done for them, and for doing + nothing, They made extortionate bargains with the champions who came to + defend them; they failed in contracts; they furnished niggardly supplies; + they multiplied delays until the hour for beneficial action was past, and + until the catastrophe came which never need have occurred but for their + ill-will. What shouts of joy were there, and what ovations for the great + British Minister who had devised and effected the conquest of Canada! + Monsieur de Vaudreuil said justly that that conquest was the signal for + the defection of the North American colonies from their allegiance to + Great Britain; and my Lord Chatham, having done his best to achieve the + first part of the scheme, contributed more than any man in England towards + the completion of it. The colonies were insurgent, and he applauded their + rebellion. What scores of thousands of waverers must he have encouraged + into resistance! It was a general who says to an army in revolt, “God save + the king! My men, you have a right to mutiny!” No wonder they set up his + statue in this town, and his picture in t'other; whilst here and there + they hanged Ministers and Governors in effigy. To our Virginian town of + Williamsburg, some wiseacres must subscribe to bring over a portrait of my + lord, in the habit of a Roman orator speaking in the Forum, to be sure, + and pointing to the palace of Whitehall, and the special window out of + which Charles I. was beheaded! Here was a neat allegory, and a pretty + compliment to a British statesman! I hear, however, that my lord's head + was painted from a bust, and so was taken off without his knowledge. + </p> + <p> + Now my country is England, not America or Virginia; and I take, or rather + took, the English side of the dispute. My sympathies had always been with + home, where I was now a squire and a citizen: but had my lot been to plant + tobacco, and live on the banks of James River or Potomac, no doubt my + opinions had been altered. When, for instance, I visited my brother at his + new house and plantation, I found him and his wife as staunch Americans as + we were British. We had some words upon the matter in dispute,—who + had not in those troublesome times?—but our argument was carried on + without rancour; even my new sister could not bring us to that, though she + did her best when we were together, and in the curtain lectures which I + have no doubt she inflicted on her spouse, like a notable housewife as she + was. But we trusted in each other so entirely that even Harry's duty + towards his wife would not make him quarrel with his brother. He loved me + from old times, when my word was law with him; he still protested that he + and every Virginian gentleman of his side was loyal to the Crown. War was + not declared as yet, and gentlemen of different opinions were courteous + enough to one another. Nay, at our public dinners and festivals, the + health of the King was still ostentatiously drunk; and the assembly of + every colony, though preparing for Congress, though resisting all attempts + at taxation on the part of the home authorities, was loud in its + expressions of regard for the King our Father, and pathetic in its appeals + to that paternal sovereign to put away evil counsellors from him, and + listen to the voice of moderation and reason. Up to the last, our + Virginian gentry were a grave, orderly, aristocratic folk, with the + strongest sense of their own dignity and station. In later days, and + nearer home, we have heard of fraternisation and equality. Amongst the + great folks of our Old World I have never seen a gentleman standing more + on his dignity and maintaining it better than Mr. Washington: no—not + the King against whom he took arms. In the eyes of all the gentry of the + French court, who gaily joined in the crusade against us, and so took + their revenge for Canada, the great American chief always appeared as anax + andron, and they allowed that his better could not be seen in Versailles + itself. Though they were quarrelling with the Governor, the gentlemen of + the House of Burgesses still maintained amicable relations with him, and + exchanged dignified courtesies. When my Lord Bottetourt arrived, and held + his court at Williamsburg in no small splendour and state, all the gentry + waited upon him, Madam Esmond included. And at his death, Lord Dunmore, + who succeeded him, and brought a fine family with him, was treated with + the utmost respect by our gentry privately, though publicly the House of + Assembly and the Governor were at war. + </p> + <p> + Their quarrels are a matter of history, and concern me personally only so + far as this, that our burgesses being convened for the 1st of March in the + year after my arrival in Virginia, it was agreed that we should all pay a + visit to our capital, and our duty to the Governor. Since Harry's + unfortunate marriage Madam Esmond had not performed this duty, though + always previously accustomed to pay it; but now that her eldest son was + arrived in the colony, my mother opined that we must certainly wait upon + his Excellency the Governor, nor were we sorry, perhaps, to get away from + our little Richmond to enjoy the gaieties of the provincial capital. Madam + engaged, and at a great price, the best house to be had at Richmond for + herself and her family. Now I was rich, her generosity was curious. I had + more than once to interpose (her old servants likewise wondering at her + new way of life), and beg her not to be so lavish. But she gently said, in + former days she had occasion to save, which now existed no more. Harry had + enough, sure, with such a wife as he had taken out of the housekeeper's + room. If she chose to be a little extravagant now, why should she + hesitate? She had not her dearest daughter and grandchildren with her + every day (she fell in love with all three of them, and spoiled them as + much as they were capable of being spoiled). Besides, in former days I + could not accuse her of too much extravagance, and this I think was almost + the only allusion she made to the pecuniary differences between us. So she + had her people dressed in their best, and her best wines, plate, and + furniture from Castlewood by sea at no small charge, and her dress in + which she had been married in George II.'s reign, and we all flattered + ourselves that our coach made the greatest figure of any except his + Excellency's, and we engaged Signor Formicalo, his Excellency's + major-domo, to superintend the series of feasts that were given in my + honour; and more fleshpots were set a-stewing in our kitchens in one + month, our servants said, than had been known in the family since the + young gentlemen went away. So great was Theo's influence over my mother, + that she actually persuaded her, that year, to receive our sister Fanny, + Hal's wife, who would have stayed upon the plantation rather than face + Madam Esmond. But, trusting to Theo's promise of amnesty, Fanny (to whose + house we had paid more than one visit) came up to town, and made her + curtsey to Madam Esmond, and was forgiven. And rather than be forgiven in + that way, I own, for my part, that I would prefer perdition or utter + persecution. + </p> + <p> + “You know these, my dear?” says Madam Esmond, pointing to her fine silver + sconces. “Fanny hath often cleaned them when she was with me at + Castlewood. And this dress, too, Fanny knows, I dare say? Her poor mother + had the care of it. I always had the greatest confidence in her.” + </p> + <p> + Here there is wrath flashing from Fanny's eyes, which our mother, who has + forgiven her, does not perceive—not she! + </p> + <p> + “Oh, she was a treasure to me!” Madam resumes. “I never should have nursed + my boys through their illnesses but for your mother's admirable care of + them. Colonel Lee, permit me to present you to my daughter, my Lady + Warrington. Her ladyship is a neighbour of your relatives the Bunburys at + home. Here comes his Excellency. Welcome, my lord!” + </p> + <p> + And our princess performs before his lordship one of those curtseys of + which she was not a little proud; and I fancy I see some of the company + venturing to smile. + </p> + <p> + “By George! madam,” says Mr. Lee, “since Count Borulawski, I have not seen + a bow so elegant as your ladyship's.” + </p> + <p> + “And pray, sir, who was Count Borulawski?” asks Madam. + </p> + <p> + “He was a nobleman high in favour with his Polish Majesty,” replies Mr. + Lee. “May I ask you, madam, to present me to your distinguished son?” + </p> + <p> + “This is Sir George Warrington,” says my mother, pointing to me. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, madam. I meant Captain Warrington, who was by Mr. Wolfe's side + when he died. I had been contented to share his fate, so I had been near + him.” + </p> + <p> + And the ardent Lee swaggers up to Harry, and takes his hand with respect, + and pays him a compliment or two, which makes me, at least, pardon him for + his late impertinence; for my dearest Hal walks gloomily through his + mother's rooms in his old uniform of the famous corps which he has + quitted. + </p> + <p> + We had had many meetings, which the stern mother could not interrupt, and + in which that instinctive love which bound us to one another, and which + nothing could destroy, had opportunity to speak. Entirely unlike each + other in our pursuits, our tastes, our opinions—his life being one + of eager exercise, active sport, and all the amusements of the field, + while mine is to dawdle over books and spend my time in languid + self-contemplation—we have, nevertheless, had such a sympathy as + almost passes the love of women. My poor Hal confessed as much to me, for + his part, in his artless manner, when we went away without wives or + womankind, except a few negroes left in the place, and passed a week at + Castlewood together. + </p> + <p> + The ladies did not love each other. I know enough of my Lady Theo, to see + after a very few glances whether or not she takes a liking to another of + her amiable sex. All my powers of persuasion or command fail to change the + stubborn creature's opinion. Had she ever said a word against Mrs. This or + Miss That? Not she! Has she been otherwise than civil? No, assuredly! My + Lady Theo is polite to a beggar-woman, treats her kitchenmaids like + duchesses, and murmurs a compliment to the dentist for his elegant manner + of pulling her tooth out. She would black my boots, or clean the grate, if + I ordained it (always looking like a duchess the while); but as soon as I + say to her, “My dear creature, be fond of this lady, or t'other!” all + obedience ceases; she executes the most refined curtseys; smiles and + kisses even to order; but performs that mysterious undefinable freemasonic + signal, which passes between women, by which each knows that the other + hates her. So, with regard to Fanny, we had met at her house, and at + others. I remembered her affectionately from old days, I fully credited + poor Hal's violent protests and tearful oaths, that, by George, it was our + mother's persecution which made him marry her. He couldn't stand by and + see a poor thing tortured as she was, without coming to her rescue; no, by + heavens, he couldn't! I say I believed all this; and had for my + sister-in-law a genuine compassion, as well as an early regard; and yet I + had no love to give her; and, in reply to Hal's passionate outbreaks in + praise of her beauty and worth, and eager queries to me whether I did not + think her a perfect paragon? I could only answer with faint compliments or + vague approval, feeling all the while that I was disappointing my poor + ardent fellow, and cursing inwardly that revolt against flattery and + falsehood into which I sometimes frantically rush. Why should I not say, + “Yes dear Hal, thy wife is a paragon; her singing is delightful, her hair + and shape are beautiful;” as I might have said by a little common stretch + of politeness? Why could I not cajole this or that stupid neighbour or + relative, as I have heard Theo do a thousand times, finding all sorts of + lively prattle to amuse them, whilst I sit before them dumb and gloomy? I + say it was a sin not to have more words to say in praise of Fanny. We + ought to have praised her, we ought to have liked her. My Lady Warrington + certainly ought to have liked her, for she can play the hypocrite, and I + cannot. And there was this young creature—pretty, graceful, shaped + like a nymph, with beautiful black eyes—and we cared for them no + more than for two gooseberries! At Warrington my wife and I, when we + pretended to compare notes, elaborately complimented each other on our new + sister's beauty. What lovely eyes!—Oh yes! What a sweet little + dimple on her chin!—Ah oui! What wonderful little feet!—Perfectly + Chinese! where should we in London get slippers small enough for her? And, + these compliments exhausted, we knew that we did not like Fanny the value + of one penny-piece; we knew that we disliked her; we knew that we ha... + Well, what hypocrites women are! We heard from many quarters how eagerly + my brother had taken up the new anti-English opinion, and what a champion + he was of so-called American rights and freedom. “It is her doing, my + dear,” says I to my wife. “If I had said so much, I am sure you would have + scolded me,” says my Lady Warrington, laughing: and I did straightway + begin to scold her, and say it was most cruel of her to suspect our new + sister; and what earthly right had we to do so? But I say again, I know + Madam Theo so well, that when once she has got a prejudice against a + person in her little head, not all the king's horses nor all the king's + men will get it out again. I vow nothing would induce her to believe that + Harry was not henpecked—nothing. + </p> + <p> + Well, we went to Castlewood together without the women, and stayed at the + dreary, dear old place, where we had been so happy, and I, at least, so + gloomy. It was winter, and duck-time, and Harry went away to the river, + and shot dozens and scores and bushels of canvasbacks, whilst I remained + in my grandfather's library amongst the old mouldering books which I loved + in my childhood—which I see in a dim vision still resting on a + little boy's lap, as he sits by an old white-headed gentleman's knee. I + read my books; I slept in my own bed and room—religiously kept, as + my mother told me, and left as on the day when I went to Europe. Hal's + cheery voice would wake me, as of old. Like all men who love to go + a-field, he was an early riser: he would come and wake me, and sit on the + foot of the bed and perfume the air with his morning pipe, as the house + negroes laid great logs on the fire. It was a happy time! Old Nathan had + told me of cunning crypts where ancestral rum and claret were deposited. + We had had cares, struggles, battles, bitter griefs, and disappointments; + we were boys again as we sat there together. I am a boy now even as I + think of the time. + </p> + <p> + That unlucky tea-tax, which alone of the taxes lately imposed upon the + colonies, the home Government was determined to retain, was met with + defiance throughout America. 'Tis true we paid a shilling in the pound at + home, and asked only threepence from Boston or Charleston; but as a + question of principle, the impost was refused by the provinces, which + indeed ever showed a most spirited determination to pay as little as they + could help. In Charleston the tea-ships were unloaded, and the cargoes + stored in cellars. From New York and Philadelphia, the vessels were turned + back to London. In Boston (where there was an armed force, whom the + inhabitants were perpetually mobbing), certain patriots, painted and + disguised as Indians, boarded the ships, and flung the obnoxious cargoes + into the water. The wrath of our white Father was kindled against this + city of Mohocks in masquerade. The notable Boston Port Bill was brought + forward in the British House of Commons; the port was closed, and the + Custom House removed to Salem. The Massachusetts Charter was annulled; + and,—in just apprehension that riots might ensue, in dealing with + the perpetrators of which the colonial courts might be led to act + partially,—Parliament decreed that persons indicted for acts of + violence and armed resistance, might be sent home, or to another colony, + for trial. If such acts set all America in a flame, they certainly drove + all wellwisbers of our country into a fury. I might have sentenced Master + Miles Warrington, at five years old, to a whipping, and he would have + cried, taken down his little small-clothes and submitted: but suppose I + offered (and he richly deserving it) to chastise Captain Miles of the + Prince's Dragoons? He would whirl my paternal cane out of my hand, box my + hair-powder out of my ears. Lord a-mercy! I tremble at the very idea of + the controversy? He would assert his independence in a word; and if, I + say, I think the home Parliament had a right to levy taxes in the + colonies, I own that we took means most captious, most insolent, most + irritating, and, above all, most impotent, to assert our claim. + </p> + <p> + My Lord Dunmore, our Governor of Virginia, upon Lord Bottetourt's death, + received me into some intimacy soon after my arrival in the colony, being + willing to live on good terms with all our gentry. My mother's severe + loyalty was no secret to him; indeed, she waved the king's banner in all + companies, and talked so loudly and resolutely, that Randolph and Patrick + Henry himself were struck dumb before her. It was Madam Esmond's + celebrated reputation for loyalty (his Excellency laughingly told me) + which induced him to receive her eldest son to grace. + </p> + <p> + “I have had the worst character of you from home,” his lordship said. + “Little birds whisper to me, Sir George, that you are a man of the most + dangerous principles. You are a friend of Mr. Wilkes and Alderman + Beckford. I am not sure you have not been at Medmenham Abbey. You have + lived with players, poets, and all sorts of wild people. I have been + warned against you, sir, and I find you——” + </p> + <p> + “Not so black as I have been painted,” I interrupted his lordship, with a + smile. + </p> + <p> + “Faith,” says my lord, “if I tell Sir George Warrington that he seems to + me a very harmless, quiet gentleman, and that 'tis a great relief to me to + talk to him amidst these loud politicians; these lawyers with their + perpetual noise about Greece and Rome; these Virginian squires who are for + ever professing their loyalty and respect, whilst they are shaking their + fists in my face—I hope nobody overhears us,” says my lord, with an + arch smile, “and nobody will carry my opinions home.” + </p> + <p> + His lordship's ill opinion having been removed by a better knowledge of + me, our acquaintance daily grew more intimate; and, especially between the + ladies of his family and my own, a close friendship arose—between + them and my wife at least. Hal's wife, received kindly at the little + provincial court, as all ladies were, made herself by no means popular + there by the hot and eager political tone which she adopted. She assailed + all the Government measures with indiscriminating acrimony. Were they + lenient? She said the perfidious British Government was only preparing a + snare, and biding its time until it could forge heavier chains for unhappy + America. Were they angry? Why did not every American citizen rise, assert + his rights as a freeman, and serve every British governor, officer, + soldier, as they had treated the East India Company's tea? My mother, on + the other hand, was pleased to express her opinions with equal frankness, + and, indeed, to press her advice upon his Excellency with a volubility + which may have fatigued that representative of the Sovereign. Call out the + militia; send for fresh troops from New York, from home, from anywhere; + lock up the Capitol! (this advice was followed, it must be owned) and send + every one of the ringleaders amongst those wicked burgesses to prison! was + Madam Esmond's daily counsel to the Governor by word and letter. And if + not only the burgesses, but the burgesses' wives could have been led off + to punishment and captivity, I think this Brutus of a woman would scarce + have appealed against the sentence. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0087" id="link2HCH0087"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXVII. The Last of God Save the King + </h2> + <p> + What perverse law of Fate is it that ever places me in a minority? Should + a law be proposed to hand over this realm to the Pretender of Rome, or the + Grand Turk, and submit it to the new sovereign's religion, it might pass, + as I should certainly be voting against it. At home in Virginia, I found + myself disagreeing with everybody as usual. By the Patriots I was voted + (as indeed I professed myself to be) a Tory; by the Tories I was presently + declared to be a dangerous Republican. The time was utterly out of joint. + O cursed spite! Ere I had been a year in Virginia, how I wished myself + back by the banks of the Waveney! But the aspect of affairs was so + troublous, that I could not leave my mother, a lone lady, to face possible + war and disaster, nor would she quit the country at such a juncture, nor + should a man of spirit leave it. At his Excellency's table, and over his + Excellency's plentiful claret, that point was agreed on by numbers of the + well-affected, that vow was vowed over countless brimming bumpers. No: it + was statue signum, signifer! We Cavaliers would all rally round it; and at + these times, our Governor talked like the bravest of the brave. + </p> + <p> + Now, I will say, of all my Virginian acquaintance, Madam Esmond was the + most consistent. Our gentlefolks had come in numbers to Williamsburg; and + a great number of them proposed to treat her Excellency, the Governor's + lady, to a ball, when the news reached us of the Boston Port Bill. + Straightway the House of Burgesses adopts an indignant protest against + this measure of the British Parliament, and decrees a solemn day of fast + and humiliation throughout the country, and of solemn prayer to Heaven to + avert the calamity of Civil War. Meanwhile, the invitation to my Lady + Dunmore having been already given and accepted, the gentlemen agreed that + their ball should take place on the appointed evening, and then sackcloth + and ashes should be assumed some days afterwards. + </p> + <p> + “A ball!” says Madam Esmond. “I go to a ball which is given by a set of + rebels who are going publicly to insult his Majesty a week afterwards! I + will die sooner!” And she wrote to the gentlemen who were stewards for the + occasion to say, that viewing the dangerous state of the country, she, for + her part, could not think of attending a ball. + </p> + <p> + What was her surprise then, the next time she went abroad in her chair, to + be cheered by a hundred persons, white and black, and shouts of “Huzzah, + Madam!” “Heaven bless your ladyship!” They evidently thought her + patriotism had caused her determination not to go to the ball. + </p> + <p> + Madam, that there should be no mistake, puts her head out of the chair, + and cries out “God save the King” as loud as she can. The people cried + “God save the King,” too. Everybody cried “God save the King” in those + days. On the night of that entertainment, my poor Harry, as a Burgess of + the House, and one of the givers of the feast, donned his uniform red coat + of Wolfe's (which he so soon was to exchange for another colour), and went + off with Madam Fanny to the ball. My Lady Warrington and her humble + servant, as being strangers in the country, and English people as it were, + were permitted by Madam to attend the assembly from which she of course + absented herself. I had the honour to dance a country-dance with the lady + of Mount Vernon, whom I found a most lively, pretty, and amiable partner; + but am bound to say that my wife's praises of her were received with a + very grim acceptance by my mother, when Lady Warrington came to recount + the events of the evening. Could not Sir George Warrington have danced + with my Lady Dunmore or her daughters, or with anybody but Mrs. + Washington; to be sure the Colonel thought so well of himself and his + wife, that no doubt he considered her the grandest lady in the room; and + she who remembered him a road-surveyor at a guinea a day! Well, indeed! + there was no measuring the pride of these provincial upstarts, and as for + this gentleman, my Lord Dunmore's partiality for him had evidently turned + his head. I do not know about Mr. Washington's pride, I know that my good + mother never could be got to love him or anything that was his. + </p> + <p> + She was no better pleased with him for going to the ball, than with his + conduct three days afterwards, when the day of fast and humiliation was + appointed, and when he attended the service which our new clergyman + performed. She invited Mr. Belman to dinner that day, and sundry colonial + authorities. The clergyman excused himself. Madam Esmond tossed up her + head, and said he might do as he liked. She made a parade of a dinner; she + lighted her house up at night, when all the rest of the city was in + darkness and gloom; she begged Mr. Hardy, one of his Excellency's + aides-de-camp, to sing “God save the King,” to which the people in the + street outside listened, thinking that it might be a part of some + religious service which Madam was celebrating; but then she called for + “Britons, strike home!” which the simple young gentleman just from Europe + began to perform, when a great yell arose in the street, and a large + stone, flung from some rebellious hand, plumped into the punch-bowl before + me, and scattered it and its contents about our dining-room. + </p> + <p> + My mother went to the window nothing daunted. I can see her rigid little + figure now, as she stands with a tossed-up head, outstretched frilled + arms, and the twinkling stars for a background, and sings in chorus, + “Britons, strike home! strike home!” The crowd in front of the palings + shout and roar, “Silence! for shame! go back!” but she will not go back, + not she. “Fling more stones, if you dare!” says the brave little lady; and + more might have come, but some gentlemen issuing out of the Raley Tavern + interpose with the crowd. “You mustn't insult a lady,” says a voice I + think I know. “Huzza, Colonel! Hurrah, Captain! God bless your honour!” + say the people in the street. And thus the enemies are pacified. + </p> + <p> + My mother, protesting that the whole disturbance was over, would have had + Mr. Hardy sing another song, but he gave a sickly grin, and said, “he + really did not like to sing to such accompaniments,” and the concert for + that evening was ended; though I am bound to say that some scoundrels + returned at night, frightened my poor wife almost out of wits, and broke + every single window in the front of our tenement. “Britons, strike home!” + was a little too much; Madam should have contented herself with “God save + the King.” Militia was drilled, bullets were cast, supplies of ammunition + got ready, cunning plans for disappointing the royal ordinances devised + and carried out; but, to be sure, “God save the King” was the cry + everywhere, and in reply to my objections to the gentlemen-patriots, “Why, + you are scheming for a separation; you are bringing down upon you the + inevitable wrath of the greatest power in the world!”—the answer to + me always was, “We mean no separation at all; we yield to no men in + loyalty; we glory in the name of Britons,” and so forth, and so forth. The + powder-barrels were heaped in the cellar, the train was laid, but Mr. + Fawkes was persistent in his dutiful petitions to King and Parliament and + meant no harm, not he! 'Tis true when I spoke of the power of our country, + I imagined she would exert it; that she would not expect to overcome three + millions of fellow-Britons on their own soil with a few battalions, a + half-dozen generals from Bond Street, and a few thousand bravos hired out + of Germany. As if we wanted to insult the thirteen colonies as well as to + subdue them, we must set upon them these hordes of Hessians, and the + murderers out of the Indian wigwams. Was our great quarrel not to be + fought without tali auxilio and istis defensoribus? Ah! 'tis easy, now we + are worsted, to look over the map of the great empire wrested from us, and + show how we ought not to have lost it. Long Island ought to have + exterminated Washington's army; he ought never to have come out of Valley + Forge except as a prisoner. The South was ours after the battle of Camden, + but for the inconceivable meddling of the Commander-in-Chief at New York, + who paralysed the exertions of the only capable British General who + appeared during the war, and sent him into that miserable cul-de-sac at + York Town, whence he could only issue defeated and a prisoner. Oh, for a + week more! a day more, an hour more of darkness or light! In reading over + our American campaigns from their unhappy commencement to their inglorious + end, now that we are able to see the enemy's movements and conditions as + well as our own, I fancy we can see how an advance, a march, might have + put enemies into our power who had no means to withstand it, and changed + the entire issue of the struggle. But it was ordained by Heaven, and for + the good, as we can now have no doubt, of both empires, that the great + Western Republic should separate from us: and the gallant soldiers who + fought on her side, their indomitable and heroic Chief above all, had the + glory of facing and overcoming, not only veteran soldiers amply provided + and inured to war, but wretchedness, cold, hunger, dissensions, treason + within their own camp, where all must have gone to rack, but for the pure + unquenchable flame of patriotism that was for ever burning in the bosom of + the heroic leader. What a constancy, what a magnanimity, what a surprising + persistence against fortune! Washington before the enemy was no better nor + braver than hundreds that fought with him or against him (who has not + heard the repeated sneers against “Fabius” in which his factious captains + were accustomed to indulge?), but Washington the Chief of a nation in + arms, doing battle with distracted parties; calm in the midst of + conspiracy; serene against the open foe before him and the darker enemies + at his back; Washington inspiring order and spirit into troops hungry and + in rags; stung by ingratitude, but betraying no anger, and ever ready to + forgive; in defeat invincible, magnanimous in conquest, and never so + sublime as on that day when he laid down his victorious sword and sought + his noble retirement:—here indeed is a character to admire and + revere; a life without a stain, a fame without a flaw. Quando invenies + parem? In that more extensive work, which I have planned and partly + written on the subject of this great war, I hope I have done justice to + the character of its greatest leader. [And I trust that in the opinions I + have recorded regarding him, I have shown that I also can be just and + magnanimous towards those who view me personally with no favour. For my + brother Hal being at Mount Vernon, and always eager to bring me and his + beloved Chief on good terms, showed his Excellency some of the early + sheets of my History. General Washington (who read but few books, and had + not the slightest pretensions to literary taste) remarked, “If you will + have my opinion, my dear General, I think Sir George's projected work, + from the specimen I have of it, is certain to offend both parties.”—G. + E. W.]. And this from the sheer force of respect which his eminent virtues + extorted. With the young Mr. Washington of my own early days I had not the + honour to enjoy much sympathy: though my brother, whose character is much + more frank and affectionate than mine, was always his fast friend in early + times, when they were equals, as in latter days when the General, as I do + own and think, was all mankind's superior. + </p> + <p> + I have mentioned that contrariety in my disposition, and, perhaps, in my + brother's, which somehow placed us on wrong sides in the quarrel which + ensued, and which from this time forth raged for five years, until the + mother country was fain to acknowledge her defeat. Harry should have been + the Tory, and I the Whig. Theoretically my opinions were very much more + liberal than those of my brother, who, especially after his marriage, + became what our Indian nabobs call a Bahadoor—a person ceremonious, + stately, and exacting respect. When my Lord Dunmore, for instance, talked + about liberating the negroes, so as to induce them to join the King's + standard, Hal was for hanging the Governor and the Black Guards (as he + called them) whom his Excellency had crimped. “If you, gentlemen are + fighting for freedom,” says I, “sure the negroes may fight, too.” On which + Harry roars out, shaking his fist, “Infernal villains, if I meet any of + 'em, they shall die by this hand!” And my mother agreed that this idea of + a negro insurrection was the most abominable and parricidal notion which + had ever sprung up in her unhappy country. She at least was more + consistent than brother Hal. She would have black and white obedient to + the powers that be: whereas Hal only could admit that freedom was the + right of the latter colour. + </p> + <p> + As a proof of her argument, Madam Esmond and Harry too would point to an + instance in our own family in the person of Mr. Gumbo. Having got his + freedom from me, as a reward for his admirable love and fidelity to me + when times were hard, Gumbo, on his return to Virginia, was scarce a + welcome guest in his old quarters, amongst my mother's servants. He was + free, and they were not: he was, as it were, a centre of insurrection. He + gave himself no small airs of protection and consequence amongst them; + bragging of his friends in Europe (“at home,” as he called it), and his + doings there; and for a while bringing the household round about him to + listen to him and admire him, like the monkey who had seen the world. Now, + Sady, Hal's boy, who went to America of his own desire, was not free. + Hence jealousies between him and Mr. Gum; and battles, in which they both + practised the noble art of boxing and butting, which they had learned at + Marybone Gardens and Hockley-in-the-Hole. Nor was Sady the only jealous + person: almost all my mother's servants hated Signor Gumbo for the airs + which he gave himself; and I am sorry to say, that our faithful Molly, his + wife, was as jealous as his old fellow-servants. The blacks could not + pardon her for having demeaned herself so far as to marry one of their + kind. She met with no respect, could exercise no authority, came to her + mistress with ceaseless complaints of the idleness, knavery, lies, + stealing of the black people; and finally with a story of jealousy against + a certain Dinah, or Diana, who, I heartily trust, was as innocent as her + namesake the moonlight visitant of Endymion. Now, on the article of + morality Madam Esmond was a very Draconess; and a person accused was a + person guilty. She made charges against Mr. Gumbo to which he replied with + asperity. Forgetting that he was a free gentleman, my mother now ordered + Gumbo to be whipped, on which Molly flew at her ladyship, all her wrath at + her husband's infidelity vanishing at the idea of the indignity put upon + him; there was a rebellion in our house at Castlewood. A quarrel took + place between me and my mother, as I took my man's side. Hal and Fanny + sided with her, on the contrary; and in so far the difference did good, as + it brought about some little intimacy between Madam and her younger + children. This little difference was speedily healed; but it was clear + that the Standard of Insurrection must be removed out of our house; and we + determined that Mr. Gumbo and his lady should return to Europe. + </p> + <p> + My wife and I would willingly have gone with them, God wot, for our boy + sickened and lost his strength, and caught the fever in our swampy + country; but at this time she was expecting to lie in (of our son Henry), + and she knew, too, that I had promised to stay in Virginia. It was agreed + that we should send the two back; but when I offered Theo to go, she said + her place was with her husband;—her father and Hetty at home would + take care of our children; and she scarce would allow me to see a tear in + her eyes whilst she was making her preparations for the departure of her + little ones. Dost thou remember the time, madam, and the silence round the + worktables, as the piles of little shirts are made ready for the voyage? + and the stealthy visits to the children's chambers whilst they are asleep + and yet with you? and the terrible time of parting, as our barge with the + servants and children rows to the ship, and you stand on the shore? Had + the Prince of Wales been going on that voyage, he could not have been + better provided. Where, sirrah, is the Tompion watch your grandmother gave + you? and how did you survive the boxes of cakes which the good lady stowed + away in your cabin? + </p> + <p> + The ship which took out my poor Theo's children, returned with the + Reverend Mr. Hagan and my Lady Maria on board, who meekly chose to resign + her rank, and was known in the colony (which was not to be a colony very + long) only as Mrs. Hagan. At the time when I was in favour with my Lord + Dunmore, a living falling vacant in Westmoreland county, he gave it to our + kinsman, who arrived in Virginia time enough to christen our boy Henry, + and to preach some sermons on the then gloomy state of affairs, which + Madam Esmond pronounced to be prodigious fine. I think my Lady Maria won + Madam's heart by insisting on going out of the room after her. “My father, + your brother, was an earl, 'tis true,” says she, “but you know your + ladyship is a marquis's daughter, and I never can think of taking + precedence of you!” So fond did Madam become of her niece, that she even + allowed Hagan to read plays—my own humble compositions amongst + others—and was fairly forced to own that there was merit in the + tragedy of Pocahontas, which our parson delivered with uncommon energy and + fire. + </p> + <p> + Hal and his wife came but rarely to Castlewood and Richmond when the + chaplain and his lady were with us. Fanny was very curt and rude with + Maria, used to giggle and laugh strangely in her company, and repeatedly + remind her of her age, to our mother's astonishment, who would often ask, + was there any cause of quarrel between her niece and her daughter-in-law? + I kept my own counsel on these occasions, and was often not a little + touched by the meekness with which the elder lady bore her persecutions. + Fanny loved to torture her in her husband's presence (who, poor fellow, + was also in happy ignorance about his wife's early history), and the other + bore her agony, wincing as little as might be. I sometimes would + remonstrate with Madam Harry, and ask her was she a Red Indian, that she + tortured her victims so? “Have not I had torture enough in my time?” says + the young lady, and looked as though she was determined to pay back the + injuries inflicted on her. + </p> + <p> + “Nay,” says I, “you were bred in our wigwam, and I don't remember anything + but kindness!” + </p> + <p> + “Kindness!” cries she. “No slave was ever treated as I was. The blows + which wound most, often are those which never are aimed. The people who + hate us are not those we have injured.” + </p> + <p> + I thought of little Fanny in our early days, silent, smiling, willing to + run and do all our biddings for us, and I grieved for my poor brother, who + had taken this sly creature into his bosom. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0088" id="link2HCH0088"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXVIII. Yankee Doodle comes to Town + </h2> + <p> + One of the uses to which we put America in the days of our British + dominion was to make it a refuge for our sinners. Besides convicts and + assigned servants whom we transported to our colonies, we discharged on + their shores scapegraces and younger sons, for whom dissipation, despair, + and bailiffs made the old country uninhabitable. And as Mr. Cook, in his + voyages, made his newly discovered islanders presents of English animals + (and other specimens of European civilisation), we used to take care to + send samples of our black sheep over to the colonies, there to browse as + best they might, and propagate their precious breed. I myself was perhaps + a little guilty in this matter, in busying myself to find a living in + America for the worthy Hagan, husband of my kinswoman,—at least was + guilty in so far as this, that as we could get him no employment in + England, we were glad to ship him to Virginia, and give him a colonial + pulpit-cushion to thump. He demeaned himself there as a brave honest + gentleman, to be sure; he did his duty thoroughly by his congregation, and + his king too; and in so far did credit to my small patronage. Madam Theo + used to urge this when I confided to her my scruples of conscience on this + subject, and show, as her custom was and is, that my conduct in this, as + in all other matters, was dictated by the highest principle of morality + and honour. But would I have given Hagan our living at home, and selected + him and his wife to minister to our parish? I fear not. I never had a + doubt of our cousin's sincere repentance; but I think I was secretly glad + when she went to work it out in the wilderness. And I say this, + acknowledging my pride and my error. Twice, when I wanted them most, this + kind Maria aided me with her sympathy and friendship. She bore her own + distresses courageously, and soothed those of others with admirable + affection and devotion. And yet I, and some of mine (not Theo), would look + down upon her. Oh, for shame, for shame on our pride! + </p> + <p> + My poor Lady Maria was not the only one of our family who was to be sent + out of the way to American wildernesses. Having borrowed, stolen, cheated + at home, until he could cheat, borrow, and steal no more, the Honourable + William Esmond, Esquire, was accommodated with a place at New York; and + his noble brother and royal master heartily desired that they might see + him no more. When the troubles began, we heard of the fellow and his + doings in his new habitation. Lies and mischief were his avant-couriers + wherever he travelled. My Lord Dunmore informed me that Mr. Will declared + publicly, that our estate of Castlewood was only ours during his brother's + pleasure; that his father, out of consideration for Madam Esmond, his + lordship's half-sister, had given her the place for life, and that he, + William, was in negotiation with his brother, the present Lord Castlewood, + for the purchase of the reversion of the estate! We had the deed of gift + in our strongroom at Castlewood, and it was furthermore registered in due + form at Williamsburg; so that we were easy on that score. But the + intention was everything; and Hal and I promised, as soon as ever we met + Mr. William, to get from him a confirmation of this pretty story. What + Madam Esmond's feelings and expressions were when she heard it, I need + scarcely here particularise. “What! my father, the Marquis of Esmond, was + a liar, and I am a cheat, am I?” cries my mother. “He will take my son's + property at my death, will he?” And she was for writing, not only to Lord + Castlewood in England, but to his Majesty himself at St. James's, and was + only prevented by my assurance that Mr. Will's lies were notorious amongst + all his acquaintance, and that we could not expect, in our own case, that + he should be so inconsistent as to tell the truth. We heard of him + presently as one of the loudest amongst the Loyalists in New York, as + Captain, and presently Major of a corps of volunteers who were sending + their addresses to the well-disposed in all the other colonies, and + announcing their perfect readiness to die for the mother country. + </p> + <p> + We could not lie in a house without a whole window, and closing the + shutters of that unlucky mansion we had hired at Williamsburg, Madam + Esmond left our little capital, and my family returned to Richmond, which + also was deserted by the members of the (dissolved) Assembly. Captain Hal + and his wife returned pretty early to their plantation; and I, not a + little annoyed at the course which events were taking, divided my time + pretty much between my own family and that of our Governor, who professed + himself very eager to have my advice and company. There were the strongest + political differences, but as yet no actual personal quarrel. Even after + the dissolution of our House of Assembly (the members of which adjourned + to a tavern, and there held that famous meeting where, I believe, the idea + of a congress of all the colonies was first proposed), the gentlemen who + were strongest in opposition remained good friends with his Excellency, + partook of his hospitality, and joined him in excursions of pleasure. The + session over, the gentry went home and had meetings in their respective + counties; and the Assemblies in most of the other provinces having been + also abruptly dissolved, it was agreed everywhere that a general congress + should be held. Philadelphia, as the largest and most important city on + our continent, was selected as the place of meeting; and those celebrated + conferences began, which were but the angry preface of war. We were still + at God save the King; we were still presenting our humble petitions to the + throne; but when I went to visit my brother Harry at Fanny's Mount (his + new plantation lay not far from ours, but with Rappahannock between us, + and towards Mattaponey River), he rode out on business one morning, and I + in the afternoon happened to ride too, and was told by one of the grooms + that master was gone towards Willis's Ordinary; in which direction, + thinking no harm, I followed. And upon a clear place not far from + Willis's, as I advance out of the wood, I come on Captain Hal on + horseback, with three- or four-and-thirty countrymen round about him, + armed with every sort of weapon, pike, scythe, fowling-piece, and musket; + and the Captain, with two or three likely young fellows as officers under + him, putting the men through their exercise. As I rode up a queer + expression comes over Hal's face. “Present arms!” says he (and the army + tries to perform the salute as well they could). “Captain Cade, this is my + brother, Sir George Warrington.” + </p> + <p> + “As a relation of yours, Colonel,” says the individual addressed as + captain, “the gentleman is welcome,” and he holds out a hand accordingly. + </p> + <p> + “And—and a true friend to Virginia,” says Hal, with a reddening + face. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, please God! gentlemen,” say I, on which the regiment gives a hearty + huzzay for the Colonel and his brother. The drill over, the officers, and + the men too, were for adjourning to Willis's and taking some refreshment, + but Colonel Hal said he could not drink with them that afternoon, and we + trotted homewards together. + </p> + <p> + “So, Hal, the cat's out of the bag!” I said. + </p> + <p> + He gave me a hard look. “I guess there's wilder cats in it. It must come + to this, George. I say, you mustn't tell Madam,” he adds. + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” I cried, “do you mean that with fellows such as those I saw + yonder, you and your friends are going to make fight against the greatest + nation and the best army in the world?” + </p> + <p> + “I guess we shall get an awful whipping,” says Hal, “and that's the fact. + But then, George,” he added, with his sweet kind smile, “we are young, and + a whipping or two may do us good. Won't it do us good, Dolly, you old + slut?” and he gives a playful touch with his whip to an old dog of all + trades, that was running by him. + </p> + <p> + I did not try to urge upon him (I had done so in vain many times + previously) our British side of the question, the side which appears to me + to be the best. He was accustomed to put off my reasons by saying, “All + mighty well, brother, you speak as an Englishman, and have cast in your + lot with your country, as I have with mine.” To this argument I own there + is no answer, and all that remains for the disputants is to fight the + matter out, when the strongest is in the right. Which had the right in the + wars of the last century? The king or the parliament? The side that was + uppermost was the right, and on the whole much more humane in their + victory than the Cavaliers would have been had they won. Nay, suppose we + Tories had won the day in America; how frightful and bloody that triumph + would have been! What ropes and scaffolds one imagines, what noble heads + laid low! A strange feeling this, I own; I was on the Loyalist side, and + yet wanted the Whigs to win. My brother Hal, on the other hand, who + distinguished himself greatly with his regiment, never allowed a word of + disrespect against the enemy whom he opposed. “The officers of the British + army,” he used to say, “are gentlemen: at least, I have not heard that + they are very much changed since my time. There may be scoundrels and + ruffians amongst the enemy's troops; I dare say we could find some such + amongst our own. Our business is to beat his Majesty's forces, not call + them names;—any rascal can do that.” And from a name which Mr. Lee + gave my brother, and many of his rough horsemen did not understand, Harry + was often called “Chevaleer Baird” in the Continental army. He was a + knight, indeed, without fear and without reproach. + </p> + <p> + As for the argument, “What could such people as those you were drilling do + against the British army?” Hal had as confident answer. + </p> + <p> + “They can beat them,” says he, “Mr. George, that's what they can do.” + </p> + <p> + “Great heavens!” I cry, “do you mean with your company of Wolfe's you + would hesitate to attack five hundred such?” + </p> + <p> + “With my company of the 67th, I would go anywhere. And, agreed with you, + that at this present moment I know more of soldiering than they;—but + place me on that open ground where you found us, armed as you please, and + half a dozen of my friends, with rifles, in the woods round about me; + which would get the better? You know best, Mr. Braddock's aide-de-camp!” + </p> + <p> + There was no arguing with such a determination as this. “Thou knowest my + way of thinking, Hal,” I said; “and having surprised you at your work, I + must tell my lord what I have seen.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell him, of course. You have seen our county militia exercising. You + will see as much in every colony from here to the Saint Lawrence or + Georgia. As I am an old soldier, they have elected me colonel. What more + natural? Come, brother, let us trot on; dinner will be ready, and Mrs. Fan + does not like me to keep it waiting.” And so we made for his house, which + was open like all the houses of our Virginian gentlemen, and where not + only every friend and neighbour, but every stranger and traveller, was + sure to find a welcome. + </p> + <p> + “So, Mrs. Fan,” I said, “I have found out what game my brother has been + playing.” + </p> + <p> + “I trust the Colonel will have plenty of sport ere long,” says she, with a + toss of her head. + </p> + <p> + My wife thought Harry had been hunting, and I did not care to undeceive + her, though what I had seen and he had told me, made me naturally very + anxious. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0089" id="link2HCH0089"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER LXXXIX. A Colonel without a Regiment + </h2> + <p> + When my visit to my brother was concluded, and my wife and young child had + returned to our maternal house at Richmond, I made it my business to go + over to our Governor, then at his country house, near Williamsburg, and + confer with him regarding these open preparations for war, which were + being made not only in our own province, but in every one of the colonies + as far as we could learn. Gentlemen, with whose names history has since + made all the world familiar, were appointed from Virginia as Delegates to + the General Congress about to be held in Philadelphia. In Massachusetts + the people and the Royal troops were facing each other almost in open + hostility: in Maryland and Pennsylvania we flattered ourselves that a much + more loyal spirit was prevalent: in the Carolinas and Georgia the mother + country could reckon upon staunch adherents, and a great majority of the + inhabitants: and it never was to be supposed that our own Virginia would + forgo its ancient loyalty. We had but few troops in the province, but its + gentry were proud of their descent from the Cavaliers of the old times: + and round about our Governor were swarms of loud and confident Loyalists + who were only eager for the moment when they might draw the sword, and + scatter the rascally rebels before them. Of course, in these meetings I + was forced to hear many a hard word against my poor Harry. His wife, all + agreed (and not without good reason, perhaps), had led him to adopt these + extreme anti-British opinions which he had of late declared; and he was + infatuated by his attachment to the gentleman of Mount Vernon, it was + farther said, whose opinions my brother always followed, and who, day by + day, was committing himself farther in the dreadful and desperate course + of resistance. “This is your friend,” the people about his Excellency + said, “this is the man you favoured, who has had your special confidence, + and who has repeatedly shared your hospitality!” It could not but be owned + much of this was true: though what some of our eager Loyalists called + treachery was indeed rather a proof of the longing desire Mr. Washington + and other gentlemen had, not to withdraw from their allegiance to the + Crown, but to remain faithful, and exhaust the very last chance of + reconciliation, before they risked the other terrible alternative of + revolt and separation. Let traitors arm, and villains draw the parricidal + sword! We at least would remain faithful; the unconquerable power of + England would be exerted, and the misguided and ungrateful provinces + punished and brought back to their obedience. With what cheers we drank + his Majesty's health after our banquets! We would die in defence of his + rights; we would have a Prince of his Royal house to come and govern his + ancient dominions! In consideration of my own and my excellent mother's + loyalty, my brother's benighted conduct should be forgiven. Was it yet too + late to secure him by offering him a good command? Would I not intercede + with him, who, it was known, had a great influence over him? In our + Williamsburg councils we were alternately in every state of exaltation and + triumph, of hope, of fury against the rebels, of anxious expectancy of + home succour, of doubt, distrust, and gloom. + </p> + <p> + I promised to intercede with my brother; and wrote to him, I own, with but + little hope of success, repeating, and trying to strengthen the arguments + which I had many a time used in our conversations. My mother, too, used + her authority; but from this, I own, I expected little advantage. She + assailed him, as her habit was, with such texts of Scripture as she + thought bore out her own opinion, and threatened punishment to him. She + menaced him with the penalties which must fall upon those who were + disobedient to the powers that be. She pointed to his elder brother's + example; and hinted, I fear, at his subjection to his wife, the very worst + argument she could use in such a controversy. She did not show me her own + letter to him; possibly she knew I might find fault with the energy of + some of the expressions she thought proper to employ; but she showed me + his answer, from which I gathered what the style and tenor of her argument + had been. And if Madam Esmond brought Scripture to her aid, Mr. Hal, to my + surprise, brought scores of texts to bear upon her in reply, and addressed + her in a very neat, temperate, and even elegant composition, which I + thought his wife herself was scarcely capable of penning. Indeed, I found + he had enlisted the services of Mr. Belman, the New Richmond clergyman, + who had taken up strong opinions on the Whig side, and who preached and + printed sermons against Hagan (who, as I have said, was of our faction), + in which I fear Belman had the best of the dispute. + </p> + <p> + My exhortations to Hal had no more success than our mother's. He did not + answer my letters. Being still farther pressed by the friends of the + Government, I wrote over most imprudently to say I would visit him at the + end of the week at Fanny's Mount; but on arriving, I only found my sister, + who received me with perfect cordiality, but informed me that Hal was gone + into the country, ever so far towards the Blue Mountains to look at some + horses, and was to be away—she did not know how long he was to be + away! + </p> + <p> + I knew then there was no hope. “My dear,” I said, “as far as I can judge + from the signs of the times, the train that has been laid these years must + have a match put to it before long. Harry is riding away. God knows to + what end.” + </p> + <p> + “The Lord prosper the righteous cause, Sir George,” says she. + </p> + <p> + “Amen, with all my heart. You and he speak as Americans; I as an + Englishman. Tell him from me, that when anything in the course of nature + shall happen to our mother, I have enough for me and mine in England, and + shall resign all our land here in Virginia to him.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't mean that, George?” she cries, with brightening eyes. “Well, to + be sure, it is but right and fair,” she presently added. “Why should you, + who are the eldest but by an hour, have everything? a palace and lands in + England—the plantation here—the title—and children—and + my poor Harry none? But 'tis generous of you all the same—leastways + handsome and proper, and I didn't expect it of you; and you don't take + after your mother in this, Sir George, that you don't, nohow. Give my love + to sister Theo!” And she offers me a cheek to kiss, ere I ride away from + her door. With such a woman as Fanny to guide him, how could I hope to + make a convert of my brother? + </p> + <p> + Having met with this poor success in my enterprise, I rode back to our + Governor, with whom I agreed that it was time to arm in earnest, and + prepare ourselves against the shock that certainly was at hand. He and his + whole Court of Officials were not a little agitated and excited; + needlessly savage, I thought, in their abuse of the wicked Whigs, and loud + in their shouts of Old England for ever; but they were all eager for the + day when the contending parties could meet hand to hand, and they could + have an opportunity of riding those wicked Whigs down. And I left my lord, + having received the thanks of his Excellency in Council, and engaged to do + my best endeavours to raise a body of men in defence of the Crown. Hence + the corps, called afterwards the Westmoreland Defenders, had its rise, of + which I had the honour to be appointed Colonel, and which I was to command + when it appeared in the field. And that fortunate event must straightway + take place, so soon as the county knew that a gentleman of my station and + name would take the command of the force. The announcement was duly made + in the Government Gazette, and we filled in our officers readily enough; + but the recruits, it must be owned, were slow to come in, and quick to + disappear. Nevertheless, friend Hagan eagerly came forward to offer + himself as chaplain. Madam Esmond gave us our colours, and progressed + about the country engaging volunteers; but the most eager recruiter of all + was my good old tutor, little Mr. Dempster, who had been out as a boy on + the Jacobite side in Scotland, and who went specially into the Carolinas, + among the children of his banished old comrades, who had worn the white + cockade of Prince Charles, and who most of all showed themselves in this + contest still loyal to the Crown. + </p> + <p> + Hal's expedition in search of horses led him not only so far as the Blue + Mountains in our colony, but thence on a long journey to Annapolis and + Baltimore; and from Baltimore to Philadelphia, to be sure; where a second + General Congress was now sitting, attended by our Virginian gentlemen of + the last year. Meanwhile, all the almanacs tell what had happened. + Lexington had happened, and the first shots were fired in the war which + was to end in the independence of our native country. We still protested + of our loyalty to his Majesty; but we stated our determination to die or + be free; and some twenty thousand of our loyal petitioners assembled round + about Boston with arms in their hands and cannon, to which they had helped + themselves out of the Government stores. Mr. Arnold had begun that career + which was to end so brilliantly, by the daring and burglarious capture of + two forts, of which he forced the doors. Three generals from Bond Street, + with a large reinforcement, were on their way to help Mr. Gage out of his + ugly position at Boston. Presently the armies were actually engaged; and + our British generals commenced their career of conquest and pacification + in the colonies by the glorious blunder of Breed's Hill. Here they + fortified themselves, feeling themselves not strong enough for the moment + to win any more glorious victories over the rebels; and the two armies lay + watching each other whilst Congress was deliberating at Philadelphia who + should command the forces of the confederated colonies. + </p> + <p> + We all know on whom the most fortunate choice of the nation fell. Of the + Virginian regiment which marched to join the new General-in-Chief, one was + commanded by Henry Esmond Warrington, Esq., late a Captain in his + Majesty's service; and by his side rode his little wife, of whose bravery + we often subsequently heard. I was glad, for one, that she had quitted + Virginia; for, had she remained after her husband's departure, our mother + would infallibly have gone over to give her battle; and I was thankful, at + least, that that terrific incident of civil war was spared to our family + and history. + </p> + <p> + The rush of our farmers and country-folk was almost all directed towards + the new northern army; and our people were not a little flattered at the + selection of a Virginian gentleman for the principal command. With a + thrill of wrath and fury the provinces heard of the blood drawn at + Lexington; and men yelled denunciations against the cruelty and wantonness + of the bloody British invader. The invader was but doing his duty, and was + met and resisted by men in arms, who wished to prevent him from helping + himself to his own; but people do not stay to weigh their words when they + mean to be angry; the colonists had taken their side; and, with what I own + to be a natural spirit and ardour, were determined to have a trial of + strength with the braggart domineering mother country. Breed's Hill became + a mountain, as it were, which all men of the American Continent might + behold, with Liberty, Victory, Glory, on its flaming summit. These dreaded + troops could be withstood, then, by farmers and ploughmen. These famous + officers could be outgeneralled by doctors, lawyers, and civilians! + Granted that Britons could conquer all the world;—here were their + children who could match and conquer Britons! Indeed, I don't know which + of the two deserves the palm, either for bravery or vainglory. We are in + the habit of laughing at our French neighbours for boasting, gasconading, + and so forth; but for a steady self-esteem and indomitable confidence in + our own courage, greatness, magnanimity;—who can compare with + Britons, except their children across the Atlantic? + </p> + <p> + The people round about us took the people's side for the most part in the + struggle, and, truth to say, Sir George Warrington found his regiment of + Westmoreland Defenders but very thinly manned at the commencement, and + woefully diminished in numbers presently, not only after the news of + battle from the north, but in consequence of the behaviour of my Lord our + Governor, whose conduct enraged no one more than his own immediate + partisans, and the loyal adherents of the Crown throughout the colony. + That he would plant the King's standard, and summon all loyal gentlemen to + rally round it, had been a measure agreed in countless meetings, and + applauded over thousands of bumpers. I have a pretty good memory, and + could mention the name of many a gentleman, now a smug officer of the + United States Government, whom I have heard hiccup out a prayer that he + might be allowed to perish under the folds of his country's flag; or roar + a challenge to the bloody traitors absent with the rebel army. But let + bygones be bygones. This, however, is matter of public history, that his + lordship, our Governor, a peer of Scotland, the Sovereign's representative + in his Old Dominion, who so loudly invited all the lieges to join the + King's standard, was the first to put it in his pocket, and fly to his + ships out of reach of danger. He would not leave them, save as a pirate at + midnight to burn and destroy. Meanwhile, we loyal gentry remained on + shore, committed to our cause, and only subject to greater danger in + consequence of the weakness and cruelty of him who ought to have been our + leader. It was the beginning of June, our orchards and gardens were all + blooming with plenty and summer; a week before I had been over at + Williamsburg, exchanging compliments with his Excellency, devising plans + for future movements by which we should be able to make good head against + rebellion, shaking hands heartily at parting, and vincere aut mori the + very last words upon all our lips. Our little family was gathered at + Richmond, talking over, as we did daily, the prospect of affairs in the + north, the quarrels between our own Assembly and his Excellency, by whom + they had been afresh convened, when our ghostly Hagan rushes into our + parlour, and asks, “Have we heard the news of the Governor?” + </p> + <p> + “Has he dissolved the Assembly again, and put that scoundrel Patrick Henry + in irons?” asks Madam Esmond. + </p> + <p> + “No such thing! His lordship with his lady and family have left their + palace privately at night. They are on board a man-of-war off York, whence + my lord has sent a despatch to the Assembly, begging them to continue + their sitting, and announcing that he himself had only quitted his + Government House out of fear of the fury of the people.” + </p> + <p> + What was to become of the sheep, now the shepherd had run away? No + entreaties could be more pathetic than those of the gentlemen of the House + of Assembly, who guaranteed their Governor security if he would but land, + and implored him to appear amongst them, if but to pass bills and transact + the necessary business. No: the man-of-war was his seat of government, and + my lord desired his House of Commons to wait upon him there. This was + erecting the King's standard with a vengeance. Our Governor had left us; + our Assembly perforce ruled in his stead; a rabble of people followed the + fugitive Viceroy on board his ships. A mob of negroes deserted out of the + plantations to join this other deserter. He and his black allies landed + here and there in darkness, and emulated the most lawless of our opponents + in their alacrity at seizing and burning. He not only invited runaway + negroes, but he sent an ambassador to Indians with entreaties to join his + standard. When he came on shore it was to burn and destroy: when the + people resisted, as at Norfolk and Hampton, he retreated and betook + himself to his ships again. + </p> + <p> + Even my mother, after that miserable flight of our chief, was scared at + the aspect of affairs, and doubted of the speedy putting down of the + rebellion. The arming of the negroes was, in her opinion, the most + cowardly blow of all. The loyal gentry were ruined, and robbed, many of + them, of their only property. A score of our worst hands deserted from + Richmond and Castlewood, and fled to our courageous Governor's fleet; not + all of them, though some of them, were slain, and a couple hung by the + enemy for plunder and robbery perpetrated whilst with his lordship's + precious army. Because her property was wantonly injured, and his + Majesty's chief officer an imbecile, would Madam Esmond desert the cause + of Royalty and Honour? My good mother was never so prodigiously dignified, + and loudly and enthusiastically loyal, as after she heard of our + Governor's lamentable defection. The people round about her, though most + of them of quite a different way of thinking, listened to her speeches + without unkindness. Her oddities were known far and wide through our + province; where, I am afraid, many of the wags amongst our young men were + accustomed to smoke her, as the phrase then was, and draw out her stories + about the Marquis her father, about the splendour of her family, and so + forth. But along with her oddities, her charities and kindness were + remembered, and many a rebel, as she called them, had a sneaking regard + for the pompous little Tory lady. + </p> + <p> + As for the Colonel of the Westmoreland Defenders, though that gentleman's + command dwindled utterly away after the outrageous conduct of his chief, + yet I escaped from some very serious danger which might have befallen me + and mine in consequence of some disputes which I was known to have had + with my Lord Dunmore. Going on board his ship after he had burned the + stores at Hampton, and issued the proclamation calling the negroes to his + standard, I made so free as to remonstrate with him in regard to both + measures; I implored him to return to Williamsburg, where hundreds of us, + thousands, I hoped, would be ready to defend him to the last extremity; + and in my remonstrance used terms so free, or rather, as I suspect, + indicated my contempt for his conduct so clearly by my behaviour, that his + lordship flew into a rage, said I was a rebel like all the rest of them, + and ordered me under arrest there on board his own ship. In my quality of + militia officer (since the breaking out of the troubles I commonly used a + red coat, to show that I wore the King's colour) I begged for a + court-martial immediately; and turning round to two officers who had been + present during our altercation, desired them to remember all that had + passed between his lordship and me. These gentlemen were no doubt of my + way of thinking as to the chief's behaviour, and our interview ended in my + going ashore unaccompanied by a guard. The story got wind amongst the Whig + gentry, and was improved in the telling. I had spoken out my mind manfully + to the Governor; no Whig could have uttered sentiments more liberal. When + riots took place in Richmond, and of the Loyalists remaining there, many + were in peril of life and betook themselves to the ships, my mother's + property and house were never endangered, nor her family insulted. We were + still at the stage when a reconciliation was fondly thought possible. “Ah! + if all the Tories were like you,” a distinguished Whig has said to me, “we + and the people at home should soon come together again.” This, of course, + was before the famous Fourth of July, and that Declaration which rendered + reconcilement impossible. Afterwards, when parties grew more rancorous, + motives much less creditable were assigned for my conduct, and it was said + I chose to be a Liberal Tory because I was a cunning fox, and wished to + keep my estate whatever way things went. And this, I am bound to say, is + the opinion regarding my humble self which has obtained in very high + quarters at home, where a profound regard for my own interest has been + supposed not uncommonly to have occasioned my conduct during the late + unhappy troubles. + </p> + <p> + There were two or three persons in the world (for I had not told my mother + how I was resolved to cede to my brother all my life-interest in our + American property) who knew that I had no mercenary motives in regard to + the conduct I pursued. It was not worth while to undeceive others; what + were life worth, if a man were forced to feel himself a la piste of all + the calumnies uttered against him? And I do not quite know to this present + day, how it happened that my mother, that notorious Loyalist, was left for + several years quite undisturbed in her house at Castlewood, a stray troop + or company of Continentals being occasionally quartered upon her. I do not + know for certain, I say, how this piece of good fortune happened, though I + can give a pretty shrewd guess as to the cause of it. Madam Fanny, after a + campaign before Boston, came back to Fanny's Mount, leaving her Colonel. + My modest Hal, until the conclusion of the war, would accept no higher + rank, believing that in command of a regiment he could be more useful than + in charge of a division. Madam Fanny, I say, came back, and it was + remarkable after her return how her old asperity towards my mother seemed + to be removed, and what an affection she showed for her and all the + property. She was great friends with the Governor and some of the most + influential gentlemen of the new Assembly:—Madam Esmond was + harmless, and for her son's sake, who was bravely battling for his + country, her errors should be lightly visited:—I know not how it + was, but for years she remained unharmed, except in respect of heavy + Government requisitions, which of course she had to pay, and it was not + until the redcoats appeared about our house, that much serious evil came + to it. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0090" id="link2HCH0090"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XC + </h2> + <h3> + In which we both fight and run away + </h3> + <p> + What was the use of a Colonel without a regiment? The Governor and Council + who had made such a parade of thanks in endowing me with mine, were away + out of sight, skulking on board ships, with an occasional piracy and arson + on shore. My Lord Dunmore's black allies frightened away those of his own + blood; and besides these negroes whom he had summoned round him in arms, + we heard that he had sent an envoy among the Indians of the South, and + that they were to come down in numbers and tomahawk our people into good + behaviour. “And these are to be our allies!” I say to my mother, + exchanging ominous looks with her, and remembering, with a ghastly + distinctness, that savage whose face glared over mine, and whose knife was + at my throat when Florac struck him down on Braddock's Field. We put our + house of Castlewood into as good a state of defence as we could devise; + but, in truth, it was more of the red men and the blacks than of the + rebels we were afraid. I never saw my mother lose courage but once, and + then when she was recounting to us the particulars of our father's death + in a foray of Indians more than forty years ago. Seeing some figures one + night moving in front of our house, nothing could persuade the good lady + but that they were savages, and she sank on her knees crying out, “The + Lord have mercy upon us! The Indians—the Indians!” + </p> + <p> + My lord's negro allies vanished on board his ships, or where they could + find pay and plunder; but the painted heroes from the South never made + their appearance, though I own to have looked at my mother's grey head, my + wife's brown hair, and our little one's golden ringlets, with a horrible + pang of doubt lest these should fall the victims of ruffian war. And it + was we who fought with such weapons, and enlisted these allies! But that I + dare not (so to speak) be setting myself up as interpreter of Providence, + and pointing out the special finger of Heaven (as many people are wont to + do), I would say our employment of these Indians, and of the German + mercenaries, brought their own retribution with them in this war. In the + field, where the mercenaries were attacked by the Provincials, they + yielded, and it was triumphing over them that so raised the spirit of the + Continental army; and the murder of one woman (Miss McCrea) by a + half-dozen drunken Indians, did more harm to the Royal cause than the loss + of a battle or the destruction of regiments. + </p> + <p> + Now, the Indian panic over, Madam Esmond's courage returned: and she began + to be seriously and not unjustly uneasy at the danger which I ran myself, + and which I brought upon others, by remaining in Virginia. + </p> + <p> + “What harm can they do me,” says she, “a poor woman? If I have one son a + colonel without a regiment, I have another with a couple of hundred + Continentals behind him in Mr. Washington's camp. If the Royalists come, + they will let me off for your sake; if the rebels appear, I shall have + Harry's passport. I don't wish, sir, I don't like that your delicate wife + and this dear little baby should be here, and only increase the risk of + all of us! We must have them away to Boston or New York. Don't talk about + defending me! Who will think of hurting a poor, harmless, old woman? If + the rebels come, I shall shelter behind Mrs. Fanny's petticoats, and shall + be much safer without you in the house than in it.” This she said in part, + perhaps, because 'twas reasonable; more so because she would have me and + my family out of the danger; and danger or not, for her part felt that she + was determined to remain in the land where her father was buried, and she + was born. She was living backwards, so to speak. She had seen the new + generation, and blessed them, and bade them farewell. She belonged to the + past, and old days and memories. + </p> + <p> + While we were debating about the Boston scheme, comes the news that the + British have evacuated that luckless city altogether, never having + ventured to attack Mr. Washington in his camp at Cambridge (though he lay + there for many months without powder at our mercy); but waiting until he + procured ammunition, and seized and fortified Dorchester heights, which + commanded the town, out of which the whole British army and colony was + obliged to beat a retreat. That the King's troops won the battle at + Bunker's Hill, there is no more doubt than that they beat the French at + Blenheim; but through the war their chiefs seem constantly to have been + afraid of assaulting entrenched Continentals afterwards; else why, from + July to March, hesitate to strike an almost defenceless enemy? Why the + hesitation at Long Island, when the Continental army was in our hand? Why + that astonishing timorousness—of Howe before Valley Forge, where the + relics of a force starving, sickening, and in rags, could scarcely man the + lines, which they held before a great, victorious, and perfectly appointed + army? + </p> + <p> + As the hopes and fears of the contending parties rose and fell, it was + curious to mark the altered tone of the partisans of either. When the news + came to us in the country of the evacuation of Boston, every little Whig + in the neighbourhood made his bow to Madam, and advised her to a speedy + submission. She did not carry her loyalty quite so openly as heretofore, + and flaunt her flag in the faces of the public, but she never swerved. + Every night and morning in private poor Hagan prayed for the Royal Family + in our own household, and on Sundays any neighbours were welcome to attend + the service, where my mother acted as a very emphatic clerk, and the + prayer for the High Court of Parliament under our most religious and + gracious King was very stoutly delivered. The brave Hagan was a parson + without a living, as I was a Militia Colonel without a regiment. Hagan had + continued to pray stoutly for King George in Williamsburg, long after his + Excellency our Governor had run away: but on coming to church one Sunday + to perform his duty, he found a corporal's guard at the church-door, who + told him that the Committee of Safety had put another divine in his place, + and he was requested to keep a quiet tongue in his head. He told the men + to “lead him before their chiefs” (our honest friend always loved tall + words and tragic attitudes); and accordingly was marched through the + streets to the Capitol, with a chorus of white and coloured blackguards at + the skirts of his gown; and had an interview with Messrs. Henry and the + new State officers, and confronted the robbers, as he said, in their den. + Of course he was for making an heroic speech before these gentlemen (and + was one of many men who perhaps would have no objection to be made + martyrs, so that they might be roasted coram populo, or tortured in a full + house), but Mr. Henry was determined to give him no such chance. After + keeping Hagan three or four hours waiting in an anteroom in the company of + negroes, when the worthy divine entered the new chief magistrate's room + with an undaunted mien, and began a prepared speech with—“Sir, by + what authority am I, a minister of the——” “Mr. Hagan,” says + the other, interrupting him, “I am too busy to listen to speeches. And as + for King George, he has henceforth no more authority in this country than + King Nebuchadnezzar. Mind you that, and hold your tongue, if you please! + Stick to King John, sir, and King Macbeth; and if you will send round your + benefit-tickets, all the Assembly shall come and hear you. Did you ever + see Mr. Hagan on the boards, when you was in London, General?” And, so + saying, Henry turns round upon Mr. Washington's second in command, General + Lee, who was now come into Virginia upon State affairs, and our shamefaced + good Hagan was bustled out of the room, reddening, and almost crying with + shame. After this event we thought that Hagan's ministrations were best + confined to us in the country, and removed the worthy pastor from his + restive lambs in the city. + </p> + <p> + The selection of Virginians to the very highest civil and military + appointments of the new government bribed and flattered many of our + leading people, who, otherwise, and but for the outrageous conduct of our + government, might have remained faithful to the Crown, and made good head + against the rising rebellion. But, although we Loyalists were gagged and + muzzled, though the Capitol was in the hands of the Whigs, and our vaunted + levies of loyal recruits so many Falstaff's regiments for the most part, + the faithful still kept intelligences with one another in the colony, and + with our neighbours; and though we did not rise, and though we ran away, + and though, in examination before committees, justices, and so forth, some + of our frightened people gave themselves Republican airs, and vowed + perdition to kings and nobles; yet we knew each other pretty well, and—according + as the chances were more or less favourable to us, the master more or less + hard—we concealed our colours, showed our colours, half showed our + colours, or downright apostatised for the nonce, and cried, “Down with + King George!” Our negroes bore about, from house to house, all sorts of + messages and tokens. Endless underhand plots and schemes were engaged in + by those who could not afford the light. The battle over, the neutrals + come and join the winning side, and shout as loudly as the patriots. The + runaways are not counted. Will any man tell me that the signers and ardent + well-wishers of the Declaration of Independence were not in a minority of + the nation, and that the minority did not win? We knew that apart of the + defeated army of Massachusetts was about to make an important expedition + southward, upon the success of which the very greatest hopes were founded; + and I, for one, being anxious to make a movement as soon as there was any + chance of activity, had put myself in communication with the ex-Governor + Martin, of North Carolina, whom I proposed to join, with three or four of + our Virginian gentlemen, officers of that notable corps of which we only + wanted privates. We made no particular mystery about our departure from + Castlewood; the affairs of Congress were not going so well yet that the + new government could afford to lay any particular stress or tyranny upon + persons of a doubtful way of thinking. Gentlemen's houses were still open; + and in our southern fashion we would visit our friends for months at a + time. My wife and I, with our infant and a fitting suite of servants, took + leave of Madam Esmond on a visit to a neighbouring plantation. We went + thence to another friend's house, and then to another, till finally we + reached Wilmington, in North Carolina, which was the point at which we + expected to stretch a hand to the succours which were coming to meet us. + </p> + <p> + Ere our arrival, our brother Carolinian Royalists had shown themselves in + some force. Their encounters with the Whigs had been unlucky. The poor + Highlanders had been no more fortunate in their present contest in favour + of King George, than when they had drawn their swords against him in their + own country. We did not reach Wilmington until the end of May, by which + time we found Admiral Parker's squadron there, with General Clinton and + five British regiments on board, whose object was a descent upon + Charleston. + </p> + <p> + The General, to whom I immediately made myself known, seeing that my + regiment consisted of Lady Warrington, our infant, whom she was nursing, + and three negro servants, received us at first with a very grim welcome. + But Captain Horner of the Sphinx frigate, who had been on the Jamaica + station, and received, like all the rest of the world, many kindnesses + from our dear Governor there, when he heard that my wife was General + Lambert's daughter, eagerly received her on board, and gave up his best + cabin to our service; and so we were refugees, too, like my Lord Dunmore, + having waved our flag, to be sure, and pocketed it, and slipped out at the + back door. From Wilmington we bore away quickly to Charleston, and in the + course of the voyage and our delay in the river, previous to our assault + on the place, I made some acquaintance with Mr. Clinton, which increased + to a further intimacy. It was the King's birthday when we appeared in the + river: we determined it was a glorious day for the commencement of the + expedition. + </p> + <p> + It did not take place for some days after, and I leave out, purposely, all + descriptions of my Penelope parting from her Hector, going forth on this + expedition. In the first place, Hector is perfectly well (though a little + gouty), nor has any rascal of a Pyrrhus made a prize of his widow: and in + times of war and commotion, are not such scenes of woe and terror, and + parting, occurring every hour? I can see the gentle face yet over the + bulwark, as we descend the ship's side into the boats, and the smile of + the infant on her arm. What old stories, to be sure! Captain Miles, having + no natural taste for poetry, you have forgot the verses, no doubt, in Mr. + Pope's Homer, in which you are described as parting with your heroic + father; but your mother often read them to you as a boy, and keeps the + gorget I wore on that day somewhere amongst her dressing-boxes now. + </p> + <p> + My second venture at fighting was no more lucky than my first. We came + back to our ships that evening thoroughly beaten. The madcap Lee, whom + Clinton had faced at Boston, now met him at Charleston. Lee, and the + gallant garrison there, made a brilliant and most successful resistance. + The fort on Sullivan's Island, which we attacked, was a nut we could not + crack. The fire of all our frigates was not strong enough to pound its + shell; the passage by which we moved up to the assault of the place was + not fordable, as those officers found—Sir Henry at the head of them, + who was always the first to charge—who attempted to wade it. Death + by shot, by drowning, by catching my death of cold, I had braved before I + returned to my wife; and our frigate being aground for a time and got off + with difficulty, was agreeably cannonaded by the enemy until she got off + her bank. + </p> + <p> + A small incident in the midst of this unlucky struggle was the occasion of + a subsequent intimacy which arose between me and Sir Harry Clinton, and + bound me to that most gallant officer during the Period in which it was my + fortune to follow the war. Of his qualifications as a leader there may be + many opinions: I fear to say, regarding a man I heartily respect and + admire, there ought only to be one. Of his personal bearing and his + courage there can be no doubt; he was always eager to show it; and whether + at the final charge on Breed's Hill, when at the head of the rallied + troops he carried the Continental lines, or here before Sullivan's Fort, + or a year later at Fort Washington, when, standard in hand, he swept up + the height, and entered the fort at the head of the storming column, + Clinton was always foremost in the race of battle, and the King's service + knew no more admirable soldier. + </p> + <p> + We were taking to the water from our boats, with the intention of forcing + a column to the fort, through a way which our own guns had rendered + practicable, when a shot struck a boat alongside of us, so well aimed, as + actually to put three-fourths of the boat's crew hors de combat, and knock + down the officer steering, and the flag behind him. I could not help + crying out, “Bravo! well aimed!” for no ninepins ever went down more + helplessly than these poor fellows before the round shot. Then the + General, turning round to me, says, rather grimly, “Sir, the behaviour of + the enemy seems to please you!” “I am pleased, sir,” says I, “that my + countrymen, yonder, should fight as becomes our nation.” We floundered on + towards the fort in the midst of the same amiable attentions from small + arms and great, until we found the water was up to our breasts and + deepening at every step, when we were fain to take to our boats again and + pull out of harm's way. Sir Henry waited upon my Lady Warrington on board + the Sphinx after this, and was very gracious to her, and mighty facetious + regarding the character of the humble writer of the present memoir, whom + his Excellency always described as a rebel at heart. I pray my children + may live to see or engage in no great revolutions,—such as that, for + instance, raging in the country of our miserable French neighbours. Save a + very, very few indeed, the actors in those great tragedies do not bear to + be scanned too closely; the chiefs are often no better than ranting + quacks; the heroes ignoble puppets; the heroines anything but pure. The + prize is not always to the brave. In our revolution it certainly did fall, + for once and for a wonder, to the most deserving: but who knows his + enemies now? His great and surprising triumphs were not in those rare + engagements with the enemy where he obtained a trifling mastery; but over + Congress; over hunger and disease; over lukewarm friends, or smiling foes + in his own camp, whom his great spirit had to meet and master. When the + struggle was over, and our important chiefs who had conducted it began to + squabble and accuse each other in their own defence before the nation—what + charges and counter-charges were brought; what pretexts of delay were + urged; what piteous excuses were put forward that this fleet arrived too + late; that that regiment mistook its orders; that these cannon-balls would + not fit those guns; and so to the end of the chapter! Here was a general + who beat us with no shot at times, and no powder, and no money; and he + never thought of a convention; his courage never capitulated! Through all + the doubt and darkness, the danger and long tempest of the war, I think it + was only the American leader's indomitable soul that remained entirely + steady. + </p> + <p> + Of course our Charleston expedition was made the most of, and pronounced a + prodigious victory by the enemy, who had learnt (from their parents, + perhaps) to cry victory if a corporal's guard were surprised, as loud as + if we had won a pitched battle. Mr. Lee rushed back to New York, the + conqueror of conquerors, trumpeting his glory, and by no man received with + more eager delight than by the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. It + was my dear Lee and my dear General between them, then; and it hath always + touched me in the history of our early Revolution to note that simple + confidence and admiration with which the General-in-Chief was wont to + regard officers under him, who had happened previously to serve with the + King's army. So the Mexicans of old looked and wondered when they first + saw an armed Spanish horseman! And this mad, flashy braggart (and another + Continental general, whose name and whose luck afterwards were + sufficiently notorious) you may be sure took advantage of the modesty of + the Commander-in-Chief, and advised, and blustered, and sneered, and + disobeyed orders; daily presenting fresh obstacles (as if he had not + enough otherwise!) in the path over which only Mr. Washington's + astonishing endurance could have enabled him to march. + </p> + <p> + Whilst we were away on our South Carolina expedition, the famous Fourth of + July had taken place, and we and the thirteen United States were parted + for ever. My own native state of Virginia had also distinguished itself by + announcing that all men are equally free; that all power is vested in the + people, who have an inalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their + form of government at pleasure, and that the idea of an hereditary first + magistrate is unnatural and absurd! Our General presented me with this + document fresh from Williamsburg, as we were sailing northward by the + Virginia capes, and, amidst not a little amusement and laughter, pointed + out to me the faith to which, from the Fourth inst. inclusive, I was + bound. There was no help for it; I was a Virginian—my godfathers had + promised and vowed, in my name, that all men were equally free (including, + of course, the race of poor Gumbo), that the idea of a monarchy is absurd, + and that I had the right to alter my form of government at pleasure. I + thought of Madam Esmond at home, and how she would look when these + articles of faith were brought her to subscribe; how would Hagan receive + them? He demolished them in a sermon, in which all the logic was on his + side, but the U.S. Government has not, somehow, been affected by the + discourse; and when he came to touch upon the point that all men being + free, therefore Gumbo and Sady, and Nathan, had assuredly a right to go to + Congress: “Tut, tut! my good Mr. Hagan,” says my mother, “let us hear no + more of this nonsense; but leave such wickedness and folly to the rebels!” + </p> + <p> + By the middle of August we were before New York, whither Mr. Howe had + brought his army that had betaken itself to Halifax after its inglorious + expulsion from Boston. The American Commander-in-Chief was at New York, + and a great battle inevitable; and I looked forward to it with an + inexpressible feeling of doubt and anxiety, knowing that my dearest + brother and his regiment formed part of the troops whom we must attack, + and could not but overpower. Almost the whole of the American army came + over to fight on a small island, where every officer on both sides knew + that they were to be beaten, and whence they had not a chance of escape. + Two frigates, out of a hundred we had placed so as to command the enemy's + entrenched camp and point of retreat across East River to New York, would + have destroyed every bark in which he sought to fly, and compelled him to + lay down his arms on shore. He fought: his hasty levies were utterly + overthrown; some of his generals, his best troops, his artillery taken; + the remnant huddled into their entrenched camp after their rout, the + pursuers entering it with them. The victors were called back; the enemy + was then pent up in a corner of the island, and could not escape. “They + are at our mercy, and are ours to-morrow,” says the gentle General. Not a + ship was set to watch the American force; not a sentinel of ours could see + a movement in their camp. A whole army crossed under our eyes in one + single night to the mainland without the loss of a single man; and General + Howe was suffered to remain in command after this feat, and to complete + his glories of Long Island and Breed's Hill, at Philadelphia! A friend, to + be sure, crossed in the night to say the enemy's army was being ferried + over, but he fell upon a picket of Germans: they could not understand him: + their commander was boozing or asleep. In the morning, when the spy was + brought to some one who could comprehend the American language, the whole + Continental force had crossed the East River, and the empire over thirteen + colonies had slipped away. + </p> + <p> + The opinions I had about our chief were by no means uncommon in the army; + though, perhaps, wisely kept secret by gentlemen under Mr. Howe's + immediate command. Am I more unlucky than other folks, I wonder? or why + are my imprudent sayings carried about more than my neighbours'? My rage + that such a use was made of such a victory was no greater than that of + scores of gentlemen with the army. Why must my name forsooth be given up + to the Commander-in-Chief as that of the most guilty of the grumblers? + Personally, General Howe was perfectly brave, amiable, and good-humoured. + </p> + <p> + “So, Sir George,” says he, “you find fault with me, as a military man, + because there was a fog after the battle on Long Island, and your friends, + the Continentals, gave me the slip! Surely we took and killed enough of + them; but there is no satisfying you gentlemen amateurs!” and he turned + his back on me, and shrugged his shoulders, and talked to some one else. + Amateur I might be, and he the most amiable of men; but if King George had + said to him, “Never more be officer of mine,” yonder agreeable and + pleasant Cassio would most certainly have had his desert. + </p> + <p> + I soon found how our Chief had come in possession of his information + regarding myself. My admirable cousin, Mr. William Esmond—who of + course had forsaken New York and his post, when all the Royal authorities + fled out of the place, and Washington occupied it,—returned along + with our troops and fleets; and, being a gentleman of good birth and name, + and well acquainted with the city, made himself agreeable to the newcomers + of the Royal army, the young bloods, merry fellows, and macaronis, by + introducing them to play-tables, taverns, and yet worse places, with which + the worthy gentleman continued to be familiar in the New World as in the + Old. Coelum non animum. However Will had changed his air, or whithersoever + he transported his carcase, he carried a rascal in his skin. + </p> + <p> + I had heard a dozen stories of his sayings regarding my family, and was + determined neither to avoid him nor seek him; but to call him to account + whensoever we met; and, chancing one day to be at a coffee-house in a + friend's company, my worthy kinsman swaggered in with a couple of young + lads of the army, whom he found it was his pleasure and profit now to lead + into every kind of dissipation. I happened to know one of Mr. Will's young + companions, an aide-de-camp of General Clinton's, who had been in my close + company both at Charleston, before Sullivan's Island, and in the action of + Brooklyn, where our General gloriously led the right wing of the English + army. They took a box without noticing us at first, though I heard my name + three or four times mentioned by my brawling kinsman, who ended some + drunken speech he was making by slapping his fist on the table, and + swearing, “By——, I will do for him, and the bloody rebel, his + brother!” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Mr. Esmond,” says I, coming forward with my hat on. (He looked a + little pale behind his punch-bowl.) “I have long wanted to see you, to set + some little matters right about which there has been a difference between + us.” + </p> + <p> + “And what may those be, sir?” says he, with a volley of oaths. + </p> + <p> + “You have chosen to cast a doubt upon my courage, and say that I shirked a + meeting with you when we were young men. Our relationship and our age + ought to prevent us from having recourse to such murderous follies” (Mr. + Will started up, looking fierce and relieved), “but I give you notice, + that though I can afford to overlook lies against myself, if I hear from + you a word in disparagement of my brother, Colonel Warrington, of the + Continental Army, I will hold you accountable.” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, gentlemen! Mighty fine, indeed! You take notice of Sir George + Warrington's words!” cries Mr. Will over his punch-bowl. + </p> + <p> + “You have been pleased to say,” I continued, growing angry as I spoke, and + being a fool therefore for my pains, “that the very estates we hold in + this country are not ours, but of right revert to your family!” + </p> + <p> + “So they are ours! By George, they're ours! I've heard my brother + Castlewood say so a score of times!” swears Mr. Will. + </p> + <p> + “In that case, sir,” says I, hotly, “your brother, my Lord Castlewood, + tells no more truth than yourself. We have the titles at hone in Virginia. + They are registered in the courts there; and if ever I hear one word more + of this impertinence, I shall call you to account where no constables will + be at hand to interfere!” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder,” cries Will, in a choking voice, “that I don't cut him into + twenty thousand pieces as he stands there before me with his confounded + yellow face. It was my brother Castlewood won his money—no, it was + his brother; d—— you, which are you, the rebel or the other? I + hate the ugly faces of both of you, and, hic!—if you are for the + King, show you are for the King, and drink his health!” and he sank down + into his box with a hiccup and a wild laugh, which he repeated a dozen + times, with a hundred more oaths and vociferous outcries that I should + drink the King's health. + </p> + <p> + To reason with a creature in this condition, or ask explanations or + apologies from him, was absurd. I left Mr. Will to reel to his lodgings + under the care of his young friends—who were surprised to find an + old toper so suddenly affected and so utterly prostrated by liquor—and + limped home to my wife, whom I found happy in possession of a brief letter + from Hal, which a countryman had brought in; and who said not a word about + the affairs of the Continentals with whom he was engaged, but wrote a + couple of pages of rapturous eulogiums upon his brother's behaviour in the + field, which my dear Hal was pleased to admire, as he admired everything I + said and did. + </p> + <p> + I rather looked for a messenger from my amiable kinsman in consequence of + the speeches which had passed between us the night before, and did not + know but that I might be called by Will to make my words good; and when + accordingly Mr. Lacy (our companion of the previous evening) made his + appearance at an early hour of the forenoon, I was beckoning my Lady + Warrington to leave us, when, with a laugh and a cry of “Oh dear, no!” Mr. + Lacy begged her ladyship not to disturb herself. + </p> + <p> + “I have seen,” says he, “a gentleman who begs to send you his apologies if + he uttered a word last night which could offend you.” + </p> + <p> + “What apologies? what words?” asks the anxious wife. + </p> + <p> + I explained that roaring Will Esmond had met me in a coffee-house on the + previous evening, and quarrelled with me, as he had done with hundreds + before. “It appears the fellow is constantly abusive, and invariably + pleads drunkenness, and apologises the next morning, unless he is caned + over-night,” remarked Captain Lacy. And my lady, I dare say, makes a + little sermon, and asks why we gentlemen will go to idle coffee-houses and + run the risk of meeting roaring, roystering Will Esmonds? + </p> + <p> + Our sojourn in New York was enlivened by a project for burning the city + which some ardent patriots entertained and partially executed. Several + such schemes were laid in the course of the war, and each one of the + principal cities was doomed to fire; though, in the interests of peace and + goodwill, I hope it will be remembered that these plans never originated + with the cruel government of a tyrant king, but were always proposed by + gentlemen on the Continental side, who vowed that, rather than remain + under the ignominious despotism of the ruffian of Brunswick, the fairest + towns of America should burn. I presume that the sages who were for + burning down Boston were not actual proprietors in that place, and the New + York burners might come from other parts of the country—from + Philadelphia, or what not. Howbeit, the British spared you, gentlemen, and + we pray you give us credit for this act of moderation. + </p> + <p> + I had not the fortune to be present in the action on the White Plains, + being detained by the hurt which I had received at Long Island, and which + broke out again and again, and took some time in the healing. The + tenderest of nurses watched me through my tedious malady, and was eager + for the day when I should doff my militia coat and return to the quiet + English home where Hetty and our good General were tending our children. + Indeed I don't know that I have yet forgiven myself for the pains and + terrors that I must have caused my poor wife, by keeping her separate from + her young ones, and away from her home, because, forsooth, I wished to see + a little more of the war then going on. Our grand tour in Europe had been + all very well. We had beheld St. Peter's at Rome, and the Bishop thereof; + the Dauphiness of France (alas, to think that glorious head should ever + have been brought so low!) at Paris; and the rightful King of England at + Florence. I had dipped my gout in a half-dozen baths and spas, and played + cards in a hundred courts, as my Travels in Europe (which I propose to + publish after my completion of the History of the American War) will + testify. [Neither of these two projected works of Sir George Warrington + were brought, as it appears, to a completion.] And, during our + peregrinations, my hypochondria diminished (which plagued me woefully at + home); and my health and spirits visibly improved. Perhaps it was because + she saw the evident benefit I had from excitement and change, that my wife + was reconciled to my continuing to enjoy them; and though secretly + suffering pangs at being away from her nursery and her eldest boy (for + whom she ever has had an absurd infatuation), the dear hypocrite scarce + allowed a look of anxiety to appear on her face; encouraged me with + smiles; professed herself eager to follow me; asked why it should be a sin + in me to covet honour? and, in a word, was ready to stay, to go, to smile, + to be sad; to scale mountains, or to go down to the sea in ships; to say + that cold was pleasant, heat tolerable, hunger good sport, dirty lodgings + delightful; though she is wretched sailor, very delicate about the little + she eats, and an extreme sufferer both of cold and heat. Hence, as I + willed to stay on yet a while on my native continent, she was certain + nothing was so good for me; and when I was minded to return home—oh, + how she brightened, and kissed her infant, and told him how he should see + the beautiful gardens at home, and Aunt Theo, and grandpapa, and his + sister, and Miles. “Miles!” cries the little parrot, mocking its mother—and + crowing; as if there was any mighty privilege in seeing Mr. Miles, + forsooth, who was under Doctor Sumner's care at Harrow-on-the-Hill, where, + to do the gentleman justice, he showed that he could eat more tarts than + any boy in the school, and took most creditable prizes at football and + hare-and-hounds. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0091" id="link2HCH0091"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XCI. Satis Pugnae + </h2> + <p> + It has always seemed to me (I speak under the correction of military + gentlemen) that the entrenchments of Breed's Hill served the Continental + army throughout the whole of our American war. The slaughter inflicted + upon us from behind those lines was so severe, and the behaviour of the + enemy so resolute, that the British chiefs respected the barricades of the + Americans hereafter; and were they firing from behind a row of blankets, + certain of our generals rather hesitated to force them. In the affair of + the White Plains, when, for a second time, Mr. Washington's army was quite + at the mercy of the victors, we subsequently heard that our conquering + troops were held back before a barricade actually composed of cornstalks + and straw. Another opportunity was given us, and lasted during a whole + winter, during which the dwindling and dismayed troops of Congress lay + starving and unarmed under our grasp, and the magnanimous Mr. Howe left + the famous camp of Valley Forge untouched, whilst his great, brave, and + perfectly appointed army fiddled and gambled and feasted in Philadelphia. + And, by Byng's countrymen, triumphal arches were erected, tournaments were + held in pleasant mockery of the middle ages, and wreaths and garlands + offered by beautiful ladies to this clement chief, with fantastical + mottoes and posies announcing that his laurels should be immortal! Why + have my ungrateful countrymen in America never erected statues to this + general? They had not in all their army an officer who fought their + battles better; who enabled them to retrieve their errors with such + adroitness; who took care that their defeats should be so little hurtful + to themselves; and when, in the course of events, the stronger force + naturally got the uppermost, who showed such an untiring tenderness, + patience, and complacency in helping the poor disabled opponent on to his + legs again. Ah! think of eighteen years before and the fiery young warrior + whom England had sent out to fight her adversary on the American + continent. Fancy him for ever pacing round the defences behind which the + foe lies sheltered; by night and by day alike sleepless and eager; + consuming away in his fierce wrath and longing, and never closing his eye, + so intent is it in watching; winding the track with untiring scent that + pants and hungers for blood and battle; prowling through midnight forests, + or climbing silent over precipices before dawn; and watching till his + great heart is almost worn out, until the foe shows himself at last, when + he springs on him and grapples with him, and, dying, slays him! Think of + Wolfe at Quebec, and hearken to Howe's fiddles as he sits smiling amongst + the dancers at Philadelphia! + </p> + <p> + A favourite scheme with our ministers at home and some of our generals in + America, was to establish a communication between Canada and New York, by + which means it was hoped New England might be cut off from the + neighbouring colonies, overpowered in detail, and forced into submission. + Burgoyne was entrusted with the conduct of the plan, and he set forth from + Quebec, confidently promising to bring it to a successful issue. His march + began in military state: the trumpets of his proclamations blew before + him; he bade the colonists to remember the immense power of England; and + summoned the misguided rebels to lay down their arms. He brought with him + a formidable English force, an army of German veterans not less powerful, + a dreadful band of Indian warriors, and a brilliant train of artillery. It + was supposed that the people round his march would rally to the Royal + cause and standards. The Continental force in front of him was small at + first, and Washington's army was weakened by the withdrawal of troops who + were hurried forward to meet this Canadian invasion. A British detachment + from New York was to force its way up the Hudson, sweeping away the enemy + on the route, and make a junction with Burgoyne at Albany. Then was the + time when Washington's weakened army should have been struck too; but a + greater Power willed otherwise: nor am I, for one, even going to regret + the termination of the war. As we look over the game now, how clear seem + the blunders which were made by the losing side! From the beginning to the + end we were for ever arriving too late. Our supplies and reinforcements + from home were too late. Our troops were in difficulty, and our succours + reached them too late. Our fleet appeared off York Town just too late, + after Cornwallis had surrendered. A way of escape was opened to Burgoyne, + but he resolved upon retreat too late. I have heard discomfited officers + in after days prove infallibly how a different wind would have saved + America to us; how we must have destroyed the French fleet but for a + tempest or two; how once, twice, thrice, but for nightfall, Mr. Washington + and his army were in our power. Who has not speculated, in the course of + his reading of history, upon the “Has been” and the “Might have been” in + the world? I take my tattered old map-book from the shelf, and see the + board on which the great contest was played; I wonder at the curious + chances which lost it: and, putting aside any idle talk about the + respective bravery of the two nations, can't but see that we had the best + cards, and that we lost the game. + </p> + <p> + I own the sport had a considerable fascination for me, and stirred up my + languid blood. My brother Hal, when settled on his plantation in Virginia, + was perfectly satisfied with the sports and occupations he found there. + The company of the country neighbours sufficed him; he never tired of + looking after his crops and people, taking his fish, shooting his ducks, + hunting in his woods, or enjoying his rubber and his supper. Happy Hal, in + his great barn of a house, under his roomy porches, his dogs lying round + his feet; his friends, the Virginian Will Wimbles, at free quarters in his + mansion; his negroes fat, lazy, and ragged: his shrewd little wife ruling + over them and her husband, who always obeyed her implicitly when living, + and who was pretty speedily consoled when she died! I say happy, though + his lot would have been intolerable to me: wife, and friends, and + plantation, and town life at Richmond (Richmond succeeded to the honour of + being the capital when our Province became a State). How happy he whose + foot fits the shoe which fortune gives him! My income was five times as + great, my house in England as large, and built of bricks and faced with + freestone; my wife—would I have changed her for any other wife in + the world? My children—well, I am contented with my Lady + Warrington's opinion about them. But with all these plums and peaches and + rich fruits out of Plenty's horn poured into my lap, I fear I have been + but an ingrate; and Hodge, my gatekeeper, who shares his bread and scrap + of bacon with a family as large as his master's, seems to me to enjoy his + meal as much as I do, though Mrs. Molly prepares her best dishes and + sweetmeats, and Mr. Gumbo uncorks the choicest bottle from the cellar. Ah + me! sweetmeats have lost their savour for me, however they may rejoice my + young ones from the nursery, and the perfume of claret palls upon old + noses! Our parson has poured out his sermons many and many a time to me, + and perhaps I did not care for them much when he first broached them. Dost + thou remember, honest friend? (sure he does, for he has repeated the story + over the bottle as many times as his sermons almost, and my Lady + Warrington pretends as if she had never heard it)—I say, Joe Blake, + thou rememberest full well, and with advantages, that October evening when + we scrambled up an embrasure at Fort Clinton and a clubbed musket would + have dashed these valuable brains out, had not Joe's sword whipped my + rebellious countryman through the gizzard. Joe wore a red coat in those + days (the uniform of the brave Sixty-third, whose leader, the bold Sill, + fell pierced with many wounds beside him). He exchanged his red for black + and my pulpit. His doctrines are sound, and his sermons short. We read the + papers together over our wine. Not two months ago we read our old friend + Howe's glorious deed of the first of June. We were told how the noble + Rawdon, who fought with us at Fort Clinton, had joined the Duke of York: + and to-day his Royal Highness is in full retreat before Pichegru: and he + and my son Miles have taken Valenciennes for nothing! Ah, parson! would + you not like to put on your old Sixty-third coat? (though I doubt Mrs. + Blake could never make the buttons and button-holes meet again over your + big body). The boys were acting a play with my militia sword. Oh, that I + were young again, Mr. Blake! that I had not the gout in my toe; and I + would saddle Rosinante and ride back into the world, and feel the pulses + beat again, and play a little of life's glorious game! + </p> + <p> + The last “hit” which I saw played, was gallantly won by our side; though + 'tis true that even in this parti the Americans won the rubber—our + people gaining only the ground they stood on, and the guns, stores, and + ships which they captured and destroyed, whilst our efforts at rescue were + too late to prevent the catastrophe impending over Burgoyne's unfortunate + army. After one of those delays which always were happening to retard our + plans and weaken the blows which our chiefs intended to deliver, an + expedition was got under weigh from New York at the close of the month of + September, '77; that, could it have but advanced a fortnight earlier, + might have saved the doomed force of Burgoyne. Sed Dis aliter visum. The + delay here was not Sir Henry Clinton's fault, who could not leave his city + unprotected; but the winds and weather which delayed the arrival of + reinforcements which we had long awaited from England. The fleet which + brought them brought us long and fond letters from home, with the very + last news of the children under the care of their good Aunt Hetty and + their grandfather. The mother's heart yearned towards the absent young + ones. She made me no reproaches: but I could read her importunities in her + anxious eyes, her terrors for me, and her longing for her children. “Why + stay longer?” she seemed to say. “You who have no calling to this war, or + to draw the sword against your countrymen—why continue to imperil + your life and my happiness?” I understood her appeal. We were to enter + upon no immediate service of danger; I told her Sir Henry was only going + to accompany the expedition for a part of the way. I would return with + him, the reconnaissance over, and Christmas, please Heaven, should see our + family once more united in England. + </p> + <p> + A force of three thousand men, including a couple of slender regiments of + American Loyalists and New York Militia (with which latter my + distinguished relative, Mr. Will Esmond, went as captain), was embarked at + New York, and our armament sailed up the noble Hudson River, that presents + finer aspects than the Rhine in Europe to my mind: nor was any fire opened + upon us from those beetling cliffs and precipitous “palisades,” as they + are called, by which we sailed; the enemy, strange to say, being for once + unaware of the movement we contemplated. Our first landing was on the + Eastern bank, at a place called Verplancks Point, whence the Congress + troops withdrew after a slight resistance, their leader, the tough old + Putnam (so famous during the war) supposing that our march was to be + directed towards the Eastern Highlands, by which we intended to penetrate + to Burgoyne. Putnam fell back to occupy these passes, a small detachment + of ours being sent forward as if in pursuit, which he imagined was to be + followed by the rest of our force. Meanwhile, before daylight, two + thousand men without artillery, were carried over to Stoney Point on the + Western shore, opposite Verplancks, and under a great hill called the + Dunderberg by the old Dutch lords of the stream, and which hangs + precipitously over it. A little stream at the northern base of this + mountain intersects it from the opposite height on which Fort Clinton + stood, named not after our general, but after one of the two gentlemen of + the same name, who were amongst the oldest and most respected of the + provincial gentry of New York, and who were at this moment actually in + command against Sir Henry. On the next height to Clinton is Fort + Montgomery; and behind them rises a hill called Bear Hill; whilst at the + opposite side of the magnificent stream stands “Saint Antony's Nose,” a + prodigious peak indeed, which the Dutch had quaintly christened. + </p> + <p> + The attacks on the two forts were almost simultaneous. Half our men were + detached for the assault on Fort Montgomery, under the brave Campbell, who + fell before the rampart. Sir Henry, who would never be out of danger where + he could find it, personally led the remainder, and hoped, he said, that + we should have better luck than before the Sullivan Island. A path led up + to the Dunderberg, so narrow as scarcely to admit three men abreast, and + in utter silence our whole force scaled it, wondering at every rugged step + to meet with no opposition. The enemy had not even kept a watch on it; nor + were we descried until we were descending the height, at the base of which + we easily dispersed a small force sent hurriedly to oppose us. The firing + which here took place rendered all idea of a surprise impossible. The fort + was before us. With such arms as the troops had in their hands, they had + to assault; and silently and swiftly, in the face of the artillery playing + upon them, the troops ascended the hill. The men had orders on no account + to fire. Taking the colours of the Sixty-third, and bearing them aloft, + Sir Henry mounted with the stormers. The place was so steep that the men + pushed each other over the wall and through the embrasures; and it was + there that Lieutenant Joseph Blake, the father of a certain Joseph Clinton + Blake, who looks with the eyes of affection on a certain young lady, + presented himself to the living of Warrington by saving the life of the + unworthy patron thereof. + </p> + <p> + About a fourth part of the garrison, as we were told, escaped out of the + fort, the rest being killed or wounded, or remaining our prisoners within + the works. Fort Montgomery was, in like manner, stormed and taken by our + people; and, at night, as we looked down from the heights where the king's + standard had been just planted, we were treated to a splendid illumination + in the river below. Under Fort Montgomery, and stretching over to that + lofty prominence, called Saint Antony's Nose, a boom and chain had been + laid with a vast cost and labour, behind which several American frigates + and galleys were anchored. The fort being taken, these ships attempted to + get up the river in the darkness, out of the reach of guns which they knew + must destroy them in the morning. But the wind was unfavourable, and + escape was found to be impossible. The crews therefore took to the boats, + and so landed, having previously set the ships on fire with all their + sails set; and we beheld these magnificent pyramids of flame burning up to + the heavens and reflected in the waters below, until, in the midst of + prodigious explosions, they sank and disappeared. + </p> + <p> + On the next day a parlementaire came in from the enemy, to inquire as to + the state of his troops left wounded or prisoners in our hands, and the + Continental officer brought me a note, which gave me a strange shock, for + it showed that in the struggle of the previous evening my brother had been + engaged. It was dated October 7, from Major-General George Clinton's + divisional headquarters, and it stated briefly that “Colonel H. + Warrington, of the Virginia line, hopes that Sir George Warrington escaped + unhurt in the assault of last evening, from which the Colonel himself was + so fortunate as to retire without the least injury.” Never did I say my + prayers more heartily and gratefully than on that night, devoutly thanking + Heaven that my dearest brother was spared, and making a vow at the same + time to withdraw out of the fratricidal contest, into which I only had + entered because Honour and Duty seemed imperatively to call me. + </p> + <p> + I own I felt an inexpressible relief when I had come to the resolution to + retire and betake myself to the peaceful shade of my own vines and + fig-trees at home. I longed, however, to see my brother ere I returned, + and asked, and easily obtained an errand to the camp of the American + General Clinton from our own chief. The headquarters of his division were + now some miles up the river, and a boat and a flag of truce quickly + brought me to the point where his out-pickets received me on the shore. My + brother was very soon with me. He had only lately joined General Clinton's + division with letters from headquarters at Philadelphia, and he chanced to + hear, after the attack on Fort Clinton, that I had been present during the + affair. We passed a brief delightful night together: Mr. Sady, who always + followed Hal to the war, cooking a feast in honour of both his masters. + There was but one bed of straw in the hut where we had quarters, and Hal + and I slept on it, side by side, as we had done when we were boys. We had + a hundred things to say regarding past times and present. His kind heart + gladdened when I told him of my resolve to retire to my acres and to take + off the red coat which I wore: he flung his arms round it. “Praised be + God!” said he. “Oh, heavens, George! think what might have happened had we + met in the affair two nights ago!” And he turned quite pale at the + thought. He eased my mind with respect to our mother. She was a bitter + Tory, to be sure, but the Chief had given special injunctions regarding + her safety. “And Fanny” (Hal's wife) “watches over her, and she is as good + as a company!” cried the enthusiastic husband. “Isn't she clever? Isn't + she handsome? Isn't she good?” cries Hal, never, fortunately, waiting for + a reply to these ardent queries. “And to think that I was nearly marrying + Maria once! Oh, mercy, what an escape I had!” he added. “Hagan prays for + the King, every morning and night, at Castlewood, but they bolt the doors, + and nobody hears. Gracious powers! his wife is sixty if she is a day; and + oh, George! the quantity she drinks is...” But why tell the failings of + our good cousin? I am pleased to think she lived to drink the health of + King George long after his Old Dominion had passed for ever from his + sceptre. + </p> + <p> + The morning came when my brief mission to the camp was ended, and the + truest of friends and fondest of brothers accompanied me to my boat, which + lay waiting at the riverside. We exchanged an embrace at parting, and his + hand held mine yet for a moment ere I stepped into the barge which bore me + rapidly down the stream. “Shall I see thee once more, dearest and best + companion of my youth?” I thought. “Amongst our cold Englishmen, can I + ever hope to meet with a friend like thee? When hadst thou ever a thought + that was not kindly and generous? When a wish, or a possession, but for me + you would sacrifice it? How brave are you, and how modest; how gentle, and + how strong; how simple, unselfish, and humble; how eager to see others' + merit; how diffident of your own!” He stood on the shore till his figure + grew dim before, me. There was that in my eyes which prevented me from + seeing him longer. + </p> + <p> + Brilliant as Sir Henry's success had been, it was achieved, as usual, too + late: and served but as a small set-off against the disaster of Burgoyne + which ensued immediately, and which our advance was utterly inadequate to + relieve. More than one secret messenger was despatched to him who never + reached him, and of whom we never learned the fate. Of one wretch who + offered to carry intelligence to him, and whom Sir Henry despatched with a + letter of his own, we heard the miserable doom. Falling in with some of + the troops of General George Clinton, who happened to be in red uniform + (part of the prize of a British ship's cargo, doubtless, which had been + taken by American privateers), the spy thought he was in the English army, + and advanced towards the sentries. He found his mistake too late. His + letter was discovered upon him, and he had to die for bearing it. In ten + days after the success at the Forts occurred the great disaster at + Saratoga, of which we carried the dismal particulars in the fleet which + bore us home. I am afraid my wife was unable to mourn for it. She had her + children, her father, her sister to revisit, and daily and nightly thanks + to pay to Heaven that had brought her husband safe out of danger. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0092" id="link2HCH0092"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XCII. Under Vine and Fig-Tree + </h2> + <p> + Need I describe, young folks, the delights of the meeting at home, and the + mother's happiness with all her brood once more under her fond wings? It + was wrote in her face, and acknowledged on her knees. Our house was large + enough for all, but Aunt Hetty would not stay in it. She said, fairly, + that to resign her motherhood over the elder children, who had been hers + for nearly three years, cost her too great a pang; and she could not bear + for yet a while to be with them, and to submit to take only the second + place. So she and her father went away to a house at Bury St. Edmunds, not + far from us, where they lived, and where she spoiled her eldest nephew and + niece in private. It was the year after we came home that Mr. B, the + Jamaica planter, died, who left her the half of his fortune; and then I + heard, for the first time, how the worthy gentleman had been greatly + enamoured of her in Jamaica, and, though she had refused him, had thus + shown his constancy to her. Heaven knows how much property of Aunt Hetty's + Monsieur Miles hath already devoured! the price of his commission and + outfit; his gorgeous uniforms; his play-debts and little transactions in + the Minories;—do you think, sirrah, I do not know what human nature + is; what is the cost of Pall Mall taverns, petits soupers, play even in + moderation—at the Cocoa-Tree; and that a gentleman cannot purchase + all these enjoyments with the five hundred a year which I allow him? Aunt + Hetty declares she has made up her mind to be an old maid. “I made a vow + never to marry until I could find a man as good as my dear father,” she + said; “and I never did, Sir George. No, my dearest Theo, not half as good; + and Sir George may put that in his pipe and smoke it.” + </p> + <p> + And yet when the good General died (calm, and full of years, and glad to + depart), I think it was my wife who shed the most tears. “I weep because I + think I did not love him enough,” said the tender creature: whereas Hetty + scarce departed from her calm, at least outwardly and before any of us; + talks of him constantly still, as though he were alive; recalls his merry + sayings, his gentle, kind ways with his children (when she brightens up + and looks herself quite a girl again), and sits cheerfully looking up to + the slab in church which records his name and some of his virtues, and for + once tells no lies. + </p> + <p> + I had fancied, sometimes, that my brother Hal, for whom Hetty had a + juvenile passion, always retained a hold of her heart; and when he came to + see us, ten years ago, I told him of this childish romance of Het's, with + the hope, I own, that he would ask her to replace Mrs. Fanny, who had been + gathered to her fathers, and regarding whom my wife (with her usual + propensity to consider herself a miserable sinner) always reproached + herself, because, forsooth, she did not regret Fanny enough. Hal, when he + came to us, was plunged in grief about her loss; and vowed that the world + did not contain such another woman. Our dear old General, who was still in + life then, took him in and housed him, as he had done in the happy early + days. The women played him the very same tunes which he had heard when a + boy at Oakhurst. Everybody's heart was very soft with old recollections, + and Harry never tired of pouring out his griefs and his recitals of his + wife's virtues to Het, and anon of talking fondly about his dear Aunt + Lambert, whom he loved with all his heart, and whose praises, you may be + sure, were welcome to the faithful old husband, out of whose thoughts his + wife's memory was never, I believe, absent for any three waking minutes of + the day. + </p> + <p> + General Hal went to Paris as an American General Officer in his blue and + yellow (which Mr. Fox and other gentlemen had brought into fashion here + likewise), and was made much of at Versailles, although he was presented + by Monsieur le Marquis de Lafayette to the Most Christian King and Queen, + who did not love Monsieur le Marquis. And I believe a Marquise took a + fancy to the Virginian General, and would have married him out of hand, + had he not resisted, and fled back to England and Warrington and Bury + again, especially to the latter place, where the folks would listen to him + as he talked about his late wife, with an endless patience and sympathy. + As for us, who had known the poor paragon, we were civil, but not quite so + enthusiastic regarding her, and rather puzzled sometimes to answer our + children's questions about Uncle Hal's angel wife. + </p> + <p> + The two Generals and myself, and Captain Miles, and Parson Blake (who was + knocked over at Monmouth, the year after I left America, and came home to + change his coat, and take my living), used to fight the battles of the + Revolution over our bottle; and the parson used to cry, “By Jupiter, + General” (he compounded for Jupiter, when he laid down his military + habit), “you are the Tory, and Sir George is the Whig! He is always + finding fault with our leaders, and you are for ever standing up for them; + and when I prayed for the King last Sunday, I heard you following me quite + loud.” + </p> + <p> + “And so I do, Blake, with all my heart; I can't forget I wore his coat,” + says Hal. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, if Wolfe had been alive for twenty years more!” says Lambert. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, sir,” cries Hal, “you should hear the General talk about him!” + </p> + <p> + “What General?” says I (to vex him). + </p> + <p> + “My General,” says Hal, standing up, and filling a bumper. “His Excellency + General George Washington!” + </p> + <p> + “With all my heart,” cry I, but the parson looks as if he did not like the + toast or the claret. + </p> + <p> + Hal never tired in speaking of his General; and it was on some such + evening of friendly converse, that he told us how he had actually been in + disgrace with this General whom he loved so fondly. Their difference seems + to have been about Monsieur le Marquis de Lafayette before mentioned, who + played such a fine part in history of late, and who hath so suddenly + disappeared out of it. His previous rank in our own service, and his + acknowledged gallantry during the war, ought to have secured Colonel + Warrington's promotion in the Continental army, where a whipper-snapper + like M. de Lafayette had but to arrive and straightway to be complimented + by Congress with the rank of Major-General. Hal, with the freedom of an + old soldier, had expressed himself somewhat contemptuously regarding some + of the appointments made by Congress, with whom all sorts of miserable + intrigues and cabals were set to work by unscrupulous officers who were + greedy of promotion. Mr. Warrington, imitating perhaps in this the example + of his now illustrious friend of Mount Vernon, affected to make the war en + gentilhomme took his pay, to be sure, but spent it upon comforts and + clothing for his men, and as for rank, declared it was a matter of no + earthly concern to him, and that he would as soon serve as colonel as in + any higher grade. No doubt he added contemptuous remarks regarding certain + General Officers of Congress army, their origin, and the causes of their + advancement: notably he was very angry about the sudden promotion of the + young French lad just named—the Marquis, as they loved to call him—in + the Republican army, and who, by the way, was a prodigious favourite of + the Chief himself. There were not three officers in the whole Continental + force (after poor madcap Lee was taken prisoner and disgraced) who could + speak the Marquis's language, so that Hal could judge the young + Major-General more closely and familiarly than other gentlemen, including + the Commander-in-Chief himself. Mr. Washington good-naturedly rated friend + Hal for being jealous of the beardless commander of Auvergne; was himself + not a little pleased by the filial regard and profound veneration which + the enthusiastic young nobleman always showed for him; and had, moreover, + the very best politic reasons for treating the Marquis with friendship and + favour. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, as it afterwards turned out, the Commander-in-Chief was most + urgently pressing Colonel Warrington's promotion upon Congress; and, as if + his difficulties before the enemy were not enough, he being at this hard + time of winter entrenched at Valley Forge, commanding five or six thousand + men at the most, almost without fire, blankets, food, or ammunition, in + the face of Sir William Howe's army, which was perfectly appointed, and + three times as numerous as his own; as if, I say, this difficulty was not + enough to try him, he had further to encounter the cowardly distrust of + Congress, and insubordination and conspiracy amongst the officers in his + own camp. During the awful winter of '77, when one blow struck by the + sluggard at the head of the British forces might have ended the war, and + all was doubt, confusion, despair in the opposite camp (save in one + indomitable breast alone), my brother had an interview with the Chief, + which he has subsequently described to me, and of which Hal could never + speak without giving way to the deepest emotion. Mr. Washington had won no + such triumph as that which the dare-devil courage of Arnold and the + elegant imbecility of Burgoyne had procured for Gates and the northern + army. Save in one or two minor encounters, which proved how daring his + bravery was, and how unceasing his watchfulness, General Washington had + met with defeat after defeat from an enemy in all points his superior. The + Congress mistrusted him. Many an officer in his own camp hated him. Those + who had been disappointed in ambition, those who had been detected in + peculation, those whose selfishness or incapacity his honest eyes had + spied out,—were all more, or less in league against him. Gates was + the chief towards whom the malcontents turned. Mr. Gates was the only + genius fit to conduct the war; and with a vaingloriousness, which he + afterwards generously owned, he did not refuse the homage which was paid + him. + </p> + <p> + To show how dreadful were the troubles and anxieties with which General + Washington had to contend, I may mention what at this time was called the + “Conway Cabal.” A certain Irishman—a Chevalier of St. Louis, and an + officer in the French service—arrived in America early in the year + '77 in quest of military employment. He was speedily appointed to the rank + of brigadier, and could not be contented, forsooth, without an immediate + promotion to be major-general. + </p> + <p> + Mr. C. had friends at Congress, who, as the General-in-Chief was informed, + had promised him his speedy promotion. General Washington remonstrated, + representing the injustice of promoting to the highest rank the youngest + brigadier in the service; and whilst the matter was pending, was put in + possession of a letter from Conway to General Gates, whom he complimented, + saying, that “Heaven had been determined to save America, or a weak + general and bad councillors would have ruined it.” The General enclosed + the note to Mr. Conway, without a word of comment; and Conway offered his + resignation, which was refused by Congress, who appointed him + Inspector-General of the army, with the rank of Major-General. + </p> + <p> + “And it was at this time,” says Harry (with many passionate exclamations + indicating his rage with himself and his admiration of his leader), “when, + by heavens, the glorious Chief was oppressed by troubles enough to drive + ten thousand men mad—that I must interfere with my jealousies about + the Frenchman! I had not said much, only some nonsense to Greene and + Cadwalader about getting some frogs against the Frenchman came to dine + with us, and having a bagful of Marquises over from Paris, as we were not + able to command ourselves;—but I should have known the Chief's + troubles, and that he had a better head than mine, and might have had the + grace to hold my tongue. + </p> + <p> + “For a while the General said nothing, but I could remark, by the coldness + of his demeanour, that something had occurred to create a schism between + him and me. Mrs. Washington, who had come to camp, also saw that something + was wrong. Women have artful ways of soothing men and finding their + secrets out. I am not sure that I should have ever tried to learn the + cause of the General's displeasure, for I am as proud as he is, and + besides” (says Hal), “when the Chief is angry, it was not pleasant coming + near him, I can promise you.” My brother was indeed subjugated by his old + friend, and obeyed him and bowed before him as a boy before a + schoolmaster. + </p> + <p> + “At last,” Hal resumed, “Mrs. Washington found out the mystery. 'Speak to + me after dinner, Colonel Hal,' says she. 'Come out to the parade-ground, + before the dining-house, and I will tell you all.' I left a half-score of + general officers and brigadiers drinking round the General's table, and + found Mrs. Washington waiting for me. She then told me it was the speech I + had made about the box of Marquises, with which the General was offended. + 'I should not have heeded it in another,' he had said, 'but I never + thought Harry Warrington would have joined against me.' + </p> + <p> + “I had to wait on him for the word that night, and found him alone at his + table. 'Can your Excellency give me five minutes' time?' I said, with my + heart in my mouth. 'Yes, surely, sir,' says he, pointing to the other + chair. 'Will you please to be seated?' + </p> + <p> + “'It used not always to be Sir and Colonel Warrington, between me and your + Excellency,' I said. + </p> + <p> + “He said, calmly, 'The times are altered.' + </p> + <p> + “'Et nos mutamur in illis,' says I. 'Times and people are both changed.' + </p> + <p> + “'You had some business with me?' he asked. + </p> + <p> + “'Am I speaking to the Commander-in-Chief or to my old friend?' I asked. + </p> + <p> + “He looked at me gravely. 'Well,—to both, sir,' he said. 'Pray sit, + Harry.' + </p> + <p> + “'If to General Washington, I tell his Excellency that I, and many + officers of this army, are not well pleased to see a boy of twenty made a + major-general over us, because he is a Marquis, and because he can't speak + the English language. If I speak to my old friend, I have to say that he + has shown me very little of trust or friendship for the last few weeks; + and that I have no desire to sit at your table, and have impertinent + remarks made by others there, of the way in which his Excellency turns his + back on me.' + </p> + <p> + “'Which charge shall I take first, Harry?' he asked, turning his chair + away from the table, and crossing his legs as if ready for a talk. 'You + are jealous, as I gather, about the Marquis?' + </p> + <p> + “'Jealous, sir!' says I. 'An aide-de-camp of Mr. Wolfe is not jealous of a + Jack-a-dandy who, five years ago, was being whipped at school!' + </p> + <p> + “'You yourself declined higher rank than that which you hold,' says the + Chief, turning a little red. + </p> + <p> + “'But I never bargained to have a macaroni Marquis to command me!' I + cried. 'I will not, for one, carry the young gentleman's orders; and since + Congress and your Excellency chooses to take your generals out of the + nursery, I shall humbly ask leave to resign, and retire to my plantation.' + </p> + <p> + “'Do, Harry; that is true friendship!' says the Chief, with a gentleness + that surprised me. 'Now that your old friend is in a difficulty, 'tis + surely the best time to leave him.' + </p> + <p> + “'Sir!' says I. + </p> + <p> + “'Do as so many of the rest are doing, Mr. Warrington. Et tu, Brute, as + the play says. Well, well, Harry! I did not think it of you; but, at + least, you are in the fashion.' + </p> + <p> + “'You asked which charge you should take first?' I said. + </p> + <p> + “'Ch, the promotion of the Marquis? I recommended the appointment to + Congress, no doubt; and you and other gentlemen disapprove it.' + </p> + <p> + “'I have spoken for myself, sir,' says I. + </p> + <p> + “'If you take me in that tone, Colonel Warrington, I have nothing to + answer!' says the Chief, rising up very fiercely; 'and presume that I can + recommend officers for promotion without asking your previous sanction.' + </p> + <p> + “'Being on that tone, sir,' says I, 'let me respectfully offer my + resignation to your Excellency, founding my desire to resign upon the + fact, that Congress, at your Excellency's recommendation, offers its + highest commands to boys of twenty, who are scarcely even acquainted with + our language.' And I rise up and make his Excellency a bow. + </p> + <p> + “'Great heavens, Harry!' he cries—(about this Marquis's appointment + he was beaten, that was the fact, and he could not reply to me), 'can't + you believe that in this critical time of our affairs, there are reasons + why special favours should be shown to the first Frenchman of distinction + who comes amongst us?' + </p> + <p> + “'No doubt, sir. If your Excellency acknowledges that Monsieur de + Lafayette's merits have nothing to do with the question.' + </p> + <p> + “'I acknowledge or deny nothing, sir!' says the General, with a stamp of + his foot, and looking as though he could be terribly angry if he would. + 'Am I here to be catechised by you? Stay. Hark, Harry! I speak to you as a + man of the world—nay, as an old friend. This appointment humiliates + you and others, you say? Be it so! Must we not bear humiliation, along + with the other burthens and griefs, for the sake of our country? It is no + more just perhaps that the Marquis should be set over you gentlemen, than + that your Prince Ferdinand or your Prince of Wales at home should have a + command over veterans. But if in appointing this young nobleman we please + a whole nation, and bring ourselves twenty millions of allies, will you + and other gentlemen sulk because we do him honour? 'Tis easy to sneer at + him (though, believe me, the Marquis has many more merits than you allow + him); to my mind it were more generous, as well as more polite, of Harry + Warrington to welcome this stranger for the sake of the prodigious benefit + our country may draw from him—not to laugh at his peculiarities, but + to aid him and help his ignorance by your experience as an old soldier: + that is what I would do—that is the part I expected of thee—for + it is the generous and manly one, Harry: but you choose to join my + enemies, and when I am in trouble you say you will leave me. That is why I + have been hurt: that is why I have been cold. I thought I might count on + your friendship—and—and you can tell whether I was right or + no. I relied on you as on a brother, and you come and tell me you will + resign. Be it so! Being embarked in this contest, by God's will I will see + it to an end. You are not the first, Mr. Warrington, has left me on the + way.' + </p> + <p> + “He spoke with so much tenderness, and as he spoke his face wore such a + look of unhappiness, that an extreme remorse and pity seized me, and I + called out I know not what incoherent expressions regarding old times, and + vowed that if he would say the word, I never would leave him. You never + loved him, George,” says my brother, turning to me, “but I did beyond all + mortal men; and, though I am not clever like you, I think my instinct was + in the right. He has a greatness not approached by other men.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't say no, brother,” said I, “now.” + </p> + <p> + “Greatness, pooh!” says the parson, growling over his wine. + </p> + <p> + “We walked into Mrs. Washington's tea-room arm-in-arm,” Hal resumed; “she + looked up quite kind, and saw we were friends. 'Is it all over, Colonel + Harry?' she whispered. 'I know he has applied ever so often about your + promotion——' + </p> + <p> + “'I never will take it,' says I. And that is how I came to do penance,” + says Harry, telling me the story, “with Lafayette the next winter.” (Hal + could imitate the Frenchman very well.) “'I will go weez heem,' says I. 'I + know the way to Quebec, and when we are not in action with Sir Guy, I can + hear his Excellency the Major-General say his lesson.' There was no fight, + you know we could get no army to act in Canada, and returned to + headquarters; and what do you think disturbed the Frenchman most? The idea + that people would laugh at him, because his command had come to nothing. + And so they did laugh at him, and almost to his face too, and who could + help it? If our Chief had any weak point it was this Marquis. + </p> + <p> + “After our little difference we became as great friends as before—if + a man may be said to be friends with a Sovereign Prince, for as such I + somehow could not help regarding the General: and one night, when we had + sate the company out, we talked of old times, and the jolly days of sport + we had together both before and after Braddock's; and that pretty duel you + were near having when we were boys. He laughed about it, and said he never + saw a man look more wicked and more bent on killing than you did: 'And to + do Sir George justice, I think he has hated me ever since,' says the + Chief. 'Ah!' he added, 'an open enemy I can face readily enough. 'Tis the + secret foe who causes the doubt and anguish! We have sat with more than + one at my table to-day, to whom I am obliged to show a face of civility, + whose hands I must take when they are offered, though I know they are + stabbing my reputation, and are eager to pull me down from my place. You + spoke but lately of being humiliated because a junior was set over you in + command. What humiliation is yours compared to mine, who have to play the + farce of welcome to these traitors; who have to bear the neglect of + Congress, and see men who have insulted me promoted in my own army? If I + consulted my own feelings as a man, would I continue in this command? You + know whether my temper is naturally warm or not, and whether as a private + gentleman I should be likely to suffer such slights and outrages as are + put upon me daily; but in the advancement of the sacred cause in which we + are engaged, we have to endure not only hardship and danger, but calumny + and wrong, and may God give us strength to do our duty!' And then the + General showed me the papers regarding the affair of that fellow Conway, + whom Congress promoted in spite of the intrigue, and down whose black + throat John Cadwalader sent the best ball he ever fired in his life. + </p> + <p> + “And it was here,” said Hal, concluding his story, “as I looked at the + Chief talking at night in the silence of the camp, and remembered how + lonely he was, what an awful responsibility he carried, how spies and + traitors were eating out of his dish, and an enemy lay in front of him who + might at any time overpower him, that I thought, 'Sure, this is the + greatest man now in the world; and what a wretch I am to think of my + jealousies and annoyances, whilst he is walking serenely under his immense + cares!'” + </p> + <p> + “We talked but now of Wolfe,” said I. “Here, indeed, is a greater than + Wolfe. To endure is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to + be daunted by no difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it; to go + through intrigue spotless; and to forgo even ambition when the end is + gained—who can say this is not greatness, or show the other + Englishman who has achieved so much?” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder, Sir George, you did not take Mr. Washington's side, and wear + the blue and buff yourself,” grumbles Parson Blake. + </p> + <p> + “You and I thought scarlet most becoming to our complexion, Joe Blake!” + says Sir George. “And my wife thinks there would not have been room for + two such great men on one side.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, at any rate, you were better than that odious, swearing, crazy + General Lee, who was second in command!” cries Lady Warrington. “And I am + certain Mr. Washington never could write poetry and tragedies as you can! + What did the General say about George's tragedies, Harry?” + </p> + <p> + Harry burst into a roar of laughter (in which, of course, Mr. Miles must + join his uncle). + </p> + <p> + “Well!” says he, “it's a fact that Hagan read one at my house to the + General and Mrs. Washington and several more, and they all fell sound + asleep!” + </p> + <p> + “He never liked my husband, that is the truth!” says Theo, tossing up her + head, “and 'tis all the more magnanimous of Sir George to speak so well of + him.” + </p> + <p> + And then Hal told how, his battles over, his country freed, his great work + of liberation complete, the General laid down his victorious sword, and + met his comrades of the army in a last adieu. The last British soldier had + quitted the shore of the Republic, and the Commander-in-Chief proposed to + leave New York for Annapolis, where Congress was sitting, and there resign + his commission. About noon, on the 4th December, a barge was in waiting at + Whitehall Ferry to convey him across the Hudson. The chiefs of the army + assembled at a tavern near the ferry, and there the General joined them. + Seldom as he showed his emotion, outwardly, on this day he could not + disguise it. He filled a glass of wine, and said, 'I bid you farewell with + a heart full of love and gratitude, and wish your latter days may be as + prosperous and happy as those past have been glorious and honourable.' + Then he drank to them. 'I cannot come to each of you to take my leave,' he + said, 'but shall be obliged if you will each come and shake me by the + hand.' + </p> + <p> + General Knox, who was nearest, came forward, and the Chief, with tears in + his eyes, embraced him. The others came, one by one, to him, and took + their leave without a word. A line of infantry was formed from the tavern + to the ferry, and the General, with his officers following him, walked + silently to the water. He stood up in the barge, taking off his hat, and + waving a farewell. And his comrades remained bareheaded on the shore till + their leader's boat was out of view. + </p> + <p> + As Harry speaks very low, in the grey of evening, with sometimes a break + in his voice, we all sit touched and silent. Hetty goes up and kisses her + father. + </p> + <p> + “You tell us of others, General Harry,” she says, passing a handkerchief + across her eyes, “of Marion and Sumpter, of Greene and Wayne, and Rawdon + and Cornwallis, too, but you never mention Colonel Warrington!” + </p> + <p> + “My dear, he will tell you his story in private!” whispers my wife, + clinging to her sister, “and you can write it for him.” + </p> + <p> + But it was not to be. My Lady Theo, and her husband too, I own, catching + the infection from her, never would let Harry rest, until we had coaxed, + wheedled, and ordered him to ask Hetty in marriage. He obeyed, and it was + she who now declined. “She had always,” she said, “the truest regard for + him from the dear old times when they had met as almost children together. + But she would never leave her father. When it pleased God to take him, she + hoped she would be too old to think of bearing any other name but her own. + Harry should have her love always as the best of brothers; and as George + and Theo have such a nurseryful of children,” adds Hester, “we must show + our love to them, by saving for the young ones.” She sent him her answer + in writing, leaving home on a visit to friends at a distance, as though + she would have him to understand that her decision was final. As such Hal + received it. He did not break his heart. Cupid's arrows, ladies, don't + bite very deep into the tough skins of gentlemen of our age; though, to be + sure, at the time of which I write, my brother was still a young man, + being little more than fifty. Aunt Het is now a staid little lady with a + voice of which years have touched the sweet chords, and a head which Time + has powdered over with silver. There are days when she looks surprisingly + young and blooming. Ah me, my dear, it seems but a little while since the + hair was golden brown, and the cheeks as fresh as roses! And then came the + bitter blast of love unrequited which withered them; and that long + loneliness of heart which, they say, follows. Why should Theo and I have + been so happy, and thou so lonely? Why should my meal be garnished with + love, and spread with plenty, while yon solitary outcast shivers at my + gate? I bow my head humbly before the Dispenser of pain and poverty, + wealth and health; I feel sometimes as if, for the prizes which have + fallen to the lot of me unworthy, I did not dare to be grateful. But I + hear the voices of my children in their garden, or look up at their mother + from my book, or perhaps my sick-bed, and my heart fills with instinctive + gratitude towards the bountiful Heaven that has so blest me. + </p> + <p> + Since my accession to my uncle's title and estate my intercourse with my + good cousin Lord Castlewood had been very rare. I had always supposed him + to be a follower of the winning side in politics, and was not a little + astonished to hear of his sudden appearance in opposition. A + disappointment in respect to a place at court, of which he pretended to + have had some promise, was partly the occasion of his rupture with the + Ministry. It is said that the most August Person in the realm had flatly + refused to receive into the R-y-l Household a nobleman whose character was + so notoriously bad, and whose example (so the August Objector was pleased + to say) would ruin and corrupt any respectable family. I heard of the + Castlewoods during our travels in Europe, and that the mania for play had + again seized upon his lordship. His impaired fortunes having been + retrieved by the prudence of his wife and father-in-law, he had again + begun to dissipate his income at hombre and lansquenet. There were tales + of malpractices in which he had been discovered, and even of chastisement + inflicted upon him by the victims of his unscrupulous arts. His wife's + beauty and freshness faded early; we met but once at Aix-la-Chapelle, + where Lady Castlewood besought my wife to go and see her, and afflicted + Lady Warrington's kind heart by stories of the neglect and outrage of + which her unfortunate husband was guilty. We were willing to receive these + as some excuse and palliation for the unhappy lady's own conduct. A + notorious adventurer, gambler, and spadassin, calling himself the + Chevalier de Barry, and said to be a relative of the mistress of the + French King, but afterwards turning out to be an Irishman of low + extraction, was in constant attendance upon the Earl and Countess at this + time, and conspicuous for the audacity of his lies, the extravagance of + his play, and somewhat mercenary gallantry towards the other sex, and a + ferocious bravo courage, which, however, failed him on one or two awkward + occasions, if common report said true. He subsequently married, and + rendered miserable a lady of title and fortune in England. The poor little + American lady's interested union with Lord Castlewood was scarcely more + happy. + </p> + <p> + I remember our little Miles's infantile envy being excited by learning + that Lord Castlewood's second son, a child a few months younger than + himself, was already an ensign on the Irish establishment, whose pay the + fond parents regularly drew. This piece of preferment my lord must have + got for his cadet whilst he was on good terms with the Minister, during + which period of favour Will Esmond was also shifted off to New York. + Whilst I was in America myself, we read in an English journal that Captain + Charles Esmond had resigned his commission in his Majesty's service, as + not wishing to take up arms against the countrymen of his mother, the + Countess of Castlewood. “It is the doing of the old fox, Van den Bosch,” + Madam Esmond said; “he wishes to keep his Virginian property safe, + whatever side should win!” I may mention, with respect to this old worthy, + that he continued to reside in England for a while after the Declaration + of Independence, not at all denying his sympathy with the American cause, + but keeping a pretty quiet tongue, and alleging that such a very old man + as himself was past the age of action or mischief, in which opinion the + Government concurred, no doubt, as he was left quite unmolested. But of a + sudden a warrant was out after him, when it was surprising with what + agility he stirred himself, and skipped off to France, whence he presently + embarked upon his return to Virginia. + </p> + <p> + The old man bore the worst reputation amongst the Loyalists of our colony; + and was nicknamed “Jack the Painter” amongst them, much to his + indignation, after a certain miscreant who was hung in England for burning + naval stores in our ports there. He professed to have lost prodigious sums + at home by the persecution of the Government, distinguished himself by the + loudest patriotism and the most violent religious outcries in Virginia; + where, nevertheless, he was not much more liked by the Whigs than by the + party who still remained faithful to the Crown. He wondered that such an + old Tory as Madam Esmond of Castlewood was suffered to go at large, and + was for ever crying out against her amongst the gentlemen of the new + Assembly, the Governor, and officers of the State. He and Fanny had high + words in Richmond one day, when she told him he was an old swindler and + traitor, and that the mother of Colonel Henry Warrington, the bosom friend + of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, was not to be insulted by such a + little smuggling slave-driver as him! I think it was in the year 1780 an + accident happened, when the old Register Office at Williamsburg was burned + down, in which there was a copy of the formal assignment of the Virginia + property from Francis Lord Castlewood to my grandfather Henry Esmond, + Esquire. “Oh,” says Fanny, “of course this is the work of Jack the + Painter!” And Mr. Van den Bosch was for prosecuting her for libel, but + that Fanny took to her bed at this juncture, and died. + </p> + <p> + Van den Bosch made contracts with the new Government, and sold them + bargains, as the phrase is. He supplied horses, meat, forage, all of bad + quality; but when Arnold came into Virginia (in the King's service) and + burned right and left, Van den Bosch's stores and tobacco-houses somehow + were spared. Some secret Whigs now took their revenge on the old rascal. A + couple of his ships in James River, his stores, and a quantity of his + cattle in their stalls were roasted amidst a hideous bellowing; and he got + a note, as he was in Arnold's company, saying that friends had served him + as he served others; and containing “Tom the Glazier's compliments to + brother Jack the Painter.” Nobody pitied the old man, though he went + well-nigh mad at his loss. In Arnold's suite came the Honourable Captain + William Esmond, of the New York Loyalists, as aide-de-camp to the General. + When Howe occupied Philadelphia, Will was said to have made some money + keeping a gambling-house with an officer of the dragoons of Anspach. I + know not how he lost it. He could not have had much when he consented to + become an aide-de-camp of Arnold. + </p> + <p> + Now, the King's officers having reappeared in the province, Madam Esmond + thought fit to open her house at Castlewood and invite them thither—and + actually received Mr. Arnold and his suite. “It is not for me,” she said, + “to refuse my welcome to a man whom my Sovereign has admitted to grace.” + And she threw her house open to him, and treated him with great though + frigid respect whilst he remained in the district. The General gone, and, + his precious aide-de-camp with him, some of the rascals who followed in + their suite remained behind in the house where they had received so much + hospitality, insulted the old lady in her hall, insulted her people, and + finally set fire to the old mansion in a frolic of drunken fury. Our house + at Richmond was not burned, luckily, though Mr. Arnold had fired the town; + and thither the undaunted old lady proceeded, surrounded by her people, + and never swerving in her loyalty, in spite of her ill-usage. “The + Esmonds,” she said, “were accustomed to Royal ingratitude.” + </p> + <p> + And now Mr. Van den Bosch, in the name of his grandson and my Lord + Castlewood, in England, set up a claim to our property in Virginia. He + said it was not my lord's intention to disturb Madam Esmond in her + enjoyment of the estate during her life, but that his father, it had + always been understood, had given his kinsman a life-interest in the + place, and only continued it to his daughter out of generosity. Now my + lord proposed that his second son should inhabit Virginia, for which the + young gentleman had always shown the warmest sympathy. The outcry against + Van den Bosch was so great that he would have been tarred and feathered, + had he remained in Virginia. He betook himself to Congress, represented + himself as a martyr ruined in the cause of liberty, and prayed for + compensation for himself and justice for his grandson. + </p> + <p> + My mother lived long in dreadful apprehension, having in truth a secret, + which she did not like to disclose to any one. Her titles were burned! the + deed of assignment in her own house, the copy in the Registry at Richmond, + had alike been destroyed—by chance? by villainy? who could say? She + did not like to confide this trouble in writing to me. She opened herself + to Hal, after the surrender of York Town, and he acquainted me with the + fact in a letter by a British officer returning home on his parole. Then I + remembered the unlucky words I had let slip before Will Esmond at the + coffee-house at New York; and a part of this iniquitous scheme broke upon + me. + </p> + <p> + As for Mr. Will: there is a tablet in Castlewood Church, in Hampshire, + inscribed, Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, and announcing that “This + marble is placed by a mourning brother, to the memory of the Honourable + William Esmond, Esquire, who died in North America, in the service of his + King.” But how? When, towards the end of 1781, a revolt took place in the + Philadelphia Line of the Congress Army, and Sir Henry Clinton sent out + agents to the mutineers, what became of them? The men took the spies + prisoners, and proceeded to judge them, and my brother (whom they knew and + loved, and had often followed under fire), who had been sent from camp to + make terms with the troops, recognised one of the spies, just as execution + was about to be done upon him—and the wretch, with horrid outcries, + grovelling and kneeling at Colonel Warrington's feet, besought him for + mercy, and promised to confess all to him. To confess what? Harry turned + away sick at heart. Will's mother and sister never knew the truth. They + always fancied it was in action he was killed. + </p> + <p> + As for my lord earl, whose noble son has been the intendant of an + illustrious Prince, and who has enriched himself at play with his R—-l + master: I went to see his lordship when I heard of this astounding design + against our property, and remonstrated with him on the matter. For myself, + as I showed him, I was not concerned, as I had determined to cede my right + to my brother. He received me with perfect courtesy; smiled when I spoke + of my disinterestedness; said he was sure of my affectionate feelings + towards my brother, but what must be his towards his son? He had always + heard from his father: he would take his Bible oath of that: that, at my + mother's death, the property would return to the head of the family. At + the story of the title which Colonel Esmond had ceded, he shrugged his + shoulders, and treated it as a fable. “On ne fait pas de ces folies la!” + says he, offering me snuff, “and your grandfather was a man of esprit! My + little grandmother was eprise of him: and my father, the most good-natured + soul alive, lent them the Virginian property to get them out of the way! + C'etoit un scandale, mon cher, un joli petit scandale!” Oh, if my mother + had but heard him! I might have been disposed to take a high tone: but he + said, with the utmost good-nature, “My dear Knight, are you going to fight + about the character of our grandmother? Allons donc! Come, I will be fair + with you! We will compromise, if you like, about this Virginian property!” + and his lordship named a sum greater than the actual value of the estate. + </p> + <p> + Amazed at the coolness of this worthy, I walked away to my coffee-house, + where, as it happened, an old friend was to dine with me, for whom I have + a sincere regard. I had felt a pang at not being able to give this + gentleman my living of Warrington—on-Waveney, but I could not, as he + himself confessed honestly. His life had been too loose, and his example + in my village could never have been edifying: besides, he would have died + of ennui there, after being accustomed to a town life; and he had a + prospect finally, he told me, of settling himself most comfortably in + London and the church. [He was the second Incumbent of Lady Whittlesea's + Chapel, Mayfair, and married Elizabeth, relict of Hermann Voelcker, Esq., + the eminent brewer.] My guest, I need not say, was my old friend Sampson, + who never failed to dine with me when I came to town, and I told him of my + interview with his old patron. + </p> + <p> + I could not have lighted upon a better confidant. “Gracious powers!” says + Sampson, “the man's roguery beats all belief! When I was secretary and + factotum at Castlewood, I can take my oath I saw more than once a copy of + the deed of assignment by the late lord to your grandfather: 'In + consideration of the love I bear to my kinsman Henry Esmond, Esq., husband + of my dear mother Rachel, Lady Viscountess Dowager of Castlewood, I, etc.'—so + it ran. I know the place where 'tis kept—let us go thither as fast + as horses will carry us to-morrow. There is somebody there—never + mind whom, Sir George—who has an old regard for me. The papers may + be there to this very day, and O Lord, O Lord, but I shall be thankful if + I can in any way show my gratitude to you and your glorious brother!” His + eyes filled with tears. He was an altered man. At a certain period of the + port wine Sampson always alluded with compunction to his past life, and + the change which had taken place in his conduct since the awful death of + his friend Doctor Dodd. + </p> + <p> + Quick as we were, we did not arrive at Castlewood too soon. I was looking + at the fountain in the court, and listening to that sweet sad music of its + plashing, which my grandfather tells of in his memoires, and peopling the + place with bygone figures, with Beatrix in her beauty; with my Lord + Francis in scarlet, calling to his dogs and mounting his grey horse; with + the young page of old who won the castle and the heiress—when + Sampson comes running down to me with an old volume in rough calf-bound in + his hand, containing drafts of letters, copies of agreements, and various + writings, some by a secretary of my Lord Francis, some in the slim + handwriting of his wife my grandmother, some bearing the signature of the + last lord; and here was a copy of the assignment sure enough, as it had + been sent to my grandfather in Virginia. “Victoria, Victoria!” cries + Sampson, shaking my hand, embracing everybody. “Here is a guinea for thee, + Betty. We'll have a bowl of punch at the Three Castles to-night!” As we + were talking, the wheels of postchaises were heard, and a couple of + carriages drove into the court containing my lord and a friend, and their + servants in the next vehicle. His lordship looked only a little paler than + usual at seeing me. + </p> + <p> + “What procures me the honour of Sir George Warrington's visit, and pray, + Mr. Sampson, what do you do here?” says my lord. I think he had forgotten + the existence of this book, or had never seen it; and when he offered to + take his Bible oath of what he had heard from his father, had simply + volunteered a perjury. + </p> + <p> + I was shaking hands with his companion, a nobleman with whom I had had the + honour to serve in America. “I came,” I said, “to convince myself of a + fact, about which you were mistaken yesterday; and I find the proof in + your lordship's own house. Your lordship was pleased to take your + lordship's Bible oath, that there was no agreement between your father and + his mother, relative to some property which I hold. When Mr. Sampson was + your lordship's secretary, he perfectly remembered having seen a copy of + such an assignment, and here it is.” + </p> + <p> + “And do you mean, Sir George Warrington, that unknown to me you have been + visiting my papers?” cries my lord. + </p> + <p> + “I doubted the correctness of your statement, though backed by your + lordship's Bible oath,” I said with a bow. + </p> + <p> + “This, sir, is robbery! Give the papers back!” bawled my lord. + </p> + <p> + “Robbery is a rough word, my lord. Shall I tell the whole story to Lord + Rawdon?” + </p> + <p> + “What, is it about the Marquisate? Connu, connu, my dear Sir George! We + always called you the Marquis in New York. I don't know who brought the + story from Virginia.” + </p> + <p> + I never had heard this absurd nickname before, and did not care to notice + it. “My Lord Castlewood,” I said, “not only doubted, but yesterday laid a + claim to my property, taking his Bible oath that——” + </p> + <p> + Castlewood gave a kind of gasp, and then said, “Great heaven! Do you mean, + Sir George, that there actually is an agreement extant? Yes. Here it is—my + father's handwriting, sure enough! Then the question is clear. Upon my o——well, + upon my honour as a gentleman! I never knew of such an agreement, and must + have been mistaken in what my father said. This paper clearly shows the + property is yours: and not being mine—why, I wish you joy of it!” + and he held out his hand with the blandest smile. + </p> + <p> + “And how thankful you will be to me, my lord, for having enabled him to + establish the right,” says Sampson, with a leer on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Thankful? No, confound you. Not in the least!” says my lord. “I am a + plain man; I don't disguise from my cousin that I would rather have had + the property than he. Sir George, you will stay and dine with us. A large + party is coming down here shooting; we ought to have you one of us!” + </p> + <p> + “My lord,” said I, buttoning the book under my coat, “I will go and get + this document copied, and then return it to your lordship. As my mother in + Virginia has had her papers burned, she will be put out of much anxiety by + having this assignment safely lodged.” + </p> + <p> + “What, have Madam Esmond's papers been burned? When the deuce was that?” + asks my lord. + </p> + <p> + “My lord, I wish you a very good afternoon. Come, Sampson, you and I will + go and dine at the Three Castles.” And I turned on my heel, making a bow + to Lord R———, and from that day to this I have never set + my foot within the halls of my ancestors. + </p> + <p> + Shall I ever see the old mother again, I wonder? She lives in Richmond, + never having rebuilt her house in the country. When Hal was in England, we + sent her pictures of both her sons, painted by the admirable Sir Joshua + Reynolds. We sate to him, the last year Mr. Johnson was alive, I remember. + And the Doctor, peering about the studio, and seeing the image of Hal in + his uniform (the appearance of it caused no little excitement in those + days), asked who was this? and was informed that it was the famous + American General—General Warrington, Sir George's brother. “General + Who?” cries the Doctor, “General Where? Pooh! I don't know such a + service!” and he turned his back and walked out of the premises. My + worship is painted in scarlet, and we have replicas of both performances + at home. But the picture which Captain Miles and the girls declare to be + most like is a family sketch by my ingenious neighbour, Mr. Bunbury, who + has drawn me and my lady with Monsieur Gumbo following us, and written + under the piece, “SIR GEORGE, MY LADY, AND THEIR MASTER.” + </p> + <p> + Here my master comes; he has poked out all the house-fires, has looked to + all the bolts, has ordered the whole male and female crew to their + chambers; and begins to blow my candles out, and says, “Time, Sir George, + to go to bed! Twelve o'clock!” + </p> + <p> + “Bless me! So indeed it is.” And I close my book, and go to my rest, with + a blessing on those now around me asleep. + </p> + <p> + THE END <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Virginians, by William Makepeace Thackeray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VIRGINIANS *** + +***** This file should be named 8123-h.htm or 8123-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/1/2/8123/ + +Produced by Tapio Riikonen, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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