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Having heard, as I say, of the desperatestruggle it cost Lady Hawkshaw to marry herlieutenant, I somewhat expected to find her andAdmiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw living like dovesin a cage, and was disconcerted at the messageher ladyship sent her lord. But I was still moredisconcerted when Sir Peter, a short, stout man,with a choleric eye, presently bounced into theroom.

“Sir Peter,” said her ladyship, “here is yournephew Tom’s brat, who wants a midshipman’swarrant.”

Sir Peter stopped short, looked me over,—Iwas tall for my age,—and grinned savagely.I thought it was all up with me and was almostready to haul down my flag.

“Hang me, my lady!” snapped Sir Peter,“but when did you take such an interest in mynephew Tom’s brat?”

“This very hour,” replied Lady Hawkshawtartly, and tossing her black plumes haughtily.[Pg 4]“You behaved like a wretch to the boy afterthe death of his father and mother in America;and God has given you the chance to makeamends, and I say he shall have his warrant.”

“Zounds, Madam!” bawled Sir Peter; “sinceyou take the liberty of disposing of my warrants,I presume you are the holder of mycommission as Vice-Admiral of the White inhis Majesty’s service. Let me know it if youare—let me know it, I say!”

“Stuff!” responded my lady, to which SirPeter answered something that sounded like“Damme!” and then my attention was distractedfrom this matrimonial engagement bythe silent entrance of two young girls. Oneof them was about twelve years of age. Shehad dove-like eyes, and her dark lashes kissedher cheek. She came and stood familiarly byLady Hawkshaw’s chair; and the gentle affectionatenessof her manner toward that redoubtableperson amazed me at the time. This wasmy first sight of Daphne Carmichael; andwhen she fixed her soft, childish glance uponme, it was like the sight of stars on a cloudynight. But the other one, a tall girl of sixteen[Pg 5]or thereabouts, dazzled me so that I am obligedto confess I had no more eyes for Daphne.This older girl was the Lady Arabella Stormont,and was then and always by far thehandsomest creature I ever beheld. I shall notattempt to describe her. I will only say thather brilliant face, with such a complexion asI never saw before or since, showed a haughtyindifference toward the shabby boy over whomSir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw were squabbling,and the sense of my shabbiness and helplessnesspierced my heart under Lady Arabella’s calmlyscornful gaze.

Both of these young girls were the great-niecesof Sir Peter Hawkshaw, but not on thedrysalter’s side, so they were no blood-relationto me. Sir Peter was their guardian, and LadyHawkshaw had charge of them, and was mostkind and devoted to them in her way. Isoon found out that every one of Sir Peter’sfamily had a good friend in Lady Hawkshaw;and I may as well say here that for truedevotion and incessant wrangling, I never sawa married pair that equaled Sir Peter and LadyHawkshaw.

The discussion between them concerning megrew hotter, and I grew as hot as the discussion,in thinking what a figure I was makingbefore that divinely beautiful Lady Arabella.I had clean forgotten Daphne. Lady Hawkshawlugged in a great variety of extraneousmatter, reminding Sir Peter of certain awfulpredictions concerning his future which hadbeen made by the last chaplain who sailed withhim. Sir Peter denounced the chaplain as asniveling dog. Lady Hawkshaw indulged insome French, at which Lady Arabella laughedbehind her hand.

The battle royal lasted some time longer, butLady Hawkshaw’s metal was plainly heavierthan Sir Peter’s; and it ended by Sir Peter’ssaying to me angrily:

“Very well, sir, to oblige my lady I will giveyou the remaining midshipman’s berth on theAjax, seventy-four. You may go home now,but show yourself aboard theAjax at Portsmouth,before twelve o’clock on this day week,and be very careful to mind your eye.”

I had nerved myself to hear with coolnessthe refusal of this fiery admiral; but his real[Pg 7]kindness, disguised under so much of choler,overcame me. I stammered something andstopped,—that hound of a footman was grinningat me, because my eyes were full of tears,and also, perhaps, because my coat was ofcheap make, and my shoes needed attention.But at that moment little Daphne, with thegreatest artlessness, came up and slipped herlittle hand into mine, saying:

I do not know how I got out of the house,but the next thing I knew I was standing onthe street outside. I had been told to go home.I had no home now unless the Bull-in-the-Bushtavern be one. But I did not return to theBull-in-the-Bush, whose tawdry splendors revoltedme now, after I had seen Sir PeterHawkshaw’s imposing house, as much as theyhad before attracted me. I was tingling withthe sense of beauty newly developed in me. Icould not forget that exquisite vision of LadyArabella Stormont, who seemed to my boyishmind more like a white rose-bush in full flowerthan anything I could call to memory. I made[Pg 8]my way instead to the plain, though clean lodgings,where I had spent the years since my parents’death, with good Betty Green, the widow ofCorporal Green, late of my father’s regiment.

These two excellent but humble creatureshad brought me, an orphan, home from mybirthplace, America, consigned to Sir Peter andLady Hawkshaw. This woman, Betty Green,had been my mother’s devoted servant, as herhusband had been my father’s, and it wasthought perfectly safe to send me home withthem. But there was a danger which no oneforesaw. Betty was one of those strangewomen who love like a lioness. This lioness’love she felt for me; and for that reason, Ibelieve, she deliberately planned to prevent myfamily from ever getting hold of me. It istrue, on landing in England, her husband’sregiment being ordered to Winchester, she wentto see Sir Peter Hawkshaw and, I suspect, purposelymade him so angry that, Lady Hawkshawbeing absent, he almost kicked Betty Greenout of the house. That is what I fancy mylady meant when she reproached Sir Peter withcruelty to me. I well remember the air of[Pg 9]triumph with which Betty returned and toldthe corporal of her ill success; then, claspingme in her arms, she burst out with a cry thatno admiral nor ladies nor lords neither shouldtake her darling boy away from her. Green,her husband, being a steady, cool-headed fellow,waited until the paroxysm was over, when hetold her plainly that she must carry out myparents’ instructions, and he himself would goto see Sir Peter as soon as he could. ButFate disposed of this plan by cutting short thecorporal’s life the next week, most unexpectedly.Then this woman, Betty Green,—illiterate, astranger in England, and supporting us bothby her daily labor,—managed to foil all ofthe efforts of Admiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw tofind me; for he had done all he could to discoverthe whereabouts of his nephew’s orphan. ’Tisnot for me to say one word against Betty Green,for she slaved for me as only a woman can slave,and, besides, brought me up in the habits andmanners of a gentleman, albeit she did littlefor my education, and to this day I am proneto be embarrassed when I have a pen in myhand. I can not say that I was happy in the[Pg 10]devoted, though savage love she lavished uponme. She would not allow me to play with theboys of her own class, and those of my class Inever saw. All my clamorings to know somethingabout my family on either side were metby her declaring that she had forgotten wheremy mother’s people lived; and as for Sir Peter,she gave me such a horrifying account of himthat I never dreamed it possible to receive anykindness from him. At last, though, on herdeath-bed, she acknowledged a part of the deceptionher desperate affection had impelled herto play upon me. The poor soul had actuallyforgotten about my mother’s family, and haddestroyed everything relating to them, but directedme to go to Sir Peter; and thus it wasthat, on the day after I saw Betty Green, myonly friend on earth, laid in a pauper’s grave,I went to the house of my father’s uncle, withthe result narrated. When I got back to thehumble lodgings where I had lived beforeBetty’s death, I looked up a small box oftrinkets of little value which had belonged tomy mother, and from the sale of them I gotenough to live upon for a week, and to make[Pg 11]my way to Portsmouth at the end of it. EitherSir Peter had forgotten to tell me anythingabout my outfit, or else I had slipped out soquickly—galled by the fear of weeping beforethat rascally footman—that he had no chance.At all events, I arrived at Portsmouth by themail-coach, with all of my belongings in oneshabby portmanteau.

I shall not describe my feelings during thatjourney toward the new life that awaited me.In fact, I scarcely recall them coherently; allwas a maze, a jumble, and an uproar in mymind.

We got down in the inn yard,—a coach fullof passengers,—I the only one who seemedadrift and alone among them. I stood lookingabout me—at a pert chambermaid who impudentlyogled the hostlers and got a kiss in return;at the pretentious entrance to the inn; atall of the bustle and confusion of the arrivalof the coach. Presently I saw a young gentlemansomewhat older than myself, and wearingthe uniform of his Majesty’s sea-service, comeout of the inn door. He had a very elegantfigure, but his face was rather plain. Within[Pg 12]five minutes of my first meeting with GilesVernon, I had an example of what was one ofhis most striking traits—every woman in sightimmediately fixed her attention on him andsmiled at him. One was the chambermaid, wholeft off ogling the hostlers and gaped at thisyoung officer with her coarse, handsome faceall aflame; another was the landlady, who followedhim to the door, smirking and fanningherself; and the third was a venerable Quakeress,who was about entering the inn, and whobeamed benevolently on him as he bowed gallantlyin passing. I know not why this shouldhave made such an impression on me; but beingyoung and a fool, I thought beauty was ashighly prized by women as by men, and itsurprised me that a fellow with a mouth so wideand with something dangerously near a squintshould be such a lady-killer. It was commonenough for young gentlemen holding midshipmen’swarrants to come down by the coach, andas soon as he saw me this young officer calledout:

“Halloo, my hearty! Is it a ship of the lineor a frigate you are booked for? Or is it one[Pg 13]of those damned gun-brigs which are unfit fora gentleman to serve in?”

Now, the peculiar circumstances of my bringing-uphad given me a ridiculous haughtiness,—forBetty Green had never ceased to imploreme to remember my quality,—so I replied tothis offhand speech in kind.

“A ship of the line,” said I. “Damme, doyou think I’d serve in a gun-brig?”

“It’s an infant Rodney, sure. Was notAmericus Vespucius your grandfather? Andwas not your grandmother in love with Noahwhen he was oakum boy at the Portsmouthdocks?”

“My grandfather was a baronet, and mygrand-uncle is Admiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw,whose flagship, as you may know, is theAjax,seventy-four.”

“I know him well,” responded my new acquaintance.“We were drunk together thisnight week. He bears for arms Lot’s wife[Pg 14]after she was turned into a pillar of salt, withthe device, ‘I thirst’.”

This was an allusion to the drysalter. ForI soon found that the young gentlemen in thecockpit were intimately acquainted with all ofthe antecedents, glorious or otherwise, of theirsuperior officers.

The lie in the early part of this sentence waspatent to me, but so great was the power tocharm of this squinting, wide-mouthed fellow,that I felt myself drawn to him irresistibly, andsomething in my countenance showed it, forhe linked his arm through mine and beganagain,—

“I know your great-aunt, too, Polly Hawkshaw.Dreadful old girl. I hear she can tackship as well as the admiral; knows to a shillingwhat his mess bill is, and teaches himtrigonometry when he is on leave.”

This was, of course, a vilification, and LadyHawkshaw’s name was not Polly, but Apollonia;but I blush to say I spoke not one wordin defense of either her or her name. It occurredto me that my new friend was a personwho could give me much information about my[Pg 15]outfit and uniforms, and I candidly stated mycase to him.

“Come on,” he cried. “There’s a rascal ofa haberdasher here who lives off his Majesty’sofficers, and I’ll take you there and fit you out;for Sir Peter’s the man to have his youngofficers smart. A friend of mine—poor fellow!—happenedto be caught in mufti in theAjax the other day, and Sir Peter had all handsturned up for an execution. My unhappyfriend begged that he might be shot instead ofhanged, and Sir Peter, I’ll admit, granted himthe favor. The poor fellow tied the handkerchiefover his eyes himself, forgave all hisenemies, and asked his friends to pay his debts.Zounds, ’twas the most affecting scene I everwitnessed.”

I plainly perceived that my companion wastalking to frighten me, and showed it bythrusting my tongue into my cheek, whichcaused him to burst out laughing. He presentlybecame grave, however, and assured mesolemnly that a sea-officer had his choice ofdressing handsomely, or being court-martialedand shot. “For,” said he, “the one hundred[Pg 16]and forty-fourth regulation of the servicereads, ‘All of his Majesty’s sea-officers are commandedto marry heiresses, and in these cases,the usual penalties for the abduction of heiressesare remitted’. Now, how can we abduct heiresses,or even get them to look at us, withoutfine clothes? Women, my boy, are caught bythe eye alone—and I know ’em, by Gad!”

This trifling speech remained in my memory,and the day came when I recalled the idle talkof us two laughing midshipmen as prophetic.

We went together to a shop, where, underhis direction and that of an oily-tongued shopman,I ordered one of the handsomest outfitsany midshipman could possibly have, includingtwo dozen of silk stockings, as my new-foundfriend informed me that every man on boardhis Majesty’s ships, from the admiral down tothe jack-o’-the-dust, always wore silk stockings,because in the event of being struck by a ballor a pike or a cutlass in action, the danger frominflammation was much less with silk than withcotton or wool.

All went swimmingly, until it was time topay for the things. Then, I acknowledge, I[Pg 17]was at a loss. The shopman, suddenly changinghis tone, cried out to my companion,—

“Mr. Giles Vernon, I remember the lastreefer you brought here bought near a boatloadand paid with the foresail, as you gentlemenof the sea call it. I will not be done thistime, I assure you.”

At this, Giles Vernon promptly drew hissword, which did not disturb the shopman inthe least, as I found out afterward; younggentlemen of Giles’ age and rank, in Portsmouth,drew their swords whenever they couldnot draw their purses. But I was very unhappy,not on Giles’ account, but on that ofthe poor shopman, whom I expected to seeweltering in his blood. After a wordy war,Giles left the shop, taking me with him, andmenacing the shopman, in case the purchases Ihad ordered did not come aboard theAjax thatnight.

I thought it wise to suggest that I shouldnow go aboard, as it was well on to threeo’clock. Giles agreed with me. I had forgottento ask him what ship he was attachedto, but it suddenly occurred to me that he, too,[Pg 18]might be in theAjax, and I asked him. Imaginemy delight when he said yes.

“But if the admiral does not behave himselfbetter,” he added, “and if the captain doesnot ask me to dinner oftener than he has beendoing lately, I shall prefer charges against bothof them. I have been assured by the lords inadmiralty that any request of mine will be regardedas an order by them, and I shall requestthat Admiral Hawkshaw and Captain Guilfordbe relieved of their commands.”

By that time we had reached the water andthere, stepping into a splendid, eight-oaredbarge, I saw Sir Peter Hawkshaw. He caughtsight of us at the same moment, and the changein Giles Vernon’s manner was what might havebeen expected. He was even more modest anddeferential than I, as we advanced.

“Here you are!” pleasantly cried the admiralto me. “You ran away so fast t’otherday, that I had no chance to give you anydirections, and I scarcely expected you to turnup to-day. However, I shall now take you tothe ship. Mr. Vernon, I have room for you.”

“Thank you, sir,” responded Giles very[Pg 19]gratefully, “but I have a pressing engagementon shore—a matter of important business—”at which I saw the suspicion of a grin on theadmiral’s homely old face. He said little tome until we were in the great cabin of theAjax. For myself, I can only say that I wasso awed by the beauty, the majesty, the splendorof one of the finest ships of the line in theworld, that I was dumb with delight andamazement. Once in the cabin, the admiralasked me about my means and my outfit. Iburst out with the whole story of what occurredin the haberdasher’s shop, at which SirPeter looked very solemn, and lectured me uponthe recklessness of my conduct in orderingthings with no money to pay for them, andfollowed it up with an offer to fit me outhandsomely. This I accepted with the utmostgratitude, and in a day or two I found myselfestablished as one of his Majesty’s midshipmenin the cockpit of theAjax, and I began tosee life.

My introduction into the cockpit of theAjaxwas pretty much that of every other reefer inhis Majesty’s navy. I was, of course, told thatI showed the most brazen presumption in daringto wish to enter the naval service; that I oughtto be a choir boy at St. Paul’s; that haymakingwas my profession by nature, to say nothing ofan exchange of black eyes and bloody noses withevery midshipman of my size in the cockpit.Through all this Giles Vernon was my chieftormentor and best friend. He proclaimedthe fact of my drysalting ancestry, and whenI imprudently reminded him that I was thegrandson of a baronet, he gave me one kickfor the drysalter and two for the baronet. Heshowed me a battered old cocked hat hung upon a nail in the steerage country.

“That hat was once the property of thatold pirate and buccaneer, Sir Peter Hawkshaw,Vice-Admiral of the White. It is named afterhim, and whenever his conduct displeases thejunior officers on this ship,—which it generallydoes,—that hat, dear boy, is kicked and cursedas a proxy for your respected great-uncle.Now understand: your position in the cockpitis that of this hat. In fact, you will take thehat’s place,”—which I found to be true, and Iwas called to account every day for some partof the conduct of Admiral Hawkshaw, althoughI did not see him twice in the week.

Mr. Buxton, our first lieutenant, was a fineofficer, and celebrated for licking midshipmeninto shape; and if I learned my duty quickly,he, rather than I, deserves the credit.

My experience of other ships convinces methat the juniors in theAjax were clever fellows;but Giles Vernon was undoubtedly thesmartest officer among them and cock of thewalk between decks. He had innumerable goodqualities, but the beggarly virtue of prudencewas not among them. He had, however, anothervirtue in a high degree,—a daring and[Pg 22]invincible courage. That, and his smartness asan officer, made Mr. Buxton his friend, andcaused many of his peccadilloes to be overlooked.

The fact that at nineteen Giles Vernon wasstill only a midshipman made me think that hewas without fortune or influence; but I wassoon enlightened on the subject, though not byhim. He was the distant cousin and heir ofSir Thomas Vernon of Vernon Court, near York,and of Grosvenor Square, London. This manwas generally spoken of as the wicked SirThomas, and a mortal hatred subsisted betweenhim and his heir. Giles had been caught tryingto induce the money sharks to take his post-obits;but as Sir Thomas was not yet fifty yearsof age, and it was quite possible that he shouldmarry, the only result was to fan the flame ofanimosity between him and his heir, withoutGiles’ getting a shilling. The next heir to Gileswas another cousin, remote from both him andSir Thomas, one Captain Philip Overton of theGuards, who was as much disliked by SirThomas as was Giles. Giles, who had been atsea since his twelfth year, knew little or nothing[Pg 23]of Captain Overton, although he swore manytimes in a month that he meant to marry thefirst woman who would take him, for the purposeof cutting off Overton’s hopes; but it occurredto me, young as I was, that Giles was not theman to give up his liberty to the first womanwho was willing to accept of it.

We were fitting for the Mediterranean, andthe ship lay in the inner harbor at Portsmouth,waiting her turn to go in dry dock to be coppered.There was plenty for the seniors to do,but not much for the midshipmen at that particulartime; and we had more runs on shorethan usual. The rest of us were satisfied withPortsmouth, but Giles was always raving ofLondon and the London playhouses.

I said no, I had never been to the playhouse;and I blushed as I said it, not desiring mymessmates to know that I had been brought upby Betty Green, a corporal’s widow.

“Then, child,” he cried, whacking me on the[Pg 24]back, “you have yet to live. Have you not seenMistress Trenchard—the divine Sylvia—asRoxana, asLady Percy, asVioletta? Oh, whata galaxy of parts! Oh, the divine creature!”

He threw himself across the mess-table atthat, for we were in the cockpit at the time. Ilaughed, boylike, at his raptures, and he groanedloudly.

“Such a face and figure! Such a foot andankle! Such a melting eye! Such a lusciousvoice!”

I own that this outburst did more to makeme realize that Giles, after all, was but nineteenthan anything that had gone before; for Iknew that older men did not so rave.

“And,” he cried wildly, “I can not see herbefore we sail. By Heaven, Iwill see her!’Tis seventy-four miles between me and herangel face. It can be done in seven hours andtwenty minutes. I can get twenty-four hours’leave—but not a word of this, you haymakingson of a farmer.”

No sooner had Giles said this than with thedetermination to be known as a man of spirit(I was, as I said, but fourteen), I concluded I[Pg 25]would go to London, too. On the day thatGiles Vernon got his twenty-four hours’ leave,I also got the same. Mr. Buxton looked alittle queer when I asked him for it, and saidsomething about not allowing the midshipmento leave Portsmouth; but I answered readilyenough that I wished very much to go on alittle expedition with Giles Vernon, which wouldlast overnight. As the other midshipmen hadbeen allowed similar liberty, I got my request;and next morning, as the Phœbus coach forLondon rolled out of the stables into the inneryard, I appeared. Giles Vernon was also onhand. His surprise was great when he saw me.

“No more than you do,” I replied stoutly.“And I, too, love a roguish eye and a blushingcheek, and mean to go to the playhouse withyou to see Mistress Trenchard.” At whichGiles roared out one of his rich laughs, andcried,—

We got inside the coach, because it was farfrom unlikely that we might meet some of ourown officers on the road, or even Sir Peter[Pg 26]Hawkshaw himself, who traveled much betweenPortsmouth and the Admiralty. And had webeen caught, there is little doubt that we shouldhave been forced to right about face, in spiteof the leave each one of us had in his pocket.So we made ourselves extremely small in acorner of the coach, and only ventured to peepout once, when we caught sight of Sir PeterHawkshaw’s traveling chaise going Londonwards,and Sir Peter himself lying back in it,reading a newspaper. After that, you may besure we were very circumspect.

I noticed, however, the same thing in thecoach that I had observed the first hour I seteyes on Giles Vernon—that every woman hemet was his friend. There were some tradesmen’swives, a French hairdresser, and theusual assortment of women to be found in apublic coach; and in half an hour Giles Vernonhad said a pleasant word to every one of them,and basked in their smiles.

The day was in April, and was brightthroughout; and the relays of horses were soexcellent that we reached London at four in theafternoon, having left Portsmouth at nine in[Pg 27]the morning. We went straight to a chop-house,for we were ravenously hungry.

“And now, Dicky boy,” said Giles to me,“keep a bright lookout for any of our men;and if you see one, cut your cable and run forit, and if we are separated, meet me at theWhite Horse Cellar at twelve o’clock to-nightto take the midnight coach.”

By the time we had got our dinner, it wastime to go to the play. We marched off, andmade our way through the mob of footmen, andgot seats for the pit: and when we went in,and I saw the playhouse lighted up and theboxes filled with beautiful creatures, I was nearbeside myself. Giles laughed at me, but thatI did not mind.

“Don’t look to the left. There is a box withPeter Hawkshaw in it, and Polly, and two girls—oneof them the greatest beauty I ever saw,though but a slip of a girl. If Peter or Pollysees us, Lord help us!”

I did not look around immediately, but thedesire to have a glimpse of the adorable Lady[Pg 28]Arabella made me steal a glance that way.She was very beautifully dressed, and thoughbut little more than sixteen, such a vision ofloveliness as fairly to rival reigning beauties ofseveral seasons’ standing. I own that I sawlittle Daphne sitting by Lady Arabella, but Inoted her scarcely at all.

Nor could Giles keep his eyes off Lady Arabella;and I noticed that even when the divineSylvia, as he called her, was on the stage, hewas not strictly attentive to her, but rathersought that fateful box where so much beautywas enthroned.

The divine Sylvia was a delightful actress, Imust admit, and in spite of being forty if shewas a day, and though raddled with paint, shehad something winning in her air and face, andI could understand her tremendous popularitywith the young bloods.

Neither Sir Peter nor Polly, as Giles calledher, showed any signs whatever of having recognizedus in the large crowd in the pit, and webegan to congratulate ourselves heartily. Therewas a seat next to us held by a gentleman’sservant, and presently he gave way to a remarkably[Pg 29]handsome young man of six or sevenand twenty.

A few words passed between master and man,and then we knew that the handsome gentlemanwas Captain Philip Overton, of the Second LifeGuards. Giles exchanged significant looks withme.

Captain Overton seated himself quietly, and,after a careless glance at the house, seemed toretire into his own thoughts, quite unmindful ofthe stage and what was going on upon it. Iwondered why a man who seemed so little inharmony with his surroundings should take thetrouble to come to the play.

But if Captain Overton were indifferent toall about him, one person, the young beauty inLady Hawkshaw’s box, was far from indifferentto him. Lady Arabella saw his entrance, andfrom that moment she was occupied in tryingto obtain his attention. When at last he recognizedher and bowed slightly, she flamed allover with color, and gave him as good an invitationas any man might want to come to herbox. But Overton made no sign of any intentionto go to her, and, when she finally seemed[Pg 30]to realize this, she became as indifferent to allabout her as he was. Other persons came tothe box and went during the play, but theygot little heed from Lady Arabella. LittleDaphne, although but a child, not yet in herteens, showed a lively interest in all thatpassed and behaved in a most young-ladyishway, much to my diversion. (I was all of twoyears older than she.)

As the play progressed, I saw that Giles wasbecoming more and more infatuated with thefledgling beauty, and he even whispered to me asuggestion that we present ourselves boldly atthe door of the box. This I received with horror,fearing both Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw.Indeed, I had not been able to shakeoff this fear of my great-uncle and aunt for amoment.

One’s first night at the play is usually amagic dream, but mine was tempered with thedread of being caught on the spot, of beingdelayed in our return to Portsmouth, and thetorment of seeing the adored of my heart quiteabsorbed in another man.

When the play was over, we sat still until[Pg 31]the Hawkshaw party had passed out, and then,more for the sake of bravado, I think, thaninclination, Giles ran pell-mell to the stagedoor, where he made one of a mob of gentlemento see the divine Sylvia to her chair. And, tomy alarm, as soon as the lady was within andthe curtain drawn, he tipped the wink to oneof the chairmen, who silently gave up his place,and Giles, taking up the pole, trudged off,assisting to carry his portly mistress. Therewas nothing for me to do but to walk alongbeside him amid the rattle and roar of coaches,the shouting of the hackney coachmen, thepushing and jostling of chairmen and linkboys,and all the confusion that attends the emptyingof a London playhouse. Mrs. Trenchard’sdoor was not far away, and when she was putdown, and Giles sneaked off, I observed thehandsome Captain Overton standing at the turnof the street laughing at him. Giles, who wasso timid in his love, was bold enough in hiswrath, and stepping up to Overton said coolly:

“Sir, I perceive you are smiling. Who isthe harlequin that amuses you, may I ask?”

“You are too good,” responded Giles, “and Ihave before pinked my man in beauty’s quarrel,”—andthen he slapped Overton in the mouth.The next thing I knew their two swords wereflashing in the moonlight. I stood paralyzedwith fear. Not so a couple of burly watchmen,who, running forward, clutched the offendersand dragged them apart.

But the two late enemies, making commoncause against the watchmen, fought them off;and when the watchmen desisted from the fightto spring their rattles for assistance, both Gilesand the officer ran down a dark alley, followedby me as fast as my short legs would carry me,and soon all three of us were huddled togetherin the porch of a church, some distance awayfrom the scene of the fracas.

“Neatly done,” remarked Overton with asmile, to Giles. “I should have been in thatbrawny fellow’s clutches now, but for the clipover the head you gave him.”

“But time presses and our affairs must besettled,” said Overton; “here is my card. It[Pg 33]is too dark to read it, but I am Captain PhilipOverton, of the Second Life Guards.”

“And I,” replied Giles, “am MidshipmanGiles Vernon, of theAjax, ship of the line, nowat Portsmouth.”

By the dim light of a lantern in the churchporch, I saw the expression of astonishmentupon Overton’s face.

“Yes,” replied Giles, smiling, “and if youpierce me through with sword or pistol, it willbe worth one of the finest estates in the kingdomto you, provided always that old villain,Sir Thomas Vernon, does not marry and havechildren to spite us.”

“If only you had not passed a blow! Anythingelse, there could be an accommodationfor. It was most unfortunate.”

“Yes, as it turns out,” responded Giles;“but the question is, now, when and where canwe meet?”

Just then the great bell of St. Paul’s tolledout the half-hour before midnight, and I, who[Pg 34]had been an almost unobserved listener, spoke,out of the fullness of my heart.

“Giles,” said I, “the coach leaves at twelve.If we do not get to Portsmouth in time, weare deserters. Let Captain Overton write toyou and fight afterward.”

“Out of the mouths of babes and sucklingscomes wisdom,” replied Overton, smiling; andso in two minutes it was settled, Overton agreeingto come to Portsmouth to fight, if Gilescould not get leave to meet him half-way betweenPortsmouth and London. We then badehim good-by, and ran off as fast as our legscould carry us, and barely made the coach.

We traveled all night, Giles sleeping soundlyand snoring very loud, in one corner. I feltgreat uneasiness about the coming meetingbetween him and Overton, although I believedthere was no hostile feeling between them.But when two men face each other with armsin their hands, there is always the possibilityof awful catastrophe.

The roseate morning broke when we werestill some distance from Portsmouth. The sightof the blooming hedge-rows, the bird-songs, and[Pg 35]all the fair beauty of the morning made me longto be outside, and at the last stage—my companionstill sleeping—I got out, and with ashilling to the coachman, got the box seat.There were only two or three persons, besidesthe guard, on the coach.

Once up there, I could not rest satisfied withouthandling the ribbons. I had never evendriven a donkey in my life, but, nevertheless,I aspired to drive four fresh roadsters. Thecoachman, a good-natured, foolish fellow, gaveme the reins, down a perfectly smooth lane.I seized the whip, too, and brought it downacross the wheelers’ backs, and, the next thingI knew, the coach was lying on its side on theroad, and I was on the ground.

It was over in a wink, and it seemed scarcelylonger before it had been righted; for the loadwas extremely light, and no one was hurtexcept Giles. He scrambled out of the coachwindow, his arm hanging down, not broken, butout of joint. I pointed to it.

There was nothing for it but to make forPortsmouth as fast as possible. Giles was in[Pg 36]extreme pain; he said nothing, but great dropscame out upon his forehead. When we reachedthe town, I at once put off in search of a surgeon,while Giles remained at the inn. Isoon fetched the surgeon, who got the arm intoplace. When the man had finished, Giles askedwhen he could use his arm for pistol shooting.

As soon as he was out of the room, Gilessent for pen and paper, and with the mostpainful effort, guiding his right hand by hisleft, managed to indite the following epistle toCaptain Overton:

Giles gave me this to read, and I pointed outseveral mistakes he had made in spelling, althoughthe tone of the letter was gentlemanlike,as everything was that Giles did. With greatvexation and some difficulty, he added a postscript.

At that moment a marine from theAjaxbounced, breathless and in great excitement, intothe room.

“We are to sail with the tide, to-night, sir!”he said. “The admiral passed the messengeron the road; the jib is loose, and the blue peterflying,”—and out he ran, to notify the otherabsentees.

“P. S. No 2.—I am just informed that theBlue Peter is flying from theAjax, and that,my dear sir, signifies that we are about to sail.Our meeting must be postponed, for god knosewhen we will eat fresh butter again.But youshall hear from me. G. V.”

We were ordered to join Sir John Jervis’fleet in the Mediterranean without the loss ofa day, and, when the tide served at nine o’clockthat night, Sir Peter Hawkshaw was ready forit. The officers, who knew Sir Peter’s capacityfor picking up his anchors at short notice, weregenerally prepared, and were but little surprisedat the sudden departure of the ship. The men,however, are never prepared to go, and the shipwas besieged, from the time she showed the bluepeter until she set her topsails, by the usualcrowd of bumboat women, sailors’ wives, tavern-keepers,shop-dealers, and all the people withwhom Jack trades, and who are loath to partwith him for reasons of love or money. Althoughall of the stores were on board, therewere market supplies to get, and the midshipmenwere in the boats constantly until the lastboat was hoisted in, just as the music called themen to the capstan bars. It was a brilliantmoonlight night, a good breeze was blowing,[Pg 40]and theAjax got under way with an unusualspread of sail. As we passed out the narrowentrance into the roads, the wind freshened andthe great ship took her majestic way throughthe fleet, a mountain of canvas showing fromrail to truck. The first few days I was overcome,as it were, with my new life and itsduties. Two other midshipmen, junior to myself,had joined, so I was no longer the exclusivebutt of the cockpit. We spent most of ourspare time expressing the greatest longing fora meeting with the French, although for myown part, even while I was bragging the most,I felt a sickness at the heart when I imagined around shot entering my vitals. Giles Vernonwas still the dearest object of my admirationand affections—always excepting that divinelybeautiful Lady Arabella. But this was ratherthe admiration of a glowworm for a star. Ihad no one else to love except Giles, and evena midshipman must love something.

I did not much trouble myself about thatmeeting, so far in the future, between Gilesand Overton. Youth has no future, as it hasno past.

Naturally, I did not see much of my great-uncle,the admiral. He was a very strict disciplinarian,probably because he was used todiscipline at home, and busied himself more withthe conduct of the ship than the captain liked.The other midshipmen alleged that there wasno love lost between Captain Guilford and theadmiral, and the captain had been heard tosay that having an admiral on board was likehaving a mother-in-law in the house. Nevertheless,Sir Peter was a fine seaman, and thegun-room joke was that he knew how to command,from having learned how to obey underLady Hawkshaw’s iron rule.

One day the admiral’s steward brought mea message. The admiral’s compliments, andwould I dine in the great cabin at five o’clockthat day?

I was frightened out of a year’s growth bythe invitation, but of course I responded thatI should be most happy. This, like my professedanxiety to meet the French, was a greatlie. At five o’clock I presented myself, tremblingin every limb. The first thing I noted inthe cabin was a large portrait of Lady Hawkshaw[Pg 42]as a young woman. She must have beenvery handsome.

Soup was brought. We were mostly out offresh vegetables then, and it was pea-soup, suchas we had in the cockpit. Sir Peter grumbleda little at it, and it was soon removed and aleg of pork brought on; a pig had been killedthat day.

“Aha!” sniffed Sir Peter delightedly.“This is fine. Nephew, you have no pig inthe gun-room to-day.”

Which was true; and Sir Peter helped meliberally, and proceeded to do the same byhimself. The steward, however, said respectfully,—

“Excuse me, Sir Peter, but in the interviewI had the honor to have with Lady Hawkshawbefore sailing, sir, she particularly desired me torequest you not to eat pork, as it always disagreedwith you.”

“I am only repeating Lady Hawkshaw’s message,sir,” humbly responded the man; but I[Pg 43]thought I saw, under all his humility, a slykind of defiance. Sir Peter had no fear ofeither round, grape, or double-headed shot, andwas indifferent to musketry fire. Likewise, itwas commonly said of him in the service thatif he were ordered to attack hell itself, he wouldstand on until his jib caught fire; but neithertime nor distance weakened the authority overhim of Lady Hawkshaw.

Sir Peter glared at the steward and then atthe leg of pork, and, suddenly jumping up,seized the dish and threw it, pork and all, out ofthe stern window. As I had secured my portion,I could view this with equanimity.

The next dish was spareribs. The stewardsaid nothing, but Sir Peter let it pass with agroan. It seemed to me that everything appetizingin the dinner was passed by Sir Peter,in response to a peculiar kind of warning glancefrom the steward. This man, I heard afterward,had sailed with him many years, and wasunderstood to be an emissary of Lady Hawkshaw’s.

We had, besides the pea-soup and roast pork,spareribs, potatoes, turnips, anchovy with sauce,[Pg 44]and a custard. Sir Peter, however, dined offpea-soup and potatoes; but I observed that hewas his own master as far as the decanters wereconcerned, and it occurred to me that he hadmade a trade with the steward, by which hewas allowed this indulgence, as I noticed theman turned his back every time Sir Peter filledhis glass.

Dinner being over, the cloth removed, andthe steward gone, Sir Peter appeared to be ina somewhat better humor. His first remarkwas,—

“The time you went with Giles Vernon. Ifthe coach had broken down between London andPortsmouth, we should have sailed withouteither one of you.”

I did not mention that the coach had upset,but merely said that we thought there was nodanger of any detention, and that Giles Vernonwas in no way responsible for my going toLondon, as he knew nothing about it until wemet at the coach door.

I was revolving in my mind whether I could[Pg 45]venture to ask of the welfare of the divine Arabella,and suddenly a direct inspiration came tome. I remarked—with blushes and tremors, Imust admit,—

“How very like Lady Arabella Stormontmust Lady Hawkshaw have been at her age!And Lady Arabella is a very beautiful younglady.”

“Yes, yes, Arabella is like my lady, exceptnot half so handsome. Egad, when I marriedLady Hawkshaw, I had to cut my way, literallywith my sword, through the body-guard ofgentlemen who wanted her. And as for herrelations—well, she defied ’em, that’s all.”

I tried, with all the little art I possessed, toget some information concerning Arabella outof Sir Peter; but beyond telling me what Iknew before,—that she was his great-niece onthe other side of the house and first cousin toDaphne, and that her father, now dead, was ascamp and a pauper, in spite of being an earl,—hetold me nothing. But even that seemedto show the great gulf between us. Would she,[Pg 46]with her beauty and her title, condescend to amidshipman somewhat younger than herself,and penniless? I doubted it, though I was, ingeneral, of a sanguine nature.

I found Sir Peter unbent as the decantersgrew empty, although I would not for a momentimply that he was excessive in his drinking.Only, the mellow glow which pervades anEnglish gentleman after a few glasses of goodport enveloped him. He asked me if I wasglad I had joined the service,—to which I couldsay yes with great sincerity; impressed upon memy good fortune in getting in a ship of the linein the beginning, and gave me some admirableadvice. I left him with a feeling that I had afriend in that excellent seaman, honest gentleman,and odd fish, Admiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw.

When I went below, I told my messmatesall that had occurred, rather exaggerating SirPeter’s attentions to me, as midshipmen will.Then privately I confided to Giles Vernon. Itold what little I had found out concerning thestar of my soul, as I called Arabella, to whichGiles responded by a long-drawn-out “Ph-ew!”

I implored him, if he knew any officer in the[Pg 47]ship who would be likely to be acquainted withLady Arabella, to pump him for me. This hepromised; and the very next day, as I sat on alocker, studying my theorems, Giles came up.

“Dicky,” said he, “Mr. Buxton knows thedivine Arabella. She has a fortune of thirtythousand pounds, and so has the dove-eyed littleDaphne, all inherited from their granddad, arich Bombay merchant. It seems that LadyArabella’s mother bought a coronet with hermoney, and it turned out a poor bargain.However, the earl did not live long enough toruin his father-in-law; and little Daphne’s parents,too, died young, so the old Bombay manleft the girls his fortune, and made Sir Petertheir guardian, and that means, of course, thatPolly Hawkshaw is their guardian. Mr. Buxtonsays he would like to see the fortune-hunterwho can rob Polly of those two damsels. ForPolly says rank and lineage are not everything.She herself, you know, dates back to the SaxonHeptarchy, though she did marry the son ofyour drysalting great-grandfather. And shewants those girls to marrymen; and what Pollysays on that score is to be respected, considering[Pg 48]that she married into a drysalting family toplease herself, or to displease her relations, Idon’t know which. I should say, though, ifyou are honest and deserving, and mind yourbook, and get a good word from the chaplain,you will probably one day be the husband oflittle Daphne, but not of Lady Arabella; noman shall marry her while I live, that you maybe sure of; but when I marry her, you may beside-boy at my wedding.”

I thought this speech very cruel of GilesVernon, and believed that he did not know whattrue love was, else he could not so trifle withmy feelings, although there was an echo ofearnestness in his intimation that he would killany man who aspired to marry Lady Arabella.

We were three weeks in the Bay of Biscay,thrashing to windward under topgallant-sails,and expecting daily and hourly to run across aFrenchman. We were hoping for it, becausewe found theAjax to be a very weatherlyship and fast for her class; and both CaptainGuilford and Sir Peter, who had sailed in herbefore, knew exactly how to handle her. Andwe were to have our wish. For, one evening[Pg 49]toward sunset, we sighted a French ship of theline off our beam; and by the time we had madeher out, a light French frigate was comingdown the wind, and in an hour we were at ithammer and tongs with both of them.

The Frenchmen thought they had us. Weheard afterward that a prize crew was alreadytold off to take us into Corunna, but no man orboy on theAjax dreamed of giving up the ship.

TheAjax was cleared for action in elevenminutes; and, with four ensigns flying, weheaded for the ship of the line, which was waitingfor us, with her topsails shivering. TheAjax had been lately coppered, and, with allsail to royals set, legged it at a lively gait, inspite of the heavy sea, which occasionally causedour lower-deck guns to roll their noses in thewater. As we wallowed toward the ship of theline, which was theIndomptable, the frigate,theXantippe, was manœuvering for a positionon our starboard quarter to rake us. Seeingthis, theAjax came up a little into the wind,which brought our broadside to bear directly ontheXantippe, and she hedged off a little.

The steadiness, coolness, and precision with[Pg 50]which the ship was handled astonished my youngmind. I knew very well that if we were defeated,Sir Peter Hawkshaw would stand noshow of leniency, for there was no doubt that,owing to our new copper, we could easily haveoutsailed the Frenchmen; but Sir Peter preferredto outfight them, even against desperateodds.

The officers and men had entire confidence inSir Peter and in the ship, and went into actionwith the heartiest good-will imaginable. Thepeople were amused by two powder monkeyscoming to blows in the magazine passage overwhich one would be entitled to the larger shareof prize-money. The gaiety of the men wascontagious. Every man’s face wore a grin; andwhen the word was given to take in the royals,and send down the yards, furl all staysails andthe flying jib, they literally rushed into therigging with an “Aye, aye, sir,” that seemedto shake the deck.

The admiral, who had been on the bridge,left it and went below. Presently he came up.He was in his best uniform, with a gold-hiltedsword, his order of the Bath on his breast, and[Pg 51]he wore a cocked hat. As he passed me, Mr.Buxton, who was stepping along briskly, said,—

“Pardon me, Sir Peter, but a French musketwants no better target than a cocked hat.”

“Sir,” replied Sir Peter, “I have alwaysfought in a cocked hat and silk stockings, asbecomes a gentleman; and I shall always fightin a cocked hat and silk stockings, damme!”

Now, I had taken the opportunity, after wehad sighted the Frenchman, to run below andput on my newest uniform, with silk stockings,and to get out several cambric pocket handkerchiefs;and I had also scented myself liberallywith some attar of rose, which I had bought inPortsmouth. Sir Peter, putting his fingers tohis nose, sniffed the attar of rose, and, speedilyidentifying me, he surveyed me calmly all over,while I blushed and found myself unable tostand still under his searching gaze. When hespoke, however, it was in words of praise.

“Nephew, you have the right idea. It is aholiday when we meet the enemy, and officersshould dress accordingly.”

Mr. Buxton, who was standing near, sneaked[Pg 52]off a little. He had on an old coat, such as Ihad never seen him wear, and had removed hisstock and tied a red silk handkerchief aroundhis neck. He certainly did not look quite thegentleman. TheIndomptable, being then abouthalf a mile distant, bore up and fired a shot towindward, which was an invitation to come onand take a licking or give one. TheAjax wasnot misled into the rashness of coming on, withtheXantippe hanging on her quarter, but, luffingup suddenly,—for she answered her helmbeautifully,—she brought the frigate directlyunder her guns; and that fetched theIndomptableas fast as she could trot. TheAjaxopened the ball with one of her long twenty-fours,Sir Peter himself sighting and pointingthe gun; and immediately after the wholebroadside roared out. Had it struck the frigatefull, it would have sent her to the bottom;but by hauling quickly by the wind, she onlyreceived about half the discharge. That, however,was terrible. Her mizzenmast was cut off,and hung over her side in a mass of torn rigging;her mainmast was wounded; and it wasplain that our broadside had killed and wounded[Pg 53]many men, and had dismounted several guns.Her wheel, however, was uninjured, and in aninconceivably short time the wreck of the masthad been cut away; and wearing, with the windin her favor, she got into a raking position onour port quarter, and gave us a broadside thatraked us from stern to stem.

The savage which dwells in man had made meperfectly indifferent to the loss of life on theFrench ship; but when a man dropped dead atmy side, I fell into a passion of rage, and, Imust honestly admit, of fear. My station wasamidships, and I recalled, with a dreadful sinkingof the heart, that it was commonly knownas the slaughter-house, from the execution generallydone there.

I looked down and saw the man’s blood soakinginto the sand, with which the deck wasplentifully strewed, and I, Richard Glyn, longedto desert my station and run below. But as Iturned, I caught sight of Giles Vernon, a littledistance away from me. He was smiling andwaving his hat, and he cried out,—

TheIndomptable had then approached towithin a quarter of a mile, and as a heavysea was kicked up by the wind, and all threeof the ships were rolling extremely, she luffedup to deliver her broadside; and at that momentthree thundering cheers broke from the ninehundred throats on theAjax, and they were instantlyanswered by a cheer as great from theFrenchman. Owing to the sharp roll, most ofthe French shot went a little too high, justabove the heads of the marines, who were drawnup in the waist of the ship. My paroxysm offear still held me, but when I saw these men,with the one proud word “Gibraltar” writtenon their hats, standing steadily, as if at parade,in the midst of the hurricane of fire, the menas cool as their officers, shame seized me formy cowardice; from that on, I gradually masteredmy alarms. I here mention a strangething; as long as I was a coward at heart, Iwas also a villain; for if one single shot couldhave sent the Frenchman’s body to the sea andhis soul to hell, I would have fired that shot.But when I was released from the nightmareof fear, a feeling of mercy stole into my soul.[Pg 55]I began to feel for our brave enemy and to wishthat we might capture him with as little loss aspossible.

The cannonade now increased; but the wind,which is usually deadened, continued to rise,and both the heavy ships were almost rollingtheir yard-arms in the water. TheIndomptable’sfire was exceedingly steady, but not welldirected, while, after ten minutes of a close fire,it was seen that we were fast shooting her sparsout of her. The frigate, much disabled by theloss of her mast, had fallen off to leeward, andnever got close enough again to be of any assistanceto her consort.

TheAjax’s people began to clamor to getalongside, and alongside we got. As we nearedtheIndomptable, occasionally yawing to preventbeing raked, his metal began to tell, and wewere much cut up aloft, besides having beenhulled repeatedly; but we came on steadily.The man at the wheel had nearly all his clothestorn off him by a splinter, but with the spirit ofa true seaman, he stood at his post unflinchingly,never letting go of the spokes for one moment.When we were within a couple of pistol-shot, the[Pg 56]Frenchman opened a smart musketry fire. SirPeter had left the bridge for a moment and wascrossing the deck, when a ball went through hishat, knocking it off and tearing it to pieces.He stooped down, picked it up, and then calledout to a powder boy who was passing.

“Go to my cabin, and in the upper drawerof the locker to the left of my bed-place, youwill see two cocked hats; bring me the newestone. Hanged if I’ll not wear a decent hat, inspite of the Frenchman!”

We hove to about a cable’s length from theFrenchman, and then the fight began in earnest.We were so near that every shot told.The Frenchman made great play with his main-deckbattery, and our sails and rigging soonwere so cut up, that when we came foul, a fewminutes later, we were jammed fast; but nobodyon either ship wished it otherwise. The Frenchman’smain-yard swung directly over our poop,and Captain Guilford himself made it fast toour mizzen rigging. The Frenchman, however,was not yet beaten at the guns, and the firingwas so heavy on both sides that a pall of smoke[Pg 57]enveloped both ships. This was to our advantage,for the frigate, having got some sail onthe stump of her mizzenmast, now approached;but the wind drifted the smoke so between herand the two fighting ships, that she could not inthe dim twilight plainly discern friend from foe,especially as both were painted black, and weswung together with the sea and wind. Whenthe smoke drifted off, the gallant but unfortunateXantippe found herself directly under ourbroadside. We gave her one round from ourmain battery, and she troubled us no more.

Of my own feelings, I can only say that Iwelcomed the return of my courage so rapturously,I felt capable of heroic things. OccasionallyI recognized Sir Peter as he flittedpast; he seemed everywhere at once, and I perceivedthat although Captain Guilford was technicallyfighting the ship, Sir Peter was by nomeans an idle spectator. My gun was on theengaged side all the time, and several of theguns on that side became disabled, and officerswere wounded or killed; it brought Giles Vernonquite close to me. Through the smoke andthe fast-falling darkness, lighted only by the[Pg 58]red flash of the guns and the glare of the battlelanterns, I could see his face. He never lost hissmile, and his ringing voice always led thecheering.

Presently, the Frenchman’s fire slackened,and then a dull, rumbling sound was heard inthe depths of theIndomptable, followed by aroar and streams of light from the fore-hatch.The forward magazine had exploded, and itseemed in the awful crash and blaze as if allthe masts and spars went skyward, with therags of the sails, and a solemn hush and silencefollowed the explosion.

And then the clear notes of the boatswain’spipe floated out into the darkness, and with ayell the men gathered at the bulwarks. On theFrench ship they appeared to be dazed by theexplosion, and we could see only a few officersrunning about and trying to collect the men.

In another instant I saw Mr. Buxton leapupon the hammock-netting, and about to spring,[Pg 59]when a figure behind him seized him by the coattails,and, dragging him backward, he measuredhis length on the deck. The figure wasGiles Vernon.

“After me,” he cried to the first lieutenant;and the next moment he made his spring, andlanded, the first man on theIndomptable’s deck.

As soon as the ship was given up, we hauledup our courses and ran off a little, rove newbraces, and made ready to capture the frigate,which, although badly cut up, showed no dispositionto surrender, and stood gallantly by herconsort. In half an hour we were ready to gointo action again, if necessary, with anothership of the line.

We got within range,—the sea had gonedown much,—and giving theXantippe ourbroadside, brought down the tricolor which theFrenchmen had nailed to the stump of the mizzenmast.She proved to have on board near amillion sterling, which, with theIndomptable,was the richest prize taken in for years preceding.

The admiral and captain got eleven thousandpounds sterling each. The senior officers received[Pg 60]two thousand five hundred pounds sterlingeach. The juniors got two thousandpounds sterling, the midshipmen and pettyofficers one thousand five hundred pounds sterling,and every seaman got seven hundredpounds sterling, and the landsmen and boysfour hundred pounds sterling in prize-money.And I say it with diffidence, we got much morein glory; for the two French ships were not onlybeaten, but beaten in the most seamanlike manner.Sir Peter ever after kept the anniversaryas his day of glory, putting on the same uniformand cocked hat he had worn, and going tochurch, if on shore, with Lady Hawkshaw onhis arm, and giving thanks in a loud voice.

We took theXantippe home—theIndomptablewent to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay—butbefore our prize-money was settled up,we were off again; Sir Peter dearly loved cruisingin blue water. It was near two years beforewe got back to England to spend that prize-money;for, except the captain and Mr. Buxtonand some of the married officers, I know of noone who saved any. Sir Peter, I understoodafterward, spent much of his in a diamond necklaceand tiara for Lady Hawkshaw, in which hewas most egregiously cheated by a Portuguesemoney-lender, and the balance he put into ascheme for acclimating elephants in England,which was to make him as rich as Crœsus; buthe lost a thousand pounds on the venture, besideshis prize-money. In those two years Igrew more and more fond of Giles Vernon. Wegenerally contrived to have our watch together,and we were intimate as only shipmates couldbe. He talked much of what he meant to do[Pg 62]when he got ashore with money to spend, andassured me he had never had above twentypounds of his own in his life. In the course ofmany nights spent in standing watch together,when the oldAjax was sailing like a witch,—forshe was a capital sailer at that time,—hetold me much about his early youth, and I confidedto him the story of Betty Green. Giles’career had been the common one of the youngerbranches of a good family. His father hadbeen a clergyman, and, dying, left severaldaughters, who married respectably, and thisone son, who was put in the sea-service veryyoung. At that time, several lives stood betweenGiles and the title and estates of SirThomas Vernon, and other lives stood betweenGiles and Overton; but those had passed away,leaving these two distant kinsmen as heirs to aman that seemed rightfully to have earned histitle of “wicked Sir Thomas.” I asked Gilesif he knew why Sir Thomas, who so cordiallyhated his heirs, had never married. Giles repliedthat Sir Thomas showed no inclination tomarry until he was near forty. Then his reputationwas so well established that he was generally[Pg 63]looked askant upon; his character fortruth was bad and at cards was worse. But hehad induced a lady of rank and wealth to becomeengaged to be married to him. His treatmentof her was so infamous that her wholefamily had declared war against him, and hadsucceeded in breaking off several very desirablealliances he would have liked to make. Ofcourse a man of his rank and wealth could findsome woman—alas!—to take him; but SirThomas was bent on money, with an inclinationtoward rank, and was the last man on earth tomarry unless he had a substantial inducement;and several more years had passed without hisbeing able to effect the sort of marriage he desired.Meanwhile, his health had broken down,and he was now a shattered man and prey forthe doctors. All this was very interesting tome, especially as Sir Thomas’ two heirs wouldone day have the experience of shooting at eachother, and possibly deciding the matter ofheirship by the elimination of one or the otherfrom the question.

We both got promotion, of course, and thatbrought us into the gun-room; but we were as[Pg 64]intimate there as in our reefer days in the cockpit.On a glorious October morning in 1799,our anchor kissed the ground in Portsmouthharbor.

When we reached Portsmouth, the news ofour good fortune had preceded us, and we werewelcomed with open arms by men, women, andchildren—especially the women. All theprize-money brought back by any single shipduring the war was insignificant compared withours. The men were seized with a kind ofmadness for spending their money. The spectacleof an ordinary seaman parading the streetsof Portsmouth with a gold-laced hat, a gold-headedstick, and watches and jewelry hungall over him was common enough, and he wassure to be anAjax man. Sad to say, the pimps,and the worst class of men and women soon gotthe money away from our poor fellows.

The officers, in their way, were but little behindthe men in their lavishness. Champagnewas their common drink, and several of theminvested in coaches!—the last thing they wouldever have a chance of using.

Giles Vernon, although the most wasteful and[Pg 65]profuse man I ever saw, desired to spend hismoney in London, Portsmouth being too smalla theater for him. But the pressing affair ofthe satisfaction he owed Captain Overton had tobe settled. After much hard thinking, Gilescame to me on the day after we reached Portsmouth,and said,—

I pointed out to Giles that, although the toneof the letter was quite correct, the writing andspelling were scarce up to standard—I wasmore bookish than Giles. But he replied withsome heat,—

“Who, while reading the communication of agentleman, will be so base as to sneer at thegrammar or spelling?” So the letter went as itwas, and in reply came a very handsome, well-expressedletter from Captain Overton, not onlyagreeing to postpone it a month, but for sixweeks, which pleased Giles mightily. I wish tosay, although Giles was inexpert with the pen,he had no lack of either polish or ideas, and wasas fine an officer as ever walked the deck.

The matter with Overton finally settled, andthe ship being paid off, Giles and I started forLondon, as happy as two youngsters could be,with liberty and two thousand pounds apiece to[Pg 67]spend, for I acknowledge that I had no morethought of saving than Giles. We took a chaiseand four to London—no stage-coach for us!—andreached there in a day. We hadplanned to take the finest rooms at Mivart’sHotel, but fate and Lady Hawkshaw preventedme from enjoying them except for the firstnight of our arrival. Next morning on presentingmyself at the Admiralty to ask forletters,—never dreaming I should have any,—Ireceived one from Sir Peter Hawkshaw, whichread—

Great was my distress when I got this letter,as I foresaw there would not be much chanceunder Lady Hawkshaw’s eagle eye of seeing thekind of life I wished to see. And I was obligedto go, for Sir Peter was the only person onearth likely to interest himself at the Admiraltyfor me; and I might stay and wither on shore[Pg 68]while others more fortunate got ships, if I antagonizedhim. And when Lady Hawkshawcommanded, there was but one thing to do, andthat was to obey.

So, with a heavy heart, I took myself and myportmanteau and, in a canvas bag, my two thousandguineas to the admiral’s great fine house inBerkeley Square. My parting with Giles wasmelancholy enough; for, with the womanishjealousy of a boy, I was unhappy to think hewould be enjoying himself with some one else,while I was suffering the hardship of havingmy money taken care of for me.

Giles had no more forgotten the Lady Arabellathan I had, and, on reading this note, exclaimed,—

“Zounds! I wish Peter and Polly had sentfor me to stay in Berkeley Square, with thatdivine creature under the same roof. Do youthink, Dicky, we could exchange identities, soto speak?” But on my reminding him thatLady Hawkshaw had demanded my prize-money,and would certainly get it, his ardorto stand in my shoes somewhat abated.

When I reached Sir Peter’s house about noon,[Pg 69]the same tall and insolent footman that I hadseen on my first visit opened the door for me.Lady Hawkshaw, wearing the same black velvetgown and the identical feathers, received me,and sitting with her were Daphne Carmichaeland the glorious, the beautiful, the enchantingLady Arabella Stormont.

If I had fallen madly in love with her whenI was but fourteen, and had only seven and sixpence,one may imagine where I found myselfwhen I was near seventeen, and had two thousandpounds in a bag in my hands. LadyHawkshaw’s greeting was stiff, but far from unkind;and she introduced me to the young ladies,who curtsied most beautifully to me, and, I maysay, looked at me not unkindly.

“Is that your prize-money in that bag, Richard?”asked Lady Hawkshaw immediately.

“Jeames,” she said, “go and make my complimentsto Sir Peter, and say to him that if hehas nothing better to do, I would be glad to seehim at once. And order the coach.”

I sat in adoring silence, oblivious of Daphne,[Pg 70]but gazing at Lady Arabella until she exclaimedpettishly,—

“La! Have I got a cross-eye or a crookednose, Mr. Richard, that you can’t take youreyes off me?”

“You have neither,” I replied gallantly.“And my name is not Mr. Richard, but Mr.Glyn, at your ladyship’s service.”

“Arabella,” said Lady Hawkshaw in a voiceof thunder, “be more particular in your addressto young gentlemen.”

“Oh, yes, ma’am!” pertly replied Lady Arabella.“But suchvery young gentlemen, likeMr. Glyn, or Mr. Thin, or whatever his namemay be, are always difficult to please in the wayof address. If you are familiar, they are affronted;and if you are reserved, they thinkyou are making game of them.”

By this speech I discovered that althoughLady Hawkshaw might rule her world, terrorizeSir Peter, and make the Lords of the Admiraltyher humble servitors, she had one rebel in thecamp, and that was Lady Arabella Stormont.I saw that her remarks displeased Lady Hawkshaw,but she endured them in silence. Who,[Pg 71]though, would not endure anything from thatcherub mouth and those dazzling eyes?

“Sir Peter,” said Lady Hawkshaw in herusual authoritative manner, “you will go in thecoach with me to the bank, with Richard Glyn,to deposit his money. You will be ready in tenminutes, when the coach will be at the door.”

“I will go with you, Madam,” replied SirPeter; “but I shall order my horse, and ridea-horseback, because I do not like riding in thatdamned stuffy coach. And besides, when youand your feathers get in, there is no room forme.”

“You ride a-horseback!” sniffed LadyHawkshaw. “Even the grooms and stable boyslaugh at you. You are always talking somesea nonsense about keeping the horse’s head tothe wind, and yawing and luffing and bowsingat the bowline, and what not; and besides, I amafraid to trust you since Brown Jane threw youin the Park.”

It ended by Sir Peter’s going in the coach,where the little man lay back in the corner,nearly smothered by Lady Hawkshaw’s voluminous[Pg 72]robe, and pishing and pshawing the wholeway.

But I was quite happy,—albeit I was thevictim of Lady Hawkshaw in having my moneykept for me,—for on the seat beside me wasLady Arabella, who chose to go with us. Shemade much game of me, but I had the spiritto answer her back. After placing the money,we took an airing in the park, and then returnedto dinner at five o’clock. I neither knewnor cared what became of Daphne; for was Inot with the adored Lady Arabella?

That night Lady Hawkshaw was at home,and I had my first experience of a London rout.The card-tables were set on the lower floor, foralthough Lady Hawkshaw hated cards, yet itwas commonly said that no one could entertaincompany in London without them.

And that night I made a strange and terriblediscovery. Lady Arabella was a gamester ofthe most desperate character, in ready money,as far as her allowance as a minor permitted,and in promises to pay, when she came into herfortune, as far as such promises would be accepted.But they were not much favored by[Pg 73]the gentlemen and ladies who played with her;for the chances of her marrying before her majoritywere so great, that her I O U’s were notconsidered of much value, and found few takers,even when accompanied by Lady Arabella’smost brilliant smiles; for your true gamester isimpervious to smiles or frowns, insensible tobeauty—in short, all his faculties are concentratedon the odd trick.

A great mob of fine people came and therewas a supper, and many wax lights, and all theaccessories of a fashionable rout. I wanderedabout, knowing no one, but observant of all. Inoticed that a very clever device was hit upon byLady Arabella and others who liked high play,which Lady Hawkshaw disliked very much.The stakes were nominally very small, but inreality they were very large, shillings actuallysignifying pounds. All of the people whopractised this were in one of the lower rooms,while Sir Peter, who was allowed to play six-pennywhist, and those who in good faith observedLady Hawkshaw’s wishes, were in a roomto themselves. I must not forget to mention,among the notable things at this rout, Lady[Pg 74]Hawkshaw’s turban. It was a construction offeathers, flowers, beads, and every other speciesof ornament, the whole capped with the celebratedtiara which had been bought from thePortuguese, and the diamond necklace beamedupon her black velvet bosom. Sir Peter seemedquite enchanted with her appearance, as sheloomed a head taller than any woman in therooms, and evidently considered her a combinationof Venus and Minerva—not that the pairceased squabbling on that account. I thinkthey disagreed violently on every detail of theparty, and Sir Peter was routed at every point.

Among those who did not play was Daphne,then quite as tall as I and well on into her sixteenthyear. I could not but acknowledge herto be a pretty slip of a girl, and we sat in acorner and I told her about our bloody doingson theAjax, until she stopped her ears andbegged me to desist. I regarded Daphne withcondescension, then; but I perceived that shewas sharp of wit and nimble of tongue, muchmore so than her cousin, Lady Arabella.

After a while I left Daphne and went backto watch Lady Arabella. I soon saw that she[Pg 75]was a very poor player, and lost continually;but that only whetted her appetite for the game.Presently a gentleman entered, and, walkingabout listlessly, although he seemed to be knownto everybody present, approached me. It wasCaptain Overton, as handsome, asdistrait, as onthe first and only time I had seen him.

Much to my surprise, he recognized me andcame up and spoke to me, making me a veryhandsome compliment upon the performances oftheAjax.

I replied I supposed not; he had received nocard when we had parted that morning, and Iknew of none since.

“I shall be very glad to meet him,” saidOverton. “I think him a fine fellow, in spiteof our disagreement. I see you are not playing.”

“Do not try to acquire it,” he said; “it iswrong, you may depend upon it; but indulgencein it makes many believe it to be right. Everytime you look at a sin, it gets better looking.”

I was surprised to hear sin mentioned in thesociety of such elegant and well-bred sinners asI saw around me, who never alluded to it, exceptofficially, as it were, on Sunday, when they alldeclared themselves miserable sinners—for thatoccasion only. Overton then sauntered overtoward Lady Arabella, who seemed to recognizehis approach by instinct. She turned to him,her cards in her hands, and flushed deeply; hegazed at her sternly as if in reproof, and, aftera slight remark or two, moved off, to her evidentchagrin.

“What is the meaning, I beg you to tell me,of the pantomime between Lady Arabella andCaptain Overton?”

“Captain Overton was one of the gayestmen about London until a year or two ago.Since then, it is said, he has turned Methody.It is believed he goes to Mr. Wesley’s meetings,although he has never been actually caughtthere. He lives plainly, and, some say, he giveshis means to the poor; he will not go to the races[Pg 77]any more, nor play, and he does not like to seeArabella play.”

“Nothing that I know of, except that shelikes him. He does not like to see any one playnow, although he gamed very high himself atone time.”

I had seen no particular marks of interest onOverton’s part toward Lady Arabella; but,watching her, I saw, in a very little while, thedeepest sort of interest on her part toward him.She even left the card-table for him, and keptfast hold of him. I recalled the way she hadstriven to attract his attention at the play thatnight, more than two years before, and my jealoussoul was illuminated with the knowledgethat she was infatuated with Overton—and Iwas right.

Some time afterward, whom should I see walkingin but Giles Vernon! Lady Hawkshawreceived him most graciously. I went up tohim and asked, “How came you here?”

“Did you think, Dicky, that I meant to letyou keep up a close blockade of the lovely Arabella?No, indeed; I got a card at seven o’clock[Pg 78]this evening, by working all day for it, and Imean to reconnoiter the ground as well as you.”

I thought when he saw Lady Arabella withOverton that even Giles Vernon’s assurancewould scarcely be equal to accosting her. Hemarched himself up with all the coolness in theworld, claiming kinship boldly with Overton,who couldn’t forbear smiling, and immediatelybegan to try for favor in Arabella’s eyes.

But here I saw what I never did before orsince with Giles Vernon—a woman who wasutterly indifferent to him, and actually seemedto dislike him. She scarcely noticed him atfirst, and, when he would not be rebuffed, was sosaucy to him that I wondered he stood it for aminute. But stand it he did, with the evidentdetermination to conquer her indifference or dislike,whichever it might be.

Overton seized the excuse of Giles’ approachto escape, and left the house, which did not causeLady Arabella to like Giles any better. Shereturned to the card-table, Giles with her, and,by the exercise of the most exquisite ingenuity,he managed to lose some money to her, whichsomewhat restored her good humor.

At last the rout was over, and, soon aftermidnight, all had gone. I was shown to a bedroom,with only a partition wall between me andSir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw; so I had thebenefit of the nightly lecture Lady Hawkshawgave Sir Peter, with the most unfailing regularity.On this particular night, they camenearer agreeing than usual, both of them discussinganxiously Lady Arabella’s marked fondnessfor play. And Lady Hawkshaw told of alate escapade of Lady Arabella’s in which a certainace of clubs was played by her; the saidace of clubs being fashioned out of black court-plasterand white cardboard. When detected,Lady Arabella professed to think the wholething a joke, but as her adversary at the timewas a very old lady whose eyesight was notoriouslydefective, it took all of Lady Arabella’swit and youth to carry it off successfully, which,however, she did. As for her trinkets, LadyArabella was always buying them, and alwaystaking a distaste to them, so she alleged, andLady Hawkshaw suspected they took the placeof shillings at the card-table. Sir Petergroaned at this, and remarked that the earl, her[Pg 80]father, was the worst gamester he ever knew,except her grandfather. I do not rememberany more. I tried to avoid hearing what theywere saying, but every word was distinctly audibleto me, until, at this point, I fell asleep anddreamed that Lady Hawkshaw was appointed tocommand theAjax, and I was to report onboard next day.

I spent several weeks in Sir Peter’s house,and strange weeks they were in many respects.I never had the least complaint to make of thekindness of Sir Peter or Lady Hawkshaw, exceptthat Lady Hawkshaw insisted on investingmy money, all except ten pounds which she gaveme, charging me to be careful with it; but SirPeter secretly lent me a considerable sum, tobe repaid at my majority.

Sir Peter was actively at war with all thewomen-folk in the household, from his ladydown, except little Daphne. He assumed toconduct everything in a large town house inBerkeley Square exactly as if he were on theAjax, seventy-four. He desired to have thelazy London servants called promptly at twobells, five o’clock in the morning, and to putthem to holystoning, squilgeeing, and swabbingoff the decks, as he called it. Of course theservants rebelled, and Sir Peter denounced themas mutineers, and would have dearly liked to put[Pg 82]them all in double irons. He divided the scullionsand chambermaids into watches, and whenthey laughed in his face, threatened them withthe articles of war. He wished everything inthe house stowed away in the least compass possible,and when Lady Hawkshaw had her routs,Sir Peter, watch in hand, superintended the removalof the furniture from the reception-rooms,which he called clearing for action, anddischarged any servant who was not smart athis duty. He had a room, which he called hisstudy, fitted up with all the odds and ends hehad collected during forty years in the navy,and here he held what might be called drumheadcourts-martial, and disrated the domesticstaff, fined them, swore at them, and bitterly regrettedthat the land law did not admit of anyproper discipline whatever.

It may be imagined what a scene of discordthis created, although Sir Peter was of so kindand generous a nature that the servants tookmore from him than from most masters, and,indeed, rather diverted themselves with his finesand punishments, and, when dismissed, declinedto leave his service, much to his wrath and[Pg 83]chagrin. The acme was reached when he attemptedto put the cook in the brig, as he calleda dank cellar which he determined to utilize formutineers, as on board ship. The cook, a hugecreature three times as big as Sir Peter, boardedhim in his own particular den, and, brandishinga rolling-pin that was quite as dangerous as acutlass, announced that she would no longersubmit to be governed by the articles of war,as administered by Sir Peter. She was sustainedby a vociferous chorus of housemaids andkitchen girls who flocked behind her, the menrather choosing to remain in the backgroundand grinning. Sad to say, Admiral Sir PeterHawkshaw, C.B., was conquered by the viragowith the rolling-pin, and was forced to surrenderto the mutineers, which he did with a verybad grace. At that juncture Lady Hawkshawhove in sight, and, bearing down upon the companyfrom below stairs, dispersed them all withone wave of her hand. Sir Peter complainedbitterly, and Lady Hawkshaw promised to bringthem to summary punishment. But she warnedSir Peter that his methods were becoming as intolerableto her as to the rest of the family, and[Pg 84]Sir Peter, after a round or two for the honorof his flag, hauled down his colors. This becameespecially necessary, as his retirement wasat hand, consequent more upon an obstinaterheumatism that fixed itself upon him than hisage. There was doubt whether he would getthe K.C.B., which he certainly well deserved,on his retirement; there was some sort of hitchabout it, although, after the capture of the twoFrench ships, he had been promoted to the officeof admiral. Lady Hawkshaw, however, wentdown to the Admiralty in a coach with six horsesand three footmen and four outriders, and,marching in upon the First Lord, opened fireon him, with the result that Sir Peter wasgazetted K.C.B. the very next week.

Little Daphne, who had always submitted toSir Peter’s whims, did so more than ever afterhe had been vanquished by the cook; and SirPeter swore, twenty times a week, that Daphnehad the stuff in her to make a sea-officer of thefirst order.

My infatuation for Lady Arabella continued:but I can not say she ever showed me the leastmark of favor. But that she did to no one except[Pg 85]Overton, and I soon knew what everybodyin the town knew, that she was desperately smittenwith him, and would have bestowed herselfand her fortune upon him at any moment, if hewould but accept it. As for Giles Vernon, sheshowed him what no other woman ever did,—acoolness at first, that deepened into somethinglike active hatred. She knew he stood betweenOverton and the heirship to the Vernon estates,and that was enough to make her dislike him.She often remarked upon his want of good looks,and she was the only woman I ever knew to doit. Yet Giles was undeniably hard-featured,and, except a good figure, had nothing in hisperson to recommend him. I had thought thatpride would have kept Giles from paying courtto a person so inimical to him; but pride was theexcuse he gave for still pursuing her. He declaredhe had never, no, never, been flouted by awoman, and that Lady Arabella should yet comeat his call. This I believed at the time to bemere bravado. He was enchanted by her, thatwas the truth, and could no more leave her thanthe moth can leave the candle.

I saw much of Daphne in those days, chiefly[Pg 86]because I could see so little of Lady Arabella,who led a life of singular independence, littlerestrained by the authority of Lady Hawkshaw,and none at all by Sir Peter. Daphne was fondof books, and commonly went about with oneunder her arm. I, too, was inclined to be bookish;and so there was something in common betweenus. She was keener of wit than any onein that house; and I soon learned to take delightin her conversation, in Lady Arabella’s absence.My love for the Lady Arabella was, Iadmit, the fond fancy of a boy; while GilesVernon’s was the mad infatuation of a man.

Giles was much with us at that time; and Iacknowledge I had great benefit from the spendingof his prize-money—or rather, I shouldsay, much enjoyment. He laid it out rightroyally, asked the price of nothing, and, forthe time he was in London, footed it with thebest of them. His lineage and his heirship toSir Thomas Vernon gave him entrance anywhere;and his wit and courage made his placesecure. Shortly after we arrived, Sir ThomasVernon also arrived at his house in GrosvenorSquare. We were bound to meet him, for Giles[Pg 87]went much into gay society, as I did, in thetrain of Lady Hawkshaw. The first time thisoccurred was at a drum at her Grace of Auchester’s,where all of London was assembled.Even Overton, who was rarely seen in drawing-rooms,was there. Giles, of course, was there;her Grace had fallen in love with him, as womenusually did, the first time she met him.

It was a great house for play; and when wearrived, we found the whole suite of splendidapartments on the lower floor prepared forcards.

There was the usual crush and clamor of afine London party; and I, being young andunsophisticated, enjoyed it, as did Daphne.Names were bawled out at the head of the stairs,but could not be distinguished over the roar ofvoices. I happened to be near the door, withGiles, Lady Arabella being near by, when Iheard the name of Sir Thomas Vernon shoutedout, as he entered.

He was a man of middle size, and was betweenforty and fifty years of age. He mightonce have been handsome; but the ravages ofan evil nature and a broken constitution were[Pg 88]plainly visible in his countenance. I observedthat, as he stood, glancing about him beforemaking hisdevoirs to the Duchess of Auchester,no one spoke to him, or seemed disposed torecognize him. This only brought a sardonicgrin to his countenance. He advanced, andwas civilly, though not cordially, received byher Grace. At that moment, Giles approached,and spoke to her, and the change in the greatlady’s manner showed the favor in which sheheld him. Sir Thomas scowled upon Giles, butbowed slightly; and Giles returned the look bya steady glance, and this stinging remark:

“Good evening, Sir Thomas. You look veryill. Is your health as desperate as I heard itwas two years ago?”

A titter went around at this, and Giles movedoff, smiling. Sir Thomas was unpopular, therecould be no doubt about that.

Presently Sir Thomas caught sight of LadyArabella, and, as usual, he was instantly struckby her exquisite beauty. He succeeded in beingpresented to her, and I noted that she receivedhim with affability.

About midnight the company broke up, and[Pg 89]our party made a move to go, but Lady Arabellaannounced that she had been invited byher Grace of Auchester to stay the night, andshe wished to do so. Neither Sir Peter norLady Hawkshaw perfectly approved; but LadyArabella carried her point, with the assistanceof the duchess. At the last moment, her Grace—afine woman—approached me, and saidconfidentially,—

“Mr. Wynne,—Glyn, I mean,—will younot remain, and share a game with a choice collectionof players?”

I was flattered at being asked; and besides, Iwanted to see how these great London ladiesacted at such play, so I accepted. But it wasanother thing to get away from Lady Hawkshaw.However, I managed to elude her, bygiving a shilling to a footman, who shoved meinto a little closet, and then went and told LadyHawkshaw I had gone home in a coach witha gentleman who had been taken ill, and hadleft word for them to go without me. Thispacified her, and she and Sir Peter and Daphnewent away with the crowd. There were leftabout twenty persons, who, after a little supper,[Pg 90]and general expressions of relief at the departureof the other guests, sat down to play, atone in the morning. There was a cabinet minister,also a political parson, two peers of therealm, several officers of the Guards, Giles Vernon,and your humble servant. The ladies weremostly old,—Lady Arabella was the youngestof them all,—but all very great in rank.

I had wanted to see London ladies play—andI saw them. Jack, with his greasy cards,in the forecastle, laying his month’s wages, wasa child to them. And how they watched oneanother, and quarreled and fought!

No one among them played so eagerly asLady Arabella; and very badly, as usual, sothat she managed to lose all her money. Shewas ever a bad player, with all her passion forplay. Her last guinea went; and then, determinednot to be balked, she rose and said,laughing,—

“I have on a new white satin petticoat, withlace that cost three guineas the yard. It is veryfit for waistcoats. No gentleman will be so ungallantas to refuse my petticoat as a stake.”

Of course, they all applauded; and Lady[Pg 91]Arabella, retiring behind a screen, emerged withher satin petticoat—how it shone and shimmered!—inher hand. And in five minutes,she had lost it to Giles Vernon!

There was much laughter, but Giles, gravelyfolding it up, laid it aside; and when we departed,in the gray light of dawn, he carriedit off under his arm.

As for me, I had lost all the money I hadwith me, and had given my I O U for threehundred pounds.

Next day Lady Arabella was dropped inBerkeley Square by her Grace of Auchester. Itwas in the afternoon, and I was sitting in theChinese room with Lady Hawkshaw and Daphnewhen Lady Arabella appeared.

“Well, Dicky,” she said,—a very offensivemode of addressing me,—“how do you standyour losses at play?” And, as I am a sinner,she plumped out the whole story of my play toLady Hawkshaw and Daphne. As an officerand a gentleman, I scorned to retaliate by tellingof the white satin petticoat. But vengeancewas at hand. Just as she had finished, whenLady Hawkshaw was swelling with rage, like a[Pg 92]toad, before opening her main batteries on me,and Daphne’s fair eyes were full of contemptfor me, we heard a commotion outside. Noneof us could keep from going to the window, andthe sight we saw threw Lady Arabella into aperfect tempest of angry tears.

A fife and drum were advancing up the street,playing with great vigor the old tune knownas “Petticoats Loose.” Behind them marched,with the deepest gravity, a couple of marines,bearing aloft on their muskets a glittering shimmeringthing that fluttered whitely in the air.It was Lady Arabella’s satin petticoat; and,halting before the door, the drum, with a greatflourish, pounded the knocker. On the porter’sresponding, the two marines handed the petticoatin with ceremony to him, directing him toconvey it to the Lady Arabella Stormont, withthe compliments of Lieutenant Giles Vernon ofhis Majesty’s service. This the man did, andwas almost torn to pieces by her for doing so,though in what way he had offended, I knownot to this day. It was a trifling thing, andmade laughter for us all (including LadyHawkshaw), except Arabella. She seemed to[Pg 93]hate Giles with a more virulent hatred afterthat, and tried very hard to induce Lady Hawkshawto forbid him the house, which, however,Lady Hawkshaw refused to do.

Neither Giles nor I had by any means forgottenour appointment to meet Captain Overtonon the field of honor; and as the timeapproached for the meeting, Giles sent a verycivil note to Overton, asking him to name a gentlemanwho would see me to arrange the preliminaries,for I would never have forgiven Gileshad he chosen any one else. Overton responded,naming our old first lieutenant, Mr. Buxton,who happened to be in London then, and was anacquaintance of his. I believe Overton’s objectin asking Mr. Buxton to act for him wasthe hope that the affair might be arranged; forfrom what I had heard of the deeply religiousturn Overton had taken, I concluded the meetingwas somewhat against his conscience. But theindignity of a blow in the face to an officercould not be easily wiped out without an exchangeof shots. My principal was much disgustedwhen Mr. Buxton was named.

“I know how it will be, Dicky,” he growled.[Pg 94]“You will sit like a great gaby, with yourmouth open, imagining the tavern parlor to bethe cockpit of theAjax. Mr. Buxton will talkto you in his quarter-deck voice, and you willbe so frightened that you will agree to use bird-shotat forty paces, provided Mr. Buxton proposesit.”

This I indignantly denied, and swore I wouldmeet Mr. Buxton as man to man. Nevertheless,when we were sitting at the table in Mr.Buxton’s lodgings, I did very much as Gileshad predicted. I forgot several things that Ihad wished to say, and said several things Iwished I had forgotten. Mr. Buxton did notlet me forget, however, that he had been myfirst lieutenant, and I was but a midshipman.He called my principal a hot-headed jackanapesbefore my very face, adding angrily,—

“But for him I should have been first on theIndomptable’s deck.” To all this I made but afeeble protest; and finally it was arranged thatthe meeting should take place at a spot verynear Richmond, at eight o’clock, on the morningof June the twenty-ninth.

When the date was set, and the arrangements[Pg 95]made, I began to feel very much frightened.Not so Giles. There was to be a great ball atAlmack’s on the night of the twenty-eighth andGiles announced that he was going. It was avery special occasion for him, because theTrenchard, whom he still called the divine Sylvia,and professed to admire as much as ever,was to go that night. She was then the rage,and had a carriage, diamonds, and a fine establishment,yet I believe her conduct to have beenirreproachable. She had long been consumedwith a desire to go to Almack’s, but up to thattime no actress had ever yet enjoyed the privilege.It seemed grotesque enough that a youngmidshipman, of no more consequence than GilesVernon, should succeed in carrying this through.But such was actually the case; and Giles accomplishedit by that singular power he possessed,by which no woman could say him nay.He worked with much art upon those greatladies, her Grace of Auchester and Lady Conyngham,and got them pledged to it. Ofcourse, the most violent opposition was developed;but Giles, who had a perfect knowledgeof the feminine heart, managed to inspire[Pg 96]these two ladies with the wish to exercise theirsovereignty over Almack’s, by doing what wasnever done before. Having led them into thefight, they had no thought of running away;and the result was innumerable heartburningsand jealousies, and meanwhile a card for Mrs.Trenchard.

The noise of the controversy was heard allover town, and it was discussed in BerkeleySquare as elsewhere. Lady Hawkshaw was nolonger a subscriber to Almack’s. Not beingable to rule it, she had retired, the assemblyrooms not being large enough to hold herselfand a certain other lady.

Giles had told me that on the evening of theball he and other gentlemen interested in thevictory for Mrs. Trenchard would escort her tothe ball. So at eight o’clock I proceeded tothe lady’s house in Jermyn Street, and saw herset forth in state in her chair. She was blazingwith diamonds, and looked like a stage duchess.A long company of gentlemen with their swordsattended her, and Giles and my Lord Winstanleyled the procession. Mrs. Trenchard was thebest imitation of a lady I ever saw, as she sat[Pg 97]in her chair, smiling and fanning herself, withthe linkboys gaping and grinning at her; andthe gentlemen especially, such as had had alittle more wine than usual, shouting, “Wayfor Mrs. Trenchard! Make way there!”

Yet it seemed to me as if she were only animitation, after all, and that Lady Hawkshaw,with her turban and her outlandish French, hadmuch more the genuine air of a great lady.Mrs. Trenchard would go to Almack’s on anyterms, but Lady Hawkshaw would not go, exceptshe ruled the roost, and fought gallantlywith the duchesses and countesses, only retiringfrom the field because she was one against many.

I followed the merry procession until we gotto King Street, St. James’s, where the coacheswere four deep, and footmen, in regiments,blockaded the street. Giles and Lord Winstanleywere to take Mrs. Trenchard in, and verygrand the party looked as they entered. Bythat time, though, I was very miserable. I rememberedthat at the same time the next night,I might not have my friend. I hung aroundamong the footmen and idlers, watching thelights and listening to the crash of the music,[Pg 98]quite unconscious of the flight of time, and wasastonished when the ball was over and the peoplebegan pouring out. Then, afraid to becaught by Giles, I ran home as fast as my legscould carry me.

When I reached Berkeley Square, it was altogetherdark, and I realized that I was lockedout.

I looked all over the front of the house, andmy heart sank. There was a blind alley at oneside, and I remembered that in it opened thewindow of Sir Peter’s study, as he called it,although, as I have said, it was more like thecubby-hole of theAjax than any other placeI can call to mind. The window was at leasttwenty feet from the ground, but a waterspoutran up the wall beside it, and to a midshipman,used to going out on the topsail-yard, it wasa trifle to get up to the window. I climbed up,softly tried the window, and to my joy found itopen. In another minute I was standing insidethe room. I had my flint and steel in mypocket, and I groped about until I found acandle, which I lighted.

I had often been in the room before, but its[Pg 99]grotesque appearance struck me afresh, and Icould not forbear laughing, although I was inno laughing mood. There was a regular ship’stransom running around the wall. The wholeroom was full of the useless odds and ends thataccumulate on board a ship, all arranged withthe greatest neatness and economy of space,and there was not one single object in the roomwhich could possibly be of the slightest use onshore.

I looked around to see how I could make myselfcomfortable for the night, and, openinga locker in the wall, I found a collection of oldboat-cloaks of Sir Peter’s, in every stage ofdilapidation, but all laid away with the greatestcare. Taking one for my pillow and two morefor my coverlet, I lay down on the transom and,blowing out the candle, was soon in a soundsleep.

I was awakened at five o’clock in the morningby the chiming of a neighboring churchbell, and at the same moment, I saw the doorto the room noiselessly open, and Lady ArabellaStormont enter, carrying a candle whichshe shaded with her hand. I involuntarily covered[Pg 100]my head up, thinking she had probablycome in search of something, and would bealarmed if a man suddenly jumped from the pileof boat-cloaks. But she went to a glass doorwhich led out upon a balcony, with stairs intothe garden, and unlocked the door. I hadcompletely forgotten about these stairs, not beingfamiliar with the room, when I climbed upand got in through the window.

Presently I heard a step upon the stairs, andbefore the person who was coming had time toknock, Lady Arabella opened the door. Therosy dawn of a clear June morning made it lightoutside, but inside the room it was quite dark,except for the candle carried by Lady Arabella.

A man entered, and as soon as he was in theroom, she noiselessly locked the door, and, unseenby him, put the key in her pocket.

As he turned, and the candlelight fell uponhis face, I saw it was Philip Overton. Amazementwas pictured in his face, and in his voice,too, when he spoke.

“I was sent for in haste, by Sir Peter, justnow,” he said, with some confusion.

At which Lady Arabella laughed, as if itwere a very good joke that he should find herinstead of Sir Peter. Meanwhile, my own chaosof mind prevented me from understanding fullywhat they were saying; but I gathered thatLady Arabella had devised some trick, in whichshe had freely used Sir Peter Hawkshaw’sname to get Overton there in that manner and inthat room. Sir Peter was such a very odd fishthat no one was surprised at what he did. Itwas no use striving not to listen,—they werenot five feet from me,—and I lay there in terror,realizing that I was in a very dangerousposition. I soon discovered that Overton’s reputationfor lately-acquired Methodistical pietyhad not done away with a very hot temper.He was enraged, as only a man can be who is entrapped,and demanded at once of Lady Arabellato be let out of the glass door, when hefound it locked. She refused to tell him wherethe key was, and he threatened to break theglass and escape that way.

“Do it then, if you wish,” she cried, “androuse the house and the neighborhood, and ruinme if you will. But before you do it, read this,[Pg 102]and then know what Arabella Stormont can dofor the man she loves!”

She thrust a letter into his hand, and, slippingout of the door to the corridor, as swiftlyand silently as a swallow in its flight, she lockedit after her; Overton was a prisoner in SirPeter’s room. He tore the letter open, read thefew lines it contained, and then threw it downwith an oath. The next minute he caught sightof me; in my surprise I had forgotten all myprecautions, and had half arisen.

“You hound!” he said. “Are you in thisinfernal plot?” And he kicked the boat-cloaksoff me.

“I am not,” said I coolly, recalled to myselfby the term he had used toward me; “and neitheram I a hound. You will kindly remember toaccount to me for that expression, CaptainOverton.”

“Read that,” he cried, throwing Lady Arabella’sletter toward me. I think he meant notto do a dishonorable thing in giving me theletter to read, but it was an act of involuntaryrage.

I confess that the reading of this letter mademe a partizan of Overton; for surely no moreunhandsome trick was ever played upon a gentleman.

There was nothing for it but to sit down andwait for eight o’clock. Sir Peter’s family werelate risers, and there was little danger of detectionat that hour. So we sat, and gazed at eachother, mute before the mystery of the good andevil in a woman’s love. I confess the experiencewas new to me.

“You will bear me witness, Mr. Glyn,” saidOverton, “that I am detained here against mywill; but I think it a piece of good fortune thatyou are detained with me.”

“I will bear witness to nothing, sir,” I replied,[Pg 104]“until you have given me satisfaction forcalling me a hound, just now.”

“Dear sir, pray forget that hasty expression.In my rage and amazement, just now, Iwould have called the commander-in-chief of theforces a hound. Pray accept every apologythat a gentleman can make. I was quite besidemyself, as you must have seen.”

I saw that he was very anxious to conciliateme; for upon my testimony alone would restthe question of whether he voluntarily or involuntarilyfailed to appear at the meeting arrangedfor eight o’clock.

I also perceived the strength of my position,and a dazzling idea presented itself to my mind.

“I will agree,” said I, “to testify to everythingin your favor, if you will but promise menot to—not to—” I hesitated, ashamed toexpress my womanish fears for Giles Vernon’slife; but he seemed to read my thoughts.

“Do you mean, not to do Mr. Vernon anyharm in the meeting which will, of course, takeplace, the instant it can be arranged? That Ipromise you; for I never had any personal animositytoward Mr. Vernon. His blow, like my[Pg 105]words just now, was the outburst of passion,and not a deliberate insult.”

I was overjoyed at this; and as I sat, grinningin my delight, I must have been in strongcontrast to Overton, in the very blackness ofrage.

The minutes dragged slowly on, and we heardthe clock strike six and seven. The dim lightof a foggy morning stole in at the windows.Not a soul was stirring in the house; but on thestroke of eight, a light step fluttered near theouter door. It was softly unlocked, and LadyArabella entered, carefully locking the door onthe inside, after her, this time. In the ghostlyhalf-light, Overton rose, and saluted her withmuch ceremony.

“Lady Arabella Stormont,” he said, “youhave delayed the meeting between Mr. Vernonand myself just twenty-four hours. To do it,you have put my honor in jeopardy, and thatI shall not soon forget. I beg you to open theglass door, and allow me to bid you farewell.”

She stopped, as if paralyzed for a moment,when I, knowing the key to be in her pocket,deftly fished it out, and opened the door, and[Pg 106]Overton walked out. She could not stop me,—Iwas too quick for her,—but she ran afterme, and fetched me a box on the ear, which didmore than sting my cheek and my pride. Itkilled, in one single instant of time, the boyishlove I had had for her, ever since the first hourI had seen her. I own I was afraid to retaliateas a gentleman should, by kissing her violently;but dashing on, I sped down the steps outside,after Overton, not caring to remain alone withthe Lady Arabella. I saw her no more thatday, nor until the afternoon of the next day.

My courage always has an odd way of disappearingwhen I am expecting to use it, althoughI must say, when I have had actual occasion forit, I have always found it easily at hand. Ican not deny that I was very much frightenedfor Giles on the morning of the meeting, and,to add to my misery, I heard that Overton wasconsidered one of the best shots in England.

The dreary breakfast gulped down; the post-chaiserattling up to the door—I had hopeduntil the last moment that it would not come;the bumping along the road in the cool, brightsummer morning; the gruesome, long, narrowbox that lay on the front seat of the chaise;the packet of letters which Giles had given meand which seemed to weigh a hundred tons inmy pocket,—all these were so many horrors tohaunt the memory for ever. But I must saythat, apparently, the misery was all mine; for[Pg 108]I never saw Giles Vernon show so much as bythe flicker of an eyelash that he was disturbedin any way.

About half-way from the meeting-ground weleft the highway and turned into a by-road;and scarcely had we gone half a mile when wealmost drove into a broken-down chaise, andstanding on the roadside among the furzebushes were the coachman, the surgeon,—amost bloody-minded man I always believed him,—Mr.Buxton, and Overton.

Our chaise stopped, and Giles, putting hishead out of the window, said pleasantly, “Goodmorning, gentlemen; you have had an accident,I see.”

“A bad one,” replied Mr. Buxton, who sawthat their chaise was beyond help, and who, ashe said afterward, was playing for a place inour chaise, not liking to walk the rest of thedistance.

The two drivers, as experts, examined thebroken chaise, and agreed there was no patchingit up for service; one wheel was splintered.

Mr. Buxton looked at Giles meaningly, andthen at me, and Giles whispered to me,—

Which I did, and, to my amazement, in a fewmoments we were all lumbering along the road;Overton and Mr. Buxton on the back seat, andGiles and I with our backs to the horses, whilethe surgeon was alongside the coachman on thebox.

Nothing could exceed the politeness betweenthe two principals, about the seats as abouteverything else. Overton was with difficultypersuaded to take the back seat. Mr. Buxtonseated himself there without any introduction.(I hope it will never again be my fortune tonegotiate so delicate an affair as a meetingbetween gentlemen, with one so much my superiorin rank as Mr. Buxton.)

“May I ask, Mr. Overton, if you prefer thewindow down or up?” asked Giles, with greatdeference.

“Either, dear sir,” responded Overton. “Ibelieve it was up when you kindly invited usto enter.”

We were much crowded with the two pistol-casesand the surgeon’s box of instruments,which to me appeared more appalling than thepistols.

At last we reached the spot,—a small, flatplace under a sweetly-blooming hawthorn hedge,with some verdant oaks at either end.

Giles and Overton were so scrupulous abouttaking precedence of each other in getting outof the chaise, that I had strong hopes the daywould pass before they came to a decision; butMr. Buxton finally got out himself and pulledhis man after him, and then we were soonmarking off the ground, and I was feeling thatmortal sickness which had attacked me the firsttime I was under fire in theAjax.

Our men were placed twenty paces apart,with their backs to each other. At the word“one,” they were to turn, advance and fire between[Pg 111]the words “two” and “three.” Thisseemed to me the most murderous arrangementI had ever heard of.

The stories I had so lately heard about Overton’sproficiency with the pistol made me think,even if he did not kill Giles intentionally, hewould attempt some expert trick with the pistol,which would do the business equally well. Iknew Giles to be a very poor shot, and concludedthat he, through awkwardness, wouldprobably put an end to Overton, and I regardedthem both as doomed men.

I shall never forget my feelings as we wereplacing our men, or after Mr. Buxton and I hadretired to a place under the hedge. Just as wehad selected our places, Giles, looking over hisshoulder, said in his usual cool, soft voice,—

“Don’t you think, gentlemen, you had bettermove two or three furlongs off? Mr. Overtonmay grow excited and fire wild.”

I thought this a most dangerous as well asfoolish speech, and calculated to irritate Overton;and for the first time I saw a gleam ofanger in his eye, which had hitherto been mild,and even sad. For I believed then, and knew[Pg 112]afterward, that his mind was far from easy onthe subject of dueling. I wish to say here thatI also believe, had he been fully convinced thatdueling was wrong, he would have declined tofight, no matter what the consequences had been;for I never knew a man with more moral courage.But at the time, although his views werechanging on the subject, they were not whollychanged.

Mr. Buxton, without noticing Giles’ speech,coughed once or twice, and then waited two orthree minutes before giving the word.

The summer sun shone brilliantly, turningthe distant river to a silver ribbon. A thrushrioted musically in the hawthorn hedge. Allthings spoke of life and hope, but to my sinkingheart insensate Nature only mocked us. Iheard, as in a dream, the words “One, two,three” slowly uttered by Mr. Buxton, and saw,still as in a dream, both men turn and raisetheir pistols.

Overton’s was discharged first; then, as hestood like a man in marble waiting for hisadversary’s fire, Giles raised his pistol and, takingdeliberate aim at the bird still singing in[Pg 113]the hedge, brought it down. It was a merelucky shot, but Overton took off his hat andbowed to the ground, and Giles responded bytaking off his hat and showing a hole throughthe brim.

“You see, Mr. Glyn,” said Overton, “I havedone according to my promise. It was not myintention to kill Mr. Vernon, but only tofrighten him,”—which speech Mr. Buxton andI considered as a set-off to Giles’ speech justbefore shots were exchanged.

The two principals remained where they were,while Mr. Buxton and I retired behind the hedgeto confer—or rather for Mr. Buxton to say tome,—

“Another shot would be damned nonsense.My man is satisfied, or shall be, else I am aDutch trooper. Certainly you have nothing tocomplain of.”

I was only too happy to accept this solution,but more out of objection to being browbeatenby Mr. Buxton than anything else, I said,—

“We shall require an explanation of yourprincipal’s observation just now, sir.”

“Shall you?” angrily asked Mr. Buxton,[Pg 114]exactly in the tone he used when the carpenter’smate complained that the jack-o’-the-dust hadcribbed his best saw. “Then I shall call yourman to account in regard to his late observation,and we can keep them popping away at eachother all day. But this is no slaughter-pen,Mr. Glyn, nor am I the ship’s butcher, and Ishall take my man back to town and give hima glass of spirits and some breakfast, and Iadvise you to do the same. You are veryyoung, Mr. Glyn, and you still need to knowa thing or two.” Then, advancing from behindthe hedge, he said in the dulcet tone he usedwhen the admiral asked him to have wine,—

“Gentlemen, Mr. Glyn and myself, afterconferring, have agreed that the honor of ourprincipals is fully established, and that the controversyis completely at an end. Allow meto congratulate you both,”—and there was ageneral hand-shaking all around. I noticedthat the coachman, who was attentively watchingthe performance, looked slightly disappointedat the turn of affairs.

Straightway, we all climbed into the chaise,and I think I shall be believed when I say that[Pg 115]our return to town was more cheerful than ourdeparture had been.

We all agreed to dine together at Mivart’sthe next night, and I saw no reason to believethat there was any remnant of ill feeling betweenthe two late combatants.

I returned to Berkeley Square that afternoon,with much uneasiness concerning my meetingand future intercourse with Lady Arabella; forI had not seen her since the occurrence in SirPeter’s study. Although my affection for herwas for ever killed by that box on the ear shegave me, yet no man can see a woman shamedbefore him without pain, and the anticipationof Lady Arabella’s feelings when she saw metroubled me. But this was what actually happenedwhen we met. Lady Arabella was sittingin the Chinese drawing-room, her lap-dogin her arms, surrounded by half a dozen fops.Lady Hawkshaw had left the room for amoment, and Arabella had taken the opportunityof showing her trick of holding out herdog’s paws and kissing his nose, which shecalled measuring love-ribbon. This performancenever failed to throw gentlemen into ecstasies.[Pg 116]Daphne sat near, with her work in herlap and a book on the table by her, smilingrather disdainfully. I do not think the cousinsloved each other.

On my appearance in the drawing-room, Iscarcely dared look toward Lady Arabella; butshe called out familiarly,—

“Come here, Dicky!” (her habit of callingme Dicky annoyed me very much), “and let meshow you how I kiss Fido’s nose; and if you area good boy, and will tell me all about the meetingthis morning, perhaps I may hold your pawsout and kiss your nose,”—at which all thegentlemen present laughed loudly. I never wasso embarrassed in my life, and my chagrin wasincreased when, suddenly dropping the dog, sherushed at me, seized my hands, and, holdingthem off at full arm’s length, imprinted a soundingsmack upon my nose, and laughingly criedout, “One yard!” ( Smack on my nose again.)“Two yards!” (Smack.) “Three yards!”(Smack.)

At this juncture I recovered my presence ofmind enough to seize her around the waist, andreturn her smacks with interest full in the[Pg 117]mouth. And at this stage of the proceedingsLady Hawkshaw appeared upon the scene.

In an instant an awful hush fell upon us.For my part I felt my knees sinking under me,and I had that feeling of mortal sickness whichI had felt in my first sea-fight, and at theinstant I thought my friend’s life in jeopardy.Lady Arabella stood up, for once, confused.The gentlemen all retired gracefully to the wall,in order not to interrupt the proceedings, andDaphne fixed her eyes upon me, sparkling withindignation.

Lady Hawkshaw’s voice, when she spoke,seemed to come from the tombs of the Pharaohs.

Jeames, the tall footman, stood behind her;and to him she turned, saying in a tone likethunder,—

“Jeames, go and tell Sir Peter Hawkshawthat I desire his presence immediately upon amatter of the greatest importance.”

The footman literally ran down stairs, andpresently Sir Peter came puffing up from the[Pg 118]lower regions. Lady Arabella had recoveredherself then enough to hum a little tune andto pat the floor with her satin slipper.

Sir Peter walked in, surveyed us all, andturned pale. I verily believe he thought Arabellahad been caught cheating at cards.

“Sir Peter,” said Lady Hawkshaw, in thesame awful voice, “I unexpectedly entered thisroom a few moments ago, and the sight thatmet my eyes was Arabella struggling in thearms of this young ruffian, Richard Glyn, whowas kissing her with the greatest fury imaginable.”

“Sir,” I replied, trying to assume a firmtone, “I will only say that Lady Arabella,meaning to treat me like her lap-dog, kissed meon the nose, as she does that beast of hers; andas an officer and a gentleman, I felt called uponto pay her back; and for every smack she gaveme on my nose, I gave her two back in themouth, to show her that an officer in his[Pg 119]Majesty’s sea-service is a man, and not a lap-dog.”

“Do you hear that, Sir Peter?” asked LadyHawkshaw, with terrible earnestness. “Hedoes not deny his guilt. What think you ofhis conduct?”

“Think, ma’am!” shouted Sir Peter, “Ithink if he had done anything else, it wouldhave been clean against the articles of war, andI myself would have seen that he was kickedout of his Majesty’s service. I shall send formy solicitor, to-morrow morning, to put a codicilto my will, giving Richard Glyn a thousandpounds at my decease.”

At this the gentlemen roared, and Lady Arabella,seizing the lap-dog, hid her face in hislong hair, while even Daphne smiled andblushed. As for Lady Hawkshaw, for once shewas disconcerted and walked out, glaring overher shoulder at Sir Peter.

There was much laughter, Sir Peter joiningin; but after a while the gentlemen left, andSir Peter went out, and Daphne, who I saw wasdisgusted with my conduct, walked haughtilyaway, in spite of Lady Arabella’s playful protests[Pg 120]that she was afraid to remain alone in theroom with me.

One thing had puzzled me extremely, andthat was her calmness, and even gaiety, whenshe had no means of knowing how Overton hadcome off in the meeting, and I said to her,—

“How did you know, or do you know,whether Philip Overton and Giles Vernon arealive at this moment?”

“By your face, Dicky,” she answered, tryingto give me a fillip on the nose, which I successfullyresisted. “I was in agony until I sawyour face. Then I gave one great breath ofjoy and relief, and my play with my lap-dog,which had been torture to me, became delight.But tell me the particulars.”

“I presume you will take an early opportunityof telling Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshawthat I saw Philip Overton alone in this house, atfive o’clock yesterday morning?”

“I am quite unaware, Madam,” replied I,[Pg 121]stung by this, “of anything in my characteror conduct which could induce you to thinksuch a thing of me.”

“Certainly not. But some things are considereduniversally binding among gentlemen,and one is to tell nothing to the disadvantageof a woman. I neither made, nor will make, apromise about that affair; but if it is everknown, it will be you or Overton who tells it,not I.”

I speedily found, after that, my life in BerkeleySquare uncomfortable. I felt constrainedbefore Lady Arabella, and, what seemed strangeto me, little Daphne, who had hitherto treatedme with greatest kindness, seemed to take aspite at me, and her gibes and cuts were hardto bear. Neither Sir Peter nor Lady Hawkshawnoted these things, but they were strong enoughto impel me to ask Sir Peter to look out fora ship for me at the Admiralty.

I saw Giles Vernon every day, and he continuedto come, with unabated assurance, to[Pg 122]Berkeley Square. We were not anxious thatthe fact of the duel should leak out, and Overtonwas especially desirous to keep it quiet.Of course, he came no more to Berkeley Square,and withdrew more and more from his formerassociates. He began to consort much withpersons of the John Wesley persuasion, spendingmuch of his time, when not on duty, atOxford, where the Wesleyans were numerousat the time. I noticed that Lady Arabellatreated Giles, and me, also, with more civilitythan she had hitherto shown. I could not thinkit sincere, but attributed it to a natural desireto conciliate those who knew so much to herdisadvantage. But that she made no effort toovercome her infatuation for Overton, I verysoon had proof. Sir Thomas Vernon, soon afterthis, had the assurance to present himself inBerkeley Square, and rare sport it was. LadyHawkshaw, Lady Arabella, Daphne, myself, andone or two other persons were in the Chinesedrawing-room when he was ushered in.

Lady Hawkshaw and Sir Thomas were oldacquaintances, and had been at feud for morethan thirty years, neither side asking or giving[Pg 123]quarter. Sir Thomas had a shrewd wit of hisown, and was more nearly a match for LadyHawkshaw than any one I had yet seen. Heopened the ball by remarking on Lady Hawkshaw’simproved appearance, partly due, hethought, to her triumph in getting the K. C. B.for Sir Peter. This nettled Lady Hawkshawextremely, and she retaliated by telling SirThomas that he looked younger than he didwhen she first knew him, thirty years ago. AsSir Thomas hated any allusion to his age, thisshot told.

“And allow me to congratulate you, SirThomas,” added Lady Hawkshaw, “upon yourvery promising cousin, Mr. Giles Vernon. SirPeter has the highest opinion of him, and hehas won the favor of thebong-tong to an extraordinarydegree.”

“He may have won the favor of thebong-tong,”replied Sir Thomas, impudently mimickingLady Hawkshaw’s French, “but he has notyet succeeded in winningmy favor.”

“That’s a pity,” said Lady Hawkshaw; “butit doesn’t signify, I dare say. It will not keepyou alive a day longer. And there is your other[Pg 124]cousin—Captain Overton of the Guards. Heis what so few of our young men are, pious andGod-fearing.”

“And a sniveling, John Wesley Methodistbesides,” snarled Sir Thomas, much exasperated.

“Bless me, Sir Thomas,” cried Lady Hawkshaw,“don’t be so hard on those worthy people,the Methodists.”

I own this surprised me, for if there wasanything on earth upon which Lady Hawkshawwas uncompromising, it was Church and State;and, excellent woman though she was, I believeshe would have been rather glad to make onebig bonfire of all the dissenters in England.

Sir Thomas was far from insensible to LadyArabella’s charms, and, after a further exchangeof hostilities with Lady Hawkshaw, turned toArabella. She smiled upon him, and seemedanxious to conciliate him; and in a little while Icaught enough of their conversation to knowthat she was telling him of the meeting betweenGiles and Overton, and representing that it hadbeen forced upon Overton by the insults of GilesVernon. Sir Thomas’ response to her tale wasthat he did not give a damn for either of them,[Pg 125]and if both had bit the dust he should not havebeen sorry.

“Jeames,” she said, “when that—personcalls again, the ladies are not at home. Doyou understand?”

It is not to be supposed that a young manof Giles Vernon’s spirit had not been able to gothrough with his prize-money and run prettyconsiderably in debt in five or six weeks inLondon, and one morning, some days after this,when I went to see Giles at his lodgings, I foundthe bailiffs in possession. Giles, however, wasas merry as a grig, because that very morninghe had got an appointment to theBelviderafrigate.

It was not much after having served intheAjax, but it meant leaving that uncertainand trying element, dry land, for another elementon which Giles was much more at home,to wit, the blue sea. So he sent out for a pot ofporter, and he and I, together with the bailiffs,[Pg 126]drank to theBelvidera; and I swore, then andthere, that go with him I would. For, in theexcess of my affection for Giles, I would havetaken almost any service to be with him. Thefrigates, too, were more in the way of activity,as the enemy was wary of meeting our shipsof the line, but the frigates could go huntingafter him. So, when I returned to BerkeleySquare that day, I begged Sir Peter to get mea berth in theBelvidera. He was pleased withmy spirit, and the very next day he went tothe Admiralty for me. The complement wasfull, but, luckily for me, one of the juniors gota billet more to his liking, and Sir Peter, beingon the spot, got me the vacancy, and I wasordered to report at once at Plymouth.

It took me but a day or two to get my outfitand make ready to start. Lady Hawkshawshowed me great kindness then, and actuallyallowed me to have a considerable sum of myown money. Lady Arabella treated me with herusual indifference, and, on the day I was to go,bade me a careless adieu.

When the post-chaise was at the door and Iwent to the Chinese drawing-room to tell Lady[Pg 127]Hawkshaw and Sir Peter good-by, Daphne wasthere with them, and she looked as if she hadbeen weeping. Sir Peter gave me a letter tomy new captain, Vere, and some words of encouragement.Lady Hawkshaw delivered ahomily to me on my duty, which I received outof respect for her real excellence of heart, andthanked her in a manner which made Sir Petermy friend for life. Daphne said not a wordwhen I took her hand, but handing me a littleparcel ran out of the room. I afterward foundit to be a little housewife made by her ownhands.

I went down to the chaise, puzzled at her conduct,but, looking up for the last time to thewindows, I saw her peering from behind a curtain.I raised the parcel to my lips, and, as shesaw it, a smile broke over her face. My lastglimpse of her was like an April day,—she wasall smiles and tears,—and it was destined to remainin my memory.

Giles Vernon was waiting for me at thecorner of the street. We were to make thejourney to Plymouth together.

“Well,” he cried, when we found ourselves[Pg 128]rolling along to meet the coach, “I have hadmy cake and eaten it.”

“How I envy you!” I said bitterly. “Ihave not had my cake. Every shilling of myprize-money is in bank, except about two hundredpounds.”

“Poor chap!” answered Giles feelingly.“How much more of life have I seen in Londonthan you! I have seen everything, includingthat queen of hearts, Lady Arabella Stormont.She has treated me cruelly, the jade! But Iwill bring her to my hand at last, that I swearto you.”

I longed that he might know of that episodewith Overton in Sir Peter Hawkshaw’s cubby-holeat five o’clock in the morning.

We had a pleasant journey to Plymouth, andwere troubled with few regrets at leaving London.We expected, in the foolishness of youth,to capture many more such prizes as theIndomptableandXantippe. TheBelvidera wasnearly ready, and in a few weeks we sailed onour second cruise. I shall not give the particularsof that cruise. It was such an oneas all the officers of his Majesty’s service were[Pg 129]engaged in, during those eventful years. Wewere constantly at sea; we kept a tireless lookoutfor our enemies, and hunted and pursuedthem into their own harbors. We never sleptfor more than four hours at a time, in all ourcruising. We lived on beef and biscuit formonths at a time; sometimes we had scurvyin the ship, and sometimes we did not. Westruggled with mighty gales, that blew us hundredsand even thousands of miles out of ourcourse; and we sweltered in calms that triedmen’s souls. In all that time, we watchednight and day for the enemy, and, when found,chased him, and never failed to get alongsidewhen it was possible; and we fought him withthe greatest good-will. We had good and illfortune with the ship, but her colors were neverlowered. And it was five years before we setfoot in London town again.

Only a year of that time was Giles Vernonwith me. He then got promotion which tookhim out of the ship. I had the extreme goodfortune to be with Nelson at the Nile. On thatgreat day, as sailing-master of theBelvidera, Itook the frigate around the head of Admiral[Pg 130]Villeneuve’s line,—she was the leading ship,—andplaced her where she was enabled to firethe first raking broadside of the battle. I gota wound in the forehead which left a scar thatremains to this day; but I also received thepersonal thanks of my Lord Nelson, which Ishall ever esteem as the greatest honor of mylife. I had heard nothing of Giles for nearlya year, when, among Admiral Villeneuve’sofficers, I found one, a young lieutenant likemyself, who told me that Giles had been captured,while on a boat expedition, and was thenin prison at Dunkerque.

I wrote him a dozen letters at least, by officerswho were paroled; and when the ship was paidoff, the following spring, I lost no time ingetting to London, and using what little powerI had in trying to have him exchanged. SirPeter was in great favor at the Admiralty.As soon as I reached London, I went immediatelyto call in Berkeley Square. My LadyHawkshaw was at home, and received me ingreat state, black feathers and all; and withher sat Daphne Carmichael.

I believe Lady Hawkshaw was really glad[Pg 131]to see me; but Daphne, after speaking to me,remained with her eyes fixed on her embroidery,I noted, however, that she was a very charminggirl, and her eyes, under her long, dark lashes,were full of fire and sweetness. But she hadnot, and never could have, the glorious beautyof Lady Arabella Stormont. Lady Hawkshawdemanded of me a particular account of mywhole cruise, and everything that had happenedat the battle of the Nile. This I gave, to thebest of my ability. She then invited, or, rather,commanded me to take up my quarters inBerkeley Square, and told me that I had threethousand and ten pounds, nineteen shillings andseven-pence to my credit in bank.

After this, she was called upon to leave theroom for a moment, and I civilly inquired ofDaphne how Lady Arabella was.

“She is well,” responded Daphne, rathertartly, I thought; “and as devoted to CaptainOverton as ever. You know Arabella everliked him rather more than he liked her.” Atwhich ungenerous speech, I said one word,“Fie!” and Daphne, coloring to the roots ofher hair, yet attempted to defend herself.

“I only tell you what all the world says,and so say my uncle and aunt. Arabella couldhave married a dozen times,—she is all oftwenty-one, you know,—and married verysplendidly, but she will not. Sir Peter rages,and swears that he will marry her off in spiteof herself; but Arabella is her own mistressnow, and laughs at Sir Peter.”

Daphne raised her eyes. It seemed to givethat otherwise sweet girl positive pleasure tocall over Lady Arabella’s faults.

“Yes,” she said. “Loo, lansquenet—anythingby which money can be lost or won.Three times a week she goes to the Duchessof Auchester’s, where play is high. We gothere to-night; but I do not play.”

I left my adieux for Lady Hawkshaw, andrepaired to the Admiralty, where Sir Peterhappened to be, that day. I explained that Ishould have come to him at once, but for myinordinate wish to see Lady Hawkshaw; andthat I found her looking at least twenty years[Pg 133]younger since we met last. At which Sir Peterbeamed on me with delight, and, I believe,mentally determined to give me a thousandpounds additional, in his will.

I then stated my real business, which wasto get Giles Vernon exchanged; and Sir Peter,without a moment’s hesitation, agreed to do allhe could for me; and then, as usual, directedme to have my portmanteau sent to BerkeleySquare, as Lady Hawkshaw had done. BeforeI left the Admiralty, machinery had been put inmotion to secure Giles Vernon’s exchange. Ireturned to Berkeley Square, and again took upmy abode there.

One month from the time I arrived in London,I was on my way to Portsmouth to meetGiles Vernon, who had been brought over witha batch of exchanged officers from France.

In that month, during which I had livedcontinuously in Berkeley Square, things wereso little changed, except in one respect, whichI shall mention presently, that I could scarcelypersuade myself five years had passed. Peterand Polly, as Giles disrespectfully called them,had not grown a day older, and quarreled asvigorously as ever. Lady Arabella was thenher own mistress, although still living underSir Peter’s roof; but, as far as I could see,this spoiled child of nature and fortune hadalways been her own mistress. I found thatOverton had been away for some years on foreignservice, and, after distinguishing himselfgreatly, had lately returned suffering from severewounds and injuries to his constitution.He was, however, in London, and able to ride[Pg 135]and walk out, and visit his friends; but itwas doubted by many whether, on the expirationof his leave, he would ever be fit for dutyagain.

I heard and saw enough to convince me thatLady Arabella had been wild with grief anddespair when she heard of his wounds; and,although since his return to London he avoidedcompany generally, she managed to see himoccasionally, and spent much of her time drivingin the parks upon the mere chance of seeinghim taking his daily ride or walk. Lady ArabellaStormont had everything in life that heartcould wish, except one. She had chosen to giveher wilful and wayward heart to Philip Overton,and it must be acknowledged that he wasa man well fitted to enchain a woman’s imagination.Overton had disdained the spontaneousgift of Arabella’s love; but I believe herhaughty and arrogant mind could never bebrought to believe that any man could be reallyinsensible to her beauty, her rank, and herfortune. Overton could not in any way beconsidered a great match for her. His fortunewas modest, and his chance of succeeding to the[Pg 136]Vernon estates remote; but, with the desperateperversity of her nature, him she would haveand no other. It always seemed to me as ifOverton were the one thing denied her, but thatshe had determined to do battle with fate untilshe conquered her soul’s desire.

For myself, she treated me exactly as shehad done five years before,—called me Dickyin her good humors, and a variety of sneeringnames in her bad humors,—and, little as it maybe believed, I, Richard Glyn, lieutenant in hisMajesty’s sea-service, with three thousandpounds to my name, would have gone to thegibbet rather than marry Lady Arabella, withher thirty thousand pounds.

Perhaps Daphne Carmichael had somethingto do with it. She was the same gentle, winningcreature at nineteen as at twelve. Shewas still Sir Peter’s pet, and Lady Hawkshaw’scomfort; but I had not been in the house aweek before the change I alluded to came about,and the change was in me concerning Daphne.I began to find it very hard to keep away fromher. She treated me with great kindness beforeothers, but when we were alone together, she[Pg 137]was capricious. I began to despair of everfinding a woman who could be kind to a manthree times running. And I was very muchsurprised at the end of a fortnight to find myselfexperiencing the identical symptoms I hadfelt five years before, with Arabella—onlymuch aggravated. There was this difference,too. I had admired Arabella as a star, afaroff, and I think I should have been very muchfrightened, if, at the time, she had chosen formallyto accept my devotion. Not so withDaphne. I felt I should never be really at easeuntil I had the prospect of having her by myside the rest of my life. I reached this phaseat the end of the third week. At the end of thefourth, I was in a desperate case, but it wasthen time to go to Portsmouth to meet Giles,according to my promise, and I felt, when Iparted from Daphne, as if I were starting on athree years’ cruise, and I was only to be gone aday and a half. She, dear girl, showed somefeeling, too, and I left, bearing with me thepack which every lover carries,—pains andhopes.

I left London at night, and next morning on[Pg 138]reaching Portsmouth, as I jumped from thecoach, I ran into Giles’ arms; he had reachedPortsmouth some hours in advance of the time.

He showed marks of his imprisonment in hisappearance, but his soul had ever been free,and he was the same brave and joyous spiritI had ever known. Not being minded to wasteour time in Portsmouth, we took coach forLondon town at noon. As we were mounting,a countryman standing by held up a woodencage full of larks, and asked us to buy, expatiatingon their beautiful song.

“I will take them all, my lad,” cried Giles,throwing him a guinea. The fellow gaped fora moment, and then made off as fast as his legscould carry him. I wondered what Giles meantto do with the birds. He held the cage in hishand until we had started and were well intothe country; then, opening the little slide, hetook out one poor, fluttering bird, and, poisingon his finger for a moment, the lark flew upwardwith a rush of joyous wings.

Each bird he liberated in the same way, allof us on the coach-top watching him in silence.As the last captive disappeared in the blue[Pg 139]heavens, Giles, crushing the cage in his stronghands, threw it away.

“I have been a prisoner for fourteenmonths,” he said, “and I shall never see anyharmless living thing again imprisoned withouttrying to set it free.”

We reached London that night, and Gileswent to his old lodgings, where his landladywas delighted to see him, as all women werewho knew Giles Vernon. She gave us supper,and then we sat up all night talking. I hadthought from the guinea he had thrown thevender of larks, that he had money. I foundhe had none, or next to none.

“And how I am to live until I get anothership, I am at a loss, my boy,” he cried, quitecheerfully. “Two courses are open to me—playand running away with an heiress. Doyou know of a charming girl, Dicky, with somethingunder a hundred thousand pounds, whocould be reconciled to a penniless lieutenant inhis Majesty’s navy? And remember, she mustbe as beautiful as the dawn besides, and of goodfamily, and keen of wit—no lunkhead of awoman for me.” To this, fate impelled me to[Pg 140]reply that Lady Arabella Stormont was stillsingle.

“Faith!” cried Giles, slapping his knee,“she is the girl for me. I always intended tomarry her, if only to spite her.”

I was sorry I had raked up the embers of hispassion of five years before, and attempted tocover my step by saying,—

“She is still infatuated with Overton, whom,however, she sees rarely, and that only at thehouses of others; but he has ever looked coldlyupon her.”

“She’ll not be coldly looked on by me. Andlet me see; there is her cousin you used to tellme about,—the Carmichael girl,—supposeyou, Dicky, run away with her; then no twolieutenants in the service will have more of therhino than we!”

I declare this was the very first time I hadremembered Daphne’s thirty thousand pounds.She had the same fortune as Lady Arabella.The reflection damped my spirits dreadfully.

Giles saw it directly, and in a moment hehad my secret from me. He shouted withdelight, and immediately began a grotesque[Pg 141]planning for us to run away with the twoheiresses. He recalled that the abduction ofan heiress was a capital crime, and drew a fantasticpicture of us two standing in the prisoners’dock, on trial for our lives, with LadyArabella and Daphne swearing our lives away,and then relenting and marrying us at the gallows’foot. And this tale, told with the greatestglee, amid laughter and bumpers of hot brandyand water, had a singular effect upon me. Itsobered me at once, and suddenly I seemed tosee a vision, as Macbeth saw Banquo’s ghost,passing before my very eyes,—just such a sceneas Giles described. Only I got no farther thanthe spectacle of Giles a prisoner in the dock, ontrial for his life. My own part seemed mistyand confused, but I saw, instead of the lodging-houseparlor, a great hall of justice dimlylighted with lamps, the judges in their robes onthe bench, one with a black cap on his head, andGiles standing up to receive sentence. I passedinto a kind of nightmare, from which I wasaroused by Giles whacking me on the back andsaying in a surprised voice,—

“What ails you, Dicky boy? You look as[Pg 142]if you had seen a ghost. Rouse up here andopen your lantern jaws for a glass of brandyand rid yourself of that long face.”

I came out of this singular state as quicklyas I had gone into it, and, ashamed to show myweakness to Giles, grew merry, carried on thejoke about the abduction, and shortly felt likemyself, a light-hearted lieutenant of twenty-one.I proposed that we should go to the play thenext night,—or rather that night, for it wasnow about four in the morning,—and shortlyafter we tumbled into bed together and sleptuntil late the next day.

Giles and I went to Berkeley Square in theafternoon, professing just to have arrived fromPortsmouth. Giles expressed his thanks inthe handsomest manner to Sir Peter for hiskindness, and made himself, as usual, highlyagreeable to Lady Hawkshaw. Neither LadyArabella nor Daphne was at home, but camein shortly after Giles had left. Lady Arabellamade some slighting remark about Giles, asshe always did whenever opportunity offered.Daphne was very kind to me, and I gave herto understand privately that I was ready to[Pg 143]haul down my flag at the first summons tosurrender.

The family from Berkeley Square were goingto the play that night, and I mentioned thatGiles and I would be there together. And so,just as the playhouse was lighting up, wewalked in. After the curtain was up, andwhen Mrs. Trenchard was making her greatspeech inPercy, I motioned Giles to look towardLady Hawkshaw’s box. Her ladyship enteredon Sir Peter’s arm; his face was very red, andhe was growling under his breath, to whichLady Hawkshaw contributed an obligato accompanimentin a sepulchral voice; and behindthem, in all the splendor of her beauty, walkedLady Arabella, and last, came sweet, sweetDaphne.

The first glimpse Giles caught of Lady Arabellaseemed to renew in an instant the spell shehad cast on him five years before. He seemedalmost like a madman. He could do nothingbut gaze at her with eyes that seemed startingout of his head. He grew pale and then red,and was like a man in a frenzy. It was all Icould do to moderate his voice and his looks[Pg 144]in that public place. Luckily, Mrs. Trenchardbeing on the stage, all eyes were, for the time,bent on her.

I hardly knew how we sat the play out. Ihad to promise Giles a dozen times that thenext day I would take him to Berkeley Square.When the curtain went down, he fairly leapedhis way out of the playhouse to see Lady Arabellaget into the coach.

That was a fair sample of the way he ravedfor days afterward. He haunted BerkeleySquare, where he was welcomed always bySir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw, asked to dinefrequently, and every mark of favor shown him.

Lady Arabella remained cold and indifferentto him. About that time Overton appeared alittle in his old haunts, although much changedand sobered. Neither wounds nor illness hadimpaired his looks and charms, but rather hehad become an object of interest and sympathyfrom his gallant behavior in the field. SirPeter, who had always liked him, began topester him to come to Berkeley Square, whichhe did a few times, because he could not welldecline Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw’s pressing[Pg 145]and friendly invitations. I believed, however,that in spite of his forced composure hefelt cruelly abashed before Lady Arabella.She, however, showed an amazing coolness, andeven began to be a little kind to Giles, fromsome obscure motive of her own. I believeevery act of her life with regard to men hadsome reference to her passion for Overton.

All this time, though, from the night of theplay, Daphne and I had been secretly happy;for on the very next day, catching her alone, Itold her, in plain and seamanlike language, thatI loved her, and when she showed a dispositionto cut and run, I said to her, very boldly,—

“Since you scorn my love, I have the resourcethat every one of my calling has in thesedays. I shall soon go to sea, and upon the deckof my ship I can find death, since life is nothingto me without my Daphne’s love.”

“You’ll break my heart, if you talk in thatway!” and I perceived that she was only manœuveringfor position.

I do not know exactly what happened next,[Pg 146]except I was in that heaven, Daphne’s arms,when I looked up and caught the butler andtwo footmen grinning at me. But it matterednot.

Next morning Daphne and I met in thedrawing-room, as usual, after breakfast; butwhat a meeting it was! We had barely timeto scuttle back to our chairs when Sir Peterentered with the newspaper, and informed methat theBellona frigate was being fitted for theWest Indies, and he thought he could get mea berth in her, at which I felt myself grow weakin the knees, so great is the power of love.

Presently he went out. Then Daphne andI began to speculate upon Sir Peter’s personalequation in our affairs.

“He will never let me marry you,” she said.“He will say I am too young.”

This depressed me so that I could say nothingin reply. Daphne continued, quite in anoffhand manner,—

“True,” said Daphne; “and after all, he andLady Hawkshaw as good as eloped, and shewas but eighteen—a year younger than I.”

I again swear that I had not a thought ofDaphne’s fortune in all this. I would havetaken the dear girl with nothing but the clothesupon her back.

True to his word, Sir Peter worked like aTrojan to get me a berth on theBellona, and,meaning to do Giles the greatest service in theworld, tried likewise for him; and mightilyafraid we were that he would soon succeed.

This brought matters to a crisis with Daphne.I mentioned the word “elope” to her again, andshe made a great outcry, after the manner ofyoung women, and then began straightway toshow me precisely how it might be done, protesting,meanwhile, that she would never, no, never,consent. We both agreed, though, that it wasproper we should lay the matter of our marriagebefore Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw;but I saw that Daphne, who was of a romantic[Pg 148]turn, had her imagination fired by the notionof an elopement.

“A pair of good horses and a light travelingchaise!” she exclaimed. “If only it were notwrong!”

“No, no! Four horses!” cried I, “andthere is nothing wrong in either a two or a fourhorse chaise.”

“A trip to Scotland—I have always longedfor Scotland. I know a dozen people who havemarried in Scotland, and happy marriages,every one of them. But I forbid you, Richard,to think of an elopement.”

“We shall set out at midnight; we shall notbe missed until morning, and we shall have atleast twelve hours’ start. Then, at every stage,we shall leave something behind, which will ensurea broken axle, or a linchpin gone, for ourpursuers.”

We were both so charmed with the picturewe had conjured up, that when I said, “Suppose,after all, though, that Sir Peter consents?”Daphne’s face fell; but presently shesmiled, when I said,—

“If he does consent, why, then, there is noharm in our marrying any way we like, and hewill excuse us for running away. And if hedoesnot consent, there is no help for it,—wemust elope!”

I considered myself a casuist of the firstorder. I felt obliged to take the first opportunityof letting Sir Peter know the state ofaffairs, and, as usual, I determined to beginthrough Lady Hawkshaw.

“And,” as Daphne shrewdly remarked,“they will certainly differ, so we shall at leasthave one of them on our side.”

I sought Lady Hawkshaw, and found her inher usual place, in the Chinese room. I began,halting, stammering, and blushing, as if I werea charity school-boy, instead of a lieutenant inhis Majesty’s service, who had been thanked byLord Nelson.

“M-m-my lady,” I stuttered, “I have experiencedso much k-k-kindness from you that Ihave come to you in the greatest emergency ofmy life.”

I was so staggered by having the words takenout of my mouth, that I could only gape andstare at her. To render my confusion worse,she added,—

I rang the bell like a churchwarden, and thefootman came, and Lady Hawkshaw immediatelysent him for Sir Peter.

I think my courage would wholly have givenout at that, except for a glimpse of Daphne,flitting up the stairs. The dear girl wished togive me heart, so she told me afterward.

“Sir Peter, here is Richard Glyn wanting tomarry Daphne. He has but three thousandpounds; but she might go farther, and fareworse.”

Sir Peter literally glared at me. He gaspedonce or twice, then broke out in a torrent.

“He wants to marry my ward, does he—myward, with thirty thousand pounds, in her own[Pg 151]right! I wonder, damme, he didn’t propose tomarry Arabella, too. Young gentleman, youare too modest. Heiresses in England go abouthunting for poor lieutenants to marry. I supposeyou think it would be a fine stroke forme to marry my ward to my nephew! Ha, ha!Ho, ho!”

“Sir Peter,” said Lady Hawkshaw severely,—forI remained mute,—“I am astonishedat your violence and unreason. Did you neverhear of an heiress—and a fine, handsome girl,too, with many accomplishments, and of a greatfamily—marrying a poor lieutenant without apenny, and without an ancestor?”

“Then, Sir Peter,” cried Lady Hawkshaw,rising with awful dignity, “you forget all aboutLieutenant Peter Hawkshaw and the HonorableApollonia Jane Howard.”

At this, Sir Peter fairly wilted for a fewmoments; and I heard something strangelylike a tittering in the next room.

“But—but—there are lieutenants andlieutenants, Madam, I was considered a manlikely to rise. And besides, if I rememberrightly, I was not an ill-looking fellow,Madam.”

“Sir Peter, you were no taller then than youare now—five feet four inches. Your hairwas red, and you were far from handsome.Richard Glyn is as good-looking as you everwere in your life; and he has already made hismark. Richard Glyn,” turning to me, “youare at liberty to marry Daphne Carmichael.”

“Richard Glyn,” bawled Sir Peter, “if youdare tothink you are going to marry DaphneCarmichael,—mind, I say, if the thought everenters your damned head,—it will be as muchas your life is worth! I am going, this moment,to the First Lord of the Admiralty, tosee if I can’t have you sent to the West Indies,or the Gold Coast, with my best wishes andendeavors to keep you there for ten years atleast.”

“And what will you do withme, dear UnclePeter?” suddenly asked a soft voice; andDaphne, who had stolen into the room (she[Pg 153]must have been very near), stood before him,and nestled her pretty head against his shoulder.

Sir Peter was too astonished, for a momentor two, to speak. The whole thing had fallenupon him like the shock of an earthquake.But in a little while he recovered his voice, andall of his voice, too; he shouted as if he wereon the bridge of theAjax, with a whole galeblowing, and the enemy in sight.

“Do!” he shrieked. “What shall I do?Bread and water, miss, for six months! Discipline,miss!” And much more of the samesort.

This roused Lady Hawkshaw to take ourpart. She shouted back at Sir Peter; and I,not to be outdone, shouted that Daphne wasmine, and I was hers, as long as life shouldlast; and presently Sir Peter flung out, in aroyal rage, and Lady Hawkshaw flung afterhim; and Daphne sank, in tears, on my shoulder,and I kissed her a hundred times, andcomforted her. But I knew Sir Peter was adetermined man, in some respects; and I feltassured he would shortly carry out his threatto send me to sea, and, once at sea, it might[Pg 154]be years before I should again set foot in England.Scotland, then, sounded sweetly in ourears. I found, in truth, that when it came actuallyto going off, Daphne’s romantic willingnesschanged to a natural hesitation at so bolda step. But the near prospect of going to theBellona turned the scale in my favor, and Iwon from her a sort of oblique consent. Andanother thing seemed to play directly into ourhands. Sir Peter had business at Scarborough,which might detain him some time; and,although it was late in the autumn, he determinedto take his family with him. I believeit was by way of separating Daphne and methat he came to the decision. Lady Hawkshawwas to go, and his two wards; and they wereto remain a month. This was so obviouslyshowing us the road across the border, that Itold my sweet Daphne, plainly, I should carryher off; at which she wept more, and protestedless, than I had yet seen her.

In the whole affair, I had counted upon theassistance of Giles Vernon; and on the verynight the party left for Scarborough, after atearful farewell between Daphne and me, I[Pg 155]went to Giles’ lodgings, to make a clean breastof it.

Giles’ voice called me up stairs; and when Ireached his room, there, spread out on the bed,I saw a beautiful suit of brown and silver.

“Do you see that?” cried Giles. “That ismy wedding suit. For it I spent fifty of thelast hundred pounds I had in the world, andit is to marry Lady Arabella Stormont that Ibought it.”

I thought he was crazy, but I soon perceivedthere was method in his madness. He told meseriously enough that he meant to carry offLady Arabella Stormont from Scarborough.

“We shall see about that, my lad,” he said,and then began to tell me of what he thoughta great change in his favor with Arabella. Heput many trifling things which I had not notedin such a light that under his eloquent persuasionI began to believe Lady Arabella reallymight have a secret weakness for him, whichpride prevented her from discovering. He hadnever failed to win any woman’s regard yet;[Pg 156]and it had always seemed a miracle to me,Richard Glyn, who had fallen under his spellso many years ago, how anybody could resisthim. He wound up his argument by saying, inhis usual confident manner,—

“Trust me, there is something compelling inthe love I feel for Arabella. Women are allalike, my boy. They want a master. Onceput the bit in their mouths, and they adore youfor it. Let me have the spirit to run away withthat adorable creature, and see how quickly shewill come to my call. You will shortly see herclinging to me like peaches to a southern wall.”

“She is none the worse for that. But Iswear to you, Dicky Glyn, that I would carryher off as the Romans did the Sabine maidens,if she had not a shilling,”—which I believed tobe true; for his was an infatuation which takesaccount of nothing.

He then began to tell me of his plans, and inthem he showed his usual shrewdness and boldness.The trip to Scarborough had put Scotlandin his head. He was likely to be sent tosea any day, to be gone, perhaps, for years;[Pg 157]just the arguments I had used to myself firstand to Daphne afterward.

I remembered that scene five years before,with Overton and Lady Arabella in Sir Peter’scubby-hole; and the memory of it made methink with dread of Giles Vernon’s marryingArabella. But I could not speak openly; and,after all, she was so strange a creature that onecould scarcely judge her by the standard ofother women. And then the plan I had toconfide to him very effectually withdrew thecharges of any battery I might have broughtto bear on him.

When he had finished his tale, and I had toldmine, Giles was in an ecstasy. He laughed inhis uproarious good humor.

I explained that I had not much to fear.Daphne was undoubtedly fond of me, and LadyHawkshaw being on our side, and other reasonsin our favor,—all of which fitted Giles’ caseexactly. And at last I gave up, in sheer despair,and agreed to Giles’ suggestion that weshould together carry off the two damsels of[Pg 158]our hearts; and then and there we made ourplans, sitting up until the gray dawn came.

Oh, the madness of it! the wildness of it!But we were two dare-devil and happy-go-luckylieutenants, without the prudence of landsmen.We loved, and we were liable at any moment tobe torn away for many years from the idols ofour hearts. Runaway marriages were common;and only the parents and guardians wereoffended in those cases, and forgiveness generallyfollowed. We were about to commit agreat folly; but we thought we were noblysustaining the reputation of his Majesty’s sea-officersfor our spirit and gallantry with thefair sex, and looked not to the dreadful consequencesof our desperate adventure.

Giles Vernon and I agreed that it was necessarywe should strike the blow as soon as possible,while we had the weather-gage, so to speak,of Sir Peter; and on the day after his travelingchariot took its way north, a very plain post-chaisefollowed it, and in it were Giles Vernonand myself.

Giles was in a state of the wildest happinessconceivable. There is something appalling inthat fervor of mind when the human creature,forgetting all the vicissitudes of this life, treadson air and breathes and lives in Heaven. Thus Iwas made sad by his gladness, but I dared notshow it, lest it be mistaken for a want of spiritin our enterprise, so I joined with him in his joyand revelry.

We reached Scarborough at four o’clock inthe afternoon, and put up at a small inn on theoutskirts of the town, and some little way onthe road to the north. We sallied forth immediatelyto find out something about our inamoratas,[Pg 160]and Fate—whether it was thatkindly goddess who leads our footsteps towardthose we love, or whether it was the cruel Destinywhich delights in torturing men—at oncedirected us. We were walking along near theplayhouse, which had been lately opened in thetown, when we saw Jeames, Lady Hawkshaw’sown footman, go inside the playhouse and buysome tickets of the man at the door. As soonas he was well out of the way I sneaked in, and,thrusting two shillings into the man’s hand,inquired if Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw andthe young ladies would favor the performancethat night. The man grinned and showed mea slip of paper, on which was written in LadyHawkshaw’s bold hand, “Three stalls for LadyHawkshaw and party.”

This made me hope that Sir Peter would notbe present, for I thought our chances of gettingoff would materially improve if he were not onthe spot.

The play was to be over at half-past ten, andit may be imagined that we had plenty to dountil then. We engaged four of the best pairsof nags in the town. We arranged to pay the[Pg 161]postboys according to the time they took usover the border, and we felt in ourselves thestrength of Titans, to overcome whatever resistancemight be offered. Of course we countedon the surprise, and we determined that thebest disposition to make of Lady Hawkshawwas for Giles Vernon to appear suddenly, whenthe people were coming out, place Lady Hawkshawin her coach, and then make that bolddash for love and beauty which we had determinedupon. Our postboys, who were not newto the perils of elopements, grinned at the prospect,and were instructed to remain near LadyHawkshaw’s coach and impede it as much aspossible, so that it might be the last to reachthe door of the theater.

Our arrangements were complete by eighto’clock, and from that hour until ten we employedourselves in disposing of a good supperat the tavern. We were in a gale of rapturethen. It seemed to us both as if we were inthat happy and exultant mood, when the enemyis within gun-shot and the ship is cleared foraction; and we only awaited the signal forvictory. We had some punch, but both Giles[Pg 162]and myself knew enough to be exceedinglycareful in attacking it.

“Dicky, my lad,” cried Giles, banging mein the back, “this day is the anniversary of theday we whipped theIndomptable and theXantippe!”—andso it was. “So we shall capturetheIndomptable, in the Lady Arabella, and wewill disable theXantippe,—ha! ha!—in myLady Hawkshaw.”

“Dicky,” began Giles again, wiping hismouth after the punch, “I never thought Icould be constant to any woman, as I have beento Arabella. By Heaven, the whole sex is soseductive that it was the last one I saw I lovedthe best. But since I knew that witch of a girl,St. Anthony himself could not be more imperviousto female charms than your humble servant,”which was true enough. “And as forOverton,—that psalm-singing devil,—I defyhim. Give me but a week, and he shall seeArabella hanging upon me so fondly! Let himhave her thirty thousand pounds; ’tis so muchdirt and dross to me. And she may be Lady[Pg 163]Vernon yet. Do you know that old rapscallionSir Thomas Vernon’s estate is in this part ofthe country? though nearer York than Scarborough.On our return from our honeymoonI have a great mind to take my Arabella toVernon Court, and show her what may one daybe hers.”

And I took up the chorus and bawled it out;for I, too, looked for no more crosses in this life,having Daphne for my wife.

It was a starlit night in early December.The cold high blue heavens above us seemed toradiate happiness; the myriad stars twinkledwith joy; we scarce felt the ground under ourfeet.

The two post-chaises awaited us on the highway,[Pg 164]the postboys full of confidence; the horses,the best in the town, were eager to be off. Wejumped together in one, and were whirled intothe town, and were at the door of the playhousealmost before we knew it.

One of our postilions speedily found the coachwhich had brought Lady Hawkshaw there, and,in pursuance of his instructions, got the coachmanoff his box to drink in a neighboringtavern, while one of our postboys stood watchover the horses. Giles and I remained in thechaise until it was time for us to make ourdescent.

At half-past ten the play was over, and thenbegan that hurry and commotion of the dispersionof a crowd in the darkness. We heardloud shouts for Lady Hawkshaw’s coach, butthe coachman did not make his appearance.There were many officers and ladies from thegarrison, and a number of equipages; but soonthey were driving off, while half a dozen men atonce were shouting for Lady Hawkshaw’s coach.At last my lady herself came out of the entrance,followed by Arabella and Daphne, andat that moment Giles slipped out of the chaise,[Pg 165]and appeared before Lady Hawkshaw as if hehad risen from the earth. I, too, was on theground, but out of sight.

“Pray, my lady,” said he, in his most gallantmanner, and hat in hand, “allow me to showyou to your coach.”

“Mr. Vernon!” cried Lady Hawkshaw, insurprise. “I thought you were in London.How came you to Scarborough?”

“By chaise, Madam,” he replied politely;“and I hope to see the young ladies before Ileave,” (the hypocrite!). “Is Sir Peter withyou, Madam?”

“No, he is not,” replied Lady Hawkshaw,her wrath rising at the idea. “Had he beenwith me, my coach would have been awaitingme.” And then turning to Arabella andDaphne, who were behind her, she saidsternly,—

“Arabella and Daphne, this does not happenagain. Sir Peter comes with us to the play,after this.”

I caught sight, from a corner behind thechaise, of my dear Daphne, at that moment.She stopped suddenly, and turned pale and then[Pg 166]rosy, and glanced wildly about her. She knewI was not far off.

How Arabella received Giles’ sudden appearanceI never knew, as I could not see her. Butin another moment he had placed Lady Hawkshaw,with the utmost obsequiousness, in thecoach; then folding up the steps like magic, heslammed the door, and shouting to the coachman,“Drive on!” the coach rattled off, andthe next moment his arm was around Arabella,and mine was around Daphne, and they wereswept off their feet; and in less time than ittakes to tell it, each of us was with the idolof his heart, whirling off toward Gretna Green,as fast as four horses to a light chaise couldtake us.

“My dearest one!” I exclaimed, “you arenow mine. By to-morrow morning we shall beover the border, and you will be my wife.”

“An elopement! Gracious heaven! I neverthought of such a thing!” she replied.

I might have answered that she had not onlythought of such a thing, but talked of it. Irefrained, however, knowing a woman’s tongueto be capricious in its utterances, and, instead,assured her that my passion was such I couldno longer bear the thought of existing withouther.

“And do you mean to marry me, sir, withoutmy guardian’s consent?” she asked withmuch violence.

This was an unfortunate speech, and sheagain threatened to scream for assistance, butpresently remarked that as there was none tocome to her assistance, she would refrain. Andthen, having done what propriety required, shebegan to relent a little, and at last she lay inmy arms, asking me, with tears, if I wouldpromise her never to love another, and I toldher, with great sincerity, that I never would,provided I got out of that alive.

Deep in our own happiness,—for at least thedear girl admitted that she was happy to bemine,—we yet thought of Giles and Arabella,[Pg 168]and I would have got out of the chaise at eachof the three stages, where we made a rapidchange of horses, except that Daphne wouldnot let me,—afraid, she said, lest I should berecognized and get into trouble. She afterwardtold me it was because she feared we might bestopped. We did not forget the precaution, inour brief halts, to pay the hostlers well to dosome harm to any pursuing vehicles whichmight be after us; and our plan seemed to beprospering famously.

So all night we rattled furiously along, andat daybreak we crossed the border, notified bythe huzzaing of the postboys. It was a dank,dismal morning, the weather having changedduring the night, and we saw that we hadpassed the other chaise in the darkness. It wassome distance behind, and the horses seemedmuch spent. We continued on our way, to thehouse of a blacksmith at Gretna Green, who, soour postboy told us, usually united runawaycouples. We dashed up to his cottage,—ahumble place, surrounded by a willow hedge,—andhe, warned by approaching wheels, cameout, half dressed, in the murky morning.

I assisted Daphne out of the chaise, and then,as we stood on the damp ground, in those squalidsurroundings, looking at each other, the possiblewrong I had done this innocent girl suddenlyswept over me. And in her eyes, too, I read thefirst consciousness of having committed an impropriety.This dirty, unkempt blacksmith, thecoarse, laughing postboys—this, a way tomake the most solemn and spiritual of all engagements!I felt an uncomfortable sense ofguilt and shame.

It was only momentary. The more depressedshe, the more should I support, and thereforeI called out cheerfully, “I take this woman tobe my wedded wife,” and such other words as Irecalled of the marriage service—and I saidit so heartily and promised so devoutly, removingmy hat when I made my vows, that itheartened up Daphne—and her response, sofull of faith and love, gave a kind of holinessto it all. We were two rash and foolish youngpeople—but we loved each other truly, and wemade our vows solemnly, determined to keep[Pg 170]them. Perhaps that counts for more, in theeyes of God, than all else; at least, we realizedthe sacredness of our vows.

Scarcely was the brief ceremony over—forceremony we made it—when the chaise containingArabella and Giles drew up. And the sightI saw, I can never forget.

Arabella’s face was quite pale, but her eyeswere blazing. There were some drops of bloodupon her cheek—they came from her wrists,which Giles held firmly. The door of the chaisebeing opened, she stepped out willingly, disdainingthe assistance Giles offered her. His face,too, was very pale, and he looked and moved likea man in a nightmare. The blacksmith grinnedbroadly; he thought his gains were to be increased—forI had not forgotten to pay himhandsomely.

Giles seized her hand. “Arabella,” he crieddesperately, “surely you do not now mean tothrow me over?”

“This man,” she said, turning to me, “yourfriend, your intimate—I blush for you—has[Pg 171]dragged me here. Rather would I die thanmarry him. Look!”

“’Twas to keep her from jumping out of thechaise,” said Giles wildly. “She would havehad me leave her at midnight, on the highway—aloneand unprotected. Dearest Arabella,”he cried, turning to her, and trying to clasp her,“will you not listen to my prayer? How canyou scorn such love as mine?” And he wasnear going down on his knees to her, in the mud—butI held him up. I confess that the mostpainful thing, of all this painful business, wasGiles Vernon’s complete surrender of his manhood,under the influence of his wild passion.He, an officer in his Majesty’s sea-service, aman who had smelt powder and knew what itwas to look Death in the eye and advance uponhim, who would have answered with his life forhis courage, was ready to grovel in the earthlike a madman for the favor of a woman.Nothing was it to him that low-born creatureslike the postboys and the blacksmith beheld himwith contempt and disgust; nothing to him that[Pg 172]a woman like Daphne, and that I, a brotherofficer, witnessed his degradation. He seemedto have parted with the last semblance of self-respect.

Arabella answered his appeal by a laugh ofscorn, which seemed to cut him like a knife;and then, shaking me off, he shouted to her,—

“I know why you will not be mine. It isthat pious, hypocritical hound, Overton. But Itell you now, my lady, if you marry him, I’llhave his life. Take note of what I say—I’llhave his life.”

To which Arabella, after a pause in which herface grew deeply red and then pale again,said,—

“Your own life is in jeopardy. The abductionof an heiress is a capital offense, and youshall be tried for your life if it takes every shillingof my fortune to do it. You shall see whatyou have done!”

I shuddered at these words, for I saw it wasno idle threat. If Giles contemplated violencetoward Overton, I had not the slightest doubtthat Arabella was fully capable of keeping herword in the dreadful business. Daphne thought[Pg 173]so too; for she ran forward, and, putting herhands over Arabella’s mouth, cried,—

“But I will not take it back,” replied Arabella;“and I shall lodge information againstthis wretch, as soon as I can return to Scarborough,—whichI shall do in the post-chaise;for, luckily, I have money with me.”

Under the terrible threat of prosecution, Gilesrecovered himself surprisingly. He lost hisfrantic air, and, drawing himself up, remarkedquite calmly,—

“Lady Arabella,” said I, “my wife”—howDaphne’s eyes glowed as I spoke—“and I arereturning immediately to Scarborough; you hadbest go with us; and when you have seen andconsulted with Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw,[Pg 174]it will be time enough to determine upon yourcourse.”

“My course is already determined upon,” shereplied; and no one who saw her could doubt it.

“And so is mine,” said Giles, now in possessionof all his usual manliness. “I return toLondon, where I shall duly report myself to theAdmiralty, and later to Sir Peter Hawkshaw;and if the lady thirsts for my blood, begad, shecan have it.”

“Giles Vernon,” said I, “you have been unlucky.I can not say more, because I am in thesame boat with you. But you have done nothingunworthy of a gentleman, and nothing tomake either Daphne or me love you the less, nomatter what befalls. So here is my hand uponit.”

We grasped hands, and, turning to Daphne,he removed his hat and proceeded to kiss her,saying to me, “By your leave.” And Daphnesaid to him,—

The proceedings seemed to fill Lady Arabellawith disgust. She haughtily refused my handto assist her into the chaise, and announced that[Pg 175]she would go to the village of Springfield, nearby, for rest and breakfast; and willy-nilly,Daphne and I had to follow in the post-chaise.

Never shall I forget that dismal weddingjourney back to Scarborough. I began, forthe first time, to fear the reproaches of the worldin general, and Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshawin particular, in regard to running away withan heiress. I had one comfort, however;Daphne fully believed in my disinterestedness;and I can sincerely say I wished Daphne’s fortuneat the bottom of the sea, if I could buthave wooed and won her in the ordinary courseof events.

Lady Arabella traveled just ahead of us, buttook occasion to show her anger and resentmentagainst us in every way.

About half the distance to Scarborough wemet full in the road a traveling chariot, and init were Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw.

We found that the hostlers had earned theirmoney, and that the Hawkshaws’ chaise hadbroken down at least once in every stage.

When we met and stopped, Arabellaalighted, and so did we, and so did the Hawkshaws;[Pg 176]and the first word that was spoken wasby Daphne.

“Uncle Peter,” she said, “don’t fly at Richard.If you must know it, I ran away withhim; for I am sure, although he is as brave asa lion, it never would have dawned upon him torun away with me, if I had not put the idea inhis head, and kept it there.”

“Sir,” said I, “and Madam,” turning toLady Hawkshaw, “I beg you will not listen tothis young lady’s plea. I am wholly responsiblefor the circumstances of our marriage. Ican, however, and do, call Heaven to witness,that her fortune had nothing to do with it, andI should have been happy and proud to takeher, with the clothes on her back, and nothingmore.”

“And, Richard and Daphne, you are a coupleof fools to run away, when, if you had onlyhad a little patience, I would have had you[Pg 177]handsomely married at St. George’s, HanoverSquare. But least said, soonest mended. SirPeter, kiss Daphne, and shake hands with Richard.”

And as I am a sinner, she actually forced SirPeter to do both, although I saw he mortallyhated it.

Arabella’s turn came next. She advancedand said, with a bitterness that struck a chill tomy heart,—

“Sir Peter, as you know, I was carried offby that wretch who disgraces his uniform, LieutenantGiles Vernon; but he did not succeed inforcing me to consent to a marriage. And Icall upon you, as my next friend, to aid me inthe prosecution which I shall immediately set onfoot against him for the capital offense of theabduction of an heiress; and I hope to bringhim to the gibbet for it.”

Lady Arabella Stormont was as good asher word; for that day, two months, Giles Vernonwas put on trial for his life, at YorkAssizes, for the abduction of an heiress. SirPeter Hawkshaw refused absolutely to countenanceArabella; and my Lady Hawkshaw, whonever had bowed her head or abased her spirit tomortal man or mortal woman before, went uponher knees, imploring Arabella to give over herrevenge,—for revenge it was, pure and simple,—butLady Arabella laughed at her. LadyHawkshaw rose from her knees, crying out,—

“You have some deep and unknown reasonfor this; but it will come to naught, it willcome to naught!”

But Arabella found a person ready to herhand, who was most active in the matter. Thiswas Sir Thomas Vernon, of Vernon Court. Itwas he who lodged the information with thepublic prosecutor against Giles, and assumedthe part of Lady Arabella’s champion. Of[Pg 179]course, there was some ground for the versionof the story which was started in Arabella’s interest,that a frightful outrage had been committedby dragging her off against her will;and that only the most determined courage hadsaved her from a marriage repulsive to her; thatSir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw, her nextfriends, had basely deserted her; and that SirThomas had chivalrously taken up her cause.It is true that the relative characters of theHawkshaws and Sir Thomas Vernon discountedmuch of this; but the actual facts in the caselooked so ugly for Giles, that there was notrouble in securing his prompt arrest and deliveryin York jail.

The breach between Lady Arabella and theHawkshaws, as well as Daphne and myself, wastoo great to be bridged over; and, havingthrown herself, so to speak, in Sir Thomas Vernon’sarms, she accepted the protection of arelative of his, one Mrs. Whitall, a decayed gentlewoman,and went to live at a small town nearYork, until the Assizes, when she would be calledupon as the chief witness for the prosecution.Great stories were immediately put forth, that[Pg 180]Sir Thomas Vernon was deeply smitten withArabella’s charms, and that, after a visit withMrs. Whitall to Vernon Court, she looked verykindly on Sir Thomas. All this might be true,and Sir Thomas might flatter himself that hehad won her favor; but, knowing Arabella well,I did not credit her with any sincere desire to bekind to Sir Thomas Vernon, although she mightmake him think so, for her own purposes. Isuspected, however, a motive far deeper, in anymatter connected with Sir Thomas Vernon.Overton was the next heir after Giles; SirThomas was extremely rickety, and not likely tobe long-lived; and if, by merely telling whathad happened, Lady Arabella could sate her resentment,which was deep and furious, againstGiles, and at the same time greatly benefit Overton,I think she would not have weighed Giles’life at a penny. My Daphne, whose faith inhuman nature was angelic, in her belief in ultimategood, prayed and besought Arabella toleave the country before the trial came off; butArabella only said contemptuously:

“You are a child and a chit. Giles Vernoncontemplated doing me the greatest wrong a[Pg 181]man can do a woman. Do you think I shall lethim go unpunished? If so, how little do youknow Arabella Stormont!”

Then I, from loyalty to Giles, and not fromany hope I had from Lady Arabella, went toher and made my appeal. She heard all myprayers without the slightest sign of relenting,playing with her lap-dog the while. At last, Isaid to her,—

“Tell me, at least, who is to be benefited bythe conviction of Giles Vernon? Not you, certainly;for you will be loathed and shunned byall.”

“The person dearest to me in the world,” shereplied; “the person I love better than my lifeor my soul,” and then, as if she had admittedtoo much, she stopped, turned pale, and seemedaltogether disconcerted. She had, in truth, admittedtoo much. The person she had everloved better than her soul was Philip Overton.

I had the self-possession to leave her then,and went off by myself to think over the strangemotive which had been revealed to me. Arabella’sinfatuation for Overton had always beenabnormal, touched with unreason. And could[Pg 182]fate have woven a closer web around Giles Vernonthan in making him fall so madly in lovewith Arabella Stormont?

Giles had promptly surrendered himself,rightly judging a trial better than being afugitive from justice and a deserter from thenaval service. He repaired to York, after havingduly reported to the Admiralty, and wasjailed immediately, and indicted.

The Hawkshaws, my Daphne, and I remainedin Scarborough during the two dreadful monthsthat passed before the trial came off. Sir Petereasily got leave from the Admiralty for me,hoping, not only that my testimony, but theexample of the felicity in which Daphne and Ilived, might not be without its effect upon thejury that tried Giles.

Offers of money to assist in his defense camefrom many quarters and from several ladies,—twoin especial, her Grace of Auchester andMrs. Trenchard. Lady Hawkshaw, however,claimed the privilege of bearing the expensesof the trial out of her private fortune, whichwas large. Sir Peter and she had it hot andheavy, he desiring to contribute; and for one[Pg 183]of the few times in his life, he carried his pointagainst her. Two great barristers were to bebrought from London to assist Giles in his defense,besides another one in York itself.

As soon as Giles was lodged in jail, Sir Peterand Lady Hawkshaw, Daphne and I went immediatelyto see him. We drove in state, ina coach and four, with outriders, Sir Peter inhis uniform, with his sword, and I also in uniform;for our object was to testify publicly ourregard for Giles and detestation of the prosecutionfor his life which was on foot.

We reached the great gloomy building, andthe turnkey immediately showed us to Giles’room. It was one of the best rooms in theplace, and would have been comfortable enoughhad it not been in a prison.

He was delighted to see us, kissed LadyHawkshaw’s hand, and gave Daphne a heartysmack on the cheek. He looked well, and I expectedto find him hopeful; but he seemed toregard his fate as fixed, although it in no wisedisturbed his cheerfulness. Sir Peter at oncetold him that everything possible should bedone for his defense, and that eminent counsel[Pg 184]were then on their way from London for him;and he with Lady Hawkshaw would bear all thecosts of the trial.

“And we,” cried Daphne, “claim the right tohelp; and when you are acquitted, you will findall your debts paid, and need not trouble yourselfwhere the money comes from.”

“Dear friends,” he said, “I thank you; butI shall not be acquitted. Sir Thomas Vernonand Lady Arabella Stormont thirst for myblood, and by my own folly I have put the noosearound my neck. But I say to you from thebottom of my heart that I rather would dieupon the gibbet than be married to Lady Arabella.God was good to me in giving her to meas my enemy instead of my wife.”

There was something in this; for what mancould think, without shuddering, of taking ArabellaStormont to wife?

I saw that Giles had completely recoveredfrom his madness. He blamed no one, franklyacknowledging his own folly, and bore himselfas became an officer and a gentleman.

Sir Peter would by no means admit there wasthe smallest chance of an adverse verdict; butalthough I could not bring myself to believethat the extreme penalty of the law would becarried out, yet I thought it very likely thatthe case was too plain for Giles to escape conviction.The conduct of Daphne and LadyHawkshaw to him was such that I came out ofthe jail with a deeper reverence, a higher esteemfor women than I had known before, althoughI had always believed them to be God’sangels on earth (with a few exceptions). Sogentle and caressing was Daphne, so boldly anddeterminedly friendly was Lady Hawkshaw,that it did one’s heart good. Daphne announcedher intention of going to see SirThomas Vernon and pleading with him, whileLady Hawkshaw threatened to give him heropinion of him publicly, which was, indeed, adreadful threat.

The trial came off at the February Assizes,and on the night before was the great assizeball. The word was passed around that all ofGiles Vernon’s friends were to attend this ball,by way of showing our confidence—alas!—in[Pg 186]his acquittal. Therefore, on that night, we—thatis, the Hawkshaws, Daphne, and I—wereto go to the ball in all the state we could muster.We had taken lodgings at York for the trial.

The evening of the ball found the streetscrowded as I had never seen them before. Thegreat case, which would be reached within a dayor two, brought crowds to attend the Assizes,many persons coming even from London.These were chiefly gentlemen of the nobility andgentry who were friends of Giles Vernon’s, fornever man had so many friends.

It was a cold bright February night; and thestreet in front of the assize hall where the ballwas held was packed with chariots, chaises, andpeople on foot, flaring torches and bawling footmen,as if it were a London rout. As our carriagepassed the entrance, the way was blockedby the judges’ chariots, from which they descendedin state. Our coachman, whipping upto get the next place in line, locked wheels withthe coach of Sir Thomas Vernon. He sat back,his face visible by the lamps in the courtyard,and as unconcerned as if the case which hadbrought us all to York was one of his servants[Pg 187]beating the watch, instead of the trial of hisrelative and heir on a capital charge.

The crowd showed its disapproval of SirThomas by hurling abusive epithets at him,which only caused him to smile. But he hadanother enemy to encounter, which was LadyHawkshaw, and in full sight and hearing of thejudges, as they stepped with stately tread up thestairs, occurred a battlea mort between her andSir Thomas Vernon, to the intense enjoyment ofthe crowd, which was uproariously on LadyHawkshaw’s side. Neither Sir Peter nor I tookany part in the fray, seeing Lady Hawkshawhad the best of it from the start, and that,woman against man, the populace was heartilywith her.

It began by Lady Hawkshaw’s putting herhead out of the coach and saying at the top ofher voice,—and what a voice!—“Good evening,Sir Thomas. We are called here upon asad occasion, but I hope that English justicewill prevail to save the life of that gallantyoung man, your heir, Giles Vernon.”

“We may safely leave that to the jury andto their honors, the lords justices, Madam. Butif a young villain steals an heiress against herwill, he incurs the extreme penalty of the law.”

“Yes,” replied Lady Hawkshaw, “I dare sayyou think the law will deal by Giles Vernon asit did by poor Jack Bassett, whom you gottransported for life for killing a hare which wasalready half dead; or as it served Tobias Clark,the blacksmith, whom you got hanged for stealingone of your sheep.”

These things were true, and the crowd gavethree loud groans for Sir Thomas Vernon. Beforehe could get his breath to reply, LadyHawkshaw continued,—

“No wonder you are afraid to sleep withoutcandles burning in your room all night. SirThomas.”

But the crowd would by no means permitit, holding on to the wheels, and shouts resoundedof “Good for your ladyship! Hawkshawfor ever!”

Sir Peter lay back laughing, while Daphne,by way of encouraging the people, clapped herhands and kissed Lady Hawkshaw on the cheek.

“And let me tell you, Sir Thomas,” continuedthat excellent and indomitable woman,“that because no woman could ever be inducedto elope withyou, there is no reason why runawaymarriages should not be the happiest inthe world. I defied my family and as good asran away with Sir Peter Hawkshaw, and he wasas poor as Giles Vernon; but, like him, he wasa true and gallant gentleman, and God bless theday I married him!”

At this there was tremendous cheering for SirPeter, and he took off his hat and bowed, kissingLady Hawkshaw’s hand.

“May I ask your ladyship if Sir Peter wasa free agent in the affair of your marriage?for I believe he is not generally held accountablefor his actions since that day.”

“Right you are, Sir Thomas, for have him[Pg 190]I would, and if he had not agreed to marry meI should have died of disappointment. Nor hashe been a free agent since that day,—not forone moment free from my love, my admiration,and my solicitude. I knew you well, SirThomas, forty years ago” (this was a cruelthrust, for Sir Thomas was notoriously touchyabout his age), “and I would no more haverun away withyou then than I would this night—andGod knows no woman in all the threekingdoms would go with you now!”

The delight of the crowd was extraordinary.I believe they would have mobbed Sir Thomas,except that they felt that Lady Hawkshawcould inflict the more exquisite misery on him.The judges, still going up the steps slowly,probably heard every word of this controversy.The crowd then parted, and taking Sir Thomas’horses by the bits, forced them to give place toLady Hawkshaw’s coach, and she descendedamid the loudest cheers of the populace.

Within the splendid ball-room Lady Hawkshaw’striumph was even more marked. Numbersof great people flocked around her; manyof them had been witnesses of her battle royal[Pg 191]with Sir Thomas, and the story had quicklyspread to the rest. Lady Hawkshaw, in spiteof her oddities, had always maintained the respectof all who knew her, and never saw I awoman who bore, under all circumstances, moreunmistakably the air of a great lady; whethersquabbling with Sir Peter, laying down the lawto the world at large, or speaking bad French,she was invariably the woman of quality.

The scene of the ball was so gorgeous thateven my sad heart took note of it. The hallwas ablaze with wax lights, and a huge band ofmusicians brayed and trumpeted. The lordsjustices, the lords lieutenants of the three Ridings,and many other persons were in full courtcostumes, and the ladies’ trains of brocade andvelvet were a sight to see. And I may be pardonedfor saying that Mistress Richard Glynwas by no means the least handsome of thewomen present.

By Lady Hawkshaw’s command we were allto look cheerful, and, when I saw the outpouringof popular approval upon us as Giles Vernon’snext friends, my heart grew less heavy.

Lady Hawkshaw seated herself in a large[Pg 192]chair at the end of the hall, where she held akind of court. She wore a gown of some sortof crimson stuff, with a great tail to it, and onher head was a turban with a bird of paradisein it, and on top of that, her huge diamondtiara. Everybody flocked to pay her court, andthe lord lieutenant of the East Riding askedthe honor of her hand to open the ball. Shepromptly agreed, with the added remark thatshe had not danced for thirty years. Sir Peterattempted to interpose.

“You can not do it, my lady,” he said.“You will trip up and break your leg.”

“Not unless you trip me up, Sir Peter,”responded her ladyship, who was totally unableto keep up the turtle-dove style toward Sir Peterfor any appreciable length of time. “My legsare as good as the lord lieutenant’s, thank God!and I shall have the pleasure in dancing with hislordship.”

Obeying a look from her, Daphne accepteda partner, and I secured one in the lord mayor’sdaughter. Sir Thomas Vernon, who was thenin the hall, had the ineffable impudence to wishto dance in the country dance with us, but he[Pg 193]was met everywhere with cold looks and refusals.The ladies of the lords lieutenants wereall engaged; so were their daughters. It was apicture to see him going along the line of ladiessitting against the wall, being repulsed by all,and his composure under these embarrassing circumstanceswas the most extraordinary thing Iever saw. He wore a smile upon his sickly, buthandsome face all the time, and, at last, hefound a partner in the person of a monstrousugly woman, whose husband was in the hidesand leather trade.

We took our places, Lady Hawkshaw and thelord lieutenant, a fine, handsome man, manyyears younger than she, at the head of the room.And then the musicians struck up, and LadyHawkshaw began to dance.

Such dancing! It was of the kind that wasfashionable before the American war, and introducedso many cuts, capers, pigeon-wings, slips,slides, and pirouettes, that it was really an artin itself. And her agility was surprising.With her train over her arm, her tiara blazing,and her bird of paradise nodding violently,Lady Hawkshaw’s small high-bred feet[Pg 194]twinkled. She was a large woman, too, and sheproved that her boast about her legs was wellfounded. When she came face to face with SirThomas Vernon in the dance, instead of turninghim, she folded her arms and sailed aroundhim, carefully avoiding touching his hand.And he, the old sinner, being acquainted withthat ancient style of dancing, made a caper soexactly like her ladyship’s, with so grave acountenance, that the whole ball-room was in atitter. But although the people might laughat Sir Thomas’ excellent mimicry, the sentimentwas totally against him, and he found difficultyin getting gentlemen to notice him, or ladies todance with him. With Lady Hawkshaw, on thecontrary, it was every man’s desire to dance;she was besieged with partners, young and old;but having shown what she could do, she restedupon her laurels, and sat in state the rest of theevening, fanning herself with vast dignity andcomposure, and occasionally snapping at SirPeter, who, it must be admitted, made no greatfigure at a ball.

At last it was over, and we returned to ourlodgings. The next day but one we were on[Pg 195]our way to the assize hall for the trial of GilesVernon.

A tremendous crowd was present, and therewas difficulty in gaining an entrance; some one,however, in the multitude set up a shout of“Way for Lady Hawkshaw!” and the peoplefell back, leaving us a clear path to the door,and into the hall itself.

Within that place of judgment all was dignityand decorum. The lords justices in theirrobes and wigs sat like statues; and, presently,when we were all seated and the crier had pronouncedthe court open, Giles Vernon wasbrought in, and placed in the prisoners’ dock.He looked pale from his late confinement, butI thought I had never seen his plain featuresso nearly handsome. His fine figure was noblyset off by the identical brown and silver suitwhich the poor fellow had bought for his weddingwith Lady Arabella, and, in a flash, cameback to me that strange vision I had had athis London lodgings on the night that this unfortunateelopement was first talked of betweenus. My heart stood still, and I grew sick andfaint at the recollection of the rest of that[Pg 196]dream, or revelation, or whatever it was.

Giles, meanwhile, had bowed respectfully tothe judges, then to the assembled people, whovery generally returned his salutation withevery mark of politeness. Turning to wherewe sat, he bowed and smiled. We all rose, andLady Hawkshaw and Daphne made him deepcurtseys. A jury was soon selected and sworn,and the first witness called was Lady ArabellaStormont.

In a moment she entered, leaning upon thearm of Sir Thomas Vernon, and was by himescorted to her place in the witness-box.

Her beauty was almost unearthly. She worea black gown and a simple white cap, underwhich the curls of her rich hair shone like burnishedgold. She was perfectly composed, and,after being sworn, began her story in a mannerthe most quiet and calm. A deep stillnessreigned through the vast room, and every onein it caught her lowest word.

Her testimony was entirely clear and straightforward.She related the circumstances of herbeing dragged off, while coming out of theplayhouse at Scarborough; of finding herself[Pg 197]alone in the chaise with Giles Vernon, who toldher he was taking her to Scotland to marry her;that she struggled violently and endeavored toget out of the chaise, and that she was withheldby force by Giles, who severely hurt her wrists,causing blood to flow; and finally, that when shebegan to scream, Giles put his hand over hermouth and stifled her cries. She said that thisconduct was kept up the whole of the night,until they reached Gretna Green at daylight;that all the time Giles was imploring her tomarry him, then threatening to kill himself orher; and that she told him many times she preferreddeath to marriage with him; and at last,on reaching Gretna Green, she defied him andescaped from him.

When she had concluded, there was an ominousstillness for a time, and then I saw somethingwhich struck a chill to my heart. I hadstealthily kept my eyes fixed on the judges tosee whether they gave in their countenancesany signs of lenity or severity. They were altogetherunmoved, except one, who was reportedto be a most merciful man. He grew pale andpaler as Lady Arabella’s story progressed, and[Pg 198]I saw him several times wipe the cold sweat fromhis brow, and at last a sigh broke from him;but I think no one noted it but me, for the multitudeof people were absorbed in the sight ofthis beautiful young woman, so coolly swearingaway the life of a man who had loved her.

Giles Vernon bore the ordeal unflinchingly,and when at intervals she looked toward himwith a quiet hatred in her glance, he gazedsteadily back at her.

She was then to be cross-examined. Manyquestions were asked her by the great Londonbarrister, who was one of the three defendingGiles. One query was, whether she had evergiven Mr. Vernon reason to think she wouldmarry him, to which she replied,—

She was then asked if there was another gentlemanin the case, and for the first time sheshowed confusion. Her face grew crimson, andshe remained silent. The question was notpressed, and she was soon permitted to retire.When she passed out of the hall, she was thedivinest picture of beauty and modesty I eversaw. Her eyes sought the floor, and a delicious[Pg 199]blush mantled her cheek. I believe that manypersons, under the spell of her beauty, thoughtthat she was an unwilling witness, and pitiedher youth and inexperience.

After the examination of the postboys andother witnesses for the prosecution, I was calledas the first witness for Giles. I told the circumstancesof our agreement to run away with thetwo charmers of our hearts; and the fact that Ihad been so readily forgiven, not only byDaphne herself, but by Sir Peter and LadyHawkshaw, I saw produced a good effect. Butwhen I was asked by the other side if I had everseen, or if Giles had ever claimed, any willingnesson Lady Arabella’s part to go off with him,I broke down miserably. My testimony didGiles but little good, I fear.

Sir Peter Hawkshaw was the next witness.It was plain from the start that he desired tohelp Giles, and likewise that he knew very littleof the affair until it was all over. But heproved a most entertaining, if discursive witness.

Sir Peter evidently thought the witness-boxwas his own quarter-deck, and he proceeded toharangue the court in his best manner as a flagofficer. He talked of everything except thecase; he gave a most animated description ofthe fight between theAjax on our side and theIndomptable andXantippe on the other, praisingGiles Vernon’s gallantry at every turn. Healso aired his views on the subject of the flannelshirts furnished to the navy, alleging that somerascally contractors ought to be hanged at theyard-arm for the quality supplied; and woundup by declaring, with great gusto, that if anofficer in his Majesty’s service desired tomarry a young lady, it was an act of spiritto carry her off, and for his part, fellowsof that sort were the kind he should selectto lead a boarding party, while the sneaking,law-abiding fellows should be under thehatches when the ship was cleared for action.

Sir Peter’s rambling but vigorous talk wasnot without its effect, upon which I think he hadshrewdly calculated. In vain counsel for thecrown tried to check him; Sir Peter bawled atthem to pipe down, and remarked aloud of the[Pg 201]senior counsel who had been most active in tryingto suppress him,—

“That lawyer fellow is three sheets in thewind, with the other one a-flapping!”

The judges, out of respect to him, made nogreat effort to subdue him, and he had the satisfactionof telling his story his own way.When the prosecution took him in hand, theyfound, though, that he could very well keep tothe subject-matter, and they did not succeed ingetting anything of the slightest consequenceout of him. When he stepped down, I saw thathe had in reality done much more good to Giles’cause than I had, although he knew little aboutthe facts, and I knew all.

Then came Lady Hawkshaw’s testimony.Sir Peter’s was not a patch on it. Like him,she really had no material evidence to give, but,with a shrewdness equal to his, she made a verygood plea for the prisoner. She began with acircumstantial account of her own marriage toSir Peter, in which the opposition of her familywas painted in lurid hues. In vain was sheagain and again checked; she managed to tellher tale against the vigorous objections of the[Pg 202]prosecutors, and the somewhat feeble and perfunctoryrebukes from the bench. The jury,however, were plainly so interested in it, that noserious attempt was made to stop her—notthat it would have availed anything, for LadyHawkshaw was not used to stopping for anyone.

“No doubt my family could have houndedSir Peter for marrying me,” she announced inthe beginning, “but my family, your honors, isan honorable one, and would not condescend tonasty tricks like—” Here she fixed her greatblack eyes on Sir Thomas Vernon, who smiledblandly and took snuff.

“And as for a man expecting opposition in agirl he is willing to marry, I ask your honors,does a man exist who can believe, until it isproved to him beyond cavil, that there is awoman alive who would not jump for joy tomarry him?”

This produced so much laughter that thebailiffs had to enforce order in the hall.

Lady Hawkshaw then, with great ingenuity,referred to Sir Thomas Vernon, “who, in thosedays, forty years ago, was not called ‘Wicked[Pg 203]Sir Thomas,’ but plain ‘Lying Tom Vernon’!”

This produced a regular uproar, during whichLady Hawkshaw, with great complacency,fanned herself. After a warning from the presidingjustice to keep to the matter in hand, shecurtsied deeply to him, and immediately resumedher account of Sir Thomas Vernon, inwhich she told of a certain occasion, in the timeof the American war, when, as the royal familywas passing to chapel at Windsor, hisses wereheard, which were directly traced to Sir ThomasVernon, the king having declined to receive himat the levee on account of his notoriously badcharacter. And Sir Thomas, being thrust out,was taken by some of the inhabitants of Windsor,and ducked in a neighboring horse-pond.At this point, the judge himself courteously butfirmly interrupted Lady Hawkshaw, and informedher that she could not be permitted to goon in that strain.

“I shall observe your lordship’s caution,” shereplied politely, and straightway launched intoa description of Sir Thomas’ appearance whenhe emerged from the horse-pond, which broughta smile to every face in court—including even[Pg 204]the judge’s—except the victim himself, whobit his lip, and scowled in fury.

The judges afterward said that Lady Hawkshawproved to be the most unmanageable witnessany and all of them had ever encountered;for in spite of them, she gave a circumstantialaccount of every misdeed Sir Thomas Vernonhad ever been guilty of in his life, as far as sheknew.

The crown lawyers, very wisely, declined tocross-examine this witness. When she steppeddown out of the witness-box and took Sir Peter’sarm, she passed close to the presiding justice,who happened to have his snuff-box open in hishand. My lady deliberately stopped and tooka pinch out of the judge’s box, remarkingsuavely,—

The evidence being all in, and the argumentsmade, a recess was taken. We were not theonly ones who paid our respects immediately toGiles Vernon. Many persons went forward[Pg 205]and shook his hand, while I think Sir Thomasdid not receive a cordial greeting from a singleman or woman in the hall, although he wasknown to every one present.

We got a hurried dinner at the tavern, andreturned at once to the hall. It was about half-pastfour in the winter afternoon, and the daybeing dark and lowering, candles were required.The lord justice’s instructions to the jury werethen read, and my heart sank, as, in a dreadfulmonotone, he expounded the law to them. Alas!As long as the statute against the abduction ofan heiress remained, Giles Vernon was guilty ofa capital crime; and not one word uttered byany one of us who testified in his behalf didaught but prove the more strongly that he hadcarried Lady Arabella off against her will.

The jury retired, and, the day having beenfatiguing, the lords justices determined to waitin their retiring-room for an hour, where theycould be called, if the jury promptly reached averdict. This troubled me—this expectationof a quick decision.

The judges having retired and suspended thesitting of the court, we at once went over and[Pg 206]sat with Giles, who maintained perfectly hismanly composure. He laughed with Sir Peterover some of the events of the fight between theAjax and her two enemies, complimented LadyHawkshaw upon her triumph over the laws ofthe land relating to evidence, and said manykind things to Daphne.

While we were in the midst of a cheerful conversation,and not observant of what was goingon in the other part of the hall, we suddenlyheard the crier proclaiming the entrance of theirlordships, and at the same moment Sir ThomasVernon entered by another door. Hanging onhis arm was Lady Arabella Stormont. Andthen the jury filed in with solemn faces, andwhat followed all seemed to me like some horriddream.

Although several persons were moving about,there seemed to me a dreadful silence; and althoughthe candles burned, and a great hobgoblinof a moon peered in at the windows, thereseemed an awful darkness. And after a time,in which I was oppressed by this ghostly silenceand darkness, I saw the senior lord justice puton a black cap, and sentence Giles Vernon to be[Pg 207]hanged by the neck until he was dead, that dayfortnight.

My eyes roved aimlessly around, and fell atthat moment on Lady Arabella Stormont. Afaint smile flickered on her lovely mouth.

In that hour of horror, I became weaker andmore helpless than the weakest and most helplesswoman. Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshawwere too stunned to think. I remember, now,the look of despair on Sir Peter’s countenance,where I had never before seen anything butsturdy courage,—and it was an added terror.And the one who retained her senses, who suggesteda forlorn hope, was Daphne,—theyoungest, the least experienced of us all.

“To London!” she said. “To the king,for pardon! I myself will go upon my knees tohim. He shall—heshall pardon Giles!”

We were all huddled together, then, in ourparlor at the inn, having just returned fromthe assize hall.

A week to London, and a week to return,was easy traveling—but how long would it[Pg 209]take us to reach the king? And what ministerswould be in town? And what would bethe earliest moment we could leave London?All these things were in our minds to tormentus. Nevertheless, within half an hour, we wereon our way.

While we were demanding the best horses,and having them put to, an insolent groomcame in the stable-yard, and asked for horsesfor Sir Thomas Vernon and Lady ArabellaStormont and Lady Arabella’s companion, Mrs.Whitall, and two servants, for London. Thehead hostler replied roughly that they had notime to attend him then, as they were startingSir Peter Hawkshaw and Mr. Glyn off for London,too, to beg Mr. Giles Vernon’s life. Theman, at this, grew saucy, and offered a handsomebonus for the horses which were then beingput to for us. I caught him by the collar, andthrew him out of the stable-yard, where thehostlers drubbed him soundly, thank God!

One hurried kiss to Daphne, a brief farewellbetween Sir Peter and Lady Hawkshaw, andwe were off for London. Our race into Scotlandwas nothing to it.

The roads were much cut up, and althoughwe traveled day and night, we were more thanfour days on the way. We reached Londonearly in the day; and, without stopping forfood, or to change our linen, we went to theAdmiralty. There we got the information thatthe First Lord was visiting in the country, inKent. Within the hour, I was on my wayto Kent. When I reached the place, the FirstLord had left, not more than two hours before,for London. I had passed him on the road,without knowing him. I returned to London.Sir Peter had seen several members of thegovernment, meanwhile, and had been privatelyinformed that the king was suffering mentally;and although hopes were entertained that thespell would pass away, without the necessity ofinforming the country or Parliament, still, accessto him was refused to all by his physicians,except the members of his family and immediatehousehold, and they were charged not to mentionbusiness to him; it would be impossible toapproach him.

When Sir Peter told me this, I became soweak I was forced to sit down. After a few[Pg 211]minutes of agony, a desperate resolve came tome. I rose, and said,—

“I have a scheme—desperate, but not impossible.Go with me to the Prince of Wales.He is at Carlton House, but goes back andforth to Windsor.”

We had left York on a Friday, and hadreached London on the Monday. Two dayshad been lost in the journey to Kent; and it wasnow late in the evening of Wednesday. Wehad, luckily, brought our uniforms along; and,dressing ourselves in them,—Sir Peter with allhis orders sewn on his coat,—we called a hackney-coach,and drove to Carlton House.

When we got there, it was about ten o’clockin the evening. The windows were brilliantlylighted up, and it was about the hour that thePrince of Wales was known to be in his besthumor—but the hour when he most hated tobe disturbed.

We descended, and the sentries passed usthrough, on account of our uniforms and SirPeter’s decorations on his breast. We reached[Pg 212]the door, and knocked. The porter opened thedoor gingerly, when Sir Peter, giving it a kick,walked in, followed by me. The man attemptedto arrest our progress, but Sir Petersaid to him fiercely,—

“Do you think, you damned lackey, thatyou can be insolent to an admiral in his Majesty’sservice?” The man apologized humblyand ushered us into a large reception-room onthe first floor, saying he would call the gentlemanof the chambers.

We seated ourselves. Even in that time ofagony, I noticed the beauty of the room—indeed,my senses seemed preternaturally acute,and every incident of that dreadful time is deeplyfixed in my mind. The ceiling was of gilt,while around the walls were paintings of Flora.A gilt chandelier diffused light through theapartment, and at one side was a pair of largefolding doors.

After a long wait, a gentleman, Mr. Digby,appeared. He received us politely, but said itwas impossible to disturb the Prince then, as hewas just sitting down to piquet. Sir Peter remainedsilent; he was used to giving orders, and[Pg 213]the words, “It is impossible to see His RoyalHighness,” were peculiarly disagreeable to him.

I then made my plea. I told Mr. Digbythat the life of a gallant officer and gentlemanwas in jeopardy, and that we begged to see hisRoyal Highness, in the hope that the kingmight be approached.

“That, too, is impossible,” coldly replied Mr.Digby. “The king is far from well.”

Just then, some one on the other side of thefolding doors opened one of them the least bitin the world, and then closed it—but not beforewe had seen streams of light pouring fromit, a long table brilliant with plate and ornaments,and a company of about twenty gentlemensitting around it, and at one end sat apersonage whom we at once recognized as thePrince of Wales.

Without a word, Sir Peter arose, and, dartingtoward the door,—for he was ever an agileman,—threw it open, and walked into the presenceof his Royal Highness.

“Sir,” said he, marching up to the Prince,“I am Admiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw, and Ihave boarded you, so to speak, sir, in order to[Pg 214]save the life of one of the gallantest officers inthe service of his Majesty.”

I had always heard that his Royal Highnesswas a gentleman, and I saw then such an exhibitionof readiness and good taste as I neversaw before, and never expect to see again.Every one at the table, except the Prince,seemed astounded at the sudden entrance andstartling address of a short active little man inan admiral’s uniform. But the Prince offeredSir Peter his hand in the coolest manner in theworld, saying,—

“Most happy to meet you, Sir Peter. Irecollect well that you carried theIndomptableby boarding very successfully. But how didyou get past the watch-dogs at the door, mydear sir?”

“By carrying sail hard, your Royal Highness,”responded Sir Peter, “and seeing thisdoor open, faith, said I, to myself, having riskedmy skin these forty years for the king and hissuccessors, sure, I can risk it once more by walkingin on my Prince, and here I am, sir, readyto state my case. That bloody popinjay, Digby”(Digby was right behind him), “wanted[Pg 215]me to let you alone because you were about to goto piquet, but I think no prince of Englandwould sacrifice a man’s life to a game ofpiquet.”

“Certainly not I, Sir Peter,” answered hisRoyal Highness, rising, “and now I have anhour entirely at your service.”

“Sir,” said Sir Peter, “I ask the honor ofshaking hands with you, not as a royal prince,but as an honest man and good fellow.”

I think the Prince was ever susceptible tohonest praise, for he was no fool, and he wasundoubtedly pleased when Sir Peter wrung hishand. He then led the way into another room,and the door was closed.

The rest of the party behaved very civilly tome, and I accepted thankfully an invitation tohave something to eat and drink. They weremerciful to me, seeing my distress of mind, anddid not plague me with questions, but resumedtheir conversation with one another.

Presently the Prince and Sir Peter appeared,and his Royal Highness said, with that charmof manner which seduced some men and manywomen,—

“Hark’ee, Sir Peter; I do not promise thatthe affair will be complete before Sunday night;I go to Windsor early in the morning, and twodays is a brief time in which to arrange so importanta matter. But if you will be at Windsoron Sunday morning, I pledge you my wordas a gentleman the paper shall be ready, signed,sealed, and delivered.”

At that Sir Peter fairly broke down, andcould only say, “God bless you, sir, God blessyou!” and the Prince, turning the old man’semotion off gently, smiled and said,—

“’Tis for the preservation of the gallantryof our sex, Sir Peter, that this young officermust not hang.”

He warmly invited us to remain and finish upthe wine, and then one of the gentlemen at thetable, whether of design or not, mentioned theextraordinary reports which had just reachedLondon concerning the trial at York, and I, encouragedthereto by a subtle look and a questionof his Royal Highness, told the whole story,assisted by Sir Peter. It was listened to withthe deepest interest.

Lady Arabella Stormont was known to every[Pg 217]person there, and the Prince remarked that hehad danced with her at the last birthnight ball.Her infatuation for Overton was well knownand freely commented on, and the strange measuresthat women will sometimes venture upon inthe interest, as they think, of the man they love,was exemplified in her testifying against GilesVernon. Sir Thomas Vernon’s hatred of his heirwas also well known,—and as the web was unfoldedto the Prince he listened with an air ofthe profoundest thought, and his comment wassignificant,—

He had pity on us and did not press us toremain to cards, so we left Carlton House aboutan hour after entering it, and with hearts immeasurablylighter. Our first thought was tohasten back to our lodgings to send off ourgood news to Lady Hawkshaw and Daphne bythe northern mail.

Sir Peter told me then that the Prince haddirected him to go to Windsor in the morningand remain, and that he himself would bringhim back on the Sunday morning, if the countersignatures to his Majesty’s could not be had[Pg 218]before. The Prince was quite familiar with theprocedure, and engaged to get the pardon fromthe king without difficulty.

Early next morning Sir Peter left me. Itwas agreed that I should proceed on the Sundaymorning to the Bear and Churn, a tavern andposting station near London, on the northernroad, to arrange in advance for the best cattle,in order that not a moment might be lost in returningto York. So, after two miserable daysalone in London, while Sir Peter was at Windsor,I was glad on Sunday morning to be on thenorthern road, preparing for our rapid returnto York. The Bear and Churn was directly onthe highway, and was well out of London, beingsurrounded by green fields and orchards.

It was a beautiful morning, more like Aprilthan February. The greenness of the earth,the blueness of the heavens, the quiet of thecountry, after the rattle and roar and dun skiesof London, were balm to my soul.

I reached the inn by ten o’clock; and, havingarranged for their best horses, and sent wordtwo stations ahead, I sat down to pass the dayas best I might. I wrote a long letter to[Pg 219]Daphne, and then, it being about twelve o’clock,I went out for a walk.

There was a pretty pathway, through a littlegrove, toward a rolling field, next the highway.I took this path, and presently came face toface, at a turn in the path, with Overton. Hewas singularly dressed for a man of his qualityand profession.

He wore black clothes, with plain silverbuckles at the knees, and black silk stockingsand shoes. His hair, unpowdered, was tied witha black ribbon; but he wore no crape or vestigeof mourning. I had ever thought him thehandsomest man in England; but in this garb,so different from the brilliant uniform or otherexquisite dress in which I had heretofore seenhim, he looked like an Apollo. He greeted megravely, but not impolitely; and we walkedalong together. He had heard of my marriage,and felicitated me on it.

My heart was so full of Giles Vernon that Iburst out with the story. It seemed quite newto him; and he listened to it with breathlessattention, occasionally ejaculating his horror atthe conduct of Sir Thomas Vernon and of[Pg 220]Lady Arabella Stormont. It gave me a savagepleasure to tell him every dreadful particularconcerning Arabella; and by the look of consciousnesswhich came into his expressive face,and by the way in which he avoided my eye, Isaw that he knew he was a factor in the caseagainst his will. At last, quite transported bymy rage against these two, I cried out,—

“And it is for the purpose of securing theestate to you that Arabella Stormont thus sworeaway the life of Giles Vernon; but God willconfound her and Sir Thomas Vernon yet!”

“Truly,” said he, in a thrilling voice, “Godwill confound all the wicked. He will bringthis horrid scheme to naught in every way; forknow you, if Lady Arabella Stormont were tothrow herself on her knees before me—”

He stopped, and colored violently; he hadnot meant to admit what the whole world knew,—thatArabella Stormont had adored him forseven years past. He hurriedly changed thesubject, saying,—

“Although I have recovered the use of mylimbs, and look to be in health, I am not fit forservice; and I was retired on half-pay only afew days ago. My life is not likely to be long;but released as I am, by God’s hand, from theprofession of arms, I shall devote the remnantof my life to the service of the Lord GodAlmighty. His message came to me years ago,but I was deaf to it. I was in love with theworld, and possessed by the flesh and the devil.I committed murders under the name of war.I dishonored my Maker by my dissipations. Ispent in gambling and vice the money wrungfrom the poor that were bond-slaves to laborand poverty. I blasphemed, and yet I was notcounted evil by the world.”

Overton’s face had flushed, his eyes were fullof rapture; he seemed to dwell in the glory ofthe Lord.

“But now I am free from the body of thatdeath, and subject only to the yoke of theNazarene,—the Jesus who labored with Hishands to show that work was honorable; the[Pg 222]Carpenter who called about Him those as pooras Himself, and preached to them the love ofGod and one’s neighbor; who received the Magdalenas a sister and the leper as a brother.”

I was silent. I had heard many sermonsfrom deans and dignitaries,—all well-fed men,and every man jack of them after promotionfrom the Whigs,—and these sermons had leftmy heart as untouched as that of the wildIndian of North America. But this was different.After a while, Overton continued,—

“As this Jesus called all manner of men tofollow Him,—the greedy tax-gatherer, as wellas Peter the poor fisherman, and John the gentleand studious youth,—so He called me; and,like the tax-gatherer, whose stony heart wasmelted by the voice of Jesus, I say with tears,‘My God! I follow Thee!’”

We had now approached the corner of thefield, and involuntarily stopped. I said to himblunderingly,—

“No,” he replied. “I do not aspire to openmy mouth as a teacher—I am not worthy;but a few of the humblest people about here—I[Pg 223]have been in this place for some time—cometo me on Sundays, in the forenoon, toask me to speak to them. They are day-laborers,hostlers—the kind of people I oncefancied to be without souls. I speak to them,not as a preacher and teacher, but as a brotherand a friend. It is now time for them toassemble.”

I saw, sure enough, a number of poorly-dressedrustics coming toward the field. Theycame by twos and threes, the women mostlywith children in arms, or hanging to theirskirts. When all had arrived, there wereabout thirty men and women. They seatedthemselves on the grass, and I along withthem, and, in some mysterious way, I felt, forthe first time in my life, that the plowman wasmy brother, and the kitchen wench my sister.

When they were all seated, Overton tookfrom his pocket a small Bible, and read theSermon on the Mount. The people listenedreverently. He gave them a short discourse,suited to their understanding, and then readto them a simple hymn, which they sang withfervor.

I listened with a strange feeling, half pain,half pleasure, half satisfaction, half dissatisfaction.I wished for Daphne’s sweet spirit tobe near me. It came to my mind how likewas this meeting of the poor and unlearnedto those held by the Carpenter of Nazareth onthe shores of the Sea of Galilee. The hymnechoed sweetly over the green fields; it was apart of that great antiphon with which Naturereplies to the harmonics of the Most High.The quiet scene, the woods, the fields, the kinein the pasture near by, all seemed one in this actof worship. But presently my soul was distractedby what I saw on the highway close byus. A handsome traveling chariot, followed bya plain post-chaise going Londonward, stopped.Out of the chariot stepped Lady ArabellaStormont, and, through an opening in thehedge, she entered the field. After a considerableinterval, Mrs. Whitall followed her; and,after a still longer one, Sir Thomas Vernon.

Lady Arabella walked noiselessly over thegrass, and, when she reached the edge of thegroup, stopped. Her eyes were full of laughingcontempt at first, but, when Overton turned[Pg 225]his glance full upon her, she suddenly assumeda look of seriousness, and folded her hands asif in silent prayer. Behind her, Mrs. Whitall’sfoolish face was all fear, while Sir ThomasVernon grinned unpleasantly over her shoulder.Overton, without taking the slightest notice ofthem, at the conclusion of the hymn announcedthat he would make a prayer, and asked hishearers to join with him in a petition that thelife might be spared of a certain young man,Giles Vernon, now under sentence of death inYork jail. We all stood up, then, the menremoving their hats. I held mine before myface to conceal my tears, while Overton madea brief but earnest prayer for Giles, and Icould not refrain from crying, “Amen! Amen!”when he concluded.

Overton surveyed Lady Arabella and SirThomas with much contempt. Lady Arabellawas the first to speak. She held up her headtimidly, and said,—

“No,” replied Overton sternly. “Giles Vernon’s[Pg 226]life may be spared; but upon you isblood-guiltiness.”

Overton said nothing. Then Sir Thomas,taking snuff with his usual grace, remarked,—

“I listened with attention to one lawbreakerpraying for another lawbreaker. Of course,you know, this meeting of yours is seditious—andmany a man has been stood in the pilloryfor it.”

He turned, and with me, took the path backto the tavern. I heard, as we went on, analtercation behind me, and involuntarily, afterwe had gone some distance, I looked back.Lady Arabella was struggling in the grasp ofSir Thomas Vernon, while Mrs. Whitall lookedon, and wrung her hands. Sir Thomas, however,was no match for Arabella’s youngstrength. She broke away from him, and, runningafter us, caught up, panting and breathless,with us, as we entered the little grove.[Pg 227]And then I saw an almost exact representationof the scene when Giles Vernon had insanelyand with unmanly groveling and violencepleaded with Arabella for her love,—so shepleaded with Philip Overton. She held him bythe arms, when he would have thrown her off.

“Philip! Philip!” she cried. “I did it foryou! I determined to make you rich, great,even if you refused my fortune. Sir Thomascan not live long. Surely,you can not reproachme, if all the world does. The stupid,stupid world thinks I did it under the influenceof Sir Thomas Vernon; but no, it was not hatefor Giles Vernon, it was my love for you, PhilipOverton, that made me appear at the YorkAssizes.”

“Remember yourself,” said Overton to hersternly. “Others, besides myself, see yourdegradation!”

“It is no degradation to love truly, to loveas I do. Speak but one word to me, and I willbecome a Methodist like yourself. I, too, willgo among the poor, and serve and love them;and I will even love God for your sake!”

The awful grotesqueness of this, the blasphemy[Pg 228]of it, was altogether unknown to her.She continued wildly,—

“Does not my soul need saving as much asthose clods you have been praying with?”

And, to make the resemblance between herown unwomanly conduct and the unmanly conductof Giles Vernon the more singular, sherecovered herself, as he had done, in a singlemoment of time. She laid her hand on Overton’sarm, and looked keenly into his eyes.Her glance seemed to enchain him, and to sether free. She breathed a long sigh, and, turning,gazed about her, like a person awakingfrom a nightmare. Then, with perfect self-possession,she dropped a curtsey to us both,and said, in her natural, playful manner,—

“Mr. Overton, I see I have been mistaken.I should have tried to cheat the law by notappearing when I was summoned; or, I shouldhave testified falsely. And for my indiscreetconduct just now, let me tell you, for sevenyears I have been under a spell. It is nowbroken for ever. Titania once loved Bottom[Pg 229]the weaver; but not always. I bid you goodday, Captain Philip Overton, and you, Mr.Richard Glyn. And I trust Giles Vernon’s lifemay be saved, if only to keep you, CaptainOverton, as poor as you deserve to be. Formyself, I shall shortly marry,—perhaps, SirThomas Vernon,—then, neither of you will getthe estates. Good morning!”

And she was gone, flying along the field,with a white mantle streaming after her, andher flight as rapid as the swallows in spring.

At twelve o’clock that night Sir Peter arrivedat the tavern, and with the pardon.

The expectation of his coming, and thegreater matter upon which we were engaged,prevented my mind from dwelling longer uponthe strange scene I had witnessed between Overtonand Lady Arabella. Overton did not speakher name to me, and showed much sympathyfor us. When Sir Peter’s chaise drove up tothe door of the Bear and Churn, another chaisewith four horses was waiting, and into it wehuddled, bidding Overton a hurried farewell;and in another moment we were off for York,the horses doing their best.

Sir Peter then told me the circumstances ofhis visit to Windsor. The Prince, who wasalways most powerful when the king was onthe verge of madness, saw his father and foundhim comparatively rational. The story beingbroached to him, he appeared interested, andeven grew more collected as his attention was[Pg 231]chained. He recalled at once Sir Peter Hawkshawand the capture of theIndomptable andXantippe, and corrected the Prince when hespoke of Sir Peter as Vice-Admiral of theWhite. It was a very easy matter to get hissignature to the pardon, and the necessary sealsand formalities took some little time but notrouble, and when Sir Peter presented himselfat the Castle on Sunday, all was prepared forhim.

We felt now comparatively safe. There waslittle doubt that we could reach York at leasttwenty-four hours in advance of the date setfor the execution; our letters would precedeus, giving positive assurances of hope; and welooked for no accidents, having a new andstrong chaise.

After Sir Peter had told me his story, I toldhim mine about Lady Arabella and Overton.He was not much imbued with the kind ofreligion that Overton preached, although heswore roundly by Church and State, and wasalways a great churchman when he was slightlyin liquor, which did not happen often. Hetherefore condemned Overton’s sermon, which[Pg 232]I tried to repeat to him, as a damned, beastlylow sort of religion, unfit for a gentleman topractise; but he admitted that Overton lackedneither brains nor courage. For Lady Arabella,though, he had the stern disapproval ofan honest heart, and in his excitement sworeboth long and loud because of the short-sightednessof Providence in permitting such women toexist for the undoing of his Majesty’s officersof both services.

We made good progress that night and thenext day, which was Monday, and began tohave strong hopes of reaching York Wednesdaynight. But on Monday, in the afternoon, theweather suddenly changed, a violent snow-stormset in, and our postboys wilfully, I think, droveus ten miles out of the way, near a tavernwhere they hoped, no doubt, we would agreeto stop until the storm should be over. ButSir Peter, putting one of his great horse-pistolsto the postboy’s head, forced him to turn backto the high-road. We lost three hours by this;and when we got to our next posting stage,our horses, engaged two days ahead, had beentaken. We got others, after a frantic effort,[Pg 233]but at the end of that day’s journey we saw ourmargin of time diminished exactly one-half.

I shall not attempt to describe the fierce andgnawing impatience which consumed us, nor theawful and unspoken dread which began to overshadowus. Sir Peter was a man of stout heart,and had no more notion of giving up at thisstage of the affair than he dreamed of surrenderingwhen he saw theIndomptable to windwardand theXantippe to leeward.

The weather, however, grew worse instead ofbetter, and even four horses could scarcely dragus through the mire made by the snow and rain.In spite of all we could do our progress diminished,although at no time did it seem hopeless,until—O God! twenty miles from York, atmidnight on the Thursday, Sir Peter himselfsuddenly gave out; the strain had proved toomuch for his brave heart and sturdy frame. Itcame as the horses were wallowing along theroad in the darkness, and I, holding my watchin my hand, was glancing at it every tenminutes, by the feeble light of the travelinglamp. I spoke to Sir Peter as he lay back inthe chaise wrapped in his boat-cloak, and got[Pg 234]no answer. He was unconscious. Withoutstopping the chaise, I got some brandy,which I tried to pour down his throat, but couldnot. I grew much alarmed,—it was not likeSir Peter to refuse good brandy, and as wewere passing a farmstead, I stopped the chaise,knocked the people up, and had Sir Petercarried into the house. I met with kindness,and I repaid it with coin of the realm. SirPeter soon revived, and his first words were,—

I found that his seizure was really trifling,and he assured me he would be able to resumethe journey by daylight, the farmer agreeing tofurnish him horses; so, in half an hour I hadagain taken the road.

I had the horses taken out, and, mountingthe best beast, made for York at the top of hisspeed, which was poor,—the creature wasalready spent with traveling.

It was just daylight, and streaks of goldenglory were lighting up the pallid dawn; I urged[Pg 235]the poor beast onward. Seven miles he went,then he dropped dead, just as the sun wasgilding the spires of York Cathedral. Beforeme, along the road, jogged an itinerant tinkeron a rather good-looking horse, the tools of atinker’s trade hanging from a moth-eatensaddle. I was young and strong,—he wasmiddle-aged and ill-fed and feeble. I ran upto him, holding five guineas in my hand.

The man, astonished at my abrupt address,stopped, but gave me no answer. I made myown answer, though, by dragging him off thebeast, dashing the five guineas on the ground,and clattering off, throwing away the tools andkettles as I galloped along.

Already there were great crowds in thestreets, and as I made my way madly towardthe jail, I was often impeded. I shrieked, Iscreamed at the people, and waved aloft myprecious paper, shouting, “Pardon! Pardon!”The cry was taken up, and swelled in a greatroar that came from a thousand friendlythroats. As I galloped along on the tinker’s[Pg 236]horse, in a frenzy, through the crowded streets,an awful unspeakable Thing loomed up beforeme. It was the gibbet, and it was empty!

I felt the hot tears run down my cheeks atthis, and some recollection of the God thatOverton had preached to me caused me to utteran inarticulate thanksgiving! But if mytongue faltered, my heart did not.

At last I pushed my way through shoutingcrowds, to the jail. The people parted, and Isaw a black cart drawn by a white horse, andGiles Vernon, with pinioned hands, sitting in it,by the side of the hangman. I noticed—as Idid all the trifles of that dreadful time—thatthe jailer was ashy pale, and Giles was fresh-colored.I flung myself off my horse, rushedtoward the cart, holding the paper above myhead. Oh, the roaring and the shouting! Ithrust it in Giles’ face; the hangman, in asecond, cut the thongs that bound the prisoner’shands. Giles took the pardon and kissed it,and then threw his arms around me and kissedme, and smiled and waved his hat in the air,while voices thundered, men shouting likedemons, and women screaming and weeping.[Pg 237]And the next thing I knew Daphne appeared,as if dropped down from Heaven, and, springinginto the cart, clasped Giles; and LadyHawkshaw, a little slower, but yet quick, descendedfrom the coach, in which she andDaphne had come, and embraced all of us; andthen, the cheering seemed to rend the skies.

In a little while, the mood of the crowdchanged. They began to clamor for the bloodof Sir Thomas Vernon. He was known to beaway from home, but, as if by a preconcertedmovement, a dash was made for Vernon Court,which was but five miles away. The militarywere called out, and the crowd stopped; but notwithout a collision, and several persons werebadly injured, which did not tend toward betterfeeling for Sir Thomas.

For ourselves, I remained with Giles until hewas duly released by the officers of the law,while Daphne and Lady Hawkshaw set off tomeet Sir Peter on the road. They met him, fivemiles off, and brought him back to York intheir coach. I shall never forget the scenewhen they drove up to the inn where Giles and Iwere already, the crowd, however, not allowing[Pg 238]him to remain indoors at all. When the coachhove to, the people, in their delight, picked SirPeter up and carried him bodily up stairs, to anopen balcony, and demanded a speech, followedby “Parliament! Parliament! Our next member!”and so on. Sir Peter made a speech,—themost wonderful I ever heard,—standingwith one hand on Giles’ shoulder, and the otheron mine, with Lady Hawkshaw and Daphne inthe background.

He began by roundly damning Sir ThomasVernon, “and a lady who shall be nameless.”Nevertheless, in spite of some vagaries, thespeech was full of sound sense, and he promisedthe people, if they gave him their suffrages forparliament, he would do all in his power for theabolition of the barbarous law from which GilesVernon had suffered so cruelly. He averredthat it was impossible for a seaman, alone andunaided, to take care of himself on dry land,Jack ashore being a helpless creature at best,and but for Lady Hawkshaw he would probablyhave been hanged himself, long ago. Thisallusion to Lady Hawkshaw, who fairly dividedthe honors with Giles, brought forth yells of[Pg 239]delight from the crowd. Her ladyship appearedand bowed magnificently, and it was aregular triumph for us all, from beginning toend.

Next day, with Giles, we all started for London,the happiest coach-load of people in thethree kingdoms.

Two days after our arrival, we read the announcementof the marriage, at St. George’s,Hanover Square, of Sir Thomas Vernon to LadyArabella Stormont.

Sir Peter was delighted at this match, and sowas Lady Hawkshaw, and for once they wereagreed. The position of the newly-marriedcouple in London was anything but a pleasantone; for Giles became the object of public sympathy,and of popular and royal approval. ThePrince of Wales sent for him, and our visit toWindsor, whither we all went to thank theking, was made a triumph for us. Sir Thomasand Lady Vernon were forbidden the court andCarlton House, and were frequently hissed inpublic. I saw them myself at Drury Lane,when they were hissed. Sir Thomas merelygrinned, while Lady Arabella surveyed the[Pg 240]scowling faces before her with a slow sweetsmile, and calmly played with the diamonds inher stomacher.

We had a whole year of happiness. Thedreadful experience Giles had been throughbegan to tell on him, and he was permitted toremain quietly a year on shore. And I, becauseof Giles, was given a year with my bride beforeI had to leave her. And what a year of blessednessit was to all! We all lived with Sir Peterand Lady Hawkshaw in Berkeley Square, andthose two honest souls took delight in us. LadyHawkshaw became a heroine, and the worthywoman enjoyed it thoroughly. Overton camesometimes to see us. A persecution had beenset on foot against him; and he was severaltimes arrested and sentenced for unlawful assemblage.But persecution was not the way toprevail with Overton.

It was very well understood who instigatedthese continued prosecutions, and that did nothelp to increase the popularity of Sir Thomasand his beautiful wife. At last, a year to themonth after the trial at York, the last indignitywas offered to Overton. He was sentenced to[Pg 241]be whipped at the cart’s-tail, and set in the pillory.

There was a general rally of his friends; andon the winter morning when this barbarous sentencewas to be carried out, a number, includingmany persons of note, were assembled at theprison, when Sir Peter and I joined them.

We soon heard that the government wouldnot permit the first part of the sentence to becarried out; but when Overton emerged fromthe prison, he was unaware of this, and preparedfor the worst. The holy calmness of his countenanceand air brought even Sir Peter to admitthat “the pious dog is a man, after all.”When informed that he would not be whipped,Overton only remarked,—

Arrived at the place of punishment, we founda great crowd assembled, of all sorts of persons,among them some of the highest quality.Overton saluted them, and with the utmostdignity submitted to the cruel and hateful punishment.He had, however, the undisguisedsympathy of the officers of the law, as well as[Pg 242]of the crowd, and was treated with the utmosttenderness.

He was to spend three hours pilloried, andit was made the greatest triumph of his life.

It is possible for a good man undergoingunjust punishment to be dignified, even in thepillory; and so it was with Overton. His singularbeauty, the mildness of his countenance,the uncomplaining fortitude with which hesubmitted to an odious and miserable position,the remembrance of his past military services,showed him to be every inch a man. Many ofhis friends came in their coaches, and, descendingand going up to Overton, saluted himrespectfully and expressed their sympathy, towhich Overton gently returned thanks. At lasta very splendid coach appeared. It was magnificentlyhorsed with four thoroughbreds, andhad outriders, besides two huge footmen withnosegays. It drew up in front of the pillory,and within it sat Lady Vernon, superblydressed; and in her arms she held a very younginfant in a great robe of lace and satin. Twonurses sat on the front seat; and Sir Thomas’saturnine countenance glared behind Lady Vernon’s[Pg 243]beautiful, triumphant face. The coachstopped; and Lady Vernon, holding the childup in her arms, directly in front of Overton’seyes, gave him a smile and a meaning look, asmuch as to say,—

“Poor wretch! your inheritance is gone!”The crowd, which was never in a good humorwith the Vernons, began to hiss vigorously.This they appeared not to mind; but whenhisses were followed by a shower of stones andsticks, the equipage rolled off at the top of itsspeed.

At twelve o’clock Overton was released, andat once he was exhorting the people to fear Godand live truly to Him. He was not interruptedby the constables who were present, and waslistened to with solemn attention. He haspreached ever since, and has never again beenmolested. And when a dear little girl came tomy Daphne,—I was then at sea, fighting theFrench,—Overton was at the christening, andmade a prayer over her infant head, which myDaphne believes will keep that dear child goodand holy all her life.

Giles Vernon, now Captain Vernon, in command[Pg 244]of his Majesty’s shipAcasta, forty-four,is counted the smartest of the young captainsin the British service. The women still lovehim; but Giles has grown a little shy of goingtoo far with them, and swears he will die abachelor. However, there appears to be anaffair forward between my little Daphne, who isnow four years and six months old, and CaptainVernon, and I think something will come of itwhen she is of a marriageable age—and sothinks her mother too.

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Movatterモバイル変換

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Loves of the Lady Arabella

The LOVES
OFthe LADY
ARABELLA

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

Movatterモバイル変換

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Loves of the Lady Arabella

The LOVESOFthe LADYARABELLA

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

The LOVES
OFthe LADY
ARABELLA