'What!' cried I, as I awoke the next morning, and looked with amazement
at the figure which waddled across the room with a hoot in either
hand--'what! not Corny Delany, surely?'
'Ugh! that same,' said he, with a cranky croak. 'I don't wonder ye don't
know me; hardship's telling on me every day.'
Now really, in vindication of my father's household, in which Sir Corny
had been domesticated for the last two months, I must observe that the
alteration in his appearance was not exactly such as to justify his
remark; on the contrary, he had grown fatter and more ruddy, and looked
in far better case than I had ever seen him. His face, however, most
perseveringly preserved its habitual sour and crabbed expression, rather
increased, than otherwise, by his improved condition.
'So, Corny, you are not comfortable here, I find?'
'Comfortable! The ways of this place would kill the Danes! Nothing but
ringing bells from morning till night; carriages drivin' like wind up
to the door, and bang, bang away at the rapper; then more ringing to let
them out again; and bells for breakfast and for luncheon and the hall
dinner; and then the sight of vitals that's wasted--meat and fish and
fowl and vegetables without end. Ugh! the Haythins, the Turks! eating
and drinking as if the world was all their own.'
'Well, apparently they take good care of you in that respect'
'Devil a bit of care; here it's every man for himself. But I'll give
warning on Saturday; sorrow one o' me 'll be kilt for the like of them.'
'You prefer Ireland, then, Corny?'
'Who said I did?' said he snappishly; 'isn't it as bad there? Ugh,
ugh! the Captain won't rest aisy in his grave after the way he
treated me--leaving me here alone and dissolate in this place, amongst
strangers!'
'Well, you must confess the country is not so bad.'
'And why would I confess it? What's in it that I don't mislike? Is it
the heap of houses and the smoke and the devil's noise that's always
going on that I'd like? Why isn't it peaceful and quiet like Dublin?'
And as I conversed further with him, I found that all his dislikes
proceeded from the discrepancy he everywhere discovered from what he
had been accustomed to in Ireland, and which, without liking, he still
preferred to our Saxon observances--the few things he saw worthy of
praise being borrowed or stolen from his own side of the Channel And in
this his ingenuity was striking, insomuch that the very trees in Woburn
Park owed their goodness to the owner having been once a Lord Lieutenant
in Ireland, where, as Corny expressed it, 'devil thank him to have fine
trees! hadn't he the pick of the Fhaynix?'
I knew that candour formed a most prominent feature in Mr. Delany's
character, and consequently had little difficulty in ascertaining his
opinion of every member of my family; indeed, to do him justice, no one
ever required less of what is called pumping. His judgment on things and
people flowed from him without effort or restraint, so that ere half
an hour elapsed he had expatiated on my mothers pride and vanity,
apostrophised my father's hastiness and determination, and was quite
prepared to enter upon a critical examination of my cousin Julia's
failings, concerning whom, to my astonishment, he was not half so
lenient as I expected.
'Arrah, isn't she like the rest of them, coorting one day with Captain
Phil, and another with the young lord there, and then laughing at them
both with the ould duke that comes here to dinner! She thinks I don't
be minding her; but didn't I see her taking myself off one day on
paper--making a drawing of me, as if I was a haste! Mayhe there's worse
nor me,' said the little man, looking down upon his crooked shins and
large knee-joints with singular complacency; 'and mayhe she'd get one
of them yet.' À harsh cackle, the substitute for a laugh, closed this
speech.
'Breakfast on the table, sir,' said a servant, tapping gently at the
door.
'I'll engage it is, and will be till two o'clock, when they'll be
calling out for luncheon,' said Corny, turning up the whites of his
eyes, as though the profligate waste of the house was a sin he wished to
wash his hands of. 'That wasn't the way at his honour the Jidge's; he'd
never taste a bit from morning till night; and many a man he 'd send to
his long account in the meantime. Ugh! I wish I was back there.'
'I have spent many happy days in Ireland, too,' said I, scarce following
him in more than the general meaning of his speech.
A fit of coughing from Corny interrupted his reply, but as he left the
room I could hear his muttered meditations, something in this strain:
'Happy days, indeed! A dacent life you led! tramping about the country
with a fool, horse-riding and fighting! Ugh!'
I found my cousin in the breakfast-room alone; my father had already
gone out; and as Lady Charlotte never left her room before three or
four o'clock, I willingly took the opportunity of our _tête-à-tête_ to
inquire into the cause of the singular reception I had met with, and to
seek an explanation, if so might be, of the viceroy's change towards me
since his visit to England.
Julia entered frankly and freely into the whole matter, with the details
of which, though evidently not trusting me to the full, she was somehow
perfectly conversant.
'My dear John,' said she, 'your whole conduct in Ireland has been much
mistaken----'
'Calumniated, apparently, were the better word, Julia,' said I hastily.
'Nay, hear me out. It is so easy, when people have no peculiar reasons
to vindicate another, to misconstrue, perhaps condemn. It is so much the
way of the world to look at things in their worst light, that I am sure
you will see no particular ingenuity was required to make your career
in Dublin appear a wild one, and your life in the country still more so.
Now you are growing impatient; you are getting angry; so I shall stop.'
'No, no, Julia; a thousand pardons if a passing shade of indignation did
show itself in my face. Pray go on.'
'Well then, when a young gentleman, whose exclusive leanings were even a
little quizzed here--there, no impatience!--condescends at one spring
to frequent third-rate people's houses; falls in love with a niece, or
daughter, or a something there; plays high among riotous associates;
makes rash wagers; and fights with his friends, who endeavour to rescue
him----'
'Thank you, Julia--a thousand thanks, sweet cousin! The whole narrative
and its author are palpably before me.'
A deep blush covered her cheek as I rose hastily from my chair.
'John, dear John, sit down again,' said she, 'I have only been in jest
all this time. You surely do not suppose me silly enough to credit one
word of all this?'
'It must have been told you, however,' said I, fixing my eyes on her as
I spoke.
The redness of her cheek grew deeper, and her confusion increased to
a painful extent, as, taking my hand in hers, she said in a low, soft
voice--
'I have been very, very foolish; but you will promise me never to
remember--at least never to act upon--the----'
The words became fainter and fainter as she spoke, and at last died
away inaudibly; and suddenly there shot across my mind the passage in
O'Grady's letter. The doubt once suggested, gained strength at every
moment: she loved De Vere. I will not attempt to convey the conflicting
storm of passion this thought stirred up within me.
I turned towards her. Her head was thrown gently back, and her deep-blue
lustrous eyes were fixed on me as if waiting my reply. A tear rolled
heavily along her cheek; it was the first I ever saw her shed. Pressing
her hand to my lips, I muttered the words, 'Trust me, Julia,' and left
the room. 'Sir George wishes to see you, sir, in his own room,' said a
servant, as I stood stunned and overcome by the discovery I had made of
my cousin's affection. I had no time given me for further reflection as
I followed the man to my father's room.
'Sit down, Jack,' said my father, as he turned the key in the door. 'I
wish to talk to you alone here. I have been with the duke this morning;
a little explanation has satisfied him that your conduct was perfectly
irreproachable in Ireland. He writes by this post to the viceroy to
make the whole thing clear, and indeed he offered to reinstate you at
once--which I refused, however. Now to something graver still, my boy,
and which I wish I could spare you; but it cannot be.'
As he spoke these words he leaned his head in both his hands, and was
silent. A confused, imperfect sense of some impending bad news almost
stupefied me, and I waited without speaking. When my father lifted up
his head his face was pale and care-worn, and an expression such as
long illness leaves had usurped the strong and manly character of his
countenance.
'Come, my boy, I must not keep you longer in suspense. Fortune has dealt
hardly with me since we parted. Jack, I am a beggar!'
A convulsive gulp and a rattling sound in the throat followed the words,
and for a second or two his fixed looks and purple colour made me fear a
fit was approaching. But in a few minutes he recovered his calmness,
and proceeded, still with a broken and tremulous voice, to relate the
circumstances of his altered fortune.
It appeared that many British officers of high rank had involved
themselves deeply in a loan to the Spanish Government, under the faith
of speedy repayment. The varying chances of the Peninsular struggle had
given this loan all the character of a gambling speculation, the skill
in which consisted in the anticipation of the result of the war we were
then engaged in. My father's sanguine hopes of ultimate success induced
him to enter deeply into the speculation, from which, having once
engaged, there was no retreat. Thousand after thousand followed, to
secure the sum already advanced; and at last, hard pressed by the
increasing demands for money, and confident that the first turn of
fortune would lead to repayment, he had made use of the greater part
of my cousin Julia's fortune, whose guardian he was, and in whose hands
this trust-money had been left My cousin would come of age in about four
months, at which time she would be eighteen; and then, if the money were
not forthcoming, the consequences were utter ruin, with the terrific
blow of blasted character and reputation.
There was a sum of ten thousand pounds settled on me by my grandfather,
which I at once offered to place at his disposal.
'Alas, my poor fellow! I have advanced already upwards of thirty
thousand of Julia's fortune! No, no, Jack, I have thought much over
the matter; there is but one way of escaping from this difficulty. By
disposing of these bonds at considerable loss, I shall be enabled to pay
Julia's money. This will leave us little better than above actual want;
still, it must be done. I shall solicit a command abroad; they'll not
refuse me, I know. Lady Charlotte must retire to Bath, or some quiet
place, which in my absence will appear less remarkable. Strict economy
and time will do much. And as to yourself, I know that having once
learned what you have to look to I shall have no cause of complaint on
your score; the duke has promised to take care of you. And now my heart
is lighter than it has been for some months past.'
Before my father had ceased speaking the shock of his news had gradually
subsided with me, and I was fully intent on the details by which he
hoped to escape his embarrassments. My mother was my first thought. Lady
Charlotte, I knew, could never encounter her changed condition; she was
certain to sink under the very shock of it. My father, however, supposed
that she need not be told its full extent; that, by management, the
circumstances should be gradually made known to her; and he hoped, too,
that her interest in her husband and son, both absent from her, would
withdraw her thoughts in great measure from the routine of fashionable
life, and fix them in a channel more homely and domestic.
'Besides,' added he, with more animation of voice, 'they may offer me
some military appointment in the colonies, where she could accompany
me; and this will prevent an exposure. And, after all, Jack, there is
nothing else for it.' As he said this he fixed his eyes on me, as though
rather asking than answering the question.
Not knowing what to reply, I was silent.
'You were fond of Julia, as a boy,' said he carelessly.
The blood rushed to my cheek, as I answered, 'Yes, sir; but--but----'
'But you have outgrown that?' added he, with a smile.
'Not so much, sir, as that she has forgotten me. In fact, I believe we
are excellent cousins.'
'And it is not now, my dear boy, I would endeavour to make you more to
each other. What is not a union of inclination shall never be one
of sordid interest. Besides, Jack, why should we not take the field
together? The very thought of it makes me feel young enough!'
I saw his lip quiver as he spoke; and unable to bear more, I wrung his
hand warmly, and hurried away.