With its architect, fell that surprising fabric of fraud and wrong, the
rise and fall of which are commemorated in this history--a fabric which,
if it had "risen like an exhalation," so like an exhalation had
disappeared, and with it all the creatures which had peopled it. Though
Mr. Runnington's vigilance and ability had set matters into such a
train, that, had Mr. Gammon lived to continue his most skilful
opposition, he could not have delayed for any considerable length of
time Mr. Aubrey's restoration to Yatton, yet the sudden and most
unexpected death of Mr. Gammon greatly accelerated that event.
Notwithstanding the verdict of the coroner's inquest, both Mr. Aubrey
and Mr. Runnington--and in fact very many others--strongly suspected the
true state of the case; viz. that, in the desperation of defeat and
dreaded exposure, he had destroyed himself.
Towards the close of the term, Mr. Runnington went to the proper office
of the Court of King's Bench, in order to ascertain whether Mr. Titmouse
had taken the requisite steps towards defending the actions of ejectment
commenced by Mr. Aubrey, and found that, though the prescribed period
had elapsed, he had not; in other words, that he had "SUFFERED JUDGMENT
BY DEFAULT." Delighted, though not much surprised by this discovery, Mr.
Runnington resolved at once to follow up his victory. 'Twas only a short
and simple process that was requisite to effect such great results. He
took a single sheet of draft paper on which he wrote some half-dozen
lines called an "_incipitur_," as if he were going to copy out the
"declaration" in ejectment, but stopped short about the fifth line. This
sheet of paper, together with another containing his "Rule for
Judgment," he took to the Master's office, in order that that
functionary might "SIGN JUDGMENT"--which he did by simply writing in the
margin of what Mr. Runnington had written, the words--"_Judgment signed,
23d November 18--,_" then impressing above it the seal of the court; and
behold, at that instant, the _property_ in the whole of the Yatton
estates had become vested in Mr. Aubrey again!
The next step requisite was to secure the _possession_ of the property;
for which purpose Mr. Runnington immediately procured a WRIT OF
POSSESSION, (_i.e._ a writ requiring the sheriff of Yorkshire to put Mr.
Aubrey into actual possession,) to be engrossed on a slip of parchment.
This he got sealed; and then obtained a WARRANT from the sheriff to his
officers, to execute the writ. Now the sheriff might, had it been
necessary, have roused--nay, was bound to do so--the whole _posse
comitatus_, in order to compel submission to his authority; and I can
assure the reader that the whole _posse comitatus_ would have answered
his summons on that occasion very eagerly--but it was needless. Who was
there to resist him at Yatton? The transference of the possession became
under these circumstances a very slight matter-of-fact affair, and went
off in this wise. The under-sheriff of Yorkshire drove up in his gig to
the Hall, where he found Mr. Parkinson waiting his arrival--(no breaking
open of doors was necessary!)--and in a word or two, informed Mr.
Parkinson, with a smile, that he then delivered the possession to him
for and on account of Charles Aubrey, Esquire, his heirs and assigns,
forever--and after remarking, "what a fine estate it was, and in very
good order, _considering_," he drove off. I may add, that to save the
useless expense of some hundred writs of possession, "_attornments_"
were taken from all the tenants--_i. e._ written acknowledgments that
they held under Charles Aubrey, Esquire, as their sole, true, and proper
landlord. This done, that gentleman was reinstated in all that he had
been dispossessed of, as absolutely, and to all intents and purposes, as
if the events of the last three years had been but a _dream_--as if such
persons as Tittlebat Titmouse, and Quirk, Gammon, and Snap, had never
existed; and Mr. Griffiths the steward, and Mr. Parkinson, by way of
commemorating the event, opened a couple of bottles of port-wine, which,
with the efficient assistance of Mr. Waters and Mr. Dickons, the upper
and under bailiffs, Tonson the gamekeeper, and Pumpkin the gardener,
were very quickly emptied amid shouts--in which 'tis hoped the
good-natured reader will join--of "Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!--Hip, hip,
hip, _hurrah_!--Hip, hip, hip, _hurrah_! _hurrah!_ HURRAH!" Then
phlegmatic Mr. Dickons stepped out into the court-yard, and, by way of
further relieving his excited feelings, flung his heavy ashen
walking-stick up a surprising height into the air; and when he had
caught it on its descent, as he grasped it in his huge horny hand in
silence, he shook it above his head with the feeling that he could have
smashed a million of Titmice in a minute, if he could have got among
them. Then he thought of Mrs. Aubrey and Kate, and up went the stick
again, higher even than before--by which time they had all come out into
the yard, and shouted again, and again, and again, till their voices
rang and echoed in the air, and raised an uproar in the rookery behind
them.
While this result of his triumphant exertions was being thus celebrated
at Yatton, Mr. Runnington was stirring himself to the utmost in London,
in order to extricate Mr. Aubrey from all his pecuniary
embarrassments--the chief of which were, his two promissory notes for
£5,000 each, with interest, and the actions depending upon them--the
joint bond of himself and Lord De la Zouch for £10,000 and interest--and
the action pending for the balance of Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap's
bill--viz. £1,446, 14s. 6d. Undoubtedly, these matters occasioned him a
vast deal of trouble and anxiety; but his experienced tact, and
vigilance, and determination, overcame all obstacles. The balance of
Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap's abominable bill of costs, melted away
and totally disappeared in the heat of the taxing-office; and with the
aid of certain summary applications, both to the Lord Chancellor and to
the common-law judges, and after a good deal of diplomacy, Mr.
Runnington succeeded in getting into his hands, cancelled, the
above-mentioned two notes, on payment to Mr. Spitfire, for and on
account of Mr. Titmouse, of £250, (of which Mr. Titmouse, by the way,
got £15, the remainder being claimed by Spitfire in respect of costs.)
The bond for ten thousand pounds, which was found in the strong box of
the late Mr. Gammon, was delivered up by Messrs. Quirk and Snap, on
certain hints being given them by Mr. Runnington of the serious
consequences of refusal. Not satisfied with this, Mr. Runnington
obtained from Mr. Titmouse a formal and solemn release and discharge, to
Mr. Aubrey, his heirs, executors, and administrators, of all claims,
debts, damages, sums of money, demands, costs, charges, bills, bonds,
notes, accounts, reckonings, expenses, judgments, executions, actions,
and suits whatsoever, either at law or in equity. But how stood the
matter of Mr. Titmouse's liabilities to Mr. Aubrey, in respect of the
mesne profits during the last two years and more? Why, he owed Mr.
Aubrey a sum of some twenty-five thousand pounds--not one farthing
of which would ever see its way into the pockets of him who had
been so cruelly defrauded of it! The greatest trouble of Mr.
Runnington, however, was the extorting of the Yatton title-deeds
from the three Jews, Mordecai Gripe, Israel Fang, and Mephibosheth
Maharshalal-hash-baz. Unhappy wretches! they writhed and gasped as
though their very hearts were being torn out; but they had no help for
it, as their own attorneys and solicitors told them; since the right of
Mr. Aubrey to his title-deeds was as clear and indisputable as his right
to the estates, and their resistance of his claim would only entail on
them additional, very serious, and fruitless expense. They grinned,
chattered, stuttered, and stamped about in impotent but horrible fury;
and, if they could, would have torn Mr. Gammon out of his grave, and
placed his body, and those of Messrs. Quirk and Snap, over a slow fire!
These gentlemen, were not, however, the only persons who had been
astounded, dismayed, and defeated, by Mr. Gammon's _leap into the dark_.
To say nothing of Mr. Wigley, who might now whistle for his debt and
costs, and many other persons who had rested all their hopes upon Mr.
Gammon's powers, and his responsibility, his sudden death precipitated
total ruin upon his weak aristocratical dupe and victim, the poor old
Earl of Dreddlington. In addition to the formidable movement against the
earl and Mr. Gammon in the Court of Chancery, on the part of their
co-shareholders and adventurers, for the purpose of securing them to be
declared alone liable for all the debts contracted by the Gunpowder and
Fresh Water Company, the creditors, rendered impatient and desperate by
the sudden death of Mr. Gammon, began to attempt daily to harass the
unfortunate earl with their personal importunity for payment of their
demands, and that at his residence in Grosvenor Square and at Poppleton
Hall. At the former they were, of course, uniformly encountered by the
answer that his Lordship was both ill and out of town. Upon that, down
to his Lordship's nearest country residence--viz. Poppleton--went the
chief of his infuriate creditors, not believing the answer they had
received at his Lordship's town-house; but at Poppleton, the earl was
of course denied to them, and with a peremptoriness of manner, which,
excited as they were, they converted into insolence and defiance, and a
determined _denial_ to his Lordship's creditors. Upon this, they took
the opinion of counsel upon three points. _First_, whether a peer of the
realm could be made a bankrupt if he became a trader; _Secondly_,
whether the Earl of Dreddlington's active connection with the Gunpowder
and Fresh Water Company constituted him a trader within the meaning of
the bankrupt laws; and _Lastly_, whether the facts stated amounted to an
act of bankruptcy. To this it was answered--_First_, that a peer could
clearly be made a bankrupt if he traded, as an Earl of Suffolk had been
declared a bankrupt by reason of an act of bankruptcy committed by him
in buying and selling of wines, (per Lord Chancellor Hardwicke, in _ex
parte_ Meymot, 1 Atkyn's Reports, p. 201.) _Secondly_, that the
Gunpowder and Fresh Water Company was one of such a nature as
constituted its members "traders" within the meaning of the bankrupt
laws. _Thirdly_, that the facts stated showed the committing of an act
of bankruptcy, on the part of the Earl of Dreddlington, by "_beginning
to keep his house_." Upon this, the more eager and reckless of his
Lordship's creditors instantly struck a docket against him: and
thereupon, down came the messenger of the court to take possession of
his Lordship's houses and effects, both Grosvenor Square, Poppleton
Hall, and in Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland--that is, as to the
last four, if he could discover them. At Poppleton he was sternly
refused admission; on which he produced his authority, and protested
that, if further denied, he would immediately proceed to effect an
entrance by main force, come what might, and those within must take the
consequences!--After a brief affrighted pause on the part of those
within, he was admitted--and immediately declared himself to be in
possession, under the bankruptcy, and by the authority of the Lord
Chancellor, of the premises, and everything upon them; at the same time
announcing to the dismayed inmates, that he would do nothing to give the
slightest annoyance, or occasion apprehensions to the noble bankrupt
personally. This very unusual occurrence found its way into the
newspapers of the next day, which brought, accidentally, under the
notice of Mr. Aubrey, the lamentable condition of his haughty yet fallen
kinsman. He hurried off in alarm and agitation to Mr. Runnington, and
requested him immediately to put himself into communication with the
earl's solicitor, whoever he might be, with a view to saving him, if
possible, from the indignity and ruin with which he was threatened; and
then himself drove down to Poppleton, to tender his services in any way
that might appear most desirable. He was shocked indeed at finding the
house, and everything in it, in formal possession of the bankruptcy
messenger; but much more so, on learning the deplorable condition of the
earl personally. It appeared that he had most unfortunately witnessed,
during a brief lucid interval, and while he was being assisted out of
his carriage on his return from an airing, the arrival of the messenger,
and his altercation with the servants at the door; and that, on being
made acquainted with the true nature of the proceeding, he staggered
back into the arms of Miss Macspleuchan, and was soon afterwards seized
with another fit of paralysis. All this Mr. Aubrey, on his arrival,
learned from Miss Macspleuchan--whom he knew only by name--and who
communicated the dismal tidings in an agony of grief and agitation. The
physician and apothecary were with the earl when Mr. Aubrey arrived; and
finding that he could render no personal service to his suffering
kinsman, he returned to town, assuring Miss Macspleuchan that she would
see him again on the morrow--and that he would, in the mean while, do
all in his power to avert from the earl the immediate effects of his
fearful imprudence. Faithful to his promise, he instructed Mr.
Runnington to do everything in reason to rescue the earl, and, in his
person, the honor of the family, from the impending misfortune. 'Twas,
however, all in vain. Two days afterwards, and before Mr. Runnington had
acted upon the instructions given to him by Mr. Aubrey, the latter
received intelligence by express from Poppleton, that the earl was in
dying circumstances; that he was conscious of his rapidly approaching
end; and was understood to have expressed a wish to see Mr. Aubrey
before he died. When he arrived, he was at once ushered into the earl's
bedchamber, and found the Duke of Tantallan sitting on one side of the
bed, and Miss Macspleuchan on the other; she was weeping in silence, and
her left hand was grasped between the thin white hands of the earl,
whose face was turned towards her. His snow-white hair and wasted
features, and the expression of mingled misery, feebleness, and
affection that were in his eyes, fixed heavily upon Miss Macspleuchan,
filled Mr. Aubrey with deep emotion. The earl seemed a mere skeleton!
Shortly after Mr. Aubrey had entered the room, Miss Macspleuchan leaned
down to the earl's ear, and, in a whisper, informed him of Mr. Aubrey's
arrival. He did not seem at first to have heard, or at least
comprehended, what she had said; but, a few moments afterwards, opened
his eyes a little wider than they had been before, and his lips quivered
as if with an effort at speaking. Then he very feebly extended both his
thin arms towards Miss Macspleuchan, who was still leaning over him, and
placed them tremblingly round her neck, from which, however, in a moment
or two, they suddenly fell; the lower jaw also fell; the poor earl was
dead--and Miss Macspleuchan, with a faint sigh, sank back in a swoon
into the arms of the nurse who stood beside her, and who, assisted by a
female attendant, immediately removed her from the room. The Duke of
Tantallan remained sitting where he was, but with his face averted, and
his right hand clasping one of the hands of his deceased kinsman: and
Mr. Aubrey continued standing at the foot of the bed, his eyes covered
by his hand. Neither of them spoke for some time. At length the duke,
very deeply affected, slowly rose, and quitted the chamber in silence,
followed by Mr. Aubrey, as those entered who were to commence the last
sad offices for the dead.
The duke undertook all the arrangements for the funeral; and after much
melancholy conversation with his Grace concerning the shocking state in
which the earl had left his affairs, and having offered to provide,
should it be necessary, for Miss Macspleuchan, Mr. Aubrey took his
departure.
"Is the carriage at the door?" he inquired of the servant who stood in
the hall expecting his approach.
"Yes, my Lord," he replied; and his words caused LORD DRELINCOURT almost
to start back a step or two; and he changed color. Then he entered his
carriage, and continued in a very melancholy and subdued mood during the
whole of the drive up to town. He had, indeed, now become Lord
Drelincourt--an event thus announced the next morning to the great
world, in the columns of the obsequious _Aurora_.
"Yesterday, at his residence, Poppleton Hall, Hertfordshire, in his
seventieth year, died the Right Hon. the Earl of Dreddlington,
G.C.B., F.C.S., &c. &c. His Lordship was Fifth Earl of
Dreddlington, and Twentieth BARON DRELINCOURT. The Earldom (created
in 1667) is now extinct; but his Lordship is succeeded in the
ancient barony of Drelincourt (created by writ, 12th Henry II.) by
CHARLES AUBREY, Esq. of Yatton, in Yorkshire, the representative of
the younger branch of the family, who is now 21st Lord Drelincourt,
and has just succeeded in establishing his title to the whole of
the Yatton property, which about two years ago, it may be
remembered, was recovered in a very extraordinary manner (which is
now, we believe, the subject of judicial inquiry) by Tittlebat
Titmouse, Esq., at present M.P. for Yatton. His Lordship (who is
now in his thirty-sixth year) took a double first-class at Oxford,
and sat for several years as member for Yatton. He married, in
18--, Agnes, sole daughter and heiress of the late Colonel St.
Clair, who fell in the Peninsular war, and has issue by her
Ladyship two children, Charles, born in 18--, and Agnes, born in
18--. His Lordship has no brothers, and only one sister, Miss
Catharine Aubrey, who is understood to be affianced to the Hon. Mr.
Delamere, the only son and heir of the Right Hon. Lord De la
Zouch."
Till Yatton could be got ready for their reception, they had taken, as a
temporary residence, a furnished house in Dover Street, only a few
doors' distance from that of Lord De la Zouch; and on his arrival from
Poppleton Hall, Lord Drelincourt found Lady Drelincourt and his sister
had not yet returned from their afternoon's drive. When they drew up to
the door, however, the closed shutters and drawn blinds apprised them of
the melancholy event which had taken place. On hearing that Lord
Drelincourt was alone in the drawing-room, where he had been for upwards
of an hour, they rushed hastily up-stairs, and in a few moments Lord and
Lady Drelincourt had fondly embraced each other, and Miss Aubrey, full
of eager affection, had embraced both of them; and then, quitting the
room, quickly returned with Charles and Agnes, now--little unconscious
creatures!--the Honorable Charles and Honorable Agnes Aubrey. Surely it
was not to be expected that any of them should entertain very poignant
feelings of sorrow for the death of an individual who had ever totally
estranged himself from them, and treated every member of their family
with the most offensive and presumptuous insolence--with the bitterest
contempt; who, when he knew that they were destitute and all but
perishing, had kept cruelly aloof as ever, without once extending
towards them a helping hand. Still they had regarded the afflicting
circumstances which attended, and hastened, their lofty kinsman's death,
with sincere commiseration for one so weak and misguided, and whose
pride had had, indeed, so signal and fearful a fall. These were topics
which afforded scope for sad but instructive conversation and
reflection; and before Lord and Lady Drelincourt had laid their heads on
their pillows that night, they again devoutly returned thanks to Heaven
for the happy restoration which had been vouchsafed to _them_, and
offered sincere and fervent prayers for its guidance in every stage of
their future career.
This event, of course, threw them again, for a time, into mourning. Lord
Drelincourt attended the funeral of the late earl, which took place at
Poppleton, and was plain and private; and a few days afterwards,
yearning to see Yatton once again, and anxious also to give his personal
directions concerning very many matters which required them, he accepted
an offer of a seat in the carriage of Lord De la Zouch, who was going
down for a few days to Fotheringham on business of importance. Lord
Drelincourt agreed to take up his abode at Fotheringham during his brief
stay in Yorkshire, and to give no one at Yatton a previous intimation of
his intention to pay a visit to them--purposing, the morning after his
arrival at Fotheringham, to ride over quietly, alone and unexpectedly,
to the dear place of his birth, and scene of such signal trials and
expected joys of restoration and reunion.
'Twas about four o'clock in the afternoon of a frosty day in the early
part of December; and Dr. Tatham was sitting alone in his
plainly-furnished and old-fashioned little study, beside the table on
which Betty, his old housekeeper, had just laid his scanty show of
tea-things--the small, quaintly-figured round silver tea-pot having been
the precious gift, more than twenty years before, of old Madam Aubrey.
On his knee lay open a well-worn parchment-covered Elzevir edition of
_Thomas à Kempis_, a constant companion of the doctor's, which he had
laid down a few moments before, in a fit of musing--and was gazing in
the direction of the old yew-tree, a portion of which, with a gray
crumbling corner of his church, at only some two dozen yards' distance,
was visible through the window. On one side of his book-shelves hung his
surplice on one peg, and on another his gown; and on the other his rusty
shovel-hat and walking-stick. Over the mantelpiece were suspended two
small black profile likenesses of old Squire Aubrey and Madam Aubrey,
which they had themselves presented to the doctor nearly thirty years
before. Though it was very cold, there was but a handful of fire in the
little grate; and this, together with the modicum of brown sugar in the
sugar-basin, and about two small spoonfuls of tea, which he had just
before measured out of his little tea-caddy, into the cup, in order to
be ready to put it into his tea-pot, when Betty should have brought in
the kettle--and four thin slices of scantily buttered brown bread--all
this, I say, seemed touching evidence of the straitened circumstances in
which the poor doctor was placed. His clothes, too, very clean, very
threadbare, and of a very rusty hue--down even to his gaiters--suggested
the same reflection to the beholder. The five pounds which he had
scraped together for purchasing a new suit, Mr. Titmouse, it will be
remembered, had succeeded in cheating him out of. His hair was of a
silvery white; and though he was evidently a little cast down in
spirits, the expression of his countenance was as full of benevolence
and piety as ever. He was, moreover, considerably thinner than when he
was last presented to the reader; and well he might be, for he had
since undergone great privation and anxiety. He--_he_, peaceful
unoffending old soul!--had long been followed with pertinacious
bitterness and persecution by two new inhabitants of the village; viz.
the Rev. Smirk Mudflint and Mr. Bloodsuck, junior. The former had
obtained a lease from Mr. Titmouse of the little structure which had
formerly been Miss Aubrey's school, and had turned it into an Unitarian
chapel--himself and family residing in part of the building. He preached
every Sunday _at_ Dr. Tatham, turning his person, his habits, his
office, and his creed into bitter ridicule; and repeatedly challenging
him, from his pulpit, to an open discussion of the points in difference
between them! By means of his "moral" discourses every Sunday morning,
and his "political" discourses every Sunday evening--and which he used
all his powers to render palatable to those who heard him--he was
undoubtedly seducing away many of the parishioners from the parish
church; a matter which began visibly to prey upon the doctor's spirits.
Then Mr. Bloodsuck, too, was carrying on the campaign briskly against
the parson--against whom he had got a couple of actions pending at the
suit of parishioners, in respect of his right to certain tithes which
had never before been questioned by any one. Only that very day the
impudent jackanapes--for that, I am sure, you would have pronounced Mr.
Barnabas Bloodsuck at first sight--had sent a very peremptory and
offensive letter to the doctor, which had been designed by its writer to
have the effect of drawing him into a sudden compromise; whereas the
doctor, with a just sense and spirit, had resolved never in any way to
suffer his rights, and those of his successors, to be infringed. Many
and many a weary walk to Mr. Parkinson's office at Grilston had these
persecuting proceedings of Bloodsuck's cost the doctor, and also
considerable and unavoidable expense, which, had he been in any other
hands than those of good Mr. Parkinson, must by this time have involved
the doctor in utter ruin, and broken his heart. Still generous according
to his means, the good soul had, on his last visit to Grilston,
purchased and brought home with him a couple of bottles of port-wine,
which he intended to take on Christmas-day to the poor brother parson in
an adjoining parish, to whom I alluded in the early part of this
history. All these matters might well occasion Dr. Tatham anxiety, and
frequent fits of despondency, such as that under which he was suffering,
when he heard a gentle tapping at his door, while sitting in his study
as I have described him. "Come in, Betty," quoth the doctor, in his
usual kind and quiet way, supposing it to be his old housekeeper with
his tea-kettle; for she had gone with it a few minutes before across the
yard to the well, leaving the front door ajar till her return. As he
uttered the words above-mentioned, the door opened. He sat with his back
towards it; and finding, after a pause, that no one entered or spoke, he
turned round in his chair to see the reason why; and beheld a gentleman
standing there, dressed in deep mourning, and gazing at him with an
expression of infinite tenderness and benignity. The doctor was a little
of a believer in the reality of spiritual appearances; and, taken quite
off his guard, jumped out of his chair, and, stared for a second or two
in mute amazement, if not even apprehension, at the figure standing
silently in the doorway.
"Why! Bless--bless my soul--can it be"--he stammered, and the next
instant perceived that it was indeed, as I may say, the _desire of his
eyes_--Mr. Aubrey, now become, as the doctor had a few days before heard
from Mr. Parkinson, Lord Drelincourt.
"Oh my dear, old, revered friend! Do I see you once again?" exclaimed
his Lordship, in a tremulous voice, as he stepped hastily up to the
doctor, with his arms extended, and, grasping the hand of the doctor
with vehement pressure, they both gazed at each other for some moments
in silence, and with the tears in their eyes--Lord Drelincourt's soul
touched within him by the evident alteration which had taken place in
Dr. Tatham's appearance.
"And is it indeed true, my dear friend?" at length faltered the doctor,
still gazing fondly at Lord Drelincourt.
"It _is_ your old friend, Charles Aubrey! dearest doctor! God bless you,
revered friend and instructor of my youth!" said Lord Drelincourt, with
a full heart and a quivering lip: "I am come, you see, once more to
Yatton, and first of all to you; and in your presence to acknowledge the
goodness of God, for He has been very good to me!"
"The Lord God of thy fathers bless thee!" exclaimed Dr. Tatham,
solemnly; and Lord Drelincourt reverently received the benison. A few
moments afterwards he sat down, opposite the doctor, in the only spare
chair there was in the room, and they were instantly engaged in eager
and affectionate converse.
"Why, Mr. Aubrey," quoth the doctor, with a smile, but also a slight
embarrassment, "I had forgotten--Lord Drelincourt, how strangely it
sounds!"
"Yes, it is true, such is now my name; but, believe me, I am not yet
reconciled to it, especially, dearest doctor, in your presence! Shall I
ever be as happy as Lord Drelincourt as I have been as Charles Aubrey?"
"Ay, ay, dear friend, to be sure you will! 'Tis in the course of God's
providence that you are raised to distinction, as well as restored to
that which is your own! Long may you live to enjoy both! and, I hope,
_at Yatton_," he added earnestly.
"Oh, can you doubt it, dearest doctor? My heart is only now recovering
the wounds it received in being torn from this dear spot!"
"And Mrs. Au--I mean Lady Drelincourt. God Almighty bless her! and
Kate--sweet, dear Kate! Well! _She_ has not changed her name yet, I
suppose?"
"Not _yet_," replied Lord Drelincourt, with a cheerful smile.
"And do you mean to say that you are all coming to old Yatton again?"
inquired the doctor, rubbing his hands.
"Coming to Yatton again? 'Tis a little paradise to all of us! Here we
wish to live; and when we follow those who have gone before us, _there_
we wish to rest!" said Lord Drelincourt, solemnly, and he pointed
towards the churchyard, with a look that suddenly filled the doctor's
eyes with tears, for it brought full before them the funeral of Mrs.
Aubrey.
"I have something for you," said Lord Drelincourt, after a pause, taking
out his pocket-book, "from my wife and sister, who charged me to give it
into your own hands with their fervent love;" and he gave two letters
into the doctor's hands, which trembled with emotion as he received
them.
"I shall read them by-and-by, when I am alone," said he, as, gazing
fondly at the superscriptions, he placed the two letters on the
mantelpiece.
"Come in! come in!" quoth the doctor, quickly, hearing a knocking at the
door--"that's Betty. You have not forgotten old Betty, have you?" said
he to Lord Drelincourt, as the good old woman opened the door in a
flustered manner, with the kettle in her hands, and dropped an awful
courtesy on seeing Lord Drelincourt, whom she instantly recognized.
"Well, Betty," said he, with infinite cordiality, "I am glad to see you
again, and to hear that you are well!"
"Yes, sir!--if you please, sir!--thank you, sir!" stammered Betty,
courtesying repeatedly, and standing, with the kettle in her hand, as if
she did not intend to come in with it.
"That will do, Betty," quoth the doctor, looking delighted at Lord
Drelincourt's good-natured greeting of his faithful old servant; "bring
it in! And Thomas is quite well, too," he added, turning to Lord
Drelincourt--Thomas being Betty's husband--and both of whom had lived
with the doctor for some eighteen or twenty years--Thomas's business
being to look after the doctor's nag while he kept one, and now to do
odd jobs about the little garden and paddock. After one or two kind
inquiries about him, "I must join you, Doctor--if you please," said Lord
Drelincourt, as Betty put the kettle on the fire; "you'll give me a cup
of tea"----
"A cup of tea? Ay, to be sure! Betty! here," said he, beckoning her to
him, and whispering to her to bring out the best tea-things, and to run
out into the village for a couple of tea-cakes, and a little more tea,
and some eggs and butter, and half a pound of lump sugar--for the doctor
was bent upon doing the thing splendidly, on so great an occasion; but
Lord Drelincourt, who overheard him, and who had asked to take tea with
him only that he might not delay the doctor's doing so--(for Lord
Drelincourt had not yet dined)--interposed, declaring that if anything
of the sort were done, he would leave immediately; adding, that he
expected his horses at the door every moment, and also that Lord De la
Zouch (who had come over with him from Fotheringham, and had come down
to the Hall) would presently call to join him on his way home. This
secured Lord Drelincourt's wishes, and you might within a few minutes'
time have seen him partaking of the doctor's humble beverage, while they
continued in eager and earnest conversation. Lord Drelincourt had that
morning had a very long interview with Mr. Parkinson, from whom he had
learned the life of persecution which the poor doctor had led for the
last two years--listening to it with the keenest indignation. The doctor
himself softened down matters a good deal in the account which _he_ gave
Lord Drelincourt--but his Lordship saw at once that the case had not
been in the least overstated by Mr. Parkinson; and, without intimating
anything of his intentions to the doctor, resolved upon forthwith taking
certain steps which, had they known them, would have made two
conspicuous persons in the village shake in their shoes.
"What's that, Doctor?" suddenly inquired Lord Drelincourt, hearing a
noise as of shouting outside. Now, the fact was, that the appearance of
Lord Drelincourt, and Lord De la Zouch, and their two grooms, as they
galloped down the village on their way to the Hall, (from which Lord
Drelincourt, as I have stated, had walked to the vicarage, whither he
was to be followed by Lord De la Zouch,) had created a pretty sensation
in the neighborhood; for Lord Drelincourt, rapidly as he rode in, was
soon recognized by those who were about, and the news spread like
wildfire that "my Lord the squire" had come back, and was then at
Yatton--a fact which seemed to be anything but gratifying to Messrs.
Bloodsuck and Mudflint, who were talking together, at the moment when
Lord Drelincourt asked the question of Dr. Tatham, at the door of Mr.
Mudflint, whose face seemed to have got several degrees sallower within
a quarter of an hour, while Mr. Bloodsuck looked quite white. There was
a continually increasing crowd about the front of the vicarage; and as
they got more and more assured of the fact that Lord Drelincourt was at
that moment with Dr. Tatham, they began to shout "hurrah!" So----
"What's that?" inquired Lord Drelincourt.
"Ah!--I know!" cried the doctor, with not a little excitement; "they've
found you out, bless them!--hark!--I have not heard such a thing I don't
know how long--I wonder they don't set the bells a-ringing!--Why, bless
me! there's a couple of hundred people before the door!" exclaimed he,
after having stepped into the front room, and reconnoitred through the
window. Though the gloom of evening was rapidly deepening, Lord
Drelincourt also perceived the great number that had collected together,
and his eye having caught the approaching figure of Lord De la Zouch,
for whom, and the grooms, the crowd made way, he prepared to leave. Lord
De la Zouch dismounted, and, entering the vicarage, shook hands with the
utmost cordiality with the little doctor, whom he invited to dine and
sleep at Fotheringham on the morrow, promising to send the carriage for
him. The little doctor scarce knew whether he stood on his head or his
heels, in the flurry of the moment; and when he and Lord Drelincourt
appeared at the door, and a great shout burst from those present, it was
with difficulty that he could resist his inclination to join in it. It
was growing late, however, and they had a long ride before them: so Lord
Drelincourt, having stood for some moments bareheaded and bowing to all
around, and shaking hands with those who pressed nearest, following the
example of Lord De la Zouch, mounted his horse, and waving his hand
affectionately to Dr. Tatham, rode off amid the renewed cheers of the
crowd. From that moment worthy little Dr. Tatham had regained all his
former ascendency at Yatton!
As the two peers sat together over their wine that evening, the fate of
the Rev. Mr. Mudflint, and Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior, "gentleman, &c.,"
was sealed. The more that they talked together about the wanton and
bitter insult and persecution which those worthies had so long
inflicted, upon one, surely, of the most inoffensive, peaceable, and
benevolent beings upon the earth, Dr. Tatham, the higher rose their
indignation, the sterner their determination to punish and remove his
enemies. The next morning Lord De la Zouch wrote up to town, directing
instructions to be given to Mr. Winnington, who had conducted the
proceedings in the actions of Wigley _v._ Mudflint, and Wigley _v._
Bloodsuck, to issue execution forthwith. Lord Drelincourt also did his
part. Almost every house in the village was his property, and he
instructed Mr. Parkinson immediately to take steps towards summarily
ejecting the two aforesaid worthies from the premises they were
respectively occupying--convinced that by so doing he was removing two
principal sources of filth and mischief from the village and
neighborhood; for they were the founders and most active members of a
sort of spouting-club for radical and infidel speechifying, and which
club their presence and influence alone kept together.
Early the next morning Lord Drelincourt returned to the Hall, having
appointed several persons to meet him there, on business principally
relating to the restoration of the Hall to its former state, as far as
was practicable; at all events, to render it fit for the reception of
the family within as short a period as possible. According to an
arrangement he had made before quitting town, he found, on reaching the
Hall, a gentleman from London, of great taste and experience, to whose
hands was to be intrusted the entire superintendence of the contemplated
reparations and restorations, both internal and external, regard being
had to the antique and peculiar character of the mansion--it being his
Lordship's anxious wish that Lady Drelincourt and Miss Aubrey, on their
return, should see it, as nearly as might be, in the condition in which
they had left it. Fortunately, the little Vandal who had just been
expelled from it had done little or no permanent or substantial injury.
There was the same great irregular mass of old brickwork, with its huge
stacks of chimneys, just as they had ever known it, only requiring a
little pointing. That fine old relic, the castellated gateway, clad in
ivy, with its gray, crumbling, stone-capped battlements, and escutcheon
over the point of the arch, had suffered no change; even the quaint,
weather-beaten sun-dial stood in the centre of the grass-plot, within
the court-yard, as they had left it. The yew-trees still lined the high
walls which surrounded the court-yard; and the fine old clump of cedars
of Lebanon was there--green, stately, and solemn, as in days of yore.
The moment, however, that you passed the threshold of the Hall, you
sighed at the change that had taken place. Where were now the armed
figures, the pikes, bows, guns, spears, swords, and battle-axes, and the
quaint old pictures of the early ancestors of the family of the Aubreys?
Not a trace to be seen of them; and it gave Lord Drelincourt a pang as
his eye travelled round the bare walls. But the case was not desperate.
All the aforesaid pictures still lay rolled up in the lumber-room, where
they had continued as articles utterly valueless ever since Mr. Titmouse
had ordered them to be taken down. They had been brought from their
obscurity, and now lay on the floor, having been carefully unrolled and
examined by the man of taste, who undertook quickly to remove the
incipient ravage of mould and dirt at present visible, and to have them
suspended in their former position, in such a state as that only the
closest scrutiny could detect any difference between their present and
former condition. The other relics of antiquity--viz. the armor--had
been purchased by the late Lady Stratton at one of the sales of
Titmouse's effects, occasioned by an execution against him, and they
still were at her late residence, and of course at Lord Drelincourt's
disposal, as her Ladyship's administrator. These, on his seeing them,
the man of taste pronounced to be very fine and valuable specimens of
old English armor, and undertook to have them also in their old places,
and in a far better condition even than before. Lord Drelincourt sighed
repeatedly as he went over every one of the bare and deserted rooms in
the mansion--nothing being left except the beautiful antique
mantelpieces of inlaid oak, and the oak-panelling of the different
apartments, which, as a part of the freehold, could not be seized as the
personal property of Mr. Titmouse. His creditors had swept off, from
time to time, everything that had belonged to him. The hall, the
dining-room, breakfast-room, drawing-rooms, the library, the bedrooms,
dressing-rooms, boudoirs of Mrs. Aubrey and his sister, the long
galleries, the rooms in which Charles and Agnes used to romp and play
about--were all now bare and desolate, and the echoes of their footfalls
and voices, in passing through them, struck Lord Drelincourt's heart
with sadness. But all this was to be easily and quickly remedied; for a
_carte blanche_ was given to the man of taste at his elbow, who
undertook within two, or at most three months' time, to leave nothing
for the eye or the heart to sigh for--guided, moreover, as all his
movements would be, by those who were so deeply interested in their
success. On reaching the two rooms in the north-eastern extremities of
the building, the windows of which commanded a view of nearly
three-fourths of the estate, he gazed around him in silence,--one which
those beside him thoroughly appreciated. _There_ was nothing to shock
the eye or pain the heart; for as Mr. Titmouse had been restrained from
cutting timber, behold! what a sight would be seen when, in the
approaching spring, the groves and forests, stretching far and wide
before him, should have put on all their bravery! And he found on
inquiry, and going over a portion of the grounds, that Mr. Waters and
Dickons had kept pretty sharp eyes about them, and maintained everything
in infinitely better condition than could have been expected. Mr. Tonson
had, moreover, looked very keenly after the game; and Pumpkin undertook,
by spring-time, to make his gardens and greenhouses a sight delightful
to behold. In a word, Lord Drelincourt left everything under the
management of the London man of taste and of Mr. Griffiths, the former
being guided, of course, in the purchase of the leading articles of
furniture in town, from time to time, by the tastes of Lord and Lady
Drelincourt, and Miss Aubrey. Mr. Griffiths was desired to re-engage as
many of the former servants of Mr. Aubrey as he could; and informed Lord
Drelincourt of two, in particular, who had signified their anxious wish
to him on the subject; viz. Mrs. Jackson, the housekeeper, who had lived
in that capacity with a brother of hers at York, on quitting the service
of Mrs. Aubrey. She was, of course, to be immediately reinstated in her
old place. The other was Harriet, Miss Aubrey's maid, who, it may be
recollected, was so disconsolate at being left behind by Miss Aubrey,
who had secured her a place at the late Lady Stratton's, at whose house
she still lived, with several of the other servants, the establishment
not having been yet finally broken up. The poor girl very nearly went
distracted with joy on receiving, a short time afterwards, an
intimation, that as soon as she had got her clothes in readiness, she
might set off for town, and enter at once upon her old duties as lady's
maid to Miss Aubrey. Finding, on inquiry, that there was not one single
tenant upon the estate, whose rent had not been raised above that which
had been paid in Mr. Aubrey's time, he ordered the rent of all to be
reduced to their former amount, and inquiries to be made after several
respectable tenants, whom the extortion of Mr. Titmouse and his agents
had driven from their farms, with a view of restoring them, in lieu of
their very questionable successors. Having thus set everything in train
for a restoration to the former happy and contented state of things
which prevailed at Yatton before the usurpation of Mr. Titmouse, Lord
Drelincourt returned to town; but first left a hundred pounds in Dr.
Tatham's hands, to be distributed as he thought proper among the poorer
villagers and neighbors on Christmas-eve; and also insisted on the
doctor's acceptance, himself, of fifty pounds in advance, on account of
his salary, a hundred a-year, as chaplain to Lord Drelincourt, which
appointment the doctor received from his Lordship's own hands, and with
not a little delight and pride. His Lordship, moreover, desired Mr.
Parkinson to hold him responsible for any little demand which might be
due from the poor doctor, in respect of the litigation in which he had
been involved; and thus Dr. Tatham was made a free man of again, with no
further question about his right to tithes, or any more of the
interruption of any of the sources of his little income, to which he had
lately been subjected; and with fifty pounds, moreover, at his absolute
disposal. The doctor made his appearance on Christmas-day in a very fine
suit of black, new hat and all, and had a very full attendance at
church, and, moreover, a very cheerful and attentive one.
A day or two after Lord Drelincourt's return to town, Messrs. Mudflint
and Bloodsuck received a very pressing invitation to York Castle, whose
hospitable owners would receive no refusal. In plain English, they were
both taken in execution on the same day, by virtue of two writs of
_capias ad satisfaciendum_, for the damages and costs due to Mr. Wigley;
viz. £2,960, 16s. 4d. from Smirk Mudflint, and £2,760, 19s. from
Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior. Poor Mr. Mudflint! In vain--in vain had
been his Sunday evenings' lectures for the last three months, on the
errors which pervaded all systems of jurisprudence which annexed any
pecuniary liabilities to political offences, instead of leaving the evil
to be redressed by the spontaneous good sense of society. A single tap
of the sheriff's officer on the eloquent lecturer's shoulder, upset all
his fine speculations; just as Corporal Trim said, that one shove of the
bayonet was worth all Dr. Slop's fine metaphysical discourses upon the
art of war!
In the next _Yorkshire Stingo_, (which, alas! between ourselves, was
very nearly on its last legs,) there appeared one of, I must own, the
most magnificent articles of the kind which I ever read, upon the
atrocious and unparalleled outrage on the liberties of the subject,
which had been committed in the incarceration of the two patriots--the
martyr-patriots--Mudflint and Bloodsuck. On that day, it said, the sun
of liberty had set on England forever--in fact, for it was a time for
speaking out--it had gone down in blood. The enlightened patriot,
Mudflint, had at length fallen before the combined forces of bigotry and
tyranny, which were now, in the shape of the Church of England and the
aristocracy, riding rough-shod over the necks of Englishmen. In his
person lay prostrate the sacred rights of conscience, and the
inalienable liberty of Englishmen. He had stood forth, nobly foremost,
in the fray between the people and their oppressors; and he had
fallen!--but he felt how _dulce et decorum_ it was, _pro patriâ mori_!
He felt prouder and happier in his bonds than could ever feel the
splendid fiend at F----m, in all his blood-stained magnificence! It then
called upon the people, in vivid and spirit-stirring language, to rise
against their tyrants like one man, and the days of their oppressors
were numbered; and stated that the first blow was already struck against
the black and monstrous fabric of priestcraft and tyranny; for that a
SUBSCRIPTION had been already opened on behalf of Mr. Mudflint and Mr.
Bloodsuck, for the purpose of discharging the amount of debt and costs
for which they had been so infamously deprived of their liberty. An
unprecedented sensation had--it seemed--been already excited; and a
reference to the advertising columns of their paper would show that the
work went bravely on. The friends of religious and civil liberty all
over the country were roused; they had but to continue their exertions,
and the majesty of the people would be heard in a voice of thunder. This
article produced an immense sensation in that part of York Castle where
the patriots were confined, and in the immediate neighborhood of the
office of the _Yorkshire Stingo_, (in fact, it had emanated from the
masterly pen of Mudflint himself.) Sure enough, on referring to the
advertising columns of the _Stingo_, the following did appear fully to
warrant the tone of indignant exultation indulged in by the editor:--
Subscriptions already received (through C. Woodlouse) towards
raising a fund for the liberation of the Reverend Smirk Mudflint
and Barnabas Bloodsuck, junior, Esq., at present confined in York
Castle.
An ardent admirer of the talents and character
of the Reverend Smirk Mudflint £200 0 0
Several friends of the Rev. S. M 150 0 0
Anonymous 100 0 0
John Brown, Esq. 50 0 0
James Smith, Esq. 50 0 0
John Jones, Esq. 50 0 0
Sir Harkaway Rotgut Wildfire, Bart. 50 0 0
Now, to conceal nothing from the reader, I regret being obliged to
inform him that, with the exception of Sir H. R. Wildfire, Bart., the
above noble-spirited individuals, whom no one had ever heard of in or
near to Grilston, or, in fact, anywhere else, had their local
habitation and their name only in the fertile brain of the Rev. Mr.
Mudflint; who had hit upon this device as an effectual one for _getting
up the steam_, (to use a modern and significant expression,) and giving
that mighty impulse which was requisite to burst the bonds of the two
imprisoned patriots.
Sir Harkaway's name was in the list, to be sure, but that was on the
distinct understanding that he was not to be called on to _pay_ one
farthing; the bargain being, that if he would give the sanction of his
name to Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck, they would allow him to have the
credit, _gratis_, of so nobly supporting the Liberal cause.
The following, however, were real and _bonâ fide_ names and
subscriptions collected, with immense exertion, during the ensuing three
weeks; and though, when annexed to the foregoing flourishing
commencement of the list, they give it, I must own, a somewhat tadpole
appearance, yet here they are:--
Subscriptions already received £650 0 0
Cephas Woodlouse, Esq. 1 1 0
Barnabas Bloodsuck, Esq., senior 1 1 0
Gargle Glister, Esq. 0 10 0
Going Gone, Esq. 0 7 0
Simon Snooks, Esq. 0 5 0
"Tyrants, beware!!" 0 2 6
"One who is ready to ascend the scaffold, if required" 0 2 0
"Behemoth" 0 1 6
"A foe to priestcraft" 0 1 0
"Britons NEVER shall be slaves!" 0 0 9
"Down with the aristocracy!" 0 0 6
"Free inquiry" 0 0 4
"Brutus and Cassius" 0 0 4
"Virtue in prison, _better than vice in a castle_" 0 0 3
"Defiance!" 0 0 2
Small sums 0 0 1-3/4
------------
Making a grand total of sums actually received
by the editor of the _Yorkshire Stingo_, of £3 13 5-3/4
Certainly this was "not as good as had been anticipated"--as the editor
subsequently owned in his leading article--and asked, with sorrowful
indignation, how the people could expect any one to be true to them if
they were not true to themselves! "Our cheeks," said he, "tingle with
shame on looking at the paltry list of additional contributions--'Oh,
lame and impotent conclusion' to so auspicious a commencement!"--This
was very fine indeed. It came very well from Mr. Woodlouse in his
_editorial_ capacity; but Mr. Woodlouse, in his capacity as a man of
business, was a very different person. Alas! that it should fell to my
lot to inquire, in my turn, with sorrowful indignation--was there NO
_honor among thieves_? But, to come to the point, it fell out in this
wise. Patriots must _live_, even in prison; and Mr. Mudflint, being
sorely pressed, wrote a letter to his "Dear Woodlouse," asking for the
amount of subscriptions received up to that date. He received, in
return, a most friendly note, addressed "My dear Mudflint," full of
civilities and friendly anxieties--hoping the air of the Castle agreed
with him--assuring him how he was missed from the Liberal circle, and
that he would be welcomed with open arms if ever he got
out--and--enclosing a nicely drawn out _debtor_ and _creditor account_!!
headed--
The Rev. Smirk Mudflint and Barnabas Bloodsuck, Esq., in account
with Cephas Woodlouse, [in which every farthing of the above
sum of £3, 13s. 5-3/4d. was faithfully set down to the _credit_ side,
to be sure; but, alas!--on the DEBIT side stood the following!]--
To advertising lists of Subscriptions in _Y. S._
(three weeks) £3 15 6
To Circulars, Hand-bills, &c. (as per order) 2 13 9
Postage and Sundries 0 4 3
---------
£6 13 6
By cash, amount of Subscriptions received 3 13 5-3/4
---------
Balance due to C. W £3 0 0-1/4
On perusing the above document, so pregnant with perfidy and extortion,
Mr. Mudflint put it into his pocket, and, slipping off to his
sleeping-room, closed the door, took off his garters, and, with very
deadly intentions towards himself was tying them together--casting a
ghastly glance, occasionally, at a great hook in the wall, which he
could just reach by standing on a stool--when he was discovered, and
removed with his hands fastened behind him, "to the strong room," where
he was firmly attached to a heavy wooden bench, and left to his
meditations. Solitude and reflection restored the afflicted captive to
something like composure and resignation; and after meditating long and
deeply on the selfishness and worthlessness of worldly friendship, his
thoughts gradually turned towards a _better place_--a haven of
rest--viz. the Insolvent Debtors' Court.
The effect of this infamous treatment upon his fellow-captive,
Bloodsuck, was quite different. Having sworn one single prodigious oath,
he enclosed the above account, and sent it off to his father, in the
following pithy letter:--
"_York Castle, Dec. 29, 18--_
"DEAR FATHER,--Read the enclosed! and then _sell up
Woodlouse_.--Your dutiful Son,
B. BLOODSUCK, Jun."
The old gentleman, on reading this laconic epistle, and its enclosure,
immediately issued execution against Woodlouse, on a cognovit of his for
£150, which he had given to the firm of Bloodsuck and Son for the
balance of a bill of theirs for defending him unsuccessfully against an
action for an infamous libel. Nobody would bid anything for his moribund
"_Stingo_;" he had no other effects, and was immediately taken in
execution, and sent to York Castle, where he, Bloodsuck, and Mudflint,
whenever they met, could hardly be restrained from tearing one
another's eyes out.
'Tis thus that reptiles of this sort prey upon each other!--To "begin
nothing of which you have not well considered the end," is a saying, the
propriety of which every one recognizes when he hears it enunciated, but
no one thinks of in the conduct of actual life; and what follows, will
illustrate the truth of my reflection. It seemed a capital notion of
Mudflint's to send forth such a splendid list of sham subscribers, and
it was natural enough for Mr. Bloodsuck to assent to it, and Mr.
Woodlouse to become the party to it which he did--but who could have
foreseen the consequences? A quarrel among rogues is almost always
attended with ugly and unexpected consequences to themselves. Now, here
was a mortal feud between Mr. Woodlouse on the one side, and Messrs.
Mudflint and Bloodsuck on the other; and in due time they all applied,
as a matter of course, for relief under the Insolvent Debtors' Act.
Before they got to the question concerning the nature of the debt--viz.
the penalties in an action for the odious offence of bribery--in the
case of Mr. Mudflint, he had to encounter a very serious and truly
unexpected obstacle--viz. he had given in, with the minutest accuracy,
the items of the subscription, amounting to £3, 13s. 5-3/4d., but had
observed the most mysterious and (as he might have supposed) politic
silence concerning _the greater sum_ of £650, and which had been brought
under the notice of the creditors of Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck by
Mr. Woodlouse. On the newspaper acknowledging the receipt of that large
sum being produced in court, Mr. Mudflint made very light of the matter,
simply smiling and shrugging his shoulders; but when Mr. Woodlouse was
called as a witness, you may guess the consternation of Mr. Mudflint, on
hearing him swear that he had certainly never himself received the
money, but had no doubt of Mr. Mudflint having done so--which, in fact,
had always been his impression; for when Mr. Mudflint had furnished him
with the list, which he handed up to court, in Mudflint's handwriting,
he inserted it in his paper as a matter of course--taking it to be a
_bonâ fide_ and matter-of-fact transaction. The evident consternation of
Mudflint satisfied all who heard him of his villany, and of the truth
and honesty of Woodlouse, who stuck to this new version of the affair
manfully. But this opened quite a new view of his position to Mr.
Bloodsuck; who, on finding that he must needs adopt either Mudflint's or
Woodlouse's account of the matter, began to reflect upon the
disagreeable effect it would have, thereafter, upon the connection and
character of the respectable firm of Bloodsuck and Son, for him to
appear to have been a party to such a shocking fraud upon the public, as
a sham list of subscribers, and to so large an amount. He therefore
swore stoutly that he, too, had always been under the impression that
Mr. Mudflint had received the £650!! and very much regretted to find
that that gentleman must have been appropriating so large a sum to
himself, instead of being now ready to divide it between their
respective creditors. This tallied with Woodlouse's account of the
matter; and infinitely disgusted was that gentleman at finding himself
so cleverly outwitted by Bloodsuck. On this Mudflint turned with fury
upon Bloodsuck, and he upon Mudflint, who abused Woodlouse; and
eventually the commissioners, unable to believe any of them, remanded
them all, as a pack of rogues, till the next court day; addressing a
very stern warning to Mr. Mudflint, concerning the serious consequences
of his persisting in fraudulently concealing his property from his
creditors. By the time of his being next brought up, the persecuted
Mudflint had bethought himself of a bold mode of corroborating the
truth of his explanation of that accursed first list of
subscribers--viz. summoning Sir Harkaway Rotgut Wildfire as a witness in
his behalf; whom he confidently asked whether, for all his name appeared
in the subscription list, he had really ever given one farthing of the
£50 there mentioned? Now, had our friend Mudflint been a long-headed
man, he would not have taken this step; for Sir Harkaway could never be
supposed capable of bringing himself to admit that he had been a party
to such a dirty deceit upon the public as he was now charged with. On a
careful consideration of the circumstances, therefore, Sir Harkaway,
having an eye solely to his own credit, first said, with a somewhat
haughty, but at the same time embarrassed air, that he was not in the
habit of allowing his name to appear in such lists without his having
actually paid the sum named, then, on being pressed, he swore that he
_thought_ he must have paid it; then, that he had very _little_ doubt on
the subject; then, that he had _no_ doubt on the matter at all; then,
that he knew that in point of fact he _had_ advanced the money; and
finally, that he then recollected all the circumstances most
distinctly!--On this complete confirmation of the roguery of Mudflint,
he was instantly reprimanded severely, and remanded indefinitely; the
whole court believing that he had appropriated to his own use every
farthing of the £650, defrauding even his fellow-prisoner, Mr.
Bloodsuck. It was a good while before Mudflint recovered from the
effects of this astounding conduct of Sir Harkaway. When his wits had
returned to him, he felt certain that, somewhere or other, he had a
letter from Sir Harkaway which would satisfy everybody of the very
peculiarly unpleasant position in which the worthy baronet had placed
himself. And sure enough, on desiring his wife to institute a rigorous
search among his papers, she succeeded in discovering the following
remarkable document, which she at once forwarded to her disconsolate
husband:--
"_View-Hallo Hall, 27th Dec. 18--._
"SIR,
"I have a considerable regard for your services to liberty, (civil
and religious,) and am willing to serve you in the way you wish.
You may _put me down_, therefore, in the list for anything you
please, as my name carries weight in the county--but, of course,
you know better than to _kill your decoy duck_."
"Sir, your obedient servant,
"H. R. WILDFIRE.
"The REV. S. MUDFLINT, &c., &c."
This unfortunate letter, in the first frenzy of his rage and exultation,
Mudflint instantly forwarded, with a statement of facts, to the editor
of the _True Blue_ newspaper, which carried it into every corner of the
county on the very next morning; and undoubtedly gave thereby a heavy
blow and a great discouragement to the Liberal cause all over Yorkshire;
for Sir Harkaway had always been looked upon as one of its very
stanchest and most powerful supporters.