The cheerfulness which had animated the countenance of the Captain,
deserted him when he quitted the presence of Mr. Talton; a deep
dejection succeeded, and the half-stifled sigh evinced the recollection
of events painful to remembrance. Frederick vainly endeavoured to divert
his attention, but his voice had lost its wonted influence; nor, when
returned on board, was the interesting St. Ledger more successful in
dispelling the saddened cloud from his brow. The Captain regarded him
for some time in mournful silence, then hastily bade him good night,
and retired to his cabin, whence he was summoned in the morning, on the
arrival of Mr. Talton. His pallid countenance sufficiently showed how
ill he had passed the night, nor could his efforts to assume a cheerful
ease succeed.
Mr. Talton beheld the alteration with concern, and took the occasion of
his absence to ask Frederick the reason of it.
"Alas, Sir," replied Frederick, "I cannot resolve your question; my
uncle is frequently--nay generally dejected; but with the cause I am
unacquainted."
"I know," said Mr. Talton, "that early in life he experienced
unhappiness from his family; yet, surely after so many years have
elapsed--Yet it may: the enmity of his brother was too deeply rooted to
yield to time--And shall I own my surprise at finding the son of that
brother on board the Argo? Excuse my curiosity, young gentleman, but are
you here with or without the knowledge and approbation of your father?"
Frederick sighed. "My father, sir, knows and approves of my being here."
"--Are you," said Mr. Talton, after a moment's pause, "acquainted with
the cause of their quarrel!"
"I am not, sir," answered Frederick. "From my earliest remembrance the
unhappy disagreement between my uncle and father has existed: and to
such excess did my father carry his inveteracy, he would not permit even
the name of his brother to be mentioned in his presence: and, except by
name, I scarcely knew such a person existed. My early propensity for the
sea, which my father in vain strove to eradicate, and the haughty
ungenerous disposition of my elder brother, brought me continual anger
and chastisement, till I was nearly fourteen; when I accompanied my
father to a race near Salisbury; and, where my uncle, without knowing
who I was, saved my life, by extricating me from an unruly horse, which
my curiosity to see the course had tempted me to mount. He afterwards
accompanied me to my father, who was beginning coolly to thank him, when
he recalled to mind, his brother in my preserver, and rage, in an
instant, took possession of every faculty. He struck me down, and
severely should I have suffered for the involuntary offence, if my uncle
had not interposed--desiring to speak with him in private. After a
conference of about half an hour, they returned; my father's brow still
exhibited a formidable frown; and, as he entered, I heard him say, 'If
you take him--you take him entirely: nor, after he is once under your
guidance, shall I think myself necessitated to provide for him in the
least respect. I have other children, more deserving my care esteem:
you have none--and, if you like, may adopt him; your dispositions are
exactly similar!'
"My uncle smiled at the latter part of his speech, and asked if I would
go to sea with him? I readily acceded to the offer, and that very
evening bade adieu to a parent, whose harshness rendered him an object
of dread, and repressed every sentiment of filial affection. My uncle
wrote twice to my father; the first letter he answered, saying, he was
glad I behaved to his satisfaction; and since that time, all intercourse
has again ceased. My uncle, at his own expense, equipped me for the sea,
and has ever supplied my wants with unbounded generosity."
At this moment the Captain re-entered.
Mr. Talton beheld with concern his encreasing melancholy, and for some
time strove to divert it; but finding all his efforts ineffectual, he at
last said--
"What, Howard, is the cause of the dejection which oppresses you? That
cloud on your brow is by no means flattering to my present visit, and
but little accords with your professions of friendship, or the honest
pleasure that yesterday enlivened your features. I know you too well to
think it occasioned by any trivial circumstances: what then, my friend,
is the reason?--Your wife, you say, is well."
"Name her not, I entreat," replied the Captain, severely hurt at the
reproach of his friend. "She is, indeed, the source of all my
unhappiness!"
"The source of your unhappiness!" repeated Mr. Talton. "Surely, Howard,
I do not understand you, or your sentiments are strangely altered since
the time I gave the lovely Ellenor Worton to your arms. Then--"
"Oh, Talton," interrupted the Captain, "cease this subject, I conjure
you. Ellenor Worton! My God, what ideas does that name recall! Yes, far
above my life I prized her: but those days are for ever fled! I am
wretched, and she is now a friendless fugitive in a merciless world!"
"What mean you, Howard?" asked Mr. Talton. "There is a mystery in your
words I do not understand."
"Then I will explain them," returned the Captain. "Your friendship, your
honour, I have proved; and when you hear my tale, you will not wonder
why, on beholding the friend of my earlier days, instead of smiles, my
countenance should thus wear the semblance of sorrow and regret."
Frederick would here have retired, as imagining what his uncle had to
impart, he might wish should only reach the knowledge of his friend;
but the Captain bade him resume his seat.--"From my errors," he added,
"you may learn to avoid their attending unhappiness."
Frederick obeyed; and the Captain, addressing Mr. Talton, continued.
"At the commencement of our acquaintance, I believe, I informed you I
was a younger son, brought up to the sea, and deprived of the fortune I
expected, by the marriage of my elder brother. I was, at the period of
that marriage, seventeen. Sir Thomas Gratton, the father of the lady my
brother espoused, refused his consent to their union, unless Arthur's
fortune were made adequate to the one he gave his daughter; and my
father, overcome by the entreaties of my brother, and perhaps dazzled
with the idea of his marrying an heiress with three thousand a year,
complied so far as to resign two-thirds of his estate (which was equal
to that of Sir Thomas) on the day of marriage, with the reversion of the
remainder at his decease.
"Arthur, in return, secretly, but solemnly, promised to present me and
William, our other brother, with ten thousand pounds each, on our coming
of age, or at the death of his father-in-law. William died the ensuing
year, as did Sir Thomas in less than nine months after.
"My brother had hitherto expressed the greatest affection for me: I
stood godfather for my Frederick here, and every thing bore the
appearance of harmony and cordiality; till, being at an assembly at
Lavington, my ill fortune led me, through whim, ridicule, and the gaiety
of youth, to pay particular attentions to a Miss Deborah Tangress, a
maiden lady nearly fifty, noted for every unamiable quality, ugliness,
and riches! Little did I think the folly of that evening would have
created me so many years of misery!
"Pleased with the attentions and compliments she thought serious, and
despising the delicacy requisite in her sex, she sent proposals to my
father, offering to resign herself and fortune to my disposal. I was
laughing at the effects of my evening's mirth, when my brother entered
the room; my father gave him the letter, and, smiling, observed, he
thought Miss Deborah had completed her character.
"'I cannot so readily conceive the occasion of your immoderate laughter,
Edward,' said my brother: 'the offer is advantageous, far beyond what
you have a right to expect; and, instead of ridiculing, I think you
rather ought to accept it with thankfulness.'
"'Accept it with thankfulness!' I repeated. 'What, and chain myself to
such an ugly old----'.
"'As to her being old and ugly,' interrupted my brother, 'it is of very
little consequence. You will recollect, sir, she has an ample fortune,
and you have none!'
"'Not so destitute as that, Arthur,' said my father: 'the fortune he is
entitled to from your hands, though small, will render him so far
independent that he may choose for himself.'
"'Excuse me, sir,' answered my brother, 'I cannot say I think myself
obliged to give Edward a fortune from my own purse, especially when one
so large as that Miss Tangress possesses is offered. If he have any
regard for his own interest, he will accept it, and not look to me for
future supplies. I have nearer ties; my children----.' "But excuse me,
Talton, here is one"--(looking at Frederick, who appeared surprised and
shocked at this account of his father) "too nearly interested to be
pleased with this part of my narrative. Suffice it to say,--the mask was
here thrown off by my brother, and I condemned to poverty! For the
promise given to my father was merely verbal, and without witness,
whilst the possessions of my father, in full confidence of Arthur's
honour, had been secured to him by the strongest ties of the law.
"My father felt the stroke more severely than I did; he wept--and, in
the bitterest anguish, asked pardon of heaven and me, for the step he
had taken, and begged I would reconsider the proposal of Miss Tangress,
before I absolutely rejected it. In all probability, he said, a few
years would terminate her existence; I had no particular attachment to
restrict me; and it would convey ease to his death-bed to know I was not
only independent of my brother, but in a state of equal affluence.
"In the passion of the moment, this last consideration determined me; I
complied--and in less than three weeks became the husband of Miss
Tangress.
"The possession of her fortune, however, could not recompense me for her
haughty wayward disposition. In her domestic arrangements she was
tyrannical and parsimonious, and so truly capricious, that the most
studied attentions to please could not twice succeed in the same
particular. Certain I had not married for love, her rancorous
disposition soon led her to resent, or rather to revenge, my want of
affection. My expenditure became extravagance, my wants superfluous, and
my acquaintance by far too general. As such, by the most pointed slights
and insults, my friends were severally driven from my house; nor was
even my father spared.
"I bore with the temper of my wife till human patience could sustain it
no longer; and one day, after having been severely reproached with the
favour she had conferred in uniting herself to a man not worth a
shilling; I mounted my horse, and crossed the country to
Brighthelmstone.
"The second night after my arrival there, I went to the ball given in
honour of Sir Henry Beechton, where I became acquainted with you, and
first saw the lovely Ellenor.
"To mention my admiration is needless: you are already well acquainted
with it. To my anxious inquiries concerning her, the only intelligence I
gained was--that she was an orphan of small fortune, and under the
protection of the Hon. Mrs. Radnor. Fortune, however, had then lost its
allurements. Ellenor shone with all the graces of a fabled goddess,
which, added to the benignity that beamed in her eyes, and the ineffable
sweetness of her manner, fixed her at once supremely in my heart.
Impelled by love, I pursued the acquaintance; Ellenor owned her regard
for me to her friend; and as neither that lady nor she had the least
suspicion of my being married, (for, on my arrival at Brighthelmstone, I
had taken my mother's name of Crawton, to prevent my wife from tracing
me), my visits were welcomed with the greatest cordiality and friendship
on the part of her protectress, and the sincerest affection by my
Ellenor.
"It was then I fully experienced the wretchedness of my situation, in
being united to Deborah. Reason and honour bade me combat with my
passion, and fly from Ellenor. But in vain; each succeeding interview
discovered new perfections, and by forcing a comparison, added to my
love for her, and detestation for my wife. Hard was the conflict--but
love prevailed: and I strove, by fallacious reasoning, to persuade
myself, that my marriage with Miss Tangress was of no effect, as I was
led into it by passion and revenge; and that an union with Ellenor,
though contrary to the laws of my country, being founded on mutual
affection, would not only be accepted in the eye of heaven, but acceded
to as just, by the unprejudiced part of mankind.
"Meanwhile, I kept the secret buried in my breast. Ellenor, not
mistrusting my account of myself or family, sought not for farther
information than I gave; the banns were published in a village a few
miles from Brighthelmstone, where, with your assistance, my friend, as
father to my Ellenor, we were married!
"Of my happiness, you, Talton, were a witness; and the time flew with
rapidity, till, by accident, I heard my father was dangerously ill; when
filial affection for that best of parents, resumed its sway; and, taking
a tender leave of Ellenor, I arrived at Howard Hall time enough to
receive his last blessing.
"My father left me what his economy had saved since the discovery of my
brother's sentiments; a few personal effects, his picture, with that of
my mother, and her jewels. Inconsiderable as the bequest was, in
comparison to the possessions devolved to Sir Arthur, he disputed my
right to them; but as I prized them, not for their intrinsic value, but
the affection of him who gave them, and, looking on him as the primary
cause of my marrying Deborah, I not only refused to resign them, but
upbraided him with his sordidness on that occasion. This produced a
quarrel which has never been healed: he forswore--disowned me! This
scene was followed by one nearly equal to it with my wife; which adding
to my disgust, I directed my lawyer where to remit my small fortune,
(for as I lived not with Deborah, I disdained all thoughts of hers) and
once more returned to the arms of my Ellenor.
"Months again flew; when our happiness received its first shock by the
sudden death of our invaluable friend Mrs. Radnor; and this was followed
by your departure for the West Indies. Love, however, overcame these
afflictions; my Ellenor became pregnant, and I was in expectation of
soon being hailed by the name of father; when one day, sitting with my
angel, fondly anticipating future felicities, the door was thrown open,
and Deborah, accompanied by my lawyer, rushed into the room!
"To describe the scene which followed, is impossible: even now the
recollection of it nearly maddens me! Deborah acted congenially to the
fury of her character; aspersed my Ellenor, and reviled me with every
opprobrious epithet the wildest passion, heightened by jealousy, could
dictate; nor ceased--till Ellenor, overcome by the disclosure of the
baleful secret, fainted in my arms; then, with the same violence as she
entered, flew out of the room, followed by her companion, vowing to be
revenged, though she expended her fortune in accomplishing it!
"At last my Ellenor recovered: not a single reproach at my conduct
escaped her lips, but her countenance plainly showed the agony of her
mind. Willing to lessen the idea of my guilt, which had been exaggerated
by the frantic Deborah, I recapitulated the circumstances I have now
related, and, with all the eloquence I was master of, pleaded the
affection I entertained for her, as an excuse for the deceit I had
practised. She heard me in silence; a convulsive sob swelled her bosom;
and, on my again urging her forgiveness, she regarded me with a look of
mingled anguish and despair. Tears at last relieved her, and she
requested to be conducted to her chamber; I supported her there, and,
leaving her to the care of her maid, returned to the parlour, my bosom
filled with a sorrow and remorse that have never since deserted it! I
was roused from reflections painful in the extreme, by a message from
Deborah, demanding my presence, with which I was weak enough to comply,
and for an hour and a half sustained the fury of her rage and
reproaches, when, as neither would agree to the proposals of the other,
we again parted. On my return home, I eagerly inquired after Ellenor.
'She is gone, sir!' said the girl, bursting into tears. 'Gone!' I
repeated. 'How--when--where is she gone?' 'That, sir,' she answered, 'I
know not. Soon after you went out, my lady sent Susan for a chaise and
four, which, the moment it arrived, she entered, leaving this letter
for you. Susan put in a few parcels, and followed her mistress; but
where they are gone to, God only knows!'
"I seized the letter; and you may judge of what I felt when I perused
it."
The Captain, with a sigh, drew a case from his bosom, and, taking out
the letter, read as follows:
"I mean not, Edward, to upbraid you with an action, which, though
it has involved your Ellenor in misery, was the offspring of
affection; or, by unavailing complaints, add to the sorrow that
already fills your bosom. No--rather let me speak peace to your
mind, and, if possible, soften this, perhaps last, farewell! I
have sustained the shock! Your real wife--oh, Edward, Edward!--But
I will be calm.
"After the discovery of last night, honour, religion, virtue,
forbid my continuance here. I am the child of misfortune; to stay,
would make me the child of guilt! Justice likewise demands, that
whilst your wife exists, you should think of Ellenor no otherwise
than as a friend; I cannot say--forget me; that would be injustice
to myself. No, Edward--pure has ever been my affection; and if
Heaven should release you from your vows, remember the hand, the
heart of Ellenor, may be demanded. Till then attempt not to
discover me; the search would be fruitless. Justice demands the
sacrifice, and it must be made! Yet how can I say--farewell! How
tear myself from him on whose existence that of Ellenor depends; be
merciful, Heaven--nor inflict a punishment past my power to
support! Still let me stay--let me at least see my Edward, and hear
him speak!--But it must not be. Oh, Edward, the punishment is just!
You had your secrets, and I had mine!
"My hand is incapable of performing its office; I would, but cannot
proceed. Oh, Edward! think of your Ellenor; doubt not my love--my
constancy: and Heaven yet may make us happy!"
"You had your secrets, and I had mine! O God! what years of anxiety and
painful conjecture, have those words occasioned!
"A stupefying horror at first pervaded my faculties: I sunk into a
chair, and, but for the officious attentions of Mary, should have
experienced a total--happy had it been a lasting insensibility!
"'Where can she be gone?' I faintly exclaimed, when recollection had
regained sufficient power.
"'She cannot be gone far,' sobbed Mary. 'Perhaps, sir, you yet may
overtake her.'
"The idea served effectually to rouse me: I commenced my search, and
soon gained intelligence: a carriage, answerable to that I described,
with a lady and her attendant in it, had been seen on the London road.
To London I immediately directed my course; and at last descried a
carriage, my sanguine hopes led me to think was that containing the sum
of my earthly happiness: I instantly spurred my horse, when, owing to
the badness of the road, or some other cause, he stumbled--fell, and
threw me with violence over his head. I was stunned by the fall, found
by some travellers, and, in a state of insensibility, conveyed to the
nearest inn.
"The hurts I received were not very material; but the agitation of my
mind at being thus prevented from pursuing Ellenor, brought on a fever
which confined me to my apartment for nearly a fortnight. As soon as I
was in a state to travel, I again pursued my way toward London, though
with very little hope, after the time which had elapsed, of discovering
her.
"For weeks after my arrival at the metropolis, I wandered about in the
faint hope fortune might direct my steps to the place where she was
secreted; when, one evening, returning to my lodging, I was surprised by
the appearance of Deborah's equipage, who had likewise been seeking for,
and at last traced me to London. She saw me ere I could enter the
house, when, more than ever detesting the idea of an interview, I
immediately removed to another part of the town.
"The next day I passed as usual in wandering about, and returned in the
evening dejected and fatigued, when, taking up a book belonging to the
hostess, a paper fell from it; it was a sonnet to Hope: but, good
Heavens, think of my astonishment when I found it was the writing of my
Ellenor! At first I discredited the evidence of my senses, till
reiterated examinations convinced me I was not mistaken. I flew to the
mistress of the house, and, in answer to my incoherent inquiries, gained
intelligence, that she had left those apartments but a few days before
I took them; that she had there been delivered of a son, and was then
gone to reside in Caermarthen, her native county; though to what part,
the hostess could not tell. To Caermarthen I determined to go, and
accordingly the next morning commenced my journey; but all my search was
indeed fruitless!
"At last, overcome by fatigue, preyed on by a fever occasioned by my
repeated disappointments, and, to own the truth, not having money to
prosecute my search, having expended that left me by my father, I was
necessitated to retire to my habitation at Brighthelmstone, where
Deborah again obtained information of me, and again laid me under the
lash of her malignant power. Willingly would I have sought relief in a
formal separation; but that she refused with the most contemptuous
disdain, telling me I should never enjoy a portion of her wealth without
her. I would then have resigned all pretensions to her fortune; but she
started into phrensy, vowed she would follow me to the utmost extremity
of the globe, and sooner deprive herself of every comfort in life, than
leave me at liberty to renew an acquaintance with a woman I preferred to
herself. Finding it in vain to gain her accordance to my proposal, I
desisted from the attempt, and again commenced a search after Ellenor;
Deborah, like my evil genius, still following me from place to place,
till wearied, regardless of existence, and as the only means of
escaping from her, I again went to sea. The interest of my friends
gained me promotion; and fortune, by an influx of wealth during
seventeen years, has been willing, as far as her power extends, to make
me amends for the misery she has occasioned me in the loss of Ellenor,
the continued torments I endure from Deborah, and the unkind neglect of
my brother, whom I have seen but once since the death of my father.
"And here, Talton, I must apologize for my neglect to you. Your first
letter, informing me you had regained your property, I received a few
days preceding the discovery of my marriage with Deborah; but the
distraction of my mind at that time prevented me from answering it.
When I had in some degree regained my tranquillity, I wrote; but the
person to whose charge I intrusted my packet, nearly two years after
returned it, with the account that you were either dead, or had left the
island; and as during that time, nor since, I never heard from you, I
was induced to believe the former part of his intelligence.
"The pleasure I yesterday experienced on beholding you, for the time
banished every other reflection; but no sooner did I quit you, than
remembrance, with the keenest powers, revived every former scene, and
added not only to my compunction for my injuries to--, but to my
sorrow, for the irretrievable loss of my beloved Ellenor."