"Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise;
An' you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
An' you be not, hang, beg, starve, die i' the streets."
ROMEO AND JULIET.
Wychecombe Hall, had most of the peculiarities of a bachelor's dwelling,
in its internal government; nor was it, in any manner, behind, or, it
might be better to say, before, the age, in its modes and customs
connected with jollifications. When its master relaxed a little, the
servants quite uniformly imitated his example. Sir Wycherly kept a
plentiful table, and the servants' hall fared nearly as well as the
dining-room; the single article of wine excepted. In lieu of the latter,
however, was an unlimited allowance of double-brewed ale; and the
difference in the potations was far more in the name, than in the
quality of the beverages. The master drank port; for, in the middle of
the last century, few Englishmen had better wine--and port, too, that
was by no means of a very remarkable delicacy, but which, like those who
used it, was rough, honest, and strong; while the servant had his malt
liquor of the very highest stamp and flavour. Between indifferent wine
and excellent ale, the distance is not interminable; and Sir Wycherly's
household, was well aware of the fact, having frequently instituted
intelligent practical comparisons, by means of which, all but the butler
and Mrs. Larder had come to the conclusion to stand by the home-brewed.
On the present occasion, not a soul in the house was ignorant of the
reason why the baronet was making a night of it. Every man, woman, and
child, in or about the Hall, was a devoted partisan of the house of
Hanover; and as soon as it was understood that this feeling was to be
manifested by drinking "success to King George, and God bless him," on
the one side; and "confusion to the Pretender, and his mad son," on the
other; all under the roof entered into the duty, with a zeal that might
have seated a usurper on a throne, if potations could do it.
When Admiral Bluewater, therefore, left the chamber of his friend, the
signs of mirth and of a regular debauch were so very obvious, that a
little curiosity to watch the result, and a disinclination to go off to
his ship so soon, united to induce him to descend into the rooms below,
with a view to get a more accurate knowledge of the condition of the
household. In crossing the great hall, to enter the drawing-room, he
encountered Galleygo, when the following discourse took place.
"I should think the master-at-arms has not done his duty, and dowsed the
glim below, Master Steward," said the rear-admiral, in his quiet way, as
they met; "the laughing, and singing, and hiccupping, are all upon a
very liberal scale for a respectable country-house."
Galleygo touched the lock of hair on his forehead, with one hand, and
gave his trowsers a slue with the other, before he answered; which he
soon did, however, though with a voice a little thicker than was usual
with him, on account of his having added a draught or two to those he
had taken previously to visiting Sir Gervaise's dressing-room; and which
said additional draught or two, had produced some such effect on his
system, as the fresh drop produces on the cup that is already full.
"That's just it, Admiral Blue," returned the steward, in passing
good-humour, though still sober enough to maintain the decencies, after
his own fashion; "that's just it, your honour. They've passed the word
below to let the lights stand for further orders, and have turned the
hands up for a frolic. Such ale as they has, stowed in the lower hold of
this house, like leaguers in the ground-tier, it does a body's heart
good to conter'plate. All hands is bowsing out their jibs on it, sir,
and the old Hall will soon be carrying as much sail as she can stagger
under. It's nothing but loose-away and sheet-home."
"Ay, ay, Galleygo, this may be well enough for the people of the
household, if Sir Wycherly allows it; but it ill becomes the servants of
guests to fall into this disorder. If I find Tom has done any thing
amiss, he will hear more of it; and as your own master is not here to
admonish _you_, I'll just take the liberty of doing it for him, since I
know it would mortify him exceedingly to learn that his steward had done
any thing to disgrace himself."
"Lord bless your dear soul, Admiral Blue, take just as many liberties as
you think fit, and I'll never pocket one on 'em. I know'd you, when you
was only a young gentleman, and now you're a rear. You're close on our
heels; and by the time we are a full admiral, you'll be something like a
vice. I looks upon you as bone of our bone, and flesh of our
flesh,--Pillardees and Arrestees--and I no more minds a setting-down
from your honour, than I does from Sir Jarvy, hisself."
"I believe that is true enough, Galleygo; but take my advice, and knock
off with the ale for to-night. Can you tell me how the land lies, with
the rest of the company?"
"You couldn't have asked a better person, your honour, as I've just been
passing through all the rooms, from a sort of habit I has, sir; for,
d'ye see, I thought I was in the old Planter, and that it was my duty to
overlook every thing, as usual. The last pull at the ale, put that
notion in my head; but it's gone now, and I see how matters is. Yes,
sir, the mainmast of a church isn't stiffer and more correct-like, than
my judgment is, at this blessed moment. Sir Wycherly guv' me a glass of
his black-strap, as I ran through the dining-room, and told me to drink
'Confusion to the Pretender,' which I did, with hearty good-will; but
his liquor will no more lay alongside of the ale they've down on the
orlop, than a Frenchman will compare with an Englishman. What's your
opinion, Admiral Blue, consarning this cruise of the Pretender's son, up
in the Highlands of Scotland?"
Bluewater gave a quick, distrustful glance at the steward, for he knew
that the fellow was half his time in the outer cabin and pantries of the
Plantagenet, and he could not tell how much of his many private
dialogues with Sir Gervaise, might have been overheard. Meeting with
nothing but the unmeaning expression of one half-seas-over, his
uneasiness instantly subsided.
"I think it a gallant enterprise, Galleygo," he answered; too manly even
to feign what he did not believe; "but I fear as a _cruise_, it will not
bring much prize-money. You have forgotten you were about to tell me how
the land lies. Sir Wycherly, Mr. Dutton, Mr. Rotherham, are still at the
table, I fancy--are these all? What have become of the two young
gentlemen?"
"There's none ashore, sir," said Galleygo, promptly, accustomed to give
that appellation only to midshipmen.
"I mean the two Mr. Wychecombes; one of whom, I had forgot, is actually
an officer."
"Yes, sir, and a most partic'lar fine officer he is, as every body says.
Well, sir, _he's_ with the ladies; while his namesake has gone back to
the table, and has put luff upon luff, to fetch up leeway."
"And the ladies--what have they done with themselves, in this scene of
noisy revelry?"
"They'se in yonder state-room, your honour. As soon as they found how
the ship was heading, like all women-craft, they both makes for the best
harbour they could run into. Yes, they'se yonder."
As Galleygo pointed to the door of the room he meant, Bluewater
proceeded towards it, parting with the steward after a few more words of
customary, but very useless caution. The tap of the admiral was answered
by Wycherly in person, who opened the door, and made way for his
superior to enter, with a respectful obeisance. There was but a single
candle in the little parlour, in which the two females had taken refuge
from the increasing noise of the debauch; and this was due to a pious
expedient of Mildred's, in extinguishing the others, with a view to
conceal the traces of tears that were still visible on her own and her
mother's cheeks. The rear-admiral was, at first, struck with this
comparative obscurity; but it soon appeared to him appropriate to the
feelings of the party assembled in the room. Mrs. Dutton received him
with the ease she had acquired in her early life, and the meeting passed
as a matter of course, with persons temporarily residing under the same
roof.
"Our friends appear to be enjoying themselves," said Bluewater, when a
shout from the dining-room forced itself on the ears of all present.
"The loyalty of Sir Wycherly seems to be of proof."
"Oh! Admiral Bluewater," exclaimed the distressed wife, feeling,
momentarily, getting the better of discretion; "_do_ you--_can_ you
call such a desecration of God's image enjoyment?"
"Not justly, perhaps, Mrs. Dutton; and yet it is what millions mistake
for it. This mode of celebrating any great event, and even of
illustrating what we think our principles, is, I fear, a vice not only
of our age, but of our country."
"And yet, neither you, nor Sir Gervaise Oakes, I see, find it necessary
to give such a proof of your attachment to the house of Hanover, or of
your readiness to serve it with your time and persons."
"You will remember, my good, lady, that both Oakes and myself are
flag-officers in command, and it would never do for us to fall into a
debauch in sight of our own ships. I am glad to see, however, that Mr.
Wychecombe, here, prefers such society as I find him in, to the
pleasures of the table."
Wycherly bowed, and Mildred cast an expressive, not to say grateful,
glance towards the speaker; but her mother pursued the discourse, in
which she found a little relief to her suppressed emotion.
"God be thanked for that!" she exclaimed, half-unconscious of the
interpretation that might be put on her words; "All that we have seen of
Mr. Wychecombe would lead us to believe that this is not an unusual, or
an accidental forbearance."
"So much the more fortunate for him. I congratulate you, young sir, on
this triumph of principle, or of temperament, or of both. We belong to a
profession, in which the bottle is an enemy more to be feared, than any
that the king can give us. A sailor can call in no ally as efficient in
subduing this mortal foe, as an intelligent and cultivated mind. The man
who really _thinks_ much, seldom _drinks_ much; but there are
hours--nay, weeks and months of idleness in a ship, in which the
temptation to resort to unnatural excitement in quest of pleasure, is
too strong for minds, that are not well fortified, to resist. This is
particularly the case with commanders, who find themselves isolated by
their rank, and oppressed with responsibility, in the privacy of their
own cabins, and get to make a companion of the bottle, by way of seeking
relief from uncomfortable thoughts, and of creating a society of their
own. I deem the critical period of a sailor's life, to be the first few
years of solitary command."
"How true!--how true!" murmured Mrs. Dutton. "Oh! that cutter--that
cruel cutter!"
The truth flashed upon the recollection of Bluewater, at this unguarded,
and instantly regretted exclamation. Many years before, when only a
captain himself, he had been a member of a court-martial which cashiered
a lieutenant of the name of Dutton, for grievous misconduct, while in
command of a cutter; the fruits of the bottle. From the first, he
thought the name familiar to him; but so many similar things had
happened in the course of forty years' service, that this particular
incident had been partially lost in the obscurity of time. It was now
completely recalled, however; and that, too, with all its attendant
circumstances. The recollection served to give the rear-admiral renewed
interest in the unhappy wife, and lovely daughter, of the miserable
delinquent. He had been applied to, at the time, for his interest in
effecting the restoration of the guilty officer, or even to procure for
him, the hopeless station he now actually occupied; but he had sternly
refused to be a party in placing any man in authority, who was the
victim of a propensity that not only disgraced himself, but which, in
the peculiar position of a sailor, equally jeoparded the honour of the
country, and risked the lives of all around him. He was aware that the
last application had been successful, by means of a court influence it
was very unusual to exert in cases so insignificant; and, then, he had,
for years, lost sight of the criminal and his fortunes. This unexpected
revival of his old impressions, caused him to feel like an ancient
friend of the wife and daughter; for well could he recall a scene he had
with both, in which the struggle between his humanity and his principles
had been so violent as actually to reduce him to tears. Mildred had
forgotten the name of this particular officer, having been merely a
child; but well did Mrs. Dutton remember it, and with fear and trembling
had she come that day, to meet him at the Hall. The first look satisfied
her that she was forgotten, and she had struggled herself, to bury in
oblivion, a scene which was one of the most painful of her life. The
unguarded expression, mentioned, entirely changed the state of affairs.
"Mrs. Dutton," said Bluewater, kindly taking a hand of the distressed
wife; "I believe we are old friends; if, after what has passed, you will
allow me so to consider myself."
"Ah! Admiral Bluewater, my memory needed no admonisher to tell me
_that_. Your sympathy and kindness are as grateful to me, now, as they
were in that dreadful moment, when we met before."
"And I had the pleasure of seeing this young lady, more than once, on
that unpleasant occasion. This accounts for a fancy that has fairly
haunted me throughout the day; for, from the instant my eye fell on Miss
Mildred, it struck me that the face, and most of all, its expression,
was familiar to me. Certainly it is not a countenance, once seen, easily
to be forgotten."
"Mildred was then but a child, sir, and your recollection must have been
a fancy, indeed, as children of her age seldom make any lasting
impression on the mind, particularly in the way of features."
"It is not the features that I recognize, but the expression; and that,
I need not tell the young lady's mother, is an expression not so very
easily forgotten. I dare say Mr. Wychecombe is ready enough to vouch for
the truth of what I say."
"Hark!" exclaimed Mrs. Dutton, who was sensitively alive to any
indication of the progress of the debauch. "There is great confusion in
the dining-room!--I hope the gentlemen are of one mind as respects this
rising in Scotland!"
"If there is a Jacobite among them, he will have a warm time of it; with
Sir Wycherly, his nephew, and the vicar--all three of whom are raging
lions, in the way of loyalty. There does, indeed, seem something out of
the way, for those sounds, I should think, are the feet of servants,
running to and fro. If the servants'-hall is in the condition I suspect,
it will as much need the aid of the parlour, as the parlour can
possibly--"
A tap at the door caused Bluewater to cease speaking; and as Wycherly
threw open the entrance, Galleygo appeared on the threshold, by this
time reduced to the necessity of holding on by the casings.
"Well, sir," said the rear-admiral, sternly, for he was no longer
disposed to trifle with any of the crapulous set; "well, sir, what
impertinence has brought you here?"
"No impertinence at all, your honour; we carries none of _that_, in the
old Planter. There being no young gentlemen, hereabouts, to report
proceedings, I thought I'd just step in and do the duty with my own
tongue. We has so many reports in our cabin, that there isn't an officer
in the fleet that can make 'em better, as myself, sir."
"There are a hundred who would spend fewer words on any thing. What is
your business?"
"Why, sir, just to report one flag struck, and a commander-in-chief on
his beam-ends."
"Good God! Nothing has happened to Sir Gervaise--speak, fellow, or I'll
have you sent out of this Babel, and off to the ship, though it were
midnight."
"It be pretty much that, Admiral Blue; or past six bells; as any one may
see by the ship's clock on the great companion ladder; six bells, going
well on to seven--"
"Your business, sir! what has happened to Sir Gervaise?" repeated
Bluewater, shaking his long fore-finger menacingly, at the steward.
"We are as well, Admiral Blue, as the hour we came over the Planter's
side. Sir Jarvy will carry sail with the best on 'em, I'll answer for
it, whether the ship floats in old Port Oporto, or in a brewer's vat.
Let Sir Jarvy alone for them tricks--he wasn't a young gentleman, for
nothing."
"Have a moment's patience, sir," put in Wycherly, "and I will go myself,
and ascertain the truth."
"I shall make but another inquiry," continued Admiral Bluewater, as
Wycherly left the room.
"Why, d'ye see, your honour, old Sir Wycherly, who is
commander-in-chief, along shore here, has capsized in consequence of
carrying sail too hard, in company with younger craft; and they're now
warping him into dock to be overhauled."
"Is this all!--that was a result to be expected, in such a debauch. You
need not have put on so ominous a face, for this, Galleygo."
"No, sir, so I thought, myself; and I only tried to look as melancholy
as a young gentleman who is sent below to report a topgallant-mast over
the side, or a studding-sail-boom gone in the iron. D'ye remember the
time, Admiral Blue, when you thought to luff up on the old Planter's
weather-quarter, and get between her and the French ninety on three
decks, and how your stu'n-sails went, one a'ter another, just like so
many musherrooms breaking in peeling?"
Galleygo, who was apt to draw his images from his two trades, might have
talked on an hour, without interruption; for, while he was uttering the
above sentence, Wycherly returned, and reported that their host was
seriously, even dangerously ill. While doing the honours of his table,
he had been seized with a fit, which the vicar, a noted three-bottle
man, feared was apoplexy. Mr. Rotherham had bled the patient, who was
already a little better, and an express had been sent for a medical man.
As a matter of course, the _convives_ had left the table, and alarm was
frightening the servants into sobriety. At Mrs. Dutton's earnest
request, Wycherly immediately left the room again, forcing Galleygo out
before him, with a view to get more accurate information concerning the
baronet's real situation; both the mother and daughter feeling a real
affection for Sir Wycherly; the kind old man having won their hearts by
his habitual benevolence, and a constant concern for their welfare.
"_Sic transit gloria mundi_," muttered Admiral Bluewater, as he threw
his tall person, in his own careless manner, on a chair, in a dark
corner of the room. "This baronet has fallen from his throne, in a
moment of seeming prosperity and revelry; why may not another do the
same?"
Mrs. Dutton heard the voice, without distinguishing the words, and she
felt distressed at the idea that one whom she so much respected and
loved, might be judged of harshly, by a man of the rear-admiral's
character.
"Sir Wycherly is one of the kindest-hearted men, breathing," she said, a
little hurriedly; "and there is not a better landlord in England. Then
he is by no means addicted to indulgence at table, more than is
customary with gentlemen of his station. His loyalty has, no doubt,
carried him this evening farther than was prudent, or than we could have
wished."
"I have every disposition to think favourably of our poor host, my dear
Mrs. Dutton; and we seamen are not accustomed to judge a _bon vivant_
too harshly."
"Ah! Admiral Bluewater, _you_, who have so wide-spread a reputation for
sobriety and correct deportment! Well do I remember how I trembled, when
I heard your name mentioned as one of the leading members of that
dreadful court!"
"You let your recollections dwell too much on these unpleasant subjects,
Mrs. Dutton, and I should like to see you setting an example of greater
cheerfulness to your sweet daughter. I could not befriend you, _then_,
for my oath and my duty were both against it; but, _now_, there exists
no possible reason, why I should not; while there does exist almost
every possible disposition, why I should. This sweet child interests me
in a way I can hardly describe."
Mrs. Dutton was silent and thoughtful. The years of Admiral Bluewater
did not absolutely forbid his regarding Mildred's extreme beauty, with
the eyes of ordinary admiration; but his language, and most of all, his
character, ought to repel the intrusive suspicion. Still Mildred was
surpassingly lovely, and men were surpassingly weak in matters of love.
Many a hero had passed a youth of self-command and discretion, to
consummate some act of exceeding folly, of this very nature, in the
decline of life; and bitter experience had taught her to be distrustful.
Nevertheless, she could not, at once, bring herself to think ill of one,
whose character she had so long respected; and, with all the
rear-admiral's directness of manner, there was so much real and feeling
delicacy, blended with the breeding of a gentleman-like sailor, that it
was not easy to suppose he had any other motives than those he saw fit
to avow. Mildred had made many a friend, by a sweetness of countenance,
that was even more winning, than her general beauty of face and form was
attractive; and why should not this respectable old seaman be of the
number.
This train of thought was interrupted by the sudden and unwelcome
appearance of Dutton. He had just returned from the bed-side of Sir
Wycherly, and now came to seek his wife and daughter, to bid them
prepare to enter the chariot, which was in waiting to convey them home.
The miserable man was not intoxicated, in the sense which deprives a man
of the use of speech and limbs; but he had drunk quite enough to awaken
the demon within him, and to lay bare the secrets of his true character.
If any thing, his nerves were better strung than common; but the wine
had stirred up all the energies of a being, whose resolutions seldom
took the direction of correct feeling, or of right doing. The darkness
of the room, and a slight confusion which nevertheless existed in his
brain, prevented him from noticing the person of his superior, seated,
as the latter was, in the dark corner; and he believed himself once more
alone with those who were so completely dependent on his mercy, and who
had so long been the subjects of his brutality and tyranny.
"I hope Sir Wycherly is better, Dutton," the wife commenced, fearful
that her husband might expose himself and her, before he was aware of
the presence in which he stood. "Admiral Bluewater is as anxious, as we
are ourselves, to know his real state."
"Ay, you women are all pity and feeling for baronets and rear-admirals,"
answered Dutton, throwing himself rudely into a chair, with his back
towards the stranger, in an attitude completely to exclude the latter
from his view; "while a husband, or father, might die a hundred deaths,
and not draw a look of pity from your beautiful eyes, or a kind word
from your devilish tongues."
"Neither Mildred nor I, merit this from _you_, Dutton!"
"No, you're both perfection; like mother, like child. Haven't I been,
fifty times, at death's door, with this very complaint of Sir
Wycherly's, and did either of you ever send for an apothecary, even?"
"You have been occasionally indisposed, Dutton, but never apoplectic;
and we have always thought a little sleep would restore you; as, indeed,
it always has."
"What business had you to _think_? Surgeons think, and medical men, and
it was your duty to send for the nearest professional man, to look after
one you're bound both to honour and obey. You are your own mistress,
Martha, I do suppose, in a certain degree; and what can't be cured must
be endured; but Mildred is my child; and I'll have her respect and love,
if I break both your hearts in order to get at them."
"A pious daughter always respects her parent, Dutton," said the wife,
trembling from head to foot; "but love must come willingly, or, it will
not come at all."
"We'll see as to that, Mrs. Martha Dutton; we'll see as to that. Come
hither, Mildred; I have a word to say to you, which may as well be said
at once."
Mildred, trembling like her mother, drew near; but with a feeling of
filial piety, that no harshness could entirely smother, she felt anxious
to prevent the father from further exposing himself, in the presence of
Admiral Bluewater. With this view, then, and with this view only, she
summoned firmness enough to speak.
"Father," she said, "had we not better defer our family matters, until
we are alone?"
Under ordinary circumstances, Bluewater would not have waited for so
palpable a hint, for he would have retired on the first appearance of
any thing so disagreeable as a misunderstanding between man and wife.
But, an ungovernable interest in the lovely girl, who stood trembling at
her father's knee, caused him to forget his habitual delicacy of
feeling, and to overlook what might perhaps be termed almost a law of
society. Instead of moving, therefore, as Mildred had both hoped and
expected, he remained motionless in his seat. Dutton's mind was too
obtuse to comprehend his daughter's allusions, in the absence, of ocular
evidence of a stranger's presence, and his wrath was too much excited to
permit him to think much of any thing but his own causes of indignation.
"Stand more in front of me, Mildred," he answered, angrily. "More before
my face, as becomes one who don't know her duty to her parent, and needs
be taught it."
"Oh! Dutton," exclaimed the afflicted wife; "do not--do not--accuse
Mildred of being undutiful! You know not what you say--know not her
obliga--you cannot know her _heart_, or you would not use these cruel
imputations!"
"Silence, Mrs. Martha Dutton--my business is not with _you_, at present,
but with this young lady, to whom, I hope, I may presume to speak a
little plainly, as she is my own child. Silence, then, Mrs. Martha
Dutton. If my memory is not treacherous, you once stood up before God's
altar with me, and there vow'd to love, honour, and _obey_. Yes, that
was the word; _obey_, Mrs. Martha Dutton."
"And what did _you_ promise, at the same time, Frank?" exclaimed the
wife, from whose bruised spirit this implied accusation was torn in an
agony of mental suffering.
"Nothing but what I have honestly and manfully performed. I promised to
provide for you; to give you food and raiment; to let you hear my name,
and stand before the world in the honourable character of honest Frank
Dutton's wife."
"Honourable!" murmured the wife, loud enough to be heard by both the
Admiral and Mildred, and yet in a tone so smothered, as to elude the
obtuse sense of hearing, that long excess had left her husband. When
this expressive word had broken out of her very heart, however, she
succeeded in suppressing her voice, and sinking into a chair, concealed
her face in her hands, in silence.
"Mildred, come hither," resumed the brutalized parent. "_You_ are my
daughter, and whatever others have promised at the altar, and forgotten,
a law of nature teaches you to obey me. You have two admirers, either of
whom you ought to be glad to secure, though there is a great preference
between them--"
"Father!" exclaimed Mildred, every feeling of her sensitive nature
revolting at this coarse allusion to a connection, and to sentiments,
that she was accustomed to view as among the most sacred and private of
her moral being. "Surely, you cannot mean what you say!"
"Like mother, like child! Let but disobedience and disrespect get
possession of a wife, and they are certain to run through a whole
family, even though there were a dozen children! Harkee, Miss Mildred,
it is _you_ who don't happen to know what you say, while I understand
myself as well as most parents. Your mother would never acquaint you
with what I feel it a duty to put plainly before your judgment; and,
therefore, I expect you to listen as becomes a dutiful and affectionate
child. You can secure either of these young Wychecombes, and either of
them would be a good match for a poor, disgraced, sailing-master's
daughter."
"Father, I shall sink through the floor, if you say another word, in
this cruel manner!"
"No, dear; you'll neither sink nor swim, unless it be by making a bad,
or a good choice. Mr. Thomas Wychecombe is Sir Wycherly's heir, and must
be the next baronet, and possessor of this estate. Of course he is much
the best thing, and you ought to give him a preference."
"Dutton, _can_ you, as a father and a Christian, give such heartless
counsel to your own child!" exclaimed Mrs. Dutton, inexpressibly shocked
at the want of principle, as well as at the want of feeling, discovered
in her husband's advice.
"Mrs. Martha Dutton, I can; and believe the counsel to be any thing but
heartless, too. Do you wish your daughter to be the wife of a miserable
signal-station keeper, when she may become Lady Wychecombe, with a
little prudent management, and the mistress of this capital old house,
and noble estate?"
"Father--father," interrupted Mildred, soothingly, though ready to sink
with shame at the idea of Admiral Bluewater's being an auditor of such a
conversation; "you forget yourself, and overlook my wishes. There is
little probability of Mr. Thomas Wychecombe's ever thinking of me as a
wife--or, indeed of anyone else's entertaining such thoughts."
"That will turn out, as you manage matters, Milly. Mr. Thomas Wychecombe
does not think of you as a _wife_, quite likely, just at this moment;
but the largest whales are taken by means of very small lines, when the
last are properly handled. This young lieutenant would have you
to-morrow; though a more silly thing than for you two to marry, could
not well be hit upon. He is only a lieutenant; and though his name is so
good a one, it does not appear that he has any particular right to it."
"And yet, Dutton, you were only a lieutenant when _you_ married, and
your name was _nothing_ in the way of interest, or preferment," observed
the mother, anxious to interpose some new feeling between her daughter,
and the cruel inference left by the former part of her husband's speech.
"We _then_ thought all lay bright before us!"
"And so all would lie to this hour, Mrs. Dutton, but for that one silly
act of mine. A man with the charges of a family on him, little pay, and
no fortune, is driven to a thousand follies to hide his misery. You do
not strengthen your case by reminding me of _that_ imprudence. But,
Mildred, I do not tell you to cut adrift this young Virginian, for he
may he of use in more ways than one. In the first place, you can play
him off against Mr. Thomas Wychecombe; and, in the second place, a
lieutenant is likely, one day, to be a captain; and the wife of a
captain in His Majesty's navy, is no disreputable birth. I advise you,
girl, to use this youngster as a bait to catch the heir with; and,
failing a good bite, to take up with the lad himself."
This was said dogmatically, but with a coarseness of manner that fully
corresponded with the looseness of the principles, and the utter want of
delicacy of feeling that alone could prompt such advice. Mrs. Dutton
fairly groaned, as she listened to her husband, for never before had he
so completely thrown aside the thin mask of decency that he ordinarily
wore; but Mildred, unable to control the burst of wild emotion that came
over her, broke away from the place she occupied at her father's knee,
and, as if blindly seeking protection in any asylum that she fancied
safe, found herself sobbing, as if her heart would break, in Admiral
Bluewater's arms.
Dutton followed the ungovernable, impulsive movement, with his eye, and
for the first time he became aware in whose presence he had been
exposing his native baseness. Wine had not so far the mastery of him, as
to blind him to all the consequences, though it did stimulate him to a
point that enabled him to face the momentary mortification of his
situation.
"I beg a thousand pardons, sir," he said, rising, and bowing low to his
superior; "I was totally ignorant that I had the honour to be in the
company of Admiral Bluewater--Admiral Blue, I find Jack calls you, sir;
ha-ha-ha--a familiarity which is a true sign of love and respect. I
never knew a captain, or a flag-officer, that got a regular, expressive
ship's name, that he wasn't the delight of the whole service. Yes, sir;
I find the people call Sir Gervaise, Little Jarvy, and yourself, Admiral
Blue--ha-ha-ha--an infallible sign of merit in the superior, and of love
in the men."
"I ought to apologize, Mr. Dutton, for making one, so unexpectedly to
myself, in a family council," returned the rear-admiral. "As for the
men, they are no great philosophers, though tolerable judges of when
they are well commanded, and well treated.--But, the hour is late, and
it was my intention to sleep in my own ship, to-night. The coach of Sir
Wycherly has been ordered to carry me to the landing, and I hope to have
your permission to see these ladies home in it."
The answer of Dutton was given with perfect self-possession, and in a
manner to show that he knew how to exercise the courtesies of life, or
to receive them, when in the humour.
"It is an honour, sir, they will not think of declining, if my wishes
are consulted," he said. "Come, Milly, foolish girl, dry your tears,
and smile on Admiral Bluewater, for his condescension. Young women, sir,
hardly know how to take a joke; and our ship's humours are sometimes a
little strong for them. I tell my dear wife, sometimes--'Wife,' I say,
'His Majesty can't have stout-hearted and stout-handed seamen, and the
women poets and die-away swains, and all in the same individual,' says
I. Mrs. Dutton understands me, sir; and so does little Milly; who is an
excellent girl in the main; though a little addicted to using the
eye-pumps, as we have it aboard ship, sir."
"And, now, Mr. Dutton, it being understood that I am to see the ladies
home, will you do me the favour to inquire after the condition of Sir
Wycherly. One would not wish to quit his hospitable roof, in uncertainty
as to his actual situation."
Dutton was duly sensible of an awkwardness in the presence of his
superior, and he gladly profited by this commission to quit the room;
walking more steadily than if he had not been drinking.
All this time, Mildred hung on Admiral Bluewater's shoulder, weeping,
and unwilling to quit a place that seemed to her, in her fearful
agitation, a sort of sanctuary.
"Mrs. Dutton," said Bluewater, first kissing the cheek of his lovely
burthen, in a manner so parental, that the most sensitive delicacy could
not have taken the alarm; "you will succeed better than myself, in
quieting the feelings of this little trembler. I need hardly say that if
I have accidentally overheard more than I ought, it is as much a secret
with me, as it would be with your own brother. The characters of all
cannot be affected by the mistaken and excited calculations of one; and
this occasion has served to make me better acquainted with you, and your
admirable daughter, than I might otherwise have been, by means of years
of ordinary intercourse."
"Oh! Admiral Bluewater, do not judge him _too_ harshly! He has been too
long at that fatal table, which I fear has destroyed poor dear Sir
Wycherly, and knew not what he said. Never before have I seen him in
such a fearful humour, or in the least disposed to trifle with, or to
wound the feelings of this sweet child!"
"Her extreme agitation is a proof of this, my good madam, and shows all
you can wish to say. View me as your sincere friend, and place every
reliance on my discretion."
The wounded mother listened with gratitude, and Mildred withdrew from
her extraordinary situation, wondering by what species of infatuation
she could have been led to adopt it.