“Masters, it is proved already
That you are little better than false knaves;
And it will go near to be thought so, shortly.”
_Dogberry_.
The sudden appearance of the city constable, a functionary whose person was
not unknown to most of the company, brought every man at table to his feet,
the Rev. Mr. Worden, Dirck and myself, included. For my own part, I saw no
particular reason for alarm, though it at once struck me that this visit
might have some connection with the demolished supper, since the law does
not, in all cases, suffer a man to reclaim even his own, by trick or
violence. As for the constable himself, a short, compact, snub-nosed,
Dutch-built person, who spoke English as if it disagreed with his bile, he
was the coolest of the whole party.
“Vell, Mr. Guert,” he said, with a sort of good-natured growl of authority,
“here I moost coome ag'in! Mr. Mayor woult be happy to see you, and ter
Tominie, dat ist of your party; and ter gentleman dat acted as clerk, ven
he lectured old Doortje, Mr. Mayor's cook.”
Mr. Mayor's cook! Here, then, a secret was out, with a vengeance! Guert had
not reclaimed his own lost supper, which, having passed into the hands of
the Philistines, was hopelessly gone; but he had actually stolen and eaten
the supper prepared for the Mayor of Albany,--Peter Cuyler, a man of note,
and standing, in all respects; a functionary who had held his office from
time immemorial;--the lamp was the symbol of authority, and not the sign of
an inn, or an eating-house;--the supper, moreover, was never prepared for
one man, or one family, but had certainly been got up for the honourable
treatment of a goodly company;--fifteen stout men had mainly appeased their
appetites on it; and the fragments were that moment under discussion among
half-a-dozen large-mouthed, shining negro faces, in the kitchen! Under
circumstances like these, I looked inquiringly at the Rev. Mr. Worden--and
the Rev. Mr. Worden looked inquiringly at me. There was no apparent remedy,
however; but, after a brief consultation with Guert, we, the summoned
parties, took our hats and followed Dogberry to the residence of Mr. Mayor.
“You are not to be uneasy, gentlemen, at this little interruption of our
amusements,” said Guert, dropping in between Mr. Worden and myself, as we
proceeded on our way, “these things happening very often among us. You are
innocent, you know, under all circumstances, since you supposed that
the supper was our own--brought back by direct means, instead of having
recourse to the shabby delays of the law.”
“And whose supper may this have been, sir, that we have just eaten!”
demanded Mr. Worden.
“Why, there can be no harm, now, in telling you the truth, Dominie; and I
will own, therefore, it belonged in law to Mr. Mayor Cuyler. There is no
great danger, however, as you will see, when I come to explain matters. You
must know that the Mayor's wife was a Schuyler, and my mother has some of
that blood in her veins, and we count cousins as far as we can see, in
Albany. It is just supping with one's relations, a little out of the common
way, as you will perceive, gentlemen.”
“Have you dealt fairly with Mr. Littlepage and myself, sir, in this
affair?” Mr. Worden asked, a little sternly. “I might, with great
propriety, lecture to a cook, on the eighth commandment, when that cook
was a party to robbing you of your supper; but how shall I answer to His
Honour, Mr. Mayor, on the charge which will now be brought against me?
It is not for myself, Mr. Guert, that I feel so much concern, as for the
credit and reputation of my sacred office, and that, too, among your
disciples of the schools of Leyden!”
“Leave it all to me, my dear Dominie--leave it all to me,” answered Guert,
well disposed to sacrifice himself, rather than permit a friend to suffer.
“I am used to these little matters, and will take care of you.”
“I vill answer for t'at,” put in the constable, looking over his shoulder.
“No young fly-away in All_pon_ny hast more knowletge in t'ese matters t'an
Mr. Guert, here. If any potty can draw his heat out of the yoke, Mr. Guert
can, Yaas--yaas--he know all apout t'ese little matters, sure enough.”
This was encouraging, of a certainty! Our associate was so well known for
his tricks and frolics, that even the constable who took him calculated
largely on his address in getting out of scrapes! I did not apprehend that
any of us were about to be tried and convicted of a downright robbery;
for I knew how far the Dutch carried their jokes of this nature, and how
tolerant the seniors were to their juniors; and especially how much all men
are disposed to regard any exploit of the sort of that in which we had been
engaged, when it has been managed adroitly, and in a way to excite a laugh.
Still, it was no joke to rob a Mayor of his supper these functionaries
usually passing to their offices through the probationary grade of
Alderman. [23] Guert was not free from uneasiness, as was apparent by a
question he put to the officer, on the steps of Mr. Cuyler's house, and
under the very light of the official lamp.
“How is the old gentleman, this evening, Hans?” the principal asked, with
some little concern in his manner. “I hope he and his company have supped?”
“Vell, t'at is more t'an I can tell you, Mr. Guert. He look't more as like
himself, when he hat the horse t'ieves from New Englant taken up, t'an he
hast for many a tay. 'Twas most too pat, Mr. Guert, to run away wit' the
Mayor's _own_ supper! I coult have tolt you who hast your own tucks and
venison.”
“I wish you had, Hans, with all my heart; but we were hard pushed, and
had a strange Dominie to feed. You know a body must provide _well_ for
company.”
“Yaas, yaas; I understants it, and knows how you moost have peen nonplush't
to do sich a t'ing; put it was _mo-o-st_ too pat. Vell, we are all young,
afore we live to be olt--t'at effery potty knows.”
By this time the door was open, and we entered. Mr. Mayor had issued orders
we should all be shown into the parlour, where I rather think, from what
subsequently passed, he intended to cut up Guert a little more than common,
by exposing him before the eyes of a particular person. At all events, the
reader can judge of my horror, at finding that the party whose supper I had
just helped to demolish, consisted, in addition to three or four sons and
daughters of the house, of Herman Mordaunt, Mary Wallace, and Anneke! Of
course, everybody knew _what_ had been done; but, until we entered the
room, Mr. Mayor alone knew _who_ had done it. Of Mr. Worden and myself
even, he knew no more than he had learned from Dootje's account of the
matter; and the cook, quite naturally, had represented us as rogues
feigning our divinity.
Guert was a thoroughly manly fellow, and he did us the justice to enter the
parlour first. Poor fellow! I can feel for him, even at this distance of
time, when his eye first fell on Mary Wallace's pallid and distressed
countenance. It could scarcely be less than I felt myself, when I first
beheld Anneke's flushed features, and the look of offended propriety that I
fancied to be sparkling in her estranged eye.
Mr. Mayor evidently regarded Mr. Worden with surprise, as indeed he did
me; for, instead of strangers, he probably expected to meet two of those
delinquents whose faces were familiar to him, by divers similar jocular
depredations, committed within the limits of his jurisdiction. Then the
circumstance that Mr. Worden was a real Dominie, could not be questioned
by those who saw him standing, as he did, face to face, with all the usual
signs of his sacred office in his dress and air.
“I believe there must be some mistake here, constable!” exclaimed Mr.
Mayor. “Why have you brought these two strange gentlemen along with Guert
Ten Eyck?”
“My orters, Mr. Mayor, wast to pring Dootje's 'rapscallion Tominie,' and
his 'rapscallion frient;' and t'at is one, and t'is ist t'ot'e.”
“This gentleman has the appearance of being a _real_ clergyman, and that
too, of the church of England.”
“Yaas, Mr. Mayor, t'at is yoost so. He wilt preach fifteen minutes wit'out
stopping, if you wilt give him a plack gownt; and pray an hour in a white
shirt.” [24]
“Will you do me the favour, Guert Ten Eyck, to let me have the names of
the strangers I have the pleasure to receive,” said the mayor, a little
authoritatively.
“Certainly, Mr. Mayor; certainly, and with very great pleasure. I should
have done this at once, had we been ushered into your house by any one but
the city constable. Whenever I accompany that gentleman anywhere, I always
wait to ascertain my welcome.”
Guert laughed with some heart at this allusion to his own known
delinquencies, while Mr. Cuyler only smiled. I could see, notwithstanding
the severe measures to which he had resorted in this particular case, that
the last was not unfriendly to the first, and that our friend Guert had
not fallen literally among robbers, in being brought to the place where we
were.
“This reverend dominie,” continued Guert, as soon as he had had his laugh,
and had ventured to cast a short, inquiring glance at Mary Wallace, “is a
gentleman from England, Mr. Mayor, who is to preach in St. Peter's the day
after to-morrow, by special invitation from the chaplain; when, I make no
doubt, we shall all be much edified; Miss Mary Wallace among the rest, if
she will do him the honour to attend the service--good, and angelic, and
_forgiving_, as I know she is by nature.”
This speech caused all eyes to turn on the young lady whose face crimsoned,
though she made no reply. I now felt satisfied that Guert's manly, frank,
avowed, and sincere admiration had touched the heart of Mary Wallace, while
her reason condemned that which her natural tenderness encouraged; and the
struggle in her mind was then, and long after, a subject of curious study
with me. As for Anneke, I thought she resented this somewhat indiscreet,
not to say indelicate though indirect avowal of his feelings towards his
mistress; and that she looked on Guert with even more coldness than she had
previously done. Neither of the ladies, however, said anything. During
this dumb-show, Mr. Cuyler had leisure to recover from the surprise of
discovering that one of his prisoners was really a clergyman, and to
inquire who the other might be.
“That gentleman, then, is in fact a clergyman!” he answered. “You have
forgotten to name the other, Guert.”
“This is Mr. Corny Littlepage, Mr. Mayor--the only son of Major Littlepage,
of Satanstoe, Westchester.”
The Mayor looked a little puzzled, and I believe felt somewhat embarrassed
as to the manner in which he ought to proceed. The incursion of Guert upon
his premises much exceeded in boldness, anything of the kind that had ever
before occurred in Albany. It was common enough for young men of his stamp
to carry off poultry, pigs, &c., and feast on the spoils; and cases
had occurred, as I afterwards learned, in which rival parties of these
depredators preyed on each other--the same materials for a supper
having been known to change hands two or three times before they were
consumed--but no one had ever presumed, previously to this evening, to make
an inroad even on Mr. Mayor's hencoop, much less to molest the domains of
his cook. In the first impulse of his anger, Mr. Cuyler had sent for the
constable; and Guert's club, with its place of meeting being well known,
that functionary having had many occasions to visit it, the latter
proceeded thither forthwith. It is probable, however, a little reflection
satisfied the mayor that a frolic could not well be treated as a larceny;
and that Guert had some of his own wife's blood in his veins. When he came
to find that two respectable strangers were implicated in the affair, one
of whom was actually a clergyman, this charitable feeling was strengthened,
and he changed his course of proceeding.
“You can return home, Hans,” said Mr. Mayor, very sensibly mollified in his
manner. “Should there be occasion for your further services, I will send
for you. Now gentlemen,” as soon as the door closed on the constable, “I
will satisfy you that old Peter Cuyler can cover a table, and feed his
friends, even though Guert Ten Eyck be so near a neighbour. Miss Wallace,
will you allow me the honour to lead you to the table? Mr. Worden will see
Mrs. Cuyler, in safety, to the same place.”
On this hint, the missionary stepped forward with alacrity, and led Mrs.
Mayoress after Mary Wallace, with the utmost courtesy. Guert did the same
to one of the young ladies of the house; Anneke was led in by one of the
young men; and I took the remaining young lady, who, I presumed, was also
one of the family. It was very apparent we were respited; and all of us
thought it wisest to appear as much at our ease as possible, in order not
to balk the humour of the principal magistrate of the ancient town of
Albany.
To do Mr. Mayor justice, the lost time had been so well improved by
Doortje, that, on looking around the table, I thought the supper to which
we were thus strangely invited, was, of the two, the best I had seen that
evening. Luckily, game was plenty; and, by means of quails, partridges,
oysters, venison patties, and other dishes of that sort, the cook had
managed to send up quite as good a supper, at ten o'clock, as she had
previously prepared for nine.
I will not pretend that I felt quite at my ease, as I took my seat at the
table, for the second time that night. All the younger members of the party
looked exceedingly grave, as if they could very well dispense with our
company; the old people alone appearing to enter into the scene with any
spirit. Anneke did not even look at me, after the first astounded look
given on my entrance; nor did Mary Wallace once cast her eyes towards
Guert, when we reached the supper-room. Mr. Mayor, notwithstanding, had
determined to laugh off the affair; and he and Mr. Worden soon became
excellent friends, and began to converse freely and naturally.
“Come, cousin Guert,” cried Mr. Mayor, after two or three glasses of
Madeira had still further warmed his heart, “fill, and pledge me--unless
you prefer to give a lady. If the last, everybody will drink to her, with
hearty good-will. You eat nothing, and must drink the more.”
“Ah! Mr. Mayor, I have toasted one lady, to-night, and cannot toast
another.”
“Not present company excepted, my boy?”
“No, sir, not even with that license. I pledge you, with all my heart, and
thank you, with all my heart, for this generous treatment, after my own
foolish frolic;--but, you know how it is, Mr. Mayor, with us Albany youths,
when our pride is up, and a supper must be had--”
“Not I, Guert; I know nothing about it; but should very well like to learn.
How came you, in the first place, to take such a fancy to my cook's supper?
Did you imagine it better than Van Brunt's cook could give you?”
“The supper of Arent Van Brunt's cook has disappeared--gone on the hill, I
fancy, among the red-coats; and, to own the truth, Mr. Mayor, it was yours,
or nothing. I had invited these gentlemen to pass the evening with us. One
of our blacks happened to mention what was going on here, and hospitality
led us all astray. It was nothing more, I do assure you, Mr. Mayor.”
“And so your hospitable feelings made your guests work for their supper, by
sending them to preach to old Doortje, while you were dishing up my ducks
and game?”
“Your pardon, Mr. Mayor; Doortje had dished-up, before she went to lecture.
Your cook is too well trained to neglect her duty, even to hear a sermon by
the Rev. Mr. Worden! But, these gentlemen were quite as much deceived as
the old woman; for, they supposed we were after our own lost goods, and
did not know that you dwelt here; and were as much my dupes as old Doortje
herself. Truth obliges me to own this much, in their justification.”
There was a general clearing up of countenances, at this frank avowal; and
I saw that Anneke, herself, turned her looks inquiringly upon the
speaker, and suffered a smile to relieve the extreme gravity of her sweet
countenance. From that moment, a very sensible change came over the
feelings and deportment of the younger part of the company, and the
conversation became easier and more natural. It was certainly much in our
favour to have it known, we had not officiously and boyishly joined in
a gratuitous attempt to rob and insult this particular and unoffending
family, but that Mr. Worden and I supposed we were simply aiding in getting
back those things which properly belonged to our hosts, and getting them
back, too, in a manner of which the party we supposed we were acting
against, would certainly have no right to complain, inasmuch as they
had set the example. Guert was encouraged to go on further with his
explanations; which he did, in his own honest, candid manner, exculpating
us, in effect, from everything but being a little too much disposed
to waggery, for a minister of the church, and his pupil, who had just
commenced his travels.
Anneke's face brightened up, more and more, as the explanations proceeded;
and, soon after they were ended, she turned to me in a very gracious
manner, and inquired after my mother. As I sat directly opposite to her,
and the table was narrow, we could converse without attracting much
attention to ourselves; Mr. Mayor and his other guests keeping up a round
of reasonably noisy jokes, on the events of the evening, nearer the foot of
the table.
“You find some customs in Albany, Mr. Littlepage, that are not known to us,
in New York,” Anneke observed, after a few preliminary remarks had opened
the way to further communication.
“I scarce know, Miss Anneke, whether you allude to what has occurred this
evening, or to what occurred this afternoon?”
“To both, I believe,” answered Anneke, smiling, though she coloured, as I
thought, with a species of feminine vexation; “for, certainly, one is no
more a custom with us than the other.”
“I have been most unfortunate, Miss Mordaunt, in the exhibitions I have
made of myself in the course of the few hours I have passed in this, to me,
strange place. I am afraid you regard me as little more than an overgrown
boy who has been permitted by his parents to leave home sooner than he
ought.”
“This is your construction, and not mine, Mr. Littlepage. I suppose you
know--but, we will talk of this in the other room, or at some other time.”
I took the hint, and said no more on the subject while at table. Mr. Mayor,
I suppose in consideration of our having gone through the exactions of one
feast already that evening, permitted us to leave the supper-room much
earlier than common, and the hour being late, the whole party broke up
immediately afterwards. Before we separated, however, Herman Mordaunt
approached me, in a friendly, free way, and invited me to come to his house
at eight next morning to breakfast, requesting the pleasure of Dirck's
company at the same time; the invitation to the latter going through me.
It is scarcely necessary to say how gladly I accepted, and how much I was
relieved by this termination of an adventure that, at one moment, menaced
me with deep disgrace. Had Mr. Mayor seen fit to pursue the affair of the
abstraction of his first supper in a serious vein, although the legal
consequences could not probably have amounted to anything very grave, they
might prove very ridiculous; and I have no doubt they would have brought
about a very abrupt termination of my visit to the north. As it was, my
mind was vastly relieved, as I believe was the case also with that of the
Rev. Mr. Worden.
“Corny,” said that gentleman, after we had wished Guert good-night, and
were well on our way to the inn again, “this second supper has helped
surprisingly to digest the first. I doubt if our new acquaintance, here,
will be likely to turn out very profitable to us.”
“Yet, sir, you appeared to take to him exceedingly, and I had thought you
excellent friends.”
“I like the fellow well enough too; for he is hearty, and frank, and
good-natured; but there was some little policy in keeping on good terms
with him. I'm afraid, Corny, I did not altogether consult the dignity of my
holy office, this morning, on the ice! It is exceedingly unbecoming in a
clergyman, to be seen running in a public place like a school-boy, or a
youngster contending in a match. I thought, moreover, I overheard one
of those young Dutchmen call me the 'Loping Dominie;' and so, taking
altogether, it struck me it would be wisest to keep on good terms with this
Guert Ten Eyck.”
“I see your policy, sir, and it does not become me to deny it. As for
myself, I confess I like Guert surprisingly, and shall not give him up
easily; though he has already got me into two serious scrapes in the short
time we have been acquainted; He is a hearty, good-natured, thoughtless
young fellow; who, Dutchman-like, when he does make an attempt to enjoy
life, does it with all his heart.”
I then related the affair of the hand-sled to Mr. Worden, who gave me some
of that sort of consolation, of which a man receives a great deal, as he
elbows his way through this busy, selfish world.
“Well, Corny,” said my old master, “I am not certain you did not look
more like a fool, as you rolled over from that sled, than I looked while
'loping' from our friends in the sleigh!”
We both laughed as we entered the tavern; I, to conceal the vexation I
really felt, and Mr. Worden, as I presume, because he was flattered with
the belief that I must have appeared quite as ridiculous as himself.
Next morning I proceeded to Herman Mordaunt's residence at the earliest
hour the rules of society would allow. I found the family established in
one of those Dutch edifices, of which Albany was mainly composed, and which
stood a little removed from the street--having a tiny yard in front, with
the _stoop_ in the gable, and that gable towards the yard. The battlement
walls of this house diminished towards the high apex of a very steep roof
by steps, as we are all so much accustomed to see, and the whole was
surmounted by an iron weathercock, that was perched on a rod of some
elevation. It was always a matter of importance with the Dutch to know
which way the wind blew; nor did it comport with their habits of minute
accuracy, to trust to the usual indications of the feeling on the skin, the
bending of branches, the flying of clouds, or the driving of smoke; but
they must and would have the certainty of a machine, that was constructed
expressly to let them know the fact. Smoke might err, but a weathercock
would not!
No one was in the little parlour into which I was shown by the servant
who admitted me to the house, and in whom I recognised Herman Mordaunt's
principal male attendant, of the household in New York. How pleasantly did
that little room appear to me, in the minute or two that I was left in it
alone. There lay the very shawl that Anneke had on, the day I met her in
the Pinkster Field; and a pair of gloves that it seemed to me no other
hands but hers were small enough to wear, had been thrown on the shawl,
carelessly, as one casts aside a thing of that sort, in a hurry. A dozen
other articles were put here and there, that denoted the habits and
presence of females of refinement. But the gloves most attracted my
attention, and I must needs rise and examine them. It is true, these gloves
might belong to Mary Wallace, for she, too, had a pretty little hand, but I
fancied they belonged to Anneke. Under this impression, I raised them to my
lips, and was actually pressing them there, with a good deal of romantic
feeling, when a light footstep in the room told me I was not alone.
Dropping the gloves, I turned and beheld Anneke herself. She was regarding
me with an expression of countenance I did not then know how to interpret,
and which I now hardly know how to describe. In the first place, her
charming countenance was suffused with blushes, while her eyes were filled
with an expression of softened interest, that caused my heart to beat so
violently, that I did not know but it would escape by the channel of the
throat. How near I was to declaring all I felt, at that moment; of throwing
myself at the feet of the dear, dear creature, and of avowing how much and
engrossingly she had filled both my waking and sleeping thoughts during
the last year, and of beseeching her to bless the remainder of my days, by
becoming my wife! Nothing prevented this sally, but the remark which Anneke
made, the instant she had gracefully curtsied, in return to my confused and
awkward bow, and which happened to be this:
“What do you find so much to admire in Miss Wallace's gloves?” asked the
wilful girl, biting her lip, as I fancied, to suppress a smile, though
her cheeks were still suffused, and her eyes continued to give forth that
indescribable expression of bewitching softness. “It is a pair my father
presented to her, and she wore them last evening in compliment to him.”
“I beg pardon, Miss Mordaunt--Miss Anneke--that is--I beg pardon. Is there
not a very delightful odour about those gloves--that is, I was thinking so,
and was endeavouring to ascertain what it might be by the scent.”
“It must be the lavender with which we young ladies are so coquettish as to
sprinkle our gloves and handkerchiefs--or it may be musk. Mary is rather
fond of musk, though I prefer lavender. But what an evening we had, Mr.
Littlepage! and what an introduction you have had to Albany and most of
all, what a master of ceremonies!”
“Do you then dislike Guert Ten Eyck as an acquaintance, Miss Anneke?”
“Far from it. It is quite impossible to _dislike_ Guert; he is so manly; so
ready to admit his own weaknesses; so sincere in all he does and says; so
good natured; and, in short, so much that, were one his sister, she might
wish him to be, and yet so much that a sister must regret.”
“I thought last evening that all the ladies felt an interest in him,
notwithstanding the numberless wild and ill-judged things he does. Is he
not a favourite with Miss Wallace?”
The quick, sensitive glance that Anneke gave me, said plainly enough that
my question was indiscreet, and it was no sooner put than it was regretted.
A shadow passed athwart the sweet face of my companion, and a moment of
deep, and, as I fancied, of painful thought succeeded. Then a light broke
over all, a smile illumined her features, after which a light girlish laugh
came to show how active were the agents within, and how strong was the
native tendency to happiness and humour.
“After all, Corny Littlepage,” said Anneke, turning her face towards me
with an indescribable character of fun and feeling so blended in it, as
fairly to puzzle me, “you must admit that your exploit in the hand-sled was
sufficiently ridiculous to last a young man for some time!”
“I confess it all, Anneke, and shall have a care how I turn boy again in
a strange place. I am rejoiced to find, however, that you look upon the
foolish affair of the slide as more grave than that of the supper, which I
was fearful might involve me in serious disgrace.”
“Neither is very serious, Mr. Littlepage, though the last might have proved
awkward, had not the Mayor known the ways of the young men of the town.
They say, however, that nothing so bold has ever before been attempted in
that way, in Albany, great as are the liberties that are often taken with
the neighbours' hen-coops.”
And she laughed, and this time it was naturally, and without the least
restraint.
“I hope you will not think it shabby in me, if I seem to wish to throw
all the blame on this harum-scarum Guert Ten Eyck. He drew me into both
affairs, and into the last, in a great measure, innocently and ignorantly.”
“So it is understood, and so it would be understood, the moment Guert Ten
Eyck was found to be connected with the affair at all.”
“I may hope, then, to be forgiven, Anneke?” I said, holding out a hand to
invite her to accept it as a pledge of pardon.
Anneke did not prudishly decline putting her own little hand in mine,
though I got only the ends of two or three slender delicate fingers; and
her colour increased as she bestowed this grace.
“You must ask forgiveness, Corny,” she answered,--I believe she now used
this familiar name simply to show how completely she had forgotten the
little spleen she had certainly felt at my untoward exhibition in the
street.--“You must ask forgiveness of those who possess the right to
pardon. If Corny Littlepage chooses to slide down hill, like a boy, what
right has Anneke Mordaunt to say him nay?”
“Every right in the world--the right of friendship--the right of a superior
mind, of superior manners--the right that my----”
“Hush!--that is Mr. Bulstrode's footstep in the passage, and he will not
understand this discussion on the subject of my manifold rights. It takes
him some time, however, to throw aside his overcoats, and furs, and sword;
and I will just tell you that Guert Ten Eyck is a dangerous master of
ceremonies for Corny Littlepage.”
“Yet, he has sense enough, feeling enough, _heart_ enough to admire and
love Mary Wallace.”
“Has he told you this, so soon! But, I need not ask, as he tells his love
to every one who will listen.”
“And to Miss Wallace herself, I trust, among the number. The man who loves,
and loves truly, should not long permit its object to remain in any doubt
of his feelings and intentions. It has ever appeared to me, Miss Mordaunt,
as a most base and dastardly feeling in a man to wish to be certain of a
woman's returning his love, before he has the manliness to let his mistress
understand his wishes. How is a sensitive female to know when she is safe
in yielding her affections, without this frankness on the part of her
suitor? I'll answer for it that Guert Ten Eyck has dealt thus honestly and
frankly with Mary Wallace.”
“That is a merit which cannot be denied him,” answered Anneke, in a low,
thoughtful tone of voice. “Mary has heard this from his own mouth, again
and again. Even my presence has been no obstacle to his declarations, for
three times have I heard him beg Mary to consider him as a suitor for her
hand, and entreat her not to decide on his offer until he has had a longer
opportunity to win her esteem.”
“And this you will admit, Miss Mordaunt, is to his credit, is manly, and
like himself?”
“It is certainly frank and honourable, Mr. Littlepage, since it enables
Miss Wallace to understand the object of his attentions, and leaves nothing
to doubt, or uncertainty.”
“I am glad you approve of such fair and frank proceedings;--though but a
moment remains to say what I wish, it will suffice to add, that the course
Guert Ten Eyck has taken towards Mary Wallace, Cornelius Littlepage would
wish to pursue towards Anneke Mordaunt.”
Anneke started, turned pale; then showed cheeks that were suffused with
blushes, and looked at me with timid surprise. She made no answer; though
that earnest, yet timid gaze, long remained, and for that matter, still
remains, vividly impressed upon my recollection. It seemed to express
astonishment, startled sensibility, feminine bashfulness, and maiden
coyness; but it did not appear to me that it expressed displeasure. There
was no time, however, to ask for explanations, since the voices of Herman
Mordaunt and Bulstrode were now heard at the very door, and, at the next
instant, both entered the room.
[Footnote 23: The American Mayor is usually a different person from the
English Mayor. Until within the last five-and-twenty or thirty years, the
Mayor of New York was invariably a man of social and political importance,
belonging strictly to the higher class of society. The same was true of the
Mayor of Albany. At the present time, the rule has been so far enlarged, as
to admit a selection from all of the more reputable classes, without any
rigid adherence to the highest. The elective principle has produced the
change. During the writer's boyhood, Philip Van Rensselaer, the brother of
the late Patroon, was so long Mayor of Albany, as to be universally known
by the _sobriquet_ of “The Mayor.”--EDITOR.]
[Footnote 24: This opinion of the constable's must refer to the notion
common amongst the non-Episcopal sects, that the value of spiritual
provender was to be measured by the quantity. Preaching, however,
_might_ be overdone in the Dutch Reformed Churches; for, quite within my
recollection, a half-hour glass stood on the pulpit of the Dutch edifice
named in the text, to regulate the dominie's wind. It was said it might be
turned _once_ with impunity; but wo betide him who should so far trespass
on his people's patience as to presume to turn it _twice_.--EDITOR.]