Hotel of All Nations, Baths of Homburg.
My dear Tiverton,--You often said I was a fellow to make a spoon or
spoil a--something which I have forgotten--and I begin to fancy that
you were a better prophet than that fellow in "Bell's Life" who always
predicts the horse that does _not_ win the Oaks. When we parted a few
days ago, my mind was resolutely bent on becoming another Metternich or
Palmerston. I imagined a whole life of brilliant diplomatic successes,
and thought of myself receiving the freedom of the City of London,
dining with the Queen, and making "very pretty running" for the peerage.
What will you say, then, when I tell you that I despise the highest
honors of the entire career, and would n't take the seals of the Foreign
Office, if pressed on my acceptance this minute? To save myself from
even the momentary accusation of madness, I 'll give you--and in as few
words as I can--ray explanation. As I have just said, I set out with my
head full of Ambassadorial ambitions, and jogged along towards England,
scarcely noticing the road or speaking to my fellow-travellers. On
arriving at Frankfort, however, I saw nothing on all sides of me but
announcements and advertisements of the baths of Homburg,--"The
last week of the season, and the most brilliant of all." Gorgeous
descriptions of the voluptuous delights of the place--lists of
distinguished visitors, and spicy bits of scandal--alternated with
anecdotes of those who had "broke the bank," and were buying up all
the chateaux and parks in the neighborhood. I tried to laugh at these
pictorial puffs; I did my best to treat them as mere humbugs; but it
would n't do. I went to bed so full of them that I dreamed all night of
the play-table, and fancied myself once again the terror of croupiers,
and the admired of the fashionable circle in the _salon_. To crown all,
a waiter called me to say that the carriage I had ordered for the baths
was at the door. I attempted to undeceive him; but even there my effort
was a failure; and, convinced that there was a fate in the matter,
I jumped out of bed, dressed, and set off, firmly impressed with the
notion that I was not a free agent, but actually impelled and driven by
destiny to go and win my millions at Homburg.
Perhaps my ardor was somewhat cooled down by the aspect of the place. It
has few of the advantages nature has so lavishly bestowed on Baden,
and which really impart to that delightful resort a charm that totally
disarms you of all distrust, and make you forget that you are in a land
of "legs" and swindlers, and that every second man you meet is a rogue
or a runaway. Now, Homburg does not, as the French say, "impose" in this
way. You see at once that it is a "Hell," and that the only amusement is
to ruin or to be ruined.
"No matter," thought I; "I have already graduated at the green table; I
have taken my degree in arts at Baden, and am no young hand fresh from
Oxford and new to the Continent; I 'll just go down and try my luck--as
a fisherman whips a stream. If they rise to my fly,--well; if not, pack
up the traps, and try some other water." You know that my capital was
not a strong one,--about a hundred and thirty in cash, and a bill on
Drummond for a hundred more,--and with this, the governor had "cleared
me out" for at least six months to come. I was therefore obliged to
"come it small;" and merely dabbled away with a few "Naps.," which, by
dint of extraordinary patience and intense application, I succeeded in
accumulating to the gross total of sixty. As I foresaw that I could n't
loiter above a day longer, I went down in the evening to experimentalize
on this fund, and, after a few hours, rose a winner of thirty-two
thousand odd hundred francs. The following morning, I more than doubled
this; and in the evening, won a trifle of twenty thousand francs; when,
seeing the game take a capricious turn, I left off, and went to supper.
I was an utter stranger in the place, had not even a passing
acquaintance with any one; so that, although dying for a little
companionship, I had nothing for it but to order my roast partridge in
my own apartment, and hobnob with myself. It is true, I was in capital
spirits,--I had made glorious running, and no mistake,--and I drank my
health, and returned thanks for the toast with an eloquence that really
astonished me. Egad, I think the waiter must have thought me mad, as he
heard me hip, hipping with "one cheer more," to the sentiment.
[Illustration: 094]
I suppose I must have felt called on to sing; for sing I did, and, I
am afraid, with far more zeal than musical talent; for I overheard a
tittering of voices outside my door, and could plainly perceive that the
household had assembled as audience. What cared I for this? The world
had gone too well with me of late to make me thin-skinned or peevishly
disposed. I could afford to be forgiving and generous: and I revelled in
the very thought that I was soaring in an atmosphere to which trifling
and petty annoyances never ascended. In this enviable frame of mind was
I, when a waiter presented himself with a most obsequious bow, and, in
a voice of submissive civility, implored me to moderate my musical
transports, since the lady who occupied the adjoining apartment was
suffering terribly from headache.
"Certainly, of course," was my reply at once; and as he was leaving the
room,--just by way of having something to say,--I asked, "Is she young,
waiter?"
"Young and beautiful, sir."
"An angel, eh?"
"Quite handsome enough to be one, sir, I'm certain."
"And her name?"
"The Countess de St. Auber, widow of the celebrated Count de St. Auber,
of whom Monsieur must have read in the newspapers."
But Monsieur had not read of him, and was therefore obliged to ask
further information; whence it appeared that the Count had accidentally
shot himself on the morning of his marriage, when drawing the charge
of his pistols, preparatory to putting them in his carriage. The waiter
grew quite pathetic in his description of the young bride's agonies, and
had to wipe his eyes once or twice during his narrative.
"But she has rallied by this, hasn't she?" asked I.
"If Monsieur can call it so," said he, shrugging his shoulders. "She
never goes into the world,--knows no one,--receives no one,--lives
entirely to herself; and, except her daily ride in the wood, appears to
take no pleasure whatever in life."
"And so she rides out every day?"
"Every day, and at the same hour too. The carriage takes her about a
league into the forest, far beyond where the usual promenade extends,
and there her horses meet her, and she rides till dusk. Often it is even
night ere she returns."
There was something that interested me deeply in all this. You know that
a pretty woman on horseback is one of my greatest weaknesses; and so I
went on weaving thoughts and fancies about the charming young widow till
the champagne was finished, after which I went off to bed, intending to
dream of her, but, to my intense disgust, to sleep like a sea-calf till
morning.
My first care on waking, however, was to despatch a very humble apology
by the waiter for my noisy conduct on the previous evening, and a very
sincere hope that the Countess had not suffered on account of it.
He brought me back for answer "that the Countess thanked me for my
polite inquiry, and was completely restored."
"Able to ride out as usual?"
"Yes, sir."
"How do you know that?"
"She has just given orders for the carriage, sir."
"I say, waiter, what kind of a hack can be got here? Or, stay, is there
such a thing as a good-looking saddle-horse to be sold in the place?"
"There are two at Lagrange's stables, sir, this moment Prince
Guiciatelli has left them and his groom to pay about thirty thousand
francs he owes here."
In less than a quarter of an hour I was dressed and at the stables. The
nags were a neat pair; the groom, an English fellow, had just brought
them over. He had bought them at Anderson's, and paid close upon three
hundred for the two. It was evident that they were "too much," as
horses, for the Prince, for he had never backed either of them. Before
I left I had bought them both for six thousand francs, and taken "Bob"
himself, a very pretty specimen of the short-legged, red-whiskered
tribe, into my service.
This was on the very morning, mark, when I should have presented myself
before the dons of Downing Street, and been admitted a something into
her Majesty's service!
"I wish they may catch me at red-tapery!" thought I, as I shortened my
stirrups, and sat down firmly in the saddle. "I 'm much more at home
here than perched on an office-stool in that pleasant den they call the
'Nursery' at the Foreign Office."
Guided by a groom, with a led horse beside him, I took the road to the
forest, and soon afterwards passed a dark-green barouche, with a lady
in it, closely veiled, and evidently avoiding observation. The wood is
intersected by alleys, so that I found it easy, while diverging from the
carriage-road, to keep the equipage within view, and after about half an
hour's sharp canter, I saw the carriage stop, and the Countess descend
from it.
Even _you_ admit that I am a sharp critic about all that pertains to
riding-gear; and that as to a woman's hat, collar, gloves, habit,
and whip, I am a first-rate opinion. Now, in the present instance,
everything was perfect There was a dash of "costume" in the long
drooping feather and the snow-white gauntlets; but then all was strictly
toned down to extreme simplicity and quiet elegance. I had just time to
notice this much, and catch a glimpse of such a pair of black eyes! when
she was in the saddle at once. I only want to see a woman gather up
her reins in her hand, shake her habit back with a careless toss of
her foot, and square herself well in the saddle, to say, "That's
a horsewoman!" Egad, George, her every gesture and movement were
admirable, and the graceful bend forwards with which she struck out
into a canter was actually captivating. I stood watching her till she
disappeared in the wood, perfectly entranced. I own to you I could not
understand a Frenchwoman sitting her horse in this fashion. I had always
believed the accomplishment to be more or less English, and I felt
ashamed at the narrow prejudice into which I had fallen.
"What an unlucky fellow that same Count must have been!" thought I; and
with this reflection I spurred my nag into a sharp pace, hoping that
fast motion might enable me to turn my thoughts into some other channel.
It was to no use. Go how I would, or where I would, I could think of
nothing but the pretty widow,--whither she might be travelling,--where
she intended to stop,--whether alone, or with others of her family,--her
probable age,--her fortune?--all would rise up before me, to trouble my
curiosity or awaken my interest.
I was deep in my speculations, when suddenly a horse bounded past me by
a cross path. I had barely time to see the flutter of a habit, when
it was lost to view. I waited to see her groom follow, but he did not
appear. I listened, but no sound of a horse could be heard approaching.
Had her horse run away? Had her servant lost trace of her? were
questions that immediately occurred to me; but there was nothing to
suggest the answer or dispel the doubt I could bear my anxiety no
longer, and away I dashed after her. It was not till after a quarter
of an hour that I came in sight of her, and then she was skimming along
over the even turf at a very slapping pace, which, however, I quickly
perceived was no run-away gallop.
[Illustration: 104]
This fact proclaimed itself in a most unmistakable manner, for she
suddenly drew up, and wheeled about, pointing at the same time to the
ground, where her whip had just fallen. I dashed up and dismounted,
when, in a voice tremulous with agitation, and with a face suffused in
blushes, she begged my pardon for her gesture; she believed it was her
groom who was following her, and had never noticed his absence before.
I cannot repeat her words, but in accent, manner, tone, and utterance,
I never heard the like of them before. What would I have given at that
moment, George, for your glib facility of French! Hang me if I would not
have paid down a thousand pounds to have been able to rattle out even
some of those trashy commonplaces I have seen you scatter with such
effect in the _coulisses_ of the opera! It was all of no avail. "Where
there 's a will there 's a way," says the adage; but it's a sorry maxim
where a foreign language is concerned. All the volition in the world
won't supply irregular verbs; and the most go-ahead resolution will
never help one to genders.
I did, of course, mutter all that I could think of; and, default of
elocution, I made my eyes do duty for my tongue, and with tolerable
success too, as her blush betrayed. I derived one advantage, too, from
my imperfect French, which is worth recording,--I was perfectly obdurate
as to anything she might have replied in opposition to my wishes,
and notwithstanding all her scruples to the contrary, persisted in
accompanying her back to the town.
If I was delighted with her horsemanship, I was positively enchanted
with her conversation; for, the first little novelty of our situation
over, she talked away with a frank innocence and artless ease which
quite fascinated me. She was, in fact, the very realization of that
high-bred manner you have so often told me of as characterizing the best
French society. How I wished I could have prolonged that charming ride!
I 'm not quite sure that she did n't detect me in a purposed mistake of
the road, that cost us an additional mile or two; if she did, she
was gracious enough to pardon the offence without even showing
any consciousness of it. Short as the road was, George, it left me
irretrievably in love. I know you 'll not stand any raptures about
beauty, but this much I must and will say, that she is incomparably
handsomer than that Sicilian princess you raved about at Ems, and in
the same style too,--brunette, but with a dash of color in the cheek, a
faint pink, that gives a sparkling brilliancy to the rich warmth of the
southern tint. Besides this,--and let me remark, it is something,--_my_
Countess is not two-and-twenty, at most. Indeed, but for the story of
the widowhood, I should guess her as something above nineteen.
There 's a piece of fortune for you! and all--every bit of it--of my
own achieving too! No extraneous aid in the shape of friends, or
introductory letters. "Alone I did it," as the fellow says in the play.
Now, I do think a man might be pardoned a little boastfulness for such a
victory, and I freely own I esteem Jem Dodd a sharper fellow than I ever
believed him.
Perhaps you suspect all this while that I am going too fast, and that
I have taken a casual success for a regular victory. If so, you 're all
wrong, my boy. She has struck her flag already, and acknowledged that
your humble servant has effected a change in her sentiments that but a
few short weeks before she would have pronounced impossible. The truth
is, George, "the Tipperary tactics" that win battles in India are just
as successful in love. Make no dispositions for a general engagement,
never trouble your head about cavalry supports, reserves, or the like,
but "just go in and win." It is a mighty short "General Order," and
cannot possibly be misapprehended. The Countess herself has acknowledged
to me, full half a dozen times within the last fortnight, that she was
quite unprepared for such warfare. She expected, doubtless, that I 'd
follow the old rubric, with opera-boxes, bouquets, _marrons glaces_, and
so on, for a month or two. Nothing of the kind, George. I frankly told
her that she was the most beautiful creature in Europe without knowing
it. That it would be little short of a sacrilege she should pass her
life in solitude and sorrow, and ten times worse than sacrilege to marry
anything but an Irishman. That in all other countries the men are either
money-getting, ambitious, or selfish, but that Paddy turns his whole
thoughts towards fun and enjoyment. That Napier's Peninsular War and
Moore's Melodies might be referred to for evidence of our national
tastes; and, in short, such a people for fighting and making love was
never recorded in history. She laughed at me for the whole of the first
week, grew more serious the second, and now, within the last three days,
instead of calling me "Monsieur le Sauvage," "Cosaque Anglais," and so
on, she gravely asks my advice about everything, and never ventures on
a step without my counsel and approbation. I have been candid with you
hitherto, Tiverton, and so I must frankly own that, profiting by the
adage that says "stratagem is equally legitimate in love as in war," I
have indulged slightly in the strategy of mystification. For instance,
I have represented the governor as a great don in his own country,
with immense estates, and an ancient title, that he does not assume in
consequence of some old act of attainder against the family. My mother
I have made a princess in her own right; and here I am on safer ground,
for, if called into court, she 'll sustain me in every assertion. Of my
own self and prospects I have spoken meekly enough, merely hinting that
I dislike diplomacy, and would rather live with the woman of my choice
in some comparatively less distinguished station, upon a pittance
of--say--three or four thousand a year!
This latter assumption, I must observe to you, is the only one ever
disputed between us, and many a debate have we had on the subject. She
sees, as everybody sees here, that I spend money lavishly, that not
only I indulge in everything costly, but that I outbid even the Russians
whenever anything is offered for sale; and at this moment my rooms are
filled with pictures, china, carved ivory, stained glass, and other such
lumber, that I only bought for the _eclat_ of the purchase. If you
only heard her innocent remonstrances to me about my extravagance, her
anxious appeals as to what "le Prince," as she calls my father, will say
to all this wastefulness!
It's a great trial to me sometimes not to laugh at all this, and,
indeed, if I did n't know in my heart that I 'll make her the very best
of husbands, I 'd be even ashamed of my deceit; but it's only a pious
fraud after all, and the good result will more than atone for the
roguery.
I have hinted at our marriage, you see, and I may add that it is all
but decided on. There is, however, a difficulty which must be got over
first. She was betrothed when a child to a young Neapolitan Prince of
the blood,--a brother, I take it, of the present King. This ceremony
was overlooked on her first marriage; and had her husband lived,
very serious consequences--but of what kind I don't know--might
have resulted. Now, before contracting a second union, we must get a
dispensation of some sort from the Pope, which I fear will take time,
although she says that her uncle, the Cardinal, will do his utmost to
expedite it.
Indeed, I may mention, incidentally, that she is a great favorite with
his Eminence, and _we_ hope to be his heirs! Egad, George, I almost
fancy myself "punting" his Eminence's gold pieces at hazard, with his
signet-ring on my finger! What a house I'll keep, old fellow! what a
stable! what a cellar!--and such cigars! Meanwhile I look to you to aid
and abet me in various ways. The Countess, like all foreigners of real
rank, knows our peerage and nobility off by heart; and she constantly
asks me if I know the Marquis of this, and the Duchess of that, and I 'm
sorely put to, to show cause why I 'm not intimate with them all. Now,
my dear Tiverton, can't you somehow give me the Shibboleth amongst these
high-priests of Fashion, and get me into the Tabernacle, if only for a
season? I used myself to know some of the swells of London life when I
was at Baden, but, to be sure, I lost a deal of money to them at "creps"
and "lansquenet" as the price of the intimacy; and when "_I_ shut up,"
so did _they_ too. You, I'm sure, however, will hit upon some expedient
to gain me at least acceptance and recognition for a week or two. I only
want the outward signs of acquaintanceship, mark you, for I honestly own
that all I ever saw during my brief intimacy with these fellows gave me
anything but a high "taste of their quality."
I'll enclose you the list of the distinguished company now here, and
you 'll pick out any to whom you can present me. Another, and not a less
important service, I also look to at your hands, which is, to break all
this to the governor, to whom I 'm half ashamed to write myself. In
the first place, a recent event, of which I may speak more fully to you
hereafter, may have made the old gent somewhat suspectful; and secondly,
he 'll be fraptious about my not going over to England; although, I
'll take my oath, if he wants it, that I 'd pitch up the appointment
to-morrow, if I had it At the best, I don't suppose they 'd make me
more than a Secretary of Legation; and _that_, perhaps, at the Hague, or
Stuttgard, or some other confounded capital of fog and flunkeydom; and I
need n't say your friend Jem is not going to "enter for such stakes."
You 'd like to know our plans; and so far as I can make out, we're not
to marry till we reach Italy. At Milan, probably, the dispensation will
reach us, and the ceremony will be performed by the Arch B.. himself.
This she insists upon; for about church matters and dignitaries she
stickles to a degree that I 'd laugh at if I dare; and that I intend to
do later on, when I can _dare_ with impunity.
Except this, and a most inordinate amount of prudery, she hasn't a
fault on earth. Her reserve is, however, awful; and I almost spoiled
everything t' other evening by venturing to kiss her hand before she
drew her glove on. By Jove, did n't she give me a lecture! If any one
had only overheard her, I 'm not sure they would n't have thought me a
lucky fellow to get off with transportation for life! As it was, I
had to enter into heavy recognizances for the future, and was even
threatened with having Mademoiselle Pauline, her maid, present at all
our subsequent meetings! The very menace made me half crazy!
After all, the fault is on the right side; and I suppose the day will
come when I shall deem it the very reverse of a failing. You will be
curious to know something about her fortune, but not a whit more so
than I am. That her means are ample--even splendid--her style of
living evidences. The whole "premier" of a fashionable hotel, four
saddle-horses, two carriages, and a tribe of servants are a strong
security for a well-filled purse; but more than that I can ascertain
nothing.
As for myself, my supplies will only carry me through a very short
campaign, so that I am driven of necessity to hasten matters as much as
possible. Now, my dear Tiverton, you know my whole story; and I beg you
to lose no time in giving me your very best and shrewdest counsels. Put
me up to everything you can think of about settlements, and so forth;
and tell me if marrying a foreigner in any way affects my nationality.
In brief, turn the thing over in your mind in all manner of ways, and
let me have the result.
She is confoundedly particular about knowing that my family approve
of the match; and though I have represented myself as being perfectly
independent of them on the score of fortune,--which, so far as not
expecting a shilling from them, is strictly true,--I shall probably
be obliged to obtain something in the shape of a formal consent and
paternal benediction; in which case I reckon implicitly on you to
negotiate the matter.
I have been just interrupted by the arrival of a packet from Paris. It
is a necklace and some other trumpery I had sent for to "Le Roux." She
is in ecstasy with it, but cannot conceal her terror at my extravagance.
The twenty thousand francs it cost are a cheap price for the remark the
present elicited: "My miserable 'rente' of a hundred thousand francs,"
said she, "will be nothing to a man of such wasteful habits." So, then,
we have, four thousand a year, certain, George; and, as times go, one
might do worse.
I have no time for more, as we are going to ride out Write to me at
once, like a good fellow, and give all your spare thoughts to the
fortunes of your ever attached friend,
James Dodd.
Address me Lucerne, for _she_ means to remove from this at once,--the
gossips having already taken an interest in us more flattering than
agreeable. I shall expect a letter from you at the post-office.