THE LADY OF THE HIDDEN FACE
Next morning at ten, the door boy at his lodgings informed Jack that a
lady was waiting to see him in the parlor. The lady was deeply veiled.
She did not speak, but arose as he entered the room and handed him a
note. She was tall and erect with a fine carriage. Her silence was
impressive, her costume admirable.
The note in a script unfamiliar to the young man was as follows:
"You will find Margaret waiting in a coach at eleven to-day at the
corner of Harley Street and Twickenham Road."
The veiled lady walked to the door and turned and stood looking at him.
Her attitude said clearly: "Well, what is your answer ?"
"I will be there at eleven," said the young man. The veiled lady
nodded, as if to indicate that her mission was ended, and withdrew.
Jack was thrilled by the information but wondered why it was so wrapped
in mystery. Not ten minutes had passed after the departure of the
veiled lady when a messenger came with a note from Sir Benjamin Hare.
In a cordial tone, it invited Jack to breakfast at the Almack Club at
twelve-thirty. The young man returned his acceptance by the same
messenger, and in his best morning suit went to meet Margaret. A cab
conveyed him to the corner named. There was the coach with shades
drawn low, waiting. A footman stood near it. The door was opened and
he saw Margaret looking out at him and shaking her hand.
"You see what a sly thing I am!" she said when, the greetings over, he
sat by her side and the coach was moving. "A London girl knows how to
get her way. She is terribly wise, Jack."
"But, tell me, who was the veiled lady?"
"A go-between. She makes her living that way. She is wise, discreet
and reliable. There is employment for many such in this wicked city.
I feel disgraced, Jack. I hope you will not think that I am accustomed
to dark and secret ways. This has worried and distressed me, but I had
to see you."
"And I was longing for a look at you," he said.
"I was sure you would not know how to pull these ropes of intrigue. I
have heard all about them. I couldn't help that, you know, and be a
young lady who is quite alive."
"Our time is short and I have much to say," said Jack. "I am to
breakfast with your father at the Almack Club at twelve-thirty."
She clapped her hands and said, with a laughing face, "I knew he would
ask you!"
"Margaret, I want to take you to America with the approval of your
father, if possible, and without it, if necessary."
"I think you will get his approval," said the girl with enthusiasm.
"He has heard all about the duel. He says every one he met, of the
court party, last evening, was speaking of it. They agree that the old
General needed that lesson. Jack, how proud I am of you!"
She pressed his hand in both of hers.
"I couldn't help knowing how to shoot," he answered. "And I would not
be worthy to touch this fair hand of yours if I had failed to resent an
insult."
"Although he is a friend of the General, my father was pleased," she
went on. "He calls you a good sport. 'A young man of high spirit who
is not to be played with,' that is what he said. Now, Jack, if you do
not stick too hard on principles--if you can yield, only a little, I am
sure he will let us be married."
"I am eager to hear what he may say now," said Jack. "Whatever it may
be, let us stick together and go to America and be happy. It would be
a dark world without you. May I see you to-morrow?"
"At the same hour and place," she answered.
They talked of the home they would have in Philadelphia and planned its
garden, Jack having told of the site he had bought with great trees and
a river view. They spent an hour which lent its abundant happiness to
many a long year and when they parted, soon after twelve o'clock, Jack
hurried away to keep his appointment.
2
Sir Benjamin received the young man with a warm greeting and friendly
words. Their breakfast was served in a small room where they were
alone together, and when they were seated the Baronet observed:
"I have heard of the duel. It has set some of the best tongues in
England wagging in praise of 'the Yankee boy.' One would scarcely have
expected that."
"No, I was prepared to run for my life--not that I planned to do any
great damage," said Jack.
"You can shoot straight--that is evident. They call your delivery of
that bullet swift, accurate and merciful. Your behavior has pleased
some very eminent people. The blustering talk of the General excites
no sympathy here. In London, strangers are not likely to be treated as
you were."
"If I did not believe that I should be leaving it," said Jack. "I
should not like to take up dueling for an amusement, as some men have
done in France."
"You are a well built man inside and out," Sir Benjamin answered. "You
might have a great future in England. I speak advisedly."
Their talk had taken a turn quite unexpected. It flattered the young
man. He blushed and answered:
"Sir Benjamin, I have no great faith in my talents."
"On terms which I would call easy, you could have fame, honor and
riches, I would say."
"At present I want only your daughter. As to the rest, I shall make
myself content with what may naturally come to me."
"And let me name the terms on which I should be glad to welcome you to
my family."
"What are the terms?"
"Loyalty to your King and a will to understand and assist his plans."
"I could not follow him unless he will change his plans."
The Baronet put down his fork and looked up at the young man. "Do you
really mean what you say?" he demanded. "Is it so difficult for you to
do your duty as a British subject?"
"Sir Benjamin, always I have been taught that it is the duty of a
British subject to resist oppression. The plans of the King are
oppressive. I can not fall in with them. I love Margaret as I love my
life, but I must keep myself worthy of her. If I could think so well
of my conduct, it is because I have principles that are inviolable."
"At least I hope you would promise me not to take up arms against the
King."
"Please don't ask me to do that. It would grieve me to fight against
England. I hope it may never be, but I would rather fight than submit
to tyranny."
The Baronet made no reply to this declaration so firmly made. A new
look came into his face. Indignation and resentment were there, but he
did not forget the duty of a host. He began to speak of other things.
The breakfast went on to its end in an atmosphere of cool politeness.
When they were out upon the street together, Sir Benjamin turned to him
and said:
"Now that we are on neutral ground, I want to say that you Americans
are a stiff-necked lot of people. You are not like any other breed of
men. I am done with you. My way can not be yours. Let us part as
friends and gentlemen ought to part. I say good-by with a sense of
regret. I shall never forget your service to my wife and daughter."
"Think not of that," said the young man. "What I did for them I would
do for any one who needed my help."
"I have to ask you to give up all hope of marrying my daughter."
"That I can not do," said Jack. "Over that hope I have no control. I
might as well promise not to breathe."
"But I must ask you to give me your word as a gentleman that you will
hold no further communication with her."
"Sir Benjamin, I shall be frank with you. It is an unfair request. I
can not agree to it."
"What do you say?" the Englishman asked in a tone of astonishment, and
his query was emphasized with a firm tap of his cane on the pavement.
"I hate to displease you, sir, but if I made such a promise, I would be
sure to break it."
"Then, sir, I shall see to it that you have no opportunity to oppose my
will."
In spite of his fine restraint, the eyes of the Baronet glowed with
anger, as he quickly turned from the young man and hurried away.
"Here is more tyranny," the American thought as he went in the opposite
direction. "But I do not believe he can keep us apart."
"I walked on and on," he wrote to a friend. "Never had I felt such a
sense of loss and loneliness and dejection. I almost resented the
inflexible tyranny of my own spirit which had turned him against me. I
accused myself of a kind of selfishness in the matter. Had it been
right in me to take a course which endangered the happiness of another,
to say nothing of my own? But I couldn't have done otherwise, not if I
had known that a mountain were to fall upon me. I am like all of those
who follow the star in the west. We do as we must. I had not seen
Franklin since my duel, and largely because I had been ashamed to face
him. Now I felt the need of his wisdom and so I turned my steps toward
his door."
3
"I am like the land of Goshen amid the plagues of Egypt," said
Franklin, when the young man was admitted to his office. "My gout is
gone and I am in good spirits in spite of your adventure."
"And I suppose you will scold me for the adventure."
"You will scold yourself when the consequences have arrived. They will
be sure to give you a spanking. The deed is done, and well done. On
the whole I think it has been good for the cause, but bad for you."
"Why?"
"You may have to run out of England to save your neck and the face of
the King. He was there, I believe?"
"Yes, sir."
"The injured lad is in a bad way. The wound caught an infection.
Intense fever and swelling have set in. I helped Sir John Pringle to
amputate the arm this afternoon, but even that may not save the
patient. Here is a storm to warn the wandering linnet to his shade. A
ship goes to-morrow evening. Get ready to take it. In that case your
marriage will have to be delayed. Rash men are often compelled to live
on hope and die fasting."
"With Sir Benjamin, the duel has been a help instead of a hindrance,"
said the young man. "My stubborn soul has been the great obstacle."
Then he told of his interview with Sir Benjamin Hare.
Franklin put his hand on Jack's shoulder and said with a smile:
"My son, I love you. I could wish you to be no different. Cheer up.
Time will lay the dust, and perhaps sooner than you think."
"I hope to see Margaret to-morrow morning."
"Ah, then, 'what Grecian arts of soft persuasion!'" Franklin quoted.
"I hope that she, too, will follow the great star in the west!"
"I hope so, but I greatly fear that our meeting will be prevented."
"Did you get my note of to-day at your lodgings?" Franklin asked.
"No," said Jack. "I left there soon after ten."
"Lord Chatham has kindly offered to secure admission for you and me to
the House of Lords. He is making an important motion. Come, let us go
and see the hereditary legislators."
Lord Stanhope met them at the door of the House of Lords. There was a
great bustle among the officers when His Lordship announced their names
and his desire to have them admitted. The officers hurried in after
members and there was some delay, in the course of which the Americans
were turned from the division reserved for eldest sons and brothers of
peers. Not less than ten minutes were consumed in the process of
seating Franklin and his friend.
Soon Lord Chatham arose and moved that His Majesty's forces be
withdrawn from Boston. With a singular charm of personality and
address, the great dissenter made his speech. Jack wrote in his diary
that evening: "The most captivating figure that ever I saw is a
well-bred Englishman trained in the art of public speaking." The words
were no doubt inspired by the impressive speech of Chatham, which is
now an imperishable part of the history of England. These words from
it the young man remembered:
"If the ministers thus persevere in misleading and misadvising the
King, I will not say that they can alienate the affection of his
subjects from his crown, but I will affirm that they will make his
crown not worth his wearing; I will not say that the King is betrayed,
but I will say that the kingdom is undone."
Lord Sandwich in a petulant speech declared that the motion ought not
to be received. He could never believe it the production of a British
peer. Turning toward Franklin, he flung out:
"I fancy that I have in my eye the person who drew it up--one of the
bitterest and most mischievous enemies this country has ever known."
"Franklin sat immovable and without the slightest change in his
countenance," Jack wrote in a letter to _The Pennsylvania Gazette_.
Chatham declared that the motion was his own, and added:
"If I were the first minister of this country, charged with the
settling of its momentous business, I should not be ashamed to call to
my assistance a man so perfectly acquainted with all American affairs,
as the gentleman so injuriously referred to--one whom all Europe holds
in high estimation for his knowledge and wisdom, which are an honor,
not only to England, but to human nature."
"Franklin told me that this was harder for him to bear than the abuse,
but he kept his countenance as blank as a sheet of white paper," Jack
wrote. "There was much vehement declamation against the measure and it
was rejected.
"When we had left the chamber, Franklin said to me:
"'That motion was made by the first statesman of the age, who took the
helm of state when the latter was in the depths of despondency and led
it to glorious victory through a war with two of the mightiest kingdoms
in Europe. Only a few of those men had the slightest understanding of
its merits. Yet they would not even consider it in a second reading.
They are satisfied with their ignorance. They have nothing to learn.
Hereditary legislators! There would be more propriety in hereditary
professors of mathematics! Heredity is a great success with only one
kind of creature.'
"'What creature?' I asked.
"'The ass,' he answered, with as serious a countenance as I have seen
him wear.
"No further word was spoken as we rode back to his home," the young man
wrote. "We knew the die had been cast. We had seen it fall carelessly
out of the hand of Ignorance, obeying intellects swelled with
hereditary passion and conceit. I now had something to say to my
countrymen."