As the Shannon draws near Killaloe, the wild character of the mountain
scenery, the dreary wastes and desolate islands which marked Lough
Derg, disappear, and give way to gently sloping lawns, dotted over with
well-grown timber, well-kept demesnes, spacious country-houses, and
a country which, in general, almost recalls the wealth and comfort of
England.
About a mile above the town, in a little bend of the river forming a
small bay, stands a small but pretty house, with a skirt of rich wood
projecting at the back, while the lawn in front descends by an easy
slope to the river.
Originally a mere farmhouse, the taste of an ingenious owner had
taken every advantage of its irregular outline, and converted it into
something Elizabethan in character, a style admirably adapted to the
site, where all the features of rich-colored landscape abounded, and
where varied foliage, heathy mountain, and eddying river, all lent
themselves to make up a scene of fresh and joyous beauty.
In the marvellous fertility of the soil, too, was found an ally to every
prospect of embellishment. Sheltered from north and east winds, plants
grew here in the open air, which in less favored spots needed the
protection of the conservatory; and thus in the neatly shaven lawn were
seen groups of blossoming shrubs or flowers of rare excellence, and the
camellia and the salvia and the oleander blended with the tulip, the
moss-rose, and the carnation, to stud the grass with their gorgeous
colors.
Over the front of the cottage, for cottage it really was, a South
American creeper, a sort of acanthus, grew, its crimson flowers hanging
in rich profusion over cornice and architrave; while a passion-tree of
great age covered the entire porch, relieving with its softened tints
the almost over-brilliancy of the southern plant.
Seen from the water,--and it came suddenly into view on rounding a
little headland,--few could forbear from an exclamation of wonder and
admiration at this lovely spot; nor could all the pretentious grandeur
of the rich-wooded parks, nor all the more imposing architecture of the
great houses, detract from the marvellous charm of this simple home.
A tradition of a swan carried away by some rising of the river from the
Castle of Portumna, and swept down the lake till it found refuge in the
little bay, had given the name to the place, and for more than a hundred
years was it known as the Swan's Nest. The Swan, however, no longer
existed, though a little thatched edifice at the water-side marked the
spot it had once inhabited, and sustained the truth of the legend.
The owner of the place was a Dr. Lendrick: he had come to it about
twenty years before the time at which our story opens,--a widower with
two children, a son and a daughter. He was a perfect stranger to all the
neighborhood, though by name well known as the son of a distinguished
judge, Baron Lendrick of the Court of Exchequer.
It was rumored about, that, having displeased his father, first by
adopting medicine instead of law as his profession, and subsequently by
marrying a portionless girl of humble family, the Baron had ceased to
recognize him in any way. Making a settlement of a few hundreds a year
on him, he resolved to leave the bulk of his fortune to a step-son, the
child of his second wife, a Colonel Sewell, then in India.
It was with no thought of practising his profession that Dr. Lendrick
had settled in the neighborhood; but as he was always ready to assist
the poor by his advice and skill, and as the reputation of his great
ability gradually got currency, he found himself constrained to yield
to the insistence of his neighbors, and consent to practise generally.
There were many things which made this course unpalatable to him. He was
by nature shy, timid, and retiring; he was fastidiously averse to a new
acquaintanceship; he had desired, besides, to live estranged from the
world, devoting himself entirely to the education of his children; and
he neither liked the forced publicity he became exposed to, nor that
life of servitude which leaves the doctor at the hourly mercy of the
world around him.
If he yielded, therefore, to the professional calls upon him, he
resisted totally all social claims: he went nowhere but as the doctor.
No persuasion, no inducement, could prevail on him to dine out; no
exigency of time or season prevent him returning to his home at night.
There were in his neighborhood one or two persons whose rank might have,
it was supposed, influenced him in some degree to comply with their
requests,--and, certainly, whose desire for his society would have
left nothing undone to secure it; but he was as obdurate to them as
to others, and the Earl of Drum-carran and Sir Reginald Lacy, of Lacy
Manor, were not a whit more successful in their blandishments than the
Vicar of Killaloe--old Bob Mills, as he was irreverently called--or
Lendrick's own colleague, Dr. Tobin, who, while he respected his
superior ability and admitted his knowledge, secretly hated him as only
a rival doctor knows how to hate a brother practitioner.
For the first time for many years had Dr. Lendrick gone up to Dublin.
A few lines from an old family physician, Dr. Beattie, had, however,
called him up to town. The Chief Baron had been taken ill in Court, and
was conveyed home in a state of insensibility. It was declared that he
had rallied and passed a favorable night; but as he was a man of very
advanced age, at no time strong, and ever unsparing of himself in the
arduous labors of his office, grave doubts were felt that he would
ever again resume his seat on the Bench. Dr. Beattie well knew the long
estrangement that had separated the father from the son; and although,
perhaps, the most intimate friend the Judge had in the world, he never
had dared to interpose a word or drop a hint as to the advisability of
reconciliation.
Sir William Lendrick was, indeed, a man whom no amount of intimacy could
render his friends familiar with. He was positively charming to mere
acquaintanceship,--his manner was a happy blending of deference with
a most polished wit Full of bygone experiences and reminiscences of
interesting people and events, he never overlaid conversation by their
mention, but made them merely serve to illustrate the present, either
by contrast or resemblance. All this to the world and society was he; to
the inmates of his house he was a perfect terror! It was said his first
wife had died of a broken heart; his second, with a spirit fierce and
combative as his own, had quarrelled with him so often, so seriously,
and so hopelessly, that for the last fifteen years of life they had
occupied separate houses, and only met as acquaintances, accepting
and sending invitations to each other, and outwardly observing all the
usages of a refined courtesy.
This was the man of whom Dr. Beattie wrote: “I cannot presume to say
that he is _more_ favorably disposed towards you than he has shown
himself for years, but I would strenuously advise your being here, and
sufficiently near, so that if a happier disposition should occur, or an
opportunity arise to bring you once more together, the fortunate moment
should not be lost. Come up, then, at once, come to my house, where
your room is ready for you, and where you will neither be molested by
visitors nor interfered with. Manage too, if you can, to remain here for
some days.”
It is no small tribute to the character of filial affection when one can
say, and say truthfully, that scarcely any severity on a parent's part
effaces the love that was imbibed in infancy, and that struck root in
the heart before it could know what unkindness was! Over and over again
in life have I witnessed this deep devotion. Over and over again have I
seen a clinging affection to a memory which nothing short of a hallowed
tie could have made so dear,--a memory that retained whatever could
comfort and sustain, and held nothing that recalled shame or sorrow.
Dr. Lendrick went up to town full of such emotions. All the wrong--it
was heavy wrong too--he had suffered was forgotten, all the Injustice
wiped out. He only asked to be permitted to see his father,--to nurse
and watch by him. There was no thought for himself. By reconciliation
he never meant restoration to his place as heir. Forgiveness and love he
asked for,--to be taken back to the heart so long closed against him, to
hear himself called Tom by that voice he knew so well, and whose accents
sounded through his dreams.
That he was not without a hope of such happiness, might be gathered from
one circumstance. He had taken up with him two miniatures of his boy and
girl to show “Grandfather,” if good fortune should ever offer a fitting
moment.
The first words which greeted him on reaching his friend's house were:
“Better. A tolerably tranquil night. He can move his hand. The attack
was paralysis, and his speech is also improved.”
“And his mind? how is his mind?”
“Clear as ever it was,--intensely eager to hear what is said about his
illness, and insatiable as to the newspaper versions of the attack.”
“Does he speak? Has he spoken of--his family at all?” said he,
falteringly.
“Only of Lady Lendrick. He desired to see her. He dictated a note to
me, in terms of very finished courtesy, asking her if, without incurring
inconvenience, she would favor him with an early call. The whole thing
was so like himself that I saw at once he was getting better.”
“And so you think him better?” asked Lendrick, eagerly.
“Better! Yes--but not out of danger. I fear as much from his
irritability as his malady. He will insist on seeing the newspapers, and
occasionally his eye falls on some paragraph that wounds him. It was but
yesterday that he read a sort of querulous regret from some writer that
'the learned Judge had not retired some years ago, and before failing
health, acting on a very irascible temperament, had rendered him a
terror alike to the bar and the suitors.' That unfortunate paragraph
cost twenty leeches and ice to his temples for eight hours after.”
“Cannot these things be kept from him? Surely your authority ought to be
equal to this!”
“Were I to attempt it, he would refuse to see me. In fact, any utility
I can contribute depends on my apparent submission to him in everything.
Almost his first question to me every morning is, 'Well, sir, who is to
be my successor?' Of course I say that we all look with a sanguine hope
to see him soon back in his court again. When I said this yesterday, he
replied, 'I will sit on Wednesday, sir, to hear appeals; there will be
little occasion for me to speak, and I trust another day or two will see
the last of this difficulty of utterance. Pemberton, I know, is looking
to the Attorney-Generalship, and George Hayes thinks he may order his
ermine. Tell them, however, from me, that the Chief Baron intends to
preside in his court for many a year to come; that the intellect, such
as it is, with which Providence endowed him, is still unchanged and
unclouded.' This is his language,--this his tone; and you may know
how such a spirit jars with all our endeavors to promote rest and
tranquillity.”
Lendrick walked moodily up and down the room, his head sunk, and his
eyes downcast. “Never to speak of me,--never ask to see me,” muttered
he, in a voice of intense sadness.
“I half suspected at one time he was about to do so, and indeed he said,
'If this attack should baffle you, Beattie, you must not omit to give
timely warning. There are two or three things to be thought of.' When I
came away on that morning, I sat down and wrote to you to come up here.”
A servant entered at this moment and presented a note to the doctor, who
read it hastily and handed it to Lendrick. It ran thus:--
“Dear Dr. Beattie,--The Chief Baron has had an unfavorable turn, partly
brought on by excitement. Lose no time in coming here; and believe me,
yours sincerely,
“CONSTANTIA LENDRICK.”
“They've had a quarrel; I knew they would. I did my best to prevent
their meeting; but I saw he would not go out of the world without a
scene. As he said last night, 'I mean her to hear my “charge.” She must
listen to my charge, Beattie;' and I 'd not be astonished if this charge
were to prove his own sentence.”
“Go to him at once, Beattie; and if it be at all possible, if you can
compass it in any way, let me see him once again. Take these with you;
who knows but their bright faces may plead better than words for us?”
and thus saying, he gave him the miniatuies; and overcome with emotion
he could not control, turned away and left the room.