before he departed from Hedgely Hall.
XV
LONG-SWORD AGAIN
For more than six weeks, taken up entirely by his duties as one of the
Council, Richard Maynadier remained in Annapolis or at country houses
in the immediate vicinity;--Whitehall, the Governor's summer place,
ten miles distant; at Belvoir, the Ross place on Wyatt's Ridge, up
the Severn, overlooking the waters of Round Bay; at Tulip Hall, the
Galloway place on West River; and at Montpelier, the Ridgely place, on
the Savage.
Governor Sharpe was having his troubles with the Lower House of
the General Assembly over the Supply Bill, which he regarded as
necessary in one form, and the law makers in another. The executive
and the legislative minds would not meet, as to what was best for the
well-being of the Colony, and, as a result, they were kept in session
through the summer, and not suffered to adjourn. The Governor refused
to prorogue them until they passed a Bill acceptable to him; they
refused to pass such a Bill. A deadlock was the natural result--during
which much unkind language was used, by the Representatives toward the
Governor.
He, however, having sent them a message making evident his desires
in this particular, was dignifiedly reserved. They knew what he
wanted--when he got it, or something near it, they could go home. If
they went home, without being prorogued, those, who were in accord
with him, would pass his Bill. He had the whiphand--he could afford to
maintain a dignified reserve. Moreover, it was his nature.
Meanwhile, Sir Edward Parkington had spent one week with the Snowdens,
and then, on their urging, had consented to remain three more. After
which, he went to Sotterly, for a short visit, and then to Rousby Hall.
In the first part of August, he was due at Whitehall, for an indefinite
stay.
He had settled down, to a skilful courtship of Judith Marbury, the day
they arrived at the Snowdens', and had continued, persistently, during
the two weeks to which her visit had been prolonged. He had had--to
him--several very satisfactory talks with old Marbury, just before he
left Hedgely Hall, and he thought that all effect of the overflow of
confidence, on the part of the latter, had been forgotten, and that he
would welcome Sir Edward Parkington as a son-in-law. In fact, if he
could have been assured of the daughter, he would have been entirely
satisfied.
She was exasperatingly perplexing. She had been most responsive up to
a certain point, but he could never get beyond. He had not tried to
make love to her, deliberately and with evident purpose, but he stopped
just short of it. And she, for her part, appeared to be flattered by
the attentions of the cultured Englishman, and to receive them with
something more than a passing pleasure. Yet, behind it, there was a
reserve--a something--which all his efforts had failed to penetrate.
At times, he thought she was deliberately trying to draw him on; then,
again, that she was trying to stay him. It was very fascinating, very
pretty, and very alluring, but it was certainly not satisfactory to
him. She must love him, before he could confess the changed identity,
and hope to hold her; for he had arrived at the conclusion, that Judith
Marbury would marry only where she loved.
The nearest he came to love-making--and an incident worth narrating,
because it touched him rather closely--occurred at the Snowdens'.
One day, the talk had turned on the general subject of those who had
left the old country and settled in the new, under assumed names--the
old ones being a trifle unhandy, either on account of the law, or for
some other reasons. Parkington had had nothing to do with suggesting
the topic--in fact, he joined them when it was well underway.
"For my part," said Herford, "I want nothing to do with the man who
takes a false name. He is a rogue--you can gamble on it."
"You are a trifle too general," objected Constable. "You forget the
object he may have in changing his name. Is it honest, or is it not?"
"Honest!" retorted the Captain. "Does not the very fact answer for
itself. A false name! much honesty there is in that."
"As much as can be said," returned Constable, "is that it puts him
under suspicion, _if known_. But, if it be not known, and if the man
conduct himself properly, under his new name, I, for one, would not
care."
"Would not care because you would not know!" laughed Herford. "It would
be otherwise, if you knew."
"If I knew he was a criminal, yes--if I knew he had changed his name
for some other reason, it would not. In this new country, we have to
take men for what they are worth, as men--we cannot look too closely
into motives, so long as they do not hide a crime."
"Do either of you know a case in point?" asked Snowden.
"No!" said Herford.
"Nor I," said Constable; "however, I am very ready to believe there are
instances right around us."
"Among our friends?"
"Hardly!" laughed Constable. "I do not mean among those we know, but
among those we do not know. Though, for the matter of that, if we go
back a generation or two, it might apply to us, also. How do you know,
Herford, that your out-coming ancestor did not change his name?"
"Do you mean to imply----"
"Now, do not get excited--we are arguing an abstract question----"
"Which you have turned into a personal question."
"Then I will change it. How do I know, that the original Constable, in
America, did not go under some other name in England.--I don't--you
don't--no one knows. We take each other on faith, the only difference
with us is, that the faith extends back over a generation or two." He
glanced around him. Miss Marbury was not in hearing. "There is old
Marbury, for instance. He is new. How do we know his name is Marbury?
He says it is--so far as we are informed, he has always said it is, but
we do not _know_. We take him on faith. We take almost every one on
faith. Is it not so, Parkington?"
"Undoubtedly," was the answer. "The only advantage we, of England, have
is a few more generations."
"A few more generations!" exclaimed Herford. "You, who have them can
afford to be indifferent. It is we, who have only one, or two, or, at
the most, three who have to be careful."
"I do not quite grasp your point," said Parkington.
"It is plain as I can make it," was the retort.
"That may be true," returned Parkington, with an amused smile, "but,
nevertheless, I fail to comprehend."
"Take your time to it, then," Herford answered, with a shrug, "it will
come to you, presently," and he sauntered away to join Miss Stirling,
whose laugh was heard toward the house.
"Parkington," said Constable, "you are very considerate.--We know
Herford and his way, and do not take offense, but you have no reason
for holding off."
Parkington smiled. "Herford simply amuses me," he said. "I always want
to laugh, when he grows sarcastic. He hits my funny-bone instead of my
temper. I suppose, for my own reputation, I should call him out, but,
to my mind, a spanking would be more appropriate."
"Exactly our judgment," remarked Snowden. "And, yet, he is an excellent
officer, with a first-class record in active service."
"So Maynadier tells me," said Parkington.
"Just now, he is infatuated with the Governor's niece, and has a
quarrel with every one who looks at her," observed Constable. "And, on
that score," (smiling) "he has fair ground for being a trifle touchy
with you."
Parkington laughed, and accepted the charge. It was just as well, if he
could direct attention to Miss Stirling, while he was making his way
with Judith.
A little later, Miss Marbury chanced upon him, seemingly by
accident--in fact, by intention--as he was passing to the card-room on
the lower floor, and, presently, they were strolling back and forth in
the rose-walk.
"Sir Edward, I want to ask you something--and I want you to give me a
true answer," she said.
"I always strive to make true answer to you," he replied.
"Do you? Well, I am not so sure. However, be truthful now, and I
forgive the past." She turned and faced him. "What were Mr. Constable
and Captain Herford and you discussing a little while ago?"
"Many things," he answered--"sort of a desultory gossip without point."
"And among the 'things' were the Marburys. Mr. Constable was talking.
He said: 'Old Marbury, for instance. He is new. How do we know his name
is Marbury? He says it is, but we do not know.' I did not hear more--I
could not help that I heard so much. I was passing behind the hedge,
and his words came to me, before I could realize they were not for my
ears."
"My dear Miss Marbury, he was only citing an instance to prove a
general proposition!" Parkington exclaimed. "We were not discussing any
one. Had you heard the last of his remarks, you would have understood.
They were, 'we take almost every one on faith.' I am sure----"
"I am not sensitive," she interrupted. "I know we are new people--that
my father is the founder of his family--that we have to stand, George
and I, on our own merits, and father's money. I have great faith in the
latter, Sir Edward!" she laughed. "It will get me a husband from among
the aristocrats of the Province, if I wish it."
"It will do more--it and your sweetness will get you a husband from the
gentlemen of England," he said, with a meaning look and a low bow.
"If I went to London, and hawked myself around for sale, maybe," she
answered, deliberately misunderstanding him.
"Why go so far, my lady?" he asked.
This time, there was no misunderstanding possible, but she still
continued to treat it as impersonal.
"No," she said, with a shake of her head, "that would be unnecessarily
difficult for the man--he would have to prove too much; and the further
removed the proofs are from America, the more they are required."
"But if the man thought nothing of the difficulty?" he asked.
"I should be severe!" she laughed. "I should want to be assured, first,
of his good faith."
He bowed.
"And of his family's willingness, if I were to go to England."
"Suppose you did not have to go to England--suppose that he remained
here?"
"It is not supposable," she answered.
"But if it were?" he insisted.
"Then, it would be eliminated."
"And what else would he have to prove?"
"He would have to prove," she answered, slowly, "that he has a right to
the name he bears."
Though she was watching him closely, he gave not the slightest
indication of surprise.
"Would that not be most unusual," he said--"to require a man to
prove that he is _not_ an impostor? Is not the presumption with him
instead of against him--unless, of course, something has aroused your
suspicions?"
"Yes!" was the vague reply, that told him nothing, and let him think
anything. "And, then, after he had done all these things, Sir Edward,
he would have to make me love him."
"My dear Miss Marbury," said Parkington, with an amused smile, "when
you admit the love element all else departs."
"I should not love him _until_ he had complied with the conditions."
"You would coerce love?" he asked.
"I should try," she answered, after a little pause.
His hand found hers, as though by accident, and she let it linger for
an instant, before she took her own away. Then, she said:
"Sometimes, Sir Edward, I fancy you are inclined to play at making love
to me just to keep your hand in!" and, with a merry laugh, fled.
In the first week of August, Sir Edward Parkington came to Annapolis to
stay with Governor Sharpe, preparatory to going with him to Whitehall.
He promptly returned the two hundred pounds, his Excellency had lent
him earlier in the season; the card tables had yielded very good
pickings from his fellow guests, and no need for any exercise of his
particular skill, either, his natural ability, and Dame Fortune, having
been ample for success.
The Governor and the Lower House had reached an agreement as to the
Supply Bill, at last, and the Assembly was scheduled to be prorogued
on the morrow. The town was filled with those who usually attend the
last hours of any legislative body:--the officers of the Provincial
Government, the Councillors, the Representatives, the hangers on, the
spoilsmen and the riff-raff. Otherwise, Annapolis was deserted.
The heated spell was at its height, and the gentility had, long since,
sought the cool and quiet of their country estates, along the Eastern
and Western Shores. The Governor's house was open, with its usual
retinue of servants, but it was alone in its grandeur. The rest showed
only a single light at night, and a solitary servant, left to care for
the man of the family who was in presence. They, too, would vanish on
the morrow, and Annapolis would, so far as the sacred precincts of the
quality were concerned, become a dead city, until Autumn touched it
again to life.
It was something after ten o'clock, when Sir Edward Parkington, being
bored with himself, left the Governor's mansion, and sauntered through
the deserted precincts of the town to the Coffee-house, on Church
Street.
He could count on finding some of the young bloods there, and some of
the old bloods, as well--the legislature could not hold every one,
on such a night. Before he came to State House Hill, he saw that the
Assembly had risen, and, when he reached the Coffee-house, the noise,
from within, told him that he should find plenty of companionship.
In the larger room, were gathered a coterie of the younger men, who
greeted him with a shout of welcome.
"Come in, Parkington! come in, and join us!" shouted Mr. Cole. He
thundered on the table. "Here, Sparrow, a glas'h for Sir Edward. We are
drinking confush'on to those who think differently from us."
"I can drink that toast, and think as I please!" laughed Parkington.
"'Zactly! 'Zactly! that's just it--you have the idea--shink as you
please--the point isn't to shink, it's to take a drink.--Sir Edward,
your good health!"
Parkington drank, then put aside his glass, and sat down. Mr. Jennings,
who was reading the Gazette, looked up.
"Here is a fellow who must have been as mellow as our friend Cole," he
said. "Listen:
"'_A hat was taken off a gentleman's head in the street before the
Subscriber's House in Upper Marlborough, on Friday night, the 7th
ultimo. Whoever will stop the said hat, if offered for sale, and
discover the thief, so that he may be brought to justice, shall
have a reward of two pistoles paid by_
_B. Brookes._'"
"Go 'long, Jennings!" said Dr. Upton Scott, (who having been the
surgeon on Wolfe's staff, at the battle of Quebec, had come to
Annapolis, married a daughter of John Ross, the Proprietor's Deputy,
and built one of the most attractive houses in town--on the banks of
the Spa, adjoining the residences of Carroll and Tasker). "You are
trading on our credulity."
"I swear it is here--just as I read it."
"Well, even Cole has a long way to go, before he gets as drunk as
Brookes' friend. But, cheer up, old man, you are getting there!" said
the Doctor, clapping Cole on the shoulder, and spilling a pint of
Madeira out of his hands.
"I'm getting there!" Cole agreed, looking up with a silly smile, "but
I'll get there fas'her if you spilled les'h, Scott.
"I'm a s'h'ailor bold, a s'h'ailor bold,
Ho! Ho! Ho!
I'm a s'h'ailor bold, a s'h'ailor bold,
Ho! Ho! Ho!"
"Stop your infernal din!" said Lloyd Dulany, "or we will take you up
stairs, and put you to bed."
Cole struggled to his feet, and stood swaying, uncertainly, for a
moment.
"I'm ins'h'ulted!" he said, "ins'h'ulted!"
Jennings pushed him back in a chair.
"You're drunk, again, Cole," he said. "Just go to sleep and forget it."
"Is'h that advi'sh of a frien'?"
"Yes--very much a friend."
"That s'h'ettles it--a frien' always safe," and he sat down heavily,
and almost, instantly, was asleep.
"Cole's only occupation in life seems to be to sober up so as to be
able to get drunk again," said Jennings to Parkington; "and that is why
we tolerate him."
"Every one of us has some fault," said Parkington. "I am----"
His voice trailed off and stopped. He was facing the doorway, and, in
it, a man was standing.
He was a slender man, of medium height, with a wonderfully clean-cut
face, and dark, expressive eyes. His coat and breeches were of
dark-blue broad-cloth, his waistcoat of white linen, his stockings of
black silk, and he carried a walking-stick. A second, he ran his eyes
over the group; then, for the first time, he seemed to see Parkington.
A look of incredulous amazement broke over his face.
"Parkington! by my soul, this is a surprise!" he exclaimed, coming
forward with extended hand. "I thought you were rustling it with the
smarts at White's."
"Brandon!" cried Sir Edward. "As I live, Brandon! Gentlemen, let me
present you to Sir Charles Brandon, my very good friend and intimate."
Brandon acknowledged the introduction with sweeping grace.
"I am, indeed, fortunate to find Sir Edward Parkington, here," he said.
"I had thought to meet only strangers; instead, I am already in the
house of my friends. There is nothing like a familiar face to make one
feel at home."
Parkington clapped him affectionately on the shoulder.
"You do not know Annapolis, Brandon!" he exclaimed. "They made me one
of them from the first. I have been here two months, and I ought to be
moving on, but, bless me! I have not thought of going."
"And we have not thought of letting you go," said Jennings. "We
are going to keep you all summer, and all winter, too, if you will
remain--and your friend, also," with a bow to Brandon.
"You see how it is, Brandon," said Parkington. "Stay a week, and you
will stay the summer. Better depart before the allurements get too
strong. I warn you; I lingered overlong."
"You make it very tempting," returned Brandon. "Almost thou persuadest
me to try the hazard--and to lose."
An hour later, the party broke up and separated. Parkington and Brandon
bade the rest farewell, and went slowly up Church Street to the
Reynolds Tavern, where Brandon lodged.
"Now," said Parkington, "may be you will tell me what scheme of folly
brings you here? Have you not run dangers enough?"
"I am surveying the province with the idea of settling down," was the
mocking reply.
The other laughed, shortly. "I think you may be gratified--via the
gallows. Why, man alive, suppose you run upon Jamison or Marbury, and
they recognize you?"
"Pooh! Sir Charles Brandon, the friend of Sir Edward Parkington
recognized as Long-Sword the Pirate? Impossible, monsieur! impossible!"
Parkington shrugged his shoulders. "Well, your head must bear the
penalty of error, if you are detected--but it is foolishness to chance
it."
"I have taken shorter chances and always won."
"I was never so amazed, in my life, as when you walked into the
Coffee-house," said Parkington. "My face must have shown it."
"It did," laughed Brandon. "For a moment, I thought you were going to
sing out, 'Long-Sword! Long-Sword!'"
"And I, 'what if he calls me De Lysle?'"
"Then I rendered you a most important service--one that should
settle all doubt on the subject of your identity--if it arise. Not
a man, around that table, will ever believe you anything else than
Parkington. Your surprise, at seeing me, was too genuine to be assumed;
and my addressing you as Parkington, too spontaneous to have been
prearranged." He laughed softly. "We together will make a fine pair of
knaves, De Lysle."
"We do--we can vouch for each other--and you, being the real Sir
Charles Brandon, can vouch for me, even though I am denounced by one
who knew the real Parkington.--But I do not exactly see how it is to
help me if I want to change back to my own name. In fact, it looks to
me, Brandon, as if it has complicated matters. However, another time
for that. Tell me how you happen to be daring fate here, in Annapolis,
instead of on the ocean, faring safely back to England?"
"There is not much to tell," Brandon answered. "I opened the irons, and
got away, shortly after the ship was quiet--about four bells, I think.
The guard outside saw me, just as I was within reach. I was forced to
put his own knife in him, to keep him from yelling and disturbing the
slumbers of the crew, and, incidentally my own escape. I had locked the
irons, after they were off, and thrown the key down the companion way;
it would look, to Jamison, as if he had lost it. After that, it was
easy to drop overboard, and swim ashore.
"Once there, I made my way straight back into the country, and was
twenty miles inland, when day broke. A stranger, with a broken
collar-bone, is fairly well marked, so I avoided habitations and
mankind. For three days, I lay concealed in the forest, subsisting on
berries and wild fruits; then, I ventured on--and chanced upon a hut,
deserted of man, but with a litter of wild pigs as tenants. I remained
there for four weeks, living on the pigs, while my shoulder knit. When
it was healed, sufficiently not to betray me, I proceeded northward,
eventually reaching Frederick. There, I put up at Charlton's tavern
and refitted--having abundant money, thanks to you, and the fact that
they had not deprived me of my own when captured. That accomplished, I
rode here, with my servant, whom I hired in Frederick, to take ship to
England. I arrived late this afternoon, to find no ship sailing for ten
days."
"Why did you come here, rather than go to Alexandria, or York?" said
Parkington. "Was it not a useless risk?"
"My friend," said Brandon, "I have found, in some years of
adventuring, that one experiences the least danger where one has
reason to anticipate the most. Neither Marbury nor Jamison, I think,
is in Annapolis--but, if they were, and ventured to denounce me as
Long-Sword, what evidence have they to substantiate their claim? Their
word, only. Against it, is _your_ knowledge that I am Sir Charles
Brandon, and my papers, which are regular."
"But if I had not been here?"
"I had but to demand that I be brought before you--I knew you were
somewhere within distance. Oh, it was decidedly safest for me, here.
Besides, I wanted to see Annapolis.--De Lysle, why not come back with
me? The Marbury girl is not for you----"
"She is not?"
"No--and you are not for her. The son of the Earl of Doncaster does not
mate with a Colonist. It may seem pleasant enough, now, in the warm
weather, with the country life we all love then. But wait till London
and its charms begin to call."
"You do not know all," was the answer. "I am a fugitive from
justice--two felonies were overlooked; the third was the breaking
straw, and the Earl disowned me," and he told the story.
"Bosh!" said Brandon, at the end. "You were angry--the Earl was angry,
(and, properly, so) and the ship sailed before he cooled, or you had
time to show repentance. Come home with me. It is the easiest way,
all around. Stay here, and, sooner or later, the real Parkington will
arise from his grave to plague you. You cannot explain--no explanation,
with a dead man and a grave in it, will be accepted. The story will
not down--and even though you do marry Miss Marbury, and she knows the
truth, she will always doubt you. For my part, I fail to see how you
are to shift names, and hope to stay in Maryland. To my mind, you must
masquerade always, or move on. So, why not move on--to England? Your
sire's anger will have had time to cool. You throw yourself on his
mercy--promise to sin no more. And, behold! the returned prodigal and
the fatted calf!"
"You paint a pretty picture!" was the laughing answer; "but you do
not know the Earl of Doncaster. There is about as much chance for my
forgiveness, as there is for you to become King."
"A trifle overstated," returned Brandon; "there is no chance, whatever,
of Parliament altering the succession in my favor."
"And no chance, whatever, of the Earl altering the judgment he has
passed."
"You are hard to convince," said Brandon. "Yet why not make the effort?
The family may be done with you, as he said, but, unless you offend
again, the prosecution is not likely. Moreover, you must not overlook
the fact, that there are only two lives between you and the title."
"Two lives, when I left England--with another coming, and a
sister-in-law who promises to be as prolific as a rabbit. Oh, no! I
have no chance for the title--my brother and his wife will take good
care of that."