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VELLENAUX
A NOVEL BY E.W. FORREST
AUTHOR OF THE "BLUE JACKET," "CRONOTONTOLLIENS," "NED FORTESQUE," ETC.
1874.
PREFACE
The consideration and favor accorded to the writer's former works by a
generous reading public, has induced him to try his hand as a novelist,
and the present effort "Vellenaux" is the result.
The Book, although essentially one of fiction, contains many episodes of
an historical character. In fact, truth and imagination are so blended
together, that the reader will scarcely discover where the one begins or
the other ends. Scenes and occurrences are portrayed which took place
during the Sheik Wars, the siege of Mooltan, the battle of
Chillianwalla, and the never to be forgotten Sepoy Mutiny, with the
simple alteration of names, dates and localities. On the shoulders of
the hero has been grafted many of the adventures, exploits and escapes
which in reality occurred either to the Author himself or some of his
many military acquaintances, in doing which the reader may rest assured
that no character or incident has been in any way overdrawn.
THE AUTHOR.
VELLENAUX.
CHAPTER I.
The bright rays of an Autumn sun fell upon the richly stained glass,
sending a flood of soft, mellow rainbow tinted light through the
quaintly curved and deeply mullioned windows which adorned a portion of
the eastern wing of that grand old Baronial residence, Vellenaux, on a
fine September morning, at the period during which our story opens. This
handsome pile, now the property of Sir Jasper Coleman, had been erected
by one of his ancestors, Reginald De Coleman, during the reign of the
fifth Henry.
This gallant Knight had rendered that Monarch great service during his
wars in France, especially at Agincourt, where his skill and bravery was
so conspicuous, and used to so great advantage, that King Henry, on his
return to England, rewarded his faithful follower with a grant of land
in Devonshire, on which he was enabled, with the spoils he had acquired
and the ransoms received from his French prisoners of note, to erect a
magnificent chateaux, which he called Vellenaux, after Francois, Count
De Vellenaux, a French noble, whose ransom contributed largely to its
construction. Here he continued to reside until his death, which
occurred several years after.
It was now an irregular edifice, having been partially destroyed and
otherwise defaced during the contests which ensued between the cavaliers
and roundheads at the time of the Commonwealth. Since then alterations
and additions had been made by his successors, and, although of
different styles of architecture, was now one of the handsomest and most
picturesque structures that could be met with throughout the length and
breadth of the shire.
A broad avenue of noble elms led from the lodge at the entrance of the
domain and opened upon a beautiful carriage drive that wound round the
velvet lawn, which formed a magnificent and spacious oval in front of
the grand entrance.
Beneath the outspreading branches of the venerable oaks, with which the
home park was studded, browsed the red and fallow deer, who, on the
approach of any equestrian parties, or at the advance of some
aristocratic vehicle bearing its freight of gay, laughing guests towards
the hospitable mansion, would toss their antlered heads, or, startled,
seek the cover of those green shady alleys leading to the beech woods
which adjoined the park and stretched away towards the coast of Devon.
Sir Jasper, who was still a bachelor, and on the shady side of sixty,
retained much of the fire and energy of his earlier years, although at
times subject to an infirmity which the medical faculty describe as
emanating from disease of the heart. He had served with great
distinction during the Peninsular war, under the iron Duke, but, on
succeeding to the Baronetcy, left the service and retired to his present
estate, where he spent most of his time at this his favorite residence,
as hunting, shooting and field sports generally had for him a charm
that no allurements of city life could tempt him to forego; besides he
had, in the earlier part of his military career, visited many of the gay
capitals of Europe and engaged in the exciting pleasures always to be
met with in such places, until he had become satiated and lost all taste
for such scenes. His kind heartedness and benevolence won for him the
esteem of the neighboring gentry.
On the morning in question the Baronet, who had but the evening previous
returned from London, entered his study, and seating himself in an easy
chair, drew towards him a small but elaborately carved antique
escritoire, and for several moments was deeply engaged in the perusal of
certain papers and memoranda; finally he drew from his pocket a sealed
packet which, having opened carefully, he read over; then as if not
quite satisfied with the contents, allowed the paper to slip from his
hand to the table before him and was soon lost in thought. An English
gentleman, unquestionably in the highest sense of the word, was Sir
Jasper Coleman; a true type of that class who, from the time of the
Norman conquest to the present day, whether beneath the Torrid or Frigid
Zone's; on the bloody battlefield, or launching their thunders on the
billows of the white-crested main, nobly upheld the honor of their
country's flag, whose heroic deeds and honorable names have been handed
down unsullied and untarnished for many generations. Since leaving the
service the worthy Baronet had taken no part in the political events of
the nation, but devoted himself entirely to the welfare of his numerous
tenantry, and those residing in the neighborhood of his large estate, to
whom assistance and advice was at all times needed, nor was it ever
withheld or given grudgingly when any case of real distress came under
his notice.
A fine subject fog poet's pen or artist's pencil was that aristocratic
old warrior, as he sat there gazing upon the rich woodlands warmed by
the glorious autumn sun, thinking over by-gone days--days when he had
loitered by some fair one's side in many a brilliant assembly, or when
his nerves were steady and his voice all powerful, leading the charge on
many a well-fought field. How long he might have remained ruminating on
things of the past it is impossible to say; the retrospect might have
continued much longer had not his attention been arrested by a slight
noise, when suddenly raising his head a smile of pleasure lit up his
finely cut features as the door opened and a lovely girl, just merging
into womanhood, stepped softly into the room. She was, indeed, very
beautiful; hair of the darkest shade of brown hung in long and glossy
curls from her perfectly shaped head, and rested on the exquisite white
neck and shoulders, the contrast of which showed to a great degree the
almost alabaster whiteness of her skin; grecian nose, and eyes of the
deepest blue, whose long lashes, when veiled, rested lovingly on her
damask cheek, and when raised, revealed a depth and brilliancy which
does not often fall to the lot of mortals; a mouth not too small, whose
beautifully shaped lips, when parted, disclosed to the beholder teeth of
ivory whiteness, small and most evenly set, dazzling indeed was the
effect of those pearly treasures; tall, slight, and elegantly formed,
with a bearing aristocratic and queenly in the extreme; what wonder that
she was the sunshine of old Sir Jasper's declining days and his much and
dearly loved niece.
Gliding up to her uncle she threw heir arms about his neck and
imprinted a kiss on his noble brow, then sinking on a stool at his feet
began to take him to task after the following fashion: "You truant, you
naughty uncle, to let me breakfast alone in my own room thinking you
hundreds of miles away, and not to let me know that you returned last
night; and Mrs. Fraudhurst is just as bad, and I will not forgive her or
you, unless you tell me where you have been and all you have seen and
done. Now, Sir Wanderer, commence and give an account of yourself; you
see I am prepared to listen," apparently waiting with much attention for
her uncle to enlighten her as to the why and wherefore he had journeyed
to London. It was evident that the Baronet had been in the habit of
making a confidant of his pretty niece, but on this occasion, for one
reason or another he had failed to do so; she had taken out of one of
her little embroidered pockets in her apron, some crochet work, and
applied herself diligently thereunto.
Edith was the orphan child of Sir Jasper's much loved and only sister,
who did not long survive the death of her husband, and on her decease
the Baronet had adopted the child, and as she grew up, her affectionate
disposition and natural simplicity wound themselves round the old man's
heart, and thus she soon became the apple of his eye, and he loved her
with all the tender solicitude of a father.
She was gentle and friendly to those beneath her, but dignified and firm
with those of her own station of life, with a fund of good practical
common sense, and was not easily dissuaded from doing any thing when she
had once made up her mind that it was her duty so to do. She loved her
uncle well and was ever ready to minister to his slightest wishes. She
used to delight him with the rich tone of her voice by singing
selections from his favorite operas, being an accomplished musician both
vocal and instrumental. They would frequently wander for hours through
the park or woods, but of late he had restricted his walks to the lawn,
or down the avenue to the lodge at the park gate, to hold converse with
the keeper, an old soldier who had served under him in his Peninsular
Campaigns, and often when relieved from the attendance on him would
Edith and Arthur Carlton, hand in hand, stroll down the said avenue to
listen to the wonderful stories related by the old lodge keeper. But
this was some time ago, for this youth (of which more will be heard
anon) was now, and had been for some time, at College at Oxford.
"Edith my darling," said the kind old man, bending over as he did so and
tapping her soft rosy cheek, "my visit to London was purely a business
one, and I delayed no longer than was necessary to complete it, but what
I saw and heard during my journey to and fro, I will relate to, you in
the evening."
The lively girl was about to make some reply to her good natured uncle
when a light rapping was heard; the door gently opened and a lady about
five and thirty entered; she was attired in a dress of black silk of
most undeniable Paris cut, which fitted her to a miracle; to Edith she
made a slight inclination of the head so as not to disarrange her
coiffure which was most elaborately got up doubtless with a view to
produce an effect.
"I trust, Sir Jasper, you slept well after your tedious journey."
"Very well, I thank you. Oh! I see you have the post bag, I am somewhat
anxious about some letters I expect to receive."
Moving around the back of the Baronet's chair she came between him and
Edith, who took the bag from her and held out her hand to her uncle for
the key to open it with, as was her usual custom of a morning; the key
was handed to her, and while they were thus engaged the eagle eye of the
lady in black fell upon the will which was still lying partially exposed
on the escritoire just as it had fallen from Sir Jasper's hand ere he
had sank into that reverie which had been disturbed by the entrance of
Edith; she obtained but a hurried glance, yet it was sufficient for her
to decipher its full meaning. As she realized this a dark cloud passed
across her features, she moved silently to the window and looked out;
when she again turned the cloud had vanished and her face was calm and
serene. So occupied with the mail bag had been both uncle and niece that
the action of the lady in question, in first glancing over the paper on
the desk and her subsequent movement towards the window, had remained
unnoticed by either.
"There is a letter for you, my dear," said the Baronet handing one to
Edith. "Oh!" said she joyously, "it is from Arthur. He is the dearest
old fellow, and one of the best correspondents alive; he tells the
funniest stories of the college scrapes he gets into, and how cleverly
he gets out of them, and makes all manner of fun in his caricatures of
the musty old professors."
"There, there now, away to your own room," said her uncle, "and let me
know what new scrape your dear old fellow has been getting in and out
of, during our walk after dinner." Edith blushed slightly and hurried
out of the apartment.
"There are no letters for you this morning, Mrs. Fraudhurst, but here
are the London papers, I have no time at present to look over them, and
would feel obliged if you would lay them on the library table." She took
them, and with a graceful courtesy, smilingly left the room, and went
direct to the library, sat down at the table and drew the writing
materials towards her as if about to write; but ere she commenced her
head sank on her hand and she appeared to be, for some moments, lost in
thought. As she will be brought prominently forward as our story
progresses, we had better inform the reader at once, all we know of her
antecedents.
Mr. Fraudhurst had been a lawyer of some standing in the village of
Vellenaux; he was reported wealthy, and when on the shady side of fifty
married the niece of his housekeeper, much to the disgust of the said
housekeeper, and several maiden ladies of doubtful ages who resided in
the neighbourhood, who had each in her own mind marked him as her
especial property, to be gobbled up at the first opportunity he or
chance might afford them for so doing, and they waxed wrath and were
very bitter against her who had secured the prize and carried it off
when as they thought it just within their grasp. The lawyer and the
Baronet had been upon terms of intimacy for several years prior to the
marriage, and Sir Jasper being a bachelor saw no objection to his
friend's wife visiting Vellenaux, although she had, as he would
facetiously observe, risen from the ranks.
The lady in question was, at eighteen, tall, pretty and ambitious. She
had at an early age determined to rise above the station in which she
was born, and for that object she had studied most assiduously at the
village school, where she attained the reputation of being the most apt
scholar of her class. A few years residence with a relative London
served to develop her natural abilities, and she lost no opportunity of
pursuing her studies or of affecting the tone and fashion of persons
moving in a far higher circle than her own.
Education and application she knew would doubtless do much to elevate
her in the social scale, but the position she so earnestly sought for
was to become the wife of some man of good standing in society, whose
means would be sufficient to support her in that style to which her
ambition led her to hope for, and for this she strove hard and was
rewarded for her perseverance by becoming the wife of a reputed wealthy
barrister some thirty years her senior, and for a few years enjoying the
position she had attained, visiting and visited by the uppercrusts of
the place and not unfrequently dining at Vellenaux and otherwise
enjoying the hospitality of its owner.
When little Edith was about seven years old, Mr. Fraudhurst was gathered
to his fathers, and the sorrowing widow was left in a very different
position than was anticipated either by herself or others who took any
interest in such matters; the house and grounds which she fully believed
to be her own property, passed into the hands of a distant relative of
the deceased barrister, and with the exception of the furniture and some
three hundred pounds in cash, she was no better off than she had been
prior to her marriage; but, being a woman of great tact, she contrived
to keep this circumstance from the knowledge of the enquiring
neighbours, and having applied to the new owner of the premises she
obtained permission to occupy them for a period of six months.
On the Baronet calling to pay his visit of condolence the lady, who had
previously arranged what she should say and do on the occasion, unfolded
to Sir Jasper her real position and out of friendship for her late
husband claimed his advice and assistance. The worthy old bachelor
declared his willingness to assist her if she could only point out the
way; as to advice he could realty give none on so difficult a matter.
"Oh! Sir Jasper," exclaimed the widow, in a voice so excellently
modulated to suit the occasion, that the old bachelor was beginning to
feel a real interest in her affairs, "so like yourself, so good of you
to allow me to suggest the way in which you can best serve me in my
peculiar and, I may say, awkward position."
"There is a way, my dear Sir Jasper, (and here the widow bent over and
placed her soft white hand on his arm) in which I believe you can
materially serve me, and at the same time advance the interest of one
who is, without doubt, more dear to you than any living being; I allude
to dear little Edith." At the mention of his niece's name he looked up
enquiringly as if not quite catching the meaning of her words.
"You must understand, Sir Jasper," she continued, "that the little
darling is now of an age that will require some person to guide and
direct the development of her young mind and superintend her studies. Of
course, old nurse Simms is an excellent and worthy woman, but not such
an one as the future heiress of Vellenaux should be entrusted to, as she
advances from childhood to maturity. It is an important and responsible
position, and should only be undertaken by those who have already passed
through the struggles and trials of the world, and drank of the cup of
affliction." Here a pearly tear fell upon the hand of the good-natured
Baronet, and here she applied her white laced cambric to her eyes.
This was the _coup de main_ that carried the day. The soft-hearted
bachelor was not proof against this, besides there was truth and reason
in her suggestions for his darling little niece, and he did not see how
he could, for the present, do better than to offer to Mrs. Fraudhurst
the charge of Edith, and before he took leave it was arranged that the
widow should call at Vellenaux daily and endeavor to gain the confidence
of the child, and at the end of the six months she should give up
housekeeping and be installed as governess and companion for Edith; and
so well did she play her cards that she had scarcely been there twelve
months when she ruled the household as though she were its legitimate
mistress; always heading the table when Sir Jasper entertained his
bachelor friends, and thus, we may say, for several years lived in
clover. Her chief duties consisted in educating Edith and Arthur, which,
for several years, was a task which did not require much mental
endowment or physical exertion. It was, in fact, more of a pastime than
otherwise, and as she always accompanied Edith when visiting the
neighboring families, there was but little monotony to complain of.
She had a double object in becoming an inmate of Vellenaux. First, that
of securing a comfortable home for several years. But her grand scheme
was that of making herself so necessary to the Baronet, that she could,
in time, undermine the defences, carry the Citadel by stratagem, and
finally become the envied mistress of Vellenaux. But a few months
residence under the same roof served to convince her of the fallacy of
the project; for there were two grand difficulties that she could not
overcome; his strong objection to matrimony, and his affection for his
niece. Therefore, the shrewd and cautious widow had to relinquish her
attack in that direction; and as Edith advanced towards womanhood, her
position became more precarious. There were two events to be dreaded,
and in either case she believed her occupation gone, and these were the
death of Sir Jasper or Edith's marriage. Her income during the years of
her residence with Sir Jasper had been a handsome one, and being at
little or no expense, she managed to accumulate a goodly sum at her
bankers; but the idea of losing her present abode was to her
disagreeable in the extreme, and her busy mind was continually at work
to devise how this could be averted, and this was the way matters stood
with her on the morning alluded to.
"He is coming home from College next month not again to return, and she
loves him, though she may not at present realize the fact, but that
knowledge will come, and I fear much too soon. Sir Jasper will not
object, and the youth will hardly refuse to accept Vellenaux and twenty
thousand a year, although there be an incumbrance in the shape of a wife
attached to the bargain. Yes, I see it all, they will marry and I shall
be thrown out in the cold unless I have wit enough to prevent it without
appearing to interest myself in any way with what ought not to concern
me. But Arthur Carlton must not remain here. He must be sent abroad, to
America, India, anywhere, it matters not where, so that they be
separated, and that ere long." These were the thoughts that chased each
other through the active brain of Mrs. Fraudhurst, as she sat alone in
the Library. Half an hour had elapsed ere she had quite made up her mind
as to what course she should pursue to avoid the impending evil. Then,
at length, seeming to grasp the difficulty, she took up her pen and
wrote what she thought was likely to transpire at Vellenaux should there
be no one sufficiently interested in the matter to prevent the estate
(which had been in the Coleman family for several generations) from
passing into other hands. This she sent to one whom she had every reason
to believe (for she had observed him well) would not scruple to use any
means to gain possession of the broad lands of Vellenaux. This letter
the cautious widow posted with her own hands, to prevent the possibility
of the address being noticed by either Sir Jasper or Edith. The matter
being thus satisfactorily arranged, she patiently awaited the
developments of the first fruits of the plot against young Carlton.