FRIENDSHIP A STAFF IN HUMAN LIFE.
Pleased as the count was with the acquaintance to which his gallantry
had introduced him, he did not repeat his visit for a long time.
A few mornings after his meeting with Lady Tinemouth, the hard frost
broke up. The change in the atmosphere produced so alarming a relapse
of the general's rheumatic fever, that his friend watched by his
pillow ten days and nights. At the end of this period he recovered
sufficiently to sit up and read or to amuse himself by registering
the melancholy events of the last campaigns in a large book, and
illustrating it with plans of the battles. The sight of this volume
would have distressed Thaddeus, had he not seen that it afforded
comfort to the poor veteran, whom it transported back into the scenes
on which he delighted to dwell; yet he would often lay down his pen,
shut the book, and weep like an infant.
The count left him one morning at his employment, and strolled out,
with the intention of calling on Lady Tinemouth. As he walked along
by Burlington House, he perceived Pembroke Somerset, with an elderly
gentleman, of a very distinguished air, leaning on his arm. They
approached him from Bond Street.
All the blood in the count's body seemed rushing to his heart. He
trembled. The ingenuous smile on his friend's countenance, and his
features so sweetly marked with frankness, made his resolution
falter.
"But proofs," cried he to himself, "are absolute!" and turning his
face to a stand of books that was near him, he stood there until
Somerset had passed. He went past him, speaking these words--
"I trust, father, that ingratitude is not his vice."
"But it is yours, Somerset!" murmured Thaddeus, while for a moment he
gazed after them, and then proceeded on his walk.
When his name was announced at Lady Tinemouth's, he found her with
another lady, but not Miss Egerton. Lady Tinemouth expressed her
pleasure at this visit, and her surprise that it had been so long
deferred.
"The pain of such an apparent neglect of your ladyship's goodness,"
replied he, "has been added to my anxiety for the declining health of
a friend, whose increased illness is my apology,"
"I wish," returned her ladyship, her eyes beaming approbation, "that
all my friends could excuse their absence so well!"
"Perhaps they might if they chose," observed the other lady, "and
with equal sincerity."
Thaddeus understood the incredulity couched under these words. So did
Lady Tinemouth, who, however, rejoined, "Be satisfied, Mr.
Constantine, that I believe you."
The count bowed.
"Fie, Lady Tinemouth!" cried the lady; "you are partial: nay, you are
absurd; did you ever yet hear a man speak truth to a woman?"
"Lady Sara!" replied her ladyship, with one of those arch glances
which seldom visited her eyes, "where will be your vanity if I assent
to this?"
"In the moon, with man's sincerity."
Thaddeus paid little attention to this dialogue. His thoughts, in
spite of himself, were wandering after the figures of Somerset and
his father.
Lady Tinemouth, whose fancy had not been quiet about him since his
prompt humanity had introduced him to her acquaintance, observed his
present absence without noticing it. Indeed, the fruitful imagination
of Sophia Egerton had not lain still. She declared, "he was a soldier
by his dress, a man of rank from his manners, an Apollo in his
person, and a hero from his gallantry!"
Thus had Miss Egerton described him to Lady Sara Ross; "and," added
she, "what convinces me he is a man of fashion, he has not been
within these walls since we told him we should take it as a favor."
Lady Sara was eager to see this handsome stranger; and having
determined to drop in at Lady Tinemouth's every morning until her
curiosity was gratified, she was not a little pleased when she heard
his name announced.
Lady Sara was married; but she was young and of great beauty, and she
liked that its power should be acknowledged by others besides her
husband. The instant she beheld the Count Sobieski, she formed the
wish to entangle him in her flowery chains. She learnt, by his pale
countenance and thoughtful air, that he was a melancholy character;
and above all things, she sighed for such a lover. She expected to
receive from one of his cast a rare tenderness and devotedness; in
short, a fervent and romantic passion!--the fashion of the day ever
since the extravagant French romances, such as Delphine and the like,
came in; and this unknown foreigner appeared to her to be the very
creature of whom her fancy had been in search. His abstraction, his
voice and eyes, the one so touching and the other so neglectful of
anything but the ground, were irresistible, and she resolved from
that moment (in her own words) "to make a set at him."
Not less pleased with this second view of her acquaintance than she
had been at the first, Lady Tinemouth directed her discourse to him,
accompanied by all that winning interest so endearing to an ingenuous
heart. Lady Sara never augured well to the success of her
fascinations when the countess addressed any of her victims; and
therefore she now tried every means in her power to draw aside the
attention of the count. She played with her ladyship's dog; but that
not succeeding, she determined to strike him at once with the full
graces of her figure. Complaining of heat, she threw off her large
green velvet mantle, and rising from her chair, walked towards the
window.
When she looked round to enjoy her victory, she saw that this
manoeuvre had failed like the rest, for the provoking countess was
still standing between her and Thaddeus. Almost angry, she flung open
the sash, and putting her head out of the window, exclaimed, in her
best-modulated tones:
"How d'ye do?"
"I hope your ladyship is well this fine morning!" was answered in the
voice of Pembroke Somerset.
Thaddeus grew pale, and the countess feeling the cold, turned about
to ask Lady Sara to whom she was speaking.
"To a pest of mine," returned she gayly; and then, stretching out her
neck, resumed: "but where, in the name of wonder, Mr. Somerset, are
you driving with all that travelling apparatus?"
"To Deerhurst: I am going to take Lord Avon down. But I keep you in
the cold. Good-morning!"
"My compliments to Sir Robert. Good-by! good-by!" waving her white
hand until his curricle vanished from sight; and when she turned
round, her desires were gratified, for the elegant stranger was
standing with his eyes fixed on that hand. But had she known that,
for any cognizance they took of its beauty, they might as well have
been fixed on vacancy, she would not have pulled down the window, and
reseated herself with such an air of triumph.
The count took his seat with a sigh, and Lady Tinemouth did the same.
"So that is the son of Sir Robert Somerset?"
"Yes," replied Lady Sara; "and what does your ladyship think of him?
He is called very handsome."
"You forget that I am near-sighted," answered the countess; "I could
not discriminate his features, but I think his figure fine. I
remember his father was a singularly-admired man, and celebrated for
taste and talents."
"That may be," resumed Lady Sara, laughing, and anxious to excite
some emotion of rivalry in the breast of Thaddeus. "I am sure I ought
not to call in question his talents and taste, for he has often
wished that fate had reserved me for his son." She sighed while she
spoke, and looked down.
This sigh and gesture had more effect upon her victim than all her
exhibited personal charms. So difficult is it to break the cords of
affection and habit. Anything relating to Pembroke Somerset could yet
so powerfully interest the desolate yet generous Sobieski, as to
stamp itself on his features. Besides, the appearance of any latent
disquietude, where all seemed splendor and vivacity, painfully
reminded him of the checkered lot of man. His eyes were resting upon
her ladyship, full of a tender commiseration, pregnant with
compassion for her, himself, and all the world, when she raised her
head. The meeting of such a look from him filled her with agitation.
She felt something strange at her heart. His eyes seemed to have
penetrated to its inmost devices. Blushing like scarlet, she got up
to hide an embarrassment not to be subdued; and hastily wishing the
countess a good-morning curtseyed to him and left the room.
Her ladyship entered her carriage with feelings all in commotion. She
could not account for the confusion which his look had occasioned;
and half angry at a weakness so like a raw, inexperienced girl, she
determined to become one of Lady Tinemouth's constant visitors, until
she should have brought him (as she had done most of the men in her
circle) to her feet.
These were her ladyship's resolutions, while she rolled along towards
St. James's Place. But she a little exceeded the fact in the
statement of her conquests; for notwithstanding she could have
counted as many lovers as most women, yet few of them would have
ventured the folly of a kneeling petition. In spite of her former
unwedded charms, these worthy lords and gentlemen had, to a man,
adopted the oracle of the poet--
"Love, free as air, at sight of human ties,
Spreads his light wings, and in a moment flies."
They all professed to adore Lady Sara; some were caught by her
beauty, others by her _eclat_, but none had the most distant
wish to make this beauty and _eclat_ his own legal property. For
she had no other property to bestow.
The young Marquis of Severn seemed serious towards her ladyship
during the first year of his appearance at court; but at the end of
that time, instead of offering her his hand, he married the daughter
of a rich banker.
Lady Sara was so incensed at this disappointment, that, to show her
disdain of her apostate lover, she set off next day for Gretna Green,
with Horace Ross, a young and early celebrated commander in the navy,
whose honest heart had been some time sueing to her in vain. He was
also nephew to the Earl of Wintown. They were married, and her
ladyship had the triumph of being presented as a bride the same day
with the Marchioness of Severn.
When the whirlwind of her resentment subsided, she began most
dismally to repent her union. She loved Captain Ross as little as she
had loved Lord Severn. She had admired the rank and fashion of the
one, and the profound adoration of the other had made a friend of her
vanity. But now that her revenge was gratified, and the homage of a
husband ceased to excite the envy of her companions, she grew weary
of his attentions, and was rejoiced when the Admiralty ordered him to
take the command of a frigate bound to the Mediterranean.
The last fervent kiss which he imprinted on her lips, as she breathed
out the cold "Good-by, Ross; take care of yourself!" seemed to her
the seal of freedom; and she returned into her dressing-room, not to
weep, but to exult in the prospect of a thousand festivities and a
thousand captives at her feet.
Left at an early age without a mother, and ignorant of the duties of
a wife, she thought that if she kept her husband and herself out of
Doctor's Commons, she should do no harm by amusing herself with the
heart of every man who came in her way. Thus she hardly moved without
a train of admirers. She had already attracted everyone she deemed
worthy of the trouble, and listened to their compliments, and
insolent presumptions, until she was wearied of both. In this
juncture of _ennui_, Miss Egerton related to her the countess's
recontre with the gallant foreigner.
As soon as she heard he was of rank, (for Miss Egerton was not
backward to affirm the dreams of her own imagination,) she formed a
wish to see him; and when, to her infinite satisfaction, he did
present himself, in her eyes he exceeded everything that had been
described. To secure such a conquest, she thought, would not only
raise the envy of the women, but put the men on the alert to discover
some novel and attractive way of proving their devotion.
Whilst Lady Sara was meditating on her new conquest, the count and
Lady Tinemouth remained in their _tete-à-tete_. Her ladyship
talked to him on various subjects; but he answered ill upon them all,
and sometimes very wide of the matter. At last, conscious that he
must be burdensome, he arose, and, looking paler and more depressed
than when he entered, wished her a good morning.
"I am afraid, Mr. Constantine, you are unwell."
Like most people who desire to hide what is passing in their minds,
Thaddeus gladly assented to this, as an excuse for a taciturnity he
could not overcome.
"Then," cried her ladyship, "I hope you will let me know where to
send to inquire after your health."
Thaddeus was confounded for a moment; then, returning into the room,
he took up a pen, which lay on the table, and said,
"I will write my address to a place where any of your ladyship's
commands may reach me; but I will do myself the honor to repeat my
call very soon."
"I shall always be happy to see you," replied the countess, while he
was writing; "but before I engage you in a promise of which you may
afterwards repent, I must tell you that you will meet with dull
entertainment at my house. I see very little company; and were it not
for the inexhaustible spirits of Miss Egerton, I believe I should
become a complete misanthrope."
"Your house will be my paradise!" exclaimed the count, with an
expressiveness to the force of which he did not immediately attend.
Lady Tinemouth smiled.
"I must warn you here, too," cried she. "Miss Egerton must not be the
deity of your paradise. She is already under engagements."
Thaddeus blushed at being mistaken, and wished to explain himself.
"You misunderstand me, madam. I am not insensible to beauty; but upon
my word, at that moment I had nothing else in my thoughts than
gratitude for your ladyship's kindness to an absolute stranger."
"That is true, Mr. Constantine: you are an absolute stranger, if the
want of a formal introduction and an ignorance of your family
constitute that title. But your protection introduced you to me; and
there is something in your appearance which convinces me that I need
not be afraid of admitting you into the very scanty number of my
friends."
Thaddeus perceived the delicacy of Lady Tinemouth, who wished to know
who he was, and yet was unwilling to give him pain by a question so
direct that he must answer it. As she now proposed it, she left him
entirely to his own discretion; and he determined to satisfy her very
proper curiosity, as far as he could without exposing his real name
and circumstances.
The countess, whose benevolent heart was deeply interested in his
favor, observed the changes of his countenance with an anxious hope
that he would be ingenuous. Her solicitude did not arise from any
doubts of his quality and worth, but she wished to be enabled to
reply with promptness to the inquisitive people who might see him at
her house.
"I hardly know," said Thaddeus, "in what words to express my sense of
your ladyship's generous confidence in me; and that my character is
not undeserving of such distinction, time, I trust, will prove." He
paused for a moment, and then resumed: "For my rank, Lady Tinemouth,
it is now of little consequence to my comfort; rather, perhaps, a
source of mortification; for--" he hesitated, and then proceeded,
with a faint color tinging his cheek: "exiles from their country, if
they would not covet misery, must learn to forget; hence I am no
other than Mr. Constantine; though, in acknowledgment of your
ladyship's goodness, I deem it only just that I should not conceal my
real quality from you.
"My family was one of the first in Poland. Even in banishment, the
remembrance that its virtues were as well known as its name, affords
some alleviation to the conviction that when my country fell, all my
property and all my kindred were involved in the ruin. Soon after the
dreadful sealing of its fate, I quitted it, and by the command of a
dying parent, who expired in my arms, sought a refuge in this island
from degradations which otherwise I could neither repel nor avoid."
Thaddeus stopped; and the countess, struck by the graceful modesty
with which this simple account was related, laid her hand upon his.
"Mr. Constantine, I am not surprised at what you have said. The
melancholy of your air induced me to suspect that you were not happy,
and my sole wish in penetrating your reserve was to show you that a
woman can be a sincere friend."
Tears of gratitude glistened in the count's eyes. Incapable of making
a suitable reply, he pressed her hand to his lips. She rose; and
willing to relieve a sensibility that delighted her, added, "I will
not detain you longer: only let me see you soon."
Thaddeus uttered a few inarticulate words, whose significancy
conveyed nothing, but all he felt was declared in their confusion.
The countess's eloquent smile showed that she comprehended their
meaning; and he left the room.