A REVELATION.
Of Cecil Falconer's mood of mind and views of the whole situation at
this time, we can be best informed by a letter which he despatched to
his friend and chum, Leslie Fotheringhame, on the day subsequent to
the little riding expedition:
'Eaglescraig, Cunninghame.
'MY DEAR LESLIE,
'Hannibal has found his Capua! After our limited cuisine at
Dumbarton, it seems to me that--so far as luxury is concerned--daily
Lucullus dines with Apicius; by which preamble you will think, old
fellow, that I have gone out of my mind, or betaken me to cramming
again, as we did at Sandhurst. I am freely quartered in a
magnificent house, with delightful society, and an old host, the
general, who is hospitality's own self, and possesses a well-filled
stable and a rare cellar--not that I care for it much--but any way,
in its binns are some curious old Madeira that has been thrice round
the Cape, white and red Constantia, Tokay with tints of gold,
Chateau-Yquem, and Malmsey in which maudlin Clarence might have been
drowned.
'We have had some excellent cover shooting, and, though the birds
were a little wild, a good many brace fell to my bag. Nothing is
stiff or formal here, though the old gentleman has some stately,
eccentric, and rather extravagant notions about family, pedigree,
blood, and all that sort of thing, and laments much the loss of a son
who was once one of "Ours." There are two charming girls here, and
after one's bachelor and barrack experiences, it is delightful to
meet them each day at breakfast, with their fresh morning costumes
and complexions; and charming, too, is the morning-room--quite like
that described in "Coningsby": "Such a profusion of flowers; such a
multitude of books; such a prodigality of writing materials; so many
easychairs too, of so many shapes, each in itself a comfortable home;
yet nothing crowded." And then the girls! Don't you envy me, old
fellow! But I have no doubt they will have you over here when
I--alas!--leave, for the old double Dun in the Clyde.
'There is one blot in my picture--a member of the family circle,
named Hew Caddish Montgomerie, to whom I am obliged to do the civil,
the general's heir--whom I simply detest and view in the light of a
noxious reptile, why or how I cannot precisely say; but we have our
likings and dislikings in this world, our attractions and repulsions,
and _certes_, this fellow repels me!
'He is jowly in face, with full, red lips, heavy, stealthy, and
shifty eyes, set close to his nose, and he inherits rather reddish
hair and freckles from the family who gave him his middle name,
which, curiously enough, is Caddish; and in spite, jealousy, or by a
blunder, he nearly potted me one day in the covers!
'I think he already views me as a species of rival; he is a sort of
cousin of Miss Montgomerie (would that I were so! but I am only one
of those poor devils who exist in the world on sufferance), and
whether they are engaged or not I cannot tell. He has half led me to
infer as much, and assumes a disgusting air of proprietary and so
forth, which certainly is not endorsed by Miss Montgomerie.'
(Falconer had written 'by _Mary_,' but had dashed through the
Christian name, which had escaped his pen, and Fotheringhame remarked
this.)
'Anyhow, I was cognisant of a rather tender scene between them in the
avenue on the day I arrived here. He is deuced sharp at cards, and I
have already lost to him much more than I can afford to lose.
'The general is an enthusiast on all that pertains to the regiment,
and quite a detachment of it, in the shape of old pensioners, is
quartered on his property. His Indian anecdotes are a little prosy,
as he lugs them in on every conceivable occasion; but he is such a
dear old fellow, that one can't help listening to his yarns about
curry and rice; and a curious one he told me, last night, may
interest you, as it referred to his son and a detachment of "Ours."
'When they were in Central India, Piers Montgomerie, with forty
Cameronians and some natives, invested a fort named the Ghurry of
Kittoor, a square edifice with towers at the corners, armed with
heavy gingals and a few small cannon. The Potail commanding it was a
resolute fellow, believing himself shot-proof, by an amulet he wore,
and he was custodian of a great amount of treasure in gold mohurs, of
which Piers had orders to deprive him. The fort was stormed, the
Potail slain, and the treasure-chest was found, but totally
empty--verifying the last words of the Potail, who, when dying, swore
upon the Koran that there was not even an anna in the place, and that
all the slaughter had been for nothing.
'Before the gate of the Ghurry there grew a tree of vast size and
age, which Captain Montgomerie ordered his men to cut down for fuel.
The soldier who hewed down the first branch brought away with it a
literal shower of gold--gold that flashed in the sunshine and studded
all the green sward like yellow buttercups; and there, sure enough,
in the hollow trunk of the tree, was found treasure to the value of
fifty thousand golden mohurs, to the bewilderment and joy of the
Cameronians, who had been on such short rations for some time past,
that they were ready to share the repast of Count Ugolino.
'I listen patiently to such yarns, because I am anxious to remain in
his good graces; would that I could also be in those of his ward and
niece!
'I believe, Leslie, that you are nearer to my heart than any other
friend I ever had, so I don't mind owning to you that I am in for
it--about to fall in love! I have always been at the same old game,
you will say; but this time I fear that I am in terrible earnest, and
have met my fate! But the deuce is, that she is a great heiress,
while I have only my pay, or little more, and dare not lift my eyes
so high; besides, what would be the use, as I strongly suspect that,
with the general's wish and consent, she is the _fiancée_ of his
heir--the most unamiable, yet enviable, Cousin Hew!
'She is more than handsome--she is downright beautiful! Somewhat of
a brunette, only a very pale and colourless one, with a small
straight nose, dark hazel eyes, and dark brown hair, and her mouth is
the sweetest in expression I ever saw; but I think I see you laughing
at all this, you unbelieving villain!
'Even now, as I write in the library, she makes a delicious picture,
with her beautiful slender throat and shapely head, as she stands in
an oriel, whispering to a canary which flutters its golden wings
against the bars of its cage, and takes from her rosy lips a crumb of
sugar in its bill.
'She is frank and open-hearted, and somehow seems to sympathise with
all my thoughts and fancies, and we have already gone some length in
a mixture of confidential jest and earnest, which, though it may only
amuse her, is perilous work to me. She is, perhaps, a little proud
of her beauty; but what pretty girl is not? She seems a creature
that draws brightness from all around her, while dispensing it in
return, and to have been made only to be petted, admired, and
caressed.
'You will think that I am hit hard. Well, old fellow, I grant to you
that I am, and already a remoteness seems to have come over my
past--our old barrack-room life at Dumbarton and elsewhere.
'To be hourly in the society of such a girl--to have her daily to
walk, to ride, to sing with--is sure to have but one end. Her voice,
by the way, is a clear and thrilling soprano--her touch upon the keys
is full of tenderness; but a distrust of myself besets me sorely, and
leaves unspoken the words that--despite the existence of Cousin
Hew--hover on my lips.
'Why? you will ask.
'Because it is difficult for a man that is poor, and has not even
high family to recommend him, to be deemed other than a
fortune-hunter, when he aspires to an undoubted heiress; but I shall
tell you all about this when I rejoin, and Fate has dropped its pall
between her and me.
'I have lost at écarté to Hew Montgomerie, and have given him my
I.O.U. for a hundred and eighty pounds. Please lend me the money,
like a dear old fellow, and I shall square it up somehow, ere we go
back to head-quarters, as we are sure to do when the spring drills
commence, as I loathe to be in this fellow's debt, and the sum is
rather a crusher to me.
'I hope all is right with our detachment, and that you grant no
passes for more than twenty-four hours, and look sharp after our
fellows. I must close now, as we are about to have a spin through
the country, as far as Kilwinning, to see the company of archers
practise, for old Sir Piers has more than once been captain of the
popinjay in June, and a winner of the silver arrow.'
He had closed and despatched his letter ere he remembered that he had
omitted all mention, even by name, of Annabelle Erroll.