AN UNLOOKED-FOR PLEASURE
When Dick Kearney waited on Cecil Walpole at his quarters in the Castle, he
was somewhat surprised to find that gentleman more reserved in manner, and
in general more distant, than when he had seen him as his father’s guest.
Though he extended two fingers of his hand on entering, and begged him to
be seated, Walpole did not take a chair himself, but stood with his back to
the fire--the showy skirts of a very gorgeous dressing-gown displayed over
his arms--where he looked like some enormous bird exulting in the full
effulgence of his bright plumage.
‘You got my note, Mr. Kearney?’ began he, almost before the other had
sat down, with the air of a man whose time was too precious for mere
politeness.
‘It is the reason of my present visit,’ said Dick dryly.
‘Just so. His Excellency instructed me to ascertain in what shape most
acceptable to your family he might show the sense entertained by the
Government of that gallant defence of Kilgobbin; and believing that the
best way to meet a man’s wishes is first of all to learn what the wishes
are, I wrote you the few lines of yesterday.’
‘I suspect there must be a mistake somewhere,’ began Kearney, with
difficulty. ‘At least, I intimated to Atlee the shape in which the
Viceroy’s favour would be most agreeable to us, and I came here prepared to
find you equally informed on the matter.’
‘Ah, indeed! I know nothing--positively nothing. Atlee telegraphed me, “See
Kearney, and hear what he has to say. I write by post.--ATLEE.” There’s the
whole of it.’
‘And the letter--’
‘The letter is there. It came by the late mail, and I have not opened it.’
‘Would it not be better to glance over it now?’ said Dick mildly.
‘Not if you can give me the substance by word of mouth. Time, they tell
us, is money, and as I have got very little of either, I am obliged to be
parsimonious. What is it you want? I mean the sort of thing we could help
you to obtain. I see,’ said he, smiling, ‘you had rather I should read
Atlee’s letter. Well, here goes.’ He broke the envelope, and began:--
‘“MY DEAR MR. WALPOLE,--I hoped by this time to have had a report to make
you of what I had done, heard, seen, and imagined since my arrival, and yet
here I am now towards the close of my second week, and I have nothing to
tell; and beyond a sort of confused sense of being immensely delighted with
my mode of life, I am totally unconscious of the flight of time.
‘“His Excellency received me once for ten minutes, and later on, after some
days, for half an hour; for he is confined to bed with gout, and forbidden
by his doctor all mental labour. He was kind and courteous to a degree,
hoped I should endeavour to make myself at home--giving orders at the same
time that my dinner should be served at my own hour, and the stables placed
at my disposal for riding or driving. For occupation, he suggested I should
see what the newspapers were saying, and make a note or two if anything
struck me as remarkable.
‘“Lady Maude is charming--and I use the epithet in all the significance of
its sorcery. She conveys to me each morning his Excellency’s instructions
for my day’s work; and it is only by a mighty effort I can tear myself from
the magic thrill of her voice, and the captivation of her manner, to follow
what I have to reply to, investigate, and remark on.
‘“I meet her each day at luncheon, and she says she will join me ‘some day
at dinner.’ When that glorious occasion arrives, I shall call it the
event of my life, for her mere presence stimulates me to such effort in
conversation that I feel in the very lassitude afterwards what a strain my
faculties have undergone.”’
‘What an insufferable coxcomb, and an idiot to boot!’ cried Walpole.
‘I could not do him a more spiteful turn than to tell my cousin of her
conquest. There is another page, I see, of the same sort. But here you
are--this is all about you: I’ll read it. “In _re_ Kearney. The Irish are
always logical; and as Miss Kearney once shot some of her countrymen, when
on a mission they deemed National, her brother opines that he ought to
represent the principles thus involved in Parliament.”’
‘Is this the way in which he states my claims!’ broke in Dick, with
ill-suppressed passion.
‘Bear in mind, Mr. Kearney, this jest, and a very poor one it is, was meant
for me alone. The communication is essentially private, and it is only
through my indiscretion you know anything of it whatever.’
‘I am not aware that any confidence should entitle him to write such an
impertinence.’
‘In that case, I shall read no more,’ said Walpole, as he slowly refolded
the letter.’ The fault is all on my side, Mr. Kearney,’ he continued;’ but
I own I thought you knew your friend so thoroughly that extravagance on his
part could have neither astonished nor provoked you.’
‘You are perfectly right, Mr. Walpole; I apologise for my impatience. It
was, perhaps, in hearing his words read aloud by another that I forgot
myself, and if you will kindly continue the reading, I will promise to
behave more suitably in future.’
Walpole reopened the letter, but, whether indisposed to trust the pledge
thus given, or to prolong the interview, ran his eyes over one side and
then turned to the last page. ‘I see,’ said he, ‘he augurs ill as to your
chances of success; he opines that you have not well calculated the great
cost of the venture, and that in all probability it has been suggested by
some friend of questionable discretion. “At all events,”’ and here he read
aloud--‘“at all events, his Excellency says, ‘We should like to mark the
Kilgobbin affair by some show of approbation; and though supporting young
K. in a contest for his county is a “higher figure” than we meant to pay,
see him, and hear what he has to say of his prospects--what he can do to
obtain a seat, and what he will do if he gets one. We need not caution
him against’”--‘hum, hum, hum,’ muttered he, slurring over the words, and
endeavouring to pass on to something else.
‘May I ask against what I am supposed to be so secure?’
‘Oh, nothing, nothing. A very small impertinence, but which Mr. Atlee found
irresistible.’
‘Pray let me hear it. It shall not irritate me.’
‘He says, “There will be no more a fear of bribery in your case than of a
debauch at Father Mathew’s.”’
‘He is right there,’ said Kearney. ‘The only difference is that our
forbearance will be founded on something stronger than a pledge.’
Walpole looked at the speaker, and was evidently struck by the calm command
he had displayed of his passion.
‘If we could forget Joe Atlee for a few minutes, Mr. Walpole, we might
possibly gain something. I, at least, would be glad to know how far I might
count on the Government aid in my project.’
‘Ah, you want to--in fact, you would like that we should give you something
like a regular--eh?--that is to say, that you could declare to certain
people--naturally enough, I admit; but here is how we are, Kearney.
Of course what I say now is literally between ourselves, and strictly
confidential.’
‘I shall so understand it,’ said the other gravely.
‘Well, now, here it is. The Irish vote, as the Yankees would call it, is of
undoubted value to us, but it is confoundedly dear! With Cardinal Cullen on
one side and Fenianism on the other, we have no peace. Time was when you
all pulled the one way, and a sop to the Pope pleased you all. Now that
will suffice no longer. The “Sovereign Pontiff dodge” is the surest of all
ways to offend the Nationals; so that, in reality, what we want in the
House is a number of Liberal Irishmen who will trust the Government to do
as much for the Catholic Church as English bigotry will permit, and as much
for the Irish peasant as will not endanger the rights of property over the
Channel.’
‘There’s a wide field there, certainly,’ said Dick, smiling.
‘Is there not?’ cried the other exultingly. ‘Not only does it bowl over the
Established Church and Protestant ascendency, but it inverts the position
of landlord and tenant. To unsettle everything in Ireland, so that anybody
might hope to be anything, or to own Heaven knows what--to legalise
gambling for existence to a people who delight in high play, and yet not
involve us in a civil war--was a grand policy, Kearney, a very grand
policy. Not that I expect a young, ardent spirit like yourself, fresh from
college ambitions and high-flown hopes, will take this view.’
Dick only smiled and shook his head.
‘Just so,’ resumed Walpole. ‘I could not expect you to like this programme,
and I know already all that you allege against it; but, as B. says,
Kearney, the man who rules Ireland must know how to take command of a
ship in a state of mutiny, and yet never suppress the revolt. There’s the
problem--as much discipline as you can, as much indiscipline as you
can bear. The brutal old Tories used to master the crew and hang the
ringleaders; and for that matter, they might have hanged the whole ship’s
company. We know better, Kearney; and we have so confused and addled them
by our policy, that, if a fellow were to strike his captain, he would never
be quite sure whether he was to be strung up at the gangway or made a
petty-officer. Do you see it now?’
‘I can scarcely say that I do see it--I mean, that I see it as _you_ do.’
‘I scarcely could hope that you should, or, at least, that you should do
so at once; but now, as to this seat for King’s County, I believe we have
already found our man. I’ll not be sure, nor will I ask you to regard the
matter as fixed on, but I suspect we are in relations--you know what I
mean--with an old supporter, who has been beaten half-a-dozen times in our
interest, but is coming up once more. I’ll ascertain about this positively,
and let you know. And then’--here he drew breath freely and talked more at
ease--‘if we should find our hands free, and that we see our way clearly
to support you, what assurance could you give us that you would go through
with the contest, and fight the battle out?’
‘I believe, if I engage in the struggle, I shall continue to the end,’ said
Dick, half doggedly.
‘Your personal pluck and determination I do not question for a moment. Now,
let us see’--here he seemed to ruminate for some seconds, and looked like
one debating a matter with himself. ‘Yes,’ cried he at last, ‘I believe
that will be the best way. I am sure it will. When do you go back, Mr.
Kearney--to Kilgobbin, I mean?’
‘My intention was to go down the day after to-morrow.’
‘That will be Friday. Let us see, what is Friday? Friday is the 15th, is it
not?’
‘Yes.’
‘Friday’--muttered the other--‘Friday? There’s the Education Board, and the
Harbour Commissioners, and something else at--to be sure, a visit to the
Popish schools with Dean O’Mahony. You couldn’t make it Saturday, could
you?’
‘Not conveniently. I had already arranged a plan for Saturday. But why
should I delay here--to what end?’
‘Only that, if you could say Saturday, I would like to go down with you.’
From the mode in which he said these words, it was clear that he looked for
an almost rapturous acceptance of his gracious proposal; but Dick did not
regard the project in that light, nor was he overjoyed in the least at the
proposal.
‘I mean,’ said Walpole, hastening to relieve the awkwardness of silence--‘I
mean that I could talk over this affair with your father in a practical
business fashion, that you could scarcely enter into. Still, if Saturday
could not be managed, I’ll try if I could not run down with you on Friday.
Only for a day, remember, I must return by the evening train. We shall
arrive by what hour?’
‘By breakfast-time,’ said Dick, but still not over-graciously.
‘Nothing could be better; that will give us a long day, and I should like
a full discussion with your father. You’ll manage to send me on to--what’s
the name?’
‘Moate.’
‘Moate. Yes; that’s the place. The up-train leaves at midnight, I remember.
Now that’s all settled. You’ll take me up, then, here on Friday morning,
Kearney, on your way to the station, and meanwhile I’ll set to work, and
put off these deputations and circulars till Saturday, when, I remember, I
have a dinner with the provost. Is there anything more to be thought of?’
‘I believe not,’ muttered Dick, still sullenly.
‘Bye-bye, then, till Friday morning,’ said he, as he turned towards his
desk, and began arranging a mass of papers before him.
‘Here’s a jolly mess with a vengeance,’ muttered Kearney, as he descended
the stair. ‘The Viceroy’s private secretary to be domesticated with a
“head-centre” and an escaped convict. There’s not even the doubtful comfort
of being able to make my family assist me through the difficulty.’