HOW WILL WOULD NOT BE CROSSED.
I know not what Will proposed to himself when his father at first
admonished him; perhaps, one knows not, he even tried to set before
himself the reasonableness of his father's rebuke; perhaps, as the
sequel seems to show, he kept silence, resolving to have his own way
somehow.
However that might be, Will ceased to molest me for the time, and I was
even in hopes that he had seen the hopelessness of his desires. Our
days went on without any other visits from him, and he did not seek me
out upon the Terrace or in the Assembly Rooms.
Poor Nancy's predictions were, however, entirely fulfilled. For Will
could not, by any persuasion of hers, be induced at first to abstain
from showing himself in public. To be sure, he did not "run an Indian
muck" among the dancers, but he became the terror of the whole company
for a rough boorishness which was certainly unknown before in any
polite assembly. He did not try to be even decently polite: he was
boorish, not like a boor, but like a Czar of Russia, with a proud sense
of his own position; he behaved as if he were, at Epsom Wells, the
young squire among the villagers who looked up to him as their hero
and natural king. If he walked upon the Terrace he pushed and elbowed
the men, he jolted the ladies, he stepped upon trains, pushed aside
dangling canes and deranged wigs, as if nobody was to be considered
when he was present. Sometimes he went into the card-room and took a
hand; then, if he was tempted to give his antagonist the lie direct, he
gave it; or if he lost, he said rude things about honesty; and he was
so strong, and carried so big a cudgel, that for a time nobody dared
to check him. Because, you see, by Nash's orders, the gentlemen wore
no swords. Now, although it is possible to challenge a man and run
him through, what are you to do with one who perhaps would refuse a
challenge, yet would, on provocation, being horribly strong, cudgel his
adversary on the spot? Of course, this kind of thing could not last; it
went on just as long as the forbearance of the gentlemen allowed, and
then was brought to an end. As for Will, during the first few days he
had not the least consideration for any one; all was to give way to his
caprice.
I have already remarked upon the very singular love which young men
of all ranks seem to have for chucking under the chin young women of
the lower classes. It was very well known at Epsom Wells that many
gentlemen rose early in the morning in order to enjoy this pastime
upon the chins of the higglers who brought the fruit, eggs, fowls,
and vegetables from the farmhouses. From six to nine chin-chucking,
not actually upon the Parade and the Terrace, but close by, among the
trees, on the steps of houses, beside the pond, was an amusement in
full flow. Many of the higglers were comely red-cheeked damsels who
thought it fine thus to be noticed by the quality, and I suppose no
harm came of it all, save a little pampering of the conceit and vanity
of young girls, so that they might dream of gentlemen instead of
yeomen, and aspire beyond their rank instead of remembering the words
of the Catechism to "learn and labour to do their duty in their own
station of life." To attract the attention of a dozen young fellows:
to have them following one about, even though one carried a basket
full of eggs for sale: to listen to their compliments: to endure that
chin-chucking--I suppose these things were to the taste of the girls,
because, as Cicely told me, there was great competition among them who
should carry the basket to the Wells. Now Master Will was quite at
home, from his village experiences, with this pastime, and speedily
fell in with it, to the annoyance and discomfiture of the London beaux
and fribbles. For, still acting upon the principles that Epsom was his
own parish, the village where he was Sultan, Great Bashaw, Heyduc, or
Grand Seigneur, he at once took upon himself the right of paying these
attentions to any or all of the damsels, without reference to previous
preferences. This, which exasperated the fair higglers, drove the beaux
nearly mad. Yet, because he was so strong and his cudgel was so thick,
none durst interfere.
I have since thought, in reflecting over poor Will's history, that
there are very few positions in life more dangerous to a young man
than that of the only son of a country squire, to have no tastes for
learning and polite society, and to live constantly on the estate. For
among the rough farmers and labourers there can be no opposition or
public feeling upon the conduct, however foolish and ungoverned, of
such a young man; the rustics and clowns are his very humble servants,
nay, almost his slaves; they tremble at his frown; if he lifts his
stick they expect a cudgelling; as for the women and girls of the
village, the poor things are simply honoured by a nod and a word; the
estate will be his, the fields will be his, the cottages his; the
hares, rabbits, partridges, pheasants will be his; even the very men
and women will be his, nay, are his already. Wherever he goes he is
saluted; even in the church, the people rise to do him reverence: hats
are doffed and reverence paid if he walks the fields, or rides upon
the roads; every day, supposing he is so unhappy as to remain always
upon his own estate, he is made to feel his greatness until he comes to
believe, like King Louis XV. himself, that there is no one in the world
but must bow to his order, nothing that he desires but he must have.
And, speaking with the respect due to my benefactors, I think that Sir
Robert, a man himself of singular good feeling and high breeding, was
greatly to blame in not sending his son to travel, or in some way to
make him mix with his equals and superiors. For such a character as
Will's is formed insensibly. A man does not become selfish and boorish
all at once. Therefore, his parents did not notice, until it was forced
upon them, what all the world deplored--the self-will and boorishness
of their only son. To the last I think that Lady Levett looked upon him
as a young man of excellent heart, though stubborn.
"You _shall_ marry me," he had said. Therefore it was war to the death,
because, as you all know, I could not possibly marry him.
It was no secret at Epsom that this young autocrat had said those
words; in fact, he used them in public, insulting Harry Temple upon the
very Terrace before all the company.
"I warn you," he said, "keep away from Kitty. She's going to be my
wife. I've told her so. Therefore, hands off."
"Why, Will," Harry replied good-naturedly, "what if she refuses?"
"She shan't refuse. I've said she shall marry me, and she shall," he
replied. "Refuse? It's only her whimsical tricks. All fillies are
alike. Hands off, Master Harry."
"Why," cried Peggy Baker, "what a pretty, genteel speech, to be sure!
Oh, Mr. Levett, happy is the woman who will be your wife! Such kindness
of disposition! such sweetness! such gallantry! such sensibility!"
"I know what you mean," said Will, swearing a big oath; "and I don't
value your words nor your opinion--no--not a brass farden, no more
than I value your powder, and your paint, and your patches. You're all
alike; blacksmith's Sue is worth a hundred of ye."
Peggy burst out laughing, and Will strode away. He did not like to be
laughed at, yet could not help being intolerably rude.
When I found that Will, although he made himself the
laughing-stock--and the terror--of the place, ceased to molest me, I
was more easy in my mind; certainly, it would not have been pleasant to
walk on the Terrace, or even to go to the Assembly, if one had feared
to meet this rough and bearish inamorato, who might have insulted one,
or a gentleman with one, in the most intolerable manner. However, the
evening was generally a safe time, because then he loved to sit in a
tavern playing all-fours over a pipe and a tankard with any country
parson, or even any town tradesman, who would share his beer and be
complaisant with his moods.
This was worse than the case of Harry Temple, because, as I have said
before, I could not hope, whatever I did, to bring him to reason.
Sometimes I thought, but wildly, of Dr. Powlett's establishment.
Suppose that the whole force of the house had succeeded in putting
him into chains and a strait-waistcoat, which was certainly
doubtful--besides, so wicked a thing could not be done twice--what
assurance had I of good behaviour on release? He would promise--Will
was always ready to promise, having no more regard to truth than an
ourang-outang; but when he was free, with his cudgel in his hand, what
would he not do?
I have said that he was prodigiously strong, besides being fierce and
masterful of aspect. This made men give way to him; also he got a
reputation for being stronger than perhaps he really was. For when,
as continually happened, booths were put on the Downs for wrestling,
singlestick, quarterstaff, boxing, and other trials of skill and
strength, Will would always go, sit out the whole games, and then
challenge the victor, whom he always conquered, coming off the hero of
the day. To be sure, it was whispered that the contest was generally
arranged--by promise of half-a-crown--to be decided in favour of Will.
It seems strange, but I suppose there are men who, for half-a-crown,
will not only sell a fight--on which bets have been made--but also take
a sound drubbing as well.
And if he had a dispute with a gentleman--it was impossible for him
to exchange two words without causing a dispute--he would immediately
propose to settle the affair with cudgels or fists. Now a gentleman
should be ready to fight a street bully or a light porter in London
with any weapons, if necessary; but what sort of society would that
be in which the gentlemen would take off coat and wig and engage with
fists or clubs on the smallest quarrel?
He was so rude and overbearing that the company began to be positively
afraid of going to the Terrace or the Assembly Rooms, and indeed I
think he would have driven the whole of the visitors away in a body but
for the timely interference of Lord Chudleigh and Sir Miles Lackington.
It was the day after his open insult to Harry Temple, who could not
call out the son of his former guardian and his old playfellow.
Therefore these two resolved that there should be an end of this
behaviour.
It was bruited abroad that some steps of a serious nature were going
to be taken; there had been found a man, it was said, to bell the cat;
it was even whispered that a prize-fighter of stupendous strength,
dexterity, and resolution had been brought down expressly from London
in order to insult Will Levett, receive a challenge for singlestick,
or fists, or quarterstaff, instantly accept it, and thereupon give the
village bantam-cock so mighty a drubbing that he would not dare again
to show his face among the company. Indeed, I think that was the best
thing which could have been done, and I sincerely wish they had done
it.
But Lord Chudleigh and Sir Miles would not treat a gentleman,
even so great a cub and clown, with other than the treatment due
to a gentleman. Therefore, they resolved upon an open and public
expostulation and admonition. And, mindful of the big cudgel, they
broke the laws of the Wells, and put on their swords before they came
together on the Terrace, looking grave and stern, as becomes those
who have duties of a disagreeable kind to perform. But to see the
excitement of the company. They expected, I believe, nothing short of a
battle between Lord Chudleigh and Sir Miles on the one hand, armed with
swords, and Will on the other, grasping his trusty cudgel. The cudgel,
in his hands, against any two combatants, would have been a mighty
awkward weapon, but, fortunately, gentlemen of Will's kind entertain a
healthy repugnance to cold steel.
It was about twelve o'clock in the forenoon when Will the Masterful,
forcing his way, shoulders first, among the crowd, found himself
brought up short by these two gentlemen. Round them were gathered a
circle of bystanders, which increased rapidly till it was twenty or
thirty deep.
"Now then," he cried, "what is the meaning of this? Let's pass, will
ye, lord or no lord?"
As Lord Chudleigh made no reply, Will, growling that a freeborn
Englishman was as good as a lord or a baronet in the public way, tried
to pass through them. Then he was seized by the coat-collar by Sir
Miles, whose arm was as strong as his own.
"Hark ye," said the baronet. "We want a few words with you, young cub!"
Will lifted his head in amazement. Here was a man quite as strong as
himself who dared to address him as a cub.
"We find that you go about the Wells," continued the baronet, "which is
a place of entertainment for ladies and gentlemen, insulting, pushing,
and behaving with no more courtesy than if you were in your own
stableyard. Now, sirrah, were it not for the respect we have for your
father, we should make short work of you."
"Make short work of ME!" cried Will, red in the face, and brandishing
his cudgel. "Make short work of ME!"
"Certainly. Do not think we shall fight you with sticks; and if you
make the least gesture with that club of yours, I shall have the
pleasure of running you through with my sword." Contrary to the rules
of the Wells, both gentlemen, as I have said, wore their swords on this
occasion, and here Sir Miles touched his sword-hilt. "And now, sir,
take a word of advice. Try to behave like a gentleman, or, upon my word
of honour, you shall be driven out of the Wells with a horsewhip by the
hands of the common grooms of the place, your proper companions."
Will swore prodigiously, but he refrained from using his cudgel.
Indeed, the prospect of cold steel mightily cooled his courage.
"And a word from me, sir," said Lord Chudleigh, speaking low. "You have
dared to make public use of a certain young lady's name. I assure you,
upon the honour of a peer, that if you presume to repeat this offence,
or if you in any way assert a claim to that lady's favour, I will make
you meet me as one gentleman should meet another."
Will looked from one to the other. Both men showed that they meant what
they promised. Sir Miles, with a careless smile, had in his eye a look
of determination. Lord Chudleigh, with grave face and set lip, seemed
a man quite certain to carry out his promise. Will had nothing to say;
he was like one dumbfounded: therefore he swore. This is the common
refuge of many men for all kinds of difficulties, doubts, and dangers.
Some rogues go swearing to the gallows. Men call them insensible and
callous, whereas I believe that these wretches are simply incapable
of expressing emotion in any other way. Swearing, with them, stands
for every emotion. The divine gift of speech, by which it was designed
that men should express their thoughts, and so continually lead upwards
their fellow-creatures, become in their case a vehicle for profane
ejaculation, so that they are little better than the monkeys on the
branches.
Will, therefore, swore vehemently. This made no impression upon his
assailants. He therefore swore again. He then asked what sort of
treatment this was for a gentleman to receive. Sir Miles reminded him
that he had offended against the good manners expected of gentlemen
at a watering-place, and that he could no longer fairly be treated as
belonging to the polite class.
"Indeed," he explained, "we have gravely considered the matter, my
lord and myself, and have come to the conclusion that although, for
the sake of your most worthy father, we were ready to admonish as
a gentleman (though in this open and public manner, as the offence
required), yet we cannot consider your case to be deserving of any
better treatment than that of a common, unruly porter, carter, or
labouring man, who must be brought to his senses by reason of blows,
cuffs, and kicks. Know, then, that although this Terrace is open to all
who comport themselves with civility, decency, and consideration for
others, it is no place for brawlers, strikers, and disturbers of the
peace. Wherefore, four stout men, or if that is not enough, six, will
be told off to drive you from the Terrace whenever you appear again
upon it armed with that great stick, or upon the least offer to fight
any gentleman of the company. I believe, sir, that you are no fool, and
that you perfectly understand what we mean, and that we do mean it.
Wherefore, be advised in time, and if you do not retreat altogether
from the Wells, be persuaded to study the customs of polite society."
This was a long speech for Sir Miles, but it was delivered with an
authority and dignity which made me regret that such good abilities
should have been thrown away at the gaming-table.
Will swore again at this. Then, observing that many of the bystanders
were laughing, he brandished his cudgel, and talked of knocking out
brains, breaking of necks, and so forth, until he was again reminded by
Sir Miles, who significantly tapped the hilt of his sword, that Signor
Stick was not to be allowed to reign at the Wells. Then he hung his
head and swore again.
"It will be best, sir," said Lord Chudleigh, "that you come no more
to the Terrace or the Assembly Rooms, with or without your cudgel.
The Downs are wide and open; there you will doubtless find room for
walking, and an audience in the birds for these profane oaths, to which
our ladies are by no means accustomed."
"Let me go then," he said sulkily. "Od rot it--get out of my way, some
of you!"
He walked straight down the Terrace, the people making way for him on
either hand, with furious looks and angry gestures. He went straight
to his stable, where he thrashed a groom for some imaginary offence.
Thence he went to the King's Head, where he called for a tankard and
offered to fight the best man in the company or for ten miles round,
for fifty pounds a side, with quarterstaff, singlestick, or fists. Then
he drank more beer; sat down and called for a pipe: smoked tobacco all
the afternoon; and got drunk early in the evening.
But he came no more to the Terrace.
"And now," said Peggy Baker, "I hope that we shall see Miss Nancy
back again. Doubtless, my lord, the return of that lady, and the more
frequent appearance of Miss Pleydell with her, will bring your lordship
oftener from Durdans."
I have already mentioned our poets at Epsom, and their biting epigrams.
Here is another, which was sent to me at this time:
"Kitty, a nymph who fain would climb,
But yet may tumble down,
Her charms she tries with voice and eyes
First on a rustic clown.
"But bumpkin squire won't serve her turn
When gentle Harry woos her,
So farewell Will, for Kitty still
Will laugh, although you lose her.
"Yet higher still than Hal or Will
Her thoughts, ambitious, soar'd:
'Go, Will and Hal: my promise shall
Be transferred to my Lord.'"
I suppose the verses were written at the request of Peggy Baker; but
after all they did me very little harm, and, indeed, nothing could do
me either good or harm at Epsom any more, because my visit was brought
to a sudden close by an event which, as will be seen, might have been
most disastrous for us all.
The selfishness and boorish behaviour of Will Levett not only kept us
from walking on the Terrace in the afternoon, but also kept poor Nancy
at home altogether. She would either come to our lodgings and sit with
me lamenting over her bumpkin brother, or she would sit at home when
Sir Robert was testy and her ladyship querulous, throwing the blame
of her son's rudeness sometimes upon her husband, who, she said, had
never whipped the boy as he ought to have been whipped, in accordance
with expressed Scripture orders strictly laid down; or upon Nancy,
whose pert tongue and saucy ways had driven him from the Hall to the
kennel; or upon myself, who was so ungrateful, after all that had been
done for me, as to refuse her son, in spite of all his protestations of
affection. It was hard upon poor Nancy, the ordinary butt and victim
of her brother's ill-temper, that she should be taunted with being
the cause of it; and one could not but think that had madam been more
severe with her son at the beginning, things might have gone better.
When a mother allows her son from the very beginning to have all his
own way, it is weak in the father to suffer it: but she must not then
turn round when the mischief is done, and reproach her daughter, who
took no part in the first mischief, with being the cause of it; nor
should she call a girl ungrateful for refusing to marry a man whose
vices are so prominent and conspicuous that they actually prevent his
virtues from being discerned. Beneath that smock-frock, so to speak,
that village rusticity, behind that blunt speech and rough manner,
there may have been the sound kind heart of a gentleman, but the girl
could not take that for granted. The sequel proved indeed that she was
right in refusing, even had she been free; for Will died, as he lived,
a profligate and a drunkard of the village kind. So that even his poor
mother was at last fain to acknowledge that he was a bad and wicked
man, and but for some hope derived from his deathbed, would have gone
in sorrow to her dying day.
"I must say, Kitty," said Lady Levett to me, "that I think a little
kindness from you might work wonders with our Will. And he a boy of
such a good heart!"
"He wants so much of me, madam," I replied. "With all respect, I cannot
give him what he asks, because I cannot love him."
"He says, child, that you promised him."
"Indeed, madam, I did not. I was in sorrow and lamentation over my
fathers death and my departure from kind friends, when first Harry and
then Will came, and one after the other said words of which I took no
heed. Yet when I saw them again, they both declared that I was promised
to them. Now, madam, could a girl promise to two men within half an
hour?"
"I know not. Girls will do anything," said Lady Levett bitterly. "Yet
it passes my understanding to know how the two boys could be so
mistaken. And yet you will take neither. What! would nothing serve you
short of a coronet?"
I made no reply.
"Tell me, then, girl, will Lord Chudleigh marry thee? It is a great
condescension of him, and a great thing for a penniless young woman."
"He will marry me, madam," I replied, blushing, and thinking of what I
had first to tell him.
She sighed.
"Well, I would he had cast his eyes on Nancy! Yet I say not, Kitty,
that a coronet will be too heavy for thy head to wear. Some women are
born to be great ladies. My Nancy must content herself with some simple
gentleman. Go, my dear. I must try to persuade this headstrong boy to
reason."
"Persuade him, if you can, madam," I said, "to leave Epsom and go home.
He will come to harm in this place. Two or three of the gentlemen have
declared that they will follow the example of Lord Chudleigh and Sir
Miles Lackington, and wear swords, although that is against the rules
of the Wells, in order to punish him for his rudeness should he venture
again to shake his cudgel in the faces of the visitors, which he has
done already to their great discomfiture."
I know not if his mother tried to persuade him, but I do know that he
did not leave Epsom, and that the evil thing which I had prophesied,
not knowing how true my words might be, did actually fall upon him.
This shows how careful one should be in foretelling disasters, even if
they seem imminent. And indeed, having before one the experiences of
maturity, it seems as if it would be well did a new order of prophets
and prophetesses arise with a message of joy and comfort, instead of
disaster and misery, such as the message which poor Cassandra had to
deliver.
Now, when my lord had given poor Will the warning of which I have
told, he retired ashamed and angry, but impenitent, to those obscure
haunts where tobacco is continually offered as incense to the gods of
rusticity. Here he continued to sit, smoked pipes, drank beer, and
cudgelled stable-boys to his heart's content; while we, being happily
quit of him, came forth again without fear.
Nancy, however, assured me that something would happen before her
brother, whose stubbornness and masterful disposition were well known
to her, relinquished his pursuit and persecution of the woman on whom
he had set his heart.
"My dear," she said, "I know Will, as you do, of old. Was there ever
a single thing which he desired that he did not obtain? Why, when he
was a child and cried for the moon they brought him a piece of green
cheese, which they told him was cut from the moon on purpose for
him to eat. Was he ever crossed in anything? Has there ever been a
single occasion on which he gave up any enjoyment or desire out of
consideration for another person? Rather, when he has gone among his
equals has he not become an object of scorn and hatred? He made no
friends at school, nor any at Cambridge, from which place of learning
he was, as you know, disgracefully expelled; the gentlemen of the
county will not associate with him except on the hunting-field--you
know all this, Kitty. Think, then, since he has made up his mind to
marry a girl; since he has bragged about his condescension, as he
considers it; since he has promised his pot-companions to bring home
a wife, how great must be his rage and disappointment. He will _do
something_, Kitty. He is desperate."
What, however, could he do? He came not near our lodgings; he made no
sign of any evil intention; but he did not go away.
"He is desperate," repeated Nancy. "He cares little about you, but
he thinks of his own reputation. And, my dear, do not think because
Will, poor boy, is a sot and a clown that he does not think of his
reputation. His hobby is to be thought a man who can and will have his
own way. He has openly bragged about the country, and even among his
boozing companions at Epsom, that he will marry you. Therefore, oh! my
dear, be careful. Go not forth alone, or without a gentleman or two,
after dark. For I believe that Will would do anything, anything, for
the sake of what he calls his honour. For, Kitty, to be laughed at
would be the death-blow to his vanity. He knows that he is ignorant and
boorish, but he consoles himself with the thought that he is strong."
What, I repeated, being uneasy more than a little, could he do?
At first I thought of asking Harry Temple quietly to watch over Will
and bring me news if anything was in the wind; but that would not do
either, because one could not ask Harry to act the part of a spy.
Next, I thought that I had only to ask for a bodyguard of the young men
at the Wells to get a troop for my protection; but what a presumption
would this be! Finally, I spoke my fears to Sir Robert, begging him not
to tell madam what I had said.
"Courage, Kitty!" said Sir Robert Levett. "Will is a clown, for which
we have to thank our own indulgence. Better had it been to break a
thousand good ash-saplings over his back, than to see him as he is.
Well, the wise man says: 'The father of a fool hath no joy,' Yet Will
is of gentle blood, and I cannot doubt that he will presently yield and
go away patiently."
"Have you asked him, sir?"
"Child, I ask him daily, for his mother's sake and for Nancy's, to go
away and leave us in peace. But I have no control over him. He doth but
swear and call for more ale. His mother also daily visits him, and gets
small comfort thereby. His heart is hard and against us all."
"Then, sir, if Mrs. Esther will consent, one cause of his discontent
shall be removed, for we will go away to London where he will not be
able to find us."
"Yes, Kitty," he replied. "That will be best. Yet who would ever have
thought I could wish our sweet tall Kitty to go away from us!"
The sweet tall Kitty could not but burst out crying at such tenderness
from her old friend and protector.
"Forgive me, sir," I said, while he kissed me and patted my cheek as if
I was a child again. "Forgive me, sir, that I cannot marry Will, as he
would wish."
"Child!" he exclaimed, starting to his feet in a paroxysm of passion.
"God forgive me for saying so, but I would rather see a girl I loved in
her grave than married to my son!"
We then held a consultation, Lord Chudleigh being of the party; and it
was resolved that we should return to London without delay, and without
acquainting any at the Wells with our intention, which was to be
carried into effect as soon as we could get our things put together;
in fact, in two days' time.
So secret were our preparations that we did not even tell Nancy, and
were most careful to let no suspicion enter the head of Cicely Crump,
a town-crier of the busiest and loudest, who was, besides, continually
beset by the young gallants, seeking through her to convey letters,
poems, and little gifts to me. Yet so faithful was the girl, as I
afterwards found out, and so fond of me, that I might safely have
trusted her with any secret.
(Soon after the event which I am now to relate, I took Cicely into my
service as still-room maid. She remained with me for four years, being
ever the same merry, faithful, and talkative wench. She then, by my
advice, married the curate of the parish, to whom she made as good a
wife as she had been a servant, and brought up eleven children, four of
them being twins, in the fear of God and the love of duty.)
We were to depart on Friday, the evening being chosen so that Master
Will should not be able to see us go. Lord Chudleigh and Sir Miles
promised to ride with our coach all the way to London for protection. I
have often remembered since that Friday is ever an unlucky day to begin
upon. Had we made the day Thursday, for instance, we should have gotten
safely away without the thing which happened.
On Thursday afternoon we repaired to the Terrace as usual, I rather sad
at thinking that my reign as Queen of the Wells would soon be over, and
wondering whether the future could have any days in store for me so
happy as those which a kind Providence had already bestowed upon me.
There was to be a dance at six, and a tea at five. About four o'clock,
Nancy and I, accompanied only by Mr. Stallabras, sauntered away from
the Terrace and took the road leading to the Downs. Nancy afterwards
told me that she had noticed a carriage with four horses waiting under
the trees between the Terrace and the King's Head, which, on our
leaving the crowd, slowly followed us along the road; but she thought
nothing of this at the time.
Mr. Stallabras, with gallant and consequential air, ambled beside us,
his hat under his arm, his snuff box in his left hand, and his cane
dangling from his right wrist. He was, as usual, occupied with his
own poetry, which, indeed, through the interest of the brewers widow
(whom he subsequently married), seemed about to become the fashion. I
thought, then, that it was splendid poetry, but I fear, now, that it
must have been what Dr. Johnson once called a certain man's writing,
"terrible skimble skamble stuff;" in other words, poor Solomon
Stallabras had the power of imitation, and would run you off rhymes
as glibly as monkey can peel cocoa-nuts (according to the reports of
travellers), quite in the style of Pope. Yet the curious might look in
vain for any thought above the common, or any image which had not been
used again and again. Such poets, though they hand down the lamp, do
not, I suppose, greatly increase the poetic reputation of their country.
"It seems a pity, Mr. Stallabras," I was saying, "that you, who are so
fond of singing about the purling stream and the turtles cooing in the
grove, do not know more about the familiar objects of the country. Here
is this little flower"--only a humble crane's-bill, yet a beautiful
flower--"you do not, I engage, know its name?"
He did not.
"Observe, again, the spreading leaves of yonder great tree. You do not,
I suppose, know its name?"
He did not. A common beech it was, yet as stately as any of those which
may be seen near Farnham Royal, or in Windsor Forest.
"And listen! there is a bird whose note, I dare swear, you do not
know?"
He did not. Would you believe that it was actually the voice of the
very turtle-dove of which he was so fond?
"The Poet," he explained, not at all abashed by the display of so
much ignorance--"the Poet should not fetter his mind with the
little details of nature: he dwells in his thought remote from their
consideration: a flower is to him a flower, which is associated with
the grove and the purling stream: a shepherd gathers a posy of flowers
for his nymph: a tree is a tree which stands beside the stream to
shelter the swain and his goddess: the song of one bird is as good as
the song of another, provided it melodiously echoes the sighs of the
shepherd. As for----"
Here we were interrupted. The post-chaise drove rapidly up the road and
overtook us. As we turned to look, it stopped, and two men jumped out
of it, armed with cudgels. Nancy seized my arm: "Kitty! Will is in the
carriage!" I will do Solomon Stallabras justice. He showed himself,
though small of stature and puny of limb, as courageous as a lion. He
was armed with nothing but his cane, but with this he flew upon the
ruffians who rushed to seize me, and beat, struck, clung, and kicked in
my defence. Nancy threw herself upon me and shrieked, crying, that if
they carried me away they should drag her too. While we struggled, I
saw the evil face of Will looking out of the carriage: it was distorted
by every evil passion: he cried to the men to murder Solomon: he
threatened his sister to kill her unless she let go: he called to me
that it would be the worse for me unless I came quiet. Then he sprang
from the carriage himself, having originally purposed, I suppose, to
take no part in the fray, and with his cudgel dealt Solomon such a blow
upon his head that he fell senseless in the road. After this he seized
Nancy, his own sister, dragged her from me, swore at the men for being
cowardly lubbers, and while they threw me into the carriage, he hurled
his sister shrieking and crying on the prostrate form of the poor poet,
and sprang into the carriage after me.
"Run!" he cried to the two men; "off with you both, different ways. If
you get caught, it will be the worse for you."
We were half-way up the hill which leads from the town to the Downs;
in fact, we were not very far above the doctor's house, but there was
a wind in the road, so that had his men been looking out of his doors
they could not have seen what was being done, though they might have
heard almost on the Terrace the cries, the dreadful imprecations, and
the shrieks of Nancy and myself.
They had thrown me upon the seat with such violence that I was
breathless for a few moments, as well as sick and giddy with the
dreadful scene--it lasted but half a minute--which I had witnessed.
Yet as Will leaped in after me and gave the word to drive on, I saw
lying in the dust of the road the prostrate and insensible form of poor
Solomon and my faithful, tender Nancy, who had so fought and wrestled
with the villains, not with any hope that she could beat them off,
but in order to gain time, lying half over the body of the poet, half
on the open road. Alas! the road at this time was generally deserted;
there was no one to rescue, though beyond the tall elms upon the right
lay the gardens and park of Durdans, where my lord was walking at that
moment, perhaps, meditating upon his wretched Kitty.
As for my companion, his face resembled that of some angry devil, moved
by every evil passion at once. If I were asked to depict the worst face
I ever saw, I should try to draw the visage of this poor boy. He could
not speak for passion. He was in such a rage that his tongue clave to
the roof of his mouth. He could not even swear. He could only splutter.
For a while he sat beside me ejaculating at intervals disjointed words,
while his angry eyes glared about the coach, and his red cheeks flamed
with wrath.
The Downs were quite deserted: not even a shepherd was in sight. We
drove along a road which I knew well, a mere track across the grass:
the smooth turf was easy for the horses, and we were travelling at such
a pace that it seemed impossible for any one to overtake us.
My heart sank, yet I bade myself keep up courage. With this wild beast
at my side it behoved me to show no sign of terror.
Every woman has got two weapons, one provided by Nature, the other by
Art. The first is the one which King Solomon had ever in his mind when
he wrote the Book of Proverbs (which should be the guide and companion
of every young man). Certainly he had so many wives that he had more
opportunities than fall to the lot of most husbands (who have only the
experience of one) of knowing the power of a woman's tongue. He says
he would rather dwell in the wilderness than with an angry woman: in
the corner of the house-top than with a brawling woman. (Yet the last
chapter of the book is in praise of the wise woman.) I had, therefore,
my tongue. Next I had a pair of scissors, so that if my fine gentleman
attempted the least liberty, I could, and would, give him such a stab
with the sharp points as would admonish him to good purpose. But mostly
I relied upon my tongue, knowing of old that with this weapon Will was
easily discomfited.
Presently, the cool air of the Downs blowing upon his cheeks, Will
became somewhat soothed, and his ejaculations became less like angry
words used as interjections. I sat silent, taking no notice of what he
said, and answering nothing to any of his wild speeches. But be sure
that I kept one eye upon the window, ready to shriek if any passer-by
appeared.
The angry interjections settled down into sentences, and Will at last
became able to put some of his thoughts into words.
He began a strange, wild, rambling speech, during which I felt somewhat
sorry for him. It was such a speech as an Indian savage might have made
when roused to wrath by the loss of his squaw.
He bade me remember that he had known me from infancy, that he had
always been brought up with me. I had therefore a first duty to perform
in the shape of gratitude to him (for being a child with him in the
same village). Next he informed me that having made up his mind to
marry me, nothing should stop him, because nothing ever did stop him
in anything he proposed to do, and if any one tried to stop him, he
always knocked down that man first, and when he had left him for dead,
he then went and did the thing. This, he said, was well known. Very
well, then. Did I dare, then, he asked, knowing as I did full well this
character of his for resolution, to fly in the face of that knowledge
and throw him over? What made the matter, he argued, a case of the
blackest ingratitude, was that I had thrown him over for a lord: a
poor, chicken-hearted, painted lord, whom he, for his own part, could
knock down at a single blow. He would now, therefore, show me what my
new friends were worth. Here I was, boxed up in the carriage with him,
safe and sound, not a soul within hail, being driven merrily across
country to a place he knew of, where I should find a house, a parson,
and a prayer-book. With these before me I might, if I pleased, yelp and
cry for my lord and his precious friend, Sir Miles Lackington. They
would be far enough away, with their swords and their mincing ways.
When I was married they might come and--what was I laughing at?
I laughed, in fact, because I remembered another weapon. As a last
resource I could proclaim to the clergyman that I was already a wife,
the wife of Lord Chudleigh. I knew enough of the clergy to be certain
that although a man might be here and there found among them capable
of marrying a woman against her will, just as men are found among them
who, to please their patrons, will drink with them, go cock-fighting
with them, and in every other way forget the sacred duties of their
calling, yet not one among them all, however bad, would dare to marry
again a woman already married. Therefore I laughed.
A London profligate would, perhaps, have got a man to personate a
clergyman; but this wickedness, I was sure, would not enter into the
head of simple Will Levett. It was as much as he could devise--and that
was surely a good deal--to bribe some wretched country curate to be
waiting for us at our journey's end, to marry us on the spot. When I
understood this I laughed again, thinking what a fool Will would look
when he was thwarted again.
"Zounds, madam! I see no cause for laughing."
"I laugh, Will," I said, "because you are such a fool. As for you,
unless you order your horses' heads to be turned round, and drive me
instantly back to Epsom, you will not laugh, but cry."
To this he made no reply, but whistled. Now to whistle when a person
gives you serious advice, is in Kent considered a contemptuous reply.
"Ah!" he went on, "sly as you were, I have been too many for you. It
was you who set the two bullies, your great lord and your baronet, on
me with their swords--made all the people laugh at me. You shall pay
for it all. It was you set Nancy crying and scolding upon me enough to
give a man a fit; it was you, I know, set my father on to me. Says if
he cannot cut me off with a shilling, he will sell the timber, ruin
the estate, and let me starve so long as he lives. Let 'un! let 'un!
let 'un, I say! All of you do your worst. Honest Will Levett will do
what he likes, and have what he likes. Bull-dog Will! Holdfast Will!
Tear-'em Will! By the Lord! there isn't a man in the country can get
the better of him. Oh, I know your ways! Wait till I've married you.
Then butter wont melt in your mouth. Then it will be, 'Dear Will! kind
Will! sweet Will! best of husbands and of men!'--oh! I know what you
are well enough. Why--after all--what is one woman that she should set
herself above other women? Take off your powder and your patches and
your hoops, how are you better than Blacksmith's Sue? Answer me that.
And why do I take all this trouble about you, to anger my father and
spite my mother, when Blacksmith's Sue would make as good a wife--ay! a
thousand times better--because she can bake and brew, and shoe a horse,
and mend a cracked crown, and fight a game-cock, and teach a ferret,
and train a terrier or a bull-pup, whereas you--what are you good for,
but to sit about and look grand, and come over the fellows with your
make-pretence, false, lying, whimsy-flimsy ways, your smilin' looks
when a lord is at your heels, and your 'Oh, fie! Will,' if it's only an
old friend. Why, I say? Because I've told my friends that I'm going to
bring you home my wife, and my honour's at stake. Because I am one as
will have his will, spite of 'em all. Because I don't love you, not one
bit, since I found you out for what you are, a false, jiltin' jade; and
I value the little finger of Sue more than your whole body, tall as you
are, and fine as you think yourself. Oh! by the Lord----"
I am sorry I cannot give the whole of his speech, which was too coarse
and profane to be written down for polite eyes to read. Suffice it
to say that it included every form of wicked word or speech known
to the rustics of Kent, and that he threatened me, in the course of
it, with every kind of cruelty that he could think of, counting as
nothing a horsewhipping every day until I became cheerful. Now, to
horsewhip your wife every day, in order to make her cheerful, seems
like starving your horse in order to make him more spirited; or to flog
an ignorant boy in order to make him learned; or to kick your dog in
order to make him love you. Perhaps he did not mean quite all that he
said; but one cannot tell, because his friends were chiefly in that
rank of life where it is considered a right and honourable thing to
beat a wife, cuff a son, and kick a daughter, and even the coarsest
boor of a village will have obedience from the wretched woman at his
beck and call. I think that Will would have belaboured his wife with
the greatest contentment, and as a pious duty, in order to make her
satisfied with her lot, cheerful over her duties, and merry at heart
at the contemplation of so good a husband. "A wife, a dog, and a
walnut-tree, the harder you flog them, the better they be." There are
plenty of Solomon's Proverbs in favour of flogging a child, but none,
that I know of, which recommend the flogging of a wife.
Blacksmith Sam, Will said, in his own village, the father of the
incomparable Sue, used this method to tame his wife, with satisfactory
results; and Pharaoh, his own keeper, was at that very time engaged
upon a similar course of discipline with his partner. What, he
explained, is good for such as those women is good for all. "Beat 'em
and thrash 'em till they follow to heel like a well-bred retriever.
Keep the stick over 'em till such times as they become as meek as an
old cow, and as obedient as a sheep-dog."
While he was still pouring forth these maxims for my information
and encouragement my heart began to beat violently, because I heard
(distantly at first) the hoofs of horses behind us. Will went on,
hearing and suspecting nothing, growing louder and louder in his
denunciation of women, and the proper treatment of them.
The hoofs drew nearer. Presently they came alongside. I looked out. One
on each side of our carriage, there rode Lord Chudleigh and Sir Miles
Lackington.
But I laughed no longer, for I saw before me the advent of some
terrible thing, and a dreadful trembling seized me. My lord's face was
stern, and Sir Miles, for the first time in my recollection, was grave
and serious, as one who hath a hard duty to perform. So mad was poor
headstrong Will that he neither heard them nor, for a while, saw them,
but continued his swearing and raving.
They called aloud to the postillions to stop the horses. This it was
that roused Will, and he sprang to his feet with a yell of rage, and
thrusting his head out of the window, bawled to the boys to drive
faster, faster! They whipped and spurred their horses. My lord said
nothing, but rode on, keeping up with the carriage.
"Stop!" cried Sir Miles.
"Go on!" cried Will.
Sir Miles drew a pistol and deliberately cocked it.
"If you will not stop," he cried, holding his pistol to the post-boy's
head, "I will fire!"
"Go on!" cried Will. "Go on; he dares not fire."
The fellow--I knew him for a stable-boy whose life at the Hall had been
one long series of kicks, cuffs, abuse, and horsewhippings at the hands
of his young master--ducked his head between his shoulders, and put
up his elbows, as if that which had so often protected him when Will
was enforcing discipline by the help of Father Stick, would avail him
against a pistol-shot. But he obeyed his master, mostly from force of
habit, and spurred his horse.
Sir Miles changed the direction of the pistol, and leaning forward,
discharged the contents in the head of the horse which the boy was
riding. The poor creature bounded forward and fell dead.
There was a moment of confusion; the flying horses stumbled and fell,
the boys were thrown from their saddles: the carriage was stopped
suddenly.
Then, what followed happened all in a moment. Yet it is a moment which
to me is longer than any day of my life, because the terror of it has
never left me, and because in dreams it often comes back to me. Ah!
what a prophetess was Nancy when she said that some dreadful thing
would happen before all was over, unless Will went away.
Sir Miles and my lord sprang to their feet. Will, with a terrible oath,
leaped forth from the carriage. For a moment he stood glaring from one
to the other like a wild beast brought to bay. He _was_ a wild beast.
Then he raised his great cudgel and rushed at my lord.
"You!" he cried; "you are the cause of it. I will beat out your brains!"
Lord Chudleigh leaped lightly aside, and avoided the blow which would
have killed him had it struck his head. Then I saw the bright blade
in his hand glisten for a moment in the sunlight, and then Will fell
backwards with a cry, and lay lifeless on the green turf, while my lord
stood above him, drops of red blood trickling down his sword.
"I fear, my lord," said Sir Miles, "that you have killed him.
Fortunately, I am witness that it was in self-defence."
"You have killed him! You have killed my master!" cried the stable
boy, whose left arm, which was broken by his fall from the horse, hung
helpless at his side. "You have killed the best master in all the
world! Lord or no lord, you shall hang!"
He rushed with his one hand to seize the slayer of his master, this
poor faithful slave, whose affections had only grown firmer with every
beating. Sir Miles caught him by the coat-collar and dragged him back.
"Quiet, fool! Attend to your master. He is not dead--yet."
He looked dead. The rage was gone out of his eyes, which were closed,
and the blood had left the cheeks, which were pallid. Poor Will never
looked so handsome as when he lay, to all seeming, dead.
Lord Chudleigh looked on his prostrate form with a kind of stern
sadness. The taking of life, even in such a cause and in self-defence,
is a dreadful thing. Like Lamech (who also might have been defending
his own life), he had slain a man to his wounding, and a young man to
his hurt.
"Kitty," he said, in a low voice, taking my hand, "this is a grievous
day's work. Yet I regret it not, since I have saved your honour!"
"My lord," I replied, "I had the saving of that in my own hands. But
you have rescued me from a wild beast, whose end I grieve over because
I knew him when he was yet an innocent boy."
"Come," said Sir Miles, "we must take measures. Here, fellows! come,
lift your master."
The two boys, with his help, lifted Will, who, as they moved him,
groaned heavily, into the carriage.
"Now," said Sir Miles, "one of you get inside. Lift his head. If--but
that is impossible--you come across water, pour a little into his
mouth. The other mount, and drive home as quickly as you can."
I bethought me of my friend the mad doctor, and bade them take their
master to his house, which was, as I have said, on the road between the
town and the Downs, so that he might be carried there quietly, without
causing an immediate scandal in the town.
The fellows were now quite obedient and subdued. Sir Miles, who seemed
to know what was to be done, made some sort of splint with a piece of
poor Will's cudgel, for the broken arm, which he tied up roughly, and
bade the boy be careful to get attended to as soon as his master was
served. In that class of life, as is well known, wounds, broken bones,
and even the most cruel surgical operations, are often endured with
patience which would equal the most heroic courage, if it were not due
to a stupid insensibility. The most sensitive of men are often the most
courageous, because they know what it is they are about to suffer.
However, they did as they were told, and presently drove back, the
third horse following with a rope.
Then we were left alone, with the blood upon the grass and the dead
horse lying beside us.
Sir Miles took my lord's sword from him, wiped it on the turf, and
restored it to him.
"Come," he said, "we must consider what to do."
"There is nothing to do," said Lord Chudleigh, "except to take Miss
Pleydell home again."
"Pardon me, my lord," Sir Miles interposed; "if ever I saw mischief
written on any man's face, it was written on the face of that boy. A
brave lad, too, and would have driven to the death at his master's
command."
"How can he do harm?" I asked. "Why, Sir Miles, you are witness; you
saw Will Levett with his cudgel rush upon his lordship, who but drew in
self-defence. I am another witness. I hope the simple words of such as
you and I would be believed before the oath of a stable-lad."
"I suppose they would," he replied. "Meantime, there is the fact,
known to all the company at the Wells, that both you and I, Lord
Chudleigh, had publicly informed this unhappy young man, that, under
certain circumstances, we would run him through. The circumstances
_have_ happened, and we _have_ run him through. This complication may
be unfortunate as regards the minds of that pig-headed institution, a
coroner's inquest."
"Sir!" cried my lord, "do you suppose--would you have me believe--that
this affair might be construed into anything but an act of
self-defence?"
"I do indeed," he replied gravely; "and so deeply do I feel it, that
I would counsel a retreat into some place where we shall not be
suspected, for such a time as may be necessary. If the worst happens,
and the man dies, your lordship may surrender yourself--but in
London--not to a country bench. If the man recovers, well and good;
you can go abroad again."
At first my lord would hear nothing of such a plan. Why should he run
away? Was it becoming for a man to fly from the laws of his country?
Then I put in a word, pointing out that it was one thing for a case to
be tried before a jury of ignorant, prejudiced men upon an inquest, and
another thing altogether for the case to be tried by a dispassionate
and unprejudiced jury. I said, too, that away from this place, the
circumstances of the case, the brutal assault upon Solomon Stallabras,
whose ribs, it appeared, were broken, as well as his collar-bone,
the ferocious treatment of Nancy by her own brother, and my forcible
abduction in open daylight, would certainly be considered provocation
enough for anything, and a justification (combined with the other
circumstances) of the homicide, if unhappily Will should die.
This moved my lord somewhat.
Where, he asked, could he go, so as to lie _perdu_ for a few days, or a
few weeks, if necessary?
"I have thought upon that," replied Sir Miles, looking at me with a
meaning eye (but I blushed and turned pale, and reddened again). "I
have just now thought of a plan. Your lordship has been there once
already; I mean the Rules of the Fleet. Here will I find you lodgings,
where no one will look for you; where, if you please to lie hidden for
awhile, you may do so in perfect safety; where you may have any society
you please, from a baronet out at elbows to a baker in rags, or no
society at all, if you please to lie quiet."
"I like not the place," said his lordship. "I have been there it is
true once, and it was once too often. Find me another place."
"I know no other," Sir Miles replied. "You must be in London; you must
be in some place where no one will suspect you. As for me, I will stay
near you, but not with you. There will be some noise over this affair;
it will be well for us to be separated, yet not so far but that I can
work for you. Come, my lord, be reasonable. The place is dirty and
noisy; but what signify dirt and noise when safety is concerned?"
He wavered. The recollection of the place was odious to him. Yet the
case was pressing.
He gave way.
"Have it," he said, "your own way. Kitty," he took my hand, "hopeless
as is my case, desperate as is my condition, I am happy in having
rescued you, no matter at what cost."
"Your lordship's case is not so hopeless as mine," said Sir Miles; "yet
I, too, am happy in having helped to rescue this, the noblest creature
in the world."
The tears were in my eyes as these two men spoke of me in such terms.
How could I deserve this worship? By what act, or thought, or prayer,
could I raise myself to the level where my lord's imagination had
planted me? O Love divine, since it makes men and women long to be
angels!
"I mean," Sir Miles continued bluntly, "that since your lordship has
found favour in her eyes, your case cannot be hopeless."
Lord Chudleigh raised my hand to his lips, with a sadness in his eyes
of which I alone could discern the cause.
"Gentlemen," I cried, "we waste the time in idle compliments. Mount and
ride off as quickly as you may. As for me, it is but three miles across
the Downs. I have no fear. I shall meet no one. Mount, I say, and ride
to London without more ado."
They obeyed; they left me standing alone. As my eyes turned from
following them, they lighted on the pool of blood--Will's blood, which
reddened the turf--and upon the poor dead horse. Then I hastened back
across the Downs.
It was a clear, bright evening, the sun yet pretty high. The time was
about half-past five; before long the minuets would be beginning in the
Assembly Rooms; yet Lady Levett would know--I hoped that she already
knew--the dreadful wickedness of her son. Would not, indeed, all the
company know it? Would not the assault on Mr. Stallabras and on Nancy
be noised abroad?
Indeed, the news had already sped abroad.
Long before I reached the edge of the Downs. I became aware of a crowd
of people. They consisted of the whole company, all the visitors at
Epsom, who came forth, leaving the public tea and the dance, to meet
the girl who had been thus carried away by force.
Harry Temple came forward as soon as I was in sight to meet me. He was
very grave.
"Kitty," he said, "this is a bad day's work."
"How is Will? You have seen Will?"
"I fear he is already dead. The doctor to whom you sent him declares
that he is dying fast. His mother is with him."
"O Harry!" I sighed; "I gave him no encouragement. There was not the
least encouragement to believe that I would marry him."
"No one thinks you did, Kitty; not even his mother. Yet others have
been carried away by admiration of your charms to think----"
"Oh! my charms, my charms! Harry, with poor Will at death's door, let
us at least be spared the language of compliment."
By this time we had reached the stream of people. Among them, I am
happy to say, was not Peggy Baker. She, at least, did not come out to
gaze upon her unhappy rival, for whose sake one gallant gentleman lay
bleeding to death, and two others were riding away to hide themselves
until the first storm should be blown over. The rest parted, right and
left, and made a lane through which we passed in silence. As I went
through, I heard voices whispering: "Where is Lord Chudleigh? where is
Sir Miles? How pale she looks!" and so forth; comments of the crowd
which has no heart, no pity, no sympathy. It came out to-day to look
upon a woman to whom a great insult had been offered with as little
pity as to-morrow it would go to see a criminal flogged from Newgate to
Tyburn, or a woman whipped at Bridewell, or a wretched thief beaten
before the Alderman, or a batch of rogues hanged. They came to be
amused. Amusement, to most people, is the contemplation of other folks'
sufferings. If tortures were to be introduced again, if, as happened,
we are told, in the time of Nero, Christians could be wrapped in pitch
and then set fire to, thus becoming living candles, I verily believe
the crowd would rush to see, and would enjoy the spectacle the more,
the longer the sufferings of the poor creatures were prolonged.
Solomon Stallabras, Harry told me, was comfortably put into bed, his
ribs being set and his collar-bone properly put in place: there was
no doubt that he would do well. Nancy, too, was in bed, sick with the
fright she had received, but not otherwise much hurt. Mrs. Esther
was wringing her hands and crying at home, with Cicely to look after
her. Sir Robert and Lady Levett were at the doctor's. It was, I have
said, the same doctor who had undertaken the temporary charge of Harry
Temple. As we drew near the house--I observed that most of the people
remained behind upon the Downs in hopes of seeing the return of Lord
Chudleigh, in which hope they were disappointed--Harry became silent.
"Come, Harry," I said, reading his thoughts, "you must forgive me for
saving your life or from preventing you from killing Lord Chudleigh. Be
reasonable, dear Harry."
He smiled.
"I have forgiven you long since," he replied. "You acted like a woman;
that is, you did just what you thought best at the moment. But I
cannot, and will not, forgive the man with his impudent smile and his
buckets of water."
"Nay, Harry," I said, "he acted according to his profession. Come with
me to the house. I cannot even go to Mrs. Esther until I have seen or
heard about poor Will."
The doctor was coming from the sick man's chamber when we came to the
house. They had placed Will in one of the private rooms, away from the
dreadful gallery where the madmen were chained to the wall. With him
were Lady Levett and Sir Robert.
The doctor coughed in his most important manner.
"Your obedient servant, Miss Pleydell. Sir, your most obedient, humble
servant. You are come, no doubt, to inquire after the victim of this
most unhappy affair. Poor Mr. William Levett, I grieve to say, is in a
most precarious condition."
"Can nothing save him? O doctor!"
"Nothing can save him, young lady," he replied, "but a miracle. That
miracle--I call it nothing short--is sometimes granted by beneficent
Providence to youth and strength only when--I say only when--their
possession is aided by the very highest medical skill that the country
can produce. I say the very highest; no mere pretender will avail."
"Indeed, doctor, we have that skill, I doubt not, in yourself."
"I say nothing,"--he bowed and spread his hands--"I say nothing. It is
not for me to speak."
"And, sir," said Harry, "you are doubtless aware that Sir Robert is
a gentleman of a considerable estate, and that--in fact--you may
expect----"
"Sir Robert," he replied, with a smile which speedily, in spite of
all his efforts, broadened into a grin of satisfaction, "has already
promised that no expense shall be spared, no honorarium be considered
too large if I give him back his son. Yet we can but do our best.
Science is strong, but a poke of cold steel in the inwards is, if you
please, stronger still."
"Will you let me see Sir Robert?" I asked.
The doctor stole back to the room, and presently Sir Robert came forth.
He kissed me on the forehead while his tears fell upon my head.
"My dear," he said, "I ask your pardon in the name of my headstrong
son. We have held an honourable name for five hundred years and more:
in all that time no deed so dastardly has been attempted by any one of
our house. Yet the poor wretch hath paid dearly for his wickedness."
"Oh, sir!" I cried, "there is no reason why you should speak of
forgiveness, who have ever been so kind to me. Poor Will will repent
and be very good when he recovers."
"I think," said his father sadly, "that he will not recover. Go, child.
Ask not to see the boy's mother, because women are unreasonable in
their grief, and she might perchance say things of which she would
afterwards be ashamed. Go to Mrs. Pimpernel, and tell her of thy
safety."
This was, indeed, all that could be done. Yet after allaying the
terrors and soothing the agitated spirits of Mrs. Esther, whose
imagination had conjured up, already, the fate of Clarissa, and who saw
in headstrong Will another Lovelace, without, to be sure, the graces
and attractions of that dreadful monster, I went to inquire after my
gallant little Poet.
He was lying on his bed, with orders not to move, and wrapped up like a
baby.
I thanked him for his brave defence, which I said would have been
certainly efficacious, had it not been for the cowardly blow on the
back of his head. I further added, that no man in the world could have
behaved more resolutely, or with greater courage.
"This day," he said, "has been the reward for a Poet's devotion. In
those bowers, Miss Kitty, when first we met"--the bower was the Fleet
Market--"beside that stream"--the Fleet Ditch--"where the woodland
choir was held"--the clack of the poultry about to be killed--"and
the playful lambs frisked"--on their way to the butchers of Newgate
Street--"I dared to love a goddess who was as much too high for me
as ever Beatrice was for her Italian worshipper. I refer not to the
disparity of birth, because (though brought up in a hosier's shop) the
Muse, you have acknowledged, confers nobility. An attorney is by right
of his calling styled a gentleman; but a Poet, by right of his genius,
is equal of--ay, even of Lord Chudleigh."
"Surely, dear sir," I replied, "no one can refuse the highest title of
distinction to a gentleman of merit and genius."
"But I think," he went on, "of that disparity which consists in virtue
and goodness. That can never be removed. How happy, therefore, ought I
to be in feeling that I have helped to preserve an angel from the hands
of those barbarous monsters who would have violated such a sanctuary.
What are these wounds!--a broken rib--a cracked collar bone--a bump on
the back of the head? I wish they had been broken legs and arms in your
service."
I laughed--but this devotion, more than half of it being real, touched
my heart. The little Poet, conceited, vain, sometimes foolish, was
ennobled, not by his genius, of which he thought so much, but by his
great belief in goodness and virtue. Women should be humble when they
remember, that if a good man loves them it is not in very truth, the
woman (who is a poor creature full of imperfections) that they love,
but the soul--the noble, pure, exalted soul, as high as their own
grandest conception of goodness and piety, which they believe to be
in her. How can we rise to so great a height? How can we, without
abasement, pretend to such virtue? How can we be so wicked and so cruel
as, after marriage, to betray to our husbands the real littleness of
our souls? As my lord believed me to be, so might I (then I prayed)
rise to heaven in very truth, and even soar to higher flights.
Now, when I reached home, a happy thought came to me. I knew the name
of Solomon's latest patron, the brewer's widow. I sat down and wrote
her a letter. I said that I thought it my simple duty to inform her,
although I had not the honour of her friendship, that the Poet whom she
had distinguished with her special favour and patronage, was not in a
position to pay her his respects, either by letter, or by verse, or in
person, being at that time ill in bed with ribs and other bones broken
in defence of a lady. And to this I added, so that she might not grow
jealous, which one must always guard against in dealing with women,
that he was walking with two ladies, not one, and that the gallantry
he showed in defence of her who was attacked was so great that not
even a lover could have displayed more courage for his mistress than
he did for this lady (myself), who was promised to another gentleman.
Nor was it, I added, until he was laid senseless on the field that
the ravishers were able to carry off the lady, who was immediately
afterwards rescued by two friends of the Poet, Lord Chudleigh and Sir
Miles Lackington.
This crafty letter, which was all true, and yet designedly exaggerated,
as when I called my lord Solomon's friend, produced more than the
effect which I desired. For the widow, who was in London, came down
to Epsom the next day, in a carriage and four, to see the hero. Now,
she was still young, and comely as well as rich. Therefore, when she
declared to him that no woman could resist such a combination of genius
and heroic courage, Solomon could only reply that he would rush into
her arms with all a lover's rapture, as soon as his ribs permitted an
embrace. In short, within a month they were married at Epsom Church,
and Solomon, though he wrote less poetry in after years than his
friends desired, lived in great comfort and happiness, having a wife
of sweet temper, who thought him the noblest and most richly endowed
of men, and a brewery whose vats produced him an income far beyond his
wants, though these expanded as time went on.
As for Nancy, she was little hurt, save for the fright and the shame of
it. Yet her brother, the cause of all, was lying dangerously wounded,
and she could not for very pity speak her mind upon his wickedness.
The company, I learned from Cicely, were greatly moved about it: the
public Tea had been broken up in confusion, while all sallied forth
to the scene of the outrage; nor was the assembly resumed when it was
discovered that Will Levett had been run through the body by Lord
Chudleigh, and was now lying at the point of death.
In the morning Cicely went early to inquire at the Doctor's. Alas! Will
was in a high fever; Lady Levett had been sitting with him all night;
it was not thought that he would live through the day. I put on my hood
and went to see Nancy.
"Oh, my dear, dear Kitty!" she cried, "sure we shall all go distracted.
You have heard what they say. Poor Will is in a bad way indeed; the
fever is so high that the doctor declares his life to be in hourly
danger. He is delirious, and in his dreams he knows not what he says,
so that you would fancy him among his dogs or in his stables--where,
indeed, it hath been his chief delight to dwell--or with the rustics
with whom he would drink. It is terrible, my father says, that one so
near his end, who must shortly appear before his Maker, should thus
blaspheme and swear such horrid oaths. If we could only ensure him half
an hour of sense, even with pain, so that the clergyman might exhort
him. Alas! our Will hath led so shocking a life--my dear, I know more
of his ways than he thinks--that I doubt his conscience and his heart
are hardened. O Kitty! to think that yesterday we were happy, and that
this evil thing had not befallen us! And now I can never go abroad
again without thinking that the folk are saying: 'There goes the sister
of the man who was killed while trying to carry off the beautiful Miss
Pleydell.'"
No comfort can be found for one who sits expectant of a brothers death.
I bade poor Nancy keep up her heart and hope for the best.
The fever increased during the day, we heard, and the delirium. We
stirred not out of the house save for morning prayers, sending Cicely
from time to time to ask the news. And all the company gathered
together on the Terrace, not to talk scandal or tell idle stories of
each other, but to whisper that Will Levett was certainly dying, and
that it would go hard with Lord Chudleigh, who would without doubt be
tried for murder, the two grooms protesting stoutly that their master
had not struck a blow.
In the evening Sir Robert Levett came to our lodging. He was heavily
afflicted with the prospect of losing his only son, albeit not a son of
whom a parent could be proud. Yet a child cannot be replaced, and the
line of the Levetts would be extinguished.
"My dear," he said, "I come to say a thing which has been greatly on my
mind. My son was run through by Lord Chudleigh. Tell me, first, what
there is between you and my lord? Doth he propose to marry you?"
"Dear sir," I replied, "Lord Chudleigh has offered me his hand."
"And you have taken it?"
"Unworthy as I am, dear sir, I have promised, should certain obstacles
be removed, to marry him."
"His sword has caused my Will's death. Yet the act was done in defence
of the woman he loved, the woman whom Will designed to ruin----"
"And in self-defence as well. Had he not drawn, Will would have beaten
out his brains."
"Tell him, from Will's father, my dear, that I forgive him. Let not
such a homicide dwell upon his conscience. Where is he?"
"He has gone away with Sir Miles Lackington to await the finding of an
inquest, if----"
"Tell him that I will not sanction any proceedings, and if there is to
be an inquest my evidence shall be, though it bring my grey hairs with
sorrow to the grave, that my lord is innocent, and drew his sword to
defend his own life."
He left me--poor man!--to return to the sick bedside.
He had been gone but a short time when a post-boy rode to the door,
blowing a horn. It was a special messenger, who had ridden from Temple
Bar with a letter from Sir Miles.
"Sweet Kitty," wrote the Baronet, "I write this to tell thee that
we have taken up quarters in London. I have bestowed my lord in
certain lodgings, which you know, above the room where once I lay."
Heavens! my lord was in my own old lodging beside the Fleet Market.
"He is downhearted, thinking of the life he has taken. I tell him
that he should think no more of running through such a madman in
defence of his own life than of killing a pig. Pig, and worse than
pig, was the creature who dared to carry off the lovely Kitty. To
think that such a rustic clown should be brother of pretty Nancy! I
have sent to my lord's lodging an agreeable dinner and a bottle of
good wine, with which I hope my lord will comfort his heart.
Meantime, they know not, in the house, the rank and quality of
their guest. I suppose the fellow is dead by this time. If there is
an inquest, I shall attend to give my evidence, and the verdict can
be none other than justifiable homicide or even _felo-de-se_, for
if ever man rushed upon his death it was Will Levett. I have also
sent him paper and pens with which to write to you, and some books
and a pack of cards. Here is enough to make a lonely man happy. If
he wants more he can look out of the window and see the porters and
fishwives of the market fight, which was a spectacle daily
delighted me for two years and more. The doctor is well. I have
informed him privately of the circumstances of the case, and Lord
Chudleigh's arrival. He seemed pleased, but I took the liberty of
warning him against betraying to my lord a relationship, the
knowledge of which might be prejudicial to your interests."
Prejudicial to my interests!
Sir Miles was in league, with me, to hide this thing from a man who
believed, like Solomon Stallabras, that I was all truth and goodness.
I had borne so much from this wicked concealment that I was resolved
to bear it no longer. I said to myself, almost in the words of the
Prayer-book: "I will arise and go unto my lord. I will say, Forgive me,
for thus and thus have I done, and so am I guilty."
Oh, my noble lord! Oh, great heart and true! what am I, wicked and
deceitful woman, that I should hope to keep thy love? Let it go; tell
me that you can never love again one who has played this wicked part;
let hatred and loathing take the place of love; let all go, and leave
me a despairing wretch--so that I have confessed my sin and humbled
myself even to the ground before him whom I have so deeply wronged.