The reader may perhaps think it strange--the fact of my not recognising
Mr Henry Harding as an old acquaintance. But in reality he was not so.
I had seen him only once, when a beardless youth, home from his college
vacation. But even had I known him more intimately, it is not likely
that, sun-browned and bearded as he now was--speaking and looking
Italian much better than he either spoke or looked English--I should
have remembered the young collegian, unless some circumstance had
occurred to recall him to my memory. Had I learnt his name sooner, such
might have been the case. As it was, I went my way--simply reflecting
what a fine young fellow was my late host, and how fortunate in having
such a treasure of a wife.
As to the others of my late entertainers, the reader must remember that
he is already acquainted with much more of their history than I was
then. All I knew of them was what I had learnt during the three days'
intercourse just ended; and in it nothing had occurred in any way to
connect them in my mind with the personages of English nationality who
have figured in this tale.
The name "Mr Henry Harding" on a card gave me no other thought than
that of his being a fellow-countryman of whom I might feel proud, and to
whom I did feel grateful.
On reaching the _estancia_ of my friend, I found him somewhat anxious
about my tardy arrival. He had, of course, expected me three days
sooner; and but that the "thistles" were not yet sufficiently advanced
in growth, he would have supposed that I had either lost my way among
those gigantic weeds, or fallen into the hands of robbers, who are to be
apprehended only after this singular herbage has attained full height.
On explaining the cause of my delay--telling him where I had spent the
intervening time, as also how pleasantly I had spent it--my friend
suddenly interrupted me with the question--
"Did you ever know a General Harding, of the county of Bucks?"
"A General Harding, of Bucks?"
"Yes. I know you've been a good deal down in that part of England. The
General Harding I speak of died some five or six years ago."
"I knew a General Harding, of Beechwood Park, not a great way from
Windsor. I had only a slight acquaintance with him. He died about the
time you say. Would he be the man you mean?"
"By Jove! the very same. Beechwood! That I think is the name; but we
shall soon see. It's very odd," continued my friend, rising from his
seat, and going towards a secretary that stood in a corner of the room.
"Very odd, indeed. I have been myself half in the mind of riding over
to the _estancia_, where you have been so well entertained. I should
have done so this very day, but that I was waiting for you. I may as
well tell you what would have been my errand. I know very little of my
English neighbour, Mr Harding. His intercourse is mostly among
Italians and Argentines; so that we English don't see much of him. He's
said to be a first-rate fellow, for all that."
"I'm glad to hear him so spoken of. It's just the impression he has
made upon me. But what has this to do with your inquiries about General
Harding?"
I need hardly say that, by this time, my own curiosity was aroused--so
much so, that I had once more taken the card out of my pocket, and was
submitting it to a fresh scrutiny.
"Well," said my friend, returning to the original subject of discourse,
"while looking out for you, I could not well leave the house; and having
no other way of amusing myself, I took to reading some old English
newspapers. We don't have them very new here at any time. These were
dated several years ago, and one of them was a _Times_. Now, if you'd
lived as long upon the pampas as I have, you'd not turn up your nose at
a _Times_, however ancient its date; nor would you leave a paragraph
unread, even to the advertisements. I was poring over these, when my
eye fell upon one, which I leave you to read for yourself. There it
is."
I took the paper handed me by my friend, and read the advertisement he
had pointed out. It ran thus:--
"Henry Harding.--If Mr Henry Harding, son of the late General Harding,
of Beechwood Park, in the county of Buckingham, will apply to Messrs.
Lawson and Sons, solicitors, of Lincoln's Inn Fields, he will hear of
something to his advantage. Mr Harding was last heard of in Rome, at
the time of the revolutionary struggle, and is supposed to have taken
part in the defence of that city by Garibaldi. Any one giving
information of his present address, or, if dead, stating the time and
circumstances of his death, will be handsomely rewarded."
"What do you think of it?" asked my friend, as soon as I had finished
reading the advertisement.
"I remember having seen it before," was my reply. "It was inserted in
the papers repeatedly, several years ago, and at the time caused much
talk. Of course, everybody knew that young Harding had gone away from
home--no one knowing where. That was some time before his father's
death. There was some story afloat about his having been jilted by a
girl. I knew something of the young lady myself. Also, of his having
gone to Italy, and fallen into the hands of brigands, or joined the
partisans of Mazzini. No one knew the truth, as General Harding was a
man in the habit of keeping his family secrets to himself. It was after
his death that the talk was. When these advertisements appeared, the
young fellow had been a considerable time out of sight; and for that
reason they attracted less attention. It was said that the father had
left him a legacy, and that was why the solicitor was advertising for
him."
"Just what I thought. But do you think he ever turned up?"
"That I can't tell. I never heard the result. About that time I left
England myself, and have been abroad ever since."
"Does it not occur to you," inquired my friend, "that this Henry Harding
of the _Times_ advertisement, and the gentleman who has been
entertaining you, may be one and the same man?"
"It is quite possible--indeed, it seems probable. This states that
Henry Harding was last heard of at Rome. Now the family into which this
gentleman has married came from Rome. That much they told me. He may
be the same. He may have answered the advertisement too, and got the
_something_ to his _advantage_, whatever it was; though I am under the
impression it was not much. It was generally known that the bulk of
General Harding's property was willed to his eldest son Nigel; and that
Henry, the youngest, was left a bare thousand pounds. If my late host
be he, in all likelihood he has had the money before now. Might it not
have been with it he has so comfortably established himself?"
"No; I can answer for that," said my friend. "He was settled here long
before the date of this advertisement, and has never been out of the
country since--certainly never so far as England."
"It would not be necessary for him to go to England to obtain the legacy
of a thousand pounds. All that might have been transacted by letter of
attorney."
"True, but I have good reason to know that he is only a tenant of the
_estancia_ you found him in. His Italian father-in-law is the real
owner of both properties; and this was the state of affairs from the
first--long before the advertisement could have appeared. In my
opinion, he has never seen it; and if he be the individual referred to,
it might be worth his while to know of it. As I've said, I had thoughts
of riding over and asking him myself. Although we've had very little
intercourse, I've heard a very good account of him--though not as a very
successful sheep-keeper. He's too fond of hunting for that; and I fancy
he hasn't added much to his wife's dowry or his father-in-law's fortune.
Indeed, I've heard say that he is himself a little sore about this; and
if there should be a legacy for him, still unlifted, it might be very
welcome and very convenient to him. A thousand pounds isn't much in
London, but it would go a long way out upon the pampas here."
"True," I replied mechanically, absorbed in reflecting whether the
rejected lover of Miss Belle Mainwaring was the man whom I had met--now
married to a wife worth ten thousand of her sort.
"I'll tell you what you can do," said my friend; "you say they've
invited you to stop there on your way back to Rosario?"
"I am under a promise to do so."
"Lucky fellow! to have made such a brace of beautiful acquaintances; for
the Argentine lady is not thought so far behind her Italian
sister-in-law. All by the stumbling of a horse, too! By Jove, I'd risk
the breaking of my neck every day in the year for such a chance! You
were always fortunate in that sort of thing."
It was rather amusing to hear my friend talk in such a fashion. He, a
confirmed old bachelor, who, I verily believe, would not have
surrendered even to the charms of the lovely Lucetta! Such was the name
I had heard given to my late hostess.
"What were you going to propose?" I asked.
"That you take back with you this old _Times_, and show the
advertisement to Mr Harding himself. I'll ride so far with you, if you
wish. But since you have made their acquaintance, and know more about
this matter than I, it will be better for you to introduce it. What say
you to that course?"
"I have no objection to it."
"All right then. And now to see how I can entertain you. No doubt, my
bachelor quarters will be dull enough to you, coming from such company.
A dose of Purgatory after Paradise! Ha! ha! ha!"
I could not help thinking there was some truth in what my friend said;
though I did all I could to conceal my thoughts, by joining heartily in
his laughter.