THE DUCHESS’S GRAND TABLEAU VIVANT.
THE numerous company which filled the Duchess’s two drawing-rooms,
in point of fact overflowed into the corridor, which, decorated with
beautiful flowers, and having deep window recesses at intervals, formed
a pleasant place either for walking up and down or for sitting in
confidential correspondence. All, or nearly all the Palace folks were
there, but there were three ladies who remarked with satisfaction that
Miss Manwaring was absent, and Lady M’Adam observed to Miss Scheimes
that she thought that Lady Lavinia “had settled that minx’s hash
nicely.” Mr. fforester, the Chaplain, kept running about from group
to group, and astonished friends and enemies alike by occasionally
bursting out into fits of laughter without any apparent cause, and
he steadily refused to give any rational account of his unwonted
tendency to risibility. The young Duke was everywhere, and had a
pleasant word for everyone. Colonel Hawkins, of the Fortieth Dragoons,
who had arrived early, kept strutting up and down with a mysterious
expression upon his bronzed countenance, and looked like a kind of
military Sphynx; while Captain Parkhurst and Lieutenant Grimwood, of
the Hampton Court troop, wore the expression of men who were quite able
to astonish the natives, if only they wished to do so. To the amazement
of all, however, the Duchess, who was usually punctuality itself,
delayed making her appearance. At length, just when Lady M’Adam, in
plum-coloured velvet, was remarking to Lady Lavinia, in yellow silk
and black lace, and to Miss Scheimes, in amber satin, what “a real
satisfaction it was that no hussies were present,” an inner door was
suddenly thrown open, and the Duchess, blazing in all the Ribblesdale
Diamonds, and with the great Scarswicke Emerald hanging round her neck,
entered the room, with one arm in that of Evelyn Manwaring, and with
the other in that of a--Cavalry Soldier! Lady M’Adam gave a violent
start at this unlooked-for apparition; Miss Scheimes turned the colour
of her own dress, and Lady Lavinia’s shoulders almost went out of
sight in the inmost recesses of her yellow silk.
“The woman must be mad!” whispered the pork-merchant’s daughter.
“Or bad?” said the diplomat’s sister, _sotto voce_.
“I think she’s both,” hissed Lady Lavinia; “it really is
_dreadful_!” and so saying, the terrible shoulders oscillated like
the humps of a Bactrian camel on a mountain march.
But the Duchess, although she distinctly overheard these complimentary
remarks, looked no whit abashed, and took no notice of them whatsoever;
but on the contrary, she advanced steadily onwards until she reached
the upper end of the great drawing-room. Then, turning round and
bowing to the company, she said in a clear, ringing tone, “I trust,
my friends, you will pardon my long absence, for I had some important
arrangements to complete. Allow me now to introduce to you a gentleman
upon whom, in the presence of many of you, Her Majesty was pleased
personally to confer the Victoria Cross, the highest distinction it is
in her power to bestow, in reward for his conspicuous gallantry upon
the field of battle. In introducing Sergeant Wilfred Smith, with the
fame of whose exploits all England is ringing, I have also to introduce
a young gentleman of ancient lineage, of great misfortunes nobly
borne, and of stainless honour, Mr. Wilfred Manwaring of Holmcastle
Manor, my son’s best and truest friend, and the brother of a young lady
whose beauty, modesty, and sweet disposition have won for her a host
of friends, and whose misfortunes and friendless condition ought to
have protected her from the baseless calumnies of false and malicious
tongues. Ribblesdale, my dear son, let me make over your friend to your
care, and I beg you will make him personally acquainted with my guests.”
In a moment the young Duke had seized Wilfred by the hand, which he
wrung heartily, amidst a murmur of applause from the company.
“Now, your Grace, let me have my innings,” cried Colonel Hawkins, who
looked as if he would have burst if what he had to say was bottled up
any longer, and pushing through the crowd, he, in his turn, grasped
Wilfred by the hand and thus addressed him:--
“Mr. Manwaring, I wish to tell you that I have had my eye on you ever
since you joined my regiment as a private, and I never knew you to
commit an action unbecoming a soldier and a gentleman; and I would
say the same if you were plain Private Smith, instead of being a man
of ancient family and considerable fortune. For your conspicuous
gallantry in the field, for which, as Colonel of the Regiment, I feel I
personally owe you a debt of gratitude, you have already received the
Victoria Cross from the hands of the Queen; but I have now to inform
you, that H.R.H. the General Commanding-in-Chief has felt it to be his
duty, as it has been also his pleasure, to recommend you for further
promotion, and I have now the satisfaction of putting into your hands
your commission as Lieutenant in the army, and in place of Lieutenant
Grimwood, who retires, in your own Regiment, to which you are a credit
and an ornament. (‘Hear, hear,’ from Captain Parkhurst.) I never had
more pleasure in welcoming a young gentleman to our society than I have
at this moment in welcoming you.”
General applause followed this speech, under cover of which Lady M’Adam
and her two satellites managed to escape from the Duchess’s apartments,
which, it may be added, they never entered again.
Having affectionately bidden good night to her kind hostess, Evelyn
retired as early as possible, and was escorted to her rooms by her
soldier brother. And there a new surprise overtook them, for who should
they find awaiting their return but Mr. Elthorne and his daughter
Mary, and Mr. Merivale.
“We came off at once unknown to each other,” cried both the gentlemen
at once, “and we met at Preston Station, and here we are!”
There they were indeed, and perhaps there never was such a shaking
of hands as that which ensued. Such indeed was the excitement of the
moment, that Mary Elthorne was kissed by the Lieutenant, and the same
operation was performed by the Rector and Mr. Merivale upon Evelyn. In
these greetings these good folks were all very happy, and if
“Kissing and crying kept company,”
the kissing, _pace_ Lady Lavinia, was very innocent, and the tears
that were shed were tears of joy. In fact, the prophecy of old Biddy
Maguire--which, truth to tell, had in the course of his wanderings more
than once occurred to Wilfred’s mind--was fulfilled to the letter. It
was long after twelve when the three men retired, the Lieutenant to
the Barracks, where he found several of his old comrades sitting up
to cheer him on his return, and the two other gentlemen to the Mitre,
where they had already secured beds, and for that night Mary Elthorne
shared the couch of her old friend Evelyn.
Next morning, before the men were dismissed from parade, Colonel
Hawkins informed them of the elevation of their Sergeant and former
comrade. Upon this arose a loud shout of joy, and Messrs. Elthorne and
Merivale, coming in at the gate, beheld Wilfred seized by the men and
carried in triumph round the barrack yard. Fresh shouts arose when it
transpired that Lieutenant Grimwood had resigned, on nomination to a
staff appointment, and that Lieutenant Wilfred Manwaring would take his
place, and remain among them.
Wilfred accompanied his two friends to lunch with his sister, and after
that social meal a great confabulation ensued upon matters of business.
Mr. Merivale informed Wilfred that, immediately he had received the
news of his discovery, he had telegraphed to all the tenants to pay
their rents in future to him instead of to Mr. Potts; and he told him
that, as he was the undoubted owner of Holmcastle, it would probably
be unnecessary for him to serve a notice to quit upon his cousin, who
would most likely be glad enough to evacuate the place quietly, and
that the more so, since the neighbouring gentry had so entirely ignored
the existence of himself and family that they were thoroughly disgusted
with the place. Mr. Tresham Potts had not executed his threat to make
a grand clearance amongst the trees at Holmcastle, for the eminent
landscape-gardener, whose services he had called in, had refused to
have anything to do with the affair if that was insisted on. Potts had,
indeed, done one good thing for the property. It had been discovered
that coal of fine quality underlay the outlying farms near Ormskirk,
in the farther part of the county, and negotiations were even then
in progress to lease the mineral wealth of the soil to a company on
advantageous terms. Mr. Merivale had already written to the company to
stay the execution of the lease until the real owner’s pleasure was
known, and he ended his narrative by congratulating Wilfred on the
prospect of his becoming a very rich man, and by proposing to write a
cheque for any sum which, under his altered circumstances, he might
require for present and future use.