 29. It was a fine summer afternoon when a carriage and four, a thing by no means uncommon in those days, though, as rare as a bustard at present, dashed into the small town of Belford at that sort of pace which shows well-paid post-boys, if not well-fed horses. I find, by a statistical account of that part of Europe, which lies between the Alne and the Tweed, and which, in former days, was frequently subjected to the inundation from the great Northern Reservoir of Mostrupers, that, under the beneficial influence of a more civilised state of society, the small town of Belford had increased and prospered, till, on the day of which I am writing, it was computed to contain no less than one hundred and seventy years. The greater proportion of the inhabitants possessed no stockings and very few shoes. I say the greater proportion, for it had been an immemorial privilege of that portion of the citizens of Belford, which had not yet attained the age of fourteen, to wear upon their legs and feet the covering with which nature had provided them and none else. Some of the higher classes, with that neglect of their rights which they often show, had suffered the privilege above mention to fall into disuitude. The children of the clergymen always, and of the Presbyterian minister sometimes, wore shoes and stockings, so also did those of the doctor, the lawyer, the two principal shopkeepers and the landlord of the inn. But all, or very nearly all, the rest adhered to their right with strong determination, and after the carriage ran a multitude of boys and girls whose feet had never been tightened and spoiled by compression in cotton or leather. It was not, indeed, that the climate of Belford was particularly like that of Eden, which dispensed, as we all know, with the necessity of any great superfluity of garments. On the contrary, the North Wind visited it fresh from home, so much so as to have generated a despair of cultivation, which after efforts had proved to be very unreasonable. Andrew Fair Service's crop of early nettles gave, in those days, a very fair specimen of the sort of horticulture practised at Belford, and not very many years before the period of my tail, an old woman used to walk through the town with a basket on her arm, crying at different seasons of the year, the following rare and in many instances unknown fruits, the names of which, be it remarked, I give in her own peculiar dialect, though I cannot convey to the reader any idea of the tone, something between a song and a squeal, in which she offered her produce to the public. Hips, haws, sleighs and bummelberries, cherries, ripe grocers, knipes, turnips, sweet as honey, with a sound she uttered, and in them consisted very nearly the whole catalogue of fruit brought to market at Belford. Notwithstanding all this, the town contained a very good and respectable inn, where at one time were no fewer than sixteen pair of post horses, as in that period it was generally made the first stage northward from Olnwick, rather a long one it is true, being charged fifteen miles, but many persons preferred it to Charlton. Bells must certainly have acted in very important part in the history of former times, as they rival the most distinguished personages, and the most splendid objects in the traditional veneration of innkeepers, and neither hearts nor hinds, black bulls nor red lions, dolphins nor fountains, bushes nor cocks, great generals nor gold and silver crosses, can boast a great number of vultures, nay, not even the crown, the sun or the moon. The image of a large bell, then, painted in blue and lipped and rimmed with gold, served as a sign to the principal inn, at Belford, and underneath its auspicious bulk drew up the carriage on the day I have mentioned. Horses on, sir, as the Osler running out and addressing one of the smart-looking six-feet-and-a-half-high footmen at the back of the carriage. The man made no reply, and my host of the bell, seeing his Osler repulsed, advanced to the door of the vehicle, while the two servants got slowly down and demanded, in a most deferential tone, if he should put on four more quadrupeds to hurry on the handsome post-chariot toward the north. He looked in, too, with some degree of curiosity, but whatever he expected to see, nothing was perceived within, excepting always a lady's maid. But a very pretty-looking girl, apparently twenty or one-and-twenty years of age, with a gay, bright, sparkling countenance and a crimson velvet four-cornered Polish cap, bound with rich sable fur and ornamented with a tassel. No, I thank you, said the lady, be so good as to open the door. I shall stay here to-night. Let me see what rooms you have got. Where's your wife? I suppose you have got a wife. The innkeeper informed her that her supposition was correct, and shouted very loudly, for Mrs. Gunnell, while the carriage-door was opened, and the servants assisted their mistress to a light. Had I better go and see the rooms, my lady? said the maid, more for the purpose of announcing her mistress's rank to the numerous bystanders, than with the hope of saving trouble, for she well knew the lady would see the rooms herself. And with all reverence Mrs. Gunnell led the way for the unexpected guest, up the stairs, through the corridors, and into the different rooms, while Mr. Gunnell followed, descanting upon the excellence of the beds, and the comfortableness of the accommodation. This room for myself, that little one for my maid, the large one beyond, for a lady who will be here in an hour or two, and all the rest of the house for my servants, said the young lady in a very princessly way. Oh, this is the sitting room, I suppose, she continued, entering an adjoining chamber, and sitting down in a great armchair covered with white dimity. I wish it had not been so long, and a little broader, Mr. Gunnell, she continued, eyeing the host from head to foot. Mr. Gunnell certainly did think her the oddest lady he had ever seen, but it is wonderful what an impression oddity, joined with wealth and station, makes upon the great mass of human beings. As I have said elsewhere, strength of character is the most commanding of all things, and it is probably the latent conviction that a man must have strength of character to be odd, which renders oddity so impressive. Very sorry, my lady, replied Mr. Gunnell, with the most profound respect, but it is the only one we have got except a very little one at the end of the passage, and the commercial room downstairs. It will do, it will do, Mr. Gunnell, said his pretty guest, playing with a gold pencil case which she had got chained around her wrist. Now, tell me something about yourself. How old are you, Mr. Gunnell? Oh, my lady, exclaimed the landlady, if Gunnell tells you that he will tell you more than he ever would tell me in his life. Well, I don't want to embarrass him, answered the young lady with a smile, but I'll put another question, which shall do as well. How long have you been in this house, Mr. Gunnell? Oh, as to that, my lady, replied the landlord, I have kept the bell three and twenty years come next twelfth of October, when times are sadly altered since I first set up. Oh, yes, replied the young lady, they are always altering. But now, Mr. Gunnell, have fresh horses put to my carriage to take me first to Dechdon Grieve, and then to Belfort Castle to wait and bring me back. Have dinner ready for me, and the lady, who will be here in an hour or two, at half-past seven, and in the meantime collect whatever you have got in the shape of upholsterers and cabinet-makers, and let them know that I shall have some orders to give them to-night. Bless my heart, said the landlord, if I don't think it is Lady Anne Mellon, we shall be so happy to see somebody at the old place again. Why, my lady, it is just ten years and three or four months since your ladyship's grandfather died, and not a soul has lived in the castle since, but all Mrs. Grimes and her two daughters. I know that, Mr. Gunnell, said Lady Anne, rather gravely, but I doubt not that you will soon see it inhabited again during a part of every year. Now, order the horses and have the things ready, as I have directed. My servants will put the place in order here while I am away." In about ten minutes Lady Anne was once more in her carriage, now disencumbered of its packages, and, with one man-servant behind, was rolling away towards the place which she had mentioned, called Detchan Grieve. At the distance of about three miles from Belford, the carriage left the high road and turned into a narrow country lane, about half a mile up which appeared a pair of iron gates. Passing through these, Lady Anne saw before her a very broad, smooth, hard road, well kept, but displaying no trace of cart or carriage-wheels. This road descended a gentle slope of park meadow, and then plunged in between two dark masses of old gigantic trees, through which it continued its course for nearly half a mile. When it issued forth again, another wide-open space of hill-tooth was spread out to the eye, dotted here and there with clumps of large trees, and at a little distance in advance rose a mansion, by no means equal in appearance to that which the extent and beauty of the park would have led ones to expect. It was a brick-built house of ancient date, very irregular in its form, with gables here and gables there, and large stacks of chimneys placed in the most extraordinary positions. The windows were small, but innumerable, and at one side of the house rose a tall, square, brick tower, very much like the tower of an old Kentish church, in great part covered with ivy. Up to the front of this building dashed a carriage at a great rate, in the midst of a scene so still and solitary that, but for the house, one might have fancied the place a desert. The sound of a great deep-toned bell soon brought to the door an old-fashioned man-servant with a powdered head, silk stockings, and lace scarters round his knees, and in answer to Lady Anne's question, if Mr Hargrave was at home, he replied in the affirmative. The young lady then alighted and followed the man through a stone hall, past some ten or twelve doors to a small one which gave her admission into a little study half filled with books and old pieces of armour, the servant merely saying as he threw open the door, a lady wish to speak with you, sir. The person each to whom this was addressed deserves some description, for I do not think there is one of the genius left. He was, at the time of which I speak, at the age of sixty-eight or sixty-nine, so that his youthful memories must have referred to a period considerably anterior to the close of the last century. Whether he was clinging to these youthful memories or a particular taste of his own, which guided the old gentleman in his choice of dress, I do not well know, but certainly it was very different from anything that Lady Anne was accustomed to see. His coat, besides its unusual cut, was distinguished by the material, which was of uncut velvet, and by the colour, which was of a yellowish green. His hair was powdered and drawn back into a large mass behind, which was bound round and round with a black ribbon. Two large well-powdered curls appeared above the ears, but the forehead was left completely bare. His waistcoat was of white satin, richly embroidered, and his knee-bridges, as well as his stockings, were of black silk, while in the shoes and at the knees were richly cut gold buckles. In short, he looked like a man who had been laid up in a band-box for fifty years and taken out, as he had been put in, reggae-dressed for a ceremony. No glance of recognition beamed in Mr. Hargrave's eyes as they lighted on Lady Anne, and he scanned her curiously through the spectacles with which his face was usually adorned. As the reader knows, his visitor was no great respecter of ceremonies, ever acting or speaking upon the first impulse, and taking it for granted that whatever she said or did was sure to please, partly from a conviction of her own sincerity of purpose, and partly from having always found that her oddities were very successful with the general world, and more especially with elderly gentlemen. Lady Anne therefore took a quiet and somewhat long survey of the person before her, till he, not very well satisfied with the scrutiny demanded in a gay and lively tone, a touch of the paternal, mingling with a sort of light badinage, which was the mode in his early years. Well, my little girl, what do you want with me? Here is your humble servant at your disposal, in every respect but love or matrimony. Lady Anne understood him in a moment, and seating herself in the armchair opposite, she replied. Were it a case of either love or matrimony, I probably should not seek you, Mr Hargrave, but the case is quite the reverse. I have come to see you upon business of some importance. You do not know me, but I know you, and what I desire you to do is to get into the carriage with me, and take a drive of twelve or thirteen miles, nay, more, you must do it whether you like it or not." The old gentleman looked at her with an expression of amusement, and then said, Do you know I have not dined? Nor I, answered Lady Anne, though I wondered you for the men who wore velvet coats always dined at three or four o'clock, but you know, my good friend, that ladies always have their own way, and so I intend you to dine with me today. Wherever I am, I always arrange everything for everybody according to my own plan, and though people are frightened at the beginning, they are always very well pleased in the end, I assure you. So now tell your servant to bring you your rucklaw and your hat. Is it round or cocked? Do you know you are very saucy? said Mr. Hargrave in reply. Where do you intend to take me? What do you intend to do with me? I shall tell you nothing about it, replied Lady Anne. I intend it to be a clear case of abduction, in order that an action may lie, and may be decided upon the merits. I will say and do nothing which can raise the slightest technical quibble, but direct you immediately to get your hat and cloak, and if you do not make haste, I shall give you sufficient cause to swear that you go in personal fear. That will depend upon the nature of the vehicle, rejoined Mr. Hargrave, who seemed perfectly to enter into her humour. Is it an open carriage or a shut? Is it a dock-cart, a jig, a feeden, a landow, a coach, or a post-chase? Neither the one nor the other replied Lady Anne. It is my own travelling carriage, and you shall be a full liberty to drop into the corner and fall sound asleep, or to talk to me the whole way, as your courtesy may decide. But how far, how far, exclaimed the other, that at least you can tell me. Why, as far as Milford Castle, answered Lady Anne, with a gay and good-humoured smile, but we shall be back in plenty of time for dinner, so you shall not lose the meal which no Englishman can go without. Milford Castle, exclaimed the old gentleman, but Lady Anne, come and give me a kiss. No, you must come for it, replied Lady Anne, five years ago I would have given you one, but you did not come to London to seek it, and now you must take it if you want it. The old gentleman rose from his seat, and with a lightened elastic step crossed over and kissed her cheek. My dear child, he said, I am really glad to see you. I was a friend of your father and your grandfather, and a sort of connecting, harmonising link between them, being some fifteen years younger than the one, and some eighteen years older than the other. I was a mediator when they quarrelled, which I am sorry to say was not unfrequently, and although I am and always have been a man of the old, while your father was a man of the new world, I believe he had as much confidence in me as in any man, and a great regard for me likewise. He wanted me to be one of your guardians, but in veteran habit, my dear child, ties me to this seclusion, and I knew I must either neglect duties which it would be criminal to neglect, or break through rules which at my age it would be no longer graceful to abandon. The spirit and essence of Englishism, if I may so call it, that which marks our distinctive character, and which renders all we do so progressive, and at the same time so permanent, is the system or principle or habit, call it what you will, of small communities acting together, in some things separate from, in other things dependent upon, the great mass of the nation. Our municipal institutions are but better organised types of that which exists even in country districts, where, round a few men of property and intelligence whose duty it is to maintain order and peace, and as far as in them lies to spread happiness and prosperity around them, are collected a multitude of persons of various grades of wealth and intellect, who have a right to look to those above them for advice, assistance, protection and support. Now no man, placed by God's will in the position of a country gentleman, has any title to abstract himself from the mass amidst which God's will has planted him, and whom his influence, his custom, his example, his advice, may benefit. I felt that I ought not to undertake the discharge of any duties incompatible with those which heaven had assigned me, and therefore I declined to be one of your guardians, though I must ever retain a sincere affection for all your family." I'm sure you do, Mr Hargrave, replied Lady Anne, and therefore in my impudent way I came boldly to see you. I think you were quite right not to undertake the guardianship of a giddy girl when you had duties so much more important to perform, and I only wish all our country gentlemen entertained such views of their duties. However I must now seriously ask you to drive over with me to Milford Castle, as I have something to do there which may require the presence of a magistrate. I am ready this moment, said Mr Hargrave, ringing the bell. Well then, come to mind your dinner, said Lady Anne, for I am determined that you shall dine with me. I have not dined out of my own house for six or seven years, replied the old gentleman, and it will be a long way back at night from Milford. Oh, that is not where you're going to dine at all, answered his fair visitor. I have taken the whole in at Belford, and although an in-dinner may not afford many attractions yet let me tell you my own cook will be down in an hour, and depend upon it he will not be content to see chickens roasted to a rag, and roll beef steak set before his mistress, even in Northumberland. Tomorrow I shall take up my headquarters at Milford. A pollsterous carpenter's cabinet-makers will be as busy as Anne's, till three or four o'clock, and about five I expect a great number of people down, who will make the old place cheerful again, after the long reign of solitude and dullness. I will therefore take no denial, for I have a great deal to talk to you about before these people come down, and I have nobody with me now but my good old governess, whose presence will be no impediment. Mr Hargrave's hat and cloak were then brought, and after having, much to the astonishment of the servants, announced that he should not be home to dinner, he followed Lady Anne to her carriage and set out from Milford Castle. As they drove along the worthy old man was somewhat anxious to ascertain what Lady Anne could want with a magistrate at Milford, but his fair companion seemed to be in one of her wayward moves, and would give him no information whatsoever. The moment that he found she was reluctant, with the true courtesy of the old school, he changed the conversation, and, notwithstanding a great degree of oddity and very peculiar views on many points, proved anything but an unpleasant companion. He spoke of the county in which he lived, the changes which had taken place in it during his own lifetime, the progress which it was making, and the improvements which still might be made. Lady Anne was a good deal of surprise at the liberality and extensive view which he displayed, in conjunction with his partial adherence to old habits, even in insignificant things. But Mr Hargrave was a man of a singular mind, one of the few who judged of all things solely upon their merits. He did not think that anything was worthy of being retained because it was old or adopted because it was new, and he accidentally explained to his fair companion his views of all those alterations which people in general are too apt to look upon as progress, when very often the direct reverse is the case. That which is, my dear lady, he said, has always won great direct advantage over that which may be, certainty. Long experience of anything existing has shown mankind all its benefits and all its evils, but besides this there is an indirect advantage in retaining that which is, namely, that it has adjusted itself to the things by which it is surrounded, and there is a direct disadvantage in change, namely, that one can never calculate what derangements of all relations may take place from any alteration of even one small part in the complicated machine of any state or society. Nevertheless, I hold that when it has been shown that many things have altered with or against our will, general alterations must take place to readjust the relations which have been changed, and also that when in favour of any change that is proposed, there can be shown a reasonable probability of advantage is sufficient to counterbalance the inherent evils of change. We are fully justified in taking the forward step and may hope to reap benefit by it. If we change for the mere sake of change, we are Frenchmen. If we remain stationary from mere attachment to all customs, we are Chinese. I think that the English nation is better than either, neither like youth, greedy of novelty, not like age, tenacious of prejudices, but like maturity, guided by reason, either in tranquility or action. The saucy girl beside him laughed. I have no doubt it's all very true, she said, but I am not a politician and really do not much care, my dear sir, whether we stand still, go forward or go backward. It will make no more difference to me than whether you wear a velvet coat or a cloth one. Mr Hargrave now laughed in turn, and looking down at his sleeves, he said, This is velvet, isn't it? Well my dear, I did not know it. I have remarked indeed occasionally that my dress is somewhat different from that of other people, and now I will tell you how it has happened. A great number of years ago, some fifty I dare say, I was just as full of fancies and vanities as you or any other young person of the present time, and perhaps was a little bit of a bow, and might affect some singularity of apparel. I can talk of the matter very coolly now, for age has extinguished passions and suffered even bitter memories. I met with a very painful disappointment. A young lady to whom I was sincerely attached, and who I believe was sincerely attached to me, died in a moment, on the very morning appointed for our marriage. I bore the bereavement, I am sorry to say, neither as a Christian nor as a philosopher, and I soon found that, if I went on mingling with the world, as the idle and light portion of society is generally called, I should lose what little senses I still possessed. I determined to make a great struggle, and a great struggle it was. I applied myself to the most important subjects I could find out, or devise. I studied divinity. I visited the pool, I visited hospitals, I visited prisons. For ten years I would never suffer my mind to rest, even for one moment, upon what I considered a trifle. And my directions about my clothes, whenever I wanted anything new, were to make them exactly like those which I was wearing. At the end of these ten years, when my object was gained and my mind had somewhat recovered its tone, I did perceive that my dress was somewhat old-fashioned, but I thought it was not worthwhile to change, and I have never given any fresh direction since. Thus, at any time during the last fifty years, you would have seen me in a coat of exactly the same cut, of the same colour, and of the same texture. Four times in the year it comes in regularly, is placed upon the clothes-horse in my room, and I'd put it on, often without knowing that it is new, unless it pinches me under the arms. I certainly shall not change it now, because nobody would know me if I did. For one's face forms so small a part of one's personal appearance, that old Hargrave's coat and waistcoat are much more easily recognised, I fancy, than old Hargrave's eyes and nose would be. You're a dear old man, said Lady Anne, and I love you, velvet coat and all. I'm glad to hear it, replied Mr Hargrave, but I have loved all your family, my dear, very truly. In such sort of conversation passed the time, till at length a pair of great gates appeared and the carriage rolled through into the park. This is Milford Castle, my dear, said Mr Hargrave, and I wish you joy on your first visit to the home of your ancestors. I am afraid, however, you will find some marks of neglect at all events on the outside of the house, for a master's eye is like sunshine and his absence like storm. The one produces all that is bright and beautiful, and the other is sure to leave some traces of devastation. It is very bare, said Lady Anne, looking out of the windows of the carriage, and how stunted all the trees look, leaning to one side as if they had a great inclination to lay themselves down and die. The prevailing wind, said Mr Hargrave, which morally and physically bends all things to its influence, has beaten upon them for so many years that they may well have yielded to it. But you will find the scenery improve as we go on. We'll merely at the outskirts of the park. Do not see that deep wood filling up the hollow. That is the first grove. This is merely a sort of wild chase we are passing through. Rolling on, the scenery did, as he said, improve greatly, and from time to time Lady Anne Mellon to caught a distant glimpse of an old grey mansion, seen and lost alternately, as the carriage mounted or descended the manifold slopes of the park. At the end of a quarter of an hour a thick wild wood cut off the view of all other objects, and in a minute or two more the post-boys put their horses into a quick canter of a steep rise, and Lady Anne suddenly found herself at the gates of her father's house. It may well be supposed that she gazed at it with interest, and the aspect pleased her well, for it was a large, stately, dignified-looking mansion, with manifold doors and windows and a broad terrace before it. But unlocking into the park she was somewhat mortified to see that several hundred acres of ground around the house had been likely enclosed, and, though various herds of deer could be perceived in the distance, nothing but sheep, rather too numerous for the pasture allotted to them, appeared in the foreground. The servant rang the bell sharply, and having opened the carriage door by Lady Anne's directions, aided his mistress to descend. She was very grave, and indeed it is hardly possible to look up at an old building, especially when it has been the habitation of our own immediate ancestors, without feeling impressed with the chilling sense of the vanity of human hopes, desires and efforts. An old mansion is a sort of cemetery of dead aspirations, every stone a memento of joys and wishes passed away. Of course nobody answered the bell, but a shepherd-lad was seen running towards the back of the house, and Lady Anne forbade the footman to ring again. After a minute or two of expectation, a large-made bustling woman opened the great doors with a face glowing like the rising sun, and hands which she continued to wipe on her apron, evidently in a very pulpy and washerwoman-like state. She looked at the handsome carriage, the arm-zip-ball, the livery of the servant, and concluded she had the heiress before her, but still not seem too ready, she demanded. What's your will, sir? What do you wish, ma'am? I wish to go over the house, my good lady, replied Lady Anne. I suppose you are Mrs. Grimes. I am Lady Anne Mellant, your mistress. Dear me, my lady, I wish you had let me know you were coming, said the good woman, why there's nothing in order for your ladyship, and we have nobody to help to put things right. Lord, sir, I didn't know you, she continued, turning to Lady Anne's companion. You are Mr. Hargrave, I believe. I wonder you did not know me, replied the old gentleman dryly, looking down at the sleeve of his velvet coat. I am always ticketed, but do not keep Lady Anne standing here. Do not make yourself uneasy, Mrs. Grimes, said Lady Anne. I have not come to stay today, but I shall walk over the whole house to judge what is necessary to be done. Be so good as to show me the way. Come after me, Matthews." Mrs. Grimes was evidently taken very much by surprise, and by no means prepared to receive the lady of the house. For, to say the truth, she had converted the servants' hall into a wash house, and was actually engaged in washing and ironing for her own and the steward's family. While her two misses and two country girls, in consequence of the first hint of the shepherd's lad, were busily engaged in it facing as far as possible the traces of their occupation, Mrs. Grimes led the young lady into the large, old-fashioned hall, on the left of the entrance, and made great a do to open the windows. The assistance of the man-servant, however, rendered the process shorter than she desired, and Lady Anne stood in the midst, gazing round at the old pictures upon the walls, the stately black oak chairs, and the enormous mantelpiece with its cupids and columns and baskets of fruit, all carved in white marble. Why does that door lead to, demanded Lady Anne? To the great drawing-room, my lady, replied Mrs. Grimes with a low curtsy, and beyond that is the little drawing-room, and then the great dining-room. On the other side of the entrance-hall are the library and the breakfast-room, and the little library. There is a small dressing-room, said Lady Anne Mellon, adjoining the bedroom in which my father slept when he was here. Do you know which that is? Oh, yes, my lady, replied Mrs. Grimes. It's the dressing-room, that has what we call the sealed cabinet in it, for there is a great piece of parchment nailed across the doors, with seals over the nails. Exactly, said Lady Anne, take my servant with you, open the windows of that room, and then come back to show me the way. As soon as the woman at the footman had retired, Lady Anne took a letter from her pocket and placed it in Mr. Hargrove's hand, saying very gravely, You have wondered, I dare say, my dear sir, why I brought you hither. Read that letter, which my poor father left to be given to me after his death. You will therein see that it may be needful that I shall have someone with me to witness the fact of my opening this cabinet, and to certify what are the contents that I found in it. I could apply to no one so well as to a magistrate, an old friend of my father's, and my grandfather's, and one universally respected. Mr. Hargrove took the letter which had evidently been written some years, and looked at the back which bore the following words, to be delivered to my daughter, Lady Anne Melland, when she attains the age of twenty, or previous to her marriage. If she should marry before attaining that age, it is my wish that she should read it when alone. The old gentleman then opened it and read it near the window, pausing every now and then to consider the contents, and while he was doing so Mrs. Grimes re-entered the room, saying, The windows are open, my lady. Well, wait without for a minute or two, said Lady Anne, and then turned her eyes again to the face of Mr. Hargrove, who continued to read. When he had done, he folded up the letter again and returned it, saying, Part of the facts mentioned in that letter, my dear, I suspected long ago, from varying circumstances which came to my knowledge, but as I suppose there is no chance of your title being disputed, I think your precaution in bringing an old gentleman with you was unnecessary. I wished to take every reasonable precaution," replied his fair companion with a smile, and as, to tell you the truth, my dear sir, another person may be very much affected by my ads, I thought it but right to be sure of what I was doing. Oh, ho! said Mr. Hargrove, laughing, then I am afraid I have no chance for this fair hand. You are too late in the field," answered Lady Anne gaily, but come, let us to the cabinet. Stay, I must have Pen and Ink first, said Mr. Hargrove, but Pen and Ink were not very easily procured at Milford Castle, for Mrs. Grimes was not of an epistolary turn, and her accounts were kept upon a slate. One of her nieces, however, supplied the deficiency and ascending the long, broad, oaken staircase, Lady Anne and Mr. Hargrove followed the housekeeper to a small dressing-room adjoining the principal bedrooms. I would not be the man over whose heart a feeling of sad and solemn interest does not steal, when for the first time he enters a chamber once tenanted by a friend departed. I, though long years may have passed since the remembered form darkened the sunshine on the floor, with him, if there be such a man, affections must be written in water, or the heart be unsusceptible of love. Such was not the case with Lady Anne Mellon, nor with her old companion, and they both paused in the midst of the room and thought for a time of those whom they could never see more. The old man's tears were dried up, but he saw a drop gathering in Lady Anne's eyes, and laying his hand tenderly upon hers he said, Come, my dear, and led her towards the large old ebony cabinet which stood between the windows. Across the two folding doors just above the lock was a broad strip of parchment sealed on either side with the arms of the earls of Milford, and upon the parchment was written, To be opened only by my daughter, Milford. To late Earl, though he died at Harley Lodge, had felt when he last visited Milford, that the sand in the hourglass was for him waning fast. Lady Anne approached the cabinet and with her own hand removed the parchment. She then, with a small key, which had remained ever since her father's death attached to her watch-chain, opened the doors, while Mr Hargraves beckoned up Mrs Grimes and said, Come a little nearer and bear witness that I place my name upon every paper found in this cabinet. Only one packet, however, was found therein. Most of the drawers were totally empty, but at length in a small drawer fitted up with ink glasses and pen cases a bundle of four or five pages was found, which, to Hargrave, untied, and without looking at the contents of any, this signature upon each document certifying that it had been found by Lady Anne Melland in his presence in a certain cabinet referred to in a letter from Frederick Earl of Milford in her possession and that the cabinet had not been previously opened since it had been sealed by the late Earl. This being completed, Lady Anne begged her old companion to keep possession of the papers, at least till they arrived at the inn, and in a small closing the cabinet she left the room. Her spirit seemed to rise now that the task was over and she went on gaily and lightly from chamber to chamber, causing all the windows to be thrown wide open, commenting upon everything she saw, and asking a multitude of questions, to all of which Mrs Grimes had not very satisfactory answers ready. When she had gone over the whole house, somewhat to the amusement and reached to the fatigue of good Mr Hargrave, she sat herself down in one of the great richly-guilt armchairs which stood in the principal drawing-room, and exclaimed, laughingly, Now, like Alexander Selkirk, I am monarch of all I survey, but like him too, my dear sir, I lack subject, sadly, send someone for the steward, Mrs Grimes, and to guard against all the many contingencies, some of which are always happening in the country, if the steward should not be at home, let his son come up, if he has no son, or his son be out, let his wife come, if no wife or son be found, let a daughter, a nephew, a niece, an uncle, a cousin, or some relation of some kind, and especially let each or every of them come directly, for I have an infinity of orders to give. The spirit of hurry is upon me, and let the whole inhabitants of the manor and all their horses work as hard as they will, they will have great difficulty in doing what I intend to have done within the time I shall allow. Now, my dear Mrs Grimes, don't stand and stare, but send for the steward as I tell you. You, Matthews, go and see what he's wanting, as far as you can judge in the butlers, cooks, and housekeepers' departments. I know there is plenty of wine in the cellar, and I can see from the window that there is mutton at the door. These last words were addressed to Mr Hargrave with a slightly sarcastic smile, and she then added, laughing, I intend to sleep here tomorrow night with all my household. Mr Hargrave shook his head, saying, and scarcely think you will find that possible, considering that not a single bed in the whole house has been slept in for many years. Do you to pretend to believe, sir, asked Lady Anne gravely, that anything is impossible when a lady wills it? Let me tell you, it shall be done. I will make the gamekeepers into housemaids, the shepherds into scullions, the steward into an upholsterer, and the labourers of the land into kitchenmaids, laundrymaids, dairymaids, and housekeepers. Do you suppose that I, who never was contradicted in my life, will be so on my first visit to my own castle? But to tell you the truth, my dear Mr Hargrave, I trust more to a whole regiment of servants of mine who are coming down from London, and to two tumbles of London ammunition than all the auxiliaries of Northumberland. Thus she gaily went on till the steward appeared in haste, with that half dogged, half plausible look which a man puts on when he is suddenly brought into the presence of authority, which may demand an account not very easy to be rendered. He bowed low to Lady Anne, and even lower to Mr Hargrave, but Lady Anne attacked him at once about the sheep. Who's sheep are those, Mr Blunt, she demanded, and how came they to be where they are? Why, you see, my lady, answered the steward, evading the real point of her question. The rest of the park is reserved for the deer, and I thought your ladyship would not like it to be meddled with. But Lady Anne was not to be put off, and she demanded, but how come they to be in the park at all, Mr Blunt? I thought the whole of the park was reserved for deer. Why, so it used to be, my lady, answered the steward, but, you see, my lady, I just thought it would be clean waste of good fee not to have a few sheep in. And how long has this been carried on? demanded Lady Anne. Why, I can't say, my lady, replied the steward, not having the books handy. And to whom do they belong? demanded Lady Anne. Why, for that matter, they may be your ladyships, if you like, said the steward. They are not that deer of the money. Lady Anne burst into a violent fit of laughter at the man's pertinacious evasions. So gay, so light-hearted, so good-humoured, that, joined with the shrewd glance of her eye, it quite upset good Mr Hargrave's gravity, and utterly confounded the steward, who clearly perceived with no very pleasant feeling, that she saw through him to the very backbone. Waving her hand to stop any further explanation, she said, Very well, Mr Blunt, very well, I have not the least doubt that they are very excellent sheep, and that you have very excellent reasons for everything, but I think they are out of place in my park, and therefore I must beg, that you will have every one of them removed before noon tomorrow, the whole of the fences which you have planted taken away, and every vestige removed which your woolly tenons may have left behind. The ground must also be rolled with a large roller. I should desire also to have the carriage-drive, from the side, both of Belford and Wooler, rolled likewise, the branches which overhang the road trimmed away to the full height of the top of the carriage, and some gravel-put-down in those deep ruts at the bottom of the valleys between this and the Great Gates. Moreover, you will be so good to send up all the poultry, eggs, and butter which are available, and direct the gamekeepers to bring up all the trout they can catch. They must also shoot a buck, and sea for a leveret or two. Of course the poultry-yard is well-stocked, as the farm makes such a large item in the accounts, all that I have mentioned must be done before tomorrow night, as I am about to take up my residence here tomorrow and expect friends during that evening or the morning after, who will stay with me for some days. The park pailing on each side of the gate too must be mended, and a new lock put upon the gates themselves. Heaven preserve us, my lady, exclaimed Mr. Blunt. It will be quite impossible to get all this done before tomorrow night. I am very sorry to hear it, replied Lady Anne, for it must be done, and somebody must be found to do it. So if you cannot accomplish it, I must— I didn't say I couldn't accomplish it, my lady. Only it'll be desperate hard work, and there is hardly time. I am very sorry to hear that too, replied Lady Anne, for there will be at least forty other things for you to do in the course of the morning, and they must all be done too. You will have the goodness to collect all the work-people in my employment here at the castle by one o'clock. I have a note of how many they consist of, and, moreover, I should like to have all the active men in the neighbourhood of whatever professions they may be here at the castle to help the others. That is all for the present. I will give further directions to-morrow. Stay, Mr. Blunt. You have, of course, guinea fowls at the farm and young ducks. But no guinea fowls have Mr. Blunt, and young ducks, according to his account, were never to be had in that part of Northumberland before it sent somebody's fare, the name of which he mentioned, but I forget. Lady Anne shook her head. Guinea fowls must be found, she said, and you must make some young ducks if you haven't got them. Plover's eggs, of course. You have plenty of plover's eggs." Mr. Blunt looked aghast, but he did not like absolutely to deny the fact, and therefore replied, They have some over at Woolor, my lady, but they don't come down here. Then send over to Woolor for all they have got, said Lady Anne, and with these orders she dismissed him. Now, Mrs. Grimes, she said, turning to that good lady who had been standing by in a state of great consternation, you will have the goodness to leave all the windows open till sunset, to spread out all the beds upon the floors of the rooms, to brush the dust off all these hangings, chairs and pictures, to have all that green removed from the steps, to make the cobwebs disappear in different directions, to have large fires lighted in every bedroom, and in the principal's sitting-rooms, and to let me see the house in complete order when I arrive to-morrow. Now, Mr. Hargrave, she continued, I have tied out your patience. Let us drive back to Belford, and you, Matthew, stay here, and see that all is done as I have directed. You know what I want." Yes, my lady, replied the man, and hurrying forward he opened the door of the carriage. As soon as she and her old companion were seated, Lady Anne leaned back on the cushions and laughed. I have given them enough to do, I think, she said. Am I not an excellent housekeeper and woman of business, Mr. Hargrave? I was only afraid of making some mistake, and asking for some bird or beast in June that does not come to England till November. I am afraid, Mr. Hargrave, that they will never be able to fulfil all your orders in the time, but to give them was a very fair punishment for the neglect. Perhaps I might use a stronger word, which they have shown. It is the only punishment I shall ever inflict, replied Lady Anne, for, as you say, if masters and mistresses choose to neglect their own affairs, how can they expect that others will take care of them? But now, listen, for I have got a long story to tell you, which, with all the questions you intend to ask, and all the answers I intend to give, will just occupy one hour and a half, and by that time we shall be at Belford. End of Chapter 29 Chapter 30 of The Forgery by George Payne Rinsford James This lipovox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 30 In the meantime It is curious to begin a new chapter with such words as in the meantime, but yet, dear reader, they are the most comprehensive and nearly the most important in any language. They comprise the present infinity, all except one small point, and even that they affect in all its consequences. The man who is an actor in the great world's drama performs his solitary deed, but all the results of that deed are modified by what is doing in the meantime. The man who is a recorder of other men's actions chronicles what is done by one or another, but still, to judge, even in the least, of the essence and the bearings and the consequences of the deeds recorded, we must ask what was doing in the meantime. A stone rolled out of its place, a casual and thoughtless jest, the sport of a child, a grain of sand wafted by the wind, in the meantime, may overset all that we are laboring to perform, frustrate our best device schemes, render fruitless our most skillfully performed actions. Do you doubt it, reader? Listen then. I will take one of the assertions I have made and work it out. There was a rich merchant who had an only daughter. He laboured for twenty years to make her a great heiress. His hopes and his happiness were all built upon her. His efforts were all for her, nor were they unwisely directed. He cultivated her mind. He improved her understanding. He enlarged her heart. He looked round for someone who was to make the happiness of her, who was his happiness. He was difficult in his choice, careful in his examination, scrupulous in his judgment. With rare good fortune he found what he sought, a man noble but not proud, good but not rigid, gentle but not weak, one, moreover, who sought her for herself, not for her wealth, and to crown all one whom she could love. The merchant was very happy. No difficulties arose. The marriage-day was appointed. The settlements were drawn up, and he and the bridegroom went to read them over together. They were all that either desired and the father shook hands with his future son-in-law, expressing his perfect satisfaction. In the meantime, at the very moment when their hands were clasped in each other, a little boy of eight years old, an orphaned nephew of the merchant, lighted a piece of paper at the fire in the drawing-room. The paper burnt his fingers and he let it fall. It dropped upon his clothes. They caught fire and he screamed. His cries brought his fair cousin rushing from the adjoining room. She caught him in her arms, endeavouring to stifle the flame. Her own apparel took fire, and before night the merchant was childless. Let no man ever calculate upon success, for he never can tell what he's doing in the meantime. In the meantime, while Lady Anne Mellent was acting as we have seen in the most remote part of Northumberland, two series of operations were going forward in London, with which it is necessary the reader should be acquainted. But, like the long-eared animal between the two bundles of hay, them sorely puzzled, which to go on with first. We left Lady Fleetwood just ready to go out after having dismissed Mr. Minji Bowes. We left Mr. Minji Bowes just entering the room where Carlo Carlini and the peddler sat, with a look of surprise upon his countenance. Which would the reader like to go on with? Let us toss up. If the luck should be against the reader's inclination, he has nothing to do but invert the order of this and the following chapter. Now then, heads or tails, Lady Fleetwood wins the day. After Minji Bowes had taken his departure, the excellent lady sat for a moment or two to recover breath and composure, for both were in somewhat exhausted state, at the end of her conversation with the respectable person who had just left her. She then rose, rang the bell and walked out, taking her way direct towards the house of Mr. Scriven's. As she went, indeed, she became a good deal agitated. She had previously made up her mind to act most diplomatically with her brother, had arranged all her plans, was fully convinced that she comprehended every particular of Maria's situation, and saw through all her secrets. But her conversation with Mr. Minji Bowes had shaken and confused all her thoughts, views and purposes, so that she could lay her hand upon nothing. And when she did find the skein of thought, so tangled and twisted, then she could not unravel it for the life of her. In these circumstances it would have been only wise to have gone back quietly to her own house and left matters exactly as they were without meddling with them at all. But, as I have shown, the demon of activity was upon her and spurred her on to help her friends and relations against their will. So forward she was carried upon her way by the power of the locomotive within, till she reached Mr. Scriven's door and John rapped loud and strong. Then indeed she would have given her ears to have got away or to have found that her brother was out. No such good fortune awaited her. The door was opened almost immediately. Mr. Scriven was at home and she was shown up to his drawing-room. He had got three printed papers before him, the London Gazette, the Shipping List and another, I don't know what, besides a little scrap of white paper not bigger than my hand. But Mr. Scriven was very careful of his paper, on which he was jotting down various cabalistic signs and a number of figures, which nobody in Europe could have made anything of but himself. The result did not seem satisfactory to him, however, for his face was certainly gloomy and, pointing with the butter end of his pencil to the chair, he uttered the laconic and incomplete sentence in a minute and then went on with his calculations again. Lady Fleetwood sat down and perhaps no worse mode of torture could have been devised by Mr. Scriven than that of making her wait in silence, for she did not employ the interval calmly and orderly in thinking what she had best do, but suffered prose and cons and the recollections of everything that had taken place between Maria and herself and Mr. Bowes and herself and all the deductions she had formally drawn and all the doubts which had since sprung up and a great many other considerations besides to settle down upon her like a swarm of bees and sting her till she was half mad with the irritation. Her mind was in a very swollen and inflamed state when Mr. Scriven stopped, folded up the paper and put it in his waistcoat pocket during the nose of his pencil like the head of a tortoise into its shell and then looking straight at Lady Fleetwood said Well Margaret, what do you want? I could not come at eleven for, as you see, I had something else to do but I suppose your business is important or you would not hunt me down here. His uncivil speech gave Lady Fleetwood an opportunity of escape if she had whipped enough to avail herself of it and indeed she did make an effort though it was not a very successful one. Oh, I don't want to disturb you at all, she said I did not know you were particularly engaged. Had she stopped there it would have been all very well for her brother, in his dry and pleasant ways was just about to say that he was particularly engaged and the matter might have dropped but Lady Fleetwood was a terrible person for standing upon the defensive she did not at all like the very insinuation of trifling and she added, unluckily Of course what I wanted to say was important or I should not have asked you to come and should not have come here Well, what is it? asked Mr. Scriven I suppose you have got into some important scrape and want me to get you out of it Not at all answered Lady Fleetwood with an indignant air I merely wished to speak with you not about myself but about Maria and Colonel Middleton No, said Mr. Scriven not well pleased at the co-location of his niece's name with that of an object of antipathy Pray what has Maria to do with Colonel Middleton or Colonel Middleton with Maria Now his bitter, sneering way at times roused even Lady Fleetwood into something like resistance but unfortunately Mr. Scriven knew that such was the case and knew that in her fits of indignation his sister would tell him all he wanted to hear more plainly, straightforwardly and concisely than she would under any other circumstances that she was thrown off her guard in short he therefore occasionally irritated her upon calculation for Mr. Scriven was a great calculator in the present instance the way in which he put the question more than the question itself induced her to reply now my dear brother if you're inclined to hit patiently and act reasonably I will go on for I came here with the purpose of persuading you not to struggle against what you cannot resist but to let Maria seek her own happiness in her own now my dear sister answered Mr. Scriven in a somewhat mocking tone I am inclined to hit patiently if the story is told briefly and to act reasonably however it is told for I think you ought to know that I always act upon reason and that reason is my sole guide thank God I have neither imagination nor coprice nor fine feelings nor delicate sentiment nor any of the trash with which you're very tender and extremely sensitive people who fool themselves reason is the only guide I ever applied to and I don't think she is likely to leave me now as selecting Maria seek her own happiness in her own way I have no means of preventing her if she is going to make a fool of herself I tell her so and having told her once I have done my duty and there the matter ends she is of age she can do what she pleases and I have only to do the best that I can for anything she does from affecting her more injuriously than it otherwise might now then our ground is clear what's the matter Lady Fleetwood hesitated but it was too late to retreat why she said and it may be remarked that whenever a woman makes use of the little word why as an expertive she knows she is coming on difficult ground why I cannot help seeing that is to say fan-seeing that is to say believing that Maria has a partiality for Colonel Middleton said Lady Fleetwood and during her stammering enunciation of this proposition Mr. Scriven sat provokingly silent and quiet he did not help her even by a look what makes you think so he inquired leconically oh many things answered his sister taking courage a little many things rejoined Mr. Scriven that is the refuge of the destitute let me hear one or two of these things why you own my dear brother one judges from what one sees said Lady Fleetwood women's eyes are sharp in such matters Mr. Scriven was well-nigh tempted to condemn women's eyes in the vernacular but he never swore or used implications of any kind and therefore he are simply but what have the sharp eyes seen I have seen them talking together you know and all that answered his sister so have I answered the merchant and I have seen her and half a dozen young men talking and all that well but then her looks and her manner said Lady Fleetwood driven to the war and besides I have had some conversation with her upon the subject and she told you that she intended to marry him demanded Mr. Scriven is not that the plain truth no she did not in so many words say that was the reply but she did not deny it certainly Mr. Scriven got up and walked across the room three or four times not fast be it remarked with the slightest agitation of word look or manner but calmly considerably as if he were thinking of the royal exchange he asked himself if that was all his sister had come to tell him if it was likely she should come upon such an errand but he knew her well and was not unaware of her peculiar talent for increasing difficulties by trying to smooth them away he saw it was likely in her so unlikely in anyone else well I suppose before she does such a thing he replied at length we shall hear something more of this Colonel Middleton he is wonderfully like Henry Haley but the evidence of everything but one's own senses is the other way and if he were Henry Haley my dear brother said Lady Fleetwood wonderfully revived and encouraged by the progress which from his calm tone she had made I'm quite sure you would not be disposed to persecute the young man I for one feel quite sure he did not commit the forgery if it was anyone it was his father for Henry could have no need for such a sum of money and we all know how poor Mr. Haley had for you told me yourself that he was given to gambling a new light broke upon Mr. Scriven his sister did know more than she had said there was a secret trembling on her lips he saw that or at least imagined it and he knew that to frighten her would drive it back again at once his course was determined in a moment very true he said thoughtfully that never struck me before Haley was capable of anything he was a notorious gambler what you say is very likely Margaret and if that be the case far from persecuting the young gentleman I would but no matter for that persecuting is quite out of the question the matter has been over so many years you know that it may almost be said to be forgotten however that has nothing to do with the business for as I said just now though very like poor Henry Haley it is evident that Colonel Middleton cannot be the same person the proofs are against it and you and I must have committed a blunder in thinking so even for a moment I don't know that said Lady Fleetwood with this very sagacious air I still have my doubts brother poh poh quite Mr. Scriven I made inquiries of the young Count and Countess it cannot be you are quite mistaken depend upon it do not be too sure replied his sister something very strange happened to me this very day and I cannot help thinking that some bad people have got hold of the secret and intend to extract money from the poor young man now I know that if you did discover it you would never make use of it for any bad purpose and she looked up in her brother's face with the most appealing look in the world most assuredly I would not replied Mr. Scriven and he meant it too for to have hand Henry Haley he would have looked upon as a highly meritorious act but what is this that has happened to you Margaret I'm afraid you are making one of your mistakes the words one of your mistakes were very galling and Lady Fleetwood hastened to prove that she was making no mistake at all by telling her brother all that had taken place between her and Mr. Minji Bowes Mr. Scriven listened with profound attention but his mind was carrying on two processes at once he was weighing every syllable his sister uttered to judge whether her tale could leave any doubt whatever of the identity of Colonel Middleton with Henry Haley and he was arranging and preparing his own plan of action to be ready to reply accordingly when she had done long before her story was concluded Mr. Scriven had made up his mind not a doubt remained Henry Haley was alive in England within his grasp and that grasp was a fel one which did not easily let go but although he had now extracted all he wanted from Lady Fleetwood yet he had a strong conviction that she was even more likely to spoil his schemes than those of any other person if he allowed her to get the least glimpse of his game and therefore he replied indeed Margaret this seems something like the truth and now we must think what can best be done under such dangerous and difficult circumstances I would not if I were you say a word to the poor young man of what I have discovered it would only alarm him to no purpose nor indeed would I have any more dealings with that rascal who called ladies are not fit to meet such men and indeed it is dangerous oh I told him to come at 12 the day after tomorrow on purpose replied Lady Fleetwood because then I and Maria will both be gone into the north to this party of Lady Anne's so he will find no one but old Mrs. Hickson and the maids as to telling Colonel Middleton I shall not have any opportunity for three or four days he is going down too but you see it would not of course be proper for Maria and him to travel together so we shall first meet at Milford Castle very improper indeed said Mr. Scriven musing pray Margaret where is this man to be found who called upon you this morning dear me how should I know replied Lady Fleetwood of course I did not ask him I do not see the of course said her dry brother and indeed it would have been much better to ask him for you see it is in some degree endangering your young friend however I will be at your house when the man comes the day after tomorrow will see him and settle all with him so as to ensure that nothing goes amiss now Lady Fleetwood knew her brother to be very clever at settling all matters of business but in this case Mr. Minji Bowser specifically demanded the sum of one thousand pounds and it was not with impossibility for anyone who knew Mr. Scriven well to believe that he would pay a thousand pounds on any account if he could help it she therefore said in a somewhat timid tone but the money my dear brother what is to be done about the money which these men demand I do not see how it can be got without telling Colonel Middleton what they say leave it all to me said Mr. Scriven, somewhat impatiently do not say a word to Colonel Middleton for it would only fill him and Maria too with anxiety and it is very likely after all that no money will be needed the very act of attempting to extort money by threats of accusation is punishable by transportation and the good gentleman will not like the prospect of that when it is clearly stated to them leave it to me Margaret I say and now I must go to the city Lady Fleetwood in accordance with this last hint left him and bent her steps back towards her own house at first she walked joyously and well satisfied as if she had performed a great feat but gradually as a doubt stole in as to whether her brother was the best person to whom she could have revealed secrets affecting Henry Haley her self-satisfaction began to sink considerably and she asked herself what use might Mr. Scriven make of the information if he chose it is one of the unpleasant consequences of such a character as Mr. Scriven's that even those who from the ties of blood or old intimacy feel that sort of negative regard which springs less from his steam and affection than from mere habit always rely on them imperfectly the indiscreet in their paroxysms of locustity may give them their secrets the timid in order to disarm their opposition or win their assistance may furnish them with dangerous information but both as soon as it is done doubt the prudence of the act and wait in trembling uncertainty for the result it occurs also nine times out of ten with persons of the disposition and character of Lady Fleetwood that they are discreet at the wrong moment the angel visits of discretion come at times when they are unserviceable and so poor Lady Fleetwood found it she had told her brother what she had better left untold but after having done so she did not dare inform more trustworthy people of the fact lest she should draw down blame upon her own indiscretion and she resolved to let things take their course especially as Maria and Colonel Middleton would both be at the distance from London so that some time must pass before they heard indirectly of what she had thought fit to do indeed she rather hurried all the preparations for their departure from London for fear anything should force an explanation before they went very glad she was when she and her niece safely packed up in the carriage had passed the first turnpike on the Great North Road End of Chapter 30 Chapter 31 of the forgery by George Payne Rainsford James this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Chapter 31 if one could really be a spectator a mere spectator of what is passing in the world around us without taking part in the events or sharing in the passions and the actual performance on the stage if we could sit ourselves down as it were in a private box of the world's great theatre and quietly look on at the piece which was playing no more moved than is absolutely implied by sympathy with our fellow creatures what a curious, what an amusing, what an interesting spectacle would life present but we never in this fashion see the whole of the play sooner or later we jump up on the stage and take a part in the acting and are inclined all throughout to do so like a child or a savage or Don Quixote at a puppet show from time to time indeed we do see a detached scene or two as spectators and then most exceedingly entertaining it is such was the case with Carlo Carlini as he sat reclining with dignified ease in an old fashioned leavened chair with a long comfortable sloping back looking alternately at the two faces of Joshua Brown, the peddler and Mr. Minji Bowes when they met so unexpectedly to the latter Carlini, as the reader is aware was totally unacquainted with the peculiar circumstances in which the two now encountered each other and therefore the expression of their countenances had all the advantage of mystery Joshua Brown sat gazing upon the newcomer with a look of old Roman sterness which was not lost upon Mr. Bowes the expression of the latter was full of surprise joined with a considerable portion of apprehension but his first idea was that the peddler was there for the purpose of handing him over to a police officer and bearing testimony against him now knowing himself saleable upon many points Mr. Bowes was by no means fond of police offices the investigations at which are sometimes carried a good deal farther than is either agreeable or convenient to persons of his profession the first effect therefore of the apparition of the peddler was surprise the second was fear but surprise was of course over in an instant being the most evanescent of all things and fear was soon managed likewise by reliance on his own skill on the arms which he believed were in his hands good evening Mr. Bowes said the peddler who was the first to speak I did not expect to meet you here today when I came in just now don't you think it may be a little dangerous both for you and your friend Sam to show yourselves in London so soon after what took place down near Frimley I don't know why it should said Minji Bowes with the most innocent air in the world I have only come to speak to the colonel upon the little business you know of what colonel demanded Joshua Brown speaking civilly and motioning Mr. Bowes to a seat for it was his object to make the fence as he was called say all he had to say and lay open his game as far as his discretion would permit him they were both men of the world however and master Minji having had a great deal of very delicate work to do in his lifetime was not a little cautious he thought indeed that there could be no great harm in answering the question as nakedly as it was put and he consequently replied why Colonel Middleton to be sure Colonel Middleton said the peddler I suppose I have no business to ask what you want with Colonel Middleton I should think not said Minji Bowes well at all events Colonel Middleton is out said Carlini he won't be home from the country till it is late and as soon as he does come home he's going out again ha said Mr. Bowes who was fast getting over his apprehensions nevertheless I must have a word or two with him and that as soon as possible you'll find that difficult to reply Carlini unless you tell me what your business is but he will not see anyone whom he does not know without inquiring what he wants then he may find he's got into the wrong box said the fence in a rather menacing tone box said Carlini what does he mean by box he means what he does not understand himself said the peddler leaning his two hands upon the table and slowly and deliberately rising from his seat as if he were somewhat stiff and weary he then took a step or two towards the door with a heavy unconcerned air Mr. Minji Bowes did not at first remark the proceeding but as Joshua Brown got between him and the way out he felt a little nervous which nervousness was greatly increased when he saw the peddler put his hand upon the key in your lock what are you going to do? he exclaimed starting up I don't choose to be locked in down Mr. Bowes said Joshua Brown in a very quiet tone but very stern and at the same moment he turned the key in the lock drew it out and put it in his pocket he then walked back to his seat in the same sort of stiff heavy manner there was something very impressive in that sort of semi-limp and Mr. Bowes sat himself down again and began playing with the buttons at the knees of his drab britches apparently to pass the time while waiting for an explanation before he gave one however Joshua Brown poured himself out half a glass of wine and took a sip or two without the least hurry in the world but at length he said now Minji Bowes I dare say you wanted to hear why I have locked the door it's only because I've got a word or two to say to you which might perhaps make you bolt before you had heard the whole and that would not suit me you're a dealer in marine stores I take it well I know that said Minji Bowes all the world knows that good said Joshua Brown and you keep a thieves bank and receive stolen goods and run a little tobacco and come and go between gentlemen on the lay and those who take the goods up to London there don't interrupt me for all the world knows that too many a gold symbol and many a silver one too you've helped off the shelf in your day that I know as well as you and can prove it too when I like but there's one thing I desire very much to hear that's to say what is just now behind that long iron door in your back parlor this was thrown out at random simply to create apprehension for Joshua Brown had not the slightest idea which within that cupboard was to be found anything but stolen goods it had even more effect than he expected for Mr. Bowes turned as white as a sheet thinking, not unnaturally that some of the most treasured secrets of his dwelling have been by some strange chance discovered still however caution was uppermost and he sat as mute as a fish however that's not the question now said Joshua Brown what I want to ask is are you up to just now Mr. Bowes I don't see what that is to you said the worthy whom he addressed I mind my business, you mind yours this was a sort of timid boldness of a cat in a corner but Joshua Brown was not at all moved thereby it's a great deal to me he answered for the cases this Mr. Bowes I and another gentleman a friend of mine were robbed the other night some of the goods you got and sent up to London some you didn't get Mr. Bowes gave a start for this was touching the reputation of subordinates now I and the other gentlemen are in the same basket and I'm resolved that I'll either have the information I want or the goods back again all of them all that you and Sam and the other three shall go across the water to botany even if nothing worse comes of it Mr. Minji Bowes paused and considered for a single instant and he determined that in the first instance at least he would try the dogged bane for to know nothing of anybody or anything is very often a rogue's first resource I don't know anything about what you mean by Sam and the other three he replied you must be joking I think and as to myself I should like to hear what you intend to do for you can't hurt me I take it that's easily told answered Joshua Brown cruelly I intend if you do not tell me what you are up to to call for an officer give you in charge and tell the police that if they choose to send down a gentleman in plain clothes to your place and put out the gentleman you've left there they'll soon get plenty of evidence of your trade and catch the whole gang of you I guess a sergeant of the force can carry on your business for a week or a fortnight quite as well as you can this was certainly a very frightful announcement to Mr. Minji Bowes it was a stratagem he had never dreamed of and his heart sank a good deal but yet for two or three minutes he could not tell how to enter into the sort of compromise which seemed to be offered to him without acknowledging the justice of the charges against him an excuse for yielding without confessing seemed wanting but at length he found one though it was rather lame it would be the ruin of me he said to be kept out of my business for a month in that way come speak out what is it you want me to tell you I want to know replied the peddler what you are up to coming hanging about this hotel you know quite well Mr. Bowes I saw Sam Berner pocketbook belonging to a friend of mine at the same time he told me what sort of a story he thought he had got hold of in that pocketbook and though he was wrong altogether and only making a fool of himself I want to know what lay you and he are upon now Minji considered for a minute or two a lie first came up to his lips of course but then he recollected that all parties concerned were likely very soon to hear everything which had passed between him and Lady Fleetwood it is true he never liked dealing with any but principles but that was a small matter compared with a compromise in the circumstances of grave difficulty which surrounded him and he therefore replied well I don't mind telling you all that if you promise your life and soul not to stop my going back to my own business it was now the peddlers turn to consider for to tell the truth there was a certain feeling of false honour about him which made him shrink from the idea of being an informer but yet he did not like to give out of his own hands the power of restraining Mr. Minji Bowes's actions in the case with which he was then dealing why this is the case said the peddler you see Mr. Bowes whenever I promise anything I always do it come what will and now you are asking me for a great thing in return for a small thing on it that I have got you by the neck Mr. Bowes as I may say for I can swear that I saw at your house one of the men who robbed me and to the gentleman with part of the stolen property in his possession and that you knowing it to be stolen helped him to drive a bargain about restoring it now you want me to have put you of all this for nothing but telling me something which I shall know before tomorrow's over that's too much it certainly was an awkward way of putting the question and Minji Bowes did not at all like the look of things he had recourse to silence as the best resource and after waiting a minute or two the peddler proceeded thus I mean kind to be liberal Mr. Bowes and don't wish to be hard upon any man so if you'll make a fair offer I'll promise upon my word of honour not to hurt you the job is said Minji with a sudden burst of frankness under the influence of fear that I can do anything you like myself but I cannot answer for that man Sam he's a wild headstrong devil worse than a pig for he'll neither be led nor driven nor pulled back by the leg so I should judge Sir Joshua Brown and one can't expect any man to do more than he can do therefore if you'll promise to tell us all you know and to work with us afterwards in any way I tell you this gentleman here is a witness I'll let you up altogether and not mix you up in the matter at all it was a hard pill to swallow for although Mr. Minji did not possess much even of that honour which is said to exist among thieves yet he had to remember that his reputation as a trustworthy receiver of stolen goods was at stake considering however the promises are but air and that while that made by the peddler in presence of witness would at any time give him a fair opportunity of turning King's evidence a thousand means of evading his own engagements might present themselves he took the pledge offered to him and informed Joshua Brown of all the plans and purposes of himself and his excellent confederate and all that they knew or thought they knew of Colonel Middleton while this detail took place Carlini sat by and listened but at the latter part of the statement he laughed aloud why what a set of fools you must be he said my masters are spanyed by birth and has lived almost all his life in Spain he was in Mexico at the time you talk of that I can prove and the whole story you have got up could be blown to pieces by gentlemen now in England the peddler bit a piece of hard skin off his thumb which in his case was tantamount to an expression of doubt but he said nothing but he was very well satisfied that Mr. Minci Bowes should be led to disbelieve the truth of the story he had heard are you serious said the marine store dealer addressing Carlini quite said the Italian with a scornful look your friend has made some blunder Mr. Bowes his excellency my master has got cousins in London who have known him from his birth but do what you will you cannot make him out anything but what he is so as this black it is going himself you say to Lady Fleetwood the day after tomorrow you can let him go he'll only get himself into a scrape and nobody else well I've only told you what he told me said Minci Bowes but I don't think he told me the whole and I did not see the inside of the book that he burned stop a bit said Joshua Brown at what hour did you say he was to be there at twelve o'clock answered the marine store dealer I was to go with him to introduce him but I thought I would just come here and see the Colonel myself to have a little deal with him if possible in the first place it is well you did not see him and upon it he would have thrown you out of the window he's not a man to be frightened I can tell you I should think not said Joshua Brown with a laugh but now Mr. Bowes as all things are clear and as we understand each other I have nothing more to say only that you must not go out of town till I tell you and you must come and see me tomorrow morning at ten o'clock Mr. Bowes promised I'm very punctual said the peddler with a meanie look and as I shall certainly want to speak with you if you don't come I must look for you and get people to help me Minji understood him completely repeated his promise with a full determination of keeping it for fear of worse consequences and received the peddler's address number forty three Compton street seven dials now mine said the peddler as the worthy fence took up his hat to depart you're not to say a word to Sam of anything that has happened till I see you tomorrow perhaps I may then allow you to tell him what a fool he is making of himself perhaps I may let him go on and trap himself Minji Bowes was all obedience for the confident tone of the Italian servant had greatly shaken his reliance on his friend Sam's conclusions and his own somewhat perilous position had rendered him wonderfully ductile a good deal chatfallen he took a very polite leave of his two companions and left them alone to discuss the scene which had just passed the first observation came from the lips of senior Carlo Carline who exclaimed in an indignant tone what a set of blaggers you have in this country of England my countrymen are bad enough and so are the Spaniards but it seems to me brave and honorable to attack a carriage perhaps escorted by a dozen or two of dragoons when compared with his attempt to rob a man of his money by accusing him of a crime a bandit is a gentleman to such a fellow as that there are a number of such I am afraid replied the peddler these things are happening every day in London and I have known two or three cases in which a gentleman in the same situation as yourself has made a great deal of money and set up a hotel upon the strength of some letters which he had found belonging to his master you cannot form a notion of all that he is going on every day in this great city but wherever you get a great number of men together you are sure to gather a great quantity of rascality but as to this business we must look to the Colonel and see what he thinks it better for us to do so with your leave I will stop and should like in the meantime to hear the rest of the story you were telling me with all my heart replied Carlini let me see where I was oh I remember I was just telling you how gee the lifeguardsman rose to be a prince and a grandee of Spain Carlini's story continued Spain is a very curious country sir a very curious country indeed things happen there every day that could happen in no other spot of the glow it is like one of those things which I think you call magic lanterns where the scenes are always shifting and nothing on earth remains steady for an hour you may see a little ragged boy running in the street and not long after he'll be walking about the court a great man in velvet and lace without anybody but himself knowing how it happened there are only four things necessary to it impudence, cleverness, youth and good luck well as I was saying gee the lifeguardsman in a very few months rose from nothing at all to be a prince and a minister the old nobility grumbled and growled and all the new people tried to stop his progress till they found it was useless but in the end the old and the new both together bowed down and licked his feet all this time as I have said I heard nothing of him and I thought he had quite forgotten me and was just as selfish and cold hearted as such sort of people generally are but I made a mistake sir and I think it about right to do justice to a man against whom everybody cries out one day as I was walking along the street in which his palace was situated but he lived in a palace by this time I saw a fine horse standing before the little door there was a great door where the carriages went in and three or four servants all magnificently dressed by the side of it just as I was going to pass who should come out but the prince himself in a general's uniform all gold and feathers and jingling spurs I drew back with my brass basin under my arm to let him go by thinking he would take no notice of me as I fell upon me however and he knew me directly and stopped ah Carlini he said is that you why you have never been to see me I haven't forgotten you and if I can do anything to serve you I will come to me here tomorrow at ten o'clock and then he told the servants to let me be admitted there are some people who as the French say suffer fortune to knock at their door and do not open but I am not one of that kind I'm putting on the best clothes I had I left my brass basin and my razors behind me and went away the next morning to see the prince I suppose there were at least 20 people in his ante-route waiting to see him and amongst them a great number of noblemen and high officers but I went through them all after a page and was shown straight in I could hear some of them say to their neighbours why that's Carlini the barber we shall not see the prince for an hour if he's only going to be shaved but I laughed in my sleeve and went on I found the great man stretched at his ease in a dressing-gown of gold brocade and I stood near the door bowing down to the ground but he said come near Carlini come near and sit down and he began to talk to me just as familiarly as ever he even spoke about the silk stockings and said hi those silk stockings may be my fortune and I wrote to be ungrateful to them or you he then went on to speak of a great number of other things and joked and laughed with me till I believed the people in the ante-route thought I was telling him all the scandal of the court as barbers often will do but at last he began to be more serious and questioned me about what knowledge he had not much himself so that I don't wonder he was surprised to find that I could read and write, speak several languages and keep accounts as well as any contour door at length he dismissed me saying I won't forget you Carlini I won't forget you and if ever you think have done so come back at this hour and they will let you in but I had no occasion for three days had scarcely passed and told me that the king had graciously permitted him to name the viceroy of the Indies and that he had appointed a certain nobleman whose chin, I was very glad to find had never come under my razor upon the condition that he gave him the nomination of his aunt and aunt that is to say a sort of steward now Carlini he said if this suits you, you shall have the place and he told me how much it was worth besides pickings you have better take it he said if you don't mind going to Lima for it is the best thing I can offer you and heaven knows how long I may be here to offer you anything fortune is fickle and as she raised me up so she may cast me down but if you take this you at all events open for yourself a new path in life which may perhaps lead to greatness and wealth I was very much inclined to cast myself at his feet and give him honors more than his due but you need not ask me whether I accepted the proposal which placed me in a position that I had never even dreamed of obtaining I was introduced to the newly created viceroy gave him apparently the fullest satisfaction and set out with him for Lima applying myself heartily to learn before I reached the shores of the new world the business which I was likely to be called upon to transact by close attention I made such great progress that my new patron though at first somewhat cold towards me who had been forced into his service became attached to me and relied upon me entirely during two years I transacted the whole business of his household amassed great wealth and as the business of my actual office was as small as the emoluments were great I had plenty of time to move to push my fortune and to enjoy my leisure the antonduct of the viceroy was a very great man his favor and his influence were sought for by all classes of people a great portion of the wealth of the province passed through his hands and enlarging my views with my opportunities I established a bank in Lima rendered a large house in Mexico a mere branch of my establishment and passing from the one city to the other whenever the business of my antonduncia permitted became one of the greatest dealers in the precious metals to be found in all the colonies but I had fallen upon those changeful times which left none of the world's goods firm and stable revolutionary ideas began to get abroad and with a miscalculation very common in those who have been born and acted under one period while passing to another I thought the things which I had been accustomed to retained sufficient vitality to last even though the germs of a new order of events were destroying their roots and pushing through the ground at all events gratitude towards the viceroy who had been most kind and generous towards me would have induced me to pursue the same course which I did follow even if I had known that circumstances were against him his friends would have been my friends his supporters those to whom I granted support I was in the world of wealth the power of wealth was greater than the power of authority and as by his generous carelessness the wealth was at my command while the authority was at his I might be said to be more powerful in the Indies than himself I called heaven to witness that I did not use this great power amiss undoubtedly I prospered but then came the revolution the colonies took advantage of the weakness of the mother country a weakness which their establishment had first caused and which their support had nurtured they cast off the yoke they forgot all their former benefits I became loaded with odium my bank was pillaged my property was sequestrated my house was sacked and I was cast into one of the dungeons of the old Inquisition where I remained for nine months in a state of horrible neglect and privation which it is impossible to describe my food was scanty the attendance I received grudging and unwilling I had no bed, no accommodation of any kind the mud in some parts of the horrible cell to which I was consigned was several inches deep and the straw upon which I slept was at the bottom soaked in water I went into that dreary abode a healthy and powerful man in the early prime of life I came out a skeleton hardly able to drag my feeble limbs along by this time some degree of order was restored and a show of law was established it was necessary to try me as I had been so long confined and idle charges were fabricated to justify my long detention and the pillage of my property not even the skill and the malice of those who seek to justify wrong could devise an accusation that was tenable my accounts were all in order and although no person had a right to investigate them but the viceroy whom they had expelled they could not even found a charge upon them as a basic excuse however for refusing to do me justice they declared that I had systematically denied all assistance to the leaders of the revolution in my capacity as a banker and after having been one of the most wealthy men of the land I was cast upon the world utterly penniless there are some men however who act by divine laws and not by human ones I am afraid that they are to be found only in the lower portion of the middle class there are none more cruelly tyrannical than the people none more selfishly careless than the upper class the latter are the best masters because in their carelessness they are generous while they have the means the former are the worst because their minds have never been expanded by prosperity and because their passions are capricious in proportion to their numbers but in the middle class you find the men who have lived by right and equity and are sensible of the benefits of right and equity nay more who will follow them sometimes even when they don't see good consequences to themselves I wandered through Lima without a friend as I thought and certainly without a penny but passing by the door of a goldsmith to whom I had once lent money he called me in and made his house my home he and I consulted with regard to my affairs most of those to whom I had lent large sums had fled others had joined the revolutionary party and were beyond my reach but there were a few who owed me trifling debts of thirty or forty crowns which I had no power of reclaiming for all my papers were in the hands of the state but nine out of ten of those who could do so paid me and I gained sufficient money to come to Europe and to subsist for a few months it was necessary that I should have stopped some new trade I landed in France went to Paris, offered myself as a servant and became courier to an English gentleman I travelled with him for two years made myself thoroughly acquainted with his language of which I had learned a good deal before in Naples and at last lost him but he was drowned on a party of pleasure passing from San Marlo to Jersey I then became courier to a German count but I only remained in his service for three months and at the end of that time after gambling unsuccessfully he left me to provide for myself I now found that I was better fitted for a barber than for a courier and was thinking of resuming my old profession when the place of waiter at an inn was offered to me at Bordeaux there I happened to meet with my present master he did not recollect me in the least but he was kind and courteous to everybody and as the landlord endeavored to cheat him enormously one day in a fit of spleen or indignation call it what you will I warned him of the fact and was dismissed for my pains by the good master of the house some days after I met his excellency in the streets he remembered me as the waiter though not as the banker asked my circumstances and on my telling him the whole story of my dismissal engaged me as his servant with him I have remained ever since and as I told you before a better master does not live I have been with him in a good number of different countries and I know quite well that if I act faithfully to him I shall always find him at generously towards me I am too old to push my fortunes as I did when I was young and circumstances as I am I find although in life I have very often seen the contrary that for me at least according to your English maxim honesty is the best policy I have always found it so replied the peddler but yet one sees people get on wonderfully by the other course now this very man who was here just now is as great a rogue as any in the world and yet he has risen from a shoe black and made a good deal of money I am told by pure lying and rascality I wonder if that story he told about his visits to Lady what you call her is true or false Lady Fleetwood do you mean said Carlini or we can easily find that out I know two of her servants very well her own footman and the housekeeper the footman can tell whether this Mr. Bows has been there and very likely a good deal more but I have remarked Mr. Brown that the servants of all nations in whatever else they may differ are alike in listening at doors let us walk down to the old lady's house we can be back here before his excellency returns I dare say the peddler thought the proposal a very good one and they accordingly set out whatever was the fruit of their expedition of which more hereafter they received confirmation strong of the truth of Carlini's judgment as to the eavesdropping propensities of English as well as other servants End of Chapter 31