RICHARD CARVEL

By Winston Churchill

Volume 6. 

XXXIV. His Grace makes AdvancesXXXV. In which my Lord Baltimore appearsXXXVI. A Glimpse of Mr. GarrickXXXVII. The SerpentineXXXVIII. In which I am roundly brought to taskXXXIX. Holland HouseXL. Vauxhall

CHAPTER XXXIV

HIS GRACE MAKES ADVANCES

The next morning I began casting about as to what I should do next. There was no longer any chance of getting at the secret from Dorothy, ifsecret there were. Whilst I am ruminating comes a great battling at thestreet door, and Jack Comyn blew in like a gust of wind, rating mesoundly for being a lout and a blockhead. 

"Zooks!" he cried, "I danced the soles off my shoes trying to get in hereyesterday, and I hear you were moping all the time, and paid me no moreattention than I had been a dog scratching at the door. What! and haveyou fallen out with my lady?"

I confessed the whole matter to him. He was not to be resisted. Hecalled to Banks for a cogue of Nantsey, and swore amazingly at what hewas pleased to term the inscrutability of woman, offering up consolationby the wholesale. The incident, he said, but strengthened his convictionthat Mr. Manners had appealed to Dorothy to save him. "And then, " addedhis Lordship, facing me with absolute fierceness, "and then, Richard, whythe devil did she weep? There were no tears when I made my avowal. Itell you, man, that the whole thing points but the one way. She lovesyou. I swear it by the rood. "

I could not help laughing, and he stood looking at me with such awhimsical expression that I rose and flung my arms around him. 

"Jack, Jack!" I cried, "what a fraud you are! Do you remember theargument you used when you had got me out of the sponging-house? Quotingyou, all I had to do was to put Dorothy to the proof, and she would tossMr. Marmaduke and his honour broadcast. Now I have confessed myself, andwhat is the result? Nay, your theory is gone up in vapour. "

"Then why, " cried his Lordship, hotly, "why before refusing me did shedemand to know whether you had been in love with Patty Swain? 'Sdeath!you put me in mind of a woman upon stilts--a man has always to be walkingalongside her with encouragement handy. And when a proud creature suchas our young lady breaks down as she hath done, 'tis clear as skylightthere is something wrong. And as for Mr. Manners, Hare overheard a partof a pow-wow 'twixt him and the duke at the Bedford Arms, --and Charterseahas all but owned in some of his drunken fits that our little fop is inhis power. "

"Then she is in love with some one else, " I said. 

"I tell you she is not, " said Comyn, still more emphatically; "and youcan write that down in red in your table book. Gossip has never beenable to connect her name with that of any man save yours, when she wentfor you in Castle Yard. And, gemini, gossip is like water, and will getin if a crack shows. When the Marquis of Wells was going to ArlingtonStreet once every day, she sent him about his business in a fortnight. "

Despite Comyn's most unselfish optimism, I could see no light. And inthe recklessness that so often besets youngsters of my temper, on likeoccasions, I went off to Newmarket next day with Mr. Fox and Lord Ossory, in his Lordship's travelling-chaise and four. I spent a very gay weektrying to forget Miss Dolly. I was the loser by some three hundredpounds, in addition to what I expended and loaned to Mr. Fox. This younggentleman was then beginning to accumulate at Newmarket a most execrablestud. He lost prodigiously, but seemed in no wise disturbed thereby. I have never known a man who took his ill-luck with such a stoicalnonchalance. Not so while the heat was on. As I write, a mostridiculous recollection rises of Charles dragging his Lordship and meand all who were with him to that part of the course where the race washighest, where he would act like a madman; blowing and perspiring, andwhipping and swearing all at a time, and rising up and down as if thehorse was throwing him. 

At Newmarket I had the good--or ill-fortune to meet that incorrigiblerake and profligate, my Lord of March and Ruglen. For him the goddess ofChance had smiled, and he was in the most complaisant humour. I waspresented to his Grace, the Duke of Grafton, whose name I had no reasonto love, and invited to Wakefield Lodge. We went instead, Mr. Fox and I, to Ampthill, Lord Ossory's seat, with a merry troop. And then we hadmore racing; and whist and quinze and pharaoh and hazard, until I wasobliged to write another draft upon Mr. Dix to settle the wails: andpicquet in the travelling-chaise all the way to London. Dining atBrooks's, we encountered Fitzpatrick and Comyn and my Lord Carlisle. 

"Now how much has Charles borrowed of you, Mr. Carvel?" demandedFitzpatrick, as we took our seats. 

"I'll lay ten guineas that Charles has him mortgaged this day month, though he owns as much land as William Penn, and is as rich as Fordyce. "

Comyn demanded where the devil I had been, though he knew perfectly. Hewas uncommonly silent during dinner, and then asked me if I had heard thenews. I told him I had heard none. He took me by the sleeve, to thequiet amusement of the company, and led me aside. 

"Curse you, Richard, " says be; "you have put me in such a temper that Ivow I'll fling you over. You profess to love her, and yet you go bettingto Newmarket and carousing to Ampthill when she is ill. "

"Ill!" I said, catching my breath. 

"Ay! That hurts, does it? Yes, ill, I say. She was missed at LadyPembroke's that Friday you had the scene with her, and at LadyAilesbury's on Saturday. On Monday morning, when I come to you fortidings, you are off watching Charles make an ass of himself atNewmarket. "

"And how is she now, Comyn?" I asked, catching him by the arm. 

"You may go yourself and see, and be cursed, Richard Carvel. She is introuble, and you are pleasure-seeking in the country. Damme! you deserverichly to lose her. "

Calling for my greatcoat, and paying no heed to the jeers of the companyfor leaving before the toasts and the play, I fairly ran to ArlingtonStreet. I was in a passion of remorse. Comyn had been but just. Granting, indeed, that she had refused to marry me, was that any reasonwhy I should desert my life-long friend and playmate? A hundred littletokens of her affection for me rose to mind, and last of all that rescuefrom Castle Yard in the face of all Mayfair. And in that hour ofdarkness the conviction that something was wrong came back upon me withredoubled force. Her lack of colour, her feverish actions, and thegrowing slightness of her figure, all gave me a pang, as I connected themwith that scene on the balcony over the Park. 

The house was darkened, and a coach was in front of it. 

"Yessir, " said the footman, "Miss Manners has been quite ill. She is nowsome better, and Dr. James is with her. Mrs. Manners begs company willexcuse her. "

And Mr. Marmaduke? The man said, with as near a grin as he ever got, that the marster was gone to Mrs. Cornelys's assembly. As I turned away, sick at heart, the physician, in his tie-wig and scarlet cloak, came out, and I stopped him. He was a testy man, and struck the stone an impatientblow with his staff. 

"'Od's life, sir. I am besieged day and night by you young gentlemen. I begin to think of sending a daily card to Almack's. "

"Sir, I am an old friend of Miss Manners, " I replied, "having grown upwith her in Maryland--"

"Are you Mr. Carvel?" he demanded abruptly, taking his hat from his arm. 

"Yes, " I answered, surprised. In the gleam of the portico lanthorn hescrutinized me for several seconds. 

"There are some troubles of the mind which are beyond the power of physicto remedy, Mr. Carvel, " said he. "She has mentioned your name, sir, andyou are to judge of my meaning. Your most obedient, sir. Good night, sir. "

And he got into his coach, leaving me standing where I was, bewildered. 

That same fear of being alone, which has driven many a man to his cups, sent me back to Brooks's for company. I found Fox and Comyn seated at atable in the corner of the drawing-room, for once not playing, buttalking earnestly. Their expressions when they saw me betrayed what myown face must have been. 

"What is it?" cried Comyn, half rising; "is she--is she--"

"No, she is better, " I said. 

He looked relieved. 

"You must have frightened him badly, Jack, " said Fox. 

I flung myself into a chair, and Fox proposed whist, something unusualfor him. Comyn called for cards, and was about to go in search of afourth, when we all three caught sight of the Duke of Chartersea in thedoor, surveying the room with a cold leisure. His eye paused when inline with us, and we were seized with astonishment to behold him makingin our direction. 

"Squints!" exclaimed Mr. Fox, "now what the devil can the hound want?"

"To pull your nose for sending him to market, " my Lord suggested. 

Fox laughed coolly. 

"Lay you twenty he doesn't, Jack, " he said. 

His Grace plainly had some business with us, and I hoped he was coming toforce the fighting. The pieces had ceased to rattle on the roundmahogany table, and every head in the room seemed turned our way, for theCovent Garden story was well known. Chartersea laid his hand on the backof our fourth chair, greeted us with some ceremony, and said somethingwhich, under the circumstances, was almost unheard of in that day:"If you stand in need of one, gentlemen, I should deem it an honour. "

The situation had in it enough spice for all of us. We welcomed him withalacrity. The cards were cut, and it fell to his Grace to deal, which hedid very prettily, despite his heavy hands. He drew Charles Fox, andthey won steadily. The conversation between deals was anywhere; on thevirtue of Morello cherries for the gout, to which his Grace was alreadysubject; on Mr. Fox's Ariel, and why he had not carried Sandwich's cup atNewmarket; on the advisability of putting three-year-olds on the track;in short, on a dozen small topics of the kind. At length, when Comyn andI had lost some fifty pounds between us, Chartersea threw down the cards. 

"My coach waits to-night, gentlemen, " said he, with some sort of anaccent that did not escape us. "It would give me the greatest pleasureand you will sup with me in Hanover Square. "

CHAPTER XXXV

IN WHICH MY LORD BALTIMORE APPEARS

His Grace's offer was accepted with a readiness he could scarce haveexpected, and we all left the room in the midst of a buzz of comment. We knew well that the matter was not so haphazard as it appeared, and onthe way to Hanover Square Comyn more than once stepped on my toe, and Ianswered the pressure. Our coats and canes were taken by the duke'slackeys when we arrived. We were shown over the house. Until now--so his Grace informed us--it had not been changed since the time of thefourth duke, who, as we doubtless knew, had been an ardent supporter ofthe Hanoverian succession. The rooms were high-panelled and furnished inthe German style, as was the fashion when the Square was built. But somewere stripped and littered with scaffolding and plaster, new and costlymarble mantels were replacing the wood, and an Italian of some renown wasdecorating the ceilings. His Grace appeared to be at some pains that thesignificance of these improvements should not be lost upon us; wasconstantly appealing to Mr. Fox's taste on this or that feature. Butthose fishy eyes of his were so alert that we had not even opportunity towink. It was wholly patent, in brief, that the Duke of Chartersea meantto be married, and had brought Charles and Comyn hither with a purpose. For me he would have put himself out not an inch had he not understoodthat my support came from those quarters. 

He tempered off this exhibition by showing us a collection of potteryfamous in England, that had belonged to the fifth duke, his father. Every piece of it, by the way, afterwards brought an enormous sum atauction. Supper was served in a warm little room of oak. The game wasfrom Derresley Manor, the duke's Nottinghamshire seat, and the wine, sohe told us, was some of fifty bottles of rare Chinon he had inherited. Melted rubies it was indeed, of the sort which had quickened the blood ofmany a royal gathering at Blois and Amboise and Chenonceaux, --thedistilled peasant song of the Loire valley. In it many a careworn clownhad tasted the purer happiness of the lowly. Our restraint gave wayunder its influence. His Grace lost for the moment his deformities, andMr. Fox made us laugh until our sides ached again. His Lordship toldmany a capital yarn, and my own wit was afterwards said to beastonishing, though I can recall none of it to support the affirmation. 

Not a word or even a hint of Dorothy had been uttered, nor did Charterseaso much as refer to his Covent Garden experience. At length, when somehalf dozen of the wine was gone, and the big oak clock had struck two, the talk lapsed. It was Charles Fox, of course, who threw the spark intothe powder box. 

"We were speaking of hunting, Chartersea, " he said. "Did you ever knowGeorge Wrottlesey, of the Suffolk branch?"

"No, " said his Grace, very innocent. 

"No! 'Od's whips and spurs, I'll be sworn I never saw a man to beat himfor reckless riding. He would take five bars any time, egad, and sit anycolt that was ever foaled. The Wrottleseys were poor as weavers then, with the Jews coming down in the wagon from London and hanging round thehall gates. But the old squire had plenty of good hunters in thestables, and haunches on the board, and a cellar that was like thewidow's cruse of oil, or barrel of meal--or whatever she had. All theold man had to do to lose a guinea was to lay it on a card. He nevernicked in his life, so they say. Well, young George got after a richtea-merchant's daughter who had come into the country near by. 'Slife!she was a saucy jade, and devilish pretty. Such a face! so Stavordalevowed, and such a neck! and such eyes! so innocent, so ravishinglyinnocent. But she knew cursed well George was after the bank deposit, and kept him galloping. And when he got a view, halloa, egad! she wasstole away again, and no scent. 

"One morning George was out after the hounds with Stavordale, who told methe story, and a lot of fellows who had come over from Newmarket. He wasupon Aftermath, the horse that Foley bought for five hundred pounds andwas a colt then. Of course he left the field out of sight behind. Hemade for a gap in the park wall (faith! there was no lack of 'em), butthe colt refused, and over went George and plumped into a cart of winterapples some farmer's sot was taking to Bury Saint Edmunds to market. Thefall knocked the sense out of George, for he hasn't much, and Stavordalethinks he must have struck a stake as he went in. Anyway, the applesrolled over on top of him, and the drunkard on the seat never woke up, i'faith. And so they came to town. 

"It so chanced, egad, that the devil sent Miss Tea Merchant to Bury tobuy apples. She amused herself at playing country gentlewoman while papaworked all week in the city. She saw the cart in the market, and atethree (for she had the health of a barmaid), and bid in the load, andGeorge with it. 'Pon my soul! she did. They found his boots first. And the lady said, before all the grinning Johns and Willums, that sinceshe had bought him she supposed she would have to keep him. And, by Gadslife! she has got him yet, which is a deal stranger. "

Even the duke laughed. For, as Fox told it, the story was irresistible. But it came as near to being a wanton insult as a reference to hisGrace's own episode might. The red came slowly back into his eye. Foxstared vacantly, as was his habit when he had done or said somethingespecially daring. And Comyn and I waited, straining and expectant, likeboys who have prodded a wild beast and stand ready for the spring. Therewas a metallic ring in the duke's voice as he spoke. 

"I have heard, Mr. Carvel, that you can ride any mount offered you. "

"Od's, and so he can!" cried Jack. "I'll take oath on that. "

"I will lay you an hundred guineas, my Lord, " says his Grace, veryoff-hand, "that Mr. Carvel does not sit Baltimore's Pollux above twentyminutes. "

"Done!" says Jack, before I could draw breath. 

"I'll take your Grace for another hundred, " calmly added Mr. Fox. 

"It seems to me, your Grace, " I cried, angry all at once, "it seems to methat I am the one to whom you should address your wagers. I am not ajockey, to be put up at your whim, and to give you the chance to losemoney. "

Chartersea swung around my way. 

"Your pardon, Mr. Carvel, " said he, very coolly, very politely; "yours isthe choice of the wager. And you reject it, the others must be calledoff. "

"Slife! I double it!" I said hotly, "provided the horse is alive, andwill stand up. "

"Devilish well put, Richard!" Mr. Fox exclaimed, casting off hisrestraint. 

"I give you my word the horse is alive, sir, " he answered, with a mockbow; "'twas only yesterday that he killed his groom, at Hampstead. "

A few moments of silence followed this revelation. It was Charles Foxwho spoke first. 

"I make no doubt that your Grace, as a man of honour, "--he emphasized theword forcibly, --"will not refuse to ride the horse for another twentyminutes, provided Mr. Carvel is successful. And I will lay your Graceanother hundred that you are thrown, or run away with. "

Truly, to cope with a wit like Mr. Fox's, the duke had need for a longerhead. He grew livid as he perceived how neatly he had been snared in hisown trap. 

"Done!" he cried loudly; "done, gentlemen. It only remains to hit upontime and place for the contest. I go to York to-morrow, to be back thisday fortnight. And if you will do me the favour of arranging withBaltimore for the horse, I shall be obliged. I believe he intendsselling it to Astley, the showman. "

"And are we to keep it?" asks Mr. Fox. 

"I am dealing with men of honour, " says the duke, with a bow: "I needhave no better assurance that the horse will not be ridden in theinterval. "

"'Od so!" said Comyn, when we were out; "very handsome of him. But Iwould not say as much for his Grace. "

And Mr. Fox declared that the duke was no coward, but all other epithetsknown might be called him. "A very diverting evening, Richard, " said he;"let's to your apartments and have a bowl, and talk it over. "

And thither we went. 

I did not sleep much that night, but 'twas of Dolly I thought rather thanof Chartersea. I was abroad early, and over to inquire in ArlingtonStreet, where I found she had passed a good night. And I sent Banksa-hooting for some violets to send her, for I knew she loved that flower. 

Between ten and eleven Mr. Fox and Comyn and I set out for BaltimoreHouse. When you go to London, my dears, you will find a vast differencein the neighbourhood of Bloomsbury from what it was that May morning in1770. Great Russell Street was all a sweet fragrance of gardens, mingling with the smell of the fields from the open country to the north. We drove past red Montagu House with its stone facings and dome, like aFrench hotel, and the cluster of buildings at its great gate. It hadbeen then for over a decade the British Museum. The ground behind it wasa great resort for Londoners of that day. Many a sad affair was foughtthere, but on that morning we saw a merry party on their way to playprisoner's base. 

Then we came to the gardens in front of Bedford House, which are nowBloomsbury Square. For my part I preferred this latter mansion to theFrench creation by its side, and admired its long and graceful lines. Its windows commanded a sweep from Holborn on the south to Highgate onthe north. To the east of it, along Southampton Row, a few great houseshad gone up or were building; and at the far end of that was Baltimorehouse, overlooking her Grace of Bedford's gardens. Beyond Lamb's ConduitFields stretched away to the countryside. 

I own I had a lively curiosity to see that lordly ruler, the proprietorof our province, whose birthday we celebrated after his Majesty's. HadI not been in a great measure prepared, I should have had a revulsionindeed. 

When he heard that Mr. Fox and my Lord Comyn were below stairs he gaveorders to show them up to his bedroom, where he received us in anight-gown embroidered with oranges. My Lord Baltimore, alas! was notmuch to see. He did not make the figure a ruler should as he sat in hiseasy chair, and whined and cursed his Swiss. He was scarce a year overforty, and he had all but run his race. Dissipation and corrosion hadset their seal upon him, had stamped his yellow face with crows' feet andblotted it with pimples. But then the glimpse of a fine gentleman justout of bed of a morning, before he is made for the day, is unfair. 

"Morning, Charles! Howdy, Jack!" said his Lordship, apathetically. "Glad to know you, Mr. Carvel. Heard of your family. 'Slife! Wishthere were more like 'em in the province. "

This sentiment not sitting very well upon his Lordship, I bowed, and saidnothing. 

"By the bye, " he continued, pouring out his chocolate into the dish, "I sent a damned rake of a parson out there some years gone. Handsomedevil, too. Never seen his match with the women, egad. 'Od's fish--"he leered. And then added with an oath and a nod and a vile remark:"Married three times to my knowledge. Carried off dozen or so more. Some of 'em for me. Many a good night I've had with him. Drank betweenus one evening at Essex's gallon and half Champagne and Burgundy apiece. He got to know too much, y' know, " he concluded, with a wicked wink. "Had to buy him up pack him off. "

"His name, Fred?" said Comyn, with a smile at me. 

"'Sdeath! That's it. Trouble to remember. Damned if I can think. " Andhe repeated this remark over and over. 

"Allen?" said Comyn. 

"Yes, " said Baltimore; "Allen. And egad I think he'll find hell a hotterplace than me. You know him, Mr. Carvel?"

"Yes, " I replied. I said no more. I make no reservations when I avow Iwas never so disgusted in my life. But as I looked upon him, haggard andworn, with retribution so neat at hand, I had no words to protest orcondemn. 

Baltimore gave a hollow mirthless laugh, stopped short, and looked atCharles Fox. 

"Curse you, Charles! I suppose you are after that little matter I oweyou for quinze. "

"Damn the little matter!" said Fox. "Come, get you perfumed and dressed, and order up some of your Tokay while we wait. I have to go to St. Stephens. Mr. Carvel has come to buy your horse Pollux. He has betChartersea two hundred guineas he rides him for twenty minutes. "

"The devil he has!" cried his Lordship, jaded no longer. "Why, you mustknow, Mr. Carvel, there was no groom in my stables who would sit himuntil Foley made me a present of his man, Miller, who started to ride himto Hyde Park. As he came out of Great Russell Street, by gads life!the horse broke and ran out the Tottenham Court Road all the way toHampstead. And the fiend picked out a big stone water trough and tossedMiller against it. Then they gathered up the fragments. Damme if I liketo see suicide, Mr. Carvel. If Chartersea wants to kill you, let him tryit in the fields behind Montagu House here. "

I told his Lordship that I had made the wager, and could not in honourwithdraw, though the horse had killed a dozen grooms. But already heseemed to have lost interest. He gave a languid pull at the velvettassel on his bell-rope, ordered the wine; and, being informed that hisanteroom below was full of people, had them all dismissed with themessage that he was engaged upon important affairs. He told Mr. Foxhe had heard of the Jerusalem Chamber, and vowed he would have a likeinstitution. He told me he wished the colony of Maryland in hell; thathe was worn out with the quarrels of Governor Eden and his Assembly, andoffered to lay a guinea that the Governor's agent would get to him thatday, --will-he, nill-he. I did not think it worth while to argue withsuch a man. 

My Lord took three-quarters of an hour to dress, and swore he had notaccomplished the feat so quickly in a year. He washed his hands and facein a silver basin, and the scent of the soap filled the room. He ratedhis Swiss for putting cinnamon upon his ruffles in place of attar ofroses, and attempted to regale us the while with some of his choicestadventures. In more than one of these, by the way, his Grace ofChartersea figured. It was Fox who brought him up. 

"See here, Baltimore, " he said, "I'm not squeamish. But I'm cursed if Ilike to hear a man who may die any time between bottles talk so. "

His Lordship took the rebuke with an oath, and presently hobbled down thestairs of the great and silent house to the stable court, where twogrooms were in waiting with the horse. He was an animal of amazingpower, about sixteen hands, and dapple gray in colour. And it requiredno special knowledge to see that he had a devil inside him. It gleamedwickedly out of his eye. 

"'Od's life, Richard!" cried Charles, "he has a Jew nose; by all theseven tribes I bid you 'ware of him. "

"You have but to ride him with a gold bit, Richard, " said Comyn, "and heis a kitten, I'll warrant. "

At that moment Pollux began to rear and kick, so that it took both the'ostlers to hold him. 

"Show him a sovereign, " suggested Fox. "How do you feel, Richard?"

"I never feared a horse yet, " I said with perfect truth, "nor do I fearthis one, though I know he may kill me. "

"I'll lay you twenty pounds you have at least one bone broken, and tenthat you are killed, " Baltimore puts in querulously, from the doorway. 

"I'll do this, my Lord, " I answered. "If I ride him, he is mine. If hethrows me, I give you twenty pounds for him. "

The gentlemen laughed, and Baltimore vowed he could sell the horse toAstley for fifty; that Pollux was the son of Renown, of the Duke ofKingston's stud, and much more. But Charles rallied him out by areference to the debt at quinze, and an appeal to his honour as asportsman. And swore he was discouraging one of the prettiest encountersthat would take place in England for many a long day. And so the horsewas sent to the stables of the White Horse Cellar, in Piccadilly, andleft there at my order. 

CHAPTER XXXVI

A GLIMPSE OF MR. GARRICK

Day after day I went to Arlington Street, each time to be turned awaywith the same answer: that Miss Manners was a shade better, but stillconfined to her bed. You will scarce believe me, my dears, when I saythat Mr. Marmaduke had gone at this crisis with his Grace to the Yorkraces. On the fourth morning, I think, I saw Mrs. Manners. She was muchworn with the vigil she had kept, and received me with an apathy tofrighten me. Her way with me had hitherto always been one of kindnessand warmth. In answer to the dozen questions I showered upon her, shereplied that Dorothy's malady was in no wise dangerous, so Dr. James hadsaid, and undoubtedly arose out of the excitement of a London season. AsI knew, Dorothy was of the kind that must run and run until she dropped. She had no notion of the measure of her own strength. Mrs. Manners hopedthat, in a fortnight, she would be recovered sufficiently to be removedto one of the baths. 

"She wishes me to thank you for the flowers, Richard. She has themconstantly by her. And bids me tell you how sorry she is that she iscompelled to miss so much of your visit to England. Are you enjoyingLondon, Richard? I hear that you are well liked by the best of company. "

I left, prodigiously cast down, and went directly to Mr. Wedgwood's, tochoose the prettiest set of tea-cups and dishes I could find there. Ipitied Mrs. Manners from my heart, and made every allowance for her talkwith me, knowing the sorrow of her life. Here was yet another link inthe chain of the Chartersea evidence. And I made no doubt that Mr. Manner's brutal desertion at such a time must be hard to bear. Icontinued my visits of inquiry, nearly always meeting some person ofconsequence, or the footman of such, come on the same errand as myself. And once I encountered the young man she had championed against his Graceat Lady Tankerville's. 

Rather than face the array of anxieties that beset me, I plungedrecklessly into the gayeties--nay, the excesses--of Mr. Charles Fox andhis associates. I paid, in truth, a very high price for my friendshipwith Mr. Fox. But, since it did not quite ruin me, I look back upon itas cheaply bought. To know the man well, to be the subject of hisregard, was to feel an infatuation in common with the little band ofworshippers which had come with him from Eton. They remained faithful tohim all his days, nor adversity nor change of opinion could shake theirattachment. They knew his faults, deplored them, and paid for them. Andthis was not beyond my comprehension, tho' many have wondered at it. Didhe ask me for five hundred pounds, --which he did, --I gave it freely, andwould gladly have given more, tho' I saw it all wasted in a night whenthe dice rolled against him. For those honoured few of whom I speaklikewise knew his virtues, which were quite as large as the faults, albeit so mingled with them that all might not distinguish. 

I attended some of the routs and parties, to all of which, as a youngcolonial gentleman of wealth and family, I was made welcome. I went toa ball at Lord Stanley's, a mixture of French horns and clarionets andcoloured glass lanthorns and candles in gilt vases, and young ladiespouring tea in white, and musicians in red, and draperies and flowers adlibitum. There I met Mr. Walpole, looking on very critically. He wasthe essence of friendliness, asked after my equerry, and said I had donewell to ship him to America. At the opera, with Lord Ossory and Mr. Fitzpatrick, I talked through the round of the boxes, from LadyPembroke's on the right to Lady Hervey's on the left, where Dolly'sillness and Lady Harrington's snuffing gabble were the topics rather thanGiardini's fiddling. Mr. Storer took me to Foote's dressing-room at theHaymarket, where we found the Duke of Cumberland lounging. I waspresented, and thought his Royal Highness had far less dignity thanthe monkey-comedian we had come to see. 

I must not forget the visit I made to Drury Lane Playhouse with my LordsCarlisle and Grantham and Comyn. The great actor received me graciouslyin such a company, you may be sure. He appeared much smaller off theboards than on, and his actions and speech were quick and nervous. Gast, his hairdresser, was making him up for the character of Richard III. 

"'Ods!" said Mr. Garrick, "your Lordships come five minutes too late. Goldsmith is but just gone hence, fresh from his tailor, Filby, of WaterLane. The most gorgeous creature in London, gentlemen, I'll be sworn. He is even now, so he would have me know, gone by invitation to my LordDenbigh's box, to ogle the ladies. "

"And have you seen your latest lampoon, Mr. Garrick?" asks Comyn, winkingat me. 

Up leaps Mr. Garrick, so suddenly as to knock the paint-pot from Gast'shand. 

"Nay, your Lordship jests, surely!" he cried, his voice shaking. 

"Jests!" says my Lord, very serious; "do I jest, Carlisle?" And turningto Mr. Cross, the prompter, who stood by, "Fetch me the St. James'sEvening Post, " says he. 

"'Ods my life!" continues poor Garrick, almost in tears; "I have loanedFoote upwards of two thousand pounds. And last year, as your Lordshipremembers, took charge of his theatre when his leg was cut off. 'Pon mysoul, I cannot account for his ingratitude. "

"'Tis not Foote, " says Carlisle, biting his lip; "I know Foote's mark. "

"Then Johnson, " says the actor, "because I would not let him have my finebooks in his dirty den to be kicked about the floor, but put my libraryat his disposal--"

"Nay, nor Johnson. Nor yet Macklin nor Murphy. "

"Surely not--" cries Mr. Garrick, turning white under the rouge. Thename remained unpronounced. 

"Ay, ay, Junius, in the Evening Post. He has fastened upon you at last, "answers Comyn, taking the paper. 

"'Sdeath! Garrick, " Carlisle puts in, very solemn, "what have you doneto offend the Terrible Unknown? Talebearing to his Majesty, I'llwarrant! I gave you credit for more discretion. "

At these words Mr. Garrick seized the chair for support, and swungheavily into it. Whereat the young lords burst into such a tempest oflaughter that I could not refrain from joining them. As for Mr. Garrick, he was so pleased to have escaped that he laughed too, though with apalpable nervousness. 

 [Note by the editor. It was not long after this that Mr. Garrick's punishment came, and for the self-same offence. ]

"By the bye, Garrick, " Carlisle remarked slyly, when he had recovered, "Mrs. Crewe was vastly taken with the last 'vers' you left on herdressing-table. "

"Was she, now, my Lord?" said the great actor, delighted, but scarce overhis fright. "You must know that I have writ one to my Lady Carlisle, on the occasion of her dropping her fan in Piccadilly. " Whereupon heproceeded to recite it, and my Lord Carlisle, being something of a poethimself, pronounced it excellent. 

Mr. Garrick asked me many questions concerning American life and manners, having a play in his repertory the scene of which was laid in New York. In the midst of this we were interrupted by a dirty fellow who ran in, crying excitedly:

"Sir, the Archbishop of York is getting drunk at the Bear, and swearshe'll be d--d if he'll act to-night. "

"The archbishop may go to the devil!" snapped Mr. Garrick. "I do notknow a greater rascal, except yourself. "

I was little short of thunderstruck. But presently Mr. Garrick addedcomplainingly:

"I paid a guinea for the archbishop, but the fellow got me threemurderers to-day and the best alderman I ever clapped eyes upon. So weare square. "

After the play we supped with him at his new house in Adelphi Terrace, next Topham Beauclerk's. 'Twas handsomely built in the Italian style, and newly furnished throughout, for Mr. Garrick travelled now with acoach and six and four menservants, forsooth. And amongst other thingshe took pride in showing us that night was a handsome snuffbox which theKing of Denmark had given him the year before, his Majesty's portrait setin jewels thereon. 

Presently the news of the trial of Lord Baltimore's horse began to benoised about, and was followed by a deluge of wagers at Brooks's andWhite's and elsewhere. Comyn and Fox, my chief supporters, laid largesums upon me, despite all my persuasion. But the most unpleasant part ofthe publicity was the rumour that the match was connected with thestruggle for Miss Manners's hand. I was pressed with invitations to gointo the country to ride this or that horse. His Grace the Duke ofGrafton had a mount he would have me try at Wakefield Lodge, and was farfrom pleasant over my refusal of his invitation. I was besieged by youngnoblemen like Lord Derby and Lord Foley, until I was heartily sick ofnotoriety, and cursed the indiscretion of the person who let out thenews, and my own likewise. My Lord March, who did me the honour to layone hundred pounds upon my skill, insisted that I should make one of aparty to the famous amphitheatre near Lambeth. Mr. Astley, the showman, being informed of his Lordship's intention, met us on Westminster Bridgedressed in his uniform as sergeant major of the Royal Light Dragoons andmounted on a white charger. He escorted us to one of the large boxesunder the pent-house reserved for the gentry. And when the show was overand the place cleared, begged, that I would ride his Indian Chief. Irefused; but March pressed me, and Comyn declared he had staked hisreputation upon my horsemanship. Astley was a large man, about my build, and I donned a pair of his leather breeches and boots, and put IndianChief to his paces around the ring. I found him no more restive, nor asmuch so, as Firefly. The gentlemen were good enough to clap me roundly, and Astley vowed (no doubt because of the noble patrons present) that hehad never seen a better seat. 

We all repaired afterwards for supper to Don Saltero's Coffee House andMuseum in Chelsea. And I remembered having heard my grandfather speak ofthe place, and tell how he had seen Sir Richard Steele there, listeningto the Don scraping away at the "Merry Christ Church Bells" on hisfiddle. The Don was since dead, but King James's coronation sword andKing Henry VIII. 's coat of mail still hung on the walls. 

The remembrance of that fortnight has ever been an appalling one. Mr. Carvel had never attempted to teach me the value of money. Mygrandfather, indeed, held but four things essential to the conduct oflife; namely, to fear God, love the King, pay your debts, and pursue yourenemies. There was no one in London to advise me, Comyn being but a wildlad like myself. But my Lord Carlisle gave me a friendly warning:

"Have a care, Carvel, " said he, kindly, "or you will run your grandfatherthrough, and all your relations beside. I little realized the danger ofit when I first came up. " (He was not above two and twenty then. ) "Andnow I have a wife, am more crippled than I care to be, thanks to thisdevilish high play. Will you dine with Lady Carlisle in St. James'sPlace next Friday?"

My heart went out to this young nobleman. Handsome he was, as a picture. And he knew better than most of your fine gentlemen how to put a check onhis inclinations. As a friend he had few equals, his purse being ever atthe command of those he loved. And his privations on Fox's account werealready greater than many knew. 

I had a call, too, from Mr. Dix. I found him in my parlour one morning, cringing and smiling, and, as usual, half an hour away from his point. 

"I warrant you, Mr. Carvel, " says he, "there are few young gentlemen notborn among the elect that make the great friends you are blessed with. "

"I have been fortunate, Mr. Dix, " I replied dryly. 

"Fortunate!" he cried; "good Lord, sir! I hear of you everywhere withMr. Fox, and you have been to Astley's with my Lord March. And I have adraft from you at Ampthill. "

"Vastly well manoeuvred, Mr. Dix, " I said, laughing at the guilty changein his pink complexion. "And hence you are here. "

He fidgeted, and seeing that I paid him no attention, but went on with mychocolate, he drew a paper from his pocket and opened it. 

"You have spent a prodigious sum, sir, for so short a time, " said he, unsteadily. "'Tis very well for you, Mr. Carvel, but I have to rememberthat you are heir only. I am advancing you money without advices fromhis Worship, your grandfather. A most irregular proceeding, sir, and onelikely to lead me to trouble. I know not what your allowance may be. "

"Nor I, Mr. Dix, " I replied, unreasonably enough. "To speak truth, Ihave never had one. You have my Lord Comyn's signature to protect you, "I went on ill-naturedly, for I had not had enough sleep. "And in caseMr. Carvel protests, which is unlikely and preposterous, you shall haveten percentum on your money until I can pay you. That should be no poorinvestment. "

He apologized. But he smoothed out the paper on his knee. 

"It is only right to tell you, Mr. Carvel, that you have spent onethousand eight hundred and thirty-seven odd pounds, in home money, whichis worth more than your colonial. Your grandfather's balance with me wassomething less than one thousand five hundred, as I made him a remittancein December last. I have advanced the rest. And yesterday, " he went on, resolutely for him, "yesterday I got an order for five hundred more. "

And he handed me the paper. I must own that the figures startled me. I laid it down with a fine show of indifference. 

"And so you wish me to stop drawing? Very good, Mr. Dix. "

He must have seen some threat implied, though I meant none. He was myvery humble servant at once, and declared he had called only to let meknow where I stood. Then he bowed himself out, wishing me luck with thehorse he had heard of, and I lighted my pipe with his accompt. 

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE SERPENTINE

Whether it was Mr. Dix. That started me reflecting, or my Lord Carlisle'swarning, or a few discreet words from young Lady Carlisle herself, I knownot. At all events, I made a resolution to stop high play, and confinemyself to whist and quinze and picquet. For I conceived a notion, enlarged by Mr. Fox, that I had more than once fallen into the tenderclutches of the hounds. I was so reflecting the morning following LordCarlisle's dinner, when Banks announced a footman. 

"Mr. Manners's man, sir, " he added significantly, and handed me a littlenote. I seized it, and, to hide my emotion, told him to give the man hisbeer. 

The writing was Dorothy's, and some time passed after I had torn off thewrapper before I could compose myself to read it. 

"So, Sir, the Moment I am too ill to watch you you must needs lapse intoWilde & Flity Doings, for thus y'rs are call'd even in London. NeverMind how y'r Extravigancies are come to my Ears Sir. One Matter I haveherd that I am Most Concerned about, & I pray you, my Dear Richard do notallow y'r Recklessness & Contemt for Danger to betray you into a Stilmore Amazing Follie or I shall be very Miserable Indeed. I have Hopesthat the Report is at Best a Rumour & you must sit down & write me thatit is Sir that my Minde may be set at Rest. I fear for you Vastly & Ibeg you not Riske y'r Life Foolishly & this for the Sake of one whosubscribes herself y'r Old Playmate & Well-Wisher Dolly. 

"P. S. I have writ Sir Jon Fielding to put you in the Marshallsee or NewGate until Mr. Carvel can be tolde. I am Better & hope soon to see youagen & have been informed of y'r Dayly Visitts & y'r Flowers are besideme. D. M. "

In about an hour and a half, Mr. Marmaduke's footman was on his way backto Arlington Street in a condition not to be lightly spoken of. Duringthat period I had committed an hundred silly acts, and incidentallylearned the letter by heart. I was much distressed to think that she hadheard of the affair of the horse, and more so to surmise that the gossipwhich clung to it must also have reached her. But I fear I thought mostof her anxiety concerning me, which reflection caused my hand to shakefrom very happiness. "Y'r Flowers are beside me, " and, "I beg you notRiske y'r Life Foolishly, " and "I shall be very Miserable Indeed" Butthen: "Y'r Old Plamate & Well Wisher"! Nay, she was inscrutable as ever. 

And my reply, --what was that to be? How I composed it in the state ofmind I was in, I have no conception to this day. The chimney was cloggedwith papers ere (in a spelling to vie with Dolly's) I had set down mydevotion, my undying devotion, to her interests. I asked forgiveness formy cruelty on that memorable morning I had last seen her. But even toallude to the bet with Chartersea was beyond my powers; and as forrenouncing it, though for her sake, --that was not to be thought of. The high play I readily promised to avoid in the future, and I signedmyself, --well, it matters not after seventy years. 

The same day, Tuesday, I received a letter from his Grace of Charterseasaying that he looked to reach London that night, but very late. Hebegged that Mr. Fox and Lord Comyn and I would sup with him at the Starand Garter at eleven, to fix matters for the trial on the morrow. Mr. Fox could not go, but Comyn and I went to the inn, having firstattended "The Tempest" at Drury Lane with Lady Di and Mr. Beauclerk. 

We found his Grace awaiting us in a private room, with Captain Lewis, of the 60th Foot, who had figured as a second in the duel with youngAtwater. The captain was a rake and a bully and a toadeater, of course, with a loud and profane tongue, and he had had a bottle too many in theduke's travelling-coach. There was likewise a Sir John Brooke, a countryneighbour of his Grace in Nottinghamshire. Sir John apparently had nobusiness in such company. He was a hearty, fox-hunting squire who hadseen little of London; a three-bottle man who told a foul story and wentasleep immediately afterwards. Much to my disappointment, Mr. Mannershad gone to Arlington Street direct. I had longed for a chance to speaka little of my mind to him. 

This meeting, which I shall not take the time to recount, was near toending in an open breach of negotiations. His Grace had lost money atYork, and more to Lewis on the way to London. He was in one of hisvicious humours. He insisted that Hyde Park should be the place of thecontest. In vain did Comyn and I plead for some less public spot onaccount of the disagreeable advertisement the matter had received. HisGrace would be damned before he would yield; and Lewis, adding a moreforcible contingency, hinted that our side feared a public trial. Comynpresently shut him up. 

"Do you ride the horse after his Grace is thrown, " says he, "and I agreeto get on after and he does not kill you. 'Sdeath! I am not of thearmy, " adds my Lord, cuttingly; "I am a seaman, and not supposed to knowa stirrup from a snaffle. "

"'Od's blood!" yelled the captain, "you question my horsemanship, myLord? Do I understand your Lordship to question my courage?"

"After I am thrown!" cries his Grace, very ugly, and fingering the jewelson his hilt. 

Sir John was awakened by the noise, and turning heavily spilled the wholeof a pint of port on the duke's satin waist coat and breeches. WhereatChartersea in a rage flung the bottle at his head with a curse, which itseems was a habit with his Grace. But the servants coming in, headed bymy old friend the chamberlain, they quieted down. And it was presentlyagreed that the horse was to be at noon in the King's Old Road, or RottenRow (as it was then beginning to be called), in Hyde Park. 

I shall carry to the grave the memory of the next day. I was up betimes, and over to the White Horse Cellar to see Pollux groomed, where I found acrowd about the opening into the stable court. "The young American!"called some one, and to my astonishment and no small annoyance I wasgreeted with a "Huzzay for you, sir!" "My groat's on your honour!"

This good-will was owing wholly to the duke's unpopularity with allclasses. Inside, sporting gentlemen in hunting-frocks of red and green, and velvet visored caps, were shouldering favoured 'ostlers from thedifferent noblemen's stables; and there was a liberal sprinkling of thecharacters who attended the cock mains in Drury Lane and at Newmarket. At the moment of my arrival the head 'ostler was rubbing down thestallion's flank. 

"Here's ten pounds to ride him, Saunders!" called one of thehunting-frocks. 

"Umph!" sniffed the 'ostler; "ride 'im is it, yere honour? Two hunnerbeast eno', an' a Portugal crown i' th' boot. Sooner take me chaunces o'Tyburn on 'Ounslow 'Eath. An' Miller waurna able to sit 'im, 'tis no forth' likes o' me to try. Th' bloody devil took th' shirt off Teddy's backthis morn. I adwises th' young Buckskin t' order 's coffin. " Just thenhe perceived me, and touched his cap, something abashed. "Withsubmission, sir, y'r honour'll take an old man's adwise an' not go near'im. "

Pollux's appearance, indeed, was not calculated to reassure me. Helooked ugly to exaggeration, his ears laid back and his nostrils as bigas crowns, and his teeth bared time and time. Now and anon an impatientfling of his hoof would make the grooms start away from him. Sincecoming to the inn he had been walked a couple of miles each day, with twomen with loaded whips to control him. I was being offered a deal ofcounsel, when big Mr. Astley came in from Lambeth, and silenced them all. 

"These grooms, Mr. Carvel, " he said to me, as we took a bottle in privateinside, "these grooms are the very devil for superstition. And once ahorse gets a bad name with them, good-by to him. Miller knew how toride, of course, but like many another of them, was too damnedover-confident. I warned him more than once for getting young horsesinto a fret, and I'm willing to lay a ten-pound note that he angeredPollux. 'Od's life! He is a vicious beast. So was his father, Culloden, before him. But here's luck to you, sir!" says Mr. Astley, tipping hisglass; "having seen you ride, egad! I have put all the money I canafford in your favour. "

Before I left him he had given me several valuable hints as to the mannerof managing that kind of a horse: not to auger him with the spurs unlessit became plain that he meant to kill me; to try persuasion first andforce afterwards; and secondly, he taught me a little trick of twistingthe bit which I have since found very useful. 

Leaving the White Horse, I was followed into Piccadilly by the crowd, until I was forced to take refuge in a hackney chaise. The noise of theaffair had got around town, and I was heartily sorry I had not taken theother and better method of trying conclusions with the duke, and slappedhis face. I found Jack Comyn in Dover Street, and presently Mr. Fox camefor us with his chestnuts in his chaise, Fitzpatrick with him. At HydePark Corner there was quite a jam of coaches, chaises, and cabriolets andberibboned phaetons, which made way for us, but kept us busy bowing as wepassed among them. It seemed as if everybody of consequence that I hadmet in London was gathered there. One face I missed, and rejoiced thatshe was absent, for I had a degraded feeling like that of being thefavourite in a cudgel-bout. And the thought that her name was connectedwith all this made my face twitch. I heard the people clapping and sawthem waving in the carriages as we passed, and some stood forward beforethe rest in a haphazard way, without rhyme or reason. Mr. Walpole withLady Di Beauclerk, and Mr. Storer and Mr. Price and Colonel St. John, andLord and Lady Carlisle and Lady Ossory. These I recognized. Inside, therailing along the row was lined with people. And there stood Pollux, bridled, with a blanket thrown over his great back and chest, surroundedstill by the hunting-frocks, who had followed him from the White Horse. Mixed in with these, swearing, conjecturing, and betting, were some tosurprise me, whose names were connected with every track in England: theDuke of Grafton and my Lords Sandwich and March and Bolingbroke, and SirCharles Bunbury, and young Lords Derby and Foley, who, after establishingseparate names for folly on the tracks, went into partnership. My LordBaltimore descended listlessly from his cabriolet to join the group. They all sang out when they caught sight of our party, and greeted mewith a zeal to carry me off my feet. And my Lord Sandwich, having doneme the honour to lay something very handsome upon me, had his chiefjockey on hand to give me some final advice. I believe I was the coolestof any of them. And at that time of all others the fact came up to mewith irresistible humour that I, a young colonial Whig, who had grown upto detest these people, should be rubbing noses with them. 

The duke put in an appearance five minutes before the hour, upon a baygelding, and attended by Lewis and Sir John Brooke, both mounted. As amost particular evidence of the detestation in which Chartersea was held, he could find nothing in common with such notorious rakes as March andSandwich. And it fell to me to champion these. After some discussionbetween Fox and Captain Lewis, March was chosen umpire. His Lordshiptook his post in the middle of the Row, drew forth an enamelled repeaterfrom his waistcoat, and mouthed out the conditions of the match, --theterms, as he said, being private. 

"Are you ready, Mr. Carvel?" he asked. 

"I am, my Lord, " I answered. The bells were pealing noon. 

"Then mount, sir, " said he. 

The voices of the people dropped to a hum that brought to mind the longforgotten sound of the bees swarming in the garden by the Chesapeake. Mybreath began to come quickly. Through the sunny haze I saw the cows anddeer grazing by the Serpentine, and out of the back of my eyehandkerchiefs floated from the carriages banked at the gate. They tookthe blanket off the stallion. Stall-fed, and excited by the crowd, helooked brutal indeed. The faithful Banks, in a new suit of the Carvellivery, held the stirrup, and whispered a husky "God keep you, sir!"Suddenly I was up. The murmur was hushed, and the Park became still as apeaceful farm in Devonshire. The grooms let go of the stallion's head. 

He stood trembling like the throes of death. I gripped my knees asCaptain Daniel had taught me, years ago, when some invisible forceimpelled me to look aside. From between the broad and hunching shouldersof Chartersea I met such a venomous stare as a cattle-fish might use tofreeze his prey. Cattle--fish! The word kept running over my tongue. Ithought of the snaky arms that had already caught Mr. Marmaduke, and weresoon, perhaps, to entangle Dorothy. She had begged me not to ride, andI was risking a life which might save hers. 

The wind rushing in my ears and beating against my face awoke me all atonce. The trees ran madly past, and the water at my right was a silverblur. The beast beneath me snorted as he rose and fell. Fainter andfainter dropped the clamour behind me, which had risen as I started, andthe leaps grew longer and longer. Then my head was cleared like asteamed window-pane in a cold blast. I saw the road curve in front ofme, I put all my strength into the curb, and heeling at a fearful anglewas swept into the busy Kensington Road. For the first time I knew whatit was to fear a horse. The stallion's neck was stretched, his shoesrang on the cobbles, and my eyes were fixed on a narrow space betweencarriages coming together. In a flash I understood why the duke hadinsisted upon Hyde Park, and that nerved me some. I saw the frightenedcoachmen pulling their horses this way and that, I heard the cries of thefoot-passengers, and then I was through, I know not how. Once more Isummoned all my power, recalled the twist Astley had spoken of, and triedit. I bent his neck for an inch of rein. Next I got another inch, andthen came a taste--the smallest taste--of mastery like elixir. Themotion changed with it, became rougher, and the hoof-beats a fractionless frequent. He steered like a ship with sail reduced. In and out wedodged among the wagons, and I was beginning to think I had him, whensuddenly, without a move of warning, he came down rigid with his feetplanted together, and only a miracle and my tight grip restrained me fromshooting over his head. There he stood shaking and snorting, nor anypersuasion would move him. I resorted at last to the spurs. 

He was up in the air in an instant, and came down across the road. AgainI dug in to the rowels, and clung the tighter, and this time he landedwith his head to London. A little knot of people had collected to watchme, and out stepped a strapping fellow in the King's scarlet, from theGuard's Horse near by. 

"Hold him, sir!" he said, tipping. "Better dismount, sir. He meansmurder, y'r honour. "

"Keep clear, curse you!" I cried, waving him off. "What time is it?"

He stepped back, no doubt thinking me mad. Some one spoke up and said itwas five minutes past noon. I had the grace to thank him, I believe. Tomy astonishment I had been gone but four minutes; they had seemed twenty. Looking about me, I found I was in the open space before old KensingtonChurch, over against the archway there. Once more I dug in the spurs, this time with success. Almost at a jump the beast took me into theangle of posts to the east of the churchyard gate and tore up thefootpath of Church Lane, terrified men and women ahead of me taking tothe kennel. He ran irregularly, now on the side of the posts, nowagainst the bricks, and then I gave myself up. 

Heaven put a last expedient into my head, that I had once heard Mr. Dulany speak of. I braced myself for a pull that should have broken thestallion's jaw and released his mouth altogether. Incredible as it mayseem, he jarred into a trot, and presently came down to a walk, tossinghis head like fury, and sweating at every pore. I leaned over and pattedhim, speaking him fair, and (marvel of marvels!) when we had got to thedogs that guard the entrance of Camden House I had coaxed him around andinto the street, and cantered back at easy speed to the church. Withoutpausing to speak to the bunch that stood at the throat of the lane, Istarted toward London, thankfulness and relief swelling within me. Iunderstood the beast, and spoke to him when he danced aside at a wagonwith bells or a rattling load of coals, and checked him with a word and alight hand. 

Before I gained the Life Guard's House I met a dozen horsemen, amongstthem Banks on a mount of Mr. Fox's. They shouted when they saw me, Colonel St. John calling out that he had won another hundred that I wasnot dead. Sir John Brooke puffed and swore he did not begrudge hislosses to see me safe, despite Captain Lewis's sourness. Storey vowedhe would give a dinner in my honour, and, riding up beside me, whisperedthat he was damned sorry the horse was now broken, and his Grace's chanceof being killed taken away. And thus escorted, I came in by the King'sNew Road to avoid the people running in the Row, and so down to Hyde ParkCorner, and in among the chaises and the phaetons, where there was enoughcheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs to please the most exactingof successful generals. I rode up to my Lord March, and finding therewas a minute yet to run I went up the Row a distance and back againamidst more huzzaing, Pollux prancing and quivering, and frothing hisbit, but never once attempting to break. 

When I had got down, they pressed around me until I could scarce breathe, crying congratulations, Comyn embracing me openly. Mr. Fox vowed he hadnever seen so fine a sight, and said many impolitic things which the dukemust have overheard . . . . Lady Carlisle sent me a red rose for mybuttonhole by his Lordship. Mr. Warner, the lively parson with my LordMarch, desired to press my hand, declaring that he had won a dozen ofport upon me, which he had set his best cassock against. My LordSandwich offered me snuff, and invited me to Hichinbroke. Indeed, Ishould never be through were I to continue. But I must not forget my oldacquaintance Mr. Walpole, who protested that he must get permission topresent me to Princess Amelia: that her Royal Highness would not restcontent now, until she had seen me. I did not then know her Highness'ssporting propensity. 

Then my Lord March called upon the duke, who stood in the midst of anarmy of his toadeaters. I almost pitied him then, tho' I could notaccount for the feeling. I think it was because a nobleman with so greata title should be so cordially hated and despised. There were high wordsalong the railing among the duke's supporters, Captain Lewis, in hisanger, going above an inference that the stallion had been brokenprivately. Chartersea came forward with an indifferent swagger, as if tosay as much: and, in truth, no one looked for more sport, and some wereeven turning away. He had scarce put foot to the stirrup, when thesurprise came. Two minutes were up before he was got in the saddle, Pollux rearing and plunging and dancing in a circle, the grooms shoutingand dodging, and his Grace cursing in a voice to wake the dead and Mr. Fox laughing, and making small wagers that he would never be mounted. But at last the duke was up and gripped, his face bloody red, giving ventto his fury with the spurs. 

Then something happened, and so quickly that it cannot be writ fastenough. Pollux bolted like a shot out of a sling, vaulted the railing aseasily as you or I would hop over a stick, and galloping across the lawnand down the embankment flung his Grace into the Serpentine. Precisely, as Mr. Fox afterwards remarked, as the swine with the evil spirits randown the slope into the sea. 

An indescribable bedlam of confusion followed, lords and gentlemen, tradesmen and grooms, hostlers and apprentices, all tumbling after, manycrying with laughter. My Lord Sandwich's jockey pulled his Grace fromthe water in a most pitiable state of rage and humiliation. His sidecurls gone, the powder and pomatum washed from his hair, bedraggled andmuddy and sputtering oaths, he made his way to Lord March, swearing byall divine that a trick was put on him, that he would ride the stallionto Land's End. His Lordship, pulling his face straight, gravely informedthe duke that the match was over. With this his Grace fell flatlysullen, was pushed into a coach by Sir John and the captain, and droverapidly off Kensington way, to avoid the people at the corner. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII

IN WHICH I AM ROUNDLY BROUGHT TO TASK

I would have gone to Arlington Street direct, but my friends had nonotion of letting me escape. They carried me off to Brooks's Club, wherea bowl of punch was brewed directly, and my health was drunk to threetimes three. Mr. Storer commanded a turtle dinner in my honour. We werenot many, fortunately, --only Mr. Fox's little coterie. And it was noneother than Mr. Fox who made the speech of the evening. "May I be strungas high as Haman, " said he, amid a tempest of laughter, "if ever I sawhalf so edifying a sight as his Grace pitching into the Serpentine, unless it were his Grace dragged out again. Mr. Carvel's advent hasbeen a Godsend to us narrow ignoramuses of this island, gentlemen. To the Englishmen of our colonies, sirs, and that we may never underrateor misunderstand them more!"

"Nay, Charles, " cried my Lord Comyn. "Where is our gallantry? I giveyou first the Englishwomen of our colonies, and in particular the prideof Maryland, who has brought back to the old country all the graces ofthe new, --Miss Manners. "

His voice was drowned by a deafening shout, and we charged our glasses todrain them brimming. And then we all went to Drury Lane to see Mrs. Clive romp through 'The Wonder' in the spirit of the "immortal Peg. " Shespoke an epilogue that Mr. Walpole had writ especial for her, and madesome witty and sarcastic remarks directed at the gentlemen in ourstagebox. We topped off a very full day by a supper at the Bedford Arms, where I must draw the certain. 

The next morning I was abed at an hour which the sobriety of old agemakes me blush abed think of. Banks had just concluded a discreetdiscourse upon my accomplishment of the day before, and had left for mynewspapers, when he came running back with the information that MissManners would see my honour that day. There was no note. Between uswe made my toilet in a jiffy, and presently I was walking in at theManners's door in an amazing hurry, and scarcely waited for a direction. But as I ran up the stairs, I heard the tinkle of the spinet, and thenotes of an old, familiar tune fell upon my ears. The words rose in myhead with the cadence. 

 "Love me little, love me long, Is the burthen of my song, Love that is too hot and strong Runneth soon to waste. "

That simple air, already mellowed by an hundred years, had always beenher favourite. She used to sing it softly to herself as we roamed thewoods and fields of the Eastern Shore. Instinctively I paused at thedressing-room door. Nay, my dears, you need not cry out, such was thecustom of the times. A dainty bower it was, filled with the perfume offlowers, and rosy cupids disporting on the ceiling; and china and silverand gold filigree strewn about, with my tea-cups on the table. Thesunlight fell like a halo round Dorothy's head, her hands strayed overthe keys, and her eyes were far away. She had not heard me. I rememberher dress, --a silk with blue cornflowers on a light ground, and theflimsiest of lace caps resting on her hair. I thought her face paler;but beyond that she did not show her illness. 

She looked up, and perceived me, I thought, with a start. "So it isyou!" she said demurely enough; "you are come at last to give an accountof yourself. "

"Are you better, Dorothy?" I asked earnestly. 

"Why should you think that I have been ill?" she replied, her fingersgoing back to the spinet. "It is a mistake, sir. Dr. James has given menear a gross of his infamous powders, and is now exploiting another cure. I have been resting from the fatigues of London, while you have beenwearing yourself out. "

"Dr. James himself told me your condition was serious, " I said. 

"Of course, " said she; "the worse the disease, the more remarkable thecure, the more sought after the physician. When will you get over yourprovincial simplicity?"

I saw there was nothing to be got out of her while in this bafflinghumour. I wondered what devil impelled a woman to write one way and talkanother. In her note to me she had confessed her illness. The words Ihad formed to say to her were tied on my tongue. But on the whole Icongratulated myself. She knew how to step better than I, and there weremany awkward things between us of late best not spoken of. But she keptme standing an unconscionable time without a word, which on the whole wascruelty, while she played over some of Dibdin's ballads. 

"Are you in a hurry, sir, " she asked at length, turning on me with asmile, "are you in a hurry to join my Lord March or his Grace of Grafton?And have you writ Captain Clapsaddle and your Whig friends at home ofyour new intimacies, of Mr. Fox and my Lord Sandwich?"

I was dumb. 

"Yes, you must be wishing to get away, " she continued cruelly, picking upthe newspaper. "I had forgotten this notice. When I saw it this morningI thought of you, and despaired of a glimpse of you to-day. " (Reading. )"At the Three Hats, Islington, this day, the 10th of May, will be playeda grand match at that ancient and much renowned manly diversion calledDouble Stick by a sect of chosen young men at that exercise fromdifferent parts of the West Country, for two guineas given free; thosewho break the most heads to bear away the prize. Before theabove-mentioned diversion begins, Mr. Sampson and his young German willdisplay alternately on one, two, and three horses, various surprising andcurious feats of famous horsemanship in like manner as at the GrandJubilee at Stratford-upon-Avon. Admittance one shilling each person. 'Before you leave, Mr. Richard, " she continued, with her eyes still on thesheet, "I should like to talk over one or two little matters. "

"Dolly--!"

"Will you sit, sir?"

I sat down uneasily, expecting the worst. She disappointed me, as usual. 

"What an unspeakable place must you keep in Dover Street! I cannot sendeven a footman there but what he comes back reeling. "

I had to laugh at this. But there was no smile out of my lady. 

"It took me near an hour and a half to answer your note, " I replied. 

"And 'twas a masterpiece!" exclaimed Dolly, with withering sarcasm;"oh, a most amazing masterpiece, I'll be bound! His worship the FrenchAmbassador is a kitten at diplomacy beside you, sir. An hour and a half, did you say, sir? Gemini, the Secretary of State and his whole corpscould not have composed the like in a day. "

"Faith!" I cried, with feeling enough; "and if that is diplomacy, I wouldrather make leather breeches than be given an embassy. "

She fixed her eyes upon me so disconcertingly that mine fell. 

"There was a time, " she said, with a change of tone, "there was a timewhen a request of mine, and it were not granted outright, would havereceived some attention. This is my first experience at being ignored. "

"I had made a wager, " said I, "and could not retract with honour. "

"So you had made a wager! Now we are to have some news at last. Howstupid of you, Richard, not to tell me before. I confess I wonder whatthese wits find in your company. Here am I who have seen naught but dullwomen for a fortnight, and you have failed to say anything amusing in aquarter of an hour. Let us hear about the wager. "

"Where is little to tell, " I answered shortly, considerably piqued. "I bet your friend, the Duke of Chartersea, some hundreds of pounds Icould ride Lord Baltimore's Pollux for twenty minutes, after which hisGrace was to get on and ride twenty more. "

"Where did you see the duke?" Dolly interrupted, without much show ofinterest. 

I explained how we had met him at Brooks's, and had gone to his house. 

"You went to his house?" she repeated, raising her eyebrows a trifle;"and Comyn and Mr. Fox? And pray, how did this pretty subject come up?"

I related, very badly, I fear, Fox's story of young Wrottlesey and thetea-merchant's daughter. And what does my lady do but get up and turnher back, arranging some pinks in the window. I could have sworn she waslaughing, had I not known better. 

"Well?"

"Well, that was a reference to a little pleasantry Mr. Fox had put up onhim some time before. His Grace flared, but tried not to show it. Hesaid he had heard I could do something with a horse (I believe he made itup), and Comyn gave oath that I could; and then he offered to bet Comynthat I could not ride this Pollux, who had killed his groom. That mademe angry, and I told the duke I was no jockey to be put up to decidewagers, and that he must make his offers to me. "

"La!" said Dolly, "you fell in head over heels. "

"What do you mean by that?" I demanded. 

"Nothing, " said she, biting her lip. "Come, you are as ponderous as Dr. Johnson. "

"Then Mr. Fox proposed that his Grace should ride after me. "

Here Dolly laughed in her handkerchief. 

"I'll be bound, " said she. 

"Then the duke went to York, " I continued hurriedly; and when he cameback we met him at the Star and Garter. He insisted that the matchshould come off in Hyde Park. I should have preferred the open roadsnorth of Bedford House. "

"Where there is no Serpentine, " she interrupted, with the faintestsuspicion of a twinkle about her eyes. "On, sir, on! You are asreluctant as our pump at Wilmot House in the dry season. I see you werenot killed, as you richly deserved. Let us have the rest of your tale. "

"There is very little more to it, save that I contrived to master thebeast, and his Grace--"

"--Was disgraced. A vastly fine achievement, surely. But where are youto stop? You will be shaming the King next by outwalking him. Pray, howdid the duke appear as he was going into the Serpentine?"

"You have heard?" I exclaimed, the trick she had played me dawning uponme. 

"Upon my word, Richard, you are more of a simpleton than I thought you. Have you not seen your newspaper this morning?"

I explained how it was that I had not. She took up the Chronicle. 

"'This Mr. Carvel has made no inconsiderable noise since his arrival intown, and yesterday crowned his performances by defeating publicly anoble duke at a riding match in Hyde Park, before half the quality of thekingdom. His Lordship of March and Ruglen acted as umpire. ' There, sir, was I not right to beg Sir John Fielding to put you in safe keeping untilyour grandfather can send for you?"

I made to seize the paper, but she held it from me. 

"'If Mr. Carvel remains long enough in England, he bids fair to share thetalk of Mayfair with a certain honourable young gentleman of Brooks's andthe Admiralty, whose debts and doings now furnish most of the gossip forthe clubs and the card tables. Their names are both connected with thiscontest. 'Tis whispered that the wager upon which the match was riddenarose--'" here Dolly stopped shortly, her colour mounting, and cried outwith a stamp of her foot. "You are not content to bring publicity uponyourself, who deserve it, but must needs drag innocent names into thenewspapers. "

"What have they said?" I demanded, ready to roll every printer in Londonin the kennel. 

"Nay, you may read for yourself, " said she. And, flinging the paper inmy lap, left the room. 

They had not said much more, Heaven be praised. But I was angry andmortified as I had never been before, realizing for the first time what abotch I had made of my stay in London. In great dejection, I was pickingup my hat to leave the house, when Mrs. Manners came in upon me, andinsisted that I should stay for dinner. She was very white, and seemedtroubled and preoccupied, and said that Mr. Manners had come back fromYork with a cold on his chest, but would insist upon joining the party toVauxhall on Monday. I asked her when she was going to the baths, andsuggested that the change would do her good. Indeed, she looked badly. 

"We are not going, Richard, " she replied; "Dorothy will not hear of it. In spite of the doctor she says she is not ill, and must attend atVauxhall, too. You are asked?"

I said that Mr. Storer had included me. I am sure, from the way shelooked at me, that she did not heed my answer. She appeared to hesitateon the verge of a speech, and glanced once or twice at the doors. 

"Richard, I suppose you are old enough to take care of yourself, tho' youseem still a child to me. I pray you will be careful, my boy, " she said, with something of the affection she had always borne me, "for yourgrandfather's sake, I pray you will run into no more danger. I--we areyour old friends, and the only ones here to advise you. "

She stopped, seemingly, to weigh the wisdom of what was to come next, while I leaned forward with an eagerness I could not hide. Was she tospeak of the Duke of Chartersea? Alas, I was not to know. For at thatmoment Dorothy came back to inquire why I was not gone to the cudgellingat the Three Hats. I said I had been invited to stay to dinner. 

"Why, I have writ a note asking Comyn, " said she. "Do you think thehouse will hold you both?"

His Lordship came in as we were sitting down, bursting with some news, and he could hardly wait to congratulate Dolly on her recovery before hedelivered it. 

"Why, Richard, " says the dog, "what do you think some wag has done now?They believe at Brooks's 'twas that jackanapes of a parson, Dr. Warner, who was there yesterday with March. " He drew a clipping from his pocket. "Listen, Miss Dolly:

 "On Wednesday did a carter see His Grace, the Duke of Ch-rt--s-a, As plump and helpless as a bag, A-straddle of a big-boned nag. "Lord, Sam!" the carter loudly yelled, On by this wondrous sight impelled, "We'll run and watch this noble gander Master a steed, like Alexander. " But, when the carter reached the Row, His Grace had left it, long ago. Bucephalus had leaped the green, The duke was in the Serpentine. The fervent wish of all good men That he may ne'er come out again!'"

Comyn's impudence took my breath, tho' the experiment interested me nota little. My lady was pleased to laugh at the doggerel, and even Mrs. Manners. Its effect upon Mr. Marmaduke was not so spontaneous. Hissmile was half-hearted. Indeed, the little gentleman seemed to havelost his spirits, and said so little (for him), that I was encouraged tocorner him that very evening and force him to a confession. But I mighthave known he was not to be caught. It appeared almost as if he guessedmy purpose, for as soon as ever the claret was come on, he excusedhimself, saying he was promised to Lady Harrington, who wanted one. 

Comyn and I departed early on account of Dorothy. She had denied a dozenwho had left cards upon her. 

"Egad, Richard, " said my Lord, when we had got to my lodgings, "I madehim change colour, did I not? Do you know how the little fool looks tome? 'Od's life, he looks hunted, and cursed near brought to earth. Wemust fetch this thing to a point, Richard. And I am wondering whatChartersea's next move will be, " he added thoughtfully. 

CHAPTER XXXIX

HOLLAND HOUSE

On the morrow, as I was setting out to dine at Brooks's, I received thefollowing on a torn slip of paper: "Dear Richard, we shall have a goodshow to-day you may care to see. " It was signed "Fox, " and dated at St. Stephen's. I lost no time in riding to Westminster, where I found aflock of excited people in Parliament Street and in the Palace Yard. Andon climbing the wide stone steps outside and a narrower flight within Iwas admitted directly into the august presence of the representatives ofthe English people. They were in a most prodigious and unseemly state ofuproar. 

What a place is old St. Stephen's Chapel, over St. Mary's in the Vaults, for the great Commons of England to gather! It is scarce larger or moreimposing than our own assembly room in the Stadt House in Annapolis. St. Stephen's measures but ten yards by thirty, with a narrow galleryrunning along each side for visitors. In one of these, by the rail, Isat down suffocated, bewildered, and deafened. And my first impressionout of the confusion was of the bewigged speaker enthroned under theroyal arms, sore put to restore order. On the table in front of him laythe great mace of the Restoration. Three chandeliers threw down theirlight upon the mob of honourable members, and I wondered what had putthem into this state of uproar. 

Presently, with the help of a kind stranger on my right, who wasoccasionally making shorthand notes, I got a few bearings. That was theTreasury Bench, where Lord North sat (he was wide awake, now). And therewas the Government side. He pointed out Barrington and Weymouth andJerry Dyson and Sandwich, and Rigby in the court suit of purple velvetwith the sword thrust through the pocket. I took them all in, as some ofthe worst enemies my country had in Britain. Then my informant seemed tohesitate, and made bold to ask my persuasion. When I told him I was aWhig, and an American, he begged the favour of my hand. 

"There, sir, " he cried excitedly, "that stout young gentleman with theblack face and eyebrows, and the blacker heart, I may say, --the onedressed in the fantastical costume called by a French name, --is Mr. Charles Fox. He has been sent by the devil himself, I believe, to ruinthis country. 'Ods, sir, that devil Lord Holland begot him. He is butone and twenty, but his detestable arts have saved North's neck fromBurke and Wedderburn on two occasions this year. "

"And what has happened to-day?" I asked, smiling. 

The stranger smiled, too. 

"Why, sir, " he answered, raising his voice above the noise; "if you havebeen in London any length of time, you will have read the account, withcomment, of the Duke of Grafton's speech in the Lords, signed Domitian. Their Lordships well know it should have been over a greater signature. This afternoon his Grace of Manchester was talking in the Upper Houseabout the Spanish troubles, when Lord Gower arose and desired that theplace might be cleared of strangers, lest some Castilian spy might lurkunder the gallery. That was directed against us of the press, sir, andtheir Lordships knew it. 'Ad's heart, sir, there was a riot, the houseservants tumbling everybody out, and Mr. Burke and Mr. Dunning in theboot, who were gone there on the business of this house to present abill. Those gentlemen are but just back, calling upon the commons torevenge them and vindicate their honour. And my Lord North lookstroubled, as you will mark, for the matter is like to go hard againsthis Majesty's friends. But hush, Mr. Burke is to speak. "

The horse fell quiet to listen, and my friend began to ply his shorthandindustriously. I leaned forward with a sharp curiosity to see this greatfriend of America. He was dressed in a well-worn suit of brown, and Irecall a decided Irish face, and a more decided Irish accent, whichpresently I forgot under the spell of his eloquence. I have heard itsaid he had many defects of delivery. He had none that day, or else Iwas too little experienced to note them. Afire with indignation, he toldhow the deputy black rod had hustled him like a vagabond or a thief, andhe called the House of Lords a bear garden. He was followed by Dunning, in a still more inflammatory mood, until it seemed as if all the King'sfriends in the Lower House must desert their confederates in the Upper. No less important a retainer than Mr. Onslow moved a policy ofretaliation, and those that were left began to act like the Egyptianswhen they felt the Red Sea under them. They nodded and whispered intheir consternation. 

It was then that Mr. Fox got calmly up before the pack of frightenedmercenaries and argued (God save the mark!) for moderation. He had theear of the house in a second, and he spoke with all the confidence--thisyoungster who had just reached his majority--he had used with me beforehis intimates. I gaped with astonishment and admiration. The Lords, said he, had plainly meant no insult to this honourable house, nor yet tothe honourable members. They had aimed at the common enemies of man, theprinters. And for this their heat was more than pardonable. My friendat my side stopped his writing to swear under his breath. "Look at 'em!"he cried; "they are turning already. He could argue Swedenborg intopopery!"

The deserters were coming back to the ranks, indeed, and North and Dysonand Weymouth had ceased to look haggard, and were wreathed in smiles. Invain did Mr. Burke harangue them in polished phrase. It was a languageNorth and Company did not understand, and cared not to learn. Theiryoung champion spoke the more worldly and cynical tongue of White's andBrooks's, with its shorter sentences and absence of formality. And evenas the devil can quote Scripture to his purpose, Mr. Fox quoted historyand the classics, with plenty more that was not above the heads of thebooted and spurred country squires. And thus, for the third time, heearned the gratitude of his gracious Majesty. 

"Well, Richard, " said he, slipping his arm through mine as we came outinto Parliament Street, "I promised you some sport. Have you enjoyedit?"

I was forced to admit that I had. 

"Let us to the 'Thatched House, ' and have supper privately, " hesuggested. "I do not feel like a company to-night. " We walked on forsome time in silence. Presently he said:

"You must not leave us, Richard. You may go home to see your grandfatherdie, and when you come back I will see about getting you a little boroughfor what my father paid for mine. And you shall marry Dorothy, andperchance return in ten years as governor of a principality. That is, after we've ruined you at the club. How does that prospect sit?"

I wondered at the mood he was in, that made him choose me rather than theadulation and applause he was sure to receive at Brooks's for the part hehad played that night. After we had satisfied our hunger, --for neitherof us had dined, --and poured out a bottle of claret, he looked up at mequizzically. 

"I have not heard you congratulate me, " he said. 

"Nor will you, " I replied, laughing. 

"I like you the better for it, Richard. 'Twas a damned poor performance, and that's truth. "

"I thought the performance remarkable, " I said honestly. 

"Oh, but it was not, " he answered scornfully. "The moment thatdun-coloured Irishman gets up, the whole government pack begins to whineand shiver. There are men I went to school with I fear more than Burke. But you don't like to see the champion of America come off second best. Is that what you're thinking?"

"No. But I was wondering why you have devoted your talents to thedevil, " I said, amazed at my boldness. 

He glanced at me, and half laughed again. 

"You are cursed frank, " said he; "damned frank. "

"But you invited it. "

"Yes, " he replied, "so I did. Give me a man who is honest. Fill upagain, " said he; "and spit out all you would like to say, Richard. "

"Then, " said I, "why do you waste your time and your breath in defendinga crew of political brigands and placemen, and a king who knows not themeaning of the word gratitude, and who has no use for a man of ability?You have honoured me with your friendship, Charles Fox, and I may takethe liberty to add that you seem to love power more than spoils. Youhave originality. You are honest enough to think and act upon your ownimpulses. And pardon me if I say you have very little chance on thatside of the house where you have put yourself. "

"You seem to have picked up a trifle since you came into England, " hesaid. "A damned shrewd estimate, I'll be sworn. And for a colonial!But, as for power, " he added a little doggedly, "I have it in plenty, andthe kind I like. The King and North hate and fear me already more thanWilkes. "

"And with more cause, " I replied warmly. "His Majesty perhaps knows thatyou understand him better, and foresees the time when a man of yourcharacter will give him cause to fear indeed. "

He did not answer that, but called for a reckoning; and taking my armagain, we walked out past the sleeping houses. 

"Have you ever thought much of the men we have in the colonies?" Iasked. 

"No, " he replied; "Chatham stands for 'em, and I hate Chatham on myfather's account. That is reason enough for me. "

"You should come back to America with me, " I said. "And when you hadrested awhile at Carvel Hall, I would ride with you through the length ofthe provinces from Massachusetts to North Carolina. You will see littlebesides hard-working, self-respecting Englishmen, loyal to a king whodeserves loyalty as little as Louis of France. But with their eyes open, and despite the course he has taken. They are men whose measure ofresolution is not guessed at. "

He was silent again until we had got into Piccadilly and opposite hislodgings. 

"Are they all like you?" he demanded. 

"Who?" said I. For I had forgotten my words. 

"The Americans. "

"The greater part feel as I do. "

"I suppose you are for bed, " he remarked abruptly. 

"The night is not yet begun, " I answered, repeating his favourite words, and pointing at the glint of the sun on the windows. 

"What do you say to a drive behind those chestnuts of mine, for a breathof air? I have just got my new cabriolet Selwyn ordered in Paris. "

Soon we were rattling over the stones in Piccadilly, wrapped ingreatcoats, for the morning wind was cold. We saw the Earl of March andRuglen getting out of a chair before his house, opposite the Green Park, and he stopped swearing at the chairmen to wave at us. 

"Hello, March!" Mr. Fox said affably, "you're drunk. "

His Lordship smiled, bowed graciously if unsteadily to me, and did notappear to resent the pleasantry. Then he sighed. 

"What a pair of cubs it is, " said he; "I wish to God I was young again. I hear you astonished the world again last night, Charles. "

We left him being assisted into his residence by a sleepy footman, paidour toll at Hyde Park Corner, and rolled onward toward Kensington, Foxlaughing as we passed the empty park at the thought of what had so latelyoccurred there. After the close night of St. Stephen's, nature seemeddoubly beautiful. The sun slanted over the water in the gardens in barsof green and gold. The bright new leaves were on the trees, and themorning dew had brought with it the smell of the living earth. We passedthe stream of market wagons lumbering along, pulled by sturdy, patientfarm-horses, driven by smocked countrymen, who touched their caps to thefine gentlemen of the court end of town; who shook their heads andexchanged deep tones over the whims of quality, unaccountable as theweather. But one big-chested fellow arrested his salute, a scowl cameover his face, and he shouted back to the wagoner whose horses weremunching his hay:

"Hi, Jeems, keep down yere hands. Mr. Fox is noo friend of we. "

This brought a hard smile on Mr. Fox's face. 

"I believe, Richard, " he said, "I have become more detested than any manin Parliament. "

"And justly, " I replied; "for you have fought all that is good in you. "

"I was mobbed once, in Parliament Street. I thought they would kill me. Have you ever been mobbed, Richard?" he asked indifferently. 

"Never, I thank Heaven, " I answered fervently. 

"I think I would rather be mobbed than indulge in any amusement I knowof, " he continued. "Than confound Wedderburn, or drive a measure againstBurke, --which is no bad sport, my word on't. I would rather be mobbedthan have my horse win at Newmarket. There is a keen pleasure you wotnot of, my lad, in listening to Billingsgate and Spitalfields howlmaledictions upon you. And no sensation I know of is equal to that ofthe moment when the mud and sticks and oranges are coming through thewindows of your coach, when the dirty weavers are clutching at yourruffles and shaking their filthy fists under your nose. "

"It is, at any rate, strictly an aristocratic pleasure, " I assented, laughing. 

So we came to Holland House. Its wide fields of sprouting corn, itswoods and pastures and orchards in blossom, were smiling that morning, asthough Leviathan, the town, were not rolling onward to swallow them. Lord Holland had bought the place from the Warwicks, with all itsassociations and memories. The capped towers and quaint facades andprojecting windows were plain to be seen from where we halted in theshaded park, and to the south was that Kensington Road we had left, overwhich all the glory and royalty of England at one time or another hadrolled. Under these majestic oaks and cedars Cromwell and Ireton hadstood while the beaten Royalists lashed their horses on to Brentford. Nor did I forget that the renowned Addison had lived here after hisunhappy marriage with Lady Warwick, and had often ridden hence toButton's Coffee House in town, where my grandfather had had his dinnerwith Dean Swift. 

We sat gazing at the building, which was bathed in the early sun, at thedeer and sheep grazing in the park, at the changing colours of the youngleaves as the breeze swayed them. The market wagons had almost ceasednow, and there was little to break the stillness. 

"You love the place?" I said. 

He started, as though I had awakened him out of a sleep. And he was nolonger the Fox of the clubs, the cynical, the reckless. He was no longerthe best-dressed man in St. James's Street, or the aggressive youngsterof St. Stephen's. 

"Love it!" he cried. "Ay, Richard, and few guess how well. You willnot laugh when I tell you that my happiest days have been passed here, when I was but a chit, in the long room where Addison used to walk up anddown composing his Spectators: or trotting after my father through thesewoods and gardens. A kinder parent does not breathe than he. Well Iremember how he tossed me in his arms under that tree when I had thrashedanother lad for speaking ill of him. He called me his knight. In all mylife he has never broken faith with me. When they were blasting down awall where those palings now stand, he promised me I should see it done, and had it rebuilt and blown down again because I had missed the sight. All he ever exacted of me was that I should treat him as an elderbrother. He had his own notion of the world I was going into, andprepared me accordingly. He took me from Eton to Spa, where I learnedgaming instead of Greek, and gave me so much a night to risk at play. "

I looked at him in astonishment. To say that I thought these relationsstrange would have been a waste of words. 

"To be sure, " Charles continued, "I was bound to learn, and could acquireno younger. " He flicked the glossy red backs of his horses with hiswhip. "You are thinking it an extraordinary education, I know, " he addedrather sadly. "I hav a-told you this--God knows why! Yes, because Ilike you damnably, and you would have heard worse elsewhere, both of himand of me. I fear you have listened to the world's opinion of LordHolland. "

Indeed, I had heard a deal of that nobleman's peculations of the publicfunds. But in this he was no worse than the bulk of his colleagues. His desertion of William Pitt I found hard to forgive. 

"The best father in the world, Richard!" cried Charles. "If his formerfriends could but look into his kind heart, and see him in his home, they would not have turned their backs upon him. I do not mean suchscoundrels as Rigby. And now my father is in exile half the year inNice, and the other half at King's Gate. The King and Jack Bute used himfor a tool, and then cast him out. You wonder why I am of the King'sparty?" said he, with something sinister in his smile; "I will tell you. When I got my borough I cared not a fig for parties or principles. I hadonly the one definite ambition, to revenge Lord Holland. Nay, " heexclaimed, stopping my protest, "I was not too young to know rottennessas well as another. The times are rotten in England. You may havevirtue in America, amongst a people which is fresh from a struggle withthe earth and its savages. We have cursed little at home, in faith. TheKing, with his barley water and rising at six, and shivering in chapel, and his middle-class table, is rottener than the rest. The money hesaves in his damned beggarly court goes to buy men's souls. His word isgood with none. For my part I prefer a man who is drunk six days out ofthe seven to one who takes his pleasure so. And I am not so great a foolthat I cannot distinguish justice from injustice. I know the wrongs ofthe colonies, which you yourself have put as clear as I wish to hear, despite Mr. Burke and his eloquence. 

 [My grandfather has made a note here, which in justice should be added, that he was not deceived by Mr. Fox's partiality. --D. C. C. ]

And perhaps, Richard, " he concluded, with a last lingering look at theold pile as he turned his horses, "perhaps some day, I shall rememberwhat you told us at Brooks's. "

It was thus, boyishly, that Mr. Fox chose to take me into his confidence, an honour which I shall remember with a thrill to my dying day. So didhe reveal to me the impulses of his early life, hidden forever from hisdetractors. How little does the censure of this world count, whichcannot see the heart behind the embroidered waistcoat! When Charles Foxbegan his career he was a thoughtless lad, but steadfast to suchprinciples as he had formed for himself. They were not many, but, compared to those of the arena which he entered, they were noble. Hestrove to serve his friends, to lift the name of a father from whom hehad received nothing but kindness, however misguided. And when he sawat length the error of his ways, what a mighty blow did he strike forthe right!

"Here is a man, " said Dr. Johnson, many years afterwards, "who hasdivided his kingdom with Caesar; so that it was a doubt whether thenation should be ruled by the sceptre of George the Third or the tongueof Fox. "

CHAPTER XL

VAUXHALL

Matters had come to a pretty pickle indeed. I was openly warned atBrooks's and elsewhere to beware of the duke, who was said upon variousauthority to be sulking in Hanover Square, his rage all the moredangerous because it was smouldering. I saw Dolly only casually beforethe party to Vauxhall. Needless to say, she flew in the face of Dr. James's authority, and went everywhere. She was at Lady Bunbury's drum, whither I had gone in another fruitless chase after Mr. Marmaduke. Dr. Warner's verse was the laughter of the company. And, greatly to myannoyance, --in the circumstances, --I was made a hero of, and showeredwith three times as many invitations as I could accept. 

The whole story got abroad, even to the awakening of the duke in CoventGarden. And that clownish Mr. Foote, of the Haymarket, had added somelines to a silly popular song entitled 'The Sights o' Lunnun', with whichI was hailed at Mrs. Betty's fruit-stall in St. James's Street. Here isone of the verses:

 "In Maryland, he hunts the Fox From dewy Morn till Day grows dim; At Home he finds a Paradox, From Noon till Dawn the Fox hunts him. "

Charles Fox laughed when he heard it. But he was serious when he came tospeak of Chartersea, and bade me look out for assassination. I had Banksfollow me abroad at night with a brace of pistols under his coat, albeitI feared nothing save that I should not have an opportunity to meet theduke in a fair fight. And I resolved at all hazards to run Mr. Marmadukedown with despatch, if I had to waylay him. 

Mr. Storer, who was forever giving parties, was responsible for this oneat Vauxhall. We went in three coaches, and besides Dorothy and Mr. Marmaduke, the company included Lord and Lady Carlisle, Sir Charles andLady Sarah Bunbury, Lady Ossory and Lady Julia Howard, two Miss Stanleysand Miss Poole, and Comyn, and Hare, and Price, and Fitzpatrick, thelatter feeling very glum over a sum he had dropped that afternoon to LordHarrington. Fox had been called to St. Stephen's on more printer'sbusiness. 

Dolly was in glowing pink, as I loved best to see her, and looked divine. Comyn and I were in Mr. Manners's coach. The evening was fine and warm, and my lady in very lively spirits. As we rattled over WestminsterBridge, the music of the Vauxhall band came "throbbing through the stillnight, " and the sky was bright with the reflection of the lights. It wasthe fashion with the quality to go late; and so eleven o'clock had struckbefore we had pulled up between Vauxhall stairs, crowded with watermenand rough mudlarks, and the very ordinary-looking house which forms theentrance of the great garden. Leaving the servants outside, single-filewe trailed through the dark passage guarded by the wicketgate. 

"Prepare to be ravished, Richard, " said my lady, with fine sarcasm. 

"You were yourself born in the colonies, miss, " I retorted. "I confessto a thrill, and will not pretend that I have seen such sights oftenenough to be sated. "

"La!" exclaimed Lady Sarah, who had overheard; "I vow this is refreshing. Behold a new heaven and a new earth, Mr. Carvel?"

Indeed, much to the amusement of the company, I took no pains to hide myenthusiasm at the brilliancy of the scene which burst upon me. A greatorchestra rose in the midst of a stately grove lined on all four sideswith supper-boxes of brave colours, which ran in straight tiers or sweptaround in circles. These were filled with people of all sorts andconditions, supping and making merry. Other people were sauntering underthe trees, keeping step with the music. Lamps of white and blue and redand green hung like luminous fruit from the branches, or clustered instars and crescents upon the buildings. 

"Why, Richard, you are as bad as Farmer Colin. "

 "'O Patty! Soft in feature, I've been at dear Vauxhall; No paradise is sweeter, Not that they Eden call. '"

whispered Dolly, paraphrasing. 

At that instant came hurrying Mr. Tom Tyers, who was one of the brothers, proprietors of the gardens. He was a very lively young fellow who seemedto know everybody, and he desired to know if we would walk about a littlebefore being shown to the boxes reserved for us. 

"They are on the right side, Mr. Tyers?" demanded Mr. Storer. 

"Oh, to be sure, sir. Your man was most particular to stipulate the pinkand blue flowered brocades, next the Prince of Wales's. "

"But you must have the band stop that piece, Mr. Tyers, " cried LadySarah. "I declare, it is too much for my nerves. Let them play Dibbin'sEphesian Matron. "

"As your Ladyship wishes, " responded the obliging Mr. Tyers, and sent offan uniformed warder to the band-master. 

As he led us into the Rotunda, my Lady Dolly, being in one of herwhimsical humours, began to recite in the manner of the guide-book, tothe vast diversion of our party and the honest citizens gaping at us. 

"This, my lords, ladies, and gentlemen, " says the minx, "is thatmarvellous Rotunda commonly known as the 'umbrella, ' where the musicplays on wet nights, and where we have our masquerades and ridottos. Their Royal Highnesses are very commonly seen here on such occasions. As you see, it is decorated with mirrors and scenes and busts, and withgilded festoons. That picture was painted by the famous Hogarth. Theorgan in the orchestra cost--you must supply the figure, Mr. Tyers, --andthe ceiling is at least two hundred feet high. Gentlemen from thecolonies and the country take notice. "

By this time we were surrounded. Mr. Marmaduke was scandalized andcrushed, but Mr. Tyers, used to the vagaries of his fashionable patrons, was wholly convulsed. 

"Faith, Miss Manners, and you would consent to do this two nights more, we should have to open another gate, " he declared. Followed by the mob, which it seems was part of the excitement, he led us out of the buildinginto the Grand Walk; and offered to turn on the waterfall and mill, which(so Lady Sarah explained to me) the farmers and merchants fell down andworshipped every night at nine, to the tinkling of bells. She told Mr. Tyers there was diversion enough without "tin cascades. " When we got tothe Grand Cross Walk he pointed out the black "Wilderness" of tall elmsand cedars looming ahead of us. And--so we came to the South Walk, withits three triumphal arches framing a noble view of architecture at thefar end. Our gentlemen sauntered ahead, with their spy-glasses, staringthe citizens' pretty daughters out of countenance, and making cynicalremarks. 

"Why, egad!" I heard Sir Charles say, "the wig-makers have no cause topetition his Majesty for work. I'll be sworn the false hair this goodstaymaker has on cost a guinea. "

A remark which caused the staymaker (if such he was) such huge discomfortthat he made off with his wife in the opposite direction, to the time ofjeers and cock-crows from the bevy of Vauxhall bucks walking abreast. 

"You must show us the famous 'dark walks, ' Mr. Tyers, " says Dorothy. 

"Surely you will not care to see those, Miss Manners. "

"O lud, of course you must, " chimed in the Miss Stanleys; "there is nospice in these flaps and flies. "

He led us accordingly into Druid's Walk, overarched with elms, and darkas the shades, our gentlemen singing, "'Ods! Lovers will contrive, '" inchorus, the ladies exclaiming and drawing together. Then I felt a soft, restraining hold on my arm, and fell back instinctively, vibrating to thetouch. 

"Could you not see that I have been trying to get a word with you forever so long?"

"I trust you to find a way, Dolly, if you but wish, " I replied, admiringher stratagem. 

"I am serious to-night. " Indeed, her voice betrayed as much. How well Irecall those rich and low tones! "I said I wished you shut up in theMarshalsea, and I meant it. I have been worrying about you. "

"You make me very happy, " said I; which was no lie. 

"Richard, you are every bit as reckless and indifferent of danger as theysay your father was. And I am afraid--"

"Of what?" I asked quickly. 

"You once mentioned a name to me--"

"Yes?" I was breathing deep. 

"I have forgiven you, " she said gently. "I never meant to have referredto that incident more. You will understand whom I mean. You must knowthat he is a dangerous man, and a treacherous. Oh!" she exclaimed, "I have been in hourly terror ever since you rode against him in HydePark. There! I have said it. "

The tense sweetness of that moment none will ever know. 

"But you have more reason to fear him than I, Dorothy. "

"Hush!" she whispered, catching her breath; "what are you saying?"

"That he has more cause to fear me than I to dread him. "

She came a little closer. 

"You stayed in London for me, Richard. Why did you? There was no need, "she exclaimed; "there was no need, do you hear? Oh, I shall neverforgive Comyn for his meddling! I am sure 'twas he who told you someridiculous story. He had no foundation for it. "

"Dorothy, " I demanded, my voice shaking with earnestness, "will you tellme honestly there is no foundation for the report that the duke isintriguing to marry you?"

That question was not answered, and regret came the instant it had leftmy lips--regret and conviction both. Dorothy joined Lady Carlisle beforeour absence had been noted, and began to banter Fitzpatrick upon hislosings. 

We were in the lighted Grove again, and sitting down to a supper ofVauxhall fare: transparent slices of ham (which had been a Vauxhall jokefor ages), and chickens and cheese cakes and champagne and claret, andarrack punch. Mr. Tyers extended the concert in our favour. Mrs. Weichsell and the beautiful Baddeley trilled sentimental ballads whichour ladies chose; and Mr. Vernon, the celebrated tenor, sang Cupid'sRecruiting Sergeant so happily that Storer sent him a bottle ofchampagne. After which we amused ourselves with catches until the spacebetween our boxes and the orchestra was filled. In the midst of thisComyn came quietly in from the other box and took a seat beside me. 

"Chartersea is here to-night, " said he. 

I started. "How do you know?"

"Tyers told me he turned up half an hour since. Tom asked his Grace tojoin our party, " his Lordship laughed. "Duke said no--he was to be hereonly half an hour, and Tom did not push him. He told me as a joke, andthinks Chartersea came to meet some petite. "

"Any one with him?" I asked. 

"Yes. Tall, dark man, one eye cast, --that's Lewis. They have come onsome dirty work, Richard. Watch little Marmaduke. He has been fidgetyas a cat all night. "

"That's true, " said I. Looking up, I caught Dorothy's eyes upon us, herlips parted, uneasiness and apprehension plain upon her face. Comyndropped his voice still lower. 

"I believe she suspects something, " he said, rising. "Chartersea isgone off toward the Wilderness, so Tom says. You must not let littleMarmaduke see him. If Manners gets up to go, I will tune up Black-ekedSusan, and do you follow on some pretext. If you are not back in areasonable time, I'll after you. "

He had been gone scant three minutes before I heard his clear voicesinging, "in the Downs", and up I got, with a precipitation far frompolitic, and stepped out of the box. Our company stared in surprise. But Dorothy rose clear from her chair. The terror I saw stamped upon herface haunts me yet, and I heard her call my name. 

I waited for nothing. Gaining the Grand Walk, I saw Mr. Marmaduke'sinsignificant figure dodging fearfully among the roughs, whose hour itwas. He traversed the Cross Walk, and twenty yards farther on dived intoan opening in the high hedge bounding the Wilderness. Before he had madesix paces I had him by the shoulder, and he let out a shriek of frightlike a woman's. 

"It is I, Richard Carvel, Mr. Manners, " I said shortly. I could not keepout the contempt from my tone. "I beg a word with you. "

In his condition then words were impossible. His teeth rattled again, and he trembled like a hare caught alive. I kept my hold of him, andemployed the time until he should be more composed peering into thedarkness. For all I knew Chartersea might be within ear-shot. But Icould see nothing but black trunks of trees. 

"What is it, Richard?"

"You are going to meet Chartersea, " I said. 

He must have seen the futility of a lie, or else was scared out of allcontrivance. "Yes, " he said weakly. 

"You have allowed it to become the talk of London that this filthynobleman is blackmailing you for your daughter, " I went on, withoutwasting words. "Tell me, is it, or is it not, true?"

As he did not answer, I retained a handful of the grained silk on hisshoulder as a measure of precaution. 

"Is this so?" I repeated. 

"You must know, I suppose, " he said, under his breath, and with a note ofsullenness. 

"I must, " I said firmly. "The knowledge is the weapon need, for I, too, am going to meet Chartersea. "

He ceased quivering all at once. 

"You are going to meet him!" he cried, in another voice. "Yes, yes, itis so, --it is so. I will tell you all. "

"Keep it to yourself, Mr. Manners, " I replied, with repugnance, "I haveheard all I wish. Where is he?" I demanded. 

"Hold the path until you come to him. And God bless--"

I shook my head. 

"No, not that! Do you go back to the company and make some excuse forme. Do not alarm them. And if you get the chance, tell Lord Comyn whereto come. "

I waited until I saw him under the lights of the Grand Walk, and fairlyrunning. Then I swung on my heel. I was of two minds whether to waitfor Comyn, by far the wiser course. The unthinking recklessness I hadinherited drove me on. 

CHAPTER XLI

THE WILDERNESS

My eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, and presently I made out abench ahead, with two black figures starting from it. One I should haveknown on the banks of the Styx. From each came a separate oath as Istopped abreast them, and called the duke by name. 

"Mr. Carvel!" he cried; "what the devil do you here, sir?"

"I am come to keep an appointment for Mr. Manners, " I said. "May I speakto your Grace alone?"

He made a peculiar sound by sucking in his breath, meant for a sneeringlaugh. 

"No, " says he, "damned if you shall! I have nothing in common with you, sir. So love for Miss Manners has driven you mad, my young upstart. Andhe is not the first, Lewis. "

"Nor the last, by G--, " says the captain. 

"I have a score to settle with you, d--n you!" cried Chartersea. 

"That is why I am here, your Grace, " I replied; "only you have twistedthe words. There has been foul play enough. I have come to tell you, "I cried, boiling with anger, "I have come to tell you there has been foulplay enough with a weakling that cannot protect himself, and to put anend to your blackmail. "

In the place of an oath, a hoarse laugh of derision came out of him. ButI was too angry then to note its significance. I slapped his face--nay, boxed it so that my palm stung. I heard his sword scraping out of thescabbard, and drew mine, stepping back to distance at the same instant. Then, with something of a shudder, I remembered young Atwater, and a 380brace of other instances of his villany. I looked for the captain. Hewas gone. 

Our blades, the duke's and mine, came together with a ring, and I feltthe strength of his wrist behind his, and of his short, powerful arm. The steel sung with our quick changes from 'quarte' to 'tierce'. 'Twasall by the feeling, without light to go by, and hatred between us leftlittle space for skill. Our lunges were furious. 'Twas not long beforeI felt his point at my chest, but his reach was scant. All at once themusic swelled up voices and laughter were wafted faintly from thepleasure world of lights beyond. But my head was filled, to theexclusion of all else, with a hatred and fury. And (God forgive me!)from between my teeth came a prayer that if I might kill this monster, I would die willingly. 

Suddenly, as I pressed him, he shifted ground, and there was Lewisstanding within range of my eye. His hands were nowhere--they werebehind his back! God alone knows why he had not murdered me. To keepChartersea between him and me I swung another quarter. The duke seemedto see my game, struggled against it, tried to rush in under my guard, made a vicious lunge that would have ended me then and there had he notslipped. We were both panting like wild beasts. When next I raised myeyes Lewis had faded into the darkness. Then I felt my head as wet asfrom a plunge, the water running on my brow, and my back twitching. Every second I thought the sting of his sword was between my ribs. Butto forsake the duke would have been the maddest of follies. 

In that moment of agony came footsteps beating on the path, and by tacitconsent our swords were still. We listened. 

"Richard! Richard Carvel!"

For the second time in my life I thanked Heaven for that brave and loyalEnglish heart. I called back, but my throat was dry and choked. 

"So they are at their d--d assassins' tricks again! You need have nofear of one murderer. "

With that their steels rang out behind me, like broadswords, Lewiswasting his breath in curses and blasphemies. I began to push Charterseawith all my might, and the wonder of it was that we did not fight withour fingers on each other's necks. His attacks, too, redoubled. Twice Ifelt the stings of his point, once in the hand, and once in the body, butI minded them as little as pinpricks. I was sure I had touched him, too. I heard him blowing distressedly. The casks of wine he had drunk in hisshort life were telling now, and his thrusts grew weaker. That fiercestof all joys--of killing an enemy--was in me, when I heard a cry that rangin my ears for many a year afterward, and the thud of a body on theground. 

"I have done for him, your Grace, " says Lewis, with an oath; and addedimmediately, "I think I hear people. "

Before I had reached my Lord the captain repeated this, and excitedlybegged the duke, I believe, to fly. Chartersea hissed out that he wouldnot move a step until he had finished me, and as I bent over the body hispoint popped through my coat, and the pain shot under my shoulder. Istaggered, and fell. A second of silence ensued, when the duke said witha laugh that was a cackle:

"He won't marry her, d--n him!" (panting). "He had me cursed nearkilled, Lewis. Best give him another for luck. "

I felt his heavy hand on the sword, and it tearing out of me. Next camethe single word "Dover, " and they were gone. I had not lost my senses, and was on my knees again immediately, ripping open Comyn's waistcoatwith my left hand, and murmuring his name in an agony of sorrow. I wassearching under his shirt, wet with blood, when I became aware of voicesat my side. "A duel! A murder! Call the warders! Warders, ho!"

"A surgeon!" I cried. "A surgeon first of all!"

Some one had wrenched a lamp from the Grand Walk and held it, flickeringin the wind, before his Lordship's face. Guided by its light, morepeople came running through the wood, then the warders with lanthorns, headed by Mr. Tyers, and on top of him Mr. Fitzpatrick and my LordCarlisle. We carried poor Jack to the house at the gate, and closed thedoors against the crowd. 

By the grace of Heaven Sir Charles Blicke was walking in the gardens thatnight, and, battering at the door, was admitted along with the constableand the watch. Assisted by a young apothecary, Sir Charles washed anddressed the wound, which was in the left groin, and to our anxiousquestions replied that there was a chance of recovery. 

"But you, too, are hurt, sir, " he said, turning his clear eyes upon me. Indeed, the blood had been dripping from my hand and arm during the wholeof the operation, and I began to be weak from the loss of it. By greatgood fortune Chartersea's thrust, which he thought had ended my life, passed under my armpit from behind and, stitching the skin, lodged deepin my right nipple. This wound the surgeon bound carefully, and likewisetwo smaller ones. 

The constable was for carrying me to the Marshalsea. And so I was forcedto tell that I had quarrelled with Chartersea; and the watch, going outto the scene of the fight, discovered the duke's sword which he hadpulled out of me, and Lewis's laced hat; and also a trail of bloodleading from the spot. Mr. Tyers testified that he had seen Charterseathat night, and Lord Carlisle and Fitzpatrick to the grudge the duke boreme. I was given my liberty. 

Comyn was taken to his house in Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, in SirCharles's coach, whither I insisted upon preceding him. 'Twas on the waythere that Fitzpatrick told me Dorothy had fainted when she heard thealarm--a piece of news which added to my anxiety. We called up thedowager countess, Comyn's mother, and Carlisle broke the news to her, mercifully lightening me of a share of the blame. Her Ladyship receivedthe tidings with great fortitude; and instead of the torrent ofreproaches I looked for, and deserved, she implored me to go home andcare for my injuries lest I get the fever. I believe that I burst intotears. 

His Lordship was carried up the stairs with never a word or a groan fromhis lips, and his heart beating out slowly. 

We reached my lodgings as the watchman was crying: "Past two o'clock, anda windy morning!"

Mr. Fitzpatrick stayed with me that night. And the next morning, savefor the soreness of the cuts I had got, I found myself well as ever. Iwas again to thank the robustness of my health. Despite the protests ofBanks and Fitzpatrick, and of Mr. Fox (who arrived early, not having beento bed at all), I jumped into a chaise and drove to Brook Street. ThereI had the good fortune to get the greatest load from my mind. Comyn wasresting so much easier that the surgeon had left, and her Ladyshipretired two hours since. 

The day was misting and dark, but so vast was my relief that I imaginedthe sun was out as I rattled toward Arlington Street. If only Dolly werenot ill again from the shock, I should be happy indeed. She must haveheard, ere then, that I was not killed; and I had still better news totell her than that of Lord Comyn's condition. Mr. Fox, who got everyrumour that ran, had shouted after me that the duke and Lewis were setout for France. How he knew I had not waited to inquire. But the reporttallied with my own surmise, for they had used the word "Dover" when theyleft us for dead in the Wilderness. 

I dismissed my chaise at the door. 

"Mr. Manners waits on you, sir, in the drawing-room, " said the footman. "Your honour is here sooner than he looked for, " he added gratuitously. 

"Sooner than he looked for?"

"Yes, sir. James is gone to you but quarter of an hour since with amessage, sir. "

I was puzzled. 

"And Miss Manners? Is she well?"

The man smiled. 

"Very well, sir, thank your honour. "

To add to my surprise, Mr. Marmaduke was pacing the drawing-room in ayellow night-gown. He met me with an expression I failed to fathom, andthen my eye was held by a letter in his hand. He cleared his throat. 

"Good morning, Richard, " said he, very serious, --very pompous, I thought. "I am pleased to see that you are so well out of the deplorable affair oflast night. "

I had not looked for gratitude. In truth, I had done nothing for him, and Chartersea might have exposed him a highwayman for all I cared, --Ihad fought for Dolly. But this attitude astonished me. I was about tomake a tart reply, and then thought better of it. 

"Walter, a decanter of wine for Mr. Carvel, " says he to the footman. Then to me: "I am rejoiced to hear that Lord Comyn is out of danger. "

I merely stared at him. 

"Will you sit?" he continued. "To speak truth, the Annapolis packetcame in last night with news for you. Knowing that you have not had timeto hear from Maryland, I sent for you. "

My brain was in such a state that for the moment I took no meaning fromthis introduction. I was conscious only of indignation against him forsending for me, when for all he knew I might have been unable to leave mybed. Suddenly I jumped from the chair. 

"You have heard from Maryland?" I cried. "Is Mr. Carvel dead? Oh, tellme, is Mr. Carvel dead?" And I clutched his arm to make him wince. 

He nodded, and turned away. "My dear old friend is no more, " he said. "Your grandfather passed away on the seventh of last month. "

I sank into a chair and bowed my face, a flood of recollectionsoverwhelming me, a thousand kindnesses of my grandfather coming to mind. One comfort alone stood forth, even had I gone home with John Paul, I hadmissed him. But that he should have died alone with Grafton brought thetears brimming to my eyes. I had thought to be there to receive his lastwords and blessing, to watch over him, and to Smooth his pillow. Who hadhe else in the world to bear him affection on his death-bed? Theimagination of that scene drove me mad. 

Mr. Manners aroused me by a touch, and I looked up quickly. So quicklythat I surprised the trace of a smile about his weak mouth. Were I todie to-morrow, I would swear to this on the Evangels. Nor was it thesmile which compels itself upon the weak in serious moments. Nay, therewas in it something malicious. And Mr. Manners could not even act. 

"There is more, Richard, " he was saying; "there is worse to come. Canyou bear it?"

His words and look roused me from my sorrow. I have ever been short oftemper with those I disliked, and (alas!) with my friends also. And nowall my pent-up wrath against this little man broke forth. I divined hismeaning, and forgot that he was Dorothy's father. 

"Worse?" I shouted, while he gave back in his alarm. "Do you mean thatGrafton has got possession of the estate? Is that what you mean, sir?"

"Yes, " he gasped, "yes. I pray you be calm. "

"And you call that worse than losing my dearest friend on earth?"I cried. There must have been an infinite scorn in my voice. "Then yourstandards and mine are different, Mr. Manners. Your ways and mine aredifferent, and I thank God for it. You have played more than one doublepart with me. You looked me in the face and denied me, and left me to goto a prison. I shall not repeat my grandfather's kindnesses to you, sir. Though you may not recall them, I do. And if your treatment of me wasknown in Maryland, you would be drummed out of the colony even as Mr. Hood was, and hung in effigy"

"As God hears me, Richard--"

"Do not add perjury to it, " I said. "And have no uneasiness that I shallpublish you. Your wife and daughter have saved you before, --they willsave you now. "

I paused, struck speechless by a suspicion that suddenly flashed into myhead. A glance at the contemptible form cowering within the folds of theflowered gown clinched it to a conviction. In two strides I had seizedhim by the skin over his ribs, and he shrieked with pain and fright. 

"You--you snake!" I cried, in uncontrollable anger. "You well knewDorothy's spirit, which she has not got from you, and you lied to her. Yes, lied, I say. To force her to marry Chartersea you made her believethat your precious honour was in danger. And you lied to me last night, and sent me in the dark to fight two of the most treacherous villains inEngland. You wish they had killed me. The plot was between you and hisGrace. You, who have not a cat's courage, commit an indiscretion! Younever made one in your life, Tell me, " I cried, shaking him until histeeth smote together, "was it not put up between you?"

"Let me go! Let me go, and I will tell!" he wailed in the agony of mygrip. I tightened it the more. 

"You shall confess it first, " I said, from between my teeth. 

Scarce had his lips formed the word yes, when I had flung him half acrossthe room. He tripped on his gown, and fell sprawling on his hands. Sothe servant found us when he came back with the tray. The lackey wentout again hastily. 

"My God!" I exclaimed, in bitterness and disgust; "you are a father, and would sell both your daughter and your honour for a title, and tothe filthiest wretch in the kingdom?"

Without bestowing upon him another look, I turned on my heel and left theroom. I had set my foot on the stair, when I heard the rustle of adress, and the low voice which I knew so well calling my name. 

"Richard. "

There at my side was Dorothy, even taller in her paleness, with sorrowand agitation in her blue eyes. 

"Richard, I have heard all. --I listened. Are you going away without aword for me?" Her breath came fast, and mine, as she laid a hand upon myarm. "Richard, I do not care whether you are poor. What am I saying?"she cried wildly. "Am I false to my own father? Richard, what have youdone?"

And then, while I stood dazed, she tore open her gown, and drawing fortha little gold locket, pressed it in my palm. "The flowers you gave me onyour birthday, --the lilies of the valley, do you remember? They arehere, Richard. I have worn them upon my heart ever since. "

I raised the locket to my lips. 

"I shall treasure it for your sake, Dorothy, " I said, "for the sake ofthe old days. God keep you!"

For a moment I looked into the depths of her eyes. Then she was gone, and I went down the stairs alone. Outside, the rain fell unheeded on mynew coat. My steps bent southward, past Whitehall, where the martyrCharles had met death so nobly: past the stairs to the river, where shehad tripped with me so gayly not a month since. Death was in my soulthat day, --death and love, which is the mystery of life. God guided meinto the great Abbey near by, where I fell on my knees before Him andbefore England's dead. He had raised them and cast them down, even as Hewas casting me, that I might come to know the glory of His holy name.