Springhaven: A Tale of the Great War

by R. D. Blackmore

  CHAPTER L

  HIS SAVAGE SPIRIT

  At this time letters came very badly, not only to French prisoners inEngland, but even to the highest authorities, who had the very bestmeans of getting them. Admiral Darling had often written to his oldfriend Nelson, but had long been without any tidings from him, throughno default on the hero's part. Lord Nelson was almost as prompt withthe pen as he was with the sword, but despatches were most irregular anduncertain.

  "Here at last we have him!" cried Sir Charles one morning early inDecember; "and not more than five weeks old, I declare! Dolly, beready, and call Faith down. Now read it, my dear, for our benefit. Yourgodfather writes a most excellent hand, considering that it is his lefthand; but my eyes are sore from so much night-work. Put on my specs,Dolly; I should like to see you in them."

  "Am I to read every word, papa, just as it comes? You know that hegenerally puts in words that are rather strong for me."

  "Nelson never thought or wrote a single word unfit for the nicestyoung lady. But you may hold up your hand if you come to any strongexpressions, and we shall understand them."

  "Then I shall want both hands as soon as ever we come to the very firstFrenchman. But this is what my godfather says:

  "'VICTORY, OFF TOULON, October 31st, 1804.

  "'MY DEAR LINGO,--It was only yesterday that I received your letter ofJuly 21st; it went in a Spanish smuggling boat to the coast of Italy andreturned again to Spain, not having met any of our ships. And now I hopethat you will see me before you see this letter. We are certain to be atwar with Spain before another month is out, and I am heartily sorry forit, for I like those fellows better than the French, because they arenot such liars. My successor has been appointed, I have reason to hope,and must be far on his way by this time; probably Keith, but I cannotsay. Ministers cannot suppose that I want to fly the service; my wholelife has proved the contrary; if they refuse, I shall most certainlyleave in March or April, for a few months' rest I must have, or elsedie. My cough is very bad, and my side where I was struck off Cape St.Vincent is very much swelled, at times a lump as large as my fist isbrought on by violent coughing, but I hope and believe my lungs aresound. I hope to do good service yet, or else I should not care so much.But if I am in my grave, how can I serve the Country?

  "'You will say, this is not at all like Nelson, to write about nothingbut his own poor self; and thank God, Lingo, I can say that youare right; for if ever a man lived for the good of England and thedestruction of those'"--here Dolly held a hand up--"'Frenchmen, it isthe man in front of this ink-bottle. The Lord has appointed me to thatduty, and I shall carry out my orders. Mons. La Touche, who was preachedabout in France as the man that was to extinguish me, and even inthe scurvy English newspapers, but never dared to show his snivellycountenance outside of the inner buoys, is dead of his debosheries, forwhich I am deeply grieved, as I fully intended to send him to the devil.

  "'I have been most unlucky for some time now, and to tell the truth Imay say always. But I am the last man in the world to grumble--as you,my dear Lingo, can testify. I always do the utmost, with a single mind,and leave the thought of miserable pelf to others, men perhaps who neversaw a shotted cannon fired. You know who made eighty thousand pounds,without having to wipe his pigtail--dirty things, I am glad they aregone out--but my business is to pay other people's debts, and receiveall my credits in the shape of cannon-balls. This is always so, and Ishould let it pass as usual, except for a blacker trick than I have everknown before. For fear of giving me a single chance of earning twopence,they knew that there was a million and a half of money coming into Cadizfrom South America in four Spanish frigates, and instead of leaving meto catch them, they sent out Graham Moore--you know him very well--withorders to pocket everything. This will create a war with Spain, a warbegun with robbery on our part, though it must have come soon in anycase. For everywhere now, except where I am, that fiend of a Corsican issupreme.

  "'There is not a sick man in this fleet, unless it is the one inside mycoat. That liar La Touche said HE CHASED ME AND I RAN. I keep a copy ofhis letter, which it would have been my duty to make him eat, if he hadventured out again. But he is gone to the lake of brimstone now, and Ihave the good feeling to forgive him. If my character is not fixed bythis time, it is not worth my trouble to put the world right. YesterdayI took a look into the port within easy reach of their batteries. Theylay like a lot of mice holed in a trap, but the weather was too thick tocount them. They are certainly nearly twice our number; and if any onewas here except poor little Nelson, I believe they would venture out.But my reputation deprives me always of any fair chance to increase it.

  "'And now, my dear Lingo, allow me to enquire how you are getting onwith your Coast-defence. I never did attach much importance to theirsenseless invasion scheme. The only thing to make it formidable wouldbe some infernal traitor on the coast, some devilish spy who would keepthem well informed, and enable them to land where least expected. Ifthere is such a scoundrel, may the Lord Almighty'"--here both Dolly'shands went up, with the letter in them, and her face turned as white asthe paper.

  "'I have often told you, as you may remember, that Springhaven is thevery place I should choose, if I were commander of the French flotilla.It would turn the flank of all the inland defences, and no Britishship could attack their intrenchments, if once they were snug below thewindows of the Hall. But they are not likely to know this, thank God;and if they did, they would have a job to get there. However, it is wiseto keep a sharp lookout, for they know very well that I am far away.

  "'And now that I have got to your own doors, which I heartily hope todo, perhaps before you see this, let me ask for yourself and all yourdear family. Lingo, the longer I live the more I feel that all thetrue happiness of life is found at home. My glory is very great, andsatisfies me, except when it scares the enemy; but I very often feelthat I would give it all away for a quiet life among those who love me.Your daughter Faith is a sweet young woman, just what I should wishfor a child of mine to be. And Horatia, my godchild, will turn out verywell, if a sharp hand is kept over her. But she takes after me, she isdaring and ambitious, and requires a firm hand at the helm. Read thisto her, with my love, and I dare say she will only laugh at it. If shemarries to my liking, she will be down for a good thing in my will, someday. God bless us all. Amen. Amen.

  "'Yours affectionately,

  "'NELSON AND BRONTE.'"

  "Take it to heart, my dear; and so must I," said the Admiral, laughingat the face his daughter made; "your godfather is a most excellent judgeof everybody's character except his own. But, bless me, my dear, why,you are crying! You silly little thing! I was only in fun. You shallmarry to his liking, and be down for the good thing. Look up, and laughat everybody, my darling. No one laughs so merrily as my pretty Dolly.Why, Faith, what does she mean by this?"

  To the coaxing voice of her father, and the playful glance that she usedto play with, Dolly had not rushed up at all, either with mind, or, ifthat failed, with body, as she always used to do. She hurried towardsthe door, as if she longed to be away from them; and then, as if shewould rather not make any stir about it, sat down and pretended to havecaught her dress in something.

  "The only thing is to let her go on as she likes," Faith said aloud,so that Dolly might hear all of it; "I have done all I can, but shebelieves herself superior. She cannot bear any sort of contradiction,and she expects one to know what she says, without her saying it. Thereis nothing to be done but to treat her the same way. If she is left toherself, she may come back to it."

  "Well, my dear children," said the Admiral, much alarmed at the prospectof a broil between them, such as he remembered about three years back,"I make no pretence to understand your ways. If you were boys, it wouldbe different altogether. But the Almighty has been pleased to makeyou girls, and very good ones too; in fact, there are none to be foundbetter. You have always been bound up with one another and with me; andevery one admires all the three of us. So that we must be content ifa lit
tle thing arises, not to make too much of it, but bear with oneanother, and defy anybody to come in between us. Kiss one another, mydears, and be off; for I have much correspondence to attend to, besidesthe great Nelson's, though I took him first, hoping for somethingsensible. But I have not much to learn about Springhaven, even from hislordship. However, he is a man in ten thousand, and we must not be vexedabout any of his crotchets, because he has never had children to talkabout; and he gets out of soundings when he talks about mine. I wishLady Scudamore was come back. She always agrees with me, and she takes agreat load off my shoulders."

  The girls laughed at this, as they were meant to do. And theyhurried off together, to compare opinions. After all these years ofindependence, no one should be set up over them. Upon that point Faithwas quite as resolute as Dolly; and her ladyship would have refused tocome back, if she had overheard their council. For even in the loftiestfeminine nature lurks a small tincture of jealousy.

  But Dolly was now in an evil frame of mind about many things which shecould not explain even to herself, with any satisfaction. Even thatharmless and pleasant letter from her great godfather went amiss withher; and instead of laughing at the words about herself, as with a soundconscience she must have done, she brooded over them, and turned thembitter. No man could have mixed up things as she did, but her mind wasnimble. For the moment, she hated patriotism, because Nelson representedit; and feeling how wrong he had been about herself, she felt that hewas wrong in everything. The French were fine fellows, and had quite asmuch right to come here as we had to go and harass them, and a littleabatement of English conceit might be a good thing in the long-run. Notthat she would let them stay here long; that was not to be thought of,and they would not wish it. But a little excitement would be delightful,and a great many things might be changed for the better, such as thetreatment of women in this country, which was barbarous, compared towhat it was in France. Caryl had told her a great deal about that; andthe longer she knew him the more she was convinced of his wisdom andthe largeness of his views, so different from the savage spirit of LordNelson.