CHAPTER XIV.
If the few weeks preceding the fall of Detroit had been characterised bymuch bustle and excitement, those which immediately succeeded were noless remarkable for their utter inactivity and repose. With thesurrender of the fortress vanished every vestige of hostility in thatremote territory, enabling the sinews of watchfulness to undergo arelaxation, nor longer requiring the sacrifice of private interests tothe public good. Scarcely had the American prisoners been despatched totheir several destinations, when General Brock, whose activity anddecision were the subject of universal remark, quitted his new conquest,and again hastened to resume the command on the Niagara frontier, whichhe had only left to accomplish what had been so happily achieved. TheIndians, too, finding their services no longer in immediate demand,dispersed over the country or gave themselves up to the amusement of thechase, ready, however, to come forward whenever they should bere-summoned to the conflict; while the Canadians, who had abandonedtheir homes to assist in the operations of the war, returned once moreto the cultivation of that soil they had so recently looked upon aswrested from them for ever. Throughout the whole line of Detroit, oneither shore, the utmost quietude prevailed; and although many of theinhabitants of the conquered town looked with an eye of nationaljealousy on the English flag that waved in security above the fort, theysubmitted uncomplainingly to the change, indulging only in secret, yetwithout bitterness, in the hope of a not far distant reaction offortune, when their own National Stars should once more be in theascendant.
The garrison left at Detroit consisted merely of two companies--those ofCaptains Granville and Molineux, which included among their officersMiddlemore, Villiers and Henry Grantham. After the first excitementproduced in the minds of the townspeople by their change of rulers hadpassed away, these young men, desirous of society, sought to renew theirintimacy with such of the more respectable families as they had been inthe habit of associating with prior to hostilities; but although in mostinstances they were successful, their reception was so different fromwhat it had formerly been, that they were glad to withdraw themselveswithin the rude resources of their own walls. It happened, however,about this period, that Colonel D'Egville had received a command totransfer the head of his department from Amherstburg to Detroit, and,with a view to his own residence on the spot, the large and commodiousmansion of the late Governor was selected for the abode of his family.With the daughters of that officer the D'Egvilles had long beenintimate, and as the former were to continue under the same roof untiltheir final departure from Detroit, it was with a mutual satisfactionthe friends found themselves thus closely reunited. Added to this partywere Major Montgomerie (already fast recovering from the effects of hiswound,) and his niece--both of whom only awaited the entire restorationof the former, to embark immediately for the nearest American port.
At Colonel D'Egville's it will therefore be supposed the officers passednearly all their leisure hours; Molineux and Villiers flirting with thefair American sisters, until they had nearly been held fast by thechains with which they dallied, and Middlemore uttering his execrablepuns with a coolness of premeditation that excited the laughter of thefair part of his auditors, while his companions, on the contrary,expressed their unmitigated abhorrence in a variety of ways. As for thesomewhat staid Captain Granville, he sought to carry his homage to thefeet of Miss Montgomerie, but the severe and repellant manner in whichshe received all his advances, and the look which almost petrified whereit fell, not only awed him effectually into distance, but drew down uponhim the sarcastic felicitations of his watchful brother officers. Therewas one, however, on whose attentions her disapprobation fell not, andHenry Grantham, who played the part of an anxious observer, remarkedwith pain that _he_ had been fascinated by her beauty, in a manner whichshowed her conquest to be complete.
The cousins of Gerald Grantham had been in error in supposing him to bethe officer in command of the vessel on board which the lover of Juliahad embarked. His transfer from the gun-boat had taken place, but inconsideration of the fatigue he had undergone during the threesuccessive days in which he had been employed at the batteries, theCommodore had directed another officer to take command of the vessel inquestion, and charge himself with the custody of the prisoners on board.Finding himself at liberty until the return of the flotilla from thisduty, the first care of Gerald was to establish himself in lodgings inDetroit, whence he daily sallied forth to the apartments in theGovernor's house occupied by the unfortunate Major Montgomerie, in whosesituation he felt an interest so much the more deep and lively as heknew his confinement to have been in some degree the work of his ownhands. All the attention and kindness could effect was experienced bythe respectable Major, who, in return, found himself more and moreattached to his youthful and generous captor. These constant visits tothe uncle naturally brought our hero more immediately into the societyof the niece, but although he had never been able to banish from hismemory the recollection of one look which she had bestowed upon him on aformer occasion, in almost every interview of the sort _now_, shepreserved the same cold distance and reserve which was peculiar to her.
A week had elapsed in this manner, when it chanced that as they both satone evening, about dusk, near the couch of the invalid, the latter,after complaining of extreme weakness and unusual suffering, expressedhis anxiety at the possibility of his niece being left alone andunprotected in a strange country.
It was with a beating pulse and a glowing cheek that Gerald looked up toobserve the effect of this observation on his companion. He wassurprised, nay, hurt, to remark that an expression of almostcontemptuous loathing sat upon her pale but beautiful countenance. Heclosed his eyes for a moment in bitterness of disappointment--and whenthey again opened and fell upon that countenance, he scarcely couldbelieve the evidence of his senses. Every feature had undergone achange. With her face half turned, as if to avoid the observation of heruncle, she now exhibited a cheek flushed with the expression ofpassionate excitement, while from her eye beamed that same unfathomableexpression which had carried intoxication once before to the inmost soulof the youth. Almost wild with his feelings, it was with difficulty herestrained the impulse that would have urged him to her feet; but evenwhile he hesitated, her countenance had again undergone a change, andshe sat cold and reserved and colorless as before.
That look sealed that night the destiny of Gerald Grantham. The coldnessof the general demeanor of Matilda was forgotten in the ardor ofcharacter which had escaped from beneath the evident and habitualdisguise; and the enthusiastic sailor could think of nothing but thewitchery of that look. To his surprise and joy, the following day, andever afterwards, he found that the manner of the American, althoughreserved as usual towards others, had undergone a complete changetowards himself. Whenever he appeared alone a smile was his welcome, andif others were present she always contrived to indemnify him for acoldness he now knew to be assumed, by conveying unobserved one of thoseseductive glances the power of which she seemed so fully to understand.
Such was the state of things when the D'Egvilles arrived. Exposed to theobservations of more than one anxious friend, it was not likely that ayouth of Gerald's open nature could be long in concealing hisprepossession; and as Matilda, although usually guarded in her generalmanner, was observed sometimes to fix her eyes upon him with theexpression of one immersed in deep and speculative thought, thesuspicion acquired a character of greater certainty.
To Harry Grantham, who doated upon his brother, this attachment was asource of infinite disquiet; for, from the very commencement, MissMontgomerie had unfavorably impressed him. Why he knew not; yet,impelled by a feeling he was unable to analyze, he deeply lamented thatthey had ever become acquainted, infatuated as Gerald appeared by herattractions. There was another too, who saw with regret the attachmentof Gerald to his fair prisoner. It was Gertrude D'Egville; but heruncomplaining voice spoke not, even to her beloved sister, of theanguish she endured--she loved her cousin, but he knew it not; andalthough she felt that she was fast consumi
ng with the disappointmentthat preyed upon her peace, she had obtained of her sister the promisethat her secret should never reach the ear of its object.
In this manner passed the months of August and September. October hadjust commenced, and with it that beautiful but brief season which iswell known to America as the Indian summer. Anxious to set out on hisreturn to that home to which his mutilation must confine him for thefuture, Major Montgomerie, now sufficiently recovered to admit of histravelling by water, expressed a desire to avail himself of theloveliness of the weather, and embark forthwith on his return.
By the officers whom the hospitality of Colonel D'Egville almost dailyassembled beneath his roof, this announcement was received with dismay,and especially by Molineux and Villiers, who had so suffered themselvesto be fascinated by the amiable daughters of General H----, as to havefound it necessary to hold a consultation (decided however in thenegative) whether they should or should not tempt them to remain, bymaking an offer of their hands. It was also observed that these youngladies, who at first had been all anxiety to rejoin their parent,evinced no particular satisfaction in the intimation of speedy departurethus given to them. Miss Montgomerie, on the contrary, whose anxietythroughout to quit Detroit had been no less remarkable than her formerimpatience to reach it, manifested a pleasure that amounted almost toexultation; and yet it was observed that, by a strange apparentcontradiction, her preference for Gerald from that moment became moreand more divested of disguise.
There are few spots in the world, perhaps, that unite so manyinducements to the formation of those sociable little _reunions_ whichcome under the denomination of pic-nics as the small islands adorningmost of the American rivers. Owing to the difficulty of procuring summercarriages, and in some degree to the rudeness of the soil, in the UpperProvince especially, boats are in much more general use; and excursionson the water are as common to that class "whose only toil is pleasure,"as cockney trips to Richmond, or to any other of the thousand and oneplaces of resort which have sprung into existence within twenty miles ofthe metropolis of England. Not confined, however, to picking daisies fortheir sweethearts, as these cockneys do, or carving their vulgar nameson every magnificent tree that spreads its gorgeous arms to afford themthe temporary shelter of a home, the men generally devote themselves,for a period of the day, to manlier exercises. The woods abounding withgame, and the rivers with fish of the most delicate flavor--the addressof the hunter and the fisher, is equally called into action; since upontheir exertions principally depend the party for the fish and fowlportion of their rural dinner. Guns and rods are, therefore, asindispensable a part of the freightage, as the dried venison and bearhams, huge turkies, pastries, &c. which, together with wines, spirits,and cider, _ad libitum_, form the mass of alimentary matter. Here is tobe heard neither the impertinent coxcomb of the European self-styledexclusive, nor the unmeaning twaddle of the daughter of false fashion,spoiled by the example of the said exclusive, and almost be come adowager in silliness, before she has attained the first years ofwomanhood. No lack-a-daisical voice, the sex of which it is difficult todistinguish, is attempted to be raised in depreciation of the party towhich it had been esteemed too great a happiness to be invited theevening before. The sneer of contempt--the laugh of derision--is nowhereto be heard; neither is the pallid brow and sunken cheek, the fruit oflate hours and forced excitement, to be seen. Content is in eachheart--the glow of health upon each face. All appear eager to be happy,pleased with each other, and at ease with themselves. Not that theirs isthe enjoyment of the mere holiday mind, which grasps with undiscerningavidity at whatever offers to its gratification, but that of those inwhom education, acting on innate good breeding, has imposed a due senseof the courtesies of life, and on whom fashion has not superseded thekindlier emotions of nature.
Several of these pic-nics had taken place among the party at Detroit,confined, with one or two exceptions, to the officers of the garrison,and the family of Colonel D'Egville, with their American inmates; and itwas proposed by the former, that a final one should be given a few daysprior to the embarkation in Gerald Grantham's new command, which laywaiting in the river for the purpose--the Major remaining as hitherto athome, under the guardianship of the benevolent Mrs. D'Egville, whosehabits of retirement disinclined her to out-door amusement.
Hitherto their excursions had been principally directed to some of thesmaller islands, which abound in the river nearer Amherstburgh, andwhere game being found in abundance, the skill of the officers had moreimmediate opportunity for display; but on this excursion, at the casualsuggestion of Miss Montgomerie, Hog Island was selected as the scene oftheir day's amusement. Thither, therefore, the boat which contained theparty now proceeded, the ladies costumed in a manner to thread the mazesof the wood, and the gentlemen in equally appropriate gear, assportsmen, their guns and fishing rods being by no means omitted in thecatalogue of orders entrusted to their servants. In the stern of theboat--the trustworthy coxswain on this occasion--sat old Sambo, whoseskill in the conduct of a helm was acknowledged to be little inferior tohis dexterity in the use of a paddle, and whose authoritative voice, ashe issued his commands in broken English to the boatmen, added, in nosmall degree, to the exhilaration of the party.
To reach Hog Island, it was necessary to pass by the tannery and cottagealready described, which, latter, it will be remembered, had been thescene of a singular adventure to our hero and his servant on the nightof their reconnoitering the coast, in obedience to the order of theCommodore. By the extraordinary and almost romantic incidents of thatnight, the imagination of Gerald had been deeply impressed, and onretiring to his rude couch within the battery he had fully made up hismind to explore further into the mysterious affair, with as little delayas possible after the expected fall of the American fortress. In thehurry, confusion, and excitement, of that event however, his originalintention was forgotten; or, rather so far delayed, that it was notuntil the third or fourth day of his establishment in the town, that itoccurred to him to institute inquiry. He had accordingly repairedthither, but finding the house carefully shut up, and totallyuninhabited, had contented himself with questioning the tanner and hisfamily, in regard to its late inmates, reserving to a future opportunitythe attempt to make himself personally acquainted with all that itcontained. From this man he learnt, that, the house had once been theproperty of an aged Canadian, at whose death (supposed to have beenoccasioned by violence,) it had passed into the hands of an American,who led a roving and adventurous life, being frequently away for monthstogether, and then returning with a canoe, but never continuing for morethan a night or two. That latterly it had been wholly deserted by itsowner, in consequence of which it had been taken possession of, and usedas quarters by the officers of the American guard, stationed at thispart of the town, for the protection of the boats, and as a check uponthe incursions of the Indians. In all this statement, there was everyappearance of truth, but in no part of it did Gerald find wherewith toelucidate what he himself had witnessed. He described the costume, andquestioned of the mysterious figure, but the only reply he obtained fromthe independent tanner, when he admitted to him that he had been so neara visitor on that occasion, and had seen what he described, was anexpressed regret that he had not been "wide awake when any Brittainerventured to set foot upon his grounds, otherwise, tarnation seize himwith all due respect, if he wouldn't a stuck an ounce o' lead in hisliver as quickly as he would tan a hide," a patriotic sentiment in whichit may be supposed our hero in no way coincided. With the tanner'sassurance, however, that no living thing was there at this moment,Gerald was fain to content himself for the present, fully resolving toreturn at another time with Sambo, and effect a forcible entrance into aplace, with which were connected such striking recollections. He had,however, been too much interested and occupied elsewhere, to find timeto devote to the purpose.
Matilda Montgomerie; Or, The Prophecy Fulfilled Page 14