CHAPTER XLII.
A PARAGRAPH IN THE COUNTY PAPER.
The nature of his injury considered, Captain Lake recovered withwonderful regularity and rapidity. In four weeks he was out rather paleand languid but still able to walk without difficulty, leaning on astick, for ten or fifteen minutes at a time. In another fortnight he hadmade another great advance, had thrown away his crutch handled stick, andrecovered flesh and vigour. In a fortnight more he had grown quite likehimself again; and in a very few weeks more, I read in the same countypaper, transmitted to me by the same fair hands, but this time not with across, but three distinct notes of admiration standing tremulously at themargin of the paragraph, the following to me for a time incredible, andvery nearly to this day amazing, announcement:--
'MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.
'The auspicious event so interesting to our county, which we have thisday to announce, though for some time upon the _tapis_, has been attendedwith as little publicity as possible. The contemplated union betweenCaptain Stanley Lake, late of the Guards, sole surviving son of the lateGeneral Williams Stanley Stanley Lake, of Plasrhwyn, and the beautifuland accomplished Miss Brandon, of Brandon Hall, in this county, wascelebrated in the ancestral chapel of Brandon, situated within themanorial boundaries, in the immediate vicinity of the town of Gylingden,on yesterday. Although the marriage was understood to be strictlyprivate--none but the immediate relations of the bride and bridegroombeing present--the bells of Gylingden rang out merry peals throughout theday, and the town was tastefully decorated with flags, and brilliantlyilluminated at night.
'A deputation of the tenantry of the Gylingden and the Longmoor estates,together with those of the Brandon estate, went in procession to BrandonHall in the afternoon, and read a well-conceived and affectionateaddress, which was responded to in appropriate terms by Captain Lake, whoreceived them, with his beautiful bride at his side, in the greatgallery--perhaps the noblest apartment in that noble ancestral mansion.The tenantry were afterwards handsomely entertained under the immediatedirection of Josiah Larkin, Esq., of the Lodge, the respected manager ofthe Brandon estates, at the "Brandon Arms," in the town of Gylingden. Itis understood that the great territorial influence of the Brandon familywill obtain a considerable accession in the estates of the bridegroom inthe south of England.'
There was some more which I need not copy, being very like what weusually see on such occasions.
I read this piece of intelligence half a dozen times over duringbreakfast. 'How that beautiful girl has thrown herself away!' I thought.'Surely the Chelfords, who have an influence there, ought to have exertedit to prevent her doing anything so mad. His estates in the south ofEngland, indeed! Why, he can't have L300 a year clear from that littleproperty in Devon. He _is_ such a liar; and so absurd, as if he couldsucceed in deceiving anyone upon the subject.'
So I read the paragraph over again, and laid down the paper, simplysaying, 'Well, certainly, that _is_ disgusting!'
I had heard of his duel. It was also said that it had in some way hadreference to Miss Brandon. But this was the only rumoured incident whichwould at all have prepared one for the occurrence. I tried to recollectanything particular in his manner--there was nothing; and she positivelyseemed to dislike him. I had been utterly mystified, and so, I presume,had all the other lookers-on.
Well! after all, 'twas no particular business of mine.
At the club, I saw it in the 'Morning Post;' and an hour after, old JoeGabloss, that prosy Argus who knows everything, recounted the detailswith patient precision, and in legal phrase, 'put in' letters from two orthree country houses proving his statement.
So there was no doubting it longer: and Captain Stanley Lake, late of HerMajesty's ---- Regiment of Guards, idler, scamp, coxcomb, and thebeautiful Dorcas Brandon, heiress of Brandon, were man and wife.
I wrote to my fair friend, Miss Kybes, and had an answer confirming, ifthat were needed, the public announcement, and mentioning enigmatically,that it had caused 'a great deal of conversation.'
The posture of affairs in the small world of Gylingden, except in thematter of the alliance just referred to, was not much changed.
Since the voluminous despatch from Marseilles, promising his return sosoon, not a line had been received from Mark Wylder. He might arrive anyday or night. He might possibly have received some unexpected check--ifnot checkmate, in that dark and deep game on which he seemed to havestaked so awfully. Mr. Jos. Larkin sometimes thought one thing, sometimesanother.
In the meantime, Captain Lake accepted the trust. Larkin at times thoughtthere was a constant and secret correspondence going on between him andMark Wylder, and that he was his agent in adjusting some complicated andvillainous piece of diplomacy by means of the fund--secret-servicemoney--which Mark had placed at his disposal.
He, Mr. Larkin, was treated like a child in this matter, and his advicenever so much as asked, nor his professional honour accredited by thesmallest act of confidence.
Sometimes his suspicions took a different turn, and he thought that Lakemight be one of those 'persecutors' of whom Mark spoke with suchmysterious hatred; and that the topic of their correspondence was,perhaps, some compromise, the subject or the terms of which would notbear the light.
Lake certainly made two visits to London, one of them of a week'sduration. The attorney being a sharp, long-headed fellow, who knew verywell what business was, knew perfectly well, too, that two or three shortletters might have settled any legitimate business which his gallantfriend had in the capital.
But Lake was now married, and under the incantation whistled over him bythe toothless Archdeacon of Mundlebury, had sprung up into a countymagnate, and was worth cultivating, and to be treated tenderly.
So the attorney's business was to smile and watch--to watch, and ofcourse, to pray as heretofore--but specially to watch. He himself hardlyknew all that was passing in his own brain. There are operations ofphysical nature which go on actively without your being aware of them;and the moral respiration, circulation, insensible perspiration, and allthe rest of that peculiar moral system which exhibited its type in Jos.Larkin, proceeded automatically in the immortal structure of thatgentleman.
Being very gentlemanlike in externals, with a certain grace, amountingvery nearly to elegance, and having applied himself diligently to pleasethe county people, that proud fraternity, remembering his father'sestates, condoned his poverty, and took Captain Lake by the hand, andlifted him into their superb, though not very entertaining order.
There were solemn festivities at Brandon, and festive solemnities at theprincipal county houses in return. Though not much of a sportsman, Lakelent himself handsomely to all the sporting proceedings of the county,and subscribed in a way worthy of the old renown of Brandon Hall to allsorts of charities and galas. So he was getting on very pleasantly withhis new neighbours, and was likely to stand very fairly in that dull, butnot unfriendly society.
About three weeks after this great county marriage, there arrived, thistime from Frankfort, a sharp letter, addressed to Jos. Larkin, Esq. Itsaid:--
'My Dear Sir,--I think I have reason to complain. I have just seen byaccident the announcement of the marriage at Brandon. I think as myfriend, and a friend to the Brandon family, you ought to have donesomething to delay, if you could not stop it. Of course, you had thesettlements, and devil's in it if you could not have beat about awhile--it was not so quick with me--and not doubled the point in a singletack; and you know the beggar has next to nothing. Any way, it was yourduty to have printed some notice that the thing was thought of. If youhad put it, like a bit of news, in "Galignani," I would have seen it, andknown what to do. Well, that ship's blew up. But I won't let all go. Thecur will begin to try for the county or for Dollington. You must quietlystop that, mind; and if he persists, just you put an advertisement in"Galignani," saying _Mr. Smith will take notice, that the other party isdesirous to purchase, and becoming very pressing_. Just you hoist thatsignal, and _somebody_ will bear down, and blaze
into him at allhazards--you'll see how. Things have not gone quite smooth with me since;but it won't be long till I run up my flag again, and take the command.Be perfectly civil with Stanley Lake till I come on board--that isindispensable; and keep this letter as close from every eye as sealedorders. You may want a trifle to balk S.L.'s electioneering, and there'san order on Lake for 200_l._ Don't trifle about the county and borough.He must have no footing in either till I return.
'Yours, dear Larkin,
'Very truly
'(but look after my business better),
'M. WYLDER.'
The order on Lake, a little note, was enclosed:--
'Dear Lake,--I wish you joy, and all the good wishes going, as I couldnot make the prize myself.
'Be so good to hand my lawyer, Mr. Jos. Larkin, of the Lodge, Gylingden,200_l._ sterling, on my account.
'Yours, dear Lake,
'Very faithfully,
'M. WYLDER.
200_l._)
'23rd Feb., &c. &c.'
When Jos. Larkin presented this little order, it was in the handsomesquare room in which Captain Lake transacted business--a lofty apartment,wainscoted in carved oak, and with a great stone mantelpiece, with theWylder arms, projecting in bold relief, in the centre, and a floridscroll, with 'RESURGAM' standing forth as sharp as the day it waschiselled nearly three hundred years before.
There was some other business--Brandon business--to be talked over first;and that exhausted, Mr. Larkin sat as usual, with one long thigh crossedupon the other--his arm thrown over the back of his chair, and his tall,bald head a little back, and his small mild eyes twinkling through theirpink lids on the enigmatical captain, who had entered upon the march ofambition in a spirit so audacious and conquering.
'I had a line from Mr. Mark Wylder yesterday afternoon, as usual withoutany address but the postmark;' and good Mr. Larkin laughed a mild, littlepatient laugh, and lifted his open hand, and shook his head. 'It reallyis growing too absurd--a mere order upon you to hand me 200_l._ How I'mto dispose of it, I have not the faintest notion.'
And he laughed again; at the same time he gracefully poked the littlenote, between two fingers, to Captain Lake, who glanced full on him, fora second, as he took it.
'And how is Mark?' enquired Lake, with his odd, sly smile, as he scrawleda little endorsement on the order. 'Does he say anything?'
'No; absolutely nothing--he's a very strange client!' said Larkin,laughing again. 'There can be no objection, of course, to your readingit; and he thinks--he thinks--he'll be here soon again--oh, here it is.'
Mr. Larkin had been fumbling, first in his deep waistcoat, and then inhis breast-pocket, as if for the letter, which was locked fast into theiron safe, with Chubb's patent lock, in his office at the Lodge. But itwould not have done to have kept a secret from Captain Lake, of Brandon;and therefore his not seeing the note was a mere accident.
'Oh! no--stupid!--that's Mullett and Hock's. I have not got it with me;but it does not signify, for there's nothing in it. I hope I shall soonbe favoured with his directions as to what to do with the money.'
'He's an odd fellow; and I don't know how he feels towards me; but on mypart there is no feeling, I do assure you, but the natural desire to liveon the friendly terms which our ties of family and our position in thecounty'--
Stanley Lake was writing the cheque for 200_l._ meanwhile, and handed itto Larkin; and as that gentleman penned a receipt, the captaincontinued--his eyes lowered to the little vellum-bound book in which hewas now making an entry:--
'You have handed me a large sum, Mr. Larkin--3,276_l._ 11_s._ 4_d._ Iundertook this, you know, on the understanding that it was not to go onvery long; and I find my own business pretty nearly as much as I canmanage. Is Wylder at all definite as to when we may expect his return?'
'Oh, dear no--quite as usual--he expects to be here soon; but that isall. I so wish I had brought his note with me; but I'm positive that isall.'
So, this little matter settled, the lawyer took his leave.
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