CHAPTER XXV. BAGENAL DALY'S COUNSELS
Every hour seemed to complicate the Knight of Gwynne's difficulties, andto increase that intricacy by which he already was so much embarrassed.The forms of law, never grateful to him, became now perfectly odious,obscuring instead of explaining the questions on which he desiredinformation. He hated, besides, the small and narrow expedients soconstantly suggested in cases where his own sense of right convinced himof the justice of his cause, nor could he listen with common patience tothe detail of all those legal subtleties by which an adverse claim mightbe, if not resisted, at least protracted indefinitely.
His presence, far from affording any assistance, was, therefore, only anembarrassment both to Daly and the lawyer, and they heard with unmixedsatisfaction of his determination to hasten down to the West, andcommunicate more freely with his family, for as yet his letter toLady Eleanor, far from disclosing the impending ruin, merely mentionedGleeson's flight as a disastrous event in the life of a man esteemedand respected, and adverting but slightly to his own difficulties inconsequence.
"We must leave the abbey, Bagenal, I foresee that," said Darcy, as hetook his friend aside a few minutes before starting.
Daly made no reply, for already his own convictions pointed the sameway.
"I could not live there with crippled means and broken fortune; 'twouldkill me in a month, by Jove, to see the poor fellows wandering aboutidle and unemployed, the stables nailed up, the avenue grass-grown, andnot hear the cry of a hound when I crossed the courtyard. But whatis to be done? Humbled as I am, I cannot think of letting it tosome Hickman O'Reilly or other, some vulgar upstart, feasting his lowcompanions in those old halls, or plotting our utter ruin at our ownhearthstone; could we not make some other arrangement?"
"I have thought of one," said Daly, calmly; "my only fear is how to askLady Eleanor's concurrence to a plan which must necessarily press mostheavily on her."
"What is it?" said Darcy, hastily.
"Of course, your inclination would be, for a time at least, perfectseclusion."
"That, above all and everything."
"Well, then, what say you to taking up your abode in a little cottage ofmine on the Antrim coast? It is a wild and lonely spot, it's true, butyou may live there without attracting notice or observation. I see youare surprised at my having such a possession. I believe I never toldyou, Darcy, that I bought Sandy's cabin from him the day he entered myservice, and fitted it up, and intended it as an asylum for the poorfellow if he should grow weary of my fortunes, or happily survive me. Bydegrees, I have added a room here and a closet there, till it has growninto a dwelling that any one, as fond of salmon-fishing as you and Iwere, would not despise; come, will you have it?" Darcy grasped hisfriend's hand without speaking, and Daly went on: "That's right; I'llgive orders to have everything in readiness at once; I'll go down, too,and induct you. Ay, Darcy, and if the fellows could take a peep at usover our lobster and a glass of Isla whiskey, they 'd stare to thinkthose two jovial old fellows, so merry and contented, started, the daythey came of age, with the two best estates in Ireland."
"If I had not brought ruin on others, Bagenal--"
"No more of that, Darcy; the most scandal-loving gossip of the Club willnever impute, for he dare not, more than carelessness to your conduct,and I promise you, if you 'll only fall back on a good conscience,you 'll not be unhappy under the thatched roof of my poor shieling.My sincerest regards to Lady Eleanor and Helen. I see there is a crowdcollecting at the sight of the four posters, so don't delay."
Darcy could do no more than squeeze the cordial hand that held his own,and, passing hastily out, he stepped into the travelling-carriage at thedoor, not unobserved, indeed, for about a hundred ragged creatures hadnow assembled, who saluted his appearance with groans and hisses,accompanied with ruffianly taunts about bribery and corruption; whileone, more daring than the rest, mounted on the step, and with his faceto the window, cried out: "My Lord, my Lord, won't you give us a trifleto drown your new coronet?"
The words were scarcely out, when, seizing him by the neck with onehand, and taking a leg in the other, Daly hurled the fellow into themiddle of the mob, who, such is their consistency, laughed loud andheartily at the fellow's misfortunes; meanwhile, the postilions pliedwhip and spur, and ere the laughter had subsided, the carriage was outof sight.
"There is a gentleman in the drawing-room wishes to speak to you, sir,"said a servant to Daly, who had just sat down to a conference with thelawyer.
"Present my respectful compliments, and say that I am engaged on mostimportant and pressing business."
"Had you not better ask his name?" said the lawyer.
"No, no, there is nothing but interruptions here; at one moment it isHeffernan, with a polite message from Lord Castlereagh; then some onefrom the Club, to know if I have any objection to waive a standingorder, and have that young O'Reilly balloted for once more; and herewas George Falkner himself a while ago, asking if the Knight had reallytaken office, with a seat in the Cabinet. I said it was perfectlycorrect, and that he was at liberty to state it in his paper."
"You did!"
"Yes; and that he might add that I myself had refused the see ofLlandaff, preferring the command of the West India Squadron. But, what'sthis? What do you want now, Richard?"
"The gentleman upstairs, sir, insists on my presenting his card."
"Oh, indeed!--Captain Forester!--I 'll see him at once." And, so saying,Daly hastened upstairs to the drawing-room, where the young officerawaited him.
Daly was not in a mood to scrutinize very closely the appearance of hisvisitor, but he could not fail to feel struck at the alteration in hislooks since last they met; his features were paler and marked by sorrow,so much so that Daly's first question was, "Have you been ill?" and asForester answered in the negative, the old man fixed his eyes steadilyon him, and said, "You have heard of our misfortune, then?"
"Misfortune! no. What do you mean?"
Daly hesitated, uncertain how to reply, whether to leave to time andsome other channel to announce the Knight's ruin, or at once communicateit with his own lips.
"Yes, it is the better way," said he, half aloud, while, takingForester's hand, he led him over to a sofa, and pressed him downbeside him. "I seldom have made an error in guessing a man's character,throughout a long and somewhat remarkable life. I think I am safe insaying that you feel a warm interest in my friend Darcy's family?"
"You do me but justice; gratitude alone, if I had no stronger motive,secures them every good wish of mine."
"But you have stronger motives, young man," said Daly, looking at himwith a piercing glance; "if you had not, I 'd think but meanly of you,nor did I want that blush to tell me so."
Forester looked down in confusion. The abruptness of the address socompletely unmanned him that he could make no answer. While Daly wenton: "I force no confidences, young man, nor have I any right to askthem; enough for my present purpose that I know you care deeply for thisfamily; now, sir, but a week back the ambition to be allied with themhad satisfied the proudest wish of the proudest house--to-day they areruined."
Overwhelmed with surprise and sorrow, Forester sat silently, whileDaly rapidly, but circumstantially, narrated the story of the Knight'scalamity, and the total wreck of his once princely fortune.
"Yes," said Daly, as with flashing eyes he arose and utteredaloud,--"yes, the broad acres won by many a valiant deed, the landswhich his ancestors watered with their blood, lost forever; not by greatcrimes, not forfeited by any bold but luckless venture, for there issomething glorious in that,--but stolen, filched away by theft. ByHeaven! our laws and liberties do but hedge round crime with so manydefences that honesty has nothing left but to stand shivering outside.Better were the days when the strong hand avenged the deep wrong, or,if the courage were weak, there was the Throne to appeal to againstoppression. Forester, I see how this news afflicts you; I judged you toowell to think that your own dashed hopes entered into your sorrow. No,no, I know you
better. But come, we have other duties than to mourn overthe past. Has Lord Castlereagh received Darcy's note, resigning his seatin Parliament?"
"He has; a new writ is preparing for Mayo." "Sharp practice; I think Ican detect the fair round hand of Mr. Heffernan there,--no matter, afew days more and the world will know all; ay, the world, so full ofhonorable sentiments and noble aspirations, will smile and jeston Darcy's ruin, that they may with better grace taunt the vulgarassumption of Hickman O'Reilly. I know it well,--some would say I boughtthe knowledge dearly. When I set out in life, my fortune was nearlyequal to the Knight's, my ideas of living and expenditure based on thesame views as his own,--that same barbaric taste for profusion which hasbeen transmitted to us from father to son. Ay, we retained everythingof feudalism save its chivalry! Well, I never knew a day nor an hour ofindependence till the last acre of that great estate was sold, andgone from me forever. Fawning flattery, intrigue, and trickery besetme wherever I went; ruined gamblers, match-making mothers, bankruptspeculators, plotting political adventurers, dogged me at every step;nor could I break through the trammels by which they fettered me, exceptat the price of my ruin; when there was no longer a stake to play for,they left the table. Poor Darcy, however, is not a lonely stem, like me,riven and lightning-struck; he has a wife and children; but for that,I would not fear to grasp his stout hand and say, 'Come on to fortune.'Poor Maurice, whose heart could never stand the slightest wrong done thehumblest cottier on his land, how will he bear up now? Forester, you cando me a great service. Could you obtain leave for a day or two?"
"Command me how and in what way you please," said the youth, eagerly.
"I understand that proffer, and accept it as freely as it is given."
"Nay, you are mistaken," said Forester, faltering. "I will be candidwith you; you have a right to all my confidence, for you have trustedin me. Your suspicions are only correct in part; my affection is indeedengaged, but I have received none in return: Miss Darcy has rejectedme."
"But not without hope?"
"Without the slightest hope."
"By Heaven, it is the only gleam of light in all the gloomy business,"said Daly, energetically; "had Helen's love been yours, this calamityhad been ten thousand times worse. Nay, nay, this is not the sentimentof cold and selfish old age; you wrong me, Forester, but the hour iscome when every feeling within that noble girl's heart is due to thosewho have loved and cherished her from childhood. Now is the time torepay the watchful care of infancy, and recompense the anxious fearsthat spring from parental affection; not a sentiment, not a thought,should be turned from that channel now. It would be treason to win onesmile, one passing look of kind meaning from those eyes, every beam ofwhich is claimed by 'Home.' Helen is equal to her destiny,--that I knowwell; and you, if you would strive to be worthy of her, do not endeavorto make her falter in her duty. Trust me, there is but one road to aheart like hers,--the path of high and honorable ambition."
"You are right," said Forester, in a sad and humble voice,--"you areright; I offered her a heart before it was worthy of her acceptance."
"That avowal is the first step towards rendering it such one day," saidDaly, grasping his hand in both his own. "Now to my request: you canobtain this leave, can you?"
"Yes, yes; how can I make it of any service to you?"
"Simply thus: I have offered, and Darcy has accepted, a humble cottageon the northern coast, as a present asylum for the family. The remoteand secluded nature of the place will at least withdraw them fromthe impertinence of curiosity, or the greater impertinence of vulgarsympathy. A maiden sister of mine is the present occupant, and I wish tocommunicate the intelligence to her, that she may make any preparationswhich may be necessary for their coming, and also provide herself withsome other shelter. Maria is as great a Bedouin as myself, and with asstrong a taste for vagabondage; she 'll have no difficulty in housingherself, that's certain. The only puzzle is how to apprise her of theintended change: there is not a post-office within eight or ten miles ofthe place, nor, if there were, would she think of sending to look fora letter; there 's nothing for it but a special envoy: will you be theman?"
"Most willingly; only give me the route, and my instructions."
"You shall have both. Come and dine with me here at five--order horsesto your carriage for eight o'clock, and I'll take care of the rest."
"Agreed," said Forester; "I'll lose no time in getting ready for theroad--the first thing is my leave."
"Is there a difficulty there?"
"There shall be none," said Forester, hurriedly, as he seized his hat,and, bidding Daly good-bye, hastened downstairs and into the street."They 'll refuse me, I know that," muttered he, as he went along; "andif they do, I'll pitch up the appointment on the spot; this slightservice over, I'm ready to join my regiment." And so saying, he turnedhis steps towards the Castle, resolved on the course to follow.
Meanwhile Daly, after a brief consultation with the lawyer, sat down towrite to his sister. Simple and easy as the act is to many--far too muchso, as most men's correspondence would testify--letter-writing, to somepeople, is an affair of no common difficulty. Perhaps every one in thisworld has some stumbling-block of this kind ever before him: some mencannot learn chess, some never can be taught to ride, others, if theywere to get the world for it, could not carve a hare. It would be unfairto quote newly introduced difficulties, such as how to bray in the Houseof Commons, the back step in the polka, and so on; the original evilsare enough for our illustration.
Bagenal Daly's literary difficulties were manifold; he was a discursivethinker, passionate and vehement whenever the occasion prompted, and asunable to control such influences when writing as speaking; and, withvery liberal ideas on the score of spelling, he wrote a hand which, ifonly examined upside down, might have passed for Hebrew, with an undueproportion of points; besides these defects, he entertained a thoroughcontempt for all writing as an exponent of men's sentiments. His opinionwas, that speech was the great prerogative of living men, all othermodes of expression being feeble and miserable expedients; and, to dohim justice, he conformed, as far as in him lay, to his own theory, andmade his writing as like his speaking as could be. Brevity was thegreat quality he studied, and for this reason we venture to present theepistle to our readers:--
Dear Molly,--
The bill is carried--or, what comes to the same, the third reading comeson next Tuesday, and they 'll have a majority--d----n their majority, Iforget the number. I was told that bribes were plenty as blackberries.I wish they 'd leave as many stains after them. They offered menothing--they were right there. There is a kind of bottle-nosed whalethe Indians never harpoon; they call him "Hik-na-critchka,"--more bonethan blubber. Darcy might have been an Earl, or a Marquis, or a Duke,perhaps; they wanted one gentleman so much, they 'd have bid high forhim. Poor fellow, he is ruined now! that scoundrel Gleeson has run awaywith everything, forged, falsified, and thieved to any extent. Yourunlucky four thousand, of course, is gone to the devil with the rest.I 'm sick of cant. People talk of badgers and such like, and yet no onesays a word about exterminating attorneys! The rascal jumped over inthe Channel, and was drowned--the shark got a bitter pill that swallowedhim. I have told Darcy he might have "the Corvy;" you can easily find awigwam down the coast. Forester, who brings this, knows all. We mustall economize, I suppose. I 've given up Maccabaw already, and takento Blackguard, in compliment to the Secretary. I must sell or shoot oldDrummer at last, he can't draw his breath, and won't draw the gig.I only remain here till the House is up, when I must be up too andstirring--there is a confounded bond--no matter, more at another time.
Yours ever,
Bagenal Daly.
St. George is to be the Chief Baron--an improvement of the allegory,"Justice will be deaf as well as blind." Devil take them all!
The chorus of a Greek play, so seemingly abstruse and incoherent to ourpresent thinking, was, we are told, made easily comprehensible by theaid of gesture and pantomime; and in the same way, by supplying thef
ancied accompaniment of her brother's voice and action, Miss Dalywas enabled to read and understand this strange epistle. Bagenal gavehimself little trouble in examining how far it conveyed his meaning;but, like a careless traveller who huddles his clothes into hisportmanteau, and is only anxious to make the lock meet, his greatestcare was to fold up the document and inclose it within an envelope;that done, he hoped it was all right,--in any case, his functionswere concluded regarding it, for, as he muttered to himself, he onlycontracted to write, not to read, his own letter.
Forester was punctual to the hour appointed; and if not really lessdepressed than before, the stimulating sense of having a service toperform made him seem less so. His self-esteem was flattered, too, byhis own bold line of acting, for he had just resigned his appointment onthe Staff, his application for leave having been unsuccessful. The factthat his rash conduct might involve him in trouble or difficulty was notwithout its own sense of pleasure, for, so is it in all rebellion, thegreat prompter is personal pride. He would gladly have told Daly whathad happened; but a delicate fear of increasing the apparent load ofobligation prevented him, and he consequently confined his remarks onthe matter to bis being free, and at liberty to go wherever his friendpleased.
"Here, then," said Daly, leading him across the room to a table, onwhich a large map of Ireland lay open, "I have marked your route theentire way. Follow that dark line with your eye northwards toColeraine,--so far you can travel with your carriage and post-horses;how to cross this bit of desert here I must leave to yourself: there maybe a road for a wheeled carriage or not, in my day there was none; thatis, however, a good many years back; the point to strive for should besomewhere hereabouts. This is Dunluce Castle--well, if I rememberaright, the spot is here: you must ask for 'the Corvy,'--the fishermenall know the cabin by that name; it was originally built out of thewreck of a French vessel that was lost there, and the word Corvy is aNorthern version of Corvette. Once there,--and I know you 'll not findany difficulty in reaching it,--my sister will be glad to receive you; Ineed not say the accommodation does not rival Gwynne Abbey, no more thanpoor Molly does Helen Darcy; you will be right welcome, however,--somuch I can pledge myself, not the less so that your journey wasundertaken from a motive of true kindness. I don't well know how much orhow little I have said in that letter; you can explain all I may haveomitted,--the chief thing is to get the cabin ready for the Darcys assoon as may be. Give her this pocket-book,--I was too much hurriedto-day to transact business at the bank; but the north road is a safe one,and you 'll not incur any risk. And now one glass to the success of theenterprise, and I 'll not detain you longer; I 'll give you old Martin'stoast:--
"May better days soon be our lot, Or better courage, if we have them not."
Forester pledged the sentiment in a bumper, and they parted.
"Good stuff in that young fellow," muttered Daly, as he looked afterhim; "I wish he had some Irish blood, though; these Saxons require adeal of the hammer to warm them, and never come to a white heat afterall."
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