The Lady of Loyalty House: A Novel
Page 33
EPILOGUE
Master Marfleet in his "Diurnal" hides in his prolixities someparticulars interesting to us. Thus we learn incidentally from somereflections on the wickedness of the great, that while the Kingreigned in Oxford--to Master Marfleet he is always the "Man of Blood"when he is not Nebuchadnezzar--Lady Brilliana Harby was in such favorat the court and with the Queen as to obtain patents of knighthoodfor two neighbors of hers, one Paul Hungerford and one Peter Rainham.We further learn that Brilliana accompanied the Queen--in whom Mr.Marfleet traces a remarkable likeness to Jezebel--to France in 1644,after which "flight of kites, crows, and other carrion fowl"--thewords are Mr. Marfleet's--the estate of Harby came, through the goodoffices of General Cromwell, into the hands of Colonel Evander Cloud,much to Mr. Marfleet's satisfaction, a satisfaction which theschool-master did not live long enough to lose.
Of Colonel Cloud's honorable military career we find abrief but eminently satisfactory account in CorporalBlow-the-Trumpet-against-Jericho Pring's pamphlet--now morethan scarce--entitled "The Roll-Call of the Regiments of Zion."
From a letter of Colonel Cloud's, preserved in the Perrington Papers(_Historical Manuscripts Commission_, vol. XCIX., B), we learn thatafter Naseby the writer found among the dying the person of Sir RufusQuaryll.
"As God may forgive me," he writes, "I had sought for this man inencounter after encounter, with black thoughts of vengeance in mybosom. But as he lay there I felt constrained by divine impulse toforgive him, though he made me no answer but to curse horribly at meand at the fool who took my place; and so passed away, as I fear,very impenitent."
After the surrender of the King by the Scots, and the end, as itseemed, of the civil war, Colonel Cloud, with the permission of hisgreat chief, retired from active affairs and made his way to France,to Paris, where, in the early spring of 1647, he was married to LadyBrilliana Harby. Some of the French writers of the time make rathermerry over this romantic union and the five years fidelity of squireand dame--Strephon and Chloe, as they are pleased to call them. Butthe laugh is rather on the wrong side of the face, for it is wellknown that there was bitter disappointment in the hearts and on thelips of many French gallants who had tried their best to win thebeautiful English girl, and greatly resented her reservation for thissolemn gentleman. One or two efforts, however, to make thisresentment plain to the English soldier resulting uncomfortably,after a brisk morning's work, in the temporary disablement of oneaggressor and the repeated disarming of another, in the end the"homme a Cromwell" was left to wed in peace. Oddly enough, his bestman was his old acquaintance Sir Blaise Mickleton, who, havingrealized his property in good time, had settled in Paris since 1644and had almost forgotten his native tongue, which he spoke, when hedid speak, with a little broken French accent, very pretty to hear.He had once tried to renew his pretensions to the hand of Brilliana,and had been so startlingly rebuffed that he never repeated theeffort and was content to remain her very good friend. Evander was inEngland once or twice during the years 1647 and 1648, but after thedeath of the King, against which he vainly protested, with his famousfriend he settled down in France, in the Loire country, for manyhappy years.
After the Restoration, Harby Hall passed by mutual arrangement intothe hands of Sir Randolph Harby, who had cheerfully ruined himself inthe service of his King. Through him the name still persists inMaryland, in America. Harby itself was destroyed by fire early in theeighteenth century. It was not rebuilt; the moat was filled up, andno trace of Loyalty House remains to-day. In Harby church-yard thereis an ancient stone, set there by Brilliana's order. It bears thename of Halfman, the date of his death, and after that date thewords, "I did hear you speak, far above singing."
THE END