CHAPTER LXVII.
THE ADMIRAL'S STORY OF THE BEAUTIFUL BELINDA.
Just at this moment Flora Bannerworth stole into the room from whenceshe had departed a short time since; but when she saw that old AdmiralBell was looking so exceedingly serious, and apparently about to addressHenry upon some very important subject, she would have retired, but heturned towards her, and said,--
"My story, my dear, I've no objection to your hearing, and, like allwomen folks, a love story never comes amiss to you; so you may as wellstay and hear it."--"A love story," said Flora; "you tell a love story,sir?"
"Yes, my dear, and not only tell it, but be the hero of it, likewise;ain't you astonished?"--"I am, indeed."
"Well, you'll be more astonished then before I've done; so just listen.As Jack Pringle says, it was the matter of about somewhere forty yearsago, that I was in command of the Victory frigate, which was placed uponthe West Indian station, during a war then raging, for the protection ofour ports and harbours in that vicinity. We'd not a strong force in thatquarter, therefore, I had to cut about from place to place, and do thebest I could. After a time, though, I rather think that we frightenedoff the enemy, during which time I chiefly anchored off the island ofAntigua, and was hospitably received at the house of a planter, of thename of Marchant, who, in fact, made his house my home, and introducedme to all the _elite_ of the society of the island. Ah! Miss Flora,you've no idea, to look at me now, what I was then; I held a captain'scommission, and was nearly the youngest man in the service, with such arank. I was as slender, ay, as a dancing master. These withered andbleached locks were black as the raven's plume. Ay, ay, but no matter:the planter had a daughter."
"And you loved her?" said Flora--"Loved her," said the old man, and theflush of youthful animation come to his countenance; "loved her, do yousay! I adored her; I worshipped her; she was to me--but what a d----dold fool, I am; we'll skip that if you please."
"Nay, nay," said Flora; "that is what I want to hear."--"I haven't theleast doubt of that, in the world; but that's just what you won't hear;none of your nonsense, Miss Flora; the old man may be a fool, but heisn't quite an idiot."
"He's neither," said Flora; "true feelings can never disgrace anyone."--"Perhaps not; but, however, to make a long story short, somehowor other, one day, Belinda was sitting alone, and I rudely pounced uponher; I rather think then I must have said something that I oughtn't tohave said, for it took her so aback; I was forced, somehow or other, tohold her up, and then I--I--yes; I'm sure I kissed her; and so, I toldher I loved her; and then, what do you think she said?"
"Why," said Flora, "that she reciprocated the passion."--"D--n my rags,"said Jack, who at the moment came into the room, "I suppose that's thename of some shell or other."
"You here, you villain!" said the admiral; "I thought you weregone."--"So I was," said Jack, "but I came back for my hat, you see."
Away he went again, and the admiral resumed his story.
"Well, Miss Flora," he said, "you haven't made a good guess, as shedidn't say anything at all, she only clung to me like some wild bird toits mother's breast, and cried as if her heart would break."--"Indeed!"
"Yes; I didn't know the cause of her emotion, but at last I got it outof her."--"What was it?"
"Oh, a mere trifle; she was already married to somebody else, that'sall; some d----d fellow, who had gone trading about the islands, afellow she didn't care a straw about, that was old enough to be herfather."
"And you left her?"--"No, I didn't. Guess again. I was a mad-headedyoungster. I only felt--I didn't think. I persuaded her to come awaywith me. I took her aboard my ship, and set sail with her. A few weeksflew like hours; but one day we were hailed by a vessel, and when weneared her, she manned a boat and brought a letter on board, addressedto Belinda. It was from her father, written in his last moments. Itbegan with a curse and ended with a blessing. There was a postscript inanother hand, to say the old man died of grief. She read it by my sideon the quarter-deck. It dropped from her grasp, and she plunged into thesea. Jack Pringle went after her; but I never saw her again."
"Gracious Heavens! what a tragedy!"--"Yes, tolerable," said the old man.
He arose and took his hat and placed it on his head. He gave the crownof it a blow that sent it nearly over his eyes. He thrust his hands deepinto his breeches pockets, clenched his teeth, and muttered somethinginaudible as he strode from the apartment.
"Who would have thought, Henry," said Flora, "that such a man as AdmiralBell had been the hero of such an adventure?"--"Ay, who indeed; but itshows that we never can judge from appearances, Flora; and that thosewho seem to us the most heart-whole may have experienced the wildestvicissitudes of passion."
"And we must remember, likewise, that this was forty years ago, Henry,which makes a material difference in the state of the case as regardsAdmiral Bell."
"It does indeed--more than half a lifetime; and yet how evident it wasthat his old feelings clung to him. I can well imagine the many hours ofbitter regret which the memory of this his lost love must have givenhim."
"True--true. I can feel something for him; for have I not lost one wholoved me--a worse loss, too, than that which Admiral Bell relates; foram I not a prey to all the horrors of uncertainty? Whereas he knew theworst, and that, at all events, death had claimed its victim, leavingnothing to conjecture in the shape of suffering, so that the mind hadnothing to do but to recover slowly, but surely, as it would from theshock which it had received."
"That is worse than you, Flora; but rather would I have you cherish hopeof soon beholding Charles Holland, probably alive and well, than fancyany great disaster has come over him."
"I will endeavour to do so," replied Flora.
"I long to hear what has become of Dr. Chillingworth. His disappearanceis most singular; for I fully suspected that he had some particularobject in view in getting possession for a short time of BannerworthHall; but now, from Jack Pringle's account, he appears not to be in it,and, in fact, to have disappeared completely from the sight of all whoknew him."
"Yes," said Flora; "but he may have done that, brother, still infurtherance of his object."
"It may be so, and I will hope that it is so. Keep yourself close,sister, and see no one, while I proceed to his house to inquire if theyhave heard anything of him. I will return soon, be assured; and, in themeantime, should you see my brother, tell him I shall be at home in anhour or so, and not to leave the cottage; for it is more than likelythat the admiral has gone to Bannerworth Hall, so that you may not seeanything of him for some time."
Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood Page 66