THE DOUBLE DU^L; 
 
 HOBOKEN. 
 
 BY THEODORE S. FAY, ESQ. 
 
 AUTHOR OF " THE COUNTESS," 
 " NORMAN LESLIE," ETC. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 1843.
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by S. & J. BBNTLEY, WILSOM, and FLBY, 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 CHARLES SUMNER, ESQUIRE, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 % 
 THESE VOLUMES ARE INSCRIBED, 
 
 WITH THE SINCERE ADMIRATION AN.D ESTEEM OF 
 HIS FAITHFtiL FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Berlin, 28th Sept. 1842. 
 
 2202887
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " WHAT are you going to do on your 
 birthetoay, Harry?" inquired Mr. Lennox. 
 " It 's next Thursday, isn't it ? and you 're 
 one and twenty, I believe." 
 
 "I haven't formed any projects, sir," 
 replied Harry. 
 
 " I hope you 're going to give us some 
 sort of a celebration on the occasion, 
 father?" said Mary Lennox, laughing. 
 
 " I was going to propose a trip to 
 Rose Hill ; we might ask the Eltons, and 
 one or two others, and make a pleasant 
 family party a sort of pic-nic." 
 
 " If there is going to be a celebration," 
 said Frank Lennox, a young lieutenant, 
 just graduated from West Point, " / 
 prefer Rose Hill."
 
 2 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " So I thought." remarked Mary, laugh- 
 ing. 
 
 " As to Rose Hill," rejoined Mr. Len- 
 nox, " we shall be obliged to give that 
 up for Thursday. But I '11 make another 
 proposition. We '11 have no celebration 
 at all, but a quiet family dinner, with 
 your uncle and aunt Henderson, and go 
 in the evening to the theatre, and hear 
 Horn." 
 
 " And, father," said Mary, " we 11 ask 
 the Eltons to dine, and take them with 
 us. What say you, Frank ? " 
 
 " Who, I ? " exclaimed Frank. " Oh, 
 certainly, anything for a quiet house 
 any-body It 's quite the same to me.' 1 
 
 " O you hypocrite !" said Mary ; ".you 've 
 no preference for Mrs. Elton certainly 
 not !" 
 
 " What do you mean by that, Mary ? " 
 asked Frank. 
 
 " And why not Mrs. Elton ? " said Mr. 
 Lennox. " She is a very charming lady, 
 a gay, amiable, excellent and very hand- 
 some woman ; a little eloquent, perhaps, 
 but I like her because she has a heart.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. S 
 
 Mrs. Elton is one of my beauties, al- 
 though she is fifty." 
 
 " Why, so are you fifty, father," said 
 Mary, laughing, " for the matter of that." 
 
 "I don't believe it !" cried Mr. Lennox. 
 " It 's too ridiculous ! Why, I don't feel 
 a bit older than I did when your too 
 susceptible mamma fell furiously in love 
 with me." 
 
 " Nonsense, nor a bit wiser, 1 ' said his 
 wife. " I don't see any particular differ- 
 ence in you, myself," continued she, look- 
 ing at him, half reproachfully, half affec- 
 tionately ; " only you 've grown rather 
 younger, and wilder. Indeed, to do you 
 justice, when you used to pay court to me, 
 five-and-twenty years ago, you certainly 
 were much graver and more sensible 
 than you are now. I never saw such 
 a gentle, low spoken, modest person. If 
 I could have known what a hair-brained 
 young madcap you would turn out at 
 fifty, I shouldn't have had you." 
 
 This was received with renewed laugh- 
 ter by the happy family circle. 
 
 Mr. Lennox was a very handsome man. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 His once dark hair was not the less luxu- 
 riant, or becomingly disposed, from the 
 very general and decided change of colour 
 which he was pleased to denominate a 
 " touch of grey." His complexion showed 
 the natural effect of a long course of good 
 living, in a gentlemanly ruddiness, which 
 scarcely detracted from his good looks. 
 His person was tall, well formed, and 
 dignified, his voice manly and pleasing, 
 his eyes fine, and his manners particularly 
 fascinating. The benevolence, good hu- 
 mour, and esprit of his character disco- 
 vered themselves in all he did and said, 
 and the sort of thoughtlessness, which 
 might appear startling in any other man 
 of his age, threw around him only an air 
 of originality. 
 
 " To come back to Mrs. Elton, how- 
 ever," said he, " if I should be under 
 the necessity of seeking a new helpmate, 
 which, nevertheless, I hope won't be the 
 case, Katy, my dear, it wouldn't be the 
 old lady I should make up to, by any 
 manner of means. She has rattier too 
 redundant a flow of conversation for my
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 5 
 
 quiet and retiring disposition. I should 
 carry the war into another quarter." 
 
 "And, pray, who would it be, father?" 
 inquired Mary. " Whom would you give 
 me for a second mamma ?" 
 
 " Why, that little witch, Fanny Elton, 
 to be sure." 
 
 Mary and her mother here interchanged 
 glances, and laughed with a significance 
 which appeared, as Othello says, to mean 
 something. 
 
 " You stand some chance of being 
 rather rather " 
 
 "Rather what?" 
 
 " Rather cut out, father," said Mary. 
 
 " And who is the fellow, pray ?" 
 
 A glance full of good-natured mischief, 
 which Mary cast towards Frank, appeared 
 to throw some light on the mystery. 
 Frank returned it with a look of great 
 indignation, at the same time colouring 
 obviously. 
 
 "What! the lieutenant?" cried Mr. 
 Lennox. " What, sir ! you have had the 
 audacity" 
 
 " It's the most absurd thing possible,"
 
 O THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 said Frank. " Mary is always full of 
 nonsensical ideas." 
 
 "You need not look so angry, 1 ' said 
 Mrs. Lennox ; " there 's nothing to be 
 ashamed of."" 
 
 "Ashamed !" repeated Frank, "I'm not 
 ashamed, but I think Mary might devise 
 more profitable occupation than than 
 endeavouring to discover facts, and circu- 
 lating reports of things, which which do 
 not exist." 
 
 " You 're rather hard upon Frank," said 
 Harry. " He cannot publicly acknow- 
 ledge a hope without an admission that 
 such a hope has some foundation." 
 
 Lieutenant Lennox here rose from the 
 table, and was leaving the room, when 
 his father called him back. 
 
 " Frank, if you think the attentions of 
 this young lady importunate, had I not 
 better forbid her the house ? Ha ! ha ! 
 ha!" 
 
 The door was closed with a violence 
 which a good observer might have re- 
 marked above the merry laughter occa- 
 sioned by the sally of Mr. Lennox.
 
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 Go after him, Harry," said his mo- 
 ther, "and sooth him. This matter is, I 
 fear, too true for jesting." 
 
 Harry rose and followed his brother out 
 of the room. 
 
 " Is Frank really attached to Fanny 
 Elton?" inquired Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " Certainly," said Mary ; " I have long 
 seen it. They love each other passion- 
 ately." 
 
 " I have sometimes half thought," said 
 Mrs. Lennox, " that Harry " 
 
 " Oh no ! mother, not at all ! He 
 never goes near her. I think, on the 
 contrary, they are perfectly indifferent to 
 each other." 
 
 " I confess," said Mrs. Lennox, " I 
 should like no one so well for a daughter- 
 in-law as Fanny Elton."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THERE is never much sense in jesting 
 at young lovers. If they are entering 
 into a union destined to be favourable 
 to their happiness, there is surely nothing 
 to ridicule. If not, it is rather too serious 
 an affair to jest with. Miss Elton had 
 been like one of the family for years, 
 and the Lennox children had played with 
 her, and quarreled and romped, in happy 
 freedom from the feverish malady which 
 goes in the world by the name of love. 
 But Time that revolutionizing old gen- 
 tleman, always busy with everything, had 
 almost imperceptibly altered the indivi- 
 duals in question. He had advanced the 
 little sturdy hoop-playing Harry into a pro- 
 mising young lawyer ; and Mary, with her 
 short cropped boyish hair and pantelettes, 
 into a slender girl of about fifteen. 
 Frank's round jacket, and smooth rosy
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 9 
 
 face, were metamorphosed into an offi- 
 cer's becoming coat, and a manly counte- 
 nance, browned by the sun, where, how- 
 ever, as yet, lurked all the ingenuousness 
 of a boy ; while Fanny Elton, from the , 
 sweetest little rosy-cheeked, bright-eyed 
 child that ever was seen who had a kiss 
 for everybody that she loved, without 
 particular reference to age or sex, had, 
 some how or other, acquired a new form 
 and new ideas. And in the intervals of 
 Frank's military education at West Point, 
 when he came home on a visit, or the 
 family spent a day or two at that enchant- 
 ing spot, he saw, year after year, the 
 riotous little beautiful torn-boy softened 
 and subdued into gentle and lovely girl- 
 hood; inches and feet added to her 
 stature, new lines and graces to her 
 countenance, new charms to her form, 
 timidity, blushes, expression, thought, feel- 
 ing, and opinions, unfolding themselves, 
 like hues and leaves in a rose-bud. The 
 romping and kissing, the shouting and 
 quarreling, had ceased. He was deep 
 in the mysteries of mathematics, engi- 
 
 B 5
 
 10 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 neering, and other accomplishments, in- 
 dispensable to his profession. To make 
 a long story short, Frank was despe- 
 rately in love with her. In his pre- 
 sent condition, he was not altogether, 
 however, at his ease, as, what lover 
 ever is ? He had no reason to sup- 
 pose himself disagreeable to her ; on 
 the contrary, their long acquaintance, the 
 intimacy of their childhood, the tender 
 and close attachment and companionship 
 existing between her and his sister, placed 
 him on terms of perfect familiarity, and 
 gave him not only the constant access 
 of a favourite cousin, but of a brother. 
 /Lovers have been who for a moment's 
 solitary interview with the object of their 
 affection, for one touch of the peerless 
 hand, one lock of hair, one worn ribband, 
 would have risked their lives. Frank's 
 case was different. He was with this 
 young person as often, as much, and as 
 unobservedly as he pleased. He occa- 
 sionally walked with her from his father's 
 house, quite alone. He had already made 
 a tolerable collection of ribbands, shoe-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 11 
 
 strings, old roses, etc., in the indefinite 
 augmentation of which he did not see 
 any particular danger or difficulty ; and, 
 had he boldly and plumply asked her 
 for a lock of that rich auburn hair, on 
 the occasion of his departure for Prairie 
 du Chien, where he was likely to remain 
 six or seven years, it is probable that, 
 although the request had been preferred 
 at dinner, before the whole family, the 
 warm-hearted, sunshiny girl would have 
 clipped him off a good bouncing handful, 
 without a moment's hesitation. Yet, here 
 he was, soon to start off for a place, so 
 many miles distant, without any pro- 
 bability of seeing her in seven long, 
 changeful, horrible years ; and yet he 
 had not dared to venture any actual 
 statement of his case, either to her or 
 to any one else. The profound passion 
 which steeped his soul had led him only 
 to break his repose by frequent moon- 
 light promenades ; to a considerable out- 
 lay of sixpences and shillings for Havan- 
 nah cigars ; to much melancholy medi- 
 tation, to many mournful sighs, and to
 
 12 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 divers valorous resolutions of decisive ac- 
 tion, which melted into thin air at the 
 presence of the laughing, lovely girl who 
 had made all this havoc with him. 
 
 One thing, however, he relied on, name- 
 ly, that the state of his heart was un- 
 observed by others. He had fancied 
 it in his power to be with such a girl, 
 in the presence of other women, and 
 those women his mother and sister, with- 
 out betraying himself to them ; and, 
 perhaps, he was not unreasonable in such 
 a supposition. ' For how could he, in his 
 innocence, fear that what he had endea- 
 voured so long and ineffectually to com- 
 municate to the object of it, had been 
 divined by two comparatively uninte- 
 rested spectators. 
 
 The onset of his whole family, at break- 
 fast, had cast a new light over the affair. 
 He had been detected, exposed, and 
 quizzed. At first he seriously thought of 
 setting out for Prairie du Chien that very 
 morning, without bidding good-bVe to any- 
 body, and taking with him only his hat 
 and cane. Then, he resolved to throw
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 13 
 
 himself at the feet of Miss Elton and 
 ask her, just in so many words, whether 
 she would have him or not. Then, he 
 conceived the idea of crushing in its 
 bud a passion which could not be fortu- 
 nate ; and all these fiery impulses ended 
 in his choosing, with some care, a cigar 
 from a silver box 6n the mantelpiece, 
 lighting the same by a pretty fire-machine 
 at its side, sitting down in a comfortable 
 fauteuil by an open window looking into 
 a garden full of lilac and other flowers, 
 and smoking furiously. In this state 
 Harry found him when, at his mother's 
 request, he left the breakfast-table on his 
 conciliatory commission. 
 
 " You'll ruin your health, smoking as 
 you do, Frank," said he, by way of opening 
 the conversation, and with something of 
 the paternal authority of an elder brother. 
 " You smoke too much ; one or two cigars 
 a-day are enough for any one. Beyond 
 that by the way, those are very nice ones. 
 Where did you get them ?" 
 
 " I ordered a box home yesterday from 
 Benninger's. Try one, they are superb !"
 
 14 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " I don't care, for this once, if I do 
 smoke one with you, though I generally 
 postpone it till after dinner. 11 
 
 The luxury of the cigar is not confined 
 to its mere physical solace. Its manage- 
 ment aids conversation, and the attention 
 to be paid to it fills up the pauses. If 
 the smoker be an awkward person, it 
 furnishes employment for his hands ; if 
 there is any embarrassment in the inter- 
 view, it covers it. Could such a thing 
 have been possible, as Frank having Miss 
 Elton at his side while he smoked his 
 cigar, he would have dared and known 
 his fate long ago. 
 
 Some consciousness of this peculiarity 
 of the cigar appeared to pass through the 
 mind of Harry. Perhaps he did not 
 fully know himself why he smoked on 
 the present occasion, contrary to his own 
 advice and habit. He puffed away rapidly, 
 almost as much so as Frank had done, 
 with a nervous uneasiness; and scarcely 
 had the ashes begun to appear, when he 
 knocked them off with a smart blow of 
 his little finger.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 15 
 
 At length he spoke, after emitting one 
 or two clouds, not with the measured self- 
 enjoyment of a smoker, who feels the 
 charm of what he is doing, but with an 
 abrupt air. 
 
 "Frank, what's all this about you and 
 Fanny Elton ?" 
 
 " Nothing but Mary's nonsense." 
 
 " Do you tell me, on your honour, that 
 you have no attachment for her?" 
 
 "On my honour? who said anything 
 about honour?" 
 
 " I ask you in earnest." 
 
 " Then, in earnest," said Frank, " I do 
 love her." 
 
 " And you mean to marry her ?" 
 
 " Certainly, if she '11 have me." 
 
 " Does she love you?" 
 
 " Ah, my dear fellow ! that 's cutting 
 rather close." 
 
 " No matter ; answer me." 
 
 " I think I hope she does." 
 
 " Has she said so ? " 
 
 " No, not exactly said so." 
 
 " Have you ever spoken to her on the 
 subject?"
 
 16 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 "Never!" 
 
 " Have you good reasons for your 
 hopes?" 
 
 " Yes no certainly." 
 
 Harry paused, but went on smoking at 
 rather a rapid rate. 
 
 " Very well, that 's enough I thought 
 it but fair to ask you this ; the whole 
 family seemed to think so, and you ought 
 not to deceive them, or the young lady 
 herself. I congratulate you, my dear fel- 
 low ; she's a charming girl, and I hope you 
 may win her well, and wear her long." 
 
 "Where are you going?" asked Frank. 
 
 " I 've business in the office." 
 
 " Stop one moment. I have answered 
 all your questions, Harry, have I not ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Well, now then, if you please, you 
 must answer one of mine." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" 
 
 " Confidence, Harry, begets confidence ; 
 and no one puts such broad questions as 
 you have asked me, without laying him- 
 self open to be cross-examined in his 
 turn."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 17 
 
 " Well, there is truth in that," said 
 Harry. " I have no objection to answer 
 you anything, I 'm sure ; but you would, 
 nevertheless, oblige me greatly by not 
 asking." 
 
 " That is a favour I can't grant. You 
 must tell me, now, do you love Miss 
 Elton?" 
 
 " No, I cannot love a woman who loves 
 another." 
 
 " Have you ever loved her ?" 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 " Yes, I once fancied so." 
 
 " And have you had reason to suppose 
 she loved you?" continued Frank. 
 
 " Never. On the contrary ; a year ago, 
 for a short time, I nourished some such 
 foolish idea, but it has entirely vanished 
 of itself, and I have always found her 
 cold and shy." 
 
 " Do you think she knows you loved 
 her?" 
 
 " No, I don't think she has the remotest 
 idea of it. On the contrary, she thinks I 
 despise her ; and so," he added, bitterly, 
 " I almost do."
 
 18 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Despise Fanny Elton ? and why ?" 
 
 " I think her capricious, a coquette." 
 
 " There is only one excuse for such a 
 sentiment," said Frank. 
 
 "And what is that?" 
 
 " Love ! disappointed, perhaps, or ima- 
 gining itself disappointed, embittering your 
 criticism and blinding your judgment. I 
 see how it is, you, too, love her." 
 
 " No, by heaven, no ! if she were kneel- 
 ing at my feet I would not marry her. 
 I avoid her presence, and shut my heart 
 against her beauty. If she marry you, 
 and make you a good wife, that may re- 
 concile me to respect her in time, nothing 
 else can." 
 
 " Softly, my good Harry ; what cause 
 have you to hate and despise her, unless 
 a cause growing out, not only of love, 
 but of an idea that you had made some 
 progress in her affection ? No it is clear 
 to me you love her, and, doubtless, she 
 loves you. I am glad you have disclosed 
 this to me before I made a fool of myself 
 by going any further : I wonder I never 
 thought of it before. She has been in
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 19 
 
 the constant habit of seeing you since 
 I have been at West Point ; it would 
 be strange if she did not love you : but 
 better late than never. Now go, Harry ; 
 I have no more questions. I shall take 
 my course." 
 
 " And what do you propose to do ?" 
 " Leave her at once, and for ever ; set 
 out to-morrow morning for Prairie du 
 Chi en, and bury the rest of my life in 
 the west." 
 
 " You can do as you like," said Harry ; 
 " but you must understand me better than 
 to suppose me capable of taking advan- 
 tage of your departure to seek the affec- 
 tions of Miss Elton. It was not my 
 intention, when I entered the room, to 
 say anything of my own feelings ; on the 
 contrary, I thought, and I still think, 
 your union with her would give me plea- 
 sure. You have found out my secret by 
 mere accident ; but, since you have dis- 
 covered it, let me prevent your supposing 
 it other than it is : I will therefore tell 
 you, in perfect frankness, the whole of 
 it. I really did think Miss Elton liked
 
 20 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 me, till one day, about a year ago, I 
 commenced telling her so^ and she did 
 not appear to be offended. We were in- 
 terrupted, I don't remember how, a door 
 opened, or shut, or something of that sort 
 in the next room, and she ran off. I 
 hoped for an opportunity to finish the 
 matter, but no; I've never been able 
 to find one. From thrt time till now, the 
 young lady has avoided being alone with 
 me an instant ; and when with me in com- 
 pany, she 's altogether a different person 
 from what she used to be ; polite, gay, but 
 no more confidence, no more you under- 
 stand me? Of course, when I saw how 
 matters were going, I withdrew. Ha ! 
 ha ! ha ! I abdicated. I 'm not a man to 
 be extinguished by a tender passion, nor 
 have I time to waste in studying Miss 
 Elton's character and caprices ; so, for the 
 last six months, I 've had nothing to say 
 to her more than simple politeness re- 
 quired. On the whole, I 've come to the 
 conclusion that she never did really like 
 me, or if she did, she 's changed, that 's 
 all, as she certainly had full right to do,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 21 
 
 and devilish lucky it is for me that it hap- 
 pened before matters went any further. 
 There, now you know all." 
 
 " I 'm glad you 've told me this," said 
 Frank. " I also shall abdicate." 
 
 " No, you will not make that resolu- 
 tion." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " Because I don't see the necessity of 
 it. I have already made a similar one, 
 which I certainly shan't break. Besides, 
 I have more cause than you to suppose 
 her affection either never existed, or has 
 ceased to exist. It is possible, in her 
 girlish inexperience, she might have fan- 
 cied she liked me, and afterwards dis- 
 covered her mistake. She may have been 
 inspired with that sentiment by another, 
 by you, perhaps. Go forward, win her 
 hand ; it will relieve me from all further 
 unhappiness. Marry her, Frank, and 
 make all three of us happy." 
 
 " And do you think," said Frank, " that 
 I will be excelled in generosity ? " 
 
 " What 's to be done, then ? " said 
 Harry.
 
 22 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Why, I see only one way to settle 
 the difficulty," said Frank, ingenuously, 
 " and that is to try our fortune each of 
 us. There can, after all, be no real 
 conflict of interest here. Fanny Elton 
 wouldn't marry either of us unless she 
 loved." 
 
 " True, quite true," said Harry, in spite 
 of himself showing the relief he felt at 
 the turn the conversation was now taking. 
 
 " We have, then," continued Frank, 
 '"'only to try ; we must each take our 
 chance. The decision of the question 
 does not depend upon us, and we have it 
 not in our power, after all our professed 
 readiness for self-sacrifice, to make her 
 accept one not agreeable to her. The 
 present state of her heart is probably 
 unalterable, as far as regards us. I have 
 thought myself certain, but, when I look 
 back, I see I might easily have mistaken 
 the familiarity of indifference for that of 
 affection, while you may have thought 
 the shyness of love the coldness of dislike. 
 You are, and always were, as delicate 
 and doubting in such matters as I have
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 23 
 
 been, I fear, rash and sanguine. Let us 
 enter the arena, then, fairly and kindly." 
 
 " I agree," said Harry, " because I 
 believe that my failure will lead to your 
 success." 
 
 " And he who succeeds will be the 
 sufferer," said Frank, " because his happi- 
 ness will be dashed with the thought 
 that it has reached over the heart of the 
 other." 
 
 " No, not so," said Harry. " My heart 
 is not so easily shaken, or, at least broken." 
 
 " Well, I will not argue. Who shall 
 make the first trial ? " 
 
 " You. But no, I think the .advantage 
 
 will be with the second. Should the first 
 
 ) rejected, the other has his own time; 
 
 ^d perhaps what is now simple friend - 
 
 siiip, time may ripen into love." 
 
 After a prolonged and animated de- 
 bate upon the point, it was at length 
 agreed that Harry should first address 
 Miss Elton. 
 
 " Go," said Frank, Fanny Elton will 
 be yours." 
 
 " This night, Frank," replied Harry, 
 " you shall sleep without fear of me."
 
 24 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IT happened, as Harry descended the 
 stairs, that Miss Elton was going into the 
 drawing-room, on an early visit to Mary ; 
 a courteous but not very lover-like salu- 
 tation passed between them, Miss Elton 
 entering the room and Harry continuing 
 his way down towards the office. Sud- 
 denly he stopped, crossed by a quick deter- 
 mination peculiar to his character. 
 
 "Why should I delay why waver?" 
 thought he. " No choice is left me ; 
 what I must do, why not do instantly ? 
 That she scorns me is plain; yet, were 
 all the hatred and contempt of the human 
 heart concentrated in one word, and I 
 knew she would utter it, I would do what 
 I have now engaged to do, for Frank's 
 sake, not for mine. His heart shall not 
 beat one moment in unnecessary sus- 
 pense."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 25 
 
 He advanced towards the room, and 
 stood at the door in perplexity at the re- 
 collection that his sister was there too; 
 she came out suddenly, and said, 
 
 " Go in one moment, and entertain 
 Fanny, will you ? I am going up stairs 
 to get her my new cape." 
 
 He entered the room, and was alone 
 with the object of his hopes and his fears. 
 His countenance and manner must have 
 betrayed emotion, for Miss Elton, who 
 was standing by a table, carelessly turning 
 over some new engravings, on looking up 
 exclaimed : 
 
 " Why, Mr. Lennox, what 's the mat- 
 ter?" 
 
 " Nothing, Miss Elton, only I have 
 resolved to delay no longer addressing 
 you on a subject which seriously interests 
 me." 
 
 She looked surprised, and coloured ; and 
 there was a very awkward pause. 
 
 " Miss Elton/' at length resumed the 
 poor fellow, in a low voice, " I have re- 
 solved to throw myself upon your genero- 
 sity. I come frankly to make an offer 
 
 VOL. I. C
 
 26 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 of my hand, trembling lest you reject, 
 and scarcely daring to hope that you will 
 accept me." 
 
 " Sir ! " said Miss Elton, with a cold, 
 undisturbed voice, " I do not understand 
 you. 15 
 
 " Fanny ! how have I offended you ? 
 Is it possible that I have misunderstood, 
 or in any way annoyed you ? " 
 
 " I do not wish any discussion, sir." 
 And she was about leaving the room. 
 
 " I would not be importunate, but some 
 mystery is between us, and a strange 
 necessity hurries me along to know at 
 once " 
 
 " I trust, sir," said Miss Elton, with 
 haughty astonishment, while the colour, 
 which had gradually overspread her face, 
 now left it entirely, " there can be no 
 serious necessity for you to hold, or for 
 me to listen to, such language. I never 
 supposed I could be subjected to an insult 
 from you !" 
 
 There did not exist a man prouder or 
 haughtier than the 'young person who, 
 amazed and shocked, heard this observa-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 27 
 
 tion. But the love, which had for so 
 many years been strengthening in his 
 bosom, and for a long time past had 
 been acquiring the force of a strong 
 stream accidentally obstructed, mastered 
 even his pride. The immediate prospect 
 of death could not have shaken him more 
 than these words from the lips from which 
 they fell. 
 
 " Miss Elton," he stammered, " you 
 cruelly misunderstand me. There is cer- 
 tainly some inconceivable error." 
 
 She walked to the door, and would 
 have left the room, but he barred her 
 passage. 
 
 " If it is your determination," said he, 
 " to treat my proffered love with scorn and 
 insult, let me, at least, request you to 
 hear me explain before I leave the sub- 
 ject for ever." 
 
 " I cannot choose but do so. I am not 
 free to go," said she, coldly. 
 
 " Go, go, Miss Elton, I no longer stop 
 your way/' 
 
 She advanced, but paused on seeing the 
 expression of his face. 
 
 c2
 
 28 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " What do you wish to say ? I will 
 hear you." 
 
 "With that haughty frown on your brow, 
 with that cold scorn in your voice, I 
 scarcely know, Miss Elton, what to say, 
 or how to begin a tale of love. But, 
 nevertheless, I will do it. My whole life, 
 since first my early boyhood felt what 
 love was, has been filled with your image. 
 I loved you before you yourself were old 
 enough to understand my deeper feelings. 
 I once dared to hope you had discovered, 
 and did not disapprove my affection, till, 
 in a moment of boyish imprudence, I 
 dared to betray my feelings, the strange 
 cause of your present resentment. From 
 that time to this you have chosen to alter 
 the relations which I supposed existed 
 between us ; I have felt myself cast off, and 
 have acted accordingly." 
 
 " Oh, you must excuse me," said she, 
 again going. 
 
 " You will forgive my frankness," con- 
 tinued Harry ; " my happiness, however 
 indifferent you may be to it, I cannot see 
 wasted and wearing away without taking
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 29 
 
 some means to preserve it. I will not 
 so humbly bend beneath your words as 
 to say I must be dependent on you for 
 it always. You can bestow it upon me 
 now. But you cannot always deprive me 
 of it. There are other paths other " 
 
 " Women," interrupted she. 
 
 " Even so, Miss Elton. If your words 
 are a true indication of your feelings, 
 independent of any error, say so, that 
 I may know what to believe, what to feel, 
 and what to do." 
 
 The strange mixture of love and rude- 
 ness in this speech, appeared only to 
 confirm the displeasure of the young 
 girl. 
 
 " Mr. Lennox," said she, " I have heard 
 you, that I might reply distinctly. You 
 speak of a necessity, and of your trem- 
 bling lest I accept you. Let me equally 
 free you from your necessity and your 
 fears. I cannot love you." 
 
 He appeared borne down by her deci- 
 sive words and scornful eyes. 
 
 " Fanny, pause one moment, before you 
 separate us for ever; pause one moment,
 
 SO THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 till we are both cooler, and can conduct 
 more prudently a conversation which may 
 be for the happiness or misery of us both, 
 and which I shall never resume if you 
 reject me now. My whole happiness, my 
 prospect in life, perhaps my life itself, 
 hang on the breath of your lips at this 
 moment. Give me time to ascertain the 
 cause of your anger, (for there is some 
 hidden cause,) and to call back the feel- 
 ings for me which once inspired you. 
 Do not reject me, or I solemnly swear I 
 never will resume the subject." 
 
 Miss Elton looked at hini for a moment, 
 and then very calmly replied, 
 
 " Notwithstanding your formidable 
 threat, Mr. Lennox, permit me to say, 
 I not only reject I despise you /" And 
 she left the room.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AMONG the subjects on which time and 
 observation give us light, there are none less 
 understood by the young than themselves, 
 and the manner in which they would feel 
 and act on yet untried occasions. Harry 
 had supposed a rejection by Miss Elton 
 would end his love by arousing his pride, 
 and that the certainty of her indifference 
 would speedily enable him to resume his 
 own. Alas ! he now perceived with con- 
 sternation, that she had acquired only 
 more charms, that he had never before 
 been aware how beautiful, how noble she 
 was. She became infinitely dearer to him 
 than ever. So far from pride being able 
 to overcome love, it was itself overmas- 
 tered. He could scarcely collect his senses 
 to comprehend the full force of those 
 decisive words, that cold contempt which 
 amazed him from its total unexpected-
 
 32 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 ness. She might have declined his ad- 
 dresses, rectified his boyish mistake, re- 
 gretted her inability to reciprocate his 
 affection, and promised him in return 
 esteem and friendship. For this he had 
 been tremblingly prepared. This he could 
 have scarcely borne. But here were scorn, 
 derision, insult, inflicted with a cruelty as 
 insupportable as it was inexplicable. 
 
 He was pacing backward and forward 
 through the room, when Mary and Miss 
 Elton re-entered. His sister did not 
 seem to suspect that anything unusual had 
 taken place, but was laughing and talk- 
 ing, and pointing out the peculiarities of 
 the cape, on which Miss Elton appeared 
 to bestow all the desired attention. 
 
 " It 's very pretty, indeed," said she, in 
 an indifferent voice. " I will get one 
 like it." 
 
 " Will you be good enough to call 
 Frank down stairs, Harry?" said his sister 
 suddenly. " He has made an engage- 
 ment to ride with us. Tell him we 're 
 waiting for him, will you ? The horses 
 have been at the door a quarter of an 
 hour."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 33 
 
 He went away without, at first, ventur- 
 ing to look at Fanny; but, as he closed 
 the door, he turned to steal one glance. 
 There was an expression in her face, un- 
 expected, indescribable, which renewed 
 all his grief and all his love. 
 
 Frank was sitting alone, lost in thought, 
 when he entered, but said immediately, 
 
 " You have seen Miss Elton ?" 
 
 " I have. I have offered myself to her. 
 She has refused me. Frank, she is yours. 
 God bless you both !" 
 
 " But, Harry, you amaze me so soon ?'' 
 
 " Not a word. Never a word more on 
 this subject, I entreat. It is done. I 
 have fulfilled my part. Go and do yours. 
 They are waiting for you in the drawing- 
 room. Go, I beg of you." 
 
 "Frank, are you coming?" said Mary 
 at the bottom of the stairs ; " are you 
 going to keep two ladies here, and three 
 horses waiting for you all day?" 
 
 Frank left him. Harry then locked the 
 door, went to his drawer, took from it a 
 pistol, examined the charge, cocked it, 
 and held the muzzle to his forehead.
 
 34 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 At this moment a dim idea of God 
 came over him. He had rarely thought 
 of his Creator before. About to rush 
 into His presence, it struck him that 
 there might be a reality in future invisible 
 things. He paused ; the reflection of his 
 face from a mirror on the table startled 
 him. Suddenly there was a knock at the 
 door. He felt like a guilty wretch, and 
 trembling, thrust the deadly weapon into 
 the drawer. 
 
 "Who's there?" 
 
 " Your father is waiting for you in the 
 office, if you '11 please to come down," 
 
 " Yes, in one moment." 
 
 It was the voice of young Seth Copely, 
 one of the clerks, who, having delivered 
 the message, withdrew. 
 
 " My father ! my mother ! God ! the 
 future ! What new thoughts are these ? 
 Pause, madman ! At least, not yet, not 
 here, not so. What you do, do wisely, 
 deliberately. 11 
 
 As he spoke, a sudden debility came 
 over him. His violent excitement abat- 
 ing, the natural reaction followed. He
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 35 
 
 sank into a chair, overpowered by an irre- 
 sistible revulsion of feeling, covered his 
 face with his hands, and wept in silent 
 agony. 
 
 Suddenly recollecting the summons of 
 his father, he exerted all his strength of 
 character, of which he had an ample 
 share, though unregulated and misdirect- 
 ed, as well as a certain power of conceal- 
 ing lift emotions which he had mistaken 
 for the power to govern them, and pre- 
 pared to meet him. No one with whom 
 he came into contact suspected he had a 
 few moments before been prevented, only 
 by a casual thought, from committing self- 
 murder. 
 
 At dinner he expected to meet Miss 
 Elton, but she had excused herself on the 
 plea of indisposition.
 
 36 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 HARRY'S offer had been disposed of 
 so very unceremoniously by Miss Elton 
 that it appeared to him inexplicable. He 
 knew that he could not have been mis- 
 taken in her former obvious affection, or 
 in the certainty that she had been alien- 
 ated from him by some extraordinary er- 
 ror, to which his utmost conjectures could 
 furnish no clue. Hastily quitting the 
 dinner-table, whence he perceived his 
 rashness had banished his sister's friend, 
 the favourite and frequent guest of the 
 family, he started off on an excursion, 
 he scarcely knew whither, but he soon 
 found his strong wish for a change of 
 scene had driven him over to Hoboken in 
 one of the ferry-boats, and that he was 
 pressing his way through woods, over 
 fields, and up the steep acclivities of the 
 Weehawken heights, at a most prodigious
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 37 
 
 rate ; stopping sometimes, however, in the 
 midst of his distracted feelings, to ad- 
 mire the beauties of the various views 
 which broke upon him, of the river, bay, 
 shores, and distant city, now all bathed in 
 the silent mellow light of a summer sun- 
 set. 
 
 In the course of this love-sick ramble, 
 mingled images of despair and resentment, 
 resolutions of flight, of marriage with some 
 one else, of suicide, and of a stoical re- 
 turn to calm and sober reason, agitated 
 his brain ; all of which, however, melted 
 into air every time the face of Miss Elton 
 crossed his imagination. One determina- 
 tion, however, he did take. After such a 
 rejection, he might love the young lady or 
 not, according to circumstances ; but he 
 certainly would not make her any more 
 declarations. He would meet her here- 
 after with complete insensibility, and, if 
 his heart should break outright, he would 
 never let her know his suffering. 
 
 While engaged in these reflections, the 
 hours rolled rapidly away, and he heard 
 the bell of the last ferry-boat ringing
 
 38 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 violently. Hastening his steps, he crossed 
 once more the broad and noble river, and 
 took his way along the streets, now glit- 
 tering with evening lights, and filled with 
 crowds of pleasure-seekers. Here he wan- 
 dered till a late hour, endeavouring to 
 deaden by rapid motion his sense of un- 
 happiness, which he at length so far suc- 
 ceeded in doing that he felt a conscious- 
 ness of more than ordinary exhaustion, 
 induced by his long and fatiguing ramble 
 and the exciting nature of his thoughts. 
 He had come to the conclusion, that a 
 world in which such a person as he could 
 be so cruelly and contemptuously rejected 
 by such a person as Miss Elton, must be 
 a very wretched one, presided over by 
 blind chance. He was not an infidel, nei- 
 ther was he a true Christian. He belong- 
 ed to that large class which, perpetually 
 engaged in the cares, pursuits, and plea- 
 sures of this life, has no time or inclination 
 to think about more serious matters. 
 With a sort of buoyant recklessness, he 
 resolved to shake from his thoughts the 
 circumstance which had so much affected
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 39 
 
 him, or at least for the time to drown 
 present recollection in the stimulating ef- 
 fects of a hearty supper and a bottle of 
 wine, at a house of public entertainment. 
 
 An ample and tempting meal called 
 him from his gloomy reflections to the 
 pleasures it offered, by which he sought, 
 and for the moment with success, to lose 
 sight of his woe. He ate heartily and 
 drank freely, to drown the saddening 
 and tormenting thoughts which would 
 obtrude themselves upon him. 
 
 The inspiration of the champagne gave 
 him a feeling of joyous relief, which kept 
 sleep, and the desire of sleep, far enough 
 from his eyelids. He sat till the wine 
 mounted rather more than he had intended 
 into his head, and till the idea of blowing 
 his brains out for Miss Fanny Elton, or any 
 other young lady whatever, appeared to 
 him one of the most ridiculous and amus- 
 ing things he had ever heard of in his life. 
 
 Finishing at length his meal, wine, and 
 reflections together, he called for his bill 
 with as steady an air of gentlemanly ease 
 and dignity as he could assume, though
 
 40 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 with a decidedly confused idea as to 
 where he intended to go, or what he pro- 
 posed to do, after he should have resumed 
 his walk. He was considerably struck, 
 too, with a symptom by no means usual 
 with him, viz. a strong inclination to 
 smile without being particular as to the 
 occasion. Thus making his way out of 
 the house, he issued into the street, he 
 scarcely knew how, with his hat thrust 
 down very much over his eyes, just sober 
 enough to know that he was intoxicated, 
 and to feel that the cool fresh air was 
 grateful to his flushed cheeks. The pave- 
 ment, however, heaved so beneath his 
 feet, that he could not walk very steadily, 
 and he caught hold of the balustrade of the 
 park to prevent his stumbling. The moon 
 had now risen, and was shedding a pale 
 golden gleam upon each object, filling the 
 air with her gentle glory, as he stood, hold- 
 ing on firmly to the iron railing, preserving 
 himself not without an effort from falling 
 at full length upon the stones, which seem- 
 ed to rock like the deck of a ship at sea. 
 He commenced a song, but, overcome by 

 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 41 
 
 his joyous sensations, and fully aware of 
 the absurdity of his ridiculous position, 
 he began to laugh aloud, and thus remain- 
 ed for some time giving full vent to an 
 overflowing merriment. 
 
 At this moment the figure of a man came 
 towards him, but on seeing his condition 
 crossed over, as if to avoid an encounter. 
 Urged by some new impulse, however, the 
 person came back and looked him directly 
 in the face. 
 
 " Hallo, my old cock ! " said Harry, 
 " what may be your business ? " 
 
 " What ! Harry Lennox ! is it you ? " 
 
 The speaker was Emmerson, his father's 
 partner. 
 
 "The devil! how are you?" cried 
 Harry, assuming a very grave and sober 
 look. " How are you ? and how goes bu- 
 bu-business ? " 
 
 " Very well, I thank you, good night !" 
 
 " G-good-night, my dear boy. Won't 
 you have a cigar ? But you don't smoke, 
 I believe. Hallo ! he 's gone. I think 
 I 'm a little drunk. Ha, ha, ha ! But he 
 has not the least suspicion. I had no
 
 42 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 idea I could have done it so well. I 
 wouldn't have him see me flustered ; him, 
 of all men, not for a pipe of the best old 
 Tokay that ever ha ! ha ! ha ! Hold on, 
 my fine fellow ! " 
 
 A little sobered, however, but with his 
 head still reeling, laughing occasionally 
 aloud, despite his efforts to keep serious, 
 he staggered on, and at length reached 
 his home without meeting any further in- 
 terruption. 

 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 43 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 HARRY breakfasted with the family the 
 next morning as usual, and thence went 
 to his ordinary duties in the office. A 
 certain awkward feeling came over him as 
 he met Emmerson ; but from the manner 
 of that gentleman he could not gather 
 any reason to suppose he had detected his 
 state at their last night's meeting, and he 
 concluded, with a hearty feeling of relief, 
 that, in the darkness of night, and from 
 what he presumed had been his own 
 power of self-control, his intoxication, 
 which he firmly resolved should never be 
 repeated, had entirely escaped Emmerson's 
 attention. 
 
 " You have a pamphlet in your room, I 
 believe, from the office library, which I 
 wish very much to consult," said Emmer- 
 son to Harry in the afternoon. ( 
 
 " Yes, I took it to look at the recently 
 proposed Bill."
 
 44 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Why, that 's what I wished to look 
 at," said Emmerson. 
 
 " Perhaps we are occupied on the same 
 subject," said Harry : " I 'm going to ad- 
 dress the meeting to night." 
 
 " Indeed I did not know it was your in- 
 tention. Have you prepared anything ?" 
 
 " Merely a few notes, which, however, 
 I shall scarcely need." 
 
 " Let me see them, will you ?" said Em- 
 merson. " It is barely possible I may 
 wish to say something, but not a speech." 
 
 Harry handed the notes, and Emmerson 
 looked them over with an air of no great 
 interest. 
 
 " Oh ! that 's the view you take, is it? 
 but hadn't you better leave out this 
 paragraph?" 
 
 " Oh no ! why so ? that is a common 
 opinion." 
 
 " But your mode of proving it is not so 
 common. Nor do I think it correct." 
 
 " Well, if you think so, I '11 leave it 
 out in deference to you." 
 
 " You had better. Though, I really 
 think you will give yourself more trouble?
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 45 
 
 in speaking at all, than the matter is 
 likely to be worth. The subject has no 
 real interest ; I have not troubled myself 
 to study it." 
 
 At dinner, Harry was a breathless lis- 
 tener to an interesting conversation. The 
 family were speaking of Fanny Elton, and 
 Mary insisted that something had oc- 
 curred to displease her. 
 
 " She is not the same in her manner to 
 me, she is cold and reserved. Her refusal 
 to dine with us yesterday, I am convinced, 
 was not caused by mere indisposition, al- 
 though she really is not well ? How often 
 has she come to us when she was not well ? 
 What harm could it have done her just 
 to have dined here instead of at home? 
 and she refuses to come to-day, refuses to 
 dine with us on Thursday, and to go to 
 the theatre with us in the evening." 
 
 " Nonsense," said Mr. Lennox, " who 
 would, what could offend Fanny, I should 
 like to know ? She could not suspect any 
 one in this family of an intention to do so, 
 and I don't think she is the sort of person 
 to be angry without a cause."
 
 46 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " How do you account, then, for these 
 three refusals, this sudden withdrawal of 
 her consent to go to the theatre on Thurs- 
 day?" 
 
 " I '11 go round this evening, 1 ' said 
 Frank, " and see if I can persuade her ; 
 and you shall go with me. 1 ' 
 
 " No," said Mary, " I will not. To say 
 the truth, I am a little hurt and offended, 
 and she saw plainly that I was, and yet 
 did not in the least alter her decision." 
 
 " So," thought Harry, " Frank has 
 either not made k his offer, or, 11 and his 
 heart sank within him at the thought 
 " he has made it and been accepted.") 
 
 " I feel sure," said Frank, " I can make 
 her alter her determination." 
 
 " Nonsense,"" said Mrs. Lennox ; " why, 
 in such an ingenuous creature as Fanny, 
 look for any other excuse than the one she 
 assigns ? She is , not very well, is out of 
 spirits, and therefore will not come." 
 
 " Well, if you think so," resumed Mary, 
 " I '11 go with Frank, but I don't under- 
 stand it." 
 
 " She avoids me," thought Harry. " That
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 47 
 
 was to be expected ; but in a way 
 which must betray the insult I have re- 
 ceived. This I must prevent." He there- 
 fore wrote the following note, and, after a 
 brief explanation, entrusted it to Frank. 
 
 " MR. HENRY LENNOX begs Miss Elton 
 to forgive and forget the error into which 
 he has fallen, upon his assurance not to 
 repeat it. He hopes she will not make it 
 the cause of interrupting her intercourse 
 with the family, rather than which he will 
 himself withdraw till time shall test the 
 sincerity of his resolution never to offend 
 again. If he have reason to fear his pre- 
 sence prevents her usual visits and engage- 
 ments, he will carry into effect a desire he 
 has long had of spending a few years in 
 Europe. Should she, however, be dis- 
 posed to accord this, the only favour he 
 can ever ask of her, he need scarcely add 
 he considers himself bound, as a gentle- 
 man, to remove from her the annoyance 
 of his society, as far as can be done with- 
 out exciting attention."
 
 48 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THIS was the evening of the great pub- 
 lic meeting, called for the purpose of pass- 
 ing resolutions respecting a measure pend- 
 ing' in Congress. The subject was one 
 which young Lennox was acquainted with, 
 as it had long engaged his attention. 
 Miserable as he was at this moment, a 
 desire to escape from himself led him to 
 be thankful for such a distraction, and 
 while Frank and Mary were gone to the 
 Eltons, he repaired to the meeting to de- 
 liver his address. 
 
 On arriving at the large room, which 
 had been designated for the purpose, he 
 found many distinguished citizens assem- 
 bled. His father and Mr. Emmerson 
 were already there. The hall rapidly 
 filled to overflowing. An eminent man 
 was elected to the chair, and secretaries 
 appointed. Many speakers were anxious
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 49 
 
 to express their views on the subject, and 
 two or three did so, and were listened to 
 with interest. 
 
 At length Mr. Emmerson rose. His 
 remarks showed the results of study, for, 
 as Harry afterwards discovered, he had 
 been long and laboriously preparing him- 
 self for the occasion. Distinction was his 
 passion, and to it he had resolved to de- 
 vote himself. But he was regarded as 
 a cold, dry man, laborious in details 
 and learned in facts, without enlarged 
 views, or original ideas. His discourse, 
 while it made a favourable impression, 
 did not produce any particular effect. 
 
 Harry was rather surprised to perceive 
 that he made use of several arguments 
 similar to those contained in his own me- 
 moranda. He set it down, of course, as 
 accident, for there was scarcely a man 
 whom he would not sooner have suspected 
 of anything wrong, so highly was Em- 
 merson esteemed for purity of mind and 
 manners. He was, however, fairly puz- 
 zled on hearing him, as he proceeded, 
 deliver some remarks in support of a de- 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 lay in the passage of the offensive bill, 
 which were an exact counterpart of those 
 which, at the intimation of Emmerson 
 himself, he had proposed to omit in his 
 own observations. 
 
 After Emmerson, rose a Mr. Holford, a 
 gentleman of large stature and dignified 
 personal appearance, with a sonorous voice, 
 and an apparent familiarity with public 
 orations. He occupied the attention of the 
 audience for an hour with fine words and 
 high-sounding phrases, frequently elicit- 
 ing applause by the artful recurrence of 
 patriotic sentiments. Harry perceived 
 that this person belonged to the class of 
 mere demagogues, who, by dint of assur- 
 ance and perseverance, not only thrust 
 themselves into prominent places, but 
 maintain themselves there triumphantly, 
 while men of merit and modesty remain 
 in obscurity. Notwithstanding very ge- 
 neral applause, his eloquence was made 
 up of superficial common-places, and 
 phrases borrowed, ready-made, from the 
 floating oratory of the day. A part of 
 what he said was good, but that was not
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 51 
 
 his own ; and whenever he ventured into 
 anything like original argument or decla- 
 mation, he betrayed the poverty of his 
 attainments, and the smallness of his un- 
 derstanding, by flimsy sophistry or swell- 
 ing bombast. It was all received, how- 
 ever, with the unsearching approbation 
 characteristic of a public meeting. 
 
 At length Harry rose, striving to fly 
 from himself, and to lose by some strong 
 effort the keen sense of his late disap- 
 pointment. We have not yet ventured to 
 describe him, but the reader must imagine 
 a distinguished looking young man, rather 
 above the middle stature, with an expres- 
 sive and handsome countenance. The 
 manly gravity, and even sternness of his 
 look, gave place to sweetness when he 
 smiled. His dark eyes were full of ex- 
 pression, and he possessed a voice soft, 
 flexible, and at the same time powerful. 
 He had not uttered ten sentences before 
 every one became aware he was no com- 
 mon man. Free from embarrassment, he 
 presented by far the clearest view of the 
 case which had been given ; drew enlarged, 
 
 D 2
 
 52 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 unexpected, and striking inferences, with 
 logical precision, and, in the most elo- 
 quent language enchained, delighted, and 
 convinced every body. With all the 
 knowledge of details and facts of Em- 
 merson, and a far more chaste and rich 
 flow of language than Holford, he added 
 that kind of light and fire which only 
 genius and sincerity know how to throw 
 around what they touch. Warmed by 
 the exertion, and by the consciousness 
 of his success, he triumphantly com- 
 pleted the argumentative part of his ad- 
 dress to an audience, who gave neither 
 the cold respect awarded to Emmerson, 
 nor the noisy applause elicited by the 
 clap-traps of the pompous Holford, but 
 the attention of men whose minds are 
 really awakened. In conclusion, when 
 his points were clearly proved, and the 
 objections raised by the opposite party 
 had been undeniably silenced, he ended 
 by an appeal to the clear judgment and 
 higher feelings of the nation, in a strain 
 not often heard at similar meetings, and 
 which showed the speaker to be far above
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 53 
 
 the petty desire of self- display, or the 
 mere interested influence of party views. 
 
 On descending from the stage, he was 
 received in triumph by his friends, and 
 heartily congratulated, before he could 
 grasp the extended hand of his delight- 
 ed father. By the side of the latter stood 
 Emmerson, silent and motionless, and with 
 a peculiar expression of discontent on his 
 dark features. Harry was struck with it, 
 and felt it chill the warm flow of his 
 blood, and the pleasure arising from his 
 success ; and, had he not known him, he 
 would have thought he saw on his counte- 
 nance only the workings of mean selfish- 
 ness and pale envy. 
 
 " What's the matter?" asked he, as he 
 perceived his proffered hand was not ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 " Oh nothing," said Emmerson ; " the 
 crowd, the heat " Then, with a singu- 
 lar look, which afterwards often rose in 
 Harry's memory, he added : " I did not 
 expect to see you so soon in public, after 
 I met you last night, you know* 
 
 "Last night!" repeated his father. 
 " Where?"
 
 54 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " What do you mean by that?" said 
 Harry, sternly. " You knew I intended 
 to address the meeting, Mr. Emmerson." 
 
 " Yes, certainly; but ha! ha! ha! 
 you have proved yourself a Demosthenes." 
 
 Harry did not understand the tone of 
 voice in which this was said. The meet- 
 ing immediately passed the intended re- 
 solutions, availing themselves of various 
 suggestions made by Harry ; and the sig- 
 nificant "last night!" of Emmerson passed 
 from his mind. 
 
 After the adjournment, Mr. Lennox, 
 Harry, and Emmerson were standing to- 
 gether, conversing, with several others, 
 when the chairman, Mr. Lawrence, an 
 influential leader of the politics of the 
 state, came up, and shaking Harry warmly 
 by the hand, acknowledged in strong terms 
 the pleasure he had received from his 
 address. " You must sup with me," he 
 added, " you and your father. I have 
 something of importance to say to you." 
 He asked no one else to the party, and 
 Emmerson silently withdrew. 
 
 They repaired to the house of their
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 55 
 
 host, where the supper-table was already 
 spread. The ladies of the family, after 
 a gay half-hour, retired, and the gentle- 
 men were left to discuss subjects which 
 exclusively interested them. It was at 
 once suggested by Mr. Lawrence that 
 Harry should accept an early seat in Con- 
 gress. 
 
 " Well," said his father, " what say 
 you? As you don't appear wanting in 
 the valuable gift of speech, you can an- 
 swer for yourself, I suppose?" 
 
 " I think," said Harry, " it requires 
 time for reflection; but I should, of 
 course, be guided by your wishes, if I 
 remain in America." 
 
 " Remain in America ! why, where the 
 devil do you expect to remain?" 
 
 " I have had some desire lately to go 
 abroad." 
 
 " What ! a short tour eh ?" said Law- 
 rence. 
 
 " A tour, but not a short one." 
 
 "May I ask what you mean?" said 
 his father. " You have the intention of 
 going abroad for a long time ?"
 
 56 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; a plan which, with your 
 approbation, would be a very pleasant 
 thing for me." 
 
 " What, leave us, Harry ! Spend a 
 half dozen years abroad, and come back 
 at last to find some old sexton, who sings 
 while he works, coolly pointing out our 
 respective graves : ' Mrs. Lennox's, sir ! ' 
 Miss Mary's, sir ! ' * The old gentleman's, 
 sir ! that one with the flowers !' Is that 
 what you call ' very pleasant,' with my 
 approbation ? " 
 
 " My dear father, I did not intend to 
 discuss the point with you, at least not 
 here, but, in respect of the seat in Con- 
 gress, I scarcely feel myself able " 
 
 " Harry ! " said Mr. Lennox, " let me 
 hear no more of your going abroad, at 
 present. As for the seat in Congress, 
 I shall at once state my views. If I were 
 as rich as I ought to be, and could leave 
 you and your brother and sister a hun- 
 dred or two thousand dollars each, after 
 having handsomely provided for your mo- 
 ther, I might, perhaps, feel a pride in 
 seeing you take your place where your
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 67 
 
 talents could not fail to be of service 
 to your country, and to reflect a lustre 
 on your own name and mine. But I am 
 not such a Croesus as you appear to 
 suppose. Do you know how much I 
 am worth ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Well, just enough to provide, in case 
 of my sudden death, a decent indepen- 
 dence for your mother, and another for 
 your sister, who must be portioned as 
 a sweet girl, and a gentleman's daughter 
 as she is, ought to be." 
 
 " I hope so." 
 
 " Then there 's Frank. He has chosen 
 a profession where, even if he be not 
 ingloriously scalped to begin with, he will 
 have no great opportunity to amass a 
 fortune. His expenses are great, his pay 
 scandalously small, his danger not incon- 
 siderable, his chance of glory precarious. 
 Yet he must live like a gentleman. He 
 has the tastes, habits, and feelings of one ; 
 and where is he going to get a fortune 
 if I don't leave him one ? " 
 
 " Very true ! " 
 
 D 5
 
 58 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " But, my good friend," said the be- 
 nevolent Mr. Lawrence, amused and in- 
 terested by this glimpse of a family scene, 
 " if you leave all your property to your 
 other children, what remains for Harry ? " 
 
 " I have given him a first-rate educa- 
 tion. He is fully fitted to go forth into 
 life. He is a scholar and a gentleman, 
 and, what is equally to our present pur- 
 pose, a superior lawyer. If he attend 
 to business, the honourable profession to 
 which he belongs, and of which he can 
 easily become a most distinguished mem- 
 ber, as you may see by his display this 
 evening, will be to him, in twenty years, 
 an ample fortune. Should he then de- 
 sire to descend to politics, there will 
 at least be this advantage, that, if he 
 fail, he has a place to stand on, and a 
 hole to creep into. Politics undertaken 
 from the hope of pecuniary gain, or the 
 mere selfish ambition after place and 
 power, cannot fail to deprave the moral 
 character, as much as they must injure and 
 pervert the mind. 
 
 " It is time for my son to know his true
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 59 
 
 career, and to perceive the necessity of 
 applying himself to his profession steadily, 
 resolutely, and severely. I myself am not 
 a business man ; I wish I were, but I hate 
 business, and I shall gradually endeavour 
 to withdraw from the office, leaving the 
 whole toil and profit to him. There is 
 Emmerson, an inestimable, unassuming 
 man, the most honest and excellent part- 
 ner in the world, and, withal, a sharp and 
 able lawyer, one of the few who unite 
 integrity of character, gentleness of heart, 
 and mental ability; you, Harry, and he, 
 must manage matters hereafter. In a 
 year or so I shall begin to require a little 
 repose, and think a tour abroad, for your 
 mother and me, would be more proper 
 than for you. Nevertheless, I am grate- 
 fully obliged to you, Lawrence, for the 
 honour you have done this youngster, and, 
 in his name and my own, I thank you." 
 
 " I must say," said Mr. Lawrence, 
 " that, while I regret your decision, I ap- 
 prove it." 
 
 They separated. Harry had not dis- 
 tinctly followed all his father's harangue.
 
 60 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 His reveries had wandered to the stern, 
 beautiful face of Fanny Elton, to her 
 cold words and flashing eyes ; but he had 
 heard enough to learn that this plan of 
 foreign travel and foreign adventure was 
 likely to be opposed by divers more se- 
 rious objections than had at first presented 
 themselves to his mind ; that notwithstand- 
 ing the wealth of his father, he was to 
 start in life without much benefit from it, 
 and that, unless he were to break forcibly 
 away from many tender ties, and some so- 
 ber duties, he was likely to be kept a pri- 
 soner in his native city.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 61 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " WOULD she receive his note? Would 
 she answer it?" were the thoughts which 
 filled Harry's mind during another very 
 love-sick ramble. What meant the throb- 
 bing of his heart at the idea ? " Would 
 she comply with its request? would she 
 come to visit his family to-day? would 
 she go to the theatre with them the next 
 day, his birth-day? and thus acknowledge 
 and sanction a kind of communion with him, 
 a yielding obedience to his dictation, and a 
 consideration for his wishes, his feelings, 
 his happiness, perhaps! Or would she 
 accept Frank ? Had she accepted him ?" 
 
 The peculiar relative position of the 
 two brothers acted as a check upon their 
 usual confidence. He had requested Frank 
 not to touch upon that subject again. 
 Had the latter made his offer, and been 
 rejected, he would probably have commu-
 
 62 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 nicated his fate at once. He was under a 
 sort of honourable obligation to do so. 
 But if accepted, delicacy, love for his bro- 
 ther, embarrassment, would all combine to 
 make him shrink from such a confidence. 
 He had been accepted then, or, last, faint 
 hope ! he had not yet made his offer. 
 Had there been no doubt to be solved, 
 perhaps, he might have succeeded in di- 
 verting his thoughts from the subject. 
 But the dinner-hour was to decide the 
 fate of his note, and all the interest of his 
 life was now concentrated upon this single 
 point. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " Do you know how I 'm getting on 
 with my boys, Emmerson ?" asked Len- 
 nox of his friend the morning after the 
 public meeting, for Lennox's communi- 
 cative nature confided everything to those 
 connected with him. 
 
 " What new plan?" asked Emmerson, 
 with a smile. 
 
 " Time is dashing along, 1 ' said Lennox. 
 " I feel it every day more forcibly ; but 
 when looking on these young rascals I
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 63 
 
 can't believe my own eyes. They are 
 scarcely out of their round jackets, at 
 least so it seems to me, and yet one is 
 going to marry up to my warmest hopes, 
 and the other " 
 
 " To marry !" echoed Emmerson, with 
 such signs of interest as surprised even the 
 sanguine father. 
 
 " Yes, marry." 
 
 " Bless my soul," said Emmerson, fixing 
 his keen dark eyes upon the speaker. 
 
 " Yes," continued Lennox ; " I trouble 
 you with affairs in which few men in your 
 situation would take any interest. Yes, 
 he is going to marry, and I am truly glad 
 of it." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly, and I suppose the 
 lady is Miss Elton?" 
 
 " It is." 
 
 "Indeed?" 
 
 " Yes, I hope she will accompany him, 
 at least for a time, (although I don't know, 
 after all, if the young dog will ever be 
 content, with his views, to remain in the 
 army,) I hope she will accompany him to 
 Prairie du Chien."
 
 64 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " What ? It is not your son Harry, 
 then, who is to marry Miss Elton ?" 
 
 " Harry ? certainly not. What put that 
 into your head ?" 
 
 " Bless me ! this is very unexpected, 
 isn't it?" 
 
 " Why, yes, these lieutenants have a 
 military brevity of conducting affairs which 
 is rather edifying. I only heard of it my- 
 self a morning or two ago. 1 ' 
 
 " I fear," said Emmerson, " this union 
 but are you sure ? " 
 
 " Sure ? No, not absolutely sure. It is 
 not actually and formally settled yet be- 
 tween the young people, only I under- 
 stand so from my wife and daughter, and 
 from the demeanour of Miss Elton and 
 my son. Pray do you know any thing in 
 relation to it T 
 
 " No yes. But I was under the impres- 
 sion that your son Harry was indeed " 
 he continued in a whisper, and looking 
 cautiously behind and around him, " I 
 know, he is also attached to Miss Elton." 
 
 " You surprise me." 
 
 " I think I may tell you all," continued
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 65 
 
 Emmerson, "but you will give me your 
 word not to reveal it." 
 
 " I assure you, it shall go no farther." 
 
 " Then I have reason to know Harry is 
 attached to Miss Elton. She is also at- 
 tached to him. Any difference between 
 them must be but some lover's quarrel. 
 Perhaps the young lady is going to take a 
 step from pique which will sacrifice the 
 future happiness of herself and Harry, as 
 well as that of Frank, who would not like 
 to wake from his dream of happiness to 
 discover his wife attached to another." 
 
 " You distress me beyond measure," 
 said Mr. Lennox. " I am sure Frank 
 loves her, but I am infinitely obliged 
 to you. This must be looked into. I am 
 really infinitely obliged to you." 
 
 " I should not be willing to intrude my 
 interference into such a delicate matter," 
 said Emmerson, "but " 
 
 " I know, I know ; nor shall you suffer 
 by such disinterestedness." 
 
 " I must repeat, however, that what I 
 say is under the seal of secrecy. You know 
 what these young people are ; you know
 
 66 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 what friends and relations are in these 
 cases ! You know what love affairs are." 
 
 " My dear Emmerson," said Lennox, "you 
 may put your mind quite at rest." 
 
 "I have one other thing to say, which duty 
 will not permit my concealing. You may 
 have observed Harry has been of late rather 
 irregular in his hours and habits." 
 
 " Yes, yes, it has struck us all." 
 
 " I met him the other night," continued 
 Emmerson, in a whisper, " quite intox- 
 icated in the street." 
 
 "What, Harry?" 
 
 Harry." 
 
 " I would not believe any other human 
 being but yourself." 
 
 " His love for Miss Elton, interrupted 
 probably by this affair with his brother, is 
 driving him into habits of intemperance." 
 
 "I thought he was peculiarly attentive 
 to business." 
 
 " Before you," continued Emmerson, in 
 an agitated whisper, " but I see more. His 
 mind is shattered, his spirit gone." 
 
 " But you heard him last night, how well 
 he spoke."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 67 
 
 "Ah!" 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 Emmerson made no reply. 
 
 " What ! you don't mean to say that 
 Harry has been assisted ? " 
 
 " Ah ! " 
 
 " Have you aided him ? " 
 
 " Don't ask me, my dear sir, only believe 
 me ; I have no motive in this disclosure 
 but your and his good. I fear his mind is 
 at least at present unfit for business. As 
 to the young lady, I have scarcely seen, 
 cannot say I really know her. But if you 
 value Harry's happiness and health, you 
 must stop this union with his brother, or 
 delay it. I have the most sincere interest 
 in the happiness of Harry. Such an ex- 
 cellent young man !" 
 
 " Drunk ! in the street ? " said Lennox ; 
 "yet that I could forgive. Shakspeare says, 
 ' any man may be drunk some time of 
 his life ;' but a mean use of another's 
 talents, parading in borrowed plumage, 
 like a peacock, and yet not like a pea- 
 cock either, for he has at least his own 
 gaudy feathers to strut in."
 
 68 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " He is but a boy, that will come right 
 in time ! I don't say he borrowed from 
 me. We only spoke together on the 
 subject," said Emmerson. 
 
 " I don't recognise Harry in this, at 
 all !" 
 
 " You had better not say anything to 
 him, however ; rather leave it to time." 
 
 "And what do you advise?" 
 
 " To send Frank off for some years ; 
 he is, in fact, too young to marry ; and 
 see what time will do. Perhaps a voyage 
 for Harry also would be of use. These 
 young folks very easily take new impres- 
 sions. 1 ' 
 
 " I really supposed Harry very much 
 above anything of this sort. Do you 
 know he has had the offer of a seat in 
 Congress?" 
 
 " Ah !" said Emmerson ; " Mr. Law- 
 rence, I suppose?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " You know this Mr. Lawrence ?" 
 
 " Know him ? Who ? Lawrence ?" 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " A good, benevolent man, but "
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 69 
 
 " Why, Lawrence is one of the noblest 
 of men !" 
 
 " Ah ! that 's as people think. I have 
 nothing against him personally, but I have 
 heard curious things. ' 
 
 " But, Harry ! This is a painful dis- 
 covery. Why, he is not fit to marry that 
 sweet girl. He is not worthy of her. 
 Poor Frank !" 
 
 " We must not be too severe on him," 
 said Emmerson. 
 
 "Does he know you are aware of his 
 attachment to Miss Elton?" asked Mr. 
 Lennox. 
 
 " Not in the least," said Emmerson, in 
 another whisper. 
 
 " And how did you discover it, if not 
 from him ? " 
 
 " I overheard him telling her so one 
 afternoon, when they thought themselves 
 alone. The door was a-jar ; I was passing 
 along the entry ; I could not help hearing." 
 This was also said in a whisper, close 
 to the ear of Lennox, and with an expres- 
 sion of face so agitated that Lennox could 
 not but be struck with it.
 
 70 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Why, that 's nothing so very terrible, 
 my good friend," replied the father, smil- 
 ing. " It 's no more than most men have 
 done at some time or other of their lives." 
 
 " Oh, certainly," said Emmerson ; " but 
 I only want you to see I am not mistaken 
 in my opinion." 
 
 Mr. Lennox had the utmost confidence 
 in his son ; but this intimation of plagia- 
 rism, thus reluctantly and accidentally 
 drawn forth, made a very disagreeable 
 impression on his mind. In the irre- 
 proachable Emmerson he believed he had 
 found perfect disinterestedness, united 
 with unusual penetration, while he saw 
 that Harry was of a character yet unform- 
 ed, and exposed to all the dangerous in- 
 fluences which beset youth and passion. 
 
 When the family assembled at dinner, 
 Fanny was not there. Her vacant place 
 was next Harry's. His father was silent 
 and grave, Emmerson talkative and gay. 
 In Frank he could not detect anything 
 unusual, except a disposition to sink into 
 reverie. His mother was thoughtful. It 
 might be, that Harry felt the absence
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 71 
 
 of a young girl who never could be 
 anything to him. Yet, Harry's faculty 
 of self-government was so uncultivated, 
 that he suffered during this repast a 
 kind of pain that paralyzed him like 
 the nightmare. He dared not ask a ques- 
 tion, and no one made any remark by 
 which his curiosity could be gratified. 
 Every time the door opened to admit a 
 servant, the violent beating of his heart 
 taught him how deep-seated his fever was, 
 and he could scarcely refrain from starting 
 up under his insupportable emotion. Her 
 absence he could not rationally be surpris- 
 ed at, yet it had not been expected by 
 him. He imagined all eyes were fixed 
 on him, and could scarcely keep from 
 giving vent, by some word or act, to the 
 feelings which swelled his breast ; yet he 
 went on eating like one in a dream. 
 
 The door opened, and a servant present- 
 ed a note to Mr. Lennox, who read it and 
 handed it to Mrs. Lennox : 
 
 " ' Miss Elton feeling herself still indis- 
 posed, begs Mrs. Lennox to excuse her 
 from dinner to-day.' ''
 
 72 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " I hope Fanny is not ill," was all his 
 mother remarked ; and they separated 
 after the meal, without any other recur- 
 rence to the subject. 
 
 # * * # 
 
 " So she is, after all, cold and selfish. 
 She will not come, she will betray her 
 power, and my unrequited love. She 
 wishes to do so. She feels a pride in it. 
 She is, after all, a common-place girl, a 
 coquette, trifling with me, laughing at me. 
 They will ask her, at length, respecting the 
 change in her conduct. She will answer 
 with seeming reluctance, that it is to save 
 herself from my importunate addresses. 
 And this is woman ! How truly the poet 
 says, 'most women have no character at all.' 
 Her beauty makes her vain. Her very sen- 
 sibility makes her go too far. Her ambi- 
 tion on earth is to subdue man, her master. 
 Why, the libertine who revenges him- 
 self on her sex is not so bad, after all." 
 
 " I must go, then. I must leave my 
 father's house. Not a message, not a 
 word, not a line ! Then, farewell country 
 and friends ! farewell prospects, ambition,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 73 
 
 perhaps life, and what difference does it 
 make ? Since happiness is but a dream, 
 life must be a curse. 1 ' 
 
 Such is the equivocal kind of reasoning 
 which sometimes deludes the mind; but 
 men of twenty and men at forty take dif- 
 ferent views of life and its objects. 
 
 vot. i.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE next day was Harry's birthday. 
 He did not spend the morning in the 
 office as usual, but absented himself in the 
 indulgence of his love of solitude. His 
 father, when he saw him, looked grave, 
 but said nothing. For the first time a 
 cloud had come between them, and both 
 were conscious of it. 
 
 The dinner-hour at length arrived, and 
 with it the company. He was early in the 
 drawing-room, and felt calmer than usual, 
 for his resolution was taken to go abroad 
 either with or without his father's ap- 
 probation. But few guests were expected, 
 and they came punctually. Mr. Emmer- 
 son was among the first who blandly of- 
 fered his congratulation. He was speedily 
 followed by Henderson, the brother of 
 Mrs. Lennox, and his wife. At length
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 75 
 
 came Mr. and Mrs. Elton, and with them, 
 to the extreme astonishment of Harry, for 
 such an event had not once entered his 
 thoughts Fanny ! 
 
 Every one expressed surprise. She was 
 received with such a burst of affectionate 
 welcome by all the family, that both her 
 confusion, if she felt any, and that of 
 Harry, were safe from observation. 
 
 " My dearest Fanny ! this is so unex- 
 pected after your severe illness yesterday." 
 
 " She would come," said her mother ; 
 " we did all we could to keep her at home, 
 but these young girls are such unaccount- 
 able beings. The other day, she would 
 not come, when all persuaded her to do 
 so. Now, for my part, it reminds me 
 of" 
 
 Mrs. Elton was a talker, and she went 
 on with a much longer series of observa- 
 tions, which, however, were only collateral 
 to the conversation of the rest of the com- 
 pany. Mr. Elton and she, however, both 
 came up to Harry, to shake hands with 
 him, and congratulate him upon the oc- 
 currence of this happy festival, and to 
 
 E 2
 
 76 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 offer him their cordial wishes, suited to 
 the occasion. 
 
 And then Fanny came forward to the 
 old friend of her childhood, and frankly 
 gave him her hand. He took it, poor 
 fellow ! and held it a moment in his, 
 while he listened to the few words she 
 said all the rest being engaged talking 
 together. " I also congratulate you, Mr. 
 Lennox," said she, " and hope you may 
 pass many, and yet more happy, birthdays, 
 surrounded by all who love you, and whom 
 you love." She was pale, and her face 
 and voice betrayed debility ; but her man- 
 ner was full of its usual gentleness and 
 calmness. 
 
 " You have been ill, I fear, Miss Elton ?" 
 
 " Yesterday, and the day before very." 
 
 " And how could you venture out to- 
 day r 
 
 Their eyes met. That look was full of 
 reproach, mingled with the least possible 
 scorn. 
 
 " But, of course, you do not go to ttie 
 theatre this evening?" 
 
 " Oh, yes ! The party is made up. I
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 77 
 
 feel much better, and think it will do me 
 good. You know I am as great an ad- 
 mirer of Horn as you are." 
 
 " / shall not be able, I fear, to hear him 
 to-night," said Harry, in a low voice. 
 
 The dinner was announced. Frank led 
 in Fanny. There was a seat next hers, 
 when Harry passed round ; but he went 
 on and took a place at the other end of the 
 table, between Mr. Henderson and Emmer- 
 son, more deeply in love than ever; hating 
 and despising himself, yearning to pursue 
 at leisure the new thoughts which thronged 
 on him, and yet resolved to tear her from 
 his heart, cost what it might, or else to 
 tear himself away : for this vicinity to 
 her, these exposures to interviews with 
 her, this necessity of feigned familiarity, 
 so dangerous and enervating to his reso- 
 lution, he saw plainly, were beyond his 
 power to resist. 
 
 " So, you 're going to take Fanny to the 
 theatre with you this evening ? " said Elton, 
 " J can scarcely approve of your doing so." 
 
 " When your consent is asked, my good 
 friend," said Mr. Lennox, " it will be time
 
 78 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 enough to express an objection. I believe 
 it is the present intention of the party to 
 take her, whether you like it or not." 
 
 " My dear Mr. Lennox," said Mrs. El- 
 ton, " I really admire your address. I 
 have been trying all means to persuade Mr. 
 Elton to allow 6f her going, and I do not 
 think he has made up his mind ; but you 
 put the question at rest ; I had already " 
 
 " Fanny is not looking well just now. 
 I don't know what 's the matter with her," 
 said Mr. Elton ; " the day before yester- 
 day she fainted; she never did such a silly 
 thing before in her life. I don't know 
 what to make of it." 
 
 Harry stole a glance at her ; her eyes 
 were bent thoughtfully downwards; he felt 
 himself a scoundrel. 
 
 " I shall take care she sha'n't faint 
 again !" said Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " I should like to know how you '11 do 
 that ? besides, you know I am no friend to 
 theatres at all." 
 
 " My husband is too strict on that and 
 a great many other points," said Mrs. 
 Elton. " I am not of his opinion, how-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 79 
 
 ever. Ijhink the mind that is pure, is pure 
 everywhere; and certainly were I to "' 
 
 " So thought your amiable ancestor, 
 Eve," said Elton ; " yet it would have been 
 quite as well for her, and for us too, if she 
 had stayed by her husband's side, and had 
 not acted, as is believed, in opposition to 
 his advice." 
 
 " As for me," said Mrs. Elton, who 
 always interrupted everybody, and never 
 stopped talking till she was interrupted 
 herself, and generally not even then, for 
 it was her practice to endeavour to beat 
 down all opposition with the greatest 
 good-humour in the world, " I think much 
 may be learned at the theatre, and there 
 can be no reason to fear anything. I 
 know, when I was a girl " 
 
 " Much may be learned everywhere," 
 said her husband gravely, " but sometimes 
 the lessons cost too much." 
 
 " And I know," continued Mrs. Elton, 
 " that when I was a girl my father used 
 to take me to the theatre often and often ; 
 and really, my dear Mrs. Lennox, I cannot 
 discover that I am any the worse for it.''
 
 80 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " She shall [go to-night, as she and you 
 wish it," said her father ; " for she is a 
 good girl, and I don't mean to disappoint 
 her. But, as a general rule, I consider 
 theatres objectionable.' 1 
 
 " Did any man ever hear such non- 
 sense?" said Mr. Lennox. "The drama 
 is a delightful recreation. The language 
 is improved, the mind restored to its good- 
 humoured elasticity after labour and cha- 
 grin, and home is never more delightful, 
 than after returning from such pleasures 
 abroad. I have always brought up my 
 children to " 
 
 " And as for me," interrupted Mrs. El- 
 ton, " I could never be of the opinion, 
 that young people were better for being 
 kept in ignorance of life. If I had sons, 
 I should send them everywhere all alone, 
 and give them the opportunity to be as wild 
 as they might. It is better they should 
 let off their wildness in youth, than retain 
 it when they are old. Now, do you know, 
 there 's Mr. Franklin our excellent friend, 
 you know, my dear Mrs. Lennox, they say, 
 when he was a young gentleman "
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 81 
 
 "Well, to-day," said Mr. Elton, " I yield ; 
 but, Miss, hereafter we shall be a little 
 more strict." 
 
 " I have got excellent seats, 1 ' said Har- 
 ry, anxious to say something. " You will 
 have the Wilmingtons in the next box." 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha!" said his father, "that is- 
 an odd piece of logic. You have got 
 excellent seats, we shall have the Wil- 
 mingtons in the next box: as if the vi- 
 cinity of the Wilmingtons made the seats 
 any better." 
 
 " My dear husband," said Mrs. Lennox, 
 " I will not allow you to sneer at people 
 whom you dislike, merely because they 
 don't act exactly up to your idea of what 
 is right ; for the sake of his wife, I always 
 like Mr. Wilmington." 
 
 " Yes, certainly, she 's well enough ; a 
 nice little body." 
 
 " Nice little body ! She 's a very sweet 
 woman." 
 
 " I 'm sure," said Mrs. Henderson, who 
 seemed to be rather a sarcastic lady, with 
 an expression of face as if she felt a sort 
 of malicious envy for every one and every 
 
 E5
 
 82 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 thing she saw " I 'm sure I ought not to 
 speak against her, for she has been uncom- 
 mon ty polite and kind to me ; but she is a 
 very odd. .person. I don't know what to 
 make of her; she pleases at first sight, 
 but when you come to know her more " 
 
 "Frank is saying the most extraordi- 
 nary things to Miss Elton !" interrupted 
 Mary. 
 
 " What 's the matter now ? " said Mr. 
 Lennox. 
 
 " We, like yourselves, have been con- 
 versing on the merits of Mrs. Wilmington ; 
 and on my saying, among various other 
 reasons why I admired her, that I liked her 
 because she was so fond of Fanny, Mr. 
 Frank takes it upon himself to exclaim, 
 in the most rude way, that he thinks that 
 must be allowed to be among the least of 
 her merits." 
 
 " How, sir ! " said his father ; " I will 
 thank you to explain what you mean by 
 that." 
 
 " Really, Frank," said his mother, laugh- 
 ing, " I don't know how Miss Elton may 
 take such a speech, but I should demand 
 a written apology."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 83 
 
 " Mary knows, and I hope Miss Elton 
 also knows perfectly well, what I mean : 
 I mean, that it 's no merit to admire Miss 
 Elton," said Frank. 
 
 This lucid explanation produced a gene- 
 ral laugh, and even Miss Elton turned her 
 eyes on him with a look of merriment, 
 not quite unmingled with surprise, which 
 added to the dilemma of the poor fellow. 
 
 "I hope you do not also pretend to 
 misunderstand me," said he to Miss Elton. 
 
 " Upon my word," said Fanny, " I pre- 
 sume your meaning is, that you don't think 
 the better of any one for liking me." 
 
 " Well, that is exactly what I meant," 
 said Frank. 
 
 But the expression of politeness in his 
 face so much contradicted the apparent 
 meaning of his words, that Miss Elton 
 could not herself help joining in the re- 
 newed mirth of the table. 
 
 "Ah! Frank, my boy," said Mr. Elton, 
 " you are a bad courtier, but I don't 
 think the worse of you for that." 
 
 " If that 's the way you pay compli- 
 ments ! " said his mother
 
 84 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " You never heard a gentleman, or a 
 person pretending to be a gentleman, 
 speak his mind so plainly to you before, 
 Fanny," said Mary. 
 
 " Frank in name, and frank in nature," 
 said Emmerson. 
 
 " You are all very dull, if you really do 
 not understand what I meant to express," 
 said Frank. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said Harry, " they under- 
 stand you very well, Frank. They are 
 only laughing at you for being so unso- 
 phisticated." 
 
 "No, upon my soul !" said his father, " I 
 don't understand you at all ; and I beg 
 you to explain yourself at full. Come, we 
 are all attention." 
 
 " They were praising Mrs. Wilming- 
 ton," said Frank, " for a variety of vir- 
 tues. She speaks the truth. Well, that 
 is a virtue. She is of a gentle disposition. 
 Well, that also is a virtue. She is cha- 
 ritable, graceful, handsome. Well, it may 
 be said, we like her the better for those 
 merits. But her friendship for, her at- 
 tachment to, her admiration of, Miss
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 85 
 
 Elton, is a thing which, since everybody 
 who as " 
 
 The burst of laughter which greeted 
 his confusion, appeared to distress Frank 
 as much as it offended him. He coloured, 
 pushed back the chair, and was apparently 
 about to leave the table. 
 
 " Frank ! " said his father. 
 
 " Sir." 
 
 " Stop !" To that voice he had ever 
 been taught to yield implicit obedience. 
 " Sit still. Whither are you going?" 
 
 " You can scarcely be surprised," said 
 Frank, striving to put on an appearance 
 of gaiety, " if I withdraw from a circle 
 where I have not the power of making 
 myself understood." 
 
 "Hold your tongue. Sit still. You 
 are not a boy." 
 
 " I don't know," said Fanny, archly look- 
 ing at him, with an expression of almost 
 affection, which at least compensated for 
 her share in bringing down on him this 
 reproof; " I'm afraid he is still a boy! 11 
 
 " How will you get through life," said 
 his father, " with such a quick temper as
 
 86 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 yours? You should remember, that it is 
 the first duty and the highest accomplish- 
 ment of a gentleman always to preserve 
 his temper, particularly in the presence of 
 ladies." 
 
 Frank did not appear altogether to re- 
 lish this lecture, especially before Miss 
 Elton ; but there was something in his 
 father's manner at once playful and firm, 
 which took off the asperity of command, 
 without lessening its power. 
 
 " I tell you what, Frank," said his mo- 
 ther, " we must lay a penalty on you for 
 this outrageous attack on Miss Elton !" 
 
 " Fifty years ago," said Elton, " you 
 would have been obliged to drink a gal- 
 lon of wine, or brandy, perhaps ; but that 
 time is past, I hope." 
 
 " Let him explain his meaning to Miss 
 Elton herself in a poem," said Harry, 
 generously coming to the aid of his suc- 
 cessful rival (as he now considered him, 
 for he had seen the look cast on him 
 by Fanny). 
 
 " Excellent," said Mary ; " you are con- 
 demned to write an impromptu."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 87 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Lennox, " an extem- 
 pore metaphysico-tragico " 
 
 " Comico," interrupted Miss Elton, with 
 another look. 
 
 " Explanatory poem," continued Mr. 
 Lennox, " before we leave this house for 
 the theatre." 
 
 " Frank," said Mary, " you can go into 
 the next room; you will find my desk, 
 and pen, ink and paper." 
 
 " If Miss Elton will accept such an 
 expiation for my unfortunate attempt at 
 a compliment," said Frank, " I will do my 
 best ; but she must pity and forgive me." 
 
 " Do so," said Miss Elton ; " you have 
 my forgiveness, but not my compassion. 
 I can never pity a gentleman in any 
 dilemma caused by attempting a com- 
 pliment." 
 
 " Why, what a horrible little tyrant 
 you are !" said Mr. Lennox, pinching her 
 cheek, as the company rose. 
 
 " Oh, you hurt me," said she ; " you 're 
 worse than Frank, a great deal." 
 
 " And they have even had the impu- 
 dence," said Mrs. Elton, who had been
 
 88 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 all this while talking away upon various 
 subjects not in the least connected with 
 that which occupied the rest of the com- 
 pany, " they have even had the impu- 
 dence, my dear Mrs. Lennox, to say that 
 he did not know how to spell " 
 
 " He ! who ?" said Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " Why, General Washington ! Notwith- 
 standing there are manuscripts of his own 
 which certainly ought to put the ques- 
 tion" 
 
 The company at length retired. Frank 
 remained alone, and Mrs. Elton's voice no 
 longer delighted his ear, like the unceas- 
 ing gurgling of some persevering little 
 mountain-stream which for ever fills the 
 wood with its music. To him, indeed, her 
 voice was music ; not only because she was 
 one of the kindest-hearted, most excellent 
 women in the world, full of benevolence 
 to every human creature, and every other 
 creature, too ; not only because she talked 
 well and always generously of every one, 
 and particularly of the absent ; but, be- 
 cause, still handsome and stately in her 
 person, and really beautiful in counte-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 89 
 
 nance, there could be traced in her face 
 some resemblance to the young lady, who, 
 just at this moment, monopolized all his 
 thoughts. 
 
 As soon as his tormentors had fairly 
 left him, and his gay, audacious father 
 had dared to " touch that cheek," which 
 had any one else touched, the enamoured 
 boy might have been induced to throw him 
 out of the window at least ; and as soon as 
 he found himself in quiet and solitary pos- 
 session of the apartment, and had spent 
 some moments, envying the carpet which 
 had been pressed by her foot, wishing 
 himself the air she breathed, and indulging 
 in other sentiments, which all that part of 
 our readers, who have actually felt true 
 love in early youth, will understand with- 
 out further description, and all that part 
 who have not will set down as the most 
 absurd nonsense possible, and the mere 
 idle invention of fancy, he began to re- 
 flect, that, the sooner the poetry was com- 
 menced, the sooner it would be finished, 
 and the sooner it was finished, the sooner 
 he would stand a chance of gladdening his
 
 90 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 trembling heart with one more of those 
 looks which made it ache with happiness. 
 Seizing, therefore, pen and ink, and a sheet 
 of paper which happened to be at hand, 
 xvithout waiting to go into the next room, 
 which his sister had designated, he began 
 to rack his imagination to comply with 
 the conditions of his forgiveness. Harry 
 knew he wrote poetry with ease and feel- 
 ing, and had made the proposal in the 
 hope of at once extricating him from the 
 rebuke of his father, and the merriment of 
 the company, and of affording him an 
 occasion, if indeed he had not yet found 
 one, to declare to the object of his love 
 the state of his mind. 
 
 An impromptu would have been no 
 difficult matter under any tijt** circum- 
 stances, or even now, perhj, if it were 
 to be read by Fanny siloi^f But the de- 
 sire to do something pa?ularly fine was 
 a heavy drawback up^T his inspiration ; 
 and the wish to say smnething significant 
 to her, and to say. 'this in a manner in 
 which the uninitiated should be able to 
 find only a common-place piece of polite- 
 ness, was indeed a hard task.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 91 
 
 He wrote, erased, wrote again, tore off, 
 screwed up, and filliped out of the win- 
 dow, in the shape of ingeniously formed 
 little balls, several invocations of uncom- 
 mon elegance and deep pathos, but whose 
 merit was impaired by the peculiarity of 
 their not going farther than the two first 
 lines. 
 
 " Ah, bah ! " He at length turned the 
 sheet upside-down, and commenced on the 
 top of a fresh page in a new metre. 
 
 " When Beauty speaks the sweet command 
 
 To pour the glowing line ; 
 When mischief, and when malice, and, 
 
 Sweet maid, the look divine the heavenly 
 wine immortal wine shine refine mine whose soul 
 once mine. 
 
 " Ah, bah ! was ever anything so stu- 
 pid?" 
 
 " When mischief, and when malice, and (ah ! ha !) 
 
 when innocence combine 
 To force the feeble poet's hand" 
 
 (" Feeble poet indeed !") 
 
 " Upon the trembling lyre " 
 
 "That '11 never do heigho! Let us 
 try it again." And, as if caught by a new 
 idea, he went on writing for a few mo- 
 ments very fluently.
 
 92 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " There !" said he, after having finished 
 something which he liked better ; " that '11 
 do. But, bless me ! the theatre com- 
 mences at seven. It 's now six o'clock, 
 and Hollo ! What the devil 's that?" 
 
 The last exclamation was called forth 
 by the discovery of something on the floor. 
 It was a glove. He rose and approached 
 it. He recognized it in a moment. It 
 was Miss Elton's, and it still wore the 
 shape of her hand. With a not unnatural 
 impulse he raised it to his lips, and printed 
 upon it an impassioned kiss. 
 
 " This, at least," murmured he, " sweet 
 girl ! I will bear away, in spite of fate." 
 
 A slight rustling behind him caused 
 him to turn suddenly, and Miss Elton 
 herself stood before him, fully betraying, 
 by her look of embarrassment and surprise, 
 that she had been the witness of his ten- 
 der folly. She would have withdrawn 
 hastily, but the bold and ardent youth 
 placed himself between her and the door, 
 and seized her hand with the gentleness of 
 a lover, but the firm determination of a 
 man.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 93 
 
 " Stay ! dear Fanny ! stay !" 
 
 " I beg you, Frank what nonsense is 
 this ? Give me my glove and let me go. 
 They are waiting for me." 
 
 "No, Miss Elton. Why should you, 
 avoid what I wish to tell you? and why 
 should I conceal what you have already 
 discovered?" 
 
 " My dearest Frank, what a child you 
 are? Give me the glove and let me go. 
 You don't wish to make me angry, I 
 hope?" 
 
 " Fanny ! I love you. I am serious. 
 I am sincere. Be so yourself. I love you 
 to distraction, and can never be happy 
 without you."" 
 
 " What folly ! what a freak is this ! 
 Frank ! Mr. Lennox ! indeed let me 
 go-." 
 
 " One moment, Fanny, hear me, and, as 
 you value my happiness, answer me. Can 
 you love me ? will you be mine ? " 
 
 " My dear Frank ! love you ? Let me 
 go. To be sure I do. Most sincerely. 
 No friend, no brother, could ever be 
 dearer."
 
 94 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " No brother ! you cruel girl ! Can 
 you trifle with me at a moment when " 
 
 " You astonish and distress me, Frank. 
 Consider ! if any one should come ; what 
 do you mean by detaining me so ?" 
 
 " I mean that I love you, seriously, 
 passionately; that I am about leaving 
 New York for many years, and that I will 
 not go, without learning from your lips 
 whether the long and ardent attachment 
 I entertain for you is, or can ever be, 
 requited." 
 
 " Frank, this is foolish ridiculous 
 impossible ! I request you to release me." 
 
 The blush faded from her cheek, and 
 she lifted her eyes gravely, almost coldly, 
 to his. Startled by her tone, the re- 
 serve, the dignity, of her manner, and the 
 expression of her face, the young man 
 released her hand, and bent his eyes in- 
 quiringly and reproachfully upon her. 
 
 " Let me leave you, Mr. Lennox ; and 
 forget this moment, as I shall." 
 
 " No, Miss Elton," said Frank firmly ; 
 " I shall neither forget this moment, nor 
 suffer you to leave me willingly, without,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 95 
 
 at least, once earnestly repeating the de- 
 claration I have made and the question 
 I have asked." 
 
 " You are a foolish boy," said Miss El- 
 ton, " and have been taking too much 
 wine, I believe." 
 
 " I have told you I love you," said 
 Frank very seriously. " I am not trifling, 
 and I request a reply. It is important 
 I should know. I have no right to coerce 
 your affections, but I have a right to ask, 
 if they are mine." 
 
 " I feel for you so much friendship, such 
 a sister's love, my dear Frank," said Fanny, 
 " that I cannot, without both pain and 
 embarrassment, answer you seriously, or 
 believe at all, that a demand so unex- 
 pected is intended to be seriously an- 
 swered. 1 ' 
 
 And then she added, in a different tone, 
 and extending her hand, while moisture 
 glistened in her eyes, 
 
 " You foolish foolish boy ! How came 
 you ever to have such a thought ? You are 
 too young, ardent, and susceptible to know, 
 what will be ultimately your choice. Leave
 
 96 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 this subject for ever. Your friend I hope 
 always to remain ; your wife I can never 
 be!" 
 
 " Miss Elton," said Frank haughtily ; 
 but tears gushed to his eyes, and grief 
 choked his words, and he murmured in 
 accents of deepest tenderness, 
 
 " Dearest Fanny ! do not inflict upon 
 me the agony you are now causing me. 
 If you have never felt towards me any 
 return for the enduring and tender love 
 I shall never cease to entertain for you, 
 wait and see whether time and my de- 
 votion may not inspire you with it. An- 
 swer me : but pause before you do so. I 
 am young, I know; but who, capable of 
 loving, will count a few months? You 
 have several times called me a boy. I 
 am not one, believe me. If years can 
 ever bestow upon me strength to love, 
 and passion to suffer, believe me, I pos- 
 sess them now." 
 
 " Mr. Lennox," replied Fanny, after a 
 pause, " you take this too seriously. Hear 
 me calmly." 
 
 " I will, I will ; but whatever you have
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 97 
 
 to say of the present, oh ! leave the future 
 to decide for itself. Give me one beam 
 of hope that you may hereafter become 
 my wife, when, at least, I shall have made 
 myself worthy of you." 
 
 " You are worthy of me now more 
 than worthy," said Fanny, greatly affected ; 
 " but I never can be your wife, and I have 
 listened to you so long, dear Frank, only 
 to put an end for ever to all such 
 thoughts. I sincerely value your friend- 
 ship. Do not withdraw it because I 
 cannot requite your love. Hope nothing 
 from the future. I never can love you. I 
 never will I never can become your wife !" 
 
 Much affected by her gentleness, her 
 beauty, her grace, and her tears ; sub- 
 dued, over-mastered, he lifted his pale 
 face to her, and presented her his hand. 
 " I bow to your decision, Miss Elton. I 
 will never address you as a lover again. 
 Simple friendship I cannot certainly ren- 
 der you ; but, while I shall always love 
 you devotedly, you shall find me as cir- 
 cumspect in my demeanour towards you, 
 as if you were," and his voice trem-
 
 98 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 bled as he spoke " already the wife of 
 another." 
 
 " Noble, generous Frank !" said she, 
 giving her hand, " you merit a better and 
 a happier heart than mine. 1 ' 
 
 " Go, then, Miss Elton ! for I check the 
 terms of endearment which rise to my 
 lips ; go ! may God bless you ! I shall 
 never cease to love and respect you ; and 
 should you ever stand in need of a friend 
 to shed his life's blood in your cause " 
 
 " I should not hesitate a moment, dear 
 Frank, to call on you. And be sure, on 
 my part, no recollection of this scene shall 
 remain but the admiration of your mag- 
 nanimity. GoodVye ! dear Frank." She 
 left the room, and then Frank, relieved 
 from the presence of her beauty and the 
 enchantment of her manner, gave way to 
 feelings engendered by indignation and 
 wounded vanity. 
 
 He sat down, lighted a cigar, and lost 
 himself in contending reflections. At 
 length, puffing away, with his eyes occa- 
 sionally full of tears, which glittered 
 through heavy clouds of smoke, he brought
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 99 
 
 his cigar to a premature conclusion, just 
 as Harry entered the room. 
 
 " The deed is done, 11 exclaimed Frank. 
 
 "What deed?" 
 
 " My deed ! I have offered myself to 
 Miss Fanny, like an ass." 
 
 "Well? 11 
 
 " And am rejected, as if I had indeed 
 been that elegant and long-enduring 
 animal. 11 
 
 " You don't mean to say, 11 cried Harry, 
 with a singular feeling, not of joy, but 
 certainly not of grief, " that Miss Elton 
 has refused you ? " 
 
 " I don't mean to say it, if I can help 
 it, to any one but yourself; but I mean 
 to say it to you, and I hereby make the 
 satisfactory disclosure, in return for the 
 little confidence you have been so obliging 
 as to show me. It seems Miss Elton 
 is, I fear, coquettish, and I think we've 
 been jilted, Harry. Why ! where the 
 devil is the fellow ? He 's gone !" 
 
 2
 
 100 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 FRANK'S character was lighter than his 
 brother's. What affected the latter to 
 madness, and almost drove him at first to 
 the brink of suicide, and afterwards made 
 him seek to deaden the sense of his 
 boyish, but nevertheless keen, despair by 
 intoxication, only touched Frank's heart 
 with grief and then awakened in it new 
 hopes. He had received a dismissal too, 
 but of a very different kind from Harry's. 
 It was gentle, affectionate almost, con- 
 fidential, and good-humoured. He was 
 well convinced that Fanny had never 
 thought of such a thing as his being in 
 love with her. Her surprise, her pain, 
 her earnest desire to save his feelings by 
 throwing over the whole affair the cha- 
 racter of a boyish frolic, and, at last, 
 the unequivocal, explicit manner of her 
 rejection of his addresses, left him no
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 101 
 
 room to doubt that the young girl had 
 acted in good faith, and that, at present, 
 there was an end to his fine dreams. 
 
 " But what then ?" thought he. " Now 
 she knows I love her, this, at least, is an 
 advantage gained. I have five or six 
 months before me ; if I can't in that 
 time succeed in changing her opinion, 
 why then it will be time enough to 
 despair." . 
 
 These reveries were enjoyed in the pit 
 of the Park theatre, whither Frank had 
 gone to behold the countenance of Miss 
 Elton, before he took his place by her 
 side. The pit of the theatre has been 
 the resort of many a mournful lover to 
 gaze on the bright star of his worship, 
 without boldness, or the fear either of 
 observation or interruption. . 
 
 Frank was aroused from the train of 
 thought, suggested by Miss Elton's pre- 
 sence, by a touch on the shoulder. On 
 turning, he recognised Mr. Ernest a 
 young lawyer with whom he had a slight 
 acquaintance. The individual who ad- 
 dressed him was a little, overdressed, con-
 
 102 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 ceited fellow, with large black whiskers, 
 and piercing eyes. Although Frank had 
 met him once or twice at his father's 
 house, where he occasionally presented 
 himself, he scarcely considered him among 
 his friends, and he was rather surprised at 
 his perfect familiarity of manner. 
 
 " Ha ! Frank ! How are you ? How 
 do you come on ? What a devilish stupid 
 thing this opera is ! Since I have returned 
 from abroad, I can't put up with the same 
 fare as others. I'm not to be fobbed 
 off with such trash as this." 
 
 " Were you long abroad ? " 
 
 " Six months. I made the whole tour. 
 1 saw everything and everybody." 
 
 Really." 
 
 " Oh yes. I went to see and I did 
 see. I found the character of a stranger, 
 a traveller, and an American, a passport 
 everywhere." 
 
 "You must have some delightful re- 
 collections?" said Frank. 
 
 "Yes. But they have spoiled me 
 for home. Everything here seems little, 
 mean, and vulgar. I really think there
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 103 
 
 is here no excellence of any kind. Our 
 great men all strike me as provincial 
 actors do those accustomed to a metropo- 
 litan theatre. Our statesmen make long- 
 winded, declamatory, schoolboy speeches, 
 and take two days to say what a clever 
 member, what indeed any member, of 
 the House of Commons would say in 
 ten minutes." 
 
 "Why it seems to me," said Frank, 
 "that such men as Webster and Clay 
 are rarely equalled. I would not do our 
 distinguished men such injustice as to at- 
 tempt to enumerate them in a short con- 
 versation." 
 
 " We have had one or two clever fel- 
 lows, but I think our greatest men of 
 the present day would be only fifth rate 
 in England." 
 
 " Well, I won't debate with you," said 
 Frank, not sympathizing with the blind 
 admiration of foreign things which ren- 
 dered his companion unable to see ex- 
 cellence abroad, without denying its ex- 
 istence at home the sure indication of 
 a small mind.
 
 I 
 
 104 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Then, look at our society," continued 
 Ernest. "What a mere trumpery col- 
 lection of heterogeneous material ! a mere 
 melange without a standard of manners 
 or any systematic principle of exclusion 
 or organization ! " 
 
 " As to exclusion," said Frank, " if 
 report and books speak truth, the highest 
 society in Europe is not, with all its ex- 
 clusiveness, free from vulgar people." 
 
 " But then I feel here, as the saying is, 
 like a cat in a strange garret," said Ernest. 
 " I see nothing of the splendour and gor- 
 geousness that I "ve been in the habit of 
 being surrounded with. Where are our 
 public walks ? our magnificent shady 
 parks? our picture and sculpture-galle- 
 ries ? Where our stately equipages ? our 
 chasseurs? our footmen, with powdered 
 hair and gold-headed canes ? our men of 
 science ? our beautiful women ? Going 
 abroad has ruined me for ever as an Ame- 
 rican. 11 
 
 "Then, I think," said Frank gravely, 
 for his love of country was not only a prin- 
 ciple but a feeling, " it is a great pity
 
 I 
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 105 
 
 you did not remain at home. As for our 
 comparative inferiority in some things, it 
 is undeniable ; in others, our superiority 
 is equally apparent. There are no royal 
 parks, because there are no kings, ex- 
 pensive governments, and wealthy aristo- 
 cracies ! I cannot feel less happiness be- 
 -cause I don't see chasseurs, and footmen 
 with powdered heads and gold canes ! I 
 believe Providence ordains that the Eng- 
 lish should love their country, as we 
 should ours ; and if travelling only impairs 
 our patriotism, then travelling is an evil."" 
 
 " I don't agree with you at all," said 
 Ernest. " I go for truth, and I embrace 
 the truth wherever I find it. Society 
 exists as it is, and man, if a philosopher, 
 wishes to see it as it is, and not under any 
 delusion or prejudice, amiable or unami- 
 able. It is travel which has opened my 
 mind. Before I went abroad I don't think 
 there was a greater fool to be found any- 
 where than I. Perhaps you remember 
 me?" 
 
 " No ! I do not." 
 
 " I was badly dressed, bad-mannered, 
 
 F 5
 
 106 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 and backward ; without any confidence in 
 myself, and blushing like a red cabbage 
 when any one, particularly a lady, spoke 
 to me. Now, egad ! I have seen the 
 world ; but I am wrong. It is not travel 
 alone which has opened my mind." 
 
 " And what else is it?"" Love !" 
 
 "Love?" said Frank, almost with a 
 start. 
 
 " Love," repeated Ernest. " You've no 
 idea how you get on in that way abroad. 
 I was in love with three married women. 
 You know, no one falls in love with any 
 but married women on the Continent. 
 I assure you this sort of thing has rather 
 steeled my heart against home attacks." 
 
 " Home attacks ? " 
 
 " Yes ; the Yankee young ladies." 
 
 "Really?" 
 
 " Yes. Dark eyes, bright eyes, tall or 
 short, fair or brown, tender or haughty, 
 are pretty much the same to me. I don't 
 mean to marry unless I get something 
 very superior. Now, your cousin yonder 
 Is she not your cousin ?" 
 
 "She; who?"
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 107 
 
 " That devilish pretty Fanny Elton." 
 " Miss Elton is not my cousin." 
 " No ? I thought she was. She 's a 
 devilish nice girl ; though, I say, you 've 
 no intentions that way have you? hey?" 
 " I ? no ; certainly not." 
 " So I thought; otherwise you wouldn't 
 be here in the pit while she was sitting 
 in the boxes with a vacant seat beside her. 
 Well, then, I wouldn't say anything to 
 hurt your feelings ; but since you 're not 
 carrying on operations in that quarter, I 
 will candidly confess that I myself, at one 
 
 time " Frank turned his glance so 
 
 sternly on the speaker, that most men 
 would have observed it, but Mr. Ernest 
 was too much occupied with himself to 
 pay much attention to others. " You see, 
 my friends wanted me to marry. The old 
 gentleman is getting rather rickety, and 
 the mamma is anxious the hopeful son 
 should be settled. So I did allow myself 
 to be persuaded to look about me ; and 
 she, on the whole, appeared to be about 
 the best article in the market. I called 
 to see her several times ; but " he twisted
 
 108 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 up his mouth to express the total failure of 
 Miss Elton in her desires to please him 
 " it was no go ! I did not exactly think 
 she bore a close view. She 's pretty at 
 a little distance ; but her manners are not 
 precisely besides matrimony when 
 one is brought to the point, you see, hey ? 
 so I rather shied. In short, I withdrew 
 without committing myself ; though I fear 
 she, poor girl ! must think my abrupt 
 clearing out very odd." 
 
 Much disgusted, Frank turned away, 
 scarcely preserving his temper sufficiently 
 to avoid openly insulting the little puppy, 
 whose perfect satisfaction with himself was 
 most provoking. 
 
 The curtain now rose, and the occupants 
 of the pit, with their usual dogmatical 
 commands of " Hats off!" and " Down in 
 front !" arranged themselves to enjoy the 
 drama on the stage, few dreaming what a 
 drama was going on on their side of the 
 orchestra. For one moment the awkward 
 possibility had flashed across Frank's mind, 
 that there might be some truth in the re- 
 presentation of Ernest. Miss Elton might
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 109 
 
 have refused himself and Harry in conse- 
 quence of a passion for another, and that 
 other might be Mr. Ernest. He was at 
 least some people thought him good- 
 looking. His features, though irregular, 
 were rather intelligent in expression (or 
 Frank fancied them so at this moment), 
 his complexion was clear and fine, and his 
 eyes were unquestionably good. He had 
 travelled, was rich, and reputed " a young 
 man of talent." He certainly was a clever 
 lawyer, a ready speaker, a spouter at public 
 meetings, and a decided ladies' man, though 
 his inherent pertness and self-conceit could 
 scarcely fail to repel persons of discrimi- 
 nation. Was it within the range of pos- 
 sibility that Miss Elton had -for_loye_does 
 sometimes play such curious pranks fan- 
 
 r '- __ v . 
 
 cied this youth worthy her attention ? He 
 watched her face with renewed interest, 
 vexation, and delight, as its expression 
 changed with the incidents on the stage 
 now overcast with the sadness of a tender 
 scene, now lighted up in the enjoyment 
 of a sweet song, and now, alas ! pensive, 
 with an abstracted look, as if she had for-
 
 110 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 gotten all around her, and was relapsing 
 once more into her own apparently not 
 happy reverie. As the curtain fell, at the 
 conclusion of the first act, Ernest said to 
 Frank: 
 
 " I say, my boy, do you know those 
 gentlemen that have just come into your 
 folks' box, and are sitting exactly behind 
 Fanny?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " They are English officers stationed 
 in Canada, here on leave of absence. I 
 knew them in London, and have re- 
 newed my acquaintance with them. The 
 younger is Captain Glendinning, the 
 other Captain White, first-rate fellows, 
 high bred, the very tip-top. They 're here 
 almost incog, on a sort of frolic, go no 
 where, though if they chose only to pre- 
 sent themselves they would be bored to 
 death by our toad-eating fashionables. 
 That Glendinning is the greatest devil 
 that ever breathed. In London he is 
 always getting into the most astounding 
 scrapes. Such is his passion. I should not 
 be in the least surprised to see him walk
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. Ill 
 
 up the aisle of a crowded church on a 
 Sunday, take the clergyman by the nose, 
 and walk out again. It would be just 
 like him exactly. And his friends have 
 got him into the army, and sent him over 
 to Canada, to keep him out of the way of 
 temptation, or at least to avoid disgrace 
 in England. One day he rode a spirited 
 horse directly into a crockery shop ; slap ! 
 dash ! crack ! and nearly killed an old 
 woman who was sitting behind the count- 
 er, and, when the owner came out to re- 
 monstrate, he knocked him down senseless 
 with the butt end of his whip, and left 
 him for dead, t'o.v he 's as brave as Caesar ! 
 a magnificent fellow ! " 
 
 " Really ! " said Frank, " he has not the 
 appearance of being such a desperate 
 rascal. What were the consequences of 
 all this to him ? " 
 
 " Oh ! by Jove," said Ernest, " don't 
 apply quite such a plump expression to 
 him, or he '11 knock you through some third 
 story window, one of these days. The 
 consequences to him were nothing. He 
 was fined five pounds, I believe, by the
 
 112 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 magistrate ; he paid it of course be has 
 a thousand a year ! winked to his worship, 
 and left the room. I heard, however, he 
 made, of his own accord, a very handsome 
 present to the poor crockery people, for 
 he is an excellent-hearted fellow, and 
 just as generous as he is wild." 
 
 " I should doubt the excellence of his 
 heart as much as I do that of his head," 
 said Frank coolly. 
 
 " Oh ! it's nothing at all ; only a frolic. 
 Boys must sow their wild oats. ' We 
 young men must live/ as Jack Falstaff 
 says. One day he was at the races in 
 England, when he saw a man walking 
 with a pretty girl. He went up to 
 him in the politest way and said, * I say, 
 sir, that 's a d d pretty girl ! where did 
 you pick her up ? ' The stranger, who 
 was a merchant's clerk, replied, * She's 
 my wife, sir, and you 're a puppy, or you 
 would not address me in such a way/ 
 upon which Glendinning knocked him 
 down as flat as a flounder ; for he 's a 
 capital boxer. When the clerk, a Mr. 
 Heckson, or Hickson, or some such name,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 113 
 
 got up, he refused to box with Glendin- 
 ning, because he saw he was a bruiser, 
 but he calmly offered to fight him with 
 pistols. * Your rank, 1 said Glendinning's 
 friend, (for he was of course, some low 
 fellow ! ) * Your rank, Mr. Tapeyard, does 
 not permit you to invite a gentleman to 
 meet you.' ' If the gentleman, as you 
 call him/ said the stranger, ' has the base- 
 ness to insult a man beneath him in rank, 
 he ought at least to have the courage to 
 meet him/ * You 're perfectly right,' said 
 Glendinning, * I '11 meet you whenever you 
 please.' They did meet, and Glendinning, 
 had he chosen, could have killed him 
 just as easily as kiss his hand, for he 's 
 a first-rate shot ; but he only winged him, 
 broke his arm, I believe, or something of 
 that sort. Now I want to know who 
 could behave more handsomely than that ? 
 I like him amazingly. He 's just after my 
 taste. Don't you agree with me ? " 
 
 " No ; on the contrary, I think your 
 friend must be a desperate blackguard ! " 
 said Frank, without trying to soften, by 
 his manner, the bluntness of his remark.
 
 114 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 Ernest appeared to feel that this was 
 intended as an offence, but not liking the 
 idea of quarreling, changed the conver- 
 sation. " Well, I swear, Fanny is looking 
 sweet to night, I \e a great mind to go 
 up into the box with you." 
 
 " When / speak of that young lady, 11 
 said Frank, " I always call her Miss Elton, 
 and if you were a gentleman you would 
 do the same. 1 ' 
 
 Frank then quitted the side of his com- 
 panion, without deigning him any further 
 attention.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 115 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ERNEST was now insulted, yet he dared 
 not resent. Although he professed to 
 have found truth, he had not been so for- 
 tunate in respect to courage. He was a 
 coward. But in proportion to his fear of 
 the flashing eye, and manly arm, of the 
 indignant young soldier, were his vanity, 
 and his hatred of him who had wounded 
 him. When men are in this state of pas- 
 sion, the Father of Evil is generally ready 
 with opportunity to gratify it. The young 
 man saw the departure of his enemy, and 
 presently perceived him seated almost im- 
 mediately behind Miss Elton, and occa- 
 sionally interchanging a remark with her. 
 Jealousy added force to his revenge, for 
 the reader need scarcely be informed, that 
 his withdrawal from addressing Miss El- 
 ton was in consequence of the cool dis-
 
 116 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 like discovered by the young lady, too un- 
 equivocally, to leave him the slightest hope 
 of success ; he bore, therefore, in fact, no 
 more friendly sentiments towards her than 
 towards Frank. 
 
 The opera was at length concluded, and 
 Ernest left the theatre in no enviable 
 mood. As he was passing into the street, 
 he felt a friendly, though rather em- 
 phatic, slap on his shoulder ; and a 
 " Halloo ! my little fellow ! where do you 
 come from ?" showed him Glendinning 
 at his elbow. 
 
 Their greetings were warmly inter- 
 changed, and, with Captain White, they 
 agreed to go in next door to Windast's 
 and take supper together before the farce. 
 
 While Ernest was congratulating him- 
 self that his English friends had not been 
 witnesses of his recent humiliation, Glen- 
 dinning enquired, if he had been to the 
 theatre. " Yes. I saw you there. How 
 do you like the opera?" 
 
 " Don't talk to Glendinning. He 's 
 crazy, as usual," said White. " I always 
 wanted his old man to put him into a mad-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 117 
 
 house. Do you know he has fallen mon- 
 strously in love to-night, poor swain ! with 
 a girl he never saw before, and never will 
 see again. ' Here, hold your glass, young 
 Romeo ; we jest at scars that never felt a 
 wound ! ' " 
 
 " Did you find out who she is?" 
 
 " She 's a very beautiful Yankee girl, 
 that sat before us this evening," said Glen- 
 dinning. " You ought to know your own 
 townspeople." 
 
 " There were two," said Ernest, " both 
 pretty enough, and both old friends of 
 mine." 
 
 " The one with a rose in her bosom !" 
 said Glendinning. 
 
 " The one with a rose on her breast is 
 a Miss Elton." 
 
 " A Miss Elton ? Thou speakest like a 
 withered lawyer. Miss Elton ! The Miss 
 Elton the only woman I ever saw in my 
 life." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! Here 's a man to have 
 under one's care," said White. " His old 
 gentleman committed him to my pru- 
 dence, and I 'd rather drive an un-
 
 118 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 broken colt before a park of artillery. 
 Ha! ha! ha!" 
 
 "Who is she? What is she? Will 
 you make me acquainted with her?" said 
 Glendinning. 
 
 " No, not I ! she 's a demure coquette. 
 She has jilted me, and I '11 have no more 
 to do with her. I rather, think she 's con- 
 suming the youth behind her the one 
 next you. He 's one of her flames, too, 
 I suspect.'* 
 
 "A coquette, is she?" said Glendin- 
 ning, " I should like her to try me." 
 
 " Oh, you 'd have to fight your way 
 through two or three fellows ! This chap 
 has a brother ; both would be cocks-of-the 
 walk. The one with her to-night is a 
 lieutenant in the army." 
 
 " What, a militia lieutenant ? of the 
 Jefferson Guards, or Tompkin's Blues ?" 
 said Glendinning. 
 
 " No. A regular lieutenant, a proud, 
 conceited, free-spoken, upstart sort of a 
 fellow ; very rich, very saucy, and, by the 
 way, no great admirer of you."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 119 
 
 " How 's that ?" said Glendinning, in 
 whose face the effect of the wine was 
 already visible " what has any Yankee 
 lieutenant the audacity to say of me ?" 
 
 " Nothing, but that you 're a desperate 
 blackguard," said Ernest. 
 
 " What ! " said Glendinning, laying 
 down his knife and fork. 
 
 " Just now, in the theatre, I heard 
 him say so. I would have knocked him 
 over, if it had not been in the theatre." 
 
 " Waiter!" said Glendinning. 
 
 " Now you 're for a row ! " said White. 
 " Don't go back ! What do you mean, Er- 
 nest, by such a statement as that, from a 
 man who does not know either of us, and 
 can know nothing but what you must 
 have told him?" 
 
 " I? T told him only some of your 
 frolics," said Ernest sturdily, " and that 
 was his reply. I '11 take my oath of it." 
 
 " Waiter the bill!" said Glendinning, 
 mildly. 
 
 " And where are you going from here ?" 
 said White.
 
 120 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Back to the theatre, to see the farce." 
 
 " Yes to act in it, perhaps ! Glen- 
 dinning ! you shall not go," said White. 
 
 " Nonsense." 
 
 " I know you perfectly well, and you 've 
 taken too much wine." 
 
 " Look at me," said the young rout ; 
 " am I drunk ?" 
 
 " I don't say you Ve drunk, but I say 
 you 're quarrelsome. If you wish to notice 
 the I must say, ridiculous statement of 
 Ernest, do it at least in a proper way. 
 Send a message. Ernest may take it, if 
 he like." 
 
 " Oh no ! not for the world. You must 
 not betray me. I told it you in the strict- 
 est confidence," said Ernest. 
 
 " Well, I wont send him a message."" 
 
 " Then you shall not go back to the 
 theatre !" said White, grasping his arm. 
 
 " White," said Glendinning "I give 
 you the honour of a gentleman, I wont 
 disturb this Lieutenant Hancock." 
 
 " Lieutenant Lennox," said Ernest. 
 " His name is Lennox."
 
 < 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 121 
 
 " Well, Lennox then. I don't want a 
 row any more than you." 
 
 " Your word of honour ? " 
 
 " My word of honour. I want only to 
 see this girl, because she ; s so pretty." 
 
 " Well, then, for half an hour, let us go 
 back." 
 
 " I have my seat in the pit," said Er- 
 nest ; and he sneaked off to resume it. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 122 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FRANK sat with his party during the in- 
 terval between the play and farce. When 
 White and Glendinning left the box he 
 felt relieved, for their admiration of Fanny 
 had been so apparent as to inspire the sus- 
 ceptible young lover with some not very 
 placid sensations. His gratification, how- 
 ever, was of short duration, for after the 
 lapse of fifteen or twenty minutes, which 
 he had spent talking to his mother, the 
 two officers both returned. Thinking, per- 
 haps, that the sight of a gentleman con- 
 versing with the object of their rude at- 
 tention might either abash or intimidate 
 them, he moved nearer and addressed 
 her. 
 
 " I 've been looking at you, Miss Elton, 
 from the pit, 11 said he, " and considering 
 what a fool you must think me." 
 
 " To be sure I do I 11 said she, smiling,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 123 
 
 and extending her hand. " But we are 
 friends, for all that." 
 
 "I really am inclined to doubt it," 
 said Frank. 
 
 " You 're a spoiled child," said she, 
 " and I shall tell your mamma of you. 
 How do you like the opera ?" 
 
 " Not much. It 's very good. I 
 haven't heard a note of it." 
 
 " Lucid being ! your ideas are so clear !" 
 
 "And you have the cruelty to laugh 
 at me." 
 
 " I must answer you in your father's 
 style. ' Hold your tongue, sir ! How 
 dare you have the impertinence to ad- 
 dress me in that way ?' ' 
 
 He was about to reply, when the 
 younger English officer leaned delibe- 
 rately forward and took the rose from 
 Miss Elton's bosom. 
 
 For a single moment, amazement kept 
 Frank motionless, till he saw the two 
 strangers rise as if about to leave the box, 
 when, with a deep exclamation of fury, 
 his large eyes flashing sparks of fire, he 
 leaped upon the aggressor, and struck him 
 
 G 2
 
 124 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 a fearful blow in his face. There was a 
 shriek of horror, a shout of wrath, and 
 Frank and his foe were linked together 
 in a deadly struggle. The audience rose 
 en masse, supposing the house on fire, or 
 that some part of the building had given 
 way. The truth, however, became imme- 
 diately apparent, when a vociferous burst 
 of voices rose from all quarters, with 
 " Hustle 'em out ! " " Turn 'em out !" 
 
 But the combatants were already in 
 the lobby, which was closely thronged to 
 suffocation. The terrified family of Frank 
 shrieked after him in vain. They could 
 not even get a sight of him.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 125 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 HARRY had also stolen into the pit of 
 the theatre to look at Miss Elton. He 
 had beheld the incident above related, 
 and the effect upon his high-wrought 
 temper may be easily imagined. Ex- 
 erting all his strength, he forced his way, 
 not out of the theatre, but through the 
 crowd towards the box, and, leaping over 
 the balustrade, he hastened into the lob- 
 by. It was, however, too late. The com- 
 batants were already gone, he knew not 
 whither. The family had also disap- 
 peared. 
 
 " Where are they ?" demanded Harry 
 of a bystander. 
 
 " A lady fainted, and they have taken 
 her home." 
 
 " But the combatants ?" 
 
 " Oh ! gone off in one coach, four of 
 them ; but where, is more than they men-
 
 126 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 tioned. The police are after them, but 
 I wish they may catch them. Ha ! ha ! 
 ha ! one of those young chaps will be 
 made cold meat of before sunrise !" 
 
 "Where, indeed," thought Harry. Which 
 way to go was now the question. To the 
 police ? to Hoboken ? At length he sprang 
 into a hackney coach and proceeded home. 
 On arriving, he rushed into the house. 
 He could not rationally expect to meet 
 Frank there, but he felt a shudder of 
 horror on finding he had not yet been 
 heard of.t The family were in consterna- 
 tion ; his mother was walking up and down 
 the room wringing her hands in despair, 
 his father was pale, but calm. The sup- 
 per was laid out, but, as may be imagined, 
 was untouched. The servants were run- 
 ning to and fro, peeping into the room, 
 and slamming the doors in haste and con- 
 fusion. 
 
 " My son ! my son ! where is he T cried 
 Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " Then he has gone ? " said Harry. 
 
 " To the police ! Oh, go to the police !" 
 cried the women.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 127 
 
 "No!" said Lennox. "He must go 
 through with the affair." 
 
 " I will go to the police," said Elton. 
 
 " I beg, I command,"" said Lennox, "that 
 no one interfere." 
 
 " Pardon me," said Elton, hastening 
 out, " I must not desist from my duty." 
 
 He went. 
 
 " God have mercy on him !" murmured 
 Fanny. 
 
 " They must meet, and they will meet. 
 Between military men a duel is the only 
 alternative after such provocation. I 
 trust he will lay the scoundrel low, and 
 teach a bully and a blackguard a manly 
 lesson. I hope to meet him presently 
 safe and successful from his stern duty, 
 and to clasp a hero and a gentleman to my 
 arms," said Lennox. 
 
 " And I, too, father," said Mary firmly, 
 but with streaming eyes. " I would have 
 loaded his pistols for him rather than tie 
 should have failed to act as he has done." 
 
 "And hear me, too, Almighty God!" 
 cried Mrs. Lennox, falling solemnly on 
 her knees, " rather than my son should be
 
 128 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 a murderer, let me see him brought back 
 a corpse ! " 
 
 " Catherine !" cried her husband. 
 " I could better bear, oh ! Eternal Fa- 
 ther !" continued she, without paying any 
 attention to the interruption, " I could 
 better bear to see him taken by Thee. 
 Take him ! his mother asks it ; let him die 
 in his youth, in his beauty, rather than " 
 " Dear Mr. Lennox," said Miss Elton, 
 " should you not go out, and see what 
 can be done to stop this dreadful affair." 
 " No, never !" said Lennox. 
 She then turned to Emmerson, but on 
 finding him taking some refreshment very 
 quietly in the back room, she appealed 
 to Harry. 
 
 " And will you see your brother mur- 
 dered, or become a murderer, when per- 
 haps you might prevent it ?" 
 
 " I fear the matter must take its course, 
 Miss Elton," said Harry gravely. " The 
 police are already informed of it. I could 
 in no way aid them." 
 
 "Then go to the ground," said Miss 
 Elton, " whither you think they will re-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 129 
 
 pair. Make at least an effort to find 
 them." 
 
 " Were I on the spot," said Harry, 
 " what could I do ? They would not obey 
 me. Nor, in fact, could I advise Frank 
 to do anything but go through with the 
 affair." 
 
 " You may reach the place in time to 
 receive his dying breath, perhaps some 
 last request," said Miss Elton. 
 
 " You are right," replied Harry, shocked 
 and rebuked. 
 
 "Go then." 
 
 He hastened out of the house, when 
 a police officer stepped up to him. 
 
 " All we can do is quite useless," said 
 the officer. " The gentleman's name is 
 Captain Glendinning. He lodges at the 
 City Hotel. We have sent there, and 
 also over to Hoboken. It is too late, 
 however. The meeting cannot be avoid- 
 ed. It is now two o'clock, day breaks at 
 three, and they will not probably wait for 
 much light, for they are in earnest. The 
 mischief, whatever it may turn out to be, 
 is now done." 
 
 65
 
 130 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 Harry feared that all exertion on his 
 part would prove fruitless. The chance 
 was very slender of his being able even 
 to find the parties. But the idea sug- 
 gested by Miss Elton had given him a 
 new impulse. His affection for his bro- 
 ther was warm and tender. He might 
 find him, perhaps, wounded, gasping his 
 last sigh, alone, abandoned, or deserted 
 by all but strangers and hirelings. This 
 new thought seemed to fire his soul 
 with lightning. He directed the coach- 
 man to drive instantly and rapidly to 
 the foot of Courtland, or any of those 
 streets leading to the Hudson, where 
 small boats might be procured. The 
 man obeyed, and he presently reached 
 the Wharf. Boats were there, indeed, 
 but no boatman was to be seen. He 
 leaped at length into a boat, in which, 
 fortunately, a pair of old oars had been 
 left, and in an instant dashed from the 
 Wharf.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 131 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE night was clear and calm. The 
 water stretched itself peacefully out, 
 till its gently heaving surface was lost 
 in a dusky shadow. The strongly-mark- 
 ed, heavy shapes of the receding town, 
 lay indistinct and black on the flood; 
 while here and there were scattered a few 
 dim forms of vessels at anchor. Harry 
 rowed with all his might into the broad 
 stream, and was soon surrounded only by 
 sky and waves. Unaccustomed, however, 
 to this violent exercise, he presently found 
 himself breathless and exhausted. Agi- 
 tated, and impatient beyond endurance, 
 he was obliged to cease from his exer- 
 tions, and suffer a considerable interval 
 to pass away in passive despair. At length 
 he seized the oars with renewed energy, 
 and was making way, when a pale grey 
 light from the east began to steal upon
 
 132 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 the long, sleeping clouds, and to touch 
 with a deeper transparency the tender 
 sky. 
 
 At daybreak, the antagonists would 
 doubtless meet. Perhaps, by the aid of the 
 sun's soft and slowly strengthening beams, 
 the brother whom he loved, was present- 
 ing his heart to the deadly aim of his en- 
 raged enemy. It was now morning, and 
 the green, pellucid waves heaved and 
 broke with their gentle, soothing sound, 
 and streaks of rosy red shot in arrowy 
 lines up to the mid-heaven, and the now 
 distant city began to be unveiled beneath 
 its light covering of smoke and mist and 
 shadow, and the green, delicate shores of 
 New Jersey grew nearer, more distinct, 
 more lovely, and he could hear the birds 
 warbling in the woods, while the meadow 
 lark shot upward with its joyous scream ; 
 presently his ear caught the report of a 
 pistol, and then another. He paused 
 and listened till his blood grew cold, 
 and his breast heaved with intense emo- 
 tion. 
 
 Nothing more could be heard but the
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 133 
 
 ordinary sweet sounds of nature, the dash 
 of the waves, as they broke on the pebbly 
 beach, the carol of the lark, and the war- 
 bling of other birds. 
 
 For a few moments the little boat shot 
 swiftly on towards the land, when, in the 
 eagerness of his efforts, one oar broke 
 short off, and the other fell into the 
 stream. 
 
 He had not remained long in this state, 
 endeavouring, in a very inefficient and 
 clumsy manner, to propel the boat by the 
 aid of one of the board seats, when he per- 
 ceived three figures hastily approaching the 
 water's edge. Disappearing behind a little 
 cove, they presently reappeared in a small 
 boat, which began its rapid flight across the 
 stream towards the city. They came near 
 enough for him to observe that they were 
 strangers. He fancied, however, he could 
 recognise among them the person who 
 had taken the rose from the bosom of 
 Miss Elton. His brother was, then, killed ! 
 He shouted to them to arrest their at- 
 tention, but the little boat held on its 
 way and was soon lost to his view.
 
 134 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 With great difficulty, he neared the 
 land, and, leaving the boat to take care 
 of itself, he leaped ashore and plunged 
 into the thickets and lanes, shouting his 
 brother's name, and expecting, to behold 
 on every green-sward, his body extended 
 and weltering in his gore, or dragged along 
 by some trembling, blood-stained, and 
 guilty-looking friend, to be huddled out 
 of sight like something worthless and vile. 
 
 After a long and unavailing search, 
 he returned to the city, by an early ferry- 
 boat, in a dreadful state of doubt and 
 suspense, with throbbing temples and fe- 
 vered veins.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 135 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AT Mr. Lennox's all was yet despair 
 and confusion. It is needless to attempt to 
 paint what cannot be comprehended, but 
 by unhappy sufferers in such painful scenes, 
 the horror, suspense, and anguish of a fa- 
 mily while waiting news of a duel, in which 
 a beloved son and brother is engaged ! 
 Lennox, although at the outset so obsti- 
 nately determined to allow of no inter- 
 ference if he could heir, it, had long since 
 yielded to his feelings, and had despatched 
 several messengers in search of news and 
 to prevent the meeting if possible. Mary 
 wept incessantly. Mrs. Elton, whose lo- 
 quacity had been silenced by exhaustion, 
 had gone home ill. Mrs. Lennox and 
 Fanny alone were calm. Both had the 
 support of communion with their Maker, 
 and in humble prayer had found strength 
 and resignation.
 
 136 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 And now, in the broad morning, the 
 whole city was awake, and the roaring 
 streets gave notice that the business\of 
 the day had commenced. News of the 
 result, whatever it might be, could not be 
 much longer delayed. Several friends 
 and neighbours came in to inquire, and to 
 console ; and knock after knock seemed to 
 carry the trial of the poor expectants to 
 the highest pitch of anxiety. At length 
 Mr. Ernest arrived with a countenance 
 highly expressive of pleasure. 
 
 " I come," said he, " to bring good news. 
 I have just heard a report, from a person 
 who came direct from the City Hotel, that 
 your son had met and killed his man." 
 
 Another knock was heard. It was 
 Mr. Elton. He was pale as death. 
 
 " You know the worst, then," said Mrs. 
 Lennox, wildly. 
 
 " Yes, yes ; I heard it at the Wharf." 
 
 " Heaven have mercy on us!" said Mary.. 
 
 " Heaven have mercy on him ! " said 
 Mrs. Lennox, with ashy cheeks -and qui- 
 vering lips. " I could have borne any 
 calamity rather than this."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 137 
 
 " He fell at the third fire," said Elton, 
 " and never breathed again." 
 
 "Who fell?" said Ernest. 
 " Frank ; poor, poor Frank." 
 
 The wild shriek of utter horror which 
 this intelligence produced from Mrs. Len- 
 nox, and which showed how little she 
 knew the strength of her feelings, was 
 scarcely attended to in the general tumult 
 of grief it occasioned. Mary threw her- 
 self into the arms of her friend, and Mrs. 
 Lennox upon the bosom of her husband, 
 as if for protection against the awful scene 
 which was to follow. The servants wept 
 aloud, and wrung their hands. Cries of 
 despair, and half-uttered prayers, were 
 heard. 
 
 " He is gone. He is dead my son ! 
 my son !" said the distracted mother 
 wildly. 
 
 " But let us be calm, in all cases," said 
 Mr. Elton. " If this heavy grief have 
 fallen on us, we must try to meet it in a 
 becoming manner ; but we have yet only 
 contradictory reports." 
 
 Here Harry entered, his clothes stained
 
 138 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 with dust and water, and looking more 
 like a corpse than a living man. 
 
 "Your news? "asked Miss Elton, for 
 the rest appeared to have lost the power 
 of speech. 
 
 " Mother, you should retire from a 
 scene like this," said Harry. 
 
 "No!" said Mr. Elton, "if you have 
 to tell the worst, tell it. And may the 
 Almighty strengthen our hearts to hear 
 it ! Is your brother dead ? " 
 
 "Don't answer, Harry," said Mr. Len- 
 nox, covering his face with his hands, 
 " give me a moment " 
 
 At this instant there was another knock. 
 
 " My wife, my poor wife ! " murmured 
 Lennox, as she sank gasping on his bosom. 
 
 " Ah, Frank, my son ! my son ! " said 
 Mrs. Lennox. 
 
 " My poor, dear brother," sobbed Mary. 
 
 A rapid, light step was heard on the 
 stairs, a crowd of servants rushed into the 
 room, with exclamations of " Here he is ! 
 here he is !" The door was flung forcibly 
 open, and 
 
 " Frank !" " My son ?" " My brother ?"
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 139 
 
 "Oh, thank Heaven!" broke from every 
 quivering lip ; for Frank, no stiffening, 
 bleeding body ; no murdered, mute, sense- 
 less corpse ; but Frank himself, the living, 
 triumphant Frank, his cheeks glowing, his 
 eyes beaming with delight, in all the rea- 
 lity of youth, health, and, as it seemed to 
 them, most transcendent beauty stood 
 laughing before them. 
 
 Mrs. Lennox was for a moment for- 
 gotten ; but she was engaged in fervent 
 prayer. 
 
 " Why, what 's the matter with you 
 all ?" said Frank, as the rest pressed about 
 him, embracing him, and almost distract- 
 ing him with their joyful affection. 
 
 " Frank ! my boy ! let me look at you. 
 Get out of his way. Come here ! God 
 bless you my noble-hearted son!" 
 
 " Why, anybody would suppose," be- 
 gan Frank, in the most careless manner ; 
 but the affectation of indifference was too 
 much for him. He could not conceal his 
 emotion, as he clasped each one in suc- 
 cession in an affectionate embrace ; as he 
 pressed to his own the white and trem-
 
 140 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 bling lips, the cheeks from which terror 
 had drained the blood, and grasped hands, 
 he scarce knew whose, which shook with 
 the tumult of feeling. He could only in 
 broken words exclaim : " I came as soon 
 as I could ; but I was arrested on my way 
 back by a rascally police-officer, and I 'm 
 only this instant released. See, my mo- 
 ther !" and, after tearing himself away 
 from those who were still clinging around 
 him, he knelt at the side of Mrs. Lennox, 
 who, reaching out her hands, and laying 
 them on his head, could only murmur 
 
 " Oh God, I thank thee !" 
 
 " Welcome back, Frank," said Harry, 
 after a moment's pause, and with an effort 
 struggling to preserve his indifference, 
 " welcome back, my boy !" 
 
 " You are ill," said Miss Elton, address- 
 ing the latter, her eyes swimming in tears. 
 
 " No, no," said Harry. " I only want 
 air. I shall be well again in a moment.' 1 
 
 " Miss Elton," said Frank, " Captain 
 Glendinning will never insult you again." 
 
 "Is my son, then, a murderer?" de- 
 manded Mrs. Lennox, shudderingly.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 141 
 
 " No, mother ; but I did my best. I 
 would have laid him low enough, if I 
 could." 
 
 " I hope at least you have winged the 
 scoundrel," said Lennox. 
 
 " Oh no, sir, he is no scoundrel ; but 
 one of the noblest fellows that ever 
 breathed. I love him almost as a bro- 
 ther/' 
 
 " Just like Frank !" said Mary, smiling 
 through her tears. " I should not be sur- 
 prised if they become bosom friends." 
 
 " Last night he did not know what he 
 was about," said Frank. " He had been 
 drinking freely." 
 
 ," Intoxication !" said Mrs. Lennox, 
 " is a poor excuse for a cowardly action." 
 
 " No ; he is no coward," said Frank, 
 disentangling himself from the hands and 
 arms which still grasped, and were wound 
 around, him, " but a capital fellow. Five 
 minutes after he had dared to touch Miss 
 Elton's rose, it was arranged we should 
 cross immediately to Hoboken, in two 
 small boats, and meet at the earliest day- 
 light. I found Sussex, by a lucky chance ;
 
 142 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 that excellent fellow stood my friend 
 in the affair. We fired and missed, but 
 I had the pleasure of spoiling a very hand- 
 some new hat for my antagonist. Glen- 
 dinning had coolly discharged his pistol 
 in the air. Our friends here interfered, 
 and said the affair had gone far enough, 
 particularly as Glendinning had wasted 
 his shot. While these gentlemen were 
 disputing what sort of apologies ought to 
 be made on either side, Glendinning step- 
 ped forward, against all rule, and superior 
 to all selfish calculation, and said : ' I re- 
 quire no apology. Lieutenant Lennox 
 has done nothing but what any gentleman 
 in his place would have done : I have been 
 exclusively in the wrong. I should have 
 apologised long ago, but that I could not 
 do so without a previous meeting. Now, I 
 trust," he added, (showing his hat with a 
 smile,) " the reconciliation may take place. 
 I, therefore, make a full apology for an 
 offence of which I am heartily ashamed.' " 
 " A noble fellow !" said Lennox. 
 " We here shook hands ; and then step- 
 '-* ^.,ping to his second, Captain White, Glen- 

 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 143 
 
 dinning took from him this rose, returned 
 it to me, and said he should be happy if 
 the lady from whom he had taken it in a 
 moment of excitement, could be per- 
 suaded to pardon him. 'Tell her,' said 
 he, ' I throw myself on her magnanimity, 
 as I do on that of your friends and family !' 
 This rose,"" continued Frank, with some- 
 thing of a proud air, " I believe belongs to 
 you, Miss Elton !" 
 
 Fanny accepted the rose with an en- 
 chanting grace, and said, " Frank, I can 
 scarcely tell you how much I admire your 
 manly courage, how sincerely I feel that 
 you would never shrink where duty called ; 
 but you know, for we have often spoken 
 on the subject, that I cannot approve " 
 
 " Come ! come!" said Lennox. "You 
 are a little Puritan, and I won't have any 
 sermons on my boy. He has risked his life 
 for you, and if there is anything wrong in 
 the matter, it must be borne by the shoul- 
 ders of society at large which are good 
 broad ones you know not by any indivi- 
 dual, and, most of all, not by my Frank." 
 
 " Breakfast ready, gar !" said Simon, an
 
 144 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 old attached black servant of the family, 
 throwing open the door, his cheek wet 
 with tears. 
 
 " Come on ! take Miss Elton's hand. 
 Lead her in!" exclaimed Mr. Lennox. 
 " You have won the honour, and I hope 
 she will not refuse to bestow it. Come 
 along ! We '11 kill the fatted calf, for the 
 young prodigal has returned." 
 
 The well-ordered domestic arrange- 
 ments of Mrs. Lennox's hospitable family 
 moved, in their various operations, almost 
 instinctively, and an abundant and tempt- 
 ing breakfast had risen up with the agree- 
 able facility of Aladdin's palace. English 
 travellers have already informed the Eu- 
 ropean reader, that, although the Ameri- 
 cans are marvellously good-for-nothing 
 creatures, with unfortunate institutions 
 and a bad government, they do know how 
 to serve a good breakfast. There were 
 tea, coffee and chocolate, hot rolls and 
 Indian cakes, toast, sausages, steaks, and 
 broiled shad, with other dainties, to suit 
 the demands and various tastes of the 
 somewhat large company which sat down 
 to enjoy them.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 145 
 
 It would have made a good picture, the 
 breakfast of this family, on the present me- 
 morable morning. Joy had burst upon 
 them like the sunshine after a stormy 
 night, and shed upon all but a few hearts 
 the sympathy of happiness. Mrs. Elton 
 had recovered her appetite, her health, 
 and her radiant smiles, and was talking 
 away for dear life's sake, without any one 
 having the least idea what she was saying, 
 though each person to whom her pleasure- 
 beaming^yes were successively directed 
 nodded understandingly with his mouth- 
 ful, and said : " To be sure !" and " Cer- 
 tainly! certainly!" Fanny, relieved from 
 the harrowing apprehensions of the night, 
 had forgotten all her own annoyances. 
 Mr. Elton, inclined to be a grave observer 
 of the scene, which, however gay, had its 
 origin in a principle shocking to humanity, 
 and in violation of the laws of God and 
 man, was still unwilling to disturb the 
 charm of the hour by solemn debates or 
 animadversions which could have had but 
 little chance of being listened to. Frank 
 was in the seventh heaven of triumph and
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 hope. He had given to Miss Elton a tes- 
 timony that he was not quite " a boy" a 
 term for which he began to have all the 
 hatred of Coriolanus, and besides, he 
 rejoiced in the eclat with which, he well 
 knew, the duel must surround his name ; 
 for, let moralists muse as they may, the 
 public opinion yet deals leniently with the 
 offence, and very frequently delights to 
 honour the offender. Harry was happy in 
 the escape of his brother. So far was his 
 from being a selfish heart, that his own 
 happiness was, for the time, merged in that 
 of once more beholding Frank, not only 
 alive and well, but covered with glory, and 
 in witnessing the vivid happiness of his de- 
 lighted home. Perhaps no face showed 
 more clearly the traces of mental suffer- 
 ing, for he had been exhausted by the 
 emotions and exertions of the past night, 
 but he was even contented to be miser- 
 able himself, while he saw around him 
 others whom he loved relieved from their 
 misery. One countenance alone had a 
 strange discontented look. It was Em- 
 merson's, whose naturally cold and selfish
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 147 
 
 heart felt little real sympathy with either 
 the anguish or the joy even of his best 
 friends. He seemed really to 'look a little 
 darker after Frank's return than before. 
 Keenly and morbidly alive to whatever 
 related to himself, he regarded the affairs 
 of others with the calmness of a philoso- 
 pher. Had Frank been brought home a 
 corpse, he would not have failed to mani- 
 fest, and perhaps to feel, all the deco- 
 rous sentiments of grief and horror; but 
 sorrow would not have broken his sleep, 
 nor in any way impaired his enjoyments ; 
 and he would perhaps have worn the dark 
 face, which now struck like a discord upon 
 the general happiness, with something more 
 of an effort. 
 
 H 2
 
 148 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 " WELL, my boy," said Lennox, after 
 an interval of silence, " this is better than 
 a bullet through the head." 
 
 " What a frightful thing is the practice 
 of duelling !" said Mrs. Lennox. " But 
 for the mercy of God, Frank might have 
 been either murdered, or himself a mur- 
 derer. Oh, Frank ! if Christianity is 
 true you have this day committed a 
 crime." 
 
 "Pooh!" said his father; "I doubt 
 whether we should ascribe every such 
 event to Providence." 
 
 " Are not two sparrows sold for a far- 
 thing?" said Mr. Elton; "and yet not 
 one of these falls to the ground without ' 
 His will. 1 ' 
 
 " Ah, that 's a figure of speech, sir," 
 said Harry. " One is surely not expected 
 to believe that so extremely accurate an
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 149 
 
 account is kept of such unimportant 
 matters." 
 
 " No, certainly not," said Lennox. 
 
 " I don't see how it would be possible," 
 said Harry. " And, if possible, I don't 
 know what good it would do. Even a 
 father in this world, who is the most 
 strongly interested in the fate of his chil- 
 dren, would not wish to keep an account 
 of the exact number of their hairs. He 
 would not concern himself about such mi- 
 nute affairs." 
 
 " It is easier to ridicule holy subjects 
 than to understand them,' 1 said Mr. Elton 
 mildly. 
 
 " But you cannot ridicule Shakspeare, 
 or Newton, or Euclid so." 
 
 " Supposing that to be the case," said 
 Elton. " Do you thence draw the in- 
 ference that the Scriptures are untrue ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! Only that they are too 
 rigidly interpreted." 
 
 Harry felt it impossible to conceal the 
 thoughts and opinions which had been 
 lately stirring in his bosom. His decisive 
 character loved to take a course at once,
 
 150 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 and to do whatever he meant to do, im- 
 mediately and openly. The whole table 
 listened to the conversation. 
 
 " I think the scheme of Christianity,"" 
 said Mr. Elton, "must be doubtful to 
 many who have not carefully examined it, 
 which I perceive you have not done, and I 
 like to see a man honest in expressing his 
 opinions on proper occasions. Only have 
 opinions one way or the other. There 
 is hope for all but those who pass the 
 subject over as not worthy of attention. 
 I have been a doubter, and some of my 
 friends, now very firm Christians, have 
 totally disbelieved in all revelation." 
 
 " Then," said Harry, " without being 
 flippant, or meaning to wound the feelings 
 jrf persons who think differently, I confess 
 1 believe all religion is only indirectly re- 
 vealed from the Creator." 
 
 " That is, not revealed at all," said Elton. 
 
 "My son! my son!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Lennox. 
 
 " The claims of Christianity upon the 
 belief of a man of sense are not, at least, 
 without serious objections," replied Harry.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 151 
 
 " Christianity has been two thousand years 
 in the world, and it has not yet effected its 
 purpose. Men are no better, and some 
 of the wisest and best don't believe in it. 
 Of the many millions who inhabit the 
 globe, not one fifth even profess it. Of 
 that small proportion, a very great one, 
 and among them men like Gibbon, Vol- 
 taire, Hume, Byron, reject it. Marvel- 
 lous things are not easily credited by 
 thinking men. I find it difficult to be- 
 lieve that Joshua made the sun stand still. 
 Modern astronomy has thrown a new 
 complexion upon that story. I confess 
 I can hardly believe in the miracles of 
 Moses and Aaron." 
 
 " My son," said Mrs. Lennox, with an 
 air of alarm and grief, " if you do not 
 wish me to leave the table, have the 
 goodness to proceed no further in this 
 discussion." 
 
 " Why, I am only a rationalist. All 
 I ask is, that Christianity should be made 
 intelligible, and that men should not be 
 called upon to believe impossible things, or 
 to be governed by impracticable precepts."
 
 152 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Let me give you, my young friend, 
 one piece of advice," said Elton. " I do 
 not mean to discuss the truth of Chris- 
 tianity in so light a way as this. I am a 
 very poor debater, nor have I much faith 
 in debates on this subject. Belief will 
 come to you, at the proper time, or it will 
 never come. But 1 recommend you not 
 to lay aside frankness in your remarks 
 and meditations on this head. Rational- 
 ism, if I understand it, is infidelity under 
 a milder name. Christianity is either 
 true or not true. All ingenious theories 
 of explanation are unworthy men of sense 
 and piety. Whoever pays the least at- 
 tention to the Bible will see, that there 
 can be no half-way point between faith and 
 scepticism. God revealed himself in the 
 Messiah. Christ was born of a virgin. 
 He performed miracles, and rose from the 
 dead, or he did not do what is affirmed of 
 him. One of the two opinions you must 
 believe. You have chosen the latter creed. 
 Take to it. Cherish it ! Carry it through 
 the world with you. Test its strength and 
 truth, and see if you can go through life 
 with it. 1 '
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 153 
 
 " Many wiser and greater than I have 
 done so," said Harry. 
 
 " You cannot know what goes on in 
 the bosom of another. Have you ever 
 examined all the arguments in favour of 
 Christianity ?" 
 
 " Have you ever examined all the ar- 
 guments against it ?" 
 
 Mr. Elton was silent, and Harry felt 
 as if he had the best of the debate. 
 
 " Come, come," said his father, " you are 
 discussing subjects too grave. In these 
 matters I have always left my children 
 to themselves. I don't think the topic 
 a proper one for the breakfast-table. In 
 Frank's course, this morning, he has his 
 own approbation and mine. He will also 
 have that of the world." 
 
 A youth, in rather a country dress, here 
 entered respectfully, and somewhat awk- 
 wardly. He held a newspaper in his 
 hand. 
 
 " What do you want, sir ?" said Lennox. 
 
 " I wish to ask you," said the lad, ap- 
 parently embarrassed on finding himself 
 speaking before so large an assembly, " if
 
 154 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 the declaration is to be filed in the case 
 of Green versus Thomson ?" 
 
 " A fig for the declaration in the case 
 of Green versus Thomson," said Mr. Len- 
 nox. 
 
 "My dear father," said Mary remon- 
 stratingly. 
 
 " Do you know what has taken place 
 this morning, sir ?" 
 
 The boy, who had a good intelligent 
 face, but who appeared very bashful, look- 
 ed extremely grave, then suddenly smiled, 
 and immediately looked grave again. 
 This curious habit which had often oc- 
 casioned the remarks of the family, now 
 set every one laughing. 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied the boy, with a still 
 deeper blush, which overspread his whole 
 face with crimson, but at the same time 
 with a look of pleasure, for he well knew 
 Mr. Lennox's roughness was but the ec- 
 centricity of a kind heart, " and I thought 
 may be you 'd like to see the paper." 
 
 " What ! the declaration in the case of 
 Green versus Thomson ? " 
 
 The boy looked graver than before, gave
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 155 
 
 a short laugh, and resumed an expression 
 of immoveable seriousness. 
 
 " No, sir, the newspaper." 
 
 " Why so, sir," 
 
 "To show you this," said Seth, as he 
 stepped up and handed the paper. 
 
 " What have we here ?" said Lennox. 
 
 " AFFAIR OF HONOUR. We stop the press 
 to announce, that a meeting took place, 
 this morning at daybreak, between Lieu- 
 tenant Francis Lennox, son of the dis- 
 tinguished lawyer of this city, and Cap- 
 tain Charles Glendinning, of His Ma- 
 jesty's Regiment, at the duelling 
 
 ground, Hoboken " 
 
 " And do you, sir," said Mr. Lennox, 
 suddenly stopping and putting on a ma- 
 gisterial air, " with such a newspaper in 
 your hand, and the knowledge of such 
 an event in your pericranium ; do you 
 dare to come to me in the bosom of my 
 family, with the son that is thus saved 
 sitting at my very side, and talk to me 
 about a paltry declaration in the case of 
 Green versus Thomson? 11
 
 156 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " My dear father, you are so wild. The 
 poor boy is half frightened to death," said 
 Mary. 
 
 But Seth only suffered one of his over- 
 flowing laughs to escape him ; and then 
 looked his master seriously in the face, 
 with such an expression, however, as if 
 he intended to laugh again presently. 
 
 " Come here, sir ! " 
 
 The boy obeyed. He was a plain- 
 looking lad of sixteen, badly dressed ; hjs 
 complexion was good, his eyes were intel- 
 ligent, and his manners indicative of a 
 high degree of anxiety what to do with 
 his feet, and in what nook to stow away 
 his hands. 
 
 " You are a young villain, sir. Go round 
 to Edgecombe and Radley, No. 12, Mai- 
 den Lane, immediately, and get yourself 
 measured for a gentleman's suit of clothes, 
 to be charged to my account. Go out 
 and find, moreover, a hat, two pair of 
 boots, a dozen pair of stockings, and a 
 dozen ready-made, respectable, dandified 
 linen shirts, with very high collars. Add 
 a pair of gloves, and, if like you, a cane,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 157 
 
 and have the bills sent to me. Do you 
 hear, you little scaramouch?" 
 
 The laugh of poor Seth was now hearti- 
 ly joined by all present. 
 
 " And when you have got them, Seth," 
 said Mary. "Come to me, I want to 
 speak to you." 
 
 " Now tramp march vanish into the 
 air!" 
 
 The boy obeyed the spirit, though not 
 the letter, of this mandate, and Mr. Len- 
 nox recommenced the perusal of the 
 " Affair of Honour." 
 
 " We stop the press to announce that 
 a meeting took place this morning a 
 little before daybreak, between Lieu- 
 tenant Francis Lennox, son of the dis- 
 tinguished lawyer of this city, and Cap- 
 tain Charles Glendinning, of His Ma- 
 jesty's Regiment, at the duelling 
 
 ground, Hoboken. The dispute arose at 
 the theatre ; Captain Glendinning having 
 offered a rudeness to a lady in the pre- 
 sence of Lieutenant Lennox, which the 
 latter punished by a blow. The parties
 
 158 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 repaired almost instantly to the ground, 
 and, after one fire, which on the part 
 of Captain Glendinning was discharged 
 in the air, the matter was terminated 
 amicably by the mediation of the seconds. 
 The most ample apologies were offered 
 by Captain Glendinning, and the gallant 
 gentlemen parted on the best terms, and 
 with mutual protestations of friendship. 
 Captain White of the British army acted 
 as the friend of his countryman in this 
 rather peculiar affair, and Mr. Sussex 
 of this city for Lieutenant Lennox. No- 
 thing could exceed the coolness and cou- 
 rage manifested on the occasion by both 
 the gentlemen, and a ball, it is said, took 
 effect in the hat of Captain Glendinning, 
 who received the awkward indication of 
 skill with immoveable composure. 
 
 " We must be permitted to remark, 
 however, that, if we have heard the matter 
 correctly represented, it has been reserved 
 for our chivalric young townsman to teach 
 his opponent a valuable lesson, which we 
 trust will not be wholly thrown away up- 
 on him, or upon the country to which he
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 159 
 
 belongs. Impertinent English travellers 
 may write slanderous books with impunity, 
 but there are insults which can never fail 
 to meet their just reward ! ! " 
 
 " Expressive italics ! and a double note 
 of admiration !" said Lennox. " Why 
 Frank ! you '11 be a bit of a lion for six 
 weeks to come." 
 
 " I am very sorry for it," said Mrs. 
 Lennox. 
 
 We have not attempted to give all the 
 conversation which took place, as, in the 
 general agitation, three or four were nearly 
 always speaking at the same time, and as 
 for Mrs. Elton, she did not stop at all. 
 At length, however, they separated. The 
 visitors returned home to spread through 
 the town all the particulars of the inte- 
 resting affair. Emmerson, having heartily 
 shaken every one by the hand, and reite- 
 rated his inexpressible joy at the termina- 
 tion of a calamity which had such a 
 threatening commencement, went down 
 stairs into the office to his business duties. 
 Mr. Elton shook his head, in the pur-
 
 160 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 suance of his own grave thoughts. Harry 
 and Frank retired together to talk the 
 matter over, and Mrs. Elton, who had 
 been relating a story to Mrs. Lennox, 
 Mary, and Fanny, of a shipwreck, of which 
 she had read an account sometime in her 
 early youth, where the poor sailors were 
 obliged to remain out seven days and 
 nights in an open boat, without food, was 
 obliged to break off just as the unfortu- 
 nate people had discovered a sail in the 
 horizon, but she treated her husband and 
 Fanny to the denouement on her way home. 
 And so the fierce hurricane, so sudden, 
 unexpected, and alarming, subsided into 
 calm sunshine, and he that was mourned 
 as dead was restored. 
 
 r> 
 
 !\
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 A FEW days subsequent to the events 
 just narrated, Mr. Lennox gave a dinner 
 to a few friends. Although he humbly 
 professed himself " no Croesus," it may be 
 asserted that the Lydian king, whatever 
 armies he might have raised, or whatever 
 splendid gifts he might have presented, 
 could not have inhabited a more comfort- 
 able house, or given a better dinner, at 
 least according to the tastes of modern pa- 
 lates. He had a light and generous heart, 
 with an unambitious character; and he 
 cared little for the world, save as it minis- 
 tered to his pleasure, or gratified his love 
 of hospitable display. His home was one 
 of those sunshiny retreats which few are 
 so fortunate as to possess. Blessed by a 
 large inheritance and a lucrative income 
 arising from his profession, he enjoyed the 
 delights of a lavish expenditure, unac-
 
 162 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 companied by any of its usual cares or 
 apprehensions ; for, while nothing can be 
 less like happiness than expensive plea- 
 sures to a man who suffers the haunting 
 
 o 
 
 consciousness of living beyond his income, 
 and of revelling in advance on the por- 
 tion of his widow and orphans; to a 
 person of Mr. Lennox's lively disposi- 
 tion there was a hearty delight, long 
 become habitual to him, in a generous 
 profuseness which prudence itself could 
 not censure. 
 
 His home was, therefore, the scene of 
 all kinds of agreeable pleasures, and his 
 children were educated fully to appreciate 
 them. A beautiful country-seat on the 
 Hudson, about sixty miles from the city, 
 was the usual summer retreat of his 
 family when not engaged in excursions to 
 some of the numerous and interesting 
 points in which the neighbourhood of New 
 York is so singularly rich ; and in the 
 winter, music, dancing, the opera, the 
 theatre, balls and dinners, made them look 
 back upon the glad, bright months of sum- 
 mer without regret.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 163 
 
 From his youth Mr. Lennox had been 
 favoured with an unbroken course of pros- 
 perity, and an almost total exemption 
 from the misfortunes which so generally 
 afflict mankind. Health smiled upon him 
 and his. No death had ever interrupted 
 the affectionate happiness of his family. 
 His children were growing up all that his 
 efforts had striven to make them. He 
 was beloved and honoured by his friends, 
 and had no enemies but such as envy and 
 malice, and his independent course of life, 
 had made him. His life had resembled 
 some of those fabled climates where wind, 
 rain, cold, and clouds, never disturb the 
 softness of the air or ruffle the serenity 
 of the sky. 
 
 How far a long career of unshadowed 
 prosperity is favourable to the develope- 
 ment of virtue, the formation of superior 
 character, or the knowledge of real happi- 
 ness, is a question for moralists to deter- 
 mine ; but it had certainly not, thus far, 
 apparently diminished the excellency or 
 the cheerfulness of the Lennoxes. All ac- 
 knowledged the warm virtues of their
 
 164 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 hearts, and the charm of their manners. 
 They were generous without pride, and 
 affable without condescension. There is 
 not in America, as in most other coun- 
 tries, a class of poor who live avowedly on 
 the bounty of the opulent, and hold from 
 the munificent charity of the rich what, 
 but for the perhaps unavoidable errors of 
 government and society, they would owe 
 only to their justice. But whenever mis- 
 fortune did come in contact with the Len- 
 noxes, it was sure of unaffected sympathy, 
 and, if possible, effectual relief; and while 
 this family were accustomed, silently and 
 benevolently, with the discrimination 
 which marks true charity, to relieve the 
 distresses of the poor, many a helpless 
 client, without money to defend himself 
 against oppression, or to meet the acci- 
 dental demands of the law, had found in 
 Lennox a bold advocate, a fearless de- 
 fender, and a generous friend. Many an 
 innocent man accused had been saved 
 from punishment by the outspeaking elo- 
 quence which asked no pay but the plea- 
 sure derived from doing good, and many a
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 165 
 
 poor debtor, clutched by the hand of some 
 merciless creditor, and consigned to a dun- 
 geon, found in his aid not only present 
 relief, but owed to him subsequent suc- 
 cess in life. 
 
 Under these bright auspices his two 
 sons had grown up as boys, and were 
 about entering into life as men. Frank, 
 as we have seen, was already a distin- 
 guished graduate from West-Point, and 
 Harry had been admitted to the bar, and 
 had become a partner in the lucrative office 
 of his father, with the intention, on the 
 part of the latter, that he should as 
 speedily as possible take the responsi- 
 bility of it on himself, with Mr. Emmer- 
 son as his assistant, and if things went 
 well subsequently, as his partner. But 
 Harry's triumph at overstepping at length 
 the limits of boyhood, however mingled 
 with grand visions of the future, with 
 noble resolutions, and an innate love of 
 the right, was crossed, as we have seen, 
 vdth some influences of an opposite na- 
 ture. He loved virtue and hated vice ; 
 but he had no distinct knowledge of the
 
 166 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 nature and requisites of the one, nor the 
 dangers, illusions, and insidious character 
 of the other. The peaceful and alluring 
 advantages in the midst of which he had 
 passed his life thus far, the succession of 
 pleasures which he had enjoyed, his father's 
 wealth, his own attainments, which were re- 
 markable, his very virtues, and perhaps the 
 notunthought of advantages of his person, 
 filled him with self-confidence, and gave 
 his reflections a leaning towards infidelity, 
 caught from the superficial view which 
 youth takes of life and nature, and con- 
 firmed by the study of Byron, of Gibbon, 
 and similar authors of fascinating genius 
 and profound attainments, who appear at 
 the bar of history as the representatives 
 of irreligion, and the bold scorners of the 
 Bible. Thus, his note-books were scrib- 
 bled over with memoranda of Voltaire and 
 Volney ; and with his memory stored with 
 splendid passages from Cain and Childe 
 Harold, while he never read the lofty, 
 noble, spiritual, and unanswerable argu- 
 ments in support of revealed religion, 
 young Lennox was about to launch forth
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 167 
 
 into life, on that mysterious sea, whose 
 glittering, treacherous bosom has engulph- 
 ed so many a " tall ship."" Destitute of 
 any belief in the future, of any reverence 
 for, or confidence in, God, regarding his 
 own soul as nothing more than the va- 
 poury tenant of a perishing form, his 
 hopes, wishes, and plans were all confined 
 within this life's bounds, bounds which, 
 to youth, seem vast and endless, but which, 
 in a few fleet years, contract to a narrow 
 span, and vanish like a morning dream. 
 
 Mr. Lennox had educated his children, 
 with the utmost^care and expense, in all 
 the graceful accomplishments, as well as 
 the necessary branches of learning. In 
 all the essentials of worldly honour they 
 had been carefully instructed, and perhaps 
 none could be more open to the noble 
 influence of virtue, more incapable of any- 
 thing paltry or mean. In short, all things 
 but one had been done for them. Like 
 thousands, in all parts of Christendom, 
 their lives had flowed quietly on in peace- 
 ful satisfaction with the things around 
 them. Happy and communicating happi-
 
 168 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 ness, loving and beloved, contented with 
 the practice of virtue and a horror of 
 vice, they lived in this world, with it, and 
 for it, without a thought beyond it. And 
 thus had fled (and to Mrs. Lennox, how 
 short and dream-like did they appear !) the 
 twenty-one bright, unclouded years since 
 the birth of her eldest son. 
 
 On the evening previous to the dinner- 
 party to which we have alluded, the fa- 
 mily had taken tea, Miss Elton was pass- 
 ing the evening with Mary, and Mr. 
 Lennox was, in one of his silent moods, 
 enjoying a cigar by the open window, 
 when Frank, who had several times deter- 
 mined to say something to the assembled 
 party, at length delivered what he ap- 
 peared to have been labouring with. 
 
 " I have a favour to ask of you all," said 
 he, " and, moreover, I give you notice be- 
 forehand, that it may be attended with 
 some important consequences if granted/ 1 
 
 " I don't think there can be any neces- 
 sity for such a very formal preface," said 
 his mother. 
 
 " Don't be too sure !" said Frank laugh- 
 ing.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 169 
 
 " I cannot be too sure of that, 11 replied 
 she, " my dear, wicked boy !" 
 
 " Now, let us see," 11 said Frank, " how 
 far ladies really mean what they say. So 
 you positively promise to grant my re- 
 quest before you know what it is ?" 
 
 " Yes, I do." 
 
 " And father ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Upon my word, I am afraid to name it."" 
 
 " Why, what is it ? " said his father. 
 " You would not ask, I am sure, anything 
 which ought to be refused." 
 
 " I suppose," said Mary, " you want to 
 go abroad, and father is to give his per- 
 mission, get you leave of absence, and 
 allow you a couple of thousand dollars a 
 year, or so, till you have seen the world, 
 and fought some more duels ? " 
 
 " Would you grant that ? " asked Frank. 
 
 " I hardly know," said his father. 
 
 " But " said Mrs. Lennox. 
 
 " I know," said Frank, " the dangers I 
 should have to encounter ; shipwreck, 
 fire, water, lightning, plague, pestilence, 
 and famine. I know exactly what you
 
 170 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 are going to say, my dear mother. Then 
 I should probably die several times during 
 my long absence, or you would all die 
 before my return ; and I should be robbed 
 in Spain, and murdered in Syria, corrupted 
 in Paris, and killed in several duels, as 
 Mary says, and all that ! " 
 
 " Nonsense," said Mr. Lennox ; " if you 
 wish to go abroad, you can go with the 
 next packet ; or as soon as I can arrange 
 with the War Department for your leave 
 of absence." 
 
 ""My dear boy," said his mother, her 
 eyes filling with tears, " to lose you for 
 two, three, four years, at my time of life ! 
 I should never see you again." 
 
 " Of course," said Frank laughing, " of 
 course I should never return; who ever 
 did come back safe from a tour in Eu- 
 rope ? It could hardly be expected." 
 
 " Ah, yes ! you may laugh ! It 's a fine 
 thing to be young and thoughtless," said 
 Mrs. Lennox. " And how would you go ? 
 without any companion, too ? " 
 
 " I suppose you 're like Miss Elton, 
 and think I ought to have my mamma
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 171 
 
 \vith me all my life to keep me from being 
 run over, or from taking cold. Well, 
 come ! I won't go abroad at present," said 
 Frank, taking his mother's hand, and 
 pressing it tenderly to his lips. "I '11 
 compromise with you for another fa- 
 vour, a very trifling one, which will be 
 begun and ended in a day. Do you agree 
 to that ?" 
 
 - Yes." 
 
 " We have a dinner to-morrow." 
 
 Well ? " 
 
 "I wish to add two particular friends 
 to the party." 
 
 " It is easy to invite them. What a 
 ridiculous request !"" 
 
 " As if the dinner were not for you," 
 said Mary. 
 
 " Pray what objection can any of us 
 have to your asking whom you please 
 to my house ? " demanded Mr. Lennox. 
 " Who are your friends ? " 
 
 "The first is Captain White," said 
 Frank, making a face aside to Mary, like 
 a man who touches a match, and stands 
 expecting an explosion. 
 
 i 2
 
 172 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " What ! the second of Captain Glen- 
 dinning?" 
 
 " Yes, my dear mother." 
 
 " You 're mad, Frank," said his mother, 
 " or else you 're jesting !" 
 
 " Really, sir," remarked Mr. Lennox, 
 " it seems to me you choose your asso- 
 ciates in rather an eccentric manner."" 
 
 "Oh, very well!" said Frank. "It 
 would have gratified me very much 
 that 's all." 
 
 " Well well," said Mr. Lennox, " we 
 have already granted your request. We can- 
 not retract. Though, I must say, you often 
 really surprise me, Frank. Captain White 
 is the friend and boon companion of that 
 Glendinning. Men who frequent profli- 
 gate society must themselves expect to 
 be thought profligates. Glendinning has 
 insulted you and all of us in the grossest 
 manner ; and, I must say, I do not think 
 the companion of such a person a proper 
 associate either for yourself or your family. 
 Fanny, too, and her mother and father also, 
 dine with us to-morrow, and I really think 
 it would be better to withdraw your request.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 173 
 
 I should like to know what you will propose 
 next, you unreasonable creature !" 
 
 " Why, as to what I could propose 
 next," said Frank, with a frown upon his 
 brow, softened, however, by the half-sup- 
 pressed smile which lurked around his 
 lips, " there is only one thing which I 
 could propose next, consistently, under 
 present circumstances." 
 
 " And what the devil 's that ?" demand- 
 ed his father, somewhat sternly. 
 
 " Why," said Frank coolly, " to bring 
 Glendinning himself ? " 
 
 " You 're trifling with your mother." 
 
 " No. I assure you, I never was more 
 serious in my life. That is the request 
 you have granted in advance, and I think, 
 if you '11 hear me speak a moment, I '11 
 persuade you, convince you, that I am 
 quite right."" 
 
 " Well, Frank," said Mrs. Lennox, with 
 obviously serious displeasure, " if you 
 bring Captain Glendinning here to-mor- 
 row, I have nothing more to say but / 
 shall dine in my own room." 
 
 " You do injustice to Glendinning,"
 
 174 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 said Frank warmly. " I 've several times 
 met him since our affair, when he rendered 
 me all the satisfaction that a gentleman 
 could render, or a gentleman could require. 
 His offence was an act of delirium, com- 
 mitted in a moment of intoxication, for 
 which he nearly atoned with his life. I 
 can't forget, nor should you, that he 
 magnanimously refrained from killing me, 
 even while the blow I had given him was 
 yet burning on his forehead. Is that 
 nothing? It was done, too, at the mo- 
 ment when I was striving my utmost to 
 kill him. I have always been taught that 
 it is the Christian's virtue to forgive and 
 forget. On a nearer acquaintance with 
 him, I find him a noble, capital fellow ; 
 and I have reason to know that the sto- 
 ries that fellow Ernest told me of him are 
 gross exaggerations. There is something 
 really delightful and fascinating about him. 
 He is free-hearted, generous, brave, to- 
 tally without malice, full of wit, fun, and 
 intelligence, and the most agreeable com- 
 panion you ever saw. He is an accom- 
 plished musician also. As our affair is
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 175 
 
 settled, I see no reason, since / like him 
 very much, why I should not show him 
 the hospitalities due to a stranger. Do, 
 now, my dear mother, do oblige me." 
 
 " Well !" said Mr. Lennox, " I 'm sure, 
 I've no objection. There is some truth 
 in what Frank says. The fact that they 
 fought yesterday is no reason why they 
 should not embrace to-day. Come, wife, 
 let us invite him." 
 
 " You are as bad as Frank himself," said 
 Mrs. Lennox. " Here comes an English- 
 man to New- York, that goes about day and 
 night seeking quarrels, and raising riots ; 
 is occasionally in a .state of intoxication, 
 a duellist, in short, a professed rou&. He 
 Insults a modest young girl under our pro- 
 tection, in a coarse and ungentlemanly 
 way, and, instead of treating such a charac- 
 ter and such conduct as they deserve, and 
 avoiding such an example for our own 
 sons, you propose to bring him into your 
 family, because Frank, whose liking is 
 a mere caprice, finds that he sings a good 
 song, and plays the piano. I should like 
 to see my sons select their associates for
 
 176 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 their moral and intellectual qualities. 
 For my part I cannot consent to any- 
 thing of this sort." 
 
 " Keep cool ! keep cool ! Katey, my 
 dear!" said Mr. Lennox; "be assured 
 Frank will not do anything contrary to your 
 wishes. A dinner-party you know, Frank, 
 my boy, in order to be agreeable, must 
 contain no discordant materials. As the 
 Eltons are to be here, it seems to me, 
 and as your mother is so serious in her 
 views of your new friend, and, therefore 
 Eh ! my son ? let the matter rest. Yet, 
 at the same time, Kate, let me make 
 a remark. As to the offence which caus- 
 ed the meeting between these two mad- 
 caps, that has been fairly and honourably 
 settled that subject ought to be now 
 dropped. As for Glendinning's wildness, 
 many a sober, correct youth turns out 
 a paltry, selfish, sneaking scoundrel in 
 the end, and I believe there 's just as 
 much to censure and to despise among 
 irreproachable men who stand fair before 
 the world, as among the frank and care- 
 less fellows, who take no pains to conceal
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 177 
 
 their faults and follies. Many a young rig^ 
 like this Glendinning, is all the better for 
 his wildness in his after years. I myself 
 What are you laughing at, miss ? How 
 dare you laugh when I 'm talking T 
 
 " At the curious illustration of your 
 last proposition, my dear father. You 
 are not going to cite yourself as an ex- 
 ample, I hope." 
 
 " Yes, I am. I was as hot-headed, wild, 
 and impudent a young rascal as ever 
 breathed. Yet, look at me now ! Young 
 men will be young men, and we must take 
 care to distinguish between the mere 
 outbreaks of a merry soul, like Harry 
 the Fifth, and inherent vice. Now it 
 seems that this Glendinning is, after all, 
 a noble fellow, and that his tricks are the 
 result of mere wildness and high spirits. 
 The only way for a man is to go into the 
 world and take it as it is. He didn't make 
 it, and can't reform it. If people treat him 
 well, let him be civil to them. If a man 
 is rude, call him out, kill him, and he & 
 not be insulted again." 
 
 " You make my blood run cold, Henry," 
 
 i 5
 
 178 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 said Mrs. Lennox, " to hear from a father's 
 lips such wicked principles recommended 
 to his son." 
 
 " Bah ! what do women know of these 
 things ? Frank never did anything in his 
 life which does him more honour than 
 going out with that man. Men, and wo- 
 men too, love unflinching courage ; I have 
 no doubt this circumstance will open 
 to him a brilliant career in life. In the 
 next place, it will make him formidable 
 ^to the scoundrels by whom one is sur- 
 rounded in all ranks and classes of life, 
 who are ready to slander and impose 
 upon you, or bully you, just as far as 
 you'll let them, and no farther. Why 
 Frank himself, ever since the meeting, 
 has looked, walked, acted, thought, and 
 felt, more like a man and a gentleman 
 than ever he did before." 
 
 " But not like a Christian," said Mrs. 
 Lennox. 
 
 "What has that to do with it?" said 
 Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " You know what pain you cause me 
 my dear husband, by expressing yourself
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 179 
 
 in this way at all, and particularly be- 
 fore our. children. Oh ! Henry, you have 
 a fearful thing to answer for. Mary is 
 without religion, and Frank and Harry 
 turn it into ridicule." 
 
 " Pooh ! pooh ! They are not monks, 
 that 's all ! They 're well enough. They 
 believe all they can. 1 ' 
 
 " As for Captain Glendinmng," conti- 
 nued Mrs. Lennox, gravely. " I detest 
 and abhor the character and the man. I 
 do not believe, with all my desire to oblige 
 Frank, I could receive such a person in 
 my house with ordinary courtesy." 
 
 " Oh, very well ! " said Frank haughtily. 
 
 " You ""11 allow your mother to judge, 
 I hope, what companions are proper for 
 herself and her daughter; if you don't 
 deign to let her choose yours," said Mr, 
 Lennox, a little sharply. 
 
 Frank had a face which betrayed every 
 emotion of his soul ; his large full eye ge- 
 nerally had a very sweet expression, and 
 around his mouth there played a smile 
 almost invariably when he spoke ; but, 
 in the silence which followed the last
 
 180 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 remark, every trace of this gentleness had 
 disappeared. His brow darkened, the 
 sternness of his countenance was height- 
 ened by a streak of red which shot burn- 
 ing into his eheek, and his eyes fell upon 
 his mother with an expression, which she, 
 at least, had never seen in them before. 
 There was something new and different 
 in his demeanour, since the late duel. 
 The first hot days of summer scarcely 
 work greater changes in the tender ve- 
 getation, than had taken place in this 
 young man, within the last few weeks, 
 through the influence of passion and ac- 
 tion. Love, vengeance, danger, pride, had 
 been busy in his nature, and if strength 
 of character and manly self-dependence 
 had been increased, it was at the expense 
 of meekness, modest humility, and the 
 lowly spirit of true wisdom. 
 
 " Come !" said Mrs. Lennox, recovering 
 herself, and holding out her hand, for she, 
 too, had been touched with a moment of 
 passion (perhaps a peculiarity in the fa- 
 mily disposition), "leave the subject, my 
 de"ar Frank, and don't be ashamed to yield 
 to your parent."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 181 
 
 "Oh, certainly!" said Frank, almost 
 rudely pushing back the proffered hand ; 
 " if I cannot be gratified in the simple 
 wish to invite a friend to my father's 
 house, I shall not press it. I can tell 
 Captain Glendinning that that indeed 
 I shall tell him nothing, but let him take 
 it as he likes." 
 
 " Why, what necessity is there to speak 
 to Captain Glendinning about it at all?" 
 said Mr. Lennox. 
 
 To this no one replied. 
 
 " Only that I have learned," continued 
 Frank, after a pause, rising as if about 
 to leave the room, " I have learned what 
 respect to attach to the professions of 
 ladies, and I shall not ask another favour, 
 I can tell you. I did not expect to be 
 treated like a boy all my life." 
 
 " Stop, sir !" said his father. 
 
 There was something in Mr. Lennox's 
 voice and frown to which, despite his 
 careless lightness of character, every one 
 in the family had long been accustomed 
 to yield implicit obedience. His son now, 
 with ill-concealed anger, but without hesi- 
 tation, remained at his call.
 
 182 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " What do ^ you mean by that ? In 
 becoming a man, have you ceased to be 
 a gentleman, and a son ? Whatever may 
 be your feelings or opinions, you will be 
 pleased to govern them in my presence; 
 and remember, in this debate, your oppo- 
 nent is your mother !" 
 
 " Very well, very well !" replied Frank, 
 " that is a point she is not likely to suffer 
 me to overlook, as she proposes, I per- 
 ceive, to keep me to her apron-strings. I 
 beg, therefore, to yield ! I withdraw my 
 request." 
 
 " Her apron-strings, sir ? " said Mr. 
 Lennox, rising. " Upon my word, your 
 expressions are as decorous as your con- 
 duct is sensible. I am surprised at your 
 forgetting the respect you owe to your 
 mother. If, however, the wishes of so 
 insignificant a person as your father have 
 any influence with your highness, you will 
 perhaps condescend to dismiss that thun- 
 der-cloud from your brow, and deign to 
 remember who and where you are !" 
 
 A month ago Frank would have burst 
 into tears at such an address from one
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 183 
 
 whom he loved with the deepest sincerity 
 and tenderness. But he had now new 
 views. How can the duellist, who has 
 triumphantly outraged society, humanity, 
 and God, preserve his respect for minor 
 things ! He who can recklessly present his 
 bosom to the murderous weapon, without 
 adequate motive, or regard for conse- 
 quences, will scarcely be affected, in the 
 moment of proud passion, by the tears 
 of a mother, or the frowning reprobation 
 of a father. He only replied, therefore, 
 without at all lowering his lofty manner : 
 
 " I obey you, sir. I perfectly agree 
 with you. I should be the last person 
 in the world to lay myself under obliga- 
 tions to any one. I will write Glendin- 
 ning a note this moment. I will tell 
 him, that circumstances prevent my re- 
 newing our acquaintance as I wished, 
 till at least I have a house of my own ; 
 when certainly I presume I shall be at 
 liberty to to " 
 
 "Hey-day! sir, what 's all this? 1 ' said 
 his father. " How dare you, you young 
 dog ! address your mother or me in such
 
 184 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 a style as that ? Why one would suppose 
 you were the Great Mogul, or the Sub- 
 lime Porte, at least ! " 
 
 "Sir, this jesting is " began Frank, with 
 flashing eyes, as if about to say something 
 which might have made matters more 
 serious, when an arm gently stole around 
 his waist and drew him affectionately to 
 the sofa, and a gentle voice completed 
 the daring sentence he was about to utter. 
 
 " Is your father's, Frank !" 
 
 It was Mrs. Lennox who had affection- 
 ately interfered, her eyes full of tears, 
 to prevent the dispute from proceeding 
 too far. 
 
 " I beg " said he. 
 
 " My son, my son ! " interrupted she, 
 " what wild, bad passions have taken pos- 
 session of you ! World-worship, heathen 
 pride, and the evil spirit himself, un- 
 checked by the precepts of your Bible, 
 your Saviour, your God !" 
 
 " Forgive me ! my mother !" said the 
 young man, turning away his face, which 
 he still covered with one hand, while with 
 the other he grasped hers, " I am a fool."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 185 
 
 " And see, my son, to what this leads. 
 You don't know to what it may lead here- 
 after. I cannot bear to see you enter the 
 state of manhood with such principles as 
 you and Harry possess. It is not right. It 
 will lead to something dreadful. So young, 
 and already so high and haughty, giving way 
 to passion on every occasion and against 
 every body ; fearless of death yourself, be- 
 cause you don't know what it is, and reck- 
 less of shedding the life-blood of others, or 
 of breaking hearts that depend on you for 
 their happiness ; without prayer, religion, 
 or any fixed belief in God or a hereafter, 
 and frowning on your own mother with a 
 fierceness which actually makes me trem- 
 ble ! How many times have I carried you 
 when an innocent child in these arms ! and 
 watched by you the whole night through, 
 and prayed to God over your sleep, that 
 your future course might be pure and holy 
 and in the path of righteousness ! " 
 
 There was a pause. 
 
 " Frank, I fear, you too are an infidel P 
 
 " I do not wish to be one, my dear mo- 
 ther."
 
 186 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " But are you one ? " 
 
 " I cannot control my opinion. I be- 
 lieve what I can believe " said Frank, a 
 little impatiently. " I am young. Per- 
 haps hereafter but now I cannot be 
 master of my opinions." 
 
 " But you can control your actions, and 
 your opinions I trust will change more 
 slowly. You know my opinions on duel- 
 ling. Your death in a duel would break my 
 heart, I solemnly believe, and bring me to 
 a premature grave. Were you so unfortu- 
 nate and guilty as to kill another, I should 
 find the blow still more intolerable. I 
 am your mother; my health, happiness, and 
 life are at stake. I have a right to speak 
 and a right to be listened to. Hear me, 
 therefore, bring your new friend, Glen- 
 dinning, to dinner to-morrow. I agree to 
 the request, and was, perhaps, wrong to 
 refuse it. I grant it unconditionally, and 
 I will so far overcome, or at least com- 
 mand, my own feelings, as to treat him as 
 you would wish a friend of yours to be 
 treated. But I am going to make a re- 
 quest. You have now established your
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 187 
 
 character beyond cavil as a brave man. 
 Now, then, my son, I beseech you to make 
 me a solemn pledge as a test of your 
 affection, a mark of your gratitude, and a 
 recompense to me for all a mother's pain 
 and a mother's care. Give me your word 
 you will never, under any circumstances, 
 fight another duel." 
 
 " What even if" 
 
 " No condition P said she. " It is, 
 perhaps, a sacrifice I ask, but recollect 
 who it is that asks it that implores it ; 
 my life may depend upon your acquies- 
 cence. You will not hesitate, Frank !" 
 
 " My mother," said Frank, greatly af- 
 fected, but smiling through his tears 
 " You make me feel like another Corio- 
 lanus." 
 
 " Do not be, then, less human than he." 
 
 " Well, you have succeeded. I do here, 
 in the most solemn manner, " 
 
 " Hollo ! " said Mr. Lennox, who had 
 stood very quietly regarding this scene, 
 sometimes himself affected, sometimes 
 shaking his head doubtingly. He had 
 just lighted a cigar, and was blowing out
 
 188 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 a long wreath of smoke as he spoke. 
 " Hollo! What is all this? Stop, my boy ! 
 Katey, dear ! Don't take advantage of his 
 innocence and affection for you, to extort 
 a promise, the nature of which you do not 
 understand, and which he will possibly 
 hereafter have many reasons to regret, 
 perhaps even to violate. I never knew 
 any good yet come of over-virtuous reso- 
 lutions. If a man is not good without 
 them, he won't be much the better for 
 making them, and to the sin, whatever it 
 may be, which he commits, they only add 
 perjury, and a double sense of meanness 
 and guilt. How often have I sworn that 
 I would not smoke ! and yet, here I am, 
 you see ! What drawback do you suppose 
 such a resolution would be to a man if he 
 received any galling, sudden, scorching in- 
 sult ? By Jove ! in such cases, men don't 
 think of old resolutions. I don't wish 
 Frank, nor any son of mine, to entangle 
 himself with resolutions, and promises, 
 and oaths, on any subject. Then, as to 
 duelling, I approve of the practice ; I wish 
 him to fight ; I 11 load his pistols for
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 189 
 
 him, and go out with him, rather than he 
 should show the white feather. Society 
 must be dealt with it as it is. The Chris- 
 tian doctrine of forgiveness of enemies is 
 impracticable on certain occasions. A 
 man smites you on one cheek you are to 
 turn the other. He takes your coat, you 
 are to offer him your cloak also. What 
 would society become under such circum- 
 stances? A wild Indian breaks into your 
 home, and murders your wife ; you stand 
 quietly by, when a manly defence might 
 save her ; and, when she is destroyed, you 
 politely show him the way to the cradle of 
 your infant child. Captain Glendinning 
 offers an insult to Miss Elton, and Frank 
 stands aside, with a meek smile, and 
 points the drunken scoundrel to Mary and 
 you" 
 
 " O my husband ! this is not the right 
 interpretation of the words of Christ.' 1 
 
 " Well, can we interpret them differ- 
 ently? You interpret them your way, 
 we ours. You fancy yourself bound to 
 make no distinction between friend and 
 foe, and when you see a servant stealing
 
 190 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 your diamonds, hand her, if you choose, 
 the key to your plate. We will forgive 
 our enemies also, but, by Jove ! we '11 
 teach them to behave themselves first. 
 But, by the way, my dear Kate, it seems to 
 me you and Frank are changing ground 
 here. It is Frank who forgives Glendin- 
 ning, and you refuse pardon ! " 
 
 There was so much truth in this re- 
 mark, that it occasioned a general laugh, 
 in which the differences in the happy family 
 generally ended. 
 
 " Well, 1 11 confess," said Frank, " that 
 I have not been exactly honest with you, 
 and that 's one reason, perhaps, why I have 
 been more hurt by my mother's refusal than 
 she thinks I ought to have been. To say 
 the truth, I have already asked Glendin- 
 ning. I have committed myself thus, too 
 far to retreat ; otherwise, although I do 
 think the fellow very agreeable and clever, 
 I should have never made a point of hav- 
 ing him here, if it would cause you any 
 annoyance." 
 
 " There, now ! that 's just like your 
 father ! " said Mrs. Lennox. " Go and
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 191 
 
 do a thing first, and then ask permis- 
 
 sion 
 
 " But, Miss Elton " said Mr. Lennox. 
 "Don't you think she has some right to 
 be consulted?' 1 
 
 " Oh, I am sure, sir " observed Miss 
 Elton, who had hitherto been so distressed 
 at the altercation in the family, that she 
 was too much pleased to behold its ami- 
 cable termination, " I have no right, and 
 no wish to form an opinion." 
 
 " There 's an angel for you, you young 
 dog," exclaimed his father, who little 
 dreamed how far matters had gone be- 
 tween them. Frank blushed, but Fanny 
 appeared unconcerned at the observation. 
 
 " Of course, I ought not to have invited 
 him, without announcing it to Miss Elton, 
 and begging her consent ; but I was so 
 sure of that " 
 
 " Oh! let us have him," said Mary; " per- 
 haps it will be of service to the poor fel- 
 low, to see what kind of family he was 
 about depriving of its pride and orna- 
 ment." 
 
 Frank bowed at the compliment.
 
 192 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Well done, Molly !" said her father. 
 " You 're more forgiving than more pious 
 folks!" 
 
 " I must not take too much credit," 
 said Mary, " or I should be dishonest. 
 The truth is, I am dying with curiosity to 
 see this young gentleman. Frank says 
 he 's agreeable, clever, and handsome. 
 Mr. Emmerson says he 's vulgar, coarse, 
 and ugly. Mr. Ernest told me he was 
 the greatest genius that ever lived ; 
 and father thinks his conduct is only 
 the effervescence of such noble qualities 
 as those of Henry the Fifth. What peo- 
 ple talk so much about, and what gives 
 rise to such contradictory opinions, of 
 course becomes an object of interest; and, 
 as I am of the fairer sex, and curiosity is 
 one of our allowed foibles, I propose that 
 the youth should be invited, if it "s only 
 to have a good look at him." 
 
 " I had one look at him," said Mrs. 
 Lennox, with a shudder, "as his face 
 turned on Frank, after he had received 
 the blow. His countenance was that of 
 the very spirit of darkness and fury him-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 193 
 
 self. The fierce glance of his eye seemed 
 to threaten destruction to Frank. 
 
 " Pooh, pooh !" said Mr. Lennox, " when 
 men are struck, you must not expect them 
 to look amiable. Eyes don't kill quite so 
 easily ; at least," turning to Fanny, " not 
 those of the male gender. Now, there 
 are orbs " 
 
 " Mine, I presume," said Fanny. " If 
 you think them so dangerous, you had 
 better get out of their way." 
 
 " You 're an impudent little witch," said 
 Lennox, " and for all the trouble you have 
 caused in this family you must make me 
 some reparation." 
 
 " What reparation, you horrid being ? 
 Do you think you 're going to scold me as 
 you do poor Frank ?" 
 
 Mr. Lennox approached her, and she 
 started off to the corner of the room, for 
 she had been subjected to these repara- 
 tions before, in the company of her auda- 
 cious, light-hearted host. 
 
 " You must submit, Fanny," said he. 
 " The laws of the Medes and Persians were
 
 194 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 mere weathercocks to my determination. 
 You may as well yield." 
 
 " Well ; I '11 capitulate on honour- 
 able terms, rather than endure your im- 
 pertinence," said Fanny blushing, and 
 looking so provokingly pretty, that poor 
 Frank began almost to think it his duty 
 to interfere. 
 
 " Take care ! " said Lennox. " I 'm 
 coming." 
 
 " Well, then, stop, and I II capitu- 
 late/' 
 
 " How can you be such a child, Henry ?" 
 said Mrs. Lennox. 
 
 " ' Silence, good mother, hear the em- 
 bassy,' " quoted Lennox. " ' Now, say, 
 Chatillon, what would France with us?" 1 
 
 " Well !" said Fanny laughing, " I will 
 come and kiss you, and I 'm not to suffer 
 such an extortion again at least for a 
 month." 
 
 " Agreed !" 
 
 " Agreed !" 
 
 She advanced from her place of refuge 
 and fairly kissed Mr. Lennox on his cheek.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 195 
 
 Upon which, he smacked his lips, in such 
 a way that Frank's dark eyes flashed, and 
 Mrs. Lennox cried out, 
 
 " If I were Fanny, I 'd box your ears for 
 you." 
 
 " But, unfortunately, you 're not Fanny, 
 my dear," said Lennox. 
 
 " You 're always ready to order every- 
 body else to be horsewhipped," .said 
 Fanny ; " what do you think you your- 
 self deserve ?" 
 
 
 "To hear you, Frank, and Mary sing 
 a glee as a punishment,' 1 said Lennox. 
 " Come, we have had no music since 
 Frank's scrape." 
 
 She sat down at the piano, and ran her 
 fingers rapidly over the keys. Frank drew 
 near with Mary, and they commenced a 
 favourite glee, Mr. and Mrs. Lennox join- 
 ing, for both sang w T ell. 
 
 Harry came in, for it was late, while 
 they were singing. Had they paid atten- 
 tion to him, they would have noticed the 
 pale, thoughtful, and moody sadness of his 
 countenance ; but they were all too much 
 absorbed in their harmonious occupation 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 to observe anything else, and the young 
 man entered unnoticed, if not unperceived, 
 and stood in the embrasure of a deep win- 
 dow, half concealed behind a heavy cur- 
 tain, with folded arms and gloomy brow, 
 leaning against the wall, gazing at the 
 group as on a picture. 
 
 " Miss Elton's servant !" said a domes- 
 tic opening the door. 
 
 "Why, what does Miss Elton want 
 with a servant ?" said Mrs. Lennox. " Is 
 not Frank here ?" 
 
 " Oh, I thought, perhaps, my dear Mrs. 
 Lennox I am so troublesome to you, 
 and, besides, it 's cruel to take Frank out 
 at this time of night. 11 
 
 " Really, Miss Elton," said Frank, " you 
 and everybody else seem to think me a 
 .very delicate child !" 
 
 " Certainly !" said she laughing. " Poor 
 little fellow ! He looks as if he ought to 
 have been in bed an hour ago !" 
 
 Contrary to his resolution, Harry tried 
 to catch her parting glances, but she went 
 off laughing, and without looking at him.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE hour, which was to introduce Glen- 
 dinning and his friend, Captain White, 
 to the Lennoxes at length arrived, and 
 the whole family were assembled in the 
 drawing-room to receive the guests. 
 
 First came the Eltons, the old gentle- 
 man looking rather grave ; Mrs. Elton, 
 her face as usual radiant with pleasure, 
 talking the whole time from the moment 
 she entered ; Fanny, arrayed in all the 
 charm of that youthful beauty which ex- 
 ercised such an influence over the two 
 susceptible young men, and which was 
 destined to influence the subsequent 
 career of more than one of the persons 
 present. Then Mary went down stairs 
 and led in, almost by force, little Seth 
 Copeley, whose face was covered with 
 blushes, partly caused by the dread of 
 figuring for the first time in society, and
 
 198 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 partly by the lively consciousness of hav- 
 ing on a very new suit of city-looking 
 clothes. 
 
 " Come in, Seth, come in," said Mary, 
 whose kind heart took a great interest 
 in 'this friendless boy, and who had ar- 
 ranged, by the aid of her taste, what 
 would else have been imperfectly done, 
 various points of his toilet, brushed back 
 his locks from his forehead, and put a 
 neat brooch, a present from herself, into 
 the folds of his stock. " What can he 
 be afraid of ? I do believe, if I had not 
 gone down stairs and brought him up, 
 we should not have had the pleasure of 
 his society to-day." 
 
 " Walk up here, you young Lothario/' 
 said Mr. Lennox, " and let us look at 
 you ! What are you twisting your waist- 
 coat button off for ? Have you any con- 
 scientious objections to buttons ? " 
 
 " He is really a very handsome little fel- 
 low," whispered Mrs. Elton, loud enough 
 for him and everyone else to hear her; 
 " and such expressive eyes ! I 'm sure, 
 one of these days, those eyes will "
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 199 
 
 " How do you expect to become a 
 lawyer and a gentleman, sir?" continued 
 Mr. Lennox, " if you bury yourself in an 
 office and do nothing but read and copy ? 
 The law is the noblest profession in the 
 world. It offers you a brilliant career, 
 and demands knowledge not only of 
 books but of men. That 's the reason 
 why I have asked you to dine with me 
 to-day. You must begin to accustom 
 yourself to society, to meet men and 
 women without flinching, or being flus- 
 tered. No more of that blushing, sir ! 
 How do you think you'll ever be able 
 to perform the high functions of Presi- 
 dent of the United States, as I presume 
 you will have to do one of these days, 
 if you can't enter a room without obvi- 
 ously wishing you could leave your hands 
 and feet at the bottom of the Red Sea !" 
 
 " Come here, Seth," said Mrs. Lennox. 
 " You '11 learn all these things by and by. 
 You shall sit next me, my dear little boy, 
 and I '11 take care of you, at dinner." 
 
 As the poor fellow went awkwardly 
 whither he was bid, glad to escape the
 
 200 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 boisterous benevolence of his master, visi- 
 tors were announced in quick succession. 
 
 The usual salutations had scarcely pass- 
 ed, when the conversation, by general con- 
 sent, appeared to fall on the two expected 
 English guests. Various opinions were 
 expressed as to the character of Glendin- 
 ning, who was warmly defended by Mr. 
 Lennox, Frank, and Mrs. Elton, against 
 the rest of the company. Frank praised 
 him enthusiastically. His father declared 
 himself against the principle of putting 
 a man in Coventry because he had ex- 
 hibited the follies of youth, and Mrs. 
 Elton was sure that he was a noble fel- 
 low, from his magnanimous conduct on 
 the field, where he had risked his own life, 
 and, by wasting his shot, had saved that 
 of Frank ; and where he had made all 
 the reparation possible. " Any one," she 
 said, " was liable to do wrong, but only the 
 good were ashamed of it afterwards; and 
 we ought to recollect that there was more 
 joy in heaven at the recovery of one lost 
 sinner, than for the ninety-nine who had 
 never gone astray." She was going on to
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 201 
 
 relate an occurrence, which had come 
 under her own observation only two years 
 previously, when she was interrupted by 
 the opening of the door and the servant's 
 announcing Captain White and Captain 
 Glendinning. They were received by 
 Frank with great cordiality, and led by 
 him, first to his mother, then to his 
 father, who shook them warmly by the 
 hand. The kind greeting of Mrs. Len- 
 nox was rendered much less difficult than 
 she had supposed it would be, by the 
 agreeable surprise she felt at seeing in 
 Glendinning a person so different from 
 what she had expected. The two stran- 
 gers were presented to all the company 
 including the Eltons. At the sight of 
 Fanny, the embarrassment and shame of 
 Glendinning were so obvious, as to con- 
 siderably soften the sentiment of repug- 
 nance which had been generally felt at 
 his entrance. Fanny at first turned pale, 
 but her natural colour presently returned 
 in all its brilliancy. There was a mo- 
 ment's awkward pause, which Glendinning 
 broke, with equal grace and frankness, by 
 
 K 5
 
 202 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 touching boldly and successfully the chord 
 then vibrating in every breast. 
 
 " I should think myself at this moment 
 even more censurable than I really am, if 
 I hesitated to express, my dear Mrs. Len- 
 nox, at the very earliest opportunity, my 
 shame and regret at what has happened. 
 My appearance before you, indeed, would 
 be a new insult, if I did not come most 
 deeply repentant, and desirous to obtain 
 your pardon ! " 
 
 " Quite unnecessary, my dear fellow ! " 
 said Frank. " Don't give yourself any 
 trouble." 
 
 " You are the first, sir," said Mrs. Len- 
 nox, " to touch upon a subject which I 
 should not have alluded to, as it cannot 
 but awaken in a mother's breast emo- 
 tions far from agreeable. But your frank- 
 ness merits equal frankness in return, and 
 I will confess I did not think, ten minutes 
 ago, that any circumstance could make 
 me forgive you. I hope, however, I am 
 too much of a Christian to withhold from 
 true repentance the pardon which we all 
 ourselves require."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 203 
 
 " Bravo ! my dear mother ! " said Frank, 
 in high glee at the smooth manner in 
 which affairs were going on. 
 
 " If Miss Elton also," rejoined Glen- 
 dinning, " knew how I detest myself for 
 the incident which has distressed her, she 
 also would forgive me."" 
 
 Miss Elton bowed her head without 
 speaking. 
 
 " I assure you," said White, " my friend 
 has changed more since the little affair 
 with your son, than I could have believed 
 possible, and, upon my soul ! I havVt the 
 slightest doubt that he will go on im- 
 proving famously." 
 
 " Say no more !" said Lennox, " you will 
 find my boys always as ready to grant 
 pardon when asked, as to " 
 
 " Certainly," interrupted Mrs. Lennox, 
 who saw that her candid husband was run- 
 ning upon breakers. " If the affair has 
 had such a favourable effect upon what, 1 
 hope, is but the thoughtlessness of youth, 
 I shall regret it the less." 
 
 " Since it has made us acquainted with 
 Captain Glendinning and his friend, I
 
 204 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 don't think we can regret it at all," said 
 Lennox. 
 
 Dinner was announced, and the com- 
 pany were soon seated. The manner and 
 appearance of Glendinning, as well as 
 every word he said, gained him the good 
 opinion of all present, who, like Mrs. Len- 
 nox, had expected to meet a very different 
 sort of person. Instead of a coarse roue, 
 he was a slender, handsome young man 
 of six-and-twenty, in manners mild and 
 modest, with a prepossessing and handsome 
 countenance, and betraying, in various 
 ways, ingenuousness, delicacy of feeling, 
 and kindness of heart. Mrs. Lennox felt 
 singularly interested in him, and resolved 
 to inquire into his history. As she sat 
 near White, she was enabled to do so, and 
 privately learned from that gentleman all 
 she desired. 
 
 " Glendinning," said White to Mrs. 
 Lennox, " has a constitutional peculiarity. 
 His temper is as quick and his blood as 
 hot as his judgment (which though good 
 when exercised) is slow. With the best 
 heart in the world, and the very best in-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 205 
 
 tentions, he has always been in difficulty. 
 He lost his mother, whom he tenderly 
 loved, at the age of thirteen, and his father 
 immediately married again, by which he 
 brought an accession of two thousand 
 a-year to his fortune, a woman of a sharp, 
 peculiarly disagreeable temper and cha- 
 racter into his house, and a world of trou- 
 ble to poor Charles. The step-mother 
 hated him of course. The father, like- 
 wise, played into the hands of the lady. 
 Charles inherited from his mother an in- 
 dependence of his own, which, perhaps, 
 made him less patient than he should have 
 been. There are half a dozen step-sisters 
 and step-brothers, who all hate him, and 
 he detests them as heartily. His hot tem- 
 per, perhaps, has carried him too far in his 
 relations with them. Considering his own 
 mother's memory insulted by the sudden 
 union of his father with his second wife, 
 he deemed the feeble affection which his 
 father bore him, not enough to protect 
 him from certain annoyances at home, and 
 he was therefore driven into a course of 
 dissipation. He then shunned society, and
 
 206 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 sought only companions of questionable 
 character. A commission was purchased 
 for him, principally with the view of get- 
 ting him out of the way, and his father, 
 after recommending me to keep an eye on 
 him, so that he should not disgrace his 
 family, shipped him off, and I believe I have 
 been his best friend ever since. I assure 
 you a more affectionate, generous, warm- 
 hearted young man never breathed. Since 
 the little affair with your son, he has appa- 
 rently devoted some time to sober reflec- 
 tion, and I have no doubt he will become 
 as fine a fellow as heart can wish. In 
 short, I think his interval of recklessness 
 is over. He has gone through his tran- 
 sition-state, and I now consider him to be 
 a reformed man." 
 
 " You have greatly interested me in 
 him," said Mrs. Lennox. " Do you re- 
 main long at New-York ?" 
 
 " Some weeks, I think." 
 
 " If your friend and yourself can be 
 induced to visit us sometimes, I should 
 like to see more of him." 
 
 " Oh ! he will, I doubt not, be happy to
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 207 
 
 do so, and I must assure you, the mag- 
 nanimity you display in forgiving him 
 will not fail to make a deep and salutary 
 impression on his character." 
 
 " I hope so ; he appears to possess a 
 fine mind." 
 
 " And a very grateful and warm heart, 
 I assure you." 
 
 The hope of being able to exert a 
 beneficial influence on such a disposition, 
 inspired Mrs. Lennox with the resolu- 
 tion to make the attempt, and there was. 
 something in the face of her proposed 
 pupil which caused her to think the un- 
 dertaking neither hopeless nor difficult. 
 
 While this conversation was going on, 
 in subdued tones, between Mrs. Lennox 
 and Captain White, Mrs. Elton was talk- 
 ing so busily to Glendinning, as to pre- 
 clude the possibility of his attending to 
 anyone else, and Mrs. Henderson was 
 stating to Mr. Brigham the very disagree- 
 able impression both the strangers made 
 on her, and her astonishment on find- 
 ing such improper persons at table with 
 her.
 
 208 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Mr. Lennox is, I am quite disposed 
 to allow," said the lady, carefully lower- 
 ing her voice so that Harry, who sat 
 near, could catch nothing of her commu- 
 nications, " a most excellent man. To 
 me he has been the most devoted friend, 
 but it is curious to perceive what ideas 
 he has on some subjects, and how his 
 wife yields to him on all occasions." 
 
 " And should not a wife yield to her 
 husband ?" mildly asked Mr. Brigharn. 
 
 " Well ! I don't know," said she, fixing 
 her envious black eyes on the persons 
 of whom she spoke, while a shade of 
 sharp discontent passed over her forbid- 
 ding; sallow countenance. " Mrs. Len- 
 nox is an amiable woman, and I ought 
 to be the last person in the world to say 
 anything against her, since she is my 
 husband's only sister, and both I and 
 Mr. Henderson have received one con- 
 tinued series of hospitalities from them, 
 and they have, with their princely fortune, 
 as you know, been the means of esta- 
 blishing my husband in his prosperpus 
 business. I am suxe they love us with
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 209 
 
 all their hearts, and never lose an oppor- 
 tunity of showing their regard. One can't 
 help using one's eyes and ears, you know. 
 But I ought to be the last person " 
 
 " Your kind heart," said Mr. Brigham 
 with gentle irony, "instructs you wisely 
 to be silent respecting the weaknesses 
 of your friends." 
 
 " Certainly ; if there is one thing in this 
 world which I hate more than another, 
 it is backbiting. I am as sensitive as a 
 child in this respect ; my heart always 
 gets the better of my head. What a 
 lovely girl Fanny is grown ?" 
 
 " Yes," 
 
 " I think her character has improved 
 as much as her person." 
 
 " I always fancied Miss Elton the gen- 
 tlest of beings." 
 
 " Yes, she has that look." 
 
 * * * * 
 
 " The whole family are perfect," said 
 Mrs. Elton to Glendinning. " There isn't 
 a fault in one of them. Two such noble 
 young men were, never before seen. Mary 
 is an angel out of heaven, and Mr. Len-
 
 210 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 nox the most delightful of men, while, my 
 dear Mrs. Lennox Ah!" and tears ac- 
 tually came into her eyes, " if you knew 
 her as I do, Captain Glendinning, you 
 would love her with all the devotion of 
 a son." 
 
 " It is all very well," said Harry to 
 Elton (who had designedly led his young 
 friend to the subject of religion again) ; 
 but duelling is and ought to be sanc- 
 tioned by public opinion, and society 
 could not hold together without it." 
 
 " You will allow, I think," said Elton, 
 " that Christianity forbids it ?" " Yes." 
 
 " That it regards it as a crime ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Then you cannot fight a duel with- 
 out violating the spirit and precept of 
 Christianity."" No." 
 
 " The question, then, narrows itself to a 
 small compass ; that you must permit 
 the institution of duelling and dismiss 
 Christianity, or embrace Christianity and 
 denounce duelling ?" 
 
 " You state the question fairly."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 211 
 
 " And yet you advocate duelling ?" 
 
 " I do." 
 
 "Then you are willing to see Christi- 
 anity rejected by mankind ?" 
 
 " That is a grave question," said Harry, 
 after a pause. " But no man shall make 
 me a hypocrite. Christianity is a useful 
 institution. I do not wish to see it de- 
 stroyed. Its precepts are beautiful, but 
 not practicable ; they cannot be applied 
 to practice, nor am I singular in thinking 
 so, however I may be in confessing my 
 thoughts. Other people think as I do ; 
 but they do not say so. Only a few en- 
 thusiasts, or men not fairly brought into 
 the currents of active life, pretend to 
 make Christian precepts really their rule 
 of action. I would not express these opi- 
 nions to the world, not even to my own 
 friends generally. But to you, who are 
 not a bigot, I speak freely." 
 
 " I honour your frankness," said Mr. 
 Elton, " as much as I regret that you en- 
 tertain such opinions. Most men, par- 
 ticularly the ardent and self-confident, 
 if possessed of thinking and cultivated
 
 212 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 minds, are liable, not only to doubt, but 
 to disbelieve, at some period of their 
 lives. If it had been the intention of 
 Providence that the Christian doctrine 
 should be evident to the world at large, 
 then no one could have doubted. Re- 
 ligion is the most solemn consideration 
 which can engage the attention of a 
 human being, and as life glides away, 
 its solemnity and importance increase. 
 But it requires, for the generality of 
 mankind, attention and study like any 
 other of the various advantages which 
 are placed within the reach of human 
 creatures. If it pleased you flippantly 
 to deny the truths of astronomy, you 
 might do so, and deep study alone could 
 place you- in possession of them. The 
 earth does not seem to us round, or to be 
 in motion ; neither are we conscious of 
 being whirled through space at the rate 
 of so many thousand miles an hour. To 
 the ignorant you may even successfully 
 deny these facts, and even appeal to rea- 
 son, sight, and common sense. Study and 
 examination are necessary to make you
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 213 
 
 properly acquainted with the subject, 
 which, by scientific investigation, is proved 
 to be very different from what it appears to 
 the ordinary understanding. So it is with 
 the yet more abstruse spiritual truths of 
 Christianity. From your love of right, from 
 your powers of mind, and the virtues of 
 your heart, I hope when you have discover- 
 ed the insufficiency of infidelity to bear a 
 human soul even to the verge of eternity, 
 when you have had time fairly to detest 
 the empty errors which now wear in your 
 eyes the aspect of truth, I hope you will 
 reconsider this subject and change your 
 opinion. My object in eliciting from you 
 the present distinct avowal of your com- 
 plete unbelief is, to let you yourself see 
 clearly what your own opinions are. Don't 
 pass through life with unsettled notions 
 on a question of such consequence with- 
 out either belief or unbelief. Irrational 
 animals may do this, but a rational being 
 is formed to acquire opinions, by reason 
 used in study or reflection. Excuse me 
 for sliding into a sermon at dinner. This 
 is not the proper place, and you are not
 
 214 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 in the proper mood for serious discussion. 
 I should be glad to speak with you oftener, 
 alone, coolly, and with only truth for our 
 object. Now, however, all I wish is to 
 establish one point. You are an infidel ; 
 that is, you do not believe the Bible. It is 
 certain, as you say, that Christendom is 
 full of professing Christians, who do not 
 believe more than yourself. You are 
 young ; life is before you. You will 
 have time for observation, if God please 
 to prolong your days. All I ask of you is 
 do observe." 
 
 " I appreciate the interest you take in 
 me," said Harry. " But to him who has 
 not yet chosen any religion, it is necessary, 
 if he be resolved on adopting one, that he 
 should study all religions. I should spend 
 my days and nights in comparing Fetech- 
 ism with Sabeism, the claims of Maho- 
 met, Brahma, and Confucius. My profes- 
 sional studies must be neglected \vhile I 
 am engaged in these researches ; and I fear 
 I should waste my life before I had suc- 
 ceeded in ascertaining what true religion 
 is, whence it came, and to what it tends ?""
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 215 
 
 " You are young and happy,"" said Elton 
 gravely. " You will not always continue 
 so. There are years when the mortal 
 stands, or seems to stand, in no need of 
 religion. But years pass away. If you 
 please, we will resume the subject at 
 some future time." 
 
 " I fear it will be of no avail, though I 
 shall listen attentively to the advice 
 which comes from such a friend." 
 
 The debate between these two speakers 
 was probably not overheard by any one 
 else. Elton was surprised to find the 
 steady determination with which his young 
 companion adhered to opinions so dan- 
 gerous, while Harry secretly congratulated 
 himself on having always the best of the 
 argument, and regarded his friend as a 
 very worthy puritanical gentleman, who 
 believed implicitly all he had been taught, 
 and he almost envied him his self-satisfied 
 
 freedom from doubt. 
 
 * * * # 
 
 " What a delightful painting I could 
 make of this circle," says Brigham to 
 Harry, " in this light ! Upon my word I
 
 216 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 have a mind to sketch one as a sort of 
 continuation of your family history." 
 
 " You have painted us all so many 
 times before," said Harry, alluding to 
 several pictures on the wall, " that I 
 should think you would be nearly tired 
 of us." 
 
 The paintings to which Henry referred, 
 were various portraits, in oil and water- 
 colours, of the children, in as many atti- 
 tudes and costumes. There were Frank, 
 when two years old, with his papa's hat 
 and coat on ; Harry, a boy of thirteen, 
 looking you directly in the face, with an 
 expression of sunshiny, careless happiness, 
 which formed a striking contrast to his 
 present countenance ; and Mary, somewhat 
 younger, as a shepherdess, tending a lamb, 
 and Frank again, still earlier, with a rattle 
 and coral. 
 
 " I have heard your father speak lately 
 of a tour in Europe," said Brigham, " and 
 Frank is going off to Prairie du Chien ; 
 your sister will be getting married next, 
 and, what say you to a small painting, 
 but sufficiently large to preserve portraits,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 217 
 
 and to produce all the effect of reality, 
 representing this company just as it 
 now is." 
 
 " If it could be done soon," said Harry, 
 thinking of his own plans of travel, " I 
 should like it of all things ; and, seriously, 
 I give you the commission to do it. You 
 can take portraits of every person. I '11 
 have even little Seth in." 
 
 " I '11 do it,' 1 said Brigham. " I '11 set 
 about it immediately. I should scarcely 
 need to alter an attitude. Miss Elton in 
 the foreground, and those two English 
 officers, your father and Emmerson, your 
 mother and Frank. We must talk of 
 this hereafter. Your father, especially, 
 will make an admirable head."" 
 
 " We will talk of this more particularly 
 to-morrow," said Harry. 
 
 " Emmerson's is a singular-looking 
 countenance. He 's a clever man, I be- 
 lieve?" asked Brigham. 
 
 " Oh ! very. The apple of my father's 
 eye. His history is interesting." 
 
 " I think I have heard of a service your 
 father rendered him."
 
 218 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " Ten years ago," said Harry, " my fa- 
 ther had occasion to visit, several times, 
 one of the prisoners in the old gaol. 
 While there, he observed a man of three 
 or four and thirty, of quiet manners, and 
 not unpleasing exterior, shabbily dressed, 
 pale, thin, and evidently unhappy. He 
 was informed that the person was an attor- 
 ney, who was imprisoned for a small debt, 
 and seemed to suffer in health as well as 
 spirits, particularly from want of good 
 food and clothing. The old Roman law 
 which gave to creditors the dead body of 
 their debtor, was less barbarous than that 
 of our enlightened land, which, at that 
 period, plunged the living into a cheerless 
 dungeon, deprived them of the means to 
 exercise their industry, and yet, while the 
 felon was fed, made no provision to supply 
 the debtor with the necessaries of life." 
 
 " Yes, it is startling to observe," said 
 Brigham, " what abhorrent forms of error 
 are so long allowed to exist, with the day- 
 light shining full upon them, and yet ex- 
 citing no notice, because we are used to 
 them."
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 219 
 
 " Well," said Harry, " my father sought 
 the acquaintance of this person, tendered 
 his services, sent him the best of food 
 from his own table, supplied him with 
 books, newspapers, &c., till at length, 
 learning his history, and finding that he 
 had been practising law for a year in 
 New- York, or, rather, endeavouring to 
 practise it, without the least chance of 
 obtaining any business, offered to pay his 
 debt, which was only three hundred dol- 
 lars, and to take him into his own office 
 to assist him in business. He found him 
 well-informed, keen, and intelligent ; per- 
 fectly cool and steady, and a careful, in- 
 defatigable student. I believe he often 
 sits up the whole night to study, and he 
 has now got to be such an able lawyer, 
 that, although he has not the talent of 
 oratory, he really takes the lead in the 
 business of the office, and is a most inva- 
 luable assistant. He is a silent man, very 
 quiet, modest, and amiable. He never 
 alludes to the circumstances under which 
 he made our acquaintance ; but I presume 
 he feels them not the less deeply, and he 
 
 L2
 
 220 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 devotes himself to the business of the 
 office with such indefatigable zeal and 
 fidelity that we all see in it the evidence 
 of a mind not the less grateful because 
 somewhat reserved and silent." 
 
 " You spoke of his history. What is 
 it?" 
 
 " He is the son of an honest farmer, 
 who, although himself poor and unedu- 
 cated, discovered the intelligence of his 
 son, and .sent him to school, and thence 
 to college, where his severe application 
 acquired for him a respectable standing. 
 He afterwards taught Latin and Greek, 
 as an usher, in a day-school, while he was 
 studying law ; and when admitted to the 
 bar, and obliged to abandon this means of 
 support, his cold and silent manners not 
 being of a kind likely to procure him 
 friends and clients, he languished for 
 some time in obscurity and indigence, 
 necessarily running in debt, till at last, 
 although one of the very cleverest men 
 at the bar, he found himself in gaol. 
 Now, the scene is changed. My father 
 loves and trusts him like a brother.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 221 
 
 Everything is committed to his hands. I, 
 so much his junior in age, and so much his 
 inferior in instruction and in habits of 
 study, am very glad of an opportunity to 
 learn under such an able master. We all 
 love him as a superior being. He is, in- 
 deed, everything to us. If my father is 
 at a loss for an opinion, he goes to Mr. 
 Emmerson. If he thinks of purchasing 
 a house, or a horse, he consults Mr. Em- 
 merson If Frank wants anything, he 
 applies to Mr. Emmerson. If I am at a 
 loss, and my father is not at hand, Em- 
 merson is my man. And, I believe, 
 my mother, who thinks him perfection, 
 would, if she were hesitating whether 
 to have mince-pie or plum-pudding for 
 dessert, send for Mr. Emmerson and ask 
 his advice ! " 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! I suppose his fortune 
 is made, then!" 
 
 " I believe my father considers it to be 
 at least secure. He received at first a 
 salary, which was subsequently raised. 
 When I entered the office as a partner it 
 was agreed that we should, after the third
 
 222 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 year, make a new arrangement, putting 
 him on an equal footing. My father, you 
 know, has scarcely need of his professional 
 income, either for himself or any of his 
 family, except me, and is too happy in 
 being able to bring forward so clever a 
 man as Emmerson ; we are, in fact, going 
 to arrange the matter this very summer." 
 
 "He must be a great treasure to you 
 all." 
 
 " ' He is,' as my mother often says, 
 ' perfection,' and at the same time, in busi- 
 ness, I never saw a keener, more watchful, 
 far-seeing eye. In fact, there is some- 
 thing remarkable about him." 
 
 "And the young country-looking boy, 
 farther down who is he ? M 
 
 " What, poor little Seth ? Ha! ha! ha! 
 Another of my father's proteges. The lit- 
 tle fellow is from Vermont, well-descended 
 from the Green Mountain boys ; he re- 
 sisted every attempt, m et armis, to make 
 a cobbler of him, and declared he would 
 be nothing but a scholar and a great law- 
 yer. He was whipped at the plough, 
 they say, worse than the oxen which drew
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 223 
 
 it, and sent into the barn to thrash corn, 
 only to be much more thoroughly thrashed 
 himself; till at last his father kicked him 
 neck and heels out of doors, and told him 
 to go and be a gentleman. His mother, 
 however, sent after him a small yearly 
 supply of cash, which he made the most 
 of. My father met him by chance 
 during an excursion into Vermont, and 
 you know his enthusiasm for anything 
 striking, and out of the common routine. 
 He ordered the young lad into his room, 
 examined him a little, and, finding that 
 he had picked up a good deal of learning 
 in the rough, offered him a place as clerk 
 in his office, with a pittance sufficient to 
 live on. We have had him now some 
 years. I like him much. So do the rest 
 of us ; but Emmerson finds him rather 
 untractable. Nevertheless, my father, 
 who you know never does anything by 
 halves, tries his best to bring him out. 
 It is his happiness to do good, to help 
 along young people in the world, to find 
 out hidden merit, the more unsuspected 
 the place the better, and to call it forth.
 
 224 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 He fancies he sees in little Seth a certain 
 excellence of nature, and a certain moral 
 and intellectual capacity, which circum- 
 stances and time may ripen into some- 
 thing- very remarkable. I don't know 
 how it is, but Emmerson, whose opinion 
 has such great weight with us, says, he's 
 a stupid, obstinate little mule, and that 
 nothing can be made of him worth the 
 trouble we have bestowed on him. This 
 judgment of Emmerson has put poor Seth 
 lately rather under a cloud, and nobody but 
 my father, whose heart shines on all alike, 
 continues to have any high hopes of him. 
 He has now invited him to his own table, 
 hoping, as he says, to form his manners, 
 and make a gentleman of him. Poor 
 Seth ! " 
 
 The eyes of both the gentlemen here 
 turned on Seth, who, attired in his gay 
 suit of new clothes, presented rather a 
 ludicrous figure. His long shirt collar, 
 which threatened to cut his ears off, at 
 the same time interfered with the ingress 
 of food into his mouth. He said nothing, 
 and, when spoken to, only blushed deeply,
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 225 
 
 and stammered an answer that made him 
 appear all that Emmerson had declared 
 him. He formed a striking contrast to 
 that individual, who, although his man- 
 ners were peculiarly quiet and unassum- 
 ing, was frequently drawn into the general 
 conversation, and discovered extensive in- 
 formation, displaying a mind stored with 
 facts, the result of long study ; and the 
 respect with which he was listened to by 
 all the members of the Lennox family 
 communicated itself imperceptibly to the 
 rest of the company.
 
 226 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ABOUT a week after the foregoing 
 scene, on a morning which seemed to 
 have assumed its brightest looks for the 
 occasion, the bell of the steam-boat, Chan- 
 cellor Livingston, advertised to start at 
 eight for Albany, rang the notice to 
 dilatory passengers that the moment of 
 departure was at hand. It wanted but 
 two minutes of the appointed time of 
 starting ; the captain had just shouted 
 " All aboard !" in that vociferous voice 
 peculiar to persons of his profession, and 
 a couple of men had stooped to draw in 
 the plank, when two carriages were seen 
 rapidly approaching, and the already re- 
 volving paddles were checked. The party 
 consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Lennox, Mrs. 
 Elton and Fanny, with Frank, Mary, and 
 little Seth, all in high glee, and in a very 
 great hurry. They were speedily shown
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 227 
 
 on board by the polite captain, who 
 waited a moment to see that the luggage 
 followed in safety. Under his superin- 
 tendence, and to the silent amusement of 
 the crowd of passengers, and of various 
 miscellaneous groups collected about the 
 bales, barrels, and piles of pine-wood, on 
 the wharf, three or four stout fellows soon 
 transferred to the deck the large hair 
 trunk and the little leathern one, the 
 three portmanteaux, and the five band- 
 boxes, besides an indefinite number of 
 valisses, hat-cases, canes, fowling-pieces, 
 fishing-rods, and umbrellas : this effected, 
 the captain breathed again. He once 
 more shouted " All aboard !" and the 
 wheels again commenced their violent 
 vocation, when another carriage was ob- 
 served thundering down Courtland-street, 
 with a directness of purpose sufficiently 
 indicating, on the part of the occupants, 
 a determination to transfer their persons 
 from their vehicle to the boat, if possible. 
 The majority of the passengers gathered 
 to one side of the deck to watch the 
 denouement of this little drama, which
 
 228 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 they appeared unfeelingly to regard as 
 a comic performance ; while the driver 
 of the approaching carriage, the horses 
 thereof, the people within, and the des- 
 perate and indignant captain, all seemed 
 affected with emotions more or less 
 approaching to the tragic. The latter 
 gentleman, in a tone of voice rather 
 animated than otherwise, ordered the 
 plank to be hauled in ; muttering, at 
 the same time, something which might 
 possibly have resulted from a ruffled 
 temper, and which threatened great 
 danger to his own eyes or those of the 
 rapidly-arriving strangers. Despite these 
 inauspicious circumstances the said tra- 
 vellers reached the wharf, and proceeded 
 forthwith to leap on board. Their lug- 
 gage was pitched after them in an 
 unceremonious style, by a man who first 
 stopped, however, to decipher the in- 
 scription ; ' Captain Glendinning" on the 
 plate of a valisse. 
 
 " All aboard ! Will you haul in that 
 plank ?" shouted the captain, now full 
 three quarters of a minute after his time.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 229 
 
 "All aboard !"" echoed half-a-dozen voices. 
 The bell gave one more deafening toll, 
 which caused many ladies to place their 
 hands against their ears, and draw up 
 their faces into the prettiest and drollest 
 expressions imaginable; meanwhile, the 
 Lennox family were heartily shaking 
 White and Glendinning by the hand. 
 The plank was now drawn in with a 
 force bordering on ferocity, to the im- 
 minent danger of the feet and legs of 
 some forty or fifty bystanders. The broad 
 wheels made plunge after plunge as the 
 huge engine began to heave and pant 
 with its great labour, the cables were cast 
 loose, the surrounding green water grew 
 white and distracted with foam, the shore, 
 with its crowded admiring spectators, 
 receded from the eyes of the throng of 
 smiling travellers, who began to inhale 
 more freely the cool air of the open bay, 
 so refreshing after the hot dust of the 
 town ; and, as the immense boat put 
 fairly off into the river, and turned her 
 prow up the Hudson, the band, stationed 
 beneath the broad awning on the upper
 
 230 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 deck, began to play such a soul-stirring 
 air, that everybody looked as bright and 
 happy as if there were no such thing as 
 care in the whole world. 
 
 The meeting of the Lennoxes with 
 their two English friends was as unex- 
 pected as it was agreeable. " Who ex- 
 pected to see you ?" exclaimed Mr. 
 Lennox, " and where in the world did 
 you come from ? I thought your engage- 
 ments prevented your leaving : and now 
 we 've got you, we shall carry you off to 
 Rose Hill !"" Glendinning explained to 
 Mr. Lennox how they had been unable 
 to resist the pleasure of taking the trip 
 with them, and how they had successfully 
 pleaded to be let off from other engage- 
 ments, while Mrs. Elton was launching 
 out into a glowing description of Rose 
 Hill and its resources, addressed to no 
 one in particular, in which the words 
 boating, shooting, fishing, riding, flowers, 
 moon-light, home-made bread and but- 
 ter, poetry, and many others, followed 
 with such earnest rapidity that her eyes 
 were half full of tears, and glittered
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 231 
 
 through her continual smiles like an 
 April sun-shower. Lennox insisted upon 
 keeping the English officers at least a 
 month, and, when something was in- 
 timated of " leave of absence" being 
 expired, and a " very strict Lieutenant- 
 Colonel," he said, they might lay all the 
 blame on his shoulders, and if he could 
 catch the Lieutenant-Colonel at Rose Hill 
 he would serve him the same way, and, if 
 they chose, they might tell him he said so. 
 Never was there such a merry party, 
 such superb weather, such bright things 
 said, and such a wonderful growth of 
 familiarity and friendship. There was 
 more seen of each other's minds and 
 hearts in a day than would have been the 
 case in a year anywhere else. No kind 
 of travelling can be more cheering than 
 this way of starting from New York up 
 the Hudson. What with the crowd, and 
 the movement, and the noise, and the 
 voices, and the shaking of hands, and the 
 hailing of friends to bid good-Vye, from 
 deck to shore; and the bracing sweet 
 air, and the beautiful women, and the
 
 2.32 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 jokes and the laughter at everybody and 
 everything, and the sharp appetite occa- 
 sioned by all this, and the savoury odour 
 of the very nice breakfast you are going 
 to get presently, and your rapid flight 
 by the great, red, smoking, dusty, mag- 
 nificent, brawling, crowded city, with the 
 black wharfs and old meal stores vanish- 
 ing in double, quick time, and the sloops, 
 and ferry-boats, and barges, and ships, 
 and the green woods, and shores, and 
 rocks, and sand beeches, and farm houses 
 and villages, and villas and leaning hills, 
 and broken perpendicular precipices, all 
 floating behind you like a perfect vision of 
 enchantment, all as fresh and new in the 
 tender morning light, as if just finished on 
 the painter's easel, all steeped in radiant 
 colours and perfumes, and grateful silence. 
 In short, to a person, like most of our pre- 
 sent party, healthy and happy, with plenty 
 of money in his pockets, and hope in his 
 bosom, emancipated from business ana 
 care, such a trip, under such circumstances, 
 is almost enough to make him think that 
 human life has been grossly libelled by 
 moral philosophers.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 233 
 
 The next memorable incident of the 
 day, was another deafening peal from 
 a large hand-bell, mercilessly rung by an 
 honest negro, his face shining with delight 
 at the noise he made, and the important 
 duty he was performing, who announced 
 in a magisterial voice "Them gentle- 
 man as hasn't paid his passages, will 
 please to walk to the captain's office 
 and settle it !" A piece of rhetoric which 
 brought the gaiety of our little party to its 
 highest possible point, and made even 
 Fanny, who was inclined to be pensive, give 
 one of her old girlish laughs. Seth was 
 actually in convulsions of delight. 
 
 Then came a black lady, very ingeni- 
 ously, and no doubt in her own opinion 
 tastefully, dressed, with a variety of or- 
 naments and elegances peculiarly patro- 
 nized by our sable belles, who quietly 
 and mysteriously selected the ladies by 
 a freemason-like sort of nod and gesture, 
 and thus caused most of them to vanish 
 before the great mass of single gentlemen 
 knew anything of what was going on. 
 It was then announced to the male rem-
 
 234 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 nant of the ravenous assemblage, that 
 the hour of breakfast had arrived, and 
 that, by transferring their persons below, 
 they might partake of the same. 
 
 There are various sights in this world 
 calculated to awaken intense emotions, 
 but few more so than that which burst 
 upon the individuals who brought up the 
 rear of the procession into the cabin, as 
 they beheld the splendidly-furnished sa- 
 loons, and the long, endless tables smoking 
 with every delicacy which could provoke 
 the appetite, if indeed any stimulus were 
 necessary to effect that object. The 
 Lennox party had been obligingly placed 
 in possession of one end of the principal 
 table ; where, Lennox at the head, and 
 leading the attack, such an onset was 
 made upon the enemy as never was seen. 
 The effect of the motion, the excitement, 
 the sharp morning air, had been irresist- 
 ible. A most extraordinary disappear- 
 ance of the various surrounding edibles 
 took place, the four gentlemen, like gallant 
 knights hovering around their " ladies 
 fair," and anticipating their wants.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 235 
 
 Once more on deck, the crowd of pas- 
 sengers, with spirits attuned to tranquil 
 enjoyment by the increasing beauty of 
 the scenery, began to yield to those affi- 
 nities which attract " like with like." A 
 large number were, of course, acquaint- 
 ances. Such as were strangers were 
 duly presented, and the delights of social 
 intercourse could scarcely be anywhere 
 greater than on this occasion, under the 
 broad awning of the upper deck of the 
 immense steamboat, and floating through 
 scenes which recalled the valley of Ras- 
 selas. 
 
 In this assemblage, the presence of the 
 two young duellists occasioned a consider- 
 able sensation. The affair had by this 
 time become universally known, and the 
 part Frank had borne in it rendered him 
 an object of universal admiration and in- 
 terest. Not only is the unthinking mul- 
 titude dazzled by a display of prompt 
 and manly courage, but there is in it 
 something fascinating also to the soberest 
 and wisest. It seems to redeem, to a 
 certain extent, even a bad cause ; but how
 
 236 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 much more brilliant is it when manifested 
 in the punishment of aggression, and in 
 the protection of women ? Even they who 
 were opposed in principle to the custom 
 of duelling, were silenced by the general 
 approbation bestowed upon Frank. Had 
 a British officer been permitted to leave 
 the United States unpunished after such 
 an act ; to have displayed ostentatiously 
 the rose thus rudely snatched from an 
 American lady, with an American officer 
 at her side, what would the whole world 
 have said ? There was so much force in 
 this argument, that they who had nothing 
 to oppose to the -practice of duelling but 
 the word of God,, were but slightly lis- 
 tened to ; so difficult is it for pure Chris- 
 tian principle to contend successfully 
 against the passions and illusions of life. 
 
 On the present occasion Frank was the 
 lion of the day. When it was whispered 
 about who he was, all eyes were fixed on 
 him (and some of them, as Mr. Mantilini 
 says, " d d handsome ones too ! "). He 
 had entitled himself to the applause of 
 his native city. The newspapers had been
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 237 
 
 full of compliments to him. Judges, 
 statesmen, and public magistrates, shook 
 him heartily by the hand, and, among the 
 ladies, a young hero who had just saved 
 his country in some brilliant battle could 
 scarcely have been more openly admired. 
 Mr. Lennox and Mary enjoyed all this, 
 and Mrs. Elton, who, being occupied the 
 whole time in talking, did not think much 
 one way or the other, shared in the 
 triumphs of her favourite young friend. 
 But Mrs. Lennox looked on with regret, 
 and apprehension lest a dangerous impres- 
 sion might be thus made on her son's cha- 
 racter. 
 
 Glendinning, too, against whom, at first, 
 the general indignation had run high, be- 
 gan to be regarded, not as a libertine who 
 spent 
 
 " his rich opinion 
 For the name of a night-brawler ;" 
 
 but as a mere frolicsome young madcap, 
 who had firmly and magnanimously atoned, 
 in his sober senses, for a boyish freak. 
 White, who, it was understood, had done 
 all in his power to prevent the occur-
 
 238 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 rence at all, was also praised for the 
 officer-like firmness with which he had 
 pressed it through to just the point where 
 his thoughtless friend might withdraw, in 
 a chivalric way, from an affair of which he 
 had become justly ashamed. 
 
 In the meanwhile everybody was in- 
 troduced to everybody else, and everybody 
 talked to everybody else about all sorts of 
 things, and each individual would have 
 thought him or herself as happy as possi- 
 ble if he or she had not felt they were 
 growing happier every moment. 
 
 We wish we could record the light and 
 agreeable conversation which beguiled the 
 swift hours of this delightful day, and also 
 pourtray the thoughts which passed through 
 the various minds of the Lennox family 
 and their friends. Mrs. Lennox, as she 
 led on White to new communications re- 
 specting his friend, felt it more than ever 
 her duty to avail herself of his present 
 visit, which seemed a providential oppor- 
 tunity, to awaken in his volatile mind 
 some serious religious impressions. She 
 recognized in him an ingenuousness of
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 239 
 
 character, quite in keeping with his en- 
 gaging manners and prepossessing counte- 
 nance. The enterprise of redeeming such 
 a person from infidelity, and from the dan- 
 gers and misery consequent upon it, ap- 
 peared to her justly worthy of a Christian. 
 Facility of disposition, which allowed him 
 to be led away by bad example, and impe- 
 tuous impulses and passions, which he had 
 not yet learned to govern, were obvious- 
 ly his principal faults. Of the great and 
 beautiful scheme of Christianity, its his- 
 tory, and the evidence on which it stands, 
 he was totally and singularly ignorant ; 
 and she promised herself the pious plea- 
 sure of unfolding to his view its sacred 
 truths. 
 
 Glendinning was pleased with the pros- 
 pect of passing a week at Rose Hill, and 
 White was too much charmed with his 
 new acquaintances to interpose objections. 
 Miss Elton was glad to have any one to 
 occupy Frank's thoughts and time. She 
 saw that his duel on her account had 
 given him new hopes, although the deli- 
 cacy of his heart caused him to betray
 
 240 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 them only in an indirect way. She did, 
 indeed, begin to regard him as no longer 
 a boy, and the admiration and friendship 
 which she really felt for him, she was too 
 artless to conceal, and he too inexperienced 
 to understand. He evidently hoped that 
 time might effect a favourable change in 
 her sentiments towards him, and trusted 
 everything to the future, which looked so 
 bright and cloudless. 
 
 But of the whole party, perhaps none 
 were so completely wrapped in enchant- 
 ment (though of a very different kind) 
 as Mrs. Elton and Seth. The former, 
 who in the darkest hour was surrounded 
 by an atmosphere of sunshine, now that 
 orb did really pour forth his full splen- 
 dour, beheld in the earth only a scene of 
 uninterrupted bliss. All nature, and every 
 individual, wore, in her happy eyes, a co- 
 lour of brightness. To her everything 
 was beautiful. Everybody was charming ; 
 the ugliest physiognomy had some attrac- 
 tion. A cross temper was honest rough- 
 ness, and a pug nose spirituel. She gave 
 White and Glendinning such astounding
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 241 
 
 accounts of the excellence of everything 
 and everybody, that they began to fancy 
 themselves figuring in some bright vision 
 of the Arabian Nights. 
 
 Little Seth, now for the first time in his 
 life going up the Hudson, and arrayed in 
 all the splendour of his new suit, was almost 
 struck dumb with astonishment and de- 
 light. He said nothing, except when 
 spoken to, and then generally answered 
 only with a huge blush and an abrupt 
 laugh. Mr. Lennox, who saw how offen- 
 sive he had become to Emmerson, though 
 he could not understand why, had resolved 
 to take him with the family to spend a 
 month in the country, as much for the 
 gratification of Emmerson, by his tempo- 
 rary removal, as of the boy himself. He 
 noticed him a great deal, made it a point 
 to introduce him to everybody, as if he 
 had been his own son, never failing on 
 such occasions to pronounce in full his 
 three names, Seth Jacob Copeley, and to 
 add, that he possessed talents and attain- 
 ments which would inevitably one day 
 
 J a-t <^n y ,
 
 242 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 place him at the head of his profession, 
 if not in the Presidential Chair. 
 
 Poor Seth had heard these astounding 
 eulogies so repeatedly, that he began to 
 be used to them ; he felt deeply the kind- 
 ness that prompted them, and his regard 
 for Mr. Lennox continually increased. 
 All treated him with a gentleness and con- 
 sideration, which sank into a heart not 
 without warmth, although rarely display- 
 ed, and into a mind, though slow, both 
 thoughtful and observing. His old, un- 
 comfortable bashfulness had begun to give 
 place to a feeling of greater ease and sa- 
 tisfaction. He saw that where Mrs. Len- 
 nox's mild, sweet face was, he had always 
 a friend to help him out of the embarrass- 
 ing dilemmas into which he was frequently 
 plunged by the thoughtless good nature of 
 Mr. Lennox, and as Mary took as much 
 care of him as if he had been her brother, 
 he got along tolerably well. Frank quiz- 
 zed, and Glendinning mystified him, some- 
 times in a mere spirit of fun; but Mary 
 was an excellent champion, and Frank met 
 in her an ancient and formidable foe. In
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 243 
 
 short, Seth, somehow or other, found him- 
 self strangely happy. Of all men on earth, 
 he most disliked and feared Emmerson. 
 Now he had escaped from the dark face 
 of that gentleman for a time, he found, 
 to his joy, that his representations had not 
 injured him in the opinion of his benefac- 
 tors, and, with the facility of youth, regard- 
 less of the future, he gave himself up to 
 the pleasing impressions of the moment, 
 watched the easy and elegant manners of 
 the three gentlemen, and delighted to be- 
 stow such attentions as he knew how 
 upon the ladies, each one of whom he 
 loved with all the unbounded fervour of 
 boyish gratitude and admiration. Strange 
 and sweet impressions, too, began to influ- 
 ence his mind from the varying and re- 
 splendent scenes of nature which were so 
 rapidly flying behind him. He listened, 
 too, with mute wonder to the conversa- 
 tion of the rest; to remarks on other 
 shores and other rivers; to allusions to the 
 scenes of Europe that great dim vision of 
 imagination to his young American mind 
 and to the thousand interesting topics 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 which he now heard discussed for the 
 first time. The exquisite scenery which 
 brought forth various exclamations of 
 rapture, (for all else sank into his soul 
 silently, but not less deeply,) and the poor 
 little country boy, thus introduced, almost 
 by accident, into a sphere of life so much 
 above his own, began to feel within him 
 the developement of new thoughts and the 
 stirring of new emotions. The beautiful 
 countenance of Mary Lennox had a sort 
 of unaccountable attraction in his eyes. 
 He could have sat gazing on it for hours, 
 and so he did, quite uninterrupted, for 
 no one looked at him. If the young girl 
 herself sometimes caught his eyes with her 
 own in these encounters, she only smiled 
 so kindly and good-naturedly, that, as 
 we before observed, somehow or other, 
 this passage up to Rose Hill was the most 
 enchanting, delicious day he had ever 
 known. 
 
 Fanny Elton, who appeared to be only 
 just recovering from her late indisposition, 
 was on that ground held excusable for a 
 certain reserve which seemed lately to
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 245 
 
 have shed its influence on her mind and 
 demeanour. Her intimacy with Mary 
 presented the rare spectacle of a young 
 lady, decidedly prettier than her friend, 
 without believing so herself. While 
 Mary, equal in character, if not quite so 
 in countenance, knew it well, and unfeign- 
 edly rejoiced in it. Both were equally 
 above the mean passions of vanity and 
 envy. 
 
 A glorious noon-tide brought the boat 
 into the Highlands, whose bold, gigantic 
 forms frowned darkly on the winding 
 flood, and exhibited their sharp angles in 
 strong relief against the stainless azure 
 sky. This spot, the region of a thousand 
 romantic, as well as historical, associations, 
 and invested by Nature with such a start- 
 ling beauty, the fame of which has been 
 so charmingly recorded by the chaste and 
 tender genius of Irving, never appeared 
 more bright, still, enchanting, than on the 
 present occasion. The sharp beak of the 
 boat went ploughing through the sleeping 
 water, now close upon one shore, now 
 upon the other. Sloops, with their sails
 
 246 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 fully spread, to catch every breath of air, 
 stole silently along. The sturgeon leaped 
 and fell heavily back into his watery 
 home ; and the eagle floated lowly over 
 the rocky heights, balancing himself in 
 idle enjoyment with his immense mo- 
 tionless wings, inspiring the beholder with 
 envy at the possession of so glorious a 
 power ! 
 
 At last the bell, the clang of which a 
 few hours ago had pealed through the hot 
 and dusty streets of the city, now sent 
 forth its deafening voice to die away 
 among the echos of the mountains, and to 
 summon the Lennoxes and their friends to 
 land at B point, upon whose beautiful 
 and verdant acclivity Rose Hill stood. A 
 very unsafe sort of ladder was the only 
 means of approach to a still more unsafe- 
 looking small boat, most perilously at- 
 tached by a rope to the always rapidly- 
 advancing steamer, all of which seemed to 
 offer a reasonable chance of favouring the 
 merry party with a ducking; but the 
 descent was boldly and successfully made ;
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 247 
 
 boxes, portmanteaus, umbrellas, valisses 
 came tumbling in, one after the other, and 
 sometimes two at once, and off dashed the 
 boat, in a style which there is no time 
 here to describe at all, only that there 
 were various wavings of white pocket- 
 handkerchiefs from the steamer to those 
 in the little boat, which signal they in the 
 little boat responded to with equal energy, 
 and Miss Elton sat quietly thoughtful in 
 the stern, while Frank wished with all his 
 heart she might fall overboard, that he 
 might jump in after her ; still he would not 
 have her wet the sole of her shoe for 
 twenty worlds, lest she might take cold ; 
 and but stop ! here we are already 
 ashore. The little boat was soon emptied ; 
 the steamer was heard puffing, and blow- 
 ing, and panting, and thundering, at a 
 great distance, and the whole party pre- 
 sently found themselves winding up a 
 most sweet and odoriferous road, shaded 
 with cedar, and oak, and sycamore, and 
 locust, and wild roses, and all sorts of 
 trees and flowers that make the air smell
 
 248 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 delicious. Ere long they were all stand- 
 ing on the portico of one of the most per- 
 fectly beautiful country-houses, that (at 
 least, so thought Seth) ever were, or could 
 possibly be, seen, or even conceived. It 
 was a sweet place, Rose Hill ; but we are 
 not going to describe it.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL 249 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 PERHAPS there never were any people 
 altogether quite so happy as the party 
 now assembled at Rose Hill. There 
 never was such glorious weather ; such 
 capital creature comforts ; such delicious 
 butter, and honey, and marmalade, and 
 preserves, and cherry-wine, and ice-cream, 
 and home-made bread, and fruit-pie, and, 
 in short, all sorts of the very nicest things 
 imaginable. White and Glendinning were 
 fairly fascinated ; and even Fanny, al- 
 though she had some reason not to be 
 as gay as she had been formerly, even 
 she could not resist the effect of the 
 bright scenes, hilarious and inspiriting in- 
 cidents, and very agreeable people around 
 her. As for little Seth, he had got to 
 be quite a different person as his true 
 character developed itself. His stiff 
 awkwardness gave place to more freedom 
 
 M 5
 
 250 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 of manner, and the changes going on in 
 his heart and mind began to show them- 
 selves on his countenance. 
 
 But, if Seth appeared to have under- 
 gone a favourable alteration, in Glendin- 
 ning a much greater change was percep- 
 tible. He soon captivated his hospitable 
 entertainers ; and their obvious partiality 
 for him, and complete forgiveness of his 
 fault, had seriously touched his heart. 
 Frank and he were become attached 
 friends. In daring spirit and impetuosity 
 of disposition, they were not unlike ; but 
 these qualities in Frank had been better 
 regulated by education. Both were pos- 
 sessed of many of the faults as well as the 
 virtues of youth. Hot-headed, thought- 
 less, passionate, and inexperienced, but 
 generous, affectionate, noble, and im- 
 pressible, it was no wonder that they 
 soon learned to appreciate and esteem 
 each other. Glendinning, sensible of his 
 culpable folly, and heartily ashamed of his 
 past life, evinced in various ways his sin- 
 cere repentance and desire to reform ; and 
 it was not in the power of the amiable
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 251 
 
 family to see any one so truly inspired 
 with good resolutions without entertain- 
 ing for him both sympathy and friendship. 
 There are periods when all that the 
 earth affords of happiness seems gathered 
 around us, and all its evils and cares dis- 
 appear, just as some rare days break with- 
 out a chill, a cloud, or a breath of wind. 
 The brightness and repose of outward 
 nature are reflected in our hearts. Our 
 capacity for happiness is full. Not only 
 do the trees, the sky, rivers, and fields, 
 wear an unwonted charm, but the people 
 around us all appear invested with grace 
 and love, awakening in us all our better 
 feelings, as if they were so many radiant 
 angels. Who has not come suddenly upon 
 some such a happy valley in life's pil- 
 grimage? where he would fain have lin- 
 gered for ever, but that the dusky phan- 
 toms of Fate beckoned him onward, and 
 the resistless and invisible current of cir- 
 cumstances, flowing with its turbid tide 
 on and on, bears him away to other 
 scenes, leaving only an enchanting recol- 
 lection of these holidays of the heart !
 
 252 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 And who has not felt, at such moments, 
 the mysterious nearness, the viewless 
 and noiseless presence of supernatural 
 things ? Who has not observed that 
 these intervals of peace and joy come 
 often just before some terrible crisis in 
 life? ' 
 
 The week at Rose Hill was one of 
 these periods of unusual delight, and the 
 only drawback upon the general enjoyment 
 at present, was the necessity which called 
 Mr. Lennox back to town on the Monday 
 morning, with the promise, however, to 
 see them again on Friday or Saturday. 
 Music, sketching, riding, gay and instruc- 
 tive conversation, poetry, and literature, 
 and, on all sides, the unreserved confi- 
 dences of the heart, formed the occupa- 
 tions of the party. Glendinning won- 
 dered that he had ever sought happiness 
 in scenes so opposite to this. 
 
 They had arrived at Rose Hill on Tues- 
 day, and it was arranged that they should 
 remain there at least one week. The 
 first afternoon and evening were devoted 
 to an examination of the house and 
 
 ^
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 253 
 
 grounds. There were an excellent farm, 
 a delightful garden, conservatories, pro- 
 menades, &c. ; a drive along a road fol- 
 lowing the river, and presenting a series 
 of views remarkable for beauty ; and then 
 the family assembled in the drawing- 
 rooms, which opened upon a balcony ex 
 tending entirely around the house, and 
 which was situated in so commanding a 
 site, that the gorgeous and picturesque 
 highland river-scenery was spread around 
 like a superb panorama. Here the tea- 
 table gathered together, not only the 
 members of the party, but half-a-dozen 
 distinguished strangers, either visitors at 
 West Point, distant a short sail on the 
 opposite side, or from some of the neigh- 
 bouring seats. The costly and elegant 
 style in which Mr. Lennox lived, the 
 luxurious furniture and well-kept grounds, 
 the opulence which made itself seen in all 
 the details of the domestic arrangements, 
 opulence showing itself, however, in mat- 
 ters of comfort and genuine hospitality, 
 rather than empty display, surprised the 
 two young officers, who had both been
 
 254 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 impressed with the idea that English 
 comfort was not to be found in such 
 perfection out of the " sea-girt isle." 
 
 Seth saw in all this only a dream of 
 perfect enchantment. He roamed about 
 the grounds, peered into the garden, sat 
 half stupified with delight looking at the 
 magnificent landscape which lay beneath 
 and above him ; then, mingling silently 
 with the persons who made up the even- 
 ing party, he bore their jokes with im- 
 moveable good-humour, he listened atten- 
 tively to their conversation, wondering 
 all the time at the easy flow of their 
 words, and the bold and sportive way in 
 which they spoke to each other, and in 
 which they did the most serious or the 
 most trifling things. 
 
 Mary was his ever-faithful friend. She 
 explained everything to him which he 
 did not understand, told him where to 
 go, and what to do and say, laughed him 
 out of his bad grammar and country 
 phrases, arranged his cravat and collar in 
 a way so .becoming that he himself 
 was quite surprised at his genteel appear- 
 ance, and was not likely to forget her
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 255 
 
 manner of tying the knot in front. Then 
 she sometimes ordered him up to let her 
 examine him, when she fixed her eyes on 
 him with a scrutinizing look, gave him 
 various instructions, put aside the hair 
 from his forehead with her own soft, white 
 hand, and arranged it around his temples : 
 he said nothing, but he thought and felt 
 a great deal. He felt as if he had en- 
 tered into a new world, and as if a new 
 soul had entered into his body. 
 
 Glendinning thought he had never seen 
 a spot of the earth where he should 
 so like to spend his life, nor people 
 with whom his days would glide more 
 pleasantly away. He had no family or 
 home. His father, his only living rela- 
 tive, had discovered so little considera- 
 tion for, or interest in, him that, however 
 a sense of duty might modify his senti- 
 ments, he could not look forward to a 
 return to the paternal roof as an event 
 either possible or desirable. Here, at 
 once, all the best qualities of his mind, 
 all the finer feelings of his heart were 
 called into being. And, as he became 
 more acquainted with Mary, a dream of
 
 256 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 happiness rose up in his imagination, which, 
 however immature, added weight to the 
 maternal counsels of Mrs. Lennox, and 
 gave a new impulse to his schemes of 
 reformation and self-improvement. In 
 short, if Mary had given him the least 
 encouragement, he would have fallen in 
 love in the same off-handed, headlong 
 way, in which he did everything else. 
 
 During these days devoted to enjoy- 
 ment, Mrs. Lennox by no means neglect- 
 ed her serious plan of turning Glendin- 
 ning's attention to the subject of religion. 
 The hope of convincing a young officer 
 of such a disposition, and with whom 
 her acquaintance had originated in such 
 a singular manner, would have been 
 thought by most persons rather Quixotic. 
 
 But her genuine piety did not suffer 
 itself to be discouraged by any ordinary 
 objection, and she was delighted to find 
 her task infinitely easier than she had 
 dared to hope. Glendinning's facile na- 
 ture was now softened by happiness, and 
 the novelty of pure and rational attach- 
 ments. Mrs. Lennox's sweetness of man-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 257 
 
 ner and expression, which truly reflected 
 her kindness of heart, sensibly affected 
 him. He was so completely ignorant of 
 the nature of our Divine religion, and 
 of the evidence by the aid of which it 
 has resisted the stormy shocks of so many 
 centuries, and she was so well acquainted 
 with the subject, and was able so clearly 
 to explain that which she so clearly un- 
 derstood, that she soon succeeded in rais- 
 ing in him both astonishment and curi- 
 osity. By frankly appealing to his good 
 sense and calm reason, she had the gra- 
 tification to see that he was sufficiently 
 ingenuous to confess when her facts were 
 new to him, and her arguments unanswer- 
 able. He listened, at first with respect, 
 and afterwards with unfeigned attention 
 and increasing interest, laid candidly be- 
 fore her all his ignorance and all his 
 objections, and soon perceived, that the 
 ground he stood on was taken by her 
 earnest and pious eloquence and superior 
 knowledge, inch by inch, from beneath 
 his feet. He promised her at last that he 
 would make a full study of the subject 
 the first duty of his future life ; that,
 
 258 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 if doubts continued to obstruct his way, 
 he would apply to her before he yielded 
 to them, and that he would correspond 
 with her after his departure, and let her 
 know the progress of his opinions. There 
 was in this no affectation. He had been 
 very much impressed by new views of 
 what he saw he had never understood 
 or even taken the trouble to examine. 
 His nature was not wanting either in the 
 purity requisite in a believer, but only 
 in stability, strength, and seriousness. But 
 what he would never have sought himself 
 this best of friends presented to him with 
 disinterested anxiety for his welfare. She 
 began to love him almost as a mother, 
 and her gentle, affectionate, and intelli- 
 gent character, had not failed to awaken 
 in his breast reciprocal sentiments. 
 
 After one of these long conversations, 
 during a ramble through a neighbouring 
 wood, when she had purposely withdrawn 
 him from the rest of the company to 
 pursue, without interruption, her plan of 
 awakening his attention to the subject of 
 religion, the whole party returned to the 
 house, where, after a slight repast, Mrs.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 259 
 
 Lennox reminded them they might expect 
 her husband and Harry by the noon boat. 
 It was accordingly proposed that the whole 
 party should go down to the landing at 
 the proper hour, and receive the expected 
 visitors with all suitable honours. Ac- 
 cordingly, at about one o'clock, they re- 
 paired to the spot in high spirits. A few 
 moments after their arrival, they disco- 
 vered a light cloud of ascending smoke 
 and steam, peering over the summit of a 
 green hill, then the plunging strokes of 
 the wheels and panting of the engine, 
 and immediately the large and stately 
 vessel, more like a floating palace than a 
 boat, darted from behind a projecting 
 angle of black, broken rock, with the 
 well-known barge cleaving the foamy 
 flood at its side, and containing the three 
 figures of Mr. Lennox, Harry, and Mr. 
 Emmerson. 
 
 The new comers were presently amongst 
 them. After cordially exchanging saluta- 
 tions, Mr. Lennox and Mrs. Elton opened 
 a conversation likely to continue, and the 
 attention of the rest of the Rose Hill
 
 260 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 party was now bestowed on Harry and 
 his companion. Emmerson's face was 
 all smiles and blandness, though his gra- 
 tulations, like everything else he did, were 
 performed in a quiet way. 
 
 " But what 's the matter with you, 
 Harry?" said his mother. "You don't 
 look well." 
 
 " Oh, yes, perfectly. Never so well 
 and so gay in my life," said Harry, rous- 
 ing himself from a reverie. 
 
 " Where 's Fanny ?" demanded Lennox. 
 
 " Here she is at least here she was, or 
 I thought she was here." 
 
 " Didn't she come down ?" asked Mary. 
 
 " No. I don't think she did," said 
 Frank, " I observed she was not with us." 
 
 Up the steep, fragrant footpath they 
 wound, and met Fanny just coming down, 
 looking quiet ; but Mrs. Lennox thought 
 it was not altogether a natural tranquil- 
 lity. She had observed, when she spoke 
 of the arrival of the party by the boat, a 
 certain change take place in her expres- 
 sion and manner, which revived a thought 
 not altogether a stranger to her mind.
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 MR. LENNOX had brought up with him 
 newspapers, magazines, caricatures, and 
 letters. He was besides full of town 
 news, and rattled away faster than ever. 
 He met White and Glendinning with the 
 hearty, hilarious hospitality which belong- 
 ed to his character, kissed Fanny when- 
 ever he could catch her, and seemed in 
 high glee. The dinner-hour arrived before 
 they had time to ask and answer all their 
 mutual questions, and champagne and ci- 
 gars upon the beautiful flower-entwined 
 piazza succeeded. 
 
 The piazza extended entirely around the 
 house, so as to form a most agreeable pro- 
 menade. It was at this time that Fanny, 
 who had withdrawn herself again from the 
 family, (as the cold, melancholy manners 
 of Harry, only relieved at times by a 
 forced gaiety, oppressed her with a feel-
 
 262 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 ing of painful uneasiness,) was surprised 
 by the sudden and silent appearance of 
 Emmerson close at her side, so close and 
 unexpected, indeed, that the sigh which 
 happened at the moment to escape her 
 was perceived by him. 
 
 " Does Miss Elton sigh?' 1 said Emmer- 
 son, with a more than usual gentleness. 
 
 "Did I?" said Fanny blushing. "I 
 really was not aware of it." 
 
 " Miss Elton, I am going to ask your 
 advice." 
 
 " Advice ! my advice ! Oh, Mr. Em- 
 merson," she replied laughing, " on what 
 subject could I pretend to advise you ?" 
 
 " And why not me?" said he smiling 
 blandly. 
 
 " Oh, because you, of all men, . know 
 best how to act on every occasion. I 
 might ask advice from you, but to give 
 advice I am hardly worthy." 
 
 " My dear Miss Elton, do your words 
 really express your sincere sentiments?" 
 
 " Why, certainly." 
 
 " Your good opinion makes me happy. 
 To say the truth, I do not exactly so
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 263 
 
 much propose to seek your advice, as to 
 offer you my confidence." 
 
 " Well, if I can serve you by receiving 
 it," replied the young girl, both pleased 
 and flattered by the respectful attention 
 of one so generally esteemed. 
 
 " Listen to me, then. _ Mr. Lennox, you 
 know, has long desired to retire in some 
 degree from his profession. He yesterday 
 made me an offer of one half the income 
 of the office, which cannot amount to less 
 than five thousand dollars, and may con- 
 siderably exceed it." 
 
 " I congratulate you with all my heart," 
 said Miss Elton. 
 
 " But I have an objection to receive this 
 obligation." 
 
 " What ! from Mr. Lennox ? What 
 objection can you have ? You accept only 
 what you are entitled to. I have fre- 
 quently heard him say you have been of 
 the greatest service to him. He is rich 
 enough himself, and in retiring has cer- 
 tainly the full right to choose his suc- 
 cessor." 
 
 " But there is his son, Harry."
 
 264 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 Miss Elton was silent. 
 
 " I have already told you, Miss Elton, 
 my secret opinion of this young man. He 
 can never himself make a good lawyer, or 
 a good man. He is too light and fickle ; 
 too too yet, nevertheless, ought I to 
 accept a share of what it may possibly be 
 considered should, of right, fall to him 
 alone?" 
 
 " If his father found your assistance 
 necessary, it is not likely he could dis- 
 pense with it." 
 
 " It is not exactly that I am under a 
 great embarrassment in communicating to 
 you what I have now to say ; but, as your 
 old friend and your father's, you will allow 
 me, wont you, to speak frankly?" 
 
 " You cannot offend me," said she, al- 
 though a colour overspread her face as 
 she spoke, " because I know whatever 
 you say will be the truth, and because 
 you have already, with the disinterested- 
 ness of real friendship, rescued me from a 
 great danger." 
 
 " Then, it 'is this. While the slightest 
 possibility remained of your yielding to
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 265 
 
 what will probably be the serious wish 
 of his family, in receiving the addresses 
 of Mr. Henry Lennox " 
 
 " Mr. Emmerson," said Fanny, " let me 
 assure you there is as little danger of his 
 preferring, as of my accepting, any such 
 proposition." 
 
 " I breathe again," said Emmerson, ex- 
 tending his hand to hers, which she did 
 not refuse. " I should, in fact, be doubly 
 distressed at the possibility of your union 
 with him. First, because he is unworthy 
 of you, as T have already told you ; and, 
 secondly, because, my dearest Miss Elton, 
 I have, after much painful resolution to 
 the contrary, and a deep sense of my own 
 presumption, determined to throw myself 
 upon your generosity, your good sense, 
 your excellent understanding to in 
 short to ask your advice respecting my 
 own future prospects." 
 
 " In what way ?" Mr. Emmerson. 
 
 " I am now in possession of an inde- 
 pendent income, and I have moreover an 
 opportunity, by a fortunate speculation, of 
 turning it into a large fortune."
 
 266 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " You really delight me," said Fanny, 
 while such lively pleasure beamed from 
 her eye, that Emmerson could not doubt 
 either its strength or sincerity. 
 
 "May I, then, venture to hope, that the 
 sentiments of unalterable regard with 
 which you inspire me, and which, you say, 
 I have had the happiness to inspire on 
 your side, dare I venture to hope, that 
 the clear intelligence of Miss Elton su- 
 perior to the illusions of youth or the im- 
 pulses of any mere girlish passion may 
 condescend to allow me to reveal to her 
 the earnest and profound esteem which I 
 have myself entertained for her? May I 
 hope to find in her, not only advice on a 
 temporary occasion, but an adviser to 
 cheer and guide my future steps through 
 life ? In offering you my hand, I need 
 scarcely say, my heart has been yours from 
 the moment I first beheld you." 
 
 Miss Elton fixed her eyes upon her 
 companion, as he closed this speech, with 
 an astonishment and consternation which 
 prevented her uttering a single word in reply. 
 
 " Consider the advantages a union with
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 267 
 
 me would insure to you : a friend, soberly 
 and unchangeably attached, who has 
 passed the dangers of youth ; with me your 
 days will not be clouded with doubt, or 
 your feelings harrowed by dissipation. No 
 rash duels, nor midnight brawls ! but 
 our lives will glide peacefully on, without 
 a care to interrupt them. My dear Miss 
 Elton, I have for years looked forward to 
 this moment as the most important, the 
 most delightful, of my life. Answer me, 
 will you be mine ? Consider the advan- 
 tages a union with me would secure to us 
 both. Do not hesitate." 
 
 " I do not hesitate " replied Miss 
 Elton; but, as she raised her eyes, she 
 beheld Harry close behind Emmerson, his 
 form drawn back in stern surprise, mingled 
 with embarrassment. He had evidently, 
 though by mere accident, overheard the 
 last words of Emmerson and her own. 
 Conscious of the impression he must have 
 derived from them, she became so un- 
 usually agitated that Emmerson once more 
 took her hand. Harry had already disap- 
 peared.
 
 268 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 " I do not hesitate," repeated she, " or, 
 if I did, it was only from amazement. Re- 
 spect and esteem I shall always feel 
 towards you, Mr. Emmerson; but I can 
 never entertain any warmer sentiment." 
 
 " Let me at least request, Miss Elton," 
 said Emmerson, after a pause, and with a 
 look of deep mortification, " that you will 
 consider my offer a profound secret." 
 
 " Certainly, sir." 
 
 " Have I your promise ?" 
 
 " You have." 
 
 " Hollo ! here ; where are these run- 
 aways ?" called out Mr. Lennox. 
 
 " What ! Emmerson, are you making 
 love to Fanny ?" 
 
 " I should hardly presume so far," said 
 Emmerson, laughing in an easy way; which 
 rather surprised Miss Elton, in one she had 
 always considered so artless and sincere. 
 
 " We 're going out in the boat to see 
 St. Anthony's Nose. Bring along the 
 young lady, and take good care of her, 
 mind !"
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 GLAD of an opportunity to get away, 
 Fanny went in after her bonnet, and, in a 
 few moments, the whole party were on 
 their way down the steep winding path, 
 talking and laughing together, Mr. Len- 
 nox occasionally rallying Erarnerson on his 
 having been detected in making love to 
 Miss Elton, as if the very notion of such a 
 thing were the most capital joke conceiv- 
 able. 
 
 Emmerson received and replied to this 
 badinage with a skilful duplicity which 
 let Fanny still more into the peculiarities 
 of his character, and awoke in her mind 
 a train of serious reflections. In the first 
 place, she recollected a thousand instances 
 of kindness and delicate private attention 
 on Emmerson's part, bestowed upon her as 
 far back as she could remember, and which 
 
 N3
 
 270 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 she had always ascribed to a kind of pa- 
 rental regard for her. She recollected 
 that it was Emmerson who had accident- 
 ally interrupted her interview with Harry, 
 when that young gentleman had first made 
 to her the offer of his heart and hand. 
 When he next addressed her on the same 
 subject, it was again Emmerson who, on the 
 ground of paternal disinterestedness, came 
 forward to warn her against him by re- 
 peated hints and innuendos, as one who, 
 to oblige his parents, might profess an 
 attachment, but who had confessed to him 
 his hope that he might be rejected, and 
 his sincere passion for another. In look- 
 ing back from her present point of view, 
 to her whole acquaintance with Emmer- 
 son, she could perceive how greatly he 
 had influenced her, and how cautiously 
 and secretly he had always carried his 
 point. Every dark hint had been breathed 
 in a whisper ; every secret innuendo ut- 
 tered in strict confidence. In short, from 
 various things, she began to suspect that 
 he was sly, and .capable of intrigue, how- 
 ever irreconcileable it seemed with the
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 271 
 
 irreproachable character which he bore. 
 These new thoughts at length produced 
 another, which at once overwhelmed her 
 with mingled sensations of pleasure and 
 pain. This was the reflection, that she 
 had, probably without grounds, rejected 
 and insulted Harry, whom she had sin- 
 cerely loved till Emmerson had shaken 
 her confidence in him. She had also 
 been sincerely and honestly loved by 
 Harry, and she had thrown him away for 
 ever. The poor fellow little knew with 
 what a changed heart she walked silently 
 down the hill by his side. 
 
 The boat, which Mr. Lennox summoned 
 them to enter, was large and beautiful, 
 and had been built for Harry, who loved 
 solitary excursions among the mountains. 
 It accommodated the whole company be- 
 sides two men to manage the sails. A 
 fine breeze carried them swiftly forward 
 beneath West Point, and within sight of 
 the famous " Nose," which tradition has 
 immortalised as that of the Saint. A 
 great many bright things were said, as all 
 were in high glee, except Fanny, who had
 
 272 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 sunk into a silent reverie, and Emmerson, 
 who, what with the entire failure of his 
 scheme on Miss Elton, and his jealous 
 displeasure at witnessing the happiness 
 of little Seth, looked rather sullen and 
 bilious. 
 
 At length the breeze died away, and 
 the little sail hung idle against the mast. 
 The general merriment, too, was rather 
 checked by the sight of a heavy thunder- 
 cloud, from which, too, projected a ragged, 
 ink-black, island-looking edge over the 
 outline of the green hill above their heads. 
 This threatening visitor had been con- 
 cealed by the mountain till it was just 
 ready to burst. The ladies were alarmed, 
 of course, for their bonnets, if not for 
 their lives. Some spoke with dread of 
 e squall, and others of lightning ; while 
 the bravest acknowledged that a thorough 
 drenching was inevitable. The oars were 
 put out, and manned, each one by two, 
 which made the boat advance with velocity 
 towards the shore ; but scarcely so fast as 
 the prodigious mass of pointed vapour 
 above them, which, lowering with porten-
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 273 
 
 tous opaqueness, seemed pursuing them 
 with ominous fury. Although little dan- 
 ger was to be apprehended through light- 
 ning, from which the high hills afforded a 
 sufficient protection; yet the men were not 
 without alarm lest they should be caught 
 by some of the dreadful squalls which often 
 forced their way down the high and narrow 
 ravines. The lowering cloud, however, 
 still delayed to pour down its contents, or 
 to launch the terrible bolt, and the boat, 
 happily, seemed destined to reach the 
 shore before the tempest commenced, 
 when a violent wind suddenly swept over 
 the smooth water, and soon lashed it 
 into a state of turbulent fury. Harry 
 had taken the helm, and was using his 
 utmost skill in endeavouring to guide the 
 boat directly to the shelter of a steep, 
 overhanging rock, projecting into the deep 
 channel of the river. At this moment, a 
 sudden shout sent terror into every bosom. 
 A sloop, with all sails set, suddenly ap- 
 peared turning the point at a fearful velo- 
 city, making so directly for the boat as 
 to render the destruction of all on board
 
 274 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 apparently certain. The danger was sud- 
 den and appalling. The helmsman of the 
 sloop, startled by the fierce command of 
 Harry, appeared stupified, and had not 
 presence of mind to alter her course. 
 
 " Save the ladies !" shouted Harry. 
 
 "Save me!" said Emmerson. "Oh, 
 save me ! v 
 
 "Each gentleman seized one of the 
 weaker sex, r.eady to leap overboard with 
 her, except Emmerson, who, regardless of 
 every one but himself, clung to the stout 
 farm-lad next him with so convulsive a 
 grasp, that he actually pushed Miss Elton 
 into the stern of the boat, where her dan- 
 ger was imminent, both of falling over- 
 board and of being crushed to death by 
 the heavy and swiftly-advancing mass. 
 Harry, who had just perceived that by the 
 power of his own helm he had cleared the 
 main body of the sloop, but that a piece 
 of heavy timber projecting from her low 
 deck might come in contact with Miss 
 Elton, who was standing in mute terror, 
 leaped forward and bore her back, but at 
 the peril of his own life ; for, while he
 
 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 275 
 
 succeeded in rescuing her from certain 
 death, he stumbled himself, and, receiving 
 a severe blow, fell headlong into the river. 
 The ladies, whose voices actual fright 
 had thus far restrained, now vented 
 their emotions in piercing shrieks, among 
 which those of Mrs. Lennox and Fanny 
 were not the least audible. The sloop 
 swept fearfully by, the little boat rocked 
 violently in its wake, and Harry appeared 
 to have hopelessly sunk beneath. 
 
 "My son ! save him ! Harry ! he ? s 
 gone ! " 
 
 " Don't be alarmed, 1 ' said Lennox. 
 " He swims too well." . 
 
 A moment of intense anxiety now 
 passed. Suddenly, the exclamation " There 
 he is !'* broke from every lip. Frank, in 
 an instant, plunged into the stream ; for, 
 on re-appearing, it was perceived that poor 
 Harry, instead of striking out with his 
 anns, lay inertly like a corpse upon the 
 flood, and then sank slowly beneath its 
 surface. The next moment he was borne 
 senseless into the boat by Frank, with his 
 forehead stained with blood from a wound.
 
 278 THE DOUBLE DUEL. 
 
 she had had no intentions of commu- 
 nicating confidentially to a whole boat- 
 load of people at once. Never did she 
 appear so beautiful, so timid, or with so 
 little consciousness of her attractions. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by S. & J. BENTLEY, WILSON, and FI.BY, 
 Bangor House, Shoe Ijme.
 
 DC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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