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HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ^OL. I. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED By SAMUEL BENTLEV, 
 
 Dorset gtreet, Fleet-street. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON; 
 
 OE THE 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A 
 YOUNG CAVALIER. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR 0¥ "RICHELIEU," "DARNLEY," &c. 
 
 Nay, droop not : being is not breath ; 
 
 'Tis fate that friends must part : 
 But God will bless in life, in death, 
 
 The noble soul, the gentle heart. 
 
 J. G. LOCKHART. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICH4RD BENTLEY, 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 1832. 
 

 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 I OPENED my eyes to the light of day, on 
 the shores of that part of the British Channel 
 where the narrow seas which interpose between 
 France and England first show an inclination 
 to spread out into the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 My father's house Oh, what a mul- 
 titude of thrilling memories, of early years, 
 and happy dreams, and gall-less pleasures, rise 
 [^ up at the very name, mingling with the forms 
 ^of the loved and dead, and the tones of sweet 
 ^voices that are heard no more. — My father's 
 "^ house was raised upon the summit of one of 
 :r those high cliffs which guard the coast of De- 
 ^ vonshire ; and, sweeping round within view of 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 the windows, was a small beautiful bay, not 
 a league and a half in diameter, within which 
 the blue waters of the sea collected deep and 
 still, as if for the purpose of repose. Bold 
 high rocks, of a similar character to that on 
 which our dwelling was perched, flanked the 
 bay to the east ; and, on the west, a long range 
 of sandy shores extended towards the At- 
 lantic, sloping gradually up into green fer- 
 tile hills, whose high tops, covered with rich 
 woods of oak and beech, sheltered the calm 
 expanse below from the wild gales that race 
 across the wide ocean beyond. In some places 
 those woods would sweep down the sides of 
 the hills till they almost dipped their branches 
 in the sea; and — following the bend of the bay, 
 at a greater or less distance from the shore, 
 during more than one half of its extent — they 
 reached unbroken to the eastern angle of Mas- 
 terton house, as my parental mansion was 
 called ; and then, broken into scattered clumps 
 of fine old trees, planted themselves in the 
 valleys and the dells, and gave a character 
 of antique grandeur to the scenery round. 
 Through these trees and woods, down the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 3 
 
 sides of the cliffs, among the valleys inland, 
 and the deep coves and inner bays by the sea 
 shore, was a perfect labyrinth of paths and 
 walks, connected in the remembrance of ray 
 youth with a thousand childish adventures and 
 exploits ; and here, as we often proved in our 
 boyish sports, a person well acquainted with 
 the spot might baffle the pursuit even of others 
 who possessed as intimate a knowledge of its 
 intricacies as himself. 
 
 The house itself presented nothing particu- 
 larly worthy of description. It was one of 
 those, many of which were destroyed in the civil 
 wars, sufficiently defensible to bid defiance to 
 a small force, but too weak to resist a regular 
 siege for any length of time. The rooms, the 
 chimneys, and the staircases were numerous ; 
 and though all of these, except the chimneys, 
 were small, yet sufficient space had been thrown 
 away to build forty of any such houses as have 
 been constructed in the present day. 
 
 Having given so far an account of our dwell- 
 ing-place, and the country round it, I have now 
 to speak of those by whom it was inhabited ; 
 and I must begin somewhat prior to my own 
 B 2 
 
4 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 recollections, in order to render my after history 
 clear and intelligible. 
 
 Up to the time of my birth, my father, I 
 have been told, held an office of high trust 
 and honour at the court of King Charles I., 
 and his character greatly assimilating with 
 that of the monarch whom he served, a long 
 prospect of advancement, power, and splen- 
 dour, was laid open before him. Naturally 
 fond of the country, he would have spent his 
 whole time in Devonshire, had not his official 
 station required his presence almost continu- 
 ally in London. My mother, however, whose 
 tastes were better suited to a court than 
 those of my father, was obliged by his especial 
 wish and command to remain far from the 
 capital; and her husband — who was rather 
 fond of martyrizing his feelings to his duty, 
 sometimes, even without much necessity — 
 imagined that by abandoning a country life and 
 domestic joys, he was making an inestimable 
 sacrifice to his King. Thus, feeling himself, in 
 his commune with the monarch, less the person 
 obliged than the person obliging, he assumed, it 
 was reported, a certain degree of independence 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. ^ 5 
 
 and authority, to which no man was in gener il 
 less inclined to submit than the King. The 
 cause of his giving way to it so long in the case 
 of my father, was probably that his dignity was 
 always secure in the rigid and somewhat formal 
 respect with which my worthy parent did not 
 fail to accompany his opposition of the royal 
 will or his obdurate assertion of his own opinion. 
 He would not have deviated from that decorous 
 reverence, for the world ; and, while he was prac- 
 tically telling his Majesty that his actions were 
 madness or his words were folly, he was declar- 
 ing in set terms, his profound deference for the 
 royal wisdom. There existed also, as I have 
 said before, a great similarity of feeling in 
 many respects between the monarch and his 
 servant ; the very rigid adherence to particular 
 theories, however opposite those theories might 
 be, was a part of the same character. The same 
 imperturbable, almost melancholy calmness, 
 existed in both ; the same fearlessness of conge- 
 quences, but, in my father's case, without the 
 same paroxysms of irresolution, which at times 
 unnerved the King ; the same devoted desire 
 of doing right ; but also the same imperiou'^ 
 
6 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 manner of enforcing what they judged to be so, 
 in opposition to the reasons, prejudices, or 
 feelings, of every one else. 
 
 Such sources of sympathy did in all proba- 
 bility act* in attaching the sovereign to my 
 father; but upon what principle existed the 
 great, undeviating, and devoted friendship 
 which did exist between Lord Masterton and 
 the Earl of Langleigh, I confess I am at a loss 
 to know. From all I have ever heard, there 
 never yet breathed the air of this globe two 
 people more dissimilar in every respect, except 
 in the basis of unswerving honour and integrity, 
 than Lord Langleigh and my father. The one 
 light, gay, quick, vehement; the other calm, 
 stern, cold, determined. Lord Langleigh, with 
 all his keen good sense and shrewd wit, set high 
 value upon a thousand trifles which my father 
 contemned and despised. He would not have 
 fought a duel for the world, without his pecu- 
 liar and appropriate hat, nor lain down by his 
 wife without his particular and appointed night- 
 cap ; and yet, by his bold and reckless spirit, he 
 would often bring himself into situations where 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 7 
 
 he was obliged to fight with any hat tliat hap- 
 pened to cover him, or sleep without any night- 
 cap at all. 
 
 Such conduct, in the eyes of my father, was 
 the acme of human absurdity, and yet for Lord 
 Langleigh he had the most sincere regard and 
 the most genuine respect. They had been early, 
 long, and constant friends ; and they had found 
 through life, that while the original uprightness 
 of their intentions generally ensured a similarity 
 of purpose, in any moment of difficulty, the 
 quick wit of Lord Langleigh would often sug- 
 gest an expedient that had not struck the slower 
 mind of my father; while the steady judgment 
 of Lord Masterton would often avert a danger 
 which would have fallen on his more precipi- 
 tate friend. Thus a mutual confidence and 
 esteem had been born and grown up between 
 them, although a number of the actions of each 
 were matter for jest or reprehension to the other. 
 A period, however, arrived, towards the 
 time of my birth, which tried their friend- 
 ship by the test of adversity. The King's de- 
 termination to support the prerogative of the 
 
8 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 Clown by every eiFort, met the strongest ap- 
 probation of the two friends, till they found 
 that that determination went farther, and me- 
 naced the liberty of the subject; but from that 
 moment their opposition was fixed. 
 
 The sincere affection which they both felt 
 towards their royal master, and which made 
 them more fearful perhaps for his honour and 
 safety than even for the freedom of their coun- 
 try, induced them to take those measures of 
 thwarting his most dangerous designs, which 
 were likely, if discovered, to prove perilous to 
 themselves and irritating to him. 
 
 It is by no means my purpose to enter here 
 into the well-known historical details of the 
 period. Suffice it to say, that my father and 
 Lord Langleigh became the dupe of their own 
 schemes. They were foolish enough to believe 
 the sincerity of a body of men who professed 
 moderation, to co-operate with a party from 
 which they differed in ultimate objects, to 
 imagine that all men really sought the good of 
 tlieir country who called themselves patriots, 
 and to confide in an individual who talked con- 
 tinually of his honour. Of course they were 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 9 
 
 used as tools, and despised, till they discovered 
 their mistake, and were betrayed at the moment 
 they hoped to retrieve their error. 
 
 On finding that two of his privy council had 
 been guilty of the weakness, if not the crime to 
 which I have alluded, the King called them to 
 his presence ; and though a lingering feeling of 
 regard, and the conviction that their intentions 
 were better than their deeds, prevented him 
 from pursuing the stern and unrelenting mea- 
 sures which his harsher counsellors advised, he 
 dismissed them from their offices at once, and 
 forbade them ever to shew themselves at his 
 court again. 
 
 My father bowed in silence and withdrev/, 
 determined to obey the command to the letter. 
 Lord Langleigh replied, that he hoped a year 
 and a day would be sufficient to make his Ma- 
 jesty change his counsels, his counsellors, and 
 his commands ; and retired as if from the most 
 indifferent conversation. 
 
 The mortification, the bitterness, and the 
 humiliation, which my father felt most keenly, 
 he proceeded to bury in the country, where he 
 arrived in time to be present at my birth, and 
 
 B O 
 
10 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 to close the eyes of my mother, whose death 
 was the consequence of my existence. Lord 
 Langleigh, on the contrary, proceeded on a tour 
 of pleasure, forgot the disgrace he had suffer- 
 ed, enjoyed to the full new scenes, new socie- 
 ty, and new amusements ; married, became a 
 father, and returned to the court within two 
 years. 
 
 Though separated during this period, the 
 two friends had not ceased to correspond ; and 
 their regard had increased, rather than dimi- 
 nished, under their reverses. But shortly after 
 the return of Lord Langleigh to the court, his 
 letters to my father were interrupted for two 
 months ; and, at length, the news of his com- 
 mittal to the Tower, his trial, and his condem- 
 nation for high treason, reached Lord Master- 
 ton in Devonshire. My father instantly set off 
 for London with all speed ; and arrived in time 
 to offer consolation and sympathy to his friend, 
 if he could not afford him assistance. His own 
 fate Lord Langleigh had borne with easy firm- 
 ness. He acknowledged to my father that he 
 had, since his return to London, been more im- 
 prudent than before he left it ; and, though he 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 11 
 
 solemnly averred that he had never entertained 
 a treasonable design, yet he confessed that the 
 judgment which had been passed upon him had 
 been justified by strong cause of suspicion. 
 Death he looked upon as a man of the most 
 dauntless courage may regard a scarecrow ; and 
 all the pomp and circumstance of public execu- 
 tion he spoke of with a jest ; but the doom 
 which he feared not, had gone with fatal effect 
 to the bosom of his wife. She had done all 
 that woman could do to move an inflexible 
 monarch. She had used prayers, and tears, 
 and influence in vain. She had sunk under 
 the united effects of grief and exertion ; and, a 
 week before the time appointed for the death 
 of her husband, her spirit had left a world of 
 sorrow, for a brighter and a happier place of 
 dwelling. In regard to her. Lord Langleigh 
 dared not speak with my father, for it was a 
 subject that unmanned him ; but of his child — 
 his little Emily — he spoke long and fondly. 
 He gave her into my father's charge, and ex- 
 acted a promise from him that he would watch, 
 and guard, and cherish her, as his own. The 
 promise was willingly made ; and, in addition. 
 
12 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 my father voluntarily pledged himself to see 
 her married to his eldest son, as soon as years 
 admitted of their union. 
 
 I have often heard my father describe the 
 scene which took place when this promise was 
 made. It was the last night Lord Langleigh 
 had to live ; and when he spoke of his child, 
 the severing of that dear tie shook him more 
 than the parting from life itself : like the 
 breaking chord of some fine instrument, it vi- 
 brated through a thousand corresponding tones 
 of feeling in his heart. He wept bitterly, as 
 for the last time he kissed the infant cheek of 
 the last bond between him and earth ; and, bid- 
 ding the nurse take her from him, he wrung my 
 father's hand, solemnly repeating the injunctions 
 he had given respecting her. 
 
 " Now, leave me, Masterton," he said, " leave 
 me. In parting with that child, I have al- 
 ready felt the edge of the axe. What is to 
 come," he added, resuming his composure, " is 
 but as mounting my horse to go and join my 
 other Emily, who has set out before me ; and 
 the way, thanks to the executioner from Calais, 
 is short and easy. I have yet one other friend 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 13 
 
 to take leave of," he continued, " a poor, good 
 youth, that, in happier days, I helped to his 
 promotion ; and who now, by some evil chance, 
 has fallen upon the rueful task of captain of 
 the guard over me. He waits to see me, for 
 the last time, ere he leads me to the block ; so 
 fare thee well, Masterton, fare thee well ! We 
 part in this world ; but, through Christ, we 
 shall be reunited in Heaven !" 
 
 A young officer entered as my father passed 
 out; and the two friends separated, never to 
 meet again. The next morning passed in hor- 
 ror to my father, who remained with the infant 
 child of his friend, counting the last moments 
 of that friend's life. The execution was order- 
 ed for noon ; but about nine o'clock, the door 
 of my father's chamber was thrown open, and 
 a messenger of the privy council appeared, 
 charged to bring Lord Masterton before that 
 body. My father, of course, obeyed at once ; 
 but, as they proceeded, he naturally endea- 
 voured to ascertain from the messenger tho 
 cause of the very unexpected summons which 
 he had received. The officer was in no degree 
 reserved, and replied directly, " that he believed 
 
14 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 there was matter of accusation against my 
 father, for contriving and aiding the late escape 
 of Lord Langleigh from the Tower." 
 
 The joyful exclamation which the sudden 
 news of his friend's evasion called from my fa- 
 ther's lips, was sufficient proof to the messen- 
 ger that his prisoner was not only innocent of 
 the charge, but ignorant of the deed. The 
 privy council, however, were not so easily satis- 
 fied, and my father was himself committed to 
 the same prison that had received his friend, 
 after having learned, that, early in the morning 
 of that day, it had been discovered that both 
 Lord Langleigh and the captain of the guard 
 had disappeared, leaving no trace whatever of 
 their flight. For eleven days my father re- 
 mained a prisoner; but during that time the 
 Government strained every nerve to overtake 
 the fugitives ; and, though they did not suc- 
 ceed in that endeavour, they ascertained that 
 the unfortunate nobleman who was the object 
 of their search, had only escaped one sort of 
 death to encounter another. 
 
 Two persons, it was discovered, similar in 
 appearance to the prisoner and his companion. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 15 
 
 had reached Sheerness early on the morning of 
 their escape, and had embarked on board a 
 Dutch vessel, which had appeared there on 
 the preceding day. Violent gales of wind suc- 
 ceeded ; and, after having been seen during the 
 whole day endeavouring to get clear of the 
 coast, the vessel was hidden by the night, only 
 to be found a wreck upon the Kentish shores 
 the next morning. One person alone was saved 
 by the fishermen of Deal ; and he was so bruised 
 by the falling of one of the masts, and by being 
 dashed against the beach, that his life was only 
 protracted for a few hours. During that time, 
 however, he acknowledged that he had perish- 
 ed in endeavouring to secure the escape of Lord 
 Langleigh from the doom pronounced on him 
 by law ; and made a confession of the means he 
 himself had used, as captain of the guard, to 
 open the gates of the Tower to his former pa- 
 tron. His death followed, before he could be 
 examined by any competent authority; but as 
 his words went to acquit every one of any know- 
 ledge of the facts but himself, my father was 
 dismissed from imprisonment, and suffered to 
 return to retirement and his faniiiy. 
 
16 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Such were some of the events which pre- 
 ceded the period of my own personal recollec- 
 tion — a period to which I shall for the future 
 confine myself. The first objects of my remem- 
 brance, though certainly faint and far away, are 
 not so much misty and indistinct, as they are 
 separate and detached. Many particular inci- 
 dents I can still recal with more vivid indentity, 
 more clear precision, than the occurrences of 
 the year just past; but these incidents are 
 things apart and unconnected with the general 
 course of existence, — small green oases on 
 which memory rests in the midst of the wide 
 desert of forgetfulness. I remember myself a 
 little boy of between four and five years old, 
 playing with a beautiful little girl of about two 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 17 
 
 years less in age ; and I have not forgot that 
 my elder brother Francis, who was at that time 
 nearly ten, made me cry most bitterly, by tell- 
 ing me that she was not my wife but his. 
 Emily Langleigh, however, clung to me ; and 
 my brother, who loved me dearly, soothed me 
 again into tranquillity, by telling me I should 
 keep her if I would not cry. Several other 
 childish incidents of the same nature, are im- 
 pressed upon my memory ; but they are by no 
 means of sufficient value to justify narration ; 
 and I shall content myself with giving a sketch 
 of our early years, which passed without much 
 incident or variety, notwithstanding the great 
 and stirring events that were taking place 
 around. 
 
 The disappointment of his ambition, the 
 humiliation of his pride, the death of his wife, 
 and the loss of his friend, had all more or less 
 contributed to add both gloom and sternness to 
 my father's character ; and the unquestioning 
 obedience with which his commands were uni- 
 formly met, within his own domains, rendered 
 him from day to day more imperious in his 
 manner, although the melancholy reser', e which 
 
18 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 pervaded his whole mind, made his orders few ; 
 and his natural sense of equity and humanity 
 caused them in general to be such as were 
 easily fulfilled. But he allowed not a moment's 
 hesitation or doubt in their execution ; and the 
 steady clearness of his own intellect scarcely 
 suffered him to make allowance for diffidence 
 or misconception. Thus in his own family, and 
 by his own domestics, he was feared and re- 
 spected, rather than loved; and in the neigh- 
 bourhood, which was but scantily peopled, he 
 was more esteemed than liked. Even his at- 
 tachment, to his children, which was great, was 
 controlled by a certain sternness which, though 
 it did not deprive him of our affection, mingled 
 our fondness with terror ; and our only way of 
 showing our love was by a watchful anxiety to 
 catch and obey the slightest expression of his 
 will. 
 
 The greater part of my father's time was 
 passed in solitude, if that can be called so, 
 where the society of the learned and the wise of 
 other days — a society which we can form on 
 calm reflection and select without offence, — 
 supplies the place of that living crowd, which 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 19 
 
 we must take at venture as it comes ; and in 
 which we cannot winnow the gold dust from 
 the drossy sand. His library was his chief 
 resort ; and there, I have remarked, the prin- 
 cipal subjects of his study were those arts of 
 policy which he had renounced for ever, or that 
 philosophical facility of temper and demeanour 
 which he never by any chance displayed. 
 
 His exercise, taken at stated hours, always 
 combined some other purpose. It was either 
 devoted to pay some visit of stately ceremony 
 to the neighbouring gentry, or to teach, or 
 witness the instruction of my brother in some 
 of those polite exerci ses for which he had him- 
 self been famous — the management of his horse, 
 the use of his sword, to shoot, to wrestle, or to 
 swim. 
 
 At a very early age I also was admitted to 
 witness these sports, though not permitted to 
 take a part in them, farther than in riding the 
 immemorial pony, which had carried me, I 
 believe, before I could walk. Mine, however, 
 was all the eagerness and all the excitement 
 of the scene. My father and brother passed 
 through the various feats and evolutions of the 
 
20 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 riding-school and the regiment, with the same 
 steady calmness ; and while my heart throbbed 
 with ardour and anxiety, while my young eye 
 flashed, and my cheek glowed with pleasure 
 and expectation, it seemed to them, but a 
 matter of mere practice, to be taught by the 
 one, and acquired by the other, without their 
 feelings being at all moved in the employment 
 of the hour. 
 
 Thus passed the time, while the fewness of 
 the years which either my brother or myself 
 had numbered, rendered the difference of our 
 ages more decided ; but as we both grew up, 
 and I too began to mingle in the more manly 
 exercises with which he was still proceeding, a 
 great change took place in our relative situation. 
 
 No two creatures on earth could be more 
 different in character and disposition than 
 Frank and myself ; and yet, be it ever remem- 
 bered, that we loved each other throughout, 
 most dearly. 
 
 He was a singular being, my brother, and 
 it is only by snatches of what he did, that his 
 character can be clearly understood. In my 
 early youth he seemed to regard me as a sort 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 21 
 
 of pet, which was to be spoilt and chastised ; 
 fondled, loved, and controlled : and, in truth, I 
 believe that during all our mutual lives, he 
 continued more or less to consider me in the 
 same light. Nay, even long after we had 
 grown up, when my impetuosity burst all thral- 
 dom, it only seemed as if he lent the power into 
 my own hands, which it was his to exercise 
 over me, and let me have my own way more as 
 a favour than a right. 
 
 And yet, though he loved me, and though 
 I loved him — for on every occasion where his 
 voice, or his hand, or his talents would support 
 or aid me, they were exerted in my behalf — 
 yet he never, or but rarely, gave me his confi- 
 dence. Indeed, it was not in his nature to do 
 so. He was naturally reserved and grave, 
 fond of long and solitary rambles, and of deep 
 thought, across the cloud-like sombreness of 
 which, the lightning of enthusiasm seemed sel- 
 dom or never to break. Still, he was not with- 
 out passions ; but, though naturally strong and 
 overpowering, they were not easily excitable; 
 and, requiring ever external objects to call them 
 into action, seemed to have no original source 
 
22 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 in his own mind ; or, like the fire of a volcano, 
 to lie hid deep under mountains of grey dust 
 and ashes. 
 
 The pursuits that engaged him were not, in 
 general, like those of other youths. Profound 
 and abstract studies, long, abstruse calculations, 
 would occupy him day after day and night 
 after night, till his bright brown eye would 
 wax dim with watching, and his dark black 
 hair would grow tangled and dishevelled with 
 intense neglect. But then again he would spring 
 upon his horse, and ride like some of the fiend- 
 ish horsemen of a German tale, the cavalier and 
 his beast seemingly inspired by but one will, 
 defying space and obstacles, and time and fa- 
 tigue. Or he would catch up his gun, and 
 day after day roam through the woods per- 
 forming feats of marksmanship that almost 
 repel belief. Then again he would lie idle and 
 listless on the grass in the sun, to use his own 
 expression, " like the village natural at an inn- 
 door,'' and comment quaintly on the absurdities 
 of man — of whom he knew little or nothing ; 
 and the hatefulness of cities — that he had never 
 seen ! 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 23 
 
 Though the natural character of his mind 
 was a sort of gloomy reserve, yet there would 
 occasionally intervene moments of a happier 
 mood in which, as the humour prompted, he 
 would display great powers to interest and 
 amuse, or to censure and to sneer, or to rea- 
 son and confute. Even in those early years 
 he was a most accomplished sophist ; and with 
 a vein of casuistry, which he had acquired 
 Heaven knows where, he would have out- 
 argued the cunning father of all false reasoning 
 himself. Yet he never appeared to have any 
 sort of eagerness, or to feel any sort of ex- 
 citement in all the various occupations in which 
 he consumed his time. If he argued, it was 
 with cool precision, and apparently more for 
 the sake of victory than from any deep im- 
 pression of the justice of the proposition he 
 supported. When he read, he cared not for 
 interruption; and would lay down and re- 
 sume his book with perfect indifference, though, 
 when left to himself, he would pore over it 
 for days together. Were he called on to stop 
 while urging his horse forward in full career, 
 he would bring him up at once, without a 
 
24 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 change cf a:r:>ect, or an appearance of haste ; 
 and when following with his crossbow a deer in 
 the spring, no rapid energy betrayed the fatal 
 certainty of his aim. 
 
 My own feelings towards Frank were cer- 
 tainly of a mingled character. By right of 
 primogeniture, rank, station, and fortune were 
 his ; while the fortune of my mother, though 
 it secured me competence, was but a younger 
 brother^s portion, and approached not near to 
 affluence. Yet far was it from me to envy 
 my brother'*s superior expectations. Of the 
 splendour and the wealth that awaited him, I 
 entertained not one jealous desire. On the 
 contrary, I thought of his possessing all that 
 could honour or distinguish him, with plea- 
 sure and with pride; and, contented with the 
 second station in my family, I would willingly 
 have added, had it been in my power, to the 
 riches and the lordships of my house's head. 
 
 But his talents and his skill, I confess, I 
 envied. The perfect ease with which he 
 seemed to do every thing that to other men 
 required long practice and exertion, was the 
 object of my vain endeavour, and the subject 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 25 
 
 of many a bitter mortification. I felt that I 
 was not deficient either in mental or corporeal 
 powers. I had as much facility in acquiring 
 knowledge or art as most of those whom I 
 encountered ; and at a very early period, when 
 I witnessed my brother's superiority, I resolved 
 by close application to outdo him, especially 
 in manly exercises. But it seemed as if he 
 had got a start of me in the race of life, which 
 I was never to recover. After long and con- 
 stant practice, I called him to try his carbine at 
 the target. My bullets lodged within the 
 inner ring, but his cut the bull's eye on every 
 side. With the foils it was the same. No 
 exercise put me on a par with him ; and it 
 was only in riding, to which we had both been 
 accustomed from our very infancy, that I could 
 at all compete with him on equal terms. 
 
 Many a time, after some unsuccessful trial, 
 have I gone and sat for hours in some of the 
 deep nooks of the bay, pondering gloomily over 
 my own want of success, and trying in vain 
 to discover by any effort of my mind, what 
 was the flaw in my nature, which rendered 
 all my efforts so ineffectual. No feeling of 
 
 VOL. I. C 
 
26 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 anger towards my brother, however, ever 
 mingled with my meditations. I was dissa- 
 tisfied with myself; and the more so, as I 
 found that my very eagerness rendered my 
 failure more certain. When by any chance 
 the sons of the neighbouring gentry entered 
 into competition with me in the sports to which 
 we were accustomed, feeling confident by con- 
 stant practice, I far excelled what I could ever 
 accomplish when my brother was my rival ; 
 and I believe he purposely avoided all such 
 meetings, in order to let me carry off the 
 prizes of the day. 
 
 It must be remarked at the same time that, 
 even had not such been his motive, I do not 
 think he ever would have sought any of these 
 assemblies. In this we differed as much as in 
 any other part of our characters. He hated 
 and shunned society; and in general, when 
 forced by circumstances to mingle with others 
 of his own age and rank, remained silent and 
 inactive ; wrapped in an impenetrable reserve, 
 wiiich was mixed up of both pride and shy- 
 ness. To me, on the contrary, society was 
 more frequently a delight. I loved, it is true. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 27 
 
 to ramble in solitude over the rocks, or through 
 the woods, or by the side of the calm blue fan- 
 ciful sea ; or to skim over its bosom, alone in 
 my own boat, and dream sweet dreams of a 
 splendid and a fragrant world, that existed but 
 in my own imagination. But then when these 
 dreams were dreamt, I loved to have some one 
 to share them with ; and to say to them what I 
 would do, and how I would act, when I should 
 be suflPered to go forth into the visionary place, 
 which I fancied was laid out before my steps. 
 I was fond of the beauties of nature too. I de- 
 lighted to perch myself upon some high ground 
 on a day of mingled cloud and sunshine, and 
 mark the diiferent aspects of the scene, as the 
 broad masses of shadow were driven across the 
 face of the country by the wind — now, seeing 
 tower, and town, and wood as, all involved in 
 deep shade, they rested in picturesque darkness 
 on a bright and sunny background of hill be- 
 yond ; and now, watching them as they 
 emerged into clear light, and smiled up in the 
 fulness of the rays, while the shadow of the 
 cloud hurried rapidly over the uplands behind. 
 Every nook of our own woods too — whether, 
 c 2 
 
2c5 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 breaking suddenly away, they afforded a wide 
 grand })rospect over the sea and its shores of 
 bold and broken rock; or, gathering round 
 some fountain, or bending over the lapse of 
 some pure stream, they formed a sweet home 
 scene, of calm and mild repose — every nook 
 was known, and loved, and familiar, to my 
 footsteps. The face of all the rocks also ; each 
 path, each angle ; every sea-side cove, every 
 cave and every bay, were visited in turn ; and 
 were the haunts of a thousand wild dreams 
 and enthusiastic imaginings. And yet, as I 
 wandered through the beautiful country that 
 surrounded our dwelling, I longed to have 
 some one to share my fancies and my plea- 
 sures, to admire where I admired, and dream 
 along with me. At length those longings found 
 an object; and my imagination fixed upon a 
 person, whose coming was not far distant, whom 
 I determined to lead through all the spots I 
 loved myself, and with whom I proposed to 
 renew all the enjoyment of a lovely scene and 
 a lovely season. 
 
 This person was Emily Langleigh, who at 
 seven years of age had been sent by my father 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 29 
 
 to a convent in one of the neighbouring islands, 
 to acquire all those feminine accomplishments, 
 which could not so well be procured in the 
 dwelling of a widower in Devonshire. She had 
 now reached thirteen years of age; and Lord 
 Masterton had wisely determined to withdraw 
 her at that period from the care of the good 
 nuns, whose instructions had gone as far as 
 he desired; and to establish her in his own 
 house, till her age should permit her union 
 with my brother, who had now attained his 
 twentieth year. The arrangements for that 
 union were fully understood by the whole fa- 
 mily; and I, at fifteen, prepared to receive 
 Emily Langleigh as my sister. 
 
 I dreamed then of showing her, in the capa- 
 city of a brother, all that could please, or in- 
 terest, or amuse in the spot she had so long quit- 
 ted ; for I had perfectly settled in my own mind 
 — whether from a thorough acquaintance with 
 my brother's character, or from my own wishes, 
 I know not — that the ciceroneship of the place 
 would be left in my hands. With boyish ar- 
 dour and eagerness, I pictured to my mind's 
 eye the pleasure she would feel in this beautiful 
 
30 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 scene, or that curious object ; and my whole 
 dreams— dangerous ones they were — consisted 
 in contributing to her amusement, or witness- 
 ing her delight. Nevertheless, there was not 
 one idea amongst all that went on in my heart 
 and in my brain, that had aught of offence in 
 its nature. Not a feeling, not a thought pos- 
 sessed my breast which I wished, or could 
 have wished, my brother not to see. So far 
 from it, with the gay and somewhat teasing 
 liveliness of my youthful disposition, I jested 
 him continually upon the coming of his future 
 wife ; and attributed to him feelings of anxiety 
 and agitation, which I knew he was very far 
 from experiencing. Still farther. I even con- 
 templated standing by his side when Emily 
 Langleigh gave him her hand at the altar, and 
 partook in anticipation of the happiness that 
 was to be theirs. 
 
 As the time came near for Emily's arrival, 
 my delight ran off in a thousand extravagances, 
 which called down upon my head a reprimand 
 from Lord Masterton ; and as I broke a horse 
 for Emily to ride, or new-rigged my boat for 
 
HENRY MASTERTOX. 31 
 
 Emily to sail, my brother looked on with a 
 smile, that was anything but gay. 
 
 At length Emily Langleigh arrived at Mas- 
 terton House, a bright, pretty creature, of little 
 more than thirteen ; with a figure and features 
 which, though yet scarcely formed, afforded 
 the promise of a very lovely girl hereafter. 
 
 My father stood on the steps to receive her, 
 and by his side my brother Frank, for whom, 
 as a matter of propriety, I made way. But 
 though Lord Masterton was particularly kind 
 to his young ward, and though he greatly 
 softened towards her the stern asperity of his 
 general demeanour, my brother met her in one 
 of his coldest moods, remained profoundly si- 
 lent ; and, if he offered her some little atten- 
 tions which he could not avoid, his politeness 
 was somewhat scanty. 
 
 Emily herself had been made aware of the 
 engagement entered into between my father 
 and hers ; and raised her beautiful hazel eyes 
 towards my brother's face, with a look of im- 
 ploring anxiety, well calculated to win its way 
 to the inmost recesses of the heart ; but there 
 
32 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 was nothing answered her ; and, repelled at 
 once into herself, she turned to me with lighter 
 and less embarrassed feelings, and received my 
 gay and warm salute, as cheerfully as it was 
 given. 
 
 That first interview seemed the type of the 
 future demeanour of all the parties. The arri- 
 val of Emily changed not in the least the usual 
 conduct of my brother. He would indeed, 
 sometimes, as if out of pure perversity, request 
 her presence to see some curious object, or beg 
 to escort her on some particular ride, when I 
 had laid out a totally different expedition ; but 
 in general he remained as much alone, as grave, 
 as studious, as if she had never entered the 
 house. Towards him, on the contrary, Emily's 
 behaviour was all that was excellent. The 
 slightest wish he expressed she was prompt to 
 obey ; all his actions were approved, all his 
 words were listened to ; and it seemed that 
 having made up her mind to become his wife, 
 she was practising beforehand the conduct which 
 might be proper in that station. 
 
 To me she was all frank kindness, easy, unaf- 
 fected, unembarrassed ; and towards me too, all 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 33 
 
 that girlish gaiety broke forth, wl:ich in die pre- 
 sence of my brother was restrained by an uncon- 
 querable timidity. She would laugh with, she 
 would jest with me, she would tease me ; and 
 roaming like two wild things through the woods, 
 and by the sea shore, the keen encounters of 
 our young wits would vary the bursts of enthu- 
 siastic pleasure, which the sight of every new 
 beauty would call forth. Many a little acci- 
 dent occurred to us in our rambles, many a 
 little service I rendered the fair girl, who 
 every day and every hour was expanding into 
 more splendid loveliness ; and in the course of 
 our almost uninterrupted companionship we 
 laid up a treasure of mutual thoughts, and 
 feelings, and memories, which none knew or 
 shared in but ourselves. 
 
 The idea of rivalry between Frank and my- 
 self, never entered the imagination of my father, 
 or Emilv, or me. We all considered it as a 
 thing so perfectly out of the question, that we 
 took no care to obviate a danger which we 
 did not believe to exist. Whether my brother 
 ever dreamed of a growing affection between 
 Emily and myself, or not, he took no pains to 
 g5 
 
34 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 guard against it either ; and when, by that 
 assumption of superiority and power over me 
 which I have before-mentioned, he had — as often 
 happened — ^given me pain and offence, he would 
 send Emily to find me out, in the solitude to 
 which I had carried my indignation, for the 
 purpose of soothing and consoling me, and 
 bringing about a reconciliation. 
 
 The tones of her voice as she came on such 
 messages of peace, became dear, too dear to me, 
 as time flew on ; and yet, as I have said, I had 
 not even an idea of what was passing in my 
 heart. Various circumstances, indeed, should 
 have given me a better insight into my own 
 mind. I never placed her on her horse without 
 feeling my whole frame thrill. Once when an 
 unexpected influx of the sea forced me to bear 
 her across a little bay in my arms, I felt my 
 heart beat far more than haste, or danger, ever 
 occasioned. I experienced I knew not what 
 painful sensations too, when she praised my 
 brother's skill and grace in all military exer- 
 cises ; and I gradually grew sad when she was 
 absent, and cheerful only when she was near. I 
 remarked also, that Frank often turned his eyes. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 35 
 
 first upon her, and then suddenly upon me; 
 and more than once, about two years after 
 Emily's arrival, my brother's servant, Gabriel 
 Jones, broke in upon our solitary rambles. 
 
 Having mentioned this man's name, I may 
 as well say a few words more of his character. 
 He was as artful a villain as ever lived ; but, 
 according to the puritanical fashion of the day, 
 he strove to cover his knavery under the garb 
 of sanctity. 
 
 At that time, religious fanaticism raged in 
 England as a species of epidemic, and every 
 cunning rogue used it as a cloak for his deeper 
 designs. My brother Frank, however, under- 
 stood his valet's character well ; and used to 
 declare in his cynical moods, that he would 
 rather be served by a skilful knave than an 
 honest fool. But the master who chooses such 
 a servant should never let his judgment sleep, 
 or give one moment the rein to his passions. 
 In many instances, Frank at once detected his 
 knave's arts, and used them quite contrary to 
 Master Gabriel's intentions ; but at other times, 
 though not the dupe, my brother was the suf- 
 ferer, and had to regret deeply that he had, to 
 
36 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 use his own expression, '' condescended to play 
 a game at chess with his own servant, and had 
 made one false move."" 
 
 The person who filled about my person the 
 same dignified station, was a youth of much 
 less pretensions, and more honesty. He was 
 not, like Gabriel, a puritan in any thing ; and 
 far less like Gabriel, a puritan in taste and 
 sentiment. He could not judge the feeling 
 expressed in a pale pink doublet, or a bright 
 blue vest. He could neither tie a sword-knot 
 in fifty different fashions ; nor could he propor- 
 tion the rose to the shoe it was to grace, with 
 the exquisite precision of a London haberdasher. 
 But William Fells had a simple shrewdness 
 which served him as well as Gabriel Jones's 
 artful cunning ; and he had, besides, a quick 
 hand, a bold heart, a ready wit, and a frame of 
 iron. 
 
 Whatever were GabrieFs motives for watch- 
 ing Emily and myself, — and whether he, in the 
 base slyness of his own nature, attributed to us 
 schemes' and purposes of concealment which we 
 never dreamed of, I feel certain that my brother 
 was perfectly guiltless of all connivance in his 
 
TIENRY MASTERTOM. 37 
 
 espionage. On the contrary, whenever Frank's 
 eye rested on me and Emily together, there seem- 
 ed a melancholy glance of regard towards us both, 
 which never shone in them on any other occa- 
 sion, and which implied any thing but jealousy 
 or suspicion. One day, indeed, I remember 
 entering his antichamber, when the valet was 
 in the act of hanging his sword over my bro- 
 ther's shoulder, and had apparently been insi- 
 nuating doubt of some one — for Frank, as I 
 approached, replied aloud in his calm, logical 
 manner : — 
 
 *' No, no. Master Gabriel, it is the worst 
 policy in the world ever to bear an appearance 
 of doubt towards another, till he have given you 
 just cause. Your suspicion may make an ene- 
 my, but it can never gain a friend ; and a man 
 who is distrusted, finding he has nothing to 
 gain by honesty, or to lose by villainy, very 
 often becomes a knave through having been 
 suspected of being so." 
 
 What had been the previous conversation I 
 do not know, or whether it referred to me at 
 all, or not; but the moment I advanced, Ga- 
 briel cut short his reply at the " Verily, now,'' 
 
38 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 which was bursting from his lips, and the 
 matter dropped. 
 
 Such was the state of my family, till the pe- 
 riod when Emily attained her seventeenth, and 
 I my nineteenth year. Another year was to 
 see her the bride of my brother ; but events in 
 the mean time had been taking place around 
 us, which must be noticed before proceeding 
 any farther, as they had a material influence 
 on all my after-fate. 
 
HENRY MASTER ON. 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Never yet, perhaps, in the history of this 
 strange globe which we inhabit, had a private 
 family, possessing considerable public influence, 
 wealth, station, and repute, been suffered to 
 enjoy such undisturbed tranquillity, in the 
 midst of the most tremendous civil strife, as 
 that which we continued to possess, during the 
 wars of the great rebellion. Those errors in 
 the government of Charles I. which my father 
 had early seen and endeavoured to oppose, 
 acting with the passions, the follies, aiid the 
 bigotry of an excited people, had gradually 
 arrayed one-half of the country against the 
 other. Ambition, fanaticism, and patriotic as 
 well as religious zeal, had been too strong for 
 gallant devotion and enthusiastic loyalty ; the 
 
40 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 peculiar follies of the puritans had invigorated 
 themselves, and drawn many to their cause ; 
 while the peculiar follies of the cavaliers, had 
 weakened their own party, and alienated their 
 friends. Success had crowned the efforts of the 
 rebels ; and the unhappy monarch of England 
 had by this time trusted to the Scots, and been 
 sold to the English. Scarcely a nobleman in 
 Great Britain had not drawn his sword in behalf 
 of one or other of the contending parties, and 
 yet Lord Masterton had been suffered to re- 
 main perfectly neuter, without annoyance from 
 any of the factions which tore his distressed 
 country. 
 
 The cause of this conduct, and the immunity 
 which attended it, was to be found in various 
 circumstances. When deprived of his office, 
 and dismissed from the councils of the king 
 nineteen years before, my father had been told, 
 by the monarch's own lips, that he was dis- 
 charged from his service for ever, and had 
 been warned never to show himself in the so- 
 vereign's presence again. On that occasion, 
 my father, in the bitterness of his heart, had 
 vowed to obey to the letter ; and never — what- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 41 
 
 ever were the misfortunes which the conduct 
 he had opposed might bring — to exert either 
 his mental or corporal powers, in behalf of a 
 monarch he judged ungrateful. 
 
 With a man of my father's disposition, the 
 oath itself not only remained binding under 
 all circumstances, but the impressions under 
 which it had been taken, were never in the 
 slightest degree effaced ; and he beheld the 
 whole progress of the calamities which fell 
 both on Charles and his people, with grief in- 
 deed ; but without one effort to support either 
 of the parties, into which the country had 
 become divided. 
 
 There was a time in the civil war, when the 
 aid and influence of such a man might have 
 turned the scale in favour of the King ; and an 
 officer of high station near the person of 
 Charles, visited my father about that period. 
 "No change, however, resulted from their con- 
 ference. The officer and Lord Masterton part- 
 ed with cold civility, and the house resumed 
 its quiet. 
 
 To Charles himself, the neutrality of Lord 
 Masterton was of course far more favourable 
 
42 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 than his enmity ; and as the King well knew 
 that his sword, though not wielded in his favour, 
 would never be drawn against him without 
 some deep provocation, he took care that the 
 most scrupulous respect should be paid to his 
 property, by the royal adherents in all parts 
 of the country. 
 
 On the other hand, the Commonwealth party 
 had not forgot that my father had been one 
 of the first sufferers from opposing that exten- 
 sion of the prerogative, which gave them their 
 original ground of complaint. They looked 
 upon him, therefore, as in some sort a martyr 
 to their own cause ; and were at first in great 
 hopes that he would openly espouse their side, 
 in the hostilities which soon took place. Al- 
 though disappointed in this, they too were glad 
 to suffer him to remain neutral ! and as he 
 made no levies of armed retainers, and took 
 no steps which could be regarded as military 
 preparation, farther than the defence of his 
 own house and property required, they remained 
 satisfied that that neutrality was sincere and 
 unfeigned. 
 
 His former friendship with Fairfax greatly 
 
ilENRY MASTERTOM. 43 
 
 coi]tribiiteA to relieve my father from any of 
 those military visitations, which the parliamen- 
 tary generals did not scruple to inflict upon 
 all who were doubtful in their politics ; and the 
 situation of Masterton House, in a remote part 
 of Devonshire and on the sea-coast, removed it 
 from the general line of march of the fanatical 
 forces. 
 
 All these circumstances combined to afford 
 us more perfect immunity from the troubles 
 and disasters to which England in general was 
 subject, than perhaps any other house could 
 boast. It is true that from time to time my 
 father received a summons to attend the Parlia- 
 ment at Westminster or at Oxford, and I have 
 seen him so far moved as to take two slow and 
 silent turns in the great hall, before his deter- 
 mination seemed fixed ; but never more. He 
 always found some good and valid excuse for 
 withholding his presence, and those anxieties 
 passed away. It is true also that every day we 
 heard of battles fought, of beleaguered cities, 
 and of all the turns of the long and deadly strug- 
 gle which tore the bosom of our country. But 
 neither my brother nor myself were permitted 
 
44? HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 to share any farther in the strife, than by offer- 
 ing our prayers for the King's success. 
 
 It was impossible to stand calmly by, and wit- 
 ness all the exciting events which were passing 
 around us, without feeling an ardent desire to 
 take some part in the contest ; and where is the 
 youth, who, in his eager gaze over the busy 
 scene in which he has never mingled, does not 
 attribute to himself powers and energies to will 
 and do, far more than the might of man could 
 ever accomplish ? Oh how I dreamed of glory 
 and of victory ! and how sincerely I believed 
 that, were my arm but free and a hundred stout 
 troopers at my back, I could have turned the 
 fate of any of the thousand fields that were 
 fought and lost in the King's cause. 
 
 Nay, one day, I did the boldest thing that 
 it was in my conception to do. I remonstrated 
 with my father on the indifference to which he 
 not only compelled himself, but me. It was 
 not long before the fatal surrender of the mo- 
 narch to the Scottish troops, and Lord Master- 
 ton happened to be in a far milder and more 
 easy mood than he usually displayed. He had 
 been talking to me with kindness and confi- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 45 
 
 dence, and the conversation naturally turned to 
 the passing occurrences of the day. I spoke 
 youthfully and ardently ; and for some time my 
 father listened with a smile, one of the very few 
 I ever saw beam upon his lip. He even went 
 farther, and explained to me his views in regard 
 to the result of the war. The King, he said, 
 would soon be obliged to accede to the pro- 
 posals of the Parliament, and would then re- 
 assume the reins of government. The terms im- 
 posed would doubtless at first be hard enough, 
 he said, but then, the more moderate of all 
 parties, gradually recovering from the phrensy 
 of civil strife, would soon unite with the true 
 friends of the monarch to regain for him that 
 full portion of power, which ought to be en- 
 trusted to the chief magistrate for the benefit 
 of the whole community. 
 
 His arguments, however, did not satisfy me. 
 It seemed to me that the parties in the state 
 were farther and farther dividing instead of 
 uniting; and that the only hkely termination 
 to their strife was in the extinction of the weak- 
 er. In the mean while I thought that the best 
 blood of the country was being shed, her com- 
 
46 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 merce, her agriculture, her arts, were going to 
 ruin, and a thousand evils were daily impressed 
 by fate with the stamp of certainty, which no 
 problematic benefits could ever outvalue, while 
 he — and, as i believed many others — stood inac- 
 tive, when their influence might have terminated 
 the struggle^ and restored peace to England. 
 
 All this, and perhaps much more, I should 
 probably have poured forth in the warmth of 
 my feelings ; but my father stopped me in full 
 career. " Be satisfied, Sir," he said, " that I 
 shall do my duty to my country and to myself, as 
 becomes me ; and if ever the time should come, 
 that the King be really in danger, as some men 
 judge even now, you, Henry, and your brother 
 shall have, not only liberty, but command, to 
 peril all in defence of the monarchy." 
 
 He spoke sternly, and I was silent ; but an 
 adventure in which I was engaged not many 
 months after, served to hasten the period which 
 was to see our family also enter with tardy 
 steps the arena of civil contention. 
 
 On the morning of one fine day in the mid- 
 dle of June, I had laid out a scheme for taking 
 Emily quite across the bay in my boat, to visit 
 
HENRY MASTERTOX. 47 
 
 the beautiful ruins of St. Helen's Abbey, which 
 lay amongst the woods on the other side. 
 Emily had agreed to make the excursion, the 
 boat was prepared, and every thing promised us 
 a day of pleasure, when my brother deranged 
 our whole plan by asking whether Lady Emily 
 Langleigh would not accompany him to fly his 
 hawks on the banks of the stream. Emily at 
 once assented ; and I, mortified and angry, got 
 up from the breakfast-table, where the pro- 
 posal was made, and, descending to the court, 
 ordered my horse, to ride away the irritation 
 which my disappointment had occasioned. As 
 I mounted, I caught a glance of Emily, stand- 
 ing at one of the windows, and looking at me 
 with an expression, which I construed into a 
 reproach for my hasty passion. 
 
 I spurred on my horse, however, and, fol- 
 lowed by two servants, rode on towards Exe- 
 ter, which lay at the distance of perhaps six- 
 teen miles from Masterton House. Thither I 
 often went, to gather news of the passing 
 events; and I now took that road habitually. 
 When riding or walking with Emily, no tor- 
 toise ever retarded its steps more than I was 
 
48 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 willing to do ; but the moment I was alone, I 
 instinctively put my horse upon his quickest 
 paces, and in three-quarters of an hour I was 
 more than half-way to Exeter. 
 
 I had galloped up one hill, and down an- 
 other, all the way, with my thoughts in a state 
 of very unreasonable confusion ; but about six 
 miles from the city, the road dives down a 
 steep declivity on one side of the valley, and, 
 after taking two or three turns amongst the 
 trees of Bewley Wood, rises abruptly up the 
 opposite ascent. By the time I had reached 
 this spot, my first impatience had evaporated, 
 and I began the descent with somewhat more 
 caution than I had hitherto thought necessary. 
 The wind set towards me ; and, as I descended, 
 I heard some voices singing a psalm in the 
 wood below, no unusual occurrence in those 
 days. The very puritanical howl with which the 
 singers poured forth their canticle, turned me 
 sick ; and preparing myself to encounter some 
 of their hypocritical impertinence as I passed, 
 I rode on, mentally giving all the fanatics in 
 England to the devil, by the way. Before I 
 had turned the corner of the wood, the psalm 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 49 
 
 had ceased, and I heard one untuneful throat 
 admonishing another not to sing so loud. 
 
 " Verily, Habacuc, if thou pourest forth the 
 song of rejoicing so vehemently," said the one, 
 " the prey over which thou rejoicest shall escape 
 from thy hand. Art thou not bidden to do all 
 things in season .?'** 
 
 " Yea, verily !" answered the other : " but is 
 it not written — 'Rejoice, for God hath deli- 
 vered thine enemy into thy hand ;' and do I not^ 
 even now, hear his horse's feet approaching?" 
 
 As he spoke, I turned the corner of the 
 wood; and perceived, about fifty paces in 
 advance, four men on horseback, with their 
 backs towards me, and evidently watching for 
 some one whom they expected to come from 
 Tie opposite side. They were all clothed in 
 stout buff coats, with large riding-boots, steeple 
 hats, broad swords in their hands, and wide 
 breeches of rough frieze; and it was plain 
 that they were either, — as they would them- 
 selves have called it, — " bent upon spoiling the 
 p]gyptians, or leading some one away captive,'" 
 which, in those days of disorder, was often 
 done without any law or authority whatsoever. 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
50 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 The moment my horse had turned the angle 
 of the wood, the clearness with which they 
 distinguished his footfalls, showed Master 
 Habacuc that his ears had deceived him, and 
 that the sounds he heard were coming from a 
 different quarter to that from which he had at 
 first supposed they proceeded. All the horsemen 
 instantly wheeled round, and reconnoitred my 
 party with very suspicious looks ; doubtless feel- 
 ing many godly yearnings towards the gold 
 which they saw upon my cloak, and that which, 
 they doubted not, was in my purse. But those 
 were times when no man rode unprepared : my 
 two servants were armed up to the teeth, and I 
 had my sword by my side, and my pistols at my 
 saddle-bow ; so that— what with the superiority 
 of our horses, and the better spirit in our hearts 
 — we were more than a match for any four 
 fanatics upon the earth. They made a move- 
 ment, as they saw me putting my horse into 
 a canter, to let me pass ; and without any 
 ceremony I dashed through the midst of them, 
 splashing them with the dirt from the little 
 muddy river that there crossed the road. 
 
 No notice was taken of a rudeness, which 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 51 
 
 I cannot but confess was somewhat intentional ; 
 but as I passed I remarked, that one of the 
 party was much better mounted than the rest, 
 and wore his hair long, though not absolutely 
 in the floating fashion of the Cavaliers. His 
 face I did not particularly notice in the rapi- 
 dity of my course ; and in a moment I had 
 again turned the wood, and was ascending the 
 opposite hill. 
 
 For half a mile farther I encountered no- 
 body on the road, but a country girl with 
 a basket of eggs ; and I began to think that 
 my fanatics in the valley would be disap- 
 pointed of their prey, when I saw at some 
 distance, two horsemen coming quickly on, at 
 a sharp trot, and seemingly deeply engaged in 
 conversation. I perceived, as they approach- 
 ed, that they were both considerably ad- 
 vanced in life, and dressed very plainly, the 
 one in black, the other in a dull brown. The 
 first was extremely dark in complexion. His 
 hair and beard were as black as jet ; and iu 
 person he was thin and bony, showing not a 
 vestige of the red hue of health in his face. 
 The other was far more florid, not corpulent 
 d2 
 
52 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 but stout, with mustachios, but no beard, while 
 flowing from under his hat was a thing which, 
 in those days, I had never seen ; but which 
 I afterwards found to be a mass of false hair, 
 called a periwig. The strangers looked up as 
 they passed ; and the second fixed his eyes upon 
 me for a moment, somewhat intently, then re- 
 sumed his conversation with the other, and 
 rode on. 
 
 I, too, suffered them to pass, doubting whe- 
 ther they could be the persons for whom the 
 psalm-singers had been waiting in the valley, 
 and endeavouring to determine if it would or 
 w^ould not be right to warn them of the danger. 
 After a moment's thought, however, I drew up 
 my horse, and galloped after them. The sound 
 of his feet instantly made them stop. " I am 
 afraid, gentlemen," said I, " that you may 
 think me somewhat impertinent in thus de- 
 taining you ; but I cannot let you pass with- 
 out giving you a piece of information which 
 may concern you. There may perhaps be 
 danger before you.'' 
 
 '• Sir, we consider your conduct politeness, 
 not impertinence; and though somewhat ac- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 53 
 
 customed to dangers, we rather differ from my 
 good friend, Monsieur de Marville, who, when 
 he first saw a Sahni de Becasse in the second 
 course, declared that he loved to be taken by 
 surprise." 
 
 Such was the reply of the more florid horse- 
 man ; the darker one said not a word : and 
 I proceeded to inform them of what I had seen 
 and heard in the valley. The effect which my 
 tidings produced on the countenance of each, 
 at once showed me that they were by no means 
 indifferent to the psalm-singing in the wood. 
 In truth 1 never saw perplexity more com- 
 pletely displayed in the faces of any men, than 
 it was in those of my two new companions. 
 They looked at one another and at me for a 
 moment or two in silence ; and then the one 
 who had spoken exclaimed, "If we go back 
 to Exeter, we are taken to a certainty !" 
 
 " If we go forward," replied the other, " we 
 are but two men, nearly unarmed, against four 
 well-armed ones : yet we had better risk it." 
 
 " Oh, certainly," said the first, at once re- 
 suming the light air with which he had been 
 speaking before. " We have both risked 
 
54 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 somewhat more in our day, and therefore let us 
 onward. Young gentleman, we thank you for 
 your courtesy ; but we must even go on to try 
 how near akin these same fanatics are to 
 ostriches, and whether they can digest cold iron.'' 
 
 " If the affair be likely to come to such arbi- 
 trament," answered I, "by your good leave, 
 gentlemen, I will join myself to your party. 
 Here are my two servants as stout knaves as 
 ever mounted a horse, and well armed. Five 
 men may perchance overawe these blackbirds 
 of the wood ; and, at all events, if they do not 
 prevent strife, they will spare bloodshed, by 
 bringing it sooner to an end." 
 
 " I thank you sincerely. Sir," replied the 
 stranger in black ; " I have myself abandon- 
 ed the trade of shedding blood, and follow 
 a milder calling ; yet those who force me to 
 betake myself again to steel may have cause 
 to rue the day they did so. I go now to 
 seek the recovery of some property that was 
 wrongfully taken from me ; and my friend, 
 General St. Maur here, is kind enough, like 
 you, to peril his own life to accompany me." 
 
 " Faith, there are few things, Du Tillet, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 55 
 
 that I would sooner peril," replied the old 
 gentleman, who had spoken first : " but let us 
 proceed ; and by the way this young gentle- 
 man may give us some knowledge of the po- 
 litics of this neighbourhood." 
 
 To do so did not at all accord with my in- 
 tentions ; and therefore expressing both my 
 unwillingness and my incapacity, I inquired 
 what news of the King and the Parliament 
 in London. 
 
 Of both the strangers could afford me plenty 
 of intelligence, — some certain, some proble- 
 matic ; but I heard the whole tale of the 
 King's surrender, and of the various ma- 
 noeuvres of the Army and the Parliament, as 
 well as many a just, and too soon fulfilled 
 prognostication of the fall of the monarchy, 
 and the death of the monarch. 
 
 Such conversation soon brought us to the 
 top of the hill ; and, beckoning forward the 
 lackeys, I bade them stand to their arms — an 
 order they were very willing to obey, where 
 the puritans were concerned ; for, either from 
 hatred to my brother's worthy attendant Ga- 
 briel Jones, or from some other more general 
 
o6 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 cause, a most universal detestation to all fana- 
 tics had spread itself throughout the dwellers 
 in Masterton House. 
 
 We proceeded both slowly and cautiously on 
 the descent into the wood below, for the psalm- 
 singing had ceased ; and, as we never in those 
 days attributed any thing like fair and open 
 contest to the puritans, we doubted not that 
 they had hid themselves among the trees to 
 take our party by surprise. Much injustice 
 in those respects did the cavaliers do the fana- 
 tics, who — to say sooth, now that the party ma- 
 nia has gone by which once blinded my eyes — 
 fought on most occasions with a bold, steady, 
 and determined courage, which might have 
 graced a better cause. In the present instance 
 also, we were completely deceived, for the 
 moment we had turned the corner of the wood, 
 we found the four godly worthies in their buff 
 jerkins, planted in the same spot where I had 
 left them. Each of my servants, as well as my- 
 self, had by this time pistol in hand ; and my 
 two new companions, being without fire-arms, 
 had drawn their swords, so that we presented 
 a somewhat formidable body. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 57 
 
 As such the fanatics seemed to consider us, 
 for they made no movement to give us the 
 encounter half way, as I had expected ; and I 
 could see heads brought close together, to con- 
 fer in a whisper ; probably in regard to the 
 apparition of so many, when they had expected 
 but two. Nevertheless, they remained drawn 
 up across the road, and a moment after, their 
 pistols also, were brought forth from their 
 holsters, and it became evident that hard blows 
 were to be the order of the day. 
 
 I had not for my own part the slightest un- 
 willingness to bring the matter to such a de- 
 cision ; but yet, as they stood there motionless 
 on the very path we were to take, I confess I 
 would have much preferred to give spurs to 
 my horse, and force my way through at full 
 gallop, rather than quietly ride up, and enter 
 the strife with calm premeditation. My two 
 companions, however, chose the latter method 
 of proceeding, and without hurrying our pace 
 in the least, we approached slowly till we al- 
 most touched our opponents. 
 
 At that moment Monsieur du Tillet, as his 
 friend had called him, fixing his eye sternly 
 D 5 
 
58 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 upon the least fanatical in dress of the other 
 party, whose appearance I have before de- 
 scribed, exclaimed in a deep imperative voice, 
 *' Clear the way !'' and pushed his horse for- 
 ward towards him. 
 
 The other instinctively made a movement to 
 obey, but instantly recovering himself, he re- 
 plied, " Stop thou rather, man of Belial, and 
 yield thyself to the servants of the Lord !" 
 
 At the same moment, he who had been call- 
 ed Habacuc, addressed himself to me, exclaim- 
 ing, '• What doest thou here, young man, con- 
 sorting with the children of unrighteousness, 
 and the priests of Baal, — the worshippers of 
 the harlot who sitteth on the seven hills ? Verily 
 I say unto thee, thy father and thy father's 
 house have been suffered too long in the land. 
 Ye shall be cast out, root and branch, if ye 
 separate not yourselves from the followers of 
 the beast, who would bring the abomination of 
 desolation to sit in the holy places of our 
 Israel." 
 
 All this passed in a moment, and while the 
 mouth of Habacuc was still filled with the 
 harlot and the beast, I heard the stern voice of 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 59 
 
 Du Tillet repeat, " Clear the way ! Walter 
 Dixon, clear the way ! or I will clear it for my- 
 self, as I have done of old, I tell thee !" 
 
 " And I tell thee thou shalt never see her 
 more," replied the other, dropping at once his 
 fanatical snuiffle. '' Take that to settle all !" 
 and levelling the pistol he had in his hand to- 
 wards Du Tillet's head, he fired. The ball 
 whistled past my ear innocuous, and Walter 
 Dixon, after a moment's pause to see the effect 
 of his shot, drew his sword and urged his char- 
 ger against his adversary. Their blades crossed, 
 and at the end of two or three lightning-like 
 passes, the pseudo-puritan was rolling in the 
 dust, while his horse ran masterless up the hill. 
 
 At the same time Habacuc had spurred for- 
 ward upon me; but we were both, I believe, 
 unwilling to use the same deadly arms with 
 which our companions were contending, and 
 while he strove to grasp my collar and pull me 
 off my horse, I struck him on the head with 
 the butt-end of my pistol, a blow which drove 
 in his steeple-crowned hat, and laid him on the 
 ground beside his comrade. The other two 
 buff jackets fled manfully from the gentleman 
 
60 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 in the periwig aided by my two servants, one of 
 whom could not refrain from firing a shot at 
 the rotund nether man of a flying enemy, who 
 escaped however unhurt ; while we on our part, 
 without staying, Achilles-like, to spoil the fall- 
 en, rode forward at full speed, and were soon 
 far from the scene of strife. 
 
 What to be done next, now became the 
 question. I felt myself called upon by every 
 principle of hospitality, to invite the two stran- 
 gers to take shelter at Masterton House ; and 
 the very particular inquiries which General St. 
 Maur made concerning all the noblemen in 
 the neighbourhood, but more especially my 
 father, led me to imagine that such an invita- 
 tion was expected. To ask any one to Lord 
 Masterton's dwelling, however, without his 
 command to that effect, was quite out of the 
 question. I dared as well have struck my hand 
 off; and, obliged to refrain, I rode on with 
 very hospitable feelings at my heart, but with 
 manners, I am afraid, somewhat cold and dis- 
 agreeable, from the restraint I was forced to 
 put upon myself. Had my companions con- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 61 
 
 tinued their route past the gates of the Park, 
 I should have found myself still more embar- 
 rassed ; but fortunately, at the first turning 
 of the road, they relieved me from my diffi- 
 culty, by thanking me for my warning and 
 assistance, and bidding me farewell. 
 
 " We must forward, at full speed," said 
 General St. Maur ; " and now all that we will 
 ask of you, my young friend, is, that you will 
 let one of your servants ride a hundred yards 
 with us on this road, to puzzle our pursuers if 
 they try to trace us by our horses' footmarks. 
 Your man can easily clear yon hedge, and cross 
 that field, so as to join you on the other road." 
 
 I consented willingly ; and, with those con- 
 tradictory feelings, which so frequently torment 
 us in our passage through life, I gladly saw 
 two men depart, in whom I was beginning to 
 take a great interest, and of whom I would will- 
 ingly have seen more. 
 
 My next consideration was, whether I should, 
 or should not, tell my father the adventure I 
 had met with at all ; and I fancied I could see 
 his calm, cold eye, while I related v/hat had 
 
62 HEiNRY MASTERTON. 
 
 happened, and the expression of total want of 
 sympathy with the motives under which I had 
 acted, which his countenance would assume as 
 1 narrated the occurrences of the morning. 
 
 I do not know what it is that stern men gain ; 
 but beyond a doubt, I had a thousand minds 
 not to tell him a word, and let after-events take 
 their chance ; but reflecting that such conduct 
 would be cowardly, I summoned resolution, and 
 on my arrival walked directly to his library. 
 
 He was reading when I entered, and for a 
 moment read on ; but then, raising his eyes, he 
 noticed me with an ominous " What is it. 
 Sir ?" 
 
 How I got through my story does not 
 much matter, and I do not very well know ; 
 but from the pure fright of the narrator, it 
 became a long one, comprising a thousand par- 
 ticulars, which might as well have been left 
 out. My father did not help me in the least ; 
 but listened on, with the most imperturbable 
 patience, and the most unmoved silence. Ne- 
 vertheless, I got through it at length ; and 
 then stood before him, ready for martyrdom. 
 
 " Habacuc !" he said, when I had concluded, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 63 
 
 '' That must be Habacuc Grimstone, the Exeter 
 magistrate — we shall soon hear more ;'''' and he 
 dropped his eyes to his book again. 
 
 Glad to be so easily relieved of my tale ; I 
 was quitting the room, when Lord Masterton 
 again looked up, and there was an expression of 
 greater energy in his countenance than I had 
 heretofore seen. " Do not suppose, Harry," he 
 said, " that I blame you for what you have 
 done ; it may — and must — hurry on the necessity 
 of measures, which I have for some days seen 
 that I shall be obliged ultimately to take. Per- 
 sonally you acted well, and with spirit; al- 
 though your interference in favour of two ob- 
 scure royalists — for such must these two men 
 be — will probably force me into a rupture with 
 the fanatics sooner than I had intended. The 
 Army hold the King like an eagle in a cage, 
 whom they will teach to strike the game for 
 them if they can ; but if the royal bird prove 
 refractory, they will wring off his head. All 
 good men are arming in his favour ; and doubt- 
 less a slight display of force in his behalf, may 
 compel his enemies to grant him such terms as 
 will become him to accept. My own oath is 
 
64 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 registered against the service of an ungrateful 
 King ; but your brother and yourself shall be 
 free to draw the sword in his defence, as soon 
 as I have provided that your swords shall not 
 want support. Now leave me.^' 
 
 I gladly obeyed, pleased and flattered by a 
 degree of confidence which my father had 
 never before evinced towards me. In the even- 
 ing, a letter arrived from Habacuc Grimstone, 
 which, as a party nearly concerned. Lord Mas- 
 terton thought fit to show me, as well as his an- 
 swer. The epistle of the fanatic magistrate was 
 full of hypocritical insolence and unmannerly 
 threats. He detailed my adventure of the 
 morning, after his own fashion, and demanded 
 that I should be sent to Exeter, to await in 
 prison the sentence of God's saints upon me. 
 
 My father's reply was cool and politic. 
 Doubting that Habacuc had any higher autho- 
 rity than his own, for the arrest of two fugi- 
 tives, he merely answered, that he had already 
 reprimanded his son for his juvenile frolic, of 
 which he accused him; and he informed the 
 puritan, that if he would send up to him, 
 as the superior magistrate, the warrant from 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 65 
 
 the council of state for the arrest of the two 
 persons, whose evasion from justice his son, he 
 said, had favoured, he would be responsible for 
 its due execution. Farther, he begged to in- 
 quire of Mr. Habacuc Grimstone, why he, a 
 worthy and God-fearing man, had endeavoured 
 to pull his son from horseback, by the collar, 
 before his son had given him any provocation ; 
 and he desired the magistrate to be ready to 
 make his questions thereon, when he should 
 answer his next monthly visitation to Exeter. 
 
 There being no force of any kind at Exeter 
 at that time, the fanatic was fain, not only to 
 keep quiet, but to make some sort of conces- 
 sions, especially as we afterwards discovered 
 that he had acted without any authority from 
 the counciLof state. He took good care, how- 
 ever, to denounce my father as a malignant, 
 against the effects of which denunciation Lord 
 Master ton made preparations, which must be 
 spoken of more fully. 
 
66 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 No bustle, no clamour, no spurring here 
 and there, announced to the world that Lord 
 Masterton was preparing to take part in the 
 general risings of the country, which the King's 
 prolonged imprisonment and the increasing 
 demands of the Parliament had occasioned. In 
 the first instance, my brother's servant, the 
 saintly Gabriel Jones, was despatched with what 
 he and the whole of the rest of the family con. 
 ceived to be a private letter to Lord Capel, 
 concerning a junction of our forces with his. 
 The epistle, however, was afterwards found 
 amongst that nobleman's papers, and proved 
 to be an earnest and positive request, that his 
 Lordship would abstain from all military efforts 
 in favour of the imprisoned King. Whether 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 67 
 
 Lord Capel had been prepared beforehand to 
 receive it, and the whole business was merely a 
 ruse to get the valet whom we all suspected of 
 treachery, out of the way, without the risk 
 which would have been incurred by discharging 
 him, I do not know ; but at all events it an- 
 swered that purpose ; and Gabriel, who was 
 absent three times the number of days which 
 was necessary for his journey, probably carried 
 to the council of state, a letter which com- 
 pletely calmed them in regard to the proceed- 
 ings of my father. 
 
 Every tenant on the estate was well known 
 in regard to his principles ; and many of the 
 farmer's sons had joined the royalist forces on 
 former occasions. Several indeed had been 
 made prisoners by the parliamentary troops, 
 and only owed their deliverance from the ter- 
 rible fate of being sold to slavery by their 
 conquerors, to the influence of my father's 
 name. Such as had served before, were ap- 
 pointed to drill as speedily as possible those 
 who had not, in very small parties, choosing 
 remote places in the woods, or on the sands ; 
 while many a moonlight review on the lawns 
 
68 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 near the house, completed the discipline of the 
 troops we were raising, as far as discipline 
 could be attained in our circumstances. Each 
 farmer taught his horse to stand fire in his own 
 stable ; and each kitchen over the whole estate 
 became a practising hall for the broadsword. 
 
 Arms and accoutrements were not wanting ; 
 but these, as well as our communications from 
 other royalists in different parts of the coun- 
 try, were conveyed by sea. By the same means 
 a considerable body of tenantry, from our fa- 
 mily estates in Dorsetshire, were brought to 
 Masterton House ; so that at the end of 
 a month, besides the number necessary to 
 keep the house during our absence, we could 
 muster nearly five hundred men, ready to 
 march, well armed and mounted, and far better 
 disciplined than most of the cavalier regiments 
 of the day. 
 
 My father still adhered to his determination 
 of never drawing his sword for the monarch 
 who had disgraced him. He would defend 
 Masterton House, he said, to the last, if it were 
 attacked ; but he would not march from its 
 hearth for a King who neither deserved nor 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 69 
 
 desired his service. The regiment we had pri- 
 vately raised was called my brother's ; but one 
 troop of a hundred men was especially entrust- 
 ed to me by my father ; and, in our midnight 
 reviews, I took a pride in rendering it more 
 perfect and accurate in all the manoeuvres than 
 the rest. Indeed, although, in point of talent 
 and skill, my brother was far better qualified 
 to command than myself, there was many a 
 young yeoman v/ho would have willingly vo- 
 lunteered into Master Harry's troop, after its 
 roll was full. One circumstance, however, sur- 
 prised me not a little, which was, that my fa- 
 ther insisted, I should reserve one saddle for 
 Gabriel Jones, my brother's servant, whose na- 
 tural place seemed near his master's person. 
 This was afterwards explained to Frank in my 
 hearing. 
 
 " Your valet, Frank," said Lord Masterton, 
 in speaking on the subject, " is, as you know, 
 a most notorious villain. He was given to 
 me by Fairfax, who — as honest a block of liv- 
 ing stone as this world ever produced — thought 
 that he was conferring a signal favour on my 
 family, by introducing into it a fellow that 
 
70 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 could exquisitely dress hair, tie a point, or cut 
 ii r )se for a shoe, and yet could edify us all by 
 the unction of his saintly doctrine. I know 
 him for a spy ; and yet I send him with you, 
 because, as you are going suddenly to a strange 
 part of the world, where his means of commu- 
 nication will be cut off, he cannot do the harm 
 he could here: yet I put him into Harry's 
 troop, that he may have a watchful eye upon 
 him in the field, and during the march, while 
 you, Frank, can keep him always near you, at 
 other times, in his capacity of valet." 
 
 Such an explanation from my father, who 
 seldom gave an explanation of any thing he 
 thought right to be done, was of course quite 
 sufiicient to satisfy me, and more than suffi- 
 cient to satisfy my brother, who received 
 his parent's commands with even more unques- 
 tioning obedience than myself. 
 
 All our arrangements, however, were nearly 
 complete before Master Gabriel Jones thought 
 fit to return, and had we not been forced to wait 
 for news from Lord Norwich, and from Hales, 
 who were actively preparing the insurrection of 
 Kent, that worthy would have been obliged to 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 71 
 
 march within two days after his arrival. Even 
 during the seven days that we were thus com- 
 pelled to pause, he was watched so narrowly 
 by all the household, that he only contrived to 
 absent himself for a part of one day, M^hich he 
 spent in visiting Exeter. That city indeed was, 
 for the time, no place of great safety for a puritan 
 of any cast. The parliamentary committee 
 which sat there for Devonshire, had been forced 
 to betake themselves to Exmouth, and multi- 
 tudes of people parading the streets, menaced 
 with death every roundhead they met, shouting, 
 " God and the King ! God and the King !" 
 before all the principal public buildings. 
 
 This news was brought by Gabriel himself; 
 and a somewhat sudden and suspicious change 
 made itself manifest in his pohtical opinions 
 from that moment ; as he assured his master, 
 that his heart was moved with compassion and 
 sympathy, on hearing the poor suffering peo- 
 ple so exclaim from their very bowels, to be 
 restored to the ancient rule under which they 
 had lived in peace and happiness. 
 
 Frank, however, was not a person to be 
 taken in by sudden conversions ; and he no- 
 
72 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ticed the present one to me, in his calm but 
 bitter manner, which was always the more 
 potent, because he seemed rather to repress 
 than encourage the sneering turn of his lip, 
 that accompanied involuntarily some even of 
 his kindest speeches. 
 
 " My knave Gabriel pities the King,'' he re- 
 marked, " almost as much as you do, Harry ; 
 and he is enthusiastic too, as you are. Watch 
 him well, therefore, on the road, like a good 
 boy ; and as you will most likely understand 
 each other's characters, if you see any symptoms 
 of his loving the King so well as to wish to see 
 him at the Isle of Wight, or to consult for 
 his safety with the Parliament in London, just 
 send a pistol-ball through his head. Or if you 
 be afraid, I will do it, with good will." 
 
 To our surprise, however, Gabriel Jones 
 shewed no unwillingness to accompany us on 
 our expedition ; and having served in the army 
 in former days, proved himself an active and 
 ready trooper as any in the regiment. 
 
 At length the expected letter from Lord 
 Norwich arrived, and it was determined to be- 
 gin our march the same night. Then came the 
 
HENRY MASTERTO.\ "^3 
 
 most painful affair of all, the partin^jj. The ex- 
 citement and bustle of preparation, had hitherto 
 covered over all that was to be apprehended in 
 the expedition on which we were bound — all 
 that was dark — all that was sorrowful. Hope, 
 a goddess that previously lives in activity, had 
 promised every thing fair and glorious, as 
 the result of our expedition ; but at the mo- 
 ment of parting, a thousand dim shadowy fears 
 rose up between us and hope, like storm clouds 
 rolling over the bright moon. Success, or 
 death, or exile, were the only alternatives which 
 the fortunes of those days afforded to such as 
 mingled in the eager struggle of civil war. The 
 block and the axe, the prison, the deadly pla- 
 toon, were dooms for those who yielded; and as 
 is ever the case in intestine strife, cruelty and 
 revenge took the robe and sword which equity 
 and justice had cast down in their flight. To us, 
 who reflected, a thousand fearful spectres gib- 
 bered in the obscure vista of the future ; and 
 the gay unthinking mirth of the good yeomen 
 who followed us, were envied by their more 
 mental lords. 
 
 My brother and myself were quitting our 
 
 VOL. I. £ 
 
74 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 paternal hearth for the first time, and that for 
 the purpose of sharing in the most bloody strife 
 that ever disfigured our native land. The con- 
 viction, therefore, could not but arise in our 
 bosoms, that youth's epoch of peace and happi- 
 ness was past, and that, even at the best, all 
 which now lay before us, was the turbulent 
 struggle of manhood, and the decrepid feeble- 
 ness of age. At the same time, a host of dan- 
 gers, difficulties, cares, and disappointments — 
 the brood of that shapeless monster Probability 
 — barked at our heels, as we set out from the 
 threshold of what had hitherto been our home. 
 From my father we parted almost in silence. 
 A few stern words of injunction, counsel, and 
 warning, — the sterner because they covered 
 deeper and softer feelings, — were all that he 
 ventured. From Emily, the parting was more 
 painful still. My father sent us forth and 
 shared our motives ; but Emily could not com- 
 prehend why any man should leave home, and 
 peace, and happiness, to risk the breaking of 
 his dearest ties, to stake his life upon an uncer- 
 tain cast, to peril fortune, hope, and the future, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 75 
 
 to shed his own blood, and spill his fellow 
 creature's. 
 
 She stood upon the steps of the door, while 
 the servants held the horses and a torch. My 
 brother took leave of her first, and simply 
 shook hands with her. I thought that their 
 relative situation and our near intimacy might 
 have ventured more ; but, of course, I could 
 not exceed the measure of her promised hus- 
 band's familiarity, and I too merely pressed 
 her hand. I could see the tears streaming from 
 her eyes by the red torch-light; and as my 
 fingers closed thrilling upon hers, with a sensa- 
 tion that ran through my whole frame, I could 
 see the blood mount up into her beautiful 
 cheek, fade away again, like the sunshine with- 
 drawn from an evening cloud, as the wind wafts 
 it afar ; and the next moment, she reeled and 
 would have fallen, had she not caught the iron 
 balustrade for support. 
 
 My brother was by this time on his horse ; 
 I sprang down the steps and followed. A little 
 farther on was the regiment in marching or- 
 der ; the torch was extinguished, the word was 
 E 2 
 
76 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 given, and in a few minutes we were winding 
 along through the narrow dark avenue, with 
 hearts somewhat sadder than we had expected 
 the day before. 
 
 The conduct of the march had of course been 
 given to my brother ; and the plans of the 
 approaching efforts in the King's favour, had 
 been communicated to him as far as Lord Hol- 
 land and Lord Norwich had thought prudent. 
 I was not so far trusted, only knowing that 
 we were to advance with all speed, to effect 
 our junction with Goring and Hales in Kent; 
 and if prevented from doing so, to fall back 
 upon Wales, which had already raised the 
 royal standard. In either case, a long and 
 difficult march was before us, where dangers 
 were innumerable, and difficulties immense. 
 Activity, however, was every thing, for the 
 whole hopes of Lord Norwich were founded on 
 the reinforcements which had been promised him 
 from different parts of the country, and of which 
 our regiment formed a very considerable part. 
 
 To do my brother Frank but bare justice, 
 never did the most experienced commander con- 
 duct his march with more skill and expedition 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 77 
 
 than marked our advance. His object was to 
 avoid all encounters till he had joined Goring,* 
 but nevertheless to cut through every obstacle 
 till he had effected that junction ; and so well 
 did he contrive his route, that for five days, we 
 met v/ith no opposition whatever. His means 
 of information, arranged with that skill and 
 clearness which he displayed in every thing and 
 on all occasions, never left him without a com- 
 plete knowledge of each hostile party that 
 hovered about the country. Not a local magis- 
 trate moved, not a body of militia was ordered 
 out, but he had early notice ; and at the same 
 time, he took care that no tidings of any of 
 our intended motions should reach the ene- 
 my, for neither soldier nor officer of the 
 whole regiment knew, on beginning his day's 
 march, where his halting-place would be at 
 night. 
 
 At length, one morning, at the little village of 
 Barford, where we had halted the evening be- 
 fore, we received information that a large body 
 
 * George Goring Lord Norwich, for a fuller account of 
 whom, see Clarendon's Hist. vol. vi. pages 56, 58, &:c. 
 Ed. 1826. 
 
78 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 of the parliamentary troops had arrived the day 
 before at Salisbury; and, as we were just about 
 to march, we learned that in expectation of our 
 advance, Hornsby, who commanded them, had 
 taken up a position on the other side of the 
 Wily bourne, which runs between Fisherton 
 and Wilton. The number of the enemy was 
 said to be two thousand ; and, making all allow- 
 ance for exaggeration, this was deemed by far 
 too superior a force to encounter if it could be 
 avoided. Striking off, therefore, to the left, we 
 made a movement upon Amesbury ; and, ad- 
 vancing as rapidly as possible, soon reached a 
 spot where the high road winding round a hill 
 passed along the side of the ascent, leaving a 
 deep wooded hollow below, with a wide plain 
 beyond, which was again broken by a Roman 
 camp and various ancient tumuli. On the right 
 hand of the hill lay the line of another road, old, 
 steep, and narrow ; and which appeared to have 
 been disused in favour of the better path on the 
 left; but as this seemed the most private and con- 
 cealed, Frank determined upon following it, till 
 we had passed the dangerous part of our march. 
 This resolution, however, was shaken, as he 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 79 
 
 and I advanced a little before the head of the 
 regiment, by seeing a horseman riding slowly on 
 before us. We instantly paused to remark 
 him, and a moment after we saw him halt, dis- 
 mount, advance towards an angle of the road, 
 and while his horse, seemingly taught to such 
 manoeuvres, stood stock still, he pressed himself 
 close up against the bank, and appeared to 
 examine cautiously the country beyond the turn 
 of the hill. 
 
 A moment satisfied him, and returning as 
 quietly as he had advanced, he mounted his 
 charger, and putting him on the turf at the 
 side, rode speedily back. The sight of my bro- 
 ther and myself, however, with the head of the 
 regiment, which was now beginning to appear 
 behind us, seemed to startle him ; and he again 
 drew in his rein ; but immediately after spurred 
 forward as if to accost us. 
 
 Every step that he took in advance, his figure 
 became more familiar to my memory. For an 
 instant, indeed, 1 could not tell where I had 
 seen him, but before he was close up with us, I 
 had just time to say, " Have a care, Frank ! 
 have a care ! This is that Walter Dixon, whom 
 
DO HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 I found consorting with the fanatics in Bewly 
 Wood." 
 
 It was indeed the same person. He was 
 paler than when I before saw him ; and the 
 sleeve of his coat, which was no longer of buff, 
 but of good morone cloth, was cut up at the 
 back, and tied with black ribbons, as if to give 
 space for the dressing of a wound. He seemed 
 to have full use of his arm, however, and ap- 
 parently suffered little inconvenience from the 
 injury he had formerly received. 
 
 " Halt your troop, gentlemen ! For God's 
 ;• ike halt your troop, if ye be friends of King 
 Charles," he exclaimed as he came near. 
 " The right of Hornsby's cavalry is resting on 
 the little wood at the end of that road ; and if 
 ye advance, ye are cut to pieces.'"* 
 
 Frank eyed him from head to foot with no 
 very cordial glance. '• You seem mightily 
 afraid of fanatics, good Sir," he replied, *' con- 
 sidering the society in which my brother last 
 had the pleasure of seeing you." 
 
 " Without your brother could know. Sir," 
 replied the other, with perfect calmness, " what 
 were my motives for concerting with fanatics for 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 81 
 
 the time, neither he nor you can judge whether 
 I have reason to fear them or not. However, 
 there is no room now for wasting words. We 
 shall have reconnoitring parties on us soon. 
 If you come minded to give Hornsby battle, 
 on ! You will find him straight before you. 
 But if ye be sane men, and with your handful 
 here, would avoid an encounter with an enemy 
 that more than trebles your numbers, follow me 
 down into the valley." 
 
 " Hold, Sir," replied my brother, " this mat- 
 ter is not so easily settled. You are either a 
 friend or an enemy. If the former, you shall 
 have my thanks, when I have proved you. If 
 the latter, you are a spy, and seek to deceive 
 us ; and the meed of such conduct is death. 
 Take four troopers, Harry, ride down with this 
 fair gentleman on the road he proposes to lead 
 us. If you find all clear, send back one of the 
 men to me. I will wait under the hill. If 
 you find he betrays you, send a ball through 
 his head, and ride back with all speed." 
 
 " You use scanty ceremony. Sir," replied 
 Walter Dixon, with a frown. 
 
 " I have no time to be polite. Sir," answered 
 E 5 
 
»5i HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 Frank ; " but doubtless my brother, who is of 
 a more courtly nature, if he find you false, will 
 make you a bow when he blows your brains 
 out." 
 
 " Well, it matters not !" replied the other ; 
 '' it is not you I serve." A few words more of 
 such altercation ensued, but our new companion 
 was fain to obey ; and, accompanied by myself 
 and four of my troop, he rode down a narrow 
 path into a wood that skirted the bottom of 
 the hill. 
 
 " Why not take the road over the plain ?" 
 demanded I, as we proceeded. " This would be 
 a sweet spot for cavalry to be attacked. Jump 
 down and beat yon bushes, William Fells." 
 
 The stranger smiled : — " Do not be so suspi- 
 cious, young gentleman," he said. " When last 
 I met you, I had my own purposes to answer, 
 in consorting with Habacuc Grimstone and his 
 companions. It might be interest, it might be 
 safety, it might be revenge, that made me use 
 them ; but I have no such motives now. I do 
 not take the road over the plain, because I 
 know every inch of this county : and I am sure, 
 from that knowledge, that Hornsby's troopers 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 83 
 
 on the elbow of the hill could see a curlew fly 
 from any one barrow to the other, far more a 
 regiment of cavalry, wearing King Charles's 
 colours. Now, if you remark, this belt of 
 wood would cover the march of two thousand 
 men, till opening out safe yonder, on the Ames- 
 bury road, far out of sight of the enemy, it 
 leaves Hornsby and his roundheads in the rear, 
 watching till night fall, for what will never 
 come. Do you see my reason now ? " 
 
 What he said was plausible ; and I remem- 
 bered his exclamation when about to fire at Du 
 Tillet, — " Thou shalt never see her more," 
 which certainly corroborated the idea that some 
 personal motive, very distinct from political 
 party, had united him for the time with the 
 puritans. I was resolved to trust to nothing 
 but my own eyes, however ; and accordingly 
 proceeded onward, till we regained the high 
 road, where I could see for more than a mile, 
 on every side, without the possibility of am- 
 bush. I then confessed myself satisfied ; and 
 thanking the stranger for his courtesy, dis- 
 patched a trooper to inform my brother of the 
 result. 
 
84 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 " I suppose, then, that now, you have no ob- 
 jection to my proceeding on my way ?" demand- 
 ed my companion, '' for with four armed men 
 round me, of course I must obey their com- 
 mands." 
 
 I acknowledge, his question embarrassed me 
 not a little ; for, after the proof he had just 
 given of his sincerity, to doubt him farther was 
 an insult; and yet, I could not entirely divest 
 my mind of a suspicion, that he might have 
 some latent motive in his desire to proceed, to 
 which it might be detrimental for us to yield. 
 
 He remarked the thoughtful pause which 
 these feelings occasioned, with a smile, — " Well, 
 well,'** said he, '' if you have no authority to 
 release me, it matters little. My business is 
 not so urgent as that it may not tarry for half 
 an hour ; and now I bethink me, for guiding 
 you thus safely, I shall ask leave to travel 
 under your escort for some short way.'** 
 
 Of all sorts of hypocrisy — and God knows 
 there is a lamentable number in this world — the 
 affectation of frankness is the surest birdlime 
 for a green youth. Prepossessed as I was 
 against Master Walter Dixon, the easy bold- 
 
HENRV MASTERTON. 85 
 
 ness of his manner, supported as it appeared 
 by one instance of evident good service, went 
 far to do away all prej udices ; and after assur- 
 ing him, on my own responsibility, that he 
 would be free to accompany or to quit us, I 
 remained in conversation with him, till my bro- 
 ther and the rest of our force came up. 
 
 During that pause he turned the conversa- 
 tion himself to our former rencontre. " Al- 
 though I can hardly speak of it with patience,'" 
 he said, " for your interference cut me off from 
 my only chance of revenging a base injury, yet 
 I think it worth while to explain how I — who 
 was never a puritan or a parliamentarian, even 
 before that party's late barefaced rejection of 
 all decency — how I came to make use of my 
 good cousin Habacuc Grimstone for the arrest 
 of that villain whose name shall not embitter 
 my lips. That old man with whom you were 
 consorting," he continued, " who, God knows, 
 should long ago have done with such toy?, 
 must needs, some five years since, become my 
 rival with a young lady promised to me by 
 every vow, but that of marriage, which can bind 
 woman to man. He injured me deeply, and I 
 
86 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 vowed revenge, nor have I ever forgotten that 
 vow. He stepped in between me and what 
 should have been mine, and I resolved that he 
 should pay dearly for so doing. Years have 
 passed over and he was long a sojourner in 
 another land, but I did not forget my vow, 
 even while his steps were afar ; and he was well 
 watched for me, when I could not watch him 
 myself. But here come the troopers — I have 
 only farther to say, that I heard of his land- 
 ing in England, marked my occasion, but 
 found him accompanied by another. — I then 
 joined with Habacuc, to take him as a malig- 
 nant, a catholic, and a traitor. — I heed not 
 who knows it — my desire was revenge, how- 
 ever obtained. I hoped indeed, that my own 
 arm might deal the blow — but even if I failed 
 or fell, I thought myself sure that he would 
 suffer — when your cursed interference saved 
 him, and nearly ruined me ; for the roy- 
 alist papers found on my person during my 
 sickness from the wound I then received, 
 caused me to be denounced as a bitter malig- 
 nant, and my escape is next to a miracle." 
 He spoke quickly, to conclude his story, be- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 87 
 
 fore the arrival of my brother, who was now 
 coming rapidly up, at the head of the regi- 
 ment. This tale, however, brief as it was, 
 greatly changed my opinion of my momen- 
 tary acquaintance Du Tillet, and I would fain 
 have had Frank say something to do away 
 the rude suspicion which we had both mani- 
 fested towards our new comrade. But my 
 brother, whether from shyness, or what other 
 cause, I know not, while he could give a com- 
 mand with clearness and force, or reason on 
 a proposition at length, or point a reply with 
 the most bitter sarcasm, could never bring him- 
 self to ask a favour or offer a compliment, or 
 even express a kindly feeling, with graceful ease. 
 I have indeed seen moments which 1 shall have 
 to notice more hereafter, when the emotions of 
 his heart overcame reserve, and burst forth 
 with splendid energy ; but without they were 
 excited to a high pitch, they seemed rather 
 to embarrass than to support him ; and I heard 
 him once say, that his head could always take 
 care of itself, but his heart was the greatest 
 bungler he ever met with. 
 
 On the present occasion he found that he 
 
88 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 had done the stranger some wrong, and would 
 willingly have offered an apology ; but what 
 he said was lame and impotent enough. 
 
 " Mention it not ! mention it not !" said 
 Walter Dixon, who seemed to have talked him- 
 self into good humour. " If you carried cau- 
 tion almost into folly, the loss had nearly been 
 your own." 
 
 His request was then made that he might 
 be permitted to take advantage of the march 
 of our cavalry, which was readily granted, — 
 my brother, nevertheless, taking the precau- 
 tion to ask how far we were to be honoured 
 with his company. 
 
 " Not very far, in faith," replied Walter 
 Dixon. " We shall part probably at Basing- 
 stoke ; for I cut across the country by Mil- 
 ford and Horsham into Kent, and you are 
 bound for Essex, I hear." 
 
 Frank, with his usual caution, replied no- 
 thing ; and inwardly resolving to take advan- 
 tage of the stranger's knowledge of the coun- 
 try as far as possible, left him still in perfect 
 ignorance of his route. 
 
 Walter Dixon, however, gained upon my 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 89 
 
 brother's esteem. There was a ready bold- 
 ness in his demeanour, that soon put Frank 
 at his ease; and a somewhat rude method of 
 opposing every thing that was said to him, 
 which soon involved him in a logical dispute 
 with my brother, and left them the best 
 friends in the world. To say the truth, I began 
 to esteem more than to like him ; for his blunt- 
 ness was sometimes rather offensive. He would 
 scoff at things that ail sects held sacred, and 
 with a sort of keen and cutting rapidity, seem- 
 ed to go direct to the point of his argument, 
 without any reverence to prejudices or feel- 
 ings. Nevertheless, to make up, though few 
 propositions met his assent, and though he 
 had a most merciless disregard for the opinion 
 of others, he generally contrived to leave you 
 tolerably well satisfied with yourself, by extol- 
 ling those virtues or talents of which you fancied 
 yourself possessed. 
 
 Whether this was casual or intentional, I 
 know not ; but I soon remarked, that one 
 range of human qualities formed the subject 
 of his praise to my brother, and another to 
 myself, though Heaven knows we neither of us 
 
90 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 could say he flattered us. Thus he proceeded 
 for several days, growing upon our regard. 
 At Basingstoke, Master Dixon appeared some- 
 what surprised when he learned our intention 
 of following (for some pari of the way at 
 least) the same road with himself; assured 
 my brother that he was very wrong in leading 
 his troops into Kent ; and declared that, to 
 the best of his judgment, the only stand which 
 the royalists could hope to make successfully 
 would be in Essex. Nevertheless he sneered 
 at men who could be changed by every breath 
 of opinion, and laughed at the shrewdness with 
 which Frank had deceived him in regard to 
 the direction of his march, observing, " I am 
 not so easily gulled, in general.'' 
 
 We met with no opposition on our march, 
 after leaving Amesbury, till we reached an 
 open common near East Grinstead, where we 
 encountered a large party of militia, drawn up 
 on a rise, with rather a formidable aspect. It 
 was the coup d'essai of almost every person 
 present ; and I cannot but confess that, with- 
 out the slightest fear, my heart beat both quick 
 and hard, as my eye ran over the bristling line 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 91 
 
 of pikes, which bade fair to wait our charge 
 with all the patience in the world. After a 
 few sentences of encouragement, my brother 
 gave the word, and on we went against them 
 at full speed ; but it so happened that the 
 militiamen were a great deal more raw and 
 inexperienced than ourselves. They waited 
 with white faces, and jostling shoulders, till 
 we came within about twenty paces of their 
 line ; then throwing down their pikes to a man, 
 they took to their heels ; and, in a body, dash- 
 ed over a hedge and ditch, near which they 
 had been placed with a view to guard their 
 flank. Only one man was killed, and only one 
 wounded on the occasion. The first was an 
 unfortunate parliamentarian, who seemed rooted 
 to the spot with surprise, when he recognised 
 Master Dixon, who charged by my side at the 
 head of the troop. 
 
 I could just hear that he was pouring forth 
 an objurgation in which the words, " Master 
 Dixon ! Master Dixon !"" were predominant, 
 ere he prepared to run with his fellows ; but 
 the person he addressed, made his horse bound 
 forward three or four yards before the regi- 
 
92 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ment, and exclaiming, " Take that to stop your 
 babbling," dealt him a blow which bit many 
 an inch into his skull. 
 
 The only person wounded was my brother ; 
 the fleshy part of whose arm was slightly in- 
 jured by a pistol ball, which the commander 
 of the militia thought himself bound to dis- 
 charge, before he headed his men in the rapid 
 evolution with which they cleared the hedge, 
 and dispersed over the country. 
 
 For fear of the reunion of our flying enemy, 
 and their junction with other bodies of the 
 parliamentary troops, which we heard of in the 
 neighbourhood of East Grinstead, we marched 
 on for nearly sixteen miles farther, towards 
 Lamberhurst, where Master Dixon assured us 
 we might halt in security. As the horses were 
 tired, however, we determined to pause at a 
 little sequestered village on the way, which 
 off*ered a picture of peace and tranquillity, un- 
 speakably refreshing after the toils, anxieties, 
 and cares of a long and difficult march, through 
 a country wasted with civil war, and replete 
 with strife. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 93 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The scene in which we halted was pecu- 
 liarly English ; many lands and many beautiful 
 spots have I visited since, without seeing any 
 thing in the least like it, and yet it is difficult 
 to tell wherein the particular distinction lay. 
 
 Winding down the slope of an easy hill, the 
 smoothj broad road opened out upon a village 
 green, with its large glistening pond shaded by 
 tall elms, several clumps of which vi^ere scat- 
 tered round. Forty or fifty neat cottages sur- 
 rounded the green ; and a long row of plain 
 white houses went skirting down by the side of 
 the road as it pursued its onward way into the 
 country beyond. On the left hand, as we 
 descended, rose the spire of the church from a 
 group of immemorial trees, whose rounded 
 
94 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 masses broke beautifully the somewhat heavy 
 architecture of the body of the building ; and, 
 about half a mile distant, on the right, in the 
 full light of the evening sun, appeared a large 
 and lordly dwelling, surrounded by the deep 
 woods, which crowned a wide sloping lawn, 
 only separated from the village by a thick 
 brick wall. Farther still, beyond, through an 
 opening left between the trees and the hill, rose 
 a high rocky piece of ground, covered by the 
 grey ruins of an old feudal castle ; and there 
 seemed, to the eye of fancy, a moral propriety 
 in the arrangement of the whole scene, that 
 enhanced its beauty. The cottages gathered 
 round the foot of the more wealthy dwelling — 
 that dwelling itself rising out of the midst of 
 them — the house of prayer standing near 
 at hand; and far beyond the grey and crum- 
 bling fragments of feudal tyranny, commenting 
 on the change of days, and monumenting the 
 evils of the past. The whole had a vague 
 reference to the state of society which existed 
 before the civil war broke out, and perhaps the 
 image was the more pleasing to me from its 
 very indistinctness. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 95 
 
 Probably the difference between the aspect 
 of England and that of every other land, may 
 consist more in the appearance of contented 
 industry, than in any thing else — and that in- 
 dustry evinced, not in the actual exertions one 
 witnesses, but in their results. The neatness of 
 the cottage, however lowly, the pains bestowed 
 to render it clean, the ornamental plants, how- 
 ever simple, which are taught to give a grace 
 to the humblest dwelling, and a thousand 
 other things which bespeak habitual activity 
 and care, all breathe the spirit of willing, health- 
 ful, happy exertion, betokening that best of in- 
 tellectual gifts — contentment, — that sweet calm 
 sunshine of existence, compared with which, 
 the brightest v/it is but a flash, the purest of 
 ambitions but a dream indeed. No, no ! there 
 is but one ambition that is worth a hope, and it 
 lies beyond the grave. 
 
 The whole scene spoke comfort and repose 
 It was so calm it might have been almost sad, 
 had not half a dozen merry voices risen up and 
 mingled not unmelodious with the notes of the 
 blackbird pouring from the trees on the hill. 
 
 As we came down, all the villagers were 
 
96 HENRY MASTRRTON. 
 
 tijrned out to see us approach ; . 1 the fearless- 
 ness with which they did so, ' ^nfirmed what 
 the appearance of the place had before an- 
 nounced, that its remote and sequestered situ- 
 ation had sheltered it completely from the 
 storm of civil war. We were welcomed glad- 
 ly, for we found that the population were 
 loyalists at heart ; and, retiring into the little 
 public house, my brother and myself proceeded 
 to allot our men to the different villagers and 
 farmers, who, as we had no tents, undertook 
 readily to house our troopers in barns and lofts, 
 and to receive the officers in their own dwellings. 
 We here, for the first time, heard news of 
 Lord Norwich, who was, it appeared, within 
 twenty miles of us; but Walter Dixon, who 
 was now about to leave us, brought in a pea- 
 sant who had seen the parliamentary force under 
 Major General Skippon, partially interposed 
 between us and the cavaliers. At first, Dixon 
 strongly counselled my brother to make a bold 
 push, and try to cut his way through Skippon's 
 corps ; but afterwards changed his opinion, on 
 learning that the parliamentary force amounted 
 to near five thousand men : and agreed with 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 97 
 
 Frank and the other officers, that it would be 
 better to communicate with Lord Norwich or 
 Hales, previous to taking any rash step, espe- 
 cially as by forced marches we had arrived at 
 least three days before we could be expected. 
 As soon as this was settled, Dixon took leave 
 of us, with many a profession of regard ; pro- 
 mising at the same time, if he could obtain 
 any intelligence as he passed towards Canter- 
 bury, to make every effiart to send it to us ; and 
 whenever he had concluded the business on 
 which he went, to return and join us with what 
 men he might be able to collect. 
 
 The next proceeding was — much against his 
 own liking — to cut the hair of my servant, Wil- 
 liam Fells, to clothe him in a plain suit of grey, 
 and to despatch him to find out Lord Norwich. 
 Though a resolute fellow, and as shrewd as the 
 north wind, we did not trust him with any 
 written communication ; but merely charged 
 him to tell the General of our arrival, and 
 to bring us farther orders with all speed. 
 He did not depart however forthwith ; and so 
 great a change had the sanctification of his 
 apparel wrought on my man, that I hardly 
 
 vor^. r. F 
 
98 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 knew him when, after a few minutes'* absence, 
 he came up to me, as I was standing alone, and 
 begged to speak with me for a moment. 
 
 " So please you, Sir," said he, after some 
 circumlocutions, '* far be it from me to speak 
 ill of my fellow-servants — far less my fellow- 
 soldiers ; but I cannot help hoping your honour 
 will look after Master Gabriel Jones. There 
 is no harm, I dare say, in Master Walter Dix- 
 on either ; but he and Jones have had a full 
 hour's talk every night since first he joined us ; 
 and they had a short one too before Master 
 Dixon went this evening. I know of no evil, 
 certainly ; but, perchance your honour may 
 look to the matter. I did not like to speak to 
 the Colonel, for he is so stern like ; neither, in- 
 deed, was it my place : but your honour being 
 Captain of the troop — '" 
 
 All servants have — I have remarked — a won- 
 derful pleasure in revealing useful information, 
 when it is too late ; though they take care to 
 conceal every thing they see amiss while their 
 information can be of any service to their 
 masters. I was, therefore, obliged to take the 
 tidings William Fells gave me, without grum- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 99 
 
 bling, though he had been silent till Walter Dix- 
 on's departure rendered them of no great value. 
 " Well, well ! William, I will look to it," 
 I replied ; and accordingly, as the only means 
 of turning the information I had received to 
 any account, before the day was half an 
 hour older I called Master Gabriel to me, 
 and asked him suddenly the nature of his 
 conversation that evening with our late com- 
 panion. I thought I could distinguish, at first, 
 a certain rosy hue springing up in that worthy's 
 cheeks, unlike their usual sallow tint, and 
 rather indicative of detection ! but, whether he 
 had any thing to conceal or not, GabrielJones 
 was never at fault for a lie ; and looking up in 
 a moment with a placid expression of benign 
 satisfaction, he replied : — 
 
 " I was giving him the receipt for the salve, 
 Sir — praised be God, that made me the hum- 
 ble instrument of helping a fellow-creature; 
 and, moreover, one who, though once a bitter 
 malignant, is now disposed worthily to restore 
 the monarchy upon a reasonable and restricted 
 basis, like your honour and other well-dis- 
 posed persons. I could say something upon 
 
 F 2 
 
100 HENRV MASTERTON. 
 
 that score, if your honour were inclined to 
 listen — something touching the kingdom of 
 Christ. I could pour forth manna and fatness, — 
 salve — not alone such as that which heals the 
 wounds of the flesh, like that which nightly I 
 applied to the shoulder of sweet Walter Dixon ; 
 but salve that cures the bruised spirit. I 
 could, — yea, verily, I could — ^^ 
 
 " Stop, stop ! good Gabriel,'"* interrupted I, 
 " pour it not forth upon me ; for, at present, 
 neither is my spirit bruised, nor is my stomach 
 disposed for manna or fatness ; but rather fol- 
 low to the public-house, since all things are 
 prepared to guard against surprise, and serve 
 your master, who is there, probably waiting for 
 his dinner, with as keen an appetite as I have." 
 
 Gabriel ventured no reply ; but, casting up 
 
 his eyes with that mingled look of pitying con- 
 tempt and self-righteous sorrow, which is ever 
 the refuge of the fanatic and hypocrite when 
 he cannot or dare not answer, he followed 
 to the house of general entertainment, and 
 prepared to do the office of carver, which 
 had been imposed upon him since we left 
 Masterton House, partly from the scantiness 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 101 
 
 of unemployed attendants — partly to keep 
 the worthy valet's talents for intrigue out of 
 mischief by sufficient occupation. On the pre- 
 sent occasion, however, before the table was 
 cumbered with the 'pabulum whereon to exer- 
 cise his arm, a strange servant appeared in rich 
 but tasteful livery, craving, with soft and well- 
 tutored inflections, to speak with Colonel Mas- 
 terton, if such were the name of the officer com- 
 manding his Majesty's loyal regiment of caval- 
 ry, then at Penford-bourne. When brought to 
 my brother, and bade to deliver his message, 
 he informed him that the Lady Eleanor Fle- 
 ming, the lady of the manor, having notice that 
 the two sons of Lord Masterton were then in 
 the village, leading a regiment of cavalry to 
 reinforce Lord Goring, she prayed them, for 
 kindness and courtesy's sake, to use her house 
 as their home, during the time of their stay, 
 and to command her means in any way which 
 might prove useful to the cause in which they 
 were engaged. 
 
 So polite a message required a polite reply ; 
 and my brother begged the messenger to in- 
 form his lady, that, as soon as possible, either 
 
102 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 his brother or himself would wait upon her, to 
 thank her personally for her courteous atten- 
 tion. He pointed out, however, that some time 
 must necessarily be spent in the quartering his 
 troops, and guarding against all dangers during 
 the night ; and he enlarged upon the difficul- 
 ties of his office so pointedly, that I very well 
 divined he intended to put on me the task of 
 complimenting the lady of the house in his 
 name. 
 
 Against this, however, I determined reso- 
 lutely to set my face ; not that I shared in the 
 least Frank's constitutional shyness, for at that 
 time of my being, full of youth and health and 
 fearlessness, I do not think I should have 
 minded presenting myself to angel or fiend, 
 or should have felt more awed by the one 
 than scared by the other. But as far as my 
 brother's character had hitherto been called 
 forth, I knew it well ; and the moment that, as 
 I expected, he began to hint, after the servant's 
 departure, that it would be better for me to go ; 
 I burst into a laugh, and positively refused. 
 Perceiving clearly that I had anticipated his 
 design, he laughed himself; but persisted in 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 103 
 
 trying by every means to induce me to under- 
 take the task, using the authoritative tone of 
 elder brother — of heir apparent — and of com- 
 manding officer — coaxing and threatening by 
 turns; but all in vain. I was resolute in my 
 disobedience ; and at length, obliged to master 
 his shyness, he set out on foot, insisting at least 
 that I should accompany him, to which I very 
 readily assented. 
 
 We were soon in the avenue leading to the 
 house. The long broad gravel walk along 
 which we bent our steps, was by this time 
 chequered by the moonbeams, and a single 
 bright star was seen in the clear blue sky 
 following the earth's bright partner, like an at- 
 tendant. A solitary nightingale too pealed its 
 many-melodied voice out of the woods hard by, 
 and every lapse of its sweet song seemed design- 
 ed to make the notes that followed sound sweet- 
 er still, by the dull silence of the momentary 
 pause. It was then the height of the month of 
 June, and there was a languid softness in the 
 air that seemed to unknit the limbs, and even, 
 touching the mind as well as the body, to 
 soften every vigorous resolution of the soul. 
 
104 HEMRY MASTERTON. 
 
 It was one of those sweet but enervating even- 
 ings when a man feels that he could refuse 
 nothing if asked by beautiful lips and a tuneful 
 voice — nothing on earth ! My brother felt it 
 as well as I ; but he would not own it, and 
 laughed at the wild nonsense that I talked as 
 we walked alon^. 
 
 o 
 
 " Well, Harry," said he, on approaching the 
 house, '*if the air has such power of love in its 
 soft breath, and if your heart be so very tender, 
 you will here have a fine opportunity of falling 
 in love — an experiment which every young ca- 
 valier of course desires to make. The widowed 
 mistress of this mansion, they tell me, is 
 fair ; and doubtless forty, according to the 
 old alliteration • and marry ! but it would be 
 a suitable match for a mad youth of eighteen ! 
 Say, does the spirit move thee that way ? as 
 Gabriel Jones would phrase it ; or would you 
 rather still preserve your liberty, and gambol 
 through all the mazes of your wild youthful- 
 ness, like that hare upon the lawn ? See how 
 she doubles along the dewy grass, and now 
 sits up in the moonlight, listening to hear what 
 mad mortals are giving a voice to this still 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 105 
 
 grove. 'Tis I, mistress puss, who never yet 
 loved any thing on earth; and my poor bro- 
 ther, whose touchwood heart would be kindled 
 into a flame by the lustre of any young wench's 
 black eye, from the Scottish border to Beachy 
 Head. Now own, Harry Masterton, that a 
 strain of music from yon open window, where 
 you see the light, would complete your ecstasy, 
 and render you perfectly fatuous.^' 
 
 As he spoke — whether he had caught the 
 first preluding tones or not, I do not know — 
 but as he spoke, the sounds of a lute came 
 floating upon the air ; and in a moment after, 
 a fine melodious voice was heard singing, thougli 
 the words escaped us. Some of the notes too 
 were lost in the distance, or heard so indis- 
 tinctly, that they formed but a low connecting 
 murmur of sweet sounds, joining, as it were, the 
 silence to the song; but still we could catch 
 the rise and fall of the air, and every now and 
 then the clear mellow swell of the singer's voice 
 poured the tide of music full upon our ear, and 
 certainly did complete the magic of the season, 
 and the hour, and the scene. 
 
 Frank paused to listen ; for no man was more 
 F 5 
 
106 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 susceptible to the influence of music than him- 
 self; and I have sometimes been tempted to 
 believe, that the internal conviction of being 
 over susceptible to every thing, was the latent 
 cause of the reserve and indifferenpe that he 
 assumed on subjects which I knew to be con- 
 nected deeply with the most powerful feelings 
 of his heart. 
 
 " She sings divinely," said he, after listening 
 a moment. " Come, Harry, let us see this 
 syren :"" and, with a bold effort he walked up 
 to the door of the house, and entered a hall, in 
 which a large party of servants were gathered 
 together. All were instantly on their feet to 
 do us reverence ; and our names being given, 
 we were led with a certain degree of osten- 
 tation, which might originate in either the 
 lackey or his mistress, through several splendid 
 rooms, in which were a num.ber of fine paintings ; 
 but at length the door of a large chamber, 
 filled with a multitude of odoriferous plants, 
 was thrown open, and we saw before us the 
 lady of the mansion. 
 
 The lamps in the room were so disposed as to 
 shed a general light over its whole extent, suf- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 107 
 
 ficient for every ordinary purpose, but faint and 
 delicate, like the perfume of the plants with 
 svhich it was mingled. Under its soft influence, 
 — though placed at one of the farther windows, 
 which the beams of the planet gleamed past, 
 but did not enter — with a lute resting on the 
 floor beside her, and supporting her left hand, 
 which hung languidly by her side — sat a lady, 
 the easy line of whose half-reclining figure, as 
 she gazed forth upon the moon, might have 
 vied with the choicest efforts of art. Yet the 
 attitude was so perfectly natural, so mingled 
 of grace and simplicity, that it was only like 
 that of a lovely child in one of its moments 
 of transient repose. The sound of our steps 
 roused her from her reverie ; and rising grace- 
 fully, she dropped the head of the lute against 
 the pile of cushions on which she had been 
 sitting, and advanced a few steps to meet us. 
 
 Never, certainly, did I behold a more beau- 
 tiful creature than she who stood before us at 
 that moment. What she might have been a 
 few years earlier, I know not ; but I can hardly 
 suppose she was so lovely as she then appear- 
 ed, though with her the first budding charm 
 
108 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 of girlhood was gone. She was still, it is ttue, 
 in the spring of life, and had never known an 
 hour of that withering autumn which strips us 
 of our green freshness ; but it was the spring 
 verging into the summer. She had per- 
 haps counted eight-and-twenty years ; but it 
 seemed as if those years had been the hand- 
 maids to her beauty, and each had added some 
 new grace. Tall, and probably, as a girl, very 
 slim, she had now acquired a rounded fulness 
 in every limb, which painters, I believe, call 
 contour. There was nought of heaviness about 
 it ; all the graceful delicacy of form remained : 
 — the small foot and ancle ; the soft, slender 
 wrist, and taper fingers ; the waist of scarce a 
 span ; while the rest of the figure swelled with 
 an easy line of exquisite symmetry into the full 
 beauty of maturity. Her features were small 
 and regular ; cut in the most exact proportion, 
 yet soft ; though so clearly defined and exqui- 
 sitely modelled, that on the straight nose and 
 arching upper lip one might have fancied 
 traces of some sculptor's chisel, before the mad- 
 ness of passion had wished the lovely statue 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 109 
 
 into life. The eyes were deep, deep blue ; but 
 the length of tLa dark eyelashes by which they 
 were shaded, made them appear almost black. 
 They were of that kind which seem cold and 
 freezing till lighted by some ardent passion, 
 and then shine forth all fire and soul. Hers 
 however, never, that I saw, bore that look of 
 coldness ; while her lips seemed formed to ex- 
 press joy ; and in an hour, I have beheld a hun- 
 dred different shades of pleased expression hang 
 sporting on their ruby arch — from the soft, 
 almost pensive smile, which took its tone from 
 the pure colour of her eyes, to the gay laugh 
 whose merry music rang gladdening to the very 
 heart. 
 
 Her dress exposed more of lier figure than I 
 was accustomed to see displayed, and it struck 
 me strangely, as if something had been forgot*— 
 bat who could regard her dress, when she her- 
 self was there ? 
 
 With ease and courtesy, she advanced to 
 meet us ; and giving her hand to my brother, 
 bade him welcome. As she did so, she fixed 
 her eyes upon his fine features and broad splen- 
 
110 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 did brow; and there seemed something that 
 struck her much in his aspect, for her gaze 
 was succeeded by a deep crimson blush, and a 
 momentary embarrassment, which added to 
 that under which he himself laboured. 
 
 It passed away, however, in an instant : and 
 turning to me, she welcomed me also to her 
 house, declaring how delighted she was to see 
 us ; how high were her hopes that the cause of 
 royalty might triumph, supported as it now 
 was by all that was noble and gallant in the 
 nation ; and how sincerely she prayed that 
 she might have our society for some days 
 longer. 
 
 My brother replied briefly ; but his eyes 
 seemed from the first to have caught fire from 
 hers ; and never did I behold such admiration 
 in his looks before. Something in the presence 
 of that lovely woman appeared to have called 
 forth the energies that slumbered in his bosom ; 
 and while the desire of pleasing prompted the 
 endeavour to please, the degree of timidity 
 which her manner towards him evinced, gave 
 him that confidence which was all that his own 
 demeanour ever wanted. All that he said 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. Ill 
 
 too, during the course of the evenign, was 
 as clear, distinct, and well expressed, as if 
 it had been composed beforehand ; and while 
 he spoke, she seemed to drink in the tones 
 of his voice with an eager attention, which 
 offered a honied flattery that no language could 
 have rendered sweeter. What she had ex- 
 pected to meet with, I do not well know ; whe- 
 ther she had thought to see in Colonel Mas- 
 terton some swaggering cavalier or raw soldier, 
 full of great oaths and strange excesses, or had 
 pictured to herself one of those mere machines 
 of war, which have no more business in a saloon 
 than a cannon — but at all events, it was evi- 
 dent that she was surprised, and that the na- 
 ture of her surprise was no way disagreeable. 
 From it she soon recovered, however, and re- 
 sumed that easy tone of high and finished 
 breeding, which was habitual to her. Not 
 that that tone — which generalizes all common 
 minds — had deprived her demeanour of the pe- 
 culiar and distinctive character which strong 
 feeling or strong intellect preserves under any 
 education. 
 
 In her manners there was a softness, an ease. 
 
112 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 and a kindness, which I defy reserve or shyness, 
 however rooted, to have resisted ; and her con- 
 versation was so varied — at times so gay, with- 
 out being noisy, and at others so feeling, with- 
 out being sad, that whatever was the character 
 of her hearer's mind, whatever was his mood at 
 the moment, he could not help finding some- 
 thing in harmony with his own sensations, some- 
 thing to ^ouch, to interest, or to amuse. She was 
 indeed a syren, as Frank had called her ; and 
 though something that I did not well under- 
 stand guarded my heart against her witchery, 
 I sat by amused, and watched how she re- 
 moved one shade of reserve after another from 
 my brother's mind, and taught it to shine out, 
 with all its powers heightened and refined by 
 new feelings, which neither he nor I dreamed 
 could so soon take possession of his heart. 
 
 She, I doubt not, with woman's intuitive 
 perception, at once saw and knew the deep 
 and powerful passions which that heart con- 
 cealed ; and felt her own capability to rouse them 
 into action. I believe, too, that she proposed 
 at first, but to trifle with him as she had trifled 
 with many before ; and to win for her vanity, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 113 
 
 that most grateful of all flattery to woman, the 
 excited love of a strong and vigorous mind. 
 But women often deceive themselves in regard 
 to their own strength, while they calculate on 
 the weakness of others ; and striving alone to 
 make a slave, often give themselves a master. 
 Lady Eleanor Fleming had met with many 
 men in the world handsomer, gayer, brighter, 
 than Frank Masterton ; had brought them to 
 her feet, and laughed their passions to scorn ; 
 or coldly pretended she had not seen their 
 growing love. But she had never met one like 
 my brother. There was a depth, a strength, 
 a sternness in his nature, that could not be 
 moved without effect, that must act powerfully 
 whenever it did act ; and, though she put 
 forth all her charms, and habitually entered 
 upon the game she had taught herself to play, 
 she seemed to feel before long, that she had 
 staked upon its issue what she had never for a 
 moment risked before — her own heart. 
 
 After we had sat for a short time, wearing 
 away the moments in conversation, that im- 
 perceptibly threw down all the barriers of for- 
 mal reserve which the shortness of our ac- 
 
114 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 quaintance had left, she rose, and giving Frank 
 her hand, " You must eat with me, and drink 
 with me, Colonel Masterton,*" she said, " and 
 then 1 will suffer you to wear off the weariness 
 of your long march in repose. Your cham- 
 bers are prepared, and — Nay, I will take no 
 refusal,"'' she added, seeing my brother about 
 to decline her proffered hospitality. " Did 
 you think you could enter my house without 
 becoming a prisoner ?" 
 
 " A captive, I am afraid," replied my bro- 
 ther in an under-tone. But she proceeded 
 without noticing the little gallantry of the 
 speech. 
 
 '' No, no, sir ! Here are your head-quarters. 
 There is plenty of room in this house for all 
 your immediate followers ; and till you go, you 
 are my guest. When the day comes that calls 
 you to the field, I will see you depart, and 
 speed you with my prayers ; and should chance 
 bring you back, crowned with victory, to the 
 dwelling of poor Ellen Fleming, I will weep 
 my joy for — for — for the triumph of loyalty 
 and honour. And now to supper, gentlemen. 
 I know not why that meal, which seems to close 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 115 
 
 our day of active existence, should be the 
 gayest of all our meetings.'' 
 
 " Perhaps,"" replied Frank, " because it comes 
 when the cares, and the labours, and the dan- 
 gers of the day are all over, and nothing re- 
 mains but enjoyment and repose.'' 
 
 " It may be so," she answered with a sigh ; 
 and led the way into an adjoining chamber, 
 where a table was laid with viands, which I 
 neither particularly noticed at the time, nor 
 shall attempt to recapitulate here. The wines 
 indeed were not to be forgot ; for all the most 
 exquisite vintages of the Rhine, the Rhone, 
 and the Garonne, were there ; and in a state of 
 perfection which I had never before, and per- 
 haps never since have tasted. 
 
 Frank drank deep. He was usually mode- 
 rate to a fault ; but now, he seemed to seek by 
 every means to raise his spirit from its sleep. 
 He drank deep ; but not too deeply. Reason 
 reeled not on her throne; no perception was 
 clouded, no faculty obscured ; but on the con- 
 trary, the dull reserve which shadowed him 
 was cast away at once ; and his mind shone 
 forth in all its native splendour. The fair 
 
116 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 syren at whose side he sat, put forth all her 
 powers ; but whether in light wit, or deep feel- 
 ing, or refined thought, or elegance of language, 
 she found herself outdone by the young soldier 
 she strove to conquer ; and at last, driven for 
 recourse to simple beauty, as her only means 
 of triumph, she sat and smiled, supreme at least 
 in that, not unwilling to yield the palm in all 
 the rest to one whom she viewed with plea- 
 sure, still mingled with surprise. Perhaps too, 
 the evident admiration with which she was her- 
 self regarded — the certainty that her presence, 
 like the light of the sun waking into being 
 the beauties of creation, called forth all the 
 splendour she looked upon, made her pleased 
 with a display of powers which were brought 
 into action by herself. 
 
 Surprise was the predominant feeling in my 
 own bosom at all that I saw and heard. I was 
 aware indeed of the deep stores with which 
 my brother had treasured a mind of immense 
 capabilities ; but I had never dreamed of see- 
 ing those capabilities so speedily turned to ac- 
 count, those treasures so easily brought forth, 
 and so splendidly displayed. I had never in- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 117 
 
 deed seen him fail in any thing to which he 
 bent his energies, but I had never fancied that 
 those energies could be roused even for a mo- 
 ment by a woman's smile. For a time, I bore 
 my share in the conversation ; but as so great 
 and sudden a change came over my brother, I 
 became silent, and sat and listened in no small 
 wonder. Lady Eleanor permitted no pause. 
 She sought not indeed any longer to shine. 
 Either skilfully contented with the advantage 
 she had gained, she struck not one useless blow 
 for a won victory ; or giving herself really up 
 to pleasure, she strove to enjoy to the utmost 
 such conversation as she seldom met. She suf- 
 fered not her part, however, to flag ; but with 
 quick and easy brilliancy, supplied materials 
 for a thousand brief bright sallies ; and. run- 
 ning up and down the diapason of human wit 
 and feeling, seemed to try every tone of my 
 brother's heart and mind, like a skilful per- 
 former on some new fine instrument. 
 
 I believe Frank had almost forgot that 1 
 existed; and for more than an hour, he conti- 
 nued a conversation in which, though he shone 
 more tiian any, the object of his shining 
 
118 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 was not at all himself, while it must have 
 been still evident to Lady Eleanor, that the 
 spirit of all this brightness emanated from her 
 own eyes. At length, his look happened to 
 fall upon me; and whether it was, that that 
 circumstance suddenly recalled our former days 
 and his former character — whether he felt 
 ashamed of a gaiety at which he had often 
 sneered, or feared that his bosom was of glass, 
 and that I should see the new passions that 
 were working disowned within, I know not ; 
 but he sudderly paused, resumed his chilly 
 reserve, and taking leave of our fair hostess for 
 the night, retired to the apartments prepared 
 for us, to confer with the quarter-master, who 
 had been sent for during our supper. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 119 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The chambers assigned to us were large 
 and lofty, and communicated with each other 
 through two spacious tiring-rooms ; in one of 
 which sat the quarter-master and a Serjeant, 
 ready to receive orders and to make their re- 
 port. Nothing, however, had occurred to dis- 
 turb our night's repose. No news had been 
 received of either Goring or Skippon. William 
 Fells had not returned ; and the reconnoitring 
 parties which had been sent out to beat the 
 country, had met with no enemy, but, on the 
 contrary, had heard reports that the whole 
 force of the royalists had marched towards 
 London. A thousand rumours were of course 
 current through the country ; some declaring 
 that a battle had been fought on Blackheath, 
 
120 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 the Parliamentarians defeated, and the King 
 re-established in London ; others stating that 
 Fairfax had outmanoeuvred Lord Norwich, got 
 in the rear of his army, destroyed the bridges, 
 and cut off his supplies. By one account 
 Hales had been seen proceeding with all speed 
 towards France to negotiate with Cardinal Ma- 
 zarin, and by another the fleet had entered the 
 Thames, sailed up to London, and threatened 
 to fire upon the city if the Monarch were not 
 released. It is not necessary here to enquire 
 how many drops of truth were mingled with all 
 this ocean of falsehoods, but from the very cir- 
 cumstance of nothing being clearly known, ex- 
 cept that no troops had been seen for some 
 days within ten miles of the village, we in- 
 ferred that the enemy were farther from us 
 than we had been at first led to imagine. 
 The country also was stated to be generally 
 loyal; and in many places in the immediate 
 vicinity of Penford-bourne, the peasantry had 
 been found arming in the King's favour. 
 
 With these quieting assurances, we retired 
 to bed. I, having lost my valet, was obliged 
 to undress myself in silence, a thing wonder- 
 
HKNTIY MASTERTON, 121 
 
 fully disagreeable, when one has accustomed 
 oneself to wind up the day by one of those 
 drowsy gossipings, which are the best passports 
 to the land of sleep : but as an indemnification, I 
 could hear through the open doors of the tiring- 
 rooms, godly Gabriel Jones holding forth to his 
 master on the perfections of our fair hostess. 
 
 " She is, in truth, a goodly and a glori- 
 ous creature ; a cunning and miraculous piece 
 of work ; and were it not that her servants 
 declare that she is as pure and undeflled in 
 spirit, as she is beautiful in form, she is one of 
 those whom it would befit young gentlemen to 
 avoid, for fear of temptation. Verily, as I saw 
 her but now, crossing the corridor to her bed- 
 chamber just opposite, with her two maids 
 lighting her across — verily I was moved, and 
 said to myself, Lo ! the Queen of Sheba."'' 
 
 Frank listened in silence, as he usually did, 
 distilling all he heard through the alembic of 
 his own brain ; which — however mingled and 
 compounded might be the mass poured into it b}^ 
 the ear — generally contrived to separate the real 
 spirit, from that with which it was adulterated. 
 How long Gabriel was suffered to discourse, 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
122 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 and what were the inferences which my brother 
 drew from his holdings-forth, I know not, for 
 I soon paid tribute to the son of Erebus, and 
 heard no more ; nor were dreams wanting to my 
 sleep with all their strange vagaries — dreams, 
 which sometimes tell the secrets of his own 
 heart to the sleeper, long before his waking 
 eyes would dare to pry into that dark cabinet, 
 which the thief-like visions of the night break 
 open at a blow. I know not well what they 
 were on this occasion, but a confused crowd of 
 painful images passed across my mind, the most 
 predominant of which was, that Lady Eleanor 
 Fleming had stabbed Emily Langleigh before 
 my eyes ; and that my brother held my arms, 
 while the assassination was committed. So 
 strong was the impression, that I started up, 
 and before I was well awake, grasped my sword. 
 But all was darkness round me ; and after gaz- 
 ing about for several minutes upon the blank 
 vacancy, endeavouring to call to mind where 
 I was, I again lay down, and slept with less 
 disturbed repose. 
 
 The sun was high before I awoke, and start- 
 ing up, I hastened half dressed to my brother's 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 123 
 
 chamber, unwilling that either he or I should 
 seem to neglect our military duties in the soft 
 comforts of our new quarters ; but the apart- 
 ment was vacant, both door and window were 
 open ; and as I turned to quit the room, Ga- 
 briel Jones entered, as if to aid in dressing his 
 master. He seemed — for it was never possible 
 to ascertain whether the look he put on was 
 any thing more than seeming — as much sur- 
 prised as myself, to find that Frank, who was 
 naturally not very matutinal in his habits, had 
 risen before me. 
 
 " It is not yet the sixth hour," said he, " at 
 which time he charged me to rouse him. But 
 verily, his honour does well to watch, with his 
 light burning," added the knave in the tone of 
 a dull bagpipe. " Does not the apostle say — " 
 
 Without waiting for the text, I hastened back 
 to my own chamber, completed my toilet, and, 
 running down stairs as fast as possible, turned 
 my steps towards the village. A complication 
 of shrubberies and winding walks, with high 
 screens of neatly-trimmed laurel and holly, 
 swept away to the right hand of the avenue ; 
 and, fancying that if I could make my way 
 G 2 
 
124 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 through, I should reach the regiment in half 
 the time which the other road required, I en- 
 tered the first gravelled path I found, and sped 
 onward like light. I got into such a labyrinth, 
 however, that I was soon obliged to turn back ; 
 and in a moment after, as I was seeking my 
 way out, I heard my brother's voice speaking 
 quick and eagerly. I was walking rapidly, 
 when the sounds first struck my ear ; but from 
 an instinctive feeling that he would wish no 
 listeners to his words but the person to whom 
 they were addressed, I suddenly stopped and 
 looked for some way to extricate myself from 
 the shrubbery. 
 
 There appeared no side path however, and 
 before I had determined whether to go back or 
 advance, I caught the sweet tones of Lady 
 Eleanor ; they were lower than those of my 
 brother, but more distinct, and my pause had 
 given the two time to come nearer, so that be- 
 fore my utmost speed could carry me away, 
 both her answer and a part of my brother's 
 rejoinder had reached my ear. In my haste 
 what was said carried no distinct meaning to 
 my mind. It was one of those impressions, the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 125 
 
 memory of which gradually becomes stronger 
 than the thing itself; and though at first 1 
 scarcely marked the import of what passed, I 
 remembered the moment after, the very words 
 which had been used. 
 
 " What indeed would not woman sacrifice 
 for a man she loved ? '' said Lady Eleanor — 
 " but 1 speak on hearsay," she had added in a 
 gayer voice, " for I never yet felt what love is." 
 "Nor I," replied my brother, "Nor I till—" 
 I turned away, as I have said, as fast as pos- 
 sible ; and, as they walked slowly, I was soon 
 out of earshot. For some way I went on with 
 the speed of light, but the sounds which I had 
 heard kept returning upon my memory ; I could 
 not doubt the meaning of what had been said, 
 and the tumult of thoughts and feelings which 
 filled my bosom and my brain, soon moderated 
 my pace. " What, what was it," I asked my- 
 self, " that Frank could dream of in his present 
 conduct ? Was he mad ? Was he delirious ? 
 or was he worse ?" But I little knew as yet 
 the effect that love could have upon a mind like 
 his, nor believed that a heart that had hitherto 
 seemed incapable of feeling it, could yield itself 
 
126 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 blindly up to the wildest impulses of a passion 
 which he had affected to contemn a thousand 
 and a thousand times. 
 
 1 paused and pondered for long, not feeling 
 myself called upon in his absence to make great 
 speed towards the general quarters. My walk 
 however ended in the village, and I proceeded 
 to make such arrangements as seemed necessary. 
 Nearly an hour elapsed before Frank appeared. 
 He was pale and thoughtful, somewhat absent 
 and careless in his commands, but at the same 
 time peremptory in his tone, and more reserved 
 than ever. 
 
 The officers, who were generally either the 
 sons of our greater farmers, or of the minor 
 gentry in our neighbourhood, did not of course 
 presume to take any notice of their comman- 
 der's conduct ; and I was naturally desirous of 
 seeing every thing proceed as usual, and did all 
 in my power to relieve the evident agitation of 
 mind under which my brother was suffering. 
 At first he seemed somewhat embarrassed by 
 my presence, and once spoke to me in a harsh 
 and imperious tone, which I might have foolish- 
 ly resented under any other circumstances ; but 
 feeling for him more than he knew, I refrained 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 127 
 
 from aU opposition, remedied some contradic- 
 tory orders he had given ; and, when all the 
 military business of the morning was over, went 
 back with him towards the house, to wait the 
 coming of our messenger from Lord Goring, 
 whose return we expected would take place 
 about midday. 
 
 Frank walked slowly on for some way, lean- 
 ing on my arm in silence, and bending his eyes 
 upon the ground. He was not so much ab- 
 sent as embarrassed ; and his mood seemed one 
 of those varying uncertain tempers of mind, in 
 which a man, unable to approve and unwilling 
 to condemn himself, would willingly seek for 
 sympathy were he not afraid of meeting cen- 
 sure, and would gladly find any one to encourage 
 that for which he has himself found no excuse, 
 yet is quite ready to quarrel with any person, 
 rather than quarrel with his own conduct — a 
 mood, in short, which, like some of the sultry 
 days between spring and summer, may pass oft* 
 in sunshine, in rain, or in thunder, according 
 to a breath of wind. He looked up more than 
 once, after we had entered the park ; and there 
 seemed a struggle in his bosom, whether he 
 should speak or not. But that flowing confi- 
 
128 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 dence, which is generally a quality of youth, 
 was contrary to all his habits, and he remained 
 silent for some time. At length, when we were 
 perhaps within ten paces of the house, he 
 paused and grasped my arm, saying, in a tone 
 that went to my heart, " Harry ! my dear 
 brother, I am not so happy as I have been ; 
 and something tells me that you and I have 
 left happiness behind us." 
 
 I did not well know what to say, without 
 betraying that I knew more than he communi- 
 cated ; and, I am afraid that I answered him 
 with a common-place — a thing for which he 
 of all men felt the most disgust. " Nonsense, 
 Frank,'" I replied : " We shall have orders to 
 march before this day's noon ; and before to- 
 morrow's, you will have forgotten all these sad 
 thoughts." 
 
 He looked at me sternly for a moment, and 
 then turning away, as if I could not comprehend 
 any thing he felt, he abruptly entered the 
 house without speaking. 
 
 Before I had time to add any thing either, to 
 what I had said, we were both in the dining- 
 hall, and no longer alone. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 129 
 
 If he had not met from me the kind ci 
 sympathy he desired, he received from the 
 mistress of the mansion a sort of silent conso- 
 lation, which was but too irresistible. What 
 had passed between them, while out, I know 
 no farther than I have stated ; but it seem- 
 ed as if the lady felt that there was some- 
 thing to be compensated. Perhaps she had 
 given him pain — perhaps had done so inten- 
 tionally ; for it is sometimes both sweet and 
 politic to lay up something to atone, when 
 atonement is easy. At the same time, as if by a 
 mutual understanding, no notice was taken of 
 their former meeting that day. It remained, 
 as far as they knew, a secret confined to their 
 own bosoms ; no very safe link of connexion 
 between two such beings as they were. At 
 all events she received him to her break- 
 fast-table with a glad, yet diffident glance ; 
 and while she welcomed me gaily and lightly, 
 she spoke to him with that soft and tender 
 manner, which few hearts are well enough for- 
 tified to resist. Wit and brilliancy towards 
 him were all laid aside; and the sole fasci- 
 nation she used was gentleness. But it did 
 g5 
 
130 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 fascinate, and the more because those who 
 saw it, felt that no other charm was wanting, 
 though all but it were unemployed. There 
 was a languid paleness, too, over her counte- 
 nance, which spoke of feelings disturbed, and 
 which that alchemist, Vanity, might turn both 
 to matter for hope and interest, while an occa- 
 sional quick flush, which rose in her beauti- 
 ful cheek when her eyes suddenly met his — 
 and which could not be feigned — gave the 
 value of truth to more than what her words, 
 and all that her manner implied. 
 
 The silence and reserve which had come 
 over my brother once more, soon wore away 
 under the influence of those eyes and that 
 voice; and I felt that, were I not present, 
 much would be said that many an after- 
 thought could never cancel. But, though the 
 situation was not a pleasant, one ; and, though 
 I would have given worlds to have been where 
 they wished me — far away — for I trust their 
 wishes sent me no farther — yet I determinately 
 held my place; for I sincerely believed that 
 Frank had lost his better judgment for the 
 time, and I hoped that my presence would 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 131 
 
 keep him from farther rashness. How far I 
 was justified in that conclusion, and how far the 
 irksome company of a third person may not, 
 like weight upon an arch, make strong love the 
 stronger, I do not know ; but at all events I did 
 my best, at the expense of feeling that I made 
 myself exquisitely disagreeable, to keep my 
 brother from plunging into engagements which 
 in his situation were madness indeed. Before 
 noon I trusted also that commands to march 
 immediately, would reach us from Lord Goring ; 
 and I hoped that time and absence, and ex- 
 citing scenes, would eradicate from my brother's 
 mind a passion, which I deemed, from its brief 
 existence, could not be very deeply rooted. 
 
 God knows I felt not to the full how dis- 
 interested were my hopes, for I went not on 
 to calculate all the consequences which must 
 follow either course my brother pursued. I 
 only saw that he was nourishing a passion that 
 would meet my father's strongest opposition, 
 and which, if persisted in, would bring misery 
 and disunion into the bosom of his family. 
 The possibility of my brother resisting my 
 father's expressed will, I never dreamed of; 
 
132 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 nor do I think did he ; but I saw that, any 
 way, Frank was laying up a store of uncom- 
 fjit for himself; and I did not pause to con- 
 sider what benefit his conduct might produce 
 to me. 
 
 I sat, therefore, and joined in the conver- 
 sation, affecting not to perceive that aught but 
 common courtesy influenced my two compa- 
 nions. There was a consciousness, however, in 
 their own bosoms which caused them perhaps 
 to suspect me of seeing more deeply than the 
 surface; but the suspicion was evidently but 
 transitory. Lady Eleanor often turned her 
 eyes upon me with a scrutinizing glance, but I 
 took care to betray no knowledge; and the 
 conversation, principally carried on by her and 
 Frank, like a clear sunny stream passing over 
 the pebbles of its bed, touched lightly upon a 
 thousand topics, mellowed them in its own trans- 
 parent depth, and lighted them with the bright 
 rays which poured through the current of the 
 discourse, from the fire in their own hearts. 
 
 Noon approached and passed ; and some 
 grand massive clouds, heavy and detached in 
 the broad expanse of blue, floated over the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 133 
 
 sun, and gave a coolness to the air. Frank, 
 tired of my presence, and impatient under the 
 excitement of his new sensations, proposed to 
 call our troopers to saddle, and manoeuvre the 
 regiment on the village green. " In hopes," 
 he said, " fair lady, that we may have an in- 
 spector-general, whose soft eyes will see but 
 few faults in our poor efforts." 
 
 " If there be any faults,^' replied Lady 
 Eleanor, " I. will try hard to see them, I con- 
 fess — for I feel afraid," she added in a lower 
 tone, " of being but too blind." 
 
 "In sweet charity, be blind still, dear Lady,'' 
 replied my brother in the same voice. " I f^a:, 
 in this world, opening one's eyes is always 
 a day too soon, especially to faults," he added 
 aloud, " and therefore I beg that you will keep 
 your eyes fixed upon my brother Harry's troop, 
 which he has brought into more perfect disci- 
 pline than any of the rest — nay, to say sooth, 
 his fellows go through their manoeuvres with :i 
 precision only to be equalled by the leaiiied 
 cats at a fair. This is one of our troops of 
 harquebusiers, and, good faith ! to see the wor- 
 thies prime their pieces, handle their matches. 
 
134 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 give fire, and file off to let the second, third, 
 fourth, or fifth rank do the same, one would 
 think them th e priests of some papistical church, 
 they set to their work so reverently." 
 
 A slight flush came over the cheek of our fair 
 hostess, but it passed away in a moment. 
 
 " Do not abuse my troop, Frank,"" replied 
 I ; "it is the one will do best service in the 
 field, depend upon it." 
 
 " Nay, I do not abuse it," he answered, with 
 that spice of bitterness which he could seldom 
 repress. " I say they are most uncommonly 
 exact'; and when they get their carbines to 
 their shoulders^ they put me ever in mind of 
 fiddlers in an orchestra — nay, turn not red, 
 Harry — I mean that they keep their time as 
 well. But hie thee to the regiment, my good 
 brother and adjutant ; turn them out on the 
 green, and, as soon as this fair lady is prepared, 
 I will escort her down to witness our evolu- 
 tions." 
 
 Such a command could not be disobeyed, 
 though its motive was evident enough. Lady 
 Eleanor even requested Colonel Masterton, 
 by no means to stay for her, when his pre- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 135 
 
 sence might be wanted elsewhere — but her 
 tone did not much enforce her words. Stransre 
 indeed it is that such things should be ! yet — 
 while we all think we are speaking one tongue — 
 there are a hundred different languages brought 
 in, to modify our mother English, even in the 
 simplest conversations. There is the language, 
 so often talked of, of the eyes ; and there is 
 the language too of the tone, and the language 
 of the gesture, and the language of manner, 
 and the language of emphasis. In short, every 
 one in this world speaks Babel, pure Babel; 
 and very, very often the whole force of a thou- 
 sand other tongues is employed to contradict 
 the faint, false words that are dropping conven- 
 tionally from our lips. 
 
 Lady Eleanor begged my brother, on no 
 account to remain for the purpose of escorting 
 her; but the tone, the manner, the eyes said 
 stay ; and Frank had suddenly become possess- 
 ed of a fund of courtly politeness, which would 
 on no account suffer him to leave her side. 
 
 Our horses had for some time been standing 
 saddled at the door; and mounting with all 
 speed, the commands I had received were soon 
 
1.36 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 obeyed, the troopers in their saddles, and the 
 regiment drawn up. 
 
 We had still to wait long for the ap- 
 pearance of the lady, whose preparations struck 
 me as somewhat tedious. After a time, how- 
 ever, she appeared, riding a beautiful pawing 
 jennet, accompanied by my brother on horse- 
 back, and followed by more than one servant 
 mounted and dismounted. Frank was all life 
 and spirit, and very different was his manner of 
 command that day, from that to which the 
 regiment was accustomed. His animation had 
 of course its effect upon the men, and all our 
 evolutions were performed with an ease and 
 brilliancy I had never before witnessed. Lady 
 Eleanor's jennet, well trained, though spirited, 
 stood quietly through all the noise and bustle 
 of our brief review. At length, after speaking 
 a few words to her for the purpose of ascertain- 
 ing whether it would also stand fire, Frank gave 
 the word for the two troops of harquebusiers, 
 which in those days formed a part of every 
 regiment of cuirassiers, to blow their matches 
 and each line to give a parting salvo, ere they 
 filed ofl". The order was promptly obeyed ; 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 137 
 
 but, at the discharge of the very first troop, 
 Lady Eleanor's jennet took fright, and galloped 
 like the wind over the green towards the park. 
 The rider kept her seat with admirable horse- 
 manship as long as the animal remained upon 
 the level ground ; but, wild with fear, and know- 
 ing its own pasture, the jennet attempted to 
 leap the low brick wall that separated the 
 grounds from the village, caught the coping 
 with its heels, and fell, throwing the lady to 
 all appearance lifeless on the turf. In an in- 
 stant — before I had time clearly to see what had 
 passed — Frank's horse had cleared the wall 
 at a little distance, and he was by her side. 
 The regiment, and the whole world, I believe, 
 were forgot ; and raising her in his arms, he 
 bore her across the park towards the house, 
 followed by a crowd of servants and of the 
 inferior neighbours, who on the commencement 
 of the review had collected within the park 
 wall to see the sight. 
 
 The command in chief, of course, fell upoiv 
 me, in my brother's absence ; and assuming 
 a degree of his own sternness, to repress some 
 merriment which his eagerness to succour the 
 
138 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 lady had occasioned, I went through the cus- 
 tomary forms, and once more dismissed the 
 troopers to their quarters. When all was 
 concluded, I too hastened up to the house, in 
 truth really anxious for the safety of the lovely 
 woman, who, though undoubtedly the willing 
 cause of my brother''s infatuation, was, I be- 
 lieved, unconscious of the evil likely to result 
 from the passion whose seeds she was busily 
 planting in his bosom. I was admitted by the 
 servants to the withdrawing-roora, to which she 
 had been conveyed, and found her lying on the 
 pile of cushions, beside which we had first 
 beheld her. A maid and my brother were all 
 who were present ; but the lady was by this 
 time perfectly recovered ; and was answering 
 Frank's repeated inquiries by assurances that 
 she was unhurt, and by a thousand thanks for 
 the assistance he had afforded, and the kind- 
 ness he had shown. The assistance, indeed, 
 she would insist upon believing to be far greater 
 than Frank would allow — indeed far greater 
 than that which really had been rendered. The 
 horse, she declared, would certainly have trodden 
 upon her as she lay, had not Colonel Masterton 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 139 
 
 come to her assistance ; and though my brother 
 pledged his word that the poor jennet, whose 
 fright had caused all the alarm, had gone half 
 over the park before he could possibly arrive, 
 she clung to the idea of his having rescued her 
 from danger, and magnified the debt to justify 
 the greater gratitude. 
 
 Although she had escaped without any far- 
 ther injury than such as mere fear might be 
 supposed to occasion. Lady Eleanor continued 
 to recline during the rest of the day ; and, with 
 her beautiful limbs stretched upon her moorish 
 couch, with every accessary of beauty and 
 luxury, a languid softness in her eyes, and an 
 air of negligent exhaustion over her whole 
 form, she looked like a fairer type of that 
 famed Egyptian queen, who made the mighty 
 of the earth her slaves. 
 
 Thus hour passed after hour ; and Frank 
 remained chained to her feet — chained, ay ! 
 no negro slave with golden collar graven with 
 his master's name ever bore the badge of servi- 
 tude more plainly. No actual summons it is 
 true, called him from her. We had establish- 
 ed a line of sentries up the avenue ; and re- 
 
140 HENRY MASTF.RTON. 
 
 ports were made from the regiment every hour. 
 Our horses stood ready at the gate, and all 
 things were prepared to march at a moment's 
 notice, on the return of our messenger. But 
 the very uncertainty of how long the happiness 
 he enjoyed might last, made it but the more 
 intoxicating, the more dangerous, to my bro- 
 ther ; and the hourly expectation of a summons 
 to quit charms which had so captivated him, 
 and to abandon feelings that he had never 
 known before, perhaps made those feelings 
 shoot their roots more deeply and rapidly into 
 his heart than they would have done under 
 any other circumstances. 
 
 However that might be — whatever might be 
 the cause of the suddenness of the c!iange which 
 had come over his whole character, and had 
 transformed him from the most reserved, and 
 calm, and cold, of God's creatures, to the most 
 ardent, quick, and impassioned — so it was ; and 
 I verily do believe, he would even then have 
 taken a distaff and have spun, had those lovely 
 lips demanded it. 
 
 Nor was the lady herself less touched with 
 the same fire. There was certainly more of 
 
HENRY MASTKRTOX. 141 
 
 manner in her conduct, — she had more com- 
 mand over herself — a power which, while it 
 shaded in her, with a veil of female delicacy, 
 the same flame which blazed forth in his every 
 word and look, gave an air of art and study to 
 her demeanour, which at that time almost led me 
 to believe that she was playing a part. But a 
 thousand touches of deep feeling escaped her, 
 even then, which after- knowledge of the world 
 has taught me to judge more rightly; and thence 
 to feel sure, that, at that period of which 1 
 speak, she loved deejjly, and for the first time. 
 Her's was the passion of one who had long 
 trifled with love, without ever feeling it ; but 
 who at last was profoundly wounded by the 
 weapon she had used against others; while 
 Frank''s was the first, deep, powerful, madden- 
 ing affection of one, who, long immovable, was 
 hurled headlong from his strength at last. 
 
 The hours passed on, and no tidings arrived 
 of our messenger. I could not suppose that 
 any evil chance had befallen him ; for he was 
 one of those happy people that invariably find 
 some way to get out of a scrape. Being also 
 dressed with puritanic simplicity, totally un- 
 
142 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 known in the country, and guarded by as much 
 shrewd cunning as ever fell to the share of 
 mortal, he had every chance of reaching Lord 
 Norwich's head-quarters unopposed : but still 
 he did not return ; and I was uneasy at his 
 absence. There was that sort of vague uncer- 
 tainty about our situation — that consciousness 
 of a thousand dangers surrounding us, together 
 with that ignorance of the shape they might 
 assume, or the side on which they might attack 
 us, which to my feelings was worse than almost 
 any more positive and ascertained peril. With 
 my mind unoccupied, my passions disengaged, 
 I could not rest satisfied with such a state 
 of things ; and seeing that Frank was growing 
 totally careless on the subject, and only re- 
 garded each hour''s report as interruption to 
 sweeter discourse ; hopeless also of rousing him 
 from his apathy, I proposed to go forth to 
 reconnoitre the country myself. 
 
 Frank consented with the best grace in the 
 world; and Lady Eleanor, though she mur- 
 mured something concerning my indefatigable 
 zeal, did not oppose my going with any of those 
 words that command. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 143 
 
 I mounted therefore, and sallied forth, fol- 
 lowed by a Serjeant's guard ; but though for 
 more than three hours I examined the country 
 between the village and Maidstone ; enquired 
 of every peasant, and climbed every eminence; 
 strained my eyes in examining the wide country 
 round, and exhausted all my wit in catechis- 
 ing many an ignorant, obstinate, thick-headed 
 boor ; I could obtain no information, either of 
 Goring or Skippon, and returned convinced 
 that both were much farther from us than we 
 had first been taught to believe. 
 
 As we came nearer to our quarters, the old 
 castle on the hill caught my eye ; and it imme- 
 diately struck me, that from its commanding 
 situation I should gain a better view of the 
 country, if I could but climb to some of the 
 still standing pinnacles, than could be obtained 
 from any of the neighbouring points. The hill 
 upon which it was placed, was very steep and 
 rocky, but clothed with wood, from the little 
 stream (or bourne, as they called it) at its 
 base, to the green platform on which the old 
 fortress stood. The space between indeed was 
 varied by many a bold face of cliffy sandstone and 
 
144 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 many a detached bank unclothed by herb or flow- 
 er ; but round the whole, as I have said, swept 
 the remains of some old forest, which probably 
 at one time had covered all the neighbouring 
 country. Through this wood appeared one or 
 two paths, winding amongst the bold masses of 
 rock, that broke the rounded green tops of the 
 oak and the beech, apparently terminating at the 
 esplanade above ; and by one of these I deter- 
 mined to make my way up to the castle. 
 
 Leaving my horse therefore below, \vith the 
 troopers, who sheltered themselves under the 
 shade of the wood side, I began to climb 
 the hill. It was by this time verging towards 
 the evening, but with the sun still high and 
 powerful, so that the ascent was somewhat 
 fatiguing, and I paused more than once to 
 recover breath. One of my halts, however, 
 was disturbed by several stones rolling down 
 upon my head, as if some one were walking 
 along the steep and narrow path above ; and, 
 looking up, I strove to discover who or what it 
 was that preceded me, but 1 saw no one ; and 
 as it might very well be a sheep, a goat, a deer, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 145 
 
 or even a bird, I proceeded without farther 
 notice. 
 
 Before I had reached the top I perceived 
 that the path which I was following wound 
 away by an easy slope to the farther side of the 
 hill ; and at the same time, directly before me, 
 — with its grey stones overhanging a mass of 
 rocky cliff not a hundred yards from me, but 
 with a somewhat precipitous ascent between — 
 I saw through the trees the angle of the high- 
 est tower — which had still resisted even Time, 
 that great commander, who destroys, by his un- 
 remitting siege, more castles than the sap and 
 mine. The sally-port, for ages so carefully 
 barred and watched, now stood wide open, for 
 the entrance of whatever being chance might 
 bring to invade the territories no longer guard- 
 ed by any thing but solitude and desolation. 
 
 The beaten path, as I have before said, took 
 another turn to reach some other part of the 
 building; but, making myself a way over the 
 roots of the trees, and the- high bank which 
 intervened, I soon reached the postern, which 
 man's foot seemed to have left untrodden 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 for long years ; and, climbing the grassy and 
 ruined staircase, that wound through the thick 
 wall, I reached the battlement above. Thence 
 I cast my eyes over the whole country which 
 lay beneath my feet, spread out in sunshiny 
 magnificence. The many roads which intersect 
 that rich part of England, wandered away 
 from my feet in a thousand directions, like the 
 minute traces which the lizards leave behind 
 upon the fine sand ; and I could perceive, here 
 and there, a group of country people plodding 
 quietly homeward ; but nothing to cause alarm 
 or to excite suspicion. The evening was not far 
 advanced, but, nevertheless, the great orb of 
 day had so far declined as to group the trees 
 and woods in broad masses of light and shade, 
 while the grand floating clouds, which would 
 fain have been thunder-storms, cast immense 
 blue shadows over detached portions of the 
 landscape, contrasting splendidly with the 
 laughing daylight, in which the whole of the 
 surrounding scene rejoiced. 
 
 My object certainly was more to examine 
 than to admire; but after having gazed in vain. 
 
HIINRY MASTHR-iON. 147 
 
 as far as discovery went, I sta} cd some time to 
 let my eye rest upon a scene, the calm, rich, 
 peaceful extent of which fell upon my heart 
 with a sensation of stillness so deep as almost to 
 be melancholy. 
 
 h2 
 
148 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 As I descended the stairs, with a slow and 
 somewhat thoughtful step, I heard a rustling 
 below, as of some persons moving through the 
 long grass and brambles, which now tenanted 
 the court-yard ; and, luckily, before I had 
 shown myself, the sound of people speaking 
 reached me, and I paused. My progress, so far, 
 had not given the alarm to the speakers. They 
 continued their conversation ; and the ruined 
 walls of the tower in which I stood, collected 
 every word that was spoken in the court below. 
 
 " Now, then,"" said one voice, " on wdth thy 
 taU, man — though why thou shouldst fear to 
 speak before Jonah, I know not." 
 
 " For fear he should not bury what he hears 
 in a whale's belly,'' replied another. 
 
HFNRY MASTERTC 149 
 
 " Pshaw ! He is honester than thou art/' 
 rejoined the first. 
 
 '* The more reason he should not hear my 
 counsel,"" said the second. " But let us get up 
 to the top of that tower, and see whether the 
 Amalekitish horsemen have turned." 
 
 " Nonsense !" replied the other, " they have 
 gone back to their quarters. Besides, Jonah 
 would give us notice if they were co ning here. 
 So on with thy tale, for I am in haste. He has 
 bit at the bait, th >u sayest, like a famished 
 trout at a water-fly. What more .?" 
 
 The first sound of the voices had made me 
 pause ; and as they went on, there were many 
 reasons induced me to await patiently the ter- 
 mination of the conversation which the speakers 
 had begun. It was evident, from what they 
 said, that besides the two men below, there 
 was another watching at no great distance, 
 and from the clink of spurs, as well as from 
 various other jingling sounds, it appeared clear 
 that the speakers were well armed. In the 
 first place, then, I did not choose, out of 
 reach of assistance, to encounter unnecessarily 
 two men whose words at once showed them 
 
150 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 to be enemies to my party, with a third 
 within call. In the next place, I believed them 
 to be enemies who assumed the character of 
 friends ; and in any circumstances, whether as 
 open or concealed foes, I felt myself perfectly 
 justified in making myself master of their 
 plans, in whatever way chance might furnish. 
 I paused, therefore, and listened with all my 
 ears ; and never doubting that if they discovered 
 me, immediate and deadly strife must be the 
 consequence, I drew myself back into the 
 dark turn of the stair, just above a spot where 
 one side of the wall was broken away, deter- 
 mined over the gap thus left in the masonry, to 
 hurl the first who attempted to come up, should 
 their proposal of climbing the tower be renewed. 
 
 " Well, then,*" continued one of the voices, 
 which I felt positively certain was that of my. 
 brother'^s valet, Gabriel Jones, " I told thee that 
 he bit at the bait like a famished trout ; but I 
 did not tell thee that the bait seemed marvellous 
 willing to be swallowed." 
 
 " I knew that, without thy telling," replied 
 the other voice, of whose sounds I did not feel 
 near so sure, though I thought I had heard them 
 
HENRY MASTRRTOy. 151 
 
 also before. He spoke in a sharp rough tone, I 
 remarked ; and it seemed to me, that though 
 nothing was said which could give offence, 
 there was something in the general subject of 
 the conversation, which pained and irritated the 
 person who now spoke, in a degree which 
 scarcely brooked control. " I know that, 
 without thy telling. Think'st thou I have 
 known her from her childhood, and watched 
 every turn of her mind till I could divine at a 
 glance why her ribbons were of a particular 
 colour, or why her kerchief was turned aside ; 
 and did not know that she could not sit beside 
 any male thing for ten miautes, without striv- 
 ing to make it her slave ? Ay ! and with such 
 power does she strive, that I never yet saw 
 the man that could resist it." 
 
 " And thou thinkest that she is never touch- 
 ed herself by this same vanity of love ?^' de- 
 manded his companion. 
 
 " As the diamond that cuts glass is wounded 
 by the glass that it cuts," replied the other, 
 " so has she been ever." 
 
 " But so is she not now," replied the voice I 
 took to be that of Jones, with the most deter- 
 
152 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 mined accent : " for I tell you, Master Avery, 
 that she is now as much in love with him as 
 woman ever was with man. I have lived my 
 day, and not for nothing, having known many 
 women in a godly way ; and, I say, she is 
 more in love with him even than he with her. 
 Ay, and as I know you have set her apart as 
 your share of the spoil, and have heard say 
 that you are as sinfully possessed with her 
 fleshly beauties as the rest, and propose to wed 
 her—" 
 
 " I wed her !" cried the other, in a tone of 
 bitter negation — "I wed her! — I would as 
 soon wed a viper that has stung me. I tell 
 thee, man, she has done me wrong ; and I will 
 have my revenge. But wed her ! — no, no, no, 
 no, no ! I will wed her rich lands and manors ; 
 but the marriage contract shall be a commission 
 from the council of state, and she shall be 
 named therein a sequestered malignant, giving 
 harbour and countenance to vain and malicious 
 persons, rebellious to the state and houses of 
 parliament. Wed her ! But she can wed no 
 one without an act passes for allowing to all 
 women the consolation of two husbands. But, 
 
HENRY MASTERT(.\. 153 
 
 pshaw ! tliou talkest nonsense : she loves him 
 not. She plays with him as she has played 
 with many a thousand others : she feels it not, 
 whatever she makes him think." 
 
 " I see the tidings give thee pain to hear,'' 
 replied his companion ; " and I have heard 
 that thou didst once love her thyself."" 
 
 " I did ! I did !"" answered the person he 
 called Avery, in a tone, and with a vehemence 
 which showed how much passion overmastered 
 reason ; " I did love her — madly — passionately. 
 But I tell thee now, there is not in my bosom 
 a particle of love as small as the grain of 
 dust which escapes the careful housewife's eye. 
 No ; there is no love, but some hate ; and 
 I would give two fingers of my riglit hand, — 
 ay ! of this right hand which serves me well 
 when occasion calls for it — to think that she 
 herself were wounded as thou sayest. Oh, to 
 see her writhe under the passion she had so 
 often mocked ! to see her burn with the same 
 mad love ! to see her hopelessness ! or even 
 more," he added, in a low, deep voice, " to see 
 her infamy ! " 
 
 " There is a hopeful chance of it all," an- 
 h5 
 
154 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 swered the other, with a sort of common-place 
 tone of knavery, that discorded strangely with 
 the deep and terrible passions which the voice 
 of his companion had betrayed. '* There is 
 a hopeful chance of it all, if things be managed 
 rightly." 
 
 '' Pshaw !'' cried the other ; " I tell thee she 
 does not — she cannot lovC;- it is not a part 
 of her nature : she knows not what it is.'' 
 
 " Mark me then, good Master Avery,'' re* 
 plied the first. " Why sits she even now with 
 her hand clasped in his ? Why did she lean 
 her head upon his shoulder and weep like an 
 infant within this hour, while telling him some- 
 thing that my ears could not catch, through 
 the chink of the door ?" 
 
 The other paused for some moments before 
 he replied, as if the tidings that he heard took 
 him by surprise ; and I could hear him make 
 two or three strides through the court-yard 
 with a heavy foot. 
 
 " Ha!"*' cried he, as he did so; "ha! then 
 she is caught indeed ! Little did I think," he 
 added, pausing — *' Little did I think when I 
 took care to let her hear of his coming, and 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 155 
 
 to spread the tidings of his beauty and gal- 
 lantry, in order that she might invite him to 
 her house, and entangle him in those bonds 
 of amorous coquetry, which I well knew she 
 would weave, — little did I think she would 
 outdo my desires, twine the spider threads she 
 has spread for so many round herself as well 
 as him, and be caught in her own net, as well 
 as fulfil my purpose of detaining him at her 
 feet. But mark me ! mark me well, Matthew 
 
 Hutchinson " 
 
 Matthew Hutchinson ! I thought ; then 
 after all, it is not Gabriel Jones ! Yet I could 
 have sworn to the voice ; and as these thoughts 
 passed through my brain, curiosity got the 
 better of prudence, and taking a step for- 
 ward, I leaned over the side of the broken 
 wall, to gain a view of the speakers. I did 
 not succeed, however; and, in the effort I 
 displaced one of the large stones, which — to- 
 gether with a mass of loose cement and some 
 shrubs that had struck their roots therein — 
 rolled away and fell close to where the others 
 must have stood. Possibly they might catch a 
 glimpse of my hand also, as I grasped the cor- 
 
loG HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ner of the tower ; for the moment after came 
 the words, " We are overheard !" followed by 
 a loud, long whistle; and I could hear retreat- 
 ing steps, making their way through the brush- 
 wood. 
 
 Instantly springing from my concealment, 
 and resolved to run all risks for the pur- 
 pose of discovering who were the speakers, I 
 attempted to follow; but the court was per- 
 fectly clear by the time I reached it. I darted 
 from one part of the building to the other with 
 the speed of light, but in vain. I rushed out 
 ' upon the esplanade, but there was no one there. 
 Not a step could I hear ; not a human being 
 could I discover ; not a motion could I see 
 amongst the shrubs, except when I startled a 
 thrush from the leaves, and had to blush 
 for half-drawing my sword upon a bird. 
 All was clear, and calm, and still, with the 
 evening sunshine sleeping quietly upon the 
 grey ruin and the green ivy, as if the step 
 of man had never disturbed the silence of the 
 place since the ruin and the ivy had first 
 clung together — quiet, as if no human voice 
 had broken the hush, since those courts and 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 157 
 
 halls had been trod by the busy and the gay 
 of other days. I could hardly believe my 
 senses ; and again ran rapidly over every part 
 of the building, which indeed seemed to offer 
 small opportunity of concealment. But the 
 second examination was as unsuccessful as the 
 first ; and now, resolving to ascertain in some 
 degree whether Gabriel Jones was really the 
 speaker whose voice I had heard, by seeking 
 him at the manor-house, I ran down the hill 
 like lightning, and springing on my horse, or- 
 dered one half of the troopers to spread them- 
 selves round the edge of the wood on every 
 side, and keep vigilant watch till they were re- 
 lieved, stopping every person who came down 
 from the hill above. 
 
 In the mean while, accompanied by the 
 other half, I put my horse into a gallop, 
 and never drew a rein till 1 arrived at the 
 steps of the mansion. I entered without ce- 
 remony, and encountering one of Lady Elea- 
 nor's tiring- women in the second hall, I asked 
 if she had lately seen Colonel Master ton's 
 valet. She replied at once that, she had 
 passed him not long before, as he sat reading 
 
158 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 on the window-seat in the lobby. It was 
 his usual place of saintly meditation, one of 
 those broad window-seats, retiring thither from 
 the unholy merriment of his fellow-servants in 
 the hall. To the spot the woman mentioned, 
 then, I hastened ; and undoubtedly there sat 
 Gabriel Jones, with a bible in his hand, and 
 bearing not the slightest mark of having quit- 
 ted the house during the day. I fixed my 
 eye keenly upon him ; he met it without a 
 change of aspect. I spoke to him ; he replied 
 in a calm unruffled tone. 
 
 What, then, could be the meaning of what I 
 had heard ? I knew that I had no talent for 
 remembering either voices or persons ; and 
 therefore I doubted myself. Yet the tone and 
 manner had been so like that of the canting 
 varlet who followed my brother, that I had not 
 for a moment doubted the identity of him and 
 the person I had heard speak, till I found the 
 latter was called Matthew Hutchinson. 
 
 I have reported the conversation of the speak- 
 ers strictly as I heard it ; but it may be now ne- 
 cessary to say a word or two in regard to the 
 interpretation I put upon it. Without some 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 159 
 
 latent link of connexion between myself and the 
 persons who spoke, their words would have been 
 uninteresting enough, but I had fancied myself 
 absolutely sure that there was such a link, and 
 while that certainty lasted, what they had said 
 appeared of no shght import. Under the 
 first impression, I had believed that the whole 
 conversation referred to my brother and Lady 
 Eleanor Fleming. It was applicable in almost 
 every respect, as long as Gabriel was the un- 
 doubted speaker ; but now it might refer as 
 well to some other persons I had never seen ; 
 and entering my own chamber, I stood musing 
 for a moment, in a state of doubt and uncer- 
 tainty impossible to be expressed. In thinking 
 over the conversation I had overheard, how- 
 ever, I began to remember several circum- 
 stances that were apparently at variance with 
 my first idea, that the lady spoken of was Lady 
 Eleanor Fleming. No names, it must be re- 
 membered, had been mentioned but those used 
 by the two strangers to each other. One of 
 the speakers had clearly inferred, that the wo- 
 man of whom he spoke was bound by indis- 
 soluble ties to some one else. Now Lady Elea- 
 
160 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 nor was a widow, the mistress of her own per- 
 son and fortune — at least, so I had been taught 
 to beUeve ; — and though I felt sure that her 
 union with my brother would cause eternal 
 discord between my father and Frank, yet in 
 every other respect she was qualified to become 
 his wife. But such did not seem to be at all 
 the situation of the person I had heard men- 
 tioned ; and combined with the fact of my 
 finding Gabriel Jones sitting quietly at the 
 manor, this circumstance led me to believe 
 that I had grossly deceived myself: nor could 
 I help acknowledging that I must have done 
 so, even while the sound of the hypocritical 
 villain's voice kept ringing in my ears, and 
 still assuring me that I was right. 
 
 The whole business, in short, confused and 
 perplexed me ; and at length, after sending to 
 recall the troopers from the hill, and having 
 somewhat rectified the disarray of apparel 
 which my expedition had occasioned, I en- 
 tered the withdrawing-room, in which my bro- 
 ther still sat by Lady Eleanor. I doubt whe- 
 ther he had ever moved, except to reach the 
 book which he held in his hand, and from 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 161 
 
 which he had been reading to her some se- 
 lected passages from Boccaccio. None of the 
 extracts which that book contained, indeed, 
 could offend the most modest ear ; but through 
 the whole there was a strain of soft voluptuous 
 sweetness, somewhat difficult for a ynmg man 
 to read safely to a lovely woman. E^ery 
 one, I believe, must have felt that there are 
 some things, which without having aught of 
 positive evil in them, are dangerous from their 
 very sweetness. Soi^^^e pieces of music, for in- 
 stance — some pieces of poetry tliat unnerve the 
 heart and weaken the moral en^'-gies of the 
 mind. They are lil e cerlain perfumes which, 
 tliough sweet and balmy beyond all words, 
 relax and overpower all the corporeal facul- 
 ties. Such was the book, out of which Frank 
 was reading. All that was evil had been care- 
 fully left out, but there was softness enough 
 remaining to afford passion a bed of flowers. 
 
 Lady Eleanor lifted her head, and my brother 
 ceased reading, as I entered ; but there seemed 
 to be a new change come ov?r them. All was 
 calm. There was ever}- now and then a glance 
 of deep affection passed between them, which 
 
162 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 I, who had beheld all that went before, mark- 
 ed and understood. I saw that their mutual 
 hearts had poured themselves forth to each 
 other, and that all had been spoken. But it 
 is probable, that had any other persons come 
 there suddenly, without previous knowledge, 
 they would have seen nothing in the con- 
 duct of those two to excite a suspicion of 
 what was passing in their bosoms. There 
 was, it is true, in my brother's aspect, a 
 degree of anxiety mingled with melancholy; 
 but that might have been accounted for from a 
 thousand other sources ; and, though his eye 
 often wandered over vacancy, as if it com- 
 muned with things we could not see, and his 
 words occasionally fell somewhat wide of the 
 subject, yet the state of the country, and the 
 responsibility of his command, might easily ex- 
 plain such absence of mind. It was only to 
 my ear a certain softening of the tone when he 
 spoke to her; only to my sight a peculiar 
 glitter of the eye when it rested on her lovely 
 form, that told what v^^as the theme of his 
 thoughts, when his mind seemed wandering 
 afar. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 163 
 
 As a matter of course, when first I returned, 
 he asked some questions concerning my expe- 
 dition ; and I, in reply, simply stated the fact, 
 that I had made a considerable circuit through 
 the adjacent country, and that I had gained no 
 information of the enemy. I gave no particu- 
 lars, and he sought none ; and all the news 
 that he could furnish forth amounted to 
 the statement that William Fells had not yet 
 returned, accompanied by some expressions 
 of wonder at his absence. Little anger, how- 
 ever, or impatience, mingled with his surprise ; 
 he was evidently growing quite contented with 
 his present situation ; his mind, concentrating 
 all its energies upon one object, saw and was 
 willing to see no other ; and I doubted not 
 that he wished William Fells might remain 
 wherever he was till doom's-day, provided he 
 himself might remain where he was, also. 
 
 To me Lady Eleanor was all that was kind 
 and attentive ; and there was a degree of timid 
 softness in her manner, as if she feared me, and 
 yet would fain have won my regard, which in- 
 terested me in despite of myself. I felt as if I 
 had injured hei, by believing that she was the 
 
164 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 person to whom the unseen speaker had refer- 
 red ; and I was again obliged to acknowledge 
 to myself, that I had no just cause to suppose 
 her the original of the very unfavourable portrait 
 they had drawn. That she had acquired a 
 sudden and extraordinary influence over my 
 brother, was all that I could lay to her charge ; 
 but that she herself shared the passion she in- 
 spired, and brought along with her beauty, and 
 talent, and fortune, and rank, at least in equal 
 proportion to the endowments which Frank 
 possessed, I could not doubt. If, therefore, 
 the event of their love was unhappy, she was 
 to be pitied more than blamed ; and I reasoned 
 myself into believing, that I had done her gross 
 wrong in attributing to her a character, affixed 
 by two persons I did not know, to some one whose 
 name had never been mentioned. My manner 
 and my tone, which I am not sure had been at 
 first so polite as either her station or her hos- 
 pitality required, gradually softened into more 
 kindly demeanour, under these reasonings. In 
 addition to all the powers she naturally pos- 
 sessed of pleasing, she became an object of 
 interest and thought to mc. I could not help 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 165 
 
 looking upon her, I knew not well why, as one 
 whose destiny was someway to be linked to 
 me and mine ; and at the same time, the vague 
 conviction of a thousand dangers and obstacles 
 made me set down in my own mind her portion 
 in our common lot, as one of unhappiness. I 
 beheld her then, with the feelings wherewith 
 we always regard any one doomed to suffer. 
 But those sensations were still so undefined, 
 as to take no part from the charms of her 
 society ; and enchanted (though not to the 
 same degree as Frank) with her grace, her 
 beauty, and her wit, I yielded myself to an 
 evening of enjoyment. 
 
 The hours flew rapidly ; and at supper, which 
 was announced soon after my return, the con- 
 versation became of that varying kind — some- 
 times brilliantly gay, sometimes grave almost to 
 sadness ; sometimes interrupted totally by those 
 breaks of deep thought that words cannot, 
 must not embody — which is perhaps more pow- 
 erful in working upon the heart's feelings, than 
 the brightest of man's wit alone. Reserve and 
 unkindness, and I am afraid duty too, were for- 
 gotten, and all was free kindness and ease. I 
 
166 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 was the first to put a check upon it, by ob- 
 serving most ill-ad visedly — more as a thought 
 that found unconscious voice than a premedi- 
 tated remark — "Who would have thought, 
 Lady Eleanor, that at this present moment we 
 have known each other but four and twenty 
 hours ?" 
 
 My own heart was free ; and Heaven knows, 
 1 meant no offence ; but even as I spoke the 
 blood mounted up over her neck, and cheeks, 
 and brow, and forehead, to the very roots of 
 that deep brown hair, that fell in hyacinthine 
 masses round her face. 
 
 My brother started, and for a moment turn- 
 ed upon me a half-angry glance, as if he thought 
 I meant to break in upon the pleasure of the 
 moment by an implied reproof; but the an- 
 noyance which I began myself to feel at my ill- 
 judged remark, and which showed itself by this 
 time in my face, evinced my innocence of all 
 offence ; and he answered, " What is the real 
 difference, Harry, between four and twenty 
 hours and a life, or even an eternity? No- 
 thing, believe me! Time is but a name. It 
 is what is done in time that is the substance. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 167 
 
 What are twenty-four centuries to the hard 
 rock, more than twenty-four hours to man, or 
 twenty-four minutes to the ephemera ? Ay ! 
 even in our own existence, there are periods in 
 which space, computed b}^ its true measure of 
 thoughts, feelings, and events, mocks the penury 
 of man's artificial scale, and comprises a life- 
 time in a day. What matters it to me, how 
 often the sun rises and sets? Since his last 
 plunge into the depths of space, I have lived 
 more years than ever I knew before." 
 
 Such a declaration I felt would bear no 
 comment in his present state of mind, and I 
 kept silence, praying heartily that our messenger 
 might return before the next morning. Time wore 
 on, however, and he did not come ; and late at 
 night we retired once more to our apartments. 
 The doors of our dressing-rooms were open as 
 before. On the previous night I suffered them 
 to remain so, in consideration of the heat ; but 
 hearinoj Gabriel Jones once more beajin his 
 homily on the beauty of our hostess, with some- 
 what of unpleasant minuteness in his comment-^, 
 I shut the door rather impatiently, feeling that 
 I had no right to overhear my brother's conver- 
 
168 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 sation with his servant. What passed, there- 
 fore, I know not ; but it went on long, now- 
 rising into a higher tone for a moment, now 
 dropping into a low murmur. At length I 
 heard Frank exclaim, ' Villain ! is such thy 
 morality ? What meanest thou ? What wouldst 
 thou have me do ? Speak out. Sir ! No in- 
 uendoes.'" 
 
 The reply was couched in so low a tone, 
 that even the whisper of it scarcely reached 
 me ; but, the moment after, I distinctly heard 
 a blow, followed by the words, " Scoundrel 
 and slave !" spoken in the voice of my brother, 
 excited to a pitch of vehemence I had never 
 known before. '^ How dare you, for your mi- 
 serable life, dream of so base a suspicion ? 
 Away ! get thee gone ! Away, I say !" 
 
 But the valet still lingered ; and I could not 
 but hear his low and droning voice, prolonging 
 the conversation for some time after. 
 
 At length the door of the other room was 
 shut, and I endeavoured to recover that dis- 
 position to sleep, which those sounds had 
 disturbed ; but it was in vain. Before I 
 could close my eyes, I heard Frank once 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 169 
 
 more begin to move in his dressing-room, and 
 for more than an hour he continued to pace 
 up and down with a quick and heavy footfall, 
 which evidently betokened the agitation of his 
 mind. Sleep I could not, though I tried all the 
 many ways recommended to the watchful. I 
 counted endless numbers, I kept my eyes fixed 
 wide open upon vacancy, I strove never to let 
 my thoughts rest upon any one subject ; but 
 the moment forgetfulness was sinking down 
 upon me — the moment the heavy lid was 
 dropping wearily over my eye, my brother's 
 sharp irregular step roused me with a start to 
 think of all that he was suffering. At length 
 I could bear it no longer. Notwithstanding 
 his coldness and reserve, I loved him deeply 
 and truly. I felt for what I believed — what 
 I knew indeed — he experienced ; and aware 
 how much the strongest mind in such moments 
 requires consolation and support, I rose, and 
 throwing on my morning-gown, I opened the 
 door of the dressing-room. 
 
 He was still pacing up and down, habited in 
 his niglit-gear, with his slippers on his feet, and 
 his arms crossed upon his chest. The candles 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
170 HENRV MASTERTON. 
 
 had been suffered to burn untrimmed, till they 
 cast a dim and ghastly light over the room, 
 and his own face, haggard with struggling pas- 
 sions, showed a strange wild expression in the 
 pale semi-obscurity of the apartment. His 
 ear instantly caught the sound of the opening 
 door, and he turned quick upon me with an 
 expression of impatience and surprise, which 
 might at another time have daunted me. But 
 strong in fraternal regard, and resolved not to 
 importune him for his confidence, yet not to be 
 repelled in offering him consolation and assist- 
 ance, I advanced towards him, and took the 
 hand he neither yielded nor withdrew. 
 
 " My dear Frank," I said, " I cannot see 
 you so agitated, so different from what you 
 usually are, without feeling for you, and offer- 
 ing you all that is in my power to offer. I am 
 your younger brother, and perhaps not calcu- 
 lated to give you advice ; but at all events I 
 may yield you sympathy if not assistance. I do 
 not ask your confidence ; I see that you suffer ; 
 and I divine why you suffer. That is enough, 
 and perhaps more than enough. Let us act as 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 171 
 
 brothers ; and at all events allow me to give 
 you comfort if I can do no more." 
 
 He heard me to the end as usual — then seem- 
 ed to struggle for a moment between habitual 
 reserve and awakened kindness ; and at length, 
 throwing his arms round me, as he sometimes 
 had done in our boyhood, he exclaimed : " My 
 dear Harry, you are indeed worthy of more 
 confidence than my evil spirit will suffer me to 
 place in any one. That villainous, pandering, 
 hypocritical, fanatic ! " he continued, burst- 
 ing out with vehemence at some remembrance 
 that seemed to come suddenly over his mind, 
 " That villainous, pandering, hypocritical, fa- 
 natic ! The best service you could do me 
 would be to shoot him through the head. He 
 tempts me more than I believed Satan could 
 have tempted." 
 
 " Nay !"' said I, very well understanding who 
 was the person he meant, though he had given 
 him no name, " to shoot him through the head, 
 though no more than a just reward, would 
 hardly do ! but it Avill be easy to send him 
 back in irons to Masterton House. I as his 
 i2 
 
l72 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 officer will do that, and take the whole blame 
 on myself/' 
 
 *' No, no, no !"' answered Frank, with melan- 
 choly bitterness ; " What, to blab of my weak- 
 ness? to fill our stern fathers ears with his 
 son''s mad, hopeless, desperate passion ? to cant 
 about beauty and comeliness and carnal perfec- 
 tions, and to show forth how he would have 
 stayed me from going down to drink of the 
 pool, but lo ! I would not ? No, no, Harry ; 
 I have missed the move, and the villain must 
 make some mistake in his game before I can 
 give him check. Sending him back would never 
 do — 'twould but be giving him a rod to smite 
 me. No, Harry, no ! But what would you 
 have me do, Harry ? Speak ! Not to get rid 
 of him: but to get rid of myself; to conquer 
 the inner devil, which is the worst of the two." 
 " If you ask me seriously, Frank," I an- 
 swered, " I would have you tarry in this house 
 no longer than to-morrow morning. Wait but 
 till ten o'clock. Between daybreak and that 
 hour, there will be full time for William Fells 
 to return, if Lord Goring be within twenty 
 miles. If he arrive not, conclude that some 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 173 
 
 mischance has happened, and march forward. 
 Such is your duty as an officer, and your ab- 
 sence from this place will be the best thing 
 that can befall you in every respect. You will 
 then at all events learn whether you can con- 
 quer feelings, which, as far as I see, can but 
 bring misery to all.'"' 
 
 " But without any intelligence ?" said Frank, 
 "Impossible, Harry ! Suppose William returns 
 with orders and finds us gone ?'''' 
 
 " Leave a sergeant's guard to bring him on 
 with all speed;"" replied I. " Let us march 
 towards West Mailing or Wrotham, near which 
 the cavaliers must necessarily be making head, 
 if, as we heard, they are retiring from 
 Dartford." 
 
 " I will think of it," replied Frank ; " I will 
 think of it. But yet it would seem a fertile 
 way of having our march traced, and our pro- 
 gress opposed, to leave an insignificant party in 
 this village, with a full knowledge of our route. 
 Yet I will think of it. In some circumstances 
 a choice of evils is all that is left. Fare thee 
 well, Harry ; thank thee for thy kindness, and 
 believe me, dear brother, that Frank is not 
 
174 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 always as cold as he looks. Even now you have 
 been a comfort to me, and so I will hie me to 
 my bed and sleep." 
 
 To have been so, was a comfort to me also ; 
 and though I doubted his resolution, and would 
 fain have had him yield his promise to follow 
 my advice, I dared not urge him farther ; but 
 retired to my own chamber, and pillowed on the 
 sweet thought of having soothed my brother's 
 agitated mind, I soon tasted as sweet a slumber 
 as ever I remember to have enjoyed. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 175 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I SLEPT soundly, and I slept long. It was 
 seven o'clock before I woke, and I found that 
 this morning, as well as that which preceded it, 
 Frank was up and forth before me. Little 
 doubting that his minutes of early diligence 
 would be given to Lady Eleanor, I hastened 
 down to the village; but to my surprise I 
 met him there. He was in the act, however, 
 of sendincr off a second messencrer to Lord 
 Norwich,* with orders to return the next day if 
 at all. I ventured to remonstrate as soon as I 
 could speak with him alone, pointing out, that 
 in efforts such as that in which we were en- 
 gaged, delay was always worse than rashness. 
 
 It is extraordinary what a change a few brief 
 
 * George Lord Goring had before this time become Lord 
 Norwich, and therefore the names are used indifferently ; 
 his claim to the title of Norwich never having been admit- 
 ted by the Parliament. 
 
176 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 hours will sometimes work in human beings. 
 Those whom we left the night before all gay 
 familiarity, and frank, free-hearted kindness, 
 will rise — strange moody puppets that we are ! 
 — will rise, after a few hours^ sleep, as cold and 
 distant as a stranger. I had quitted Frank, with 
 our mutual hearts overflowing with fraternal 
 affection, and the iciness of his nature so far 
 thawed, that I thought nothing could ever 
 freeze it towards me again. But now I met 
 him in the morning as chill as ever ; and as 
 soon as I spoke, he cut me short, abruptly. 
 
 " My determination is taken, Harry," he 
 replied. 
 
 " Then I hope, Frank," I said, with a foolish 
 degree of heat at finding myself so unexpect- 
 edly repelled, " that it has been formed on mo- 
 tives connected with the service of the King." 
 
 " That, Sir, is my affair," replied he, redden- 
 ing ; " I am here to command, I believe, and 
 you to obey. At least, such, I think, is the 
 import of the commissions we received at Mas- 
 terton House." 
 
 I offered no reply ; and the messenger was 
 despatched. My brother then proceeded to 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 177 
 
 make some quick and sharp inquiries about the 
 regiment, with the brief activity of a man who, 
 feeling that he has been — is — and will be — 
 negligent of some important duty, strives to 
 satisfy his conscience by a few minutes of hasty 
 application. His energy, however, soon died 
 away; and, at the end of half an hour, he 
 mounted his horse, and rode back to the man- 
 sion, without taking any notice that such a 
 being as his brother was upon the face of the 
 earth. I paused for some moments, uncertain 
 whether I would follow him thither, or remain 
 at the village with the regiment. But master- 
 ing my indignation, I at length set out, and 
 arrived shortly after himself. 
 
 To particularize the events of that day were 
 useless. My brother, feeling that he had not 
 behaved to me with the same kindness I had 
 displayed towards him, was of course more cold 
 and reserved in manner than ever. Knowing 
 himself to be wrong in a great and important 
 point, he would fain have believed me wrong 
 in the minor one of respect towards my com- 
 manding officer: for many a man escapes the 
 unpleasant task of blaming himself, when he 
 i5 
 
178 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 finds something to blame in those that show 
 him his faults. 
 
 With Lady Eleanor, however, he was all 
 joy and gladness ; and by the despatch of the 
 second messenger to Lord Goring, he seemed to 
 think that he had won another day from fate. 
 Finding myself the one too much to their hap- 
 piness, and hopeless of effecting any benefit 
 by staying, I proposed and received permission 
 to enlist what men I could from the neighbour- 
 ing villages. Thus I was absent during the 
 greater part of the morning; and, with little 
 difficulty, added nearly a hundred men to the 
 numbers of the regiment. There never was 
 such easy recruiting, for a military spirit had 
 been encouraged in the country by both parties, 
 which had spread through all orders; and in 
 every village I found a number of men, only 
 requiring a leader. Many had served before, 
 and had been disbanded ; and all were strong 
 and powerful fellows, zealous in the royal 
 cause, and ready to shed their best blood for 
 the King''s deliverance. The whole country 
 I found decidedly favourable to the Monarch ; 
 and I could not help regretting that more ac- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 179 
 
 tive and better combined measures were not 
 taken to give effect to the true wishes of the 
 people ; but so many reverses had befallen the 
 cavaliers, that the chiefs in general were either 
 timid from rebuffs, or rash from despair — were 
 either hurrying on before their means were pre- 
 pared, or delaying till they lost opportunity, 
 that magic door by which man may reach every- 
 thing on earth, if he seize the one brief mo- 
 ment that it is open before him. I could not 
 but regret — but when I thought of the con- 
 duct of my own brother, I could not wonder 
 at the ill success of the royal cause. And thus 
 indeed it was throughout that long and fatal 
 struggle, which destroyed a good King and de- 
 solated a happy country. Each man who serv- 
 ed, or pretended to serve the Monarch, in fact 
 and truth served his own passions, his own in- 
 terests, and his own prej udices first ; and then 
 gave the dregs of his obedience to his master. 
 Many loved the King, but the Parliament had 
 taught even the cavaliers that he was not to be 
 obeyed ; and the lesson was not the less de- 
 structively followed, because we affected to ab- 
 hor it. During the evening, I gave my recruits 
 
180 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 what little drilling could be forced into the 
 time ; and endeavoured, as far as possible, to 
 provide them with horses and arms ; but, of 
 course, many of them were but raw soldiers, 
 and all of them were scantily accoutred. 
 
 My brother came not near the regiment 
 during the whole day ; and all the duties fell 
 upon myself. These I performed as well as 
 I could ; and towards s\mset rode back to 
 the mansion-house, hoping that now, at all 
 events, the last day of our abode in that Circean 
 dwelling was closing in. I found both Frank 
 and Lady Eleanor more absorbed in each other 
 than ever. Her eyes when I entered were full 
 of tears; but they were soon wiped away, and 
 the evening passed as before. I never beheld 
 her look so lovely. It seemed as if all her 
 most potent charms had been reserved to shine 
 out upon that last night of our stay. There 
 was a continual variation of the colour in her 
 cheek, that had in it something strange and 
 striking; there was a degree of soul and feeling 
 in every movement, in every tone, that gave a 
 new grace to her splendid form, a new sweetness 
 to her soft thrilling voice; and in her eyes 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 181 
 
 there was a deep powerful liglit, that seemed to 
 spring from the very heart, and told of the fire 
 within. 
 
 At about eleven o'clock we rose to retire to 
 our apartments, and she bade us good night in a 
 manner which seemed to speak that she felt we 
 were going to sleep beneath her roof for the last 
 time. I augured well from it, for Frank's re- 
 solution the next day ; and felt full of hopes 
 that all might be amended which had gone 
 amiss. INIy brother entered his own chamber ; 
 and both the doors between his apartments and 
 mine, were closed by his order. His rascally 
 valet remained long with him ; and I believe I 
 was asleep before he went. My slumber was 
 light however ; and in the middle of the night I 
 woke up without any apparent cause, and could 
 not close my eyes again. What it was had 
 roused me, I do not know. I had dreamed I 
 heard a noise, but when I listened all was silence ; 
 and I addressed myself to sleep again. The at- 
 tempt, however, was in vain, and rising from 
 my bed, I approached the open window, 
 through which I could see the beautiful stars 
 shining in the purple air of a bright summer's 
 
182 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 night. It was all grand and still and solemn ; 
 and the eternal depth of space lying far and un- 
 interrupted in its transparent darkness, seemed 
 more tangible, yet more vast than in the day- 
 time, when that profound interminable expanse 
 swarming with stars, is veiled from our eyes 
 by a woven canopy of sunbeams, that curtain 
 round the world we dwell in. Having gazed 
 on the sky till I was wearied with its immen- 
 sity, my eye then fell upon the lawn, and in 
 a moment after I saw a figure emerge from the 
 shadow of the trees, with the arms seemingly 
 folded on the breast, and with a slow and mus- 
 ing step walk forward across the open ground, 
 and enter one of the opposite walks. After 
 thinking for some time, endeavouring to divine 
 who it could be, I sat down by the window to 
 mark whether it would return to the house or not. 
 The wind was westerly, and a minute or two 
 after I thought I heard the distant sound of 
 horses'* feet. I listened, and was confirmed in 
 the belief. Through the still silence of all the 
 world, I clearly distinguished the galloping of 
 several horses, borne to my ear by the breeze, 
 and alternately low and loud, as the riders 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 183 
 
 passed by the various little woods, with which 
 the country round was clothed. At length the 
 sound seemed lost, as the horses ran down into 
 the valley on the other side of the hill whicli 
 skirted the village to the west. A moment 
 after, however, it rose again much louder ; 
 and then, upon the luminous verge of the sky, 
 where the lingering rays of the last long mid- 
 summer day still tarried, as if to catch a glance 
 of their successors, I could distinguish the figure 
 of a single horseman. In an instant two more 
 appeared, and then a fourth, as if in pursuit ; 
 and on they pushed at full speed towards the 
 village. 
 
 Towards the top of that hill was stationed our 
 first picket ; and before the heads of the three 
 last horsemen had disappeared, as they descend- 
 ed the slope, there came a quick, sharp flash, — 
 another, and another ; and, a moment or two 
 after, the report of distant fire-arms. 
 
 Hurrying on some clothes, I snatched up my 
 sword, and passed through the dressing-rooms 
 to awaken my brother. I called : he did not 
 answer. I approached his bed ; it was vacant ; 
 but this, — as it had been his custom sometimes. 
 
184? HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 at Master ton House, to rise and walk forth on 
 fine summer nights — did not surprise me, and 
 the mystery of the figure I had seen upon the 
 lawn was explained ; though, at the same time, 
 this watchfulness, night after night, showed me 
 painfully the agitated state of his mind. 
 
 Without farther search, I hastened down 
 stairs, and out into the avenue. The sentry at 
 the door had heard the report, but he had not 
 seen the flash ; and bidding him tell the Colo- 
 nel, I hurried on to the village for farther infor- 
 mation. The whole regiment was now mus- 
 tering on the green, and in a very good state, 
 for such young soldiers, to repel a night-attack. 
 By the light of candles, lanterns, and lighted 
 matches, however, I beheld, in the midst of the 
 whole, my own servant, William Fells, bleeding 
 from a wound on his cheek, but, to all appear- 
 ance, not seriously injured. 
 
 His story was soon told. He had not reach- 
 ed Lord Goring, he said, notwithstanding all 
 his efforts. On setting out, he had proceeded 
 without stopping, till he was within six miles 
 of Maidstone ; and affecting to be terrified with 
 a godly horror at falling into the hands of 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 185 
 
 Goring''s crew, he had gained from the people 
 of the country full information concerning the 
 Royalists, who had halted by this time in force, 
 near Wrotham. Accordingly, having quitted 
 the direct road to Maidstone, he turned towards 
 the North ; and, as his horse was weary, de- 
 termined not to hurry, although his slow pace 
 might make him a borrower of the night. Be- 
 fore he had proceeded far, he heard the sound 
 of horsemen following; and, turning round, saw 
 a considerable party approaching at full speed. 
 As their horses seemed fresh, and his was nearly 
 worn out, he deemed it best to affect unconcern, 
 and let the horsemen pass him if they would. 
 
 When they came up, although he was per- 
 fectly prepared to be questioned as to his jour- 
 ney, he was very much surprised to find himself 
 suddenly seized, his arms pinioned, and his 
 horse's bridle turned back the way he had come. 
 He did every thing he could, the fellow said, to 
 deceive the enemy. He enacted Gabriel Jones 
 to a hair ; he talked about Egyptians and Ama- 
 lekites, and the land of Canaan, and the oppres- 
 sors of Israel ; and he even ended by singing a 
 psalm. 
 
186 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 But all would not do. His captors told 
 him they knew him well, and every thing con- 
 cerning him ; and one of them admonished him 
 sharply not to mock God's saints ; and calling 
 him a son of Belial, accompanied his warning 
 with a severe blow from the pommel of his 
 sword. 
 
 Into whose hands he had fallen he knew not ; 
 but he was carried to a village about ten miles 
 from Pen ford-bourne, and there he was secured 
 in the upper room of a house, where his soul 
 was tormented night and day with the godly 
 exercises of the devout inhabitants. He was 
 prevented from moving hand or foot by a rope 
 which, first twisted and tied round his wrists, 
 was then bound fast about his ankles, at which 
 point the ends were secured. In the morning 
 following the day of his arrest, he had bread 
 and water given him ; but the only informa- 
 tion he could gain from the person who brought 
 it was, that he was sure either to be hanged 
 or sent to the Colonies. This prospect gave 
 poor William the energy of despair ; and with 
 his teeth he absolutely gnawed through the 
 rope that bound him, ere the second day was 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 187 
 
 completely over. He next, with the very same 
 cord, once more united, let himself out of the 
 window into the stable-yard, while all the house 
 were howlino: their midnight devotions in the 
 lower room. He had still a good way to drop 
 down, he said, and sprained his leg in doing so ; 
 but this slight injury did not prevent him from 
 proceeding to the stable, nor from taking the 
 strongest and freshest horse he could find, and 
 setting off with all speed. 
 
 The sound of the animars feet was the first 
 announcement that the fanatics received of the 
 departure of their prisoner ; but, in a moment, 
 three of them were on horseback after him, and 
 the flight became a race. William, however, was 
 as good a judge of horses as ever sat in a sad- 
 dle; and having had his choice of the stable, 
 his judgment was put to the fairest test ; but 
 in the present instance it justified him fully, and 
 he still kept before his pursuers. Thus, taking 
 the old castle on the hill for his landmark, 
 which he could dimly see through the twilight 
 of a summer's night, he reached the hill above 
 the village. There, however, those who fol- 
 lowed, and who seemed to know our quarters as 
 
188 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 well as he did himself, threatened loudly to 
 shoot him if he did not stop ; and one of them 
 fired his carbine, which wounded him in the 
 cheek, as he turned his head to measure the 
 distance he was off. The shot was returned 
 by the out-lying picket; and finding that he 
 had escaped past recovery, the fanatics gave 
 up the pursuit and galloped off. 
 
 On inquiry, I found that he had been asked 
 no questions, the persons who had taken him 
 seeming perfectly as well acquainted with the 
 design of his journey as he was himself, and 
 laughing to scorn his attempts to deceive them, 
 by assuming the cant of their tribe. 
 
 He had seen no one that he knew, though he 
 declared that he had plainly distinguished the 
 voice of Walter Dixon, the companion of our 
 march ; and upon him and Gabriel Jones all his 
 suspicions fell, concerning the treachery which 
 had evidently been practised. My own doubts 
 certainly jumped with his, but, of course, I re- 
 frained from giving any opinion upon the subject 
 till we had farther proof : for why I suspected 
 Walter Dixon, I knew not ; and yet there was 
 upon my mind a conviction of his treason very 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 189 
 
 nearly as strong as if it had been the matter of 
 direct evidence. 
 
 The news of the messenger's return had, by 
 this time, reached the house, and his story was 
 just finished when my brother arrived. Frank 
 Jieard WiUiam Fells repeat his tale in silence, 
 made no comment, ordered the outposts to 
 be reinforced, the regiment back to quarters, 
 and merely remarking, that we must wait till 
 midday for the answer to his last despatches, 
 took his way back to the house. 
 
 I followed him instantly, and with the heat 
 of youth and impatience, remonstrated vehe- 
 mently against this new delay. It was clear 
 from the information which William had ob- 
 tained, that Lord Goring was encamped a little 
 to the west of Maidstone ; it was equally clear, 
 that no force of any magnitude lay between us 
 and ;;he head quarters of the cavaliers. To 
 march forward, then, appeared to me to be our 
 bounden duty, without suffering a moment^s 
 delay to snatch from us the golden boon of 
 opportunity. I urged, I remonstrated, I en- 
 treated ; while he walked on as calmly as if I 
 had been talking of antique Rome. At length 
 
190 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 I lost patience, I spoke with heat and passion ; 
 and gave Frank the advantage of my intem- 
 perance. 
 
 " Sir," he replied at length, after he had 
 heard me Avith a degree of irritating silence, 
 which provoked me still more ; " Sir, you are 
 my brother, and therefore I do not punish you 
 as your insolence deserves; but as your com- 
 manding officer, I order you to be silent." 
 
 " Well, Frank, well," replied I, "my patience 
 may last till twelve oVlock ; but if we do not 
 march at that hour, I may be tempted to do, 
 what both you and I may regret." 
 
 He made no reply, but entered the house ; 
 and I could see by the light which stood in the 
 hall, that he was as pale as death. Day was 
 now beginning to break, and hurrying back to 
 the village, I took care that William Fells 
 should get repose and attendance, and then 
 busied myself, till the usual hour of breakfast 
 returned, in all the little details which every 
 man may find in plenty to occupy spare mi- 
 nutes. I then went back once more to the 
 mansion-house, where, I found my brother alone 
 in the eating-hall, gazing thoughtfully from the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 191 
 
 window. Shortly after I had entered, a ser- 
 vant announced that Lady Eleanor, finding 
 herself somewhat indisposed, had not yet risen ; 
 but begged that her guests would not wait for 
 her, but would excuse her absence from their 
 morning meal. 
 
 Frank coloured and then turned pale ; and 
 sitting down to table, the breakfast passed in 
 almost total silence. Lady Eleanor appeared 
 as we were about to rise ; and it was evident 
 that she had been weeping long and bitterly, 
 though many an after effort had been used to 
 efface the traces of that sad employment. We 
 were all under considerable embarrassment, 
 and the only question asked was, when Lady 
 Eleanor's sweet voice demanded — hesitating as 
 it struggled with tears — when the march of the 
 regiment was to take place, as she feared by 
 the movements she had heard, that it was 
 ordered early. 
 
 My brother replied, that it certainly would 
 not proceed till after midday. It wanted but 
 a few brief hours to that time ; but even 
 the certainty of those short hours seemed a 
 relief to our too captivating entertainer; and 
 
192 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 as soon as I could do so politely, I left them 
 to themselves, and after wandering some time 
 through the park, went back to the village, 
 and wasted away there the time till noon. 
 
 During these moments of meditation, I 
 blamed myself somewhat severely for my con- 
 duct to Frank in the morning ; and though 
 determined, if he still lingered with Lady Elea- 
 nor, to take a decided part myself, and join 
 Lord Goring, I at the same time resolved to 
 speak to him coolly and respectfully, and as far 
 as possible conceal my conviction of the weak- 
 ness which actuated his delay. 
 
 I now suffered noon and half an hour more to 
 go by, in hopes of the messenger's return ; but 
 at the end of that time, 1 turned my steps back 
 to the house. Its beautiful mistress was sitting 
 beneath one of the large trees on the lawn, 
 playing idly, but gracefully, with some of the 
 green branches that drooped within her reach ; 
 while Frank, stretched on the grass at her feet, 
 raised his eyes to hers as they conversed, and 
 seemed drawing life and spirit from those dark 
 orbs alone. Doffing my hat to the lady as I 
 approached, I reported to my brother, in as 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 193 
 
 few words as possible, that the expected mes- 
 senger had not come. 
 
 " Well, then, we must wait till he does,**' was 
 all the reply he thought fit to make. 
 
 " I am sorry that you think so, Colonel Mas- 
 terton,"" I answered, " for you cannot but be 
 aware that every moment lost in the present 
 state of the King's affairs, is perilous in the 
 extreme ; that Lord Goring himself enjoined all 
 speed upon our march, and that he is even now 
 probably struggling in vain with a superior 
 enemy, because the reinforcements which ought 
 to arrive — " 
 
 " Sir, do you dare to dispute my com- 
 mands i*"" cried my brother, starting suddenly 
 upon his feet, with his face glowing like fire. 
 " By heaven, if you presume to show any 
 more of this insubordinate spirit, I will chas- 
 tise you as I would the lowest trooper in the 
 regiment."' 
 
 There was a vehemence in his gesture, a fury 
 in his eyes, a loudness in his tone, that seem- 
 ed scarcely sane. His whole nature appeared 
 changed, and I almost feared his passion would 
 have carried him to the extreme of striking me. 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
194 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 It luckily happened, however, that his intem- 
 perance was remarked by one to whom he 
 appeared to have transferred that command 
 which he once had possessed over himself. 
 
 " Frank ! Frank ! for God's sake cease," cried 
 Lady Eleanor, forgetting all reserve in her 
 alarm, and laying her hand upon his arm, 
 '' If you love me, use not such language towards 
 your brother. — Nay, Colonel Masterton, do I 
 plead in vain .?" she added, seeing him about to 
 speak again. 
 
 *' Not so, dear Lady," he replied ; " I was 
 but about to give an order to the captain of 
 the third troop. — Captain Masterton," he pro- 
 ceeded sternly, " you will be so good, as with 
 all diligence to reconnoitre the country between 
 this place and Wrotham, and particularly be- 
 tween Ditton and Mailing. Gain what intelli- 
 gence you can ; and when you have done so, 
 report your return with all speed. Let me not 
 be disobeyed." 
 
 My determination was now taken ; and far- 
 ther discussion seemed to be perfectly vain. 
 The commands which I had received, it was 
 clear, were given by my brother only as a means 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 195 
 
 of employing me elsewhere, and of covering the 
 real motives of fresh delay — delay which might 
 bring upon his character, as a gentleman and 
 a soldier, reproaches which no after conduct 
 would ever wipe out. I could have wept for 
 his weakness, for his infatuation, for his loss 
 of honour ; but I felt that I had a superior 
 duty to perform ; and I resolved to execute it. 
 I accordingly retired in silence, and ordering 
 out my troop, proceeded directly towards 
 Wrotham, near which place, William Fells had 
 ascertained that Lord Goring was quartered. 
 It was farther, however, than I thought to find 
 it, and about four o'clock, we reached a hill 
 from which we could see a considerable way 
 over the country beyond. 
 
 A grove of large trees at about two miles 
 distance, covered a considerable space of ground 
 upon the direct road, and shut out the vil- 
 lage towards which we were wending. Before 
 us, crowning the hill, was a small farm-house 
 with its innumerable sheds and court-yards, its 
 ploughshares lying in summer idleness about 
 the doors, and the patriarchal cock strutting 
 and scratchii.g on the customary dunghill. 
 k2 
 
19B HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rural dirt, which is in fact 
 no dirt, there was an air of great comfort and 
 neatness and repose about the place ; and, paus- 
 ing to refresh our horses, I purchased a cask 
 of beer for the men, and sat and contemplated 
 the calm, rich valleys before me, looking as 
 quiet and as peaceful as if they had never 
 been trod by the iron step of war. The good 
 man of the house told me that Lord Goring 
 had held his head-quarters near Wrotham for 
 two days ; and it was supposed, would march 
 for Maidstone early the next morning ; but 
 he could give me no account of his numbers, 
 although he said that the cavaliers mustered 
 pretty strong, and neither Fairfax nor Skippon 
 had made any fresh movements against them. 
 
 I listened to his words rather idly ; and re- 
 mained sitting calmly on the shafts of one of the 
 carts, letting my eye stray into this valley and 
 that dell, as they lay in a sunshiny mistiness 
 beneath my glance, and fancying a thousand 
 little quiet, tranquil, sequestered nooks, in the 
 shelter of their bosoms, where the harsh and 
 eager world was only known by hearsay. As I 
 continued to gaze upon the prospect, the sun- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 197 
 
 beams were suddenly reflected from one parti- 
 cular point, by some bright substance ; and 
 gradually a number of brilliant lines were seen 
 proceeding in regular array, along what ap- 
 peared to be a narrow lane. That they were 
 not cuirasses was evident, from the size ; and, 
 concluding them to be the pike-heads of some 
 regiment of infantry marching down to join the 
 royal forces, I sat calmly waiting till the horses 
 were rested. Before long, I lost sight of the 
 gleam as the pikemen wound onwards ; and the 
 prospect resumed its sleepy tranquillity. A 
 minute or two after, however, I heard the 
 report of a cannon, and then another, succeeded 
 by a sharp but desultory discharge of fire-arms, 
 which left no doubt that an engagement of some 
 kind was taking place beyond the grove of 
 trees which obstructed my sight. 
 
 In that direction lay Wrotham and the forces 
 of Lord Norwich ; and I could not doubt that 
 whether the troops I had just seen were friends 
 or enemies, an attack had been made upon his 
 quarters. Such a moment was not to be lost ; 
 and, with a beating heart, full of eagerness 
 mingled with agitation, I called the troopers to 
 
198 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 mount, and galloped down as fast as my horse 
 would carry me towards the right hand side of 
 the grove. I do not think we were five minutes 
 in reaching the turn of the wood, which was en- 
 circled by the high wall of some gentleman's 
 park, of which it formed a part. My troop, 1 
 cannot but own, was in some disarray by this 
 time, from the rapidity of our advance ; and I 
 paused for a moment to put the men in order, 
 while the mingled sound of musketry, and 
 human voices, and charging cavalry, came 
 loud and close upon the ear; and two or 
 three masterless horses passed us with wild 
 speed. 
 
 I then drew out from behind the wall ; and 
 in a moment, the strange and fearful sight of a 
 field of battle was all before my eyes. The 
 whole for a moment appeared smoke and con- 
 fusion. Handfuls of horse were scattered dis- 
 jointed over a wide piece of common ground ; 
 and a number of men on foot were evidently 
 flying over the hill. In the mean while the roar 
 of artillery came from a small battery planted 
 on the slope in front of some cottages, whose 
 white faces I could scarcely see for the smoke ; 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 199 
 
 and near the same spot appeared a group of 
 horsemen, one of whom had his hand extended 
 towards the centre of the field, where the most 
 serious struggle of the day was going on. At 
 that point a large dark body of pikemen were 
 advancing with a steady unshaken front to- 
 wards the artillery I have mentioned, not- 
 withstanding the repeated charges of a gallant 
 regiment of cavalry, who twice within my sight 
 hurled themselves upon the pikes, and were 
 driven back with the toss of some of their num- 
 ber, who were instantly trodden under foot by 
 the still advancing infantry. 
 
 I saw at once by their brighter dresses and 
 fluttering scarfs, that the cavalry in that part 
 of the field belonged to the royal forces ; they 
 evidently also made no impression on the par- 
 liamentary infantry ; and, though inexperienced 
 enough in the art of war, I felt that the only 
 chance of breaking that long deep line of pikes, 
 would be gained by a charge upon their flank, 
 which our position just commanded. We 
 were about three hundred yards from them. 
 We mustered but ninety-seven men ; but the 
 sight of the energetic strife before us, — the 
 
200 HENRY MASTRRTON. 
 
 animating outcry of the fight,— and the im- 
 patience which had gathered in our bosoms 
 under a long and irritating delay, were all in 
 our favour. At the very moment I saw the 
 royalist cavalry once more rallying for the 
 charge, I too gave the word to my men ; and, 
 dashing down upon the enemy'*s flank, in a 
 compact mass, shouting loudly, " God and 
 the King!" we were in an instant — almost 
 before I knew it — in the very heart of the 
 Parliament's infantry. We had cut our way 
 through, literally like a cannon shot. The 
 third and fourth rank of pikemen were all 
 in disorder ; the second rank turned upon 
 the enemies whom they found so unexpect- 
 edly in their rear ; the first gave way before 
 the renewed charge of the cavaliers in front ; 
 and, as the spell of their previous success 
 had been their union and firm order, the 
 moment their ranks were broken they began 
 to fly. Fear, the most infectious of all dis- 
 eases, spread amongst them, and they dispersed 
 in every direction long before the chances of the 
 day had really gone against them. 
 
 This I beheld after I rose, for one grim 
 
HETSRY MASTERTON. 201 
 
 fellow had stopped me in career, as I was urg- 
 ing on my horse still farther into their ranks, 
 by burying his pike in my poor charger's 
 poitral. I struck at him as I fell, but could 
 not reach him ; and he was just preparing the 
 same fate for me which had befallen poor Sorel, 
 when the front line was broken by the ca- 
 valiers, and he was shot dead by a pistol ball. 
 Unable to follow the pursuit, I stood and gazed 
 around me, in hopes of seeing some unappro- 
 priated horse which might put me again at 
 the head of my men, who had passed on some 
 way before me. 
 
 The royalists were now rallying all around, 
 and it appeared to me that I could now dis- 
 tinguish on the field several more regiments 
 than I had seen at first. The group of officers 
 on the hill were also, by this time, advancing 
 along the field ; and one of them, a middle- 
 aged hale-looking man, with quick, keen eyes, 
 and a firm determined mouth, rode up to me 
 with the somewhat mixed exclamation of, 
 
 " Who the devil are you. Sir ? that come 
 in here to win a battle you have nothing to 
 do with ? Cods fish ! the person that made 
 k5 
 
202 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 that charge on the flank of the rebels, ought 
 scarcely to be unknown to me. Who the devil 
 are you, Sir ; for I have forgot your phiz ? "" 
 
 " My name is Masterton, Sir,*" I replied ; 
 " I came up to the field by accident at a for- 
 tunate moment." 
 
 " And of that fortunate moment you made 
 a skilful and gallant use," replied the officer, 
 more seriously. *' Let me tell you. Sir, that 
 they are happy men to whom such accidents 
 happen. But how is it, Colonel Masterton ? 
 I expected to see an older man and more 
 soldiers ! " 
 
 " You mistake me for my brother. Sir, I 
 perceive," was my reply. " I am but Colonel 
 Masterton's younger brother, to whom, if, as 
 I suspect, you be Lord Norwich, you sent a 
 commission as Captain of a troop of horse." 
 
 " Oons ! man, and where is your brother 
 then .?" demanded the General. Where is his 
 regiment ? Why is he not here at the hour 
 of need ? But we must speak of all this here- 
 after. There, mount that horse, my young 
 gallant ! Gather your troop together, and fol- 
 low that road to the right ; keep the pikemen 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 203 
 
 who have fled that way, from forming again 
 on our flank. But go no farther than the 
 mill," he added, hallooing after me. "Go 
 no farther than the mill, then come back to 
 Wroth am and report yourself." 
 
 He then turned to give other orders for the 
 pursuit ; and obeying his commands, I followed 
 the road to the right. About a hundred yards 
 from the common, I found a considerable body 
 of the enemy already beginning to rally ; but 
 they had just been defeated — we had just been 
 victorious ; and dashing at once in amongst 
 them, we again dispersed them over the hedges 
 and through the fields, cutting down a num- 
 ber, who were either bold enough to resist or 
 too slow to escape. We saw many, too, of the 
 unhappy wretches flying here and there, several 
 of them desperately wounded, and some of them 
 with scarcely sufficient strength to totter on. 
 My troopers, whose fresh taste of blood had 
 done but little service to their humanity, would 
 fain have terminated the sufferings of those poor 
 fugitives in the most summary manner ; but 
 with some trouble, I compelled them to re- 
 frain ; and after pursuing our way to the mill 
 
204 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 uninterrupted, we returned by the same road, 
 and sought the little village, near which I had 
 seen the artillery of the royal force. 
 
 Not knowing where to quarter my men, I 
 drew them up by the side of the green, and 
 went on foot to seek Lord Goring. A crowd 
 of officers and soldiers near one particular cot- 
 tage directed me to him, and entering at once 
 the little room in which he was, I found him 
 sitting with two or three other gentlemen — all 
 just as they left the field — at an oaken table, 
 on which was a large piece of roast meat and 
 a salad. A number of people stood about him 
 receiving orders; and his dinner was conti- 
 nually interrupted by the necessity of laying 
 down his knife to sign various papers, or point 
 out various, movements, on a map that lay be- 
 side him. 
 
 Several of these affairs were thus transacted 
 before his eye fell upon me ; but when it did 
 so he exclaimed, '' Well, Master Harry Master- 
 ton, I owe you more thanks than I had time 
 to pay you this morninsr, for your good help 
 in the hour of need ; and I now call these gen- 
 tlemen to witness how high I hold your con- 
 
HET^RY MASTERTON. 205 
 
 duct ; for under God — and I am no fanatic to 
 say to Him belongs the first word of thanks — " 
 and he reverendly touched his hat. " But as I 
 was saying, under God, the success of to-day's 
 skirmish is mainly attributable to you. Re- 
 mark, the forces I expected not having joined 
 me, I had but fifteen hundred men on the field, 
 and had my position here been forced, I should 
 have lost my communication with Hales and the 
 rest ; and probably we might never have been 
 able to have effected our junction. This gives 
 greater importance to this affair than the mere 
 business of the skirmish itself, which, as I said 
 before, was as successful as it has been alone, I 
 believe, through your fortunately coming up on 
 the enemy's flank, seeing the precise moment 
 when a charge could be effective, and executing 
 gallantly what was judiciously devised. Gentle- 
 men cavaliers, who have served the King so 
 often, do not think I imply blame to you by 
 my praise of this young soldier. I do not be- 
 lieve there is one of you but would have done 
 the same, had you been placed as he was, and 
 as you were, you acted as well as men could 
 act; and you, Sir, think it sufficient honour 
 
206 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 that I say you have behaved as well as the 
 oldest, and best servants of his Majesty could 
 have done, had they been placed in your 
 situation.'" 
 
 It may be easily supposed what I felt at such 
 a public address from the commander-in-chief, 
 and my pleasure would have been unmixed and 
 overflowing, had I not feared that he would 
 every moment ask me in the same public way 
 the cause of my brother''s absence. But some- 
 thing in my manner, I know not what, had 
 shewn to his keen eye that all was not quite 
 right in those respects ; and with a delicacy of 
 feeling which I could not have expected from 
 his general reputation, his habits, or the cir- 
 cumstances of the moment, he refrained from 
 questioning me farther till he could do so in 
 private. 
 
 I stood for some time, however, in momen- 
 tary expectation of having some inquiry put to 
 me, for which. Heaven knows, I had no answer 
 ready ; and I contrived in a very few minutes 
 to torture myself with imaginary interrogations 
 and replies, far more painfully than if what is 
 emphatically called the question had been 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 207 
 
 really applied to me. Lord Norwich, however, 
 seemed to have forgotten all about my brother, 
 but at length, calling me nearer to him, he 
 demanded what I had done with my troopers ; 
 and being informed that I had left them drawn 
 up without till I had waited upon him, he di- 
 rected me to speak with the quarter-master of 
 his own regiment, concerning the disposal of 
 them for the night. He then added, in a low 
 tone, " Return in an hour, young gentleman ; 
 you will then find me alone, and I would have 
 some more conversation with you."" 
 
 Glad to escape, I proceeded to find out the 
 officer to whom he referred me; and having 
 made all the necessary arrangements, inspected 
 the troop, and ascertained the amount of our 
 loss in killed and wounded, which was compara- 
 tively small, I superintended the bringing in of 
 two of our wounded companions who had re- 
 mained upon the field, and then turned towards 
 the village again. 
 
 I had mingled in the fray ; I had aided in 
 the bloodshed ; with all my small power, I had 
 edged the sword of the destroying angel ; and 
 during the whole, I had felt very little after the 
 
208 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 first moment, but the eagerness with which a 
 boy pursues a butterfly or a bird ; yet as I again 
 passed over the field, and had in one place to 
 pick my way between five or six naked corpses, 
 which some fiends of women had already strip- 
 ped and left glaring with their gashes in the 
 evening sunset ; I own a chill feeling of horror 
 came over me, and I could not but comment 
 sadly on the bloody work in which I had been 
 so ardently engaged. 
 
 Was it glory ? I asked myself, to make such 
 things as that ? Was he the most honourable 
 who could devise the quickest means of chang- 
 ing the godlike human form, with all the mighty 
 beauty of life and energy, to the cold, meaning- 
 less, leaden things, that lay cumbering the 
 bloody earth, over which they had lately moved 
 in hope and expectation ? But, alas ! glory 
 and honour, and all the wishes, desires, and 
 pleasures, which man dignifies with fine or 
 tuneful names, will but few of them bear the 
 microscope. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 209 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The hour was just expired when I again 
 turned to Lord Goring's quarters, which in fact 
 consisted of a mere cottage. He was not yet 
 alone, but his present occupation seemed only 
 the discussion of a bottle of strong waters, with 
 a gentleman who sat near him ; and who, the 
 moment after, rose and left the chamber, while 
 the General with his own hand restored the 
 spirits to a nook in a corner cupboard, from 
 which the bottle had been withdrawn. 
 
 " Sit, young gentleman,'*'* he said, as soon as 
 we were alone, *' sit and let me hear why, 
 instead of sending a single troop, your brother 
 did not bring down the whole regiment he had 
 commission to raise. I would not speak with 
 
210 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 you publicly on a matter where I may have to 
 speak harshly." 
 
 " My brother, my Lord,"" I replied, '* waited 
 your Lordship's orders. Two messengers have 
 been sent you from Penford-bourne." 
 
 " None have reached me, Sir," he answered, 
 hastily ; " None have reached me. Orders ! — 
 oons! Sir, had he not orders to join me with all 
 speed ?" 
 
 "Till this morning, my lord,'' I said in re- 
 ply, " he did not know the position of your 
 Lordship's forces." 
 
 "Then why did he not come when he did 
 know it ?" demanded Lord Norwich, vehe- 
 mently. " Sir, there is something more in 
 this ! I have heard of a regiment being quar- 
 tered for three days or more at Penford-bourne, 
 while the commanding officer revelled at the 
 house of a certain fair widow — or wife — or some- 
 thing — ha. Sir ! Is your brother a coward ?" 
 
 " My family, in general, does not produce 
 such things," I replied, reddening; and he 
 instantly added : 
 
 " No, no, I do not suppose it does. But 
 
HENRY MA.STERTON. 211 
 
 what am I to think, young gentleman ? Here, 
 your brother with orders to make all speed 
 and join me without delay, halts for three days 
 within fifteen or sixteen miles of my head 
 quarters, leaves me to be attacked — ay and 
 nearly defeated by the rebels, and sends me but 
 the succour of an hundred men. Sir, the very 
 fact of his sending you was either an insult to 
 himself or to me. If you could come, he could 
 come." 
 
 " Nay, Sir," I answered, " my brother did 
 not contemplate my joining you. He sent me 
 out to reconnoitre, and hearing the firing, I 
 came down to be of what poor service I 
 could." 
 
 " What, then, I have not to thank him even 
 for your presence ?''"' cried the general. " 'Tis 
 well! 'tis mighty well ! Reconnoitre, Sir! In 
 three days time he should have been as fully 
 acquainted with the whole country round him, 
 as I am with the surface of that table. Recon- 
 noitre ! Did he always send out a whole troop 
 to reconnoitre for three days, before he moved 
 the regiment fifteen miles. Sir, what is the 
 meaning of all this.^ I charge you on your 
 
212 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 honour, tell me why your brother has delayed 
 his march ?" 
 
 " I can but state his motives, my Lord, as 
 they were stated to me," I answered. 
 
 " Pshaw !" he cried, interrupting me ; " Is 
 your brother tampering with the rebels ? Is 
 he waiting to see which party will be victorious ? 
 Is he afraid, or disaffected, stupid, or idle ? 
 In any case, Sir, he is unworthy and unfit to 
 hold the command he does ; and by virtue of 
 the authority reposed in my hands by his Ma- 
 jesty, I am determined to supersede him/* 
 
 " Nay, my Lord, nay,"*' I exclaimed, seeing 
 the imputation likely to fall upon Frank, worse 
 than even the truth could have made it. " For 
 God's sake, do not on the same day you honour 
 me by your thanks for a good service, do a 
 thing that must blast the character of my bro- 
 ther for ever.*" 
 
 '•Each line of conduct. Sir, must have its 
 reward," replied Lord Norwich, sternly. " You 
 have acted well, with skill, coolness, and cou- 
 rage, such as we seldom see in a man's first 
 field ; and I have thanked, and would reward 
 you, were there any means of doing so. But 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 213 
 
 your brother has neglected his duty, if not 
 betrayed his trust, and he too must have his 
 reward."" 
 
 " Then, my Lord,'' I interposed, somewhat 
 too boldly perhaps, " let both our rewards be in 
 words. You thank me, and I am more than 
 sufficiently paid. Reprimand my brother if 
 you please, and he will be more than sufficiently 
 punished." 
 
 " More than sufficiently. Sir !"" exclaimed 
 Lord Norwich, striding up and down the room ; 
 '' I tell you, Sir, that in times like these, when 
 activity and zeal are every thing, if I were to 
 have your brother out, and shoot him on the 
 green, he would not be more than sufficiently 
 punished." 
 
 " Indeed, my Lord," I ventured to reply, 
 " Frank is more to be pitied than blamed in the 
 present case. He has been, I believe, deceived 
 by false information, and certainly is entangled 
 in a way that he finds it difficult to break 
 through — " 
 
 " Where, Sir ? How r demanded the 
 General, whose whole mind was full of military 
 matters alone. " How is he entangled .'' Show 
 
214 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 me what enemy opposes his march. Sir, there 
 is not a corps between him and me, as you 
 yourself well know. What enemy entangles 
 him, Sir.? say !'^ 
 
 "No enemy, my Lord, but pretended friends," 
 I replied, " who, working on his mind by means 
 of his affections, do not give his judgment fair 
 play. Indeed, my Lord, I would answer for it, 
 that if he could but be got away from the place 
 where he is now, he would prove one of the 
 best officers under your command." 
 
 The moment I had spoken, I regretted what I 
 had said, fearful that my words might draw on 
 inquiries which I could neither answer with 
 honour, nor refuse to answer without suspi- 
 cion ; but as very frequently happens, my re- 
 ply, in its very incautiousness, produced a 
 better effect than more studied sentences might 
 perhaps have done. 
 
 " Ay ! ay !" exclaimed the General, with a 
 grim smile, as if a new light had suddenly 
 broken in upon him. "" Ay ! ay! I understand 
 you now. A woman is it .? Damn them all ! 
 they have ruined more soldiers than enough. 
 Women and wine. Sir ! women and wine ! they 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 215 
 
 have done more to defeat King Charles's armies 
 than all the Fairfaxes, or Skippons, or Crom- 
 wells, that ever were born. Women and wine, 
 Sir ! women and wine !" and at those ominous 
 words, he shook his head with a melancholy 
 frown. 
 
 I would willingly have explained to Lord 
 Norwich, that the feelings which detained my 
 brother from his duty, though equally blame- 
 able in their effects, were not of the coarse nature 
 which he seemed to suppose; but, without 
 giving a moment's attention, he cut sharp 
 across me, returning, as was his custom appa- 
 rently, to his own particular train of ideas. 
 
 " Nevertheless," continued he, " the King's 
 service. Sir, must not be neglected for any such 
 toys ; and the breach of duty in your brother 
 is not the less culpable, whatever may be its 
 cause. However, Sir, a sort of fellow feeling 
 for your brother's situation makes me give 
 him one chance, as well as the pleasure of show- 
 ing how much I esteem your conduct this day. 
 My intention is, Sir, to supersede your brother, 
 and name you to the command." 
 
 I started at this sudden announcement, and 
 
216 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 was about to remonstrate, but he stopped me, 
 exclaiming in a sharp voice, " Do not interrupt 
 me. Sir, I have let you talk too much already. 
 You shall put your new commission in your 
 pocket; and, as you seem to think Colonel 
 Masterton may behave better if removed from 
 his present quarters, you shall use every means 
 of persuasion you think fit, to make him march 
 the regiment instantly. If he comply, you may 
 burn the supersedure ; but if he neglect or re- 
 fuse, you have my orders to take the command 
 instantly, and lead your troopers to meet me at 
 Maidstone. Let me see ! Hales joins to-mor- 
 row morning at four : we march at nine. As 
 you have a long route before you, I give you 
 till the day after to-morrow at eight in the morn- 
 ing, to be at the little green in front of the Bush 
 ale-house out of Maidstone ffates. There halt 
 and wait for orders. If you do not receive 
 them in an hour, gain what information you 
 can, and make all speed to join me wherever 
 I may be. But mark me ! Do not let your 
 fellows drink, for we shall have sharp work be- 
 fore that day be over, I doubt. Fairfax is pur- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 217 
 
 suing me with all speed; but with your regi- 
 ment, and the other reinforcements, I doubt 
 not we may stand against him by that time. 
 Now, Sir, good night ! Be ready to set out at 
 four to-morrow morning, before which hour 
 you shall have the papers I mentioned."" 
 
 His tone implied that no reply must be made; 
 and I accordingly bowed and left the room in 
 silence. At the door of the cottage I met a crowd 
 of young cavaliers, by whom I was instantly 
 surrounded, and with many a greeting and 
 welcome, and various expressions of thanks for 
 my assistance that day, I was dragged away, 
 not unwillingly, to supper. Since an early hour 
 of the morning I had tasted nothing, and there- 
 fore did ample justice to the viands set before 
 me ; but I soon found that many a midnight 
 bowl was likely to follow the more solid affair 
 of eating, and my whole object became to 
 escape from the carousal that was about to 
 commence. We were twenty persons in a little 
 low^roofed room, whose dingy rafters bespoke 
 centuries of smoke and uncleanness; and the 
 smell of various liquors, from rum to aqua 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
218 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 vitae, as well as the roar of various voices 
 shouting toasts, singing songs, and swearing 
 oaths, was perfectly overpowering. 
 
 After drinking several toasts, amongst which 
 I only remember " Hellfire for Fairfax, and 
 damnation to Oliver's nose," I was allowed to 
 make my exit, on the plea of having ridden far 
 before the skirmish, as well as fought hard in 
 it ; and finding my way to the barn in which 
 my men were quartered, I lay down in the loft 
 and fell sound asleep. The next morning, by 
 the gray of the dawn. Sir George WarrePs 
 trumpets, as he brought up his large reinforce- 
 ments, wakened me from my slumber; and 
 in a few minutes my troop were on horseback 
 and ready to set out. About a quarter of an 
 hour after, an officer delivered to me a sealed 
 packet from Lord Goring, addressed, " To 
 the hands of the Honourable Master Harry 
 Masterton," and containing in writing the di- 
 rections which had been given me the night 
 before signed by the Earl. The moment I re- 
 ceived it, I put the troop in motion, and once 
 more returned towards Penford-bourne. 
 
 The situation in which I was placed was as 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 219 
 
 painful as can be well conceived, although it 
 gave me the only chance of forcing Frank to do 
 his duty and redeem his honour, by breaking 
 through the snares with which he was enthralled, 
 and by now acting vigorously in the service of 
 the King. The method, however, in which I 
 was to proceed was the question. I knew my 
 own impatience of disposition on the one hand, 
 and his inclination to arbitrary measures on the 
 other, too well to doubt that the very fact of 
 my having jained Lord Goring and been absent 
 the whole day, would be a cause of quarrel be- 
 tween us, which might heat and irritate us both, 
 before we came to the more important consi- 
 deration of hurrying our march to Maidstone. 
 Nevertheless, I felt pretty sure that, bearing 
 to Frank the express commands of the General- 
 in-chief, I should be able to prevail on him 
 to obey them ; and I resolved to master my own 
 temper as far as possible in the discussion, that 
 he might find no excuse for neglecting the 
 orders, in the conduct of the person who bore 
 them. At the same time, I determined to act 
 as warily towards him as the circumstances per- 
 mitted ; and while I gave him Lord Norwich's 
 
 l2 
 
220 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 commands to proceed to Maidstone, not to name 
 even his supersedure but on the last necessity. 
 
 While these thoughts were passing through 
 my brain, and working themselves into reso- 
 lutions, a horseman suddenly crossed the road, 
 along which we were travelling. As soon as 
 he saw us, he drew in his bridle, and paused for 
 a moment to look at the troop as it approach- 
 ed. He seemed to hesitate whether he should 
 go on or turn ; but the moment after he rode 
 up to me, saying, " I give you good morrow, 
 Captain Masterton," and I recognized the com- 
 panion of our march to Penford-bourne, Wal- 
 ter -Dixon. 
 
 My resolution was instantly taken, though 
 perhaps it was a somewhat rash one, and I re- 
 plied, " Good morrow, Master Dixon ; you are 
 doubtless coming to join us at Penford-bourne. 
 We will ride thither together. I am just re- 
 turning from Wrotham." 
 
 " I will go part of the way,*" replied he, " but 
 I cannot go the whole, for I have business at 
 Ashford, before I join you finally. What 
 news from Wrotham ? How does Goring get 
 on ? He makes a stand, I find." 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 221 
 
 *' Nay, nay, you must ride on with me,'"* I 
 rejoined. " My brother will be so glad to see 
 you ;'" and as I spoke, I made a sign, as ip:i- 
 vately as possible, for those who were behind 
 to ride up. 
 
 " I cannot, indeed," he replied. " Business 
 of a particular kind will compel me to leave 
 you about a mile hence ; but I will ride so far 
 with you, and you shall tell me the news." 
 
 " Your riding must not stop there. Master 
 Walter Dixon," T repUed, spurring forward 
 my horse, and catching him by the collar, 
 " you must with me to Penford-bourne, what- 
 ever business you have at Ashford." 
 
 " How now, Sir !" he exclaimed, attempting 
 to draw his sword. " Who dares lay hands 
 upon me ?" But by this time the two headmost 
 men of the file were upon him, and resistance 
 was in vain. 
 
 *' What mad suspicion has crossed your brain 
 now, Sir?" he demanded angrily. '' Methought 
 you had' laid aside all those wild caprices at 
 Amesbury. Do you jest. Sir.? or are you 
 serious ? Pray of what am I accused now ?" 
 
 " I am perfectly serious, Master Dixon," I 
 
222 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 replied ; " and as to what you are accused of, 
 you shall hear a part in that meadow, where I 
 intend to halt for half an hour. Look well to 
 your prisoner, Corporal ; and rather shoot him 
 than let him escape.*" 
 
 So saying, I rode on, and halted the troop for 
 a little rest, in one of the fine green fields that 
 skirt along the windings of the Stoure. There 
 I called William Fells to my side, and, while 
 the prisoner was kept at a distance, bade him 
 endeavour to remember any thing he had over- 
 lieai'd Walter Dixon say, while he had been in 
 the hands of the Fanatics. What he had heard, 
 he replied, consisted alone of detached sentences ; 
 but of these he repeated to me several ; and 
 having ordered the prisoner to be brought 
 before me, I said to him : 
 
 " Master Walter Dixon ; my servant, Wil- 
 liam Fells — whom you now see, not for the first 
 time — declares that he has overheard from your 
 lips a base plot for betraying the trust my 
 brother placed in you, and for detaining him at 
 Penford-bourne, till his own honour and the 
 opportunity of serving the King were lost to- 
 gether. This may be all a mistake, but you 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 223 
 
 will be good enough just to pronounce a few sen- 
 tences in his presence, that he may judge better 
 of the voice. Will you have the kindness to 
 repeat after me these words,'"* and fixing my 
 eyes intently upon his countenance, I added 
 one of the scraps with which William had fur- 
 nished me. It was to the following effect : 
 ^' So, he replied that they were at their wits' 
 end, for they could not detach a sufficient force 
 to keep him in check, while they threw forward 
 three regiments upon Wrotham; and I told 
 him in reply, that if they would give me the 
 lands, I would undertake to keep him three 
 days longer where he was. But he said that he 
 could not undertake it — that the council must 
 judge: and then I said I would do nothing 
 more, for notwithstanding all I had done — pre- 
 vented him from joining Goring, and given 
 them the opportunity of cutting his regiment to 
 pieces — the council neither seconded the design, 
 nor seemed inclined to grant me the lands." 
 
 William Fells' excellent memory had enabled 
 him to retain this disjointed speech very perfect- 
 ly; and when he repeated it to me, he persisted in 
 declaring that Walter Dixon, and none other had 
 
224 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 spoken it. To my surprise, however, my prisoner 
 went over it, without a change of countenance 
 that I could discover, although I kept my eyes 
 upon him, both with the intention of catching 
 any effect it might produce, and of increasing 
 his confusion if he were really guilty. He made 
 me reiterate various parts more than once, as if 
 he did not remember the whole ; and when he 
 had done, he calmly demanded if it was alone 
 from some fancied resemblance, reported by a 
 servant, between his voice and that of an- 
 other person, whom the servant even had never 
 seen, that I thought fit to stop a gentleman on 
 the highway, and accuse a person, who on one 
 occasion had guided me clear of an enemy, that 
 would have destroyed both me and mine but for 
 his interference ? 
 
 He spoke with something between sneer and 
 reproach in his tone, and certainly there never 
 was a more artful piece of acting than that 
 which he displayed upon the occasion ; but, re- 
 membering what I had heard myself afc the hill, 
 I replied, that it was not on such circumstances 
 alone that I accused him ; for that plenty of 
 c/tlier proof existed against him, as he would 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 225 
 
 find hereafter. Resolving to try him a little 
 farther, I then ordered the regiment to horse, 
 pretending to be surprised at the lateness of the 
 hour ; and observing aloud to William Fells, 
 that if we did not make haste, we should no^. 
 arrive before the execution of Gabriel Jones. 
 This I said with my back towards the prisoner ; 
 but turning sharply round, the moment it had 
 passed my lips, I saw him become first deadly 
 pale, and then as crimson as my sword-knot. 
 So far my suspicions were confirmed ; and 1 
 resolved, even if I could prove nothing against 
 Master Walter Dixon, to keep him, at all risks, 
 so securely, that he could betray us no fartlier 
 than he had done. 
 
 The troop now marched forward ; and with- 
 out accident or interruption we arrived at Pen- 
 ford-bourne. My brother was not with the 
 regiment, and the news that he had not set his 
 foot in the village that day, evidently showed 
 that his infatuation and indifference had in- 
 creased, rather than diminished, during our 
 absence. 
 
 Leaving Walter Dixon well guarded, and 
 with strict orders to the sentries to allow no one 
 l5 
 
226 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 speech of him, I proceeded to the mansion- 
 house ; but there also I was disappointed in my 
 search. Frank had ridden out with Lady 
 Eleanor ; and I dismounted to wait his return ; 
 but finding that I was only irritating myself, as 
 I sat alone, with the expectation of what was to 
 ensue, and was getting up in my own imagina- 
 tion, a variety of angry observations for my 
 brother, and angry replies for myself, which 
 only prepared my mind to be irasscible and 
 petulant; I very soon mounted a fresh horse, 
 and rode out to seek the party. I met the 
 whole cortege not a hundred yards from the 
 park gates : Frank evidently in high spirits, 
 and the Lady all that was gay and lovely. I 
 could not but perceive that my coming over- 
 shadowed the brightness of the morning to them 
 both. Lady Eleanor drew a deep sigh, but 
 welcomed me courteously. My brother's brow 
 gathered into a frown ; and remarking upon my 
 absence from quarters the night before, he 
 trusted, he said, that I had some good cause to 
 issign for not returning. 
 I replied that I had ; and would comrauni- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 227 
 
 cate it to him at leisure ; and turning my horse's 
 head, I accompanied the cavalcade in its return. 
 
 Scarcely had we entered the gates, and turned 
 into one of the long deep avenues which was 
 skirted on the right hand by a mass of broken 
 copsewood, when a man, evidently a gentleman, 
 habited in black, crossed the avenue ; and with- 
 out taking any notice apparently of our party, 
 entered the copse. Lady Eleanor drew in her 
 horse with such a sudden recoil, as almost to 
 throw him on his haunches. 
 
 " What is the matter ?'' exclaimed Frank, 
 who had not seen the figure. " You are ill, 
 Ellen. How deadly pale you look. For Hea- 
 ven's sake, what is the matter ?" 
 
 " Nothing ! nothing !" replied she hastily ; 
 and seeing me about to enter the copse after the 
 intruder, she added : " Do not ! do not, for 
 God's sake. I know who it is." 
 
 " Who what is .?" demanded my brother. 
 " I saw no one but ourselves." 
 
 "Oh it was but the Forester," she replied. 
 *' But he came across me so suddenly, he made 
 me start. Let us proceed, gentlemen." 
 
228 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 We accordingly moved on, Frank satisfied 
 that it was the Forester who had caused the 
 Lady's sudden start ; and I equally convinced 
 that it was not. Lady Eleanor, ^ ever, did 
 not recover her composure completely; and 
 though she spoke of various subjects as we rode 
 forward, strove for cheerfulness, and even for 
 mirth, — her conversation was broken, her an- 
 swers wandered from the point, and her gaiety 
 was evidently the effort of a heart ill at rest, to 
 cover the cause of its disturbance. As we ap- 
 proached the house, she complained of fatigue ; 
 and on dismounting, retired to her own apart- 
 ment. 
 
FIENRY MA.STERTON. 229 
 
 oil 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Frank, with a step of slow deliberation, 
 proceeded to the apartment in which Lady 
 Eleanor usually sat. What was in his thoughts 
 I know not — whether he felt that he could 
 scarcely blame me for a breach of duty, when 
 he himself was neglecting his own ; or whether 
 his whole mind was occupied with her who had 
 just left us, and the idea of his military com- 
 mand came across him but as a brief and trou- 
 blesome memory to be banished as soon as pos- 
 sible, I cannot tell. However, he sauntered 
 into the room, with deep thought written in his 
 eyes, but with listless indifference in his walk 
 and manner. He said nothing concerning my 
 prolonged absence ; but, advancing towards the 
 windows, took up a book which Lady Eleanor 
 
230 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 had been reading, laid it down again, after a 
 brief and casual glance ; raised her lute from 
 the cushions on which it rested, ran his hand 
 over the strings, drawing forth some discordant 
 notes, and then replaced it where he found it ; 
 and at length turning to the window, he gazed 
 out for a moment or two in silence. I was silent 
 also, and stood watching his movements, with 
 mingled feelings of pain and impatience. In a 
 few minutes he turned ; and, as if he felt it ab- 
 solutely necessary to say something, he asked, 
 " Well, Harry ! have you reconnoitred the coun- 
 try between this and Wrotham .?" speaking in a 
 very different tone from that which he had used 
 in the first irritation of my importunate return. 
 
 " I have, Frank," I replied, " and have to 
 inform you, on that head, that there is not the 
 slightest appearance of any enemy from this 
 place to the head-quarters of Lord Norwich.*" 
 At the latter words of my reply he started, and 
 turning very red, demanded, 
 
 " Then did you visit Lord Goring's quarters.? 
 Did you see Lord Goring, Sir.? How came 
 you to disobey your orders ? I bade you re- 
 connoitre the country, not proceed to the army !" 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 231 
 
 " To reconnoitre the country between this 
 and Wrotham, were the commands I received," 
 was my reply : "in doing so, I found Lord 
 Goring attacked in position by the forces of tlie 
 rebels, and of course yielded him that aid and 
 assistance which as a servant of his Majesty I 
 was bound to do." 
 
 " You have disobeyed my orders, Sir !" 
 cried he, drawing nearer to me, with a coun- 
 tenance in which anger, and agitation, and 
 shame, were strangely mingled, — "you have 
 disobeyed my orders ! What did Lord Goring 
 say ? What part had you in the action ? 
 When did it take place ? What questions did 
 he ask ? How was your troop ?" — 
 
 How many more interrogatories he would 
 have addressed to me, I do not know, had not 
 a servant entered, and presented a billet, which 
 he said had been left for Colonel Masterton by 
 a stranger, who stayed not a moment at the 
 door. At first, Frank scarcely noticed either 
 the servant or the note that had been given 
 him ; but the lackey, seeing that in his agita- 
 tion he was twisting the paper to pieces, ven- 
 tured to turn back and tell him farther, that 
 
232 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 the stranger had been very particular in direct- 
 ing that it should be delivered immediately, and 
 with care. My brother then opened it, and ran 
 his eye over the contents, — he paused, — read it 
 again more attentively, muttering to himself, — 
 " Well ! mighty well ! If that may settle it ! 
 So ! — Now, Sir," he continued, turning once 
 more towards me with a cooler, but a still 
 sterner air, " Now, Sir, what said Lord Nor- 
 wich ?" 
 
 " He blamed highly our delay at this place," 
 replied I ; " he said it was unnecessary, inexcus- 
 able, and wrong in every sense of the word," — 
 
 " That he and I will settle when we meet,**' 
 interrupted Frank ; " doubtless, according to 
 your showing. Sir, my conduct might be wrong 
 and inexcusable."" 
 
 " You do not do me justice, Frank,"" I an- 
 swered ; *' you do not indeed. I gave your 
 own motives to Lord Goring, as you had given 
 them to me. I did all I could to shield your 
 honour and your character from suspicion, if 
 not direct accusation." 
 
 " Who dared impugn my honour and my 
 character, Sir.^"'"' demanded he, his eyes every 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 233 
 
 moment flashing more brightly, and his cheek 
 growing redder and more red : " Who dare 
 suspect me of any thing dishonourable ?" 
 
 *' Your Commander-in-chief, Frank Master- 
 ton !"" I answered, becoming somewhat heated 
 in my turn : " He said that he heard you had 
 been here three days ; that in three days you 
 should have known every rood of the country 
 round you ; that your orders were precise to 
 join him without delay ; and that want of zeal 
 and activity in the present case was a worse 
 crime than even cowardice. He said, moreover, 
 that you had left him to be attacked through 
 utter negligence or treachery ; ay, and to be 
 defeated also, as he would have been, he owned, 
 had not a part of our regiment come up un- 
 expectedly." 
 
 '* How was that, Sir ? Speak ! explain !" 
 exclaimed my brother. " Do you mean to say 
 that you, — you, and your handful of troopers, 
 turned the battle in favour of Lord Goring? 
 The royal cause must be at the dregs inde- " 
 he added, with one of his bitter sneers, " if 
 Harry Masterton and fifty men could save the 
 Cavaliers from defeat !" 
 
234 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 " A less thing might have done it," replied I ; 
 " and I proceeded to explain to him what had 
 occurred, together with the particulars I had 
 gathered during my stay at Wrotham, concern- 
 ing the events which had taken place previous 
 to my arrival. I pointed out to him, that Lord 
 Norwich had but fifteen hundred men at the 
 village, and that the parliamentary generals 
 had endeavoured, by forcing his position with 
 three regiments, while they kept the other body 
 of the royalists in check with a superior force, 
 not only to prevent the junction of the two 
 divisions, but to turn the flank of the one near 
 Rochester, and cut them both to pieces in de- 
 tail. I informed him how far this plan had 
 succeeded, when the fortunate accident of our 
 arrival, not only at the precise moment, but on 
 the precise spot necessary to success, shook the 
 advancing column of infantry, and favoured 
 the last charge of the Cavaliers. 
 
 As I proceeded, the countenance of my bro- 
 ther changed; the sentiments of duty, patriotism, 
 and honour, which had been smothered in other 
 feelings, but not extinguished, blazed up again 
 in his bosom ; the aspiration for glory and dis- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 235 
 
 tinction, which all feel or have felt, revived ; 
 the colour came and went in his cheek, with a 
 fitful rapidity, almost equal to the flickering of 
 the summer lightning on the verge of the evening 
 sky ; and as I spoke of strife, and conquest, 
 and success, and triumpli, he cast himself down 
 on the cushions, and hid his face in his hands, 
 exclaiming, '' And I not there ! and I not there ! 
 Good God, and I not there !" 
 
 " Frank V said I, laying my hand upon his 
 arm, with a firm, but kindly pressure, " there 
 is a way of retrieving all, if you will but em- 
 brace it. I bear you Lord Goring's orders to 
 march immediately for Maidstone ; he expects 
 you there to meet him by to-moirow morning, 
 at eight o' the clock, as he intends, if possible, 
 to make a stand there. A general battle must 
 immediately take place ; the former was but a 
 skirmish. March with all speed, command 
 your regiment in the moment of danger and 
 difficulty, and win glory that will render all 
 mistakes forgotten at once." 
 
 The good spirit was awakened, and starting 
 up from the couch, my brother declared he 
 would go, if — ^lie was resolved to go, but — 
 
236 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 I feel sure that I could have soon dissolved 
 those ifs and huts, far more easily than Hamil- 
 car's son reduced the rocks of the Alpine 
 passes. All might have been explained, all 
 might have been remedied, but at that moment 
 Lady Eleanor entered the room, and Frank's 
 good resolves were petrified in a moment. The 
 inferior soul resumed its ascendancy ; the con- 
 fidence between us was destroyed ; and he felt 
 ashamed, I am sure, at having yielded, even as 
 much as he had done, to the counsels which 
 would have freed him from the mental thraldom 
 that bound him down. 
 
 " I fear I interrupt you, gentlemen,"' said 
 Lady Eleanor, pausing in her advance ; " I fear 
 I break in upon some matter of deep import ;'" 
 and her eye glanced from the now animated 
 countenance of my brother to mine^ striving to 
 read whether the feelings that sparkled in each 
 were amicable or angry. I was silent ; for I 
 felt that she not only interrupted my discourse, 
 but all my best designs. 
 
 Frank, however, replied with a smile, " Not 
 in the least, dearest lady ! not in the least !" and 
 as he spoke he took her hand, and led her to her 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 237 
 
 seat near the window, adding, *' Our conversa- 
 tion will soon be over on important subjects. 
 Harry, I can and will join Lord Norwich to- 
 morrow, but it cannot be by eight o'clock." 
 
 " Then you may as well not join him at all, 
 Frank," I answered, somewhat impatiently, as I 
 saw new delays blighting all that I had accom- 
 plished, " Lord Goring's orders are, that the 
 regiment be at Maidstone by eight at latest, 
 and they must be obeyed." 
 
 Lady Eleanor passed her hand twice across 
 her eyes ; and Frank replied, resuming at once 
 the cold, stern tone he had been accustomed to 
 use, 
 
 " That, Sir, is my business. The regiment 
 cannot be there by eight, — no, nor by nine." 
 
 I was now convinced that all would again be 
 lost, without some great effort to change his 
 determination ; and I made one, which nothing 
 but the painful circumstances in which I was 
 placed could justify — which nothing else could 
 have induced me to attempt. Not that that 
 measure was one of thought and calculation. 
 On the contrary, it was one of impulse, the last 
 resource of my mind, in despair of seeing a 
 
238 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 brother act as his duty, his honour, and his 
 name required. 
 
 " Lady Eleanor Fleming," I said, advancing 
 to the spot where that lady sat, with the tears 
 clustered in her beautiful eyes, and scarcely 
 withheld from running over, even by all wo- 
 man's habitual command of her own feehngs, 
 " Lady Eleanor Fleming, mine is a hard task. 
 I speak to my brother, who is as dear to me as 
 ever brother was to brother ; — I speak to him 
 as advocate for his own honour, for his own 
 duty. — Do not interrupt me, Frank, for pity's 
 sake ; for indeed, I would interest a more per- 
 suasive voice than mine, to plead the same 
 cause. — Lady, I bear him the direct orders of 
 his Commander-in-chief, to march his regiment 
 a short and easy distance, by a particular hour, 
 in order to share in movements and efforts, on 
 which the safety of the King and the realm 
 depend, as the last stake which can be played 
 for the crown of this country. Speak, Lady, 
 if, as I believe, you hold him dear ; and urge 
 him to the straightforward duty that lies be- 
 fore him. Speak, for the love of Heaven ; for 
 
HENRY MA.STERTON. 239 
 
 he is ruining himself, and casting away his 
 honour as a soldier !" 
 
 No language can express the bright but 
 beautiful colour that overspread her face, at an 
 appeal which touched, perhaps too boldly, on 
 feelings that I was supposed not to know ; but 
 it was my last hope of influencing my brother 
 by gentle means ; and, as far as engaging her 
 voice also, I was successful, — unexpectedly 
 successful. 
 
 " Colonel Masterton," she said, with her 
 cheeks still glowing, " I know not, I cannot 
 imagine, that my voice should have such power 
 as your brother supposes ; but yet, as he has 
 spoken boldly, I will not dissemble ; and, as 
 your interest and your honour are dear to me, 
 — most dear, — for both their sakes I advise, 
 I pray you, to obey the orders you have 
 received." 
 
 While she spoke, she fixed her eyes full upon 
 him ; and her words flowed with rapid and ener- 
 getic eloquence, while her cheeks, her neck, her 
 brow, were all crimson, with feeling and with 
 consciousness ; but the moment she ceased, she 
 
240 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 dropped her eyes to the ground — resumed her 
 seat — the colour faded in her cheek — and in- 
 stead of the eager fire that had but a moment 
 before sparkled in her glance, the tears burst 
 forth, and overflowed the long dark curtain of 
 her eyes. 
 
 " Dear Lady,"' replied Frank, in a soft but 
 determined tone, " it must not, and it cannot be. 
 I will be responsible to Lord Norwich for my 
 own conduct. As for you. Sir,'** he added, turn- 
 ing sternly towards me, " you have taken this 
 day an unwarrantable liberty with me and with 
 this lady ; and though, like many other offences, 
 I resent it not, because I am your brother ; as 
 your commanding officer, I will not have m}'^ 
 commands disputed, or my will cavilled at. 
 Go, Sir, to the regiment. See that all be pre- 
 pared to march at nine to-morrow. — Answer 
 me not. Sir ! for I am at least. Colonel of the 
 regiment, and will be obeyed." 
 
 " The liberty I took with that lady, Frank," 
 I replied, " was solely, through her persuasion 
 — I may say, her noble and generous counsel, 
 to save you from a far greater pain, that you 
 must now suffer. You are not, as you suppose. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 241 
 
 colonel of this regiment ; and, whether you will 
 or not, it marches for Maidstone to-mor row, at 
 five in the morning." 
 
 " How now, Sir? You are mad !" exclaimed 
 he, advancing towards me, with his eyes flash- 
 ing as if they were full of lightnings. " You 
 are surely become insane ! and have lost what 
 little wit you ever possessed ! — Or is this mere 
 insubordinate insolence P'"* he added. " We 
 will soon see whether I am, or am not, colonel 
 of the regiment. Ho ! without there." He 
 called from the open window to the sentinel on 
 the steps, " Order up a sergeant's guard with 
 all speed. By Heaven, I will bear with it no 
 longer!" 
 
 " You had better calm yourself, Frank Mas- 
 terton," I replied ; " the guard must be turned 
 to other purposes, than that for which you 
 called it. — Yet, one word more, Frank : Will 
 you march to-morrow at five ?" 
 
 " I will not !*" he answered, striking his 
 clenched hand upon the table. 
 
 '' Well then. Sir,*" rejoined I, " from George 
 Lord Goring, Earl of Norwich, you received 
 your commission, and from George Lord Gor- 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 U\£r I bear you your supersedure ; and, if you 
 follow my advice, you will make the best of 
 your way back to Devonshire ; for, if you fall 
 into the hands of the Roundheads, they will 
 probably shoot you for active loyalty you have 
 too little displayed ; while if you fall into those 
 of Lord Goring, even a brother's intercession, I 
 do not think would save you from death, for 
 treachery that you did not intend to practise." 
 
 Frank had turned deadly pale, while he 
 gazed upon the copy of his supersedure which 
 I handed to him ; and I could see the struggle 
 for firmness, which was long going on unsuc- 
 cessfully in his bosom. At length, however, he 
 mastered his emotion, with a sneer. " This, 
 Sir, is, I suppose, the first-fruits of your frater- 
 nal intercession," he said. " It is truly credit- 
 able to your heart." 
 
 " Oh, Frank!" cried Lady Eleanor, laying 
 her hand tenderly upon his arm, " do not em- 
 bitter your own feelings and your brother's, by 
 useless taunts. Go with him I go with hini ! in 
 God's name ! Do not I make a sacrifice .'^" she 
 added, in a lower voice, whose tone was sunk, 
 not for concealment apparently, — ^for I could 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 243 
 
 listinguish every word, but from deep feeling, 
 and the consciousness of much that could not 
 be forgotten. " Do I not sacrifice hope, and joy, 
 and affection, by that very counsel ? I>o I not 
 give myself up to tears, and memory, and 
 regret ?'' 
 
 " Ellen !" said my brother, pressing her hand 
 in his, "it cannot be ! I cannot, and I will not 
 be commanded by a boy, — and that boy a bro- 
 ther, who has wronged me." 
 
 " Indeed, indeed, Frank!" I replied, pained 
 and softened by the deep agitation under which 
 I saw him writhe — " Indeed I have not wronged 
 you ; nor do I seek to command you, as you 
 fancy : no, not for a moment. Look here ! But 
 promise me to march to-morrow at five, and I 
 tear the supersedure at once, resume my place 
 at the head of my troop, and serve under your 
 orders as before. This permission I extorted 
 from Lord Goring, and it was granted as the 
 reward of what I had done in that morning's 
 skirmish. If you will march, the super- 
 sedure is at an end. Indeed, Frank, I act 
 from affection, and not from rivalry or 
 ambition." 
 
 - M 2 
 
244 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 As I spoke, I laid my hand on his, which 
 was as cold as death. His first impulse was to 
 snatch it hastily from me ; but a moment after, 
 he gave it me again, saying, in a tone of deep 
 melancholy, " I believe you, Harry | I believe 
 you after all ! I feel I have done you wrong. 
 But it matters not, — I am ruined and undone 
 for ever ! My honour and my character are lost, 
 and must be lost ! I cannot go ! — Do not press 
 me farther ; I cannot go. I know the risk and 
 the consequences — but I cannot go. Take 
 the command, Harry ! go and gain honour, 
 and glory, and distinguish your name ! 
 Fate plays the game against me^ and I 
 must lose.*" 
 
 I tried to persuade him to better things. I 
 used every argument, every motive, every rea- 
 son, that I could devise. Lady Eleanor forgot 
 all ; and clung to his arm in tears, beseeching 
 him to obey the orders he had received : but it 
 was in vain. He grasped my hand firm in his. 
 He pressed her to his bosom ; and then turned 
 to the door, repeating, "It cannot be ! . Where 
 is my servant, I wonder .?" he added somewhat 
 wildly. " Where is my servant V' 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 245 
 
 " I am afraid, Frank," I said, following him 
 towards the door, *' I am afraid, that wherever 
 that villain Gabriel is, it will become my duty 
 to put him under arrest, as there is much rea- 
 son to believe that he holds private correspond- 
 ence with the rebels."" 
 
 " Do not ! do not, Harry !*" exclaimed my 
 brother, turning eagerly, and taking both my 
 hands. " Do not, if you love me — I would not 
 for the world — for heaven's sake do not ! 
 Grant me this boon at least, Harry Masterton," 
 he added, imploringly. " Leave him with me. 
 He is both a villain and a knave, capable of 
 any thing that is base or mean. A slave that I 
 shall some day have cause to shoot through the 
 head ; but till that day comes, he must remain 
 with me." 
 
 " Well !" I answered, seeing evidently that 
 the fanatical villain had possessed himself of 
 some of my brother's secrets, which gave him a 
 dangerous power. " Well ! be it as you would, 
 Frank ; and believe me — oh believe me, that in 
 all I have done, my first wish has been to shield 
 your honour and to promote your welfare." 
 
 He held my hand as if he were about to 
 
246 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 speak ; but the words failed him ; and, turning 
 away once more, he left the room. 
 
 Lady Eleanor still remained wiping the tears 
 from her eyes. When she turned them towards 
 me, the same bright flush came over her cheek, 
 which, within the last two days, had been so 
 familiar with her face ; but I could not help 
 thinking that I saw a degree of gladness there 
 also, which one might very well reconcile, even 
 with Frank's refusal to comply with her en- 
 treaties. It was impossible, indeed, to feel 
 angry at her rejoicing that he stayed. She had 
 done far more than I expected, in begging him 
 to go. I felt that in some sort she had acted 
 nobly; and but small allowance for human 
 weakness was necessary, to pardon the inter- 
 nal joy I was certain that she experienced at 
 the prospect of his remaining by her side, even 
 though his honour called on him to leave it. 
 
 I thought, however, that I could not with 
 propriety remain in her house any longer ; and 
 advancing towards the place where she sat, I 
 proceeded to express my sense of the part she 
 had taken in my discussion with my brother. 
 
 " I have to thank you most sincerely, Ma- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 247 
 
 dam," I said, " and my gratitude is not r,t all 
 diminished from having been mingled in some 
 degree with surprise. I acknowledge I did not 
 expect you to second my efforts so zealously 
 as you have done." 
 
 Her influence over my brother, and her feel- 
 ings towards him, had been very little concealed 
 during the whole dispute ; but the allusion to it 
 still agitated and confused her. 
 
 " You do not know. Sir, — oh you little know 
 what a woman can do," she replied. " But I 
 hope, Captain Masterton," she added hastily, as 
 if willing to say no more on such a theme, " or 
 rather, as I should now call you. Colonel 
 Masterton — " 
 
 "Nay, Lady," I interposed, " do not call me 
 by that name. I have no intention of taking 
 that title ; and only lead the regiment to its 
 duty as the second in command. I cannot but 
 entertain a hope — a vain one I am afraid — that 
 some fortunate chance may still screen my poor 
 brother from the consequences of his obstinacy. 
 But what were you about to honour me by 
 observing ?'"* 
 
 " I was merely going to say," she replied, 
 
248 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 " that I hope you will not quit my poor dwell- 
 ing to-night. Perhaps your brother may change 
 his intentions, perhaps he may be brought to 
 yield. I see," she added, with a heightening 
 colour — " I see how deep is your affection for 
 him ; I see all that you would willingly sacrifice 
 for his welfare, and I love you for the love you 
 bear him. Stay then, Captain Masterton, stay, 
 and once more join your efforts to mine. I 
 will endeavour — indeed I will endeavour — to 
 shake his determination." 
 
 " I have known him, Lady Eleanor," I re- 
 plied, " for many years before you did ; and I 
 am convinced that his determination cannot be 
 moved. I must now retire, to prepare the 
 regiment for its march ; but I will have the 
 honour of waiting upon you before nightfall, 
 both to take my leave, and to hear my brother's 
 final resolution." 
 
 " Stay yet one moment. Sir," she said, rising, 
 and laying the long rounded fingers of her 
 beautiful hand upon my arm, with a look full 
 of dignity and fire, though the blush was deeper 
 than ever on her face and neck. " I am about 
 to speak to you for myself, and of myself. You 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 249 
 
 have shown yourself in every act that I have 
 seen you perform, and by every word that I 
 have heard you speak, a gentleman and a man 
 of honour. Tell me, then, what should such a 
 person do, if a lady''s fair fame and reputation 
 were placed in his hands by her confidence in 
 his courtesy, and her efforts to second his noble 
 purpose ?" 
 
 " Forget, as far as he can, Madam," I re- 
 plied ; " and those things which memory ivill 
 retain, should be for ever, as if forgotten.'''' 
 
 " Then, Sir, pledge me your honour," she 
 said, earnestly, " that all which has fallen this 
 day from my lips, or from those of your brother 
 concerning me, shall be as you say — as f 
 forgotten.^'' 
 
 " I do, Madam,"' I answered ; " every thing 
 but your energetic endeavours to make him do 
 his duty." 
 
 " You give me your promise ?"" she asked. 
 
 " Most solemnly I'' I answered, and bowing 
 over the hand she extended to me, I quitted the 
 apartment and the house. The whole day was 
 spent in making the necessary preparations for 
 leaving the quarters we had occupied so mucli 
 M 5 
 
250 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 too long. As I now wished to detain Master 
 Walter Dixon, without entering into any dis- 
 cussion with him, I did not visit the barn in 
 which he was confined ; but took care that he 
 should be supplied with every thing that was 
 necessary to his comfort. The second messen- 
 ger who had been despatched to Lord Norwich, 
 and whose name, by the way, was Anthony 
 Halt, had been less fortunate than William 
 Fells, and had not returned at all. What be- 
 came of him I know not, for I never saw him 
 after. 
 
 Notwithstanding the evil which our delay 
 was likely to occasion to the royal cause, the 
 regiment itself was recruited by its stay, both 
 in numbers and in condition ; and knowing the 
 small force which Lord Goring commanded — 
 small even after the junction of the other forces 
 — I contemplated with pleasure the thoughts 
 of leading him so strong and well appointed a 
 reinforcement. 
 
 Such feelings, nevertheless, did not make me 
 at all the less anxious that Frank should be 
 moved from his unhappy resolution, which I 
 knew not whether to attribute to the mad pas- 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 251 
 
 sion which had acquired such sway over his 
 mind, to the obduracy of determination which 
 he had always displayed, or to some circum- 
 stances unknown to myself. I was rather in- 
 clined to believe that the latter was in a 
 degree the case, though I doubted not that his 
 insane love for Lady Eleanor made him gladly 
 seize any thing which gave him a fair excuse 
 for remaining near her. 
 
 The last effort, however, I was resolved to 
 make ; and accordingly returned to the man- 
 sion-house late in the evening. It is useless to 
 relate all the particulars of my visit, — the 
 result was the same. Frank was still as im- 
 movable as marble ; and though Lady Eleanor, 
 drowned in tears, entreated him to go on the 
 path of duty, he continued not only steady 
 to his purpose, but seemed in some degree 
 hurt at her again urging the request, saying 
 that he should certainly stay, if she would 
 extend her hospitality to him one night 
 longer. It was all painful and all fruitless; 
 and, feeling it to be so, I took my departure, 
 leaving, at my brother's request, a guard of 
 twenty men, in the stables belonging to the 
 
252 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 house. As I descended the avenue alone, I saw 
 a dark figure cross a distant part of the lawn, 
 and pausing in the moonlight, seem to fix a 
 meditating gaze upon the house. I determined 
 to approach it ; but before I could take three 
 steps beyond the shadow of the trees, it was 
 gone ; and I could discover no trace of it in 
 the brief space of time that I could afford to 
 the search. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Our trumpets sounded to boot and saddle 
 at four o'clock in the morning ; and not long 
 after, we began our march. The world was yet 
 in all its young freshness, and there was a 
 soothing sense of tranquillity in the whole scene, 
 that spread calmly over the heart. The early 
 red of the dawn was still upon a flight of light 
 feathery clouds, that hung upon the zenith ; 
 and the sky looked like the breast of some 
 fairy bird, whose plumage was dappled of azure 
 and pink and gold. The same rosy hue seemed 
 melted in the very air ; and as the slanting sun- 
 beams poured more and more fully upon the 
 world, every object that they touched caught 
 the lustrous tint of morning, while the long 
 blue shadows cast by the horizontal rays, con- 
 trasted, yet harmonized, with the light whose 
 
254 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 absence gave them existence. There was a 
 sound of wakening through the air too : the 
 matutinal birds, one by one, were bursting into 
 song ; and a distant hum told that the busy 
 world of insects had begun their daily labour 
 and dehght. The voice of thanksgiving for the 
 bright gift of day, seemed to rise from creation 
 to the gates of Heaven ; and every thing, from 
 the diamond dew-drops clustered on the leaves 
 of grass, to the effulgent sky under which they 
 shone, appeared robed in splendour for the 
 morning sacrifice. 
 
 The sound of our trumpets was harsh upon 
 my ear ; and, with all youth's dreams of glory, I 
 confess I would far rather have enjoyed that 
 calm morning in the woods, or by the sea-side, 
 or on the brow of some wide-looking hill — by 
 myself, or with Emily Langleigh alone — than 
 leading the brightest of mortal hosts to the 
 most glorious of triumphant fields. Oh, how 
 the pomp and the pageantry, the bustle and 
 the display, were rebuked by the sublime glance 
 of the early morning ! 
 
 I could not but feel melancholy, as I gave 
 the command to march ; and the words, " God 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 255 
 
 bless ye, Cavaliers !'* uttered by some loyal 
 maiden, who stood to see us depart, with four 
 or five other damsels who had risen with the 
 sun for the same purpose, was the first thing 
 that recalled to my mind the justice of the 
 cause in which our swords were drawn, and 
 reconciled me to the thoughts of war, under the 
 reproving voice of the calm scene around. 
 
 I had waited for some time after the first 
 trumpets had sounded, with the faint hope that 
 their notes might awake my brother from both 
 his real and figurative sleep ; but he came not, 
 and we were obliged to begin our march. Still, 
 every step I took, I became more and more anx- 
 ious on his account. " What could I say to 
 Lord Goring .?"" I asked myself. "What would 
 be the inevitable consequences of the report I 
 had to make ?''^ It was sad and terrible to think 
 of, — the blasting of his own fame — the agony 
 it would bring upon his father. The soldiers 
 themselves were evidently already commenting 
 upon the absence of their proper commander ; 
 and, as I rode back towards the rear, to see 
 that the prisoner, Walter Dixon, was safely 
 guarded, I heard the name of the Colonel re- 
 
256 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 peated more than once. Calling the captain of 
 the second troop to me, a poor but honourable 
 gentleman in our neighbourhood, I began to 
 speak with him on the subject ; and hinted, I 
 am afraid rather insincerely, that business of a 
 particular nature detained my brother behind us. 
 
 " Oh, yes, Sir !"' he replied, " we all know 
 what the business is ; but we almost thought — 
 I beg your pardon for speaking so boldly, — 
 but we almost thought it was a pity you did 
 not prevent him from fighting this duel, for the 
 King's service surely should not be postponed 
 to a private quarrel." 
 
 " A duel !" I said musing, and taken some- 
 what by surprise. " How did it get abroad, 
 that he was going to fight a duel ?"" 
 
 " Why, Sir,'"* replied he, *' I forgot you were 
 away at the time ; but yesterday hot words 
 were seen to pass between the Colonel and some 
 gentleman in black, by one of the sentinels, 
 in the avenue behind the house ; and both laid 
 their hands upon their swords ; but some one 
 coming up, they parted. The same person in 
 black, we suppose it was, who came to the 
 village some hours afterwards, and hired a man 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 257 
 
 to carry a billet to the Colonel. This got 
 about in the regiment, and we never doubted 
 that there was a duel toward, when we found 
 that the Colonel did not command us this 
 morning."" 
 
 These were tidings indeed ; and tidings for 
 which I would have given millions a few hours 
 before. The story was not improbable, and 
 many circumstances which I had remarked, 
 confirmed it. I had myself beheld a stranger 
 in the woods, habited as described in black. No 
 quarrel, it is true, could have taken place be- 
 tween him and Frank after our meeting, but it 
 might have done so before ; and the note which 
 I had seen put into my brother's hands, had 
 appeared, from the manner in which he received 
 it, to have been something very interesting, 
 though nothing unexpected. And yet I did 
 not think that for any common afiPair of the 
 kind, — a thing that might at any time be settled 
 in ten minutes, — Frank would neglect his duty 
 to his King and to his own honour. But then 
 again I remembered how deadly pale Lady 
 Eleanor had turned when she beheld that stran- 
 ger; and I doubted not that the quarrel had 
 
258 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 some reference to her. I concluded, indeed, 
 without much proof, that he was in all proba- 
 bility some rejected lover, and the cause of 
 contention, his pretensions to the lady; and I 
 supposed that some peculiar circumstances, 
 with which I was unacquainted, prevented its 
 hostile discussion an hour or two earlier than 
 the time proposed. 
 
 What was to be done, became the next con- 
 sideration. Had I known before that such a 
 meeting was in agitation, I should have scrupled 
 at no means to compel Frank either to hurry it 
 to a termination before our departure, or to 
 postpone it to some future time. As I came to 
 think farther, it struck me that even then, it 
 was not too late ; it wanted still a quarter to 
 six o'clock, and we were within seven miles of 
 Maidstone. My horse was as fresh as the day- 
 light ; and I had two led horses with the regi- 
 ment, to mount me at the moment of need. In 
 two hours and a quarter, I could surely ride 
 twenty-two miles, and do a great deal of business 
 besides. My resolution was instantly taken, and 
 devolving the command on the senior captain, 
 I called out William Fells and another resolute 
 fellow from the ranks, bade them follow me, 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 259 
 
 and galloped back towards Penford-bourne as 
 hard as I could go. The road was good, and 
 the ground easy, and we flew over it like a 
 passing cloud. In five and thirty minutes Ave 
 reached the low park wall, at about a mile from 
 the house ; and I paused to consider whether 
 my horse could clear it. As I did so, the 
 clashing of swords struck my ear, and I was 
 over in a moment; a turn round the copse 
 wood brought me to the end of a broad green 
 alley, about a hundred yards down which 
 appeared four men, two of whom were deep 
 in eager and desperate conflict, the others 
 stood by, and at the coming of myself and my 
 two followers, a sudden exclamation gave notice 
 that the two lookers-on at least were aware of 
 our approach. I dashed on, resolved at all 
 risks to put a stop to the matter for the time, if 
 for no longer ; but before I could reach the 
 spot, in a rapid pass, one of the combatants 
 lunged wide of his mark, reeled back, lost his 
 balance, and fell. The other, followed by one of 
 the two spectators, dashed into the wood, ex- 
 claiming, " Not enough yet ; we must meet 
 again !" and on arriving on the ground, I found 
 Frank lying on the grass, and bleeding from 
 
260 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 two severe wounds which seemed to have been 
 draining him of his heart's blood for long be- 
 fore he fell. A stream of gory drops towards 
 the copse, told that his opponent had not passed 
 unscathed ; and Gabriel Jones, who had made 
 the fourth of the party, was now busily and 
 skilfully staunching his master's w^ounds. 
 
 " What do you here, Harry ?"" exclaimed my 
 brother, raising himself on his arm, as I rode 
 up. " Get you gone, in God's name ! I am 
 but little hurt. That cursed faintness made me 
 fall ; but I am better now as I lie down. Get 
 thee gone, Harry, to the regiment ! I am little 
 hurt, indeed." 
 
 "Verily, God be praised, what his honour 
 says is true," added Gabriel. " By the special 
 intervention of Providence, which never deserts 
 those destined and elected to be vessels of grace, 
 the sword of the unrighteous man has not 
 touched any mortal part, and though he be 
 faint even unto death, yet shall he do well."" 
 
 I knew the rascal to be no bad chirurgeon, 
 and therefore derived great consolation from his 
 assurance, especially as Frank, even after hav- 
 ing ceased to speak, motioned me to my horse 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 261 
 
 again, and seemed anxious for my departure* 
 No time indeed was to be lost ; and after endea- 
 vouring as far as possible to ascertain the truth, 
 in regard to the injuries he had received; 
 and having satisfied myself that they were 
 only dangerous from the immense loss of blood 
 he had sustained, I gave directions to one of the 
 troopers to stay with Gabriel Jones, and convey 
 his wounded officer to the mansion-house. I 
 then knelt by my brother's side, and whispered 
 the assurance that I had merely taken the com- 
 mand of the regiment as his second, and that 
 the matter of the supersedure was unknown to 
 any but ourselves. His present circumstances, 
 I added, would be a full excuse to Lord Goring 
 for his absence from the regiment ; and that I 
 hoped to see him both better and happier, when 
 I returned, if ever that took place. 
 
 He pressed my hand affectionately, though 
 faintly ; and again motioned me to depart. I 
 accordingly sprang upon my horse, and resumed 
 with all speed the road towards Maidstone. 
 
 For some time I rode on with my reveries 
 uninterrupted by any other sound than the 
 clatter of my horse's feet : but in less than half 
 
262 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 an hour, the wind, which set strong in our 
 faces, brought the report of artillery. Another 
 and another dull heavy roar succeeded the first, 
 and although I had given especial orders not to 
 quit the walk at which the troops were proceed- 
 ing when I left them, till I returned again; I 
 feared lest they might hurry on at the sound, 
 and, giving my horse the spur, never quitted the 
 gallop till I came up with the rear of the regi- 
 ment. The noise of the artillery was now inces- 
 sant, and mounting a fresh horse, I put my men 
 into a quick pace, and hurried forward towards 
 the rendezvous, though the hour appointed had 
 not yet arrived. 
 
 As I passed backwards and forwards, almost 
 all the officers found an opportunity to ask 
 concerning my brother : " Sadly wounded, but 
 not dead," was my general answer ; and I took 
 occasion, as I rode a moment by each troop, to 
 notice the animating voice of the cannon, and to 
 speak of the strife to which we were fast ap- 
 proaching, as the thing that all brave men must 
 most desire. 
 
 Both men and officers were all eager enough ; 
 and there was a slight degree of rivalry between 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 263 
 
 che troop which had ah'eady gained some glory 
 in the field, and those which had been left be- 
 hind, which promised emulation — one of the 
 best roads to great success. 
 
 The two miles which the regiment was distant 
 from Maidstone, when I rejoined it, were passed 
 as rapidly as possible; and I am afraid that 
 more than one pannier full of eggs and chickens 
 were overturned by the troopers, in their eager- 
 ness to advance, as they almost ran down a 
 number of peasants and market-women, who 
 were hastening away from a town, where hard 
 blows were for the time the only marketable 
 commodities. Nearer and nearer as we came, 
 the scene of confusion became greater, the roar 
 of the cannon more loud; but mingled, and as 
 it were supported by a thousand other sounds, 
 which easily directed the ear to the scene of 
 strife. Just as we were about to turn out of 
 the road, upon the little green where we had 
 been directed to wait, something loud whistled 
 past my head ; and, at the same instant, as it 
 seemed, a cannon-ball struck a young pollard 
 elm tree, in the hedge row, and the upper part, 
 with a tremendous crash, fell across the road 
 
264 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 before me. I was startled for a moment, I 
 own; but, knowing the effect of trifles upon 
 large bodies of men, I made a great efibrt to 
 recover myself, and without, I believe, any 
 pause, or perceptible change of demeanour, I 
 leaped my horse over the fallen mass, and pur- 
 sued my way. The troopers followed, most of 
 them with a light laugh, and in a moment 
 after we were on the green, before the little 
 alehouse called the Bush. 
 
 The scene of confusion, now before our eyes, 
 was tremendous. Clouds of smoke were rolling 
 over the green, from the slope of the hill be- 
 yond ; on which, in dim and confused masses, 
 we could see the forces of the Roundheads and 
 the Cavaliers engaged in deadly strife. The 
 ruinous eff*ect of the cannon-balls was visible 
 in all the houses round about ; and overturned 
 carts, dead bodies, wounded men, abandoned 
 arms, and plunderers already pillaging the 
 dead, showed that the struggle had changed 
 its scene, and had passed over the very spot 
 where we stood. 
 
 It still wanted ten minutes of the hour which 
 had been assigned for my arrival ; but in such 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 265 
 
 a case, it seemed to me, that to stand idle waiting 
 for orders, would be worse than acting on my 
 own responsibility ; but in the smoke and con- 
 fusion, I could not ascertain whether the dark 
 masses interposed between me and the hill were 
 rebels or cavaliers. 
 
 Halting the men for a moment, I rode for- 
 ward to the other side of the green, where it 
 terminates at the summit of a steep bank, under 
 which passes the high road, and which com- 
 manded a better view of the field. But it was 
 in vain I did so ; the smoke was so thick that 
 I could only distinguish long rows of pikes, and 
 dark columns of troops, bodies of cavalry whirl- 
 ing here and there, like flights of plovers, 
 mingled altogether with the sudden flashes of 
 artillery and musketry, and the occasional 
 glance of a steel cap or cuirass. I could make 
 nothing of it; and as I rode back towards 
 the regiment, I was looking about amongst the 
 wounded cavaliers, who were strewed here and 
 there upon the green, for some one capable of 
 giving me information as to which was the royal 
 army ; when a little boy, apparently not twelve 
 years old, without hat or shoes or stockings, ran 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
266 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 up to the side of my horse; and eyeing me 
 attentively all the way, followed me to the head 
 of my men. The moment, however, that he 
 saw me approach close to them, he said, in an 
 inquiring tone : '' Colonel Masterton ?" 
 
 '' Well, my little man," I said, surprised at 
 hearing my own name, with my brother's rank 
 attached to it. " What is it ?" 
 
 " From the General I" he said, in the same 
 laconic style, holding up to me a little bit 
 of crumpled paper, in which I found written 
 with a pencil : 
 
 '' We are forced to retreat before superior 
 numbers. If possible, make a circuit through 
 the skirts of the town, and charge the enemy's 
 left flank, while I extricate my infantry. At 
 all events, make a diversion by a charge, cut 
 your way through, and join me. 
 
 " Norwich." 
 
 '' The boy will lead you," was added below ; 
 and though such a guide seemed a very insecure 
 trust for the safety of so many men, I had, of 
 course, nothing to do but obey. ' " Can you 
 bring me by some by-path to the left of the ene- 
 my's line, my man ?" I demanded. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 267 
 
 " Yes !" was all the reply, and off he set 
 before me like a shot. I had hardly time to 
 put the regiment in motion and follow, before 
 he had made a circuit round the green, to a spot 
 where a narrow lane led down amongst some 
 dull houses at the back of the town. Seeing 
 that our little conductor ran like the wind, I 
 hurried our pace, and without a moment's 
 pause for thought or reflection, he threaded 
 half a dozen intricate turnings, at every break 
 in which, we could hear the voice of the battle 
 roaring on our right hand. At last, he stopped 
 at the entrance of a road which turned in that 
 direction ; and suddenly bounding up by my 
 horse's side, as if to reach my ear, he said in a 
 low quick tone : " Now take care, you are 
 upon them." 
 
 Almost as he spoke, I spurred forward and 
 turned into the road. It seemed to have been 
 but a cart- way, between two houses into the 
 fields beyond, and was not altogether twenty 
 yards long; so that at once, the battle again 
 broke upon my sight ; but now much nearer 
 than before, and with my position reversed in 
 regard to the field. The wind here set from 
 n2 
 
268 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 me, and blew the smoke away, so that I could 
 distinguish plainly the objects that were in the 
 foreground. The general plan of the field, 
 however, and the positions of the two armies, I 
 confess I neither saw nor understood. 
 
 A small park of artillery, which seemed ex- 
 tremely well served, and a considerable body 
 of heavy horse left to guard it, were the first 
 things that struck my sight ; and the same 
 glance informed me at once, by the plain, rude 
 habiliments of the soldiers, that the horse I saw 
 were Roundheads. They were placed a little 
 higher on the ground than we were ; and, ap- 
 parently left for the specific purpose of defend- 
 ing the cannon. The troopers were sitting idle 
 on their horses, gazing over the field, with the 
 long line of their backs and of their horses"* 
 croupes towards me. To charge them was, of 
 course, ray determination ; and I brought up 
 the regiment as fast as possible. 
 
 The first thing that made the rebels aware of 
 our presence was, our forming about a hundred 
 yards in their rear ; and even then, more than 
 one of them turned his head, and seemingly 
 taking us for some of their own regiments, did 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 269 
 
 not give the alarm. At length, a trooper, more 
 observant than the rest, remarked our colours ; 
 and there was an immediate movement amongst 
 them ; but by this time we were ready to 
 charge, and were upon them before they could 
 properly wheel. 
 
 1 saw a good deal of wavering and confusion 
 along their line as we came up ; and just as we 
 were closing — when each man could distinguish 
 his antagonist as perfectly as if they sat beside 
 each other — when every feature, grim and tense, 
 with the eagerness of attack and defence, was as 
 clear as in a picture — the hearts of some of their 
 troopers, shaken by surprise and disarray, failed ; 
 and they attempted to turn their bridles from 
 the shock. Immense confusion ensued; and with 
 a loud shout we poured into their broken ranks, 
 cut down the artillery-men at their guns, and 
 drove back the flying cavalry upon the pikemen 
 of the left wing. Many of the rebels, however, 
 stood manfully, in spite of the flight of their 
 companions ; and one little knot in the centre, 
 refusing all quarter, were absolutely hewn from 
 their saddles. 
 
 The eff*ect of our charge, I afterwards found. 
 
270 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 had been great upon the fortunes of the day. 
 The artillery of the enemy's left, which had 
 thrown Lord Norwich's retreating infantry 
 into confusion, being now silenced, order was 
 restored in that part of his army ; and at the 
 same time, as the parliamentary pikemen were 
 in many places trodden down by their own 
 cavalry, an opportunity was afforded of rallying 
 the royalist horse, to keep the enemy in check ; 
 while Lord Norwich concentrated his troops 
 upon the road, and the retreat assumed a firm 
 and regular order. 
 
 At first, after having gained the height, and 
 caught a glance of the position of the various 
 forces, I fancied that a few brisk charges, while 
 the Roundheads were still in confusion, would 
 have turned the day in our favour, as on the 
 former occasion at Wrotham. But the whole 
 business, as I soon found, was of a very differ- 
 ent nature. The part of the parliamentary 
 army which I saw, was nothing but their left 
 wing, which had been extended for the purpose 
 of turning the right flank of the RoyaUsts, and 
 intercepting their retreat. Lord Norwich had 
 extended his right to counteract this movement; 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 271 
 
 but, in doing so, the superior numbers of the 
 enemy? and the well-directed fire of their artil- 
 lery, had nearly effected the dispersion of his 
 whole force ; and our arrival in the rear of the 
 rebels, was only in time to save that wing of the 
 royal army. 
 
 The confusion of their cavalry, and the cap- 
 ture of their artillery, was seen by the parlia- 
 mentary generals, as soon as by the cavaliers : 
 and while a small body of our friends came 
 down to support me, a large mass of pikemen 
 and a regiment of cavalry, began to rise over 
 the slope, which concealed the main body of 
 the Roundheads from my sight. Success gives 
 boldness ; and I was just about to charge them, 
 notwithstanding the vast superiority of their 
 numbers, when an officer rode up to me from 
 Lord Goring. 
 
 " You are to bring in your regiment. Sir, 
 with all speed," he said, " in order to cover the 
 retreat of the infantry." 
 
 '' Where is Lord Goring .'^" I demanded. 
 
 " Yonder, Sir !" was the reply. " Just 
 beyond that cuckoldy regiment of London 
 horse, to the left of those coming up the hill." 
 
272 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 " Then my shortest way will be through 
 them,'' I replied. 
 
 " The shortest way, Sir, but the roughest, 
 perhaps,*" answered the officer, with somewhat 
 of a sneer, which would have sent me through 
 them if they had been a legion of fiends, instead 
 of a regiment of London Burghers. 
 
 '' You had better keep away to the left, 
 young gentleman ; and so over the rise without 
 meddling with them.*" 
 
 " Take through the hollow way, and you 
 will be upon them before they see you,"" said a 
 small voice near me ; and looking down, I saw, 
 to my surprise, the little guide who had brought 
 me Lord Goring's first commands. It was evi- 
 dent that he was right in his counsel. A way 
 cut through the soil to some lime-pits, inter- 
 sected a great part of the field ; and as the 
 Londoners were retreating, they would proba- 
 bly be in the very act of crossing it, at the mo- 
 ment I arrived in their neighbourhood. The 
 poor boy who pointed it out, however, could 
 not pass without some notice; and throwing 
 him some money, I bade him get off the field 
 as fast as he could. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 273 
 
 " I have been in more battles than ever yoii 
 were," replied the boy ; but bid some one take 
 me up, and I will show you the way." 
 
 He was mounted in a moment, behind one of 
 the troopers ; and, betaking ourselves to the 
 hollow way, we followed the lime-road, till it 
 again opened out upon the field. To my no 
 small consternation, however, when we were 
 again upon level ground, I found the London 
 Burghers, as I expected, it is true, between me 
 and Lord Goring ; but my path had been 
 marked, and the body of horse and pikemen 
 which had been sent to reinforce the left wing, 
 was now wheeling on my flank, within a hun- 
 dred and fifty yards of me. 
 
 The situation was critical ; but a moment's 
 pause would have been ruin. The only hope 
 was, to cut through the Londoners before the 
 others could come up, and ordering the trum- 
 peters to sound a charge, we dashed in amongst 
 them. They were taken by surprise : their line 
 was extended, and shallow ; ours was narrow 
 and deep ; and our whole purpose being, to 
 force our passage, we poured our squadrons at 
 once upon their centre, and cleared ourselves a 
 N 5 
 
274 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 way by the very impetus of our course. Not 
 that the citizens fought amiss. Not a man 
 attempted to turn his bridle, as they had done 
 in the first regiment we attacked ; and I do 
 beheve, that the two troops with which we came 
 in contact, were annihilated where they stood, 
 — a great part cut down, and many trodden 
 under the horses' feet. Nor did we ourselves 
 suffer a little ; for we afterwards found, that 
 nearly a hundred men had fallen in our ranks, 
 during the brief moment which was required to 
 cut our way through. I was slightly wounded 
 myself in the face, and in the arm ; but not so 
 much so as to disable me in any degree ; and 
 we continued the same rapid pace with which 
 we had advanced, till we reached the foot of the 
 hill from which Lord Goring was directing the 
 efforts of the cavalry that remained upon the 
 field. The last companies of infantry were now 
 retreating easily along the high road ; and the 
 firing had ceased on both parts. But dense 
 masses of the parliamentary horse were seen 
 coming up in all directions; and it seemed evi- 
 dent, that we should still have a very severe 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 275 
 
 and difficult task, to effect our retreat before 
 so superior an enemy. 
 
 Leaving the regiment at the foot of the hill, 
 I rode up to the General, who instantly wel- 
 comed me in the midst of all the orders he was 
 giving. " Welcome, welcome, and a thousand 
 thanks, Colonel Masterton !" he exclaimed. — 
 " So your brother would not come ?" he added, 
 in a lower voice. 
 
 " He is desperately wounded, my Lord*" — I 
 replied ; but he would not suffer me to finish 
 my sentence, exclaiming, " I am glad of it ! I 
 am glad of it ! Better be killed. Sir, in a noble 
 field like this, than throwing away his honour 
 in sloth and inactivity. You have yourself 
 done nobly ; — but there is no time for long 
 thanks. We must be now drawing off* after the 
 infantry. Fairfax thinks he has won a battle, 
 but I can tell him, with six thousand men, half 
 raw recruits, to effect our retreat in such order 
 before twenty thousand, is worth three better 
 victories than ever he gained." 
 
 The movements of the enemy were by this 
 time slackening in activity ; and drawing off* the 
 
276 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 regiments of cavalry one by one. Lord Goring 
 continued his retreat with comparative ease. 
 The enemy's horse continued to follow us, it is 
 true ; and twice I received orders to face about 
 and charge them ; but before noon we could 
 hear their trumpets of recall, sounding in all 
 directions ; and it became evident that the Par- 
 liamentary generals had abandoned the pursuit. 
 As soon as it was judged advisable to halt, 
 I proceeded to inspect the regiment as carefully 
 as possible ; and in ascertaining our loss, which 
 had been very severe, I found that the prisoner, 
 Walter Dixon, had contrived to effect his 
 escape, in the hurry and confusion of the events 
 through which we had just passed. To tell the 
 truth, I was not particularly sorry to get rid of 
 him, now that our junction with Lord Goring 
 had taken place ; but at the same time, we had 
 gained an addition to the regiment, for the little 
 boy who had guided us so well, had remained 
 sticking close to the back of the trooper who 
 had taken him up, and seemed quite contented 
 with his quarters. What to do with him em- 
 barrassed me a good deal, but I reserved that 
 question for future consideration ; and, with 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 277 
 
 the usual fate of all things delayed, it met with 
 a thousand new postponements, till accident 
 took the affair into its own hands.* 
 
 * A somewhat different account of these transactions is 
 given by Lord Clarendon, but the passage in which he 
 speaks of this encounter, is so brief, as to leave all the 
 minor details in doubt ; nor indeed could his relation be 
 taken in preference to that of an eye-witness. 
 
278 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 It is always a sad review, the inspection of 
 a regiment after a battle, even when the men 
 gone were but little known to their officers ; the 
 number of familiar faces lost to his eye, the 
 silence of voices whose tone had been heard a 
 thousand times answering the roll call ; and 
 many a little circumstance by which the dead 
 were linked to memory, must render it a melan- 
 choly task. But in those instances where the 
 regiment has been raised almost entirely from 
 the tenantry or the neighbours of the person 
 who commands it, where each face is familiar 
 as his brother's, and where there are multitude 
 of common interests, memories, and affections, 
 between his own bosom and that of every man 
 he leads to the field, it is scarcely possible to 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 279 
 
 tell how painful is the examination which ex- 
 hibits so many lost. These feelings of personal 
 and individual concern for every man under my 
 command, made me perhaps hurry to the in- 
 vestigation, before any of the officers of other 
 regiments thought fit to proceed to the task. 
 I found many missing, and amongst the rest, 
 the saddle of poor William Fells was vacant. 
 
 I had scarcely concluded, when I was called 
 to Lord Goring, and hastened instantly to obey 
 the summons. I was directed by the corporal 
 who brought the command, to a small inn 
 with the sign of a bulPs head painted in deep 
 crimson over the door ; and entering the passage, 
 I made my way through a crowd of persons, 
 some civil, some military, that were hanging 
 about, with countenances in which both fatigue 
 and anxiety were very manifest. At a small, 
 rickety, unpainted deal door, whose thin and 
 shapeless form but little impeded the sound of 
 the discussion which was going on within from 
 reaching the ears of those without, stood a sen- 
 tinel with musket in hand and match lighted, 
 and that appearance of stolid deafness in his 
 countenance, which it behoves all sentinels near 
 
280 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 thin doors and angry debates, to assume. 
 Whom he was stationed to keep out, and whom 
 to admit, heaven knows ; but he made no diffi- 
 culty of permitting me to enter ; and, in a mo- 
 ment after, I was in the presence of about 
 twenty, or five and twenty gentlemen, who 
 seemed to be doing their best to forget the 
 gifts of their station and education, in the fury 
 of discussion. 
 
 One — a florid burly squire, with no very 
 military air or courtly demeanour — was stand- 
 ing up at the side of the table, round which the 
 rest were seated, roaring away a heap of uncon- 
 nected and hesitating sentences, with a face fiery 
 between the anger of opposition, and the con- 
 sciousness of talking nonsense. At a little dis- 
 tance sat a more tranquil person, tearing to 
 pieces a very good pen which he had gathered 
 from an inkstand in the midst. He was not 
 interrupting the other, it is true ; but he was 
 muttering to himself from time to time, loud 
 enough to be heard by every one but the 
 speaker, — "That's false! YouVe an idiot! 
 Blundering ass V and various other courteous 
 ejaculations of the same nature. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 281 
 
 Three more gentlemanly men on the other side 
 of the table, appeared, with their heads close to- 
 gether, conversing in a whisper, without attend- 
 ing to any one else ; while Lord Norwich was 
 sitting at the head of the room with a roll of 
 letters and other papers under his hand. His 
 countenance was full of anger and vexation; and 
 from time to time a scornful smile curled his lip 
 while the other was speaking, which certainly 
 did not improve the declaimer's oratory, or calm 
 the passion by which he was evidently affected. 
 
 " So !" thought I, as I entered, *' this is a 
 council of war, is it.? it wants but little, it 
 would seem, to become a field of battle." 
 
 So absurd, indeed, was the whole scene, to 
 a person whose passions had not been worked 
 up to the same pitch, that I could have laughed 
 notwithstanding all the sorrowful details which 
 I had been lately examining, had I not been 
 restrained by the expression of deep anxiety 
 and vexation which I beheld in some of the 
 finer and nobler countenances around me. 
 
 " You may sneer, my Lord ! you may sneer!" 
 said the burly orator, just as I was entering, 
 " but I'll tell you what, — it does not at all sig- 
 
282 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 nify, — the gentlemen of Kent, I say, — the gen- 
 tlemen of Kent will not be thrown away in this 
 manner. — Why, did not I now, and my brother, 
 — did not we join the King's army willingly, 
 with all the force we could make ? and did not 
 I tell you, if you would march then, half the 
 country would join you as you went? — and did 
 not you listen to Edward Hales there, instead 
 of to me, and have we not now lost half our 
 men and more ?" 
 
 " Not by the course I pursued. Sir I'" re- 
 plied Lord Norwich ; " had I listened to your 
 advice, we should not have lost half, but the 
 whole. However, Sir, to end this matter at 
 once, I am, I believe, commander-in-chief for 
 his Majesty, and in his Majesty's name I have 
 to tell you that, with thanks for your service, 
 we do not want volunteers to command us ; we 
 want men to fight, Sir, and not to dictate." 
 
 " Fight, Sir ! And have I not fought ?" 
 demanded the other, in the same outrageous 
 tone. " Have not all my men fought ? — Did 
 not my poor brother fight .? — ay. Sir ! did he 
 not fight till he dropped at this cursed Maid- 
 stone ? and did I not see him, when last I saw 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 283 
 
 him in life, waving his hand, and crying Long 
 live King Charles ? — ay, when he was down 
 beneath the horses' feet !" 
 
 " You had better dismiss the council, my 
 Lord," said one of the gentlemen, on the Gene- 
 ral's right hand. This is turning out ill."" 
 
 Lord Norwich took his advice ; and cutting 
 across the person who was speaking, he said, 
 with a grave and melancholy expression, " I am 
 deeply grieved for your brother. Sir Charles, 
 and deeply grieved for the loss of your fine 
 body of tenantry : but I hope that matters may 
 not be so bad, — your brother may only be 
 wounded. In the mean time," he continued, 
 seeing the other about to break in upon him, 
 " In the mean time, I will consider what every 
 one has said, — especially what you have said, 
 Sir Charles ; and in an hour or two, when we 
 are all calmer, I may, perhaps, again call for 
 your advice. At present, I think it will be 
 better for you all to go and refresh yourselves, 
 and I will receive the reports of our numbers, 
 and confer with you hereafter, gentlemen." 
 
 So saying, he rose, and his example was fol- 
 ' lowed by the rest. Before they took their depar- 
 
284 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ture, however, the members of the council, it 
 so it could be called, broke up into two or three 
 groups, and conversed in these separate parties 
 for some time. Lord Norwich himself spoke 
 quickly and eagerly, in the recess of the window, 
 with the two gentlemen who had sat next to 
 him ; and the last words which were uttered by 
 one of his advisers were, " Most decidedly, my 
 Lord. It is a step that, depend upon it, is now 
 inevitable, and the sooner it is taken, the greater 
 chance of safety to all concerned." 
 
 "Well — well — " replied Lord Norwich, 
 slowly, " be it so ! Now, gentlemen," he 
 added, turning to the others, *' by your 
 leave, I will receive the reports from the 
 regiments." 
 
 The whole party, with the exception of the 
 two who had been speaking with the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, took the hint he gave, and 
 withdrew. I was about to follow, with another 
 officer, who, like myself, had not sat down at 
 . the council board ; but Lord Norwich made us 
 a sign to remain. After watching the rest out, 
 he walked forward, and closed the door ; and 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 285 
 
 then made two or three slow turns in the room, 
 with the letters which he still held in his hand 
 clasped with an intensity which bespoke more 
 mental emotion than he chose to appear upon 
 his countenance. At length, he resumed his 
 seat at the head of the table ; and, calling the 
 two who seemed his most confidential friends, 
 to his side, he begged us all to be seated ; and, 
 after thinking deeply for a few minutes, he 
 turned to me, and the other officer who had 
 entered the room nearly at the same moment 
 as myself ; and to him Lord Goring first ad- 
 dressed himself. " Sir John Powel,^' he said, 
 " your regiment, though one of the most gallant 
 in the service, appears to have suffered less to- 
 day than usual. Have you any guess how 
 many men you can muster ?" 
 
 " About seven hundred, my Lord,"" replied 
 the other ; " but it is only a guess. However, 
 certainly not less than six hundred and fifty."" 
 
 '* And you, Colonel Harry Masterton,"' re- 
 joined the Commander-in-chief, " what number, 
 think you, can you bring into the field — effec- 
 tive men, I mean ?"" 
 
286 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 " Certainly not more than three hundred and 
 fifty, my Lord," I replied, "if you do not 
 mean me to include the badly wounded." 
 
 '' Good God !" exclaimed Goring. " They 
 have thinned us indeed. I did not think I saw 
 so many of your saddles empty, Sir ?" 
 
 " There are not so many killed, as there 
 are so badly wounded as not to be fit to sit 
 their horses," I answered. *' I have just gone 
 over the roll, my Lord, and I am certain of my 
 accuracy." 
 
 " I do not doubt it. Sir," replied the General ; 
 *' I do not doubt it. Retire, gentlemen, for a 
 moment, but do not quit the door." 
 
 Sir John Powel and I immediately obeyed, 
 and were recalled almost as soon; when my 
 companion was dismissed with commands sim- 
 ply to inspect his regiment, and take every care 
 that the horses were supplied with forage, and 
 the men with food. I remained longer, and 
 received orders to march, towards nightfall, 
 upon a little hamlet which I had passed be- 
 tween Penford-bourne and Maidstone, taking 
 with me a regiment of newly raised foot. The 
 enemy. Lord Goring explained to me, had 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 287 
 
 established there an out-post, and it was the 
 object of the Royalists to conceal their farther 
 march, and make the Roundheads believe that 
 they were endeavouring to force their way once 
 more towards London. 
 
 " The worst part of the story is now to 
 be told you. Colonel Masterton," the General 
 added. " You will attack the out-post, and no 
 doubt immediately malie yourself master of the 
 hamlet ; but after you have done so, you may 
 march on in what direction you please." 
 
 So sudden and so strange an announcement, 
 forced from my lips the exclamation of " Good 
 God !" But Lord Norwich proceeded without 
 noticing my surprise. 
 
 " The regiment of foot which I send with 
 you, will, beyond all question, disperse be- 
 fore morning ; at least, if it follow the plan 
 that all our regiments here are doing ; for 
 not a night passes but we lose three or four 
 hundred men. The case, Sir, I am sorry to 
 say, is quite hopeless. Had all the friends who 
 promised to join me, brought up their forces as 
 I was marching on London, the King, Sir, 
 would have been at this moment upon his 
 throne ; but now I must abandon Kent, where 
 
288 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 the Royalists, as you may judge from the scene 
 you have just witnessed, are more difficult to 
 rule than the Roundheads are to beat. I must 
 then make the best of my way towards Essex, 
 and can only hope to cover my retreat by de- 
 ceiving the enemy. Do as much as you can, 
 therefore, to magnify the appearance of your 
 forces. Extend your line ; keep your trumpets 
 sounding ; send a troop round to the other side 
 of the hamlet ; kill as many of cuckoldy scum 
 as you can, but take no prisoners, lest, by es- 
 caping afterwards, they betray your real num- 
 bers. Neither must you halt longer at the 
 hamlet, than just to refresh yourselves. Then, 
 if you take my advice, you will retire into the 
 fields, and disperse your foot ; for if a hundred 
 or two do stay with you, they will only embar- 
 rass you. After that, you can either try to 
 join me in Essex, if you hear that we are there 
 having any success ; or endeavour to reach 
 Wales, and fight it out with the cavaliers in the 
 mountains; or force your way back to Devon- 
 shire, and keep quiet till a more favourable 
 moment.*" 
 
 It appeared to me that his Lordship spoke 
 
HENRY MA.STERTON. 289 
 
 very coolly of our probable fate. But I could 
 pardon him, as his own, if he fell into the hands 
 of the Roundheads, was likely to be worse. As 
 the line of march laid down for me towards 
 the enemy's out-post, was across the country, I 
 ventured to ask for a guide ; upon which the 
 commander demanded, with no small anima- 
 tion, what had become of the little messenger 
 he had sent me in the morning ? 
 
 " He is with the regiment now, my Lord," 
 I replied : " Can he serve to guide me to- 
 night ?" 
 
 " He can guide you to any part of the coun- 
 try," answered Lord Goring. " But if you 
 carry him with you. Colonel Masterton ; you 
 must give me your word of honour that you 
 will take such care of him as if he were the 
 child of a dear friend. His father, Sir, was as 
 true a Cavalier as ever drew his sword. Many 
 a flagon have we emptied together, and in many 
 a hard field did he fight. This boy, Sir, was 
 born and bred in the midst of scenes that break 
 one in to dangers and difficulties early; and 
 in many a battle has he sat upon a baggage- 
 waggon before he could walk, clapping his 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
290 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 little hands at the braying of the trumpets and 
 the roar of the artillery. When he was five 
 years old, I have seen him running amongst the 
 ranks, where the shot was flying like hail, or 
 mounted on the pommel of his father's saddle, 
 heading the charge against pike and gun. He 
 never forgets either place or person that he has 
 once seen ; he never forgets a word that he has 
 once heard ; he never misunderstands what you 
 mean, and every inch of Kent and Sussex he 
 knows as well as a geographer. His father was 
 killed about a year ago, and I lost sight of the 
 poor lad ; but he came upon me suddenly at 
 Maidstone, all in rags, and I vowed I would 
 never let him quit me again. But, God help 
 me ! 'tis not the first vow I have broken ; but 
 he will be safer with you than with me. We 
 used to call him Little Ball-o'-fire. But his true 
 name is John Marston Hall.*" 
 
 I willingly promised to be kind to the dead 
 soldier's boy, as far as circumstances v^ould 
 permit me to be kind to any one ; and then, 
 having been forced to drink a cup of strong 
 waters, which had been circulating pretty libe- 
 rally amongst Lord Goring's council on their 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 291 
 
 first arrival, I took my leave and returned to the 
 regiment. I discovered little Ball-o'-fire in the 
 midst of the troopers, questioning them, with 
 short, sharp interrogatories, which I found, by 
 a casual word or two, referred to myself. The 
 account given by the soldiers was, apparently, 
 not very unfavourable ; for, when I asked the 
 boy if he would go with me, he looked up 
 with his bright black eyes, glistening with eager- 
 ness, and replied, " Yes, — over the world." 
 
 Unhappily, by this time there was many a 
 vacant saddle in our ranks ; and many a poor 
 fellow whom, it was evident, I should be forced 
 to leave behind, to follow as they could when 
 their wounds were whole again. There was no 
 difficulty, therefore, in mounting poor little 
 Ball-o'-fire ; but the care of my wounded men 
 took me up till it was nearly time to depart. I 
 succeeded, however, in getting them carried 
 out of the line of high road, and distributed 
 amongst some cottagers, who, for a trifling gra- 
 tification, undertook to guard and take care of 
 them ; and although this was but frail security 
 for their comfort and protection, I could do 
 nothing better, and was forced to leave them, 
 o2 
 
292 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 after having added as much as I could to their 
 purses, from my own little store. 
 
 When all this was done, the regiment num- 
 bered about three hundred and forty-seven 
 effective men, and about forty more, who could 
 sit their horses, but were unfit for any active 
 duty. 
 
 Our corps, however, was singular in one re- 
 spect. Having come a length of way; and 
 being all united in one community of feelings 
 and remembrances, there was not one man Kad 
 deserted ; while the rest of Lord Goring's forces 
 — either entirely levied or principally recruited 
 in Kent — were spreading over the country by 
 hundreds ; and, indeed, as he proceeded on his 
 retreat through the native places of his soldiers, 
 the march of his army was like the progress of 
 a carrier, who drops a part of his charge at 
 every village by which he passes. 
 
 At the hour appointed, every thing was pre- 
 pared to set out ; and having ascertained in 
 person, that the Commander-in-chief had no far- 
 ther orders, I took my final leave, and gave the 
 word to march. 
 
 Nothing of any consequence occurred during 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 293 
 
 our progress. We arrived at the hamlet just 
 at that dim moment of the night, when the sun 
 has quite set, and before the moon has risen, 
 so that we were upon the out-post of the rebels 
 before they were aware. Seeing little or no 
 object in destroying the handful of men which 
 the place contained, I endeavoured to restrict 
 our efforts to making a great show, and a great 
 deal of noise, without spilling much blood. But 
 the soldiers, especially the foot, were savage 
 wfth the events of the morning, and the loss of 
 their companions ; and in despite of orders and 
 entreaties, they gave no quarter. Some one 
 also, either accidentally or intentionally, set fire 
 to the hamlet ; and a cruel piece of useless bar- 
 barity remains generally attributed to me, 
 which I would have given my right hand to 
 prevent. But such, I am afraid, is our general 
 fate, either in good or bad. The things we 
 strive with our whole strength to accomplish, 
 bring us no renown ; and we, nine times out of 
 ten, owe our fame or our infamy either to a 
 trifle, an accident, or a misunderstanding. 
 
 The effect of our attack, nevertheless, was 
 such as Lord Goring desired ; and was perhaps 
 
291^ HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 more tlian he had expected. The fugitives from 
 the burning hamlet magnified our strength, and 
 for two days afterwards, it was generally believ- 
 ed in the Parliamentary army, that the whole 
 Royalist force had pushed past their right ; and 
 much anxiety was entertained for the result. 
 In the mean while, Lord Goring, with his com- 
 panions, effected their passage into Essex ; and 
 after a time, threw themselves into Colchester, 
 on the memorable siege of which place I need 
 not pause. 
 
 From the flames of the burning hamlet I 
 drew off the forces with all speed ; and crossing 
 the fields, following the courses of the brooks 
 and streams, and practising a thousand other 
 manoeuvres to conceal our line of retreat, I at 
 length brought my men safely to a spot about 
 six miles south-west from Maidstone. There I 
 communicated to the remnant of a regiment of 
 foot, which had accompanied me, the commands 
 of Lord Goring ; and though I heard a good deal 
 of grumbling and profane swearing, I believe 
 from my heart, there was not a man in the 
 ranks that was not very well contented with the 
 order to disperse. Nay, more : I do not believe 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 295 
 
 that there would have been one of them with 
 me by the following morning. The next con- 
 sideration became, how I might best effect my 
 retreat with the cavalry to Penford-bourne, 
 the direction of which I had by this time very 
 nearly lost. Here, however, little Ball-o'-fire 
 proved of no small service by his counsels. 
 
 " You will soon have the moon," he said, 
 when he heard my difficulty ; " and she must 
 rise nearly behind the old castle. Till then, 
 follow that star, and whichever way the road 
 winds, turn back to the star again ; by which, 
 at all events, we shall be getting nearer." 
 
 The character Lord Goring had given him 
 made me trust much more implicitly to his 
 advice than his age seemed to warrant ; and I 
 did not find myself deceived. There were one 
 or two dull clouds upon the edge of the sky, 
 which cut off whatever portion of the evening 
 light still lingered, at that period of the summer, 
 about the line of the horizon ; but in a short 
 time those clouds began to be tinged with red as 
 from a fire, and I felt some alarm lest any part 
 of the enemy''s force should have been detached 
 in that direction ; but, a few minutes after. 
 
296 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 some lines of silver mingled with the red on the 
 edges of the vapours, and then the round disk 
 of the summer moon, looking fiery and large 
 through the horizontal mist, came forth above 
 the clouds. The moment she did so, the whole 
 scene was clear. The castle, with the rocks 
 and woods amongst which it stood, rose in dark 
 masses a little to the right of the beautiful 
 orb, whose beams, pouring over the large old 
 trees in the park at Penford-bourne, came 
 gently down the valley through which we were 
 advancing, picking out with bright light, a 
 thousand marks to guide us on our onward 
 progress. 
 
 " Oh, but that 's a nice old castle !" cried my 
 little guide, who now rode by my side, mounted 
 on an immense trooper's horse, which he ma- 
 naged like a giant. " Oh, but that is a nice 
 old castle ! I know places in it would conceal a 
 thousand men." 
 
 " Indeed!" exclaimed I, remembering all 
 that had passed when I last visited it. " In- 
 deed ! Whereabouts, my boy .?" 
 
 " I cannot tell ; but I can show," replied the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 297 
 
 boy ; " and I would not like even to show with- 
 out occasion." 
 
 ** We may have occasion but too soon, for 
 aught I know," replied I : " and besides, John 
 Marston, I may have many reasons for wishing 
 to know." 
 
 " Call me Ball-o'-fire," answered the boy, '' if 
 you love me, gallant Sir, and I will show you 
 all the places with my whole heart ; but it is a 
 pity that all the world should know of a place 
 which has hid many a brave and honest man, 
 and may hide many another." 
 
 " It has hid many a rogue, little BalW-fire," 
 I rejoined, " and of that I have had good 
 proof; but, however, by it for our landmark 
 we shall soon reach Penford-bourne." 
 
 " Ay, and the fair Lady Eleanor Fleming," 
 said the boy, ^' she was kind to me, two or 
 three years since, and patted my head, and 
 looked gentle at me ; but her dark husband, 
 Sir Andrew Fleming, frowned like a thunder- 
 cloud, all the time I was there." 
 
 ** And how long has Sir Andrew Fleming 
 been dead, my boy.?" I demanded. 
 o 5 
 
298 HENRV MASTERTON. 
 
 " Is he dead ?" asked the boy, '' They said 
 he was jealous of her ; and they parted, never 
 to see each other again ; but he did not die ; 
 and he went across the sea with Monsieur du 
 Tillet, who had once been as badly wived, I 've 
 heard my father say, as Sir Andrew himself." 
 
 " And why do you say he was badly wived, 
 little Bali-o'-fire ?" I demanded again, anxious 
 to get all the information on this subject I 
 could, as we marched on. '' Perhaps it was 
 his own fault he Mas unhappy.'' 
 
 " Still he was badly wived !" replied the boy. 
 " If I were to mingle honey and salt, would 
 you not say it was ill mixed ? He was as stern 
 as a piece of artillery ; and she was as light and 
 as gay as a twinkling lark : and that was the 
 reason I have heard them say that she hated 
 him as much as he loved her : and love and 
 hate in one house, you know, are like gunpow- 
 der and ball in a cannon, — the one is sure to 
 drive the other out of window. — ^But, oh, he is 
 not dead ; — no, no, he cannot be dead. I heard 
 of his being alive the other day." 
 
 " Pray God he be !" I mentally exclaimed; 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 299 
 
 for I felt certain that Frank knew not of his 
 existence; and I calculated strongly on that 
 piece of news ending at once the mad and 
 hopeless passion with which he was possessed. 
 
 Various and unconnected were the medita- 
 tions to which the boy's words gave rise in my 
 mind. Frank had himself told me that Lady 
 Eleanor Fleming was a Avidow ; and, although 
 I had heard the speakers at the old castle allude 
 to the husband of the lady of whom they spoke, 
 as soon as I became convinced that the one I 
 had imagined to be Gabriel Jones was in fact 
 not him, I had nearly forgotten the circum- 
 stance. I had some doubt, I had some fears 
 indeed, that my brother's attachment had gone 
 so far as to leave deep and painful impressions 
 behind ; but I knew the principles in which he 
 had been educated, and I was not afraid that 
 he would continue to nourish feelings such as 
 those which he now experienced, when he 
 learned that they were not only hopeless, but 
 criminal. I felt sure that, on the belief of 
 Lady Eleanor's perfect freedom from all ties, 
 Frank had encouraged a passion, v/hich, how- 
 
300 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 ever likely to meet with the most decided op- 
 position from his father, was pure and ho- 
 nourable.. Her conduct had not a similar 
 excuse ; and I concluded that much of the 
 agitation and anxiety which her manner had 
 so often betrayed, had arisen in the conscious- 
 ness of that fatal secret which must blast for 
 ever the hopes she was encouraging in my 
 brother. I trusted also, that indignation at 
 having been deceived, might do something to 
 deliver Frank from his thraldom ; and I re- 
 solved to state the matter boldly to him, and 
 rely on his better angel to make him will- 
 ingly accompany the regiment in its retreat 
 to Devonshire. 
 
 At all events, I saw that if he remained, he 
 remained to destruction, in every sense ; and I 
 was determined to use means, perhaps unjusti- 
 fiable under any other circumstances, to force 
 him from a situation so perilous to himself. 
 Then came remembrance of the severe wounds 
 he had received ; and the chance of his not 
 being able to sit his horse, mingled with various 
 wild speculations on the cause of the duel in 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 301 
 
 which he had been engaged. But, before I 
 could give all these whirling thoughts a tangi- 
 ble form, and regular order, we were chal- 
 lenged by the sentry at the gates of the park, 
 and once more halted our horses on the green 
 at Penford-bourne. 
 
302 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Although every consideration which ever 
 in this world urged men to speed, now followed 
 our footsteps to impel us on our course, yet by 
 this time the horses were so fatigued, that to 
 proceed was out of the question ; and, obliged 
 to pause for a day at Penford-bourne, I took 
 what care I could to provide for the refreshment 
 of the troopers and their chargers ; and, cast- 
 ing myself down in the cottage which had first 
 received us there, yielded to pure weariness and 
 fell asleep. 
 
 Scarcely two hours' repose was allowed me, 
 when I was awakened, according to my previous 
 orders, at five o'clock. Leaving the regiment, 
 still to take what rest it could, I rose and walked 
 up towards the mansion, the servants of which 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 303 
 
 were generally early risers. I found the doors 
 open, and one of the lackeys was showing me 
 into the withdrawing-room, when we were met 
 by Lady Eleanor herself, in such guise as led 
 me to imagine that she had not pressed her 
 pillow during the whole night. A faint excla- 
 mation of pleased surprise, and a look of joy, 
 that could not be mistaken, annihilated the cold 
 and unfriendly feelings which had been gather- 
 ing towards her in my bosom, and I could not 
 believe that she was acting towards my brother 
 on any systematic principle of evil ; but chose 
 rather to think that, carried away, like himself, 
 by strong and irresistible passion, she saw not — 
 she would not see, the guilt of nourishing it, 
 and the greater guilt to which it tended. 
 
 So I judged of her; and, whether I judged 
 right or wrong — as I knew that it would be 
 difficult to remove Frank from her dwelling, 
 now that his duty no longer called him to the 
 field, and now that his wounds gave him a 
 fair excuse for lingering behind — I resolved in 
 the first place to strive for her co-operation ; 
 and as the means of gaining it, to show her if I 
 could, that however strong she might feel in her 
 
304 HENRY MARTERTON. 
 
 own innocence, how great soever she might be- 
 lieve her own powers of resistance to be, the 
 very encouragement of such a passion was cri- 
 minal in itself; and but too sure, in the end, 
 to undermine every virtuous principle. 
 
 The task, however, was one, of course, of 
 difficulty and delicacy, which my youth and 
 inexperience were scarcely qualified to attempt ; 
 and I paused long in considering how to begin. 
 Holding the hand she had given me at our 
 first meeting, I led her into the withdrawing- 
 room, and closed the door, but still kept 
 silence, every moment of which seemed but to 
 increase my difficulty. 
 
 At length, after , gazing at me anxiously for 
 some minutes, she spoke herself. " I am afraid 
 to ask," she said^ in a low fearful voice, " the 
 occasion of your speedy return. Your silence 
 speaks but too plainly." 
 
 "The King's cause. Madam," I replied, " is 
 lost, at least in Kent. The numbers of the 
 rebels have j)revailcd against honour and loy- 
 alty ; and, after a severe struggle at Maidstone, 
 yesterday morning. Lord Goring was again 
 forced to retreat, though not without glory, for 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 305 
 
 he repelled, during several hours, the fourfold 
 force of the rebels ; and then marched from the 
 field in order and good array.'"* 
 
 " 'Tis bad news, indeed," said Lady Eleanor, 
 " but, thank God, you have returned your- 
 self, though, as I see, wounded. We have 
 been very anxious for you here, ever since we 
 heard the cannon yesterday. Your brother 
 tells me,*" she continued, in a timid and faltering 
 voice,"" that he has seen you since the misfor- 
 tunes of yesterday morning."" 
 
 " He has, Lady," I replied. " As soon as 
 I heard the likelihood of such an event, I re- 
 turned, in order to prevent it ; but returned 
 too late. For him, now, is my great anxiety. 
 How he is to be removed to Devonshire, 
 which must be done with all speed, is a matter 
 of no small difficulty."" 
 
 " Removed, Captain Masterton !" she ex- 
 claimed. " Impossible ! You know not the 
 state of weakness to which the loss of blood has 
 reduced him." 
 
 " To leave him here, Lady Eleanor,"'"' I re- 
 joined, " would be leading him with my own 
 hand to the scaffold. The Roundheads will be 
 
306 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 here, probably, before two days are over; and 
 do not suppose that they will be very careful in 
 their mode of removing him to the Tower, 
 where the block and axe will be as certainly his 
 doom, as they would be mine, if 1 were caught 
 by the rebels." 
 
 " But I have interest amongst the Parlia- 
 mentary people," she replied, anxiously. " Es- 
 sex was my cousin ; Sir William Waller was my 
 father's dear friend. I have other interest 
 besides — great interest !"" 
 
 " If, Lady, you can take upon yourself the 
 responsibility of insuring my brother's life and 
 liberty,'* I replied, " if you have the power to 
 comn and his safety — " 
 
 " No ! no I no !" she exclaimed, " I dare 
 not risk it. I think I could ; but if I were to 
 fail, I should never forgive my boldness ; death 
 itself," she added passionately, *' could not 
 wipe out the memory of having devoted him to 
 such a fate. Take him rather. Sir — take him 
 with you, whatever it may cost. Yet, stay ! 
 there is still a way. Could he not be concealed 
 here till he is more fit to journey ? You do not 
 know that there is a private passage from the 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 307 
 
 cellars of this house to the old castle on the 
 hill. A chamber might easily be fitted up, 
 where I could tend him myself, and where he 
 might remain hidden from every other eye." 
 
 " I am afraid. Lady," I replied, now seeing 
 at once that Gabriel Jones might very well have 
 been the speaker on the hill after all, and have 
 returned by the passage to which she alluded, 
 " I am afraid that the secret communications of 
 that old castle are known to many other per- 
 sons besides yourself. Might I suggest also," 
 I added, " that your Ladyship's husband might 
 not perhaps — 
 
 The blood rushed up to her face like fire, and 
 suddenly covering her eyes with one hand, she 
 held forth the other towards me, as if imploring 
 me to stop. The first agitated movement had 
 broken through my sentence, but I felt now, 
 that the time was come for me to say what I 
 had intended, if ever ; and entirely altering my 
 tone to one of the utmost gentleness, and taking 
 the fair hand she had extended with the pur- 
 pose of staying me, I proceeded. 
 
 " Listen to me, dear Lady,'"* I said. " Far 
 be it from me to wish, for one moment, to hurt 
 
308 HENRY JVIASTERTON. 
 
 your feelings, or to pain your heart. You can- 
 not suppose, Lady Eleanor, that any young 
 man of gentle breeding can see so fair and ami- 
 able a creature as you are, with the desire of 
 wounding her for a moment. Believe me, then, 
 when I say that I feel every interest in your 
 happiness, and the more, from the deep regard 
 I see you have for my brother. But, Lady, I 
 cannot but feel also, that, for your welfare as 
 well as for his safety, his speedy removal from 
 this place is absolutely necessary. You cannot 
 become his wife ; and though I doubt not that 
 you believe you could ever remain his devoted, 
 kind, and affectionate friend ; nay, that you 
 could love him more deeply than any thing else 
 on earth, without becoming criminal; believe 
 me. Lady, that such a state is somewhat more 
 than dangerous. It can but end in the destruc- 
 tion of both." 
 
 While I spoke, through the fingers of the 
 hand which remained firmly clasped over her 
 eyes, the tear-drops rolled like rain ; and the 
 agony she seemed to endure was terrible. At 
 length she rose, and still turning away her 
 head, " Stop, Sir !" she said, " Stop ! Your 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 309 
 
 motive doubtless is good ; but you take some- 
 what too great an advantage of my situation. 
 Speak with your brother, yourself. Try to per- 
 suade him to go with you. If he refuse, I will 
 see him, and endeavour to use such arguments 
 as may most effectually move him. And now, 
 Sir," she added, dashing the tears from her 
 eyes, and turning round upon me with a glance 
 of beautiful indignation : '' And now, Sir, 
 having wiped those unworthy drops away, I 
 will beg you to leave me. Your brother 
 sleeps, but I can tell you, for I have watched 
 the night by his couch, that he has enjoyed 
 uninterrupted slumber; and, therefore, if you 
 think fit to wake him, do. Should you find 
 your reasoning vain, as I said before, have 
 recourse to me, and fear not, I will do my part. 
 Though let me tell you. Captain Masterton, 
 that had I felt sure of being able to protect him, 
 or to insure his life myself from the Parlia- 
 mentarians, no weak doubt of either myself or 
 him, would have made me yield him to a long 
 journey, after such wounds as he has met 
 with.^^ 
 
 She bowed, and signed me to the door, with 
 
310 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 an air of majestic command, which I felt no 
 disposition to disobey ; and retiring from the 
 withdrawing-room, I proceeded to the apart- 
 ments of my brother. 
 
 On entering the dressing-room, I found 
 Gabriel Jones, as usual, with the bible on his 
 knee, and apparently deeply busied in read- 
 ing the holy scriptures; from which employ- 
 ment, however — as I knew that he grossly 
 perverted, in his own foul mind, the pure 
 words of everlasting truth that he there found 
 written — I did not scruple to disturb him. 
 In answer to my inquiries after my brother, 
 he informed me that none of his wounds were 
 at all dangerous ; and that though he was 
 very weak, through loss of blood when he had 
 fallen asleep the night before, there was little 
 doubt that he would wake much stronger, 
 from the long and tranquil repose which he had 
 enjoyed. On inquiring still farther concerning 
 the possibility of removing him, I found, to my 
 surprise, that the valet was not at all unwilling 
 to second my efforts in regard to the journey 
 of his master. There was nothing, he said, to 
 prevent his traveUing. Men, much worse, had 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 311 
 
 been carried longer journeys; and in a littei, 
 he would answer for it, that all would go well. 
 
 As Frank continued to sleep, I went down to 
 the gate, and gave orders for preparing a ma- 
 chine with all speed, for carrying the object of 
 our care, with as little motion as possible ; and 
 on my return, I found him just awake. 
 
 Our conversation was long, and he was much 
 softened in character, by the languor of his 
 frame ; but all I had to tell him made little 
 impression in regard to his journey, and his 
 determination to remain, though expressed in 
 a weaker voice, was couched in terms as firm 
 ever. Lady Eleanor then became my only 
 resource ; and though she received me on my 
 return with the same air of cold displeasure 
 which she had assumed before we last parted, 
 she instantly rose to fulfil the promise she had 
 given. 
 
 '* You will have the kindness to wait for me 
 here, Captain Masterton," she said. " On my 
 return, I hope to bring you such tidings as yo 
 desire, — your brother'^s servant is with him, I 
 suppose ?" 
 
 I replied that he was ; and she left the room. 
 
312 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 For near an hour I remained in expectation of 
 her return ; but at length I was sent for to my 
 brother's chamber, where I found Lady Eleanor 
 sitting at a little distance from his bedside, and 
 Gabriel Jones standing by. Fresh tears had 
 evidently overflowed the lady's eyes, and my 
 brother's countenance was flushed and agitated. 
 
 He did not speak, himself; but left Lady 
 Eleanor to communicate to me, that he would 
 not farther oppose the measures I thought ne- 
 cessary for his safety. As it was improbable, 
 however, that the Parliamentary Generals would 
 immediately detach any considerable part of 
 their forces in the direction of Penford-bourne, 
 we determined not to set out till the cool of 
 the evening ; and during the course of the day, 
 both Lady Eleanor and Frank recovered great- 
 ly their composure ; although from the moment 
 I had mentioned her husband's name, a degree 
 of coldness, I might say haughty reserve, had 
 come over the lady's manner towards me, which 
 did not at all wear away during the day. 
 
 At the appointed hour, the litter we had 
 prepared was brought to the door ; and Frank 
 was carried down and placed safely in it. A 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 313 
 
 feeling that the last words which could ever 
 pass between my brother and the fair being in 
 whose bosom he had inspired such deep interest, 
 must be spoken then, made me draw a little 
 away, and also, on some excuse, send the guard 
 down the avenue, as Lady Eleanor approached 
 to bid him farewell. She had by this time 
 gained perfect command over herself, and she 
 spoke to him for some minutes without a tear 
 dimming her eye, without a trace of agitation 
 appearing on her countenance. At length, 
 seeing her raise her head, I again approached, 
 and as I did so, Frank repeated in a hasty 
 voice, " Then I rely on you ! You will not — 
 surely you will not fail me !" 
 
 " By all I hold dear on earth, and beyond 
 the earth !" she replied, in a low, thrilling 
 tone, and, drawing back, she bowed slightly to 
 me as I came up, and ascended the steps into 
 the house. She was very pale, but seemed 
 perfectly composed ; and she walked steadfastly 
 onward into her dwelling, without once turning 
 her head. I thought I heard a heavy sob, as 
 she passed the door : but if it were so, that was 
 the only thing which marked emotions, that 
 
 VOL. I. p 
 
314 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 were far more powerful, I felt sure, than those 
 she suffered to appear. 
 
 The horses were now placed to the litter, as 
 had been arranged ; and, at the end of the ave- 
 nue, I put myself at the head of the regiment, 
 and we began our march. The first day's jour- 
 ney was a painful one : Frank never opened 
 his lips to me, though he spoke several times to 
 Gabriel Jones ; and it seemed that he attributed 
 to me all the necessary pain he felt at leaving 
 a person he so dearly loved. I had made up 
 my mind, however, to bear all that the peevish- 
 ness of sickness, and theanger of disappointment 
 could produce ; and I relaxed not a moment in 
 endeavouring to soothe and console him, by 
 every means in my power. The journey he 
 bore even better than I had expected ; and 
 when we halted, he forced himself to thank me 
 for the pains I had bestowed upon his comfort. 
 The night passed well, and nothing occurred to 
 give us either disturbance or apprehension. No 
 enemy appeared to be in the neighbourhood, 
 and the people were, in general, loyal ; though 
 one saintly preacher, whom I met in the streets 
 of the little village where we halted, called me 
 " a rusty hinge and a creaking door." 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 315 
 
 Frank passed the night quietly; no fever 
 resulted from his wounds ; and in the morning 
 he was much stronger than the day before. 
 His mind seemed more reconciled to his situa- 
 tion also ; and he did not appear to view me 
 with the same cold dissatisfaction, which the 
 whole of his conduct, during the previous day, 
 had displayed. Before we began our morning's 
 march, he spoke long with me on the events at 
 Maidstone ; and the assurance that the circum- 
 stance of his supersedure still remained locked 
 in my own bosom, appeared to afford him 
 infinite relief. 
 
 From this time, as we advanced c>n our way 
 towards Devonshire, I was almost constantly by 
 the side of his litter, till his strength was suffi- 
 ciently recovered to permit of his mounting his 
 horse ; and he felt deeply, I am sure, all that I 
 did to relieve and solace him. Even after he 
 had quitted the litter, however, as he could not 
 bear any extraordinary fatigue, the con)mand 
 of the regiment remained with me for several 
 days ; and during that time, various difficulties 
 and obstacles obstructed our progress. An 
 occasional rencontre with different bodies of the 
 
316 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 militia, served to keep our parties in constant 
 activity ; and in more than one large town, our 
 advance was threatened with interruption by 
 multitudes of the inhabitants, who collected to 
 call us " Malignant dogs, hungering after the 
 Saints, to devour them." 
 
 Our reception, indeed, was very different at 
 the several places through which we passed. 
 In some we were hooted, and even pelted by the 
 mob; and in others, we were welcomed with 
 joy, supplied with all v^e could want, and suf- 
 fered to depart with God's benison. But on the 
 whole, our passage through the country was 
 more favourable than perhaps we had a right 
 to hope for ; and in almost all cases, where the 
 magistrates or other civil authorities showed 
 any disposition to impede our movements, I 
 found that they were in general soon brought 
 to reason by being informed, that we were 
 retreating quietly, for the purpose of dispersing 
 ourselves in our own homes ; that if suffered to 
 pass unopposed, we would injure no one ; but 
 that being resolute men, we would cut our 
 way through at all risks, on the slightest show 
 of resistance. Nor, indeed, could they have 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 317 
 
 attempted to stop us with any prospect of 
 success, for a great many circumstances com- 
 bined to leave the country nearly open f /r our 
 march. One large body of the Parliamentary 
 forces was still pursuing Lord Goring and the 
 rest, in Kent. A second was directing its 
 march towards Essex ; a third, under Crom- 
 well, was advancing to meet the Duke of Ha- 
 milton, and Sir Marmaduke Langdale, in Lan- 
 cashire; and at the same time, troops were 
 necessarily left for the defence of London, as 
 well as for completing in Wales what Cromwell 
 had by this time begun by the reduction of 
 Pembroke Castle. Thus, I do not believe that 
 in any county through which we passed, five 
 hundred men could have been collected to op- 
 pose us, at less than a week's notice. Our 
 retreat, therefore, I may almost say, was unin- 
 terrupted ; and long before the knowledge of 
 our passage had spread through the country, 
 we had nearly reached the place to which our 
 movements tended. 
 
 Frank had by this time recovered his 
 strength ; and with pleasure I resigned to him, 
 on the borders of Devonshire, the command of 
 p3 
 
318 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 the regiment. Gradually as his health was 
 restored, his mind had seemed to recover its 
 tone ; but still he was silent, absent, grave. 
 On approaching his home, all his old feelings 
 and habits appeared to return. The same re- 
 serve, the same calm self-possession, was re- 
 sumed ; and, though I could see a change 
 — though I perceived and knew that the fire 
 which had been lighted up in his heart, was 
 any thing but really extinguished; yet, I do 
 not think the most attentive observer, who had 
 not watched him as I had watched, would have 
 known any difference between the Cavalier who 
 had quitted Devonshire two months before, 
 and him who now returned. 
 
 Towards me, indeed, there was a decided 
 alteration in some respects. He was as reserved 
 as ever ; he never mentioned a thousand sub- 
 jects that busily employed the memory of each, 
 every hour of our existence ; he never told me 
 his thoughts, his feelings, his plans for the 
 future ; but he was softer in his manner ; 
 evinced more deference for my opinion; and 
 would often mingle his conversation with some 
 kind and endearing word, that went sweetly 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 319 
 
 home to my heart, and won all its best sym- 
 pathies for him. 
 
 Such was the state of affairs when a mes- 
 senger, whom we had despatched to Masterton 
 House, returned with a letter from my father, 
 containing directions to disperse the regiment, 
 and let the troopers return home to their houses 
 with as little parade as possible. He informed 
 my brother, to whom the letter was addressed, 
 that he had already entered into an understand- 
 ing with the Parliamentary commissioners, who 
 were at Exeter, that on the disbanding of all 
 forces, no farther notice should be taken of the 
 part we had acted, than the infliction of a small 
 and almost nominal fine. He, at the same 
 time, sent us letters of safe conduct for our own 
 security in traversing the country, and directed 
 us to limit our escort to twenty men, as he had 
 bound himself not to receive more into Master- 
 ton House. His word was so habitually con- 
 sidered law, by my brother and myself, that 
 even had not the terms he had negociated been 
 half so favourable, we should have submitted 
 without hesitation ; and, accordingly, selecting 
 the twenty men whom we thought best qualified 
 
320 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 to accompany us, we informed the rest of the 
 troopers, of what had been done, and dismissed 
 them, well satisfied, to their homes, giving 
 them security for the discharge of their pay, 
 under our own hands. 
 
 We thought it best to do this at night, at a 
 little villag-e on the confines of Somerset and 
 Devonshire ; and I could not help feeling a 
 strange sensation of regret, as troop by troop 
 of men, with whom I had taken so much pains ; 
 whose comfort and security had been for weeks 
 and months a matter of so much interest to 
 me ; who had shared with me so many fatigues, 
 and accompanied me through some perils, 
 passed before my eyes for the last time. I 
 turned away somewhat sick at heart, for it was 
 one of those m.oments, when a thousand hopes 
 and anticipations blasted for ever, rise suddenly 
 from the void of the irreversible past, like the 
 mournful spectres of the loved and dead, that 
 crowd into some dark and painful dream, and 
 seem to presage new woes and sorrows for the 
 time to come. 
 
 Most of the soldiers waited for nothing but 
 leave to depart ; and before next morning we 
 were left with but few besides the twenty whom 
 we had selected for our escort. Those, whose 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 3f^l 
 
 cooler spirits had chosen to remain, we sent by 
 different roads, and selecting for our own journey 
 the least frequeiited path that we knew, we tra- 
 versed our native county, towards our home. 
 
 As we proceeded, the world of our early re- 
 membrances grew upon us. A total interrup- 
 tion of all old accustomed thoughts had taken 
 place during our wanderings; but now every 
 furlong of the road had its memory ; and there 
 was not a tree, or a rock, or a stream, or a hill, 
 that did not recall the soft days of youth, and 
 the things that never return. The very breeze 
 seemed full of early days ; and cloud after cloud, 
 as the summer air drove them across the blue 
 heavens, looked like the phantoms of all my 
 young dreams, hurried far across the expanse 
 of life, by the wild uncertain breath of fortune. 
 Perhaps it might be some fitful caprice of my 
 nature, or perhaps disappointment at the ill 
 success of our expedition ; but there was a 
 deep gloom came over me, to which every step 
 seemed but to add ; and all the memorials of 
 my early years excited only a sigh. 
 
 My brother also was grave ; but by this time 
 he had recovered fully, as I have said, his for- 
 mer self; and, within the last two days, even I 
 had not been able to distinguish whether the 
 
322 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 passion which had for a time so stirred his soul, 
 was really passing away to the world of bright 
 things forgotten ; or whether it was only that 
 he mastered its expression. If it were the lat- 
 ter, he enacted his part most wonderfully well ; 
 and, as if he strove to try his own powers over 
 himself, he more than once mentioned Penford- 
 bourne, and Lady Eleanor Fleming, as things 
 almost indifferent. The first time he did so, I 
 thought I could detect, by a quiver of the lip, 
 that all was not quite calm within ; but the 
 second, and the third time, his countenance 
 betrayed no emotion. 
 
 I felt discontented at his calmness. Why, I 
 did not know. I had been the person to strive 
 to withdraw him from temptation. I, it had 
 been, who had warned him to beware of the cri- 
 minal passion which he had encouraged, to be- 
 seech him to cast it off, and to tear him almost 
 forcibly from its object. My endeavours had 
 been successful. He had quitted the dangerous 
 neighbourhood — he had recovered his serenity 
 — he seemed to have thrown away, or forgotten 
 the feelings which had betrayed him ; and yet 
 I was not contented. No ! not though his de- 
 meanour towards myself was gentler, kinder, 
 more affectionate. 
 
HENRY MASTERTON. 323 
 
 I could not account for my own sensations ; 
 and I would not, or I dared not, look closely 
 into my own heart ; but one of those trifles — 
 which are in some sort ihe lightning flashes of 
 our dark naiUie, showing us in one moment of 
 bright light, all the dim objects that fill, un- 
 seen, the world of the human breast — was 
 destined soon to blaze it all upon my sight. 
 
 My father met us, on horseback, at the gates 
 of the park, near a mile from the house ; and 
 received us with a tenderness and affection 
 which he had never displayed before. He 
 gazed anxiously on my brother's worn and 
 thoughtful countenance; remarked the two deep 
 gashes on my brow and cheek ; and pressing 
 us alternately to his bosom, gave free course to 
 a father''s feelings, for the first time for twenty 
 years. We turned to the house on foot, fol- 
 lowed by our little escort. I was absent and 
 agitated ; and my father noticed it ; but add- 
 ed, that it was not extraordinary that I should be 
 so, on returning to my early home, after passing 
 through scenes of such danger and anxiety. 
 
 As we came near the house, the sound of 
 trampling horses, and many voices, gave notice 
 of our approach ; and the whole household 
 issued forth to welcome us back. Emily Lang- 
 
324 HENRY MASTERTON. 
 
 leigh, lovelier than ever, was first on the ter- 
 race to greet us. Her eye turned towards me ; 
 but Frank stepped forward to receive the wel- 
 come of his promised bride, and pressed his lips 
 upon her cheek. 
 
 Good God ! what was it that I felt ? It 
 passed through my heart and my brain like 
 lightning ! It was madness ! madness itself ! 
 but it mastered all other feelings. Common 
 sense, reflection, every thing was at an end ; 
 and, dashing past every one, I entered the 
 house, rushed upstairs to my own bedchamber, 
 locked the door with violent haste, and cast 
 myself upon my bed, in prostrate misery. 
 
 I have passed through a long life ; I have 
 known many sorrows and many cares ; but I 
 never felt, or saw, or dreamed, of any thing 
 that equalled the agony of that moment. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 FRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY, 
 
 Dorset-Street, Fleet-street. 
 
■^^. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 084214615 
 
 
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