OF THE 
 UNIVLRSITY 
 Of ILLINOIS 
 
 82i 
 C175 
 
 V.I
 
 % 
 

 
 CAPTAIN HERBERT.
 
 CAPTAIN HERBERT 
 
 % 3m Storjj. 
 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 CHAr]\tAN AND HALL, 198, PICCADILLY 
 
 1864. 
 
 fTVig Eight <yf Translation is reserved.l
 
 8£5 
 
 ^ 
 
 \} 
 
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 t- 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 TO 
 
 Dr. DOUGLAS MACLAGAN, f.r.s.e., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE IN THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, 
 
 THIS TALE, 
 
 IN SLIGHT TOKEN OF GRATITUDE FOR THE GREAT KINDNESS 
 OF A " GOOD PHYSICIAN," 
 
 IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED 
 
 v^ BY THE AUTHOR.
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 -♦- 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 How Broadby and Co. Speculated . . . . i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Of some Noble Captains IS 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 A Strange Friend 39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Turning Over a New Leaf 62 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Family Matters at Beech Grove . . . .94 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Things in the Wind 119 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Mr. Etherege at Beech Grove .... 159
 
 VUl CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Mr. Spencer Surprised 203 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Herbert Court . 234; 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 The Old Story 253 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Away 272 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Dull Times Afloat 291
 
 CAPTAm HEEBERT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW BKOADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 
 
 No English seaport appears better situated by 
 nature, for all the various objects of such a resort, 
 than the large city of Bristol. There the great 
 estuary of the Severn brings the sea into England's 
 very bosom, tempering the unbroken roll of the 
 Atlantic from Newfoundland ; while from within, 
 the current of the Avon and of the smaller Froom, 
 after having watered many a rural mile in the rich 
 southern counties, wind into each other amidst the 
 town, so as to spread wet docks and floating har- 
 bours in its very heart, beyond sight or hearing of 
 the sea. Up to the date of our tale, accordingly, its 
 practical success had verified these presumed ad- 
 vantages ; the crowd of warehouses and masts, no- 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 ^ CAPTAIN HERBERT 
 
 wliere far apart from liospital-roof and almslioiise, 
 and elaborate cliurcli-tower or spire, testifying to a 
 race of merchants wlio had been as stately in their 
 expiatory charities as they had been bold, nay, 
 sometimes unscrupulous, in their enterprises. Many 
 historical events of importance had been immedi- 
 ately connected with Bristol ; but none so moment- 
 ous, so varied, as those involved with the present 
 narrative. Great Britain, even in the earlier years 
 of George the Third's reign, was beginning to re- 
 vive from the Dutch-set primness of her habits, 
 her high German formalities, and French tastes, 
 and all the fancied cosmopolitanism of an empty 
 time. The occasion of her awalvenine; was rude : 
 it was the obstinate and growing resistance of her 
 disaffected American colonies to the very mildest 
 system of law under which a community could 
 well exist, and to the natural indiojnation by which 
 the law had been vindicated. 
 
 There were sundry reasons, some of them a 
 little odd, why Bristol was far less likely to suffer 
 by consequent changes in the colonial trade than 
 most other seaports. Her dealings were rather of 
 a grand kind, or partook of the mysterious and 
 picturesque. As long as Spanish wool and wine 
 lasted, vnth. fruit from up the Mediterranean, and 
 spices from farther East, she was half secure ; she 
 did much in African timber, palm-oil, gold-dust, 
 ivory ; there was a sort of monopoly of the West
 
 HOW BEOADBY AKD CO. SPECULATED. 3 
 
 Indies in her favour, that had by this time made 
 her siTgar-bakers proverbial for purse-proud feeling, 
 and for those manners which are characteristic of a 
 sudden rise in the world. Lying out apart, too, 
 with as it were a " channel" of its own, the city had 
 a corresponding tendency to separate itself, making 
 up for great risk or slow return by large trans- 
 actions, and by hea^y profits : a thing wonderfully 
 entwined, no doubt, with the early odium against 
 the place, of haA^ing had more than a due be- 
 nefit by Cromwell's freights to " the plantations," 
 and in the more iniquitous deeds of the later 
 crimps and kidnappers, who procured what they 
 called '^ apprentices" for South American mines, 
 or for Puritan settlers farther north. Such deli- 
 cate expressions had, in fact, lingered about Bristol, 
 giving an apparent propriety to certain lines of 
 business which still enriched it, though carried on 
 at a distance. The ai'med Bristol merchantman 
 was often years away, lawfully engaged in the 
 " ebony trade" between the Guinea coast and some- 
 where about the opposite Caribbees; and on her 
 return the keen supercai'go and the bold captain 
 looked brown, but honest; the respectable owner 
 having seen nothing save various bills of lading 
 and exchange, went in the more thankful mood 
 with his family to church ; while the good craft 
 herself, repainted, as the fashion is ere coming into 
 port, and with ligging all repaired, would through- 
 
 b2
 
 4 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 out the rest of that Sunday seem to survey herself 
 in the still water of the dock with a considerably 
 more conscious air than any of them — since her 
 well-moulded bows would contrast with many a 
 clumsy neighbour, and she would have a black 
 cook on board — looking idly over, wooden-legged, 
 or ignorant of English, or with no human meaning 
 in his visage, so that the freedom conferred by 
 British soil would have been of no use to him — 
 nor could he tell any tale. In confonnity with all 
 this was the very mixture of attractive and repul- 
 sive, bustling and tranquil, manifested in those 
 prosperous days throughout the city at large: 
 where the foreign and the homely mingled, the 
 drays jarred and groaned beside the slow plash of 
 the unloading ships ; while through the cathedral 
 trees came the chime of its clock-bells above the 
 noon-day roar of the town. And catching sight, 
 some summer's day, of all that tropical effect shed 
 through the dull-red warehouses with the shining 
 of the smoke, — scenting those far-brought smells 
 of timber, and West India matting, and tar, and 
 sugar, with the sudden sense of a half- Venetian 
 grandeur amongst dingy English common-place, — 
 many a lively young spirit had there projected its 
 first venture in life. It needed an old head, and 
 that a wise one, for the period, to discern the 
 hardest realities of the scene ; few as yet saw in 
 those days the mean foreheads and the brute faces
 
 HOW BROAD BY AND CO. SPECULATED. 5 
 
 wliich were there, or shrank from the thought of 
 misery, ignorance, ruffianism, and vice, or remem- 
 bered then, with any sort of appHcable force, the 
 behef that was said in churches. At night, no 
 doubt, when all the hatches of vessels were pad- 
 locked down, and the last ship-keeper, custom-house 
 officer, stevedore, or apprentice, left the floating 
 avenues by himself, he might happen to feel an 
 undefinable discomfort at the sounds beginning to 
 be made by the night tide about the bottoms of the 
 craft behind him, or at sight of the sky's chill re- 
 flexion over the dark images of warehouse tops, 
 with, perhaps, a dead dog slightly dipping in it, 
 calmly distinct and black. For a moment it would 
 make him look up, troubled by thoughts of he 
 knew not what; till with the greater rehsh he 
 would light his tobacco-pipe, and hurry into some 
 city lane, towards the nearest noise of joviality. 
 He, of course, could not dream that the eighteenth 
 century, which was within him and without him — 
 even him — ^had been hitherto a reckless, heartless, 
 insipid age, and must leap into sudden strife and 
 fierceness ere it ended — nay, that throwing off the 
 cover of its liberality, its philanthropy, its polite- 
 ness, and its elegance, like some man about town 
 whose vice has been half ennui, it would die a 
 naked maniac, raving for savage virtues and para- 
 disiacal innocence. 
 
 Amongst more opulent, or longer established,
 
 6 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 houses at that time in Bristol, there was one wliich 
 bade fair, in the natural course of things, soon to 
 rival the very highest; the stage of prosperity it 
 had yet reached being only not complete enough 
 to cUsdain competition, or to rest satisfied with the 
 mere holding of its place. ^lerchant shipowners 
 on a large scale, "Broadby and Company" had 
 from the outset borne a commercial designation 
 more proportioned to the large outward tokens of 
 their success, than to the slight substructure of its 
 private agency. Under the ample mercantile desig- 
 nation, and behind all these activities which were 
 made more imposing by it to the uninitiated, there 
 really existed then but two persons constituting 
 the entire firm, with that kind of filmy difference 
 from the outward show, which in such establish- 
 ments would seem preferable : but it was a fiction, 
 if fiction it must be called, that extended even to 
 the inner penetralia of the countmg-house, so sel- 
 dom discovered by an ordinary foot; it reached 
 from the dray-sledge bearing that inscription along 
 the street, to all the work performed, however re- 
 motely or subordinately, for the unseen power in 
 question, and from the indentures binding the ap- 
 prentice body and soul imder a penalty, to the 
 mystic signature, which it would have been death to 
 counterfeit. Then' warehouses formed the entire 
 corner of a huge brick range upon the river-side, 
 near the harbom^'s centre, divided from neighbour-
 
 HOW BROADBY AXD CO. SPECULATED. 7 
 
 ing sliip-jarcls by a creek, wliicli seemed to float 
 boat and barge into tlie very thick of the town ; 
 nor was a busier scene to be found in busy Bristol 
 than that, which, originating from tliis particular 
 centre, abutted there on the general complexity. 
 Yet was neither of the two partners really even 
 named Broadby ; a patronymic which only repre- 
 sented a still more singular inconsistency in the 
 previous existence of the firm. The actual founder 
 had, mdeed, been a certain John Broadby, of ob- 
 scure derivation, who had doggedty worked his way 
 to wealth from the very humblest position, some- 
 where, as was said, in the coasting colliery line of 
 business ; a person on that account highly admired 
 durmg his lifetime by all who knew about him, and 
 althouo;h of roush and uninoTatiatins; manners to 
 an extreme, yet, by many, almost beloved ; so that 
 a handsome marble tablet to liis memory had been 
 placed, after his death, within the parish chui'ch — a 
 place where no former habit was likely to take his 
 ghost to see it, if old John should then actually 
 discover he had had such a thing as a ghost at all. 
 He had, however, been uncommonly shrewd while 
 alive. At first with regard to those other persons 
 whom he had joined in partnership, they had been 
 generally understood to exist solely m his own 
 brain, till the consistent use of the title had its 
 gradual effect, and people had found themselves 
 beheving it : it was perhaps a coarse whim he had
 
 8 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 indulged, the more to gratify his chief boast, that 
 he had risen from nothing, and never owed a 
 guinea in his Hfe. He himself, in his dotage, was 
 ultimately known to have believed in this old asso- 
 ciation with other partners, sometimes fearing, 
 sometimes wishing for, even talking to them ; while 
 he had latterly refused taking any important step 
 without their advice, had excused himself on that 
 gromid from some troublesome expectations, chari- 
 ties, or public offices, and had thus been justified in 
 rigom^s or hard measures from which it was thought 
 his own disposition would have relented. Still, 
 curiously enough, he had often seemed so much 
 superior to himself in wisdom or calculative fore- 
 sight when so doing, that the confidential clerk, 
 who had grown old and dry in the business, on a 
 pittance which sufficed at least for his few wants, 
 continued to the last to attribute the prospenty in 
 which John Broadby left all at death — to his 
 latterly " giving in more to the firm." Nay, not 
 even when the whole of it came over by legal in- 
 heritance — stock, good will, with all dues, assets, 
 plant, credit, and connexion, and floating capital, to 
 a single individual — ^in the person of old Broadb/s 
 nephew, who had latterly married his only daugliter, 
 and done much in the way of active management 
 — not even then did this faithful dej^endant resign 
 his superstitious sort of respect. 
 
 He believed in old Broadby and his words, not
 
 HOW BROADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 9 
 
 only against ledgers which he had himself kept 
 and balanced, but despite legal definitions to him 
 unintelligible; for it had been the sole reason which 
 John Broadby had always given for not taking 
 this very nephew into partnership, that he could 
 not do so unless all the partners agreed on it, and 
 that he rather thought they considered the company 
 large enough without Matthew Ffloyd. 
 
 Now, however large the sum of money which 
 old Broadby had made in all his various modes 
 beyond what the firm required, he had expressly 
 bequeathed it all to the building and endowment 
 of a grand range of almshouses in the town for 
 poor people of certain names, or on sundry quaint 
 conditions. If Ffloyd could have been then well 
 excluded from the business, probably he would 
 have been; since the old man's prejudice against 
 him seemed to have strengthened with age. He 
 had been long abroad about the West Indies, where 
 he was supposed, in fact, to have commanded more 
 than one vessel employed for old Broadby; though 
 after his return he had set up a sugar-bakery on 
 his owai account, and had grown elderly, and heavy, 
 and a family man, and even devoutly connected with 
 the new Wesleyan meeting-house, toward which, 
 above all, the disgust of the old man — a Chui'ch- 
 man and Tory — had been conspicuous. But Ffloyd 
 had seen a good deal of the business; his wife 
 was Broadby's own child; and it might be that
 
 10 CAPTAIN HEKBERT. 
 
 Broaclby's shrewdness liacl grown so eccentric as 
 to fancy tliat it would survive himself, or might in 
 some miintelligible way fulfil his own desires. Mr. 
 Ffloyd became sole successor, therefore, with the 
 firm conviction that his uncle and father-in-law 
 had been, strictly speaking, no better than a sharp 
 old cmuiing hunks, mean-minded, and bearing him 
 a grudge ; which same qualities he, in liis turn, at 
 once applied to the work with a hearty zest, and 
 thoroughly repaid all the hatred with compound 
 interest. Such, up to well-nigh the period now con- 
 cerned, had been the precise key-note of all his 
 transactions. The capacity which was adequate to 
 make mere manufacturing gain, however, had soon 
 fomid itself bewildered in the centre of a scheme 
 like old Broadby's — one which had ever involved 
 its past results in new and wider measui'es, with a 
 promptitude resembling instinct, and a caution that 
 gradually rose into quick sagacity. With Ffloyd, 
 to stand still or to venture was almost alike detri- 
 mental ; he had in his hands little more, as yet, 
 than the machinery of a vast fortune, if rightly 
 used — or even, if prudently wound up, the mate- 
 rials for a safe competency. To the first originator, 
 doubtless, acquamted with every spring and wheel, 
 its guidance had become an easy task, and the 
 speculative pleasure had very nearly absorbed the 
 more sordid appropriative feeling; but in his suc- 
 cessor's fingers it grew matter of chance, the avidity
 
 HOW BROADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 11 
 
 of tlie gambler joined to more tlian the gambler's 
 dependence on luck. He had even begun to see 
 the separate sugar -baking business, which he had 
 been too covetous to relinquish, sucked into the 
 whirlpool; while it had become too plain that 
 Broadby and Co., with Ffloyd to boot, were going 
 down — clerk, counting-house, w^arehouse, drays, 
 ships, and cargoes — all sinking hourly nearer to 
 theu' original soui'ce in nothmgness, where they 
 had no relation to each other. It was this unde- 
 niable fact, shown by figm-es, and backed by the 
 old head-clerk's solemn faith in the vhtue of plu- 
 rality, that had made Ffloyd accept the real partner 
 whom circumstances led to offer himself. Mr. 
 Spencer, a gentleman of good family, of well- 
 known abilities, and some private fortune, had of 
 his own accord come forward at that crisis, to give 
 the benefit of these to the firm in which he agreed 
 to become an equal sharer. Enhanced as it was 
 by much knowledge of foreign comitries and their 
 political aspects, as well as by considerable previous 
 attention to commercial matters, his accession in- 
 fused new blood into the business ; departing con- 
 fidence was ahnost at once restored, without as 
 within ; the house of Broadby and Co. revived and 
 flom^ished, as if a lost amulet had been found 
 again; the old clerk, perched at his high desk, 
 with his brown wig, snuff-coloured garments, and 
 drab gaiters, no longer wandered as through a
 
 12 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 hopeless labyrintli when he posted the ledger or 
 surveyed the bill-book, but jogged on more cheer- 
 fully than ever under the influence of a master- 
 mind. 
 
 A stronger contrast could not have been seen, 
 certainly, in all Bristol, than that between the two 
 partners : they were incongi'uous alike in intellec- 
 tual capacity and in personal habits ; so as to be 
 only capable of drawing well together, because 
 Mr. Ffloyd once more betook himself chiefly to 
 the sugar-baking concern, in which he was quite at 
 home. He still inhabited a mere portion of old 
 Broadby's dull house at the corner of a street near 
 the quays, where improvements in the town had 
 latterly made it profitable to turn the lower part of 
 the abode into a shop ; and it was thought Ffloyd 
 must be making money fast on his own account, 
 and hoarding it ; at all events, he did not spend it 
 in show, or encourage luxurious and expensive 
 habits in his family. Mr. Spencer was essentially 
 of that class, on the other hand, which had ever 
 had an intimate connexion with the spread of in- 
 telligence in communities, and the introduction of 
 the liberal arts : it was as much the turn of his 
 mind — a habit that grew indispensable — to do 
 things on a large scale and in an ample way, and 
 to surround himself and his family vdth agreeable 
 or refined appurtenances, as it was any deliberate 
 principle for the result's sake. And while the firm
 
 JIOW BROADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 13 
 
 already siij)[)lie(l the mcaiiH of wliat was called, in 
 tliose days, a genteel establisJiment — a carriage, 
 governess, and servants, for his wife and daughters; 
 an Oxford edueation for his eldest son; for iiiniself, 
 horses, library, and pictures — Mr. Spencer was not 
 devoid of further vi(;ws — nay, of a kind of vague 
 ambition. Beyond even his definite aim of possess- 
 ing, at no very remote period, an estate in the 
 county, tli(!re had float(Ml up soirjewhat less distinctly 
 in his mind the pros|)ect of yet applying tah*nts 
 which had found commerce easy, to the ac(|ui- 
 sition of influence. Still remoter — and he thouMit 
 it a weakness himself — was his notion of cventnally 
 obtaining, it miglit be, the revival of an obsolete 
 family title. i*(jlitics were in those days as jieees- 
 sary — as essential to a gentleman — as a memory of 
 Horace, or port winc^ after dinner; and Mr. Sjx'ucer 
 was a decided Whig; the more decided, because 
 such viciws had then fallen into the 0|)position, 
 whilcj th(;y allowed of most constitutional grumbling 
 against the (toursc of (jlovennnent towards the 
 colonies, with whose disaffected acts Ik; had thus 
 cauglit himself almost sympathising, like many 
 other good folks, till their open rebellion restored 
 liim to the tru(; Knglish cause;. Tn fact, he had 
 sometimes suspected that wli(;n he should have 
 more time for ;ittention to State affairs, possibly 
 he might be led to modify his views still further. 
 Mr. Sj)encer*s house; was high on the Kedcliffe
 
 14 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 side of Bristol, not far from where the river begins 
 to open out below the city, betwixt the steep Leigh 
 woods and the lofty Clifton Downs ; it was one of 
 a style of dwellings which that reign has handed 
 down, in all their native indifference to the pic- 
 turesque, as being thoroughly English, or rather 
 John Bull-like ; though the absence of any posi- 
 tive false taste, combined with the mellowness of 
 age, has now endeared them. Sober, solid, and 
 substantial, with cramped windows glittering, dark 
 and heavy-framed, out of the rough-coated wall ; 
 it had a porch-disguised entrance, one tent-like 
 expanse of blue slate for roof, two most mathema- 
 tically correct gable-ends, and as many low top- 
 walls of formal chimney, to all of which a great 
 jargonelle pear-tree or two, regularly pruned and 
 trained, gave little relief: the still more prim- 
 looking kitchen-wing behind was a remnant of the 
 Hanoverian tastes of Mr. Spencer's grandfather. 
 Neither quaint with Elizabethan instinct, nor ele- 
 srant in the French fashion, it could only boast an 
 air of inward comfort ; the sloping lawn and large 
 old trees close at hand were almost merged in con- 
 tioTious lanes and subm'ban fields ; but there was 
 the high-hedged garden near by, overflowing mth 
 a bowery greenness, which would have redeemed 
 even duller mansions ; nor least prized, the rising 
 ground on which all must have been expressly set 
 for the sake of the glorious "view," hanging or
 
 HOW BROADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 15 
 
 widenincp to eacli several window. The tmtli was, 
 however, that there were marks of a tendency to 
 innovation in the presiding hand; a new coach- 
 house at one end ; in front, a modern gateway with 
 two globe-topped pillars ; the greenhouse erecting 
 in the garden for fine foreign plants, where an 
 old sun-dial and arbour had stood; the glass- 
 doors thrown out to the la^vn, too, and the pro- 
 jected French folding-casements for the sunny 
 breakfast-parlour. Alterations still more effective 
 would have taken place long ere then, but for a 
 milder influence which was near, to check or 
 soften the other. 
 
 Mrs. Spencer, being the daughter of a Somer- 
 setshire squire not far remote, and brought up in the 
 countrv, had a natural clin^ina: to the old-fashioned. 
 Whatever the suitableness with which she now sus- 
 tained her more conspicuous station in the world, 
 even to a degree of rather elaborate dignity, it was 
 she who had had ivy planted to overgrow the new 
 coach-house, had saved the wooden pigeon-cote 
 beside it, and preserved more than one incommo- 
 dious tree ; besides her rescue of the high garden- 
 hedges and warm brick walls, wh^n they were 
 doomed to sink before a more open style on the 
 planning of the greenhouse. As for the house 
 itself, too, though built by his father according to 
 the newest method then in vogue, which packed as 
 many closets and cupboards as possible in the odd
 
 16 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 places, taking advantages of nooks neglected by its 
 predecessors, and thinking nothing of a step up or 
 down into an older room ; yet Mr. Spencer had come 
 to think the old gentleman had left rather much 
 to the architect. And if the merchant stumbled in 
 a passage, or found a room too dark for his news- 
 paper, it suggested some fresh change to him, such 
 as a bay-window, the removal of a step or corner, 
 perhaps the throwing down of a whole partition. 
 
 " It is so comfortable as it is, Henry ! " his wife 
 would mildly say, " compared, too, with the misery 
 of having workmen about ! " 
 
 " It may be comfortable," would be the answer, 
 " but, I assure you, 'tis by no means convenient." 
 
 " Then, the window-tax, think of that ! " she 
 would respond, concealing a glance of triumph. 
 
 " Pooh ! the late window-tax, my dear ? You 
 might as well say, the fresh tax on hair-powder — 
 which I wear simply because I can afford it. Nay, 
 more, it is contributing to the revenue of How- 
 ever, Mary, you can't be expected to understand 
 politics." 
 
 " I suspect, though, Henry, you will never get 
 the poor old house perfect," Mrs. Spencer would 
 persist, "unless you rebuild it altogether;" while 
 some slight trace of an unconscious smile would 
 pass from her lip, as she simply proposed by way of 
 cure for the obscurity of the apartment, that the 
 candles should be brought in. And the sole re-
 
 HOW BROADBY AND CO. SPECULATED. 17 
 
 joinder, without the shghtest perception on the 
 husband's part that such a proposal was at all rele- 
 vant to the discussion, would be a gracious " Do, 
 Mary — yes, ring for them." 
 
 For he would smile too, with far milder com- 
 placency than she, at the twofold unction he 
 could lay to his partly-ruffled temper. He recol- 
 lected female inconsecutiveness, and at the same 
 time recalled his own private intention of having a 
 new mansion altogether ; till at length it sometimes 
 surprised Mrs. Spencer, in her unsuspiciousness, 
 that these changes almost altogether ceased to be 
 set astir. He, perhaps, avoided doing what might 
 make the place pleasanter to him, or more difficult 
 to leave ; it might be that he was only busier than 
 usual, after all: while a thing most characteristic 
 of him was, that his having suffered the oldest por- 
 tion at the back of the house to remain intact, ap- 
 peared to him rather in the light of a meritorious 
 sacrifice to filial remembrance, which compounded 
 for other alterations, than as a sign of any newer 
 project still. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 18 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 
 
 Me. Spencer had experienced but little trouble 
 with any of his rising family, except one. This 
 was the youngest, Henry, whose singular dulness in 
 the acquirement of ordinary knowledge, was com- 
 bined with no slight wilfulness of disposition, pro- 
 ducing, about the age of f om'teen, as was natural in 
 the kind of place which Bristol has been shown to 
 be, a strong dislike on the boy's j)art towards all 
 schools, tutors, or books of any kind, and a pro- 
 portionate inclination for what is called " the sea." 
 His expressed wishes at length induced a seeming 
 compliance from his father; though if the mer- 
 chant had been a man with less knowledge of the 
 world, and one who ever readily yielded, or gave 
 up his own purpose, he woidd probably have men- 
 tioned the king's service as the most appropriate 
 sphere for a branch of his family; a little patience,
 
 OF SOME XOBLE CAPTAIXS. 19 
 
 witli a preparatoiy cotu'se of spherical trigonometiy 
 for tlie yomig aspirant iii tbe mean time, might have 
 enabled one of Air. Spencer's fortnne and standing, 
 though a Whig, to bring the requisite amount of mi- 
 nisterial interest to bear cii'cuitously. He intended 
 Henry, however, in his own private tlionghts, for a 
 merchant, to be trained in the counting-house, and 
 to take liis own place when he should eventually re- 
 tire ; he saw no objection to the boy's seeing some- 
 thing of the world, though it might be in a rougher 
 way than either of them had calculated ; and he 
 acted Tvith the judicious firmness and forethought of 
 a man of the world. Henry had, mdeed, been de- 
 spatched on his favom'ite tropical voyage, and tliat 
 quite as promptly as he himself could wish ; but 
 not in one of the vessels belonging to the firm, 
 which, as Air. Spencer did not disdain to show the 
 boy himself with great candom-, would have been 
 at once to defeat his ardour for maritime expe- 
 rience, by the consideration paid to an o^vner's son. 
 The anxieties of the mother were consoled, on the 
 other hand, by most assiduous information with 
 regard to the solidity, size, and classification of the 
 West Lidiaman, which was A 1 at Lloyd's, joined 
 to frequent statements of the great value of her 
 cargo, the various msm-ances on it, and, above all, 
 the character of the master, who was steady, 2:)rac- 
 tical, and careful ; so careful, as to be entitled, 
 amono' those who best knew him, Careful White. 
 
 c2
 
 20 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Nevertheless, so protracted was the absence of the 
 Dorothyj and so tempestuously did the equinox 
 come in at Bristol, while the colonial struggle had 
 risen to a crisis, with rumours, too, of privateers and 
 pirates who assumed the new American flag — that 
 at Beech Grove, as the substantial old house was 
 called — there began to be a great deal of irrepres- 
 sible uneasiness. Even Mr. Spencer's well-judged 
 measures, and his far-stretching design in the 
 matter, ceased to convey any further solace; he 
 himself evidently failed to derive confidence from 
 them, as he argued the case each time at greater 
 length, and each time was more apt to lose temper ; 
 the silent manner of his -wife at these moments, 
 and her averted face, were becoming the more 
 painful, in that she had not said a word the least 
 like reproach. 
 
 As it turned out, neither the barque Dorothy 
 nor her careful master had been heard of abroad 
 for some months ; at Bristol they were virtually 
 given up. But one afternoon Henry Spencer him- 
 self arrived, quite quietly and in an ordinary way 
 from London, completely unaware that the West 
 Indiaman had not returned as usual, and perfectly 
 well and cheerful, though in rough sea-clothes. 
 All his father had purposed was apparently gained ; 
 for he at once professed himself thoroughly sick of 
 the sea, as well as impatient to begin attending 
 warehouse and comiting-house ; and ]Mr. Spencer,
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 21 
 
 whom the vast confusion of the arrival had inter- 
 rupted in his after-dinner wine, at length re-seated 
 himself, re-stretched his legs upon the rug, and 
 viewed Henry's increased stature and changed 
 looks with a complacency he had never shown the 
 boy before ; while he pushed the decanter to him for 
 the first time in his life, and could scarce conceal 
 an excessive pleasm^e as he asked him to pour him- 
 self out a glass of port, and sit down, and at least 
 let him hear something out of that Babel of voices. 
 As for the Dorothy ^ commanded by Captain 
 White, Harry knew nothing of her, he uncon- 
 cernedly said, after they had reached Kingston in 
 Jamaica, where he had been led to take a further 
 trip with an abler commander. On the subject of 
 this last he avoided to particularise, ha\dng, it 
 appeared, paid a similar compliment to him in 
 turn, by making the best of his way home with a 
 third navigator, who seemed to have been at least 
 morally preferable. But he now declared his firm 
 belief, uttered with an indifference to recent asso- 
 ciations which horrified the entire domestic group, 
 that " old White must probably have been drunk 
 in his state-room, and the barque have foundered 
 with all hands aboard." The sudden gravity of 
 the father's look soon relaxed; it was pleasing to 
 observe, as he acutely did, how little of a dolt the 
 boy really was after all, and what an amount of 
 practical quickness he had acquired; indeed, how
 
 22 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 oddly he had chanced to escape a fate by this 
 time ahnost mdubitable. So that, far from blaming 
 the step taken by Henry, it was now impossible to 
 refrain from a smile. Good ISIrs. Spencer, for her 
 part, scarce knew as yet whether to cry or langh 
 at his appearance ; nor was the amusement of his 
 sisters at all equal to their annoyance, especially 
 that of the eleo^ant Jane — who was considered a 
 beauty — at the very idea of his arrival having 
 been seen, or of how the servants were to under- 
 stand it. So brown was Harry's face, his hands 
 were so hard, and he had grown so vigorously 
 stout and tall, with a loud voice and an awkward 
 roll in his walk ; Avhile, as to dress, he had gone 
 away a delicately formal young gentleman of the 
 eighteenth centur}', in coatee and knee-breeches 
 and silk stocldngs, ^vith a great deal of luggage; 
 and had come back in a short jacket, with huge 
 trousers, apparently made from some old ship's 
 sail, and a painted straw hat ; all he carried 
 besides was a small bundle in a pocket-handker- 
 chief. It seemed still doubtful whether there were 
 not some strange whim mixed up with his mode of 
 reappearance, especially as he appeared now and 
 then a little anxious about something, to judge by 
 looks toward the window, or attentive notice of 
 sounds at the gate — naturally enough attributed to 
 expectation of the trmiks he had taken away, with 
 that additional buixlen of foreign rarities which he
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 23 
 
 had always used to dilate upon to his sisters. The 
 indisposition to dwell upon his history^ at sea, or 
 the inability to relate it, surprised no one, from 
 Henry, smce he had never been addicted to talka- 
 tiveness. 
 
 " By the way, Harry, my boy," s-uddenly in- 
 quired his father, looking up from a brief reverie, 
 amidst the renewed medley of conversation round 
 the hearth, "when you were at Jamaica did you 
 happen to hear anything of one of his Majesty's 
 ships which I understand was thereabouts at the 
 time, a frigate, if I mistake not ; the — the — one of 
 those grotesque Admiralty names which seem in- 
 vented to escape one's memory ? " 
 
 Henry looked up promptly from the family 
 ch'cle, mth an eye that all at once sparkled. 
 " Perhaps you mean the Diana ?" he said. " O — 
 yes, sir, a new ship, thirty-eight guns, with a 
 bright figure-head? They say she's the first ever 
 sent out to try the new plan of copper sheathing ; 
 why, yes — when we went into Kingston harbour 
 she laid at anchor outside, at Port Royal. You'd 
 have thought all the boats in the country were 
 paddling about to see her, as near as they could 
 go, both whites and blacks ; and the midshipmen 
 went swaggering about like so many lords, though 
 most of 'em weren't half my own size. All be- 
 cause she was a crack ship, built on the model of 
 one we took from the French, they say, last wai'.
 
 24 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 However, the captain was an earl's son, and that 
 was why everything about her was so tip-top and 
 different from the common." 
 
 Mr. Spencer had eyed his young hopeful during 
 the animated statement with a rather more inqui- 
 sitive and critical glance than before. " Hoity- 
 toity! whither is the boy running to?" said he, 
 abruptly. " And pray, Master Hal, since you 
 appear to have paid such very particular attention 
 to this vessel, can you inform me as to the names 
 of any of the officers ? " 
 
 " Only the captain's, su'," replied Henry, more 
 deliberately ; " he was a post-captain — Lord some- 
 thing De Vere." 
 
 " Ah, Lord Edward de Vere, no doubt ! " said 
 his father, with respectful interest, and looking to 
 his wife, while he dwelt a little on the aristocratic 
 thought. "Lord Brookford's brother, you know, 
 Mary — second son of the Earl of Deepmere — a 
 Gloucestershire family, my dear ! Hum ! rather 
 inclining to proper liberal views, too, though as 
 haughty a set as possible. Lord Edward was be- 
 coming so populai' in the county there, a year or 
 two ago, that the Tories have, of course, thought 
 best to flatter his family and him with hoj^es of 
 a different nature. Very neat and convenient in- 
 deed ; but really, really, in the present petty con- 
 test, so far as the navy is concerned, all ideas of 
 martial fame are, of course, preposterous in the
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 25 
 
 extreme — every leaf of laurel must be cut up into 
 particles — and even the prize-money, pooh ! it 
 would not, I fancy, keep a post-captain in shoe- 
 buckles ! Then some of Lord Edward's officers 
 also," he concluded, turning again to Henry, " are 
 probably from this neighbourhood ? " 
 
 " Well," was the answer, " I know the first-lieu- 
 tenant was a little, sharp-faced, cross-grained, old 
 fellow, and our men fancied he was there for no 
 end but to keep the captain right, putting the 
 orders into his mouth, as it were, and doing the 
 rough work ! " 
 
 " Very likely," Mr. Spencer remarked. " As his 
 youthful lordship must, for the last two or three 
 seasons previously, have made more improvement 
 in political than in professional knowledge." 
 
 " At any rate," added his son, " when the other 
 frigate came in, that relieved her on the station, 
 the two somehow or another exchanged first-lieu- 
 tenants. If you'd just seen how the Dianas men 
 stood looking out to see the two boats pass each 
 other half way, as if they'd fain have given three 
 cheers at getting rid of that old file of theirs; 
 while the other frigate felt as black, everybody 
 said, as thunder — her first-lieutenant was such a 
 favourite aboard ! But the captain of the Diana, 
 you see," paused Harry, sententiously, " could do 
 pretty much as he liked "with the admiral, whereas 
 the commander of the Spitfire was but a "
 
 26 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " Spitfire ! " repeated liis father ; " why, my boy, 
 that is exactly the name of the ship in question, I 
 think ! " 
 
 "Dutch built?" suggested Henry, with eager- 
 ness, in an interrogative manner of entire sincerity. 
 " And deep-waisted, with a stump billet-head and 
 a terrible heavy quarter-gallery — quite the old 
 style — besides having ugly black yards and mast- 
 heads aloft ? " 
 
 " Very possibly," was the somewhat dry re- 
 joinder; though the dignified merchant was con- 
 strained, apparently against his will, to indulge a 
 smile. In the boy's mother and sisters his anima- 
 tion merely excited a vague interest, as if events of 
 mysterious importance were involved in the ac- 
 count. "Not having had the pleasure of ever 
 seeing this fine vessel, though," continued the 
 father, good humouredly, " what I simply want to 
 know is, whether there was a Mr. Herbert among 
 the officers — a Lieutenant Herbert ? " 
 
 Mrs. Spencer turned towards him, and from him 
 to Henr}^, who opened his eyes wide, in obvious 
 surprise. " Why, it was Lieutenant Herbert joined 
 the Diana^^ he at length said, '' from the Spitfire ! 
 Everybody knew about him, there-away — ^you've 
 no notion what the men would have done for him 
 — regular rough bears of fellows, even, sir, that 
 kept deserting at every chance from the Spitfire, 
 especially after he left her."
 
 OF SOME XOBLE CAPTAINS. 27 
 
 " Do you mean one of our Herberts ? " asked 
 Mrs. Spencer, still looking at her husband with 
 new attention, in which a degree of curiosity 
 mixed. 
 
 " My dear, what I may have meant was of little 
 consequence," ran the rather grave answer, with a 
 momentary biting of the lip. " But it so happens 
 that I did mean the Mr. Herbert — your brother's 
 absentee neio;hbour — Herbert of old Herbert 
 Court itself ! No matter : then he exchancred to 
 the — the Diana, you say, Heniy ? Ah ! and when 
 was that vessel likely, do you know, to return to 
 England ? But stop — let's see ! Why, boy, it 
 must have returned already ! I surely saw Lord 
 Edward de Vere's name mentioned lately in the 
 paper, on some account or other." 
 
 " Yes, papa," suggested the fair ^liss Jane from 
 the sofa, where her returning fashionable languor 
 was for the instant stirred by the fresh allusion, 
 "in the list at the Hot Wells, and the — ah ! the 
 patronage to the race ball ! " 
 
 " Why, child, his lordship is to stand for the 
 county," said her mother, " in place of poor old Sir 
 Thomas Cliff e. But you do not seem aware, Dudley," 
 she quietly added to her husband, "that Mr. Herbert 
 himself is at home at Herbert Court just now. True, 
 none of our letters from Wrixworth took the trouble 
 to mention his retmii, nor does Kate say a word 
 about it, or their first meeting mth him — just
 
 2S CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 taking it all for granted, by the way, in one of 
 her gay, thoughtless billets, as if 'twere a mere 
 trifle in the village. 'Twas otherwise in my day, 
 certainly. I, for my part, would have dwelt on it 
 finely, you know, papa, in writing from Wrixworth 
 to Bristol." 
 
 Mr. Spencer had raised his eyebrows as if totally 
 unprepared for the intelligence, and really placing 
 some private importance of his own upon it. Yet 
 it was evidently no unpleasing surprise. He 
 laughed freely, and said, "Assiu'edly, Mary — I 
 agree with you — however dilapidated the place, or 
 necessarily secluded the o^vner, that so long as Mr. 
 Herbert retains Herbert Court in his possession, 
 his arrivals and departures are things of moment 
 about Wrixworth, and ought to be faithfully re- 
 corded." 
 
 " The poor Herberts ! " said the matron again, 
 with a slight sigh, which pensive recollections of 
 her own early days in the country might have 
 helped to produce. " I well remember the time 
 when their fortunes looked fanner, surely. The 
 other boy — the eldest — seemed like to live and do 
 them credit ; this one — the younger — had just 
 entered the navy with excellent prospects. That 
 fatal accident to the first of them, it was, you know, 
 that led to their mother's death in childbed ; and 
 no wonder old Mr. Herbert never got the better 
 of the terrible stroke ! "
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 29 
 
 "Yeiy sad, indeed," agreed Mx. Spencer, re- 
 fraining from any further use of his wine-glass 
 on account of it — ^^ very sad ! Some of these old 
 families appear to be doomed to extinction ! A 
 fine old place the Court, too — really worthy of a 
 more suitable fortune to keep it up — in new hands, 
 better fitted to the times, I mean. For the pre- 
 sent, unluckily " But here he stopped, looked 
 
 somewhat grave, and almost sighed too. 
 
 Young Henry Spencer had tm'ned an ear of 
 unwonted notice to the episode ; and he proceeded, 
 w^hen again made principal speaker, to convey in 
 forcible terms the disastrous condition of the ship 
 left by Lieutenant Herbert ; how her old bull-dog 
 of a commander grew twice as bad after receiving 
 a Tartar in place of such a man for his second in 
 authority, till neither sentries' muskets nor sharks 
 alongside could retain her crew at nights; and 
 every boat that went ashore had armed marines, 
 and the yellow fever got on board ; and after pick- 
 ing up recruits of eveiy kind or coloui', how she 
 had had at last to sail in a huiTy, on her way south 
 to look after Captain Cook the voyager's retmni 
 home ; Avhile the Diana had become a happy craft 
 — so full of hands, that they would not even take 
 in a powder-boy more. Meantime, by the inherent 
 vividness of such facts, glowing even tlu'ough so 
 unadorned a recital, and betraying all the greater 
 personal interest in the matter, the less the narrator
 
 30 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 seemed inclined to sliow it — the various members 
 of tke household were characteristically moved. 
 The graceful Jane, when at home, was wont to sit 
 luxuriously doing nothing, with an air of inanimate 
 satisfaction inscrutable to the rest, save on the 
 supposition that soft cushions, with the gloss of 
 silk and touch of velvet, basking in the firelight 
 or enjoying the shade, enabled her to bear up till 
 the next party ; yet, even she had at least vouch- 
 safed so far, once or twice, as to open her sleepy 
 eyehds, and survey her brother in a kmd of slow 
 wonder, as if she for the first time noticed him 
 particularly, or witli sufficient fortitude. The 
 plainer Maiy, ever busy at some small piece of 
 feminine w^ork in the elegantly useful way, had 
 more than once let it gradually drop in her hands, 
 her eyes fixed on Henry, and her lips wider part- 
 ing, till she could only wish Kate were there to 
 hear. But Catherine was at Wrixworth, at her 
 uncle's, where her grandmother oftener and oftener 
 would have her to stay ; nor had Harry seemed as 
 yet to observe this absence, or talvc any heed of 
 the slight references to her ; though Kate was the 
 youngest but himself, and he had quarrelled with 
 her worse, and teased and made it all up mtli her 
 far more frequently than with any one else. As 
 for ^irs. Spencer, who, good lady, had hitherto 
 possessed no more conception of the seafarmg life 
 than a very vague fancy on such matters suppHed
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. SI 
 
 — slie liacl, in lier horror at the thought of liaving 
 ever permitted her boy to undertake it, allowed 
 the tea-mm to flood the tray, over which her pre- 
 paratory evening offices were being discharged, 
 until diminutive cups and saucers of that day 
 began absolutely to float about. Then did the 
 manao^ement of the stiff fashion of her dress — 
 aggravated as it was by the dinner-table hoop of 
 the period, however tucked up and abridged by 
 means of a spring — alone prevent her, perhaps, 
 from at once folding Henry in the maternal arms ; 
 for the ver}^ apparel of that odd age, strictly 
 speaking, w^as somewhat unfavourable to the active 
 promptings of emotion. " My dearest boy ! " she 
 could but exclaim ere the sight of the tea-tray 
 checked her agitation, " my dear, dear Harry, is it 
 possible ? What must you have gone through ! 
 A — a powder-boy ?" 
 
 " So then," his father observed, as he turned a 
 scrutinising glance, tliough kindly, on Heiny's 
 face after his last disappointed allusion to the 
 favomite frigate — " so then, Hal — you actually 
 applied to be taken in, did you? On board this 
 same popular Diana V 
 
 The boy reddened, and was silent. 
 
 " To go and look out for Captain Cook too, no 
 doubt ? Eeally, my dear boy, I can scarce regret 
 having committed you to the charge of one whose 
 capability for the trust turns out to have been
 
 32 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 over-estimated — if 'twere only that you might learn 
 for yourself J mark, so early a lesson ! Just ob- 
 serve, pray, that the most apparently agreeable 
 posts in life are invariably just those the most 
 likely to be preoccupied. Had you rather tried 
 the dreadful Spitfire^ now, Hany," he continued, 
 mth less of the severe didactic pomp ; ^^ where there 
 was room, it seems, to spare, and had you stuck to 
 it, then you might possibly have got on in life. 
 Who knows, my lad, but that we might yet have 
 welcomed you as a cabin-steward or quartermaster!" 
 And the merchant, indulging in a cultivated vein 
 of sath'e, smiled a good deal at the thought. 
 
 " The Spitfire I " repeated the boy, bluntly ; 
 " why bless you, father, the Spitfire was nothing to 
 the Boston schooner Dove^ where I landed myself 
 instead! I just wish you'd kno^vn her skipper, sir; 
 he'd have astonished you ! 'Twas he gave me the 
 thorough sickening of it all : in fact, if I hadn't 
 fallen in with him on the quay, and been such a 
 fool as to take his word for it — that New York 
 was the finest city going — ^I shouldn't consider I'd 
 seen the world at all, to speak of. But, my stars ! " 
 added Harry, with emphasis ; " I wasn't long of 
 finding out what was the queerest thing of all, from 
 here to there and back again !" 
 
 " Indeed," was the paternal inquiry, " and what 
 may that have been, pray?" 
 
 " Just the skipper of the schooner himself, sir,"
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 33 
 
 nodded the boy very sagaciously indeed, " and a 
 piece of his mind. A change he was, and no doubt 
 about it." 
 
 " Good gracious, my dear love!" exclaimed his 
 mother, much excited, " who was he ? " To which 
 Harry shrugged his shoulders, and shook his head. 
 
 '' Well, mother," he said, holding out his cup for 
 more sugar, with an attempt at extreme indiffer- 
 ence, " unless you knew him, of course 'twould be 
 of no use to say. He called himself Captain Itef ell 
 Dodge — though it's not likely any man could have 
 been christened so — but of course that's neither 
 here nor there. At any rate, he hadn't as much 
 conscience as this spoon here; and as for a 
 fellow's life, why he'd care no more for it than — 
 
 than ^" in vain he looked round the room for a 
 
 simile, " than the main-boom. What do you think 
 now," pursued the boy, in a more confidential tone, 
 "he had been all his days, till a year or two 
 before % " 
 
 There was a hopeless unanswerableness in the 
 question, which was so depicted on the counte- 
 nances of the ladies, and afforded such evident 
 gratification to the propounder, as to extract an- 
 other smile perforce from the paternal features; 
 although the latter were betraying some degree of 
 grave annoyance. 
 
 " Why," continued Harry, contemptuously, "no- 
 thing but a hay-farmer — and pretty Hke it he 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 walked the deck, too. He couldn't have found the 
 longitude to save his life — he couldn't have fairly 
 spliced a rope, I do think — and when once he'd 
 got the schooner hove-to in a gale of wind, he 
 didn't know how to let her fall off safely again. 
 Then, sometimes she'd ran clean away with us, as 
 she hadn't hands enouo-h for her size — and there 
 would be the skipper, holding on by the tiller with 
 half the crew, and his legs astride, looking out like 
 grim death, till the fore-topmast would go, sail and 
 all. He called it trust in Providence. But some- 
 how we were sure to turn up in the end, you know ; 
 and the captain, for one, always fell on his feet 
 — all his fingers were fish-hooks — and if he couldn't 
 tack her properly, he'd wear right round, and go 
 off before it for the next port. There never was 
 anything too hard for old Dodge to tiy, though he 
 •hadn't so much as seen it before in his life — he'd 
 be sure to contrive some new way to come round 
 upon it, at any rate — and he didn't mind grinning 
 and saying he wanted to learn for himself. His 
 own men used to swear his face was as much brass 
 as the top knob of the binnacle!" 
 
 ^' And did you really leave Captain White for 
 this ignorant idiot ? " said Mr. Spencer, in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "Why," said Harry, frankly, "I knew you 
 wished me to leai'n the profession, sir, — and there 
 had been Captain White never done taking care
 
 OF SOME XOBLE CAPTAIXS. 35 
 
 of me. He wanted me to be always looking over 
 the side, wlieii lie was sober — or dining witli liim 
 in the cabin, like a passenger, till he got screwed ; 
 then he'd tell the steward to lock me up in a 
 state-room. I wasn't to go near the men for fear 
 of low manners ; and if I went aloft I was to be 
 made fast in the rigging ; till at last he kept him- 
 self so regularly slued when we got into blue 
 water, that he knew nothing of w^hat went on. 
 
 So, all of a sudden !" 
 
 He hesitated, coloured, and was evidently indis- 
 posed to proceed. " Go on, love," said his mother, 
 leaninsi; forwaixl with her hand on his shoulder, 
 
 ~ 7 
 
 and her eyes fixed on his face ; " however dreadful, 
 do let us know the whole ! You are quite safe 
 now, you know." 
 
 Henry only laughed, however ; seeming inclined 
 only to wriggle from under the affectionate weight, 
 as if it were too heavy. " Pooh, my dear ! " Mr. 
 Spencer interposed, apparently wincing with an air 
 of some confusion from further particulars; " never, 
 mind. The detail must be painful, I think." 
 
 '^ Oh," rejoined the boy, for the first time eyeing 
 his father -svith a sidelong and peculiar air of cm'i- 
 osity, — " not so bad as that comes to, either. I 
 dare say they meant no harm, now I think of it ; 
 but the mate seemed to take it in his head he ought 
 to see I worked my passage — out of spite to the 
 captain, I fancy ; and the two passengers mistook 
 
 d2
 
 36 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 me for a footboy, no doubt out of spite at the 
 mate ; as for tlie men, they had a notion I oilght 
 to be kept always a lubber, out of spite at the 
 whole of us. So between 'em, they all took such 
 precious good care of me, that I was hardly ever 
 on deck till we got into harbour, and there I 
 wasn't to be let ashore. Now, you know, su^, no- 
 body could stand that sort of life — and one night 
 I just slipped out of a stern-window, and made 
 free with the boat astern, to take what they call 
 French leave. As for Captain Dodge, again — 
 though he offered everything that was fine — neither 
 he nor his crew took any care of me at all. He 
 didn't care, when I was sent up to stow the gaff- 
 topsail in a squall, if he never saw me again, so the 
 sail was safe." 
 
 " Well, well," said Mr. Spencer, hastily, and he 
 rose to take a library candlestick from the buffet, 
 " as was remarked before, my dear boy, you have 
 acquired some valuable experience, though at a 
 •rather painful cost ; and I dare say you have pro- 
 fited by it." 
 
 "That I have, father," said the youth, with 
 animation. "And what's more, sir, I shan't be 
 inclined to try it again." 
 
 " No, certainly not," was the rejoinder, in an in- 
 dulgent tone. "You are scarcely fifteen, I be- 
 lieve, Harry, and after all there is not much time
 
 OF SOME NOBLE CAPTAINS. 37 
 
 lost yet. So take a few days' rest and leisure to 
 yourself. Meantime, for Heaven's sake get some 
 new clothes, after which you may either go back 
 to school, if you choose, or ^" 
 
 " If you please, sir," abruptly ejaculated his 
 son, " I've no msh to be idle — I'd rather go into 
 the counting-house at once. I don't need any rest 
 at all, for that matter — and I should like to be a 
 merchant." 
 
 " Well, we'll think of it. I cannot exactly say, 
 without consulting ' Broadby and Company,' you 
 see." And Mr. Spencer smiled, well pleased again. 
 " 'Tis evident you are of an active turn of mind, 
 Harry; so at first, I think 'twill be as well to 
 confine you to a sort of superintendence in the 
 warehouse department, where your peculiar ex- 
 perience may be turned to account — eh, Hal ? " 
 
 Henry signified complete acquiescence. The 
 door closed, and Mr. Spencer retreated to the 
 seclusion of his library; where, however, lively 
 conceptions of Herbert of Herbert Court, Captain 
 Dodge, Captain White, Lord Edward de Yere, 
 and his own restored son, continued ever and anon 
 to recur to him with annoying pertinacity ; not so 
 much from the fact that if the worthy ship-master, 
 to whom Hariy had been committed, were indeed 
 lost, the firm would lose by him, as because the 
 entire series of these people and their actions had
 
 38 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 suddenly assumed a kind of shape which far 
 transcended the power of arithmetical calculation. 
 Meanwhile, the evening darkened to the parlour 
 windows ; and Harry, amidst the cu'cle there, still 
 sat as if something practical were occupying his 
 mind.
 
 39 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 A STEANGE FKIEND. 
 
 "Well now, motlier," ejaculated Henry Spencer, 
 drawing a long breatli of extreme satisfaction, as 
 he put liis hands in his pockets, and stretched his 
 feet towards the first fire of the season, lighted in 
 honour of his retui'n, " after all, this is what I call 
 snug." He looked out of the nearest window at 
 the garden trees, that w^ere scarce visible in the 
 dusk; then approvingly round the room, where 
 the hearth-hght alternated Avith fits of shade on 
 the panelled wainscot, and about the open 
 corner - cupboard with its china, on the carved 
 buffet in the recess, and the well-known portraits 
 on the walls ; while, in a whimsical variety, like 
 one that dallied with familiar matter which it 
 loved, or a grand artist sketchino; from unconscious 
 sitters, the fire now glowed low down, and threw
 
 40 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 the shadows of chairs and figures hugely up, with 
 heads bent flat upon the ceihng, now left a half- 
 transparent gloom, where the eye, in its escape to 
 the soft blue of outer twilight, was lured among 
 exquisite gradations, and sly interchanges, and fine 
 blendings; till again a flame flapped out high 
 above the coals, casting everything in its way 
 against the remote end, on which the dwindled 
 distinctness fluctuated as if it were tapestry shaken 
 by a wind. But Mrs. Spencer poked the fire into 
 an open blaze ; for she saw even less of such mute 
 by-play than the half -whistling Harry, to whom it 
 conveyed a mere momentary notion of intense 
 comfort : she only liked them to see each other's 
 faces as they talked, by that old-fashioned sort of 
 country light to w^hich she was still partial, not- 
 withstanding all her mature consciousness of a 
 position to maintain in the w^orld. "By-the-by, 
 though," added Harry, quickly, with another 
 glance about him, and he sat up erect to put the 
 inquiry, "where's Kitty? I didn't miss her out 
 of the house before, I declare ! — thinking every 
 now and then, you know, she'd turn up. I hope 
 there's nothing wrong with Kitty, mother 1 " 
 
 It was spoken in a rough tone, with an off-hand 
 manner, and was almost a solitary proof of feeling 
 on the boy's part ; yet the slightest tokens of such 
 a thing from him had always been so hoarded by 
 Mi's. Spencer since it first was called in question.
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 41 
 
 that she was now much delighted, and threw a 
 look of mingled confidence and triumph at Mary, 
 her second, but gravest, daughter, ere she said 
 calmly, though with a beaming face, "Kate is 
 down in the country at uncle Charles's. She is a 
 great deal there lately, you know, Harry, since 
 your poor dear grandmother began to fail so ; and 
 this evening we have all been too much flurried, of 
 coui'se, to wi'ite to them at Wrixworth. But 
 to-morrow, your papa wishes the coach sent off 
 for her direct." 
 
 Hany glanced intelligently across at his eldest 
 sister, Jane, whose lady-like equanimity had really 
 shown no sign of being much ruffled by the after- 
 noon's event ; as if it occurred to him that she, at 
 least, might have had presence of mind enough to 
 write a note sufficiently early for the purpose, 
 instead of smiling languidly from the sofa, or 
 looking so serenely gracious and beautifully tran- 
 quil, with her hair turned high up from her ivory 
 forehead into a kind of crown, and drawn away 
 from the temples, and all its darkness softened 
 out by the white powder, while a rich hassock 
 before her seemed to court the pearly pressure of 
 one satin-shoed foot. 
 
 "But, ma'am," said she, immediately, appearing 
 to be roused by the last announcement, though the 
 same listless style of refinement was carried out by 
 her voice, "perhaps you forget that to-morrow
 
 42 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 evening Lady Die Fansliaw comes to take my 
 sister and me to tlie rout at the Assembly Kooms 
 — so good of lier to be at the pains, you knovv^ ; 
 and her ladyship can scarce carry us there in her 
 o-sATi chair, I think." 
 
 " Dear me ! " said Mrs. Spencer, distressed : 
 " yes. We had forgot that ; then Kate must wait 
 till the day after, I fear." 
 
 "And to disappoint Lady Diana would be ex- 
 cessively unkind, considering all her attention to 
 us," added Jane, with more animation. " Besides, 
 since Henry has been so long absent, surely an- 
 other day can make very little difference." 
 
 " Mother I " said Henry himself, abmptly sitting 
 up again, "I don't mind starting off for Wrix- 
 worth to-morrow morning, a-f oot, do you see ; so 
 never trouble your head about the coach. When 
 it is sent, Kitty and I can come back in it 
 together." 
 
 " What, on foot, my dearest child ? " exclaimed 
 Ms mother, aghast at the supposition. 
 
 " To be sure — we didn't have coaches from Lon- 
 don to this, I warrant you. Both of us tradged 
 every step of it, though Dick, poor fellow, was 
 worse at it, somehow, than me." 
 
 The surprise produced in Mrs. Spencer by this 
 information was too great for her to express by 
 words : the thoughtful IMary, however, soon found 
 composure enough to inquire if he had had a com-
 
 A STEAXGE FRIEND. 43 
 
 panion, tlien ? " Why, yes," was tlie reply, " a 
 friend of mine. If it hadn't been for /w'm, in fact, 
 I dare say I shouldn't have been sitting here this 
 moment — nor, very likely, anywhere at all." His 
 expressive nod, more than his words, conveyed to 
 the listeners a dark import in that alternative from 
 which the said friend had saved him. " Oh, where 
 is he ? " was the mother's eager ejaculation, as she 
 looked round — "my dear boy, why did you not 
 bring him along with you — we must — inust see 
 this preserve " 
 
 " Oh, never fear, mother," interrupted the boy 
 in haste, with a somewhat embarrassed air. " Dick's 
 sure to turn up — ^indeed, I shouldn't wonder if he 
 were here pretty soon now. I left him to take a 
 rest in the turnpike down yonder, not half a mile 
 off, and he wasn't to come over this way till dark. 
 You see, mother — Dick is not just so well off for 
 clothes at present, like myself — for of course, leav- 
 ing the schooner in such a hurry, you hadn't time 
 to think of dunnage, and so — so — why, I'd like if 
 you'd just bid the servants let me know as soon as 
 he calls ; but for goodness' sake, not to show liim 
 right in, you know, not on any account." 
 
 " Who is he, then, Harry ? " asked his sister 
 Mary, glancing up from the piece of embroidery 
 she had resumed: for, having but small preten- 
 sions to beauty, she excelled in the useful arts. 
 Mary, though as yet scarcely twenty-one, was
 
 44 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 already virtually engaged to a clergyman of very 
 good position and no slight learning, whose mature 
 a^e had not outweio;hed these recommendations to 
 
 CD O 
 
 her good sense ; in consequence of which, a con- 
 tinual series of floweiy toilet-covers, cushion-pieces, 
 or chair-patterns, mysteriously succeeding each other 
 in growth and disappearance, were now the result 
 of her sedulous forethought. 
 
 " Well," her brother responded, " I call him 
 Dick Diamond, myself — ^but that's not his real 
 name — his real name was one-half too fine, to my 
 notion. He's a sort of foreigner, as it were, in 
 difficulties — for all I know, he may be a prince in 
 disguise, as there's lots of 'em where he came from ; 
 but that's nothing to me, you know — ^he's as true a 
 fellow as ever breathed, and if it hadn't been for 
 Dick, I can tell you 'twould have been pretty well 
 up with me. We never could have slipped the old 
 skipper's clutches, save for Dick's judgment — so 
 don't you be going and being prejudiced, Polly, 
 because he's a — I mean his face." Henry still 
 hesitated, and caught Jane's dark eyes opened 
 upon him with more interest than they had as yet 
 deicrned to show. 
 
 " For my part," said Jane, as if expected to 
 speak, ^' I think being prejudiced against foreigners 
 is vastly foolish." 
 
 " Of course," said the younger sister, whose 
 British antipathies might perhaps have been en-
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 45 
 
 hanced by religions sentiments and ecclesiastical 
 associations : " oli, of course ;" while she stitched 
 again more busily than ever by the firelight, and 
 hid from all but Harry the arch-twinkle in the 
 corners of her eyes, as she appended a qualifica- 
 tion to her assent. " At least when thev are hand- 
 some, rich, and titled — like the French Count 
 whom Lady Die says we are to meet to-morrow 
 night — hey, Jane?" 
 
 Jane colom-ed, relapsing into extremer superi- 
 ority than before, while her mother hinted strong 
 doubts against the principles as well as the wealth 
 of foreigners in general ; not excepting even their 
 titles, which might have been thought, from her 
 impression, almost as much a purely British pro- 
 duct as the two other commodities in question. 
 
 " It is really a pity, though, besides," resumed 
 ^lary, " that Kate cannot be home in time for this 
 Assembly. Lady Diana seemed so taken with her 
 last Christmas, you know, mamma, and wished 
 then to bring her out. Don't you think it likely, 
 if a note were still writ off to-night — my uncle 
 might send old Roger and the chaise with her to- 
 morrow, quite early enough in the day for her to 
 2^ y^^ us after all ? " 
 
 Mrs. Spencer, however, expressed serious mis- 
 givings about the condition of the ancient vehicle, 
 the state of the country roads, and the almost su- 
 perannuated faculties of Roger, careful and trusty
 
 46 CAPTAIN HEEBERT. 
 
 as he had long been known. Miss Spencer, too, 
 again vouchsafed to unclose her lips, with a cold 
 remark as to Catherine being still a mere child, 
 who had time enough to think of such things — 
 possibly next season ; and the rare opinions of the 
 eldest daughter had none the less weight mth the 
 maternal mind, nor had her style of character the 
 less influence there, because of her extreme un- 
 likeness to her mother, or indeed to that side of 
 the house in general. 
 
 " Why, Jane," warmly exclaimed her sister, 
 notwithstanding, " you forget she is almost seven- 
 teen. And I am sure, after being so long at 
 Wrixworth, where my grandmother needs so much 
 attendance, she would more than either of us enjoy 
 it. As for Lady Diana, too, recollect Kitty will 
 some day or other be a sort of little heiress, as 
 eveiybody laiows by this time, and I fancy these 
 things have rather more than enough importance 
 in her ladyship's eyes, for all her high blood. So 
 don't be too sure, eTane, that Kitty, with grand'ma's 
 fortune behind her, ma}Ti't outshine even you in 
 the end!" 
 
 The belle of the family made no answer, save 
 by a composure more ineffably placid than before, 
 lowering her soft eyelids with an air of beautiful 
 resignation; she never could bear, al; all events, 
 to quarrel. So that, as Mrs. Spencer became do- 
 mestically busy between the other end of the room
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 47 
 
 and the adjoining closet, wHle Mary bent quietly 
 again over lier embroidery-frame in a fit of tlionght, 
 there was a silence ; amidst which Harry, who had 
 merely looked from one to the other as they spoke, 
 seemed to try to fall asleep. 
 
 " Harry," at last said the homelier of his two 
 sisters, after she had more than once glanced 
 up at him half abstractedly, " I do wish you 
 would begin and tell me your adventures to the 
 end." 
 
 The boy opened his eyes ^^dde at once. " Ad- 
 ventui'es, Molly! I haven't had any adventm'es. 
 There wasn't a single thing out of the way, all the 
 voyage — or else I shouldn't be quite so sick of it, 
 perhaps, and going to turn clerk ! Nothing but 
 what was as tiresome as old Captain White him- 
 self, unless, to be sure, it was Captain Dodge. I 
 must say he teas what you may call new, but if 
 that's what you mean, you must ask Dick Dia- 
 mond when he comes. He's the man that knew 
 old Dodge best; in fact, he's always coming out 
 with something fresh about the skipper. Only I 
 don't suppose you'd understand at first what he 
 says, and as for telling it right straight along, 
 it's what Dick, for the life of him, can't do, I'm 
 afraid." 
 
 " Oh no ! " said Mary, laughing, " I cannot say 
 I have any wish to hear more about Captain Dodds, 
 if he was such a man "
 
 48 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " Dodge ! " interrupted lier brotlier, correcting 
 her with grave emphasis. 
 
 " Well, then — if Captain Dodge was so dis- 
 agreeable a person as you described him. I only 
 hope, as he was so bad, you are wrong in sup- 
 posing him drowned, and the rest of the poor 
 sailors with him." 
 
 " Drowned!" exclaimed Henry: "pooh! You're 
 thinking of stupid old White, Mary I No, no : I'm 
 just as sure the captain is lively at this moment, 
 and doing something wide-awake, though he's 
 thousands of miles off, of course — or else think- 
 ing of something he's to do, or looking at some- 
 thing mth that gimlet eye of his like a thing 
 screwing right into it — I'm as sure as if I saw it 
 in the red of that fire there. He's a man, I can 
 tell you, that never will be drowned." 
 
 "Dear me, what a hateful wi'etch ! " instinctively 
 ejaculated his sister; and Henry rather stared at 
 her. 
 
 "No," said he, in a meditative way — "no; 
 you're "svrong now, Polly. Not exactly to say — 
 hateful. It's rather a hard word, you see. After 
 all, there was something about him you couldn't 
 help admiring, as 'twere. Captain Dodge '11 be 
 heard of yet. Do you know, I can't keep from 
 feeling disagreeable at the thought he's at war 
 with this country — though it's ridiculous, no 
 doubt."
 
 A STRANGE FEIEND. 49 
 
 " At war ! " repeated Mary, mechanically. 
 
 " Yes : he 's a colonial, as they call 'em over the 
 water ; and there's some rebellion or other going 
 on there just now, you know. But the skipper 
 didn't join it at all, they said ; in fact, if he 
 hadn't stuck to the British ensign at first, he'd have 
 had precious little chance of keeping the schooner. 
 The schooner was getting old and leaky, though ; 
 and as for trade, things didn't seem to look well. So 
 what did he do one fine afternoon, off the Ber- 
 mudas, but order all hands aft, pull out a letter of 
 marque, as he said, from some council, or some- 
 thing — talking a great lot about a fellow he called 
 the great Doctor Frankljaie — and then said he 
 meant to go right down to war against Great 
 Britain. If any hand aboard wanted to say nay — 
 why, he was to say it then and there. Not a man 
 stirred, though there weren't three out of the crew 
 but what belonged somewhere about home here ; 
 and of course it wasn't one, you know, Mary, that 
 was going to walk out first to the old scoundrel — 
 especially as I'd made up my mind to run for it. 
 So he hauled down the ensign directly after, and 
 hoisted one that none of us had seen before, 
 like a piece of a barber's striped jacket, or a 
 butcher's apron, with a lot of spots in one corner ; 
 and then ran the schooner fair before the wind, 
 to go a-privateering. Dick and I bolted before 
 he got any prizes ; but I know he meant to have 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 a new schooner under liim pretty soon, "with- 
 out paying for her — and he'll do it. He'll just 
 get alongside on the sly, with his old colours 
 flying till the other craft's his own, however big 
 she may be; then he'll run up the stripes again. 
 I say, Mary, by-the-by, I suppose you don't know 
 whether Broadby and Co. have any particularly 
 fine brigs at sea just now, in that quarter ? " 
 
 Mary shook her head : she was not aware. As 
 for the force of the question, she had no earthly 
 idea of it ; and her brother alone meditated for a 
 minute or two, with his chin rested on one palm, 
 and his elbow on the elbow of the chair. 
 
 "Well, it's curious," he ultimately added. "I've 
 somehow or other a notion I shall come across him 
 somehow or other, some time. There's Diamond, 
 now, that's to be here to-night — a sensible enough 
 man on other points ; but he won't get rid, all I 
 can say, of the thought that he still belongs some- 
 how to the skipper — at least until the skipper's 
 fairly dead." 
 
 " Belongs I " repeated both sisters at the same 
 moment. 
 
 " Ay — that he's his body and soul — if Dick 
 ever made so bold, in fact, as to fancy he's got a 
 soul. And for that matter, Captain Dodge wanted 
 me to belong to him too, if I'd been such a fool, 
 you know ! By-the-by, though, Mary," he con- 
 tinued, with a laugh, " there was the best joke you
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 51 
 
 ever heard with Diamond, as we came along from 
 London. We travelled most of nights, you see — 
 owing to the suspicious looks we got after us at 
 first ; sticking about woods, and so on, in the day- 
 time, making the best of it we could, for fear of 
 the parish stocks. So one night after dusk, coming 
 down a by-lane, just at a sign-post where I tried 
 to make out the road to Reading — ^who steps out 
 but a footpad, with a pistol as long as my arm, 
 and claps it to Diamond's head, bidding both of 
 us stand and deliver. For Dick's part, he didn't 
 know the fellow's meaning a bit ; but he just 
 looked round at him over his shoulder, out of the 
 dark of the lane, and grinned at him without so 
 much as ever tm^ning or sapng a word. My stars, 
 Moll ! I wish you'd just seen how the fellow 
 dropped his pistol and ran, at the mere sight of 
 Diamond Dick's face ! " 
 
 Much as Henry seemed to enjoy this recollec- 
 tion, it only made his sisters exchange glances of 
 surprise, in which a little misgi\dng mixed. Mary 
 endeavoured to lead him gently off, rather, to some 
 account of tropical scenes and foreign manners. 
 
 "Well," was the rather careless response, "at 
 first, you know, one has too much to do to pay 
 much heed to that sort of thing ; and after that, 
 why, you're too much used to it. There's no 
 doubt, • of course, it's tremendously hot about 
 Jamaica ; and, now I think of it, the leaves of the 
 
 E 2
 
 52 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 trees are a good deal bigger, not to say queerer 
 and greener. Then there's the Blue Mountains, 
 with heaps of wood betwixt them and Kingston, 
 and the rocks, every here and there, as clear as 
 possible, miles off, and a sky you can't look up at. 
 There's the green verandahs of the white houses, 
 and the blacks, with nothing but straw hats and 
 white breeches, looking quite cool and at home ; 
 and a few sour-faced planters, smoking, and look- 
 ing as if they'd had the jaundice. Besides, no 
 end of drunk sailors riding, making a noise like 
 mad. No doubt there's something different about 
 the West Indies from ordinary : whether it's the 
 queer yellow sort of ground and white stones, with 
 the big ground-leaves creeping full of red ants 
 and centipedes, and the blue water outside, with 
 ships looking half the size they ought — or what it 
 is ; but you're disappointed, in fact. And the 
 whole while it's getting hotter and hotter, till you 
 can't stand it even under a tree with leaves like a 
 whole stack of umbrellas ; when, at last, down goes 
 the sun in a blaze to seaward, with everything 
 bloody-black and big against it like beetles and 
 crab's-claws, as if the shadows came jumping out 
 of the port-holes and the windows ; and you hear 
 gun-fire precious delighted, I can tell you. Why, 
 I see it all clear enough at this moment ! " — he had 
 his eyes half shut as he spoke — " to my very self 
 on the wharf, and Captain Dodge in that bottle-
 
 A STEANGE FRIEND. 53 
 
 green sliore-going coat of liis, taking the cigar out 
 of his cheek, and looking down at me out of one 
 eye, as he spit on the stones, and asked me if I 
 didn't want to see New York City next." 
 
 His eklest sister put up her fair, jewelled hand 
 to cover a yawn. " La, my dear ! " she said, 
 addressing Mary with redoubled listlessness of 
 manner, " I really wonder you can find any enter- 
 tainment in such things. If one actually has such 
 a low taste, why not stay in such places, or at sea, 
 altogether ? " 
 
 "But Harry is thoroughly tired of it," Mary 
 rejoined. " You are going to stay at home now, 
 are you not, Harry, and be steady ? " 
 
 Henry made no answer, but surveyed Jane in 
 silence from his chair, with a glance which more 
 and more and more resembled a wdnk; till she 
 turned her head away at last, in some uritation. 
 The feeling was not strong enough, however, to do 
 more than shape itself on her tongue in the words, 
 " Shocking boy ! " Once or twice, too, she had 
 raised her silver vinaigrette to smell, with an 
 expression of vague discomfort in her features; 
 the truth beins;, that somethino; like the effect of 
 harbour-docks at the end of a street had diffused 
 itself more and more through the room, as Harry 
 sat before the fire in his canvas trousers. 
 
 " Well, I don't exactly know," he at length 
 deliberately said; "but I dare say, after all, I
 
 54 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 want a little polishing np. So you know, Molly, 
 if you were just to take me about to one or two of 
 these routs of yours, or assemblies, or whatever 
 you call 'em, perhaps I might pick up manners." 
 
 Mary laughed, and. nodded a gleeful assent ; 
 insisting, however, on vast improvements in style 
 of dress. 
 
 " Of course," continued the boy, merrily ; " and 
 who laiows but Lady Sally what's-her-name may 
 take a fancy to me — eh ? Not to say my foreign 
 friend Diamond, too, mind you ; for I shouldn't 
 wonder if Jane, there, were to take him in hand 
 herself." 
 
 Jane tmiied her head to him again, and said, 
 with a degi'ee of emphasis which, for her, was sur- 
 prising, " You are fit for nothing but the cabins of 
 ships, Henry ; and I am sure, for my part, I am 
 very much surprised you do not intend going back 
 again, where, I dare say, you might become as 
 famous as an admiral, instead of becoming dis- 
 agreeable at home ! " 
 
 This speech di'ew immoderate laughter from her 
 brother. 
 
 " Now, Jane," he next minute retorted, seriously 
 and scornfully, " what do you know about the sea, 
 I'd like to hear? Why d'ye think, in particular, I 
 left that old sugar-ship my father sent me out in
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 55 
 
 His graceful sister deigned no consciousness of 
 tlie inquiiy, mucli less did she attempt answering it. 
 
 " Just because," continued Henry, raising his 
 voice indignantly — " just because I rather tired of 
 cleaning candlesticks and the binnacle-lamp — ay, 
 and the two passengers' boots, and the pigsties ! 
 And why d'ye suppose — ay, what would you 
 fancy, now, was the reason — that I gave Captain 
 Dodge the sHp too ? " 
 
 The sole answer vouchsafed by Jane, neverthe- 
 less, was to rise up on the sudden from her 
 cushions, to gather up her train elegantly in one 
 hand, and with a stately disdain, and an endeavour 
 at supreme serenity, to swim rustling out of the 
 apartment. 
 
 Henry laughed boisterously, and leant back 
 with an air of self-satisfaction in his chair. 
 
 " My dear Harry," said his other sister, in mild 
 reproof, " why do you seem to delight in vexing 
 Jane ? You really must not ! Now, when you were 
 away, Jane used to talk about you almost as often 
 as any of us — at least to listen to all the rest were 
 saying, and — and, you know, she is so accustomed 
 to be admired ; besides being, of course, the eldest." 
 
 " Well, but ain't it provoking," was the reply, 
 though in an apologetic tone, " to be twitted with 
 giving up, by a girl that don't know the main-tack, 
 neither, from the captain's spy-glass? I tell you
 
 56 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 what it is, Mary, if I'd got to see Jane always op- 
 posite me on that sofa, in that high-and-mighty style 
 of hers, why, I'd soon begin to weary for another 
 sight of the skipper himself, with his everlasting 
 old eye. He was a man, at any rate, that always 
 kept you astir." 
 
 Yet, when Mrs. Spencer next returned to her 
 seat, Henry had fallen asleep, through sheer 
 fatigue, in the elbow-chair. At intervals, looking 
 up from her quiet work, Mary noticed his face. 
 To her mother, a soothing influence seemed for 
 the first time diffused by the sight of it — reclined 
 peacefully as it was on one arm, and sliding gra- 
 dually down — the hps opening and breathing 
 gently — while the light of the fire reddened the 
 brown cheek, darkening the shadows or magnify- 
 ing them upon the farther wall. None had par- 
 ticularly considered the boy before, or attended to 
 his disposition ; and to no other of the family now, 
 equally with Mrs. Spencer, had there been this 
 painful bewilderment at that apparently frightful 
 knowledge of an evil world, that altered and 
 abrupt style of phraseology, that too emphatic 
 manner, and that insensibility to the most hair- 
 breadth escapes. In this forcible impression, the 
 very dangers themselves had been lost sight of : 
 till now, she had scarce ventured to be sure she 
 recognised him. Yet, in truth, of what a rising 
 band of fresh spirits, about to incorporate them-
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 57 
 
 selves with the might of England in her hour of 
 deadliest need, was young Harry Spencer the 
 representative. The school of Benbow and Anson, 
 which Smollett or Defoe had painted, had soon to 
 die out in victory, like those elder sea-soldiers with 
 Blake, whom Pepys chronicled : it was the well- 
 nurtured youth at sea — the " young gentleman " — 
 the boy-midshipman of the great French war — 
 that had now to begin adding the charm of his 
 mingled mischief, breeding, and generous courage, 
 to the romance of sea-history. It was the very 
 opposite of those subtile schemes, mean jealousies, 
 and low-sprung instincts for change or profit, 
 which it had to oppose ; and it did but need a 
 noble captain to gather it together, and lead on. 
 
 The rising moon from afar beyond the garden 
 trees had begun to brighten the panels of the inner 
 wainscot, making fresh but fainter shadows of its 
 owni beside the others, and throwing a moist light 
 over outer things, as the boy turned apparently to 
 deeper sleep than before. Mary smiled, and Mrs. 
 Spencer bent nearer. 
 
 " How like he is to Catherine !" she whispered, 
 still surveying him ; till Harry murmured some- 
 thing that still sounded unmistakably of the most 
 remarkable among his various commanders. '' Poor 
 dear! what he must have gone through!" broke 
 from her lips, and she stooped from behind to press 
 a kiss on his forehead. He was broad awake on
 
 58 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 tlie instant, and sprang np so suddenly, with an 
 ejaculation so resembling a shout, as to startle both 
 his companions ahiiost equally with himself. 
 
 "Well, if I didn't think I was gone at last !" 
 said he, rubbing his eyes and looldng round ; " I 
 thought he faMy had me ! Captain Dodge was 
 just putting his thumb softly on me between two 
 water-casks, I fancied, mother ! It's curious, I 
 never ch'eamt of him before, though — or, in fact, 
 about being at sea at all. 'Twas always about 
 home, you know, when one wasn't there. One time 
 I actually put my arms about the black cook's 
 neck, when he woke me quietly under the long- 
 boat because the skipper was on the look-out for 
 me in one of his black moods, and a squall commg 
 on to windward. Before I knew where I was, 
 you see, I'm much mistaken if I didn't nearly take 
 the old nigger romid the neck, and give him a 
 hearty " 
 
 His lauoiiino- and rather shame-faced confession 
 was, however, quite smothered up in the long, in- 
 tense, repeated embrace it drew forth to him ; his 
 sister adding her half -laughing share before he was 
 released. And the first thorough acknowledgment 
 of gladness to be at home again had been given, of 
 the boy's o^^ai accord, to theh perfect satisfaction, 
 when the footman opened the dining-room door to 
 inform Piaster Henry, with rather a doubtful ah', 
 that some one was at the back-gate of the house,
 
 A STRANGE FRIEND. 59 
 
 wisliing to see liim ; one wlio would not come in 
 out of the dark, but was most likely tlie foreign — 
 and kere tlie ser^^ant hemmed and paused — the 
 foreign gentleman that had been expected, in fact ; 
 since it was thought he mentioned Master Hemy's 
 name. 
 
 " Yes, mother," said the lad, rising in a hurry, 
 " it's no one else ; of course, it's Jupiter, at last." 
 
 " Jupiter ? " inquired both ]\Irs. Spencer and her 
 daughter in one breath. 
 
 " Tut ! Macombo — Dick Diamond, I mean ; so 
 — so I'll just step out, myself, and have him put to 
 rights, you know, for the night." 
 
 " But are Ave not to see liim now ? " exclauned 
 Jiis mother, in surprise. " My dear boy, your father 
 will, of course, be delighted to receive him per- 
 sonally. Mar}^ A\all inform your papa, while I see 
 that the sheets in the green-room are aired. We 
 can excuse a great deal in such a friend! And 
 you will have no objection to give up the green 
 room to yoiu' friend jSIr. Diamond, Hany, I dare 
 say, and put up with your old bed-chamber in the 
 mean while ? " 
 
 " Wliy," said Harry, confusedly, " I don't think 
 poor Dick ever slept in sheets or a bedroom, all his 
 life ; I'm sm-e he'll be quite glad of one of the 
 garrets; but just you leave him to me, mother. 
 Only mmd you, ma'am," and Henry returned a 
 step or two from the doorway, in obvious anxiety,
 
 60 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " mind you, Dick's none the less a good fellow, that 
 mil stand by you when you need him ; in fact, it's 
 not his own fault at all, you see, if — i£ he's a — a — 
 well " 
 
 He still hesitated in great unwillingness to men- 
 tion something. 
 
 " What — what, my dearest child," was the agi- 
 tated inquiry, " for goodness' sake, what has he 
 done?" 
 
 The look of Mary, too, showed equal eagerness 
 and suspense. 
 
 " Then, I suppose, you really don't know it ? " 
 said Harry, with a sudden air of surprise. " I 
 thought, perliaj)s, I'd mentioned it abeady ; but, 
 having been a slave, of course it's not so unnatiu'al 
 after all ; in fact, for a negro, Dick is w^onderf ul ; 
 but the truth is, I'm afraid, he's a — a hit of a 
 lieatlienr 
 
 Scarcely venturing to cast a glance at their mute 
 dismay, the boy vanished to attend to the wants of 
 his late companion. On his return, too, he de- 
 clared himself so wearied, that, as he expressed it, 
 he must go and " turn in" at once ; only hinting, 
 that if the matter were carefully " broken" over- 
 night to his father, the latter might not be " so 
 much taken aback next morning, if he chanced to 
 catch sight of Dick." 
 
 So, while Harry slept sound and dreamlessly, his
 
 A STRANGE FEIEXD. 61 
 
 friend being privately consigned to repose also, the 
 family were troubled all that night by strange \asions 
 of waves, masts, the yellow fever, or dead seamen 
 floating to a lonely beach ; of sharks more hideous 
 even than the reality ; of Captain White all drip- 
 ping, and Captain Dodge all life-like. To Mrs. 
 Spencer, above all, there was the constantly recur- 
 ring sense throughout, of a black guest somewhere, 
 who, however mysterious, left his print most indu- 
 bitably on all the linen !
 
 62 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 
 
 A HASTY letter came from Catherine Spencer at 
 Wrixwortli, to say liow glad slie was to hear of 
 Harry's safe return, and to send him a whole string 
 of loving messages ; but neither her grandmother 
 nor aunt were very well, so that, as there were 
 guests in the Hall, and the county election came 
 on that week, she could not well get home before 
 the next. Henry would fain, indeed, have caught 
 at this, to set off straight to the old country place : 
 and he made more than one attempt to do it 
 plausibly, which could scarce have been grudged 
 him by anybody, especially after the late turbulent 
 passages in his youthful career. But the circum- 
 stances just mentioned by his sister were against 
 him; while out of mere consistency towards his 
 father, whose indulgent view had been all along so
 
 TURNING OYER A NEW LEAF. 63 
 
 manifest tlirougli his firmness, tlie least lie could 
 do was to begin in earnest. It was ]\ir. Spencer's 
 decided opinion that if Henry really intended be- 
 coming a merchant at all, he ought rather to put 
 off visiting Wrixworth till near the next Christmas 
 holidays, and in the mean time set himself with 
 resolution to his purpose. He would not conceal 
 from him that it was at the outset a task — ^nay, 
 there was a degree of drudgeiy, of tediousness, 
 and perhaps, to an impatient temper, of rather 
 humiliating sul^ordination in it ; for the same au- 
 thority which he himself exercised in the counting- 
 house, did he fully depute to the manager and 
 senior clerks over those, whosoever or whatsoever 
 they might be, who entered under their respective 
 departments. But postponement would only make 
 the effort more disagreeable. Indeed, it would be 
 unavoidable for Henry now to decide. It was time 
 his wild oats should have been sow^i. He would 
 not constrain him in the least ; further, at all 
 events, than to say, that othermse he must prepare 
 to return to school. 
 
 With which, and several wise sapngs and ac- 
 knowledged truths besides, did the excellent mer- 
 chant despatch the subject mth his younger son ; 
 while, at the same time, in a kind of half -friendly 
 and confidential way, making a companion of him 
 on the other side of the table after dinner ; when 
 the ladies had gone up-stairs, leaving the nuts and
 
 64 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 wine. In addition to it all, there was the con- 
 sideration of the black dependant who had run off 
 with him from the colonial schooner, and who was 
 now provisionally established in Beech Grove, 
 wearing a cast-off suit, and showdng every rea- 
 diness to make himself useful, despite his strange 
 look and obscure language. Yet Diamond — or 
 Jupiter, as he had been colonially designated — had 
 been chiefly used to assist in sea cookery, varied by 
 the greasing of masts, or the heaving down on 
 handspikes and pulling along of ropes ; all of 
 which rendered him w^orse than inconvenient in 
 the establishment, to its mistress's thoughts. And 
 how to turn his idleness to use, or leave him for 
 any time "without a guide, patron, or interpreter, 
 had begun more and more to occupy the boy's 
 mind, till there had actually been something like 
 parental care in it. So, as he meditatively 
 cracked another nut, it occmTed to him how well 
 Diamond could do all day about the warehouses, 
 or by the quay, in the active service of Broadby 
 and Co. ; returning at nights, of com'se, to his old 
 garret at the lodge. So he plucked up a firm 
 determination, notwithstanding the doubts he had 
 been having within the last twenty-four hours, or 
 the sort of unsettled disposition he had felt to visit 
 Wrixworth, and said he had made up his mind. 
 His father nodded a benign approval. 
 
 Then, clearing his throat, the boy entered on
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 65 
 
 the matter of his protege, adding holdly that there 
 was that between him and Dick — as he phrased 
 it — that so long as Dick stuck by him as he had 
 done, why — in fact, he was resolved never to forsake 
 him. Mr. Spencer glanced at him in a little sm:- 
 prise; then something like an easy smile passed 
 about his lips, and he laughed, and said Henry 
 might manage it as he pleased. AVhereupon, the 
 decanter being passed to him, the youth poured him- 
 self out a second glass of port, leant himself back 
 more in his chair, and — though in a very mature 
 way surveying the purity of his wine between him 
 and the windows ere he sipped it — passed the re- 
 mainder of the hour chiefly in respectful atten- 
 tion. It was as well, he said, now he had clothes, 
 to commence next day, for he meant to turn over 
 quite a new leaf. 
 
 A very dusky and dull interior was that of 
 Broadby and Co.'s counting-house, shaded by the 
 height of the red brick warehouses in the close 
 lane, past whose nearest corner went on the bustle 
 of the quays, while the whole crash and roar and 
 clash of Bristol was around, with her sugar- 
 sledges, iron drays, and gayer carriages, passing 
 by. Lamps were early lighted in the outer office, 
 and in some parts of the place they sometimes 
 winked feebly all day. No cloister-cell could well 
 have been drearier, more cut off from life, or more 
 like a region for the human sph'it to sicken of its 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 own faculties in ; yet admirable was the unconsci- 
 ousness of any sucli possibility on the part of the 
 old head-clerk, who, with his periwigged head 
 leant to one side, and the queue-tail of it hanging 
 over one shoulder, while his undisguised spindle- 
 shanks were twined round the legs of his liigh 
 stool, sat posting the great ledger from hour to 
 houi' — without the shghtest shadow of expression on 
 liis shrivelled face, not even when, at long inter- 
 vals, he sat up to take a pinch of snuff, scre^ang 
 all his f eatru'es towards it, as if it had been a por- 
 tion of life, or a magnetic thing, or a share of the 
 sun ; looking round ere he continued his work again, 
 to see if every pen moved regularly. To him the 
 entire system of things had no existence save from 
 that centre, nor had any disturbing considerations 
 from without possessed the least force for him 
 these forty years, since he had been first taken 
 like a tool into the vigorous grasp of old John 
 Broadby. So, whatever his respect for the firm, it 
 was to him much the same in the case af the 
 loutish apprentice from the comitiy, or of IMaster 
 Henr}^ Spencer, if he detected wrong arithmetic 
 or dulness to the modes of commercial entry ; he 
 took out his immense old watch with an equal air 
 of astonishment, to either of them, when a failure in 
 regard to punctuality was concerned. But to have 
 seen the real stir and practice of the wide world as 
 it goes, particularly in the way Harry had caught
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 67 
 
 sight of it, has, after all, a wonderful effect on the 
 intelligence, with respect even to such dry abstrac- 
 tions. In fact, withm a day or two, he grew 
 quickly into the good graces of the ancient 
 manager, and could soon put do\^ai statements 
 concerning timber and sugar inwards, and iron 
 or assorted goods outwards, by certain vessels, to 
 such and such ports, with all the more accuracy 
 from havino; kno-v\Ti a Httle of the thinsjs them- 
 selves ; not excluding the further step, to which the 
 very recollection almost helped him, of combina- 
 tion into a grand total with the nice questions 
 of demurrage, bottomry, or salvage, jetsam and 
 flotsam, and the final and supreme metamorphosis 
 of all into sterhng gain. 
 
 Wliereas, it was pitiable, at times, how the 
 older lad from the country would sink down near 
 him into a dull sort of lethargy, or yawn and cut 
 out his initials on the desk under liis work, making 
 odd idiotic scrawls upon the blotting-paper; and, 
 perhaps, he had some dim, stupid hankering after 
 the farmer life again, with the trudgings to school, 
 which he had very Hkely used to hate. For when 
 it was hot in the afternoon between the brick 
 sides of the lane, when a blaze of sun came down 
 above the warehouses and glared right over the 
 bluid part of the dusty countmg-house window, 
 through a sudden swarm of busy motes to the 
 desk corner, till it spread upon a piece of the wall, 
 
 f2
 
 68 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 making very plain the cracks in the plaster, with 
 the idlest thing or mark thereto belonging — then 
 would the rustic apprentice look up, eyeing it with 
 an utter vacancy and despondency that were mise- 
 rable to see, as if the sense of his irreparable 
 indentures weighed upon him so that no imagina- 
 tion of the wealth of Broadby and Co. could rouse 
 him to ambition more. Yet at that very time, 
 probably, would the mechanical old worthy from 
 the head of affairs chance to take his round of the 
 place, or some officious subordinate of his would 
 cross the floor, so as to make the defaulter's heart 
 jump at the abrupt sourness of the voice close 
 behind, and at the experience of those small, 
 fretting, spirit-breaking consequences which would 
 ensue, every day multiplying. 
 
 Hence, while the apprentice was treated scurvily, 
 without any chance in the end of escaping the 
 usual mill-round of his class, and was sure to make 
 at best, some forty years after, but an additional 
 copy of the sapless head-clerk himself; it was on 
 the other hand quite natural that Harry Spencer, 
 without any influence from his father, whose pri- 
 vate rooms were far remote from him, should 
 almost immediately fall into the very opportunities 
 by which the other lad might have profited. What 
 the stripling from the country liked, was just to be 
 sent out on messages to the dock-gates and attend 
 the custom-house, to see freights delivered or stand
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 69 
 
 by with a note-book, stepping upon the gang-plank 
 or leaping from bale to bale, amidst the stir and 
 liveliness of unloading all day long ; but he had 
 been too simple to hide that he liked it, and the 
 under clerks knew this, so ever after Henry came 
 to the establishment they used to send him. For it 
 is odd, that although clerks may have no care for 
 what is going on mthout, no turn for open air 
 work in all weathers, and indeed may be glad to 
 have got rid of it — yet no class of persons have a 
 nicer instinct, of the repugnant kind, against the 
 little likings of their inferiors ; they having suf- 
 fered from all generations the same themselves. 
 
 The boy's negro follower had at once risen 
 into high use in the sheds, or wherever a cargo 
 was under hands; so Harry was very willing 
 to see how Diamond had got on, or to exchange 
 a word ^vith him, and see him grin merrily as he 
 pulled, rolling the great whites of his eyes about 
 to look, and even leading wild choruses among the 
 stevedores. There, if a face of his own colour 
 appeared near, from some ship's cook-house or 
 cabin-pantry. Diamond regarded it with the most 
 obvious scorn, even to opprobrious word or ges- 
 ture; he was a model African of some unusual 
 tribe, jet black and ruggedly brawny, and di'ead- 
 f ully hideous at first sight, yet shining with a glossy 
 polish and a good humour which greatly redeemed 
 his looks. It was not that Harry cared much for
 
 70 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 all this going about. There was doubtless a vast 
 advantage to him, so far as his getting on thus 
 easily was concerned, in the fact of his being a 
 partner's son; but he had a fund of spirits that 
 stood him in good stead, at any rate ; and throw- 
 ing himself fully into the matter in hand, as cha- 
 racters of real energy do, he bade fair to tui-n out 
 a merchant after all. 
 
 No doubt, from the high stool on which he was 
 perched when within doors, he could constantly 
 see over the obscured lower panes of a windoAV, if 
 he sat erect, into the purlieus of the harbour, 
 where it was singular to notice what went on, if 
 one only looked. A creek dividuig the warehouse 
 from a building-yard, seemed there to run into the 
 very thick of the town, between the bottoms of 
 barges and the rigging of vessels, to the dusty 
 back-mndows of a street; and from damp sails 
 loosed to dry, to the clothes-lines hung out by 
 housewives, which often gave the parti-coloured 
 air of flags making unknown signals, or celebrating 
 a holiday. A sort of sewer it seemed to become, 
 at low water; while the heat of the noon drew 
 smells from it, compared to which pitch and tar 
 were delicate; as kitchen rubbish, blended with 
 the refuse from cabins, and dead cats, amid a re- 
 sinous-looking scum, floated to meet mildewed 
 oranges : then would the ugliest sloops, that had 
 slowly been leaning down in the mud, appear im-
 
 TURKIXG OYER A NEW LEAF. 71 
 
 minently to tlireaten contiguous casements, or to 
 set up for the use of collier-looking sailors — half 
 that night it might be — ready scaling-ladders near 
 the garrets of ser\'ant-maids, to the pious horror 
 of rueful spinster-mistresses m spectacles below. 
 In that stagnant surface, at its stillest and warmest 
 tedium, with what nicety of repetition were the 
 •most trivial things reflected! The water icoiild 
 have one take notice, whether he wished or no. 
 As when some boy, astride across the beam he was 
 besmearmg, took such pride in his work that he 
 kept time involuntarily to the brush with liis 
 tongue, holding his head away to mark the effect 
 like a painter — or if he only pushed himself lazily 
 round in a boat with one hand, while with the 
 other he mopped the side, listening idly to the 
 noises of the town, till somebody with a rough 
 voice looked over. Again, it might be, a servant- 
 girl sittmg half out of a high wuidow to clean it, 
 a good way off altogether from the creek, would 
 be brought upside do^^m in it for behoof of that 
 countmg-house pane. And in the midst of a sum 
 of dry figm-es, or while carefully endeavouring to 
 fill up duplicates of bdls-of-ladiug in the finest style 
 of his penmanship, such things annoyed Henry 
 Spencer not a little. He felt then a strange dul- 
 ness stealing over him, against his mil ; if he did not 
 rather catch himself thinldng most inappropriately, 
 ahnost with a sigh of regret, about Captain Dodge.
 
 72 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 It was one day as he sat thus in his place, which 
 was near the railing by the counting-house door, 
 that a carriage was heard to draw up in the lane 
 outside. Directly afterwards, the rather peremp- 
 tory voice of some one who entered and addressed 
 Harry, probably as being first at hand, made the 
 boy raise his head in surprise. The visitor was 
 young, elegant, and gracefully easy; he had fine* 
 high features, of the kind which English people 
 call foreign, and think strikingly handsome ; with 
 that peculiar olive shade under the bloom of his 
 complexion, and that pitch-dark eye, which (though 
 the hair-powder could in those days disguise an- 
 other of the distinguishing marks) no one ever 
 exactly possesses but the tropical Creole. He 
 threw an embossed card upon the desk, with the 
 name on it, "Etienne Etherege, Comte titulaire 
 de St. Amand" — then, even more emphatically than 
 before, though without any foreign accent, repeated 
 the same question, as to whether the boy's masters, 
 as he phrased them, were at home. To which, 
 turning sideways in a haughty style, as if to wait 
 a mere messenger's return, he added the emphatic 
 desire that his card should be at once taken in. 
 
 Now, the Count was richly dressed in a dark 
 suit, without any finery to distinguish him from an 
 English gentleman ; a costly diamond sparkled in 
 the ring on his hand, his lace was of the most exqui- 
 site fabric, and he had quite the air of one entitled
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 73 
 
 to command ; but as Henry Spencer's eye met tlie 
 jet-clark intensity of the stranger's, he seemed un- 
 accountably from that moment to dislike the man 
 — -even to foresee that he could hate him, if often 
 seen, from the very bottom of his soul. He 
 thought, indeed, he had heard of him before as 
 some splendid friend of that Lady Diana Fanshaw's, 
 whom his sister Jane so wonderfully adored, as if 
 she were fond of no other person. Yet vnth. a self- 
 controlled coolness he had begun to learn from his 
 late experience, Harry no sooner felt this deep 
 personal aversion to the Count, than he all the 
 more promptly and civilly stated his belief that 
 Mr. Spencer, at any rate, was most likely in his 
 private room; and taking the card, he walked 
 straight along the passage to his father's door, 
 where he knocked to ask about it. 
 
 He had scarcely knocked, however, ere, some- 
 what to his astonishment, the door opened with a 
 sudden vehemence, and he was almost knocked 
 over by the bulky form of Mr. Ffloyd, the elder 
 partner, and sugar-baker on his own account ; who, 
 with his square features very much puffed and 
 flushed, and his smooth, light-coloured wig rather 
 awiy on his large head, was coming hastily out, 
 not looking where he went, in the heat of a discus- 
 sion which he still kept up as he departed. All the 
 more in contrast to him was the firm quietness 
 of Mr. Spencer, tall and gentlemanly and well
 
 74 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 dressed, mth liis hair all carefully powdered white, 
 and yet the prime of life on his refined aspect, as 
 he stood erect in the middle of the room. 
 
 "I don't care who knows it, ]Mr. Spencer!" 
 called ont Mr. Ffloyd, blusteringly, as he turned 
 again towards his partner. " No, not I — I'll retire, 
 ;Mr. Spencer, I'll retire, I say, sir ! I'll — I'll not 
 ha' no more o' this — I'll go out into the sugar- 
 bakin' altogether!" 
 
 " So you have said, I think, sir, for the last year 
 or two," was the reply of ]Mr. Spencer. " With the 
 six months' preparatoiy notice which our deed of 
 partnership stipulates, I shall not, I assure you, su', 
 have the slightest objection — rather the reverse." 
 
 !Mr. Ffloyd seemed ready to foam at the mouth. 
 " These here spec'latin' notions '11 smash the busi- 
 ness, sir!" he said. "It's no more hke the way 
 John Broadby went to work — ^no more like his 
 cautious line, as a egg is hke bricks ! And here 
 am I, only wantin' you to invest a thousand or two 
 out of the business — a mere thousand or two — my 
 own money, I might say — at any rate what my 
 uncle John Broadby 7iuide — and I — I — I can't 
 have it, su' ! A perfectly safe thing, too — why, 
 the market's up — ^rising every blessed moment! 
 Su — sug — sugar s a drug this moment — but I tell 
 ye, su', to-morrow 't'll be at a 'igh prem'um !" 
 
 " The simple truth is, Mr. Ffloyd," said Mi'. 
 Spencer, coldly, " you msh me to agree to mix up
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 75 
 
 the commercial affairs of tlie firm witli your dis- 
 tinct and separate trade or business of manufac- 
 ture, purely on account of this opportunity, which, 
 however lucrative, has no earthly connexion with 
 the foreign commerce of this house. Reap it, sir, 
 reap as much of it as you can yourself manage ; 
 but do not ask me to clutch, or assist in clutching — 
 what might chance to pass between yom' fingers !" 
 
 The look of Mr. Ffloyd, Wesleyan although he 
 was, had been already choleric, but it became still 
 more so, with a dash of malignant cunning. 
 " Hollo ? " said he, stooping down and peering 
 askance towards Mr. Spencer's face. " Wliat do I 
 know about the books, here — eh ? They're got be- 
 yond me ! I shouldn't wonder but there's a screw 
 loose some'ere ! Ay, ay, I'll have a overhaul, I 
 say, sh' ! There ought to be more money to " 
 
 "A truce to this, sir !" said ^ir. Spencer, sternly, 
 as he advanced; and the sugar-baker, despite liis 
 quondam active habits of rough life abroad, re- 
 ceded before the dignified eye and step. " What 
 is this, Henry?" added the merchant, turning to 
 the boy without further notice of his coarse 
 partner. 
 
 It was now against the Count de St. Amand, lei- 
 surely advancing under guidance of a clerk, that ]VIr. 
 Ffloyd well-nigh rushed in his egress toward the 
 outer door. The Count, with a scrutinising glance, 
 stepped aside and looked at him with surprise ; he in
 
 7G CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 his turn, rolling back in haste, and making some 
 awkward excuses, gazed a moment with a bleary 
 eye at the foreign Count. It might have been that 
 the latter's survey was not comphmentary, or that 
 his evident West Indian birth recalled disagreeable 
 associations, if Mr. Ffloyd's late perturbation did 
 not suiRciently account for all ; but it seemed to 
 Harrys Spencer that the sugar-baker actually gaped 
 at the sight, looking particularly old, toothless, and 
 ugly at that moment ; though the truth was, that 
 Ffloyd in his earlier days had been reckoned a 
 handsome man. An odd coincidence, probably 
 one of Harry's mere quick fancies, struck him at 
 that moment ; for, however young and handsome 
 the Count might be, and however elderly and ugly 
 Mr. Ffloyd perhaps was — did not the former show 
 some glorified kind of resemblance, as it were, to 
 the latter in his passing excitement 1 It was gone, 
 at all events, whenever the sugar-baker's angry 
 energy ceased ; he stood stock-still, smoothing him- 
 self into propriety, and staring over one shoulder 
 along the passage after the visitor ; till that gentle- 
 man had been shown in with all form to Mr. 
 Spencer, who received him most politely. Mr. 
 Ffloyd, indeed, during the whole time of the 
 private interview which followed, did not leave off 
 poking about, in the uncomfortable, inquisitive 
 manner so despised by clerks, through the counting- 
 house and oflices, as if he could not rest in igno-.
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 77 
 
 ranee of who the stranger was. It was soon easy 
 enough to know his name at least; there was 
 nothing of secresy in the open tones of that voice, 
 and he had in his beha^dour more of a traveller's 
 easy habit than of the continental demonstrative- 
 ness ; he came out pleasantly from Mr. Spencer's 
 door, still talking and smiling with the latter as he 
 went. In the hearing of the clerk who showed 
 him out, he had readily accepted an in\dtation to 
 dine at Beech Grove on a certain early day, which 
 had been given with more than common cordiality 
 on the merchant's part; so that the two were 
 already on agreeable terms. Mr. Ffloyd not being 
 in the habit of dining at the Lodge, except in 
 l^he most formal way, was likely to be little the 
 ^^dser for this prospect ; neither had Mr. Spencer 
 sho^vn the least disposition to introduce his new 
 acquaintance to his own partner, to one of the 
 best known sugar-bakers in town, if not the very 
 wealthiest. Had aught been wanted to make the 
 thing more glaring, it was palpable in the fact, 
 that in !Mi\ Ffloyd' s actual hearing they had men- 
 tioned sundry mercantile foreign houses which he 
 knew ; nay, by various tokens, the Count himself 
 had commercial interests abroad — in the West 
 India Islands particularly, it seemed, which were 
 alike so important and well known to Ffloyd, since 
 he had once resided there. But the truth was, as 
 soon as the interesting visitor had reappeared on
 
 78 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 his way out, it miglit have been thought the elder 
 partner's own fault if he missed notice on the oc- 
 casion ; awkwardly shuffling aside as he did, with 
 no little appearance of shyness from the casual 
 observation in that keen dark eye, and making pre- 
 tence to search a ledger till the Count was past. LIr. 
 Ffloyd, indeed, was never understood to be fond of 
 the very company that might have been expected 
 to please him, considering his earlier career ; such as 
 travelled or colonial folks, free-mannered planters 
 on their visit "home," or roystering ship-masters 
 returned from distant parts. He had even inchned 
 to look askance at black Dick Diamond liimself, 
 when so unusual a figure had struck him in the 
 warehouses or counting-house, as if suspicious of 
 its appearance through Harry's means. His very 
 garb proved that the sugar-baker had long thrown 
 off "the world," though he must needs still deal 
 with it ; but Methodist as he was, he had plainly 
 taken up the devout creed with all sincerity, f omid- 
 ing no credit on its mere externals ; and on 'change, 
 as at chapel, he was knoAvn for a certain rugged, 
 straightforward candour, altogether the reverse of 
 sanctimonious. 
 
 He had composed himself before the visitor was 
 gone, and now went back mth a somewhat 
 softened step to the private rooms, where he 
 offered his blunt excuses the more freely on the 
 ground of having shown so much heat before a
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 79 
 
 stranger — a man of sucli evident qnality. " All 
 rough and sudden witli me, you see, Mr. Spencer," 
 said he — "might be better for me if I was smoother 
 a bit ; but if there's aught I hate, it's trying to come 
 the hypocrite! Never could — no, sir; Matthew 
 Ffloyd never got that to his charge — not even 
 when goin' all lengths among the plantations ; and 
 there an't any cause for it now-a-days. No harm 
 done, I hope, though, in that quarter." Here he 
 indicated the dh'ection of the Count's carriage, just 
 then heard to roll away. But liis partner's tempo- 
 rary annoyance had been almost effaced, it seemed, 
 by the visit thus referred to, with its agreeable, 
 though brief conference. Mr. Spencer stood at 
 the moment — as great English merchants have 
 characteristically been apt to plant themselves — 
 erect before the fireplace, prepared to dictate some 
 of the more important portion of the house's 
 extensive correspondence to a couple of junior 
 clerks who had been called in — one of them his 
 son Henry. He paused in the act, bowed slightly, 
 and treated the ch'cumstance in question with 
 elaborate lightness. " Pooh ! my good sh*," was 
 his half-smiHng rejoinder, " let not that cost you a 
 thought ; 'tis a gentleman who has seen too much 
 of the world, I assure you — from Tm'ks and 
 North Americans upward — to be scared at our 
 homely Bristol manners." 
 
 "Nothing to do, I hope to — to goodness, ]\Ir.
 
 80 CAPTAIN HEliBERT. 
 
 Spencer/' persisted Ffloyd, hurriedly, " witli any 
 of the firm's reg'lar old connexions out west — Ja- 
 maikey or 'Badoes ? Thought I remembered some 
 name o' the sort, sir, among our correspondents 
 there-away, or the first-rate known planters on our 
 list, or somewhere." 
 
 " A mistake, I think, Mr. Ffloyd," said the state- 
 lier merchant, inclined to cut discussion short. 
 " 'Tis, in fact, no commercial or mercantile affair 
 at all — nothing, so far as I yet am aware, that 
 concerns us jointly." 
 
 " Oh, if it's private, of course," was the huffy 
 retort, " that's enough. On'y it struck me, as you 
 came out together, you was directing him to 
 some' ere else about town, in the way of business. 
 Might ha' been in 7ny way, I thought, if he'd 
 aught ado with the raw produce himself, or even 
 acted for other parties ; and for that matter, it's 
 done in these troublesome times by the best in 
 Kingston. But no matter — not at all : I see I'm 
 to be thrown over. Only, you know," added he, 
 falling back to his coarse manner, "so long as I 
 am in the firm " 
 
 Mr. Spencer signed to the embarrassed clerks 
 to withdraw, and moving a chair tow^ards his chs- 
 satisfied partner, seated himself calmly. " Perhaps 
 it may save trouble, JMr. Ffloyd," said he, still 
 smiling superior, " if I at once state what I know 
 of Monsieur le Comte de St. Amand — or, rather, as
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 81 
 
 he modestly prefers to be styled, Mr. Etherege. 
 In short, then, I very recently had letters to 
 announce his visit, both from my own London 
 bankers, and from a friend abroad. It appears 
 his French title is only one of courtesy, through 
 the mother's right ; he is, by the other side, of the 
 very best Spanish blood, on which he naturally 
 seems to pique himself more. Be that as it may, 
 however, it is with regard to a connexion of his 
 house, in the maternal line, with an old English 
 family in this neighbourhood, that he has visited 
 Bristol. A purely personal matter, you observe; 
 Mr. Etherege, or the Count, is even so far re- 
 moved above commercial or pecuniary questions as 
 to have no other interest but a genealogical one in 
 the matter. It so chances, that from my own 
 slight knowledge of the Continent, acquu'ed in 
 travel — from my having once visited the West 
 India Islands, and from connexion through my 
 wife with the county and neighbourhood where 
 Herbert Court is situated, he could not well have 
 been directed to a more suitable source of inf oraia- 
 tion. He is a grand-nephew of old Sir Ralph 
 Herbert of Kingswood, whom I have met — al- 
 though the baronet, I beHeve, resides in the prin- 
 cipality ; and he is a cousin of the proprietor of 
 Herbert Court — a place I well know. I was able 
 at least to tell him something of both — among 
 other things, the trifle which you, sir, have over- 
 
 YOL. I. G
 
 82 CAPTAIN HERBEET. 
 
 heard and construed so oddly; to wit, the fact 
 accidentally known to me of his cousin Lieutenant 
 Herbert's present residence at the old family 
 mansion, after a long term of naval service abroad 
 — spent, by the way, latterly on the West India 
 station. I mentioned the nearest road down to 
 Somersetshire from this part of the town, and, I 
 believe, pointed towards the bridge there, which 
 directly leads to it. Here, then, you have it all, 
 JVIr. Ffloyd — the entire mystery — wdth the excep- 
 tion of some little discourse on affahs at large. Is 
 there anything else, pray, relating to the slight 
 occurrence, on which I can satisfy your mind ? " 
 
 The mind of the elder member of the firm of 
 Broadby and Co. was manifestly, in some way, 
 relieved, though he made clumsy endeavours to 
 disguise the feeling. " Um ! — well," he returned, 
 " the fact is, we're in ticklish times just now ; folks 
 are got timorous ; the least thing sets 'em up, 
 you'll allow — when it's quite touch-and-go with 
 credit, unless you're well prepared to meet a run, 
 'Mi\ Spencer. Wouldn't do for you and I to appear 
 any way divided, it struck me, before strangers. 
 Then again these fine foreigners — they're apt to 
 come over with their credentials and what not; 
 but I'd always be cautious, sir — blessed cautious 
 (you'll excuse me) — against honourin' any draft 
 without seein' my way clear. Not to speak of the 
 villanous colonial agents that's afloat at the pre-
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 83 
 
 sent time, sir, iii all sort of treasonous errands 
 amongst iis ! " 
 
 ^'I repeat," answered his partner, with a smile 
 more than ever reassuring, " we may be perfectly 
 at ease as to Monsieur de St. Amand on all these 
 points. To pohtics, without affecting the least 
 ignorance, he is indifferent ; money, in any shape, 
 he does not want or need. No better proof of 
 that fact is requisite than the circumstance of his 
 omitting to cultivate his opportunities with the 
 rich old Catholic baronet, Sir Ralph Herbert — ^by 
 whom he has ah'eady been seen and acknowledged 
 in London — apparently for the mere sake of find- 
 ing out his other relatives here. These are now 
 solely represented, as I said, by his sm'\iving 
 cousm — a needy sea-Heutenant — the wreck of 
 whose decayed property is scarce clung to by 
 himself ; who has, probably, too, by givmg up the 
 old family creed, thrown away his sole chance 
 of the Welsh baronet's inheritance. You know 
 his Kingswood coal-estate, Ffloyd ? it alone will 
 make the. fortunate successor what you would call 
 rather a warm man — hey ? " 
 
 " No mistake about that ! " was the readv re- 
 sponse. "A man must be a fool not to know it — 
 unless, to be sure, he's been led to take up desperate 
 serious convictions indeed. They an't Hkely to 
 suit, either, if he sticks to the navy ; it's all 
 churchmanship there, Mr. Spencer — notlimg to 
 
 g2
 
 84 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 take hold o' for the soul, mind ye, when it's any- 
 way in need to — a — a — that's to say, in earnest ! " 
 Here the sugar-baker, embarrassed for a moment 
 by somewhat too confidential expressions, coughed, 
 and drew in; but did not altogether hide an 
 upward motion of the eye, twinkling fervently, as 
 if thankful .that his case was different. Mr. 
 Spencer continued to lead the strain of conversa- 
 tion agreeably away. "On the other hand, though, 
 'tis impossible to be many minutes in Monsieur St. 
 Amand's company without perceiving his culti- 
 vated mind, liberality of sentiment, and utter 
 freedom from superstitious ideas — on the Conti- 
 nent, I can assure you, they have now become 
 very liberal in this respect — still his creed is 
 avowedly that of his French and Spanish parent- 
 age. We have only to consider the old baronet's 
 notorious zeal for Pope and pretender, in drawing 
 an inference from the fact that he is past eighty ; 
 that he has had a recent warning, in the form of 
 a paralytic stroke, to make his will ; and, that little 
 of his property is entailed. The title must, of 
 course, fall to the elder branch, and St. Amand 
 descends from the younger. But as regards the 
 estates, however careless his own ample fortune 
 may render him on the matter — why, in my 
 opinion, Sir Ralph's briefest glimpse of so eligible 
 a grand-nephew was enough to decide the point. 
 The young Count's manners, Mr. Ffloyd, are quite
 
 TURNING OVEPw A NEW LEAF. 85 
 
 as ingratiating, as you must have seen that his 
 personal appearance is attractive. He stands the 
 nearest conceivable chance of being yet a mil-, 
 lionnaire." 
 
 " Gold always does draw gold, somehow," nodded 
 Mr. Ffloyd, with thorough sympathy. " As to good 
 looks, well, you're right. Ay, if so, all I know is, 
 I'd just like his name, here, at a good sound check — 
 if it 'was only but his acceptance at a long date, 
 I'd undertake to discount it. Money's so scarce," 
 added he, suddenly coming round to the old sub- 
 ject, " as I was a-sayin' a little back, with raw 
 produce up most terribly, that here is a good sound 
 going business like my own, even — all right yet as 
 to credit — would be much the better of the use of 
 some, though ever so short a time." 
 
 " I am far from ^vishing to deny it," was the 
 reply, in a tone of considerateness ; " nay, as things 
 go at present, my good friend, I can quite enter 
 into the position you describe. But none knows 
 better than yourself, how in proportion arduous is 
 the management of a House like this. To avoid 
 the least entanglement of its concerns with our 
 own individual and private affairs is essential, Mr. 
 
 Ffloyd. It is, however, possible " Mr. Ffloyd, 
 
 with a renewed attempt at amiability of look, once 
 more attended. " It is, I say, possible that the case 
 might at once alter, in certain supposable circum- 
 stances. Taking care, I mean, of aught like in-
 
 86 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 volvement out of doors, we might see our way to 
 moderate casli-advances of the nature you indi- 
 vidually require, were our capital by any possibility 
 so augmented — its basis, I should say, widened by 
 the infusion of new strenoi;h." 
 
 " Just speak plain English again, Mr. Spencer," 
 interrupted the other, rudely, " and say if the Avon 
 runs up Brandon-street. Them fine phrases don't 
 mend the matter a whit to me, you know." 
 
 " A moment's patience, Mr. Ffloyd, pray. You 
 can surely understand the supposition," persevered 
 Mr. Spencer, " of an extended partnership strength- 
 ening the firm at this troubled period? Were a 
 fresh suj^port to be gained for its unquestionable 
 stability — not, observe, mthout some degree of 
 tact in the process — and that in the shape of an 
 acute, spirited, wealthy coadjutor with the most 
 brilliant prospects — then, I presimie, you would 
 throw no obstacle in the way. It would certainly 
 be opposed to your own interest, to the object you 
 mention — to do so." 
 
 " That alters the case," said the sugar-baker, re- 
 turning an mquisitive leer ; " not a doubt of it, 
 Mr. S., but Avhat d'ye drive at ? who the goodness 
 d'ye mean — not the — no — not possible you've this 
 same Count what's his-name m yer eye I" 
 
 " Mr. St. Amand — ah, no other — the Comte de 
 St. Amand," smilingly assented the merchant.
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 87 
 
 '^ There was one singular tiling about tlie impres- 
 sion lie gave me, Ffloyd, I confess — and it was this. 
 Disguise it as he might, or however the interest in 
 his Herbert Court relatives was put forw^ard, he 
 certainly had some more direct motive for the ^'isit 
 to me. I have come too much in contact with men 
 at laro-e — men of different comitries — not to have 
 this instinctive kind of feeling on occasion. Some- 
 thing in the first penetrating light of his remark- 
 ably deep, dark eye, told it to me — there was a 
 keen 3expectatioii of personal interest in myself, 
 which I have reason to think was not disappointed. 
 Nay, more — he had the acuteness to perceive at 
 once that I was aware of it, and "s\dtli a delicate 
 finesse of courtesy to be found in travelled men or 
 foreigners alone, instead of continuing to hide the 
 inclination, he wtually avowed it thenceforth. He 
 gave it the polite turn of a general wish to know 
 more of our great English mercantile houses — the 
 nature of our co-partneries, the kind of preliminary 
 experience requued to fit one for entering them — 
 in particular, he appeared struck by the cm'ious 
 fact of Broadby and Co. being singly represented 
 in the person of — that is to — well, I mean its 
 whole burden being sustained on one poor pair of 
 shoulders." 
 
 " Oho, he did, did he V was Ffloyd's impatient 
 remark, partly sullen, but more in suspicion. ^' In-
 
 88 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 deed, I'd be inclined to call it infernally pmng of 
 him ; besides, I an't just shoved aside yet, al- 
 together. Whatever I may be ! " 
 
 " My dear sir ! " returned Mr. Spencer, '' /, at 
 all events, am the last to wish it; on the con- 
 trary, I had far rather you dropped every other 
 view, and concentrated our whole strength here. 
 Come, come, Ffloyd, if I did not mention that I 
 had a partner out of doors, you can infer my 
 reason. I did not even see, till the Count had 
 left, that you were still at hand; and as to his 
 motives, as I tell you, you utterly misconceive 
 them. I had a pretty shrewd notion that the 
 absence of all ambition in so young a man, the 
 total want of aim, the complete indifference to 
 action, however sincerely professed, were open to 
 argmnent. No sooner had I touched, with this 
 view, on my own similar feelings before I tra- 
 velled — on the change produced after a single 
 voyage across the Atlantic, with the consequent 
 sickening at all idle romance or wayward adven- 
 tures — passing to a brief statement of the full 
 satisfaction to every energy, every mental im- 
 pulse, which commercial enterprise affords along 
 with domestic happiness — no sooner, I say, had I 
 so begun to speak, than the flash of Monsieur de 
 St. Amand's eye lit up again. Of excitement in 
 some shape he is undoubtedly capable — and there
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 89 
 
 is excitement enough and to spare, as you and I 
 could have told him, hey, Ffloyd ! " — wherewith the 
 merchant looked half- jocosely to his out-partner — 
 "to be found in the said track. But I did not 
 in the least press the topic ; in fact, the glance of 
 the young West Indian has all the strange, indo- 
 lent way of meeting yours on a sudden, which you 
 must have observed in these Creoles ; he had lost 
 the thread ere I was done, and still more con- 
 fused me by venturing to ask, as he said, after the 
 health of ^irs. Spencer and my family. Of course, 
 Ffloyd, as you may suppose, before parting I could 
 not do less than invite him to dine at the Lodge. 
 In an easy, quiet way. On Thursday next, at 
 six." 
 
 " I know," said Ffloyd, bluntly. " Heard as 
 much already among the clerks — and he was ready 
 enough, I hear. So he's West India bred, is he ? 
 Well, if he do want to invest, I s'pose his money's 
 as good as another's, after all. An' if talkin' over's 
 what he needs, why I fancy he'll have it." 
 
 Mr. Spencer's features winced a little, but they 
 were set on soothing measures. " What I really 
 wish, Ffloyd, is that you should meet the Count 
 and judge for yourself. Join us at dinner on the 
 occasion, my good sir — a quiet evening, with one 
 or two other friends, including our worthy bankers 
 here. As for the conversation, certainly nothing
 
 90 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 more than the plain, pleasant, straightforward talk 
 on things in general, which an Englishman's table 
 allows." 
 
 The sngar-baker had looked up, rather startled ; 
 he considered doubtfully mthin himself, and 
 seemed more embaiTassed by the compliment and 
 the prospect than otherwise. " I don't much care 
 about fine company, and that's the fact," mum- 
 bled he. "As to yom' counts and foreigners, 
 or — or yom- West India Creoles, they're all very 
 well — don't think I'm afraid to face 'em — ^not I ! " 
 
 " You have seen a gi-eat deal more of the colo- 
 nies than I have, Ffloyd ; you were there vastly 
 longer, and know somethmg, I think, if not of 
 French, at least of Spanish or Portuguese, I 
 forget which. This might come well in, you 
 know — St. Amand is half a Spaniard. Remember 
 that even putting aside the partnership notion, at 
 any rate such an influential, inteUigent correspond- 
 ing connexion in the islands would be of vast 
 service in these precarious times of oui's." ^Ir. 
 Spencer added to this complhnentary pressure of 
 in-vitation by suggestmg a more practicable mo- 
 tive. " Besides, in any view, 'tis as weU to avoid 
 all show of division between us at present. I 
 think you must feel that instead of hinting at such 
 a thing as a dissolution of our co-partnery at any 
 near date — if, indeed, at all ; we ought rather, as 
 you yoiu'self justly remarked, to keep up appear-
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 91 
 
 ances wliicli I do wisli were consistent mtli the 
 fact. 'Tis the interest of neither to do other- 
 wise." 
 
 " I don't know that, Mr. S.," was the annoying 
 answer, nttered with a dogged and quarrelsome 
 obstinacy by which ]\Ir. Ffloyd had succeeded in 
 covering an increased distaste to the social offer. 
 He thrust both hands deeper in his pockets, and 
 looked uneasily round, settlmg to an ak of dull, 
 stolid anxiety. " I'd on'y spoil yer meetin', and 
 be coming out \vith somethink unpleasant to the 
 fashions, as it's a while since I knew 'em, and 
 don't want to be led into 'em again. Wliat's 
 more, I an't got time to wait on for your chances, 
 ISir. Spencer; fact is, sir, I'm not the man for 
 you — no, sir, nor I don't pretend feelin' like your 
 kind of high vieAvs, and I'm resolved against spe- 
 culatin' — safe and slow's my maxim ! All I want 
 is a small advance at fair interest, out of the main 
 concern; it ought to be able to afford it, and — 
 and — anyhow you'll tliink over it ? P'raps you're 
 busy — I'll look in by the afternoon and see, INIr. 
 Spencer." Wherewith ]Mr. Ffloyd, glad to go till 
 then if his point were gained, took his hat and 
 shuffled to leave the private offices. 
 
 "For the third or fourth tune I repeat," said 
 Mr. Spencer, rising too, " that much as I regret 
 denying you, ^Mr. Ffloyd, I cannot and ^^dll not do 
 what is an impossibility for the present." ,
 
 92 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " 'Twouldn't help the main firm, then, would 
 it," replied the sugar-baker, looking sideways up, 
 " if I was to put down the hod, as it's called, to- 
 morrow ? Eh — tell me that ! Broadby and Co/s 
 credit would shake for't, that's all ! We're too 
 closely connected, sir, to risk it; but support I 
 must have, or smash it is before a week's over, 
 willy, nilly ! Look here, if we can^t draw together, 
 why just let's cut it, and part friends as aforesaid. 
 I allow there's six months' notice provided by the 
 deed. Well — I'll make a handsome offer — come — 
 only put down a little cash, let's draw on you for 
 the rest at three, six, nine, and a year's time ; both 
 our credits is solid at the bank yet — it'll help me 
 all to rights, and — why, there's this Coimt as good 
 as ever for yoii. On them conditions I'll sink a 
 good round per-centage of my fair share in the 
 business for the sake of the meantime. I'm 
 anxious to give every one his honest due, Mr. 
 Spencer, on'y keepin' a little peace o' mind to 
 myself, you know, till the finish. The way it's 
 like to be just now," added he, vehemently, 
 putting his hands to his head with a troubled 
 gleam of the eye, bloodshot and feverish, " it's 
 more than can be stood long — it's dreadful to look 
 at. I've a name to keep up as well as Broadby 
 and Co. ; I've the whole chapel-meetin' to watch 
 me, look. More than that, sir, a great deal more, 
 I've to try and hold firm by — no matter — ye
 
 TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF. 93 
 
 couldn't be expected to understand it, Mr. 
 Spencer. But I just tell ye that's what it is." 
 
 Mr. Spencer had been pacing the room to and 
 fro in no slight disturbance, and now stood reflect- 
 ing with concern for ^ir. Ffloyd. " My good sir," 
 returned he, at length, *' pray be calm ; give me, 
 then, as you said, till the afternoon. I will really 
 give the proposal you make my best consideration. 
 On such terms as you suggest, for the sake of 
 bringing matters to a close between us, 'tis, in fact, 
 probable I may agree. But my legal agent, of 
 com'se, must be consulted fii'st." 
 
 " They're terms which I'm ready to stick by," 
 repeated the sugar-baker, as he departed in a more 
 cheerful mood. " As soon as you say we're to be 
 quits upon 'em, why, it's a bargain ! " 
 
 In spite of various perplexities which this occiu'- 
 rence tended to enhance, the merchant found the 
 temptation of being freed from an unsuitable yoke 
 with the coarse sugar-baker too strong to resist. 
 He decided on stretching a point for this desu'able 
 result; and on that same afternoon, accordingly, 
 by all the requisite formal steps, the inharmonious 
 partnership was to all intents and pm'poses at a 
 close. The house of Broadby and Co. at last 
 rested its Atlantean weight upon Mr. Spencer's 
 resolute shoulders alone.
 
 94 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FAMILY MATTEKS AT BEECH GROVE. 
 
 The juvenile clerk, Master Henry Spencer, was 
 far less interested in tlie separation of the firm 
 from all connexion with the sugar-bakery, or the 
 consequent disappearance of Mr. Ffloyd from the 
 premises, than in the young West Lidia gentleman 
 whose visit seemed to have had a part in precipi- 
 tating the event ; enhanced as his cm^iosity was, by. 
 the additional chcumstance of a relationship being 
 wdiispered about the desks, between this attractive 
 stranger and the wealthy Sir Ralph Herbert of 
 Kingswood. By a duller youth than he, the 
 further fact could soon have been scented out, that 
 the said rich old baronet was indeed an uncle of 
 the Dianas late popular lieutenant, JMi'. Herbert. 
 That the latter belonged to Somersetshh'e, he had 
 already found; moreover, he had not failed to 
 take note of the connected piece of information,
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 95 
 
 that tlie Keutenant, like liimself, was once more at 
 home. However, he was not at all inclined to 
 babble office business, and had obvions reasons, on 
 this point, for avoiding its hasty identification with 
 his own. His youngest sister was down in Somer- 
 setshire besides, and at her return might chance to 
 have some suitable news to give ; for Kate and he 
 had alwavs been most too^ether, and Wrixworth 
 village, if not Wrixworth Hall, was rather a gossip- 
 ing place. Moreover, before then, unless Kate 
 came home pretty quickly, there was this dinner- 
 party next week, at which the French-looking visitor 
 might possibly drop some words that had to do 
 with the relative most important to Hany. So he 
 kept his counsel quite shrewdly during the interval, 
 adding nothing whatever in the family to what was 
 mentioned through his father, which seemed little 
 enough. To have seen Harry diligently and 
 punctually plodding to the counting-house in 
 Froom-lane, each morning, might have satisfied 
 the most anxious friend; his homeward walk, a 
 little brisker, could scarce have detracted from the 
 impression, save from one slight circumstance, not 
 at first perceptible, but apt to surprise the Bristol 
 people of that day. Since along the swarming 
 street, across the bridge, out of the subm'b, and up 
 the road towards Beech Grove, the negro Diamond 
 might have been as regularly observed to follow, 
 precede, or keep parallel yvitli him, at some cal-
 
 96 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 culable distance, as planetary satellites do in the 
 orbits they perform. British soil might have given 
 liberty to Dick, but he either did not know, or 
 could not profit by it. He took an uncouth, 
 heathen interest, but very vivid, in all the family 
 concerns; and, as it happened, the afternoon on 
 which Miss Catherine returned earlier than ex- 
 pected from the country, he had reached the 
 house before his young patron. He came cau- 
 tiously hmTying back through the shrubbeiy with 
 the news for Harry, as if it had been a se(iret of 
 the utmost moment to all; while scarce control- 
 lable joy radiated from the blackness of his visage, 
 and glistened in the whiteness of his teeth and 
 eyes. Even Harry, who had desired gradually to 
 establish a proper interval between himself and his 
 late fellow-fugitive, yielded to the impulse at once, 
 and made but one spring up the door-steps, from 
 which his uncle's chesnut hunter was being led to 
 the stable, with the pony on which Kate had ridden 
 beside the squire all the way from Wrixworth; 
 while trusty old Roger, leading his seviceable brown 
 cob, followed behind. 
 
 The hale, hearty Squire Duttridge, Mrs. Spen- 
 cer's brother Charles, needed no one to tell his 
 whereabouts as he trod about the parlour ; drinking 
 his glass of ale before dinner, and talking, after his 
 long ride, with his loud and rather boisterous voice, 
 his wxight of person, and his well-known top-boots.
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 97 
 
 As for Kate, being a half a dozen times stopped 
 to talk with some one on her way up-stairs, she 
 still had not reached farther than tiie first landing- 
 place, when Harry caught her as she stood — in her 
 dark-green riding-habit and dark beaver hat with 
 a black ostrich feather — looking very fresh, bright, 
 happy, and excited by a whole day's journey on 
 horseback. So, having already heard something 
 of black Diamond, she fairly screamed at Harry's 
 sudden way of coming upon her. Then there was 
 a loncj business of the eao-erest, most confused 
 kind ; making the landing-place a perfect parlour 
 of itself, and even the bedroom another, — sitting 
 about on trmiks and bags that had come by coach, 
 till undefinable sounds and scents of coming dinner 
 from below turned the party into 'a scramble. 
 
 The spirits of Kate absolutely overflowed that 
 evening; in her glee she did what she liked 
 with her father's dessert-plate, tasted her uncle's 
 wine, and almost seemed inclined to take a little 
 too much herself : for, being but a year and a half 
 older than Hany, and the youngest of the girls, 
 she had been less rigidly managed by the governess 
 they had had ; while having of late been more in 
 the country, and, in fact, turning out one of those 
 general favourites who seem likely to be spoiled, 
 the truth was that Catherine had something of a 
 sly little consciousness of her power, and did use 
 small wanning ways to come at a thing. Her 
 
 VOL. I. H •
 
 98 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 father said slie must have got her head out sadly 
 during this Last visit at Wrixworth ; but her uncle 
 denied the accusation. "Here was Harry come 
 home safe," the squire said ; " and happily, her 
 fond grandmother had got fairly set up again ; and 
 as for the election, why, nothing could have come 
 off more completely to their hearts' content — since 
 Lord Edward de Vere had gained the day so 
 gloriously on the good old side, although before 
 these colonial disturbances began, he was known 
 to be Whiggishly inclined ; no wonder the girl was 
 in good spirits." Now, the political point was a 
 delicate one, as Mr. Spencer had been thus inclined 
 himself ; but his characteristic moderation was such 
 in all things, that his wife could safely rise up, and 
 carry Kate off among the rest, at the height of her 
 liveliness. 
 
 Up-stau's, while the gentlemen sat at their wine 
 below, the girls gossiped about the whole village 
 of Wrixworth, its chm'ch, its country people, the 
 very cows and poultry at the hall, till even Harry 
 almost wearied. 
 
 " Were you not at Herbert Court, Kitty ? " he 
 asked abruptly, at last. 
 
 " No," Kate said, briefly. " That is, not in it, 
 you know." 
 
 "Of course," was his rather impatient answer. 
 " Yoii don't know the Herberts, and neither does 
 my uncle, I suppose?"
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 99 
 
 Catlierine Spencer said nothing ; the tmHght did 
 not so much make it dusk in the apartment, as that 
 where she sat, near a ^\T[ndow, nothing hut the 
 shadowy shape of her head and neck could he seen, 
 with her hand supporting her chin, and the elbow 
 on the window-sill. She seemed to have been 
 getting sleepy, or tired of talking, or dull, with her 
 face turned to look out ; for now that the skirt of 
 trees by the garden had begun to lose their leaves, 
 the windows of the mthdrawing-room kept the 
 light pretty long from the distant western sky, and 
 even showed far off where the Avon and Severn 
 joined, with the silver lustre of the great Bristol 
 Channel Ipng vivid between blue Somersetshire 
 and faintly -azure Wales, while a moist yellow light 
 in a lighthouse began to burn on a point of coast, 
 and a spectral sail or two was seen. 
 
 '' What did you say, Kate ? " asked her mother, 
 who sat apart on the sofa. " I thought your uncle 
 said somethino; before dinner of Mr. Herbert ? 
 He praised him for some opinion, or some trouble 
 he took, or something before the election ; so I 
 thought they must really have got acquainted?" 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Kate, " he knows him. They 
 fell in somehow, I'm sure. I think it was in shoot- 
 ing. jMr. Herbert canvassed a good dealy I believe, 
 for Lord Edward de Vere, who had been his cap- 
 tain, or whateA^er it was. He actually came and 
 canvassed at the Hall, though he might have 
 
 h2
 
 100 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 known perfectly well, of course, every day in the 
 week, what all of us thought ! " And she laughed 
 in the same merry way as before. " But he's a 
 Catholic, you know ; at least, from his family, I 
 suppose, Mary, should be ? " 
 
 Of all the family, Mary had the best reasons for 
 knoA^dng the affairs of Wrixworth parish, to whose 
 dignified and personable though middle-aged rector, 
 it was well understood, she had the fairest prospects 
 of being some day auspiciously united. That com- 
 fortably-beneficed incumbent of the cure was wont 
 to visit it occasionally, and though but recently be- 
 reaved of a wife for whom he mourned, had given 
 unequivocal signs of wishing consolation in the 
 cheerful comeliness and healthy looks of the 
 merchant's second daughter, noticeable as they 
 were in the squire's pew ; a certain propriety of 
 delay was now the main obstruction to Mary's 
 filling up the vacancy in the rector's heart, and 
 brin2;ing her placid, motherly manners to the care 
 of his one little girl. To her younger sister's pass- 
 ing question, therefore, Mar)^ returned rather a 
 hurried assent; she "fancied so — yes — most likety," 
 with something more of a blush than might have 
 been thought her right, perhaps, on the ground of 
 so unromantic and sober an arrangement. " A 
 Catholic, I dare say; but as for should be, ^^'hy, 
 you sm-ely forget, Kitty, this is a land of Pro- 
 testant — I mean a free country ! "
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 101 
 
 " La, I VOW ! And did your uncle actually invite 
 his acquaintance ! " was the exclamation vouchsafed 
 by the eldest sistei', Jane. 
 
 " True, the Hall was one of the last places you'd 
 think," agreed ^lary ; still, as in duty bound, with 
 evident demure remembrance of her pledges to the 
 rector. " All the Herberts have been Catholics ; 
 old Sir Ralph, the rich baronet of Kingswood, is a 
 thorough bigoted Papist, they say, and Jacobite. 
 'Tis the politics, however, perhaps that may in- 
 cline my uncle, in these innovating, Whiggish 
 times of which he speaks so often. And I sup- 
 pose, Kate, the old priest may be dead, or have 
 left Herbert Coml?" 
 
 " Why, no," was the rather careless answer. 
 " Left it ? oh, no, I fancy not. Nobody comes to 
 chui'ch from there, at any rate, except the gen- 
 tleman himself ; and he seldom, but of an after- 
 noon service. To be sui'e, there's no pew for them 
 of their own ; indeed, you'd suppose he was guilty 
 of something or other, when he stole in so, always 
 as near the aisle-door as possible ; not much accus- 
 tomed, either, it would appear, to the liturgy. Do 
 they really use the Prayer Book much in ships, 
 hey, Harry?" 
 
 And with this, the bov received an arch o-lance 
 of inquiry from Kate, which made him colour up ; 
 her jesting tone by no means pleased him on a 
 matter of so much interest to his mind.
 
 102 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " Lieutenant Herbert belongs to the Royal Na^y, 
 miss," said he, with a becoming gravity, " and every^ 
 king's ship of any size carries her own chaplain, to 
 have the service regularly read. As for a lieu- 
 tenant being a Jacobite, or anything of the sort, 
 why " ' 
 
 " True, quite true, child," jVirs. Spencer inter- 
 posed, " that is above question. And now you talk 
 of it, 'twas but last night your papa chanced to 
 mention this young gentleman, in regard, I think, 
 to his uncle Sir Ralph's property. Your father 
 says that no officer can hold the king's commission 
 without he professes himself a true churchman ; so 
 that if Mr. Herbert does so, I am sure, my dears, 
 we might all save our pains. A more honourable 
 family never breathed than the Herberts, and I 
 make no doubt his Protestantism is as good as our 
 own, though mayhap scarce so noisy." 
 
 " Besides," coincided Mary, as gently as could 
 be wished, " it must thus be awkward enough, 
 when at home, with the old Abbe Home ever near. 
 'Tis long suspected the old chaplain, for all his 
 mildness, is a Jesuit." 
 
 "If it really is so, ma'am," returned the fair 
 Miss Spencer, with unusual emphasis, " he will 
 assuredly lose everything from the rich old baronet, 
 save the title ; Sir Ralph's sentiments are well 
 known. Is it not all the more suiprising, mamma, 
 that these visits should have been encom'aged at
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 103 
 
 Wrixwortli ? A decayed squire, at tlie very best, 
 you know ; still worse, a penniless sea-lieutenant, 
 or a poor shabby baronet, without a single estate 
 but the old mortgaged place." 
 
 The girl looked up at lier maturer sister in ob- 
 vious surprise, till their mother had laughed the 
 hint aside, with a prudent nod which Kate could 
 not have seen. Her bright eye sparkled, though, 
 and the colour rose in her rounded young cheek, as 
 she spoke somewhat spiritedly for herself : 
 
 " By luhom do you mean, Jane ? Encom'aged ! " 
 But then she laughed too, and added, " Pooh ! the 
 truth was, we were all too full of politics, you 
 ought to know, for aught else. About ]Vii\ Her- 
 bert's poverty, I cannot say, nor his expectations 
 either ; at all events, he remains in the navy, I 
 think, and means to go to sea again as soon as 
 possible. You mistake about his present rank 
 being a lieutenant's, too ; at his last return he was 
 what is called professionally, I believe, a com- 
 mander." 
 
 " Must have p'ot it through the admiral on the 
 station," explained her brother, very readily; 
 " came back, it's most likely, in acthig command of 
 some sloop of Avar, and they've confirmed it at 
 home, here." 
 
 "What is he like, Kitty?" asked Mary, cor- 
 dially. " Is tliis young Herbert - Court hand- 
 some i
 
 104 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 "Haiidsomef she repeated. "Well, no, scarcely; 
 nay, to my taste, not at all. Not young, either — 
 looks much older, I should say, than he is. You 
 would not call one handsome that has been marked 
 by small-pox some time or other, and has had a 
 deep scar on the cheek, over one ear ; not to speak 
 of the kind of colour taken from hot climates on a 
 fairish complexion, with eyes of a clear grey, like 
 a falcon's, to be sure, when they happen to turn 
 your way ! But that is not often — he's very silent, 
 grave, reserved, and, to strangers, shy." 
 
 " Vastly odd, indeed, in one canvassing for an 
 election," observed the eldest of the sisters; 
 " though, from this account, my dear, fortunately, 
 not dano-erous." 
 
 '^ Whew ! " ejaculated Hariy, with sudden im- 
 patience — " that's as you take it ; I warrant ye a 
 rebel colonial wouldn't say so, nor a Cuba buccaneer 
 either. Just please to let's hear all that Kitty 
 know^s of him ; he's the veiy officer I heard so 
 much of at Kingston, mind you, and tried to get 
 sight of, understanding he belonged hereabouts. 
 You don't say aught of his build, Kitty — looks the 
 right sort, does he, in that respect ? " 
 
 Kate seemed rather to see through this equi- 
 vocal curiosity, and her hazel eye laughed back to 
 his as the firelight was stirred, with a meaning he 
 could not but take. "Aha! Mr. Hany," said
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 105 
 
 she, nodding her capricious tresses at him ; " you 
 shall not have any unsettling from nie, sir ; 
 remember the counting-house ! If you had still 
 had aught to do with such affairs — why, Captain 
 Lord Edward de Vere was the true person to talk 
 of; he was staying there — at the old CoLU*t 
 I mean — and I flatter myself his lordship 
 really took some little notice of me, as a very 
 likely child of my age. 'Tis always done though, 
 mamma, before elections for the county. That 
 was a fine man, now — if he had been taller ! " 
 Harry in vain pricked up his ears ; it would not 
 do for him to confirm any imputations of over- 
 anxiety about Lieutenant or Commander Herbert, 
 by asking if he were short in statm-e too. " They 
 say he likes the old mansion-house, though leaving 
 it," pm^sued Kate, in the sam.e breath, " and means 
 to have it repaired when he can. Lord Edward 
 would do anything for him, it seems, and has 
 interest enough to get him made a post-captain, 
 if war with the French were so lucky as to " 
 
 " Why, child, how you rattle on ! " broke in her 
 mother, smiling. " I declare ! you mix 'em so 
 together ! I thought you spoke last of Lord 
 Edward ! Not a word of war, pray ! — heaven 
 grant that I " 
 
 " Strange mad notions to have her head stuffed 
 with, I must say," remarked Miss Spencer, with
 
 lOG CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 raised eyebrows. " The French, you saucy young 
 chit, you I — war with the most polished, the most 
 agreeable of nations, forsooth ! " 
 
 Here did Harry's juvenile experience prompt 
 him again to interpose, though in a manner aiming 
 at politeness. "Begging your pardon, Jane, I 
 wish you had only tried one or two of 'em as ship- 
 mates ; they're not always so pleasant, nor, what's 
 more, particular about cleanliness. Our ship's 
 cook in the Dorothy used to — well, no matter — no 
 occasion to stop your ears as soon as one speaks. 
 Besides, now I recollect, he was a Genoese. Only 
 they're not all so smooth as you think: there's 
 your fine foreign Count, even, that's coming to 
 dinner on Thursday — you seem only to have 
 heard of him." 
 
 " Ah ! from the best possible source ! " the 
 beauty condescended to reply ; " from his intimate 
 friend — from Lady Diana Fanshaw herself ! And 
 pray, Henry, what of that? That is, I imagine 
 you mean the — that brilliant young Monsieur 
 Etherege." 
 
 " Who ? " asked Kate, with revived spirits. "A 
 Comit — foreign — rich and handsome, no doubt — 
 dining here the day after to-morrow ! My stars ! 
 you had all forgot to tell me so ! Is he French ? " 
 
 "I understood not^ my love," answered her 
 mother, quickly. "No — only a travelled gentleman 
 of title, and very good family, nearly connected
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 107 
 
 with some here ; he merely happens to have been 
 born abroad, I beheve." 
 
 " 'Tis still one of the lowest ^Tilo^ar English 
 ideas," observed Jane, affecting a somewhat foreign 
 shrug of her fan* shoulders, " thus to fix the birth 
 of every one, however raised above it by the habit 
 of good society. Even the use of titles becomes, I 
 think, mamma, rather mauvais ton on the Conti- 
 nent, where M. Ethereo-e resided much. Ladv Die 
 herself smiles at her own, and says she will hail 
 the time, certain to come, when it must become a 
 ^voxmcidl gaucherie to address her so, as *tis already 
 in the best Parisian salons T Mrs. Spencer, how- 
 ever, could not see her way to approve such novel- 
 ties of behaviour. She had alwavs been tauo-ht, 
 she remarked, to give every due respect to station. 
 "I can only say, ma'am, he is all the rage at 
 the Hotwells just now," added her eldest daughter, 
 and, I am told, round the whole of Bath, so that 
 Catherine might well be sm^prised. In Bristol, 
 the few people worth mentioning w^ould give the 
 world for papa's singular good fortune. The Count 
 is one of Madame du Deffand's very set. Lady Die 
 assured me on my carrying your in^-itation to meet 
 him — himself anionic the most enliplitened of them. 
 To report her very words, a philosopher, a true 
 cosmopolite ! " 
 
 The manner of this statement being no less 
 oracular than elevated, the entire Spencer family
 
 108 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 then present were for some moments duly im- 
 pressed. The feeling might have taken no clearer 
 shape than was evinced by Mary's renewed anxiety 
 about dresses for the imminent occasion, or by the 
 dreary look of disappointment in Kate, as she 
 sank back again from the firelight, which had 
 danced in her starry eyes, whispering sleepily to 
 Harry her distaste for young wiseacres in spec- 
 tacles. But, owing to maternal care, the topic 
 caught a last flicker of strange interest. "In 
 religion that is, I suppose ? " inquired Mrs. 
 Spencer, after a pause. " A — a cosmokopite ? 
 Dear me ! Indeed, Jane, I forget what this exactly 
 means." Mary, too, was undoubtedly thinking 
 over it in her settled attitude ; the growing 
 shadows of the room rather tended to flutter than 
 favour the elegant languor courted by Miss Spen- 
 cer's silence. " Most likelv lies a Catholic also," 
 doggedly assented Harry, from the obscurest 
 corner. " And for all we know, it may mean a 
 chief inquisitor." 
 
 The general merriment at such an extravagance 
 was suited to turn the difficulty aside ; and when 
 candles were brought in, the conversation flagged. 
 There was something provoking to Harry, too, in 
 the uselessness of his attempts to renew it in a 
 corner with Kate; she really appeared to know 
 nothing of the possibility she had hinted at for a 
 moment, about a French war ; she did not incline
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 109 
 
 in the least to save liim the awkwardness of direct 
 questions, which he thought it better not to put, 
 on the matter of Commander Herbert's recent 
 ship and his expected frigate ; indeed, she betrayed 
 gross ignorance of the subject altogether. Being 
 truly tired with her late journey, short as it had 
 been, w4th the addition of so much talking since, 
 she expressed a decided wish to retire early. It 
 was odd of Kate, at all events, to have now got so 
 decided in her wishes. It was odd of her to have 
 grown so much during his single voyage ; and to 
 have changed, in short, so singularly that he felt 
 once or twice disposed to call her Catherine. He 
 rather attentively got the candlestick for her as 
 she went up-stairs, and said aside in the gallery, 
 " I tell you what, Kitty, I w^as going to have said 
 before, when I was interrupted — whatever Jane 
 likes to fancy about him, I've seen him, look ! " 
 
 "Seen who, Harry?" w^as her rather listless 
 answer, putting up one hand to her mouth in 
 unmistakable sleepiness. " Oh — the Count ! " It 
 was difficult to keep from laughing either, at 
 Harry's earnest gravity on this point. "And — 
 yes, is he really so handsome, then 1 " 
 
 " Oh — you're all of one side with what's to be 
 told about people's looks, Kate ! " said he, sharply ; 
 but plainly enough letting out the undeniable fact 
 as to Mr. Etherege's personal appearance, by a 
 mingled air of reluctant admission and professed
 
 110 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 disgust. " Of cotirse, there's different tastes," he 
 allowed ; " and mine's the other way altogether. 
 I like a big, manly - looking figure, for my 
 part — no matter for features. Come — one good 
 turn, you know, deserves another — you under- 
 stand ? " 
 
 " I shall go fast asleep on the staircase — that's 
 poz ! " she gaily answered. " You want me to 
 dream about a Count without a face, do you ? 
 Never mind — ^'tis not so very long waiting till 
 Thursday evening, when I shall judge for my- 
 self." 
 
 "Ah! but there's somethino- more I could tell 
 you, miss," he persisted, 2:)utting on a sidelong look 
 of excessive knowino;ness. "As it's leaked out 
 somehow to the clerks, no doubt from old Ffloyd, 
 it can't just be called confidential. None of you 
 all, here, seem to suspect whose relation the Count 
 is, down in Somersetshire ; or, what's more, not a 
 hundred miles from Sir Ralph Herbert's Kings- 
 wood collieries ! It appears to lie between the two 
 of 'em which succeeds to the old popish hunks of a 
 baronet's property; and if sticking by the na\y's 
 to spoil one's chance, why, Kate, d'ye think, 
 then " 
 
 " Think ! and I dying with fatigue and sleep, 
 you heartless boy ! I can only think, then," ex- 
 claimed his sister, half indignant, " if 'twere only 
 you that had this chance, 'twould be quite spoiled ! 
 How can you know the difficulties, pray — I sup-
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. Ill 
 
 pose you've been brought up a Protestant ? This 
 Count of yours is rich enough abeady, ain't he? 
 In that case, all I can fancy is, he'd become a 
 Croesus — absolutely you make one tremble to meet 
 him. But, pray, sir — as they say in the romances 
 — unliand me ! " Yqyj like a mock heroine, in- 
 deed, she stamped her foot from the stairs at him, 
 as Harry kept hold by the train of her full 
 dress. " You'll tear it, mind, Harry — 'tis the 
 newest, too — all I have, indeed, for the unforeseen 
 occasion." 
 
 " Well, I must say, Kate," came his somewhat 
 sullen admission, " your fault don't .lie in mis- 
 taking one's drift — you're only a thought too quick 
 with it. To come out as plain as you like, of 
 course I meant IVIr. Herbert — thev're somehow 
 cousins, it appears, this Count and he. If he goes 
 to sea again, it's clear there's little chance of old 
 Sir Moneybags's fortune, as there ain't any Roman 
 Catholic commissions likely in the fleet. Just 
 stay, though — there's quick promotion and lots of 
 prize-money, mind you, in case of war with " 
 
 " Goodness gracious, Harr}?-," she broke out, 
 ready to run, "have I not told you my unlucky 
 tongue made a slip at mere random, when I hit on 
 the phrase. 'Twas but the idlest word in life — I 
 had no foundation whatever for such silliness. As to 
 the French, I tell you I know nothing against the 
 poor people, not the least reason to dislike 'em. 
 Nor, for aught I saw, has your hero, Mr. Herbert
 
 112 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 — nay, I should rather have said they were fa- 
 vourites of his, at least of the worthy old chap- 
 lain, the Abbe Home." 
 
 " Ah ! but by way of duty, you see," persisted 
 Harry, "that don't much signify. Suppose it 
 happened, we'll say — and Mr. Herbert gets a frigate 
 through Lord de Vere, and goes. Don't you 
 think now, Kitty, in that case," and with this 
 he edged closer up to her again, in a glaringly 
 wheedling way, " as you happen to know Mr. 
 Herbert — besides, you said you met his lordship 
 too, his former captain out West, and that he 
 took notice of you — why — Avell, you might use the 
 freedom just to say a word in — in my favour ? " 
 He was so undoubtedly serious in the matter, as to 
 have sunk his voice to the most cautious whisper 
 at the end, glancing prudently along the drawing- 
 room gallery, lest others might have observed the 
 conference ; then did Harry endeaA^our to assume 
 a preposterously careless air, for Kate's amazement 
 at the proposal somewhat startled him. 
 
 " What ! to Mr. Herbert did you actually 
 mean ? " she cried, flushing up and waking wide 
 enough at the thought. " How could you sup- 
 pose, Harry," added she, again merrily, " I knew 
 enough of him for that ? The acquaintance was but 
 very slight — and his is a countenance that could 
 be stern, I warrant me, on occasion — proud, too, 
 very proud under all. As a midshipman, I pre-
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 113 
 
 sume, Hal, eh? Why, you might not like him 
 long. Those other captains yoii mentioned, they 
 might be nothing to this one, if you found him 
 harsh. I have heard, yes, they say there's some- 
 thing wrong about the family. Their heads, that 
 is," she explained. 
 
 Evidently her brother scorned to answer such 
 fancies. "There's the old chaplain you speak of, 
 then," persevered he. " A note might do, through 
 the chaplain ; or my uncle — when he goes home, 
 say — might do something if you asked him. You're 
 such a favourite of Uncle Charles's, you know, 
 Kitty ; but, as to my father, for heaven-sake 
 not a word as yet — ?zo." As he spoke they could 
 hear the two gentlemen in question coming up the 
 lower staircase toojether from the dinin2:-room, 
 where they had lingered their full time, the 
 hearty squire's loud voice contrasting strongly, 
 though quite amicably, with the firm measured 
 tones of the merchant, as tjieir closing theme 
 proved to have been the politics of the crisis. 
 The latter had manifestly agreed that the young 
 colonial rebellion was parricidal, and must be 
 crushed in the bud, — that it ought to rally all true 
 lovers of the constitution round the church, the 
 throne, and the vigorous coercive measures of his 
 most Gracious Majesty George the Third ; the 
 former covered his glee at the admission by hum- 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 mino- the catch of an old loyal tune, which sa- 
 voured quaintly of the Jacobitism that was ex- 
 tinct. 
 
 The girl nodded full approval of Harry's caution, 
 as to their father's being told this scheme so soon ; 
 " For the rest, believe me," she concluded, hasten- 
 ing, " 'tis folly — 'tis far beyond my power, Henry. 
 Good night, dear ; don't let your thoughts run that 
 way — don't dream of it. Hark to the mnd to- 
 night, how it rises, and 'twill fast be winter on us ! 
 They're dreary enough to think of, surely, mthout 
 the sea — ^without the war — without a silly boy of a 
 brother to keep awake for, you know, wherever he 
 may be ! " Half playfully, blowing a kiss to him 
 as if she half trifled with his wishes, Kate had dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Sleep, indeed ! Sleep ? The evening was scarce 
 gone, the night was early yet. True, the long- 
 nights were at hand, and a last chilly October 
 breeze stuTcd through the unleafing branches that 
 evening, as Harry, in an ill temper, with his hands 
 in his pockets, loitered about behind the house. 
 Partly it was to indulge an uncivilised and sur- 
 reptitious practice, far from fashionable anywhere 
 in Europe as yet, at which good Mrs. Spencer 
 would have been more horrified than even at the 
 arrival of Dick Diamond — that use of the Ame- 
 rican weed, not hitherto so far grown on the boy as
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GROVE. 115 
 
 to be a liabit, but which he rather feared might soon 
 become necessary if he stayed in BristoL In de- 
 fault of better company, he certainly had here one 
 faithful friend, in the shadowy shape of black 
 Diamond ku'king as near as possible, avaihng him- 
 self of the most convenient shelter, and looldng 
 only like a deeper bit of the obscurity he sat in, 
 but for the fitful glow of his humbler tobacco-pipe 
 tlrroush the dark. Whatever tacit communion 
 might akeady in those days be felt between mor- 
 tals so engaged, in spite of social distance, such 
 must have been open to Harry. Dick and he had 
 certainly gone through some odd chances together. 
 But the negro's silence was extreme; it might 
 have been the deepest slumber, except for the 
 said intermittent kindling of the spark amidst it, 
 like the red hollow of a Cyclops's bm-nt-out eye 
 that the wind puffed up — like the far-off \iew of a 
 revolving lighthouse from a tossing sea — like a 
 match in the hand of a ship's gunner waiting 
 secretly to fire — like anything but good company. 
 The very contentedness of Diamond provoked 
 one ; he made liimself so snug under the kennel 
 of the surly watch-dog, whose gruff intimacy he 
 had gained of course, and sat there, it seemed, 
 quite at home, mth his knees drawn up near his 
 nostrils, one arm about the chained neck of big 
 Bowser, who most peacefully slept the while. A 
 
 i2
 
 116 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 single sign of life only did Diamond make, and 
 that was worse than his stupidest lethargy. He 
 picked up the half -used Havannah thrown away in 
 disgust by his young master, rubbed it in his 
 hands, pressed it into his pipe, smoked on, and 
 seemed content to smoke — without so much as 
 seeino; one breath of it-^-for ever. But what 
 could Dick know — what could it trouble him 
 how they were to stay or go ! He was a dark 
 heathen, was Dick ; for aught that appeared 
 he might be worshipping one of the stars there, 
 right above the dark where he sat — the planet 
 Jupiter, an old namesake of his, by-the-by — 
 that smouldered away white over the blowing 
 clouds from the west, where the Bristol Channel 
 spread. 
 
 The autumn breeze alone harmonised Avith 
 Harry's mood. Outside the dulness of the house 
 it kept up a stir, and grew even more restless with 
 the darkening of the twilight. The quieter all 
 grew within, it rose and blustered the more discon- 
 tentedly, till an eddying rush went through the 
 rusty tops of the clustered beeches that gave the 
 place its name, sounding like signs before a gale 
 on the Atlantic. A great pale plane-tree hard by, 
 with but a scattered foliage left it, creaked sullen 
 sympathy; one by one its large leaves began to 
 hover past like sea-gulls, whirling to join the smaller
 
 FAMILY MATTERS AT BEECH GEOVE. 117 
 
 rout ; at times there came a sharp, cracking rattle 
 of planks from a wood-yard down the lane, that 
 finished off with a louder clap, and seemed echoed 
 once from the distance of King's Roads, beyond 
 the narrow harbom', by the real sound of a great 
 gun, brought heavily in the wind. A wild red 
 streak or two in the sky, as if royalty must indeed 
 at last die in the Far West, had faded underneath 
 the clouds where the Channel stretched; but the 
 lights of all Bristol threw a flicker up in the air, 
 and the long black bristling of the great river-port 
 was darkly shown between, down through the half- 
 bared avenue from a turn of the hedge-bank where 
 Hany loitered. Rather a short turn it was, and 
 might have been thought of itself the dullest corner 
 of Beech Grove, being but part of the walk to its 
 back-offices and kitchen-garden ; yet he sauntered 
 back and forsvard there mechanicallv, and still, 
 with an obstinate preference for the spot, the more 
 restless his steps, the quicker did he retrace it. 
 The feet of Harry had, in fact, of late, begun to 
 tread the said limited portion of ground into an 
 obviously beaten path, somewhat unaccountable to 
 mere passers-by. It was solitary of an evening, it 
 was snug on one side, it looked far the other way 
 as the leaves fell, and, since it offered a full view 
 of sundry important windows, also favoured a safe 
 conformity to the ways of an orderly household.
 
 118 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Ever, therefore, as the breeze grew livelier that 
 night, and took the character of a rousing equi- 
 noctial south-wester with fits of rain, he paced it 
 quicker to and fro in the bustle like a sentry, only 
 stopping to peer out more irregularly, and rolling 
 more in his gait.
 
 119 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 
 
 The breeze still blew next day, but it was 
 mixed with daily duties, and spent for many an 
 liour against barriers of solid trade. There was 
 only another busy day in Bristol port, all the 
 busier, no doubt, for the windy bustle from the 
 river. The wide harbour space of the " Grove" 
 swam full of shipping, divided midway by its 
 brown canal, where the eddies caught a greener 
 shade about the bulky pitch-bronzed hulls, and all 
 shapes of emblematic figures met, with all sorts of 
 names from earth or heaven ; while bridges were 
 seen through each other across the vista, and still 
 more masts upon the other side, as the intricacy of 
 rigging rose A^dtli its white poles into the sky, 
 stretching airily in the gaps between houses higher
 
 120 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 than tlie loftiest. Cries were above, below, and 
 between, of hoisting and hauling; voices short 
 and authoritative, responded to by voices hoarsely 
 obedient, struck through the varying tumult ; the 
 clank and crash of iron, the hollow blows of wood 
 and the clatter of ropes, were near or far off ; while 
 huge mechanisms slowly moved, and when the ear 
 might have been thought to have no fuilher room 
 or faculty, then would come the swift creak of a 
 crane-chain running down suddenly, after some 
 great load had been hoisted and swuno- from wharf 
 or hold to the sharp intermittent rattle of a ship's 
 windlass ; yet each noise would still* find its proper 
 place in the wild medley. The whole mid-space of 
 Bristol, in fact, groaned, plashed, and creaked, as 
 if struggling to untwist a network that had en- 
 tangled it overnight in its sleep ; and far from the 
 afternoon bringing that day the least cessation, the 
 hour of low water was then past, the slow Avaxing 
 of flood-tide began to show itself about the dock- 
 gates, and the lighter air that had lately trifled 
 alike with the topmast vanes and steeple-cocks, to 
 set again steadily. The worst of it was, that the 
 wind gave still no signs of being favourable for 
 the many vessels it had kept waiting in the Severn 
 channel; and in those days there was no help 
 against a breeze save tide, oar, sweep, or towing- 
 line ; whereas to Broadby and Co., who had one 
 of their largest vessels reported in the river, it
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 121 
 
 chanced to be of no small consequence tliat tlie 
 freicrht should forthwith arrive. And it was a 
 matter very natm'al for young Harry Spencer 
 the moment he heard of it, to go straight to his 
 father with the offer that he would take a boat 
 down the Avon at once, ere the tide fairly turned, 
 and get on board the Mai-y Jane in time to let 
 them miderstand how she w^as wanted that night. 
 
 Indeed, at flood-tide in the narrow Avon, even 
 for a burthen of four hundi'ed tons, two or three 
 horses could do wonders on the towing-path, if a 
 vessel were but got so far at the right time. So, 
 no sooner did he get the half-incredulous permis- 
 sion, than, hurr3dng down to the shed where black 
 Diamond was rolling casks, Harry made a most 
 unceremonious pressure of him into the service; 
 needing only further to find a boat, with a second 
 rower in the sha]^)e of the cabin-boy who was mop- 
 ping it out, ere he was steering out of the confu- 
 sion of the " Grove," to go down river. 
 
 Meanwhile, the bustle of the city seemed still to 
 grow, until the cathedral clock tolled foui', and, 
 hard by, the sunset reflected from glistening black 
 hulls began to bm'nish the water under them, as if 
 in brazen patches it had taken fire ; here and there 
 glowed a half-loose sail hke gold against the upper 
 sky; while he that ascended to wrap it together 
 for the night, saw range beyond range of windows 
 flash like amethyst and diamond. But he looked
 
 122 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 stolidly over, man or boy, into the changing lights 
 and shadows that contended for the city among 
 its smoke ; nor was it anythinsj to him if, through 
 a maze of intersecting cordage, the shady cathedral 
 precincts of St. Augustin's already reposed about 
 the solid walls, while the broad battlement of its 
 tower grew deeper purple before the cool keen 
 blueness of evening in November, and the figures 
 of people passing across the open gi'een were 
 thrown forward by twilight. Alike unheeded, op- 
 posite, might shoot up the tall square shaft of St. 
 Stephen's, its western front all glorious as a vision 
 of old, with w^ork far rarer than the jeweller's, 
 gilded over by the sun from the Atlantic ; or the 
 richly-pointed bell-tower of St. Mary Redcliffe's, 
 where young Chatterton had moped but eight 
 years before, might stand in dusky form another 
 way. What such folks cared for was but the breeze 
 blowing sharper along the quays as they gi*ew barer, 
 and coming round the corners in sudden gusts. It 
 brought up wild clouds in the east, and promised a 
 wet and w^indy night, as it drove the smoke clear 
 of the city away into the transparent sunset. 
 
 The coming tide, too, made a living sound into 
 the town ; the buoys and f ending-logs dipped, the 
 quay-sides plashed, and it was odd to see how the 
 white or yellow masts of the sloops were swaying 
 with the motion, while the shadows of them moved 
 upon the Avail — and how cheerily the coloured vane-
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 123 
 
 flags blew out ; though all was still bright, and the 
 mellow, honeycombed old forehead of some church 
 rose but the more illuminated above in the moted 
 streams of sunshine between the ridges of the 
 roofs, for all the deep shadows of houses projected 
 from over the way against its front, with the varied 
 outline of their g-ables and chimnevs. Yet wind 
 and tide were nothing to the murmur, ferment, and 
 increasing bustle and excitement of the streets, 
 which floated up the more confused on that par- 
 ticular afternoon as business ceased. 
 
 The truth was, although no one could tell which 
 was the most likely out of a hundred rumours, 
 there had been singularly creeping all that day, 
 through the very work and trade of Bristol, an 
 unaccountable disturbance. Some said it was 
 another incendiary in the port, like John the 
 Painter who had just been hanged at Portsmouth ; 
 others, that a mob of " Levellers" meant to rise 
 in the city that night ; again it was the pirate Paul 
 Jones in Bristol Channel ; and now, the failure of 
 a great house, or else a grand disaster to the British 
 army in the American colonies, or a terrible ship- 
 wreck. The harbour telegraph had been at work 
 from time to time, answering in its mysterious 
 style to another above Brandon Hill, which Go- 
 vernment had lately posted there ; and a passenger 
 by the stage from London, three days on the road, 
 had been said to shake his head in a manner that
 
 124 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 said much, though he was so prudent a man as to 
 avoid explanations. 
 
 It was to such an account, from a quick-voiced 
 barber at his door, that com'teous attention was 
 paid by one of two gentlemen, evidently from the 
 more fashionable part of the city up-hill, who 
 seemed to have been tempted so far out of their 
 way by curiosity. The erect carriage of the other, 
 mth the coc^kade on his gold-laced hat, marked 
 him military ; he was a young man of twenty ; his 
 features fine, the freshness of youth not yet effaced 
 from his cheeks by a certain air of dissipated life 
 and late hours ; to which the puffed-out and 
 powdered hair, with the triangular upturned brims 
 of the beaver, lent then' insipid effect, as of would- 
 be old age. He affected to talk French with his 
 friend, despite the apparent wish of the latter, and 
 his evident familiarity with the native tongue. 
 Englishman was stamped, however, on the officer's 
 whole aspect, from his blue eye and common-place 
 good looks, to the haughty glance of supercilious- 
 ness he threw about him in the crowded street, to 
 his easy step, and the fancied gi'ace of that studied 
 negligence in his dress, amidst all its fine extrava* 
 gance of gold button and brocaded flap, embroi- 
 dered waistcoat and lace cravat, or elaborate ruffle ; 
 nor the less conspicuously, as his companion seemed 
 a contrast to him in almost every point. A taste 
 too exquisite to display itself was in each item of
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 125 
 
 the latter' s dress, liis manner, the very tones of 
 his subdued voice ; he had all the quiet, retiring 
 air of the civilian ; his dark eye glittered with the 
 keen notice he gave to each thing or person, yet he 
 looked as young as his military friend — perhaps 
 even a little younger. He seemed now gay, now in- 
 different ; and though no English sun could ever 
 have given that tinge to his marked features, still 
 neither his accent, nor any other circumstance 
 within the power of human will, could have be- 
 trayed the fact. 
 
 " Wliat the deuce can the fools mtean, St. 
 Amand?" said the young officer, talking very 
 loudly. " Why, they seem actually to gape at us, 
 as if we had something to do with it ! " 
 
 " 'Tis possible, my dear Cobham," was the calm 
 answer. " So we had better, I think, talk a little 
 lower." 
 
 "Pooh!" said Cobham, raising an eye-glass; 
 " to pass through this vulgar scum of shopkeepers 
 and porters ? Not I ! Let's talk French, I say, 
 Comte — that's the safe thing. A language I prefer, 
 for my part!" 
 
 The Count made a slight, careless shrug of the 
 shoulders, raising his thick black eyebrows, and 
 saying in the tongue required, " Well, as you wish 
 it, my friend. In this free country of ours, we 
 shall probably get mobbed ; but it is indifferent. 
 My mother, as I think I told you, was of French
 
 126 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 origin — ^yet I speak the language no more than 
 passably." 
 
 "Can you imagine any reason for all this?" 
 repeated Cobham. 
 
 The young Comte de St. Amand — or, as he had 
 rather preferred to be called in English society, 
 ^ir. Etherege — shook his head in reply. " Rumour 
 has a hundred tongues," he said. " To reconcile, 
 to trace them to then' source, demands a keener 
 wit than mine. 'Tis true, such a source they must 
 have, probably the merest trifle, some accident, 
 something not worth the pains !" 
 
 " Ah ! — Ha ! — ^You are right ! Nothing is so 
 stupid as human nature!" responded the young 
 Cornet in vociferous French, Avhich sounded but 
 ill after the easy fluency of his companion's. 
 " What a canaille ! Such inconceivable stenches ! 
 Back, fellow ! " and he pushed aside a shock-headed 
 mechanic, who reeled sulkily amongst a knot of 
 dock-porters and street-chau'men, whose curses he 
 received and returned. 
 
 "Pah! This is msupportable!" ejaculated the 
 officer, as they pursued their steps. " Suppose we 
 return ? " 
 
 " I am perfectly at your service, my dear friend," 
 was the courteous answer. " Nothing, of com'se, 
 that excites these good people there, can be of the 
 slightest consequence to either of us. Still, perhaps 
 it is equally philosophical to go on a little. The
 
 / 
 
 THINGS IX THE WIND. 127 
 
 spirit of the age, my dear Cobliam — which both 
 of ns so admire — is an inquiring one." 
 
 "Of coiu'se — of course!" the young officer 
 hastened to agree ; " admu^e it, my faith ! — so I 
 do. Indeed, when one was in the mood, it used to 
 be excessively amusing — the folly of people, and 
 human natui'e, and all that manner of affair, see 
 you ! But really — really," and the Comet used an 
 eye-glass in a languid way, eyeing the people, the 
 houses, the very sky, with a supercilious inchffer- 
 ence which appeared to find nothing worth atten- 
 tion ; nor was it till after the interval of a slight 
 yawn that he finished his remark. " Really, Count, 
 one does get over all that, eh ? You and I are both 
 about equally ennuyeesy I fancy, or — or worse than 
 that, what's the exact word ? " 
 
 " Biases, perhaps," was the smiling suggestion. 
 " Ah, ah, perfectly, biases, you're right. We 
 want change, that's to say," nodded the Cornet. 
 There was studied suavity in the other's manner, 
 and in every tone of his voice, yet a delicate h-ony 
 played tlu'ough his answer. " True, my dear 
 Monsieur the Cornet — I forgot — in England, it 
 occurs to me, we live so rapidly, om' blood is so 
 impetuous — our passions, our pleasures, our appre- 
 hensions, so quick and strong — that we become 
 philosophers earlier than elsewhere." The renewed 
 smile might have been owing to Cobham's unscru- 
 pulous French ; to the further idea, possibly, of so
 
 128 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 young a victim to that new malady, which found 
 the world empty ere it was seen, and stripped ex- 
 istence of its charm before enjoying it ; probably, 
 too, there was some underrating of the Cornet's 
 apparent capacity to judge. 
 
 " Why, about philosophy," rejoined the latter, 
 promptly enough, " I don't know, I don't pretend 
 to have tried it more than yourself, M. de St. 
 Amand. As to my French — well — it amuses you, 
 I see, but no matter — I can manage to carry 
 through with it somehow, as we did on the grand 
 tour, my old tutor and I, one summer." 
 
 " On the contrary, you speak it but too well, M. 
 Cobham !" laughed St. Amand, openly, as he drew 
 the Cornet's attention to a whispering knot of on- 
 lookers while they passed. " We are taken for 
 foreigners, you perceive ! Perhaps, to judge from 
 that eagerness, for spies I Can any plot have been 
 discovered?" 
 
 " Bah — the city member very likely dead," said 
 Cobham, with scorn ; " or Government to be turned 
 out, or a fire in a warehouse or so." 
 
 " I think not," was the answer, still suggested 
 by a steady survey on either side, from the jostling 
 thorouo;hfare to its clamorous side-lanes and 2:0s- 
 siping alleys. Now the ferment seemed increased, 
 if only by the sudden break of some cross-street 
 that brouo;ht alon^ its gust of wind from the river, 
 with the gleam of masts through the high gap.
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 129 
 
 and rigging woven across ; where the ropes clat- 
 tered and the gunwales ground together in grow- 
 ing agitation, while lighter poles swayed to and 
 fro, and flag and vane streamed out from the cold 
 blue bareness of the sky. Again, from obscurer 
 vistas of the port, out amongst the bare spindle- 
 shanks of the townsfolk and their ample skirts, 
 came a loose flutter of seamen's dress, as they 
 rolled in a boisterous group to the door of one 
 early -lit tavern ; hat-ribbons fl}'ing, with rough 
 brown visages, bundles in their hands, and here 
 and there a great bright shell or curious foreign 
 leaf to show", or a gorgeous parrot from the West. 
 *^ I think not," repeated the Comte de St. Amand, 
 as if disposed to pause. " A straw, my friend, even 
 though senseless in itself, may tell to an observer 
 how the current tends. Towns-people do not in- 
 quh'e of seamen about burnt warehouses, or poli- 
 tical changes at home." 
 
 " Is't true," rose a cry at the noisy tavern- 
 corner, " there's been a terrible earthquake in 
 Spain ?" " What news, my lads ?" called sundiy 
 hurrying voices, — " Did ye see aught of pirates — 
 was't a hrn'ricane — is the Chiney fleet safe?" 
 Coupled with surly otowIs and rude laughter from 
 the sailors, as well as profane epithets of disdain 
 for landsmen, came but the doubtful response, 
 " Safe be blowed ! All right, anyhow, with the 
 Mary Jane^ '' Well, they did say," it was being 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 added by a younger and more civil comrade, " off 
 Ushant, ye see, my masters, in a French lugger 
 we chanced to speak " But the rest of his mean- 
 ing was lost in gruff impatience, and in uncouth 
 huzzahs for the ready house of entertainment. 
 "The Mary JaneV repeated a nearer tongue or 
 two ; " that's one o' Broadby and Go's, ships — she's 
 just come into port from the West Indies. What 
 could tliey know, of course ! " 
 
 The graceful St. Amand returned to the super- 
 cilious Cornet's side, took his arm again, and 
 blandly yielded to the fretful movement he made 
 homeward. " After all," assented the former, " 'tis 
 but some vessel that has been missing, and has 
 presented itself ! The ' grand tour,' you said, my 
 dear Cobham? So you made it — you^ too, have 
 travelled?" 
 
 " O, for that part, not much — to tell the truth, 
 we broke down in it," the young dragoon con- 
 fessed, "at some town in the Low Countries — 
 never precisely knew the name of it. Why, we 
 wanted change, see you — and the farther w^e went, 
 by St. Paul, sir ! for all we could tell, the less of 
 that ! The very same confounded things meeting 
 you — the ver}'- same houses, in fact, with shops, 
 churches, and so forth — sky and everything else to 
 match. No such great difference in the people, 
 either, or the language ; this Bristol rabble, now, 
 confomxl them! they may be talking Dutch at
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 131 
 
 present, for all I understand. As usual, too, the 
 fellows' faces were all — a — a — all eyes and nose, by 
 Jove!" 
 
 " All travellers, in the end, my dear Cobham," 
 was the composed rejoinder, as if there were no- 
 thing whatever absurd in the Cornet's disappoint- 
 ment, " must feel the truth which you so rapidly 
 perceived. You and your friends but anticipated 
 the result, so obvious on the ruins of Carthage, or 
 the Attic shores ; in Switzerland, where you would 
 only have seen the Alps ; in Italy, mere pictm*es I 
 Among the Tm'ks, the Chinese, the Arabs, or 
 negroes, you would have despaired all the more 
 hopelessly ; you were right in not proceeding ; you 
 have brought back at least something of the 
 national expectation. We want change, as you 
 remark. Well, to observe the popular feeling 
 here — the impression, almost amounting to a pro- 
 phetic instinct — ^^ve have but to look round us. 
 Could you not imagine them seeking its import 
 from the sky yonder, like the older plebeians? Ah! 
 see the flight of birds, too — how appropriate — the 
 very cranes of the antique Ibycus ; we may hear 
 their pinions creak ! " 
 
 The Cornet looked up also, in obvious wonder. 
 " Ha, ha ! — cranes, my good fellow ! " he broke 
 out, with a very English horse-laugh, "they're 
 only wild geese cackling away high over the 
 
 k2
 
 132 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 smoke. We're not troubled mucli in this country, 
 I fancy, witli cranes. The deuce is in it, though, 
 they fly right inland — a bad ,sign of the weather. 
 In spite of the fine sky, it looks rainy; and to- 
 morrow, by George ! I've a shooting party to 
 Clevedon Manor ! " 
 
 St. Amand, slightly biting his steady lip, had 
 for the instant turned on his military friend a 
 glance, in which some little increase of conside- 
 ration seemed discernible. "Yes, you may post- 
 pone it, mon ami,^^ agreed he, with sua\aty all the 
 completer for being now rid of any apparent disposi- 
 tion to smile. " It will rain, and heavily, too. Too 
 many voyages have been forced on me, not to show 
 that — passages by sea, I mean, for of course they 
 have merely been such. Probably, these good 
 folks are so interested in this event, simply as 
 being citizens of a great harbour, the partisans of 
 trade and of insurance, alike with those of the 
 pilots, the \\Teckers, perhaps even of the anxious 
 spouses of the mariners." 
 
 This time, indeed, the pointed remark was 
 accompanied by a sneer, just such as to make it 
 clear enough to the Cornet, who relished it mtli 
 full aristocratic superiority. " Good — very good. 
 Monsieur de St. Amand ; upon my honoui' — good ! 
 Ha I ha ! — exceedingly likely ! A mean canaille 
 of traders, with their bourgeois ideas. Bristol is 
 not the least to mv taste, I can assure vou, Count.
 
 THINGS m THE WIND. 133 
 
 We had not been quartered here three months, 
 till, upon my lionoui' " 
 
 " Excuse me, but there seems some danger of this 
 mob," interrupted his companion, pressing his arm 
 and speaking low. "They are excited — riotous. 
 They scowl at us ominously ! This way — let us 
 avoid them, mon clier Cobham." 
 
 It seemed too late, however ; the very uniform of 
 Cobham did not appear to deter a violent rush 
 from every side of the two gentlemen, with a cry 
 even infuriated by the glittering intentness of De 
 St. Amand's glance, and the almost Spanish beauty 
 of his pale olive features. 
 
 " Foreigneers in disguise ! Ay, spies from the 
 old King of France ! " it was fiercely shouted. 
 " ^iore by token, it's French — they spoke French ! " 
 
 At a volley of indignant oaths from the Cornet, 
 nevertheless, in most unquestionable vernacular, 
 and at the tranquil front of his companion, the 
 tumult bade fair to turn elsewhere. " If we were 
 so," said the latter, calmly, vidthout an accent to 
 throw doubt on his protest, "we should certainly 
 have avoided the French language, I think. To- 
 night above all. To-night, my good friends, it 
 seems there are too many things in the wind, to 
 
 allow of such freedoms." 
 
 A man thrust forth his rude face, and stared 
 
 hard at St. Amand : " Ay — but what's the drift 
 
 of it, I say, master ? What's the main news, loike % " 
 
 said he, earnestly.
 
 1 34 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 St. Amancl sliook his head. He " knew nothing, 
 and had but come with his friend to hear. They 
 would, doubtless, however, be all willing to drink 
 the health of His Majesty, with confusion to his 
 enemies, wherever found." And with a very 
 liberal gratuity from his ready purse, to which 
 the Cornet graciously added, the crowd moved off 
 hurrahing. 
 
 Even as they traversed the open street again, 
 St. Amand did not need to recommend an ad- 
 herence to the safer idiom. ^' You see them. 
 Count I " resumed the young officer, fuming still ; 
 '' a curst shopkeeping, trading, bartering set ! No 
 matter — if the regiment do not shift soon, / shall. 
 Have had thoughts of selling out, indeed ; and in a 
 month or two, who knows, we may meet in Paris. 
 You can't stay long about this deuced provincial 
 place ? " 
 
 " It is even possible," was the placid reply. 
 "Were Paris still always easy to reach from 
 England — yet Bristol may at any rate detain me 
 a little. Even here, however commercial the tone, 
 
 I should imagine there are opportunities But 
 
 you, probably, Mi\ Cobham, know nothing at all 
 of the society ? " 
 
 "' Faith no, thank heaven ! — nothing whatever. 
 Except for my aunt, Lady Die Fanshawe — who 
 introduced us together — why, I never should have 
 set foot in the town at all beyond the Hotwells.
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 135 
 
 Lady Die is somewhat eccentricj you may notice — 
 gives rather oddish evening receptions, French 
 style, intellectual equahty, and that. Found 'em, 
 I must say, promiscuous. Once did meet there, 
 certainly, with what I understood to be an heiress, 
 and — and — so went back again a time or two.'' 
 Here the Comet suddenly flushed up to the hair- 
 powder, adjusted his lace cravat and cuffs, and, on 
 the whole, swerved from the topic by looking up 
 at street windows. "A — a — well — yes, I believe, 
 in some way connected with foreign trade; but 
 daughter of a really most extensive merchant — one 
 of our merchant princes, they call it hereabouts, 
 hang 'em ! " 
 
 " Yom* antipathy to commerce," laughed the 
 other, gaily, '^ is excessive ! Was the lady, then, 
 a beauty, as well as an heiress ? " His light tone 
 did not quite agTee with the expression of his fine 
 dark eye, flashing aside for a moment, then readily 
 wanderino; off with the Cornet's. 
 
 " So 'twas thoupiit ; she w^as rather the racje 
 about the Wells," admitted Cobham ; " is still, I 
 hear. Confound it, too, as proud along with 
 the thing as if she'd been an only child ! Here 
 was Lady Die making a pet of her, of course — 
 does so to this moment — quite a lyrottgee of hers ; 
 and rather awkward for me, you know, if I kept 
 up a habit of visiting there. Odd if my aunt has 
 not talked to you of the girl already, in fact,
 
 136 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Count. You are pretty sure to meet lier, by 
 Jupiter ! so 'tis as well to warn you." 
 
 Again the travelled visitor was amused. '' Though 
 I do not come to this Bristol of yours to be 
 charmed by the Syrens," smiled he, " you excite 
 an interest very difficult to repress. Yet how, 
 pray, is the fair one so peculiarly dangerous? 
 Lovely, rich, accomplished, surely ; can the mere 
 source of her wealth, my dear Mr. Cobham " 
 
 " Pooh ! certainly — not that at all, faith," the 
 latter hastily broke in. "No; you take me up 
 wrong, St. Amand. The truth was, I had taken 
 care to make some few particular inquiries as to 
 the old gentleman — the father. Found all correct 
 enough about their wealth, you perceive ; though, 
 at the commencement of these paltry squabbles 
 with the colonies, they did seem to have been a 
 little shaken. Being in the large foreign trade, 
 as the phrase goes, why, the merest shadow of a 
 war is apt to play the devil with such houses as 
 Broadby and Co." 
 
 " True, true ; I can imagine it," said his 
 companion. " But take care — Broadby and Com- 
 pany? Yes, I know something of this very 
 house. They are highly respectable, are they 
 not — substantial, at least, now ? " 
 
 " Oh, they've got better established than ever, 
 
 I find. Not only so, by G ! but old Spencer 
 
 has become sole partner," pursued Cobham, with
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 137 
 
 singular emphasis. "A man known to make, at 
 times, something Hke a fortune in a day, look ye, 
 by a stroke or two of his pen ; rather of good 
 family, too, and, by-the-by, travelled like yourself. 
 Count." 
 
 " I am already invited to dine at Mr. Spencer's, 
 Mr. Cobham," remarked the young Comte, point- 
 edly ; " and that no later than to-morrow evening. 
 A man of position, highly agreeable, with v/hom 
 I promise myself, at least, some — yes, some pleasant 
 intercourse. I scarce comprehend your allusions, 
 mon ami. ]Mr. Spencer, it seems, then, is the 
 father of this attractive young lady. Can any 
 doubt attach to the prospects of any daughter of 
 his? He is, as I think you said, now the only 
 representative of the firm designated Broadby 
 and Co., in whose employment he once resided 
 abroad?" 
 
 " Yes, yes — nothing clearer, good heavens ! " 
 retm-ned the annoyed Cornet. " Everybody knows 
 that; everybody told me so in the kindest way 
 imaginable. Old Broadby — a vulgar old money- 
 grubber he was — never in his life out of Bristol, 
 they say, though noway scrupulous as to the 
 African slave-trade, I believe, — he retired a long 
 time ago, and Spencer bought out his relations 
 afterwards — a niece, or daughter or something, I 
 can't say which." 
 
 " It is delicate, for any purpose, mon cher Cornet,"
 
 138 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 observed his graceful friend, with some seriousness, 
 " nay, it borders on danger, to make such inquiries 
 in this countiy. Even / had my reasons, I own, 
 for desiring an introduction to this well-known 
 house — and I found, amongst people at all con- 
 nected Avitli trade themselves, that their caution 
 was difficult to break through, when the most 
 natural questions were put. The mere popular 
 understanding, or fashionable report, is a surer 
 clue — if one but possesses any key to the labyrmth 
 itself. I am glad that our mutual discoveries, 
 yours and mine, agree so nearly. This old Broadby, 
 of whom you spoke, is dead, however — it was an 
 only daughter of his, that married an obscure local 
 manufacturer, a Methodist — another of these plod- 
 ding residents of the place, who afford such a con- 
 trast to Mr. Spencer. But this mystery regarding 
 liiin. then — which has so interfered with your sen- 
 timents of admiration for the daughter — which has 
 so defeated your hopes, if I understand you : I 
 trust it can be explained. For my own satisfaction, 
 M. Cobham, may I ask in a general Avay its — 
 nature ? " 
 
 " Oh — well — I thought I had already. Nothing 
 of any consequence after all," said Cobham, still 
 wincing, " when one's not a younger son, look ! — 
 damnably in debt besides; and the regiment, I 
 should say, the most expensive in the whole ser- 
 vice ! Never for a moment suspected it, upon my 
 honour, till I had gone so far— vrhv, there's no less
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 139 
 
 than four more of a family, none of 'em \"isible at 
 the time — eldest brother at Oxford, younger in the 
 na\y, next sister a great deal in the country some- 
 where, then another girl not come out yet — all, as 
 it were, by Jove, hidden away ! Egad, an heiress, 
 forsooth ! — trade must be good with a witness for 
 that I As to Spencer's own age, I hear now he has 
 not turned fifty — married rather young, they say 
 — may live a good score of years yet ! " 
 
 The vehement feeling of this speech really pre- 
 cluded aught like mirth in a courteous listener, 
 such as, beyond all doubt, it addressed. Indeed, it 
 drew a response of no unconsiderate kind, however 
 little heeded by Cobham at his striding pace up 
 street, which seemed to show a deeper sentiment 
 than he had allowed. 
 
 " True — true. This struck me in him," almost 
 soliloquised his thoughtful companion. "But yet 
 with that phlegmatic temperament often found in 
 Britain, after the passions are spent — one of those 
 blonde complexions that so composedly, so respect- 
 ably, hide the traces of the past. So pleasant an 
 English comitenance is his, I would have said, my 
 dear Cobham, in spite of the secret cares of — of the 
 commerce you thus despise. Apparently, perhaps, 
 no more than middle-aged, but in fact much past 
 it, I think — yes, he is above fifty — above it by at 
 least five years, granting so early a retm^n home, 
 here. Ah ! conceive that events may ere long 
 occur to — to satisfy your views ? "
 
 140 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 As the Cornet's imjoetuosity slackened, however, 
 he said with extreme scorn, "Positively the people's 
 affairs have not now the slightest interest for me — 
 none whatever, Count — none, sir." 
 
 " My own interest," apologised St. Amarid, re- 
 taking the offered arm, " purely regards business. 
 I do not feel your native prejudices against com- 
 merce, jMr. Cobham — extensive commerce, that is. 
 Hence, nevertheless, the degree of caution I have 
 admitted. /, at all events," added he, more lightly, 
 " shall be in no danger from the temptation to 
 supplant a friend, in the good graces of the 
 daughter. Bah ! forget her in Paris, mon cher — a 
 mere creature of the mode, doubtless, which you 
 will find already obsolete there. For me, I have 
 not broken away wdth such an effort from its last 
 charming caprices, from its finished arts which now 
 imitate nature so exquisitely — to fear being moved 
 aside by some awkward copy of Versailles under 
 Louis Quinze !" 
 
 " Gad, 'tis as well it don't signify to me why 
 you cultivate their acquaintance," said the young 
 man. " You'd have been an unpleasant rival, to 
 say the least of it. As to Paris, though, I fancy 
 you can still play a little in the style that suits you, 
 you know, without being sent to Coventry by the 
 big-wigs? 'Tis the Court, at Windsor and St. 
 James's, they say, gets stiff er every season against 
 aught like betting or high game — nothing but 
 oratorios and musical festivals, it seems, if we feel
 
 THli>TGS IN THE WIND. 141 
 
 dull at whist, hang it ! — or, at the most, like last- 
 night, a little loo or speculation, with the ladies for 
 partners." 
 
 "Afterwards, however, at your club," rejoined 
 the Comte, gaily, " it appears to me that some of 
 your friends revenged themselves a little on both 
 of us ! Myself — except for courtesy — I do not 
 game. Besides, I should have lost less — perhaps 
 have gained — had I not entangled myself with a 
 — yes, excuse me, a partner !" 
 
 "I never had luck at cards, d 'em !" said 
 
 Cobham. " Then, among the rest, we had two of the 
 very coolest hands round the Hotwells to deal with, 
 the old parson of Clifton and Lord Eppingbury — as 
 keen a young rake-helly sprig I remember him when 
 he was Lord Bobby Fortescue, as ever fought his 
 cock in a tavern pit — always did play best drunk. 
 
 Bvit honourable enough, by G ! never had a 
 
 breath against that — and few men would have liked 
 even so much as to look it, either, of Lord Robert." 
 The tranquil meaning of De St. Amand's look, at 
 least, spoke doubly to this fact ; had one inclined to 
 question it, throughout all his elastic composure 
 there was nerve probably more than equal to any 
 task. " No," pursued the Cornet, guiding their final 
 extrication upward from the noisier streets, "give 
 me my risk on a horse I know, or even take means 
 to hear of — there I feel at home. I'm told they've 
 been imitating us in that department, of late, at 
 Paris; everything English quite the rage, in fact;
 
 142 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 and — well — of course tliere must be room for a 
 little skill, with that rich fool the Comte cle Char- 
 tres, son of the King's uncle, the Due d' Orleans, 
 backing horseflesh ! I dare say, St. Amand, 
 you'd win your money with as good a grace as you 
 lose it; but still — why, one needs something to 
 rouse one now-a-days — I might help even you 
 to a thing or two in Paris ? Suppose you try it 
 
 too r 
 
 " Ah — I may still be in time to meet you," he 
 said, kindly enough. "You and your polite family, 
 Cobham, have paid me attentions for which I am 
 grateful — I should have pleasure in the re-union. 
 Paris is always pleasant ; even the cosmopolite, as 
 I may be allowed to call myself, is tempted there 
 to feel as a native of such a place — it is rather, 
 indeed, the miniatm'e of the world he claims. Yet 
 I fear I could not repay your civilities there — some 
 of my French friends, certainly, partook of the 
 Anglomania you describe, but had resigned it ere 
 I left them. The great American philosopher, 
 Franklin, was becoming their enthusiasm, I believe. 
 Before his return for the colonies he had thrown 
 horse-racintr into the shade — all Paris thronged 
 towards tlie saloons where the simple garb and 
 sturdy frame were visible, eclipsing his more diplo- 
 matic colleague, M. Silas Deane, and even the 
 brilliancy of the heroic Chevalier Jones, who some- 
 times left his ships to accompany them."
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 143 
 
 " What I the rebel emissaries — the renegade 
 Scotch pirate, you mean, Comit!" Cornet Cob- 
 ham for the first time turned a sharp look at his 
 new friend, but saw it had been ironically meant. 
 
 " Of course the two last are ridiculous," was the 
 reply. " The first vraW. be elevated to the Pantheon 
 of futuritv, aloncr with the immortal Voltaire, with 
 Montesquieu and his fellows, not to forget your 
 own Locke, Hume, and Smith — when tue have 
 ceased to think. You forget, I cannot entertain your 
 national prejudices on either side. I am more Spa- 
 nish, in reality, than French or English; and in- 
 different, even, to these merely honorary titles you 
 give me — which her ladyship, your aunt, wa^ 
 pleased to " 
 
 " Heavens ! And the scoundi'els were in fashion, 
 then!" repeated Cobham, breathlessly. " Popular j 
 Gad, this was suspected, too. So, for all their 
 smooth pretences and professions of late, they may 
 have declared war ! By the way, yonder goes the 
 government telegraph again, at top of the hill 
 — let's know what they ye actually to say about 
 it, from the harbour or perhaps by news from 
 Town ! London post-time is past — should not 
 wonder if all this pother here. Count, really has a 
 cause?" 
 
 " Surely. Yet France has long risen above the 
 folly we imagine, Col)ham ; no, it is but some new 
 shape of our own mad destiny — of that insular
 
 144 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 British pride, I mean, which works its own fate. 
 Hear them ! — those decorous citizens, those pru- 
 dent mothers and withered spinsters, those very 
 girls — Hke yourself, yes, they ivish for war. INiight 
 one not think they and you were indignant at the 
 peace^ as you arrogantly seem to think it, which I 
 cannot believe Europe will rashly break between 
 this infatuated Island and the rising New World." 
 The travelled young stranger undoubtedly had 
 formed his theories of civilisation and of political 
 history; at the irresistible excitement that gTew 
 and met them again through the populous capital of 
 the west, even he was moved. A riotous mob 
 tossed along Castle -street, towards the thick of the 
 darkened city, where the lamps were already 
 lighting over the subsiding concourse of trade, of 
 labour, or of pleasure ; it was wild with the cries, 
 so apt in Bristol, against Catholic and dissenter, 
 against the Whig Opposition of Lord Chatham, 
 against secret agents of Lord Mayor Wilkes or the 
 Americans. Midway, the drum of the recruiting 
 party only ceased to beat while the sergeant bawled 
 his stentorian tidings, more than ever favourable to 
 his purpose : " His Majesty's ambassador just left 
 
 France, my lads — great news by G ! War, 
 
 war! — yes, your honour," to the young cavalry 
 officer, whom he now saluted, "so we do hear, sir, 
 in by to-night's post. Certainly, captain, there's 
 more known at the ban-acks — ship-news, I b'lieve.
 
 THINGS IX THE WIND. 145 
 
 by signal-post out o' harbour. Sent off by courier 
 for town, this hour past — not likely, sir, they'd 
 have told me. No matter, my lads, war — war ! " 
 Upwards, through narrow Mary-le-Port-street, 
 where the quaint high houses overhung to each 
 other, the eager Cornet still hurried his graver 
 friend, whose mood, at least, betrayed a deep 
 annoyance. " Husli, at all events — pray, do not 
 persist in calling me Count ! " said he, forcing a 
 little of the previous gaiety. " Recollect the spies, 
 my good friend. De St. Amand, I told you, is 
 but a title of my mother s family, which her recent 
 death in France led me to expect with some degree 
 of certainty. But now — in this case, if one must 
 choose — the truth is, I prefer my own name, 
 Etherege. Etienne Etherege, simply — if you will 
 so oblio;e me ? " 
 
 " Certainly — oh certainly," agreed Cobham, 
 raised to his highest spirits at the news astir. " You 
 must join us, my dear Etherege." 
 
 " For the time," answered he, less gloomily, 
 " fate may almost compel it. Even afterwards, 
 there are possible circumstances — I had almost for- 
 gotten them — Avhich Do you happen to know 
 
 any officers, here, of your naval ser\T[ce ? " 
 
 " Well, YQYj few ; two or three, or so," allow^ed 
 the Cornet. "Not the most polished men in the 
 w^orld, but social enough — of good family, you see; 
 and hereabouts, there's a sort of favom' for that 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 brancli — but you'll be disappointed in 'em. Be- 
 sides, tliey join very early in life. Yes ; I know 
 one or two." 
 
 "Lieutenant Herbert, perhaps? a relative of 
 my own — of Herbert Court, in the adjoining shire. 
 Commander Herbert, I believe I should now have 
 .said." 
 
 But Cobliam had not had that honour; only 
 knew the gentleman by report : an officer of merit, 
 he believed, and sure to be soon well employed — 
 by the way, if he mistook not, nephew to old Sir 
 Kalph of Kingswood, who very likely had influ- 
 ence in high quarters. It struck the Cornet with 
 interest then, that " in this case he himself, De St. 
 Amand — ^Ii'. Etherege, that was to say, must be 
 related to the wealthv old baronet too." 
 
 " It was so ; but not so nearly." The shadows 
 of the steep-built street, and of the early tmlight, 
 were on both of them, as they slowly rose above 
 the confusion, toward airier suburbs; more sha- 
 dowy yet, however, appeared the pressm'e of unex- 
 pected events, or new considerations, on the brows of 
 St. Amand' s — or Etherege' s — still youthful visage. 
 The spreading intelligence had anticipated their 
 movement in search of it; it was to be gathered 
 now on either side, in this soberer quarter, with a 
 business-like detail, as well as with a settled steadi- 
 ness, next to demonstration. It was not through 
 the post "from Town," that the main fact had been
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 147 
 
 made known, tliougli people thronged to hear how 
 it agreed with the pubKc news, read aloud in some 
 public tavern, where the London Gazette or Intel- 
 ligencer disclosed their scrimped pages on high ; it 
 was brought by the Bristol vessel just come in, 
 whose name was told, and whose owners were 
 known. Had not the swift Mary Jane got before 
 her convoy, and been chased and fired at by a pri- 
 vateer, under rebel colours, but plainly French built? 
 nay, escaping, had she not spoken, off the very 
 coast of France, with a smuggling lugger — whose 
 merry crew had owned the truth, and let out more? 
 The British ambassador had not left, certainly — no 
 — they were still always the politer at the Tuileries, 
 the more he needed to leave. They had not de- 
 clared w^ar yet — no — but in every French port they 
 were getting ready, and in every French town ; and 
 Momiseer die Lafayette had gone off to help the 
 Boston rebels with a shipf ul of French nobles ; and 
 the Bloodv Scotchman ran into French harbours 
 when pursued ; and the- truth would hide so little 
 longer, that they even laughed at it now ! Lord 
 North had spoken in Parliament to that effect — as 
 the papers showed. 
 
 ^' Damnation ! " swore Cornet Cobliam, stamp- 
 ing on the causeway, at the last corner into the 
 Bath Road. "No wonder the people talk! It 
 
 can't be borne longer, by G ! I must liurry to 
 
 quarters, though — a lively mess-table we shall have 
 
 l2
 
 148 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 of it. But join us, I say, Etlierege — yes, as I said, 
 join us." The young Cornet's energy gave expres- 
 sion to his common-place features, so supported by 
 his stature, and sportsman-like robustness, that 
 Etherege replied with a half - wondering look. 
 ^'Thanks; but my dress — it rains, too. No; I 
 have letters to look for, at my inn ; and may write 
 others. My inn, the Neio Cannynges Arms^ lies 
 the other way." 
 
 "I meant the regiment," explained Cobham, 
 somewhat awkwardly — " Ligonier's Light Horse — 
 the 11th Dragoons. They said, cavalry couldn't act 
 in the colonies, you know. Why, I never exactly 
 understood — ^but I dare say Cornwallis and Bur- 
 goyne will soon give a good account of tlwn; and 
 our business will very likely lie in the Low Countries 
 again. 'Twould be odd, some fine morning, 
 wouldn't it ? to come upon that dull Dutch place 
 I told you of, where I broke off the tour. We may 
 even see Paris together, yet, in a very different 
 style. Yes; join us, Etherege. Commissions wall 
 soon be hard to get; but I'm sui'e my grandfather, 
 the old earl, would have pleasure ^" 
 
 " You flatter me indeed," was the equally warm 
 reply, though with a decided gesture in the ne- 
 gative. "Impossible, Cobham. I have not affected 
 to hide the contempt for either form of that bigotry, 
 that popular superstition, which must now be mad-
 
 THINGS IX THE WIND. 149 
 
 dening both nations. The sentiment is, in fact, 
 shared by your accomphshed aunt, Lady Fan- 
 shawe, in common with all the cultivated wit of 
 this age and the last ; and you yourself evidently 
 attribute qualities to me on that ground, beyond 
 my merits. 1 have doubtless travelled more than 
 you ; the difference of our age, is, perhaps, greater 
 than it seems, for the blood first warmed under the 
 tropic, runs faster; and were I to say, I have 
 still my creed which I believe in — but your profes- 
 sion, your early associations — no — in tlie case of 
 war, we have but to differ." 
 
 "Faith, yes," said the young officer, more drily. 
 " I have heard of the Quakers doing so ; the 
 Friendly Society they're called, or something. If 
 you mean that, why " 
 
 "I can only mean the indifference of a guest 
 among both," said the other, quietly. " There are, 
 indeed, points of honour which may have required 
 this fashionable toy," he just touched the ch'ess- 
 sword he of course wore, " where these points are 
 more fantastic than in England. But here — even 
 here, my friend, where my errand might demand 
 the same personal resort — there is at least Justice, 
 the boasted Law of Britain, which I should prefer 
 to claim." The rising passion of his manner still 
 detained the Cornet. " Your war cannot disturb 
 tliatj I trust," persisted Etherege, looking round,
 
 1 50 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 his voice husky with its emphasis. " Surely this 
 vulgar panic or fury will not be allowed to affect 
 the clue satisfaction on the part of a foreigner." 
 
 " No — no — never," answered Cobliam, decidedly. 
 "French, or not, no difference whatever on that 
 score ; if my services as a friend can help you, 
 vou know, command 'em at a moment's warning." 
 
 "It is not for myself, but for one who — could 
 not accompany me yet," said Etherege, calmly, 
 with the greater quiet of the suburban place. " A 
 noble Spaniard, wliose honour must prescribe the 
 means. Again thanks, ]\ir. Cobham — but lie will 
 f olloAv me. Time and caution are requisite — enough 
 of blood, it may be. The sentiment of duty is so 
 little vindictive as to be satisfied, where there are 
 laws that profess to be inflexible." He held out 
 his hand to separate. 
 
 "Well, the rain will spoil my shooting-party," 
 concluded Cobham, laughing as they parted. " No 
 matter; full news all to-morrow in the Hotwells 
 pump-room. I forgot — you're to dine t'other way, 
 where you can judge — ha! — well — if the little 
 Spencer be one to swoon at news of war ! " 
 
 "A marble fair one? Ah!" smiled Etherege, 
 very cordially. " I have seen such — no attractive 
 pastime while awaiting letters from abroad. With 
 war at hand, too, even the fascination of commerce 
 may fail to detain me here. Au revoir, however." 
 He drew his cloak round him, and turned in his
 
 THINGS IX THE WIXD. 151 
 
 owii direction. At tliat heio-lit tlie -syind Avas trou- 
 blesome, tliougli sunset under tlie clouds came 
 flaring far again, from seaward over the deep- 
 banked windin£>: of the Avon : the noise below was 
 settling down, while the street-lamps spread, patrols 
 of watchmen mustered, and pickets of foot-soldiers 
 from the l^ai'racks cleared the way, as they gathered 
 drunken comrades home; not without a warning 
 hint or two of press-gangs from the harboui*, who 
 Avould use no ceremony, if needed. It seemed safe 
 enough now to seek a nearer and more sheltered 
 route to the New Canny nges Arms as Etherege 
 did ; his eye even pondered thoughtfully the deep 
 in'egular quaintness of the street he took, catching 
 along from the sky a glassy brightness on one side, 
 in braA'e old Elizabethan fronts that seemed all 
 casement. A stranger could not but note, indeed, 
 how slight the hold taken by passing tumult upon 
 its thriving order, which this way and that way 
 branched to yet busier vistas. From its under- 
 browed shops and booths and stalls, where peri- 
 wifTixed buro-hers o;roped back to lio-ht their snoods for 
 a while — into chequered tavern doors, wdiose broad 
 bar-windows glowed and grew jovial ; from the 
 clusters of old gossips stooping their cocked beavers 
 together at each corner, under projecting stories — 
 to the outer stairways, up which lagging damsels 
 hastened with market-basket or water-pitcher — all 
 was but the stir of a coarse civic life, returning to
 
 1 52 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 its channels. Satisfaction at tlie change might 
 have been seen in the survey of Etherege; nay, 
 here and there his vivid face would turn the cur- 
 rent of discourse above, between some pair of bare- 
 armed, close-capped crones, exchanging news from 
 opposite garrets, or amongst the frilled heads of 
 matrons set together at a balconied lattice. An 
 elevated interest, not unmixed at times with invo- 
 luntary pity, or sudden ingenuous wonder, marked 
 his look to shrewder citizens, with one or two of 
 whom he dropped a courteous word as he asked his 
 way; and most of all, a flattering whisper rose upon 
 his steps, from more than one group which his pas- 
 sage drew to sight : groups with true Bristol beauty 
 in them ; tight young hoydens of rich Somersetshire, 
 bright-eyed, cherry-cheeked, imder their red hoods; 
 or slim blue eyed Gloucestershire maids, peeping 
 from behind their sober mothers, with looped un- 
 powdered hair fringed round their foreheads in little 
 tags, and tied with a gay bit of ribbon behind the ears, 
 thouoh kerchiefs of demurest lavender mio-ht fold 
 them from the budded bosom to the dimpled chin. 
 For Wesleyan evening meetings had strongly influ- 
 enced the middle classes of Bristol then, and hymn- 
 books were in hand, to take to the obscure chapel 
 up some dingy alley, as soon as business should be 
 Avell over ; humbler people already flocking thither. 
 Traits so novel to the most practised traveller 
 were far from being lost on the young stranger from 
 abroad ; his silent thoughts were even vented for
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 153 
 
 a moment J as if the Cornet were still by, when a 
 last red reflection fell along the windy sky, and 
 glanced down to the slanted shade, catching tip 
 these wanner tints of fresh young faces. 
 
 " I had not dreamt of this in England ! " he ex- 
 claimed, turning to gaze again. " What bloom ! 
 what nature ! Ah — amigo mio, Seiior Cobham — 
 if she had chanced to be of the stamp of some of 
 these — like that little white rosebud, there, who 
 can blush so, and turn away. Then, perhaps, even 
 Paris " 
 
 The blushing girl did not court the gaze again, 
 though, as she passed with the rest : the nearest of 
 the grave-eyed burghers dropped their talk to stare 
 at the animated speaker, till he was gone. As to 
 the words so abruptly uttered, they Avere in Spanish, 
 and so left no meanino; behind. 
 
 The last light faded off Bristol's topmost roofs, 
 leaving their cold-blue slates and dull-red tiles to 
 glisten out bleakly with the shower ; the very flocks 
 of many-hued pigeons were done with buffeting to 
 their shelter at home there : it was shadowy below, 
 the wet thoroughfares into which Etherege hurried 
 were emptying but too quickly, and shimmered 
 drearily with reflections of the swinging oil-lamps 
 that a'u^ided his course. He mio;ht have been at a 
 loss for it soon, again coming, as it seemed, upon 
 signs of the harbour he had left in company with 
 Cobham : it was but that central quarter, indeed, 
 where the Froom opens canal-like to the main
 
 154 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 stream, amidst piles of warehouses and backs of 
 streets in the town ; crossed midway by a jointed 
 swing-bridge, now left fast, over which the distant 
 tower of a known church shot up. The cloudy 
 moon was rising from behind it, as he quickened 
 his steps that way ; amly though the dusk stirred 
 there, and promised to clear riverward, he did not 
 care to see how the wet spars of the nearest 
 ships began to gleam, how the sails hung dark and 
 dripping, with a rustle of mooring-ropes in their 
 rings of iron, as they rose tightened from the water, 
 where the welter and gi'oan of docks blew by. 
 Something there was in these things, rather, to 
 rouse a solitary shiver in him, making him clutch 
 his dress-sword, erect though he trod past, and 
 amle ; or the cause mi£!:ht lie in that wafted 
 aroma from tropical cargoes, mingling with ruder 
 scents at hand — if not at the long broken yell 
 of some belated crew still haulino* in from sea, 
 or some drunken baro-eman's . half -wakened oath 
 from under the quay ; for on Etherege's finger, 
 in the simple guard to a plain mourning-ring he 
 wore, there glistened a half-cut diamond of the 
 largest and rarest sort. Once across, he looked up 
 relieved, to a lamp-lit corner with a name on it, 
 but started all the more at a veiy natural recogni- 
 tion — "Froom-lane," a place from which he needed 
 no guidance, having sought it before, and passed 
 it since. Even as he tm'ned straight up, another
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 155 
 
 light came out from the doors of Broaclby and Co.'s 
 counting-house, with guides enough if he had so 
 required. 
 
 An okl clerk was leaving the premises for the 
 night, followed by a porter with keys and a lantern, 
 who locked the doors while the other waited ; near 
 them stood a vouno; lad in a rouo^h boat-coat, 
 striking his ch'enched cap against the wall as he 
 talked loudly to the clerk. " Well, at any rate," 
 he briskly said, "we've got her safe outside the 
 dock-gates for to-morrow morning. So there's no 
 doubt now, Mr. Hutton, it was a Frenchman that 
 gave chase and fired at her — the men told no 
 lie, either, about the French being bent on war — 
 we're going to take the start, it seems, and de- 
 clare it ! Does my father know the grand news, 
 then?" 
 
 " Certainly, Master Henry," said the clerk ; 
 "no one more requh'ed so to do. As in duty 
 bound, we sent word up to Beech Grove direct — 
 but did not see needful to come down in person, sir, 
 it's true — though a serious matter it is surely. Your 
 worthy papa will consider so this night, I do fear." 
 The clerk took the keys, respectfully raised his 
 high-brimmed beaver, wished good-night, and re- 
 tired. His young master hastened to the side of the 
 timber-creek close by, wdiere it proved that a boat 
 was dipping by the small wharf, with a negro in it, 
 who sleepily held on.
 
 156 CAPTAIN HERBEKT. 
 
 " HuiTali ! here, Diamond, my boy I " the youth 
 shouted. " All's true, and more. More war to be 
 declared. The French have gone and joined Cap- 
 tain Dodge ! " 
 
 The black man's eyes opened wide indeed, rolling 
 their white wildly around ; wdiile his teeth, filed 
 sharp in front, enhanced the savage effect as he 
 leapt at a bound upon the wharf. " Oh ! Great 
 Fetish! Cap'n Dosh!" he almost howled, making 
 violent motions of a boat-hook, whether warhke or 
 rather friendly it was hard to tell. "Iss, mas'r 
 Arreeo! Oo — oorr — oorray! But he berr)^ great 
 man, Cap'n Dosh." The boat meanwhile, now let 
 heave away and now pulled back, made, in the 
 dusk, equally strange movements and curvettings. 
 
 " Make fast the boat, Dick," said the boy, per- 
 emptoiily, " and come up and dance the great war- 
 dance for the Skipper. Ten to one but you and I 
 will have the odds of him somehow yet, in blue water 
 —a great man, indeed ! Wait till you know Com- 
 mander Herbert — he'll get his frigate now, certain. 
 I bet he takes it, though all the Papist baronets in 
 the w^orld left then' money to that cousin of his, 
 that Count ! Most likely, from what I hear, an 
 infidel after all — but of course. Diamond, you 
 don't understand me. Don't stare ! make fast the 
 boat, I say, and you'll be a topman yet in Captain 
 Herbert's new frigate." 
 
 A surprised exclamation broke from the puzzled
 
 THINGS IN THE WIND. 157 
 
 Etherege, as he left a pair of cliuckling clockmen 
 who had looked on with him, and passed, adding a 
 last question about the way into Brandon-street. 
 "Carramba!" he had ejaculated, in the fluent 
 Spanish which seemed most natural to him, " this 
 is surely fate — it is destiny ! " 
 
 " Who was tliat ? " the boy called out, not recog- 
 nising the cloaked figure, as he himself had pro- 
 bably recalled no personal knowledge on the gen- 
 tleman's part. " Some voice I've heard before — a 
 Frenchman ? " 
 
 " Not like it, young master," said the dockmen. 
 " Anyhow, axed w^os that 'ere the way to Brandon- 
 street pretty manfuUish. — Dutch, as it stroikes /," 
 added one. 
 
 " Espagnole, Senor Enrico," grinned black Dia- 
 mond, who had been krooman to Spanish slaves 
 before the unscrupulous American shipmaster seized 
 and kept him. 
 
 "Ah, you heard, did you, Dick?" said Harry. 
 " You take better to these lingos, too, somehow. 
 What did he say, then, in plain English ? — for it's 
 a voice I somehow didn't like." 
 
 Evidently, translation cost the Krooman no little 
 effort, but by dint of slowly grinding his hard sea- 
 man's hat about his head, he seemed to circle round 
 upon some synonymous words. " — he say, ^ 'Dis 
 fetishy " was the rather dark disclosure. " 'Dis be 
 Obi for true,' he say. You no savvey dat, mass'r
 
 158 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Arrie ? Ho ! ho ! ho ! Obi — iss, sar — cle berry 
 t'ing — Obi." And Dick Diamond, though falhng 
 in behind to his usual station as they walked home- 
 ward, showed himself a little disposed to return 
 the compassionate glance of Master Spencer. The 
 Hottentots, pee\dshly mentioned by that young 
 gentleman, were a distinct tribe of whom Diamond 
 scorned to hear ; but he understood well that no 
 mere difference of tongues could strip the mysterious 
 spell from Obi.
 
 159 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 ME. ETHEEEGE AT BEECH GEOAT:. 
 
 Despite these serious public changes, the ap- 
 pointed dinner-party came off at the merchant's 
 retired suburban residence, with all that due air of 
 unalterable arrangement and of enthe domestic re- 
 laxation from business cares, which became his 
 conspicuous standing in the city. Complete in the 
 somewhat elaborate self-composure he derived from 
 hereditary good-breeding, as well as from education 
 and travel seldom brought to commercial use in his 
 day, he possessed at home the most suitable of sup- 
 ports, in the placid natural ease of Mrs. Spencer. 
 Beside her, unless the contrast struck at first on a 
 too refining eye, he even showed to advantage ; 
 tending to sink the slight prominence of some 
 traits, and to blend others in that manner attribu- 
 table to long intercoui'se in the closest bonds.
 
 IGO CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Soft, fair, full, not saying much nor seeming to 
 know more, but with a ready dimpling to smile out 
 her courtesies, she had the unde fin able air of what 
 was then called "' quality" — the county air, her 
 Somersetshire friends were apt to say — the " air 
 noble," it might almost have appeared to a guest 
 like him for whom Mr. Spencer had really brought 
 about the social occasion. Of this latter fact, and of 
 any special importance in Mr. Etherege beyond 
 what was shown — beyond that of some who met him 
 there — she obviously knew little and guessed less. 
 He was indeed younger than she had expected, 
 perhaps handsomer, certainly more agreeable by 
 far ; he Was not, after all, exactly a foreigner, but 
 a native of the West India Islands, where British 
 interests and British power were next thing to 
 supreme, according to her vague conception — 
 neither did his fine dark eye and pale olive com- 
 plexion show the least trace of that blood, so very 
 unpleasant even to think of — the truth being, that 
 any .such idea had been quite exploded by Harry's 
 care to report the office rumoui's touching " the 
 Count's" English kinship. Certain stubborn Eng- 
 lish prejudices Mrs. Spencer had doubtless enter- 
 tained till the last, against all counts or barons 
 whatsoever, the more particularly if young, hand- 
 some, and bringing introductions to British mer- 
 chants of kno\^^l means, who had daughters at 
 home; not all her husband's knowledge of the
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 161 
 
 world and Lis characteristic judgment in such 
 matters, even taken with the very certainty of the 
 stranger's own wealth and possible prospects, could 
 prevent her availing herself of the fact that he sat 
 by her in the place of chief honour, to use her 
 cautious woman's instinct on the point. ^lotherly 
 considerations sharpened the feeling, when she 
 looked from Jane's acknowledged beauty — set off 
 that evening in the height of the mode, though 
 with no lack of taste in hidino- unusual care — to 
 "that u'omany Lady Diana Fanshawel" (invited, 
 certainly, not through any wish of ^Ii's. Spencer's) 
 with her crotchet of what she chose to style the 
 severe classic costume, and her unaccountable ragre 
 to have all sorts of foreigners in her train, and 
 that airy patchwork talk of hers, all sprinkled 
 through with Italian and French, which she had a 
 high-bred way of addressing to select persons alone. 
 But though her ladyship did not scruple at times 
 to direct her conversation from some distance to 
 ^Ir. Etherege, as if the wit of a remark lay between 
 them — for Jane on the opposite side to show her 
 smiling comprehension — and to add, perhaps, a 
 thought on her own part [which could be quick 
 enough when she so chose] — still there was a quiet- 
 ness about the manner of the young traveller, a 
 perfect openness in his notice of Jane's undeniable 
 attractions, and on the whole an equal readiness to 
 VOL. I. M
 
 1G2 ' CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 turn to any other lady, which combined with minor 
 traits to set IVirs. Spencer's mind at rest. 
 
 To herself his behaviour was pointed by a scru- 
 pulous observance of the attentions due in that 
 place at table ; at first so very formally, it might 
 have been, as, without other conversation, to avoid 
 courting any nearer acquaintance ; but when she 
 gave up her doubts and won him on to speak with 
 her, there soon succeeded a graver and more 
 genuine considerateness, almost kindly in its re- 
 sponse to her own. From the sombre richness of 
 the dress-suit he wore, and the mouming-ring on 
 his hand — secm'ed by the only thing like orna- 
 ment that marked him, a plain gold guard with its 
 one priceless gem — and still more, as it struck 
 her, from this very gravity underneath his politest 
 smiles, giving occasional gloom to the brilliant eye 
 — it was e^ddent that Mr. Ethereoje had suffered a 
 familv loss not lono; ao;o. There was hair in the 
 ring, grey hair — the silky- hair of a woman, it had 
 once been; his mother's probably. She did not 
 advert to any such bereavement, nor did he ; but 
 of the name Etherege, it was easy to say, gently, 
 that she thought she had heard of it in England 
 somewhere, as being thorough English, and perhaps 
 connected with his o^^^l. 
 
 "I was not aware of it, madam," he said, no less 
 gently, but briefly; "the resemblance must be 
 accidental, however — on that side I have no con-
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 163 
 
 nexion with this country, except " at that there 
 
 seemed to rise a harsh note in his voice, which 
 might have drawn general notice as he stopped 
 abruptly, had there not been a sufficient flow of talk 
 round the busy table before his hostess ventured on 
 the question. She felt from the sudden blenching 
 of his colourless cheek, that it was not embarrass- 
 ment but a painful emotion ; and hastened to pass 
 it off with excuses on her own i^art. " Nay, it was 
 most natm^al," he returned, bending acknowledg- 
 ment to the entire simplicity of her words, and 
 more than ever softenino; his tone ; " for the cu'- 
 cumstances must now strip me altogether of any 
 other title, unless — perhaps — yes, Mrs. Spencer, 
 this may not only be my first enjoyment of such a 
 pleasm-e, but the last also — as I may soon return 
 to France. To do that noiv;^ one must lose no time, 
 and I have letters so late as last night, pressing me 
 to use the brief opportunity." 
 
 " So soon ? " she merely asked ; for it was quite 
 conceivable how a sudden outbreak of hostilities 
 might have changed his position, rendering it de- 
 licate indeed for a strans^er situated as he was. 
 " But of course," continued she, ^^ being so bitter 
 against us there, they will want every one to help 
 — they will spare nothing to make enemies to 
 us." Mrs. Spencer was grave in her turn, too, 
 as well as a little pale; but checked herself to 
 add smilingly, what was at once the finest com- 
 
 m2
 
 164 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 pliment, and most irresistible appeal, from a lady's 
 lips. " However, mj lord, if you must be num- 
 bered among tliem, I hope it will only be in the 
 most general sense : you are not asked, I do 
 trust, to join their army or navy. 'Tis true the 
 French have not behaved with so gallant a spirit 
 just now, nor so honourably, but that they may 
 be glad to enlist these qualities to their help, 
 wherever free for it. Happily, as yet, we have 
 no particular reason to — to dread the thought ; 
 all are here at home now^ except our eldest son, 
 Goscroft, who is at Oxford. But I already sus- 
 pect my youngest — a mere boy, who sits yonder — 
 of some wild design which he may find means 
 
 to gratify ; and — and, in short " Here there 
 
 rose to her face a little uneasy flutter and flush — 
 perhaps increased by the glimpse of Mr. Etherege's 
 profile, aquiline and firm, turned for the moment 
 to a footman's muttered inquiry whether he took 
 champagne. He had spoken of voyages in her 
 hearing, and of tropical hurricanes he had seen ; 
 also of an escape in a Bermuda yacht from cor- 
 sairs he afterwards assisted to capture. Besides, 
 was he not said to be a cousin of Herbert, the 
 active young sea-oflicer, whom, however, she did 
 not now take the liberty of mentioning. " In short, 
 it would be the more distressing since we have seen 
 something of Count Etherege ; it would cost ine
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 165 
 
 some alarm," she even went so far as to add with 
 a subtile maternal boldness, " to think he left 
 England too soon to feel kindly of us — as aught 
 else than a friend, indeed." 
 
 Half conventional though the flattery was, she 
 had proved his face by no means the mere chiselled 
 marble it appeared : his low bow did not alto- 
 gether hide a quick, candid glance of the dark 
 eye, while in the lowered tones of his answer there 
 was something almost musically deferential and 
 tender. "It is nothing but a mother's remem- 
 brance that draws me back there, madam. Little 
 as I had ever known of this feeling, still, perhaps, 
 when forced to decide, it is enough. Yes — we 
 shall only be friends there ; I have no such offers, 
 no such ambitions or abilities, as you imply. 
 The resolution would be difficult indeed — believe 
 me — whicdi should place any one among the very 
 few enemies whom Mrs. Spencer and her ingenuous 
 family could ever have cause to " 
 
 " Thomas ! " ordered his host, a little sharply, to 
 a servant ; " carry that dish to Mr. Etherege. To 
 His Worship the Mayor, also." Mr. Spencer, 
 through all the general sound and dialogue which 
 seemed occasionally to engross his management, 
 had still a thoughtful eye for their guest from 
 abroad; whose place in a country so aroused to 
 anger, as well as so novel to a stranger, appeared
 
 IGC) CAPTAIN PIERBERT. 
 
 to claim peculiar consideration ; whose growing 
 cordialityj liow^ever, witli the lady of the house, 
 was satisfactory to observe. 
 
 " I declare I delight for once to think," it had 
 been exclaimed by Lady Die Fan sh awe, " of Paris 
 being closed for a little. We poor people about 
 the Hotwells will gain by it. They say Horace 
 Walpole's gout must bring him here, instead of 
 sending him to Ems ; and as to your claims on the 
 
 Versailles Court, my dear M. St. Aiuand " 
 
 Their host's side-directions had been more than 
 once pointed toAvards such wilful solecisms as her 
 ladyship here persisted in. She favoured him, 
 indeed, with a slight glassy stare of the fashionable 
 kind ; but Mr. Spencer was above it. There had 
 been an emphasis in his distinguished young 
 visitor's preference for the plain patronymic, 
 strongly marked at their first interview, which 
 he was decided in supporting, even when the 
 mayor had spoken of " his lordship," and the 
 worthy banker who was present had addressed the 
 young traveller as " Count." " True — true — 
 thank ye, Mr. Spencer," resumed Lady Die ; " I 
 mean, mon cliev M. Ether eg e — a propos of these 
 affairs, you know, our good English folks care little 
 for 'em; you cannot believe, surely, these silly 
 quarrels between diplomats can signify? No true 
 cosmopolite gives it a thought. We shall do our 
 best here, I vow, this winter, to outshine the town
 
 MR. ETHEKEGE AT BEECH GROVE. 167 
 
 itself in keeping you quite disennuyee ! " Mr. 
 Etherege made some polished response, but without 
 any decided sparkle of wit. He had gradually 
 been becoming that evening, as her ladyship whis- 
 j)ered to Jane Spencer, more than ever distrait 
 and preoccupied in manner — nay, for Jihn, pro- 
 digiously dull. 
 
 "This war, IMr. Spencer, sir," the wealthy 
 Mayor of Bristol was loudly saying from the 
 other side, " is most exceedingly unpleasant, to be 
 sure ; but it's what was to be looked for. Clears 
 the ground, sir — let us understand who's who, and 
 where we are — don't it? Some must go to the 
 wall ere it's done, no doubt ; some, on the contrary, 
 are a deal too solid to fear it. The country will 
 stand it, gentlemen, as she's stood it before ! " 
 
 " Surely, most atrocious on the part of France, 
 however, Sh' Timothy," remarked the milder 
 banker, head of their host's long-esteemed bank- 
 ing-house in to^^^ll, who sat nearer to him. " We 
 had imagined far otherwise of Kins: Louis XYI. 
 — always supposed a most amiable, liberal-minded, 
 intelli2:ent sovereio-n." 
 
 " He'll repent it pretty soon ; he'll be made to 
 repent it as soon as we've time to turn round ! " 
 hotly continued the old general, who had stirred 
 the imminent topic. "Our best rising officers seem 
 to be in India; but since Wolfe fell in the arms 
 of glory at Quebec, I deny — I deny that a better
 
 168 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 tactician than Lord Cornwallis ever stepped! 
 Bring him home, say I — bring him home, sir! 
 That dull militia-man — what's his name — Wash- 
 ingham — don't need a man of ability to oppose him ; 
 just as well beat, depend on't, or lost-to either, 
 by an ordinary brigadier with some irregular 
 local force to back him." The veteran general sat 
 back exhausted, but confident of having spoken 
 from experience ; which was modestly corroborated 
 by the only other authority there — an unfortunate 
 exile from ruined Poland, of noble birth and 
 militarv title, rather allowed than invited to come 
 in the train of Lady Die. 
 
 " Lifidelity," interposed the sonorous voice of 
 the dignified rector of Emerton and Wrixworth 
 (who was present at Miss Mary Spencer's side by 
 the happy accident of a passing visit to town) 
 — " infidelity having sapped the foundations of 
 the faith in France — such as that faith was — her 
 honour has proved worthless. Can we, then, 
 wonder much, Mr. Spencer, at this foul league 
 \^dth rebellion % " 
 
 There was about Mr. Spencer's countenance 
 and manner, as he sat conspicuous, a degree of 
 calmness offerinsi; the strongest contrast to the 
 excited tendency of his guests ; wdiich he rather 
 laid himself out to soothe. He had once or twice 
 cheeringly alluded to the deep foundations of 
 British power, and to its wide extent, so incompre-
 
 MK. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 169 
 
 hensible hj rivals — to the allowance which must 
 be made for the latter, too, on the score of old 
 spites and grudges that came up at sight of her 
 ceaseless prosperity, however pitiable these. He 
 had quoted his favourite Horace at least once : 
 in reference to the various wars in different 
 quarters of the globe at present carried on by 
 British arms, or threatening to multiply their 
 activity — in ancient India, where the " Company " 
 began to prevail over the great Mogul — in the New 
 World, Avhere the very vastness of empire was 
 an encumbrance — now also from French jealousy, 
 perhaps soon from the envious Dutch, and from 
 well-known Spanish pique about Gibraltar — in re- 
 spect of all this he inclined to a somewhat magnilo- 
 quent confidence in the future. Lady Die herself 
 w^as amused b}^ the apt comparison to Roman 
 grandeur, when he reminded the still anxious 
 mayor most unanswerably of a circumstance in 
 classical histoiy, gi'eatly to the restoration of good 
 humour in the general, and to the rector's high 
 approval. 
 
 " It was affectation, you will say, Sir Timothy — 
 and I admit it," he said ; " but still a grand 
 affectation, which the event justified. Hannibal 
 was already fated to ruin when he thundered 
 before the Roman gates from luxurious Capua; 
 Carthacve was destined to share the doom of his 
 terrible hostility — sworn, you recollect, out of
 
 170 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 intense revenge for a father's ^\Tongs " 
 
 Here even Mrs. Spencer suspended lier good 
 offices at the other end; for it was a kind of 
 little speech, illuminating the general question that 
 had doubtless tended to damp the party. Her con- 
 spicuous right-hand guest was courteously listening 
 to a fair neighbour, the general's daughter, who 
 stopped too — so suddenly, it might be, that the 
 calm ]\ii'. Etherege even started ; his eye taking a 
 slow turn to his host, with an enquiring flash 
 in it, as if he questioned some apparent impolite- 
 ness., 
 
 "What was the first Roman act on that oc- 
 casion ? " smiled Isir. Spencer, looking round 
 unconscious of offence — indeed stimulated by 
 the respectful pause, as he again turned tov/ards 
 the mayor. "Why, sir, raised to foresight, it is 
 possible, by a sagacious augury from these previous 
 facts on the part of her foe, the stern republic did 
 not hesitate to send out a legion the other way for 
 Hither Gaul; and the very ground occupied by 
 the besiegers was offered for sale that day — ay, 
 bought too, in her public Forum. Our own 
 country is not given to such affectations, I rejoice 
 to add ; but it is something remarkable to read 
 in our public papers, just now, of bills to relieve 
 Dissenters (however unsuccessful), of charges 
 against the East India Company in its treatment 
 of conquered Rajahs, of discussions to regulate 
 the slave trade, of Captain Cook's new discoveries
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 171 
 
 toward the austral pole. It is even sometliing, 
 as yon and I may venture to say, IMi*. Mayor, that 
 with the old British ensign flying from a good 
 convoy — our insurances may rise, indeed — but our 
 most lucrative enterprises can go on securely, nay, 
 in many cases, more profitably than before." 
 
 With thorough cordiality the mayor nodded his 
 emphatic assent, amidst a slight but general mur- 
 mur of approval. Their host signed to his respect- 
 able old butler as the wine was duly placed on the 
 shining mahogany; evidently bent on prefacing 
 by a loyal toast the usual health-drinking all round 
 (which at that day had begun, in limited companies, 
 to succeed the old-fashioned namino; of favoured 
 belles and beaux respectively, coupled with airy 
 sentiments). ^' Yes — whether it be reveno-e for 
 Canada," concluded he, " or what is worse, their 
 fiendish wish to aggravate our natural parental 
 wrongs " 
 
 But ISIt. Spencer, happily unnoticed by the 
 enlivened company at large, here hesitated and came 
 to a dead stop veiy awkwardly, with his eye fasci- 
 nated toward that of his most honoured guest. 
 Was it that the handsome young traveller meant 
 to pierce into the reality of this composure in his 
 host, or did he mean to sneer at its grounds ; or 
 was it rather because good Mr. Fortescue the 
 banker shook his head so inopportunely, dropping 
 one of his timid remarks to Mr. Spencer at the 
 moment, which the latter absoluteiy delayed to
 
 172 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 answer — following Etherege's retracted gaze as he 
 did, with ill-concealed uneasiness. It seemed but 
 a fancy, though, for the latter bent again to the 
 sprightly Miss Bridthorpe with the utmost suavity. 
 The fi^ood banker was not difficult to convince in 
 a few quiet words; it was owing chiefly to the 
 movincf attendants and shifted wax-liohts as the two 
 conversed, that the shade brought out the lines of 
 care on the merchant's forehead, or his cheek looked 
 haggard, as if last night had been sleepless with him. 
 
 " Well, well," resumed he aloud, with all hospi- 
 table gaiety, " when the wine is left with us, 
 gentlemen, let's talk it out if you will ! 'Tis no 
 theme for the dessert, among ladies — as I am glad 
 to see Lady Diana Fanshawe agreeing. Neither 
 must an unprejudiced traveller like our young 
 friend be led to imagine for an instant that we 
 would bias — yes — a — the pine- apples are home- 
 grown, I think, general — no, Jenkins says from 
 Jamaica, but good, by our last vessel, a fast sailer. 
 Are not those grapes, there, my dear, English at all 
 events ? Perhaps Mr. Etherege can be persuaded 
 to judge between our native forcing, up here at 
 Beech Grove, and those of Beaujolais or Beaune ? 
 Were / to hint a preference from having tasted 
 both, it might be prejudice still ! " 
 
 At Mrs. Spencer's gentle instance, Mr. Etherege 
 took one of the glowing clusters. Having tasted 
 it, he bowed in reply, with his most ceremonious
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 173 
 
 smile. "Truly delicious, dear sir!" lie said, 
 quickly. " In this, as in other respects, I cannot 
 but confirm your choice. An enviable country, 
 beyond doubt, to other countries — tempting indeed, 
 to any foot once placed on it and claimed by no 
 other soil." And as he turned once more to his 
 attractive neighbour, looks were involuntarily ex- 
 changed between host and hostess ; which showed 
 the latter for the instant that her husband felt no 
 common pleasure, nor had it been any slight 
 anxiety which his present satisfaction replaced. 
 If their interesting visitor did not yet quite come 
 up to the " Hotwells " report of his brilliant mt, 
 yet a peculiar grace of manner was inseparable 
 from his gravest glances or most accidental atti- 
 tude ; his slightly perceptible accent was not so 
 much foreign, according to the rector's side-remark, 
 as indicative of a scholarly habit amidst the natural 
 disadvantages to be contended with in our planta- 
 tions abroad ; to which view his somewhat obsolete 
 idiom agreed, as if Lord Chesterfield or some other 
 departed model had indeed risen again. But he 
 was far too reanimated, too young, too redolent of 
 whatever was fervid and plenteous in the rich 
 tropics, to suggest the least idea of such dangerous, 
 such fatal and forgotten sentiments as they had 
 breathed. By ladies near him, this impression was 
 felt beyond doubt ; the old general's daughter, 
 Miss Biidthorpe — though an only child, a real
 
 174 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 heiress, a country belle^witliout pretence to wit 
 had sufficient charm to draw out the fact : no more 
 was evident, at the same time, than a repressed 
 proneness in Mr. Etherege to sudden impulse, and 
 a conscious remembrance of enthusiasms he still 
 inclined for ; as she spoke to him in her composed 
 high-bred Wciy, alike of the Alps they had both 
 seen on the grand tour, of the ignorance, the 
 oppression, the serfdom they had both been pained 
 at on the Continent, and of rural Somersetshire 
 which was known only to her and Mrs. Spencer. 
 '^ Ah ! Again this country of Somerset-sheer, 
 which you paint more than ever alluringly. Miss 
 Bridthorpe ! " was the answer, and as he stooped to 
 hand fruit near her plate, the light of his expression 
 was displaced again by a stern shadow. But how- 
 ever stern, however sombre the firm profile might 
 for a moment seem, there still came hovering to 
 the ear that little youthful imperfection of his 
 English speech ; no doubt lessening with practice, 
 but appearing to soften aught Spaniard-like, aught 
 ominous — and in itself, at times, musical. '' An in- 
 terior Enoland, this shire mi^ht indeed be ima- 
 gined," he said. " There, too, it seems, I have a 
 relative — but not a wealthy one. Miss Bridthorpe. 
 No. Those more worth visiting, I was told, live else- 
 where — besides, I had alreadv met them in London." 
 He laughed shghtly then ; the young lady smiling 
 just so much as became her. Miss Bridthorpe was
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 175 
 
 not so young as Jane Spencer, nor by any means 
 so regular a beauty ; but her toilet was simpler, 
 her smiles more natural, her voice lower. 
 
 " You will visit it, however ?" she asked, with 
 polite interest. " Think, Mrs. Spencer ! Somerset- 
 shire — and !Mt. Ethereo'e in too OTeat haste to see 
 it ! Even in winter, you know, it is worth while — 
 Christmas is well kept yet, I assure you, down in 
 Somersetshire." 
 
 " Yes, we still know that. It could not be better 
 seen than at Herbert Court still, Mr. Etherege," 
 Avas the matron's warm response. " The Herberts — 
 ah — true, you did not mention them — I only heard 
 my boy Harry talk to his sisters of the relationship. 
 To be sure, as a piece of private counting-house 
 business — which he perhaps ought not to have 
 overheard, still less reported ?" 
 
 " But it was so far from being confidential, dear 
 madam," said Etherege very blandly, "that Mr. 
 Spencer himself was the first to inform me accu- 
 rately upon it, as well from common knovrledge as 
 from acute inference on his own part. The young 
 gentleman certainly committed no breach of pro- 
 priety in this, believe me ! " 
 
 Now, toward the foot of the table, in a perfectly 
 presentable suit, was of course seated Master Harry, 
 offerino- that mere diminution of the full-rn'own 
 gentleman which the eighteenth century approved 
 in such cases, and as to his general manner quite
 
 17G CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 what was called, by his sister Mary, " on his p's 
 and q's." The sole charge that could have been 
 made against this, throughout dinner, was his too 
 marked interest in " the Count " — his comparative 
 neglect, whether of plain roast beef or made dishes, 
 of pie, trifle, jelly, or fruit ; apparently in order 
 that he might intently observe any characteristic 
 trait of Mr. Etherege, or through other sounds 
 misht catch some distinct tone of his voice, from 
 its softest to its deepest. If his father had once 
 or twice looked that way with attentive care, or 
 been led to do so by mingled doubt and satisfac- 
 tion, Harry had seemed to have double reason ; in 
 fact, so much so, that from his youngest sister, 
 whose place chanced to be nearly opposite, he had 
 received more than one significant look of annoyance 
 as well as reproof and warning. Not that Kate 
 was in the least danger of being noticed herself by 
 any one, however occasionally put to it to disguise 
 a sense of Harry's oddity ; much less in any sign 
 between them did she risk detection from the ob- 
 ject of his persevering suspicions, the casual glitter 
 of whose brilliant eye she was rather glad to escape 
 altogether, being placed on the same side. She 
 had assumed the nice arts of fashion, weeks ago, 
 with its dress, fan, laced handkerchief and vinai- 
 grette, when she had first " come out " under her 
 grandmother's stately wing, at her uncle's, down 
 at Wrixworth. On the force of these, and perhaps
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 177 
 
 owing to discerning gallantry on the part of Major 
 Yomiwicz, she had been most formally handed 
 down-stairs by this noble but somewhat forlorn 
 exile ; just when she was keeping back most pro- 
 perly, if demurely, to come down with Hariy in 
 rear of all. She now sat beside the said Polish 
 patriot, a chivalrous and accomplished man, of irre- 
 pressible animation, who could speak Latin like 
 those very Romans Mi\ Spencer had talked of, 
 though scarce intelligibly to Englishmen : gaunt 
 he was, and possibly too long-bodied and short- 
 sighted to have availed much in the national 
 struggle of which he now spoke ; but Kate was 
 trying to understand the broken account in spite of 
 Harry, who seemed the more stubbornly bent on 
 those odd demonstrations of his, from having been 
 left to come down to dinner alone. 
 
 Now at last, Mr. Etherege's eye rested openly 
 on Henry, to his considerable embarrassment, but 
 not with the least displeasure. He brought the 
 young gentleman's face to recollection, as having 
 at first escaped his memory ; he had seen it at his 
 first visit, in the counting-house — true. Nay, on 
 further thought, this was the same young gentle- 
 man he had passed beside a wharf last night : to 
 which incident he but adverted, very pleasantly, 
 thouo-h more to the mirth of others than to that of 
 HariT or of his father either. Even his mother had 
 cast a rather vexed eye in his direction, and said, 
 
 VOL. I. If
 
 178 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " Keally, I must own, sir, if Harry goes proclaiming 
 
 every secret of liis office business in that style ^" 
 
 She was at a loss for words to express his deserts, 
 perhaps fearing the marked seafaring destiny that 
 had appeared to frown for him again, on the 
 offended parental brow\ 
 
 " Sui'ely, however, madam," was the soothing 
 plea of their distinguished guest, " in the case of 
 news ah'eady public, this term is too severe — it 
 almost condemns the fancied pleasantry of one's 
 relatino; such an occurrence. One can conceive 
 that there may be secrets, as you suggest, which a 
 great establishment should preserve — which even 
 the family need not know^ ; but young as JSIr. 
 Harry seems, his air is far from being that of the 
 havard — the tattler. Recollect, your son and his 
 attendant could not hear me till I had passed the 
 other bystanders, who were at first equally out 
 of his notice. My cloak, perhaps, prevented the 
 recognition on his part — he is quick, evidently — 
 after a single visit, too, wdiich has scarce yet en- 
 abled me to repay the compliment !" 
 
 "Yes, Henry is very quick indeed," she vras 
 delighted to allow. "He has seen something of 
 the w^orld very early — has been to New York and 
 to Jamaica." 
 
 " Ah ! is it possible — so young ? " responded 
 ^Ir. Ethereo;e. " Then that exceedin^lv healthy 
 tint is accounted for."
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 179 
 
 " I think myself, too, he is far from being rash 
 or imprudent," she ran on. " Even the other piece 
 of information was drawn from him, I remember, 
 among his sisters — and on the excuse that others 
 had overheard it. He has some boy's admiration, 
 .1 know, about Mr. Herbert as an officer — from 
 report, too, merely." 
 
 " My cousin I have not myself seen, madam," 
 said Etherege, readily letting the topic change. " I 
 had meant to write to him only. Still, if between 
 conflicting reports one may judge — and it were 
 difficult, besides, to resist the Arcadian accounts of 
 so impartial a witness as ^iiss Bridthorpe " 
 
 The yomig lady had turned to him as Mrs. 
 Spencer's cares became divided again. " You are 
 so much a traveller, then," said she, gaily, " as to 
 change your mind with the last rumour ? Well — 
 but Somersetshire is wide enough to have its bleak 
 parts — which, by the way, are said to be the finest; 
 and for the Wrixworth neighbourhood I cannot 
 speak. Ai'e not all the Herberts very strict Catholics 
 indeed ? — all our English Catholics are. Pray," she 
 added, vfith a smile too sincere to offend, ^' let me 
 warn you on that point." 
 
 " If I could affect any similar creed," was the 
 reply, more than correspondingly serious, "the 
 pretext were easy, like the means. Spanish by 
 the one side — jes, of the ancient blood of — of — 
 excuse me, mademoiselle — and it matters not. 
 
 n2
 
 180 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Even my widowed mother was so devoutly of that 
 faith, both from her Enghsh and French origin, 
 as to seek in a convent to forget a tragedy which 
 was httle subsequent to my own birth." He had 
 di'opped his voice, though hardly required to do so 
 amidst the growing cheerfulness on every side ; 
 and he resumed in his lightest tone. " It was in 
 the full odour of sanctity, however, that she died, 
 as sujjerieure of the Sacre Coeur near St. Maloes, 
 where I last saw her — very lately — ^with sufficient 
 remembrance of those priests who interfered, to — 
 to impress their forms on my mind. A Spanish 
 nurse had indeed long accustomed me to them. 
 But every traveller, I think. Miss Bridthorpe, who 
 may have learnt to smile at these — who may have 
 possessed means enough to fortify him against a 
 bribe from them — does not come to this wealthy 
 island, surely, from greed of gold. He might even 
 visit relatives who may need fortune, without the 
 wish to rob them of it." He jested so thoroughly, 
 still so politely though so oddly, through that pe- 
 culiar idiom of his, that Miss Bridthorpe mer- 
 rily responded, " Surely — surely, !Mr. Etherege : I 
 do think so. I have heard there is money some- 
 where among the Herberts ; but I can answer for 
 Somersetshire hospitality. Pray, put it to trial 
 about C hristmas-tim e ." 
 
 "The truth was," he explained, "almost de- 
 terred at the gloom into which this war appeared 
 to plunge England, I inclined to draw back before
 
 MK. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 181 
 
 entangling myself in unforeseen complications. 
 There is an egotism in tlie traveller, perhaps, Miss 
 Briclthorpe, which is apt to dread this ; England 
 was so unknown to me ; one shrinks from forming 
 ties which may so soon be useless — which events 
 may shatter. But looking around this table, can I 
 hesitate longer ? How pleasant — how animated — 
 how secure in the confidence of British wealth and 
 power ! " 
 
 Truly it was so. The master of the house was 
 gi'owing radiant with the exhilaration of a sociality 
 thus shared by all his guests, and in which the 
 principal one took obvious part. Every care had 
 vanished from his countenance, when, seizing the 
 happiest moment ere the ladies must retire, he 
 permitted the worthy mayor to add one further 
 national toast to the late fulfilment of his own 
 loyal duty. The sparkling of Mr. Etherege's 
 increased vivacity helped to throw an eclat so 
 perceptible over the departing train of i\Ii's. 
 Spencer, as to draw a half reproachful sally from 
 Lady Die on her way. " 'Tis Phoebus, who only 
 appears to set, child," she whispered, in her loud 
 style, to the piqued beauty of the house. " We 
 but fancy a warmer glow through our clouds, I 
 think ; or is it mirrored, rather, my good Vorni- 
 wicz " — to the exiled major, who had sprung to 
 bow them out, " from the liquid deep you have in 
 prospect ? " The gallant Pole answered with hand 
 on heart, and an expressive grimace, "Miladi is
 
 182 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 prefeiT to shoot like ze Partialis, like ze fairest 
 Amazons, I liad nearly say ; but zis voiilcl have 
 seem to imagine her immodesic vestitam I Ah ! 
 vile Luna Dea inter stellas liicet^'' he said, in his 
 fluent Latin, " in vain vould ze misvortunate Vor- 
 
 niwicz " But they were gone ; and ere their 
 
 vacant places allowed closer talk, it had devolved 
 naturally on Mr. Etherege to rise with his few 
 sentences of courtesy to the amiable hostess and 
 her fair friends, over the mne-glass he craved 
 leave to fill in their ]ionour. Among Ms words 
 there was at least no awkwardness and no incon- 
 gruity ; he adopted the native custom with the 
 grace of one to whom it was not altogether 
 strange, and he did not fail to throw in a rapid 
 touch of modest acknowledgment for the hospi- 
 tality to himself, which had distinguished him, he 
 thought fit to say, far beyond his merits. But 
 whatever these, he hastily concluded, or whatever 
 new doubts a stranger might be exposed to, amidst 
 foreign changes so sudden and unaccountable, he 
 begged once for all to take that opportunity of 
 setting himself right, by the peculiar interest and 
 by the admiring devotion to all the sex, with which 
 he ventured to ask this privilege from his host. 
 
 The beaming consent had been already more 
 than implied. The waiting bumpers were drained 
 with true British heartiness, and turned up amidst 
 cheers of applause, as flatteriiig to the speaker as
 
 ■ MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 183 
 
 to liis toast. There was emotion in Mr. Spencer's 
 reply — emotion controlled with firmnesSj indeed, 
 but yet so deepened by the political crisis in 
 question, as to excuse a slight incoherence when 
 he mentioned it — even an abrupt close and husky 
 stammer with which he sat down, also amidst the 
 voice of friendly approbation. So soon as they 
 drew more snugly together, the very footman 
 retreating after he had stirred the heaped fire — 
 even the quiet old butler gliding out at his 
 master's nod when fresh wine had been placed — 
 the mino;led ease and life of conversation was all 
 that the latter could have wished. The dinner had, 
 after all, been almost a family one — eii famille — as 
 he had described it in prospect at the counting- 
 house ; though, at the same time, quite inconsistent 
 ^Yiih. that notion of a mere casual meeting, already 
 arranged, to which Etherege was to make an 
 accidental addition ; still it was plainly not so large 
 as was often to be met round that well-appointed 
 table (nor was it so characterised by a slight 
 approach to pomp as it might have been had the 
 sugar-baker agreed to join it with his coarse esti- 
 mates of mercantile solidity). If the careful 
 selection of the rest of the company was rather 
 marked to a keen eye, as having been made at any 
 rate hefore news of war : yet even after these, the 
 in judiciousness of the choice had not in every case 
 been verified ; while the management in other
 
 184 CAPTAm HERBERT. 
 
 respects had been tastefully left to a feminine hand. 
 The family plate had not been near half used — 
 not more than half shown. The quiet old butler 
 had needed only Thomas and a waitincr-maid to 
 serve ; while Black Diamond merely helped be- 
 hind-scenes in the hall, decked out with an 
 obsolete livery. The coachman, gardener, and 
 pantry-boy had not been pressed in as awkward 
 assistants; the dishes, though excellent, had been 
 few ; the delicacies, however recondite, not pro- 
 fuse ; the wine now, above all, suited in quality as 
 it was to such a menage, involved no pressures of 
 the kind reported from rude fox-hunting manor- 
 houses, or from the abodes of a dull, though pro- 
 fligate, nobilit}". 
 
 They had sat some time ; so long that the gal- 
 lant Polish major had slipped aw^ay unnoticed 
 after young Harry, while the old butler made 
 another of his quiet entrances — and still the dimi- 
 nished company were rather kindling up than 
 flagging. Mr. Fortescue, the l^anker, was a man 
 of some family, of extensive information, of much 
 political sagacity and historical reading, while far 
 from the least disposition to obtrude technical allu- 
 sions or sordid views ; except for him, indeed, old 
 General Bridthorpe's shaken Whiggism might have 
 waxed hot against the Toiy rector, when the latter 
 was inclined to blame the Opposition for this war, 
 and yet to build on it a Ministerial triumph. As
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 185 
 
 it was, aught like discussion was precluded, by the 
 banker's well known liberality of sentiment, joined 
 with the mayor's heartiness, w^hich settled every- 
 thing in frequent toasts ; the good humour grew 
 too jovial to need one hospitable incentive more, or a 
 single further gaiety, by way of help. Mr. Ethe- 
 rege, in truth, however pointedly restricting himself 
 to the lighter wine of France, betrayed spirits not 
 less exuberant, if scarce so elevated, as his host 
 began to show over generous Oporto. The young 
 traveller drew his chair yet nearer, and drinking 
 his bumper to the good mayor's health (coupled en- 
 thusiastically by yh\ Spencer with that of British 
 commerce), he nodded most emphatic assent to Su* 
 Timothy's somewhat hazy reply; in which, very 
 flattering compliments were yet repaid with interest 
 to Broadby and Co. Then, no sooner was the mer- 
 chant free to listen, with a flushed but grateful 
 look turned towards him, than the guest admitted 
 an anxiety unfelt before, as regarded those unfa- 
 vourable effects upon West Indian property, which 
 the louder speakers were discussing. If the chief 
 stress of naval operations must indeed pass toward 
 the "Spanish Maiu," till the contest hinged between 
 Barbadoes and Martinique, with their dependent 
 islets under either flag — then certainly, the ques- 
 tion became one he could not affect to slight : 
 dwectly^ it was true, his fortune had never been in- 
 volved in the vicissitudes of commerce ; he himself
 
 186 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 had seldom before given a tliouglit to matters of busi- 
 ness, left hitherto with those long-tried agents (of 
 his mother's family, and of his grandfather's) whom 
 Mr. Spencer knew. In Etherege's whole manner, 
 thus dra^^^i aside for the moment, there was a de- 
 2:ree of eao;erness not to be concealed; he almost 
 confidentially asked for the maturer advice, which 
 it was perhaps delicate to offer so soon. 
 
 A 'transient flutter there might have been on the 
 other part; undoubtedly, at least, there passed a 
 quick side-glance of scrutiny at the inquirer, but 
 it was the latter who had yielded most to the festive 
 influence, and had quite lost the wilful eccentricity ,"^ 
 the occasional air of conscious penetration, that 
 marked his somewhat fitful liveliness before ladies. 
 Mr. Spencer was never steadier when dictating his 
 most important correspondence in Froom - lane, 
 than now when passing the decanter as he re- 
 sponded, with disinterested calmness, to his dis- 
 tinguished young friend. He guarded him against 
 procedure on a mere opinion, although that opinion 
 he cheerfully gave. How clear, too, how expe- 
 rienced, how reallv masterly were his vicAvs on the 
 whole question ; though he did not now repeat the 
 fact — they were certainly not drawn from second- 
 hand information merely, from geography, or hooJcs 
 of statistics and travel in those quarters. As to the 
 w^ell-known esteemed agents. Morel, Macfie and 
 Son, Port Castres, St. Lucie — yes — nowhere better
 
 ME. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GEOVE. 187 
 
 managers, or safer to consult upon a sudden sale 
 of property, even from a French island ; certainly, 
 lie knew them, by correspondence. 
 
 "By correspondence? True, and besides, old 
 Morel is now a dotard," muttered the guest, not so 
 incoherently but that the host smiled. There is not 
 now time enough to consult them, ^Ii'. Spencer," 
 added Etherege ? " No ; after hearing from them 
 by the next packet, with the necessary docu- 
 ments, perhaps you could again spare me an hour 
 in private at your counting-house ? It is but some 
 distant property in Cuba which I think of, mtli 
 the slaves belonging to it — a specimen of the latter 
 will accompany the proofs, I mean. A middle- 
 aged mulatto — no longer a boy, certainly, but whose 
 attachments are faithful, his memory excellent, a 
 good linguist, calculated to be useful as a valet, 
 named Adolplie." 
 
 Mr. Spencer doubtless thought of Black Diamond, 
 or secretly deprecated the idea of any more incon- 
 venient presents of that kind ; while answering that 
 all proofs Avere superfluous. The truth being that 
 he had already received, from the agents referred 
 to, a sufficient idea of the young man's position ; 
 he had found since, through old Sir Ralph Herbert's 
 solicitors in Town, that the said baronet's younger 
 brother, maternal grandfather of Etherege, long 
 outlawed as a Jacobite and Papist, had in reality 
 accumulated money as a foreign planter under an
 
 188 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 altered name ; which fortune^ as well as his only 
 daughter's French inheritance in St. Lucie, had 
 passed to the young man as her sole heir. The latter 
 had not so much as troubled himself to allude to 
 this fact ; it was all the more strange, therefore, that 
 with regard to the Spanish property just mentioned, 
 he dropped his voice to explain that it had been his 
 father's. " It is worth retaining — well worth all else 
 I have," he said huskily ; ^^ it is oidy Spanish, too, 
 and Spain is at peace yet — but it is exposed, near 
 the coast — dangerous, you understand me ? " As- 
 tonishment at so careless a possession of wealth 
 might w^ell have overAvhelmed Mr. Spencer, yet 
 he bowled a vague, half scared intelligence. " Yes, 
 I shall not wait for old jNiorel ; perhaps, not even 
 for Adolphe with the parchments," rapidly pur- 
 sued the fortunate young creole, too logical at 
 every point to be thought mad ; indeed, letting out 
 at last too clear an avidity for speculation, too 
 obvious a remembrance of the most casual remark 
 at their first interview the week before. " Since, 
 as you Avere good enough to state, sir, the name of 
 Broadby and Co. will go far as a guarantee on 
 
 your Exchange, and yes — you say the market 
 
 cannot yet be affected, as to all West Indian secu- 
 rities — but we must anticipate the effect of any bad 
 news, or rumours — true — true; then, even should 
 
 your English Funds not fall " 
 
 '^ At another time, my dear young friend,"
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 189 
 
 hastily whispered the merchant, flushing to the 
 roots of his powdered hair ; " to-morrow — when- 
 ever it suits you ; but this does not altogether " 
 
 Etherege glanced keenly round, however, at the 
 broad-backed mayor, whose growing jollity more 
 and more coincided with the worthy banker's 
 harmonious good offices ; the politics of the former 
 were none the less conducive to mirth on that side 
 of the table from being mixed with special ques- 
 tions of the " timber trade." 
 
 " But you do not yet even ask," persevered the 
 young West Indian, sipping his wine again, and 
 leaning nearer, " what was the position, the name 
 of — of my father. I cannot allow this to remain 
 in doubt, to your possible disadvantage ; you may 
 chance to recollect it — it was Don Victor de La 
 Etterega de Castra ! " 
 
 The emphatic under tone with which the name 
 was breathed, the meaning touch of the hand that 
 was laid at the moment on Mi\ Spencer's arm, 
 could not but draw his gravest attention. He 
 inwardly repeated the whole title, while a doubtful 
 remembrance broke on him. ^'De Castro?" he 
 said, with a start, Avhich the young man's quiet 
 pressure tended to check, " I — I think I have 
 heard of — of it. I was at Jamaica after that 
 time — considerably afterwards. But — but surely, 
 Mr. Etherege " 
 
 Even the priceless diamond on young Ethe-
 
 190 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 rege's hand did not gleam so unquestionably from 
 its rougli edge and plain setting, as the roused 
 Spanish pride that warned to caution, from under 
 the seeming languor that would have dropped 
 again over his large rich eye. " He was of the 
 noblest Castilian race, sir," was the almost whis- 
 pered reply ; " unfortunate, certainly — the last 
 who bore the title — reduced to command a mere 
 corvette under the Havannah Governor; but too 
 vigilant, too brave, not to have enemies who 
 malicrned him. The 2;uarda-costa service," added 
 
 Oct / 
 
 Mr. Etherege, in a more ordinary tone, "was 
 even lucrative enough to tempt a traitor to become 
 assassin; but perhaps — yes — it may be that he 
 really shared the fate instigated, no doubt, by a 
 wilier thouo;h a safer foe." 
 
 '' Ah ! true — a guarda costa, you say. I heard the 
 story spoken of, I confess," allowed ]Mi'. Spencer, 
 wincing slightly. " But this explains whatever 
 puzzled the good Kingston folks in the matter. 
 Certainly — certainly, my esteemed young friend, 
 
 if I may so be permitted to " He was still 
 
 hospitably repassing the wine that way, with a cha- 
 racteristic composure, the more marked as it was 
 abruptly joined to a burning glow of colour, fol- 
 lowed by an equally unsuitable paleness. For the 
 good mayor's loud voice was to be heard above the 
 rest, thankfully serious : " It's just as well, at any
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 191 
 
 rate," concluded lie, ^* none of us need be troubled 
 about sugar." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! very true indeed ! " lauglied the ge- 
 neral and the rector; while Mr. Fortescue, the 
 banker, agreed with a quieter smile. ^^ Quite as 
 w^ell, yes, quite as well, gentlemen," said he ; and 
 his eye involuntarily exchanged glances with their 
 host, from whose graver talk he had doubtless 
 avoided at all detaching theii* young friend. The 
 latter now passed the decanter on to Mr. Fortescue, 
 with a gay excuse. " I think even the lightest vin- 
 tage proves too much for me already," he said. 
 " Pray, Mr. Spencer, allow me — I need not ask, it 
 is plain, whether you knew a Portuguese of the 
 name of Coguel ?" 
 
 " A — a — Portuo'uese of — the — name of Coo^uel?" 
 repeated the merchant; whether falteringly, or 
 merely in thought, it w^as hard to know. He lifted 
 a ready eye to meet the piercing glance of inquiry 
 before him. " Coguel. I do wish I could help you 
 in any way," but he shook his head decidedly. ^^No; 
 the name is entu'ely strange to me, I am certain," 
 My brief residence among the islands was con- 
 siderably subsequent, as I said, to the incidents in 
 question." He took out his watch. "But how the 
 time has flown, I declare, gentlemen ! Suppose 
 we now join the ladies up-staii'S ? " 
 
 They rose accordingly to do so ; they were on
 
 192 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 their way up when Etherege took the opportunity 
 to say, with even more than his former empressement, 
 that he would very soon venture to avail himself 
 of the aid so kindly proffered, on the part of his 
 host's influential firm. He expressed an excessively 
 polite fear of having trenched, somewhat, on the 
 verge of that etiquette of business which was apt 
 to perplex a stranger, particularly amidst hospitali- 
 ties so fr«ank, so unrestrained. As to the trivial 
 inquiry he had chanced to make ; it was really 
 almost too mal-a-propos, too much en passant, to be 
 excused ; of its precise point, he himself could not 
 now be certain ; it could only refer, he thought, to 
 some document or other, among those to be waited 
 for. On reflection, it would be premature to re- 
 visit the counting-house of Broadby and Co. so 
 very soon ; to engross any of its valuable time as 
 yet. The interv^al would even be idly spent near 
 Bristol — it threatened to be dull, unless one gamed, 
 betted, or affected to sigh in the train of some 
 sickly or hyj)ochondriac heiress at the watering- 
 place. He had thoughts of rather returning to 
 London for the time, where the blood was at least 
 stirred by the very rage of wealth, for more wealth; 
 where it even amounted to a passion, a power, a 
 destiny that imposed on one. 
 
 If the sudden air of the wide staircase and gallery 
 had thus taken effect, at least the finer bouquet of 
 Bordeaux or Ma9on was in the speech : dry port and
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 193 
 
 heavy Madeira were evident, on the other hand, in 
 the very^ gravity of the good mayor as he steadied 
 himself at the radiant folding-doors, where coffee 
 was handed. Music was astir within ; the exiled 
 major singing a vernacular lyric of his unfortunate 
 country, less patriotic than amorous, coldly accom- 
 panied by intermittent notes from Miss Spencer's 
 harp, while Lady Die Fanshawe in her tall hang- 
 ing drapeiy, mth low-dressed powderless hah', and 
 wreath of f ancied-classic leaves, held up her bony 
 finger to beckon silence — very like, as the pausing 
 rector whispered, a " Tenth Muse." Mr. Spencer 
 considerately took a turn or two outside with his 
 young and impulsive visitor, under the few choice 
 paintings by old masters, at which the general and 
 Ml'. Fortescue looked ; and when they entered the 
 spacious withdrawing-rooms together, there was a 
 placid dignity in the merchant's air, which Ethe- 
 rege's subdued vivacity but reflected. 
 
 The company up - stairs had received some 
 friendly evening additions ; two or three quiet whist- 
 loving people, on easy terms of neighbourhood to 
 Beech Grove, making up a pleasant party in the 
 card-room with the rector's spinster sister (a well 
 bred, but strangely silent, gentlewoman of Bristol, 
 whose presence at dinner could be explained, how- 
 ever, on grounds of politeness) ; amongst these, a be- 
 jewelled dowager of faihng health, though keenly 
 bent upon her game — widow of an elder brother 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 of Mr. spencer' Sj whose fortune had been obtained 
 in the adventurous East. Manifestly also, so had 
 been gained the prize now left by him, so pagoda- 
 like was the towering head-dress in which the bril- 
 liants trembled at the summit of her powder, so vain 
 the use of rouge on the sallow cheek below, or even 
 the stimulus of evident trumps in hand to her bilious 
 eye. But her slim, pale, jet-eyed young folks had 
 come with her, joining a few others who had dropped 
 in ; and it was plain from Mrs. Spencer's indulgent 
 manner that their solicitations had weighed with her, 
 in spite of caps of state, or enlightened witty talk, 
 or Lady Diana, or the war itself — to allow an old- 
 fashioned minuet or two, and Sir Roger de Coverley, 
 and perhaps a parting country dance. Meanwhile 
 her daughter Mary had gone to the harpsichord, 
 to strike the key of one of those quaint old English 
 glees, or madrigals, to which her father was scarce 
 less partial than was his dignified son-in-law in 
 prospect, the Rector of Emerton and Wrixworth. 
 The youthful quartett of singers stood together, 
 harmoniously chanting or carolling it, with their 
 backs to the gentlemen as they came. The rich 
 bass of Dr. Hickenbooth himself was blended with 
 the final chorus ; even Mr. Etherege listened 
 curiously, intently, motionless, to the sprightly 
 strain, with its hollow depth and its clear aerial 
 echoes ; though young Harry's figure made a part 
 of the choir, and Mr. Spencer's playful hand had
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 195 
 
 not only marked the time, but was laid familiarly, 
 at the end, on the shoulder of the fair contralto. 
 "Your voice has gained vastly, Jane," said her 
 father, with much paternal satisfaction; "vastly. 
 Why, child, it positively reminds me, I declare, 
 
 of " She turned a round young cheek, colouring 
 
 a little, but dimpling like her mother's to a smile ; 
 more arch though, and brighter; the clear eyes 
 lightening up without hesitation to her father's, as 
 he made a start of more than due surprise. " What, 
 Kitty, only ?" laughed he, tapping her cheek with 
 even an easier fondness. " Really, I protest I was 
 unaware that our youngest girl had grown so, still 
 
 less " He looked toward Mr. Etherege, who, 
 
 however, after slightly starting too, had moved 
 away. 
 
 " — Still less, I presume, papa, that she had any 
 voice at all," suggested this youngest but perhaps 
 most favoured daughter, turning round altogether 
 with him, "The truth is, at Wrix^vorth, we sang 
 in parts very often, sir." 
 
 "What did you notAo at Wrixworth, I wonder 1" 
 smiled he, and \'iewed her all over very compla- 
 cently ere passing on. " As to growth, no wonder 
 I mistook ; the chit is as tall, I believe, as either of 
 her sisters." 
 
 " That's not so very much to boast of, is it, 
 Kitty ? " whispered her brother. " I bet you're 
 taller ; even Jane looks it, at least." 
 
 02
 
 196 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Before the first roll of wheels sounded up the 
 avenue, there came the little dancing that had been 
 begged for, in which the chivalrous Polish major 
 himself was not readier to join the younger portion 
 of the company, than Mr. Etherege proved at Mrs. 
 Spencer's instance. To her soft influence, with its 
 kindly little arts of social tact throughout the 
 evening — and yet now, of concession to juvenile 
 visitors and to motherly good-nature — it seemed 
 he would have yielded still more. Amidst the 
 sustained gaieties of the main drawing-room, where 
 successive leave-takings were scarce to be observed, 
 or outer sounds of departure noticed — it might have 
 appeared his will to forget, like Lady Diana and 
 her attendant Pole, that his own carriage had been 
 some time announced. Her ladyship, in fact, had 
 shared its offered use in coming ; it was almost her 
 boast that she could only afford to keep " a chair," 
 and though the gallant Vorniwicz would obviously 
 have walked beside it if required, yet its absence left 
 no question now as to their case ; but she betrayed 
 no consciousness in the matter, till Mr. Etherege 
 had duly danced with her fair protegee, Jane 
 Spencer, and had showed a rather formal resolution 
 to carry through his duties to the house, by gaining 
 that honour in turn from Mary also. Nay, he was 
 so far from imitating the heedless gallantry of the 
 major — who, twice in quick succession, had con- 
 soled himself by asking their younger sister's hand,
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 197 
 
 that there rose an air of fiu'ther inevitable obliga- 
 tion under Etherege's liveliest manner. And this 
 impulse, but for her ladyship's rising, and the 
 major's previous request, would obviously have 
 prompted the like attention on the new guest's part 
 to Kate ere they broke up. Once his momentary 
 glance had caught hers with a singular attraction, 
 too grave, too dark through all the courtesy of fea- 
 ture, to be evaded ; not that she dropped her own, 
 indeed, or feared his, but with a wish to have 
 searched it to the bottom, or at least to have 
 frowned if she dared, she rather chose to look 
 over beyond him very carelessly, as if some wax- 
 light in the chandelier were wrong, or a trifle on 
 the chimney-piece struck her. When Major Vor- 
 niwicz's compliment had saved the other all trouble 
 of paying her any, he might have been thought 
 to heave a breath of relief, before he tm'ned bowing 
 another way, with a slight foreign shrug of the 
 shoulders; and now, in the haste to attend Lady 
 Die down-stairs, he seemed oddly to have forgot 
 what her ladyship now had begun to keep in mind, 
 that there were really three Misses Spencer to bid 
 good-night to. With Harry, even, he shook hands, 
 near the door ; true, Harry stood in his way, and 
 had latterly become a little propitiated by a passing 
 remark or two, grave as well as jocose, which, in 
 com'se of these lighter occupations, the gentleman 
 had made to him.
 
 198 CAPTAIN HEEBEKT. 
 
 When parting from Mrs. Spencer, he had 
 
 spoken of being compelled to " tear himself from 
 
 the allm'ements of her pleasant circle." In her 
 
 tui'n, she had kindly added to the usual forms an 
 
 expression of gladness that he was not to leave the 
 
 country, at least, so soon as he had contemplated ; 
 
 in which case she need not say that it would "always 
 
 give them all extreme pleasure to see Mr. Ethe- 
 
 rege." Mr. Spencer himself had reappeared from 
 
 the card-room, where a little early supper was 
 
 evidently about to close the evening. The tone of 
 
 his good-night was less serious, as not so likely to 
 
 be the last. " In the same easy way, my dear sir, 
 
 or, indeed, waiving any ceremony — in town at 
 
 Froom-lane, at all events, any little service in my 
 
 power will be ready for you. From about noon, 
 
 till three or four, I am, just now, very seldom 
 
 absent." He had himself handed down Lady 
 
 Diana, and came up again imperturbably composed, 
 
 though with spirits that lasted out the night. 
 
 " I quite agree with you, Henry," said his sister, 
 as they stood together at the end, " in not liking that 
 French Count ; those great pitch-black eyes of his, 
 they — I scarce know what — like the magnets, you 
 know — ^yes, if they may not just draw one to them, 
 they repel you instead." She gave a slight shiver, 
 standing before the fallen fire in the withdrawing- 
 room. " Can you help almost fancying he conceals 
 some dark design ?" 
 
 " Well — after all," Harry said, " he's not just
 
 MR. ETHEPwEGE AT BEECH GROVE. 199 
 
 exactly the sort of man I took him for ; I can't say 
 I hate him quite so much. Design ! pooh ; he has 
 some business he wants the Firm to help him to, and 
 I've a shrewd notion, somehow, if Broadby and Co. 
 had room for what's called a sleeping partner, he'd 
 have no great objections. Mind you, even in the 
 counting-house, there's brains wanted; and old 
 Ffloyd, for all the sharpness he pretends to, was a 
 fool. If ever I saw a regularly clever man, it's 
 Etherege, look — ^he don't strike me as being cun- 
 ning with it. As to money, he's got it, that's clear ; 
 and besides, you're wrong, it turns out he's neither 
 Frenchman nor Count. No ; I don't like him, I 
 
 don't admire him " 
 
 " Admire him ! " echoed Kate, implying an 
 agreement too entire, too settled, and too lofty, to 
 partake of affectation. The very thought seemed 
 to pass beyond a smile, into other and quieter con- 
 siderations, as she stood eyeing the embers, and 
 musing; while Harry for his part was looking at 
 her curiously from head to foot. Simply, though 
 richly dressed in "« straw-coloured brocaded lustring 
 sackj trimmed ivith floss of the same colour^^ which 
 was but slightly looped up to show a little of " a 
 mantica petticoat, blue and silver, with a figured groundj 
 very rich " — in her high-heeled buckled shoes, too, 
 and in her deep open lace-trimmed sleeves, and 
 muslin tucker — did she herself not really strike 
 Harry, as by no means an unattractive sister, when 
 magnets came in question ? He might be no gTeat
 
 200 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 judge, and certainly Jane's elegance of carriage 
 could not be denied, set off by licr full bell-hoop 
 and train, nor the dazzling fairness of her skin, 
 and that violet-blueness of her languid eyes, which 
 Lady Die spoke of ; then Mary's dark ones, again, 
 and her plump healthy shape, were even preferred 
 by some, (for she had altogether the same warm 
 brown complexion as her father, who was still con- 
 sidered one of the handsomest men in Bristol). 
 But on one side of the pier-glass, on the mantel- 
 piece, was an arch nymph of Canova in alabaster, 
 holding up a cluster of crystal drops below a branch 
 of wax-lights; on the other, a Greek Hebe to 
 match : and the one did not appear more elastically 
 slender and straight, nor the other to promise a 
 surer symmetry, than Kate with her forehead 
 pressed rather listlessly against the marble ledge 
 between. She had eyes, to be sure, of a very 
 provoking uncertainty of hue ("English grey," 
 forsooth, the Somersetshire folks chose to call it), 
 lightening up as if to defy all names when opened 
 on you, shadowing down just as annoy ingly from 
 hazel ; her cheek, too, was even childishly rounded ; 
 yet she had as straight a little nose as need be, 
 w^ith a most emphatic spirited nostril — to show, 
 perhaps, that the dimple could wholly vanish on 
 occasion from about her curled mouth. Her very 
 colour — nothing to speak of ordinarily, being but a 
 general babyish carnation over all — really came out
 
 MR. ETHEREGE AT BEECH GROVE. 201 
 
 well under the hair-powder, or against the cold 
 white stone or somehow. 
 
 " I must say, though, Miss Kjtty Spencer," said 
 the youth, half mischievously, "everv^thing con- 
 sidered, you need not take up one's word so quickly 
 — 'tis not as to his looks I meant — they're rather 
 out of the common way, no doubt, but they're 
 scarce so bad as that comes to, surely ! I heard some 
 lady or other — neither Jane nor Lady Die — com- 
 paring 'em to some famous old picture of King 
 Charles the First, that was beheaded. She said if 
 it had been only younger and sprightlier, with the 
 face shaved and hair powdered up, and a higher 
 nose, all it wanted was a shade of olive to make the 
 likeness striking ! " 
 
 "Indeed! How royal to be sure!" smiled 
 Kate, disdainfully, unconvinced. " Most likely IVIiss 
 Bridthorpe — who seemed wondrous taken with the 
 gentleman, considering that she is engaged to be' 
 married." 
 
 "I suppose you're disappointed?" persisted 
 Harry. " At all events," added he, pointedly, " we 
 seem to have got ourselves vastly improved for the 
 occasion ! I cant just say what it was, Kate — 
 whether it's the hair, you know?" She raised a 
 conscious look to see it sideways again in the reflec- 
 tion — that fashionable superstiiicture of full di'ess, 
 which, without yet aspiring to rival Jane's mitre- 
 like coiffure, crested her for the first time with the
 
 202 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 wliole dusted glimmer of her light nut-brown 
 tresses — that still gave out pale golden streaks 
 through the powder, like the velvet richness of the 
 amicula, or of the wings of some midsummer moth. 
 " But I tell you what," he concluded, " if you did 
 not admire Mr. Etherege, I'm positive he seemed 
 rather to admire you ! So, taking your word for 
 it, Kate — to say the least of it, it's ungrateful ! " 
 
 Still no symptom of aught but utter indifference 
 on her part, except in a last glance at the mirror 
 before turning to go. *^ On the contrary, he seemed 
 to think 1 7ieeded colour — which seems plain enough. 
 But it would not come although you were a 
 thousand times nearer right, Harry. 'Tis owing to 
 the late hours after dear old Wrixworth, where we 
 went to bed early — so good-night ! " 
 
 "Stay! I forgot to ask you — talking of like- 
 nesses — if he and his cousin Lir. Herbert " 
 
 But though Harry was on his way up too, and could 
 hear her laugh as he quickened his steps, the door 
 closed imrelentingly against his questions. He had 
 to meditate on the warlike future, alone.
 
 203 
 
 CHAPTEE VHL 
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 
 
 Days passed, in wliicli the blowy equinoctial 
 weather might alone have accounted for the fact, 
 that the commodious New Cannpiges Arms, in 
 Brandon-street, was still honoured by the presence 
 of its most conspicuous inmate ; that the sheltered 
 parades and pump-room meetings about the Hot- 
 wells were still graced by his occasional appearance, 
 and that more than one of those lio-ht and classical 
 soirees fraiches, which were the weekly specialty 
 of Lady Die Fanshawe, received new eclat from 
 his polished manner, his travelled intelligence, his 
 piquant though too rarely exerted wit, as well as 
 from his singular but unquestionably handsome 
 person. Other cu'cles were readily opening for 
 him, not exclusive of that which the war-news 
 enlivened in Cornet Cobham's mess-room ; he was
 
 204 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 in the fair way to be widely heard of in far soberer 
 spheres, through that mere street-knowledge circu- 
 lated by his passing face in his coach, and if only 
 under the designation persisted in by stubborn 
 popular respect — of " the Count." Hard weeks of 
 winter followed, however, whose plodding dulness 
 throue^hout Bristol almost effaced this likelihood ; 
 he had posted off to town, and appeared to leave a 
 wintry torpor of fashion, of wit, of military hope 
 itself behind. His apartments at his inn, indeed, 
 were known to be retained ; at Lady Die's he had 
 evinced no such fitful spirits as at the merchant's 
 house ; nay, he had not so much as cast a doubt on 
 his renewal of the pleasure ere very long ; and not 
 only was there ground to expect him yet again in 
 Froom-lane counting-house, given at his second 
 visit there — ^but Mr. Fortescue's bank now held for 
 him what might have been thought, by most men, a 
 sufficient solid pledge of sincerity. Yet the Chan- 
 nel, it turned out, was not so closed by the season, 
 but that a Dover pilot or bold smuggler from 
 Dieppe might carry a resolute traveller across ; the 
 very war, on the French part, was not yet declared; 
 Whig members were speechifying still, and Wilksite 
 newspapers were printing, and diplomatists were 
 shirking and quibbling because France, save the 
 mark ! was not just ready to fight. Those promises 
 might be broken, and those pledges might be 
 withdrawn — in short, the prejudice against Counts
 
 MR. SPENCEK SURPRISED. 205 
 
 still clung to the minds of the best friends of 
 Etherege. 
 
 Long before this prejudice could have gained 
 the least weight from facts, however, he put it to 
 shame by quietly returning. It was early spring, 
 by that time ; the natural exhilaration of the sea- 
 son was even so preceded by his reappearance 
 (after an absence of very moderate duration when 
 looked back upon), that he seemed in some eyes to 
 have brought it in. The Hotwells could boast of 
 him again, among other notabilities whom the east 
 wind drove thither; the j^'^'^^i^ff^ of Lady Die's 
 receptions parlantes was more than restored ; while 
 Ligonier's Light Dragoons at last honoured them- 
 selves, together with their welcome marching-orders, 
 by liberally entertaining a guest so marked by the 
 sentiments of a cosmopolite, yet whose movements 
 were so unaffected by actual hostilities begun. There 
 was a spring ball at the assembly-rooms, where 
 Etherege did not attract less notice than the gayest 
 and most gallant of the officers who were to depart ; 
 with him Miss Bridthorpe danced one of the very 
 few dances in which she joined, on the eve of her 
 marriage to a peer's son; he danced still fewer 
 himself, but there his acquaintance was made, with 
 some trouble on the lady's part, by ^ii's. General 
 Beauchamp, of Beauchamp Cliff, the leading cha- 
 peron of fashion about Clifton, compared to whom 
 Lady Die herself was but a satellite of some distant
 
 206 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 orb — a widow of aristocratic place and property, of 
 a splendid person to which maturity only added 
 Juno-like charms, and of a haughtiness as tyranni- 
 cal, or a favour as wilful, as even was reported of 
 the imperious goddess. Then, at the farewell 
 patronage afforded by the dragoons to the new 
 theatre of Bristol, for the benefit of Mrs. Jerning- 
 ham, of the excellent Bath company, Mr. Etherege 
 could not but attend (during the main performance, 
 Otway's " Yenice Preserved ") : finally, at the 
 private rout in compHment to the officers, at Beau- 
 champ CHff, and at the very elegant return-ball 
 which they gave to the ladies of the two county 
 neighbourhoods (Mrs. Beauchamp of course in- 
 cluded), it would have been discourteous had he 
 not responded at all to the distinguished invitations. 
 Gaieties so truly British did not appear to be his 
 special taste; he was so far from courting this 
 round of notorieties, or honours, that, w^th the 
 spring, he had more than once openly expressed 
 intentions of visiting Somersetshire for a little. 
 There he had a relative to whom he had \vritten, and 
 who, indeed, during his absence liad done him the 
 honour to call for him at his inn. But Etherege's 
 courtesy was always marked ; it was noway in the 
 least diminished by a more thorough acquaint- 
 ance with English manners which he showed: 
 social officers came laughing up the steps of the 
 new Cannynges Arms with Cobham, or sauntered
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 207 
 
 past to wait for him, and said the spring was 
 hardly come yet ; they found out it was Herbert of 
 Herbert Couii;, who was the cousin he had to visit, 
 and by the time they began to drink a little claret 
 up-stairs in his rooms, and play a little piquet or 
 ecarte there of a damp evening, they said that long 
 before the naval people stirred much in such foggy 
 weather, the regiment would be gone from Bristol. 
 He was not a dull host by any means ; it was 
 rather at the theatre and the parties that any gloom 
 was observed about him, mingled, however, with 
 vivacity the most fitfully brilliant; and if he seldom 
 remained long, or was missed on a sudden, yet at 
 times he had seized his opportunity to gain the ear 
 of the very fairest and freshest belle, to obtain the 
 honour of her hand, and pay attentions no less 
 graceful, it might be, than his dancing was unde- 
 niably perfect. 
 
 Comet Cobham came up with some lively fellow- 
 officers one misty evening, and saw a gentleman's 
 horses and servant imder the gate of the inn-court- 
 way ; serviceable roadsters they were, mth pistols 
 in the holsters, and a veiy ob\'ious naval cloak 
 thrown over one, as if they had waited no little 
 while in the damp. The Cornet shrewdly thought 
 of his friend's sea-serving cousin, and found within 
 that he had some time been eno:ao:ed with a visitor. 
 At that the officers would forthwith have left ; but 
 from the hearth of the smoky coffee-room where
 
 208 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 they glanced at the last news, voices were heard 
 coming down and passing — one Mr. Etherege's own, 
 the other rougher, even deeper, like a coarse sea- 
 ordering voice, such as they might soon have enough 
 of, and that perhaps too long. For they were 
 ordered straight to Portsmouth; and it seemed 
 the field of action was not to lie at all in the Low 
 Countries, but the French were bent on sending 
 all their force far abroad, wdiere, in the Colonies 
 themselves, the very Horse-Guards appeared to 
 think that " Cavalry must act ! " 
 
 A tall, strong figure, booted, spurred, and be- 
 spattered with the road, but not regular enough in 
 the tread — inclined, in fact, to stoop needlessly under 
 the door, or keep off that naval hat of his till the 
 rain reminded him. Etherege, bare-headed too, was 
 kindly showing him out to the last, even waiting till 
 he mounted. The windows were close by, as he 
 gravely turned a rather sunburnt, weather-beaten, 
 homely kind of face, grasped the hand raised to 
 his, and said in his deep tones, " Good-night — well 
 — as it rtiay be, cousin Etherege — good-bye till 
 fairer times. For all I yet know, summer may 
 find me still at the old place again. I cannot 
 long stay in town, you know — and at best must 
 pass this way to Plymouth or Portsmouth. A 
 country welcome will ever be yours, cousin — ay, 
 though I were absent as I hope ! " 
 
 " My dear Richard," the younger of the cousins
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 209 
 
 said, more warmly still, " after what you have told 
 me — after what I already had been given to suppose 
 — I would fain you had no wish or hope of such a 
 natui'e. As soon as you return home, believe me, 
 I shall not scniple to avail myself of your hospi- 
 tality, at least long enough to reason with you — to 
 do more than repeat my arguments, my entreaties. 
 Weather, nor roads, shall not prevent it either." 
 He smiled cordially ; the other laughed, waved his 
 hand, and was gone. 
 
 Etherege informed his military friends that it 
 was his cousin, Mr. Herbert, who had again taken 
 the trouble to " wait on him," being now on the 
 way to London. The Cornet admitted that he 
 had supposed as much — nay, a window being open 
 in the smoky place below, had miavoidably over- 
 heard their casual words together. "So, just as 
 ice leave, it seems," added the Cornet, " and the 
 balls are over — wdiy, here you do not go to 
 Somersetshire. Deuced provoking, I must own ! 
 The spring coursmg is good, I hear ; and it's a 
 fox-hunting country, very open thereabouts. Glad 
 you take it coolly, Etherege — glad 'tis nothing to 
 us." Their orders were for Portsmouth the next 
 day ; but all the pleasanter were the parting hours 
 they spent that evening with Etherege at his inn. 
 
 It was undoubtedly somewhat curious — in the 
 light of Mr. Spencer's friendly offers, and of the 
 subsequent business matters in which the firm 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 CAPTAIN HEKBERT. 
 
 had assisted Mr. Etlierege before his short absence 
 in London, placing its counting-house, its clerks, 
 and its own advice and influence at his service — 
 that, after his return, his visits to Froom-lane 
 were so rare and so merely casual as they became. 
 Taken together with his total omission even to call 
 at Beech Grove, where he had not as yet once 
 presented himself since the occasion of the dinner- 
 party, this circumstance might have been enough 
 to excite the idea of caprice indulged, or of 
 umbrage in some way taken. Vulgar rumours 
 ran, no doubt, that a partnership with Broadby 
 and Co. had been in view by this '' opulent young 
 planter," this " wealthy young loyalist colonial," or 
 this "rich young banished Count." Gossip had 
 gone so far as to assert, in other quarters, that he 
 had formed a sudden passion for the beautiful 
 Miss Spencer, for whose hand he had abruptly 
 proposed, and been with suitable promptitude for- 
 bidden the house, though meeting her favour still 
 in general companies. The truth was, that in 
 these companies she now treated him somewhat 
 distantly herself, not without apparent sympathy 
 from her friend. Lady Die. Mrs. General Beau- 
 champ was a cJiaperon too powerful to quarrel 
 with, if too self-vv^illed for co-operation ; and among 
 her various protegees, she seemed to have well- 
 concealed designs regarding the distinguished
 
 ME. SPEXCER SURPRISED. 211 
 
 stranger — possibly to hide a deeper infiituation of 
 her o\vii. 
 
 Of all which idle hearsay, it was not probable 
 that any portion had reached the ear principally 
 concerned. Mr. Spencer had met it all with the 
 most decided contradiction within his own circle, 
 particularly lajdng stress upon his indignation at 
 the latter story, so altogether refuted by the whole 
 tenor of his young friend's conduct — indeed, by 
 an evidently practised caution which marked him 
 in reference to the fair sex, despite the gallantries 
 of continental habit. As regarded the business 
 question, it was one on which the gentleman him- 
 self had never breathed any direct expression of 
 his wishes. Some of his earlier allusions might, 
 certainly, have been thus construed ; his whole 
 behaviour and manner, up to a certain point, 
 ivere thought by neutral parties, sagacious friends 
 of the firm, to have been undoubtedly indicative 
 of a desire of that kind — which, to say the least of 
 it, denoted an excusable ambition. ]Mi*. Etherege's 
 mental parts, the merchant from time to time said, 
 though unformed, were of no ordinary capacity. 
 He was of that bent of genius, to find a special 
 zest in liberal enterprise of an extensive nature, 
 above what the frivolous pm-suits of fashion could 
 afford him. His fortune — which was very con 
 siderable, and might, ere long, be vastly increased 
 
 p2
 
 212 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 — was but a trifle compared with the value of 
 energies so fresh, young, and vigorous when once 
 fixed, to any extensive house he might be admitted 
 to join. Engrossing business, in fact, at present 
 so occupied Broadby and Co., that but Kttle 
 attention could be given by them to such contin- 
 gencies. At intervals, it was tiTie, Mr. Etherege 
 still showed, by a passing visit at the counting- 
 house, that he did not wish the acquaintance on 
 his part, at least, to drop. More than once, so 
 engrossed had Mr. Spencer individually been, that 
 the name had been sent in without the possibility 
 of an interview ; nay, calling, at length, one even- 
 ing, at Beech Grove itself, Mr. Etherege actually 
 waited so long, with so patient a courtesy, as to 
 have been all but forgotten in the library, till 
 late. So truly important were the letters received 
 and dictated at home that night, in Mr. Spencer's 
 private study. The merchant found, however, 
 when ultimately hastening to the room, that his 
 excuses appeared, in some degree, superfluous. 
 The fire glowed, the lights were cheerfully com- 
 plete, but not more cheerful or hospitable than 
 the domestic party which Mrs. Spencer had 
 thoughtfully brought around. The gentleman's 
 own apologies had been easy, for the etiquette of 
 England was only now becoming clear to him. 
 The hour and the circumstances forbade all 
 reference to any other errand, which could be
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 213 
 
 postponed without inconvenience. He had felt 
 that, during hours of ordinary business at Froom- 
 lane, his shght affair was but a trespass on those 
 of greater moment. To press it here would be to 
 lose advantages which, when so offered, far out- 
 weighed it. It could wait; it could even be 
 pleasantly forgotten; though, on invitation so 
 flattering, he could not but come again. And 
 when he came again, which he now preferred to 
 do at Beech Grove, the " slight affair" was still so 
 generally indicative of those unfixed "vdews, or 
 unformed capacities, as to have but little pre- 
 sent bearing on the thoughts of his host. Mr. 
 Etherege's visits, however pleasant — his inclina- 
 tions, however enterprising — his speculative inte- 
 rest in commerce, however quick of perception 
 and confidential in tone — were for the time mere 
 mockery by comparison with daily business in 
 froom-lane. 
 
 Early spring had cast an unusual damp upon 
 most houses in Bristol ; nor only so, but over very 
 many throughout the three broad kingdoms. At 
 Froom-lane, the effect of unforeseen events, now 
 plain, had been aggravated by the too energetic 
 promptitude towards old Ffloyd. The trouble was 
 passing there, doubtless; but it cost some effort. 
 It was not singular, therefore, that the brow of 
 the "principal" had for many days worn a harder 
 contraction, and his eye an expression of anxiety.
 
 214 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 He had been in no mood to linger over the after- 
 dinner table, and converse lightly; but if not 
 obliged to have his carriage ordered again, for an 
 evening visit to the counting-house ere it closed 
 late, would retreat with a clerk, or other business- 
 person, to his own room; whence, till far on in 
 the night, sometimes neither the tea-hour, nor 
 music, nor aught else of evening relaxation that 
 he enjoyed above most men, could so much as 
 ventm^e to draw him. Even young Harry dreaded, 
 lest, ere long, there might be bills of lading to 
 make out, letters to copy, invoices to docket and 
 file, after-hours at home. The private letter-bag 
 was, on such occasions, the sole pretext for Kitty 
 herself, teacup in hand, to glide in coaxingly, and 
 try some little wheedling art of keeping the time in 
 mind — of hinting at fatigued looks and danger to 
 health — or of mentioning that supper was set down- 
 stairs, and loho formed the frequent whist-party 
 or the casual circle about the harpsichord, that 
 might think his continued absence strange. There 
 was that of latent sternness and reserved distance 
 in his nature, notwithstanding all its cultivation 
 and undoubted liberality of sentiment, with which, 
 thus shoT\Ti, !Mrs. Spencer did not interfere. At 
 no time, during any period of their union, had 
 she been known to come in direct contact with it. 
 Her instincts were acute, but gentle to the excess
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 215 
 
 of almost cautioning Kate, whose way of pre- 
 suming upon girlish favour was not the most com- 
 mendable trait in point. Kate had a high spirit, 
 too, perhaps rather much encouraged by her grand- 
 mother and uncle at Wrixworth — owing, on their 
 parts, to a fancy that she took this spirit, along with 
 her name, from an aunt who died before the girl 
 was born. If there had been need, she sometimes 
 looked as if she could have dared a great deal more. 
 She said plain things still, and inclined to use free- 
 doms by no means proper to be kept up from nur- 
 sery days, on the mere ground of early weakliness, 
 which was long gone, through so much country 
 liberty. She sometimes spoke of farming matters, 
 of hunting topics, with references to horses, dogs, 
 or gamekeepers' expressions, in a way which her 
 mother never passed over ; though her graver father, 
 oddly enough, was the one to smile and turn it off. 
 From her younger brother, too, she had caught an 
 abrupt, heedless style of phraseology, if not of 
 technical terms themselves, and was altogetlier 
 difficult to keep down since their governess left; 
 having gone so far as even to hint an impatience 
 at the fact, that if aught in town were troubling 
 papa so, and her mamma had need to look unde- 
 niably anxious, yet the latter did not know the veiy 
 least particle about the cause. To be really angry 
 — to scold Catherine down — to send her to her
 
 216 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 room — was easy enough ; to keep the danger of 
 her eyes from flashmg round as she went, indig- 
 nant, straightforward, outspoken to all she might 
 meet, was vain. Mrs. Spencer was the angrier 
 for the truth, perhaps ; perhaps her husband was 
 not always the most transparent of men to those 
 who ought to know him best ; and perhaps the 
 wife had felt in like manner, long before that, 
 how there were abstruse little corners and deli- 
 cacies of her own being which he had never 
 known, never would know, never had sought to ex- 
 plore. For, whatever he might have been in his 
 earliest youth, — since they two knew each other, 
 there had not been much romance about Dudley 
 Spencer. 
 
 Sunshine came out sooner and clearer, however, 
 than might have been expected. Among the first 
 proofs of returning leisure, with its comparative 
 tranquillity, was the signal one of a disposition to 
 nod in his elbow-chair after dinner, over the 
 newspaper — a tendency that had before been 
 growing upon him. He seemed fatigued ; and it 
 was with by no means the happiest look in the 
 world, at first, that he perceived his wife carefully 
 shut the dining-room door, after various obscure, 
 rustling, shadowy manoeuvres to despatch the rest 
 of the family up-stairs to the withdrawing room ; 
 then return silently, in a kind of cautious, half- 
 tiptoe way, to sit formally down opposite him, and
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 217 
 
 spread out lier dress, and hem, and begin to say 
 something, yet draw her chair confidentially 
 nearer, till she said, at last, "My dear Dudley, I 
 wish very much to speak with you." 
 
 Mr. Spencer lifted up his eyes in a resigned 
 manner, and endeavoured to appearjattentive, with- 
 out changing his attitude. 
 
 ^' Something rather a little important, let me 
 premise," she added, with a degree of matronly 
 dignity, and a self -respectful settling of the lofty 
 head-tire and the hanging lace-pinners, such as 
 sudden visitors could never have observed. 
 
 " My dearest Mary, something a little important ! 
 Ah! well — and what may it be, pray?" replied 
 the merchant, too little startled to be afraid of any 
 forgotten business care, which had evidently been 
 all disposed of ; but yet sitting up in his chair, and 
 setting himself fairly round to the requisition, and 
 checking a yawn. " Well ? " 
 
 " Whoj I wish to know, is the Count ? " asked 
 Mrs. Spencer. 
 
 Her husband for a moment stared. " Oh, Mr. 
 Etherege, you mean, I presume," he said. 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Etherege — true ; but people persist 
 in calling him so," repeated the lady. " Who is 
 he ? is he of good family ? is he really rich ? 
 where is his property ? or do you know anything 
 more about him ? " 
 
 " Really, my dear," said Mr. Spencer, " you
 
 218 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 overwhelm, as well as surprise, me ! but I do 
 haiDpen to know everything about Mr. Etherege 
 requisite to his introduction in the best society. 
 He would not otherwise have obtained it, I think. 
 One of the most respected correspondents of our 
 house, in the West Indies, is well acquainted with 
 him, as one of the wealthiest private gentlemen 
 there. His landed property," added the merchant, 
 with a smile, " consists chiefly, I believe, of slaves, 
 sugar-cane, and cane-mills — managed, however, by 
 a factor, with whom it is possible that Broadby 
 and Co. may yet do some lucrative business. So 
 now, my .dear, you are as wise as I am, and " 
 
 " Then his title, at least, is not real," persisted 
 Mrs. Spencer, steadfastly. "Some imitation, or 
 hoax, or imposition, or something — I was sure 
 of it." 
 
 "My dear Mary," repeated her husband, in 
 increased surprise, " what can all this mean ? I 
 really slwuld be glad to know. Mr. Etherege's 
 title, such as it is — for his candoiu' is one of his 
 most pleasing qualities — ^is a French one, to which 
 he laid claim through his mother, a niece, at the 
 same time, of old Sir Ealj^h Plerbert's — her father 
 having married a wealthy French Creole of high 
 family. As money can purchase a patent of 
 nobility in France, he is sure of it, should he 
 choose to wear the thing. Though anything 
 French is at this moment so abhorrent to every
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 219 
 
 honest man — so base, so dangerous to have to do 
 
 with — that I — I — I question if — if " His face 
 
 flushed as he spoke ; a frown was on his forehead, 
 and he almost ground his teeth together in the 
 anger excited by recent French diplomacy and 
 effronter}^ "But a truce to this — why do you 
 put these odd inquiries, my dear ? " 
 
 " Is it really possible, Dudley," rejoined his 
 wife, gravely, " you have never suspected the 
 Count's meanino; in these visits ? " 
 
 Mr. Spencer was rather startled, and threw as 
 penetrating a glance across the dining-room hearth 
 as if the subject of the conversation had sat there, 
 instead of his wife. " What on this earth do you 
 intend ? " he said, in an emphatic tone ; " I must 
 really beg you to be at once explicit, Mary." 
 
 " Why, to be sure," was the hurried answer, 
 " the attentions may not have been so marked as 
 to strike everybody ; but a mother's eye cannot be 
 deceived, Dudley. Besides, I had a pretty broad 
 hint from Lady Diana Fanshawe, t'other day. 
 There is another lady, whom I scarcely know, 
 but of undoubted position and reputation — a Mrs. 
 Beauchamp, of Beauchamp Cliff — who, it seems, 
 had taken opportunities to throw the gentleman, 
 as much as she could, in my girl's way. Vastly 
 kind, 'tis true, in Mrs. Beauchamp ; but I wish I 
 had sooner known of it." 
 
 A smile had been diffusing itself over the mer-
 
 220 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 chant's surprised countenance, and he looked 
 exceedingly well-pleased, though apparently in- 
 credulous, as he said, " Then you really believe, 
 my dear Mary, that Mr. Etherege is smitten with 
 the charms of one of your fair daughters? 
 Upon my word, madam, you look high. But 
 have you grounds for this ? " His wife's air of 
 extreme importance and gravity would have been 
 sufficient answer, even without the reproachful 
 glance of reply, or the utterance of his name in 
 astonished emphasis. " Well," he pursued, " such 
 an idea certainly had not occurred to me. As for 
 these late visits of the gentleman's, or all that 
 gaiety and rout-going with Lady Die — ^who, by 
 the way, is rather a silly, vain woman — why, I 
 have been too busy to think of such matters. 
 Still, I need hardly wonder, on the whole, for 
 Jane has really some very considerable pretensions 
 to beauty, and to a man like Etherege — a West 
 Ind " 
 
 " You mistake a little, though, my love," inter- 
 rupted IVIrs. Spencer, smiling. " 'Tis not Jane 
 at all." 
 
 ^Ir. Spencer became grave. "That alters the 
 case, however," he said. "An engagement, al- 
 though of a tacit nature — even though not fully 
 satisfactory, either, to all the parties interested — 
 is binding while it lasts. You are aware, in Mary's 
 case, also, I was not early enough consulted ; but
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 221 
 
 Still, when tlie living at Chelmer-cum-Toovey does 
 fall in to him, my word is passed to Dr. Hicken- 
 booth. At best, too, depend on't, although the girl 
 has what's pleasant about her — and to some of your 
 modish young sparks of the day her portion itself 
 would be beauty enough, I warrant me — yet, really, 
 now, Mary — really, with all your partiality — what- 
 ever a worthy bookworm like the excellent rector of 
 St. Jude's may think, as a widower with a boy to 
 take care of — still, between ourselves, you know, 
 as people of the world — why — pooh ! I should be 
 cautious — exceedingly cautious — in allowing the 
 slightest alteration of — of sentiment. For a mere 
 likelihood, observe, too — a shadow, as it were." 
 
 The merchant had a wise air of rather severe 
 morality as he spoke ; but Mrs. Spencer, after 
 taking his meaning with some surprise, only smiled 
 the more wisely still. " No, indeed, Dudley," she 
 said, very seriously. " I hope not. Dr. Hicken- 
 booth is far too worthy a man for me to wish 
 another in his stead ; nor, if I did, do I sufficiently 
 affect this Count — this Etherege, in that aspect. I 
 confess I have been a little led away, myself — he 
 is most agreeable as a visitor, there is but too in- 
 sidious a pleasantness and attractive candour about 
 him, 'twas this which chiefly made me notice 
 things ! And really it has cost me a great deal of 
 concern to observe his manner — his looks — with 
 those fiery black eyes of his, and all that high-
 
 222 CAPTAIX HEEBERT. 
 
 flown foreign way of talking ! People with such 
 eyes are always so sudden and violent, and you 
 don't know what may happen ; and, more than 
 all, I suspect the silly child thoughtlessly leads 
 him on !" 
 
 " Who — what can you mean !" was the impatient 
 rejoinder. " You cannot possibly be speaking of — 
 of Kitty?" 
 
 " 'Tis Catherine I am talking of, of course," said 
 Mrs. Spencer. " Since her last visit to Wrixworth 
 — when she staid so long — I really don't know what 
 ails the gui ! Sometimes one fancies it mere liveli- 
 ness of spirits — at another time 'tis more her idle 
 tm'n one has to chide, or some little tiff with 
 Harry ; but as for these addresses on the Count's 
 part, there cannot be a doubt." 
 
 Mr. Spencer eyed his wife in no ordinary amaze. 
 "Why, 'tis a mere school-girl, the merest child!" 
 he exclaimed. "Absurd! Psha!" 
 
 " You forget, Kate is near seventeen," said the 
 mother, quietly. ]\ir. Spencer mused. " But such 
 coquetry as she proves herself capable of," his wife 
 continued, " is past comprehension ; 'tis absolute 
 wickedness ! The girl declares to her sisters she 
 knows the Count affects her most — and that he has 
 as much as signified his passion — while she laughs 
 at Jane's disappointment, as she styles it ! Whether 
 her heai't be concerned, I know not ; but she shows 
 a manner, now winning, and now disdainful, with
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 223 
 
 SO much of her sportive disposition, and such in- 
 conceivable gay sallies of wit, as visibly have had 
 their effect. You know how^ she could always con- 
 trive to get every one to spoil her and allow her 
 whims, from a child. Besides, there is her voice — 
 and I'm sure 'tis impossible to say where or how 
 she can have learnt it — but she would stand 
 by Mary's harpsichord and sing, if allowed, to 
 Henry's tenor and Mr. Etherege's bass, like any 
 Itahan opera-woman ! The mischief is but begun 
 — though I fear some strange outbreak of Jane — 
 and, at all events, my dearest Dudley, 'tis better 
 to stop such matters early." 
 
 " The wailful little chit!" ejaculated Mi'. Spen- 
 cer, though he smiled. " I could not have imagined 
 it, indeed!" 
 
 " The best thing, do you not think," pursued his 
 wife, confidentially, " will be to despatch her down 
 to Wrixworth again, out of the way?" 
 
 " Pooh, pooh ! why treat the affair w^ith such 
 seriousness !" was the response; and ^li\ Spencer, 
 pouring out for himself another glass of wine, 
 seemed unusually complacent as he sipped it. 
 " Were Etherege a lover, he would have nothing 
 to do but go down near Wrixworth, to his o^\'n 
 relation's house, after her ! That might be well 
 enough, you know, my dear, at a later stage of the 
 affair; but as I scarcely suppose things can have 
 gone so far, as yet — why, it would just defeat your
 
 224 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 end ! Your simplicity, my dear Mary, is scarce a 
 match for this evil world ! Or worse, the gentle- 
 man would see through the little artifice, of course, 
 stay where he was, and grow cool !" 
 
 " To be sure — and that is exactly what I hope," 
 Mrs. Spencer said ; the more smartly for the light 
 way in which her solicitude had been met. " It 
 would be very disagi'eeable, I should think, to have 
 to decline his addresses afterwards — perhaps even 
 at the risk of there being some kind of preference 
 on her part, to check! And really there is no 
 saying — foreigners are so insinuating, at least to 
 young creatui'es at Kate's age !" 
 
 It seemed now Mr. Spencer's turn, however, to 
 be surprised and grave. " Surely, my dear Mary," 
 he said, " you cannot be in earnest when you sup- 
 pose me declining, for any one of my daughters, 
 the honourable open addresses of a man like Mr. 
 Etherege. On the contraiy, he is one whom I am 
 disposed to regard, so far as I have made his ac- 
 quaintance, with no common esteem. Well-bred, 
 elegant, travelled, liberal, and a man of fortune — 
 it would give me pleasure, on maturer knowledge, 
 to receive him in such a capacity." 
 
 It was not only disappointment, with a shade of 
 consternation, that appeared on Mrs. Spencer's 
 features ; she drew herself together with a kind of 
 shrinking or loathing in her motion and look.
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 225 
 
 "But a foreigner!" she said, gazing fixedly at her 
 husband. " Think of that, Dudley — and parti- 
 cularly, somehow, for Kate ! Pah ! 'Tis absolutely 
 unnatural ! I cannot tell you why, but when I 
 think of it I have had a growing horror of that 
 man — pleasant, handsome, and without ill-design 
 as he seems. With Jane, now, 'twould have seemed 
 a great deal more fitting ; besides, there's the war, 
 you know, and though most foreigners are infidels, 
 why, I almost fancy what is called renegado were 
 worse if possible !" 
 
 " Mary," said her husband, a little severely, " this 
 is too preposterous. So far as the word ^ foreigner' 
 has any meaning at all, it so happens that Mr. 
 Etherege is none. As for his sentiments, they are 
 on all points those of the polished man of the 
 world. I confess, were I to choose from among 
 my acquaintance at present, 'twere hard to select 
 the man I could more gladly entrust with the wel- 
 fare of one of my children — to see whom properly 
 established, let us recollect, is among the heaviest 
 cares to dispose of ere retiring from active life !" 
 
 He sighed, reposed his head upon his hand, and, as 
 he gazed thoughtfully towards the fire, looked rather 
 venerably dignified, by the help of the white hair- 
 powder of the day. Mrs. Spencer, when she looked 
 across at him, forgot their topic for the moment, 
 in concern of a more intimate kind, and she di'ew 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 22 Q CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 closer, leaning over, laying her hand on his arm, 
 and saying, " You have talked of that for the 
 last few years, Dudley ! When will it be?" 
 
 He shook his head. "It is this war makes 
 you so anxious," she said, looking into his face. 
 " Why not leave noiv ? We have enough, surely." 
 
 " Not quite. No ; 'tis these partnerships. Part- 
 nerships, Mary," and !Mr. Spencer turned romid 
 with a playful allusion, " seem a necessary — ^liem ! 
 — a necessary advantage. But as one partner at a 
 time is enough, why, I have now begun pa^dng out 
 the share of ^Ir. Ffloyd, who has retu'ed wholly — 
 wholly into his sugar-baking line. As you may 
 imagine at a time like the present, this does not 
 take place without an effort and anxiety. A pro- 
 voking thing hab jast occurred." 
 
 In his wife's interroojative look, there was the 
 interest and willing sympathy, and soothing quiet, 
 of the true partner. 
 
 " There was a place, a real country place, suit- 
 able in every respect, on which I had set my mind 
 for some time, -s^-ithout any very distinct hope of 
 getting it. 'Twas scarce so much on my own ac- 
 count — as well, at all events, you know the 
 
 place, Herbert Court." 
 
 " Herbert Court ! Yes ; know it ? what a ques- 
 tion, Dudley," and they instinctively exchanged 
 glances : a fulness of memories and of associations
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 227 
 
 of tlieir earliest acquaintance^ could not but come 
 at that name. 
 
 " 'Tis a long time since that fine evening you and 
 I walked there, Mary," he said, sitting up to stir 
 the fire ; " but I recollect quite well, even then, as 
 we looked in at the gates, %dshing it were mine, and 
 wonderina: what it mio;ht brino- in the market." 
 Mrs. Spencer said nothing, but she looked down, 
 and a faint colour mounted in her cheek, and 
 doubtless she could not help remembering how 
 little such thouo-hts as these had entered into her 
 mind, or had seemed then to fill Dudley's. " 'Tis 
 mortgaged up to the park pales, you know," he 
 went on, "and 'twas natural to imagine the young 
 man might be glad to get rid of it for his own 
 share of the fair price, though his sohcitor's reply 
 to mine was, since Mr. Herbert's return, that no 
 such intention existed. Conceive my annoyance, 
 but the other day, at receiving information, that, 
 as he was about to retmni to active service abroad, 
 the wreck of the estate would be parted with, 
 should the various mortgagees agree. At this mo- 
 ment, 'tis impossible for me to make any offer — 
 so that at best, my dear, you must wait a year or 
 two before you can expect exactly to be !Mrs. 
 Spencer of Herbert Court — ^ha I " 
 
 Mrs. Spencer had seemed startled by the thought, 
 as if it were something sacrilegious. " Part with 
 
 q2
 
 228 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Herbert Court!" she exclaimed, almost breathless. 
 "Did he really intend it ? The noble old place ! 
 Dear me, something most unfortmiate must have 
 happened." 
 
 "Nothing of the kind," said the merchant, 
 standing up before the fireplace in easy English 
 fashion, with skirts upheld. "He has simply, I 
 understand, been appointed to the command of a 
 frigate; a great step for one so recently a lieutenant, 
 but, natural enough, considering the interest of 
 Lord Edward de Vere, whose recent election he 
 was so instrumental in bringing about. What has 
 a naval officer on service to do with an old house, 
 and an encumbered property ? " 
 
 " As for living there," said Mi's. Spencer, " I am 
 quite sure, my dear Dudley, I could not have done 
 it ; so perhaps you will take less to heart this — this 
 disappointment you speak of. Just think how 
 melancholy it would be — I recollect the family so 
 well when I was a girl : Mr. Herbert, the present 
 young man's father, with his long, grave face, and 
 his singular height, and his lovely, delicate 
 wife; and the younger boy in his dark hat and 
 feather, looking so old-fashioned and proud, by his 
 tutor's side — the abbe, as they called the chaplain 
 — for you know they were Catholics. Next time 
 I went, after my marriage, what a change! they 
 were both dead, their eldest hope crushed before —
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 229 
 
 the other poor boy at sea, and nobody there but an 
 old housekeeper, and the old abbe with the same 
 odd scoop beaver, and his thin golden hair parted, 
 and his fingers spread out by the side of his long 
 coat, like loose gloves. They say there is a ghost in 
 the house — and the peacocks scream so on the old 
 terrace sometimes, that people fancy something 
 has happened. I'm sm'e I could ill bear to go near 
 it now." 
 
 " Pho! my dear," was the self-possessed re- 
 joinder, "that is merely because you never have 
 gone near it ; the place is dreary, no doubt, because 
 going to ruin ; but in summer, if improved, and 
 furnished with a proper establishment, 'twere ad- 
 mittedly a perfect gem of our old domestic archi- 
 tecture. The style is Elizabethan. What a place, 
 now, for Etherege and — and — yes, unlikelier 
 things have happened — and Kate!" 
 
 His wife started and stared agam ; the thought 
 seemed additionally strange to her in that con- 
 nexion ; still it was difficult to resist ; there was a 
 plausibility, and possibility, and detailed interest, 
 about the notion, which by degrees drew a smile 
 from her, in response to the extreme complacency 
 it diffused over her husband's features. "Yes, I 
 do think, Dudley," she remarked, at length — "I 
 rather think you mistake as to young Herbert's 
 prospects — that is, the present proprietor — for he
 
 230 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 can't be so very young now ; if I recollect rightly^. 
 he will succeed to the title of that uncle of his in 
 the north of England, who must be an old man by 
 this time, and they say he has become wealthy." 
 
 " Why, yes," was the composed answer ; " poor 
 as I am told the baronet's property was, they dis- 
 covered coal in it, some years ago. At the same 
 time, however, I learn that Sir Ralph Herbert is 
 one of the most rigid Papists in the kingdom, and 
 rather than leave anything he can help to a Pro- 
 testant, w^ould make a will in favour of the Scotch 
 infidel David Hume himself, who may be quite 
 possibly a Jesuit in deep disguise. Whereas, a 
 nephew who ventures to assert his English liberty 
 of conscience against his interest must be — the 
 very deuce." 
 
 " But all our Herberts were well-known Catho- 
 lics," hastily interposed Mrs. Spencer. 
 
 "My dear," returned the merchant, with a de- 
 liberate suavity, which Avas characteristic of him, 
 when most sensible of his superior ground above 
 other people ; " just observe this simple fact : no 
 naval officer can now obtain his Majesty's com- 
 mission w^ithout having first taken the oath of 
 abjuration, and fully declared himself, not merely 
 a Protestant, but a layman. Not only so careful 
 is our excellent constitution against treachery, but 
 so essentially opposed is the maritime profession 
 itself to the Romish Creed, that ever since our
 
 MR. SPENCER SURPRISED. 231 
 
 admirals ceased to be sea-sick when they embarked, 
 and our hardy tars to go to prayers in a storm, I 
 question whether anything hke a real Papist has 
 appeared at sea, unless to go to the bottom. We, 
 now — that is to say, ^Broadby and Co.'" — here 
 the merchant thoroughly enjoyed a stock joke — 
 ^^we have the felicity, I beheve, of employing a 
 number of pagan shipmasters, the particular faith 
 of whose various crews I am unable even to ima- 
 gine; but this I know, that if I were to hear 
 of their entertaining any deference towards his 
 Holmess at Rome, so as to implore a miracle 
 instead of doing their duty, I should declme their 
 services for the future. Ha ! ha ! ha ! But really 
 — why — here are we talking of these people, this 
 Herbert, in whom I take no special interest — as if 
 fate depended on't. To the point, my dear, then ; 
 observe, I do not for a moment think of constrain- 
 ing the girl's A\dshes in any way, as you, Mary, to 
 my excessive surprise, seemed inclined to do ; but 
 on no account — on no accomit whatever, would I 
 
 have discouragement offered to a man like " 
 
 The parlour door opened as he spoke, and some 
 one came hastily in ; it was Kate herself, holding 
 an open letter, and looking unusually serious. 
 " Mamma," she said, advancing, " I have just had 
 this letter from uncle Charles, to inform us that 
 gran'ma is again rather ailing. He thinks it would 
 do her good were we to nurse her a httle — mth my
 
 232 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 usual excess of spirits to divert her, you know. So 
 I should wish, please, to have the coach early to- 
 morrow, half way to Wrixworth ; they will send 
 the chaise to meet it, at Deepbridge turnpike; and 
 Harry will go with me, I dare say. Can you spare 
 Harry, papa?" 
 
 Mrs. Spencer and her husband exchanged glances, 
 but to concert anything was impossible. The look 
 of each said plainly, she must be let have her way. 
 Mr. Spencer said he would see. Why, yes Harry's 
 value was not so great but that he might be parted 
 with. At bidding her good-night that evening, he 
 could not resist saying playfully, as he chucked 
 her under the chin, "Aha, Kitty! Soho, in- 
 deed. Miss Puss, you gi*ow, do you ? Who would 
 have fancied — but I must not say a word, I sup- 
 pose ? " 
 
 An entire ignorance of his mystic meaning was 
 so clear in the quick, dii'ect, interrogative glance of 
 Kate, that he spoke plainer. " Meanwhile, I say, 
 then — what is our poor Count to do, Mademoiselle 
 Gipsy?" 
 
 There was something singularly perplexing in 
 her look — ^lialf arch, half scornful. 
 
 " We must not whisper a word of Wrixworth, I 
 suppose ? " he asked. Kate turned her head from 
 the door, and looked inquiringly, gravely, at her 
 father. " WhyV^ she said, without the least suf- 
 fusion of a blush on her composed face, tinted as i
 
 ME. SPENCER SURPRISED. 233 
 
 was with life all over, like tlie inner enamel of an 
 Indian shell — on either side a little wanner. "Oh, 
 well, but at all events, sir, I leave my place to 
 Jane." 
 
 Mr. Spencer shook an indulgent finger at her, and 
 thought for the first time, with a benign smile, how 
 really beautiful she was growing; her figure had shot 
 up of late, her shaded grey eyes shone darker, and 
 she had a strangely conscious glow and attitude as 
 she passed gaily from the room.
 
 234 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 HERBERT COURT. 
 
 On the old balustraded stone terrace that ran 
 half round Herbert Court, there were two gentle- 
 men talking together, as they slowly turned to- 
 wards the front of the house : where a particularly 
 well-mounted groom, with a superb hunter in hand, 
 was walking his charge leisurely about, lest the 
 spring breeze might chill them after a smart heat ; 
 while a rustic lad with a spade stood uselessly by, 
 and followed the process each way -with deferential 
 looks; though a buxom servant-wench, all sun- 
 shine and smiles at an open upper-casement, seemed 
 the object of much more gracious consideration on 
 the rider's part. There were half-a-dozen coupled 
 beagles about, and a brace of greyhounds ; the 
 master of this retinue being easily distinguishable, 
 in one of the two more conspicuous interlocutors in 
 the foreground. He wore white leather hunting- 
 breeches, riding-boots all dusty and bespattered, a
 
 HERBERT COURT. 235 
 
 tightly-cut green coat and a skull-shaped black 
 velvet cap mth a shade to it ; he had a clear, keen, 
 colourless, restless, staring eye, and a prominent 
 aquiline nose, that gave his face a hard, passionless, 
 animal-like effect, sometimes almost fierce. He 
 spoke mth a kind of supercilious slur in his voice, too, 
 as if the language were troublesome ; and he often 
 mispronounced the words, after a fashion which 
 was rather singular at that day. But he looked 
 young ;, there was some indescribable trait of what 
 was fine about his features, and a certain generous 
 turn that had been given them, with a regardless 
 'air of perfect ease, and a loud freedom of tone, 
 especially when he laughed — all of which made 
 his manner pleasant. He was the former captain 
 of the Diana frigate, Lord Edward de Vere, now 
 member for Somersetshire, in which he had a 
 country-seat not far remote from Herbert Court : 
 being a duke's third brother, and having recently 
 sustained a family loss, he had become Lord 
 Beaufoy. 
 
 The other, coming bare-headed from within the 
 house with his visitor — tall, powerful, stooping a 
 little, with a face deeply embrowned and bronzed 
 by climates and weathers, and somewhat marked, 
 too, by the small-pox [so common in the days when 
 he could have been a boy], yet still with frank blue 
 eyes in contrast to this, and open, cordial, manly 
 look, and crisp light-brown, careless hau', that gave
 
 236 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 out a tint through the powder — it was Herbert 
 himself. He seemed much older than he probably 
 was ; far from his being handsome, there was little 
 at first sight in his favour, save the commanding 
 height and vigour, which lost somewhat by the sea- 
 stoop and undisguisable sea-gait. 
 
 They had talked of the French fleet that was 
 said to be ready for sea, with the rumour as to 
 Spain and Holland joining the enemy. Then 
 Lord Beaufoy spoke of the frigate to tl|e com- 
 mand of which Herbert's new commission ap- 
 pointed him, and was indignant at its not being a 
 line-of -battle ship ; while, at the same time, he 
 mingled with it occasional interjections or cuts of 
 
 the horsewhip to his dogs. " By , Herbert," 
 
 he said, vehemently, "this Admirawlty must be 
 blown up. Must make my first speech against 'em, 
 in — hang it ! no, though — that won't do ! I forget 
 I support Government now. Well — cawse it, it's 
 too bad ! — how many yaars have ye been a lif- 
 tenant now ? " 
 
 " Nine, I think," replied his host, smiling rather 
 sadly ; " but a commander, I ought to recollect, 
 only one." 
 
 "Atrocious ! — atrocious ! " exclaimed Lord Beau- 
 foy. " it, Herbert — no wonder ya know so 
 
 much. Was only hawf a yaar a liftenant myself, 
 if I recollect rightly, and never, doorin' that time, 
 could have been a day on the water. Never could
 
 HERBERT COURT. 237 
 
 bear water in my life, else I should say I should 
 
 have liked the navy. By ! I liked the Diana^ 
 
 you know, Herbert — especially after you came to 
 her. Somehow, ya always understood my orders ; 
 
 D it ! the ship seemed never to sail before, 
 
 coppar'd though she was ; and hang me ! I abso- 
 lootly hated that fella, Tm^ner, or Horner, or 
 somethin', that I had in the ship befaw ! I say, 
 Herbert, I don't mean to flatter ye ; but ye were 
 
 by f aw the best first I evar had ; and by ! I 
 
 should have liked if we could have foucrht the 
 Diana against a French ship of her size. Here, 
 Ponto — you hussy, you ! Shan't stay long in 
 Parliament, I suspect — too doosed talkative for my 
 taste — all party, you know; and one don't agree 
 with either of 'em. The fact is, Herbert, I liked 
 the service; shouldn't wonder, some day, if the 
 Admirawlty gave me my flag — ha ! ha ! ha ! — these 
 
 fellas are such d obsequious fools, you know, 
 
 when a man has any interest ! So by ! I'll 
 
 hoist it at once, and you shall be my flag-captain ! 
 Cawse me ! you're the only man I know that I'd 
 trust with the thing — a fleet, I mean." 
 
 Mr. Herbert smiled again, and shook his head. 
 "I shall be veiy glad, my lord," he said, ''if I 
 can do my duty satisfactorily in the Astrcea, She 
 is a very fine new ship — a forty-four ; and but for 
 your lordship's kind services, I should not have 
 had the slightest chance of her, I am aware. A
 
 238 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 sloop-of-war at the very best would have been my 
 charge ; and really, I can scarcely express " 
 
 "Pooh, pooh, Herbert!" interrupted the young 
 nobleman, hastily — " reely, reely ! Li fact, didn't 
 even know the ship's name — Astrcea, eh ? Is she 
 coppar'cl, I say, Herbert? — shouldn't wonder if 
 she weren't even built; thev're such fooles, these 
 Admirawlty fellaws; but be sure she's coppar'd, 
 like the Diana. ^^ 
 
 Most new ships were about to be so, Mr. Her- 
 bert said, as the system had been fomid quite 
 successful. 
 
 " By-the-by, Herbert," asked his lordship, confi- 
 dentially, as they turned again on the terrace, " I 
 never used to inquire much into these things, you 
 know, at sea ; in fact, never luas a great hand at 
 the ropes ; because, you see, nai^igation and tactics, 
 and so on, were more my forte — but where was 
 the coppahr? Do they stick it astarn, or under 
 the keel, or where, eh ? Hang it ! never exactly 
 liked to ask ; but I suppose it had somethin' to do 
 with her saiiin' trim, or steerage, or somethin'." 
 
 It was with difficulty that the quondam lieu- 
 tenant preserved a grave face while explaining to 
 his former captain that the copper in question was 
 a substitute, on vessels' bottoms, for the defective 
 wooden sheathing on which worms, barnacles, rot, 
 and weeds, produced such detriment of every land. 
 
 " Ah, so ! — I perceive ! " was the reply ; and
 
 HERBERT COURT. 239 
 
 thereupon Lord Beaufoy, with a sagacious air, me- 
 ditated a httle. 
 
 He looked round at the quaint old mansion 
 beside them, where the spring sunshine — blowing 
 past, as it were — mottled the old deep-red wall 
 with flying lights, and widened on it to the 
 clasping ivy-leaves romid a buttress, and ghttered 
 in some many-framed broad casement, till it va- 
 nished. He glanced down at the fine old high- 
 hedged garden, from which the terrace rose at the 
 back; where the dark hornbeam and glistening 
 crisp-edged holly were green about the budding 
 bushes, and round the newly-turned black mould 
 of sloped strawberry-banks, or formal flower-beds 
 edged with box ; and where the pleached trellises 
 and branch-spread southern wall of brick were 
 visible through the want of leaves : with the bare 
 orchard hard-by that sheltered it all from the east ; 
 the hollow of the park behind, rising up into 
 massive timber ; and the skirt of firs upon the other 
 side, which hid the oflices from view. It was 
 early in the day; the forenoon was full of white, 
 windy light, gushing out at times in hazy amber 
 rays from under clouds, while the diy March dust 
 blew abroad, and the sounds of farm-work were 
 everywhere near, with crows following the harrow. 
 To catch the scent of fresh earth that was in the 
 ah', and the fume of rubbish-burning, or the very 
 smell of stable-stuff tossed over in the fields, was
 
 240 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 pleasant indeed. About two miles over the woods 
 that way could be seen the smoke of Wrixworth 
 village ; beyond, the faint glitter of the river 
 Axe; far distant, like a visionary shape, the 
 spires of Wells Cathedral. Close at hand, a 
 sunny steam rose from the stirred garden-soil; 
 the green winter-mouldiness about the branches of 
 trees shone out; the breeze bore off the harsh 
 clamour of the rookery beside the front avenue, 
 and the monotonous love-cooings of the rows of 
 pigeons on the porch-roofs, with incessant chirp- 
 ings of sparrows in the load of ivy and woodbine 
 there, leaving only a warm, moist, shaded stillness 
 by the library windows ; from whence, by a glass- 
 door that still stood open, the two gentlemen had 
 at first come. This room was long and spacious, 
 and with its log-fire glowing on the wide hearth- 
 place, its darkly-polished floor, and broad, mul- 
 lioned casements of Queen Bess's time, crossed by 
 the light from one end that was well-nigh all 
 window, it showed cheerfully transparent. The 
 vellum of old books, red labelled, and the few 
 more modern shelves of these in calf, with gilt 
 letterings, served to enrich its interior ; and even 
 some antiquated family portraits, in ruffs and 
 peaked beards, or with deep-curled wigs, and large, 
 smooth visages, contributed an ornamental effect 
 from outside : but it was the inmate, with his 
 occupation, that gave its chief peculiarity to the
 
 HERBERT COURT. 241 
 
 apartment. He was seen distinctly, as the day- 
 light went through and through ; a thin old man, 
 in a loose, long-skirted coat of a clerical colour, 
 and a dark velvet skull-cap, looking busily from 
 book to book among a number before him on the 
 library-table. Till he raised his head, he might 
 have been thought some modern alchemist or old 
 magician; but his mild, bare face, with the 
 spectacles, and the scanty remnants of light- 
 colom'ed hair parted toward either side, could 
 confirm no such fancy. The thin locks had a 
 golden tinge in the sun, so that he looked at that 
 distance partly boyish, partly like what angels are 
 represented in old pictures. A huge dog of the 
 Newfoundland breed, lying amidst the floor, lifted 
 its head from its paws at any motion, to watch 
 with a wise air ; and when the old man rose, took 
 off his spectacles, and went to the great casement 
 at the end, it sat up on its hind legs to look, 
 as if with interest. In the recess of the projecting 
 bay-casement was a deal table, so covered with 
 stray articles, tools, and odd furniture, as to re- 
 semble a work-bench ; a birdcage hung near, 
 with some ingenious mechanism for its prisoner's 
 occupation ; beside it was a clock of some strange 
 construction ; opposite, the perfect model of a 
 full-rigged ship-of-war — a three-decker; chemical 
 apparatus, retorts, Leyden jars, crucibles, wheel- 
 work, were in confused possession of the space. 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 242 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Nor was it doubtful to whose industry they all 
 testified, when the occupant of the library put a 
 watchmaker's eye-glass into one eye, seized some 
 implement from the table, and stooped over a vice 
 that was fastened by the edge. The worn velvet 
 of his skull-cap glistened with a dusky streak of 
 light to the glare of noon beyond, in which, on 
 the balustrade of the terrace outside, a pair of 
 peacocks, for which Herbert Court was rather 
 noted, sat sunning themselves quietly, with crested 
 heads against the south, and flaunting gorgeous- 
 ness of train let down aslant — blue, green, and 
 glossy emerald with shifting purples, and the ga- 
 thered richness of moon-spotted fringes — like living 
 fabrics from the Orient, or things from an Arabian 
 tale. 
 
 Lord Beaufoy eyed it all carelessly, and looked 
 from Mr. Herbert round to the terrace-steps again, 
 with an expression of countenance as if he checked 
 a whistle. "They've put E-ear- Admiral Keppel 
 over the Channel Fleet, I hear," he said, as he 
 flicked off a very early butterfly from the wall 
 with his whip ; " and Sir Hugh Palliser, next in 
 command — a Whig and a Tory ! Very fine and 
 liberal in a Tory Government! But hang it, 
 
 why Here, Juno ; Ponto, you devil ! By 
 
 the lord, these two dogs'll strangle themselves 
 round that balustrade ! — Why, it's weak. Can't
 
 HERBERT COURT. 243 
 
 please all parties, you know. I hope they've given 
 yon a goodjii'sty though, Herbert." 
 
 " I have not seen my first-lieutenant yet," was 
 the answer ; '^ but I know something of him — an 
 active, steady officer, older than myself, I am 
 ashamed to say, who will understand his duty, I 
 have no doubt. However, I shall at once go dovm 
 to Portsmouth, and see the ship fitted out under 
 my o^vn eye." 
 
 "Take my advice, and see you've got a good 
 first" persisted his lordship. " It's a great point, 
 Herbert. T\Tiy, if you don't fyind him to yar 
 taste, kick up a noise — nothin' like a noise ; these 
 Admirawlty fools can't stand it, they're so in- 
 fernally weak just now — doosed weak, privately 
 speaking, I assure you. I say, Herbert, though," 
 and Lord Beaufoy looked scnitinisingly round 
 again; "my dear fellow, you — you must be — I 
 mean, excuse me, I suppose you are pai'ticulai'ly 
 partial to the sarvice, are you ? " 
 
 A deeper colour was \'isible in his host's sun- 
 burnt complexion ; but Lord Beaufoy did not 
 look at him. " Why, hardly," ^Ii\ Herbert said. 
 " No, my lord ; if I ever had any boyish desii'es 
 about fame, or adventm'e, or any such idle notion, 
 they are gone a good while ago, I think. Even 
 the war scarce stirs me ; I had seen enough of it 
 before. I went to sea in a thoughtless moment, 
 
 Ii2
 
 244 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 while a younger brother ; and pride kept me there. 
 'Twas soon necessity." 
 
 Lord Beaufoy winced, and coloured redder far 
 than Mr. Herbert. "By — • — ," he said, con- 
 fusedly ; " of course, I forgot — ^yes. But hang it, 
 you ought to stay at home. Herbert, a man like 
 you should go into Parliament. You must have 
 some prime shootin', too, about." 
 
 " Excellent, my lord," said his companion. 
 "Over the whole estate, I have at least that 
 right ; and the game is so very plentiful, as to be 
 seriously complained of by the farmers. Your lord- 
 ship would do me a favour, as I shall not be here 
 to see it kept down, by shooting over the ground, 
 with any friends whom the season brings here- 
 about. Somersetshire sport is famous." 
 
 Lord Beaufoy muttered something hastily about 
 seeing the land-bailiff about it — a lease of the 
 thing — money always useful, in fact — fomid so 
 himself, hang it ! And again he vented execra- 
 tions on the navy, ships, seamen, the sea, and salt 
 provisions. The learned Dr. Johnson could not 
 now be more emphatic in detestation of them. 
 
 " 'Tis habit with me," said his host, gravely ; 
 " duty, I trust, I may say, and loyalty. Besides, I 
 am a restless man, my lord. Strange as it may 
 seem at this moment, the veiy thought of spending 
 my days here — of seeing this summer come in — 
 bright, hot, green, endless — I shudder at it. I
 
 HERBERT COURT. 245 
 
 had rather — ah, well, pardon me." Mr. Herbert 
 passed his hand vacantly across his forehead, and 
 Lord Beaufoy stared at him a little. " 'Tis odd," 
 the former continued; "but I dare say my old 
 friend and tutor within, there — the Abbe Home — 
 takes a livelier concern in this war than I do. As 
 for the art, I am sure he understands it a hundred 
 times better." 
 
 " Oh," said his lordship, turning again to eye the 
 library windows. " Hang it, though ! — what the 
 doose is his reverence about now, eh ? " 
 
 ^' 'Tis a model of a new field-piece, I believe, to 
 fire without a touch-hole, so as never to be spiked 
 by the enemy," Herbert answered. " 'Tis but 
 one, however, out of a hundred of his projects 
 and inventions. Priest and scholar as he is, and 
 he devoutest, I think, of men, his great earthly 
 delight is in science. He corresponds with various 
 learned men, and has been named by some to the 
 present vacancy in the French Academy." 
 
 " Very fine old man," said his lordship, using 
 his eye-glass admiringly — "very fine. But corse 
 me, a gun, you know, Herbert, eh ? — for a priest, 
 too ! Quite sure he is not a Jesuit ? " 
 
 " The abbe is a Jesuit, my lord," said the 
 master of Herbert Court, tranquilly, " and so 
 simple a being — so ignorant of the world, and 
 incapable of harming even a worm or a fly — that 
 I know he has kept a sad blank in that part of his
 
 246 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 cabinet for natural history. Still his knowledge 
 of fortification, gunnery, or tactics ; his acuteness 
 in military plans, or even naval ones ; above all, 
 his ingenuity in inventing engines for destruction, 
 with the manner of their use — ^lias the more sur- 
 prised me." 
 
 " By " ejaculated the young nobleman, " a 
 
 perfect treasm'e ! Take him with ye, man ; make 
 him chaplain to the Asf^'cea. Let's see — a frigate 
 don't carry chaplains, perhaps. I'll get my brother 
 
 Chester to give the Admh^awlty a hint, d it ; 
 
 why, 'twould do the sarvice a mighty deal o' good 
 — a man of science, look ye. Hang me, Herbert, 
 my dear fellow, he'd have opportunities of practice 
 
 he cannot have in this d place ; he'd put 
 
 you up to capturing a seventy-four. You'd get 
 knighted at least. They're such doosed fools, the 
 Admirawlty men ; they'll do anything of the sort." 
 
 " My dear lord," said Mr. Herbert, restraining 
 a smile, " you forget the abbe's religion. He is a 
 Catholic, like the family he has been so faithful to; 
 ay, even though the last of them has not proved so 
 himself. Happily for his gentle mind, that is as 
 yet unknown to him. But a Catholic, my lord, 
 in this free country — especially a priest — ^lias 
 still reason to rejoice if he escapes the penalty of 
 high treason for celebrating the holy mass; or if he 
 can retain landed property, not to speak for a mo- 
 ment of acquiring it." A gloom came over Mr.
 
 HERBERT COURT. 247 
 
 Herbert's countenance, as they turned together 
 from the windows, and he was silent. 
 
 "True, true," exclaimed Lord Beaufoy, with a 
 desponding and desperate look in every direction 
 but that of his friend. " Hang it, yes ; we're a set 
 of bigots, tyrants — low scoundrels, in fact. Curse 
 me, it's not faii\ I'd turn CathoHc to-morrow — 
 but there's the seat for the county, you know; 
 couldn't take the oaths — 'twould fall vacant at once; 
 and, by George, I want to speak ! But, I say, 
 didn't I hear something lately about a bill of rehef, 
 or sometliin' that the T\Tiigs are brmgin' in just 
 now? By , Herbert, though I support Govern- 
 ment, I'll go up and vote for it — do you think " 
 
 "The ministiy have already agreed, I think, 
 my lord," replied his host, "to accept the measure. 
 'Tis said, however, that the Presb}i:erians in Scot- 
 land are vehemently indignant, although it does 
 not extend to that country ; and that, in case of 
 the bill passing, mobs are ready to rise in the 
 manufacturing to"v\Tis here, over England. Even 
 reason itself could not convince a man so far, I 
 think, as to lead him just now to desert the reli- 
 gion of his fathers." 
 
 " By Jove! no," said Lord Beaufoy, emphatically. 
 "The fellaw would be a dem poltroon, sir; and 
 by all that's holy, I'd tell him so. Confound alL 
 such prejudice ; hang it, what is it, after all ? nothin* 
 but sooperstition. Mr. Herbert, I didn't know till
 
 248 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 this moment you were a Catholic ; but, 'pon my 
 word, I honour you for't." 
 
 Mr. Herbert drew himself to his full height, 
 and almost stared in his turn at Lord Beauf oy ; 
 till his lordship's utter unconsciousness was too 
 evident to be doubted. "Pardon me, my dear 
 Lord Beaufoy," he said, stopping still, and very 
 seriously ; " but your lordship slightly mistakes me. 
 I am, of course, no Catholic, else I could not hold 
 his Majesty's commission ; for the Test Act is not 
 likely to be repealed at present, I suspect — which 
 prescribes that every British officer, in either ser- 
 vice, who does not take the sacrament according 
 to the usage of the Church of England within a 
 certain time, shall not only incur the heaviest 
 penalties, but become an absolute outlaw in the 
 gravest respects." 
 
 Lord Beaufoy bit his lip, and, stifling some 
 fearful oath, looked about for some of his dogs to 
 bestow a cut of the whip upon ; in default of which 
 he again turned to pace the terrace with his host, 
 " Most infernal," he said. " No wonder the sar- 
 vice goes to the doose — eh ! " 
 
 " Why, I entered it young," responded his com- 
 panion, " and in the navy, while a midshipman — 
 'tis little matter what faith one's family may 
 entertain. At home, here, ere accepting my first 
 commission, I had the strongest scruples — indeed, 
 the very thought of it would have hastened a
 
 HERBERT COURT. 249 
 
 widowed parent to the grave ; and I had the deep- 
 est reverence, as well as affection, for my old tutor. 
 I consulted him, ready to throw up the profession 
 when it perhaps promised most brightly, and then 
 there were no temptations whatever here. The abbe 
 himself had a singular interest in the sea; in disco- 
 very, astronomical observation, foreign rarities or 
 products ; though he had never made any voyage, 
 save across to Calais in his youth, and back, later 
 in life. He had taught me geometry and naviga- 
 tion too, with an extreme zest, during the intervals 
 of my stay at home. It was he himself who, on con- 
 sideration of the difficulty, pronounced it a casuis- 
 tical point, which he would take into his o^vn hands 
 — a reserve in conscience was allowable, he said — 
 the end justified the means ; and he was my con- 
 fessor, besides. I took my commission, my lord, 
 and found in the end that the abbe, with all his 
 geometry, did not know the world. One cannot 
 go round it, and beat about it, carrying one's church 
 with one, or one's confessor, or one's trust in Holy 
 Mary and the saints." 
 
 " Hang it, no, of corse not, Herbert," said his 
 lordship, nodding approval. " The old gentleman 
 should have advised you to enter the French navy. 
 They're all Catholics there, I'm told." 
 
 " It seems to me, my lord," rejoined ]Mr. Herbert, 
 "that there 'is somethiner in an Eno^lishman — ^but 
 especially in a seaman — by nature opposed to that
 
 250 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 faith. One sees mucli — ^he too often does mucli — 
 wliicli he cannot reconcile with it; no doubt I have 
 met with that at sea, my lord, as well as some- 
 times felt it, that has been like to shame one into 
 religion ; nay, it is a calling in which you cannot 
 but stand resolved at times on a better life; but 
 'tis too soon forgot." 
 
 Lord Beaufoy made a gesture of assent, looking 
 much more solemn than his former first-lieutenant. 
 
 "The truth is, my lord," the latter continued, 
 looking down thoughtfully, as they mechanically 
 retraced the terrace in quarter-deck fashion, " 'tis 
 a dangerous thing, at best, to change one's religion 
 — to leave that wherein one was bred, however 
 unthinkingly. It raises bitter qualms at a time — 
 often, you know not if you have got any in its 
 place. 'Twould touch any one, on the other hand, 
 to know how the abbe, though a Jesuit as I said, 
 doubts to this day, without knowing the effect of 
 his counsel, whether he did rightly in delivering it. 
 His conscience the more seems to prick him, as the 
 time grows longer — lest in steering aside from the 
 true course, as it were, he may have caused some 
 evil we none of us know. The good soul ; how 
 little does he suspect the actual truth ! The effect 
 is, my lord, that when the abbe reads the morning 
 and evening Latin to the housekeeper, the ser- 
 vants, and the one or two stray adherents he has 
 at his Sunday chapel, too, and at mass — I must, in
 
 HERBERT COURT. 251 
 
 mere mockery, attend, if at home. 'T would kill 
 the old man to discover that the master of the 
 house — through Iwriy too — ^liad become a heretic, 
 perhaps worse. I must even still confess to him 
 on occasion ; and well meant though it is — while 
 on his favomite topics he would confide everything 
 to me, still keeping up somewhat of the tutor, as 
 his acute intellect easily enables him — all this 
 troubles one very deeply, my lord. Were there 
 no other cause — were peace renewed to-morrow — 
 still, methinks, this house — this old, empt}^, half- 
 decayed home of mine — could not hold me in 
 quiet. While summer sequesters it deeper in the 
 woods, with its dull little household, and the abbe 
 patiently brooding over his books and models, 
 either I must be on my way to something active — 
 something that quickens the blood, and stirs the 
 
 mind ; or there will be some Ah ! talk of 
 
 shadows, spectres — there are horrors that haunt 
 one most at noon-day." 
 
 Mr. Herbert's deep voice trembled ; he seemed 
 flushed and excited ; and, as he quickened his pace 
 or stopped. Lord Beaufoy instinctively kept time 
 with him. "Pooh, pooh, my good fellow — my 
 dear Herbert," said his lordship, in a soothing tone, 
 as he laid a hand on his friend's arm, " I'm afraid 
 you have got a leetle sooparstitious, eh? Come, 
 come, hang it, you know, man — it won't do. A 
 first-class man — first-class officer like you, too."
 
 252 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 Herbert looked round vaguely; but there was 
 something in the well-meant kindness of Lord 
 Beaufoy, that made his host warmly grasp the 
 hand which touched him. " Hist ! " whispered Lord 
 Beaufoy, suddenly, "here he comes — your abbe, 
 Herbert. Not a word, ye know. S't! Here, 
 Viper, sir — ^Ponto, you slut ye, doivn"
 
 253 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE OLD STORY. 
 
 The Abb6 Home emerged from the glass-door 
 upon the back terrace, putting on his clerical 
 scoop-hat, and holding at the same time a trowel 
 and a watering-pan ; while the great dog, gravely 
 following, carried a basket of roots and seeds. 
 Nor would the gentlemen have been perceived, as 
 the abbe was making straight for the steps down 
 into the garden ; but Lord Beaufoy, in his restless 
 way, affecting an miconscious, indifferent, careless 
 air, and calling with a chirp to the Newfoundland, 
 drew the old man's notice perforce. The abbe 
 bowed with a com'tly grace, that savoured, how- 
 ever, rather of old Versailles than modern Eng- 
 land. 
 
 " H'm — hem ! What a splendid fellow of a dog, 
 sir ! " said Lord Beaufoy, hastily. " By G
 
 254 CAPTAIN" HERBERT. 
 
 that's to say — ^hang it, I mean the Virgin Mary — 
 I en-vy your reverence! What — Neptune is his 
 name ? and a very good name too ! Here, Neptune 
 — ^liere, bov ! " 
 
 Neptune's tail shghtly waved, but he did not 
 approach. 
 
 The abbe bowed again, though with great 
 gravity of expression. He looked straight up into 
 the snowy whiteness and fitful radiance of the 
 windy March sky. "Wliat genial weather, gen- 
 tlemen!" he said, with a pleased look, and turned 
 to ^Ii'. Herbert. " The violets must be out, I 
 think, Eichard," he added, " and the early 
 cowslips, and saxifrage. I should have put in 
 these bulbs sooner, but the seeds will be in good 
 time. We ought not to expect without working, 
 ought we, Eichard ? " 
 
 ^^No, my father, no!" replied Mr. Herbert, 
 looking away. 
 
 " And we need not. Lahorare est orare^ we 
 know ! " continued the abbe, smiling mildly to- 
 wards both. "Wliat a real miracle, after all, is- 
 this world, this air, this groT\i:h, these buds and 
 dry clods, opening into newness of life ! It leads 
 an old man like myself almost into the sense of 
 youth again, though rather it should awe him by 
 the sacred mysteiy of Easter to come — of a sure 
 resmTection ! " He crossed himself, and for a 
 moment the expression of his eyes was not visible.
 
 THE OLD STORY. 255 
 
 "I bid you good-day again, my lord; 'tis such 
 weather, I should think, as the hunter loves!" 
 As the abbe passed on, he approached Herbert, 
 and added, lowering his voice, " You will be glad 
 to know, my son, that our new field-piece is likely 
 to succeed. I am on the point of the discovery ; 
 but it tries the eyes — I vary it a little by the 
 garden." 
 
 There had been remote sounds of the hunting- 
 horn now and then from the woods, and they now 
 broke out distincter, nearer, with a halloo and a 
 tantivy, and the querulous yelp of the hounds. 
 Lord Beaufoy started. "Yoicks! hark-away!". 
 he cried, waving his cap suddenly, and hurrying 
 towards the front. "You, there! Where's my 
 
 horse, d it ? These dogs are only in the way 
 
 now — take them, you Tom. Well now, Herbert, 
 I msh you'd have joined us ; they've found the 
 scent again, the last of the season, too ! Yoicks ! 
 Tally-ho ! It can't be helped though — shall see 
 
 ye, of course, before you sail — so " He waved 
 
 his hand, and was off at full speed. 
 
 !Mr. Herbert stood till they were out of sight, 
 then turned into the house. Shortly after, he 
 came out again with his hat on, and passed round 
 into the park, and began to wander idly away. 
 Suddeidy he quickened his pace, and stmck into a 
 by-path that led through the woods, where the 
 galloping sound of his dog Neptune's feet and the
 
 256 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 panting of his breath were soon close behind him, 
 " Ha, Neptune ! " said Herbert, turning and 
 stooping to stroke the dog. " You seem to know 
 my mind better than I do ! 'Tis the old path — ay, 
 you and I are two equally silly fools!" But 
 Neptune wagged his tail, and looked up very wisely 
 indeed. So they went on until the sunlit smoke 
 of Wrixworth village burst upon them from among 
 its bare orchards, with the breezy rippling of the 
 small river, and the changeful glitter of the church 
 weathercock. Beneath them was the ugly old 
 squat-shaped Hall, all yellow-washed and black- 
 windowed, with its rich meadows, snug paddocks, 
 and fat cattle newly turned out, and the busy 
 labours in a map-like variety of fields ; beyond it 
 again, a mournful fragment of the ancient Priory 
 glimpsed from the distant water-side, steeped in 
 mellow sunshine, softly reflected under its green 
 base of sward, with azure space above it and below. 
 There Herbert stood leaning against the stile, and 
 gazed for perhaps half an hour ; the dog stood 
 also, then looked to Herbert, and sat down on his 
 hind legs and contemplated the scene again, till he 
 at last lay down composedly. But his capricious 
 master, after heaving a profound sigh or two, one 
 of them well-nigh amounting to a groan, forthwith 
 began, as it were, to make a distant circuit of the 
 place. 
 
 They were passing quickly under a high hedge-
 
 THE OLD STORY. 257 
 
 topped bank, where the early primroses already 
 peeped out, and the brassy-yellow dandelion-flower 
 and starry wind-weed, and pink-blossomed, large- 
 leafed coltsfoot flared along, like things that bore 
 their own sunshine ; and Herbert was about to 
 spring up over it to the open common that spread 
 homeward, when he heard voices there. On the 
 other side, in fact, were a party from the Hall, 
 just collected at that spot to see the hunt go past, 
 as the sounds from the moory upland seemed to 
 promise. He knew them at once by their mourn- 
 ing dresses for old Mrs. Duttridge, who had been 
 three weeks dead. The elderly Miss Duttridge 
 and her niece, Miss Mary Spencer, in black riding- 
 habits, with black beaver hats and veils, sat on 
 their ponies, one of which, showing restlessness as 
 the cry of "the dogs came nearer, was held by a 
 black man, ^^^th a black ribbon round his straw hat. 
 Behind, stood Master Henry Spencer, very eager, 
 and somewhat noisy in his sympathy with the 
 hunt; while his sister Catherine, in deep mourn- 
 ing, but in plain walking-dress, stood silent near 
 him. Her back was towards the hedge, but he 
 who was looking at lier could not err in the matter ; 
 though it was singular to see her so motionless, so 
 quiet, and apparently grave. It was, indeed, the 
 first time he had caught a glimpse of her since her 
 grandmother's death; for, considering the Abbe 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 cAPTAi:sr Herbert. 
 
 Home, he could scarce have ventured to go much 
 to Wrix^vorth church. 
 
 Herbert drew back without a sound — a breath. 
 No rustle of the hedge had betrayed him, and he 
 crouched himself a little to go do^vn the path 
 a^ain, the wav he had come, to avoid them. Could 
 it be borne that he should be thought actually to 
 seek them out, or to devise ways of apparent acci- 
 dent for it ! 
 
 All at once he heard an exclamation. He had, 
 indeed, forgotten Neptune. Neptune, scrambling 
 through a gap, and bounding up, had thrust his 
 cold nose into the young lady's hand as she stood, 
 and held his head up for her to pat, while his tail 
 waved grandly. From her brother there was a 
 shout of, " Hallo, Neptune ! where have you come 
 from, eh? Why, Kate," he added, "Mr. Herbert 
 must be about himself ! " The youth tiu'ned, and 
 jumped upon the bank to look over. Herbert 
 came sauntering fonvard with a calm manner. 
 He nodded to Henry, and, though annoyed, could 
 not help a smile. " I was sure you were coming, 
 sir, of course," said the lad, in a deferential way, 
 " as soon as I saw Neptune." 
 
 So ^ir. Herbert came round by the turnstile 
 upon the common, with a serious bow. He met a 
 general utterance of pleased recognition from the 
 ladies; though it was unavoidable to English 
 people, after the late event at the Hall, that a
 
 THE OLD STORY. 259 
 
 degree of gravity and a rather awkward pause 
 should follow the hand-taking, health-ascertaining, 
 and weather-settling. But just then some farm- 
 folks in a neighbouring field were seen running 
 towards the dingle beyond, while some boys from 
 the common rushed shouting to the same point; 
 at which Harry Spencer darted down the slope, 
 waving his cap; while, as the noise of the pack 
 burst forth in full cry, the ponies and their riders 
 also, with the attendant negro, and even Neptune, 
 so partook of the excitement as to start off toge^ 
 ther in a body round the brow of the hill. 
 
 The pair who were thus suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly left behind, walking forward by the path 
 at a quick rate, did not at first exchange words. 
 All Herbert's pride rose in his mind, and frowned 
 sternly upon the discovery he had been lately 
 making there, of that insi4ious, senseless, useless 
 passion of his — which he had resolved to run no 
 risk of betraying ; for it was not only the wealth 
 of the family that interposed such a bar, nor the 
 recent well-known fact that old Mrs. Duttridge 
 had left the bulk of her fortune to her youngest 
 granddaughter; but had nothing of the kind 
 existed, she was a mere girl, and he almost twice 
 her age. The truth was, that from the moment 
 when he had perceived the enchantment he was 
 under, her budding beauty had seemed to rise 
 still more immeasurably above his reach each time 
 
 s2
 
 260 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 he saw it again. Not very many weeks ago, 
 indeed, when the last autumn shooting-season 
 first introduced him at the Hall, and at the 
 bustling election-time that had led to frequent 
 intercourse there, she had been to him but a gay- 
 eyed, sprightly figure among others, with some- 
 thing of [the favourite's caprice, and the girlish 
 glee of one fresh from school and town. Her 
 obvious interest in the field-sports had helped to 
 throw him off his guard. In the old English 
 madrigal singing which he had joined at, she had 
 corrected his " time " as openly as she did her 
 uncle's ; before the election she had been an 
 eagerer Tory by far than any of them, laying 
 plans on behoof of Lord Beaufoy, sewing favours 
 of blue ribbon for his lordship, and canvassing 
 among farmers' wives, or even amidst the cross- 
 grained Whigs and stubborn freeholders them- 
 selves. So that if they had all been made quite 
 well acquainted in this manner — till Neptune was 
 a half-spoiled dog, and no one wondered to see Miss 
 Duttridge and her niece thus accompanied on 
 theu' retmTi from the village, or the squire and his 
 niece coming slowly from their ride with the same 
 escort — Herbert had tranquilly plumed himself all 
 the while on the impossibility of any danger. No 
 doubt, seeing so little of society, he found their 
 ch'cle pleasant ; they were neighbours, and had a 
 homely ease and genuineness about them. But as
 
 THE OLD STORY. 261 
 
 for Miss Kate Spencer, nobody had ever said any- 
 thing about her face, or her voice, or any peculiar 
 attraction hovering round what she said and did; 
 nor had these struck him at the outset Avith the 
 least alarm; while he had thought that even he 
 could every day more carefully distinguish, slight 
 as was his knowledge of the Zan<i-world, or his ex- 
 perience of the sex, how remote that girlish live- 
 liness and sisterly intimacy were from all but 
 friendship. 
 
 Thus, by the most prudent and imperceptible 
 degrees, had Herbert lost himself, and with the 
 sudden consciousness had resolved, as he thought, 
 never to betray it by look, word, or sign ; while he 
 suiTendered his whole heart to the strange luxury — 
 more strange to him than to most men of his age. 
 Till at the dread of some hasty glance or rash ex- 
 pression, he had drawn back, and kept as much as 
 was possible away from Wrixworth. He had en- 
 deavoured still, with a great deal of self-command, 
 to keep up the due courtesies, and be civil and 
 calm, yet not cold ; meantime applying, very 
 sensibly, for his appointment to active service 
 again. She herself, indeed, he fancied, had by 
 degrees gro^vn more reserved and distant ; nay, all 
 the opportunities that had been open, could he 
 have sought them, seemed in some undefinable 
 way at an end with the party of guests at the Hall, 
 and the election week. Yet once — in the porch-
 
 262 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 door, when the squh'e was pressing his stay to 
 dinner — had his brain turned giddy between indig- 
 nation and a strange delight, when the group of 
 ladies seemed urging Kate with smiles to try her 
 power; but she had put on a disdainful air, and 
 almost tossed her head, looking indifferent as some 
 face at a fine ball, or at a play, or in a picture. 
 How constantly gay, too, had she been afterwards, 
 the few times he had seen her ; so young, so but- 
 terfly-like, in fact, and full of spirits, and at times 
 absolutely frivolous, that he had tried to underrate 
 her, with a bitterness which by that ever-growing 
 beauty of hers was made desperate. Then, without 
 his hearing of it — without the chance of a good-bye 
 — ^her sudden return home to Bristol had taken place. 
 So that, when her absence came out as it were by 
 accident in the Hall parlour, at his next random 
 visit, there came a chill like death for that moment 
 about his heart; nor was it difficult to perceive 
 that the squire's heartiness had then lost somewhat 
 of its previous warmth, while the maiden aunt was 
 visibly stiff amidst her hospitalities, and even the 
 deaf, venerable old lady in her high-backed chair, 
 who had shown a partiality to his name and house, 
 had looked less benevolently interested in what he 
 said than usual. This was all over, and he had been 
 gaining a degree of calm, in the expectation to be 
 soon gone ; but now at the sight of her face, the 
 sound of the voices, the touch of hands, with the
 
 THE OLD STORY. 263 
 
 mourning dress and the unaccustomed gravity, all 
 these things rushing back, seemed as if they would 
 have choked him. He walked on, mastering him- 
 self sternly, and meaning to speak next moment of 
 the spring weather again, of the fine sport, the So- 
 mersetshire pack, the pleasure and excitement even 
 to on-lookers — anything — but it was vain; the 
 pretence would have made his voice somid, he felt, 
 like some unnatural or uncouth noise in a jest. 
 All this awkwardness is doubly awkward, when a 
 man comes to the first full knowledge of it at 
 thirty, or a Httle past that age — aware, too, that he 
 looks /feels and/ still older — not sure, either, where U^ 
 the passion may lead. 
 
 It was the young lady who broke the silence 
 herself, as they hastened on ; perhaps forced to it, 
 but, if gravely enough, by no means in a fluttered 
 or uneasy way. ' " Since last seeing him — Mr. Her- 
 bert — they had suffered a severe loss at the Hall," 
 she said, and her tone was so unfalteringly distinct 
 and self-possessed, yet serious, while she shghtly 
 turned towards him, that it at once made Herbert 
 comparatively calm. 
 
 He answered scarce less composedly, and still 
 more gravely. " Yes, it must have been so. Mrs, 
 Duttridge," he had found, "had slightly known 
 his own mother, and had regretted not knowing 
 her more, although circumstances had of course 
 kept them necessarily apart. He had too seldom
 
 264 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 enjoyed the privilege of seeing Mrs. Duttridge ; of 
 talking with her ; but, in so far as he had done so, 
 it had deeply gratified him. True, the event had 
 revived recollections in his mind that were painful 
 indeed." 
 
 There was something still softer than its wont 
 in the voice which responded ; it seemed desirous 
 to soothe. " Her dear grandmother had more than 
 once spoken of Mrs. Herbert. She had never 
 ceased, to the last, to think and speak of those she 
 knew well, even very early friends; and among 
 them had been — that is, she had more than once 
 happened to mention Mrs. Herbert and her two 
 boys. It had been difficult to keep her in mind„ 
 indeed, how he — Mr. Herbert — was reallv the same 
 with the younger of these. But she always spoke 
 of him so very kindly." " Grandmamma's opinion,, 
 Mr. Herbert, I assure you," she said, turning with 
 more animation towards him, " is worth gaining ; 
 she is so wise — so good a judge of people's cha^- 
 racters, so very superior, indeed, to most other " 
 
 But her steady voice suddenly faltered, and she 
 stopped at the sharp recollection of a loss that had 
 evidently been too gradual, too much according to 
 the course of nature, to be always realised as it 
 was thought to deserve. He saw her eyes fill with 
 tears, and she turned her head away again. 
 Though in the utter silence of the moment he had 
 still seen her, while the breezy air was blowing 
 in her veil and hair, and all the open light of the
 
 THE OLD STORY. 265 
 
 south swimming up and beating against her face, 
 so that her colour glpwed out fair and warm in it 
 from the mourning silk and crape, and a shadow 
 of her dark hat and veil fell round half her hair — 
 making the gold threads elsewhere in it shine but 
 the distincter through its up-drawn, off-turned mesh, 
 whose brownness the white powder softened yet 
 enriched, like morning hoar-frost on the abbe's 
 sunniest bank of spring thyme, of marjoram and 
 balm. To Herbert her countenance had never yet 
 seemed so exquisite; perhaps because he had not 
 before seen it in such a mood. She was the mere 
 giii no longer, he felt, as she had been three 
 months ago ; but in motion, accent, thought, as in 
 dress — young although she was — a woman. Her 
 slight tears agonised him ; he forgot what it was 
 they had talked of, though he would have given 
 the world to have said something suitable, if not 
 consolatory. But, amidst it all, how completely 
 distant from his mind then, in the pure unsuitable- 
 ness of the thing, and in its absolute uselessness, 
 became the least approach to hope or passion, 
 eager wishes or tremulous ardom', or the poignant, 
 longing uncertainty of a lover. It was not despair 
 he felt; rather an intense w^onder and dehght at 
 being thus favoured to walk there, none other 
 accompanying them; wdth which he went on, 
 shutting his thoughts against the question of how 
 soon it must end. 
 
 " She was so, at least," said his companion more
 
 266 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 firmly, correcting herself after a slight pause, which 
 to Herbert may have seemed some whole celestial 
 cycle, or measureless chaotic blank, full of blended 
 light and darkness, mingling ecstacy and pain. 
 The words recalled his thoughts, and he hastened 
 to say such things as he could, or had heard, of the 
 tranquil end of the pious — with the precious worth 
 and charity of venerable ladies, and their sage and 
 benign examples. So they talked on more and 
 more intimately, till, as Herbert, drawing from the 
 Abbe Home and his own old associations, sHd 
 unawares into some account of a Romish martyr, 
 or Papal saint, involving virtues and works that 
 seemed superhuman, or merits which were am- 
 biguous, if not questionable — he was checked all at 
 once by the growing expression of archness on his 
 hearer's face. Catherine Spencer fairly smiled at 
 his perplexed look, as if her former sprightliness 
 of temper overcame her ; there was a half-ironical 
 point in what she said, with a mischievous sparkle 
 of the eye, which would have been annoying but for 
 the sweetness of the tone. 
 
 " We are such Protestants, you see, Mr. Herbert, 
 at Wrixworth." 
 
 Mr. Herbert stammered, and murmured some- 
 thing in vague explanation ; the more confusedly, 
 [on the Abbe Home's account,] as he remembered 
 how everybody thereabouts must suppose him of 
 the same faith as his family had been. Nor was
 
 . THE OLD STORY. 267 
 
 it a thing he was proud of, or very well knew how 
 to justify, if he had ceased to be so. What, indeed, 
 had he to put in its place ? 
 
 "'Tis perhaps bigoted," rejoined the young 
 lady, quickly ;^ "for we all think the fifth of 
 November a veiy great day indeed. My uncle 
 would fain, too, have me read ' Fox's Book of 
 Martyrs ; ' though I am sure he knows very little 
 about it himself — such mere cruel, mistaken zeal, 
 that has long repented, or would so now-a-days, 
 would it not ? And all his vehemence were gone 
 on the instant, I do think, ]\fr. Herbert, were he to 
 see a priest or a monk, at least were he to speak with 
 them, or even with the Pope himself." 
 
 When Herbert glanced downward at her com- 
 posed, smiling face, thus young and unconscious 
 of his hidden emotion ; and when he heard the 
 unhesitating music of those accents, feeling at the 
 same time that collected manner, as she rapidly 
 kept pace ^vith him — he was deeply thankful at 
 never having been led to precipitate himself, in 
 some rash moment, do^^^l the passionate abyss — to 
 transfer himself in an instant from the acquaint- 
 ance, the friend, to the lover, mth that wild 
 probability hovering above which seems possible 
 even to the secm'est or most cautious suit ; of the 
 surprised glance, the inanimately cold expression, 
 and rigid withdrawal, and set civiHty of reply. 
 How much better as it was — the admitted friend.
 
 268 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 almost the brother! For once or twice, as he 
 spoke on, she looked up with that smiling, half- 
 respectful, half-inquiring confidence, which younger 
 sisters show ; nor was it with other feelings than 
 of high guidance and protection, though the blood 
 must rush more violently toward the heart, that at 
 the stile he gave his hand to aid her over. Yet, 
 Heavens ! just once again, the arch expression 
 flitting through that smile ! And the bright after- 
 glance could not be caught, but was turned to the 
 sky, and the distant hill, and to the trees at hand. 
 If she still smiled or laughed, looked serious or 
 looked gay, he could not see. Did that lustrous, 
 airy, twinkling little consciousness, mock him, or 
 tempt with its shy light to some infatuation ? In 
 what a silence they were walking on, too, and how 
 slow ! It were worth worlds, could any magic 
 bring it to pass, only to see round into that face, 
 and meet those eyes, and hear but a syllable of the 
 remotest hope from those rosy lips. The mde, 
 fluttering, dusty noon-day, was dreamlike around ; 
 the March sounds, the spring rusthngs, the con- 
 fused place and time. Ha ! why, Neptune ! Yes, 
 Neptune, poor dog! bounding, basking, springing 
 from his peremptory master to the more favouring 
 patronage by his side. Where were they ? Where 
 was the hunt — the party — the common itself, or 
 that dell near Wrixworth ? 
 
 Herbert stopped, and looked round him, much
 
 THE OLD STORY. 269 
 
 confused, nor knowing, at first sight, where they 
 were. They had hurried off into wood and park, 
 and wandered afterwards, so that an hour must 
 have passed at least. Miss Catherine Spencer stood 
 surprised too, and looked somewhat dismayed to 
 hear that they were now somewhere ahout three 
 miles and a half from Wrixworth ; till, at Mr. 
 Herbert's earnest excuses, she spoke of it laugh- 
 ingly, with boasts of her hardy country-breeding. 
 So they had turned to go back, when Harry 
 Spencer appeared on the bank above, shouting, 
 glowing with exercise, and flourishing a stick he 
 had just cut. Harry had followed Neptune, think- 
 ing Neptune was only on his way back to Herbert 
 Court, where he (Harry) had promised some tough 
 ash-wood some day to the abbe, whom he knew 
 by this time very well. He had forgot all about 
 Kate, and said the rest were very likely gone 
 home, though he wasn't sure. 
 
 " What ! ain't you going back by Herbert Court, 
 Kitty ? " asked he, in a lower voice, as he stood by 
 her. " You look tired, I'm sure ; and, at any rate, 
 you'd be all the better of a rest, you know. [Mrs. 
 Brinds, the housekeeper, keeps first-rate bread, 
 besides all sorts of home-made sweetmeats ; and I 
 know her quite well; in fact, I really can't go 
 home with you, I'm afraid, without I see the abbe. 
 Why, from where we are, it's the nearest way." 
 
 Kate Spencer coloured for the first time, with a
 
 270 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 vexed look at her brother. But it was impossible 
 to help laughing ; and Mr. Herbert laughed also, 
 when he knew the point in question from Harry. 
 Since first seeing his eager young admirer, and late 
 co-professional in an humbler sphere, the AstrcBcHs 
 captain-elect had, indeed, treated the former with 
 a natural favour, even showing some degree of 
 interest in his unlucky experiences, if not of real 
 disapproval towards the unsuitable commanders 
 who had darkened his early prospects at sea. The 
 boy, in turn, with all his quick forwardness, ven- 
 turing now no further than to display a profound 
 and distant deference for the holder of the King's 
 full commission. Decayed old Herbert Court was 
 nothing in his eyes to the new Astrcea of forty- 
 four guns, that lay, as all the world knew, fitting 
 out at Portsmouth. As for his previous ambition 
 of a post under Mr. Herbert, it was plainly too 
 wild to stand the test of such a circumstance. He 
 only betrayed his feelings by some annoyed glances 
 at Kate's matter-of-fact air, with the mighty cool 
 assurance of the easy way in which she took her 
 honours. 
 
 But at Mr. Herbert's serious pressure of the 
 point in hand, with some more than wonted court- 
 liness of manner as he proffered the hospitalities of 
 his old house, the girl blushed again, and laughed 
 and hesitated, looking from Harry to the path, 
 from the path to Harry. " Shall I see the Abbe
 
 THE OLD STORY. 271 
 
 Home," she said. Mr. Herbert evidently won- 
 dered at the query. " Harry is so often talking 
 about him," she pursued, "that we are all curious." 
 
 " Nothing, I assure you. Miss Spencer," was the 
 frank reply, " will please the abbe more." 
 
 " If he do not try to convert us," Kate merrily 
 said, and turned, smiling, up the slope.
 
 272 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 AWAY. 
 
 It was tlie first time witliin the memory of man 
 or woman that any lady from Wrixworth Hall had 
 been under the roof of Herbert Court ; and 
 whether religious prejudices weighed ^vith Mrs. 
 Brinds, the housekeeper, or whether she con- 
 sidered the Duttridge family inferior in station to 
 the Herberts, and desired in some measure to 
 sustain their dignity — while, at the same time, 
 rather taken by surprise — she had at first a good 
 deal of stiff primness in her aspect, and persisted in 
 having her visitors ushered formally to the dining- 
 hall, where dark wainscot, and antiquated furni- 
 ture, and want of use, were enough to make most 
 people dreary. She, herself, had much of the old- 
 fashioned gentlewoman, and it was chiefly towards 
 Mr. Herbert that her great deference was shown.
 
 AWAY. 273 
 
 When he was gone, therefore, to seek the Abbe 
 Home about the garden, her hospitahties grew 
 easier, warming wnith the faint refusals of Master 
 Henry in regard to a second glass of her old 
 currant wine, and opening out to his sister, so soon 
 as he also had disappeared, in somewhat partial 
 excuses for his restlessness, his loud voice, and 
 blunt manner. 
 
 " Young gentlemen icoidcl be young gentlemen. 
 She remembered even his Honour himself, as 
 mannerly and quiet as he now was, having a hoop 
 and trundling it along the terrace, and once break- 
 ing a ^\dndow-pane with his ball ; which it was the 
 more surprising, because, at that time, excepting 
 his poor, weakly elder brother, he had no play- 
 fellows ; nor could he have, seeing there was no 
 young people of his station near by. But that 
 must have been years and years before ^liss 
 Spencer was born." 
 
 The hale, homely features of the old dame had 
 the textui'e and tint of a well-kept -svithered apple, 
 and a cheerful, busy, managing air, besides; 
 though, in her close-plaited cap -with a high back, 
 and her black kerchief and gown of grey-shining 
 silk, she looked something between a widowed 
 Quakeress and a lay-sister in a convent, sitting 
 straight up in her chair at a ceremonious distance, 
 and smoothing down her silk, and benignly gossip- 
 ing in a cracked voice to the merchant's youngest 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 daughter; while Dolly, the niece, with blooming 
 cheeks and a high apron, stood simpering and look- 
 ing down beside the salver of cake she had brought, 
 with furtive glances now and then at the shoe, the 
 dress, or hat, of an heiress no older than herself. 
 Kate Spencer, resting in a tall-backed chair that 
 raised its crest above her, did not seem by any 
 means over-fatigued, however ; leading Mrs. 
 Brinds on by all sorts of questions, to tallv of 
 the rooms, the furniture, ever}i;hing, up to her 
 favourite pea-fowl, till they were forthwith at the 
 height of acquaintance; yet still fondling Nep- 
 tune, whom she had detained by force, and looking 
 all round with lively eyes, and talking too. Out- 
 side, in the au', was the full radiance of the sun, 
 like summer come before the leaves. Through 
 one opened portion of a casement could be seen the 
 brightness of the stone balustrade bathed in it ; 
 the dusky sunbeam, through another, clove the 
 shadow and fell in, steel-coloured, and gleaming 
 like some angelic sword, thromng broken checkers 
 on the oaken floor, while it smote mth a pitiless 
 glare by the way upon the faded old mud-coloured 
 window-tapestry, going on in a swaim of motes to 
 the quilted table-cover of green silk, all scaled 
 like the pine-apple or tortoise, where the quaint 
 silver salver was, and the blue china plate of 
 dried conserves, with the decanter of home-made 
 cordial. Kate Spencer basked in it, as Neptune
 
 AWAY. 275 
 
 did. She put her hand in it, with, a childish hght 
 dancing in her eyes, perhaps because it was so 
 quaintly pleasant and summer-like, bringing to 
 mind how the budding elm-branches opposite 
 would soon screen off the heat ; then she checked 
 a mischievous smile, as she praised the ciu'tains, 
 but feared the sun would " fade them " in time. 
 
 ^^ Curtains ! — dear bless her ! they were the 
 oldest tapestry. Saving her presence, money 
 could not buy such a thing ; the sun did 'em but 
 little harm. They had been a hundred years at 
 least in the house up-stairs, and were said to have 
 been sewed by some old ancestress of the Her- 
 berts, with her maids about her, when the lord 
 of the castle was away at the Holy Sepulchre for 
 some great crime." 
 
 Mrs. Brinds crossed herself, and bowed. Then 
 she rose; and, lifting the sknt of the tapestry, 
 showed in embroidered relief upon it, though 
 blanched and discoloured, where female patience of 
 old had at least equalled the exploits of the crusader 
 in representing the whole TNdld struggle of some 
 violent deed, life-size, with all the weapons, and 
 in attitudes of an awkwardness perhaps more 
 unpleasant than the reality; though it had, by 
 good luck, been cut in half, with a provident 
 view to the two casements; which, on a sno^vy 
 winter's night, no doubt, with fireUght, and 
 curtains dra^^al, and slight draughts of aii', would 
 
 t2
 
 276 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 present the somewhat ghastly scene in its liveliest 
 completeness. 
 
 To the bright-eyed guest, however, it cost but a 
 moment's shiver. She had even begun to ask, with 
 the more girlish waywardness, if it were all true 
 about a haunted chamber ; greatly to the evident 
 disturbance of the housekeeper, who crossed her- 
 self again, looking grave, and shaking her head, 
 when the abbe's entrance, with Henry, stopped her. 
 
 The Abbe Home bowed deeply, and smiled 
 gently, begging Mrs. Brinds to remain seated, and 
 taking a chair by the fair visitor to talk to her ; 
 which he did with much of the elaborate polish, 
 and somewhat of the epigrammatic point, the 
 wittj sparkle, or insincere allegorical pastoral 
 style of the old court of Versailles towards ladies, 
 with even a degree of its fancied knowledge of 
 life and the world, that might have seemed doubly 
 preposterous on a spring day down in Somerset- 
 shire, more than thirty years after the meridian 
 glory of Louis-le-Grand. But the kindness of 
 the old man, and his own grave, simple character, 
 were conspicuous through all, so that it only added 
 a charm to what had already a pleasant strange- 
 ness. Amidst it, as Kate Spencer sat leaning 
 back, she cast her eyes on one among the old 
 portraits high up against the wainscot with a 
 sudden sense of discomfort. It was more vividly 
 life-like than the rest, showing merely a middle-
 
 AWAY. 277 
 
 aged ordinary man, in a demure dark dress, and 
 plain cravat and band, displaying a parchment 
 with both hands ; but the pale forehead, full and 
 bald, made the dark eyes beneath it shine out 
 keener in their intentness, as if the face really 
 looked forth; while the bluish plum-bloom-like 
 tint of a close-shaven jaw, as in strongly saturnine 
 complexions, was depicted skilfully. The more 
 she eyed it, the more did it compel the girl's notice 
 by a kind of vague fascination, till she at last 
 said, " What a disagreeable face ? Who was it, 
 pray, Mr. Abbe ? " 
 
 The old chaplain turned to see, and put on his 
 spectacles ; while Henry Spencer stared up, too, 
 saying it was very like somebody he had seen — in 
 fact whom he must have known quite well ; but 
 he couldn't just remember. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the Abbe Home, growing grave at 
 once, " that was Sir Thomas Shadd, a collateral 
 ancestor, merely, of the family ; the most restless 
 intellect, and among the most brilliant of his 
 time; a lawyer, a man of science, a courtier, 
 statesman, diplomatist, plotter, successful traitor 
 and apostate ; the world smiled on him to the end; 
 
 yet was that fickleness, that unprincipled ambition, 
 
 h* j> 
 IS rum. 
 
 "How, Father Home?" asked the boy. "What 
 
 happened to him ? " 
 
 " It could only be explained, even by lawyers/'
 
 278 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 replied the abbe, " on the ground of insanity. 
 He had cut off a profligate heir, and illegally be- 
 queathed his fortune to the annual demonstration of 
 a refined and moral atheism. His wealth was, 
 indeed, successfully claimed and quickly spent by 
 the profligate ; yet it seems doubtful whether the 
 insanity differed in kind from that which his 
 whole Hfe exemplified. The merit of the picture 
 as a work of art, I believe, mademoiselle, is the 
 chief reason for its being retained here, where it 
 has been little seen of late ; but such memorials, I 
 think, though painful, possess a " 
 
 " Oh, I'll tell you who it is, Kate !" interrupted 
 her brother, eagerly, with a triumphant slap of his 
 hand against his thigh, "it's my old skipper, I 
 think — old Itefell Dodge! At any rate, there's 
 something about the mouth, or something — I 
 wonder now, if Diamond were here, if he'd " 
 
 " Resemblances may lead us away, my dear 
 young gentleman," resumed the abbe, putting his 
 hand, with a smile, on Harry's shoulder, so as to 
 save his sister further vexation at his rudeness, for 
 he stopped and looked down very awkwardly, 
 shifting from one foot to the other. "Were 
 vulgar superstition more sagacious. Miss Spencer,'* 
 resumed the chaplain, while the housekeeper con- 
 tinued reverently to stoop forward in her chair 
 catching all that dropped from his lips, with 
 sundry nods, devout adjm'ations, and pious cross-
 
 AWAY. 279 
 
 ings of herself — " would it not rather imagine this 
 person's memory to trouble the earth, than con- 
 ceive some unknown, aimless spectre in this 
 peaceful house, to haunt a sleeping - chamber ? 
 'Tis abroad at tliis moment, doubtless — the same 
 rash, heartless, cold, and insatiable spirit — ^yet, 
 thank Heaven ! though that man's blood may have 
 mingled with the Herberts', it has not infected 
 them ! Sorrow may have been theirs, but no shame, 
 I trust." 
 
 "Dear, dear, your reverence, no!" exclaimed 
 Mrs. Brinds, throwing up her hands, " never, never 
 in the world ! Holy saints preserve us ! " 
 
 "We grow rich, too, Mrs. Brinds," said the 
 ecclesiastic, playfully, " that is a great thing ! 
 You must know, Mademoiselle Kate, that obsolete 
 as we may seem here — perhaps dilapidated some- 
 what, in spite of good INirs. Brinds' sedulous care — 
 we may yet revive some of our faded splendour, of 
 which the poor peacocks yonder are but a faint 
 emblem and relic. There are coal mines found of 
 late in the North, on a very bleak estate, which 
 make Mr. Herbert's uncle a rich man, and will 
 some day make himself a richer one." 
 
 " My dear father," said a grave voice near them, 
 "hush, pray, hush! You forget the undoubted 
 conditions." And as both the abbe and the 
 others turned, they saw Mr. Herbert coming in 
 airain, with an air of seriousness that seemed the
 
 280 CAPTAIN HERBER 
 
 result of something in the interval he had spent 
 apart. 
 
 The Abbe Home showed the confused look of a 
 child detected in a fault, or of some too boastful 
 person overheard. He rose, and said hastily, as 
 he moved towards Mr. Herbert, assuming great 
 calmness, " True, true, Richard — true. I have 
 always thought Sir Ralph's avowed stipulation in- 
 judicious; nay, prejudicial in effect, since it must 
 constrain the will even of the best disposed. 
 Surely our Chm'ch can afford to trust her sons; 
 and, as one of the fathers hath it, ' Dearer to the 
 Lord is the free 2:ift than anv treasure — dilectius 
 Domino quam ulla gaza est munus gratuitum ! ' The 
 new law of England allows of it, indeed ; but to 
 require that the very heir to the baronetcy itself 
 should take the mass in public, or forfeit the pro- 
 perty in favour of the next of kin, a female, the 
 superior of a foreign convent, or her lawful heirs — 
 in our Church's behoof, in short — 'tis zeal, zeal, 
 my dear boy, but ill-judged, methinks ! I have 
 lately written as much to my friend Father Joseph, 
 Sir Ralph's confessor, who — who, you know, in- 
 forms me of everything, perhaps too freely. 
 Father Joseph, I fear, is inclined to be incautious ; 
 he has little knowledge of the world, and must 
 naturally have been a very simple man, I think. 
 What if the post-office people at Brookbridge 
 were to apply their reputed cmiosity! True, the
 
 AWAY. 281 
 
 letters are in Latin, and Father Joseph often adds 
 the cypher ; yet what talk would there be of bigotry, 
 designs, Jesuit plots ! " 
 
 As he spoke, he and Mi'. Herbert stood near the 
 other end of the room from where the young lady 
 sat; but tlie gathered gloom on Mr. Herbert's 
 brow had been visible to her in a moment, hke a 
 shadow brought into the place, and seemed almost 
 to amount to sternness as he looked down, listening 
 to the old chaplain; while it was with an air of 
 utter vacancy that he glanced up at him, appear- 
 ing to gaze round abstracted, yet to nod, and say 
 something in assent, till a sudden surprised ex- 
 pression broke out in his eyes, and he fixedly sur- 
 veyed the abbe for a moment or two, then turned 
 his face from him with a tliroe of manifest pain 
 upon it. Even as he came forward with his cour- 
 teous look, the firm effort to smile was perceptible. 
 
 Kate Spencer glanced up involuntarily to the 
 portrait again, and back toward the master of the 
 house. No two visages could w^ell be more dif- 
 ferent, and yet some vague association in her mind 
 might have prompted the grave glance of com- 
 parison, or perhaps of contrast. Indeed, her qmck- 
 eyed brother had all the while been evidently 
 weighing the question of the picture with singular 
 intentness of meditation ; he caught her look, and 
 follow^ed it. Next moment, however, he turned 
 all at once on his heel, thrusting both hands into
 
 282 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 his genteel breeches-pockets, as if they had been 
 the old canvas trousers, and walking quickly up to 
 Kate, with a whistle, and with a smile of general 
 disdain and compassion for the dulness of all their 
 speculations on the matter, his own included. 
 " Pooh, Kitty, what have we all been dreaming 
 of ? " he said, loudly. " Wliy, it's that Creole, or 
 foreigner, or whatever he is, that it's like ! The 
 Count, you know. Just take another look ! " 
 
 His sister turned abruptly, rising up, and seem- 
 ing to survey the portrait with the utmost atten- 
 tion. 
 
 ^^ It's not so good-looking, I suppose you'll say," 
 added Harry, in his thoughtless, random way, 
 " for he was such a beau of yours at home ; and 
 Jane and Mary both call him the handsomest man 
 they know. For my part, the more they talk, it 
 always sets me the more against him again. Now, 
 if it weren't the bald forehead, Kate — and if there 
 were hair-powder, with a higher sort of a nose, and 
 a touch of Creole about the skin — I just ask if it 
 isn't the Count's very image ? " 
 
 Kate answered in a very distinct, steady voice, 
 without tm'ning, however : " Yes, it really is so, I 
 declare! I think you are right, Henry, and I 
 wonder I did not see it before. Oh, yes, there is a 
 plain likeness to the Comte de St. Amand." But 
 even one standing behind, on the other side of the 
 table, might see that in the silence there spread a
 
 AWAY. 233 
 
 rose-red suffusion on the girl's cheek, flushing the 
 fair ghmpse of her neck, till, through the very fold 
 of the upturned veil, the ear-tip from beneath one 
 powdered tress glowed scarlet. 
 
 "De St. Amand, Mademoiselle Kate?" re- 
 peated the Abbe Home, and tm'ned again to Her- 
 bert. " Surely I have heard the title before ! " 
 
 "It was the title, you recollect, father," said 
 Mr. Herbert, quietly, " derived by my cousin 
 Etherege's mother — Sir Ralph's niece, my cousin- 
 german — in her own maternal right. On all that 
 concerns the memory of either of his parents my 
 cousin shows the most resolute disposition to lay 
 stress ; but he seems as little influenced by motives 
 of ambition as he is by mercenary views." 
 
 " I remember — true," said the old abbe, sitting 
 down near the table, and eyeing the portrait again. 
 " This likeness, then — do you, too, observe it ? A 
 strong resemblance to your cousin Etienne, it 
 seems? Not as yet having seen the young man, 
 you know, Richard, I feel a natm-al interest in the 
 question." 
 
 " Since the remark has been made, I have 
 noticed its correctness," was the deliberate answer. 
 " Yes ; the old family connexion does come out — 
 even singularly obvious, as one looks for it. 'Tis a 
 portrait I never much heeded before, m truth. 
 Both he and I, however, it must be acknowledged, 
 partake alike of the blood of Sir Thomas Shadd,
 
 284 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 who — ^in whom Miss Spencer and her brother ap- 
 pear to have been so much interested." 
 
 "A proof, at all events," continued Father 
 Home, resting his chin on his hand, and gazing 
 down thoughtfully — " a quite sufficient proof, if 
 that were needed; though scarce an agreeable 
 one. His mother, the Spanish adventurer's widow, 
 could hardly have forsaken the world on better 
 cause — ahem ! tud venidj Sanctissima ! Grant to us 
 all — charity ! " He glanced up, though with acute 
 secular intelligence in his eyes, to add, " Madame 
 the Abbess — or Superior — ^may doubtless have de- 
 vised away her rights and titles to her son, before 
 assuming the veil. The law of France, not 
 the canon law, will rule in that case; but the 
 one and the other must go together, one would 
 think — I mean, both as to his title and his estate 
 from her ? " 
 
 ^*My dear abbe," rejoined Mr. Herbert, quickly, 
 " I have told you my cousin is abeady a man of 
 wealth, and that mainly through his mother ; I 
 think it will be no fault of Jiis, however, if your 
 hopes fail. He was open with me, to a fault ; he 
 neither needs nor desires additions to his fortune." 
 
 " On all points of law, home or foreign," con- 
 cluded the old chaplain, rising, "Father Joseph 
 of Kingswood is a complete authority : I need but 
 consult him by a note or two. 'Tis necessary in this 
 world to be on our guard against our very friends
 
 AWAY. 285 
 
 — ^the most ingenuous of them. Father Joseph 
 himself has the Church at heart, perhaps, a Uttle 
 too closely ; yet be at ease, Richard ; you may sail 
 more secure in this respect, than even on the ques- 
 tion as to my actual improvement on the compass- 
 box, or whether the new swinging-barometer cor- 
 rectly prognosticates a tropical ^" 
 
 He paused, with a sudden notice of the utter in- 
 attention paid to his words; the v/hole of these 
 subjects appeared to have lost their importance, 
 however vital, in the mere concern of " Richard " 
 at leaving his young visitors to the housekeeper 
 alone — and the good abbe had betrayed too 
 evident a perception for the charming face he saw, 
 not to be pleasantly startled at last by its marked 
 effect on Mr. Herbert. His eye watched anxiously 
 when the young Miss Spencer looked towards her 
 brother, with manifest desire to go. When she 
 had taken leave of Mrs. Brinds, they all passed out 
 together on the terrace, to gain the nearest foot- 
 way towards Wrixworth Hall. The Abbe Home 
 summoned all his court-manner of the ancien regimey 
 to accompany them ; but stopped soon, at the first 
 turnstile, on the plea not only of his age, but of 
 the rarity also of his appearance abroad ; though it 
 was amidst the liveliest discourse between him and 
 the young lady. " Besides, Miss Spencer," he said, 
 a little out of breath, though with a smiling bow, 
 "not even the influence of beauty can always —
 
 286 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 enable us to keep pace — we find — with youth." This 
 regret and her own flattered consciousness, together, 
 made the girl's varying look a bright one ; she re- 
 joined with a mingled sprightliness and deference 
 that became her very gracefully, repelling the 
 implied charge against herself, by playful blame of 
 the abbe's own conversation, so gay, so polished, 
 and so charmingly entertaining ; and but for the 
 sincere, half -filial au', it might have been thought 
 she coquetted with the old ecclesiastic. 
 
 " But Mademoiselle Kate," the latter hoped, at 
 parting, "will not quite desert the old priest at 
 Herbert Court, when Mr. Herbert has left him there 
 alone. Your passing visits, ina petite, to show your 
 friends the rooms, the pictures, the view up-stairs, 
 would please me almost as much as they would 
 flatter Mrs. Brinds. The little chapel is worth seeing, 
 too ; the library contains a few choice modern works 
 — and still more, in summer, the flower-garden, of 
 which I am so vain. You, Mademoiselle Kate, 
 are like sunshine coming into the old house ; I 
 seem to have seen some such one, I think, — only 
 long ago — at Versailles, or Marly, for a moment 
 at a window, it strikes me, blushing and smiling 
 to some one in the cavalcade, and shrinking back 
 from above velvet hangings and sumptuous cloths 
 of gold and embroideries, as we were all riding, 
 with trumpeters before us, through the street." 
 
 And when the abbe had said this, closing his
 
 AWAY. 287 
 
 eyes towards the end, as if he saw the face before 
 him, Kate had indeed blushed and laughed, making 
 some confused promise for her next visit from 
 Bristol to the country, and hastening on with 
 Harry and Mr. Herbert. The latter, saying little, 
 and seeming grave, persisted still in seeing them 
 as far as the Hall gates. An indescribable change 
 had come over the little conversation there was. 
 Harry alone, with the dog Neptune, was not mu- 
 tually laconic, formally polite, distant in manner. 
 Harry sustained the chief part, and made odd 
 enough remarks ; it was chiefly to Harry that his 
 sister spoke, and when they came to the gates and 
 Mr. Herbert stopped, holding out his hand and 
 bidding good afternoon without going farther, she 
 seemed perfectly unconcerned by this circum- 
 stance. In vain did Harry give a private push to her 
 elbow, that she might ask Mr. Herbert to come up 
 to the Hall, or say she was sure her uncle would 
 expect him and take his denial ill. It was Mr. 
 Herbert who lingered a little, turning round and 
 suddenly saying, in a husky voice, that he ought 
 to have said good-hye — as he had just had letters 
 which would oblige him to leave much earher than 
 he expected; he might not again, in fact, have 
 this — this pleasure. 
 
 Harry Spencer stared, and made a sudden ex- 
 clamation. "Why, I heard the Astrcea wasn't 
 to be ready for a month, sir," he blurted out,
 
 288 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 looking much dismayed, and then somewhat 
 ashamed at his freedom. Mr. Herbert turned to 
 him with a smile : " The powers-that-be are in 
 haste, Mr. Harry," he said, in a good-natm-ed way. 
 " The ship must now be at sea in a fortnight, and I 
 shall be on the spot in a day or two, to secure her 
 readiness." 
 
 " Then, Father Home hasn't kept his promise," 
 said Harry, in evident distress. " He was to — to 
 speak to you, sir, about it — but Kate knows she 
 engaged to break it to my father, in case you 
 agreed, sir, that is." 
 
 Mr. Herbert looked perplexed from the boy to 
 his sister, and back again. " Pray, what is it you 
 exactly wish, my boy?" he asked, with great kind- 
 ness in his manner. " If anything I can do. Master 
 Henry, it has only to be named." 
 
 So, at Harry's appealing look, Kate Spencer, 
 with an air of some vexation, was compelled to 
 make the matter known. " The truth was, having 
 already been at sea, and tired of it, Henry was so 
 silly as now to wish to go again ; he seemed quite 
 crazed about w^ar, and against foreigners ; so 
 he wished to go in a ship of war, but particu- 
 larly," — she glanced again to Harry — "yes, par- 
 ticularly with Mr. Herbert ; under !Mr. Her- 
 bert." 
 
 " Yes, sir," eagerly said Harry himself, " I used 
 to hear of you at Port Koyal, sir, when you were
 
 AWAY. 289 
 
 in the Diana. I had got in such low rubbish of 
 craft — such a deal depends on that, sir, and one's 
 officers. I could bring a capital hand along with 
 me, too, sir ; a thorough able seaman he is, and I 
 don't mind what I am, or what I do — I've cleaned 
 binnacle-lamps and cabin candlesticks in my time 
 — I'll enter at first as a poAvder-boy if you like, sir, 
 so as I can only get into your ship, the Astrcea^ 
 
 Mr. Herbert had folded his arms, and stood 
 looking narrowly at the boy. From head to foot 
 he viewed him, and suddenly smiled, taking hold 
 of Harry's arm. " I see, my boy," he said, " there's 
 the true sailor's stuff in you — leave it to me — ^you 
 and I shall sail together." 
 
 " If Kate writes off one of her letters at once 
 to my father, it's all right," said Harry, overflowing 
 with joy. " Kitty can coax him to anything, when 
 nobody else can." 
 
 It was arranged that Henry was to hear from 
 Mr. Herbert from Portsmouth; so they parted. 
 As the sister and brother went up the approach, 
 Harry could scarce at all restrain his spirits ; 
 he thanked Kate twenty times : she had just letter 
 get it carried through, though, he said, — else he 
 should run off; in a fortnight he and Diamond 
 would be smelling blue water, as sure as fate. 
 '^ Did you ever see a man like Commander Herbert 
 — Captain Herbert, I mean?" was his triumphant 
 inquiry. "I wonder at you, Kitty, taking the 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 lionour so coolly. Why, as splendid a man as he 
 is herej you can't have any notion, though, what 
 he'll be afloat." 
 
 She only laughed at Harry, with his idea of 
 Mr. Herbert's being thought "splendid;" and ran 
 up-stairs to dress for dinner. 
 
 A day or two after, ^ir. Herbert was gone from 
 Herbert Court.
 
 291 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 
 
 Feance, so far on as the spring of 1778, did 
 not yet make any formal declaration of war against 
 Great Britain ; since not even the ingenuity of a 
 baffled rival, smarting from the losses of the pre- 
 ^dous contest, could discover any pretext for seizing 
 the lucky moment to begin a new one. She only 
 made a treaty with the revolted colonies, fonnally 
 acknowledging their independence — and sent a 
 polite diplomatic message, of the most elaborate 
 refinement in insult, to acquaint the Court of St. 
 James's with the fact; which she was "firmly 
 persuaded" would elicit "new proofs of his Bri- 
 tannic Majesty's constant and sincere disposition for 
 peace," and " the good harmony of which. His 
 Majesty would no doubt equally avoid to disturb." 
 
 While everybody had meantime been perfectly 
 
 u2
 
 292 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 aware of the expedition of the young Marquis de 
 Lafayette, under the form of a pretended escape, 
 to assist the colonies; and of the continual pre- 
 sence of the busy little Mr. Silas Deane in Paris, 
 with his unscrupulous ways — of the robust, large- 
 headed, thick-legged Dr. Franklin also, and the 
 red-faced, pimply Mr. Thomas Paine, originally of 
 Suffolk, and the melodramatic yet valiant Che- 
 valier Paul Jones from Scotland : nor had naval 
 preparations at Brest been unresponded to by 
 similar launchings and fittings- out, on a greater 
 scale, at Portsmouth and Plymouth. It had all 
 come out quite naturally, just as might have been 
 expected ; the war grew^ popular ; the Opposition, 
 which old Chatham yet led, sank into a still more 
 patriotically-disinterested minority; the Ministry, 
 for all its weight of dulness, rose hourly into the 
 dangerous importance of being considered a loyal, 
 consistent, far-seeing, thoroughly British set of 
 men, who knew what they were about : and the 
 Country — that strange compound of stolid agri- 
 culture and quick-witted handicraft, riotous town- 
 mobs and rural field-preachings, of loud squires, 
 bold highwaymen, fine wits, gay men-about-town, 
 jovial parsons, thrifty housewives, French petlts- 
 maitres, actresses, honest fathers-of-families, ear- 
 nest Wesleyan preachers, bright-witted Irishmen, 
 sombre or sneering Scotchmen, roaring sailors, 
 Jews, pickpockets, recruiting-sergeants, bargemen
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 293 
 
 by canals, and unkno's\Ti shepherds up the hills, and 
 many a householder unheard of, with red-cowled 
 fishermen at work by the splashing coast — the 
 Country was thought to be united. 
 
 With all its fields and woods and uplands, 
 steeple, windmill, and sparrow-frequented thatch, 
 and from the utmost rocky limits of the Orcades, 
 or the Irish turf-cabins that blended with the soil, 
 in again to the tumult about great St. Paul's, and 
 the two steady sentinels at the Horse-Guards, and 
 the humming precincts of old Whitehall ; — Great 
 Britain went the more determinedly to war, since 
 Europe had lent gi'atuitous aid to the rebels. A 
 bitterness of hostility was really unveiled against 
 her, on the part of the politest nations, which had 
 scarce been suspected ; it was difficult to imagine a 
 reason, save her prosperity ; and if there had been 
 no other good result, people now bade fair to re- 
 consider their grand cosmopolitan ideas seriously, 
 with those heroic, classic, fifth-act virtues for 
 which stupid English diffidence was indebted to 
 cultivated French assurance, — -and to try Avhether 
 loyalty, pride in one's country, and the fear of God, 
 had not some use. So, to distant India, where a 
 new empire was being conquered by British arms 
 against secret French aid, and to all home-coming 
 ships, or with Captain Cook going out to be killed 
 at Owhyhee, [though France philosophically ex- 
 cepted him and his expedition from all martial law,]
 
 294 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 there went out the open tidings. Things seemed 
 to move quicker and sound louder everywhere 
 through the land ; hf e itself had a fuller pulse, its 
 meaning appeared redoubled, its zest was greater, 
 yet men were more ready to peril it on a cast. 
 
 Would indeed that a proper picture could here 
 be given of that country — for which Fielding, 
 Richardson, Smollett or Goldsmith, have ceased 
 to hold the mirror up — where William Cowper had 
 but of late retreated, to nurse his endless despair 
 beside that rough parson John Newton (ex-captain 
 in the slave-trade), happily by Mrs. Unwin's 
 hearth, with hares to tame and rural sights at hand. 
 The sturdiness of honest old Samuel Johnson is 
 failing fast ; the chirping dilettante tattle of 
 Horace Walpole is troubled, and begins to croak 
 of the end of all things, when Madame du Deffand 
 with the salons shall be accessible no more, if only 
 because " England is sinking." It is the strange 
 time when dulness and deadness go forth to in- 
 effectual war with one another, like spectres — ^when 
 the cold hour comes before the dawn, and "against 
 stupidity the gods themselves refuse to strive." 
 Profligate young Mirabeau himself does not yet 
 scent the Parisian morning air, but looks for clients 
 from the provinces. The plough upon the Ayrshire 
 mountain-side is already followed, indeed, by its 
 glorious Peasant, but not "in glory and not in 
 joy " — for he, too, turns his gloomy thoughts West-
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOATo 295 
 
 ward, and thinks, at nineteen, of flying to the 
 Colonies. Action — action — blindly as might be, 
 but still action — is the common engrossing purpose, 
 amidst whose haste a Whitfield mio-ht now have 
 thundered unheeded, a Chatham himself must in- 
 veio;h in vam, a ^lilton would have followed 
 Chatterton's fate, even a Junius need not T\Tite. 
 " Great George our King " is throned once for all 
 in his people's heart, where the homely memory of 
 his unalterable firmness, and of his will above the 
 will of statesmanship, is to outlast mere royal 
 tragedies to come, to shed a tenderer light about 
 his own sublime calamity, to turn the very sneers 
 of Walpoles yet unborn. No more citizenship-of- 
 the-world, no more elegant sentiment, no more 
 Vicar of Wakefield, nor Inkle and Yarico, nor 
 Paul and Vh'ginia (so recently the rage about 
 Versailles !). Soldiers, Generals, Admirals, only — 
 though alas ! where were they ? No heroes to 
 speak of on either side — nothing but mediocrity 
 at best; and the land-battles are backwood skir- 
 mishes, where tomahawks alone are distinguished, 
 and the sea-fights for years are but mutual display 
 of naval tactics, to be recorded by " Clerk of 
 Eldin," save where Paul Jones came in. Sir 
 George Brydges Rodney was abroad in France 
 hiding from his creditors; where the Due de Biron, 
 at the instance of M. de Sartines, the King's 
 Minister of Marine, happily failed to bribe him
 
 296 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 with a Chief Admiral's flag, bearing the jieur-de- 
 lys : but Rodney was not sent for as yet, neither 
 had the Scotch tactician fallen hitherto upon the 
 slightest trace of a chance to anticipate the grand 
 secret. The Abbe Home, at Herbert Court, 
 among others of his multifarious studies, included 
 this one; nay, out of the number of his many 
 coiTespondents in various lands, would undoubtedly 
 have heard of so like-minded a contemporary as the 
 ingenious Edinburgh lawyer, had he yet hit upon 
 a discovery thus startlingly inconsistent with the 
 dulness of the as^e. 
 
 Dull occurrences must therefore be recorded as 
 to the opening of the campaign. Even at sea, 
 where some relief might be expected from the 
 general monotony, there is at first a similar aspect 
 of events requiring notice, though by no means to 
 be dwelt upon ; hackneyed incidents occurring to 
 rather common-place characters, whose slight pro- 
 gress nevertheless affects the course of others. A 
 week brought Henry Spencer's much-looked-for 
 letter, informing him of his appointment as a first- 
 class volunteer among the midshipmen of the 
 Astrcea frigate; not, certainly, in the autograph 
 of Captain Herbert, but of the ship s clerk. Still, 
 for all that, overwhelming the youth with so 
 strong a sense of prompt kindness and most un- 
 merited consideration, as at once to urge his sister 
 Kate, who had returned home with him, to broach
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 297 
 
 his wishes, and plead them earnestly to their 
 father. On the strength of her good offices, as 
 well as of the captain's word pledged, Harry had 
 got his clothes already ordered. ]Mr. Spencer's 
 astonished mind, amidst the cares of business, 
 yielded the less reluctantly to the boy's desire, in 
 that Kate's caprices seemed now to be more 
 privileged than before, almost deferred to, since 
 they grew fewer but graver, and since she had 
 become of her own right, though in a small way, 
 an heiress. The consent was given, however, with 
 this peremptory salvo on the father's part, that, 
 come what might — peace or war, disgust or ardour 
 >r-he need never alter his choice again — must look 
 fonvard to his profession for his fortune in life, 
 and content himself with the moderate fixed 
 allowance he might thenceforth begin to draw, at 
 regular periods, for the reasonable necessities of 
 his earlier career. 
 
 So Henry was driven off, one fine April morn- 
 ing, from Beech Grove, amidst much of the usual 
 circumstances of such revolutions — domestic ex- 
 citement and family emotion, mother's tears and 
 paternal self-oontrol ; all a little modified by the 
 fact that it had happened, even in his case, before. 
 With his luggage and Black Diamond once more 
 behind (the departure of the latter being least felt 
 by the head of the house and finn), he took coach 
 for Portsmouth very stoically ; neither the vicissi-
 
 298 CAPTAIN HEEBERT. 
 
 tudes of the journey, the bustle and redoubled din 
 of the warlike seaport, nor those on board the 
 frigate itself, when he joined it at Spithead, after- 
 wards shaking him much from this experienced 
 frame of mind. He fell into his proper place 
 with most commendable readiness, seeming to 
 have worn a uniform, dirk, and flat-cocked " fore- 
 and-aft " hat for months previous. As for Dick 
 Diamond, unprovided with all credentials, save 
 canvas-trousers, duck-frock, and seaman's bag, 
 his figure, his manners, his still easier aptitude, 
 procured him a welcome yet more undoubted. 
 They melted apart into the common rush of that 
 orderly confusion, swarming at its work till the 
 ship sailed. Their coming was known no f mother; 
 the captain was not even on board yet. The 
 general buzz, and stir, and plashing echo of sea- 
 going war, absorbed them till the fleet and they 
 were out of sight of land together. 
 
 They were part of a strong squadron which left 
 Spithead in May, 1778, under a commodore's 
 broad pendant, to convoy the India and China 
 fleet through the thickening dangers of the Chan- 
 nel, down the Bay of Biscay and the wide At- 
 lantic. Some transports and troop-ships were in 
 the convoy ; bearing, among other supplies for 
 Lord Comwallis in the west, the regiment of 
 Ligonier's Light Horse, with which Cornet Cob- 
 ham was. But they were taken up, ere long, by a
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 299 
 
 portion of Admiral Byron's line-of-battle, on its 
 way for the West Indies ; and the Astrcea never 
 was near enough to the troop-ships to show if the 
 Cornet were really there; nor could the Cornet 
 have caught another ghmpse of his pleasant 
 friend's cousin, or have guessed that the fair Jane 
 Spencer had a brother under that gentleman's 
 command — if, indeed, the young dragoon would 
 now have cared to do so. Proverbially dull work 
 is that of convoys ; the more so, if well performed, 
 and too strong for danger. Touching at the 
 usual islands, they in due time reached the Dutch 
 settlement at the Cape of Good Hope ; where no 
 occurrence varied the routine, save the covert 
 proneness of the Dutch to insolence, checked until 
 the squadron and its charge were gone upon their 
 course. The frigate had been left there to return 
 northward alone, with general cruising orders; 
 when the Dutch governor himself grew apt to 
 presume, but was summarily turned from that 
 mood, for the time, by Captain Herbert's quiet 
 firmness, ere they two parted. Then she safely 
 rounded the Cape again, ere the wild September 
 weather had well begun ; and, always with a 
 somewhat provoking accuracy (to some on board), 
 struck the south-east trade-A\'ind that slants to the 
 equator, crossed the calms by skilful use of their 
 squally fits, reached her appointed cruising-station 
 off the Bahama banks without trouble or disaster.
 
 300 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 She had parted from her convoy-work, in fact, 
 like a deer-hound slipped from the leash beside 
 mastiffs and poodles ; but hitherto it had been a 
 most uneventful voyage. In those days, even 
 during peace, there were few scattered vessels, 
 few independent navigators trying new courses, 
 few bold " running-ships." Every morning now, 
 the Astrcea, as a cruiser, looked at a bare horizon ; 
 each night, if a gull's wing or a spouting-fish 
 might deceive the best, the case was but little 
 varied. One cordial patron of her natural dis- 
 content, it might have been justly hoped by those 
 who felt it deepest, was available in the zealous 
 first-lieutenant whom the Astrcea boasted. A 
 tolerably pleasant officer was Mr. Holmes in com- 
 mon — an active, quick-eyed little man with a long 
 nose, well known to have a wife and family, and 
 whom the faintest hope of a prize, in any shape, 
 at what cost of pains soever, had seldom failed to 
 render agreeable before. But conflicting motives 
 worked upon his temper now. There was about 
 the captain a seemingly utter unconsciousness that 
 the commodore had been mistaken in assign- 
 ing this station to such a frigate ; that neither 
 prizes, salvages, nor enemies, were here at this 
 season, and that he might fairly take a little 
 latitude or longitude to himself. The weather 
 became, in this light, authoritative to Mr. Holmes. 
 He would have anticipated the effect of currents ;
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 301 
 
 he would have forestalled the failure of easterly 
 breezes ; he denoted, above all, a strange tendency 
 to have given in respectfully to "the tail" of a 
 Jamaica hurricane ; and to have cruised, notwith- 
 standing this, more southerly. But there was 
 plainly too strong a hand behind him, for which 
 he at the same time evinced an ever-growing 
 deference of the most irresistible kind. The 
 captain was grave ; he was no great speaker ; he 
 was little seen, except at the set times, in cere- 
 monial naval state. And as to his resolutions, 
 they were of that sort which is above argument ; 
 but yet his rare smile diffused a pleasm-e along 
 the mustered divisions of the ship's company : so 
 far from dulness as regarded him^ therefore, it was 
 thought that he had secret orders of great im- 
 portance, or at least sealed ones to be broken after 
 a certain time, which gave his step at times a sud- 
 den briskness to-and-fro on the weather-side of the 
 quarter-deck, or now and then of a night drew him 
 firmly up where he stood, looking out into the 
 weather-streak of the sky. 
 
 Thus was strict discipline somewhat lightened, 
 and life at least supported, in the solitary Astrcea; 
 while from time to time only falling in with the 
 stragglers of some Jamaica convoy, whom it was 
 her business to drive in together to their proper 
 track, or exchanging numbers with some impatient 
 frigate bound more especially to that task ; at best
 
 302 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 overtaking a doubtful sail that turned out " neutral" 
 in the end, or boarding one of suspicious swiftness, 
 merely to find a rather shame-faced " slaver," 
 who still humanely drove his lawful trade. She 
 was herself as fast a ship as she was new and 
 roomy ; her copper had proved an entire success, 
 her compasses correct to a marvel, her improved 
 swinging-barometer still more admirable in its 
 prediction of sudden gales : blow high, blow low, 
 it was really something extraordinary how the 
 first-lieutenant could make her keep her place 
 when held to it ; how delicately, too, the company 
 of young-gentlemen, with their quadrants or sex- 
 tants, daily and nightly, were brought up to find 
 it out. As to the rest of this painful trial, First- 
 Lieutenant Holmes was of all men the most fitted 
 to meet it when he chose ; the queen-bee, the 
 prime-minister of ants, the viceroy of beavers, was 
 not more ingenious or inevitable in finding things 
 to do for the deadest calm, when the very watch 
 on deck might look idly over the side. Many of 
 them so looked, in those days, with most vivid recol- 
 lections of the buccaneers, of the blacker flag at the 
 back of Cuba, or of the rm^al highway with the 
 pleasant country burglaries and easy civic pocket- 
 pickings ; joined to writhing spites at the press-gang, 
 the crimps, the Jews, the jail on land, the cat-o'-nine- 
 tails afloat. Some veteran tars of Benbow's school 
 were in the Asti'cea — more of prime ones from the
 
 . DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 303 
 
 later glories of Sir Edward Hawke (well-named), 
 and smart young hands who might have whaled to 
 the north, or made peaceful discoveries with 
 Captain Cook or Bligh. The large new frigate 
 had attracted these, by the help of Captain 
 Herbert's name as both officer and gentleman : 
 but there were twice as many doubtful fellows 
 who, but for chance and force, might have pre- 
 ferred Paul Jones; with not a few guardship- 
 sweepings and random captures of dock-lanes, 
 that might chance to hold him for their chief 
 enemy ; among which, most undoubtedly, lurked 
 divers of those peculiar unchanged villains, never 
 yet wanting at sea, with the heads as well as the 
 hearts, of bolder ruffianism than Paul's own. It 
 happened, somehow, that when even Mr. Holmes's 
 scrutinising eye could be faced from the crowd by 
 such as these, one sweeping glance from that of 
 the captain seemed to pick them out and cast 
 them down, though without further sign. There 
 w^as no frequent severity, no martinet-fretting nor 
 tartar-lilve rigour, in the frigate ; but dehberate 
 and most inflexible certainty at need. And when- 
 ever Mr. Holmes's fertility in employment ap- 
 peared at a loss, it did not so much as require that 
 old cables should be untwisted, oakum teased, or 
 the rust beaten off anchors : without a hint, as if 
 brought by divination from his innermost stern- 
 cabin, the captain came, and had unaccountable new
 
 304 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 occupations for all on deck ; soundings to get, of 
 which officers themselves scarce comprehended the 
 use; altitudes to take; experiments to try; odd 
 conclusions to certify from the most trifling cur- 
 rent or most ordinary weather; setting boats to 
 work, and careful look-out-men aloft, in a manner 
 to excite the very watch below. To crown all 
 which, he here kept up a singular exercise for the 
 crew, that at first had been taken for a mad whim 
 of his own. Each day, when the drmus beat to 
 quarters, if the weather was still light, particularly 
 with a tropical swell upon the water, the guns 
 were shotted as if an enemy were really in sight ; 
 and firing-practice was made at an empty hogs- 
 head, dropped astern or taken a-head. At different 
 distances, from all sorts of positions, they had to 
 take single sights at it, or give it what was called 
 " a concentrated broadside ; " and as the cask 
 dipped and rose, bobbing eccentrically on the wide 
 glassy-blue swell, the Astrcea rolling too, curvetting 
 round, prancing opposite, all the time blazing and 
 thundering away at it — Fu'st-Lieutenant Holmes 
 himself was too hard put to it with her steering- 
 trim, to have the grin upon his side. No one 
 grinned or frowned at it ere long; there were 
 prizes given to the guns that hit the mark ; and 
 Captain Herbert, standing on the poop, watch-in- 
 hand, timing the whole, took the first clumsy trials 
 with a remarkable patience, that nothing else 
 dared put to the test. The surgeon, and other
 
 I>ULL TIMES AFLOAT. 305 
 
 " idlers," looked on seriously. The marines were 
 drawn up, too stiff to have their joke ; even when 
 the black cask would suddenly seem to have run 
 round to the opposite horizon, as the ship lost 
 steerage ; or when the dark back-fin of the " ship's 
 shark," that had cruised respectfully apart, would 
 make a rush-in at an interval of the firing, as if 
 to see how little damasie had been done. 
 
 Othei'wise, it mio-ht have been thouofht the 
 captain was but a navigating, bookish, mild sort 
 of a man, fain to have surveyed a coast, joined 
 company Tvith Cook, or gone in search of 
 Mounseer La Perouse. His secret orders mii^ht 
 have come to be thought all smoke. There might 
 have been no war in the world, for all Harry 
 Spencer saw ; as the frigate at times flew rolling 
 before the cloudy trades, with studding-sails hung 
 on one side only, to keep her pace moderate ; or 
 when, in chase of some stranger who was sure to be 
 all reo'ular, she made lonof slidino; cleaves through 
 blue water, mounting the while, and rose — too stiff 
 to the breeze for any merchantman to escape her ; 
 ever buoyant, high, stately over the spray, with wet 
 black bows, spouting hawse-hole, dripping breast- 
 hooks, and Astrcecis snowy figure beckoning on. In 
 the hollow^ that sank past, the golden gleam of 
 her copper was reflected brokenly, with transparent 
 emerald glosses floating over it, foam-freckled; 
 ever the same recurring motion, as one great 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 bright billow gave up its burden to another, and 
 its lesser waves surged against the side or recoiled; 
 with flights of flying-fish, and frolicking droves of 
 porpoises, and the small se?fe-birds that run or hover 
 in the track behind. Harry Sj^encer, at all events, 
 could not confess to himself that it was the least 
 dull ; the counting-house was worse by far ; Master 
 White, of the Dorothy^ was more despicable than 
 ever ; and Skipper Dodge, of the schooner, still 
 more odious than before. He had not come to 
 look for prize-money; he was learning the pro- 
 fession he had aspired to, and saw it clearly to be 
 his choice. He was one of those who were quick 
 enough to see, on the captain's distant visage, 
 reflections of the certainty that what was learnt 
 would yet be put to sufficient proof. 
 
 Confessedly to himself, however, he was troubled 
 by something rather less than he had expected on 
 Captain Herbert's part. Down in Somersetshire, 
 how good-natui'ed, how accessible, how cordial had 
 Mr. Herbert been ! In his kind services from 
 Portsmouth, how prompt, considerate, and almost 
 eager ! Not that the lad had been unaware from 
 the first what a wide interval must separate them 
 on board the ship ; he had taken special care not 
 to let out there, whence his interest in high quar- 
 ters had come, or that he knew the captain in the 
 least before ; even in the case of Dick Diamond, 
 now so effective a hand in the fore-top, and so
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 307 
 
 popular round tlie galley on the main-deck below, 
 he had observed a still stricter caution, not so much 
 as openly appearing to know Dick from other men. 
 He forgot that Dick had not in turn been pledged 
 to secresy, and might be inclined to gossip in pro- 
 portion as his English improved. Harry had che- 
 rished a hope, though, to gain his captain's distinct 
 notice, to earn his full approval, and to do some- 
 thing that would show himself not altogether un- 
 worthy of the apparent liking at first sight, which 
 he could not help thinking had been vouchsafed to 
 him. It was not so much to reach honour in the 
 service, or to rise and be known in it, that he 
 burned as yet ; but to have won a single gracious 
 glance of that clear eye, which had certainly re- 
 cognised him among others, and once or twice at 
 the outset had marked him mtli interest, as he 
 raised his hat to the quarter-deck, or brought some 
 message to a lieutenant. And he had imamned 
 there might be opportunities to prove the conscious 
 quickness, to test the acquired dexterity, or the 
 practised corn-age of both head and limb, and gra- 
 dually to evince the eager zeal and deep reliance 
 which Captain Herbert, of all men ever seen, was 
 rousing in him yet. Till the real chance should 
 come to make it all of use, when the stuff that 
 people were made of must appear, when the question 
 would be, who would stand coolest or follow closest 
 — Hariy would have been content with a smile, a
 
 308 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 word now and then; perhaps to be made signal- 
 midshipman, even young-gentleman of the barge 
 hanging over the starboard-quarter. That barge 
 occasionally w^as dropped in this light weather to 
 take the captain, mth the surgeon it might be, or 
 his clerk, or the master, where steady observations 
 could be got from a low-water reef ; or where — 
 doubtless on the part of the good Abbo Home at 
 home — some object cmdous to science might be 
 found in mid-ocean itself. For, did not Harry 
 know the abbe veiy well, and Neptune, and 
 Mrs. Brinds ; did he not know that there were 
 many such curiosities at old Herbert Court, kept 
 with more care than its own dusty and faded 
 grandeurs ; nay, could he not have told that the 
 few books in the up}>er stern-cabins of the Asti'cea^ 
 however uncommonly numerous to the very cle- 
 verest lieutenant's vievr, were but a handful com- 
 pared with the old librarj^ of the Herberts, whose 
 crest they bore and whose spirit they might help 
 to hand down? The old Herberts, when their 
 country required them, had ever joined the boldest 
 action with their studious kind of habits. The very 
 abbe, though such a scholar, was wonderfully prac- 
 tical; in fact, some of his inventions were next 
 thing to bloody ! 
 
 But so far from getting any such difference 
 made between him and others, it seemed to young 
 Spencer that the captain was from the first more
 
 DULL TDIES AFLOAT. 309 
 
 distant to him than to the rest of the cockpit mess ; 
 if there had not actually of late been still less cor- 
 diality in the notice given him, when it could not 
 be withheld. The first-lieutenant, in spite of a 
 half-liidden favoui' for the lad's zeal, had some- 
 times rather sharply called it " forwai^dness ;" he 
 "mast-headed" hun once, for a rash act aloft 
 out of his proper watch; the truth being, that 
 IsIt. Holmes was usually most disagreeable to 
 those he might be thought to regard mth a partial 
 eye, and he not only kept Harry back when over- 
 active, but, catchmg him the least deficient, rated 
 him all the more roundly. Mr. Holmes was apt 
 to swear profane oaths on such occasions, a thing 
 by no means strange at sea in those days, even 
 from an officer of that rank ; and one night doing 
 it thus on the lee-side of the quarter-deck, when 
 the captain stood nearly opposite, no public notice 
 was, of course, taken by the latter ; his stern frown 
 was more obviously dhected toward yomig Spencer, 
 whose faults he appeai'ed of late to observe with a 
 special seriousness. On the other hand, he had 
 always sho\^m particular chspleasui'e, from the first, 
 against all unofficer-like and umrentlemanly Ian- 
 
 O CD V 
 
 guage on deck; and now, when jNIr. Holmes dis- 
 missed his culprit, the captain drew hun casually 
 apart, where they walked and talked a little as 
 usual. From thenceforward, indeed, the youth 
 remarked that the first-lieutenant never swore at
 
 310 CAPTAIN HEKBERT. 
 
 him again, in fact was rather kindlier in his patron- 
 age ; still, fearing to be " forward," and in other re- 
 spects not a little checked, he began to feel as if dull 
 thoughts must be yielded to, and made the best of. 
 True, there was a pleasant new naval fashion 
 in the Astrceaj that two midshipmen of the watch 
 dined in turn at the captain's table, along with 
 those of the gun-room officers who might be 
 invited; so that about once a week Harry was 
 there, was spoken to, perhaps answered a question 
 in a formal way about Bristol and Beech Grove. 
 It was nothing more than a part of the evident 
 system on board, judiciously aiming, in common 
 with but a few rising commanders of the day, to 
 spread a general spirit of courtesy as far as the 
 cockpit itself, and diffuse a softness further round 
 on those manners which Smollett had painted. As 
 to the steering of the captain's barge when needed, 
 this was always done by little Blakely, the youngest 
 middy of all — a small urchin, with great black 
 eyes and a soul above his size or strength, whom 
 Harry Spencer could not but like. Then, the 
 charo'e of the flao;s and simiallino; had been all 
 along committed to the senior young gentleman, 
 Mr. Coventry, a tall fellow but far from bright- 
 witted, understood to be a very rich baronet's 
 natural son; with whom, however, Harry was 
 becoming friendly. The cockpit mess was other-
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 311 
 
 wise made (by powers beyond the captain's sus- 
 picion) what Coventry styled, in less delicate 
 w^ords, " Pandemonium afloat." For good reasons, 
 indeed, it did not matter much to Coventry ; while 
 for Harry's part, he "grinned and bore it" with 
 the ease of one who had known Skipper Itefell 
 Dodge of Nantucket. 
 
 It was autumn already — -though not in the pe- 
 rennial midsummer of those tropical waters — when 
 at last, running nearer in to the Jamaica Channel, 
 they spoke a sloop-of-war on that station, and 
 heard that the Government despatches had come 
 in, with mail-bags from home. The corvette was 
 going in for her own letters, and soon returned, 
 brino'incT those for the Astrcea. 
 
 At dinner that day, Harry chancing to be of the 
 cabin party, Captain Herbert quietly asked him, 
 " And how are all your relatives, Mr. Spencer — in 
 old Somersetshire and at Bristol? Quite well, I 
 hope ; indeed, by a postscript from your friend, 
 the Abbe Home — who, by the way, inquires after 
 you very kindly — it would appear that the fine 
 summer has brought several members of your 
 family down to Wrixworth. Something of more 
 than wonted cheerfulness, in fact, seems to have 
 been imparted to the good father's flower-garden 
 and book-shelves, by occasional \'isits from Wrix- 
 worth Hall."
 
 312 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 " They are all quite well, sir, thank you," replied 
 the lad, with all due depth of respect as a mid- 
 shipman. " My sister Mary writes from home, 
 where they seem all to be at the time ; though there 
 is not much in her letter. I trust, Captain Herbert, 
 the abbe himself enjoys good health, and Neptune 
 also, sir ? " 
 
 The captain's tone was friendly, there was even 
 an approach to a smile about his lips, but his eye 
 and attitude more than ever kept up the requisite 
 distance; he did not so much as notice the con- 
 cluding question by which Hany rounded off this 
 modest return of civilities. 
 
 " Pray, Mr. Blakely," said the captain, raising 
 his voice to address his youngest midshipman, who 
 on that occasion happened to be the other guest 
 from' the cockpit, ^' help yourself to a glass of wine." 
 The small " reefer " did so ; his delicate little face 
 brightening to the full smile turned upon him, as 
 he bowed very politely : but, for all that, he was 
 looking paler than usual, and had a depressed air 
 altogether; owing to which, it became still more 
 obvious that there Was a bump under the hair near 
 one of his temples, with a slight discoloration to- 
 ward the eye. At his entrance to the cabin with 
 the rest, too, little Blakely had in vain tried to 
 conceal a limp in his gait — the consequence, he had 
 said, of an accidental sprain when going below,
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 313 
 
 that morning. " Why, my boy," was the remark 
 now added, "your head is hurt, too — was that 
 another effect of the fall you speak of ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said little Blakely, with a downcast 
 steadiness, which did not prevent his throwing 
 an uneasy confidential glance at his bolder and 
 much bigger messmate. " It don't signify, though ; 
 really, sir, it looks worse than it feels." The 
 surgeon was at table, and kindly hastened to cor- 
 roborate the whole statement from a professional 
 inspection during the day ; the first-lieutenant 
 being severe enough as to all boyish quarrels or 
 mischievous practical jokes in the ship, (the latter 
 of which were still rather too gay and light-hearted 
 a thing for naval cadets in the early days of King 
 George III.). 
 
 Mr. Holmes dining with the gun-room that day, 
 he was not there to receive the meaning look which 
 partly fell on young Spencer^ — with some inquiring 
 sternness besides, at that intercepted glance of his 
 small companion's. Harry, indeed, met the com- 
 manding eye without fear, so far as his own part 
 in the matter was concerned; but knew too well 
 what Blakely meant, and what tlie youngster 
 wished rather to bear quietly, like the little Spartan 
 he was. A vague suspicion was all that the 
 captain extracted. He might have expected more 
 from the lad, who sat near enough to have spoken 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 314 CAPTAIN HEBBERT. 
 
 his mind; and there was an annoyed expression 
 left on the captain's brow, which seemed to in- 
 clude Harry himself in its charge. Yet what good 
 was he to do if he tried ! The secrets of their 
 prison-house, below, were too much made up of 
 details to be explained. 'Twas questionable whether 
 the very Admiralty itself could have altered them 
 — Harry shared their weight with Little Blakely, 
 and bore them still more quietly. He must have 
 made a real martyr of himself to do otherwise — 
 not that he dreaded that for any good purpose. 
 One had only to outgrow such miseries, and no- 
 make amends by wreaking them in turn : and then 
 again, on deck, on duty, in blowing work, or above 
 all with active service coming on, how did all seem 
 to vanish out of thought ; how little — as even poor 
 young Blakely had said — did it " signify ! " 
 
 "All our letters should now be ready, gentlemen," 
 said the Captain, just as the lieutenant of the watch 
 made his movement to rise, which was more to the 
 midshipmen than a signal from a hostess to the 
 ladies. "The letter-bag will be sent off to the 
 Iris by daybreak, in one of the cutters. Ah, you 
 have yours with you, I see, Mr. Blakely ; yes, I 
 will take safe charge of it." The little lad had 
 halted in passing out, half drawing forth a full- 
 sized black-edged letter to his mother, ready backed 
 \vith a great schoolboy address, and solemnly
 
 DULL TIMES AFLOAT. 315 
 
 sealed in black, with some solid coin of the realm 
 for stamp — for he was only some late clergyman's 
 son, in the North. As the Captain took it, he eyed 
 the seal and held it carefully, while he looked up 
 to Harry in turn. " I see," he said ; " you may 
 wish to finish yours, Mr. Spencer. If you will 
 bring it to me at night, after ^evening divisions' are 
 piped down, I shall have pleasure in enclosing a 
 few words of my own, which otherwise would have 
 been written to your friend the Abbe. It may 
 gratify your father to know more directly, how you 
 are like to succeed in your profession." 
 
 Harry flushed deeply at this; although there 
 was something in it to bring a glow to his eye too, 
 he yet hung his head ; not having found anything 
 as yet worth WTiting home about, since the first 
 short hurried scrawl sent off by way of com-se from 
 the chops of the Channel, with a joining Indiaman's 
 pilot-boat. " I have nothing ready at all. Captain 
 Herbert," answered he. " Not being very quick at 
 my pen, sir, I think 'twill be better to wait next 
 chance ; my sister really writes nothing to answer ; 
 she says Kitty was prevented, but will write next, 
 and may have much more to tell. I hope, sir, so 
 may I!" 
 
 " True — that is true," was the quick rejoinder — 
 to some inward consideration, perhaps, more than 
 to Harry. " Father Home, at all events, will not
 
 316 CAPTAIN HERBERT. 
 
 be SO indifferent to your welfare, young gentleman, 
 as it might seem you think your friends will — that 
 is to say," he corrected himself, "at Wrixwoith 
 Hall it is sure to be heard, meanwhile, how you 
 do." With that, the Captain turned somewhat 
 coldly away : while young Spencer passed back to 
 his deck duties, with the kind of injured feeling 
 which rises at unaccountable reproof, only where 
 we cherish a high affection. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 C. 'WlllTIKG, BKACFOKT HOUSE, STRAND.
 
 ■I