Page images
PDF
EPUB

What this lady might have been in the hands of a man who had drawn her out by kindness, I cannot say; but to me she proved an uninteresting companion; for she had no pleasure in any thing but pomp and show. I, therefore, after the few first weeks, left her to amuse herself as she chose; and, attaching myself wholly to my sister, we were as much together as circumstances would admit. We walked and rode out in the same parties, I consulted her on every occasion, was regulated by her taste, and made her the confidant of all my secrets: and, in return, her conversation was a constant source of amusement to me; and never more so, than when (which was often the case) she had a skirmish of wit with my tutor: in which (as I always told him) he came off the worst; while neither the one nor the other of the combatants, in this war of words, was very conscientious in rejecting those expressions or principles which gave him or her any real or supposed advantage.

At this time, Hartland Hall was constantly full of company. During the whole of the autumn after my marriage, it was crowded with gentlemen, who had gathered there for the enjoyment of country sports; and there was much excessive drinking and high betting going forwards.

With such a lord, and such a pastor, it may be easily supposed what a scene of confusion might have ensued throughout the parish; Lady Roxeter being a mere cipher among us, and my sister giving her chief weight and countenance to any measures which led to extravagance and dissipation: and, in fact, the corruption was very general, both as to morals and religion; the Hall being as it were a centre, from which every thing that was vile irradiated to the very extremity of the circle.

We spent the autumn at Hartlands, and returned to London at Christmas; and, by this time, I was become so fashionable a husband, that I almost entirely neglected my wife, and scarcely saw her either in private or in public.

It was the caprice of that year for people of quality to act plays, in their own houses, before large audiences. My sister was seized with this mania, and caused me to erect a theatre in my Hall; and we got up

[ocr errors]

several plays, in which I shone forth in high style; and my sister displayed considerable talent in several cha

racters.

This freak was a very expensive one, and served to withdraw me still more from my wife, and to introduce me into very low company; for I became acquainted with several actresses whom we hired to fill up our dramatis persona, and other professional persons of dubious characters; and, after our rehearsals, we had private suppers, where every one strove to shine, no matter at what or whose expense.

At length, this winter and this spring passed away; and, in the beginning of the summer, before we had left town, my unfortunate wife (for unfortunate she was indeed to have fallen into such hands) brought me a son, and died immediately after his birth. The child's life was despaired of for several days; which circumstance led me and my sister to a close inquiry respecting my deceased wife's fortune; and I was at once relieved from many cares, by finding that her property was so secured, that I should not be obliged to refund in case of the infant's death. I well remember, that, in examining these papers, with my chamber counsellor, my sister, we had a hearty laugh at the manner in which we had so entirely blinded old Golding, by the splendour of the coronet and the emblems of grandeur which we had held before him.

My reader is, I fear, beginning to detest me; but not more, I trust, than I detest myself.

In the sight of men in general, I believe that all newborn babes look alike. I thought my boy, when first shown to me, a very ugly little thing; and, as I had no regard for the memory of his mother, and had satisfied myself that I should lose nothing by his death, I made up my mind, should he die, to give myself little concern on the subject; though I had sufficient decency to desire my sister to see that he had a nurse, leaving it to her to provide such a one as she thought proper. But in this important point I never once consulted the child's grandmother; and merely consented to her entreaties that he might be baptized by the name of Augustus-Augusta having been his mother's name.

I have said above, that it was left to the care of my sister to provide my young lord with a nurse. There were many candidates for the situation; and I once carelessly hinted, that I thought a woman from the country would be the most suitable; but my sister had her own ideas on the subject; and a person was chosen who had nursed the son and heir of a duke, a very fine lady in appearance, flounced, and furbelowed, and powdered, if not painted,-who undertook to forsake he own child, to administer nourishment to the little lord on condition that she should have a suitable establish ment in the nursery, and the use of a carriage.

Accordingly, this woman, whose name was Freeman, was sent off with the child, in high style, to Hartlands; while I and my sister took a turn to the Lakes, wishing to have it supposed that the afflicted widower required some change of scene.

At the end of two months, we returned to Hartlands; and it was then, for the first time, that I took a deliberate view of my son. We arrived late in the evening; and at breakfast, the next morning, the little heir was introduced by his nurse, accompanied by Lord Seaforth, (my sister's son,) who was then about two years of age, and who was, as far as strength of limb and healthiness of complexion went, a fine bold boy, and such a one as I should not have been ashamed to own, but my own little son, notwithstanding his cambric robes and lace rosette, appeared to me far removed from being a fine child. He was excessively pale; there was a marked languor in his eyes; and his nurse, who was become more stout since I had seen her, had not imparted any of her own en bon point to her noble nursling; for the limbs of the child were attenuated, and his face shrunk, or rather, I should say, it had never been filled up. In short, I fancied that my boy looked very like his old grandfather, Alderman Golding; and, having just looked at him, I tapped his nurse on the cheek, and telling her that her brat did her but little credit, I bade her take him back to the nursery.

She began to prate to me, probably supposing that I might be uneasy to find my child looking so unwell; but I bade her begone, in a half insolent and half playful

"That

manner; and then turning to my sister, said, boy is a regular Golding-the very image of his grandfather. It will never be believed that he is my son! O! what comparisons and reminiscences there will be when we both appear on the stage of public life together!"

That is what will never happen, Roxeter," replied my sister; "for the child will never be reared."

"Do you think so?" I said. "Well, then, give me some breakfast; and I must make haste to look out for another wife, who may bring me such an heir as I shall not be ashamed to own."

We remained at Hartlands only a few weeks after this conversation, and then commenced an excursion to the continent; leaving Mr. Helmly and the two children at Hartlands.

My reader will not be at a loss to fill up the outline of our excursion, through France and Switzerland, to Italy, nor be puzzled to conceive the manner in which two such persons, having no want of ready cash, would fill up their time in Paris, and other gay cities, between that place and Rome. At length, we arrived at the great metropolis of the world; and there, having spent the time of the Carnival, we proceeded to Naples.

It was at Naples that I was destined to indemnify myself for the loss I had sustained in a lady-wife; and the manner in which this took place I shall take the present occasion to relate.-Being on an excursion in the neighbourhood of Vesuvius, we stopped, one fine evening, to take refreshment at a small inn, to which we were attracted by its beautiful gardens and fruit. We had ordered a table to be set for us in the garden, with ices, and some fine wines, and were just about to sit down to our repast, when an English livery-servant came up to us; and, delivering his master, Sir William Daurien's compliments, (for I choose to give this name to the worthy baronet,) added the information, that his master and lady were at the inn, with their granddaughter, and, that, understanding I was here, they hoped for the honour of an interview.

This baronet's name was perfectly well known to me, for his seat was not further from Hartlands than four

miles; and its antique turrets, its clock-house, and its terraced gardens, formed a pleasing view from several parts of the park. I had never, indeed, to my recollection, seen Sir William, or any part of his family; for he had been long abroad; having gone to the south of France on account of the illness of an only son, many years since. This son, it seems, had partially recovered in the warm climate, had married, and died, leaving only one daughter, who had recently, as I afterwards learned, also lost her mother, and had become an orphan, wholly dependent on her grandfather and grandmother: the old gentleman and his lady, who were returning to England, had resolved on a tour through Italy, and were actually spending a few days in the rural inn where I had accidentally put up with my sister. I had brought but one servant from England, namely, my valet, who was, I well knew, not given to tell tales to disgrace his lord; and it was owing to Villars that my name, &c. were known to Sir William; and hence the polite invitation above spoken of.

Of course, I used every degree of politeness, in the reply I returned to the baronet, with an earnest entreaty that he would join me and my sister in the garden, and partake of our repast; and, while the servant was absent on this errand, my sister reminded me that I must assume my very best manners before this complete old English gentleman; adding, that she had heard our father often speak of him as of a most respectable, honourable, and discreet sort of personage.

"And, no doubt," I added, " a most tiresome, fatiguing old fellow. But for once I will do as your ladyship wishes; and you shall see how very comme il faut I can be, and what honour I will do to my family and breeding."

I had scarcely made up my mind to the part I meant to act in the ensuing scene, when the grotesque pair appeared in the chiaro obscuro; at the end of a long walk covered with trellis-work, over which some vines had been made to extend their tendrils; precisely such a couple as may be seen on canvass in every gallery of family-pictures of the last century; at the period when long ruffles and lappets graced the fair sex, and tie-wigs

« EelmineJätka »