He went to bed not knowing how he had reached it, as often as any man in London. He woke and found himself there, and asked no questions, and he was tacking about on this daily though perilous voyage, when, from his station at the coffee-stall, Huxter spied him. To note his friend, to pay his twopence (indeed, he had but eightpence left, or he would have had a cab from Vauxhall to take him home), was with the eager Huxter the work of an instant--Costigan dived down the alleys by Drury-lane Theater, where gin-shops, oyster-shops, and theatrical wardrobes abound, the proprietors of which were now asleep behind the shutters, as the pink morning lighted up their chimneys; and through these courts Huxter followed the general, until he reached Oldcastle-street, in which is the gate of Shepherd"s Inn.
Here, just as he was within sight of home, a luckless slice of orange-peel came between the general"s heel and the pavement, and caused the poor fellow to fall backward.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Huxter ran up to him instantly, and after a pause, during which the veteran, giddy with his fall and his previous whisky, gathered as he best might, his dizzy brains together, the young surgeon lifted up the limping general, and very kindly and good-naturedly offered to conduct him to his home. For some time, and in reply to the queries which the student of medicine put to him, the muzzy general refused to say where his lodgings were, and declared that they were hard by, and that he could reach them without difficulty; and he disengaged himself from Huxter"s arm, and made a rush, as if to get to his own home unattended: but he reeled and lurched so, that the young surgeon insisted upon accompanying him, and, with many soothing expressions and cheering and consolatory phrases, succeeded in getting the general"s dirty old hand under what he called his own fin, and led the old fellow, moaning piteously, across the street. He stopped when he came to the ancient gate, ornamented with the armorial bearings of the venerable Shepherd. "Here "tis," said he, drawing up at the portal, and he made a successful pull at the gatebell, which presently brought out old Mr. Bolton, the porter, scowling fiercely, and grumbling as he was used to do every morning when it became his turn to let in that early bird.
Costigan tried to hold Bolton for a moment in genteel conversation, but the other surlily would not. "Don"t bother me," he said; "go to your hown bed, capting, and don"t keep honest men out of theirs." So the captain tacked across the square and reached his own staircase, up which he stumbled with the worthy Huxter at his heels. Costigan had a key of his own, which Huxter inserted into the keyhole for him, so that there was no need to call up little Mr. Bows from the sleep into which the old musician had not long since fallen, and Huxter having aided to disrobe his tipsy patient, and ascertained that no bones were broken, helped him to bed, and applied compresses and water to one of his knees and shins, which, with the pair of trowsers which encased them, Costigan had severely torn in his fall. At the general"s age, and with his habit of body, such wounds as he had inflicted on himself are slow to heal: a good deal of inflammation ensued, and the old fellow lay ill for some days suffering both pain and fever.
Mr. Huxter undertook the case of his interesting patient with great confidence and alacrity, and conducted it with becoming skill. He visited his friend day after day, and consoled him with lively rattle and conversation, for the absence of the society which Costigan needed, and of which he was an ornament; and he gave special instructions to the invalid"s nurse about the quant.i.ty of whisky which the patient was to take--instructions which, as the poor old fellow could not for many days get out of his bed or sofa himself, he could not by any means infringe. Bows, Mrs. Bolton, and our little friend f.a.n.n.y, when able to do so, officiated at the general"s bedside, and the old warrior was made as comfortable as possible under his calamity.
Thus Huxter, whose affable manners and social turn made him quickly intimate with persons in whose society he fell, and whose over-refinement did not lead them to repulse the familiarities of this young gentleman, became pretty soon intimate in Shepherd"s Inn, both with our acquaintances in the garrets and those in the Porter"s Lodge.
He thought he had seen f.a.n.n.y somewhere: he felt certain that he had: but it is no wonder that he should not accurately remember her, for the poor little thing never chose to tell him where she had met him: he himself had seen her at a period, when his own views both of persons and of right and wrong were clouded by the excitement of drinking and dancing, and also little f.a.n.n.y was very much changed and worn by the fever and agitation, and pa.s.sion and despair, which the past three weeks had poured upon the head of that little victim. Borne down was the head now, and very pale and wan the face; and many and many a time the sad eyes had looked into the postman"s, as he came to the Inn, and the sickened heart had sunk as he pa.s.sed away. When Mr.
Costigan"s accident occurred, f.a.n.n.y was rather glad to have an opportunity of being useful and doing something kind--something that would make her forget her own little sorrows perhaps: she felt she bore them better while she did her duty, though I dare say many a tear dropped into the old Irishman"s gruel. Ah, me! stir the gruel well, and have courage, little f.a.n.n.y! If every body who has suffered from your complaint were to die of it straightway, what a fine year the undertakers would have!
Whether from compa.s.sion for his only patient, or delight in his society, Mr. Huxter found now occasion to visit Costigan two or three times in the day at least, and if any of the members of the Porter"s Lodge family were not in attendance on the general, the young doctor was sure to have some particular directions to address to those at their own place of habitation. He was a kind fellow; he made or purchased toys for the children; he brought them apples and brandy b.a.l.l.s; he brought a mask and frightened them with it, and caused a smile upon the face of pale f.a.n.n.y. He called Mrs. Bolton Mrs. B., and was very intimate, familiar, and facetious with that lady, quite different from that "aughty artless beast," as Mrs. Bolton now denominated a certain young gentleman of our acquaintance, and whom she now vowed she never could abear.
It was from this lady, who was very free in her conversation, that Huxter presently learned what was the illness which was evidently preying upon little Fan, and what had been Pen"s behavior regarding her. Mrs. Bolton"s account of the transaction was not, it may be imagined, entirely an impartial narrative. One would have thought from her story that the young gentleman had employed a course of the most persevering and flagitious artifices to win the girl"s heart, had broken the most solemn promises made to her, and was a wretch to be hated and chastised by every champion of woman. Huxter, in his present frame of mind respecting Arthur, and suffering under the latter"s contumely, was ready, of course, to take all for granted that was said in the disfavor of this unfortunate convalescent. But why did he not write home to Clavering, as he had done previously, giving an account of Pen"s misconduct, and of the particulars regarding it, which had now come to his knowledge? He once, in a letter to his brother-in-law, announced that that _nice young man_, Mr. Pendennis, had escaped narrowly from a fever, and that no doubt all Clavering, _where he was so popular_, would be pleased at his recovery; and he mentioned that he had an interesting case of compound fracture, an officer of distinction, which kept him in town; but as for f.a.n.n.y Bolton, he made no more mention of her in his letters--no more than Pen himself had made mention of her. O you mothers at home, how much do you think you know about your lads? How much do you think you know?
But with Bows, there was no reason why Huxter should not speak his mind, and so, a very short time after his conversation with Mrs.
Bolton. Mr. Sam talked to the musician about his early acquaintance with Pendennis; described him as a confounded conceited blackguard, and expressed a determination to punch, his impudent head as soon as ever he should be well enough to stand up like a man.
Then it was that Bows on his part spoke, and told _his_ version of the story, whereof Arthur and little Fan were the hero and heroine; how they had met by no contrivance of the former, but by a blunder of the old Irishman, now in bed with a broken shin--how Pen had acted with manliness and self-control in the business--how Mrs. Bolton was an idiot; and he related the conversation which he, Bows, had had with Pen, and the sentiments uttered by the young man. Perhaps Bows"s story caused some twinges of conscience in the breast of Pen"s accuser, and that gentleman frankly owned that he had been wrong with regard to Arthur, and withdrew his project for punching Mr. Pendennis"s head.
But the cessation of his hostility for Pen did not diminish Huxter"s attentions to f.a.n.n.y, which unlucky Mr. Bows marked with his usual jealousy and bitterness of spirit. "I have but to like any body," the old fellow thought, "and somebody is sure to come and be preferred to me. It has been the same ill-luck with me since I was a lad, until now that I am sixty years old. What can such a man as I am expect better than to be laughed at? It is for the young to succeed, and to be happy, and not for old fools like me. I"ve played a second fiddle all through life," he said, with a bitter laugh; "how can I suppose the luck is to change after it has gone against me so long?" This was the selfish way in which Bows looked at the state of affairs: though few persons would have thought there was any cause for his jealousy, who looked at the pale and grief-stricken countenance of the hapless little girl, its object. f.a.n.n.y received Huxter"s good-natured efforts at consolation and kind attentions kindly. She laughed now and again at his jokes and games with her little sisters, but relapsed quickly into a dejection which ought to have satisfied Mr. Bows that the new-comer had no place in her heart as yet, had jealous Mr. Bows been enabled to see with clear eyes.
But Bows did not. f.a.n.n.y attributed Pen"s silence somehow to Bows"s interference. f.a.n.n.y hated him. f.a.n.n.y treated Bows with constant cruelty and injustice. She turned from him when he spoke--she loathed his attempts at consolation. A hard life had Mr. Bows, and a cruel return for his regard.
When Warrington came to Shepherd"s Inn as Pen"s emba.s.sador, it was for Mr. Bows"s apartments he inquired (no doubt upon a previous agreement with the princ.i.p.al for whom he acted in this delicate negotiation), and he did not so much as catch a glimpse of Miss f.a.n.n.y when he stopped at the inn-gate and made his inquiry. Warrington was, of course, directed to the musician"s chambers, and found him tending the patient there, from whose chamber he came out to wait upon his guest.
We have said that they had been previously known to one another, and the pair shook hands with sufficient cordiality. After a little preliminary talk, Warrington said that he had come from his friend Arthur Pendennis, and from his family, to thank Bows for his attention at the commencement of Pen"s illness, and for his kindness in hastening into the country to fetch the major.
Bows replied that it was but his duty: he had never thought to have seen the young gentleman alive again when he went in search of Pen"s relatives, and he was very glad of Mr. Pendennis"s recovery, and that he had his friends with him. "Lucky are they who have friends, Mr.
Warrington," said the musician. "I might be up in this garret and n.o.body would care for me, or mind whether I was alive or dead."
"What! not the general, Mr. Bows?" Warrington asked.
"The general likes his whisky-bottle more than any thing in life," the other answered; "we live together from habit and convenience; and he cares for me no more than you do. What is it you want to ask me, Mr.
Warrington? You ain"t come to visit _me_, I know very well. n.o.body comes to visit me. It is about f.a.n.n.y, the porter"s daughter, you are come--I see that very well. Is Mr. Pendennis, now he has got well, anxious to see her again? Does his lordship the Sultan propose to throw his "andkerchief to her? She has been very ill, sir, ever since the day when Mrs. Pendennis turned her out of doors--kind of a lady, wasn"t it? The poor girl and myself found the young gentleman raving in a fever, knowing n.o.body, with n.o.body to tend him but his drunken laundress--she watched day and night by him. I set off to fetch his uncle. Mamma comes and turns f.a.n.n.y to the right about. Uncle comes and leaves me to pay the cab. Carry my compliments to the ladies and gentleman, and say we are both very thankful, very. Why, a countess couldn"t have behaved better, and for an apothecary"s lady, as I"m given to understand Mrs. Pendennis was--I"m sure her behavior is most uncommon aristocratic and genteel. She ought to have a double gilt pestle and mortar to her coach."
It was from Mr. Huxter that Bows had learned Pen"s parentage, no doubt, and if he took Pen"s part against the young surgeon, and f.a.n.n.y"s against Mr. Pendennis, it was because the old gentleman was in so savage a mood, that his humor was to contradict every body.
Warrington was curious, and not ill pleased at the musician"s taunts and irascibility. "I never heard of these transactions," he said, "or got but a very imperfect account of them from Major Pendennis. What was a lady to do? I think (I have never spoken with her on the subject) she had some notion that the young woman and my friend Pen were on--on terms of--of an intimacy which Mrs. Pendennis could not, of course, recognize--"
"Oh, of course not, sir. Speak out, sir; say what you mean at once, that the young gentleman of the Temple had made a victim of the girl of Shepherd"s Inn, eh? And so she was to be turned out of doors--or brayed alive in the double gilt pestle and mortar, by Jove! No, Mr.
Warrington, there was no such thing: there was no victimizing, or if there was, Mr. Arthur was the victim, not the girl. He is an honest fellow, he is, though he is conceited, and a puppy sometimes. He can feel like a man, and run away from temptation like a man. I own it, though I suffer by it, I own it. He has a heart, he has: but the girl hasn"t sir. That girl will do any thing to win a man, and fling him away without a pang, sir. If she flung away herself, sir, she"ll feel it and cry. She had a fever when Mrs. Pendennis turned her out of doors; and she made love to the doctor, Doctor Goodenough, who came to cure her. Now she has taken on with another chap--another sawbones ha, ha! d----it, sir, she likes the pestle and mortar, and hangs round the pill boxes, she"s so fond of "em, and she has got a fellow from Saint Bartholomew"s, who grins through a horse collar for her sisters, and charms away her melancholy. Go and see, sir: very likely he"s in the lodge now. If you want news about Miss f.a.n.n.y, you must ask at the doctor"s shop, sir, not of an old fiddler like me--Good-by, sir.
There"s my patient calling."
And a voice was heard from the captain"s bedroom, a well-known voice, which said, "I"d loike a dthrop of dthrink, Bows, I"m thirstee." And not sorry, perhaps, to hear that such was the state of things, and that Pen"s forsaken was consoling herself, Warrington took his leave of the irascible musician.
As luck would have it, he pa.s.sed the lodge door just as Mr. Huxter was in the act of frightening the children with the mask whereof we have spoken, and f.a.n.n.y was smiling languidly at his farces. Warrington laughed bitterly. "Are all women like that?" he thought. "I think there"s one that"s not," he added, with a sigh.
At Piccadilly, waiting for the Richmond omnibus, George fell in with Major Pendennis, bound in the same direction, and he told the old gentleman of what he had seen and heard respecting f.a.n.n.y.
Major Pendennis was highly delighted: and as might be expected of such a philosopher, made precisely the same observation as that which had escaped from Warrington. "All women are the same," he said. "_La pet.i.te se console_. Dayme, when I used to read "Telemaque" at school, _Calypso ne pouvait se consoler_--you know the rest, Warrington--I used to say it was absard. Absard, by Gad, and so it is. And so she"s got a new _soupirant_ has she, the little porteress? Dayvlish nice little girl. How mad Pen will be--eh, Warrington? But we must break it to him gently, or he"ll be in such a rage that he will be going after her again. We must _menager_ the young fellow."
"I think Mrs. Pendennis ought to know that Pen acted very well in the business. She evidently thinks him guilty, and according to Mr. Bows, Arthur behaved like a good fellow," Warrington said.
"My dear Warrington," said the major, with a look of some alarm. "In Mrs. Pendennis"s agitated state of health and that sort of thing, the best way, I think, is not to say a single word about the subject--or, stay, leave it to me: and I"ll talk to her--break it to her gently, you know, and that sort of a thing. I give you my word I will. And so Calypso"s consoled, is she?" And he sn.i.g.g.e.red over this gratifying truth, happy in the corner of the omnibus during the rest of the journey.
Pen was very anxious to hear from his envoy what had been the result of the latter"s mission; and as soon as the two young men could be alone, the emba.s.sador spoke in reply to Arthur"s eager queries.
"You remember your poem, Pen, of Ariadne in Naxos," Warrington said; "devilish bad poetry it was, to be sure."
"Apres?" asked Pen, in a great state of excitement.
"When Theseus left Ariadne, do you remember what happened to her, young fellow?"
"It"s a lie, it"s a lie! You don"t mean that!" cried out Pen, starting up, his face turning red.
"Sit down, stoopid," Warrington said, and with two fingers pushed Pen back into his seat again. "It"s better for you as it is, young one;"
he said sadly, in reply to the savage flush in Arthur"s face.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FOREIGN GROUND.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Worth Major Pendennis fulfilled his promise to Warrington so far as to satisfy his own conscience, and in so far to ease poor Helen with regard to her son, as to make her understand that all connection between Arthur and the odious little gate-keeper was at an end, and that she need have no further anxiety with respect to an imprudent attachment or a degrading marriage on Pen"s part. And that young fellow"s mind was also relieved (after he had recovered the shock to his vanity) by thinking that Miss f.a.n.n.y was not going to die of love for him, and that no unpleasant consequences were to be apprehended from the luckless and brief connection.
So the whole party were free to carry into effect their projected Continental trip, and Arthur Pendennis, rentier, voyageant avec Madame Pendennis and Mademoiselle Bell, and George Warrington, particulier, age de 32 ans, taille 6 pieds (Anglais), figure ordinaire, cheveux noirs, barbe idem, &c., procured pa.s.sports from the consul of H.M. the King of the Belgians at Dover, and pa.s.sed over from that port to Ostend, whence the party took their way leisurely, visiting Bruges and Ghent on their way to Brussels and the Rhine. It is not our purpose to describe this oft-traveled tour, or Laura"s delight at the tranquil and ancient cities which she saw for the first time, or Helen"s wonder and interest at the Beguine convents which they visited, or the almost terror with which she saw the black-veiled nuns with out-stretched arms kneeling before the illuminated altars, and beheld the strange pomps and ceremonials of the Catholic worship. Bare-footed friars in the streets, crowned images of Saints and Virgins in the churches before which people were bowing down and worshiping, in direct defiance, as she held, of the written law; priests in gorgeous robes, or lurking in dark confessionals, theatres opened, and people dancing on Sundays; all these new sights and manners shocked and bewildered the simple country lady; and when the young men after their evening drive or walk returned to the widow and her adopted daughter, they found their books of devotion on the table, and at their entrance Laura would commonly cease reading some of the psalms or the sacred pages which, of all others Helen loved. The late events connected with her son had cruelly shaken her; Laura watched with intense, though hidden anxiety, every movement of her dearest friend; and poor Pen was most constant and affectionate in waiting upon his mother, whose wounded bosom yearned with love toward him, though there was a secret between them, and an anguish or rage almost on the mother"s part, to think that she was dispossessed somehow of her son"s heart, or that there were recesses in it which she must not or dared not enter. She sickened as she thought of the sacred days of boyhood when it had not been so--when her Arthur"s heart had no secrets, and she was his all in all: when he poured his hopes and pleasures, his childish griefs, vanities, triumphs into her willing and tender embrace; when her home was his nest still; and before fate, selfishness, nature, had driven him forth on wayward wings--to range on his own flight--to sing his own song--and to seek his own home and his own mate. Watching this devouring care and racking disappointment in her friend, Laura once said to Helen, "If Pen had loved me as you wished, I should have gained him, but I should have lost you, mamma, I know I should; and I like you to love me best. Men do not know what it is to love as we do, I think,"--and Helen, sighing, agreed to this portion of the young lady"s speech, though she protested against the former part. For my part, I suppose Miss Laura was right in both statements, and with regard to the latter a.s.sertion especially, that it is an old and received truism--love is an hour with us: it is all night and all day with a woman. Damon has taxes, sermon, parade, tailors" bills, parliamentary duties, and the deuce knows what to think of; Delia has to think about Damon--Damon is the oak (or the post), and stands up, and Delia is the ivy or the honey-suckle whose arms twine about him.
Is it not so, Delia? Is it not your nature to creep about his feet and kiss them, to twine round his trunk and hang there; and Damon"s to stand like a British man with his hands in his breeches pocket, while the pretty fond parasite clings round him?
Old Pendennis had only accompanied our friends to the water"s edge, and left them on board the boat, giving the chief charge of the little expedition to Warrington. He himself was bound on a brief visit to the house of a great man, a friend of his, after which sojourn he proposed to join his sister-in-law at the German watering-place, whither the party was bound. The major himself thought that his long attentions to his sick family had earned for him a little relaxation--and though the best of the partridges were thinned off, the pheasants were still to be shot at Stillbrook, where the n.o.ble owner still was; old Pendennis betook himself to that hospitable mansion and disported there with great comfort to himself. A royal duke, some foreigners of note, some ill.u.s.trious statesmen, and some pleasant people visited it: it did the old fellow"s heart good to see his name in the "Morning Post," among the list of the distinguished company which the Marquis of Steyne was entertaining at his country house at Stillbrook. He was a very useful and pleasant personage in a country house. He entertained the young men with queer little anecdotes and _grivoises_ stories on their shooting parties, or in their smoking-room, where they laughed at him and with him. He was obsequious with the ladies of a morning, in the rooms dedicated to them. He walked the new arrivals about the park and gardens, and showed them the _carte du pays_, and where there was the best view of the mansion, and where the most favorable point to look at the lake: he showed where the timber was to be felled, and where the old road went before the new bridge was built, and the hill cut down; and where the place in the wood was where old Lord Lynx discovered Sir Phelim O"Neal on his knees before her ladyship, &c.
&c.; he called the lodge keepers and gardeners by their names; he knew the number of domestics that sat down in the housekeeper"s room, and how many dined in the servants" hall; he had a word for every body, and about every body, and a little against every body. He was invaluable in a country house, in a word: and richly merited and enjoyed his vacation after his labors. And perhaps while he was thus deservedly enjoying himself with his country friends, the major was not ill-pleased at transferring to Warrington the command of the family expedition to the Continent, and thus perforce keeping him in the service of the ladies--a servitude which George was only too willing to undergo for his friend"s sake, and for that of a society which he found daily more delightful. Warrington was a good German scholar and was willing to give Miss Laura lessons in the language, who was very glad to improve herself, though Pen, for his part, was too weak or lazy now to resume his German studies. Warrington acted as courier and interpreter; Warrington saw the baggage in and out of ships, inns, and carriages, managed the money matters, and put the little troop into marching order. Warrington found out where the English church was, and, if Mrs. Pendennis and Miss Laura were inclined to go thither, walked with great decorum along with them.
Warrington walked by Mrs. Pendennis"s donkey, when that lady went out on her evening excursions; or took carriages for her; or got "Galignani" for her; or devised comfortable seats under the lime trees for her, when the guests paraded after dinner, and the Kursaal band at the bath, where our tired friends stopped, performed their pleasant music under the trees. Many a fine whiskered Prussian or French dandy, come to the bath for the "_Trente et quarante_" cast glances of longing toward the pretty, fresh-colored English girl who accompanied the pale widow, and would have longed to take a turn with her at the galop or the waltz. But Laura did not appear in the ball-room, except once or twice, when Pen vouchsafed to walk with her; and as for Warrington that rough diamond had not had the polish of a dancing master, and he did not know how to waltz--though he would have liked to learn, if he could have had such a partner as Laura. Such a partner! psha, what had a stiff bachelor to do with partners and waltzing? what was he about, dancing attendance here? drinking in sweet pleasure at a risk he knows not of what after sadness and regret, and lonely longing? But yet he staid on. You would have said he was the widow"s son, to watch his constant care and watchfulness of her; or that he was an adventurer, and wanted to marry her fortune, or at any rate, that he wanted some very great treasure or benefit from her --and very likely he did--for ours, as the reader has possibly already discovered, is a Selfish Story, and almost every person, according to his nature, more or less generous than George, and according to the way of the world as it seems to us, is occupied about Number One. So Warrington selfishly devoted himself to Helen, who selfishly devoted herself to Pen, who selfishly devoted himself to himself at this present period, having no other personage or object to occupy him, except, indeed, his mother"s health, which gave him a serious and real disquiet; but though they sate together, they did not talk much, and the cloud was always between them.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Every day Laura looked for Warrington, and received him with more frank and eager welcome. He found himself talking to her as he didn"t know himself that he could talk. He found himself performing acts of gallantry which astounded him after the performance: he found himself looking blankly in the gla.s.s at the crow"s-feet round his eyes, and at some streaks of white in his hair, and some intrusive silver bristles in his grim, blue beard. He found himself looking at the young bucks at the bath--at the blond, tight-waisted Germans--at the capering Frenchmen, with their lackered mustaches and trim varnished boots--at the English dandies, Pen among them, with their calm domineering air, and insolent languor: and envied each one of these some excellence or quality of youth, or good looks which he possessed, and of which Warrington felt the need. And every night, as the night came, he quitted the little circle with greater reluctance; and, retiring to his own lodging in their neighborhood, felt himself the more lonely and unhappy. The widow could not help seeing his attachment. She understood, now, why Major Pendennis (always a tacit enemy of her darling project) had been so eager that Warrington should be of their party. Laura frankly owned her great, her enthusiastic, regard for him: and Arthur would make no movement. Arthur did not choose to see what was going on; or did not care to prevent, or actually encouraged, it. She remembered his often having said that he could not understand how a man proposed to a woman twice. She was in torture--at secret feud with her son, of all objects in the world the dearest to her--in doubt, which she dared not express to herself, about Laura--averse to Warrington, the good and generous. No wonder that the healing waters of Rosenbad did not do her good, or that Doctor von Glauber, the bath physician, when he came to visit her, found that the poor lady made no progress to recovery. Meanwhile Pen got well rapidly; slept with immense perseverance twelve hours out of the twenty-four; ate huge meals; and, at the end of a couple of months, had almost got back the bodily strength and weight which he had possessed before his illness.
After they had pa.s.sed some fifteen days at their place of rest and refreshment, a letter came from Major Pendennis announcing his speedy arrival at Rosenbad, and, soon after the letter, the major himself made his appearance accompanied by Morgan his faithful valet, without whom the old gentleman could not move. When the major traveled he wore a jaunty and juvenile traveling costume; to see his back still you would have taken him for one of the young fellows whose slim waist and youthful appearance Warrington was beginning to envy. It was not until the worthy man began to move, that the observer remarked that Time had weakened his ancient knees, and had unkindly interfered to impede the action of the natty little varnished boots in which the old traveler still pinched his toes. There were magnates both of our own country and of foreign nations present that autumn at Rosenbad. The elder Pendennis read over the strangers" list with great gratification on the night of his arrival, was pleased to find several of his acquaintances among the great folks, and would have the honor of presenting his nephew to a German Grand d.u.c.h.ess, a Russian Princess, and an English Marquis, before many days were over: nor was Pen by any means averse to making the acquaintance of these great personages, having a liking for polite life, and all the splendors and amenities belonging to it. That very evening the resolute old gentlemen, leaning on his nephew"s arm, made his appearance in the halls of the Kursaal, and lost or won a napoleon or two at the table of _Trente et quarante_. He did not play to lose, he said, or to win, but he did as other folks did, and betted his napoleon and took his luck as it came.