"How so?" said the Major. "What do you mean by that?"
"Just that it is as good to die of a brain fever as be hanged; and it won"t shock the family."
"I "d break his neck," muttered Bob Mahon, "if there was another doctor within forty miles."
Of all his patients, Tipperary Joe was the only one of whom the Doctor spoke without disparagement. Whether that the poor fellow"s indifference to his powers of terrorising had awed or conciliated him, I know not; but he expressed himself favourably regarding his case, and his prospects of recovery.
"Them chaps always recover," drawled out the Doctor in a dolorous cadence.
"Is it true," said the Major, with a malicious grin--"is it true that he changed all the splints and bandages to the sound leg, and that you didn"t discover the mistake for a week afterwards? Mary Doolan told me."
"Mrs. Doolan," said the Doctor, "ought to be thinking of her own misfortunes; and with an acute inflammation of the pericardium, she might be making her sowl."
"She ill?--that fine, fat, comfortable-looking woman!"
"Ay, just so; they"re always fat, and have a sleepy look about the eyes, just like yourself. Do you ever bleed at the nose?"
"Never without a blow on it. Come, come, I know you well, Doctor; you shall not terrify me."
"You"re right not to fret; for it will take you off suddenly, with a giddiness in your head, and a rolling in your eyes, and a choking feeling about your throat----"
"Stop, and be d----d to you!" said the Major, as he cleared his voice a couple of times, and loosed the tie of his cravat. "This room is oppressively hot."
"I protest to G.o.d," said Father Tom, "my heart is in my mouth, and there isn"t a bone in my body that"s not aching."
"I don"t wonder," chimed in the Doctor; "you are another of them, and you are a surprising man to go on so long. Sure, it is two years ago I warned your niece that when she saw you fall down she must open a vein in your neck, if it was only with a carving-knife."
"The saints in heaven forbid!" said the priest, cutting the sign of the cross in the air; "it"s maybe the jugular she"d cut!"
"No," drawled out the Doctor, "she needn"t go so deep; and if her hand doesn"t shake, there won"t be much danger. Good-evening to you both."
So saying, with his knees bent, and his hands crossed under the skirts of his coat, he sneaked out of the room; while the others, overcome, with fear, shame, and dismay, sat silently, looking misery itself, at each side of the table.
"That fellow would kill a regiment," said the Major at length. "Come, Tom, let"s have a little punch; I "ve a kind of a trembling over me."
"Not a drop of anything stronger than water will cross my lips this blessed night. Do you know, Bob, I think this place doesn"t agree with me? I wish I was back in Murranakilty: the mountain air, and regular habits of life, that"s the thing for me."
"We are none of us abstemious enough," said the Major; "and then we bachelors--to be sure you have your niece."
"Whisht!" said the priest, "how do you know who is listening? I vow to G.o.d I am quite alarmed at his telling that to Mary; some night or other, if I take a little too much, she"ll maybe try her anatomy upon me!"
This unhappy reflection seemed to weigh upon the good priest"s mind, and set him a-mumbling certain Latin offices between his teeth for a quarter of an hour.
"I wish," said the Major, "Hinton was able to read his letters, for here is a whole bundle of them--some from England, some from the Castle, and some marked "On His Majesty"s service.""
"I"ll wait another week anyhow for him," said the priest. "To go back to Dublin in the state he is now would be the ruin of him, after the shake he has got. The dissipation, the dining-out, and all the devilment would destroy him entirely; but a few weeks" peace and quietness up at Murranakilty will make him as sound as a bell."
"You are right, Tom, you are right," said the Major; "the poor fellow mustn"t be lost for the want of a little care; and now that Dillon has gone, there is no one here to look after him. Let us go down and see if the post is in; I think a walk would do us good."
a.s.senting to this proposition, the priest bent over me mournfully for a moment, shook his head, and having muttered a blessing, walked out of the room with the Major, leaving me in silence to think over all I had overheard.
Whether it was that youth suggested the hope, or that I more quickly imbibed an appreciation of the Doctor"s character from being the looker-on at the game, I am not exactly sure; but certainly I felt little depressed by his gloomy forebodings respecting me, and greatly lightened at my heart by the good news of poor Tipperary Joe.
Of all the circ.u.mstances which attended my illness, the one that most impressed me was the warm, affectionate solicitude of my two friends, the priest and his cousin. There was something of kindness and good feeling in their care of me that spoke rather of a long friendship than of the weaker ties of chance and pa.s.sing acquaintance. Again I thought of home; and while I asked myself if the events which beset my path in Ireland could possibly have happened to me there, I could not but acknowledge that if they had so, I could scarcely have hoped to suddenly conjure up such faithful and benevolent friends, with no other claim, nor other recommendation, save that of being a stranger.
The casual observation concerning my letters had, by stimulating my curiosity, awakened my dormant energy; and by a great effort I stretched out my hand to the little bell beside my bed, and rang it. The summons was answered by the barelegged girl who acted as waiter in the inn. When she had sufficiently recovered from her astonishment to comprehend my request, I persuaded her to place a candle beside me; and having given me the packet of letters that lay on the chimney-piece, I desired her on no account to admit any one, but say that I had fallen into a sound sleep, and should not be disturbed.
CHAPTER x.x.xI. THE LETTER-BAG
The package of letters was a large one, of all sizes. From all quarters they came--some from home; some from my brother officers of the Guards; some from the Castle; and even one from O"Grady.
The first I opened was a short note from Horton, the private secretary to the viceroy. This informed me that Major Mahon had written a statement to the duke of all the circ.u.mstances attending my duel; and that his grace had not only expressed himself highly satisfied with my conduct, but had ordered a very polite reply to be addressed to the Major, thanking him for his great kindness, and saying with what pleasure he found that a member of his staff had fallen into such good hands.
"His grace desires me to add," continued the writer, "that you need only consult your own health and convenience with respect to your return to duty; and, in fact, your leave of absence is perfectly discretionary."
My mind relieved of a weighty load by the contents of this letter, I recovered my strength already so far that I sat up in bed to peruse the others. My next was from my father; it ran thus:--
"Dear Jack,--Your friend Major Mahon, to whom I write by this post, will deliver this letter to you when he deems fit. He has been most good-natured in conveying to me a narrative of your late doings; and I cannot express how grateful we all are to him for the truly friendly part he has taken towards you. After the strictest scrutiny, for I confess to you I feared lest the Major"s might be too partial an account, I rejoice to say that your conduct meets with my entire approbation. An older and a wiser head might, it is possible, have avoided some of the difficulties you have met with; but this I will add, that once in trouble, no one could have shown better temper or a more befitting spirit than you did. While I say this, my dear Jack, understand me clearly that I speak of you as a young, inexperienced man, thrown, at his very outset of life, not only among strangers, but in a country where, as I remarked to you at first, everything was different from those in your own. You have now shown yourself equal to any circ.u.mstances in which you may be placed. I therefore not only expect that you will meet with fewer embarra.s.sments in future, but that, should they arise, I shall have the satisfaction of finding your character and your habits will be as much your safeguard against insult as your readiness to resent any will be sure and certain.
"I have seen the duke several times, and he expresses himself as much pleased with you. From what he mentions, I can collect that you are well satisfied with Ireland, and therefore I do not wish to remove you from it. At the same time, bear in mind, that by active service alone can you ever attain to, or merit, rank in the army; and that hitherto you have only been a soldier by name."
After some further words of advice respecting the future, and some few details of family matters, he concluded by entrusting to my mother the mention of what she herself professed to think lay more in her peculiar province.
As usual, her letter opened with some meteorological observations upon the climate of England for the preceding six weeks; then followed a journal of her own health, whose increasing delicacy, and the imperative necessity of being near Doctor Y------, rendered a journey to Ireland too dangerous to think of.
"Yes, my dearest boy," wrote she, "nothing but this would keep me from you a moment; however, I am much relieved at learning that you are now rapidly recovering, and hope soon to hear of your return to Dublin. It is a very dreadful thing to think of, but perhaps, upon the whole, it is better that you did kill this Mr. Burke. De Grammont tells me that a _mauvaise tete_ like that must be shot sooner or later. It makes me nervous to dwell on this odious topic, so that I shall pa.s.s on to something else.
"The horrid little man that brought your letters, and who calls himself a servant of Captain O"Grady, insisted on seeing me yesterday. I never was more shocked in my life. From what he says, I gather that he may be looked on as rather a favourable specimen of the natives. They must indeed be a very frightful people; and although he a.s.sured me he would do me no injury, I made Thomas stay in the room the entire time, and told Chubbs to give the alarm to the police if he heard the slightest noise. The creature, however did nothing, and I have quite recovered from my fear already.
"What a picture, my dear boy, did he present to me of your conduct and habits! Your intimacy with that odious family I mentioned in my last seems the root of all your misfortunes. Why will such people thrust themselves forward? What do they mean by inviting you to their frightful parties? Have they not their own peculiar horrors?--not but I must confess that they are more excusable than you; and I cannot conceive how you could so soon have forgotten the lessons instilled into you from your earliest years. As your poor dear grandfather, the admiral, used to say, a vulgar acquaintance is a shifting sand; you can never tell where you won"t meet it--always at the most inopportune moment; and then, if you remark, your underbred people are never content with a quiet recognition, but they must always indulge in a detestable cordiality there is no escaping from. Oh, John, John! when at ten years of age you made the banker"s son at Northampton hold your stirrup as you mounted your pony, I never thought I should have this reproach to make you.
"The little fiend who calls himself Corny something, also mentions your continued familiarity with the young woman I spoke of before. What her intentions are is perfectly clear; and should she accomplish her object your position in society and future fortune might possibly procure her large damages; but pause, my dear boy, before you go any further. I do not speak of the moral features of the case, for you are of an age to judge of them yourself; but think, I beseech you, of the difficulties it will throw around your path in life, and the obstacles it will oppose to your success. There is poor Lord Henry Effingham; and since that foolish business with the clergyman"s wife or daughter, where somebody went mad, and some one else drowned or shot himself, they have never given him any appointment whatever. The world is a frightful and unforgiving thing, as poor Lord Henry knows; therefore beware!
"The more I think of it, the more strongly do I feel the force of my first impressions respecting Ireland; and were it not that we so constantly hear of battles and bloodshed in the Peninsula, I should even prefer your being there. There would seem to be an unhappy destiny over everything belonging to me. My poor dear father, the admiral, had a life of hardship, almost unrewarded. For eleven years he commanded a guardship in the Nore; many a night have I seen him, when I was a little girl, come home dripping with wet, and perfectly insensible from the stimulants he was obliged to resort to, and be carried in that state to his bed; and after all this he didn"t get his blue ribbon till he was near sixty.
"De Vere is constantly with us, and is, I remark, attentive to your cousin Julia. This is not of so much consequence, as I hear that her Chancery suit is taking an unhappy turn; should it be otherwise, your interests will, of course, be looked to. De Vere is most amusing, and has a great deal of wit; but for him and the Count we should be quite dreary, as the season is over, and we can"t leave town for at least three weeks. [The epistle concluded with a general summing up of its contents, and an affectionate entreaty to bear in mind her caution regarding the Rooneys.] Once more, my dear boy, remember that vulgar people are a part of our trials in this life. As that delightful man, the Dean of St. George"s, says, they are snares for our feet; and their subservient admiration of us is a dangerous and a subtle temptation.
Read this letter again, and believe me, my dearest John, your affectionate and unhappy mother,
"Charlotte Hinton."
I shall not perform so undutiful a task as to play the critic on my excellent mother"s letter. There were, it is true, many new views of life presented to me by its perusal, and I should feel sadly puzzled were I to say at which I was more amused or shocked--at the strictness of her manners, or the laxity of her morals; but I confess that the part which most outraged me of all was the eulogy on Lord Dudley de Vere"s conversational gifts. But a few short months before, and it is possible I should not only have credited but concurred in the opinion; brief, however, as had been the interval, it had shown me much of life; it had brought me into acquaintance, and even intimacy, with some of the brightest spirits of the day; it had taught me to discriminate between the unmeaning jargon of conventional gossip and the charm of a society where force of reasoning, warmth of eloquence, and brilliancy of wit contested for the palm; it had made me feel that the intellectual gifts reserved in other countries for the personal advancement of their owner by their public and ostentatious display, can be made the ornament and the delight of the convivial board, the elegant accompaniment to the hours of happy intercourse, and the strongest bond of social union.
So gradually had this change of opinion crept over me that I did not recognise in myself the conversion; and indeed had it not been for my mother"s observations on Lord Dudley, I could not have credited how far my convictions had gone round. I could now understand the measurement by which Irishmen were estimated in the London world. I could see that if such a character as De Vere had a reputation for ability, how totally impossible it was for those who appreciated him to prize the great and varied gifts of such men as Grattan and Curran, and many more.
Lost in such thoughts, I forgot for some moments that O"Grady"s letter lay open before me. It was dated Chatham, and written the night before he sailed. The first few lines showed me that he knew nothing of my duel, having only received my own letter with an account of the steeplechase. He wrote in high spirits. The Commander-in-chief had been most kind to him, appointing him to a vacant Majority--not, as he antic.i.p.ated, in the Forty-first, but in the Ninth light Dragoons.