"Jack, where shall we meet in half an hour?" said Phil at length, jumping up and wiping his eyes.
"Here, if you like," said I. "I shall not leave this till you return."
"Be it so," said he; and then with a bow to my cousin and an easy nod to Grammont, O"Grady took his hat and departed.
Grammont now looked at his watch, and remembering some half-dozen very important appointments, took his leave also, leaving me once more, after so long an interval, _tete-a-tete_ with Julia.
There were so many things to talk over since we had met, so many reminiscences which each moment called up, that I never thought of the hours as they ran over; and it was only by Lady Charlotte"s appearance in the drawing-room that we were apprised it was already past four o"clock, and that the tide of her morning visitors would now set in, and break up all hopes of continuing our colloquy.
"Where is your friend?" said my mother, as she carried her eyes languidly round the s.p.a.cious apartment.
"Gone some hours ago; but he promised to take me up here. We shall see him soon, I suspect."
"Colonel O"Grady," said a servant; and my cousin had just time to leave the room by one door as he entered by another.
Advancing to my mother with a manner of respectful ease which he possessed in perfection, O"Grady contrived in a few brief words to resume the ground he had formerly occupied in her acquaintance, throwing out as he went an occasional compliment to her looks, so naturally and unaffectedly done as not to need acknowledgment or reply, but yet with sufficient _empress.e.m.e.nt_ to show interest.
"I have heard since my arrival that you were interested about this ball, and took the opportunity to secure you some tickets, which, though late, some of your friends may care for."
He presented my mother as he spoke with several blank cards of invitation, who, as she took them, could not conceal her astonishment nor repress the look of curiosity, which she could scarcely repel in words, as to how he had accomplished a task the highest people in Paris had failed in. I saw what was pa.s.sing in her mind, and immediately said--
"My mother would like to know your secret about these same cards, O"Grady; for they have been a perfect subject of contention here for the last three weeks."
"Her ladyship must excuse me--at least for the present--if I have one secret I cannot communicate to her," said O"Grady, smiling. "Let me only a.s.sure her that no one shall know it before she herself does."
"And there is a secret?" said Lady Charlotte eagerly.
"Yes, there is a secret," replied O"Grady, with a most ludicrous gravity of tone.
"Well, at least we have profited by it, and so we may wait in patience.
Your friend Colonel O"Grady will give us the pleasure of his company at dinner, I hope," continued my mother, with her most winning smile.
O"Grady declined, having already accepted the invitation of the Adjutant-General, but begged he might be permitted to join our party at the ball--which being graciously acceded to by my mother, we both made our bows, and sauntered out to see more of the sights of Paris.
"Come, Phil," said I, when we were once more alone, "what is the secret?
Who is Madame de Roni?"
"Not even to you, Jack," was his answer, and we walked on in silence.
CHAPTER LVIII THE RONI FeTE
There is no epidemic more catching than excitement. The fussy manner and feverish bustle of the people about you are sure, after a time, to communicate themselves to you--the very irritation they create being what the physicians call a predisposing cause. I became an ill.u.s.tration in point, as the hour of this ball drew nigh. At first I could not but wonder how in the midst of such stupendous events as were then taking place--in the heart of a city garrisoned by an enemy, with everything that could wound national pride and offend national honour--even French levity could raise itself to the enjoyment of fashionable frivolity; but by degrees the continual recurrence of the subject familiarised my mind to it wearing off my first and more natural impressions, and at last I began, like my neighbours, not only to listen with patience, but even to join in the various discussions with animation and interest.
No sooner had the report gained currency that Lady Charlotte was in possession of blank invitations, than our hotel was besieged by half Paris--the unfortunate endeavouring, by every species of flattery and every imaginable stratagem, to obtain tickets; the lucky ones all anxious to find out the mystery of her ladyship"s success, which at first seemed almost incredible. The various surmises, guesses, hints, allusions, and subterfuges which followed one another in rapid succession, as this motley mob of fashionables came and went, and went and came again, amused me considerably--the more so, perhaps, as the occasion called into full play all my cousin Julia"s powers of flippant raillery and sarcasm, both of which she exercised without scruple, but never within range of discovery by any of her victims.
Everything gave way to the convenience of this splendid _fete_. The eight o"clock dinner was antic.i.p.ated by full two hours; no other subject of conversation was ever broached by the company; and at nine the carriages were ordered to the door, it being wisely calculated that if we reached our destination at eleven we should esteem ourselves fortunate.
How often, as the dashing equipage whirls past to some scene of pleasure, where beauty and rank and riches await the sated votary of fashion, will the glare of the carriage-lamps fall upon the gloomy footway, where, wet and weary, some melancholy figure steals along with downcast head and plodding step, his thoughts turned ever to some accustomed scene of wretchedness, where want and misery, disease, neglect, decay, all herd together, and not even hope can enter! The poor man, startled, looks up; the rich one, lolling back upon his easy cushion, casts a downward glance; their eyes meet--it is but a second; there is no sympathy between them--the course of one lies north, the other south. Thus at each moment did my sad heart turn away from all the splendour of the preparation about me, to wonder with myself how even for an instant I could forget my own path in life, which, opening with every prospect of happiness, yet now offered not a hope for the future.
Between these two alternate states the hours crept on. As I sat beside Julia in the carriage, I could not but mark that something weighed also on her spirits. More silent than usual, she replied, when spoken to, with effort; and more than once returned wrong answers to my mother, who talked away unceasingly of the ball and the guests.
It was near midnight when we drove into the large archway of the Hotel de Rohan, where Madame de Roni held her court. Brilliantly lighted with lamps of various colours, the very equipages were made a part of the spectacle, as they shone in bright and changeful hues, reflected from gorgeous housings, gilded trappings, and costly liveries. A large, dark-coloured travelling-carriage, with a single pair of horses, stood in the corner of the court, the only thing to distinguish it being two mounted light dragoons who waited beside it, and a cha.s.seur in green and gold uniform who stood at the door. This simple equipage belonged to the King of Prussia. Around on every side were splendidly appointed carriages, glittering with emblazonry and gilding, from which, as the guests descended and entered the marble vestibule, names of European celebrity were called out and repeated from voice to voiqe along the lofty corridors. Le Prince de Schwartzenberg, Count Pozzo di Borgo, Le Duc de Dal-berg, Milord Cathcart, Le Comte de Nesselrode, Monsieur Talleyrand de Perigord, with others equally n.o.ble and exalted, followed in rapid succession.
Our turn came at last; and as we reached the hall we found O"Grady waiting for our arrival.
"There "s no use in attempting to get forward for some time," said he; "so follow me, and I"ll secure you a more comfortable place to wait in."
As he spoke he pa.s.sed through the hall, and, whispering a few words to a servant, a door was opened in the wainscot, admitting us to a small and neatly-fitted-up library, where a good fire and some easy-chairs awaited us.
"I see your surprise," said O"Grady, as my mother looked about her with astonishment at his perfect acquaintance with the whole locality; "but I can"t explain--it"s part of my secret. Meanwhile, Jack, I have another for your ear," said he, in a low whisper, as he drew me aside into a corner. "I have made a very singular discovery, Jack, to-day, and I have a notion it may lead to more. I met, by accident, at the Adjutant-General"s table, the brother of a French officer whose life I saved at Nivelle; he remembered my name in a moment, and we became sworn friends. I accepted his offer of a seat in his carriage to this ball, and on the way he informed me that he was the chief of the secret police of Paris, whose business it is to watch all the doings of the regular police and report upon them to Fouche, whose spies are in every salon and at every dinner-table in the capital I have no time at present to repeat any of the extraordinary stories he told me of this horrible system; but just as we entered the courtyard of this hotel, our carriage was jammed up in the line and detained for some minutes. Guillemain suddenly let down the gla.s.s, and gave a low, peculiar whistle, which, if I had not been paying considerable attention to everything about him, might have escaped my notice. In about a minute after a man, with a hat slouched over his face, and a large cravat covering his mouth, approached the carriage. They conversed together for some time, and I could perceive that the new-comer spoke his French in a broken manner and with a foreign accent. By a slight movement of the horses one of the lamps threw the light full upon this man"s face; I fixed my eyes rapidly on him, and recognised--whom, think you? But you"d never guess: no other than your old antagonist, Ulick Burke!"
"Ulick Burke! You must have been mistaken."
"No, no. I knew him at once; the light rested on him for full five minutes, and I had time enough to scan every feature of his face. I could swear to the man now. He left us at last, and I watched him till he disappeared among the crowd of servants that filled the courtyard."
""That"s one of your people," said I carelessly, as Guillemain drew up the gla.s.s, and sat back in the carriage.
""Yes, and a thorough scoundrel he is--capable of anything."
""He"s not French," said I, with the same indifference of manner I had feigned at first.
"Guillemain started as I spoke; and I half feared I had destroyed all by venturing too much. At length, after a short pause, he replied: "You"re right, he"s not French; but we have them of all nations--Poles, Swedes, Germans, Italians, Greeks. That fellow is English."
""Say Irish, rather," said I, determining to risk all, to know all.
""You know him, then?" said Guillemain hurriedly; "where did you see Fitzgerald?"
""Fitzgerald!" said I, repeating the name after him; and then affecting disappointment, added, "That"s not the name."
""Ha! I knew you were mistaken," said Guillemain, with animation; "the fellow told me he defies recognition; and I certainly have tried him often among his countrymen, and he has never been detected. And yet he knows the English thoroughly and intimately. It was through him that I first found out these very people we are going to."
"Here, Jack, he entered upon a long account of our worthy hosts, who with great wealth, great pretensions, and as great vulgarity came to Paris some weeks ago in that mighty flood of all sorts of people that flocked here since the peace. Their desire to be ranked among the fashionable entertainers of the day was soon reported to the minister of police, who, after considering how far such a house might be useful, where persons of all shades of political opinion might meet--friends of the Bourbons, Jacobites, Napoleonists, the men of "88, and the admirers of the old _regime_--measures were accordingly taken that their invitations should go out to the first persons in Paris, and, more still, should be accepted by them.
"While these worthy people are therefore distributing their hospitalities with all the good faith imaginable, their hotel is nothing more nor less than a _cabinet de police_, where Fouche and his agents are unravelling the intrigues of Paris, or weaving fresh ones for their own objects."
"Infamous system! But how comes it, Phil, that they have never discovered their anomalous position?"
"What a question, Jack! Vulgar pretension is a triple shield that no eye can pierce; and as you know the parties----"
"Know them! no, I never heard of them before." "What, Jack! Is your memory so short-lived? And yet there was a pretty girl in the house who might have rested longer in your memory."
The announcement of Lady Charlotte and my cousin"s names by the servant at the foot of the stairs broke up our conference; and we had only time to join our party as we fell into that closely-wedged phalanx that wound its slow length up the s.p.a.cious staircase. O"Grady"s last words had excited my curiosity to the highest pitch; but as he preceded me with my mother on his arm, I was unable to ask for an explanation.
At last we reached the ante-chamber, from which a vista of salons suddenly broke upon the view; and although antic.i.p.ating much, I had formed no conception whatever of the splendour of the scene before me.
More brilliant than noonday itself, the room was a blaze of wax-lights; the ceilings of fretted gold and blue enamel glittered like a gorgeous firmament; the walls were covered with pictures in costly frames of Venetian taste. But the decorations, magnificent and princely as they were, were as nothing to that splendid crowd of jewelled dames and glittering n.o.bles, of all that was distinguished in beauty, in rank, in military glory, or in the great contest of political life. Here were the greatest names of Europe--the kings and princes of the earth, the leaders of mighty armies, the generals of a hundred battles; here was the collective greatness of the world, all that can influence mankind--hereditary rank, military power, stupendous intellect, beauty, wealth--mixing in the vast vortex of fashionable dissipation, and plunging into all the excesses of voluptuous pleasure. The band of the Imperial Guard stationed near the staircase were playing with all the delicious softness of their national instrument--the Russian horn--a favourite mazurka of the emperor as we entered, and a partial silence reigned among the hundred listeners.