That combination of high-heartedness and bashfulness, a blended temerity and timidity,--by no means an uncommon temperament,--renders a man"s position in the embarra.s.sments of life one of downright suffering. There are operators who feel the knife more sensitively than the patients. Few know what torments such men conceal under a manner of seeming slap-dash and carelessness. Hunter was of this order, and would, any day of his life, far rather have confronted a real peril than met a contingency that demanded such an address. It was, then, with a sense of relief he learned, on arrival at the barracks, that Conyers had gone out for a walk, so that there was a reprieve at least of a few hours of the penalty that overhung him.
The trumpet-call for the mess had just sounded as Conyers gained the door of the Colonel"s quarters, and Hunter taking Fred"s arm, they crossed the barrack-square together.
"I have a great deal to say to you, Conyers," said he, hurriedly; "part of it unpleasant,--none of it, indeed, very gratifying--"
"I know you are going to leave us, sir," said Fred, who perceived the more than common emotion in the other"s manner. "And for myself, I own I have no longer any desire to remain in the regiment. I might go further, and say no more zest for the service. It was through your friendship for me I learned to curb many and many promptings to resistance, and when _you_ go--"
"I am very sorry,--very, very sorry to leave you all," said Hunter, with a broken voice. "It is not every man that proudly can point to seven-and-twenty-years" service in a regiment without one incident to break the hearty cordiality that bound us. We had no bickerings, no petty jealousies amongst us. If a man joined us who wanted partisanship and a set, he soon found it better to exchange. I never expect again to lead the happy life I have here, and I "d rather have led our bold squadrons in the field than have been a General of Division." Who could have believed that he, whose eyes ran over, as he spoke these broken words, was, five minutes after, the gay and rattling Colonel his officers always saw him, full of life, spirit, and animation, jocularly alluding to his speedy departure, and gayly speculating on the comparisons that would be formed between himself and his successor? "I"m leaving him the horses in good condition," said he; "and when Hargrave learns to give the word of command above a whisper, and Eyreton can ride without a backboard, he "ll scarcely report you for inefficiency." It is fair to add, that the first-mentioned officer had a voice like a ba.s.soon, and the second was the beau-ideal of dragoon horsemanship.
It would not have consisted with military etiquette to have asked the Colonel the nature of his promotion, nor as to what new sphere of service he was called. Even the old Major, his contemporary, dared not have come directly to the question; and while all were eager to hear it, the utmost approach was by an insinuation or an innuendo. Hunter was known for no quality more remarkably than for his outspoken frankness, and some surprise was felt that in his returning thanks for his health being drank, not a word should escape him on this point; but the anxiety was not lessened by the last words he spoke. "It may be, it is more than likely, I shall never see the regiment again; but the sight of a hussar jacket or a scarlet busby will bring you all back to my memory, and you may rely on it, that whether around the mess-table or the bivouac fire my heart will be with you."
Scarcely had the cheer that greeted the words subsided, when a deep voice from the extreme end of the table said,--
"If only a new-comer in the regiment, Colonel Hunter, I am too proud of my good fortune not to a.s.sociate myself with the feelings of my comrades, and, while partaking of their deep regrets, I feel it a duty to contribute, if in my power, by whatever may lighten the grief of our loss. Am I at liberty to do so? Have I your free permission, I mean?"
"I am fairly puzzled by your question, Captain Stapylton. I have not the very vaguest clew to your meaning, but, of course, you have my permission to mention whatever you deem proper."
"It is a toast I would propose, sir."
"By all means. The thing is not very regular, perhaps, but we are not exactly remarkable for regularity this evening. Fill, gentlemen, for Captain Stapylton"s toast!"
"Few words will propose it," said Stapylton. "We have just drank Colonel Hunter"s health with all the enthusiasm that befits the toast, but in doing so our tribute has been paid to the past; of the present and the future we have taken no note whatever, and it is to these I would now recall you. I say, therefore, b.u.mpers to the health, happiness, and success of Major-General Hunter, Political Resident and Minister at the Court of Agra!"
"No, no!" cried young Conyers, loudly, "this is a mistake. It is my father--it is Lieutenant-General Conyers--who resides at Agra. Am I not right, sir?" cried he, turning to the Colonel.
But Hunter"s face, pale as death even to the lips, and the agitation with which he grasped Fred"s hand, so overcame the youth that with a sudden cry he sprang from his seat, and rushed out of the room. Hunter as quickly followed him; and now all were grouped around Stapylton, eagerly questioning and inquiring what his tidings might mean.
"The old story, gentlemen,--the old story, with which we are all more or less familiar in this best of all possible worlds: General Hunter goes out in honor, and General Conyers comes home in--well, under a cloud,--of course one that he is sure and certain to dispel. I conclude the Colonel would rather have had his advancement under other circ.u.mstances; but in this game of leap-frog that we call life, we must occasionally jump over our friends as well as our enemies."
"How and where did you get the news?"
"It came to me from town. I heard it this morning, and of course I imagined that the Colonel had told it to Conyers, whom it so intimately concerned. I hope I may not have been indiscreet in what I meant as a compliment."
None cared to offer their consolings to one so fully capable of supplying the commodity to himself, and the party broke up in twos or threes, moodily seeking their own quarters, and brooding gloomily over what they had just witnessed.
CHAPTER XXII. LEAVING HOME
I will ask my reader now to turn for a brief s.p.a.ce to the "Fisherman"s Home," which is a scene of somewhat unusual bustle. The Barringtons are preparing for a journey, and old Peter"s wardrobe has been displayed for inspection along a hedge of sweet-brier in the garden,--an arrangement devised by the genius of Darby, who pa.s.ses up and down, with an expression of admiration on his face, the sincerity of which could not be questioned. A more reflective mind than his might have been carried away, at the sight to thoughts of the strange pa.s.sages in the late history of Ireland, so curiously typified in that motley display.
There, was the bright green dress-coat of Daly"s club, recalling days of political excitement, and all the plottings and cabals of a once famous opposition. There was, in somewhat faded splendor it must be owned, a court suit of the Duke of Portland"s day, when Irish gentlemen were as gorgeous as the courtiers of Versailles. Here came a grand colonel"s uniform, when Barrington commanded a regiment of Volunteers; and yonder lay a friar"s frock and cowl, relics of those "attic nights" with the Monks of the Screw, and recalling memories of Avonmore and Curran, and Day and Parsons; and with them were mixed hunting-coats, and shooting-jackets, and masonic robes, and "friendly brother" emblems, and long-waisted garments, and swallow-tailed affectations of all shades and tints,--reminders of a time when Buck Whalley was the eccentric, and Lord Llandaff the beau of Irish society. I am not certain that Monmouth Street would have endorsed Darby"s sentiment as he said, "There was clothes there for a king on his throne!" but it was an honestly uttered speech, and came out of the fulness of an admiring heart, and although in truth he was nothing less than an historian, he was forcibly struck by the thought that Ireland must have been a grand country to live in, in those old days when men went about their ordinary avocations in such splendor as he saw there.
[Ill.u.s.tration: 252]
Nor was Peter Barrington himself an unmoved spectator of these old remnants of the past Old garments, like old letters, bring oftentimes very forcible memories of a long ago; and as he turned over the purple-stained flap of a waistcoat, he bethought him of a night at Daly"s, when, in returning thanks for his health, his shaking hand had spilled that identical gla.s.s of Burgundy; and in the dun-colored tinge of a hunting-coat he remembered the day he had plunged into the Nore at Corrig O"Neal, himself and the huntsman, alone of all the field, to follow the dogs!
"Take them away, Darby, take them away; they only set me a-thinking about the pleasant companions of my early life. It was in that suit there I moved the amendment in "82, when Henry Grattan crossed over and said, "Barrington will lead us here, as he does in the hunting-field."
Do you see that peach-colored waistcoat? It was Lady Caher embroidered every st.i.tch of it with her own hands, for me."
"Them "s elegant black satin breeches," said Darby, whose eyes of covetousness were actually rooted on the object of his desire.
"I never wore them," said Barrington, with a sigh. "I got them for a duel with Mat Fortescue, but Sir Toby Blake shot him that morning. Poor Mat!"
"And I suppose you"ll never wear them now. You couldn"t bear the sight then," said Darby, insinuatingly.
"Most likely not," said Barrington, as he turned away with a heavy sigh.
Darby sighed also, but not precisely in the same spirit.
Let me pa.s.singly remark that the total unsuitability to his condition of any object seems rather to enhance its virtue in the eyes of a lower Irishman, and a hat or a coat which he could not, by any possibility, wear in public, might still be to him things to covet and desire.
"What is the meaning of all this rag fair?" cried Miss Barrington, as she suddenly came in front of the exposed wardrobe. "You are not surely making any selections from these tawdry absurdities, brother, for your journey?"
[Ill.u.s.tration: 252]
"Well, indeed," said Barrington, with a droll twinkle of his eye, "it was a point that Darby and I were discussing as you came up. Darby opines that to make a suitable impression upon the Continent, I must not despise the a.s.sistance of dress, and he inclines much to that Corbeau coat with the cherry-colored lining."
"If Darby "s an a.s.s, brother, I don"t imagine it is a good reason to consult him," said she, angrily. "Put all that trash where you found it.
Lay out your master"s black clothes and the gray shooting-coat, see that his strong boots are in good repair, and get a serviceable lock on that valise."
It was little short of magic the spell these few and distinctly uttered words seemed to work on Darby, who at once descended from a realm of speculation and scheming to the commonplace world of duty and obedience.
"I really wonder how you let yourself be imposed on, brother, by the a.s.sumed simplicity of that shrewd fellow."
"I like it, Dinah, I positively like it," said he, with a smile. "I watch him playing the game with a pleasure almost as great as his own; and as I know that the stakes are small, I "m never vexed at his winning."
"But you seem to forget the encouragement this impunity suggests."
"Perhaps it does, Dinah; and very likely his little rogueries are as much triumphs to him as are all the great political intrigues the glories of some grand statesman."
"Which means that you rather like to be cheated," said she, scoffingly.
"When the loss is a mere trifle, I don"t always think it ill laid out."
"And I," said she, resolutely, "so far from partic.i.p.ating in your sentiment, feel it to be an insult and an outrage. There is a sense of inferiority attached to the position of a dupe that would drive me to any reprisals."
"I always said it; I always said it," cried he, laughing. "The women of our family monopolized all the com-bativeness."
Miss Barrington"s eyes sparkled, and her cheek glowed, and she looked like one stung to the point of a very angry rejoinder, when by an effort she controlled her pa.s.sion, and, taking a letter from her pocket, she opened it, and said, "This is from Withering. He has managed to obtain all the information we need for our journey. We are to sail for Ostend by the regular packet, two of which go every week from Dover. From thence there are stages or ca.n.a.l-boats to Bruges and Brussels, cheap and commodious, he says. He gives us the names of two hotels, one of which--the "Lamb," at Brussels--he recommends highly; and the Pension of a certain Madame Ochteroogen, at Namur, will, he opines, suit us better than an inn. In fact, this letter is a little road book, with the expenses marked down, and we can quietly count the cost of our venture before we make it."
"I "d rather not, Dinah. The very thought of a limit is torture to me.
Give me bread and water every day, if you like, but don"t rob me of the notion that some fine day I am to be regaled with beef and pudding."
"I don"t wonder that we have come to beggary," said she, pa.s.sionately.
"I don"t know what fortune and what wealth could compensate for a temperament like yours."
"You may be right, Dinah. It may go far to make a man squander his substance, but take my word for it, it will help him to bear up under the loss."
If Barrington could have seen the gleam of affection that filled his sister"s eyes, he would have felt what love her heart bore him; but he had stooped down to take a caterpillar off a flower, and did not mark it.