"No use to tickle lions with straws," said Linton; and the insinuated flattery succeeded.
"Let me now bid you welcome to my cottage, Mr. Cashel," said Corrigan; "although this incognito visit was an accident, I feel happy to see you here."
"Thank you, thank you," replied Cashel. "I shall be even more grateful still if you permit me to join in Linton"s pet.i.tion, and occasionally escape from the noisy festivities of the Hall, and come here."
While Corrigan and Cashel continued to interchange mutual a.s.surances of esteem and regard, Linton walked to a window with Miss Leicester.
"We had no conception that our guest was Mr. Cashel," said Mary; "he met Dr. Tiernay accidentally in the park, and came along with him to breakfast."
"And did not the doctor remember him?" said Linton, shrewdly.
"Oh, no; he may probably recollect something of having met him before, three weeks hence, but he is so absent!"
"I thought Roland would have taken the quizzing better," said Linton, thoughtfully. "There "s no knowing any man, or--woman either. _You_ perceived what I was at, certainly."
"No, indeed. I was as much deceived as Mr. Cashel. I thought, to be sure, that you were unusually severe, but I never suspected the object."
"How droll! Well, I am a better actor than I fancied," said Linton, laughing; then added, in a lower tone, "Not that the lesson should be lost upon him; for, in sober earnest, there was much truth in it."
"We were greatly pleased with him," said Mary, "and now, knowing who he is, and what temptations such a young man has to over-estimate himself, are even more struck by his una.s.suming quietude."
Linton only smiled, but it was a smile of most compa.s.sionate pity.
"I conclude that you mean to show yourself to your company, then, Mr.
Cashel?" said he, turning suddenly about.
"I"m ready," said Roland. "I"d go, however, with an easier conscience if Mr. Corrigan would only promise me to come and see us there sometimes."
"I"m a very old fellow, Mr. Cashel, and have almost outlived the habits of society; but if any one"s invitation shall bring me beyond these walls, it shall be yours."
"I must be content with that," said Roland, as he shook the proffered hand; and then, with a cordial farewell to Miss Leicester, took Linton"s arm, and retired.
CHAPTER x.x.xV. MISS JEMIMA MEEK.
If you show him in Hyde Park--Lauk! how they will stare!
Though a very smart figure in Bloomsbury Square,
The Sn.o.b.
Cashel"s was not a nature to dwell upon a grievance, and he would have, at once and forever, forgotten the late scene with Linton if it were not coupled in his mind with suspicions derived from various different sources. This made him silent and reserved as he walked along, and so palpably inattentive to all his companion"s efforts at agreeability that Linton at last said, "Well, Cashel, if you can dispense with sleep, you certainly seem to take the compensation in dreaming. Here have I been retailing for you the choicest bits of gossip and small-talk, not only without the slightest grat.i.tude, but even without common attention on your part!"
"Very true," said Cashel; "the reproach is quite just, and no man can be more agreeable at the expense of his friends than yourself."
"Still harping on my daughter, eh?" cried Linton. "I never thought you the man to misconstrue a jest; but if you really are offended with my folly--"
"If I really were offended," said Cashel, almost sternly, "I should not leave it to be inferred from my manner."
"That I am sure of," cried Linton, a.s.suming an air of frankness; "and now, since all that silly affair is forgotten--"
"I did not say so much," interrupted Cashel. "I cannot forget it; and that is the very reason I am annoyed with myself, with you, and with all the world."
"Pooh! nonsense, man; you were not used to be so thin-skinned. Let us talk of something else. Here are all our gay friends a.s.sembled: how are we to occupy and amuse them?"
Cashel made no reply, but walked on, seemingly lost in thought.
"By the way," said Linton, "you"ve told me nothing of your adventures.
Haven"t you had something very like a shipwreck?"
"The yacht is lost," said Cashel, dryly.
"Actually lost!" echoed the other, with well-a.s.sumed astonishment. "How fortunate not to have had the Kennyf.e.c.k party on board, as I believe you expected."
"I had the Kilgoffs, however," rejoined Roland.
"The Kilgoffs! you amaze me. How did my Lord ever consent to trust his most precious self on such an enterprise?"
Cashel shrugged his shoulders, without uttering a word in reply.
"But come, do condescend to be a little more communicative. How, and when, and where did the mishap occur?"
"She foundered on the southern coast some time after midnight on the 15th. The crew and pa.s.sengers escaped by the boats, and the craft went to pieces."
"And the Kilgoffs, how did they behave in the moment of peril?"
"My Lord seemed insensible to all around; Lady Kilgoff with a dignified courage quite admirable."
"Indeed!" said Linton, slowly, while he fixed his eyes on Cashel"s face, where an expression of increased animation now displayed itself.
"She has a fine generous nature," continued Cashel, not heeding the remark. "It is one of the saddest things to think of, how she has been mated."
"She is a peeress," said Linton, curtly.
"And what of that? Do your aristocratic distinctions close the heart against every high and n.o.ble sentiment, or can they compensate for the absence of every tie that attaches one to life? Is not some poor Indian girl who follows her wild ranchero husband through the dark valleys of Guiana, not only a happier, but a better wife than your proud peeress?"
Linton shook his head and smiled, but did not reply.
"I see how my old prejudices shock you," said Cashel. "I only grieve to think how many of them have left me; for I am sick--sick at heart--of your gay and polished world. I am weary of its double-dealing, and tired of its gilded falsehood. Since I have been a rich man, I have seen nothing but the servile flattery of sycophancy, or the insidious snares of deeper iniquity. There is no equality for one like myself. The high-born wealthy would treat me as a _parvenu_, the vulgar rich only reflect back my own errors in broader deformity. I have known no other use of wealth than to squander it to please others; I have played high, and lost deeply; I have purchased a hundred things simply because some others wished to sell them; I have entertained and sat among my company, waiting to catch and resent the covert insult that men pa.s.s upon such as me; and will you tell me--you, who know the world well--that such a life repays one?"
"Now, let me write the credit side of the account," said Linton, laughing, and affecting a manner of easy jocularity. "You are young, healthy, and high-spirited, with courage for anything, and more money than even recklessness can get rid of; you are the most popular fellow among men, and the greatest favorite of the other s.e.x, going; you get credit for everything you do, and a hundred others that men know you could, but have not done; you have warm, attached friends,--I can answer for one, at least, who "ll lay down his life for you." He paused, expecting some recognition, but Cashel made no sign, and he resumed: "You have only to propose some object to your ambition, whether it be rank, place, or a high alliance, to feel that you are a favorite with fortune."
"And is it by knowing beforehand that one is sure to win that gambling fascinates?" said Roland, slowly.
"If you only knew how the dark presage of failure deters the unlucky man, you "d scarce ask the question!" rejoined Linton, with an accent of sorrow, by which he hoped to awaken sympathy. The stroke failed, however, for Cashel took no notice of it.