"Then why don"t we go at once?" cried Julia.
"There"s nothing to detain us here," said L"Estrange, sorrowfully.
"Unless you mean to wait for my marriage," said Julia, laughing, "though, possibly, Sir Marcus may not give me another chance."
"Oh, Julia!"
""Oh, Julia!" Well, dearest, I do say shocking things, there "s no doubt of it; but when I "ve said them, I feel the subject off my conscience, and revert to it no more."
"At all events," said L"Estrange, after a moment of thought, "let us behave when we meet him as though this news was not bad. I know he will try to read in our faces what we think of it, and on every account it is better not to let him sink into depression."
The day pa.s.sed over in that discomfort which a false position so inevitably imposes. The apparent calm was a torture, and the efforts at gayety were but moments of actual pain. The sense of something impending was so poignant that at every stir--the opening of a door or the sound of a bell--there came over each a look of anxiety the most intense and eager. All their attempts at conversation were attended with a fear lest some unhappy expression, some ill-timed allusion might suggest the very thought they were struggling to suppress; and it was with a feeling of relief they parted and said good-night, where, at other times, there had been only regret at separating.
Day after day pa.s.sed in the same forced and false tranquillity, the preparations for the approaching journey being the only relief to the intense anxiety that weighed like a load on each. At length, on the fifth morning, there came a letter to Augustus in the well-known hand of Sedley, and he hastened to his room to read it. Some sharp pa.s.sages there had been between them of late on the subject of the compromise, and Bramleigh, in a moment of forgetfulness and anger, even went so far as to threaten that he would have recourse to the law to determine whether his agent had or had not overstepped the bounds of his authority, and engaged in arrangements at total variance to all his wishes and instructions. A calm but somewhat indignant reply from Sedley, however, recalled Bramleigh to reconsider his words, and even ask pardon for them, and since that day their intercourse had been more cordial and frank than ever. The present letter was very long, and quite plainly written, with a strong sense of the nature of him it was addressed to. For Sedley well knew the temper of the man,--his moods of high resolve and his moments of discouragement,--his desire to be equal to a great effort, and his terrible consciousness that his courage could not be relied on. The letter began thus:--
My dear Sir,--If I cannot, as I hoped, announce a victory, I am able at least to say that we have not been defeated. The case was fairly and dispa.s.sionately stated, and probably an issue of like importance was never discussed with less of acrimony, or less of that captious and overreaching spirit which is too common in legal contests. This was so remarkable as to induce the judge to comment on it in his charge, and declare that in all his experience on the bench, he had never before witnessed anything so gratifying or so creditable alike to plaintiff and defendant.
Lawson led for the other side, and, I will own, made one of the best openings I ever listened to, disclaiming at once any wish to appeal to sympathies or excite feeling of pity for misfortunes carried on through three generations of blameless sufferers; he simply directed the jury to follow him in the details of a brief and not very complicated story, every step of which he would confirm and establish by evidence.
The studious simplicity of his narrative was immense art, and though he carefully avoided even a word that could be called high-flown, he made the story of Montague Bramleigh"s courtship of the beautiful Italian girl one of the most touching episodes I ever listened to.
The marriage was, of course, the foundation of the whole claim, and he arrayed all his proofs of it with great skill. The recognition in your grandfather"s letters, and the tone of affection in which they were written, his continual reference to her in his life, left little if any doubt on the minds of the jury, even though there was nothing formal or official to show that the ceremony of marriage had pa.s.sed; he reminded the jury that the defence would rely greatly on this fact, but the fact of a missing registry-book was neither so new nor so rare in this country as to create any astonishment, and when he offered proof that the church and the vestry-room had been sacked by the rebels in "98, the evidence seemed almost superfluous. The birth and baptism of the child he established thoroughly; and here he stood on strong grounds, for the infant was christened at Brussels by the Protestant chaplain of the Legation at the Hague, and he produced a copy of the act of registry, stating the child to be son of Montague Bramleigh, of Cossenden Manor, and Grosvenor Square, London, and of En-richetta his wife. Indeed, as Lawson declared, if these unhappy foreigners had ever even a glimmering suspicion that the just rights of this poor child were to be a.s.sailed and his inheritance denied him, they could not have taken more careful and cautious steps to secure his succession than the simple but excellent precautions they had adopted.
The indignation of Lami at what he deemed the unfeeling and heartless conduct of Montague Bramleigh--his cold reception of the news of his son"s birth, and the careless tone in which he excused himself from going over to the christening--rose to such a pitch that he swore the boy should never bear his father"s name, nor ever in any way be beholden to him, and "this rash oath it was that has carried misery down to another generation, and involved in misfortune others not more blameless nor more truly to be pitied than he who now seeks redress at your hands." This was the last sentence he uttered after speaking three hours, and obtaining a slight pause to recruit his strength.
Issue of Montague Bramleigh being proved, issue of that issue was also established, and your father"s letters were given in evidence to show how he had treated with these claimants and given largely in money to suppress or silence their demands. Thos. Bolton, of the house of Parker and Bolton, bankers, Naples, proved the receipt of various sums from Montague Bramleigh in favor of A. B. C, for so the claimant was designated, private confidential letters to Bolton showing that these initials were used to indicate one who went under many aliases, and needed every precaution to escape the police. Bolton proved the journal of Giacomo Lami, which he had often had in his own possession. In fact this wit ness damaged us more than all the rest; his station and position in life, and the mode in which he behaved under examination, having great effect on the jury, and affording Lawson a favorable opportunity of showing what confidence was felt in the claimant"s pretensions by a man of wealth and character, even when the complications of political conspiracy had served to exhibit him as a dangerous adventurer.
Waller"s reply was able, but not equal to his best efforts. It is but fair to him, however, to state that he complained of our instructions, and declared that your determination not to urge anything on a point of law, nor tender opposition on grounds merely technical, left him almost powerless in the case. He devoted his attention almost entirely to disprove the first marriage, that of Mr. B. with Enrichetta Lami; he declared that, the relative rank of the parties considered, the situation in which they were placed towards each other, and all the probabilities of the case duly weighed, there was every reason to believe the connection was illicit. This view was greatly strengthened by Mr. B."s subsequent conduct; his refusal to go over to the christening, and the utter indifference he displayed to the almost menacing tone of old Lami"s letters; and when he indignantly asked the jury "if a man were likely to treat in this manner his wife and the mother of his first-born, the heir to his vast fortune and estates,"
there was a subdued murmur in the court that showed how strongly this point had told.
He argued that when a case broke down at its very outset, it would be a mere trifling with the time of the court to go further to disprove circ.u.mstances based on a fallacy. As to the christening and the registration of baptism, what easier than for a woman to declare whatever she pleased as to the paternity of her child? It was true he was written son of Montague Bramleigh: but when we once agree that there was no marriage, this declaration has no value. He barely touched on the correspondence and the transmission of money abroad, which he explained as the natural effort of a man of high station and character to suppress the notoriety of a youthful indiscretion. Political animosity had, at that period, taken a most injurious turn, and scandal was ransacked to afford means of attack on the reputations of public men.
I barely give you the outline of his argument, but I will send you the printed account of the trial as soon as the shorthand writer shall have completed it for press. Baron Jocelyn"s charge was, I must say, less in our favor than I had expected; and when he told the jury that the expressions of attachment and affection in Mr. B."s letters, and the reiterated use of the phrase "my dear, dear wife," demanded their serious consideration as to whether such words would have fallen from a man hampered by an illicit connection, and already speculating how to be free of it; all this, put with great force and clearness, and a certain appeal to their sense of humanity, did us much disservice. The length of time he dwelt on this part of the case was so remarkable, that I overheard a Q. C. say he had not known till then that his Lordship was retained for the plaintiff.
When he came to that part where allusion was made to the fact of the claimant being a foreigner, he made an eloquent and effective appeal to the character of English justice, which elicited a burst of applause in the court that took some seconds to repress; but this, I am told, was more owing to the popular sympathy with the politics of old Lami, and his connection with the rebellion of "98, than with any enthusiasm for his Lordship"s oratory.
The jury were three hours in deliberation. I am confidentially informed that we had but five with, and seven against us; the verdict, as you know, was not agreed on. We shall go to trial in spring, I hope with Holmes to lead for us, for I am fully persuaded the flaw lies in the history subsequent to the marriage of Mr. B., and that it was a mistake to let the issue turn on the event which had already enlisted the sympathies of the jury in its favor.
In conclusion, I ought to say, that the plaintiff"s friends regard the result as a victory, and the national press is strong in a.s.serting that, if the Orange element had been eliminated from the jury-box, there is little doubt that Count Bramleigh--as they call him--would at that hour be dispensing the splendid hospitalities of a princely house to his county neighbors, and the still more gratifying benefits of a wide charity to the poor around him. Writing rapidly, as I do, I make no pretension to anything like an accurate history of the case. There are a vast variety of things to which I mean to direct your attention when a more favorable moment will permit. I will only now add, that your presence in England is urgently required, and that your return to Castello, to resume there the style of living that alike becomes the proprietor and the place, is, in the opinion of all your friends, much to be desired.
Mr. Waller does not hesitate to say that your absence decided the case against you, and was heard to declare openly that "he for one had no fancy to defend a cause for a man who voluntarily gave himself up as beaten."
May I entreat, then, you will make it your convenience to return here?
I cannot exaggerate the ill effects of your absence, nor to what extent your enemies are enabled to use the circ.u.mstance to your discredit.
Jurors are, after all, but men, taken from the common ma.s.s of those who read and talk over the public scandals of the hour, and all the cautions of the Bench never yet succeeded in making men forget, within the court-house, what they had for weeks before been discussing outside of it.
At all events, do not dismiss my suggestion without some thought over it, or better still, without consulting some friends in whose sense and intelligence you have confidence. I am, with many apologies for the liberty I have thus taken,
Most faithfully your servant,
T. Sedley.
When Bramleigh had read this letter carefully over, he proceeded to Nelly"s room, to let her hear its contents.
"It"s not very cheery news," said he, "but it might be worse. Shall I read it for you, or will you read it yourself?"
"Read it, Gusty; I would rather hear it from you," said she, as she sat down with her face to the window, and partially averted from him as he sat.
Not a word dropped from her while he read; and though once or twice he paused as if to invite a remark or a question, she never spoke, nor by a look or a gesture denoted how the tidings affected her.
"Well," asked he at last, "what do you say to it all?"
"It"s worse--I mean worse for us--than I had ever suspected! Surely, Gusty, _you_ had no conception that their case had such apparent strength and solidity?"
"I have thought so for many a day," said he, gloomily.
"Thought that they, and not we--" she could not go on.
"Just so, dearest," said he, drawing his chair to her side, and laying his hand affectionately on her shoulder.
"And do you believe that poor papa thought so?" said she, and her eyes now swam in tears.
A scarcely perceptible nod was all his answer.
"Oh, Gusty, this is more misery than I was prepared for!" cried she, throwing herself on his shoulder. "To think that all the time we were--what many called--outraging the world with display; exhibiting our wealth in every ostentatious way; to think that it was not ours, that we were mere pretenders, with a mock rank, a mock station."
"My father did not go thus far, Nelly," said he, gravely. "That he did not despise these pretensions I firmly believe; but that they ever gave him serious reason to suppose his right could be successfully disputed, this I do not believe. His fear was, that when the claim came to be resisted by one like myself, the battle would be ill fought. It was in this spirit he said, "Would that Marion had been a boy! ""
"And what will you do, Gusty?"
"I "ll tell you what I will not do, Nelly," said he, firmly. "I will not, as this letter counsels me, go back to live where it is possible I have no right to live, nor spend money to which the law may to-morrow declare I have no claim. I will abide by what that law shall declare, without one effort to bias it in my favor. I have a higher pride in submitting myself to this trial than ever I had in being the owner of Castello. It may be that I shall not prove equal to what I propose to myself. I have no over-confidence in my own strength, but I like to think, that if I come well through the ordeal, I shall have done what will dignify a life, humble even as mine, and give me a self-respect without which existence is valueless to me. Will you stand by me, Nelly, in this struggle--I shall need you much?"
"To the last," said she, giving him both her hands, which he grasped within his, and pressed affectionately.
"Write, then, one line from me to Sedley, to say that I entrust the case entirely to his guidance; that I will not mix myself with it in any way, nor will I return to England till it be decided; and say, if you can, that you agree with me in this determination. And then, if the L"Estranges are ready, let us start at once."
"They only wait for us; Julia said so this morning."
"Then we shall set out to-morrow."
CHAPTER XLIX. A LONG TeTE-a-TeTE
"Scant courtesy, I must say," exclaimed Lady Augusta, as, after rapidly running her eyes over a note, she flung it across the table towards Pracontal.
They were seated tete-a-tete in that small drawing-room which looked out upon the garden and the grounds of the Borghese Palace.