"Oh, then," said Father Brennan, "if it must be so, why you can have "Pether," my own pad, and a better you never laid leg over; only give him his own time, and let him keep the "canter," and he"ll never draw up from morning till night; and now I"ll just go and have him in readiness for you."
After professing my warm acknowledgments to the good father for his kindness, I hastened to take a hurried farewell of Curzon before going. I found him sitting up in bed taking his breakfast; a large strip of black plaster, extending from the corner of one eye across the nose, and terminating near the mouth, denoted the locale of a goodly wound, while the blue, purple and yellow patches into which his face was part.i.tioned out, left you in doubt whether he now resembled the knave of clubs or a new map of the Ordnance survey; one hand was wrapped up in a bandage, and altogether a more rueful and woe-begone looking figure I have rarely looked upon; and most certainly I am of opinion that the "glorious, pious and immortal memory" would have brought pleasanter recollections to Daniel O"Connell himself, than it would on that morning to the adjutant of his majesty"s 4th.
"Ah, Harry," said he, as I entered, "what Pandemonium is this we"ve got into? did you ever witness such a business as last night"s?"
"Why truly," said I, "I know of no one to blame but yourself; surely you must have known what a fracas your infernal song would bring on."
"I don"t know now whether I knew it or not; but certainly at the moment I should have preferred anything to the confounded cross-examination I was under, and was glad to end it by any coup d"etat. One wretch was persecuting me about green crops, and another about the feeding of bullocks; about either of which I knew as much as a bear does of a ballet."
"Well, truly, you caused a diversion at some expense to your countenance, for I never beheld anything--"
"Stop there," said he, "you surely have not seen the doctor--he beats me hollow--they have scarcely left so much hair on his head as would do for an Indian"s scalp lock; and, of a verity, his aspect is awful this morning; he has just been here, and by-the-bye has told me all about your affair with Beamish. It appears that somewhere you met him at dinner, and gave a very flourishing account of a relative of his who you informed him was not only selected for some very dashing service, but actually the personal friend of Picton; and, after the family having blazed the matter all over Cork, and given a great entertainment in honor of their kinsman, it turns out that, on the glorious 19th, he ran away to Brussels faster than even the French to Charleroi; for which act, however, there was no aspersion ever cast upon his courage, that quality being defended at the expense of his honesty; in a word, he was the paymaster of the company, and had what Theodore Hook calls an "affection of his chest," that required change of air. Looking only to the running away part of the matter, I unluckily expressed some regret that he did not belong to the North Cork, and I remarked the doctor did not seem to relish the allusion, and as I only now remember, it was his regiment, I suppose I"m in for more mischief."
I had no time to enjoy Curzon"s dilemma, and had barely informed him of my intended departure, when a voice from without the room proclaimed that "Pether" was ready, and having commissioned the adjutant to say the "proper" to Mr. Beamish and the doctor, hurried away, and after a hearty shake of the hand from Father Brennan, and a faithful promise to return soon, I mounted and set off.
Peter"s pace was of all others the one least likely to disturb the lucubrations of a castle-builder like myself; without any admonition from whip or spur he maintained a steady and constant canter, which, I am free to confess, was more agreeable to sit, than it was graceful to behold; for his head being much lower than his tail, he every moment appeared in the att.i.tude of a diver about to plunge into the water, and more than once I had misgivings that I would consult my safety better if I sat with my face to the tail; however, what will not habit accomplish? before I had gone a mile or two, I was so lost in my own reveries and reflections, that I knew nothing of my mode of progression, and had only thoughts and feelings for the destiny that awaited me; sometimes I would fancy myself seated in the House of Commons, (on the ministerial benches, of course,) while some leading oppositionist was p.r.o.nouncing a glowing panegyric upon the eloquent and statesmanlike speech of the gallant colonel--myself; then I thought I was making arrangements for setting out for my new appointment, and Sancho Panza never coveted the government of an island more than I did, though only a West Indian one; and, lastly, I saw myself the chosen diplomate on a difficult mission, and was actually engaged in the easy and agreeable occupation of outmaneuvering Talleyrand and Pozzo di Borgo, when Peter suddenly drew up at the door of a small cabin, and convinced me that I was still a mortal man, and a lieutenant in his Majesty"s 4th. Before I had time afforded me even to guess at the reason of this sudden halt, an old man emerged from the cabin, which I saw now was a road-side ale-house, and presented Peter with a bucket of meal and water, a species of "viatic.u.m" that he evidently was accustomed to, at this place, whether bestrode by a priest or an amba.s.sador. Before me lay a long straggling street of cabins, irregularly thrown, as if riddled over the ground; this I was informed was Kilkee; while my good steed, therefore, was enjoying his potation, I dismounted, to stretch my legs and look about me, and scarcely had I done so when I found half the population of the village a.s.sembled round Peter, whose claims to notoriety, I now learned, depended neither upon his owner"s fame, nor even my temporary possession of him. Peter, in fact, had been a racer, once--when, the wandering Jew might perhaps have told, had he ever visited Clare--for not the oldest inhabitant knew the date of his triumphs on the turf; though they were undisputed traditions, and never did any man appear bold enough to call them in question: whether it was from his patriarchal character, or that he was the only race-horse ever known in his county I cannot say, but, of a truth, the Grand Lama could scarcely be a greater object of reverence in Thibet, than was Peter in Kilkee.
"Musha, Peter, but it"s well y"r looking," cried one.
"Ah, thin, maybe ye an"t fat on the ribs," cried another.
"An" c.o.c.kin" his tail like a coult," said a third.
I am very certain, if I might venture to judge from the faces about, that, had the favourite for the St. Leger, pa.s.sed through Kilkee at that moment, comparisons very little to his favor had been drawn from the a.s.semblage around me. With some difficulty I was permitted to reach my much admired steed, and with a cheer, which was sustained and caught up by every denizen of the village as I pa.s.sed through, I rode on my way, not a little amused at my equivocal popularity.
Being desirous to lose no time, I diverged from the straight road which leads to Kilrush, and took a cross bridle-path to Callonby; this, I afterwards discovered was a detour of a mile or two, and it was already sun-set when I reached the entrance to the park. I entered the avenue, and now my impatience became extreme, for although Peter continued to move at the same uniform pace, I could not persuade myself that he was not foundering at every step, and was quite sure we were scarcely advancing; at last I reached the wooden bridge, and ascended the steep slope, the spot where I had first met her, on whom my every thought now rested. I turned the angle of the clump of beech trees from whence the first view of the house is caught--I perceived to my inexpressible delight that gleams of light shone from many of the windows, and could trace their pa.s.sing from one to the other. I now drew rein, and with a heart relieved from a load of anxiety, pulled up my good steed, and began to think of the position in which a few brief seconds would place me. I reached the small flower-garden, sacred by a thousand endearing recollections. Oh! of how very little account are the many words of pa.s.sing kindness, and moments of light-hearted pleasure, when spoken or felt, compared to the memory of them when hallowed by time or distance.
"The place, the hour, the sunshine and the shade," all reminded me of the happy past, and all brought vividly before me every portion of that dream of happiness in which I was so utterly--so completely steeped--every thought of the hopelessness of my pa.s.sion was lost in the intensity of it, and I did not, in the ardour of my loving, stop to think of its possible success.
It was strange enough that the extreme impatience, the hurried anxiety, I had felt and suffered from, while riding up the avenue, had now fled entirely, and in its place I felt nothing but a diffident distrust of myself, and a vague sense of awkwardness about intruding thus unexpectedly upon the family, while engaged in all the cares and preparations for a speedy departure. The hall-door lay as usual wide open, the hall itself was strewn and littered with trunks, imperials, and packing-cases, and the hundred et ceteras of travelling baggage. I hesitated a moment whether I should not ring, but at last resolved to enter unannounced, and, presuming upon my intimacy, see what effect my sudden appearance would have on Lady Jane, whose feelings towards me would be thus most unequivocally tested. I pa.s.sed along the wide corridor, entered the music-room--it was still--I walked then to the door of the drawing-room--I paused--I drew a full breath--my hand trembled slightly as I turned the lock--I entered--the room was empty, but the blazing fire upon the hearth, the large arm-chairs drawn around, the scattered books upon the small tables, all told that it had been inhabited a very short time before. Ah! thought I, looking at my watch, they are at dinner, and I began at once to devise a hundred different plans to account for my late absence and present visit. I knew that a few minutes would probably bring them into the drawing-room, and I felt flurried and heated as the time drew near. At last I heard voices without--I started from the examination of a pencil drawing but partly finished, but the artist of which I could not be deceived in--I listened --the sounds drew near--I could not distinguish who were the speakers --the door-lock turned, and I rose to make my well-conned, but half-forgotten speech; and oh, confounded disappointment, Mrs. Herbert, the house-keeper, entered. She started, not expecting to see me, and immediately said, "Oh! Mr. Lorrequer! then you"ve missed them."
"Missed them!" said I; "how--when--where?"
"Did you not get a note from my lord?"
"No; when was it written?"
"Oh, dear me, that is so very unfortunate. Why, sir, my lord sent off a servant this morning to Kilrush, in Lord Kilkee"s tilbury, to request you would meet them all in Ennis this evening, where they had intended to stop for to-night; and they waited here till near four o"clock to-day, but when the servant came back with the intelligence that you were from home, and not expected to return soon, they were obliged to set out, and are not going to make any delay now, till they reach London. The last direction, however, my lord gave, was to forward her ladyship"s letter to you as soon as possible."
What I thought, said, or felt, might be a good subject of confession to Father Malachi, for I fear it may be recorded among my sins, as I doubt not that the agony I suffered vented itself in no measured form of speech or conduct; but I have nothing to confess here on the subject, being so totally overwhelmed as not to know what I did or said. My first gleam of reason elicited itself by asking, "Is there, then, no chance of their stopping in Ennis to-night?" As I put the question my mind reverted to Peter and his eternal canter.
"Oh, dear, no, sir; the horses are ordered to take them, since Tuesday; and they only thought of staying in Ennis, if you came time enough to meet them--and they will be so sorry."
"Do you think so, Mrs. Herbert? do you, indeed, think so?" said I, in a most insinuating tone.
"I am perfectly sure of it, sir."
"Oh, Mrs. Herbert, you are too kind to think so; but perhaps--that is --may be, Mrs. Herbert, she said something--"
"Who, sir?"
"Lady Callonby, I mean; did her ladyship leave any message for me about her plants? or did she remember--"
Mrs. Herbert kept looking at me all the time, with her great wide grey eyes, while I kept stammering and blushing like a school-boy.
"No, sir; her ladyship said nothing, sir; but Lady Jane--"
"Yes; well, what of Lady Jane, my dear Mrs. Herbert?"
"Oh, sir! but you look pale; would not you like to have a little wine and water--or perhaps--"
"No, thank you, nothing whatever; I am just a little fatigued--but you were mentioning--"
"Yes, sir; I was saying that Lady Jane was mighty particular about a small plant; she ordered it to be left in her dressing-room, though Collins told her to have some of the handsome ones of the green-house, she would have nothing but this; and if you were only to hear half the directions she gave about keeping it watered, and taking off dead leaves, you"d think her heart was set on it."
Mrs. Herbert would have had no cause to prescribe for my paleness had she only looked at me this time; fortunately, however, she was engaged, housekeeper-like, in bustling among books, papers, &c. which she had come in for the purpose of arranging and packing up. She being left behind to bring up the rear, and the heavy baggage.
Very few moments" consideration were sufficient to show me that pursuit was hopeless; whatever might have been Peter"s performance in the reign of "Queen Anne," he had now become like the goose so pathetically described by my friend Lover, rather "stiff in his limbs," and the odds were fearfully against his overtaking four horses, starting fresh every ten miles, not to mention their being some hours in advance already. Having declined all Mrs. Herbert"s many kind offers, anent food and rest, I took a last lingering look at the beautiful pictures, which still held its place in the room lately mine, and hurried from a place so full of recollections; and, notwithstanding the many reasons I had for self-gratulation, every object around and about, filled me with sorrow and regret for hours that had pa.s.sed--never, never to return.
It was very late when I reached my old quarters at Kilrush; Mrs. Healy fortunately was in bed asleep--fortunately I say, for had she selected that occasion to vent her indignation for my long absence, I greatly fear that, in my then temper I should have exhibited but little of that Job-like endurance for which I was once esteemed; I entered my little mean-looking parlour, with its three chairs and lame table, and, as I flung myself upon the wretched subst.i.tute for a sofa, and thought upon the varied events which a few weeks had brought about; it required the aid of her ladyship"s letter, which I opened before me, to a.s.sure me I was not dreaming.
The entire of that night I could not sleep; my destiny seemed upon its balance; and, whether the scale inclined to this side or that, good or evil fortune seemed to betide me. How many were my plans and resolutions, and how often abandoned; again to be pondered over, and once more given up. The grey dawn of the morning was already breaking, and found me still doubting and uncertain. At last the die was thrown; I determined at once to apply for leave to my commanding officer, (which he could, if he pleased, give me, without any application to the Horse Guards,) set out for Elton, tell Sir Guy my whole adventure, and endeavour, by a more moving love story than ever graced even the Minerva Press, to induce him to make some settlement on me, and use his influence with Lord Callonby in my behalf; this done, set out for London, and then --and then--what then?--then for the Morning Post--"Cadeau de noces" --"happy couple"--"Lord Callonby"s seat in Hampshire," &c. &c.
"You wished to be called at five, sir," said Stubber.
"Yes; is it five o"clock?"
"No, sir; but I heard you call out something about "four horses," and I thought you might be hurried, so I came a little earlier."
"Quite right, Stubber; let me have my breakfast as soon as possible, and see that chestnut horse I brought here last night, fed."
"And now for it," said I, after writing a hurried note to Curzon, requesting him to take command of my party at Kilrush, till he heard from me, and sending my kindest remembrance to my three friends; I despatched the epistle by my servant on Peter, while I hastened to acquire a place in the mail for Ennis, on the box seat of which let my kind reader suppose me seated, as wrapping my box-coat around me, I lit my cigar and turned my eyes towards Limerick.
CHAPTER VIII.
CONGRATULATIONS--SICK LEAVE--HOW TO Pa.s.s THE BOARD.
I had scarcely seated myself to breakfast at Swinburn"s hotel in Limerick, when the waiter presented me with a letter. As my first glance at the address showed it to be in Colonel Carden"s handwriting, I felt not a little alarmed for the consequences of the rash step I had taken in leaving my detachment; and, while quickly thronging fancies of arrest and courtmartial flitted before me, I summoned resolution at last to break the seal, and read as follows:-- "My dear Lorrequer," ("dear Lorrequer!" dear me, thought I; cool certainly, from one I have ever regarded as an open enemy)--"My dear Lorrequer, I have just accidentally heard of your arrival here, and hasten to inform you, that, as it may not be impossible your reasons for so abruptly leaving your detachment are known to me, I shall not visit your breach of discipline very heavily. My old and worthy friend, Lord Callonby, who pa.s.sed through here yesterday, has so warmly interested himself in your behalf, that I feel disposed to do all in my power to serve you; independently of my desire to do so on your own account. Come over here, then, as soon as possible, and let us talk over your plans together.
"Believe me, most truly yours, "Henry Carden. "Barracks, 10 o"clock."
However mysterious and difficult to unravel, have been some of the circ.u.mstances narrated in these "Confessions," I do not scruple to avow that the preceding letter was to me by far the most inexplicable piece of fortune I had hitherto met with. That Lord Callonby should have converted one whom I believed an implacable foe, into a most obliging friend, was intelligible enough, seeing that his lordship had through life been the patron of the colonel; but why he had so done, and what communications he could possibly have made with regard to me, that Colonel Carden should speak of "my plans" and proffer a.s.sistance in them was a perfect riddle; and the only solution, one so ridiculously flattering that I dared not think of it. I read and re-read the note; misplaced the stops; canva.s.sed every expression; did all to detect a meaning different from the obvious one, fearful of a self-deception where so much was at stake. Yet there it stood forth, a plain straightforward proffer of services, for some object evidently known to the writer; and my only conclusion, from all, was this, that "my Lord Callonby was the gem of his order, and had a most remarkable talent for selecting a son-in-law."
I fell into a deep reverie upon my past life, and the prospects which I now felt were opening before me. Nothing seemed extravagant to hopes so well founded--to expectations so brilliant--and, in my mind"s eye, I beheld myself at one moment leading my young and beautiful bride through the crowded salons of Devonshire House; and, at the next, I was contemplating the excellence and perfection of my stud arrangements at Melton, for I resolved not to give up hunting. While in this pleasurable exercise of my fancy, I was removing from before me some of the breakfast equipage, or, as I then believed it, breaking the trees into better groups upon my lawn, I was once more brought to the world and its dull reality, by the following pa.s.sage which my eye fell upon in the newspaper before me--"We understand that the 4th are daily expecting the route for Cork, from whence they are to sail, early in the ensuing month for Halifax, to relieve the 99th." While it did not take a moment"s consideration to show me that though the regiment there mentioned was the one I belonged to, I could have no possible interest in the announcement; it never coming into my calculation that I should submit to such expatriation; yet it gave me a salutary warning that there was no time to be lost in making my application for leave, which, once obtained, I should have ample time to manage an exchange into another corps. The wonderful revolution a few days had effected in all my tastes and desires, did not escape me at this moment. But a week or two before and I should have regarded an order for foreign service as anything rather than unpleasant--now the thought was insupportable. Then there would have been some charm to me in the very novelty of the locale, and the indulgence of that vagrant spirit I have ever possessed; for, like Justice Woodc.o.c.k, "I certainly should have been a vagabond if Providence had not made me a justice of the peace"--now, I could not even contemplate the thing as possible; and would have actually refused the command of a regiment, if the condition of its acceptance were to sail for the colonies.
Besides, I tried--and how ingenious is self-deception--I tried to find arguments in support of my determination totally different from the reasons which governed me. I affected to fear climate, and to dread the effect of the tropics upon my health. It may do very well, thought I, for men totally dest.i.tute of better prospects; with neither talent, influence or powerful connexion, to roast their cheeks at Sierra Leone, or suck a sugar-cane at St. Lucia. But that you, Harry Lorrequer, should waste your sweetness upon planters" daughters--that have only to be known, to have the world at your feet! The thing is absurd, and not to be thought of! Yes, said I half aloud--we read in the army list, that Major A. is appointed to the 50th, and Capt. B. to the 12th; but how much more near the truth would it be, to say--"That His Majesty, in consideration of the distinguished services of the one, has been graciously pleased to appoint him to--a case of blue and collapsed cholera, in India; and also, for the bravery and gallant conduct of the other, in his late affair with the "How-dow-dallah Indians," has promoted him to the--yellow fever now devastating and desolating Jamaica." How far my zeal for the service might have carried me on this point, I know not; for I was speedily aroused from my musings by the loud tramp of feet upon the stairs, and the sound of many well-known voices of my brother officers, who were coming to visit me.
"So, Harry, my boy," said the fat major as he entered; "is it true we are not to have the pleasure of your company to Jamaica this time?"
"He prefers a pale face, it seems, to a black one; and certainly, with thirty thousand in the same scale, the taste is excusable."
"But, Lorrequer," said a third, "we heard that you had canva.s.sed the county on the Callonby interest. Why, man, where do you mean to pull up?"
"As for me," lisped a large-eyed, white-haired ensign of three months" standing, "I think it devilish hard, old Carden didn"t send ME down there, too, for I hear there are two girls in the family. Eh, Lorrequer?"
Having with all that peculiar bashfulness such occasions are sure to elicit, disclaimed the happiness my friends so clearly ascribed to me, I yet pretty plainly let it be understood that the more brilliant they supposed my present prospects to be, the more near were they to estimate them justly. One thing certainly gratified me throughout. All seemed rejoiced at my good fortune, and even the old Scotch paymaster made no more caustic remark than that he "wad na wonder if the chiel"s black whiskers wad get him made governor of Stirling Castle before he"d dee."
Should any of my most patient listeners to these my humble confessions, wonder either here, or elsewhere, upon what very slight foundations I built these my "Chateaux en Espagne," I have only one answer--"that from my boyhood I have had a taste for florid architecture, and would rather put up with any inconvenience of ground, than not build at all."
As it was growing late I hurriedly bade adieu to my friends, and hastened to Colonel Carden"s quarters, where I found him waiting for me, in company with my old friend, Fitzgerald, our regimental surgeon. Our first greetings over, the colonel drew me aside into a window, and said that, from certain expressions Lord Callonby had made use of--certain hints he had dropped--he was perfectly aware of the delicate position in which I stood with respect to his lordship"s family. "In fact, my dear Lorrequer," he continued, "without wishing in the least to obtrude myself upon your confidence, I must yet be permitted to say, you are the luckiest fellow in Europe, and I most sincerely congratulate you on the prospect before you."
"But, my dear Colonel, I a.s.sure you--"
"Well, well, there--not a word more; don"t blush now. I know there is always a kind of secrecy thought necessary on these occasions, for the sake of other parties; so let us pa.s.s to your plans. From what I have collected, you have not yet proposed formally. But, of course you desire a leave. You"ll not quit the army, I trust; no necessity for that; such influence as yours can always appoint you to an unattached commission."
"Once more let me protest, sir, that though for certain reasons most desirous to obtain a leave of absence, I have not the most remote--"
"That"s right, quite right; I am sincerely gratified to hear you say so, and so will be Lord Callonby; for he likes the service."
And thus was my last effort at a disclaimer cut short by the loquacious little colonel, who regarded my unfinished sentence as a concurrence with his own opinion.
"Allah il Allah," thought I, "it is my Lord Callonby"s own plot; and his friend Colonel Cardon aids and abets him."
"Now, Lorrequer," resumed the colonel, "let us proceed. You have, of course, heard that we are ordered abroad; mere newspaper report for the present; nevertheless, it is extremely difficult--almost impossible, without a sick certificate, to obtain a leave sufficiently long for your purpose."
And here he smirked, and I blushed, selon les regles..
"A sick certificate," said I in some surprise.
"The only thing for you," said Fitzgerald, taking a long pinch of snuff; "and I grieve to say you have a most villainous look of good health about you."
"I must acknowledge I have seldom felt better."
"So much the worse--so much the worse," said Fitzgerald despondingly. "Is there no family complaint; no respectable heir-loom of infirmity, you can lay claim to from your kindred?"
"None, that I know of, unless a very active performance on the several occasions of breakfast, dinner, and supper, with a tendency towards port, and an inclination to sleep ten in every twenty-four hours, be a sign of sickness; these symptoms I have known many of the family suffer for years, without the slightest alleviation, though, strange as it may appear, they occasionally had medical advice."
Fitz. took no notice of my sneer at the faculty, but proceeded to strike my chest several times, with his finger tips. "Try a short cough now," said he. "Ah, that will never do!"
"Do you ever flush. Before dinner I mean?"
"Occasionally, when I meet with a luncheon."
"I"m fairly puzzled," said poor Fitz. throwing himself into a chair; "gout is a very good thing; but, then, you see you are only a sub., and it is clearly against the articles of war, to have it before being a field officer at least. Apoplexy is the best I can do for you; and, to say the truth, any one who witnesses your performance at mess, may put faith in the likelihood of it.
"Do you think you could get up a fit for the medical board," said Fitz., gravely.
"Why, if absolutely indispensable," said I, "and with good instruction --something this way. Eh, is it not?"
"Nothing of the kind: you are quite wrong."
"Is there not always a little laughing and crying," said I.
"Oh, no, no; take the cue from the paymaster any evening after mess, and you"ll make no mistake--very florid about the cheeks; rather a lazy look in one eye, the other closed up entirely; snore a little from time to time, and don"t be too much disposed to talk."
"And you think I may pa.s.s muster in this way."
"Indeed you may, if old Camie, the inspector, happen to be (what he is not often) in a good humour. But I confess I"d rather you were really ill, for we"ve pa.s.sed a great number of counterfeits latterly, and we may be all pulled up ere long."
"Not the less grateful for your kindness," said I; "but still, I"d rather matters stood as they do."
Having, at length, obtained a very formidable statement of my "case" from the Doctor, and a strong letter from the Colonel, deploring the temporary loss of so promising a young officer, I committed myself and my portmanteau to the inside of his Majesty"s mail, and started for Dublin with as light a heart and high spirits, as were consistent with so much delicacy of health, and the directions of my Doctor.
CHAPTER IX.
THE ROAD--TRAVELLING ACQUAINTANCES--A PACKET ADVENTURE.
I shall not stop now to narrate the particulars of my visit to the worthies of the medical board; the rather, as some of my "confessions to come" have reference to Dublin, and many of those that dwell therein. I shall therefore content myself here with stating, that without any difficulty I obtained a six months" leave, and having received much advice and more sympathy from many members of that body, took a respectful leave of them, and adjourned to Bilton"s where I had ordered dinner, and (as I was advised to live low) a bottle of Sneyd"s claret. My hours in Dublin were numbered; at eight o"clock on the evening of my arrival I hastened to the Pidgeon House pier, to take my berth in the packet for Liverpool; and here, gentle reader, let me implore you if you have bowels of compa.s.sion, to commiserate the condition of a sorry mortal like myself. In the days of which I now speak, steam packets were not --men knew not then, of the pleasure of going to a comfortable bed in Kingstown harbour, and waking on the morning after in the Clarence dock at Liverpool, with only the addition of a little sharper appet.i.te for breakfast, before they set out on an excursion of forty miles per hour through the air.
In the time I have now to commemorate, the intercourse between the two countries was maintained by two sailing vessels of small tonnage, and still scantier accommodation. Of the one now in question I well recollect the name--she was called the "Alert," and certainly a more unfortunate misnomer could scarcely be conceived. Well, there was no choice; so I took my place upon the crowded deck of the little craft, and in a drizzling shower of chilly rain, and amid more noise, confusion, and bustle, than would prelude the launch of a line-of-battle ship, we "sidled," goose-fashion, from the sh.o.r.e, and began our voyage towards England.
It is not my intention, in the present stage of "my Confessions," to delay on the road towards an event which influenced so powerfully, and so permanently, my after life; yet I cannot refrain from chronicling a slight incident which occurred on board the packet, and which, I have no doubt, may be remembered by some of those who throw their eyes on these pages.
One of my fellow-pa.s.sengers was a gentleman holding a high official appointment in the viceregal court, either comptroller of the household, master of the horse, or something else equally magnificent; however, whatever the nature of the situation, one thing is certain--one possessed of more courtly manners, and more polished address, cannot be conceived, to which he added all the attractions of a very handsome person and a most prepossessing countenance. The only thing the most scrupulous critic could possibly detect as faulty in his whole air and bearing, was a certain ultra refinement and fastidiousness, which in a man of acknowledged family and connections was somewhat unaccountable, and certainly unnecessary. The fastidiousness I speak of, extended to everything round and about him; he never eat of the wrong dish, nor spoke to the wrong man in his life, and that very consciousness gave him a kind of horror of chance acquaintances, which made him shrink within himself from persons in every respect his equals. Those who knew Sir Stewart Moore, will know I do not exaggerate in either my praise or censure, and to those who have not had that pleasure, I have only to say, theirs was the loss, and they must take my word for the facts.
The very ant.i.thesis to the person just mentioned, was another pa.s.senger then on board. She, for even in s.e.x they were different--she was a short, squat, red-faced, vulgar-looking woman, of about fifty, possessed of a most garrulous tendency, and talking indiscriminately with every one about her, careless what reception her addresses met with, and quite indifferent to the many rebuffs she momentarily encountered. To me by what impulse driven Heaven knows this amorphous piece of womanhood seemed determined to attach herself. Whether in the smoky and almost impenetrable recesses of the cabin, or braving the cold and penetrating rain upon deck, it mattered not, she was ever at my side, and not only martyring me by the insufferable annoyance of her vulgar loquacity, but actually, from the appearance of acquaintanceship such constant a.s.sociation gave rise to, frightening any one else from conversing with me, and rendering me, ere many hours, a perfect Paria among the pa.s.sengers. By not one were we--for, alas, we had become Siamese--so thoroughly dreaded as by the refined baronet I have mentioned; he appeared to shrink from our very approach, and avoided us as though we had the plagues of Egypt about us. I saw this--I felt it deeply, and as deeply and resolutely I vowed to be revenged, and the time was not long distant in affording me the opportunity.
The interesting Mrs. Mulrooney, for such was my fair companion called, was on the present occasion making her debut on what she was pleased to call the "says;" she was proceeding to the Liverpool market as proprietor and supercargo over some legion of swine that occupied the hold of the vessel, and whose mellifluous tones were occasionally heard in all parts of the ship. Having informed me on these, together with some circ.u.mstances of her birth and parentage, she proceeded to narrate some of the cautions given by her friends as to her safety when making such a long voyage, and also to detail some of the antiseptics to that dread scourge, sea-sickness, in the fear and terror of which she had come on board, and seemed every hour to be increasing in alarm about.
"Do you think then sir, that pork is no good agin the sickness? Mickey, that"s my husband, sir, says it"s the only thing in life for it, av it"s toasted."
"Not the least use, I a.s.sure you."