But Monsieur had not read of him, and was therefore obliged to ask further information; whence it appeared that the Count had accidentally shot himself on the morning of his marriage, when drawing the charge of his pistols, preparatory to putting them in his carriage. The waiter grew quite pathetic in his description of the young bride"s agonies, and had to wipe his eyes once or twice during his narrative.
"But she has rallied by this, hasn"t she?" asked I.
"If Monsieur can call it so," said he, shrugging his shoulders. "She never goes into the world,--knows no one,--receives no one,--lives entirely to herself; and, except her daily ride in the wood, appears to take no pleasure whatever in life."
"And so she rides out every day?"
"Every day, and at the same hour too. The carriage takes her about a league into the forest, far beyond where the usual promenade extends, and there her horses meet her, and she rides till dusk. Often it is even night ere she returns."
There was something that interested me deeply in all this. You know that a pretty woman on horseback is one of my greatest weaknesses; and so I went on weaving thoughts and fancies about the charming young widow till the champagne was finished, after which I went off to bed, intending to dream of her, but, to my intense disgust, to sleep like a sea-calf till morning.
My first care on waking, however, was to despatch a very humble apology by the waiter for my noisy conduct on the previous evening, and a very sincere hope that the Countess had not suffered on account of it.
He brought me back for answer "that the Countess thanked me for my polite inquiry, and was completely restored."
"Able to ride out as usual?"
"Yes, sir."
"How do you know that?"
"She has just given orders for the carriage, sir."
"I say, waiter, what kind of a hack can be got here? Or, stay, is there such a thing as a good-looking saddle-horse to be sold in the place?"
"There are two at Lagrange"s stables, sir, this moment Prince Guiciatelli has left them and his groom to pay about thirty thousand francs he owes here."
In less than a quarter of an hour I was dressed and at the stables. The nags were a neat pair; the groom, an English fellow, had just brought them over. He had bought them at Anderson"s, and paid close upon three hundred for the two. It was evident that they were "too much," as horses, for the Prince, for he had never backed either of them. Before I left I had bought them both for six thousand francs, and taken "Bob"
himself, a very pretty specimen of the short-legged, red-whiskered tribe, into my service.
This was on the very morning, mark, when I should have presented myself before the dons of Downing Street, and been admitted a something into her Majesty"s service!
"I wish they may catch me at red-tapery!" thought I, as I shortened my stirrups, and sat down firmly in the saddle. "I "m much more at home here than perched on an office-stool in that pleasant den they call the "Nursery" at the Foreign Office."
Guided by a groom, with a led horse beside him, I took the road to the forest, and soon afterwards pa.s.sed a dark-green barouche, with a lady in it, closely veiled, and evidently avoiding observation. The wood is intersected by alleys, so that I found it easy, while diverging from the carriage-road, to keep the equipage within view, and after about half an hour"s sharp canter, I saw the carriage stop, and the Countess descend from it.
Even _you_ admit that I am a sharp critic about all that pertains to riding-gear; and that as to a woman"s hat, collar, gloves, habit, and whip, I am a first-rate opinion. Now, in the present instance, everything was perfect There was a dash of "costume" in the long drooping feather and the snow-white gauntlets; but then all was strictly toned down to extreme simplicity and quiet elegance. I had just time to notice this much, and catch a glimpse of such a pair of black eyes! when she was in the saddle at once. I only want to see a woman gather up her reins in her hand, shake her habit back with a careless toss of her foot, and square herself well in the saddle, to say, "That"s a horsewoman!" Egad, George, her every gesture and movement were admirable, and the graceful bend forwards with which she struck out into a canter was actually captivating. I stood watching her till she disappeared in the wood, perfectly entranced. I own to you I could not understand a Frenchwoman sitting her horse in this fashion. I had always believed the accomplishment to be more or less English, and I felt ashamed at the narrow prejudice into which I had fallen.
"What an unlucky fellow that same Count must have been!" thought I; and with this reflection I spurred my nag into a sharp pace, hoping that fast motion might enable me to turn my thoughts into some other channel.
It was to no use. Go how I would, or where I would, I could think of nothing but the pretty widow,--whither she might be travelling,--where she intended to stop,--whether alone, or with others of her family,--her probable age,--her fortune?--all would rise up before me, to trouble my curiosity or awaken my interest.
I was deep in my speculations, when suddenly a horse bounded past me by a cross path. I had barely time to see the flutter of a habit, when it was lost to view. I waited to see her groom follow, but he did not appear. I listened, but no sound of a horse could be heard approaching.
Had her horse run away? Had her servant lost trace of her? were questions that immediately occurred to me; but there was nothing to suggest the answer or dispel the doubt I could bear my anxiety no longer, and away I dashed after her. It was not till after a quarter of an hour that I came in sight of her, and then she was skimming along over the even turf at a very slapping pace, which, however, I quickly perceived was no run-away gallop.
[Ill.u.s.tration: 104]
This fact proclaimed itself in a most unmistakable manner, for she suddenly drew up, and wheeled about, pointing at the same time to the ground, where her whip had just fallen. I dashed up and dismounted, when, in a voice tremulous with agitation, and with a face suffused in blushes, she begged my pardon for her gesture; she believed it was her groom who was following her, and had never noticed his absence before.
I cannot repeat her words, but in accent, manner, tone, and utterance, I never heard the like of them before. What would I have given at that moment, George, for your glib facility of French! Hang me if I would not have paid down a thousand pounds to have been able to rattle out even some of those trashy commonplaces I have seen you scatter with such effect in the _coulisses_ of the opera! It was all of no avail. "Where there "s a will there "s a way," says the adage; but it"s a sorry maxim where a foreign language is concerned. All the volition in the world won"t supply irregular verbs; and the most go-ahead resolution will never help one to genders.
I did, of course, mutter all that I could think of; and, default of elocution, I made my eyes do duty for my tongue, and with tolerable success too, as her blush betrayed. I derived one advantage, too, from my imperfect French, which is worth recording,--I was perfectly obdurate as to anything she might have replied in opposition to my wishes, and notwithstanding all her scruples to the contrary, persisted in accompanying her back to the town.
If I was delighted with her horsemanship, I was positively enchanted with her conversation; for, the first little novelty of our situation over, she talked away with a frank innocence and artless ease which quite fascinated me. She was, in fact, the very realization of that high-bred manner you have so often told me of as characterizing the best French society. How I wished I could have prolonged that charming ride!
I "m not quite sure that she did n"t detect me in a purposed mistake of the road, that cost us an additional mile or two; if she did, she was gracious enough to pardon the offence without even showing any consciousness of it. Short as the road was, George, it left me irretrievably in love. I know you "ll not stand any raptures about beauty, but this much I must and will say, that she is incomparably handsomer than that Sicilian princess you raved about at Ems, and in the same style too,--brunette, but with a dash of color in the cheek, a faint pink, that gives a sparkling brilliancy to the rich warmth of the southern tint. Besides this,--and let me remark, it is something,--_my_ Countess is not two-and-twenty, at most. Indeed, but for the story of the widowhood, I should guess her as something above nineteen.
There "s a piece of fortune for you! and all--every bit of it--of my own achieving too! No extraneous aid in the shape of friends, or introductory letters. "Alone I did it," as the fellow says in the play.
Now, I do think a man might be pardoned a little boastfulness for such a victory, and I freely own I esteem Jem Dodd a sharper fellow than I ever believed him.
Perhaps you suspect all this while that I am going too fast, and that I have taken a casual success for a regular victory. If so, you "re all wrong, my boy. She has struck her flag already, and acknowledged that your humble servant has effected a change in her sentiments that but a few short weeks before she would have p.r.o.nounced impossible. The truth is, George, "the Tipperary tactics" that win battles in India are just as successful in love. Make no dispositions for a general engagement, never trouble your head about cavalry supports, reserves, or the like, but "just go in and win." It is a mighty short "General Order," and cannot possibly be misapprehended. The Countess herself has acknowledged to me, full half a dozen times within the last fortnight, that she was quite unprepared for such warfare. She expected, doubtless, that I "d follow the old rubric, with opera-boxes, bouquets, _marrons glacs_, and so on, for a month or two. Nothing of the kind, George. I frankly told her that she was the most beautiful creature in Europe without knowing it. That it would be little short of a sacrilege she should pa.s.s her life in solitude and sorrow, and ten times worse than sacrilege to marry anything but an Irishman. That in all other countries the men are either money-getting, ambitious, or selfish, but that Paddy turns his whole thoughts towards fun and enjoyment. That Napier"s Peninsular War and Moore"s Melodies might be referred to for evidence of our national tastes; and, in short, such a people for fighting and making love was never recorded in history. She laughed at me for the whole of the first week, grew more serious the second, and now, within the last three days, instead of calling me "Monsieur le Sauvage," "Cosaque Anglais," and so on, she gravely asks my advice about everything, and never ventures on a step without my counsel and approbation. I have been candid with you hitherto, Tiverton, and so I must frankly own that, profiting by the adage that says "stratagem is equally legitimate in love as in war," I have indulged slightly in the strategy of mystification. For instance, I have represented the governor as a great don in his own country, with immense estates, and an ancient t.i.tle, that he does not a.s.sume in consequence of some old act of attainder against the family. My mother I have made a princess in her own right; and here I am on safer ground, for, if called into court, she "ll sustain me in every a.s.sertion. Of my own self and prospects I have spoken meekly enough, merely hinting that I dislike diplomacy, and would rather live with the woman of my choice in some comparatively less distinguished station, upon a pittance of--say--three or four thousand a year!
This latter a.s.sumption, I must observe to you, is the only one ever disputed between us, and many a debate have we had on the subject. She sees, as everybody sees here, that I spend money lavishly, that not only I indulge in everything costly, but that I outbid even the Russians whenever anything is offered for sale; and at this moment my rooms are filled with pictures, china, carved ivory, stained gla.s.s, and other such lumber, that I only bought for the _clat_ of the purchase. If you only heard her innocent remonstrances to me about my extravagance, her anxious appeals as to what "le Prince," as she calls my father, will say to all this wastefulness!
It"s a great trial to me sometimes not to laugh at all this, and, indeed, if I did n"t know in my heart that I "ll make her the very best of husbands, I "d be even ashamed of my deceit; but it"s only a pious fraud after all, and the good result will more than atone for the roguery.
I have hinted at our marriage, you see, and I may add that it is all but decided on. There is, however, a difficulty which must be got over first. She was betrothed when a child to a young Neapolitan Prince of the blood,--a brother, I take it, of the present King. This ceremony was overlooked on her first marriage; and had her husband lived, very serious consequences--but of what kind I don"t know--might have resulted. Now, before contracting a second union, we must get a dispensation of some sort from the Pope, which I fear will take time, although she says that her uncle, the Cardinal, will do his utmost to expedite it.
Indeed, I may mention, incidentally, that she is a great favorite with his Eminence, and _we_ hope to be his heirs! Egad, George, I almost fancy myself "punting" his Eminence"s gold pieces at hazard, with his signet-ring on my finger! What a house I"ll keep, old fellow! what a stable! what a cellar!--and such cigars! Meanwhile I look to you to aid and abet me in various ways. The Countess, like all foreigners of real rank, knows our peerage and n.o.bility off by heart; and she constantly asks me if I know the Marquis of this, and the d.u.c.h.ess of that, and I "m sorely put to, to show cause why I "m not intimate with them all. Now, my dear Tiverton, can"t you somehow give me the Shibboleth amongst these high-priests of Fashion, and get me into the Tabernacle, if only for a season? I used myself to know some of the swells of London life when I was at Baden, but, to be sure, I lost a deal of money to them at "creps"
and "lansquenet" as the price of the intimacy; and when "_I_ shut up,"
so did _they_ too. You, I"m sure, however, will hit upon some expedient to gain me at least acceptance and recognition for a week or two. I only want the outward signs of acquaintanceship, mark you, for I honestly own that all I ever saw during my brief intimacy with these fellows gave me anything but a high "taste of their quality."
I"ll enclose you the list of the distinguished company now here, and you "ll pick out any to whom you can present me. Another, and not a less important service, I also look to at your hands, which is, to break all this to the governor, to whom I "m half ashamed to write myself. In the first place, a recent event, of which I may speak more fully to you hereafter, may have made the old gent somewhat suspectful; and secondly, he "ll be fraptious about my not going over to England; although, I "ll take my oath, if he wants it, that I "d pitch up the appointment to-morrow, if I had it At the best, I don"t suppose they "d make me more than a Secretary of Legation; and _that_, perhaps, at the Hague, or Stuttgard, or some other confounded capital of fog and flunkeydom; and I need n"t say your friend Jem is not going to "enter for such stakes."
You "d like to know our plans; and so far as I can make out, we"re not to marry till we reach Italy. At Milan, probably, the dispensation will reach us, and the ceremony will be performed by the Arch B.. himself.
This she insists upon; for about church matters and dignitaries she stickles to a degree that I "d laugh at if I dare; and that I intend to do later on, when I can _dare_ with impunity.
Except this, and a most inordinate amount of prudery, she hasn"t a fault on earth. Her reserve is, however, awful; and I almost spoiled everything t" other evening by venturing to kiss her hand before she drew her glove on. By Jove, did n"t she give me a lecture! If any one had only overheard her, I "m not sure they would n"t have thought me a lucky fellow to get off with transportation for life! As it was, I had to enter into heavy recognizances for the future, and was even threatened with having Mademoiselle Pauline, her maid, present at all our subsequent meetings! The very menace made me half crazy!
After all, the fault is on the right side; and I suppose the day will come when I shall deem it the very reverse of a failing. You will be curious to know something about her fortune, but not a whit more so than I am. That her means are ample--even splendid--her style of living evidences. The whole "premier" of a fashionable hotel, four saddle-horses, two carriages, and a tribe of servants are a strong security for a well-filled purse; but more than that I can ascertain nothing.
As for myself, my supplies will only carry me through a very short campaign, so that I am driven of necessity to hasten matters as much as possible. Now, my dear Tiverton, you know my whole story; and I beg you to lose no time in giving me your very best and shrewdest counsels. Put me up to everything you can think of about settlements, and so forth; and tell me if marrying a foreigner in any way affects my nationality.
In brief, turn the thing over in your mind in all manner of ways, and let me have the result.
She is confoundedly particular about knowing that my family approve of the match; and though I have represented myself as being perfectly independent of them on the score of fortune,--which, so far as not expecting a shilling from them, is strictly true,--I shall probably be obliged to obtain something in the shape of a formal consent and paternal benediction; in which case I reckon implicitly on you to negotiate the matter.
I have been just interrupted by the arrival of a packet from Paris. It is a necklace and some other trumpery I had sent for to "Le Roux." She is in ecstasy with it, but cannot conceal her terror at my extravagance.
The twenty thousand francs it cost are a cheap price for the remark the present elicited: "My miserable "rente" of a hundred thousand francs,"
said she, "will be nothing to a man of such wasteful habits." So, then, we have, four thousand a year, certain, George; and, as times go, one might do worse.
I have no time for more, as we are going to ride out Write to me at once, like a good fellow, and give all your spare thoughts to the fortunes of your ever attached friend,
James Dodd.
Address me Lucerne, for _she_ means to remove from this at once,--the gossips having already taken an interest in us more flattering than agreeable. I shall expect a letter from you at the post-office.
LETTER IX. MISS MARY ANNE DODD TO THOMAS PURCELL, ESQ., OF THE GRANGE, BRUFF
Villa della Fontana, Lake of Como