"O my lord, my lord," says she, "have you heard this fatal story?"
"Dearest Matilda, what? For heaven"s sake, you alarm me!
What--yes--no--is it--no, it can"t be! Speak!" says my lord, seizing me by the choler of my coat. "What has happened to my boy?"
"Please you, my lord," says I, "he"s at this moment in prisn, no wuss,--having been inca.r.s.erated about two hours ago."
"In prison! Algernon in prison! "tis impossible! Imprisoned, for what sum? Mention it, and I will pay to the utmost farthing in my power."
"I"m sure your lordship is very kind," says I (recklecting the sean betwixgst him and master, whom he wanted to diddil out of a thowsand lb.); "and you"ll be happy to hear he"s only in for a trifle. Five thousand pound is, I think, pretty near the mark."
"Five thousand pounds!--confusion!" says my lord, clasping his hands, and looking up to heaven, "and I have not five hundred! Dearest Matilda, how shall we help him?"
"Alas, my lord, I have but three guineas, and you know how Lady Griffin has the--"
"Yes, my sweet child, I know what you would say; but be of good cheer--Algernon, you know, has ample funds of his own."
Thinking my lord meant Dawkins"s five thousand, of which, to be sure, a good lump was left, I held my tung; but I cooden help wondering at Lord Crabs"s igstream compashn for his son, and Miss, with her 10,000L. a year, having only 3 guineas is her pockit.
I took home (bless us, what a home!) a long and very inflamble letter from Miss, in which she dixscribed her own sorror at the disappointment; swoar she lov"d him only the moar for his misfortns; made light of them; as a pusson for a paltry sum of five thousand pound ought never to be cast down, "specially as he had a certain independence in view; and vowed that nothing, nothing, should ever injuice her to part from him, etsettler, etsettler.
I told master of the conversation which had past betwigst me and my lord, and of his handsome offers, and his horrow at hearing of his son"s being taken; and likewise mentioned how strange it was that Miss should only have 3 guineas, and with such a fortn: bless us, I should have thot that she would always have carried a hundred thowsnd lb. in her pockit!
At this master only said Pshaw! But the rest of the story about his father seemed to dixquiet him a good deal, and he made me repeat it over agin.
He walked up and down the room agytated, and it seam"d as if a new lite was breaking in upon him.
"Chawls," says he, "did you observe--did Miss--did my father seem PARTICULARLY INTIMATE with Miss Griffin?"
"How do you mean, sir?" says I.
"Did Lord Crabs appear very fond of Miss Griffin?"
"He was suttnly very kind to her."
"Come, sir, speak at once: did Miss Griffin seem very fond of his lordship?"
"Why, to tell the truth, sir, I must say she seemed VERY fond of him."
"What did he call her?"
"He called her his dearest gal."
"Did he take her hand?"
"Yes, and he--"
"And he what?"
"He kist her, and told her not to be so wery down-hearted about the misfortn which had hapnd to you."
"I have it now!" says he, clinching his fist, and growing gashly pail--"I have it now--the infernal old h.o.a.ry scoundrel! the wicked, unnatural wretch! He would take her from me!" And he poured out a volley of oaves which are impossbill to be repeatid here.
I thot as much long ago: and when my lord kem with his vizits so pretious aff.e.c.kshnt at my Lady Griffinses, I expected some such game was in the wind. Indeed, I"d heard a somethink of it from the Griffinses servnts, that my lord was mighty tender with the ladies.
One thing, however, was evident to a man of his intleckshal capa.s.saties; he must either marry the gal at onst, or he stood very small chance of having her. He must get out of limbo immediantly, or his respectid father might be stepping into his vaykint shoes. Oh! he saw it all now--the fust attempt at arest, the marridge fixt at 12 o"clock, and the bayliffs fixt to come and intarup the marridge!--the jewel, praps, betwigst him and De l"Orge: but no, it was the WOMAN who did that--a MAN don"t deal such fowl blows, igspecially a father to his son: a woman may, poar thing!--she"s no other means of reventch, and is used to fight with underhand wepns all her life through.
Well, whatever the pint might be, this Deuceace saw pretty clear that he"d been beat by his father at his own game--a trapp set for him onst, which had been defitted by my presnts of mind--another trap set afterwids, in which my lord had been suxesfle. Now, my lord, roag as he was, was much too good-natured to do an unkind ackshn, mearly for the sake of doing it. He"d got to that pich that he didn"t mind injaries--they were all fair play to him--he gave "em, and reseav"d them, without a thought of mallis. If he wanted to injer his son, it was to benefick himself. And how was this to be done? By getting the hairiss to himself, to be sure. The Honrabble Mr. D. didn"t say so; but I knew his feelinx well enough--he regretted that he had not given the old genlmn the money he askt for.
Poar fello! he thought he had hit it; but he was wide of the mark after all.
Well, but what was to be done? It was clear that he must marry the gal at any rate--cootky coot, as the French say: that is, marry her, and hang the igspence.
To do so he must first git out of prisn--to get out of prisn he must pay his debts--and to pay his debts, he must give every shilling he was worth. Never mind: four thousand pound is a small stake to a reglar gambler, igspecially when he must play it, or rot for life in prisn; and when, if he plays it well, it will give him ten thousand a year.
So, seeing there was no help for it, he maid up his mind, and accordingly wrote the follying letter to Miss Griffin:--
"MY ADORED MATILDA,--Your letter has indeed been a comfort to a poor fellow, who had hoped that this night would have been the most blessed in his life, and now finds himself condemned to spend it within a prison wall! You know the accursed conspiracy which has brought these liabilities upon me, and the foolish friendship which has cost me so much. But what matters! We have, as you say, enough, even though I must pay this shameful demand upon me; and five thousand pounds are as nothing, compared to the happiness which I lose in being separated a night from thee! Courage, however! If I make a sacrifice it is for you; and I were heartless indeed if I allowed my own losses to balance for a moment against your happiness.
"Is it not so, beloved one? IS not your happiness bound up with mine, in a union with me? I am proud to think so--proud, too, to offer such a humble proof as this of the depth and purity of my affection.
"Tell me that you will still be mine; tell me that you will be mine tomorrow; and to-morrow these vile chains shall be removed, and I will be free once more--or if bound, only bound to you! My adorable Matilda!
my betrothed bride! Write to me ere the evening closes, for I shall never be able to shut my eyes in slumber upon my prison couch, until they have been first blessed by the sight of a few words from thee!
Write to me, love! write to me! I languish for the reply which is to make or mar me for ever. Your affectionate
"A. P. D."
Having polisht off this epistol, master intrustid it to me to carry, and bade me at the same time to try and give it into Miss Griffin"s hand alone. I ran with it to Lady Griffinses. I found Miss, as I desired, in a sollatary condition; and I presented her with master"s pafewmed Billy.
She read it, and the number of size to which she gave vint, and the tears which she shed, beggar digscription. She wep and sighed until I thought she would bust. She even claspt my hand in her"s, and said, "O Charles! is he very, very miserable?"
"He is, ma"am," says I; "very miserable indeed--n.o.body, upon my honor, could be miserablerer."
On hearing this pethetic remark, her mind was made up at onst: and sitting down to her eskrewtaw, she immediantly ableaged master with an answer. Here it is in black and white:
"My prisoned bird shall pine no more, but fly home to its nest in these arms! Adored Algernon, I will meet thee to-morrow, at the same place, at the same hour. Then, then, it will be impossible for aught but death to divide us.
"M. G."
This kind of flumry style comes, you see, of reading novvles, and cultivating littery purshuits in a small way. How much better is it to be puffickly ignorant of the hart of writing, and to trust to the writing of the heart. This is MY style: artyfiz I despise, and trust compleatly to natur: but revnong a no mootong, as our continential friends remark: to that nice white sheep, Algernon Percy Deuceace, Exquire; that wenrabble old ram, my Lord Crabs his father; and that tender and dellygit young lamb, Miss Matilda Griffin.
She had just foalded up into its proper triangular shape the noat transcribed abuff, and I was just on the point of saying, according to my master"s orders, "Miss, if you please, the Honrabble Mr. Deuceace would be very much ableaged to you to keep the seminary which is to take place to-morrow a profound se--," when my master"s father entered, and I fell back to the door. Miss, without a word, rusht into his arms, burst into teers agin, as was her reglar way (it must be confest she was of a very mist const.i.tution), and showing to him his son"s note, cried, "Look, my dear lord, how n.o.bly your Algernon, OUR Algernon, writes to me. Who can doubt, after this, of the purity of his matchless affection?"
My lord took the letter, read it, seamed a good deal amyoused, and returning it to its owner, said, very much to my surprise, "My dear Miss Griffin, he certainly does seem in earnest; and if you choose to make this match without the consent of your mother-in-law, you know the consequence, and are of course your own mistress."