CHAPTER IV.
Have you?—poor girl, you never heard of Alice Elstree! But Frank, to be sure, has not heard of her for a year—and you're certainly pretty, and he's young—and has an eye for the sublime and beautiful. The betting grows nearly even. All the skill of the gardener's wife, and as many other women as could be pressed into the service, was put into requisition to prepare a dinner for such unexpected guests; but as if by some half miraculous foreknowledge of events, preparations seemed to have been made on a great scale at Howkey; and on hearing of the accident, the good-natured Mrs Smith had despatched a light luggage cart filled with cold pies, preserved soups, and joints of meat, as if in anticipation of a blockade—in this respect imitating the good French marshal who besieged Gibraltar, and supplied old Elliot with provisions. But even after dinner was provided, how were the invalids, in addition to the original garrison, to be lodged for the night? Frank and his friend would not hear of coming over to me, and it was finally arranged that they should take up their quarters at the Rose and Crown. Old Smith kept his bed, but, for an invalid, performed wonders on the veal-pies; and also, by way of recruiting his exhausted strength, and showing his regard for Lord Cardigan at the same time, kindly made a crystal decanter of his throat, and decanted a black bottle of port into it with astonishing skill. Monimia was not so weak as to be kept in her apartment, and joined us—for I stayed to see how matters would end in the dining-room—and, I am bound to say, that gratitude for a father's safety was never shown in a more captivating manner than by that pale and interesting young lady, both in words and glances, during the whole evening. Sibylla and Mr Percy Marvale were equally pleased with the unlooked-for incident that threw them together; and I could not help thinking that the spy for Mr Frank Marvale's interest had an eye kept pretty open for his own; but watching the proceedings of people who would be fifty times better pleased if the race of Paul Prys were extinct, is very tiresome, and I soon took leave. The ladies betook themselves to their room at the same time, and the young men walked alongside of my pony down to the village inn. As we went, Mr Percy Marvale was loud in his praises of all the inhabitants of Howkey—from the half-drowned sire to the youngest of the children; so it is not to be supposed that Sibylla and Monimia were omitted in his eulogies. I remarked that he made no allusion to red hair or squinting, and that Frank himself said nothing against his extravagant laudations of Monimia's beauty. As little did he say any thing in corroboration. Was silence a tribute to his old love, or the ominous commencement of a new? One whole day he had been with her—a week, perhaps, was before him, of constant association. How difficult for a young fellow to continue deaf and blind to soft tones and softer glances, that spoke in reality of herself, though professedly they were all about her father!
Next day Monimia was still further recovered, and her venerated governor not yet fit to be moved. It was so bright and sunny that it would have been a shame to stay in doors, and Frank accompanied the lively Monimia into the garden. Oh! the running to and fro, the reaching up of the white arm, and standing on tiptoe to get at the fruit-trees on the wall—the merry laugh, the conscious looks, the blushing cheek—if Frank isn't made of stone, he'll yield to a certainty. She trips over all the beds with a wicker-basket on her arm to gather flowers, and clips them off so gracefully, and arranges them so tastefully, and all to be presented to the gallant deliverer of her papa. She is already on her way back, having achieved a nosegay of surpassing sweetness, when Mr Percy Marvale hurries out of the library window with a letter in his hand.
"We've found her at last! I told you, if she was in England, I would ferret her out in no time."
Frank seized the letter, tore open the seal—a flush passed over his cheek—he devoured the words—read the over again—and did not even look up, when Monimia dropt her basket and picked it up again, with the grace of Taglioni.
"Glorious—glorious!" he said, and nearly kissed the scarcely legible scrawl. "I will go this moment—it can't be far."
"Are you going, Mr Edwards?" said Monimia, holding the nosegay in her hand. "I hope you will soon return."
"Perhaps I may—but, pray, make my excuses to your father—my friend, Mr
Marvale, will do the honours of the house."
"And you go away so suddenly?" she said, and pouted.
"I can't help it—business—sudden intelligence. Can you tell me where the village of Wibbelton is?"
"No," said the young lady, and laid the nosegay very quietly in her basket.
"If I should not return before Mr Smith is well enough to go home, will you present my compliments to your sister, and assure her"—
"Oh! she will he very sorry, I dare say," said Miss Monimia tartly, tying the strings of her bonnet, which had again fallen back and shown her beautiful ringlets.
"I wish the flowers were better," continued Frank; "and at some future time, I trust"—
"Oh, the flowers are good enough!" said the young lady. "I think the moss rose is Charles Lambert's favourite, so I have gathered this bunch for him."
You would scarcely have known the cold-voiced, calm-eyed Miss Monimia, to be the playful, graceful hoyden of five minutes before. She made Frank a stately curtsy, and, without farther parley, he hurried down to the village, and ordered the solitary post-chaise of which the Rose and Crown could boast.
"Stay you here," he said to Mr Percy Marvale, "and I will join you in two days if any thing occurs. We may be disappointed again, though the present intelligence seems authentic."
The intelligence which so suddenly altered the destination of Miss Monimia Smith's nosegay, was from one of Frank's Leicestershire correspondents; and was to the effect, that Alice had gone into a situation in the little village of Wibbleton, where she had been securely hidden from all her lover's pursuits for half a year. Wibbelton, he found, was fifteen miles from Bandvale, on the Birmingham road, and merrily away he trotted as fast as the two posters could go.
The news, the air, the motion, that had such an exhilirating effect on Frank Edwards, seemed to be equally efficacious in the case of my old friend Smith. He felt so well on being told of his host's departure, that he was able to move at once; and, without waiting for consultation with the doctor, or even for his carriage, he accompanied his daughter and the indefatigable Percy Marvale across the fields to Howkey on foot.
Meanwhile the hopeful lover drew near the hamlet of Wibbelton. He drove to the inn as the likeliest place where he could get information, and entered the common parlour, a neat little whitewashed room, with clean sanded floor, that looked out upon the village green. At a little table by the window sat a gentleman reading the newspaper, and occasionally relieving the dryness of the parliamentary debates by a sip at a little tankard of beer. He was a neatly dressed old man, with his thin long hair tied behind in a cue, a bright blue coat buttoned close up to the throat, stocking-thread pantaloons, and high Hessian boots. His upright carriage and projecting chest pointed him out at once as a military man; and the bow he had made, on Frank entering the room, showed at once he was a man of the old school—very formal and ceremonious—but was indicative of good-nature at the same time.
"A stranger in Wibbelton?" he said, laying down the paper. "Ha! I thought so—never remarked you before, though I keep my eye on any new face that appears in our parish."
"There are not many strangers, I presume, who find their way to this out-of-the-way village," replied Frank.
"I beg your pardon, my young friend. Many do. It is just the place for strangers to come to. A more complete retirement is not to be found in England."
"But every one is not enamoured of retirement," answered Frank.
"Then they have never been in active life. As for my step-son and me, who have been pushed about the world all our days, we find no place like Wibbelton."
"A soldier, I presume?" enquired Frank.
The old militaire bowed. "A soldier, sir, not quite unknown to fame, if I may be allowed to say so. My step-son also."
"And both reside here?"
"My step-son's house is the large white manorial mansion you see on the other side of the green. It is the noblest house in the county. Ah! there is nothing equal to the fine residences of our venerable agricultural nobility. My step-son is chief of the family; and though I had the misfortune to lose his mother in a very few years after our marriage, I always look upon him as a son. He looks on me as a father. We fight our battles over again, and only feel the want of a little addition to our pleasing intelligent society."
Frank looked towards the mansion described as one of the noblest in England, and saw a tolerably sized square house, with a range of white palings before the door, and a vine trailing over the front, but with no appearance of grandeur more than the very ordinary houses by its side.
"It would perhaps destroy the charm of the retirement you spoke of, if too many were admitted to share it," said Frank. "Has your step-son a family?"
"Four blooming girls, and an equal number of boys, not quite old enough yet to be treated as companions."
"Still at school?"
"Oh, no! My step-son hates public education. He brings them up beneath his own roof."
"With the help of a tutor, I suppose?"
"No, sir—no. A tutor is too harsh. A governess does it all."
"Ah!" said Frank.
"You start, my friend, as if you thought it impossible; but 'tis the case I assure you—quite a young woman, too—and yet what order she keeps them in. If I had had an adjutant-general, when I had my command, with half such zeal! We military men are judges of discipline, whether it is in the school-room or the field. So is my step-son."
"Pray, what age is the young person you speak so highly of?"
"I should say not more than eighteen—so gentle too, with it all."
"Have you had the benefit of her services long?"
"About half a year; yes, I think she has introduced her system about half a year. We are quite a family party here. You see the house next to my step-son's?—the large mansion in the Tudor style of architecture? That belongs to my other step-son; a man of the purest philanthropy, who, merely to benefit the poor of his own village and the surrounding country, practises as the medical man. Next to him, again, in the turreted building with the Gothic portico, is his younger brother, who, from equally philanthropic principles, and to prevent litigation among our neighbours, acts here as an attorney. You see the brass plate on the office door? We are quite a family party, you see."
"I congratulate you on your neighbourhood," said Frank. "But the next house to the youngest of your step-sons—the lath and plaster cottage with the broken casements, and untiled roof?"
"Ah! that is to be let. It belongs to The Chobb."
"To The Chobb! Who is The Chobb!"
"My step-son, sir. He is head of the great family of the Chobbs, and follows the example of The O'Conor Don, The Chisholm, and other representatives of the old blood, by taking the distinction 'the' before his name. Should you like to look at the cottage ornée, sir?"
"The one with the broken windows?" enquired Frank; "is it empty?"
"Yes; the Marquis di Carralva left it last week. If you would like a lodging in it for a few weeks, The Chobb will be happy to put in a little furniture. You would join our circle"—
"And take lessons in discipline from The Chobb's governess?"
"Of course; you would immediately become one of the family. We are all united in the village; no secrets, no privacy."
"Then I take the house, sir," said Frank. "May I ask who it is I have the honour of talking to?"
"My name is General Hosham—you've heard of my being commander-in-chief in Mexico; my step-son, Colonel Chobb, fought for the glorious Isabella of Spain. Will you go and look at the villa, sir?"
"I shall take it," said Frank, "at all events. Very little accommodation will be enough for me."
"And you will take possession?"
"Immediately; I consider myself Colonel Chobb's tenant from this hour."
"You do?" said the general, taking him by the hand. "You put me in mind of my poor aide-de-camp, Saint Rosalio; he was a perfect gentleman. I am proud to make your acquaintance, sir. I will be back in a few minutes."
And so saying, the general made a military salam, and walked in a stately manner out of the room.
"By this manoeuvre I have at all events secured admission to The Chobb's house; and if this governess is indeed poor Alice—but no—how could I think she would be connected in any way with such strange people as these? At all events, she is in the village, and by staying in it for a few days I am certain to find her out." In the midst of these and similar reflections, the general returned, and brought with him no less an individual than The Chobb in person. He was a little man, very dark in the complexion, and very fat, with the coarse look that a habit of low dissipation is sure to leave upon the best features. Small impudent eyes peeped sharply over the puffed out cheeks, and gave a look of mingled bullying and cunning to his countenance, which told a very intelligible tale of beer and tobacco. He held out his hand in the most open, unaffected manner, and echoed all his step-sire's speeches on the subject of the ornamental villa, and his pride and happiness in finding so desirable a neighbour.
"Rather worse quarters than if you came into the great house, as my poor mansion is called, but a mighty deal more comfortable than many I've had to put up with. I remember bivouacking in a wet cave on the shores of the Bay of Biscay. I was in command that day of the army of observation. Carlos was on the heights of St Sebastian, and I was tired of reconnoitring: I bivouacked, I tell you, in a cave—no blankets, no counterpane, and covered with wounds. In the middle of the night I heard a noise; looked up; it was pitch dark. I cocked my pistol, and fired into the corner where the noise was made, and went to sleep again! In the morning my aides-de-camp came in, and on groping in the cave, what do you think we found?—but you will never guess it: a boa-constrictor— an immense animal—thicker than stepfather's body. I had shot him right through the eye, for I never missed a mark in my life."
"I thought you said it was pitch dark?" said Frank.
"Oh, no! you misunderstood me. I did not say it was dark, father?"
"Certainly not. You distinctly said it was light enough to see the animal. I have heard you tell the story a dozen times. It was as light as day."
Frank looked at the old gentleman with surprise, but said nothing; and they proceeded as before.
"You will have no boa-constrictors to contend with," said The Chobb. "One of the bed-rooms is splendidly furnished already. There is the tent-bed in it which the general took from Tippoo Saib in Mexico; and as to your dining-room and kitchen, why, you can dine with me." And here he held out his hand, and shook Frank's again. "You will not have far to come, and there will always be a knife and fork."
"He is certainly the most generous fellow in England," whispered the general to Frank; "a perfect gentleman, and open as the day."
"We shall get on very well, I have no doubt," pursued the colonel, who pretended not to have heard the general's remark; "but here comes the landlord with dinner. I ordered it as I came up stairs; and, by way of consolidating our friendship, I hope you will take it here to-day, instead of in the great house."
Along with dinner came in the two brothers of The Chobb, and were introduced in due form. The philanthropist who practised as attorney, brought with him an agreement for the house; and the general explaining to Frank that these business details were merely for form's sake, and that he had told his step-son that the terms they had fixed on for the cottage were for half a year at a rent of twenty pounds, Frank signed the paper, and they all sat down to dinner. The Chobb presided, and the general acted as vice.
"This is a mighty deal better than the buffalo soup we had at Pondicherry, when we were besieged by Santa Anna and the Monte Videans," said the general.
"Or the tiger broth we had at Cadiz, when we were defending the town against Don Pedro," said The Chobb. "I used to shoot the tigers myself, which was capital amusement."
"At Cadiz, did you say?" enquired Frank.
The Chobb nodded, and said—"You'll think it odd, perhaps; but I give you my honour I never saw so many tigers in my life as during the whole of that bombardment. I ought to remember it well, for I was in command of the batteries—three of twelve twenty-fours, and one of six thirty-twos."
"But tigers are not found in Spain," observed Frank.
"I beg your pardon," said The Chobb; "I did not say tigers. Did I say tigers, General Hosham?"
"Certainly not; you said merino sheep. I remarked it particularly."
"So did I," said the philanthropic attorney.
"I will trouble you, sir," said The Chobb, twisting his mustaches, "to be a little more particular in your recollection of what I said. How could any person think I could talk such nonsense as to mention tigers in Spain?"
"There are tigers in Mexico, though," observed the general, "and we must excuse our young friend if he confused between the two places. I was generalissimo, and remember the whole thing perfectly; and very bad broth they made. The Chobb," he added in a low tone to Frank, "is very touchy if any one interrupts him in his anecdotes. He has seen an immense deal of service though he is so young, and is very instructive and entertaining."
Frank held his tongue, and listened the whole evening to the Mexican and Spanish recollections of the two warriors. His object was too nearly gained to throw it away by a quarrel with his new friends; and he played cards with them till a late hour, and lost, at the end of the evening, sixteen points.
"We played guinea points," said The Chobb, rising to go away, he having always paid his losses in shillings, "and I will thank you for sixteen."
"We were playing shilling points, you will remember," said Frank.
"General Hosham," said The Chobb, "I merely appeal to you. What points were we playing?"
"Does the other party refer it to me?" said the general, blandly smiling; "you may both depend on my unbiased decision."
"Certainly, sir," said Frank; "there can't be a doubt upon the point."
"You were certainly playing guinea points," said the general, "as I am a gentleman and a man of honour; but I think I know the origin of your mistake. You saw that I and my step-son George were playing shilling points; though I did most distinctly see you receive at the rate of guinea points from my friend and step-son, Colonel Chobb."
Frank paid the money, and would have given ten times the amount, rather than forego the chance of seeing Alice.
"And now good-night, my excellent friend and tenant," said the colonel; "and, by the by, will you allow me to borrow the ten-pound note of you I saw you take from your pocket? I wish to settle with the landlord as I go down stairs—I hate running up a bill at an inn; and besides, we can consider it a first instalment of your rent."
Frank gave him the ten-pound note; and the colonel, whose attentions to wine and brandy-and-water had been unremitted, stuffed it into his waistcoat pocket, and staggered out of the room. The general took leave with the most stately courtesy, and soon followed.
"Now, then," said Frank, "one day will decide my fate. Time, money, and temper will not have been wasted, if I get only half an hour's talk with Alice Elstree."