“Then what can he be, Anne?” questioned the aunt; “this is no masquerading time.”
That question Anne De Bracy cared not to answer; she could conjecture, but that was all.
Our space will not permit us to dwell upon all the events of Anne De Bracy’s life; we must only touch on its important parts briefly, till we bring her again before our readers as the unfortunate Duchess de Coulancourt.
The handsome fisherman was Mr. Granby Arden, the elder brother of Sir Godfrey Etherton. Of a strange and eccentric character, but possessed of a highly cultivated mind, he, by his peculiar mode of thinking and reading, imbibed a decided aversion to all monarchical governments. His great-great-grandfather had been a stanch supporter of Oliver Cromwell, and had lost his life in opposing the return of Charles II. His estates were mostly all forfeited to the Crown, so that the two brothers inherited but moderate fortunes. Mr. Granby Arden, however, succeeded to his mother’s property, an income of some twelve or fourteen hundred a year, whilst Godfrey Arden entered the navy.
Granby Arden, when two-and-twenty, passed over into France; where his prejudice against kings and rulers, even at that period, had abundant supporters. With a perfect knowledge of the French, Italian, and German languages, his handsome person and persuasive eloquence, aided by a voice remarkable for its rich and powerful tones, soon caused him to be remarked in the political circles of the capital of France. Louis XVI. had just commenced his career of troubles—the monarchy of France was at this time a pure despotism—but the resources of the realm and the energies of the people were wasted and paralysed.
Granby Arden became the associate of Diderot and D’Alembert; he read with avidity the pungent writings of Voltaire, upsetting all preconceived notions by satire and sarcasm; and Rousseau, who, by his appeals to the passions, worked to frenzy by his high wrought pictures those minds stirred by doubt.
Though a hater of royalty and despotism, in every shape and form, Granby Arden was of a kind and generous nature; he, however, so involved himself in political intrigues, that, in the end, he was forced to fly from Paris—for the time was not yet come for the overthrow of all the ancient usages of the kingdom.
Granby Arden went to Italy. The corrupt court of Naples and the licentiousness of the Queen and her supposed lover and minister, Acton, induced him whilst there to join in a secret intrigue to upset the Government. To carry out his own and the projects of others, he disguised himself as a fisherman, and dwelt with one of their body for a time in their caves on the Riviere di Chiaga, and there love, for the time, overturned all his projects.
He saw, and became desperately enamoured of, Miss Anne de Bracy.
Granby Arden’s name in England was notorious for his political opinions; and he well knew, when he made himself known to Miss de Bracy, and gained her love, that her brother, Sir Oscar de Bracy, a distinguished officer in the navy, would never give his consent to their marriage.