“Providence, my dear Mr. Thornton,” observed Madame Volney, much interested, “brings about and reveals circumstances, apparently wrapped up in impenetrable mystery, in its own good time. I feel quite satisfied you are the child taken out of the long boat by the crew of the Surveillante, and I greatly regret not having that portrait, which I always carried with me, in my possession. My brother was exceedingly annoyed at the loss of the child, for he had intended questioning one of the English prisoners, who seemed greatly interested in the little boy; but he did not know what to do, for he was, from the death of the Captain of the Surveillante, the next in command, and her situation required her going into port. He therefore took her into Rochefort, and almost immediately after was ordered to Paris. I was there with my family. Alas! there were then symptoms of the terrible times coming. One evening he related to me all the circumstances concerning the child, and gave me the portrait to keep, putting down in a pocket-book everything connected with the event, the date, the day, and even hour. Immediately after this he was ordered on a secret expedition to the West Indies in command of a frigate, and there, alas, he died of the yellow fever. When forced to fly from Paris, I had to leave everything behind me in our mansion, and Heaven knows what became of all! I saved our jewels; and by the precaution of my deeply lamented husband, a large sum of money was secured for our support in a foreign land. We fled to Toulon, where my husband possessed a fine estate, thinking that the march of the Revolution might be checked by the determined loyalty of the Toulon inhabitants and the fleet; but you are aware how affairs turned out.”
William Thornton expressed himself very grateful to Madame for her narrative, and the interest she expressed, and that he must only rest contented with the state of things as they were, until he could communicate with Sir Oscar de Bracy, if he still lived.
Little Mabel, who had been listening with wrapt attention, and watching the changes in the expressive features of our hero, suddenly said—
“Mamma’s name was De Bracy; and if you, dear William, are a De Bracy, we must be relations; is it not so?”
“I trust it may prove so, Mabel; such a contingency would make me very happy indeed.”
Captain O’Loughlin joined them, with the two Miss Volneys, who had been walking the deck with him; for somehow the gallant Captain contrived—whether with his tongue or his eyes, we cannot say—to make himself wonderfully agreeable to both these young ladies, and, as he hoped, especially to Mademoiselle Agatha.
When the ladies retired to the cabin, the two friends continued to pace the deck; and William Thornton detailed the particulars of Madame Volney’s narrative, confirming their conjectures of the previous night.
“From my heart I warmly congratulate you,” cried the Irishman, pressing the midshipman’s hand. “Be my conscience! another thing gladdens my heart as much as any other part of the information you have received, and that is, that you’re a countryman of mine. And faith, let John Bull mimic us, and denounce us, in his arrogance, as a vulgar and ignorant set, without any pretensions to be gentlemen, and all rebels at heart; he is vastly mistaken. There are as loyal hearts in old Ireland, and as good blood too, as any in Britain; and though we may like a row and a drop of whisky now and then, we are always ready to stand up for the flag of old England whenever it needs our defence. Now I tell you what we must do: the moment we get to England we must inquire whether Sir Oscar de Bracy has returned to his native land; if not, he must be written to at once; and there is no question, in my opinion, when he hears all the particulars, but that he will with joy and delight own you as his son.”
Our hero was so full of conflicting thoughts arising from the recent unexpected revelations, so momentous to him, that he could scarcely reply to questions or attend to his friend’s conversation. This singular combination of events, produced by the very simple fact of his being permitted to accompany Lieutenant Cooke in the expedition to Toulon, had led to the whole; all those with whom he had thus become connected were linked in a chain of evidence.
“You seem in the clouds, William,” remarked O’Loughlin; “and, indeed, there is enough to bewilder a young head like yours; but there’s no use in bothering one’s brains till the time comes for action. See, we shall run into the bay in a very short time; and, since we are here, I think I will try and get up a better and taunter set of masts, if the Port-Admiral is willing. If we should chance to have a brush or a run with any of the enemy’s cruisers on our way home, we should be at a great disadvantage.”