Sad and sorrowful ever is the parting hour when beloved friends separate, perchance never more to meet again! But oh, how sad must that separation prove if not accompanied with the consoling hope—"we yet shall meet again!" The Duke of Tyrconnel was then departing from his beloved wife and darling daughter, yet no enlivening hope allayed the feverish throbbing of his heart, with the bland promise, "we yet shall meet again!" Deep, bitter, and gloomy were the parting pangs and presages when these affectionate friends separated, destined, perchance, never more to meet! Still manfully the duke concealed the wound which rankled in his breast, and with promptitude made ready to follow the fallen fortune of his fallen master. He recommended that the duchess should, without procrastination, depart for England, and retire thence to the continent, until such time as the political tempest which was raging should subside. It was also proposed that the duke and duchess should at the same time depart for their respective destinations, and the determination, upon the same day it was resolved on, was carried into effect. The plan was, that the duchess, Lady Adelaide, Ladies Letitia and Lucy, escorted by Sir Patricius Placebo, should proceed to England, viâ, or rather mari, to Parkgate, thence journey onward to Chester, only twelve miles distant, remain there a few days with their kind friends Doctor Cartwright, bishop of Chester, and his lady; and next set off for the most convenient port to embark for France. Thence make a detour to the Netherlands, and take up their residence in the city of Brussels, where the Duchess d'Aremberg, Adelaide's godmother, resided.
The duke accompanied his family to the packet which was to convey them from their native shores, possibly for ever! The parting scene was exceedingly affecting, the duchess, rallying all her fortitude, was enabled to address the duke ere they fondly embraced and parted, in these empassioned words:—"Go forth, my dear lord!" said the duchess. "Go, my beloved lord, where every filial tie calls your attendance, where glory, your country, and your king, demand your presence. Go, and the god of battles be your guide and guard! But the wife of Tyrconnel breathes no sigh—the wife of Tyrconnel sheds no tear at her loved lord's departure. Had he remained ingloriously at home then there would have been too ample cause for lamentation; the blush of every feeling cheek, and the throb of every manly heart, would have revolted at conduct so base and selfish. But, thank heaven, this is not—it could not be! Go forth then, my dearest lord, and the blessings of a wife and of a mother ever attend thee!"
Adelaide, however, could not command those feelings which were instinctive to her sensitive feelings, she sobbed and wept deep and bitterly; she endeavoured to check the rooted sorrow which was preying on her heart, but the attempt was all in vain, her affection burst forth more strongly from her endeavour to counteract it; and tears of sorrow for her father's departure flowed in deep succession. The duke was highly affected with this parting scene; yet sternly checking himself, he said:—"My dearest Adelaide this must not be; virtue carried to excess—honour carried to excess, lose all their original intrinsic worth. Nay, even religion may be transmuted into persecution; and eternal silence and seclusion from the world be considered as its divine attributes, so that each shall lose all the original stamp of their native worth. I therefore tell you, my dearest daughter, that this must not be; I shall, with the permission of divine providence, so soon as it shall be in my power, rejoin you all in a foreign land upon my return from attending my revered monarch to Saint Germains. And, my beloved, although we shall have lost our rank, and reside as persons quite unknown—perhaps wholly unnoticed; yet, my dearest Adelaide, we shall nevertheless retain that which is much dearer to the human breast, self-esteem, and social love, and social leisure, and these undisturbed by courtly crowds, unchanged by time or circumstance, or loss of power. These social ties too well I know, my dearest child, are dearer to thee than wealth, rank, pomp, and power; and believe me truly we shall feel far happier than ever we felt before. So I pray thee, dearest Adelaide, that we may have no more of sorrow or repining, for all will yet be well!"
The duke affectionately embraced his duchess, Adelaide, and his sisters, and cordially shook hands with Sir Patricius Placebo; when having descended the side of the vessel, his Grace jumpt into the boat which conveyed him to the shore, and entered his carriage which waited for him, to attend upon the fallen fortunes of his fallen master. When intimation was given to Sir Patricius that he was to proceed to England, and take charge of the duchess and family, certes he received the communication not without some portion of surprise, and of pleasure too we must admit: "Jacta est alea, jacta est alea!" he exclaimed: "The dye is thrown, so now 'For England Ho!' ha, ha, ha! As Prince Hamlet says in the play, 'For England Ho!' ehem!—
DOSS MOI, TANE STIGMEN!"
The packet, with all her canvass unfurled, and proudly swelling before a brisk and favouring breeze, promptly set sail onward in her direct course for the seaport of Parkgate,[21] in Cheshire. The day was uncommonly fine, and a warm exhilarating summer sun refulgently shone forth, richly gilding the expanding sails of the vessel, and with its genial enlivening rays cheering the voyagers, who sat beneath an awning upon the deck. By this time Adelaide, pursuant to the monitory parting injunctions of her father, had become tranquil and composed. While receding from the beloved shores of her native land, Adelaide was particularly struck with the romantic headlands and mountains that, south and north, bounded the horizon—the romantic peninsula of Howth, the hoary promontory of Wicklow-head, the conic hills "the Sugar-loaves," so denominated from their peculiar conformation; the long continuous chain of the Dublin and Wicklow mountains which adorned the southern point of the horizon, while anon they melted into distant aërial perspective. Adelaide was at once charmed and delighted with the scene, which called forth from her pen the following effusion:—
TO HOPE.
Hope dispels the mists of woe,
And with the sun's resplendent glow
Illumes poor wand'rers on their way;