"D------."

What have we pinned to the back of this? Oh, a few lines in pencil from Sir C------S------, received, I see, the same evening.

"Dear T.,

"Sir H------ is not pleased with your speech, although he owns it was clever. The levity he disliked, because he will not give D------ any pretence for continuing this system of personalities. The bit of Horace had been better omitted; Canning used the same lines once before, and the _rechauffee_--if it were such--was poor. The Marquis of D------ was twice at Downing Street, to say that he had 'crammed' you. This, of course, no one believes; but he takes the merit of your speech to himself, and claims high reward in consequence. He asks for an Emba.s.sy!

This is what Lord L------ calls 'too bad.' Come over to- morrow before twelve o'clock.

"Believe me yours,

"C------ S------."

Another of the same date:--

"Go in and win, old boy! You've made capital running, and for the start too--distanced the knowing ones, and no mistake! The odds are seven to four that you're in the Cabinet before the Derby day. I've taken equal fifties that Tramp wins the Goodwood, and that you're in--double event.

So look out sharp, and don't baulk "Yours ever,

"Frank Lushington."

A fourth, tied in the same piece of riband:--

"_Wilson Crescent_.

"Dear Friend,

"We have just heard of your success. Brilliant and fascinating as it must be, do not forget those who long to share your triumph. Come over here at once. We waited supper till two; and now we are sitting here, watching every carriage, and opening the window at every noise in the street. Come then, and quickly.

"Augusta Beverly."

And here is the last of the batch:--

"The D------ of B------ presents his compliments to Mr.

Templeton, and begs to inform him that his ancestor was not the Marquis of T------ who conducted the negotiations at Malaga;' neither were 'thirty thousand pounds voted by the last Parliament to the family by way of secret service for parliamentary support,' but in compensation for two patent offices abolished--Inspectorship of Gold Mines, and Ordnance Comptrollership. And, lastly, that 'Infamous speech,' so pathetically alluded to, was made at a private theatrical meeting at Lord Mudbury's in Kent, and not 'on the hustings,' as Mr. T. has a.s.serted."

So much for one event, and in itself a trivial one! Who shall say that any act of his life is capable of exciting even an approach to unanimous praise or censure? This speech, which on one side won me the adhesion of some half-dozen clubs, the praise of a large body of the Upper House, the softest words that the "beauty of the season" condescended to utter, brought me, on the other, the coldness of the Minister, the chilling civility of mock admiration, and lost me the friendship--in House of Commons parlance--of the leading member of the Government!

And here is a strange, square-shaped epistle, signed in the corner, "Martin Haverstock." This rough-looking note was my first step in Diplomacy! I was a very young _attache_ to the mission at Florence, when, on returning to England through Milan, I was robbed of my trunk, and with it of all the money I possessed for my journey. It was taken by a process very well known in Italy, being cut off from the back of the carriage, not improbably, with the concurrence of the driver. However that might be, I arrived at the "Angelo d'Oro" without a sou. Having ordered a room, I sat down by myself, hungry and penniless, not having a single acquaintance at Milan, nor the slightest idea how to act in the emergency. My very pa.s.sport was gone, so that I had actually nothing to authenticate my position--not even my name.

I sent for the landlord, who, after a very cold interview, referred me to the Consul; but the Consul had on that very morning left the city for Verona, so that his aid was cut off. My last resource--my only one, indeed--was to write to Florence for money, and wait for the answer.

This was a delay of seven, possibly of eight, days, but it was unavoidable.

This done, I ordered supper--a very humble one too, and befitting the condition of one who had not wherewithal to pay for it. I remember still the sense of shame I felt as the waiter, on entering, looked around for my luggage, and saw neither trunk nor carpet-bag--not even a hat-box. I thought--nay, there could be no mistake about it, it was quite clear--he laid the table with a certain air of careless and noisy indifference that bespoke his contempt. The very bang of the door as he went out, was a whole narrative of my purseless state.

I had been very hungry when I ordered the meal. I had not tasted food for several hours, and yet now I could not eat a morsel; chagrin and shame had routed all appet.i.te, and I sat looking at the table, and almost wondering why the dishes were there. I thought of all the kind friends far away, who would have been so delighted to a.s.sist me; who, at that very hour perhaps, were speaking of me affectionately; and yet I had not one near, even to speak a word of counsel, or say one syllable of encouragement. It was not, it may well be believed, the monied loss that afflicted me--the sum was neither large, nor did I care for it. It was the utter desolation, and the sense of dependence, that galled me--a feeling whose painful tortures, even temporary as they were, I cannot, at this hour, eradicate from my memory.

Had I been left enough to continue my journey in the very humblest way, on foot even, it would have been happiness compared with what I felt. I arose at last from the table, where the untasted food still stood, and strolled out into the streets. I wandered about listlessly, not even feeling that amus.e.m.e.nt the newly seen objects of a great city almost always confer, and it was late when I turned back to the inn. As I entered, a man was standing talking with the master of the house, who, in his broken English, said, as I pa.s.sed, "There he is!" I at once suspected that my sad adventure had been the subject of conversation, and hurried up the stairs to hide my shame. In my haste, however, I forgot my key at the porter's lodge, and was obliged to go back to fetch it. On doing so, I met on the stairs a large, coa.r.s.e-looking man, with a florid face, and an air of rough but of simple good-nature in his countenance. "You are a countryman, I believe?" said he in English.

"Well, I've just heard of what has happened to you. The rascals tried the same trick with me at Modena; but I had an iron chain around _my_ trunk, and as they were baulked, and while they were rattling at it, I got a shot at one of them with a pistol--not to hurt the devil, for it was only duck-shot; not a bullet, you know. Where's your room?--is this it?"

I hesitated to reply, strange enough; though he shewed that he was well aware of all my loss. I felt ashamed to shew that I had no baggage, nor any thing belonging to me. He seemed to guess what pa.s.sed in my mind, and said,--

"Bless your heart, sir, never mind me. I know the rogues have stripped you of all you had; but I want to talk to you about it, and see what is best to be done."

This gave me courage. I unlocked the door, and shewed him in.

"I suspected how it was," said he, looking at the table, where the dishes stood untouched; "you could not eat by yourself, nor I either: so come along with me, and we'll have a bit of supper together, and chat over your business afterwards."

Perhaps I might have declined a more polished invitation; whether or not, it was of no use to refuse him, for he would not accept an excuse; and down we went to his chamber, and supped together. Unlike my slender meal, his was excellent, and the wine first-rate. He made me tell him about the loss of my trunk, twice over, I believe; and then he moralised a great deal about the rascality of the Continent generally, and Italy in particular, which, however, he remembered, could not be wondered at, seeing that three-fourths of the population of every rank did nothing but idle all day long. After that he inquired whether I had any pursuit myself; and although pleased when I said Yes, his gratification became sensibly diminished on learning the nature of the employment, "I may be wrong," said he, "but I have always taken it, that you diplomatic folk were little better than spies in gold-laced coats--fellows that were sent to pump sovereigns and bribe their ministers." I took a deal of pains, "for the honour of the line," to undeceive him; and, whether I perfectly succeeded or not, I certainly secured his favour towards myself, for, before we parted, it was all settled that I was to travel back with him to England, he having a carriage and a strong purse, and that he was to be my banker in all respects till I reached my friends.

As we journeyed along through France, where my knowledge of the language and the people seemed to give the greatest pleasure to my companion, he informed me that he was a farmer near Nottingham, and had come abroad to try and secure an inheritance bequeathed to him by a brother, who for several years had been partner in a great silk factory near Piacenza.

In this he had only partly succeeded, the Government having thrown all possible obstructions in his way; still he was carrying back with him nearly twenty thousand pounds--a snug thing, as he said, for his little girl, for he was a widower with an only child. Of Amy he would talk for hours--ay, days long! It was a theme of which he never wearied.

According to him, she was a paragon of beauty and accomplishments. She had been for some time at a boarding-school at Brighton, and was the pride of the establishment. "Oh, if I could only shew her to you!" said he. "But why couldn't I? what's to prevent it? When you get to England and see your friends, what difficulty would there be in coming down to Hodley for a week or two? If you like riding, the Duke himself at Retton Park has not two better bred ones in his stable than I have!" No need to multiply his arguments and inducements: I agreed to go, not only to, but actually with him--the frank good-nature of his character won on me at every moment, and, long before we arrived at Calais, I had conceived for him the strongest sentiments of affection.

From the moment he touched English ground his enthusiasm rose beyond all bounds; delighted to be once back again in his own country, and travelling the well-known road to his own home, he was elated like a schoolboy. It was never an easy thing for me to resist the infectious influence of any temperament near me, whether its mood was grave or gay, and I became as excited and overjoyed as himself; and I suppose that two exiles, returning from years of banishment, never gave themselves up to greater transports than did we at every stage of our journey. I cannot think of this without astonishment, for, in honest truth, I was all my life attached to the Continent--from my earliest experience I had preferred the habits and customs to our own, and yet, such was the easy and unyielding compliance of my nature, that I actually fancied that my Anglo-mania was as great as his own.

At last we reached Hodley, and drove up a fine, trimly-kept gravel avenue, through several meadows, to a long comfortable-looking farmhouse, at the door of which, in expectant delight, stood Amy herself. In the oft-renewed embraces she gave her father I had time to remark her well, and could see that she was a fine, blue-eyed, fair-haired, handsome girl--a very flattering specimen of that good Saxon stock we are so justly proud of; and if not all her father's partiality deemed as regarded ladylike air and style, she was perfectly free from any thing like pretension or any affectation whatever. This was my first impression: subsequent acquaintance strengthened it. In fact, the Brighton boarding-school had done no mischief to her; she had not learned a great deal by her two years' residence, but she had not brought back any toadying subserviency to the more n.o.bly born, any depreciating sense of her former companions, or any contempt for the thatched farmhouse at Hodley and its honest owner.

If our daily life at the farm was very unvarying, it was exceedingly pleasurable; we rose early, and I accompanied Martin into the fields with the workmen, where we remained till breakfast. After which I usually betook myself to a little brook, where there was excellent fishing, and where, her household duties over, Amy joined me. We dined about two; and in the afternoon we--that is, Amy and myself--rode out together; and as we were admirably mounted, and she a capital horsewoman, usually took a scamper "cross country," whenever the fences were not too big and the turf inviting. Home to tea, and a walk afterwards through the green lanes and mossy paths of the neighbourhood, filled the day; and however little exciting the catalogue of pursuits, when did I feel time pa.s.s so swiftly? Let me be honest and avow, that the position I enjoyed had its peculiar flattery. There was through all their friendship a kind of deferential respect--a sense of looking up to me, which I was young enough to be wonderfully taken by: and my experiences at Foreign Courts--which Heaven knows were few and meagre enough--had elevated me in their eyes into something like Lord Whitworth or Lord Castlereagh; and I really believe, that all the pleasure my stories and descriptions afforded was inferior to the delight they experienced in seeing the narrator, and occasionally the actor, in the scenes described, their own guest at their own table.

It was while revelling in the fullest enjoyment of this pleasant life that I received a Foreign Office letter, in reply to an application I had made for promotion, rejecting my request, and coolly commanding my immediate return to Florence. These missives were not things to disobey, and it was in no very joyful mood I broke the tidings to my host.

"What's it worth?" said Martin, abruptly.

"Oh, in point of money," said I, "the appointments are poor things. It is only that there are some good prizes in the wheel, and, whether one is lucky enough to gain them or not, even Hope is something. My salary is not quite two hundred a-year!"

Martin gave a long, low whistle, and said,--

"Why, dang it! my poor brother George, that's gone, had six hundred when he went out as inspector over that silk factory! Two hundred a-year!"

mused he; "and what do you get at your next promotion?"

"That is not quite certain. I might be named _attache_ at Vienna, which would, perhaps, give me one hundred more--or, if I had the good fortune to win the Ministers favour, I might be made a Secretary at some small legation and have five hundred--that is, however, a piece of luck not to be thought of."

"Well, I'm sure," sighed Martin; "I'm no judge of these matters; but it strikes me that's very poor pay, and that a man like myself, who has his ten or twelve hundreds a-year--fifteen in good seasons--is better off than the great folk dining with kings or emperors."

"Of course you are," said I; "who doubts it? But we must all do something. England is not a country where idleness is honourable."

"Why not turn farmer?" said Martin, energetically; "you'd soon learn the craft, I've not met any one this many a-year picks up the knowledge about it like yourself. You seem to like the life too."

"If you mean such as I live now, I delight in it."

"Do you, my dear boy?" cried he, grasping my hand, and squeezing it between both his own. "If so, then never leave us. You shall live with us--we'll take that great piece of land there near the haugh--I've had an eye on it for years back; there's a sheep run there as fine as any in Europe. I'll lay down the whole of those two fields into meadow, and keep the green crops to the back altogether. Such partridge-shooting we will have there yet. In winter, too, the Duke's hounds meet twice a-week. I've got such a strapping three-year-old--you haven't seen him, but he'll be a clipper. Well, don't say nay. You'll stay and marry Amy. I'll give her twenty thousand down, and leave you all I have afterwards."

This was poured forth in such a voluble strain, that an interruption was impossible; and at last, when over, the speaker stood with tearful eyes, gazing on me, as if on my reply his very existence was hanging.

Surprise and grat.i.tude for the unbounded confidence he had shewn in me were my first sensations, soon to be followed by a hundred other conflicting and jarring ones. I should shame--even now, after years have gone by--to own to some of these. Alas! our very natures are at the mercy of the ordinances we ourselves have framed; and the savage red man yields not more devotion to the idol he has carved, than do we to the fashion we have made our Deity! I thought of the Lady Georginas and Carolines of my acquaintance, and grew ashamed of Amy Haverstock! If I had loved, this I am sure would not have been the case, but I cannot acquit myself that principle and good feeling should not have been sufficient without love! Whether from the length of time in which I remained without answering, or that in my confusion he read something adverse to his wishes, but Martin grew scarlet, and in a voice full of emotion said,--

"There, Mr. Templeton, enough said. I see it will not do--there's no need of explaining. I was a fool, that's all!"