Confessions Of Con Cregan Part 66

The tutor by this time had evidently received his instructions in full, and beckoned me to follow him into a small room adjoining the saloon.

I obeyed; and scarcely had the door closed upon us than I started, and broke out into an involuntary exclamation of surprise. The individual before me was no other than my first friend, the kind youth who had taken me by the hand at the very outset of my career, the student of Trinity, Dublin, named Lyndsay.

As I perceived that he did not recognize me, I had time enough to observe him well, and mark the change which more than twelve years had wrought upon him. Though still young, anxiety and mental exertion had worn him into premature age. His eye was dulled, his cheeks pale and sunken, and in his manner there was that timid hesitation that stood abashed in the presence of my own cool effrontery. I could see easily that the man of thought and reflection was succ.u.mbing before the man of action and of the world, and I was selfish enough to revel in the triumph.

In a low, diffident voice he proceeded to ask me if there was anything in the nature of my situation that induced me to quit a service where I had given the fullest satisfaction.

I replied by an easy caress of my long black moustache, and a certain expressive gesture of the shoulders, meant to convey that my objections were of a nature that did not admit exactly of discussion,--rather questions of delicate personal feeling than of actual difficulty. Hinted that I had rarely served anything less than a royal highness, and feared that I should be likely to injure myself,--of degenerating into an easy and familiar manner, by a.s.sociating with those so nearly of my own level.

I saw the blood mantle in the pale cheek of the student as he listened to this impertinence, and thought that I could mark the struggle that was pa.s.sing within him, while, in a calm, collected tone, he said that those were questions on which he could not give any opinion, and that if I desired to leave, of course no further objections would be offered.

"Might I ask," added he, with a manner where a most courteous politeness prevailed,--"might I ask what are the qualifications of a person in your condition of life?"

"I think," replied I, "that I appreciate the meaning of your question.

You would ask by what right a man humbly born, educated to mere menial duties, can aspire to the position and the pay a courier claims. I am willing to tell you. To begin, then: He must be familiar with the geography of Europe,--I speak here of the merely Continental courier,--he must know the boundaries, the high roads, the coinage, the customs, the privileges of every petty State, from the smallest princ.i.p.ality of Germany to the greatest sovereignty of a Czar. He must know the languages, not as scholars and grammarians know them, but in all their dialects and 'patois.' It is not enough that he has learned the tongue in which Dante wrote, or Metastasio sung, he must speak Venetian and Milanese, Neapolitan and Piedmontese. He should know the Low German of the Black Forest, the Wiener dialect of the Austrian, and talk every gradation of French, from the frontiers of Flanders to the vine-groves of Provence and Auvergne. He must be as familiar with every city of Europe as though it were his birthplace; with the churches, the galleries, their monuments, and their history. He must know the delicacies of each land, and every rarity it can produce for the palate of the epicure. He must be a connoisseur in wine, pictures, china, cuisine, statuary, engravings, armor, ancient furniture, ma.n.u.scripts, horseflesh, the drama, and Bohemian gla.s.s; able to pack a trunk, or expatiate upon a t.i.tian; to ill.u.s.trate a fresco, to cheat a custom-house, to bully a prefect, make an omelette, ride postilion.

These, with a running knowledge of international law and the Code Napoleon, and some skill in all the minor operations of surgery,--these are a brief summary of a courier's qualifications."

"And do you tell me, friend," said he, earnestly, "that you can do all this?"

"Indifferent well," said I, carelessly. "There are, doubtless, others who have gained a higher proficiency in the craft; but as I am still young, I'll not despair of future eminence."

He heaved a deep sigh, and leaned his head upon his hand.

I fancied I could read what was pa.s.sing in his mind, and, at a haphazard, said, "You are contrasting the catalogue with that of your own acquirements, and perhaps asking yourself, to what end all the midnight toil of scholarship? Why have I labored hard, with aching brow and fevered heart, when one with vulgar attainments like these,--the scattered fragments, the crumbs that fall from the table of real knowledge,--can secure a better livelihood and more real independence than myself; and the reason is, mine are marketable wares that find purchasers in every cla.s.s, and among every gradation of society. 'My lord' must have his courier; so must the rich cotton-spinner or the barrister on his wedding-tour. The wealthy dowager, the blooming widow, the ex-minister travelling for 'distraction' the young heir journeying for dissipation, the prelate, the banker, the ruined duke, the newly enriched mill-owner,--all, however differing in other points, agree in this one want, and must have one who will think for them and speak for them, bargain and bully for them, a.s.sert their rank and importance wherever they appear; so that of the obstacles of travel, its difficulties and contrarieties, they should know as little as though their road lay between London and Croydon."

"Still, it is a puzzle to me," sighed the young man, "how these people achieve the attainments you speak of. Even a smattering of such knowledge would seem to require both time and study."

"They have but a smattering," said I; "yet it is gained exactly in the very school where such small proficiency goes farthest,--'

the world'--and which you will one day discover has its sources of knowledge, its tests of ability, ay, and its degrees of honor, marked out as palpably as Oxford and Cambridge. There is this advantage, too, sir, over the university,--the track in which you are to travel is marked out for you; you must not stray to the right or to the left,--while in 'the world' the field of direction is wide, open, and expanded; there's a path for every one, if they 'll only look for it."

He started as I said these words; and as his cheeks flushed up, he said, "I remember once upon a time hearing those very words from a poor friendless boy in my own country. He was setting out, as he said, to seek his fortune, and his whole stock in life was the hope inspired by that sentiment."

"And what became of him?"

"I never could learn. He disappeared suddenly; and whether he enlisted into some regiment abroad, or died at home, I never ascertained."

"Then I can tell you, sir,--he now stands before you, the same whom once you so kindly succored! the houseless, friendless child whom you protected and sheltered. I am Con Cregan."

It would be difficult to describe the bewilderment of poor Lyndsay as I said this; he sat down, closed his eyes, opened them again, rubbed them, stared at me, tried to speak, and at last, rising up, grasped my hand warmly, and cried, "Then, of course, you remember _my_ name?"

"I could never forget it, Mr. Lyndsay," said I, affectionately.

This was enough, and he now shook me by both hands with all the warmth of old friendship.

As he was madly eager to learn the story of my life, and as I was bent on my departure by the morning mail for Genoa, we agreed to meet at an hour when the household had retired to bed; meanwhile, he was to charge himself with the office of making an explanation to the family, and informing them that matters of urgency required my presence at Paris without delay. This agreed upon, we separated.

The entire night we pa.s.sed in talking, for he insisted upon hearing my adventures from the very hour we had parted company in Dublin, down to the moment we were then seated together. It was evident, at times, from the tone of questioning, that he accepted several of my statements at least as doubtful; but gradually, as he discovered my acquaintance with various languages, the knowledge I possessed of different remote countries, their habits and natural productions, this incredulity gave way; and when finally I produced the letters of the Havannah banker, with the receipts for my instalments, he showed that every shade of hesitation had vanished, and that he no longer entertained a doubt of my veracity.

As the hour of separating drew nigh, he turned the subject to my own immediate requirements; and although I a.s.sured him that my ring, which I had already disposed of, was sufficient for all immediate wants, he insisted upon my accepting a loan of one hundred dollars, to be repaid, as he himself said, "when I resumed my countship." These were his parting words as I ascended to the roof of the diligence.

CHAPTER x.x.xI A NEW WALK IN PROGRESSIVE LIFE

I will not trespa.s.s on my reader's patience with the details of my journey, nor ask him to form acquaintance with any of those pleasant travelling companions whose whims, caprices, and merry fancies lightened the road. The company of a diligence is a little world in all its features of selfishness, apathy, trustfulness, credulity, and unbelief.

It has its mock humilities and absurd pretensions even more glaringly displayed than every-day life exhibits them. Enough, then, if I say ours were fair specimens of the cla.s.s; and when, on arriving at the Messageries Royales, the heavy "conveniency" deposited us in the court, we shook hands all round ere separating, like people who were well pleased when together, but yet not broken-hearted at the thought of parting.

And now I found myself at Paris, that glorious capital, whose very air is the champagne of atmospheres, and where, amid the brilliant objects so lavishly thrown on every side, even the poor man forgets his poverty, and actually thinks he has some share in the gorgeous scene around him.

I heaved one heavy sigh from the very bottom of my heart as I thought what might have been the condition in which I could once have rolled along these same streets; and with this brief tribute to the past, I trudged along towards the Emba.s.sy. All my hope lay in the prospect of an interference on the part of the English Government, and the demand of an indemnification for my loss.

After some little delay, and a Blight catechizing on the part of a bulky porter in scarlet livery, I was admitted to a room where a number of people, chiefly couriers and "Laquais de Place," were a.s.sembled, to obtain signatures or pa.s.sports, and who were summoned from time to time to enter an inner chamber where the official sat. _My_ turn came at length, and, with a heart almost swelling to suffocation, I entered.

"For England, I suppose," said a pale young gentleman, with black moustaches, not looking up from the table, where he sat reading his "Galignaui."

"No, sir, mine is not a pa.s.sport case. I am here to make a charge against the Spanish Government for false imprisonment and spoliation."

The young gentleman raised his head, and stared at me fixedly for a couple of seconds, and then, in the most silvery of accents, said, "Be good enough to repeat what you have said."

I did so; adding, "As my case has occupied the attention of the Foreign Office for some time back, you may possibly have heard of my name,--Count Cregan."

The youth sprang up from his chair, and hastened into another room, whence I could hear loud shouts of laughter immediately proceeding.

"No, no, Barrington," said a deeper and an older voice; "I don't want to see the fellow, and I advise you to get rid of him at once. He 'll be a bore to us every day of the week, if you give him the slightest encouragement."

"But is there really nothing in his case?"

"Nothing whatever; he is a downright impostor."

"But Puzzleton certainly corresponded with him.''

"Of course he did, to prevent the Opposition making a handle of his case in 'the House;' but he soon saw the whole thing was a trumped-up charge, and as we want to go on smoothly with the Madrid Government, it would be absurd to disturb our relations for the sake of a fellow like this."

"Oh, that's it," said the _attache_, catching a faint glimmering of the secret machinery of diplomacy.

"To be sure," added the other; "if we wanted a grievance, that man's would do as well as another; but there is no need to hold him over, we can always catch the Spaniards tripping when we want it. My advice is, therefore, get rid of him. Say that he must embody his statement in the form of a memorial, supported by whatever he can adduce in the way of evidence; that a personal interview can lead to nothing; and, in fact, dismiss him in the usual way."

And with these lucid instructions,--given in a tone far too loud to be diplomatic,--the _attache_ returned to the room where I waited.

"You 'll have to reduce this to writing, Count Cregan," said he, standing with his back to the fire, and a.s.suming an air that he fancied was quite that of a Talleyrand,--"something in the form of a memorial, you understand."

"I have already done so, unsuccessfully," said I, shortly.

"Ah, wasn't aware," sighed the young gentleman, stroking his moustache.

"The Secretary of Foreign Affairs acknowledged the receipt of my statement, and at one time held out some hope of redress."

"Ah, indeed!" echoed the other.

"The state of our relations with Spain, however," added I, "not requiring a grievance just then, my case was naturally shelved."

He started, bit his lip, and evinced unmistakable signs of being ill at ease. "In fact," resumed I, growing wanner as I proceeded, "no further notice was taken of me than what barely sufficed to take my case out of the hands of Opposition members. I was a.s.sumed to be an impostor, because the moment was not favorable to believe me honest. Good diplomacy, perhaps, but rather lax morality. Now, sir, I have lost _my_ cause,--that is quite evident; let us see if _you_ have gained _yours_.