In the Eastern Seas Part 42

Probably the young Lord Heatherly and you, sir," he added, turning to Mr Sedgwick, "will give such directions as you may think fit. You, I conclude, are acquainted with the late Lord Heatherly's wishes."

Strange were the sensations which came over me. I had scarcely realised till then my position. I felt, indeed, utterly unfit to think or act for myself, and was very glad when I once more found myself in my own room and in bed.

As may be supposed, I slept but little for the remainder of the night; and the next morning when the servants addressed me as "your lordship,"

I almost felt as if they were mocking me; indeed, I was not a little annoyed by the constant repet.i.tion of the expression. At length I begged my uncle to come with me to the study, giving directions to the servants that we should be left alone. However, we were soon interrupted by persons who came to take orders for the funeral, and I found myself at once with numberless responsibilities on my shoulders.

The first moment of quiet I could find I sat down to write to Emily, and to send messages to our kind friends. Mr Sedgwick undertook to come back as soon as various necessary arrangements were made, and to bring her to Heatherly Hall. I begged that he would invite Grace to accompany her, requesting that, after the funeral, Captain and Mrs Davenport would come also.

I will pa.s.s over the account of the funeral, which was attended, I am sorry to say, with very few real mourners, though all the families in the neighbourhood sent their carriages, and a few gentlemen who had been more intimately acquainted with the late lord came themselves.

In a short time another claimant appeared; but as I had been acknowledged in the presence of sufficient witnesses by the late lord, he soon withdrew his claim, and I was left in undisputed possession of the t.i.tle and property. I remembered Lord Heatherly's remarks with regard to the responsibilities of my position, and I considered well what they were. He acknowledged that he had reaped but poor enjoyment from his wealth. "That also may be my case," I said to myself; "but one thing I will do, I will pray for guidance from above, and will endeavour to fulfil to the best of my power the responsibilities cast on me." My uncle had an old friend, a clever and honest lawyer, whose services I immediately engaged; and with his aid, and that of the steward of the estate, I set to work to ascertain what inc.u.mbrances existed, and what was most required to be done on the property. The cottages of the poor tenants were in a sadly dilapidated state. My first care was to have a number built in a style best suited to their wants, with four or more rooms in each, and with various conveniences for their comfort. They were well drained, and had an ample supply of good water. For their spiritual wants I engaged an experienced missionary, who might constantly go among them; and while he preached the glad tidings of salvation, might ascertain who were sick or suffering, and report to me accordingly, that I might relieve them.

Among my first guests was Oliver Farwell. He took an eager interest in what was going forward, and greatly a.s.sisted the missionary in his labours. I asked Oliver what profession he purposed following, whether he wished again to go to sea.

"I should probably have done so," he answered; "but Mr Hooker has proposed that I should go to college, and my tastes certainly lead me to adopt one of the learned professions. I delight in study, and should like to choose the one by which I might the most benefit my fellow-creatures. Had I my free choice, I should wish to become a minister of the gospel, for I am sure to no more honourable or important calling can man devote the energies and talents with which his Maker has endowed him."

"I am thankful to hear that, Oliver," I answered. "You and I have been like brothers so long, that you must allow me to treat you as a younger brother, and bear your college expenses. I have, too, I understand, two livings in my gift, the inc.u.mbents of which are at present old men, and I gladly promise to present you to the first which becomes vacant, should you by that time have been ordained."

"I will tell Mr Hooker of your kind intentions," he answered; "and indeed, Lord Heatherly, I am truly grateful to you for them."

It sounded very odd to hear Oliver calling me Lord Heatherly. "Call me Walter, as before, my dear Oliver," I said. "You and I must always be Oliver and Walter to each other."

As soon as a number of decent cottages had been put up, I offered them to the tenants at the same rents that they had paid for the ruinous ones, which I then had pulled down, as I found they were utterly unfit to be repaired. On their sites, after the ground had been drained, I erected others; and in the course of two or three years, no one would have recognised the place. Three or four wretched public-houses or beerhouses had existed in the village. I declined renewing the leases of the tenants of these, and got a respectable man to take a new and decent inn, which I had built for the purpose. That part of the parish had been noted for poachers, and the number of other disorderly characters it contained. These either left the place or took to better callings.

One of my earliest undertakings was to have a good school-house erected, with a residence for the master and mistress, in the most central position I could fix on. By giving rewards and encouragements to the pupils, in a short time there was not a child on the property who did not attend school.

I consulted Emily, as also my uncle and Mr Hooker, as to how I could best prove my grat.i.tude to Captain and Mrs Davenport. They managed to place a sum to his credit at his banker's, in a way which prevented him from suspecting from whom it came. Shortly afterwards I found, from the way he spoke of the satisfactory addition to his fortune, he had no idea that I was the donor.

"Our great wish had been to give our dear Grace a finished education,"

observed Mrs Davenport. "She is already as well informed as most girls of her age, but probably a few accomplishments would be advantageous to her. With our increased income we can now afford to send her to a first-rate school. I have heard of one where the mistress is not only an accomplished lady, but a pious woman, who watches over the most important interests of her pupils, and from the account I have heard from the young ladies under her charge, I feel sure that Grace cannot fail to benefit by spending two or three years with her."

When Emily found that Grace was to go to school, she begged to accompany her. I had too many duties to perform to allow me to go to college, which I should otherwise have done, though already rather old, I fancied, for commencing a university career. I, however, through Mr Hooker, found a first-rate tutor, and during the time my sister and Grace were at school, I read hard every day with him. I found also his advice of great a.s.sistance in my efforts to improve the condition of the people committed to my charge.

Captain Davenport had not given up the sea entirely; but after making two or three successful voyages, he so improved his means, that he was able to retire and live on sh.o.r.e, where he obtained a lucrative employment.

He had some time before presented me with Merlin, who soon made himself at home in the house, though he never went far from it, evidently considering it, as the ship had been, under his especial charge.

Whenever he heard me narrating our adventures, he p.r.i.c.ked up his ears, as if he understood what was said, and wished to corroborate my account.

He lived to extreme old age, amiable and faithful to the last.

Emily, at length, having left school, came to reside with me, and preside over my establishment. I should have said that it was far less difficult to manage than in my cousin's time, as I had dismissed several of the footmen and grooms, as well as other useless hangers-on, who, I felt sure, benefited neither themselves nor me, by living lives of idleness. As may be supposed, Emily, who had grown into a beautiful young woman, had no want of admirers; but, to my surprise, she refused several excellent offers in succession.

"Why should I leave your house, my dear brother?" she answered, when one day I gently expostulated with her on the subject. "When you have a wife of your own, it will be time enough for me to do so; unless she wishes me to remain."

Soon after this, Oliver Farwell, who had generally spent his vacation with me, was ordained, and the inc.u.mbent of the chief living belonging to the property having died, I presented him to it, and he commenced a career of sympathising care over the flock committed to him, which soon endeared him to them, while he gained the love and respect of people of all denominations in the parish.

"It is a long time since the Davenports paid us a visit," I said to Emily one day. "Will you write and invite them? I am sure that you will be glad to have your old friend Grace with you."

I had not seen Grace for a long time, and I somehow or other always thought of her as the little girl who had been Emily's friend, and the daughter of our kind protector during our adventures in the Eastern Archipelago. I could scarcely believe my eyes when an elegant and refined young lady stepped out of the carriage which brought Captain and Mrs Davenport to my house. I had never thought of marrying; indeed, I had not been attracted by any of the young ladies in my immediate neighbourhood. When I saw Grace, however, and found her sweet, and amiable, and well-instructed, and refined, and right-minded, possessed indeed of all the qualities which should adorn a woman, new thoughts and feelings took possession of me, and I became convinced that no lady in the world was more calculated to add to my happiness than she was.

Still, I could not tell how her own feelings might be engaged. Perhaps Emily saw how things were going on, for one day she said to me--

"I do not think you need be afraid, Walter; and if you ask her, I shall be very much surprised if she refuses you."

Thereon, before many hours had pa.s.sed away, I spoke to Grace, and found that there was every prospect of all my hopes of happiness being realised.

"And, Emily," I said to her the next day, "will you confide to me the reason why you have refused so many good offers of marriage? I do not wish to get rid of you, and I am very certain that you would add greatly to Grace's happiness if you remain here."

"In that case," she answered, "I think it will be my duty, as well as pleasure, to remain your guest."

"That is not a categorical answer," I remarked. "Come, Emily, tell me, is there no one for whom you have more regard than for those unhappy gentlemen whom you refused?" I saw a gentle blush rise to her cheek.

"Well," I said, "I shall ask Oliver Farwell to come and stay here. He keeps away far more than there is any necessity for, as he can easily ride across the park to his vicarage, and equally well attend to his duties as he can when residing there."

"If Mr Farwell keeps away, he has probably good reason for doing so,"

answered Emily; "though, of course, you are welcome to ask him to come over here, if you like to do so. I greatly respect him, and I am sure whatever he does is from a right motive."

The following day I rode over to the vicarage, and pressed Oliver to come and stay with us, and help to entertain Captain and Mrs Davenport.

I saw he hesitated somewhat. Though he congratulated me sincerely on my prospect of marriage, he uttered an involuntary sigh as he ceased speaking. "I hope, my dear Oliver, that you may enjoy the same happiness yourself," I said. "I am very certain that the usefulness of a clergyman is greatly increased by the a.s.sistance of a suitable wife-- one who will sympathise with him in his unavoidable trials and disappointments, and who will attend to many of the cases of distress which he may find it difficult to manage." He looked grave, and then I thought he gave an inquiring glance up at my face. "Yes, Oliver," I said; "and I am sure if you can find a woman possessed of the qualities you desire, and her heart is disengaged, she is not likely to refuse to share your fortunes."

Before I left, Oliver had promised to come over that day to the hall.

Whatever Emily had intended to do, somehow or other before long Oliver found out that, should he make her an offer, she was not likely to refuse him.

The two marriages took place on the same day, and among those who were present were d.i.c.k Tarbox, Roger Trew, Potto Jumbo, and our old friend Macco--Merlin wearing a huge favour on this occasion. Macco, indeed, was installed soon afterwards as a butler at the vicarage; while Potto Jumbo became under-cook in my establishment, and soon, by his intelligence and attention, rose to be head-cook. d.i.c.k Tarbox and Roger Trew promised, when they gave up the sea, to come and settle down on my estate, and I pointed out the site where I would build two cottages for their accommodation.

My friends and I had gone through many trials and dangers together, and I believe we had all learned an important lesson from them,--to put implicit trust in a merciful G.o.d who watches over his creatures, who allows not a sparrow to fall to the ground unknown to him, who desires the happiness of all, and who has made the way plain and simple, having given us the most minute directions by which that happiness may be obtained.

THE END.