Sybil, or the Two Nations Part 44

"It does," said Mr Hatton.

"A respectable firm would hardly embark in such a proceeding without some show of pretext," said Lord de Mowbray.

"Hardly," said Mr Hatton.

"But what can they have?" urged his Lordship.

"What indeed!" said Mr Hatton. "Mr Walter Gerard without his pedigree is a mere flash in the pan; and I defy him to prove anything without the deed of '77."

"Well, he has not got that," said Lord de Mowbray.

"Safe, of course?" said Mr Hatton.

"Certain. I almost wish I had burnt it as well as the whole box-full."

"Destroy that deed and the other muniments, and the Earl de Mowbray will never be Baron Valence," said Mr Hatton.

"But what use are these deeds now?" said his lordship. "If we produce them, we may give a colour to this fellow's claim."

"Time will settle his claim," said Mr Hatton; "it will mature yours. You can wait."

"Alas! since the death of my poor boy--"

"It has become doubly important. Substantiate the barony, it will descend to your eldest daughter, who, even if married, will retain your name. Your family will live, and enn.o.bled. The Fitz-Warenes Lords Valence will yield to none in antiquity; and as to rank, as long as Mowbray Castle belongs to them, the revival of the earldom is safe at the first coronation, or the first ministry that exists with a balanced state of parties."

"That is the right view of the case," said Lord de Mowbray; "and what do you advise?"

"Be calm, and you have nothing to fear. This is the mere revival of an old claim, too vast to be allowed to lapse from desuetude. Your doc.u.ments you say are all secure?"

"Be sure of that. They are at this moment in the muniment room of the great tower of Mowbray Castle; in the same iron box and in the same cabinet they were deposited--"

"When, by placing them in your hands," said Mr Hatton finishing a sentence which might have been awkward, "I had the extreme satisfaction of confirming the rights and calming the anxieties of one of our ancient houses. I would recommend your lordship to instruct your lawyers to appear to this writ as a matter of course. But enter into no details, no unnecessary confidence with them. They are needless. Treat the matter lightly, especially to them. You will hear no more of it."

"You feel confidence?"

"Perfect. Walter Gerard has no doc.u.ments of any kind. Whatever his claim might be, good or bad, the only evidence that can prove his pedigree is in your possession and the only use to which it ever will be put, will be in due time to seat your grandson in the House of Lords."

"I am glad I called upon you," said Lord Mowbray.

"To be sure. Your lordship can speak to me without reserve, and I am used to these start-ups. It is part of the trade; but an old soldier is not to be deceived by such feints."

"Clearly a feint, you think?"

"A feint! a feint."

"Good morning. I am glad I have called. How goes on my friend Sir Vavasour?"

"Oh! I shall land him at last."

"Well, he is an excellent, neighbourly, man. I have a great respect for Sir Vavasour. Would you dine with me, Mr Hatton, on Thursday? It would give me and Lady de Mowbray great pleasure."

"Your lordship is extremely kind," said Mr Hatton bowing with a slight sarcastic smile, "but I am an hermit."

"But your friends should see you sometimes," said Lord de Mowbray.

"Your lordship is too good, but I am a mere man of business and know my position. I feel I am not at home in ladies' society."

"Well then come to-morrow: I am alone, and I will ask some persons to meet you whom you know and like,--Sir Vavasour and Lord Shaftesbury and a most learned Frenchman who is over here--a Vicomte de Narbonne, who is very anxious to make your acquaintance. Your name is current I can tell you at Paris."

"Your lordship is too good; another day: I have a great pressure of affairs at present."

"Well, well; so be it. Good morning, Mr Hatton."

Hatton bowed lowly. The moment the door was shut, rubbing his hands, he said, "In the same box and in the same cabinet: the muniment room in the great tower of Mowbray Castle! They exist and I know their whereabouts.

I'll have 'em."

Book 4 Chapter 14.

Two and even three days had rolled over since Mr Tadpole had reported Sir Robert on his way to the palace, and marvellously little had transpired. It was of course known that a cabinet was in formation, and the daily papers reported to the public the diurnal visits of certain n.o.ble lords and right honourable gentlemen to the new first minister.

But the world of high politics had suddenly become so cautious that nothing leaked out. Even gossip was at fault. Lord Marney had not received the Buckhounds, though he never quitted his house for ride or lounge without leaving precise instructions with Captain Grouse as to the identical time he should return home, so that his acceptance should not be delayed. Ireland was not yet governed by the Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine, and the Earl de Mowbray was still ungartered. These three distinguished n.o.blemen were all of them anxious--a little fidgetty; but at the same time it was not even whispered that Lord Rambrooke or any other lord had received the post which Lord Marney had appropriated to himself; nor had Lord Killcroppy had a suspicious interview with the prime minister, which kept the Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine quiet though not easy; while not a shadow of coming events had glanced over the vacant stall of Lord Ribbonville in St George's Chapel, and this made Lord de Mowbray tranquil, though scarcely content. In the meantime, daily and hourly they all pumped Mr Tadpole, who did not find it difficult to keep up his reputation for discretion; for knowing nothing, and beginning himself to be perplexed at the protracted silence, he took refuge in oracular mystery, and delivered himself of certain Delphic sentences which adroitly satisfied those who consulted him while they never committed himself.

At length one morning there was an odd whisper in the circle of first initiation. The blood mantled on the cheek of Lady St Julians; Lady Deloraine turned pale. Lady Firebrace wrote confidential notes with the same pen to Mr Tadpole and Lord Masque. Lord Marney called early in the morning on the Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine, and already found Lord de Mowbray there. The clubs were crowded even at noon. Everywhere a mysterious bustle and an awful stir.

What could be the matter? What has happened?

"It is true," said Mr Egerton to Mr Berners at Brookes'.

"Is it true?" asked Mr Jermyn of Lord Valentine at the Canton.

"I heard it last night at Crockford's," said Mr Ormsby; "one always hears things there four-and-twenty hours before other places."

The world was employed the whole of the morning in asking and answering this important question "Is it true?" Towards dinner time, it was settled universally in the affirmative, and then the world went out to dine and to ascertain why it was true and how it was true.

And now what really had happened? What had happened was what is commonly called a "hitch." There was undoubtedly a hitch somewhere and somehow; a hitch in the construction of the new cabinet. Who could have thought it?

The whig ministers it seems had resigned, but somehow or other had not entirely and completely gone out. What a const.i.tutional dilemma?

The Houses must evidently meet, address the throne, and impeach its obstinate counsellors. Clearly the right course, and party feeling ran so high, that it was not impossible that something might be done. At any rate, it was a capital opportunity for the House of Lords to pluck up a little courage and take what is called, in high political jargon, the initiative. Lord Marney at the suggestion of Mr Tadpole was quite ready to do this; and so was the Duke of Fitz-Aquitaine, and almost the Earl de Mowbray.

But then when all seemed ripe and ready, and there appeared a probability of the "Independence of the House of Lords" being again the favourite toast of conservative dinners, the oddest rumour in the world got about, which threw such a ridicule on these great const.i.tutional movements in petto, that even with the Buckhounds in the distance and Tadpole at his elbow, Lord Marney hesitated. It seemed, though of course no one could for a moment credit it, that these wrong-headed, rebellious ministers who would not go out, wore--petticoats!

And the great Jamaica debate that had been cooked so long, and the anxiously expected, yet almost despaired of, defection of the independent radical section, and the full-dressed visit to the palace that had gladdened the heart of Tadpole--were they all to end in this?

Was Conservatism, that mighty mystery of the nineteenth century--was it after all to be brained by a fan!

Since the farce of the "Invincibles" nothing had ever been so ludicrously successful.

Lady Deloraine consoled herself for the "Bedchamber Plot" by declaring that Lady St Julians was indirectly the cause of it, and that had it not been for the antic.i.p.ation of her official entrance into the royal apartments the conspiracy would not have been more real than the Meal-tub plot or any other of the many imaginary machinations that still haunt the page of history, and occasionally flit about the prejudiced memory of nations. Lady St Julians on the contrary wrung her hands over the unhappy fate of her enthralled sovereign, deprived of her faithful presence and obliged to put up with the society of personages of whom she knew nothing and who called themselves the friends of her youth.