The Eve of All-Hallows Volume Ii Part 13

The d.u.c.h.ess again, however, ineffectually renewed her solicitations, yet with no more success than before, and concluded, as she thought, with the unanswerable climax of her appeal: "Oh, think, my dearest Adelaide, how very agreeable the union would prove to the wishes and desires of the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel, which so fully respond to my own!"

Adelaide, as soon as an opportunity presented, promptly availed herself of it, arose, bade the d.u.c.h.ess farewell, and departed homeward.

Upon her return she was met by her father, who conducted her into his library, and addressed her thus:--

"D'Aremberg has been here this morning while you were absent, my love, with his mother, and he has made a proposition to us that has met with decided approbation from both your mother and from me. The duke has offered you his hand, and places his coronet and estates, which are princely, Adelaide, at your feet! He is in every respect worthy of you, descended as he is from a brave and n.o.ble race of ancestry, from which indeed he has not degenerated. Young, valiant, generous, and n.o.ble--and although bred in the camp, yet is his mind stored with the learning of ancient Greece and Rome; he is an adept in modern languages; and as to his personal accomplishments and appearance, fame hath bruited it afar, that fair ladies fully feel their force wherever d'Aremberg presents himself. What says my Adelaide to this proposal?"

"Often and often, my dear father, have I heard you, and my mother likewise, say, 'let no young woman ever give her hand in holy wedlock who cannot also give her heart; if she gives her hand unaccompanied with her heart, from that moment let her date the commencement of a wretched life.' Now, dearest father, I cannot give my heart to the duke, and therefore I consider that it would be dishonourable in me to give my hand alone! I know well that it may be urged against me what and how much I relinquish by this refusal--the elevated rank of a d.u.c.h.ess, a splendid fortune, and all the _accessoires_ of high rank. Yes, I abandon all these, most willingly relinquish them all!"

"Ay, sage Adelaide," severely said the duke, "_all_ for a stranger!"

"Not so, my dear father! the Bruce is no stranger. His rank?--he who preserved my father's life amid the rage of battle, surely cannot be a stranger! Grat.i.tude and honour forbid it!--it is impossible. He too is descended from a brave and royal race--the blood of kings pulsates in his veins. I shall be silent on all the n.o.ble qualifications he possesses; those that run may read them. And I will not, I confess, blush when I say that I love the man who preserved your valuable life, and that upon him my hopes, my happiness, my future fortune in life depend! I feel, most duly and deeply feel, honoured by the duke's proposal; however, I respectfully, yet decidedly decline it."

"Indeed!!--So young, yet so determined too!"

"I would not, my Lord, be the daughter of the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel were I to waver, or act irresolutely."

"I see most clearly, Adelaide, how matters stand--'_All for love, or the world well lost!_' In a word, your heart is pre-engaged. The Bruce!"

"I will not, my dearest father, deceive you. I cannot, I shall not deny it. My heart is truly engaged; and my affections are placed upon one who is every way deserving of them, even were my rank higher than it is."

"Have you ever, my child, observed a settled gloom which at times damps the l.u.s.tre of the Bruce's eye, and desolates his n.o.ble features? This your mother and I have at times observed. You, doubtless, saw it not, too much enamoured to make the discovery. But I have no manner of hesitation in thinking, and declaring as my opinion, that Bruce has a secret sorrow at heart;--and one day indeed, I must observe to you, that your mother discovered him in tears."

"Oh, my dear father, it was only love--retired, sincere, and unpretending love!--Surely I have wept often myself. But then they were rather tears of joy to reflect, when finally your objections and mamma's were overcome, how blest, how happy I should be, united to the Bruce!"

"I perceive, Adelaide, when it is too late, that I have only to condemn myself for the incautious and imprudent introduction of Sir David Bruce."

"Not so, my dear father, I saw and loved him before your introduction--loved him at first sight! The declaration is strange, but it is true. I know not how it was, but yet I know so it is, and I honestly confess my weakness."

"And for this thy love at first sight!--this childish offspring of an enthusiast's brain!--you seem fully resolved to relinquish the n.o.blest connexion in Belgium, of which princesses might be proud--a warrior duke, descended from a long enn.o.bled line of ancestry, his suit denied, and the preference given to a stranger! Monstrous!--not to be endured.

Oh, such a d.a.m.ning fact ought not to have been disclosed to a father's ear!"

"Oh, dear Sir, say not so. Not to be disclosed to a father's ear!--Oh, then, pray Sir, to whom should I disclose it, if not to the ear of my parent? Ought I not hope to find in his bosom a friend, a counsellor, adviser, and protector; in a word, a father! You saw, Sir--you must have seen, that I was beloved by the Bruce; and I had not the art to disguise that I met, that I returned his love. Time was, when a child, as I well remember, when you oft carried me on your shoulder, and took me upon your lap: 'My Adelaide,' you then were wont to say, 'you should ever consider your parents as your best friends, the most interested in your welfare beyond all the world besides. Oh, never look upon them as tyrants or oppressors; the tie of affection between a child and its parents, from continued affection, is stronger even than the filial bonds of nature herself. In doubt or distress, therefore, ever look up to and consult your mother and me as your natural protectors and advisers, in weal or in woe, as your sincerest friends, rest you convinced, that you have upon earth; and be sure to take no decided step whatever without consulting us, as you shall ever most cordially receive, and candidly too, the best advice of your mother and me, and always be a.s.sured of the warmth of the affection of both your parents.'

Now, my dear father, have I forgotten this advice? say rather intently I have treasured up all these sayings in my heart, freshly stamped and impressed, as if it were only yesterday that you had p.r.o.nounced them.

Rest a.s.sured, dearest Sir, of this, that I shall never do a clandestine act; and when thus I solemnly pledge myself to my parents never to marry without _their consent_, oh, surely they will not--they could not be so severe or so unjust as to require me to submit without my own!--more especially when my heart is wholly disinclined--nay, and more, dislikes, and wholly refuses a.s.sent. Say, should I hold forth my hand, dear and honoured father, when my heart rejects, if not hates! Oh, say would it not be most base and dishonourable; nay, more--it would be--(horrible to reflect on!) it would be lying and prevaricating at the altar of G.o.d; and there solemnly, but falsely, declaring that I would 'love, honour, and obey' a man, however high his rank and great his worth, still that I never loved, nor ever can love! No, no--a lie p.r.o.nounced at the altar of heaven!----I cannot do it!"

"Oh, my dearest Adelaide, indeed thou art my child--flesh of my flesh, and blood of my blood. Believe me then, and despond not, my dearest daughter, no aspiration to add to your rank or to increase your fortune against your consent, shall ever again influence your mother or me. Come then, my beloved, to thy father's arms, and never again shall our opinions clash in collision. I glory in the name of father, when I count that Adelaide is mine own dearest daughter; yea my only one! think then no more, my dearest child, of what has gone past. I promise you solemnly that you shall never again be teased or solicited upon this topic, so think of what has pa.s.sed but as the idle fantasy of a frightful dream!"

This eventful day appeared to the much-dejected Adelaide as the longest and most wearisome she had witnessed in the annals of her life. Although still she deeply suffered, and succ.u.mbed beneath the ban of exile from her native land and home, Adelaide likewise had deeply felt her pride wounded to the very core at the outlawry and attainder of her parents.

More perplexing still yet seemed those moments of trial which now had arrived, when Adelaide had to encounter and oppose the opinions of a parent, in which, although completely triumphant, yet still her success gave her pain, but not joy. And although the day ended, as happily it did, in reconciliation, yet it had commenced in the not-to-be-mistaken tone of high and angry displeasure.

Quite overcome, from thus differing so widely in opinion from those she deeply regarded, oppressed with a quick and fevered pulse, and a frame sadly exhausted, Adelaide gladly retired to repose, mentally exclaiming, as she departed to her chamber,

----"Husband! wife!

There is some holy mystery in those names, That sure the unmarried cannot understand."

CHAPTER XI.

At tibi inesse videns cunctarum ANTVERPIA, dotes, Atque alias decoris parte vigere tui; Jam Famae Credo, nec Credo; protinus inquit, Praesens quam Specto, dixerat illa minus.

Ergo tu Belgis, quod Vasta Lutetia Gallis, Anglis Londinum, Roma quod est Italis."

JACOBUS EYCKIUS.

LETTER III.

THE d.u.c.h.eSS OF TYRCONNEL TO MRS. CARTWRIGHT.

_Dated_, Antwerp, _June, 169_--

MY DEAR MADAM,

"Here we are at length arrived; we have been in this city a week, and keep our head quarters at the Golden Lion, one of their princ.i.p.al inns, where we are most agreeably and comfortably accommodated.

"Long since, indeed, had we planned and intended visiting this former capital of Flanders, 'the Merchant City,' whose wealth once resembled ancient Tyre, 'whose merchants were princes, whose traffickers were the honourable of the earth!'[46] But alas, how fallen is this even still magnificent city from its pristine state of grandeur, opulence, and population! that I should be inclined to apostrophize it in the words of Jeremiah, 'How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become a widow!--she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces!'

[46] Isaiah, chap. 23, ver. 8.

"We had indeed long intended and projected a visit to this ancient, interesting, and magnificent city; but that which is of easy performance, what is in our daily power to execute, how often do we delay and procrastinate to perform? So that too frequently in human life such intentions are rarely or never accomplished!

"Our mode of travelling from Brussels to this city was by the Trekschuit, (_literally draw-boat_,) or pa.s.sage boat, which is drawn by two horses; it was, in sooth, a most stately and magnificent barge which conveyed us, with a handsomely furnished cabin beneath; the upper part of the deck, appropriated for the _gens de condition_, was ornamented with a tasteful awning of white and gold trellice work; the canopy which surrounded it intended alike to keep aloof rain or sunshine. The whole of this splendid barge was gilt, and most tastefully decorated; while at the prow the Belgic lion (the armorial bearing of Flanders) blazed forth in burnished gold, flinging its splendid image upon the bosom of the waters as majestically it moved along its watery way.

I must indeed say that it strongly reminded me of the beautiful pa.s.sage in our immortal bard of Avon, where he describes, with so much poetic force and fire, the progress of Cleopatra sailing down the river Cydnus. But pray, I beseech you, do not think that I conceive the duke to be Marc Antony, no more than I compare myself to Cleopatra, although our stately barge reminded me of hers!

'The barge she sat in, like a burnished throne, Burn'd on the water; the p.o.o.p was beaten gold! &c.'

At the further end of the vessel, from the awning of the Trekschuit, were stationed a band of minstrels, who, upon the bell having been rung to announce our departure, right merrily commenced the harmony of sweet sounds, repeating songs and glees, accompanied by musical instruments, every half hour, which fully broke the monotony of our voyage, rendered so agreeable by such sweet melody as to shorten apparently the distance from Brussels to Antwerp. And as to our dinner, which we had piping hot and excellent, in the cabin below, Sir Patricius Placebo, who is quite _au fait_ on such occasions, loudly exclaimed, (and he is indeed, accredit me, my good friend, by no means an indifferent judge,) 'I vow, 'fore Jove,' said he, 'the dinner was excellent, every thing in its kind was good, the wines excellent, and saving and except at the duke's mansion in the _Rue Ducale_, he had,' he avowed, 'not partaken of so delicious a dinner since his _sejo?r_ in Flanders!'

"This he concluded, of course, with his never failing favourite Greek quotation--

'DOSS MOI, TANE STIGMEN!'

and his accustomed chorus: 'Ha, humph!--Ha, hum!'

"Although diminished in her population, and depressed in her commerce, Antwerp is still a n.o.ble city. You need not, however, my dear friend, apprehend that I shall enter into a critical detail, which fault I am rather apprehensive (although your kindness expresses the contrary) I have already committed in my two former letters, which have engrossed too much of your time and attention, by my elaborate description of other cities; but believe me truly that in what now I write, I shall be both brief and sententious in this rapid sketch which I am about to undertake:--

"The view of Antwerp, seen by the intervention of the river Scheldt, is extremely imposing and magnificent, its numerous domes, cupolas, palaces, and spires, and towering above all, over town and tide, the exalted spire of _Notre Dame_, the finest in the world, strikes the spectator with awe and admiration. This venerable city was once the emporium and the envy of all Europe; but now, alas! solemn, gloomy silence, pervades her splendid, s.p.a.cious, but unfrequented streets; the busy hum of men no more is heard amid her deserted stately palaces, and silent and solitary that n.o.ble exchange,[47] where once were congregated the most wealthy merchants of the world!

[47] Sir Thomas Gresham took the model, or plan, of the Royal Exchange, London, from _La Bourse_ of Antwerp.

"You may possibly have heard of the well known and authenticated fact of a wealthy merchant of this city, by name Jean Deans, who n.o.bly supplied the emperor Charles V. with the immense loan of two millions of money; the merchant then prepared a magnificent banquet, which he gave upon the emperor's self-invitation; when the magnificent merchant, at the termination of the repast, flinging the bond into a spicy conflagration of cinnamon, exclaimed the meanwhile--'I feel, Sire, sufficiently repaid by the honour which your Majesty has so graciously this day conferred upon me; fire has cancelled the imperial obligation. However, Sire, I am _your_ debtor now, which I ever shall remain, for the honour which your Majesty has this day conferred on me!'

"Antwerp has produced such an host of ill.u.s.trious men, that to enumerate all would truly prove a tiresome task. The names of Bomberg, Plantin, and Moretus, are identified with the art of printing. Antwerp also gave birth to Grammaye, the historian; to Teniers, the Proteus of his art; to Sneyders; and likewise to Jordaens; while the mighty names of Rubens[48] and Vand.y.k.e fling a halo of glory around the ancient city of Antwerp.

[48] Rubens was born at Cologne, but his parents were natives of Antwerp, whom civil war had caused to retire from Brabant to Cologne.