The Eve of All-Hallows Volume Ii Part 15

The shaft duly struck its intended mark, and the duke evidently seemed pleased, for flattery, although, generally speaking, it is often rather coa.r.s.ely served up,

"Yet oft we find that men of wit still condescend to pick a bit."

The moment so important to Sir Patricius had now arrived--the time of dinner. The castle clock chimed forth the second hour, the baronet's eye sparkling with delight as he beheld the long extended commissary train of eatable artillery enter the _salle de manger_; many an ahem! and

DOSS MOI TANE STIGMEN!

were exultingly e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed forth when the dinner was duly arranged; and with delight he beheld the delicious banquet that lay before him, while gladly he observed the numerous delicacies which were duly recorded in his _carte du jour_, along with the choicest wines, from _Malvoisie de Madere_ to "imperial Tokay." Various choice _hors d'oeuvres_ were served up, and succeeded by a splendid course of _entremets_, which concluded with a grand dessert.

Since the royal times of the Dukes of Brabant such an entertainment had not been witnessed in Tervuren Castle.

But there were luxuries this day produced which are not to be found in the _carte du jour_ of either the famous _restaurateurs_ Very, or Beauvillier, or at the celebrated _Rocher de Cancale_ of modern Paris: _videlicet_--ortolan pies, the celebrated _pates des foies gross_[52] of Strasburgh, and the no less famed _pates a croute de seigle des perdreaux rouges aux truffes_, the far-famed Perigord pies, made of the red-legged partridge, and constructed by the confectionary skill and tact of the scientific _pattissiers_ of Perigeux, the capital of the province of Perigord, in France,[53] a luxury well known, and often sent as acceptable presents to peers and princes.

[52] These pies are made from the large liver of a goose. The means taken to cause the enlargement of the liver of the victim are too cruel and horribly disgusting to detail.

[53] Now in the department of Dordogne.

The worthy baronet paid every attention and respect to his honoured guests, and received much praise for a banquet so _recherche_, but it was the opinion of all that it was quite too _magnifique_, and totally out of character both with time and place.

The repast concluded, the ducal party sallied forth to enjoy their favourite walk in the delightful groves and gardens of Tervuren; and entering a summer-house they were agreeably surprised once more with the unceasing attention of Sir Patricius, for they here found tea, coffee, refreshments, fruits, liqueurs, &c., all ready for their acceptance. So soon as tea was over they again resumed their promenade. It was a charming summer evening in the beginning of June, the sky was clear and serene, the leaves of the surrounding forest were unruffled by a breath of air, the very zephyrs seemed at rest; the silent lake lulled to repose, presented, as in a mirror, each object deeply and distinctly reflected on its gla.s.sy surface; it seemed great Nature's holiday; while enraptured with delight they listened to the shrill mellow warbling of the nightingale, increased by the silence of the scene, and the tranquillity of the evening.

Upon this happy afternoon, enjoyed so rationally amid the tranquil secluded grounds and pleasure parks of the once royal castle of Tervuren, Lady Adelaide and Sir David Bruce, having been left aloof from the party, had taken a seat in one of the numerous summer-bowers which adorned the grounds, and in the day-time afforded shelter from the burning blaze of a Belgic sun, where, while the nightingale sweetly sung, Adelaide said, with a cheerful smile, "My dearest Bruce will not surely prove jealous if for a moment forgetting him, (for it could only be for a moment,") she added, with emphasis, "that here I pay the homage of _my_ song to the sweet nightingale, the nightly songster of the grove; the lark is the sunny bird of morn, but the sweetly plaintive nightingale is exclusively the minstrel of the night!"

"Oh, no--oh, no, my dearest, my beloved Adelaide! come, pray, produce thy tablets, for I too am as much enraptured as thou canst be, with this sweet vocal minstrel of the night!"

"As soon done as said;--see, here they are, and accept them, for they are yours;--if they should please my dearest Bruce, I am fully repaid!"

ADDRESS TO THE NIGHTINGALE.

I.

Welcome, melodious nightingale!

Whose warbling thrills thro' wood and dale; Still lonely songster of the night, Thy enchanted strains delight Every list'ner's charmed ear, Melodious minstrel, thee to hear!

II.

Again repeat thy vesper song, Echoed these silent woods among; For ever here I'd fondly stay, And gladly listen to thy lay.

Is it the force of love so strong That pours thy woodland notes along?

Or say, the thrill of lost delight That swells thy song at dismal night!

Whate'er, or grief, or love, be giv'n, It sounds like choral peal from heav'n.

III.

Sing on, then sweetest songster dear, Oh still arrest the charmed ear!

Through Soignies' wood Tervuren's grove, Still chant the elegies of love!

"Thanks, my Adelaide, for thy sweet verses, I like them much, very much indeed, with the exception, perhaps, of the last line, _the elegies of love_; pray, my dear, you leave such _larmoyante_ lucubrations to the Hero and Leander of romance, or to their own Ovid; but, oh, let all _his_ 'FASTI' [i. e. festivals] be thine! while succeeding years shall be noted with chalk in the bright calendar of thy days! _Felices ter et amplius essint!_--'The elegies of love!' Why thou fain then believest, my Adelaide, that poor Philomela, as the tuneful Maro wrote,[54] pours forth her nightly plaint, and although she so sweetly sings, yet still thou fanciest the thorn of the rose rankles in her breast, while she renews at eve her melancholy song!"

[54] Qualis populea moerens Philomela, &c.

VIRG. GEOR. 1. IV.

"Such, at least, was the opinion of the poets. But come, Sir David, let us hasten to join our friends, who will wonder what hath become of us."

They now rejoined the duke and d.u.c.h.ess, and the carriages and horses having been brought out, they set forth on their return to fair Brussels.

But, alas! according to the Flemish proverb,

"Alle wereldsch Goedaardig is Vergankelyk!"

All worldly good is fleeting and transitory! as we now have but too just occasion to ill.u.s.trate by facts. The ducal party had scarcely entered upon the road, which is flanked by the thickest and most densely wooded part of Soignies forest, the stillness of the solitude disturbed only by the horse tramps, and the rolling of the duke's carriages, when, upon the sudden, a shrill and loud re-echoing whistle issued from the forest, and was instantly chorused by a number of harsh voices fiercely crying _hui, hieu, huit_; when, almost instantly, a troop of armed hors.e.m.e.n, unquestionably banditti, collecting from different points, thundered in full gallop to where the signal was sounded. The banditti amounted in number to about eleven or twelve, so far indeed as observation could be made amid the darkness of the night, which was then setting in, and increased by the deep and gloomy shadows of the surrounding forest; the confusion too and terror caused by this unexpected appearance, increased by the clamorous screams, and the many females who fainted, at the approaching conflict, which was now beyond a doubt. The banditti came up in full gallop, and forming into ranks, advanced within a few paces of the cavalcade, and intercepting its progress, presented their petronels[55] full-c.o.c.ked; and one, the leader no doubt, meanwhile fiercely exclaiming in Stentorian voice, '_Basta senors, basta senors!_'

then pulling the triggers, discharged their petronels. Opposed to them were the n.o.ble company on horseback, and the attending footmen and outriders; these were only armed with long horse-pistols, which, however, told full well, for Sir David Bruce valiantly brought down a brace of the banditti, who soon cowered to earth. The duke wounded two others, who were with difficulty removed. Sir Patricius, albeit, who would have preferred an old acquaintanceship with his Carolus' snuff-box at this hour, was equally as successful.

[55] Petronel was a small gun used by the cavalry.

However, we are indeed sorry to narrate that Sir David Bruce was thrown from his horse in consequence of excessive pain which he suffered from a wound received in his right shoulder from a ball fired from one of the petronels of the banditti.

It was all a dreadful scene of noise, darkness, confusion, and distress! The d.u.c.h.ess, Adelaide, and the Ladies Let.i.tia and Lucy, were infinitely alarmed; but the nieces of the d.u.c.h.ess d'Aremberg fainted, and it was some time before they could be restored to animation.

Fortunately at this critical point of time a patrole of _Gens d'Armes_ approached, who had been for some days in search of the said banditti, when instantly applying their rowels, with small ceremony, to the ribs of their steeds, the banditti fled, dispersing in every direction throughout the entanglements of the forest.

Sir David Bruce, who had received a severe gun-shot wound, was, without delay, placed in the same carriage with the d.u.c.h.ess and Lady Adelaide; every remedy that could on the instant be procured having been applied as styptics to stop the flowing of blood, and contrary to all his warm remonstrances; but we will not undertake to say that it was contrary to his inclination he was placed within the same carriage with Adelaide; the coachman was enjoined to proceed at a slow pace, the _Gens d'Armes_ meanwhile escorting them, nor quitted the cavalcade until they safely had entered Brussels by the Namur gate; whence ten minutes, or so, brought the ducal party, who had so lately enjoyed a scene of pleasure, so suddenly trans.m.u.ted into a scene of woe, to Tyrconnel house in the _Rue Ducale_.

END OF VOL. II.