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Books: The King\'s Highway

G >> G. P. R. James >> The King\'s Highway




"My lord duke," he said, at length, "from what you say, I fear that
both Wilton and your grace have acted hastily; and I am pained at it
the more, because I believe that I myself am in some degree the cause
of all the misery that he now feels, and of all the grief which I can
clearly see is in the breast of this dear young lady. I have done
Wilton wrong, my lord, by a want of proper precaution and care--most
unintentionally and unknowingly; but still I have done him wrong,
which I fear may be irreparable. I must see, and endeavour, as far as
it is in my power, to remedy what has gone amiss; but whether I can,
or whether I cannot do so, I have determined to atone for my fault in
the only way that it is possible. The last heir in my family entail
is lately dead: my estates are at my own disposal. I have notified to
the King this day, that I have adopted Wilton Brown as my son and
heir; and his Majesty has been graciously pleased to promise that a
patent shall pass under the great seal, conveying to him my titles
and honours at my death. This is all that I know with certainty can
be done at present; but there may be more done hereafter, in regard
to which I will not enter at present; and oh! my lord," he continued,
seeing the Duke cast down his eyes in cold silence, "for my sake, for
Wilton's sake, for this young lady's sake, at all events suspend your
decision till we can see farther in this matter."

The Duke raised his eyes to his daughter's face, and yielded, though
but in a faint degree, to her imploring look.

"I will suspend my decision, my lord, at your request," he replied,
"if it will give you any pleasure. But Laura knows my opinion, and--"

"Nay, nay," said the Earl, "we will say no more upon the subject
then, at present, my lord: But as your grace has the order for your
liberation, and there can be no great pleasure in staying in this
place, perhaps your grace and Lady Laura will get into my carriage,
which is now in the court; and while your servants clear your
apartments, and proceed to make preparations at Beaufort House, I
trust you will take your supper at my poor dwelling. There I may have
an opportunity, my lord," he added, turning with a graceful bow to
the Duke, "of telling you, who are a politician, some great political
changes that are taking place, though I fear, that as I expect no
guests of any kind, and have hitherto preserved a strict incognito, I
shall have no way of entertaining this fair lady for the evening."

Laura shook her head with a melancholy air, but made no reply. The
Duke, however, was taken with the bait of political news, and
accepted the invitation, merely saying, "I take it for granted, my
lord, that Mr. Brown is not at your house."

"As far as I know," replied Lord Sunbury, "he is not aware of my
being in England. I came to seek him here, wishing to tell him
various matters; but up to this time, I have neither written to him,
nor heard from him, since I have been in this country. And now, my
lord," he continued, taking up the warrant from the table, "you had
better let me go and speak with the Governor's deputy here,
concerning this paper, and in five minutes I will be back, to conduct
you, at liberty, to my house."

Thus saying, he left them; and Lady Laura, certainly calmed and
comforted by his kindly manner, and the hopeful tone in which he
spoke, prepared with pleasure to go with him. Her father mentioned
Wilton's name no more; but gave some orders to his servant and, by
the time that they were ready to go, Lord Sunbury had returned with
the Lieutenant of the Governor, announcing that the gates of the
Tower were open to the Duke. The Earl then offered his hand to the
fair girl, and led her down to his carriage, saying in a low tone as
they went, "Fear not, my dear young lady; we shall find means to
soften your father in time."

After a long and tedious drive through the dull streets of London,
the carriage of the Earl of Sunbury stopped at the door of his house
in St. James's Square. None of his servants appeared yet in livery,
and the man who opened the door was his own valet. He seemed not a
little astonished at the sight of a lady and gentleman with his
master; and the Earl was as much surprised to hear loud voices from
the large dining-room on his left hand.

The Duke and Lady Laura, however, entered, and were passing on; but
the valet, as soon as he had closed the door, advanced and whispered
a few words to the Earl.

The Earl questioned him again in the same tone, put his hand for a
moment to his forehead, and then said, addressing the Duke, "There
are some persons up stairs, my lord duke, that we would rather you
did not see at this moment. I will speak to them for an instant, and
be down with you directly, if you will go into the dining-room. You
will there, I understand, find Lord Byerdale and his son, the latter
of whom, it seems, has come hither for my support and advice, and has
been followed by his father."

"But, my lord, my lord," said the Duke, "after Lord Byerdale's
conduct to myself--"

"Enter into no dispute with him till I come, my dear duke," said the
Earl--"I will be with you in one minute; and his lordship of Byerdale
will have quite sufficient to settle with me, to give occupation to
his thoughts for the rest of the evening. You may chance to see
triumphant villany rebuked--I wanted to have escaped the matter; but
since he has presumed to come into my house, I must take the task
upon myself."

The tone in which he spoke, and the expectation of what was to
follow, fixed the Duke's determination at once; and drawing the arm
of Lady Laura within his own, he followed the servant, who now threw
open the door to which Lord Sunbury pointed, and entered the
dining-room, while the Earl himself ascended the stairs.



CHAPTER XLVI.

A scene curious but yet painful presented itself to the eyes of Lady
Laura and her father on entering the dining-room of Lord Sunbury's
house. On the side of the room opposite to the door stood Lord
Sherbrooke, with his arms folded on his chest, his brow contracted,
his teeth firmly shut, his lips drawn close, and every feature but
the bright and flashing eye betokening a strong and vigorous struggle
to command the passions which were busy in his bosom. Seated at the
table, on which the young nobleman had laid down his sword, was his
beautiful wife, with her eyes buried in her hands, and no part of her
face to be seen but a portion of the cheek as pale as ashes, and the
small delicate ear glowing like fire. The sun was far to the westward,
and streaming in across the open space of the square, poured through
the window upon her beautiful form, which, even under the pressure of
deep grief, fell naturally into lines of the most perfect grace.

But the same evening light poured across also, and streamed full upon
the face and form of the Earl of Byerdale, who seemed to have totally
forgotten, in excess of rage, the calm command over himself which he
usually exercised even in moments of the greatest excitement. His lip
was quivering, his brow was contracted, his eye was rolling with
strong passion, his hand was clenched; and at the moment that Laura
and the Duke went round the table from the door towards the side of
the room on which were Lord Sherbrooke and his wife, the Earl was
shaking his clenched hand at his son, accompanying by that gesture of
wrath the most terrible denunciations upon his head.

"Yes, sir, yes!" he exclaimed. "I tell you my curse is upon you! I
divorce myself from your mother's memory! I cast you off, and
abandon you for ever! Think not that I will have pity upon you, when
I see your open-mouthed creditors swallowing you up living, and
dooming you to a prison for life. May an eternal curse fall upon me,
if ever I relieve you with a shilling even to buy you bread! See if
the man in whose house you have sought shelter--see if this Earl of
Sunbury, with whom, doubtless, you have been plotting your father's
destruction--see if this undermining politician, this diplomatic
mole, will give you means to pay your debts, or furnish you with
bread to feed yourself and your pretty companion there! No, sir, no!
Lead forth, to the beggary to which you have brought her, the
beggarly offspring of that runagate Jacobite! Lead her forth, and
with a train of babies at your heels, sing French ballads in the
streets to gain yourself subsistence.--You thought that I had no clue
to your proceedings. I fancied she was your mistress, and that
mattered little, for it is the only thing fitted for the beggarly
exile's daughter. But since she is your wife, look to it to provide
for her yourself!"

He must have heard somebody enter the room, but he turned not the
least in that direction, carried away by the awful whirlwind of his
fury. He was even still going on, without looking round; but it was a
woman's voice, the voice of a gentle, but noble-hearted woman that
stopped him. Lady Laura, the moment she entered the room, recognised
in the bending form of her who sat weeping and trembling at the
table, one who had been kind to her in danger and in terror, and the
first impulse was to go to her support. But when she heard the
insulting and gross words of the Earl of Byerdale, her spirit rose,
her heart swelled with indignation, and with courage, which she might
not have possessed in her own case, she turned full upon him,
exclaiming,--

"For shame, Earl of Byerdale!--for shame! This to a woman in a woman's
presence! If you have forgotten that you are a gentleman, have you
forgotten that you are a man?" And going quickly forward, she threw her
arm round the neck of the weeping girl, exclaiming, "Look up, dear
Caroline: look up, sweet lady! You are not without support! A friend is
near you!"

Lady Sherbrooke looked up, saw who it was, and instantly cast herself
upon her bosom.

The Earl of Byerdale turned his eyes from Laura to the Duke, evidently
confounded and surprised, and put his hand upon his brow, as if to
collect his thoughts. The next minute, however, he said, with a sneering
air, "Ha, pretty lady, is that you? Ha, my lord duke, have you escaped
from the Tower? You are somewhat early in your proceedings! Why, it
wants half an hour of night! But doubtless the impatient bridegroom was
eager to have all complete, and I have now to congratulate my Lady Laura
Brown upon her father's sudden enfranchisement, and her marriage with my
dear cousin's natural child. Ma'am, I am your most obedient, humble
servant. Duke, I congratulate you upon the noble alliance you have
formed. You come well, you come happily, to witness me curse that base
and degenerate boy. But it is a pity you did not bring the happy
bridegroom, Mr. Brown, that we might have two fine specimens of noble
alliances in one room."

"You are mistaken, sir," said the Duke furiously; "you are mistaken,
sir. Your villany is discovered; your base treachery has been told by a
man who was too honourable to take advantage of it, even for his own
happiness."

"Then, my lord duke," replied the Earl of Byerdale, "he is as great a
liar in this instance as you have proved yourself a fool in every one;
for he plighted me his word not to reveal anything till your safety was
secure."

"It is you, sir, are the liar!" replied the Duke, forgetting everything
in his anger, which was now raised to the highest pitch. "It is you,
sir, who are the liar, as you have been the knave throughout, and may
now prove to be the fool too!"

"Hush, hush!" exclaimed the voice of Lord Sherbrooke, raised to a loud
tone. "Remember, my lord duke, that he is still my father!"

"Sir!" exclaimed the Earl, turning first upon his son, "I am your father
no longer! For you, duke, I see how the matter has gone with this vile
and treacherous knave whom I have fostered! But as sure as I am Earl of
Byerdale--"

"You are so no longer!" said a voice beside him, and at the same moment
a strong muscular hand was laid upon his shoulder, with a grasp that he
could not shake off:

The Earl turned fiercely round, and laid his hand upon his sword; but
his eyes lighted instantly on the fine stern countenance of Colonel
Green, who keeping his grasp firmly upon the shoulder of the other, bent
his dark eyes full upon his face.

The whole countenance and appearance of him whom we have called the Earl
of Byerdale became like a withered flower. The colour forsook his cheeks
and his lips; he grew pale, he grew livid; his proud head sunk, his
knees bent, he trembled in every limb; and when Green, at length, pushed
him from him, saying in a loud tone and with a stern brow, "Get thee
from me, Harry Sherbrooke!" he sank into a chair, unable to speak, or
move, or support himself.

In the meantime, his son had cast his eyes upon the ground, and remained
looking downwards with a look of pain, but not surprise; while treading
close upon the steps of Colonel Green appeared Wilton Brown with the
Lady Helen Oswald clinging to rather than leaning on his arm, and the
Earl of Sunbury on her right hand.

Those who were most surprised in the room were certainly the Duke and
Lady Laura, for they had been suddenly made witnesses to a strange scene
without having any key to the feelings, the motives, or the actions of
the performers therein; and the Duke gazed with quite sufficient wonder
upon all he saw, to drown and overcome all feelings of anger at
beholding Wilton so unexpectedly in the house of the Earl of Sunbury.

For a moment or two after the stern gesture of Green, there was silence,
as if every one else were too much afraid or too much surprised to
speak; and he also continued for a short space gazing sternly upon the
man before him, as if his mind laboured with all that he had to say. It
was not, however, to the person whom his presence seemed entirely to
have blasted, that he next addressed himself.

"My Lord of Sunbury," he said, "you see this man before me, and you also
mark bow terrible to him is this sudden meeting with one whom he has
deemed long dead. When last we met, I left him on the shores of Ireland
after the battle of the Boyne, in which I took part and he did not. The
ship in which I was supposed to have sailed was wrecked at sea, and
every soul therein perished. But I had marked this man's eagerness to
make me quit my native land, in which I had great duties to perform, and
I never went to the vessel, in which if I had gone, I should have met a
watery grave. During the time that has since passed, he has enjoyed
wealth that belonged not to him, a title to which he had no claim. He
has raised himself to power and to station, and he has abused his power
and disgraced his station, till his King is weary of him, and his
country can endure him no longer. In the meanwhile, I have waited my
time; I have watched all his movements; I have heard of all the
inquiries he has set on foot to prove my death, and all the
investigations he instituted, when he found that the boy who was with me
had been set on shore again. I have given him full scope and licence to
act as he chose; but I have come at length, to wrest from him that which
is not his, and to strip him of a rank to which he has no claim.--Have
you anything to say, Harry Sherbrooke?" he continued, fixing his eye
upon him. "Have you anything to say against that which I advance?"

While he had been speaking, the other had evidently been making a
struggle to resume his composure and command over himself, and he now
gazed upon him with a fierce and vindictive look, but without attempting
to rise.

"I will not deny, Lennard Sherbrooke," he replied, "that I know you; I
will not even deny that I know you to be Earl of Byerdale. But I know
you also to be a proclaimed traitor and outlaw, having borne arms
against the lawful sovereign of these realms, subjected by just decree
to forfeiture and attainder; and I call upon every one here present to
aid me in arresting you, and you to surrender yourself, to take your
trial according to law!" "Weak man, give over!" replied the Colonel.
"All your schemes are frustrated, all your base designs are vain. You
writhe under my heel, like a crushed adder, but, serpent, I tell you,
you bite upon a file. First, for myself, I am not a proclaimed traitor;
but, pleading the King's full pardon for everything in which I may have
offended, I claim all that is mine own, my rights, my privileges, my
long forgotten name, even to the small pittance of inheritance, which,
in your vast accessions of property, you did not even scruple to grasp
at, and which has certainly mightily recovered itself under your careful
and parsimonious hand. But, nevertheless, though I claim all that is my
own, I claim neither the title nor the estates of Byerdale. Wilton, my
boy, stand forward, and let any one who ever saw or knew your gallant
and noble father, and your mother, who is now a saint in heaven, say if
they do not see in you a blended image of the two."

"He was his natural child! he was his natural child!" cried Henry
Sherbrooke, starting up from his seat. "I ascertained it beyond a doubt!
I have proof! I have proof!"

"Again, false man?--Again?" said Lennard Sherbrooke.

"Cannot shame keep you silent? You have no proof! You can have no
proof!--You found no proof of the marriage--granted; because care was
taken that you should not. But I have proof sufficient, sir. This lady,
whom I must call in this land Mistress Helen Oswald, though the late
King bestowed upon her father and herself a rank higher than that to
which she now lays claim, was present at the private marriage of her
sister to my brother, by a Protestant clergyman, before Sir Harry Oswald
ever quitted England. There is also the woman servant, who was present
likewise, still living and ready to be produced; and if more be wanting,
here is the certificate of the clergyman himself, signed in due form,
together with my brother's solemn attestation of his marriage, given
before he went to the fatal battle in which he fell. To possess yourself
of these papers, of the existence of which you yourself must have
entertained some suspicions, you used unjustifiable arts towards this
noble Earl of Sunbury, which were specious enough even to deceive his
wisdom; but I obtained information of the facts, and frustrated your
devices."

"Ay," said Harry Sherbrooke, "through my worthy son, doubtless, through
my worthy son, who, beyond all question, used his leisure hours in
reading, privately, his father's letters and despatches, for the great
purpose of making that father a beggar!"

"I call Heaven to witness!" exclaimed the young gentleman, clasping his
hands together eagerly. But Lord Sunbury interposed.

"No, sir," he said, "your son needed no such arts to learn that fact, at
least; for even before I sent over the papers to you which you demanded,
I wrote to your son, telling him the facts, in order to guard against
their misapplication. Unfortunate circumstances prevented his receiving
my letter in time to answer me, which would have stopped me from sending
them. He communicated the fact, however, to Colonel Sherbrooke, and the
result has been their preservation."

The unfortunate man was about to speak again; but Lord Sunbury waved his
hand mildly, saying, "Indeed, my good sir, it would be better to utter
no more of such words as we have already heard from you. Should you be
inclined to contest rights and claims which do not admit of a doubt, it
must be in another place and not here. You will remember, however, that
were you even to succeed in shaking the legitimacy of my young friend,
the Earl of Byerdale here present, which cannot by any possibility be
done, you would but convey the title and estates to his uncle, Colonel
Sherbrooke, to whose consummate prudence, in favour of his nephew, it is
now owing that these estates, having been suffered to rest for so many
years in your hands, no forfeiture has taken place, which must have been
the case if he had claimed them for his nephew before this period.
Whatever be the result, you lose them altogether. But I am happy that it
is in my power," he added, advancing towards him whom we have hitherto
called Lord Sherbrooke, "to say that this reverse will not sink your
family in point of fortune so much as might, be imagined. That, sir, is
spared to you, by your son's marriage with this young lady."

Caroline started up eagerly from the table, gazing with wild and joyful
eyes in the face of Lord Sunbury, and exclaiming, "Have you, have you
accomplished it?"

"Yes, my dear young lady, I have," replied Lord Sunbury.

"The King, in consideration of the old friendship which subsisted
between your father and himself, in youthful days, before political
strifes divided them, has granted that the estate yet unappropriated
shall be restored to you, on two conditions, one of which is already
fulfilled--your marriage with an English Protestant gentleman, and the
other, which doubtless you will fulfil, residence in this country, and
obedience to the laws. He told me to inform you that he was not a man to
strip the orphan. You will thus have competence, happy, liberal
competence."

Her husband pressed Caroline to his bosom for a moment. But he then
walked round the table, approached his father, and kissed his hand,
saying, in a low voice, "My lord, let a repentant son be at least happy
in sharing all with his father."

For once in his life his father was overcome, and bending down his head
upon son's neck, he wept.

Lord Sunbury gazed around him for a moment; but then turning to Lady
Helen Oswald, he said, "I have much to say to you, but it must be in
private. Nevertheless, even now, let me say that your motives have been
explained to me; that I understand them; that she who could sacrifice
her heart's best affections to a parent in exile, in poverty, in
sickness, and in sorrow, has a greater claim than ever upon the heart of
every noble man. You have, of old, deeper claims on mine, and by the
ring upon this finger, by the state of solitude in which my life has
been passed, you may judge that those claims have not been
forgotten--Helen?" he added, taking her hand in his.

The Lady Helen turned her head away, with a cheek that was glowing
deeply; but her hand was not withdrawn, and the fingers clasped upon
those of Lord Sunbury.

The Earl smiled brightly. "And now, my lord duke," he said, "I besought
your lordship about an hour ago to suspend your decision upon a point of
great importance. Did I do right?"

"My lord," answered the Duke, gaily, "I hope I am not too quick this
time; but my decision is already made. Wilton, my dear boy, take
her--take her--I give her to you with my whole heart!"