St. Ronan's Well Page 34

  CHAPTER X.

  MEDIATION.

  --------So, begone! We will not now be troubled with reply; We offer fair, take it advisedly.

  _King Henry IV. Part I._

  It had been the purpose of Tyrrel, by rising and breakfasting early, toavoid again meeting Mr. Touchwood, having upon his hands a matter inwhich that officious gentleman's interference was likely to provetroublesome. His character, he was aware, had been assailed at the Spain the most public manner, and in the most public manner he was resolvedto demand redress, conscious that whatever other important concerns hadbrought him to Scotland, must necessarily be postponed to thevindication of his honour. He was determined, for this purpose, to godown to the rooms when the company was assembled at the breakfast hour,and had just taken his hat to set out, when he was interrupted by Mrs.Dods, who, announcing "a gentleman that was speering for him," usheredinto the chamber a very fashionable young man in a military surtout,covered with silk lace and fur, and wearing a foraging-cap; a dress nowtoo familiar to be distinguished, but which at that time was used onlyby geniuses of a superior order. The stranger was neither handsome norplain, but had in his appearance a good deal of pretension, and the cooleasy superiority which belongs to high breeding. On his part, hesurveyed Tyrrel; and, as his appearance differed, perhaps, from that forwhich the exterior of the Cleikum Inn had prepared him, he abatedsomething of the air with which he had entered the room, and politelyannounced himself as Captain Jekyl, of the ---- Guards, (presenting, atthe same time, his ticket.)

  "He presumed he spoke to Mr. Martigny?"

  "To Mr. Francis Tyrrel, sir," replied Tyrrel, drawing himselfup--"Martigny was my mother's name--I have never borne it."

  "I am not here for the purpose of disputing that point, Mr. Tyrrel,though I am not entitled to admit what my principal's information leadshim to doubt."

  "Your principal, I presume, is Sir Bingo Binks?" said Tyrrel. "I havenot forgotten that there is an unfortunate affair between us."

  "I have not the honour to know Sir Bingo Binks," said Captain Jekyl. "Icome on the part of the Earl of Etherington."

  Tyrrel stood silent for a moment, and then said, "I am at a loss to knowwhat the gentleman who calls himself Earl of Etherington can have to sayto me, through the medium of such a messenger as yourself, CaptainJekyl. I should have supposed that, considering our unhappyrelationship, and the terms on which we stand towards each other, thelawyers were the fitter negotiators between us."

  "Sir," said Captain Jekyl, "you are misunderstanding my errand. I amcome on no message of hostile import from Lord Etherington--I am awareof the connexion betwixt you, which would render such an officealtogether contradictory to common sense and the laws of nature; and Iassure you, I would lay down my life rather than be concerned in anaffair so unnatural. I would act, if possible, as a mediator betwixtyou."

  They had hitherto remained standing. Mr. Tyrrel now offered his guest aseat; and, having assumed one himself, he broke the awkward pause whichensued by observing, "I should be happy, after experiencing such a longcourse of injustice and persecution from your friend, to learn, even atthis late period, Captain Jekyl, any thing which can make me thinkbetter, either of him, or of his purpose towards me and towards others."

  "Mr. Tyrrel," said Captain Jekyl, "you must allow me to speak withcandour. There is too great a stake betwixt your brother and you topermit you to be friends; but I do not see it is necessary that youshould therefore be mortal enemies."

  "I am not my brother's enemy, Captain Jekyl," said Tyrrel--"I have neverbeen so--His friend I cannot be, and he knows but too well theinsurmountable barrier which his own conduct has placed between us."

  "I am aware," said Captain Jekyl, slowly and expressively, "generally,at least, of the particulars of your unfortunate disagreement."

  "If so," said Tyrrel, colouring, "you must be also aware with whatextreme pain I feel myself compelled to enter on such a subject with atotal stranger--a stranger, too, the friend and confidant of onewho----But I will not hurt your feelings, Captain Jekyl, but ratherendeavour to suppress my own. In one word, I beg to be favoured with theimport of your communication, as I am obliged to go down to the Spa thismorning, in order to put to rights some matters there which concern menearly."

  "If you mean the cause of your absence from an appointment with SirBingo Binks," said Captain Jekyl, "the matter has been alreadycompletely explained. I pulled down the offensive placard with my ownhand, and rendered myself responsible for your honour to any one whoshould presume to hold it in future doubt."

  "Sir," said Tyrrel, very much surprised, "I am obliged to you for yourintention, the more so as I am ignorant how I have merited suchinterference. It is not, however, quite satisfactory to me, because I amaccustomed to be the guardian of my own honour."

  "An easy task, I presume, in all cases, Mr. Tyrrel," answered Jekyl,"but peculiarly so in the present, when you will find no one so hardy asto assail it.--My interference, indeed, would have been unjustifiablyofficious, had I not been at the moment undertaking a commissionimplying confidential intercourse with you. For the sake of my owncharacter, it became necessary to establish yours. I know the truth ofthe whole affair from my friend, the Earl of Etherington, who ought tothank Heaven so long as he lives, that saved him on that occasion fromthe commission of a very great crime."

  "Your friend, sir, has had, in the course of his life, much to thankHeaven for, but more for which to ask God's forgiveness."

  "I am no divine, sir," replied Captain Jekyl, with spirit; "but I havebeen told that the same may be said of most men alive."

  "I, at least, cannot dispute it," said Tyrrel; "but, to proceed.--Haveyou found yourself at liberty, Captain Jekyl, to deliver to the publicthe whole particulars of a rencontre so singular as that which tookplace between your friend and me?"

  "I have not, sir," said Jekyl--"I judged it a matter of great delicacy,and which each of you had the like interest to preserve secret."

  "May I beg to know, then," said Tyrrel, "how it was possible for you tovindicate my absence from Sir Bingo's rendezvous otherwise?"

  "It was only necessary, sir, to pledge my word as a gentleman and a manof honour, characters in which I am pretty well known to the world,that, to my certain personal knowledge, you were hurt in an affair witha friend of mine, the further particulars of which prudence requiredshould be sunk into oblivion. I think no one will venture to dispute myword, or to require more than my assurance.--If there should be any onevery hard of faith on the occasion, I shall find a way to satisfy him.In the meanwhile, your outlawry has been rescinded in the mosthonourable manner; and Sir Bingo, in consideration of his share ingiving rise to reports so injurious to you, is desirous to drop allfurther proceedings in his original quarrel, and hopes the whole matterwill be forgot and forgiven on all sides."

  "Upon my word, Captain Jekyl," answered Tyrrel, "you lay me under thenecessity of acknowledging obligation to you. You have cut a knot whichI should have found it very difficult to unloose; for I frankly confess,that, while I was determined not to remain under the stigma put upon me,I should have had great difficulty in clearing myself, withoutmentioning circumstances, which, were it only for the sake of myfather's memory, should be buried in eternal oblivion. I hope yourfriend feels no continued inconvenience from his hurt?"

  "His lordship is nearly quite recovered," said Jekyl.

  "And I trust he did me the justice to own, that, so far as my will wasconcerned, I am totally guiltless of the purpose of hurting him?"

  "He does you full justice in that and every thing else," replied Jekyl;"regrets the impetuosity of his own temper, and is determined to be onhis guard against it in future."

  "That," said Tyrrel, "is so far well; and now, may I ask once more, whatcommunication you have to make to me on the part of your friend?--Wereit from any one but him, whom I have found so uniformly false andtreacherous, your own fairness and candour would induce me to hope thatthis unnatural quarrel might be in some sort e
nded by your mediation."

  "I then proceed, sir, under more favourable auspices than I expected,"said Captain Jekyl, "to enter on my commission.--You are about tocommence a lawsuit, Mr. Tyrrel, if fame does not wrong you, for thepurpose of depriving your brother of his estate and title."

  "The case is not fairly stated, Captain Jekyl," replied Tyrrel; "Icommence a lawsuit, when I do commence it, for the sake of ascertainingmy own just rights."

  "It comes to the same thing eventually," said the mediator; "I am notcalled upon to decide upon the justice of your claims, but they are, youwill allow, newly started. The late Countess of Etherington died inpossession--open and undoubted possession--of her rank in society."

  "If she had no real claim to it, sir," replied Tyrrel, "she had morethan justice who enjoyed it so long; and the injured lady whose claimswere postponed, had just so much less.--But this is no point for you andme to discuss between us--it must be tried elsewhere."

  "Proofs, sir, of the strongest kind, will be necessary to overthrow aright so well established in public opinion as that of the presentpossessor of the title of Etherington."

  Tyrrel took a paper from his pocketbook, and, handing it to CaptainJekyl, only answered, "I have no thoughts of asking you to give up thecause of your friend; but methinks the documents of which I give you alist, may shake your opinion of it."

  Captain Jekyl read, muttering to himself, "'_Certificate of marriage, bythe Rev. Zadock Kemp, chaplain to the British Embassy at Paris, betweenMarie de Bellroche, Comptesse de Martigny, and the Right Honourable JohnLord Oakendale--Letters between John Earl of Etherington and his lady,under the title of Madame de Martigny--Certificate of baptism--Declarationof the Earl of Etherington on his death-bed._'--All this is verywell--but may I ask you, Mr. Tyrrel, if it is really your purpose to goto extremity with your brother?"

  "He has forgot that he is one--he has lifted his hand against my life."

  "You have shed his blood--twice shed it," said Jekyl; "the world willnot ask which brother gave the offence, but which received, whichinflicted, the severest wound."

  "Your friend has inflicted one on me, sir," said Tyrrel, "that willbleed while I have the power of memory."

  "I understand you, sir," said Captain Jekyl; "you mean the affair ofMiss Mowbray?"

  "Spare me on that subject, sir!" said Tyrrel. "Hitherto I have disputedmy most important rights--rights which involved my rank in society, myfortune, the honour of my mother--with something like composure; but donot say more on the topic you have touched upon, unless you would havebefore you a madman!--Is it possible for you, sir, to have heard eventhe outline of this story, and to imagine that I can ever reflect on thecold-blooded and most inhuman stratagem, which this friend of yoursprepared for two unfortunates, without"--He started up, and walkedimpetuously to and fro. "Since the Fiend himself interrupted thehappiness of perfect innocence, there was never such an act oftreachery--never such schemes of happiness destroyed--never suchinevitable misery prepared for two wretches who had the idiocy to reposeperfect confidence in him!--Had there been passion in his conduct, ithad been the act of a man--a wicked man, indeed, but still a humancreature, acting under the influence of human feelings--but his was thedeed of a calm, cold, calculating demon, actuated by the basest and mostsordid motives of self-interest, joined, as I firmly believe, to anearly and inveterate hatred of one whose claims he considered as atvariance with his own."

  "I am sorry to see you in such a temper," said Captain Jekyl, calmly;"Lord Etherington, I trust, acted on very different motives than thoseyou impute to him; and if you will but listen to me, perhaps somethingmay be struck out which may accommodate these unhappy disputes."

  "Sir," said Tyrrel, sitting down again, "I will listen to you withcalmness, as I would remain calm under the probe of a surgeon tenting afestered wound. But when you touch me to the quick, when you prick thevery nerve, you cannot expect me to endure without wincing."

  "I will endeavour, then, to be as brief in the operation as I can,"replied Captain Jekyl, who possessed the advantage of the most admirablecomposure during the whole conference. "I conclude, Mr. Tyrrel, that thepeace, happiness, and honour of Miss Mowbray, are dear to you?"

  "Who dare impeach her honour!" said Tyrrel, fiercely; then checkinghimself, added, in a more moderate tone, but one of deep feeling, "theyare dear to me, sir, as my eyesight."

  "My friend holds them in equal regard," said the Captain; "and has cometo the resolution of doing her the most ample justice."

  "He can do her justice no otherwise, than by ceasing to haunt thisneighbourhood, to think, to speak, even to dream of her."

  "Lord Etherington thinks otherwise," said Captain Jekyl; "he believesthat if Miss Mowbray has sustained any wrong at his hands, which, ofcourse, I am not called upon to admit, it will be best repaired by theoffer to share with her his title, his rank, and his fortune."

  "His title, rank, and fortune, sir, are as much a falsehood as he ishimself," said Tyrrel, with violence--"Marry Clara Mowbray? never!"

  "My friend's fortune, you will observe," replied Jekyl, "does not restentirely upon the event of the lawsuit with which you, Mr. Tyrrel, nowthreaten him.--Deprive him, if you can, of the Oakendale estate, he hasstill a large patrimony by his mother; and besides, as to his marriagewith Clara Mowbray, he conceives, that unless it should be the lady'swish to have the ceremony repeated to which he is most desirous to deferhis own opinion, they have only to declare that it has already passedbetween them."

  "A trick, sir!" said Tyrrel, "a vile infamous trick! of which the lowestwretch in Newgate would be ashamed--the imposition of one person foranother."

  "Of that, Mr. Tyrrel, I have seen no evidence whatever. The clergyman'scertificate is clear--Francis Tyrrel is united to Clara Mowbray in theholy bands of wedlock--such is the tenor--there is a copy--nay, stop oneinstant, if you please, sir. You say there was an imposition in thecase--I have no doubt but you speak what you believe, and what MissMowbray told you. She was surprised--forced in some measure from thehusband she had just married--ashamed to meet her former lover, to whom,doubtless, she had made many a vow of love, and ne'er a true one--whatwonder that, unsupported by her bridegroom, she should have changed hertone, and thrown all the blame of her own inconstancy on the absentswain?--A woman, at a pinch so critical, will make the most improbableexcuse, rather than be found guilty on her own confession."

  "There must be no jesting in this case," said Tyrrel, his cheek becomingpale, and his voice altered with passion.

  "I am quite serious, sir," replied Jekyl; "and there is no law court inBritain that would take the lady's word--all she has to offer, and thatin her own cause--against a whole body of evidence direct andcircumstantial, showing that she was by her own free consent married tothe gentleman who now claims her hand.--Forgive me, sir--I see you aremuch agitated--I do not mean to dispute your right of believing what youthink is most credible--I only use the freedom of pointing out to youthe impression which the evidence is likely to make on the minds ofindifferent persons."

  "Your friend," answered Tyrrel, affecting a composure, which, however,he was far from possessing, "may think by such arguments to screen hisvillainy; but it cannot avail him--the truth is known to Heaven--it isknown to me--and there is, besides, one indifferent witness upon earth,who can testify that the most abominable imposition was practised onMiss Mowbray."

  "You mean her cousin,--Hannah Irwin, I think, is her name," answeredJekyl; "you see I am fully acquainted with all the circumstances of thecase. But where is Hannah Irwin to be found?"

  "She will appear, doubtless, in Heaven's good time, and to the confusionof him who now imagines the only witness of his treachery--the only onewho could tell the truth of this complicated mystery--either no longerlives, or, at least, cannot be brought forward against him, to the ruinof his schemes. Yes, sir, that slight observation of yours has more thanexplained to me why your friend, or, to call him by his true name, Mr.Valentine Bulmer, has not commenced his machinations sooner
, and alsowhy he has commenced them now. He thinks himself certain that HannahIrwin is not now in Britain, or to be produced in a court of justice--hemay find himself mistaken."

  "My friend seems perfectly confident of the issue of his cause,"answered Jekyl; "but for the lady's sake, he is most unwilling toprosecute a suit which must be attended with so many circumstances ofpainful exposure."

  "Exposure, indeed!" answered Tyrrel; "thanks to the traitor who laid amine so fearful, and who now affects to be reluctant to fire it.--Oh!how I am bound to curse that affinity that restrains my hands! I wouldbe content to be the meanest and vilest of society, for one hour ofvengeance on this unexampled hypocrite!--One thing is certain, sir--yourfriend will have no living victim. His persecution will kill ClaraMowbray, and fill up the cup of his crimes, with the murder of one ofthe sweetest----I shall grow a woman, if I say more on the subject!"

  "My friend," said Jekyl, "since you like best to have him so defined, isas desirous as you can be to spare the lady's feelings; and with thatview, not reverting to former passages, he has laid before her brother aproposal of alliance, with which Mr. Mowbray is highly pleased."

  "Ha!" said Tyrrel, starting--"And the lady?"--

  "And the lady so far proved favourable, as to consent that LordEtherington shall visit Shaws-Castle."

  "Her consent must have been extorted!" exclaimed Tyrrel.

  "It was given voluntarily," said Jekyl, "as I am led to understand;unless, perhaps, in so far as the desire to veil these very unpleasingtransactions may have operated, I think naturally enough, to induce herto sink them in eternal secrecy, by accepting Lord Etherington'shand.--I see, sir, I give you pain, and am sorry for it.--I have notitle to call upon you for any exertion of generosity; but, should suchbe Miss Mowbray's sentiments, is it too much to expect of you, that youwill not compromise the lady's honour by insisting upon former claims,and opening up disreputable transactions so long past?"

  "Captain Jekyl," said Tyrrel, solemnly, "I have no claims. Whatever Imight have had, were cancelled by the act of treachery through whichyour friend endeavoured too successfully to supplant me. Were ClaraMowbray as free from her pretended marriage as law could pronounce her,still with me--_me_, at least, of all men in the world--the obstaclemust ever remain, that the nuptial benediction has been pronounced overher, and the man whom I must for once call _brother_."--He stopped atthat word, as if it had cost him agony to pronounce it, and thenresumed:--"No, sir, I have no views of personal advantage in thismatter--they have been long annihilated--But I will not permit ClaraMowbray to become the wife of a villain--I will watch over her withthoughts as spotless as those of her guardian angel. I first persuadedher to quit the path of duty[II-B]--I, of all men who live, am bound toprotect her from the misery--from the guilt--which must attach to her asthis man's wife. I will never believe that she wishes it--I will neverbelieve, that in calm mind and sober reason, she can be brought tolisten to such a guilty proposal.--But her mind--alas!--is not of thefirm texture it once could boast; and your friend knows well how topress on the spring of every passion that can agitate and alarm her.Threats of exposure may extort her consent to this most unfittingmatch, if they do not indeed drive her to suicide, which I think themost likely termination. I will, therefore, be strong where she isweak.--Your friend, sir, must at least strip his proposals of their finegilding. I will satisfy Mr. Mowbray of St. Ronan's of his falsepretences, both to rank and fortune; and I rather think he will protecthis sister against the claim of a needy profligate, though he might bedazzled with the alliance of a wealthy peer."

  "Your cause, sir, is not yet won," answered Jekyl; "and when it is, yourbrother will retain property enough to entitle him to marry a greatermatch than Miss Mowbray, besides the large estate of Nettlewood, towhich that alliance must give him right. But I would wish to make someaccommodation between you if it were possible. You profess, Mr. Tyrrel,to lay aside all selfish wishes and views in this matter, and to lookentirely to Miss Mowbray's safety and happiness?"

  "Such, upon my honour, is the exclusive purpose of my interference--Iwould give all I am worth to procure her an hour of quiet--for happinessshe will never know again."

  "Your anticipations of Miss Mowbray's distress," said Jekyl, "are, Iunderstand, founded upon the character of my friend. You think him a manof light principle, and because he overreached you in a juvenileintrigue, you conclude that now, in his more steady and advanced years,the happiness of the lady in whom you are so much interested ought notto be trusted to him?"

  "There may be other grounds," said Tyrrel, hastily; "but you may argueupon those you have named, as sufficient to warrant my interference."

  "How, then, if I should propose some accommodation of this nature? LordEtherington does not pretend to the ardour of a passionate lover. Helives much in the world, and has no desire to quit it. Miss Mowbray'shealth is delicate--her spirits variable--and retirement would mostprobably be her choice.--Suppose--I am barely putting asupposition--suppose that a marriage between two persons socircumstanced were rendered necessary or advantageous to both--supposethat such a marriage were to secure to one party a large estate--were toinsure the other against all the consequences of an unpleasantexposure--still, both ends might be obtained by the mere ceremony ofmarriage passing between them. There might be a previous contract ofseparation, with suitable provisions for the lady, and stipulations, bywhich the husband should renounce all claim to her society. Such thingshappen every season, if not on the very marriage day, yet before thehoneymoon is over.--Wealth and freedom would be the lady's, and as muchrank as you, sir, supposing your claims just, may think proper to leavethem."

  There was a long pause, during which Tyrrel underwent many changes ofcountenance, which Jekyl watched carefully, without pressing him for ananswer. At length he replied, "There is much in your proposal, CaptainJekyl, which I might be tempted to accede to, as one manner of unloosingthis Gordian knot, and a compromise by which Miss Mowbray's futuretranquillity would be in some degree provided for. But I would rathertrust a fanged adder than your friend, unless I saw him fettered by thestrongest ties of interest. Besides, I am certain the unhappy lady couldnever survive the being connected with him in this manner, though butfor the single moment when they should appear together at the altar.There are other objections"----

  He checked himself, paused, and then proceeded in a calm andself-possessed tone. "You think, perhaps, even yet, that I have someselfish and interested views in this business; and probably you may feelyourself entitled to entertain the same suspicion towards me, which Iavowedly harbour respecting every proposition which originates with yourfriend.--I cannot help it--I can but meet these disadvantageousimpressions with plain dealing and honesty; and it is in the spirit ofboth that _I_ make a proposition to _you_.--Your friend is attached torank, fortune, and worldly advantages, in the usual proportion, atleast, in which they are pursued by men of the world--this you mustadmit, and I will not offend you by supposing more."

  "I know few people who do not desire such advantages," answered CaptainJekyl; "and I frankly own, that he affects no particular degree ofphilosophic indifference respecting them."

  "Be it so," answered Tyrrel. "Indeed, the proposal you have just madeindicates that his pretended claim on this young lady's hand isentirely, or almost entirely, dictated by motives of interest, since youare of opinion that he would be contented to separate from her societyon the very marriage day, provided that, in doing so, he was assured ofthe Nettlewood property."

  "My proposition was unauthorized by my principal," answered Jekyl; "butit is needless to deny, that its very tenor implies an idea, on my part,that Lord Etherington is no passionate lover."

  "Well then," answered Tyrrel. "Consider, sir, and let him consider well,that the estate and rank he now assumes, depend upon my will andpleasure--that, if I prosecute the claims of which that scroll makes youaware, he must descend from the rank of an earl into that of a commoner,stripped of by much the better half of his fortune--a diminution wh
ichwould be far from compensated by the estate of Nettlewood, even if hecould obtain it, which could only be by means of a lawsuit, precariousin the issue, and most dishonourable in its very essence."

  "Well, sir," replied Jekyl, "I perceive your argument--What is yourproposal?"

  "That I will abstain from prosecuting my claim on those honours and thatproperty--that I will leave Valentine Bulmer in possession of hisusurped title and ill-deserved wealth--that I will bind myself under thestrongest penalties never to disturb his possession of the Earldom ofEtherington and estates belonging to it--on condition that he allows thewoman, whose peace of mind he has ruined for ever, to walk through theworld in her wretchedness, undisturbed either by his marriage-suit, orby any claim founded upon his own most treacherous conduct--in short,that he forbear to molest Clara Mowbray, either by his presence, word,letter, or through the intervention of a third party, and be to her infuture as if he did not exist."

  "This is a singular offer," said the Captain; "may I ask if you areserious in making it?"

  "I am neither surprised nor offended at the question," said Tyrrel. "Iam a man, sir, like others, and affect no superiority to that which allmen desire the possession of--a certain consideration and station insociety. I am no romantic fool to undervalue the sacrifice I am about tomake. I renounce a rank, which is and ought to be the more valuable tome, because it involves (he blushed as he spoke) the fame of an honouredmother--because, in failing to claim it, I disobey the commands of adying father, who wished that by doing so I should declare to the worldthe penitence which hurried him perhaps to the grave, and the makingwhich public he considered might be some atonement for his errors. Froman honoured place in the land, I descend voluntarily to become anameless exile; for, once certain that Clara Mowbray's peace is assured,Britain no longer holds me.--All this I do, sir, not in any idle strainof overheated feeling, but seeing, and knowing, and dearly valuing,every advantage which I renounce--yet I do it, and do it willingly,rather than be the cause of farther evil to one, on whom I have alreadybrought too--too much."

  His voice, in spite of his exertions, faltered as he concluded thesentence, and a big drop which rose to his eye, required him for themoment to turn towards the window.

  "I am ashamed of this childishness," he said, turning again to CaptainJekyl; "if it excites your ridicule, sir, let it be at least a proof ofmy sincerity."

  "I am far from entertaining such sentiments," said Jekyl,respectfully--for, in a long train of fashionable follies, his heart hadnot been utterly hardened--"very far, indeed. To a proposal so singularas yours, I cannot be expected to answer--except thus far--the characterof the peerage is, I believe, indelible, and cannot be resigned orassumed at pleasure. If you are really Earl of Etherington, I cannot seehow your resigning the right may avail my friend."

  "You, sir, it might not avail," said Tyrrel, gravely, "because you,perhaps, might scorn to exercise a right, or hold a title, that was notlegally yours. But your friend will have no such compunctious visitings.If he can act the Earl to the eye of the world, he has already shownthat his honour and conscience will be easily satisfied."

  "May I take a copy of the memorandum containing this list of documents,"said Captain Jekyl, "for the information of my constituent?"

  "The paper is at your pleasure, sir," replied Tyrrel; "it is itself buta copy.--But Captain Jekyl," he added, with a sarcastic expression, "is,it would seem, but imperfectly let into his friend's confidence--he maybe assured his principal is completely acquainted with the contents ofthis paper, and has accurate copies of the deeds to which it refers."

  "I think it scarce possible," said Jekyl, angrily.

  "Possible and certain!" answered Tyrrel. "My father, shortly precedinghis death, sent me--with a most affecting confession of his errors--thislist of papers, and acquainted me that he had made a similarcommunication to your friend. That he did so I have no doubt, howeverMr. Bulmer may have thought proper to disguise the circumstance incommunication with you. One circumstance, among others, stamps at oncehis character, and confirms me of the danger he apprehended by my returnto Britain. He found means, through a scoundrelly agent, who had made methe usual remittances from my father while alive, to withhold thosewhich were necessary for my return from the Levant, and I was obligedto borrow from a friend."

  "Indeed?" replied Jekyl. "It is the first time I have heard of thesepapers--May I enquire where the originals are, and in whose custody?"

  "I was in the East," answered Tyrrel, "during my father's last illness,and these papers were by him deposited with a respectable commercialhouse, with which he was connected. They were enclosed in a coverdirected to me, and that again in an envelope, addressed to theprincipal person in their firm."

  "You must be sensible," said Captain Jekyl, "that I can scarcely decideon the extraordinary offer which you have been pleased to make, ofresigning the claim founded on these documents, unless I had a previousopportunity of examining them."

  "You shall have that opportunity--I will write to have them sent down bythe post--they lie but in small compass."

  "This, then," said the Captain, "sums up all that can be said atpresent.--Supposing these proofs to be of unexceptionable authenticity,I certainly would advise my friend Etherington to put to sleep a claimso important as yours, even at the expense of resigning his matrimonialspeculation--I presume you design to abide by your offer?"

  "I am not in the habit of altering my mind--still less of retracting myword," said Tyrrel, somewhat haughtily.

  "We part friends, I hope?" said Jekyl, rising, and taking his leave.

  "Not enemies certainly, Captain Jekyl. I will own to you I owe you mythanks, for extricating me from that foolish affair at the Well--nothingcould have put me to more inconvenience than the necessity of followingto extremity a frivolous quarrel at the present moment."

  "You will come down among us, then?" said Jekyl.

  "I certainly shall not wish to appear to hide myself," answered Tyrrel;"it is a circumstance might be turned against me--there is a party whowill avail himself of every advantage. I have but one path, CaptainJekyl--that of truth and honour."

  Captain Jekyl bowed, and took his leave. So soon as he was gone, Tyrrellocked the door of the apartment, and drawing from his bosom a portrait,gazed on it with a mixture of sorrow and tenderness, until the tearsdropped from his eye.

  It was the picture of Clara Mowbray, such as he had known her in thedays of their youthful love, and taken by himself, whose early turn forpainting had already developed itself. The features of the blooming girlmight be yet traced in the fine countenance of the more maturedoriginal. But what was now become of the glow which had shaded hercheek?--what of the arch, yet subdued pleasantry, which lurked in theeye?--what of the joyous content, which composed every feature to theexpression of an Euphrosyne?--Alas! these were long fled!--Sorrow hadlaid his hand upon her--the purple light of youth was quenched--theglance of innocent gaiety was exchanged for looks now moody withill-concealed care, now animated by a spirit of reckless and satiricalobservation.

  "What a wreck! what a wreck!" exclaimed Tyrrel; "and all of one wretch'smaking.--Can I put the last hand to the work, and be her murdereroutright? I cannot--I cannot!--I will be strong in the resolve I haveformed--I will sacrifice all--rank--station--fortune--and fame.Revenge!--Revenge itself, the last good left me--revenge itself I willsacrifice, to obtain for her such tranquillity as she may be yet capableto enjoy."

  In this resolution he sat down, and wrote a letter to the commercialhouse with whom the documents of his birth, and other relative papers,were deposited, requesting that the packet containing them should beforwarded to him through the post-office.

  Tyrrel was neither unambitious, nor without those sentiments respectingpersonal consideration, which are usually united with deep feeling andan ardent mind. It was with a trembling hand, and a watery eye, but witha heart firmly resolved, that he sealed and dispatched the letter; astep towards the resignation, in favour of his mortal enemy, of t
hatrank and condition in life, which was his own by right of inheritance,but had so long hung in doubt betwixt them.