Springhaven - R. D. Blackmore
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"That sounds very well; but how is it to be done? How can France unite
with England, when they are bitter enemies? Is France to conquer England
first? Or are we to conquer France, as we always used to do?"
"That would be a hard job now, when France is the mistress of the
Continent. No, there need be no conquering, sweet Dolly, but only a
little removal. The true interest of this country is--as that mighty
party, the Whigs, perceive--to get rid of all the paltry forms and dry
bones of a dynasty which is no more English than Napoleon is, and to
join that great man in his warfare against all oppression. Your brother
Frank is a leading spirit; he has long cast off that wretched insular
prejudice which defeats all good. In the grand new scheme of universal
right, which must prevail very shortly, Frank Darling will obtain that
foremost place to which his noble views entitle him. You, as his sister,
and my wife, will be adored almost as much as you could wish."
"It sounds very grand," answered Dolly, with a smile, though a little
alarmed at this turn of it; "but what is to become of the King, and
Queen, and all the royal family? And what is my father to do, and Faith?
Although she has not behaved well to me."
"Those details will be arranged to everybody's satisfaction. Little
prejudices will subside, when it is seen that they are useless. Every
possible care will be taken not to injure any one."
"But how is it all to be done?" asked Dolly, whose mind was practical,
though romantic. "Are the French to land, and overrun the country? I am
sure I never should agree to that. Are all our defenders to be thrown
into prison?"
"Certainly not. There will be no prisons. The French might have to land,
as a matter of form; but not to overrun the country, only to secure
British liberties and justice. All sensible people would hasten to join
them, and any opposition would be quenched at once. Then such a glorious
condition of mankind would ensue as has never been known in this
world--peace, wealth, universal happiness, gaiety, dancing everywhere,
no more shabby clothes, no more dreary Sundays. How do you like the
thought of it?"
"Well, some of it sounds very nice; but I don't see the use of universal
justice. Justice means having one's own rights; and it is impossible
for everybody to do that, because of other people. And as for the French
coming to put things right, they had better attend to their own affairs
first. And as if any Englishman would permit it! Why, even Frank would
mount his wig and gown (for he is a full-fledged barrister now, you
know), and come and help to push them back into the sea. And I hope that
you would do so too. I am not going to marry a Frenchman. You belong to
an old English family, and you were born in England, and your name is
English, and the property that ought to belong to you. I hope you don't
consider yourself a Frenchman because your mother is a great French
lady, after so many generations of Carnes, all English, every bit of
them. I am an English girl, and I care very little for things that I
don't see--such as justice, liberty, rights of people, and all that. But
I do care about my relations, and our friends, and the people that live
here, and the boats, and all the trees, and the land that belongs to
my father. Very likely you would want to take that away, and give it to
some miserable Frenchman."
"Dolly, my dear, you must not be excited," Carne answered, in the manner
of a father; "powerful as your comprehension is, for the moment these
things are beyond it. Your meaning is excellent, very good, very great;
but to bring it to bear requires further information. We will sit by
the side of the sea to-morrow, darling, if you grant me a view of your
loveliness again; and there you will see things in a larger light than
upon this narrow bench, with your father's trees around us, and your
father's cows enquiring whether I am good to eat. Get away, cow! Do you
take me for a calf?"
One of the cows best loved by Dolly, who was very fond of good animals,
had come up to ask who this man was that had been sitting here so long
with her. She was gifted with a white face and large soft eyes--even
beyond the common measure of a cow--short little horns, that she would
scarcely think of pushing even at a dog (unless he made mouths at her
infant), a flat broad nose ever genial to be rubbed, and a delicate
fringe of finely pointed yellow hairs around her pleasant nostrils and
above her clovery lips. With single-hearted charity and enviable faith
she was able to combine the hope that Dolly had obtained a lover as good
as could be found upon a single pair of legs. Carne was attired with
some bravery, of the French manner rather than the English, and he
wanted no butter on his velvet and fine lace. So he swung round his cane
of heavy snakewood at the cow, and struck her poor horns so sharply that
her head went round.
"Is that universal peace, and gentleness, and justice?" cried Dolly,
springing up and hastening to console her cow. "Is this the way the
lofty French redress the wrongs of England? What had poor Dewlips done,
I should like to know? Kiss me, my pretty, and tell me how you would
like the French army to land, as a matter of form? The form you would
take would be beef, I'm afraid; not even good roast beef, but bouillon,
potage, fricandeau, friture--anything one cannot taste any meat in; and
that is how your wrongs would be redressed, after having had both your
horns knocked off. And about the same fate for John Bull, your master,
unless he keeps his horns well sharpened. Do I not speak the truth,
monsieur?"
When Carne did anything to vex Miss Dolly--which happened pretty often,
for he could not stop to study much her little prejudices--she addressed
him as if he were a Frenchman, never doubting that this must reduce him
sadly in his self-esteem.
"Never mind matters political," he said, perceiving that his power must
not be pressed until he had deepened its foundations; "what are all the
politics in the world compared with your good opinion, Beauty?" Dolly
liked to be called "Beauty," and the name always made her try to deserve
it by looking sweet. "You must be quite certain that I would do nothing
to injure a country which contains my Dolly. And as for Madam Cow, I
will beg her pardon, though my cane is hurt a great deal more than her
precious horns are. Behold me snap it in twain, although it is the only
handsome one I possess, because it has offended you!"
"Oh, what a pity! What a lovely piece of wood!" cried Dolly; and they
parted on the best of terms, after a warm vow upon either side that no
nasty politics should ever come between them.
But Carne was annoyed and discontented. He came to the edge of the
cliff that evening below his ruined castle; for there are no cliffs at
Springhaven, unless the headland deserves that name; and there he sat
gloomily for some hours, revolving the chances of his enterprise. The
weather had changed since the morning, and a chill November wind began
to urge the waves ashore. The sky was not very dark, but shredded with
loose grey vapours from the west, where a heavy bank of clouds lay under
the pale crescent of a watery moon. In the distance two British cruisers
shone, light ships of outlook, under easy sail, prepared to send the
signal for a hundred leagues, from ship to ship and cliff to cliff,
if any of England's foes appeared. They shone upon the dark sea, with
canvas touched by moonlight, and seemed ready to spring against the
lowering sky, if it held any menace to the land they watched, or the
long reach of water they had made their own.
"A pest upon those watch-dogs!" muttered Carne. "They are always
wide-awake, and forever at their stations. Instead of growing tired,
they get sharper every day. Even Charron can scarcely run through them
now. But I know who could do it, if he could only be trusted. With a
pilot-boat--it is a fine idea--a pilot-boat entered as of Pebbleridge.
The Pebbleridge people hate Springhaven, through a feud of centuries,
and Springhaven despises Pebbleridge. It would answer well, although the
landing is so bad, and no anchorage possible in rough weather. I must
try if Dan Tugwell will undertake it. None of the rest know the coast
as he does, and few of them have the bravery. But Dan is a very sulky
fellow, very difficult to manage. He will never betray us; he is
wonderfully grateful; and after that battle with the press-gang, when he
knocked down the officer and broke his arm, he will keep pretty clear of
the Union-jack. But he goes about moping, and wondering, and mooning, as
if he were wretched about what he has to do. Bless my soul, where is my
invention? I see the way to have him under my thumb. Reason is an old
coat hanging on a peg; passion is the fool who puts it on and runs away
with it. Halloa! Who are you? And what do you want at such a time as
this? Surely you can see that I am not at leisure now. Why, Tugwell, I
thought that you were far away at sea!"
"So I was, sir; but she travels fast. I never would believe the old
London Trader could be driven through the water so. Sam Polwhele knows
how to pile it on a craft, as well as he do upon a man, sir. I won't
serve under him no more, nor Captain Charcoal either. I have done my
duty by you. Squire Carne, the same as you did by me, sir; and thanking
you for finding me work so long, my meaning is to go upon the search
to-morrow."
"What fools they must have been to let this fellow come ashore!" thought
Carne, while he failed to see the wisest way to take it. "Tugwell, you
cannot do this with any honour, after we have shown you all the secrets
of our enterprise. You know that what we do is of the very highest
honour, kind and humane and charitable, though strictly forbidden by a
most inhuman government. How would you like, if you were a prisoner in
France, to be debarred from all chance of getting any message from your
family, your wife, your sweetheart, or your children, from year's end
to year's end, and perhaps be dead for months without their knowing
anything about it?"
"Well, sir, I should think it very hard indeed; though, if I was dead,
I shouldn't know much more about it. But, without reproach to you, I
cannot make out altogether that our only business is to carry letters
for the prisoners, as now may be in England, from their loving friends
to command in their native country. I won't say against you, sir, if
you say it is--that is, to the outside of all your knowledge. And twenty
thousand of them may need letters by the sack. But what use they could
make, sir, of cannon as big as I be, and muskets that would kill a man
a hundred yards of distance, and bayonets more larger and more sharper
than ever I see before, even with the Royal Volunteers--this goes out of
all my calculation."
"Daniel, you have expressed your views, which are remarkable--as indeed
they always are--with your usual precision. But you have not observed
things with equal accuracy. Do you know when a gun is past service?"
"No, sir; I never was a poacher, no-how. Squire Darling, that is to say,
Sir Charles Darling now, according to a chap on board, he was always so
good upon his land that nobody durst go a-poaching."
"I mean a cannon, Dan. They don't poach with cannon yet, though they may
come to do it, as the game-laws increase. Do you know when a cannon is
unsafe to fire, though it may look as bright as ever, like a worn-out
poker? All those things that have frightened you are only meant for
ornament. You know that every ancient building ought to have its
armoury, as this castle always had, until they were taken away and sold.
My intention is to restore it, when I can afford to do so. And having
a lot of worn-out weapons offered me for next to nothing, I seized the
chance of bringing them. When times are better, and the war is over, I
may find time to arrange them. But that is not of much importance. The
great point is to secure the delivery of letters from their native
land to the brave men here as prisoners. I cannot afford to do that for
nothing, though I make no profit out of it. I have so many things to
think about that I scarcely know which to consider first. And after all,
what matters to us whether those poor men are allowed to die, and be
buried like dogs, without knowledge of their friends? Why should we run
the risk of being punished for them?"
"Well, sir, that seems hard doctrine, if I may be allowed to say so,
and not like your kind-heartedness. Our Government have no right to stop
them of their letters."
"It is a cruel thing. But how are we to help it? The London Trader is
too large for the purpose, and she is under suspicion now. I tell you
everything, Daniel, because I know that you are a true-hearted fellow,
and far above all blabbing. I have thought once or twice of obtaining
leave to purchase a stout and handy pilot-boat, with her licence and all
that transferred to us, and so running to and fro when needful. The only
risk then would be from perils of the sea; and even the pressmen dare
not meddle with a pilot-boat. By-the-by, I have heard that you knocked
some of them about. Tugwell, you might have got us all into sad
trouble."
"Was I to think of what I was doing, Squire Carne, when they wanted
to make a slave of me? I would serve King George with a good heart, in
spite of all that father has said against it. But it must be with a free
will, Squire Carne, and not to be tied hand and foot to it. How would
you like that yourself, sir?"
"Well, I think I should have done as you did, Dan, if I had been a
British sailor. But as to this pilot-boat, I must have a bold and good
seaman to command it. A man who knows the coast, and is not afraid of
weather. Of course we should expect to pay good wages; 3 pounds a week,
perhaps, and a guinea for every bag of letters landed safe. There are
plenty of men who would jump at such a chance, Dan."
"I'll be bound there are, sir. And it is more than I am worth, if you
mean offering the place to me. It would suit me wonderful, if I was
certain that the job was honest."
"Daniel Tugwell"--Carne spoke with great severity--"I will not lose my
temper, for I am sure you mean no insult. But you must be of a very low,
suspicious nature, and quite unfit for any work of a lofty and unselfish
order, if you can imagine that a man in my position, a man of my large
sentiments--"
"Oh, no, sir, no; it was not at all that"--Dan scarcely knew how to
tell what it was--"it was nothing at all of that manner of thinking. I
heartily ask your pardon, sir, if it seemed to go in that way."
"Don't do that," replied Carne, "because I can make allowances. I know
what a fine nature is, and how it takes alarm at shadows. I am always
tender with honest scruples, because I find so many of them in myself.
I should not have been pleased with you, if you had accepted my
offer--although so advantageous, and full of romantic interest--until
you were convinced of its honourable nature. I have no time for
argument, and I am sorry that you must not come up to the castle for
supper, because we have an old Springhaven man there, who would tell
your father all about you, which you especially wish to avoid. But if
you feel inclined for this berth--as you sailors seem to call it--and
hesitate through some patriotic doubts, though I cannot understand what
they are, I will bring you a document (if you meet me here to-morrow
night) from Admiral Sir Charles Darling, which I think will satisfy
you."
"And shall I be allowed to keep it, sir, to show, in case of trouble?"
"Very likely. But I cannot say for certain. Some of those official forms
must be returned, others not; all depends upon their rules. Now go and
make yourself comfortable. How are you off for money?"
"Plenty, sir, plenty. I must not go where anybody knows me, or to-morrow
half the talk at old Springhaven would be about me. Good-night, sir, and
God bless you."
CHAPTER L
HIS SAVAGE SPIRIT
At this time letters came very badly, not only to French prisoners in
England, but even to the highest authorities, who had the very best
means of getting them. Admiral Darling had often written to his old
friend Nelson, but had long been without any tidings from him, through
no default on the hero's part. Lord Nelson was almost as prompt with
the pen as he was with the sword, but despatches were most irregular and
uncertain.
"Here at last we have him!" cried Sir Charles one morning early in
December; "and not more than five weeks old, I declare! Dolly, be
ready, and call Faith down. Now read it, my dear, for our benefit. Your
godfather writes a most excellent hand, considering that it is his left
hand; but my eyes are sore from so much night-work. Put on my specs,
Dolly; I should like to see you in them."
"Am I to read every word, papa, just as it comes? You know that he
generally puts in words that are rather strong for me."
"Nelson never thought or wrote a single word unfit for the nicest
young lady. But you may hold up your hand if you come to any strong
expressions, and we shall understand them."
"Then I shall want both hands as soon as ever we come to the very first
Frenchman. But this is what my godfather says:
"'VICTORY, OFF TOULON, October 31st, 1804.
"'MY DEAR LINGO,--It was only yesterday that I received your letter of
July 21st; it went in a Spanish smuggling boat to the coast of Italy and
returned again to Spain, not having met any of our ships. And now I hope
that you will see me before you see this letter. We are certain to be at
war with Spain before another month is out, and I am heartily sorry for
it, for I like those fellows better than the French, because they are
not such liars. My successor has been appointed, I have reason to hope,
and must be far on his way by this time; probably Keith, but I cannot
say. Ministers cannot suppose that I want to fly the service; my whole
life has proved the contrary; if they refuse, I shall most certainly
leave in March or April, for a few months' rest I must have, or else
die. My cough is very bad, and my side where I was struck off Cape St.
Vincent is very much swelled, at times a lump as large as my fist is
brought on by violent coughing, but I hope and believe my lungs are
sound. I hope to do good service yet, or else I should not care so much.
But if I am in my grave, how can I serve the Country?
"'You will say, this is not at all like Nelson, to write about nothing
but his own poor self; and thank God, Lingo, I can say that you
are right; for if ever a man lived for the good of England and the
destruction of those'"--here Dolly held a hand up--"'Frenchmen, it is
the man in front of this ink-bottle. The Lord has appointed me to that
duty, and I shall carry out my orders. Mons. La Touche, who was preached
about in France as the man that was to extinguish me, and even in
the scurvy English newspapers, but never dared to show his snivelly
countenance outside of the inner buoys, is dead of his debosheries, for
which I am deeply grieved, as I fully intended to send him to the devil.
"'I have been most unlucky for some time now, and to tell the truth I
may say always. But I am the last man in the world to grumble--as you,
my dear Lingo, can testify. I always do the utmost, with a single mind,
and leave the thought of miserable pelf to others, men perhaps who never
saw a shotted cannon fired. You know who made eighty thousand pounds,
without having to wipe his pigtail--dirty things, I am glad they are
gone out--but my business is to pay other people's debts, and receive
all my credits in the shape of cannon-balls. This is always so, and I
should let it pass as usual, except for a blacker trick than I have ever
known before. For fear of giving me a single chance of earning twopence,
they knew that there was a million and a half of money coming into Cadiz
from South America in four Spanish frigates, and instead of leaving me
to catch them, they sent out Graham Moore--you know him very well--with
orders to pocket everything. This will create a war with Spain, a war
begun with robbery on our part, though it must have come soon in any
case. For everywhere now, except where I am, that fiend of a Corsican is
supreme.
"'There is not a sick man in this fleet, unless it is the one inside my
coat. That liar La Touche said HE CHASED ME AND I RAN. I keep a copy of
his letter, which it would have been my duty to make him eat, if he had
ventured out again. But he is gone to the lake of brimstone now, and I
have the good feeling to forgive him. If my character is not fixed by
this time, it is not worth my trouble to put the world right. Yesterday
I took a look into the port within easy reach of their batteries. They
lay like a lot of mice holed in a trap, but the weather was too thick to
count them. They are certainly nearly twice our number; and if any one
was here except poor little Nelson, I believe they would venture out.
But my reputation deprives me always of any fair chance to increase it.
"'And now, my dear Lingo, allow me to enquire how you are getting on
with your Coast-defence. I never did attach much importance to their
senseless invasion scheme. The only thing to make it formidable would
be some infernal traitor on the coast, some devilish spy who would keep
them well informed, and enable them to land where least expected. If
there is such a scoundrel, may the Lord Almighty'"--here both Dolly's
hands went up, with the letter in them, and her face turned as white as
the paper.
"'I have often told you, as you may remember, that Springhaven is the
very place I should choose, if I were commander of the French flotilla.
It would turn the flank of all the inland defences, and no British
ship could attack their intrenchments, if once they were snug below the
windows of the Hall. But they are not likely to know this, thank God;
and if they did, they would have a job to get there. However, it is wise
to keep a sharp lookout, for they know very well that I am far away.
"'And now that I have got to your own doors, which I heartily hope to
do, perhaps before you see this, let me ask for yourself and all your
dear family. Lingo, the longer I live the more I feel that all the
true happiness of life is found at home. My glory is very great, and
satisfies me, except when it scares the enemy; but I very often feel
that I would give it all away for a quiet life among those who love me.
Your daughter Faith is a sweet young woman, just what I should wish
for a child of mine to be. And Horatia, my godchild, will turn out very
well, if a sharp hand is kept over her. But she takes after me, she is
daring and ambitious, and requires a firm hand at the helm. Read this
to her, with my love, and I dare say she will only laugh at it. If she
marries to my liking, she will be down for a good thing in my will, some
day. God bless us all. Amen. Amen.
"'Yours affectionately,
"'NELSON AND BRONTE.'"
"Take it to heart, my dear; and so must I," said the Admiral, laughing
at the face his daughter made; "your godfather is a most excellent judge
of everybody's character except his own. But, bless me, my dear, why,
you are crying! You silly little thing! I was only in fun. You shall
marry to his liking, and be down for the good thing. Look up, and laugh
at everybody, my darling. No one laughs so merrily as my pretty Dolly.
Why, Faith, what does she mean by this?"
To the coaxing voice of her father, and the playful glance that she used
to play with, Dolly had not rushed up at all, either with mind, or, if
that failed, with body, as she always used to do. She hurried towards
the door, as if she longed to be away from them; and then, as if she
would rather not make any stir about it, sat down and pretended to have
caught her dress in something.
"The only thing is to let her go on as she likes," Faith said aloud,
so that Dolly might hear all of it; "I have done all I can, but she
believes herself superior. She cannot bear any sort of contradiction,
and she expects one to know what she says, without her saying it. There
is nothing to be done but to treat her the same way. If she is left to
herself, she may come back to it."
"Well, my dear children," said the Admiral, much alarmed at the prospect
of a broil between them, such as he remembered about three years back,
"I make no pretence to understand your ways. If you were boys, it would
be different altogether. But the Almighty has been pleased to make
you girls, and very good ones too; in fact, there are none to be found
better. You have always been bound up with one another and with me; and
every one admires all the three of us. So that we must be content if
a little thing arises, not to make too much of it, but bear with one
another, and defy anybody to come in between us. Kiss one another, my
dears, and be off; for I have much correspondence to attend to, besides
the great Nelson's, though I took him first, hoping for something
sensible. But I have not much to learn about Springhaven, even from his
lordship. However, he is a man in ten thousand, and we must not be vexed
about any of his crotchets, because he has never had children to talk
about; and he gets out of soundings when he talks about mine. I wish
Lady Scudamore was come back. She always agrees with me, and she takes a
great load off my shoulders."