A Lady of England 8
‘I am sure that our guest enjoyed his morning’s gossip, and it
gave us all a merry commencement to what I hope may be a very
enjoyable though rather anxious day. Tudor is to take luncheon
with us, so we have amusement provided for that meal also;
and what a business it will be in the evening! Such a phalanx
of ladies as dear Mother is to head. The Misses Cotton, two
Misses Galloway, two Misses Shepherd, Miss Kensington, and our
three selves, all to set off from No. 3! It will look like a
nocturnal wedding.
‘I have just come in from paying a round of visits, with a card
of admission in my hand.... My hand trembles with the heat, for
it is warm walking at this hour, and I always walk fast when I
walk in the streets alone. I look forward with much pleasure
to the evening’s entertainment. I only wish that you and dear
Bella could enjoy it too; but I hope that _your_ dinner in
September may afford you as much gratification as this would
have done....
‘We ... went to Mrs. Bellasis’ Ball last night. Mamma and I
thought it a nice one, but ---- considered it very dull. The
Eastwicks were not there, but your friend, Colonel Sykes,
appeared, with his stern bandit-like countenance. He so reminds
me of you! His fair lady and sons were also there.... Sir de Lacy
and Lady Evans, the Hinxmans and Galloways were also at the
Ball.
‘How are the dear little Robins? I hope that we may soon have
them with us again. Pray give them plenty of kisses from Auntie
Charlotte.... I hope dear Robin got home comfortably.’
Some of the above-mentioned names were of men well and widely known. Lord
Metcalfe, at one time Acting Governor-General of India, was a wise and
most courteous Indian statesman, whose life has been written by Sir John
Kaye. Colonel Sykes was one year Chairman of the Court of Directors. Sir
Henry Pottinger was a famous diplomatist. Lord Glenelg, living near, was
often in and out, and loved to have a cup of tea at hospitable No. 3.
The habit of the family at this time, while spending the main part of the
year at Portland Place, was to go to some country place in the summer,
for several weeks, sometimes renting a house where they could stay all
together, sometimes breaking into smaller parties. In 1846 they were at
Herne Bay; in 1847 at Gresford; in 1848 at Dover and Walmer. While at
Walmer they were a good deal thrown with the Duke of Wellington, and the
former acquaintanceship ripened into more of intimacy. Before deciding on
Walmer, two or three of the party went to Dover, and they had a somewhat
perilous voyage thither, to which the following letter makes allusion:--
TO MISS D. LAURA TUCKER.
‘I hope that you will all write us very affectionate letters
of congratulation on our escape from the waves. How talented
it was in Mamma to manage to send us letters so soon! We had
no idea of hearing from home by 6 o’clock on Monday morning.
We are all quite well. I was not well yesterday morning,--I
imagine from the effects of our adventure; but I am, like the
rest of our dear party, quite well to-day.
‘We are to set out in a pony-chaise for Walmer, to see about a
house. Papa is to drive, and I have no doubt but that we shall
have a delightful little excursion.
‘The immense cliff is a great objection to Dover. Unless we
undergo the great fatigue of getting up it, we should be quite
prisoners. Walmer is _much_ flatter. We are anxious to hear
what has become of the poor _Emerald_. She landed us here on
Saturday morning, and proceeded on her perilous journey at
about five in the afternoon. Papa saw the carpenter’s wife,
who told him that the leak could not be got at because of the
coals, that they would not get to Boulogne, but must return
in two hours. The poor woman’s husband was in the vessel. She
said that her eyes were tired with looking at the steamer, but
philosophically observed that those who are doomed to sup salt
water must sup it. The _Emerald_ has _not_ returned, however.
It is probable that she has put in to some other port. I should
like to hear about her fate. I should feel for our kind sailor.
‘My darling Papa has rather taken fright at Mamma’s letter. He
fears that she is not well, that she has been hysterical at the
thought of our danger, and seems anxious to go up to London
himself, in order to assist her and see about her. Fanny and I
expostulate. He is the best of husbands and fathers. I hope,
however, that dearest Mamma is _not_ unwell, and that the
sea-air may do her good and strengthen her. Another objection
to Dover is that the voyage is likely to be rougher to it than
to Walmer. Walmer is not situated so near that terrible South
Foreland.... This is Papa’s opinion, but we cannot decide till we
see Walmer.’
Further particulars of the adventure alluded to are unfortunately not
forthcoming.
CHAPTER IV
A FARCE OF GIRLISH DAYS
THE PRETENDER;
A FARCE IN TWO ACTS; by CHARLOTTE MARIA TUCKER.
_Characters_:--
COLONEL STUMPLEY.
CHARLES.
DARESBY.
CORPORAL CATCHUP.
WEASEL--A Butler.
O’SHANNON--A Soldier.
MRS. JUDITH RATTLETON.
MISS SOPHIA RATTLETON.
MISS BARBARA RATTLETON.
MISS HORATIA RATTLETON.
_Scene laid in Northumberland, in and near the house of Mrs. Judith._
ACT I.
SCENE I.
THE HIGHROAD BEFORE MRS. JUDITH’S HOUSE.
_Enter CHARLES._
CHARLES. A cold, wet, and misty evening, and above all to one
whose pockets are not lined! My foolish fancy for the Stage has
brought me to a declining stage, if not a stage of decline.
Heigh ho! how dark it is getting! Just the sort of place to meet
with a ghost of Hamlet, not the sort of hamlet that I’m looking
after, for I have done with theatrical effects,--I wish that
I had done with the effects of cold. How dark and gloomy that
church steeple looks over the trees! I’m close to a churchyard,
I suppose. And--ey! ey! what on earth are those white things
upon the grass? Clothes put out to dry; what an ass I was not to
see that before! but fasting makes one nervous. There’s a house.
How cheerful the lights look in it! I hear the sound of a piano
going. There must be ladies there, and ladies are ever good and
kind. What if I were to try my fortune at the door? My poor
namesake Prince Charlie must have put wanderers into fashion.
Northumberland is near enough to Scotland to have imbibed a
little of its spirit of romance. Poor Prince! we are fellows in
misfortune as we were partners in ambition. We both sought to
play the King, I on the boards, he in Britain; but his frea-king
and my moc-king are both changed to aching on the moors, and a
skul-king too, which makes us as thin as skeletons. I’ll try and
muster up courage for a knock. [_Knocks._]
I should not look the worse for a new coat, I think. My
knee-ribbons are bleached quite pale with the wind and the rain.
_Mais n’importe!_ the man, the man remains the same! These locks
have proved the keys to a Lady’s heart e’er now; and then wit
and eloquence! When I was flogged at school for affirming that
a furbelow must be an article, as I knew it to be an article of
dress, my Master observed that all my brains lay at the root of
my tongue; and the best position for them too, say I! Who would
keep a prompter to bellow to one from the top of the Monument,
and where’s the use of carrying one’s brains so high, that one
must send a carrier pigeon express for one’s thoughts before one
can express them at all? Better have wit to cover ignorance,
than silence to conceal sense. One can’t squint into a man’s
head to see what it contains. Here comes a light to the door:
now for the encounter.
_WEASEL opens the door._
Is Mrs. [_coughs_] at home? Pray present my compliments to her,
and say that a gentleman who has lost his way entreats the
favour of shelter for a night under her hospitable roof.
WEASEL. Shall I take up your name, Sir?
CHARLES. No, Sir, you may take up my words. [_Exit WEASEL._]
Had the fellow been a Constable he might have taken me up
also, for in this apparel I look more like a highwayman than a
gentleman in a highway. How very cold it is! I wish that the
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