Authors: George W. M. Reynolds,James Malcolm Rymer
"I can say no more at
present, dearest Diana; but you shall speedily hear again from your sincerely
attached and ever deeply grateful
"ELIZA SYDNEY.
"No wonder," said the Examiner,
drily, "that Baron Ruperto has desired the Envoy of Castelcicala at the
English court to make inquiries relative to Miss Eliza Sydney. Let the contents
of both letters be duly noted, and forwarded to her Majesty's Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs."
CAPTAIN DAPPER AND SIR CHERRY BOUNCE
THE verdure of the early spring re-clothed the trees with their
gay garments, and gave back its air of cheerfulness to the residence of Count
Alteroni.
It was about mid-day; and the sun beamed brightly from a
heaven of unclouded blue. Nature appeared to be reviving from the despotism of
winter's rule; and the primrose peeped bashfully forth to welcome the return of
the feathered chorister of the grove.
The count and countess, with their lovely daughter, were
seated in the breakfast-parlour. The two ladies were occupied with their
embroidery the noble Italian exile himself was reading the
Montoni Gazette
, which that morning's post had
brought him.
Suddenly he tittered an exclamation of surprise, and then
appeared to read with additional interest and attention.
"What news from Castelcicala?" inquired the
countess.
"You remember that the Earl of Warrington applied to me
between three and four months ago for letters of introduction on behalf of a
lady of the name of Eliza Sydney?" said the count.
"And who was about to visit Castelcicala in order to
escape the persecution of that vile man who aspired to the hand of
Isabella," added the countess.
"The very same. She is a cousin of the Earl of
Warrington; and it appears that her presence has created quite a sensation in
Montoni. The
Gazette
of the 15th of last month
contains the following passage :-
The fashionable circles of
Montoni have lately received a brilliant addition in the person of Miss Eliza
Sydney, a near relative of the Earl of Warrington, the noble Englishman who
purchased some years ago the beautiful villa at the extremity of the suburbs of
Petrarca. Miss Sydney has taken up her abode at the villa; and during the month
that she has already honoured our city with her presence, her agreeable
manners, amiable qualities, and great personal attraction, have won all hearts.
It is even rumoured that the highest person in the land has not remained
indifferent to the attractions of this charming foreigner-
' "
"Surely this latter sentence cannot allude to the
duke?" exclaimed the countess.
"It can allude to none other," answered the count:
" '
the highest person in the land
.' Of course it means the duke.
But, after all, it is probably only one of those idle reports which so
frequently obtain vogue in the fashionable circles of all great
cities —"
"Or one engendered in the fertile brain of a newspaper
editor," said the countess. "Still it would be strange if, through
your letters of introduction —"
"Oh! it is too absurd to speculate upon,"
interrupted the count, impatiently.
"And yet your lordship is not unaccustomed to judge now
and then by the mere superficial appearances of things," said the countess
severely.
"I!" ejaculated the Italian noble.
"Decidedly," answered the countess. "You
believed Mr. Greenwood to be an honest man without examining into his real
position —"
"Ah! that one foolish step of mine!"
"And you pronounced Mr. Markham a villain without
according him an opportunity of giving an explanation," added the
countess.
"Always Richard Markham!" cried the count angrily.
"Why do you perpetually throw his name in my teeth?"
"Because I think that you judged him too hastily,"
said the countess.
"Not at all! did he not admit that he had been in
Newgate?"
A cold shudder crept over Isabella's frame.
"Yes; and so has our friend Mr. Armstrong, whom you value
so highly, and whose letter from Germany gave you so much pleasure yesterday
morning."
"Certainly I was pleased to receive that letter,
because I had not heard from Armstrong so long: I fancied that something had
happened to him. But, to return to what you were saying," continued the
count; "Armstrong was incarcerated merely for a political offence; and
there is something honourable in that."
"Mr. Markham may have been more unfortunate than
guilty," said the countess. "At all events you have condemned without
giving him a fair hearing. I have even asked you to refer to the newspapers of
the period and read his case; but you refuse to give him a single chance."
"Your ladyship is very quick to blame," said the
count, somewhat sarcastically; " but you forget how rejoiced you were some
years ago to discover that the chevalier Gilderstein, whose father was executed
for coining, was no relation of our family, as you had long deemed him to be :
and yet the chevalier was himself innocent of his father's offence."
"I certainly have expressed myself more than once in
the way you mention," returned the countess; "but I had so spoken
without due consideration. Now that a case is immediately present to my view, I
am inclined to feel and act mote charitably."
"But how could Mr. Markham justify himself?"
exclaimed the count. "Was not that attempt at burglary in this house so
very glaring?"
"Oh!" cried Isabella, colouring deeply; "let
Mr. Markham be guilty in other respects, I would pledge my existence he never,
never could have been a participator in that!"
"You speak warmly,
Signora," said the count, whose brow contracted. "You forget that I
myself overheard him talking with some one over the wall of the garden only a
few hours before the entrance of the burglars —"
"We have many cases upon record," interrupted
Isabella enthusiastically, "in which men have been unjustly convicted on
an almost miraculous combination of adverse circumstances. Suppose that Mr.
Markham was, in the first instance, made the victim of rogues and villains, and
sacrificed by them to screen their own infamy, - suppose he underwent his
punishment in Newgate, being innocent, - will you sympathise with and
commiserate him? or will you scorn and repulse him? Oh! my dear father, no
kindness would be too great towards a being who has suffered through the
fallibility of human laws! Suppose that one of the villains who plunged him -
innocent - into all that misery, repented of the evil, and signed a confession
of his own enormity and of Mr. Markham's guiltlessness ;- then would you remain
thus prejudiced? Oh! no - my dear father, you never would! your nature is too
noble!"
"My dearest Isabella, let us drop this conversation. In
the first place, it is not likely that your romantic idea of one of the
villains whom you bring upon your fanciful stage, signing such a confession
—"
"Oh! my dear father," exclaimed Isabella, a ray of
joy flashing from her large black eyes; "if such were the case —"
"Well - if such were the case," added the count
impatiently, "the entire mystery of the burglary remains to be cleared up
to my satisfaction; and therefore, with your permission, we will leave this
subject - now, and for ever!"
Isabella's head dropped upon her bosom; and her countenance
wore an expression of the most profound disappointment and grief.
Scarcely had the conversation thus received a rude check and
the count resumed the perusal of his paper, when Sir Cherry Bounce and Captain
Smilax Dapper were announced.
"Here we are - the two inseparables, strike me!"
ejaculated the gallant hussar. "How is the signora this morning? somewhat
melancholy - blow me!"
"It seems that you have nothing to make you melancholy,
Captain Dapper," said the count, who did not experience the greatest
possible amount of delight at the arrival of the two young gentlemen, although
he was far too well bred to show his annoyance.
"Beg pardon, count - on the contrary, smite me!"
returned Captain Dapper: "I have a great deal to be melancholy for. I lost
six hundred pounds last night at cards - blow me for a fool that I was! I must
confess, however, that I wasn't half awake."
"Yeth - and Thmilackth inthithted upon my thitting down
and playing too; and I lotht thwenty poundth."
"And got scolded by your mamma into the bargain, far
sitting up too late," said the Captain.
"Nonthenth, Thmilackth!" exclaimed Sir Cherry;
"I dare thay my mother allowth me ath gweat a lithenth ath your'th."
"Well we won't quarrel, Cherry," said the officer.
"But what do you think, count? I and Cherry dined together at the Piazza,
Covent-Garden, where we got the most unexceptionable turtle and the most
approved venison. The iced punch was superlative - the charges, of course.
comparative. Well, in the evening, while I and Cherry were sipping our claret -
and Cherry was admitting confidentially to me that he really hates claret, and
only drinks because it is fashionable —"
"Oh! naughty Thmilackth!"
"Hold your tongue, Cherry. Well - a couple of gentlemen
came into the coffee-room. There was no one else there besides me and Cherry
and the new comers. So they began whispering together for a few moments; and at
length one of them rushes forward, catches Cherry in his arms, and cries out,
'Oh! my dear Smith - my friend
Smith - how glad I am to meet with you again!'
Cherry coloured up to the eyes
—"
"Oh! what an infamouth falthhood!"
"You did, and you were so frightened you could not
speak a word. I was obliged to tell the loving gentleman that your name was not
Smith; and then he begged pardon, and said he never saw in his life such a
resemblance to an old school-fellow of his as Cherry was. Well, we laughed over
the mistake: the two gentlemen rang for claret; and we all sate down to the
same table together. We drank several bottles of wine, and then adjourned to
another place to sink it all with brandy-and-water. Cherry was quite top-heavy;
but I was as sober as a judge —"
"Why did you woll in the mud, then?"
"Why? because I tripped against a stone. Well, then we
were foolish enough to go to a gambling- house with these gentlemen; and there
I lost, and Cherry lost."
"And the two gentlemen won, I suppose?" said the
count, drily.
"Oh! of course," answered Captain Dapper.
"How foolish of two mere boys like you to think of
going to a gambling-house," exclaimed the count. "Do you not see that
the two gentlemen who accosted you in so strange a manner in the coffee-room of
an hotel, perceived you to be a couple of greenhorns?"
"They might have thought so of Cherry," cried the
captain, colouring deeply, and twirling his moustachios; "but they
couldn't have formed such an opinion of me - an officer in her majesty's
service - strike, smite, and blow me!"
"I'm thure I don't look tho veway gween ath you
think," said Sir Cherry Bounce, now falling into a sulky fit with his
friend the officer.
"Oh! I know perfectly well that they were regular
gentlemen," continued the captain; "for they gave us their cards; and
one was Sir Rupert Harborough. The other was Mr. Chichester."
"Sir Rupert Harborough and Mr. Chichester!"
exclaimed Isabella, on whom the mention of these names produced a strange
effect.
"Yes," answered Captain Dapper; "and so you
see that they were proper gentlemen, and it was all luck. But strike such luck
as mine!"
Isabella's countenance was suddenly irradiated with a gleam
of the purest and most heart-felt joy; - the tears started to her eyes - but
they were tears of happiness; - and, fearful that her emotions would be
observed, she hurried from the room.
"Ah! but you didn't hear Cherry's adventure about the
bird, did you, count?" demanded Dapper still continuing the conversation
The count shook his head.
"Why, this was it, said the gallant captain of hussars.
"A waggish friend of mine, whose name is Dawson, dined with me and Cherry
the other day; and the conversation turned upon birds. Cherry said he was very
fond of choice birds; and Dawson immediately observed, 'If you like to accept
of it, I will make you a present of a very beautiful and curious bird. I bought
it the other day at Snodkins's
the bird-fancier's in Castle
Street; and you may have it :- it is still there. All you have to do is to take
a cage with you, call, and ask for Mr. Dawson's
Poluphloisboio
.' Of course Cherry was quite delighted ;- indeed, he almost
hugged my friend Dawson; and all the rest of the evening he could think and
talk of nothing but the bird with a hard name. At length he thought of asking
how large a cage he ought to take with him. 'The largest you have got,' replied
Dawson. So the evening passed away; and next morning, before the clock struck
nine, there was Cherry, rattling up Regent Street as fast as he could in a
hack-cab, with a huge parrot-cage jolting on his knees. Well, he reached Castle
Street, found out Snodkins's, and said, 'Pleathe, I have come for Mithter
Dawthon'th
Poluphloithboio
. ' - 'For Mr. Dawson's what?' cried Snodkins.- 'For
Mithter Dawthon'th
Poluphoithboio
,' repeated Cherry.- 'And what
the devil is that? and who the deuce are you?' roared Snodkins, who thought
that Cherry had come to make a fool of him.- 'The thing ith a bird; and my name
ith Thir Cherway Bounthe,' was the reply.-' And my name is Snodkins,' said the
fellow; 'and I don't understand being made a fool of by you.'-'Mithter Dawthon
bought a bird here a few dayth ago,' persisted Cherry; 'and he thayth I may
have it. Here'th the cage: tho give me the bird.'- Snodkins was now inclined to
believe that it was all right; so he brought down the bird, put it into the
cage, and Cherry drove triumphantly home with it. His mamma was sitting at
breakfast when he entered with the cage in his hand. 'Here, ma,' said Cherry
—"
"I don't thay