Volume I Part 10 (1/2)
”I know it, sir;” broke forth Mr. Gerard; ”I am well aware that he is a heartless scoundrel, as dissipated, as dishonest, and--”
”Sir,” interrupted Mr. Clint, with irritation. ”I will not listen to such mad words. You may utter them, of course, in your own house, but not to me. This is the talk of those who would subvert all authority.”
”They are not afraid to speak evil of dignities,” murmured my tutor.
”I do not speak evil of dignities, my dear sir, but only of the rogues who fill them,” exclaimed Mr. Gerard, laughing. ”However, I beg your pardon, gentlemen; the remark escaped me quite involuntarily. You are aware, Mr. Clint, that my Lord Eldon is not absolutely an ascetic.”
”I was about to say, sir,” observed the old lawyer stiffly, ”that his lords.h.i.+p is not so tenderly alive to the necessity of moral training as some of his friends would wish, and he has a strong respect for natural authority. He would lean, therefore, towards Sir Ma.s.singberd's view of the question--with whom; indeed, he is personally not unacquainted--and be induced to palliate his way of life.”
”Sadder than orphans, yet not fatherless, are those in Eldon's charge,”
murmured Mr. Gerard. ”Still,” continued he, in a louder tone, ”the charge of attempted murder, Mr. Clint, would have this effect, that even if Marmaduke were reconsigned to his uncle's care--which Heaven forbid--the eyes of the world would be upon Sir Ma.s.singberd, and he would not venture to work him a mischief. In the meantime, it rests with us to take good care that he has not the chance of doing so.”
”And now,” resumed Mr. Clint, after a pause, ”supposing that all is arranged thus far to repel Sir Ma.s.singberd's claims, there is another matter to be considered. It would take long to explain the details of the case, but you must understand that the Heath property is very peculiarly situated. Sir Ma.s.singberd, who is in the enjoyment of it for life, cannot raise a s.h.i.+lling upon it; while Marmaduke does not possess a s.h.i.+lling, although the prospective heir of such vast wealth. They would be, in short, at present a couple of beggars; but by a special arrangement with a certain person, whom I need not name, a small annual sum has been allotted for the benefit of the boy, but, practically, quite as much so for that of his uncle. A certain annuity, I say, is paid to Sir Ma.s.singberd for the maintenance of his nephew, and another, solely on the latter's behalf, for that of the estate. It is a most beautifully intricate affair from first to last,” pursued the lawyer with unction; ”here are two relatives, who mutually support one another, and have yet every reason, looking at the matter in a rather worldly way of course, to wish each other dead. Sir Ma.s.singberd could borrow plenty of money, if the usurers were only confident that he could, as well as would, make away with his nephew. There would be even less difficulty under ordinary circ.u.mstances in procuring a loan for Marmaduke; but a delicate boy, whose uncle and guardian is bent upon putting a violent end to him--you see that renders the security so very slight.
Altogether, it is certainly one of the nicest cases. It is not only a question of responsibility; there are always plenty of people ready to take any amount of that at a sufficient premium; but who will undertake the pecuniary charge of the lad if he is withdrawn from his uncle's roof? Sir Ma.s.singberd, of course, will never give up one t.i.ttle of the allowance entrusted to him to expend, except upon such compulsion as we should scarcely venture to employ. There are three years wanting to the boy's majority; and even when he has arrived at that, and should be willing to promise ample repayment, he may die before his uncle still, who has a const.i.tution of adamant, when those who have maintained him may whistle for the money they have expended. The expression may be coa.r.s.e,” added Mr. Clint apologetically, ”but I think it conveys my meaning.”
”I thank you, Mr. Clint,” observed my tutor, after a little pause, ”for putting this matter before us so bluntly and decidedly. For my part, I am far from being a rich man; but, on the other hand, there are no persons who have a better claim upon my resources than my dear young friend and pupil, Marmaduke Heath. That he will repay me if he survives his uncle, I am more than a.s.sured; and, if he die early, I shall not regret that the remainder of his young life has been rendered happy through my means, although it may have cost me a few comforts.”
I stooped down and said a few words in my tutor's ear. ”No, Peter, no,”
continued he; ”you are a good lad, and your father is, doubtless, generous enough to comply with your wishes; but we must not resort to such a distant source in this emergency, indeed. Mr. Clint, do you think that a hundred and forty to a hundred and sixty pounds a year might be made sufficient to keep Marmaduke with respectability?”
”Half your annual stipend, eh, Mr. Long, eh?” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed the lawyer.
”Bless my soul, how this snuff gets in one's eyes! Such a sum should be quite sufficient. I think that would be found more than enough. He cannot live at your rectory, of course; that would be almost as bad as at the Hall; but there are plenty of spare rooms in my house in town. He has stayed there before, so that that can be done, we know. Marmaduke and I are old friends--No, no, it will not hurt me. Such a course cannot bring me into greater antagonism with Sir Ma.s.singberd than I am in already. I am always at daggers-drawn with him. He is for ever cutting down trees that don't belong to him, or selling heirlooms that are no more his than mine, or embroiling himself with me, the appointed guardian of the property, in some way or other. Yes, I'll take the lad, Mr. Long, come what will of it.”
”You will do nothing of the kind,” exclaimed my host, energetically; ”you honest lawyer, and very worthy man; and you, you good priest--contradictions in terms, both of you--you shall not give away half your annual stipend, or my name is not Harvey Gerard. I have done each of you a very grievous wrong in thought, if not in word; and I hereby beg your pardon. It is possible, I perceive, to be a Tory, and yet preserve, if not a conscience, at least a heart.”
My tutor smiled; Mr. Clint bowed his acknowledgments.
”With regard to Mr. Marmaduke Heath, however,” pursued our host, ”that young gentleman must be my especial charge. From this day until the period when he comes into his property, or lies in need of decent interment, as the case may be, he is my guest; or, if my house is distasteful to him, I will advance him whatever sums he may reasonably require for his maintenance elsewhere. Please to consider that that is settled, gentlemen.”
”Whatever we may think of the political opinions of Mr. Harvey Gerard,”
observed Mr. Clint, with feeling, ”his name has always been a.s.sociated with acts of matchless generosity.”
”Always, always,” echoed Mr. Long; then added reflectively, ”he has paid the fines of half the rogues in the country, and bailed the other half who have been committed to prison.”
A simultaneous burst of merriment from his three hearers greeted this nave remark of my unconscious tutor.
”I have done so upon one occasion, I confess,” replied Mr. Gerard, good-naturedly. ”I became surety, in 1791, for the good behaviour of a poor Birmingham rioter, as I thought, who turned out to be a Government spy. However, I a.s.sure you, generosity has nothing to do with my present intentions with respect to young Heath. My income is sufficiently large to admit of my accommodating the poor lad with ease, even if the repayment, sooner or later, were not almost certain, as it really is.
But, besides all this, I must confess that the undertaking affords me exceeding satisfaction. Mr. Long, you are, I have heard, an enthusiastic fisherman; that is no common pleasure which you feel when your rod is bowed by some enormous trout, cunning and strong, who may break the whole of your tackle, and get away, after all, but who also may be landed helpless on the bank, a victim to your skill and patience. That is exactly the sport which I promise myself with Sir Ma.s.singberd Heath.
If he were one whit less greedy, less formidable, less pitiless, I should feel less hostility towards him; he has, fortunately, no redeeming point. I have hated tyranny all my life, and I hate this man, who seems to be the very embodiment of it. He makes his boast that no one has ever stood between himself and his wicked will. Let us see what he will make of Harvey Gerard.”
The speaker drew himself up proudly, but certainly not with unbecoming pride. His form dilated as he spoke; his voice grew deep without losing its distinctness; and into his mild eyes a sternness crept as when the frost congeals the lake. But for a spice of haughtiness, which to some might have appeared even arrogance, he could have stood for St. Michael in his contest with the foul Fiend,--have personified the Spirit of Good defying the Spirit of Evil.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE GIPSY CAMP.
After not a little opposition upon the part of Mr. Long, who would have willingly borne his share in Marmaduke's expenses, it was settled that Mr. Gerard should be the young man's host, if he could only contrive to retain him in defiance of the power of Sir Ma.s.singberd; his home, however, was not to be the Dovecot, which was judged to be too much exposed, by its proximity to Fairburn, to the machinations of the enemy.