Volume I Part 4 (1/2)

433.

The supper was served at ten o'clock; an hour which was considered at that period as late, and was prolonged still later, while jest and joke, and revelry, and song, and glee, and gla.s.s went round; and at a protracted hour the guests retired to repose; and thus terminated the social hilarities of the festive night.

The d.u.c.h.ess rose upon the following day at an early hour, as invariably was her custom, and having retired to her cla.s.sical cabinet, opened the latticed cas.e.m.e.nt to admit the enlivening rays of a brilliant vernal sun, and to inhale the balmy breeze of the morning. It was truly a beauteous spring morning; the Eske rolled rapidly over his stony channel, pouring forth his tributary torrent into the peaceful bosom of the Atlantic Sea; while with mournful plaint the wood-quest called her mate, perched on her favourite sycamore; and the red-breast and linnet sweetly warbled forth their matin-hymn from bush and spray,

”To gratulate the sweet return of morn.”

The d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel was indeed an extraordinary woman, highly gifted by nature, instructed by education, (in these days, certainly an unusual occurrence), and still more learned from her own a.s.siduity and perseverance. All this was the more remarkable, when we pause to consider the period in which she lived! The vast powers of her mind were demonstrated by the universality of her knowledge, the various accomplishments which she possessed, her acquaintance, even to a colloquial knowledge, with several different languages, the numerous acquirements, in all of which she excelled. No less distinguished was the d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel for her singular modesty, her unaffected manners, and that retiring grace, at once characteristic of those high endowments which flung around her such imposing charms. Indeed it has generally been remarked and acknowledged, that affectation and conceit are seldom found to be connected with genius, but are the satellites of those who would usurp her throne; and that the never-failing attendant upon true genius is simplicity of manners.

The d.u.c.h.ess had been educated at the convent of Vernon sur le Seine, where she was wont

”To walk the studious cloisters pale, And love the high embowed roof, With antic pillars ma.s.sy proof, And storied windows, richly dight, Casting a dim religious light.”

Here, during her novitiate, the d.u.c.h.ess (then Lady Katherine O'Nial) formed a friends.h.i.+p with a young lady, an inmate at the convent, which terminated only in death. The friend of her youth was the beautiful Lady Adelaide Alencon, daughter of the Duke of Alencon. They became dear and inseparable friends, from similarity of taste and talent. The _idem velle_--the _idem nolle_--was theirs! The same, or nearly the same, distinguished talents, a similar and uncontrollable wish for information, led them on in the paths of science and of literature, of virtue and of religion. Then, oh! how delightful it was, after a short sojourn with their friends, again to return to the sacred convent, and to hear at early morn the solemn anthem from the hallowed choir, which pealed over rock and flood, deeply re-echoed by the convent walls: or if at eve they returned, to hear floating upon the silent and slumbering bosom of the Seine the sad and solemn evening vesper, which was wafted to the skies!

But this pure and disinterested friends.h.i.+p was doomed to be only of short duration. Lady Adelaide Alencon's powers of mind were superior to the fragile tenement they illuminated and adorned, and over-studiousness brought on a consumption, which unfortunately was a hereditary disease.

The physicians ordered the patient to remove to Tours, from thence to the aromatic isles of the Heyeres. But, alas! it was all in vain! The promises at first were fair, like expanding snow-drops on the cold breast of spring, which blow--then bloom--then die! But each sad succeeding account only brought fresh accession of regret; and at an early age, in the ever-blooming green islands of the Heyeres, the lovely and the gifted Lady Adelaide Alencon drooped, and pined, and died!

deeply deplored by all her relatives, and justly and duly lamented by her friends.

”The hectic form, the beauteous maid, That just as life its charms displayed, To death devoted, glides away; With brilliant eye, that watery gleams, While still the rosy spectre dreams Of many a morrow gay.”

Upon the deeply regretted event of Lady Adelaide Alencon's death, the d.u.c.h.ess made a vow that if she married, her first female child should be called after her first regarded, her early and lamented friend; and to this cause our heroine was indebted for the ill.u.s.trious name which she bore.

The d.u.c.h.ess, even during her juvenile abode at the convent of Vernon sur le Seine, had manifested much talent and infinite taste, and at that early period had displayed an extraordinary degree of ingenuity and delicacy of tact; she cut paper into an innumerable variety of figures, characters, and landscapes, solely dictated by her own genius, and executed with much taste and spirit. Her Grace also drew in crayons, flowers that were so naturally depicted, that they seemed to have been recently culled from the garden. She was conversant, besides, with vocal and instrumental music; and, moreover, displayed much skill in oil-painting and in sculpture: indeed her talents seemed to rival those of that n.o.ble and distinguished lady, Anne-Maria Schurman.[13] A proficient too in etching. Her writing in various languages was inimitable. She was also perfect mistress of the Greek and Latin languages, and understood and spoke with facility French, Italian, and German; and no less excelling in the sciences of geography, astronomy, and philosophy, with many other rare acquirements, which we shall pa.s.s by unnoticed, as we do not choose to cla.s.sify this gifted lady with the heroines of romance. Under the guidance and instructions of such a mother everything was to be hoped for, if not realized, in the education of an only and beloved daughter--her first-born, and possibly her last; certainly her only one!

[13] For an account of this n.o.ble and distinguished lady, see ”_Moreri Dictionnaire Historique_,” folio, Paris, 1654, tome VI.

p. 173;--and Descamps, in his ”_Vie des Peintres_,” &c., tome II.

Paris, 1754, makes the following honourable mention of her: ”Anne-Marie Schurman, les Poetes Hollandois nomment dans leurs vers cette fille ill.u.s.tre, leur Sapho et leur Cornelie: si elle a merite les eloges de ses compatriotes, elle a aussi obtenu les suffrages des grands et des scavants de l'Europe,” &c.--Tome II.

p. 119.

With all these splendid acquirements, the d.u.c.h.ess was an ardent admirer of the beauties of nature. She took delight in beholding the sun, with glorious burst, to ascend and illuminate the lofty mountain-peak; and at night to behold the starry host of heaven, the moon, and all the unnumbered stars that gem with imperishable l.u.s.tre the canopy of the skies. Even while the morning dew impearled the gra.s.s, she was wont to traverse the verdant lawn, with ”daisies pied and violets blue;” all these charms of rural nature gave delight and indescribable pleasure to a mind at peace with itself, and in harmony with the tranquil solitude which surrounded her. Who can doubt, then, that it was with unmixed contempt that the d.u.c.h.ess looked down upon the green and frivolous field of a loo, tredille, or cribbage-table, and that even primero had no charms for her!--a preference at that period very remarkable, and that completely puzzled all the suppositions and gossipings of the courtly card-playing dowagers of those courtly days.

However, with all this wild love for nature, and with all those commanding accomplishments to boot, we cannot, howbeit, deny that the d.u.c.h.ess was proud of the country which gave her birth, and pardie proud perhaps too of her own enn.o.bled descent; although we must observe that, with due discretion, she was never known to dwell upon the latter, while upon the former, conversant as she was with the aboriginal language of her country, when time and opportunity offered, she then indulged herself therein, in learning the wants and the necessities of the lower orders; and, furthermore, in acquiring a knowledge of the character and the feelings of the native Irish, with which the more she became acquainted, the still more she became endeared.

While thus we have been endeavouring to delineate the mind and acquirements of the d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel, we must, however, not silently pa.s.s by her remarkable costume, for this is strictly in unison with the history of those times; and it must be confessed that it was sufficiently _outre_ and extraordinary. Her Grace's head-dress, or head-gear, was strangely elevated, indeed we might say castellated, upon the stiff, formal, and firm foundation of an internal satin cus.h.i.+on, on bastion of silk, surmounted by a natural coronal of fine auburn hair; so that she might have been mistaken for Cybele, the mother of the G.o.ds; and like the G.o.ddess too, she was crowned with the model of a citadel.

The hair was raised with such force, that it appeared from the process to be nearly starting from the roots. A double tier of curls formidably flanked and circled round this superstructure, on which were arranged three magnificent rows of eastern pearls, while above was placed a costly coif or cap of superb Brussels lace, bordered with Mechlin. Large pendant diamond rings sparkled in each ear; a superb brilliant necklace glittered on her bosom; her kerchief was of the richest Poyntz lace; her jacket or bodice was short, formed with close sleeves, and made of light blue Spanish cloth, adorned with longitudinal stripes of gold. This bodice was fastened at the breast, so as to form a most splendid stomacher, by means of two parallel superb rows of large brilliant diamond b.u.t.tons, which were interlaced by crimson ribbons, enclosing it in front. The sleeves were of deep crimson velvet, trimmed with rich gold net-work. The petticoat was of rich blue velvet, festooned by golden cords and ta.s.sels, and richly trimmed with a border of deep gold net-work. The petticoat, it must needs be confessed, was distended to a disfiguring circ.u.mference, swelled out by the unseemly and uncouth bell-hoop, which was then the appanage to a lady's full dress, and still further increased by long peaked stays, which gave a most Dutch-like and awkward solemnity, if not an armorial stiffness of carriage, to the wearer.

Her Grace's shoes were of red Morocco leather, with high tapering heels, so elevated as to form with the sole the outlines of an arch; and the colour, to contrast with the red upper leather, was blue. The shoes were tastefully st.i.tched and worked in a pattern of gold-thread work, and fastened with diamond clasps. The hose were of light blue silk, ornamented with clokes of gold.[14]

[14] There is another item of Her Grace's dress which is not noticed above, as it was only used on occasions of going abroad to visit, or when on horseback; we speak of a velvet mask, worn by ladies of rank at this period, and for which a high duty was imposed upon their being imported from France.

Upon the festival of the previous day the d.u.c.h.ess was thus attired as we have endeavoured to describe her state dress; her beautifully formed hands and fingers were adorned with bracelets and rings set with ”gems both rich and rare;” while her animated countenance, and still more brilliant eyes, and affable manners, spread joy and delight around the festive circle which she graced and adorned.

We must here by no means whatever pa.s.s over an important character in the _dramatis personae_ of our history, (at least so she was in her own personal estimation), and forsooth be it known too, moreover, a highly privileged person. We here venture to speak of Lady Adelaide's nurse, Mistress Judith Braingwain, who was in every respect most truly Irish.

Her superst.i.tions were deeply rooted, so that nothing could shake them; and her belief in ghosts, wraiths, banshees, and fairies, and all that was marvellous, was truly orthodox. She believed in astrology, then much in vogue; in dreams, omens, prognostications, and

”Chimeras all, still more absurd or less,”