Volume I Part 8 (1/2)
UMBRAGE--the proud, the great, and mighty, could no where be found; its place was a blank amid the nations!
What conduced to the mistake or blunder was, that a pique had arisen at that time between General Konigsmark and General Geis (subsequent to the pa.s.sage of the river Neckar in Germany,) against the Duc d'Enghien, (by whose valour that pa.s.s was won, and also Wimpfen was taken;) declaring that the two former would quit the army, &c. At this declaration the Field Marshal Viscount Turenne, it was rumoured, had _taken_ UMBRAGE! It was upon this _datum_ that the worthy alderman had built his _el dorado_, his airy citadel, his undiscoverable princ.i.p.ality and victory!
But Turenne soared above the impetuosity of Konigsmark, and the obstinacy of the other two. Turenne was a hero! and one who would scorn to the city achievement of _taking_ UMBRAGE from friend or foe!
For about the s.p.a.ce of an hour the lovely Lady Adelaide was permitted to remain at the drawing-room, the delight of every eye, and the theme of every tongue.
The Duke sat down to play at tredrille with the Countess Dowager of Ossory and Lord Glandarah. This game, as the name implies, was played by three persons at a small triangular table, which in these our degenerate days, are shown only as curiosities in the cabinets of the curious; and the Duke, when they left off play, arose a winner of about twenty pounds; for in their quiet, snug way the good folks of those days often lost or won fourteen or fifteen pounds of the current coin of the realm at a pool of tredrille, which was then considered _most moderate_ play!
About the hour of eleven o'clock the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess, who had been much gratified and amused during the course of the evening, arose, and bowing most gracefully and courteously to their guests, broke up the drawing-room, and retired.
The company soon departed for their homes, highly pleased and gratified with the courteous deportment of the n.o.ble pair; charmed alike by their affable manners and fascinating attentions equally bestowed on all. It would be tedious at this time of day to detail the names, and it might seem invidious to record the particular beauties that graced the brilliant circle, which upon that memorable evening crowded and adorned the splendid suite of rooms at Dublin Castle.
CHAPTER VII.
Young innocent, on whose sweet forehead mild The parted ringlet shone in simplest guise, An inmate in the home of RAYMOND smil'd, Or blest his noonday walk.--She was his only child.
CAMPBELL.
The faculty having strongly recommended sea-bathing as salutary and beneficial to the health of Lady Adelaide, the Duke, in consequence of this advice, purchased a hunting lodge, not remote from the sea-sh.o.r.e, and beautifully situated amid the romantic scenery of the county of Wicklow, which, from its proximity to the metropolis, afforded a convenient retreat, and from whence he could, with little or no delay, receive and despatch the duties attendant upon his high official situation. As soon as the mansion was placed in a state of proper repair, and becomingly furnished to be worthy of the reception of the representative of majesty, the Duke resolved, for the benefit of the health of a beloved and only daughter, as well as for his own repose from the fatigues of office, to retire to his newly-acquired purchase of Laetely Abbey--for thus was this hunting lodge denominated; and this resolve was not long without being carried into execution. The Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Tyrconnel, accompanied by Lady Adelaide, the sisters of the Duke, not forgetting Sir Patricius Placebo, that witty knight; along with a numerous attendant suite, left Dublin Castle for their sojourn at Laetely Abbey, and after a few hours travelling, they safely reached the place of their destination.
Letely (or Laetely) Abbey (_quasi laetus locus_), for by this latter designation antiquarians insisted that it should be called, was indeed a lovely place, surrounded as it was by all the combining beauties of natural scenery: here stood the venerable ruins of a decayed abbey, its walls wreathed and its summits crowned with ivy, while its grand oriel or eastern window, magnificent even in decay, was festooned and enlivened with various creeping plants, the sweet-smelling clematis, the jessamine, and woodbine, trailed around the ruins of the stone cas.e.m.e.nt, through which the sun-beams cheerfully shone, while the foliage gracefully waved in the blast, and the blossoms all sweetly perfumed the surrounding air. To the right of the abbey arose an extensive sheep-walk, whose boundaries were crowned by lofty groves of arbutus, or the strawberry tree; laurel, holly, added their combining greens and shades; and though last, not least, myrtle groves, which in this county grow to an amazing height, verifying the very just description of the great pastoral poet, Virgil, ”_amantes littora myrtos_”--myrtles which rejoice in being near to the sh.o.r.es of the sea. While in the fore-ground of the landscape, in all its splendid azure majesty, burst forth upon the delighted spectator's view the mighty ocean, its bosom studded with frequent white sails, which, as they scudded along, brightly glistened in the rays of a refulgent autumnal sun. The sh.o.r.e was indented by high and undulating downs, all richly cultivated, whose green sward, in smoothness and brilliance, vied with, if not rivalled, any carpet from the looms of Bruxelles, Turkey, or Persia. A range of meadows succeeded the downs, which were bordered with hedge-rows of oak, sycamore, and ash. Adjoining this enlivening scene stood a dense grove of forest trees, now glowing in all the rich and diversified tints of autumn. The dark green hue of the American spruce formed a rich and striking contrast with its deep brown cones, which gracefully cl.u.s.tered amid their parent verdure, and undulated upon the waving branches, while they bent to the breeze. The lemon-tinted leaves of the Alpine larch here were also seen, which were finely opposed to the deep copper colour of the umbrageous beech, and alternately blending with the bright green of the Scottish fir, or the deeper shades of the ilex, or ever-green oak.
To the left yawned a rocky, dark, romantic glen, surmounted by stupendous rocks frowning on the abyss beneath, whose sides were studded with every variety of wild herb and plant indigenous to a mountainy region, and, among others, that rare plant, the _adianthum_, fringed the interstices of the frowning cliffs.
Beneath reposed in a secluded dell the cottage of the Duke's steward.
The latticed windows were trellised with the rose, jasmin, and woodbine; the blue smoke which ascended and curled into clouds amid the overhanging foliage, betokened habitation and comfort. To the cottage was annexed an extensive farm-yard, with all the appendices of corn-stacks, turf, and hay likewise, _c.u.m multis aliis_, besides the various addition of live stock, all of which added interest and animation to the scene.
Through the bosom of this glen slowly meandered along a mountain stream, (in winter a torrent,) whose devious course was distinctly outlined by an accompanying range of alder trees, that in double columns densely shaded its winding banks.
In the back ground, veiled in dark neutral tint, arose a craggy mountain, whose base was richly dotted with groves of larch and spruce.
Prominently in the fore-ground was situated the Duke's hunting lodge, which, as we have already said, was denominated Laetely Abbey. This structure was built in the style of architecture of the family mansions of the Elizabethan period. An extensive lake, supplied by a copious mountain stream, presented itself in front of the house, until, winding onward, it was lost amid the adjoining woods. Close by was a deer-park, well enclosed, and numerously stocked with deer, some of whom gregariously reposed, while others were seen trooping through the dense woods, and gazing at the pa.s.sing stranger, which added interest and a picturesque beauty to the scene.
But the pride, grace, and ornament of Laetely Abbey was to be found in the attractive and lovely Adelaide, who had now entered upon her fifteenth year--so rapidly onward does time advance. Indeed it was no flattery to say, that Adelaide was most truly engaging in her manners.
Her statue would have graced the design of Phidias or Praxiteles; her lovely and expressive countenance captivated every beholder; the rose of youth was upon her cheek, and her skin was fair and pure as the unsunned lily; her dark blue eyes sparkled intelligence, beaming beneath her beautifully arched eye-brows. Her look, gesture, and demeanour, communicated joy; and we shall not deny a parental pride to the Duke and d.u.c.h.ess, at the same time, that her looks beamed forth delight upon all who beheld her; while her converse, sustained with a voice sweet, distinct, and melodious, charmed every listening ear. Her manners were unaffected, as they were natural, and all was silence when she spoke.
Her figure was graceful, as we have before noticed, and beautifully and finely proportioned. When animated by discourse her features seemed to be lighted up by almost celestial fire; her brilliant eyes sparkled bright as the native diamond, and her entire countenance became irresistibly charming.
To those of inferior rank her deportment was kind and una.s.suming, and down to the lowest domestic she was beloved, for they felt and knew that her delight was to protect those beneath her power, and not to tyrannise over them.
With an ardent and sanguine admiration of the beauties of nature, Adelaide too possessed an enthusiastic love of literature, conjoined to a correctly formed and delicately refined taste. Every day her mind expanded, from the literary lore which she imbibed, and gradually, but extensively, her brilliant talents developed their powers. Poetry, painting, and music, princ.i.p.ally fascinated, as they are ever wont to do, the feeling and romantic mind of youth. Some of those impressions thus elicited Adelaide was occasionally in the habit of committing to writing. One day, while some workmen of the Duke were employed in breaking up ground upon the confines of an ancient, but neglected cemetery, which surrounded a small dilapidated church, stationed on a green and rising knoll, whose ruinous walls were thickly overspread with ivy, while the alder, holly, and thorn, had stoutly installed them-selves in what had been once the chancel--it happened that, upon digging at the foot of an ancient thorn, they threw up a human skull, which the Duke caused immediately to be reinterred in the same spot; and within no distant s.p.a.ce of time a tombstone was prepared to surmount the grave, upon which was duly chiselled a crucifix, with the usual accompaniments of a death's head, &c., and having called upon his daughter's muse for some lines to be inscribed thereon, the interesting Adelaide wrote the following, which was sculptured upon the tomb:--
INSCRIPTION.
Rest here in peace beneath this ancient thorn!
Perhaps thou once didst rural life adorn, And raised thy hopes to heaven in yonder aisle: Now droops thy relick nigh yon ruin'd pile!
Still peaceful rest beneath thy parent earth, Until awakened to a n.o.bler birth!