Volume Ii Part 9 (1/2)
The d.u.c.h.ess again beheld her early friends, once more she partook of their juvenile pastimes. Time advances--her courts.h.i.+p with the duke proceeds--her consent to the marriage given--the wedding takes place--the birth of Adelaide--the duke's increased favour with his sovereign--his several appointments--his promotion--the introduction of the d.u.c.h.ess at court--the duke presented with the order of the garter, and appointed viceroy of Ireland--the scenes attendant thereon--Adelaide the admiration of every eye, and the praise of every tongue. All these events, conjured up by deceptive vision, pa.s.sed in rapid succession, seen through the _camera obscura_ of the past. Now floats before her tortured fancy the obverse of the medal:--The battle of the Boyne is fought and lost--King James is forced to make a precipitate flight--the Duke of Tyrconnel accompanies his deposed sovereign--the duke is outlawed by King William, who pa.s.ses an act of attainder against him--the d.u.c.h.ess is compelled to depart from Ireland--Adelaide accompanies her mother in her voyage. The dream continues:--The d.u.c.h.ess much perturbed--at sea they encounter a violent storm--she and Adelaide are about to perish in a watery grave. The d.u.c.h.ess moans, and becomes deeply depressed, which awakened Adelaide, who arose, and gently opening the shutter, the rays of a summer sun glanced in at the cas.e.m.e.nt. Then putting on her attire with great caution and silence Adelaide seated herself by her mother's side. The d.u.c.h.ess greatly disturbed in her sleep, with a deep moan and restless motion turned around in the bed; in doing so her arm fell next Adelaide; who gently, but affectionately, kissed her mother's hand, and while in the act the d.u.c.h.ess awoke.
”Oh! _this_, at least, is no vision to mock my misery!--I am awake--_this_ is no dream! Oh, my dear, dear Adelaide!--my darling child is it you?”
The d.u.c.h.ess sat up in her bed, and warmly embracing Adelaide, while the fond, maternal tear moistened as it fell upon her daughter's cheek, she said:--”May heaven ever bless and protect thee, my dear and duteous daughter, and its gracious mercy be always thine! for thou hast ever been dutiful to thy parents, and obedient to thy Creator!”
The d.u.c.h.ess now arose, and as neither her Grace nor Adelaide expended any unnecessary waste of time at their toilette, they were soon at their post at the breakfast table. Sir Patricius rung, and desired the waiter to place a Malines ham and a bottle of Louvain beer on the side-table, both of which he declared were excellent in their kind; some of the ladies tasted the ham, but the Louvain beer remained untasted except by the provident Baronet himself, who smacked his lips, and observed that it was pa.s.sing good; and then noticed that there were three kinds of it, that which lay upon the table was of the weakest sort; the next was called Caniac, which was to be met with at the tables of the n.o.blesse and the wealthier bourgeois; the strongest kind is called Peterman, which, he observed, was sold at the coffee-houses in the evening; and in such repute is Louvain beer held, he said, that annually one hundred and fifty thousand tuns are brewed for exportation; ”but for my poor part,”
next continued Sir Patricius, (filling out a second gla.s.s,) ”I have slight objection to quaff it at the fountain head!--”_Satius est petere fontes, quam sectari rivulos._”--Ha, ha, ha!
Breakfast having terminated, and the practical panegyric of Sir Patricius on Louvain beer and Malines ham being duly exemplified and concluded, the d.u.c.h.ess sallied forth in search of a furnished house, which her Grace intended to engage for a term not less than that of a year. Three or four houses were inspected, but they were found not to answer; one was too small to accommodate the family, another was indifferently furnished, a third was objected to from its unpleasantness of situation; a fourth was examined, which was agreeably situated in the Rue Ducale, opposite to the park; this seemed to promise well, Sir Patricius rang the hall bell, and a tall, meagre figure, in a rich flowered silk robe _de chambre_, and his head enveloped in a red night-cap, opened the door; it was Monsieur Pa.s.semier, the proprietor of the house, who grinned and bowed most obsequiously; he was about sixty-five years of age, but seemed in spirits, and also in activity, to enjoy all the vigour of youth. He now proceeded to show the house: the hall, or vestibule, was s.p.a.cious, and very handsomely ornamented with marble tables, bronze busts on brackets, and a statue of white marble of the G.o.d of silence. The garden, which adjoined the hall, was very tastefully laid out; a corridore of trellis work, entwined with parasite plants, led from the hall to the garden, where several walks, arched above, formed pleasant arbours, through and around which the cl.u.s.tering vines had entwined themselves, and now displayed their luxuriant bunches of red and white grapes.
The d.u.c.h.ess ascended to the drawing-rooms, which were hung with rich Brussels' tapestry, and hangings of Arras; the subjects represented were woven from designs of Teniers, Snyders, and Rubens; the different compartments represented village fairs, rural merry-makings, and boar hunts.
The sofas, or settees rather we should say, the rude, gothic predecessors of the present modern sofa, were extremely long and extremely low, and yet withal of an enormous size; they were covered with blue velvet, and fringed with gold lace; the chairs, which corresponded, were on castors, and were of that formidable s.p.a.ce and magnitude to have afforded seats to the two redoubtable city giants of Guild-Hall, Messieurs Gog and Magog, who, if hither transported, might have held thereon a seeming _tete-a-tete_, without any diminution or disparagement of their gravity and greatness.
Monsieur Pa.s.semier, (for to the lank gentleman in the red night-cap the said mansion appertained,) ever and anon was restlessly employed in raising or lowering the red cap on his forehead, and with continued and extravagant grin, grimace, and gesticulation, became exceedingly loquacious, his teeth chattering most monkey-like. He dwelt much on the commodiousness of his house, the fine view of the park which it commanded, the fas.h.i.+onableness of the situation, the salubrity of the air, the convenience of his _jardin orne_; and rung various changes on the fine furniture of his mansion, so superior, he insisted, to _les miserables meubles garnis_ of Paris; he once indeed (_malheureux!_) had, in an evil hour, let lodgings, but he would never do so again--_jamais!_ He once, _pardie_, had set these apartments (_en haut_) to Monsieur Le Compte d'Egmont and Madame la Comptesse, _et quatres pet.i.tes diables des enfants_; the lower (_en bas_) apartments were set to le bon Eveque de Bruges. But, _une jour_, Le Compte et Madam la Comptesse were abroad _pour faire visite_, when _les quatres pet.i.tes diables des enfants_ made, _mon Dieu!_ such a _grand boulevers.e.m.e.nt_, you never did hear--no persone did ever see de like.
Here Monsieur Pa.s.semier acted to the life _encore le tres grande boulevers.e.m.e.nt_, flinging down, with great force, fire, fury, and energy, stool, tripod, candelabra, chairs, &c., and scattering around the broken fragments of marble tables. He then, with the agility of a Shamois goat, bounded from stool to chair and settee, indeed he seemed as if recently escaped from Bedlam; he jumped, he stamped, he danced, he laughed, he chattered, racing round the room, jumping on chairs and settees, and violently stamping and kicking thereon, and by practical ill.u.s.trations demonstrating how _les quatres pet.i.tes diables des enfants d'Egmont_ had accomplished _cet horrible boulevers.e.m.e.nt_! and all dat in defiance of _le pet.i.te dieu de silence, dans le grande vestibule_, who, _avec le main droite_, to his lip does (_tout le gentilhomme_) impose silence, and _avec le main gauche_, does vid _beaucoup de politesse_ point de way _en haut! pour vous montez. Le bon Eveque de Bruges_ left me _au desespoir! pauvre homme, car, malheureux_,
_Il ne pouvoit pas_, _ni lire_, _ni dire_, _ni rire_, _ni prier_, _ni ecrire_,
_et mon Dieu! quelle horrible, il ne pouvoit pas dormire!_
The d.u.c.h.ess came in for more of the _boulevers.e.m.e.nt_ than her Grace had calculated upon; and having concluded her bargain, hastened to depart before the lank landlord in the red night-cap could, by possibility, be seized with another fit of _la malade du boulevers.e.m.e.nt_.
Sir Patricius was extremely diverted with the eccentricities of this original, and declared that the Monsieur was wondrous comical--most amusingly facetious.
The d.u.c.h.ess and Lady Adelaide, &c. drove through the squares and princ.i.p.al streets of Brussels, they visited the park l'Alle Verte, &c.; and then drove to Soignies Forest: Adelaide was highly delighted, and with much liveliness and enthusiasm, she said:--”Fair Brussels! renowned in days of ancient chivalry, aye, full many a joust, tilt, and tournament, hast thou witnessed within thine princely walls, when kings and mighty paladines sought valour's prize and beauty's smile, while trumpets brayed the victor's fame, and damsels gave the guerdon to the brave! Nor, Soignies, ever be thy dark forest forgot, here many a chase has re-echoed throughout thy woodland waste, led on by prince and peer, what time the savage boar of the forest, roused from his lair, started forth on the hunter's path, and sunk beneath his valiant spear, while blithely the bugle reckless rung his requiem!”
”My dear daughter, you are the child of romance, and you should have been born in the days of chivalry, for our own days are too tame and common-place for thee withal!”
”I do commend, my lady d.u.c.h.ess,” said Sir Patricius, ”the enthusiasm of the Lady Adelaide; and I must take occasion to observe, that although there is much liveliness, there is likewise much historical truth in the young lady's remarks. _Certes_ Brussels is a fine city; in many respects it may vie with Paris. Look at the park, at the promenades, the palaces, the mansions, churches, fountains, &c.; and I will be bold to say that in healthfulness of its climate, the beauty of its local situation, the s.p.a.ciousness of its streets, the abundance and cheapness of its provisions, that at this period Brussels is probably second to no city in Europe. It is proverbial for the luxuriance of its fruits and vegetables.--And now, my Lady d.u.c.h.ess, I do remember me that Anne of Cleves, the consort of King Henry VIII. of England, whom he somewhat ungallantly called a Flanders mare”----
”It was indeed,” observed the d.u.c.h.ess, ”not only an uncourtly, but it was an unkinglike phrase!”
”I was about to observe, my Lady d.u.c.h.ess, that Anne of Cleves used frequently to send to the _Pays Bas_ for a sallad! and I dare be sworn, my lady, that if her Majesty had only known what a luxurious fruit Flemish cherries and strawberries were, which latter they call here _fraises l'Anglaises_, and in size are as large as the largest walnut, and their exquisite flavour quite unparalleled--no doubt, I think, but that the queen would have despatched a special messenger to procure a dessert of those delicious fruits of Flanders, provided they would have borne the carriage. Ay, though even her royal head were to pay the forfeit I' faith!--ha, ha, ha!”
”To lose one's head were rather an unseemly joke for a bunch of Flemish fruit; besides, methinks it were rather too dear a purchase even in the decapitating days of bluff Harry Tudor!” observed Lady Adelaide.
”Commend me the spirit,” said her Grace, ”of the d.u.c.h.ess of Milan, who, when Henry had sent an amba.s.sador demanding her hand in marriage, she boldly desired the amba.s.sador to tell his master that she must decline the honour which his Majesty had so graciously intended, as she had but one head: if she had had two indeed, one of them should certainly be at the disposal of his Majesty of England!”
”Ha, ha, ha,--'fore Jupiter,” exclaimed Sir Patricius, ”her Highness was as witty as she was spirited!--Ha, ha, ha.”
The d.u.c.h.ess now deemed it full time for her Grace to send a despatch to the palace of d'Aremberg, addressed to her old friend,--her once youthful, lovely friend--the kind a.s.sociate of her early years, the d.u.c.h.ess d'Aremberg, notifying her arrival at Brussels, and likewise, meanwhile, expressing the cogent reasons which had rendered such a step necessary, if not imperative; at the same time also intimating her intention of calling upon the following day at an early hour specified, to pay her demonstrations of love, regard, and respect.
Accordingly, upon the following day, and at the appointed time, the d.u.c.h.ess, accompanied solely by Lady Adelaide, waited upon her Grace d'Aremberg at the ducal palace.
Our readers no doubt possibly may recollect the relations.h.i.+p in which the d.u.c.h.ess d'Aremberg stood to the Lady Adelaide, that her Grace was Lady Adelaide's _marraine_, or G.o.dmother. They too may perchance recollect the princely baptismal presents given on the august occasion, and long since narrated in our story, all of which have been duly detailed in the second chapter of the first volume of this romance.
The meeting was of the tenderest and most affecting description. The d.u.c.h.ess d'Aremberg had been for some years a widow, but she was not childless, she had an only son, the present Duke d'Aremberg. Her sight was much impaired, being obliged to wear spectacles; but notwithstanding this, her countenance still bore striking traits that she had once been beautiful. Her const.i.tution had been so much impaired by ill-health, caused by paralysis, and not by years, that her Grace had nearly lost the powers of locomotion: she moved on crutches. But still her brilliant eye beamed forth intelligence; and still warm and true to all its fires, her generous and expanded heart was alive to every social tie, to every n.o.ble impulse, and every endearing feeling. While, meantime, every object around bore strong indications of mortality; in one station was placed her once favourite paroquet, that had gaily talked in its cage, and had each successive morning duly greeted its mistress's approach.--There now it stood a stiff and motionless mummy, a mere mockery of what it once had been! The cherished and favourite lapdog too had undergone a similar transformation, and starchly stuffed, and studded with its glaring eye-b.a.l.l.s, unspeculatingly stared from its gla.s.sy cabinet.