The Knight Of Gwynne Volume I Part 20

"And I think we ought. It should be quite sufficient remuneration for a man like him to vote with the Government; his father became a Protestant because it was the gentlemanly faith; and I don't see why the son should not choose his politics on the same principle. Have you ever asked him to dinner, my Lord?"

"Yes, and his father, too. I have had the three generations, but I rather fear the party did not go off well. I had not in those days, Heffernan, the benefit of your admirable counsels, and picked my company unwisely."

"A great mistake with such men as these," said Heffernan, oracularly; "the guests should have been the cream of your Lords.h.i.+p's n.o.ble acquaintance. I 'd have had an Earl and a Marquis at either side of each of them; I 'd have turned their heads with n.o.ble names, and pelted them with the Peerage the whole time of dinner; when he had taken wine with a chamberlain and some lords-in-waiting, if your Lords.h.i.+p would only address him, in a voice loud enough to be heard, as 'O'Reilly,'

referring to him on a point of sporting etiquette or country gentleman's life, I think you might spare the baronetage the honor of his alliance.

Do you think, on a proper representation, and with due securities against the repet.i.tion of the offence, the chancellor would let himself be called 'Clare'? only for once, remember,--because I 'm satisfied, if this could be arranged, O'Reilly is yours."

"I 'd rather depute you to ask the question," said Lord Castlereagh, laughing; "a.s.suredly I 'll not do so myself. But when do these people come to town?--to-morrow or next day, I suppose."

"On Friday next they will all be here. Old Hickman comes up to receive something like two hundred and twenty thousand pounds,--for Darcy has raised the money to pay off the inc.u.mbrances,--the son is coming for the debate, and the grandson is to be balloted for at Daly's."

"You have made yourself master of all their arrangements, Heffernan: may I ask if they afford you any clew to a.s.sisting us in our object?"

"When can you give a dinner, my Lord?" said the other.

"Any day after Wednesday,--nay, Wednesday itself; I might easily get off Brooke's dinner for that day."

"The sooner the better; time is of great consequence now. Shall we say Wednesday?"

"Be it so; now for the party."

"A small one: selectness is the type of cordiality. The invitation must be verbal, done in your own admirable way: 'Don't be late, gentlemen, for Beerhaven and Drogheda are to meet you, and you know they scold if the soup suffers,'--something in that style. Now let us see who are our men."

"Begin with Beerhaven and Drogheda, they are sure cards."

"Well, then, Ma.s.sey Hamilton,--but he's only a commoner,--to be sure his uncle's a Duke, but, confound him, he never talks of him! I might draw him out about the Highlands and deer-stalking, and the Christmas revels at Clanchattagan; he 's three--Kilgoff four; he 's first-rate, and will discuss his n.o.ble descent till his carriage is announced. Loughdooner, five--"

"He's another bore, Heffernan."

"I know he is, my Lord; but he has seven daughters, and will consequently make up to young Beecham, who is a great prize in the wheel matrimonial. We shall want a Bishop to say grace; I think Dunmore is the man: he is the last of your Lords.h.i.+p's making, and can't refuse a short invitation."

"Six, and the three Hickmans nine, and ourselves eleven; now for the twelfth--"

"Darcy, of course," said Heffernan; "he must be asked, and, if possible, induced to come; Hickman O'Reilly will be far more easily managed if we make him suppose that we have already secured Darcy ourselves."

"He'll decline, Heffernan; depend upon it, he'll not come."

"You think he saw through my _ruse_ in the House,--not a bit of it; he is the least suspecting man in Ireland, and I 'll make that very circ.u.mstance the reason of his coming. Hint to him that rumor says he is coquetting with the Government, and he 'll go any lengths to brave public opinion by confronting it,--that's Darcy, or I 'm much mistaken in my man; and, to say truth, my Lord, it's an error I rarely fall into." A smile of self-satisfaction lit up Heffernan's features as he spoke; for, like many cunning people, his weak point was vanity.

"You may call me as a witness to character whenever you please," said Lord Castlereagh, who, in indulging the self-glorification of the other, was now taking his own revenge; "you certainly knew Upton better than I did."

"Depend upon it," said Heffernan, as he leaned back in his chair and delivered his words in a tone of authority,--"depend upon it, the great events of life never betray the man, it is the small, every-day dropping occurrences both make and mar him. I made Upton my friend for life by missing a woodc.o.c.k he aimed at; _he_ brought down the bird, and I bagged the sportsman. Ah, my Lord, the real science of life is knowing how to be gracefully in the wrong; how to make those slips that reflect on your own prudence, by exhibiting the superior wisdom of your acquaintances.

Of the men who compa.s.sionate your folly or deplore your weakness, you may borrow money, from the fellows who envy your abilities and extol your capacity, you 'll never get sixpence."

"How came it, Heffernan, that you never took office?" said Lord Castlereagh, suddenly, as if the idea forced itself abruptly upon him.

"I'll tell you, my Lord," replied Heffernan, speaking in a lower tone, and as if imparting a deep secret, "they could not spare me--that's the real fact--they could not spare me. Reflect, for a moment, what kind of thing the Government of Ireland is; see the difficulty, nay, the impossibility, of any set of men arriving here fresh from England being able to find out their way, or make any guess at the leading characters about them: every retiring official likes to embarra.s.s his successor,--that's all natural and fair; then, what a ma.s.s of blunders and mistakes await the newly come Viceroy or Secretary! In the midst of the bleak expanse of pathless waste I was the sign-post. The new players, who took up the cards when the game was half over, could know nothing of what trumps were in, or what tricks were taken. I was there to tell them all; they soon saw that I could do this; and they also saw that I wanted nothing from any party."

"That must be confessed on every hand, Heffernan. Never was support more generous and independent than yours! and the subject reminds me of a namesake, and, as I hear, a nephew of yours, the Reverend Joshua Heffernan,--is not that the name?"

"It is, my Lord, my nephew; but I'm not aware of having asked anything for him; I never--"

"But I did, Heffernan, and I do. He shall have the living of Drumslade; I spoke to the Lord-Lieutenant about it yesterday. There is a hitch somewhere, but we'll get over it."

"What may be the obstacle you allude to?" said Heffernan, with more anxiety than he wished to evince.

"Lord Killgobbin says the presentation was promised to his brother, for his influence over Rochfort."

"Not a bit of it, my Lord. It was I secured Rochfort. The case was this. He is separated from his wife, Lady Mary, who had a life annuity chargeable on Rochfort's pension from the Ordnance. Cook enabled me to get him twelve thousand pounds on the secret service list, provided he surrendered the pension. Rochfort was only too happy to do so, because it would spite his wife; and the next Gazette announced 'that the member for Dun raven had declared his intention of voting with the Government, but, to prevent even the breath of slander on his motives, had surrendered his retiring pension as a Store-keeper-General.' There never was a finer theme for editorial panegyric, and in good sooth your Lords.h.i.+p's press made the most of it. What a patriot!"

"What a scoundrel!" muttered Lord Castlereagh; and it would have puzzled a listener, had there been one, to say on whom the epithet was conferred.

"As for Killgobbin or his brother having influence over Rochfort, it's all absurd. Why, my Lord, it was that same brother married Rochfort to Lady Mary."

"That is conclusive," said Lord Castlereagh, laughing.

"Faith, I think so," rejoined Heffernan; "if you do recover after being hanged, I don't see that you want to make a friend of the fellow that pinioned your hands in the 'press-room.' If there's no other reason against Jos's promotion than this--"

"If there were, I 'd endeavor to overcome it," said Lord Castlereagh.

"Won't you take more wine? Pray let's have another bottle."

"No more, my Lord; it's only in such safe company I ever drink so freely," said Heffernan, laughing, as he rose to say, "Good-night."

"You 'll take measures for Wednesday, then; that is agreed upon?"

"All settled," said Heffernan, as he left the room. "Good-bye."

"There's a building debt on that same living of seventeen hundred pounds," said Lord Castlereagh, musing; "I'll easily satisfy Killgobbin that we mean to do better for his brother."

"Take office, indeed!" muttered Heffernan, as he lay back in his carriage; "there 's something better than that,--governing the men that hold office, holding the reins, pocketing the fare, and never paying the breakage when the coach upsets. No, no, my Lord, you are a clever fellow for your years, but you must live longer before you measure Con Heffernan."

CHAPTER XV. THE KNIGHT'S NOTIONS OF FINANCE

Heffernan's calculations were all correct, and the Knight accepted Lord Castlereagh's invitation, simply because rumor attributed to him an alliance with the Government "It is a pity," said he, laughing, "so much good calumny should have so little to feed upon; so here goes to give it something."

Darcy had as little time as inclination to waste on the topic, as the whole interval was occupied in law business with Gleeson, who arrived each morning with a chariot full of parchments, and almost worried the Knight to death by reciting deeds and indentures, to one word of which throughout he could not pay the least attention. He affected to listen, however, as he saw how much Gleeson desired it, and he wrote his name everywhere and to everything he was asked.

"By Jove!" cried he, at last, "I could have run through the whole estate with less fatigue of mind or body than it has cost me to keep a hold of it."

Through all the arrangements, there was but one point on which he felt anxious, and the same question recurred at every moment, "This cannot compromise Lionel in any way?--this will lead to no future charge upon the estate after my death?" Indeed, he would not consent to any plan which in the slightest degree affected his son's interests, being determined that whatever his extravagances, the penalty should end with himself.

While these matters were progressing, old Hickman studiously avoided meeting the Knight; a sense of his discomfiture at the abbey--a fact he supposed must have reached Darcy's ears--and the conviction that his long-cherished game to obtain the property was seen through, abashed the old man, and led him to affect illness when the Knight called.

A pleasant letter which the post had brought from Lionel routed every other consideration from Darcy's mind. His son was coming over to see him, and bringing three or four of his brother officers to have a peep at "the West," and a few days' hunting with the Knight's pack. Every line of this letter glowed with buoyancy and high spirits; schemes for amus.e.m.e.nt alternating with the antic.i.p.ated amazement of his English friends at the style of living they were to witness at Gwynne Abbey.

"We shall have but eight days with you, my leave from the Prince will go no further," wrote he; "but I know well how much may be done in that short s.p.a.ce. Above all, secure Daly; I wish our fellows to see him particularly. I do not ask about the stable, because I know the horses are always in condition; but let Dan give the black horse plenty of work every day; and if the brown mare we got from Mulloch can be ridden by any one, she must have a saddle on her now. We hope to have four days'