The Absentee Part 27

'They are to be your lords.h.i.+p's father's, sir, if he thinks proper,'

replied Garraghty. 'How many, I don't know that I can justly, positively say--five hundred, suppose.'

'And they would be my father's if he signed those leases--I understand that perfectly, and understand that my father would lose three times that sum by the bargain.--My dear father, you start--but it is true.

Is not this the rent, sir, at which you were going to let Mr. Garraghty have the land?' placing a paper before Lord Clonbrony.

'It is--the very thing.'

'And here, sir, written with my own hand, are copies of the proposals I saw, from responsible, respectable tenants, offered and refused.--Is it so, or is it not, Mr. Garraghty?--deny it, if you can.'

Mr. Garraghty grew pale; his lips quivered; he stammered; and, after a shocking convulsion of face, could at last articulate--only--

'That there was a great difference between tenant and tenant, his lords.h.i.+p must be sensible, especially for so large a rent.'--'As great a difference as between agent and agent, I am sensible--especially for so large a property!' said Lord Colambre, with cool contempt. 'You find, sir, I am well informed with regard to this transaction; you will find, also, that I am equally well informed with respect to every part of your conduct towards my father and his tenantry. If, in relating to him what I have seen and heard, I should make any mistakes, you are here; and I am glad you are, to set me right, and to do yourself justice.'

'Oh! as to that, I should not presume to contradict anything your lords.h.i.+p a.s.serts from your own authority: where would be the use? I leave it all to your lords.h.i.+p. But, as it is not particularly agreeable to stay to hear one's self abused--Sir Terence! I'll thank you to hand me my hat!--And if you'll have the goodness, my Lord Clonbrony, to look over finally the accounts before morning, I'll call at your leisure to settle the balance, as you find convenient; as to the leases, I'm quite indifferent.'

So saying, he took up his money-bag.

'Well, you'll call again in the morning, Mr. Garraghty!' said Sir Terence; 'and, by that time, I hope we shall understand this misunderstanding better.'

Sir Terence pulled Lord Clonbrony's sleeve: 'Don't let him go with the money--it's much wanted!'

'Let him go,' said Lord Colambre; 'money can be had by honourable means.'

'Wheugh!--He talks as if he had the Bank of England at his command, as every young man does,' said Sir Terence.

Lord Colambre deigned no reply. Lord Clonbrony walked undecidedly between his agent and his son--looked at Sir Terence, and said nothing.

Mr. Garraghty departed; Lord Clonbrony called after him from the head of the stairs,

'I shall be at home and at leisure in the morning.' Sir Terence ran downstairs after him; Lord Colambre waited quietly for their return.

'Fifteen hundred guineas, at a stroke of a goose-quill!--That was a neat hit, narrowly missed, of honest Nick's!' said Lord Clonbrony. 'Too bad!

too bad, faith!--I am much, very much obliged to you, Colambre, for that hint; by to-morrow morning we shall have him in another tune.'

'And he must double the bag, or quit,' said Sir Terence.

'Treble it, if you please, Terry. Sure, three times five's fifteen;--fifteen hundred down, or he does not get my signature to those leases for his brother, nor get the agency of the Colambre estate.--Colambre, what more have you to tell of him? for, since he is making out his accounts against me, it is no harm to have a PER CONTRA against him that may ease my balance.'

'Very fair! very fair!' said Sir Terence. 'My lord, trust me for remembering all the charges against him--every item; and when he can't clear himself, if I don't make him buy a good character dear enough, why, say I'm a fool, and don't know the value of character, good or bad!'

'If you know the value of character, Sir Terence,' said Lord Colambre, 'you know that it is not to be bought or sold.' Then, turning from Sir Terence to his father, he gave a full and true account of all he had seen in his progress through his Irish estates; and drew a faithful picture both of the bad and good agent. Lord Clonbrony, who had benevolent feelings, and was fond of his tenantry, was touched; and, when his son ceased speaking, repeated several times--

'Rascal! rascal! How dare he use my tenants so--the O'Neills in particular!--Rascal! bad heart!-I'll have no more to do with him.' But, suddenly recollecting himself, he turned to Sir Terence, and added, 'That's sooner said than done--I'll tell you honestly, Colambre, your friend Mr. Burke may be the best man in the world--but he is the worst man to apply to for a remittance, or a loan, in a HURRY! He always tells me "he can't distress the tenants."'--'And he never, at coming into the agency even,' said Sir Terence, 'ADVANCED a good round sum to the landlord, by way of security for his good behaviour. Now honest Nick did that much for us at coming in.'

'And at going out is he not to be repaid?' said Lord Colambre.

'That's the devil!' said Lord Clonbrony; that's the very reason I can't conveniently turn him out.'

'I will make it convenient to you, sir, if you will permit me,' said Lord Colambre. 'In a few days I shall be of age, and will join with you in raising whatever sum you want, to free you from this man. Allow me to look over his account; and whatever the honest balance may be, let him have it.'

'My dear boy!' said Lord Clonbrony, 'you're a generous fellow. Fine Irish heart!--glad you're my son! But there's more, much more, that you don't know,' added he, looking at Sir Terence, who cleared his throat; and Lord Clonbrony, who was on the point of opening all his affairs to his son, stopped short.

'Colambre,' said he, 'we will not say anything more of this at present; for nothing effectual can be done till you are of age, and then we shall see all about it.'

Lord Colambre perfectly understood what his father meant, and what was meant by the clearing of Sir Terence's throat. Lord Clonbrony wanted his son to join him in opening the estate to pay his debts; and Sir Terence feared that, if Lord Colambre were abruptly told the whole sum total of the debts he would never be persuaded to join in selling or mortgaging so much of his patrimony as would be necessary for their payment. Sir Terence thought that the young man, ignorant probably of business, and unsuspicious of the state of his father's affairs, might be brought, by proper management, to any measures they desired. Lord Clonbrony wavered between the temptation to throw himself upon the generosity of his son, and the immediate convenience of borrowing a sum of money from his agent, to relieve his present embarra.s.sments.

'Nothing can be settled,' repeated he, 'till Colambre is of age; so it does not signify talking of it.'

'Why so, sir?' said Lord Colambre. 'Though my act, in law, may not be valid, till I am of age, my promise, as a man of honour, is binding now; and, I trust, would be as satisfactory to my father as any legal deed whatever.'

'Undoubtedly, my dear boy; but--'

'But what?' said Lord Colambre, following his father's eye, which turned to Sir Terence O'Fay, as if asking his permission to explain.

'As my father's friend, sir, you ought, permit me to say, at this moment to use your influence to prevail upon him to throw aside all reserve with a son, whose warmest wish is to serve him, and to see him at ease and happy.'

'Generous, dear boy,' cried Lord Clonbrony. 'Terence, I can't stand it; but how shall I bring myself to name the amount of the debts?'

'At some time or other, I must know it,' said Lord Colambre; 'I cannot be better prepared at any moment than the present; never more disposed to give my a.s.sistance to relieve all difficulties. Blindfold, I cannot be led to any purpose, sir,' said he, looking at Sir Terence; 'the attempt would be degrading and futile. Blindfolded I will not be--but, with my eyes open, I will see, and go straight and prompt as heart can go, to my father's interest, without a look or thought to my own.'

'By St. Patrick! the spirit of a prince, and an Irish prince, spoke there,' cried Sir Terence; 'and if I'd fifty hearts, you'd have all in your hand this minute, at your service, and warm. Blindfold you! after that, the man that would attempt it DESARVES to be shot; and I'd have no sincerer pleasure in life than shooting him this moment, was he my best friend. But it's not Clonbrony, or your father, my lord, would act that way, no more than Sir Terence O'Fay--there's the schedule of the debts,'

drawing a paper from his bosom; 'and I'll swear to the lot, and not a man on earth could do that but myself.'

Lord Colambre opened the paper. His father turned aside, covering his face with both his hands.

'Tut, man,' said Sir Terence; 'I know him now better than you; he will stand, you'll find, the shock of that regiment of figures--he is steel to the backbone, and proof spirit.'

'I thank you, my dear father,' said Lord Colambre, 'for trusting me thus at once with a view of the truth. At first sight it is, I acknowledge, worse than I expected; but I make no doubt that, when you allow me to examine Mr. Garraghty's accounts and Mr. Mordicai's claims, we shall be able to reduce this alarming total considerably, my dear father. You think we learn nothing but Latin and Greek at Cambridge; but you are mistaken.'

'The devil a pound, nor a penny,' said Sir Terence; 'for you have to deal with a Jew and old Nick; and I'm not a match for them. I don't know who is; and I have no hope of getting any abatement. I've looked over the accounts till I'm sick.'

'Nevertheless, you will observe that fifteen hundred guineas have been saved to my father, at one stroke, by his not signing those leases.'

'Saved to you, my lord; not your father, if you plase,' said Sir Terence. 'For now I'm upon the square with you, I must be straight as an arrow, and deal with you as the son and friend of my friend; before, I was considering you only as the son and heir, which is quite another thing, you know; accordingly, acting for your father here, I was making the best bargain against you I could; honestly, now, I tell you. I knew the value of the lands well enough; we were as sharp as Garraghty, and he knew it; we were to have had THE DIFFERENCE from him, partly in cash and partly in balance of accounts--you comprehend--and you only would have been the loser, and never would have known it, maybe, till after we all were dead and buried; and then you might have set aside Garraghty's lease easy, and no harm done to any but a rogue that DESARVED it; and, in the meantime, an accommodation to my honest friend, my lord, your father, here. But, as fate would have it, you upset all by your progress INCOGNITO through them estates. Well, it's best as it is, and I am better pleased to be as we are, trusting all to a generous son's own heart. Now put the poor father out of pain, and tell us what you'll do, my dear.'

'In one word, then,' said Lord Colambre, 'I will, upon two conditions, either join my father in levying fines to enable him to sell or mortgage whatever portion of his estate is necessary for the payment of these debts; or I will, in whatever other mode he can point out, as more agreeable or more advantageous to him, join in giving security to his creditors.'

'Dear, n.o.ble fellow!' cried Sir Terence; 'none but an Irishman could do it.'

Lord Clonbrony, melted to tears, could not articulate, but held his arms open to embrace his son.

'But you have not heard my conditions yet,' said Lord Colambre.

'Oh, confound the conditions!' cried Sir Terence.

'What conditions could he ask that I could refuse at this minute?' said Lord Clonbrony.

'Nor I--was it my heart's blood, and were I to be hanged for it,' cried Sir Terence. 'And what are the conditions?'