Ten Thousand a-Year Volume Iii Part 23

Parkinson, Gammon thus pursued the train of his thoughts:--

"What if I should allow this paper to be admitted to probate? Let me see--It will give Miss Aubrey some fifteen thousand pounds:--or one might take out administration in favor of t.i.tmouse, and then suggest to her that I had the means of nullifying the proceedings, and carrying into effect Lady Stratton's intentions--for the Letters may be _repealed_ at any time.--Stay, however. It is by no means impossible, that when Parkinson comes to communicate with Aubrey, or that deep old fellow Runnington, they may think of lodging a _caveat_ against our letters of administration: but they'll fail--for Parkinson must speak conclusively on _that_ point. So, perhaps, the better way will be, to take out administration in the usual way, and see what _they_ will do.--Then, there's Aubrey's bond--poor devil!--is it not unfortunate for him?--But that shall be reserved; let us see the effect of our other movements, first."

When Mr. Gammon returned to Yatton from the late Lady Stratton's residence, he found several letters awaiting his arrival. One was from Mr. Quirk--poor muddle-headed old soul!--all went wrong with him, the moment that he missed Gammon from beside him. He wrote letters every day, which were a faithful type of the confusion prevailing in his thoughts; for though he was "up to" the ordinary criminal business of the office, in which he had had some forty years' experience, their _general_ business had latterly become so extended, and, to Quirk, complicated, that his head, as it were, spun round from morning to night, and all he could do was to put himself, and everybody about him, into a bustle and fever. So he told Gammon, in his last letter, that everything was going wrong, and would do so till "good friend Gammon returned:" and, moreover, the old gentleman complained that Snap was getting very careless and irregular in his attendance--and, in fact, he--Quirk--had something very particular to say to Gammon, when they met, about the aforesaid Snap!---About this the reader shall hear in due time. Then came a letter from the Earl of Dreddlington, marked "_private and confidential_" containing a most important communication, to the effect that his Lords.h.i.+p had that day granted an audience to a scientific gentleman of great eminence, and particularly well skilled in geology; and he had satisfied the earl of a fact which the aforesaid scientific gentleman told his Lords.h.i.+p he had discovered after a very close geological survey of the superficial strata of the Isle of Dogs--viz. that at a very little depth from the surface, there ran, in parallel strata, rich beds of copper, lead, and coal, alternately, such as could not possibly fail of making a quick and enormous return. His Lords.h.i.+p, therefore, suggested the immediate formation of a company to purchase the Isle of Dogs, and work the mines!--and "begged to be favored with" Mr. Gammon's views on this subject, by return of post. In a postscript, his Lords.h.i.+p informed Gammon, that he had just parted with all his Golden Egg shares, at a considerable profit; and that the Gunpowder and Fresh Water Company's shares were rising daily, on account of the increasing probability of a universal war. Gammon did not think it worth while to send any answer to the communication of his senior partner; but wrote off a very polite and confidential letter to the earl, begging his Lords.h.i.+p would do him the honor of taking no steps in the matter till Mr. Gammon could wait upon his Lords.h.i.+p in town. _This_ matter over, Gammon wrote off another to the secretary of the VULTURE INSURANCE COMPANY, giving them notice of the death of Lady Stratton, who was insured in their office in a policy to the amount of 15,000, to which, her Ladys.h.i.+p having died intestate, the writer's client, t.i.ttlebat t.i.tmouse, Esq., M.P. for Yatton, had become ent.i.tled as administrator--being her Ladys.h.i.+p's nearest next of kin:--that he intended to take out letters of administration forthwith; and formal evidence would be furnished to the Company, in due time, of the completion of his legal t.i.tle to the policy.

But here--I am concerned to say--the skittish, frolicsome, and malicious jade, Fortune, after petting and fondling t.i.tmouse, and overwhelming him with her favors, suddenly turned round and hit him a severe slap in the face, without the least provocation on his part, or rhyme or reason on hers. And it happened in this wise. DAPPER SMUG, Esq., the secretary of the Vulture, wrote by return of post, saying that he had laid Mr.

Gammon's letter before the directors; and that as soon as he should have learned their pleasure on the subject, he would write to Mr. Gammon again. And so he did--but only to request that gentleman to communicate with Messrs. Screw and Son, the Company's solicitors. This Mr. Gammon did, and in due time received a letter to the astounding purport and effect following--that is to say, that they had carefully considered the case, and regretted sincerely that they could not feel it their duty to recommend the directors to pay the policy!! The directors had a duty, sometimes--they would have it appear--a very painful one, to perform to the public; and in short--in plain English, they intended to _resist the claim altogether_! Gammon wrote in astonishment to know the grounds of their refusal; and at length discovered that that truly respectable Company considered themselves in possession of decisive evidence to show that the policy had been vitiated through the concealment, or rather the _non-communication_, of a material fact on the part of the late Lady Stratton--possibly unintentionally--viz. that she was, at the time of executing the policy, _subject to the_ GOUT. Gammon made anxious inquiries of the servants, of Dr. G.o.ddart, Mr. Parkinson, and of others, who expressed infinite astonishment, declaring that she had never once exhibited the slightest symptoms of the complaint. Messrs. Screw, however, were politely inflexible--they declared that they had the positive testimony of several witnesses, one of them an eminent physician, to the fact that, during the very week in which the policy had been executed, she had experienced an attack of gout which had confined her to the sofa for three days. [The simple fact was, that her Ladys.h.i.+p had about that time certainly been confined to the sofa, but merely from her heel having been galled a little by a tight shoe.] They, moreover, sent to Mr. Gammon the full name of the officer in whose name the Company was to be sued--the aforesaid Dapper Smug; and requested Mr.

Gammon to forward process to them in the usual way. Gammon, on inquiry, learned the character of the Company, and almost gnashed his teeth in rage and despair!--So at it they went--t.i.tMOUSE (_Administrator_) v.

SMUG. Then came a _Declaration_ as long as my arm; _Pleas_ to match it; then a _Commission_ to examine witnesses abroad, princ.i.p.ally a Dr.

Podagra, who had settled in China; then a _Bill of Discovery_ filed on behalf of the Company; a _Cross Bill_ filed by Mr. t.i.tmouse against the Company; a _Demurrer_ to the one, _Exceptions_ to the Answer, to the other.--Here, in short, was in truth "a very pretty quarrel." The stake was adequate; the Company rich; Mr. t.i.tmouse eager; Gammon infuriate; and there was not the least chance of the thing being decided at all for three or four years to come; and poor t.i.tmouse was thus not only kept out of a comfortable round sum of money, but obliged to carry on, all the while, an expensive and hara.s.sing litigation. So much for insuring with a Company which looks so sharply after the interests of _its shareholders_, in preference to those of the survivors of the dead insurers!--But as far as t.i.tmouse and Gammon were concerned, it seemed a _dead lock_, and at a somewhat critical conjuncture too.

CHAPTER VII.

The sudden and unexpected rebuff encountered by Mr. Gammon, in the Vulture Insurance Company's refusal to pay the policy on the late Lady Stratton's life, was calculated seriously to embarra.s.s his complicated movements. He foresaw the protracted and hara.s.sing course of litigation into which he should be driven, before he could compel them to liquidate so heavy a claim; and a glimpse of which, by way of antic.i.p.ation, has been afforded to the reader; but, with all his long-headedness--his habitual contemplation of the probable and possible effects and consequences of whatever event happened to him--this refusal of the directors to pay the policy was attended with results which defied his calculations--results of such a description, and of such signal importance, as will perhaps surprise the reader, and serve to ill.u.s.trate, in a striking manner, the controlling agency which is at work in the conduct of human affairs--an agency to which the principles of Mr. Gammon denied an existence. Nor was this the only trouble--the only reverse--which about this period occurred to him; and not a little perplexed was he to account for such a sudden confluence of adverse circ.u.mstances as he by-and-by experienced, when he found the truth of the King of Denmark's observation,--

"When sorrows come--they come not single spies, But IN BATTALIONS."[12]

On applying at Doctor's Commons, in the ordinary way, for a grant, to Mr. t.i.tmouse, of Letters of Administration to Lady Stratton, Mr. Gammon discovered the existence of a little doc.u.ment, for which he certainly was not entirely unprepared, but which, nevertheless, somewhat disconcerted him: princ.i.p.ally on account of the additional plea it would afford the Vulture Company for resisting payment of the policy. How, indeed, could they be expected to pay a sum of such magnitude, to a person whose t.i.tle to receive it was disputed by another claimant? The doc.u.ment alluded to was a CAVEAT, and ran thus:--

"Let nothing be done in the goods of Dame Mary Stratton, late of Warkleigh, in the parish of Warkleigh, in the county of York, deceased, unknown to Obadiah Pounce, proctor for _John Thomas_, having interest."

Now, the reader will observe that this "_John Thomas_" is, like the "_John Doe_" of the common lawyers, a mere man of straw; so that this peremptory, but mysterious mandate, would afford an inquirer no information as to either the name of the party intending to resist the grant of administration, or the grounds of such resistance. Mr. Gammon, however, very naturally concluded that the move was made on the behalf of Mr. Aubrey, and that the ground of his opposition was the alleged will of Lady Stratton. To be prepared for such an encounter when the time arrived, he had noted down, very carefully, the important admissions which had been made to him by Mr. Parkinson; and having, for a while, disposed of this affair, he betook himself to the great conspiracy case which I have already mentioned; and, in bringing which to a successful issue, he unquestionably exhibited great ability, and deserved the compliments paid him on the occasion by the counsel, whose labors he had, by his lucid arrangement, materially abbreviated and lightened. This matter also over, and fairly off his mind, he addressed himself to an affair, then pending, of great importance to himself personally--viz. a certain cause of _Wigley_ v. _Gammon_; which, together with the three other special jury causes in which the same person was plaintiff, was to come on for trial at York early in the second week of the a.s.sizes, which were to commence within a few days'

time. As already intimated, Mr. Subtle had been retained for the plaintiff in all the actions, together with Mr. Sterling and Mr.

Crystal; and, as Mr. Quicksilver had become Lord Blossom and Box, Mr.

Gammon was sorely perplexed for a leader--his junior, of course, being Mr. Lynx. He had retained a Mr. Wilmington to lead for the other three defendants--a man of undoubted ability, experienced, acute, dexterous, witty, and eloquent, and exceedingly well qualified to conduct such a case as Mr. Gammon's: but that gentleman got exceedingly nervous about the matter as the day of battle drew near--and, at length, resolved on taking down special Sir Charles Wolstenholme. Now, I do not see why he should have thought it necessary to go to so enormous an expense when such able a.s.sistance could have been had upon the circuit--but, however, down went that eminent personage. Their consultation was gloomy; Sir Charles acknowledging that he felt great apprehension as to the result, from the witnesses who were likely to be produced on the other side.

"It's a pity that we haven't the Yatton election committee to deal with, Mr. Gammon!" said Sir Charles, with a sly sarcastic smile. "We've rather a different tribunal to go before now--eh?"

Mr. Gammon smiled--how miserably!--shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders. "We manage these matters rather differently in a court of law!" continued Sir Charles, with a fearful significance!

When the important morning of the trial arrived, there was a special jury sworn, consisting of gentlemen of the county--of integrity and independence--above all suspicion. Mr. Subtle opened a shockingly clear and strong case, to be sure; and what was worse, he _proved_ it, and so as to carry conviction to the minds of all in court. Sir Charles felt his opponent's case to be impregnable; and, in spite of several acute and severe cross-examinations, and a masterly speech, the stern and upright judge who tried the cause, summed up dead against the defendant, with many grave remarks on the profligate and systematic manner in which it appeared that the offences had been committed. After a brief consultation, the jury returned into court with a verdict for the plaintiff, in the sum of 2,500; that is, for five penalties of 500![13] A similar result ensued in each of the two following cases of _Wigley_ v. _Mudflint_, and _Wigley_ v. _Bloodsuck_; both of whom seemed completely stupefied at an issue so totally different from that which they had been led to expect, by the very different view of things which had been taken by the election committee. As for Mudflint, from what quarter under heaven he was to get the means of satisfying that truly diabolical verdict, he could not conjecture; and his face became several shades sallower as soon as he had heard his doom p.r.o.nounced; but Bloodsuck, who had turned quite white, whispered in his ear, that _of course_ Mr. t.i.tmouse would see them harmless----

"Oh Lord!" however, muttered Mudflint, in a cold perspiration--"I should like to hear Mr. Gammon recommending him to do so, _under circ.u.mstances_!"

Poor Woodlouse was more fortunate--somehow or another he contrived to creep and wriggle out of the danger! Whether from his utter insignificance, or from the circ.u.mstance of the destructive verdicts against Gammon, Mudflint, and Bloodsuck having satiated the avenger, I know not; but the case was not pressed very strongly against him, and the jury took a most merciful view of the evidence. But alas! what a shock this gave to the Liberal cause in Yatton! How were the mighty fallen! As soon after this melancholy result as Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck had recovered their presence of mind sufficiently to discuss the matter together, they were clearly of opinion--were those brethren in distress--that Mr. t.i.tmouse was bound, both in law and honor, to indemnify them against the consequences of acts done solely on his behalf, and at his implied request. They made the thing very clear, indeed, to Mr. Gammon, who listened to them with marked interest and attention, and undertook "to endeavor to convince" Mr. t.i.tmouse of the justice of their claims; secretly resolving, also, not to lose sight of his own: nay, in fact, he made sure of satisfying Mr. t.i.tmouse on _that_ score. But the personal liability which, in the first instance, he had thus incurred, to an extent of upwards of 3,000, supposing him, by any accident, to fail in _recouping_ himself out of the a.s.sets of Mr.

t.i.tmouse, was not the only unfortunate consequence of this serious miscarriage. Such a verdict as had pa.s.sed against Mr. Gammon places a man in a very awkward and--if one may use the word--_nasty_ position before the public, and renders it rather difficult for him to set himself right again. 'T is really a serious thing to stand convicted of the offence of bribery; it makes a man look very sheepish indeed, ever after, especially in political life. 'T is such a beam in a man's own eye, to be pulled out before he can see the mote in his neighbor's!--and Mr. Gammon felt this. Then again, he had received a pledge from a very eminent member of the government, to be performed in the event of his being able to secure the seat for Yatton on a general election, (which was considered not unlikely to happen within a few months;) but this accursed verdict was likely to prove an insurmountable obstacle in the way of his advancement; and his chagrin and vexation may be easily imagined. He conceived a wonderful hatred of the supposed instigator of these unprincipled and vindictive proceedings, Lord De la Zouch--who seemed to have put them up like four birds to be shot at, and brought down, one by one, as his Lords.h.i.+p chose! As soon as these four melancholy causes above mentioned were over--Gammon considering himself bound, on the score of bare decency, to remain till his fellow-sufferers had been disposed of--he went off to Yatton, to see how matters were going on there.

Alas! what a state of things existed there! Good old Yatton, and all about it, seemed wofully changed for the worse, since the departure of the excellent Aubreys and the accession of Mr. t.i.tmouse. The local superintendence of his interests had been intrusted by Gammon to the Messrs. Bloodsuck; who had found their business, in consequence, so much increasing, as to require the establishment of Mr. Barnabas Bloodsuck at Yatton, while his father remained at Grilston; their partners.h.i.+p, however, continuing. He had, accordingly, run up a thin slip of a place at the end of the village farthest from the park gates, and within a few yards of the house in which old Blind Bess had ended her days. He was the first attorney that had ever lived in Yatton. There was a particularly impudent and priggish air about his residence. The door was painted a staring mahogany color, and bore a bright bra.s.s plate, with the words--"MESSRS. BLOODSUCK & SON, ATTORNEYS AND SOLICITORS"--words which shot terror into the heart of many a pa.s.ser-by, especially the tenants of Mr. t.i.tmouse. At the moment, for instance, of Mr. Gammon's arrival at Yatton, on the present occasion, actions for rent, and other matters, were actually pending against _fourteen_ of the poorer tenants!! 'T was all up with them, as soon as the Messrs. Bloodsuck were fairly fastened upon them. Let them be a day or two in arrear with their rent, a _cognovit_, or _warrant of attorney_--for the sake of the costs it produced--was instantly proposed; and, if the expensive security were demurred to by the poor souls, by that night's post went up instructions to town for writs to be sent down by return! If some of the more resolute questioned the propriety of a distress made upon them with cruel precipitancy, they found themselves immediately involved in a replevin suit, from whose expensive intricacies they were at length glad to escape, terrified, on any terms. Then actions of trespa.s.s, and so forth, were commenced upon the most frivolous pretexts. Old and convenient rights of way were suddenly disputed, and made the subjects of expensive lawsuits. Many of the former quiet inhabitants of the village had been forced out of it, their places being supplied by persons of a very different description; and a bad state of feeling, chiefly arising out of political rancor, had, for instance, just given rise to three actions--two of _a.s.sault_ and one of _slander_--from that once peaceful little village, and which had been tried at those very a.s.sizes! Poor Miss Aubrey's village school, alas! had been transmogrified into a chapel for Mr. Mudflint, where he rallied round him every Sunday an excited throng of ignorant and disaffected people, and regaled them with seditious and blasphemous harangues. 'T would have made your hair stand on end to hear the language in which he spoke of the sacred mysteries of the Christian religion--it would have filled you with disgust and indignation to hear his attacks upon the Church of England and its ministers, and in particular upon dear little exemplary unoffending old Dr. Tatham, whom he described as "battening upon cant, hypocrisy, and extortion." Strange and melancholy to relate, this novel mode of procedure on the part of Mr. Mudflint for a while succeeded. In vain did the white-haired and learned vicar preach his very best sermons, and in his very best manner--he beheld his church thinning, while the chapel of Mr. Mudflint was filled. And, as he went about the village in the zealous, and vigilant, and affectionate discharge of his pastoral duties, he perceived symptoms, now and then, of a grievously altered manner towards him, on the part of those who had once hailed his approach and his ministrations with a kind of joyful reverence and cordiality. Mudflint had also, in furtherance of his purpose of bitter hostility, in concert with his worthy coadjutors the Bloodsucks, stirred up two or three persons in the parish to resist the doctor's claim to t.i.the, and to offer hara.s.sing obstructions to the collecting of it. In justice to the Church, and to his successors, he could not permit his rights to be thus questioned and denied with impunity--and thus, to his sore grief, the worthy old vicar found himself, for the first time in his life, involved in a couple of lawsuits, which he feared, even if he won them, would ruin him. It may be imagined that Mudflint's discomfiture at the a.s.sizes was calculated to send him, like a scotched snake, writhing, hissing, and snapping, through the village, at all that came in his way. It is possible that Mr. Gammon was not so fully apprised of all these doings, as is now the reader; yet he saw and heard enough to lead him to suspect that things were going a little too far.

He took, however, no steps towards effecting an abatement or discontinuance of them. Just at present, moreover, he was peculiarly reluctant to interfere with any of the proceedings of the Messrs.

Bloodsuck, and confined himself to receiving their report as to some arrangements which he had desired them to carry into effect. In the first place, he did not disclose the existence of his heavy and newly created rent-charge, but gave them to understand that Mr. t.i.tmouse's circ.u.mstances were such as to make it requisite to extract as much from the property as could possibly be obtained, by raising the rents--by effecting a further mortgage upon the property, and by a sale of all the timber that was fit for felling. It was found necessary to look out for new tenants to one or two of the largest farms on the estate, as the old tenants declared themselves unable to sustain the exorbitant rents which they were called upon to pay; so orders were given to advertise for tenants, in the county, and other newspapers. Then Mr. Gammon went all over the estate, to view the condition of the timber, attended by the sullen and reluctant wood-bailiff, who, though he retained his situation, mortally hated his new master, and all connected with him.

Very little timber was, according to _his_ account, fit for felling!

Having looked into these various matters, Mr. Gammon took his departure for town, glad to escape, though for never so brief an interval, the importunities of Messrs. Mudflint and Bloodsuck, on the subject of the late verdicts against them, and which he pledged himself to represent in a proper way to Mr. t.i.tmouse. On arriving in town, he lost no time in waiting upon the great man to whom he looked for the political advancement after which his soul pined. He was received with manifest coolness, evidently occasioned by the position in which he had been placed by the verdict in the action for the bribery penalties. What the great man objected to, be it understood, was not Mr. Gammon's having bribed, but having done it in such a way as to admit of detection! On solemnly a.s.suring his patron, however, that the verdict was entirely against evidence, and that Sir Charles Wolstenholme was, in the next term, going to move for a rule to set aside the verdict on that ground, and also on several other grounds, and that, by such means, the cause could be, at the very least, "hung up" for heaven only knew how long to come--till, in short, people had forgotten all about it--the clouds slowly disappeared from the great man's brow, especially on his being a.s.sured that Gammon's return for Yatton, on the next vacancy, was a matter of absolute certainty. Then he gave Mr. Gammon certain a.s.surances which flushed his cheek with delight and triumph--delight and triumph inspired by a conviction that his deeply-laid schemes, his comprehensive plans, were, despite a few minor and temporary checks and reverses, being crowned with success. It was true that his advances towards Miss Aubrey appeared to have been hopelessly repelled; but he resolved to wait till the time should have arrived for bringing other reserved forces into the field--by the aid of which he yet hoped to make an equally unexpected and decisive demonstration.

The more immediate object of his anxieties, was to conceal as far as possible his connection with the various joint-stock speculations, into which he had entered with a wild and feverish eagerness to realize a rapid fortune. He had already withdrawn from one or two with which he had been only for a brief time, and secretly, connected--not, however, until he had realized no inconsiderable sum by his judicious but somewhat unscrupulous operations. He was also anxious, if practicable, to extricate Lord Dreddlington, at the proper conjuncture, with as little damage as possible to his Lords.h.i.+p's fortune or character: for his Lords.h.i.+p's countenance and good offices were becoming of greater consequence to Mr. Gammon than ever. It was true that he possessed information--I mean that concerning t.i.tmouse's birth and true position--which he considered would, whenever he thought fit to avail himself of it, give him an absolute mastery over the unhappy peer for the rest of his life; but he felt that it would be a critical and dreadful experiment, and not to be attempted but in the very last resort. He would sometimes gaze at the unconscious earl, and speculate in a sort of revery upon the possible effects attending the dreaded disclosure, till he would give a sort of inward start as he realized the fearful and irretrievable extent to which he had committed himself. He shuddered also to think that he was, moreover, in a measure, at the mercy of t.i.tmouse himself--who, in some mad moment of drunkenness or desperation, or of pique or revenge, might disclose the fatal secret, and precipitate upon him, when least prepared for them, all its long-dreaded consequences. The slender faculties of Lord Dreddlington had been for months in a state of novel and grateful excitement, through the occupation afforded them by his connection with the fas.h.i.+onable modes of commercial enterprise--joint-stock companies, the fortunate members of which got rich they scarcely knew how. It seemed as though certain persons had but to acquire a nominal interest in some great transaction of this sort, to find it pouring wealth into their coffers, as if by magic; and it was thus that Lord Dreddlington, among others, found himself quietly realizing very considerable sums of money, without apparent risk or exertion--his movements being skilfully guided by Gammon, and one or two others, who, while they treated him as a mere instrument to aid in effecting their own purposes in deluding the public, yet contrived to impress him with the flattering notion that he was, in a masterly manner, directing their course of procedure, and richly ent.i.tled to their deference and grat.i.tude. 'T was, indeed, ecstasy to poor old Lord Dreddlington to behold his name, from time to time, glittering in the van--himself figuring away as a chief patron--a prime mover--in some vast and lucrative undertaking, which, almost from the first moment of its projection, attracted the notice and confidence of the moneyed cla.s.ses, and became productive to its originators! Many attempts were made by his brother peers, and those who once had considerable influence over him, to open his eyes to the very questionable nature of the concerns to which he was so freely lending the sanction of his name and personal interference; but his pride and obstinacy caused him to turn a deaf ear to their suggestions; and the skilful and delicious flatteries of Mr. Gammon and others, seconded by the substantial fruits of his fancied skill and energy, urged him on from step to step, till he became one of the most active and constant in his interference with the concerns of one or two great speculations, such as have been mentioned in a former part of this history, and from which he looked forward to realizing, at no very distant day, the most resplendent results. Never, in fact, had one man obtained over another a more complete mastery, than had Mr. Gammon over the Earl of Dreddlington; at whose exclusive table he was a frequent guest, and thereby obtained opportunities of acquiring the good-will of one or two other persons of the earl's intellectual status and calibre.

His Lords.h.i.+p was sitting in his library (his table covered with letters and papers) one morning, with a newspaper--the _Morning Growl_--lying in his lap, and a certain portion of the aforesaid newspaper he had read over several times with exquisite satisfaction. He had, late on the preceding evening, returned from his seat in Hertfords.h.i.+re, whither he had been suddenly called on business, early in the morning; so that it was not until the time at which he is now presented to the reader, that his Lords.h.i.+p had had an opportunity of perusing what was now affording him such gratification; viz. a brief, but highly flattering report of a splendid whitebait dinner which had been given to him the day before at Blackwall, by a party of some thirty gentlemen, who were, _inter nos_, most adroit and successful traders upon that inexhaustible capital, _public credulity_, as founders, managers, and directors, of various popular joint-stock companies; and the progress of which, in public estimation, had been materially accelerated by the countenance of so distinguished a n.o.bleman as the Right Hon. the Earl of Dreddlington, G.

C. B., &c. &c. &c.[14] When his Lords.h.i.+p's carriage--containing himself, in evening dress, and wearing his red ribbon, and one or two foreign orders, and also his son-in-law, the member for Yatton, who was dressed in the highest style of fas.h.i.+onable elegance--drew up opposite the doorway of the hotel, he was received, on alighting, by several of those who had a.s.sembled to do him honor, in the same sort of flattering and reverential manner which you may conceive would be exhibited by a party of great East India directors, on the occasion of their giving a banquet to a newly-appointed Governor-General of India! Covers had been laid for thirty-five, and the entertainment was in all respects of the most sumptuous description--every way worthy of the entertainers and their distinguished guest. Not far from the earl sat Mr. Gammon. Methinks I see now his gentlemanly figure--his dark-blue coat, white waistcoat, and simple black stock--his calm smile, his keen watchful eye, his well-developed forehead, suggesting to you a capability of the highest kind of intellectual action. There was a subdued cheerfulness in his manner, which was bland and fascinating as ever; and towards the great man of the day, he exhibited such a marked air of deference as was, indeed, to the object of it, most delicious and seductive. The earl soon mounted into the seventh heaven of delight; he had never experienced anything of this sort before; he felt GLORIFIED--for such qualities were attributed to him in the after-dinner speeches, as even he had not before imagined the existence of in himself; his ears were ravished with the sound of his own praises. He was infinitely more intoxicated by the magnificent compliments which he received, than by the very unusual, but still not excessive, quant.i.ty of champagne which he had half unconsciously taken during dinner; the combined effect of them being to produce a state of delightful excitement which he had never known before. Mr. t.i.tmouse, M. P., also came in for his share of laudation, and made--said the report in the _Morning Growl_--a brief but very spirited speech, in return for the compliment of his health being proposed. At length, it being time to think of returning to town, his Lords.h.i.+p withdrew, Sir Sharper Bubble, (the chairman,) and others, attending him bareheaded to his carriage, which, his Lords.h.i.+p and t.i.tmouse having entered, drove off amid the bows and courteous inclinations of the gentlemen standing upon and around the steps.

t.i.tmouse almost immediately fell asleep, overpowered by the prodigious quant.i.ty of wine which he had swallowed; and thus left the earl, who was himself in a much more buoyant humor than was usual with him, to revel in the recollection of the homage which he had been receiving. Now, this was the affair, of which a very flouris.h.i.+ng though brief account (privately paid for by the gentleman who sent it) appeared in the _Morning Growl_, with a most magnificent speech of his Lords.h.i.+p's about free trade, and the expansive principles of commercial enterprise, and so forth: 't was true, that the earl had no recollection of having either meditated the delivery of any such speech, or of having actually delivered it--but he _might_ have done so for all that, and possibly did. He read over the whole account several times, as I have already said; and at the moment of his being presented to the reader, sitting in his easy-chair, and with the newspaper in his lap, he was in a very delightful state of feeling. He secretly owned to himself that he was not entirely undeserving of the compliments which had been paid to him.

Considerably advanced though he was in life, he was consciously developing energies commensurate with the exigencies which called for their display--energies which had long lain dormant for want of such opportunities. What practical tact and judgment he felt conscious of exhibiting, while directing the experienced energies of mercantile men and capitalists! How proud and delighted was he at the share he was taking in steering the commercial enterprise of the country into proper quarters, and to proper objects; and, moreover, while he was thus benefiting his country, he was also sensibly augmenting his own private revenue. In his place in the House of Lords, also, he displayed a wonderful energy, and manifested surprising interest in all mercantile questions started there. He was, consequently, nominated one of a committee (into the appointment of which he and one or two others like him had teased and worried their Lords.h.i.+ps) to inquire into the best mode of facilitating the formation, and extending the operations, of Joint-Stock Companies; and asked at least four times as many questions of the witnesses called before them, as any other member of the committee. He also began to feel still loftier aspirations. His Lords.h.i.+p was not without hopes that the declining health of Sir Miserable Muddle, the president of the Board of Trade, would soon open a prospect for his Lords.h.i.+p's accession to office, as the successor of that enlightened statesman; feeling conscious that the mercantile part of the community would look with great approbation upon so satisfactory an appointment, and that thereby the king's government would be materially strengthened.

As for matter of a more directly business character, I may mention that his Lords.h.i.+p was taking active measures towards organizing a company for the purchase of the Isle of Dogs, and working the invaluable mines of copper, lead, and coal which lay underneath. These and other matters fully occupied his Lords.h.i.+p's attention, and kept him from morning to night in a pleasurable state of excitement and activity. Still he had his drawbacks. The inexorable premier continued to turn a deaf ear to all his solicitations for a marquisate--till he began to entertain the notion of transferring his support to the opposition; and, in fact, he resolved upon doing so, if another session should have elapsed without his receiving the legitimate reward of his steadfast adherence to the Liberal cause. Then again he became more and more sensible that Lady Cecilia was not happy in her union with Mr. t.i.tmouse, and that his conduct was not calculated to make her so; in fact, his Lords.h.i.+p began to suspect that there was a total incompatibility of tempers and dispositions, which would inevitably force on a separation--under existing circ.u.mstances a painful step, and evidently unadvisable. His Lords.h.i.+p's numerous inquiries of Mr. Gammon as to the state of Mr.

t.i.tmouse's property, met occasionally with unsatisfactory, and (as any one of clearer head than his Lords.h.i.+p would have seen) most inconsistent answers. Mr. t.i.tmouse's extravagant expenditure was a matter of notoriety; the earl himself had been once or twice compelled to come forward, in order to a.s.sist in relieving his son-in-law's house from executions; and he repeatedly reasoned and remonstrated with Mr.

t.i.tmouse on the impropriety of many parts of his conduct--t.i.tmouse generally acknowledging, with much appearance of compunction and sincerity, that the earl had too much ground for complaint, and protesting that he meant to change altogether one of these days. Indeed, matters would soon have been brought to a crisis between the earl and t.i.tmouse, had not the former been so constantly immersed in business, as to prevent his mind from dwelling upon the various instances of t.i.tmouse's misconduct which from time to time came under his notice. The condition of Lady Cecilia was one which gave the earl anxiety and interest. She was _enceinte_; and the prospect which this afforded the earl, of the family honors continuing in a course of direct descent, gave him unspeakable satisfaction. Thus is it, in short, that no one's cup is dest.i.tute of some ingredients of bitterness or of happiness; that the wheat and the tares--happiness and anxiety--grow up together. The above will suffice to indicate the course taken by his Lords.h.i.+p's thoughts on the present occasion. He sat back in his chair in a sort of revery; having laid down his paper, and placed his gold spectacles on the little stand beside him, where lay also his ma.s.sive old gold repeater. The _Morning Growl_ of that morning was very late, owing to the arrival of foreign news; but it was brought in to his Lords.h.i.+p just as he was beginning to open his letters. These his Lords.h.i.+p laid aside for a moment, in order to skim over the contents of his paper; on which he had not been long engaged, before his eye lit upon a paragraph which gave him a dreadful shock, blanching his cheek, and throwing him into an universal tremor. He read it over several times, almost doubting whether he could be reading correctly. It is possible that the experienced reader may not be taken as much by surprise as was the Earl of Dreddlington; but the intelligence conveyed by the paragraph in question was simply this--that the ARTIFICIAL RAIN COMPANY had, so to speak, suddenly evaporated!--and that this result had been precipitated by the astounding discovery in the City, in the preceding afternoon, that the managing director of the Company had _bolted_ with all the available funds of the society--and who should this be but the gentleman who had presided so ably the evening but one before, over the Blackwall dinner to his Lords.h.i.+p, viz. SIR SHARPER BUBBLE!!! The plain fact was, that that worthy had at that very time completed all arrangements necessary for taking the very decisive step on which he had determined; and within an hour's time of handing the Earl of Dreddlington to his carriage, in the way that has been described, had slipped into a boat moored by the water side, and got safely on board a fine brig bound for America, just as she was hauling up anchor, and spreading forth her canvas before a strong steady west wind, which was at that moment bearing him, under the name of Mr. Snooks, rapidly away from the artificial and unsatisfactory state of things which prevailed in the Old World, to a new one, where he hoped there would not exist such impediments in the way of extended commercial enterprise. As soon as the earl had a little recovered from the agitation into which this announcement had thrown him, he hastily rang his bell, and ordered his carriage to be got instantly in readiness. Having put the newspaper into his pocket, he was soon on his way, at a great speed, towards the Poultry, in the City, where was the office of the Company, with the faintest glimmer of a hope that there might be some mistake about the matter. Ordering his servant to let him out the instant that the carriage drew up, the earl, not allowing his servant to antic.i.p.ate him, got down and rang the bell, the outer door being closed, although it was now twelve o'clock. The words "ARTIFICIAL RAIN COMPANY" still shone in gilt letters half a foot long, on the green blind of the window. But all was--still--deserted--dry as Gideon's fleece! An old woman presently answered his summons. She said she believed the business was given up; and there had been a good many gentlemen inquiring about it--that he was welcome to go in--but there was n.o.body in except her and a little child. With an air of inconceivable agitation, his Lords.h.i.+p went into the lower offices. All was silent; no clerks, no servants, no porters or messengers; no books, or prospectuses, or writing materials. "I've just given everything a good dusting, sir," said she to the earl, at the same wiping off a little dust with the corner of her ap.r.o.n, which had escaped her. Then the earl went up-stairs into the "Board Room." There, also, all was silent and deserted, and very clean and in good order. _There_ was the green baize-covered table, at which he had often sat, presiding over the enlightened deliberations of the directors! The earl gazed in silent stupor about him.

"They say it's a blow-up, sir," quoth the old woman. "But I should think it's rather sudden! There's been several here has looked as much struck as you, sir!" This recalled the earl to his senses, and, without uttering a word, he descended the stairs. "Beg pardon, sir--but _could_ you tell me who I'm to look to for taking care of the place? I can't find out the gentleman as sent for me"----

"My good woman," replied the earl, faintly, hastening from the horrid scene, "I know nothing about it;" and, stepping into his carriage, he ordered it to drive on to Lombard Street, to the late Company's bankers.

As soon as he had, with a little indistinctness arising from his agitation, mentioned the words "Artificial Rain"----

"Account closed!" was the brief matter-of-fact answer, given in a business-like and peremptory tone, the speaker immediately attending to some one else. The earl was too much fl.u.s.tered to observe a knowing wink interchanged among the clerks behind, as soon as they had caught the words "Artificial Rain Company!"--The earl, with increasing trepidation, re-entered his carriage, and ordered it to be driven to the office of Messrs. Quirk, Gammon, and Snap. There he arrived in a trice; but, being informed that Mr. Gammon had not yet come, and would probably be found at his chambers in Thavies' Inn, the horses' heads were forthwith turned, and within a few minutes' time the carriage had drawn up opposite to the entrance to Thavies' Inn--where the earl had never been before. Without sending his servant on beforehand to inquire, his Lords.h.i.+p immediately alighted, and soon found out the staircase where were Mr. Gammon's private apartments, on the first floor. The words "MR.

GAMMON" were painted in white letters over the door, the outer one being open. His Lords.h.i.+p's rather hasty summons was answered by Mr. Gammon's laundress, a tidy middle-aged woman, who lived in the chambers, and informed the earl, that if he wished to see Mr. Gammon, he had better step in and wait for a minute or two--as Mr. Gammon had only just gone to the stationer's, a little way off, and said he should be back in a minute or two. In went the earl and sat down in Mr. Gammon's sitting-room. It was a fair-sized room, neatly furnished, more for use than show. A plain deal bookcase, stretching over the whole of one side of the apartment, was filled with books, and beside it, and opposite to the fireplace, was the door of Mr. Gammon's bedroom--which, being open, appeared as though it had not been yet set to rights since Mr. Gammon had slept in it. He had not, in fact, risen as early as usual that morning. The earl sat down, having removed his hat; and in placing it upon the table, his eye lit upon an object, which suggested to him a new source of amazement and alarm. It was a freshly executed parchment conveyance, folded up in the usual way, about a foot square in size; and as the earl sat down, his eye could scarcely fail to read the superscription, in large round hand, which was turned full towards him, and, in short, ran thus:--

t.i.tTLEBAT t.i.tMOUSE, Esq., } Grant of RENT-CHARGE on to } Estates at Yatton, of 2,000 Oily Gammon, _Gent._ } _per annum_.

This almost stopped the earl's breath. With trembling hands he put on his spectacles, to a.s.sure himself that he read correctly; and with a face overspread with dismay--almost unconscious of what he was doing--was gazing intensely at the writing, holding the parchment in his hands; and while thus absorbed, Mr. Gammon entered, having darted across the inn, and sprung up-stairs with lightning speed, the instant that his eye had caught Lord Dreddlington's equipage standing opposite to the inn. He had instantly recollected having left on the table the deed in question, which had been executed by t.i.tmouse only the evening before; and little antic.i.p.ated that, of all persons upon earth, Lord Dreddlington would be the first whose eye would light upon it. 'T was, perhaps, somewhat indiscreet to leave it there; but it was in Gammon's own private residence--where he had very few visitors, especially at that time of the day--and he had intended only a momentary absence, having gone out on the impulse of a sudden suggestion. See the result!

"My Lord Dreddlington!" exclaimed Gammon, breathless with haste and agitation, the instant he saw his worst apprehensions fulfilled. The earl looked up at him, as it were mechanically, over his gla.s.ses, without moving, or attempting to speak.

"I--I--beg your Lords.h.i.+p's pardon!" he added quickly and sternly, advancing towards Lord Dreddlington. "Pardon me, but surely your Lords.h.i.+p cannot be aware of the liberty you are taking--in looking at my private papers!"--and with an eager and not over-ceremonious hand, he took the conveyance out of the unresisting grasp of his n.o.ble visitor.

"Sir--Mr. Gammon!"--at length exclaimed the earl, in a faltering voice--"what is the meaning of that?" pointing with a tremulous finger to the conveyance which Mr. Gammon held in his hand.

"_What is it?_ A private--a strictly private doc.u.ment of mine, my Lord"--replied Gammon, with breathless impetuosity, his eye flas.h.i.+ng fury, and his face having become deadly pale--"one with which your Lords.h.i.+p has no more concern than your footman--one which I surely might have fancied safe from intrusive eyes in _my own_ _private residence_--one which I am confounded--yes, confounded! my Lord, at finding that you could for an instant allow yourself--consider yourself warranted in even looking at--prying into--and much less presuming to ask questions concerning it!" He held the parchment all this while tightly grasped in his hands; his appearance and manner might have overpowered a man of stronger nerves than the Earl of Dreddlington. On him, however, it appeared to produce no impression--his faculties seeming quite absorbed with the discovery he had just made, and he simply inquired, without moving from his chair--

"Is it a fact, sir, that you have a rent-charge of two thousand a-year upon my son-in-law's property at Yatton?"

"I deny peremptorily your Lords.h.i.+p's right to ask me a single question arising out of information obtained in such a dis--I mean such an unprecedented manner!" answered Gammon, vehemently.

"Two thousand a-year, sir!--out of my son-in-law's property?" repeated the earl, with a kind of bewildered incredulity.

"I cannot comprehend your Lords.h.i.+p's conduct in attempting neither to justify what you have done, nor apologize for it," said Gammon, endeavoring to speak calmly; and at the same time depositing the conveyance in a large iron safe, and then locking the door of it, Lord Dreddlington, the while, eying his movements in silence.

"Mr. Gammon, I must and will have this matter explained; depend upon it, I will have it looked into and thoroughly sifted," at length said Lord Dreddlington, with returning self-possession, as Gammon observed--

"Can your Lords.h.i.+p derive any right to information from me, out of an act of your Lords.h.i.+p's which no honorable mind--nay, if your Lords.h.i.+p insists on my making myself understood--I will say, an act which no gentleman would resort to"----The earl rose from his chair with calmness and dignity.

"What _your_ notions of honorable or gentlemanly conduct may happen to be, sir," said the old peer, drawing himself up to his full height, and speaking with his usual deliberation, "it may not be worth my while to inquire; but let me tell you, sir"----

"My Lord, I beg your Lords.h.i.+p's forgiveness--I have certainly been hurried by my excitement into expressions which I would gladly withdraw."

"Hear me, sir," replied the earl, with a composure which, under the circ.u.mstances, was wonderful; "it is the first time in my life that any one has presumed to speak to me in such a manner, and to use such language; and I will neither forget it, sir, nor forgive it."

"Then, my Lord, I take the liberty of rea.s.serting what I had withdrawn,"

said Gammon, his blood appearing to flow like liquid fire in all his veins. He had never given Lord Dreddlington credit for being able to exhibit the spirit and self-command which he was then displaying. The earl bowed loftily as Gammon spoke; and on his concluding, said with haughty composure--

"When I entered your room, sir, that doc.u.ment caught my eye accidentally; and on seeing upon the outside of it--for no farther have I looked--the name of my own son-in-law, it was but natural that I should suppose there could be no objection to my continuing to examine the outside. That _was_ my opinion, sir--that _is_ my opinion; your presumptuous expressions, sir, cannot change that opinion, nor make me forget our relative positions," he added loftily; "and I once more demand, sir, what is the meaning of that extraordinary doc.u.ment?"