The Martins Of Cro' Martin Volume I Part 42

"Something in this fas.h.i.+on," said she, while her hands traced the lines rapidly on the paper:--

"'Finding that a new era is about to dawn in the political state of Ireland, when the consequences of late legislation will engender new conditions and relations, I present myself before you to solicit the honor of your suffrages, a perfect stranger to your town, but no stranger to the wants and necessities of that nationality which now, for the first time for centuries, is about to receive its due development.'

"Or this, if you prefer it," said she, writing away rapidly as before:--

"'The presumption of aspiring to your representation will, perhaps, be compensated when I come before you deeply impressed with the wrongs which centuries of legislation have enacted, and which, stranger as I am in Ireland, have arrested my attention and engaged my sympathies, impelling me to enter upon a public career; and, if favored by your approval, to devote whatever energy and capacity I may possess to your great and good cause.'"

"I like the first best," said Jack. "The new era and the results of the Relief Bill will be such appetizing suggestions. There must be an allusion to the Martins and their support."

"Rather, however, as though _you_ had brought over Martin to _your_ views, than that _he_ had selected you to represent his. In this wise:"

and again she wrote,--

"'It is with a just pride that I announce to you that in these professions I am strengthened by the cordial approval and support of one who, in his rank and station, and natural influence, is second to none in this great county; and who, whatever misconceptions have hitherto prevailed as to his views, is, heart and soul, a true patriot and an Irishman!'

"It will puzzle him sorely to guess what line he should adopt to realize all this, and he'll have to come to _you_ for his politics!"

"You have caught up the cant of this peculiar literature perfectly,"

said Ma.s.singbred, as he pored over the papers she had just penned.

"Dear me!" cried she, in a weary tone, "my great difficulty will be to discard its evil influence, and even write a common note like a reasonable being again."

"But come, confess frankly: you think that a political career is the only one worth embracing, and that any other life offers no reward worthy the name?"

"I think you mistake me," said she. "It is the social position consequent upon success in a political life that I value,--the eminence it confers in the very highest and greatest circles. If I regarded the matter otherwise, I'd not be indifferent as to the line to follow--I 'd have great convictions, and hold them,--I mean, if I were _you_."

"Then of course you consider me as one who has none such?"

"To be sure I do. Men of your measures of ability can no more burden themselves with principles than a thoroughbred hackney can carry extra weight,--they 've quite enough to do to make their running without."

"Well, I shall certainly not be spoiled by flattery, at least from you,"

said Jack, laughing.

"They who know you less will make up for it all, depend upon it," said she, quietly. "Don't fancy, Mr. Ma.s.singbred," added she, with more earnestness of manner,--"don't fancy that I 'm insensible to the impertinences I have dared to address to you, or that I venture upon them without pain; but when I perceived that you would admit me to the liberty of criticising your conduct, character, and manners, I thought that I might render you good service by saying what better taste and better breeding would shrink from, and the only cost be the dislike of myself."

"You took a very bad way to accomplish the latter," said Jack, fervently.

"I did n't give it much consideration," said she, haughtily. "It was very little matter what opinion you entertained of 'the governess.'"

"I should like to convince you that you were wrong," said he, looking fixedly at her.

"You'd find your task harder than you suspect, sir," said she, coldly.

"There is a sense of pride about the humbleness of a station such as mine, as all the elevation of one in yours could never fathom. And,"

added she, in a still more determined tone, "there is but one condition on which this intercourse of ours can continue, which is, that this topic be never resumed between us. The gulf that separates your position in life from mine is the security for mutual frankness; to attempt to span it over by deception would be to build a bridge that must break down the first moment of its trial. Enough of this! I'll take these,"

said she, gathering up the papers, "and copy them out clearly. They ought to be with the printer to-morrow; and, indeed, you should not defer your canva.s.s."

Ma.s.singbred made no answer, but sat with his head buried between his hands.

"I'd have you to visit the 'dear const.i.tuency' at once, Mr.

Ma.s.singbred," said she, with a slight touch of scorn in her voice. "They are not well bred enough to bear a slight!" And with this she left the room.

"I should like excessively to know the secret of this interest in my behalf," said Jack, as he arose and slowly walked the room. "It is not, unquestionably, from any high estimate of my capacity; as little is it anything bordering on regard; and yet," added he, after a pause, "there are moments when I half fancy she could care for me,--at least I know well that I could for _her_, Confound it!" cried he, pa.s.sionately, "what a terrible barrier social station throws up! If she were even some country squire's daughter,--portionless as she is,--the notion would not be so absurd; but 'the governess!' and 'the steward!' what frightful figures to conjure up. No, no; that's impossible. One might do such a folly by retiring from the world forever, but that would be exactly to defeat the whole object of such a match. She is essentially intended for 'the world;' every gift and grace she possesses are such as only have their fitting exercise where the game of life is played by the highest, and for the heaviest stakes! But it is not to be thought of!"

"Have I found you at last?" cried Repton, entering the room. "They say the writ will be here on Monday, so that we 've not an hour to lose.

Let us drive over to Oughterard at once, see the editor of the 'Intelligence,' call on Priest Rafferty, and that other fellow--the father of our young friend here."

"Mr. Nelligan," said Jack. "But I can't well visit _him_--there have been some rather unpleasant pa.s.sages between us."

"Ah! you told me something about it. He wanted you to fill a bail-bond, or do something or other, rather than shoot _me_. An unreasonable old rascal! Never mind; we shall come before him now in another character, and you 'll see that he'll be more tractable."

"The matter is graver than this," said Jack, musingly; "and our difference is serious enough to make intercourse impossible."

"You shall tell me all about it as we drive along,--that is, if it be brief and easy to follow, for my head is so full of election matters I don't desire a new element of complication. Step in now, and let us away." And with this he hurried Ma.s.singbred to the door, where a pony-phaeton was in waiting for them.

Once on the road, Repton changed the conversation from the domain of politics, and talked entirely of the host and his family. There was a sort of const.i.tutional frankness and familiarity about the old lawyer which all the astute habits and instincts of his profession had never mastered. Like a great many acute men, his pa.s.sion for shrewd observation and keen remark overbore the prudent reserve that belongs to less animated talkers, and so he now scrupled not to dis-cuss Martin and his affairs to one who but a few days back had been a complete stranger amongst them.

At first Jack heard him without much interest, but, as he continued, the subject attracted all his attention, full as it was of views of life and the world perfectly new and strange to him.

To Ma.s.singbred's great astonishment, he learned that vast as the estates, and large as was the fortune of the Martins, that they were deeply enc.u.mbered with bond-debts and mortgages. The wasteful habits of the gentry generally, combined with great facilities for obtaining money at any emergency, had led to this universal indebtedness; and, in fact, as the lawyer expressed it, an old estate was supposed to be the victim of debt, as an elderly gentleman was liable to gout; n.o.body presuming to think that the tenure, in either case, was a whit the more precarious on account of the casualty.

"Now," said Repton, as they reached a point of the road from which a view of the country could be obtained for miles on every side--"now, as far as you can see belongs to Martin. Beyond that mountain yonder, too, there is a large tract--not very productive, it is true--extending to the sea. The fine waving surface to your left is all tillage land; and the islands in the bay are his. It is really a princely estate, with even greater hidden resources than those palpable and open to view. But, were I to show it to you on a map, and point out at the same time every spot on which some moneylender has a claim--how much has been advanced upon this--what sums have been lent upon that--you 'd be more amazed at the careless ease of the proprietor than you now are at the extent of his fortune."

"But he is spending immensely in improving and developing the property,"

said Jack.

"Of course he is, sir. That new-fangled notion of 'gentleman-farming '--which has come to us from countries where there are no gentlemen--won't suit Ireland, at least in the present generation. What _we_ want here is, not to make more money, but to learn how to spend less; and although the first very often teaches the last, it is a hard way for an Irishman to acquire his knowledge. There's your borough, sir,--that little spot in the valley yonder is Oughterard. Do you feel, as you behold it, as though it were to be the mainspring of a great career? Is there an instinctive throb within that says, 'The honorable member for Oughterard will be a great name in the "Collective Wisdom "'?"

"I can scarcely say yes to that appeal," said Jack, smiling; "though, if what you have just told me of the mediocrity of public men be true--"

"Can you doubt it? You have them all before you,--their lives, their sayings, and their doings. Show me one in the whole ma.s.s who has originated a new idea in politics, or developed a new resource in the nation. Do they exhibit the common inventiveness displayed in almost every other walk of life, or do they even dress up their common plat.i.tudes in any other garb than the cast-off clothes of their predecessors? Mediocrity is a flattery when applied to them. But what's this coming along behind us, with such clattering of hoofs?"

"A tandem, I think," said Jack, looking backward, "and very well handled, too."

"Oh, that ill.u.s.trious attorney, Mr. Scanlan, I 've no doubt. Let us draw up till he pa.s.ses." And so saying, Repton moved to one side of the road, giving a wide s.p.a.ce for the other to proceed on his way. Mr. Scanlan, however, had subdued his nags, by a low, soft whistle, to a half-trot, when, giving the reins to his servant, he descended and advanced to the carriage. "I've been in pursuit of you, gentlemen," said he, touching his hat courteously, "for the last four miles, and I a.s.sure you you 've given me a breathing heat of it. Mr. Martin requested me to hand you this note, sir," added he, addressing Repton, "which demands immediate attention."

The note was marked "Instantaneous," and "Strictly private," on the cover, and Repton opened it at once. Its contents were as follows,--

"Dear Rep.,--The post has just arrived, with intelligence that Harry is coming home,--may be here within a week or so,--so that we must not go on with our present plans for the borough, as H., of course, will stand. Come back, therefore, at once, and let as talk over the matter together.

"Yours, in haste,

"G. M."

"You know what this contains, perhaps?" said Repton, in a whisper to Scanlan. He nodded an a.s.sent, and the old lawyer re-read the note. "I don't see my way here quite clearly," added he, in the same subdued voice, to Scanlan.

"I'll stroll on and stretch my legs a bit," said Jack, springing out of the pony phaeton, and seeing that the others had some private matter of discussion; and Scanlan now drew nigh, while Repton informed him what the note contained.

"It's a little too late for this now," said Scanlan, gravely.