The Daltons; Or, Three Roads In Life. Volume II

The crowd at last dispersed, the happy recipients of good news were turning homewards, and only one or two still lingered around the spot, when the old man arose and approached the window. There was something almost of shame in the way he slouched his hat over his eyes as he drew nigh and knocked timidly at the closed pane.

His summons was unheard, and yet for some time he did not repeat it, – perhaps he loved better to feed his hope even these short few moments than again fall back into the dark gloom of his despair! At last, and with a deep, hollow sigh, he tapped again.

“Have you anything for the name of Dalton, – Peter Dalton?” asked he, in a voice wherein scarcely an accent revealed the once high-hearted nature.

“Nothing,” was the curt rejoinder. And the window was slammed to with impatience.

He grasped the iron railing with a convulsive grip, as though a sudden pang had shot through him, and then, by a great effort, he drew himself up to his full height; his pale and haggard face grew paler as he turned it upwards, and his bloodless lips trembled as they muttered some indistinct syllables; then turning about, he brushed abruptly past the few who stood around, and walked away.

He had not gone many paces when a boy overtook him, saying, “Come back, sir; the postmaster has two letters for you.”

Dalton looked stealthily at either side, to be sure that the speech was addressed to him, and, with a fierceness that startled the boy, said, “You’re certain they’re for me?”

“Yes, yes; all right, – here they are,” cried the postmaster from the window. “One, a soldier’s letter from Munich, and free. The other is a heavier packet, and costs four florins and twelve kreutzers.”

“I must be satisfied with this one, then,” said Dalton, “till I go back for money. I brought no change out with me.”

“No matter: you can send it,” said the other.

“Maybe it’s not so easy as you think,” muttered Dalton to himself; while he added, aloud, “Very well, I’ll do so, and thank you.” And he clutched the two letters, and pressed them to his bosom.

With hurried steps he now paced homewards, but, stopping at every instant, he drew forth the packets to gaze at them, and be certain that no self-deception was over him, and that his possession was real and tangible. His gait grew more firm, as he went, and his tread, as he mounted the stairs, sounded assured and steady.

“You have a letter, father dearest,” cried Nelly, as she flung wide the door. “I saw you crossing the Platz, and I know, from your walk, that you’ve got one.”

“No, but better, Nelly – I ‘ve two. That’s from Frank; and here’s Kate’s, and a bulky one – four florins twelve – devil a less.”

“Oh, give it to me! Let me hear of her – let me feel beside her once again!” cried Nelly. And with bursting eagerness she tore open the envelope, from which two or three sealed notes fell out. “This is from Lady ‘Hester,” said she; “and this a hand I do not know, but addressed to you; and here are bills or money-orders for a large sum. What can all this mean?”

“Can’t you read what she says?” said Dalton, reddening, and suddenly remembering that Nelly was not aware of his having written to Kate. “Give it to me; I ‘ll read it myself.” And he snatched the letter from her fingers. “There’s Frank’s for you.”

“Oh, father, father!” cried Nelly, in a burst of grief, as she tore open Lady Hester’s letter; “it is as I feared. Kate is about to be married – if she be not already married.”

“Without my leave – without asking my consent!” cried Dalton, passionately. “Am I nobody at all? Am I the head of the family, or am I not? Is this the way to treat her father? May I never see light, if I won’t have him ‘out,’ if he was a Prince of the Blood! Oh, the ungrateful girl! Leave off crying there, and tell me all about it. Read me her own letter, I say – if God will give me patience to listen to it.”

With a bosom almost bursting, and a lip quivering with emotion, Ellen began, —

“La Rocca, Lake of Como.

Dearest Father and Sister, – Oh that I could throw myself at your feet, and poor out all that my heart is full of – tell you what I feel and hope and fear, and ask your counsel and your blessing. I know not if the last few days be real; my poor head is turning amid the scenes I ‘ve passed through and the emotions I have felt. I had no friend but Lady Hester – no adviser but she! She has been a mother to me – not as you would have been, Nelly – not to warn and restrain, when perhaps both were needed, but to encourage and feed my hopes. I yielded to her counsels – ”

“I don’t understand one word of this,” cried Dalton, impatiently. “What did she do?”

Nelly’s eyes ran rapidly over the lines without speaking; and then, in a low but distinct voice, she said, —

“It is as I said; she is betrothed to this great Russian Prince.”

“That fellow, they say, owns half Moscow. Fogles told us about him.”

“Prince Midchekoff.”

“That’s the name. Well, it’s a fine match, – there’s no denying it. How did it come about? and why didn’t he come here and ask my consent? What’s the meaning of doing it all in this hurry?”

“The marriage can only take place in St. Petersburg, and in presence of the Emperor; and she is merely betrothed, at present, to enable her to accompany the lady, Madame de Heidendorf, to Russia, where the Prince will follow in a few weeks.”

“That bangs Banagher! Why could n’t they get a priest where they are? Be gorra! they ‘ve scruples about everything but me! I ‘m the only one that’s not considered! What the devil is the Emperor to her, – sure he is n’t her father? Well, well, go on.”

“She would seem to have yielded to persuasion,” said Nelly, feelingly. “The Prince, with all his greatness, appears not to have won her heart. See how she dwells upon his immense wealth and the splendor of his position.”

“Let us hear about that,” cried Dalton, eagerly.

“My heart is nigh to bursting when I think of you and dearest Nelly living with me, in all the enjoyment that riches can bestow, nothing denied you that you can fancy, and free to indulge every taste and every wish. To know that I can at last repay, in some sort, all your affection – that poor worthless Kate can minister to your pleasure and your comfort – would make me dare a rasher destiny than this. And he is so generous, Nelly. The whole of yesterday is like a page from the ‘Arabian Nights,’ as I sat surrounded with gorgeous articles of gold and gems – diamonds such as a queen might wear, and rubies larger than the glass-drops I used to deck my hair with long ago! And yet they tell me I have seen nothing as yet, and that the treasures of Vladovitch Palace I hear of at every moment are greater than most royal houses. Lady Hester is kinder than ever, and the Heidendorf also; but she is cold and reserved – too stately for my taste – and I cannot overcome my awe of her. Is not this like a confession of my unfitness for the station I am to occupy? – are not these signs of inferiority? How little Hans would stare at the objects of taste and art by which I am surrounded and of which I never tire in admiring! “There have been great changes in this family since I wrote, and some mysterious circumstance is now hanging over them; but Lady Hester has not told me anything, nor do I care to repeat rumors which reach me through others. I only know that Sir Stafford is about to proceed to England as soon as Captain Onslow’s health will permit; he, poor fellow, met with an accident on the day we left Florence, and my maid, who sat in the rumble, saw the mishap without knowing or suspecting the victim! I have done everything to obtain leave to visit you before I set out, or even to see you on my way; but Madame de Heidendorf is absolute, and she has so much important business in hand – such deep political affairs to transact at Vienna and Dresden – that I find it is impossible. “The Prince has promised to write at once about Frank. He says it will be better to obtain his promotion in the Austrian service before he enters the Russian, and that this shall take place immediately. I could see that on this point he was acutely alive to the fact of our humble position; but he knows from Lady Hester all about our family, and that the Daltons acknowledge nothing superior to them in birth. This, however, is always a difficulty to a foreigner; they have no idea of untitled nobility; and I saw his chagrin the other day when I told him to address papa as plain Monsieur. Since yesterday morning I am called Princess; and I cannot conceal from you the throb of delight the sound still gives me! I often stop to ask myself if this be all a dream, and shall I wake beside the fire and see dearest Nelly bending over some little group, and Hans with wondering eyes staring over her shoulders. “The Prince only intends to spend one winter in Russia. Madame de Heidendorf says that he will be named Ambassador at Paris; but I hope and trust not: I feel too acutely my inferiority for such a position. This she laughs at, and merely says, ‘Nous verrons.’ Of course, wherever I am, you will both be with me; meanwhile, what would you wish to do? I told Monsieur Rubion, the Prince’s secretary, that I wanted money, and he gave me these bills, so he called them, on Baden and Carlsruhe, as easily negotiable in that neighborhood; pray, say if they be serviceable. The Prince intends to visit you at Baden; and I suppose you will like to see him. His manners are perfect, and except a degree of constraint in first acquaintance, he is generally thought very agreeable. Such preparations as they are making for my journey, you ‘d fancy I was a queen at the very least All my trousseau is to come from Paris direct; and up to this I have merely what Madame de H. calls the strictly ‘indispensable;’ which, shall I own? contrives to fill two large fourgons and a heavy travelling-carriage. Nina is in a perfect ecstasy at everything, and is eternally ‘draping’ me in Brussels lace and Chantilly; so that, even while I write, these flimsy tissues are floating around me; while caskets of jewels and precious gems dazzle my eyes wherever I turn them.

“The whole is like a gorgeous vision; would that it might remain ever thus, for I almost tremble to take a step further. Are these unworthy fears? I hope they are.”

Nelly paused, and laid down the letter on her knee. “Well, may I never see grace, if that letter isn’t enough to confuse a bench of bishops!” cried Dalton. “She’s marrying the first man in Europe, – be the other who he will, – and she has as many crotchets and misgivings about it as if it was little Hans, there, below! And he a Prince! a real Prince! – devil a doubt of it – that scatters the money about like chaff! Here’s an order at sight for nine hundred gulden; and here’s a bill at ten days – a nice date – for fourteen hundred and eighty-six Prussian dollars; and this is nearly as much more. Kate, my beauty, I knew you ‘d do it! I never looked at you in your old clogs and the worsted cloak that I did n’t think of the day I ‘d see you in satin and velvet! Faix, it’s the best bottle of claret in the Adler I ‘ll drink your health in this day! Nelly, who will we ask in to dinner?”

“Don’t you think, papa, it were better we should not speak of this – ”

“Why, better? Are we ashamed of it?”

“I mean, more prudent as regards ourselves, and more respectful to the Prince.”

“Respectful – to my son-in-law! – that’s ‘more of it.’ Upon my conscience, I’ll have to go to school again in my old days. I know nothing of life at all, at all! Respect, indeed!”

“I would but suggest, papa, that for Kate’s sake – ”

“There – there – don’t provoke me. I never set my heart on a thing yet – big or little – that I was n’t met with a caution about this, or a warning about that, till at last I got so tutored and corrected and trained that, as Billy Morris used to say at whist, ‘I dread a good hand more than a bad one.’”

“Far be it from me, dearest father,” said Nelly, smiling, “to throw a shadow over a bright moment. If it will give you pleasure – ”

“Sure I said it would, – sure I told you ‘t is what I ‘d like. A fine dinner at the ‘Schwan;’ four gulden a head, without wine; a dozen of champagne in ice, hock for them that can drink it, and port and Lafitte for Peter Dalton and men of his own sentiments. There’s the programme, Nelly, and you’ll see if I can’t fill up the details.”

“Well, but we have yet much to do; here are several letters, – here is Frank’s. Let us learn how the dear fellow fares.”

Dalton sat down without speaking; there was, indeed, more of resignation than curiosity in his features, as he crossed his arms and listened.

“Dearest Nelly, – I only heard a few days ago that my last two letters had been stopped; they were not, as they should have been, submitted to my captain to read, and hence they were arrested and suppressed. This goes by a private hand – a friend of mine – a pedler from Donaueschingen – ”

“A what? – a pedler is it?” broke in Dalton, angrily.

“Yes, papa; remember that poor Frank is still in the ranks.”

“Well, God give me patience with you all!” burst out the old man, in a torrent of passion. “Does he know that he’s a Dalton? – does he feel blood in his veins? Why the blazes must he seek out a thieving blaguard with a pack full of damaged cambric to make a friend of? Is this the way the family’s getting up in the world?”

“Adolf Brawer, by name,” read on Nelly, in a low and subdued voice. “You will be surprised when I tell you that I owe all his kindness and good-nature to you, – yes, to your own dear self. On his way through the Tyrol he had bought two wooden statuettes, – one a young soldier asleep beside a well; the other a girl leaning from a window to hear the bugles of a departing regiment Can you guess whose they were? And when he came to know that I was the brother of the little N. D. that was sculptured, half hid in a corner, and that I was the original of the tired, wayworn recruit on the roadside, I thought he would have cried with enthusiasm.”

“Didn’t I often say it?” broke in Dalton, as, wringing his hands in despair, he paced the room with hasty strides. “Did n’t I warn you a thousand times about them blasted images, and tell you that, sooner or later, it would get about who made them? Didn’t I caution you about the disgrace you ‘d bring on us? The fear of this was over me this many a day. I had it like a dream on my mind, and I used to say to myself, ‘It will all come out yet.’” #

Nelly covered her face with her apron as these bitter words were spoken; but not a syllable, nor a sigh, did she reply to them; still, the frail garment shook with an emotion that showed how intensely she suffered.

“A Virgin sold here, an Angel Gabriel there; now it was Hamlet; another time Gotz with the iron hand. All the balderdash that ever came into your head scattered over the world to bring shame on us! And then to think of Kate!”

“Yes, dearest father, do think of her,” cried Nelly, passionately. “She is, indeed, an honor and a credit to you.”

“And so might you have been, too, Nelly,” rejoined he, half sorry for his burst of anger. “I ‘m sure I never made any difference between you. I treated you all alike, God knows.” And truly, if an indiscriminating selfishness could plead for him, the apology was admirable.

“Yes, papa, but Nature was less generous,” said Nelly, smiling through her tears; and she again turned to the letter before her. As if fearful to revive the unhappy discussion, she passed rapidly over Frank’s account of his friend’s ecstasy; nor did she read aloud till she came to the boy’s narrative of his own fortunes.

“You ask me about Count Stephen, and the answer is a short one. I have seen him only once. Our battalion, which was stationed at Laybach, only arrived in Vienna about three weeks ago, but feeling it a duty to wait on our relative, I obtained leave one evening to go and pay my respects. Adolf, who knew of my connection with the Field-Marshal, had lent me two hundred florins; and this, too, I was anxious to pay off, – another reason for this visit. “Well, I dressed myself in my best cadet cloth, and silk sword-knot, Nelly, – none of your ‘commissaire’ toggery, but all fine and smart-looking, as a gentleman-cadet ought to be, – and then calling a fiacre, I ordered the man to drive to the ‘Koertnor Thor,’ to the Field-Marshal von Auersberg*s quarters. I ‘m not sure if I did n*t say to my uncle’s. Away we went gayly, and soon drew up in an old-fashioned courtyard, from which a great stair led up four stories high, at the top of which the ‘Feld’ – so they called him – resided. This was somewhat of a come-down to my high-flown expectations, but nothing to what I felt as the door was opened by an old Jager with one leg, instead of, as I looked for, a lackey in a grand livery. “‘What is ‘t cadet?’ said he, in a tone of the coolest familiarity. “‘The Field-Marshal von Auersberg lives here?’ said I. “He nodded. “‘I wish to see him.’ “He shook his head gravely, and scanning me from head to foot, said, ‘Not at this hour, cadet, – not at this hour.’ “‘Let him see this card,’ said I, giving one with my name. ‘I ‘m certain he ‘ll receive me.’ “I believe if I had presented a pistol at him, the old fellow would have been less startled, as he exclaimed, ‘A cadet with a visiting-card! This would serve you little with the Feld, younker,’ cried he, handing it back to me; ‘he likes to see a soldier a soldier.’ “‘Tell him my name, then,’ said I, angrily; ‘say that his grand-nephew, Frank Dalton, has been standing at his door in full parley with a servant for ten minutes.’ “The announcement created little of the astonishment I calculated on, and the old soldier merely replied, ‘All under field-officer’s rank come before eight of a morning. you cannot expect to have the privilege of an archduke.’ He was about to close the door in my face as he spoke, but I placed my shoulder against it and forced it back, thus securing an entrance within the forbidden precincts. “‘Right about, quick march!’ cried he, pointing to the door, while his whole frame trembled with passion. “‘Not till you have delivered my message,’ said I, calmly. “‘Then Bey’m Blitzen I will deliver it, and see how you ‘ll like it,’ cried he, as he stumped away down a passage and entered a room at the end of it. I could soon hear the sound of voices, and for the moment I was almost determined to beat a retreat, when suddenly the old Jager came out and beckoned me forward. There was a grin of most diabolical delight on the old fellow’s features as I passed into the room and closed the door behind me. “As well as I could see in the imperfect light, for it was after sunset, the apartment was large and low-ceilinged, with bookshelves round the walls, and stands for weapons and military equipments here and there through it. At the stove, and busily engaged in watching a coffee-pot, sat the Feld himself, a loose gray overcoat covering his figure, and concealing all of him but two immense jackboots that peeped out beneath. He wore a Mütze, a kind of Hungarian cap, and a long pipe depended from his mouth, the bowl resting on the carpet. The most conspicuous feature of all was, however, his enormous moustache, which, white as snow, touched his collar-bone at either side. “He never spoke a word as I entered, but stared at me steadfastly and sternly for full three or four minutes. Half abashed by this scrutiny, and indignant besides at the reception, I was about to —

“‘Franz Carl Infantry, third battalion,’ said I, instantly saluting with my hand. “‘Your name?’ “‘Frank Dalton.’ “‘Your business?’ “‘To visit my grand-uncle, the Field-Marshal von Auersberg.’ “‘And is it thus, younker,’ cried he, rising, and drawing himself up to his full height, ‘that you dare to present yourself before a Feldzeugmeister of the Imperial Army? Have they not taught you even the commonest rules of discipline? Have they left you in the native barbarism of your own savage country, that you dare, against my orders, present yourself before me?’ “‘I thought the claim of kindred – ’ began I. “‘What know I of kindred, sirrah? What have kith and kin availed me? I have stood alone in the world. It was not to kindred I owed my life on the field of Rosbach; nor was it a relative stanched my bleeding wounds at Wagram!’ “‘The name of Dalton – ’ “‘I have won a prouder one, sir, and would not be reminded by you from what I ‘ve started. Where ‘s your character- certificate?’ “‘I have not brought it with me, Herr General. I scarcely thought it would be the first question my father’s uncle would put to me.’ ‘“There was prudence in the omission, too, sir,’ said he, not heeding my remark. ‘But I have it here.’ And he drew from a portfolio on the table a small slip of paper, and read: ‘“Cadet Dalton, second company of the third battalion, Franz Carl Regiment. – Smart on service, and quick in discipline, but forward and petulant with those above him in rank. Disposed to pride himself on birth and fortune, and not sufficiently submissive to orders. Twice in arrest, once, Kurzgeschlossen.” A creditable character, sir! Twice in arrest and once in irons! And with this you claim kindred with a count of the empire, and an imperial field- marshal! On the fifth of last month you entertained a party at dinner at the Wilde Man, – most of them men of high rank and large fortune. On the eighteenth you drove through Maria Tell with a team of four horses, and passed the drawbridge and the moat in full gallop. So late as Wednesday last you hoisted a green flag on the steeple of the village church, on pretence of honoring your father’s birthday. I know each incident of your career, sir, and have watched you with shame and regret. Tell your father, when you write to him, that all the favor of my august master would not endure the test of two such protégés. And now, back to your quarters.’ “He motioned me to retire with a gesture, and I fell back, almost glad at any cost to escape. I had just reached the stair, when the Jager called me back to his presence. “‘Art an only son?’ asked the Count, for the first time addressing me in the second person. “I bowed. “‘And hast three sisters?’ “‘Two, Herr General.’ “‘Older or younger than thyself?’ ‘“Both older, sir.’ ‘“How have they been brought up? Have they learned thrift and housecraft, or are they wasteful and reckless, as their native country and their name would bespeak them?’ “‘Our humble fortune is the best answer to that question, sir.’ ‘“It is not, sirrah!’ cried he, angrily. ‘The spendthrift habit survives every remnant of the state that gave it birth, and the beggar can be as improvident as the prince. Go; thou hast as much to learn of the world as of thy duty. Head erect, sir; shoulders back; the right thumb more forwards. If the rest of the battalion be like thee, I’ll give them some work on the Prater ere long.’ “A haughty wave of his hand now finished our interview, and, once outside the door, I descended the stairs, a whole flight at every bound, in terror lest anything should induce him to recall me. “And this is Uncle Stephen, Nelly, – this the great protector we used to build our hopes upon, and flatter ourselves would be a second father to us! “When I came out into the street, I knew not which way to turn. I dreaded the very sight of a comrade, lest he should ask me about our meeting, what pocket-money he had given me, and how soon I should be an officer. It was only when I saw Adolf coming towards me that I remembered all about my debt to him, of which I had not spoken one word to my uncle. I ought to have told him so, frankly. Yes, Nelly, I can hear the murmured displeasure with which you read my confession, ‘that I could n’t do it.’ I was unequal to the effort, and could not bring myself to destroy that whole fabric of fictitious interest in which I had wrapped myself. What would Adolf have thought of me when I said, I have neither wealth nor station nor prospect, – as humble a soldier as the sentry you see yonder? What would become of that romance of life in which we have so often spent hours revelling in a brilliant future, every incident of which grew up in our united fancies, and seemed to assume reality as we discussed it? Where – oh, Nelly! to you I must reveal all – every weakness, every littleness of my nature – where would be the homage of respect the poor Bursche was wont to show the nephew of a field-marshal? No, it was above my strength; and so I took his arm, and talked away heedlessly about our meeting, avoiding, where I could, all mention of my uncle, and but jocularly affecting to think him an original, whose strange, old-fashioned manners almost concealed the strong traits of family affection. “‘What of thy promotion, Frank?’ asked Adolf. “‘It will come in its own good time/ said I, carelessly. ‘Nothing causes more dissatisfaction than the rapid advancement of cadets of noble family.’ “‘But they could make thee a corporal, at least?’ “I laughed scornfully at the remark, and merely said, ‘They may skip over the whole sous-officier grade, and only remember me when I’m to be made a lieutenant/ “‘Thou hast grown haughtier, Frank,’ said he, half reproachfully, ‘since thy meeting with the “Feld.” Mayhap in a day or two thou wilt not like to be seen in company with a “Wander-Bursche”?’ “I was bursting to throw my arms round his neck, and say, ‘Never, whatever fortune have in store for me; thy friendship is like a brother’s, and can never be forgotten; ‘but Pride – yes, Nelly, the cursed pride against which you used to warn me – sealed my lips; and when I spoke, it was something so cold, so meaningless, and so unworthy that he left me. I know not how! No sooner was I alone, Nelly, than I burst into tears. I cried for very shame; and if agony could expiate my fault, mine should have done so. What humiliation before my friend could equal that I now felt before my own heart! I thought of all your teachings, dearest Nelly; of the lessons you gave me over and over against this besetting sin of my nature! I thought of our home, where poor Hanserl was treated by us as a friend! I thought of our last parting, and the words you spoke to me in warning against this very pride, ignoble and mean as it is; and, oh! what would I have given to have thrown myself into Adolfs arms, and told him everything! I have never seen him since; he wrote to me a few lines, saying that he should pass through Baden on his way to Frankfort, and offering to carry a letter for me; but not once did he allude to my debt, nor was there the slightest hint of its existence. On this I wrote an acknowledgment of the loan, and a pressing entreaty that he would come and see me; but he pretended one thing and another, affected engagements at the only hours I was free, and at last abruptly sent for my letter just when I was writing it. I had much more to tell you, Nelly, of myself, of the service, and of my daily life here; but my thoughts are now disturbed and scattered; and I feel, too, how your shame for my short-coming will take away interest from what I say. You, Nelly, will have courage to be just: tell him all that I have been weak enough to conceal; let him know what suffering my unworthy shame has cost me; and, above all, that I am not ungrateful. “It seems like a dream all that you tell me of Kate. Is she still in Italy, and where? Would she write to me? I am ashamed to ask the question of herself. They spoke of our brigade being sent to Lombardy; but even there I might be far away from her; and if near, in the very same city, our stations would separate us still more widely. Oh, Nelly! is it worth all the success ever ambition the most successful won, thus to tear up the ties of family, and make brothers and sisters strangers? Would that I were back again with you, and dearest Kate, too! I see no future here; the dull round of daily discipline, teaching nothing but obedience, shuts out speculation and hope! Where are the glorious enterprises, the splendid chances I often dreamed of? My happiest moments now are recalling the past; the long winter evenings beside the hearth, while Hans was reading out to us. There are rumors of great changes in the world of Europe; but to us they are only the thunderings of a distant storm, to break out in what quarter we know not. Oh, Nelly! if it should lead to war! if some glorious struggle were to break in upon this sluggish apathy! “Adolf has sent again for this letter, so I must close it He will not, he says, pass through Baden, but will post this in Munich – so good-bye, dearest sister. Tell poor papa all that you dare to tell of me, and farewell.