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

“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 —