CHAPTER XXVII.
THE DUCHESS’S GRAND TABLEAU VIVANT.
THE numerous company which filled the Duchess’s two drawing-rooms, in point of fact overflowed into the corridor, which, decorated with beautiful flowers, and having deep window recesses at intervals, formed a pleasant place either for walking up and down or for sitting in confidential correspondence. All, or nearly all the Palace folks were there, but there were three ladies who remarked with satisfaction that Miss Manwaring was absent, and Lady M’Adam observed to Miss Scheimes that she thought that Lady Lavinia “had settled that minx’s hash nicely.” Mr. fforester, the Chaplain, kept running about from group to group, and astonished friends and enemies alike by occasionally bursting out into fits of laughter without any apparent cause, and he steadily refused to give any rational account of his unwonted tendency to risibility. The young Duke was everywhere, and had a pleasant word for everyone. Colonel Hawkins, of the Fortieth Dragoons, who had arrived early, kept strutting up and down with a mysterious expression upon his bronzed countenance, and looked like a kind of military Sphynx; while Captain Parkhurst and Lieutenant Grimwood, of the Hampton Court troop, wore the expression of men who were quite able to astonish the natives, if only they wished to do so. To the amazement of all, however, the Duchess, who was usually punctuality itself, delayed making her appearance. At length, just when Lady M’Adam, in plum-coloured velvet, was remarking to Lady Lavinia, in yellow silk and black lace, and to Miss Scheimes, in amber satin, what “a real satisfaction it was that no hussies were present,” an inner door was suddenly thrown open, and the Duchess, blazing in all the Ribblesdale Diamonds, and with the great Scarswicke Emerald hanging round her neck, entered the room, with one arm in that of Evelyn Manwaring, and with the other in that of a--Cavalry Soldier! Lady M’Adam gave a violent start at this unlooked-for apparition; Miss Scheimes turned the colour of her own dress, and Lady Lavinia’s shoulders almost went out of sight in the inmost recesses of her yellow silk.
“The woman must be mad!” whispered the pork-merchant’s daughter.
“Or bad?” said the diplomat’s sister, _sotto voce_.
“I think she’s both,” hissed Lady Lavinia; “it really is _dreadful_!” and so saying, the terrible shoulders oscillated like the humps of a Bactrian camel on a mountain march.
But the Duchess, although she distinctly overheard these complimentary remarks, looked no whit abashed, and took no notice of them whatsoever; but on the contrary, she advanced steadily onwards until she reached the upper end of the great drawing-room. Then, turning round and bowing to the company, she said in a clear, ringing tone, “I trust, my friends, you will pardon my long absence, for I had some important arrangements to complete. Allow me now to introduce to you a gentleman upon whom, in the presence of many of you, Her Majesty was pleased personally to confer the Victoria Cross, the highest distinction it is in her power to bestow, in reward for his conspicuous gallantry upon the field of battle. In introducing Sergeant Wilfred Smith, with the fame of whose exploits all England is ringing, I have also to introduce a young gentleman of ancient lineage, of great misfortunes nobly borne, and of stainless honour, Mr. Wilfred Manwaring of Holmcastle Manor, my son’s best and truest friend, and the brother of a young lady whose beauty, modesty, and sweet disposition have won for her a host of friends, and whose misfortunes and friendless condition ought to have protected her from the baseless calumnies of false and malicious tongues. Ribblesdale, my dear son, let me make over your friend to your care, and I beg you will make him personally acquainted with my guests.”
In a moment the young Duke had seized Wilfred by the hand, which he wrung heartily, amidst a murmur of applause from the company.
“Now, your Grace, let me have my innings,” cried Colonel Hawkins, who looked as if he would have burst if what he had to say was bottled up any longer, and pushing through the crowd, he, in his turn, grasped Wilfred by the hand and thus addressed him:--
“Mr. Manwaring, I wish to tell you that I have had my eye on you ever since you joined my regiment as a private, and I never knew you to commit an action unbecoming a soldier and a gentleman; and I would say the same if you were plain Private Smith, instead of being a man of ancient family and considerable fortune. For your conspicuous gallantry in the field, for which, as Colonel of the Regiment, I feel I personally owe you a debt of gratitude, you have already received the Victoria Cross from the hands of the Queen; but I have now to inform you, that H.R.H. the General Commanding-in-Chief has felt it to be his duty, as it has been also his pleasure, to recommend you for further promotion, and I have now the satisfaction of putting into your hands your commission as Lieutenant in the army, and in place of Lieutenant Grimwood, who retires, in your own Regiment, to which you are a credit and an ornament. (‘Hear, hear,’ from Captain Parkhurst.) I never had more pleasure in welcoming a young gentleman to our society than I have at this moment in welcoming you.”
General applause followed this speech, under cover of which Lady M’Adam and her two satellites managed to escape from the Duchess’s apartments, which, it may be added, they never entered again.
Having affectionately bidden good night to her kind hostess, Evelyn retired as early as possible, and was escorted to her rooms by her soldier brother. And there a new surprise overtook them, for who should they find awaiting their return but Mr. Elthorne and his daughter Mary, and Mr. Merivale.
“We came off at once unknown to each other,” cried both the gentlemen at once, “and we met at Preston Station, and here we are!”
There they were indeed, and perhaps there never was such a shaking of hands as that which ensued. Such indeed was the excitement of the moment, that Mary Elthorne was kissed by the Lieutenant, and the same operation was performed by the Rector and Mr. Merivale upon Evelyn. In these greetings these good folks were all very happy, and if
“Kissing and crying kept company,”
the kissing, _pace_ Lady Lavinia, was very innocent, and the tears that were shed were tears of joy. In fact, the prophecy of old Biddy Maguire--which, truth to tell, had in the course of his wanderings more than once occurred to Wilfred’s mind--was fulfilled to the letter. It was long after twelve when the three men retired, the Lieutenant to the Barracks, where he found several of his old comrades sitting up to cheer him on his return, and the two other gentlemen to the Mitre, where they had already secured beds, and for that night Mary Elthorne shared the couch of her old friend Evelyn.
Next morning, before the men were dismissed from parade, Colonel Hawkins informed them of the elevation of their Sergeant and former comrade. Upon this arose a loud shout of joy, and Messrs. Elthorne and Merivale, coming in at the gate, beheld Wilfred seized by the men and carried in triumph round the barrack yard. Fresh shouts arose when it transpired that Lieutenant Grimwood had resigned, on nomination to a staff appointment, and that Lieutenant Wilfred Manwaring would take his place, and remain among them.
Wilfred accompanied his two friends to lunch with his sister, and after that social meal a great confabulation ensued upon matters of business. Mr. Merivale informed Wilfred that, immediately he had received the news of his discovery, he had telegraphed to all the tenants to pay their rents in future to him instead of to Mr. Potts; and he told him that, as he was the undoubted owner of Holmcastle, it would probably be unnecessary for him to serve a notice to quit upon his cousin, who would most likely be glad enough to evacuate the place quietly, and that the more so, since the neighbouring gentry had so entirely ignored the existence of himself and family that they were thoroughly disgusted with the place. Mr. Tresham Potts had not executed his threat to make a grand clearance amongst the trees at Holmcastle, for the eminent landscape-gardener, whose services he had called in, had refused to have anything to do with the affair if that was insisted on. Potts had, indeed, done one good thing for the property. It had been discovered that coal of fine quality underlay the outlying farms near Ormskirk, in the farther part of the county, and negotiations were even then in progress to lease the mineral wealth of the soil to a company on advantageous terms. Mr. Merivale had already written to the company to stay the execution of the lease until the real owner’s pleasure was known, and he ended his narrative by congratulating Wilfred on the prospect of his becoming a very rich man, and by proposing to write a cheque for any sum which, under his altered circumstances, he might require for present and future use.