Fernand

“ Fernand's mind was made up; he would shoot Dantes, and then kill himself. But Fernand was mistaken; a man of his disposition never kills himself, for he constantly hopes.
During this time the empire made its last conscription, and every man in France capable of bearing arms rushed to obey the summons of the emperor. Fernand departed with the rest, bearing with him the terrible thought that while he was away, his rival would perhaps return and marry Mercedes. Had Fernand really meant to kill himself, he would have done so when he parted from Mercedes. ”

“ It seems to me, too, that I should be paying the greatest possible tribute of affection and respect to my poor Fernand's memory by doing for Frederick precisely what I had hoped to do for my own brother, and that this would not only be a wholesome distraction, but the only possible consolation in my grief. ”

“ Fernande strained her ears to listen, and soon she heard a stealthy, furtive movement in the undergrowth close by, and she was conscious of that curious, unerring sense which in the midst of Nature's silence proclaims the presence of a hidden human being. ”

“ She was fond of the solitude, the quietude of those avenues of limes, wherein the call of mating birds alone disturbed the silence that reigned around. Fernande was very young still—little more than a child, scarce out of the school-room, wherein the only lesson of life which she had learned was that of loyalty to a degenerate cause, of sacrifice to ideals and political aims which she really was far too inexperienced thoroughly to understand. ”

“ It was close upon midnight when Fernande made her way to Madame la Marquise's boudoir. She found her there, on her knees still, her hands folded and stretched out over the window-sill, her head buried in her arms.
The rain was coming down in torrents. Fernande herself, on her way home, had been drenched to the skin. But this was not the time to think of wet and cold, of health or of prudence. She had thrown down her cloak in the hall and at once went up to her aunt's room. ”

“ No one is sorry to find himself tutoyé by a lovely girl, and a naturally shy and timid man, like the count, was not likely to be the exception.
Fernanda at once tried to enlist him as an admirer, or at least to make him appear as such in the eyes of the public, who looked upon it as a proper state of things. There was no other husband for Fernanda, and no other wife for the count in the province. ”

“ Madame la Marquise, on the other hand, encouraged Fernande with all her might. She was one of those fanatics in the Royalist cause who would stick at nothing in order to gain influence, men, money that would help toward ultimate success. In fact, she dreaded that Fernande was really only playing with de Maurel's love, and that she really meant to throw him over. In her heart she was hoping that the child could be persuaded to accept his attentions. As the wife of Ronnay de Maurel, the master of the foundries of La Frontenay, she could render incalculable services to the King. ”

“ This was to be her reward, you know. The others went to Italy, Fernande to a place she had in Brittany, where she put herself on a strict régime of penitence, attending matins regularly, and doing as much good in her neighborhood as Lady Bountiful, or—my mother. In about a twelvemonth the letter came; Maurice was devoted to his wife, and great on the point of domestic felicity. Then Fernande went into her oratory and prayed. What do you think was the substance of her prayer?"
"That she might go mad or die," was the quick answer: it came from Flora Bellasys. ”

“ It was a king who spoke, and drawing back slightly, he yielded to circumstances, feeling that his puny efforts were in vain, and guarding the door no longer, he thrust his sword back into its scabbard and stood aside.
“Ah!” cried the King, growing mollified upon seeing himself obeyed, and looking admiringly at the lad. “Not bad, Hurst, for a mere boy,” he said. “May I always be as well served by followers of mine. There,” he continued, stepping forward towards the door, and looking back at Denis, “you can follow me, and I will make your peace with your lord, for I am master here.” ”

“ I hear, Comte, that you were attacked by one of my officers and his companions, here, close to my palace gates. Is it true?”
Francis shrugged his shoulders nearly to his ears with a half contemptuous smile upon his lips.
“Oh, a mere nothing,” he said; “a little sword-play.”
“A mere nothing!” cried Henry fiercely. “An insult to one of my guests a mere nothing!”
“Oh, don’t speak of it,” replied Francis, laughing. “I was not surprised.”
“You amaze me, sir!” cried the King.
“Indeed, Sire? Why, we always knew in France that there is nothing an Englishman loves better than to fight. ”

“ Then, slowly rising, he drew himself up in military fashion, and marched slowly across the room and back, with his broad-skirted scarlet and gold uniform coat, white breeches, and high boots, and hand resting upon his sword hilt, and looking the beau ideal of an officer of the King’s Guards.
“There, have I been weak enough, Frank?” he said, stopping in front of his son, and laying his hands affectionately upon his shoulders. “All show, my boy. When you’ve worn it as long as I have, you will think as little of it; but it is quite natural for it to attract a boy like you. ”

“ No one can hear us,” continued the lad eagerly. “Do give me a fencing lesson, Master Leoni. I remember how Saint Simon once said that you were the finest swordsman about the Court.”
“Did he say that?” said the doctor quietly.
“To be sure he did,” cried the lad, drawing his sword and putting himself on guard.—“Come on.”
“Better not now,” said the doctor. “We may awaken the King.” ”

“ Then he stooped, kissed Fenella's burning brow, and went forth to seek his son—the little, innocent boy, with the curly head and clear eyes, the very thought of whom made his heart grow big.
There are seasons in the lives of all of us when the best of which we are capable rises to the surface—when the resolutions which we make for the future are not based on an insecure and worthless foundation, but on a fixed and permanent one. Such a time had come to Lord Francis. He left Guernsey a chastened, but a better man, determined henceforth to lead a new and purer life. ”

“ Why not look at the conductor's checks that are sticking out of their hatbands?" queried Fernald with a smile.
"Solid ivory," said Garry disgustedly, as he rapped his forehead sharply with his knuckles.
"Nothing to be ashamed of at all, old fellow," said Fernald easily. "It isn't to be expected that you should know all the tricks of the trade that you have known about not much more than a day. ”

“ Denis, my brave lad, how is it with you?”
“You took too much care of me, my lord. I am only hot.”
“Well done!” cried the King. “And you, Saint Simon?”
“A bit battered with blows, sir,” replied the young man; “and I expect when the day dawns I can show some rags.”
“No wounds?” cried the King.
“Not a scratch, sir.”
“But what of you, sir?” cried Denis eagerly, “I am afraid you must have suffered badly.”
“I have,” said the King shortly. “I feel as if my beauty is spoiled by a blow one ruffian struck at my face. But he was the one who suffered,” he added, with a low hiss suggestive of satisfaction. ”

“ I want you to grow into a man, fit for a soldier to fight for his king.”
“And that’s what I want to do, father,” said the lad proudly.
“Of course you do; and so you will. You are altering wonderfully, boy. Why, hallo! I say,” cried the captain, with mock seriousness, as he held his son sidewise and gazed at his profile against the light.
“What’s the matter, father?” cried Frank, startled.
“Keep your head still, sir; I want to look. Yes, it’s a fact—very young and tender, but there it is; it’s coming up fast. Why, Frank boy, you’ll soon have to shave.” ”

“ And while he wrote poems, tragedies, histories, epigrams and court entertainments, his hard shrewd head was busily and most successfully employed in making his fortune.
He speculated in the funds, traded with America, and for years was a victualling contractor for armies. At Ferney, “l’auberge de l’Europe,” as he was pleased to call it, he received men and women of every sort of celebrity; he corresponded with kings, queens, princes, philosophers, with the Empress Catherine of Russia, and the Pope Benedict. An active life, truly, and one strangely occupied and organised. ”

“ Do you hear, Leoni? That’s the idea: I’ll go in disguise.”
“Sire! It is impossible!” cried the doctor.
“Quite,” said the King, laughing; “but I like doing impossible things. Let me see, what’s the proper way to go to work? I have it! As a learned doctor like you. H’m, no. They’d want me to cure somebody, and I should be killing him perhaps. Here, Saint Simon, how should I disguise myself?”
“Well, Sire, if I were going to undertake the task I should dress myself like a—like a—like a—”
“Minstrel, Sire,” cried Denis excitedly, “like the English King Alfred.” ”

“ But as you are a mere thoughtless boy, ready to act on the impulse of the moment, and as, for your mother’s sake, the Princess has interceded for you, I am disposed to look over it.”
“Thank your Royal Highness,” cried Frank, drawing a long, deep breath, full of relief.
“Now you may go back to your duties, and remember this: you are very young, and have good prospects before you. You are my servant now you are a boy; I hope you will be my servant still when you grow up to be a man. I shall want men whom I can trust—men to whom I can say ‘Protect me,’ and who will do it.” ”

“ High up on the lonely Ferner, near her stony father, once more sits the outcast, solitary child of man--spell-bound, as it were, like a part of the dizzy heights from which she looks down on the little world below, in which no space could be found for the large and alien heart that had matured in the wilderness among the glacier-storms. Men have hunted and driven her forth, and that has been fulfilled that her dream foretold, the mountain has adopted her as its child. ”

“ I have seen but one woman as I thought I’d like to splice.”
“And that was Mrs Hallam’s old maid?”
“Yes, Sir Gordon.”
“Why? She isn’t handsome.”
“Not outside, Sir Gordon; and I don’t rightly know why I took to her, unless it was that she seemed so right down like—such a stick-to-you-through-fair-weather-and-foul sort of woman. But it’s all over now, Sir Gordon. Things won’t turn out as one likes, and it’s of no use to try.”
“You’re right, Tom Porter; you’re a better philosopher than your master. ”

“ And thus it was when Lord Francis exclaimed, "Too late! O Heaven! to think my own eyes should be witness of my own eternal shame, and—hers," the hand of Fate was stretched out against the intriguing and vicious Count de Mürger. For as Lord Francis staggered back to his room, dazed, stunned, the cold tears welling up into his eyes, his head on his arms, his whole form limp with shattered nerves, a new and terrible power was created within him. He fell into a chair, entirely overcome, and for a little while appeared to sleep. ”

“ Frank turned to him warmly.
“Yes, I know you do,” he said, with a wild and wistful look in his eyes; and his lips parted as if he were eager to say something particular to his companion.
“There, don’t take on about it. Things seem all out of joint with us all; but they’ll come right some day. And don’t you take any notice of me. I feel sometimes as if I’d turned sour, and as if everything was wrong, and I was curdled. I can’t help it. Perhaps the doctor’s right. You do as he said, and ask the King boldly. For some things I should like to see Sir Robert back.” ”

“ There, shake hands, Frank. Don’t you mind all this. He believes this now; but he’ll soon see that he is wrong, and come back and shake hands. Your father knew how to choose his friends when he chose Captain Murray. He’s angry, and, more than that, he’s hurt, because he thinks you have deceived him; but you have not, my lad. Doctors can see much farther into a fellow than a soldier can, and both of your windows are as wide-open and clear as crystal. ”

“ Sir Robert spoke almost sternly, and the son shrank from gazing in the fine, bold, questioning eyes.
“I knew it,” said Sir Robert. “What is it, boy? Speak out.”
It was the firm officer talking now, and Frank felt his breath come shorter as his heart increased the speed of its pulsations.
“Well, sir, I am waiting. Why don’t you answer?”
“I can’t, father.”
“Can’t? I thought my boy always trusted his father, as he trusts his son. There, out with it, Frank. The old saying, my lad. The truth may be blamed, but can never be shamed. What is it—some scrape? There, let’s have it, and get it over. ”

“ She is as handsome and high-spirited as ever! Young Ferny of Fernwoodlee, dangles pretty closely about her now, and village gossips say they may make a good match, as his lands march with the haughs of Ardgour. If they do, I am sure you won't care much about it now, for active service rubs all soft nonsense out of a young fellow's head, just as his waistbelt rubs his coat bare. (How little the worthy quartermaster, as he blundered on, conceived that he was now sticking pins and needles into poor Quentin by this incidental communication about the young fox-hunting laird of Fernwoodlee!) ”

“ I can breathe freely now. I must tell my brother Henry that the road to his Court is a disgrace, and travellers’ lives not safe. Now, in my kingdom of beautiful France every road to the capital from the seaports is— Why are you looking at me like that, Saint Simon?”
“Well, sir,” said the young man bluntly, “I was thinking about two or three cases where people have been waylaid and plundered and—”
“Yes, yes, yes,” said the King impatiently; “I think that there was a case or two, but surely we are better than this. Well, Denis, boy; how’s the bad arm?” ”

“ But you are of those who ever breed in others speculation, wilding fancies.... When a man doth all things too well, what is there left for God to do but to break and crumble and remould? If I do you wrong, blame, if you will, my love, which is jealous for you--friend whom I value, soldier and knight whom I have ever thought the fair ensample of our time!"
"I hold many men, known and unknown, within myself," said Ferne, slowly. ”