Morny

“ Young Morny—let’s see, he’s Viscount Morny—”
“Viscount grandmother!” snapped out the doctor. “Anybody can be a viscount in France if he’s got an income of a few hundred francs—francs in France of common silver. They rank with golden guineas in your grand old home.”
“Oh, well, I don’t know, uncle I only know that he’s the nicest fellow I ever met.”
“Gush!” cried the doctor. “I won’t have it, Rodd. I won’t have you making too much of these French people. I don’t like them.”
“But you don’t know them, uncle. Both the Count and his son are the most gentlemanly men I ever met.” ”

“ Just then one of her many admirers came down the corridor. He was a smooth-haired, self-satisfied looking fellow, who played the Second Player.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said. “We shall have to go on in a minute.”
Eliphalet moved away and left them together.
“You are a rotter, Morny, to talk to that old blighter and leave me in the lurch.”
“He’s a duck,” said Mornice, “and I love him.”
“I think you love everyone except me.”
“Darling,” she exclaimed with outstretched arms, “I love you to distraction. Without you the world would be a desert track, or tract, whichever it is.” ”

“ After a brilliant school and college career he received a commission in the army, and next year entered the staff college and became lieutenant. The comte de Morny, as he was called by a polite fiction, served in Algeria in 1834–35 as aide-de-camp to General Camille Alphonse Trezel, whose life he saved under the walls of Constantine. When he returned to Paris in 1838 he secured a solid position in the business world by the establishment of a great beetroot-sugar industry at Clermont in Auvergne, and by writing a pamphlet Sur la question des sucres in 1838. ”

“ Thanks to these scoundrels, many honest and pitiful people were involved in the suspicion which wanderers often arouse. Fortunately our people in Morny are trustful enough, and they did their best to assist the helpless and relieve the hungry. Even in the poorest houses the peasants deemed it a point of honour to share their food and lodging with the wanderers. ”

“ Wherever Peggy went, de Morny was sure to follow, much to Dick’s silent fury.
Their mutual friends had not been slow to grasp the situation, and many were the conjectures as to which man would win the little flirt, and, incidentally, the Macallister millions. The money consideration did not enter altogether into de Morny’s calculations, for contrary to the usual order of things, he was wealthy. Belonging to the old nobility of France, he was a most desirable parti, and had [Pg 84] often been relentlessly pursued by mothers with marriageable daughters on their hands. ”

“ It was gayest when the Duke de Morny flourished as King of the Bourse. He was reputed the Emperor’s natural half-brother. The breakdown of the Mexican adventure, which was mostly his, contributed not a little to the final Napoleonic fall. He died of dissipation and disappointment, and under the pseudonym of the Duke de Morra, Daudet celebrated him in “The Nabob.”
De Morny did not live to see the tumble of the house of cards he had built. Next after I saw Paris it was a pitiful wreck indeed; the Hotel de Ville and the Tuileries in flames ”

“ He now resumed his financial speculations, and when in 1854 he became president of the Corps Législatif, a position which he filled with consummate dignity and tact for the rest of his life, he used his official rank to assist his schemes.
Politics and high finance with Morny went hand in hand. In 1856 he was sent as special envoy to the Coronation of Alexander II. of Russia; he executed his mission with prodigal splendour, and brought home a wife, Princess Sophie Troubetzkoi, who by her Connexions greatly strengthened his social position. ”

“ Collect wood, my lads, to make a fire. Boys, take your guns and go up-stream a little higher where we have never been before, and shoot what birds you can. Two or three of you men do what you can from the shore with the fishing-lines. To-morrow morning we will start calmly and trustingly to the river once again. Be of good heart, Morny, my lad, for the end of our awful struggle must be coming near, and every one of us must do all he can to help his brother for the one great end.”
A cheer rose at the doctor’s words, and the change in the whole party was wonderful. ”

“ The Duc de Morny always awed me a little. He was gentle and kind, but he was a great quiz. I knew, too, that he occupied a high place at court, and that my family considered his friendship a great honour.
“Because I told her that after luncheon there was to be a family council on her behalf,” said my mother, speaking slowly. “At times it seems to me that she is quite idiotic. She quite disheartens me.”
“Come, come,” exclaimed my godfather, and Aunt Rosine said something in English to the Duc de Morny which made him smile shrewdly under his thin moustache. Mlle. ”

“ These institutions, which civilised people cannot do without, are scarcely to be met in Morny. Therefore, and despite the uncertain times we lived in, we rarely let a fortnight pass without organising an expedition to our county town. Two or three of us went off, accompanied by the anxiety and good wishes of the family, and returned home in triumph, bringing back good news, balls of thread and worsted for our needles, and on lucky days a few pounds of provisions.
Thus it was that Yvonne and I went once to Laon on foot—the only method of travelling at our disposal—with our neighbour Mme. ”

“ INDECISION Mornay waited while the Englishman smothered his rage. Then, with a sudden motion, he brushed his kerchief across his temples, as though to wipe the clouds from his forehead.
“If madame will but bear with my brutality a little longer”—he smiled—“a little longer—then she will have done with me forever.” The gesture and the air of contrition were rather racial than personal characteristics. But, as one sometimes will in times of great stress, Mistress Barbara could not but compare Mornay’s ease and sang-froid with the heavy and somewhat brutal bearing of Captain Ferrers. ”

“ Cornbury paused. Mornay had arisen to his feet and stumbled to the dormer-window, where he fell rather than leaned against the sill. The Irishman could see nothing but the upheave of the shoulders and the twitching of the hands as the man straggled for his self-control. Cornbury was devoured with curiosity, but with due respect for the Frenchman’s silence sat smoking vigorously until Mornay chose to speak. As the Frenchman looked out at the quiet stars across the roof-tops of London he became calmer, and at last turned around towards the flickering candles. ”

“ MONSIEUR MORNAY BECOMES UNPOPULAR The footsteps of Mistress Barbara and Captain Ferrers vanished into the night. Sir Henry Heywood moved a step nearer Mornay, and the Frenchman turned. His face shone with an unwonted pallor, and an air of distraction had settled in the repose of his features which the dim light of the swinging lanterns could not conceal. His eyes, dark and lustrous, looked at Sir Henry from under half-closed lids, a little ennuyé, but with a perfect composure and studied politeness.
“It is unfortunate that we cannot seem to meet,” said Sir Henry, struggling to control himself. ”

“ Mornay looked at him in surprise. “Why, Cornbury, you have but a faint heart!”
“It is this news from France—ye have no backing—”
“Come! have done!” cried Mornay. “You sap my will. If you cannot look the situation gallantly in the face, why, then—” He stopped and lowered his voice, casting a glance at the Irishman. “Mon ami, I expect too much. More than I can claim.” Mornay walked towards the door and took Cornbury’s cloak and hat. “Allons! You shall leave me at once. Your only danger is in my society. Go at once upon the street, and they can prove nothing ”

“ Mornay paused a moment, looking at his old shipmate, then burst into a loud laugh.
“Bah, Jacquard! sail with you I will, whether or no. I am at odds with the world. From to-night, I, too, am a flibustier. If I cannot go in the cabin, aft, I will go in the forecastle; if not as master, as man. Pardieu, as the very lowest and blackest devil of you all—”
“You, monsieur—you!”
“Yes, I. I have squeezed life dry, Jacquard. I have given my best in the service of honor and pride. They have given me rank and empty honors, and all the while have kept me from my dearest desire. ”

“ Mornay looked at it curiously, with pursed lips and loose fingers, and then rather a bitter smile came over his features. “’Twas too strong a test of his fellowship,” he muttered; “too strong for his friendship even.”
He shoved the document among his laces and moved to the gallery, where the gentlemen were choosing their partners for the coranto. He sought the Duke at once. His grace was standing near Mistress Barbara’s chair, watching with amusement a discussion of the rival claims of the Earl of St. Albans and Captain Ferrers upon her clemency for the dance. ”

“ The Frenchman looked towards the ceiling with hands upraised. “The unfortunate politesse of Monsieur Mornay! The English I cannot understand.”
“Ferrers swears it was a plot hatched in the Fleece Tavern, and that I was a party to it.”
Mornay arose and grasped the Irishman’s shoulder.
“You! My poor friend, YOU!” he exclaimed; “and I disarmed him twice. It is too much—let us go at once and face them.”
Cornbury pushed him down. “Ye’ll do no such thing. ’Twould be arrant suicide. The streets are full of men looking for you by this—and me, too.” ”

“ Mornay did not even hear him.
“I yield at last. From the time I came into the world I have been the very creature of fate. I have struck my colors, Cornbury. I have hauled down my gay pennons. I have left my ship.” He leaned for a moment brokenly upon the bulkhead. But before Cornbury could speak he started up. “No, no. Vice shall command here if she will. She will be but a poor mistress can she not serve me better than Ambition and Honor. Come, Cornbury. Come to the Spanish Main. There’ll be the crash of fight once more and a dip into the wild life that brings forgetfulness. ”

“ She says ’tis an old man and ill fit to die upon the scaffold.”
“Pardieu!” said Mornay, casting a swift glance at her train of followers. “She’s more cruel to her lovers than to her poor.”
Cornbury laughed. “I’ faith, so far as she’s concerned, they’re one and the same, I’m thinking. A stroke of janius, Mornay! Have yourself but thrown into prison, and you may win her, after all.”
He moved away. Mornay looked around him for this scornful mistress, but she had gone into the garden with Captain Ferrers. ”

“ But, unabashed, when the dance was done he lost no time in letting the Duke of Dorset know that he wished to be presented, in such a manner that recognition would be unavoidable.
“With all the good-will in the world,” said his grace. “Another moth to the flame,” he laughed. “Another star to the constellation. Be careful, Sir Frenchman. ’Tis not a lady pleased with frivolity.”
“Monsieur, behold,” said Mornay, piously, “I am as solemn as a judge—as virtuous as—ma foi! as virtuous as the she-dragon duenna of the Queen.” ”

“ Mornay dusted a speck from his sleeve and smiled gayly. “It is not every day, my good Cornbury, that a man may become possessed of a family, a fortune, and, ma foi, such a beautiful, scornful she-cousin—”
“Zoons, man! How can ye prove it without the papers? The mere word ‘D’Añasco’ will not open their ears or their hearts. I believe it, but who else would?”
“I can prove that I am the boy Ruiz, I tell you.”
[50]
“And ye’re fleeing for your life?”
Mornay’s face grew stern. “Yes, I am fleeing for my life,” he cried, “but they have not caught me yet. ”

“ Mornay arose and put his hands frankly upon the other’s shoulders.
“I’ll go with you, my good friend, where you please—after to-night.”
“Ay, and to-night—ye may go to the devil—”
“’Tis so. I have an appointment with Captain Ferrers at the Fleece for eleven.”
Cornbury’s face fell.
“Egad, man, ye’re incorrigible! And d’ye think he’ll meet ye?”
“I don’t know. He may not, alone. But I think that he will, in company. If he does, I’ll not fail him.”
“Don’t ye go. It will be a trap. The man will not fight, I tell you, while the law of England can do his vengeance for him. ”

“ Her cheeks glowed with a color which put to shame the rouge-pot in her toilet-closet. She was more like some tall Norse goddess, with the breath of the sea and [14] the pines in her nostrils, than a figure in a world of luxury and pampered ease. Her eyes, clear and full, were strangers to qualms and apprehensions, and the thought of a possible scene with this impertinent Frenchman gave them a sparkle which added to their shadowed luster. In the thinking, she did Monsieur Mornay the honor to add just one more patch to her chin. ”

“ The vessel and all she owns is yours, man—yours!”
“Parbleu!” said Mornay, when the edge of his wonderment was dulled. “I believe you. A rare investment, indeed, for the millions of the Bresacs.”
“A thousand per centum at the very least, with a modicum for the King. Ye cannot wonder how Charles bewailed the man’s demise. Ye touched his purse, René. And friendship has little to expect from the conscience of an empty pocket.”
“By my life, it is so!” said the wide-eyed Mornay. “Jacquard shall know. Listen, my friend.” ”

“ He’s too sure to take any risks. Besides, if ye’d kill him the papers would be lost forever. No, he’ll not fight. He owes ye money, and while the constables can cancel the debt ye may be sure that he will not.”
Mornay passed his hand over his brow. “’Tis true. But I must see them together. That is the only chance. I will go to-day.”
“But how, Mornay?” asked Cornbury, dryly. “In a coach and four?”
Mornay sprang to his feet in delight. “C’est ça!” he cried, joyfully. “Oh, monsieur, but you have the Irish wit. Vigot shall bring me a coach. I shall ride in state.” ”