Mr. Egremont

“ Egremont is going on in this way! He's going to spend enormous sums of money in establishing a library in Lambeth. It's very good of him, of course, but we are all so sure it's a mistake. Shall I tell you my own view? Mr. Egremont is an idealist, and idealists are not the people to do serious work of this kind. The real social reformers are the hard-headed, practical men, who at heart care only for their own advancement. If you think, I'm sure you'll find this is true. You see that I am beginning to occupy myself with serious questions. It will be necessary in the wife of an active politician. ”

“ So are some of the other Egremonts here. Mr. Egremont [83] of Sandhills and his sons are, I understand, no better than common touts and gamesters.”
“Madam,” replied Roger, with great respect, “I did not come here to have my name abused. I sometimes take that liberty myself, but I can by no means allow it to any one else. So, if you wish me to stay, say not one word against the very worst of my family.”
“I like your spirit, young man,” replied Madame de Beaumanoir, “and, God knows, few young men have any spirit now. They are not as they were in the time of King Charles of blessed memory. ”

“ Egremont has married this girl?'
'Well, I don't know that we'll discuss that point,' Dalmaine replied, twiddling his thumbs. 'There's no information to hand.'
'I don't believe it! I tell you I don't believe it! Mr. Egremont is engaged to my cousin Annabel; and besides, he couldn't do such a thing. He isn't a man of that kind.'
'Your experience of men is not great, my dear Paula.'
'I don't care! I know Mr. Egremont. Even if you said he'd married her, it isn't true. You mustn't judge every man by—'
'You were going to say?'
She rose and swept her train over a few yards of floor. ”

“ Germains, could not get the thought of the bold Englishman, Mr. Egremont, out of her mind. Of course, she soon found out all about him,—trust a [151] woman for that,—and by scarcely asking a question. He seemed to her cavalier and martyr in one. Three years in Newgate! A gentleman, a man of education,—how sad a fate! Michelle heard much of Roger’s acquirements and naturally supposed him to have been a learned young man when he slapped the plate of beans into Dutch William’s face. ”

“ A wan smile came over James Stuart’s wrinkled face. A poor broken king loves loyalty.
[487] “Truly, Mr. Egremont, you speak as becomes a man. But know you, the greatest favor you can do me is to go over to England and maintain your estate and dignity. There is no more to be done for me. To that have I been forced to agree. But when the time comes that a blow must be struck for my son, every gentleman of condition who is on the spot to help him, is worth ten men elsewhere. So shall I give you a writing, saying you go to England at my command. Nobody will ever take you for a Whig.” ”

“ Egremont was silent, but looked inquiringly. "Yes," resumed the younger stranger after a moment's interval, "two nations; between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts and feelings as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets; who are formed by a different breeding, and fed by a different food, are ordered by different manners, and are not governed by the same laws." ”

“ Annabel, who had been sunk in thought, looked up with a smile. She was about to say something, but her cousin replied rapidly:
'Oh, Mr. Egremont is in London—at least, he was a month ago.'
'Not much of a guarantee that he is there now,' Mr. Newthorpe rejoined.
'I'll drop him a line and see,' said Paula. 'I meant to do so yesterday, but forgot. I'll write and tell him to send me a full account of himself. Isn't it too bad that people don't write to me? Everybody forgets you when you're out of town in the season. ”

“ For, look you, like yourself, I believe the vulgar have souls.”
[188] It was eight o’clock at night before they parted at a turning in the forest, Michelle going with François to the château, and Roger to the castle.
“Good-bye, Mr. Egremont,” she said, catching his hand in her little one, and holding it fast, “I shall not forget this ride.”
“Nor shall I, as long as I live,” replied Roger, in a tone that spoke all he felt, and François coming up then, they cried out, “Adieu,” gayly, and Merrylegs’s hoofs were soon clattering over the stony streets of St. Germains. ”

“ Madame de Beaumanoir looked at Bess, as she deliberately uttered this.
“I know a good deal about you, Lukens,” she said, condescendingly; “you want some money immediately. You shall have all that I can command at this moment. I scarcely know young Egremont, but I know his cousin, Mr. Roger Egremont, and I knew all that family in days past.”
She motioned to the maid, who brought her a dressing-case; from it she took some gold and notes.
“Here,” she said, “are about twelve hundred livres. Take them and try to save the poor lad. I cannot bear the thought of a good-looking Englishman being hanged. ”

“ The windows of his cottage overlooked the spot.
“Good people,” asked Bess, in a voice so weary that she scarcely knew it for her own, and looking about among the assembled villagers, “can you tell me if one Hodge, a shoemaker, lives nigh?”
[453] “Here I be, mistress,” answered Hodge; “and yonder is my house, and my dame is within.”
“Then have I found the man I want. In this box is the body of Mr. Richard Egremont, executed in London last Thursday.”
A shudder and a murmur ran through the crowd. All of them had known Dicky as a bright-eyed, fair-haired lad, roaming about Egremont ”

“ But this unfortunate admission on the part of this untrained woman of the people was matched instantly with one made by a princess bred in [468] courts,—such damage will women do themselves when playing with the edged tools of the emotions. Michelle said, in a voice which showed the deepest agitation,—
“Mr. Roger Egremont told me that you had been kind to him when he was in prison in England, but he did not tell me that you were the niece of his gaoler. You saw him, then, every day?”
“Every day for more than three years, madam,” replied Bess. ”

“ Lord Egremont came up from Petworth, where, he tells me, not a loaf for three days and a half, and a mutiny among the volunteers.
29th.—Dined yesterday at Lord Winchilsea’s. There were the Duke of Bedford, Lord Egremont, Lord Romney, Lord Somerville, Mr. Calhoun, Mr. Northey, Mr. Conyers, and myself: much farming. Lord Romney gave Lord Egremont a guinea, to receive fifty when he produced a tench that weighed seven pounds.
Yesterday the Committee voted 50l. to my son for his labour in arranging &c., during thirteen weeks, the Reports from inclosed parishes to the House of Commons. ”

“ And he also bought himself a brace of horse-pistols, and a furred body-coat and mantle of black cloth, and a little worn volume of Ronsard’s verses, hiding the book in his breast and saying nothing of it.
In the afternoon he was to go to see Bess Lukens, and at five o’clock he was to meet Berwick at the Porte St. Martin. He wished it were already five o’clock, as he made his way on Merrylegs through the dark and narrow streets toward Papa Mazet’s house. Roger Egremont was a bold man, full of daring; but some of your greatest poltroons where women are concerned are made of these swashbucklers. ”

“ In the spring of 1694, more fighting; in the summer, more fighting still,—in Flanders, in Italy, on the Rhine, on the coasts of France,—everywhere arms resounded. In the winter all was peace, and the gallants fled to Paris. This year of 1694, Roger Egremont, conscious that he was growing to be a mere campaigner, that books and women, to whom every gentleman should be devoted, had lost their charm for him, determined to go to St. Germains for a while. He longed to see Dicky. ”

“ He went for his walk, but the sun did not shine so bright, and he thought the birds clamorous, and he met many beggars, to none of whom he gave anything. He realized that he was not so good a man away from the woman he loved as with her,—however hopeless that love might be.
At nine o’clock they set forth, and travelled half the distance to Épernay, a short day’s travel. Mademoiselle d’Orantia still rode her horse, but she did not ride alone with Roger Egremont any that day. Either Berwick was on one side of her, or François. ”

“ And sweet moments like these must be many before they reached Orlamunde; and after that—well, a campaign was coming; a soldier with his sword could cut his way through a forest of obstacles. So thought Roger.
They were roused from their dream in Paradise by Madame de Beaumanoir’s voice in the distance, cutting the air like a knife. They ran back, like a couple of school children caught playing truant,—the bold Roger Egremont as meek and apologetic as François Delaunay could have been. ”

“ To do nothing and get something, formed a boy’s ideal of a manly career. There was nothing in the lot, little in the temperament, of Charles Egremont, to make him an exception to the multitude. Gaily and securely he floated on the brilliant stream. Popular at school, idolized at home, the present had no cares, and the future secured him a family seat in Parliament the moment he entered life, and the inheritance of a glittering post at court in due time, as its legitimate consequence. ”

“ Alone, Egremont mused much over the daughter of Gerard, but shrinking from the precise and the definite, his dreams were delightful, but vague. All that he asked was, that his present life should go on for ever; he wished for no change, and at length almost persuaded himself that no change could arrive; as men who are basking in a summer sun, surrounded by bright and beautiful objects, cannot comprehend how the seasons can ever alter; that the sparkling foliage should shrivel and fall away, the foaming waters become icebound, and the blue serene, a dark and howling space. ”

“ I hear the Egremonts sometimes play the very shirts off their backs, and it makes me ashamed of the Egremont gentlemen. All of the others are not so, however. Cousin Hilary is grown very sober, and is in the corps of gentlemen-at-arms of the K. He and his family have nothing, poor souls, their estates being sequestered, as you know. For myself, I have found friends, and they give me my education. All I can complain of is that they do not give me all the time I want to play the fiddle. ’Tis but an idle amusement, but I love it. Dear Roger, I long to see you. ”

“ He would spare the woman he loved. He had loved her with a true and honorable love, and true and honorable should his love remain. He adored God and thanked Him for His mercy in bringing His unworthy servant to a knowledge of sin. For the first time since his boyhood he wept, wept tears of penitence and of thankfulness, and those burning drops washed his soul and made it clean again. The bell continued its sweet chiming; it sounded to Roger Egremont like the pæans of angels rejoicing over one sinner doing penance. ”

“ She is very dissatisfied with you. I bade adieu to the Princess. By the high heavens, that girl should be a soldier! What a spirit she has! And I gave that scoundrel of a prince to understand that to mistreat a daughter of France was to bring destruction on himself. The fellow grinned horribly at my hint. And now let us take horse.”
Roger Egremont felt almost happy when he again found his legs across the back of Merrylegs. That faithful beast had profited by his rest, and was as eager to leave Orlamunde as his master. Even Berwick’s valet shook the dust of Orlamunde from his feet with joy. ”

“ Toward four o’clock in the morning he had reached the limit of pain. A man can only suffer so much, then relief must come. The ghastly moon, that had seemed to follow him all night, was going down in the west. In the east there was a faint glory that heralded the dawn. Amid the awakening of the birds, and all the sights and sounds that mark the miracle of a new day, Roger Egremont was overcome by that wretched sleep which eludes the night, and comes only at daybreak. With his cloak wrapped about him, he lay down under a low-branched cedar tree, and fell into a heavy sleep. ”

“ At this, Michelle would smile,—a lovely smile that began in her eyes and ended on her lips, showing a faint, elusive dimple in her creamy cheek, not like the dimples in Bess Lukens’s rosy face. Roger’s conversation about grass for man and beast was certainly unlike that of most gentlemen who live at court. Yet was he so far from a rustic that he knew more of books than any man at St. Germains. Michelle was wise enough to see that nothing escaped Roger Egremont’s watchful eye,—neither the growth of the grass in the meadow nor the politics of Europe. ”

“ The face of nature was newly washed, the trees were putting on their new green liveries for the festal time of spring. The sun shone out with a generous and penetrating ardor that warmed the whole earth and all the people on it. The gray old castle basked in the noonday light. Roger Egremont wandered over it and, standing on the ancient parapet under the deep blue sky, saw all the beauty around him—and could enjoy none of it, because Michelle was not there. ”

“ The mention of Hugo Stein and the sharp remembrance of Roger could not put Dicky entirely out of Michelle’s mind. She resumed her chair, and after sitting thoughtfully for a time, Bess meanwhile watching her, she said,—
“After all, I know not why we should pity Father Egremont. He died in his white-souled youth, and very gloriously. Of all deaths one should wish to die for one’s duty, for one’s country, one’s king, and one’s religion.” ”