CHAPTER X. MORE RUNS OF LUCK
I am not going to entertain my readers with an account of myprofessional career as a gamester, any more than I did with anecdotes ofmy life as a military man. I might fill volumes with tales of this kindwere I so minded; but at this rate, my recital would not be brought toa conclusion for years, and who knows how soon I may be called upon tostop? I have gout, rheumatism, gravel, and a disordered liver. I havetwo or three wounds in my body, which break out every now and then, andgive me intolerable pain, and a hundred more signs of breaking up.Such are the effects of time, illness, and free-living, upon one ofthe strongest constitutions and finest forms the world ever saw. Ah! Isuffered from none of these ills in the year '66, when there was noman in Europe more gay in spirits, more splendid in personalaccomplishments, than young Redmond Barry.
Before the treachery of the scoundrel Pippi, I had visited many ofthe best Courts of Europe; especially the smaller ones, where play waspatronised, and the professors of that science always welcome. Amongthe ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine we were particularly wellreceived. I never knew finer or gayer Courts than those of the Electorsof Treves and Cologne, where there was more splendour and gaiety than atVienna; far more than in the wretched barrack-court of Berlin. The Courtof the Archduchess-Governess of the Netherlands was, likewise, a royalplace for us knights of the dice-box and gallant votaries of fortune;whereas in the stingy Dutch or the beggarly Swiss republics, it wasimpossible for a gentleman to gain a livelihood unmolested.
After our mishap at Mannheim, my uncle and I made for the Duchy of X---.The reader may find out the place easily enough; but I do not choose toprint at full the names of some illustrious persons in whose society Ithen fell, and among whom I was made the sharer in a very strange andtragical adventure.
There was no Court in Europe at which strangers were more welcome thanat that of the noble Duke of X---; none where pleasure was more eagerlysought after, and more splendidly enjoyed. The Prince did not inhabithis capital of S---, but, imitating in every respect the ceremonial ofthe Court of Versailles, built himself a magnificent palace at afew leagues from his chief city, and round about his palace a superbaristocratic town, inhabited entirely by his nobles, and the officers ofhis sumptuous Court. The people were rather hardly pressed, to be sure,in order to keep up this splendour; for his Highness's dominions weresmall, and so he wisely lived in a sort of awful retirement from them,seldom showing his face in his capital, or seeing any countenances butthose of his faithful domestics and officers. His palace and gardens ofLudwigslust were exactly on the French model. Twice a week there wereCourt receptions, and grand Court galas twice a month. There was thefinest opera out of France, and a ballet unrivalled in splendour;on which his Highness, a great lover of music and dancing, expendedprodigious sums. It may be because I was then young, but I think I neversaw such an assemblage of brilliant beauty as used to figure there onthe stage of the Court theatre, in the grand mythological ballets whichwere then the mode, and in which you saw Mars in red-heeled pumps anda periwig, and Venus in patches and a hoop. They say the costume wasincorrect, and have changed it since; but for my part, I have neverseen a Venus more lovely than the Coralie, who was the chief dancer, andfound no fault with the attendant nymphs, in their trains, and lappets,and powder. These operas used to take place twice a week, afterwhich some great officer of the Court would have his evening, and hisbrilliant supper, and the dice-box rattled everywhere, and all the worldplayed. I have seen seventy play-tables set out in the grand galleryof Ludwigslust, besides the faro-bank; where the Duke himself wouldgraciously come and play, and win or lose with a truly royal splendour.
It was hither we came after the Mannheim misfortune. The nobility of theCourt were pleased to say our reputation had preceded us, and the twoIrish gentleman were made welcome. The very first night at Court we lost740 of our 800 louis; the next evening, at the Court Marshal's table, Iwon them back, with 1300 more. You may be sure we allowed no one to knowhow near we were to ruin on the first evening; but, on the contrary,I endeared every one to me by my gay manner of losing, and the FinanceMinister himself cashed a note for 400 ducats, drawn by me upon mysteward of Ballybarry Castle in the kingdom of Ireland; which very noteI won from his Excellency the next day, along with a considerable sum inready cash. In that noble Court everybody was a gambler. You would seethe lacqueys in the ducal ante-rooms at work with their dirty packs ofcards; the coach and chair men playing in the court, while their masterswere punting in the saloons above; the very cook-maids and scullions, Iwas told, had a bank, where one of them, an Italian confectioner, madea handsome fortune: he purchased afterwards a Roman marquisate, andhis son has figured as one of the most fashionable of the illustriousforeigners in London. The poor devils of soldiers played away their paywhen they got it, which was seldom; and I don't believe there was anofficer in any one of the guard regiments but had his cards in hispouch, and no more forgot his dice than his sword-knot. Among suchfellows it was diamond cut diamond. What you call fair play would havebeen a folly. The gentlemen of Ballybarry would have been fools indeedto appear as pigeons in such a hawk's nest. None but men of courage andgenius could live and prosper in a society where every one was bold andclever; and here my uncle and I held our own: ay, and more than our own.
His Highness the Duke was a widower, or rather, since the death of thereigning Duchess, had contracted a morganatic marriage with a ladywhom he had ennobled, and who considered it a compliment (such was themorality of those days) to be called the Northern Dubarry. He had beenmarried very young, and his son, the Hereditary Prince, may be said tohave been the political sovereign of the State: for the reigning Dukewas fonder of pleasure than of politics, and loved to talk a great dealmore with his grand huntsman, or the director of his opera, than withministers and ambassadors.
The Hereditary Prince, whom I shall call Prince Victor, was of a verydifferent character from his august father. He had made the Wars of theSuccession and Seven Years with great credit in the Empress's service,was of a stern character, seldom appeared at Court, except when ceremonycalled him, but lived almost alone in his wing of the palace, where hedevoted himself to the severest studies, being a great astronomer andchemist. He shared in the rage then common throughout Europe, of huntingfor the philosopher's stone; and my uncle often regretted that he had nosmattering of chemistry, like Balsamo (who called himself Cagliostro),St. Germain, and other individuals, who had obtained very great sumsfrom Duke Victor by aiding him in his search after the great secret. Hisamusements were hunting and reviewing the troops; but for him, and ifhis good-natured father had not had his aid, the army would have beenplaying at cards all day, and so it was well that the prudent prince wasleft to govern.
Duke Victor was fifty years of age, and his princess, the PrincessOlivia, was scarce three-and-twenty. They had been married seven years,and in the first years of their union the Princess had borne him a sonand a daughter. The stern morals and manners, the dark and ungainlyappearance, of the husband, were little likely to please the brilliantand fascinating young woman, who had been educated in the south (shewas connected with the ducal house of S---), who had passed two yearsat Paris under the guardianship of Mesdames the daughters of His MostChristian Majesty, and who was the life and soul of the Court of X---,the gayest of the gay, the idol of her august father-in-law, and,indeed, of the whole Court. She was not beautiful, but charming; notwitty, but charming, too, in her conversation as in her person. She wasextravagant beyond all measure; so false, that you could not trust her;but her very weaknesses were more winning than the virtues of otherwomen, her selfishness more delightful than others' generosity. I neverknew a woman whose faults made her so attractive. She used to ruinpeople, and yet they all loved her. My old uncle has seen her cheatingat ombre, and let her win 400 louis without resisting in the least. Hercaprices with the officers and ladies of her household were ceaseless:but they adored her. She was the only one of the reigning family whomthe people worshipped. She nev
er went abroad but they followed hercarriage with shouts of acclamation: and, to be generous to them, shewould borrow the last penny from one of her poor maids of honour,whom she would never pay. In the early days her husband was as muchfascinated by her as all the rest of the world was; but her caprices hadcaused frightful outbreaks of temper on his part, and an estrangementwhich, though interrupted by almost mad returns of love, was stillgeneral. I speak of her Royal Highness with perfect candour andadmiration, although I might be pardoned for judging her more severely,considering her opinion of myself. She said the elder Monsieur deBalibari was a finished old gentleman, and the younger one had themanners of a courier. The world has given a different opinion, and I canafford to chronicle this almost single sentence against me. Besides, shehad a reason for her dislike to me, which you shall hear.
Five years in the army, long experience of the world, had ere nowdispelled any of those romantic notions regarding love with which Icommenced life; and I had determined, as is proper with gentlemen (itis only your low people who marry for mere affection), to consolidate myfortunes by marriage. In the course of our peregrinations, my uncleand I had made several attempts to carry this object into effect; butnumerous disappointments had occurred which are not worth mentioninghere, and had prevented me hitherto from making such a match as Ithought was worthy of a man of my birth, abilities, and personalappearance. Ladies are not in the habit of running away on theContinent, as is the custom in England (a custom whereby manyhonourable gentlemen of my country have much benefited!); guardians, andceremonies, and difficulties of all kinds intervene; true love is notallowed to have its course, and poor women cannot give away their honesthearts to the gallant fellows who have won them. Now it was settlementsthat were asked for; now it was my pedigree and title-deeds that werenot satisfactory: though I had a plan and rent-roll of the Ballybarryestates, and the genealogy of the family up to King Brian Boru, orBarry, most handsomely designed on paper; now it was a young lady whowas whisked off to a convent just as she was ready to fall into my arms;on another occasion, when a rich widow of the Low Countries was about tomake me lord of a noble estate in Flanders, comes an order of the policewhich drives me out of Brussels at an hour's notice, and consigns mymourner to her chateau. But at X---I had an opportunity of playing agreat game: and had won it too, but for the dreadful catastrophe whichupset my fortune.
In the household of the Hereditary Princess there was a lady nineteenyears of age, and possessor of the greatest fortune in the whole duchy.The Countess Ida, such was her name, was daughter of a late Minister andfavourite of his Highness the Duke of X---and his Duchess, who had doneher the honour to be her sponsors at birth, and who, at the father'sdeath, had taken her under their august guardianship and protection. Atsixteen she was brought from her castle, where, up to that period, shehad been permitted to reside, and had been placed with the PrincessOlivia, as one of her Highness's maids of honour.
The aunt of the Countess Ida, who presided over her house during herminority, had foolishly allowed her to contract an attachment for hercousin-german, a penniless sub-lieutenant in one of the Duke's footregiments, who had flattered himself to be able to carry off this richprize; and if he had not been a blundering silly idiot indeed, with theadvantage of seeing her constantly, of having no rival near him, and theintimacy attendant upon close kinsmanship, might easily, by a privatemarriage, have secured the young Countess and her possessions. Buthe managed matters so foolishly, that he allowed her to leave herretirement, to come to Court for a year, and take her place in thePrincess Olivia's household; and then what does my young gentleman do,but appear at the Duke's levee one day, in his tarnished epaulet andthreadbare coat, and make an application in due form to his Highness,as the young lady's guardian, for the hand of the richest heiress in hisdominions!
The weakness of the good-natured Prince was such that, as the CountessIda herself was quite as eager for the match as her silly cousin,his Highness might have been induced to allow the match, had not thePrincess Olivia been induced to interpose, and to procure from theDuke a peremptory veto to the hopes of the young man. The cause of thisrefusal was as yet unknown; no other suitor for the young lady's handwas mentioned, and the lovers continued to correspond, hoping that timemight effect a change in his Highness's resolutions; when, of a sudden,the lieutenant was drafted into one of the regiments which the Princewas in the habit of selling to the great powers then at war (thismilitary commerce was a principal part of his Highness's and otherprinces' revenues in those days), and their connection was thus abruptlybroken off.
It was strange that the Princess Olivia should have taken this partagainst a young lady who had been her favourite; for, at first, withthose romantic and sentimental notions which almost every woman has, shehad somewhat encouraged the Countess Ida and her penniless lover, butnow suddenly turned against them; and, from loving the Countess, as shepreviously had done, pursued her with every manner of hatred which awoman knows how to inflict: there was no end to the ingenuity of hertortures, the venom of her tongue, the bitterness of her sarcasm andscorn. When I first came to Court at X--, the young fellows there hadnicknamed the young lady the Dumme Grafinn, the stupid Countess. Shewas generally silent, handsome, but pale, stolid-looking, and awkward;taking no interest in the amusements of the place, and appearing in themidst of the feasts as glum as the death's-head which, they say, theRomans used to have at their tables.
It was rumoured that a young gentleman of French extraction, theChevalier de Magny, equerry to the Hereditary Prince, and present atParis when the Princess Olivia was married to him by proxy there, wasthe intended of the rich Countess Ida; but no official declarationof the kind was yet made, and there were whispers of a dark intrigue:which, subsequently, received frightful confirmation.
This Chevalier de Magny was the grandson of an old general officer inthe Duke's service, the Baron de Magny. The Baron's father had quittedFrance at the expulsion of Protestants after the revocation of the edictof Nantes, and taken service in X--, where he died. The son succeededhim, and, quite unlike most French gentlemen of birth whom I have known,was a stern and cold Calvinist, rigid in the performance of his duty,retiring in his manners, mingling little with the Court, and a closefriend and favourite of Duke Victor; whom he resembled in disposition.
The Chevalier his grandson was a true Frenchman; he had been born inFrance, where his father held a diplomatic appointment in the Duke'sservice. He had mingled in the gay society of the most brilliant Courtin the world, and had endless stories to tell us of the pleasures of thepetites maisons, of the secrets of the Parc aux Cerfs, and of the wildgaieties of Richelieu and his companions. He had been almost ruined atplay, as his father had been before him; for, out of the reach of thestern old Baron in Germany, both son and grandson had led the mostreckless of lives. He came back from Paris soon after the embassy whichhad been despatched thither on the occasion of the marriage of thePrincess, was received sternly by his old grandfather; who, however,paid his debts once more, and procured him the post in the Duke'shousehold. The Chevalier de Magny rendered himself a great favouriteof his august master; he brought with him the modes and the gaietiesof Paris; he was the deviser of all the masquerades and balls, therecruiter of the ballet-dancers, and by far the most brilliant andsplendid young gentleman of the Court.
After we had been a few weeks at Ludwigslust, the old Baron de Magnyendeavoured to have us dismissed from the duchy; but his voice was notstrong enough to overcome that of the general public, and the Chevalierde Magny especially stood our friend with his Highness when the questionwas debated before him. The Chevalier's love of play had not desertedhim. He was a regular frequenter of our bank, where he played for sometime with pretty good luck; and where, when he began to lose, he paidwith a regularity surprising to all those who knew the smallness of hismeans, and the splendour of his appearance.
Her Highness the Princess Olivia was also very fond of play. Onhalf-a-dozen occasions when we held a bank at Court, I could see herpassion
for the game. I could see--that is, my cool-headed old unclecould see--much more. There was an intelligence between Monsieur deMagny and this illustrious lady. 'If her Highness be not in love withthe little Frenchman,' my uncle said to me one night after play, 'may Ilose the sight of my last eye!'
'And what then, sir?' said I.
'What then?' said my uncle, looking me hard in the face. 'Are you sogreen as not to know what then? Your fortune is to be made, if youchoose to back it now; and we may have back the Barry estates in twoyears, my boy.'
'How is that?' asked I, still at a loss.
My uncle drily said, 'Get Magny to play; never mind his paying: takehis notes of hand. The more he owes the better; but, above all, make himplay.'
'He can't pay a shilling,' answered I. 'The Jews will not discount hisnotes at cent. per cent.'
'So much the better. You shall see we will make use of them,' answeredthe old gentleman. And I must confess that the plan he laid was agallant, clever, and fair one.
I was to make Magny play; in this there was no great difficulty. We hadan intimacy together, for he was a good sportsman as well as myself, andwe came to have a pretty considerable friendship for one another; if hesaw a dice-box it was impossible to prevent him from handling it; but hetook to it as natural as a child does to sweetmeats.
At first he won of me; then he began to lose; then I played him moneyagainst some jewels that he brought: family trinkets, he said, andindeed of considerable value. He begged me, however, not to dispose ofthem in the duchy, and I gave and kept my word to him to this effect.From jewels he got to playing upon promissory notes; and as they wouldnot allow him to play at the Court tables and in public upon credit, hewas very glad to have an opportunity of indulging his favourite passionin private. I have had him for hours at my pavilion (which I had fittedup in the Eastern manner, very splendid) rattling the dice till itbecame time to go to his service at Court, and we would spend day afterday in this manner. He brought me more jewels,--a pearl necklace,an antique emerald breast ornament, and other trinkets, as a set-offagainst these losses: for I need not say that I should not have playedwith him all this time had he been winning; but, after about a week, theluck set in against him, and he became my debtor in a prodigious sum. Ido not care to mention the extent of it; it was such as I never thoughtthe young man could pay.
Why, then, did I play for it? Why waste days in private play with a merebankrupt, when business seemingly much more profitable was to be doneelsewhere? My reason I boldly confess. I wanted to win from Monsieur deMagny, not his money, but his intended wife, the Countess Ida. Who cansay that I had not a right to use ANY stratagem in this matter of love?Or, why say love? I wanted the wealth of the lady: I loved her quite asmuch as Magny did; I loved her quite as much as yonder blushing virginof seventeen does who marries an old lord of seventy. I followed thepractice of the world in this; having resolved that marriage shouldachieve my fortune.
I used to make Magny, after his losses, give me a friendly letter ofacknowledgment to some such effect as this,--
'MY DEAR MONSIEUR DE BALIBARI,--I acknowledge to have lost to you thisday at lansquenet [or picquet, or hazard, as the case may be: I wasmaster of him at any game that is played] the sum of three hundredducats, and shall hold it as a great kindness on your part if you willallow the debt to stand over until a future day, when you shall receivepayment from your very grateful humble servant.'
With the jewels he brought me I also took the precaution (but this wasmy uncle's idea, and a very good one) to have a sort of invoice, and aletter begging me to receive the trinkets as so much part payment of asum of money he owed me.
When I had put him in such a position as I deemed favourable to myintentions, I spoke to him candidly, and without any reserve, as one manof the world should speak to another. 'I will not, my dear fellow,' saidI, 'pay you so bad a compliment as to suppose that you expect we areto go on playing at this rate much longer, and that there is anysatisfaction to me in possessing more or less sheets of paper bearingyour signature, and a series of notes of hand which I know you nevercan pay. Don't look fierce or angry, for you know Redmond Barry is yourmaster at the sword; besides, I would not be such a fool as to fight aman who owes me so much money; but hear calmly what I have to propose.
'You have been very confidential to me during our intimacy of the lastmonth; and I know all your personal affairs completely. You have givenyour word of honour to your grandfather never to play upon parole, andyou know how you have kept it, and that he will disinherit you if hehears the truth. Nay, suppose he dies to-morrow, his estate is notsufficient to pay the sum in which you are indebted to me; and, were youto yield me up all, you would be a beggar, and a bankrupt too.
'Her Highness the Princess Olivia denies you nothing. I shall not askwhy; but give me leave to say, I was aware of the fact when we began toplay together.'
'Will you be made baron-chamberlain, with the grand cordon of theorder?' gasped the poor fellow. 'The Princess can do anything with theDuke.'
'I shall have no objection,' said I, 'to the yellow riband and the goldkey; though a gentleman of the house of Ballybarry cares little forthe titles of the German nobility. But this is not what I want. My goodChevalier, you have hid no secrets from me. You have told me withwhat difficulty you have induced the Princess Olivia to consent to theproject of your union with the Grafinn Ida, whom you don't love. I knowwhom you love very well.'
'Monsieur de Balibari!' said the discomfited Chevalier; he could get outno more. The truth began to dawn upon him.
'You begin to understand,' continued I. 'Her Highness the Princess' (Isaid this in a sarcastic way) 'will not be very angry, believe me, ifyou break off your connection with the stupid Countess. I am no more anadmirer of that lady than you are; but I want her estate. I played youfor that estate, and have won it; and I will give you your bills andfive thousand ducats on the day I am married to it.'
'The day _I_ am married to the Countess,' answered the Chevalier,thinking to have me, 'I will be able to raise money to pay your claimten times over' (this was true, for the Countess's property may havebeen valued at near half a million of our money); 'and then I willdischarge my obligations to you. Meanwhile, if you annoy me by threats,or insult me again as you have done, I will use that influence, which,as you say, I possess, and have you turned out of the duchy, as you wereout of the Netherlands last year.'
I rang the bell quite quietly. 'Zamor,' said I to a tall negro fellowhabited like a Turk, that used to wait upon me, 'when you hear the bellring a second time, you will take this packet to the Marshal of theCourt, this to his Excellency the General de Magny, and this youwill place in the hands of one of the equerries of his Highness theHereditary Prince. Wait in the ante-room, and do not go with the parcelsuntil I ring again.'
The black fellow having retired, I turned to Monsieur de Magny and said,'Chevalier, the first packet contains a letter from you to me, declaringyour solvency, and solemnly promising payment of the sums you owe me; itis accompanied by a document from myself (for I expected some resistanceon your part), stating that my honour has been called in question,and begging that the paper may be laid before your august master hisHighness. The second packet is for your grandfather, enclosing theletter from you in which you state yourself to be his heir, and beggingfor a confirmation of the fact. The last parcel, for his Highness theHereditary Duke,' added I, looking most sternly, 'contains the GustavusAdolphus emerald, which he gave to his princess, and which you pledgedto me as a family jewel of your own. Your influence with her Highnessmust be great indeed,' I concluded, 'when you could extort from hersuch a jewel as that, and when you could make her, in order to pay yourplay-debts, give up a secret upon which both your heads depend.'
'Villain!' said the Frenchman, quite aghast with fury and terror, 'wouldyou implicate the Princess?'
'Monsieur de Magny,' I answered, with a sneer, 'no: I will say YOU STOLEthe jewel.' It was my belief he did, and that the unhappy and infatuatedPrincess was never pri
vy to the theft until long after it had beencommitted. How we came to know the history of the emerald is simpleenough. As we wanted money (for my occupation with Magny caused our bankto be much neglected), my uncle had carried Magny's trinkets to Mannheimto pawn. The Jew who lent upon them knew the history of the stone inquestion; and when he asked how her Highness came to part with it, myuncle very cleverly took up the story where he found it, said that thePrincess was very fond of play, that it was not always convenient toher to pay, and hence the emerald had come into our hands. He brought itwisely back with him to S--; and, as regards the other jewels which theChevalier pawned to us, they were of no particular mark: no inquirieshave ever been made about them to this day; and I did not only not knowthen that they came from her Highness, but have only my conjectures uponthe matter now.
The unfortunate young gentleman must have had a cowardly spirit, when Icharged him with the theft, not to make use of my two pistols that werelying by chance before him, and to send out of the world his accuser andhis own ruined self. With such imprudence and miserable recklessness onhis part and that of the unhappy lady who had forgotten herself for thispoor villain, he must have known that discovery was inevitable. But itwas written that this dreadful destiny should be accomplished: insteadof ending like a man, he now cowered before me quite spirit-broken, and,flinging himself down on the sofa, burst into tears, calling wildly uponall the saints to help him: as if they could be interested in the fateof such a wretch as he!
I saw that I had nothing to fear from him; and, calling back Zamor myblack, said I would myself carry the parcels, which I returned to myescritoire; and, my point being thus gained, I acted, as I always do,generously towards him. I said that, for security's sake, I should sendthe emerald out of the country, but that I pledged my honour to restoreit to the Duchess, without any pecuniary consideration, on the day whenshe should procure the sovereign's consent to my union with the CountessIda.
This will explain pretty clearly, I flatter myself, the game I wasplaying; and, though some rigid moralist may object to its propriety, Isay that anything is fair in love, and that men so poor as myself can'tafford to be squeamish about their means of getting on in life. Thegreat and rich are welcomed, smiling, up the grand staircase of theworld; the poor but aspiring must clamber up the wall, or push andstruggle up the back stair, or, PARDI, crawl through any of the conduitsof the house, never mind how foul and narrow, that lead to the top. Theunambitious sluggard pretends that the eminence is not worth attaining,declines altogether the struggle, and calls himself a philosopher. I sayhe is a poor-spirited coward. What is life good for but for honour? andthat is so indispensable, that we should attain it anyhow.
The manner to be adopted for Magny's retreat was proposed by myself, andwas arranged so as to consult the feelings of delicacy of both parties.I made Magny take the Countess Ida aside, and say to her, 'Madam, thoughI have never declared myself your admirer, you and the Court have hadsufficient proof of my regard for you; and my demand would, I know, havebeen backed by his Highness, your august guardian. I know the Duke'sgracious wish is, that my attentions should be received favourably; but,as time has not appeared to alter your attachment elsewhere, and as Ihave too much spirit to force a lady of your name and rank to be unitedto me against your will, the best plan is, that I should make you, forform's sake, a proposal UNauthorised by his Highness: that you shouldreply, as I am sorry to think your heart dictates to you, in thenegative: on which I also will formally withdraw from my pursuit ofyou, stating that, after a refusal, nothing, not even the Duke's desire,should induce me to persist in my suit.'
The Countess Ida almost wept at hearing these words from Monsieur deMagny, and tears came into her eyes, he said, as she took his hand forthe first time, and thanked him for the delicacy of the proposal. Shelittle knew that the Frenchman was incapable of that sort of delicacy,and that the graceful manner in which he withdrew his addresses was ofmy invention.
As soon as he withdrew, it became my business to step forward; butcautiously and gently, so as not to alarm the lady, and yet firmly, soas to convince her of the hopelessness of her design of uniting herselfwith her shabby lover, the sub-lieutenant. The Princess Olivia was goodenough to perform this necessary part of the plan in my favour, andsolemnly to warn the Countess Ida, that, though Monsieur de Magny hadretired from paying his addresses, his Highness her guardian wouldstill marry her as he thought fit, and that she must for ever forget herout-at-elbowed adorer. In fact, I can't conceive how such a shabby rogueas that could ever have had the audacity to propose for her: his birthwas certainly good; but what other qualifications had he?
When the Chevalier de Magny withdrew, numbers of other suitors, youmay be sure, presented themselves; and amongst these your very humbleservant, the cadet of Ballybarry. There was a carrousel, or tournament,held at this period, in imitation of the antique meetings of chivalry,in which the chevaliers tilted at each other, or at the ring; and onthis occasion I was habited in a splendid Roman dress (viz., a silverhelmet, a flowing periwig, a cuirass of gilt leather richly embroidered,a light blue velvet mantle, and crimson morocco half-boots): and in thishabit I rode my bay horse Brian, carried off three rings, and wonthe prize over all the Duke's gentry, and the nobility of surroundingcountries who had come to the show. A wreath of gilded laurel was tobe the prize of the victor, and it was to be awarded by the lady heselected. So I rode up to the gallery where the Countess Ida was seatedbehind the Hereditary Princess, and, calling her name loudly, yetgracefully, begged to be allowed to be crowned by her, and thusproclaimed myself to the face of all Germany, as it were, her suitor.She turned very pale, and the Princess red, I observed; but the CountessIda ended by crowning me: after which, putting spurs into my horse, Igalloped round the ring, saluting his Highness the Duke at the oppositeend, and performing the most wonderful exercises with my bay.
My success did not, as you may imagine, increase my popularity with theyoung gentry. They called me adventurer, bully, dice-loader, impostor,and a hundred pretty names; but I had a way of silencing these gentry.I took the Count de Schmetterling, the richest and bravest of the youngmen who seemed to have a hankering for the Countess Ida, and publiclyinsulted him at the ridotto; flinging my cards into his face. The nextday I rode thirty-five miles into the territory of the Elector of B----,and met Monsieur de Schmetterling, and passed my sword twice throughhis body; then rode back with my second, the Chevalier de Magny, andpresented myself at the Duchess's whist that evening. Magny was veryunwilling to accompany me at first; but I insisted upon his support, andthat he should countenance my quarrel. Directly after paying my homageto her Highness, I went up to the Countess Ida, and made her a markedand low obeisance, gazing at her steadily in the face until she grewcrimson red; and then staring round at every man who formed her circle,until, MA FOI, I stared them all away. I instructed Magny to say,everywhere, that the Countess was madly in love with me; whichcommission, along with many others of mine, the poor devil was obligedto perform. He made rather a SOTTE FIGURE, as the French say, acting thepioneer for me, praising me everywhere, accompanying me always! hewho had been the pink of the MODE until my arrival; he who thought hispedigree of beggarly Barons of Magny was superior to the race of greatIrish kings from which I descended; who had sneered at me a hundredtimes as a spadassin, a deserter, and had called me a vulgar Irishupstart. Now I had my revenge of the gentleman, and took it too.
I used to call him, in the choicest societies, by his Christian nameof Maxime. I would say, 'Bon jour, Maxime; comment vas-TU?' in thePrincess's hearing, and could see him bite his lips for fury andvexation. But I had him under my thumb, and her Highness too--I, poorprivate of Bulow's regiment. And this is a proof of what genius andperseverance can do, and should act as a warning to great people neverto have SECRETS--if they can help it.
I knew the Princess hated me; but what did I care? She knew I knew all:and indeed, I believe, so strong was her prejudice against me, that shethought I was an indelicate villain, capable of b
etraying a lady, whichI would scorn to do; so that she trembled before me as a child beforeits schoolmaster. She would, in her woman's way, too, make all sortsof jokes and sneers at me on reception days; ask about my palace inIreland, and the kings my ancestors, and whether, when I was a privatein Bulow's foot, my royal relatives had interposed to rescue me, andwhether the cane was smartly administered there,--anything to mortifyme. But, Heaven bless you! I can make allowances for people, and used tolaugh in her face. Whilst her jibes and jeers were continuing, it was mypleasure to look at poor Magny and see how HE bore them. The poor devilwas trembling lest I should break out under the Princess's sarcasm andtell all; but my revenge was, when the Princess attacked me, to saysomething bitter to HIM,--to pass it on, as boys do at school. And THATwas the thing which used to make her Highness feel. She would wince justas much when I attacked Magny as if I had been saying anything rude toherself. And, though she hated me, she used to beg my pardon in private;and though her pride would often get the better of her, yet herprudence obliged this magnificent princess to humble herself to the poorpenniless Irish boy.
As soon as Magny had formally withdrawn from the Countess Ida, thePrincess took the young lady into favour again, and pretended to be veryfond of her. To do them justice, I don't know which of the two dislikedme most,--the Princess, who was all eagerness, and fire, and coquetry;or the Countess, who was all state and splendour. The latter,especially, pretended to be disgusted by me: and yet, after all, I havepleased her betters; was once one of the handsomest men in Europe, andwould defy any heyduc of the Court to measure a chest or a leg with me:but I did not care for any of her silly prejudices, and determinedto win her and wear her in spite of herself. Was it on account ofher personal charms or qualities? No. She was quite white, thin,short-sighted, tall, and awkward, and my taste is quite the contrary;and as for her mind, no wonder that a poor creature who had a hankeringafter a wretched ragged ensign could never appreciate ME. It was herestate I made love to; as for herself, it would be a reflection on mytaste as a man of fashion to own that I liked her.