CHAPTER XXII.
_Ferdinand Meditates over His Good Fortune_.
IN MOMENTS of deep feeling, alike sudden bursts of prosperity as indarker hours, man must be alone. It requires some self-communion toprepare ourselves for good fortune, as well as to encounter difficulty,and danger, and disgrace. This violent and triumphant revolution in hisprospects and his fortunes was hardly yet completely comprehended by ourfriend, Ferdinand Armine; and when he had left a note for the generousMirabel, whose slumbers he would not disturb at this early hour, evenwith good news, he strolled along up Charles-street, and to the Park,in one of those wild and joyous reveries in which we brood over comingbliss, and create a thousand glorious consequences.
It was one of those soft summer mornings which are so delightful in agreat city. The sky was clear, the air was bland, the water sparkledin the sun, and the trees seemed doubly green and fresh to one who sorecently had gazed only on iron bars. Ferdinand felt his freedom as wellas his happiness. He seated himself on a bench and thought of HenriettaTemple! he took out her note, and read it over and over again. It wasindeed her handwriting! Restless with impending joy, he sauntered to thebridge, and leant over the balustrade, gazing on the waters in charmedand charming vacancy. How many incidents, how many characters, how manyfeelings flitted over his memory! Of what sweet and bitter experiencedid he not chew the cud! Four-and-twenty hours ago, and he deemedhimself the most miserable and forlorn of human beings, and now all theblessings of the world seemed showered at his feet! A beautiful brideawaited him, whom he had loved with intense passion, and who he hadthought but an hour ago was another's. A noble fortune, which wouldpermit him to redeem his inheritance, and rank him among the richestcommoners of the realm, was to be controlled by one a few hours back aprisoner for desperate debts. The most gifted individuals in the landemulated each other in proving which entertained for him the mostsincere affection. What man in the world had friends like FerdinandArmine? Ferdinand Armine, who, two days back, deemed himself alonein the world! The unswerving devotion of Glastonbury, the delicateaffection of his sweet cousin, all the magnanimity of the high-souledMont-fort, and the generosity of the accomplished Mirabel, passed beforehim, and wonderfully affected him. He could not flatter himself thathe indeed merited such singular blessings; and yet with all his faults,which with him were but the consequences of his fiery youth, Ferdinandhad been faithful, to Henrietta. His constancy to her was now rewarded.As for his friends, the future must prove his gratitude to them.'
Ferdinand Armine had great tenderness of disposition, and somewhat of ameditative mind; schooled by adversity, there was little doubt that hiscoming career would justify his favourable destiny.
It was barely a year since he had returned from Malta, but what aneventful twelvemonth! Everything that had occurred previously seemedof another life; all his experience was concentrated in that wonderfuldrama that had commenced at Bath, the last scene of which was nowapproaching; the characters, his parents, Glastonbury, Katherine,Henrietta, Lord Montfort, Count Mirabel, himself, and Mr. Temple!
Ah! that was a name that a little disturbed him; and yet he feltconfidence now in Mirabel's prescience; he could not but believe thatwith time even Mr. Temple might be reconciled! It was at this momentthat the sound of military music fell upon his ear; it recalled olddays; parades and guards at Malta; times when he did not know HenriettaTemple; times when, as it seemed to him now, he had never paused tothink or moralise. That was a mad life. What a Neapolitan ball was hiscareer then! It was indeed dancing on a volcano. And now all had endedso happily! Oh! could it indeed be true? Was it not all a dream of hisown creation, while his eye had been fixed in abstraction on that brightand flowing river? But then there was Henrietta's letter. He might beenchanted, but that was the talisman.
In the present unsettled, though hopeful state of affairs, Ferdinandwould not go home. He was resolved to avoid any explanations untilhe heard from Lord Montfort. He shrank from seeing Glastonbury or hiscousin. As for Henrietta, it seemed to him that he never could haveheart to meet her again, unless they were alone. Count Mirabel was theonly person to whom he could abandon his soul, and Count Mirabel wasstill in his first sleep.
So Ferdinand entered Kensington Gardens, and walked in those rich gladesand stately avenues. It seems to the writer of this history that theinhabitants of London are scarcely sufficiently sensible of the beautyof its environs. On every side the most charming retreats open to them,nor is there a metropolis in the world surrounded by so many ruralvillages, picturesque parks, and elegant casinos. With the exceptionof Constantinople, there is no city in the world that can for amoment enter into competition with it. For himself, though in his timesomething of a rambler, he is not ashamed in this respect to confess toa legitimate Cockney taste; and for his part he does not know where lifecan flow on more pleasantly than in sight of Kensington Gardens, viewingthe silver Thames winding by the bowers of Rosebank, or inhaling fromits terraces the refined air of graceful Richmond.
In exactly ten minutes it is in the power of every man to free himselffrom all the tumult of the world; the pangs of love, the throbs ofambition, the wear and tear of play, the recriminating boudoir, theconspiring club, the rattling hell; and find himself in a sublime sylvansolitude superior to the cedars of Lebanon, and inferior only in extentto the chestnut forests of Anatolia. Kensington Gardens is almost theonly place that has realised his idea of the forests of Spenser andAriosto. What a pity, that instead of a princess in distress we meetonly a nurserymaid! But here is the fitting and convenient locality tobrood over our thoughts; to project the great and to achieve thehappy. It is here that we should get our speeches by heart, invent ourimpromptus; muse over the caprices of our mistresses, destroy a cabinet,and save a nation.
About the time that Ferdinand directed his steps from these greenretreats towards Berkeley-Square, a servant summoned Miss Temple to herfather.
'Is papa alone?' enquired Miss Temple.
'Only my lord with him,' was the reply.
'Is Lord Montfort here!' said Miss Temple, a little surprised.
'My lord has been with master these three hours,' said the servant.