CHAPTER II.
_A Dandy From Vienna_
WE ARE in the country, and such a country, that even in Italy we thinkof thee, native Hesperia! Here, myrtles grow, and fear no blastingnorth, or blighting east. Here, the south wind blows with that softbreath which brings the bloom to flesh. Here, the land breaks in gentleundulations; and here, blue waters kiss a verdant shore. Hail! to thythousand bays, and deep-red earth, thy marble quarries, and thy silverveins! Hail! to thy far-extending landscape, whose sparkling villagesand streaky fields no clime can match!
Some gales we owe to thee of balmy breath, some gentle hours when lifehad fewest charms. And we are grateful for all this, to say nothing ofyour cider and your junkets.
The Duke arrived just as the setting sun crowned the proud palace withhis gleamy rays. It was a pile which the immortal Inigo had raised insympathy with the taste of a noble employer, who had passed hisearliest years in Lombardy. Of stone, and sometimes even of marble, withpediments and balustrades, and ornamental windows, and richly-chasedkeystones, and flights of steps, and here and there a statue, thestructure was quite Palladian, though a little dingy, and, on the whole,very imposing.
There were suites of rooms which had no end, and staircases which had nobeginning. In this vast pile, nothing was more natural than to lose yourway, an agreeable amusement on a rainy morning. There was a collectionof pictures, very various, by which phrase we understand not select.Yet they were amusing; and the Canalettis were unrivalled. There was aregular ball-room, and a theatre; so resources were at hand. The scenes,though dusty, were numerous; and the Duke had provided new dresses. Thepark was not a park; by which we mean, that it was rather a chase thanthe highly-finished enclosure which we associate with the first title.In fact, Pen Bronnock Chase was the right name of the settlement; butsome monarch travelling, having been seized with a spasm, recruited hisstrength under the roof of his loyal subject, then the chief seat of theHouse of Hauteville, and having in his urgency been obliged to hold aprivy council there, the supreme title of palace was assumed by right.
The domain was bounded on one side by the sea; and here a yacht andsome slight craft rode at anchor in a small green bay, and offered anopportunity for the adventurous, and a refuge for the wearied. When youhave been bored for an hour or two on earth, it sometimes is a change tobe bored for an hour or two on water.
The house was soon full, and soon gay. The guests, and the meansof amusing them, were equally numerous. But this was no common_villeggiatura_, no visit to a family with their regular pursuits andmatured avocations. The host was as much a guest as any other. The youngDuke appointed Lord Squib master of the ceremonies, and gave ordersfor nothing but constant excitement. Constant excitement his Lordshipmanaged to maintain, for he was experienced, clever, careless and gay,and, for once in his life, had the command of unbounded resources. Heordered, he invented, he prepared, and he expended. They acted, theydanced, they sported, they sailed, they feasted, they masqueraded; andwhen they began to get a little wearied of themselves, and their ownpowers of diversion gradually vanished, then a public ball was giventwice a week at the palace, and all the West of England invited. Newfaces brought new ideas; new figures brought new fancies. All weredelighted with the young Duke, and flattery from novel quarters will fora moment whet even the appetite of the satiated. Simplicity, too, caninterest. There were some Misses Gay-weather who got unearthed, whonever had been in London, though nature had given them sparkling eyesand springing persons. This tyranny was too bad. Papa was quizzed, mammaflattered, and the daughters' simplicity amused these young lordlings.Rebellion was whispered in the small ears of the Gay weathers. Thelittle heads, too, of the Gay-weathers were turned. They were theconstant butt, and the constant resource, of every lounging dandy.
The Bird of Paradise also arranged her professional engagements so asto account with all possible propriety for her professional visit at PenBronnock. The musical meeting at Exeter over, she made her appearance,and some concerts were given, which electrified all Cornwall. CountFrill was very strong here; though, to be sure, he also danced, andacted, in all varieties. He was the soul, too, of a masqued ball; butwhen complimented on his accomplishments, and thanked for his exertions,he modestly depreciated his worth, and panegyrised the dancing-dogs.
As for the Prince, on the whole, he maintained his silence; but itwas at length discovered by the fair sex that he was not stupid, butsentimental. When this was made known he rather lost ground with thedark sex, who, before thinking him thick, had vowed that he was adevilish good fellow; but now, being really envious, had their taleand hint, their sneer and sly joke. M. de Whiskerburg had one activeaccomplishment; this was his dancing. His gallopade was declared tobe divine: he absolutely sailed in air. His waltz, at his will, eithermelted his partner into a dream, or whirled her into a frenzy! DangerousM. de Whiskerburg!