The Young Duke

  CHAPTER XII.

  _Another Betrothal_

  BUT although we are in love, business must not be utterly neglected, andMr. Dacre insisted that the young Duke should for one morning cease towander in his park, and listen to the result of his exertions during thelast three months. His Grace listened. Rents had not risen, but it washoped that they had seen their worst; the railroad had been successfullyopposed; and coals had improved. The London mansion and the Alhambra hadboth been disposed of, and well: the first to the new French Ambassador,and the second to a grey-headed stock-jobber, very rich, who, havingno society, determined to make solitude amusing. The proceeds of thesesales, together with sundry sums obtained by converting into cash thestud, the furniture, and the _bijouterie,_ produced a most respectablefund, which nearly paid off the annoying miscellaneous debts. For therest, Mr. Dacre, while he agreed that it was on the whole advisable thatthe buildings should be completed, determined that none of the estatesshould be sold, or even mortgaged. His plan was to procrastinate thetermination of these undertakings, and to allow each year itself toafford the necessary supplies. By annually setting aside one hundredthousand pounds, in seven or eight years he hoped to find everythingcompleted and all debts cleared. He did not think that the extravaganceof the Duke could justify any diminution in the sum which had hithertobeen apportioned for the maintenance of the Irish establishments; buthe was of opinion that the decreased portion which they, as well asthe western estates, now afforded to the total income, was a sufficientreason. Fourteen thousand a-year were consequently allotted to Ireland,and seven to Pen Bronnock. There remained to the Duke about thirtythousand per annum; but then Hauteville was to be kept up with this.Mr. Dacre proposed that the young people should reside at Rosemount, andthat consequently they might form their establishment from the Castle,without reducing their Yorkshire appointments, and avail themselves,without any obligation, or even the opportunity, of great expenses, ofall the advantages afforded by the necessary expenditure. Finally, Mr.Dacre presented his son with his town mansion and furniture; and asthe young Duke insisted that the settlements upon her Grace should beprepared in full reference to his inherited and future income, thisgenerous father at once made over to him the great bulk of his personalproperty amounting to upwards of a hundred thousand pounds, a littleready money, of which he knew the value.

  The Duke of St. James had duly informed his uncle, the Earl ofFitz-pompey, of the intended change in his condition, and in answerreceived the following letter:--

  'Fitz-pompey Hall, May, 18--.

  'My dear George,--Your letter did not give us so much surprise as youexpected; but I assure you it gave us as much pleasure. You have shownyour wisdom and your taste in your choice; and I am free to confess thatI am acquainted with no one more worthy of the station which theDuchess of St. James must always fill in society, and more calculated tomaintain the dignity of your family, than the lady whom you are aboutto introduce to us as our niece. Believe me, my dear George, that thenotification of this agreeable event has occasioned even additionalgratification both to your aunt and to myself, from the reflection thatyou are about to ally yourself with a family in whose welfare we mustever take an especial interest, and whom we may in a manner look upon asour own relatives. For, my dear George, in answer to your flattering andmost pleasing communication, it is my truly agreeable duty to inform you(and, believe me, you are the first person out of our immediate familyto whom this intelligence is made known) that our Caroline, in whosehappiness we are well assured you take a lively interest, is about tobe united to one who may now be described as your near relative, namely,Mr. Arundel Dacre.

  'It has been a long attachment, though for a considerable time, Iconfess, unknown to us; and indeed at first sight, with Caroline's rankand other advantages, it may not appear, in a mere worldly point ofview, so desirable a connection as some perhaps might expect. And tobe quite confidential, both your aunt and myself were at first a littledisinclined (great as our esteem and regard have ever been for him), alittle disinclined, I say, to the union. But Dacre is certainly the mostrising man of the day. In point of family, he is second to none; and hisuncle has indeed behaved in the most truly liberal manner. I assure you,he considers him as a son; and even if there were no other inducement,the mere fact of your connection with the family would alone notonly reconcile, but, so to say, make us perfectly satisfied with thearrangement. It is unnecessary to speak to you of the antiquity of theDacres. Arundel will ultimately be one of the richest Commoners, and Ithink it is not too bold to anticipate, taking into consideration thefamily into which he marries, and above all, his connection with you,that we may finally succeed in having him called up to us. You are ofcourse aware that there was once a barony in the family.

  'Everybody talks of your speech. I assure you, although I ever gave youcredit for uncommon talents, I was astonished. So you are to have thevacant ribbon! Why did you not tell me? I learnt it to-day, fromLord Bobbleshim. But we must not quarrel with men in love for notcommunicating.

  'You ask me for news of all your old friends. You of course saw thedeath of old Annesley. The new Lord took his seat yesterday; he wasintroduced by Lord Bloomerly. I was not surprised to hear in the eveningthat he was about to be married to Lady Charlotte, though the worldaffect to be astonished.

  I should not forget to say that Lord Annesley asked most particularlyafter you. For him, quite warm, I assure you.

  'The oddest thing has happened to your friend, Lord Squib. Old ColonelCarlisle is dead, and has left his whole fortune, some say half amillion, to the oddest person, merely because she had the reputationof being his daughter. Quite an odd person, you understand me: Mrs.Montfort. St. Maurice says you know her; but we must not talk of thesethings now. Well, Squib is going to be married to her. He says that heknows all his old friends will cut him when they are married, and so heis determined to give them an excuse. I understand she is a fine woman.He talks of living at Rome and Florence for a year or two.

  'Lord Darrell is about to marry Harriet Wrekin; and between ourselves(but don't let this go any further at present) I have very little doubtthat young Pococurante will shortly be united to Isabel. Connected as weare with the Shropshires, these excellent alliances are gratifying.

  'I see very little of Lucius Grafton. He seems ill.

  I understand, for certain, that her Ladyship opposes the divorce. _Ondit_, she has got hold of some letters, through the treachery of hersoubrette, whom he supposed quite his creature, and that your friendis rather taken in. But I should not think this true. People talk veryloosely. There was a gay party at Mrs. Dallington's the other night, whoasked very kindly after you.

  'I think I have now written you a very long letter. I once morecongratulate you on your admirable selection, and with the unitedremembrance of our circle, particularly Caroline, who will writeperhaps by this post to Miss Dacre, believe me, dear George, your trulyaffectionate uncle,

  'FITZ-POMPEY.

  'P.S.--Lord Marylebone is very unpopular, quite a brute. We all missyou.'

  It is not to be supposed that this letter conveyed the first intimationto the Duke of St. James of the most interesting event of which itspoke. On the contrary, he had long been aware of the whole affair; butwe have been too much engaged with his own conduct to find time to letthe reader into the secret, which, like all secrets, it is to be hopedwas no secret. Next to gaining the affections of May Dacre, it wasimpossible for any event to occur more delightful to our hero thanthe present. His heart had often misgiven him when he had thought ofCaroline. Now she was happy, and not only happy, but connected withhim for life, just as he wished. Arundel Dacre, too, of all men he mostwished to like, and indeed most liked. One feeling alone had preventedthem from being bosom friends, and that feeling had long triumphantlyvanished.

  May had been almost from the beginning the _confidante_ of her cousin.In vain, however, had she beseeched him to entrust all to her father.Although he now repented his past feelings he could not be ind
uced tochange; and not till he had entered Parliament and succeeded and gaineda name, which would reflect honour on the family with which he wished toidentify himself, would he impart to his uncle the secret of his heart,and gain that support without which his great object could never havebeen achieved. The Duke of St. James, by returning him to Parliament,had been the unconscious cause of all his happiness, and ardently didhe pray that his generous friend might succeed in what he was well awarewas his secret aspiration, and that his beloved cousin might yield herhand to the only man whom Arundel Dacre considered worthy of her.