by Mrs. West
CHAP. XVII.
To her direct thy looks; there fix thy praise, And gaze with wonder there. The life I gave her Oh! she has used it for the noblest ends! To fill each duty; make her father feel The purest joy, the heart dissolving bliss, To have a grateful child.
Murphy.
The manners of Isabel were peculiarly frank and playful; theconsciousness that her life was spent in the discharge of active duty,gave the same energy to her mind, which bodily exertion did to hernervous system. She never acted under the influence of motives whichrequired disguise; the simplicity of her habits, her ignorance of theworld, and innocence of intention, gave such an undesigning engagingcharacter to her conversation, that whoever spoke to her, might thinkthemselves addressing one of those pure intelligences, who are incapableof falsehood or disguise. To a mind so modelled, a secret was a dreadfulburden, especially when compelled to hide it from one, whom love inducedher to treat with peculiar confidence, and who often complained of herreserve, and asked the meaning of those embarrassed looks, thatimpatience to break from him, and those thousand mysterious contrivancesupon petty occasions, which were so new to her character, and might haveawakened jealousy in the most unsuspicious heart.
On his being first domesticated in the Beaumont family, Lord Sedley wascharmed with that elegance of arrangement, which contrived to make abare sufficiency of the simplest fare, look like plenty. He had wonderedhow the little means he knew they possessed, could be so multiplied,even by the most provident frugality, as, like the widow's oil and meal,to supply their own wants, and yet afford a portion to the hungrytraveller. Formerly, when he reconsidered at night the behaviour of thefamily, he used to be able to account for all their actions, and couldtestify that their time was virtuously and wisely employed, without theleast alloy from caprice, indolence, or inconsiderateness. Dr. Beaumontand Constantia went at their appointed hour to visit the villagers; Mrs.Mellicent sorted her simples, compounded her medicines, and examined herpatients; Isabel superintended the domestic management.--Williams wascaterer, gardener and serving-man; the relics of yesterday's meal wereneatly reserved, garnished with "roots, cut in characters," and thesauce spiced, as if it were for Jove. After dinner, literature, wit, orpiety, gave a zest to their conversation, and made the lone ruins ofWaverly Hall the scene of a regale, often unknown in palaces. But nowevery proceeding was deranged and perplexed, no one seemed to enquireinto the engagements of the others. Isabel was often absent, and oftenneglected the duties to which she once used to affix importance.--Williamswas employed in some business, which all but himself seemed tacitly toadmit was of infinite concern. The provisions clandestinely disappeared,and the family seemed to think it necessary to repair the waste, byeating more sparingly. Instead of wishing to sit up to sing, when everybody else was sleepy, Isabel was the first to hint the benefit of earlyhours, yet in the morning her faded cheeks and sunk eyes indicated thatthe night had been spent in watching. Nay, what more excited hisapprehensions, he discovered that besides the evening devotions, towhich he had been long admitted, there was a secret service, which lefton all their faces the mark of tears.
Love, terror, pity, anxiety, and doubt, alike prompted Lord Sedley todiscover the cause of this marked alteration. He determined to watchIsabel, and the next night saw her leave the house, soon after midnight,and enter an avenue of sycamores at some distance. He immediatelyfollowed her; a loud barking of dogs changed every other emotion tolively apprehensions for her safety, but he soon saw her run back, and,on observing him coming to meet her, assume an untroubled countenance."Has this serene night," said she, "made you too a truant with yourpillow? I have, of late, been little disposed to sleep, and enjoy amoon-light walk amazingly."--"Do not those dogs annoy you," inquiredSedley, with more of moody displeasure than tenderness; "I should thinkthey would form but a harsh response to your soliloquies." She answered,they did not always discover her, and she ran back when they weretroublesome. Sedley asked her if it would not be better to secureherself from danger by the protection of a companion. "If you mean tooffer yourself," replied she, "I must say, no. My uncle is constantlydissuading the villagers from attending night-meetings, which, he says,though they may be innocent, yet give occasion for reproach; and we mustbe careful not to countenance impropriety, by setting an ill example."
"Yet, surely," replied Sedley, "the prudence of these midnightwanderings is not so unquestionable. Were I of a jealous temper, I mightimagine some presumptuous rival haunted your avenue, and that I even nowdetain you from an assignation."
"You will think otherwise," answered she, "when I tell you that I say aprayer when I quit my uncle's house, and a thanksgiving when I return;and you know, if my excursion were indecorous, I durst not so temptProvidence. I ascribe my meeting you to-night to accident, but I willtell you, dearly as I love you, Arthur, if I thought you watched me fromsuspicion of my conduct, I would never speak to you more."
Sedley was awed by the ingenuous resentment which appeared in hermanner. Was it the effrontery of practised perfidy? Impossible! With anair of pious enthusiasm, she raised her eyes to the clear expanse,splendidly illuminated by the full-orbed moon and attendant stars, andclasping her hands in fervour of devotion, besought that DivineOmniscience, who neither slumbered nor slept, that aweful witness of allher actions, so to prosper the most ardent desires of her soul, as sheendeavoured to frame them in conformity to his will. "I shall now," saidshe, "pursue my walk down the avenue. If you suspect me, follow me,witness the innocence of my conduct, and forfeit my love. If you confidein my integrity, return to the house, and never again subject myreputation to the reproach of being seen with you at night in so lonelya scene; but, if you wake at this hour put up a prayer for mypreservation."
"The forfeiture of your love, dearest Isabel," said Sedley, "is apenalty I dare not incur; yet remember I have trusted you with all myown secrets."
"I have made an equally frank return," answered she, "I have told youall mine, even that I love you most tenderly, and wish every obstaclecould be removed, which threatens to prevent our journeying hand in handthrough life; but these walks I must take alone. Here every night I mustremain two hours. Ask not if I am a sorceress, consulting an evilspirit, or a papist doing penance for a crime. You distress me, Arthur,by thus lingering and turning back to watch me; I thought your mindsuperior to jealousy."
"Does not concern for your safety," said he, in an impassioned tone,"justify my unwillingness to leave you; your family are known to bezealous Loyalists. A troop of horse are now stationed at Preston, andalways sending out foraging parties."
Isabel paused for a moment, extremely agitated; then turning round,answered, "The holy angels hover round me; I will trust to theirprotection, and defy Morgan and the republican myrmidons."
If Sedley for a moment suspected any thing improper in Isabel'smysterious behaviour, his doubts now gave place to that perfectconfidence which candour and virtuous simplicity ever impart tocongenial minds. But in proportion as he revered the holy fortitude,which evidently supported her in these nocturnal adventures, so were hisfears roused by a sense of the danger, with which, as she admitted, theywere attended. She had pointed out Morgan as an enemy whom she dreaded.Sedley recollected the civilities he had received from him, and blamedhimself for having been remiss in endeavouring to conciliate a man, whohad power over the fortunes of his best beloved. He consideredtherefore, that it was a duty he owed to Isabel to call on Morgan, andtry to discover if he had laid any hostile schemes against theBeaumonts.
Though Morgan affected to be made of the most stern republicanmaterials, a visit from a nobleman, and an ostensible favourite ofCromwell's, was a high gratification. He received his guest withboisterous hospitality, and without any regard to his diminishedstrength, dragged him over his demesne, and shewed him all its beauties.It was, he said, a mere dog-hole, when he bought it for a song; hisponds, now well stocked with carp, were originally tan-pits; his gardenwas a s
late-quarry; the phillireas now clipped into well-proportioneddragons, grew just as nature shaped them; and the hall he had neatlyplaistered and white-washed was then disfigured with painted saints, andcarved tracery. He hinted with a smile, that he had turned the times toa pretty good account, and was grown warm. Royalists were soon alarmed,and bled freely. Besides the per centage, when compounding for theirestates, there was generally a little private oiling the hands ofcommittee men. He talked of his stock of wines, liberal table, richhangings, and the universal plenty of good things which he enjoyed; andstrongly urged Lord Sedley, now he was able, to remove from thepenurious dwelling which could just serve his turn, while his woundswere healing, and reestablish his health, by residing with his humbleservant, Zedekiah Morgan, at Saint's-Rest, till he thought fit to returnto his own princely mansion, Castle-Bellingham.
Sedley made a civil reply, intimating that his duty required him toremain where he was, and that as a soldier, he must despise luxuries."True," answered Morgan; "trained in the school of our noble general,you choose to see with your own eyes, what plots the malignants arehatching. There is not a more suspected family than Beaumont's in thisneighbourhood." Sedley encouraged this communicativeness, and Morganproceeded to say, "that since the last defeat, the chief crime thedisaffected could commit, was concealing those who had distinguishedthemselves in the insurrections."
Six bloody-minded cavaliers had been lately turned loose upon thepeaceable inhabitants. Major General Lambert refused them quarters, whenhe granted terms to Pontefract garrison[1]; but the horrid creatures hadfought their way out and escaped, though he gloried in saying, thecounty was so well disposed, that three of the knaves, (and among themtheir scoundrel leader, Morrice) had been retaken--"And terrible dogs, Ipromise you," said Morgan, "they were, as ever you looked upon; hackedand gashed, and so reduced by famine, from hiding in holes and caves,that they could hardly stand. So we hanged them, without judge or jury,and made them safe. But three are still at large, and I can hardly sleepin my bed for fear of them. I will read you a description of theirpersons, and the names they pretend to go by. Humphrey Higgins, agedseventy, lean, and would be a tall man, only bent double, has but oneeye, and lost the use of his right arm: Memorandum, thought to be theman who shot Colonel Rainsborough at Doncaster.--William Dickson, agedtwenty-four, has been seen begging on crutches, with one leg contracted;and Timothy Jones, who pretends to be mad and paralytic, a mostferocious terrible malignant; curses the godly covenant, and wishes theRound-heads had but one neck, and he stood over them with a hatchet.Now, my Lord, if these Beaumonts should, out of hatred and malice to ourupright rulers, hide any of these murderous miscreants in the vaults,recesses, or secret-chambers of the old ruins, which they may pretend tolive in for the very purpose, I trust your Lordship's penetration willunearth the foxes, so that they may be brought to condign punishment,and I heartily wish our noble General had as faithful a spy in everydelinquent's family in the three nations."
Sedley suppressed his indignation, and assured Morgan he would not failto report to government whatever he thought culpable in the conduct ofthe Beaumonts, who were apparently benevolent and humane; but onMorgan's suggesting that was a mask often assumed by the blackestmalignity, he allowed the truth as a general remark, and took his leave,aware that the best means of preventing the persecution of his friendswas to conceal his own sentiments.
In the way back he called on Dame Humphreys, whose attention to him,during his illness, corresponded with her usual artless kindness andtrue benevolence. He found her in the most dreadful distress; herhusband's malady was increased to violent frenzy; she assigned as thecause, his incessantly listening to what she called "long preachmentsabout the Devil;" but he gave a different account. He was sure he hadseen Sir William Waverly sitting at the outside of a mausoleum he hadbuilt in the park, without his head, and an angel standing by him. Heknew it was an angel, for it looked white and shining; and the othermust be Sir William, because he had in part pulled down the old church,which his fore-fathers had built, to make a grand burying-place forhimself and his family, and though his body was thrown into a hole wherehe was killed, that was no reason why his spirit might not walk in hisown park. The Dame was prevented from making further comments on thisnarrative by concern for her husband's situation. He lay, she said,roaring and foaming at the mouth, thinking what he had seen was awarning of his own death. The chamber was full of godly ministers, whowould not let her send for a doctor, saying the case was in their way,and that they would dispossess him. But in spite of all they did, hegrew worse, and was in such terrible convulsions, that she feared if hedid not make away with himself, still he must die.
Sedley sincerely pitied her distress, and, in compliance with herwishes, promised to send the good old Doctor to her to try if he coulddo any good. A lover sees his mistress in every object. Combining thesuspicions of Morgan, the appearance at the mausoleum, and thenight-wanderings of Isabel, a sudden apprehension came across Sedley'smind, and determined him to see to what part of the park the sycamoreavenue pointed, and he soon found it ended in a coppice, which shaded aruined church, and a stately sepulchre, inclosed with iron pallisades,that had escaped the general pillage, which, in those times of rapacioussacrilege, spared not the altar of religion nor the silent repositoriesof the dead.
Sedley examined the modern structure. The gate was closed, and the boltsrusted in the wards. The long withered grass bore no marks of havingbeen recently trodden; every thing appeared in the state in which itmight be supposed to have been left, when the vain-glorious unfortunateprojector of this monumental trophy of his own greatness augmented theheaps of dead who were interred without religious rite or distinction ofrank, after the fatal battle of Marston-Moor ended the efforts of theRoyalists in the north of England. The unoccupied tomb stood as a solemnwarning against the fond precautions of low cunning and versatilepolicy. Sedley now proceeded to the church, which was a complete ruin.The roof was broken, and the entrances were blocked up with large stonesthat had fallen from the walls; yet not so totally, but that a slenderperson might find admittance into the building from the south-porch. Ashe looked in, he thought fancy might select this as the scene where theAnglican church, prostrate on her own ruins, mourned her departed gloryand her present desolation in undisturbed silence, far from the sympathyof her friends, and the insults of her enemies. He called aloud, but theecho of his own voice reverberating through the aisles was his onlyanswer. Though the wintry sun shone with meridian splendor, and cast hisslanting rays through the apertures in the roof, so as to allow him tosee the falling monuments and mutilated statues which were intended tocommemorate the mighty of past ages, there was such an aweful solitudeand petrifying horror in the whole scene, that he thought it impossiblefor Isabel to make nocturnal visits to such a place, believing his owncourage would be scarcely equal to the undertaking, when darkness or thepale splendor of the moon added to its profound melancholy. There was,indeed, a slight appearance of a path to the most practicable entrance,but he could not help thinking it was made by some wild animal, whichhad chosen one of the vaults for its hiding-place.
Still ruminating on Isabel's concealed adventures as he returned, Sedleyperceived a handful of sweet bay lying in the grass, which herecollected seeing her gather the preceding evening, with peculiarattention to the reviving fragrance of the evergreen. Every doubt wasnow removed. This was the spot which a young and beautiful femalevisited alone at midnight. No base inclination, no unworthy passionwhich shunned the light, could stimulate such an enterprize. Piety mustbestow the inspiration; and that fortitude which results from consciousrectitude must confirm the trembling knees, and guide the cautious stepsof the heroical adventurer.
A more honourable and praise-worthy principle than doubt or curiositynow led Sedley to discover what the treasure was which Isabel thusclandestinely visited. On his return, he mentioned to the family thedreadful situation of Humphreys, and described the spectral appearanceto which it was imputed, "Absurd and impossible!"
exclaimed Isabel,while a deep crimson flushed her face. Mrs. Mellicent turned very pale,and remarked that she did not entirely disbelieve all accounts ofvisionary notices of the future world. They might act as warnings tosinners, or as a call to an unbeliever. "True," replied Isabel, "but thecontradiction of this is evident. Why should a good angel be connectedwith the apparition of Sir William Waverly? And, far from tending toreform Humphreys, the impression on his mind has produced distraction."Dr. Beaumont, who had remained silent and meditative during thisconversation, now required Isabel to attend him before he went to offerhis services to the afflicted farmer.
Sedley embraced the opportunity of their absence to examine moreminutely the ruins of Waverly Hall. The thickness of one of theremaining walls struck him as singular; it was an abutment behind thechimney of what had been the banqueting-room, the wainscot of which wasleft in this place entire. Sedley inspected every pannel, and at lastfound one which slided, and afforded him an entrance into a small butperfect apartment, lighted from the ceiling, and which had probablyserved as a secret chamber to conceal the plate and valuables of thefamily, being so completely concealed by the contrivance of thearchitecture as not to be discernible on the outside. Was it notstrange, that, with so secure and convenient a lodging close at hand,Isabel should chuse to deposit her treasure at such a distance? Had sheoverlooked this asylum, or avoided the use of it as a lure to deceivethe vigilance of Morgan? Sedley proceeded in his search, explored everysubterraneous vault and recess; but no signs of recent inhabitationcould be found. He returned again to Morgan, commended his zeal for thegood cause, but assured him, that though he had discovered many placesproper for concealment, not a ghost of a royalist could any where befound.
"You say well, excellently well, my young Lord," replied Morgan,chuckling at the idea of his own superior sagacity; "yet for all thatthere is a ghost, aye, and he chuses a proper scene for his pranks, butwe will lay him to-morrow morning." He then informed Sedley thatPriggins had just been with him to say their neighbour Humphreys wastroubled in the spirit, and, in a late wrestling with Satan, had beenfavoured with a vision, in which he had seen the ghost of Sir WilliamWaverly in torment, complaining that there was a royalist in his gravewho would not let him rest. "I believe not a word of the business," saidhe, "and defy the whole tribe of apparitions; but, as Your Lordship mustsee, it is my duty to search the burying-place, and the old churchimmediately."
Sedley suppressed his apprehensions, and coolly answered, he hadreconnoitred the outside, and believed he had never seen a more desolateand unfrequented spot. "All the better for such a purpose," answeredMorgan; "these bloody fugitives would not chuse highways andmarket-places for their cabals. But I don't like to venture among theseterrible fellows without being protected; so I have sent for the Prestonhorse, and ordered them to bring the blood-hounds; and as Your Lordshiphas been there, I will thank you to be our guide. But, hark! not a wordto the Beaumonts, or the birds will be flown."
Sedley preserved the serenity of his features, promised punctualattendance, and remarked that, to prevent any alarm from suspicion of anintercourse with Morgan, it would be expedient for him to hurry back.His anxiety to rescue the threatened victim was nearly as lively as theassiduity of Isabel; yet not daring again to request the confidence shehad so peremptorily refused, he thought his best plan would be to watchthe cemetery; and, pretending to retire indisposed to his chamber, assoon as it was evening he hurried, unobserved, down the avenue, enteredthe church, and concealed himself behind a pillar, from whence he had afull view of a door partially obstructed with rubbish which, hesupposed, opened into the mausoleum.
A little before midnight, he heard the sound of feet; the shade waswithdrawn from a dark lanthorn; and he discovered Isabel by its feeblelight, as she held it up, and with cautious anxiety seemed to explorethe ruins, to be assured that all was safe before she ventured on hernocturnal employment. She then approached the door, and whispered to theinvisible inhabitant of the sepulchre. Sedley heard a bar fall, and sawher remove a portion of the rubbish, enter the dreary abode, andre-close the door. Listening, he heard voices conversing in low murmurs.Could a lover resist making a further discovery? He determined to openthe door sufficiently to steal a view of the object concealed, andafterwards to join Isabel on her return, and apprize her of thenecessity of selecting another asylum.
The stolen view was aweful and impressive. The inside of the cemeterywas lighted by a lamp that shewed it was furnished with those articlesof comfort which rendered it an habitable abode. On a neat pallet lay anaged gentleman, corresponding, in his appearance and infirmities, withone of the fugitives from Pontefract described by Morgan. Isabel hadalready spread a table, on which were placed the refreshments she hadjust brought, and a prayer-book. She was at that moment employed inchafing his benumbed limbs, and at the same time looking up at herpatient with the tenderest affection, smiling through the tears ofanxiety and compassion; while, as he bent over her, shrinking with acutepain from her light and tender touch, a glow of sublime affectionilluminated his pale and furrowed features.
It was at this moment that the wind, rushing down the aisles of thechurch, forced the door out of Sedley's hand, and revealed him to thefather and daughter as a witness of their affecting interview. Thereader must have anticipated that no motive less potent than filialpiety could have stimulated the heroism of Isabel. Surprise extortedfrom her a loud shriek; and the disabled Evellin snatched a carbine,which stood charged within his reach, and pointed it at the invader oftheir retreat. Isabel hung upon his arm. "'Tis my preserver! 'Tis myfather!" exclaimed she, addressing them alternately. "Oh! Sedley, howdurst you disobey me!"
"Young man," said the stern veteran, in a voice which denoted that anunconquered soul still tenanted his decaying body, "instantly tell yourmotive for this intrusion. My daughter addresses you as a friend, butyour name announces a double traitor."
"Then it belies my heart," answered Sedley, "for I come devoted to yourservice, impatient to assist in the preservation of persecuted worth.The generous bravery of the renowned Colonel Evellin must endear him toevery soldier, even if he were not the father of that matchlessexcellence who kneels beside you, and stays your arm from taking thelife of one whose purpose is to preserve yours."
"I have seen too much of the world," answered Evellin, "to trust smoothtalkers. Sentiments are easily uttered; they are all the fashion; andthe butcher now uses them to the lamb he slaughters. I am a disabledsoldier of that King whom regicides are now subjecting to the mockery ofa public trial; and I am as ready to follow my Prince to the scaffold asI have been to fly to his banner when thousands were false. Hear me yetfurther. I am one of the proscribed victims who escaped from Pontefract.The hardships I have endured have deprived me of the use of my limbs;yet I am still dangerous to usurpers. A price is set upon my head; I amhunted from the abodes of man, denied the light of heaven, and, at thisrigorous season, compelled to seek the shelter of a tomb, even whilealive to anguish and sorrow. Approach, young man; you see my child hasdisarmed me. I have no other weapon; infirmity chains me to this pallet.I was born to the possession of a princely inheritance, but it waswrested from me by traitors foul as those who have overthrown the gloryof England. I have nothing left but an honest heart, and enmity totraitors. Yes!" continued he, folding Isabel in his arms; "I have thisweeping girl, who ought to have been a bright gem sparkling in a royalcourt, instead of a sickly lamp beaming in a monument."
Sedley wept. "You know," said he, "what side I have espoused; yet a mindso magnanimous must be candid; nor will you confound the errors andprejudices of early education with the turpitude of guilt. I was tutoredby one who passionately worshipped civil and religious liberty; a manwhose heart was generous and sincere as your own, and only mistook themeans by which the desired objects were attainable. He now deeply mournsthe enormous oppression which has originated from what he deemed perfecttheories. Filial duty, joined to the instructions of my preceptor, mademe join the Parliamentary army. You are a father
. Think what agonies youwould feel had your son refused to obey you, and falsified the hopes youhad formed of his acting as your associate in what you deemed the careerof glory."
"Cease, dearest Sedley," cried Isabel, "his weak frame cannot bear thesestrong emotions." "I have a son," said the agonized Evellin, "and herefused to obey me. He has falsified the hopes I entertained, that hewould be the restorer of my house. Sedley, I would exchange sons withthy father. Come nearer, and I will tell thee what will make theerenounce the traitor who gave thee birth. Hast thou ever heard of thyuncle Allan Neville, the man from whom thy father stole his coronet andlands?"
"I have heard," said Sedley, "that he was unfortunate, very criminal,and long since dead."
"Unfortunate indeed," returned the Colonel, "but neither dead norcriminal. I am Allan Neville, a living witness of thy father's crimes,the least of which is usurpation. I accuse him as the foul slanderer ofmy fame, as the inhuman villain who betrayed my confidence. He knew mywoes, my wants, my dependence on his friendship; nay, that I trusted tohim only. He smiled, promised, cajoled, and destroyed me. My daughterhas told me that thou art warm, ingenuous, sincere, and affectionate.Such, at thy age, was he that now lies before thee, the victim of thymother's ambition and thy father's hypocrisy."
Sedley tried to conceal the burning blushes of shame with his hands,while his recollection of past circumstances confirmed his uncle'saccusation. Ambition was the crime of both his parents; hypocrisy themeans used by the cautious Lord Bellingham in seeking to compass thoseends which his bolder consort pursued with the effrontery of determinedversatility. Sedley remembered his mother a court-beauty, the favouriteof the Queen, and the glass which reflected the smiles and frowns ofroyalty. He afterwards saw her the idol of the party which opposedgovernment, sung by Waller, flattered by Holland, presiding with all thefrivolity and pride of a pretty trifler at the dark divan, while Pym andSt. John disclosed their hopes of extending their aggressions to seizingthe remaining prerogatives of the alarmed and conceding King. Weak,vain, passionate, and unprincipled, with no determined object but herown aggrandizement--no claim to attention but an attractive person andsoft courtliness of manner (which polished insincerity often assumes todisguise a stubborn, wayward, ungoverned temper),--Lady Bellinghamsupplied by a shew of benevolence her total want of the reality. He hadseen her, without even the affectation of compassion, listen to a detailof the measures which were intended to drag Lord Strafford to the block;and though she boasted of that nobleman as her earliest lover, she madeno attempt to procure him the respite for which his afflicted masterineffectually solicited. No storm of public calamity, no sympathizingpity for murdered friends, no sentiment of gratitude for her royalbenefactors, ever disturbed the suavity of Lady Bellingham's deportment.Nothing could interrupt the dead calm of her unfeeling heart butopposition to her will, or the apprehension of danger to her effects orperson. In the former case the gentle beauty was loud and pertinacious;in the latter, terrified to the extreme, and clamorous in hercomplaints; in both, perfectly regardless of the means she employed topromote her purposes, or insure her safety.
Sedley had long discovered a guarded circumspection in his father'sconduct, which, as it exceeded prudence, must be called timidity. Hisperplexed look and restless manner spoke a soul ill at ease with itself,and more suspicious of persons, and the motives of their actions, thanwas consistent with fortitude and integrity. From the period of hisassuming the title of Bellingham, Sedley could date a gradual increaseof domestic misery. Even in his childhood he had been obliged tointerfere in the disputes of his parents, each complaining to him of thefaults of the other, and of their own injuries. The Earl ever spake ofthe sacrifices he had made to oblige his wife; the Countess, of thetitle, fortune, and importance she had bestowed on her husband. Manycircumstances led him to fear that mutual guilt was the only bond whichkept them from separation, as they often hinted in their quarrels thatthey were equally in each other's power for some punishable offences;and once, in an ungovernable transport of rage, Lady Bellingham bade hertrembling Lord "remember her brother." These recollections made itimpossible for Sedley to doubt the criminality of his parents,especially as their accuser was Colonel Evellin, whose gallantry andunquestioned honour had extorted alike the terror and admiration of hisenemies. And was the admirable Isabel the victim of their crimes, whonow, in all the unaffected loveliness of tender duty, wiped the cold dewfrom the face of her agonized father, beseeching him to consider hisweakness, and forbear convulsing his tortured limbs by these mentalthroes, still assuring him, that if she could preserve his life, her ownwould be worth valuing?
Impelled by that homage which virtuous emulation ever pays toacknowledged worth, Sedley knelt by the side of Isabel. "Here," said he,"I devote myself to your service, and abjure your enemies, though myheart recoils when I consider who they are. In this sacred, this awefulabode, I drop all titles but that of your kinsman: now for your deardaughter's sake, listen to the intelligence I come to disclose; you arein the most imminent danger, and prompt measures for your security mustbe devised. I will never more participate in the guilt of those whowronged you, or partake of those luxuries which proved irresistibletemptations to those who caused your ruin. Suffer me to supply the placeof your lost Eustace, and to relieve the pious duties of your daughter.You shall then know that my immediate progenitors have not corruptedthat pure blood which I, with you, derive from one common stock ofeminent ancestors, distinguished alike by fidelity to their friends,their country, and their King."
Isabel scarcely waited for the reconciling embrace, which proved thather generous father knew not his own heart when he thought it capable ofeternal enmity to the blood of De Vallance. Her transport at seeing thetwo dearest objects in the world known and esteemed by each other, wasallayed by her eager anxiety to know what Sedley meant by imminentdanger. He now disclosed what had passed between him and Morgan, and thediscovery himself had made of another and nearer asylum for the bravefugitive. No time was lost in expediting his removal. Incapable ofrising from his pallet, the whole family were employed in conveying himto the secret chamber, and in removing from the mausoleum every vestigeof its having been inhabited. Rubbish was piled against the door; and,to prevent the path from being traced, the small stock of cattle theBeaumonts possessed were driven into the burying-ground. The rising sunsaw their labours completed an hour before Morgan and his soldiersarrived to execute their inhuman inquisition. The care of Williams hadfrustrated the sagacity of the blood-hounds by a chemical preparation;and a night of inexpressible alarm and emotion was succeeded by a happyday, in which Isabel had the transport of having her dear father lodgedclose to her own dwelling, in a more comfortable place of concealment,where she could pay a more minute attention to his wants, and have anassistant in the task of ministering to his infirmities; that assistanttoo the lord of her affections, to whom she was ha longer compelled towear the air of cold reserve so uncongenial to her ingenuous temper.
The Beaumont family would now have felt happy, and Arthur might havetalked of love, assured of a favourable audience, had not every futureplan and private feeling been engrossed by the situation of the King,whose mournful tragedy now drew near its final close. Like many others,Arthur de Vallance had been drawn, by the grossest misrepresentations,to oppose a Prince whose real character, bursting through the mists ofadversity, now dazzled the eyes of those who had affected to speak ofhim as a meteorous exhalation, owing its lustre to chance, and destituteof the inherent qualities which constitute true greatness. To a generalrevolt and disaffection, arising from some actual and many imaginarygrievances, succeeded an universal conviction of delusion,disappointment, disgust, and contrition. All parties but that which hadthe King in their keeping were ready to unite in efforts to save himfrom those who meant to make his corse a step to his hereditary dignity;and this, no less from a sense of his deserts and injuries, than fromfeeling experimentally, that destroying the balance of the Constitutionannihilated their own liberty, and that the whips used b
y lawful rulersare, by usurpers, exchanged for scorpions. The rule of a limited monarchwas now supplied by the tyranny of many despots--I say many; for thoughCromwell had seized the whole administration into his own hands,managing what was called the House of Commons and the army by hiscreatures, annihilating the aristocratic branch of the legislature, andcajoling his brother-general, while he prepared the scaffold andsharpened the axe for the Monarch whom it was the settled purpose ofFairfax to preserve; yet his government had the feature which constantlycharacterizes newly-assumed power. He durst not disoblige the supportersof his greatness; and the services of his myrmidons were purchased by asort of tacit agreement, that they might enrich themselves with theplunder of an oppressed people. Rapacity, therefore, walked triumphantthrough the land. Loyalty and Episcopacy had already been stripped. Thebare carcase of truth and honour afforded no food for the carrion birdswho floated round the unfledged antitype of the royal eagle. Theadherents to the Rump parliament (as the House of Commons was thencalled, before Cromwell excluded from it the members who were offensiveto his views), the Presbyterians and Republicans, had lately fattened onthe miseries of their countrymen. Some of these, repenting their formererrors, made efforts to save the King's life; and, for the crime ofpetitioning to that effect, were exposed to the rigorous punishments ofimprisonment and sequestration. The royalists, conscious of theirweakness, had suspended all military efforts, and fearing lest, byirritating their enemies, they should precipitate their Master's fate,they confined themselves to supplicatory addresses to him who alone hadpower to chain the fury of these human tigers. But, in the presentinstance, it was the will of the Almighty to give a fearful lesson tothose who engage in fomenting rebellion and confusion, with anexpectation of being able to muzzle the many-headed monster they letloose, and to govern that ignorance and depravity whose irregularappetites and malignant passions they have inflamed. The blow was struckwhich disgraced the nation, released the royal martyr from his crown ofthorns, but had no power to prevent his receiving one of glory. "Adismal, universal groan burst from the thousands who witnessed thehorrid scene[2], such as was never before heard! May England never uttersuch another! The troopers rode among the populace, driving them in alldirections, and shewing the multitude, that though nine-tenths of thekingdom abhorred the action, committed in the name of all," the right ofthe majority was so little respected by these false assertors of libertyof opinion, "that it was now a state offence to express the naturalfeelings of compunction and pity." Driven to their own houses by thesatellites of usurpation, tyranny, and murder, the people then gave ventto their tears and execrations. The contrite prayers of a sinful nationarose from every dwelling; and, like the blood of the Paschal Lamb onthe doors of the Israelites, implored Divine Mercy to avert the sword ofthe destroying angel from them and their families, when he should besent in wrathful visitation to take vengeance for that detestableregicide.
[1] For a very interesting account of what passed at Pontefract Castle, and of the adventures of Colonel Morrice; see Clarendon, vol. iii.
[2] Henry, a pious and eminent Nonconformist divine, gives this account of the awful sensation generally produced by the King's murder.
