Gerald Fitzgerald, the Chevalier: A Novel

by Charles James Lever

  CHAPTER XII. A JESUIT'S STROKE OF POLICY

  Although Massoni desired greatly to inform his young guest on all thecircumstances of his parentage and his supposed rights, he perceivedall the importance of letting that communication come from the CardinalCaraffa. It was not merely that the youth would himself be moreimpressed by the tidings, but that the Cardinal would be so much themore pledged to the cause in which he had so far interested himself.

  To accomplish this project, the Jesuit had recourse to all his address,since his Eminence continued to maintain a policy of strict reserve,pledging himself to nothing, and simply saying: 'When I have seen him,and spoken with him, it will be time enough to give an opinion as to thefuture.'

  To this Massoni objected, by alluding to the evil effect of such want ofconfidence.

  'He will be a prince with royal rights and belongings one of these days;and he will not forget the cold reserve of all this policy; whereas, onthe other hand, he would never cease to remember with gratitude him fromwhose lips he first learned his good fortune.'

  He urged these and similar arguments with all his zeal, but yetunsuccessfully; and it was only at last, when he said that he wouldappeal to the Cardinal York, that Caraffa yielded, and agreed to concedeto his wishes.

  The Pere had procured copies of various documents which established themarriage of Prince Charles Edward with Grace Fitzgerald of Cappa Glynn;a record of the baptism of Gerald, who was born at Marne, in Brittany;several letters in the handwriting of the Prince, acknowledging hismarriage, and speaking of his child as one some day or other to enjoy aprincely state; and a fragment of a letter from Grace herself, in whichshe speaks of the cruelty of asking her to surrender the proofs of hermarriage, and pleads in the name of her boy for its recognition. Anotherletter from her, evidently in answer to one from the Cardinal York,whose intercession she had entreated, gave some most touching details ofher life of poverty and privation, and the straits by which she avoidedthe discovery of a secret which to herself would have been the source ofgreatness and high station. Numerous letters in the handwriting ofthe Cardinal Gualterio also showed the unavailing efforts made by thePrince's family to induce her to give a formal denial to the reputedmarriage: in these, frequent mention was made of the splendidcompensation that would be made to Grace Fitzgerald if she relinquishedher claim, and the total inutility of persisting to sustain it.

  All these documents had been obtained by Carrol, either original orcopied, from the Fitzgeralds of Cappa Glynn. Most of these had been inGrace's own possession, and some had been brought from Rome by Fra Luke,when he left that city for Ireland. A list of these papers, with theircontents, had been furnished to the Cardinal Caraffa, accompanied by ashort paper drawn up by Massoni himself. In this 'memoir,' the Perehad distinctly shown that the question of the youth's legitimacy wasindisputable, and that even if his Eminence demurred to the project ofmaking him the head of a great political movement, his right as heir tothe Prince could not be invalidated.

  The Cardinal bestowed fully three weeks over these records beforehe gave any reply to Massoni, and then he answered in a tone ofhalf-careless and discouraging meaning, 'that the papers werecurious--interesting too--from the high station of many of the writers,but evidently deficient as proofs of a matter so pregnant with greatresults.' He hinted also, that from the wayward, adventurous kind oflife Charles Edward led, a charge of this nature would not be difficultto make, and even support by every plausible evidence of its truth;and lastly, he assured the Pere that the will of his Royal Highnesscontained no allusion to such an heir, nor any provision for him.

  'You seem to make a point of my seeing the youth, to which I do notperceive there is any objection, but that you couple it with thecondition of my making him the momentous communication of his birth andrank. Surely, you cannot mean that on the vague evidence now beforeme, I am to pledge myself to these facts, and indorse documents sounsubstantiated as these are? As to your opening any communication withthe Cardinal York, I cannot listen to it. His Eminence is in the mostprecarious state of health, and his nervous irritability so intense,that any such step on your part would be highly indiscreet. If,therefore, it be your determination to take this course, mine is asfirmly adopted, to withdraw altogether from any interest in the affair.The earlier I learn from you which line you intend to pursue, the moreagreeable it will be to--Your very true friend,

  Caraffa, Cardinal.'

  Massoni returned no reply to this letter. The crafty father saw that thethreat of addressing the Cardinal York had so far affrighted Caraffa,that he was sure to come to any terms that might avoid this contingency.To leave this menace to work slowly, gradually, and powerfully into hismind, Massoni at once decided.

  When, therefore, after a week's silence, the Cardinal sent him a fewlines to intimate that his former letter remained unanswered, the Peresimply said, that his Eminence's letter was one which, in his humility,he could only reflect over, and not answer.

  The day after he had despatched this, a plain carriage, without arms,and the servants in dark grey liveries, drove into the college, and theCardinal Caraflfa got out of it, and asked to see the Elector.

  With a cheek slightly flushed, and a haughty step, Caraflfa entered thelittle library, where the Pere was seated at study, and though Massoni'sreception was marked by every observance of respectful humility, hisEminence sharply said--

  'You carry your head high, Pere Massoni. You have a haughty spirit. Isit that your familiarity with Royalty has taught you to treat Cardinalsthus cavalierly?'

  'I am the humblest slave and servant of your Eminence,' was thesubmissive answer, as with arms crossed upon his breast and head bentforward, Massoni stood before him.

  'I should be sorry to have a whole household of such material,' saidthe Cardinal with a supercilious smile; then, after a moment, and in aneasier, lighter tone of banter he said: 'And his Royal Highness, Pere,how is he?'

  'The Prince is better, your Eminence: he is able to walk about thegarden, where he is at this moment.'

  'The cares of his estate have not, I trust, interfered with hisrecovery,' said Caraflfa in the same accent of mockery.

  'If he does not yet know them,' said Massoni gravely, 'it is becausein my deference to your Eminence I have waited for yourself to make thecommunication.'

  'Are you still decided, then, that he must be of royal race?'

  'I see no reason why he should be robbed of his birthright.'

  'Would you make him the heir of Charles Edward?'

  'He is so.'

  'King of England, too?'

  'If legitimacy mean anything, he is that also.'

  'Arnulph tells us, that when a delusion gets hold of a strong intellect,it grows there like an oak that has its roots in a rock: its progressslow, its development difficult, but its tenacity ineradicable.'

  'Your Eminence's logic would be excellent in its application, but thatyou have assumed the whole question at issue! Are you so perfectly surethat this is a delusion?'

  'Let us talk like men of the world, Pere Massoni,' said Carafla bluntly.'If this tale be all true, what interest has it for you or me?'

  'Its truth, your Eminence,' said the Pere, with a gesture of deephumility, as though by a show of respect to cover the bold rebuke of hiswords.

  'So far, of course, it claims our sympathy and our support,' saidCarafla, reddening; 'but my question was addressed rather to what wouldcarry a more worldly signification. I meant, in short, to what objectcould it contribute for which we are interested?'

  'I have already, and at great length, explained to your Eminence,the importance of connecting the great convulsion of the day, with amovement in favour of monarchy and the Church. When men wandered fromthe one, they deserted the other. Let us see if the beacon that lightsto the throne should not show the path to the shrine also.'

  'You would assuredly accept a very humble instrument to begin your workwith.'

  'A fisherman and a tent-maker sustained a grander cause against a wholewo
rld!'

  The Cardinal started. He was not, for a second or two, quite satisfiedthat the reply was devoid of profanity. The calm seriousness ofMassoni's face, however, showed that the speech was not uttered in aspirit of levity.

  'Pere Massoni,' said the Cardinal seriously, 'let us bethink ourselveswell ere we are committed to the cause of this youth. Are we so surethat it is a charge will repay us?'

  'I have given the matter the best and maturest reflection,' said thePere; 'I have tested it in all ways as a question of right, of justice,and of expediency; I have weighed its influence on the present, and itsconsequences on the future; and I see no obstacles or difficulties, savesuch as present themselves where a great work is to be achieved.'

  'Had you lived in as close intimacy with the followers of the Stuartsas I have, Massoni, you would pause ere you linked the fortunes of anenterprise with a family so unlucky. Do you know,' added he earnestly,'there was scarcely a mishap of the last expedition not directlytraceable to the Prince.'

  The Pere shook his head in dissent.

  'You have not then heard, as I have, of his rashness, his levity, hisfickleness, and worse than all these, his obstinacy.'

  'There is not one of these qualities without another name,' said thePere, with a sad smile; 'and they would read as truthfully if calledbravery, high-heartedness, versatility, and resolution; but were it allas your Eminence says, it matters not. Here is an enterprise totallydifferent. The cause of the Stuarts appealed to the chivalry of apeople, and what a mere fragment of a nation accepts or recognises sucha sympathy! The cause of the Church will appeal to all that calls itselfCatholic. The great element of failure in the Jacobite cause was that itnever was a religious struggle: it was the assertion of legitimacy, therights of a dynasty; and the question of the Faith was only an incidentof the conflict. Here,' he added proudly, 'it will be otherwise, and thegreatest banner in the fight will be inscribed with a cross!'

  'Prince Charles Edward failed, with all the aid of France to back him;and how is his son--if he be his son--to succeed, who has no ally, nowealth, and no prestige?'

  'And do you not know that it was France and French treachery thatwrecked the cause of the Stuarts? Did not the Cardinal Gualterio detectthe secret correspondence between the Tuileries and St. James's? Is itnot on record that the expedition was delayed three days in sailing, togive time to transmit intelligence to the English government?'

  'These are idle stories, Massoni; Gualterio only dreamed them.'

  'Mayhap it was also a dream that the Prince was ordered to quit Paris intwenty-four hours, and the soil of France within a week, at the expressdemand of England?'

  'What you now speak of was a later policy, ignoble and mean, I admit.'

  'But why waste time on the past? Has your Eminence read the memoir Isent you?'

  'I have.'

  'Have you well and duly weighed the importance attached to the differentcharacter of the present scheme from all that has preceded it, and howmuch that character is likely to derive support from the peculiarity ofthe Irish temperament?'

  'Yes. It is a people eminently religious: steadfast in the faith.'

  'Have you well considered that if this cause be not made our own itwill be turned against us; that the agents of Irish independence--Tone,Teeling, Jackson, and other--are in close communication with the Frenchgovernment, and earnestly entreating them to despatch an expedition toIreland?'

  'This would be indeed fatal to us,' said Caraflfa despondingly.

  'And yet it is what will assuredly happen if we do not intervene.'

  'But can we prevent it?'

  'I believe we can. I believe there is even yet time to make the struggleour own. But if there is not--if it be too late--we shall have a greatgame to play. A Protestant rising must never have our support! Betterfar for us to turn to the government and by this ostentatious show ofour allegiance, lay foundation for future demands and concessions.'

  The Cardinal bent his head twice in approval.

  'All these things, however, combine to show that we must be up andstirring. Many who would be with us, if they were sure of our goingforward, will take service with Tone and his party, if we delay. Carrolhimself was pledged to report in person to the secret committee atWaterford by the eighth of the month, and we are now at the seventeenth.These delays are serious! This letter from Hussey, which only reached melast night, will show your Eminence how eagerly our answer is awaited.'

  The Cardinal made a gesture of impatience, as he declined the profferedletter.

  'It is not,' said he, 'by such considerations we are to be swayed,Massoni.'

  'Hussey insists on knowing whether or not your Eminence is with them,'said the Pere boldly, 'and if you have recognised the young Prince.'

  'So, then, he knows of your secret,' said the Cardinal with a slymalice.

  'He knew of this youth's birth and station ere I did myself: he was theconfessor of the Fitzgerald family, and attended Grace on her deathbed.'

  'Hussey, then, believes this story?'

  'He would swear to its truth, your Eminence.'

  'He is a crafty fellow, and one not easily to be deceived,' saidCaraffa, musing. 'Let me see his letter.'

  He took the letter from the Pere, and perused it carefully.

  'I see little in this,' said he, handing it back, 'that you have notalready told me.'

  'I have endeavoured to make your Eminence acquainted with everythingthat occurred,' said Massoni with downcast eyes, but yet contriving towatch the countenance of the other attentively.

  'Monsignor Hussey, then, recommends in case of any backwardness--such ishis phrase--that you yourself should reveal to this youth the story ofhis descent. Have you thought over this counsel?'

  'I have, your Eminence.'

  'Well, and to what conclusion has it led you?'

  'That there was no other course open to me,' said Massoni firmly.

  The Cardinal's brow darkened, and he turned upon the Pere a look ofinsolent defiance.

  'So, then, Pere Massoni, this is to be a trial of skill between us; butI will not accept the challenge, sir. It is without shame that I confessmyself unequal to a Jesuit in craftiness.'

  The Pere never spoke, but stood with arms crossed and bent-down head asif in thought.

  'It must be owned, sir,' continued Caraffa scoffingly, 'that you have nocraven spirit. Most men, situated as you are, would have hesitated erethey selected for their adversary a Prince of the Church.'

  Still was Massoni silent.

  'While, as to your _protege_, with one word of mine to the Ministerof Police, he would be driven out of Rome--out of the States of theChurch--as a vagabond.'

  The word had scarcely been uttered, when the door opened, and Geraldstood before them. For an instant he hesitated, abashed at hisintrusion; but Massoni stepped hastily forward, and taking his hand,said--

  'Your Eminence, this is the Chevalier!'

  Caraffa, who had known Charles Edward in his early life, stoodactually like one thunderstruck before the youth, so exactly was he hiscounterpart. His full and soft blue eyes, the long silky hair of a richbrown colour, falling heavily on his neck, the mouth, half pouting andhalf proud, and the full chin, roundly moulded as a woman's, were allthere; while in his air and mien a resemblance no less striking wasapparent. By artful thoughtfulness of the Jesuit father, the youth'sdress was made to assist the schemes, for it was a suit of black velvet,such as Charles Edward used to wear when a young man; a blue silkunder-vest, barely appearing, gave the impression that it was the ribbonof the garter, which the young Prince rarely laid aside.

  Not all the eloquence and all the subtlety of Massoni could haveaccomplished the result which was in a moment effected by thatapparition; and as Gerald stood half timidly, half haughtily there,Caraffa bowed low, and with all the deference he would have accorded tosuperior rank. For a second the dark eyes of the Jesuit flashed a gleamof triumph, but the next moment his look was calm and composed. Thecrafty Pere saw that the battle was
won if the struggle could bebut concluded at once, and so, addressing Gerald in a tone of markeddeference, he said--

  'I have long wished for the day when I should see this meeting; that itsconfidence may be unbroken and undisturbed, I will withdraw,' and with aseparate reverence to each, the Pere backed to the door and retired.

  Whatever suspicions might have occurred to the Cardinal's mind had hebut time for reflection, there was now no opportunity to indulge. Allhad happened so rapidly, and above all there was still the spell overhim of that resemblance, which seemed every moment to increase; suchindeed was its influence, that it at once routed all the considerationsof his prudent reserve, and made him forget everything save that hestood in the presence of a Stuart.

  'If I am confused, sir, and agitated,' began he, 'at this our firstmeeting, lay it to the account of the marvellous resemblance by whichyou recall my recollection of the Prince, your father. I knew him whenhe was about your own age, and when he graciously distinguished me bymany marks of his favour.'

  'My father!' said Gerald, over whose face a deep crimson blush firstspread, and then a pallor equally great succeeded--'did you say myfather?'

  'Yes, sir. It was my fortune to be associated closely with his RoyalHighness at St. Germains and afterward in Auvergne.'

  Overcome by his feeling of amazement at what he heard, and yet unableto summon calmness to inquire further, Gerald sank into a chair, vainlytrying to collect his faculties. Meanwhile Caraffa continued--

  'As an old man and a priest I may be forgiven for yielding slowly toconvictions, and for what almost would seem a reluctance to acceptas fact the evidence of your birth and station; but your presence,sir--your features as you sit there, the image of your father--appealto something more subtle than my reason, and I feel that I am in thepresence of a Stuart. Let me, then, be the first to offer the homagethat is, or at least one day will be, your right'; and so saying, theCardinal took Gerald's hand and pressed it to his lips.

  'Is this a dream?' muttered Gerald, half aloud--'is my brain wandering?'

  'No, sir, you are awake; the past has been the dream--the long years ofsorrow and poverty--the trials and perils of your life of accident andadventure--this has been the dream; but you are now awake to learnthat you are the true-born descendant of a Royal House--a Prince of theStuarts--the legitimate heir to a great throne!'

  'I beseech you, sir,' cried Gerald, in a voice broken by emotion, whilethe tears filled his eyes, 'I beseech you, sir, not to trifle with thefeelings of one whose heart has been so long the sport of fortune, thatany, even the slightest shock, may prove too powerful for his strength.'

  'You are, sir, all that I have said. My age and the dress I wear may bemy guarantees that I do not speak idly nor rashly.'

  A long-drawn sigh burst from the youth, and with it he fainted.