CHAPTER XIX
THE LIBRARY OF THE SURVEYOR-GENERAL
At a long, low table stood Mistress Betty Carrington, her slender figureenveloped in an apron of blue dowlas, her sleeves of fine holland rolledabove her elbows, and her white and rounded arms plunged deep into agreat bowl filled with the purple globes of the wild grape. A row ofchildren knelt on the brick floor at her feet, busily stripping thefruit from the stems, and negresses, hard by, strained with sinewy handsthe crimson juice from the pulpy mass into jars of earthenware. To thisgroup suddenly entered a breathless urchin.
"Ohe, mistis! de Gov'nor an' Massa Peyton comin' up de road!"
Betty suspended her operations with a little cry. "The Governor!" sheexclaimed in dismay. "And my father is gone a-processioning;--and mygown is not seemly;--and he cannot be kept waiting!" She threw off herapron, dipped her hands into the water the slaves poured for her, andwas at the hall door in time to courtesy to the Governor, as, followedby a groom, and attended by Mr. Peyton, he rode up to the house.
With the agility of youth his Excellency sprung from his horse, threwthe reins to the groom, and advanced to greet the lady. A richly lacedriding-suit became his still slight and elegant figure to a marvel; hisgilt-spurred, Spanish leather boots were of the newest, most approvedcut; his periwig was fresh curled, and framed with distinction ahandsome, if somewhat withered, countenance. He doffed his Spanish hatwith a bow and flourish: Betty courtesied profoundly.
"Welcome to Rosemead, your Excellency."
"I greet you well, pretty Mistress Betty," said the Governor, and took agovernor's privilege. Mr. Peyton looked as though he would have liked tofollow his Excellency's example, but was fain to content himself withthe lady's hand, resigned to the respectful pressure of his lips with acharming blush and a dropping of long-fringed eyelids.
"Where is your father, sweetheart?" demanded the Governor.
"Ah! your Excellency, he is unfortunate. The vestry hath appointed thisday for the examination of boundaries in this parish, and as hisMajesty's Surveyor-General he leads the procession. But will not yourExcellency await his return? He will be here anon, and with him ColonelVerney."
"Then will I wait, pretty one; for I have weighty matters to discussboth with him and with Dick Verney."
Betty ushered them into the great room, cool, dark, and fragrant ofroses.
"If your Excellency will permit me to withdraw, I will order somerefreshment for you after your long ride."
The Governor sank into an armchair, and smiled graciously.
"Faith! a bit of pasty comes not amiss after a morning canter. Andprithee see to the sack thyself, Mistress Betty. And a dish of pippinsand cheese," continued the Governor, meditatively, "and a rasher ofbacon."
"There was a fine comb taken from the hive this morning. Will yourExcellency choose a bit? And there are dates, sent my father by thecaptain of the Barbary vessel, and a quince tart--"
"We will taste of it all," said his Excellency, graciously, "andafterwards a pipe and a saucer of sweet scented, and your company, mylove. Mr. Peyton, the lady may find the honeycomb too heavy for herlifting. We will excuse you to her assistance."
"I am your Excellency's most obedient servant," quoth Mr. Peyton withdue submission, and hastened after his blushing mistress.
The Governor, left alone, strolled to the window and looked out upon theChesapeake, lying blue and unruffled beneath the dazzling sunshine; tothe mantel-piece, and smelt of the roses in the blue china bowl; to thespinet, and picked out "Here's to Royal Charles" with one finger;--andfinally brought up before a corner cupboard, found the key in the door,turned it, and came upon the Surveyor-General's library.
"H'm, what has he here?" soliloquized his Excellency. "'Purchas; HisPilgrimes,' of course; 'General History of Virginia, New England and theSummer Isles,' well and good; 'Good News from Virginia,' humph! thatmust have been before my time; 'Public Good without Private Interest,'humph! What's this? 'Areopagitica,' John Milton! John Hypocrite andParricide! A pretty author, and a pretty cause he advocates,--I thankGod there are no schools and no printing presses in this colony, norare like to be,--and a courageous Surveyor-General to keep by him suchpestilent stuff in the present year of grace. 'Abuses Stript and Whipt,''Anglia Rediva,' 'Diary of Nehemiah Wallington,' 'Bastwick's Litany!'Miles Carrington, Miles Carrington! I have my eye on thee! Thou hadstneed to walk warily! 'Zion's Plea against Prelacy,' damnation! 'Speechof Mr. Hampden,' death and hell! 'Eikonoklastes,' may the foul fiend flyaway with my soul!"
And the Governor closed the cupboard door with a bang, and, with a veryred and frowning face, went back to his seat, and there sank into areverie, which lasted until the entrance of Mistress Betty and Mr.Peyton, followed by two slaves bearing an ample repast.
An hour later came home the Surveyor-General, bringing with him ColonelVerney, Sir Charles Carew, and Captain Laramore.
The Surveyor-General made stately apologies to his Excellency for hisunavoidable absence: his Excellency, holding himself very erect, heardhim out, and then said coldly, "Major Carrington may rest at ease. I wassufficiently amused."
"Truly the county knows Mr. Peyton's powers of entertainment," said theSurveyor-General with a bow and smile for that young gentleman.
"Mr. Peyton had other occupation," said the Governor dryly. "And I fearthat his is too cavalier a wit, and that his sonnets and madrigals savortoo much of loyalty to the Anointed of the Lord and to His Church tohave proved acceptable to the worshipful company with whom I have beenengaged. I have to congratulate his Majesty's Surveyor-General on thepossession of such a library as, I dare swear, is to be found in noother house in this, his Majesty's _loyal_ dominion of Virginia."
Carrington glanced towards the cupboard, and bit his lip.
"I am pleased," he said stiffly, "that your Excellency hath foundwherewithal to pass an idle hour."
"It is, indeed, a choice collection," said the Governor, with a smoothtongue, but with an angry light in his eyes. "May I ask by whom it waschosen; who it was that so carefully culled nightshade and poison oak?"
"_I_ choose my own reading," said Carrington haughtily. "And I see notwhy Sir William Berkeley should concern himself--"
"This passes!" exclaimed the Governor, giving rein to his fury andstriking his hand against the table. "It doth concern me much, MajorCarrington, both as a true man, and as the Governor of this Colony, therepresentative of his blessed Majesty, King Charles the Second, may allwhose enemies, private and open, be confounded! that a gentleman whoholds a high office in this Colony should have in his possession--ay!and read, too, for 'tis a well-thumbed copy--that foul emanation from afouler mind, that malicious, outrageous, damnable, proscribed book,called 'Eikonoklastes!'"
"If Sir William Berkeley doubts my loyalty--" began Carrington fiercely.
"Major Carrington, you are too popular a man!" broke in the Governor asfiercely. "When, upon that black day, ten years ago, the usurper'sfrigates entered the Chesapeake, and taking us unprepared, compelled(God forgive me!) my submission, who but Miles Carrington welcomed andentertained the four commissioners (commissioners from a RoundheadParliament to a King's Governor!)? Who but Miles Carrington was hand inglove with the shopkeeper Bennett and the renegade Matthews? Oh! theyused their power mildly, I deny it not! They were gracious andlong-suffering; they left to the loyal gentlemen, their sometimefriends, life and lands; they contented themselves with banishing aloyal Governor to his own manor-house, and not, as they might have done,to the wilderness, to perish amongst the savages. O, they were exemplarydespots! What, when a turn of Fortune's wheel brought them up, couldgrateful, loyal gentlemen, could a grateful King's Governor do, butfollow the example set them and be civil to the officers of the lateCommonwealth, and something more than civil to the gentleman who sogracefully avowed that he had but bowed to the times, and that therestored sovereign had no more faithful subject than he? When hisMajesty was graciously pleased to continue that gentleman (at thesolicitation of his loyal kindred at hom
e) in the office ofSurveyor-General to this colony, sure, we all rejoiced. It is not withthe past of Major Carrington that I quarrel; it is with the present. Inhis case, that which should speak loudest for his recovered loyalty iswanting. Others there are who have that witness. Let Mr. Digges rideabroad, and from his cabin-door some prick-eared cur cried out,'Renegade!' (Pardon me, the word is not mine.) The Oliverian andschismatic servants spit at him. Is it so with Major Carrington? ByG--d, no! These people uncover to him as though he were the arch rebelhimself. Speak of his Majesty's Surveyor-General before an Oliverian,and the fellow pricks up his ears like a charger that scents the battle.Nay, I am told that in their conventicles the schismatics pray for him,that he may be brought back into the fold, and may become a secondMoses, and lead them out of Egypt! Even the Quakers have a good word forhim. Major Carrington asks me if I question his loyalty. I answer that Iknow not, but I do know that the discontented and mutinous of the landdo look upon him with too favorable a regard. And his loyalty is of thattender age that it may well be susceptible to the influence of the evileye." The Governor, who was now in a white heat of passion, stopped forbreath.
"Sir William Berkeley, you shall answer to me for this!" said theSurveyor-General, with white lips.
"With all the pleasure in life," said the Governor, clapping his hand tohis rapier.
Carrington folded his arms. "Not now," he said, with stern courtesy. "Ibelieve your Excellency sleeps at Verney Manor? I, too, am invitedthither. There, and it please you, we will adjust our little difference.For the present, you are my guest."
The Governor choked down his passion, though with difficulty. "Tillto-night then--" he began, when Colonel Verney interposed.
"Neither to-night, nor at any other time," he said sturdily. "Gadzooks!have not his Majesty's servants enough on hand without employing theirtime in pinking one another? Here are the Chickahominies restive, andthose plaguy Ricahecrians amongst us, and the Nansemond Independentsprophesying the end of the world, and the witches' trial coming on, andthe Quakers to be routed out, and on top of it all this story thatLudlow brings of a redemptioner's assertion that there is afoot anOliverian plot. And his Majesty's Governor, and his Majesty'sSurveyor-General with drawn rapiers! For shame, gentlemen! MajorCarrington, my good friend and neighbor, for whose loyalty to ourpresent gracious sovereign I would answer for as I would for my own,forget the hasty words which I am sure Sir William Berkeley alreadyregrets. Come, Sir William, acknowledge that you were over-choleric."
"I'll be d--d if I do!" cried the Governor.
"We meet to-night," said the Surveyor-General.
The Colonel turned to Sir Charles Carew, who had been a highly amusedspectator of this little scene.
"Charles," he said impressively, "report hath it that you have figuredin more affairs of honor than any man of your age at court. You shouldbe a nice judge of such gear. Join me in assuring these gentlemen thatthey may be reconciled, and their honor receive not the least taint; andso avert a duel which would be a scandal to the community, and a menaceto the state."
Sir Charles glanced from the pacific Colonel to the sternly collectedSurveyor-General, and thence to the fiery Governor, whose white, jeweledfingers twitched with impatience.
"Certainly, sir," he said lazily, "you are welcome to my poor opinion,which is that, considering the nature of the provocation, and thestanding of the parties, there is one way out of the affair with honor."
"Exactly!" said the Colonel eagerly.
Sir Charles locked his hands behind his head. "There's a very prettypiece of ground behind your orchard, sir," he said, dreamily regardingthe ceiling. "I noticed it the other day, and sink me! if I did notwish for Harry Bellasses with whom I have fought three times. 'Tis evera word and a blow with Harry! The light just at sunset is excellent,though your twilight cometh over soon. May I venture to suggest to yourExcellency that your _riposte_ is more brilliant than safe? MajorCarrington, your parade is somewhat out of fashion. I could teach youthe newest French mode in five minutes."
"I am obliged for your offer, sir," said the Surveyor-General dryly."The other has served my turn, and must do so again."
"Sir Charles Carew will do me the honor to be my second?" asked theGovernor of that gentleman, who answered with a low bow, and a "Thehonor is mine."
"Captain Laramore?" said the Surveyor-General.
"At your service, Major," cried the Captain, a dashing, black-a-visedpersonage, with large gold rings in his ears, a plume a yard long in hiscastor, and a general Drawcansir air.
"Will Captain Laramore fight?" inquired Sir Charles. "I have had thehonor of changing the date for sailing for several gentlemen of hisprofession."
"Even so accomplished a swordsman as Sir Charles Carew is allowed to be,hath yet a lesson to learn," said the doughty captain.
"And that is--"
"Pride shall have a fall--to-night."
Sir Charles smiled politely. "The ship that is anchored off yonder pointis yours, is it not? Would you not like to take a last look at her? Orto leave instructions for your lieutenant and successor? There is timefor you to gallop to the point and back."
"Am I to have the honor of crossing swords with you, Colonel Verney?"asked Mr. Peyton.
"No, sir!" exclaimed the vexed Colonel. "You are not! I wash my hands ofthis foolish fray. William Berkeley, I have never scrupled to tell theewhen I thought thee in the wrong. I think so now. Charles, thou art animpudent fellow! I have it in my mind to wish that the Captain may givethee the lesson he talks of."
"Thank you, sir," drawled the gentleman addressed. "Mr. Peyton looksquite disconsolate. Sink me! if it's not a shame to leave him out in thecold. If he will wait his turn I will be happy to oblige him when I havedisposed of the Captain."
"You will do no such thing!" retorted his kinsman. "Mr. Peyton, takeyour hand off your sword! At least there shall be two sane men at thismeeting. I suppose, gentlemen, you agree with me that this affair cannotbe kept too private? To that end you had best ride with me to VerneyManor, and there have it out on this plot of ground Charles talks of. Itis at least retired."
"'Tis a most sweet spot," said Sir Charles.
"Good!" quoth the Governor. "And now that this little matter is settled,I am once more, and for the present, sir, simply your obliged guest andservant," and he bowed to the Surveyor-General.
Carrington returned the bow. "We will drink to our better acquaintanceto-night. Pompey! the sack and the aqua vitae. And, Pompey! a handful ofmint."
The company fell to drinking, and then to tobacco. The Governor, whosefits of passion were as short as they were violent, arrived by rapiddegrees at a pitch of high good humor. The company listened gravely forthe fiftieth time to stories of the court of the first James; ofBuckingham's amours, of the beauty of Henrietta Maria, of a visit toParis, an interview with Richelieu, a duel with a captain ofMousquetaires, a kiss imprinted upon the fair hand of Anne of Austria.The charmed stream of the old courtier's reminiscences flowed on--hestopped for breath, and Sir Charles took the word and proceeded tounfold before their dazzled eyes a gorgeous phantasmagoria. The King,the Duke, Sedley and Buckingham, Mesdames Castlemaine, Stuart andGwynne, Dryden and Waller and Lely, the King's house, the Queen'schapel, the Queen's duennas, the Tityre Tus, Paul's Walk, the RussianAmbassador, astrologers, orange girls, balls, masques, pageants, duels,the court of Louis le Grand, the King's hunting parties, Madamed'Orleans, Olympe di Mancini.
The Governor listened with dilating nostrils and sparkling eyes; ColonelYerney's vexed countenance smoothed itself; Captain Laramore, sittingwith outstretched legs, and head hidden in clouds of tobacco smoke,rumbled from out that obscurity laughter and strange oaths. Even Mr.Peyton, after vainly trying to fix his attention upon the constructionof a sonnet to his mistress's eyebrow, succumbed to the enchantment, andsat with parted lips, drinking in wonders; but the Surveyor-General,though he listened courteously, listened with forced smiles and with anattention which was hard to preserve from wandering.
In the midst of a brilliant account of the nuptials of the Chevalier deGrammont came an interruption.
"De horses am fed an' brought roun', massa."
The Governor started up. "Rat me, if good sack and good stories makenot a man forget all else beside! Colonel Verney, I wish you, aslieutenant of this shire, to ride with me to this Chickahominy villagewhere I have promised an audience to the half king of the tribe. Plagueon the unreasonable vermin! Why can they not give way peaceably? If thecolony needs and takes their lands, it leaves them a plenty elsewhere.Let them fall back towards the South Sea. Sir Charles, I grieve for thenecessity, but we must leave the court and come back to the wilderness.Gentlemen, will you ride with Verney and me, or shall we part now tomeet at sunset in his orchard?"
"We had best ride with your Excellency," said Carrington gravely. "Ilike not the temper of the Chickahominies, who ever mean most when theysay least. And these roving Ricahecrians, their guests, are of a strangeand fierce aspect. It is as well to go in force."
"Those vagrants from the Blue Mountains have been here overlong," saidthe Governor. "I shall send them packing! Well, gentlemen, since we areto have the pleasure of your company, boot and saddle is the word!"
Prisoners of Hope: A Tale of Colonial Virginia Page 19
