CHAPTER XXXII: SEVEN YEARS
"It was between the night and day, When the Fairy King has power,That I sunk down in a sinful fray,And 'twixt life and death was snatched away To the joyless Elfin bower."
SCOTT.
This motto was almost the account that the twisted figure, withqueer contortions of face, yet delicate feet and hands, and daintyutterance, might have been expected to give, when Anne asked him,"Was it you, really?"
"I--or my double?" he asked. "When?"
She told him, and he seemed amazed.
"So you were there? Well, you shall hear. You know how thingsstood with me--your mother, my good spirit, dead, my uncle away, myfather bent on driving me to utter desperation, and Martha Browninglaying her great red hands on me--"
"Oh, sir, she really loved you, and is far wiser and more tolerantthan you thought her."
"I know," he smiled grimly. "She buried the huge Scot that waskilled in the great smuggling fray under the Protector, with allhonours, in our family vault, and had a long-winded sermon preachedon my untimely end. Ha! ha!" with his mocking laugh.
"Don't, sir! If you had seen your father then! Why did no one comeforward and explain?"
"Mayhap there were none at hand who knew, or wished to meddle withthe law," he said. "Well, things were beyond all bearing at home,and you were going away, and would not so much as look at me. Now,one of the few sports my father did not look askance at was fishing,and he would endure my being out at night with, as he thought, poorman, old Pete Perring, who was as stern a Puritan as himself; but Ihad livelier friends, and more adventurous. They had connectionswith French free-traders for brandy and silks, and when they found Iwas one with them, my French tongue was a boon to them, till I cameto have a good many friends among the Norman fishermen, and to knowthe snug hiding-places about the coast. So at last I made up mymind to be off with them, and make my way to my uncle in Muscovy. Ihad raised money enough at play and on the jewels one picks up in anenvoy's service, and there was one good angel whom I meant to takewith me if I could secure her and bind her wings. Now you know withwhat hopes I saw you gathering flowers alone that morning."
Anne clasped her hands; Charles had truly interfered with goodcause.
"I had all arranged," he continued; "my uncle would have given you ahearty welcome, and made our peace with my father, or if not, hewould have left us all his goods, and secured my career. What callhad that great lout, with a wife of his own too, to come thrustingbetween us? I thought I should make short work of him, and give hima lesson against meddling--great unlicked cub as he was, while I hadhad the best training at Berlin and Paris in fencing; but somehowthose big strong fellows, from their very clumsiness, throw one out.And he meant mischief--yes, that he did. I saw it in his eyes. Isuppose his sulky rustic jealousy was a-fire at a few littlecivilities to that poor little wife of his. Any way, when he boreme down like the swing of a windmill, he drove his sword home. Talkof his being innocent! Why should he never look whether I were deador alive, but fling me headlong into that pit?"
Anne could not but utter her eager defence, but it was met with asinister smile, half of scorn, half of pity, and as she would havegone on, "Hush! your pleading only fills up the measure of myloathing."
Her heart sank, but she let him go on, listening perhaps lessattentively as she considered how to take him.
"In fact," he continued, "little as the lubber knew it, 'twas thebest he could have done for me. For though I never looked for suchluck as your being out in the court at that hour, I did think thechance not to be lost of visiting the garden or the churchyard, andthere were waiting in the vault a couple of stout Normans, who wereto come at my whistle. It seems that when I came tumbling down intheir midst, senseless and bleeding like a calf, they did not takeit quite so easily as your champion above, but began doing what theycould for me, and were trying to staunch the wound, when they hearda trampling and a rumbling overhead, and being aware that ourundertaking might look ugly in the sight of the law, and thinkingthis might be pursuers, they carried me off with all speed, not somuch as stopping to pick up the things that have made such acommotion. Was there any pursuit?"
"Oh no; it must have been the haymakers."
"No doubt. The place was in no great favour with our own people;they were in awe of the big Scot, who is in comfortable quarters inmy grave, and the Frenchmen could not have found their way thither,so it was let alone till Mistress Martha's researches. So I came tomyself in the boat in which they took me on board the lugger thatwas waiting for us; and instead of making for Alderney, as I hadintended, so as to get the knot safely tied to your satisfaction,they sailed straight for Havre. They had on board a Jesuit father,whom I had met once or twice among the Duke of Berwick's people, butwho had found Portsmouth too hot to hold him in the frenzy ofProtestant zeal on the Bishops' account. He had been beset, andowed his life, he says, to the fists of the Breton and Normansailors, who had taken him on board. It was well for me, for Idoubt if ever I was tough enough to have withstood my good friends'treatment. He had me carried to a convent in Havre, where thefathers nursed me well; and before I was on my legs again, I hadmade up my mind to cast in my lot with them, or rather with theirChurch."
"Oh!"
"I had been baulked of winning the one being near whom my devilnever durst come. And blood-letting had pretty well disposed ofhim. I was as meek and mild as milk under the good fathers.Moreover, as my good friend at Turin had told me, and they repeatedit, such a doubly heretical baptism as mine was probably invalid,and accounted for my being as much a vessel of wrath as even myfather was pleased to call me. There was the Queen's rosary drawingme too. Everything else was over with me, and it seemed to open anew life. So, bless me, what a soft and pious frame I was in whenthey chastened me, water, oil, salt and all, on what my father ragedat folks calling Lammas Day, but which it seems really belongs toSt. Peter in the Fetters. So I was named Pierre or Piers after him,thus keeping my own initial."
"Piers! oh! not Piers Pigwiggin?"
"Pierre de Pilpignon, if you please. I have a right to that too;but we shall come to it by and by. I can laugh now, or perhapsweep, over the fervid state I was in then, as if I had trodden downmy snake, and by giving up everything--you, estate, career, I couldkeep him down. So it was settled that I would devote myself to thepriesthood--don't laugh!--and I was ordered off to their seminary inLondon, partly, I believe, for the sake of piloting a couple offathers, who could not speak a word of English. It was, as theyrightly judged, the last place where my father would think oflooking for me, but they did not as rightly judge that we shouldlong keep possession there. Matters grew serious, and it was notover safe in the streets. There was a letter of importance from afriend in Holland, carrying the Prince of Orange's hypocriticalDeclaration, which was to be got to Father Petre or the King on thenight--Hallowmas Eve it was--and I was told off to put on a seculardress, which I could wear more naturally than most of them, andconvey it."
"Ah, that explains!"
"Apparition number one! I guessed you were somewhere in thoseparts, and looked up at the windows, and though I did not see you, Ibelieve it was your eyes that first sent a thrill through me thatboded ill for Roman orders. After that we lived in a continualstate of rumours and alarms, secret messages and expeditions, untilI, being strong in the arm and the wind and a feather-weight, wasone of those honoured by rowing the Queen and Prince across theriver. M. de St. Victor accepted me. He told me there would be twonurses, but never knew or cared who they were, nor did I guess, aswe sat in the dark, how near I was to you. And only for one seconddid I see your face, as you were entering the carriage, and Iblessed you the more for what you were doing for Her Majesty."
He proceeded to tell how he had accompanied the Jesuit fathers, ontheir leaving London, to the great English seminary at Douai, andbeing for the time convinced by them that his feelings towards Annewere a delusion of the enemy, he had studied with all his might, andas
health and monotony of life began to have their accustomed effectin rousing the restlessness and mischievousness of his nature, withall the passions of manhood growing upon him, he strove to forcethem down by fasting and scourging. He told, in a bitter, almostsavage way, of his endeavours to flog his demon out of himself, andof his anger and disappointment at finding Piers Pilgrim in theseminary of Douai, quite as subject to his attacks as ever was PerryOakshott under a sermon of Mr. Horncastle's.
Then came the information among the students that the governor ofthe city, the Marquis de Nidemerle, had brought some Englishgentlemen and ladies to visit the gardens. As most of the studentswere of British families there was curiosity as to who they were,and thus Peregrine heard that one was young Archfield of theHampshire family, with his tutor, and the lady was Mistress Darpent,daughter to a French lawyer, who had settled in England after theFronde. Anne's name had not transpired, for she was viewed merelyas an attendant. Peregrine had been out on some errand in the town,and had a distant view of his enemy as he held him, flaunting aboutwith a fine lady on his arm, forgetting the poor little pretty wifewhom no doubt he had frightened to death."
"Oh! you little know how tenderly he speaks of her."
"Tenderly!--that's the way they speak of me at Oakwood, eh? Human,not to say elf, nature, could not withstand giving the fellow astart. I sped off, whipped into the Church, popped into a surpliceI found ready to hand, caught up a candle, and!--Little did I thinkwho it was that was hanging on his arm. So little did I know itthat my heart began to be drawn to St. Germain, where I stillimagined you. Altogether, after that prank, all broke out again. Ientertained the lads with a few more freaks, for which I did amplepenance, but it grew on me that in my case all was a weariness and asham, and that my demon might get a worse hold of me if I got into acourse of hypocrisy. They were very good to me, those fathers, butJesuits as they were, I doubt whether they ever fathomed me. Anyway, perhaps they thought I should be a scandal, but they agreedwith me that their order was not my vocation, and that we had betterpart before my fiend drove me to do so with dishonour. They evengave me recommendations to the French officers that were besiegingTournay. I knew the Duke of Berwick a little at Portsmouth, and itended in my becoming under-secretary to the Duke of Chartres. A manwho knows languages has his value among Frenchmen, who despise allbut their own."
Peregrine did not enter into full details of this stage of hiscareer, and Anne was not fully informed of the habits that the youngDuke of Chartres, the future Regent Duke of Orleans, was alreadydeveloping, but she gathered that, what the young man called hisdemon, had nearly undisputed sway over him, and she had not spenteight months at St. Germain without knowing by report of thedissolute manners of the substratum of fashionable society at Paris,even though outward decorum had been restored by Madame deMaintenon. Yet he seemed to have been crossed by fits of vehementpenitence, and almost the saddest part of the story was the mockingtone in which he alluded to these.
He had sought service at the Court in the hope of meeting MissWoodford there, and had been grievously disappointed when he foundthat she had long since returned to England. The sight of thegracious and lovely countenance of the exiled Queen seemed always tohave moved and touched him, as in some inexplicable manner her eyesand expression recalled to him those of Mrs. Woodford and Anne; butthe thought had apparently only stung him into the sense of beingforsaken and abandoned to his own devices or those of his evilspirit.
One incident, occurring some three years previously, he told morefully, as it had a considerable effect on his life. "I wasattending the Duke in the gardens at Versailles," he said, "when wewere aware of a great commotion. All the gentlemen were standinggazing up into the top of a great chestnut tree, the King and all,and in the midst stood the Abbe de Fenelon with his little pupils,the youngest, the Duke of Anjou, sobbing piteously, and the Duke ofBurgundy in a furious passion, stamping and raging, and onlywithheld from rolling on the ground by the Abbe's hand grasping hisshoulder. 'I will not have him killed! He is mine,' he cried. Andup in the tree, the object of all their gaze, was a monkey with apaper fluttering in his hand. Some one had made a present of thecreature to the King's grandsons; he was the reigning favourite, andhaving broken his chain, had effected an entrance by the window intothe King's cabinet, where after giving himself the airs of aminister of state, on being interrupted, he had made off through thewindow with an important document, which he was affecting to peruseat his leisure, only interrupting himself to hurl down leaves orunripe chestnuts at those who attempted to pelt him with stones, andthis only made him mount higher and higher, entirely out of theirreach, for no one durst climb after him. I believe it was a letterfrom the King of Spain; at any rate the whole Cabinet was in agonylest the brute should proceed to tear it into fragments, and amusqueteer had been sent for to shoot him down. I remembered mysuccess with the monkey on poor little Madam Archfield's back--nay,perhaps 'twas the same, my familiar taking shape. I threw myself atthe King's feet, and desired permission to deal with the beast. Bygood luck it had not been so easy as they supposed to find a musquetfit for immediate use, so I had full time. To ascend the tree wasno more than I had done many times before, and I went high in thebranches, but cautiously, not to give Monsieur le Singe the idea ofbeing pursued, lest he should leap to a bough incapable ofsupporting me. When I had reached a fork tolerably high, and wherehe could see me, I settled myself, took out a letter, whichfortunately was in my pocket, read it with the greatestdeliberation, the monkey watching me all the time, and finally Iproceeded to fold it neatly in all its creases. The creatureimitated me with its black fingers, little aware, poor thing, thatthe musqueteer had covered him with his weapon, and was waiting forthe first sign of tearing the letter to pull the trigger, butwithheld by a sign from the King, who did not wish to sacrifice hisgrandson's pet before his eyes. Finally, after finishing thefolding, I doubled it a second time, and threw it at the animal. Tomy great joy he returned the compliment by throwing the other at myhead. I was able to catch it, and moreover, as he was disposed togo in pursuit of his plaything, he swung his chain so near me that Igot hold of it, twisted it round my arm, and made the best of my waydown the tree, amid the 'Bravos!' started by the royal lipsthemselves, and repeated with ecstasy by all the crowd, who wavedtheir hats, and made such a hallooing that I had much ado to get themonkey down safely; but finally, all dishevelled, with my best cuffsand cravat torn to ribbons, and my wig happily detached, unlikeAbsalom's, for it remained in the tree, I had the honour ofpresenting on my knee the letter to the King, and the monkey to thePrinces. I kissed His Majesty's hand, the little Duke of Anjoukissed the monkey, and the Duke of Burgundy kissed me with armsround my neck, then threw himself on his knees before hisgrandfather to ask pardon for his passion. Every one said myfortune was made, and that my agility deserved at least the cordonbleu. My own Duke of Chartres, who in many points is like hiscousin, our late King Charles, gravely assured me that a new officewas to be invented for me, and that I was to be Grand Singier duRoi. I believe he pushed my cause, and so did the little Duke ofBurgundy, and finally I got the pension without the office, and agood deal of occasional employment besides, in the way oftranslation of documents. There were moments of success at play.Oh yes, quite fairly, any one with wits about him can make hisprofit in the long-run among the Court set. And thus I had enoughto purchase a pretty little estate and chateau on the coast ofNormandy, the confiscated property of a poor Huguenot refugee, sothat it went cheap. It gives the title of Pilpignon, which Iassumed in kindness to the tongues of my French friends. So yousee, I have a station and property to which to carry you, my fairone, won by myself, though only by catching an ape."
He went on to say that the spot had been chosen advisedly, with aview to communication with the opposite coast, where his oldconnection with the smugglers was likely to be useful in theJacobite plots. "As you well know," he said, "my father had donehis utmost to make Whiggery stink in my nostrils, to say nothin
g ofthe kindness I have enjoyed from our good Queen; and I was ready todo my utmost in the cause, especially after I had stolen a glimpseof you, and when Charnock, poor fellow, returning from reconnoitringamong the loyal, told me that you were still unmarried, and livingas a dependent in the Archfields' house. Our headquarters were inRomney Marsh, but it was as well to have, as it were, a back doorhere, and as it has turned out it has been the saving of some ofus."
"Oh, sir! you were not in that wicked plot?"
"Nay; surely _you_ are not turned Whig."
"But this was assassination."
"Not at all, if they would have listened to me. The Dutchman is nobigger than I am. I could have dropped on him from one of his treesat Hampton Court, or through a window, via presto, and we would havehad him off by the river, given him an interview to beg his uncle'spardon, and despatched him for the benefit of his asthma to thecompany of the Iron Mask at St. Marguerite; then back again, theKing to enjoy his own again, Dr. Woodford, archbishop or bishop ofwhatever you please, and a lady here present to be Marquise dePilpignon, or Countess of Havant, whichever she might prefer. Yes,truly those were the hopes with which I renewed my communicationswith the contraband trade on this coast, a good deal more numeroussince the Dutchman and his wars have raised the duties and drivenmany good men to holes and corners.
"Ever since last spring, when the Princess Royal died, and thusextinguished the last spark of forbearance in the King's breast, Ihave been here, there, and everywhere--Romney Marsh, Drury Lane,Paris, besides this place and Pilpignon, where I have a snug harbourfor the yacht, Ma Belle Annik, as the Breton sailors call her. Thecrew are chiefly Breton; it saves gossip; but I have a boat's crewof our own English folk here, stout fellows, ready for anything byland or sea."
"The Black Gang," said Anne faintly.
"Don't suppose I have meddled in their exploits on the road," hesaid, "except where a King's messenger or a Royal mail wasconcerned, and that is war, you know, for the cause. Unluckily mypersonal charms are not easily disguised, so that I have had to lurkin the background, and only make my private investigations in theguise of my own ghost."
"Then so it was you saved the dear little Philip?" said Anne.
"The Archfield boy? I could not see a child sent to his destructionby that villain Sedley, whoever were his father, for he meantmischief if ever man did. 'Twas superhuman scruple not to hold yourpeace and let him swing."
"What was it, then, on his cousin's part?"
Peregrine only answered with a shrug. It appeared further, that aslong as the conspirators had entertained any expectation of success,he had merely kept a watch over Anne, intending to claim her in thehour of the triumph of his party, when he looked to enjoy such aposition as would leave his brother free to enjoy his paternalinheritance. In the failure of all their schemes through Mr.Pendergrast's denunciation, Sir George Barclay, and one or twoinferior plotters, had succeeded in availing themselves of theassistance of the Black Gang, and had been conducted by Peregrine tothe hut that he had fitted up for himself. Still trusting to thesecurity there, although his name of Piers Pilgrim or de Pilpignonhad been among those given up to the Privy Council, he had insistedon lingering, being resolved that an attempt should be made to carryaway the woman he had loved for so many years. Captain Burford hadso disguised himself as to be able to attend the trial, loiter aboutthe inn, and collect intelligence, while the others waited on thedowns. Peregrine had watched over the capture, but being unwillingto disclose himself, had ridden on faster and crossed direct,traversing the Island on horseback, while the captive was roundingit in the boat. "As should never have been done," he said, "could Ihave foretold to what stress of weather you would be exposed while Iwas preparing for your reception. But for this storm--it rageslouder than ever--we would have been married by a little parson whomBurford would have fetched from Portsmouth, and we should have beenover the Channel, and my people hailing my bride with ecstasy."
"Never!" exclaimed Anne. "Can you suppose I could accept one whowould leave an innocent man to suffer?"
"People sometimes are obliged to accept," said Peregrine. Then ather horrified start, "No, no, fear no violence; but is not somethingdue to one who has loved you through exile all these years, andwould lay down his life for you? you, the only being who overcomeshis evil angel!"
"This is what you call overcoming it," she said.
"Nay; indeed, Mistress Anne, I would let the authorities know thatthey are hanging a man for murdering one who is still alive if Icould; but no one would believe without seeing, and I and all whocould bear witness to my existence would be rushing to an end evenworse than a simple noose. You were ready enough to denounce him tosave that worthless fellow."
"Not ready. It tore my heart. But truth is truth. I could not dothat wickedness. Oh! how can you? This _is_ the prompting of theevil spirit indeed, to expect me to join in leaving that innocent,generous spirit to die in cruel injustice. Let me go. I will notbetray where you are. You will be safe in France; but there willyet be time for me to bear witness to your life. Write a letter.Your father would thankfully swear to your handwriting, and I thinkthey would believe me. Only let me go."
"And what then becomes of the hopes of a lifetime?" demandedPeregrine. "I, who have waited as long as Jacob, to be defraudednow I have you; and for the sake of the fellow who killed me in willif not in deed, and then ran away like a poltroon leaving you tobear the brunt!"
"He did not act like a poltroon when he saved the life of hisgeneral, or when he rescued the colours of his regiment, still lesswhen he stood up to save me from the pain of bearing witness againsthim, and to save a guiltless man," cried Anne, with flashing eyes.
Before she had finished her indignant words, Hans was coming in fromsome unknown region to lay the cloth for supper, and Peregrine, withan imprecation under his breath, had gone to the door to admit histwo comrades, who came into the narrow entry on a gust of wind as itwere, struggling out of their cloaks, stamping and swearing.
In the middle of the day, they had been much more restrained intheir behaviour. There had at that time been a slight clearance inthe sky, though the wind was as furious as ever, and they were inhaste to despatch the meal and go out again to endeavour to stand onthe heights and to watch some vessels that were being tossed by thestorm. Almost all the conversation had then been on the chances oftheir weathering the tempest, and the probability of its lasting on,and they had hurried away as soon as possible. Anne had not thenknown who they were, and only saw that they were fairly civil toher, and kept under a certain constraint by Pilpignon, as theycalled their host. Now she fully knew the one who was addressed asSir George to be Barclay, the prime mover in the wicked scheme ofassassination of which all honest Tories had been so much ashamed,and she could see Captain Burford to be one of those bravoes whowere only too plentiful in those days, attending on dissolute andviolent nobles.
She was the less inclined to admit their attentions, and shieldedherself with a grave coldness of stately manners; but their talk wasfar more free than at noon, suggesting the thought that they hadanticipated the meal with some of the Nantz or other liquors thatseemed to be in plenty.
They began by low bows of affected reverence, coarser and worse inthe ruffian of inferior grade, and the knight complimented Pilpignonon being a lucky dog, and hoped he had made the best use of his timein spite of the airs of his duchess. It was his own fault if hewere not enjoying such fair society, while they, poor devils, werebuffeting with the winds, which had come on more violently thanever. Peregrine broke in with a question about the vessels insight.
There was an East Indiaman, Dutch it was supposed, laying-to, thatwas the cause of much excitement. "If she drives ashore our fellowswill neither be to have nor to hold," said Sir George.
"They will obey me," said Peregrine quietly.
"More than the sea will just yet," laughed the captain. "However,as soon as this villainous weather is a bit abated, I'll be offacross the Islan
d to do your little errand, and only ask a kiss ofthe bride for my pains; but if the parson be at Portsmouth therewill be no getting him to budge till the water is smooth. Nevermind, madam, we'll have a merry wedding feast, whichever side of thewater it is. I should recommend the voyage first for my part."
All Anne could do was to sit as upright and still as she could,apparently ignoring the man's meaning. She did not know howdignified she looked, and how she was daunting his insolence. Whenpresently Sir George Barclay proposed as a toast a health to thebride of to-morrow, she took her part by raising the glass to herlips as well as the gentlemen, and adding, "May the brides be happy,wherever they may be."
"Coy, upon my soul," laughed Sir George. "You have not made thebest of your opportunities, Pil." But with an oath, "It becomes herwell."
"A truce with fooling, Barclay," muttered Peregrine.
"Come, come, remember faint heart--no lowering your crest, more thanenough to bring that devilish sparkle in the eyes, and turn of theneck!"
"Sir," said Anne rising, "Monsieur de Pilpignon is an old neighbour,and understands how to respect his most unwilling guest. I wish youa good-night, gentlemen. Guennik, venez ici, je vous prie."
Guennik, the Breton boatswain's wife, understood French thus far,and comprehended the situation enough to follow willingly, leavingthe remainder of the attendance to Hans, who was fully equal to it.The door was secured by a long knife in the post, but Anne couldhear plainly the rude laugh at her entrenchment within her fortressand much of the banter of Peregrine for having proceeded no further.It was impossible to shut out all the voices, and very alarming theywere, as well as sometimes so coarse that they made her cheeks glow,while she felt thankful that the Bretonne could not understand.
These three men were all proscribed traitors in haste to be off, butPeregrine, to whom the yacht and her crew belonged, had lingered toobtain possession of the lady, and they were declaring that now theyhad caught his game and given him his toy, they would brook nolonger delay than was absolutely necessitated by the storm, andmarried or not married, he and she should both be carried offtogether, let the damsel-errant give herself what haughty airs shewould. It was a weak concession on their part to the old Puritanscruples that he might have got rid of by this time, to attempt tobring about the marriage. They jested at him for being afraid ofher, and then there were jokes about gray mares.
The one voice she could not hear was Peregrine's, perhaps because herealised more than they did that she was within ear-shot, andbesides, he was absolutely sober; but she thought he silenced them;and then she heard sounds of card-playing, which made anaccompaniment to her agonised prayers.