CHAPTER XI. THE KNIGHT AND HIS AGENT.
The news of Lionel's promotion, and the flattering notice which thePrince had taken of him, made the Knight very indifferent about hisheavy loss of the preceding evening. It was, to be sure, an immense sum;but as Gleeson was arranging his affairs, it was only "raising" so muchmore, and thus preventing the estate from leaving the family. Such washis own very mode of settling the matter in his own mind, nor did hebestow more time on the consideration than enabled him to arrive at thissatisfactory conclusion.
If ever there was an agent designed to compensate for the easy,careless habits of such a principal, it was Mr. Gleeson, or, as he wasuniversally known in the world of that day, "Honest Tom Gleeson." In himseemed concentrated all those peculiar gifts which made up the perfectman of business. He was cautious, painstaking, and methodical; of atemper which nothing could ruffle, and with a patience no provocationcould exhaust; punctual as a clock, neither precipitate nor dilatory, heappeared prompt to the slow, and seemed almost tardy to the hasty man.
In the management of several large estates--he might have had manymore if he would have accepted the charge--Mr. Gleeson had amassed aconsiderable fortune; but so devotedly did he attach himself to theinterests of his employers, so thoroughly identify their fortuneswith his own, that he gave little time to the cares of his immediateproperty. By his skill and intelligence many country gentlemen hademerged from embarrassments that threatened to engulf their entirefortunes; and his aid in a difficulty was looked upon as a certainguarantee of success. It was not very surprising if a man endowed withqualities like these should have usurped something of ascendency overhis employers. To a certain extent their destiny lay in his hands. Ofthe difficulties by which they were pressed he alone knew either thenature or amount, while by what straits these should be overcome nonebut himself could offer a suggestion. If in all his dealings the moststrict regard to honor was observable, so did he seem also inexhaustiblein his contrivances to rescue an embarrassed or encumbered estate. Therewas often the greatest difficulty in securing his services, solicitationand interest were even required to engage him; but once retained, heapplied his energies to the task, and with such zeal and acuteness thatit was said no case, however desperate, had yet failed in his hands.
For several years past he had managed all the Knight's estates; andsuch was the complication and entanglement of the property, loaded withmortgages and rent-charges, embarrassed with dowries and annuities, thatnothing short of his admirable skill could have supported the means ofthat expensive and wasteful mode of life which the Knight insisted onpursuing, and all restriction on which he deemed unfitting his station.If Gleeson represented the urgent necessity of retrenchment, the veryword was enough to cut short the negotiation; until, at last, the agentwas fain to rest content with the fruits of good management, and merelyventure from time to time on a cautious suggestion regarding the immenseexpense of the Knight's household.
With all his guardedness and care, these representations were not alwayssafe; for though the Knight would sometimes meet them with some jocularor witty reply, or some bantering allusion to the agent's tastefor money-getting, at other times he would receive the advice withimpatience or ill-humor, so that, at last, Gleeson limited allcomplaints on this score to his letters to Lady Eleanor, with whom hemaintained a close and confidential correspondence.
This reserve on Gleeson's part had its effects on the Knight, who felta proportionate delicacy in avowing any act of extravagance that shoulddemand a fresh call for money, and thus embarrass the negotiation bywhich the agent was endeavoring to extricate the property.
If Darcy felt the loss of the preceding night, it was far more from thenecessity of avowing it to Gleeson than from the amount of the money,considerable as it was; and he, therefore, set out to call upon him, ina frame of mind far less at ease than he desired to persuade himself heenjoyed.
Mr. Gleeson lived about three miles from Dublin, so that the Knight hadabundant time to meditate as he went along, and think over the interviewthat awaited him. His revery was only broken by a sudden change from thehigh-road to the noiseless quiet of the neat avenue which led up to thehouse.
Mr. Gleeson's abode had been an ancient manor-house in the Gwynnefamily, a building of such antiquity as to date from the time of theKnights Templars; and though once a favored residence of the Darcys,had, from the circumstances of a dreadful crime committed beneath itsroof,--the murder of a servant by his master,--been at first deserted,and subsequently utterly neglected by the owners, so that at last itfell into ruin and decay. The roof was partly fallen in, the windowsshattered and broken, the rich ceilings rotten and discolored with damp;it presented an aspect of desolation, when Mr. Gleeson proposed totake it on lease. Nor was the ruin only within doors, but without; theornamental planting had been torn up, or used as firewood; the gardenspillaged and overrun with cattle; and the large trees--among whichwere some rare and remarkable ones--were lopped and torn by the countrypeople, who trespassed and committed their depredations without fear orimpediment. Now, however, the whole aspect was changed; the same spiritof order that exercised its happy influence in the management of distantproperties had arrested the progress of destruction here, and, happily,in sufficient time to preserve some of the features which, in days past,had made this the most beautiful seat in the county.
It was not without a feeling of astonishment that the Knight surveyedthe change. An interval of twelve years--for such had been the length oftime since he was last there--had worked magic in all around. Clumps hadsprung up into ornamental groups, saplings become graceful trees, sicklyevergreens that leaned their frail stems against a stake were now richlyleaved hollies or fragrant laurustinas; and the marshy pond, that seemedstagnant with rank grass and duckweed, was a clear lake fed by a silverycascade which descended in quaint but graceful terraces from the veryend of the neat lawn.
In Darcy's eyes, the only fault was the excessive neatness perceptiblein everything; the very gravel seemed to shine with a peculiar lustre,the alleys were swept clean, not even a withered leaf was suffered todisfigure them, while the shrubs had an air of trim propriety, like theself-satisfied air of a Sunday citizen.
The brilliant lustre of the heavy brass knocker, the white and spotlessflags of the stone hall, and the immaculate accuracy of the staidfootman who opened the door, were types of the prevailing tastes andhabits of the proprietor. A mere glance at the orderly arrangement ofMr. Gleeson's study would have confirmed the impression of his strictnotions and regularity of discipline: not a book was out of place;the boxes, labelled with high and titled names, were ranged with adrill-like precision upon the shelves; the very letters that lay inthe baskets beside the table fell with an attention to staid decorumbecoming the rigid habits of the place.
The Knight had some minutes to bestow in contemplation of these objectsbefore Gleeson entered; he had only that morning arrived from a distantjourney, and was dressing when the Knight was announced. With a bland,soft manner, and an air compounded of diffidence and self-importance,Mr. Gleeson made his approaches.
"You have anticipated me, sir," said he, placing a chair for the Knight;"I had ordered the carriage to call upon you. May I beg you to excusethe question, but my anxiety will not permit me to defer it: there isno truth, or very little, I trust, in the paragraph I 've just read inCarrick's paper--"
"About a party at piquet with Lord Drogheda?" interrupted Darcy.
"The same."
"Every word of it correct, Gleeson," said the Knight, who,notwithstanding the occasion, could not control the temptation to laughat the terrified expression of the agent's face.
"But surely the sum was exaggerated; the paper says, the lands anddemesne of Ballydermot, with the house, furniture, plate, wine,equipage, garden utensils--"
"I 'm not sure that we mentioned the watering-pots," said Darcy,smiling; "but the wine hogsheads are certainly included."
"A rental of clear three thousand four hundred and seventy-eight pounds
,odd shillings, on a lease of lives renewable forever--pepercorn fine!"exclaimed Gleeson, closing his eyes, and folding his hands upon hisbreast, like a martyr resigning himself to the torture.
"So much for going on spades without the head of the suit!" observedthe Knight; "and yet any man might have made the same blunder; and then,Heffernan, with his interruption,--altogether, Gleeson, the whole wasmismanaged sadly."
"The greater, part of the land tithe free," moaned Gleeson to himself;"it was a grant from the Crown to your ancestor, Everard Darcy."
"If it was the king gave it, Gleeson, it was the queen lost it."
"The lands of Corrabeg, Dunragheedaghan, and Muscarooney, letat fifteen shillings an acre, with a right to cut turf on theDerryslattery bog! not to speak of Knocksadowd! lost, and noredemption!"
"Yes, Gleeson, that's the point I'm coming to; there is a proviso infavor of redemption, whenever your grief will permit you to hear it."
Gleeson gave a brief cough, blew his nose with considerable energy,and with an air of submissive sorrow apologized for yielding to hisfeelings. "I have been so many years, sir, the guardian--if I may sosay--of that property that I cannot think of being severed from itsinterests without deep, very deep, regret."
"By Jove! Gleeson, so do I! you have no monopoly of the sorrow, believeme. I acknowledge, readily, the full extent of my culpability. Thisfoolish bet came to pass at a dinner at Hutchison's,--it was thecrowning point of a bragging conversation about play,--and Drogheda, itseems, booked it, though I totally forgot all about it. I'm certainhe never intended to push the wager on me, but when reminded of it, ofcourse I had nothing else for it but to express my readiness to meethim. I must say he behaved nobly all through; and even when Heffer-nan'sstupid interruption had somewhat ruffled my nerves, he begged Iwould reconsider the card--he saw I had made a mistake--very handsomethat!--his backers, I assure you, did not seem as much disposed toextend the courtesy. I relieved their minds, however, I stood by myplay, and--"
"And lost an estate of three thousand--"
"Quite correct; I'm sure no man knows the rental better. And now, let ussee how to keep it in the family."
The stare of amazement with which Gleeson heard these words might havemet a proposition far more extravagant still, and he repeated the speechto himself, as if weighing every syllable in a balance.
"Yes, Gleeson, that was exactly what I said; now that we are engagedin liquidating, let us proceed with the good work. If I have given youenlarged occasion for the exercise of your abilities, I 'm only actinglike Peter Henessy,--old Peter, that held the mill at Brown's Barn."
The agent looked up with an expression in which all interest to learnthe precedent alluded to was lost in astonishment at the levity of a manwho could jest at such a moment.
"I see you never heard it, and, as the lawyers say, the rule will apply.I 'll tell it to you. When Peter was dying, he sent for old Rush of thePriory to give him absolution; he would not have the parish priest, forhe was a 'hard man,' as Peter said, with little compassion for humanweakness, never loved pork nor 'poteen,' but seemed to have a relish forfasts and vigils. 'Rush will do,' said he to all the family applicationsin favor of the other,--'I 'll have Father Rush;' and so he had, andRush came, and they were four hours at it, for Peter had a long scoreof reminiscences to bring up, and it was not without considerabledifficulty, it is said, that Rush could apply the remedies of the Churchto the various infractions of the old sinner. At last, however, it wasarranged, and Peter lay back in bed very tired and fatigued; for, Iassure you, Gleeson, whatever you may think of it, confessing one'siniquities is excessively wearying to the spirits. 'Is it all right,Father?' said he, as the good priest counted over the roll of raggedbank-notes that were to be devoted to the purchase of different massesand offerings. 'It will do well,' said Rush; 'make your mind easy, yourpeace is made now.' 'And are you sure it's quite safe?' said Peter;'a pound more or less is nothing now compared to--what you know,'--forPeter was polite, and followed the poet's counsel. ''Tis safe and sureboth,' said Rush; 'I have the whole of the sins under my thumb now, anddon't fret yourself.' 'Take another thirty shillings then, Father,' saidhe, pushing the note over to him, 'and let Whaley have the two barrelsof seed oats--the smut is in them, and they 're not worth sixpence;but, when we are at it, Father, dear, let us do the thing complete:what signifies a trifle like that among the rest?' Such was Peter'sphilosophy, Gleeson, and, if not very laudable as he applied it, itwould seem to suit our present emergency remarkably well."
Gleeson vouchsafed but a very sickly smile as the Knight finished, and,taking up a bundle of papers from the table, proceeded to search forsomething amongst them.
"This loss was most inopportune, sir--"
"No doubt of it, Gleeson; it were far better had I won my wager,"said the Knight, half testily; but the agent, scarce noticing theinterruption, went on:--
"Mr. Lionel has drawn on me for seven hundred, and so late as Wednesdaylast I was obliged to meet a bill of his amounting to twelve hundred andeighty pounds. Thus, you will perceive that he has this year overdrawnhis allowance considerably. He seems to have been as unlucky asyourself, sir."
Soft and silky as the accents were, there was a tincture of sarcasm inthe way these words were uttered that did not escape Darcy's notice;but he made no reply, and appeared to listen attentively as the otherresumed:--
"Then, the expenses of the abbey have been enormous this year; you wouldscarcely credit the outlay for the hunting establishment; and, as Ilearn from Lady Eleanor that you rarely, if ever, take the fieldyourself--"
"Never mind that, Gleeson," broke in the Knight, suddenly. "I 'll notsell a horse or part with a dog amongst them. My income must well beable to afford me the luxuries I have always been used to. I 'm not tobe told that, with a rental of eighteen thousand a year--"
"A rental, sir, I grant you," said Gleeson, interrupting him; "you saidquite correctly,--the rental is even more than you stated; but considerthe charges on that rental,--the heavy sums raised on mortgages, thedebt incurred by building, the two contested elections, your losses onthe turf: these make sad inroads in the amount of your income."
"I tell you frankly, Gleeson," said the Knight, starting up and pacingthe room with hasty steps, "I 've neither head nor patience for detailsof this kind. I was induced to believe that my embarrassments, such asthey are, were in course of liquidation; that by raising two hundredand fifty thousand pounds at four-and-a-half, or even five per cent, weshould be enabled to clear off the heavy debts, for which we are payingten, twelve,--ay, by Jove! I believe fifteen per cent."
"Upon my word, I believe you do not exaggerate," said Gleeson, in aconciliating accent. "Hickman's bond, though nominally bearing six percent, is actually treble that sum. He holds 'The Grove' at the rent ofa cottier's tenure, and with the right of cutting timber in Clon-a-gauvewood,--a right he is by no means chary of exercising."
"That must be stopped, and at once," broke in Darcy, with a heightenedcolor. "The old man is actually making a clearing of the whole mountainside; the last time I was up there, Lionel and I counted two hundred andeighteen trees marked for the hatchet. I ordered Finn not to permit oneof them to be touched; to go with a message from me to Hickman, sayingthat there was a wide difference between cutting timber for farmpurposes and carrying on a trade in rivalry with the Baltic. Oaks oftwenty, eighty, ay, a hundred and fifty years' growth, the finest treeson the property, were among those I counted."
"And did he desist, sir?" asked Gleeson, with a half cunning look.
"Did he?--what a question you ask me! By Heavens! if he barked a saplingin that wood after my warning, I 'd have sent the Derrahinchy boysdown to his place, and they would not have left a twig standing on hiscockney territory. Devilish lucky he 'd be if they stopped there, andleft him a house to shelter him."
"He's a very unsafe enemy, sir," observed Gleeson, timidly.
"By Jove! Gleeson, I think you are bent on driving me distracted thismorning. You have hit upon perhap
s the only theme on which I cannotcontrol my irritability, and I beg of you, once and for all, to changeit."
"I should never have alluded to Mr. Hickman, sir, but that I wishedto remark to you that he is in a position which requires all ourwatchfulness; he has within the last three weeks bought up Drake'smortgage, and also Belson's bond for seventeen thousand, and, I knowfrom a source of unquestionable accuracy, is at this moment negotiatingfor the purchase of Martin Hamilton's bond, amounting to twenty-onethousand more; so that, in fact, with the exception of that small debtto Batty and Rowe, he will remain the sole creditor."
"The sole creditor!" exclaimed Darcy, growing pale as marble,--"PeterHickman the sole creditor!"
"To be sure, this privilege he will not long enjoy," said Gleeson, witha degree of alacrity he had not assumed before; "when our arrangementsare perfected with the London house of Bicknell and Jervis, we can payoff Hickman at once; he shall have a check for the whole amount the verysame day."
"And how soon may we hope for this happy event, Gleeson?" cried theKnight, recovering his wonted voice and manner.
"It will not be distant now, sir; one of the deeds is ready at thismoment, or at least will be to-morrow. On your signing it, we shall havesome very trifling delays, and the money can be forthcoming by the endof the next week. The other will be perfected and compared by Wednesdayweek."
"So that within three weeks, or a month at furthest, Gieeson, we shallhave cut the cable with the old pirate?"
"Three weeks, I trust, will see all finished; that is, if this affair ofBallydermot does not interfere."
"It shall not do so," cried the Knight, resolutely; "let it go. Droghedais a gentleman at least, and if our old acres are to fall into otherhands, let their possessor have blood in his veins, and he will nottyrannize over the people; but Hickman--"
"Very right, sir, Hickman might foreclose on the 24th of this month."
"Gieeson, no more of this; I 'm not equal to it," said the Knight,faintly; and he sat down with a wearied sigh, and covered his face withhis hands. The emotion, painful as it was, passed over soon, and theKnight, with a voice calm and measured as before, said, "You willtake care, Gieeson, that my son's bills are provided for; London isan expensive place, and particularly for a young fellow situated likeLionel; you may venture on a gentle--mind, a very gentle--remonstrancerespecting his repeated calls for money; hint something aboutarrangements just pending, which require a little more prudence thanusual. Do it cautiously, Gieeson; be very guarded. I remember when Iwas a young fellow being driven to the Jews by an old agent of mygrandfather's; he wrote me a regular homily on thrift and economy, andto show I had benefited by the lesson, I went straightway and raised aloan at something very like sixty per cent."
"You may rely upon my prudence, sir," said Gieeson. "I think I canpromise that Mr. Lionel will not take offence at my freedom. May I sayTuesday to wait on you with the deeds,--Tuesday morning?"
"Of course, whenever you appoint, I 'll be ready. I hoped to haveleft town this week; but these are too important matters to bearpostponement. Tuesday, then, be it." And with a friendly shake-hands,they parted,--Gleeson, to the duties of his laborious life; the Knight,with a mind less at ease than was his wont, but still bearing no traceof discomposure on his manly and handsome countenance.