The Martins Of Cro' Martin, Vol. II (of II)

st and what is to follow. We are not quite sure that the course we thus adopt is free from its share of inconvenience, but we take it to avoid the evils of reiteration inseparable from following out

ready awaiting their verdict. What he thought and felt, hoped, feared, or wished, are

h the world at large, it is remarkable for great frankness and sincerity. He throws away his mask with such evident signs of enjoyment that we only wonder if he can ever resume it; but crafty men like to rela

e replies to matters with which w

niture, and shooting my 'Swiss,' like the rest. As to who beat the troops, forced the Tuileries, and drove Marmont back, you must consult the newspapers. Personal adventures I could give you to satiety, hairbreadth 'scapes and acts of

y were to do when they had it, I gave myself no imaginable concern. I had a vague, shadowy kind of impression that the government was a bad one, but I had a much stronger conviction that the people deserved no better. My leanings-my instincts, if you prefer it-were with the Crown. The mob and its sentiments are always repulsive. Popular enthusiasm is a great ocean, but it is an ocean of dirty water, and you cannot come out clean from the contact; and so I should have wished well to royalty, but for an accident,-a mere

nded, and he was flung, a corpse, into the Seine. I intended to have been a most accurate narrator of events, journalizing for you, hour by hour, with all the stirring excitement of the present tense, but I cannot; the crash and the hubbub are still in my brain, and the infernal chaos of the streets is yet over me.

idance of the whole party, obtained horses and carriages and an escort, escaped from Paris, and reached Versailles in the midst of flying courtiers and dismayed ministers, and actually was the very first to bring the tidings that the game of monarchy was up,-that the king had nothing left for it but an inglorious flight. To the Duchesse de Mire-court she made this communication, which it seems none of the court-followers had the c

-But I shall rave if I go on. Better I should tell you of my pleasant little bedroom here, opening on a small garden, with a tiny fountain trying to sprinkle the wild myrtle and blush-roses around it, and sportively sending its little plash over me, as the wind wafts it into my chamber. My luxurious chair and easy-cushioned sofa, and my table littered with everything, from flowers to French romances; not to speak of the small rustic seat beside the window, where she has been sitting the last hour, and has only quitted to give me time to write this to you. I know it-I see it-all you can say,

hat are supposed to suit the well-born? I may be a Life Guardsman, or an unpaid attaché, but I must not be a physician or a merchant. Nor is it alone th

ecause they are cracked, damaged, and useless. I 'll marry her. I have made up my mind on 't. Spare me all your remonstrances, all your mock compassion. Nor is it like a fellow who has not seen the world in its best gala suit, affecting to despise rank, splendor, and high station. I have seen the thing. I have cantered my thoroughbred

, or misconception by 'her Ladyship' on that-sway and rule a man so that he may neither eat, drink, nor sleep without a

ce within me, I can no longer remain their representative; that, as a man of honor, I shrink from the jobbery of the little borough p

ou with solicitations for employment. Help me to stock my knapsack, and I 'll find my road myself.' She knows nothing of these steps on my part; nor shall she, till they have become irrev

rashness, folly, insanity, and the rest of it, as if the state of your bank account should make that wisdom in you, which with me is but mere madness! But I tell you, Harry, it is your very thousands per annum that preclude you from doing what I can. It is your house in town, your stud at Tattersall's, your yacht at Cowes, your grouse-lodge in the Highlands, that tie and fetter you to live like some scores of others, with w

rstand the project of life we have planned to ourselves? Have they read our utter weariness and contempt for forms that they venerate, and social distinctions that they worship? I am aware that in some cases it requires courage to do this; and in doing it a man virtually thr

rred out the master to make 'the head usher' top of the school. Let us see if he won't be as fond of the birch as his predecessor. Like all mutineers, they found they could n't steer the ship when they had murdered the captain! How hopeless it makes one of humanity to see such a spectacle as this, Harry, and how low is one's estimate of the species after such experience! You meet some half-dozen semi-bald, spectacled old gentlemen in society, somewhat more reserved than the rest of the company, fond of talking to each other, and rather distrustful of strangers; you find them slow conversers at dinner, sorry whist-players in the drawing-room; you are told, however, that one is a President of the Council, another the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and a third something equally important. You venerate them accordingly, while you mutter the old Swede's apothegm about the 'small intelligences' that rule mankind. Wait awhile! There is a row in the streets: a pickpocket has appealed to the public to rescue him from the ignoble hands of the police; an escaped felon has fired at the judge who sentenced him, in the name of Liberty and Frater

arties. Miss Henderson is, besides, a little spoiled by the notice of those maxim-mongers who write leaders in the 'Débats, and articles for the 'Deux Mondes.' They have, or affect to

understand him; not that it requires much study to do so. You say he

o'clock, he saunters through the stables, sucking a lighted cigar, filing his nails, and admiring his boots, till it 's time to ride out. He comes to me about nine of an evening, and we play piquet till I get sleepy; after which he goes to 'the rooms,' and, I believe, plays high; at least, I suspect so; for he has, at times, the forced calm-that semi-jocular resignation-one sees in a heavy loser. He has been occasionally, too, probing me about Merl,-you remember the fellow who had the rooms near Knightsbridge,-so that I opine he has been dabbling in loans. What a sorry spectacle such a creature as this in the toils of the Israeli

orothea amused her; perhaps it was the irritation she witnessed in me gave the zest to this pastime. It is seldom that she condescends to be either amused or amusing; and I own it is a part does not suit her. She is a thousand times more attractive sitting over her embroidery-frame, raising her head at times to say a few words,-ever apposite and well chosen,-always simple, too, and to the purpose; or even by a slight gesture bearing agreement with what is

private friendships. I detect a hundred sympathies, inconceivable points of contact, between these people and myself. We pass hours praising the same things, and abusing the same people; and how could it possibly sever our relations that I would endow Maynooth when they would pull it down, or that I liked forty-shilling freeholders better than ten-pound householders? You 'll say that a certain earnestness accompanies strong convictions, and that when a man is deeply impressed with some supposed truths, he 'll not measure his reprobation of those who

h my mind in the interval. Events there have been few; but sensations-emotions, enough for a lifetime. Nor dare I recall them! Faintly endeavoring

bout Miss Henderson having a headache. Unpleasant letters from her family-obliged to give up the day to answering t

piquet. By a little address, I continued to lose nearly every game, and so gradually led him into a conversa

only the old question as to Kate's going

iled; so, too, has my father. Persuasion and entreaty not succeeding, I suspect-but it is only suspicion-that they have had recourse to parental authority, and asked old Henderson to interfere. At least, a letter has come this morning from the West of Ireland, for Kate, which I surmise to be in his hand. She gave it, imme

ed it in her work-box, and then resumed her embroidery in silence. I watched her narrowly, while I affected to read the paper, an

d she; "and, with your permission

man to declare; nor when, having laid it down once more, she took up her work, not a line or a lineament betrayed her. It was plain enough the letter was no pleasant one, and I expected to have heard her sigh perhaps, or at least show some sign of depression; but no, she went on calmly, and at last began to sing, in a low, faint voice, barely audible where I st

laughed too, some six months ago, if any man had prophesied it; but the way I put the matter to myself is this: If I do succeed to a good e

bly argued,' said I,

tupid satisfaction of imbecility. 'I thought I had

ave; go on

her Kate,- "Miss Henderson, I want to speak to you. I have been long seeking this opportunity; and if you

stared at me with those large, full eyes of hers so steadily-a

f reflection, a sudden flash of intelligence, saved yourself from some step, some act, which, if accomplished, had broug

t that instant my father came into the room in search of her, and I ma

you not see

nd see what a deuced good offer it is; for though I know she was going to make objections a

ll consent,

ad a bet on

hly at my ease. 'It's a very unworthy occasion for a wager

ting it down in his note-book. "I o

I could honestly stake

o sanguine

in, you oug

against me,-you take no step of

tainl

I need n't make that proviso. I was going

ise you that, if

k. 'But whatever it be, I can stand the loss. I 've wo

o the disa

the tone of the world and follow it! That's Martin's case, and his manners are perfect! After he was gone, I was miserable for not having quarrelled with him,-said something outrageous, insolent, and unbearable. That he should have dared to insult the young girl by such presumption as the offer of his

ou were right; there's your money.' I'd have given double the sum to hear the details of this affair,-in what terms the refusal was conveyed,-on what grounds she based it; but he would not afford me the slightest satisfaction on any of th

for Kate, the whole household would be in utter chaos and disorganization; but she goes about, with her arm in a sling, calm and tranquil, but with the energy and activity of one who feels that all depends upon her guidance and direction. The servants obey her w

or other had pushed his claim so far, as I believe is easy enough to do nowadays; and poor Martin, who connected this stigma with all the disgrace that once accompanied such a sentence, fell senseless to the ground, and was taken up palsied. He is pe

quest him to hasten home. It was no time to trifle with her; so I simply prom

lightly coloring at what impl

go on well in th

ing. 'Indeed, most of those with whom I have been associated in life might

urning; some feverish access is upon m

aithful

Massin