Tony Butler Part 92

"Master Rory thinks it will dignify any cause; and as he never knew what or for whom he was fighting, this small bit of copper saved him a world of trouble and casuistry; and so in the name of the Holy Father he has broken no end of Neapolitan skulls."

"I must say Mr. Butler has surrounded himself with some choice a.s.sociates," said Lady Lyle; "and all this time I have been encouraging myself to believe that so very young a man would have had no connections, no social relations, he could not throw off without difficulty."

"The world will do all his sifting process for him, if we only have patience," said Sir Arthur; and, indeed, it is but fair to say that he spoke with knowledge, since, in his own progress through life, he had already made the acquaintance of four distinct and separate cla.s.ses in society, and abandoned each in turn for that above it.

"Was he much elated, Mr. Damer," asked Lady Lyle, "when he heard of his good fortune?"

"I think he was at first; but it made so little impression on him, that more than once he went on to speculate on his future, quite forgetting that he had become independent; and then, when he remembered it, he certainly did look very happy and cheerful."

"And what sort of plans has he?" asked Bella.

"They're all about his mother; everything is for _her_. She is to keep that cottage, and the ground about it, and he is to make a garden for her; and it seems she likes cows,--she is to have cows. It's a lucky chance that the old lady had n't a taste for a plesiosaurus, or he 'd be offering a prize for one to-morrow."

"He's a dear good fellow, as he always was," said Bella.

"The only real change I see in him," said Skeffy, "is that now he is never grumpy,--he takes everything well; and if crossed for a moment, he says, 'Give me a weed; I must smoke away that annoyance.'"

"How sensual!" said my Lady; but n.o.body heeded the remark.

At the moment, too, a young mids.h.i.+pman saluted Darner from the street, and informed him that the first cutter was at the jetty to take the party off to the "Talisman;" and Captain Paynter advised them not to delay very long, as the night looked threatening. Lady Lyle needed no stronger admonition; she declared that she would go at once; and although the Captain's own gig, as an attention of honor, was to be in to take her, she would not wait, but set out immediately.

"You 'll take care of me, Skeffy," said Alice, "for I have two letters to write, and shall not be ready before eleven o'clock."

For a while all was bustle and confusion. Lady Lyle could not make up her mind whether she would finally accept the frigate as a refuge or come on sh.o.r.e again the next day. There were perils by land and by water, and she weighed them and discussed them, and turned fiercely on everybody who agreed with her, and quarrelled with all round. Sir Arthur, too, had his scruples, as he bethought him of the effect that would be produced by the fact that a man of his station and importance had sought the protection of a s.h.i.+p of war; and he asked Skeffy if some sort of brief protest--some explanation--should not be made in the public papers, to show that he had taken the step in compliance with female fears, and not from the dictates of his own male wisdom. "I should be sorry, sincerely sorry, to affect the Funds," said he; and really, the remark was considerate. As for Bella, she could not bear being separated from Skeffy; he was so daring, so impulsive, as she said, and with all this responsibility on him now,--people coming to him for everything, and all asking what was to be done,--he needed more than ever support and sympathy.

And thus is it the world goes on, as unreal, as fict.i.tious, as visionary as anything there ever was put on the stage and illuminated by footlights. There was a rude realism outside in the street, however, that compensated for much of this. There, all was wildest fun and jollity; not the commotion of a people in the throes of a revolution, not the highly wrought pa.s.sion of an excited populace mad with triumph; it was the orgie of a people who deemed the downfall of a hated government a sort of carnival occasion, and felt that mummery and tomfoolery were the most appropriate expressions of delight.

Through streets crowded with this dancing, singing, laughing, embracing, and mimicking ma.s.s, the Lyles made their way to the jetty reserved for the use of the s.h.i.+ps of war, and soon took their places, and were rowed off to the frigate, Skeffy waving his adieux till darkness rendered his gallantry unnoticed.

All his late devotion to the cares of love and friends.h.i.+p had made such inroads on his time that he scarcely knew what was occurring, and had lamentably failed to report to "the Office" the various steps by which revolution had advanced, and was already all but installed as master of the kingdom. Determined to write off a most telling despatch, he entered the hotel, and, seeing Alice engaged letter-writing at one table, he quietly installed himself at another, merely saying, "The boat will be back by midnight, and I have just time to send off an important despatch."

Alice looked up from her writing, and a very faint smile curled her lip.

She did not speak, however, and after a moment continued her letter.

For upwards of half an hour the sc.r.a.ping sounds of the pens were the only noises in the room, except at times a low murmur as Skeff read over to himself some pa.s.sage of unusual force and brilliancy.

"You must surely be doing something very effective, Skeff," said Alice, from the other end of the room, "for you rubbed your hands with delight, and looked radiant with triumph."

"I think I have given it to them!" cried he. "There 's not another man in the line would send home such a despatch. Canning wouldn't have done it in the old days, when he used to bully them. Shall I read it for you?"

"My dear Skeff, I 'm not Bella. I never had a head for questions of politics. I am hopelessly stupid in all such matters."

"Ah, yes; Bella told me that Bella herself, indeed, only learned to feel an interest in them through me; but, as I told her, the woman who would one day be an amba.s.sadress cannot afford to be ignorant of the great European game in which her husband is a player."

"Quite true; but I have no such ambitions before me; and fortunate it is, for really I could not rise to the height of such lofty themes."

Skeff smiled pleasantly; her humility soothed him. He turned to the last paragraph he had penned and re-read it.

"By the way," said Alice, carelessly, and certainly nothing was less apropos to what they had been saying, though she commenced thus,--"by the way, how did you find Tony looking,--improved, or the reverse?"

"Improved in one respect; fuller, browner, more manly, perhaps, but coa.r.s.er; he wants the--you know what I mean--he wants this!" and he swayed his arm in a bold sweep, and stood fixed, with his hand extended.

"Ah, indeed!" said she, faintly.

"Don't you think so--don't you agree with me, Alice?"

"Perhaps to a certain extent I do," said she, diffidently.

"How could it be otherwise, consorting with such a set? You 'd not expect to find it there?"

Alice nodded a.s.sent all the more readily that she had not the vaguest conception of what "it" might mean.

"The fact is, Alice," said he, arising and walking the room with immense strides, "Tony will always be Tony!"

"I suppose he will," said she, dryly.

"Yes; but you don't follow me. You don't appreciate my meaning. I desired to convey this opinion, that Tony being one of those men who cannot add to their own natures the gifts and graces which a man acquires who has his successes with your s.e.x--"

"Come, come, Skeff, you must neither be metaphysical nor improper.

Tony is a very fine boy,--only a boy, I acknowledge, but he has n.o.ble qualities; and every year he lives will, I feel certain, but develop them further."

"He won't stand the 'boy' tone any longer," said Skeff, dryly. "I tried it, and he was down on me at once."

"What did he say when you told him we were here?" said she, carelessly, while putting her papers in order.

"He was surprised."

"Was he pleased?"

"Oh, yes, pleased, certainly; he was rather afraid of meeting your mother, though."

"Afraid of mamma! how could that be?"

"Some lesson or other she once gave him sticks in his throat; something she said about presumption, I think."

"Oh, no, no; this is quite impossible,--I can't credit it."

"Well, it might be some fancy of his; for he has fancies, and very queer ones too. One was about a G.o.dfather of mine. Come in,--what is it?"

cried he, as a knock came to the door.

"A soldier below stairs, sir, wishes to speak to you," said the waiter.

"Ah! something of importance from Filangieri, I've no doubt," said Skeff, rising and leaving the room. Before he had gone many paces, however, he saw a large, powerful figure in the red s.h.i.+rt and small cap of the Garibaldians, standing in the corridor, and the next instant he turned fully round,--it was Tony.

"My dear Tony, when did you arrive?"

"This moment; I am off again, however, at once, but I would n't leave without seeing you."