St. Katherine's by the Tower. A novel ... With twelve illustrations by Charles Green

Front matter

ST KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER VOL. I. NEW NOVELS AT ALL LIBRARIES. BELL BARRA-. By R. Ashe King. 2 vols. TINKLETOP'S CRIME. By G. R. Sims, i vol. THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF PHRA THE PHŒNICIAN. By Edwin Lester Arnold, i vol. THE GREAT TABOO. By Grant Allen, i vol. RUFFINO. By Ouida. i vol. AUNT ABIGAIL DYKES. By Col. Randolph. i vol. A SAPPHO OF GREEN SPRINGS. By BretHarte. i vol. ' BAIL UP ! ' By Hume Nisbet. i vol. A AVEIRD GIFT. By Georges Ohnet. i vol. THE LOST HEIRESS. By Ernest Glanville. i vol. HARRY FLUDYER AT CAMBRIDGE, i vol. AN AMERICAN GIRL IN LONDON. By Sara Jeannette Duncan, i vol. London : CHATTO & AVINDUS, 214 Piccadilly, AV. ' She bore in her hands a bowl of steaming punch.' ST KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER A NOVEL BY WALTER BESANT AUTHOR OF "" *ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN ' ' ARMOREL OF LYONEJSE' ETC.

IN THREE VOLUMES VOL. I. WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY CHARLES GREEN I'on&oit CHATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON CONTENTS OB THE FIRST VOLUME PAQB

Prologue

Part I

ca.u t.:r I. THE BEGINNING OF IT . . . . . 14 II. THE HAPLESS LOVER 38 III. THE GRAVE PHYSICIAN 68 IV. THE WISE WOMAN 82 V. THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH . . . . 99 VI. IN THE PRECINCT . . . . .130 VII. WAS SHE FAITHLESS 1 . . . . 160 VIII. EVIL EYE AND EVIL HEART . . .192

Part II

I. THE SUBLIME SOCIETY OF SNUGS . . 220 II. EQUALITY AND FRATERNITY . . . . 252 III. THE CHURCH SERVICE .... ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I. ' SHE BORE IN HEB HAND A BOWL OF STEAM- ING punch ' Frontispiece ' Shu fell to the ground upon her face' To face p. 38 ' She would still be smoking this pipe ALL DAY LONG ' „ 92 Sylvia sat down on one of the tombs and threw back her hood ' „ 170 ' A's THE DOOR STOOD A MAN WRAPPED IN A CLOAK' ,,196 ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER

PROLOGUE.

Great and mighty events happened in the year 1793 — yea, and continued to happen for tAventy years and more to folloAV. These events have already, though so recent, engaged the attention of the historian, the biographer, and of those humbler writers who collect the crumbs, so to speak — the anecdotes, stories, Avhispers, and scandals concerning all the great men engaged, so that the curious world shall learn to its complete satisfaction how the Corsican Usurper — to instance the greatest man concerned — behaved in respect to his eating, his drinking, his amours, and his dress. If we cannot understand statesmanship and high policy, Ave can at least understand these lesser things. VOL. I. B It has been a privilege to be born into such a time and to have lived through these stupendous events.

Certain I am that no ev-ent in ancient history, not the Battle of Marathon, not the Peloponnesian War, not the Fall of Eome itself can compare for present awfulness and future consequences with the Great French Eevolution and the upsetting of the French Monarchy. To me it appeared at the outset, what I have never since ceased to consider it, nothing short of the emancipation of the Avhole world from the bonds of king, priest, and noble. Its course was stained with blood and marred with cruelty : a thousand extravagances Avere committed : a thousand things were done the memory of which should make Frenchmen hang their heads in shame — witness the insults heaped upon the innocent and unfortunate Queen ; her murder ; the slow doing to death of the guiltless boy, her son ; and the massacres of those Avhose only fault was that they Avere nobles and royalists. Let us acknowledge these things. Yet let us also acknowledge that the Hand of the Lord has fallen upon the murderers. Those Avho

PROLOGUE.

3 ordered these things have perished by the same Avay. They have all died upon the scaffold, or miserably in other Avays. These things, I know, have turned aAvay many, Avho at first Avelcoined the Kevolution, in disgust and horror, making them cling to the old things. As for me, I stand still by the first ardent zeal of my youth. The old system fell for ever ; the people of France regained their freedom : through France the Spirit of Free dom has everyAvhere been aAvakened, and iioav flies from race to race, from nation to nation. The wheels of the Eevolutionary car passed over me, and well-nigh crushed me to death beneath them. Yet still I rejoice : I give thanks : I can never cease to count myself fortunate : I praise, laud, and magnify the Lord Avho hath suffered me to live at this great Day, and to mark the advent of a neAV and better time.

The French King is back again. That is most true. He is back with his priests and his nobles. But he has lost his ancient poAver. There is a spectral scaffold visible from his palace where lies the body of a beheaded King. The people see this as Avell B as the King. He has lost his power — and the priests and nobles have lost their Avealth as well as their power. Let us wait. Great things have happened. Greater things shall come to pass. Let us Avho believe in the Majesty and Might and Glory of the People take courage, and look to the future as Avell as the past. This cannot be destroyed, nor shall that be delayed. Amid these great events happened many others — for the small events and accidents of human life are not stayed or stopped by the great. Louis the Sixteenth mounts the scaffold : on the same day Mr. Alderman Pepper goes bankrupt and is ruined.

The Queen of France is foully murdered : on the same day Amyntas the shepherd swain de clares his love to Chloe, fairest nymph of Stepney Green. Certain events, quorum pars magna fid, in which I took a part, happened at that time in a part of London little knoAvn by the fashionable Avorld — I Avonder how many people west of Temple Bar have ever visited the ancient Hospital of St. Katherine's by the Tower ? The chief cause or mainspring of

PROLOGUE.

5 these events, Avhereby tAvo respectable families were plunged for a time in the deepest anxiety, shame, and humiliation, is still Avrapped in mystery. I propose to narrate them in order, beginning Avith the leading or capital event. I will show you, not the cause of it (which I cannot), but what Avas considered by this person or by that to have been its cause. You may then judge and decide for your selves if you can. Or if, like me, you cannot form a conclusion satisfactory at once to your reason and to your religion, you Avill set it down as one of those things which have been alloAved to happen in the inscrutable Wisdom that rules the Universe. I hope that this history may be found to afford instruction rather than amusement to those avIio read it. If, as is notoriously the case, fictitious adventures are able to arrest the attention and to divert the thoughts, hoAv much more should those Avhich are no invention, but hard and even cruel reality !

I say nothing about the lesson to be learned from every true history, because it is evident that Avhoever depicts scenes of truth must, even unconsciously, inculcate lessons, point to an unspoken moral, and make of the sufferings or joys of his characters warnings or encour agement for his readers. This is true of all history, but the lessons become much more effective when the historian has to tell of pas sions suffered to grow beyond control until they govern and sAvay the whole man, mind and body, so that he no longer has any power over his own actions, or any thought of con sequences, or any fear of the future. I was myself, I say, a witness of these events. I was from certain causes a sharer in the adventures which folloAA-ed. I have been an actor in them. It is my part — my duty — to relate these events and these adventures with their origin and their consequences.

I have de ferred the accomplishment of this duty too long already. Let me lose no more time lest the thread of life be snapped before this plain duty has been performed. The strange and wonderful story which follows Avas, I ahvays think, designed es pecially, and Avith a larger purpose than belongs to most human lives. It must have

PROLOGUE.

7 been intended as an example and a Avarning. Otherwise I should not take the trouble to write it doAvn. It is altogether strange : it is strange as to the first fact — sudden, unexpected, like a thunderbolt falling out of a cloudless sky : it is strange as to the causes or cause of that event : it is strange as to the consequences of that event : it is still more strange Iioav Providence overruled everything for restoration and forgiveness. When I begin to Avrite about these things, I am overaAved Avith terror and Avith admiration. Another thing I must record. Whenever I recall these events, certain Avords come back to me. A certain evening returns — I see a certain group, and I hear those words again. They are Avords uttered in feeble and trembling accents — the words of an old woman — ' 'Tis man's madness, child.

So men are made. Thee must he have, and none other Avill content him. If thou still wilt say him nay, I doubt he will do some mischief either to himself or to thee. He is mad, child. He is mad with love.' ST. CATHERINE S BY THE TOWER Over and over again I hear these words. They echo in my brain as from wall to wall or from cliff to cliff. ' He is mad, child. He is mad Avith love.' Many there are who still believe that words heard by chance may be a kind of oracle. Plutarch adduces many instances in Avhich great Captains were not ashamed to turn back Avhen the march had actually been begun in consequence of hearing words of ill omen. Such superstitions are hard to kill : they linger in the minds of the people : nay, travellers have reported that the old beliefs in luck, fortune, the evil eye, words and sights of ill-omen yet remain in Italy as strong and as deeply-rooted in the minds of all alike — rich and poor, Avise and simple — as when those great Captains lived, long before the Christian religion was established for the abolition of all such superstitions. ' He is mad with love.' These words may serve as a motto for this history. They announce, beforehand, what is to folloAv. It is of Love and Madness caused by Love that I have to Avrite. Therefore, just

PROLOGUE.

9 as Addison in the Spectator would take a line from a Latin or Greek poet and prefix it to a paper, thereby indicating the nature of the paper and preparing the mind of the reader, so I may set down these words in order to show at the outset the reality, strength, and character of the passion which I have to illustrate. In the same way, at the Theatre, the music before the play indicates the kind of piece which is to folloAv, prepares the mind and leads the thoughts into the right direction. For a tragedy it is grave and stately, even stormy and terrifying : for a comedy it is light, gay, and sparkling. The time was evening and twilight. I was a boy of sixteen, an age when one is beginning to think as a man, but is as yet Avithout know ledge or experience. lAvas idly Avalking about St. Katherine's Square — it is really an area of irregular shape — which lies before the Avest end of the church, thinking of I knoAV not Avhat.

Young men think of many things which come to nothing, just as a flower pro duces thousands of seeds of which perhaps not one shall fall upon fertile ground and grow ST. CATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 10 into a fair plant. Then I saw at the entrance of Dolphin Alley, where it opens out of the Square, two women and a man. One of the women Avas tall and erect — clearly, therefore, she was young ; the other was bent and bowed — clearly she was old. It was too dark for me to see their faces. As for the man, he seemed to be a sailor, but he might have been a lumper or a lighterman, or anything. As I looked he threAV up his arms as one carried aAvay by Avrath or by some other passion ; he broke into such cursing as these people use for all their troubles — sad it is to think how imperfect is the power of speech for these poor ignorant men — what he said cannot be set down ; everybody who has lived near poor folk, especially the poor who live by the river bank, can understand the things which he would say.

Then, having in this rough way, and chiefly by his cursing, conveyed Avhat he meant to Avomen almost as rough as himself who Avould understand very well without Avords or grammatical order, he flung himself from them, and rolled, partly like a sailor, partly like one drunk with rum, partly like

PROLOGUE.

11 one overcome with passion, down Dolphin Lane, and so out of sight. Then I heard the old woman say these Avords. I went home and pondered over them, as yet ignorant how Love can so seize upon a man that there shall be for him noAvoman but one in all the world, and if he cannot get that woman for himself, he -will go mad. ' 'Tis man's madness, child. So some men are made. Thee must he have, and none other Avill content him. If thou still wilt say him nay, I doubt he will do some mischief either to himself or else to thee. He is mad, child. He is mad with love.' There are men so cold by nature that love itself can hardly quicken their pulses : there are Avomen who attract so little that no man — not even the most fiery — could go mad after them. But there are men, by nature im petuous, headlong, masterful, strong of brain as well of limb — men to whom a wish becomes a law, and an inclination becomes a rope that drags them on.

These are the men whom Love makes slaves, ruling them by means of their own masterful natures, subduing them 5r. CATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 12 by allurements of conquest and possession. And there are women avIio drive such men mad, even though they are ignorant of their OAvn charms and unconscious of their own poAvers : it is by a kind of instinct inspired by Queen Venus that they play off their arts and graces, luring a man on, making him (they think) a slave, until he suddenly springs up and becomes a Lord and Master : all this without meaning mischief, Avithout knowing aught, or suspecting aught, of the vehemence — the overwhelming vehemence — of the passion they have created and fed and fostered till it has become a great and mighty giant. Hoav can they understand a passion which they cannot feel, save in a far different form, and for the most part in far feebler force ?

The love of the maiden is at first but a gentle affection — a stream floAving softly on, groAving broader and deeper perhaps, but insensibly, warmed by the sun, beautified with floAvery banks and hanging Avoods, its bright surface and clear waters strewn with Avater-lilies. It may in time become a great and mighty river, but it ahvays lacks the foaming rush and

PROLOGUE.

13 headlong tumultuous violence of the man's passion. If it be objected that it may be dangerous to place this history in the hands of the young, because all kinds of phrenzy are infec tious — Avitness the religious enthusiasm of the people called Methodists — I reply that this indeed may be the case and yet the book be in no Avay harmful, partly because it shows Iioav love carried to an excess may work mis chief incalculable, partly because there are feAV natures (happily) so constituted as to be able to feel so strong a passion, and partly because (also happily) a British maiden has generally a heart so tender that she will not suffer a young man to fall into despair, but rather, beholding his sufferings with eyes of compassion, and moved by SAveet sympathy, Avill suffer love to awaken in her own breast, and so make him happy and herself as well.

But as for this story, and as for the man of Avhom I Avrite — as the old woman said — 'He is mad, child. He is mad with love.' CATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 14

PART I CHAPTEE

I THE BEGINNING OF IT ' I avonder in Avhat latitudes George's ship sails this evening,' I said, for Avant of any thing else to say. ' Oh ! George — George ' Sylvia, who had been sitting in silence, started and shivered. ' George ! Oh, Avhat matters ? ' she asked impatiently. I had never before knoAvn her to show impatience when George's name Avas mentioned. ' He is on board his ship. The ship is at sea.' ' He must be homeward bound. He may be even now off the Nore : his ship may be sailing up the river : he may be with us to morrow. Think of that, Sylvia.' Sylvia caught her breath, and shivered as if cold or in pain. 'Are you cold, sister?' ' No — no. I am not cold. Never mind.' ' I say that we know not when the ship may come back. Her owners expect her daily.' Again she caught her breath, and again a look of pain crossed her face. ' What is the matter, Sylvia ? ' ' Nothing.

Yesterday and to-day I have felt it. Oh, it is nothing. Go on. He Avill come home, perhaps, to-morrow. Yes — he will come home. Nevill, I cannot understand it.' ' What, Sylvia ? ' ' I feel so strange. It is as if — as if — oh! — as if — I did not want him to come home.' ' Oho ! That is your little joke, sister. Not Avant George to come home ! ' ' Megrims, Nevill,' she replied, with an attempt at gaiety. ' Oh ! it will pass. Go on talking of him. It is not natural for me to feel like this.' I thought nothing of her megrims, and Avent on talking. ' He is sailing over a smooth sea, Avith a TO IYER fair wind aft : all sails set — ringtails, studdin' sails, t'gallants, and sky-scrapers.' ' Brother, you are not a sailor. You need not pretend to know all the sails of a ship.' ' Oh ! I know their names.

The ship is flying under a cloud of canvas and that is the only cloud visible. The dolphins play about the bows : the sailors dance the horn-pipe in the fo'ksle to the scraping of the fiddle, and the watch are yawning over the bulwarks. As for George — what is it, again, Sylvia ? ' For again she made as if something pained her. ' It is — I don't knoAV. I felt as if it was his name which seemed to pierce me like a knife. What is it ? ' ' Nay. It is nothing. What should it be ? His face is homeward bound : the Precinct is his Lodestar : he is thinking — what does a sailor think about when he is homeAvard bound? He is thinking of his sweetheart.' Something ailed George's sweetheart that evening, for she closed her eyes, turned pale, and clenched her hands just like one who is struggling against some internal pain.

Again I thought nothing of a passing pain. One often has a pain someAvhere, which comes and goes again, one knoAvs not why. ' The ship may fall in with the enemy. That is what I chiefly fear. A small privateer she could fight, and to a French man-o'-war she might show a clean pair of heels. 'TavouM be hard indeed, if the first neAvs of the Avar should be followed by being clapped into a French prison. The war has begun, hoAvever, in earnest. There has been an action off Scilly betAveen a British brig and a French privateer. Of course British valour won the day. But, Sylvia, it is an unnatural war.' ' Brother ! ' She held wp her finger, and looked around. ' Be careful what you say.' ' An unnatural Avar. What ? One free nation fight another nation only because it has recovered its freedom ? Why, Ave set them the example.

They have copied us Avho Avent before. I cannot believe that it will last. We must make Peace : the Govern ment cannot knoAv how strong are the Friends of Liberty in this country ' ' Brother ! Hush ! Talk to me rather vol. 1. P of Oh ! ' Here she shuddered again. 'Why cannot I think of him this evening — why cannot I utter his name without a pang ? ' 'Tis toothache, maybe. Well. The sooner he comes home the better. There will be a great surprise for him.' There was to be a surprise for him, in deed. Yet not what we expected and meant. ' From being third mate in an East India man he will be a man of substance ; he may call himself a gentleman if he likes, I suppose. There are many City merchants Avith not half his income esteem themselves gentlemen, and even Esquires. Instead of the rolling deck he will stand on the terra fir ma of his own Dock ; in place of the bo's'n's whistle he will have the bell that calls his men to work ; instead of the lapping and dashing of waters he Avill hear the tapping of the hammers.

And instead of Avalking the quarter-deck he shall sit in his counting-house and reckon up his money.' ' Yes.' But on her face there was a look of pain. 'I hope,' she said, Avith an effort, ' that he will not be changed as well.' 'Changed? Not he. George has always been good enough for us. He will be bigger and stronger, if possible. He will be more tender with those he loves. I am sure he will be more masterful with those he com mands ; and more terrible with those he corrects. But George is one of those who can only change for the better.' The place where Ave were talking was the drawing-room of the Master's House in the Hospital of St. Katherine's by the ToAver. It is a long Ioav room, panelled with cedar, so old that it has become like a mirror for brightness when the light falls upon it ; it would be a dark room but for the coats of arms in red and blue and gold which are painted on the walls and over the fireplace, and for the portraits which hang round it.

The shields and the portraits belong to former Masters, Brethren, Commissaries, and distin guished men who have shed lustre upon this ancient and religious foundation. Here are the effigies of Sir Julius Cæsar, made Master in the year 1596. He was the son of Cæsar Adelmar, Physician to Queens Mary and c Elizabeth. Here are those of Sir Charles Cæsar his son, whilom Commissary to the Hospital ; of Lord Bruncker ; of George and Henry Montague ; of George Berkeley ; all Masters — of the great antiquarian Dr. Ducarel, Commissary ; of the Earl of Dorset, sometime Steward ; and of the learned Verstegan, a native of the Precinct, who wrote the ' Eestitution of Decayed Intelligence.' Others there Avere, of lesser note. This room stretches across the whole north side of the quadrangle called the Brothers' Close.

Its ceiling is painted, and divided into lozenges of wood inlaid, painted red and blue, by Avhich the appearance of the room is greatly brightened. There are brass sconces on the wall, each for four candles, and if all were lit there Avould be forty or more to light up the room, but so many have I never seen. At most we generally had but four, or for cards six, which made a strong light immediately around, and threAv the rest of the room into deeper dark ness, Avith flickerings of the light on the gold and colours of the coats of arms, This evening the card-table was set out, provided with tAvo silver candlesticks and the snuffers in a silver tray. Two more candles stood on the table before the fire, and on the mantelshelf there were tAvo more. The long room was thus lit up in the middle, and the two ends were left in obscurity.

But the flickering light of the fire fell upon the gilded coats of arms and the gold frames of the por traits, and the candlelight caught first one face upon the wall and then another as one looked round the room. Beside the table sat my mother and Sister Katherine. They were talking of conserves, distilled waters, the breAving of beer, the making of Avine, and such household topics. At the harpsichord sat my sister, Sylvia. She had been playing, but not from music, and noAV sat with her elbow on the closed lid of the keys, and her face toAvards the fire. I sat beside her, and Ave talked, as you have heard, whispering Ioav. At the card-table sat the four players. One of them was dealing : all their faces indi cated the rapture which carries whist-players so much out of themselves that I suppose, if I had arisen and delivered an oration on the Eights of Man, even the Erebendary himself, to whom the Eights of Man were as odious as the doctrines of the Baptists, would not have heard or heeded what was said.

The four players were — first, the Eev. Eobert Nevill Lorrymore, who among his many titles, preferments, and offices held that of Brother in St. Katherine's Hospital. Un like some of the Brothers before him and after him, he not only took an occasional turn in the services of the Church but also came into residence every year for a month or six weeks, choosing that time of the year when the Hospital is at its best with the spring of the year, and the blossoms on the trees in the orchard, the early gillyflowers, polyanthus, tulip, and lily in the garden. We have had many learned and illustrious Brothers of the Foundation, but none more learned than this divine, Avho indeed shed lustre upon the Hos pital. His sermons composed and delivered for various occasions : his Dissertation on the Language called Aramaic : his Observations on the Druidical Eeligion : these things alone THE BEG/NNING OF IT 23 (among many others) keep his memory green.

He Avas, so to speak, the especial Patron of our family. He Avas godfather to my sister Sylvia, to whom he made many rich and valuable presents : and upon me he had recently bestOAved a great mark of favour in purchasing for me (it cost him no less than 300/.) a post as clerk in the Admiralty Office. This preferment, as you will presently learn, I afterwards forfeited. Yet the obligation and the gratitude remain. He was a man who looked and spoke as one accustomed to authority, — a tall and corpulent man, with a large head and a great wig upon it, one who filled up a great space in Avhatever room he found himself. And a man with a full, rich voice, loud yet musical. The Lieutenant, his partner in the game, a tall, lean man of fifty-five — all four players were about that age — sat as upright in his chair as a pike.

He had served many years in the gallant corps of Eoyal Marines, but, as he lacked family influence, he rose no higher than simple Lieutenant. He wore His Majesty's scarlet. He showed signs of hard service in ST. CATHER/NE'S BY THE TOWER 24 his face, Avhich had a great scar straight doAvn his left cheek. This Avas received in the action between the American frigate Raleigh and H. M.S. Druid. His right hand had also lost the two middle fingers — lost in a certain attack upon the coast of Eh ode Island. Had he been backed by interest, the Lieutenant might have proved a great general. He possessed at least undoubted courage, and he had Avhat Ave are accustomed to consider the ex ternal attributes of a general : an aquiline nose ; sharp and piercing eyes ; a firm mouth, and a strong chin. He lived with his un married sister, Katherine Bayssallance, of the Sisters' Close, and it Avas of her son George that we were talking.

The third player was a Frenchman — the Marquis de Eosnay. He came over to Eng land in the first batch of emigres : he Avas old ; he was poor ; and he lived in St. Katherine's Square, Avhere he had a lodging of a single room. At this time there Avere so many thousand emigres scattered all over England that they had ceased to attract attention or to excite suspicion. They lived among us, and except among barbers, cooks, and valets, to whom the emigres of the baser sort were for midable riA-als, no one now minded them. The Marquis, though old, Avas a man of fine and courtly manners ; he spoke English well ; and he preserved, though with reserve, the philo sophic habit of thought and freedom of speech which, according to some, assisted poAverfully to bring on the Eevolution. The fourth player was my father, Mr. EdAvard Comines, Avhom the people of the Precinct called Mr. Cummins.