Claude Branca's Promise. A novel

Front matter

CLAUDE BRANCA'S PROMISE % ftobtl. BV ALICE CLIFTON. * Yet confident I'll keep to what I SAVore, And bide the penance of each three years' day.' Love's Labour's Lost, Act i., Scene i. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. fCortiisln : SAMUEL TINSLEY & CO., 31, SOUTHAMPTON STREET, STRAND. 1880. \All Rights Reserved.} CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER PAGE I. ON THE MOORS - - - I II. THE EARL IS INDISPOSED - * - 21 III. A SKETCHING PARTY - - - "37 IV. MRS. AVENTWORTH FINDS FAULT - - 66 V. DUTY - - - - - 9° VI. HUGH MORTIMER - - - ' XIS VII. REMINISCENCES ----- I39 VIII. A MODEL VILLAGE - - - -, 166 IX. STONEHURST - - ■* - - 1 78 X. MR. DIXON HAS HIS REVENGE - - 190 XI. A LONDON SEASON -.'.•"" 2°5 XII. AT THE OPERA ----- 226 XIII. LEVISON'S FARM - 241 XIV. ON THE BRIDGE - 259 XV. CLAUDE COMES BACK - - - - 286 XVI. A PROPOSAL ----- 3°7

Chapter I. On The Moors

' Now for our mountain sport.' . Cymbeline, Act 3, Scene iii. The party of guests who were staying at the earl's shooting lodge in the Highlands were nearly all assembled on the lawn before the house, inspecting the results of the day's sport, when Lord Errington and Claude arrived. The long journey had scarcely been felt as tedious by either of them. Claude was in a state of happy excitement over the prospect of his holiday, enjoying the variety and rapid change of scene in a country which was new to him, and above all appreciating intensely the earl's kindness towards him, and repaying it with an ever increasing warmth of affection on his own part ; an affection which showed itself in many a chance look and tone, and thoughtful little attention to his father's comfort that were very vol. n. precious to one who had lived hitherto such a childless, widowed life, with so little love to brighten it in the midst of all its luxury.

He almost seemed himself to grow young again in his interest in all that concerned the boy ; and to Claude no contrast could well have been greater than that between the pleasure his father took in hearing all that he could tell of his mother and of his past life with her, and the feeling which he knew had been entertained at the vicarage, that there was something so un satisfactory in the fact of his mother's having been upon the stage, that the subject was one to be avoided ; a feeling which had speedily produced its effect upon Claude in an almost complete reserve on the subject of his own private affairs. The long drive which formed the last stage of their journey was through beautiful scenery, and Claude gave himself up to the full enjoyment of it, until the earl remarked that another mile would bring them to their journey's end ; and then Claude grew silent, and began to con sider that the introduction before him was rather a formidable affair. ' I shall not be sorry when it is time for dinner,' observed the earl, who had paid but little attention to luncheon. ' Neither shall I. I shall be very glad,' On thc Moors. 3 replied Claude, who would have been quite willing to have the next hour well over.

His father divined the nature of his thoughts, and smiled. For his own part, he had quite got over any anxiety he might have felt with regard to the first impression his son would produce. He was amply satisfied himself, and had no misgivings about the matter. The boy was undeniably very handsome, and the earl knew well how much personal appearance counts for ; and though he might not be thoroughly conver sant with the conventionalities of society, his foreign education was sufficient to account for that, and there was a bright, sweet, natural grace about him which his father would have been very sorry to exchange for the blase" air of a man of fashion. ' It is through these gates, Cardew,' he said at last to Claude, who was driving. The gates were thrown open to receive them, and as he drove on up to the house Claude turned suddenly towards the earl and asked, rather anxiously, : Father, will it vex you very much if I make mistakes ?' ' Not one whit !' said Lord Errington, more kindly perhaps than truthfully. ' But don't trouble yourself, my boy, you are not going to make any.' ' Indeed I am afraid that I shall,' replied 20 — Claude, but the style in which he drove his horses up to the door and pulled them up there was apparently not going to be one of them ; neither was it lost upon the party who were hastening up from the lawn to receive their host. ' How are you, Farnworth ?' said the earl to one of the oldest of them. ' I am sorry that it was impossible for me to be here to receive you ; but I hope you will excuse the omission in con sideration of the cause of it.' ' It is hard to say what we would not excuse, when you come so accompanied,' said Lord Farnworth. ' Allow us to offer you our most hearty congratulations.

How do you do, Lord Cardew ? We met at dinner at your father's house last week, but I did not expect that we should so soon have an opportunity of renewing our acquaintance.' ' Neither did I, my lord,' replied Claude ; and then his attention was claimed by Sir Harry Munro, who, having seen rather more of him at the Birtley dinner-party than most of the others had done, seemed inclined to claim a kind of right of possession in him, and was glad of an addition to the party who would be nearer to himself in age than most of the other members of it. ' How are the moors ?' asked the earl, after he had introduced his son to such others of his guests as were present. ' I hope there are plenty of birds ?' ' They are splendid !' responded Sir Harry, enthusiastically. ' Won't you come and see what we have done to-day, Lord Errington ?

We have only just come in, and they are all laid out on the grass there.' 1 Where is my sister ?' asked the earl, as they walked down the lawn. ' She was with us only a minute ago,' replied Lord Farnworth. ' I think Mrs. Tremanheere is somewhere in the garden with Lady Farnworth,' said Sir Harry's uncle and late guardian, Mr. Munro. And a minute or two afterwards, while Claude was admiring the game, the earl laid his hand upon his shoulder, saying, ' Cardew, here is your aunt waiting to speak to you.' Claude turned quickly with rather a puzzled expression, and saw Mrs. Tremanheere, who held out both her hands to him. ' My dear Cardew,' she said, in a pleasant, cordial voice, ' you don't know how sorry I am not to have been among the first to welcome you ! You must not think it was because I was not impatient to have you here, for I have been thinking of nothing else since I received your father's letter.

And I hope you will not deny me the title that he gave me, though I have but a half claim to be called your aunt ?' ' Indeed I should be very sorry to deny it,' replied Claude, with his sweet, sunny smile. T never had even half an aunt before, and it is very pleasant to have relations, after being so much isolated.' ' I think your father must find it very pleasant to have an additional relation, too,' said Mrs. Tremanheere, with an admiring glance up into the handsome face. ' I hope you are not both very much tired. It is a long, wearisome jour ney, is it not?' ' Is it ?' said Claude. ' Do you know I rather liked it ? And the drive here from the station was altogether delightful. The scenery is beautiful, and I have driven so little lately that I should have enjoyed it even if the road had been a dull one.' ' You drove yourself, did you ?

Then I suppose it was for that purpose that your father telegraphed that that carriage was to be sent to meet you.' ' Did he ?' asked Claude, with a glance towards his father that was more eloquent than words. ' I did not know that he had done so.' ' Eleanor,' said the earl to his sister, ' which room are you giving to this boy ? I suppose, though you thought the house would be full before, you have managed to find a place for him ?' ' He will have the room next to yours,' she replied. * It is only a small one, Cardew,' she added apologetically, ' but when we made our arrangements for coming here we did not know of the happiness that was in store for us, or you should have been better provided for.' ' That will do very well, I think,' said the earl, well satisfied with an arrangement by which he would have his son so near to him. ' And perhaps, now, we had better go in and get ready for dinner.

We brought some of our luggage with us, and the rest will he here before long.' Claude's first feelings of shyness soon wore off. He was quieter than usual, and would have kept himself in the background if he had been allowed to do so, feeling his position as the greatest stranger in his father's house to be in some sort an anomalous one. But his coming was the event of the day, and he was inevitably a good deal noticed. Mrs. Treman heere seemed as if she could hardly make enough of him, and it was not in Claude's nature to resist her kind efforts to draw him out and make him feel at home. Before the dinner was over his father's heart had been gladdened more than once by the sound of Claude Branca s Promise. 8 the merry laugh which was so pleasant to him. In the evening there was some music, in which Claude's voice made him a valuable ac quisition, and when the party broke up for the night he was surprised to find how much he had enjoyed this first evening, which he had expected to find so formidable. ' What will you like to do now ?' asked his father, as they stood [together for a minute by a window in the long corridor. ' I am going to your aunt's boudoir, to tell her the story which I know she is longing to hear, and try and make my peace with her for never having told it be fore.

But some of the men here will be meet ing directly in the smoking-room, and if you would like a cigar you had better join them there.' ' No, thank you, father,' replied Claude. ' I am beginning to remember that we did not go to bed last night, and I shall not be sorry to do so now.' ' And leave them to discuss your merits un disturbed ?' said his father. ' If that will be any satisfaction to them,' replied Claude, with a smile.' Claude enjoyed his first day upon the moors as much as even his father could have desired. The sport was good, and he had his fair share of it, congratulating himself upon the fact quite as much upon his father's account as upon his own, for he did feel very strongly that the earl would have been considerably disappointed if he had been unable to hold his own among the rest.

The ladies met them at the spot agreed upon for luncheon, and as Claude lay among the heather, enjoying the mid-day rest and talking to Lord Farnworth's pretty daughter, Lady Evelyn Harrington, who was devoting so much of her attention to him that Sir Harry Munro, who was in love with her himself, began to feel jealous — with the view of mountains and moor all around, the fresh sweet summer air, and the ripple of the little burn close by, he felt that this holiday of his was pleasanter than he had even anticipated. And yet Sir Harry Munro had no cause for jealousy, as far as he was con cerned. Lady Evelyn was very pretty, and very bright and pleasant, and Claude was by no means indifferent to the privilege of having her sitting on that stone just above him, where he had her almost to himself, and smiling down upon him so kindly, that, at last, Sir Harry lost patience, and said, rather curtly: ' Lord Cardew, I think your father wants to speak to you.' Claude raised his eyes with a look of quiet surprise in them that made the other a little ashamed of the rudeness of his tone, but he rose at once and went to his father, who was smoking with Lord Farnworth at a little distance. ' Oh, you need not have disturbed yourself,' said the earl, in answer to his son's question. ' We were talking of the shooting on the Ro man Campagna, and I thought you had been nearer, and turned to ask a question about it.

I am sorry you got up : I thought you had not heard me.' Claude glanced back to the place he had just left, and there was a good-humoured look of amusement in his eyes as he perceived that Sir Harry already occupied it ; so, accepting the cigar which his father offered him, he sat down and smoked almost in silence, thinking to him self how little cause Sir Harry had to dread any interference on his part, and indulging in bright day-dreams of the time when Florence Peyton should have returned to England. He would have been surprised and almost angry if any one could have reminded him that, little as he had seen of Lady Evelyn, he had already spent a longer time in her company than in that of Miss Peyton ; for that one evening at Birtley had left a lasting impression upon his mind, independency of the change it had wrought in his outward life. ' Don't you think we have been here long enough ?' asked Lord Errington at last. ' And which beat will you take now, Farnworth ?

Munro was saying something yesterday about the birds on one of these nearer hills — which was it, I wonder ?' ' Shall I ask him to come and tell you about it ?' said Claude, springing to his feet. ' Yes, do. It seems a pity to disturb him when he looks so comfortable ; but it is time for us all to be moving.' Claude walked across to the spot where Munro was enjoying his tete-a-tete with Lady Evelyn. ' Sir Harry, if you please, my father wants to speak to you,' he said, in almost the same words by which Munro had deprived him of his place a short time before. ' He does — really,' he continued, with a scarcely suppressed quiver of amusement about the corners of his mouth as Sir Harry looked up at him, feeling very reluctant to move, and rather doubtful as to the bona fide nature of the message.

Claude waited for a minute, enjoying his indecision, and then asked quietly : ' Will you go to him ?' and Sir Harry, feeling it impossible to refuse, rose to do so, and had the satisfaction of see ing Claude quietly resume his old seat. Sir Harry came back again in a minute, how ever, as Claude had known that he was sure to do, to announce that it was time to move, and then the party separated, the ladies returning towards the house. In the evening, as Claude was dressing for dinner, he received a message that the earl wished to see him before he went downstairs, and on going into his father's room, he saw at once that something had seriously annoyed him. ' There, Cardew !' he began at once, almost roughly, tossing an open letter across the table to him. ' Read that— and tell me what you think of it.' Claude looked first to the signature, and saw that it was from Hugh Mortimer, and then he turned to the beginning of the letter and read it through.

Captain Mortimer began by explaining that having been out of town when his uncle's first letter arrived, he had received both it and the one written on the following day, at the same time, which must account for his not having written earlier. He expressed himself as utterly astounded by the ease with which the earl had suffered himself to be taken in by what he had no hesitation in stigmatizing as the dishonest scheme of a needy adventurer. For himself, he had no doubt whatever that Mr. Graham (or rather, the gentleman who had assumed that name) having by some means become ac quainted with the circumstances of the earl's secret marriage in Italy, had imagined that the information which he had obtained might be made conducive to the advancement of his own fortunes. He could understand, however, that since he, Hugh Mortimer, had not been so for tunate as to find much favour in his uncle's eyes, the earl would be only too ready to lend a willing ear to any story by which he might be provided with an heir who might prove more agreeable to him.

But it could scarcely be expected that he himself should be so easily satisfied, or that he should consent to be bribed, (for that was what that clever suggestion which, as he understood, originally pro ceeded from Mr. Graham, in reality amounted to,) by his uncle's too generous offer of paying his debts, to acquiesce in the forfeiture of what he believed to be his rightful inheritance. His uncle had been good enough to refer him to the family lawyer for fuller particulars, but as Mr. Berwick would be in possession of the evidence on one side of the question only, and evidence which he had no doubt had been pre pared with a skill and care which would do credit to Mr. Graham's abilities, he could not be expected to rest satisfied with the information which he might receive from him. And though he supposed that he should be power less to interfere during the lifetime of the earl, he would make no secret of his intention to have recourse to the law for the restitution of his just rights, after his uncle's death ; if indeed, when the earl had had more opportunities of becoming acquainted with his would-be heir, he should not see cause to regret his too easy credulity and be ready to repudiate his recog nition of him.

He would certainly call upon Mr. Berwick, but would do so accompanied by some legal adviser who might be more com petent than either himself or Lord Errington, to detect the weak points in the romantic story which had been so ably prepared for their entertainment. ' Does he really mean all this ? Is this what people will think ?' exclaimed Claude, as he finished the letter, stung to the quick by the insults it contained, and quivering with indig nant pain. ' You foolish boy !' replied his father impa tiently. ' Do you think I should be taking things so quietly, here, if there had been any doubt with regard to your identity ? Can't you see that he is trying to cause you what pain he can, in revenge for the injury which my recognition of you has done to him ? Why are you such a fool as to let him succeed ?' ' But does he believe that what he says here is true ?' persisted Claude. ' And what proof have I to give that it is not so ?' ' I had better have sent you to Berwick's office also,' said his father. ' Don't you see that the fellow writes before he has been there ?

Shall I tell you what Berwick has to show to him ?' ' Yes,' said Claude, looking up with keen, bright eyes, full of anxiety to understand how the case really stood. ' Well, then, in the first place, he will have the satisfaction of perusing the will which I made immediately upon my return from Italy, after having met with that picture of your mother. Before that time I had been convinced that she was dead, and that there was no end to be served by my revealing my secret to any one. But when once I had conceived the hope that I might have both a wife and a child then living, the requirements of the case were very different. Having been silent for so long, I did not care to make my barren discovery, if such it might be called, public, but I confided the whole circumstances of my marriage to Berwick, and in my will declared any child who might have been born of that marriage to be my Claude Branca s Promise. 16 lawful heir, should such child ever be discovered.

I also sought out the clergyman who had mar ried us, and who, with his wife, who had been one of the few witnesses of the ceremony, remembered the circumstances perfectly, and Berwick has his written testimony to that effect. He has also a small packet of papers which I imagined might be useful as additional proofs, should proofs be required : letters from the manager of the Opera-house at Naples with regard to the termination of your mother's en gagement there ; bills for the furnishing of the little villa in which we lived when we were first married ; one or two little notes from her, written during a temporary absence of mine, and signed " Lucia Graham," which would serve to identify her handwriting, and some other things. My only fear, after hearing your story the other day, was whether there might be any difficulty in establishing the identity of the Lucia whom I married and the lady afterwards better known as Signora Branca.

But those papers of hers, which you found for us the day that Berwick came to Birtley, show that her real name was known all the time to many people, and that there are members of the Branca family, who you tell me are still living, who remember the circumstances under which she assumed their name. So, if what he sees and hears at Berwick's office is not enough for Hugh, he can go to Naples and talk to Signor Branca, the brother of the artist who painted your mother's picture, and the son of that Signor Branca in whose house you were born.' ' And do you think Captain Mortimer will be satisfied ?' ' I don't know about his being satisfied,' said the earl, ' but he can hardly fail to be convinced. We shall probably get a letter from Berwick by to-morrow's post, and then you will hear all about it.

And after that we shall have done with Hugh Mortimer. I have no intention of pressing any more " bribes " upon him.' ' You won't cast him off altogether ?' said Claude, whose anger had had time to cool a little, and was mingled with pity as he thought of his rival's disappointment. ' What else do you think he deserves ?' ex claimed the earl angrily. ' I should have thought you had had enough of interfering in his behalf. We had better go down to dinner, or we shall keep everybody waiting.' Mr. Berwick's letter did come by the next day's post. He stated that Captain Mortimer had called at his office, accompanied by a solicitor, and that they and another connection of the family, whom Lord Errington had desired to have present, had carefully gone over the vol. 11. Claude Branca's Promise. 18 evidence, and Captain Mortimer had been assured by his own legal adviser that in the event of the earl's death Claude Graham would be his undoubted heir, and any legal proceed ings undertaken to dispute his claims would be simply a waste of time and money.

In the end, Captain Mortimer had admitted that the evidence produced appeared to be conclusive, and had then taken his departure. There was a short note also from Hugh Mortimer himself, admitting after a fashion which, as might have been expected, was not too gracious, that he had been in the wrong, and that Lord Cardew's title was apparently a good one. But the style in which the admission was made was such that Lord Errington's anger was but little mollified by it ; and Claude had a hard time of it that day with his father, before he had persuaded him not to send a hastily written letter in reply, which must almost in evitably have destroyed all hope of a recon ciliation. It ended at last, however, in the earl's writing another letter in which, though there was no further mention of that offer which the unlucky Mortimer had stigmatized as a bribe, the earl rather stiffly expressed his willingness to accept his nephew's apology, and a hope that when they returned to Birtley he would be able to pay them a visit there.

By the time that letter was finished and despatched, Claude felt that he could sympathise with Mr. Went worth's extreme unwillingness to press un welcome topics upon Lord Errington's con sideration. Yet the earl, as he thought over the matter at night, was not ill-pleased at the way in which his son had persisted in pleading the cause of the cousin whom he had sup planted, in spite of taunts and sarcasms which had more than once brought the colour into his face with a flush of evident pain, and a light into his eyes which betrayed that he had inherited something of his father's temper, though he kept it under better control. As the earl thought of it all in his quieter moments, he was glad that the boy had had the courage to oppose him, and in his inmost heart was still more glad that Claude had carried his point, and had pre vented him from breaking altogether with the nephew who, though he had been unjustifiable in his mode of expressing his feelings, had certainly had to encounter a very trying disappointment.

Lord Errington wished that he could also have recalled some of those hard things that he had said to his own son, and though from his manner during the evening he did not believe that they had caused more than a momentary feeling of resentment, he was just wishing for an opportunity of making sure that 21 — Claude Branca 's Promise. 20 all was right between them, when he heard Claude's voice in the passage outside saying good-night to Sir Harry Munro, and opening the door, the earl called his son into the room. He began by asking some trivial question with regard to the arrangements for the next day, and when that matter was settled, he said : ' Good-night, my boy. I won't keep you up. But, Claude — I believe you were right this afternoon, and I am glad that first letter did not go.' ' And you are not angry with me, and will forgive if I said things I ought not to have done ?' asked Claude, looking very much relieved. ' I think it is I who ought to ask that,' said the earl kindly. ' It has not taken long for you to find out how ill-tempered your father can be upon occasion.' ' It has not taken long for me to find out how very kind he is,' replied Claude, with a hearty warmth of affection which there was no mistaking. And the earl was more than satisfied.

Chapter II. The Earl Is Indisposed

' You shall have time to wrangle in when you have nothing else to do.' Antony and Cleopatra, Act 2, Scene ii. ' My father is not very well to-day, and hopes that you will excuse him,' said Claude, as he came down to breakfast one morning, after they had been in Scotland for rather more than a fortnight, and for the first time took the earl's seat at the table and assumed the duties of host in his stead. ' I am sorry to hear it,' said Lord Farnworth. ' I suppose it is his old enemy, the gout, again ?' ' Yes, but it is not a severe attack, I think. He says that he will get up by-and-by, and come into the sitting-room upstairs : but of course he will not be able to go out.' ' Had we not better put off our excursion to Glen Cairn until some day when he would be able to go with us ?' suggested one of the guests. ' No, thank you,' said Claude ; 'lam sure he really wishes that there should be no change,' and turning to Mrs. Tremanheere, he inquired : ' You will go in the large waggonette, will you not, aunt ? and what time would you like to have it ordered for ?' The arrangements for the day's excursion were duly discussed and settled, but as soon as Claude found an opportunity of speaking to Mrs. Tremanheere alone after breakfast, he asked her whether she thought there was any necessity for him to go too, or whether he might be allowed to remain at home.