Mervyn O'Connor, and other tales

Front matter

MERVYN O'CONNOR AND OTHER TALES. VOL. MERVYN O'CONNOR AND OTHER TALES BY THE EARL OF DBSART AUTHOR OF "THE HONOURABLE ELLA," " KELVERDALE," &c, &c. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. III. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1880. All rights reserved. LONDON : PRINTED BY DUNCAN MACDONALD, BLENHEIM HOUSE. VOL. Ill, D No. I.— Statement of Miss Alice Rowcliffe, of 103. Grosvenor Square. s\F course I remember Helen Mornington the year she came out in London. There were five or six what are called beauties came out that year, of which I believe I may, without vanity, call myself one — quorum pars — (I forget the rest) ; but certainly she was far and awaj* the prettiest. I never saw anything like her skin ; you might have compared it with velvet, if velvet could have been such a colour and so soft : creamy it was, and it never tanned or b freckled, as some skins of that kind do.

It was always the same. Her hair, too, was very remarkable — a rich auburn, and al most down to her knees ; indeed, with a very slight stoop, it did reach her knees, and not scraggy, as long hair often is. The Morn ingtons — who were very poor, for all their great relations — lived in a little house just outside papa's lodge gates, and I soon grew very fond of Helen. She was so patient, and bore all the little troubles and worries that surrounded her so wonderfully ; and, under that calm and dignity, there beat a passionate heart ; her nature was self-con tained, but ardent. She was the sort of girl one felt would never flirt, but would have many men at her feet, and would love one, and one only. Of course when we both came out the same year at the very same ball (Lady Millingham, Helen's aunt, presented her at the Drawing-Room), we had a sort of friendly chaff between us as to who would obtain the first offers — or the first offer — I forget which.

I need not explain how it was that my offers — which, after all, were numer ous enough — all came to nothing (I forget who it was — some clever man — said the other day that pretty girls with brains often did not marry) — and will go on to tell you how mortified we all were when Helen announced one day, in her quiet, resolute way, that she intended to marry Harry Hengist. Of course he was very good looking, and nice, and all that, but his £2,000 a year, or whatever it was, was not enough for himself alone, for his bets and his beautiful horses and clothes. Of course we all expostulated in vain. I. indeed, went so far as to hint that a certain Baronet with an enormous fortune only required a little encouragement to come to the point. '■ You mean Sir John Fell," she said, looking very proud and lovely.

Chapter I

nnHE Hunt dinner at Kilmacruddery. -*- Red coats and red noses, sparkling jokes and equally sparkling wine, long stories and long draughts at the old claret —'48 some of it, at least, so the M.F.H. says ; spirited compounds and more spirited accounts of " ancient runs, devoid of truth ;" great fences jumped over the mahogany, which, in the good old fashion, is stripped of its linen cover after dinner; popping, prosing, punning, and poesy. "We must have a song," said the M.F.H. " A song !" was the universal cry. " I don't mind," said Mr. O'Halloran of O'Halloran ; " but it's only one I made myself." " What's the name ?" " ' The Pride of Kilclare.' " " Haven't I heard that title before ? "No ; only something very like it." "Well, go ahead!" O'Halloran of O'Halloran rose, and putting on an intensely sentimental face, Avhich caused a titter among the younger men at the table, commenced in a voice none the Avorse for its mellow brogue : — i. There are sweet eyes around the land, And honeyed words are flowing ; And men and maidens, hand-in-hand, In moonlit walks are going : But who can e'er For eyes compare With Nora — sweet Nora — Oh, Nora ! the pride of Kilclare ? ii.

Her gentle words such music are, That the angels cease from singing ; And the south winds waft their notes afar On the halnry breezes ringing : For who could e'er For tones compare "With Nora — sweet Nora — Oh, Nora ! the pride of Kilclare? in. When she steps forth on the green earth, The daisies bow with pleasure, And the night-fays dance, in airy mirth, On the raith a happier measure : Though they could ne'er For spells compare With Nora — sweet Nora — Oh, Nora ! the pride of Kilclare ! IV. But the eyes are dim we love so well, With tears that are hateful seeing ; For a haughty Saxon bears the bell, And our Celtic love is fleeing. And though she cries, She will not be wise, And stay in her own Kilclare : So we must e'er With the stranger share Our Nora — sweet Nora — Once Nora the pride of Kilclare !

There was great rattling of glasses and thumping of knife-handles at the conclusion of the song. Dermot Desmond only evinc ed no admiration, but sat gloomily silent, with anger in his dark, Avild eyes. Two or three of those around had glanced at him during the song ; it was evident that it was considered of especial interest for him. But he said nothing; only his hand unconsciously clutched the glass before him, as if it had been the neck of an enemy. "That's a capital song," said one, "and embodies exactly Avhat we all think. O'More ought to be kicked for selling his daughter to a dirty London tradesman." "There's a big debt on the estate," said another. "What of that? Isn't there a big debt on all our estates ? To my mind there's something shabby in an estate Avithout a big debt on it." "Devilish little shabbiness here, then," said Dermot, speaking for the first time. '•This Englishman, Smyth — fancy an O'More turning into a Smyth ! — he's going to pay off every penny of the debt, I'm told," said an elderly man at the top of the table, a magnificent specimen of the Irish gentleman, owning some twelve thousand acres, and Avith nearly enough mortgage deeds to cover every acre Avith their parch ment.

" It's a good priee for an Irish girl, eh ?" said Dermot, Avith suppressed rage. " She's doing credit to her bringing up, after all. You see there is some use in blue blood." Several of the men looked at each other meaningly; for it Avas well knoAvn through out the county that Dermot Desmond and Nora O'More had been in that semi-state of engagedness, Avhich is only prevented from blossoming out into the real thing by lack of funds, for tAvo or three years. Nora was the daughter of Mr. O'More of Castle O'More, the representative of a family that traced its history back into the mists of a time when the " old families " of England had not been thought of, and Der mot, not a whit inferior to him in blood, ran him hard for equality as to the amount of encumbrances placed by careless and VOL. III. f hospitable ancestors upon his broad acres.

That Dermot would have married his " own love," and that they Avould have scraped along through debt and difficulty much as their parents had done before them, is certain, had not a quantity of the mort gages fallen into the hands of a London merchant, Avhose liking for sport and scenery led him to desire an Irish estate, and had not that merchant's eldest son come to the county of Kilclare, and been at once knocked over by the bright eyes of Nora, the pride of the said county. Old Mr. Smyth cared little for his son's love affairs, and insisted on foreclosing. To lose the old property and the Castle was a sore trouble to Mr. O'More. It can scarcely be Avondered that when young Smyth came forward and offered to avert this danger by means of his own fortune, which his father could not touch, the extremity of the crisis made his condition, Miss Nora's hand, seem less onerous than it might have done had the calamity not been so great and pressing.

As to Nora, she quite agreed Avith her father that to save the property for the family — for young Mervyn, her brother, and those Avho might come after him — the sacrifice of herself and her love Avas not too great. Dermot was very dear to her. The idea of being his wife some day had always been in her heart ; but it could not be ; and she nerved herself to bear the inward pain as befitted the descendant of old Irish Kings. That the last years of her father's life should be happy Avas a great thing, and she almost forgot Dermot's wild passionate eyes Avhen she heard the old man planning the wonderful things he would do when the mone}* came, and for the first time for centuries the full rents of the estates had not to be paid away immediately after receipt at the office : how he Avould build new stables, and make another approach, and set up a model farm, and many other pleasant and interesting improvements. i2 KILCLARE.

But Dermot, half-educated and passionate, did not take things in this quiet way. At first he vowed he would have Miles Smyth's life, and was very tragic and nonsensical ; then he would emigrate, which might have done him a great deal of good ; then he tried to make Nora run away with him, and used very bad language when she refused, and drove the poor girl wild by making her bare her heart over and over again before him. "You know I love you, Dermot," she said. " Why make me repeat it so often ? I so love you, I would give anything almost to marry you." " Almost !" he repeats, with a sneer. "Yes, almost. I am called upon to sacrifice myself " " And me " No, Dermot dear ! You are a man. You will go into the world and do things and forget. You are angry and hurt now, of course ; but it will soon be over.

Don't KILCLAEE. look so angry ! There ! — that is the last kiss I shall ever give you, for it would be wrong. Good-bye, Dermot dear ! Of course, we shall often meet, but not like this again. No ! I could not bear it. But for this half-hour it was pleasant to be again the Dermot and Nora of old days. But that is over now. Good-bye." " It shall not be so ! — it is not over !" he cried, passionately, holding her in his strong arms. " No one in the world shall part us, for we love one another. Your father is a selfish old fool, and only sells you for his own " " You shall not say those words," she said, disengaging herself and facing him angrily. "I give myself to — to Mr. Smyth of my own free will, for the sake of my family." He gave a mirthless, bitter laugh at her hesitation over the name of her selected husband.

" So be it," he said, looking wonderfully handsome in his scorn. "Go to your money-bags with your Smyth, and comfort yourself with the thought that you have broken the heart that loved you !" Then he turned and left her without a look — left her alone with her sorrow. Miles Smyth was one of those men who were nearly unknown in this country fifty years ago. He claimed no gentility other than that which was natural to him. He was proud of his position in the middle class, and, while not aspiring to be better than he was, would have been ashamed to descend one inch in the social scale. Brought up in exactly the same way as the sons of the greatest in the land, and having made many good friends of those above him, he found no difficulty, on arriving at man's estate, in understanding the nature of the gulf that divided him from them.

He saw, of course, that many of his compeers built bridges of gold, cemented by flattery and tuft-hunting, which carried them across ; but he also realised how very frail these structures were, and how difficult and degrading it was to keep them in working order. Having met on a tour in Italy, after leaving college, a Christchurch friend, the Marquis of A , he willingly joined him, and visited in his company the wonders of that sunny land ; but, to the noble lord's astonishment, he said, as the steamer was Hearing the harbour of Dover — " Good-bye, my Lord ! "My Lord! What do you mean, Miles ?" "Mr. Smyth, please. 1 am Mr. Smyth, of Bishopsgate Street, and you are Lord A , of ever so many places. Your way and mine lie far apart. We have enjoyed ourselves vastly, I admit, and I am sorry it is over.

But now it is over, I want you to understand our relative positions." " Not a bit of it !" cried the Lord, hotly. " Such distinctions between gentlemen " " Are necessary and salutary," interrupt- THE PEIDE OF KILCLAEE. ed Miles. " The gentlemen argument won't wash. Any one of my labourers may be as much a gentleman at heart as I, but I don't care to make him my friend. The safety and welfare of Society depend upon keeping up the lines between classes. I have my pride, my Lord, and I should not care to go about among those superior to me, having to own and to feel their superiority every moment. I daresay it's a weakness — pride often is — but that is the fact." " Well, you are a queer chap, Miles," said Lord A , and then the steamer bumped against the pier, the scramble for bags, and umbrellas, and rugs commenced, and the two young men drifted apart, and remained apart ; for Miles acted up to his opinions.

No one could say Miles Smyth was ugly, but neither could they call him handsome. Manly, self-reliant, healthy, and English looking, he was just such a one as you may KILCLAEE. 73 see every day in this country ; common-place, perhaps, but not such a bad specimen of manhood after all. His principles did not interfere much with his projects as to the O'More family ; for, truth to tell, he looked upon their splendid ancestry as a myth, and could see no beauty or object of reverence in a rank which rested only on tradition, and which was so palpably out at elbows. Blue blood that was unconnected with influence or with money did not find much favour in his sight, and when, on his first visit to the Castle, he had suggested that young O'More — then fourteen years old — should be sent into trade, the father's indig nant answer roused in him nothing but rather contemptuous amusement.

He thought it quite according to a wise scheme of the universe that " the mass ought to labour," and the aristocracy " lay on softies," as Biglow has it ; but then the aristocracy must have all the attributes of their kind, and must be able to pay handsomely for their grand indolence. The past was of very little moment to him if it had left nothing but its memory behind, and the only thing he did not fully like in Nora was her blind adoration of the traditions of her house. Her ancestors might no doubt have been, as she said, Kings of Ireland, but a King who left his descendants to live upon rabbits, screw the tenants, and plot and scheme for the decencies of life, stood about as high in Miles' estimation as a bankrupt stock broker. Nora scarcely understood the character of the man she had promised to marry.

She exaggerated his hardness, his utilitarian ism, his determined way of looking only to results, and gave him little credit for the many good qualities which his reserved nature seldom allowed him to show. It is true that he had proved himself very generous as regarded the pecuniary assistance he was to give her father ; but then, the girl thought, with a pride pardonable iu such an acknowledged beauty, he was only giving a big price for an article he wanted very much ; in the same way that Manchester men gave unlimited hundreds for their horses, and thousands for their pictures. That he had tact she was forced to admit, for not even Dermot had ever got on so well with her irascible father, whose scarcely veiled contempt for the roturier he good naturedly ignored ; while his skill with gun and rod had already done away with all the prejudice which her little brother Mervyn had cherished against the rich Englishman.

Many people called Miles Smyth purse proud, and, in a certain sense, no doubt with reason. He was proud of the skill, perseverance, and honesty which had raised his family from their obscure position ; he was proud of being an English merchant ; he was proud of having it in his power to assist his fellow-men. To be rich was very pleasant to him, to be richer still would be pleasanter; the THE PEIDE OF KILCLAEE. measure of greatness of his class was wealth, and he was not a man to stand still when well on his way up the hill. " When I make a big sum from a fair, sound venture," he said on one occasion, " I feel much as I suppose an earl feels when he hears the Sovereign intends to make him a marquis, or a duke when he gets the Garter, or as a day-labourer feels when he is made foreman." Such was the man whom Nora O'More, the wild, high-spirited beauty of Kilclare, was to wed.

No wonder there was much wagging of heads and utterance of gloomy prophecy among his friends and relatives in London when they heard of it ; no wonder that old Mr. Smyth raged furiously, until he brought on a fit of the gout which would have done credit to the highest-fed duke in the land. " I thought him the cleverest of the bunch," groaned the poor old gentleman, *" and here he is marrying an Irish pauper to fling away his money and look down upon him because he hadn't a barbarian king as a great-grandfather." Nothing, however, could stop Miles Smyth when once his mind was made up ; and the marriage was duly solemnised in the little church near the Castle ; the bride groom signalising his victory over the gloomy Dermot Desmond by an invitation to stay with him in South Kensington, which invitation caused that gentleman some little wonderment, mixed with a satisfaction of which we had rather not inquire the reason.

Miles had found out — no matter how — the state of affairs between the lovers, and perhaps felt that some little compensation was due to the defeated rival. As to doubt ing his wife, he would have as soon doubted the sun and stars, for he was a man who did not give his trust at all except in full. CHAPTEP. II. " l\/sY DEAR'" said one daJ'' enter" -■'-*-■- ing his wife's pretty boudoir in their South Kensington House, " I hear Dermot Desmond has come to town, and is at the Euston Square Hotel. Will you write and ask him to come here, and to stay here as long as he is in London ?" Nora hesitated a moment, and then, blushing slightly, said, " I had rather not, Miles." "Rather not! Why, I thought he was such a friend of yours !" " We have known each other from — from I don't know when." " Well, all the more reason for asking him."

" Miles," said she, turning to him sud denly, " I think I had rather he didn't come here." "Why?" " I don't know ; at least, must I have a reason for everything?" " No ; women need not, I believe. But in this case I think you should. At any rate, I am afraid he must be asked, if not by you, then by me ; for I know he only comes to town on the strength of my invi tation here — and perhaps his finances " " How you despise poor people !" she flashed out. " Certainly I do not. I have perhaps no great admiration for those who are content to be poor when they are young and strong ; but " " As if Dermot Desmond could be ex pected to be a clerk and sit on a three legged stool !" "As I do?" " You ? You are different." "Yes, I'm only a plain, every-day kind of animal, and Desmond is the descendant of a line of kings.

Nevertheless, His Majesty has consented to live a short while in his subject's house ; and so the letter had better be written. Will you write it ? I had rather it came from you." " And I had rather it came from you, if it must come at all," she said, with some thing very like crossness in her tone. " Don't you see, my dear," he went on, calmly, and in what Nora called his " business manner," " don't you see that it will be ever so much nicer for him to get the invi tation from you ? I know him very little, and I don't think he is particularly fond of me. Of course I only ask him as a friend of yours. Sit down like a good child, and tell him to come at once. We'll have some people to amuse him at dinner to-morrow." She put her hand on his arm. " You are really anxious I should write ?" THE PRIDE OF KILCLAEE.

Miles looked into her eyes for a moment, and then said, with a laugh — " Why, what a serious business we make of it ! Of course ! Send the note by a messenger. And now I must be off to the City." So Nora, as the door closed behind her husband, sat down and wrote, in her rather sprawling, but characteristic hand — " Dear Deemot, "We have only just heard you are in town. Of course you will leave that nasty hotel and come here. Your room is ready for you, and my husband begs me to say that he hopes you can come to-day. I shall be very glad to see you again. " Yours very truly, " Noea Smyth, It must not be supposed that this note was written without effort. Many copies were made, some beginning with " Dear Mr. Desmond," some "My dear Dermot," VOL. III. G and some solving the initial difficulty by plunging at once in medias res without any commencement ; but eventually she sent the one she had first written, in despair of finding any to please her better.

That last sentence was certainly too warm, but then without it the letter was decidedly too cold. If she had married twenty Mr. Smyths it would not do away with the fact that she had known Dermot all her life. Of course Miles knew how intimate they had been ; she suspected he knew of the love affair ; and therefore his wish to have Dermot in his house showed that he had no dislike to their intimacy. She wondered whether he was as good looking as ever — as she remembered him on that eventful day eighteen months ago, when she met his reproachful look as she stepped into the carriage to go forth with her new lord and master. She wondered what his manner now to her would be. Would he accept the situation gracefully, and let them glide back into the old boy and-girl friendship that had been so pleasant until love came in and made it — if pleasanter in some ways — still full of pains and penalties?

Or would he be reproach ful and gloomy, and keep the memory of her broken faith before her always ? How handsome he was ! how courageous ! It seemed almost impossible to believe that in a few hours he would be standing there in that room, where she had spent so many dull hours of converse with the most respect able wives of City magnates. Every time the door-bell rang her heart throbbed and her hand trembled. She would have given all she had in the world to prevent his coming ; she would die if he did not come. She hated herself for her folly, but she would not have exchanged that folly for all the wisdom of Solomon. And among the g2 thoughts surging in her poor little head came a dim consciousness of unworthiness — a feeling that she was base to betray, even in thought, the trust Miles had placed in her.

The awful moment arrived. " Mr. Des mond !" was announced, and, to her sur prise, Nora found herself asking the usual questions about the state of the Channel, the punctuality of the trains, &c, with which we greet a traveller. Not for some time did she venture to raise her eyes and survey him. Yes, he was as handsome as ever ; per haps not quite as much at his ease in his London clothes as he used to be in the careless garb of the country, but with a high-bred air that there was no mistaking. And then, just as Nora had settled that no one she had ever yet seen could look like this, in came Mr. Smyth, dirty and unsmart, from his office ; and who could have helped comparing the two men ? Miles's rather KILCLARE. prim, methodical manner, too, stood in marked contrast to Dermot's easy, indolent grace.

Nature had taught him how to address a woman so that the most common place remark was a compliment, and a compliment in his lips was almost a caress ; but Nature had not taken the trouble to instruct him as to his demeanour to his own sex, and his manner with men he did not intimately know was generally overbearing, and sometimes offensive in its careless rude ness. Personal courage was about his only virtue, and, as Bernard Mandeville remarks, an attribute we share with wild beasts is scarcely one to be very proud of. Miles Smyth thought he had fathomed his char acter ; and, although it was not one he liked, he gaye the Irish Adonis credit for many good qualities he did not possess. He thought him generous, if spendthrift, while he was avaricious to a high degree. He thought him trusting and frank, while he was cunning and a schemer by nature.

KILCLAEE. Taking it altogether, the man who admitted a viper into the family circle did a wise thing compared with Dermot's admission into the South Kensington household. It may be said that Nora, who was no fool, should have learned this man's character during their intimacy, but a little brilliancy in a handsome man goes a long way with even clever women, who see so often, as it were, with their hearts, and clothe with all imaginable virtues of their own invention the creature whose outward semblance has caused those hearts to flutter. And Dermot was adroit enough to conceal his bad qualities from the girl it amused him to think he loved, and whose flattery and affection were soothing to his vanity. He was ill-tempered before her sometimes, it is true, but allowed himself to be coaxed into equanimity again so nicely that Nora rather enjoyed the bursts of passion which she was called upon to quell, and was proud of her power over them.

His selfishness she took as a matter of course, and never ceased to pity him for lacking pleasures that so many lesser beings enjoyed. Now, when he came to her house, her heart swelled with indignation to think that her husband should roll in riches, and that to this being — this almost demi-god — a journey from London to Dublin was a serious matter to be thought over with much calculating of resources. The Desmonds had some relatives in high places in London, and soon Dermot's looking-glass in the little sitting-room they had fitted up for him, leading out of his bed room, was encircled by a quantity of cards of invitation ; for his looks were a sure passport. He did not become popular with men ; but he cared very little for that, and revelled in the new life now, for the first time, opened to him.

" I told you he would make a sensation," said Nora, to her husband. " Yes, and I daresay he will ; probably a very unpleasant one. Do you lend him money, Nora ?" She coloured. " If you mean as a habit, certainly not. The other day he wanted some for a short time — just till " "Till his rents come in, I suppose?" "Well, his rents do come in, don't they? I can see nothing to be sarcastic about, Miles !" "How much did you lend him ?" "The money you give me for myself is my own, isn't it ?" " Of course it is ; but I want to know how much you lent him." " A hundred pounds." " Oh ! He's moderate at first. Look here, Nora, I don't intend this to happen again. If he wants money to go on with, let him ask me." " Oh, he couldn't well do that, you know. He is so proud " " So proud that he goes to my wife KILCLARE. behind my back," said Miles, contemptu ously.