Aladdin in London. A romance

Front matter

MORRISON AND GIEB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH, A ROMANCE BY FERGUS HUME LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK If by chance some wight ambitious Gained Aladdin's lamp of magic, Fate, as now, would be capricious, Life would still be ever tragic. Ever fade desired to-morrows, Curst despair supplants elation, Wishes gained are bitter sorrows, Joy lies in anticipation. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. CcriD rp to Date 1 II. Destiny 19 III. Bagdad in the West 35 IV. An Extraordinary Coincidence .... 51 V. The Talisman 63 VI. Janshah 79 VII. The Anger of Major Measurby ■ • • -93 VIII. The Course of True Love runs Smooth . 102 IX. A, Treaty with the Enemy 117 X. Wedding Bells 129 XL The Major makes a Proposal . - . 139 XII. Pleasure and Politics 152 XIII. Conspiracy 169 XIV. Hilda gives her Opinion 180 XV. A Midnight Meeting 195 XVI.

The Oriental Express 211 XVII. Villa Tvartko 226 XVIII. The Keys of St. Peter 241 XIX. A Modern Patriot 258 XX. The Calm before the Storm .... 275 XXI. New Rings for Old 288 XXII. The Storm breaks ....... 305 XXIII. Sauve qui peut 319 XXIV. Boot and Saddle 331 XXV. The Power of the Ring 344 XXVI. Sanctuary 360 XXVII. Down with the Republic CONTENTS VI XXVIII. Long live the Queen 382 XXIX. The Gratitude of Princes , - . • .392 XXX. Feminine Diplomacy ...... 407 XXXI. The Will of Brahma ......

Chapter I. Cupid Up To Date

" Ix no way do I wish to force your inclinations, my dear Hilda," said Lord Kenny, taking up his favourite position on the hearthrug. " I simply point out to you that Sir Bichard is rich and Mr. Dacre is poor. Your common sense should tell you which to choose." " Common sense says the former, my heart the latter," answered Hilda sadly. " Then take the advice of common sense ! ' " And by doing so, ruin my life." " Egad, if you choose Dacre you 11 ruin mine," rejoined his lordship easily. " We are as poor as Job, my dear girl, but hardly so patient. If you do not marry money, the Havard family, as represented by me, will become hopelessly insolvent." " We have been nothing else but insolvent, papa, since I left the schoolroom." " Oh ! long before that, my child, long before that. Do not blame me, but your grandfather !

He was the Regent's friend, and that friendship cost him his fortune. He left me nothing but his extravagant tastes, without the means of gratifying them." " But you have gratified them all the same." " I admit it, I admit it," said her father airily ; " the force of habit, my dear child, nothing more. What is bred in the bone, you know. One cannot be the son of a duke and have the tastes of a plough man. I'm a great believer in heredity, Hilda. Oh yes ! The duke was fond of the turf ; so am I. He liked to buy whatever pleased him ; so do I ! What between this hereditary failing and your grandfather's extravagance, things have for many years been very unpleasant, in a pecuniary sense." The Hon. Hilda Havard leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, a position which shocked Lord Kenny mightily.

" My dear Hilda, remember your father is present. Ah, that is better," as she lay back wearily in her chair. " Well, as I was saying," he resumed with a smile — " by the way, Hilda, what was I saying?" " I don't know, papa. Never mind that. What is it you wish me to do ? " " I '11 put it in a nutshell. Accept Sir Richard Denham." " Has he spoken to you ? " "My dear child, they have both spoken to me," said Havard, glancing at his watch. " They paid me and you the compliment of asking me to permit them to pay their addresses to Miss Hilda Havard, — in other words , they wish to make proposals of marriage. I gave them both permission." Hilda started angrily from her chair. " Papa, you surely did not do such a thing." "Why not?" replied Lord Kenny, trifling with his eye-glass. " It 's strictly private and confiden tial, and I wished to give you your free choice.

Dacre is coining to-day, Denham to-morrow. I knew you coidd not stand two proposals in one day, so I put them as far apart as was possible." He was such an utterly selfish old man that he could not see but that he had acted in the most delicate manner. It never occurred to his frivolous mind that he was placing his daughter in an ex tremely unpleasant position. Hilda did not try to undeceive him. She knew her father too well. " You might have told Mr. Dacre that you had other views, and so spared me the pain of refusing the man I love," she said, walking across to the window, deeply wounded by her father's want of con sideration. " No ! I wish to let you choose for yourself," said the old beau complacently. " Marry whichever you please. I should prefer Denham as a son-in-law, myself." " And I shoidd prefer Wilfred Dacre as a husband," retorted Hdda coldly.

"I do not know why you keep up this pretence of free-will. Your idea is that I should marry Sir Richard, and yet you pre tend that I can choose either. It 's Hobson's choice." " Oh dear, dear, what an extremely vulgar expression," murmured his lordship in an annoyed tone. " I beg of you, Hilda, to recollect that your father is present. Your language grates on my ear. What is the matter ? " he added sharply, seeing her draw back from the window. " Mr. Dacre is at the door ! " she replied in a low tone. " Is he, indeed ! " said Lord Kenny jocularly. " Happy the wooing that 's not long a-doing. Send him about his business, Hilda. Remember what is at stake. Either you must accept Sir Richard's offer or the name of Kenneth Havard will figure in the Bankruptcy Court." " I will remember," she murmured, as he ad vanced to embrace her.

" No ! do not kiss me, father." " Hilda, this emotion is extremely ill-bred," replied Lord Kenny with great dignity. " However, your suitor is on the stair, so I have no time to argue the matter. Good-bye fur the present, my child, and remember I give you a free choice of a husband." Hilda was so disgusted with her father's hypo crisy that she could only bow her head in token of acquiescence, and Lord Kenny, satisfied that she would carry out his instructions, left the room with a benign smile. On the way clown to the hall, he met Wilfred coming up the stairs, and paused to press his hand with great cordiality. " You have my best wishes, Mr. Dacre," he said politely. " It is true I had other views for my daughter, but Hilda shall choose for herself. Yes, she shall choose for herself." " Thank you, Lord Kenny.

I know you are my friend." Then they parted with mutual good will, Wilfred going up to the drawing-room, Lord Kenny down to his club. As he walked along the street, he smiled to himself with great satisfaction, and never gave a thought to the refined cruelty of the whole affair. " A hand of iron in a velvet glove," he said exult ingly; " that is what Hilda needs. Had I not man aged things so delicately, she would have married Dacre in spite of me. As it is, I am afraid there is no chance of his becoming my son-in-law." Meanwhile Wilfred, much elated by Lord Ken ny's kind manner, had entered the drawing-room with a joys id sense of coming victory. Hdda, having recovered her usual manner, advanced to meet him with an artificial smile. Luckily, the blinds were down, and he could not see the look of pain in her eyes.

All he beheld was this beautiful, queenly woman whom he worshipped, and, ignorant of Lord Kenny's tricky diplomacy, he felt confident he woidd leave the room her accepted lover. On her side Hilda was suffering agonies. She loved Wilfred Dacre with the whole strength of her nature, and in any other case would have accepted him at once. Her father, however, with cruel in genuity, had placed her, so to speak, on her honour by casting the burden of his pecuniary helplessness on her shoulders, and she resolved to sacrifice her self for his benefit at the cost of her own happiness. When she saw the happy smile on Wilfred's face, she nearly broke down, but steeling herself to the ordeal, asked him to be seated, in conventional tones, which she hardly recognized as her own. Wilfred, however, was too anxious to know his fate to waste any time in idle conversation, and, crossing over to her side, took her hands in his own.

" Hilda ! " he said, looking at her downcast face, " you can surely guess my errand here to-day." He expected she would lift her face and let him see the love-light in her eyes, but she neither moved nor spoke. Like a statue of stone she stood before him with drooping head ; and marking this apathy, a sudden dread entered his heart. Finely strung natures such as his, intuitively forecast the future ; and in spite of a desperate effort to look on the bright side of things, he felt that he must be prepared for the worst. " You cannot misunderstand me," he whispered in an agitated tone ; " you must know how I love you. For months I have worshipped you in sdence, but dared not speak because of my poverty. Now things are changed. I am able in all honour to ask you to become my wife." " What do you mean ?

" asked Hilda, a gleam of hope in her eyes. " I mean that I love you ! " he said with feverish earnestness. " Yes ! but your position ? " she faltered, looking at him anxiously. " My position ! " said Wilfred in a satisfied tone of voice. " Ah ! that is quite altered and for the better. Up to yesterday I was an idle pauper with just enough to keep body and soul together. I had money when my parents died, but with the folly of youth I ran through my inheritance. That was before I saw you, else I might have been more careful. When you came into my life, I was too poor to ask you in marriage, so I went to an old friend of my father's who has much political influence. He, last week, obtained for me an appointment to a consulship in Cuba, and I have come to ask you to share it with me. It is not a great position, but it may be the prelude to better things."

Hdda's face fell as he spoke. Her momentary dream vanished, for she well knew that her father woidd never consent to such a penurious match. In the eyes of Lord Kenny, the post of a consul in a distant island would be nothing — worse than no thing, seeing it entailed absence from England. For herself she would have been glad to share such exfle with the man she loved, but Lord Kemiy had placed her duty clearly before her, and against her own in clination she was forced to obey. With a smiling face Wilfred waited to hear her exclamation of joy at his good news, but to his dismay she shrank from his embrace and flung herself sobbing into a chair. The reaction was too great, and, much as she strove to preserve her calm, all the woman in her revolted against the unnatural repression demanded by con ventionality.

Much alarmed, Wilfred knelt beside her, and strove with fond endearments to restore her cheer fulness ; but she pushed him away, crying the more bitterly as she thought of the pain she was about to inflict on this devout lover. " My dear Hilda, what is the matter ? " said Wil fred, pained and perplexed at this strange behaviour, " I thought you would be pleased at such good news." 77 " It is good to you, but not to me," sobbed Hilda, trying to control her hysteria. " I am very sorry, Mr. Dacre — Wilfred, but — but I cannot marry you." " Oh ! surely you do not mean that," said Wilfred, doubting the evidence of his own ears. " I know you love me. You would not have listened so patiently did you not love me." By this time Hilda had recovered herself, and, with a pale, set face, spoke the words which had been put into her. mouth by her father.

The effort was great, but the necessity was greater, and she uttered them with painful deliberation. " I cannot marry you, Wilfred. It is impossible." " But you love me, Hilda. Ah, never deny it. I can see love in your eyes." " Yes ! I do love you," she replied in a low tone, suffering him to take her hand, " but for my father's sake I dare not become your wife." "Your father?" echoed Dacre in surprise. " Why, only now on the stairs he gave me his best wishes." Hilda's lips curled with disdain. " What he says and what he thinks are two very different things. He wants me to marry Sir Richard Denham." " Impossible," said Wilfred, turning pale with emotion. " He gave me permission to pay my ad dresses." " That is because he wished to leave me free choice," replied Hilda in an ironical tone, the pur port of which was quite lost on her auditor.

" In that case you will marry me," he exclaimed joyfully. "You do not love Denham, and you do love me." " For God's sake, do not speak any more," she cried, rising quickly. " I cannot marry you, Wil fred. Go! go! and leave me." " To marry Denham ! " said the young man fiercely. " I will not. You shall not marry that man." " I did not say I was going to marry him." " Not in words, perhaps, but you mean to do so. Oh," he cried, covering his face with his hands, " I cannot believe it." Hdda noiselessly flitted across the room. She could not bear to witness the distress of her lover, and, but for the desire to keep up her womanly dig nity, would have told him of her father's treachery. Letting his hands fall idly by his side, he heaved a sigh and looked gloomily at the floor. For the mo ment Wilfred was puzzled how to act, as he could not but see that Hilda's refusal was based on no reasonable grounds.

In fact, she gave no reason whatever for her refusal, and yet she declared she loved him dearly. It was impossible to reconcile her actions with her words, and he felt greatly per plexed as to what was the best course to pursue. While thus thinking, a low sob sounded through the room, and he lifted his eyes to see Hilda leaning against the wall in a half fainting condition. In a moment he was by her side. " Hilda ! " he said calmly, without a trace of pas sion in his tone, "let us talk over this matter quietly." She bowed her head and suffered herself to be led back to her chair. " I cannot believe you are a coquette," said Wil fred deliberately, " yet this sudden refusal almost persuades me that you are. For the last few months I have been your shadow and you did not discourage my attentions.

I cannot offer you wealth, yet I can give you love and comfort. If you are the woman I believe you to. be, you will become my wife ; if not " — Hilda looked up in alarm as he paused for an in stant. " If not ! " she faltered. " God knows ! " replied Dacre gloomfly. " You will perhaps have a ruined life laid to your charge." " It is cowardly to talk in such a manner," she said indignantly. " If I could marry you I woidd, but it is impossible. You know it is impossible," she cried, with angry insistence. "My father ex pects me to make a good match, and I dare not dis obey him." " Your father leaves you free to choose." Hilda twisted her hands together in hopeless de spair. Duty to her father forbade her to tell the truth, so she evaded a direct answer. "Please go, Mr. Dacre, and ask me no more questions."

" I will not go, and I will ask questions," he re joined sternly. "No woman has a right to play with a man's heart as you have done. What do you think my life will be without you ? Betrayed by a woman, can I ever believe in your sex again? If you " " Oh ! " she cried, clenching her hands, " cease your reproaches. Is it easier for me than it is for you ? You suffer, I also suffer. I love you dearly. I would give up the world for you, but I am not free to follow my inclination." Wilfred looked at her with much perplexity. " Oh, if you were only rich," she cried in despair. " For myself, I care not for money, but I must con sider my father." " You evidently do not consider me." " Unjust ! unjust ! Do I not owe my first duty to my father? " " Not when it concerns your life's happiness." She wrung her hands in bitter sorrow.

" Oh ! how cruel a man can be. You think only of yourself, not of me. If your life is ruined, what of mine ? Do you deem for a moment that money will mend my broken heart ? I would tell you all, but I dare not." "All what?" She made no answer. " Do you know what I intend to do ? " he said reso lutely. " I intend to ask Lord Kenny the meaning of this mystery. You refuse me an explanation. He will not dare to do so." " Wilfred ! " He had nearly reached the door, but on hearing that appealing cry, looked back with a frown. Her arms were outstretched, as to take him to her breast ; and all his anger vanishing at the sight, he sprang back to her side. " My darling ! my poor darling ! " he whispered, holding her tightly to his heart. " I do not blame you. I have been harsh and cruel to speak as I have done; but think what your refusal means to me.

I will not accept your answer of to-day. At once I will see your father, and if he freely consents to our marriage " — "I will marry no one but you," she whispered, in terrupting him hurriedly. " He wants me to become the wife of Sir Richard Denham, but I will never consent. He shall not wreck our happiness for his selfish pleasure. I owe a duty to you — to myself, as well as to him. Go and see him, Wilfred, and tell him all. He must consent in the end. Go! Go!" Wilfred pressed a kiss on her lips, and, not trust ing himself to speak, ran quickly out of the room. Hilda hastened to the window and saw him walk rapidly down the street, then, in a state of utter exhaustion, went to her room to lie down. The or deal had been too much for her, and, torn by conflict ing doubts, she did not know how to act.

Her father, her lover, — it was impossible to obey both ; and the more she thought over the situation the more perplexing did it become. Despite the transparent selfishness of Lord Kenny's character, his daughter loved him dearly ; and unfortunately her spirit was too weak to stand against his strong will. She was no Amazon to fight her own battles, but a tender and loving woman, with many of the weaknesses of a feminine nature. So in the present predicament she felt absolutely helpless between the two men. Yet though Hilda was not of the stuff of which heroines are made, neither did her character err on the side of feebleness. She was simply a woman of strong affections, unable to decide between father and lover. Besides, she was but twenty years of age, and had no mother to take her part.

Lord Kenny was very angry, when from behind the pink sheet of the " Globe " he saw Wilfred enter the club. He instinctively guessed that there was trouble in the wind, and, disliking scenes, woidd have given a great deal to have avoided the meeting. As it was, he hoped to escape observation behind his paper ; but Wilfred recognized him at once, and walked straight up to his chair. The young man's demeanour was so aggressive that Lord Kenny thought he would make a scene there and then. Wilfred, however, was too wise to lose his temper, and saluted his lordship in a dangerously bland manner. " Well, my dear Dacre ! " said the latter uneasily, " I trust you have had a satisfactory interview." " Lord Kenny, I wish to speak to you in private ! " replied Wilfred, tailing no notice of the remark, — an omission which by no means reassured the old gentleman.

" By all means ! " said his lordship with alacrity, getting on his legs. " Come to the smoking-room. There is no one there." If there was to be a scene, it was as well to get it over at once. The old dandy did not lack courage, and had fully made up his mind that Wilfred should not come off best in the encounter. Dacre was young and hot-tempered, Lord Kenny cool and diplomatic, so he had little doubt but that the result would be in his favour. Havard, however, did not know the temper of his adversary, and found him more of a match than he expected. But what could unthinking youth do against thoughtful age, especially when the latter was selfish and unscrupu lous in the extreme ? " Well, my dear fellow," began his lordship suavely, when they were seated in the smoking room, " and what is it you wish to say ?

" " I asked Miss Havard to be my wife, and she has refused me." " I am deeply sorry, Dacre, but I cannot interfere. You had my best wishes, you know." " Yes ! I believe I had," replied Wilfred ironically, " but they did not do me much good. It is no use beating about the bush, Lord Kenny. I know too much to take your daughter's refusal seriously." " I am at a loss to understand your meaning, sir." " That is not impossible. However, I can easily make it clear. Miss Havard loves me and would marry me but for you." " But for me!" said Lord Kenny with well acted surprise. " My dear sir, why bring me into the mat ter ? My daughter's choice rests with herself." "Oh no, it doesn't. She did not explain her meaning at any great length, but from what she said I gathered that you wish her to make a rich marriage."

" Every father wishes to do the best he can for his child," returned Lord Kenny evasively. " As a matter of fact, you must admit you are not well off." " I have the offer of a consulship in Cuba ! " " Good Lord ! " said Havard indignantly. " Do you think for a moment, Mr. Dacre, that I will permit my daughter to go to Cuba! " " It 's a very pleasant island," stammered Wil fred, finding himself at some disadvantage, for he could not but be aware that his offer sounded very far from tempting. "A yellow-fever island," corrected Lord Kenny with great disdain. " Let us speak plainly, Mr. Dacre. I gave you permission to ask my daughter to be your wife. She has refused you ; so, as a gentleman, you must retire." " In favour of a wealthier suitor, I suppose," said Dacre, with an angry flush on his face.

" Precisely ! You see I treat you with frankness." " And would you sacrifice your daughter's happiness for a wealthy match, my lord ? " " That, sir," said the other with great hauteur, " is not a question for you to ask." Decidedly, Wilfred was getting the worst of the argument, and in a despairing mood looked piteously at the impenetrable old gentleman. " If you only knew how I love her," he groaned, burying his face in his hands. " Pooh ! All young men are like that," said Lord Kenny indulgently. "I was in love half a dozen times myself when I was a boy." "lam twenty-five years of age. You can hardly call that boyish," retorted Wilfred rather nettled. " I have had my half loves, as the French call them, but this is the love of my life. If I lose Hilda my life is ruined." " Not a bit of it, Mr. Dacre.

You '11 soon forget all about her in Cuba." " I am not going to Cuba." " Pardon me ! I understood you to say you were ! " " Not now. I only accepted the appointment because I hoped your daughter would be my wife ; but now — ah ! it is useless to me." " Then what do you intend to do ? " " Go to the devil ! " Lord Kenny frowned and arose from his seat with great dignity. " I do not care about hearing such language, Mr. Dacre ; so, if you permit me, I will retire." " Is there no hope ? " asked Wilfred appealingly. " Not in the least," answered the peer frankly. " It is no use, my deceiving you, Mr. Dacre. I wish my daughter to make a rich marriage, and all my in fluence will be used to induce her to do so." " She may risk your anger and marry me." " She will not do that, nor do I think that as a gentleman you can ask her to do so.

After to-day I am afraid our acquaintance must cease." " I suppose so," said Wdfred disconsolately, " but it is very hard on me." " So you think now, but you will soon get over it. Go to Cuba, and if you don't die of yellow fever, you will marry some one far more suited to you than Hilda would be." " Never ! I will live and die a single man. Is it only on the ground of poverty that you object to me as a son-in-law ? " " Yes, I think so. I have never heard anything against your character," replied Lord Kenny be nignly. " If you were rich I would not mind the marriage at all, but as it is " — His lordship shrugged his shoulders to express his inability to complete the sentence, and walked off. At the door, however, he glanced back, and, seeing how utterly dejected the young man looked, returned with slow dignity.

He was a selfish old pagan, but for the moment he remembered that he also had been in Arcady, and laid his hand kindly on Dacre's shoulder. " Come ! come ! sir, be a man. There are as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it." Wilfred shook the hand impatiently off his shoulder. "I shall not give up all hope yet," he muttered between his teeth. " It will be wiser for you to do so. Unless," added Lord Kenny, looking over his shoulder, " you find the lamp of Aladdin." He went out chuckling as though he had made an excellent joke, and Wilfred sat miserably in his chair. Then he wrote a letter to Hilda telling of the failure of his mission and beseeching her to be true to him. He sent this on to Curzon Street by a special messenger, desiring the reply, if there was any, to be brought to his chambers in the Albany.

" I won't give up all hope," he said, when this business was finished. " There 's many a true word spoken in jest. I may find Aladdin's lamp after all."

Chapter II. Destiny

At the age of twenty-five a man's character is hardly formed. It is true that to a keen observer the indications of futurity are there, but, vague and uncertain as they are, it is difficult to foresee what shape they will ultimately assume. A rake may re form to sobriety and sense, the sedate youth may in middle age fall into the snares of dissipation ; but with the generality of men this change for the better or the worse takes place between twenty and twenty five. That the chfld is the father of the man is undoubtedly true in the main, but there is a space between these two extremes in which the character resolves itself into chaos. The world of childhood is overwhelmed by the awakened pas sions of puberty, which rage unrestrained during the period of adolescence, and it is out of this incoherence that the new heavens and earth of maturity are formed.