The Gipsey Girl, or the Heir of Hazel Dell, a romantic tale, etc

Front matter

•ran, ©nEfSEST (san» l_tDY_. THROW BACK THY RAVEN HAIR LAY TffiMfHlTE BROW IN THE MOONLIGHT BARE. 1 WILL _B_ ON THE STARS, AND LOOK ON THEE . AND REAP THE PAGE OF THY DESTINY " pm®_snpnsiF]iiS(fiii "TN A FEW MI««ES.HOWEV(_k BF K /CFTKHTKW WAS ARRBSTEB BY , LATt-TlJ^B^S O.fl .KMAI.E.WUO BT'GAN SINGING A POFULAK A1K rHE ifflPow . MA2W .' I ■ ■•.330 1**1 1 p -^ Q___ o^ _^ \^ * I» MMMM arMAX&Z J&MM* VUG a-WlM, '//f-'/'tr^ <?m —- s-lutbirrfss of i%7u/yt ///'//t/st''- ' »/?/*• /is;;/'/-','-', 7\ 7- Jr. THE GIPSEY GIRL, OR THE HEIR OF HAZEL DELL, A ROMANTIC TALE. BY HANNAH MARIA JONES. AUTHORESS OF VILLAGE SCANDAL — CHILD OF MYSTERY — GIPSEY MOTHER — PRIDE OF THE VILLAGE — EMILY MORELAND — GRETNA GREEN — ROSALINE WOODBRIDGE — SCOTTISH CHIEFTAINS, &C. &C. &C. Now henceforth all our joys, Our delicate endearments all are poison'd. Aye — if he speaks my name with his fond voice, It will be with the same tone, that to her He murmur 'd her's — it will be, or it will seem so.

If he embrace me, 'twill be with those arms Iu which he folded her ; and if he kiss me, He'll pause, and think which of the two is sweeter. MII.MAN. ILLUSTRATED BY BEAUTIFUL STEEL ENGRAVINGS. LONDON: PRINTED FOR W. EMANS, 31, CLOTH FAIR 1836. LONDON: PRINTED BY J. BRISCOE, BANNER .VIKF.RT, aT. LI X !*_'.■•>. THE GIPSEY GIRL.

Chapter I

" I saw a lovelv " Gipsey girl, " She was four years old, she said; " Her face was bright with many a curl, " That cluster'd rouud h-sr head." ANON. *' DO dear lady, only one penny, good lady, for my poor sick mammy, pray do." Such was the cry of a little barefooted and bare headed, sun-burnt girl, as she ran beside the person she addressed, looking up in her face, with her large glittering dark eyes, with an expression of the most earnest entreaty, and then glancing a look of wonder and admiration, at the rich brocaded silk, the gay coloured Indian shawl, and the delicate lace veil, which formed so great a contrast to her own homely attire. Yet the child was not ragged, her coarse brown stuff A frock was neatly made, and as it slipped off, her fair round shoulders showed linen white as snow.

" And pray where is your mammy, child ?" demanded the lady. " She is in our tent, down yonder in the dell," replied the little girl, pointing with her finger, " if you will come there with me, lady," she half whispered, raising herself up on tiptoe, as if to reach the ear of her auditor, and assuming a look of mystery and im portance, " our women will tell your fortune." "Mercy on me, Madam," exclaimed the attendant, who walked by the lady's side, the girl belongs to the gipsies. Hugh was telling me this morning, that they had got a camp down in the bottom ofthe dell yon der. Dear, dear, I shouldn't wonder," she continued, looking round her with anxiety, "but we shall have the whole gang about us in a minute. Go along, you little idle vagabond do." The child looked at the speaker for a moment, with an expression of resentment which could scarcely have been expected from her years.

" You are not afraid lady, are you?" she demanded, in a coaxing tone, and looking beseechingly up in the lady's face ; " besides," she continued, as if suddenly recollecting herself ; " there's nobody now in the tents to be afraid of, for our people are all gone co the fair ; only old Judith and Elspa, that stays to take care of the children, and my poor mammy, that was so sick she couldn't go." " And are you sure now that you are telling truth," said the lady ; who had been looking in the infant pleader's face with deep interest and attention. Gll'SEY GIRL. o " Oh, yes, indeed, my mammy says I must never tell lies," replied the child with earnestness. "Well, come then, show me the way to your tent," returned the lady. " There can be no cause for fear, Lucy," she continued turning to her maid.

" I know the child speaks the truth for your master mentioned, when he came home from his morning ride, that he had met a whole gang of gipsies on their way to the fair." " I am sure Madam, if you are not afraid, I can't have any cause to be," returned Lucy, inwardly won dering at her mistress's whim, and secretly not a little gratified, that she should have an opportunity herself of hearing what the fates had in reserve for her, with out incurring any reproof from her lady for weakness or superstition. Turning out ofthe path, the child now led the way in the direction she had pointed out, bounding along like a young fawn, and seeming to find no impedi ments hi the furze bushes, the tangled bindweed, or the mossy stones which were so formidable to those she guided. " Is there no better way than this, child ?" de manded Lucy, as the girl entered a thicket, the inter lacing branches of which would scarcely allow them one at a time to follow her.

"I always go, as the bird goes to it's nest," returned the child, "that is the way of our people ; but 1 for got, the lady perhaps Let me hold back the branches, it is but a few steps, look you can see the light through on the other side." The difficulty was soon got over, for the lady seem ed to gain determination in proportion to her maid'a hesitation. "There lady, look, there are our tents, and see there is Elspa looking up at us" — and away the child darted down a narrow path so steep, that with all her resolution, the lady stood still and hesitated to follow. A wordor two passed between the child and the woman, she called Elspa, and then the little creature darted into one of the tents and disappeared, while the woman came rapidly up the ascent, to the spot where the lady and her maid were still standing, and with a significant smile addressed her in the usual jar gon of her tribe.

"If you will show me your hand, lady, and give me the largest piece of silver you have about you" — " Oh, no. no," interrupted the lady impatiently; " 1 came not here for any such a purpose — the child told me her mother was sick, and it must be dreadful for a female to be ill in such a place. I should wish to see her, and judge whether I can be of service to her." The woman's dark features became clouded with a most portentous scowl, at these words. "Sick," she murmured; "yes she is sick; our tents, lady are not fit for such as you to visit," she added in a louder tone ; " but if you will bestow your charita ble aid, I will take it to Eva." " Eva, is that her name," said the lady: " That is what we call her," returned the woman. At this moment the little girl who had so deeply interested the lady, appeared again at the entrance of the tent, and looked anxiously upwards to the spot where the group were still standing.

" Poor little thing, I will not disappoint you," said the lady, looking at her with a compassionate smile. ''There my good woman, there is a shilling for you, I will go and speak to the little girl again," and sum moning up all her courage, she descended the steep stony path which led her at once to the spot, where the child awaited ber approach. " The woman turned the shilling over with a look of dissatisfaction, and was about to follow the lady, when a few words from Lucy, and the sight of a half crown which the latter drew from her pocket, arrested her steps, and in a few moments she was deeply en gaged in developing to Lucy the good and evil por tents ofthe lines that crossed her palm. The lady had in the mean time reached the spot where the little girl stood, holding the ragged curtain of the tent back, as if to invite her entrance ; but the moment the former approached, a female presented herself and waved her hand to keep back.

" This is no place for one of your station," she ob served ; "stay, I will come to you, and then I will tell you all that my art can reveal." "But my good woman, you mistake; I come here only to see if I can be of service to you ; your child told me that you were ill and distressed, and I would willingly assist you." She took out her purse as she spoke, but the woman placed her hand hastily on her arm. OIPSEV GIRL. " Put it back, bide it for the love of heaven," she whispered in a tone of terror, and glancing at the same time her keen eye backwards into the tent. The lady's quick glance followed her's but she saw no one there but a very old woman, who, seated on a heap of straw with her head almost resting on her knees, seemed to be dozing, and unconscious of the presence of a stranger. The woman closed gently the tattered blanket that formed the curtain ofthe tent, and then beckoning the lady to follow, she stole softly towards a clump osyoung hazel trees.

" Gold, lady," she observed, turning round as soon as they attained this place of security and concealment ; " gold would make the woman thou sawest in yon tent forget her age, and give her the strength and the ferocity of the tiger ; and now what hast thou to say to the unhappy Eva." " I have told you before," replied the lady in a voice of gentleness not unmixed with fear, for there was something in tbe gipsey's voice and look, that made her heart thrill with terror. — " I have before said," she repeated, " that I came here only to offer you assistance, I was told you were ill, you look ill."— "I am ill," she replied ; " but my illness is beyond your power to cure. It is here," and she pressed her hand upon her heart ; and then, as if lost in thought, she parted the thick locks off the brow of her little girl, who leaned against her knees, and gazed upon her face with a look of fond affection The lady in the mean time, had been earnestly con templating the singular being, whose voice and mau ner formed so striking a contrast to her miserab garb, and degraded station.

She was a young and delicately formed woman, her features were handsome and expressive ; but hardship, and exposure to the elements, had given coarseness to her complexion, and there was a wildness in the glance of her full black eye, which seemed to indicate some thing like insanity ; while the almost fantastic style of her dress, if so it could be called, added to the im pression. A gown of faded scarlet cotton, was patched in so many places with pieces of black silk and velvet, that it appeared rather like design than a mere at tempt to repair the injuries of time; a short cloak of light grey cloth, hung over one shoulder, leaving he, other arm bare, and she had no covering on her head but that which nature had bestowed in a profusion of jet black hair, which fell around her face and down her neck in wild disorder.

" But if you were to leave this desolate spot, and to be properly attended to," said the lady resuming the conversation which had been for some moments suspended. " Attended," repeated the gipsey, looking up in the speaker's face with a bitter smile ; and who would at tend to me ? what would they get by it ? and who does any thiug in this world but for the sake of gain, or some other bad motive ? even those who pretend to love us — , — But no, we won't talk of that now ; tell me lady, what is it you desire to know ? I can tell you if B you throw those curls back from your forehead, whether your first love will be your last — and if you will show me your hand I can tell you too how many children you will have, and whether your fortune will be good or bad ; whether you will be poor or rich. and"— There, there, enough of this nonsense," interrupted the lady, somewhat haughtily ; for she felt vexed that the woman in whom she a moment before felt so deeply interested, should thus prove herself to be no better than the rest of the canting tribe, to which she belonged.

"There," she continued, taking out her purse again, and putting a guinea into the gipsey's hand— — " tbere is what will procure some little com fort, and if you should at any time require assistance come to the lodge that stands about a quarter of a mile from hence, and ask for Mrs. Walsingham, and" " Walsingham ! Walsingham ! did you say," scream ed the gipsey, her face fading into the most deadly white, and her large black eyes seeming to start almost out of their sockets, as she fixed them on the face ofthe now seriously affrighted lady ; " tell me," she continued, grasping her tightly by the arm— "tell me quick his name, your — your husband's name, is it ?" " Herbert — Herbert Walsingham " repeated the la dy, with quivering lips, "tell me for pity's sake what"— "You ask me what," interrupted the gipsey, her eyes now gleaming fiercely ; " and was it for you then -ie left the wretched Eva to shame and misery ?

Oh." "OH. HOW DEARLY COULD I BE REVENGED L ON D OW. LOTH EAIR. 13 3 and she darted her keen eye round, as if to be certain they were alone and unobserved, while she hastily searched in her bosom, for something — u Oh, how dearly could I be revenged." "Mother, dear mother," shrieked the little girl, throwing herself into the arms of Mrs. Walsingham, and clinging round her neck, as the latter sunk down upon the turf, fainting with terror, and yet retaining a perfect consciousness of the danger that threatened her — " Mother, do not, pray do not hurt her, she is a good lady, she is indeed ; pray, pray don't, mother ; she gave me money, and she gave you some too." "Curses, ten thousand curses on her money," ex claimed the frantic woman, flinging away the coin which she had grasped in her hand, and then seizing the child roughly by the arm, she continued — " Rose, leave her — leave her this instant — I will not harm her, but leave her, and do as I bid you — kneel there, and say as I tell you."

" I will, I will, mother," said the trembling child — "I will say any thing if you wont hurt her." " Pray then, as I do" — and the gipsey threw herself upon her knees, and raised her hands and eyes to hea ven. " Pray that the Almighty may visit with every curse and misery that man can know, the villain, Wal singham, and" — " Oh, no, mother, no," interrupted the child, spring ing up from tbe posture, she had assumed in obedience to, and imitation of her mother ; " those are not pretty prayers, such as you teach me to say every nigh', b2 when nobody can hear us : I cannot say that, indeed, dear mother." The gipsey' s fit of frenzy seemed to be passing away, or at least it had assumed a milder form ; for she clasped the child to her bosom in silence, only in terrupted by sobs and low wadings.

Mrs. Walsingham had in the mean time raised her trembling limbs from the ground, and now stood sup porting herself by a tree, wishing, yet not daring to fly from the spot, ere the maniac, for such she judged her to be, should again perhaps relapse into violence ; but Eva's tears had subdued her into comparative calmness. " You are a wife," she said, raising her expressive eyes to Mrs. Walsingham's face — " You are a wife, and most probably will be a mother — when you are, think of her who laid in his bosom before your pale face was pillowed there, think of the child who bears his image, and who, but for his villainy, andthe hate ful laws of man which second it, should have been the inheritor of his name and fortune Think of them — houseless and nameless — wandering outcasts and beg gars, despised and persecuted — think of us, I say, and exult if you can, in the love of the wretch who has given you all these proud advantages over us.

Do not forget either to tell him, that Eva's last prayer — her last dying words will be those which her murder ed mother uttered, so often on her death-bed, and which still ring in my ears : Vengeance, Eternal Heaven ! Vengeance on Herbert Walsingham." Mrs. Walsingham in vain essayed to speak, the words she would have uttered died on her lips, and before she could in any degree conquer the violence of her emotion, the gipsey was gone, she had plunged with her child into the recesses of the thick wood, at the edge of the Dell, in which their tents were situated, and was now entirely concealed from the earnest gaze that followed her footsteps. Scarcely however, bad she disappeared when the other gipsey, whom the child had called Elspa was seen descending the narrow path, followed by Lucy, whose fears it seemed had been excited by her mistress' long absence ; and who was now still farther alarmed, by discovering her whom she sought, pale, trembling and motionless.

" Let us go from hence — let us go home, was all Mrs Walsingham's reply to her maid's eager enquiries ; and leaning on her arm, she hurried away as fast as her feeble limbs would permit, while Elspa, darting a keen enquiring glance on every side, continued to follow them, exclaiming — " Who has frightened you, lady ? has Eva been pro phesying bad luck to you ? never mind what she says, the croaking raven has but one note ; but if you will let me see your hand, I will tell you" " No, no, I have heard enough," interrupted Mrs. Walsingham, " leave me, pray leave me." The cunning Elspa however was not so easily to be got rid of. " What, is there no one worth listening to then but Eva ?" she observed ; "and you rewarded her well too, I dare say, though she showed you only the dark spots in the picture ; but I can tell you by that mole on your cheek that you are born to riches, and a hand some and high born gentleman for a husband, and' — " Send her away — for Heaven's sake send her away, Lucy, give her all the money you have.

Stay, here is ray purse— No, I have lost it ; I have dropped it yonder." Lucy was about to fly back to the spot her mistress pointed to, for she knew the purse contained a pretty considerable sum ; but Mrs. Walsingham held her fast. " Let it go, let them have it," she exclaimed ; " only let me get away ffom this place." Elspa had turned back, the moment she heard of the loss of the purse, and Mrs. Walsingham and her maid now hurried from the Dell, and across the mossy and uneven ground, which intervened between that and the road, without stopping for an instant, until they were in sight of the lodge of Hazel Dell — so was named the park-like grounds and mansion of Herbert Walsingham. " We are safe, now Madam," observed Lucy ; pray rest a moment on this bank. There is no fear indeed, of the wretches coming after us, for they will be either too much occupied in looking for your purse, or if they have found it they will be too much rejoiced ; but it arn't for me to advise Madam, but certainly you wont think of letting them keep it quietly.

If my master was only to send a constable or two, and" — "Lucy" — interrupted Mrs. Walsingham with im pressive earnestness, "I have one request to make, nay more than request, I command you if you value my favour and wish to retain it, you will be perfectly silent about all that has passed this evening: you understand me, 1 do not wish it to be mentioned to any person, that I have seen the — the" — she hesitated for a moment, and then added, " the gipsies ; or that I know auy thing about them; and if you are asked any question as to the way we took to the village, say we went through the lane, and then there will be no suspicion ; and yet — no, do not tell a falsehood, Lucy, but at all events be silent as to the gipsies, and now my good girl, let us get home as quickly as possible, for I feel very ill, and am in great pain."

Lucy was puzzled and astonished, though she readily promised compliance with her mistress's in junctions. How any one could submit so patiently to be frightened almost out of their life, and to lose a purse too with seven or eight, or it might be ten gold en guineas, besides silver, passed, as she afterwards said, her comprehension, and made her suspect the gip sies had frightened the senses out of her mistress. She was however for the present diverted from these thoughts by tbe increasing indisposition of Mrs. Wal singham, who, with difficulty reached the lodge, and then sank down quite exhausted. All was consternation and dismay, that night, in the mansion of Hazel Dell; for the lady was suffering the most piercing agonies, both of body and mind ; her husband in anguish and suspense, listened to every sound, and started and trembled lest it shonld be a messenger to announce to him the wreck of all his .tapes, the death of his young and beautiful wife, as well as the loss of his expected heir ; and the ser. vants crowded round, and with open mouthed wonder and superstitious awe, to hear Lucy's mysterious hints as to the cause of their mistress' illness.

Sbe was bound by a solemn oath, never no never, to tell what had happened, while her mistress lived ; but if she should die, which God forbid, why then she should speak out directly, because should she let such wretches escape without punishment, and carry off a good round sum of money too, she should think herself as bad as tbem. Such was the sum of Lucy's obscure declarations, which after being delivered with all the accompani ments of shrugs and turning up of the eyes, and solemn shakes of the head, in the servants hall, which she visited for the express purpose; and in the housekeeper's room where she went to solace herself for a few moments, when she was spared from the sick chamber, was at length whispered, somewhat more briefly but not less circumstantially in the ear of the doctor and ofthe an cient dame, who had been at his recommendation sent for from the village, to attend as nurse to the invalid.

The old woman lifted her hands and eyes, in horror and amazement ; but Doctor Briggs was instantly de termined to sift to the bottom of this mystery. " Mrs. Walsingham went out, I think I understood, to visit the girl's school in the village. Did not she 1" he demanded. " Yes, Sir, my mistress always goes of a Thursday because"— " Ah, never mind that," interrupted the doctor ; but GIPSEY GIRI 17 pray tell me, Mrs. Lucy, did she get so far as the vil lage, or was she taken ill on the road 1" " Oh, no, we didn't go far," said Lucy ; " we only went as far as the three Elm trees on the road," laying particular emphasis on the last three words. " And then you turned off to the left, was it not V said the doctor eagerly. Lucy nodded her head — there was no breach of faith in that, she thought, though she was not quite prepared for the quick inference which the doctor drew from the information she had given.

" I see how it all is," he observed ; " Mrs. Wal singham has been weak enough to visit those cursed gipsies. I saw their tents when I rode by this morn ing; they have been terrifying her with some of then wretched balderdash, and this is the consequence ; but they shall suffer for it. I'll take care — I'll have every man of them in jail before to-morrow night, and drive the hussies and their brats all out ofthe parish." " And I hope you'll make them give up the purse too Sir," said Lucy. " We will try for it ; at any rate," returned the doctor ; and the very first moment that he could venture to leave his patient, he hastened to the library, to im part to Mr. Walsingham his discovery as to the source of the lady's illness. Bitter were the imprecations which the enraged husband heaped upon the heads of those who had wreck ed his happiness ; and bitter were the resolutions he formed of pursuing them, with every vengeance that could possibly be poured upon such degraded C proscribed and abandoned wretches, and scarcely could the doctor prevail on him to suspend his medi tated plans till the morning light.

He would go and fire their accursed camp — he would tear the tongues out that had wrought tbe mischief. " Psha, psha, Mr. Walsingham," interrupted thc plain spoken doctor ; " all this won't mend the matter, we must try and find out what has been said or done, to make such an impression on Mrs. Walsingham's weak nerves, and then we shall know how to set about removing it; and first of all I should recommend that you should exert your authority with that foolish maid of your lady's, to make her speak out plainly, and tell what did take place." " I will, ring for ber instantly," interrupted the im patient Walsingham ; and in a few minutes, Lucy was standing at the table at which the doctor was seated, while her anxious master stood with his back to the fire place, and his eyes intently fixed on her round un meaning face.

" What is this story respecting (he gipsies that you have been telling, Lucy?" he demanded; " and why did you not mention it before ?" " I, Sir! good gracious — I defy any body to say 1 told any thing about it," she replied with pretended surprise ; " because when I'm trusted with a secret, I wouldn't betray it not on no account ; and as my mis tress said to me, 1 desire you wont mention any thing that's passed" " Well, well, my good girl," interrupted Mr. Waisingham, who saw there would be no end to her cir cumlocutions, "it is all very proper and correct, that you should obey your mistress' commands ; but as we know tbat she did visit the gipsies' camp" — " I didn't say so," observed Lucy significantly. " Psha, what matters who said so," observed the doctor ; " we know it, and that's sufficient."

" Well, Sir, I can't help that," returned Mrs. Lucy pertly ; " but you won't get nothing out of me, that my mistress told me to keep a secret ; and so its no use trying to cross question me, I can tell you." "But I insist upon it you do speak, and speak out all you know," interrupted the impetuous Walsiugham ; "are you aware, girl, that your mistress' life is in danger 1" " Yes, and that if she dies, I will have you indicted as an accomplice," added the doctor knitting his thick grey brows at her. Poor Lucy's pertness now totally forsook her ; in a humbled tone she observed, that she did not think she was doing any harm in only keeping her word to her "missus," and then with a circumlocution that tired tbe patience of her auditors, she proceeded to relate all that had occurred, as far as she was concerned, suppressing only the important fact, that she had remained behind to have her fortune told by the gipsey Elspa, and had therefore neither seen nor heard what had passed between her lady and the other gipsies.

So lame indeed, and inconclusive was the tale she told, tbat more than once Mr. Walsingham's impatience and anger were on the point of breaking out; butsudc denly the conference was terminated ; for a loud sob, as of suppressed anguish, was at that moment heard at the open window near which Lucy stood, and turning her head she exclaimed — " Oh gracious ! mercy — if there is'nt the very gipsey woman that frightened my poor lady." Without a moment's hesitation, Walsingham leaped from the window upon the lawn, at the instant the gipsey retreated towards the shrubbery, which was a few yards distant. " Stop, this instant, wretch, vagabond ; I will set the dogs upon you if you offer to escape," he voci ferated, as she flew rather than ran along the smooth turf. " Wretch ! vagabond," repeated a hollow voice, and the retreating woman stood suddenly, as if fixed to the spot " Yes, 1 am a wretch, a vagabond ; but what is he who made me so ?