The Fight for the Crown

Front matter

EV W. E. NORRIS "X. AUTHOR OF ' MATRIMONY,' ' MY FRIEND JIM,' ' THE DANCER IN YELLOW,' ETC LONDON SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED 38 Great Russell Street CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. FIRST IMPRESSIONS ... ... ... ... I II. RATHFINNAN ABBEY ... ... ... ... 14 III. NORA THE INTREPID ... ... ... ... 26 IV. MR. FITZPATRICK ... ... ... ... 38 V. FURTHER IMPRESSIONS ... ... ... ... 48 VI. THE DEFEATED INVINCIBLES ... ... ... 60 VII. DAMNOSA HÆREDITAS ... ... ... ... 72 VIII. LADY VIRGINIA ... ... ... ... ... 85 IX. THE TILNEY-STREET SISTERS ... ... ... 96 X. AN EASTER HOLIDAY ... ... ... ... 108 XI. GROWN-UP NORA ... ... ... ... 120 XII. THE WISDOM OF WILFRID ... ... ... 131 XIII. AT HECKINGLEY ... ... ... ... 143 XIV. HER LADYSHIP'S BROTHER ... ... ... 156 XV. A PRELIMINARY CANTER ... ... ... 168 XVI. SIR SAMUEL ASSISTS ... ... ... ... 179 XVII.

FOREST AND MOOR ... ... ... ... 191 XVIII. THE VERDICT OF HODGE ... ... ... 203 XIX. RUMOURS 215 XX. THE QUEEN OF AN HOUR ... ... ... 227 XXI. WARWICK CRESCENT ... ... ... ... 239 XXII. PROFFERED PATRONAGE ... ... ... 252 XXIII. LADY VIRGINIA KEEPS HER WORD ... ... CONTENTS VI CHAr. fAGE xxiv. Wilfrid's perplexities ... ... ••■ 276 XXV. 'FOR THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND' 288 XXVI. BILL NUMBER TWO ... ... ... ••• 3°° XXVII. UNIMAGINABLE ... ... ... •■• ■•• 312 XXVIII. TWO CONFIDENTIAL STATEMENTS ... ••• 324 XXIX. THE REWARD OF INDEPENDENCE ... ••• 337 XXX. LADY LAURA IS QUITE SATISFIED ... ■•■ 3SO XXXI. WILFRID IS PRONOUNCED A FAILURE... ... 361 XXXII. DEFEATS AND VICTORIES ... ... •••

Chapter I First Impressions

" Indeed, then, you know nothing about it, any of you — nothing at all." It was upon the steps of the Kildare-Street Club, at Dublin, on a fine May afternoon, that this comprehensive judgment was pronounced, good-humouredly enough, by a tall, handsome gentleman of something over middle-age, and that he meant it to comprehend a considerable number of persons was proved by his adding presently : "And if there's one Englishman who knows less than others — less even than the late Chief- Secretary, of doleful memory, you'll find him under the hat of Mr. Gladstone." The young fellow addressed modestly hastened to disclaim participation in the, possibly culpable, ignorance of the Prime Minister. His own, he submitted, was at least of a less presumptuous u order, and was, therefore, entitled to commisera tion rather than open to censure.

" I don't set up to know anything about it," he remarked. "That's why I'm here. I have come over to Ireland to be enlightened." " Have you now ? " returned the other, with a twinkle in his grey eye. " From your uncle's letter, I supposed that you had come over to amuse yourself, and to be an ornament of the Viceregal Court, and to hunt with the Meath next winter, like the other young men. But if you contemplate becoming a serious politician, and if you want, just by way of making a small start, to fathom what English politicians call the Irish question " " Oh, it isn't so serious as all that," the other rejoined, smiling. " Still, I confess that I should like to go a little deeper into the business than I have gone yet. I should like, if I might be allowed, to hear what there is to be said on both sides."

" Then, my dear Mr. Elles, God help you ! Anyway, you shouldn't apply for help to a poor devil of an Irish landlord, who has nothing to say for himself except that, in his opinion, what is his own ought to belong to him. Which, of course, is absurd. You'll hear as much as you can wish to hear, and more than I should have thought that anybody out of Parliament could wish to hear, from other people : it isn't for the likes of us to speak ! Suffer we must, and shall, whether Whigs or Tories are in office ; so we may as well suffer in silence." But apparently it was not in literal silence that Mr. Power was prepared to submit to the wrongs inflicted upon his class ; for, now that his lips had been opened upon a subject which, to do him justice, he seldom cared to broach, he could not close them without a few bitter comments upon the policy, past and present, of the then existing Administration.

" I'd be sorry to say an uncivil word about the enlightened statesmen whom your uncle admires and supports with his vote, but it seems to me that any half-dozen lunatics out of the nearest asylum would do their work over here quite as satisfactorily. To fill their prisons with suspects is one way of governing a country, and maybe there are worse ways, supposing that you can contrive to arrest the right people. But what has Forster done ? " "Oh, well," the younger man ventured to interpolate, " it's admitted, I presume, that the wrong people were collared ; the release of the political prisoners from Kilmainham is an admission of that, and the understanding, of course, is that a new policy is to be begun." " A pretty sort of a policy, and a pretty sort of an understanding! Mr. Parnell is to turn away from the wickedness which he has committed, and to do that which is lawful and right, so that he may save the Liberal Ministry alive, is he ?

Well, we shall see. If you imagine that Mr. Parnell can get on without American dollars, and if you think that dollars are sent over to support con stitutional agitation But where's the good of talking ? As I told you just now, we landlords are between the devil and the deep sea, and perhaps we might as well be moonlighted as legally plundered. Only you may take it from me that your precious new policy will neither stop outrages nor earn you the gratitude of a single Irishman, friend or foe: I know my country men! Possibly he did, and certainly Wilfrid Elles's acquaintance with them was as yet too slender to enable him to forecast the results of a policy of conciliation. His observations, however, so far as they had gone, had disposed him towards a sanguine view ; for he had just witnessed and taken part in the State entry of the new Lord- Lieutenant, who had been received with a cordiality bordering on enthusiasm.

Himself a modest and supernumerary member of the Viceregal household, his attendance on that occasion, and at a season of the year when Dublin Castle is not wont to dispense hospitality, might have been excused ; but his uncle, who had obtained the post for him, had wished him to see the dawn of a reign fraught with bright promises, and he had been very willing to gratify his uncle. Who, indeed, except a born fool, would be unwilling to gratify a childless uncle of advanced years, great wealth and no small political influence ? Wilfrid had been pretty plainly given to understand that, if he continued to behave himself, he would some day inherit the bulk of what his uncle had to bequeath, and he had hitherto behaved himself satisfactorily enough. Moreover, he was really a good deal interested in the actual condition of Irish affairs, to the study of which he brought an impartial mind.

It is delightfully easy to be impartial when one is neither a member of the House of Commons nor a person whose life and property are liable to be endangered by Parlia mentary vagaries. " Besides," reflected Wilfrid, who was as much of a Liberal as a public school and University education had suffered him to be, " it isn't exactly our business, I suppose, to make things pleasant for the landlords." This Mr. Power, to whom he had brought a letter of introduction from his uncle, and who had, with great promptitude and cordiality, invited him to dinner that evening, might or might not be a good landlord, but he seemed at any rate to be a pleasant old gentleman, and would doubtless have further information of a more or less amusing nature to impart. Meanwhile, there was an hour or so to be got through ; for Lord Spencer, immediately after the ceremony of installation, had left for the Viceregal Lodge, where Mr. Elles's services were not required, and the young man's time was entirely his own in a city where he was a complete stranger.

So he followed his nose, and looked about him. It is possible to become very much attached to Dublin, and officers who have been quartered there generally do — if they happen to be hunting men — speak of the place in terms of affection ; but nobody can pretend that its streets wear that aspect of gaiety and prosperity which is apt to attract the casual visitor. Wilfrid Elles, who was to all intents and purposes a mere visitor, and who was amiably inclined to receive favourable impressions, found it quite out of his power to be favourably impressed. It was not that so many of the thoroughfares were dirty, the pavements narrow and the houses mean ; that much might be said of a great part, if not the greater part, of London. But London, for all its gloom, squalor and ugliness, looks alive, rich and busy, whereas Dublin has the listless, poverty-stricken air of a capital which has seen its best days and does not expect to see them back again.

It was that air — whether real or imagined — of dull resignation which chiefly struck this Anglo-Saxon explorer, and even caused him a slight sense of personal discomfort, as representing the conquering race which had known so ill how to deal with its conquests. Like most young Englishmen, he had been taught to regard the Irish as a rebellious people, against whom it was necessary to employ force from time to time, yet merry withal, delighting in rows rather for the fun of the thing than out of rancour towards anybody, and prone to enjoy life after a reckless, out-at-elbows, devil-may-care fashion. But, somehow or other, they and their metropolis did not, at first sight, appear to corre spond in the least to such preconceived notions. The poorly-furnished shops, the scarcity of equi pages, the all-pervading stagnation, seemed to tell a tale of prolonged misgovernment and smothered discontent which would have been more appropriate in Warsaw ; the passers-by met the gaze of the inquiring stranger- — or he fancied that they did — with sullen, unfriendly side-glances.

And this was really rather disappointing of them, considering that the gates of Kilmainham had been flung open, that there was to be no more talk of buckshot or of arrests on suspicion, and that the Land Act was about to be amended. But if Grafton Street and Dame Street were thus coldly repellent, what was to be said of the byways round about the frowning Castle and the banks of the Liffey, whither Wilfrid presently wandered ? There was something more than melancholy, something positively sinister and menacing, in the silence of those long quays on either side of the evil-smelling river and the monotonous row of dilapidated dwellings which looked down upon them through broken and unclean windows ; it had to be admitted that something must be seriously amiss with a country whose chief city exhibited a countenance of that description.

However, it was agreed by everybody that there was something seriously amiss with Ireland, and wrong cannot be put right in a day, and better times were at hand. Wilfrid took com fort from these reflections, and from the memory of Lord Spencer's reception by the populace a few hours before. He was also rather glad to think that his own stay in Dublin would for the present be a brief one. He strolled on as far as the entrance of the Phœnix Park, and would have prolonged his walk had not a glance at his watch warned him that it was already time to go back and dress. Mr. Power had apologised for naming so early an hour as half-past seven for dinner, but had pleaded that at his age he could not do without a good night's rest, and that he was obliged to leave for his home in Kerry by the six o'clock mail-train on the following morning.

As Wilfrid turned to retrace his steps, an out side car, on which were seated four men, besides the driver, dashed past him and entered the Park. One of these men had evidently just made a joke at which the others were laughing uproariously, and Wilfrid felt quite grateful to them for being so merry and jolly. They, at all events, looked more like typical Irishmen than anybody whom he had as yet encountered — a good deal more so than the grave occupants of a four-wheeled cab which followed in their wake. He happened to notice their faces, especially that of the driver of the second vehicle, which was the reverse of pre possessing. He was to see and recognise some of them at a later date, and under different cir cumstances ; for the moment they only interested him by reason of the contrast which their respective expressions chanced to offer.

Subdued ferocity, anxious distrustfulness, careless good - humour : were not these, perhaps, the outward and visible signs of the actual state of Irish feeling ? — a state of feeling which, after all, was the not unnatural outcome of recent attempts to enforce law and order. It might be worth while to ascertain from Mr. Power which of the above conditions pre dominated, in his opinion, amongst his fellow countrymen. But Mr. Power, when once more joined at his club by the guest to whom he had so readily extended hospitality, flatly refused to be drawn into further political conversation. "Would you spoil my appetite for me, and ruin my digestion ? " he asked. " Find out for your self, if you can, what's wrong with this unhappy country ; wiser men than you or I have been puzzling their brains over it for God knows how many years past, and I don't see that they are much nearer the finish than they were when they started.

I've told you what I think about this new departure, and I'll tell you no more — except that Mr. Gladstone will have to fall back upon coercion before the winter. Poor as I am, I'm prepared to back my opinion, with a trifle of odds, on that point." He spoke somewhat irritably, but ended with a laugh, and immediately changed the subject to one about which he could talk with greater free dom and more enjoyment. That young Elles was a sportsman he had quickly divined, and he him self had plenty to say respecting hunting, shooting, fishing, racing and coursing, at all of which happy and healthful pursuits he had won distinction in his day. "And whatever poor old Ireland may be," he wound up by declaring, " it remains the grandest country in the whole world for sport. I wonder now, did you bring a salmon-rod over with you ?

You did not ? Well, that's no matter, for I've several of my own — not to mention that the boys are at home just now — and if you would come and stay a week or a fortnight with us at Rath finnan, we would do the best we could for you in our rough household. It has been a rough house hold since my poor wife died, and there isn't too much money to keep it going nowadays ; but we can promise you a hearty welcome, anyhow." This kindly invitation was given after dinner, by which time entertainer and entertained had discovered that they had many tastes in common, and Wilfrid, who had intended returning to London in the course of a few days, but had no special reason for hurry, was prevailed upon with out much difficulty to alter his plans. He said it was " awfully kind " of Mr. Power, and indeed he thought it was ; but the latter assured him, with every appearance of sincerity, that any one who now consented to visit Rathfinnan Abbey con ferred a genuine favour upon the denizens of that partially-closed mansion.

" We'll make no difference at all for you ; you'll get neither champagne with your dinner nor port after it — indeed, I wouldn't swear that there's a bottle of champagne left in the cellar, and, upon my life, I'm afraid to look ! But it'll be a queer day when we can't offer something in the shape of board and lodging to a friend who isn't over particular." So it was arranged, after some further parley, that Wilfrid should travel south in a day or two, and at ten o'clock the young man, mindful of Mr. Power's hint, took his leave. As he entered the Castle, where he, together with some other members of the Viceregal household, was tem porarily domiciled, he encountered a young aide de-camp, Douglas by name, whom he knew well, and who was hastening downstairs with his hands full of papers. " Come and smoke, old man," said Wilfrid, "and don't try to look as if you were weighed down by the cares of government already.

There can't be any very important dispatches to send off on a Saturday night." The other turned a pale and perturbed face towards him. " Haven't you heard ?" he asked. Wilfrid shook his head smilingly. " What's up now ? " he inquired. " Any more murders ? " " By George, yes ! — and I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Lord Frederick Cavendish and Burke, the Under-Secretary, were stabbed to death in broad daylight, just opposite the Vice regal Lodge, a few hours ago. His Excellency and Colonel Caulfeild, who were standing at one of the windows, actually saw it happen, I believe." "Good God!" ejaculated Wilfrid, "what an awful thing! Have they caught the fellow?" " Who — the assassin ? No ; and aren't likely to catch him, or rather them ; for it seems that there were three or four of them. Oh, they'll escape, you may take your oath of that.

They have the whole country at their backs." " But who are they supposed to be ? " Douglas shrugged his shoulders impatiently. " Some cursed Fenians or other, of course. The police profess to have information, but it won't come to anything, you'll see. Well, I must be off." He turned on his heel, but presently wheeled round, his handsome young face ablaze with wrath. " So much for making terms with a lot of seditious scoundrels ! " he cried. " I hope your friend Gladstone will understand now that there's only one thing to be done with the people of this d d island, and that is to put them under martial law."

Chapter II Rathfinnan Abbey

At this distance of time it is easy enough to see that the stupid and purposeless crime which followed Lord Spencer's appointment to the Irish Viceroyalty in 1SS2 could not possibly have been instigated by the recently-liberated prisoners of Kilmainham, who had everything to lose and nothing to gain by such an outrage. But on the spot and at the moment dispassionate judgment could hardly be looked for, and Captain Douglas was not the only man who thirsted for prompt measures of retaliation. Wilfrid Elles, for his part, could not but share the convictions of those about him ; and those about him during the day of agitation and excitement which followed, were officials, permanent and temporary, who professed to have known all along how it would be. A generous attempt had been made to pass the sponge over the blood-stained records of past years, and to meet the men who styled themselves patriots half-way.

This was the swift and dramatic reply, if not of those men in person, at all M events of their followers. What more forcible proof could have been given of the truth of the oft-repeated saying that Irishmen are, of all people in the world, the most dangerous to run away from ? " My dear sir," said an old office-holder who had seen many Viceroys come and go, and who was himself of Irish birth and breeding, " one of two alternatives must be correct : either Mr. Parnell can prevent crime or he can't. If he can, he is responsible ; if not, where was the good of making terms with him ? " It certainly did not seem as if much had been gained by that alleged compact, nor could so young a man as Wilfrid readily suppress the natural desire to take vengeance upon somebody for a murder which was without the slightest provocation or excuse.

Martial law ? Well, why not ? The most elementary duty of a Government is to protect law-abiding citizens and to arrest malefactors when it can lay hands upon them. If ordinary methods of arresting and punishing malefactors fail, recourse must needs be had to extraordinary methods, and those best qualified to speak were unanimously of opinion that the com plicity of thousands would enable these particular malefactors to make good their escape. "There will be no informers this time," Wilfrid was told. ".£100,000 wouldn't buy a man whom we should have to keep in solitary confinement for the rest of his days if he wanted to save his life." For the rest, the attitude and sympathies of the populace remained inscrutable to an uninitiated spectator. A great deal of emotion was displayed, and signs of mourning were visible everywhere, but it was impossible to say how far the vast crowds which thronged the Phœnix Park on that memorable Sunday afternoon, to view the scene of the tragedy, were moved by abhorrence of the deed which had been done.

Wilfrid and Douglas mixed with them, studied their faces, and came to the conclusion that they were highly excited, a little frightened, and a little exultant. That, no doubt, was unjust ; in all probability the crowd, like other crowds, was conscious chiefly of mere curiosity. Yet many of the women shed tears freely. "H'm!" growled Douglas, "if they're sorry, let them prove their sorrow by doing what they can to help the police. That isn't asking too much of them, I should think." It was perhaps asking a good deal. In any case, neither the reward of ;£ 10,000 for informa tion leading to the conviction of the criminals, which was publicly offered on the morrow, nor the numerous arrests which were made during the course of the week proved successful, and the unavoidable inference was that a considerable number of persons must know more than they chose to reveal.

" When all is said," thought Wilfrid, " men with knives about them and blood on their clothes can't get away from a frequented thoroughfare on a fine May evening without being seen. Even granting that they had no blood on their clothes, which is very unlikely, they must have been noticed either when they entered the Park or when they left." He himself had seen them, as it happened ; but he had forgotten the merry fellows on the outside car who had for a moment attracted his attention, and it did not occur to him to accuse the heedless ness of the average wayfarer rather than suspect a general conspiracy of silence. As for ruling Ireland by means of a truce with the ex-Land Leaguers, that experiment was pro nounced by all with whom Wilfrid was brought into contact to have failed before it had come into operation ; nor did the manifesto, denouncing the assassins, which was signed by Mr. Parnell, Mr. Dillon and Mr. Davitt, cause them to change their opinion that a strong Crimes Bill would have to be passed.

As a matter of fact, such a measure was immediately introduced in the House of Com mons, and seemed at first likely to meet with no opposition worth speaking of. Public indignation demanded nothing less, and it must be owned that public demands at that juncture smoothed the c path of Right Honourable public servants. It is so simple and comfortable in a ticklish crisis to be able to revert, with the full approval of the electorate, to the good old argument of the stronger arm. As for Wilfrid, he was fain to throw certain half-formed ideals and optimistic visions of his overboard — convinced that the Irish must needs be a subject race, and that they would be all the happier for being firmly held under subjection. Such, he presumed, were also the sentiments of Mr. Power, who, in a very kind letter, mag nanimously refrained from crowing over him, and expressed a hope that the terrible event which had thrown the entire kingdom into mourning would not prevent him from fulfilling his promise to kill a few Kerry fish.

There was no reason why it should : he was not required at Dublin, nor was he anxious to prolong his sojourn in the grim, half-deserted Castle. So, one fine afternoon, it came to pass that Flurry Cregan — who united in his own person the responsible offices of head-coachman, stud-groom and occasional footman to Mr. Power of Rath finnan Abbey — was sent to the station to meet an English gentleman whom he had no difficulty in identifying. The tall, fair-haired, good-looking and carefully-dressed young man who stepped out of the train could, of course, be no other than Mr. Elles, and Flurry smilingly hastened to introduce himself. " The carriage is waiting for your honour," he announced. " And is there anny labels on your honour's boxes — the way I'll know 'em ? " Wilfrid glanced at the little man in the thread bare sky-blue livery, whose twinkling eyes and wide-grinning mouth provoked a responsive smile.

If this was a sample of a Kerry native, he thought, he preferred Kerry manners to those of Dublin. And indeed Flurry's manners were charming. When he had transferred Wilfrid's portmanteau and other belongings to the carriage (which proved to be an ancient wagonette, drawn by a pair of wiry, fast-trotting little horses), and when he had turned out of the station-gates on to the long, flat road which stretched away to wards the distant blue hills, he entered into conversation with an easy volubility which never degenerated into familiarity. He had a great deal to say about the shooting and the fishing, and very sorry he was that Mr. Elles was coming to Rathfinnan at the worst sporting season of the whole year. But the young gentlemen would do their best for him, and the lawn-tennis net had been put up, and there was grand scenery in the neighbourhood.

People came from America and all parts of the world to see it. The scenery on either side of the level road along which the wagonette was actually bowling could not be called grand, being in fact a vast expanse of bog, with here and there a white washed cabin, and here and there a patch of cultivation ; but Rathfinnan Abbey, it appeared, stood on the lower spurs of the hills, some six or seven miles away, and looked out upon the as yet invisible ocean. Flurry described the natural beauties of the situation in superlative terms. But there was nothing superlative, nor indeed anything positive, to be got out of this talkative fellow from the moment that some tentative observations were risked relating to the disturbed con dition of the country. Upon that subject Flurry was evidently unwilling to enlarge.

There had been bad times, he admitted ; but he had been told that things were going to mend ; he knew very little about it himself. Glory be to God, the master had never been under police protection yet. He had heard about the Dublin murders ; but Dublin was a long way from Kerry ; sure the Government wouldn't be after proclaiming a district that had nothing to do with Dublin at all. He added, in reply to some further queries which he appeared to resent, that not a hair of any body's head at Rathfinnan was in danger ; after which he drove on for nearly a mile without opening his lips. Now, it might be true that the inhabitants of Rathfinnan Abbey were perfectly safe, but there were certain significant symptoms of their not despising measures of precaution. The park palings which bordered the road for some little distance were surmounted, Wilfrid noticed, by several strands of ugly barbed wire, and when the wagonette drew up before an old stone archway the lodge-keeper did not at once throw open the massive iron-studded gates that closed it.

By this time the light was failing, and a drizzling mist had set in, which obscured immediate surroundings, but which, according to Flurry, presaged fine weather for the morrow. A long avenue, mounting a gentle incline, led to some ivy-grown ruins, which were pointed out to Wilfrid as " the ould Abbey " ; then a second gate gave access to the untidy, neglected space of flower-garden, which surrounded a low, rambling, modern structure, quite devoid of pretensions to architectural beauty. It seemed rather odd, and suggestive of a sense of insecurity, that the lower windows should be already shut and shuttered ; but probably the reason why Wilfrid's ring at the door-bell remained so long unanswered was only that the servants' quarters were far away, and all but vacant. It was Mr. Power himself who eventually emerged to welcome his young friend, which he did with much heartiness.