Mary Hollis [A romance of the days of Charles II. and William, Prince of Orange [Translated from the Dutch.] ]

Front matter

VOL. I Jl Uomante OF THE DAYS OF CHARLES II & WILLIAM PRINCE OF ORANGE. BV H. J. SCHIMMEL, AUTHOR OF "LADY CARLISLE." IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN, PICCADILLY. [All Rights reserved.] TO THE DISTINGUISHED AUTHOR OF "THE RISE OF THE DUTCH REPUBLIC," AND "THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS," THE HON. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, THIS ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MARY HOLLIS IS ADMIRINGLY DEDICATED. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. CHAP. PAGE L MASTER AND MAN , 1 II. A HAPPY FAMILY 11 III. QUITE AT HOME 21 IV. A GENTLEMAN'S SERVANT 40 V. A MAIDEN'S LOVE AND A FATHER'S ANXIETY ... 57 vi. Charles's fate 75 VII. rural sports 89 VIII. MR. GEORGE AND RED JACK 101 IX. LOVE, LOVE, AND LOVE 122 X. BIRDS OF A FEATHER 153 XI. A BAD DEED ■. . . . 164 XII. MARY'S TROUBLES 175 XIII. STATESMEN vi CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE XIV. THE SECOND FAVOURITE ON THE ROYAL TURF . . . 212 XV. A DUTCH BOOR 235 XVI. A PROMISING YOUTH 251 XVII. COURT REFORM AND POLITICS 269 XVIII. " THE BOOR " TURNS DIPLOMATIST 292 XIX. A ROYAL CONSORT 318 XX. " THE OTHER BIRDIE " 348 XXI. INNOCENCE AND CRIME

Chapter I. Master And Man

ON a dark November night of the year 1670, two men on horseback might have been seen in the woods surrounding Hallam Castle. And they wished that they could have been observed in such darkness by the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Believing them selves on the right road which led from York to Leeds, they had ventured towards evenfall to enter the woods that lay before them, and followed the track which had for some time been pointing the way; at last the track became a double one, and they had to choose between right and left. It was now obvious that they had deviated from the ordinary post-road which at that time led from Scotland, through York, on to London. After a moment's deliberation, during which the rain came down in torrents, they had agreed to take the path to the right ; not so much from any de finite conviction that this would bring them back to the proper road, but rather at the urgent request of the one who was always somewhat behind, and who, VOL. 1.^ B although treating the other with a certain respect, had evidently persuaded his companion this time.

The latter had already taken the path to the left, when he was suddenly stopped by the remark of the other — " I'm certain I saw a hare cross the road." " And does not your Grace know what that means ?" exclaimed he, when he saw his companion ride on. " As certain as a raven foretold my mother's death, so certain is it that a hare crossing the road is the worst that could ever befal a traveller." The other stopped and turned back, saying — " Dick, you are an ass." They now took the path to the left ; it was a lane of elm-trees, leafless now in this November night, and just adowing a slight glimmering to pierce the dark avenue, where the riders were no longer able to per ceive the heads of their own horses. He who appeared to be the servant gradually ceased to observe the distance which ought to separate him from his master, and very soon they rode two abreast.

The cause of this may easily be guessed, for the servant did not cease to look anxiously back, and made sure by voice and touch of keeping close to his com panion. " Do not jest with forebodings, your Grace. You remember Lord Goring, as brave a nobleman as ever fought for his Majesty, and a lover of the fair sex. . . . Well, he has got his master there." The other smiled sarcastically, but did not complete the sentence ; and the speaker continued, somewhat hastily — MASTER AND 21AN. 3 " I saw him at Naseby ; with a handful of men he defended himself so bravely against the Ironsides of Cromwell, that, but for Satan's interference, not one of those Roundheads would have escaped unhurt. He was a fine fellow ! His eyes flashed at the sight of a Roundhead, and his nostrils dilated like a warrior's steed that smells the gunpowder."

Could we have seen the other's face we should again have observed the ironical smile on his fine lips when he asked — " Did he know that he was invulnerable ?" Dick did not quite understand the sense of this remark, nor did he trouble himself much about it. He preferred to continue — " And the same lord, who cared for neither hed nor devil — I have seen him grow pale like a terrified maiden. I once had the watch before the tent where he and a good many other officers were gambling. They were all merry, as merry could be. One of them, a young nestling from Kent, had just been unmercifully plucked, after which he had been stuffed with claret, so that he might drown his sorrow. Poor boy ! It makes me laugh when I think of it. Does not your Grace hear something ?" asked he suddenly, bending over his master.

" I thought I heard a slitter-mouse ; but as to hearing, that's no use now. I would rather see some thing; I am wet to the skin." He raised the cloak a little higher on his shoulders, as it was getting heavier and heavier. " I thought I heard some rustling yonder." " Quite possible ! Plenty of rain-drops fading. b But go on with your tale. That will shorten the journey. Although you have made your master lose his way, you may at least endeavour to make him forget that you are earning your wages very badly just now." The jocose tone in which these words were uttered took much away from their sharpness. Nor was Dick in any way offended, but rather the more inclined to familiarity. " Well, if your Grace does not entertain any fear, I do not see why I should." " Impudent rascal !" replied the other ; and with a smile, although in a commanding tone, he continued— " Dick, go on with your tale."

" I stopped at the young nestling who allowed himself to be plucked. He sat right opposite my Lord Goring, who watched him as a falcon does his prey. ' Once more,' said the youngster ; ' once more, and once again !' and with every game disappeared a part of the paternal estate. Suddenly something was heard to fall. It was his lordship's looking-glass which had come unfastened, and which fell on his lordship's breastplate. My Lord rose ... I shall never forget his deadly pallor . . . and it was a foreboding of his death — he was killed in battle the following day." " Why, that is remarkable . . . ." " And if I now tell your Grace that the first thing I heard this morning was the cry of a raven, I am sure your Grace will believe in signs. For what's the end of this day ?" " The evening has certainly not been very pleasant as yet." 2IASTER AND 2IAN. 5 " And what will be the end ?

If Red Jack should have got the scent of Lord " " No names !" muttered the other, who looked in voluntarily round. " Who knows what the robber's prize would be if some of the London friends knew you were here — alone with Dick Wharton in this confounded wood, of which there seems to be no end. Lord Jesus !" cried he, suddenly. " What's the matter ?" asked the other in a whisper. He trembled from head to foot, and laid his hand upon the sword which was concealed under his mantle. " What's the matter ?" asked he, more impatiently. " Oh ! the brute threw me against a tree in this Egyptian darkness." " Blockhead ! is that a reason why you should make so much noise ?" Dick had well-nigh made the remark that his master's excitement was somewhat extraordinary and inexplicable for a man who was really calm, but he wisely restrained himself.

The truth was, that the servant had frightened both his master and himself by his tale and accompanying remarks ; and this was natural enough in the year 1670, when the belief in ghosts and witches was very general indeed. They rode on for a moment in silence, a silence in terrupted only by the pattering of the rain-drops that fell from the trees upon the ground. Dick's heart was beating almost audibly, and that of the other traveller was not altogether calm. And yet neither of them was a coward ; one had fought honourably against the great Cromwell's troops, and the other — but of his deeds our tale will speak hereafter. Suddenly Dick almost lost his breath ; he pulled up so as to cause his frightened horse to prance and the other's steed to stop. " Does your Grace hear now ?" asked Dick in a suppressed voice.

" Red Jack spies us ! I have just seen two flaming eyes through the brushwood. Con found this Scotch journey ! I always said so. Never does a raven croak in vain." " Quiet, ass !" was the command of the other, who listened. The noise which had first attracted theh' attention, was increasing ; they heard a sound like that of a person deeply breathing, and at the same time the shaking of trees in the brushwood. " Let us go on, my lord," whispered Dick ; " that is no business of ours." The other did not seem to hear him, and kept gazing at the spot where the frightful deed must have taken place. The last words had been distinctly heard — " Cut his head off." The advice or command seemed to have been obeyed, for the first noise which indicated a struggle had died away, and a heavy body was heard to be dragged along the ground.

" Let us go on, my lord ! your lordship's life is so valuable," whispered Dick, urging his master on. And off they went in a canter that made the soft ground shake. This seemed to betray them, and several shrdl whistles were suddenly heard behind them. " I believe, Dick, that Red Jack is on the tramp," said the master, this time with quivering lips. " We MASTER AND 2IAN. 7 shall make the sheriff pay for it. Your fear makes me think that these are not your friends, Dick Wharton. I thought for a moment that you were equally well acquainted with the profession in the North, as you were formerly in the South. It would have been ad over with you, man ! for I should have laid you down before your friends could have touched me." " Surely your Grace does not think so any longer," uttered the faint voice of Dick, who saw himself now between two fires.

His excited imagination heard shrill whistles on all sides, and saw all kinds of strange forms around him ; and as chance would have it, nothing at first seemed to belie his imagination. They had not been long on their canter, when the traveller yet unnamed saw his horse stand up, and a rough voice cried in his ears — " Back ; be cautioned." " Who's there ?" said the unnamed, drawing his sword, whdst Dick, remembering the last words of his master, made his horse jump aside, so that he might not be too near his companion's weapon. The new comer continued less roughly, but in a strong nasal tone, and emphasizing every one of his words — " With more right could I put that question to you. You are a stranger here, and I belong to " " Glad to hear it ; that will enable you to help me out of this confounded labyrinth.

Curse the owner of this wood." " The curse you may keep to yourself, and then my help wdl be the more readily granted. Where are you going ?" •" That's just what I do not know," replied the 2LIRY HOLLIS. other, who, although tohy he knew not, began to trust a little more in the individual before him. " You are here in the woods of Hallam Castle, and not far from the owner's residence. Are you alone?" " No, one of my servants is behind." " May I know your name ?" " Much obliged ; but I am wont to give my name only to people whom I can see." " You are prudent as the serpent, and rightly so. I will lead you a part of the way. Hand me the bridle of your horse." " Yes — no — by Satan, who are you ?" " He who invokes the evil one, surely likes his sway. Jacob Hollis my name is. Are you satisfied?"

The man stretched out his hand and led the horse a httle on without any resistance on the part of the rider. Dick followed as well as he could, and they soon perceived that they were led to the left. " You can now go straight on, and then you'll get to Hallam Castle, where they're sure to offer you a bed for the night. Farewell." " Here, my friend, the saints are worth a candle. One good turn deserves another ; make yourself merry with this, and drink the health of his Majesty, to whom you have rendered as great a service as ever faithful subject did." " I do not ask for gold or silver, sir. One man should help his brothers. What you intended for me may find its way to the Castle and be of some good to the poor." " You are a strange being," said the other, with MASTER AND MAN. 9 whom all suspicion had now vanished.

" You render a service to a stranger and wish for no reward. By the rosy lips of my love, I should wish to see you by daylight. But are not you afraid in this den of thieves ? We have just been witness of a crime " " Of a crime ? And you could not prevent it ? You and your servant ?" Had it been daylight, we should have observed a momentary blush on the cheeks of him to whom these words were addressed ; and full of sarcasm was his answer — " I am not so well known here as you appear to be ; and perhaps I do not feel so much for mankind as you do." " Young man — for judging by your words I take you to be very young — I think you are sure now of your way to the Castle. I also perceive that this is not the only way on which you are astray : may some guide meet and direct you on the other. Where do you think the crime was perpetrated ?"

" Why ?" " There I might help somebody else, and something better." " It was in the lane where you met us. But stay ; go with us to the Castle and ask there for a guide." " An easy conscience is the best guide. Farewell, young man." 33 The riders were silent, and heard the sound of the stranger's step gradually die away. " A bottle of claret to a glass of beer that this is one of those Puritan dogs," said Dick. " For all that, a very good-natured one," replied MARY HOLLIS. 10 the other. " He has been of service to us, for yonder is a hght." The light was no delusion; the two rode at once over the .drawbridge and knocked at the oaken door of Hallam Castle, where, after waiting for a few mo ments, they were admitted. A HzlPPY FAMILY. 11

Chapter II

A HAPPY FAMILY. SIR HENRY DIGBY, of Hadam Castle, was sitting in the great hall of his ancestral mansion, which had once known better days. He was related to the old families of Beauvoir and Neville, who had come over with the Conqueror, and he prided himself upon being one of the most distinguished baronets of Old England ; and so he would have been, but for that lack of political foresight which had been hereditary in his family, and by which they had always managed to support the declining party. Thus one Digby had sided with Lancaster when the House of York was victorious, and another with the latter royal family when Henry Tudor triumphed. They were bad times for the Digbys, and of all their estates little more was left than the old family castle, with the adjoining woods, heaths, and marshes.

Fortunately the Digby family had lived a retired life under Henry VIIL, Elizabeth, and James I., so that their economy had raised them again under the reign of Charles L, especially since the monarch had sometimes honoured them with his favours. But it seemed that a short time of prosperity had always to 2IARY HOLLIS. 12 be followed by a long period of decline. The Civil War broke out, and with the well-known loyalty of the Digbys, there could be no doubt which side Sir Henry would take. The lawful, anointed king, the representative of God on earth, the head of the only true Church, was assailed by rebellious subjects, and it became the duty of every English nobleman, nay, of every orthodox Christian, to support the king, and to sacrifice life and property in his cause. Sir Henry and his elder brother, who was the head of the family, and as such, the owner of the castle, at once proceeded to Oxford, mortgaged a good deal of their property to fill the empty exchequer of the king, and with the strength of their arm defended "the right divine."

The elder brother lost his life at Naseby, where Cromwell's Ironsides routed the royal army, and Sir Henry fled back to Hallam Castle, where he was soon favoured with a visit from the triumphant Independents. He, the loyal subject, could only yield to force ; admit tance to the castle was refused, but the cannon soon opened the gate, and the embittered foe rushed in. It was owing to the forbearance of the Independents, in matters of politics, that Sir Henry was not thrown out of the highest window, or hung upon the highest tree. His life was spared, he was allowed to keep the castle and the woods, not forgetting the mortgages thereon, but all the rest of his brother's property was confiscated. We do not exaggerate when we say that these losses grieved him less than the thought that the lost property should fall into the hands of vaga bonds, sinners, and heretics.

During Cromwell's Protectorate, Sir Henry followed the example of his A HAPPY FAMILY. 13 grandsire — he lived retired from the world, after having married Lucy Morton from a collateral branch of the Northumberlands. Still, notwithstanding the most rigid economy, he would have lived a life of poverty and hitherto unknown privation but for a foreigner, Dirk Janson, a Hollander. This man had come over from North Holland at the invitation of a great landowner, a peer of the realm, in order to introduce such agricultural im provements as were then only known, or best known, in Holland. There was nothing strange at that time in asking for help and information from the little re public, though envied and often assailed. The Hol landers had taught England the dyeing of woollen materials, they had introduced an improvement in the looms, and now they were to communicate the art of cultivating the finest fruits and vegetables for the tables of wealthy noblemen.

The defeat of the En glish peers who had sided with Charles I. had left Dirk Janson alone in the midst of a general confusion. The conquerors . in dividing the booty could not think yet of any improvement in their newlyacquired pro perty, and our Dirk had just made up his mind to return to his native land, when he fell in with Sir Henry — with poor Sir Henry — in the midst of his heaths and marshes. An agreement was soon come to. Dirk had found good soil in the neighbourhood, and undertook to make fertile meadows out of damp marshes. And the dry and uninteresting man, who had not changed at all, though he had married a merry English maiden, the Hodander was as good as his word ; the MARY HOLLIS. 14 7 marsh was drained, and the heath was ploughed ; the former began to feed milch-cows, and the latter pro duced rye and wheat.

Sir Henry was happy, as far as he could be so called under the government of an usurper, of whom, indeed, he knew nothing else but that he had sent his soldiers to chastise the highway men round Leeds, but who, for all that, had feathered his nest in Whitehall, the residence of the lawful king, the blessed exiled son of the beheaded monarch. What bliss had filled Sir Henry's breast when be heard that the usurper was dead — when he heard, on the 25th of January, 1660, that the young king had landed at Dover, and that England had returned to the path of virtue. With wife and child, a boy of hardly thirteen, he undertook the journey to London. On his way thither he saw almost every house deco rated with green ; in the evening, torches in every town, and round about the praise of Charles the good, of the poor exile taught in the school of ad versity.

At last, when he arrived at Whitehall, and entered the old throne-room, he could not utter a word for emotion. He thought of settling in London, in the neighbourhood of his king, who was sure to restore his estates ; but he was told by Lord Clarendon, the Chancellor, that the time for that had not yet come. His wife being a good housekeeper, persuaded him not to stay too long in a town where the living was so expensive ; and with a little less enthusiasm for the servants of the king, he arrived in a very bad mood at Hallam Castle, after having been robbed of all his money by a gang of highwaymen near Leeds. A HAPPY FAMILY. 15 He swore that he would take revenge upon the scoundrels, and determined to inform the king, after which no doubt the severest punishment would immediately follow the crime ; but he heard nothing.

He wrote once more, and was appointed — a justice of the peace. Such an appointment would have been looked upon as the sharpest irony by any one less loyal than Sir Henry, but in the eyes of the latter it was a proof of the highest confidence of his Majesty, who did him the honour to believe in his disinterested loyalty to such an extent as not to offer him even so much as a substantial reward. For the last six years he had faithfully discharged the duties of his high office; every year at least he had been reappointed — not with any emoluments, but with the most flattering protestations of his monarch's affection. What grieved him most was that he received no answer whatsoever to his petitions for the return of his confiscated property, and more especially that it was in the hands of the usurpers.

He always ascribed it to the king's surroundings, when his petitions were received without even approaching the throne. Save for this annoyance, Sir Henry lived calmly and cheerfully by the side of his Lucy and his Charles ; for the latter was thus named after his Majesty. Quiet and yet active was his life, for he looked after all the agricultural labours of Dirk Janson, soon Anglice Dickens. Somewhat fatiguing, no doubt, had been the day on the evening of which we find Sir Henry seated in the great hall by the side of the large chimney, napping MARX B0LLI8. 16 against the mantelpiece. A good opportunity just to have a look at him. As we might have guessed, he cannot be far off sixty, and so he looks, notwithstanding his healthy brown complexion. His thick hair, turning somewhat grizzly, adds a certain respectability, or even dignity, to the open, kind, but hardly intelligent countenance.

A single glance at his dress would have made us suppose that which we knew already — namely, that he was conservative in his nature, and did not prefer the present to the past. The short doublet of black fustian; the turned-down lace collar; the low-reaching breeches, also of fustian; the slashed and high-heeled boots ; the mantle for great occasions ; the broad brimmed Flemish hat, with the red feather — everything, in a word, showed the man's predilection for the time of Charles the First. The large square apartment in which we meet Sir Henry has four plain windows, now concealed by thick curtains of green serge. During the day, when they allow a dim light to pierce the small glass panes, they look out on one side of the entrance-yard, and on the other on a garden, where the eye would search in vain for a single flower ; every inch of the soil had been made use of for vegetables or fruit.

" Any one wanting flowers," said Dickens, " must get a pot, and a handful of earth, and a corner in his window-sill." The walls between the windows, as well as on the two sides where there were no windows, were of oak, with here and there a crack, but no cobwebs in the corner. On each side of the chimney hung a portrait : the one of Charles the First, the other of Lady Digby, A HAPPY FAMILY. 17 or rather of Miss Lucy Morton at sweet seventeen. The scoured floor was of a dazzling white, in pleasant contrast to the oaken cupboard, inlaid with ebony, and most beautifully and elaborately carved; the latter bore nothing but a few pots of dels, for vases of Chinese porcelain had only just then reached the world of fashion; a mirror of Venetian glass, in a frame of polished steel; a solid oblong table of oak, which could be let out on both sides ; and half-a-dozen chairs with high leather backs and seats — this com pleted the solid if not elegant furniture.

But we had almost forgotten the only peculiarity indicating anything like luxury, — the Smyrna cloth on the table, always visible between dinner and supper time, when Sir Henry with my lady and Charles are together in the large hall. This had been one of his rich wedding gifts, and instead of using it on grand occasions — as many an upstart would have done — the presence of the Digby family in itself was held sufficient for the appearance of the precious cloth. If we have hitherto introduced no other members but the head of the Digby family, it is simply because they had not attracted our attention by a single word or gesture. Lady Digby sat opposite her lord, and, but for the humming of the spinning wheel, which we must suppose her to handle, we should almost have fancied that she was asleep, like her husband.

A grave matron she looked, as she sat there with thai serious countenance of blooming health, which tempered a little its expression of haughtiness and pride, as she sat there in her fardingale of dark green solid silk, set off in front and below with black satin VOL. I. C ribbon ; her short dress of the same material, fitted tightly round the waist, with sleeves reaching as far as the elbow, and displaying an under sleeve of the finest cambric. Her bosom was modestly covered by a light kerchief, her neck was enclosed by a stiff stand-up collar, and her grey hair partly concealed by the common cap of the period. Her ruddy cheek might have something common, and her proud lips something loo aristocratic, but both would be unnoticed as soon as she raised her small, light-blue eyes, and nobody would deny her the name of a gentle or even of a noble woman.

At the other side of the table, just opposite the chimney, sat Charles, judging by his dress the image of his father, although by his face perhaps a combination of what was most noble in both his parents. He seemed to have the energy of his father, but ennobled by the intellectual expression of his mother ; he had the proud look of the latter, and the clear kind eye of the former. He had a high forehead, thin lips, and a perfect Roman nose ; in a word, he was a worthy representative of that type of beauty which is so peculiar to the Anglo-Saxon race. To his left, and therefore by his father's side, sat another man, a stranger, a servant, as it often seemed, and yet more than a servant, as it sometimes appeared. He was dressed entirely in black, his clothes were almost threadbare from wear, and a sample of all that could be called ridiculous or eccentric.

As he is writing just now, we have an opportunity of observing his thin and lanky fingers, and when he now and then .shyly raises his head, we may notice his prominent, A HaAPPY family. 19 broad nose, his bristly eyebrows, and his enormous pointed chin ; nor can we help looking at his bald pate, hardly surrounded by a few neglected hairs, or at his lop ears, whenever he bends his body to finish the given task. For it was a task given to the Reverend Mr. King, the chaplain, secretary, tutor, messenger, gardener, &c, of the Digby famdy. In those days the lower clergy of the English church were used for almost everything. The intellectual development of the clergy in the country was anything but satisfactory, and even had it been of a higher standard, it would have hardly influenced the utilitarian estimation of the times.