Minnigrey. A romance ... Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert

Front matter

MINNIGREY ■ & lommicc. By J. F. SMITH, AUTHOR OF " WILL AND THE WAY," "WOMAN AND HEB MASTER," "STANFIELD HALL," "TEMPTATION," Etc, Etc. fa ■ i 12 AND 13, FETTER CONTENTS. ■ • • • CONTENTS. Chapter. Page XXVII. Hanway Defeated— Sergeant Williams Reduced to the Ranks 08 XXVIII. Lady Talbot Becomes Minnie's Guardian Angel . . . 102 XXIX. A Woman's Stratagem 105 XXX. Lady Talbot's Scheme Succeeds 107 XXXI. Parting Interview of Gus and Minnigrey— Agnes Effects Gus's Escape . - . . 103 XXXII. The Journey to San Josef— The Hiding-Place . . .113 XXXIII. The Zingari — Gus Learns an Important Secret . . . 119 XXXIV. Gus Tells Peter of the Conspiracy 121 XXXV. Gus and Sir Arthur Wellesley 122 XXXVI. Gus and Blue Peter Render Further Service to the Commander-in-Chief 125 XXXVI 1. T"** ■R'ttt.p, OP Vimiera— Grs Captures the French Eagle V TRK.

LVI. Hanway. M J "III. ■ Sir William Stanley — A Point-Blank Refu: The Old Keepee's CoaN'i'Essiox — Frank Sta At Dingley — Hanac's Fidelity . Marmaduke Mandrake Ha3 The Visit to Ding Sealed Packet I. mi Assassin Foiled by MiiS-go and R. -Madge t the Hague — Gua Finds a Pow LXV. ,*. a in Paris — At tu jent to Vincennes ... TjXVI. * i Verdun — Alice's Son Tr • i,XVII. L v. Pascata and the Governor of Pj . LX1X. VI [CONTENTS. Chapter. - Page. LXXXIH. At Sir William Stanley's— The Rivals 279 LXXXIV. Death and Confession of Sir William Stanley . . .281 LXXXV. Hanway and His Nephew Overheard by Lady Blanche . 284 LXXXVI. Madge Delivers up Her Trust 286 LXXXVLL Gus Gives Minnigrey the Packet and is Kidnapped by Black Paul 290 LXXXVHI. Tarred with the Same Brush 292 LXXXIX. Death of Lady Blanche— Danger of Minnie— Madge's Vengeance 293 XC.

The Parting of Frank and Fanny . 007 XCI. Colonel Mortimer at the Vault of the Esericks. . 301 XCII. At Dingley— Gus's Claim Declared— Hanway and Edward Howard ."303 XCIII. The Shadow of Death „„_ XOTT- - ILLUSTRATIONS. Dr. Bawtree a:sd the Gii'sy Dr. Bawtree Waylaid The Wages of Crime . Minnigrey's Champion Bumps Exercises the Authority of the Law Madge Horrifies the House-Dweller Hanway Plays a Double Game The Compact with Black Paul Gus on Board the Tender The Attack on Lieutenant Murray Gus and Blue Peter in the Osteria Gus Takes the Queen's Shilling " There !" Said Agnes, with a Sigh ; " I Have No Longer a Protector Against You." Hanway is Foiled by Blue Peter "And You are Convinced," They Heard Ed .yard Howard Say, "That She Believes You to be Her Father?" ...... Gus Rescues Minnie From Worse Than Death ......

Chapter I

By the death of her brother, the last Earl of Eserick, the title fell in abeyance, and the Lady Blanche, as the elder of his two survivingsisters, became possessed of his large estates. In the1 event of her decease without issue, it descended in strict entail to her married sister, the wife of! Sir John de Grey, a baronet of ancient family, whose possessions adjoined Dingley Manor. Lady Ellen de Grey was three years younger than the heiress, equally beautiful, perhaps, but fair, and far more gentle in her character. So marked was the difference between them, that those who knew them used to call them Day and Night — the appellation was not in appropriate. When Sir John De Grey first became a visitor, at Dingley, he was attracted by the charms of J the elder sister. Suddenly, however, his atten tions changed, and he treated the haughty beauty at whose feet he had sighed with a coldness so marked that it bordered on contempt ; the cause was equally a mystery to Lady Blanche and her friends.

Eventually the gentle Ellen won his heart ; he proposed to her guardians, and, as the match was unexceptionable, both in point of family and fortune, it was at once accepted. They had been married about eleven months, and the birth of an heir was daily expected. Words were weak to paint the rage and despair of Lady Blanche at the marriage of her sister ' Still she had assisted at it — pride sustained her. With pale lips, and a cold, glassy eye, she witnessed the ceremony, which left her heart a blank, or, worse, changed its warm current into burning lava. It was in vain that Lord Digby, the wealthiest nobleman in the county, renewed his attentions — he was coldly dismissed ; but his lordship was not a man to give up the pursuit on one defeat. His pride was equal to her own ; his passions, if possible, still stronger.

He mentally vowed she should be his, and he was just the man of intrigue and selfishness of purpose to succeed in his undertaking. To the disappointed Blanche the birth of an "Calm doeB not always prove content, But, like the frost on Etna's brow, Too oft it hides the fires unspent, Which rage beneath the chilling snow." — Author's Scrap-Book. [Brt_galAr-)Y BLANCHE HOWARD, the orphan r3 Œ!m heiress of Dingley Manor, was seated jgj mU alone in the old-fashioned drawing- Is1^ room of the stately mansion which had been the principal seat of her family from the time when William the Conqueror bestowed it upon Ralph de Howard, one of his vavasours or petty nobles, for valiant services rendered on the field of Hastings. At the period our tale commences she was*in the full pride of woman hood — just four-and-twenty — endowed by nature with wondrous beauty, warm feelings, and deep passions.

To the poor and her dependents she was kind, but cold ; her bounties were un accompanied by those marks of sympathy which render them so acceptable to the heart. With her equals she was reserved and proud ; consequently, though all respected and spoke well of her. there were few — very few — who loved her. The beauty of Lady Blanche was of that com manding, Juno-like character, which generally wins the eye, and but seldom touches the heart. Her figure was faultless ; her eyes and hair were dark as the veil of night, when not a star peers through it ; her nostril was exquisitely chiselled, and might have served the sculptor for his model ; her mouth denoted firmness ; her lips were formed like Cupid's bow — the upper one rich, full, and voluptuous, like the love-god's weapon ; the lower one the cord which strings it.

The chief expression in the countenance of the high-born girl lay in the eyes, which revealed a world of passions or a depth of feeling. At times they were gentle as the widowed dove's — mournful, tender, and subdued ; excited, they could flash like the fierce eagle's, wheeling in fury round its plundered nest. MINNIGREY, 2 i exercise of his profession, he was compelled to make, had preserved his health. His appearance resembled a clothed skeleton, from which the hand of the anatomist had removed all but the muscles and sinews, and re-covered them with the loose, parchment-like skin. He was dressed in a suit of rusty black, with long, thick-soled boots of rusty hue— for he seldom indulged in the luxury of blacking — drawn to the knee. His eyes were large, full, and restless, and sparkled in the deep, hollow cavities, overhung by thick, grey brows, like those of a rattlesnake just startled in its den.

A lean, half -starved terrier — the only creature he had ever been known to keep followed him into the room, its tail slunk between its legs, with a thief -like expression. The language as well as the manner of the practitioner denoted that in early life he must have moved in what the world calls good society — they were soft and polished ; his voice deep and musical as the murmurs of the retiring stream. No one knew anything either of his birth, family, or former life ; all attempts to sound him on the subject had proved vain ; consequently the gossips in the neighbourhood suspected a great deal. All that was really known was, that shortly after the death of the father of Lady Blanche, Dr. Bawtree arrived at Dingley, where he hired an old fashioned house, formerly the residence of the stewards of the Earls of Eserick, and commenced practice as a medical man.

One or two very remarkable cures soon brought him into notice, and before many years had elapsed he had not only the most lucrative, but the most extensive practice in the county. He had attended the last earl in his fatal sickness ; all his skill, however, had proved unavailing : the young nobleman died, and his elder sister became heiress of Dingley. The title, as we before stated, was in abeyance, not extinct. The old man gazed upon*Lady Blanche for a few moments in silence. A close observer might have detected an air of quiet satisfaction in his eye, as it read in her pale cheek and the involun tary quivering of her lip the storm of evil passions which the veil of artificial calmness could not hide. " You are ill, lady," he said in a low, musical voice, at the same time extending his hand to feel her pulse.

" In mind, Bawtree, in mind — I heed not the body's pain. Have you seen Alice I " " I have." heir was gall. The dream of her sister's happiness haunted her. The thought of the child of the man who had preferred another, succeeding to her large estates entered like an arrow in her heart, and she vowed to blight their hopes, even though she risked life and honour in the attempt. Her thirst of vengeance had taken no definite form till Lady Ellen sent to Dingley to request that her old nurse, Alice, might come over to Greystone Park, and attend her during her con finement. Alice, to all appearance, was devoted to the elder sister, and between them they framed a scheme to abduct the expected heir. The only difficulty was to gain over the lady's medical attendant, Dr. Bawtree, a man whose reputation for skill was spread far and near.

By the common people he was regarded with super stitious hatred, from his extraordinary know ledge ; by the higher orders with contempt for his avarice and meanness ; yet such was the confidence in him, that all classes employed him. Erom the poor he extorted their last shilling, as the price of his services ; from the rich his exactions were equally exorbitant. Lady Blanche knew the earthworm, and the god he worshipped. She was momentarily expecting his arrival at Dingley as our tale commences. Lady Blanche was seated with her eyes fixed upon the timepiece standing on a marble console opposite to her. The compression of her nether lip, and an occasional movement of the foot, alone betrayed the impatience which was betraying her. " Where can the old poisoner linger ? " she mur mured*, "it is past the hour : Alice stated he would be here — can he have betrayed me ?

No — no ; his thirst for gold, to gratify which he would barter his soul, is my security. He knows that I am rich — the envied heiress of Dingley — and will be true to his appointment." Rising from her chair, the haughty beauty advanced towards the window ; her eye fell list lessly upon the broad domain which called her mistress ; but the prospect offered her no pleasure — her heart w as ashes. She had remained in this position about ten minutes, when she perceived the oldman, mounted •jn his half -starved horse, slowly cantering across Jhe lawn. A half-smile of satisfaction lit her countenance* : she felt certain of success, for she possessed the only key to the miser's heart — gold — and she was prepared to use it with no niggard hand. There was a pause, during which the beautiful creature fixed her glance upon him as if to read his very soul.

She had waited in the expectation that he would be the first to allude to the subject of the communication she had received ; but the man of science remained cold and impassive as the marble statue of Silence. Lady Blanche could not endure the suspense ; startingfrom her chair, she paced the room once or twice in violent agitation ; then, as if nerved by some sudden resolution, suddenly paused opposite to him. sheir glances met ; there was encouragement in his for her to proceed. " She has explained to you my wishes ? " " She has." Resuming her seat with forced calmness, she endeavoured to collect her thoughts : she felt that she had a subtle although a sordid nature to deal with, and that it would require all her woman's wit not to be worsted in the encounter. "Not a guinea," she said, "till my purpose is accomplished ; then let him glut his avarice to the full."

In a few minutes Dr. Bawtree entered the room. He was a man to all appearance about sixty — in reality he was much older ; but, although thin to attenuation, the spare diet with which he sus tained rather than nourished his miserable body, as well as the frequent journeys whioh, in the MIXX1GREY. 3 " And you will comply with them ? " demanded the heiress. " You will aid me to prevent those who have trampled on my heart from triumph ing over it ? This child — this expected heir, who is to rob me of my heritage — the seal upon the bond of their happiness and my misery — you will — " and she lowered her voice to a whisper, which fell upon the ear of her visitor like the hiss of a dying serpent — " you will conceal or Man, man," she added, with a passionate burst of shame, " you know what I would ask I Wring not the humiliating words from my torn heart 1 but answer me — what am I to expect ?

" " All that I can do to prove my service," said Bawtree, to whom her agony and excitement, from some secret cause, gave exquisite pleasure. A sigh of deep-drawn pleasure, like that which announces the unexpected relief from acute suffering, broke from the bosom of Lady Blanche as she sank carelessly back upon her seat. " Well — the price ? " she added, carelessly. " The risk will be great," he observed. " I know it, and it shall be paid for." "The child will be the heir of Dingley and Greystone," he continued ; " unless, indeed, you marry, and have issue." " I marry I " almost shrieked the heiress ; " with a heart in which the springs of affection are for ever dried ! Pledge at the altar a polluted vow, and — but why do I speak of such things to thee ? Thy price, man I " she continued, in a tone of contempt, which showed that all the angel was not extinct within her — " thy price ?

" " Let us clearly understand each other," said Dr. Bawtree. " You wish me to substitute the clue easy and palpable. Enough, I know it ; and! now," continued her * singular visitor, " to the purpose for which I was sent. How is the in fant to be disposed of ? " " I have thought of that," replied the lady — all her thoughts reverting to the channel from which surprise had for an instant diverted them. " You have frequently noticed in your ride through Dingley a gipsy encampment, in the north wood ? " " I have." "Madge Lee, the head of the wandering tribe, has for many years found shelter on my lands. Once, when the arm of the law was raised to strike my father, from some unknown service, she interposed her influence to save him." " Unknown service ? " repeated the doctor, with. a smile. " At least to me," observed the heiress.

" The creature is grateful, and at a word or token from me will risk body or soul to serve me. The little wretch must be given to her charge. I will see her." "Will that be prudent ? Curious eyes will be upon you. What will be thought if the Lady Blanche, whose proud step has never yet been heard in the cottage of the poor, should be noticed visiting the tents of the outcasts of the earth ? Better intrust me with the token, lady." " Thou art a strange being I " replied the heiress, with an expression of surprise, which denoted that she was more and more interested as their conference proceeded. " Perhaps thou canst name the token that should serve between us ? " " I can," said Bawtree, calmly. " Name it 1 " body of a still-born infant for your sister's livin; child?" " The half of a wedding ring.

She is bound by oath, and Madge Lee will not break the vow of her race ; at the sight of it she will do your bidding. Had you known the real purport of the token," he added, " perhaps you would have used it differently." " Do you know it 1 " demanded the astonished Blanche, who could not comprehend how a man, whom all believed a stranger in that part of the world, should be so intimately acquainted with the history of the past. " I do." " Yes." " And what am I to do with the young heir — destroy " '■What I" exclaimed Lady Blanche; "have I fallen so low that you should think me capable of murder ? Shame, man, shame I " The look of disgust and horror which accompanied her words proved that the speaker was sincere. •' It would not be the first time," observed her visitor, calmly, " that kindred blood has been shed by those of your race !

Like Cadmus' brood, they are doomed to destroy each other 1 " The heiress eyed him with a look of painful surprise, doubt, and terror ; for he had alluded to an event in the history of her family which she imagined a secret to all except herself. " You mean my . father and his wretched brother ? " " Name it ! " " That I refuse," said Bawtree, " to prove that I am worthy of confidence. I break not faith either with the living or the dead." > " No matter what the purport I " said the lady, passionately ; " it cannot serve me in gsreater need than at the present. Thou shalt have the token." •■ It must be directly, then, for by midnight there will be either joy or sorrow at Greystone 1 The hour which the anxious mother counts on is at hand 1 " " Geoffrey, the outcast and betrayed," added the doctor, finishing the sentence for her.

" And how learnt you that fearful circum stance ? " she demanded. A faint smile played upon the thin lips of her visitor, but vanished in a moment. " Explain I " said the lady. "Nothing more easy. The physician's office, like the confessor's, makes him acquainted with strange secrets. I learnt it partly from the dead, partly from the living ; a thread so fine that the common eye could scarcely perceive it, is to me a " So near I Art sure ? " " There is little concealed from science. When I lay my finger on the sick man's pulse I can tell how many strokes it has yet to beat ere it be stilled for ever. By midnight— I repeat it— the infant will be born." The heiress started from her chair, and opening a cabinet which stood under the portrait of her MINNIGREY, the house, directing her steps in an opposite course to that which her mistress had taken.

Gliding through the shrubbery, she reached the park gate unperceived, and, slipping into the lane, looked anxiously about, as if she expected to meet some one. "Not here?" she said. "Then I must go myself." The speaker, whose features in their natural state denoted both cunning and resolution, advanced with hasty steps down the lane. She had not proceeded far before she encountered a groom in the livery of Lord Digby. No sooner did he perceive her than he hastened to meet her. " Is it thus you keep watch ? " she demanded, sharply. "Don't be angry, Mistress Ann," replied the fellow. " I was tired of waiting, and did but step to the village, to " "To sit and drink with your companions," added the woman, tartly. " There, mount your horse, and spare neither whip nor spur, neck nor limbs, till you have given this into my lord's hands.

Yon know the recompense." " All right," said the young man. " But hark ye, Mistress Ann, not a word of my loitering on the way — my lord is so passionate." " Merit my silence, by using good speed now : every moment is of the utmost consequence." The fellow went over the hedge, as the shortest road to the village where he had left his horse, and was out of sight in an instant. Ann, with a, thoughtful countenance, returned to Dingley Manor. father, took from a secret drawer the token. It was the half of a wedding ring, tied with a piece of faded blue ribbon. While thus occupied, the half-starved terrier which had followed her visitor into the room, began barking furiously at the edge of the sofa from which she had risen — the sound jarred the nerves both of Bawtree and Lady Blanche ; the former rose from his seat, and drove the animal from the room.

" 'Tis strange I " he said ; " Lanch is generally so quiet." The deep interest which he felt in the subject of their conversation, however, soon banished the incident from his mind. "There is the token," said Lady Blanche, placing the broken ring in his hand ; " and now the price ? " " Three thousand pounds." " Large as it is I will not huxter with thee. Let the infant be given to the care of Madge Lee, and come in the morning for thy recompense. It shall be paid thee down in gold — bright gold 1 the idol of most hearts — the god of thine 1 " " Gold is not the worst idol," observed Bawtree, unmoved by the sneer ; " frequently it is but the means unto an end. Farewell 1 much is to be done, and time presses. In the morning I shall claim the recompense." " It shall be ready," observed Lady Blanche, carelessly, " waiting thee here."

With a slight inclination of the head the man of science took his leave, and in a few minutes might be seen trotting on his meagre pony over the lawn in the direction of Dingley Wood, the residence of the old gipsy woman and her tribe. Blanche stood at the window, gazing after him in silence.

Chapter II

" A dangerous confidant," she murmued at last, " that I have chosen I He thinks to become master of my destiny. Dark and subtle as he is, he has yet to learn that the deep resolution of a heart like mine can baffle even his cunning. Let him but keep his promise, and I care not for the rest. I cannot breathe here 1 " she added ; " the portrait of my dead father seems to frown upon me I Air — I must have air I Reflection is mad ness 1 Heaven, what a blight has fallen upon me 1 What a wreck has blighted affection and wounded pride made of me 1 The world, too — the cold, misjudging world, envies the wealthy heiress— thinks her happy 1 Could it read her heart, the poorest peasant on my estate would thank her fate it was not cast like mine 1 " " The gipsy leads a merry life Under the greenwood tree ; He knows no care, he fears no strife — His heart, like his wild path, is free." — Robin Goodfellow.

The north wood, or, as it was more commonly called, Dingley Chase, was the remains of one of those large, straggling forests, in which our Norman ancestors so much delighted ; it extended over a large tract of country, diversified by hill and dale. Most of the trees were of giant growth, and had withstood the storms of ages. Where they had been thinned by time or the axe, young ones were springing up to replace them. In one of the shaded nooks the gipsy tribe of which Madge Lee was the head had, from time imme morial, pitched their tents. Thieves and poachers as they notoriously were, they, either from fear or cunning, respected the game which wa_s strictly preserved around them -on thesame principle, perhaps, that the fox goes'from its den in search of prey, committing few devastations in its own immediate neighbourhood.

The encampment consisted of six or seven tents, closely clustered together, and one large one of more pretending appearance than the rest at a short distance apart— this was the residence of Madge, who, from her great a-e and superior knowledge, was regarded with "super- With a trembling hand she caught up a lace veil from the table near, threw it carelessly over her head, and left the house to cool the fever of her blood in the fresh air of Dingley Park. Scarcely was she gone when a female about thirty years of age, whose dress denoted that she was one of the upper servants of the family, dragged her form from under the sofa, where she had been a concealed witness of the conversation between Dr. Bawtree and her mistress. The instinct of the dog had nearly betrayed her, and her countenance was pale with terror at the risk she had run.

Seating herself at the table, she hastily wrote a few lines, placed them in her bosom, and left MINNIGREY. 5 0- V gtitious reverence by all her tribe ; young and old equally looked up to and obeyed her. The last rays of the setting sun were peering through the still green foliage. Most of the stragglers had returned to their tents ; some were listlessly basking on the moss-covered bank ; the women were busily occupied in preparing the evening repast, which some distant farmer's plundered barn-yard had supplied ; and the noisy, swarthy, merry, ragged children, were rolling and playing on the sward, making the woods ring again with their cheerful laugh. "Zara 1 " exclaimed a fine dark-looking fellow, to a tall girl, who was busily occupied in singe ing the feathers from a goose over the crackling flames of a wood sire; "quick 1 the juke gives mouth."

" Come, gentle May, Spring for thy sweet breath is sighing, Æ Fading away. fj^t I The cold Btorms of winter are dying, ' And maidens fair « Are seeking woodland bower3. *fiA ■? To deck their hair With wreaths of thy beautiful flowers." " I forget the rest," muttered the old woman,' " and that's strange, for I have sung it often - often — in the green wood of Dingley. Those were happy times I I was not hunted then from the lanes of merry England like a wild cat or a fox." " An old song," thought Bawtree, " and a sad tune ; strange that she should be singing it at such a moment." The girl paused in her occupation, listened, and distinctly heard the baying of the dog. " It's only the pup," she replied. "Beezer" — that was the old hound — " is silent. There is nothing to fear ; besides," she added, with a laugh, which displayed a row of pearls between her ruddy lips which a duchess might have envied, " it's all right — not a feather to swear by.

The sharpest beak of them all would be puzzled to tell whose yard the kamer came from." Carefully wiping the singed bird with some wet dock-leaves, the speaker cut it into pieces, and placed the parts in the pot simmering over the fire, which emitted, upon the lid being raised, a savoury odour of leeks and mushrooms. The man still listened ; his practised ear soon detected the tramp of a horse, and in a few moments the gaunt figure of Dr. Bawtree made its appearance, slowly riding down the dell. " I am right," he said — '• the cowan is near." _ He advanced, and seated himself beside her in silence. He knew that at her great age any sudden emotion might upset the little that remained of energy and memory. The old woman at first took no notice of him, but gradually » gleam of cunning and intelligence lighted in her dim eyes, and she cast from time to time furtive glances of suspicion which showed that her intelli gence was partly awakened.

When the man of science saw that, he ventured to address her. " Madge Lee," he gently whispered in her ear. A low chuckle broke from the hag, as she muttered : " Come at last — come at last I " " You seem to expect me ? " Madge looked upon him for a moment in silence. The thousand wrinkles in her skinny face, drawn and puckered by age, gave i mummy-like expression to her sunburnt-countenance, as she slowly turned her eyes npon him. " And what if he is 1 " replied the girl, petulantly ; " it's only the learned doctor, who, men say, knows more than Madge herself of herbs and plants, whom we have so often seeh in the woods gathering the nightshade and the toad stools from the trunks of the rotten trees. He is more evil than we are, the old poisoner I I would sooner die like a water-rat in its hole, than let him doctor me."