LIFE IN NEW FOREST.

Mataura Ensign, Volume 6, Issue 304, 9 November 1883, Page 5

LIFE IN NEW FOREST.

!_ • ' * ♦•■ — BT BICHABD BLACKMOBB. Chapter XXIX. 1 It was a Tuesday evening when Cradock Noweti and- Amy Eosedew ijignfad and sealed, with the moon's ftp proval, their bond to one another. On the following, day, Dr Hutton and wife were tp dine at Kettledrum Hall ; and the distance being cons derable, and the roads so shockingly bad, — ** even dangerous, I am told, to gentlemen who h*ve dined with me, sir,' said Kettle-d-rfura, in^his proudest manner — they hid accepted his .offer, and that of Mrs Ke 1 . tledr.um, which she herself came over to make, that they should not think of returning until after breakfast on Thursday. In consequence of her husband's hints, Eosa felt the keenest interest .in 'that Mrs Kettledrum. Leave her to me, dear Eufus. Tou need not be afraid, indeed. Trust me to get to the bottom of it.' And bo she exerted her, probing -skill upon her td -the uttermost, more even than ladies usually do, when they first meet one another. Of course, there was nc appearance of it, nothing so ill-bred aa that; i*. was all the sweetest refinement, and the kindest neighborly interest. They even became affectionate in the course of half an hour,, and mutual confidence proved how strangely their tastes' were in unison. Neverthelefts, 6ach said good-bye with a firni conviction that she had outwitted the other. ' P'oor thing, she was so Stupid. What a bungler, to be sure ! Aind to think I could riot see through her!' But the return match between these ladies, which wos to come off at Kettledrum Hall «r- where, by-the-bye, there, appeared a far greater performer than either of them— this interesting display of skill was 1 deferred for the present ; inasmuch as Eosa was taken ill' dufin'g thei.riiysteries. of her toilet. It wafr nothing more, serious, however, than the •* flying spasms/ as she Sway's called/ th'em ? to which she had long bden, subject, . apq v?hich' (as the often told . her ; husband) induced . her : to marry a doctor. ; Eufui- f idriiinistered essence of peppermint, and then a , dose of magnesia ; bilthe would, net] hear of her coming with him, and he wanted to stop at home with her, and see that she gat by the fire. She in turn would hare her way, and insisted that Bue should go, 'for ht had made himself such a very smart boy* that she was really quite proud of him, and. they would all be sol disappointed, and he was taller than Mr Kettledrum; she felt quite sure he - WJLS-'*- The bearing of that last argumerif I 8p not quite perceive, but dare 'riot say !ihai. she erred therein, and to BJiOfit ;was quite conclusive. So Bil]bh^M«hom was sent for, the ponyoarria^, countermanded, and Eufus r Wejb 'Jor ts -pppn^ Polly, whose oats were naw,<resMc<Sied. ...<_. Kettledrti-n- Hall stood forth on a rise, iand M-idte/the very ; most of itself, j ; Ej-pansiv^. anil freo, . and pbtrusively jfeojiießt,.. it .seeinjed. to strike itself on ■^ ybrkasfc.' (aiirits-' master -did) with ; f aL • parochial assessment comtoiitrie, , onCsurveyor . for the propejrty r taxj .yroMd have stuck on something iconswterable, if they, had only 'seWth'e iijjutside of it. Look .fiit. the bajlustf*Mo J that. : werit (for/it was 'too jiefey^tPTun) all alpug.,the front of it, over the basement windows. No itricCO, either j but stone, genuine st^ne, that bellied out like Ja/rpw o_ Soman amphora?, or the. cai vej of a first-rate footman. After that,; tp see -the pprtioco, 'decempedis metata/ wliich ' excipebit Eurum '—not Arcton in [ this climate. . Np wonder— although it ! was rotten inside, and the whole of it J mortgaged ten fathom deep — that Bailey Kettledrum hit his. break*;, and said, ' Our little home, sir!' • Your great home, you mean/ said Eufus ; -' what a noblo situation ! You can see all over the country.' iThey had. come to meet him down the hilj, in the kindest country fashion, Mir and Mrs Kettledrum, like Jack and Jill going for water. ,' Not quite thai/ replied Kettledrum, ' liut we sa\v you with my binocular, between two and: three miles off, and became so anxious about Mrs Hutton, that I said to my wife, . 'Put your bonnet on /and sheonly saiid, " Bailey put your hat on ;" nothing more, sir, I assuro you;. nothing more, sir, upon •my honor.' . Eufus could not see, exactly why th^re should have been anything more, •buit his could not help thankiDg them foi* their kindness, and saying, to himself, f.VVhat nice people! Quite an agricultural life, I see, ia spite of that grand mansion.' 'Now/ said Mr Kettledrum, when P^llyTiad been committed to one of thfe stable-boys — but Rufus still wanted to:lopk at her, for he never grew tired pf 'admiring anything that belonged to him, and ,he knew they wouldn't do he^r legs right — 'now, Dr Hutton, you have come most kindly, according to your! promise, so as to give us an hour or) two *o spare before the dinner-time; ,Shall we take,a»turn with the guns 1 t cap. put my hand on a covey ; or shall W*i walk round the garden, and have the benefit of your advice ¥ Eufus looked in dismay at his. * choice black kerseymeres/ he had taken- His ■' antigropelos ' off, and, was) proud to find not a. flake; on them.. But ,tbj think of going out shbdtinjj*: ! . He ■oi^ght not to have dressed before he left, home, but he hated many skin;r_ings. And he could only .goess. the, distance from the lodge to this-place* So he voted very decidedly for a walk in| tie kitchen-g^den. • ... / | ;•' Into this he was solemnly instituted, and < the ' beaaties ail pointed out to Khiitt, 7 /'What a scene of W&BdS ;a_id r*_|bbtshl '// How different ..from:' B^ Garnet's dainty *nd i triin qu»Ttirsi or ■frdin^ lhis 'own new style" of work at .^og^^My Lodge! *ft)fcten bein--sticks crackling about, the scum laHt i summ^r'g cabbages, toadstoplsrcropping up like warts or aramsi rubbed with caustic, a fine smell , of potato-disease, .'^e^eraV .ijense/^f /i^HdSw; 'the. wall-trees curled Riid /Jn^ied. up '. with Sjjhii , paccus, and hone vnle* ; and th*

standards scraggy, and full of stubcanker, and American blight, spraw ling, slouchi.ng/r.. humpbacked, an< fitag'headed, like the sick, ward of s workhouse fighting with tattered um brellas. 4 Ah,' said Eu.iis, at his wit's enanything to praise ; *. what a per feet paradis*-)— for the songsters of th« grove.' 'Oh,' replied Mr Kettledrum, 'you should bear the Dook admire it. " Kettledrum, my boy," he said, when he dined with nm ;last Friday, "there is: one' thing*' l do /envy you — no, sir, neither your lady-like wife, nor jet your clever childran, although I admit that neither of them can be paralleled in England-i—but Kettledrum, it is — forgiveme-*— it is your* kitchen-garden." "My kitchcn-ga-rdon .your grace," I replied, for I hate to brag of anything, **• it is a poor thing, my lord Dook, compared with your own at Lionhill." " May Ibe d— d," his grace replied, for I shall never break him of swearing, 'If I ever saw anything like it dear Kettledrum, and so I told tha Duchess." And after all, you know, . Dr Hutton, a man may think too \ little of what it has pleased God to ■ give him.' ' Well/ said Eufus to himself, « I'm i blessed if you do. But I don't like you any the worse for a bit of brag. I have met preat brags in India, and most of them honest fellowß. But I must peg bim down a bit. I must, I fear ; it is my duty as an enlightened gardener.' * But you see, now/ said Bailey Kettledrum, smacking his lips, and gazing into profundity, "you see, my dear sir, there is nothing, 'ab omni parte beatum ;" prrhaps you remember the passage in the heroic epistles of —ah, Cicero it was, I believe, who wrote all those epistles to somebody/ ' Np doubt of it/ said Eufus Hutton who knew more of Hindustani than of Latin and Greek combined ; ** and yet 8t Paul wrote some.' 1 Not in Latin, my dear sir ; all St. Paul's were Greek. " Nihilost," I now remember, "ab ommi parte beatum." I don't know how it scans, which I suppose it ought to do, but that isn't my look out. Perhaps, however, you can tell me ?' ' I'm blowed if I can/ said Eufus Hutton, in the honesty of his mind ; ' and I am not quite sure that it has any right to scan.' ** Well, I can't say ; but I think it ought/ — ha was in the mists of memory, where most of the trees have sensitive roots, though the branches are not distinguishable. ' However, that can't matter at all ; I see you are a classical scholar. And, Hutton, I like a classical scholar, because he can understand me. But you see that these trees are rather — ah, what is the expression for it V 1 Cankered, and scabby, and scrubs.' ' That is to say — yes, I suppose, they would crop the better, if that be possible, for a little root-pruning,' . ' You have gathered the fruit for /this year I presume V ) 'Well, no, not quite that. The children have had somei o_* course, But we are Yery particular not to store too early.' 4 1 really don't think you need be.' ,' Why, many people say, '•' let well Onoughj-alone ;" but my gardener talks of making'— — * ' A jolly good bonfire of them, if ho knows anything of his business. Then drain ] the ground, trench, and plant . new ones.' Mr Kettledrum looked quite thunderstruck; he caught hold of a tree : to jhelp him, and a great cake of rotten ; bark, bearded with moss, camo away like the mask of a mummer. It was ' slimy on the under side, and two of his fingers went through it. < '.N ice Btate of things/ said Eufus, ! laughing. ' I suppose the Dook likes 1 lepers ?' i ♦ Why, my dear sir, you don't mean i to, say—' •That I would leave only one of . < them, and I would hang the head- < gardener upon it.' That worthy was just coming round ..< the corner, to obtain the applause of a .-1 gen'leman wel known to tho *Gar- i dener's Chronicle ;' but now he turned ' round abruptly, scratched his head, arid ; i thought of his family. < When Eufus came dflwri and en- - tered the drawing-r00m, .-. ho. was perr . fectly gorgeous ;|for • although, be had < been in full dress for the main, he: -7: knew better than to ride with his 1 Alumbaggah waistcoat 6n. ; There 'was i nothing in all the ithree presidencies to 1 come up to that waistcoat. It would, bold Dr Hutton and Rosa too, for they 1 had stood back to back and tried it. 1 And Eufus, vainly sighed for the. day ■ when his front should come out and < exhaust it. He stole it, they say, \ from a petty rajah, who came to a < great durbar with it, worn like an Ox- 1 fordhopdi At any rate, there it was, ] and the back of Cashmere stuff would 1 fit; either baby or giant. But the front the front—oh, bangles and jiminy ! \ it is miles beyond me to describe, it. i [All simple writers from- Job and J Hfcsiod downward^ convey an imprOs- 1 sion of some grarid marvel, not by *• < direct descriptiori of , it,, which would i bei feeble and achromatic, but by the ( rpbound/ racOil, and redouble, from the 1 jufemfent of ijome eye-witness. If 1 i that,,eye-witness be self-possessed, wide- ] awake, experienced, and undemoustra- 1 tive, the. effect upon the reader's mind < is ks'oii tt'shill; which has*, struck the. 1 gr^\te, ; burst .therisi, arid scaf tewd back ii ori him. So Wili I, iriistrusting.tiie- f j value of my own impressions, give a ] faint i,idqa of Eufus his waistcdai, by 1 the imecp.oiiji ori that fasseiqbty.; 1 Tbe ihosfc was ajray for the moment . sojnewhere, perhaps [ blowing up the i )H^»..*%.j^.^e- : wA'*te_lui|| her sis- : i d /eyei- #dget# her { MoTeo/iSaileyo was. growing, ;/feut x Mr i Wklemore wasithe_ie,iand ;eame forth i ' W qStat-s . - ttfe v^eat^4tuM, whdn his j arid Jail his emotions r exploded in a 7 'Jaw? of incredulous | wonder. Mrs < KJettledrani^ rose |at the * sathe instant -t and ihtroductd her sister. '-' •

mm~muammmmmammmi+mimmmmm*m*mmmtmmtmmimm*mmmmaim i, have so earnestly longed to make ac - quainted with dear Mrs Hutton, Mrs 3 Nowell Corklemore ; Mv Corklemore,] a know, has had the pleasure of meeting • you. Georgie, dear, you will like hei so — oh, goodness gracious me !' 1 • I don't wonder you are imrprised ai - me, Anna,' exclaimed Mrs Corklemore > with wonderful presence of mind, 'How stupid I am to be sure? Oh t Nowell, why didn't you tell me? How . shameful of you ! But you never looi i at me now, I think.' And she swept » from the room in tho cleverest raan- , n«r, as if something wrong in her own ; dr«-«s had caused her sister's ejacula* i tion. ' Excuse one moment,' said Mrs Kettledrum, taking her cue very aptly - and she ran out as if to aid her sister, , but : ,in reality to laugh herself into hystericn. After all there was nothing absurd, per se, in Eufus Hutton's waistcoat j onlyjit is not the fashion, just at present' to wear pictorial raiment; but the worthy doctor could not perceive any reason why it should not bp. He was pleased with the prospect of creating a genuine sensation, and possibly. leading the mode ; and having lost all chance of realising these modest hopes at Nowelhurst, why, he must content himself with a narrower stage for his triumphs. He had smuggled it from home, however, without liis wife's permission ; he had often threatened her with its appearance, but sho always thought he was joking. And truly it required some - strength of mind to present it to modern society, although it was a work of considerable art, and no little value. The material of it was Indian silk of the very richest quality. It .h-td no buttons, but golden eyelets and ta^s of golden cowries. The background of the whole Was. yellow, the foreground of a brilliant green, portraying the plants of the jungle. On the h£t bosom leaped and roared an enormous royal tiger, with two splendid jewels, called 'cat's eyes,' flashing, and a pearl for every fang. Upon the right side a hulking elephant was turning tail ignominiously; while two officers in ths howdah poked thoir guns at the eyes of the tiger. Tho eyes of the officers in their terror had turned' to' brilliant emeralds, and the blood of the tramping elephant was represented by seed rubies. The mahout was cutting away in tho distance, looking back with eyes of diamonds. Upon my word, it required uncommonly fino breeding, especially, in a lady, to meet that waistcoat at a dinner-party, and be entirely unconscious of it. Andl doubt if there, are many women in England who would not contrive to lead up to the. subject, quite accidentally, of course, before tho evening was over. The ladies came back as grave, as judges; and somehow it Was managed (as if by the merest oversight)" that Dr Hutton should lead to dinner, not the lady of the house, whoiri of* course he ought to have taken, but Mrs Np well Corklemore. He felt, as, cMssed tho hall with her, that the Jb-Kuty of h*is waistcoat had raised sortie artistic emotion in a bosom as beautiful as his own. Oh, Rufus, think" of Eosa ! Let none be alarmed at those ominous words. The tale of Cradock. Nowell's life shall be pure as that life itself was. Thelustorian may be rough, and blunt, and sometimes too intense, in the opihion of those who look at liie from a difterent point of view. But be that asj it will, his other defects (I trust and pray) will chiefly, be; deficiencies. We will have no ppetical' seduction, no fascinating adultery, condemned and yet reprieved by 'the 'Writer^ and * infectious frdrahi^ s^ttfpitthy. Georgiaha Corklemore ,'*waaian uncOmihpnly clever woman, and was never known to go far enough to involve lier reputation. She loved her. child; acid her husband, and hatd all the respect for jhetself which may abides in c vanity, Nevertheless:, ihe flirted- awfully, and all married w^mgh hated ; her. 'Bold thing,' they eajlledu lier, ' sly gpod J f or-npthing ; and. dijl you see -how she ogled ? Well, if I only carried onso ! Oh, if I were or-dy her husband! But, poor man; he knows no better. , Such a poor, dear sticky you know- Perhaps that is what makes her do it. And nothing inj her at al), when you come to think r>fjit. Ifo.taste, np rityle, no elegance. Vifhen will she .put her back hair up ?, And her child : fit ! to put into, long slothes ! Did 1 you observe her odious way Of putting her lipfl up, as if to be kissed? My dear, I dont know how y6u felt ; but I could scarcely stay in the room with her.' •Nevertheless, the ladies did stay, and took good oare to watch her, and nsed to say to her. afterwards, 'Oh, if I were only like you ; but you are— now clon't tell stories — so clever and so attractive. As if you did not know it, iear! Well, you are : so simpleminded, lam always telling my Looeys and Maggie, to take you for their model, dear.'---6n. .the, present occasion, 'Georgie Corklemore,' as she called herself, set aiboiit flirting with Eufus Hutton, nob _rbrn her usual love of power, nor even for the sake of his waistcoat, but.be3aju_e she had an especial purpose, and % ! very important one. The Kettle-irjum-cum-Qorklemore conspiracy was thiis, — to creep in once more at Nowelburst Hall through the interest of Dr Sutton. They all felt perfectly certain that Cradock Nowell had muriered his brother, and that the crime b^t been bushed up through the influ- , Mice of the family. They believed tfcjafr the head of that family, inr his pjbjsionate sorrow and anger, might be brought to their view of the subject, if bb could only be handled properly; nnd who could manage that more adroitly than, his first cousin once removed, the beautiful Mrs Corklemore , Only let her get once invited, once 3 ducted there, and the main difficulty ,ter that would be to apportion the prey between theta. They knew well '. enough that, the old entail expired with the present baronet ; and that he (before, his marriage) held in fee pure and simple all that noble property. His marriage settlement, and its effects, they fpuld 0»ly inkles|oft* : ; but their heart j

!- was indicting of a good matter, anj i Mr Ohope wouldsoon pump Brock wood [ Not quite so fast mj- Amphiei-ybnicr % a solicitor thirty years admitted (thougl v his original craft may not be equal 13 not to be sucked dry, on the. sur t prise, even by spongy young * Ohope , However, that was a question foi . later consideration ; and blood bein*; , thicker than water, and cleaving mon r fast to the ground, they felt that .ii : would be a frightful injustice if thej j were done out of the property. Only two things need be added; one 1 that Sir Cradock. bad .always disliked and invited them only for appearance ' sake ; the other, that they fairlj ' believed in the righteousness of theii 1 cause, and thnt Eufus Hutton could ' prove it fpr them, as 'the. principa] witness tampered with. I Mrs Corklemore was now, perhaps, i twenty-five yeirs old, possibly turning , thirty; for that lustrum of* a* lady's life is a hard one to boat the bounds ;.- of ; at any rate she had n-ver looked better than she did at the present 1' moment. She was- just at the age to i spread open, with the memory of shyi ness upon them (like the dew when the ; sun is up), the curving petals of beauty Who understand themagnetic current 1 Who can analyse ozone 1 la there one of us able to formuiarise the polarity of light . Will there ever b« an aga when chemists "mt-taphysical will'weigh—no more by troy weight, and carat, as now the mode is, but by subtle heart-gas - our liking for a woman . No, I hope there will never be. That soft Georgiana Corklemore, so ■lively, Jovely, and gushing, ifocussed all . her fascinations upon Eufus Hutton. Sho knew that she had to deal with a man of much inborn acuteness, and who must have seen a hundred ladies quite as fair as Georgie; But had he seen one with her—well,' she knew not what to call it, though she thoroughly knew, how to use it ? So she magnetised him with all her skill; and Eufus, shrewdly suspecting her object, and confiding in a certain triarian charge; a certain thrust Jarnacian, which he would deliver at the proper moment, allowed hertosmi!e> and to show her whito teeth and dimples of volatile velvet (so natural, so inevitable, at his playful* delightful humor) and to. loose whole quiverfuls of light shafts fron. the arch flash under her eyelids. What sweet simplicity she was, what innocent .desire to. learn; what universal charity;., /Howdreadful, Di Hutton ! Oh, please not to tell me of it! How could ■•' l my' 1 ladies do it ?,. I should. have fainted'jat, once, and -. died iha^ an^hqnr iafteirwards; f She turned upherilargo.mild. eyes; deeply beairiing with ceritratiied light,, in a way, that said ' *• li 1 die, is tjiere anyone who would think it a very, very great pity? Eufus had been describing historically, not dramatically * the trials- of the I ladies, who fo.l6wed. their -regiment dur- ! ing a suddefn j moveriient in the perils of the- ifiutinyV' -''-'-'With a. man's farstifFer' identity^ ft& ' did not expect or even imagine that his delicate listener wouldbe' thi-rdr/ and g° through every hour of it. But so it was, and without *ny sham, although she was ; misusing her strangp ..sympathetic power. Mrs NoWell Corklstnore Would have made a very great actress ; she had iso much self-abandonment, such warm int rejection, and hot indignant sympathy ; and yet enoiigh of self-rsstf v^tion to hoop them all in with judgment. (To be continued.).