THE NOVELIST

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 21, 5 February 1881, Page 209

THE NOVELIST

HUNTED DOWN.

A NOVEL.

By Adolphe Belot.

CHAPTER XI. (Continued.)

" 'And in what direction do your tastes lie?' she inquired. 'I must try to satisfy them, since you are sent to me by my friends.' " 'Upon my word, niadame, I think I like everything that is good and everything that is pretty.' " 'Ah ! say you so ? Then you will not be difficult to please. But surely you have preferences of some kind.' "'So I have.' "'What are they?' . " ' You wish to know them ? ' "'Certainly.' " 'Well, then, I adore ladies' society.' " ' I fancied so when I saw you." "'Hoav was that?' "'lt is natural,' replied Kate, doing her beet to cast down her eyes, ' that one should be pleased in the midst of those whom we please. Confess— you ought not to have met many cruel women.' "I must say, Sir John, that this was the first time I had been paid such a compliment. I must have been marvellously disguised. Would you believe that I was fool enough to enter, for a moment, so thoroughly into my assumed character that I blushed? Do not laugh at me. When the substance is unattainable, we must make the best of the shadow. " In order not to be behind-hand in politeness with Miss Hamilton, I took hold of one of her hands, which found its way into mine, and said — " Success in Italy goes for nothing — it is in London that I long to triumph.' "'ln London - nothing easier,' she replied, pretending not to understand me ; we Londoners are not much more ferocious than your countrywomen, and if you wish, I can give you an opportunity of meeting some of the most charming of their sex. ' "Kate, who, encouraged by my stupidity, had no doubt made her plans, resumed quiekty — ' It so happens that I am giving a tea party this evening \o some of my intimate friends, and if you will consent to make one of vs — ' " 'Alas, niadame, all my evenings are taken up ; I am not alone in London. ' "'Are you married?' she asked, in atone which did its utmost to appear agitated.' " ' No, thank heaven !' I replied, with a tender glance. " ' Then what hinders you from accepting my invitation ?' " ' I came from Naples with a female relative ; she does not know a soul in London, and I cannot leave her to spend her evening alone in a hotel. But — I have it !' cried I, suddenly changing my tone. ' You are so good-natured to me that, perhaps, you would permit me •' "'What?' " 'To introduce my relative to you.' Kate was dumbfounded. The blow Avhich I liad struck was, indeed a daring one — to «ive myself out as a man of the world, and to seek to introduce one of my female relations to Miss Hamilton, was a dreadful piece of inconsistency. But I was a foreigner, unacquainted with English customs, and I did not appear to be gifted with much nous. Kate might easily think that I was ignorant of the exact position she occupied in society. Witli the assistance of her amour-propre, she would not, after a little reflection, be very much astonished at my mistake, and it was not at all probable that she would, of her own accord, try to set me right. "My calculations were exact; Kate, having recovered her first astonishment, replied ' Very well, my dear count, bring your relation. I shail he flattered by her visit. Only give her warning that it will be a gathering of very intimate friends. In my house there is no dancing, nor does anybody play the piano— we merely chat. But sometimes it happens that the conversation languishes, and then we have a mild game of cards. Are you a gambler ? ' : " ' Yes, that I am, I confess.' " ' You must try not to be one here ; I do not like anyone to lose more than three or four louis in an evening at my house. We are • agreed, then, are we not? And now good-bye until tins evening, my dear count; lam obliged to go with one of my friends for a turn in the Bow.' "I took my leave, and kissed, with as little awkwardness as possible, the hand held out to me. " There, Sir John, you have a true and particular account of my first -interview with the celebrated Hamilton. 1 think I acted my part well, and that I deserve your compliments, which I always value highly. To this evening .must be left the first skirmish between Brownpath and Mrs. Hardcastle. If she should betray herself, if she should prove to be weaker than she thinks she is ! I tremble at the thought !" CHAPTER Xir. COOKE had played to such perfection his part as a foreigner, a rich man not knowing what to do with his fortune, a pigeon well disposed to be plucked, that Kate Hamilton took it all for reality. Nothing very extraordinary in that however. Women of the world, that is of the class to which Kate belonged, in their life meet so many men, young, middle-aged, and old, who commit all sorts of absurdities for or around them, that they end by entertaining a sovereign contempt for the Avhole human race and by Elaeing all men in the same category. In each :esh individual of the species brought before them the) r see only a lamb destined for the sacrifice after being sufficiently shorn. * So, no sooner had Cooke left her than she hastened to summon her circle of friends, from first to last. "At home to-night; tea," she wrote, which meant to say, as we have already explained, that lansquenet or baccaret, in earnest, would be the order of the evening. At ten o'clock,, some of Kate's most intimate fair friends were already collected in her drawing projom. Until the hour came for thinking of

" Well, then, it is all right as regards the baron," replied Fanny, "who else is coming'/" "Trail/ " Oh !" said a fair-haired girl called Antoninc, | "he does not count, he always comes with five louis and runs away when he has either lost or trebled them." "Well, I have not invited him as a gambler, | but as a piece of furniture ; he helps to set off the table. I also expect Burke, Hare, and Lord Hertford." " They will do," was the general exclamation, "they play in earnest." " I foresee that we shall not get away from here before ten o'clock to-morrow morning, ' : said Nelly. j "Much I care about that," replied Fanny Hill. " I took my precautions, and stayed in bed until seven o'clock this evening." A new arrival in London, whose transcendent beauty had already rendered her famous, now observed — " Kate has up to this only told us of people we know ; is there not a stranger expected?" "I kept till the last," replied Kate, "he is, Mr. Vanburgh." " I don't know him, but we shall soon make acquaintance. Is he rich ?" "Very much so, to all appearance, and I believe him to be as foolish as he is rich." " Then he belongs to me," naively said fair Fanny, " I claim the stranger." " And Brownpath ?" asked Nelly suddenly, "shall we not see him this evening ?" " Yes, what has become of my little Leopold? Nobody mentions him now," remarked Fanny. "I expect him, too," said Kate Hamilton, "he has been ill since his misfortune, and he comes out to-day for the first time." "He has had enough to make him ill. Only fancy being accused of murder !" ; : " And being in prison for three days ! '

who is looking at us now, may possibly believe in his guilt." Some one has said, " If I were to "be accused of having made away with the monument, I should begin by running away, and leave my explanation to follow." These Avords have a foundation of truth ; the first whisper of a crime rouses hundreds, a good action only meets with incredulity. So it happens that there are people who still believe in the guilt of Madeline Smith simply because she was never officially pronounced innocent. This peculiarity is easily explained. A man is accused of a crime ; the .whole paraphernalia of justice is at once set in motion ; detectives, police, magistrates, all appear on the scene. Domiciliary _ visits, the judicial seal, arrest, often by main force and within sight and view of all, imprisonment — nothing is onnnitted. In towns all the district, in the country the whole parish, knows what has happened. Crowds collect before the bouse of the man who has just been arrested ; the public iinger is pointed at his family ; his crime is in everybody's mouth, and scarcely a friend dares to rise in his defence. It often happens that the suposed 'person is not guilty. The magistrates discover his innocence and open the prison doors. "Go," they say, " you are free," and he goes. He returns home quietly and without any elation. What has happened has surprised and dismayed him to such an extent that lie has no assurance left ; he imagines himself still under' lock and key, threatened with a criminal trial and with a capital charge hanging over him. He rings at his door, he embraces his weeping children, he blushes before his servants, he withdraws from observation, and for some days perhaps he either cannot or will not show himself. Thus the arrest is noisy and known by all ; the return is in silence and often ignored. The arrest is a substantial fact, a cruel certainty, a spec-

tacle at Avhich all the world may assist ; the release on the contrary, is, so to say, a negative circumstance. The arrival of Louis Cooke and Mrs. Hardcastle in the drawing-room did not attract attention. For an hour previously the card tables had been in full swing, hank followed bank, and every one was too deeply intent on guarding his or her stakes to pay any attention to things foreign to the game. . This Avas just what Cooke had foreseen, and was the reason why he timed his. arrival so late. He mistrusted Eleauor's strength, and he wished to smooth the first obstacles in her way. But Eleanor devoted herself to her revenge with all the ardour of her southern nature and the impetuousity of her two-and-twenty years added to an exciteable temperament. Everything faded into insignificance before the mandate of her dying husband. When she felt herself giving way she did not appeal to smelling salts to support her, but to the memorandum book of her husband, restored to her at her earnest entreaty, in which Avere written, in tde blood of the only man she had loved, the words — "Eleanor, avenge me." CHAPTER XIII. Attentive and grave, Eleanor was seated on a sofa in a corner of the room and could watch at her ease every movement of Brownpath, who Avas standing near the card table. She had seen him once previously in the magistrate's office, and through the chinks of the screen had been enabled to become familiar with his features and' study his physiognomy. But he Avas no longer the same man. Compelled to stand up in defence of his liberty, if not his life, he had then adapted himself to the circumstances in Avhich he Avas placed ; he had put a mask on his countenance and forced on himself the necessary look of impassability. His very life then hung on a gesture, a look, a blush. All the gamblers Avere following Avith greedy eyes the cards as they fell on the table, and Avere not thinking of him. His featiires thus had recovered their natural expression, and Eleanor, deeply interested in their study, dreAV from them some important conclusions. What struck her most of allAvas the profound sadness imprinted upon his face. He seemed to have gone through some excessive grief, to be a prey to profound melancholy, or to be tortured by ! some terrible remorse. His eyes, under which formerly dark lines alone Avas visible, seemed 1 to have sunk, and gave a sombre depth to his expression, interspersed by fitful gleams of light. At the same time his cheeks had fallen away and his face groAvn pale ; his lips Avhich, under the influence of an all-poAverful preoccupation or, possibly, by reason of some nervous contraction, he bit till the blood almost came alone had preserved their full colour. Though he appeared interested in the game of baccarat Avhich Avas going on before his eyes, BroAvnpath had not yet taken an active part in it. He held in one of his hands a rouleau of gold, but each time he Avas on the point of staking them, he hesitated, and his doAvncast countenance seemed to say — "What is the use ? What does Avinning or losing matter to me? What advantage can I get from afW additional louis ?' 5 Suddenly he felt himself touched on the shoulder. It was Cooke avlio, after haAang been observiug him quite as attentively as Eleanor, had made his AA'ay by degrees toAvards him. "Pardon me," said the police-agent, Avith the same Italian accent which we have already seen him use, " everybody in the room is playing but yourself, and you hold aloof. Will you kindly do me a service ?" "What service?" said BroAvnpath very coldly, after eyeing the speaker all over. " I am a foreigner, an Italian, as you may easily perceive by my pronunciation, and not at all familiar Avith the game that is being played. Nevertheless, I want to take a hand in it ; first of all, for the sake of distraction, and then, because, between ourselves, I have a decided leaning tOAvards cards. Will you be good-natured enough to devote a moment to initiating me into the mysteries of this famous baccarat, of Avhich I have heard so much over in Italy, but of which- I am as yet entirely ignorant ?" "I see no difficulty, if you so Avish it," replied BroAvnpath, without departing from his coldness of manner. "Thank you very much. I may, then, take my seat near these ladies, and risk a feAV bank notes Avithout making a too ridiculous exhibition of myself." " Oh, as for that, I can assure you a man is never ridiculous Avith these ladies so long as he has bank notes to lose." "Indeed! They appreciate them, perhaps," replied Cooke, laughing in the simplest way possible. "They adore them," said BroAvnpath, as he went to the mantelpeice for a pack of cards left there by some of the players. With these he rejoined Cooke, who had remained standing near the table. "If you are anxious, Aye can commence," said BroAvnpath. "Should Aye not be more comfortable if Aye Avere to sit down for the lesson ?" " That is as you please. Here are chairs." "But I am not alone." " Ah !" "Yes, I haA r e a lady with me, a countryAvoman, who Avould not be sorry to profit by this small lesson, and if you^have no obiection—" " Where is this lady ?" "There, sitting by herself . She kn®Avs nobody, speaks English very imperfectly, and is very timid." For the first time the glances of BroAvnpath and Eleanor met. The AAife of Maurice bore this first shock bravely, and betrayed not the slightest emotion. Moreover, Cooke. as a prudential measure, quickly made his Avay to Eleanor and introduced her to Brownpatli. "We are very much at sea here in London," said he to the latter, " and if it had not been for Mrs. Hamilton, Avho kindly invited us to her charming party, Aye should not have knoAvn. Avhat to do Avith our evening. Ah ! London is superb ; but it seems a vast desert when one, as in our case, knoAvs nobody. But, pardon my chattering," continued Cooke, stopping short

the serious business of the evening, which consisted of arranging the card tables, the friends of Kate Hamilton, unfettered by the presence of any stranger, chatted amongst themselves. "It appears to me," said Fanny Hill, a charming gambler, who might have belonged to the sterner sex from the seriousness with which she played and the exemplary regularity with which she paid her debts, "it appears to me, my dear Kate, ( that_ we Avere not to have met this week. " That is so, but an opportunity of getting up a really good game presented itself to-day, and I hastened to seize it, knowing that it would suit you all." "Undoubtedly," was the reply — a perfect chorus. "Whom do you expect?" asked Nelly Langtry, a pretty brunette, then quite the rage. "lam expecting little Braham, you all know him." "I shall not play with him ; there is always a difficulty with men who have not come of age." "In the first place," replied Kate rather coldly, "there is never any unpleasantness at my house, and, in the second, he is no longer a minor — here is the proof." ■ Kate took from the mantle-piece a printed circular, the contents of which she read aloud— " Sir Clsarles Braham has the honour to inform his friends, his female acquaintances, and tradesmen, that he attained Ids majority on the 10th iust. "His friends may therefore win his money at cards, his tradesmen give him credit, and the remainder ruin him. "From this day henceforward Sir Charles Braham is alone responsible for his acts." "In the meantime he may receive a little judicious advice, which will not be long in coming," said Nelly with a laugh, "so long as this extraordinary circular passes from hand to hand."

"And after all there does not appear to have been the least evidence against him." " Evidently not, for they set him at liberty after one examination." " I heard that his arrest was entirely due to a misunderstanding." " Have you read the opposition papers on this business ?" They have given the magistrates, judges and all, a pretty good dressing." "And, on the other hand, have extolled our friend up to the skies ; for a moment he is the hero of the day." "Well, then, let us give him a regular ovation when he appears." I "Agreed," said Fanny, " and I will give the signal, iiip, hip, hurrah !" ', "I think I hear a ring," said Kate Hamilton." "I am not sorry for that; these gentlemen keep us waiting too long. They have adopted a bad habit of paying other visits, or going to the theatre before joining us." Between eleven and half-past twelve the drawing-room filled to overflowing. Brownpath was one of the last to arrive, and, as the ! ladies had decreed, was received with enthusiasm by them, but the men were rather cool in their welcome. In London, whoever is broughti n contact with Justice is an object of fear ; everybody who has been engaged in an actual struggle with her is suspected at first sight; when an honest man is tried at the assizes, and acquitted, not only by the jury, but also by the public and universal consent, every hand should be stretched out to him and testify, by .its warmth of grasp, to the interest which lie has inspired. Not so does it happen in reality ; every back is turned upon him, everybody is cold, there is a general hesitation as to whether he should be recognised, a common fear of being compromised; "as far as I am concerned," say one and all, "I believe him to be innocent,' but that fellow over there,

suddenly. ' ' You have probably something else to do here than listen to me, and if you are ■willing to give me my lesson I am at your orders. My dear friend," he added turning to Eleanor, "this gentleman is good enough to offer to teach us baccaret. You know baccaret — the game there was so much talk about in Naples last winter. It appears that stupendous sums are lost at it. So much the better, we will lose too.' Brownpath took his place on the sofa, by the side of Eleanor and opposite to Cooke, and commenced his promised explanation of the game, Scarcely was this finished when a Spanish lady, who was at the table, said : " Ten Pounds in the bank — who covers them ?" "I have a great mind to try my luck," said Cooke, rising. "You will not, if you take my advice," rejoined Brownpath. " Why not ? Thanks to you I know the game 11OAT." "You are not strong enough yet to play against the person noAV holding the cards." "Bah ! avlio knoAvs?" replied Cooke, avlio thought the moment had come for arranging a first tete-a-tete betAveen Eleanor and BroAvnpath?

[To he continued.'}