"I calmed her fears, and she was calm,
And told her love with virgin pride;
And so I won my Genevieve,
My bright and beauteous bride."
Coleridge.
By arrangement, I stopped at the Willow Cove, to pick up Marble. I found
the honest fellow happy as the day was long; but telling fearfully long
and wonderful yarns of his adventures, to the whole country round. My old
mate was substantially a man of truth; but he did love to astonish
"know-nothings." He appears to have succeeded surprisingly well, for the
Dutchmen of that neighbourhood still recount anecdotes, of the
achievements and sufferings of Captain Marvel, as they usually call him,
though they have long ceased to think the country belongs to the United
Provinces.
Moses was glad to see me; and, after passing a night in the cottage of his
mother, we proceeded towards Clawbonny, in a conveyance that had been sent
to Willow Cove to meet me. It was a carriage of my own, one of my own
negroes acting as driver. I knew the old team, and will acknowledge that
tears forced themselves to, my eyes as I thus saw myself, as it might be,
reinstated in my own. The same feeling came powerfully over me, as we
drove to the summit of an elevation in the road, that commanded a view of
the vale and buildings of Clawbonny. What a moment was that in my
existence! I cannot say that I was born to wealth, even as wealth was
counted among us sixty years since, but I was born to a competency. Until
I lost my ship, I had never known the humiliating sensations of poverty;
and the feeling that passed over my heart, when I first heard that
Clawbonny was sold, has left an impression that will last for life. I
looked at the houses, as I passed them in the streets, and remembered that
I was houseless. I did not pass a shop in which clothes were exposed,
without remembering that, were my debts paid, I should literally be
without a coat to my back. Now, I had my own once more; and there stood
the home of my ancestors for generations, looking comfortable and
respectable, in the midst of a most inviting scene of rural quiet and
loveliness. The very fields seemed to welcome me beneath its roof! There
is no use in attempting to conceal what happened; and I will honestly
relate it.
The road made a considerable circuit to descend the hill, while a
foot-path led down the declivity, by a shorter cut, which was always taken
by pedestrians. Making an incoherent excuse to Moses, and telling him to
wait for me at the foot of the hill, I sprang out of the carriage, leaped
a fence, and I may add, leaped out of sight, in order to conceal my
emotion. I was no sooner lost to view, than, seating myself on a fragment
of rock, I wept like a child. How long I sat there is more than I can say;
but the manner in which I was recalled from this paroxysm of feeling will
not soon be forgotten. A little hand was laid on my forehead, and a soft
voice uttered the word "Miles!" so near me, that, at the next instant, I
held Lucy in my arms. The dear girl had walked to the hill, as she
afterwards admitted, in the expectation of seeing me pass on to Clawbonny;
and, comprehending my feelings and my behaviour, could not deny herself
the exquisite gratification of sharing in my emotions.
"It is a blessed restoration to your rights, dear Miles," Lucy at length
said, smiling through her tears. "Your letters have told me that you are
rich; but I would rather you had Clawbonny, and not a cent besides, than,
without this place, you had the riches of the wealthiest man in the
country. Yours it should have been, at all events, could my means have
compassed it."
"And this, Lucy, without my becoming your husband, do you mean?"
Lucy blushed brightly; though I cannot say the sincere, ingenuous girl
ever looked embarrassed in avowing her preference for me. After a moment's
pause, she smiled, and answered my question.
"I have not doubted of the result, since my father gave me an account of
your feelings towards me," she said, "and that, you will remember, was
before Mr. Daggett had his sale. Women have more confidence in the
affections than men, I fear; at least, with us they are more engrossing
concerns than with you--for we live for them altogether, whereas you have
the world constantly to occupy your thoughts. I have never supposed Miles
Wallingford would become the husband of any but Lucy Hardinge, except on
one occasion, and then only for a very short period; and, ever since I
have thought on such subjects at all, I have _known_ that Lucy Hardinge
would never--_could_ never be the wife of any one but Miles Wallingford."
"And that one exception, dearest,--that 'very short period?' Having
confessed so much, I am eager to know all."
Lucy became thoughtful, and she moved the grass at her feet with the end
of her parasol, ere she replied.
"The one exception was Emily Merton; and the short period terminated when
I saw you together, in your own house. When I first saw Emily Merton, I
thought her more worthy of your love than I could possibly be; and I
fancied it impossible that you could have lived so long in a ship
together, without discovering each other's merits. But, when I was placed
with you both, under the same roof, I soon ascertained that, while your
imagination had been a little led aside, your heart was always true
to me."
"Is this possible, Lucy! Are women really so much more discriminating, so
much more accurate in their opinions, than us men? While I was ready to
hang myself for jealousy of Andrew Drewett, did you really know that my
heart was entirely yours?"
"I was not without misgivings, Miles, and sometimes those that were keenly
painful; but, on the whole, I will not say I felt my power, but that I
felt we were dear to each other."
"Did you never suppose, as your excellent father has done, that we were
too much like brother and sister, to become lovers--too much accustomed
to be dear to each other as children, to submit to passion? For that which
I feel for you, Lucy, I do not pretend to dignify with the name of esteem,
and respect, and affection--it is a passion, that will form the misery, or
happiness of my life."
Lucy smiled archly, and again the end of her parasol played with the grass
that grew around the rock on which we were seated.
"How could I think this for you," she said, "when I had a contrary
experience of my own constantly present, Miles? I saw that you thought
there was some difference of condition between us, (silly fellow!) and I
felt persuaded you had only your own diffidence to overcome, to tell your
own story."
"And knowing and seeing all this, cruel Lucy, why did you suffer years of
cruel, cruel doubt to hang over me?"
"Was it a woman's part to speak, Miles? I endeavoured to act
naturally,--believe I did act naturally,--and I left the rest to God.
Blessed be his mercy, I am rewarded!"
I folded Lucy to my heart, and, passing a moment of sweet sympathy in the
embrace, we both began to talk of other things, as if mutually conscious
that our feelings were too high-wrought for the place in which we were. I
inquired as to the condition of things at Clawbonny, and was gratified
with the report. Everybody expected me. I had no tenantry to come forth to
meet me,--nor were American tenants much addicted to such practices, even
when they were to be found: though the miserable sophistry on the subject
of landlord and tenant,--one of the most useful and humanizing relations
of civilized life,--did not then exist among us, that I am sorry to find
is now getting into vogue. In that day, it was not thought 'liberty' to
violate the fair covenants of a lease; and attempts to cheat a landed
proprietor out of his rights were _called_ cheating, as they ought to
be--and they were called nothing else.
In that day, a lease in perpetuity was thought a more advantageous bargain
for the tenant, than a lease for a year, or a term of years; and men did
not begin to reason as if one indulgence gave birth to a right, to demand
more. In that day, paying rent in chickens, and wood, and work, was not
fancied to be a remnant of feudality, but it was regarded as a favour
conferred on him who had the privilege: and even now, nine countrymen in
ten endeavour to pay their debts in everything they can, before they
resort to the purse. In that day, the audacious sophism of calling land a
monopoly, in a country that probably possesses more than a hundred acres
for every living soul within its limits, was not broached: and, in that
day, knots of men did not set themselves up as special representatives of
the whole community, and interpret the laws in their own favour, as if
they were the first principles of the entire republic. But my pen is
running away with me, and I must return to Lucy. A crisis is at hand; and
we are about to see the laws triumphant, or acts of aggression that will
far outdo all that has hitherto rested on the American name, as connected
with a want of faith in pecuniary transactions.
Should I ever continue these adventures, occasions may offer to draw
certain pictures of the signs of the times; signs that have an ominous
aspect as regards real liberty, by substituting the most fearful of all
tyrannies, the spurious, in its place. God alone knows for what we are
reserved; but one thing is certain--there must be a serious movement
backward, or the nation is lost.
I had no tenantry to come out and meet me; but there were the blacks. It
is true, the law was on the point of liberating these slaves, leaving a
few of the younger to serve for a term of years, that should requite their
owners for the care of their infancies and their educations; but this law
could not effect an immediate change in the condition of the Clawbonnys.
The old ones did not wish to quit me, and never did; while it took years
to loosen the tie which bound the younger portion of them to me and mine.
At this hour, near twenty of them are living round me, in cottages of
mine; and the service of my kitchen is entirely conducted by them. Lucy
prepared me for a reception by these children of Africa, even the outcasts
having united with the rest to do honour to their young master. Honour is
not the word; there was too much _heart_ in the affair for so cold a term;
the negro, whatever may be his faults, almost always possessing an
affectionate heart.
At length, I remembered Marble, and, taking leave of Lucy, who would not
let me accompany her home, I threw myself down the path, and found my
mate cogitating in the carnage, at the foot of the hill.
"Well, Miles, you seem to value this land of yours, as a seaman does his
ship," cried Moses, before I had time to apologize for having kept him so
long waiting. "Howsomever, I can enter into the feelin', and a blessed one
it is, to get a respondentia bond off of land that belonged to a feller's
grandfather. Next thing to being a bloody hermit, I hold, is to belong to
nobody in a crowded world; and I would not part with one kiss from little
Kitty, or one wrinkle of my mother's, for all the desert islands in the
ocean. Come, sit down now, my lad--why, you look as red as a rose-bud, and
as if you had been running up and down hill the whole time you've
been absent."
"It is sharp work to come down such a hill as this on a trot. Well, here I
am at your side; what would you wish to know?"
"Why, lad, I've been thinkin', since you were away, of the duties of a
bride's-maid,"--to his dying day, Moses always insisted he had acted in
this capacity at my wedding;--"for the time draws near, and I wouldn't
wish to discredit you, on such a festivity. In the first place, how am I
to be dressed? I've got the posy you mentioned in your letter, stowed away
safe in my trunk. Kitty made it for me last week, and a good-looking posy
it was, the last time I saw it."
"Did you think of the breeches?"
"Ay, ay--I have them, too, and what is more I've had them bent. Somehow or
other, Miles, running under bare poles does not seem to agree with my
build. If there's time, I should like to have a couple of bonnets fitted
to the articles."
"Those would be gaiters, Moses, and I never heard of a bride's-maid in
breeches and gaiters. No, you'll be obliged to come out like
evervbody else."
"Well, I care less for the dress than I do for the behaviour. Shall I be
obliged to kiss Miss Lucy?"
"No, not exactly Miss Lucy, but Mrs. Bride--I believe it would not be a
lawful marriage without that."
"Heaven forbid that I should lay a straw in the way of your happiness, my
dear boy; but you'll make a signal for the proper time to clear ship,
then--you know I always carry a quid."
I promised not to desert him in his need, and Moses became materially
easier in his mind. I do not wish the reader to suppose my mate fancied he
was to act in the character of a woman at my nuptials, but simply that he
was to act in the character of a bride's-maid. The difficulties which
beset him will be best explained by his last remark on this occasion, and
with which I shall close this discourse. "Had I been brought up in a
decent family," he said, "instead of having been set afloat on a
tombstone, matrimony wouldn't have been such unknown seas to me. But, you
know how it is, Miles, with a fellow that has no relations. He may laugh,
and sing, and make as much noise as he pleases, and try to make others
think he's in good company the whole time; but, after all, he's nothing
but a sort of bloody hermit, that's travelling through life, all the same
as if he was left with a few pigs on a desert island. Make-believe is much
made use of in this world, but it won't hold out to the last. Now of all
mortal beings that I ever met with, you've fallen in with her that has
least of it. There's some make-believe about you, Miles, as when you
looked so bloody unconcerned all the time you were ready to die of love,
as I now l'arn, for the young woman you're about to marry: and mother has
a little of it, dear old soul, when she says she's perfectly satisfied
with the son the Lord has given her, for I'm not so blasted virtuous but I
might be better; and little Kitty has lots of it when she pretends she
would as soon have one kiss from me as two from young Bright; but, as for
Lucy Hardinge, I will say that I never saw any more make-believe about
her, than was becoming in a young woman."
This speech proved that Moses was a man of observation. Others might have
drawn seemingly nicer shades of character, but this sincerity of feeling,
truth of conduct, and singleness of purpose, formed the distinguishing
traits of Lucy's virtues. I was excessively gratified at finding that
Marble rightly appreciated one who was so very, very dear to me, and took
care to let him know as much, as soon as he had made his speech.
We were met by the negroes, at the distance of half a mile from the
house. Neb acted as master of the ceremonies, or, commodore would be the
better word, for he actually carried a bit of swallow-tail bunting that
was borrowed from the sloop, and there was just as much of ocean in the
symbols used, as comported with the honours manifested to a seaman. Old
Cupid carried the Wallingford's ensign, and a sort of _harlequinade_ had
been made out of marlinspikes, serving mallets, sail-maker's palms, and
fids. The whole was crowned with a plug of tobacco, though I never used
the weed, except in segars. Neb had seen processions in town, as well as
in foreign countries, and he took care that the present should do himself
no discredit. It is true, that he spoke to me of it afterwards as a
"nigger procession," and affected to hold it cheap; but I could see that
the fellow was as much pleased with the conceits he had got up for the
occasion, as he was mortified at the failure of the whole thing. The
failure happened in this wise: no sooner did I approach near enough to the
elder blacks to have my features fairly recognised, than the women began
to blubber, and the men to toss their arms and shout "Masser Mile,"
"Masser Mile;" thereby throwing everything into confusion, at once placing
feeling uppermost, at the expense of 'law and order.'
To descend from the stilts that seemed indispensable to do credit to Neb's
imagination, the manner in which I was received by these simple-minded
beings was infinitely touching. All the old ones shook hands with me,
while the younger of both sexes kept more aloof, until I went to each in
succession, and went through the ceremony of my own accord. As for the
boys, they rolled over on the grass, while the little girls kept making
curtsies, and repeating "welcome home to Clawbonny, Masser Mile." My heart
was full, and I question if any European landlord ever got so warm a
reception from his tenantry, as I received from my slaves.
And welcome I was indeed to Clawbonny, and most welcome was Clawbonny to
me! In 1804, New York had still some New York feeling left in the State.
Strangers had not completely overrun her as has since happened; and New
York names were honoured; New York feelings had some place among us; life,
homes, firesides, and the graves of our fathers, not yet being treated as
so many incidents in some new speculation. Men then loved the paternal
roof, and gardens, lawns, orchards and church-yards, were regarded as
something other than levels for rail-roads and canals, streets for
villages, or public promenades to be called batteries, or parks, as might
happen to suit aldermanic ambition, or editorial privilege.
Mr. Hardinge met me at the gate of the little lawn, took me in his arms,
and blessed me aloud. We entered the house in silence, when the good old
man immediately set about showing me, by ocular proof, that everything was
restored as effectually as I was restored myself. Venus accompanied us,
relating how dirty she had found this room, how much injured that, and
otherwise abusing the Daggetts, to my heart's content. Their reign had
been short, however; and a Wallingford was once more master of the five
structures of Clawbonny. I meditated a sixth, even that day, religiously
preserving every stone that had been already laid, however, in my mind's
intention.
The next day was that named by Lucy as the one in which she would unite
herself to me for ever. No secret was made of the affair; but notice had
been duly given that all at Clawbonny might be present. I left home at ten
in the morning, in a very handsome carriage that had been built for the
occasion, accompanied by Moses attired as a bride's-maid. It is true his
dumpy, square-built frame, rather caricatured the shorts and silk
stockings; and, as we sat side by side in this guise, I saw his eye
roaming from his own limbs to mine. The peculiarity of Moses's toilette
was that which all may observe in men of his stamp, who come out in full
dress. The clothes a good deal more than fit them. Everything is as tight
as the skin; and the wearer is ordinarily about as awkward in his
movements and sensations, as if he had gone into society, in _puris
naturalibus_. That Moses felt the embarrassment of this novel attire, was
sufficiently apparent by his looks and movements, to say nothing of
his speech.
"Miles, I do suppose," he remarked, as we trotted along, "that them that
haven't had the advantage of being brought up at home never get a fair
growth. Now, here's these legs of mine; there's plenty of them, but they
ought to have been put in a stretcher when I was a youngster, instead of
being left to run about a hospital. Well, I'll sail under bare poles,
this once, to oblige you, bride-maid fashion; but this is the first and
last time I do such a thing. Don't forget to make the signal when I'm to
kiss Miss Lucy."
My thoughts were not exactly in the vein to enjoy the embarrassment of
Moses, and I silenced him by promising all he asked. We were not elegant
enough to meet at the church, but I proceeded at once to the little
rectory, where I found the good divine and my lovely bride had just
completed their arrangements. And lovely, indeed, was Lucy, in her simple
but beautiful bridal attire! She was unattended, had none of those gay
appliances about her that her condition might have rendered proper, and
which her fortune would so easily have commanded. Yet it was impossible to
be in her presence without feeling the influence of her virgin mien and
simple elegance. Her dress was a spotless but exquisitely fine India
muslin, well made and accurately fitting; and her dark glossy hair was
embellished only by one comb ornamented with pearls, and wearing the usual
veil. As for her feet and hands, they were more like those of a fairy than
of one human; while her countenance was filled with all the heartfelt
tenderness of her honest nature. Around her ivory throat, and over her
polished shoulders, hung my own necklace of pearls, strung as they had
been on board the Crisis, giving her bust an air of affluent decoration,
while it told a long story of distant adventure and of well-requited
affection.
We had no bride's-maids, (Marble excepted), no groom's-men, no other
attendants than those of our respective households. No person had been
asked to be present, for we felt that our best friends were with us, when
we had these dependants around us. At one time, I had thought of paying
Drewett the compliment of desiring him to be a groom's-man; but Lucy set
the project at rest, by quaintly asking me how I should like to have been
_his_ attendant, with the same bride. As for Rupert, I never inquired how
he satisfied the scruples of his father, though the old gentleman made
many apologies to me for his absence. I was heartily rejoiced, indeed, he
did not appear; and, I think, Lucy was so also.
The moment I appeared in the little drawing-room of the rectory, which
Lucy's money and taste had converted into a very pretty but simple room,
my "bright and beauteous bride" arose, and extended to me her long-loved
hand. The act itself, natural and usual as it was, was performed in a way
to denote the frankness and tenderness of her character. Her colour went
and came a little, but she said nothing. Without resuming her seat, she
quietly placed an arm in mine, and turned to her father, as much as to say
we were ready. Mr. Hardinge led the way to the church, which was but a
step from the rectory, and, in a minute or two, all stood ranged before
the altar, with the divine in the chancel. The ceremony commenced
immediately, and in less than five minutes I folded Lucy in my arms, as my
wife. We had gone into the vestry-room for this part of the affair, and
there it was that we received the congratulations of those humble,
dark-coloured beings, who then formed so material a portion of nearly
every American family of any means.
"I wish you great joy and ebbery sort of happiness, Masser Mile," said old
Venus, kissing my hand, though I insisted it should be my face, as had
often been her practice twenty years before. "Ah! dis was a blessed day to
_old_ masser and missus, could dey saw it, _but._ And I won't speak of
anoder blessed saint dat be in heaven. And you too, _my_ dear young
missus; now, we all so grad it be _you,_ for we did t'ink, a one time,
_dat_ would nebber come to pass."
Lucy laid her own little white velvet-like hand, with the wedding ring on
its fourth finger, into the middle of Venus's hard and horny palm, in the
sweetest manner possible; reminding all around her that she was an old
friend, and that she knew all the good qualities of every one who pressed
forward to greet her, and to wish her happiness.
As soon as this part of the ceremony was over, we repaired to the rectory,
where Lucy changed her wedding robe, for what I fancied was one of the
prettiest demi-toilette dresses I ever saw. I know I am now speaking like
an old fellow, whose thoughts revert to the happier scenes of youth with a
species of dotage, but it is not often a man has an opportunity of
pourtraying such a bride and wife as Lucy Hardinge. On this occasion she
removed the comb and veil, as not harmonizing with the dress in which she
reappeared, but the necklace was worn throughout the whole of that
blessed day. As soon as my bride was ready, Mr. Hardinge, Lucy, Moses and
myself, entered the carriage, and drove over to Clawbonny. Thither all
Lucy's wardrobe had been sent, an hour before, under Chloe's
superintendence, who had barely returned to the church in time to witness
the ceremony.
One of the most precious moments of my life, was that in which I folded
Lucy in my arms and welcomed her to the old place as its mistress.
"We came very near losing it, love," I whispered; "but it is now ours,
unitedly, and we will be in no hurry to turn our backs on it."
This was in a tête-a-tête, in the family room, whither I had led Lucy,
feeling that this little ceremony was due to my wife. Everything around us
recalled former scenes, and tears were in the eyes of my bride as she
gently extricated herself from my arms.
"Let us sit down a moment, Miles, and consult on family affairs, now we
_are_ here," she said, smiling. "It may be early to begin, but such old
acquaintances have no need of time to discover each other's wishes and
good and bad qualities. I agree with you, heart and mind, in saying we
will never turn our backs on Clawbonny--dear, dear Clawbonny, where we
were children together, Miles; where we knew so well, and loved so well,
our departed Grace,--and, I hope and trust, it will ever be our principal
residence. The country-house I inherit from Mrs. Bradfort is better suited
to modern tastes and habits, perhaps, but it can never be one half so dear
to either of us. I would not speak to you on this subject before, Miles,
because I wished first to give you a husband's just control over me and
mine, in giving you my hand; but, now, I may and will suggest what has
been passing in my mind on this subject. Riversedge"--so was Mrs.
Bradfort's country-house called--"is a good residence, and is sufficiently
well furnished for any respectable family. Rupert and Emily must live
somewhere, and I feel certain it cannot long be in Broadway. Now, I have
thought I would reserve Riversedge for their future use. They can take it
immediately, as a summer residence; for I prize one hour passed here more
than twenty-four hours passed there."
"What, rebel!--Even should I choose to dwell in your West-Chester house?"
"You will be here, Miles; and it is on your account that Clawbonny is so
dear to me. The place is yours,--I am yours,--and all your possessions
should go together."
"Thank you, dearest. But will Rupert be able to keep up a town and country
house'!"
"The first, not long, for a certainty; how long, you know better than I.
When I have been your wife half-a-dozen years, perhaps you will think me
worthy of knowing the secret of the money he actually has."
This was said pleasantly; but it was not said without anxiety. I reflected
on the conditions of my secresy. Grace wished to keep the facts from Lucy,
lest the noble-hearted sister should awaken a feeling in the brother that
might prevent her bequest from being carried into effect. Then, she did
not think Lucy would ever become my wife, and circumstances were changed,
while there was no longer a reason for concealing the truth from the
present applicant, at least. I communicated all that had passed on the
subject to my-deeply-interested listener. Lucy received the facts with
sorrow, though they were no more than she had expected to learn.
"I should be covered with shame, were I to hear this from any other than
you, Miles," she answered, after a thoughtful pause; "but I know your
nature too well, not to feel certain that the sacrifice scarce cost you a
thought, and that you regretted Rupert's self-forgetfulness more than the
loss of the money. I confess this revelation has changed all my plans for
the future, so far as they were connected with my brother."
"In what manner, dearest? Let nothing that has happened to me influence
your decisions."
"In so much as it affects my views of Rupert's character, it must, Miles.
I had intended to divide Mrs. Bradford's fortune equally with my brother.
Had I married any man but you, I should have made this a condition of our
union; but _you_ I know so well, and so well know I could trust, that I
have found a deep satisfaction in placing myself, as it might be, in your
power. I know that all my personal property is already yours, without
reserve, and that I can make no disposition of the real, even after I come
of age, without your consent. But I had that faith in you, as to believe
you would let me do as I pleased."
"Have it still, love. I have neither need, nor wish, to interfere."
"No, Miles; it would be madness to give property to one of such a
character. If you approve, I will make Rupert and Emily a moderate
quarterly allowance, with which, having the use of my country-place, they
may live respectably. Further than that, I should consider it wrong
to go."
It is scarcely necessary to say how much I approved of this decision, or
the applause I lavished on the warm-hearted donor. The sum was fixed at
two thousand dollars a year, before we left the room; and the result was
communicated to Rupert by Lucy herself, in a letter written the very
next day.
Our wedding-dinner was a modest, but a supremely happy meal; and in the
evening, the blacks had a ball in a large laundry, that stood a little
apart, and which was well enough suited to such a scene. Our quiet and
simple festivities endured for several days; the "uner" of Neb and Chloe
taking place very soon after our own marriage, and coming in good time to
furnish an excuse for dancing the week fairly out.
Marble got into trowsers the day after the ceremony, and then he entered
into the frolic with all his heart. On the whole, he was relieved from
being a bride's-maid,--a sufficiently pleasant thing,--but having got
along so well with Lucy, he volunteered to act in the same capacity to
Chloe. The offer was refused, however, in the following
classical language:
"No, Misser Marble; colour is colour," returned Chloe. "You's white, and
we's black. Mattermony is a berry solemn occerpashun; and there mustn't be
no improper jokes at my uner with Neb Clawbonny."