CHAPTER XXI. THE ANONYMOUS LETTER. Tout le monde connoît leur imperfection, "MY LORD, MOLIERE. "You are grossly deceived by a woman unworthy of you in every respect, and you are made to pay for the pleasures of others who only laugh at you for your pains. It is not known that you are just returned from the country, and an orgy is held at the Hermitage this night at twelve o'clock, at which, if you choose to be present, a person will await you under the portico of one of the houses on the left side of Park Crescent, who will conduct you thither, when seeing, it is hoped will be believing. "A FRIEND." "N. B. All my previous warnings have failed; this is the last. Beware of the Ides of July." The above letter was put into Lord Herbert's hands as he returned from an excursion into the country on the 15th July 18-; the handwriting was concealed, but the envelope and seal and the paper were not vulgar: it did not appear to have been written by a low person. Lord Herbert, to do him justice, had a proper detestation of anonymous letters, hevertheless this one enforced attention, because it tallied with remarks he had made, and he determined to follow the direction it contained; "and at worst," he said, "I can only have the joke turned against me, should it prove a hoax." The better to avoid this, and to prevent his being recognised, he threw a coachman's great coat over his clothes, and getting into a hackney-coach, drove to Park Crescent; there he got out and proceeded on foot, walking slowly along. At the door of the last house, a little figure, which appeared to be an old woman with a thick veil over her face, came towards him, and, to his astonishment, thrust a bit of paper into his hand; he read by the light of the lamp, "Trust to the conductor who gives you this;" he did so, and followed the old woman, who, as soon as they got beyond the Colosseum, set off at an amazing pace, so that it was all he could do to follow her. Arrived at the gate of the Hermitage, he wondered how that could be passed, for it was too high and too well fenced with iron spikes to climb over it; but his guide applied a key, and without any difficulty let them both in. With great celerity the latter dropped her woman's attire, and Lord Herbert recognised the Lanti's page, Banyan. Then, he thought, it is true, and she is faithless;-he muttered a few low curses-Banyan put his finger on his mouth-and mastering his rage, he followed the boy, who stationed him on a ladder he had placed there for the purpose, at a window from whence he could distinctly see and hear all that passed within. The usual rabble-rout were of the party, and Ladies Rougemont and Featherstone and the Lanti's sister; the latter were singing together, and singing in all the power of their beautiful voices. The infatuated Lord Herbert listened entranced, and forgot at the moment every thing but the thraldrom in which he was held. After a time the music ceased, the persons present made a circle round the room to admit the entrance of the suppertable, and as soon as it was placed, a considerable noise was made at the door of entrance, one or two servants opened the two wings and announced very pompously, Lord Herbert, when, to the real lord's utter surprise and dismay, he beheld a person enter so exactly like himself, that he thought he saw his figure reflected in a glass. Lord Herbert, the double, nodded to the ladies, said how d'ye do to some of the men, looked protectingly to the Lanti, and then added in his own most condescending way, "I hope you have not waited for me, I could not get away from the Speaker's confounded dinner, the greatest bore in the world, till the Duchess's ball was nigh over; don't much care for that, only I could not avoid making my bow, and then got into a row with one of those blackguard om nibuses which deserve to be annihilated; would not make way for my cabriolet, and it puts me out, to find oneself called upon for slang, in order to give those fellows a proper dressing: beg a thousand pardons, pray don't think of me," looking at himself in the glass. Is it possible, thought the real Lord Herbert, that I can be as ridiculous. I'll smash the fellow in a thousand pieces, for showing me up though, and he made a movement which caused the ladder to shake the half-closed shutter. "Vats dat, Banyan? look, see." Banyan obeyed; shook his head; made signs that it was nothing, and resumed his post at the back of his mistress's chair. Lord Herbert (the double) was now placed in a chair which was always considered to be particularly appropriated to the real Lord Herbert, and he laid down the law on various topics, which made all the company roar with laughter; it was so like, that Lord Herbert himself almost laughed too; but when Sir Charles Lennard (for it was he who enacted the part) called out to the company to ask them what wines they chose of those which he had sent for to Herbert House, "chosen from my choicest cellar," he added, Lord Herbert could scarcely restrain his choler to witness the end of the scene. "This is some of the finest Chianti which was ever imported into the country," said the usurping lord, pouring out the wine, "I kept it for the dinner I intended to give to the Prince of Spain; but really, he is such a Visigoth, I don't think I shall ever bring myself to the bore of the thing, and it could not be half so well bestowed as it is on the present company." The little black and yellow Italians grinned and bowed, and filling their glasses, rose from their seats, crying, "viva viva, evoè." The mock lord bowed in return, rose and addressed them in a speech. "Gentlemen-Although I have not the advantage of being able to express in your language, the sense I entertain of the honour you do me, in being my guests on this happy occasion (it was the Lanti's saint's-day,) yet I should think myself deficient in all the laws of courtesy, if I did not endeavour to make my thanks audible for the honour you do me in gracing my board." "Viva viva, mill' anni," roared the company; and they all sat down again, laughing and carousing, while the principal actor continued to play his part with immoyeable gravity, and from time to time whispered the Lanti, or Tooked at her with the tenderest glances, and then again, turning to the party, he said, "that venison comes off my own grounds, I hope you like the flavour, and those pineapples from out my forcing-beds, pretty tolerable size for our sunless climate; I had them fresh from the country today, and sent for them to grace our feast; I hope you find them palatable." "Squisito!" said one little gormandizing monkey of a man, who crammed an immense round down his throat, and put more into his carcass than one would have thought it could possibly have held, and who, ignorant of the joke which was carrying on, enjoyed in good earnest the delicacies which had been provided, at whose cost, mattered little to him. In the mean while Lady Rougemont and Featherstone entered into all the zest of mystification, and at every new speech of Sir Charles Lennard's, cried Bravo! bravo! There never was any thing so well done." 66 66 Little Banyan evinced unusual pleasure, and stood behind the Lanti, quivering like an imp of mischief, and looking up at the window from whence he knew the real lord was witnessing and overhearing every word that was said. "Now," he thought, "I have my revenge; I have not been beaten or kicked for nothing." But Lord Herbert, in his hiding-place, was not particularly gratified, for he felt that to make known his being present, would only bring himself into greater ridicule, and it was not very pleasant to witness his choicest viands eaten, and his wines swallowed by such a set of miscreants, and the woman for whom he had been guilty of such lavish expense and folly, enjoying his being cheated and made a fool of. He knew not what course to pursue; he did not want personal bravery, he would have defied them all, but he dreaded ridicule; he shrunk into nothing at the idea of braving that, and preferred enduring the secret sting of being cheated and laughed at by the persons then present, rather than spread the story over the whole circle of his London acquaintance; but rage and dismay were at his heart, and when he saw himself made a laughing-stock of by his friends, and the woman whom he fancied loved him, he received some punishment for the crime he had committed in forsaking his fair and faithful wife for such degrading, such demoniac company; still there was a fascination in the torment; he did not like to leave any thing unseen, unknown, that he could see or know, and after descending the ladder, a fresh burst of laughter, made him go up again to behold the cause of this renewed mirth; he then beheld, as it were, himself crowned by the Lanti, and the other women winding scarfs around him, whilst he bowed and smiled and said, rather pleasant this to be so fêted; and in one's own house too. Gentlemen, do me the favour to taste this Monte Puleiano; its flavour is peculiar; it was brought to me from Italy by a particular friend of mine, in his own yacht, cost prodigious sums of money, what with duty and one thing or another, but I like to have my things good,-I do not mind expense." "But how did you get these things from Herbert House?" asked Lady Rougemont, in English. "Nothing's more easy," he replied, "I wrote a line to St. Simond, and signed my name, (that which I bear at present, you understand) and I found the things all ready for me at the hour I ordered them?"; 'Well, but if you were to be found out?" "Oh! if I were, Herbert is an excellent fellow, he would not say a word to me, because he dare not,” he added in his own natural tone of voice. Lord Herbert ground his teeth together; at that moment he observed Banyan leave his mistress's chair, and the next moment he was at the bottom of the ladder. He made signs to Lord Herbert not to go away altogether, but leading him to the door of the gardens, by dumb-show contrived to make him understand that he was to remain there. Lord Herbert, from an impulse of the moment, was inclined to comply, and he had not been there ten minutes when he saw flames breaking out from various parts of the cottage; women's shrieks and men's voices, and a rushing to and fro of servants who had been waiting for their masters, told Lord Herbert it was time for him now to be off, unless he wished to be implicated in the affair.. It was evident to him that Banyan was the author of the fire, and he was at last convinced that his friend was a villain, and his mistress worthless. The next day, the papers were full of the Lanti's misfortune; it was stated her losses were immense, and there was an appeal to a generous public to make up to this favourite singer, by liberal contributions, the ruin of her property; nor was the appeal without avail: several in the first |