"--Ay, that way goes the game,
Now I perceive that she hath made compare
Between our statures--"
Midsummer-Night's Dream.
The tide of existence floats downward, and with it go, in their greatest
strength, all those affections that unite families and kindred. We learn
to know our parents in the fullness of their reason, and commonly in the
perfection of their bodily strength. Reverence and respect both mingle
with our love; but the affection, with which we watch the helplessness of
infancy, the interest with which we see the ingenuous and young profiting
by our care, the pride of improvement, and the magic of hope, create an
intensity of sympathy in their favor, that almost equals the identity of
self-love. There is a mysterious and double existence, in the tie that
binds the parent to the child. With a volition and passions of its own,
the latter has power to plant a sting in the bosom of the former, that
shall wound as acutely as the errors which arise from mistakes, almost
from crimes, of its own. But, when the misconduct of the descendant can be
traced to neglect, or to a vicious instruction, then, indeed, even the
pang of a wounded conscience may be added to the sufferings of those who
have gone before. Such, in some measure, was the nature of the pain that
Alderman Van Beverout was condemned to feel, when at leisure to reflect on
the ill-judged measure that had been taken by la belle Barbérie.
"She was a pleasant and coaxing minx, Patroon," said the burgher, pacing
the room they occupied, with a quick and heavy step, and speaking
unconsciously of his niece, as of one already beyond the interests of
life; "and as wilful and headstrong as an unbroken colt.--Thou hard-riding
imp! I shall never find a match for the poor disconsolate survivor.--But
the girl had a thousand agreeable and delightful ways with her, that made
her the delight of my old days. She has not done wisely, to desert the
friend and guardian of her youth, ay, even of her childhood, in order to
seek protection from strangers. This is an unhappy world, Mr. Van Staats!
All our calculations come to nought; and it is in the power of fortune to
reverse the most reasonable and wisest of our expectations. A gale of wind
drives the richly-freighted ship to the bottom; a sudden fall in the
market robs us of our gold, as the November wind strips the oak of its
leaves; and bankruptcies and decayed credit often afflict the days of the
oldest houses, as disease saps the strength of the body:--Alida! Alida!
thou hast wounded one that never harmed thee, and rendered my age
miserable!"
"It is vain to contend with the inclinations," returned the proprietor of
the manor, sighing in a manner that did no discredit to the sincerity of
his remark. "I could have been happy to have placed your niece in the
situation that my respected mother filled with so much dignity and credit,
but it is now too late----"
"We don't know that;--we don't know that;" interrupted the Alderman, who
still clung to the hope of effecting the first great wish of his heart,
with the pertinacity with which he would have clung to the terms of any
other fortunate bargain. "We should never despair, Mr. Van Staats, as long
as the transaction is left open."
"The manner in which Mademoiselle Barbérie has expressed her preference,
is so very decided, that I see no hope of completing the arrangement."
"Mere coquetry, Sir, mere coquetry! The girl has disappeared in order to
enhance the value of her future submission. One should never regard a
treaty at an end, so long as reasonable hopes remain that it may be
productive to the parties."
"I fear, Sir, there is more of the coquette in this step of the young
lady, than a gentleman can overlook," returned the Patroon a little dryly,
and with far more point than he was accustomed to use. "If the commander
of Her Majesty's cruiser be not a happy man, he will not have occasion to
reproach his mistress with disdain!"
"I am not certain, Mr. Van Staats, that in the actual situation of our
stipulations, I ought to overlook an innuendo that seems to reflect on the
discretion of my ward. Captain Ludlow----well, sirrah! what is the
meaning of this impertinence?"
"He'm waiting to see Masser," returned the gaping Erasmus, who stood with
the door in his hand, admiring the secret intelligence of his master, who
had so readily anticipated his errand.
"Who is waiting?--What does the simpleton mean?"
"I mean 'a gentle'um Masser say."
"The fortunate man is here to remind us of his success," haughtily
observed Van Staats of Kinderhook. "There can be no necessity of my
presence at an interview between Alderman Van Beverout and his nephew."
The justly-mortified Patroon bowed ceremoniously to the equally
disappointed burgher, and left the room the moment he had done speaking.
The negro took his retreat as a favorable symptom for one who was
generally known to be his rival; and he hastened to inform the young
captain, that the coast was clear.
The meeting, that instantly succeeded, was sufficiently constrained and
awkward. Alderman Van Beverout assumed a manner of offended authority and
wounded affection; while the officer of the Queen wore an air of compelled
submission to a duty that he found to be disagreeable. The introduction of
the discourse was consequently ceremonious, and punctiliously observant of
courtesy.
"It has become my office," continued Ludlow, after the preliminaries had
been observed, to express the surprise I feel, that a vessel of the
exceedingly equivocal appearance of the brigantine, that is anchored in
the Cove, should be found in a situation to create unpleasant suspicions
concerning the commercial propriety of a merchant so well known as Mr.
Alderman Van Beverout."
"The credit of Myndert Van Beverout is too well established, Captain
Cornelius Ludlow, to be affected by the accidental position of ships and
bays. I see two vessels anchored near the Lust in Rust, and if called upon
to give my testimony before the Queen in Council, I should declare that
the one which wears her royal pennant had done more wrong to her subjects
than the stranger. But what harm is known of the latter?"
"I shall not conceal any of the facts; for I feel that this is a case, in
which a gentleman of your station has the fullest right to the benefit of
explanations----"
"Hem--" interrupted the burgher, who disliked the manner in which his
companion had opened the interview, and who thought he saw the
commencement of a forced compromise in the turn it was taking;--"Hem--I
commend your moderation, Captain Ludlow. Sir, we are flattered in having a
native of the Province in so honorable a command on the coast. Be seated,
I pray you, young gentleman, that we may converse more at leisure. The
Ludlows are an ancient and well-established family in the colonies; and
though they were no friends of King Charles, why--we have others here in
the same predicament. There are few crowns in Europe that might not trace
some of their discontented subjects to these colonies; and the greater the
reason, say I, why we should not be too hasty in giving faith to the
wisdom of this European legislation. I do not pretend, Sir, to admire all
the commercial regulations which flow from the wisdom of Her Majesty's
counsellors. Candor forbids that I should deny this truth: but--what of
the brigantine in the Cove?"
"It is not necessary to tell one so familiar with the affairs of commerce,
of the character of a vessel called the Water-Witch, nor of that of its
lawless commander, the notorious 'Skimmer of the Seas.'"
"Captain Ludlow is not about to accuse Alderman Van Beverout of a
connexion with such a man!" exclaimed the burgher, rising as it were
involuntarily, and actually recoiling a foot or two, apparently under the
force of indignation and surprise.
"Sir, I am not commissioned to accuse any of the Queen's subjects. My duty
is to guard her interests on the water, to oppose her open enemies, and to
uphold her royal prerogatives."
"An honorable employment, and one I doubt not that is honorably
discharged. Resume your seat, Sir; for I foresee that the conference is
likely to end as it should, between a son of the late very respectable
King's counsellor and his father's friend. You have reason then for
thinking that this brigantine, which has so suddenly appeared in the Cove,
has some remote connexion with the Skimmer of the Seas?"
"I believe the vessel to be the famous Water-Witch itself, and her
commander to be, of course, that well-known adventurer."
"Well, Sir--well, Sir--this may be so. It is impossible for me to deny
it--but what should such a reprobate be doing here, under the guns of a
Queen's cruiser?"
"Mr. Alderman, my admiration of your niece is not unknown to you."
"I have suspected it, Sir;" returned the burgher, who believed the tenor
of the compromise was getting clearer, but who still waited to know the
exact value of the concessions the other party would make, before he
closed a bargain, in a hurry, of which he might repent at his
leisure--"Indeed, it has even been the subject of some discourse between
us."
"This admiration induced me to visit your villa, the past night,----"
"This is a fact too well established, young gentleman."
"Whence I took away----" Ludlow hesitated, as if anxious to select his
words--
"Alida Barbérie."
"Alida Barbérie!"
"Ay, Sir; my niece, or perhaps I should say my heiress, as well as the
heiress of old Etienne de Barbérie. The cruise was short, Captain
Cornelius Ludlow; but the prize-money will be ample--unless, indeed, a
claim to neutral privileges should be established in favor of part of the
cargo!"
"Sir, your pleasantry is amusing, but I have little leisure for its
enjoyment. That I visited the Cour lies Fées, shall not be denied. I think
la belle Barbérie will not be offended, under the circumstances, with
this acknowledgment."
"If she is, the jade has a rare squeamishness, after what has passed!"
"I pretend not to judge of more than my duty. The desire to serve my royal
mistress had induced me, Mr. Van Beverout, to cause a seaman of odd attire
and audacious deportment to enter the Coquette. You will know the man,
when I tell you that he was your companion in the island ferry-boat."
"Yes, yes, I confess there was a mariner of the long voyage there, who
caused much surprise, and some uneasiness, to myself and niece, as well as
to Van Staats of Kinderhook."
Ludlow smiled, like one not to be deceived, as he continued.
"Well, Sir, this man so far succeeded, as to tempt me to suffer him to
land, under the obligation of some half-extorted promise--we came into the
river together, and entered your grounds in company."
Alderman Van Beverout now began to listen like a man who dreaded, while he
desired to catch, each syllable. Observing that Ludlow paused, and watched
his countenance with a cool and steady eye, he recovered his self-command,
and affected a mere ordinary curiosity, while he signed to him to proceed.
"I am not sure I tell Alderman Van Beverout any thing that is new,"
resumed the young officer, "when I add, that the fellow suffered me to
visit the pavilion, and then contrived to lead me into an ambush of
lawless men, having previously succeeded in making captives of my
boat's-crew."
"Seizures and warrants!" exclaimed the burgher in his natural strong and
hasty manner of speeking.
"This is the first I have heard of the affair. It was ill-judged, to call
it by no other term."
Ludlow seemed relieved, when he saw, by the undisguised amazement of his
companion, that the latter was, in truth, ignorant of the matter in which
lie had been detained.
"It might not have been, Sir, had our watch been as vigilant as their
artifice was deep," he continued. "But I was little guarded, and having no
means to reach my ship, I--"
"Ay, ay, Captain Ludlow; it is not necessary to be so circumstantial; you
proceeded to the wharf, and----"
"Perhaps, Sir, I obeyed my feelings, rather than my duty," observed
Ludlow, coloring high, when he perceived that the burgher paused to clear
his throat "I returned to the pavilion, where----"
"You persuaded a niece to forget her duty to her uncle and protector."
"This is a harsh and most unjustifiable charge, both as respects the young
lady and myself. I can distinguish between a very natural desire to
possess articles of commerce that are denied by the laws and a more
deliberate and mercenary plot against the revenue of the country. I
believe there are few of her years and sex, who would refuse to purchase
the articles I saw presented to the eyes of la belle Barbérie, especially
when the utmost hazard could be no more than their loss, as they were
already introduced into the country."
"A just discrimination, and one likely to render the arrangement of our
little affairs less difficult! I was sure that my old friend the
counsellor would not have left a son of his ignorant of principles, more
especially as he was about to embark in a profession of so much
responsibility.--And so, my niece had the imprudence to entertain a dealer
in contraband?"
"Alderman Van Beverout, there were boats in motion on the water, between
this landing and the brigantine in the Cove. A periagua even left the
river for the city, at the extraordinary hour of midnight!"
"Sir, boats will move on the water, when the hands of man set them in
motion; but what have I to answer for in the matter? If goods have entered
the Province, without license, why, they must be found and condemned; and
if free-traders are on the coast, they should be caught. Would it not be
well to proceed to town, and lay the fact of this strange brigantine's
presence before the Governor, withou delay?"
"I have other intentions. If, as you say, goods have gone up the bay, it
is too late for me to stop them; but it is not too late to attempt to
seize yon brigantine. Now, I would perform this duty in a manner as little
likely to offend any of reputable name, as my allegiance will admit."
"Sir, I extol this discretion--not that there is any testimony to
implicate more than the crew, but credit is a delicate flower, and it
should be handled tenderly. I see an opening for an arrangement--but, we
will, as in duty bound, hear your propositions first, since you may be
said to speak with the authority of the Queen. I will merely surmise that
terms should be moderate, between friends;--perhaps I should say, between
connexions, Captain Ludlow."
"I am flattered by the word, Sir," returned the young sailor, smiling with
an expression of delight. "First suffer me to be admitted to the charming
Cour des Fées, but for a moment."
"That is a favor which can hardly be refused you, who may be said to have
a right, now, to enter the pavilion at pleasure," returned the Alderman,
unhesitatingly leading the way through the long passage to the deserted
apartments of his niece, and continuing the blind allusions to the affairs
of the preceding night, in the same indirect manner as had distinguished
the dialogue during the whole interview. "I shall not be unreasonable,
young gentleman, and here is the pavilion of my niece; I wish I could
add, and here also is its mistress!"
"And is la belle Barbérie no longer a tenant of la Cour des Fées!"
demanded Ludlow, in a surprise too natural to be feigned.
Alderman Van Beverout regarded the young man in wonder; pondered a moment,
to consider how far denying a knowledge of the absence of his niece might
benefit the officer, in the pending negotiation; and then he dryly
observed, "Boats passed on the water, during the night. If the men of
Captain Ludlow were at first imprisoned, I presume they were set at
liberty at the proper time."
"They are carried I know not whither--the boat itself is gone, and I am
here alone."
"Am I to understand, Captain Ludlow, that Alida Barbérie has not fled my
house, during the past night, to seek a refuge in your ship?"
"Fled!" echoed the young man, in a voice of horror. "Has Alida de Barbérie
fled from the house of her uncle, at all?"
"Captain Ludlow, this is not acting. On the honor of a gentleman, are you
ignorant of my niece's absence?"
The young commander did not answer; but, striking his head fiercely, he
smothered words that were unintelligible to his companion. When this
momentary burst of feeling was past, he sunk into a chair, and gazed about
him in stupid amazement. All this pantomime was inexplicable to the
Alderman, who, however, began to see that more of the conditions of the
arrangement in hand were beyond the control of his companion, than he had
at first believed. Still the plot thickened, rather than grew clear; and
he was afraid to speak, lest he might utter more than was prudent. The
silence, therefore, continued for quite a minute; during which time, the
parties sat gazing at each other in dull wonder.
"I shall not deny, Captain Ludlow, that I believed you had prevailed on
my niece to fly aboard the Coquette; for, though a man who has always kept
his feelings in his own command, as the safest manner of managing
particular interests, yet I am not to learn that rash youth is often
guilty of folly. I am now equally at a loss with yourself, to know what
has become of her, since here she is not."
"Hold!" eagerly interrupted Ludlow. "A boat left your wharf, for the city,
in the earlier hours of the morning. Is it not possible that she may have
taken a passage in it?"
"It is not possible. I have reasons to know--in short, Sir, she is not
there."
"Then is the unfortunate--the lovely--the indiscreet girl for ever lost to
herself and us!" exclaimed the young sailor, actually groaning under his
mental agony. "Rash, mercenary man! to what an act of madness has this
thirst of gold driven one so fair--would I could say, so pure and so
innocent!"
But while the distress of the lover was thus violent, and caused him to be
so little measured in his terms of reproach, the uncle of the fair
offender appeared to be lost in surprise. Though la belle Barbérie had so
well preserved the decorum and reserve of her sex, as to leave even her
suitors in doubt of the way her inclinations tended, the watchful Alder
man had long suspected that the more ardent, open, and manly commander of
the Coquette was likely to triumph over one so cold in exterior, and so
cautious in his advances, as the Patroon of Kinderhook. When, therefore,
it became apparent Alida had disappeared, he quite naturally inferred that
she had taken the simplest manner of defeating all his plans for favoring
the suit of the latter, by throwing herself, at once, into the arms of the
young sailor. The laws of the colonies offered few obstacles to the
legality of their union; and when Ludlow appeared that morning, he firmly
believed that he beheld one, who, if he were not so already, was
inevitably soon to become his nephew. But the suffering of the
disappointed youth could not be counterfeited; and, prevented from
adhering to his first opinion, the perplexed Alderman seemed utterly at a
loss to conjecture what could have become of his niece. Wonder, rather
than pain, possessed him; and when he suffered his ample chin to repose on
the finger and thumb of one hand, it was with the air of a man that
revolved, in his mind, all the plausible points of some knotty question.
"Holes and corners!" he muttered, after a long silence; "the wilful minx
cannot be playing at hide-and-seek with her friends! The hussy had ever
too much of la famille de Barbérie, and her high Norman blood about her,
as that silly old valet has it, to stoop to such childish trifling. Gone
she certainly is," he continued, looking, again, into the empty drawers
and closets, "and with her the valuables have disappeared. The guitar is
missing--the lute I sent across the ocean to purchase, an
excellently-toned Dutch lute, that cost every stiver of one hundred
guilders, is also wanting, and all the--hem--the recent accessions have
disappeared. And there, too, are my sister's jewels, that I persuaded her
to bring along, to guard against accidents while our backs are turned,
they are not to be seen. François! François I Thou long-tried servitor of
Etienne Barbérie, what the devil has become of thy mistress?"
"Mais, Monsieur," returned the disconsolate valet, whose decent features
exhibited all the signs of unequivocal suffering, "she no tell le pauvre
François! En supposant, que Monsieur ask le capitaine, he shall
probablement know."
The burgher cast a quick suspicious glance at Ludlow, and shook his head,
to express his belief that the young man was true.
"Go; desire Mr. Van Staats of Kinderhook to favor us with his company."
"Hold," cried Ludlow, motioning to the valet to withdraw. "Mr. Beverout,
an uncle should be tender of the errors of one so dear as this cruel,
unreflecting girl. You cannot think of abandoning her to so frightful a
fortune!"
"I am not addicted to abandoning any thing, Sir to which my title is just
and legal. But you speak in enigmas. If you are acquainted with the place
where my niece is secreted, avow it frankly, and permit me to take those
measures which the case requires."
Ludlow reddened to his forehead, and he struggled powerfully with his
pride and his regrets.
"It is useless to attempt concealing the step which Alida Barbérie has
been pleased to take," he said, a smile so bitter passing over his
features, as to lend them the expression of severe mockery; "she has
chosen more worthily than either of us could have believed; she has found
a companion more suited to her station, her character, and her sex, than
Van Staats of Kinderhook, or a poor commander of a Queen's ship!"
"Cruisers and manors! What in the name of mysteries is thy meaning? The
girl is not here; you declare she is not on board of the Coquette, and
there remains only----"
"The brigantine!" groaned the young sailor uttering the word by a violent
effort of the will.
"The brigantine!" repeated the Alderman, slowly "My niece can have nothing
to do aboard a dealer in contraband. That is to say, Alida Barbérie is not
a trader."
"Alderman Van Beverout, if we wish to escape the contamination of vice,
its society must be avoided. There was one in the pavilion, of a mien and
assurance the past night, that might delude an angel. Ah! woman! woman!
thy mind is composed of vanities, and thy imagination is thy bitterest
foe!"
"Women and vanities!" echoed the amazed burgher. "My niece, the heiress of
old Etienne Marie de Barbérie, and the sought of so many of honorable
names and respectable professions, to be a refugee with a rover!--always
supposing your opinions of the character of the brigantine to be just.
This is a conjecture too improbable to be true."
"The eye of a lover, Sir, may be keener than that of a guardian--call it
jealousy, if you will,--would to Heaven my suspicions were untrue!--but if
she be not there, where is she?"
The opinion of the Alderman seemed staggered. If la belle Barbérie had not
yielded to the fascinations of that wayward, but seductive, eye and smile,
to that singular beauty of face, and to the secret and often irresistible
charm that encircles eminent personal attractions, when aided by mystery,
to what had she yielded, and whither had she fled?
These were reflections that now began to pass through the thoughts of the
Alderman, as they had already planted stings in the bosom of Ludlow. With
reflection, conviction began slowly to assert its power. But the truth did
not gleam upon the mind of the calculating and wary merchant, with the
same instinctive readiness that it had flashed upon the jealous faculties
of the lover. He pondered on each circumstance of the interview between
the dealer in contraband and his niece; recalled the manner and discourse
of the former; drew certain general and vague conjectures concerning the
power which novelty, when coupled with circumstances of romance, might
exercise over a female fancy; and dwelt long and secretly on some
important facts that were alone known to himself,--before his judgment
finally settled down into the same opinion, as that which his companion
had formed, with all the sensitiveness of jealous alarm.
"Women and vagaries!" muttered the burgher, after his study was ended.
"Their conceits are as uncertain as the profits of a whaling voyage, or
the luck of a sportsman. Captain Ludlow, your assistance will be needed in
this affair; and, as it may not be too late, since there are few priests
in the brigantine--always supposing her character to be what you
affirm--my niece may yet see her error, and be disposed to reward so much
assiduity and attachment."
"My services shall always be ready, so long as they can be useful to Alida
Barbérie," returned the young officer with haste, and yet a little coldly.
"It will be time enough to speak of the reward, when we shall have
succeeded."
"The less noise that is made about a little domestic inconvenience like
this, the better; and I would therefore suggest the propriety of keeping
our suspicions of the character of the vessel a secret, until we shall be
better informed."
The captain bowed his assent to the proposal.
"And now that we are of the same mind in the preliminaries, we will seek
the Patroon of Kinderhook, who has a claim to participate in our
confidence."
Myndert then led the way from the empty and melancholy Cour des Fées, with
a step that had regained its busy and firm tread, and a countenance that
expressed far more of vexation and weariness, than of real sorrow.