"^xiuoNvsoi^ "^/sajAiNa-awv^ '%avaan# ^^c =3 yd ^ 1 If ^: ]0^ -•^AHvuaiH^ ^r';v inc lure: r» :3 i ^At•UBRARY^/. ^lUBRARY^ > nfl '^^ ^ i i '^^Aavaani^ ""-^c \WtUNIVER% %0JnV3JO^ '^^OJnYDiO'^ ^J?13DNVS01^ "^z |-JC/| ^J^^S I-»IM %133NVSO# %a3AINft-3ftV^ ^^(?Aliyiian# -5^1UBRARYQ^ ^OfCAllFOR^ ^OFCAUF0«(^ ^tUNIVERS{5 AS ea ^^jAIUNIVERy//; %avaaiH^ "^^Aavaan-^ r. smacking of the postboys' wliips as they proceeded triumphantly through the hamlet sparkling with frost, — a glad and a proud woman was she, that her guests had so perfectly entered into her spirit and character, as to make no attempt at remuneration. — Never had her Christmas - day commenced more auspiciously. Never had she felt more overbrim- ming with glee. The only thing she could by no means reconcile to herself, was that, on proceeding to the bedchamber vacated by the Milbankes, the first object that met her eye should be her niece Grace, concealing her face on the back of the chair into which she had thrown herself. " Why, what on earth ails the girl ?" cried she. " Sure, Grace, that smart-spoken younker in the furred wrapper, as was followin' ye in an' out like your shadow, didn't forget himself? — No ? — Why then you must be cryin' after the quality, lass ! — which, for a day and night's acquaintance, is hasty friendship !" For how was Aunt Dinah to surmise, that the poor girl's tears arose from mortification at having been THE SNOW STORM. 209 seen by Charles Ribston,— Charles Rlbston, who, on her father's death and grandfather's ruin, would have acted the part of a brother towards her sister and herself, but for the more seemly intervention of Aunt Dinah's generosity, — in menial attendance upon persons of his own rank in life. While poor Grace was fretting over the only too natural results of her ambitious attachment, Charley was making the best of his way home; — right thank- ful for the agency, whosesoever it might be, which had repaired his negligence, and watched in good time over the clearance of the road ; — and not a little pleased that the halt of the London caravan at Nessford, should have concluded without furtlier mischance. — Impossible to surmise what might have been the results of a visit from so flighty a family as the Gumbledons ! — All he now feared was the banterings to which he might be exposed by the indiscretion of the Mllbankes ; and even the quizzing of Bob Shoreham would perhaps be less easily silenced, when backed by the encouragement of Meredyth, Herbert Howard, and the rest of his set. p 210 THE SNOW STORM. On reaching the Hall, he had the satisfaction to discover that the family had proceeded to church, and that the party from Nessford was not yet arrived. — Scarcely, however, had he effected a hurried change of dress, when the clang of the hall-bell announced the return of the former ; and on hastening down to satisfy the anxiety of his father concerning his expected visitors, the first person lie encountered at the foot of the stairs was Sir Richard, in a high state of excitement, making loud and angry inquiries of the butler, the object of which was at present a mystery to his son. " The workmen said, Sir Richard, that they were acting by your orders. — The picture was brought here in a case, in a Whcatston car, as others have been before," said the terrified servant. " But why allow them to hang it up during my absence?" — cried tlie still irritated master of the house. " They seemed, sir, to have your authority. — The head workman declared there was not a minute to be lost ; — that the picture was to have arrived last THE SNOW STORM. 211 night, only for the state of the roads ; and that you were anxious to have it in its place before the London visitors made their appearance." — ■ " In its place /"—reiterated Sir Richard, who appeared so frantic with vexation, — that his son could scarcely believe such furious excitement to originate in a mere mistake of the servants, or the misplacement of an article of furniture, or object of virtu. — " I am happy to tell you, my dear father," said he, hoping to give a new turn to his ideas,—" that the jVIilbankes, Lord Castlehurst, and the Gumbledons will be here in a moment." A tremendous oath instantly burst from the lips of Sir Richard. " There will be no time, then," cried he, in a still more infuriated tone, "for removing this accursed picture !" — " Believe me they are all too much engrossed by their night's adventures, to take the smallest heed of a picture, even if you had Raphael's Transfiguration in the house!" — was the imprudent rejoinder of Charles. p2 213 THE SNOW STORM. " How, sir !" retorted his angry father ! — " Would you have me believe that any person under this roof is likely to overlook the fact forced upon their atten- tion by yonder portrait ? — Some enemy must have devised the insult ! — Some damned hanger-on of the old family doubtless projected this petty act of ven- geance, and found agents bold enough to execute a project that was to degrade me in the eyes of my London guests, and render me the laughing-stock of the whole county !" — Raising his hand, which trembled with ill -suppressed passion, he pointed out, to the astonishment of his son, that a fine hunting-piece by Snyders, usually the first object to greet the eye of a visitor on entering the Hall, had been removed from its position, and replaced by a noble portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in a finely carved frame : — bearing inscribed in gold letters at the foot, the name of — " John Paul Reveley, Esq., 1785, owner, by an inheritance of thirteen descents, of Hacklewoou Hall." — 313 CHAPTER X, Further arrivals fortunately interdicted all further effusion of wrath on the part of the irate Sir Richard. — The carriage of the dowager, heavily charged with the finery and rattletraps of three vaiu and selfish women, having been overtaken on the road, and closely followed by that containing the Milbankes and Lord Castlehurst, the whole party was soon assembled in the library : the former, mifolding their tribulations to the sympathizing ear of Lady Ribston ; while the latter, somewhat to the surprise and a little to the indignation of Sir Richard, pro- tested that they should always be thankful to the snow-storm of Christmas, 1844, for having made them acquainted with so gratifying a specimen of old English hospitality as they had met with at Nessford Holm. 214) THE SNOW STORM. But tlie mortified proprietor of Hacklewood had no leisure to be angry. Wounded in the tenderest point, and expecting every moment the triumphant malice of his enemies to manifest itself in some new act of hostility, he had scarcely presence of mind to reply with coherency to the questions of his " noble friend, the President of the Board of Controul," concerning the average inclemency of Yorkshire winters. Wliile to Lady Gumbledon's inquiry as to ivhen the Wheatston road had been last blocked up, he answered, with a look of vague bewilderment, — " In the year 1785 !" — " Your ladyship perceives that I was right ! " interposed the jocose Lord Charles. " An occurrence so rare must be regarded as a phenomenon. I shall always consider it an omen purporting to signalize our entrance into the county." Instead of reaping the glory he had been so long anticipating from the tasteful decorations of his mansion, the beauty of his conservatory, (whichj contrasted with the dreary snow without, seemed to display the vivid hues of a rainbow,) and the THE SNOW STORM. 315 commodious arrangements of his whole establishment, Sir Richard was forced to listen to praises of the clean neat whitewashed bedrooms of Nessford Holm, and the merits of a goose pie served on the simple board of poor old Farmer Welland ; while, ever and anon^ he gathered from the laughing chat between Bob Shoreham, Howard, Meredyth, and Lord Cossington, who was the last comer, how diverting an evening the latter had lost by his non-arrival by the evening train of the preceding night. " It was worth being snowed up on the road, I promise you," cried the flippant secretary, " to obtain a glimpse of the fair maid of Nessford, — the loveliest creature you ever beheld in your life." From this indiscreet sally, it will be inferred that Charles Ribston was not in the room. He had, in fact, seized the first opportunity to escape, to pursue his investigations concerning the exact mode in which the mysterious picture had been introduced into his father's house. It was essential to ascertain whether there existed collusion between the confidential 216 THE SNOW STORM. servants of tlie Hall, and the rebellious dissidents of Hacklewood. " And I can promise you, my dear Sir Richard," added Lord Castlehurst, — who was comfortably estab- lished, in the English fashion, on the hearthrug of a glorious Christmas fire, — " it was not alone in York- shire cheer that the rambling old grange which afforded us hospitality, so exceeded our expectations. We had the luck to stumble there upon an eccentric old gentleman, whom I would have given half a year's income to capture, and cany in a cage to Leadenhall Street. If but a tenth part of his extraordinary assertions were founded on fact, (and for my part I am inclined to put faith in the whole), we have all much to answer for in our ignorance of the state of Affghanistan. Never did I meet a shrevk'der or more remai-kable old man ! " The moment the Honourable Director's official honour was touched. Sir Richard became himselt again. Losing sight at once of his frivolous preten- sions as a man of the world, he entered eagerly into THE SXOW STORM. 217 the questions whicli had been mooted between Lord Castlehurst and the stranger : listening with deference to many curious facts, possessing the stamp of authen- ticity ; and arguing strenuously against such state- ments as appeared to be the result of prejudice and party spirit. " The most unaccountable part of the old gentle- man's revelations," said Shoreham, who had been summoned from his gossip with the junior members of the party to supply confirmation of certain statistical details in which the memory of Lord Castlehurst was at fault — " consisted in the fact that his information concerning the affairs of India is full a month posterior to our own," " The Overland mail was expected the day we left London," replied Lord Castlehurst, " and our visit at Hatfield delayed us a day. To-night's papers will probably bring the interesting news with which he favoured us." " Still, the despatches could not have been pub- lished when the train left town. As I before hinted to your lordship, the old prophet must be 218 THE SNOW STORM. ill some way or other connected with the India House." " Pity but you had seen him, Ribston," added Lord Castlehurst, " for you could liave resolved us in a moment. Perhaps your son can tell us something' about him, for they spent the night together." " Ay, but Charley won't 'peach !" cried Shoreham. " I cross-questioned him the first thing this morning ; and from his confusion, any one might have supposed I was catechizing him about a pretty girl, instead of an old man of the mountains." " All this is becoming stranger and stranger ! Where is my son ?" cried Sir Richard, glancing has- tily round the saloon, which was now deserted ; the ladies having repaired to their rooms, and the young men to the stables, leaving only Lord Dryasdust deep in a new number of the Old Gentleman's Magazine. " Where is Mr. Ribston ?" demanded he of the butler, who answered the bell, which his master rang as thoug-h the house were on fire. "In the library, Sir Richard." THE SNOW STORM. 219 " Let liim know that I wisli to speak to him immediately I " cried the agitated host, frighted from his propriety by a series of events of which lie alone conceived the connection. " I believe, sir, — that is, I had orders, sir, — Mr. Ribston desired, sir, that he might not be disturbed !" stammered the butler, perceiving that his master had not yet recovered his composui-e. " Disturbed ?"— " He is engaged, sir, in conversation with the old gentleman." " By Jove, I am beginning to think that every- body here has dealings with the old gentleman I" cried Lord Charles Mllbanke — who had been an auditor of the preceding conversation — on perceiving Sir Richard Ribston rush out of the room, without explanation or apology. — " We have met with nothing but surprises since we entered the county !" But a greater surprise than had ever yet startled the nerves of poor Sir Richard, awaited him in the library. Beside his own particular writing-table, in his own 220 THE SNOW STORM. particular arm-chair, with the most authoritative mien and (leportnient, sat a venerable gentleman, who, but for a slight dift'erence of age and costume, might have been mistaken for the original of the por- trait so mysteriously introduced under liis roof; while, at no great distance stood Charles, with downcast looks, and in the attitude of a schoolboy receiving a reprimand. As he entered the room, the first words that met his ear were an adjuration to forbearance, hesitatingly uttered by his son. " Whatever faults my father may have to account for, sir," said he, " I implore you to defer your remonstrances to a more private occasion. The presence of strangers would render too painful and too humiliating the admonitions you are, perhaps, privileged to offer." " For your sake, my lad — " the old gentleman was beginning. — But at that moment. Sir Richard made his appearance. " So, sir !" — was the cool ajwstrophe of the old gentleman, — without making the slightest move- THE SNOW STORM. 221 ment to quit his place on the arrival of the master of the house — " you have a guest more than you bargained for, you see, to partake of your Christ- mas fare !" — Instead of replying, the cheeks of Sir Richard became blanched to an ashy paleness ; and he stood dumb and motionless before his interlocutor. It was now the turn of the young man to feel astonished. " When I wrote you word, a few years ago, sir, that I was too old a tree to be torn up by the roots from the soil in which I had so long flourished, the pros- pect of five months of sea-faring had determined me to lay my old bones in Calcutta !" — resumed the old gentleman. — " But it was loathing of ship- board, not dread of fatigue, that deterred me ! Ha, ha ! — Not a jot the worse, I flatter myself, for my Overland journey. The night before last, sir, I touched British ground for the first time these fifty years ; and in spite of all that earth or sky could do to thwart me, here I am ! — Two months ago, on seeing in the English papers a fine flourish about 223 THE SXOW STORM. tlie grand doing's about to take place at poor old Ilacklewood, I swore an oath to myself that I would spend Christmas-day under your roof." — " This is so unlooked for a pleasure, — so over- poui-ing a suqirise, my dear uncle !" — faltered Sir Richard Ribston. — But instead of rusliing forward to greet and welcome his beneficent kinsman, he sank into a chair. " So unlooked for, — ha, ha ! as to overcome you with deliglit!" — cried the old gentleman in his bitterest accents, — "But I'd have you to know, sir, that though travelling 's been made a pretty pastime by dint of modern inventions, 'tis a hard thing for a man of fourscore years to be forced into a journey of thousands of leagues, because he can't get his orders attended to by persons bound to zeal and obedience, alike by ties of blood, and ties of gratitude !" — " I trust, sir, that no remissness on my part — " Sir Richard began. — But he could not face the intent scrutiny with which his eccentric kinsman sat regard- ing his confusion. THE SNOW STORM. 223 " When I charged you that, in your purchase of Hacklewood, tlie Bush Farm should be expressly included," resumed the old gentleman, " it was not that you might make a puppet-show of the place. — but for the love of those who abided there, and had a right to abide there for evermore. — To your neglect of this commission, however, I have the less to say, that I feel in some measure to blame. — None but asses who do not know their own minds, should be inexplicit in their orders. — I did not speak plain enough. — I fancied myself writing to one who had tact and feeling to comprehend my intentions." " I can assure you, sir, that had I fully under- stood"— " I know it — I know it ! — Enough said I — Con- cerning the injuries of my poor old friend Welland, I insist no further." " Your friend Welland ?" — involuntarily repeated the amazed Sir Richard. " But what have you to say, sir," resumed the old gentleman, " concerning your disregard to my in- junctions, unequivocally expressed and peremptorily 224 THE SXOW STORM. enforced, — that, after completing the repairs of the old mansion of Ilacklewood Hall, — which I afforded you the means of purchasing, and instructions which enabled you to compel the Ililliard family to effect the sale, — you would restore to its place the portrait of its former owner, — the portrait of the last of the Revelei/s ?" added he, in a less assured voice. " It was perhaps by your interposition, then, that the picture was introduced into this house ?" — said Sir Richard, drawing a deep breath, as if reheved from inexplicable oppression. " You have said it ! — Better for ^i/ou had it been by your own. — Your neglect of the only request I ever made you, in return for benefits unceasingly conferred from your infancy till this moment, — (nearly half a century of kindness, liberality, and care !) — has taught me an important lesson. — I acquainted you where the picture was to be found. - — I apprized you of the exact position I wished it to hold !— " " But consider, my dear sir," pleaded the crestfallen THE SNOW STORM. 225 Sir Richard, " in how humiliating a position I should have been placed in my own house, with this memento of the family I had displaced, perpetually before the eyes of my servants and guests." *' And what could it tell them which they did not already know, — that with gold amassed in trade, you had purchased the tattered remnants of a property, once the proudest in the shire ? — On one point only, sir, were they misinformed ; — attributing to your own industry the opulence secured by the partial affection of your hard-working uncle !" — Sir Richard Ribston was too much abashed to resume his self-defence. " When I found your vanity too thin-skinned to admit of restitution to the Reveleys of the honours that were their due," resumed his admonitor, "when I found that you had not so much as claimed the picture for your own, I determined to take justice into my own hands ; — to quit the soil where I had so long burrowed, and ascertain with my own ears and eyes whether the heirs with which your marriage has supplied me, were of a nobler nature than your own. Q 226 THE SNOW STORM. With one of tliem, accident has favoured mv ac- quaintance ; — and though I cannot compHinent you, Sir Kicliard Ribston, on the taste of your be-gilt and be-varnlshed edition of poor old Hacklewood, I honestly wisli you joy of your son." Deeply wounded for his father, Charles Ribston experienced little pleasure in this unlooked-for com- pliment. " If you would but place yourself a moment in my position, sir," pleaded Sir Richard, in an altered and desponding- voice, " and consider what it is to be harassed from morning till night, by being twitted with the popularity of your predecessors" — " Ha, ha ! — They continue then to be popular, — the poor, broken-down, attorney-hunted, disgraced, and ruined race ?" — " To find that, whatever your exertions for the advantage of the neighbourhood, or benefit of the poor," continued his nephew, without noticing his almost hysterical interruption, — " your best efforts are disparaged, and yourself regarded as an usurper of the rights of those whose name is as a watchword THE SNOW STORM. 2.27 in every mouth, and whose importance a charm in every memory, — you would admit the cruelty of requiring me to freshen all these associations, and substantiate before then- eyes a spell which operates to my continual mortification." " A watchword in every mouth !" — mechanically repeated the old man. " The parson preaches at me from the pulpit, — all but naming by name the former benefactors of the parish ! — The publican refuses to withdraw the arms of the Reveleys from his door ! — The neighbouring farmers, whenever they find their interests opposed by the improvements my readier funds enable me to introduce into the agriculture of the district, revile me as an upstart. Whichever way I turn on the land you have entitled me to call my own, I hear nothing but cries of " " Reveley for ever ! Long live tlie old family I — God bless the last of the Reveleys !" — shouted at that moment hundreds, nay, thousands of voices, which appeared to surround the house. " You hear them !" cried Sir Richard, — his face q2 228 THE SNOW STORM. crimsoned with emotion, at tlie idea tliat tliese demonstrations would be witnessed by his aristocratic guests. For on following the glance of his tormentor towards the noble Elizabethan window of the old library, he saw that the white surface of the lawn was obscured by the gathering of a great multitude : — the whole population of Ilacklewood, shouting with joyful acclamation ; — some carrying huge branches of holly as if to unite the favourite name with the especial festival of the day ; — some bearing long streamers of silk or riband, supplied from the toilet stores of the parsonage, and hastily attached to poles ; — but loudest and most active of all, Abel Drew, — who with much pains had contrived to detach from its iron crook the sign of the Reveley arms, which now dangled at the extremity of a huge hedge-stake, — a burden almost too great for his puny arm. Before him, with the antics and caperings of a Flibbertigibbet, danced poor Jock Wootton ; — fore- most in renewing the shouts of " Long live the last of the Reveleys — Reveley, Reveley for ever ! " — " My dear Ribston ! " cried Lord Charles Mil- THE SNOW STORM. 229 banke, hurrying into the library, followed by the greater number of the Hacklewood guests. " What on earth is the meaning of all this electioneering uproar ? Are these good folks canvassing for the office of beadle, or churchwarden, or what ? " — " They are in league, I fancy, to drive me to dis- traction ! " — cried Sir Richard, on perceiving his visitors assembled in presence of his implacable uncle. " The very person in the world I most wished to see again ! " exclaimed Lord Castlehurst, on obtaining a glimpse of the old gentleman, who stood in the centre of the window, contemplating, at first, with exulting glee, but at length with all but tears, the noisy demonstrations of the gathering multitude, over which the winter sun was shining, in all the bright transparency of a frosty sky. " Reveley for ever ! — Long live the last of the Reveleys ! " cried the people, waving their hats, and flourishing their branches of evergreens. " By Jove ! they could scarcely evince more loyalty if the queen herself were amongst us ! " cried Bob 230 THE SNOW STORM. Shoreham, addressing- his friend Charley, who stood perplexed and confused by sympathy in his father's mortification. " But who is the last of the Reveleys ? " — inquired Lady Charles of her hostess, whom she had compelled to follow the rest of the party. " Ay ! — who is the last of the Reveleys, and where is the last of the Reveleys ? " — cried her husband. " Here ! " exclaimed the old gentleman, to whom the eyes of the whole multitude were directed ; — and, as he spoke, he drew forward Charley Ribston from the group, and placed him in full view of both his father's guests and the exulting populace. " Hence- forward, the heir of Hacklewood will assume the name of his grandfather, as representative of one of the most ancient houses in the shire." " His grandfather ?" inarticulately mm'mured Sir Richard. " His great grandfather, since you choose to be precise !" persisted the old gentleman ; — " the name so ill-exchanged at her marriage by my poor sister." Sir Richard was speechless. Between his dread of THE SNOW STORM. 231 unnecessary exposure of his family affairs, and his newly-awakened hopes that the blood of the long- envied Reveleys might really be flowing in his veins, every pulse throbbed within him. " Introduce me to your friend," whispered Lord Castlehurst, unable to forego an Englishman's delight in formal introductions, even at that awkward moment, — so eager was his desire to make acquaintance with the wise man of the East. And the embarrassment with which Sir Richard prepared to accede to his request, was fortunately covered by the renewal of the acclamations of the throng, on learning from the exposition of Master Drew, the genealogist of the Reveley family, that, in the heir of Hacklewood, they beheld the last scion of that time-honoured race. And this time, when the shout raised by old Abel Drew and Jock Wootton, was eagerly echoed by the throng, and "Reveley — Reveley for ever!" burst like thunder over the lawn, " Reveley — Reveley for ever ! " added Lord Charles Mllbanke. " Now we can appreciate the cry, huzza for my friend Charley !" 232 THE SNOW STORM. Ill a moment loud cheers burst from the party iu the Hbrary, as though the enthusiasm were infectious. During tlie continuance of this flattering uproar, the shrewd old gentleman seized the opportunity for a few indispensable words of explanation with his discomfited nephew. *' If you expect the past to be forgotten," said he, in a voice audible only to Sir Richard — " forget, in your turn, that I ever bore another name than the one under which you liave always known me as your uncle, and benefactor. The only Reveley here, is your son." By the time, therefore, the loud liurrahs of the Lords and Commons subsided. Sir Richard suffi- ciently recovered his self-possession to present the old gentleman to his friends, by a name known to all those familiar with the aflPairs of India, as influ- entially connected with its financial and political interests. It might have amused an indifferent spectator to observe that, while this eccentric kinsman sud- denly attained colossal proportions in the eyes of THE SNOW STORM. 233 the vainglorious Sir Richard, as tlie legitimate owner of Hacklewood, the descendant of all the old brasses and alabaster tombs, — he himself added as many cubits to his stature in the estimation of others of the party, as nephew and heir to one who passed for the Rothschild of the East. And now, Lady Ribston and her daughter, to whom all that was passing had been an enigma, could no longer repress their warm greetings to the man in whom they beheld the last surviving relative of Sir Richard, and his friend and patron through life. And though the strangeness of the recent proceedings, and the excitement of the Hacklewood tenantry, seemed to the Gumbledons and one or two of the young men difficult to account for, even by an incident so exciting as the unexpected arrival from India of a near relative who had been all but smothered in a snow-storm on the threshold of the Hall, — the whisper circulated by Bob Shoreham of " the richest commoner in England, — a man to whom the Court of Directors are glad to per- form Ko-too !" — was not without its influence in 234 THE SNOW STORM. smoothing over all that was unpleasant, and explain- ing all that was obscure. " And to think of our having treated him so cavalierly last night !" whispered the dowager apart to her daughters. " But liow could one suppose that a man in the enjoyment of half a dozen millions, would travel in the Wlieatston fly, in a patched green cloak !" — That patched green cloak, however, was one of the objects nearest in the world to the heart of its wealthy owner. It was the identical one in which he had been expulsed from his ruined home, and sheltered by the friendship of Welland ; and notwithstanding the really affectionate manner in which he was welcomed by Charley and his sister and their excel- lent mother, and the deference with which lie was treated not only by his panic -struck nephew, but by the noble guests who, even when unapprised of his social consequence, had fully appreciated the brightness of his intelligence and copiousness of his information, nothing would induce him to pass the remainder of Christmas-day at the Hall. THE SXOW STORM. 235 Arm iu arm with him whom he had designated as his heir, — arm in arm with " tlie last of the Reveleys," — he went forth attired in the memorable old garment ; and, escorted by the shouting multi- tude, and preceded by the happy little clerk who had been chosen as the dispenser of his bounties and executor of his recent arrangements, he repaired to the parish church, to give thanks at evening service for the blessings of his preservation and prosperity. And though, for once, the responses of Master Abel were a little irregular, and the attention of Madam Gurdon and Miss Amelia a little divided between the pulpit and the whiteheaded old man, who, instead of entering the gorgeous chancel- pew, chose to perform his devotions kneeling in humble contrition on the spot pointed out to him as his parents' grave, as Mrs. Timmans observed that night over the colossal bowl of punch with which she recreated the Reveley Arms — " what mortal present could keep their eyes off him, — the dead alive, — :the Master Paul of whom they had heard from their fathers and mothers afore 'em !" — 236 THE SXOW STORM. But furtlier than Hacklewood Churcli, the old gentle- man chose that Charley should not accompany him. " Go back to your fine folks !" said he. — " What- soever else they be, they 're your father's guests, — ha, ha ! — and as such, entitled to your considera- tion. — When they 're gone, maybe I may come and visit him myself. Meantime, you '11 hear of me, and I suspect I shall liear of you, where I'm going to eat my Christmas dinner, — at Nessford Holm." In spite of his grand-nephew's entreaties, he chose to proceed alone, and in the same Immble vehicle that had brought him to the spot, to wait upon his valued friends. " Not a step further !" cried he to the enthusiastic populace, who showed themselves somewhat less sub- missive to his authority on this point than the young man who already regarded him as the guardian of his future happiness — " I want to be quiet, and I want to be alone. — I won't have my old friend Welland frighted out of his wits by your shouting, as the fine ladies were up yonder at the Hall, when they wasted so many wry flices on your ullabaloo!" THE SNOW STORM. 237 But thoug-li Charley Ribston, or let us at once assign him the name which the Heralds' college and the sign-manual were about to make legally his own, — though Charles Reveley was content to return to Hacklewood to satisfy the anxieties of his father and the inquisitiveness of the whole party — nay, thouffh he was content to allow his siuffular kinsman the joyful task of breaking his secret in person to his friend the farmer, he was too eager that Grace should ingratiate herself into the favour of his grand-uncle, not to put her a little upon her guard ! A few hastily-scribbled words, consigned to the care of Jock Wootton, were, he knew, as sure of reaching her as if entrusted to a cabinet courier ; and so earnestly did he impress upon the poor lad the urgency of despatch, that, long before the rattling cart of the Reveley Arms was drawn up once more by Abel Drew before the old porch of the Holm, Grace had contrived that all should be in the neatest order for the reception of a friend, and her grand- father duly prepared for the visit. " But I tell you, cliild, I'm in no mind for more 238 THE SXOW STOIIM. company this evening !" remonstrated old Welland, on seeing her heap up tlie hearth, and set forth his best and briglitest, on the plea that more guests were at hand. — " The fine folks last night, (though God forbid I sh juld deny 'em shelter under my roof in so bitter a snow storm, more especially the lady in the blue velvet bonnet who 's been so kind a friend to poor M'ria,) — the fine folks, I say, were the means of cutting short the crack over old times with Master Drew which I'd promised my- self o' Christmas Eve. For 'tis n't often, now, Grace, he can spare an a'ternoon to me ! It is n't quite so easy to make l)is way to Nessford as it was to drop in at the Bush Farm. — And every year I live seems to make old times dearer and dearer, as they grow dimmer and dimmer I In the whole parish now, there s but two or three as know aught, except by hearsay, of them as the wickedness of attorney Hilliard drove by false dealing and false swearing out of the county. — Another year or two, and 'twill be, maybe, forgot that these Ribstons are not the real right owners of the place ! Ah ! poor THE SNOW STORM. 239 Hacklewood — poor Hacklewood, — and poor me! — I wish they 'd ha' shot me outright, Grace, as they do an old dog there's no further use for, afore they thrust me out from the place where I reckoned to live and die !" But to these desponding sentiments Grace Welland could no longer find it in her conscience to respond. She knew that better days were in store for him ! — She knew that a few minutes would bring her grand- father into the presence of him whose faded effigy had followed their fallen fortunes from the Bush Farm to the Holm ; and which, as it hung right opposite to her, still adorned with Aunt Dinah's faded flowers, which she would have thought it sacri- lege to replace, appeared to her sanguine eyes like a talisman of renovated hope for them all. He who had found his unsightly profile an object of domestic worship at the Holm, though even his express commands had proved insufficient to obtain a harbour at Hacklewood for the noble effigy of his father, would at least prove a friend to the faithful adherent who, as she had heard thousands of times 240 THE SNOW STOllM. from the lips of her father and Aunt Dinah, had perilled his future maintenance and respectability, in order to render a last service to the spendthrift who had wrought his own ruin and that of Hacklewood Hall. Whether she entertained the same sanguine expec- tations that he might be tempted to favour the dis- proportionate attachment of his grand-nephew, it is difficult to say. But certain it is, that, by the time the barking of Jowler announced the arrival of the cart, the cheeks of the conscious Grace, which, a moment before, had almost rivalled the hue of the holly-berries, became white as the delicate tissue of lier own lawn kerchief. Trembling in every limb, she had not courage to be present at the trying moment of explanation between the ruined farmer and the man of miUions, who stood before him, humbled and thankful, as in the presence of a benefactor ! But to whatever emo- tions might ensue. Aunt Dinah, good hearty soul, was at hand to administer. And when Abel Drew, in the officiousness of his zeal, went running to the THE SNOW STORM. 241 well for cold water, and to the hen-roost for feathers to burn, for the behoof of both host and guest — "Let 'em alone — let 'em alone!" cried the good woman — " Let 'em sob their hearts out. — They '11 be none the worse for 't ! — I warrant we shall have a rainbow anon !" ' And a bright rainbow it was ! — Never was there a happier meal than the one which served as dinner to the great man, and supper to the humble friends, who, as his obligers, were at that moment greater than he ! — " I had always hoped this meeting would take place under the roof of Bush Farm !" said he, after toasting a merry Christmas to all, in the renowned old home-brewed ale, — " But my ass of a nephew, whose flourishes about Hacklewood read as plausibly in his letters as his speeches in the newsj^apers, seems to have taken a pleasure in thwarting my plans. Dick Ribston is either the hollowest or the thickest dog that ever encumbered the conclave in Leadenhall Street, — and that 's something to say !" " Fair - spoken enow he was, surely," added old R 2i3 THE SNOW STORM, Welland, " when, six or seven year agone, he first made his appearance with his son, then but a youth, at the Bush Farm." " Ay ! — about the time I first suggested my desire for the purchase of Hacldewood," muttered his former master. " And when he asked my commands for Lon'on, (for all the world, like one a canvassin' to be a parlia- ment man !) I told him as I'd a son a clerk in the city, and where he lived, and that I'd be obligated if he 'd call and let 'em know how matters was a going wi' us in the north " — " And did he execute your commission ?" — cried the old man, his deepset eyes brightening with the hope of discovering some trace of good in his sister's son. — " Not he ! — But the younker wer' warmer- hearted — " " Oh ! — the younker !" — repeated his visitor, glancing askance at Grace, whose varying complexion avouched her interest in this portion of her grand- father's narrative. THE SNOW STORM. 243 " And from the first day lie made acquaintance with my poor Ned and the gurls, never did Mister Charles lose sight on 'em I" added old Welland, with a mournful shake of the head. — " 'Twas no fault o' liis'n, when, — thanks partly to the rogue Hilliard, and partly to his father, — I was jockied out o' the old place. Master Charles was away at college. — And never shall I forget how the tears stood in his eyes, and how he gav' my hand a gripe as a' most brought 'em into mine, when first he found me in this broken-doAvn place, — (which wern't then, God knows, what poor Dinah's help and poor Grace's hardworkin' ha' since made ont) — and heard how all had been turned inside-out at the Bush Farm." " No doubt the young rascal had some bad end in view!" sneered the shrewd old gentleman, still keeping his eyes upon Grace. " Lor' bless you. Mister Paul, — you don't know Master Charles !" — interrupted Aunt Dinah, firing up for her favourite. " There ben't an honester heart nor opener hand in the three Ridings, — and that's saying som'at for him !" k2 24 1 THE SNOW STORM. " The fox's whelp turns out a fox in time !" — per- sisted the old gentleman, who, as Dinah Welland had been but a girl of twelve years old at the period of his banishment from Hacklewood, still regarded her but as " a bit of a lass." " I daresay the lad knew well enough he was paying his court to his father's rich old uncle, by making much of Ned Welland's family." " You wrong him, sir, — you do him the greatest injustice !" said Grace, recovering her powers of speech on hearing poor Charles thus shamefully aspersed. — " He did not so much as know of your existence. I have heard him hundreds of times express his surprise tliat, though his mother was so extensively connected, his father should not possess a single surviving relation." " And how came the young jackanapes, pray, to make ^ou the confidante of his family affairs ? — Ha, ha ! — You have chosen to push your way into the witness-box, young lady, and must stand a little cross- examination !" — " My niece feels thankful to Master Charles, for THE SNOW STORM. 245 having procured a situation for her sister, when their prospects was at the blackest," interposed Aunt Dinah, in compassion to the downcast looks and gathering tears of poor Grace. " Let the wench speak for herself — let her speak for herself !" cried the provoking old gentleman. " I was just thanking my stars for the discovery that she'd got a tongue in her head. — I'm not fond of dumb women ! — 'Tisn't natural ! — Ha, ha ! My mind mis- gives me against those who have not wherewithal to say their souls are their own. — More particularly in this case!" continued he, on perceiving that Grace's self-possession was in some degree restored. " For I've made my mind up, — Jack Welland, my boy, — that before you and I lay our bones in the parish church, we will see a fourth generation of Reveleys under the old roof of Hacklewood ; and that this saucy champion of my grand-nephew's shall be the mother of them all ! — " " Grace ? " — said the farmer, not exactly compre- hending his drift. 246 THE SNOW STORM. " Grace Welland, Mister Charles's wedded wife ? " — cried Aunt Dinah, half starting from her chair. " And why not, pray ? — Isn't she a lady of nature's making? — Isn't she one of the best of girls? — Is'nt she the grandchild of the man, but for whom I might have died in a ditch ? — Who 's got anything to say against tlie match ? " — The eyes of the old folks turned instinctively and affectionately towards poor Grace, who made a vain attempt to seize the bony hands of this kind though terrible friend, and press them to her lips. " Let Dick Rlbston but so much as pretend to raise liis voice against my plans," resumed he, " and he may look elsewhere for the means of providing rack and manger for the dukes and lords he 's so fond of herding under his roof; ay, and for a portion for IMiss Bessy, too, — though a pleasant hearty-spoken girl she is, — to enable her to marry one of the fine gentlemen whom her foolish father 's so proud to see dangling after her.' It was but an act of justice on the part of Grac 't>^ ^Kffyi^'- 'I "niu^r J W>uCe_ '/^ ^''/•■'■i 'f^//^^ /^m£/- &M^'-y'ii^J ^ -» // ,'/ /m /Zff^-imacA^ ■'T.^24f THE SNOW STORM. 2-47 to take up the defence of Charley's sister, and set forth the number of kind and charitable actions for which Hacklewood was indebted to Lady Ribston and her daughter. But it was also an act of self- denial.— For she was eager to escape from the room, and ascertain whether Jock Wootton had taken his departure with Master Abel, (whose annual Christmas Carol was pledged to the punchbowl of the Reveley Arms!) or was still loitering about the premises; that she might charge him with the couple of lines that were to convert " the last of the Reveleys" into " the happiest of men." But in this project, she was frustrated.—" I have but one condition to make with Charley's advocate !" — said the quaint old gentleman, after a hearty squeeze of her trembling hand,—" / must be the first to communicate the good news to the young fellow !— I've taken a fancy to the cut of his face.— To my mind, there's the old name of Reveley writ in every line on 't!— And besides, I've discovered, of late, that the true Paradise water for making old folks young, arises out of the tears of joy we find 24^8 THE SNOW STORM. upon happy faces. — Ha, ha ! I feel hke a boy to- niglit, only from knowing that I've lightened more than one heavy heart since morning." — " Ay, ay ! — you 've given most on us a merry Christmas indeed !" — cried Aunt Diuali — wiping her eyes, — though there was a grin on her comely face. " And above all," resumed the happy old gentle- man, — " when I put the poor fellow to sleep last night, like an old wife rocking a cradle, only by talking to him of his father's history and my own, I promised him the end on't on the morrow; — and I'm too steady a man o' business to break my word. — No laughing, Jack Welland, man, at the notion of Master Paul's becoming a steady man of business!" — cried he, — on perceiving a gentle shake of poor Welland's frosty poll. — " Necessity's the best of schoolmasters." " And whenever a man sets his shoulder to the wheel, he gets help from a stronger hand than his own ! " — added Aunt Dinah, — more gravely than was her wont. THE SNOW STORM 249 But it was not gravely that either she or any other of the party was able to contemplate tlie explanation between the uncle and nephew, and still more between the uncle and his future heir. — It was a rash act on the part of Sir Richard to leave his fine house and fine company on the morrow's morn ; and endeavour to conciliate by fine speeches a man whose ear was as that of the mole, and whose eye as that of the lynx towards the measures and motives of mankind; — and who already thoroughly despised the Dick Ribston who had chosen to be knighted, and was heartsick with envy and jealousy of a name which had struck deeper root in the land than his own obscure patronymic. But he despised him still more, when he saw him submit with forced smiles to an alliance that was hateful to him ; not because the venerable farmer was now placed before him as the benefactor of his sole benefactor ; but as the only means of secur- ing a portion of the inheritance he had so long regarded as his own. On finding his eccentric kinsman obstinately adhere 250 THE SNOW STORM. to his determination of remaining the inmate of the Wellands so long as his own house was full of fashion- able guests, right thankful was he to the impropitious state of the weather, which, by depriving Ilacklewood of half its attractions, disposed his visitors to decline his hollow invitation to them to prolong their stay ; and he scarcely knew whether to be glad or sorry, when the united entreaties of Lady Ribston, her children, and the Wellands, obtained from Lord and Lady Charles Milbanke a promise that they would accompany Maria, (whose services they grieved to find henceforward lost to their children,) to officiate at the happy wedding which was to inaugurate their friend Charley into the neighbourhood, as tlie last of the Reveleys, and the owner of Hacklewood Hall. After the vexations Sir Richard had undergone, indeed, he was content to enjoy the continued bounties of his severe uncle on condition of ad- liering exclusively to his mercantile and official duties, and his residence in London. More espe- cially as, the moment a change of weather, and the dispersion of the Hacklewood party, favoured the THE SNOW STORM. 251 translation, John Welland was restored In triumph to the enjoyment of all his former rights, privileges, and properties at the Bush Farm. It was from thence the wedding took place. — It was thither the population of Hacklewood repaired to fetch the gentle bride of their beloved young squire. Needless to enlarge upon the joy of the whole district ! — the zeal with which the service was mumbled by Doctor Gurdon, and the responses shouted by Abel Drew ; who, in the triumph of the event, listened without so much as the utterance of a groan, to the anthem contributed by the self-playing organ. Since then, twelvemonths have elapsed ; and already the aid of the little clerk has been required to announce to the parish by a merry peal, the birth of a little Reveley, to whom is about to be assigned the name of Paul. His triumphant godfather, the singular being who, by a life of industry and old age of benevolence, has effected the expiation of the errors of a dissolute youth, is at present occupied with the construction of 252 THE SNOW STORM. a bungalow, at the extremity of the Hacklewood estate ; within equal distance of the Bush Farm and the Hall. — But Aunt Dinah and her friend the hostess of the Reveley Arms are of opinion that, when com- plete, he will never have the courage to tear himself from the hourly spectacle of the domestic happiness his bounties have created. On one point, however, his prejudices have been forced to give way. Though he expressed a hope last Christmas, that neither lords nor dukes would thenceforward be heard of as guests at the Hall, on penalty of another snow storm and being benighted at the now deserted and dismantled Holm, yet when Lord and Lady Cossington spent a portion of their honeymoon with the friend and brother who had been the original promoter of their attachment, he not only played the generous kinsman but the courteous host, to two young people thoroughly deserving the fraternal affection with which they are regarded by the last of the Reveleys. Already, the Wheatston road has been placed in perfect repair ; and the neighbourhood is beginning THE SNOW STORM. 253 to afford evidence of the influence of an enterprising spirit, combined with a colossal fortune and par- tiality to the spot. — There are none of the cottages of gentility, indeed, foreshown by the sarcasms of young Howard. 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