第5章

Dareville had, in her mimickry, perhaps a little exaggerated as to the TEEBLES and CHEERS, but still the general likeness of the representation of Lady Clonbrony was strong enough to strike and vex her son.He had now, for the first time, an opportunity of judging of the estimation in which his mother and his family were held by certain leaders of the ton, of whom, in her letters, she had spoken so much, and into whose society, or rather into whose parties, she had been admitted.He saw that the renegade cowardice, with which she denied, abjured, and reviled her own country, gained nothing but ridicule and contempt.He loved his mother; and, whilst he endeavoured to conceal her faults and foibles as much as possible from his own heart, he could not endure those who dragged them to light and ridicule.The next morning the first thing that occurred to Lord Colambre's remembrance when he awoke was the sound of the contemptuous emphasis which had been laid on the words IRISH ABSENTEES! This led to recollections of his native country, to comparisons of past and present scenes, to future plans of life.Young and careless as he seemed, Lord Colambre was capable of serious reflection.Of naturally quick and strong capacity, ardent affections, impetuous temper, the early years of his childhood passed at his father's castle in Ireland, where, from the lowest servant to the well-dressed dependant of the family, everybody had conspired to wait upon, to fondle, to flatter, to worship, this darling of their lord.Yet he was not spoiled--not rendered selfish.For, in the midst of this flattery and servility, some strokes of genuine generous affection had gone home to his little heart; and, though unqualified submission had increased the natural impetuosity of his temper, and though visions of his future grandeur had touched his infant thought, yet, fortunately, before he acquired any fixed habits of insolence or tyranny, he was carried far away from all that were bound or willing to submit to his commands, far away from all signs of hereditary grandeur--plunged into one of our great public schools--into a new world.Forced to struggle, mind and body, with his equals, his rivals, the little lord became a spirited schoolboy, and, in time, a man.Fortunately for him, science and literature happened to be the fashion among a set of clever young men with whom he was at Cambridge.His ambition for intellectual superiority was raised, his views were enlarged, his tastes and his manners formed.The sobriety of English good sense mixed most advantageously with Irish vivacity; English prudence governed, but did not extinguish his Irish enthusiasm.But, in fact, English and Irish had not been invidiously contrasted in his mind: he had been so long resident in England, and so intimately connected with Englishmen, that he was not obvious to any of the commonplace ridicule thrown upon Hibernians; and he had lived with men who were too well informed and liberal to misjudge or depreciate a sister country.He had found, from experience, that, however reserved the English may be in manner, they are warm at heart; that, however averse they may be from forming new acquaintance, their esteem and confidence once gained, they make the most solid friends.He had formed friendships in England; he was fully sensible of the superior comforts, refinement, and information, of English society; but his own country was endeared to him by early association, and a sense of duty and patriotism attached him to Ireland.And shall I too be an absentee? was a question which resulted from these reflections--a question which he was not yet prepared to answer decidedly.In the meantime, the first business of the morning was to execute a commission for a Cambridge friend.Mr.Berryl had bought from Mr.Mordicai, a famous London coachmaker, a curricle, WARRANTED SOUND, for which he had paid a sound price, upon express condition that Mr.Mordicai, BARRING ACCIDENTS, should be answerable for all repairs of the curricle for six months.In three, both the carriage and body were found to be good for nothing--the curricle had been returned to Mr.Mordicai --nothing had since been heard of it, or from him--and Lord Colambre had undertaken to pay him and it a visit, and to make all proper inquiries.Accordingly, he went to the coachmaker's, and, obtaining no satisfaction from the underlings, desired to see the head of the house.He was answered, that Mr.Mordicai was not at home.His lordship had never seen Mr.Mordicai; but, just then, he saw, walking across the yard, a man, who looked something like a Bond Street coxcomb, but not the least like a gentleman, who called, in the tone of a master, for 'Mr.

Mordicai's barouche!' It appeared; and he was stepping into it when Lord Colambre took the liberty of stopping him; and, pointing to the wreck of Mr.Berryl's curricle, now standing in the yard, began a statement of his friend's grievances, and an appeal to common justice and conscience, which he, unknowing the nature of the man with whom he had to deal, imagined must be irresistible.Mr.Mordicai stood without moving a muscle of his dark wooden face.Indeed, in his face there appeared to be no muscles, or none which could move; so that, though he had what are generally called handsome features, there was, all together, something unnatural and shocking in his countenance.When, at last, his eyes turned, and his lips opened, this seemed to be done by machinery, and not by the will of a living creature, or from the impulse of a rational soul.Lord Colambre was so much struck with this strange physiognomy, that he actually forgot much he had to say of springs and wheels.But it was no matter.

Whatever he had said, it would have come to the same thing; and Mordicai would have answered as he now did--'Sir, it was my partner made that bargain, not myself; and Idon't hold myself bound by it, for he is the sleeping-partner only, and not empowered to act in the way of business.Had Mr.