chapter 10.
his grace entertains.
mr. dacre again wrote to the duke of st. james. he regretted that he had been absent from home when his grace had done him the honour of calling at castle dacre. had he been aware of that intended gratification, he could with ease, and would with pleasure, have postponed his visit to norfolk. he also regretted that it would not be in his power to visit london this season; and as he thought that no further time should be lost in resigning the trust with which he had been so honoured, he begged leave to forward his accounts to the duke, and with them some notes which he believed would convey some not unimportant information to his grace for the future management of his property. the young duke took a rapid glance at the sum total of his rental, crammed all the papers into a cabinet with a determination to examine them the first opportunity, and then rolled off to a morning concert of which he was the patron.
the intended opportunity for the examination of the important papers was never caught, nor was it surprising that it escaped capture. it is difficult to conceive a career of more various, more constant, or more distracting excitement than that in which the duke of st. james was now engaged. his life was an ocean of enjoyment, and each hour, like each wave, threw up its pearl. how dull was the ball in which he did not bound! how dim the banquet in which he did not glitter! his presence in the gardens compensated for the want of flowers; his vision in the park for the want of sun. in public breakfasts he was more indispensable than pine-apples; in private concerts more noticed than an absent prima donna. how fair was the dame on whom he smiled! how dark was the tradesman on whom he frowned! think only of prime ministers and princes, to say nothing of princesses; nay! think only of managers of operas and french actors, to say nothing of french actresses; think only of jewellers, milliners, artists, horse-dealers, all the shoals who hurried for his sanction; think only of the two or three thousand civilised beings for whom all this population breathed, and who each of them had claims upon our hero’s notice! think of the statesmen, who had so much to ask and so much to give; the dandies to feed with and to be fed; the dangerous dowagers and the desperate mothers; the widows, wild as early partridges; the budding virgins, mild as a summer cloud and soft as an opera hat! think of the drony bores, with their dull hum; think of the chivalric guardsmen, with their horses to sell and their bills to discount; think of willis, think of crockford, think of white’s, think of brooks’, and you may form a faint idea how the young duke had to talk, and eat, and flirt, and cut, and pet, and patronise!
you think it impossible for one man to do all this. there is yet much behind. you may add to the catalogue melton and newmarket; and if to hunt without an appetite and to bet without an object will not sicken you, why, build a yacht!
the duke of st. james gave his first grand entertainment for the season. it was like the assembly of the immortals at the first levee of jove. all hurried to pay their devoirs to the young king of fashion; and each who succeeded in becoming a member of the court felt as proud as a peer with a new title, or a baronet with an old one. an air of regal splendour, an almost imperial assumption, was observed in the arrangements of the fête. a troop of servants in rich liveries filled the hall; grooms lined the staircase; spiridion, the greek page, lounged on an ottoman in an ante-chamber, and, with the assistance of six young gentlemen in crimson-and-silver uniforms, announced the coming of the cherished guests. cartloads of pine-apples were sent up from the yorkshire castle, and waggons of orange-trees from the twickenham villa.
a brilliant coterie, of which his grace was a member, had amused themselves a few nights before by representing in costume the court of charles the first. they agreed this night to reappear in their splendid dresses; and the duke, who was villiers, supported his character, even to the gay shedding of a shower of diamonds. in his cap was observed an hereditary sapphire, which blazed like a volcano, and which was rumoured to be worth his rent-roll.
there was a short concert, at which the most celebrated signora made her début; there was a single vaudeville, which a white satin play-bill, presented to each guest as they entered the temporary theatre, indicated to have been written for the occasion; there was a ball, in which was introduced a new dance. nothing for a moment was allowed to lag. longueurs were skilfully avoided, and the excitement was so rapid that every one had an appetite for supper.
a long gallery lined with bronzes and bijouterie, with cabinets and sculpture, with china and with paintings, all purchased for the future ornament of hauteville house, and here stowed away in unpretending, but most artificial, confusion, offered accommodation to all the guests. to a table covered with gold, and placed in a magnificent tent upon the stage, his grace loyally led two princes of the blood and a child of france. madame de protocoli, lady aphrodite grafton, the duchess of shropshire, and lady fitz-pompey, shared the honours of the pavilion, and some might be excused for envying a party so brilliant and a situation so distinguished. yet lady aphrodite was an unwilling member of it; and nothing but the personal solicitation of sir lucius would have induced her to consent to the wish of their host.
a pink carte succeeded to the satin play-bill. vi-tellius might have been pleased with the banquet. ah, how shall we describe those soups, which surely must have been the magical elixir! how paint those ortolans dressed by the inimitable artist, à la st. james, for the occasion, and which look so beautiful in death that they must surely have preferred such an euthanasia even to flying in the perfumed air of an auso-nian heaven!
sweet bird! though thou hast lost thy plumage, thou shalt fly to my mistress! is it not better to be nibbled by her than mumbled by a cardinal? i, too, will feed on thy delicate beauty. sweet bird! thy companion has fled to my mistress; and now thou shalt thrill the nerves of her master! oh! doff, then, thy waistcoat of wine-leaves, pretty rover! and show me that bosom more delicious even than woman’s. what gushes of rapture! what a flavour! how peculiar! even how sacred i heaven at once sends both manna and quails. another little wanderer! pray follow my example! allow me. all paradise opens! let me die eating ortolans to the sound of soft music!
even the supper was brief, though brilliant; and again the cotillon and the quadrille, the waltz and the galoppe! at no moment of his life had the young duke felt existence so intense. wherever he turned his eye he found a responding glance of beauty and admiration; wherever he turned his ear the whispered tones were soft and sweet as summer winds. each look was an offering, each word adoration! his soul dilated; the glory of the scene touched all his passions. he almost determined not again to mingle in society; but, like a monarch, merely to receive the world which worshipped him. the idea was sublime: was it even to him impracticable? in the midst of his splendour he fell into a reverie, and mused on his magnificence. he could no longer resist the conviction that he was a superior essence, even to all around him. the world seemed created solely for his enjoyment. nor man nor woman could withstand him. from this hour he delivered himself up to a sublime selfishness. with all his passions and all his profusion, a callousness crept over his heart. his sympathy for those he believed his inferiors and his vassals was slight. where we do not respect we soon cease to love; when we cease to love, virtue weeps and flies. his soul wandered in dreams of omnipotence.
this picture perhaps excites your dislike; perchance your contempt. pause! pity him! pity his fatal youth!
