arundel dacre was the only child of mr. dacre’s only and deceased brother, and the heir to the whole of the dacre property. his father, a man of violent passions, had married early in life, against the approbation of his family, and had revolted from the catholic communion. the elder brother, however mortified by this great deed, which passion had prompted, and not conscience, had exerted his best offices to mollify their exasperated father, and to reconcile the sire to the son. but he had exerted them ineffectually; and, as is not unusual, found, after much harrowing anxiety and deep suffering, that he was not even recompensed for his exertions and his sympathy by the gratitude of his brother. the younger dacre was not one of those minds whose rashness and impetuosity are counterbalanced, or rather compensated, by a generous candour and an amiable remorse. he was headstrong, but he was obstinate: he was ardent, but he was sullen: he was unwary, but he was suspicious. everyone who opposed him was his enemy: all who combined for his preservation were conspirators. his father, whose feelings he had outraged and never attempted to soothe, was a tyrant; his brother, who was devoted to his interests, was a traitor.
these were his living and his dying thoughts. while he existed, he was one of those men who, because they have been imprudent, think themselves unfortunate, and mistake their diseased mind for an implacable destiny. when he died, his deathbed was consoled by the reflection that his persecutors might at last feel some compunction; and he quitted the world without a pang, because he flattered himself that his departure would cost them one.
his father, who died before him, had left him no fortune, and even had not provided for his wife or child. his brother made another ineffectual attempt to accomplish a reconciliation; but his proffers of love and fortune were alike scorned and himself insulted, and arundel dacre seemed to gloat on the idea that he was an outcast and a beggar.
yet even this strange being had his warm feelings. he adored his wife, particularly because his father had disowned her. he had a friend whom he idolised, and who, treating his occasional conduct as a species of insanity, had never deserted him. this friend had been his college companion, and, in the odd chapter of circumstances, had become a powerful political character. dacre was a man of talent, and his friend took care that he should have an opportunity of displaying it. he was brought into parliament, and animated by the desire, as he thought, of triumphing over his family, he exerted himself with success. but his infernal temper spoiled all. his active quarrels and his noisy brawls were even more endurable than his sullen suspicions, his dark hints, and his silent hate. he was always offended and always offending. such a man could never succeed as a politician, a character who, of all others, must learn to endure, to forget, and to forgive. he was soon universally shunned; but his first friend was faithful, though bitterly tried, and dacre retired from public life on a pension.
his wife had died, and during the latter years of his life almost his only companion was his son. he concentrated on this being all that ardent affection which, had he diffused among his fellow-creatures, might have ensured his happiness and his prosperity. yet even sometimes he would look in his child’s face with an anxious air, as if he read incubating treason, and then press him to his bosom with unusual fervour, as if he would stifle the idea, which alone was madness.
this child was educated in an hereditary hate of the dacre family. his uncle was daily painted as a tyrant, whom he classed in his young mind with phalaris or dionysius. there was nothing that he felt keener than his father’s wrongs, and nothing which he believed more certain than his uncle’s wickedness. he arrived at his thirteenth year when his father died, and he was to be consigned to the care of that uncle.
arundel dacre had left his son as a legacy to his friend; but that friend was a man of the world; and when the elder brother not only expressed his willingness to maintain the orphan, but even his desire to educate and adopt him as his son, he cheerfully resigned all his claims to the forlorn boy, and felt that, by consigning him to his uncle, he had most religiously discharged the trust of his confiding friend.
the nephew arrived at castle dacre with a heart equally divided between misery and hatred. it seemed to him that a fate more forlorn than his had seldom been awarded to mortal. although he found his uncle diametrically opposite to all that his misled imagination had painted him, although he was treated with a kindness and indulgence which tried to compensate for their too long estranged affections, arundel dacre could never conquer the impressions of his boyhood; and had it not been for his cousin, may, a creature of whom he had not heard, and of whom no distorted image had therefore haunted his disturbed imagination; had it not been for this beautiful girl, who greeted him with affection which warmed and won his heart, so morbid were his feelings, that he would in all probability have pined away under the roof which he should have looked upon as his own.
his departure for eton was a relief. as he grew up, although his knowledge of life and man had long taught him the fallacy of his early feelings, and although he now yielded a tear of pity, rather than of indignation, to the adored manes of his father, his peculiar temper and his first education never allowed him entirely to emancipate himself from his hereditary feelings. his character was combined of many and even of contrary qualities.
his talents were great, but his want of confidence made them more doubtful to himself than to the world; yet, at times, in his solitary musings, he perhaps even exaggerated his powers. he was proud, and yet worldly. he never forgot that he was a dacre; but he desired to be the architect of his own fortune; and his very love of independence made him, at an early period, meditate on the means of managing mankind. he was reserved and cold, for his imagination required much; yet he panted for a confidant and was one of those youths with whom friendship is a passion. to conclude, he was a protestant among catholics; and although this circumstance, inasmuch as it assisted him in the views which he had early indulged, was not an ungracious one, he felt that, till he was distinguished, it had lessened his consideration, since he could not count upon the sympathy of hereditary connections and ancient party. altogether, he was one who, with the consciousness of ancient blood, the certainty of future fortune, fine talents, great accomplishments, and not slight personal advantages, was unhappy. yet, although not of a sanguine temper, and occasionally delivered to the darkest spleen, his intense ambition sustained him, and he lived on the hope, and sometimes on the conviction, that a bright era would, some day, console him for the bitterness of his past and present life.
at school and at college he equally distinguished himself, and was everywhere respected and often regarded; yet he had never found that friend on whom his fancy had often busied itself, and which one whose alternations of feeling were so violent peremptorily required. his uncle and himself viewed each other with mutual respect and regard, but confidence did not exist between them. mr. dacre, in spite of his long and constant efforts, despaired of raising in the breast of his nephew the flame of filial love; and had it not been for his daughter, who was the only person in the world to whom arundel ever opened his mind, and who could, consequently, throw some light upon his wants and wishes, it would not have been in his power to evince to his nephew that this disappointment had not affected his uncle’s feelings in his favour.
when his education was completed, mr. dacre had wished him to take up his residence in yorkshire, and, in every sense, to act as his son, as he was his successor. but arundel declined this proposition. he obtained from his father’s old political connection the appointment of attaché to a foreign embassy, and he remained on the continent, with the exception of a yearly visit to yorkshire, three or four years. but his views were not in the diplomatic line, and this appointment only served as a political school until he could enter parliament. may dacre had wormed from him his secret, and worked with energy in his cause. an opportunity appeared to offer itself, and, under the patronage of a catholic nobleman, he was to appear as a candidate for an open borough. it was on this business that he had returned to england.
