"MY DEAR SIR,

"I write to you with my left hand, the gout having, within these few hours, incapacitated my right. Since this gout keeps me a prisoner, and I cannot, as I had intended, go to you, may I beg that you will do me the favour to come to me, if it could suit your convenience, to-morrow morning, when I shall be alone from twelve till four.

"With true esteem,

"Yours,

"OLDBOROUGH."

In the course of the day the commissioner found out, by something Lord Oldborough _let fall_, what his lordship had no intention to conceal, that he had requested Mr. Percy to come to Clermont-park the next morning; and the commissioner promised himself that he would be in the way to see his good cousin Percy, and to satisfy his curiosity. But his manoeuvres and windings were, whenever it was necessary, counteracted and cut short by the unexpected directness and peremptory plain dealing of his patron. In the morning, towards the hour of twelve, the commissioner thought he had well begun a conversation that would draw out into length upon a topic which he knew must be interesting to his lordship, and he held in his hand private letters of great consequence from his son Cunningham; but Lord Oldborough, taking the letters, locked them up in his desk, saying, "To-night I will read them--this morning I have set apart for a conversation with Mr. Percy, whom I wish to see alone. In the mean time, my interest in the borough has been left too much to the care of that attorney Sharpe, of whom I have no great opinion. Will you be so good to ride over, as you promised me that you would, to the borough, and see what is doing there?"

The commissioner endeavoured not to look disconcerted or discomfited, rang the bell for his horses, and took his leave, as Lord Oldborough had determined that he should, before the arrival of Mr. Percy, who came exactly at twelve.

"I thank you for this punctuality, Mr. Percy," said Lord Oldborough, advancing in his most gracious manner; and no two things could be more strikingly different than his gracious and ungracious manner. "I thank you for this kind punctuality. No one knows better than I do the difference between the visit of a friend and all other visits."

Without preface, Lord Oldborough always went directly to the point. "I have requested you to come to me, Mr. Percy, because I want from you two things, which I cannot have so much to my satisfaction from any other person as from you--a.s.sistance and sympathy. But, before I go to my own affairs, let me--and not by way of compliment, but plainly and truly--let me congratulate you, my dear sir, on the success of your sons, on the distinction and independence they have already acquired in their professions. I know the value of independence--of that which I shall never have," added his lordship, with a forced smile and a deep sigh. "But let that be. It was not of that I meant to speak. You pursue your course; I, mine. Firmness of purpose I take to be the great difference between man and man. I am not one of those who habitually covet sympathy. It is a sign of a mind insufficient to its own support, to look for sympathy on every trivial occurrence; and on great occasions it has not been my good fortune to meet many persons who could sympathize with me."

"True," said Mr. Percy, "people must think with you, before they can feel with you."

"It is extraordinary, Mr. Percy," continued Lord Oldborough, "that, knowing how widely you differ from me in political principles, I should choose, of all men living, to open my mind to you. But the fact is, that I am convinced, however we may differ about the means, the end we both have in view is one and the same--the good and glory of the British empire."

"My lord, I believe it," cried Mr. Percy--with energy and warmth he repeated, "My lord, I believe it."

"I thank you, sir," said Lord Oldborough; "you do me justice. I have reason to be satisfied when such men as you do me justice; I have reason also to be satisfied that I have not to make the common complaint of those who serve princes. From him whom I have served I have not met with any ingrat.i.tude, with any neglect: on the contrary, I am well a.s.sured, that so firm is his conviction of my intending the good of his throne and of his people, that to preserve me his minister is the first wish of his heart. I am confident that without hesitation he would dismiss from his councils any who should obstruct my views, or be inimical to my interests."

"Then, my lord, you are happy; if man can be happy at the summit of ambition."

"Pardon me. It is a dizzy height at best; but, were it attained, I trust my head would be strong enough to bear it."

"Lord Verulam, you know, my lord," said Mr. Percy, smiling, "tells us, that people, by looking down precipices, do put their spirits in the act of falling."

"True, true," said Lord Oldborough, rather impatient at Mr. Percy's going to Lord Verulam and philosophy. "But you have not yet heard the facts. I am encompa.s.sed with enemies, open and secret. Open enemies I meet and defy--their strength I can calculate and oppose; but the strength of my secret enemies I cannot calculate, for that strength depends on their combination, and that combination I cannot break till I know of what it consists. I have the power and the will to strike, but know not where to aim. In the dark I will not strike, lest I injure the innocent or destroy a friend. Light I cannot obtain, though I have been in search of it for a considerable time. Perhaps by your a.s.sistance it may be obtained."

"By my a.s.sistance!" exclaimed Mr. Percy: "ignorant, as I am, of all parties, and of all their secret transactions, how, my dear lord, can I possibly afford you any a.s.sistance?"

"Precisely by your being unconnected with all parties--a cool stander-by, you can judge of the play--you can a.s.sist me with your general knowledge of human nature, and with a particular species of knowledge, of which I should never have guessed that you were possessed, but for an accidental discovery of it made to me the other day by your son Alfred--your knowledge of the art of deciphering."

Lord Oldborough then produced the Tourville papers, related how they had been put into his hands by Commissioner Falconer, showed him what the commissioner and his son had deciphered, pointed out where the remaining difficulty occurred, and explained how they were completely at a stand from their inability to decipher the word Ga.s.soc, or to decide who or what it could mean. All the conjectures of the commissioner, the ca.s.sock, and the bishop, and the _gosshawk_, and the heraldic researches, and the French misnomers, and the puns upon the coats of arms, and the notes from Wilkins on universal language, and an old book on deciphering, which had been lent to the commissioner, and the private and public letters which Cunningham had written since he went abroad, were all laid before Mr. Percy.

"As to my envoy, Mr. Cunningham Falconer," said Lord Oldborough, as he took up the bundle of Cunningham's letters, "I do not choose to interrupt the main business before us, by adverting to him or to his character, farther than to point out to you this mark," showing a peculiar pencil mark, made on certain papers. "This is my note of distrust, observe, and this my note for mere circ.u.mlocution, or nonsense. And here," continued his lordship, "is a list of all those in, or connected with the ministry, whom it is possible may be my enemies."

The list was the same as that on which the commissioner formerly went to work, except that the name of the Duke of Greenwich had been struck out, and two others added in his place, so that it stood thus: "Dukes of Doncaster and Stratford; Lords Coleman, Naresby, Skreene, Twisselton, Waltham, Wrexfield, Chelsea, and Lancaster; Sir Thomas Cope, Sir James Skipworth; Secretaries Arnold and Oldfield." This list was marked with figures, in different coloured inks, prefixed to each name, denoting the degrees of their supposed enmity to Lord Oldborough, and these had been calculated from a paper, containing notes of the probable causes and motives of their disaffection, drawn up by Commissioner Falconer, but corrected, and in many places contradicted, by notes in Lord Oldborough's hand-writing. His lordship marked which was _his_ calculation of probabilities, and made some observations on the character of each, as he read over the list of names rapidly.

Doncaster, a dunce--Stratford, a miser--Coleman, a knave--Naresby, non compos--Skreene, the most corrupt of the corrupt--Twisselton, puzzle headed--Waltham, a mere theorist--Wrexfield, a speechifier--Chelsea, a trimmer--Lancaster, deep and dark--Sir Thomas Cope, a wit, a poet, and a fool--Sir James Skipworth, finance and finesse--Arnold, able and active--and Oldfield, a diplomatist in grain.

"And is this the summary of the history of the men with whom your lordship is obliged to act and live?" said Mr. Percy.

"It is--I am: but, my dear sir, do not let us fly off at a tangent to morality or philosophy; these have nothing to do with the present purpose. You have before you all the papers relative to this transaction. Now, will you do me the favour, the service, to look them over, and try whether you can make out _le mot d'enigme_? I shall not disturb you."

Lord Oldborough sat down at a small table by the fire, with a packet of letters and memorials beside him, and in a few minutes was completely absorbed in these, for he had acquired the power of turning his attention suddenly and entirely from one subject to another.

Without reading the ma.s.s of Commissioner Falconer's explanations and conjectures, or enc.u.mbering his understanding with all that Cunningham had collected, as if purposely to puzzle the cause, Mr. Percy examined first very carefully the original doc.u.ments--then Lord Oldborough's notes on the views and characters of the suspected persons, and the reasons of their several enmities or dissatisfaction. From the scale of probabilities, which he found had been with great skill calculated on these notes, he selected the princ.i.p.al names, and then tried with these, whether he could make out an idea that had struck him the moment he had heard of the Ga.s.soc. He recollected the famous word Cabal, in the reign of Charles the Second, and he thought it possible that the cabalistical word Ga.s.soc might be formed by a similar combination. But _Ga.s.soc_ was no English word, was no word of any language. Upon close examination of the Tourville papers, he perceived that the commissioner had been right in one of his suggestions, that the _G_ had been written instead of a _C_: in some places it had been a _c_ turned into a _g_, and the writer seemed to be in doubt whether the word should be Ga.s.soc or Ca.s.soc.

a.s.suming, therefore, that it was _Ca.s.sock_, Mr. Percy found the initials of six persons, who stood high in Lord Oldborough's scale of probabilities: Chelsea--Arnold--Skreene--Skipworth--Oldfield--Coleman; and the last k, for which he hunted in vain a considerable time, was supplied by Kensington (one of the Duke of Greenwich's t.i.tles), whose name had been scratched out of the list, since his reconciliation and connexion by marriage with Lord Oldborough, but who had certainly at one time been of the league of his lordship's enemies. Every circ.u.mstance and date in the Tourville papers exactly agree with this explanation: the Ca.s.sock thus composed cleared up all difficulties; and pa.s.sages, that were before dark and mysterious, were rendered by this reading perfectly intelligible. The interpretation, when once given, appeared so simple, that Lord Oldborough wondered how it was possible that it had not before occurred to his mind. His satisfaction was great--he was at this moment relieved from all danger of mistaking friend for foe; he felt that his enemies were in his power, and his triumph secure.

"My dear sir," cried he, "you do not know, you cannot estimate, the extent of the service you have done me: far from wishing to lessen it in your eyes, I wish you to know at this moment its full importance.

By Lady Oldborough's death, and by circ.u.mstances with which I need not trouble you, I lost the support of her connexions. The Duke of Greenwich, though my relation, is a weak man, and a weak man can never be a good friend. I was encompa.s.sed, undermined, the ground hollow under me--I knew it, but I could not put my finger upon one of the traitors.

Now I have them all at one blow, and I thank you for it. I have the character, I believe, of being what is called proud, but you see that I am not too proud to be a.s.sisted and obliged by one who will never allow me to oblige or a.s.sist him or any of his family. But why should this be?

Look over the list of these men. In some one of these places of trust, give me a person in whom I can confide, a friend to me, and to your country. Look over that list, now in your hand, and put your finger upon any thing that will suit you."

"I thank you, my lord," said Mr. Percy; "I feel the full value of your good opinion, and true grat.i.tude for the warmth of your friendship, but I cannot accept of any office under your administration. Our political principles differ as much as our private sentiments of honour agree; and these sentiments will, I trust, make you approve of what I now say--and do."

"But there are places, there are situations which you might accept, where your political opinions and mine could never clash. It is an extraordinary thing for a minister to press a gentleman to accept of a place, unless he expects more in return than what he gives. But come--I must have Mr. Percy one of us. You have never tried ambition yet," added Lord Oldborough, with a smile: "trust me, you will find ambition has its pleasures, its proud moments, when a man feels that he has his foot on the neck of his enemies."

Lord Oldborough stood, as if he felt this pride at the instant. "You do not know the charms of ambition, Mr. Percy."

"It may be delightful to feel one's foot on the neck of one's enemies, but, for my part, I rather prefer having no enemies."

"No enemies!" said Lord Oldborough: "every man that has character enough to make friends has character enough to make enemies--and must have enemies, if not of his power or place, of his talents and property--the sphere lower, the pa.s.sion's the same. No enemies!--What is he, who has been at law with you, and has robbed you of your estate?"

"I forgot him--upon my word, I forgot him," said Mr. Percy. "You see, my lord, if he robbed me of my estate, he did not rob me of my peace of mind. Does your lordship think," said Mr. Percy, smiling, "that any ambitious man, deprived of his place, could say as much?"

"When I can tell you that from my own experience, you shall know,"

said Lord Oldborough, replying in the same tone; "but, thanks to your discovery, there seems to be little chance, at present, of my being competent to answer that question. But to business--we are wasting life."

Every word or action that did not tend to a political purpose appeared to Lord Oldborough to be a waste of life.

"Your ultimatum? Can you be one of us?"

"Impossible, my lord. Pardon me if I say, that the nearer the view your confidence permits me to take of the workings of your powerful mind, and of the pains and penalties of your exalted situation, the more clearly I feel that ambition is not for me, that my happiness lies in another line."

"Enough--I have done--the subject is at rest between us for ever." A cloud, followed instantaneously by a strong radiance of pleasure, pa.s.sed across Lord Oldborough's countenance, while he p.r.o.nounced, as if speaking to himself, the words, "Singular obstinacy! Admirable consistency! And I too am consistent, my dear sir," said he, sitting down at the table. "Now for business; but I am deprived of my right hand." He rang, and desired his secretary, Mr. Temple, to be sent to him. Mr. Percy rose to take leave, but Lord Oldborough would not permit him to go. "I can have no secrets for you, Mr. Percy--stay and see the end of the Ca.s.sock."

Mr. Temple came in; and Lord Oldborough, with that prompt.i.tude and decision by which he was characterised, dictated a letter to the king, laying before his majesty the whole intrigue, as discovered by the Tourville papers, adding a list of the members of the _Ca.s.sock_--concluding by begging his majesty's permission to resign, unless the cabal, which had rendered his efforts for the good of the country and for his majesty's service in some points abortive, should be dismissed from his majesty's councils. In another letter to a private friend, who had access to the royal ear, Lord Oldborough named the persons, whom, if his majesty should do him the favour of consulting him, he should wish to recommend in the places of those who might be dismissed. His lordship farther remarked, that the marriage which had taken place between his niece and the eldest son of the Duke of Greenwich, and the late proofs of his grace's friendship, dissipated all fears and resentment arising from his former connexion with the Ca.s.sock.

Lord Oldborough therefore entreated his majesty to continue his grace in his ministry. All this was stated in the shortest and plainest terms.

"No rounded periods, _no phrases_, no fine writing, Mr. Temple, upon this occasion, if you please; it must be felt that these letters are straight from my mind, and that if they are not written by my own hand, it is because that hand is disabled. As soon as the gout will let me stir, I shall pay my duty to my sovereign in person. These arrangements will be completed, I trust, by the meeting of parliament. In the mean time I am better here than in London; the blow will be struck, and none will know by whom--not but what I am ready to avow it, if called upon.

But--let the coffee-house politicians decide, and the country gentlemen prose upon it," said Lord Oldborough, smiling--"some will say the ministry split on India affairs, some on Spanish, some on French affairs. How little they, any of them, know what pa.s.ses or what governs behind the curtain! Let them talk--whilst I act."

The joy of this discovery so raised Lord Oldborough's spirits, and dilated his heart, that he threw himself open with a freedom and hilarity, and with a degree of humour unusual to him, and unknown except to the few in his most intimate confidence. The letters finished, Mr.

Temple was immediately despatched with them to town.

"There," said Lord Oldborough, as soon as Mr. Temple had left him, "there's a secretary I can depend upon; and there is another obligation I owe to your family--to your son Alfred."

Now this business of the Tourville papers was off his mind, Lord Oldborough, though not much accustomed to turn his attention to the lesser details of domestic life, spoke of every individual of the Percy family with whom he was acquainted; and, in particular, of G.o.dfrey, to whom he was conscious that he had been unjust. Mr. Percy, to relieve him from this regret, talked of the pleasure his son had had in his friend Gascoigne's late promotion to the lieutenant-colonelcy. Whilst Mr. Percy spoke, Lord Oldborough searched among a packet of letters for one which made honourable mention of Captain Percy, and put it into the hands of the happy father.

"Ah! these are pleasurable feelings denied to me," said Lord Oldborough.

After a pause he added, "That nephew of mine, Colonel Hauton, is irretrievably profligate, selfish, insignificant. I look to my niece, the Marchioness of Twickenham's child, that is to say, if the mother--"

Another long pause, during which his lordship rubbed the gla.s.ses of his spectacles, and looked through them, as if intent that no speck should remain; while he did this very slowly, his mind ran rapidly from the idea of the Marchioness of Twickenham to John Falconer, and thence to all the causes of distrust and discontent which he felt towards all the different individuals of the Falconer family. He considered, that now the Tourville papers had been completely deciphered, the necessity for engaging the secrecy of the commissioner, and of his son Cunningham, would soon cease.