Читать книгу The Forger's Wife - Lang John - Страница 10

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THE emigrant ship dropped her anchor in the harbour of Port Jackson. Had Emily's mind been at ease, how busy would she have been, sketching the magnificent scenery that now met her view.

Numbers of persons came on board, and most of the emigrants were engaged at once; those who were not so fortunate landed to search for employ. Amongst the latter were the two young women who had behaved so badly to Emily, and conducted themselves so boisterously on the voyage. Captain Dent took Emily to the house of a very respectable widow, who used to let furnished apartments. It was at her house, when he lived on shore, that Captain Dent had, for years past, taken up his abode. He advised Emily, as they walked up George-street, not to mention to the widow anything concerning her husband, and remain as quiet as possible.

"Why?" inquired Emily.

"You had better not say anything about your husband," repeated Captain Dent. He longed to tell her, but had not the heart to wound her feelings, that persons who, like the widow, had gone out "free" to Australia would object to receive into their houses, under any circumstances, the wife of a person under sentence of transportation. "Remain quiet," urged the old Captain, "until I see you again. It may be to-morrow evening."

When Captain Dent had left her, and returned to the ship, Emily felt unable to keep her promise. She could not rest, tired as she was with the exertion of packing up her trunks and preparing to land. Reginald, she thought, might be within a short distance of her—perhaps in the same street, or even next door—who could tell? Dear Reginald! Oh, what happiness to meet him that night! To put his long dark hair off his beautiful white forehead, and kiss the poor innocent dear who was the victim of a base conspiracy! How could she exist in such painful suspense? So she sent for the landlady, Mrs. White.

"Could you oblige me," said Emily, "with the sight of a directory? I should be very much obliged to you if you would, Mrs. White. I wish to find out the address of a gentleman whom I know."

"A directory, mum?" said Mrs. White. "There's no directory published in the colony; but we have almanacs. There's no need of directories, mum; everybody knows where everybody else lives. If you'll tell me the name of any gentleman, I have no doubt I shall be able to give you his address."

"Oh! could you?" cried Emily, overcome by her anxiety, and seizing Mrs. White by the hand. "His name is Harcourt—Reginald Harcourt."

"Captain Harcourt, mum?" said Mrs. White.

"Yes, Captain Harcourt!" said Emily. "Do tell me, where is he to be found?"

"Captain Harcourt, mum, whom I know very well, is not in Sydney just now. When in Sydney, he lives in the barracks in his quarters; but he married only a few days ago, and he has gone into the country with his bride!"

"Married!" cried Emily—"married! impossible! How could he marry, when I am his wife?"

"It must be some one else, mum, whom you mean," said Mrs. White. "Captain Harcourt has been very wild, and often does very funny things, and enjoys a joke, like most of the officers; but I don't think he would commit bigamy. That's rather too much of a good thing."

"Do you know any other Captain Harcourt?" asked Emily, in an agony of impatience.

"No, mum," said Mrs. White. "The only Captain Harcourt in the colony, I believe, is the Captain Harcourt I have spoken of."

"Describe him—do describe him," said Emily; for she really began to have some misgivings that Reginald had forgotten her and himself. "Tell me, Mrs. White, is he tall?—handsome?—clever?"

"No, mum; he is short, stout, and plain," replied Mrs. White. "As to 'cleverness,' I can't say; of that I am no judge; but he is a great favourite with the ladies."

Though Emily's mind was at once relieved of the horrible idea that "dear Reginald" might possibly have married some other lady to keep his house, and look after his comforts, still her anxiety to be informed of his whereabouts was increased rather than diminished.

"And you know of no other Captain Harcourt or Mr. Harcourt?" she again asked Mrs. White.

"No, mum; I am quite sure there is no other person of the name in the colony," said Mrs. White.

"See here," said Emily, wildly. "I will tell you all, Mrs. White; and then you may be able to assist me. Pray sit down. Excuse my troubling you in this way; but if you only knew" (here she burst into tears) "what I have suffered, and what I now suffer, I am sure you would pity me. Pray sit down, Mrs. White."

Mrs. White took a chair. Emily sat opposite to her, and divulged the sad tale. She was several times interrupted by convulsive sobbing, and Mrs. White was a good deal affected by the narrative. Mrs. White acknowledged that she knew nothing of Roberts (Emily was obliged to say that his accusers persisted in calling him Roberts); but if Emily could give her the name of the ship which brought him to the colony, and the date of his sailing from England, she said she could easily ascertain by inquiring at the office in Hyde-park. Emily said the name of the vessel was the Medora, and that it was exactly a year since her husband had left home.

"The Medora!" said Mrs. White. "I have an assigned servant who came out in that ship, and perhaps he may know something about him. They generally do know all about their shipmates—to whom they are assigned, or whether they are reserved for government's own employ, in the offices, or dock-yards, or barracks."

"But a good deal depends on what he was at home," Mrs. White added. "If he knows any trade——"

"Trade!" exclaimed Emily, interrupting her—"Trade! My husband was a gentleman—an officer."

"Oh! indeed!" said Mrs. White, "I beg your pardon. Yes, you mentioned that his name was Harcourt, and came out here by mistake for a person called Roberts. In former days gentlemen were called 'specials,' and were sent to a place called Wellington Valley; but there is no distinction made now; all are treated alike, gentle and simple. All are assigned to take their chance."

"How do you mean assigned?" inquired Emily.

"Why, when one wants servants, male or female," said Mrs. White, "one applies for them, and government are only too glad to get them off their hands. They do all your work, and you clothe them and feed them. This young man who was assigned to me out of the Medora was very well to do in Dublin, and his father, who is a clergyman, keeps his carriage; but the young man was transported for some offence or other, and was assigned to me."'

"Poor young man!" said Emily. "And perhaps he was just as innocent as my husband was."

"I have no doubt of that," returned Mrs. White, meaning what she said, but not in the sense in which Emily received the remark.

"And do you think he knows what has become of my Reginald?" inquired Emily.

"Most likely," said Mrs. White. "He will be home presently, and I will ask him."

"And how do you employ the young man?" said Emily.

"He chops the wood, cleans the boots and shoes, and the knives, runs errands, answers the door, and makes himself generally useful; and if he doesn't, I stop his tea and sugar, and put him on gov'ment allowance—ten pound of flour and seven pound of beef a-week, and make him cook it himself," said Mrs. White.

"Poor thing!" cried Emily, shuddering from head to foot, lest she should hear that "Reginald" was in similar circumstances.

A woman came in, and delivered some message to her mistress. When she had left the room, Emily inquired—

"Is that woman a convict?"

"Yes," said Mrs. White; "but never use the word 'convict' unless you are in a passion, and wish to wound their feelings. 'Convict' is a word they cannot bear. Always speak of them as 'assigned servants,' or 'Prisoners of the Crown;' these are milder terms, you know."

Mrs. White heard the man-servant's voice in the kitchen, and said to Emily, "If you will excuse me for a few minutes I will see if Nelson has returned."

"Nelson," said Mrs. White, "was there a man named Roberts, alias Harcourt on board the Medora?"

[Nelson, according to his own account, was the eldest son of a rector in Ireland, who belonged to the elder branch of the family rendered so illustrious by our greatest naval hero. This statement, however, was open to very grave question, for not only had Nelson's education been confined to the merest rudiments; and not only was his countenance of a cast which was prodigiously plebeian, but he had been transported for an offence which, to say the least of it, was not by any means such as a gentleman "born and bred" would ever think of committing. It was for picking an old woman's pocket at a fair of a silk handkerchief, a bunch of keys, and a brass thimble. But, insomuch as most young men in similar circumstances, and especially those from Ireland, were prone to indulge in making out that they were "very well connected at home," some excuse may be made for Nelson's desire to exalt himself at the expense of his veracity. Not that it made much difference with Mrs. White.]

"Yes, mum," said Nelson, in reply to Mrs. White's question. "Roberts, alias Harcourt. He was a flash fellow, who was lagged for forgery: he used to boast of having great parliamentary influence, which was to procure him a free pardon and apartments in Government House on landing. He was employed in the Auditor-General's office, being a clever hand with his pen; but he soon misconducted himself, and was put into barracks. After that he was drawn by Mr. Dawson, of Campbell Town, and put to pig-feeding; but he has run away, it seems, and is advertised in to-day's Gazette, with a reward of £10 offered for his apprehension."

"Run over the way, and see if you can borrow the paper," said Mrs. White. "Don't be long."

Nelson went, and in a few minutes returned with the paper. There could be no mistake about the person. The advertisement ran as follows:—

"Wheras, my assigned servant, Charles Roberts, alias Harcourt, per ship Medora, under sentence of transportation for life, absconded from my employ, on the night of the 13th instant, this is to give notice, that a reward of £10 sterling will be paid to any person or persons who will give such information as will lead to his apprehension. Description: name, Charles Roberts, alias Harcourt; ship, Medora; sentence, life; height, 5 feet 11¾; age, 33; complexion, fair; eyes, hazel; hair, dark brown; whiskers, black; figure, slight; trade or calling, lawyer's clerk; marks, small scar on upper lip, scar on the back of left hand, mole on the left breast. "N.B.—The absentee has white and very regular teeth, plausible manners and graceful bearing; at the time he ran away he was dressed in a striped shirt, duck trowsers, white smock frock, high low shoes, Scotch cap, and a blue bird's-eye pocket-handkerchief tied round his neck. He is supposed to have gone to Sydney, with a view of making his escape from the colony. "JAMES DAWSON, Campbell Town."

"What a villain!" exclaimed Mrs. White, putting down the paper. "I should not be surprised to hear he has turned bushranger."

"No chance of that, mum," said Nelson. "He was one of those fellows who would talk the hind-leg off a dog, but would not have the courage to face a small boy or a big mosquito. Laziness has made him run away; and when he sees the advertisement in the paper he will get frightened, and give himself up, mum."

Mrs. White was afraid to give Emily these tidings of her husband, lest they should cause her a fit of illness and detain her in the house for some days. She could not help pitying Emily, but felt that it would be extremely prejudicial to her own interests to permit a person whom she knew to be the wife of a convict, and that convict a runaway—perhaps a bushranger—to stay under her roof, even for a short time, as a lodger. Mrs. White, therefore, returned to Emily, and regretted that her servant Nelson could give no information of Roberts's locality. She then recommended Emily to take some repose, and be prepared to get up very early in the morning and accompany her (Mrs. White) to the house of a person who was a clerk in a government office, and who would be sure to know where her husband was to be found.

"Could we not go to-night, if you are not too much fatigued?" inquired Emily.

"Impossible!" said Mrs. White. "The person whom I mean lives a long way off. Go to rest now, and you will rise quite refreshed, and able to set out on your journey in the morning."

Emily went to bed, but could not sleep. If she closed her eyes for a moment, the most frightful visions presented themselves. She saw her husband dancing before her in chains, or standing on a platform which they told her was a gallows; or, tied to a cart's tail, he was being flogged, and his blood streaming on the road; or, flying from his pursuers, he was shot, wounded in several parts of the body, and dragged to prison by the hair of his head. Thus disturbed, she remained awake the whole night, till the daylight, for which she so anxiously watched, came streaming through the chinks in the shutters. Emily sprang up, and hurriedly attired herself; but just as she was putting on her bonnet, the woman servant knocked at her door.

"Oh, pray come in!" cried out Emily; "I am quite ready. Come in, Mrs. White."

The servant entered, and said, "Please, mum, it's me. I am sorry to say missis was taken very dangerously ill in the night, mum. We had to fetch the doctor, and thought she would have died, mum. We were going to wake you, mum, at one time, to come down and see missis; but we did not like to disturb you, mum, as we thought you were tired."

"I wish you had called me—I was awake," said Emily. "But I hope she is better now?"

"Oh yes, mum, thank you, missis is a little better," replied the woman; "but the doctor says, mum, that she must be moved immediately off the ground floor where she now is; and there is no other room but this, mum."

"Dear me, how unfortunate!" exclaimed Emily, abstractedly, gazing out of the window. "Oh, of course," added she, recollecting herself, "I will vacate the room at once; put me anywhere you please."

"But unfortunately, mum, we have nowhere to put you," said the woman. "The room that missis is now in must be given up to the nurse, who has been sent for. She has a little girl that always comes with her, mum, and she cannot do without a room to herself."

"Do you know of any other respectable lodgings?" inquired Emily.

"No, mum, I do not," said the servant (for her mistress had told her exactly what to say). "But it strikes me, mum, that the best thing you could do would be to go on board the ship, where you could have a nice cabin, now that the passengers are all out of her, and there stay, mum, till missis is better, or till you can get a house. As missis is now asleep, mum, I can go with you to the wharf, and hire a waterman's boat for you, which will take you on board, and Nelson will wheel your boxes on the barrow, mum."

Emily instantly adopted the suggestion, and thanked the woman for her kind offer. "At all events," the unhappy lady reasoned, "I shall see Captain Dent the sooner, and he may have heard something by this time about my poor Reginald."