Читать книгу The Forger's Wife - Lang John - Страница 9

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CAPTAIN BRUCE took Emily to his home in the country, where himself, his wife, and his daughters, endeavoured to make her troubles less difficult to bear. Here Emily had a serious illness, and during its continuance her reason frequently deserted her. When she recovered, she expressed a wish to follow her convict husband, in whose innocence she still firmly believed, to New South Wales, and share his lot, whatever it might be. The folly, the madness of this proposal were forcibly pointed out by Captain and Mrs. Bruce, and by other friends. But Emily still remained steadfast in her resolve.

Captain Bruce, who was not rich, had a large family to support. To convey Emily to Australia was more than his means could compass. He therefore resorted to a subscription among his most intimate friends, and succeeded in raising the sum of £125.

Captain Bruce saw Emily on board the ship which was to carry her to New South Wales, and was shocked to think that such a gentle, graceful being, who had been brought up from her infancy with so much tenderness and care, should be thus thrown amongst the mass of people then standing on the vessel's deck. Some hundreds of trunks and carpet bags were strewed about in all directions. Scores of voices were raised in contention with the mates and other persons in authority on board. Men, women, and children, in rags, were wandering about, inquiring where they were to be stowed. Some looked as though they had seen better days, and regretted leaving their native land, now that they were about to sail; others, as though their days and nights had been spent in debauchery, and that any change that might come must be for the better. Emily appeared to take little heed of the miserable creatures around her. She was indifferent about her own comfort, and dead to everything except the desire of seeing and again living with her husband.

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Emily was under the impression that she would have a cabin to herself, but of this idea her mind was speedily disabused. She had only "a berth" in an apartment between decks, in common with nine other females, steerage passengers. She was rather disappointed at this; but her joy at the idea of being at last actually on the way to Sydney, to join dear Reginald, would not suffer the inconvenience to which she was subjected to give her any serious annoyance.

Four of Emily's cabin companions were women of respectable appearance and steady mien; three were persons of doubtful character and frivolous manners, while the remaining two, from the style of their conversation, and the grossness of their discourse, must have led the most dissolute and abandoned of lives. Emily often trembled and shuddered at their horrid stories, which she could not help hearing, for these two women invariably talked in a loud tone, as though they were rather proud of their opinions, and thought it a pity that any of them should be lost by the limited community of which they formed a part.

One evening, near the equator, Emily observed that the playful banter in which these eloquent damsels were indulging, was about to lead to a violent encounter, and she ventured, in the kindest and gentlest manner possible, to address them, in the hope—not of adjusting their differences—that would have been impossible, for they invariably quarrelled about nothing—but of averting a disgraceful outbreak. The consequence of Emily's interference was, that she brought upon herself the combined forces of these capricious women, who, disturbed in the amusement which quarrelling seemed to afford them, first asked her—or rather said they should "like to know" who she was—what she meant—what business she had to put her finger into other people's pies; and before Emily had time to reply—even had she been able to do so—they called her a variety of names, of which—fortunately for her own peace of mind—she had not the most remote idea of the meaning. Emily made no complaint of this treatment, but the captain of the vessel happening to be informed of it, immediately made arrangements which secured for her both privacy and comparative comfort during the remainder of the voyage.

When the land was sighted Emily became agitated and nervous. All sorts of horrible fancies filled her distracted mind. Amongst other things, she feared her husband might have sunk under the weight of his misfortunes, and died in a distant land without any friend near him to close his eyes, and administer comfort to his departing spirit.

Emily had of late frequently conversed with Captain Dent, the commander of the Lady Jane Grey, and had received many little attentions and kindnesses at his hands. Being herself perfectly ignorant of everything relating to the colony, and as Captain Dent had been frequently to the port of Sydney, she made bold to question him one afternoon, when a good opportunity presented itself, respecting a few matters on which she needed some definite information.

Emily prefaced her questions with a brief sketch of her history, and failed not to dwell particularly upon the innocence of her husband, whom she declared had been transported entirely by mistake. This part of her narrative Captain Dent did not implicitly believe; but he could see that Emily was quite sincere in her protestations.

Captain Dent was a kind-hearted, fatherly old gentleman, and he pitied Emily, felt for her as though she had been a child of his own. He promised her that she should be comfortably housed on her arrival in Sydney, and pledged himself to spare no pains, as soon as he could afford time, in ascertaining in what part of the colony her husband might be located. Emily fancied she might ascertain this by inquiring at the post-office, but Captain Dent very delicately gave her to understand that persons in her husband's unfortunate predicament had rarely any settled address, and that it was sometimes rather difficult to find them, although everybody knew they were somewhere in the colony.

"For instance," said Captain Dent, "he may be in Sydney, or he may be in Parramatta, or in Windsor, or at Bathurst, or on some farm in the distant interior."

"On some farm!" said Emily. "No, I don't think dear Reginald would turn farmer; though I should like him to do so, I confess; for we could then live on some secluded spot, where we might never see a soul from one year's end to another."