Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness. Volume 3 (of 3) Read online

  ORMOND;

  Or,

  The Secret Witness.

  by

  B. C. BROWN,

  Author of Wieland, or Transformation.

  In Three Volumes.

  VOL. III.

  "Saepe intereunt aliis meditantes necem."

  PHAEDRUS

  "Those who plot the destruction of others, very often fall,themselves the victims."

  Philadelphia Printed,London, Re-Printed for Henry Colburn,English and Foreign Public Library,Conduit-Street, Bond-Street.1811

  * * * * *

  TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

  LADY CASTLEREAGH,

  THESE VOLUMES

  are respectfully inscribed,

  by her Ladyship's

  most obedient, and humble Servant,

  HENRY COLBURN.

  CHAPTER I.

  "My father, in proportion as he grew old and rich, became weary ofAleppo. His natal soil, had it been the haunt of Calmucks or Bedouins,his fancy would have transformed into Paradise. No wonder that theequitable aristocracy and the peaceful husbandmen of Ragusa should beendeared to his heart by comparison with Egyptian plagues and Turkishtyranny. Besides, he lived for his children as well as himself. Theireducation and future lot required him to seek a permanent home.

  "He embarked, with his wife and offspring, at Scanderoon. No immediateconveyance to Ragusa offering, the appearance of the plague in Syriainduced him to hasten his departure. He entered a French vessel forMarseilles. After being three days at sea, one of the crew was seized bythe fatal disease which had depopulated all the towns upon the coast.The voyage was made with more than usual despatch; but, before wereached our port, my mother and half the crew perished. My father diedin the Lazaretto, more through grief than disease.

  "My brother and I were children and helpless. My father's fortune was onboard this vessel, and was left by his death to the mercy of thecaptain. This man was honest, and consigned us and our property to themerchant with whom he dealt. Happily for us, our protector was childlessand of scrupulous integrity. We henceforth became his adopted children.My brother's education and my own were conducted on the justestprinciples.

  "At the end of four years, our protector found it expedient to make avoyage to Cayenne. His brother was an extensive proprietor in thatcolony, but his sudden death made way for the succession of our friend.To establish his claims, his presence was necessary on the spot. He waslittle qualified for arduous enterprises, and his age demanded repose;but, his own acquisitions having been small, and being desirous ofleaving us in possession of competence, he cheerfully embarked.

  "Meanwhile, my brother was placed at a celebrated seminary in the Paysde Vaud, and I was sent to a sister who resided at Verona. I was at thistime fourteen years old,--one year younger than my brother, whom, sincethat period, I have neither heard of nor seen.

  "I was now a woman, and qualified to judge and act for myself. Thecharacter of my new friend was austere and devout, and there were somany incongenial points between us that but little tranquillity wasenjoyed under her control. The priest who discharged the office of herconfessor thought proper to entertain views with regard to me, grosslyinconsistent with the sanctity of his profession. He was a man ofprofound dissimulation and masterly address. His efforts, however, wererepelled with disdain. My security against his attempts lay in theuncouthness and deformity which nature had bestowed upon his person andvisage, rather than in the firmness of my own principles.

  "The courtship of Father Bartoli, the austerities of Madame Roselli, thedisgustful or insipid occupations to which I was condemned, made meimpatiently wish for a change; but my father (so I will call him) haddecreed that I should remain under his sister's guardianship till hisreturn from Guiana. When this would happen was uncertain. Eventsunforeseen might protract it for years, but it could not arrive in lessthan a twelvemonth.

  "I was incessantly preyed upon by discontent. My solitude was loathsome.I panted after liberty and friendship, and the want of these were notrecompensed by luxury and quiet, and by the instructions in usefulscience which I received from Bartoli, who, though detested as ahypocrite and lover, was venerable as a scholar. He would fain have beenan Abelard, but it was not his fate to meet with an Eloisa.

  "Two years passed away in this durance. My miseries were exquisite. I amalmost at a loss to account for the unhappiness of that time, for,looking back upon it, I perceive that an equal period could not havebeen spent with more benefit. For the sake of being near me, Bartoliimportunately offered his instructions. He had nothing to communicatebut metaphysics and geometry. These were little to my taste, but I couldnot keep him at a distance. I had no other alternative than to endurehim as a lover or a teacher. His passion for science was at least equalto that which ho entertained for me, and both these passions combined tomake him a sedulous instructor. He was a disciple of the newestdoctrines respecting matter and mind. He denied the impenetrability ofthe first, and the immateriality of the second. These he endeavoured toinculcate upon me, as well as to subvert my religious tenets, because hedelighted, like all men, in transfusing his opinions, and because heregarded my piety as the only obstacle to his designs. He succeeded indissolving the spell of ignorance, but not in producing that kind ofacquiescence he wished. He had, in this respect, to struggle not onlywith my principles, but my weakness. He might have overcome everyobstacle but my abhorrence of deformity and age. To cure me of thisaversion was beyond his power. My servitude grew daily more painful. Igrew tired of chasing a comet to its aphelion, and of untying the knotof an infinite series. A change in my condition became indispensable tomy very existence. Languor and sadness, and unwillingness to eat or tomove, were at last my perpetual attendants!

  "Madame Roselli was alarmed at my condition. The sources of myinquietude were incomprehensible to her. The truth was, that I scarcelyunderstood them myself, and my endeavours to explain them to my friendmerely instilled into her an opinion that I was either lunatic ordeceitful. She complained and admonished; but my disinclination to myusual employments would not be conquered, and my health rapidlydeclined. A physician, who was called, confessed that my case was beyondhis power to understand, but recommended, as a sort of desperateexpedient, a change of scene. A succession and variety of objects mightpossibly contribute to my cure.

  "At this time there arrived, at Verona, Lady D'Arcy,--an Englishwomanof fortune and rank, and a strenuous Catholic. Her husband had latelydied; and, in order to divert her grief, as well as to gratify hercuriosity in viewing the great seat of her religion, she had come toItaly. Intercourse took place between her and Madame Roselli. By thismeans she gained a knowledge of my person and condition, and kindlyoffered to take me under her protection. She meant to traverse everypart of Italy, and was willing that I should accompany her in all herwanderings.

  "This offer was gratefully accepted, in spite of the artifices andremonstrances of Bartoli. My companion speedily contracted for me theaffection of a mother. She was without kindred of her own religion,having acquired her faith, not by inheritance, but conversion. Shedesired to abjure her native country, and to bind herself, by everysocial tie, to a people who adhered to the same faith. Me she promisedto adopt as her daughter, provided her first impressions in my favourwere not belied by my future deportment.

  "My principles were opposite to hers; but habit, an aversion todisplease my friend, my passion for knowledge, which my new conditionenabled me to gratify, all combined to make me a deceiver. But myimposture was merely of a negative kind; I deceived her rather byforbearance to contradict, and by acting as she acted, than by openass
ent and zealous concurrence. My new state was, on this account, notdevoid of inconvenience. The general deportment and sentiments of LadyD'Arcy testified a vigorous and pure mind. New avenues to knowledge, byconverse with mankind and with books, and by the survey of new scenes,were open for my use. Gratitude and veneration attached me to my friend,and made the task of pleasing her, by a seeming conformity ofsentiments, less irksome.

  "During this interval, no tidings were received by his sister, atVerona, respecting the fate of Sebastian Roselli. The supposition ofhis death was too plausible not to be adopted. What influence thisdisaster possessed over my brother's destiny, I know not. The generosityof Lady D'Arcy hindered me from experiencing any disadvantage from thiscircumstance. Fortune seemed to have decreed that I should not bereduced to the condition of an orphan.

  "At an age and in a situation like mine, I could not remain longunacquainted with love. My abode at Rome introduced me to the knowledgeof a youth from England, who had every property which I regarded asworthy of esteem. He was a kinsman of--Lady D'Arcy, and as such admittedat her house on the most familiar footing. His patrimony was extremelyslender, but was in his own possession. He had no intention ofincreasing it by any professional pursuit, but was contented with thefrugal provision it afforded. He proposed no other end of his existencethan the acquisition of virtue and knowledge.

  "The property of Lady D'Arcy was subject to her own disposal, but, onthe failure of a testament, this youth was, in legal succession, thenext heir. He was well acquainted with her temper and views, but, in themidst of urbanity and gentleness, studied none of those concealments ofopinion which would have secured him her favour. That he was not of herown faith was an insuperable, but the only, obstacle to the admission ofhis claims.

  "If conformity of age and opinions, and the mutual fascination of love,be a suitable basis for marriage, Wentworth and I were destined for eachother. Mutual disclosure added sanctity to our affection; but, thehappiness of Lady D'Arcy being made to depend upon the dissolution ofour compact, the heroism of Wentworth made him hasten to dissolve it. Assoon as she discovered our attachment, she displayed symptoms of thedeepest anguish. In addition to religious motives, her fondness for meforbade her to exist but in my society and in the belief of the purityof my faith. The contention, on my part, was vehement between theregards due to her felicity and to my own. Had Wentworth left me thepower to decide, my decision would doubtless have evinced the frailty ofmy fortitude and the strength of my passion; but, having informed mefully of the reasons of his conduct, he precipitately retired from Rome.He left me no means of tracing his footsteps and of assailing hisweakness by expostulation and entreaty.

  "Lady D'Arcy was no less eager to abandon a spot where her happiness hadbeen so imminently endangered. Our next residence was Palermo. I willnot dwell upon the sensations produced by this disappointment in me. Ireview them with astonishment and self-compassion. If I thought itpossible for me to sink again into imbecility so ignominious, I shouldbe disposed to kill myself.

  "There was no end to vows of fondness and tokens of gratitude in LadyD'Arcy. Her future life should be devoted to compensate me for thissacrifice. Nothing could console her in that single state in which sheintended to live, but the consolations of my fellowship. Her conductcoincided for some time with these professions, and my anguish wasallayed by the contemplation of the happiness conferred upon one whom Irevered.

  "My friend could not be charged with dissimulation and artifice. Hercharacter had been mistaken by herself as well as by me. Devoutaffections seemed to have filled her heart, to the exclusion of anyobject besides myself. She cherished with romantic tenderness the memoryof her husband, and imagined that a single state was indispensablyenjoined upon her by religious duty. This persuasion, however, wassubverted by the arts of a Spanish cavalier, young, opulent, andromantic as herself in devotion. An event like this might, indeed, havebeen easily predicted, by those who reflected that the lady was still inthe bloom of life, ardent in her temper, and bewitching in her manners.

  "The fondness she had lavished upon me was now, in some degree,transferred to a new object; but I still received the treatment due to abeloved daughter. She was solicitous as ever to promote mygratification, and a diminution of kindness would not have beensuspected by those who had not witnessed the excesses of her formerpassion. Her marriage with the Spaniard removed the obstacle to unionwith Wentworth. This man, however, had set himself beyond the reach ofmy inquiries. Had there been the shadow of a clue afforded me, I shouldcertainly have sought him to the ends of the world.

  "I continued to reside with my friend, and accompanied her and herhusband to Spain. Antonio de Leyva was a man of probity. His mind wasenlightened by knowledge and his actions dictated by humanity. Thoughbut little older than myself, and young enough to be the son of hisspouse, his deportment to me was a model of rectitude and delicacy. Ispent a year in Spain, partly in the mountains of Castile and partly atSegovia. New manners and a new language occupied my attention for atime; but these, losing their novelty, lost their power to please. Ibetook myself to books, to beguile the tediousness and diversify thetenor of my life.

  "This would not have long availed; but I was relieved from newrepinings, by the appointment of Antonio de Leyva to a diplomatic officeat Vienna. Thither we accordingly repaired. A coincidence ofcircumstances had led me wide from the path of ambition and studyusually allotted to my sex and age. From the computation of eclipses, Inow betook myself to the study of man. My proficiency, when I allowed itto be seen, attracted great attention. Instead of adulation andgallantry, I was engaged in watching the conduct of states and revolvingthe theories of politicians.

  "Superficial observers were either incredulous with regard to mycharacter, or connected a stupid wonder with their belief. Myattainments and habits they did not see to be perfectly consonant withthe principles of human nature. They unavoidably flowed from the illicitattachment of Bartoli, and the erring magnanimity of Wentworth. Aversionto the priest was the grand inciter of my former studies; the love ofWentworth, whom I hoped once more to meet, made me labour to exclude theimportunities of others, and to qualify myself for securing hisaffections.

  "Since our parting in Italy, Wentworth had traversed Syria and Egypt,and arrived some months after me at Vienna. He was on the point ofleaving the city, when accident informed me of his being there. Aninterview was effected, and, our former sentiments respecting each otherhaving undergone no change, we were united. Madame de Leyva reluctantlyconcurred with our wishes, and, at parting, forced upon me aconsiderable sum of money.

  "Wentworth's was a character not frequently met with in the world. Hewas a political enthusiast, who esteemed nothing more graceful orglorious than to die for the liberties of mankind. He had traversedGreece with an imagination full of the exploits of ancient times, andderived, from contemplating Thermopylae and Marathon, an enthusiasm thatbordered upon frenzy.

  "It was now the third year of the Revolutionary War in America, and,previous to our meeting at Vienna, he had formed the resolution ofrepairing thither and tendering his service to the Congress as avolunteer. Our marriage made no change in his plans. My soul wasengrossed by two passions,--a wild spirit of adventure, and a boundlessdevotion to him. I vowed to accompany him in every danger, to vie withhim in military ardour, to combat and to die by his side.

  "I delighted to assume the male dress, to acquire skill at the sword,and dexterity in every boisterous exercise. The timidity that commonlyattends women gradually vanished. I felt as if imbued by a soul that wasa stranger to the sexual distinction. We embarked at Brest, in a frigatedestined for St. Domingo. A desperate conflict with an English ship inthe Bay of Biscay was my first introduction to a scene of tumult anddanger of whose true nature I had formed no previous conception. Atfirst I was spiritless and full of dismay. Experience, however,gradually reconciled me to the life that I had chosen.

  "A fortunate shot, by dismasting the enemy, allowed us to prosecute ourvoyage unmolested. At Cape Fran
cois we found a ship which transportedus, after various perils, to Richmond, in Virginia. I will not carry youthrough the adventures of four years. You, sitting all your life inpeaceful corners, can scarcely imagine that variety of hardship andturmoil which attends the female who lives in a camp.

  "Few would sustain these hardships with better grace than I did. I couldseldom be prevailed on to remain at a distance, and inactive, when myhusband was in battle, and more than once rescued him from death by theseasonable destruction of his adversary.

  "At the repulse of the Americans at Germantown, Wentworth was woundedand taken prisoner. I obtained permission to attend his sick-bed andsupply that care without which he would assuredly have died. Beingimperfectly recovered, he was sent to England and subjected to arigorous imprisonment. Milder treatment might have permitted hiscomplete restoration to health; but, as it was, he died.

  "His kindred were noble, and rich, and powerful; but it was difficult tomake them acquainted with Wentworth's situation. Their assistance, whendemanded, was readily afforded; but it came too late to prevent hisdeath. Me they snatched from my voluntary prison, and employed everyfriendly art to efface from my mind the images of recent calamity.

  "Wentworth's singularities of conduct and opinion had estranged him atan early age from his family. They felt little regret at his fate, butevery motive concurred to secure their affection and succour to me. Mycharacter was known to many officers, returned from America, whosereport, joined with the influence of my conversation, rendered me anobject to be gazed at by thousands. Strange vicissitude! Now immersed inthe infection of a military hospital, the sport of a wayward fortune,struggling with cold and hunger, with negligence and contumely. A monthafter, passing into scenes of gayety and luxury, exhibited at operas andmasquerades, made the theme of inquiry and encomium at every place ofresort, and caressed by the most illustrious among the votaries ofscience and the advocates of the American cause.

  "Here I again met Madame de Leyva. This woman was perpetually assumingnew forms. She was a sincere convert to the Catholic religion, but shewas open to every new impression. She was the dupe of every powerfulreasoner, and assumed with equal facility the most opposite shapes. Shehad again reverted to the Protestant religion, and, governed by aheadlong zeal in whatever cause she engaged, she had sacrificed herhusband and child to a new conviction.

  "The instrument of this change was a man who passed, at that time, for aFrenchman. He was young, accomplished, and addressful, but was notsuspected of having been prompted by illicit views, or of having seducedthe lady from allegiance to her husband as well as to her God. De Leyva,however, who was sincere in his religion as well as his love, was hastyto avenge this injury, and, in a contest with the Frenchman, was killed.His wife adopted at once her ancient religion and country, and was oncemore an Englishwoman.

  "At our meeting her affection for me seemed to be revived, and the mostpassionate entreaties were used to detain me in England. My previousarrangements would not suffer it. I foresaw restraints andinconveniences from the violence and caprice of her passions, andintended henceforth to keep my liberty inviolate by any species ofengagement, either of friendship or marriage. My habits were French, andI proposed henceforward to take up my abode at Paris. Since his voyageto Guiana, I had heard no tidings of Sebastian Roselli. This man's imagewas cherished with filial emotions, and I conceived that the sight ofhim would amply reward a longer journey than from London to Marseilles.

  "Beyond my hopes, I found him in his ancient abode. The voyage, and aresidence of three years at Cayenne, had been beneficial to hisappearance and health. He greeted me with paternal tenderness, andadmitted me to a full participation of his fortune, which the sale ofhis American property had greatly enhanced. He was a stranger to thefate of my brother. On his return home he had gone to Switzerland, witha view of ascertaining his destiny. The youth, a few months after hisarrival at Lausanne, had eloped with a companion, and had hithertoeluded all Roselli's searches and inquiries. My father was easilyprevailed upon to transfer his residence from Provence to Paris."

  Here Martinette paused, and, marking the clock, "It is time," resumedshe, "to begone. Are you not weary of my tale? On the day I enteredFrance, I entered the twenty-third year of my age, so that my promise ofdetailing my youthful adventures is fulfilled. I must away. Till we meetagain, farewell."