The Soldier's Wife — page 69: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 ‘ yy. ™“ BS scouch under the circumstances, and therefore|ing like madness in his brain; and for a few Utterly losing sight of the sacred| minutes he was utterly incompetent for delibe _ehsracter of a letter which had thus fallen into| rate reflection. But as the paroxysm of fre his possession impelle* by one idea only, and|gradually passed away, he referred to the letter ’ ‘pardonable. 1HE SOLDIER'S WIFE. ‘ obedient to but one impulse—he began to de-|to convince himself that it was not a wa vour with avidity the contents of the document.|dream of a hideous character which had fasten They ran as follow :— ‘Post Office, Oakleigh. “August 21st, 1828. “Dear Mr. Langley, “T am very much obliged to you for having| was he to do? thought of me. I received your very welcome letter, and lose no time in replying. I take it as a great mark of friendship that you should have remembered the pleasant evenings I used to pass in your company at the Oak, and the little services I had the pleasure of rendering ou in respect to the recruits. The post-office has fallen into my hands; and therefore, you see, I have become an important kind of cha- racter in the village. But 1 am not the man to give myself any airs on that account. At the same time I do feel that I have risen a peg or two in life. I sineerely hope that I shall some day have the pleasure of seeing you again; and if ever you come to Oakleigh on the same bu- siness as before, you will know where to find a friend to assist. “Vou ask me what news there is at Oakleigh, s i ‘and whether Davis's girl frets after that sood- we . - for-nothing fellow Lonsdale# I am going to ll you such a piece of business that only came my knowledge this very morning—but how, will excuse me for not explaining. Would 1 believe it? Gerald Redburn, who has just ~got his commission in your own regiment, is going to marry Lucy! It’s allsettled! I don’t mean that Sir Archibald has given his consent: for the fact is, he knows nothing about it. It’s all private like; and young Gerald has planned everything with Davis as nice as possible. Ah! that fellow Davis is wide-awake, | can tell you. But as] dare say you will be interested with this little bit of gossip—particularly as Gerald Redburn now belongs to your regiment, and I suppose means to take his wife with him when he joins—I will just give you a little insight into what’s going on, Young Redburn is at this moment in London, waiting for remittances. On the 24th he is to be at Coventry to get the special license and make everything right. Davis and his daughter are to leave Oakleigh early on the 26th, and are to meet Gerald at the George Hotel, Coventry, by mid-day: and then the young couple are to be spliced at onee. What do you think of thisf An artful dodge, say |. Of course you must keep it all dark, and not mention it to a soul. In fact, it’s one of the deepest and best contrived plots I ever knew in all my life. It beats anything I ever read in a romance. “So now no more from “Your obliged and true friend, “Opapian Bares.” It would be difficult to deseribe the state of|/from the barrack-room. yard, he repaired to the livery-stables where frenzied excitement into which Frederick Lons- dale was lashed up by the astounding revela- tion contained in this letter. There was a feel-| horses. itself upon his imagination. No—it was but too true; and he could not doubt that Luey was to be made the victim of a treacherous under- standing between her father and Gerald Red- burn. What on earth washetodo? Oh, what Was he not bound hand and foot by his position as a soldier? Should he ask for prompt leave of absence? No: he re collected that a furlough was never accorded under a certain period of service. Oh! again and again during the few minutes which were now elapsing, did the almost distracted youn man ask himself what he should do! There was a fearful hurry m his brain—anguish in his heart—a sense of the acutest agony rending his soul. But still, what was he to do# what was he to do? This was the morning of the 24th. On the 26th, in the middle of the day, the ceremony was to take place. He had only two days and a few additional hours to reach Coventry, and but half-a-dozen shillings in his pocket. Ports- mouth was seventy-two miles from London; and from London the distance to Coventry was ninety. A hundred and sixty-two miles to be accomplished in two days and a few hours! For an instant he shrunk appalled from the ap- parent hopelessness of such an undertaking: but the next moment he smote his breast vio- lently, ejaculating aloud, “ By heaven, I will do it!” Yes—he would fly to the deliverance of his Lucy! Oh, he felt convinced that she could be no party to the transaction—that she would be swayed by the cruellest coercion and the most pitiless intimidation—and that with no one hand to succor her, the sacrifice would per- haps be consummated! Yes—he weuld fly to her rescue. But, ah! was it not desertion? Perish all considerations, when everything that rendered life tolerable was at stake! His resolve was thus speedily taken. But how was he to put it into execution? The plain clothes which he had worn when first joining the depot, had been taken from him and put amongst the stores. If he expended the few shillings he possessed in purchasing some such sordid wretched suit as an old-clothes store would furnish for the amount he could thus af- ford, he would have nothing left to buy bread upon the way—not a shilling to give a carrier for a lift in his cart or van. No: he must set off as he was—he must speed away in his undress-uniform which he had on. must he escape thus! For 4 noment a thought struck him. World Jacob Jones lend him a suit of clothes—or per- haps some money to purchase one? Yes: there was hope in the idea; and thrusting Bates’s letter into the breast of his coat, he descended Issuing forth from the At all risks Jacob Jones had bb up his young maste) He looked about for the object of hig Gomilcbooks.cor