THE DOUBLE ROMANCE;*

A TALE OF THE "OVERLAND."

GATHERED FROM MSS. IN THE PORTFOLIOS AND PORTMANTEAUS OF PASSENGERS.

BY TIPPO0 KHAN THE YOUNGER.

CHAPTER III.

An apostrophe, and the introduction of a character somewhat, perhaps, from the life.

We have to return to the gentleman wending his way through the streets of the metropolis, in the strange guise which we attempted to describe at the commencement of the last chapter.

Amble had been accustomed to his morning ride in India, when no parade duties thrust him into an established uniform, much in the same costume as that which now so ill became him as a civilized inhabitant of London; and although not well satisfied with his general appearance on the occasion referred to, he did not seem, to himself, the extraordinary being he represented in the estimation of others. It was about eight o'clock; too early by a couple of hours for city men to be moving, and a sort of midnight to the more devoted in the temple of fashion; so that the critics he had to encounter were not much to be feared after all; but it cannot be denied that what one of our few clever farce-writers calls "a more prepossessing 'exterior" would have been desirable, if for no other purpose than to attract the attention of certain fair forms gliding into newly-opened shop doors, as well as to avert the notice of sundry ill-educated boys more observant of life on the pavements and crossings, than correct in their notions of that which they delight to observe.

It is not to East Indians alone, but to the whole tribe of those under-income-tax fortunes that we address ourselves, as to the inconveniences of this modern Babylon, when we find ourselves but cupbearers here, after a Belshazzarship in a distant village. Home! beautiful in the dream of the air-riding exile; gloomy, indeed, to the waking, walking man. What gold-mohurt visions of beauty and pleasures flit before the enwrapt gaze of the first. What fourpenny-piece, actual, real substances come jostling towards the agitated staring of the last! An ottoman, a hookha, attendants, coffee, carpets, dolce far niente, contrasted with a Continued from vol. xlviii., p. 442.

+ Fifteen rupees, or one pound ten shillings.

three-legged chair, a bad cigar, an old servant of all work, thrice-used tea, a greasy rug, and burdened thought-burdened, being filled with a long column of unpaid bills. But the description, the contrast, might go on for pages, still would all be as a sealed book to the uninitiated. As a hint of our meaning, we will throw out a proviso. Let the man accustomed to Eastern or other foreign luxuries for a course of years, but run for an hour in tight boots to overtake a coach on a frosty morning in London, because he cannot afford a cab, knowing that the dose may have to be repeated; then we will talk to him seriously on the merits of the question, as to one partly fitted to give an opinion.

The name of a street, exhibited in large letters to the notice of the passer-by, caused Amble to halt, and then turn suddenly to the left, when near the Oxford-street Circus. A thought struck him here resided a retired officer whom he had known formerly in India; the acquaintance had been but slight, and had not been renewed from the first, upwards of six years back, but the recollection of the party in question had always been an agreeable one; there had been something of attraction in the brief conversations held with this man, which Amble had the vanity to believe was reciprocal on his part also; at all events, a call would serve to kill time, and drive away a mass of troublesome ideas collecting too rapidly in the brain of the young East Indian. He remembered the name, the number of the house; and his quondam acquaintance, in giving Amble his card, when expressing his intention of visiting England at the period abovementioned, had begged of him the favour of a call, in the event of his destinies ever leading him to London.

It was a small, three-storied, six-windowed house, at the door of which our hero knocked. The general appearance was that of dingy brick, with a ground-floor relieved by a colour that once was white, but had fought itself into a reminiscence of origin only, against a most hostile metropolitan smoke and fog. There was a green door, the handle of the knocker upon, and bell at the side of which, presented an encouraging verification of a painful notion that brass can be respected, where more sterling, but less intrusive ore, lies disregarded. A portion of a chimney on one side of the roof was only rendered momentarily uniform to the view of the opposite lodger or passenger, by a sparrow on the other; au reste, there were no tiles visible from the street; the curtains of the upper and third-floor windows were lowered entirely; those of the first-floor had been partially raised, and Venetians, such as Shakspeare's Turk, so celebrated by Othello in his final speech, would have had good cause to smite, if only from their melancholy-moving aspect, prevented passing curiosity from the attainment of its end as regards the inmates of the rez

de chaussée. A notice of "apartments to let, furnished," here exhibited, would seem to imply that the whole spot was not considered the most desirable to be found for a residence during the town season.

The first appeal not having been responded to, Amble knocked again, and, at the same time, rang the bell with more of impatience than ceremony in the action. A stir was heard in the passage, and a very unclean-looking Abigail made her appearance, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, after the approved method of dispelling the effects of a protracted slumber. She looked at the intruder through a film of mixed annoyance and astonishment, and was about to put the only question she could conceive applicable to the occasion, namely, "Wish to see the apartments?" when the flannel coat and bare neck came suddenly, like an unexpected obstacle, to turn the stream of her thoughts from the original course into various directions: new emissaries of bakers, butchers, milkmen, and newspaper boys flitted rapidly through her imagination, till, at last, all the scattered currents encountered in the reservoir of one supposition; and she asked, "Got a circular? why don't ye push it under the door?"

Amble had been almost unconsciously waiting for a question before commencing a parley; for absent men (of whom he was one) often commit these acts of careless eccentricity. On hearing the address now made to him, he was at once, however, aroused to a sense of mortified dignity, and gave a pull at the shirt-collars of conscious importance, as he retorted:

"I know nothing about circulars; at least, such ones as you can be acquainted with, my good girl. But tell me-"

you

"Why, what circulars do you mean then?" interrupted the sleepy serving-woman, half-inclined to get up a conversation. "Pshaw !" good-naturedly answered Amble; "were I to tell you, I am sure you would not be a bit the wiser. What do think "-and he dived into a military-official reminiscence as he said this" what do you think of Circular No. 1715 and G. O.?" Oh, ah, that's it!" again interrupted the girl, beginning to find she had fallen into error as to the party spoken to, and imagining that her conversational antagonist was taking advantage of the occurrence to turn her into ridicule; for the only sound which she could associate with the two last letters was the familiar rattle of a link betwixt biped and quadruped; or, in plainer words, the man's address to his horse. "Then, pray,

what do you want?"

"I wish to be informed whether my friend, Captain Wrayle, lives here."

"There's a gentleman of that name as lives on the first-floor," was the reply; " perhaps you'd better go up, and knock at his door-he never goes out afore eleven. When he gets up, I'm Jan., 1847.-VOL. XLVIII.-NO. XC.

P

sure I can't say, for we only dines him, and he breakfasts and teas hisself."

So saying, the obliging creature shut the street-door, and slouched away to have a lazy scour at something-she had not made up her mind exactly what to begin with-but whatever it was, assuredly it would not benefit much by the operation; while our hero ran up stairs.

There is a good, honest, hearty encounter, acknowledged among comrades of a craft, who, having originally met thousands of miles away from their own land, find themselves together, for the first time, as natives of the soil they tread. This is Nature's own work; and we envy not those wanderers who are ignorant of the feeling. Subject to all such impulses as was Amble, it is not surprising that he shook the door of his friend's apartment most lustily, by a lateral rap with his clenched fist: for, in addition to the influence of the sentiment above expressed, there was an unpolished, unceremonious atmosphere about the interior, as well as exterior, of the house in which he found himself, which seemed to speak in the voice of a spirit above worldly formalities:

"Whoever you may be, make as much noise as you please in me-the more the better! I am morbid, but not through riches, or satiety of luxuries. Give me a stir! Make me ring with your clamour! I want a shock-I'm not proud!"

But how strange a voice was heard in reply: so nervous, so indicative of confusion, yet loud and imperative! To the young East Indian's mind, the independence-inviting aspect changed suddenly, and the house seemed transformed to a receptacle of gloom and horror. Nor was it fear of common intrusion, nor a supposition that he was merely a visitor ordinarily unwelcome, that caused him to stagger in his course; but a vague sense of mystery held sway over his every faculty. And it was with very different feelings from those with which he had crossed the threshold at the passage, that he now responded to the sonorous "Come in," which had just rung so strangely on his ears, by turning the handle of the door before which he was standing.

The sight which greeted him, though far from an uncommon one to a town observer of the society see-saw, was for him strange and peculiar. The room was plentifully, but not well supplied with contents; we cannot safely say "furniture," for this was almost wholly comprised in a round-table, three chairs, a rickety square-piano, and a high standing book-case, groaning with volumes of all dimensions and styles of binding. There was a small clock on the mantel-piece, supported by a shell, some coppers, a box of matches, a case of cigars, and strips of letters rolled up for lighting, carefully set in a vase such as juvenile ambition may sigh to win in a sea-side library raffle.

The round table owned a dirty figured cloth, thrown into complete disorder by writing materials scattered heedlessly around it; and the piano-forte threw out an occasional knife and fork, bottle, and wine-glass, as symptoms of its competency for sideboard use. Besides the articles described, there was, in one corner of the room, a spear; in another, a matchlock; on one side of the wall, a mandarin's cap; on the other, a Chinese painting; while on the rug, near the fireplace, was a large white Persian cat, sitting placidly before an empty slop-basin, and thereby endeavouring to call its master's attention to the fact (known to its own particular instinct, and ourselves, the recorders), that the customary allotment of milk for the morning had been neglected on this occasion. On one of the chairs sat a man in a dressing-gown, Turkish trowsers, and slippers; his looks were wild and wandering; and notwithstanding his attempts to appear abstracted in the contemplation of some papers on the table before him, Amble could perceive, by the aid of naturally quick ocular and aural powers, that the chair had been just drawn to the spot in which it now was; moreover, that he who occupied it, had just come out of the apartment at the back, and, in so doing, had thrown some heavy substance to the ground, the ringing sound of which told of wood and metal combined.

"I believe I am addressing myself to Captain Stephen Wrayle, late of the same service as my own?" asked Amble. "The same," replied the party addressed, turning his head hurriedly; "and who, may I ask-"

66

"One to whom you were most friendly and kind on his first outset in Indian life," quickly interrupted Amble; we met, you may remember, at-"

"True, true; I know you-sit down; I am happy to renew the acquaintance: though Heaven knows why I am visited at this early hour."

"Should I intrude, a plain assertion to that effect will not only oblige, but be promptly attended to."

"May I beg you will be seated?"

The perspiration was visible on the speaker's brow, as he now turned his full face towards his visitor, who, thinking he could detect a semblance of welcome struggling through the general agonized expression of the whole features, did as he was desired. There was a pause. Hands were shaken, and Wrayle added, with forced gaiety

"Well; and how has the world used you since we last met? What brings you homeward? and how long a leave of absence have you obtained to remain with us in Old England?"

Why, it were needless to tell you all my fortunes; let it suffice that I am home on private affairs, and return within the twelvemonth; that is, if-"