The Indian Bangle. Fergus Hume
Читать онлайн книгу.
I derived after conversing for two hours--not unprofitably--with young Mr. Carson.
"It is a matter of general knowledge that between the years '57 and '59 of this century, our supremacy in Hindostan was endangered by the revolt of the native troops. During that disturbed period, Mr. Mark Bellairs and Dr. Alfred Carson, then young and ambitious soldiers, were united in the bonds of ardent friendship; and afterwards they gave their affection to Mr. Julian Brock, then a missionary labouring amongst the benighted heathen. These three friends were together during the time of the disturbance, and side by side they witnessed the horrors of Cawnpore and Lucknow, as you have often heard the ingenious Mr. Bellairs relate, when, to quote Dr. Goldsmith, 'he fought his battles o'er again,' in the retirement of his luxurious and stately home. In the year '60 these comrades on many a field were parted by the exigencies of existence; and, while Mr. Bellairs and the Rev. Mr. Brock returned to settle on their native shores, Dr. Carson, having an unconquerable passion for Orientalism, preferred to remain in India. However, no doubt wearied of warfare, he beat his sword into a ploughshare, and, withdrawing himself from public life, secluded himself in the near neighbourhood of the gigantic range of mountains which are known to geography as the Himalayas. I understand that he dwelt there as a solitary for ten years, at the end of which time, feeling that it was not good for man to live alone, he contracted a marriage with a young Eurasian lady. It is sad to state that his marital happiness was not destined to continue more than twelve months, for, in the year '71, his wife died in child-bed, leaving behind her a son--the Angus I speak of--to solace his distracted surviving parent.
"In the meantime Mr. Bellairs, by the death of his father, had become possessed of the ancestral acres at Casterwell, and had taken up his abode in the family mansion to superintend his heritage and enact the agreeable part of an English squire. As a mark of his constant friendship for Mr. Brock, and in token of his appreciation of a blameless and moral character, he presented him with the living of Casterwell, a position which our reverend friend has held these many years to the satisfaction of all who are acquainted with his manifold good qualities. Mr. Bellairs, as you know, also remained single for a considerable period, but, bethinking himself that for the dignity of his name and the welfare of his tenants it was incumbent upon him to beget heirs of his body, he followed the example of his medical friend, and married the accomplished Miss Sophia Seymour in the year '74. By a strange coincidence--which you, my dear sister, will have no difficulty in recalling--the lady of Mr. Bellairs also died within a year of her nuptials, leaving, as a pledge of love to her sorrowing husband, our dear Olive. On hearing of his friend's loss and gain, Dr. Carson wrote a kind and judicious letter, in which he proposed that, further to cement their early friendship, his son Angus should be contracted in marriage with Mr. Bellairs's daughter Olive. To this proposition Mr. Bellairs readily agreed, with the proviso that the ceremony should not take place until his child attained the age of twenty-one years. On this basis the matter was arranged, and for the last twenty years Olive and Angus have been betrothed, although--the first dwelling in England, and the second restrained by filial duty in India--they have never met to enjoy in one another's company the pre-nuptial pleasures of Cupid's votaries. But these chaste delights will no longer be deferred, for, now that the lamented father of young Mr. Carson has journeyed to that bourne whence no traveller returns,' the impatient lover is hastening to greet his lovely, but, alas! fatherless, mistress. What joy it will be to you, my dear Rubina, to witness the coming together of these young hearts, to contemplate their amiable qualities, and discreetly to superintend their joyous meeting.
"Mr. Carson is a gentle and well-bred youth of twenty-five, not without parts, although of too retiring a nature to display them in company. He is tall, slender, elegant in shape, and from his mother inherits a somewhat swart complexion. Indeed, so apparent are the traces of his foreign blood, that in England, doubtless, he will be taken for a native of Italy. His hair and eyes, and the thick moustache which adorns his upper lip, are black in the extreme, resembling in their hue that 'raven down which clothes the night's vast wings;' and although I own to a predilection for the golden fairness of our Saxon race, yet I cannot deny that this young gentleman is prepossessing in no ordinary degree. I regret to say, however, that, like many half-castes, he is delicate in health, and owns that his heart is weak, so much so, indeed, that when excited in any violent degree, he is liable to be so overcome by emotion as to lapse into a state of insensibility. Therefore, my dear sister, when he greets your charge, be careful that you restrain his transports of joy, else it's more than probable that you will see him extended at your feet--a calamity which may cast a shadow over the united pair. I must admit that Mr. Carson is somewhat effeminate in his dress and looks. He even goes so far as to wear a bracelet of gold on his right wrist. In India we term this a bangle, and frequently such an ornament is worn by native princes who yet retain barbaric tastes; but I ventured to remark to Mr. Carson, that in England the wearing of a bangle by one of the male sex would not be looked upon with favour. I am bound to say that he took my expostulation in the most good-humoured manner, and he explained that the bangle was a sacred ornament taken from a Hindoo idol. It had been presented to his late lamented father by a certain notability, or Rajah, whose son he had skilfully cured of a deadly disease, upon the symptoms of which young Mr. Carson did not dilate. He also informed me that the bracelet had originally been placed on his arm above the elbow by his ayah, or Indian nurse, when he was a boy. As gradually he attained to the full size of manhood, the bangle was slipped down by degrees to the wrist, whence it cannot now be removed without filing through the broad band of gold of which it is composed--no very easy operation, as you may guess. Moreover quite recently Mr. Carson hurt his hand while out shooting in the hills, whereby some of the small bones have become diseased, and the breadth of the member much extended; indeed, the whole hand is largely swollen. I advised him to undergo an operation in England, and at the same time have the bracelet removed; in fact, I imagine this would be necessary. He promised me the suggestion should receive his most careful consideration. He was then pleased to exhibit the bracelet for my inspection, and I examined it with much interest and curiosity.
"It is a broad band of ductile gold, wrought with the idol figures of the Hindoo trinity--Bramah, Siva, and Vishnu--interwoven with the sacred lotus-flower and other heathen symbols. I confess that I was weak enough to covet this work of art, for it is not only extremely beautiful as an exhibition of how exquisitely a goldsmith can manipulate the precious metal, but it is also an ornament of great antiquity, and, being sacred, no doubt there is attached to it a strange and eventful history. Mr. Carson has had golden wrist-buttons made to match this unique bracelet, wrought after the same style, but of vastly inferior workmanship.
"On the whole, my dear Rubina, I am prepossessed in favour of my visitor, as he appears to be modest and intelligent and high-principled. Notwithstanding his delicate health and effeminate looks, I am confident that he has a strong will and a somewhat stubborn nature, both of which may be productive in the future of either good or evil. If Olive be soft and yielding, her married life with young Mr. Carson will no doubt be happy and easy, as he requires, I suspect, to be deferred to in every way, having full confidence in his own judgment. If, on the contrary, she be wilful, and refuse to acknowledge her husband as the head of the house, I fear that their union will not be so perfect a one as we could wish. To use a trite image, Mr. Carson resembles the iron hand in a velvet glove, so of this you will do well to warn Olive. 'Verbum sat sapienti,' as the Latin poet has it; the same may be stretched, my dear, to include our own sex, although in the estimation of the male, we are not considered to be gifted greatly with wisdom. Of course, I dissent from this view, and--but you know full well my opinion on the subject; therefore, I will not add to this already lengthy epistle by enlarging upon it.
"Mr. Carson is accompanied to England by a certain Major Horace Semberry, who is, I understand, an officer in one of our native regiments. He has obtained leave of absence in order to act as a kind of social tutor to our young friend. I was informed that the Major met Dr. Carson whilst shooting in the Himalaya Mountains, and so won his goodwill by an attractive exterior and fascinating manners, that the doctor asked him to conduct Angus to Europe, and arranged, most generously, that he should be paid a handsome stipend for his services.
"Thus it comes about that young Mr. Carson and Major Semberry are travelling in company; but I must confess that the late Dr. Carson might easily have shown more wisdom in the selection of a companion for his son. Major Semberry is a fair, handsome man, an excellent sportsman, a well-bred