May Dudley; or, The White Mask. By Malcolm J. Errym. Reynolds�s Miscellany Vol. 30 No. 760. Saturday, January 8, 1863.
Chapter I.
A Night Fete In The Park- The Young And Beautiful Lady, May Makes A Sensation- The Rivals- A Strange Transformation- The White Mask- A Mysterious Horse- The Royal Carriage In Jeopardy- A Gallop For life- The Leap Into The Palace Garden - Who Is The Robber ?
How brilliant was the fete by lamplight in old St. James�s Park, on the night which followed that day of gloom and threatening discord that had witnessed the marriage of young King George the Third to Charlotte of Mecklenburgh.
Fifty thousand coloured lamps swung from tree to tree in the mall - the whole of the thronged promenade was laid with fine sand, slightly consolidated with perfumed water - the air was vibrating with the sweet sounds of exquisite music, while every now and then the military band of the Royal Guards awakened echoes far and near with the crashing din of its warlike strains.
Coaches - sedan chairs- horsemen- ladies in the "petit chase", as the Bath chair of the present day was named- others on foot in splendid costumes, the rustling silks and stiff satins of which actually added to the pleasant uproar- gentlemen in Court suits- in military uniforms-in fancy and plain dresses-distinguished foreign members of the corps diplomatique-men upon town-mohocks, highwaymen, and sharpers, with a dense throng of sober citizens and their wives, made up an assemblage that from Constitution Hill to Spring Gardens, left scarcely a square foot of space unoccupied.
It was ten o�clock, and the throngs were rapidly increasing- the illuminations were at their best- the fireworks in the old, neglected damp enclosure, commenced.
Five hundred rockets sped into the air with the rush of a tornado, and after describing graceful courses in the cloudy sky, descended earthwards in showers of crimson, dazzling blue, gold, and emerald rain.
A general clapping of hands ensued as this grand display terminated; and then in the pause of semi-darkness that followed, a great commotion took place in the crowd, and a hundred voices joined in a chorus of shouts which seemed confined to the utterance of a name, with, appended to it, every expression of admiration the language was capable of.
"The Lady May- fair Lady May ! here she comes ! Bless her- look at her eyes! Hurrah for Lady May ! Look how she laughs ! - such dimples- such light in her eyes ! Clear the way ! Bless your sweet face ! Take these flowers my dear girl. She is beautiful - a cheer for Lady May !"
An open carriage conveyed the object of all this popular admiration.
Who was she?
What was she?
A young girl in her early youth- perhaps seventeen, perhaps eighteen years- tall and slender as a willow wand, graceful as a fawn. The sky blue robe she wore could not altogether conceal the exquisite symmetry of her form. Her eyes were not blue, although they were generally called so, but of that pure, silvery kind of grey which is at once so rare and so charming.
She was quite alone.
Two dark, bay horses drew the open carriage. One had harnesses of silver and the other of gold. It was a fancy of the petted half-child, half-woman, to have this variation.
A costly leopard�s skin was flung over the opposite seat of the carriage- that opposite seat which there was not a Court gallant of the time who would not have gladly bartered one of his ears to occupy.
In her taper fingers she held the white reins of the horses, but they seemed to require no guidance.
Through the lanes of people this apparition of youth and beauty made her way.
A young man, in a rich suit of maroon velvet, springs from out of the crowd of people. He clings to the carriage, and as he looks up into the face of Lady May Dudley- that was her name - the light of love, passionate maddening love, glows in his eyes.
"Bless you, dear May- heaven bless and guard you !"
As he speaks he clasps her hands, and lets go the carriage, and the glance of the young girl only alights upon him coldly for a moment.
"On your life, sir- for its sake I charge you never again-" exclaimed another person, pushing forward and grasping the young man in the maroon suit by the arm.
What the newcomer meant was only to be inferred by the action; for he did not conclude his speech, since his eyes caught those of the fair girl in the carriage, and his whole soul beamed out from them in admiration.
"Ah, Mr. Rivers !" she said, "I see you. I suppose you have been up with one of the rockets, and have only just come down again."
"I am in heaven when I look into your eyes !" said the young man.
At this moment a brilliant display of fireworks took place, that lit up the whole park with a preternatural splendour.
Lady May stood up in the carriage and clasped he r hands together, letting the reins drop, as she exclaimed, "beautiful ! Oh, how beautiful !"
The blaze of the fireworks only lasted a moment.
The coloured lamps, fifty thousand of them though there were from the trees, looked dim now after that dazzle of light.The young man who had been named Rivers, by Lady May, seeing that she had abandoned the horses reins, took one of them by the head to hold it.
He who was in the maroon velvet suit, seeing this action took the other horses head.
The rivals were close enough to each other to breathe defiance.
"Joseph Bligh," said Rivers, "I know you well; and I warn you that there is a limit in the expression of admiration to the Lady May Dudley which I will allow no man to pass.
"And Justin Rivers, I know you," replied the other, "and am ready to meet you on this subject when and where you will."
"Hats off ! hats off ! The King ! the King ! Way for the young King ! Hats off ! hats off !"
The band of the Royal Guards commenced the National Anthem.
A couple of outriders in the scarlet livery of the Royal Family came at a trot down the Mall.
Lady May�s carriage was directly in the way. The groom on horseback, who always followed her, came up. to the side of the vehicle, and touching his hat, said respectfully, "My lady, the royal carriage is coming. Shall I draw the horses to the side Mall?"
"No, Robert !"
She gathered up the reins, and then cried out, "Gentlemen, release my horse�s heads, if you please, we shall meet again."
Amid a loud cheer for her, which the young Monarch George the Third and his Queen thought was for them, as they sat in a barouche, with four cream-coloured horses, which brought them gently down the Mall, the Lady May went onwards at a rapid pace.
The two young men, Justin Rivers and Joseph Bligh, exchanged glances of defiance; but they were soon separated amid the surges of the crowd.
Another bright blaze of fireworks lighted up sky and earth for a brief moment, and then the royal carriage passed on its course around the park.
The two outriders were a good hundred yards in advance.
At the end of the Mall, the illuminations almost entirely ceased; for although right round the Park there were coloured lamps, yet by that side of it which is named the Birdcage Walk, they were few, straggling, and far between.
A dark space intervened just at the head of the enclosure, where the fireworks were being exhibited, and it was there at the darkest part of that spot, that the fair young girl in the open carriage paused so abruptly, that she almost brought the two horses that drew it to their haunches.
What is she about?
What mystery is this that is being worked on that lone spot of the Park, more lone than ever now, on account of the attraction at its other portion?
She flings down the reins.
She stands up in the carriage.
One touch at a silken bow which confines that cumbersome wrapper around her fair form, and it is loose from all control.
A slight shake, a kind of shivering motion of the youthful, agile frame, and the silken wrapper fell in a confused mass to her feet.
Oh, what a transformation !
There stands the Lady May Dudley- the idol of all hearts- the spoiled child of fashion, the rich, courtly young gentlewoman who has driven mad with love and cupidity, old and young !
There she stands, with a smile upon her beautiful face- the same old smile that had delighted all the observers in the Mall; but, oh, how changed otherwise!
Beneath that robe of blue which now she kicks from her foot with a disdainful action, she is completely attired in male costume.
A coat of bright scarlet, the silken trimmings of which glitter in the soft, reflected light which at times makes its way to that part of the Park.
Tall boots, such as some horseman might wear on an equestrian excursion to rescue, or meet, his lady-love, so faultless were they in shape and make.
A cravat of rare point lace.
Dress ruffles of the same.
A gold Venetian chain looped on the vest, and holding one of the then rare Roman watches which were thought such wonders of mechanical condensation.
Such was the figure.
But what of the face?
What of the silver grey eyes?
The charming ringlets that Hebe herself might be proud of ?
What of the pearly teeth, the bright cherries of lips? What of all the laughing dimples of that face which surely needed but once to be seen never to be forgotten?
What is the fair Lady May about now?
Watch her !
Watch her well with us, O reader, and you will see a transformation more strange and wonderful still than that made by the fall of the sky blue silken sac.
She flings back her fair hair.
She takes from the pockets of the scarlet coat a folded something- it may be a handkerchief- it may be gloves?- No ! See what she does with it !
A white, soft, snowy white kind of cap, which fits the head closely and at once covers up all those wavy curls; a kind of vizor, of the same material, she draws down, not without some slight effort, over her face. The vizor fits into her features; it is perfectly white, with a soft, filmy kind of down upon it.
There are orifices for the eyes; but who could recognize those eyes now as they look out from so changed a face?
Then from the other pocket of the coat is taken a silken hat, which can be shaped out into one of ordinary size by the hands, and that she puts on.
The disguise is complete.
It is terrifying !
The slim, tall figure, the white- oh so white- face- so expressionless, so ghastly- the superb dress- all presented a combination at once frightful and fascinating.
The groom rode up, and sat motionless on his horse by the side of the carriage.
Then the Lady May put on a pair of gauntleted gloves of white leather, and she placed one hand in the fashion of a trumpet to her lips, as she called out, in long-drawn, melodious tones, "Ho, Shadow, Shadow ! Ho, Shadow!"
There was a rush of horse�s feet. Something comes across the Birdcage Walk like a black apparition.
It is a horse.
Light of body, lithe of limb, black as night, glistening like satin, and the arched neck and fiery eyes betraying its Arab breed, the horse makes its way alone, without a rider.
"Ho, Shadow - ho !" again cries the Lady May.
The horse with a bound reaches the side of the carriage.
The Lady May leapt to its back.
The creature curvets and seems half inclined to spring into the air with its light and beautiful, but most mysterious, burden.
The Lady May waves her arm, and then trots down the Birdcage Walk.
The soft strains of the National Anthem came floating on the night air.
The old Abbey clock of Westminster struck the hour of eleven.
At a rapid trot the two royal outriders passed some trees, in the deep shadow of which the disguised girl is hiding.
Then comes the carriage.
The young King George the Third was speaking to his Queen, the Queen of a day, for, as we have stated, that was the marriage day of the royal couple.
"Well, Charlotte - well, well, it�s all a sham ! Eh? All a sham !"
"Yaas," was the reply in broken English, for the young Queen was too thoroughly German to have learnt more than a few words of the language of the country which was to be her future home.
"Well, well, Charlotte, I�m ready for the fellow- quite ready ! Eh? Pop, and down he goes."
The King lifted one of the cushions of the carriage a few inches, and disclosed the gold mounted butts of a brace of pistols.
The postillions who drove the horses of the royal carriage were mere boys. They went at an easy pace, for the fact was , the crowd in the Mall all around was so great, that it could scarcely have been possible to turn the carriage-and-four there with any degree of safety, and therefore was it that the royal party went round the park completely.
"Yes, yes," added the King, as if pursuing a train of thought, "It is odd, very, very odd. A letter left on our own dressing-table- I saw it first, Charlotte- here it is- can�t read it by this light, but know it by heart. Hem! - this is it. Are you listening, Charlotte?"
"Yaas!"
"The �White Mask� will attack the Royal Prince, if its owner will venture round the Park to-night."
"Yaas!" said the Queen.
"Eh, Charlotte, that�s it, that�s it? My Lord Sidney told me, and so did Sir Phillip Brown, that the White Mask was a highwayman who catches everybody and nobody can catch- a fellow with a white mask- eh, Charlotte?- all over his face, eh? Give him a warm reception, eh? Made an agreement with Sir Reuben Hugh, that as soon as he hears a pistol shot he is to come out of his house over there in Queen Street. All right- eh? Like to catch the White mask myself- What a lovely girl that May Dudley is- no, eh? You don�t mind my saying that, Charlotte, eh?"
"Yaas!"
"Eh? You mean no !"
Never!"
"Ah, to be sure! Well here we are- here we- oh !"
There was a rush of horse�s feet, and by the side of the royal carriage stood the black horse, and the rider with the white face.
"Stand-O!- stand!"
The Queen shrank back, and uttered an exclamation of fright.
"Good," said the King, "Take that."
He leveled one of the pistols with the gold butts, and pulled the trigger.
Fluff went the powder in the pan.
"The other!" said the White Mask, at the same time that she made the horse she rode keep exact pace with the royal carriage.
"Eh- the other? Oh, yes. There, then !"
Fluff ! went the other pistol.
"Singular," said the King,- "loaded them myself, and only handed them to your maid of honour, Lady May Dudley, to put in the cabinet, Charlotte !"
"Halt !" cried the White Mask.
At the same moment she produced a pistol, and held it at the head of the King, who drew back as far as he could.
"Tell your postillions to draw up, or I fire !"
"Stop, stop ! Hi ! stop !"
The two boy postillions looked rather curiously back, to see what was amiss, but, in the gloom, all they could observe was that some one on horseback was apparently in conversation with the King.
"Your Majesty�s purse !" said the White Mask.
"No!"
"Your life ! Who succeeds to the Crown of England?"
"Stop! hold! help!"
"Another such word, and you are a dead King. My pistols never miss fire."
"I-I-we-we-Eh, Charlotte? Tell him its true, we have no money!"
"Your Majesty�s diamond �George!�"
"Eh ? Our insignia of the Garter?"
The King put his hand on what was called the �George,� which was the star of the Order of the Garter, and which on that night he wore.
The value in brilliants was more than two thousand pounds.
"No, no! Can�t part with that. Can�t do it Mr. a- a-"
"I am White Mask!"
The gloved hand of the horseman was darted forward, and the badge was snatched from the neck of the King. The blue ribbon gave way, and the magnificent jewel was in the hands of the highway robber.
All personal fears seemed to be merged in the agony of such a loss, and the King called out aloud, "Help! Oh, help! We are robbed- robbed on our own highway! Treason ! help!- help? The King!- the King! Robbed- robbed!"
"Help!" screamed the postillions.
The Queen screamed.
"Ho, Shadow, it is done!" cried the White Mask.
Swift as an arrow from a bow, the black, slim horse shot along the Birdcage Walk.
Another moment, and the two outriders of the royal carriage were met on their return, for they had heard strange cries, and finding the carriage not following, they had trotted back.
"Save the King!" shouted the White Mask. "He is beset in the Birdcage Walk!"
On flew the black steed like the wind. Past the Horse Guards and the esplanade, past the group of old trees close to the Spring Gardens gate, and then right into the crowd in the long Mall.
"The White Mask!" shouted a voice, and a tall man made a rush forward to catch the bridle of the black horse, but he missed it.
"Ho, Shadow, on- on !" shouted the mysterious rider. "It�s part of the pageant, good folks all. It�s part of the show. No hindrance, or the red rockets won�t go off. Make way!- make way!"
"Seize him ! Down with him ! A highwayman! The White Mask !"
"Ah! say you so?"
Bang went one of the pistols of the White Mask; but it was fired over the heads of the people, and then the black horse backed suddenly a dozen paces, made a rush and a leap, and went clear over a garden wall which led into what was called the home garden of St. James�s Palace.
Hot with speed, the two scarlet-coated outriders of the King�s carriage now reached the Mall, shouting, in chorus, "Secure him !Stop him ! stop him ! He has robbed the King! Stop him ! The White Mask !"
A dozen gentlemen, with drawn swords, began to scale the wall of the Palace Gardens.
A scene of great confusion ensued. Ladies screamed, horses kicked and plunged, sedan chairs were upset, some of the light-fingered gentry began, in anticipation of a rich harvst, to break the coloured lamps, and cries for the constable rose on all hands.
There was but one person, who, leaning against a tree, laughed and seemed to enjoy the scene.
That was a small, slim young man, in a plain suit of brown cloth, who said to himself, quietly, "Well, if I were not Paul Clifford, I should like to be that White Mask, the highwayman, whoever he may be really."
End of Chapter I.