After an interview with Mr. Merriman, Desmond found the courage to put to
Phyllis the question which he had not ventured to ask before she left
India. What the answer was may be inferred from the fact that Sir
Willoughby insisted on the wedding taking place at once. It was time for
the return of his old enemy the gout, he said; he was going to Buxton to
end his days, and wished to see the Hall in the hands of his heir before
he left.
Mr. Burslem, Desmond's old schoolmaster, performed the ceremony, and
Clive, though suffering from rheumatism, came down for the occasion. The
only familiar form that Desmond missed was that of old Dickon, who had
died a few months after Desmond's departure from home.
Desmond settled down for a time at the Hall, cheering his mother's
declining years, repaying good for ill to his invalid brother, and
winning golden opinions from all his neighbors high and low. He eagerly
watched the further career of his old hero, now Lord Clive; learned to
admire him as statesman as well as soldier; sympathized with him through
all the attacks made upon him; and mourned him sincerely when, in 1774,
the great man, preyed upon by an insidious disease, died by his own hand.
Five years later he felt the East calling, bought a commission, and
sailed with General Sir Eyre Coote, to take part in the "frantic military
exploits," as some one called them, of Warren Hastings against Haidar Ali
and Tippu in Mysore. He came home a colonel, and was made a baronet for
his services in the war.
Pages:
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503