John Deane of Nottingham | Page 2

W.H.G. Kingston
front which she wore on the top of her light auburn
hair, undisfigured by powder, completed her unassuming yet most
becoming costume. Her figure was tall and slight, and her fair and
brilliant complexion increased the beauty of her well-formed features,
expressive of wit and humour, at the same time indicating thought and
feeling.
Such at sixteen was Alethea Harwood, the only child of the Worshipful
Mr Rupert Harwood, of Harwood Grange, the gentleman on the tall
horse by whose side she rode.
"I have no great affection for yonder town," observed Squire Harwood,
pointing southward with his hand. "I cannot forget my father's account
of the times when Red-nosed Noll ruled the roost, and that arch-traitor
Hutchinson held the castle, and insulted all the Cavaliers in the town
and neighbourhood by his preaching, and his cant, and his strict rules
and regulations; and now, forsooth, every man and woman in the place
thinks fit to stand up for the usurper William, and not an expression of
sympathy do I hear for the cruel fate of our lawful Sovereign King
James."
"Poor king! it was treacherous in his ministers and officers to desert
him; but what could be expected of men brought up in the days of the
Commonwealth?" observed Alethea, with a slight tone of scorn in her
sweet voice. "However, perhaps, when they get tired of the Prince of
Orange, our king will have his own again."
"Pray Heaven he may!" ejaculated the Jacobite squire. "And now,
daughter, let me counsel you to deport yourself with becoming dignity
and reserve during our visit to the Deane family. Mr Deane is, I own, a
man of credit and honour, and would never desire to injure a human
being. I am, moreover, indebted to him for certain sums advanced on
my estate, and of dire necessity only accepted; so that I wish he should
be treated with all courtesy and respect. But he is an obstinate supporter
of this vile government, and with him and one or two other exceptions,
as I feel is my duty to my order and party, I hate them all, root and
branch; they are a money-making, mean-spirited, trading set. It

surprises me that any of the nobility and old families of the country can
adhere to them. What, however, can be expected from
stocking-weavers and such like? Well, well! I was speaking of that
worthy man Deane. There is his wife, a good dame and a careful
mother, and his two daughters. You know them better than I
do--passable girls though, they seem to me; not exactly such as I might
have chosen as your companions; but tempora mutantur, as we used to
say at college! I'faith, most of my Latin has slipped out of my memory.
And then there are those two sons. The eldest, Jasper, seems a quiet,
proper-behaved young man enough. College has polished him up a
little, but of the other I know but little; a broad-shouldered lad he
seemed, not ill fitted to fight his way through life, as far as outward
figure goes. And Master Jasper, what is to be his course in life? Will
his father bring him up as a gentleman?"
"His sister Polly told me that Master Jasper is to become a physician, to
follow in the footsteps of their esteemed cousin, Dr Nathaniel Deane,"
answered Alethea. "I suppose that might be considered the calling of a
gentleman."
"Humph!" ejaculated the Squire, as if he had not quite made up his
mind on the subject. "That, according to my notions, depends on the
original position of a person. It is better than that of some others, my
lord's chaplain, or the reverend vicar's curate, as was the lot of some of
my college chums; however, I dare say, with so renowned a guide,
Master Jasper will prove an honour to the profession. But the breeze
feels cool beneath these trees; we will canter on, or you will not have
time to change your habit, and be in readiness for Mistress Deane's
entertainment."
At a touch of Alethea's whip, her palfrey broke into an easy canter, and
her father's steed moving on at a trot, they soon reached Parliament
Street on the confines of Nottingham, and passing Saint Anne's Well,
they entered through Bridlesmith's Gate the broad market-place. This
was, then as now, the widest open space in the town, and had many fine
mansions standing round it. On their left was that long thoroughfare
called the Pavement, with the grim old castle walls at the farther end,

and the sparkling Trent on the other side; while close to them were
butchers' and other shops, as well as those of the handicraftsmen, from
which the different entrances on that side of the once fortified town
took their names.
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