Davenport Dunn, a Man of Our Day. Volume 1. Lever Charles James
more than my own. Dunn – Dunn; remarkable man – very,” said Twining, hurriedly.
“Thank Heaven! we may be able to get away from this place to-morrow or next day,” said Lord Lackington, sighing drearily.
“Yes, of course; very slow for your Lordship – no society – nothing to do.”
“And the weather beginning to break?” said Lord Lackington, peevishly.
“Just so, as your Lordship most justly observes, – the weather beginning to break.”
“Look at that troop of horses,” said the Viscount, as the postilions passed beneath the window in a long file with the cattle just released from the travelling-carriages. “There goes ten – no, but twelve posters. He travels right royally, doesn’t he?”
“Very handsomely, indeed; quite a pleasure to see it,” said Twining, gleefully.
“These fellows have little tact, with all their worldly shrewdness, or they ‘d not make such ostentatious display of their wealth.”
“Quite true, my Lord. It is indiscreet of them.”
“It is so like saying, ‘This is our day! ‘” said the Viscount.
“So it is, my Lord; and a very pleasant day they have of it, I must say; clever men – shrewd men – know the world thoroughly.”
“I ‘m not so very sure of that, Twining,” said his Lordship, smiling half superciliously. “If they really had all the worldly knowledge you attribute to them, they ‘d scarcely venture to shock the feelings of society by assumptions of this sort They would have more patience, Twining, – more patience.”
“So they would, my Lord. Capital thing, – excellent thing, patience; always rewarded in the end; great fun.” And he rubbed his hands and laughed away pleasantly.
“And they’ll defeat themselves, that’s what will come of it, sir,” said Lord Lackington, not heeding the other’s remark.
“I quite agree with your Lordship,” chimed in Twining.
“And shall I tell you why they ‘ll defeat themselves, sir?”
“Like it of all things; take it as a great favor on your Lordship’s part.”
“For this reason, Twining, that they have no ‘prestige,’ – no, Twining, they have no prestige. Now, sir, wealth unassociated with prestige is just like – what shall I say? – it is, as it were, a sort of local rank, – a kind of thing like being brigadier in the Bombay Army, but only a lieutenant when you ‘re at home; so long, therefore, as these fellows are rich, they have their influence. Let them suffer a reverse of fortune, however, and where will they be, sir?”
“Can’t possibly say; but quite certain your Lordship knows, – perfectly sure of it,” rattled out Twining.
“I do, sir. It is a subject on which I have bestowed considerable thought. I may go further, and say, one which I have reduced to a sort of theory. These men are signs of the times, – emblems of our era; just like the cholera, the electric telegraph, or the gold-fields of Australia. We must not accept them as normal, do you perceive? They are the abnormal incidents of our age.”
“Quite true, most just, very like the electric telegraph!” muttered Twining.
“And by that very condition only exercising a passing influence on our society, sir,” said his Lordship, pursuing his own train of thought.
“Perfectly correct, rapid as lightning.”
“And when they do pass away, sir,” continued the Viscount, “they leave no trace of their existence behind them. The bubble buret, the surface of the stream remains without a ripple. I myself may live to see; you, in all probability, will live to see.”
“Your Lordship far more likely, – sincerely trust as much,” said Twining, bowing.
“Well, sir, it matters little which of us is to witness the extinction of this Plutocracy.” And as his Lordship enunciated this last word, he walked off like one who had totally exhausted his subject.
CHAPTER VIII. MR. DUNN
MR. Davenport Dunn sat at breakfast in his spacious chamber overlooking the Lake of Como. In addition to the material appliances of that meal, the table was covered with newly arrived letters, and newspapers, maps, surveys, railroad sections, and Parliamentary blue-books littered about, along with chalk drawings, oil miniatures, some carvings in box and ivory, and a few bronzes of rare beauty and design. Occasionally skimming over the newspapers, now sipping his tea, or now examining some object of art through a magnifier, he dallied over his meal like one who felt the time thus passed a respite from the task of the day. At last he walked out, and, leaning over the balcony, gazed at the glorious landscape at his feet. It was early morning, and the great masses of misty clouds were slowly beginning to move up the Alps, disclosing as they went spots of bright green verdure, dark-sided ravines and cataracts, amid patches of pine forest, or dreary tracts of snow still lying deep in the mountain clefts. Beautiful as was the picture of the lake itself, and the wooded promontories along it, his eyes never turned from the rugged grandeur of the Alpine range, which he continued to gaze at for a long time. So absorbed was he in his contemplation, that he never noticed the approach of another, and Baron Glumthal was already leaning over the balustrade beside him ere he had perceived him.
“Well, is it more assuring now that you have looked at it?” asked the German, in English, of which there was the very slightest trace of a foreign accent.
“I see nothing to deter one from the project,” said Dunn, slowly. “These questions resolve themselves purely into two conditions, – time and money. The grand army was only a corporal’s guard, multiplied by hundreds of thousands.”
“But the difficulties – ”
“Difficulties!” broke in Dunn; “thank Heaven for them, Baron, or you and I would be no better off in this world than the herd about us. Strong heads and stout hearts are the breaching artillery of mankind, – you can find rank and file any day.”
“When I said difficulties, I might have used a stronger word.”
“And yet,” said Dunn, smiling, “I’d rather contract to turn the Alps yonder, than to drive a new idea into the heads of a people. See here, now,” said he, entering the room, and returning with a large plan in his hand, “this is Chiavenna. Well, the levels show that a line drawn from this spot comes out below Andeer, at a place called Mühlen, – the distance something less than twenty-two miles. By Brumall’s contract, you will perceive that if he don’t meet with water – ”
“But in that lies the whole question,” broke in the other.
“I know it, and I am not going to blink it. I mean to take the alternatives in turn.”
“Shall I spare you a deal of trouble, Dunn?” said the German, laying his hand on his arm. “Our house has decided against the enterprise. I have no need to explain the reasons.”
“And can you be swayed by such counsels?” cried Dunn, eagerly. “Is it possible that you will suffer yourselves to be made the dupes of a Russian intrigue?”
“Say, rather, the agents of a great policy,” said Glumthal, “and you will be nearer the mark. My dear friend,” added he, in a lower and more confidential tone, “have I to tell you that your whole late policy in England is a mistake, your Crimean war a mistake, your French alliance a mistake, and your present attempt at a reconciliation with Austria the greatest mistake of all?”
“You would find it a hard task to make the nation believe this,” said Dunn, smiling.
“So I might; but not to convince your statesmen of it. They see it already. They perceive even now some of the perils of the coarse they have adopted.”
“The old story. I have heard it at least a hundred times,” broke in Dunn. “We have been overturning the breakwaters that the ocean may swamp us. But I tell you, Baron, that the more democratic we