| Show THE PEEP O’ DAY- -A LITERACY MAGAZINE - ESTOT LLBROSS BY E W I TULLIDGE CHAPTER VII AND TIIEIR PLOTS THE BLAKELY’S ' ' As tt0 fllakelys and their plots form much of tho basis qf pur story wo are interested in sq'ipuctyof their history and aims as dovptqd into tho history of the D’Lacy g nn relates to our principal 'The downfall of tho D’liacy character house and the efforts of Sir Richard Courtney and his nephew Walter to the fortunes of that family the predicted sequel which the dark young Englishman made to Sir Herbert Blakely in the presence of tho revellers at Rome and tjjo fierce struggle between our hero Sir Walter Templar ‘tho Avenger and Sir HerbqrtBlnkely the Supplauter will constitute a lpatjinj subject of our nar-- x rative PerhapV it ivill not be out of place therefore to take our readers back into tho past again to give them a birds-c)- 0 view of tho interval between tho time we saw Herbert Blakely vanquished by D’Lacy in the pugilistic fray iit Eton and when wo met him among the gay revellers at Rome as Sir Ilerberj Blakely home thirty years later In tho history of tho Supplanters wo must touch the relations between the General and Lord Reginald and bring out more fully the consummation of tho Blakely plot to the ruin of the family of that generous unsuspicious nobleman As we have seen the mortgage left upon the estates by the father of young Reginald amounted to the debt of two but in the hundred thousand pounds course of years (for the General was too to masterly a plotter bury the issue) the iuterest whicli tyad not been taken into Recount had increased the principal debt compouhdeijjntcrest untilit amounted to nearly half ft million It took Blakely icjreral years of most masterly and high tone plotting to place the mortgage as far a? file interest went upqn the grounds of friendship and reciprocity jof mutual obligations p but even to tho Vtery consummation of the plot of the Supplanters Lord IteginahJ had not the slightest suspicion of the Generars honor ‘and fair dealing Morally and in point of lienor all was right but legally and in point of business all was wrong' I lad the matter stood between Sir Richard'Courtne’y and his friend Frederick D’Lacy nothing could have been more straight or consist tant with their true friendship but the matter was between Lord Reginald a man of a noblo confiding nature" and who General Blakely an arch-plottonly assumed the’ holy garb of friendship and hide liis to better accomplish purpose his real cliaractertliat of the Supplunter Nor was the last act in the consummation of his deep laid scheme less masterly than any of the former He brought with him a candidate into tho field at an election whom lie knew was not only personally obnoxious to the D'Laeysbut who' was politically on tho other side The General himself left D’Lacy’s party knowing that this would bring matters tq V crisis and to the unscrupulous' Blakely quo party was as good as another so long as it helped his obnoxious ends Moreover with his usual subtility he IagcV-lik- e put a great deal(of principle into his political so seis never Villainy metamorphosis curely encased in impenetrable armour nor endowed with such Herculean prow- ig as w hen it wears the Armour ami fights with tile weapons of the noble and the Arch-Fien- d in vud Batan ri uQver ‘ 'M to ' the superlative only when lie appears in his character as Angel of Light For tho first time D’Lacy began to realize that he was betrayed although ho dreamt not to how fearful an extent — General Blakely contrived to work up strong and at length bitter antagonism between himself and Lord Reginald’s party which he had deserted thus preparing for the great blow against his noblo patron and entrenching himself and his treachery behind politics and the party whom he had joined On the other hand Lord Reginald set about clearing off the mortgage and then lie discovered to his horror and dismay that legally the debt against him had assumed tho huge proportion of nearly He saw at a glance that half a million the moral aspect of the affair would not hear a moment’s looking at and felt that he had been a victim of a deep laid plot from the begipning which was substantiated by his spn Frederick’s relation of the fight at Eton and the threat of young Ifcrbert Blakely Lord Reginald was too proud to complain — too proud to advertise how ho had been duped and how unwise in a business point of view he had himself been in allowing the arch-plwttto so easily accomplish liis ruin The accepted the issuo D’Lacy therefore without complaint but with a broken heart and died a few moments before the death of his son Lord Frederick a the mansion of Sir Richard Courtney But quo of the last acts of the mortal life of Lord Reginald and his son Frederick was a striking example of the high character and proud sense of family honor which gave the distinguishing feature of their race They cut off the entail of their estates so that they could be sold if it caiqq to tho worst to clear off their obligation? to the Blakelys but they refused tq sell to the subtle mortgagee " but they offered a’ compromise to the Blakelys to place the estates into their hands until the mortgage was paid and thus was transmitted to their lieir tho nominal ownership of their family inherThe Blakelys w ould have pressitance ed the matter further had it not been that Sir Richard Courtney and liis brother-in-laSir Edmund Templar declared that they would purchase the D’Lacy estates themselves at any sacrifice The friends of the D’Lacys considered that General Blakely had basely betrayed his patron but so much of a political character was given to tiie affair by the that the party on the opposition who had received the votes once in tho gift of Lord Reginald’ 'riot only feigned blindness to unfair play ljut for their own sakes defended him The Genst era had calculated the efficacy of and found that he had not oyer estimated its virtue Virtue! Aye virtue! Charity covers a multitude of sins and st it is a virtue Go and encase in the of others and it shall cover for you tCii multiladts of loud clamoring sins After he became the possessor of tho D’Lacy estates until the term of their redemption from the accumulated mortgage the General commanded half a dozen gerita in the House of Commons which ho held in his gift through liis immense wealth and large landed power which ho had now obtained in Viltshire and Kent ' No parliamentary candidate could run against- his nominees where his wealth and landed power dominated and ns tho Genepal was insanely ambitious to found a family he spared nothing to reach that issue’ He lived up to the last farthing of of liis vast income derived from land holds in the two counties money invested in stocks Bjiri large property in India vot ho mado every farthing tell in’ his grasp for political power and to raise his family among the aristocracy In many other-respecthowever he was miserly — a quality which showed his relationship tq his father the money-scrapin- g clerk banker and usurer Indeed there was no small portion of General Blakely’s political power duelo the fact that in his w ay lie w as also a usurer as we have seen in the case of D’Lacy The General was ever ready to come to the help of men in pecuniary difficulties providing always that they had votes at their command At first after the advantage taken of Lord Reginald men in embarrassment were shy of him but this soon wore off for after all on the outside of the matter there was not in a business view much to cemplainof moreover farmers tradesmen and all who could command votes and place them at his disposal in the two counties where he held power found the General tfte hnost benevolent of money and the most gonorous of lenders He was no trio in schemmortgagees ing and no petty usurer He wove tho meshes of his nets with the strongest principles and the finest feelings and sentiments and-helas the doctrine of his life that in liberal policy and schemes of benevolence the very best investments He made capital out were to be made of gratitude and devotion and decided over and over again that he had purchased more services votes and political power acts of help loans and by well-time- d gifts than he could by the most lavish ' bribery General Blakely wTas also a usurer in his He gave party six votet politics which ho commanded in the House of Commons or more properly speaking he lent them for a consideration Every mau has tqs price Avas the doctrine of the subtle 'J’alleyraud and the party whom the knew General helped into the Ministry his price — a baronetcy — and gave it to him But no sooner had he obtained tie object lie had in view" from boyhood and whi ch his father the 'wealthy usurer had first pointed out than he became melancholy and lost all interest in things genr In gaining tho object of life he orally had lost the aiming for it and from that His point had no object for the future most extravagant ambition would not lead him to aim for more than the Baron- etcy and that he had won and his last Perdays were moody and melancholy haps also his treachery to the D’Lacys for to his discontent make up it helped was one of the few acts whiel his sophisnot General could Even try justify Blakely w as not all dross and as wo have seen usually accomplished hi$ deep laid plots by the best of means Indeed tho General often observed to the vindicative Herbert who w as always driqkiug gall from his defeat at Eton that Lord Reginand ho ald wras such a true gentleman indebted to him so much that did not the Blakelys need tho D’Lacy’s estates ho would not supplant them There was no disagreement however between tho father and son in their determination to hold what they hai obtained and one of the last charges of the General tq Herbert was to leave no stone unturned to make the Blakelys tho actual owners ' of the D’Lacy estates Soon after tho eath qf his father Sir Herbert attempted to force tho sale of the estates! Thp General had once before prcssell the mortgage upon the executor Sir Richard Courtney had offered in favor of young Lord Frederick one hundred and fifty thousand pounds if his guardian would relinquish the this Quixotic Jlerbert cc)side-e- |
