with the tempest, whose fury was so great that for several hours she
was in imminent danger of foundering.
At last, however, the weather cleared, and two days later the "Falcon"
cast anchor at Spithead. The next day the crew were paid off, and the
vessel taken into dock for much-needed repairs.
Jack's father had already come down to Portsmouth, on the receipt of
his letter announcing his arrival. The day after the ship was paid off
they returned home, and Jack received a joyful greeting from his
family. They found him wonderfully grown and aged during the two years
of his absence. Whereas before he had promised to be short, he was now
above middle height. His shoulders were broad and square, his face
bronzed by sun and wind, and it was not till they heard his merry
laugh that they quite recognized the Jack who had left them.
He soon went down to the town and looked up his former schoolfellows,
and even called upon his old class-master, and ended a long chat by
expressing his earnest hope that the boys at present in his form were
better at their verses than he had been.
A month later Harry, who had quite recovered, joined the circle,
having obtained leave, and the two young fellows were the heroes of a
number of balls and parties given by the major and his friends to
celebrate their return.
Six months later Jack was again appointed to a berth in a fine
frigate, commanded by his cousin. The ship was ordered to the China
seas, where she remained until, at the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny,
she was sent to Calcutta. On their arrival there Jack found that
Captain Peel, under whom he had served before Sebastopol, was
organizing a naval brigade for service ashore. Jack at once waited
upon him, and begged to be allowed to join the brigade. His request
was complied with, and as he had now nearly served his time and passed
his examination he received an appointment as acting lieutenant,
obtaining the full rank after the fight in which the brigade were
engaged on their march up to Cawnpore. He was present at the
tremendous struggle when the relieving force under Lord Clyde burst
its way into Lucknow and carried off the garrison, and also at the
final crushing out of the rebellion at that spot.
At the conclusion of the war he rejoined his ship, and returned with
her when she finally left the station for England, after an absence of
five years. He was now three-and-twenty, and having been twice
mentioned in despatches, was looked upon as a rising young officer.
A month or two after his return he received a letter from Count
Preskoff, with whom he had, at intervals corresponded ever since his
escape from captivity. The count said that he, with the countess and
his youngest daughter, Olga, were at present in Paris. The two elder
girls had been for some years married. The count said that he
intended, after making a stay for some time in Paris, to visit
England, but invited Jack to come over to pay them a visit in Paris.
Jack gladly assented, and a few days later joined his Russian friends
at the Hotel Meurice, in the Rue Rivoli. They received him with the
greatest warmth, and he was soon upon his old terms of familiarity
with them. He found, to his great pleasure, that Olga could now speak
English fluently, and as he had forgotten a good deal of his Russian,
and had learned no French, she often acted as interpreter between him
and her parents. Jack's Russian, however, soon returned to him, and at
the end of a fortnight he was able to converse fluently in it again.
He found Olga very little altered, but she, on her part, protested
that she should not have known him again. He had thought very often of
her during the years which had passed, but although he had steadfastly
clung to the determination he had expressed to his friend Hawtry, of
some day marrying her if she would have him, he was now more alive
than before to the difference between her position and his. The
splendid apartments occupied by the count, his unlimited expenditure,
the beauty of his carriages and horses, all showed Jack the difference
between a great Russian seigneur and a lieutenant on half-pay. Feeling
that he was becoming more and more in love with Olga, he determined to
make some excuse to leave Paris, intending upon his return to apply at
once to be sent on active service.
One morning, accordingly, when alone with the count, he said to him
that he feared he should have to leave for England in a few days, and
it was probable he should shortly join his ship.
The count looked keenly at him.
"My young friend," he said, "have we been making a mistake? The
countess and I have thought that you were attached to our daughter."
"I am so, assuredly," Jack said. "I love your daughter with all my
heart, and have loved her ever since I left her in Russia. But I am
older now. I recognize the difference of position between a penniless
English lieutenant and a great Russian heiress, and it is because I
feel this so strongly that I am thinking that it is best for my own
peace of mind to leave Paris at once, and to return to England and to
embark on service again as soon as possible."
"But how about Olga's happiness?" the count said, smiling.
"I dare not think, sir," Jack said, "that it is concerned in the
matter."
"I fear, my young friend, that it is concerned, and seriously. When
you left us in Russia, Olga announced to her mother that she intended
to marry you some day, if you ever came back to ask her. Although I
would, I confess, have rather that she had married a Russian, I had so
great an esteem and affection for you, and owed you so much, that her
mother and myself determined not to thwart her inclination, but to
leave the matter to time. Olga devoted herself to the study of
English. She has, since she grew up, refused many excellent offers,
and when her mother has spoken to her on the subject, her only answer
has been, 'Mamma, you know I chose long ago.' It was to see whether
you also remained true to the affection which Olga believed you gave
her, that we have travelled west, and now that I find you are both of
one mind, you are talking of leaving us and going to sea."
"Oh, sir," Jack exclaimed, delighted, "do you really mean that you
give me permission to ask for your daughter's hand!"
"Certainly I do, Jack," the count replied. "I am quite sure that I can
trust her happiness implicitly to you. The fact that you have nothing
but your pay, matters very little. Olga will have abundance for both,
and I only bargain that you bring her over to Russia every year, for
two or three months, to stay with us. You will, of course, my boy,
give up the sea. Now," he said, "that you have got my consent, you had
better ask Olga's."
Jack found that the count had not spoken too confidently as to the
state of Olga's feelings towards him, and a month later a gay wedding
took place at St. James' Church, the count and his wife staying at
the Bristol Hotel, and Jack's father, mother, and elder brother and
sisters coming up to the wedding. To Jack's great pleasure, he
happened to meet in the streets of London, two or three days before
his wedding, his friend Hawtry, whom he had not seen since they parted
on the Polish frontier, as their ships had never happened to be on
the same station. Hawtry was rejoiced to hear of his friend's good
fortune, and officiated at the wedding as Jack's best man.
A handsome estate in Sussex was purchased by the count, and this, with
the revenues of the estate in Poland, were settled upon her at her
marriage. There does not exist, at present, a happier couple in
England than Mr. and Mrs. Archer; for Olga refused to retain her title
of countess. Except when, at times, the cares of a young family
prevented their leaving home, they have, since their marriage, paid a
visit every year to Russia.
The count and countess are still alive, although now far advanced in
life. The count is still hoping for the reforms which he believed
thirty years ago would do so much for Russia, but he acknowledges that
the fulfilment of his hopes appears to be as far off now as it was
then.
Hawtry is now an admiral, but is still a bachelor, and he generally
spends Christmas with his old comrade, Jack Archer.
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