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The Man Who Laughs
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In less than half an hour the House was nearly full. This was to be expected, as the sitting was a royal one. What was more unusual was the eagerness of the conversations. The House, so sleepy not long before, now hummed like a hive of bees.
The arrival of the peers who had come in late had wakened them up. These lords had brought news. It was strange that the peers who had been there at the opening of the sitting knew nothing of what had occurred, while those who had not been there knew all about it. Several lords had come from Windsor.
For some hours past the adventures of Gwynplaine had been the subject of conversation. A secret is a net; let one mesh drop, and the whole goes to pieces. In the morning, in consequence of the incidents related above, the whole story of a peer found on the stage, and of a mountebank become a lord, had burst forth at Windsor in Royal places. The princes had talked about it, and then the lackeys. From the Court the news soon reached the town. Events have a weight, and the mathematical rule of velocity, increasing in proportion to the squares of the distance, applies to them. They fall upon the public, and work themselves through it with the most astounding rapidity. At seven o'clock no one in London had caught wind of the story; by eight Gwynplaine was the talk of the town. Only the lords who had been so punctual that they were present before the assembling of the House were ignorant of the circumstances, not having been in the town when the matter was talked of by every one, and having been in the House, where nothing had been perceived. Seated quietly on their benches, they were addressed by the eager newcomers.
"Well!" said Francis Brown, Viscount Montacute, to the Marquis of Dorchester.
"What?"
"Is it possible?"
"What?"
"The Laughing Man!"
"Who is the Laughing Man?"
"Don't you know the Laughing Man?"
"No."
"He is a clown, a fellow performing at fairs. He has an extraordinary face, which people gave a penny to look at. A mountebank."
"Well, what then?"
"You have just installed him as a peer of England."
"You are the laughing man, my Lord Montacute!"
"I am not laughing, my Lord Dorchester."
Lord Montacute made a sign to the Clerk of the Parliament, who rose from his woolsack, and confirmed to their lordships the fact of the admission of the new peer. Besides, he detailed the circumstances.
"How wonderful!" said Lord Dorchester. "I was talking to the Bishop of Ely all the while."
The young Earl of Annesley addressed old Lord Eure, who had but two years more to live, as he died in 1707.
"My Lord Eure."
"My Lord Annesley."
"Did you know Lord Linnæus Clancharlie?"
"A man of bygone days. Yes I did."
"He died in Switzerland?"
"Yes; we were relations."
"He was a republican under Cromwell, and remained a republican under Charles II.?"
"A republican? Not at all! He was sulking. He had a personal quarrel with the king. I know from good authority that Lord Clancharlie would have returned to his allegiance, if they had given him the office of Chancellor, which Lord Hyde held."
"You astonish me, Lord Eure. I had heard that Lord Clancharlie was an honest politician."
"An honest politician! does such a thing exist? Young man, there is no such thing."
"And Cato?"
"Oh, you believe in Cato, do you?"
"And Aristides?"
"They did well to exile him."
"And Thomas More?"
"They did well to cut off his head."
"And in your opinion Lord Clancharlie was a man as you describe. As for a man remaining in exile, why, it is simply ridiculous."
"He died there."
"An ambitious man disappointed?"
"You ask if I knew him? I should think so indeed. I was his dearest friend."
"Do you know, Lord Eure, that he married when in Switzerland?"
"I am pretty sure of it."
"And that he had a lawful heir by that marriage?"
"Yes; who is dead."
"Who is living."
"Living?"
"Living."
"Impossible!"
"It is a fact – proved, authenticated, confirmed, registered."
"Then that son will inherit the Clancharlie peerage?"
"He is not going to inherit it."
The arrival of the peers who had come in late had wakened them up. These lords had brought news. It was strange that the peers who had been there at the opening of the sitting knew nothing of what had occurred, while those who had not been there knew all about it. Several lords had come from Windsor.
For some hours past the adventures of Gwynplaine had been the subject of conversation. A secret is a net; let one mesh drop, and the whole goes to pieces. In the morning, in consequence of the incidents related above, the whole story of a peer found on the stage, and of a mountebank become a lord, had burst forth at Windsor in Royal places. The princes had talked about it, and then the lackeys. From the Court the news soon reached the town. Events have a weight, and the mathematical rule of velocity, increasing in proportion to the squares of the distance, applies to them. They fall upon the public, and work themselves through it with the most astounding rapidity. At seven o'clock no one in London had caught wind of the story; by eight Gwynplaine was the talk of the town. Only the lords who had been so punctual that they were present before the assembling of the House were ignorant of the circumstances, not having been in the town when the matter was talked of by every one, and having been in the House, where nothing had been perceived. Seated quietly on their benches, they were addressed by the eager newcomers.
"Well!" said Francis Brown, Viscount Montacute, to the Marquis of Dorchester.
"What?"
"Is it possible?"
"What?"
"The Laughing Man!"
"Who is the Laughing Man?"
"Don't you know the Laughing Man?"
"No."
"He is a clown, a fellow performing at fairs. He has an extraordinary face, which people gave a penny to look at. A mountebank."
"Well, what then?"
"You have just installed him as a peer of England."
"You are the laughing man, my Lord Montacute!"
"I am not laughing, my Lord Dorchester."
Lord Montacute made a sign to the Clerk of the Parliament, who rose from his woolsack, and confirmed to their lordships the fact of the admission of the new peer. Besides, he detailed the circumstances.
"How wonderful!" said Lord Dorchester. "I was talking to the Bishop of Ely all the while."
The young Earl of Annesley addressed old Lord Eure, who had but two years more to live, as he died in 1707.
"My Lord Eure."
"My Lord Annesley."
"Did you know Lord Linnæus Clancharlie?"
"A man of bygone days. Yes I did."
"He died in Switzerland?"
"Yes; we were relations."
"He was a republican under Cromwell, and remained a republican under Charles II.?"
"A republican? Not at all! He was sulking. He had a personal quarrel with the king. I know from good authority that Lord Clancharlie would have returned to his allegiance, if they had given him the office of Chancellor, which Lord Hyde held."
"You astonish me, Lord Eure. I had heard that Lord Clancharlie was an honest politician."
"An honest politician! does such a thing exist? Young man, there is no such thing."
"And Cato?"
"Oh, you believe in Cato, do you?"
"And Aristides?"
"They did well to exile him."
"And Thomas More?"
"They did well to cut off his head."
"And in your opinion Lord Clancharlie was a man as you describe. As for a man remaining in exile, why, it is simply ridiculous."
"He died there."
"An ambitious man disappointed?"
"You ask if I knew him? I should think so indeed. I was his dearest friend."
"Do you know, Lord Eure, that he married when in Switzerland?"
"I am pretty sure of it."
"And that he had a lawful heir by that marriage?"
"Yes; who is dead."
"Who is living."
"Living?"
"Living."
"Impossible!"
"It is a fact – proved, authenticated, confirmed, registered."
"Then that son will inherit the Clancharlie peerage?"
"He is not going to inherit it."
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Последний отзыв
В борьбе за власть есть первые; есть вторые; и есть 6ыдло (из канала BS "Без Слёз").
- Вторые всегда стремятся стать первыми. Но ресурсы власти – у п...
Далее