Catherine: A Story | Page 7

that very day."
To this no direct reply was made; but the Doctor looked at Mrs. Dobbs,
and Mrs. Dobbs and the rest of the children at her eldest son, who
grinned and said, "Isn't it wonderful?" The Corporal to this answered
nothing, but, resuming his account, pointed to the other horse and said,
"THAT horse, sir--good as mine is--that horse, with the silver stirrups,
is his Excellency's horse, Captain Count Maximilian Gustavus
Adolphus von Galgenstein, captain of horse and of the Holy Roman
Empire" (he lifted here his hat with much gravity, and all the crowd,
even to the parson, did likewise). "We call him 'George of Denmark,'
sir, in compliment to Her Majesty's husband: he is Blenheim too, sir;
Marshal Tallard rode him on that day, and you know how HE was
taken prisoner by the Count."
"George of Denmark, Marshal Tallard, William of Nassau! this is
strange indeed, most wonderful! Why, sir, little are you aware that

there are before you, AT THIS MOMENT, two other living beings who
bear these venerated names! My boys, stand forward! Look here, sir:
these children have been respectively named after our late sovereign
and the husband of our present Queen."
"And very good names too, sir; ay, and very noble little fellows too;
and I propose that, with your reverence and your ladyship's leave,
William Nassau here shall ride on George of Denmark, and George of
Denmark shall ride on William of Nassau."
When this speech of the Corporal's was made, the whole crowd set up a
loyal hurrah; and, with much gravity, the two little boys were lifted up
into the saddles; and the Corporal leading one, entrusted the other to
the horse-boy, and so together marched stately up and down the green.
The popularity which Mr. Brock gained by this manoeuvre was very
great; but with regard to the names of the horses and children, which
coincided so extraordinarily, it is but fair to state, that the christening of
the quadrupeds had only taken place about two minutes before the
dragoon's appearance on the green. For if the fact must be confessed, he,
while seated near the inn window, had kept a pretty wistful eye upon all
going on without; and the horses marching thus to and fro for the
wonderment of the village, were only placards or advertisements for the
riders.
There was, besides the boy now occupied with the horses, and the
landlord and landlady of the "Bugle Inn," another person connected
with that establishment--a very smart, handsome, vain, giggling
servant-girl, about the age of sixteen, who went by the familiar name of
Cat, and attended upon the gentlemen in the parlour, while the landlady
was employed in cooking their supper in the kitchen. This young
person had been educated in the village poor-house, and having been
pronounced by Doctor Dobbs and the schoolmaster the idlest, dirtiest,
and most passionate little minx with whom either had ever had to do,
she was, after receiving a very small portion of literary instruction
(indeed it must be stated that the young lady did not know her letters),
bound apprentice at the age of nine years to Mrs. Score, her relative,
and landlady of the "Bugle Inn."

If Miss Cat, or Catherine Hall, was a slattern and a minx, Mrs. Score
was a far superior shrew; and for the seven years of her apprenticeship
the girl was completely at her mistress's mercy. Yet though wondrously
stingy, jealous, and violent, while her maid was idle and extravagant,
and her husband seemed to abet the girl, Mrs. Score put up with the
wench's airs, idleness, and caprices, without ever wishing to dismiss
her from the "Bugle." The fact is, that Miss Catherine was a great
beauty, and for about two years, since her fame had begun to spread,
the custom of the inn had also increased vastly. When there was a
debate whether the farmers, on their way from market, would take
t'other pot, Catherine, by appearing with it, would straightway cause
the liquor to be swallowed and paid for; and when the traveller who
proposed riding that night and sleeping at Coventry or Birmingham,
was asked by Miss Catherine whether he would like a fire in his
bedroom, he generally was induced to occupy it, although he might
before have vowed to Mrs. Score that he would not for a thousand
guineas be absent from home that night. The girl had, too, half-a-dozen
lovers in the village; and these were bound in honour to spend their
pence at the alehouse she inhabited. O woman, lovely woman! what
strong resolves canst thou twist round thy little finger! what gunpowder
passions canst thou kindle with a single sparkle of thine eye! what lies
and fribble nonsense canst thou make us listen to, as they