Endymion | Page 8

one of them said to
Mrs. Ferrars, "Your son's name is very pretty, but it is very uncommon,
is it not?"
"'Tis a family name. The first Carey who bore it was a courtier of
Charles the First, and we have never since been without it. William
wanted our boy to be christened Pomeroy but I was always resolved, if

I ever had a son, that he should be named ENDYMION."

CHAPTER IV
About the time that the ladies rose from the dinner-table in Hill Street,
Mr. Sidney Wilton entered the hall of the Clarendon Hotel, and
murmured an inquiry of the porter. Whereupon a bell was rung, and
soon a foreign servant appeared, and bowing, invited Mr. Wilton to
ascend the staircase and follow him. Mr. Wilton was ushered through
an ante- chamber into a room of some importance, lofty and decorated,
and obviously adapted for distinguished guests. On a principal table a
desk was open and many papers strewn about. Apparently some person
had only recently been writing there. There were in the room several
musical instruments; the piano was open, there was a harp and a guitar.
The room was rather dimly lighted, but cheerful from the steady blaze
of the fire, before which Mr. Wilton stood, not long alone, for an
opposite door opened, and a lady advanced leading with her left hand a
youth of interesting mien, and about twelve years of age. The lady was
fair and singularly thin. It seemed that her delicate hand must really be
transparent. Her cheek was sunk, but the expression of her large brown
eyes was inexpressibly pleasing. She wore her own hair, once the most
celebrated in Europe, and still uncovered. Though the prodigal richness
of the tresses had disappeared, the arrangement was still striking from
its grace. That rare quality pervaded the being of this lady, and it was
impossible not to be struck with her carriage as she advanced to greet
her guest; free from all affectation and yet full of movement and
gestures, which might have been the study of painters.
"Ah!" she exclaimed as she gave him her hand, which he pressed to his
lips, "you are ever faithful."
Seating themselves, she continued, "You have not seen my boy since
he sate upon your knee. Florestan, salute Mr. Wilton, your mother's
most cherished friend."
"This is a sudden arrival," said Mr. Wilton.

"Well, they would not let us rest," said the lady. "Our only refuge was
Switzerland, but I cannot breathe among the mountains, and so, after a
while, we stole to an obscure corner of the south, and for a time we
were tranquil. But soon the old story: representations, remonstrances,
warnings, and threats, appeals to Vienna, and lectures from Prince
Metternich, not the less impressive because they were courteous, and
even gallant."
"And had nothing occurred to give a colour to such complaints? Or was
it sheer persecution?"
"Well, you know," replied the lady, "we wished to remain quiet and
obscure; but where the lad is, they will find him out. It often astonishes
me. I believe if we were in the centre of a forest in some Indian isle,
with no companions but monkeys and elephants, a secret agent would
appear--some devoted victim of our family, prepared to restore our
fortunes and renovate his own. I speak the truth to you always. I have
never countenanced these people; I have never encouraged them; but it
is impossible rudely to reject the sympathy of those who, after all, are
your fellow-sufferers, and some of who have given proof of even
disinterested devotion. For my own part, I have never faltered in my
faith, that Florestan would some day sit on the throne of his father, dark
as appears to be our life; but I have never much believed that the great
result could be occasioned or precipitated by intrigues, but rather by
events more powerful than man, and led on by that fatality in which his
father believed."
"And now you think of remaining here?" said Mr. Wilton.
"No," said the lady, "that I cannot do. I love everything in this country
except its climate and, perhaps, its hotels. I think of trying the south of
Spain, and fancy, if quite alone, I might vegetate there unnoticed. I
cannot bring myself altogether to quit Europe. I am, my dear Sidney,
intensely European. But Spain is not exactly the country I should fix
upon to form kings and statesmen. And this is the point on which I
wish to consult you. I want Florestan to receive an English education,
and I want you to put me in the way of accomplishing this. It might be
convenient, under such circumstances, that he should not obtrude his

birth--perhaps, that it should be concealed. He has many