Springhaven | Page 2

divers tales are told, according
to the good-will or otherwise of the diver. The Darlings themselves
contend and prove that stock and name are Saxon, and the true form of
the name is "Deerlung," as witness the family bearings. But the foes of

the race, and especially the Carnes, of ancient Sussex lineage, declare
that the name describes itself. Forsooth, these Darlings are nothing
more, to their contemptuous certainty, than the offset of some court
favorite, too low to have won nobility, in the reign of some
light-affectioned king.
If ever there was any truth in that, it has been worn out long ago by
friction of its own antiquity. Admiral Darling owns that gate, and all
the land inside it, as far as a Preventive man can see with his spy-glass
upon the top bar of it. And this includes nearly all the village of
Springhaven, and the Hall, and the valley, and the hills that make it.
And how much more does all this redound to the credit of the family
when the gazer reflects that this is nothing but their younger tenement!
For this is only Springhaven Hall, while Darling Holt, the headquarters
of the race, stands far inland, and belongs to Sir Francis, the Admiral's
elder brother.
When the tides were at their spring, and the year 1802 of our era in the
same condition, Horatia Dorothy Darling, younger daughter of the
aforesaid Admiral, choosing a very quiet path among thick shrubs and
under-wood, came all alone to a wooden building, which her father
called his Round-house. In the war, which had been patched over now,
but would very soon break out again, that veteran officer held
command of the coast defense (westward of Nelson's charge) from
Beachy Head to Selsey Bill. No real danger had existed then, and no
solid intent of invasion, but many sharp outlooks had been set up, and
among them was this at Springhaven.
Here was established under thatch, and with sliding lights before it, the
Admiral's favorite Munich glass, mounted by an old ship's carpenter
(who had followed the fortunes of his captain) on a stand which would
have puzzled anybody but the maker, with the added security of a
lanyard from the roof. The gear, though rough, was very strong and
solid, and afforded more range and firmer rest to the seven-feet tube
and adjustments than a costly mounting by a London optician would
have been likely to supply. It was a pleasure to look through such a
glass, so clear, and full of light, and firm; and one who could have

borne to be looked at through it, or examined even by a microscope,
came now to enjoy that pleasure.
Miss Dolly Darling could not be happy--though her chief point was to
be so--without a little bit of excitement, though it were of her own
construction. Her imagination, being bright and tender and lively,
rather than powerful, was compelled to make its own material, out of
very little stuff sometimes. She was always longing for something
sweet and thrilling and romantic, and what chance of finding it in this
dull place, even with the longest telescope? For the war, with all its
stirring rumors and perpetual motion on shore and sea, and access of
gallant visitors, was gone for the moment, and dull peace was signed.
This evening, as yet, there seemed little chance of anything to enliven
her. The village, in the valley and up the stream, was hidden by turns of
the land and trees; her father's house beneath the hill crest was out of
sight and hearing; not even a child was on the beach; and the only
movement was of wavelets leisurely advancing toward the sea-wall
fringed with tamarisk. The only thing she could hope to see was the
happy return of the fishing- smacks, and perhaps the "London trader,"
inasmuch as the fishermen (now released from fencible duty and from
French alarm) did their best to return on Saturday night to their
moorings, their homes, the disposal of fish, and then the deep slumber
of Sunday. If the breeze should enable them to round the Head, and the
tide avail for landing, the lane to the village, the beach, and even the
sea itself would swarm with life and bustle and flurry and incident. But
Dolly's desire was for scenes more warlike and actors more august than
these.
Beauty, however, has an eye for beauty beyond its own looking- glass.
Deeply as Dolly began to feel the joy of her own loveliness, she had
managed to learn, and to feel as well, that so far as the strength and
vigor of beauty may compare with its grace and refinement, she had her
own match at Springhaven. Quite a hardworking youth, of no social
position and