University of Virginia Library

6. CHAPTER VI.

Barlow.

The wound which my brother received
from Hubert in attempting my rescue, was
serious; it passed through his body near the
right breast; he fell, bereaved of sense and
motion. The Count was also wounded in
the head by the discharge of Du Ruyter's
pistol, the ball glancing off without fracturing
the bone; stunned for the moment, he likewise
fell; a conflict then ensued between the
servants of each party, when perceiving the
Driscols approaching with lanterns, they fled;

each bore their master to his respective chariot,
and drove speedily away.

By the time his people had conveyed him
home, the Count revived; his first inquiry
was for me. In the bustle and confusion I
had not been thought of; no one could give
any account of me. He ordered his men
back to the place where the fracas happened;
I was then at Driscol's cottage, of course
they returned without making any discovery.
Concluding that I had by some means effected
my escape with Bergher, he sent his servants
out to search in every quarter, and to
scour every road leading from the metropolis;
nor was it until the next morning, when
Bergher appeared before him, that Hubert
perceived his mistake. Throughout the day
I was strictly sought in all parts of the city
and its suburbs.

It was but a few moments after Bergher
had escaped from prison, when the visiting officers
returned and found he was gone, but by
what means could not be discovered; the alarm
being immediately made, troops were despatched
to all the passes, as has been related.

The next day the centinel who was knocked
down by Bergher, on attempting to stop us by
seizing the horses' bridles, related the particulars
of that event. But we could be traced
no farther; nor could the informer identify
the person from whom he received the stroke.

The wound which Hubert received from
Bergher was considered mortal; the latter
was therefore advertised as a deserter and a
murderer.

The officer whom Bergher had disarmed on
the road, and who was so much injured by
the falling of his horse, languished for a considerable
time before he recovered so as to
give any correct detail of the recounter: but
soon as he was able to tell his story, the route
which we had taken was known, and without
much difficulty traced, by intelligence gained
from the peasant and his son, who conveyed
the maimed officer to the village. The brother
of Count Hubert with a body of soldiers
instantly commenced the pursuit; William
Driscol volunteered in the party, determining
if possible to apprize Bergher of their designs
before they could arrest him, should
they discover his retreat; by inquiry and description

they followed our track to Paris, but
there they lost us. Application was made
to the police, who granted orders for taking
the names and qualifications of all strangers
in the city; among others, the character of
Mons. Bourgonville was considered suspicious;
spies were set to watch the house,
and Bergher was seen standing at the door by
the brother of Hubert; of this the party were
instantly notified, and arrangements made
for securing us; but before this could be effected
William Driscol found means to deliver
the note to our servant, as previously stated.

We had but just left the house when the
soldiers, headed by the public officers, rushed
in; the astonished servants, who informed
them that we had been gone out but a few
minutes and would soon be back, were secured.
The party remained there until day-light,
when it was conjectured that we had
discovered the plot and escaped. Again
search was made for us throughout the city
and adjoining country for several days, and
couriers despatched on all the roads, but no
vestiges of our flight could be ascertained.
Hubert's brother, with William Driscol and a

few of his followers, then crossed over to England;
this produced the notification from the
Austrian minister, which Bergher discovered
in season to secure his flight. The result of
the investigation in England proving ineffectual,
the pursuit was suspended, and the party
returned to Vienna; the friends of Count
Hubert contenting themselves with extending
the advertisement for Bergher's apprehension
through all the countries of Europe.

The distress of my father can scarcely be
imagined on seeing his son brought home
wounded, as was supposed, mortally, and when
on the following day he understood that Hubert
had fallen in an encounter with Bergher,
and suspecting also that I, who he found was
missing, had absconded with him. It was indeed
reported that both Du Ruyter and the
Count were dead, which report was circulated
by the friends of the latter, in order to stimulate
the pursuit, and accelerate the apprehension of
Bergher: on this rumour Driscol founded the
story he related in my hearing at the cottage;
nor was it known either to Bergher or myself
but that the facts were true, until the late arrival
of my brother. The Baron previous to his
receiving positive information of my departure

from Vienna, instituted a strict inquiry to
discover the place of my retreat.

A fever and delirium increased the alarming
symptoms attending my brother's wound.
Several days elapsed before he recovered the
use of his reason; the first rational sentence
he pronounced was to inquire for his sister;
of all that was publicly known he was informed.
Hubert's minions with his brother were
then in pursuit of us. Du Ruyter instantly
called my father to his bed-side.—“Selina,”
said he, “is the wife of Bergher—proclaim
this immediately and save the reputation of
your house.” He then gave the Baron a circumstantial
account of the transaction, who,
tenaciously fond of family dignity, ordered
our marriage to be announced in the public
gazettes.

The servant who had been dismissed by
Bergher when he escaped from prison, appeared
before the Baron and Du Ruyter to whom
he related the events of that night. Old
Driscol was sent for, who confirmed the story,
and gave further information respecting the affair,
still keeping the agency of himself and
William out of view, of which the servant
knew nothing material.

My maid was still retained in the service
of Lady Du Ruyter; in a severe fit of illness,
approaching death aroused her to a consciousness
of guilt; to my brother she made a voluntary
confession. As we conjectured, she
had been seduced to betray me by the advancement
of large sums, and the promise of
still greater rewards. The note which she
pretended to have received from Du Ruyter's
footman, was the contrivance of my step-mother
and the forgery of Hubert, who designed
to have taken me to his country-seat, and there
to offer me the alternative of his hand or a
public exposure of my intended elopement.
Lady Du Ruyter was to manage the Baron
respecting the affair, from whom the plan was
kept secret.

On the return of the party sent in pursuit of
us, William Driscol related to Du Ruyter
the particular incidents of their journey; how
they had discovered and would have arrested
us in Paris, had he not secretly apprized us of
our danger; and of our sudden flight from
that city, which was the last he had heard
of us.

When my brother's health was restored,
understanding that the Count had also recovered,
he gave him notice that as their contemplated
meeting had been too long suspended
by unforeseen events, it was indispensible
that he should now name an early
season for that purpose; Hubert returned a
note in which this short sentence was only
written—“You shall soon hear from me.”

The succeeding day another note came
from the Count equally laconic; “I am now
ready to give you satisfaction;” it said,
“meet me within half an hour at the Stranger's
Hotel, north of the city.” Thither Du
Ruyter repaired with his friend. As they entered
the Hotel, Hubert's footman met them,
with marks of deep dejection upon his countenance.

“Where is your master?” demanded my
brother.

“He is in that room, dying,” said the man,
pointing to a door.

“Dying?”

“Yes, your honour, dying,” replied the
servant, “and has directed me to conduct you
to him.”

They followed the man into the room, where
they found the Count, pale, ghastly and bleeding,
supported by his brother and a surgeon.
He lifted his haggard eyes and fixing them
upon Du Ruyter—“The business is accomplished
without your agency,” he said in a
faint, hollow voice, “as you must readily
perceive; but at this moment your presence
is necessary for important purposes, and therefore
have I called you. Here are letters
which I entrust to your care.” He then gave
my brother three letters; one directed to himself,
another to the Baron, the third was for
the Emperor. “My request is,” he continued,
“that you neither read your own nor
present the others until tomorrow. And now,
if I may be permitted to ask another favour,
it is that you will give me your hand in token
of forgiveness. I can say but little—my time
is short even for that.”

Du Ruyter instantly reached out his hand,
which the dying man seized with convulsive
grasp. “My faults have been many,” he resumed;

“your family I have deeply injured
—all I could do as atonement in the short
space allotted me—I have executed. And
now—adieu!” said he, as some of his friends
entered the room with a clergyman, when my
brother and his friend departed, and in a few
hours they received the intelligence that
Count Hubert had expired.

The ensuing day Du Ruyter delivered the
two letters as directed, and opened his own
in which the Count had written the particulars
of his conduct relative to Bergher and myself,
and which in all points accorded with the
dying confession of my maid. He also stated
that his letter to the Emperor contained a solemn
request that the proscriptions against
Bergher should be recalled, he invited to return,
and restored to his honours. That to
the Baron was of similar import, earnestly
enjoining him to reinstate his daughter completely
in his favour.

Within a few days an imperial edict was issued,
declaring Col. Herman Bergher entirely
innocent of and fully exculpated from all the
crimes and misdemeanours which had been
alledged against him, inviting and requesting

him to return and take his post as general in
the Austrian army, to which the Emperor
had seen fit to advance him in consequence of
his abilities and meritorious services.

Hubert had fallen in a duel. Besides his
engagement with my brother he had received
two challenges; one from a gentleman whose
sister he had dishonoured and abandoned to
misery; the other from Col. Hembold, the
officer selected by Du Ruyter as his friend in
the proposed interview with the Count, as before
stated; who, on hearing Hubert declaim
against Bergher in public company, defended
his character and attempted a justification of
his conduct; high words ensued; they parted
in anger, and the next morning the Count
received a message.

Both interviews were fixed for the same
day, one in the morning, the other in the
afternoon. Hubert fell in the first, by the
hand of the person whose sister he had so seriously
injured. It was after these arrangements
were made, and the day previous to the
meeting, that he received Du Ruyter's note
and thereto returned so short an answer.
Probably his intentions then were, should he

prove victorious in the first encounter, to
fight all three in succession; but the sudden
approach of death through the avenues of a
mortal wound might have given him new
views on the subject, or at least excited new
apprehensions.

Couriers were immediately despatched into
all the different countries of Europe to discover
our retreat and to call us home; as
they passed through the great towns and cities
they caused the Emperor's edict to be published
in the principal gazettes, and in various
languages, with the offer of large rewards
to whoever could give information by
which we might be found. One after another
the messengers returned unsuccessful, to the
great grief of my father and the deep disappointment
of our friends. All Vienna became
interested in our misfortune and sincerely lamented
our fate. The Emperor was seriously
afflicted and withdrew his favour from the
family of Hubert.

Du Ruyter determined to set out in search
of us; the brother of the deceased Hubert
asked leave to accompany him. They commenced
their journey, each attended by a servant

only. It was conjectured that on finding
so hot a pursuit and such severe proscriptions
instituted and enforced against us, we had
fled to America, as emigrations to that country
were frequent; they believed that if we
were still in Europe, some gazette containing
the notification respecting Bergher must fall
into our hands, and that consequently we
should return to Vienna. The travellers therefore
pursued their way to Paris, and after a
fruitless inquiry there, extended the investigation
through all parts of Great Britain and
Ireland with the same effect. They then agreed
to part; Hubert sailed for America
and Du Ruyter for the West Indies.

Hubert arrived at Boston at the time he
was recognized by Bergher and myself, and
which caused our sudden flight into the
country. He also saw us, and had as he believed
discovered our retreat; but after the
most inquisitive search in all the populous
parts of the town without gaining the least
intelligence respecting us, he concluded he
must have been mistaken. He then pursued
the inquiry to the city of New-York, where
he was to await the arrival of my brother.

The latter, after traversing the West-India
Islands and some parts of the southern continent,
sailed to Savannah in Georgia; thence
prosecuting his journey northward he stopped
at the different towns through which he passed,
frequently making excursions to country
villages, in hopes of obtaining some information
relative to the object of his pursuit. He
reached New-York, and with Hubert proceeded
to Albany; they then crossed the country,
taking Hartford in their way, to Boston. They
had caused to be inserted in most of the American
gazettes, the edict of the Emperor in the
German, French and English languages, with
a notice offering high rewards for information
respecting us, and stating that Du Ruyter was
in America, and might be found at a particular
house in Boston, where he had left his address
in case we should apply in his absence.

Remote as we then were from all the sources
and every channel of intelligence and information;
seated in the midst of wilderness, surrounded
by penury, impelled to hard labour for
subsistence, and distant from any conspicuous
town, no gazette found its way into our log-hut
neighbourhood. Most of the peasants were
too poor to pay for them; others too much engaged

in daily avocations, and some too ignorant
to read; indeed very few possessed the
curiosity. As for ourselves, we were content
to remain buried to the world, and felt a
reluctance to know even what was passing
therein, confident that we could learn nothing
which would tend to increase our comfort or
our happiness. Hence the imperial edict with
the publications which accompanied it never
reached us; and hence the most scrutinizing
inquiries and investigations of our friends
could never discover us.

My brother was unwilling to relinquish the
pursuit, especially after Hubert informed him
of the glance he supposed he obtained of us
in the streets of Boston; the idea still pressed
upon his mind that Hubert was not mistaken
in his conjecture; he of course frequently
wandered about the town and its environs, and
through Charlestown, examining into every
inn, boarding-house, and all places of public
resort.

Entering an ale-house one day, he as usual
inquired whether any stranger had resided in
that street within a year past. The people appeared
to have some imperfect remembrance

of a person who had kept a shop and retailed
goods there for a short time, and they referred
him to the owner of the tenement, on whom he
immediately called: this was Hammond the
auctioneer. He informed Du Ruyter at what
time he had rented to us certain premises, and
when we left them; that we were poor and
unfortunate; whether we were Americans or
foreigners he could not tell, nor could he give
any very accurate description of our persons.
He did not even recollect our names: when my
brother mentioned Bergher, he rather thought
that was the name, but would not be positive;
we had sold him what little furniture we possessed,
and left town in a waggon; but whither
we went he knew not; he had never heard of
us thereafter. This was indeed all he knew
of us.

So imperfect was this intelligence that Du
Ruyter doubted whether the persons thus described
could be his friend and sister; still,
as it was merely possible, he and his companion
again made excursions through the
country towns and villages, but could learn
nothing farther respecting the subject of their
anxiety.

Trusting that if we were in America some
of the gazettes containing the imperial edict
with the note attached thereto must reach us,
and that in consequence thereof we should, as
the note directed, immediately repair to Boston,
they remained in that town about a year,
and then concluded to return home. But before
they departed my brother had another interview
with Hammond; “I have some reason,”
said he, “to believe that the people who
rented your tenements are those I have been
seeking. If therefore you can possibly find
them out, and will apprize a gentleman I shall
name in this town of the circumstance, you
shall be entitled to receive from him the reward
of one thousand dollars, provided the
persons discovered be the same I allude to
and whom I have so long sought.” Hammond
took down Bergher's name and engaged
to make every effort in his power to find us, or
the persons at least who had been his tenants.
The gentleman whom Du Ruyter named as
a reference, and with whom he had made the
proper arrangements, was an eminent German
merchant who had long resided in Boston.

They then took their departure with only
the solitary hope remaining that we were still

in Europe, had received the intelligence of
the change in our favour, and that they should
experience the satisfaction of meeting us at
Vienna.

But how deep their disappointment on arriving
at that city! We were now given up as
lost. It was generally supposed that we had
perished in crossing the seas to some distant
country.

Disconsolate and dejected, my brother entered
into the Emperor's service, and renewed
war soon called him abroad. He was absent
except in short visits for some years. When
on the cessation of hostilities he returned
home, he found, to increase his affliction, that
the extravagance and dissipatious conduct of
Lady Du Ruyter had involved the Baron's estate
beyond the possibility of redemption.
By the advice of his son, my father commenced
a retrenchment of his expenditures,
but it was too late; the mortgages were so
heavy and the creditors so pressing that his
entire possessions were finally sold to satisfy
the demands. His lady, thus checked in her
dissolute career and no longer able to shine in
public, withdrew in chagrin from the world,

fell into a decline, and within one year thereafter
was conveyed to the tomb.

My father retired with his son to the Saxon
estates of the latter; there he passed the remainder
of his life in as much comfort and
serenity as his troubles and the infirmities attending
increasing years would admit, and
died at an advanced age, when my brother
succeeded to the title of Baron Du Ruyter.

My sisters were prosperous and lived in
splendour. Their families are of the first
distinction in Germany.

Du Ruyter made ample provision for the
Driscol family. William followed the army,
and in due time was advanced to the command
of the regiment of Bergher.

It is now about two years since a gentleman
travelling to the westward arrived here during
a heavy storm, and tarried with us a few days
until the weather proved more favourable, and
the roads passable, which were rendered unsafe
by the flood. Finding he was from Boston,
Bergher made some inquiries concerning
Hammond the auctioneer; the stranger was
well acquainted with him; he had become a

merchant of some distinction. Bergher informed
his guest that he had once for a short
time rented tenements of this person. These
observations passed in the course of general
conversation, and were not by us called into
remembrance after the traveller departed.

Now it is known that when the gentleman
returned to Boston, he casually informed Hammond
of the circumstance and also of the
place where we resided, who being struck by
the name of Bergher, had recourse to his
memorandum and found it to be the same my
brother had mentioned. He then communicated
the intelligence to the German merchant to
whom Du Ruyter referred him, who wrote to
the Austrian minister in England and he despatched
a courier to my brother with the news.

Du Ruyter instantly determined to visit us
and made the necessary preparations for his
departure. Having never married, his family
consisted only of servants and attendants.
He appointed the steward superintendant
of affairs in his absence, arranged all other
matters, apprized his friends of his intentions
and set out for this country. Arriving
at Boston he obtained the necessary directions

and reached us in due season. His first
wishes were that we should return with him
to Germany and reside with our friends; but
finding we were so well established here, and
perceiving our attachment to the country, he
has relinquished that prospect, determining
however to remain a length of time with us
before he returns to the place of his nativity.

You now, Miss Bloomfield, have the eventful
story of my past life. You must perceive
that I have experienced severe distress, encountered
formidable calamities and suffered
deep afflictions. Providence has at length
kindly given me a haven of rest, and in great
mercy crowned my latter days with comfort,
serenity and peace. The restoration of my
brother as from the tomb has freed my soul
from a load of sorrows. His explication of
events to us so important and hitherto involved
in mystery, relieved our minds from a weight
of cares. Our long tempest of troubles has
ceased, and Heaven, more beneficent than our
deserts, or even our expectations, has once
more caused the sun of consolation to shine
mildly upon our prospects.

Here ended the interesting narrative of
Mrs. Bergher. Melissa reflected solemnly
on the subject. She perceived to what misfortunes
an opposition to parental authority
must lead, and also the dreadful effects of parental
tyranny. Had the conduct of Mrs.
Bergher been discrete? Was that of her father
justifiable? Both, it appeared to her, had acted
wrong; yet she could not clearly discover what
course the former should have pursued; but
she saw plainly the disastrous consequences of
permitting the affections to triumph over reason,
and she involuntarily though feelingly
exclaimed, “O my God! preserve me from
trials similar to these!”

Before she returned the manuscript she
transcribed it and intrusted its perusal to her
parents, by which a singular fact was discovered:
Barker, the father of Bergher, was
an Englishman, as has been mentioned; he
was the uncle of Melissa's mother, who descended
from an English family of that name,
the members of which were well acquainted
with the circumstance of Barker's going over
to Germany, but they knew nothing farther
than that he married a lady of that country,
and after her death entered the Austrian service,

where he perished. They understood
he had one son, who was also in the army,
but had never heard of the alteration made
in the name. The narrative elucidated these
events. Barker abandoned England on account
of being disappointed in receiving some
promised advancement for certain eminent
services rendered his country. After this the
families of Bloomfield and Bergher recognized
each other as relatives, and a more intimate
intercourse existed between them.