On the
whole, too, when they came to talk the matter over quietly among
themselves, they were not sorry that Varney had taken himself off in the
way he had, for really it was a great release; and, as he had couched
his farewell in words which signified it was a final one, they were
inclined to think that he must have left England, and that it was not
likely they should ever again encounter him, under any circumstances
whatever. It was to be considered quite as a whim of the old admiral's, the
changing of Charles Holland's name to Bell; but, as Charles himself said
when the subject was broached to him,--"I am so well content to be
called whatever those to whom I feel affection think proper, that I give
up my name of Holland without a pang, willingly adopting in its stead
one that has always been hallowed in my remembrance with the best and
kindest recollections." And thus this affair was settled, much to the satisfaction of Flora, who
was quite as well content to be called Mrs. Bell as to be called Mrs.
Holland, since the object of her attachment remained the same. The
wedding was really fixed for the week after that which followed the
conversation we have recorded; but the admiral was not at all disposed
to allow Flora and his nephew Charles to get through such an important
period of their lives without some greater demonstration and show than
could be made from the little cottage where they dwelt; and consequently
he wished that they should leave that and proceed at once to a larger
mansion, which he had his eye upon a few miles off, and which was to be
had furnished for a time, at the pleasure of any one. "And we won't shut ourselves up," said the admiral; "but we will find
out all the Christian-like people in the neighbourhood, and invite them
to the wedding, and we will have a jolly good breakfast together, and
lots of music, and a famous lunch; and, after that, a dinner, and then a
dance, and all that sort of thing; so that there shall be no want of
fun." As may be well supposed, both Charles and Flora shrunk from so public an
affair; but, as the old man had evidently set his heart upon it, they
did not like to say they positively would not; so, after a vain attempt
to dissuade him from removing at all from the cottage until they removed
for good, they gave up the point to him, and he had it all his own way. He took the house, for one month, which had so taken his fancy, and
certainly a pretty enough place it was, although they found out
afterwards, that why it was he was so charmed with it consisted in the
fact that it bore the name of a vessel which he had once commanded; but
this they did not know until a long time afterwards, when it slipped out
by mere accident. They stipulated with the admiral that there should not be more than
twenty guests at the breakfast which was to succeed the marriage
ceremony; and to that he acceded; but Henry whispered to Charles
Holland,--

"I know this public wedding to be distasteful to you, and most
particularly do I know it is distasteful to Flora; so, if you do not
mind playing a trick upon the old man, I can very easily put you in the
way of cheating him entirely." "Indeed; I should like to hear, and, what is more, I should like to
practise, if you think it will not so entirely offend him as to make him
implacable." "Not at all, not at all; he will laugh himself, when he comes to know
it, as much as any of us; the present difficulty will be to procure
Flora's connivance; but that we must do the best way we can by
persuasion." What this scheme was will ultimately appear; but, certain it is, that
the old admiral had no suspicion of what was going on, and proceeded to
make all his arrangements accordingly. From his first arrival in the market town--in the neighbourhood of which
was Bannerworth Hall--it will be recollected that he had taken a great
fancy to the lawyer, in whose name a forged letter had been sent him,
informing him of the fact that his nephew, Charles Holland, intended
marrying into a family of vampyres. It was this letter, as the reader is aware, which brought the old
admiral and Jack Pringle into the neighbourhood of the Hall; and,
although it was a manoeuvre to get rid of Charles Holland, which failed
most signally, there can be no doubt but that such a letter was the
production of Sir Francis Varney, and that he wrote it for the express
purpose of getting rid of Charles from the Hall, who had begun
materially to interfere with his plans and projects there. After some conversation with himself, the admiral thought that this
lawyer would be just the man to recommend the proper sort of people to
be invited to the wedding of Charles and Flora; so he wrote to him,
inviting himself to dinner, and received back a very gracious reply from
the lawyer, who declared that the honour of entertaining a gentleman
whom he so much respected as Admiral Bell, was greater than he had a
right to expect by a great deal, and that he should feel most grateful
for his company, and await his coming with the greatest impatience. "A devilish civil fellow, that attorney," said the admiral, as he put
the letter in his pocket, "and almost enough to put one in conceit of
lawyers." "Yes," said Jack Pringle, who had overheard the admiral read the letter. "Yes, we will honour him; and I only hope he will have plenty of grog;
because, you see, if he don't--D--n it! what's that? Can't you keep
things to yourself?" This latter exclamation arose from the fact that the admiral was so
indignant at Jack for listening to what he had been saying, as to throw
a leaden inkstand, that happened to be upon the table, at his head. "You mutinous swab!" he said, "cannot a gentleman ask me to dinner, or
cannot I ask myself, without you putting your spoke in the windlass, you
vagabond?" "Oh! well," said Jack, "if you are out of temper about it, I had better
send my mark to the lawyer, and tell him that we won't come, as it has
made some family differences." "Family, you thief!" said the admiral. "What do you mean? What family do
you think would own you? D--n me, if I don't think you came over in some
strange ship. But, I tell you what it is, if you interfere in this
matter, I'll be hanged if I don't blow your brains out." "And you'll be hanged if you do," said Jack, as he walked out of the
room; "so it's all one either way, old fizgig." "What!" roared the admiral, as he sprang up and ran after Jack. "Have I
lived all these years to be called names in my own ship--I mean my own
house? What does the infernal rascal mean by it?" The admiral, no doubt, would have pursued Jack very closely, had not
Flora intercepted him, and, by gentle violence, got him back to the
room.