Page 343 - A Jacobite Exile

The next morning he and Charlie rode over to Rockley.

"Oh, Marmaduke," cried Celia, "I am happy indeed to know that you are
back again. I have never known a day's happiness since you went."

"Well, don't let us think any more about it, Celia," Sir Marmaduke said, as
he kissed her tenderly. "Let us look on it all as an ugly dream. It has not

been without its advantages, as far as we are concerned. It has taken me out
of myself, and broadened my view of things. I have not had at all an

unpleasant time of it in Sweden, and shall enjoy my home all the more,
now that I have been away from it for a while. As to Charlie, it has made a
man of him. He has gained a great deal of credit, and had opportunities of

showing that he is made of good stuff; and now he enters upon life with
every advantage, and has a start, indeed, such as very few young fellows

can have. He enters our army as a captain, under the eye of Marlborough
himself, with a reputation gained under that of the greatest soldier in
Europe.

"So we have no reason to regret the past, cousin, and on that score you have

no cause for grief. As to the future, I trust that it will be bright for both of
us, and I think," he added meaningly, "our former plans for our children are
likely to be some day realized."

Four years later, indeed, the union that both parents had at heart took place,

during one of the pauses of the fierce struggle between the British forces
under Marlborough, and the French. At Blenheim, Ramillies, and
Oudenarde, and in several long and toilsome sieges, Charlie had

distinguished himself greatly, and was regarded by Marlborough as one of
the most energetic and trustworthy of his officers. He had been twice

severely wounded, and had gained the rank of colonel. Harry Jervoise--who
had had a leg shot away, below the knee, by a cannonball at Ramillies, and
had then left the army with the rank of major--was, on the same day as his

friend, married to the daughter of one of the gentlemen who had been
driven into exile with his father.