The Project Gutenberg eBook, Mr. Fortescue, by William Westall

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Title: Mr. Fortescue

Author: William Westall

Release Date: January 24, 2005 [eBook #14779]

Language: english

Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)

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MR. FORTESCUE

An Andean Romance

by

WILLIAM WESTALL

CHAPTER I.

MATCHING GREEN.

A quaint old Essex village of single-storied cottages, some ivy mantled,
with dormer windows, thatched roofs, and miniature gardens, strewed with
picturesque irregularity round as fine a green as you will find in the
county. Its normal condition is rustic peace and sleepy beatitude; and it
pursues the even tenor of its way undisturbed by anything more exciting
than a meeting of the vestry, the parish dinner, the advent of a new
curate, or the exit of one of the fathers of the hamlet.

But this morning the place is all agog, and so transformed that it hardly
knows itself. The entire population, from the oldest gaffer to the
last-born baby, is out-of-doors; the two inns are thronged with guests,
and the road is lined with all sorts and conditions of carriages, from the
four-in-hand of the wealthy swell to the donkey-cart of the local
coster-monger. From every point of the compass are trooping horsemen, some
resplendent in scarlet coats, their nether limbs clothed in immaculate
white breeches and shining top-boots, others in pan hats and brown
leggings; and all in high spirits and eager for the fray; for to-day,
according to old custom, the Essex Hunt hold the first regular meet of the
season on Matching's matchless Green.

The master is already to the fore, and now comes Tom Cuffe, the huntsman,
followed by his hounds, whose sleek skins and bright coats show that they
are "fit to go," and whose eager looks bode ill to the long-tailed
denizens of copse and covert.

It still wants a few minutes to eleven, and the interval is occupied in
the interchange of greetings between old companions of the chase, in
desultory talk about horses and hounds; and while some of the older
votaries of Di