CHAPTER XVII
NARRATIVE OF DARSIE LATIMER
Our history must now, as the old romancers wont to say, 'leave totell' of the quest of Alan Fairford, and instruct our readers of theadventures which befell Darsie Latimer, left as he was in the precariouscustody of his self-named tutor, the Laird of the Lochs of Solway,to whose arbitrary pleasure he found it necessary for the present toconform himself.
In consequence of this prudent resolution, and although he did notassume such a disguise without some sensations of shame and degradation,Darsie permitted Cristal Nixon to place over his face, and secure by astring, one of those silk masks which ladies frequently wore to preservetheir complexions, when exposed to the air during long journeys onhorseback. He remonstrated somewhat more vehemently against the longriding-skirt, which converted his person from the waist into the femaleguise, but was obliged to concede this point also.
The metamorphosis was then complete; for the fair reader must beinformed, that in those rude times, the ladies, when they honoured themasculine dress by assuming any part of it, wore just such hats, coats,and waistcoats as the male animals themselves made use of, and had nonotion of the elegant compromise betwixt male and female attire, whichhas now acquired, PAR EXCELLENCE, the name of a HABIT. Trollopingthings our mothers must have looked, with long square-cut coats, lackingcollars, and with waistcoats plentifully supplied with a length ofpocket, which hung far downwards from the middle. But then they hadsome advantage from the splendid colours, lace, and gay embroiderywhich masculine attire then exhibited; and, as happens in many similarinstances, the finery of the materials made amends for the want ofsymmetry and grace of form in the garments themselves. But this is adigression.
In the court of the old mansion, half manor-place, half farm-house, orrather a decayed manor-house, converted into an abode for a Cumberlandtenant, stood several saddled horses. Four or five of them were mountedby servants or inferior retainers, all of whom were well armed withsword, pistol, and carabine. But two had riding furniture for the useof females--the one being accoutred with a side-saddle, the other with apillion attached to the saddle.
Darsie's heart beat quicker within him; he easily comprehended that oneof these was intended for his own use; and his hopes suggested that theother was designed for that of the fair Green Mantle, whom, accordingto his established practice, he had adopted for the queen of hisaffections, although his opportunities of holding communication with herhad not exceeded the length of a silent supper on one occasion, and thegoing down a country-dance on another. This, however, was no unwontedmood of passion with Darsie Latimer, upon whom Cupid was used to triumphonly in the degree of a Mahratta conqueror, who overruns a province withthe rapidity of lightning, but finds it impossible to retain it beyonda very brief space. Yet this new love was rather more serious than thescarce skinned-up wounds which his friend Fairford used to ridicule.The damsel had shown a sincere interest in his behalf; and the air ofmystery with which that interest was veiled, gave her, to his livelyimagination, the character of a benevolent and protecting spirit, asmuch as that of a beautiful female.
At former times, the romance attending his short-lived attachmentshad been of his own creating, and had disappeared as soon as ever heapproached more closely to the object with which he had invested it.On the present occasion, it really flowed from external circumstances,which might have interested less susceptible feelings, and animagination less lively than that of Darsie Latimer, young,inexperienced, and enthusiastic as he was.
He watched, therefore, anxiously to whose service the palfrey bearingthe lady's saddle was destined. But ere any female appeared to occupyit, he was himself summoned to take his seat on the pillion behindCristal Nixon, amid the grins of his old acquaintance Jan who helped himto horse, and the unrestrained laughter of Cicely, who displayed on theoccasion a case of teeth which might have rivalled ivory.
Latimer was at an age when being an object of general ridicule even toclowns and milkmaids was not a matter of indifference, and he longedheartily to have laid his horse-whip across Jan's shoulders. That,however, was a solacement of his feelings which was not at the moment tobe thought of; and Cristal Nixon presently put an end to his unpleasantsituation, by ordering the riders to go on. He himself kept the centreof the troop, two men riding before and two behind him, always, as itseemed to Darsie, having their eye upon him, to prevent any attempt toescape. He could see from time to time, when the straight line of theroad, or the advantage of an ascent permitted him, that another troopof three or four riders followed them at about a quarter of a mile'sdistance, amongst whom he could discover the tall form of Redgauntlet,and the powerful action of his gallant black horse. He had littledoubt that Green Mantle made one of the party, though he was unable todistinguish her from the others.
In this manner they travelled from six in the morning until nearly tenof the clock, without Darsie exchanging a word with any one; for heloathed the very idea of entering into conversation with Cristal Nixon,against whom he seemed to feel an instinctive aversion; nor was thatdomestic's saturnine and sullen disposition such as to have encouragedadvances, had he thought of making them.
At length the party halted for the purpose of refreshment; but as theyhad hitherto avoided all villages and inhabited places upon their route,so they now stopped at one of those large ruinous Dutch barns, whichare sometimes found in the fields, at a distance from the farm-houses towhich they belong. Yet in this desolate place some preparations had beenmade for their reception. There were in the end of the barn racks filledwith provender for the horses, and plenty of provisions for the partywere drawn from the trusses of straw, under which the baskets thatcontained them had been deposited. The choicest of these were selectedand arranged apart by Cristal Nixon, while the men of the party threwthemselves upon the rest, which he abandoned to their discretion. In afew minutes afterwards the rearward party arrived and dismounted, andRedgauntlet himself entered the barn with the green-mantled maiden byhis side. He presented her to Darsie with these words:--
'It is time you two should know each other better. I promised you myconfidence, Darsie, and the time is come for reposing it. But first wewill have our breakfast; and then, when once more in the saddle, I willtell you that which it is necessary that you should know. Salute Lilias,Darsie.'
The command was sudden, and surprised Latimer, whose confusion wasincreased by the perfect ease and frankness with which Lilias offered atonce her cheek and her hand, and pressing his as she rather took it thangave her own, said very frankly, 'Dearest Darsie, how rejoiced I am thatour uncle has at last permitted us to become acquainted!'
Darsie's head turned round; and it was perhaps well that Redgauntletcalled on him to sit down, as even that movement served to hide hisconfusion. There is an old song which says--
--when ladies are willing, A man can but look like a fool;
And on the same principle Darsie Latimer's looks at this unexpectedfrankness of reception, would have formed an admirable vignette forillustrating the passage. 'Dearest Darsie,' and such a ready, nay, eagersalute of lip and hand! It was all very gracious, no doubt--and ought tohave been received with much gratitude; but, constituted as our friend'stemper was, nothing could be more inconsistent with his tone of feeling.If a hermit had proposed to him to club for a pot of beer, the illusionof his reverend sanctity could not have been dispelled more effectuallythan the divine qualities of Green Mantle faded upon the ill-imaginedfrank-heartedness of poor Lilias. Vexed with her forwardness, andaffronted at having once more cheated himself, Darsie could hardly helpmuttering two lines of the song we have already quoted:
The fruit that must fall without shaking Is rather too mellow for me.
And yet it was pity for her too--she was a very pretty young woman--hisfancy had scarcely overrated her in that respect--and the slightderangement of the beautiful brown locks which escaped in naturalringlets from under her riding-hat, with the bloom which exercise hadbrought into her cheek, made her even more than
usually fascinating.Redgauntlet modified the sternness of his look when it was turnedtowards her, and in addressing her, used a softer tone than his usualdeep bass. Even the grim features of Cristal Nixon relaxed when heattended on her, and it was then, if ever, that his misanthropicalvisage expressed some sympathy with the rest of humanity.
'How can she,' thought Latimer, 'look so like an angel, yet be so merea mortal after all? How could so much seeming modesty have so muchforwardness of manner, when she ought to have been most reserved? Howcan her conduct be reconciled to the grace and ease of her generaldeportment?'
The confusion of thoughts which occupied Darsie's imagination, gave tohis looks a disordered appearance, and his inattention to the food whichwas placed before him, together with his silence and absence of mind,induced Lilias solicitously to inquire, whether he did not feel somereturn of the disorder under which he had suffered so lately. This ledMr. Redgauntlet, who seemed also lost in his own contemplations, toraise his eyes, and join in the same inquiry with some appearance ofinterest. Latimer explained to both that he was perfectly well.
'It is well it is so,' answered Redgauntlet; 'for we have that beforeus which will brook no delay from indisposition--we have not, as Hotspursays, leisure to be sick.'
Lilias, on her part, endeavoured to prevail upon Darsie to partake ofthe food which she offered him, with a kindly and affectionate courtesycorresponding to the warmth of the interest she had displayed at theirmeeting; but so very natural, innocent, and pure in its character, thatit would have been impossible for the vainest coxcomb to have mistakenit for coquetry, or a desire of captivating a prize so valuable ashis affection. Darsie, with no more than the reasonable share ofself-opinion common to most youths when they approach twenty-one, knewnot how to explain her conduct.
Sometimes he was tempted to think that his own merits had, even duringthe short intervals when they had seen each other, secured such a holdof the affections of a young person who had probably been bred up inignorance of the world and its forms that she was unable to concealher partiality. Sometimes he suspected that she acted by her guardian'sorder, who, aware that he, Darsie, was entitled to a considerablefortune, might have taken this bold stroke to bring about a marriagebetwixt him and so near a relative.
But neither of these suppositions was applicable to the character of theparties. Miss Lilias's manners, however soft and natural, displayed intheir ease and versatility considerable acquaintance with the habitsof the world, and in the few words she said during the morning repast,there were mingled a shrewdness and good sense, which could scarcebelong to a miss capable of playing the silly part of a love-smittenmaiden so broadly. As for Redgauntlet, with his stately bearing, hisfatal frown, his eye of threat and of command, it was impossible, Darsiethought, to suspect him of a scheme having private advantage for itsobject; he could as soon have imagined Cassius picking Caesar's pocket,instead of drawing his poniard on the dictator.
While he thus mused, unable either to eat, drink, or answer to thecourtesy of Lilias, she soon ceased to speak to him, and sat silent ashimself.
They had remained nearly an hour in their halting-place, whenRedgauntlet said aloud, 'Look out, Cristal Nixon. If we hear nothingfrom Fairladies, we must continue our journey.'
Cristal went to the door, and presently returned and said to his master,in a voice as harsh as his features, 'Gilbert Gregson is coming, hishorse as white with foam as if a fiend had ridden him.'
Redgauntlet threw from him the plate on which he had been eating, andhastened towards the door of the barn, which the courier at that momententered; a smart jockey with a black velvet hunting-cap, and a broadbelt drawn tight round his waist, to which was secured his express-bag.The variety of mud with which he was splashed from cap to spur showedhe had had a rough and rapid ride. He delivered a letter to Mr.Redgauntlet, with an obeisance, and then retired to the end of the barn,where the other attendants were sitting or lying upon the straw, inorder to get some refreshment.
Redgauntlet broke the letter open with haste, and read it with anxiousand discomposed looks. On a second perusal, his displeasure seemed toincrease, his brow darkened, and was distinctly marked with the fatalsign peculiar to his family and house. Darsie had never before observedhis frown bear such a close resemblance to the shape which traditionassigned it.
Redgauntlet held out the open letter with one hand, and struck it withthe forefinger of the other, as, in a suppressed and displeased tone,he said to Cristal Nixon, 'Countermanded--ordered northward oncemore! 'Northward, when all our hopes lie to the south--a second Derbydirection, when we turned our back on glory, and marched in quest ofruin!'
Cristal Nixon took the letter and ran it over, then returned it to hismaster with the cold observation, 'A female influence predominates.'
'But it shall predominate no longer,' said Redgauntlet; 'it shall waneas ours rises in the horizon. Meanwhile, I will on before--and you,Cristal, will bring the party to the place assigned in the letter.You may now permit the young persons to have unreserved communicationtogether; only mark that you watch the young man closely enough toprevent his escape, if he should be idiot enough to attempt it, but notapproaching so close as to watch their free conversation.'
'I care naught about their conversation,' said Nixon, surlily.
'You hear my commands, Lilias,' said the laird, turning to the younglady. 'You may use my permission and authority to explain so much of ourfamily matters as you yourself know. At our next meeting I will completethe task of disclosure, and I trust I shall restore one Redgauntlet moreto the bosom of our ancient family. Let Latimer, as he calls himself,have a horse to himself; he must for some time retain his disguise.--Myhorse--my horse!'
In two minutes they heard him ride off from the door of the barn,followed at speed by two of the armed men of his party.
The commands of Cristal Nixon, in the meanwhile, put all the remainderof the party in motion, but the laird himself was long out of sight erethey were in readiness to resume their journey. When at length they setout, Darsie was accommodated with a horse and side-saddle, instead ofbeing obliged to resume his place on the pillion behind the detestableNixon. He was obliged, however, to retain his riding-skirt, and toreassume his mask. Yet, notwithstanding this disagreeable circumstance,and although he observed that they gave him the heaviest and slowesthorse of the party, and that, as a further precaution against escape, hewas closely watched on every side, yet riding in company with the prettyLilias was an advantage which overbalanced these inconveniences.
It is true that this society, to which that very morning he wouldhave looked forward as a glimpse of heaven, had, now that it wasthus unexpectedly indulged, something much less rapturous than he hadexpected.
It was in vain that, in order to avail himself of a situation sofavourable for indulging his romantic disposition, he endeavoured tocoax back, if I may so express myself, that delightful dream of ardentand tender passion; he felt only such a confusion of ideas at thedifference between the being whom he had imagined, and her with whom hewas now in contact, that it seemed to him like the effect of witchcraft.What most surprised him was, that this sudden flame should have diedaway so rapidly, notwithstanding that the maiden's personal beauty waseven greater than he had expected--her demeanour, unless it should bedeemed over kind towards himself, as graceful and becoming as he couldhave fancied if, even in his gayest dreams. It were judging hardlyof him to suppose that the mere belief of his having attractedher affections more easily than he expected was the cause of hisungratefully undervaluing a prize too lightly won, or that his transientpassion played around his heart with the hitting radiance of a wintrysunbeam flashing against an icicle, which may brighten it for a moment,but cannot melt it. Neither of these was precisely the ease, though suchfickleness of disposition might also have some influence in the change.
The truth is, perhaps, the lover's pleasure, like that of the hunter, isin the chase; and that the brightest beauty loses half its merit, asthe fairest flower its perfume
, when the willing hand can reach ittoo easily. There must be doubt--there must be danger--there must bedifficulty; and if, as the poet says, the course of ardent affectionnever does run smooth, it is perhaps because, without some interveningobstacle, that which is called the romantic passion of love, in its highpoetical character and colouring can hardly have an existence--any morethan there can be a current in a river without the stream being narrowedby steep banks, or checked by opposing rocks.
Let not those, however, who enter into a union for life without thoseembarrassments which delight a Darsie Latimer, or a Lydia Languish, andwhich are perhaps necessary to excite an enthusiastic passion in breastsmore firm than theirs, augur worse of their future happiness becausetheir own alliance is formed under calmer auspices. Mutual esteem, anintimate knowledge of each other's character, seen, as in their case,undisguised by the mists of too partial passion--a suitable proportionof parties in rank and fortune, in taste and pursuits--are morefrequently found in a marriage of reason, than in a union of romanticattachment; where the imagination, which probably created the virtuesand accomplishments with which it invested the beloved object, isfrequently afterwards employed in magnifying the mortifying consequencesof its own delusion, and exasperating all the stings of disappointment.Those who follow the banners of Reason are like the well-disciplinedbattalion, which, wearing a more sober uniform and making a lessdazzling show than the light troops commanded by imagination, enjoy moresafety, and even more honour, in the conflicts of human life. All this,however, is foreign to our present purpose.
Uncertain in what manner to address her whom he had been lately soanxious to meet with, and embarrassed by a TETE-A-TETE to which his owntimid inexperience, gave some awkwardness, the party had proceeded morethan a hundred yards before Darsie assumed courage to accost, or evento look at, his companion. Sensible, however, of the impropriety of hissilence, he turned to speak to her; and observing that, although shewore her mask, there was something like disappointment and dejectionin her manner, he was moved by self-reproach for his own coldness, andhastened to address her in the kindest tone he could assume.
'You must think me cruelly deficient in gratitude, Miss Lilias, thatI have been thus long in your company, without thanking you for theinterest which you have deigned to take in my unfortunate affairs?'
'I am glad you have at length spoken,' she said, 'though I owe it ismore coldly than I expected. MISS Lilias! DEIGN to take interest! Inwhom, dear Darsie, CAN I take interest but in you; and why do you putthis barrier of ceremony betwixt us, whom adverse circumstances havealready separated for such a length of time?'
Darsie was again confounded at the extra candour, if we may use theterm, of this frank avowal. 'One must love partridge very well,' thoughthe, 'to accept it when thrown in one's face--if this is not plainspeaking, there is no such place as downright Dunstable in being!'
Embarrassed with these reflections, and himself of a nature fancifully,almost fastidiously, delicate, he could only in reply stammer forth anacknowledgement of his companion's goodness, and his own gratitude. Sheanswered in a tone partly sorrowful and partly impatient, repeating,with displeased emphasis, the only distinct words he had been ableto bring forth--'Goodness--gratitude!--O Darsie! should these be thephrases between you and me? Alas! I am too sure you are displeased withme, though I cannot even guess on what account. Perhaps you think Ihave been too free in venturing upon my visit to your friend. But thenremember, it was in your behalf, and that I knew no better way to putyou on your guard against the misfortunes and restraint which you havebeen subjected to, and are still enduring.'
'Dear Lady'--said Darsie, rallying his recollection, and suspiciousof some error in apprehension,--a suspicion which his mode of addressseemed at once to communicate to Lilias, for she interrupted him,--
'LADY! dear LADY! For whom, or for what, in Heaven's name, do you takeme, that you address me so formally?'
Had the question been asked in that enchanted hall in fairyland, whereall interrogations must be answered with absolute sincerity, Darsiehad certainly replied, that he took her for the most frank-hearted andultra-liberal lass that had ever lived since Mother Eve eat the pippinwithout paring. But as he was still on middle-earth, and free to availhimself of a little polite deceit, he barely answered that he believedhe had the honour of speaking to the niece of Mr. Redgauntlet.
'Surely,' she replied; 'but were it not as easy for you to have said, toyour own only sister?'
Darsie started in his saddle, as if he had received a pistol-shot.
'My sister!' he exclaimed.
'And you did NOT know it, then?' said she. 'I thought your reception ofme was cold and indifferent!'
A kind and cordial embrace took place betwixt the relatives; and solight was Darsie's spirit, that he really felt himself more relieved, bygetting quit of the embarrassments of the last half-hour, during whichhe conceived himself in danger of being persecuted by the attachment ofa forward girl, than disappointed by the vanishing of so many day-dreamsas he had been in the habit of encouraging during the time when thegreen-mantled maiden was goddess of his idolatry. He had been alreadyflung from his romantic Pegasus, and was too happy at length to findhimself with bones unbroken, though with his back on the ground. He was,besides, with all his whims and follies, a generous, kind-hearted youth,and was delighted to acknowledge so beautiful and amiable a relative,and to assure her in the warmest terms of his immediate affection andfuture protection, so soon as they should be extricated from theirpresent situation. Smiles and tears mingled on Lilias's cheeks, likeshowers and sunshine in April weather.
'Out on me,' she said, 'that I should be so childish as to cry at whatmakes me so sincerely happy! since, God knows, family-love is what myheart has most longed after, and to which it has been most a stranger.My uncle says that you and I, Darsie, are but half Redgauntlets, andthat the metal of which our father's family was made, has been softenedto effeminacy in our mother's offspring.'
'Alas!' said Darsie, 'I know so little of our family story, that Ialmost doubted that I belonged to the House of Redgauntlet, although thechief of the family himself intimated so much to me.'
'The chief of the family!' said Lilias. 'You must know little ofyour own descent indeed, if you mean my uncle by that expression. Youyourself, my dear Darsie, are the heir and representative of our ancientHouse, for our father was the elder brother--that brave and unhappy SirHenry Darsie Redgauntlet, who suffered at Carlisle in the year 1746. Hetook the name of Darsie, in conjunction with his own, from our mother,heiress to a Cumberland family of great wealth and antiquity, of whoselarge estates you are the undeniable heir, although those of your fatherhave been involved in the general doom of forfeiture. But all this mustbe necessarily unknown to you.'
'Indeed I hear it for the first time in my life,' answered Darsie.
'And you knew not that I was your sister?' said Lilias. 'No wonder youreceived me so coldly. What a strange, wild, forward young person youmust have thought me--mixing myself in the fortunes of a stranger whomI had only once spoken to--corresponding with him by signs--Good Heaven!what can you have supposed me?'
'And how should I have come to the knowledge of our connexion?' saidDarsie. 'You are aware I was not acquainted with it when we dancedtogether at Brokenburn.'
'I saw that with concern, and fain I would have warned you,' answeredLilias; 'but I was closely watched, and before I could find or make anopportunity of coming to a full explanation with you on a subject soagitating, I was forced to leave the room. What I did say was, you mayremember, a caution to leave the southern border, for I foresaw whathas since happened. But since my uncle has had you in his power, I neverdoubted he had communicated to you our whole family history.'
'He has left me to learn it from you, Lilias; and assure yourself that Iwill hear it with more pleasure from your lips than from his. I have noreason to be pleased with his conduct towards me.'
'Of that,' said Lilias, 'you will judge better when you have heard whatI have to t
ell you;' and she began her communication in the followingmanner.