CHAPTER XVIII
NARRATIVE OF DARSIE LATIMER, CONTINUED
'The House of Redgauntlet,' said the young lady, 'has for centuries beensupposed to lie under a doom, which has rendered vain their courage,their talents, their ambition, and their wisdom. Often making a figurein history, they have been ever in the situation of men striving againstboth wind and tide, who distinguish themselves by their desperateexertions of strength, and their persevering endurance of toil, butwithout being able to advance themselves upon their course by eithervigour or resolution. They pretend to trace this fatality to a legendaryhistory, which I may tell you at a less busy moment.'
Darsie intimated that he had already heard the tragic story of SirAlberick Redgauntlet.
'I need only say, then,' proceeded Lilias, 'that our father and unclefelt the family doom in its full extent. They were both possessed ofconsiderable property, which was largely increased by our father'smarriage, and were both devoted to the service of the unhappy Houseof Stuart; but (as our mother at least supposed) family considerationsmight have withheld her husband from joining openly in the affair of1745, had not the high influence which the younger brother possessedover the elder, from his more decided energy of character, hurried himalong with himself into that undertaking.
'When, therefore, the enterprise came to the fatal conclusion whichbereaved our father of his life and consigned his brother to exile, LadyRedgauntlet fled from the north of England, determined to break off allcommunication with her late husband's family, particularly his brother,whom she regarded as having, by their insane political enthusiasm, beenthe means of his untimely death; and determined that you, my brother, aninfant, and that I, to whom she had just given birth, should be broughtup as adherents of the present dynasty. Perhaps she was too hasty inthis determination--too timidly anxious to exclude, if possible, fromthe knowledge of the very spot where we existed, a relation so nearlyconnected with us as our father's only brother. But you must makeallowance for what she had suffered. See, brother,' she said, pullingher glove off, 'these five blood-specks on my arm are a mark by whichmysterious Nature has impressed, on an unborn infant, a record of itsfather's violent death and its mother's miseries.' [Several personshave brought down to these days the impressions which Nature had thusrecorded, when they were yet babes unborn. One lady of quality, whosefather was long under sentence of death previous to the Rebellion, wasmarked on the back of the neck by the sign of a broad axe. Another whosekinsmen had been slain in battle and died on the scaffold to the numberof seven, bore a child spattered on the right shoulder and down thearm with scarlet drops, as if of blood. Many other instances might bequoted.]
'You were not, then, born when my father suffered?' said Darsie.
'Alas, no!' she replied; 'nor were you a twelvemonth old. It was nowonder that my mother, after going through such scenes of agony,became irresistibly anxious for the sake of her children--of her son inparticular; the more especially as the late Sir Henry, her husband, had,by a settlement of his affairs, confided the custody of the personsof her children, as well as the estates which descended to them,independently of those which fell under his forfeiture, to his brotherHugh, in whom he placed unlimited confidence.'
'But my mother had no reason to fear the operation of such a deed,conceived in favour of an attainted man,' said Darsie.
'True,' replied Lilias; 'but our uncle's attainder might have beenreversed, like that of so many other persons, and our mother, who bothfeared and hated him, lived in continual terror that this would be thecase, and that she should see the author, as she thought him, of herhusband's death come armed with legal powers, and in a capacity touse them for the purpose of tearing her children from her protection.Besides, she feared, even in his incapacitated condition, theadventurous and pertinacious spirit of her brother-in-law, HughRedgauntlet, and felt assured that he would make some attempt to possesshimself of the persons of the children. On the other hand, our uncle,whose proud disposition might, perhaps, have been soothed by the offerof her confidence, revolted against the distrustful and suspiciousmanner in which Lady Darsie Redgauntlet acted towards him. She baselyabused, he said, the unhappy circumstances in which he was placed,in order to deprive him of his natural privilege of protecting andeducating the infants, whom nature and law, and the will of theirfather, had committed to his charge, and he swore solemnly he wouldnot submit to such an injury. Report of his threats was made to LadyRedgauntlet, and tended to increase those fears which proved but toowell founded. While you and I, children at that time of two or threeyears old, were playing together in a walled orchard, adjacent to ourmother's residence which she had fixed somewhere in Devonshire, my unclesuddenly scaled the wall with several men, and I was snatched up; andcarried off to a boat which waited for them. My mother, however, flew toyour rescue, and as she seized on and held you fast, my uncle could not,as he has since told me, possess himself of your person, without usingunmanly violence to his brother's widow. Of this he was incapable; and,as people began to assemble upon my mother's screaming, he withdrew,after darting upon you and her one of those fearful looks, which, it issaid, remain with our family, as a fatal bequest of Sir Alberick, ourancestor.'
'I have some recollection of the scuffle which you mention,' saidDarsie; 'and I think it was my uncle himself (since my uncle he is)who recalled the circumstance to my mind on a late occasion. I can nowaccount for the guarded seclusion under which my poor mother lived--forher frequent tears, her starts of hysterical alarm, and her constant anddeep melancholy. Poor lady! what a lot was hers, and what must have beenher feelings when it approached to a close!'
'It was then that she adopted,' said Lilias, 'every precaution heringenuity could suggest, to keep your very existence concealed from theperson whom she feared--nay, from yourself; for she dreaded, as sheis said often to have expressed herself, that the wildfire blood ofRedgauntlet would urge you to unite your fortunes to those of youruncle, who was well known still to carry on political intrigues, whichmost other persons had considered as desperate. It was also possiblethat he, as well as others, might get his pardon, as government showedevery year more lenity towards the remnant of the Jacobites, and then hemight claim the custody of your person, as your legal guardian. Eitherof these events she considered as the direct road to your destruction.'
'I wonder she had not claimed the protection of Chancery for me,' saidDarsie; 'or confided me to the care of some powerful friend.'
'She was on indifferent terms with her relations, on account of hermarriage with our father,' said Lilias, 'and trusted more to secretingyou from your uncle's attempts, than to any protection which lawmight afford against them. Perhaps she judged unwisely, but surely notunnaturally, for one rendered irritable by so many misfortunes and somany alarms. Samuel Griffiths, an eminent banker, and a worthy clergymannow dead were, I believe, the only persons whom she intrusted with theexecution of her last will; and my uncle believes that she made themboth swear to observe profound secrecy concerning your birth andpretensions, until you should come to the age of majority, and, in themeantime, to breed you up in the most private way possible, and thatwhich was most likely to withdraw you from my uncle's observation.'
'And I have no doubt,' said Darsie, 'that betwixt change of nameand habitation, they might have succeeded perfectly, but for theaccident--lucky or unlucky, I know not which to term it--which broughtme to Brokenburn, and into contact with Mr. Redgauntlet. I see also whyI was warned against England, for in England'--
'In England alone, if I understand rightly,' said Miss Redgauntlet,'the claims of your uncle to the custody of your person could havebeen enforced, in case of his being replaced in the ordinary rights ofcitizenship, either by the lenity of the government or by some changein it. In Scotland, where you possess no property, I understand hisauthority might; have been resisted, and measures taken to put you underthe protection of the law. But, pray, think it not unlucky that youhave taken the step of visiting Brokenburn--I feel confident that theconsequences mus
t be ultimately fortunate, for have they not alreadybrought us into contact with each other?'
So saying, she held out her hand to her brother, who grasped it with afondness of pressure very different from the manner in which they firstclasped hands that morning. There was a moment's pause, while the heartsof both were overflowing with a feeling of natural affection, to whichcircumstances had hitherto rendered them strangers.
At length Darsie broke silence; 'I am ashamed,' he said, 'my dearestLilias, that I have suffered you to talk so long about mattersconcerning myself only, while I remain ignorant of your story, and yourpresent situation.'
'The former is none of the most interesting, nor the latter the mostsafe or agreeable,' answered Lilias; 'but now, my dearest brother, Ishall have the inestimable support of your countenance and affection;and were I but sure that we could weather the formidable crisis whichI find so close at hand, I should have little apprehensions for thefuture.'
'Let me know,' said Darsie, 'what our present situation is; and relyupon my utmost exertions both in your defence and my own. For whatreason can my uncle desire to detain me a prisoner? If in mereopposition to the will of my mother, she has long been no more; and Isee not why he should wish, at so much trouble and risk, to interferewith the free will of one, to whom a few months will give a privilegeof acting for himself, with which he will have no longer any pretence tointerfere.'
'My dearest Arthur,' answered Lilias--'for that name, as well asDarsie, properly belongs to you--it is the leading feature in my uncle'scharacter, that he has applied every energy of his powerful mind to theservice of the exiled family of Stuart. The death of his brother, thedilapidation of his own fortunes, have only added to his hereditary zealfor the House of Stuart a deep and almost personal hatred against thepresent reigning family. He is, in short, a political enthusiast ofthe most dangerous character, and proceeds in his agency with as muchconfidence, as if he felt himself the very Atlas who is alone capable ofsupporting a sinking cause.'
'And where or how did you, my Lilias, educated, doubtless, under hisauspices, learn to have a different view of such subjects?'
'By a singular chance,' replied Lilias, 'in the nunnery where my uncleplaced me. Although the abbess was a person exactly after his own heart,my education as a pensioner devolved much on an excellent old mother whohad adopted the tenets of the Jansenists, with perhaps a still furthertendency towards the reformed doctrines, than those of Port Royal. Themysterious secrecy with which she inculcated these tenets, gave themcharms to my young mind, and I embraced them the rather that they werein direct opposition to the doctrines of the abbess, whom I hated somuch for her severity, that I felt a childish delight in setting hercontrol at defiance, and contradicting in my secret soul all that I wasopenly obliged to listen to with reverence. Freedom of religious opinionbrings on, I suppose, freedom of political creed; for I had no soonerrenounced the Pope's infallibility, than I began to question thedoctrine of hereditary and indefeasible right. In short, strange as itmay seem, I came out of a Parisian convent, not indeed an instructedWhig and Protestant, but with as much inclination to be so as if I hadbeen bred up, like you, within the Presbyterian sound of Saint Giles'schimes.'
'More so, perhaps,' replied Darsie; 'for the nearer the church--theproverb is somewhat musty. But how did these liberal opinions of yoursagree with the very opposite prejudices of my uncle?'
'They would have agreed like fire and water,' answered Lilias, 'had Isuffered mine to become visible; but as that would have subjected me toconstant reproach and upbraiding, or worse, I took great care to keep myown secret; so that occasional censures for coldness, and lack of zealfor the good cause, were the worst I had to undergo; and these were badenough.'
'I applaud your caution,' said Darsie.
'You have reason,' replied his sister; 'but I got so terrible a specimenof my uncle's determination of character, before I had been acquaintedwith him for much more than a week, that it taught me at what risk Ishould contradict his humour. I will tell you the circumstances; for itwill better teach you to appreciate the romantic and resolved natureof his character, than anything which I could state of his rashness andenthusiasm.
'After I had been many a long year at the convent, I was removed fromthence, and placed with a meagre old Scottish lady of high rank, thedaughter of an unfortunate person whose head had in the year 1715 beenplaced on Temple Bar. She subsisted on a small pension from the FrenchCourt, aided by an occasional gratuity from the Stuarts; to which theannuity paid for my board formed a desirable addition. She was notill-tempered, nor very covetous--neither beat me nor starved me--but shewas so completely trammelled by rank and prejudices, so awfully profoundin genealogy, and so bitterly keen, poor lady, in British, politics,that I sometimes thought it pity that the Hanoverians, who murdered, asshe used to tell me, her poor dear father, had left his dear daughter inthe land of the living. Delighted, therefore, was I, when my uncle madehis appearance, and abruptly announced his purpose of conveying meto England. My extravagant joy at the idea of leaving Lady RachelRougedragon was somewhat qualified by observing the melancholy look,lofty demeanour, and commanding tone of my near relative. He held morecommunication with me on the journey, however, than consisted with histaciturn demeanour in general, and seemed anxious to ascertain my toneof character, and particularly in point of courage. Now, though I ama tamed Redgauntlet, yet I have still so much of our family spirit asenables me to be as composed in danger as most of my sex; and upon twooccasions in the course of our journey--a threatened attack by banditti,and the overturn of our carriage--I had the fortune so to conductmyself, as to convey to my uncle a very favourable idea of myintrepidity. Probably this encouraged him to put in execution thesingular scheme which he had in agitation.
'Ere we reached London we changed our means of conveyance, and alteredthe route by which we approached the city, more than once; then, like ahare which doubles repeatedly at some distance from the seat she meansto occupy, and at last leaps into her form from a distance so great asshe can clear by a spring, we made a forced march, and landed in privateand obscure lodgings in a little old street in Westminster, not far fromthe Cloisters.
'On the morning of the day on which we arrived my uncle went abroad, anddid not return for some hours. Meantime I had no other amusement than tolisten to the tumult of noises which succeeded each other, or reignedin confusion together during the whole morning. Paris I had thoughtthe most noisy capital in the world, but Paris seemed midnight silencecompared to London. Cannon thundered near and at a distance--drums,trumpets, and military music of every kind, rolled, flourished, andpierced the clouds, almost without intermission. To fill up the concert,bells pealed incessantly from a hundred steeples. The acclamations ofan immense multitude were heard from time to time, like the roaring of amighty ocean, and all this without my being able to glean the least ideaof what was going on, for the windows of our apartment looked upona waste backyard, which seemed totally deserted. My curiosity becameextreme, for I was satisfied, at length, that it must be some festivalof the highest order which called forth these incessant sounds.
'My uncle at length returned, and with him a man of an exteriorsingularly unprepossessing. I need not describe him to you, for--do notlook round--he rides behind us at this moment.'
'That respectable person, Mr. Cristal Nixon, I suppose?' said Darsie.
'The same,' answered Lilias; 'make no gesture, that may intimate we arespeaking of him.'
Darsie signified that he understood her, and she pursued her relation.
'They were both in full dress, and my uncle, taking a bundle from Nixon,said to me, "Lilias, I am come to carry you to see a grand ceremony--puton as hastily as you can the dress you will find in that parcel, andprepare to attend me." I found a female dress, splendid and elegant,but somewhat bordering upon the antique fashion. It might be that ofEngland, I thought, and I went to my apartment full of curiosity, anddressed myself with all speed.
'My uncle surveyed me with attention--"
She may pass for one of theflower-girls," he said to Nixon, who only answered with a nod.
'We left the house together, and such was their knowledge of the lanes,courts, and bypaths, that though there was the roar of a multitude inthe broad streets, those which we traversed were silent and deserted;and the strollers whom we met, tired of gazing upon gayer figures,scarcely honoured us with a passing look, although, at any other time,we should, among these vulgar suburbs, have attracted a troublesomeshare of observation. We crossed at length a broad street, where manysoldiers were on guard, while others, exhausted with previous duty, wereeating, drinking, smoking, and sleeping beside their piled arms.
'"One day, Nixon," whispered my uncle, "we will make these redcoatedgentry stand to their muskets more watchfully."
'"Or it will be the worse for them," answered his attendant, in a voiceas unpleasant as his physiognomy.
'Unquestioned and unchallenged by any one, we crossed among the guards;and Nixon tapped thrice at a small postern door in a huge ancientbuilding, which was straight before us. It opened, and we enteredwithout my perceiving by whom we were admitted. A few dark and narrowpassages at length conveyed us into an immense Gothic hall, themagnificence of which baffles my powers of description.
'It was illuminated by ten thousand wax lights, whose splendour at firstdazzled my eyes, coming as we did from these dark and secret avenues.But when my sight began to become steady, how shall I describe whatI beheld? Beneath were huge ranges of tables, occupied by princes andnobles in their robes of state--high officers of the crown, wearingtheir dresses and badges of authority--reverend prelates and judges, thesages of the church and law, in their more sombre, yet not less awfulrobes--with others whose antique and striking costume announced theirimportance, though I could not even guess who they might be. But atlength the truth burst on me at once--it was, and the murmurs aroundconfirmed it, the Coronation Feast. At a table above the rest, andextending across the upper end of the hall, sat enthroned the youthfulsovereign himself, surrounded by the princes of the blood, and otherdignitaries, and receiving the suit and homage of his subjects. Heraldsand pursuivants, blazing in their fantastic yet splendid armorialhabits, and pages of honour, gorgeously arrayed in the garb of otherdays, waited upon the princely banqueters. In the galleries with whichthis spacious hall was surrounded, shone all, and more than all, thatmy poor imagination could conceive, of what was brilliant in riches, orcaptivating in beauty. Countless rows of ladies, whose diamonds, jewels,and splendid attire were their least powerful charms, looked down fromtheir lofty seats on the rich scene beneath, themselves forming a showas dazzling and as beautiful as that of which they were spectators.Under these galleries, and behind the banqueting tables, were amultitude of gentlemen, dressed as if to attend a court, but whose garb,although rich enough to have adorned a royal drawing room, could notdistinguish them in such a high scene as this. Amongst these we wanderedfor a few minutes, undistinguished and unregarded. I saw severalyoung persons dressed as I was, so was under no embarrassment from thesingularity of my habit, and only rejoiced, as I hung on my uncle'sarm, at the magical splendour of such a scene, and at his goodness forprocuring me the pleasure of beholding it.
'By and by, I perceived that my uncle had acquaintances among thosewho were under the galleries, and seemed, like ourselves, to be merespectators of the solemnity. They recognized each other with a singleword, sometimes only with a grip of the hand-exchanged some privatesigns, doubtless--and gradually formed a little group, in the centre ofwhich we were placed.
'"Is it not a grand sight, Lilias?" said my uncle. "All the noble, andall the wise, and all the wealthy of Britain, are there assembled."
'"It is indeed," said I, "all that my mind could have fancied of regalpower and splendour."
'"Girl," he whispered,--and my uncle can make his whispers as terriblyemphatic as his thundering voice or his blighting look--"all that isnoble and worthy in this fair land are there assembled--but it is tobend like slaves and sycophants before the throne of a new usurper."
'I looked at him, and the dark hereditary frown of our unhappy ancestorwas black upon his brow.
'"For God's sake," I whispered, "consider where we are."
'"Fear nothing," he said; "we are surrounded by friends." As heproceeded, his strong and muscular frame shook with suppressedagitation. "See," he said, "yonder bends Norfolk, renegade to hisCatholic.faith; there stoops the Bishop of ----, traitor to the Churchof England; and,--shame of shames! yonder the gigantic form of Errolbows his head before the grandson of his father's murderer! But a signshall be seen this night amongst them--MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN,shall be read on these walls, as distinctly as the spectral handwritingmade them visible on those of Belshazzar!"
'"For God's sake," said I, dreadfully alarmed, "it is impossible you canmeditate violence in such a presence!"
'"None is intended, fool," he answered, "nor can the slightest mischancehappen, provided you will rally your boasted courage, and obey mydirections. But do it coolly and quickly, for there are a hundred livesat stake."
'"Alas! what--can I do?" I asked in the utmost terror.
'"Only be prompt to execute my bidding," said he; "it is but to lift aglove--Here, hold this in your hand--throw the train of your dress overit, be firm, composed, and ready--or, at all events, I step forwardmyself."
'"If there is no violence designed," I said, taking, mechanically, theiron glove he put into my hand.
'"I could not conceive his meaning; but, in the excited state of mind inwhich I beheld him, I was convinced that disobedience on my part wouldlead to some wild explosion. I felt, from the emergency of the occasion,a sudden presence of mind, and resolved to do anything that might avertviolence and bloodshed. I was not long held in suspense. A loud flourishof trumpets and the voice of heralds were mixed with the clatter ofhorses' hoofs, while a champion, armed at all points like those I hadread of in romances, attended by squires, pages, and the wholeretinue of chivalry, pranced forward, mounted upon a barbed steed. Hischallenge, in defiance of all who dared impeach the title of the newsovereign, was recited aloud--once, and again."
'"Rush in at the third sounding," said my uncle to me; "bring me theparader's gage, and leave mine in lieu of it."
'I could not see how this was to be done, as we were surrounded bypeople on all sides. But, at the third sounding of the trumpets, a laneopened as if by word of command, betwixt me and the champion, and myuncle's voice said, "Now, Lilias, NOW!"
'With a swift and yet steady step, and with a presence of mind forwhich I have never since been able to account, I discharged the perilouscommission. I was hardly seen, I believe, as I exchanged the pledges ofbattle, and in an instant retired. "Nobly done, my girl!" said myuncle, at whose side I found myself, shrouded as I was before, by theinterposition of the bystanders. "Cover our retreat, gentlemen," hewhispered to those around him.
'Room was made for us to approach the wall, which seemed to open, and wewere again involved in the dark passages through which we had formerlypassed. In a small anteroom, my uncle stopped, and hastily muffling mein a mantle which was lying there, we passed the guards--threaded thelabyrinth of empty streets and courts, and reached our retired lodgingswithout attracting the least attention.'
'I have often heard,' said Darsie, 'that a female, supposed to be aman in disguise,--and yet, Lilias, you do not look very masculine,--hadtaken up the champion's gauntlet at the present king's coronation, andleft in its place a gage of battle, with a paper, offering to accept thecombat, provided a fair field should be allowed for it. I have hithertoconsidered it as an idle tale. I little thought how nearly I wasinterested in the actors of a scene so daring. How could you havecourage to go through with it?' [See Note 9.]
'Had I had leisure for reflection,' answered his sister, 'I should haverefused, from a mixture of principle and of fear. But, like many peoplewho do daring actions, I went on because I had not time to think ofretreating. The matter was little known, and it is said the king hadcommande
d that it should not be further inquired into;--from prudence,as I suppose, and lenity, though my uncle chooses to ascribe theforbearance of the Elector of Hanover, as he calls him, sometimes topusillanimity, and sometimes to a presumptuous scorn of the faction whoopposes his title.'
'And have your subsequent agencies under this frantic enthusiast,' saidDarsie, 'equalled this in danger?'
'No--nor in importance,' replied Lilias; 'though I have witnessed muchof the strange and desperate machinations, by which, in spite of everyobstacle, and in contempt of every danger, he endeavours to awaken thecourage of a broken party. I have traversed, in his company, all Englandand Scotland, and have visited the most extraordinary and contrastedscenes; now lodging at the castles of the proud gentry of Cheshire andWales, where the retired aristocrats, with opinions as antiquated astheir dwellings and their manners, still continue to nourish Jacobiticalprinciples; and the next week, perhaps, spent among outlawed smugglers,or Highland banditti. I have known my uncle often act the part of ahero, and sometimes that of a mere vulgar conspirator, and turn himself,with the most surprising flexibility, into all sorts of shapes toattract proselytes to his cause.'
'Which, in the present day,' said Darsie, 'he finds, I presume, no easytask.'
'So difficult,' said Lilias, 'that, I believe, he has, at differenttimes, disgusted with the total falling away of some friends, andthe coldness of others, been almost on the point of resigning hisundertaking. How often I have I known him affect an open brow and ajovial manner, joining in the games of the gentry, and even in thesports of the common people, in order to invest himself with a temporarydegree of popularity; while, in fact, his heart was bursting to witnesswhat he called the degeneracy of the times, the decay of activity amongthe aged, and the want of zeal in the rising generation. After the dayhas been spent in the hardest exercise, he has spent the night in pacinghis solitary chamber, bewailing the downfall of the cause, and wishingfor the bullet of Dundee or the axe of Balmerino.'
'A strange delusion,' said Darsie; 'and it is wonderful that it does notyield to the force of reality.'
'Ah, but,' replied Lilias, 'realities of late have seemed to flatter hishopes. The general dissatisfaction with the peace--the unpopularityof the minister, which has extended itself even to the person of hismaster--the various uproars which have disturbed the peace of themetropolis, and a general state of disgust and disaffection, which seemsto affect the body of the nation, have given unwonted encouragement tothe expiring hopes of the Jacobites, and induced many, both at the Courtof Rome, and, if it can be called so, of the Pretender, to lend a morefavourable ear than they had hitherto done to the insinuations of thosewho, like my uncle, hope, when hope is lost to all but themselves.Nay, I really believe that at this moment they meditate some desperateeffort. My uncle has been doing all in his power, of late, to conciliatethe affections of those wild communities that dwell on the Solway, overwhom our family possessed a seignorial interest before the forfeiture,and amongst whom, on the occasion of 1745, our unhappy father'sinterest, with his own, raised a considerable body of men. But they areno longer willing to obey his summons; and, as one apology among others,they allege your absence as their natural head and leader. This hasincreased his desire to obtain possession of your person, and, if hepossibly can, to influence your mind, so as to obtain your authority tohis proceedings.'
'That he shall never obtain,' answered Darsie; 'my principles andmy prudence alike forbid such a step. Besides, it would be totallyunavailing to his purpose. Whatever these people may pretend, to evadeyour uncle's importunities, they cannot, at this time of day, think ofsubjecting their necks again to the feudal yoke, which was effectuallybroken by the act of 1748, abolishing vassalage and hereditaryjurisdictions.'
'Aye, but that my uncle considers as the act of a usurping government,'said Lilias.
'Like enough he may think so,' answered her brother, 'for he is asuperior, and loses his authority by, the enactment. But the questionis, what the vassals will think of it who have gained their freedomfrom feudal slavery, and have now enjoyed that freedom for many years?However, to cut the matter short, if five hundred men would rise at thewagging of my finger, that finger shall not be raised in a cause which Idisapprove of, and upon that my uncle may reckon.'
'But you may temporize,' said Lilias, upon whom the idea of her uncle'sdispleasure made evidently a strong impression,--'you may temporize,as most of the gentry in this country do, and let the bubble burst ofitself; for it is singular how few of them venture to oppose my uncledirectly. I entreat you to avoid direct collision with him. To hearyou, the head of the House of Redgauntlet, declare against the familyof Stuart, would either break his heart, or drive him to some act ofdesperation.'
'Yes, but, Lilias, you forget that the consequences of such an act ofcomplaisance might be, that the House of Redgauntlet and I might loseboth our heads at one blow.'
'Alas!' said she, 'I had forgotten that danger. I have grown familiarwith perilous intrigues, as the nurses in a pest-house are said tobecome accustomed to the air around them, till they forget even that itis noisome.'
'And yet,' said Darsie, 'if I could free myself from him without comingto an open rupture. Tell me, Lilias, do you think it possible that hecan have any immediate attempt in view?'
'To confess the truth,' answered Lilias, 'I cannot doubt that he has.There has been an unusual bustle among the Jacobites of late. They havehopes, as I told you, from circumstances unconnected with their ownstrength. Just before you came to the country, my uncle's desire to findyou out became, if possible, more eager than ever--he talked of mento be presently brought together, and of your name and influence forraising them. At this very time your first visit to Brokenburn tookplace. A suspicion arose in my uncle's mind, that you might be theyouth he sought, and it was strengthened by papers and letters which therascal Nixon did not hesitate to take from your pocket. Yet a mistakemight have occasioned a fatal explosion; and my uncle therefore postedto Edinburgh to follow out the clue he had obtained, and fished enoughof information from old Mr. Fairford to make him certain that you werethe person he sought. Meanwhile, and at the expense of some personaland perhaps too bold exertion, I endeavoured, through your friend youngFairford, to put you on your guard.'
'Without success,' said Darsie, blushing under his mask when herecollected how he had mistaken his sister's meaning.
'I do not wonder that my warning was fruitless,' said she; 'the thingwas doomed to be. Besides, your escape would have been difficult. Youwere dogged the whole time you were at the Shepherd's Bush and at MountSharon, by a spy who scarcely ever left you.'
'The wretch, little Benjie!' exclaimed Darsie. 'I will wring themonkey's neck round, the first time we meet.'
'It was he indeed who gave constant information of your motions toCristal Nixon,' said Lilias.
'And Cristal Nixon--I owe him, too, a day's work in harvest,' saidDarsie; 'for I am mistaken if he was not the person that struck me downwhen I was made prisoner among the rioters.'
'Like enough; for he has a head and hand for any villany. My uncle wasvery angry about it; for though the riot was made to have an opportunityof carrying you off in the confusion, as well as to put the fishermenat variance with the public law, it would have been his last thought tohave injured a hair of your head. But Nixon has insinuated himself intoall my uncle's secrets, and some of these are so dark and dangerous,that though there are few things he would not dare, I doubt if he darequarrel with him. And yet I know that of Cristal would move my uncle topass his sword through his body.'
'What is it, for Heaven's sake?', said Darsie. 'I have a particulardesire for wishing to know.'
'The old, brutal desperado, whose face and mind are a libel upon humannature, has had the insolence to speak to his master's niece as one whomhe was at liberty to admire; and when I turned on him with the anger andcontempt he merited, the wretch grumbled out something, as if he heldthe destiny of our family in his hand.'
'I thank you, Lilias,' said Da
rsie, eagerly,--'I thank you with all myheart for this communication. I have blamed myself as a Christian manfor the indescribable longing I felt from the first moment I saw thatrascal, to send a bullet through his head; and now you have perfectlyaccounted for and justified this very laudable wish. I wonder my uncle,with the powerful sense you describe him to be possessed of, does notsee through such a villain.'
'I believe he knows him to be capable of much evil,' answeredLilias--'selfish, obdurate, brutal, and a man-hater. But thenhe conceives him to possess the qualities most requisite for aconspirator--undaunted courage, imperturbable coolness and address, andinviolable fidelity. In the last particular he may be mistaken. I haveheard Nixon blamed for the manner in which our poor father was takenafter Culloden.'
'Another reason for my innate aversion,' said Darsie, but I will be onmy guard with him.'
'See, he observes us closely,' said Lilias. 'What a thing is conscience!He knows we are now speaking of him, though he cannot have heard a wordthat we have said.'
It seemed as if she had guessed truly; for Cristal Nixon at that momentrode up to them, and said, with an affectation of jocularity, which satvery ill on his sullen features, 'Come, young ladies, you have had timeenough for your chat this morning, and your tongues, I think, mustbe tired. We are going to pass a village, and I must beg you toseparate--you, Miss Lilias, to ride a little behind--and you, Mrs.,or Miss, or Master, whichever you choose to be called, to be jogging alittle before.'
Lilias checked her horse without speaking, but not until she had givenher brother an expressive look, recommending caution; to which hereplied by a signal indicating that he understood and would comply withher request.