CHAPTER XIX.
I do too ill in this, And must not think but that a parent's plaint Will move the heavens to pour forth misery Upon the head of disobediency. Yet reason tells us, parents are o'erseen, When with too strict a rein they do hold in Their child's affection, and control that love, Which the high powers divine inspire them with.
The Hog hath lost his Pearl.
THE feast of Ravenswood Castle was as remarkable for its profusion asthat of Wolf's Crag had been for its ill-veiled penury. The Lord Keepermight feel internal pride at the contrast, but he had too much tactto suffer it to appear. On the contrary, he seemed to remember withpleasure what he called Mr. Balderstone's bachelor's meal, and to berather disgusted than pleaseed with the display upon his own groaningboard.
"We do these things," he said, "because others do them; but I was breda plain man at my father's frugal table, and I should like well wouldmy wife and family permit me to return to my sowens and mypoor-man-of-mutton."
This was a little overstretched. The Master only answered, "Thatdifferent ranks--I mean," said he, correcting himself, "differentdegrees of wealth require a different style of housekeeping."
This dry remark put a stop to further conversation on the subject, noris it necessary to record that which was substituted in its place. Theevening was spent with freedom, and even cordiality; and Henry had sofar overcome his first apprehensions, that he had settled a party forcoursing a stag with the representative and living resemblance of grimSir Malise of Ravenswood, called the Revenger. The next morning was theappointed time. It rose upon active sportsmen and successful sport. Thebanquet came in course; and a pressing invitation to tarry yet anotherday was given and accepted. This Ravenswood had resolved should be thelast of his stay; but he recollected he had not yet visited the ancientand devoted servant of his house, Old Alice, and it was but kind todedicate one morning to the gratification of so ancient an adherent.
To visit Alice, therefore, a day was devoted, and Lucy was the Master'sguide upon the way. Henry, it is true, accompanied them, and took fromtheir walk the air of a tete-a-tete, while, in reality, it was littleelse, considering the variety of circumstances which occurred to preventthe boy from giving the least attention to what passed between hiscompanions. Now a rook settled on a branch within shot; anon a harecrossed their path, and Henry and his greyhound went astray in pursuitof it; then he had to hold a long conversation with the forester, whichdetained him a while behind his companions; and again he went to examinethe earth of a badger, which carried him on a good way before them.
The conversation betwixt the Master and his sister, meanwhile, tookan interesting, and almost a confidential, turn. She could not helpmentioning her sense of the pain he must feel in visiting scenes so wellknown to him, bearing now an aspect so different; and so gently washer sympathy expressed, that Ravenswood felt it for a moment as a fullrequital of all his misfortunes. Some such sentiment escaped him, whichLucy heard with more of confusion than displeasure; and she may beforgiven the imprudence of listening to such language, considering thatthe situation in which she was placed by her father seemed to authoriseRavenswood to use it. Yet she made an effort to turn the conversation,and she succeeded; for the Master also had advanced farther than heintended, and his conscience had instantly checked him when he foundhimself on the verge of speaking of love to the daughter of Sir WilliamAshton.
They now approached the hut of Old Alice, which had of late beenrendered more comfortable, and presented an appearance less picturesque,perhaps, but far neater than before. The old woman was on her accustomedseat beneath the weeping birch, basking, with the listless enjoyment ofage and infirmity, in the beams of the autumn sun. At the arrival ofher visitors she turned her head towards them. "I hear your step, MissAshton," she said, "but the gentleman who attends you is not my lord,your father."
"And why should you think so, Alice?" said Lucy; "or how is it possiblefor you to judge so accurately by the sound of a step, on this firmearth, and in the open air?"
"My hearing, my child, has been sharpened by my blindness, and I can nowdraw conclusions from the slightest sounds, which formerly reached myears as unheeded as they now approach yours. Necessity is a stern but anexcellent schoolmistress, and she that has lost her sight must collecther information from other sources."
"Well, you hear a man's step, I grant it," said Lucy; "but why, Alice,may it not be my father's?"
"The pace of age, my love, is timid and cautious: the foot takes leaveof the earth slowly, and is planted down upon it with hesitation itis the hasty and determined step of youth that I now hear, and--could Igive credit to so strange a thought--I should say is was the step of aRavenswood."
"This is indeed," said Ravenswood, "an acuteness of organ which I couldnot have credited had I not witnessed it. I am indeed the Master ofRavenswood, Alice,--the son of your old master."
"You!" said the old woman, with almost a scream of surprise--"you theMaster of Ravenswood--here--in this place, and thus accompanied! Icannot believe it. Let me pass my old hand over your face, that my touchmay bear witness to my ears."
The Master sate down beside her on the earthen bank, and permitted herto touch his features with her trembling hand.
"It is indeed!" she said--"it is the features as well as the voice ofRavenswood--the high lines of pride, as well as the bold and haughtytone. But what do you here, Master of Ravenswood?--what do you in yourenemy's domain, and in company with his child?" As Old Alice spoke, herface kindled, as probably that of an ancient feudal vassal might havedone in whose presence his youthful liege-lord had showed some symptomof degenerating from the spirit of his ancestors.
"The Master of Ravenswood," said Lucy, who liked not the tone of thisexpostulation, and was desirous to abridge it, "is upon a visit to myfather."
"Indeed!" said the old blind woman, in an accent of surprise.
"I knew," continued Lucy, "I should do him a pleasure by conducting himto your cottage."
"Where, to say the truth, Alice," said Ravenswood, "I expected a morecordial reception."
"It is most wonderful!" said the old woman, muttering to herself; "butthe ways of Heaven are not like our ways, and its judgments are broughtabout by means far beyond our fathoming. Hearken, young man," she said;"your fathers were implacable, but they were honourable, foes; theysought not to ruin their enemies under the mask of hospitality. Whathave you to do with Lucy Ashton? why should your steps move in the samefootpath with hers? why should your voice sound in the same chord andtime with those of Sir William Ashton's daughter? Young man, he who aimsat revenge by dishonourable means----"
"Be silent, woman!" said Ravenswood, sternly; "it is the devil thatprompts your voice? Know that this young lady has not on earth a friendwho would venture farther to save her from injury or from insult."
"And is it even so?" said the old woman, in an altered but melancholytone, "then God help you both!"
"Amen! Alice," said Lucy, who had not comprehended the import of whatthe blind woman had hinted, "and send you your senses, Alice, and yourgood humour. If you hold this mysterious language, instead of welcomingyour friends, they will think of you as other people do."
"And how do other people think?" said Ravenswood, for he also began tobelieve the old woman spoke with incoherence.
"They think," said Henry Ashton, who came up at that moment, andwhispered into Ravenswood's ear, "that she is a witch, that should havebeen burned with them that suffered at Haddington."
"What is it you say?" said Alice, turning towards the boy, her sightlessvisage inflamed with passion "that I am a witch, and ought tohave suffered with the helpless old wretches who were murdered atHaddington?"
"Hear to that now," again whispered Henry, "and me whispering lower thana wren cheeps!"
"If the usurer, and the oppressor, and the grinder of the poor man'sface, and the remover of ancient landmarks, and the subverter of ancienthouses, were at the same stake with me, I could say, '
Light the fire, inGod's name!'"
"This is dreadful," said Lucy; "I have never seen the poor desertedwoman in this state of mind; but age and poverty can ill bear reproach.Come, Henry, we will leave her for the present; she wishes to speakwith the Master alone. We will walk homeward, and rest us," she added,looking at Ravenswood, "by the Mermaiden's Well." "And Alice," said theboy, "if you know of any hare that comes through among the deer, andmakes them drop their calves out of season, you may tell her, with mycompliments to command, that if Norman has not got a silver bullet readyfor her, I'll lend him one of my doublet-buttons on purpose."
Alice made no answer till she was aware that the sister and brother wereout of hearing. She then said to Ravenswood: "And you, too, are angrywith me for my love? It is just that strangers should be offended, butyou, too, are angry!"
"I am not angry, Alice," said the Master, "only surprised that you,whose good sense I have heard so often praised, should give way tooffensive and unfounded suspicions."
"Offensive!" said Alice. "Ay, trust is ever offensive; but, surely, notunfounded."
"I tell you, dame, most groundless," replied Ravenswood.
"Then the world has changed its wont, and the Ravenswoods theirhereditary temper, and the eyes of Old Alice's understanding are yetmore blind than those of her countenance. When did a Ravenswood seek thehouse of his enemy but with the purpose of revenge? and hither are youcome, Edgar Ravenswood, either in fatal anger or in still more fatallove."
"In neither," said Ravenswood, "I give you mine honour--I mean, I assureyou."
Alice could not see his blushing cheek, but she noticed his hesitation,and that he retracted the pledge which he seemed at first disposed toattach to his denial.
"It is so, then," she said, "and therefore she is to tarry by theMermaiden's Well! Often has it been called a place fatal to the race ofRavenswood--often has it proved so; but never was it likely to verifyold sayings as much as on this day."
"You drive me to madness, Alice," said Ravenswood; "you are more sillyand more superstitious than old Balderstone. Are you such a wretchedChristian as to suppose I would in the present day levy war against theAshton family, as was the sanguinary custom in elder times? or do yousuppose me so foolish, that I cannot walk by a young lady's side withoutplunging headlong in love with her?"
"My thoughts," replied Alice, "are my own; and if my mortal sightis closed to objects present with me, it may be I can look with moresteadiness into future events. Are you prepared to sit lowest at theboard which was once your father's own, unwillingly, as a connexion andally of his proud successor? Are you ready to live on his bounty; tofollow him in the bye-paths of intrigue and chicane, which none canbetter point out to you; to gnaw the bones of his prey when he hasdevoured the substance? Can you say as Sir William Ashton says, thinkas he thinks, vote as he votes, and call your father's murderer yourworshipful father-in-law and revered patron? Master of Ravenswood, I amthe eldest servant of your house, and I would rather see you shroudedand coffined!"
The tumult in Ravenswood's mind was uncommonly great; she struck uponand awakened a chord which he had for some time successfully silenced.He strode backwards and forwards through the little garden with a hastypace; and at length checking himself, and stopping right opposite toAlice, he exclaimed: "Woman! on the verge of the grave, dare you urgethe son of your master to blood and to revenge?"
"God forbid!" said Alice, solemnly; "and therefore I would have youdepart these fatal bounds, where your love, as well as your hatred,threatens sure mischief, or at least disgrace, both to yourself andothers. I would shield, were it in the power of this withered hand, theAshtons from you, and you from them, and both from their own passions.You can have nothing--ought to have nothing, in common with them. Begonefrom among them; and if God has destined vengeance on the oppressor'shouse, do not you be the instrument."
"I will think on what you have said, Alice," said Ravenswood, morecomposedly. "I believe you mean truly and faithfully by me, but you urgethe freedom of an ancient domestic somewhat too far. But farewell; andif Heaven afford me better means, I will not fail to contribute to yourcomfort."
He attempted to put a piece of gold into her hand, which she refused toreceive; and, in the slight struggle attending his wish to force it uponher, it dropped to the earth.
"Let it remain an instant on the ground," said Alice, as the Masterstooped to raise it; "and believe me, that piece of gold is an emblem ofher whom you love; she is as precious, I grant, but you must stoop evento abasement before you can win her. For me, I have as little to do withgold as with earthly passions; and the best news that the world has instore for me is, that Edgar Ravenswood is an hundred miles distant fromthe seat of his ancestors, with the determination never again to beholdit."
"Alice," said the Master, who began to think this earnestness had somemore secret cause than arose from anything that the blind woman couldhave gathered from this casual visit, "I have heard you praised by mymother for your sense, acuteness, and fidelity; you are no fool to startat shadows, or to dread old superstitious saws, like Caleb Balderstone;tell me distinctly where my danger lies, if you are aware of any whichis tending towards me. If I know myself, I am free from all such viewsrespecting Miss Ashton as you impute to me. I have necessary businessto settle with Sir William; that arranged, I shall depart, and with aslittle wish, as you may easily believe, to return to a place full ofmelancholy subjects of reflection, as you have to see me here." Alicebent her sightless eyes on the ground, and was for some time plunged indeep meditation. "I will speak the truth," she said at length, raisingup her head--"I will tell you the source of my apprehensions, whethermy candour be for good or for evil. Lucy Ashton loves you, Lord ofRavenswood!"
"It is impossible," said the Master.
"A thousand circumstances have proved it to me," replied the blindwoman. "Her thoughts have turned on no one else since you saved herfrom death, and that my experienced judgment has won from her ownconversation. Having told you this--if you are indeed a gentlemanand your father's son--you will make it a motive for flying from herpresence. Her passion will die like a lamp for want of that the flameshould feed upon but, if you remain here, her destruction, or yours,or that of both, will be the inevitable consequence of her misplacedattachment. I tell you this secret unwillingly, but it could not havebeen hid long from your own observation, and it is better you learnit from mine. Depart, Master of Ravenswood; you have my secret. If youremain an hour under Sir William Ashton's roof without the resolutionto marry his daughter, you are a villain; if with the purpose of allyingyourself with kin, you are an infatuated and predestined fool."
So saying, the old blind woman arose, assumed her staff, and, totteringto her hut, entered it and closed the door, leaving Ravenswood to hisown reflections.