CHAPTER XXV.
True love, an thou be true, Thou has ane kittle part to play; For fortune, fashion, fancy, and thou, Maun strive for many a day.
I've kend by mony a friend's tale, Far better by this heart of mine, What time and change of fancy avail A true-love knot to untwine.
HENDERSOUN.
"I WISHED to tell you, my good kinsman," said the Marquis, "now that weare quit of that impertinent fiddler, that I had tried to discuss thislove affair of yours with Sir William Ashton's daughter. I never sawthe young lady but for a few minutes to-day; so, being a stranger to herpersonal merits, I pay a compliment to you, and offer her no offence, insaying you might do better."
"My lord, I am much indebted for the interest you have taken in myaffairs," said Ravenswood. "I did not intend to have troubled you in anymatter concerning Miss Ashton. As my engagement with that young lady hasreached your lordship, I can only say, that you must necessarily supposethat I was aware of the objections to my marrying into her father'sfamily, and of course must have been completely satisfied with thereasons by which these objections are overbalanced, since I haveproceeded so far in the matter."
"Nay, Master, if you had heard me out," said his noble relation, "youmight have spared that observation for, without questioning that youhad reasons which seemed to you to counterbalance every other obstacle,I set myself, by every means that it became me to use towards theAshtons, to persuade them to meet your views."
"I am obliged to your lordship for your unsolicited intercession," saidRavenswood; "especially as I am sure your lordship would never carry itbeyond the bounds which it became me to use."
"Of that," said the Marquis, "you may be confident; I myself felt thedelicacy of the matter too much to place a gentleman nearly connectedwith my house in a degrading or dubious situation with these Ashtons.But I pointed out all the advantages of their marrying their daughterinto a house so honourable, and so nearly related with the first ofScotland; I explained the exact degree of relationship in which theRavenswoods stand to ourselves; and I even hinted how political matterswere like to turn, and what cards would be trumps next Parliament. Isaid I regarded you as a son--or a nephew, or so--rather than as a moredistant relation and that I made your affair entirely my own."
"And what was the issue of your lordship's explanation?" saidRavenswood, in some doubt whether he should resent or express gratitudefor his interference.
"Why, the Lord Keeper would have listened to reason," said the Marquis;"he is rather unwilling to leave his place, which, in the present viewof a change, must be vacated; and, to say truth, he seemed to havea liking for you, and to be sensible of the general advantages to beattained by such a match. But his lady, who is tongue of the trump,Master----"
"What of Lady Ashton, my lord?" said Ravenswood; "let me know the issueof this extraordinary conference: I can bear it."
"I am glad of that, kinsman," said the Marquis, "for I am ashamed totell you half what she said. It is enough--her mind is made up, and themistress of a first-rate boarding-school could not have rejectedwith more haughty indifference the suit of a half-pay Irish officer,beseeching permission to wait upon the heiress of a West India planter,than Lady Ashton spurned every proposal of mediation which it could atall become me to offer in behalf of you, my good kinsman. I cannot guesswhat she means. A more honourable connexion she could not form, that'scertain. As for money and land, that used to be her husband's businessrather than hers; I really think she hates you for having the rankwhich her husband has not, and perhaps for not having the lands that hergoodman has. But I should only vex you to say more about it--here we areat the change-house."
The Master of Ravenswood paused as he entered the cottage, which reekedthrough all its crevices, and they were not few, from the exertions ofthe Marquis's travelling-cooks to supply good cheer, and spread, as itwere, a table in the wilderness.
"My Lord Marquis," said Ravenswood, "I already mentioned that accidenthas put your lordship in possession of a secret which, with my consent,should have remained one even to you, my kinsman, for some time. Sincethe secret was to part from my own custody, and that of the only personbesides who was interested in it, I am not sorry it should have reachedyour lordship's ears, as being fully aware that you are my noble kinsmanand friend."
"You may believe it is safely lodged with me, Master of Ravenswood,"said the Marquis; "but I should like well to hear you say that yourenounced the idea of an alliance which you can hardly pursue without acertain degree of degradation."
"Of that, my lord, I shall judge," answered Ravenswood, "and I hope withdelicacy as sensitive as any of my friends. But I have no engagementwith Sir William and Lady Ashton. It is with Miss Ashton alone that Ihave entered upon the subject, and my conduct in the matter shall beentirely ruled by hers. If she continues to prefer me in my poverty tothe wealthier suitors whom her friends recommend, I may well make somesacrifice to her sincere affection: I may well surrender to her theless tangible and less palpable advantages of birth, and the deep-rootedprejudices of family hatred. If Miss Lucy Ashton should change her mindon a subject of such delicacy, I trust my friends will be silent on mydisappointment, and I shall know how to make my enemies so."
"Spoke like a gallant young nobleman," said the Marquis; "for my part, Ihave that regard for you, that I should be sorry the thing went on. ThisSir William Ashton was a pretty enough pettifogging kind of a lawyertwenty years ago, and betwixt battling at the bar and leading incommittees of Parliament he has got well on the Darien matter lent hima lift, for he had good intelligence and sound views, and sold out intime; but the best work is had out of him. No government will take himat his own, or rather his wife's extravagant, valuation and betwixt hisindecision and her insolence, from all I can guess, he will outsit hismarket, and be had cheap when no one will bid for him. I say nothingof Miss Ashton but I assure you, a connexion with her father will beneither useful nor ornamental, beyond that part of your father's spoilswhich he may be prevailed upon to disgorge by way of tocher-good; andtake my word for it, you will get more if you have spirit to bell thecat with him in the House of Peers. And I will be the man, cousin,"continued his lordship, "will course the fox for you, and make him ruethe day that ever he refused a composition too honourable for him, andproposed by me on the behalf of a kinsman."
There was something in all this that, as it were, overshot the mark.Ravenswood could not disguise from himself that his noble kinsmanhad more reasons for taking offence at the reception of his suit thanregarded his interest and honour, yet he could neither complain nor besurprised that it should be so. He contented himself, therefore, withrepeating, that his attachment was to Miss Ashton personally; that hedesired neither wealth nor aggrandisement from her father's means andinfluence; and that nothing should prevent his keeping his engagement,excepting her own express desire that it should be relinquished; and herequested as a favour that the matter might be no more mentioned betwixtthem at present, assuring the Marquis of A----that he should be hisconfidant or its interruption.
The Marquis soon had more agreeable, as well as more interesting,subjects on which to converse. A foot-post, who had followed him fromEdinburgh to Ravenswood Castle, and had traced his steps to theTod's Hole, brought him a packet laden with good news. The politicalcalculations of the Marquis had proved just, both in London and atEdinburgh, and he saw almost within his grasp the pre-eminence for whichhe had panted. The refreshments which the servants had prepared were nowput on the table, and an epicure would perhaps have enjoyed them withadditional zest from the contrast which such fare afforded to themiserable cabin in which it was served up.
The turn of conversation corresponded with and added to the socialfeelings of the company. The Marquis expanded with pleasure on the powerwhich probably incidents were likely to assign to him, and on theuse which eh hoped to make of it in serving his kinsman Ravenswood.Ravenswood could but repeat the gratitude which he really felt, evenwhen he considered the t
opic as too long dwelt upon. The wine wasexcellent, notwithstanding its having been brought in a runlet fromEdinburgh; and the habits of the Marquis, when engaged with such goodcheer, were somewhat sedentary. And so it fell out that they delayedtheir journey two hours later than was their original purpose.
"But what of that, my good young friend?" said the Marquis. "Your Castleof Wolf's Crag is at but five or six miles' distance, and will affordthe same hospitality to your kinsman of A----that it gave to this sameSir William Ashton."
"Sir William took the castle by storm," said Ravenswood, "and, like manya victor, had little reason to congratulate himself on his conquest.""Well--well!" said Lord A----, whose dignity was something relaxed bythe wine he had drunk, "I see I must bribe you to harbour me. Come,pledge me in a bumper health to the last young lady that slept at Wolf'sCrag, and liked her quarters. My bones are not so tender as hers, and Iam resolved to occupy her apartment to-night, that I may judge how hardthe couch is that love can soften."
"Your lordship may choose what penance you please," said Ravenswood;"but I assure you, I should expect my old servant to hang himself, orthrow himself from the battlements, should your lordship visit him sounexpectedly. I do assure you, we are totally and literally unprovided."
But his declaration only brought from his noble patron an assurance ofhis own total indifference as to every species of accommodation, and hisdetermination to see the Tower of Wolf's Crag. His ancestor, hesaid, had been feasted there, when he went forward with the then LordRavenswood to the fatal battle of Flodden, in which they both fell. Thushard pressed, the Master offered to ride forward to get matters put insuch preparation as time and circumstances admitted; but the Marquisprotested his kinsman must afford him his company, and would onlyconsent that an avant-courier should carry to the desinted seneschal,Caleb Balderstone, the unexpected news of this invasion.
The Master of Ravenswood soon after accompanied the Marquis in hiscarriage, as the latter had proposed; and when they became betteracquainted in the progress of the journey, his noble relation explainedthe very liberal views which he entertained for his relation'spreferment, in case of the success of his own political schemes. Theyrelated to a secret and highly important commission beyond sea, whichcould only be entrusted to a person of rank, talent, and perfectconfidence, and which, as it required great trust and reliance on theenvoy employed, could but not prove both honourable and advantageous tohim. We need not enter into the nature and purpose of this commission,farther than to acquaint our readers that the charge was in prospecthighly acceptable to the Master of Ravenswood, who hailed with pleasurethe hope of emerging from his present state of indigence and inactioninto independence and honourable exertion.
While he listened thus eagerly to the details with which the Marquisnow thought it necessary to entrust him, the messenger who had beendespatched to the Tower of Wolf's Crag returned with Caleb Balderstone'shumble duty, and an assurance that "a' should be in seemly order, sic asthe hurry of time permitted, to receive their lordships as it behoved."
Ravenswood was too well accustomed to his seneschal's mode of acting andspeaking to hope much from this confident assurance. He knew that Calebacted upon the principle of the Spanish generals, in the campaignof ----, who, much to the perplexity of the Prince of Orange, theircommander-in-chief, used to report their troops as full in number,and possessed of all necessary points of equipment, not considering itconsistent with their dignity, or the honour of Spain, to confessany deficiency either in men or munition, until the want of both wasunavoidably discovered in the day of battle. Accordingly, Ravenswoodthought it necessary to give the Marquis some hint that the fairassurance which they had just received from Caleb did not by any meansensure them against a very indifferent reception.
"You do yourself injustice, Master," said the Marquis, "or you wishto surprise me agreeably. From this window I see a great light in thedirection where, if I remember aright, Wolf's Crag lies; and, to judgefrom the splendour which the old Tower sheds around it, the preparationsfor our reception must be of no ordinary description. I remember yourfather putting the same deception on me, when we went to the Tower fora few days' hawking, about twenty years since, and yet we spent our timeas jollily at Wolf's Crag as we could have done at my own hunting seatat B----."
"Your lordship, I fear, will experience that the faculty of thepresent proprietor to entertain his friends is greatly abridged," saidRavenswood; "the will, I need hardly say, remains the same. But I am asmuch at a loss as your lordship to account for so strong and brilliant alight as is now above Wolf's Crag; the windows of the Tower are few andnarrow, and those of the lower story are hidden from us by the walls ofthe court. I cannot conceive that any illumination of an ordinary naturecould afford such a blaze of light."
The mystery was soon explained; for the cavalcade almost instantlyhalted, and the voice of Caleb Balderstone was heard at the coachwindow, exclaiming, in accents broken by grief and fear, "Och,gentlemen! Och, my gude lords! Och, haud to the right! Wolf's Crag isburning, bower and ha'--a' the rich plenishing outside and inside--a'the fine graith, pictures, tapestries, needle-wark, hangings, and otherdecorements--a' in a bleeze, as if they were nae mair than sae monypeats, or as muckle pease-strae! Haud to the right, gentlemen, I imploreye; there is some sma' provision making at Luckie Sma'trash's; but oh,wae for this night, and wae for me that lives to see it!"
Ravenswood was first stunned by this new and unexpected calamity; butafter a moment's recollection he sprang from the carriage, and hastilybidding his noble kinsman good-night, was about to ascend the hilltowards the castle, the broad and full conflagration of which now flungforth a high column of red light, that flickered far to seaward upon thedashing waves of the ocean.
"Take a horse, Master," exclaimed the Marquis, greatly affected by thisadditional misfortune, so unexpectedly heaped upon his young protege;"and give me my ambling palfrey; and haste forward, you knaves, to seewhat can be done to save the furniture, or to extinguish the fire--ride,you knaves, for your lives!"
The attendants bustled together, and began to strike their horses withthe spur, and call upon Caleb to show them the road. But the voiceof that careful seneschal was heard above the tumult, "Oh, stop sirs,stop--turn bridle, for the luve of Mercy; add not loss of lives to theloss of warld's gean! Thirty barrels of powther, landed out of a Dunkirkdogger in the auld lord's time--a' in the vau'ts of the auld tower,--thefire canna be far off it, I trow. Lord's sake, to the right, lads--tothe right; let's pit the hill atween us and peril,--a wap wi' acorner-stane o' Wolf's Crag wad defy the doctor!"
It will readily be supposed that this annunciation hurried the Marquisand his attendants into the route which Caleb prescribed, draggingRavenswood along with them, although there was much in the matter whichhe could not possibly comprehend. "Gunpowder!" he exclaimed, laying holdof Caleb, who in vain endeavoured to escape from him; "what gunpowder?How any quantity of powder could be in Wolf's Crag without my knowledge,I cannot possibly comprehend."
"But I can," interrupted the Marquis, whispering him, "I can comprehendit thoroughly; for God's sake, ask him no more questions at present."
"There it is, now," said Caleb, extricating himself from his master, andadjusting his dress, "your honour will believe his lordship's honourabletestimony. His lordship minds weel how, in the year that him they ca'dKing Willie died----"
"Hush! hush, my good friend!" said the Marquis; "I shall satisfy yourmaster upon that subject."
"And the people at Wolf's Hope," said Ravenswood, "did none of them cometo your assistance before the flame got so high?"
"Ay did they, mony ane of them, the rapscallions!" said Caleb; "buttruly I was in nae hurry to let them into the Tower, where there were somuch plate and valuables."
"Confound you for an impudent liar!" said Ravenswood, in uncontrollableire, "there was not a single ounce of----"
"Forbye," said the butler, most irreverently raising his voice to apitch which drowned his master's, "the fire made fast on u
s, owing tothe store of tapestry and carved timmer in the banqueting-ha', and theloons ran like scaulded rats sae sune as they heard of the gunpouther."
"I do entreat," said the Marquis to Ravenswood, "you will ask him nomore questions."
"Only one, my lord. What has become of poor Mysie?"
"Mysie!" said Caleb, "I had nae time to look about ony Mysie; she'sin the Tower, I'se warrant, biding her awful doom." "By heaven," saidRavenswood, "I do not understand all this! The life of a faithful oldcreature is at stake; my lord, I will be withheld no longer; I will atleast ride up, and see whether the danger is as imminent as this oldfool pretends."
"Weel, then, as I live by bread," said Caleb, "Mysie is weel and safe.I saw her out of the castle before I left it mysell. Was I ganging toforget an auld fellow-servant?"
"What made you tell me the contrary this moment?" said his master.
"Did I tell you the contrary?" said Caleb; "then I maun hae beendreaming surely, or this awsome night has turned my judgment; but safeshe is, and ne'er a living soul in the castle, a' the better for them:they wau have gotten an unco heezy."
The Master of Ravenswood, upon this assurance being solemnly reiterated,and notwithstanding his extreme wish to witness the last explosion,which was to ruin to the ground the mansion of his fathers, sufferedhimself to be dragged onward towards the village of Wolf's Hope, wherenot only the change-house, but that of our well-known friend the cooper,were all prepared for reception of himself and his noble guest, with aliberality of provision which requires some explanation.
We omitted to mention in its place, that Lockhard having fished out thetruth concerning the mode by which Caleb had obtained the supplies forhis banquet, the Lord Keeper, amused with the incident, and desirous atthe time to gratify Ravenswood, had recommended the cooper of Wolf''sHope to the official situation under government the prospect of whichhad reconciled him to the loss of his wild-fowl. Mr. Girder's prefermenthad occasioned a pleasing surprise to old Caleb; for when, some daysafter his master's departure, he found himself absolutely compelled, bysome necessary business, to visit the fishing hamlet, and was glidinglike a ghost past the door of the cooper, for fear of being summoned togive some account of the progress of the solicitation in his favour, or,more probably that the inmates might upbraid him with the false hopehe had held out upon the subject, he heard himself, not without someapprehension, summoned at once in treble, tenor, and bass--a trioperformed by the voices of Mrs. Girder, old Dame Loup-the-Dyke, and thegoodman of the dwelling--"Mr. Caleb!--Mr. Caleb Balderstone! I hopeye arena ganging dry-lipped by our door, and we sae muckle indebted toyou?"
This might be said ironically as well as in earnest. Caleb augured theworst, turned a deaf ear to the trio aforesaid, and was moving doggedlyon, his ancient castor pulled over his brows, and his eyes bent on theground, as if to count the flinty pebbles with which the rude pathwaywas causewayed. But on a sudden he found himself surrounded in hisprogress, like a stately merchantman in the Gut of Gibraltar (I hopethe ladies will excuse the tarpaulin phrase) by three Algerine galleys."Gude guide us, Mr. Balderstone!" said Mrs. Girder. "Wha wad hae thoughtit of an auld and kenn'd friend!" said the mother.
"And no sae muckle as stay to receive our thanks," said the cooperhimself, "and frae the like o' me that seldom offers them! I am sure Ihope there's nae ill seed sawn between us, Mr. Balderstone. Ony man thathas said to ye I am no gratefu' for the situation of Queen's cooper, letme hae a whample at him wi' mine eatche, that's a'."
"My good friends--my dear friends," said Caleb, still doubting how thecertainty of the matter might stand, "what needs a' this ceremony? Anetries to serve their friends, and sometimes they may happen to prosper,and sometimes to misgie. Naething I care to be fashed wi' less thanthanks; I never could bide them."
"Faith, Mr. Balderstone, ye suld hae been fashed wi' few o' mine," saidthe downright man of staves and hoops, "if I had only your gude-will tothank ye for: I suld e'en hae set the guse, and the wild deukes, adn therunlet of sack to balance that account. Gude-will, man, is a geizen'dtub, that hauds in nae liquor; but gude deed's like the cask, tight,round, and sound, that will haud liquor for the king."
"Have ye no heard of our letter," said the mother-in-law, "making ourJohn [Gibbie] the Queen's cooper for certain? and scarce a chield thathad ever hammered gird upon tub but was applying for it?"
"Have I heard!!!" said Caleb, who now found how the wind set, with anaccent of exceeding contempt, at the doubt expressed--"have I heard,quo'she!!!" and as he spoke he changed his shambling, skulking, dodgingpace into a manly and authoritative step, readjusted his cocked hat,and suffered his brow to emerge from under it in all the pride ofaristocracy, like the sun from behind a cloud.
"To be sure, he canna but hae heard," said the good woman.
"Ay, to be sure it's impossible but I should," said Caleb; "and sae I'llbe the first to kiss ye, joe, and wish you, cooper, much joy of yourpreferment, naething doubting but ye ken wha are your friends, and HAVEhelped ye, and CAN help ye. I thought it right to look a wee strangeupon it at first," added Caleb, "just to see if ye were made of theright mettle; but ye ring true, lad--ye ring true!"
So saying, with a most lordly air he kissed the women, and abandonedhis hand, with an air of serene patronage, to the hearty shake ofMr. Girder's horn-hard palm. Upon this complete, and to Caleb mostsatisfactory, information he did not, it may readily be believed,hesitate to accept an invitation to a solemn feast, to which wereinvited, not only all the NOTABLES of the village, but even his ancientantagonist, Mr. Dingwall, himself. At this festivity he was, of course,the most welcome and most honoured guest; and so well did he ply thecompany with stories of what he could do with his master, his masterwith the Lord Keeper, the Lord Keeper with the council, and the councilwith the king [queen], that before the company dismissed (which was,indeed, rather at an early hour than a late one), every man of note inthe village was ascending to the top-gallant of some ideal preferment bythe ladder of ropes which Caleb had presented to their imagination. Nay,the cunning butler regained in that moment not only all the influence hepossessed formerly over the villagers, when the baronial family whichhe served were at the proudest, but acquired even an accession ofimportance. The writer--the very attorney himself, such is the thirst ofpreferment--felt the force of the attraction, and taking an opportunityto draw Caleb into a corner, spoke, with affectionate regret, of thedeclining health of the sheriff-clerk of the county.
"An excellent man--a most valuable man, Mr. Caleb; but fat sall I say!we are peer feckless bodies, here the day and awa' by cock-screech themorn; and if he failyies, there maun be somebody in his place; and gifthat ye could airt it my way, I sall be thankful, man--a gluve stuffedwi gowd nobles; an' hark ye, man something canny till yoursell, and theWolf's Hope carles to settle kindly wi' the Master of Ravenswood--thatis, Lord Ravenswood--God bless his lordship!"
A smile, and a hearty squeeze by the hand, was the suitable answer tothis overture; and Caleb made his escape from the jovial party, in orderto avoid committing himself by any special promises.
"The Lord be gude to me," said Caleb, when he found himself in the openair, and at liberty to give vent to the self-exultation with whichhe was, as it were, distended; "did ever ony man see sic a set ofgreen-gaislings? The very pickmaws and solan-geese out-bye yonder atthe Bass hae ten times their sense! God, an I had been the Lord HighCommissioner to the Estates o' Parliament, they couldna hae beflumm'dme mair; and, to speak Heaven's truth, I could hardly hae beflumm'd thembetter neither! But the writer--ha! ha! ha!--ah, ha! ha! ha! mercy onme, that I suld live in my auld days to gie the ganag-bye to the verywriter! Sheriff-clerk!!! But I hae an auld account to settle wi' thecarle; and to make amends for bye-ganes, the office shall just cost himas much time-serving and tide-serving as if he were to get it in gudeearnest, of whilk there is sma' appearance, unless the Master learnsmair the ways of this warld, whilk it is muckle to be doubted that henever will do."