CHAPTER XII.
Then up and spak the auld gudewife, And wow! but she was grim: "Had e'er your father done the like, It had been ill for him."
Lucky Trumbull.
The party were now, by a secret passage, admitted within the church, theoutward doors of which, usually left open, had been closed againstevery one in consequence of the recent tumult, when the rioters of bothparties had endeavoured to rush into it for other purposes than those ofdevotion. They traversed the gloomy aisles, whose arched roof resoundedto the heavy tread of the armourer, but was silent under the sandalledfoot of the monk, and the light step of poor Louise, who trembledexcessively, as much from fear as cold. She saw that neither herspiritual nor temporal conductor looked kindly upon her. The former wasan austere man, whose aspect seemed to hold the luckless wanderer insome degree of horror, as well as contempt; while the latter, though, aswe have seen, one of the best natured men living, was at present graveto the pitch of sternness, and not a little displeased with having thepart he was playing forced upon him, without, as he was constrained tofeel, a possibility of his declining it.
His dislike at his task extended itself to the innocent object ofhis protection, and he internally said to himself, as he surveyed herscornfully: "A proper queen of beggars to walk the streets of Perthwith, and I a decent burgher! This tawdry minion must have as raggeda reputation as the rest of her sisterhood, and I am finely sped ifmy chivalry in her behalf comes to Catharine's ears. I had better haveslain a man, were he the best in Perth; and, by hammer and nails, Iwould have done it on provocation, rather than convoy this baggagethrough the city."
Perhaps Louise suspected the cause of her conductor's anxiety, for shesaid, timidly and with hesitation: "Worthy sir, were it not better Ishould stop one instant in that chapel and don my mantle?"
"Umph, sweetheart, well proposed," said the armourer; but the monkinterfered, raising at the same time the finger of interdiction.
"The chapel of holy St. Madox is no tiring room for jugglers andstrollers to shift their trappings in. I will presently show thee avestiary more suited to thy condition."
The poor young woman hung down her humbled head, and turned fromthe chapel door which she had approached with the deep sense of selfabasement. Her little spaniel seemed to gather from his mistress's looksand manner that they were unauthorised intruders on the holy groundwhich they trode, and hung his ears, and swept the pavement with histail, as he trotted slowly and close to Louise's heels.
The monk moved on without a pause. They descended a broad flight ofsteps, and proceeded through a labyrinth of subterranean passages, dimlylighted. As they passed a low arched door, the monk turned and saidto Louise, with the same stern voice as before: "There, daughter offolly--there is a robing room, where many before you have depositedtheir vestments."
Obeying the least signal with ready and timorous acquiescence, shepushed the door open, but instantly recoiled with terror. It was acharnel house, half filled with dry skulls and bones.
"I fear to change my dress there, and alone. But, if you, father,command it, be it as you will."
"Why, thou child of vanity, the remains on which thou lookest are butthe earthly attire of those who, in their day, led or followed in thepursuit of worldly pleasure. And such shalt thou be, for all thy mincingand ambling, thy piping and thy harping--thou, and all such ministers offrivolous and worldly pleasure, must become like these poor bones, whomthy idle nicety fears and loathes to look upon."
"Say not with idle nicety, reverend father," answered the glee maiden,"for, Heaven knows, I covet the repose of these poor bleached relics;and if, by stretching my body upon them, I could, without sin, bring mystate to theirs, I would choose that charnel heap for my place of restbeyond the fairest and softest couch in Scotland."
"Be patient, and come on," said the monk, in a milder tone, "the reapermust not leave the harvest work till sunset gives the signal that theday's toil is over."
They walked forward. Brother Cyprian, at the end of a long gallery,opened the door of a small apartment, or perhaps a chapel, for it wasdecorated with a crucifix, before which burned four lamps. All bent andcrossed themselves; and the priest said to the minstrel maiden, pointingto the crucifix, "What says that emblem?"
"That HE invites the sinner as well as the righteous to approach."
"Ay, if the sinner put from him his sin," said the monk, whose tone ofvoice was evidently milder. "Prepare thyself here for thy journey."
Louise remained an instant or two in the chapel, and presentlyreappeared in a mantle of coarse grey cloth, in which she had closelymuffled herself, having put such of her more gaudy habiliments as shehad time to take off in the little basket which had before held herordinary attire.
The monk presently afterwards unlocked a door which led to the open air.They found themselves in the garden which surrounded the monastery ofthe Dominicans.
"The southern gate is on the latch, and through it you can passunnoticed," said the monk. "Bless thee, my son; and bless thee too,unhappy child. Remembering where you put off your idle trinkets, may youtake care how you again resume them!"
"Alas, father!" said Louise, "if the poor foreigner could supply themere wants of life by any more creditable occupation, she has small wishto profess her idle art. But--"
But the monk had vanished; nay, the very door though which she had justpassed appeared to have vanished also, so curiously was it concealedbeneath a flying buttress, and among the profuse ornaments of Gothicarchitecture.
"Here is a woman let out by this private postern, sure enough," wasHenry's reflection. "Pray Heaven the good fathers never let any in! Theplace seems convenient for such games at bo peep. But, Benedicite, whatis to be done next? I must get rid of this quean as fast as I can; andI must see her safe. For let her be at heart what she may, she looks toomodest, now she is in decent dress, to deserve the usage which the wildScot of Galloway, or the devil's legion from the Liddel, are like toafford her."
Louise stood as if she waited his pleasure which way to go. Her littledog, relieved by the exchange of the dark, subterranean vault for theopen air, sprung in wild gambols through the walks, and jumped upon itsmistress, and even, though more timidly, circled close round the smith'sfeet, to express its satisfaction to him also, and conciliate hisfavour.
"Down, Charlot--down!" said the glee maiden. "You are glad to getinto the blessed sunshine; but where shall we rest at night, my poorCharlot?"
"And now, mistress," said the smith, not churlishly, for it was not inhis nature, but bluntly, as one who is desirous to finish a disagreeableemployment, "which way lies your road?"
Louise looked on the ground and was silent. On being again urged to saywhich way she desired to be conducted, she again looked down, and saidshe could not tell.
"Come--come," said Henry, "I understand all that: I have been agalliard--a reveller in my day, but it's best to be plain. As mattersare with me now, I am an altered man for these many, many months; andso, my quean, you and I must part sooner than perhaps a light o' lovesuch as you expected to part with--a likely young fellow."
Louise wept silently, with her eyes still cast on the ground, as onewho felt an insult which she had not a right to complain of. At length,perceiving that her conductor was grown impatient, she faltered out,"Noble sir--"
"Sir is for a knight," said the impatient burgher, "and noble is fora baron. I am Harry of the Wynd, an honest mechanic, and free of myguild."
"Good craftsman, then," said the minstrel woman, "you judge me harshly,but not without seeming cause. I would relieve you immediately of mycompany, which, it may be, brings little credit to good men, did I butknow which way to go."
"To the next wake or fair, to be sure," said Henry, roughly, having nodoubt that this distress was affected for the purpose of palmingherself upon him, and perhaps dreading to throw himself into the wayof temptation; "and that is the feast of St. Madox, at Auchterarder. Iwarrant thou wilt find the way thither well enough."
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"Aftr--Auchter--" repeated the glee maiden, her Southern tongue in vainattempting the Celtic accentuation. "I am told my poor plays will not beunderstood if I go nearer to yon dreadful range of mountains."
"Will you abide, then, in Perth?"
"But where to lodge?" said the wanderer.
"Why, where lodged you last night?" replied the smith. "You know whereyou came from, surely, though you seem doubtful where you are going?"
"I slept in the hospital of the convent. But I was only admitted upongreat importunity, and I was commanded not to return."
"Nay, they will never take you in with the ban of the Douglas upon you,that is even too true. But the Prince mentioned Sir John Ramorny's; Ican take you to his lodgings through bye streets, though it is short ofan honest burgher's office, and my time presses."
"I will go anywhere; I know I am a scandal and incumbrance. There was atime when it was otherwise. But this Ramorny, who is he?"
"A courtly knight, who lives a jolly bachelor's life, and is master ofthe horse, and privado, as they say, to the young prince."
"What! to the wild, scornful young man who gave occasion to yonderscandal? Oh, take me not thither, good friend. Is there no Christianwoman who would give a poor creature rest in her cowhouse or barn forone night? I will be gone with early daybreak. I will repay her richly.I have gold; and I will repay you, too, if you will take me where I maybe safe from that wild reveller, and from the followers of that darkbaron, in whose eye was death."
"Keep your gold for those who lack it, mistress," said Henry, "anddo not offer to honest hands the money that is won by violing, andtabouring, and toe tripping, and perhaps worse pastimes. I tell youplainly, mistress, I am not to be fooled. I am ready to take you to anyplace of safety you can name, for my promise is as strong as an ironshackle. But you cannot persuade me that you do not know what earth tomake for. You are not so young in your trade as not to know there arehostelries in every town, much more in a city like Perth, where such asyou may be harboured for your money, if you cannot find some gulls, moreor fewer, to pay your lawing. If you have money, mistress, my care aboutyou need be the less; and truly I see little but pretence in allthat excessive grief, and fear of being left alone, in one of youroccupation."
Having thus, as he conceived, signified that he was not to be deceivedby the ordinary arts of a glee maiden, Henry walked a few pacessturdily, endeavouring to think he was doing the wisest and most prudentthing in the world. Yet he could not help looking back to see how Louisebore his departure, and was shocked to observe that she had sunk upon abank, with her arms resting on her knees and her head on her arms, in asituation expressive of the utmost desolation.
The smith tried to harden his heart. "It is all a sham," he said: "thegouge knows her trade, I'll be sworn, by St. Ringan."
At the instant something pulled the skirts of his cloak; and lookinground, he saw the little spaniel, who immediately, as if to plead hismistress's cause, got on his hind legs and began to dance, whimpering atthe same time, and looking back to Louise, as if to solicit compassionfor his forsaken owner.
"Poor thing," said the smith, "there may be a trick in this too, forthou dost but as thou art taught. Yet, as I promised to protect thispoor creature, I must not leave her in a swoon, if it be one, were itbut for manhood's sake."
Returning, and approaching his troublesome charge, he was at onceassured, from the change of her complexion, either that she was actuallyin the deepest distress, or had a power of dissimulation beyond thecomprehension of man--or woman either.
"Young woman," he said, with more of kindness than he had hitherto beenable even to assume, "I will tell you frankly how I am placed. Thisis St. Valentine's Day, and by custom I was to spend it with my fairValentine. But blows and quarrels have occupied all the morning, saveone poor half hour. Now, you may well understand where my heart and mythoughts are, and where, were it only in mere courtesy, my body ought tobe."
The glee maiden listened, and appeared to comprehend him.
"If you are a true lover, and have to wait upon a chaste Valentine, Godforbid that one like me should make a disturbance between you! Thinkabout me no more. I will ask of that great river to be my guide to whereit meets the ocean, where I think they said there was a seaport; I willsail from thence to La Belle France, and will find myself once more ina country in which the roughest peasant would not wrong the poorestfemale."
"You cannot go to Dundee today," said the smith. "The Douglas people arein motion on both sides of the river, for the alarm of the morning hasreached them ere now; and all this day, and the next, and the wholenight which is between, they will gather to their leader's standard,like Highlandmen at the fiery cross. Do you see yonder five or sixmen who are riding so wildly on the other side of the river? These areAnnandale men: I know them by the length of their lances, and by the waythey hold them. An Annandale man never slopes his spear backwards, butalways keeps the point upright, or pointed forward."
"And what of them?" said the glee maiden. "They are men at arms andsoldiers. They would respect me for my viol and my helplessness."
"I will say them no scandal," answered the smith. "If you were in theirown glens, they would use you hospitably, and you would have nothing tofear; but they are now on an expedition. All is fish that comes to theirnet. There are amongst them who would take your life for the value ofyour gold earrings. Their whole soul is settled in their eyes to seeprey, and in their hands to grasp it. They have no ears either to hearlays of music or listen to prayers for mercy. Besides, their leader'sorder is gone forth concerning you, and it is of a kind sure to beobeyed. Ay, great lords are sooner listened to if they say, 'Burn achurch,' than if they say, 'Build one.'"
"Then," said the glee woman, "I were best sit down and die."
"Do not say so," replied the smith. "If I could but get you a lodgingfor the night, I would carry you the next morning to Our Lady's Stairs,from whence the vessels go down the river for Dundee, and would put youon board with some one bound that way, who should see you safely lodgedwhere you would have fair entertainment and kind usage."
"Good--excellent--generous man!" said the glee maiden, "do this, andif the prayers and blessings of a poor unfortunate should ever reachHeaven, they will rise thither in thy behalf. We will meet at yonderpostern door, at whatever time the boats take their departure."
"That is at six in the morning, when the day is but young."
"Away with you, then, to your Valentine; and if she loves you, oh,deceive her not!"
"Alas, poor damsel! I fear it is deceit hath brought thee to this pass.But I must not leave you thus unprovided. I must know where you are topass the night."
"Care not for that," replied Louise: "the heavens are clear--there arebushes and boskets enough by the river side--Charlot and I can well makea sleeping room of a green arbour for one night; and tomorrow will,with your promised aid, see me out of reach of injury and wrong. Oh,the night soon passes away when there is hope for tomorrow! Do you stilllinger, with your Valentine waiting for you? Nay, I shall hold you but aloitering lover, and you know what belongs to a minstrel's reproaches."
"I cannot leave you, damsel," answered the armourer, now completelymelted. "It were mere murder to suffer you to pass the night exposed tothe keenness of a Scottish blast in February. No--no, my word would beill kept in this manner; and if I should incur some risk of blame, it isbut just penance for thinking of thee, and using thee, more according tomy own prejudices, as I now well believe, than thy merits. Come withme, damsel; thou shalt have a sure and honest lodging for the night,whatsoever may be the consequence. It would be an evil compliment to myCatharine, were I to leave a poor creature to be starved to death, thatI might enjoy her company an hour sooner."
So saying, and hardening himself against all anticipations of the illconsequences or scandal which might arise from such a measure, the manlyhearted smith resolved to set evil report at defiance, and give thewanderer a night's refuge in his own house. It must be added, th
athe did this with extreme reluctance, and in a sort of enthusiasm ofbenevolence.
Ere our stout son of Vulcan had fixed his worship on the Fair Maid ofPerth, a certain natural wildness of disposition had placed him underthe influence of Venus, as well as that of Mars; and it was only theeffect of a sincere attachment which had withdrawn him entirely fromsuch licentious pleasures. He was therefore justly jealous of hisnewly acquired reputation for constancy, which his conduct to thispoor wanderer must expose to suspicion; a little doubtful, perhaps, ofexposing himself too venturously to temptation; and moreover in despairto lose so much of St. Valentine's Day, which custom not only permitted,but enjoined him to pass beside his mate for the season. The journey toKinfauns, and the various transactions which followed, had consumed theday, and it was now nearly evensong time.
As if to make up by a speedy pace for the time he was compelled to wasteupon a subject so foreign to that which he had most at heart, he strodeon through the Dominicans' gardens, entered the town, and casting hiscloak around the lower part of his face, and pulling down his bonnet toconceal the upper, he continued the same celerity of movement throughbye streets and lanes, hoping to reach his own house in the Wynd withoutbeing observed. But when he had continued his rate of walking for tenminutes, he began to be sensible it might be too rapid for the youngwoman to keep up with him. He accordingly looked behind him with adegree of angry impatience, which soon turned into compunction, whenhe saw that she was almost utterly exhausted by the speed which she hadexerted.
"Now, marry, hang me up for a brute," said Henry to himself. "Was myown haste ever so great, could it give that poor creature wings? And sheloaded with baggage too! I am an ill nurtured beast, that is certain,wherever women are in question; and always sure to do wrong when I havethe best will to act right.
"Hark thee, damsel; let me carry these things for thee. We shall makebetter speed that I do so."
Poor Louise would have objected, but her breath was too much exhaustedto express herself; and she permitted her good natured guardian to takeher little basket, which, when the dog beheld, he came straight beforeHenry, stood up, and shook his fore paws, whining gently, as if he toowanted to be carried.
"Nay, then, I must needs lend thee a lift too," said the smith, who sawthe creature was tired:
"Fie, Charlot!" said Louise; "thou knowest I will carry thee myself."
She endeavoured to take up the little spaniel, but it escaped from her;and going to the other side of the smith, renewed its supplication thathe would take it up.
"Charlot's right," said the smith: "he knows best who is ablest to bearhim. This lets me know, my pretty one, that you have not been always thebearer of your own mail: Charlot can tell tales."
So deadly a hue came across the poor glee maiden's countenance as Henryspoke, that he was obliged to support her, lest she should have droppedto the ground. She recovered again, however, in an instant or two, andwith a feeble voice requested her guide would go on.
"Nay--nay," said Henry, as they began to move, "keep hold of my cloak,or my arm, if it helps you forward better. A fair sight we are; and hadI but a rebeck or a guitar at my back, and a jackanapes on my shoulder,we should seem as joyous a brace of strollers as ever touched string ata castle gate.
"Snails!" he ejaculated internally, "were any neighbour to meet me withthis little harlotry's basket at my back, her dog under my arm, andherself hanging on my cloak, what could they think but that I had turnedmumper in good earnest? I would not for the best harness I ever laidhammer on, that any of our long tongued neighbours met me in this guise;it were a jest would last from St. Valentine's Day to next Candlemas."
Stirred by these thoughts, the smith, although at the risk of makingmuch longer a route which he wished to traverse as swiftly as possible,took the most indirect and private course which he could find, in orderto avoid the main streets, still crowded with people, owing to the latescene of tumult and agitation. But unhappily his policy availed himnothing; for, in turning into an alley, he met a man with his cloakmuffled around his face, from a desire like his own to pass unobserved,though the slight insignificant figure, the spindle shanks, which showedthemselves beneath the mantle, and the small dull eye that blinked overits upper folds, announced the pottingar as distinctly as if he hadcarried his sign in front of his bonnet. His unexpected and mostunwelcome presence overwhelmed the smith with confusion. Ready evasionwas not the property of his bold, blunt temper; and knowing this manto be a curious observer, a malignant tale bearer, and by no means welldisposed to himself in particular, no better hope occurred to him thanthat the worshipful apothecary would give him some pretext to silencehis testimony and secure his discretion by twisting his neck round.
But, far from doing or saying anything which could warrant suchextremities, the pottingar, seeing himself so close upon his stalwarttownsman that recognition was inevitable, seemed determined it shouldbe as slight as possible; and without appearing to notice anythingparticular in the company or circumstances in which they met, he barelyslid out these words as he passed him, without even a glance towards hiscompanion after the first instant of their meeting: "A merry holiday toyou once more, stout smith. What! thou art bringing thy cousin, prettyMistress Joan Letham, with her mail, from the waterside--fresh fromDundee, I warrant? I heard she was expected at the old cordwainer's."
As he spoke thus, he looked neither right nor left, and exchanginga "Save you!" with a salute of the same kind which the smith rathermuttered than uttered distinctly, he glided forward on his way like ashadow.
"The foul fiend catch me, if I can swallow that pill," said Henry Smith,"how well soever it may be gilded. The knave has a shrewd eye for akirtle, and knows a wild duck from a tame as well as e'er a man inPerth. He were the last in the Fair City to take sour plums for pears,or my roundabout cousin Joan for this piece of fantastic vanity. I fancyhis bearing was as much as to say, 'I will not see what you might wishme blind to'; and he is right to do so, as he might easily purchasehimself a broken pate by meddling with my matters, and so he will besilent for his own sake. But whom have we next? By St. Dunstan, thechattering, bragging, cowardly knave, Oliver Proudfute!"
It was, indeed, the bold bonnet maker whom they next encountered, who,with his cap on one side, and trolling the ditty of--
"Thou art over long at the pot, Tom, Tom,"--gave plain intimation that he had made no dry meal.
"Ha! my jolly smith," he said, "have I caught thee in the manner? What,can the true steel bend? Can Vulcan, as the minstrel says, pay Venusback in her own coin? Faith, thou wilt be a gay Valentine before theyear's out, that begins with the holiday so jollily."
"Hark ye, Oliver," said the displeased smith, "shut your eyes and passon, crony. And hark ye again, stir not your tongue about what concernsyou not, as you value having an entire tooth in your head."
"I betray counsel? I bear tales, and that against my brother martialist?I would not tell it even to my timber soldan! Why, I can be a wildgalliard in a corner as well as thou, man. And now I think on't, Iwill go with thee somewhere, and we will have a rouse together, and thyDalilah shall give us a song. Ha! said I not well?"
"Excellently," said Henry, longing the whole time to knock his brothermartialist down, but wisely taking a more peaceful way to rid himself ofthe incumbrance of his presence--"excellently well! I may want thy help,too, for here are five or six of the Douglasses before us: they will notfail to try to take the wench from a poor burgher like myself, so I willbe glad of the assistance of a tearer such as thou art."
"I thank ye--I thank ye," answered the bonnet maker; "but were I notbetter run and cause ring the common bell, and get my great sword?"
"Ay, ay, run home as fast as you can, and say nothing of what you haveseen."
"Who, I? Nay, fear me not. Pah! I scorn a tale bearer."
"Away with you, then. I hear the clash of armour."
This put life and mettle into the heels of the bonnet maker, who,turning his back on the supposed danger, set off at
a pace which thesmith never doubted would speedily bring him to his own house.
"Here is another chattering jay to deal with," thought the smith; "butI have a hank over him too. The minstrels have a fabliau of a dawwith borrowed feathers--why, this Oliver is The very bird, and, by St.Dunstan, if he lets his chattering tongue run on at my expense, I willso pluck him as never hawk plumed a partridge. And this he knows."
As these reflections thronged on his mind, he had nearly reached the endof his journey, and, with the glee maiden still hanging on his cloak,exhausted, partly with fear, partly with fatigue, he at length arrivedat the middle of the wynd, which was honoured with his own habitation,and from which, in the uncertainty that then attended the applicationof surnames, he derived one of his own appellatives. Here, on ordinarydays, his furnace was seen to blaze, and four half stripped knavesstunned the neighbourhood with the clang of hammer and stithy. But St.Valentine's holiday was an excuse for these men of steel having shut theshop, and for the present being absent on their own errands of devotionor pleasure. The house which adjoined to the smithy called Henry itsowner; and though it was small, and situated in a narrow street, yet, asthere was a large garden with fruit trees behind it, it constitutedupon the whole a pleasant dwelling. The smith, instead of knocking orcalling, which would have drawn neighbours to doors and windows,drew out a pass key of his own fabrication, then a great and enviedcuriosity, and opening the door of his house, introduced his companioninto his habitation.
The apartment which received Henry and the glee maiden was the kitchen,which served amongst those of the smith's station for the family sittingroom, although one or two individuals, like Simon Glover, had an eatingroom apart from that in which their victuals were prepared. In thecorner of this apartment, which was arranged with an unusual attentionto cleanliness, sat an old woman, whose neatness of attire, and theprecision with which her scarlet plaid was drawn over her head, so asto descend to her shoulders on each side, might have indicated a higherrank than that of Luckie Shoolbred, the smith's housekeeper. Yet suchand no other was her designation; and not having attended mass in themorning, she was quietly reposing herself by the side of the fire, herbeads, half told, hanging over her left arm; her prayers, half said,loitering upon her tongue; her eyes, half closed, resigning themselvesto slumber, while she expected the return of her foster son, withoutbeing able to guess at what hour it was likely to happen. She startedup at the sound of his entrance, and bent her eye upon his companion, atfirst with a look of the utmost surprise, which gradually was exchangedfor one expressive of great displeasure.
"Now the saints bless mine eyesight, Henry Smith!" she exclaimed, verydevoutly.
"Amen, with all my heart. Get some food ready presently, good nurse, forI fear me this traveller hath dined but lightly."
"And again I pray that Our Lady would preserve my eyesight from thewicked delusions of Satan!"
"So be it, I tell you, good woman. But what is the use of all thispattering and prayering? Do you not hear me? or will you not do as I bidyou?"
"It must be himself, then, whatever is of it! But, oh! it is more likethe foul fiend in his likeness, to have such a baggage hanging upon hiscloak. Oh, Harry Smith, men called you a wild lad for less things; butwho would ever have thought that Harry would have brought a light lemanunder the roof that sheltered his worthy mother, and where his own nursehas dwelt for thirty years?"
"Hold your peace, old woman, and be reasonable," said the smith. "Thisglee woman is no leman of mine, nor of any other person that I know of;but she is going off for Dundee tomorrow by the boats, and we must giveher quarters till then."
"Quarters!" said the old woman. "You may give quarters to such cattle ifyou like it yourself, Harry Wynd; but the same house shall not quarterthat trumpery quean and me, and of that you may assure yourself."
"Your mother is angry with me," said Louise, misconstruing the connexionof the parties. "I will not remain to give her any offence. If there isa stable or a cowhouse, an empty stall will be bed enough for Charlotand me."
"Ay--ay, I am thinking it is the quarters you are best used to," saidDame Shoolbred.
"Harkye, Nurse Shoolbred," said the smith. "You know I love you for yourown sake and for my mother's; but by St. Dunstan, who was a saint of myown craft, I will have the command of my own house; and if you leave mewithout any better reason but your own nonsensical suspicions, you mustthink how you will have the door open to you when you return; for youshall have no help of mine, I promise you."
"Aweel, my bairn, and that will never make me risk the honest name Ihave kept for sixty years. It was never your mother's custom, and itshall never be mine, to take up with ranters, and jugglers, and singingwomen; and I am not so far to seek for a dwelling, that the same roofshould cover me and a tramping princess like that."
With this the refractory gouvernante began in great hurry to adjust hertartan mantle for going abroad, by pulling it so forwards as to concealthe white linen cap, the edges of which bordered her shrivelled butstill fresh and healthful countenance. This done, she seized upon astaff, the trusty companion of her journeys, and was fairly trudgingtowards the door, when the smith stepped between her and the passage.
"Wait at least, old woman, till we have cleared scores. I owe you forfee and bountith."
"An' that's e'en a dream of your own fool's head. What fee or bountitham I to take from the son of your mother, that fed, clad, and bielded meas if I had been a sister?"
"And well you repay it, nurse, leaving her only child at his utmostneed."
This seemed to strike the obstinate old woman with compunction. Shestopped and looked at her master and the minstrel alternately; thenshook her head, and seemed about to resume her motion towards the door.
"I only receive this poor wanderer under my roof," urged the smith, "tosave her from the prison and the scourge."
"And why should you save her?" said the inexorable Dame Shoolbred. "Idare say she has deserved them both as well as ever thief deserved ahempen collar."
"For aught I know she may or she may not. But she cannot deserve to bescourged to death, or imprisoned till she is starved to death; and thatis the lot of them that the Black Douglas bears mal-talent against."
"And you are going to thraw the Black Douglas for the cake of a gleewoman? This will be the worst of your feuds yet. Oh, Henry Gow, there isas much iron in your head as in your anvil!"
"I have sometimes thought this myself; Mistress Shoolbred; but if I doget a cut or two on this new argument, I wonder who is to cure them, ifyou run away from me like a scared wild goose? Ay, and, moreover, who isto receive my bonny bride, that I hope to bring up the wynd one of thesedays?"
"Ah, Harry--Harry," said the old woman, shaking her head, "this is notthe way to prepare an honest man's house for a young bride: youshould be guided by modesty and discretion, and not by chambering andwantonness."
"I tell you again, this poor creature is nothing to me. I wish her onlyto be safely taken care of; and I think the boldest Borderman in Perthwill respect the bar of my door as much as the gate of Carlisle Castle.I am going down to Sim Glover's; I may stay there all night, for theHighland cub is run back to the hills, like a wolf whelp as he is, andso there is a bed to spare, and father Simon will make me welcome tothe use of it. You will remain with this poor creature, feed her, andprotect her during the night, and I will call on her before day; andthou mayst go with her to the boat thyself an thou wilt, and so thouwilt set the last eyes on her at the same time I shall."
"There is some reason in that," said Dame Shoolbred; "though why youshould put your reputation in risk for a creature that would find alodging for a silver twopence and less matter is a mystery to me."
"Trust me with that, old woman, and be kind to the girl."
"Kinder than she deserves, I warrant you; and truly, though I littlelike the company of such cattle, yet I think I am less like to take harmfrom her than you--unless she be a witch, indeed, which may well cometo be the case, as the devil is very
powerful with all this wayfaringclanjamfray."
"No more a witch than I am a warlock," said the honest smith: "a poor,broken hearted thing, that, if she hath done evil, has dreed a soreweird for it. Be kind to her. And you, my musical damsel, I will callon you tomorrow morning, and carry you to the waterside. This old womanwill treat you kindly if you say nothing to her but what becomes honestears."
The poor minstrel had listened to this dialogue without understandingmore than its general tendency; for, though she spoke English well, shehad acquired the language in England itself; and the Northern dialectwas then, as now, of a broader and harsher character. She saw, however,that she was to remain with the old lady, and meekly folding her armson her bosom, bent her head with humility. She next looked towards thesmith with a strong expression of thankfulness, then, raising her eyesto heaven, took his passive hand, and seemed about to kiss the sinewyfingers in token of deep and affectionate gratitude.
But Dame Shoolbred did not give license to the stranger's mode ofexpressing her feelings. She thrust in between them, and pushing poorLouise aside, said, "No--no, I'll have none of that work. Go into thechimney nook, mistress, and when Harry Smith's gone, if you must havehands to kiss, you shall kiss mine as long as you like. And you, Harry,away down to Sim Glover's, for if pretty Mistress Catharine hears of thecompany you have brought home, she may chance to like them as littleas I do. What's the matter now? is the man demented? are you going outwithout your buckler, and the whole town in misrule?"
"You are right, dame," said the armourer; and, throwing the buckler overhis broad shoulders, he departed from his house without abiding fartherquestion.