CHAPTER XXXI
Many, come up, sir, with your gentle blood! Here's a red stream beneath this coarse blue doublet, That warms the heart as kindly as if drawn From the far source of old Assyrian kings. Who first made mankind subject to their sway. _Old Play_.
The sounds to which we alluded in our last, were no other than thegrumbling tones of Richie Moniplies's voice.
This worthy, like some other persons who rank high in their own opinion,was very apt, when he could have no other auditor, to hold conversationwith one who was sure to be a willing listener--I mean with himself. Hewas now brushing and arranging Lord Glenvarloch's clothes, with asmuch composure and quiet assiduity as if he had never been out ofhis service, and grumbling betwixt whiles to the followingpurpose:--"Hump--ay, time cloak and jerkin were through my hands--Iquestion if horsehair has been passed over them since they and I lastparted. The embroidery finely frayed too--and the gold buttons of thecloak--By my conscience, and as I am an honest man, there is a rounddozen of them gane! This comes of Alsatian frolics--God keep us withhis grace, and not give us over to our own devices!--I see no sword--butthat will be in respect of present circumstances."
Nigel for some time could not help believing that he was still in adream, so improbable did it seem that his domestic, whom he supposed tobe in Scotland, should have found him out, and obtained access to him,in his present circumstances. Looking through the curtains, however,he became well assured of the fact, when he beheld the stiff and bonylength of Richie, with a visage charged with nearly double its ordinarydegree of importance, employed sedulously in brushing his master'scloak, and refreshing himself with whistling or humming, from intervalto interval, some snatch of an old melancholy Scottish ballad-tune.Although sufficiently convinced of the identity of the party, LordGlenvarloch could not help expressing his surprise in the superfluousquestion--"In the name of Heaven, Richie, is this you?"
"And wha else suld it be, my lord?" answered Richie; "I dreamna thatyour lordship's levee in this place is like to be attended by ony thatare not bounded thereto by duty."
"I am rather surprised," answered Nigel, "that it should be attended byany one at all--especially by you, Richie; for you know that we parted,and I thought you had reached Scotland long since."
"I crave your lordship's pardon, but we have not parted yet, nor aresoon likely so to do; for there gang twa folk's votes to the unmakingof a bargain, as to the making of ane. Though it was your lordship'spleasure so to conduct yourself that we were like to have parted, yetit was not, on reflection, my will to be gone. To be plain, if yourlordship does not ken when you have a good servant, I ken when I have akind master; and to say truth, you will be easier served now than ever,for there is not much chance of your getting out of bounds."
"I am indeed bound over to good behaviour," said Lord Glenvarloch, witha smile; "but I hope you will not take advantage of my situation to betoo severe on my follies, Richie?"
"God forbid, my lord--God forbid!" replied Richie, with an expressionbetwixt a conceited consciousness of superior wisdom and realfeeling--"especially in consideration of your lordship's having a duesense of them. I did indeed remonstrate, as was my humble duty, butI scorn to cast that up to your lordship now--Na, na, I am myself anerring creature--very conscious of some small weaknesses--there is noperfection in man."
"But, Richie," said Lord Glenvarloch, "although I am much obliged to youfor your proffered service, it can be of little use to me here, and maybe of prejudice to yourself."
"Your lordship shall pardon me again," said Richie, whom the relativesituation of the parties had invested with ten times his ordinarydogmatism; "but as I will manage the matter, your lordship shall begreatly benefited by my service, and I myself no whit prejudiced."
"I see not how that can be, my friend," said Lord Glenvarloch, "sinceeven as to your pecuniary affairs--"
"Touching my pecuniars, my lord," replied Richie, "I am indifferentlyweel provided; and, as it chances, my living here will be no burden toyour lordship, or distress to myself. Only I crave permission to annexcertain conditions to my servitude with your lordship."
"Annex what you will," said Lord Glenvarloch, "for you are pretty sureto take your own way, whether you make any conditions or not. Since youwill not leave me, which were, I think, your wisest course, you must,and I suppose will, serve me only on such terms as you like yourself."
"All that I ask, my lord," said Richie, gravely, and with a tone ofgreat moderation, "is to have the uninterrupted command of my ownmotions, for certain important purposes which I have now in hand, alwaysgiving your lordship the solace of my company and attendance, at suchtimes as may be at once convenient for me, and necessary for yourservice."
"Of which, I suppose, you constitute yourself sole judge," repliedNigel, smiling.
"Unquestionably, my lord," answered Richie, gravely; "for your lordshipcan only know what yourself want; whereas I, who see both sides of thepicture, ken both what is the best for your affairs, and what is themost needful for my own."
"Richie, my good friend," said Nigel, "I fear this arrangement, whichplaces the master much under the disposal of the servant, would scarcesuit us if we were both at large; but a prisoner as I am, I may be aswell at your disposal as I am at that of so many other persons; andso you may come and go as you list, for I suppose you will not take myadvice, to return to your own country, and leave me to my fate."
"The deil be in my feet if I do," said Moniplies,--"I am not the lad toleave your lordship in foul weather, when I followed you and fed uponyou through the whole summer day, And besides, there may be brave daysbehind, for a' that has come and gane yet; for
"It's hame, and it's hame, and it's hame we fain would be, Though thecloud is in the lift, and the wind is on the lea; For the sun throughthe mirk blinks blithe on mine ee, Says,--'I'll shine on ye yet in ourain country!"
Having sung this stanza in the manner of a ballad-singer, whose voicehas been cracked by matching his windpipe against the bugle of the northblast, Richie Moniplies aided Lord Glenvarloch to rise, attended histoilet with every possible mark of the most solemn and deferentialrespect, then waited upon him at breakfast, and finally withdrew,pleading that he had business of importance, which would detain him forsome hours.
Although Lord Glenvarloch necessarily expected to be occasionallyannoyed by the self-conceit and dogmatism of Richie Moniplies'scharacter, yet he could not but feel the greatest pleasure from the firmand devoted attachment which this faithful follower had displayed inthe present instance, and indeed promised himself an alleviation of theennui of his imprisonment, in having the advantage of his services. Itwas, therefore, with pleasure that he learned from the warder, thathis servant's attendance would be allowed at all times when the generalrules of the fortress permitted the entrance of strangers.
In the meanwhile, the magnanimous Richie Moniplies had already reachedTower Wharf. Here, after looking with contempt on several scullers bywhom he was plied, and whose services he rejected with a wave of hishand, he called with dignity, "First oars!" and stirred into activityseveral lounging Tritons of the higher order, who had not, on hisfirst appearance, thought it worth while to accost him with proffers ofservice. He now took possession of a wherry, folded his arms within hisample cloak, and sitting down in the stern with an air of importance,commanded them to row to Whitehall Stairs. Having reached the Palacein safety, he demanded to see Master Linklater, the under-clerk of hisMajesty's kitchen. The reply was, that he was not to be spoken withal,being then employed in cooking a mess of cock-a-leekie for the king'sown mouth.
"Tell him," said Moniplies, "that it is a dear countryman of his, whoseeks to converse with him on matter of high import."
"A dear countryman?" said Linklater, when this pressing message wasdelivered to him. "Well, let him come in and be d--d, that I should saysae! This now is some red-headed, long-legged, gillie-white-footfrae the West Port, that, hearing of my promotion, is come up to bea turn-broche
, or deputy scullion, through my interest. It is a greathinderance to any man who would rise in the world, to have such friendsto hang by his skirts, in hope of being towed up along with him.--Ha!Richie Moniplies, man, is it thou? And what has brought ye here? If theyshould ken thee for the loon that scared the horse the other day!--"
"No more o' that, neighbour," said Richie,--"I am just here on the aulderrand--I maun speak with the king."
"The king? Ye are red wud," said Linklater; then shouted to hisassistant in the kitchen, "Look to the broches, ye knaves--_piscespurga_--_Salsamenta fac macerentur pulchre_--I will make you understandLatin, ye knaves, as becomes the scullions of King James." Then in acautious tone, to Richie's private ear, he continued, "Know ye not howill your master came off the other day?--I can tell you that job madesome folk shake for their office."
"Weel, but, Laurie, ye maun befriend me this time, and get this weebit sifflication slipped into his Majesty's ain most gracious hand. Ipromise you the contents will be most grateful to him."
"Richie," answered Linklater, "you have certainly sworn to say yourprayers in the porter's lodge, with your back bare; and twa grooms, withdog-whips, to cry amen to you."
"Na, na, Laurie, lad," said Richie, "I ken better what belangs tosifflications than I did yon day; and ye will say that yoursell, if yewill but get that bit note to the king's hand."
"I will have neither hand nor foot in the matter," said the cautiousClerk of the Kitchen; "but there is his Majesty's mess of cock-a-leekiejust going to be served to him in his closet--I cannot prevent you fromputting the letter between the gilt bowl and the platter; his sacredMajesty will see it when he lifts the bowl, for he aye drinks out thebroth."
"Enough said," replied Richie, and deposited the paper accordingly, justbefore a page entered to carry away the mess to his Majesty.
"Aweel, aweel, neighbour," said Laurence, when the mess was takenaway, "if ye have done ony thing to bring yoursell to the withy, or thescourging post, it is your ain wilful deed."
"I will blame no other for it," said Richie; and with that undismayedpertinacity of conceit, which made a fundamental part of his character,he abode the issue, which was not long of arriving.
In a few minutes Maxwell himself arrived in the apartment, and demandedhastily who had placed a writing on the king's trencher, Linklaterdenied all knowledge of it; but Richie Moniplies, stepping boldly forth,pronounced the emphatical confession, "I am the man."
"Follow me, then," said Maxwell, after regarding him with a look ofgreat curiosity.
They went up a private staircase,--even that private staircase, theprivilege of which at Court is accounted a nearer road to power than the_grandes entrees_ themselves. Arriving in what Richie described as an"ill redd-up" ante-room, the usher made a sign to him to stop, while hewent into the king's closet. Their conference was short, and as Maxwellopened the door to retire, Richie heard the conclusion of it.
"Ye are sure he is not dangerous?--I was caught once.--Bide within call,but not nearer the door than within three geometrical cubits. If I speakloud, start to me like a falcon--If I speak loun, keep your lang lugsout of ear-shot--and now let him come in."
Richie passed forward at Maxwell's mute signal, and in a moment foundhimself in the presence of the king. Most men of Richie's birth andbreeding, and many others, would have been abashed at finding themselvesalone with their Sovereign. But Richie Moniplies had an opinion ofhimself too high to be controlled by any such ideas; and having made hisstiff reverence, he arose once more into his perpendicular height, andstood before James as stiff as a hedge-stake.
"Have ye gotten them, man? have ye gotten them?" said the king, ina fluttered state, betwixt hope and eagerness, and some touch ofsuspicious fear. "Gie me them--gie me them--before ye speak a word, Icharge you, on your allegiance."
Richie took a box from his bosom, and, stooping on one knee, presentedit to his Majesty, who hastily opened it, and having ascertained thatit contained a certain carcanet of rubies, with which the reader wasformerly made acquainted, he could not resist falling into a sort ofrapture, kissing the gems, as if they had been capable of feeling,and repeating again and again with childish delight, "_Onyx cum prole,silexque_---_Onyx cum prole!_ Ah, my bright and bonny sparklers, myheart loups light to see you again." He then turned to Richie, uponwhose stoical countenance his Majesty's demeanour had excited somethinglike a grim smile, which James interrupted his rejoicing to reprehend,saying, "Take heed, sir, you are not to laugh at us--we are youranointed Sovereign."
"God forbid that I should laugh!" said Richie, composing his countenanceinto its natural rigidity. "I did but smile, to bring my visage intocoincidence and conformity with your Majesty's physiognomy."
"Ye speak as a dutiful subject, and an honest man," said the king; "butwhat deil's your name, man?"
"Even Richie Moniplies, the son of auld Mungo Moniplies, at the WestPort of Edinburgh, who had the honour to supply your Majesty's mother'sroyal table, as weel as your Majesty's, with flesh and other vivers,when time was."
"Aha!" said the king, laughing,--for he possessed, as a useful attributeof his situation, a tenacious memory, which recollected every one withwhom he was brought into casual contact,--"Ye are the self-same traitorwho had weelnigh coupit us endlang on the causey of our ain courtyard?but we stuck by our mare. _Equam memento rebus in arduis servare_. Weel,be not dismayed, Richie; for, as many men have turned traitors, itis but fair that a traitor, now and then, suld prove to be, contraexpectanda, a true man. How cam ye by our jewels, man?--cam ye on thepart of George Heriot?"
"In no sort," said Richie. "May it please your Majesty, I come asHarry Wynd fought, utterly for my own hand, and on no man's errand; as,indeed, I call no one master, save Him that made me, your mostgracious Majesty who governs me, and the noble Nigel Olifaunt, Lord ofGlenvarloch, who maintained me as lang as he could maintain himself,poor nobleman!"
"Glenvarlochides again!" exclaimed the king; "by my honour, he lies inambush for us at every corner!--Maxwell knocks at the door. It is GeorgeHeriot come to tell us he cannot find these jewels.--Get thee behindthe arras, Richie--stand close, man--sneeze not--cough not--breathenot!--Jingling Geordie is so damnably ready with his gold-ends ofwisdom, and sae accursedly backward with his gold-ends of siller, that,by our royal saul, we are glad to get a hair in his neck."
Richie got behind the arras, in obedience to the commands of thegood-natured king, while the Monarch, who never allowed his dignity tostand in the way of a frolic, having adjusted, with his own hand, thetapestry, so as to complete the ambush, commanded Maxwell to tell himwhat was the matter without. Maxwell's reply was so low as to be lost byRichie Moniplies, the peculiarity of whose situation by no means abatedhis curiosity and desire to gratify it to the uttermost.
"Let Geordie Heriot come in," said the king; and, as Richie couldobserve through a slit in the tapestry, the honest citizen, if notactually agitated, was at least discomposed. The king, whose talent forwit, or humour, was precisely of a kind to be gratified by such a sceneas ensued, received his homage with coldness, and began to talk to himwith an air of serious dignity, very different from the usual indecorouslevity of his behaviour. "Master Heriot," he said, "if we arightremember, we opignorated in your hands certain jewels of the Crown, fora certain sum of money--Did we, or did we not?"
"My most gracious Sovereign," said Heriot, "indisputably your Majestywas pleased to do so."
"The property of which jewels and _cimelia_ remained with us," continuedthe king, in the same solemn tone, "subject only to your claim ofadvance thereupon; which advance being repaid, gives us right torepossession of the thing opignorated, or pledged, or laid in wad.Voetius, Vinnius, Groenwigeneus, Pagenstecherus,--all who have treated_de Contractu Opignerationis, consentiunt in eundem_,--gree on the samepoint. The Roman law, the English common law, and the municipal lawof our ain ancient kingdom of Scotland, though they split in mairparticulars than I could desire, unite as strictly in this as the threestrands of a twisted rope."
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"May it please your Majesty," replied Heriot, "it requires not so manylearned authorities to prove to any honest man, that his interest in apledge is determined when the money lent is restored."
"Weel, sir, I proffer restoration of the sum lent, and I demand to berepossessed of the jewels pledged with you. I gave ye a hint, briefwhile since, that this would be essential to my service, for, asapproaching events are like to call us into public, it would seemstrange if we did not appear with those ornaments, which are heirloomsof the Crown, and the absence whereof is like to place us in contemptand suspicion with our liege subjects."
Master George Heriot seemed much moved by this address of his Sovereign,and replied with emotion, "I call Heaven to witness, that I am totallyharmless in this matter, and that I would willingly lose the sumadvanced, so that I could restore those jewels, the absence of whichyour Majesty so justly laments. Had the jewels remained with me, theaccount of them would be easily rendered; but your Majesty will do methe justice to remember, that, by your express order, I transferred themto another person, who advanced a large sum, just about the time of mydeparture for Paris. The money was pressingly wanted, and no other meansto come by it occurred to me. I told your Majesty, when I brought theneedful supply, that the man from whom the monies were obtained, wasof no good repute; and your most princely answer was, smelling to thegold--_Non olet_, it smells not of the means that have gotten it."
"Weel, man," said the king, "but what needs a' this din? If ye gave myjewels in pledge to such a one, suld ye not, as a liege subject, havetaken care that the redemption was in our power? And are we to sufferthe loss of our _cimelia_ by your neglect, besides being exposed to thescorn and censure of our lieges, and of the foreign ambassadors?"
"My lord and liege king," said Heriot, "God knows, if my bearing blameor shame in this matter would keep it from your Majesty, it were my dutyto endure both, as a servant grateful for many benefits; but whenyour Majesty considers the violent death of the man himself, thedisappearance of his daughter, and of his wealth, I trust you willremember that I warned your Majesty, in humble duty, of the possibilityof such casualties, and prayed you not to urge me to deal with him onyour behalf."
"But you brought me nae better means," said the king--"Geordie, yebrought me nae better means. I was like a deserted man; what could I dobut grip to the first siller that offered, as a drowning man grasps tothe willow-wand that comes readiest?--And now, man, what for have ye notbrought back the jewels? they are surely above ground, if ye wad makestrict search."
"All strict search has been made, may it please your Majesty," repliedthe citizen; "hue and cry has been sent out everywhere, and it has beenfound impossible to recover them."
"Difficult, ye mean, Geordie, not impossible," replied the king; "forthat whilk is impossible, is either naturally so, _exempli gratia_, tomake two into three; or morally so, as to make what is truth falsehood;but what is only difficult may come to pass, with assistance of wisdomand patience; as, for example, Jingling Geordie, look here!" And hedisplayed the recovered treasure to the eyes of the astonished jeweller,exclaiming, with great triumph, "What say ye to that, Jingler?--By mysceptre and crown, the man stares as if he took his native prince for awarlock! us that are the very _malleus maleficarum_, the contundingand contriturating hammer of all witches, sorcerers, magicians, and thelike; he thinks we are taking a touch of the black art outsells!--Butgang thy way, honest Geordie; thou art a good plain man, but nane of theseven sages of Greece; gang thy way, and mind the soothfast word whichyou spoke, small time syne, that there is one in this land that comesnear to Solomon, King of Israel, in all his gifts, except in his love tostrange women, forby the daughter of Pharaoh."
If Heriot was surprised at seeing the jewels so unexpectedly producedat the moment the king was upbraiding him for the loss of them, thisallusion to the reflection which had escaped him while conversing withLord Glenvarloch, altogether completed his astonishment; and the kingwas so delighted with the superiority which it gave him at the moment,that he rubbed his hands, chuckled, and finally, his sense of dignitygiving way to the full feeling of triumph, he threw himself into hiseasy-chair, and laughed with unconstrained violence till he lost hisbreath, and the tears ran plentifully down his cheeks as he stroveto recover it. Meanwhile, the royal cachinnation was echoed out by adiscordant and portentous laugh from behind the arras, like that of onewho, little accustomed to give way to such emotions, feels himselfat some particular impulse unable either to control or to modify hisobstreperous mirth. Heriot turned his head with new surprise towards theplace, from which sounds so unfitting the presence of a monarch seemedto burst with such emphatic clamour.
The king, too, somewhat sensible of the indecorum, rose up, wiped hiseyes, and calling,--"Todlowrie, come out o' your den," he produced frombehind the arras the length of Richie Moniplies, still laughing with asunrestrained mirth as ever did gossip at a country christening. "Whisht,man, whisht, man," said the king; "ye needna nicher that gait, like acusser at a caup o' corn, e'en though it was a pleasing jest, and ourain framing. And yet to see Jingling Geordie, that bauds himself somuch the wiser than other folk--to see him, ha! ha! ha!--in the vein ofEuclio apud Plautum, distressing himself to recover what was lying athis elbow--'Peril, interii, occidi--quo curram? quo non curram?--Tene,tene--quem? quis? nescio--nihil video."
"Ah! Geordie, your een are sharp enough to look after gowd and silver,gems, rubies, and the like of that, and yet ye kenna how to come by themwhen they are lost.--Ay, ay--look at them, man--look at them--they area' right and tight, sound and round, not a doublet crept in amongstthem."
George Heriot, when his first surprise was over, was too old a courtierto interrupt the king's imaginary triumph, although he darted a lookof some displeasure at honest Richie, who still continued on what isusually termed the broad grin. He quietly examined the stones, andfinding them all perfect, he honestly and sincerely congratulated hisMajesty on the recovery of a treasure which could not have been lostwithout some dishonour to the crown; and asked to whom he himself was topay the sums for which they had been pledged, observing, that he had themoney by him in readiness.
"Ye are in a deevil of a hurry, when there is paying in the case,Geordie," said the king.--"What's a' the haste, man? The jewels wererestored by an honest, kindly countryman of ours. There he stands, andwha kens if he wants the money on the nail, or if he might not be asweel pleased wi' a bit rescript on our treasury some six months hence?Ye ken that our Exchequer is even at a low ebb just now, and ye cry pay,pay, pay, as if we had all the mines of Ophir."
"Please your Majesty," said Heriot, "if this man has the real right tothese monies, it is doubtless at his will to grant forbearance, if hewill. But when I remember the guise in which I first saw him, with atattered cloak and a broken head, I can hardly conceive it.--Are not youRichie Moniplies, with the king's favour?"
"Even sae, Master Heriot--of the ancient and honourable house of CastleCollop, near to the West Port of Edinburgh," answered Richie.
"Why, please your Majesty, he is a poor serving-man," said Heriot. "Thismoney can never be honestly at his disposal."
"What for no?" said the king. "Wad ye have naebody spraickle up the braebut yoursell, Geordie? Your ain cloak was thin enough when ye cam here,though ye have lined it gay and weel. And for serving-men, there hasmony a red-shank cam over the Tweed wi' his master's wallet on hisshoulders, that now rustles it wi' his six followers behind him. Therestands the man himsell; speer at him, Geordie."
"His may not be the best authority in the case," answered the cautiouscitizen.
"Tut, tut, man," said the king, "ye are over scrupulous. The knavedeer-stealers have an apt phrase, _Non est inquirendum unde venit_VENISON. He that brings the gudes hath surely a right to dispose ofthe gear.--Hark ye, friend, speak the truth and shame the deil. Haveye plenary powers to dispose on the redemption-money as to delay ofpayments, or the like, ay or no?"
"Full power, an it like your gracious Majesty," answered RichieM
oniplies; "and I am maist willing to subscrive to whatsoever may in onywise accommodate your Majesty anent the redemption-money, trusting yourMajesty's grace will be kind to me in one sma' favour."
"Ey, man," said the king, "come ye to me there? I thought ye wad e'enbe like the rest of them.--One would think our subjects' lives and goodswere all our ain, and holden of us at our free will; but when we standin need of ony matter of siller from them, which chances more frequentlythan we would it did, deil a boddle is to be had, save on the auld termsof giff-gaff. It is just niffer for niffer.--Aweel, neighbour, whatis it that ye want--some monopoly, I reckon? Or it may be a grantof kirk-lands and teinds, or a knighthood, or the like? Ye maun bereasonable, unless ye propose to advance more money for our presentoccasions."
"My liege," answered Richie Moniplies, "the owner of these monies placesthem at your Majesty's command, free of all pledge or usage as long asit is your royal pleasure, providing your Majesty will condescend toshow some favour to the noble Lord Glenvarloch, presently prisoner inyour royal Tower of London."
"How, man--how,--man--how, man!" exclaimed the king, reddening andstammering, but with emotions more noble than those by which he wassometimes agitated--"What is that you dare to say to us?--Sell ourjustice!--sell our mercy!--and we a crowned king, sworn to do justiceto our subjects in the gate, and responsible for our stewardship toHim that is over all kings?"--Here he reverently looked up, touched hisbonnet, and continued, with some sharpness,--"We dare not traffic insuch commodities, sir; and, but that ye are a poor ignorant creature,that have done us this day some not unpleasant service, we wad have ared iron driven through your tongue, _in terrorem_ of others.--Awa withhim, Geordie,--pay him, plack and bawbee, out of our monies in yourhands, and let them care that come ahint."
Richie, who had counted with the utmost certainty upon the successof this master-stroke of policy, was like an architect whose wholescaffolding at once gives way under him. He caught, however, at whathe thought might break his fall. "Not only the sum for which the jewelswere pledged," he said, "but the double of it, if required, should beplaced at his Majesty's command, and even without hope or condition ofrepayment, if only--"
But the king did not allow him to complete the sentence, crying out withgreater vehemence than before, as if he dreaded the stability of his owngood resolutions,--"Awa wi' him--swith awa wi' him! It is time hewere gane, if he doubles his bode that gate. And, for your life, letnaSteenie, or ony of them, hear a word from his mouth; for wha kens whattrouble that might bring me into! _Ne inducas in tentationem_--_Vaderetro, Sathanas!--Amen_."
In obedience to the royal mandate, George Heriot hurried the abashedpetitioner out of the presence and out of the Palace; and, when theywere in the Palace-yard, the citizen, remembering with some resentmentthe airs of equality which Richie had assumed towards him in thecommencement of the scene which had just taken place, could not forbearto retaliate, by congratulating him with an ironical smile on his favourat Court, and his improved grace in presenting a supplication.
"Never fash your beard about that, Master George Heriot," said Richie,totally undismayed; "but tell me when and where I am to sifflicateyou for eight hundred pounds sterling, for which these jewels stoodengaged?"
"The instant that you bring with you the real owner of the money,"replied Heriot; "whom it is important that I should see on more accountsthan one."
"Then will I back to his Majesty," said Richie Moniplies, stoutly, "andget either the money or the pledge back again. I am fully commissionateto act in that matter."
"It may be so, Richie," said the citizen, "and perchance it may _not_be so neither, for your tales are not all gospel; and, therefore, beassured I will see that it _is_ so, ere I pay you that large sum ofmoney. I shall give you an acknowledgment for it, and I will keep itprestable at a moment's warning. But, my good Richard Moniplies, ofCastle Collop, near the West Port of Edinburgh, in the meantime I ambound to return to his Majesty on matters of weight." So speaking, andmounting the stair to re-enter the Palace, he added, by way of summingup the whole,--"George Heriot is over old a cock to be caught withchaff."
Richie stood petrified when he beheld him re-enter the Palace, and foundhimself, as he supposed, left in the lurch.--"Now, plague on ye," hemuttered, "for a cunning auld skinflint! that, because ye are an honestman yoursell, forsooth, must needs deal with all the world as if theywere knaves. But deil be in me if ye beat me yet!--Gude guide us!yonder comes Laurie Linklater next, and he will be on me about thesifflication.--I winna stand him, by Saint Andrew!"
So saying, and changing the haughty stride with which he had thatmorning entered the precincts of the Palace, into a skulking shamble, heretreated for his wherry, which was in attendance, with speed which, touse the approved phrase on such occasions, greatly resembled a flight.