The Fortunes of Nigel
CHAPTER XXXVI
The thieves have bound the true men-- Now, could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily to London. _Henry IV., Part I._
The sun was high upon the glades of Enfield Chase, and the deer, withwhich it then abounded, were seen sporting in picturesque groups amongthe ancient oaks of the forest, when a cavalier and a lady, on foot,although in riding apparel, sauntered slowly up one of the long alleyswhich were cut through the park for the convenience of the hunters.Their only attendant was a page, who, riding a Spanish jennet, whichseemed to bear a heavy cloak-bag, followed them at a respectfuldistance. The female, attired in all the fantastic finery of the period,with more than the usual quantity of bugles, flounces, and trimmings,and holding her fan of ostrich feathers in one hand, and her riding-maskof black velvet in the other, seemed anxious, by all the little coquetrypractised on such occasions, to secure the notice of her companion,who sometimes heard her prattle without seeming to attend to it, andat other times interrupted his train of graver reflections, to reply toher.
"Nay, but, my lord--my lord, you walk so fast, you will leave me behindyou.--Nay, I will have hold of your arm, but how to manage with my maskand my fan? Why would you not let me bring my waiting-gentlewoman tofollow us, and hold my things? But see, I will put my fan in my girdle,soh!--and now that I have a hand to hold you with, you shall not runaway from me."
"Come on, then," answered the gallant, "and let us walk apace, since youwould not be persuaded to stay with your gentlewoman, as you call her,and with the rest of the baggage.--You may perhaps see _that_, though,you will not like to see."
She took hold of his arm accordingly; but as he continued to walk at thesame pace, she shortly let go her hold, exclaiming that he had hurt herhand. The cavalier stopped, and looked at the pretty hand and arm whichshe showed him, with exclamations against his cruelty. "I dare say," shesaid, baring her wrist and a part of her arm, "it is all black and blueto the very elbow."
"I dare say you are a silly little fool," said the cavalier, carelesslykissing the aggrieved arm; "it is only a pretty incarnate which sets offthe blue veins."
"Nay, my lord, now it is you are silly," answered the dame; "but I amglad I can make you speak and laugh on any terms this morning. I amsure, if I did insist on following you into the forest, it was allfor the sake of diverting you. I am better company than your page, Itrow.--And now, tell me, these pretty things with horns, be they notdeer?"
"Even such they be, Nelly," answered her neglectful attendant.
"And what can the great folk do with so many of them, forsooth?"
"They send them to the city, Nell, where wise men make venison pastiesof their flesh, and wear their horns for trophies," answered LordDalgarno, whom our reader has already recognised.
"Nay, now you laugh at me, my lord," answered his companion; "but I knowall about venison, whatever you may think. I always tasted it once ayear when we dined with Mr. Deputy," she continued, sadly, as a senseof her degradation stole across a mind bewildered with vanity andfolly, "though he would not speak to me now, if we met together in thenarrowest lane in the Ward!"
"I warrant he would not," said Lord Dalgarno, "because thou, Nell,wouldst dash him with a single look; for I trust thou hast more spiritthan to throw away words on such a fellow as he?"
"Who, I!" said Dame Nelly. "Nay, I scorn the proud princox too much forthat. Do you know, he made all the folk in the Ward stand cap in hand tohim, my poor old John Christie and all?" Here her recollection began tooverflow at her eyes.
"A plague on your whimpering," said Dalgarno, somewhat harshly,--"Nay,never look pale for the matter, Nell. I am not angry with you, yousimple fool. But what would you have me think, when you are eternallylooking back upon your dungeon yonder by the river, which smelt of pitchand old cheese worse than a Welshman does of onions, and all this when Iam taking you down to a castle as fine as is in Fairy Land!"
"Shall we be there to-night, my lord?" said Nelly, drying her tears.
"To-night, Nelly?--no, nor this night fortnight."
"Now, the Lord be with us, and keep us!--But shall we not go by sea,my lord?--I thought everybody came from Scotland by sea. I am sure LordGlenvarloch and Richie Moniplies came up by sea."
"There is a wide difference between coming up and going down, Nelly,"answered Lord Dalgarno.
"And so there is, for certain," said his simple companion. "But yet Ithink I heard people speaking of going down to Scotland by sea, as wellas coming up. Are you well avised of the way?--Do you think it possiblewe can go by land, my sweet lord?"
"It is but trying, my sweet lady," said Lord Dalgarno. "Men say Englandand Scotland are in the same island, so one would hope there may be someroad betwixt them by land."
"I shall never be able to ride so far," said the lady.
"We will have your saddle stuffed softer," said the lord. "I tell youthat you shall mew your city slough, and change from the caterpillar ofa paltry lane into the butterfly of a prince's garden. You shall have asmany tires as there are hours in the day--as many handmaidens asthere are days in the week--as many menials as there are weeks in theyear--and you shall ride a hunting and hawking with a lord, instead ofwaiting upon an old ship-chandler, who could do nothing but hawk andspit."
"Ay, but will you make me your lady?" said Dame Nelly.
"Ay, surely--what else?" replied the lord--"My lady-love."
"Ay, but I mean your lady-wife," said Nelly.
"Truly, Nell, in that I cannot promise to oblige you. A lady-wife,"continued Dalgarno, "is a very different thing from a lady-love."
"I heard from Mrs. Suddlechop, whom you lodged me with since I left poorold John Christie, that Lord Glenvarloch is to marry David Ramsay theclockmaker's daughter?"
"There is much betwixt the cup and the lip, Nelly. I wear somethingabout me may break the bans of that hopeful alliance, before the day ismuch older," answered Lord Dalgarno.
"Well, but my father was as good a man as old Davy Ramsay, and as wellto pass in the world, my lord; and, therefore, why should you not marryme? You have done me harm enough, I trow--wherefore should you not do methis justice?"
"For two good reasons, Nelly. Fate put a husband on you, and the kingpassed a wife upon me," answered Lord Dalgarno.
"Ay, my lord," said Nelly, "but they remain in England, and we go toScotland."
"Thy argument is better than thou art aware of," said Lord Dalgarno. "Ihave heard Scottish lawyers say the matrimonial tie may be unclaspedin our happy country by the gentle hand of the ordinary course of law,whereas in England it can only be burst by an act of Parliament. Well,Nelly, we will look into that matter; and whether we get married againor no, we will at least do our best to get unmarried."
"Shall we indeed, my honey-sweet lord? and then I will think less aboutJohn Christie, for he will marry again, I warrant you, for he is well topass; and I would be glad to think he had somebody to take care of him,as I used to do, poor loving old man! He was a kind man, though he wasa score of years older than I; and I hope and pray he will never let ayoung lord cross his honest threshold again!"
Here the dame was once more much inclined to give way to a passion oftears; but Lord Dalgarno conjured down the emotion, by saying with someasperity--"I am weary of these April passions, my pretty mistress, andI think you will do well to preserve your tears for some more pressingoccasion. Who knows what turn of fortune may in a few minutes call formore of them than you can render?"
"Goodness, my lord! what mean you by such expressions? John Christie(the kind heart!) used to keep no secrets from me, and I hope yourlordship will not hide your counsel from me?"
"Sit down beside me on this bank," said the nobleman; "I am bound toremain here for a short space, and if you can be but silent, I shouldlike to spend a part of it in considering how far I can, on the presentoccasion, follow the respectable example which you recommend to me."
The place at which he stopped was at that time little more than a mound,part
ly surrounded by a ditch, from which it derived the name of CamletMoat. A few hewn stones there were, which had escaped the fate of manyothers that had been used in building different lodges in the forest forthe royal keepers. These vestiges, just sufficient to show that "hereinformer times the hand of man had been," marked the ruins of the abode ofa once illustrious but long-forgotten family, the Mandevilles, Earlsof Essex, to whom Enfield Chase and the extensive domains adjacent hadbelonged in elder days. A wild woodland prospect led the eye at variouspoints through broad and seemingly interminable alleys, which, meetingat this point as at a common centre, diverged from each other as theyreceded, and had, therefore, been selected by Lord Dalgarno asthe rendezvous for the combat, which, through the medium of RichieMoniplies, he had offered to his injured friend, Lord Glenvarloch.
"He will surely come?" he said to himself; "cowardice was not wont tobe his fault--at least he was bold enough in the Park.--Perhaps yonderchurl may not have carried my message? But no--he is a sturdy knave--oneof those would prize their master's honour above their life.--Look tothe palfrey, Lutin, and see thou let him not loose, and cast thy falconglance down every avenue to mark if any one comes.--Buckingham hasundergone my challenge, but the proud minion pleads the king's paltrycommands for refusing to answer me. If I can baffle this Glenvarloch, orslay him--If I can spoil him of his honour or his life, I shall go downto Scotland with credit sufficient to gild over past mischances. I knowmy dear countrymen--they never quarrel with any one who brings themhome either gold or martial glory, much more if he has both gold andlaurels."
As he thus reflected, and called to mind the disgrace which he hadsuffered, as well as the causes he imagined for hating Lord Glenvarloch,his countenance altered under the influence of his contending emotions,to the terror of Nelly, who, sitting unnoticed at his feet, and lookinganxiously in his face, beheld the cheek kindle, the mouth becomecompressed, the eye dilated, and the whole countenance express thedesperate and deadly resolution of one who awaits an instant anddecisive encounter with a mortal enemy. The loneliness of the place, thescenery so different from that to which alone she had been accustomed,the dark and sombre air which crept so suddenly over the countenanceof her seducer, his command imposing silence upon her, and the apparentstrangeness of his conduct in idling away so much time without anyobvious cause, when a journey of such length lay before them, broughtstrange thoughts into her weak brain. She had read of women, seducedfrom their matrimonial duties by sorcerers allied to the hellish powers,nay, by the Father of Evil himself, who, after conveying his victiminto some desert remote from human kind, exchanged the pleasing shape inwhich he gained her affections, for all his natural horrors. She chasedthis wild idea away as it crowded itself upon her weak and bewilderedimagination; yet she might have lived to see it realised allegorically,if not literally, but for the accident which presently followed.
The page, whose eyes were remarkably acute, at length called out tohis master, pointing with his finger at the same time down one of thealleys, that horsemen were advancing in that direction. Lord Dalgarnostarted up, and shading his eyes with his hand, gazed eagerly down thealley; when, at the same instant, he received a shot, which, grazing hishand, passed right through his brain, and laid him a lifeless corpseat the feet, or rather across the lap, of the unfortunate victim ofhis profligacy. The countenance, whose varied expression she had beenwatching for the last five minutes, was convulsed for an instant, andthen stiffened into rigidity for ever. Three ruffians rushed from thebrake from which the shot had been fired, ere the smoke was dispersed.One, with many imprecations seized on the page; another on the female,upon whose cries he strove by the most violent threats to imposesilence; whilst the third began to undo the burden from the page'shorse. But an instant rescue prevented their availing themselves of theadvantage they had obtained.
It may easily be supposed that Richie Moniplies, having secured theassistance of the two Templars, ready enough to join in any thingwhich promised a fray, with Jin Vin to act as their guide, had set off,gallantly mounted and well armed, under the belief that they would reachCamlet Moat before the robbers, and apprehend them in the fact. Theyhad not calculated that, according to the custom of robbers in othercountries, but contrary to that of the English highwayman of thosedays, they meant to ensure robbery by previous murder. An accident alsohappened to delay them a little while on the road. In riding throughone of the glades of the forest, they found a man dismounted and sittingunder a tree, groaning with such bitterness of spirit, that Lowestoffecould not forbear asking if he was hurt. In answer, he said he wasan unhappy man in pursuit of his wife, who had been carried off by avillain; and as he raised his countenance, the eyes of Richie, to hisgreat astonishment, encountered the visage of John Christie.
"For the Almighty's sake, help me, Master Moniplies!" he said; "I havelearned my wife is but a short mile before, with that black villain LordDalgarno."
"Have him forward by all means," said Lowestoffe; "a second Orpheusseeking his Eurydice!--Have him forward--we will save Lord Dalgarno'spurse, and ease him of his mistress--Have him with us, were it but forthe variety of the adventure. I owe his lordship a grudge for rookingme. We have ten minutes good."
But it is dangerous to calculate closely in matters of life and death.In all probability the minute or two which was lost in mounting JohnChristie behind one of their party, might have saved Lord Dalgarnofrom his fate. Thus his criminal amour became the indirect cause ofhis losing his life; and thus "our pleasant vices are made the whips toscourge us."
The riders arrived on the field at full gallop the moment after the shotwas fired; and Richie, who had his own reasons for attaching himself toColepepper, who was bustling to untie the portmanteau from the page'ssaddle, pushed against him with such violence as to overthrow him, hisown horse at the same time stumbling and dismounting his rider, who wasnone of the first equestrians. The undaunted Richie immediately arose,however, and grappled with the ruffian with such good-will, that, thougha strong fellow, and though a coward now rendered desperate, Monipliesgot him under, wrenched a long knife from his hand, dealt him adesperate stab with his own weapon, and leaped on his feet; and, as thewounded man struggled to follow his example, he struck him upon the headwith the butt-end of a musketoon, which last blow proved fatal.
"Bravo, Richie!" cried Lowestoffe, who had himself engagedat sword-point with one of the ruffians, and soon put him toflight,--"Bravo! why, man, there lies Sin, struck down like an ox, andIniquity's throat cut like a calf."
"I know not why you should upbraid me with my upbringing, MasterLowestoffe," answered Richie, with great composure; "but I can tell you,the shambles is not a bad place for training one to this work."
The other Templar now shouted loudly to them,--"If ye be men, comehither--here lies Lord Dalgarno, murdered!"
Lowestoffe and Richie ran to the spot, and the page took theopportunity, finding himself now neglected on all hands, to ride offin a different direction; and neither he, nor the considerable sum withwhich his horse was burdened, were ever heard of from that moment.
The third ruffian had not waited the attack of the Templar and Jin Vin,the latter of whom had put down old Christie from behind him that hemight ride the lighter; and the whole five now stood gazing with horroron the bloody corpse of the young nobleman, and the wild sorrow of thefemale, who tore her hair and shrieked in the most disconsolate manner,until her agony was at once checked, or rather received a new direction,by the sudden and unexpected appearance of her husband, who, fixing onher a cold and severe look, said, in a tone suited to his manner--"Ay,woman! thou takest on sadly for the loss of thy paramour."--Then,looking on the bloody corpse of him from whom he had received so deep aninjury, he repeated the solemn words of Scripture,--"'Vengeance is mine,saith the Lord, and I will repay it.'--I, whom thou hast injured, willbe first to render thee the decent offices due to the dead."
So saying, he covered the dead body with his cloak, and then looking onit for a moment, seemed to reflect on what he
had next to perform. Asthe eye of the injured man slowly passed from the body of the seducerto the partner and victim of his crime, who had sunk down to his feet,which she clasped without venturing to look up, his features, naturallycoarse and saturnine, assumed a dignity of expression which overawedthe young Templars, and repulsed the officious forwardness of RichieMoniplies, who was at first eager to have thrust in his advice andopinion. "Kneel not to me, woman," he said, "but kneel to the Godthou hast offended, more than thou couldst offend such another worm asthyself. How often have I told thee, when thou wert at the gayest andthe lightest, that pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spiritbefore a fall? Vanity brought folly, and folly brought sin, and sin hathbrought death, his original companion. Thou must needs leave duty, anddecency, and domestic love, to revel it gaily with the wild and with thewicked; and there thou liest like a crushed worm, writhing beside thelifeless body of thy paramour. Thou hast done me much wrong--dishonouredme among friends--driven credit from my house, and peace from myfireside--But thou wert my first and only love, and I will not seethee an utter castaway, if it lies with me to prevent it.--Gentlemen,I render ye such thanks as a broken-hearted man can give.--Richard,commend me to your honourable master. I added gall to the bitterness ofhis affliction, but I was deluded.--Rise up, woman, and follow me."
He raised her up by the arm, while, with streaming eyes, and bittersobs, she endeavoured to express her penitence. She kept her handsspread over her face, yet suffered him to lead her away; and it was onlyas they turned around a brake which concealed the scene they had left,that she turned back, and casting one wild and hurried glance towardsthe corpse of Dalgarno, uttered a shriek, and clinging to her husband'sarm, exclaimed wildly,--"Save me--save me! They have murdered him!"
Lowestoffe was much moved by what he had witnessed; but he was ashamed,as a town-gallant, of his own unfashionable emotion, and did a forceto his feelings when he exclaimed,--"Ay, let them go--the kind-hearted,believing, forgiving husband--the liberal, accommodating spouse. O whata generous creature is your true London husband!--Horns hath he, but,tame as a fatted ox, he goreth not. I should like to see her whenshe hath exchanged her mask and riding-beaver for her peaked hatand muffler. We will visit them at Paul's Wharf, coz--it will be aconvenient acquaintance."
"You had better think of catching the gipsy thief, Lutin," said RichieMoniplies; "for, by my faith, he is off with his master's baggage andthe siller."
A keeper, with his assistants, and several other persons, had now cometo the spot, and made hue and cry after Lutin, but in vain. To theircustody the Templars surrendered the dead bodies, and after goingthrough some formal investigation, they returned, with Richard andVincent, to London, where they received great applause for theirgallantry.--Vincent's errors were easily expiated, in considerationof his having been the means of breaking up this band of villains;and there is some reason to think, that what would have diminishedthe credit of the action in other instances, rather added to it inthe actual circumstances, namely, that they came too late to save LordDalgarno.
George Heriot, who suspected how matters stood with Vincent, requestedand obtained permission from his master to send the poor young fellow onan important piece of business to Paris. We are unable to trace hisfate farther, but believe it was prosperous, and that he entered intoan advantageous partnership with his fellow-apprentice, upon oldDavy Ramsay retiring from business, in consequence of his daughter'smarriage. That eminent antiquary, Dr. Dryasdust, is possessed of anantique watch, with a silver dial-plate, the mainspring being a pieceof catgut instead of a chain, which bears the names of Vincent andTunstall, Memory-Monitors.
Master Lowestoffe failed not to vindicate his character as a man ofgaiety, by inquiring after John Christie and Dame Nelly; but greatly tohis surprise, (indeed to his loss, for he had wagered ten pieces that hewould domesticate himself in the family,) he found the good-will, asit was called, of the shop, was sold, the stock auctioned, and the lateproprietor and his wife gone, no one knew whither. The prevailing beliefwas, that they had emigrated to one of the new settlements in America.
Lady Dalgarno received the news of her unworthy husband's death with avariety of emotions, among which, horror that he should have been cutoff in the middle career of his profligacy, was the most prominent.The incident greatly deepened her melancholy, and injured her health,already shaken by previous circumstances. Repossessed of her ownfortune by her husband's death, she was anxious to do justice to LordGlenvarloch, by treating for the recovery of the mortgage.
But the scrivener, having taken fright at the late events, had left thecity and absconded, so that it was impossible to discover into whosehands the papers had now passed. Richard Moniplies was silent, for hisown reasons; the Templars, who had witnessed the transaction, keptthe secret at his request, and it was universally believed that thescrivener had carried off the writings along with him. We may hereobserve, that fears similar to those of Skurliewhitter freed London forever from the presence of Dame Suddlechop, who ended her career in the_Rasp-haus_, (viz. Bridewell,) of Amsterdam.
The stout old Lord Huntinglen, with a haughty carriage and unmoistenedeye, accompanied the funeral procession of his only son to its lastabode; and perhaps the single tear which fell at length upon the coffin,was given less to the fate of the individual, than to the extinction ofthe last male of his ancient race.