CHAPTER LXV
MORE EXPLANATION
With the first dawn of day, old Janet was scuttling about the house towake the Baron, who usually slept sound and heavily.
'I must go back,' he said to Waverley,'to my cove; will you walk downthe glen wi' me?' They went out together, and followed a narrow andentangled foot-path, which the occasional passage of anglers orwood-cutters had traced by the side of the stream. On their way theBaron explained to Waverley that he would be under no danger inremaining a day or two at Tully-Veolan, and even in being seen walkingabout, if he used the precaution of pretending that he was looking atthe estate as agent or surveyor for an English gentleman who designedto be purchaser. With this view he recommended to him to visit theBailie, who still lived at the factor's house, called Little Veolan,about a mile from the village, though he was to remove at next term.Stanley's passport would be an answer to the officer who commanded themilitary; and as to any of the country people who might recogniseWaverley, the Baron assured him he was in no danger of being betrayedby them.
'I believe,' said the old man, 'half the people of the barony know thattheir poor auld laird is somewhere hereabout; for I see they do notsuffer a single bairn to come here a bird-nesting; a practice whilk,when I was in full possession of my power as baron, I was unabletotally to inhibit. Nay, I often find bits of things in my way, thatthe poor bodies, God help them! leave there, because they think theymay be useful to me. I hope they will get a wiser master, and as kind aone as I was.'
A natural sigh closed the sentence; but the quiet equanimity with whichthe Baron endured his misfortunes had something in it venerable andeven sublime. There was no fruitless repining, no turbid melancholy; hebore his lot, and the hardships which it involved, with a good-humored,though serious composure, and used no violent language against theprevailing party.
'I did what I thought my duty,' said the good old man, 'andquestionless they are doing what they think theirs. It grieves mesometimes to look upon these blackened walls of the house of myancestors; but doubtless officers cannot always keep the soldier's handfrom depredation and spuilzie, and Gustavus Adolphus himself, as ye mayread in Colonel Munro his "Expedition with the Worthy Scotch Regimentcalled Mackay's Regiment" did often permit it. Indeed I have myselfseen as sad sights as Tully-Veolan now is when I served with theMarechal Duke of Berwick. To be sure we may say with Virgilius Maro,Fuimus Troes--and there's the end of an auld sang. But houses andfamilies and men have a' stood lang eneugh when they have stood tillthey fall with honour; and now I hae gotten a house that is not unlikea domus ultima'--they were now standing below a steep rock. 'We poorJacobites,' continued the Baron, looking up, 'are now like the coniesin Holy Scripture (which the great traveller Pococke calleth Jerboa), afeeble people, that make our abode in the rocks. So, fare you well, mygood lad, till we meet at Janet's in the even; for I must get into myPatmos, which is no easy matter for my auld stiff limbs.'
With that he began to ascend the rock, striding, with the help of hishands, from one precarious footstep to another, till he got abouthalf-way up, where two or three bushes concealed the mouth of a hole,resembling an oven, into which the Baron insinuated, first his head andshoulders, and then, by slow gradation, the rest of his l ong body; hislegs and feet finally disappearing, coiled up like a huge snakeentering his retreat, or a long pedigree introduced with care anddifficulty into the narrow pigeon-hole of an old cabinet. Waverley hadthe curiosity to clamber up and look in upon him in his den, as thelurking-place might well be termed. Upon the whole, he looked notunlike that ingenious puzzle called 'a reel in a bottle,' the marvel ofchildren (and of some grown people too, myself for one), who canneither comprehend the mysteryhowit has got in or how it is to be takenout. The cave was very narrow, too low in the roof to admit of hisstanding, or almost of his sitting up, though he made some awkwardattempts at the latter posture. His sole amusement was the perusal ofhis old friend Titus Livius, varied by occasionally scratching Latinproverbs and texts of Scripture with his knife on the roof and walls ofhis fortalice, which were of sandstone. As the cave was dry, and filledwith clean straw and withered fern, 'it made,' as he said, coilinghimself up with an air of snugness and comfort which contrastedstrangely with his situation, 'unless when the wind was due north, avery passable gite for an old soldier.' Neither, as he observed, was hewithout sentries for the purpose of reconnoitring. Davie and his motherwere constantly on the watch to discover and avert danger; and it wassingular what instances of address seemed dictated by the instinctiveattachment of the poor simpleton when his patron's safety was concerned.
With Janet, Edward now sought an interview. He had recognised her atfirst sight as the old woman who had nursed him during his sicknessafter his delivery from Gifted Gilfillan. The hut also, although alittle repaired and somewhat better furnished, was certainly the placeof his confinement; and he now recollected on the common moor ofTully-Veolan the trunk of a large decayed tree, called the trysting-tree, which he had no doubt was the same at which the Highlandersrendezvoused on that memorable night. All this he had combined in hisimagination the night before; but reasons which may probably occur tothe reader prevented him from catechising Janet in the presence of theBaron.
He now commenced the task in good earnest; and the first question was,Who was the young lady that visited the hut during his illness? Janetpaused for a little; and then observed, that to keep the secret nowwould neither do good nor ill to anybody.
' It was just a leddy that hasna her equal in the world--Miss RoseBradwardine!'
'Then Miss Rose was probably also the author of my deliverance,'inferred Waverley, delighted at the confirmation of an idea which localcircumstances had already induced him to entertain.
'I wot weel, Mr. Wauverley, and that was she e'en; but sair, sair angryand affronted wad she hae been, puir thing, if she had thought ye hadbeen ever to ken a word about the matter; for she gar'd me speak ayeGaelic when ye was in hearing, to mak ye trow we were in the Hielands.I can speak it weil eneugh, for my mother was a Hieland woman.'
A few more questions now brought out the whole mystery respectingWaverley's deliverance from the bondage in which he left Cairnvreckan.Never did music sound sweeter to an amateur than the drowsy tautologywith which old Janet detailed every circumstance thrilled upon the earsof Waverley. But my reader is not a lover and I must spare hispatience, by attempting to condense within reasonable compass thenarrative which old Janet spread through a harangue of nearly two hours.
When Waverley communicated to Fergus the letter he had received fromRose Bradwardine by Davie Gellatley, giving an account of Tully-Veolanbeing occupied by a small party of soldiers, that circumstance hadstruck upon the busy and active mind of the Chieftain. Eager todistress and narrow the posts of the enemy, desirous to prevent theirestablishing a garrison so near him, and willing also to oblige theBaron--for he often had the idea of marriage with Rose floating throughhis brain--he resolved to send some of his people to drive out thered-coats and to bring Rose to Glennaquoich. But just as he had orderedEvan with a small party on this duty, the news of Cope's having marchedinto the Highlands, to meet and disperse the forces of the Chevalierere they came to a head, obliged him to join the standard with hiswhole forces.
He sent to order Donald Bean to attend him; but that cautiousfreebooter, who well understood the value of a separate command,instead of joining, sent various apologies which the pressure of thetimes compelled Fergus to admit as current, though not without theinternal resolution of being revenged on him for his procrastination,time and place convenient. However, as he could not amend the matter,he issued orders to Donald to descend into the Low Country, drive thesoldiers from Tully-Veolan, and, paying all respect to the mansion ofthe Baron, to take his abode somewhere near it, for protection of hisdaughter and family, and to harass and drive away any of the armedvolunteers or small parties of military which he might find movingabout the vicinity. As this charge formed a sort of roving commission,which Donald proposed to interpret in
the way most advantageous tohimself, as he was relieved from the immediate terrors of Fergus, andas he had, from former secret services, some interest in the councilsof the Chevalier, he resolved to make hay while the sun shone. Heachieved without difficulty the task of driving the soldiers fromTully-Veolan; but, although he did not venture to encroach upon theinterior of the family, or to disturb Miss Rose, being unwilling tomake himself a powerful enemy in the Chevalier's army,
For well he knew the Baron's wrath was deadly;
yet he set about to raise contributions and exactions upon thetenantry, and otherwise to turn the war to his own advantage. Meanwhilehe mounted the white cockade, and waited upon Rose with a pretext ofgreat devotion for the service in which her father was engaged, andmany apologies for the freedom he must necessarily use for the supportof his people. It was at this moment that Rose learned, by open-mouthedfame, with all sorts of exaggeration, that Waverley had killed thesmith at Cairnvreckan, in an attempt to arrest him; had been cast intoa dungeon by Major Melville of Cairnvreckan, and was to be executed bymartial law within three days. In the agony which these tidings excitedshe proposed to Donald Bean the rescue of the prisoner. It was the verysort of service which he was desirous to undertake, judging it mightconstitute a merit of such a nature as would make amends for anypeccadilloes which he might be guilty of in the country. He had theart, however, pleading all the while duty and discipline, to hold off,until poor Rose, in the extremity of her distress, offered to bribe himto the enterprise with some valuable jewels which had been her mother's.
Donald Bean, who had served in France, knew, and perhapsover-estimated, the value of these trinkets. But he also perceivedRose's apprehensions of its being discovered that she had parted withher jewels for Waverley's liberation. Resolved this scruple should notpart him and the treasure, he voluntarily offered to take an oath thathe would never mention Miss Rose's share in the transaction; and,foreseeing convenience in keeping the oath and no probable advantage inbreaking it, he took the engagement--in order, as he told hislieutenant, to deal handsomely by the young lady--in the only mode andform which, by a mental paction with himself, he considered as binding:he swore secrecy upon his drawn dirk. He was the more especially movedto this act of good faith by some attentions that Miss Bradwardineshowed to his daughter Alice, which, while they gained the heart of themountain damsel, highly gratified the pride of her father. Alice, whocould now speak a little English, was very communicative in return forRose's kindness, readily confided to her the whole papers respectingthe intrigue with Gardiner's regiment, of which she was the depositary,and as readily undertook, at her instance, to restore them to Waverleywithout her father's knowledge. For 'they may oblige the bonnie younglady and the handsome young gentleman,' said Alice, 'and what use hasmy father for a whin bits o' scarted paper?'
The reader is aware that she took an opportunity of executing thispurpose on the eve of Waverley's leaving the glen.
How Donald executed his enterprise the reader is aware. But theexpulsion of the military from Tully-Veolan had given alarm, and whilehe was lying in wait for Gilfillan, a strong party, such as Donald didnot care to face, was sent to drive back the insurgents in their turn,to encamp there, and to protect the country. The officer, a gentlemanand a disciplinarian, neither intruded himself on Miss Bradwardine,whose unprotected situation he respected, nor permitted his soldiers tocommit any breach of discipline. He formed a little camp upon aneminence near the house of Tully-Veolan, and placed proper guards atthe passes in the vicinity. This unwelcome news reached Donald BeanLean as he was returning to Tully-Veolan. Determined, however, toobtain the guerdon of his labour, he resolved, since approach toTully-Veolan was impossible, to deposit his prisoner in Janet'scottage, a place the very existence of which could hardly have beensuspected even by those who had long lived in the vicinity, unless theyhad been guided thither, and which was utterly unknown to Waverleyhimself. This effected, he claimed and received his reward. Waverley'sillness was an event which deranged all their calculations. Donald wasobliged to leave the neighbourhood with his people, and to seek morefree course for his adventures elsewhere. At Rose's entreaty, he leftan old man, a herbalist, who was supposed to understand a little ofmedicine, to attend Waverley during his illness.
In the meanwhile, new and fearful doubts started in Rose's mind. Theywere suggested by old Janet, who insisted that, a reward having beenoffered for the apprehension of Waverley, and his own personal effectsbeing so valuable, there was no saying to what breach of faith Donaldmight be tempted. In an agony of grief and terror, Rose took the daringresolution of explaining to the Prince himself the danger in which Mr.Waverley stood, judging that, both as a politician and a man of honourand humanity, Charles Edward would interest himself to prevent hisfalling into the hands of the opposite party. This letter she at firstthought of sending anonymously, but naturally feared it would not inthat case be credited. She therefore subscribed her name, though withreluctance and terror, and consigned it in charge to a young man, whoat leaving his farm to join the Chevalier's army, made it his petitionto her to have some sort of credentials to the adventurer, from whom hehoped to obtain a commission.
The letter reached Charles Edward on his descent to the Lowlands, and,aware of the political importance of having it supposed that he was incorrespondence with the English Jacobites, he caused the most positiveorders to be transmitted to Donald Bean Lean to transmit Waverley, safeand uninjured, in person or effects, to the governor of Doune Castle.The freebooter durst not disobey, for the army of the Prince was now sonear him that punishment might have followed; besides, he was apolitician as well as a robber, and was unwilling to cancel theinterest created through former secret services by being refractory onthis occasion. He therefore made a virtue of necessity, and transmittedorders to his lieutenant to convey Edward to Doune, which was safelyaccomplished in the mode mentioned in a former chapter. The governor ofDoune was directed to send him to Edinburgh as a prisoner, because thePrince was apprehensive that Waverley, if set at liberty, might haveresumed his purpose of returning to England, without affording him anopportunity of a personal interview. In this, indeed, he acted by theadvice of the Chieftain of Glennaquoich, with whom it may be rememberedthe Chevalier communicated upon the mode of disposing of Edward, thoughwithout telling him how he came to learn the place of his confinement.
This, indeed, Charles Edward considered as a lady's secret; foralthough Rose's letter was couched in the most cautious and generalterms, and professed to be written merely from motives of humanity andzeal for the Prince's service, yet she expressed so anxious a wish thatshe should not be known to have interfered, that the Chevalier wasinduced to suspect the deep interest which she took in Waverley'ssafety. This conjecture, which was well founded, led, however, to falseinferences. For the emotion which Edward displayed on approaching Floraand Rose at the ball of Holyrood was placed by the Chevalier to theaccount of the latter; and he concluded that the Baron's views aboutthe settlement of his property, or some such obstacle, thwarted theirmutual inclinations. Common fame, it is true, frequently gave Waverleyto Miss Mac-Ivor; but the Prince knew that common fame is very prodigalin such gifts; and, watching attentively the behaviour of the ladiestowards Waverley, he had no doubt that the young Englishman had nointerest with Flora, and was beloved by Rose Bradwardine. Desirous tobind Waverley to his service, and wishing also to do a kind andfriendly action, the Prince next assailed the Baron on the subject ofsettling his estate upon his daughter. Mr. Bradwardine acquiesced; butthe consequence was that Fergus was immediately induced to prefer hisdouble suit for a wife and an earldom, which the Prince rejected in themanner we have seen. The Chevalier, constantly engaged in his ownmultiplied affairs, had not hitherto sought any explanation withWaverley, though often meaning to do so. But after Fergus's declarationhe saw the necessity of appearing neutral between the rivals, devoutlyhoping that the matter, which now seemed fraught with the seeds ofstrife, might be permitted to lie over till the termination of
theexpedition. When, on the march to Derby, Fergus, being questionedconcerning his quarrel with Waverley, alleged as the cause that Edwardwas desirous of retracting the suit he had made to his sister, theChevalier plainly told him that he had himself observed Miss Mac-Ivor'sbehaviour to Waverley, and that he was convinced Fergus was under theinfluence of a mistake in judging of Waverley's conduct, who, he hadevery reason to believe, was engaged to Miss Bradwardine. The quarrelwhich ensued between Edward and the Chieftain is, I hope, still in theremembrance of the reader. These circumstances will serve to explainsuch points of our narrative as, according to the custom ofstory-tellers, we deemed it fit to leave unexplained, for the purposeof exciting the reader's curiosity.
When Janet had once finished the leading facts of this narrative,Waverley was easily enabled to apply the clue which they afforded toother mazes of the labyrinth in which he had been engaged. To RoseBradwardine, then, he owed the life which he now thought he couldwillingly have laid down to serve her. A little reflection convincedhim, however, that to live for her sake was more convenient andagreeable, and that, being possessed of independence, she might shareit with him either in foreign countries or in his own. The pleasure ofbeing allied to a man of the Baron's high worth, and who was so muchvalued by his uncle Sir Everard, was also an agreeable consideration,had anything been wanting to recommend the match. His absurdities,which had appeared grotesquely ludicrous during his prosperity, seemed,in the sunset of his fortune, to be harmonised and assimilated with thenoble features of his character, so as to add peculiarity withoutexciting ridicule. His mind occupied with such projects of futurehappiness, Edward sought Little Veolan, the habitation of Mr. DuncanMacwheeble.