CHAPTER XIX Which sloping hills around inclose, Where many a beech and brown oak grows Beneath whose dark and branching bowers Its tides a far-fam'd river pours, By natures beauties taught to please, Sweet Tusculan of rural easel
WARTON.
Woodbourne, the habitation which Mannering, by Mr. Mac-Morlan'smediation, had hired for a season, was a large comfortable mansion,snugly situated beneath a hill covered with wood, which shrouded thehouse upon the north and east; the front looked upon a little lawnbordered by a grove of old trees; beyond were some arable fields,extending down to the river, which was seen from the windows of thehouse. A tolerable, though old-fashioned garden, a well-stocked dove-cot,and the possession of any quantity of ground which the convenience of thefamily might require, rendered the place in every respect suitable, asthe advertisements have it, 'for the accommodation of a genteel family.'
Here, then, Mannering resolved, for some time at least, to set up thestaff of his rest. Though an East-Indian, he was not partial to anostentatious display of wealth. In fact, he was too proud a man to be avain one. He resolved, therefore, to place himself upon the footing of acountry gentleman of easy fortune, without assuming, or permitting hishousehold to assume, any of the faste which then was considered ascharacteristic of a nabob.
He had still his eye upon the purchase of Ellangowan, which Mac-Morlanconceived Mr. Glossin would be compelled to part with, as some of thecreditors disputed his title to retain so large a part of thepurchase-money in his own hands, and his power to pay it was muchquestioned. In that case Mac-Morlan was assured he would readily give uphis bargain, if tempted with something above the price which he hadstipulated to pay. It may seem strange that Mannering was so muchattached to a spot which he had only seen once, and that for a shorttime, in early life. But the circumstances which passed there had laid astrong hold on his imagination. There seemed to be a fate which conjoinedthe remarkable passages of his own family history with those of theinhabitants of Ellangowan, and he felt a mysterious desire to call theterrace his own from which he had read in the book of heaven a fortunestrangely accomplished in the person of the infant heir of that family,and corresponding so closely with one which had been strikingly fulfilledin his own. Besides, when once this thought had got possession of hisimagination, he could not, without great reluctance, brook the idea ofhis plan being defeated, and by a fellow like Glossin. So pride came tothe aid of fancy, and both combined to fortify his resolution to buy theestate if possible.
Let us do Mannering justice. A desire to serve the distressed had alsoits share in determining him. He had considered the advantage which Juliamight receive from the company of Lucy Bertram, whose genuine prudenceand good sense could so surely be relied upon. This idea had become muchstronger since Mac-Morlan had confided to him, under the solemn seal ofsecrecy, the whole of her conduct towards young Hazlewood. To propose toher to become an inmate in his family, if distant from the scenes of heryouth and the few whom she called friends, would have been less delicate;but at Woodbourne she might without difficulty be induced to become thevisitor of a season, without being depressed into the situation of anhumble companion. Lucy Bertram, with some hesitation, accepted theinvitation to reside a few weeks with Miss Mannering. She felt too wellthat, however the Colonel's delicacy might disguise the truth, hisprincipal motive was a generous desire to afford her his countenance andprotection, which his high connexions, and higher character, were likelyto render influential in the neighbourhood.
About the same time the orphan girl received a letter from Mrs. Bertram,the relation to whom she had written, as cold and comfortless as couldwell be imagined. It inclosed, indeed, a small sum of money, but stronglyrecommended economy, and that Miss Bertram should board herself in somequiet family, either at Kippletringan or in the neighbourhood, assuringher that, though her own income was very scanty, she would not see herkinswoman want. Miss Bertram shed some natural tears over thiscold-hearted epistle; for in her mother's time this good lady had been aguest at Ellangowan for nearly three years, and it was only uponsucceeding to a property of about L400 a year that she had taken farewellof that hospitable mansion, which otherwise might have had the honour ofsheltering her until the death of its owner. Lucy was strongly inclinedto return the paltry donation, which, after some struggles with avarice,pride had extorted from the old lady. But on consideration she contentedherself with writing that she accepted it as a loan, which, she hoped ina short time to repay, and consulted her relative upon the invitation shehad received from Colonel and Miss Mannering. This time the answer camein course of post, so fearful was Mrs. Bertram that some frivolousdelicacy, or nonsense, as she termed it, might induce her cousin toreject such a promising offer, and thereby at the same time to leaveherself still a burden upon her relations. Lucy, therefore, had noalternative, unless she preferred continuing a burden upon the worthyMac-Morlans, who were too liberal to be rich. Those kinsfolk who formerlyrequested the favour of her company had of late either silently, or withexpressions of resentment that she should have preferred Mac-Morlan'sinvitation to theirs, gradually withdrawn their notice.
The fate of Dominie Sampson would have been deplorable had it dependedupon any one except Mannering, who was an admirer of originality, for aseparation from Lucy Bertram would have certainly broken his heart.Mac-Morlan had given a full account of his proceedings towards thedaughter of his patron. The answer was a request from Mannering to knowwhether the Dominie still possessed that admirable virtue of taciturnityby which he was so notably distinguished at Ellangowan. Mac-Morlanreplied in the affirmative. 'Let Mr. Sampson know,' said the Colonel'snext letter, 'that I shall want his assistance to catalogue and put inorder the library of my uncle, the bishop, which I have ordered to besent down by sea. I shall also want him to copy and arrange some papers.Fix his salary at what you think befitting. Let the poor man be properlydressed, and accompany his young lady to Woodbourne.'
Honest Mac-Morlan received this mandate with great joy, but pondered muchupon executing that part of it which related to newly attiring the worthyDominie. He looked at him with a scrutinising eye, and it was but tooplain that his present garments were daily waxing more deplorable. Togive him money, and bid him go and furnish himself, would be only givinghim the means of making himself ridiculous; for when such a rare eventarrived to Mr. Sampson as the purchase of new garments, the additionswhich he made to his wardrobe by the guidance of his own taste usuallybrought all the boys of the village after him for many days. On the otherhand, to bring a tailor to measure him, and send home his clothes, as fora school-boy, would probably give offence. At length Mac-Morlan resolvedto consult Miss Bertram, and request her interference. She assured himthat, though she could not pretend to superintend a gentleman's wardrobe,nothing was more easy than to arrange the Dominie's.
'At Ellangowan,' she said, 'whenever my poor father thought any part ofthe Dominie's dress wanted renewal, a servant was directed to enter hisroom by night, for he sleeps as fast as a dormouse, carry off the oldvestment, and leave the new one; nor could any one observe that theDominie exhibited the least consciousness of the change put upon him onsuch occasions.'
Mac-Morlan, in conformity with Miss Bertram's advice, procured a skilfulartist, who, on looking at the Dominie attentively, undertook to make forhim two suits of clothes, one black and one raven-grey, and even engagedthat they should fit him--as well at least (so the tailor qualified hisenterprise) as a man of such an out-of-the-way build could be fitted bymerely human needles and shears. When this fashioner had accomplished histask, and the dresses were brought home, Mac-Morlan, judiciouslyresolving to accomplish his purpose by degrees, withdrew that evening animportant part of his dress, and substituted the new article of raimentin its stead. Perceiving that this passed totally without notice, he nextventured on the waistcoat, and lastly on the coat. When fullymetamorphosed, and arrayed for the first time in his life in a decentdress, they did observe that the Dominie seemed to have some indisti
nctand embarrassing consciousness that a change had taken place on hisoutward man. Whenever they observed this dubious expression gather uponhis countenance, accompanied with a glance that fixed now upon the sleeveof his coat, now upon the knees of his breeches, where he probably missedsome antique patching and darning, which, being executed with blue threadupon a black ground, had somewhat the effect of embroidery, they alwaystook care to turn his attention into some other channel, until hisgarments, 'by the aid of use, cleaved to their mould.' The only remark hewas ever known to make on the subject was, that 'the air of a town likeKippletringan seemed favourable unto wearing apparel, for he thought hiscoat looked almost as new as the first day he put it on, which was whenhe went to stand trial for his license as a preacher.'
When the Dominie first heard the liberal proposal of Colonel Mannering,he turned a jealous and doubtful glance towards Miss Bertram, as if hesuspected that the project involved their separation; but when Mr.Mac-Morlan hastened to explain that she would be a guest at Woodbournefor some time, he rubbed his huge hands together, and burst into aportentous sort of chuckle, like that of the Afrite in the tale of 'TheCaliph Vathek.' After this unusual explosion of satisfaction, he remainedquite passive in all the rest of the transaction.
It had been settled that Mr. and Mrs. Mac-Morlan should take possessionof the house a few days before Mannering's arrival, both to puteverything in perfect order and to make the transference of MissBertram's residence from their family to his as easy and delicate aspossible. Accordingly, in the beginning of the month of December theparty were settled at Woodbourne.