CHAPTER X.—PASSAGES AT NEW YORK.
I have mentioned I was resolved to steal a march upon the Master; andthis, with the complicity of Captain McMurtrie, was mighty easilyeffected: a boat being partly loaded on the one side of our ship and theMaster placed on board of it, the while a skiff put off from the other,carrying me alone. I had no more trouble in finding a direction to mylord’s house, whither I went at top speed, and which I found to be on theoutskirts of the place, a very suitable mansion, in a fine garden, withan extraordinary large barn, byre, and stable, all in one. It was heremy lord was walking when I arrived; indeed, it had become his chief placeof frequentation, and his mind was now filled with farming. I burst inupon him breathless, and gave him my news: which was indeed no news atall, several ships having outsailed the _Nonesuch_ in the interval.
“We have been expecting you long,” said my lord; “and indeed, of latedays, ceased to expect you any more. I am glad to take your hand again,Mackellar. I thought you had been at the bottom of the sea.”
“Ah! my lord, would God I had!” cried I. “Things would have been betterfor yourself.”
“Not in the least,” says he, grimly. “I could not ask better. There isa long score to pay, and now—at last—I can begin to pay it.”
I cried out against his security.
“Oh!” says he, “this is not Durrisdeer, and I have taken my precautions.His reputation awaits him; I have prepared a welcome for my brother.Indeed, fortune has served me; for I found here a merchant of Albany whoknew him after the ’45 and had mighty convenient suspicions of a murder:some one of the name of Chew it was, another Albanian. No one here willbe surprised if I deny him my door; he will not be suffered to address mychildren, nor even to salute my wife: as for myself, I make so muchexception for a brother that he may speak to me. I should lose mypleasure else,” says my lord, rubbing his palms.
Presently he bethought himself, and set men off running, with billets, tosummon the magnates of the province. I cannot recall what pretext heemployed; at least, it was successful; and when our ancient enemyappeared upon the scene, he found my lord pacing in front of his houseunder some trees of shade, with the Governor upon one hand and variousnotables upon the other. My lady, who was seated in the verandah, rosewith a very pinched expression and carried her children into the house.
The Master, well dressed and with an elegant walking-sword, bowed to thecompany in a handsome manner and nodded to my lord with familiarity. Mylord did not accept the salutation, but looked upon his brother withbended brows.
“Well, sir,” says he, at last, “what ill wind brings you hither of allplaces, where (to our common disgrace) your reputation has preceded you?”
“Your lordship is pleased to be civil,” said the Master, with a finestart.
“I am pleased to be very plain,” returned my lord; “because it is needfulyou should clearly understand your situation. At home, where you were solittle known, it was still possible to keep appearances; that would bequite vain in this province; and I have to tell you that I am quiteresolved to wash my hands of you. You have already ruined me almost tothe door, as you ruined my father before me;—whose heart you also broke.Your crimes escape the law; but my friend the Governor has promisedprotection to my family. Have a care, sir!” cries my lord, shaking hiscane at him: “if you are observed to utter two words to any of myinnocent household, the law shall be stretched to make you smart for it.”
“Ah!” says the Master, very slowly. “And so this is the advantage of aforeign land! These gentlemen are unacquainted with our story, Iperceive. They do not know that I am the Lord Durrisdeer; they do notknow you are my younger brother, sitting in my place under a sworn familycompact; they do not know (or they would not be seen with you in familiarcorrespondence) that every acre is mine before God Almighty—and everydoit of the money you withhold from me, you do it as a thief, a perjurer,and a disloyal brother!”
“General Clinton,” I cried, “do not listen to his lies. I am the stewardof the estate, and there is not one word of truth in it. The man is aforfeited rebel turned into a hired spy: there is his story in twowords.”
It was thus that (in the heat of the moment) I let slip his infamy.
“Fellow,” said the Governor, turning his face sternly on the Master, “Iknow more of you than you think for. We have some broken ends of youradventures in the provinces, which you will do very well not to drive meto investigate. There is the disappearance of Mr. Jacob Chew with allhis merchandise; there is the matter of where you came ashore from withso much money and jewels, when you were picked up by a Bermudan out ofAlbany. Believe me, if I let these matters lie, it is in commiserationfor your family and out of respect for my valued friend, LordDurrisdeer.”
There was a murmur of applause from the provincials.
“I should have remembered how a title would shine out in such a hole asthis,” says the Master, white as a sheet: “no matter how unjustly comeby. It remains for me, then, to die at my lord’s door, where my deadbody will form a very cheerful ornament.”
“Away with your affectations!” cries my lord. “You know very well I haveno such meaning; only to protect myself from calumny, and my home fromyour intrusion. I offer you a choice. Either I shall pay your passagehome on the first ship, when you may perhaps be able to resume youroccupations under Government, although God knows I would rather see youon the highway! Or, if that likes you not, stay here and welcome! Ihave inquired the least sum on which body and soul can be decently kepttogether in New York; so much you shall have, paid weekly; and if youcannot labour with your hands to better it, high time you should betakeyourself to learn. The condition is—that you speak with no member of myfamily except myself,” he added.
I do not think I have ever seen any man so pale as was the Master; but hewas erect and his mouth firm.
“I have been met here with some very unmerited insults,” said he, “fromwhich I have certainly no idea to take refuge by flight. Give me yourpittance; I take it without shame, for it is mine already—like the shirtupon your back; and I choose to stay until these gentlemen shallunderstand me better. Already they must spy the cloven hoof, since withall your pretended eagerness for the family honour, you take a pleasureto degrade it in my person.”
“This is all very fine,” says my lord; “but to us who know you of old,you must be sure it signifies nothing. You take that alternative out ofwhich you think that you can make the most. Take it, if you can, insilence; it will serve you better in the long run, you may believe me,than this ostentation of ingratitude.”
“Oh, gratitude, my lord!” cries the Master, with a mounting intonationand his forefinger very conspicuously lifted up. “Be at rest: it willnot fail you. It now remains that I should salute these gentlemen whomwe have wearied with our family affairs.”
And he bowed to each in succession, settled his walking-sword, and tookhimself off, leaving every one amazed at his behaviour, and me not lessso at my lord’s.
* * * * *
We were now to enter on a changed phase of this family division. TheMaster was by no manner of means so helpless as my lord supposed, havingat his hand, and entirely devoted to his service, an excellent artist inall sorts of goldsmith work. With my lord’s allowance, which was not soscanty as he had described it, the pair could support life; and all theearnings of Secundra Dass might be laid upon one side for any futurepurpose. That this was done, I have no doubt. It was in all likelihoodthe Master’s design to gather a sufficiency, and then proceed in quest ofthat treasure which he had buried long before among the mountains; towhich, if he had confined himself, he would have been more happilyinspired. But unfortunately for himself and all of us, he took counselof his anger. The public disgrace of his arrival—which I sometimeswonder he could manage to survive—rankled in his bones; he was in thathumour when a man—in the words of the old adage—will cut off his nose tospite his face; and he must make himself a p
ublic spectacle in the hopesthat some of the disgrace might spatter on my lord.
He chose, in a poor quarter of the town, a lonely, small house of boards,overhung with some acacias. It was furnished in front with a sort ofhutch opening, like that of a dog’s kennel, but about as high as a tablefrom the ground, in which the poor man that built it had formerlydisplayed some wares; and it was this which took the Master’s fancy andpossibly suggested his proceedings. It appears, on board the pirate shiphe had acquired some quickness with the needle—enough, at least, to playthe part of tailor in the public eye; which was all that was required bythe nature of his vengeance. A placard was hung above the hutch, bearingthese words in something of the following disposition:
JAMES DURIE,
FORMERLY MASTER OF BALLANTRAE.
CLOTHES NEATLY CLOUTED.
* * * * *
SECUNDRA DASS,
DECAYED GENTLEMAN OF INDIA.
FINE GOLDSMITH WORK.
Underneath this, when he had a job, my gentleman sat withinsidetailor-wise and busily stitching. I say, when he had a job; but suchcustomers as came were rather for Secundra, and the Master’s sewing wouldbe more in the manner of Penelope’s. He could never have designed togain even butter to his bread by such a means of livelihood: enough forhim that there was the name of Durie dragged in the dirt on the placard,and the sometime heir of that proud family set up cross-legged in publicfor a reproach upon his brother’s meanness. And in so far his devicesucceeded that there was murmuring in the town and a party formed highlyinimical to my lord. My lord’s favour with the Governor laid him moreopen on the other side; my lady (who was never so well received in thecolony) met with painful innuendoes; in a party of women, where it wouldbe the topic most natural to introduce, she was almost debarred from thenaming of needle-work; and I have seen her return with a flushedcountenance and vow that she would go abroad no more.
In the meanwhile my lord dwelled in his decent mansion, immersed infarming; a popular man with his intimates, and careless or unconscious ofthe rest. He laid on flesh; had a bright, busy face; even the heatseemed to prosper with him; and my lady—in despite of her ownannoyances—daily blessed Heaven her father should have left her such aparadise. She had looked on from a window upon the Master’s humiliation;and from that hour appeared to feel at ease. I was not so sure myself;as time went on, there seemed to me a something not quite wholesome in mylord’s condition. Happy he was, beyond a doubt, but the grounds of thisfelicity were wont; even in the bosom of his family he brooded withmanifest delight upon some private thought; and I conceived at last thesuspicion (quite unworthy of us both) that he kept a mistress somewherein the town. Yet he went little abroad, and his day was very fullyoccupied; indeed, there was but a single period, and that pretty early inthe morning, while Mr. Alexander was at his lesson-book, of which I wasnot certain of the disposition. It should be borne in mind, in thedefence of that which I now did, that I was always in some fear my lordwas not quite justly in his reason; and with our enemy sitting so stillin the same town with us, I did well to be upon my guard. Accordingly Imade a pretext, had the hour changed at which I taught Mr. Alexander thefoundation of cyphering and the mathematic, and set myself instead to dogmy master’s footsteps.
Every morning, fair or foul, he took his gold-headed cane, set his hat onthe back of his head—a recent habitude, which I thought to indicate aburning brow—and betook himself to make a certain circuit. At the firsthis way was among pleasant trees and beside a graveyard, where he wouldsit awhile, if the day were fine, in meditation. Presently the pathturned down to the waterside, and came back along the harbour-front andpast the Master’s booth. As he approached this second part of hiscircuit, my Lord Durrisdeer began to pace more leisurely, like a mandelighted with the air and scene; and before the booth, half-way betweenthat and the water’s edge, would pause a little, leaning on his staff.It was the hour when the Master sate within upon his board and plied hisneedle. So these two brothers would gaze upon each other with hardfaces; and then my lord move on again, smiling to himself.
It was but twice that I must stoop to that ungrateful necessity ofplaying spy. I was then certain of my lord’s purpose in his rambles andof the secret source of his delight. Here was his mistress: it washatred and not love that gave him healthful colours. Some moralistsmight have been relieved by the discovery; I confess that I was dismayed.I found this situation of two brethren not only odious in itself, but bigwith possibilities of further evil; and I made it my practice, in so faras many occupations would allow, to go by a shorter path and be secretlypresent at their meeting. Coming down one day a little late, after I hadbeen near a week prevented, I was struck with surprise to find a newdevelopment. I should say there was a bench against the Master’s house,where customers might sit to parley with the shopman; and here I found mylord seated, nursing his cane and looking pleasantly forth upon the bay.Not three feet from him sate the Master, stitching. Neither spoke; nor(in this new situation) did my lord so much as cut a glance upon hisenemy. He tasted his neighbourhood, I must suppose, less indirectly inthe bare proximity of person; and, without doubt, drank deep of hatefulpleasures.
He had no sooner come away than I openly joined him. “My lord, my lord,”said I, “this is no manner of behaviour.”
“I grow fat upon it,” he replied; and not merely the words, which werestrange enough, but the whole character of his expression, shocked me.
“I warn you, my lord, against this indulgency of evil feeling,” said I.“I know not to which it is more perilous, the soul or the reason; but yougo the way to murder both.”
“You cannot understand,” said he. “You had never such mountains ofbitterness upon your heart.”
“And if it were no more,” I added, “you will surely goad the man to someextremity.”
“To the contrary; I am breaking his spirit,” says my lord.
* * * * *
Every morning for hard upon a week my lord took his same place upon thebench. It was a pleasant place, under the green acacias, with a sightupon the bay and shipping, and a sound (from some way off) of marinessinging at their employ. Here the two sate without speech or anyexternal movement, beyond that of the needle or the Master biting off athread, for he still clung to his pretence of industry; and here I made apoint to join them, wondering at myself and my companions. If any of mylord’s friends went by, he would hail them cheerfully, and cry out he wasthere to give some good advice to his brother, who was now (to hisdelight) grown quite industrious. And even this the Master accepted witha steady countenance; what was in his mind, God knows, or perhaps Satanonly.
All of a sudden, on a still day of what they call the Indian Summer, whenthe woods were changed into gold and pink and scarlet, the Master laiddown his needle and burst into a fit of merriment. I think he must havebeen preparing it a long while in silence, for the note in itself waspretty naturally pitched; but breaking suddenly from so extreme asilence, and in circumstances so averse from mirth, it sounded ominouslyon my ear.
“Henry,” said he, “I have for once made a false step, and for once youhave had the wit to profit by it. The farce of the cobbler ends to-day;and I confess to you (with my compliments) that you have had the best ofit. Blood will out; and you have certainly a choice idea of how to makeyourself unpleasant.”
Never a word said my lord; it was just as though the Master had notbroken silence.
“Come,” resumed the Master, “do not be sulky; it will spoil yourattitude. You can now afford (believe me) to be a little gracious; for Ihave not merely a defeat to accept. I had meant to continue thisperformance till I had gathered enough money for a certain purpose; Iconfess ingenuously, I have not the courage. You naturally desire myabsence from this town; I have come roun
d by another way to the sameidea. And I have a proposition to make; or, if your lordship prefers, afavour to ask.”
“Ask it,” says my lord.
“You may have heard that I had once in this country a considerabletreasure,” returned the Master; “it matters not whether or no—such is thefact; and I was obliged to bury it in a spot of which I have sufficientindications. To the recovery of this, has my ambition now come down;and, as it is my own, you will not grudge it me.”
“Go and get it,” says my lord. “I make no opposition.”
“Yes,” said the Master; “but to do so, I must find men and carriage. Theway is long and rough, and the country infested with wild Indians.Advance me only so much as shall be needful: either as a lump sum, inlieu of my allowance; or, if you prefer it, as a loan, which I shallrepay on my return. And then, if you so decide, you may have seen thelast of me.”
My lord stared him steadily in the eyes; there was a hard smile upon hisface, but he uttered nothing.
“Henry,” said the Master, with a formidable quietness, and drawing at thesame time somewhat back—“Henry, I had the honour to address you.”
“Let us be stepping homeward,” says my lord to me, who was plucking athis sleeve; and with that he rose, stretched himself, settled his hat,and still without a syllable of response, began to walk steadily alongthe shore.
I hesitated awhile between the two brothers, so serious a climax did weseem to have reached. But the Master had resumed his occupation, hiseyes lowered, his hand seemingly as deft as ever; and I decided to pursuemy lord.
“Are you mad?” I cried, so soon as I had overtook him. “Would you castaway so fair an opportunity?”
“Is it possible you should still believe in him?” inquired my lord,almost with a sneer.
“I wish him forth of this town!” I cried. “I wish him anywhere andanyhow but as he is.”
“I have said my say,” returned my lord, “and you have said yours. Therelet it rest.”
But I was bent on dislodging the Master. That sight of him patientlyreturning to his needlework was more than my imagination could digest.There was never a man made, and the Master the least of any, that couldaccept so long a series of insults. The air smelt blood to me. And Ivowed there should be no neglect of mine if, through any chink ofpossibility, crime could be yet turned aside. That same day, therefore,I came to my lord in his business room, where he sat upon some trivialoccupation.
“My lord,” said I, “I have found a suitable investment for my smalleconomies. But these are unhappily in Scotland; it will take some timeto lift them, and the affair presses. Could your lordship see his way toadvance me the amount against my note?”
He read me awhile with keen eyes. “I have never inquired into the stateof your affairs, Mackellar,” says he. “Beyond the amount of yourcaution, you may not be worth a farthing, for what I know.”
“I have been a long while in your service, and never told a lie, nor yetasked a favour for myself,” said I, “until to-day.”
“A favour for the Master,” he returned, quietly. “Do you take me for afool, Mackellar? Understand it once and for all, I treat this beast inmy own way; fear nor favour shall not move me; and before I amhoodwinked, it will require a trickster less transparent than yourself.I ask service, loyal service; not that you should make and mar behind myback, and steal my own money to defeat me.”
“My lord,” said I, “these are very unpardonable expressions.”
“Think once more, Mackellar,” he replied; “and you will see they fit thefact. It is your own subterfuge that is unpardonable. Deny (if you can)that you designed this money to evade my orders with, and I will ask yourpardon freely. If you cannot, you must have the resolution to hear yourconduct go by its own name.”
“If you think I had any design but to save you—” I began.
“Oh! my old friend,” said he, “you know very well what I think! Here ismy hand to you with all my heart; but of money, not one rap.”
Defeated upon this side, I went straight to my room, wrote a letter, ranwith it to the harbour, for I knew a ship was on the point of sailing;and came to the Master’s door a little before dusk. Entering without theform of any knock, I found him sitting with his Indian at a simple mealof maize porridge with some milk. The house within was clean and poor;only a few books upon a shelf distinguished it, and (in one corner)Secundra’s little bench.
“Mr. Bally,” said I, “I have near five hundred pounds laid by inScotland, the economies of a hard life. A letter goes by yon ship tohave it lifted. Have so much patience till the return ship comes in, andit is all yours, upon the same condition you offered to my lord thismorning.”
He rose from the table, came forward, took me by the shoulders, andlooked me in the face, smiling.
“And yet you are very fond of money!” said he. “And yet you love moneybeyond all things else, except my brother!”
“I fear old age and poverty,” said I, “which is another matter.”
“I will never quarrel for a name. Call it so,” he replied. “Ah!Mackellar, Mackellar, if this were done from any love to me, how gladlywould I close upon your offer!”
“And yet,” I eagerly answered—“I say it to my shame, but I cannot see youin this poor place without compunction. It is not my single thought, normy first; and yet it’s there! I would gladly see you delivered. I donot offer it in love, and far from that; but, as God judges me—and Iwonder at it too!—quite without enmity.”
“Ah!” says he, still holding my shoulders, and now gently shaking me,“you think of me more than you suppose. ‘And I wonder at it too,’” headded, repeating my expression and, I suppose, something of my voice.“You are an honest man, and for that cause I spare you.”
“Spare me?” I cried.
“Spare you,” he repeated, letting me go and turning away. And then,fronting me once more. “You little know what I would do with it,Mackellar! Did you think I had swallowed my defeat indeed? Listen: mylife has been a series of unmerited cast-backs. That fool, PrinceCharlie, mismanaged a most promising affair: there fell my first fortune.In Paris I had my foot once more high upon the ladder: that time it wasan accident; a letter came to the wrong hand, and I was bare again. Athird time, I found my opportunity; I built up a place for myself inIndia with an infinite patience; and then Clive came, my rajah wasswallowed up, and I escaped out of the convulsion, like another Æneas,with Secundra Dass upon my back. Three times I have had my hand upon thehighest station: and I am not yet three-and-forty. I know the world asfew men know it when they come to die—Court and camp, the East and theWest; I know where to go, I see a thousand openings. I am now at theheight of my resources, sound of health, of inordinate ambition. Well,all this I resign; I care not if I die, and the world never hear of me; Icare only for one thing, and that I will have. Mind yourself; lest, whenthe roof falls, you, too, should be crushed under the ruins.”
* * * * *
As I came out of his house, all hope of intervention quite destroyed, Iwas aware of a stir on the harbour-side, and, raising my eyes, there wasa great ship newly come to anchor. It seems strange I could have lookedupon her with so much indifference, for she brought death to the brothersof Durrisdeer. After all the desperate episodes of this contention, theinsults, the opposing interests, the fraternal duel in the shrubbery, itwas reserved for some poor devil in Grub Street, scribbling for hisdinner, and not caring what he scribbled, to cast a spell across fourthousand miles of the salt sea, and send forth both these brothers intosavage and wintry deserts, there to die. But such a thought was distantfrom my mind; and while all the provincials were fluttered about me bythe unusual animation of their port, I passed throughout their midst onmy return homeward, quite absorbed in the recollection of my visit andthe Master’s speech.
The same night there was brought to us from the ship a little packet ofpamphlets. The next day my lord was under engagement to go with theG
overnor upon some party of pleasure; the time was nearly due, and I lefthim for a moment alone in his room and skimming through the pamphlets.When I returned, his head had fallen upon the table, his arms lyingabroad amongst the crumpled papers.
“My lord, my lord!” I cried as I ran forward, for I supposed he was insome fit.
He sprang up like a figure upon wires, his countenance deformed withfury, so that in a strange place I should scarce have known him. Hishand at the same time flew above his head, as though to strike me down.“Leave me alone!” he screeched, and I fled, as fast as my shaking legswould bear me, for my lady. She, too, lost no time; but when wereturned, he had the door locked within, and only cried to us from theother side to leave him be. We looked in each other’s faces, verywhite—each supposing the blow had come at last.
“I will write to the Governor to excuse him,” says she. “We must keepour strong friends.” But when she took up the pen, it flew out of herfingers. “I cannot write,” said she. “Can you?”
“I will make a shift, my lady,” said I.
She looked over me as I wrote. “That will do,” she said, when I haddone. “Thank God, Mackellar, I have you to lean upon! But what can itbe now? What, what can it be?”
In my own mind, I believed there was no explanation possible, and nonerequired; it was my fear that the man’s madness had now simply burstforth its way, like the long-smothered flames of a volcano; but to this(in mere mercy to my lady) I durst not give expression.
“It is more to the purpose to consider our own behaviour,” said I. “Mustwe leave him there alone?”
“I do not dare disturb him,” she replied. “Nature may know best; it maybe Nature that cries to be alone; and we grope in the dark. Oh yes, Iwould leave him as he is.”
“I will, then, despatch this letter, my lady, and return here, if youplease, to sit with you,” said I.
“Pray do,” cries my lady.
All afternoon we sat together, mostly in silence, watching my lord’sdoor. My own mind was busy with the scene that had just passed, and itssingular resemblance to my vision. I must say a word upon this, for thestory has gone abroad with great exaggeration, and I have even seen itprinted, and my own name referred to for particulars. So much was thesame: here was my lord in a room, with his head upon the table, and whenhe raised his face, it wore such an expression as distressed me to thesoul. But the room was different, my lord’s attitude at the table not atall the same, and his face, when he disclosed it, expressed a painfuldegree of fury instead of that haunting despair which had always (exceptonce, already referred to) characterised it in the vision. There is thewhole truth at last before the public; and if the differences be great,the coincidence was yet enough to fill me with uneasiness. Allafternoon, as I say, I sat and pondered upon this quite to myself; for mylady had trouble of her own, and it was my last thought to vex her withfancies. About the midst of our time of waiting, she conceived aningenious scheme, had Mr. Alexander fetched, and bid him knock at hisfather’s door. My lord sent the boy about his business, but without theleast violence, whether of manner or expression; so that I began toentertain a hope the fit was over.
At last, as the night fell and I was lighting a lamp that stood theretrimmed, the door opened and my lord stood within upon the threshold.The light was not so strong that we could read his countenance; when hespoke, methought his voice a little altered but yet perfectly steady.
“Mackellar,” said he, “carry this note to its destination with your ownhand. It is highly private. Find the person alone when you deliver it.”
“Henry,” says my lady, “you are not ill?”
“No, no,” says he, querulously, “I am occupied. Not at all; I am onlyoccupied. It is a singular thing a man must be supposed to be ill whenhe has any business! Send me supper to this room, and a basket of wine:I expect the visit of a friend. Otherwise I am not to be disturbed.”
And with that he once more shut himself in.
The note was addressed to one Captain Harris, at a tavern on theportside. I knew Harris (by reputation) for a dangerous adventurer,highly suspected of piracy in the past, and now following the rudebusiness of an Indian trader. What my lord should have to say to him, orhe to my lord, it passed my imagination to conceive: or yet how my lordhad heard of him, unless by a disgraceful trial from which the man wasrecently escaped. Altogether I went upon the errand with reluctance, andfrom the little I saw of the captain, returned from it with sorrow. Ifound him in a foul-smelling chamber, sitting by a guttering candle andan empty bottle; he had the remains of a military carriage, or ratherperhaps it was an affectation, for his manners were low.
“Tell my lord, with my service, that I will wait upon his lordship in theinside of half an hour,” says he, when he had read the note; and then hadthe servility, pointing to his empty bottle, to propose that I should buyhim liquor.
Although I returned with my best speed, the Captain followed close uponmy heels, and he stayed late into the night. The cock was crowing asecond time when I saw (from my chamber window) my lord lighting him tothe gate, both men very much affected with their potations, and sometimesleaning one upon the other to confabulate. Yet the next morning my lordwas abroad again early with a hundred pounds of money in his pocket. Inever supposed that he returned with it; and yet I was quite sure it didnot find its way to the Master, for I lingered all morning within view ofthe booth. That was the last time my Lord Durrisdeer passed his ownenclosure till we left New York; he walked in his barn, or sat and talkedwith his family, all much as usual; but the town saw nothing of him, andhis daily visits to the Master seemed forgotten. Nor yet did Harrisreappear; or not until the end.
I was now much oppressed with a sense of the mysteries in which we hadbegun to move. It was plain, if only from his change of habitude, mylord had something on his mind of a grave nature; but what it was, whenceit sprang, or why he should now keep the house and garden, I could makeno guess at. It was clear, even to probation, the pamphlets had someshare in this revolution; I read all I could find, and they were allextremely insignificant, and of the usual kind of party scurrility; evento a high politician, I could spy out no particular matter of offence,and my lord was a man rather indifferent on public questions. The truthis, the pamphlet which was the spring of this affair, lay all the time onmy lord’s bosom. There it was that I found it at last, after he wasdead, in the midst of the north wilderness: in such a place, in suchdismal circumstances, I was to read for the first time these idle, lyingwords of a Whig pamphleteer declaiming against indulgency toJacobites:—“Another notorious Rebel, the M—r of B—e, is to have his Titlerestored,” the passage ran. “This Business has been long in hand, sincehe rendered some very disgraceful Services in Scotland and France. HisBrother, _L—d D—r_, is known to be no better than himself in Inclination;and the supposed Heir, who is now to be set aside, was bred up in themost detestable Principles. In the old Phrase, it is _six of the one andhalf a dozen of the other_; but the Favour of such a Reposition is tooextreme to be passed over.” A man in his right wits could not have caredtwo straws for a tale so manifestly false; that Government should everentertain the notion, was inconceivable to any reasoning creature, unlesspossibly the fool that penned it; and my lord, though never brilliant,was ever remarkable for sense. That he should credit such a rodomontade,and carry the pamphlet on his bosom and the words in his heart, is theclear proof of the man’s lunacy. Doubtless the mere mention of Mr.Alexander, and the threat directly held out against the child’ssuccession, precipitated that which had so long impended. Or else mymaster had been truly mad for a long time, and we were too dull or toomuch used to him, and did not perceive the extent of his infirmity.
About a week after the day of the pamphlets I was late upon theharbour-side, and took a turn towards the Master’s, as I often did. Thedoor opened, a flood of light came forth upon the road, and I beheld aman taking his departure with friendly salutations. I cannot say howsingularly I was
shaken to recognise the adventurer Harris. I could notbut conclude it was the hand of my lord that had brought him there; andprolonged my walk in very serious and apprehensive thought. It was latewhen I came home, and there was my lord making up his portmanteau for avoyage.
“Why do you come so late?” he cried. “We leave to-morrow for Albany, youand I together; and it is high time you were about your preparations.”
“For Albany, my lord?” I cried. “And for what earthly purpose?”
“Change of scene,” said he.
And my lady, who appeared to have been weeping, gave me the signal toobey without more parley. She told me a little later (when we foundoccasion to exchange some words) that he had suddenly announced hisintention after a visit from Captain Harris, and her best endeavours,whether to dissuade him from the journey, or to elicit some explanationof its purpose, had alike proved unavailing.
The Master of Ballantrae: A Winter's Tale Page 11
