Guy Mannering, Or, the Astrologer — Complete

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER L

  JUSTICE This does indeed confirm each circumstance The gipsy told! No orphan, nor without a friend art thou. _I_ am thy father, HERE'S thy mother, THERE Thy uncle, THIS thy first cousin, and THESE Are all thy near relations!

  The Critic.

  As Mannering replaced his watch, he heard a distant and hollow sound.'It is a carriage for certain; no, it is but the sound of the windamong the leafless trees. Do come to the window, Mr. Pleydell.' TheCounsellor, who, with his large silk handkerchief in his hand, wasexpatiating away to Julia upon some subject which he thought wasinteresting, obeyed the summons, first, however, wrapping thehandkerchief round his neck by way of precaution against the cold air.The sound of wheels became now very perceptible, and Pleydell, as if hehad reserved all his curiosity till that moment, ran out to the hall.The Colonel rung for Barnes to desire that the persons who came in thecarriage might be shown into a separate room, being altogetheruncertain whom it might contain. It stopped, however, at the doorbefore his purpose could be fully explained. A moment after Mr.Pleydell called out, 'Here's our Liddesdale friend, I protest, with astrapping young fellow of the same calibre.' His voice arrestedDinmont, who recognised him with equal surprise and pleasure. 'Od, ifit's your honour we'll a' be as right and tight as thack and rape canmake us.'

  But while the farmer stopped to make his bow, Bertram, dizzied with thesudden glare of light, and bewildered with the circumstances of hissituation, almost unconsciously entered the open door of the parlour,and confronted the Colonel, who was just advancing towards it. Thestrong light of the apartment left no doubt of his identity, and hehimself was as much confounded with the appearance of those to whom heso unexpectedly presented himself as they were by the sight of soutterly unlooked-for an object. It must be remembered that eachindividual present had their own peculiar reasons for looking withterror upon what seemed at first sight a spectral apparition. Manneringsaw before him the man whom he supposed he had killed in India; Juliabeheld her lover in a most peculiar and hazardous situation; and LucyBertram at once knew the person who had fired upon young Hazlewood.Bertram, who interpreted the fixed and motionless astonishment of theColonel into displeasure at his intrusion, hastened to say that it wasinvoluntary, since he had been hurried hither without even knowingwhither he was to be transported.

  'Mr. Brown, I believe!' said Colonel Mannering.

  'Yes, sir,' replied the young man, modestly, but with firmness, 'thesame you knew in India; and who ventures to hope, that what you didthen know of him is not such as should prevent his requesting you wouldfavour him with your attestation to his character as a gentleman andman of honour.'

  'Mr. Brown, I have been seldom--never--so much surprised; certainly,sir, in whatever passed between us you have a right to command myfavourable testimony.'

  At this critical moment entered the Counsellor and Dinmont. The formerbeheld to his astonishment the Colonel but just recovering from hisfirst surprise, Lucy Bertram ready to faint with terror, and MissMannering in an agony of doubt and apprehension, which she in vainendeavoured to disguise or suppress. 'What is the meaning of all this?'said he; 'has this young fellow brought the Gorgon's head in his hand?let me look at him. By Heaven!' he muttered to himself, 'the very imageof old Ellangowan! Yes, the same manly form and handsome features, butwith a world of more intelligence in the face. Yes! the witch has kepther word.' Then instantly passing to Lucy, 'Look at that man, MissBertram, my dear; have you never seen any one like him?'

  Lucy had only ventured one glance at this object of terror, by which,however, from his remarkable height and appearance, she at oncerecognised the supposed assassin of young Hazlewood, a conviction whichexcluded, of course, the more favourable association of ideas whichmight have occurred on a closer view. 'Don't ask me about him, sir,'said she, turning away her eyes; 'send him away, for Heaven's sake! weshall all be murdered!'

  'Murdered! where's the poker?' said the Advocate in some alarm; 'butnonsense! we are three men besides the servants, and there is honestLiddesdale, worth half-a-dozen, to boot; we have the major vis upon ourside. However, here, my friend Dandie--Davie--what do they call you?keep between that fellow and us for the protection of the ladies.'

  'Lord! Mr. Pleydell,' said the astonished farmer, 'that's CaptainBrown; d 'ye no ken the Captain?'

  'Nay, if he's a friend of yours we may be safe enough,' answeredPleydell; 'but keep near him.'

  All this passed with such rapidity that it was over before the Dominiehad recovered himself from a fit of absence, shut the book which he hadbeen studying in a corner, and, advancing to obtain a sight of thestrangers, exclaimed at once upon beholding Bertram, 'If the grave cangive up the dead, that is my dear and honoured master!'

  'We're right after all, by Heaven! I was sure I was right,' said theLawyer; 'he is the very image of his father. Come, Colonel, what do youthink of, that you do not bid your guest welcome? I think--I believe--Itrust we're right; never saw such a likeness! But patience; Dominie,say not a word. Sit down, young gentleman.'

  'I beg pardon, sir; if I am, as I understand, in Colonel Mannering'shouse, I should wish first to know if my accidental appearance heregives offence, or if I am welcome?'

  Mannering instantly made an effort. 'Welcome? most certainly,especially if you can point out how I can serve you. I believe I mayhave some wrongs to repair towards you, I have often suspected so; butyour sudden and unexpected appearance, connected with painfulrecollections, prevented my saying at first, as I now say, thatwhatever has procured me the honour of this visit, it is an acceptableone.'

  Bertram bowed with an air of distant yet civil acknowledgment to thegrave courtesy of Mannering.

  'Julia, my love, you had better retire. Mr. Brown, you will excuse mydaughter; there are circumstances which I perceive rush upon herrecollection.'

  Miss Mannering rose and retired accordingly; yet, as she passedBertram, could not suppress the words, 'Infatuated! a second time!' butso pronounced as to be heard by him alone. Miss Bertram accompanied herfriend, much surprised, but without venturing a second glance at theobject of her terror. Some mistake she saw there was, and was unwillingto increase it by denouncing the stranger as an assassin. He was known,she saw, to the Colonel, and received as a gentleman; certainly heeither was not the person she suspected or Hazlewood was right insupposing the shot accidental.

  The remaining part of the company would have formed no bad group for askilful painter. Each was too much embarrassed with his own sensationsto observe those of the others. Bertram most unexpectedly found himselfin the house of one whom he was alternately disposed to dislike as hispersonal enemy and to respect as the father of Julia. Mannering wasstruggling between his high sense of courtesy and hospitality, his joyat finding himself relieved from the guilt of having shed life in aprivate quarrel, and the former feelings of dislike and prejudice,which revived in his haughty mind at the sight of the object againstwhom he had entertained them. Sampson, supporting his shaking limbs byleaning on the back of a chair, fixed his eyes upon Bertram with astaring expression of nervous anxiety which convulsed his whole visage.Dinmont, enveloped in his loose shaggy great-coat, and resembling ahuge bear erect upon his hinder legs, stared on the whole scene withgreat round eyes that witnessed his amazement.

  The Counsellor alone was in his element: shrewd, prompt, and active, healready calculated the prospect of brilliant success in a strange,eventful, and mysterious lawsuit, and no young monarch, flushed withhopes, and at the head of a gallant army, could experience more gleewhen taking the field on his first campaign. He bustled about withgreat energy, and took the arrangement of the whole explanation uponhimself.

  'Come, come, gentlemen, sit down; this is all in my province; you mustlet me arrange it for you. Sit down, my dear Colonel, and let memanage; sit down, Mr. Brown, aut quocunque alio nomine vocaris;Dominie, take your seat; draw in your chair, honest Liddesdale.'

  'I dinna ken, Mr. Pleydell,' said Dinmont, looking at his dre
adnoughtcoat, then at the handsome furniture of the room; 'I had maybe bettergang some gate else, and leave ye till your cracks, I'm no just thatweel put on.'

  The Colonel, who by this time recognised Dandie, immediately went upand bid him heartily welcome; assuring him that, from what he had seenof him in Edinburgh, he was sure his rough coat and thick-soled bootswould honour a royal drawing-room.

  'Na, na, Colonel, we're just plain up-the-country folk; but nae doubt Iwould fain hear o' ony pleasure that was gaun to happen the Captain,and I'm sure a' will gae right if Mr. Pleydell will take his bit job inhand.'

  'You're right, Dandie; spoke like a Hieland [Footnote: It may not beunnecessary to tell southern readers that the mountainous country inthe south western borders of Scotland is called Hieland, though totallydifferent from the much more mountainous and more extensive districtsof the north, usually called Hielands.] oracle; and now be silent.Well, you are all seated at last; take a glass of wine till I begin mycatechism methodically. And now,' turning to Bertram, 'my dear boy, doyou know who or what you are?'

  In spite of his perplexity the catechumen could not help laughing atthis commencement, and answered, 'Indeed, sir, I formerly thought Idid; but I own late circumstances have made me somewhat uncertain.'

  'Then tell us what you formerly thought yourself.'

  'Why, I was in the habit of thinking and calling myself Vanbeest Brown,who served as a cadet or volunteer under Colonel Mannering, when hecommanded the--regiment, in which capacity I was not unknown to him.'

  'There,' said the Colonel, 'I can assure Mr. Brown of his identity; andadd, what his modesty may have forgotten, that he was distinguished asa young man of talent and spirit.'

  'So much the better, my dear sir,' said Mr. Pleydell; 'but that is togeneral character. Mr. Brown must tell us where he was born.'

  'In Scotland, I believe, but the place uncertain.'

  'Where educated?'

  'In Holland, certainly.'

  'Do you remember nothing of your early life before you left Scotland?'

  'Very imperfectly; yet I have a strong idea, perhaps more deeplyimpressed upon me by subsequent hard usage, that I was during mychildhood the object of much solicitude and affection. I have anindistinct remembrance of a good-looking man whom I used to call papa,and of a lady who was infirm in health, and who, I think, must havebeen my mother; but it is an imperfect and confused recollection. Iremember too a tall, thin, kind-tempered man in black, who used toteach me my letters and walk out with me; and I think the very lasttime--'

  Here the Dominie could contain no longer. While every succeeding wordserved to prove that the child of his benefactor stood before him, hehad struggled with the utmost difficulty to suppress his emotions; butwhen the juvenile recollections of Bertram turned towards his tutor andhis precepts he was compelled to give way to his feelings. He rosehastily from his chair, and with clasped hands, trembling limbs, andstreaming eyes, called out aloud, 'Harry Bertram! look at me; was I notthe man?'

  'Yes!' said Bertram, starting from his seat as if a sudden light hadburst in upon his mind; 'yes; that was my name! And that is the voiceand the figure of my kind old master!'

  The Dominie threw himself into his arms, pressed him a thousand timesto his bosom in convulsions of transport which shook his whole frame,sobbed hysterically, and at length, in the emphatic language ofScripture, lifted up his voice and wept aloud. Colonel Mannering hadrecourse to his handkerchief; Pleydell made wry faces, and wiped theglasses of his spectacles; and honest Dinmont, after two loudblubbering explosions, exclaimed, 'Deil's in the man! he's garr'd me dothat I haena done since my auld mither died.'

  'Come, come,' said the Counsellor at last, 'silence in the court. Wehave a clever party to contend with; we must lose no time in gatheringour information; for anything I know there may be something to be donebefore daybreak.'

  'I will order a horse to be saddled if you please,' said the Colonel.

  'No, no, time enough, time enough. But come, Dominie, I have allowedyou a competent space to express your feelings. I must circumduce theterm; you must let me proceed in my examination.'

  The Dominie was habitually obedient to any one who chose to imposecommands upon him: he sunk back into his chair, spread his chequeredhandkerchief over his face, to serve, as I suppose, for the Grecianpainter's veil, and, from the action of his folded hands, appeared fora time engaged in the act of mental thanksgiving. He then raised hiseyes over the screen, as if to be assured that the pleasing apparitionhad not melted into air; then again sunk them to resume his internalact of devotion, until he felt himself compelled to give attention tothe Counsellor, from the interest which his questions excited.

  'And now,' said Mr. Pleydell, after several minute inquiries concerninghis recollection of early events--'and now, Mr. Bertram,--for I thinkwe ought in future to call you by your own proper name--will you havethe goodness to let us know every particular which you can recollectconcerning the mode of your leaving Scotland?'

  'Indeed, sir, to say the truth, though the terrible outlines of thatday are strongly impressed upon my memory, yet somehow the very terrorwhich fixed them there has in a great measure confounded and confusedthe details. I recollect, however, that I was walking somewhere orother, in a wood, I think--'

  'O yes, it was in Warroch wood, my dear,' said the Dominie.

  'Hush, Mr. Sampson,' said the Lawyer.

  'Yes, it was in a wood,' continued Bertram, as long past and confusedideas arranged themselves in his reviving recollection; 'and some onewas with me; this worthy and affectionate gentleman, I think.'

  'O, ay, ay, Harry, Lord bless thee; it was even I myself.'

  'Be silent, Dominie, and don't interrupt the evidence,' said Pleydell.'And so, sir?' to Bertram.

  'And so, sir,' continued Bertram, 'like one of the changes of a dream,I thought I was on horseback before my guide.'

  'No, no,' exclaimed Sampson, 'never did I put my own limbs, not to saythine, into such peril.'

  'On my word, this is intolerable! Look ye, Dominie, if you speakanother word till I give you leave, I will read three sentences out ofthe Black Acts, whisk my cane round my head three times, undo all themagic of this night's work, and conjure Harry Bertram back again intoVanbeest Brown.'

  'Honoured and worthy sir,' groaned out the Dominie, 'I humbly cravepardon; it was but verbum volans.'

  'Well, nolens volens, you must hold your tongue,' said Pleydell.

  'Pray, be silent, Mr. Sampson,' said the Colonel; 'it is of greatconsequence to your recovered friend that you permit Mr. Pleydell toproceed in his inquiries.'

  'I am mute,' said the rebuked Dominie.

  'On a sudden,' continued Bertram, 'two or three men sprung out upon us,and we were pulled from horseback. I have little recollection ofanything else, but that I tried to escape in the midst of a desperatescuffle, and fell into the arms of a very tall woman who started fromthe bushes and protected me for some time; the rest is all confusionand dread, a dim recollection of a sea-beach and a cave, and of somestrong potion which lulled me to sleep for a length of time. In short,it is all a blank in my memory until I recollect myself first anill-used and half-starved cabin-boy aboard a sloop, and then aschoolboy in Holland, under the protection of an old merchant, who hadtaken some fancy for me.'

  'And what account,' said Mr. Pleydell, 'did your guardian give of yourparentage?'

  'A very brief one,' answered Bertram, 'and a charge to inquire nofarther. I was given to understand that my father was concerned in thesmuggling trade carried on on the eastern coast of Scotland, and waskilled in a skirmish with the revenue officers; that his correspondentsin Holland had a vessel on the coast at the time, part of the crew ofwhich were engaged in the affair, and that they brought me off after itwas over, from a motive of compassion, as I was left destitute by myfather's death. As I grew older there was much of this story seemedinconsistent with my own recollections, but what could I do? I had nomeans of ascertaining my doubts, nor a single friend with whom I coul
dcommunicate or canvass them. The rest of my story is known to ColonelMannering: I went out to India to be a clerk in a Dutch house; theiraffairs fell into confusion; I betook myself to the militaryprofession, and, I trust, as yet I have not disgraced it.'

  'Thou art a fine young fellow, I'll be bound for thee,' said Pleydell,'and since you have wanted a father so long, I wish from my heart Icould claim the paternity myself. But this affair of young Hazlewood--'

  'Was merely accidental,' said Bertram. 'I was travelling in Scotlandfor pleasure, and, after a week's residence with my friend Mr. Dinmont,with whom I had the good fortune to form an accidental acquaintance--'

  "It was my gude fortune that," said Dinmont. "Odd, my brains wad haebeen knockit out by twa black-guards if it hadna been for his fourquarters."

  "Shortly after we parted at the town of----I lost my baggage bythieves, and it was while residing at Kippletringan I accidentally metthe young gentleman. As I was approaching to pay my respects to MissMannering, whom I had known in India, Mr. Hazlewood, conceiving myappearance none of the most respectable, commanded me rather haughtilyto stand back, and so gave occasion to the fray, in which I had themisfortune to be the accidental means of wounding him. And now, sir,that I have answered all your questions--"

  "No, no, not quite all," said Pleydell, winking sagaciously; "there aresome interrogatories which I shall delay till to-morrow, for it istime, I believe, to close the sederunt for this night, or rathermorning."

  "Well, then, sir," said the young man, "to vary the phrase, since Ihave answered all the questions which you have chosen to ask to-night,will you be so good as to tell me who you are that take such interestin my affairs, and whom you take me to be, since my arrival hasoccasioned such commotion?"

  "Why, sir, for myself," replied the Counsellor, "I am Paulus Pleydell,an advocate at the Scottish bar; and for you, it is not easy to saydistinctly who you are at present, but I trust in a short time to hailyou by the title of Henry Bertram, Esq., representative of one of theoldest families in Scotland, and heir of Tailzie and provision to theestate of Ellangowan. Ay," continued he, shutting his eyes and speakingto himself, "we must pass over his father, and serve him heir to hisgrandfather Lewis, the entailer; the only wise man of his family, thatI ever heard of."

  They had now risen to retire to their apartments for the night, whenColonel Mannering walked up to Bertram, as he stood astonished at theCounsellor's words. "I give you joy," he said, "of the prospects whichfate has opened before you. I was an early friend of your father, andchanced to be in the house of Ellangowan, as unexpectedly as you arenow in mine, upon the very night in which you were born. I little knewthis circumstance when--but I trust unkindness will be forgottenbetween us. Believe me, your appearance here as Mr. Brown, alive andwell, has relieved me from most painful sensations; and your right tothe name of an old friend renders your presence as Mr. Bertram doublywelcome."

  "And my parents?" said Bertram.

  "Are both no more; and the family property has been sold, but I trustmay be recovered. Whatever is wanted to make your right effectual Ishall be most happy to supply."

  "Nay, you may leave all that to me," said the Counsellor; "'t is myvocation, Hal; I shall make money of it."

  "I'm sure it's no for the like o'me," observed Dinmont, "to speak toyou gentlefolks; but if siller would help on the Captain's plea, andthey say nae plea gangs ain weel without it--"

  "Except on Saturday night," said Pleydell.

  "Ay, but when your honour wadna take your fee ye wadna hae the causeneither, sae I'll ne'er fash you on a Saturday at e'en again. But I wassaying, there's some siller in the spleuchan that's like the Captain'sain, for we've aye counted it such, baith Ailie and me."

  'No, no, Liddesdale; no occasion, no occasion whatever. Keep thy cashto stock thy farm.'

  'To stock my farm? Mr. Pleydell, your honour kens mony things, but yedinna ken the farm o' Charlie's Hope; it's sae weel stockit alreadythat we sell maybe sax hundred pounds off it ilka year, flesh and fellthe gither; na, na.'

  'Can't you take another then?'

  'I dinna ken; the Deuke's no that fond o' led farms, and he canna bideto put away the auld tenantry; and then I wadna like mysell to gangabout whistling [Footnote: See Note 7.] and raising the rent on myneighbours.'

  'What, not upon thy neighbour at Dawston--Devilstone--how d 'ye callthe place?'

  'What, on Jock o' Dawston? hout na. He's a camsteary chield, andfasheous about marches, and we've had some bits o' splores thegither;but deil o'meif I wad wrang Jock o' Dawston neither.'

  'Thou'rt an honest fellow,' said the Lawyer; 'get thee to bed. Thouwilt sleep sounder, I warrant thee, than many a man that throws off anembroidered coat and puts on a laced nightcap. Colonel, I see you arebusy with our enfant trouve. But Barnes must give me a summons ofwakening at seven to-morrow morning, for my servant's a sleepy-headedfellow; and I daresay my clerk Driver has had Clarence's fate, and isdrowned by this time in a butt of your ale; for Mrs. Allan promised tomake him comfortable, and she'll soon discover what he expects fromthat engagement. Good-night, Colonel; good-night, Dominie Sampson;good-night, Dinmont the Downright; good-night, last of all, to thenew-found representative of the Bertrams, and the Mac-Dingawaies, theKnarths, the Arths, the Godfreys, the Dennises, and the Rolands, and,last and dearest title, heir of tailzie and provision of the lands andbarony of Ellangowan, under the settlement of Lewis Bertram, Esq.,whose representative you are.'

  And so saying, the old gentleman took his candle and left the room; andthe company dispersed, after the Dominie had once more hugged andembraced his 'little Harry Bertram,' as he continued to call the youngsoldier of six feet high.