by Walter Scott
CHAPTER XIV.
As, to the Autumn breeze's bugle sound, Various and vague the dry leaves dance their round; Or, from the garner-door, on ether borne, The chaff flies devious from the winnow'd corn; So vague, so devious, at the breath of heaven, From their fix'd aim are mortal counsels driv'n.
Anonymous.
WE left Caleb Balderstone in the extremity of triumph at the success ofhis various achievements for the honour of the house of Ravenswood. Whenhe had mustered and marshalled his dishes of divers kinds, a more royalprovision had not been seen in Wolf's Crag since the funeral feastof its deceased lord. Great was the glory of the serving-man, as he"decored" the old oaken table with a clean cloth, and arranged upon itcarbonaded venison and roasted wild-fowl, with a glance, every now andthen, as if to upbraid the incredulity of his master and his guests; andwith many a story, more or less true, was Lockhard that evening regaledconcerning the ancient grandeur of Wolf's Crag, and the sway of itsbarons over the country in their neighbourhood.
"A vassal scarce held a calf or a lamb his ain, till he had firstasked if the Lord of Ravenswood was pleased to accept it; and they wereobliged to ask the lord's consent before they married in these days,and mony a merry tale they tell about that right as weel as others. Andalthough," said Caleb, "these times are not like the gude auld times,when authority had its right, yet true it is, Mr. Lockhard, and youyoursell may partly have remarked, that we of the house of Ravenswooddo our endeavour in keeping up, by all just and lawful exertion of ourbaronial authority, that due and fitting connexion betwixt superior andvassal, whilk is in some danger of falling into desuetude, owing to thegeneral license and misrule of these present unhappy times."
"Umph!" said Mr. Lockhard; "and if I may inquire, Mr. Balderstone, praydo you find your people at the village yonder amenable? for I must needssay, that at Ravenswood Castle, now pertaining to my master the LordKeeper, ye have not left behind ye the most compliant set of tenantry."
"Ah! but Mr. Lockhard," replied Caleb, "ye must consider there has beena change of hands, and the auld lord might expect twa turns frae them,when the new-comer canna get ane. A dour and fractious set they were,thae tenants of Ravenswood, and ill to live wi' when they dinna kentheir master; and if your master put them mad ance, the whole countrywill not put them down."
"Troth," said Mr. Lockhard, "an such be the case, I think the wisestthing for us a' wad be to hammer up a match between your young lord andour winsome young leddy up-bye there; and Sir William might just stitchyour auld barony to her gown-sleeve, and he wad sune cuitle another outo' somebody else, sic a lang head as he has."
Caleb shook his head. "I wish," he said--"I wish that may answer, Mr.Lockhard. There are auld prophecies about this house I wad like ill tosee fulfilled wi' my auld een, that has seen evil eneugh already."
"Pshaw! never mind freits," said his brother butler; "if the young folkliked ane anither, they wad make a winsome couple. But, to say truth,there is a leddy sits in our hall-neuk, maun have her hand in that asweel as in every other job. But there's no harm in drinking to theirhealths, and I will fill Mrs. Mysie a cup of Mr. Girder's canary."
While they thus enjoyed themselves in the kitchen, the company inthe hall were not less pleasantly engaged. So soon as Ravenswood haddetermined upon giving the Lord Keeper such hospitality as he had tooffer, he deemed it incumbent on him to assume the open and courteousbrow of a well-pleased host. It has been often remarked, that when a mancommences by acting a character, he frequently ends by adopting it ingood earnest. In the course of an hour or two, Ravenswood, to his ownsurprise, found himself in the situation of one who frankly does hisbest to entertain welcome and honoured guests. How much of this changein his disposition was to be ascribed to the beauty and simplicity ofMiss Ashton, to the readiness with which she accommodated herself to theinconveniences of her situation how much to the smooth and plausibleconversation of the Lord Keeper, remarkably gifted with those wordswhich win the ear, must be left to the reader's ingenuity to conjecture.But Ravenswood was insensible to neither.
The Lord Keeper was a veteran statesman, well acquainted with courtsand cabinets, and intimate with all the various turns of public affairsduring the last eventful years of the 17th century. He could talk, fromhis own knowledge, of men and events, in a way which failed not to winattention, and had the peculiar art, while he never said a word whichcommitted himself, at the same time to persuade the hearer that he wasspeaking without the least shadow of scrupulous caution or reserve.Ravenswood, in spite of his prejudices and real grounds of resentment,felt himself at once amused and instructed in listening to him, whilethe statesman, whose inward feelings had at first so much impeded hisefforts to make himself known, had now regained all the ease and fluencyof a silver-tongued lawyer of the very highest order.
His daughter did not speak much, but she smiled; and what she did sayargued a submissive gentleness, and a desire to give pleasure, which,to a proud man like Ravenswood, was more fascinating than the mostbrilliant wit. Above all, he could not be observe that, whether fromgratitude or from some other motive, he himself, in his deserted andunprovided hall, was as much the object of respectful attention to hisguests as he would have been when surrounded by all the appliances andmeans of hospitality proper to his high birth. All deficiencies passedunobserved, or, if they did not escape notice, it was to praise thesubstitutes which Caleb had contrived to supply the want of theusual accommodations. Where a smile was unavoidable, it was a verygood-humoured one, and often coupled with some well-turned compliment,to show how much the guests esteemed the merits of their noble host,how little they thought of the inconveniences with which theywere surrounded. I am not sure whether the pride of being found tooutbalance, in virtue of his own personal merit, all the disadvantagesof fortune, did not make as favourable an impression upon the haughtyheart of the Master of Ravenswood as the conversation of the father andthe beauty of Lucy Ashton.
The hour of repose arrived. The Keeper and his daughter retired to theirapartments, which were "decored" more properly than could have beenanticipated. In making the necessary arrangements, Mysie had indeedenjoyed the assistance of a gossip who had arrived from the village uponan exploratory expedition, but had been arrested by Caleb, and impressedinto the domestic drudgery of the evening; so that, instead of returninghome to describe the dress and person of the grand young lady, she foundherself compelled to be active in the domestic economy of Wolf's Crag.
According to the custom of the time, the Master of Ravenswood attendedthe Lord Keeper to his apartment, followed by Caleb, who placed on thetable, with all the ceremonials due to torches of wax, two rudely-framedtallow-candles, such as in those days were only used by the peasantry,hooped in paltry clasps of wire, which served for candlesticks. He thendisappeared, and presently entered with two earthen flagons (the china,he said, had been little used since my lady's time), one filled withcanary wine, the other with brandy. The canary sack, unheeding allprobabilities of detection, he declared had been twenty years in thecellars of Wolf's Crag, "though it was not for him to speak before theirhonours; the brandy--it was weel-kenn'd liquor, as mild as mead and asstrong as Sampson it had been in the house ever since the memorablerevel, in which auld Micklestob had been slain at the head of the stairby Jamie of Jenklebrae, on account of the honour of the worshipful LadyMuirend, wha was in some sort an ally of the family; natheless----"
"But to cut that matter short, Mr. Caleb," said the Keeper, "perhaps youwill favour me with a ewer of water."
"God forbid your lordship should drink water in this family," repliedCaleb, "to the disgrace of so honourable an house!"
"Nevertheless, if his lordship have a fancy," said the Master, smiling,"I think you might indulge him; for, if I mistake not, there has beenwater drank here at no distant date, and with good relish too."
"To be sure, if his lordship has a fancy," said Caleb; and re-enteringwith a jug of pure element--"He will scarce find such water onywhere asis drawn frae t
he well at Wolf's Crag; nevertheless----"
"Nevertheless, we must leave the Lord Keeper to his repose in thispoor chamber of ours," said the Master of Ravenswood, interruptinghis talkative domestic, who immediately turning to the doorway, witha profound reverence, prepared to usher his master from the secretchamber.
But the Lord Keeper prevented his host's departure.--"I have but oneword to say to the Master of Ravenswood, Mr. Caleb, and I fancy he willexcuse your waiting."
With a second reverence, lower than the former, Caleb withdrew; and hismaster stood motionless, expecting, with considerable embarrassment,what was to close the events of a day fraught with unexpected incidents.
"Master of Ravenswood," said Sir William Ashton, with someembarrassment, "I hope you understand the Christian law too well tosuffer the sun to set upon your anger."
The Master blushed and replied, "He had no occasion that evening toexercise the duty enjoined upon him by his Christian faith."
"I should have thought otherwise," said his guest, "considering thevarious subjects of dispute and litigation which have unhappily occurredmore frequently than was desirable or necessary betwixt the latehonourable lord, your father, and myself."
"I could wish, my lord," said Ravenswood, agitated by suppressedemotion, "that reference to these circumstances should be made anywhererather than under my father's roof."
"I should have felt the delicacy of this appeal at another time," saidSir William Ashton, "but now I must proceed with what I mean to say.I have suffered too much in my own mind, from the false delicacy whichprevented my soliciting with earnestness, what indeed I frequentlyrequested, a personal communing with your father: much distress of mindto him and to me might have been prevented."
"It is true," said Ravenswood, after a moment's reflection, "I haveheard my father say your lordship had proposed a personal interview."
"Proposed, my dear Master? I did indeed propose it; but I ought to havebegged, entreated, beseeched it. I ought to have torn away the veil,which interested persons had stretched betwixt us, and shown myself asI was, willing to sacrifice a considerable part even of my legal rights,in order to conciliate feelings so natural as his must be allowed tohave been. Let me say for myself, my young friend, for so I will callyou, that had your father and I spent the same time together whichmy good fortune has allowed me to-day to pass in your company, it ispossible the land might yet have enjoyed one of the most respectable ofits ancient nobility, and I should have been spared the pain of partingin enmity from a person whose general character I so much admired andhonoured."
He put his handkerchief to his eyes. Ravenswood also was moved, butawaited in silence the progress of this extraordinary communication.
"It is necessary," continued the Lord Keeper, "and proper that youshould understand, that there have been many points betwixt us, inwhich, although I judged it proper that there should be an exactascertainment of my legal rights by the decree of a court of justice,yet it was never my intention to press them beyond the verge of equity."
"My lord," said the Master of Ravenswood, "it is unnecessary to pursuethis topic farther. What the law will give you, or has given you, youenjoy--or you shall enjoy; neither my father nor I myself would havereceived anything on the footing of favour."
"Favour! No, you misunderstand me," resumed the Keeper; "or rather youare no lawyer. A right may be good in law, and ascertained to be so,which yet a man of honour may not in every case care to avail himselfof."
"I am sorry for it, my lord," said the Master.
"Nay, nay," retorted his guest, "you speak like a young counsellor;your spirit goes before your wit. There are many things still open fordecision betwixt us. Can you blame me, an old man desirous of peace, andin the castle of a young nobleman who has saved my daughter's life andmy own, that I am desirous, anxiously desirous, that these should besettled on the most liberal principles?" The old man kept fast hold ofthe Master's passive hand as he spoke, and made it impossible for him,be his predetermination what it would, to return any other than anacquiescent reply; and wishing his guest good-night, he postponedfarther conference until the next morning.
Ravenswood hurried into the hall, where he was to spend the night, andfor a time traversed its pavement with a disordered and rapid pace.His mortal foe was under his roof, yet his sentiments towards him wereneither those of a feudal enemy nor of a true Christian. He felt as ifhe could neither forgive him in the one character, nor follow forth hisvengeance in the other, but that he was making a base and dishonourablecomposition betwixt his resentment against the father and his affectionfor his daughter. He cursed himself, as he hurried to and fro in thepale moonlight, and more ruddy gleams of the expiring wood-fire. Hethrew open and shut the latticed windows with violence, as if alikeimpatient of the admission and exclusion of free air. At length,however, the torrent of passion foamed off its madness, and he flunghimself into the chair which he proposed as his place of repose for thenight.
"If, in reality," such were the calmer thoughts that followed the firsttempest of his passion--"if, in reality, this man desires no more thanthe law allows him--if he is willing to adjust even his acknowledgedrights upon an equitable footing, what could be my father's cause ofcomplaint?--what is mine? Those from who we won our ancient possessionsfell under the sword of my ancestors, and left lands and livings to theconquerors; we sink under the force of the law, now too powerful for theScottish cavalry. Let us parley with the victors of the day, as if wehad been besieged in our fortress, and without hope of relief. Thisman may be other than I have thought him; and his daughter--but I haveresolved not to think of her."
He wrapt his cloak around him, fell asleep, and dreamed of Lucy Ashtontill daylight gleamed through the lattices.
