The Fair Maid of Perth; Or, St. Valentine's Day

by Walter Scott

  CHAPTER XXX.

  We must return to the characters of our dramatic narrative whom we left at Perth, when we accompanied the glover and his fair daughter to Kinfauns, and from that hospitable mansion traced the course of Simon to Loch Tay; and the Prince, as the highest personage, claims our immediate attention.

  This rash and inconsiderate young man endured with some impatience hissequestered residence with the Lord High Constable, with whose company,otherwise in every respect satisfactory, he became dissatisfied, fromno other reason than that he held in some degree the character of hiswarder. Incensed against his uncle and displeased with his father, helonged, not unnaturally, for the society of Sir John Ramorny, on whom hehad been so long accustomed to throw himself for amusement, and, thoughhe would have resented the imputation as an insult, for guidance anddirection. He therefore sent him a summons to attend him, providing hishealth permitted; and directed him to come by water to a little pavilionin the High Constable's garden, which, like that of Sir John's ownlodgings, ran down to the Tay. In renewing an intimacy so dangerous,Rothsay only remembered that he had been Sir Join Ramorny's munificentfriend; while Sir John, on receiving the invitation, only recollected,on his part, the capricious insults he had sustained from his patron,the loss of his hand, and the lightness with which he had treated thesubject, and the readiness with which Rothsay had abandoned his cause inthe matter of the bonnet maker's slaughter. He laughed bitterly when heread the Prince's billet.

  "Eviot," he said, "man a stout boat with six trusty men--trusty men,mark me--lose not a moment, and bid Dwining instantly come hither.

  "Heaven smiles on us, my trusty friend," he said to the mediciner. "Iwas but beating my brains how to get access to this fickle boy, and herehe sends to invite me."

  "Hem! I see the matter very clearly," said Dwining. "Heaven smiles onsome untoward consequences--he! he! he!"

  "No matter, the trap is ready; and it is baited, too, my friend, withwhat would lure the boy from a sanctuary, though a troop with drawnweapons waited him in the churchyard. Yet is it scarce necessary.His own weariness of himself would have done the job. Get thy mattersready--thou goest with us. Write to him, as I cannot, that we comeinstantly to attend his commands, and do it clerkly. He reads well, andthat he owes to me."

  "He will be your valiancie's debtor for more knowledge before hedies--he! he! he! But is your bargain sure with the Duke of Albany?"

  "Enough to gratify my ambition, thy avarice, and the revenge of both.Aboard--aboard, and speedily; let Eviot throw in a few flasks of thechoicest wine, and some cold baked meats."

  "But your arm, my lord, Sir John? Does it not pain you?"

  "The throbbing of my heart silences the pain of my wound. It beats as itwould burst my bosom."

  "Heaven forbid!" said Dwining; adding, in a low voice--"It would be astrange sight if it should. I should like to dissect it, save that itsstony case would spoil my best instruments."

  In a few minutes they were in the boat, while a speedy messenger carriedthe note to the Prince.

  Rothsay was seated with the Constable, after their noontide repast. Hewas sullen and silent; and the earl had just asked whether it was hispleasure that the table should be cleared, when a note, delivered to thePrince, changed at once his aspect.

  "As you will," he said. "I go to the pavilion in the garden--alwayswith permission of my Lord Constable--to receive my late master of thehorse."

  "My lord!" said Lord Errol.

  "Ay, my lord; must I ask permission twice?"

  "No, surely, my lord," answered the Constable; "but has your RoyalHighness recollected that Sir John Ramorny--"

  "Has not the plague, I hope?" replied the Duke of Rothsay. "Come, Errol,you would play the surly turnkey, but it is not in your nature; farewellfor half an hour."

  "A new folly!" said Errol, as the Prince, flinging open a lattice ofthe ground parlour in which they sat, stept out into the garden--"a newfolly, to call back that villain to his counsels. But he is infatuated."

  The Prince, in the mean time, looked back, and said hastily:

  "Your lordship's good housekeeping will afford us a flask or two ofwine and a slight collation in the pavilion? I love the al fresco of theriver."

  The Constable bowed, and gave the necessary orders; so that Sir Johnfound the materials of good cheer ready displayed, when, landing fromhis barge, he entered the pavilion.

  "It grieves my heart to see your Highness under restraint," saidRamorny, with a well executed appearance of sympathy.

  "That grief of thine will grieve mine," said the Prince. "I am sure herehas Errol, and a right true hearted lord he is, so tired me with gravelooks, and something like grave lessons, that he has driven me back tothee, thou reprobate, from whom, as I expect nothing good, I may perhapsobtain something entertaining. Yet, ere we say more, it was foul work,that upon the Fastern's Even, Ramorny. I well hope thou gavest not aimto it."

  "On my honour, my lord, a simple mistake of the brute Bonthron. I didhint to him that a dry beating would be due to the fellow by whom I hadlost a hand; and lo you, my knave makes a double mistake. He takes oneman for another, and instead of the baton he uses the axe."

  "It is well that it went no farther. Small matter for the bonnet maker;but I had never forgiven you had the armourer fallen--there is not hismatch in Britain. But I hope they hanged the villain high enough?"

  "If thirty feet might serve," replied Ramorny.

  "Pah! no more of him," said Rothsay; "his wretched name makes the goodwine taste of blood. And what are the news in Perth, Ramorny? How standsit with the bona robas and the galliards?"

  "Little galliardise stirring, my lord," answered the knight. "All eyesare turned to the motions of the Black Douglas, who comes with fivethousand chosen men to put us all to rights, as if he were bound foranother Otterburn. It is said he is to be lieutenant again. It iscertain many have declared for his faction."

  "It is time, then, my feet were free," said Rothsay, "otherwise I mayfind a worse warder than Errol."

  "Ah, my lord! were you once away from this place, you might make as bolda head as Douglas."

  "Ramorny," said the Prince, gravely, "I have but a confused remembranceof your once having proposed something horrible to me. Beware of suchcounsel. I would be free--I would have my person at my own disposal; butI will never levy arms against my father, nor those it pleases him totrust."

  "It was only for your Royal Highness's personal freedom that I waspresuming to speak," answered Ramorny. "Were I in your Grace's place,I would get me into that good boat which hovers on the Tay, and dropquietly down to Fife, where you have many friends, and make free to takepossession of Falkland. It is a royal castle; and though the King hasbestowed it in gift on your uncle, yet surely, even if the grant werenot subject to challenge, your Grace might make free with the residenceof so near a relative."

  "He hath made free with mine," said the Duke, "as the stewartry ofRenfrew can tell. But stay, Ramorny--hold; did I not hear Errol saythat the Lady Marjory Douglas, whom they call Duchess of Rothsay, isat Falkland? I would neither dwell with that lady nor insult her bydislodging her."

  "The lady was there, my lord," replied Ramorny; "I have sure advice thatshe is gone to meet her father."

  "Ha! to animate the Douglas against me? or perhaps to beg him to spareme, providing I come on my knees to her bed, as pilgrims say the emirsand amirals upon whom a Saracen soldan bestows a daughter in marriageare bound to do? Ramorny, I will act by the Douglas's own saying, 'Itis better to hear the lark sing than the mouse squeak.' I will keep bothfoot and hand from fetters."

  "No place fitter than Falkland," replied Ramorny. "I have enough of goodyeomen to keep the place; and should your Highness wish to leave it, abrief ride reaches the sea in three directions."

  "You speak well. But we shall die of gloom yonder. Neither mirth, music,nor maidens--ha!" said the heedless Prince.

  "Pardon me, noble Duke; but, though the Lady Marjory Douglas bedeparte
d, like an errant dame in romance, to implore succour of herdoughty sire, there is, I may say, a lovelier, I am sure a younger,maiden, either presently at Falkland or who will soon be on the roadthither. Your Highness has not forgotten the Fair Maid of Perth?"

  "Forget the prettiest wench in Scotland! No--any more than thou hastforgotten the hand that thou hadst in the Curfew Street onslaught on St.Valentine's Eve."

  "The hand that I had! Your Highness would say, the hand that I lost. Ascertain as I shall never regain it, Catharine Glover is, or will soonbe, at Falkland. I will not flatter your Highness by saying sheexpects to meet you; in truth, she proposes to place herself under theprotection of the Lady Marjory."

  "The little traitress," said the Prince--"she too to turn against me?She deserves punishment, Ramorny."

  "I trust your Grace will make her penance a gentle one," replied theknight.

  "Faith, I would have been her father confessor long ago, but I have everfound her coy."

  "Opportunity was lacking, my lord," replied Ramorny; "and time presseseven now."

  "Nay, I am but too apt for a frolic; but my father--"

  "He is personally safe," said Ramorny, "and as much at freedom as everhe can be; while your Highness--"

  "Must brook fetters, conjugal or literal--I know it. Yonder comesDouglas, with his daughter in his hand, as haughty and as harsh featuredas himself, bating touches of age."

  "And at Falkland sits in solitude the fairest wench in Scotland," saidRamorny. "Here is penance and restraint, yonder is joy and freedom."

  "Thou hast prevailed, most sage counsellor," replied Rothsay; "but markyou, it shall be the last of my frolics."

  "I trust so," replied Ramorny; "for, when at liberty, you may make agood accommodation with your royal father."

  "I will write to him, Ramorny. Get the writing materials. No, I cannotput my thoughts in words--do thou write."

  "Your Royal Highness forgets," said Ramorny, pointing to his mutilatedarm.

  "Ah! that cursed hand of yours. What can we do?"

  "So please your Highness," answered his counsellor, "if you would usethe hand of the mediciner, Dwining--he writes like a clerk."

  "Hath he a hint of the circumstances? Is he possessed of them?"

  "Fully," said Ramorny; and, stepping to the window, he called Dwiningfrom the boat.

  He entered the presence of the Prince of Scotland, creeping as if hetrode upon eggs, with downcast eyes, and a frame that seemed shrunk upby a sense of awe produced by the occasion.

  "There, fellow, are writing materials. I will make trial of you; thouknow'st the case--place my conduct to my father in a fair light."

  Dwining sat down, and in a few minutes wrote a letter, which he handedto Sir John Ramorny.

  "Why, the devil has aided thee, Dwining," said the knight. "Listen, mydear lord. 'Respected father and liege sovereign--Know that importantconsiderations induce me to take my departure from this your court,purposing to make my abode at Falkland, both as the seat of my dearestuncle Albany, with whom I know your Majesty would desire me to use allfamiliarity, and as the residence of one from whom I have been toolong estranged, and with whom I haste to exchange vows of the closestaffection from henceforward.'"

  The Duke of Rothsay and Ramorny laughed aloud; and the physician,who had listened to his own scroll as if it were a sentence of death,encouraged by their applause, raised his eyes, uttered faintly hischuckling note of "He! he!" and was again grave and silent, as if afraidhe had transgressed the bounds of reverent respect.

  "Admirable!" said the Prince--"admirable! The old man will applyall this to the Duchess, as they call her, of Rothsay. Dwining, thoushouldst be a secretis to his Holiness the Pope, who sometimes, it issaid, wants a scribe that can make one word record two meanings. I willsubscribe it, and have the praise of the device."

  "And now, my lord," said Ramorny, sealing the letter and leaving itbehind, "will you not to boat?"

  "Not till my chamberlain attends with some clothes and necessaries, andyou may call my sewer also."

  "My lord," said Ramorny, "time presses, and preparation will but excitesuspicion. Your officers will follow with the mails tomorrow. Fortonight, I trust my poor service may suffice to wait on you at table andchamber."

  "Nay, this time it is thou who forgets," said the Prince, touching thewounded arm with his walking rod. "Recollect, man, thou canst neithercarve a capon nor tie a point--a goodly sewer or valet of the mouth!"

  Ramorny grinned with rage and pain; for his wound, though in a way ofhealing, was still highly sensitive, and even the pointing a fingertowards it made him tremble.

  "Will your Highness now be pleased to take boat?"

  "Not till I take leave of the Lord Constable. Rothsay must not slipaway, like a thief from a prison, from the house of Errol. Summon himhither."

  "My Lord Duke," said Ramorny, "it may be dangerous to our plan."

  "To the devil with danger, thy plan, and thyself! I must and will act toErrol as becomes us both."

  The earl entered, agreeable to the Prince's summons.

  "I gave you this trouble, my lord," said Rothsay, with the dignifiedcourtesy which he knew so well how to assume, "to thank you for yourhospitality and your good company. I can enjoy them no longer, aspressing affairs call me to Falkland."

  "My lord," said the Lord High Constable, "I trust your Grace remembersthat you are--under ward."

  "How!--under ward? If I am a prisoner, speak plainly; if not, I willtake my freedom to depart."

  "I would, my lord, your Highness would request his Majesty's permissionfor this journey. There will be much displeasure."

  "Mean you displeasure against yourself, my lord, or against me?"

  "I have already said your Highness lies in ward here; but if youdetermine to break it, I have no warrant--God forbid--to put force onyour inclinations. I can but entreat your Highness, for your own sake--"

  "Of my own interest I am the best judge. Good evening to you, my lord."

  The wilful Prince stepped into the boat with Dwining and Ramorny, and,waiting for no other attendance, Eviot pushed off the vessel, whichdescended the Tay rapidly by the assistance of sail and oar and of theebb tide.

  For some space the Duke of Rothsay appeared silent and moody, nor didhis companions interrupt his reflections. He raised his head at lengthand said: "My father loves a jest, and when all is over he will takethis frolic at no more serious rate than it deserves--a fit of youth,with which he will deal as he has with others. Yonder, my masters, showsthe old hold of Kinfauns, frowning above the Tay. Now, tell me, JohnRamorny, how thou hast dealt to get the Fair Maid of Perth out of thehands of yonder bull headed provost; for Errol told me it was rumouredthat she was under his protection."

  "Truly she was, my lord, with the purpose of being transferred to thepatronage of the Duchess--I mean of the Lady Marjory of Douglas. Now,this beetle headed provost, who is after all but a piece of blunderingvaliancy, has, like most such, a retainer of some slyness and cunning,whom he uses in all his dealings, and whose suggestions he generallyconsiders as his own ideas. Whenever I would possess myself of alandward baron, I address myself to such a confidant, who, in thepresent case, is called Kitt Henshaw, an old skipper upon the Tay,and who, having in his time sailed as far as Campvere, holds with SirPatrick Charteris the respect due to one who has seen foreign countries.This his agent I have made my own, and by his means have insinuatedvarious apologies in order to postpone the departure of Catharine forFalkland."

  "But to what good purpose?"

  "I know not if it is wise to tell your Highness, lest you shoulddisapprove of my views. I meant the officers of the Commission forinquiry into heretical opinions should have found the Fair Maid atKinfauns, for our beauty is a peevish, self willed swerver from thechurch; and certes, I designed that the knight should have come infor his share of the fines and confiscations that were about to beinflicted. The monks were eager enough to be at him, seeing he hath hadfrequent disputes with them about the salmon
tithe."

  "But wherefore wouldst thou have ruined the knight's fortunes, andbrought the beautiful young woman to the stake, perchance?"

  "Pshaw, my Lord Duke! monks never burn pretty maidens. An old womanmight have been in some danger; and as for my Lord Provost, as they callhim, if they had clipped off some of his fat acres, it would havebeen some atonement for the needless brave he put on me in St. John'schurch."

  "Methinks, John, it was but a base revenge," said Rothsay.

  "Rest ye contented, my lord. He that cannot right himself by the handmust use his head. Well, that chance was over by the tender heartedDouglas's declaring in favour of tender conscience; and then, my lord,old Henshaw found no further objections to carrying the Fair Maidof Perth to Falkland, not to share the dulness of the Lady Marjory'ssociety, as Sir Patrick Charteris and she herself doth opine, but tokeep your Highness from tiring when we return from hunting in the park."

  There was again a long pause, in which the Prince seemed to muse deeply.At length he spoke. "Ramorny, I have a scruple in this matter; but if Iname it to thee, the devil of sophistry, with which thou art possessed,will argue it out of me, as it has done many others. This girl is themost beautiful, one excepted, whom I ever saw or knew; and I like herthe more that she bears some features of--Elizabeth of Dunbar. But she,I mean Catharine Glover, is contracted, and presently to be wedded, toHenry the armourer, a craftsman unequalled for skill, and a man at armsyet unmatched in the barrace. To follow out this intrigue would do agood fellow too much wrong."

  "Your Highness will not expect me to be very solicitous of Henry Smith'sinterest," said Ramorny, looking at his wounded arm.

  "By St. Andrew with his shored cross, this disaster of thine is too muchharped upon, John Ramorny! Others are content with putting a fingerinto every man's pie, but thou must thrust in thy whole gory hand. It isdone, and cannot be undone; let it be forgotten."

  "Nay, my lord, you allude to it more frequently than I," answered theknight--"in derision, it is true; while I--but I can be silent on thesubject if I cannot forget it."

  "Well, then, I tell thee that I have scruple about this intrigue. Dostthou remember, when we went in a frolic to hear Father Clement preach,or rather to see this fair heretic, that he spoke as touchingly as aminstrel about the rich man taking away the poor man's only ewe lamb?"

  "A great matter, indeed," answered Sir John, "that this churl's wife'seldest son should be fathered by the Prince of Scotland! How many earlswould covet the like fate for their fair countesses? and how many thathave had such good luck sleep not a grain the worse for it?"

  "And if I might presume to speak," said the mediciner, "the ancientlaws of Scotland assigned such a privilege to every feudal lord over hisfemale vassals, though lack of spirit and love of money hath made manyexchange it for gold."

  "I require no argument to urge me to be kind to a pretty woman; but thisCatharine has been ever cold to me," said the Prince.

  "Nay, my lord," said Ramorny, "if, young, handsome, and a prince, youknow not how to make yourself acceptable to a fine woman, it is not forme to say more."

  "And if it were not far too great audacity in me to speak again, I wouldsay," quoth the leech, "that all Perth knows that the Gow Chrom neverwas the maiden's choice, but fairly forced upon her by her father. Iknow for certain that she refused him repeatedly."

  "Nay, if thou canst assure us of that, the case is much altered," saidRothsay. "Vulcan was a smith as well as Harry Wynd; he would needs wedVenus, and our chronicles tell us what came of it."

  "Then long may Lady Venus live and be worshipped," said Sir JohnRamorny, "and success to the gallant knight Mars who goes a-wooing toher goddess-ship!"

  The discourse took a gay and idle turn for a few minutes; but the Dukeof Rothsay soon dropped it. "I have left," he said, "yonder air of theprison house behind me, and yet my spirits scarce revive. I feel thatdrowsy, not unpleasing, yet melancholy mood that comes over us whenexhausted by exercise or satiated with pleasure. Some music now,stealing on the ear, yet not loud enough to make us lift the eye, were atreat for the gods."

  "Your Grace has but to speak your wishes, and the nymphs of the Tay areas favourable as the fair ones upon the shore. Hark! it is a lute."

  "A lute!" said the Duke of Rothsay, listening; "it is, and rarelytouched. I should remember that dying fall. Steer towards the boat fromwhence the music comes."

  "It is old Henshaw," said Ramorny, "working up the stream. How,skipper!"

  The boatman answered the hail, and drew up alongside of the Prince'sbarge.

  "Oh, ho! my old friend!" said the Prince, recognising the figure as wellas the appointments of the French glee woman, Louise. "I think I owethee something for being the means of thy having a fright, at least,upon St. Valentine's Day. Into this boat with thee, lute, puppy dog,scrip and all; I will prefer thee to a lady's service who shall feed thyvery cur on capons and canary."

  "I trust your Highness will consider--" said Ramorny.

  "I will consider nothing but my pleasure, John. Pray, do thou be socomplying as to consider it also."

  "Is it indeed to a lady's service you would promote me?" said the gleemaiden. "And where does she dwell?"

  "At Falkland," answered the Prince.

  "Oh, I have heard of that great lady!" said Louise; "and will you indeedprefer me to your right royal consort's service?"

  "I will, by my honour--whenever I receive her as such. Mark thatreservation, John," said he aside to Ramorny.

  The persons who were in the boat caught up the tidings, and, concludinga reconciliation was about to take place betwixt the royal couple,exhorted Louise to profit by her good fortune, and add herself to theDuchess of Rothsay's train. Several offered her some acknowledgment forthe exercise of her talents.

  During this moment of delay, Ramorny whispered to Dwining: "Make in,knave, with some objection. This addition is one too many. Rouse thywits, while I speak a word with Henshaw."

  "If I might presume to speak," said Dwining, "as one who have mademy studies both in Spain and Arabia, I would say, my lord, that thesickness has appeared in Edinburgh, and that there may be risk inadmitting this young wanderer into your Highness's vicinity."

  "Ah! and what is it to thee," said Rothsay, "whether I choose to bepoisoned by the pestilence or the 'pothecary? Must thou, too, needsthwart my humour?"

  While the Prince thus silenced the remonstrances of Dwining, Sir JohnRamorny had snatched a moment to learn from Henshaw that the removal ofthe Duchess of Rothsay from Falkland was still kept profoundly secret,and that Catharine Glover would arrive there that evening or thenext morning, in expectation of being taken under the noble lady'sprotection.

  The Duke of Rothsay, deeply plunged in thought, received this intimationso coldly, that Ramorny took the liberty of remonstrating. "This, mylord," he said, "is playing the spoiled child of fortune. You wish forliberty; it comes. You wish for beauty; it awaits you, with just so muchdelay as to render the boon more precious. Even your slightest desiresseem a law to the Fates; for you desire music when it seems mostdistant, and the lute and song are at your hand. These things, so sent,should be enjoyed, else we are but like petted children, who break andthrow from them the toys they have wept themselves sick for."

  "To enjoy pleasure, Ramorny," said the Prince, "a man should havesuffered pain, as it requires fasting to gain a good appetite. We, whocan have all for a wish, little enjoy that all when we have possessedit. Seest thou yonder thick cloud, which is about to burst to rain? Itseems to stifle me--the waters look dark and lurid--the shores have losttheir beautiful form--"

  "My lord, forgive your servant," said Ramorny. "You indulge a powerfulimagination, as an unskilful horseman permits a fiery steed to rearuntil he falls back on his master and crushes him. I pray you shake offthis lethargy. Shall the glee maiden make some music?"

  "Let her; but it must be melancholy: all mirth would at this moment jaron my ear."

  The maiden sung a melancholy dirge in Norman French; the word
s, of whichthe following is an imitation, were united to a tune as doleful as theyare themselves:

  Yes, thou mayst sigh, And look once more at all around, At stream and bank, and sky and ground. Thy life its final course has found, And thou must die.

  Yes, lay thee down, And while thy struggling pulses flutter, Bid the grey monk his soul mass mutter, And the deep bell its death tone utter-- Thy life is gone.

  Be not afraid. 'Tis but a pang, and then a thrill, A fever fit, and then a chill, And then an end of human ill, For thou art dead.

  The Prince made no observation on the music; and the maiden, atRamorny's beck, went on from time to time with her minstrel craft, untilthe evening sunk down into rain, first soft and gentle, at length ingreat quantities, and accompanied by a cold wind. There was neithercloak nor covering for the Prince, and he sullenly rejected that whichRamorny offered.

  "It is not for Rothsay to wear your cast garments, Sir John; this meltedsnow, which I feel pierce me to the very marrow, I am now encounteringby your fault. Why did you presume to put off the boat without myservants and apparel?"

  Ramorny did not attempt an exculpation; for he knew the Prince was inone of those humours, when to enlarge upon a grievance was more pleasingto him than to have his mouth stopped by any reasonable apology. Insullen silence, or amid unsuppressed chiding, the boat arrived at thefishing village of Newburgh. The party landed, and found horses inreadiness, which, indeed, Ramorny had long since provided for theoccasion. Their quality underwent the Prince's bitter sarcasm, expressedto Ramorny sometimes by direct words, oftener by bitter gibes. At lengththey were mounted and rode on through the closing night and the fallingrain, the Prince leading the way with reckless haste. The glee maiden,mounted by his express order, attended them and well for her that,accustomed to severe weather, and exercise both on foot and horseback,she supported as firmly as the men the fatigues of the nocturnal ride.Ramorny was compelled to keep at the Prince's rein, being under no smallanxiety lest, in his wayward fit, he might ride off from him entirely,and, taking refuge in the house of some loyal baron, escape the snarewhich was spread for him. He therefore suffered inexpressibly during theride, both in mind and in body.

  At length the forest of Falkland received them, and a glimpse of themoon showed the dark and huge tower, an appendage of royalty itself,though granted for a season to the Duke of Albany. On a signal given thedrawbridge fell. Torches glared in the courtyard, menials attended,and the Prince, assisted from horseback, was ushered into an apartment,where Ramorny waited on him, together with Dwining, and entreated himto take the leech's advice. The Duke of Rothsay repulsed the proposal,haughtily ordered his bed to be prepared, and having stood for some timeshivering in his dank garments beside a large blazing fire, he retiredto his apartment without taking leave of anyone.

  "You see the peevish humour of this childish boy, now," said Ramorny toDwining; "can you wonder that a servant who has done so much for him asI have should be tired of such a master?"

  "No, truly," said Dwining, "that and the promised earldom of Lindoreswould shake any man's fidelity. But shall we commence with him thisevening? He has, if eye and cheek speak true, the foundation of a feverwithin him, which will make our work easy while it will seem the effectof nature."

  "It is an opportunity lost," said Ramorny; "but we must delay our blowtill he has seen this beauty, Catharine Glover. She may be hereafter awitness that she saw him in good health, and master of his own motions,a brief space before--you understand me?"

  Dwining nodded assent, and added:

  "There is no time lost; for there is little difficulty in blighting aflower exhausted from having been made to bloom too soon."