The Abbot Page 12

  Chapter the Tenth.

  She dwelt unnoticed and alone, Beside the springs of Dove: A maid whom there was none to praise, And very few to love. WORDSWORTH.

  In the course of their journey the travellers spoke little to eachother. Magdalen Graeme chanted, from time to time, in a low voice, apart of some one of those beautiful old Latin hymns which belong to theCatholic service, muttered an Ave or a Credo, and so passed on, lost indevotional contemplation. The meditations of her grandson were morebent on mundane matters; and many a time, as a moor-fowl arose from theheath, and shot along the moor, uttering his bold crow of defiance, hethought of the jolly Adam Woodcock, and his trusty goss-hawk; or, asthey passed a thicket where the low trees and bushes were intermingledwith tall fern, furze, and broom, so as to form a thick and intricatecover, his dreams were of a roebuck and a brace of gaze-hounds. Butfrequently his mind returned to the benevolent and kind mistress whom hehad left behind him, offended justly, and unreconciled by any effort ofhis.

  "My step would be lighter," he thought, "and so would my heart, couldI but have returned to see her for one instant, and to say, Lady, theorphan boy was wild, but not ungrateful!"

  Travelling in these divers moods, about the hour of noon they reacheda small straggling village, in which, as usual, were seen one or twoof those predominating towers, or peel houses, which, for reasons ofdefence elsewhere detailed, were at that time to be found in everyBorder hamlet. A brook flowed beside the village, and watered the valleyin which it stood. There was also a mansion at the end of the village,and a little way separated from it, much dilapidated, and in verybad order, but appearing to have been the abode of persons of someconsideration. The situation was agreeable, being an angle formed by thestream, bearing three or four large sycamore trees, which were in fullleaf, and served to relieve the dark appearance of the mansion, whichwas built of a deep red stone. The house itself was a large one, but wasnow obviously too big for the inmates; several windows were builtup, especially those which opened from the lower story; others wereblockaded in a less substantial manner. The court before the door, whichhad once been defended with a species of low outer-wall, now ruinous,was paved, but the stones were completely covered with long graynettles, thistles, and other weeds, which, shooting up betwixt theflags, had displaced many of them from their level. Even mattersdemanding more peremptory attention had been left neglected, in a mannerwhich argued sloth or poverty in the extreme. The stream, undermining apart of the bank near an angle of the ruinous wall, had brought it down,with a corner turret, the ruins of which lay in the bed of the river.The current, interrupted by the ruins which it had overthrown, andturned yet nearer to the site of the tower, had greatly enlarged thebreach it had made, and was in the process of undermining the groundon which the house itself stood, unless it were speedily protected bysufficient bulwarks.

  All this attracted Roland Graeme's observation, as they approached thedwelling by a winding path, which gave them, at intervals, a view of itfrom different points.

  "If we go to yonder house," he said to his mother, "I trust it is butfor a short visit. It looks as if two rainy days from the north-westwould send the whole into the brook."

  "You see but with the eyes of the body," said the old woman; "God willdefend his own, though it be forsaken and despised of men. Better todwell on the sand, under his law, than fly to the rock of human trust."

  As she thus spoke, they entered the court before the old mansion, andRoland could observe that the front of it had formerly been considerablyornamented with carved work, in the same dark-coloured freestone ofwhich it was built. But all these ornaments had been broken down anddestroyed, and only the shattered vestiges of niches and entablaturesnow strewed the place which they had once occupied. The largerentrance in front was walled up, but a little footpath, which, from itsappearance, seemed to be rarely trodden, led to a small wicket, defendedby a door well clenched with iron-headed nails, at which Magdalen Graemeknocked three times, pausing betwixt each knock, until she heard ananswering tap from within. At the last knock, the wicket was opened by apale thin female, who said, "_Benedicti qui venient in nomine Domini_."They entered, and the portress hastily shut behind them the wicket, andmade fast the massive fastenings by which it was secured.

  The female led the way through a narrow entrance, into a vestibule ofsome extent, paved with stone, and having benches of the same solidmaterial ranged around. At the upper end was an oriel window, but someof the intervals formed by the stone shafts and mullions were blockedup, so that the apartment was very gloomy.

  Here they stopped, and the mistress of the mansion, for such she was,embraced Magdalen Graeme, and greeting her by the title of sister,kissed her with much solemnity, on either side of the face.

  "The blessing of Our Lady be upon you, my sister," were her next words;and they left no doubt upon Roland's mind respecting the religion oftheir hostess, even if he could have suspected his venerable andzealous guide of resting elsewhere than in the habitation of an orthodoxCatholic. They spoke together a few words in private, during whichhe had leisure to remark more particularly the appearance of hisgrandmother's friend.

  Her age might be betwixt fifty and sixty; her looks had a mixture ofmelancholy and unhappiness that bordered on discontent, and obscured theremains of beauty which age had still left on her features. Her dresswas of the plainest and most ordinary description, of a dark colour,and, like Magdalen Graeme's, something approaching to a religious habit.Strict neatness and cleanliness of person, seemed to intimate, that ifpoor, she was not reduced to squalid or heart-broken distress, and thatshe was still sufficiently attached to life to retain a taste for itsdecencies, if not its elegancies. Her manner, as well as her featuresand appearance, argued an original condition and education far above themeanness of her present appearance. In short, the whole figure wassuch as to excite the idea, "That female must have had a history worthknowing." While Roland Graeme was making this very reflection, thewhispers of the two females ceased, and the mistress of the mansion,approaching him, looked on his face and person with much attention, and,as it seemed, some interest.

  "This, then," she said, addressing his relative, "is the child of thineunhappy daughter, sister Magdalen; and him, the only shoot from yourancient tree, you are willing to devote to the Good Cause?"

  "Yes, by the rood," answered Magdalen Graeme, in her usual tone ofresolved determination, "to the good cause I devote him, flesh and fell,sinew and limb, body and soul."

  "Thou art a happy woman, sister Magdalen," answered her companion,"that, lifted so high above human affection and human feeling, thoucanst bind such a victim to the horns of the altar. Had I been calledto make such a sacrifice--to plunge a youth so young and fair into theplots and bloodthirsty dealings of the time, not the patriarch Abraham,when he led Isaac up the mountain, would have rendered more melancholyobedience."

  She then continued to look at Roland with a mournful aspect ofcompassion, until the intentness of her gaze occasioned his colour torise, and he was about to move out of its influence, when he was stoppedby his grand-mother with one hand, while with the other she divided thehair upon his forehead, which was now crimson with bashfulness, whileshe added, with a mixture of proud affection and firm resolution,--"Ay,look at him well, my sister, for on a fairer face thine eye neverrested. I too, when I first saw him, after a long separation, felt asthe worldly feel, and was half shaken in my purpose. But no wind cantear a leaf from the withered tree which has long been stripped of itsfoliage, and no mere human casualty can awaken the mortal feelings whichhave long slept in the calm of devotion."

  While the old woman thus spoke, her manner gave the lie to herassertions, for the tears rose to her eyes while she added, "But thefairer and the more spotless the victim, is it not, my sister, the moreworthy of acceptance?"

  She seemed glad to escape from the sensations which agitated her, andinstantly added, "He will escape, my sister--there will be a ram caughtin the thicket, and t
he hand of our revolted brethren shall not be onthe youthfull Joseph. Heaven can defend its own rights, even by means ofbabes and sucklings, of women and beardless boys."

  "Heaven hath left us," said the other female; "for our sins and ourfathers' the succours of the blessed Saints have abandoned this accursedland. We may win the crown of Martyrdom, but not that of earthlytriumph. One, too, whose prudence was at this deep crisis soindispensable, has been called to a better world. The Abbot Eustatius isno more."

  "May his soul have mercy!" said Magdalen Graeme, "and may Heaven, too,have mercy upon us, who linger behind in this bloody land! His lossis indeed a perilous blow to our enterprise; for who remains behindpossessing his far-fetched experience, his self-devoted zeal, hisconsummate wisdom, and his undaunted courage! He hath fallen with thechurch's standard in his hand, but God will raise up another to lift theblessed banner. Whom have the Chapter elected in his room?"

  "It is rumoured no one of the few remaining brethren dare acceptthe office. The heretics have sworn that they will permit no futureelection, and will heavily punish any attempt to create a new Abbot ofSaint Mary's. _Conjuraverunt inter se principes, dicentes, Projiciamuslaqueos ejus_."

  "_Quousque, Domine!_"--ejaculated Magdalen; "this, my sister, wereindeed a perilous and fatal breach in our band; but I am firm in mybelief, that another will arise in the place of him so untimely removed.Where is thy daughter Catharine?"

  "In the parlour," answered the matron, "but"--She looked at RolandGraeme, and muttered something in the ear of her friend.

  "Fear it not," answered Magdalen Graeme, "it is both lawful andnecessary--fear nothing from him--I would he were as well grounded inthe faith by which alone comes safety, as he is free from thought,deed, or speech of villany. Therein is the heretics' discipline to becommended, my sister, that they train up their youth in strong morality,and choke up every inlet to youthful folly."

  "It is but a cleansing the outside of the cup," answered her friend,"a whitening of the sepulchre; but he shall see Catharine, since you,sister, judge it safe and meet.--Follow us, youth," she added, and ledthe way from the apartment--with her friend. These were the only wordswhich the matron had addressed to Roland Graeme, who obeyed them insilence. As they paced through several winding passages and wasteapartments with a very slow step, the young page had leisure to makesome reflections on his situation,--reflections of a nature which hisardent temper considered as specially disagreeable. It seemed he had nowgot two mistresses, or tutoresses, instead of one, both elderly women,and both, it would seem, in league to direct his motions according totheir own pleasure, and for the accomplishment of plans to which he wasno party. This, he thought, was too much; arguing reasonably enough,that whatever right his grandmother and benefactress had to guide hismotions, she was neither entitled to transfer her authority or divide itwith another, who seemed to assume, without ceremony, the same tone ofabsolute command over him.

  "But it shall not long continue thus," thought Roland; "I will not beall my life the slave of a woman's whistle, to go when she bids, andcome when she calls. No, by Saint Andrew! the hand that can hold thelance is above the control of the distaff. I will leave them the slipp'dcollar in their hands on the first opportunity, and let them executetheir own devices by their own proper force. It may save them both fromperil, for I guess what they meditate is not likely to prove either safeor easy--the Earl of Murray and his heresy are too well rooted to begrubbed up by two old women."

  As he thus resolved, they entered a low room, in which a third femalewas seated. This apartment was the first he had observed in the mansionwhich was furnished with moveable seats, and with a wooden table, overwhich was laid a piece of tapestry. A carpet was spread on the floor,there was a grate in the chimney, and, in brief, the apartment had theair of being habitable and inhabited.

  But Roland's eyes found better employment than to make observations onthe accommodations of the chamber; for this second female inhabitant ofthe mansion seemed something very different from any thing he had yetseen there. At his first entry, she had greeted with a silent and lowobeisance the two aged matrons, then glancing her eyes towards Roland,she adjusted a veil which hung back over her shoulders, so as to bringit over her face; an operation which she performed with much modesty,but without either affected haste or embarrassed timidity.

  During this manoeuvre Roland had time to observe, that the face was thatof a girl apparently not much past sixteen, and that the eyes were atonce soft and brilliant. To these very favourable observations was addedthe certainty that the fair object to whom they referred possessed anexcellent shape, bordering perhaps on _enbonpoint_, and therefore ratherthat of a Hebe than of a Sylph, but beautifully formed, and shown togreat advantage by the close jacket and petticoat which she wore after aforeign fashion, the last not quite long enough to conceal a very prettyfoot, which rested on a bar of the table at which she sate; her roundarms and taper fingers very busily employed in repairing--the pieceof tapestry which was spread on it, which exhibited several deplorablefissures, enough to demand the utmost skill of the most expertseamstress.

  It is to be remarked, that it was by stolen glances that Roland Graemecontrived to ascertain these interesting particulars; and he thought hecould once or twice, notwithstanding the texture of the veil, detect thedamsel in the act of taking similar cognizance of his own person. Thematrons in the meanwhile continued their separate conversation, eyeingfrom time to time the young people, in a manner which left Roland inno doubt that they were the subject of their conversation. At length hedistinctly heard Magdalen Graeme say these words--"Nay, my sister, wemust give them opportunity to speak together, and to become acquainted;they must be personally known to each other, or how shall they be ableto execute what they are intrusted with?"

  It seemed as if the matron, not fully satisfied with her friend'sreasoning, continued to offer some objections; but they were borne downby her more dictatorial friend.

  "It must be so," she said, "my dear sister; let us therefore go forthon the balcony, to finish our conversation.--And do you," she said,addressing Roland and the girl, "become acquainted with each other."

  With this she stepped up to the young woman, and raising her veil,discovered features which, whatever might be their ordinary complexion,were now covered with a universal blush.

  "_Licitum sit,_" said Magdalen, looking at the other matron.

  "_Vix licitum,_" replied the other, with reluctant and hesitatingacquiescence; and again adjusting the veil of the blushing girl, shedropped it so as to shade, though not to conceal her countenance, andwhispered to her, in a tone loud enough for the page to hear, "Remember,Catharine, who thou art, and for what destined."

  The matron then retreated with Magdalen Graeme through one of thecasements of the apartment, that opened on a large broad balcony, which,with its ponderous balustrade, had once run along the whole southfront of the building which faced the brook, and formed a pleasant andcommodious walk in the open air. It was now in some places deprived ofthe balustrade, in others broken and narrowed; but, ruinous as it was,could still be used as a pleasant promenade. Here then walked the twoancient dames, busied in their private conversation; yet not so much so,but that Roland could observe the matrons, as their thin forms darkenedthe casement in passing or repassing before it, dart a glance into theapartment, to see how matters were going on there.