Waverley; Or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since Read online

  CHAPTER XIV

  A DISCOVERY--WAVERLEY BECOMES DOMESTICATED AT TULLY-VEOLAN

  The next day Edward arose betimes, and in a morning walk around thehouse and its vicinity, came suddenly upon a small court in front of thedog-kennel, where his friend Davie was employed about his four-footedcharge. One quick glance of his eye recognized Waverley, when, instantlyturning his back, as if he had not observed him, he began to sing partof an old ballad:--

  Young men will love thee more fair and more fast; HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? Old men's love the longest will last, AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING.

  The young man's wrath is like light straw on fire; HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? But like red-hot steel is the old man's ire, AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING.

  The young man will brawl at the evening board; HEARD YE SO MERRY THE LITTLE BIRD SING? But the old man will draw at the dawning the sword, AND THE THROSTLE-COCK'S HEAD IS UNDER HIS WING.

  Waverley could not avoid observing that Davie laid something likea satirical emphasis on these lines. He therefore approached, andendeavoured, by sundry queries, to elicit from him what the innuendomight mean; but Davie had no mind to explain, and had wit enough tomake his folly cloak his knavery. Edward could collect nothing fromhim, excepting that the Laird of Balmawhapple had gone home yesterdaymorning, 'wi' his boots fu' o' bluid.' In the garden, however, he metthe old butler, who no longer attempted to conceal, that, having beenbred in the nursery line with Sumack & Co., of Newcastle, he sometimeswrought a turn in the flower-borders to oblige the Laird and Miss Rose.By a series of queries, Edward at length discovered, with a painfulfeeling of surprise and shame, that Balmawhapple's submission andapology had been the consequence of a rencontre with the Baron beforehis guest had quitted his pillow, in which the younger combatant hadbeen disarmed and wounded in the sword-arm.

  Greatly mortified at this information, Edward sought out his friendlyhost, and anxiously expostulated with him upon the injustice he had donehim in anticipating his meeting with Mr. Falconer, a circumstance which,considering his youth and the profession of arms which he had justadopted, was capable of being represented much to his prejudice. TheBaron justified himself at greater length than I choose to repeat. Heurged that the quarrel was common to them, and that Balmawhapple couldnot, by the code of honour, EVITE giving satisfaction to both, which hehad done in his case by an honourable meeting, and in that of Edward bysuch a PALINODE as rendered the use of the sword unnecessary, and which,being made and accepted, must necessarily SOPITE the whole affair.

  With this excuse or explanation, Waverley was silenced, if notsatisfied; but he could not help testifying some displeasure againstthe Blessed Bear, which had given rise to the quarrel, nor refrain fromhinting, that the sanctified epithet was hardly appropriate. The Baronobserved, he could not deny that 'the Bear, though allowed by heraldsas a most honourable ordinary, had, nevertheless, somewhat fierce,churlish, and morose in his disposition (as might be read in ArchibaldSimson, pastor of Dalkeith's HIEROGLYPHICA ANIMALIUM), and had thusbeen the type of many quarrels and dissensions which had occurred in thehouse of Bradwardine; of which,' he continued, 'I might commemorate mineown unfortunate dissension with my third cousin by the mother's side,Sir Hew Halbert, who was so unthinking as to deride my family name, asif it had been QUASI BEARWARDEN; a most uncivil jest, since it not onlyinsinuated that the founder of our house occupied such a mean situationas to be a custodier of wild beasts, a charge which, ye must haveobserved, is only entrusted to the very basest plebeians; but, moreover,seemed to infer that our coat-armour had not been achieved by honourableactions in war, but bestowed by way of PARONOMASIA, or pun upon ourfamily appellation,--a sort of bearing which the French call ARMOIRESPARLANTES; the Latins ARMA CANTANTIA; and your English authorities,canting heraldry; being indeed a species of emblazoning more befittingcanters, gaberlunzies, and such-like mendicants, whose gibberish isformed upon playing upon the word, than the noble, honourable, anduseful science of heraldry, which assigns armorial bearings as thereward of noble and generous actions, and not to tickle the ear withvain quodlibets, such as are found in jest-books.' [9] Of hisquarrel with Sir Hew, he said nothing more, than that it was settled ina fitting manner.

  Having been so minute with respect to the diversions of Tully-Veolan, onthe first days of Edward's arrival, for the purpose of introducing itsinmates to the reader's acquaintance, it becomes less necessary to tracethe progress of his intercourse with the same accuracy. It is probablethat a young man, accustomed to more cheerful society, would have tiredof the conversation of so violent an asserter of the 'boast of heraldry'as the Baron; but Edward found an agreeable variety in that of MissBradwardine, who listened with eagerness to his remarks upon literature,and showed great justness of taste in her answers. The sweetness of herdisposition had made her submit with complacency, and even pleasure,to the course of reading prescribed by her father, although it not onlycomprehended several heavy folios of history, but certain gigantic tomesin High Church polemics. In heraldry he was fortunately contented togive her only such a slight tincture as might be acquired by perusal ofthe two folio volumes of Nisbet. Rose was indeed the very apple of herfather's eye. Her constant liveliness, her attention to all those littleobservances most gratifying to those who would never think of exactingthem, her beauty, in which he recalled the features of his beloved wife,her unfeigned piety, and the noble generosity of her disposition, wouldhave justified the affection of the most doting father.

  His anxiety on her behalf did not, however, seem to extend itselfin that quarter, where, according to the general opinion, it is mostefficiently displayed; in labouring, namely, to establish her in life,either by a large dowry or a wealthy marriage. By an old settlement,almost all the landed estates of the Baron went, after his death, to adistant relation; and it was supposed that Miss Bradwardine would remainbut slenderly provided for, as the good gentleman's cash matters hadbeen too long under the exclusive charge of Bailie Macwheeble, to admitof any great expectations from his personal succession. It is true, thesaid Bailie loved his patron and his patron's daughter next (although atan incomparable distance) to himself. He thought it was possible toset aside the settlement on the male line, and had actually procuredan opinion to that effect (and, as he boasted, without a fee) from aneminent Scottish counsel, under whose notice he contrived to bring thepoint while consulting him regularly on some other business. Butthe Baron would not listen to such a proposal for an instant. On thecontrary, he used to have a perverse pleasure in boasting that thebarony of Bradwardine was a male fief, the first charter having beengiven at that early period when women were not deemed capable to hold afeudal grant; because, according to Les COUSTUSMES DE NORMANDIE, C'ESTL'HOMME KI SE BAST ET KI CONSEILLE; or, as is yet more ungallantlyexpressed by other authorities, all of whose barbarous names hedelighted to quote at full length, because a woman could not serve thesuperior, or feudal lord, in war, on account of the decorum of her sex,nor assist him with advice, because of her limited intellect, norkeep his counsel, owing to the infirmity of her disposition. He wouldtriumphantly ask, how it would become a female, and that female aBradwardine, to be seen employed in, SERVITIO EXUENDI, SEU DETRAHENDI,CALIGAS REGIS POST BATTALIAM? that is, in pulling off the king's bootsafter an engagement, which was the feudal service by which he held thebarony of Bradwardine. 'No,' he said, 'beyond hesitation, PROCUL DUBIO,many females, as worthy as Rose, had been excluded, in order to makeway for my own succession, and Heaven forbid that I should do aught thatmight contravene the destination of my forefathers, or impinge upon theright of my kinsman, Malcolm Bradwardine of Inchgrabbit, an honourablethough decayed branch of my own family.'

  The Bailie, as prime minister, having received this decisivecommunication from his sovereign, durst not press his own opinionany further, but contented himself with deploring, on all suitableoccasions, to Saunderson, the minister of the interior, the Laird'ss
elf-willedness, and with laying plans for uniting Rose with the younglaird of Balmawhapple, who had a fine estate, only moderately burdened,and was a faultless young gentleman, being as sober as a saint--if youkeep brandy from him, and him from brandy--and who, in brief, hadno imperfection but that of keeping light company at a time; such asJinker, the horse-couper, and Gibby Gaethroughwi't, the piper o' Cupar;o' whilk follies, Mr. Saunderson, he'll mend, he'll mend,'--pronouncedthe Bailie.

  'Like sour ale in simmer,' added Davie Gellatley, who happened to benearer the conclave than they were aware of.

  Miss Bradwardine, such as we have described her, with all the simplicityand curiosity of a recluse, attached herself to the opportunities ofincreasing her store of literature which Edward's visit afforded her.He sent for some of his books from his quarters, and they opened toher sources of delight of which she had hitherto had no idea. The bestEnglish poets, of every description, and other works on belles lettres,made a part of this precious cargo. Her music, even her flowers, wereneglected, and Saunders not only mourned over, but began to mutinyagainst the labour for which he now scarce received thanks. Thesenew pleasures became gradually enhanced by sharing them with one ofa kindred taste. Edward's readiness to comment, to recite, to explaindifficult passages, rendered his assistance invaluable; and the wildromance of his spirit delighted a character too young and inexperiencedto observe its deficiencies. Upon subjects which interested him, andwhen quite at ease, he possessed that flow of natural, and somewhatflorid eloquence, which has been supposed as powerful even as figure,fashion, fame, or fortune, in winning the female heart. There was,therefore, an increasing danger in this constant intercourse, to poorRose's peace of mind, which was the more imminent, as her father wasgreatly too much abstracted in his studies, and wrapped up in his owndignity, to dream of his daughter's incurring it. The daughters of thehouse of Bradwardine were, in his opinion, like those of the house ofBourbon or Austria, placed high above the clouds of passion whichmight obfuscate the intellects of meaner females; they moved in anothersphere, were governed by other feelings, and amenable to other rules,than those of idle and fantastic affection. In short, he shut his eyesso resolutely to the natural consequences of Edward's intimacy with MissBradwardine, that the whole neighbourhood concluded that he had openedthem to the advantages of a match between his daughter and the wealthyyoung Englishman, and pronounced him much less a fool than he hadgenerally shown himself in cases where his own interest was concerned.

  If the Baron, however, had really meditated such an alliance, theindifference of Waverley would have been an insuperable bar to hisproject. Our hero, since mixing more freely with the world, had learnedto think with great shame and confusion upon his mental legend of SaintCecilia, and the vexation of these reflections was likely, for sometime at least, to counterbalance the natural susceptibility of hisdisposition. Besides, Rose Bradwardine, beautiful and amiable as wehave described her, had not precisely the sort of beauty or merit whichcaptivates a romantic imagination in early youth. She was too frank, tooconfiding, too kind; amiable qualities, undoubtedly, but destructive ofthe marvellous, with which a youth of imagination delights to addressthe empress of his affections. Was it possible to bow, to tremble,and to adore, before the timid, yet playful little girl, who now askedEdward to mend her pen, now to construe a stanza in Tasso, and nowhow to spell a very--very long word in her version of it? All theseincidents have their fascination on the mind at a certain period oflife, but not when a youth is entering it, and rather looking outfor some object whose affection may dignify him in his own eyes, thanstooping to one who looks up to him for such distinction. Hence,though there can be no rule in so capricious a passion, early love isfrequently ambitious in choosing its object; or, which comes to thesame, selects her (as in the case of Saint Cecilia aforesaid) from asituation that gives fair scope for LE BEAU IDEAL, which the reality ofintimate and familiar life rather tends to limit and impair. I knew avery accomplished and sensible young man cured of a violent passion fora pretty woman, whose talents were not equal to her face and figure, bybeing permitted to bear her company for a whole afternoon. Thus it iscertain, that had Edward enjoyed such an opportunity of conversing withMiss Stubbs, Aunt Rachel's precaution would have been unnecessary, forhe would as soon have fallen in love with the dairymaid. And althoughMiss Bradwardine was a very different character, it seems probable thatthe very intimacy of their intercourse prevented his feeling for herother sentiments than those of a brother for an amiable and accomplishedsister; while the sentiments of poor Rose were gradually, and withouther being conscious, assuming a shade of warmer affection.

  I ought to have said that Edward, when he sent to Dundee for the booksbefore mentioned, had applied for, and received permission, extendinghis leave of absence. But the letter of his commanding-officer containeda friendly recommendation to him, not to spend his time exclusively withpersons, who, estimable as they might be in a general sense, couldnot be supposed well affected to a government which they declinedto acknowledge by taking the oath of allegiance. The letter furtherinsinuated, though with great delicacy, that although some familyconnexions might be supposed to render it necessary for Captain Waverleyto communicate with gentlemen who were in this unpleasant state ofsuspicion, yet his father's situation and wishes ought to preventhis prolonging those attentions into exclusive intimacy. And it wasintimated, that; while his political principles were endangered bycommunicating with laymen of this description, he might also receiveerroneous impressions in religion from the prelatic clergy, who soperversely laboured to set up the royal prerogative in things sacred.

  This last insinuation probably induced Waverley to set both down tothe prejudices of his commanding-officer. He was sensible that Mr.Bradwardine had acted with the most scrupulous delicacy, in neverentering upon any discussion that had the most remote tendency to biashis mind in political opinions, although he was himself not only adecided partisan of the exiled family, but had been trusted at differenttimes with important commissions for their service. Sensible, therefore,that there was no risk of his being perverted from his allegiance,Edward felt as if he should do his uncle's old friend injustice inremoving from a house where he gave and received pleasure and amusement,merely to gratify a prejudiced and ill-judged suspicion, He thereforewrote a very general answer, assuring his commanding-officer thathis loyalty was not in the most distant danger of contamination, andcontinued an honoured guest and inmate of the house of Tully-Veolan.