The Monastery Read online

  Chapter the Fifteenth.

  He strikes no coin,'tis true, but coins new phrases, And vends them forth as knaves vend gilded counters, Which wise men scorn, and fools accept in payment. OLD PLAY.

  In the morning Christie of the Clinthill was nowhere to be seen. As thisworthy personage did seldom pique himself on sounding a trumpet beforehis movements, no one was surprised at his moonlight departure, thoughsome alarm was excited lest he had not made it empty-handed. So, in thelanguage of the national ballad,

  Some ran to cupboard, and some to kist, But nought was away that could be mist.

  All was in order, the key of the stable left above the door, and that ofthe iron-grate in the inside of the lock. In short, the retreat had beenmade with scrupulous attention to the security of the garrison, and sofar Christie left them nothing to complain of.

  The safety of the premises was ascertained by Halbert, who instead ofcatching up a gun or cross-bow, and sallying out for the day as had beenhis frequent custom, now, with a gravity beyond his years, took a surveyof all around the tower, and then returned to the spence, or publicapartment, in which, at the early hour of seven, the morning meal wasprepared.

  There he found the Euphuist in the same elegant posture of abstrusecalculation which he had exhibited on the preceding evening, his armsfolded in the same angle, his eyes turned up to the same cobwebs, andhis heels resting on the ground as before. Tired of this affectation ofindolent importance, and not much flattered with his guest's perseveringin it to the last, Halbert resolved at once to break the ice, beingdetermined to know what circumstance had brought to the tower ofGlendinning a guest at once so supercilious and so silent.

  "Sir Knight," he said with some firmness, "I have twice given you goodmorning, to which the absence of your mind hath, I presume, preventedyou from yielding attention, or from making return. This exchange ofcourtesy is at your pleasure to give or withhold--But, as what I havefurther to say concerns your comfort and your motions in an especialmanner, I will entreat you to give me some signs of attention, that Imay be sure I am not wasting my words on a monumental image."

  At this unexpected address, Sir Piercie Shafton opened his eyes, andafforded the speaker a broad stare; but as Halbert returned the glancewithout either confusion or dismay, the knight thought proper tochange his posture, draw in his legs, raise his eyes, fix them on youngGlendinning, and assume the appearance of one who listens to what issaid to him. Nay, to make his purpose more evident, he gave voice to hisresolution in these words, "Speak! we do hear."

  "Sir Knight," said the youth, "it is the custom of this Halidome, orpatrimony of St. Mary's, to trouble with inquiries no guests who receiveour hospitality, providing they tarry in our house only for a singlerevolution of the sun. We know that both criminals and debtors comehither for sanctuary, and we scorn to extort from the pilgrim, whomchance may make our guest, an avowal of the cause of his pilgrimage andpenance. But when one so high above our rank as yourself, Sir Knight,and especially one to whom the possession of such pre-eminence is notindifferent, shows his determination to be our guest for a longer time,it is our usage to inquire of him whence he comes, and what is the causeof his journey?"

  The English knight gaped twice or thrice before he answered, and thenreplied in a bantering tone, "Truly, good villagio, your question hathin it somewhat of embarrassment, for you ask me of things concerningwhich I am not as yet altogether determined what answer I may find itconvenient to make. Let it suffice thee, kind juvenal, that thou hastthe Lord Abbot's authority for treating me to the best of that powerof thine, which, indeed, may not always so well suffice for myaccommodation as either of us would desire."

  "I must have a more precise answer than this, Sir Knight," said theyoung Glendinning.

  "Friend," said the knight, "be not outrageous. It may suit your northernmanners thus to press harshly upon the secrets of thy betters; butbelieve me, that even as the lute, struck by an unskilful hand, dothproduce discords, so----" At this moment the door of the apartmentopened, and Mary Avenel presented herself--"But who can talk ofdiscords," said the knight, assuming his complimentary vein and humour,"when the soul of harmony descends upon us in the presence of surpassingbeauty! For even as foxes, wolves, and other animals void of sense andreason, do fly from the presence of the resplendent sun of heaven whenhe arises in his glory, so do strife, wrath, and all ireful passionsretreat, and, as it were, scud away, from the face which now beams uponus, with power to compose our angry passions, illuminate our errors anddifficulties, soothe our wounded minds, and lull to rest our disorderlyapprehensions; for as the heat and warmth of the eye of day is to thematerial and physical world, so is the eye which I now bow down beforeto that of the intellectual microcosm."

  He concluded with a profound bow; and Mary Avenel, gazing from one tothe other, and plainly seeing that something was amiss, could only say,"For heaven's sake, what is the meaning of this?"

  The newly-acquired tact and intelligence of her foster-brother was asyet insufficient to enable him to give an answer. He was quite uncertainhow he ought to deal with a guest, who preserving a singularly high toneof assumed superiority and importance, seemed nevertheless so littleserious in what he said, that it was quite impossible to discern withaccuracy whether he was in jest or earnest.

  Forming, however, the internal resolution to bring Sir Piercie Shaftonto a reckoning at a more fit place and season, he resolved to prosecutethe matter no farther at present; and the entrance of his mother withthe damsel of the Mill, and the return of the honest Miller from thestack-yard, where he had been numbering and calculating the probableamount of the season's grist, rendered farther discussion impossible forthe moment.

  In the course of the calculation it could not but strike the man of mealand grindstones, that after the church's dues were paid, and after allwhich he himself could by any means deduct from the crop, still theresidue which must revert to Dame Glendinning could not be less thanconsiderable. I wot not if this led the honest Miller to nourish anyplans similar to those adopted by Elspeth; but it is certain that heaccepted with grateful alacrity an invitation which the dame gave to hisdaughter, to remain a week or two as her guest at Glendearg.

  The principal persons being thus in high good humour with each other,all business gave place to the hilarity of the morning repast; and somuch did Sir Piercie appear gratified by the attention which was paid toevery word that he uttered by the nut-brown Mysie, that, notwithstandinghis high birth and distinguished quality, he bestowed on her some of themore ordinary and second-rate tropes of his elocution.

  Mary Avenel, when relieved from the awkwardness of feeling the fullweight of his conversation addressed to herself, enjoyed it muchmore; and the good knight, encouraged by those conciliating marks ofapprobation from the sex, for whose sake he cultivated his oratoricaltalents, made speedy intimation of his purpose to be more communicativethan he had shown himself in his conversation with Halbert Glendinning,and gave them to understand, that it was in consequence of some pressingdanger that he was at present their involuntary guest.

  The conclusion of the breakfast was a signal for the separation of thecompany. The Miller went to prepare for his departure; his daughterto arrange matters for her unexpected stay; Edward was summoned toconsultation by Martin concerning some agricultural matter, in whichHalbert could not be brought to interest himself; the dame left the roomupon her household concerns, and Mary was in the act of following her,when she suddenly recollected, that if she did so, the strange knightand Halbert must be left alone together, at the risk of another quarrel.

  The maiden no sooner observed this circumstance, than she instantlyreturned from the door of the apartment, and, seating herself in a smallstone window-seat, resolved to maintain that curb which she was sensibleher presence imposed on Halbert Glendinning, of whose quick temper shehad some apprehensions.

  The stranger marked her motions, and, either interpreting them asinviting his society, or obedient to tho
se laws of gallantry whichpermitted him not to leave a lady in silence and solitude, he instantlyplaced himself near to her side and opened the conversation asfollows:--

  "Credit me, fair lady" he said, addressing Mary Avenel, "it muchrejoiceth me, being, as I am, a banished man from the delights of mineown country, that I shall find here in this obscure and silvan cottageof the north, a fair form and a candid soul, with whom I may explain mymutual sentiments. And let me pray you in particular, lovely lady, that,according to the universal custom now predominant in our court, thegarden of superior wits, you will exchange with me some epithet wherebyyou may mark my devotion to your service. Be henceforward named, forexample, my Protection, and let me be your Affability."

  "Our northern and country manners, Sir Knight, do not permit us toexchange epithets with those to whom we are strangers," replied MaryAvenel.

  "Nay, but see now," said the knight, "how you are startled! even as theunbroken steed, which swerves aside from the shaking of a handkerchief,though he must in time encounter the waving of a pennon. This courtlyexchange of epithets of honour, is no more than the compliments whichpass between valour and beauty, wherever they meet, and under whatevercircumstances. Elizabeth of England herself calls Philip Sydneyher Courage, and he in return calls that princess his Inspiration.Wherefore, my fair Protection, for by such epithet it shall be mine todenominate you--"

  "Not without the young lady's consent, sir!" interrupted Halbert; "mosttruly do I hope your courtly and quaint breeding will not so far prevailover the more ordinary rules of civil behaviour."

  "Fair tenant of an indifferent copyhold," replied the knight, with thesame coolness and civility of mien, but in a tone somewhat more loftythan he used to the young lady, "we do not in the southern parts, muchintermingle discourse, save with those with whom we may stand on somefooting of equality; and I must, in all discretion, remind you, that thenecessity which makes us inhabitants of the same cabin, doth not placeus otherwise on a level with each other."

  "By Saint Mary," replied young Glendinning, "it is my thought that itdoes; for plain men hold, that he who asks the shelter is indebted tohim who gives it; and so far, therefore, is our rank equalized whilethis roof covers us both."

  "Thou art altogether deceived," answered Sir Piercie; "and that thoumayst fully adapt thyself to our relative condition, know that I accountnot myself thy guest, but that of thy master, the Lord Abbot of SaintMary's, who, for reasons best known to himself and me, chooseth toadminister his hospitality to me through the means of thee, his servantand vassal, who art, therefore, in good truth, as passive an instrumentof my accommodation as this ill-made and rugged joint-stool on whichI sit, or as the wooden trencher from which I eat my coarse commons.Wherefore," he added, turning to Mary, "fairest mistress, or rather,as I said before, most lovely Protection--" [Footnote: There are manyinstances to be met with in the ancient dramas of this whimsical andconceited custom of persons who formed an intimacy, distinguishing:each, other by some quaint epithet. In _Every Man out of his Humour_,there is a humorous debate upon names most fit to bind the relationbetwixt Sogliardo and Cavaliero Shift, which ends by adopting those ofCountenance and Resolution. What is more to the point is in the speechof Hedon, a voluptuary and a courtier in _Cynthia's Revels_. "youknow that I call Madam Plilantia my _Honour,_ and she calls me her_Ambition._ Now, when I meet her in the presence, anon, I will come toher and say, 'Sweet Honour, I have hitherto contented my sense with thelilies of your hand, and now I will taste the roses of your lip.' Towhich she cannot but blushing answer, 'Nay, now you are too ambitious;'and then do I reply, 'I cannot be too ambitious of Honour, sweet lady.Wilt not be good?'"--I think there is some remnant of this fopperypreserved in masonic lodges, where each brother is distinguished by aname in the Lodge, signifying some abstract quality as Discretion, orthe like. See the poems of Gavin Wilson.]

  Mary Avenel was about to reply to him, when the stern, fierce, andresentful expression of voice and countenance with which Halbertexclaimed, "not from the King of Scotland, did he live, would I brooksuch terms!" induced her to throw herself between him and the stranger,exclaiming, "for God's sake, Halbert, beware what you do!"

  "Fear not, fairest Protection," replied Sir Piercie, with the utmostserenity, "that I can be provoked by this rustical and mistaught juvenalto do aught misbecoming your presence or mine own dignity; for as soonshall the gunner's linstock give fire unto the icicle, as the spark ofpassion inflame my blood, tempered as it is to serenity by the respectdue to the presence of my gracious Protection."

  "You may well call her your protection, Sir Knight" said Halbert; "bySaint Andrew, it is the only sensible word I have heard you speak! Butwe may meet where her protection shall no longer afford you shelter."

  "Fairest Protection," continued the courtier, not even honouring with alook, far less with a direct reply, the threat of the incensed Halbert,"doubt not that thy faithful Affability will be more commoved by thespeech of this rudesby, than the bright and serene moon is perturbed bythe baying of the cottage-cur, proud of the height of his own dunghill,which, in his conceit, lifteth him nearer unto the majestic luminary."

  To what lengths so unsavoury a simile might have driven Halbert'sindignation, is left uncertain; for at that moment Edward rushed intothe apartment with the intelligence that two most important officersof the Convent, the Kitchener and Refectioner, were just arrived witha sumpter-mule, loaded with provisions, announcing that the LordAbbot, the Sub-Prior, and the Sacristan, were on their way thither. Acircumstance so very extraordinary had never been recorded in the annalsof Saint Mary's, or in the traditions of Glendearg, though there was afaint legendary report that a certain Abbot had dined there in old days,after having been bewildered in a hunting expedition amongst the wildswhich lie to the northward. But that the present Lord Abbot shouldhave taken a voluntary journey to so wild and dreary a spot, the veryKamtschatka of the Halidome, was a thing never dreamt of; and the newsexcited the greatest surprise in all the members of the family savingHalbert alone.

  This fiery youth was too full of the insult he had received to think ofanything as unconnected with it. "I am glad of it," he exclaimed; "Iam glad the Abbot comes hither. I will know of him by what right thisstranger is sent hither to domineer over us under our father's roof, asif we were slaves and not freemen. I will tell the proud priest to hisbeard--"

  "Alas! alas! my brother," said Edward, "think what these words may costthee!"

  "And what will, or what can they cost me," said Halbert, "that I shouldsacrifice my human feelings and my justifiable resentment to the fear ofwhat the Abbot can do?"

  "Our mother--our mother!" exclaimed Edward; "think, if she is deprivedof her home, expelled from her property, how can you amend what yourrashness may ruin?"

  "It is too true, by Heaven!" said Halbert, striking his forehead. Then,stamping his foot against the floor to express the full energy of thepassion to which he dared no longer give vent, he turned round and leftthe apartment.

  Mary Avenel looked at the stranger knight, while she was endeavouring toframe a request that he would not report the intemperate violence of herfoster-brother to the prejudice of his family, in the mind of the Abbot.But Sir Piercie, the very pink of courtesy, conjectured her meaning fromher embarrassment, and waited not to be entreated.

  "Credit me, fairest Protection," said he, "your Affability is less thancapable of seeing or hearing, far less of reciting or reiterating, aughtof an unseemly nature which may have chanced while I enjoyed the Elysiumof your presence. The winds of idle passion may indeed rudely agitatethe bosom of the rude; but the heart of the courtier is polished toresist them. As the frozen lake receives not the influence of thebreeze, even so--"

  The voice of Dame Glendinning, in shrill summons, here demanded MaryAvenel's attendance, who instantly obeyed, not a little glad to escapefrom the compliments and similes of this courtlike gallant. Nor was itapparently less a relief on his part; for no sooner was she pastthe threshold of the room, than he exchanged th
e look of formal andelaborate politeness which had accompanied each word he had utteredhitherto, for an expression of the utmost lassitude and ennui; and afterindulging in one or two portentous yawns, broke forth into a soliloquy.

  "What the foul fiend sent this wench hither? As if it were notsufficient plague to be harboured in a hovel that would hardly serve fora dog's kennel in England, baited by a rude peasant-boy, and dependenton the faith of a mercenary ruffian, but I cannot even have time tomuse over my own mishap, but must come aloft, frisk, fidget, and makespeeches, to please this pale hectic phantom, because she has gentleblood in her veins? By mine honour, setting prejudice aside, themill-wench is the more attractive of the two--But patienza, PiercieShafton; thou must not lose thy well-earned claim to be accounteda devout servant of the fair sex, a witty-brained, prompt, andaccomplished courtier. Rather thank heaven, Piercie Shafton, which hathsent thee a subject, wherein, without derogating from thy rank, (sincethe honours of the Avenel family are beyond dispute,) thou mayest finda whetstone for thy witty compliments, a strop whereon to sharpen thineacute engine, a butt whereat to shoot the arrows of thy gallantry. Foreven as a Bilboa blade, the more it is rubbed, the brighter and thesharper will it prove, so--But what need I waste my stock of similitudesin holding converse with myself?--Yonder comes the monkish retinue, likesome half score of crows winging their way slowly up the valley--I hope,a'gad, they have not forgotten my trunk-mails of apparel amid the ampleprovision they have made for their own belly-timber--Mercy, a'gad, Iwere finely helped up if the vesture has miscarried among the thievishBorderers!"

  Stung by this reflection, he ran hastily down stairs, and caused hishorse to be saddled, that he might, as soon as possible, ascertain thisimportant point, by meeting the Lord Abbot and his retinue as they cameup the glen. He had not ridden a mile before he met them advancingwith the slowness and decorum which became persons of their dignity andprofession. The knight failed not to greet the Lord Abbot with allthe formal compliments with which men of rank at that period exchangedcourtesies. He had the good fortune to find that his mails were numberedamong the train of baggage which attended upon the party; and, satisfiedin that particular, he turned his horse's head, and accompanied theAbbot to the Tower of Glendearg.

  Great, in the meanwhile, had been the turmoil of the good Dame Elspethand her coadjutors, to prepare for the fitting reception of the FatherLord Abbot and his retinue. The monks had indeed taken care not to trusttoo much to the state of her pantry; but she was not the less anxiousto make such additions as might enable her to claim the thanks of herfeudal lord and spiritual father. Meeting Halbert, as, with his blood onfire, he returned from his altercation with her guest, she commanded himinstantly to go forth to the hill, and not to return without venison;reminding him that he was apt enough to go thither for his own pleasure,and must now do so for the credit of the house.

  The Miller, who was now hastening his journey homewards, promised tosend up some salmon by his own servant. Dame Elspeth, who by this timethought she had guests enough, had begun to repent of her invitationto poor Mysie, and was just considering by what means, short of givingoffence, she could send off the Maid of the Mill behind her father, andadjourn all her own aerial architecture till some future opportunity,when this unexpected generosity on the part of the sire renderedany present attempt to return his daughter on his hands too highlyungracious to be farther thought on. So the Miller departed alone on hishomeward journey.

  Dame Elspeth's sense of hospitality proved in this instance its ownreward; for Mysie had dwelt too near the Convent to be altogetherignorant of the noble art of cookery, which her father patronized to theextent of consuming on festival days such dainties as his daughter couldprepare in emulation of the luxuries of the Abbot's kitchen. Layingaside, therefore, her holiday kirtle, and adopting a dress more suitableto the occasion, the good-humored maiden bared her snowy arms above theelbows; and, as Elspeth acknowledged, in the language of the time andcountry, took "entire and aefauld part with her" in the labours of theday; showing unparalleled talent, and indefatigable industry, inthe preparation of _mortreux_, _blanc-manger_, and heaven knows whatdelicacies besides, which Dame Glendinning, unassisted by her skill,dared not even have dreamt of presenting. Leaving this able substitutein the kitchen, and regretting that Mary Avenel was so brought up, thatshe could intrust nothing to her care, unless it might be seeing thegreat chamber strewed with rushes, and ornamented with such flowers andbranches as the season afforded, Dame Elspeth hastily donned her bestattire, and with a beating heart presented herself at the door of herlittle tower, to make her obeisance to the Lord Abbot as he crossedher humble threshold. Edward stood by his mother, and felt the samepalpitation, which his philosophy was at a loss to account for. He wasyet to learn how long it is ere our reason is enabled to triumph overthe force of external circumstances, and how much our feelings areaffected by novelty, and blunted by use and habit.

  On the present occasion, he witnessed with wonder and awe the approachof some half-score of riders, sober men upon sober palfreys, muffled intheir long black garments, and only relieved by their white scapularies,showing more like a funeral procession than aught else, and notquickening their pace beyond that which permitted easy conversation andeasy digestion. The sobriety of the scene was indeed somewhat enlivenedby the presence of Sir Piercie Shafton, who, to show that his skillin the manege was not inferior to his other accomplishments, keptalternately pressing and checking his gay courser, forcing him topiaffe, to caracole, to passage, and to do all the other feats of theschool, to the great annoyance of the Lord Abbot, the wonted sobrietyof whose palfrey became at length discomposed by the vivacity of itscompanion, while the dignitary kept crying out in bodily alarm, "I dopray you--Sir Knight--good now, Sir Piercie--Be quiet, Benedict, thereis a good steed--soh, poor fellow" and uttering all the other precatoryand soothing exclamations by which a timid horseman usually bespeaks thefavour of a frisky companion, or of his own unquiet nag, and concludingthe bead-roll with a sincere _Deo gratias_ so soon as he alighted in thecourt-yard of the Tower of Glendearg.

  The inhabitants unanimously knelt down to kiss the hand of the LordAbbot, a ceremony which even the monks were often condemned to. GoodAbbot Boniface was too much fluttered by the incidents of the latterpart of his journey, to go through this ceremony with much solemnity,or indeed with much patience. He kept wiping his brow with a snow-whitehandkerchief with one hand, while another was abandoned to the homage ofhis vassals; and then signing the cross with his outstretched arm,and exclaiming, "Bless ye--bless ye, my children" he hastened into thehouse, and murmured not a little at the darkness and steepness of therugged winding stair, whereby he at length scaled the spence destinedfor his entertainment, and, overcome with fatigue, threw himself, I donot say into an easy chair, but into the easiest the apartment afforded.