The Heart of Mid-Lothian, Volume 2 Read online

  CHAPTER TWENTIETH.

  "I come," he said, "my love, my life, And--nature's dearest name--my wife: Thy father's house and friends resign, My home, my friends, my sire, are thine." Logan.

  The meeting of Jeanie and Butler, under circumstances promising to crownan affection so long delayed, was rather affecting, from its simplesincerity than from its uncommon vehemence of feeling. David Deans, whosepractice was sometimes a little different from his theory, appalled themat first, by giving them the opinion of sundry of the suffering preachersand champions of his younger days, that marriage, though honourable bythe laws of Scripture, was yet a state over-rashly coveted by professors,and specially by young ministers, whose desire, he said, was at whilestoo inordinate for kirks, stipends, and wives, which had frequentlyoccasioned over-ready compliance with the general defections of thetimes. He endeavoured to make them aware also, that hasty wedlock hadbeen the bane of many a savoury professor--that the unbelieving wife hadtoo often reversed the text and perverted the believing husband--thatwhen the famous Donald Cargill, being then hiding in Lee-Wood, inLanarkshire, it being killing-time, did, upon importunity, marry RobertMarshal of Starry Shaw, he had thus expressed himself: "What hath inducedRobert to marry this woman? her ill will overcome his good--he will notkeep the way long--his thriving days are done." To the sad accomplishmentof which prophecy David said he was himself a living witness, for RobertMarshal, having fallen into foul compliances with the enemy, went home,and heard the curates, declined into other steps of defection, and becamelightly esteemed. Indeed, he observed, that the great upholders of thestandard, Cargill, Peden, Cameron, and Renwick, had less delight in tyingthe bonds of matrimony than in any other piece of their ministerial work;and although they would neither dissuade the parties, nor refuse theiroffice, they considered the being called to it as an evidence ofindifference, on the part of those between whom it was solemnised, to themany grievous things of the day. Notwithstanding, however, that marriagewas a snare unto many, David was of opinion (as, indeed, he had showed inhis practice) that it was in itself honourable, especially if times weresuch that honest men could be secure against being shot, hanged, orbanished, and had ane competent livelihood to maintain themselves, andthose that might come after them. "And, therefore," as he concludedsomething abruptly, addressing Jeanie and Butler, who, with faces ashigh-coloured as crimson, had been listening to his lengthened argumentfor and against the holy state of matrimony, "I will leave you to yourain cracks."

  As their private conversation, however interesting to themselves, mightprobably be very little so to the reader, so far as it respected theirpresent feelings and future prospects, we shall pass it over, and onlymention the information which Jeanie received from Butler concerning hersister's elopement, which contained many particulars that she had beenunable to extract from her father.

  Jeanie learned, therefore, that, for three days after her pardon hadarrived, Effie had been the inmate of her father's house at St.Leonard's--that the interviews betwixt David and his erring child, whichhad taken place before she was liberated from prison, had been touchingin the extreme; but Butler could not suppress his opinion, that, when hewas freed from the apprehension of losing her in a manner so horrible,her father had tightened the bands of discipline, so as, in some degree,to gall the feelings, and aggravate the irritability of a spiritnaturally impatient and petulant, and now doubly so from the sense ofmerited disgrace.

  On the third night, Effie disappeared from St. Leonard's, leaving nointimation whatever of the route she had taken. Butler, however, set outin pursuit of her, and with much trouble traced her towards a littlelanding-place, formed by a small brook which enters the sea betwixtMusselburgh and Edinburgh. This place, which has been since made into asmall harbour, surrounded by many villas and lodging-houses, is nowtermed Portobello. At this time it was surrounded by a waste common,covered with furze, and unfrequented, save by fishing-boats, and now andthen a smuggling lugger. A vessel of this description had been hoveringin the firth at the time of Effie's elopement, and, as Butlerascertained, a boat had come ashore in the evening on which the fugitivehad disappeared, and had carried on board a female. As the vessel madesail immediately, and landed no part of their cargo, there seemed littledoubt that they were accomplices of the notorious Robertson, and that thevessel had only come into the firth to carry off his paramour.

  This was made clear by a letter which Butler himself soon afterwardsreceived by post, signed E. D., but without bearing any date of place ortime. It was miserably ill written and spelt; sea-sickness havingapparently aided the derangement of Effie's very irregular orthographyand mode of expression. In this epistle, however, as in all thatunfortunate girl said or did, there was something to praise as well as toblame. She said in her letter, "That she could not endure that her fatherand her sister should go into banishment, or be partakers of hershame,--that if her burden was a heavy one, it was of her own binding,and she had the more right to bear it alone,--that in future they couldnot be a comfort to her, or she to them, since every look and word ofher father put her in mind of her transgression, and was like to driveher mad,--that she had nearly lost her judgment during the three daysshe was at St. Leonard's--her father meant weel by her, and all men, buthe did not know the dreadful pain he gave her in casting up her sins. IfJeanie had been at hame, it might hae dune better--Jeanie was ane, likethe angels in heaven, that rather weep for sinners, than reckon theirtransgressions. But she should never see Jeanie ony mair, and that wasthe thought that gave her the sairest heart of a' that had come and ganeyet. On her bended knees would she pray for Jeanie night and day, baithfor what she had done, and what she had scorned to do, in her behalf;for what a thought would it have been to her at that moment o' time, ifthat upright creature had made a fault to save her! She desired herfather would give Jeanie a' the gear--her ain (_i.e._ Effie's) mother'sand a'--She had made a deed, giving up her right, and it was in Mr.Novit's hand--Warld's gear was henceforward the least of her care, norwas it likely to be muckle her mister--She hoped this would make it easyfor her sister to settle;" and immediately after this expression, shewished Butler himself all good things, in return for his kindness toher. "For herself," she said, "she kend her lot would be a waesome ane,but it was of her own framing, sae she desired the less pity. But, forher friends' satisfaction, she wished them to know that she was gaun naeill gate--that they who had done her maist wrong were now willing to doher what justice was in their power; and she would, in some warldlyrespects, be far better off than she deserved. But she desired herfamily to remain satisfied with this assurance, and give themselves notrouble in making farther inquiries after her."

  To David Deans and to Butler this letter gave very little comfort; forwhat was to be expected from this unfortunate girl's uniting her fate tothat of a character so notorious as Robertson, who they readily guessedwas alluded to in the last sentence, excepting that she should become thepartner and victim of his future crimes? Jeanie, who knew GeorgeStaunton's character and real rank, saw her sister's situation under aray of better hope. She augured well of the haste he had shown to reclaimhis interest in Effie, and she trusted he had made her his wife. If so,it seemed improbable that, with his expected fortune, and highconnections, he should again resume the life of criminal adventure whichhe had led, especially since, as matters stood, his life depended uponhis keeping his own secret, which could only be done by an entire changeof his habits, and particularly by avoiding all those who had known theheir of Willingham under the character of the audacious, criminal, andcondemned Robertson.

  She thought it most likely that the couple would go abroad for a fewyears, and not return to England until the affair of Porteous was totallyforgotten. Jeanie, therefore, saw more hopes for her sister than Butleror her father had been able to perceive; but she was not at liberty toimpart the comfort which she felt in believing that she would be securefrom the press
ure of poverty, and in little risk of being seduced intothe paths of guilt. She could not have explained this without makingpublic what it was essentially necessary for Effie's chance of comfort toconceal, the identity, namely, of George Staunton and George Robertson.After all, it was dreadful to think that Effie had united herself to aman condemned for felony, and liable to trial for murder, whatever mightbe his rank in life, and the degree of his repentance. Besides, it wasmelancholy to reflect, that, she herself being in possession of the wholedreadful secret, it was most probable he would, out of regard to his ownfeelings, and fear for his safety, never again permit her to see poorEffie. After perusing and re-perusing her sister's valedictory letter,she gave ease to her feelings in a flood of tears, which Butler in vainendeavoured to check by every soothing attention in his power. She wasobliged, however, at length to look up and wipe her eyes, for her father,thinking he had allowed the lovers time enough for conference, was nowadvancing towards them from the Lodge, accompanied by the Captain ofKnockdunder, or, as his friends called him for brevity's sake, DuncanKnock, a title which some youthful exploits had rendered peculiarlyappropriate.

  This Duncan of Knockdunder was a person of first-rate importance in theisland of Roseneath,* and the continental parishes of Knocktarlitie,Kilmun, and so forth; nay, his influence extended as far as Cowal, where,however, it was obscured by that of another factor.

  * [This is, more correctly speaking, a peninsula.]

  The Tower of Knockdunder still occupies, with its remains, a cliffoverhanging the Holy Loch. Duncan swore it had been a royal castle; ifso, it was one of the smallest, the space within only forming a square ofsixteen feet, and bearing therefore a ridiculous proportion to thethickness of the walls, which was ten feet at least. Such as it was,however, it had long given the title of Captain, equivalent to that ofChatellain, to the ancestors of Duncan, who were retainers of the houseof Argyle, and held a hereditary jurisdiction under them, of littleextent indeed, but which had great consequence in their own eyes, and wasusually administered with a vigour somewhat beyond the law.

  The present representative of that ancient family was a stout short manabout fifty, whose pleasure it was to unite in his own person the dressof the Highlands and Lowlands, wearing on his head a black tie-wig,surmounted by a fierce cocked-hat, deeply guarded with gold lace, whilethe rest of his dress consisted of the plaid and philabeg. Duncansuperintended a district which was partly Highland, partly Lowland, andtherefore might be supposed to combine their national habits, in order toshow his impartiality to Trojan or Tyrian. The incongruity, however, hada whimsical and ludicrous effect, as it made his head and body look as ifbelonging to different individuals; or, as some one said who had seen theexecutions of the insurgent prisoners in 1715, it seemed as if someJacobite enchanter, having recalled the sufferers to life, had clapped,in his haste, an Englishman's head on a Highlander's body. To finish theportrait, the bearing of the gracious Duncan was brief, bluff, andconsequential, and the upward turn of his short copper-coloured noseindicated that he was somewhat addicted to wrath and usquebaugh.

  When this dignitary had advanced up to Butler and to Jeanie, "I take thefreedom, Mr. Deans," he said in a very consequential manner, "to saluteyour daughter, whilk I presume this young lass to be--I kiss every prettygirl that comes to Roseneath, in virtue of my office." Having made thisgallant speech, he took out his quid, saluted Jeanie with a hearty smack,and bade her welcome to Argyle's country. Then addressing Butler, hesaid, "Ye maun gang ower and meet the carle ministers yonder the Morn,for they will want to do your job, and synd it down with usquebaughdoubtless--they seldom make dry wark in this kintra."

  "And the Laird"--said David Deans, addressing Butler in fartherexplanation--

  "The Captain, man," interrupted Duncan; "folk winna ken wha ye arespeaking aboot, unless ye gie shentlemens their proper title."

  "The Captain, then," said David, "assures me that the call is unanimouson the part of the parishioners--a real harmonious call, Reuben."

  "I pelieve," said Duncan, "it was as harmonious as could pe expected,when the tae half o' the bodies were clavering Sassenach, and the t'otherskirting Gaelic, like sea-maws and clackgeese before a storm. Ane wad haeneeded the gift of tongues to ken preceesely what they said--but Ipelieve the best end of it was, 'Long live MacCallummore andKnockdunder!'--And as to its being an unanimous call, I wad be glad token fat business the carles have to call ony thing or ony body but whatthe Duke and mysell likes!"

  "Nevertheless," said Mr. Butler, "if any of the parishioners have anyscruples, which sometimes happen in the mind of sincere professors, Ishould be happy of an opportunity of trying to remove"

  "Never fash your peard about it, man," interrupted Duncan Knock--"Leaveit a' to me.--Scruple! deil ane o' them has been bred up to scrupleonything that they're bidden to do. And if sic a thing suld happen as yespeak o', ye sall see the sincere professor, as ye ca' him, towed at thestern of my boat for a few furlongs. I'll try if the water of the HalyLoch winna wash off scruples as weel as fleas--Cot tam!"

  The rest of Duncan's threat was lost in a growling gargling sort ofsound, which he made in his throat, and which menaced recusants with nogentle means of conversion. David Deans would certainly have given battlein defence of the right of the Christian congregation to be consulted inthe choice of their own pastor, which, in his estimation, was one of thechoicest and most inalienable of their privileges; but he had againengaged in close conversation with Jeanie, and, with more interest thanhe was in use to take in affairs foreign alike to his occupation and tohis religious tenets, was inquiring into the particulars of her Londonjourney. This was, perhaps, fortunate for the newformed friendshipbetwixt him and the Captain of Knockdunder, which rested, in David'sestimation, upon the proofs he had given of his skill in managing stock;but, in reality, upon the special charge transmitted to Duncan from theDuke and his agent, to behave with the utmost attention to Deans and hisfamily.

  "And now, sirs," said Duncan, in a commanding tone, "I am to pray ye a'to come in to your supper, for yonder is Mr. Archibald half famished, anda Saxon woman, that looks as if her een were fleeing out o' her head wi'fear and wonder, as if she had never seen a shentleman in a philabegpefore."

  "And Reuben Butler," said David, "will doubtless desire instantly toretire, that he may prepare his mind for the exercise of to-morrow, thathis work may suit the day, and be an offering of a sweet savour in thenostrils of the reverend Presbytery!"

  "Hout tout, man, it's but little ye ken about them," interrupted theCaptain. "Teil a ane o' them wad gie the savour of the hot venison pastywhich I smell" (turning his squab nose up in the air) "a' the way fraethe Lodge, for a' that Mr. Putler, or you either, can say to them."

  David groaned; but judging he had to do with a Gallio, as he said, didnot think it worth his while to give battle. They followed the Captain tothe house, and arranged themselves with great ceremony round awell-loaded supper-table. The only other circumstance of the eveningworthy to be recorded is, that Butler pronounced the blessing; thatKnockdunder found it too long, and David Deans censured it as too short,from which the charitable reader may conclude it was exactly the properlength.