The Bride of Lammermoor Page 23
CHAPTER XXII.
And soon they spied the merry-men green, And eke the coach and four.
Duke upon Duke.
CRAIGENGELT set forth on his mission so soon as his equipage wascomplete, prosecuted his journey with all diligence, and accomplishedhis commission with all the dexterity for which bucklaw had given himcredit. As he arrived with credentials from Mr. Hayston of Bucklaw, hewas extremely welcome to both ladies; and those who are prejudicedin favour of a new acquaintance can, for a time at least, discoverexcellencies in his very faults and perfections in his deficiencies.Although both ladies were accustomed to good society, yet, beingpre-determined to find out an agreeable and well-behaved gentlemanin Mr. Hayston's friend, they succeeded wonderfully in imposing onthemselves. It is true that Craigengelt was now handsomely dressed, andthat was a point of no small consequence. But, independent of outwardshow, his blackguard impudence of address was construed into honourablebluntness becoming his supposed military profession his hectoringpassed for courage, and his sauciness for wit. Lest, however, any oneshould think this a violation of probability, we must add, in fairnessto the two ladies, that their discernment was greatly blinded, and theirfavour propitiated, by the opportune arrival of Captain Craigengelt inthe moment when they were longing for a third hand to make a party attredrille, in which, as in all games, whether of chance or skill, thatworthy person was a great proficient.
When he found himself established in favour, his next point was howbest to use it for the furtherance of his patron's views. He foundLady Ashton prepossessed strongly in favour of the motion which LadyBlenkensop, partly from regard to her kinswoman, partly from the spiritof match-making, had not hesitated to propose to her; so that his taskwas an easy one. Bucklaw, reformed from his prodigality, was justthe sort of husband which she desired to have for her Shepherdess ofLammermoor; and while the marriage gave her an easy fortune, and arespectable country gentleman for her husband, Lady Ashton wasof opinion that her destinies would be fully and most favourablyaccomplished. It so chanced, also, that Bucklaw, among his newacquisitions, had gained the management of a little political interestin a neighbouring county where the Douglas family originally held largepossessions. It was one of the bosom-hopes of Lady Ashton that hereldest son, Sholto, should represent this county in the BritishParliament, and she saw this alliance with Bucklaw as a circumstancewhich might be highly favourable to her wishes.
Craigengelt, who, in his way, by no means wanted sagacity, no soonerdiscovered in what quarter the wind of Lady Ashton's wishes sate, thanhe trimmed his course accordingly. "There was little to prevent Bucklawhimself from sitting for the county; he must carry the heat--must walkthe course. Two cousins-german, six more distant kinsmen, his factor andhis chamberlain, were all hollow votes; and the Girnington interest hadalways carried, betwixt love and fear, about as many more. But Bucklawcared no more about riding the first horse, and that sort of thing, thanhe, Craigengelt, did about a game at birkie: it was a pity his interestwas not in good guidance."
All this Lady Ashton drank in with willing and attentive ears, resolvinginternally to be herself the person who should take the management ofthe political influence of her destined son-in-law, for the benefit ofher eldest-born, Sholto, and all other parties concerned.
When he found her ladyship thus favourably disposed, the Captainproceeded, to use his employer's phrase, to set spurs to her resolution,by hinting at the situation of matters at Ravenswood Castle, the longresidence which the heir of that family had made with the Lord Keeper,and the reports which--though he would be d--d ere he gave credit to anyof them--had been idly circulated in the neighbourhood. It was not theCaptain's cue to appear himself to be uneasy on the subject of theserumours; but he easily saw from Lady Ashton's flushed cheek, hesitatingvoice, and flashing eye, that she had caught the alarm which he intendedto communicate. She had not heard from her husband so often or soregularly as she though him bound in duty to have written, and of thisvery interesting intelligence concerning his visit to the Tower ofWolf's Crag, and the guest whom, with such cordiality, he had receivedat Ravenswood Castle, he had suffered his lady to remain altogetherignorant, until she now learned it by the chance information of astranger. Such concealment approached, in her apprehension, to amisprision, at last, of treason, if not to actual rebellion againsther matrimonial authority; and in her inward soul she did vow to takevengeance on the Lord Keeper, as on a subject detected in meditatingrevolt. Her indignation burned the more fiercely as she found herselfobliged to suppress it in presence of Lady Blenkensop, the kinswoman,and of Craigengelt, the confidential friend, of Bucklaw, of whosealliance she now became trebly desirous, since it occurred to heralarmed imagination that her husband might, in his policy or timidity,prefer that of Ravenswood.
The Captain was engineer enough to discover that the train was fired;and therefore heard, in the course of the same day, without the leastsurprise, that Lady Ashton had resolved to abridge her visit to LadyBlenkensop, and set forth with the peep of morning on her return toScotland, using all the despatch which the state of the roads and themode of travelling would possibly permit.
Unhappy Lord Keeper! little was he aware what a storm was travellingtowards him in all the speed with which an old-fashioned coach and sixcould possibly achieve its journey. He, like Don Gayferos, "forgot hislady fair and true," and was only anxious about the expected visitof the Marquis of A----. Soothfast tidings had assured him that thisnobleman was at length, and without fail, to honour his castle at onein the afternoon, being a late dinner-hour; and much was the bustle inconsequence of the annunciation. The Lord Keeper traversed the chambers,held consultation with the butler in the cellars, and even ventured, atthe risk of a demele with a cook of a spirit lofty enough to scorn theadmonitions of Lady Ashton herself, to peep into the kitchen. Satisfied,at length, that everything was in as active a train of preparation aswas possible, he summoned Ravenswood and his daughter to walk upon theterrace, for the purpose of watching, from that commanding position,the earliest symptoms of his lordship's approach. For this purpose, withslow and idle step, he paraded the terrace, which, flanked with a heavystone battlement, stretched in front of the castle upon a level with thefirst story; while visitors found access to the court by a projectinggateway, the bartizan or flat-leaded roof of which was accessible fromthe terrace by an easy flight of low and broad steps. The whole bore aresemblance partly to a castle, partly to a nobleman's seat; and thoughcalculated, in some respects, for defence, evinced that it had beenconstructed under a sense of the power and security of the ancient Lordsof Ravenswood.
This pleasant walk commanded a beautiful and extensive view. But whatwas most to our present purpose, there were seen from the terrace tworoads, one leading from the east, and one from the westward, which,crossing a ridge opposed to the eminence on which the castle stood, atdifferent angles, gradually approached each other, until they joined notfar from the gate of the avenue. It was to the westward approach thatthe Lord Keeper, from a sort of fidgeting anxiety, his daughter, fromcomplaisance to him, and Ravenswood, though feeling some symptoms ofinternal impatience, out of complaisance to his daughter, directed theireyes to see the precursors of the Marquis's approach.
These were not long of presenting themselves. Two running footmen,dressed in white, with black jockey-caps, and long staffs in theirhands, headed the train; and such was their agility, that they foundno difficulty in keeping the necessary advance, which the etiquette oftheir station required, before the carriage and horsemen. Onwardthey came at a long swinging trot, arguing unwearied speed in theirlong-breathed calling. Such running footmen are often alluded to in oldplays (I would particularly instance Middleton's Mad World, my Masters),and perhaps may be still remembered by some old persons in Scotland,as part of the retinue of the ancient nobility when travelling in fullceremony. Behind these glancing meteors, who footed it as if the Avengerof Blood had been behind them, came a cloud of dust, raised by riderswho preceded, attended, or followed th
e state-carriage of the Marquis.
The privilege of nobility, in those days, had something in it impressiveon the imagination. The dresses and liveries and number of theirattendants, their style of travelling, the imposing, and almost warlike,air of the armed men who surrounded them, place them far above thelaird, who travelled with his brace of footmen; and as to rivalry fromthe mercantile part of the community, these would as soon have thoughtof imitating the state equipage of the Sovereign. At present itis different; and I myself, Peter Pattieson, in a late journey toEdinburgh, had the honour, in the mail-coach phrase to "change a leg"with a peer of the realm. It was not so in the days of which I write;and the Marquis's approach, so long expected in vain, now took placein the full pomp of ancient aristocracy. Sir William Ashton was somuch interested in what he beheld, and in considering the ceremonialof reception, in case any circumstance had been omitted, that he scarceheard his son Henry exclaim: "There is another coach and six coming downthe east road, papa; can they both belong to the Marquis of A----?"
At length, when the youngster had fairly compelled his attention bypulling his sleeve,
He turned his eyes, and, as he turned, survey'd An awful vision.
Sure enough, another coach and six, with four servants or outriders inattendance, was descending the hill from the eastward, at such a pace asmade it doubtful which of the carriages thus approaching from differentquarters would first reach the gate at the extremity of the avenue. Theone coach was green, the other blue; and not the green and blue chariotsin the circus of Rome or Constantinople excited more turmoil among thecitizens than the double apparition occasioned in the mind of the LordKeeper.
We all remember the terrible exclamation of the dying profligate, when afriend, to destroy what he supposed the hypochondriac idea of a spectreappearing in a certain shape at a given hour, placed before him a persondressed up in the manner he described. "Mon Dieu!" said the expiringsinner, who, it seems, saw both the real and polygraphic apparition,"il y en a deux!" The surprise of the Lord Keeper was scarcely lessunpleasing at the duplication of the expected arrival; his mind misgavehim strangely. There was no neighbour who would have approached sounceremoniously, at a time when ceremony was held in such respect. Itmust be Lady Ashton, said his conscience, and followed up the hint withan anxious anticipation of the purpose of her sudden and unannouncedreturn. He felt that he was caught "in the manner." That the companyin which she had so unluckily surprised him was likely to be highlydistasteful to her, there was no question and the only hope whichremained for him was her high sense of dignified propriety, which, hetrusted, might prevent a public explosion. But so active were his doubtsand fears as altogether to derange his purposed ceremonial for thereception of the Marquis.
These feelings of apprehension were not confined to Sir William Ashton."It is my mother--it is my mother!" said Lucy, turning as pale as ashes,and clasping her hands together as she looked at Ravenswood.
"And if it be Lady Ashton," said her lover to her in a low tone, "whatcan be the occasion of such alarm? Surely the return of a lady tothe family from which she has been so long absent should excite othersensations than those of fear and dismay."
"You do not know my mother," said Miss Ashton, in a tone almostbreathless with terror; "what will she say when she sees you in thisplace!"
"My stay has been too long," said Ravenswood, somewhat haughtily, "ifher displeasure at my presence is likely to be so formidable. My dearLucy," he resumed, in a tone of soothing encouragement, "you are toochildishly afraid of Lady Ashton she is a woman of family--a ladyof fashion--a person who must know the world, and what is due to herhusband and her husband's guests." Lucy shook her head; and, as ifher mother, still at the distance of half a mile, could have seen andscrutinised her deportment, she withdrew herself from beside Ravenswood,and, taking her brother Henry's arm, led him to a different part of theterrace. The Keeper also shuffled down towards the portal of the greatgate, without inviting Ravenswood to accompany him; and thus he remainedstanding alone on the terrace, deserted and shunned, as it were, bythe inhabitants of the mansion. This suited not the mood of one who wasproud in proportion to his poverty, and who thought that, in sacrificinghis deep-rooted resentments so far as to become Sir William Ashton'sguest, he conferred a favour, and received none. "I can forgive Lucy,"he said to himself; "she is young, timid, and conscious of an importantengagement assumed without her mother's sanction yet she shouldremember with whom it has been assumed, and leave me no reason tosuspect that she is ashamed of her choice. For the Keeper, sense,spirit, and expression seem to have left his face and manner since hehad the first glimpse of Lady Ashton's carriage. I must watch how thisis to end; and, if they give me reason to think myself an unwelcomeguest, my visit is soon abridged."
With these suspicions floating on his mind, he left the terrace, andwalking towards the stables of the castle, gave directions that hishorse should be kept in readiness, in case he should have occasion toride abroad.
In the mean while, the drivers of the two carriages, the approach ofwhich had occasioned so much dismay at the castle, had become aware ofeach other's presence, as they approached upon different lines tothe head of the avenue, as a common centre. Lady Ashton's driver andpostilions instantly received orders to get foremost, if possible, herladyship being desirous of despatching her first interview with herhusband before the arrival of these guests, whoever they might happen tobe. On the other hand, the coachman of the Marquis, conscious of his owndignity and that of his master, and observing the rival charioteer wasmending his pace, resolved, like a true brother of the whip, whetherancient or modern, to vindicate his right of precedence. So that, toincrease the confusion of the Lord Keeper's understanding, he saw theshort time which remained for consideration abridged by the haste of thecontending coachmen, who, fixing their eyes sternly on each other, andapplying the lash smartly to their horses, began to thunder down thedescent with emulous rapidity, while the horsemen who attended them wereforced to put on to a hand-gallop.
Sir William's only chance now remaining was the possibility of anoverturn, and that his lady or visitor might break their necks. I amnot aware that he formed any distinct wish on the subject, but I have noreason to think that his grief in either case would have been altogetherinconsolable. This chance, however, also disappeared; for Lady Ashton,though insensible to fear, began to see the ridicule of running a racewith a visitor of distinction, the goal being the portal of her owncastle, and commanded her coachman, as they approached the avenue, toslacken his pace, and allow precedence to the stranger's equipage; acommand which he gladly obeyed, as coming in time to save his honour,the horses of the Marquis's carriage being better, or, at least, fresherthan his own. He restrained his pace, therefore, and suffered the greencoach to enter the avenue, with all its retinue, which pass it occupiedwith the speed of a whirlwind. The Marquis's laced charioteer nosooner found the pas d'avance was granted to him than he resumed a moredeliberate pace, at which he advanced under the embowering shade of thelofty elms, surrounded by all the attendants; while the carriage of LadyAshton followed, still more slowly, at some distance.
In the front of the castle, and beneath the portal which admitted guestsinto the inner court, stood Sir William Ashton, much perplexed in mind,his younger son and daughter beside him, and in their rear a train ofattendants of various ranks, in and out of livery. The nobility andgentry of Scotland, at this period, were remarkable even to extravagancefor the number of their servants, whose services were easily purchasedin a country where men were numerous beyond proportion to the means ofemploying them.
The manners of a man trained like Sir William Ashton are too much at hiscommand to remain long disconcerted with the most adverse concurrenceof circumstances. He received the Marquis, as he alighted from hisequipage, with the usual compliments of welcome; and, as he usheredhim into the great hall, expressed his hope that his journey had beenpleasant. The Marquis was a tall, well-made man, with a thoughtful andintelligent countenance, and
an eye in which the fire of ambition hadfor some years replaced the vivacity of youth; a bold, proud expressionof countenance, yet chastened by habitual caution, and the desirewhich, as the head of a party, he necessarily entertained of acquiringpopularity. He answered with courtesy the courteous inquiries of theLord Keeper, and was formally presented to Miss Ashton, in the courseof which ceremony the Lord Keeper gave the first symptom of what waschiefly occupying his mind, by introducing his daughter as "his wife,Lady Ashton."
Lucy blushed; the Marquis looked surprised at the extremely juvenileappearance of his hostess, and the Lord Keeper with difficulty ralliedhimself so far as to explain. "I should have said my daughter, my lord;but the truth is, that I saw Lady Ashton's carriage enter the avenueshortly after your lordship's, and----"
"Make no apology, my lord," replied his noble guest; "let me entreatyou will wait on your lady, and leave me to cultivate Miss Ashton'sacquaintance. I am shocked my people should have taken precedence of ourhostess at her own gate; but your lordship is aware that I supposedLady Ashton was still in the south. Permit me to beseech you will waiveceremony, and hasten to welcome her."
This was precisely what the Lord Keeper longed to do; and he instantlyprofited by his lordship's obliging permission. To see Lady Ashton, andencounter the first burst of her displeasure in private, might prepareher, in some degree, to receive her unwelcome guests with due decorum.As her carriage, therefore, stopped, the arm of the attentive husbandwas ready to assist Lady Ashton in dismounting. Looking as if shesaw him not, she put his arm aside, and requested that of CaptainCraigengelt, who stood by the coach with his laced hat under his arm,having acted as cavaliere servente, or squire in attendance, during thejourney. Taking hold of this respectable person's arm as if to supporther, Lady Ashton traversed the court, uttering a word or two by wayof direction to the servants, but not one to Sir William, who invain endeavoured to attract her attention, as he rather followed thanaccompanied her into the hall, in which they found the Marquis in closeconversation with the Master of Ravenswood. Lucy had taken the firstopportunity of escaping. There was embarrassment on every countenanceexcept that of the Marquis of A----; for even Craigengelt's impudencewas hardly able to veil his fear of Ravenswood, an the rest felt theawkwardness of the position in which they were thus unexpectedly placed.
After waiting a moment to be presented by Sir William Ashton, theMarquis resolved to introduce himself. "The Lord Keeper," he said,bowing to Lady Ashton, "has just introduced to me his daughter as hiswife; he might very easily present Lady Ashton as his daughter, solittle does she differ from what I remember her some years since. Willshe permit an old acquaintance the privilege of a guest?"
He saluted the lady with too good a grace to apprehend a repulse,and then proceeded: "This, Lady Ashton, is a peacemaking visit,and therefore I presume to introduce my cousin, the young Master ofRavenswood, to your favourable notice."
Lady Ashton could not choose but courtesy; but there was in herobeisance an air of haughtiness approaching to contemptuous repulse.Ravenswood could not choose but bow; but his manner returned the scornwith which he had been greeted.
"Allow me," she said, "to present to your lordship MY friend."Craigengelt, with the forward impudence which men of his cast mistakefor ease, made a sliding bow to the Marquis, which he graced by aflourish of his gold-laced hat. The lady turned to her husband. "Youand I, Sir William," she said, and these were the first words she hadaddressed to him, "have acquired new acquaintances since we parted; letme introduce the acquisition I have made to mine--Captain Craigengelt."
Another bow, and another flourish of the gold-laced hat, which wasreturned by the Lord Keeper without intimation of former recognition,and with that sort of anxious readiness which intimated his wish thatpeace and amnesty should take place betwixt the contending parties,including the auxiliaries on both sides. "Let me introduce you to theMaster of Ravenswood," said he to Captain Craigengelt, following up thesame amicable system.
But the Master drew up his tall form to the full extent of his height,and without so much as looking towards the person thus introduced tohim, he said, in a marked tone: "Captain Craigengelt and I are alreadyperfectly well acquainted with each other."
"Perfectly--perfectly," replied the Captain, in a mumbling tone, likethat of a double echo, and with a flourish of his hat, the circumferenceof which was greatly abridged, compared with those which had socordially graced his introduction to the Marquis and the Lord Keeper.
Lockhard, followed by three menials, now entered with wine andrefreshments, which it was the fashion to offer as a whet before dinner;and when they were placed before the guests, Lady Ashton made an apologyfor withdrawing her husband from them for some minutes upon business ofspecial import. The Marquis, of course, requested her ladyship would layherself under no restraint; and Craigengelt, bolting with speed a secondglass of racy canary, hastened to leave the room, feeling no greatpleasure in the prospect of being left alone with the Marquis of A----and the Master of Ravenswood; the presence of the former holding him inawe, and that of the latter in bodily terror.
Some arrangements about his horse and baggage formed the pretext forhis sudden retreat, in which he persevered, although Lady Ashton gaveLockhard orders to be careful most particularly to accommodate CaptainCraigengelt with all the attendance which he could possibly require. TheMarquis and the Master of Ravenswood were thus left to communicate toeach other their remarks upon the reception which they had met with,while Lady Ashton led the way, and her lord followed somewhat like acondemned criminal, to her ladyship's dressing-room.
So soon as the spouses had both entered, her ladyship gave way to thatfierce audacity of temper which she had with difficulty suppressed, outof respect to appearances. She shut the door behind the alarmed LordKeeper, took the key out of the spring-lock, and with a countenancewhich years had not bereft of its haughty charms, and eyes which spokeat once resolution and resentment, she addressed her astounded husbandin these words: "My lord, I am not greatly surprised at the connexionsyou have been pleased to form during my absence, they are entirely inconformity with your birth and breeding; and if I did expect anythingelse, I heartily own my error, and that I merit, by having done so, thedisappointment you had prepared for me."
"My dear Lady Ashton--my dear Eleanor [Margaret]," said the Lord Keeper,"listen to reason for a moment, and I will convince you I have actedwith all the regard due to the dignity, as well as the interest, of myfamily."
"To the interest of YOUR family I conceive you perfectly capable ofattending," returned the indignant lady, "and even to the dignity ofyour own family also, as far as it requires any looking after. But asmine happens to be inextricably involved with it, you will excuse me ifI choose to give my own attention so far as that is concerned."
"What would you have, Lady Ashton?" said the husband. "What is it thatdispleases you? Why is it that, on your return after so long an absence,I am arraigned in this manner?" "Ask your own conscience, Sir William,what has prompted you to become a renegade to your political party andopinions, and led you, for what I know, to be on the point of marryingyour only daughter to a beggarly Jacobite bankrupt, the inveterate enemyof your family to the boot."
"Why, what, in the name of common sense and common civility, would youhave me do, madam?" answered her husband. "Is it possible for me, withordinary decency, to turn a young gentleman out of my house, who savedmy daughter's life and my own, but the other morning, as it were?"
"Saved your life! I have heard of that story," said the lady. "The LordKeeper was scared by a dun cow, and he takes the young fellow who killedher for Guy of Warwick: any butcher from Haddington may soon have anequal claim on your hospitality."
"Lady Ashton," stammered the Keeper, "this is intolerable; and when I amdesirous, too, to make you easy by any sacrifice, if you would but tellme what you would be at."
"Go down to your guests," said the imperious dame, "and make yourapology to Ravenswood, that the arrival of Captain Craigengelt and
someother friends renders it impossible for you to offer him lodgings at thecastle. I expect young Mr. Hayston of Bucklaw."
"Good heavens, madam!" ejaculated her husband. "Ravenswood to give placeto Craigengelt, a common gambler and an informer! It was all I could doto forbear desiring the fellow to get out of my house, and I was muchsurprised to see him in your ladyship's train."
"Since you saw him there, you might be well assured," answered this meekhelpmate, "that he was proper society. As to this Ravenswood, he onlymeets with the treatment which, to my certain knowledge, he gave to amuch-valued friend of mine, who had the misfortune to be his guest sometime since. But take your resolution for, if Ravenswood does not quitthe house, I will."
Sir William Ashton paced up and down the apartment in the mostdistressing agitation fear, and shame, and anger contending against thehabitual deference he was in the use of rendering to his lady. At lengthit ended, as is usual with timid minds placed in such circumstances, inhis adopting a mezzo termine--a middle measure.
"I tell you frankly, madam, I neither can nor will be guilty of theincivility you propose to the Master of Ravenswood; he has not deservedit at my hand. If you will be so unreasonable as to insult a man ofquality under your own roof, I cannot prevent you; but I will not atleast be the agent in such a preposterous proceeding."
"You will not?" asked the lady.
"No, by heavens, madam!" her husband replied; "ask me anything congruentwith common decency, as to drop his acquaintance by degrees, or thelike; but to bid him leave my house is what I will nto and cannotconsent to."
"Then the task of supporting the honour of the family will fall on me,as it has often done before," said the lady.
She sat down, and hastily wrote a few lines. The Lord Keeper madeanother effort to prevent her taking a step so decisive, just as sheopened the door to call her female attendant from the ante-room. "Thinkwhat you are doing, Lady Ashton: you are making a mortal enemy of ayoung man who is like to have the means of harming us----"
"Did you ever know a Douglas who feared an enemy?" answered the lady,contemptuously.
"Ay, but he is as proud and vindictive as an hundred Douglasses, and anhundred devils to boot. Think of it for a night only."
"Not for another moment," answered the lady. "Here, Mrs. Patullo, givethis billet to young Ravenswood."
"To the Master, madam!" said Mrs. Patullo.
"Ay, to the Master, if you call him so."
"I wash my hands of it entirely," said the Keeper; "and I shall go downinto the garden, and see that Jardine gathers the winter fruit for thedessert."
"Do so," said the lady, looking after him with glances of infinitecontempt; "and thank God that you leave one behind you as fit to protectthe honour of the family as you are to look after pippins and pears."
The Lord Keeper remained long enough in the garden to give herladyship's mind time to explode, and to let, as he thought, at least thefirst violence of Ravenswood's displeasure blow over. When he enteredthe hall, he found the Marquis of A---- giving orders to some of hisattendants. He seemed in high displeasure, and interrupted an apologywhich Sir William had commenced for having left his lordship alone.
"I presume, Sir William, you are no stranger to this singular billetwith which MY kinsman of Ravenswood (an emphasis on the word 'my') hasbeen favoured by your lady; and, of course, that you are preparedto receive my adieus. My kinsman is already gone, having thought itunnecessary to offer any on his part, since all former civilities hadbeen cancelled by this singular insult."
"I protest, my lord," said Sir William, holding the billet in his hand,"I am not privy to the contents of this letter. I know Lady Ashton isa warm-tempered and prejudiced woman, and I am sincerely sorry for anyoffence that has been given or taken; but I hope your lordship willconsider that a lady----"
"Should bear herself towards persons of a certain rank with the breedingof one," said the Marquis, completing the half-uttered sentence.
"True, my lord," said the unfortunate Keeper; "but Lady Ashton is stilla woman----"
"And, as such, methinks," said the Marquis, again interrupting him,"should be taught the duties which correspond to her station. Buthere she comes, and I will learn from her own mouth the reason of thisextraordinary and unexpected affront offered to my near relation, whileboth he and I were her ladyship's guests."
Lady Ashton accordingly entered the apartment at this moment. Herdispute with Sir William, and a subsequent interview with her daughter,had not prevented her from attending to the duties of her toilette. Sheappeared in full dress; and, from the character of her countenance andmanner, well became the splendour with which ladies of quality thenappeared on such occasions.
The Marquis of A---- bowed haughtily, and she returned the salute withequal pride and distance of demeanour. He then took from the passivehand of Sir William Ashton the billet he had given him the moment beforehe approached the lady, and was about to speak, when she interruptedhim. "I perceive, my lord, you are about to enter upon an unpleasantsubject. I am sorry any such should have occurred at this time, tointerrupt in the slightest degree the respectful reception due to yourlordship; but so it is. Mr. Edgar Ravenswood, for whom I have addressedthe billet in your lordship's hand, has abused the hospitality of thisfamily, and Sir William Ashton's softness of temper, in order to seducea young person into engagements without her parents' consent, and ofwhich they never can approve."
Both gentlemen answered at once. "My kinsman is incapable----" said theLord Marquis.
"I am confident that my daughter Lucy is still more incapable----" saidthe Lord Keeper.
Lady Ashton at once interrupted and replied to them both: "My LordMarquis, your kinsman, if Mr. Ravenswood has the honour to be so, hasmade the attempt privately to secure the affections of this young andinexperienced girl. Sir William Ashton, your daughter has been simpleenough to give more encouragement than she ought to have done to so veryimproper a suitor."
"And I think, madam," said the Lord Keeper, losing his accustomed temperand patience, "that if you had nothing better to tell us, you had betterhave kept this family secret to yourself also."
"You will pardon me, Sir William," said the lady, calmly; "the nobleMarquis has a right to know the cause of the treatment I have found itnecessary to use to a gentleman whom he calls his blood-relation."
"It is a cause," muttered the Lord Keeper, "which has emerged since theeffect has taken place; for, if it exists at all, I am sure she knewnothing of it when her letter to Ravenswood was written."
"It is the first time that I have heard of this," said the Marquis;"but, since your ladyship has tabled a subject so delicate, permit meto say, that my kinsman's birth and connexions entitled him to a patienthearing, and at least a civil refusal, even in case of his being soambitious as to raise his eyes to the daughter of Sir William Ashton."
"You will recollect, my lord, of what blood Miss Lucy Ashton is come bythe mother's side," said the lady.
"I do remember your descent--from a younger branch of the house ofAngus," said the Marquis; "and your ladyship--forgive me, lady--oughtnot to forget that the Ravenswoods have thrice intermarried with themain stem. Come, madam, I know how matters stand--old and long-fosteredprejudices are difficult to get over, I make every allowance for them; Iought not, and I would not, otherwise have suffered my kinsman to departalone, expelled, in a manner, from this house, but I had hopes of beinga mediator. I am still unwilling to leave you in anger, and shall notset forward till after noon, as I rejoin the Master of Ravenswood uponthe road a few miles from hence. Let us talk over this matter morecoolly."
"It is what I anxiously desire, my lord," said Sir William Ashton,eagerly. "Lady Ashton, we will not permit my Lord of A---- to leave usin displeasure. We must compel him to tarry dinner at the castle."
"The castle," said the lady, "and all that it contains, are at thecommand of the Marquis, so long as he chooses to honour it with hisresidence; but touching the farther discussion of this disagreeabletopic----"
"Pardon me, good madam," said the Marquis; "but I cannot allow you toexpress any hasty resolution on a subject so important. I see that morecompany is arriving; and, since I have the good fortune to renew myformer acquaintance with Lady Ashton, I hope she will give me leave toavoid perilling what I prize so highly upon any disagreeable subject ofdiscussion--at least till we have talked over more pleasant topics."
The lady smiled, courtesied, and gave her hand to the Marquis, by whom,with all the formal gallantry of the time, which did not permit theguest to tuck the lady of the house under the arm, as a rustic does hissweetheart at a wake, she was ushered to the eating-room.
Here they were joined by Bucklaw, Craigengelt, and other neighbours,whom the Lord Keeper had previously invited to meet the Marquis ofA----. An apology, founded upon a slight indisposition, was allegedas an excuse for the absence of Miss Ashton, whose seat appearedunoccupied. The entertainment was splendid to profusion, and wasprotracted till a late hour.