The Abbot Read online

  Chapter the Twenty-Ninth.

  Pray God she prove not masculine ere long! KING HENRY VI.

  Dismissed from the old man's garden, Roland Graeme found that a grassypaddock, in which sauntered two cows, the property of the gardener,still separated him from the village. He paced through it, lost inmeditation upon the words of the Abbot. Father Ambrosius had, withsuccess enough, exerted over him that powerful influence which theguardians and instructors of our childhood possess over our more matureyouth. And yet, when Roland looked back upon what the father had said,he could not but suspect that he had rather sought to evade enteringinto the controversy betwixt the churches, than to repel the objectionsand satisfy the doubts which the lectures of Henderson had excited."For this he had no time," said the page to himself, "neither have I nowcalmness and learning sufficient to judge upon points of such magnitude.Besides, it were base to quit my faith while the wind of fortune setsagainst it, unless I were so placed, that my conversion, should it takeplace, were free as light from the imputation of self-interest. I wasbred a Catholic--bred in the faith of Bruce and Wallace--I will holdthat faith till time and reason shall convince me that it errs. Iwill serve this poor Queen as a subject should serve an imprisonedand wronged sovereign--they who placed me in her service have to blamethemselves--who sent me hither, a gentleman trained in the paths ofloyalty and honour, when they should have sought out some truckling,cogging, double-dealing knave, who would have been at once the observantpage of the Queen, and the obsequious spy of her enemies. Since I mustchoose betwixt aiding and betraying her, I will decide as becomes herservant and her subject; but Catherine Seyton--Catherine Seyton, belovedby Douglas and holding me on or off as the intervals of her leisure orcaprice will permit--how shall I deal with the coquette?--By heaven,when I next have an opportunity, she shall render me some reason for herconduct, or I will break with her for ever!"

  As he formed this doughty resolution, he crossed the stile which led outof the little enclosure, and was almost immediately greeted by Dr. LukeLundin.

  "Ha! my most excellent young friend," said the Doctor, "from whence comeyou?--but I note the place.--Yes, neighbour Blinkhoolie's garden is apleasant rendezvous, and you are of the age when lads look after a bonnylass with one eye, and a dainty plum with another. But hey! you looksubtriste and melancholic--I fear the maiden has proved cruel, or theplums unripe; and surely I think neighbour Blinkhoolie's damsons canscarcely have been well preserved throughout the winter--he spares thesaccharine juice on his confects. But courage, man, there are more Katesin Kinross; and for the immature fruit, a glass of my double distilled_aqua mirabilis--probatum est_."

  The page darted an ireful glance at the facetious physician; butpresently recollecting that the name Kate, which had provoked hisdispleasure, was probably but introduced for the sake of alliteration,he suppressed his wrath, and only asked if the wains had been heard of?

  "Why, I have been seeking for you this hour, to tell you that the stuffis in your boat, and that the boat waits your pleasure. Auchtermuchtyhad only fallen into company with an idle knave like himself, and astoup of aquavitae between them. Your boatmen lie on their oars, andthere have already been made two wefts from the warder's turret tointimate that those in the castle are impatient for your return. Yetthere is time for you to take a slight repast; and, as your friend andphysician, I hold it unfit you should face the water-breeze with anempty stomach."

  Roland Graeme had nothing for it but to return, with such cheer as hemight, to the place where his boat was moored on the beach, and resistedall offer of refreshment, although the Doctor promised that he shouldprelude the collation with a gentle appetizer--a decoction of herbs,gathered and distilled by himself. Indeed, as Roland had not forgottenthe contents of his morning cup, it is possible that the recollectioninduced him to stand firm in his refusal of all food, to which suchan unpalatable preface was the preliminary. As they passed towards theboat, (for the ceremonious politeness of the worthy Chamberlain wouldnot permit the page to go thither without attendance,) Roland Graeme,amidst a group who seemed to be assembled around a party of wanderingmusicians, distinguished, as he thought, the dress of Catherine Seyton.He shook himself clear from his attendant, and at one spring was inthe midst of the crowd, and at the side of the damsel. "Catherine," hewhispered, "is it well for you to be still here?--will you not return tothe castle?"

  "To the devil with your Catherines and your castles!" answered themaiden, snappishly; "have you not had time enough already to get rid ofyour follies? Begone! I desire not your farther company, and there willbe danger in thrusting it upon me."

  "Nay--but if there be danger, fairest Catherine," replied Roland; "whywill you not allow me to stay and share it with you?"

  "Intruding fool," said the maiden, "the danger is all on thine ownside--the risk in, in plain terms, that I strike thee on the mouth withthe hilt of my dagger." So saying, she turned haughtily from him,and moved through the crowd, who gave way in some astonishment at themasculine activity with which she forced her way among them.

  As Roland, though much irritated, prepared to follow, he was grappledon the other side by Doctor Luke Lundin, who reminded him of the loadedboat, of the two wefts, or signals with the flag, which had been madefrom the tower, of the danger of the cold breeze to an empty stomach,and of the vanity of spending more time upon coy wenches and sour plums.Roland was thus, in a manner, dragged back to his boat, and obliged tolaunch her forth upon his return to Lochleven Castle.

  That little voyage was speedily accomplished, and the page wasgreeted at the landing-place by the severe and caustic welcome of oldDryfesdale. "So, young gallant, you are come at last, after a delay ofsix hours, and after two signals from the castle? But, I warrant, someidle junketing hath occupied you too deeply to think of your serviceor your duty. Where is the note of the plate and household stuff?--PrayHeaven it hath not been diminished under the sleeveless care of so younga gad-about!"

  "Diminished under my care, Sir Steward!" retorted the page angrily; "sayso in earnest, and by Heaven your gray hair shall hardly protect yoursaucy tongue!"

  "A truce with your swaggering, young esquire," returned the steward; "wehave bolts and dungeons for brawlers. Go to my lady, and swagger beforeher, if thou darest--she will give thee proper cause of offence, for shehas waited for thee long and impatiently."

  "And where then is the Lady of Lochleven?" said the page; "for Iconceive it is of her thou speakest."

  "Ay--of whom else?" replied Dryfesdale; "or who besides the Lady ofLochleven hath a right to command in this castle?"

  "The Lady of Lochleven is thy mistress," said Roland Graeme; "but mineis the Queen of Scotland."

  The steward looked at him fixedly for a moment, with an air in whichsuspicion and dislike were ill concealed by an affectation of contempt."The bragging cock-chicken," he said, "will betray himself by his rashcrowing. I have marked thy altered manner in the chapel of late--ay, andyour changing of glances at meal-time with a certain idle damsel, who,like thyself, laughs at all gravity and goodness. There is somethingabout you, my master, which should be looked to. But, if you wouldknow whether the Lady of Lochleven, or that other lady, hath a rightto command thy service, thou wilt find them together in the Lady Mary'sante-room."

  Roland hastened thither, not unwilling to escape from the ill-naturedpenetration of the old man, and marvelling at the same time whatpeculiarity could have occasioned the Lady of Lochleven's being in theQueen's apartment at this time of the afternoon, so much contrary toher usual wont. His acuteness instantly penetrated the meaning. "Shewishes," he concluded, "to see the meeting betwixt the Queen and meon my return, that she may form a guess whether there is any privateintelligence or understanding betwixt us--I must be guarded."

  With this resolution he entered the parlour, where the Queen, seatedin her chair, with the Lady Fleming leaning upon the back of it, hadalready kept the Lady of Lochleven standing in her presence for thespace of nearly an hour, to the manif
est increase of her very visiblebad humour. Roland Graeme, on entering the apartment, made a deepobeisance to the Queen, and another to the Lady, and then stood still asif to await their farther question. Speaking almost together, the LadyLochleven said, "So, young man, you are returned at length?"

  And then stopped indignantly short, while the Queen went on withoutregarding her--"Roland, you are welcome home to us--you have proved thetrue dove and not the raven--Yet I am sure I could have forgiven you,if, once dismissed, from this water-circled ark of ours, you had neveragain returned to us. I trust you have brought back an olive-branch, forour kind and worthy hostess has chafed herself much on account ofyour long absence, and we never needed more some symbol of peace andreconciliation."

  "I grieve I should have been detained, madam," answered the page; "butfrom the delay of the person intrusted with the matters for which I wassent, I did not receive them till late in the day."

  "See you there now," said the Queen to the Lady Lochleven; "we could notpersuade you, our dearest hostess, that your household goods were in allsafe keeping and surety. True it is, that we can excuse your anxiety,considering that these august apartments are so scantily furnished, thatwe have not been able to offer you even the relief of a stool during thelong time you have afforded us the pleasure of your society."

  "The will, madam," said the lady, "the will to offer such accommodationwas more wanting than the means."

  "What!" said the Queen, looking round, and affecting surprise, "thereare then stools in this apartment--one, two--no less than four,including the broken one--a royal garniture!--We observed them not--willit please your ladyship to sit?"

  "No, madam, I will soon relieve you of my presence," replied the LadyLochleven; "and while with you, my aged limbs can still better brookfatigue, than my mind stoop to accept of constrained courtesy."

  "Nay, Lady of Lochleven, if you take it so deeply," said the Queen,rising and motioning to her own vacant chair, "I would rather youassumed my seat--you are not the first of your family who has done so."

  The Lady of Lochleven curtsied a negative, but seemed with muchdifficulty to suppress the angry answer which rose to her lips.

  During this sharp conversation, the page's attention had been almostentirely occupied by the entrance of Catherine Seyton, who came fromthe inner apartment, in the usual dress in which she attended upon theQueen, and with nothing in her manner which marked either the hurry orconfusion incident to a hasty change of disguise, or the conscious fearof detection in a perilous enterprise. Roland Graeme ventured to makeher an obeisance as she entered, but she returned it with an air of theutmost indifference, which, in his opinion, was extremelyinconsistent with the circumstances in which they stood towards eachother.--"Surely," he thought, "she cannot in reason expect to bully meout of the belief due to mine own eyes, as she tried to do concerningthe apparition in the hostelry of Saint Michael's--I will try ifI cannot make her feel that this will be but a vain task, and thatconfidence in me is the wiser and safer course to pursue."

  These thoughts had passed rapidly through his mind, when the Queen,having finished her altercation with the Lady of the castle, againaddressed him--"What of the revels at Kinross, Roland Graeme? Methoughtthey were gay, if I may judge from some faint sounds of mirth anddistant music, which found their way so far as these grated windows,and died when they entered them, as all that is mirthful must--Butthou lookest as sad as if thou hadst come from a conventicle of theHuguenots!"

  "And so perchance he hath, madam," replied the Lady of Lochleven, atwhom this side-shaft was lanched. "I trust, amid yonder idle fooleries,there wanted not some pouring forth of doctrine to a better purpose thanthat vain mirth, which, blazing and vanishing like the crackling of drythorns, leaves to the fools who love it nothing but dust and ashes."

  "Mary Fleming," said the Queen, turning round and drawing her mantleabout her, "I would that we had the chimney-grate supplied with a fagotor two of these same thorns which the Lady of Lochleven describes sowell. Methinks the damp air from the lake, which stagnates in thesevaulted rooms, renders them deadly cold."

  "Your Grace's pleasure shall be obeyed," said the Lady of Lochleven;"yet may I presume to remind you that we are now in summer?"

  "I thank you for the information, my good lady," said the Queen; "forprisoners better learn their calender from the mouth of their jailor,than from any change they themselves feel in the seasons.--Once more,Roland Graeme, what of the revels?"

  "They were gay, madam," said the page, "but of the usual sort, andlittle worth your Highness's ear."

  "Oh, you know not," said the Queen, "how very indulgent my ear hasbecome to all that speaks of freedom and the pleasures of the free.Methinks I would rather have seen the gay villagers dance their ringround the Maypole, than have witnessed the most stately masques withinthe precincts of a palace. The absence of stone-wall--the sense that thegreen turf is under the foot which may tread it free and unrestrained,is worth all that art or splendour can add to more courtly revels."

  "I trust," said the Lady Lochleven, addressing the page in her turn,"there were amongst these follies none of the riots or disturbances towhich they so naturally lead?"

  Roland gave a slight glance to Catherine Seyton, as if to bespeak herattention, as he replied,--"I witnessed no offence, madam, worthy ofmarking--none indeed of any kind, save that a bold damsel made herhand somewhat too familiar with the cheek of a player-man, and ran somehazard of being ducked in the lake."

  As he uttered these words he cast a hasty glance at Catherine; but shesustained, with the utmost serenity of manner and countenance, the hintwhich he had deemed could not have been thrown out before her withoutexciting some fear and confusion.

  "I will cumber your Grace no longer with my presence," said the LadyLochleven, "unless you have aught to command me."

  "Nought, our good hostess," answered the Queen, "unless it be to prayyou, that on another occasion you deem it not needful to postpone yourbetter employment to wait so long upon us."

  "May it please you," added the Lady Lochleven, "to command this yourgentleman to attend us, that I may receive some account of these matterswhich have been sent hither for your Grace's use?"

  "We may not refuse what you are pleased to require, madam," answered theQueen. "Go with the lady, Roland, if our commands be indeed necessaryto thy doing so. We will hear to-morrow the history of thy Kinrosspleasures. For this night we dismiss thy attendance."

  Roland Graeme went with the Lady of Lochleven, who failed not to askhim many questions concerning what had passed at the sports, to which herendered such answers as were most likely to lull asleep any suspicionswhich she might entertain of his disposition to favour Queen Mary,taking especial care to avoid all allusion to the apparition of MagdalenGraeme, and of the Abbot Ambrosius. At length, after undergoing a longand somewhat close examination, he was dismissed with such expressions,as, coming from the reserved and stern Lady of Lochleven, might seem toexpress a degree of favour and countenance.

  His first care was to obtain some refreshment, which was more cheerfullyafforded him by a good-natured pantler than by Dryfesdale, who was, onthis occasion, much disposed to abide by the fashion of Pudding-burnHouse, where

  They who came not the first call. Gat no more meat till the next meal.

  When Roland Graeme had finished his repast, having his dismissal fromthe Queen for the evening, and being little inclined for such societyas the castle afforded, he stole into the garden, in which he hadpermission to spend his leisure time, when it pleased him. In thisplace, the ingenuity of the contriver and disposer of the walks hadexerted itself to make the most of little space, and by screens, bothof stone ornamented with rude sculpture, and hedges of living green, hadendeavoured to give as much intricacy and variety as the confined limitsof the garden would admit.

  Here the young man walked sadly, considering the events of the day,and comparing what had dropped from the Abbot with what he had himselfnoticed of the demeanour of George Douglas. "It
must be so," was thepainful but inevitable conclusion at which he arrived. "It must be byhis aid that she is thus enabled, like a phantom, to transport herselffrom place to place, and to appear at pleasure on the mainland or onthe islet.--It must be so," he repeated once more; "with him she holds aclose, secret, and intimate correspondence, altogether inconsistent withthe eye of favour which she has sometimes cast upon me, and destructiveto the hopes which she must have known these glances have necessarilyinspired." And yet (for love will hope where reason despairs) thethought rushed on his mind, that it was possible she only encouragedDouglas's passion so far as might serve her mistress's interest, andthat she was of too frank, noble, and candid a nature, to hold outto himself hopes which she meant not to fulfil. Lost in these variousconjectures, he seated himself upon a bank of turf which commanded aview of the lake on the one side, and on the other of that front of thecastle along which the Queen's apartments were situated.

  The sun had now for some time set, and the twilight of May was rapidlyfading into a serene night. On the lake, the expanded water rose andfell, with the slightest and softest influence of a southern breeze,which scarcely dimpled the surface over which it passed. In the distancewas still seen the dim outline of the island of Saint Serf, once visitedby many a sandalled pilgrim, as the blessed spot trodden by a man ofGod--now neglected or violated, as the refuge of lazy priests, who hadwith justice been compelled to give place to the sheep and the heifersof a Protestant baron.

  As Roland gazed on the dark speck, amid the lighter blue of the waterswhich surrounded it, the mazes of polemical discussion again stretchedthemselves before the eye of the mind. Had these men justly sufferedtheir exile as licentious drones, the robbers, at once, and disgrace, ofthe busy hive? or had the hand of avarice and rapine expelled fromthe temple, not the ribalds who polluted, but the faithful priests whoserved the shrine in honour and fidelity? The arguments of Henderson,in this contemplative hour, rose with double force before him; and couldscarcely be parried by the appeal which the Abbot Ambrosius had madefrom his understanding to his feelings,--an appeal which he had feltmore forcibly amid the bustle of stirring life, than now when hisreflections were more undisturbed. It required an effort to divert hismind from this embarrassing topic; and he found that he best succeededby turning his eyes to the front of the tower, watching where atwinkling light still streamed from the casement of Catherine Seyton'sapartment, obscured by times for a moment as the shadow of the fairinhabitant passed betwixt the taper and the window. At length the lightwas removed or extinguished, and that object of speculation was alsowithdrawn from the eyes of the meditative lover. Dare I confess thefact, without injuring his character for ever as a hero of romance?These eyes gradually became heavy; speculative doubts on the subject ofreligious controversy, and anxious conjectures concerning the state ofhis mistress's affections, became confusedly blended together inhis musings; the fatigues of a busy day prevailed over the harassingsubjects of contemplation which occupied his mind, and he fell fastasleep.

  Sound were his slumbers, until they were suddenly dispelled by the irontongue of the castle-bell, which sent its deep and sullen sounds wideover the bosom of the lake, and awakened the echoes of Bennarty, thehill which descends steeply on its southern bank. Roland started up, forthis bell was always tolled at ten o'clock, as the signal for lockingthe castle gates, and placing the keys under the charge of theseneschal. He therefore hastened to the wicket by which the gardencommunicated with the building, and had the mortification, just as hereached it, to hear the bolt leave its sheath with a discordant crash,and enter the stone groove of the door-lintel. "Hold, hold," cried thepage, "and let me in ere you lock the wicket." The voice of Dryfesdalereplied from within, in his usual tone of embittered sullenness,"The hour is passed, fair master--you like not the inside of thesewalls--even make it a complete holiday, and spend the night as well asthe day out of bounds."

  "Open the door," exclaimed the indignant page, "or by Saint Giles I willmake thy gold chain smoke for it!"

  "Make no alarm here," retorted the impenetrable Dryfesdale, "but keepthy sinful oaths and silly threats for those that regard them--I do mineoffice, and carry the keys to the seneschal.--Adieu, my young master!the cool night air will advantage your hot blood."

  The steward was right in what he said; for the cooling breeze was verynecessary to appease the feverish fit of anger which Roland experienced,nor did the remedy succeed for some time. At length, after some hastyturns made through the garden, exhausting his passion in vain vows ofvengeance, Roland Graeme began to be sensible that his situation oughtrather to be held as matter of laughter than of serious resentment. Toone bred a sportsman, a night spent in the open air had in it little ofhardship, and the poor malice of the steward seemed more worthy of hiscontempt than his anger. "I would to God," he said, "that the grim oldman may always have contented himself with such sportive revenge. Heoften looks as he were capable of doing us a darker turn." Returning,therefore, to the turf-seat which he had formerly occupied, and whichwas partially sheltered by a trim fence of green holly, he drew hismantle around him, stretched himself at length on the verdant settle,and endeavoured to resume that sleep which the castle bell hadinterrupted to so little purpose.

  Sleep, like other earthly blessings, is niggard of its favours when mostcourted. The more Roland invoked her aid, the farther she fled from hiseyelids. He had been completely awakened, first, by the sounds of thebell, and then by his own aroused vivacity of temper, and he foundit difficult again to compose himself to slumber. At length, when hismind--was wearied out with a maze of unpleasing meditation, he succeededin coaxing himself into a broken slumber. This was again dispelled bythe voices of two persons who were walking in the garden, the sound ofwhose conversation, after mingling for some time in the page's dreams,at length succeeded in awaking him thoroughly. He raised himself fromhis reclining posture in the utmost astonishment, which the circumstanceof hearing two persons at that late hour conversing on the outside ofthe watchfully guarded Castle of Lochloven, was so well calculated toexcite. His first thought was of supernatural beings; his next, uponsome attempt on the part of Queen Mary's friends and followers; his lastwas, that George of Douglas, possessed of the keys, and having the meansof ingress and egress at pleasure, was availing himself of his officeto hold a rendezvous with Catherine Seyton in the castle garden. He wasconfirmed in this opinion by the tone of the voice, which asked in a lowwhisper, "whether all was ready?"