Waverley novels

WALTER SCOTT
BORN-1771
DIED -1532

Presented to the
LIBRARY of the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

K. G. Morden

THE
1EMPLE EDITION

OF THE

WAVERLEY
NOVELS

VOL. XXVII
THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL VOL. TWO

*-

I/, 2?

The FRONTISPIECE is from a drawing, by
Herbert Railton, of Allan Ramsay's House. Allan
•was famous as the author of the " Tea Table Miscellany"
of "which Scott says, "TAis book belonged to my grand-
father, Robert Scott, and out of it I ivas taught Hardi-
knute by heart before I could read the ballad myself.
It ivas the first poem I ever learnt — the last I shall
ever forget. "

THE
FORTUNES

OF

NIGEL

BY

WALTER.-SCOTT
BART

VOL.11

LONDON JMDENT
NEW- YORK- CHARLES -

THE
FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Knifegr'mdcr. Story? Lord bless you ! I have none to tell, sir

Poetry of the Antljacobin.

Chapter I

Mother. What ! dazzled by a flash of Cupid's mirror,
With which the boy, as mortal urchins wont,
Flings back the sunbeam in the eye of passengers —
Then laughs to see them stumble !

Daughter. Mother ! no —
It was a lightning-flash which dazzled me,
And never shall these eyes see true again.

Beef and Pudding.— An Old English Comedy.

IT is necessary that we should leave our hero
Nigel for a time, although in a situation neither
safe, comfortable, nor creditable, in order to detail
some particulars which have immediate connexion
with his fortunes.

It was but the third day after he had been
forced to take refuge in the house of old Trapbois,
the noted usurer of Whitefriars, commonly called
Golden Trapbois, when the pretty daughter of
old Ramsay, the watchmaker, after having piously
seen her father finish his breakfast, (from the fear
that he might, in an abstruse fit of thought, swallow
the salt-cellar instead of a crust of the brown loaf,)
set forth from the house as soon as he was again
plunged into the depth of calculation, and, accom-
panied only by that faithful old drudge, Janet, the
Scots laundress, to whom her whims were laws,
made her way to Lombard Street, and disturbed,

3

4 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

at the unusual hour of eight in the morning, Aunt
Judith, the sister of her worthy godfather.

The venerable maiden received her young visitor
with no great complacency ; for, naturally enough,
she had neither the same admiration of her very
pretty countenance, nor allowance for her foolish
and girlish impatience of temper, which Master
George Heriot entertained. Still Mistress Mar-
garet was a favourite of her brother's, whose will
was to Aunt Judith a supreme law ; and she con-
tented herself with asking her untimely visitor,
" what she made so early with her pale, chitty face,
in the streets of London ? "

"I would speak with the Lady Hermione,"
answered the almost breathless girl, while the blood
ran so fast to her face as totally to remove the
objection of paleness which Aunt Judith had made
to her complexion.

"With the Lady Hermione?" said Aunt Judith
— " with the Lady Hermione ? and at this time in
the morning, when she will scarce see any of the
family, even at seasonable hours ? You are crazy,
you silly wench, or you abuse the indulgence which
my brother and the lady have shown to you."

" Indeed, indeed I have not," repeated Margaret,
struggling to retain the unbidden tear which seemed
ready to burst out on the slightest occasion. " Do
but say to the lady that your brother's god-daughter
desires earnestly to speak to her, and I know she
will not refuse to see me."

Aunt Judith bent an earnest, suspicious, and
inquisitive glance on her young visitor, "You might
make me your secretary, my lassie," she said, " as
well as the Lady Hermione. I am older, and

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 5

better skilled to advise. I live more in the world
than one who shuts herself up within four rooms,
and I have the better means to assist you."

" O ! no — no — no," said Margaret, eagerly, and
witli more earnest sincerity than complaisance;
"there are some things to which you cannot advise
me, Aunt Judith. It is a case — pardon me, my
dear aunt — a case beyond your counsel."

" I am glad on't, maiden," said Aunt Judith,
somewhat angrily ; " for I think the follies of the
young people of this generation would drive mad
an old brain like mine. Here you come on the
viretot, through the whole streets of London, to
talk some nonsense to a lady, who scarce sees God's
sun, but when he shines on a brick wall. But I
will tell her you are here."

She went away, and shortly returned with a dry
— " Mistress Marget, the lady will be glad to see
you ; and that's more, my young madam, than you
had a right to count upon."

Mistress Margaret hung her head in silence, too
much perplexed by the train of her own embarrassed
thoughts, for attempting either to conciliate Aunt
Judith's kindness, or, which on other occasions
would have been as congenial to her own humour,
to retaliate on her cross-tempered remarks and
manner. She followed Aunt Judith, therefore, in
silence and dejection, to the strong oaken door
which divided the Lady Hermione's apartments
from the rest of George Heriot's spacious house.

At the door of this sanctuary it is necessary to
pause, in order to correct the reports with which
Richie Moniplies had filled his master's -ar, re-
specting the singular appearance of that lady's

6 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

attendance at prayers, whom we now own to be
by name the Lady Hermione. Some part of these
exaggerations had been communicated to the worthy
Scotsman by Jenkin Vincent, who was well experi-
enced in the species of wit which has been long
a favourite in the city, under the names of cross-
biting, giving the dor, bamboozling, cramming,
hoaxing, humbugging, and quizzing; for which
sport Richie Moniplies, with his solemn gravity,
totally unapprehensive of a joke, and his natural
propensity to the marvellous, formed an admirable
subject. Farther ornaments the tale had received
from Richie himself, whose tongue, especially when
oiled with good liquor, had a considerable tendency
to amplification, and who failed not, while he re-
tailed to his master all the wonderful circumstances
narrated by Vincent, to add to them many con-
jectures of his own, which his imagination had
over-hastily converted into facts.

Yet the life which the Lady Hermione had led
for two years, during which she had been the inmate
of George Heriot's house, was so singular, as almost
to sanction many of the wild reports which went
abroad. The house which the worthy goldsmith
inhabited, had in former times belonged to a powerful
and wealthy baronial family, which, during the reign
of Henry VIII., terminated in a dowager lady,
very wealthy, very devout, and most unalienably
attached to the Catholic faith. The chosen friend
of the Honourable Lady Foljambe was the Abbess
of Saint Roque's Nunnery, like herself a consci-
entious, rigid, and devoted Papist. When the house
of Saint Roque was despotically dissolved by the
fiat of the impetuous monarch, the Lady Foljambe

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 7

received her friend into her spacious mansion,
together with two vestal sisters, who, like their
Abbess, were determined to follow the tenor of
their vows, instead of embracing the profane liberty
which the Monarch's will had thrown in their
choice. For their residence, the Lady Foljambe
contrived, with all secrecy — for Henry might not
have relished her interference — to set apart a suite
of four rooms, with a little closet fitted up as an
oratory, or chapel ; the whole apartments fenced
by a strong oaken door to exclude strangers, and
accommodated with a turning wheel to receive
necessaries, according to the practice of all nunneries.
In this retreat, the Abbess of Saint Roque and her
attendants passed many years, communicating only
with the Lady Foljambe, who, in virtue of their
prayers, and of the support she afforded them,
accounted herself little less than a saint on earth.
The Abbess, fortunately for herself, died before
her munificent patroness, who lived deep in Queen
Elizabeth's time, ere she was summoned by fate.

The Lady Foljambe was succeeded in this
mansion by a sour fanatic knight, a distant and
collateral relation, who claimed the same merit
for expelling the priestess of Baal, which his pre-
decessor had founded on maintaining the votaresses
of Heaven. Of the two unhappy nuns, driven from
their ancient refuge, one went beyond sea ; the
other, unable from old age to undertake such a
journey, died under the roof of a faithful Catholic
widow of low degree. Sir Paul Crambagge, having
got rid of the nuns, spoiled the chapel of its orna-
ments, and had thoughts of altogether destroying the
rtments, until checked by the reflection that the

apartments, ur

8 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

operation would be an unnecessary expense, since
he only inhabited three rooms of the large mansion,
and had not therefore the slightest occasion for any
addition to its accommodations. His son proved a
waster and a prodigal, and from him the house was
bought by our friend George Heriot, who, finding,
like Sir Paul, the house more than sufficiently
ample for his accommodation, left the Foljambe
apartments, or Saint Roque's rooms, as they were
called, in the state in which he found them.

About two years and a half before our history
opened, when Heriot was absent upon an expedi-
tion to the Continent, he sent special orders to his
sister and his cash-keeper, directing that the Fol-
jambe apartments should be fitted up handsomely,
though plainly, for the reception of a lady, who
would make them her residence for some time ; and
who would live more or less with his own family
according to her pleasure. He also directed, that
the necessary repairs should be made with secrecy,
and that as little should be said as possible upon
the subject of his letter.

When the time of his return came nigh, Aunt
Judith and the household were on the tenter-hooks
of impatience. Master George came, as he had
intimated, accompanied by a lady, so eminently
beautiful, that, had it not been for her extreme and
uniform paleness, she might have been reckoned
one of the loveliest creatures on earth. She had
with her an attendant, or humble companion, whose
business seemed only to wait upon her. This
person, a reserved woman, and by her dialect a
foreigner, aged about fifty, was called by the lady
Monna Paula, and by Master Heriot, and others,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 9

Mademoiselle Pauline. She slept in the same room
with her patroness at night, ate in her apartment,
and was scarcely ever separated from her during
the day.

These females took possession of the nunnery of
the devout Abbess, and, without observing the
same rigorous seclusion, according to the letter,
seemed wellnigh to restore the apartments to the
use to which they had been originally designed.
The new inmates lived and took their meals apart
from the rest of the family. With the domestics
Lady Hermione, for so she was termed, held no
communication, and Mademoiselle Pauline only
such as was indispensable, which she dispatched as
briefly as possible. Frequent and liberal largesses
reconciled the servants to this conduct ; and they
were in the habit of observing to each other, that
to do a service for Mademoiselle Pauline, was like
finding a fairy treasure.

To Aunt Judith the Lady Hermione was kind
and civil, but their intercourse was rare ; on which
account the elder lady felt some pangs both of
curiosity and injured dignity. But she knew her
brother so well, and loved him so dearly, that his
will, once expressed, might be truly said to become
her own. The worthy citizen was not without a
spice of the dogmatism which grows on the best
disposition, when a word is a law to all around.
Master George did not endure to be questioned by
his family, and, when he had generally expressed
his will, that the Lady Hermione should live in the
way most agreeable to her, and that no enquiries
should be made concerning her history, or her
motives for observing such strict seclusion, his

io THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

sister well knew that he would have been seriously
displeased with any attempt to pry into the secret.

But, though Heriot's servants were bribed, and
his sister awed into silent acquiescence in these
arrangements, they were not of a nature to escape
the critical observation of the neighbourhood.
Some opined that the wealthy goldsmith was about
to turn papist, and re-establish Lady Foljambe's
nunnery — others that he was going mad — others
that he was either going to marry, or to do worse.
Master George's constant appearance at church, and
the knowledge that the supposed votaress always
attended when the prayers of the English ritual
were read in the family, liberated him from the
first of these suspicions ; those who had to transact
business with him upon 'Change, could not doubt
the soundness of Master Heriot's mind; and, to
confute the other rumours, it was credibly reported
by such as made the matter their particular interest,
that Master George Heriot never visited his guest
but in presence of Mademoiselle Pauline, who sat
with her work in a remote part of the same room in
which they conversed. It was also ascertained that
these visits scarcely ever exceeded an hour in length,
and were usually only repeated once a- week, an inter-
course too brief and too long interrupted, to render
it probable that love was the bond of their union.

The enquirers were, therefore, at fault, and com-
pelled to relinquish the pursuit of Master Heriot's
secret, while a thousand ridiculous tales were cir-
culated amongst the ignorant and superstitious,
with some specimens of which our friend Richie
Moniplies had been crammed, as we have seen, by
the malicious apprentice of worthy David Ramsay.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 11

There was one person in the world who, it was
thought, could (if she would) have said more of the
Lady Hermione than any one in London, except
George Heriot himself; and that was the said
David Ramsay's only child, Margaret.

This girl was not much past the age of fifteen
when the Lady Hermione first came to England,
and was a very frequent visitor at her godfather's,
who was much amused by her childish sallies, and
by the wild and natural beauty with which she sung
the airs of her native country. Spoilt she was on
all hands ; by the indulgence of her godfather, the
absent habits and indifference of her father, and the
deference of all around to her caprices, as a beauty
and as an heiress. But though, from these circum-
stances, the city-beauty had become as wilful, as
capricious, and as affected, as unlimited indulgence
seldom fails to render those to whom it is extended ;
and although she exhibited upon many occasions
that affectation of extreme shyness, silence, and
reserve, which misses in their teens are apt to take
for an amiable modesty ; and, upon others, a con-
siderable portion of that flippancy, which youth
sometimes confounds with wit, Mistress Margaret
had much real shrewdness and judgment, which
wanted only opportunities of observation to refine it
— a lively, good-humoured, playful disposition, and
an excellent heart. Her acquired follies were much
increased by reading plays and romances, to which
she devoted a great deal of her time, and from
which she adopted ideas as different as possible from
those which she might have obtained from the in-
valuable and affectionate instructions of an excellent
mother ; and the freaks of which she was some-

12 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

times guilty, rendered her not unjustly liable to
the charge of affectation and coquetry. But the
little lass had sense and shrewdness enough to keep
her failings out of sight of her godfather, to
whom she was sincerely attached ; and so high she
stood in his favour, that, at his recommendation,
she obtained permission to visit the recluse Lady
Hermione.

The singular mode of life which that lady
observed ; her great beauty, rendered even more
interesting by her extreme paleness ; the conscious
pride of being admitted farther than the rest of the
world into the society of a person who was wrapped
in so much mystery, made a deep impression on the
mind of Margaret Ramsay ; and though their con-
versations were at no time either long or con-
fidential, yet, proud of the trust reposed in her,
Margaret was as secret respecting their tenor as if
every word repeated had been to cost her life. No
enquiry, however artfully backed by flattery and
insinuation, whether on the part of Dame Ursula,
or any other person equally inquisitive, could wring
from the little maiden one word of what she heard
or saw, after she entered these mysterious and
secluded apartments. The slightest question con-
cerning Master Heriot's ghost, was sufficient, at
her gayest moment, to check the current of her
communicative prattle, and render her silent.

We mention this, chiefly to illustrate the early
strength of Margaret's character — a strength con-
cealed under a hundred freakish whims and humours,
as an ancient and massive buttress is disguised by its
fantastic covering of ivy and wild-flowers. In truth,
if the damsel had toid all she heard or saw within

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 13

the Foljambe apartments, she would have said but
little to gratify the curiosity of enquirers.

At the earlier period of their acquaintance, the
Lady Hermione was wont to reward the attentions
of her little friend with small but elegant presents,
and entertain her by a display of foreign rarities
and curiosities, many of them of considerable value.
Sometimes the time was passed in a way much less
agreeable to Margaret, by her receiving lessons from
Pauline in the use of the needle. But, although her
preceptress practised these arts with a dexterity then
only known in foreign convents, the pupil proved
so incorrigibly idle and awkward, that the task of
needle-work was at length given up, and lessons of
music substituted in their stead. Here also Pauline
was excellently qualified as an instructress, and
Margaret, more successful in a science for which
Nature had gifted her, made proficiency both in
vocal and instrumental music. These lessons passed
in presence of the Lady Hermione, to whom they
seemed to give pleasure. She sometimes added
her own voice to the performance, in a pure, clear
stream of liquid melody ; but this was only when
the music was of a devotional cast. As Margaret
became older, her communications with the recluse
assumed a different character. She was allowed, if
not encouraged, to tell whatever she had remarked
out of doors, and the Lady Hermione, while she
remarked the quick, sharp, and retentive powers of
observation possessed by her young friend, often
found sufficient reason to caution her against rash-
ness in forming opinions, and giddy petulance in
expressing them.

The habitual awe with which she regarded this

14 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

singular personage, induced Mistress Margaret,
though by no means delighting in contradiction or
reproof, to listen with patience to her admonitions,
and to make full allowance for the good intentions
of the patroness by whom they were bestowed ;
although in her heart she could hardly conceive
how Madame Hermione, who never stirred from
the Foljambe apartments, should think of teaching
knowledge of the world to one who walked twice
a-week between Temple-Bar and Lombard Street,
besides parading in the Park every Sunday that
proved to be fair weather. Indeed, pretty Mistress
Margaret was so little inclined to endure such
remonstrances, that her intercourse with the in-
habitants of the Foljambe apartments would have
probably slackened as her circle of acquaintance
increased in the external world, had she not, on the
one hand, entertained an habitual reverence for her
monitress, of which she could not divest herself,
and been flattered, on the other, by being to a
certain degree the depository of a confidence for
which others thirsted in vain. Besides, although the
conversation of Hermione was uniformly serious,
it was not in general either formal or severe ; nor
was the lady offended by flights of levity which
Mistress Margaret sometimes ventured on in her
presence, even when they were such as made
Monna Paula cast her eyes upwards, and sigh with
that compassion which a devotee extends towards
the votaries of a trivial and profane world. Thus,
upon the whole, the little maiden was disposed to
submit, though not without some wincing, to the
grave admonitions of the Lady Hermione; and
the rather that the mystery annexed to the person

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 15

of her monitress was in her mind early associated
with a vague idea of wealth and importance, which
had been rather confirmed than lessened by many
accidental circumstances which she had noticed since
she was more capable of observation.

It frequently happens, that the counsel which we
reckon intrusive when offered to us unasked, becomes
precious in our eyes when the pressure of difficulties
renders us more diffident of our own judgment than
we are apt to find ourselves in the hours of ease and
indifference ; and this is more especially the case if
we suppose that our adviser may also possess power
and inclination to back his counsel with effectual
assistance. Mistress Margaret was now in that
situation. She was, or believed herself to be, in a
condition where both advice and assistance might
be necessary ; and it was therefore, after an anxious
and sleepless night, that she resolved to have recourse
to the Lady Hermione, who she knew would readily
afford her the one, and, as she hoped, might also
possess means of giving her the other. The conversa-
tion between them will best explain the purport of
the visit.

Chapter II

By this good light, a wench of matchless mettle !
This were a leaguer-lass to love a soldier,
To bind his wounds, and kiss his bloody brow,
And sing a roundel as she help'd to arm him,
Though the rough foeman's drums were beat so nigh,
They seem'd to bear the burden.

Old Play.

WHEN Mistress Margaret entered the Foljambe
apartment, she found the inmates employed in their

16 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

usual manner ; the lady in reading, and her attendant
in embroidering a large piece of tapestry, which had
occupied her ever since Margaret had been first
admitted within these secluded chambers.

Hermione nodded kindly to her visitor, but did
not speak ; and Margaret, accustomed to this recep-
tion, and in the present case not sorry for it, as it
gave her an interval to collect her thoughts, stooped
over Monna Paula's frame and observed, in a half
whisper, " You were just so far as that rose, Monna,
when I first saw you — see, there is the mark where
I had the bad luck to spoil the flower in trying to
catch the stitch — I was little above fifteen then.
These flowers make me an old woman, Monna
Paula."

" I wish they could make you a wise one, my
child," answered Monna Paula, in whose esteem
pretty Mistress Margaret did not stand quite so high
as in that of her patroness ; partly owing to her
natural austerity, which was something intolerant of
youth and gaiety, and partly to the jealousy with
which a favourite domestic regards any one whom
she considers as a sort of rival in the affections of
her mistress.

" What is it you say to Monna, little one ? "
asked the lady.

"Nothing, madam," replied Mistress Margaret,
" but that I have seen the real flowers blossom
three times over since I first saw Monna Paula
working in her canvass garden, and her violets have
not budded yet."

" True, lady-bird," replied Hermione ; " but the
buds that are longest in blossoming will last the
longest in flower. You have seen them in the garden

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 17

bloom thrice, but you have seen them fade thrice
also ; now, Monna Paula's will remain in blow for
ever — they will fear neither frost nor tempest/'

"True, madam," answered Mistress Margaret;
" but neither have they life or odour."

"That, little one," replied the recluse, "is to
compare a life agitated by hope and fear, and
chequered with success and disappointment, and
fevered by the effects of love and hatred, a life of
passion and of feeling, saddened and shortened by
its exhausting alternations, to a calm and tranquil
existence, animated but by a sense of duties, and
only employed, during its smooth and quiet course,
in the unwearied discharge of them. Is that the
moral of your answer ? "

" I do not know, madam," answered Mistress
Margaret ; " but, of all birds in the air, I would
rather be the lark, that sings while he is drifting
down the summer breeze, than the weathercock
that sticks fast yonder upon his iron perch, and just
moves so much as to discharge his duty, and tell
us which way the wind blows."

" Metaphors are no arguments, my pretty maiden,"
said the Lady Hermione, smiling.

" I am sorry for that, madam," answered
Margaret ; " for they are such a pretty indirect
way of telling one's mind when it differs from
one's betters — besides, on this subject there is no
end of them, and they are so civil and becoming
withal."

"Indeed?" replied the lady; "let me hear
some of them, 1 pray you."

" It would be, for example, very bold in me,"
said Margaret, " to say to your ladyship, that,
27 b

18 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

rather than live a quiet life, I would like a little
variety of hope and fear, and liking and disliking —
and — and — and the other sort of feelings which your
ladyship is pleased to speak of; but I may say freely,
and without blame, that I like a butterfly better than
a beetle, or a trembling aspen better than a grim
Scots fir, that never wags a leaf — or that of all the
wood, brass, and wire that ever my father's fingers
put together, I do hate and detest a certain huge
old clock of the German fashion, that rings hours
and half hours, and quarters and half quarters, as
if it were of such consequence that the world should
know it was wound up and going. Now, dearest
lady, I wish you would only compare that clumsy,
clanging, Dutch-looking piece of lumber, with the
beautiful timepiece that Master Heriot caused my
father to make for your ladyship, which uses to
play a hundred merry tunes, and turns out, when it
strikes the hour, a whole band of morrice-dancers,
to trip the hays to the measure."

" And which of these timepieces goes the truest,
Margaret ? " said the lady.

"I must confess the old Dutchman has the
advantage in that " — said Margaret. " I fancy
you are right, madam, and that comparisons are
no arguments ; at least mine has not brought me
through."

"Upon my word, maiden Margaret," said the
lady, smiling, " you have been of late thinking very
much of these matters."

" Perhaps too much, madam," said Margaret, so
low as only to be heard by the lady, behind the
back of whose chair she had now placed herself.
The words were spoken very gravely, and accom-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 19

panied by a half sigh, which did not escape the
attention of her to whom they were addressed. The
Lady Hermione turned immediately round, and
looked earnestly at Margaret, then paused for a
moment, and, finally, commanded Monna Paula to
carry her frame and embroidery into the ante-
chamber. When they were left alone, she desired
her young friend to come from behind the chair,
on the back of which she still rested, and sit down
beside her upon a stool.

" I will remain thus, madam, under your favour,"
answered Margaret, without changing her posture ;
" I would rather you heard me without seeing me.'*

'* In God's name, maiden," returned her patroness,
" what is it you can have to say, that may not be
uttered face to face, to so true a friend as I am ?"

Without making any direct answer, Margaret
only replied, " You were right, dearest lady, when
you said, I had suffered my feelings too much to
engross me of late. I have done very wrong, and
you will be angry with me — so will my godfather,
but I cannot help it — he must be rescued."

" He ? " repeated the lady, with emphasis ;
" that brief little word does, indeed, so far explain
your mystery ; — but come from behind the chair,
you silly popinjay ! I will wager you have suffered
yonder gay young apprentice to sit too near your
heart. I have not heard you mention young Vin-
cent for many a day — perhaps he has not been out
of mouth and out of mind both. Have you been
so foolish as to let him speak to you seriously ? —
I am told he is a bold youth."

" Not bold enough to say any thing that could
displease me, madam," said Margaret.

20 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Perhaps, then, you were not displeased,'* said
the lady ; " or perhaps he has not spoken, which
would be wiser and better. Be open-hearted, my
love — your godfather will soon return, and we will
take him into our consultations. If the young man
is industrious, and come of honest parentage, his
poverty may be no such insurmountable obstacle.
But you are both of you very young, Margaret —
I know your godfather will expect, that the youth
shall first serve out his apprenticeship."

Margaret had hitherto suffered the lady to pro-
ceed, under the mistaken impression which she had
adopted, simply because she could not tell how to
interrupt her ; but pure despite at hearing her last
words gave her boldness at length to say, " I crave
your pardon, madam ; but neither the youth you
mention, nor any apprentice or master within the
city of London "

"Margaret," said the lady, in reply, "the con-
temptuous tone with which you mention those of
your own class, (many hundreds if not thousands
of whom are in all respects better than yourself,
and would greatly honour you by thinking of you,)
is, methinks, no warrant for the wisdom of your
choice — for a choice, it seems, there is. Who is it,
maiden, to whom you have thus rashly attached
yourself? — rashly, I fear it must be."

" It is the young Scottish Lord Glenvarloch,
madam," answered Margaret, in a low and modest
tone, but sufficiently firm, considering the subject.

" The young Lord of Glenvarloch ! " repeated
the lady, in great surprise — " Maiden, you are dis-
tracted in your wits."

" I knew you would say so, madam," answered

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 21

Margaret. " It is what another person has already
told me — it is, perhaps, what all the world would
tell me — it is what I am sometimes disposed to tell
myself. But look at me, madam, for I will now
come before you, and tell me if there is madness or
distraction in my look and word, when I repeat to
you again, that I have fixed my affections on this
young nobleman."

"If there is not madness in your look or word,
maiden, there is infinite folly in what you say,"
answered the Lady Hermione, sharply. " When
did you ever hear that misplaced love brought any
thing but wretchedness ? Seek a match among your
equals, Margaret, and escape the countless kinds
of risk and misery that must attend an affec-
tion beyond your degree. — Why do you smile,
maiden ? Is there aught to cause scorn in what
I say ? "

" Surely no, madam," answered Margaret. " I
only smiled to think how it should happen, that,
while rank made such a wide difference between
creatures formed from the same clay, the wit of the
vulgar should, nevertheless, jump so exactly the
same length with that of the accomplished and the
exalted. It is but the variation of the phrase which
divides them. Dame Ursley told me the very same
thing which your ladyship has but now uttered ;
only you, madam, talk of countless misery, and
Dame Ursley spoke of the gallows, and Mistress
Turner, who was hanged upon it."

"Indeed?" answered the Lady Hermione; "and
who may Dame Ursley be, that your wise choice
has associated with me in the difficult task of advis-
ing a fool ? "

22 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" The barber's wife at next door, madam,"
answered Margaret, with feigned simplicity, but far
from being sorry at heart, that she had found an
indirect mode of mortifying her monitress. " She
is the wisest woman that I know, next to your
ladyship."

"A proper confidant," said the lady, "and
chosen with the same delicate sense of what is due
to yourself and others ! — But what ails you, maiden
— where are you going ? "

"Only to ask Dame Ursley's advice," said
Margaret, as if about to depart ; " for I see your
ladyship is too angry to give me any, and the
emergency is pressing."

" What emergency, thou simple one ? " said the
lady, in a kinder tone. — " Sit down, maiden, and
tell me your tale. It is true you are a fool, and a
pettish fool to boot ; but then you are a child — an
amiable child, with all your self-willed folly, and
we must help you, if we can. — Sit down, I say, as
you are desired, and you will find me a safer and
wiser counsellor than the barber-woman. And tell
me how you come to suppose, that you have fixed
your heart unalterably upon a man whom you have
seen, as I think, but once."

" I have seen him oftener," said the damsel,
looking down ; " but I have only spoken to him
once. I should have been able to get that once out
of my head, though the impression was so deep,
that I could even now repeat every trifling word he
said ; but other things have since riveted it in my
bosom for ever."

" Maiden," replied the lady, "/or ever is the
word which comes most lightly on the lips in such

I

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 23

ircumstances, but which, not the less, is almost the
last that we should use. The fashion of this world,
its passions, its joys, and its sorrows, pass away
like the winged breeze — there is nought for ever
but that which belongs to the world beyond the
grave."

" You have corrected me justly, madam," said
Margaret, calmly ; " I ought only to have spoken
of my present state of mind, as what will last me
for my lifetime, which unquestionably may be but
short."

" And what is there in this Scottish lord that
can rivet what concerns him so closely in your
fancy?" said the lady. "I admit him a person-
able man, for I have seen him ; and I will suppose
him courteous and agreeable. But what are his
accomplishments besides, for these surely are not
uncommon attributes ? "

" He is unfortunate, madam — most unfortunate
— and surrounded by snares of different kinds,
ingeniously contrived to ruin his character, destroy
his estate, and, perhaps, to reach even his life.
These schemes have been devised by avarice
originally, but they are now followed close by
vindictive ambition, animated, I think, by the
absolute and concentrated spirit of malice ; for the

Lord Dalgarno "

" Here, Monna Paula — Monna Paula ! " ex-
claimed the Lady Hermione, interrupting her
young friend's narrative. " She hears me not,"
she answered, rising and going out, " I must seek
her — I will return instantly." She returned accord-
ingly very soon after. " You mentioned a name
which 1 thought was familiar to me," she said ;

24 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" but Monna Paula has put me right. I know
nothing of your lord — how was it you named
him?"

" Lord Dalgarno," said Margaret ; — " the
wickedest man who lives. Under pretence of
friendship, he introduced the Lord Glenvarloch to
a gambling- house with the purpose of engaging him
in deep play ; but he with whom the perfidious
traitor had to deal, was too virtuous, moderate, and
cautious, to be caught in a snare so open. What
did they next, but turn his own moderation against
him, and persuade others that, because he would
not become the prey of wolves, he herded with
them for a share of their booty ! And, while this
base Lord Dalgarno was thus undermining his
unsuspecting countryman, he took every measure
to keep him surrounded by creatures of his own,
to prevent him from attending Court, and mixing
with those of his proper rank. Since the Gun-
powder Treason, there never was a conspiracy more
deeply laid, more basely and more deliberately
pursued."

The lady smiled sadly at Margaret's vehemence,
but sighed the next moment, while she told her
young friend how little she knew the world she was
about to live in, since she testified so much surprise
at finding it full of villainy.

" But by what means," she added, " could you,
maiden, become possessed of the secret views of a
man so cautious as Lord Dalgarno — as villains in
general are ? "

" Permit me to be silent on that subject,"
said the maiden ; " I could not tell you without
betraying others — let it suffice that my tidings are

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 25

as certain as the means by which I acquired them
are secret and sure. But I must not tell them even
to you."

"You are too bold, Margaret," said the lady,
"to traffic in such matters at your early age. It
is not only dangerous, but even unbecoming and
unmaidenly."

" I knew you would say that also," said
Margaret, with more meekness and patience than
she usually showed on receiving reproof; " but,
God knows, my heart acquits me of every other
reeling save that of the wish to assist this most
innocent and betrayed man. — I contrived to send
him warning of his friend's falsehood ; — alas ! my
care has only hastened his utter ruin, unless speedy
aid be found. He charged his false friend with
treachery, and drew on him in the Park, and is
now liable to the fatal penalty due for breach of
privilege of the King's palace."

" This is indeed an extraordinary tale," said
Hermione; "is Lord Glenvarloch then in prison?"

" No, madam, thank God, but in the Sanctuary
at Whitefriars — it is matter of doubt whether it
will protect him in such a case — they speak of a
warrant from the Lord Chief Justice — A gentle-
man of the Temple has been arrested, and is in
trouble, for having assisted him in his flight. —
Even his taking temporary refuge in that base place,
though from extreme necessity, will be used to the
further defaming him. All this I know, and yet I
cannot rescue him — cannot rescue him save by your
means."

" By my means, maiden ? " said the lady — " you
are beside yourself! — What means can I possess

26 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

in this secluded situation, of assisting this unfortu-
nate nobleman ? "

" You have means," said Margaret, eagerly ;
"you have those means, unless I mistake greatly,
which can do any thing — can do every thing, in this
city, in this world — you have wealth, and the com-
mand of a small portion of it will enable me to
extricate him from his present danger. He will
be enabled and directed how to make his escape —
and I " she paused.

" Will accompany him, doubtless, and reap the
fruits of your sage exertions in his behalf?" said
the Lady Hermione, ironically.

" May Heaven forgive you the unjust thought,
lady," answered Margaret. " I will never see him
more — but I shall have saved him, and the thought
will make me happy."

"A cold conclusion to so bold and warm a
flame," said the lady, with a smile which seemed
to intimate incredulity.

" It is, however, the only one which I expect,
madam — I could almost say the only one which I
wish — I am sure I will use no efforts to bring about
any other ; if I am bold in his cause, I am timorous
enough in my own. During our only interview I
was unable to speak a word to him. He knows not
the sound of my voice — and all that I have risked,
and must yet risk, I am doing for one, who, were
he asked the question, would say he has long since
forgotten that he ever saw, spoke to, or sat beside,
a creature of so little signification as I am."

" This is a strange and unreasonable indulgence
of a passion equally fanciful and dangerous," said
the Lady Hermione.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 27

" You will not assist me, then ? " said Margaret ;
" have good-day then, madam — my secret, I trust,
is safe in such honourable keeping."

"Tarry yet a little," said the lady, "and tell
me what resource you have to assist this youth,
if you were supplied with money to put it in
motion."

" It is superfluous to ask me the question, madam,"
answered Margaret, " unless you purpose to assist
me ; and, if you do so purpose, it is still superfluous.
You could not understand the means I must use,
and time is too brief to explain."

" But have you in reality such means ? " said the
lady.

"I have, with the command of a moderate sum,"
answered Margaret Ramsay, " the power of baffling
all his enemies — of eluding the passion of the irri-
tated King — the colder but more determined dis-
pleasure of the Prince — the vindictive spirit of
Buckingham, so hastily directed against whomso-
ever crosses the path of his ambition — the cold
concentrated malice of Lord Dalgarno — all, I can
baffle them all ! "

" But is this to be done without your own
personal risk, Margaret ? " replied the lady ; " for,
be your purpose what it will, you are not to peril
your own reputation or person, in the romantic
attempt of serving another ; and I, maiden, am
answerable to your godfather, — to your benefactor,
and my own, — not to aid you in any dangerous or
unworthy enterprise."

" Depend upon my word, — my oath, — dearest
lady," replied the supplicant, " that I will act by
the agency of others, and do not myself design to

28 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

mingle in any enterprise in which my appearance
might be either perilous or unwomanly."

" I know not what to do," said the Lady Her-
mione ; " it is perhaps incautious and inconsiderate in
me to aid so wild a project; yet the end seems
honourable, if the means be sure — what is the
penalty if he fall into their power ? "

" Alas, alas ! the loss of his right hand ! " replied
Margaret, her voice almost stifled with sobs.

" Are the laws of England so cruel ? Then
there is mercy in Heaven alone," said the lady,
"since, even in this free land, men are wolves to
each other. — Compose yourself, Margaret, and tell
me what money is necessary to secure Lord Glen-
varloch's escape."

" Two hundred pieces," replied Margaret ; " I
would speak to you of restoring them — and I must
one day have the power — only that I know — that
is, I think — your ladyship is indifferent on that
score."

" Not a word more of it," said the lady ; " call
Monna Paula hither."

Chapter III

Credit me, friend, it hath been ever thus,
Since the ark rested on Mount Ararat.
False man hath sworn, and woman hath believed —
Repented and reproach'd, and then believed once more.

The Ne-w World.

BY the time that Margaret returned with Monna
Paula, the Lady Hermione was rising from the
table at which she had been engaged in writing

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 29

something on a small slip of paper, which she gave
to her attendant.

" Monna Paula," she said, " carry this paper to
Roberts the cash- keeper ; let him give you the
money mentioned in the note, and bring it hither
presently."

Monna Paula left the room, and her mistress
proceeded.

" I do not know," she said, " Margaret, if I
have done, and am doing, well in this affair. My
life has been one of strange seclusion, and I am
totally unacquainted with the practical ways of
this world — an ignorance which I know cannot be
remedied by mere reading. — I fear I am doing
wrong to you, and perhaps to the laws of the
country which affords me refuge, by thus indulging
you ; and yet there is something in my heart which
cannot resist your entreaties."

" O, listen to it — listen to it, dear, generous
lady ! " said Margaret, throwing herself on her knees
and grasping those of her benefactress, and looking
in that attitude like a beautiful mortal in the act
of supplicating her tutelary angel ; " the laws of
men are but the injunctions of mortality, but what
the heart prompts is the echo of the voice from
Heaven within us."

"Rise, rise, maiden," said Hermione; "you
affect me more than I thought I could have been
moved by aught that should approach me. Rise
and tell me whence it comes, that, in so short a
time, your thoughts, your looks, your speech, and
even your slightest actions, are changed from those
of a capricious and fanciful girl, to all this energy
and impassioned eloquence of word and action ?"

30 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" I am sure I know not, dearest Jady," said
Margaret, looking down ; " but I suppose that,
when I was a trifler, I was only thinking of trifles.
What I now reflect is deep and serious, and I am
thankful if my speech and manner bear reasonable
proportion to my thoughts. "

" It must be so," said the lady ; " yet the change
seems a rapid and strange one. It seems to be as
if a childish girl had at once shot up into deep-
thinking and impassioned woman, ready to make
exertions alike, and sacrifices, with all that vain
devotion to a favourite object of affection, which
is often so basely rewarded."

The Lady Hermione sighed bitterly, and Monna
Paula entered ere the conversation proceeded farther.
She spoke to her mistress in the foreign language in
which they frequently conversed, but which was
unknown to Margaret.

"We must have patience for a time," said the
lady to her visitor ; " the cash-keeper is abroad on
some business, but he is expected home in the course
of half an hour."

Margaret wrung her hands in vexation and
impatience.

" Minutes are precious," continued the lady ;
"that I am well aware of; and we will at least
suffer none of them to escape us. Monna Paula
shall remain below and transact our business, the
very instant that Roberts returns home."

She spoke to her attendant accordingly, who
again left the room.

" You are very kind, madam — very good," said
the poor little Margaret, while the anxious tremb-
ling of her lip and of her hand showed all that

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 31

sickening agitation of the heart which arises from
hope deferred.

" Be patient, Margaret, and collect yourself,"
said the Jady ; " you may, you must, have much
to do to carry through this your bold purpose —
reserve your spirits, which you may need so much
— be patient — it is the only remedy against the
evils of life."

" Yes, madam," said Margaret, wiping her eyes,
and endeavouring in vain to suppress the natural
impatience of her temper, — " I have heard so —
very often indeed ; and I dare say I have myself,
Heaven forgive me, said so to people in perplexity
and affliction ; but it was before I had suffered per-
plexity and vexation myself, and I am sure I will
never preach patience to any human being again,
now that I know how much the medicine goes
against the stomach."

" You will think better of it, maiden," said the
Lady Hermione ; " I also, when I first felt dis-
tress, thought they did me wrong who spoke
to me of patience ; but my sorrows have been
repeated and continued till I have been taught
to cling to it as the best, and — religious duties
excepted, of which, indeed, patience forms a part
— the only alleviation which life can afford
them."

Margaret, who neither wanted sense nor feeling,
wiped her tears hastily, and asked her patroness's
forgiveness for her petulance.

** I might have thought " — she said, " I ought to
have reflected, that even from the manner of your
life, madam, it is plain you must have suffered
sorrow ; and yet, God knows, the patience which

32 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

I have ever seen you display, weli entitles you to
recommend your own example to others."

The lady was silent for a moment, and then
replied —

"Margaret, I am about to repose a high con-
fidence in you. You are no longer a child, but a
thinking and a feeling woman. You have told me
as much of your secret as you dared — I will let you
know as much of mine as I may venture to tell.
You will ask me, perhaps, why, at a moment when
your own mind is agitated, I should force upon you
the consideration of my sorrows? and I answer,
that I cannot withstand the impulse which now
induces me to do so. Perhaps from having wit-
nessed, for the first time these three years, the
natural effects of human passion, my own sorrows
have been awakened, and are for the moment too
big for my own bosom — perhaps I may hope that
you, who seem driving full sail on the very rock on
which I was wrecked for ever, will take warning
by the tale I have to tell. Enough, if you are
willing to listen, I am willing to tell you who the
melancholy inhabitant of the Foljambe apartments
really is, and why she resides here. It will serve,
at least, to while away the time until Monna Paula
shall bring us the reply from Roberts/'

At any other moment of her life, Margaret
Ramsay would have heard with undivided interest
a communication so flattering in itself, and referring
to a subject upon which the general curiosity had
been so strongly excited. And even at this agitating
moment, although she ceased not to listen with an
anxious ear and throbbing heart for the sound of
Monna Paula's returning footsteps, she nevertheless,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 33

as gratitude and policy, as well as a portion of
curiosity dictated, composed herself, in appearance at
least, to the strictest attention to the Lady Hermione,
and thanked her with humility for the high confidence
she was pleased to repose in her. The Lady
Hermione, with the same calmness which always
attended her speech and actions, thus recounted her
story to her young friend :

" My father," she said, " was a merchant, but
he was of a city whose merchants are princes. I
am the daughter of a noble house in Genoa, whose
name stood as high in honour and in antiquity, as
any inscribed in the Golden Register of that famous
aristocracy.

" My mother was a noble Scotchwoman. She
was descended — do not start — and not remotely
descended, of the house of Glenvarloch — no wonder
that I was easily led to take concern in the mis-
fortunes of this young lord. He is my near
relation, and my mother, who was more than
sufficiently proud of her descent, early taught me to
take an interest in the name. My maternal grand-
father, a cadet of that house of Glenvarloch, had
followed the fortunes of an unhappy fugitive, Francis
Earl of Bothwell, who, after showing his miseries
in many a foreign court, at length settled in Spain
upon a miserable pension, which he earned by con-
forming to the Catholic faith. Ralph Olifaunt, my
grandfather, separated from him in disgust, and
settled at Barcelona, where, by the friendship of the
governor, his heresy, as it was termed, was connived
at. My father, in the course of his commerce,
resided more at Barcelona than in his native country,
though at times he visited Genoa.
27 c

34 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" It was at Barcelona that he became acquainted
with my mother, loved her, and married her ; they
differed in faith, but they agreed in affection. I
was their only child. In public I conformed to the
doctrines and ceremonial of the church of Rome ;
but my mother, by whom these were regarded with
horror, privately trained me up in those of the
reformed religion ; and my father, either indifferent
in the matter, or unwilling to distress the woman
whom he loved, overlooked or connived at my
secretly joining in her devotions.

" But when, unhappily, my father was attacked,
while yet in the prime of life, by a slow wasting
disease, which he felt to be incurable, he foresaw
the hazard to which his widow and orphan might
be exposed, after he was no more, in a country so
bigoted to Catholicism as Spain. He made it his
business, during the two last years of his life, to
realize and to remit to England a large part of his
fortune, which, by the faith and honour of his
correspondent, the excellent man under whose roof
I now reside, was employed to great advantage.
Had my father lived to complete his purpose, by
withdrawing his whole fortune from commerce,
he himself would have accompanied us to England,
and would have beheld us settled in peace and honour
before his death. But Heaven had ordained it other-
wise. He died, leaving several sums engaged in the
hands of his Spanish debtors ; and, in particular, he
had made a large and extensive consignment to a
certain wealthy society of merchants at Madrid, who
showed no willingness after his death to account for
the proceeds. Would to God we had left these
covetous and wicked men in possession of their

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 35

booty, for such they seemed to hold the property of
their deceased correspondent and friend ! We had
enough for comfort, and even splendour, already
secured in England ; but friends exclaimed upon
the folly of permitting these unprincipled men to
plunder us of our rightful property. The sum itself
was large, and the claim having been made, my
mother thought that my father's memory was
interested in its being enforced, especially as the
defences set up for the mercantile society went,
in some degree, to impeach the fairness of his
transactions.

" We went therefore to Madrid. I was then,
my Margaret, about your age, young and thoughtless,
as you have hitherto been — We went, I say, to
Madrid, to solicit the protection of the Court and
of the King, without which we were told it would
be in vain to expect justice against an opulent and
powerful association.

" Our residence at the Spanish metropolis drew
on from weeks to months. For my part, my
natural sorrow for a kind, though not a fond father,
having abated, I cared not if the lawsuit had detained
us at Madrid for ever. My mother permitted
herself and me rather more liberty than we had
been accustomed to. She found relations among
the Scottish and Irish officers, many of whom held
a high rank in the Spanish armies ; their wives and
daughters became our friends and companions, and
I had perpetual occasion to exercise my mother's
native language, which I had learned from my
infancy. By degrees, as my mother's spirits were
low, and her health indifferent, she was induced, by
her partial fondness for me, to suffer me to mingle

36 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

occasionally in society which she herself did not
frequent, under the guardianship of such ladies as
she imagined she could trust, and particularly under
the care of the lady of a general officer, whose
weakness or falsehood was the original cause of my
misfortunes. I was as gay, Margaret, and thought-
less— I again repeat it — as you were but lately, and
my attention, like yours, became suddenly riveted to
one object, and to one set of feelings.

"The person by whom they were excited was
young, noble, handsome, accomplished, a soldier,
and a Briton. So far our cases are nearly parallel ;
but, may Heaven forbid that the parallel should
become complete! This man, so noble, so fairly
formed, so gifted, and so brave — this villain, for
that, Margaret, was his fittest name, spoke of love to
me, and I listened — Could I suspect his sincerity ?
If he was wealthy, noble, and long-descended, I
also was a noble and an opulent heiress. It is true,
that he neither knew the extent of my father's
wealth, nor did I communicate to him (I do not
even remember if I myself knew it at the time)
the important circumstance, that the greater part
of that wealth was beyond the grasp of arbitrary
power, and not subject to the precarious award of
arbitrary judges. My lover might think, perhaps,
as my mother was desirous the world at large should
believe, that almost our whole fortune depended on
the precarious suit which we had come to Madrid
to prosecute — a belief which she had countenanced
out of policy, being well aware that a knowledge of
my father's having remitted such a large part of his
fortune to England, would in no shape aid the
recovery of further sums in the Spanish courts.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 37

Yet, with no more extensive views of my fortune
than were possessed by the public, I believe that
he, of whom I am speaking, was at first sincere
in his pretensions. He had himself interest sufficient
to have obtained a decision in our favour in the
courts, and my fortune, reckoning only what was
in Spain, would then have been no inconsiderable
sum. To be brief, whatever might be his motives
or temptation for so far committing himself, he
applied to my mother for my hand, with my
consent and approval. My mother's judgment had
become weaker, but her passions had become more
irritable, during her increasing illness.

" You have heard of the bitterness of the ancient
Scottish feuds, of which it may be said, in the
language of Scripture, that the fathers eat sour
grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on
edge. Unhappily, — I should say happily, consider-
ing what this man has now shown himself to be, —
some such strain of bitterness had divided his house
from my mother's, and she had succeeded to the
inheritance of hatred. When he asked her for my
hand, she was no longer able to command her
passions — she raked up every injury which the
rival families had inflicted upon each other during
a bloody feud of two centuries — heaped him with
epithets of scorn, and rejected his proposal of
alliance, as if it had come from the basest of
mankind.

" My lover retired in passion ; and I remained
to weep and murmur against fortune, and — I will
confess my fault — against my affectionate parent. I
had been educated with different feelings, and the
traditions of the feuds and quarrels of my mother's

38 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

family in Scotland, which were to her monuments
and chronicles, seemed to me as insignificant and
unmeaning as the actions and fantasies of Don
Quixote; and I blamed my mother bitterly for
sacrificing my happiness to an empty dream of
family dignity.

" While I was in this humour, my lover sought
a renewal of our intercourse. We met repeatedly
in the house of the lady whom I have mentioned,
and who, in levity, or in the spirit of intrigue,
countenanced our secret correspondence. At length
we were secretly married — so far did my blinded
passion hurry me. My lover had secured the
assistance of a clergyman of the English church.
Monna Paula, who had been my attendant from
infancy, was one witness of our union. Let me do
the faithful creature justice — She conjured me to
suspend my purpose till my mother's death should
permit us to celebrate our marriage openly ; but the
entreaties of my lover, and my own wayward
passion, prevailed over her remonstrances. The
lady I have spoken of was another witness, but
whether she was in full possession of my bride-
groom's secret, I had never the means to learn.
But the shelter of her name and roof afforded us
the means of frequently meeting, and the love of
my husband seemed as sincere and as unbounded as
my own.

" He was eager, he said, to gratify his pride, by
introducing me to one or two of his noble English

friends. This could not be done at Lady D 's;

but by his command, which I was now entitled to
consider as my law, I contrived twice to visit him
at his own hotel, accompanied only by Monna Paula.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 39

There was a very small party, of two ladies and two
gentlemen. There was music, mirth, and dancing.
I had heard of the frankness of the English nation,
but I could not help thinking it bordered on license
during these entertainments, and in the course of
the collation which followed ; but I imputed my
scruples to my inexperience, and would not doubt
the propriety of what was approved by my husband.

" I was soon summoned to other scenes : My
poor mother's disease drew to a conclusion — Happy
I am that it took place before she discovered what
would have cut her to the soul.

" In Spain you may have heard how the Catholic
priests, and particularly the monks, besiege the beds
of the dying, to obtain bequests for the good of the
church. I have said that my mother's temper was
irritated by disease, and her judgment impaired in
proportion. She gathered spirits and force from
the resentment which the priests around her bed
excited by their importunity, and the boldness of the
stern sect of reformers, to which she had secretly
adhered, seemed to animate her dying tongue. She
avowed the religion she had so long concealed ;
renounced all hope and aid which did not come
by and through its dictates ; rejected with contempt
the ceremonial of the Romish church ; loaded the
astonished priests with reproaches for their greedi-
ness and hypocrisy, and commanded them to leave
her house. They went in bitterness and rage, but
it was to return with the inquisitorial power, its
warrants, and its officers ; and they found only the
cold corpse left of her, on whom they had hoped to
work their vengeance. As I was soon discovered
to have shared my mother's heresy, I was dragged

40 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

from her dead body, imprisoned in a solitary cloister,
and treated with severity, which the Abbess assured
me was due to the looseness of my life, as well as
my spiritual errors. I avowed my marriage, to
justify the situation in which I found myself — I
implored the assistance of the Superior to com-
municate my situation to my husband. She smiled
coldly at the proposal, and told me the church had
provided a better spouse for me ; advised me to
secure myself of divine grace hereafter, and deserve
milder treatment here, by presently taking the veil.
In order to convince me that I had no other re-
source, she showed me a royal decree, by which
all my estate was hypothecated to the convent of
Saint Magdalen, and became their complete property
upon my death, or my taking the vows. As I
was, both from religious principle, and affectionate
attachment to my husband, absolutely immovable in
my rejection of the veil, I believe — may Heaven
forgive me if I wrong her ! — that the Abbess was
desirous to make sure of my spoils, by hastening
the former event.

" It was a small and a poor convent, and situated
among the mountains of Guadarrama. Some of the
sisters were the daughters of neighbouring Hidal-
goes, as poor as they were proud and ignorant;
others were women immured there on account of
their vicious conduct. The Superior herself was
of a high family, to which she owed her situation ;
but she was said to have disgraced her connexions
by her conduct during youth, and now, in advanced
age, covetousness and the love of power, a spirit too
of severity and cruelty, had succeeded to the thirst
after licentious pleasure. I suffered much under

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 41

this woman — and still her dark, glassy eye, her tall,
shrouded form, and her rigid features, haunt my
slumbers.

" I was not destined to be a mother. I was
very ill, and my recovery was long doubtful. The
most violent remedies were applied, if remedies they
indeed were. My health was restored at length,
against my own expectation and that of all around
me. But, when I first again beheld the reflection
of my own face, I thought it was the visage of a
ghost. I was wont to be flattered by all, but par-
ticularly by my husband, for the fineness of my
complexion — it was now totally gone, and, what is
more extraordinary, it has never returned. I have
observed that the few who now see me, look upon
me as a bloodless phantom — Such has been the
abiding effect of the treatment to which I was sub-
jected. May God forgive those who were the agents
of it ! — I thank Heaven I can say so with as sincere
a wish, as that with which I pray for forgiveness
of my own sins. They now relented somewhat
towards me — moved perhaps to compassion by my
singular appearance, which bore witness to my
sufferings ; or afraid that the matter might attract
attention during a visitation of the bishop, which
was approaching. One day, as I was walking in
the convent-garden, to which I had been lately
admitted, a miserable old Moorish slave, who was
kept to cultivate the little spot, muttered as I passed
him, but still keeping his wrinkled face and decrepit
form in the same angle with the earth — * There is
Heart's Ease near the postern.'

" I knew something of the symbolical language
of flowers, once carried to such perfection among

42 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the Moriscoes of Spain ; but if I had been ignorant
of it, the captive would soon have caught at any
hint that seemed to promise liberty. With all the
haste consistent with the utmost circumspection —
for I might be observed by the Abbess or some of
the sisters from the window — I hastened to the
postern. It was closely barred as usual, but when
I coughed slightly, I was answered from the other
side — and, O Heaven ! it was my husband's voice
which said, * Lose not a minute here at present, but
be on this spot when the vesper bell has tolled.'

"I retired in an ecstasy of joy. I was not
entitled or permitted to assist at vespers, but was
accustomed to be confined to my cell while the
nuns were in the choir. Since my recovery, they
had discontinued locking the door ; though the
utmost severity was denounced against me if I left
these precincts. But, let the penalty be what it
would, I hastened to dare it. — No sooner had the
last toll of the vesper bell ceased to sound, than I
stole from my chamber, reached the garden un-
observed, hurried to the postern, beheld it open
with rapture, and in the next moment was in my
husband's arms. He had with him another cavalier
of noble mien — both were masked and armed.
Their horses, with one saddled for my use, stood
in a thicket hard by, with two other masked horse-
men, who seemed to be servants. In less than two
minutes we were mounted, and rode off as fast as
we could through rough and devious roads, in which
one of the domestics appeared to act as guide.

"The hurried pace at which we rode, and the
anxiety of the moment, kept me silent, and pre-
vented my expressing my surprise or my joy save

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 43

in a few broken words. It also served as an
apology for my husband's silence. At length we
stopped at a solitary hut — the cavaliers dismounted,

and I was assisted from my saddle, not by M

M my husband, I would say, who seemed

busied about his horse, but by the stranger.

" ' Go into the hut,' said my husband, * change
your dress with the speed of lightning — you will
find one to assist you — we must forward instantly
when you have shifted your apparel.'

" I entered the hut, and was received in the arms
of the faithful Monna Paula, who had waited my
arrival for many hours, half distracted with fear and
anxiety. With her assistance I speedily tore off
the detested garments of the convent, and exchanged
them for a travelling suit, made after the English
fashion. I observed that Monna Paula was in a
similar dress. I had but just huddled on my change
of attire, when we were hastily summoned to mount.
A horse, I found, was provided for Monna Paula,
and we resumed our route. On the way, my
convent-garb, which had been wrapped hastily
together around a stone, was thrown into a lake,
along the verge of which we were then passing.
The two cavaliers rode together in front, my
attendant and I followed, and the servants brought
up the rear. Monna Paula, as we rode on, re-
peatedly entreated me to be silent upon the road, as
our lives depended on it. I was easily reconciled
to be passive, for, the first fever of spirits which
attended the sense of liberation and of gratified
affection having passed away, I felt as it were dizzy
with the rapid motion ; and my utmost exertion
was necessary to keep my place on the saddle, until

44 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

we suddenly (it was now very dark) saw a strong
light before us.

" My husband reined up his horse, and gave a
signal by a low whistle twice repeated, which was
answered from a distance. The whole party then
halted under the boughs of a large cork-tree, and
my husband, drawing himself close to my side,
said, in a voice which I then thought was only
embarrassed by fear for my safety, — * We must
now part. Those to whom I commit you are
contrabandists, who only know you as English-
women, but who, for a high bribe, have undertaken
to escort you through the passes of the Pyrenees as
far as Saint Jean de Luz.'

" * And do you not go with us ? ' I exclaimed
with emphasis, though in a whisper.

" * It is impossible/ he said, * and would ruin all
— See that you speak in English in these people's
hearing, and give not the least sign of understand-
ing what they say in Spanish — your life depends
on it; for, though they live in opposition to, and
evasion of, the laws of Spain, they would tremble
at the idea of violating those of the church — I see
them coming — farewell — farewell/

"The last words were hastily uttered — I en-
deavoured to detain him yet a moment by my
feeble grasp on his cloak.

" * You will meet me, then, I trust, at Saint Jean
de Luz ? '

" ' Yes, yes,' he answered hastily, * at Saint Jean
de Luz you will meet your protector.'

"He then extricated his cloak from my grasp,
and was lost in the darkness. His companion ap-
proached— kissed my hand, which in the agony of

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 45

the moment I was scarce sensible of, and followed
my husband, attended by one of the domestics."

The tears of Hermione here flowed so fast as to
threaten the interruption of her narrative. When
she resumed it, it was with a kind of apology to
Margaret.

" Every circumstance," she said, " occurring in
those moments, when I still enjoyed a delusive
idea of happiness, is deeply imprinted in my
remembrance, which, respecting all that has since
happened, is waste and unvaried as an Arabian
desert. But I have no right to inflict on you,
Margaret, agitated as you are with your own
anxieties, the unavailing details of my useless re-
collections."

Margaret's eyes were full of tears — it was im-
possible it could be otherwise, considering that the
tale was told by her suffering benefactress, and
resembled, in some respects, her own situation ;
and yet she must not be severely blamed, if, while
eagerly pressing her patroness to continue her narra-
tive, her eye involuntarily sought the door, as if to
chide the delay of Monna Paula.

The Lady Hermione saw and forgave these con-
flicting emotions j and she, too, must be pardoned,
if, in her turn, the minute detail of her narrative
showed, that, in the discharge of feelings so long
locked in her own bosom, she rather forgot those
which were personal to her auditor, and by which
it must be supposed Margaret's mind was principally
occupied, if not entirely engrossed.

" I told you, I think, that one domestic followed
the gentlemen," thus the lady continued her story,
" the other remained with us for the purpose, as it

46 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

seemed, of introducing us to two persons whom

M , I say, whom my husband's signal had

brought to the spot. A word or two of explanation
passed between them and the servant, in a sort of
patois, which I did not understand ; and one of the
strangers taking hold of my bridle, the other of
Monna Paula's, they led us towards the light, which
I have already said was the signal of our halting. I
touched Monna Paula, and was sensible that she
trembled very much, which surprised me, because I
knew her character to be so strong and bold as to
border upon the masculine.

" When we reached the fire, the gipsy figures
of those who surrounded it, with their swarthy
features, large Sombrero hats, girdles stuck full of
pistols and poniards, and all the other apparatus of
a roving and perilous life, would have terrified me
at another moment. But then I only felt the agony
of having parted from my husband almost in the
very moment of my rescue. The females of the
gang — for there were four or five women amongst
these contraband traders — received us with a sort
of rude courtesy. They were, in dress and manners,
not extremely different from the men with whom
they associated — were almost as hardy and adven-
turous, carried arms like them, and were, as we
learned from passing circumstances, scarce less
experienced in the use of them.

< * It was impossible not to fear these wild people ;
yet they gave us no reason to complain of them,
but used us on all occasions with a kind of clumsy
courtesy, accommodating themselves to our wants
and our weakness during the journey, even while
we heard them grumbling to each other against our

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 47

effeminacy, — like some rude carrier, who, in charge
of a package of valuable and fragile ware, takes
every precaution for its preservation, while he
curses the unwonted trouble which it occasions
him. Once or twice,- when they were disappointed
in their contraband traffic, lost some goods in a
rencontre with the Spanish officers of the revenue,
and were finally pursued by a military force, their
murmurs assumed a more alarming tone, in the
terrified ears of my attendant and myself, when,
without daring to seem to understand them, we
heard them curse the insular heretics, on whose
account God, Saint James, and Our Lady of the
Pillar, had blighted their hopes of profit. These
are dreadful recollections, Margaret."

" Why, then, dearest lady," answered Margaret,
" will you thus dwell on them ? "

" It is only," said the Lady Hermione, " because
I linger like a criminal on the scaffold, and would
fain protract the time that must inevitably bring on
the final catastrophe. Yes, dearest Margaret, I rest
and dwell on the events of that journey, marked
as it was by fatigue and danger, though the road
lay through the wildest and most desolate deserts
and mountains, and though our companions, both men
and women, were fierce and lawless themselves, and
exposed to the most merciless retaliation from those
with whom they were constantly engaged — yet
would I rather dwell on these hazardous events
than tell that which awaited me at Saint Jean de
Luz."

K** But you arrived there in safety?" said Margaret.
" Yes, maiden," replied the Lady Hermione ;
nd were guided by the chief of our outlawed

48 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

band to the house which had been assigned for our
reception, with the same punctilious accuracy with
which he would have delivered a bale of uncustomed
goods to a correspondent. I was told a gentleman
had expected me for two days — I rushed into the
apartment, and, when I expected to embrace my
husband — I found myself in the arms of his
friend!"

" The villain ! " exclaimed Margaret, whose
anxiety had, in spite of herself, been a moment
suspended by the narrative of the lady.

"Yes," replied Hermione, calmly, though her
voice somewhat faltered, "it is the name that best
— that well befits him. He, Margaret, for whom I
had sacrificed all — whose love and whose memory
were dearer to me than my freedom, when I was in
the convent — than my life, when I was on my
perilous journey — had taken his measures to shake
me off, and transfer me, as a privileged wanton, to
the protection of his libertine friend. At first the
stranger laughed at my tears and my agony, as
the hysterical passion of a deluded and overreached
wanton, or the wily affection of a courtezan. My
claim of marriage he laughed at, assuring me he
knew it was a mere farce required by me, and sub-
mitted to by his friend, to save some reserve of
delicacy ; and expressed his surprise that I should
consider in any other light a ceremony which could
be valid neither in Spain nor England, and insult-
ingly offered to remove my scruples, by renewing
such a union with me himself. My exclamations
brought Monna Paula to my aid — she was not,
indeed, far distant, for she had expected some such

I.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 49

\_

confid

«N

iniusti

" Good Heaven ! " said Margaret, " was she a

nfidant of your base husband ? "

" No," answered Hermione, " do her not that
justice. It was her persevering enquiries that
discovered the place of ray confinement — it was
she who gave the information to my husband, and
who remarked even then that the news was so much
more interesting to his friend than to him, that she
suspected, from an early period, it was the purpose
of the villain to shake me off. On the journey, her
suspicions were confirmed. She had heard him re-
mark to his companion, with a cold sarcastic sneer,
the total change which my prison and my illness
had made on my complexion ; and she had heard
the other reply, that the defect might be cured by a
touch of Spanish red. This, and other circum-
stances, having prepared her for such treachery,
Monna Paula now entered, completely possessed of
herself, and prepared to support me. Her calm
representations went farther with the stranger than
the expressions of my despair. If he did not
entirely believe our tale, he at least acted the
part of a man of honour, who would not in-
trude himself on defenceless females, whatever
was their character; desisted from persecuting us
with his presence ; and not only directed Monna
Paula how we should journey to Paris, but fur-
nished her with money for the purpose of our
journey. From the capital 1 wrote to Master
Heriot, my father's most trusted correspondent ;
he came instantly to Paris on receiving the

letter; and But here comes Monna Paula,

with more than the sum you desired. Take
it, my dearest maiden — serve this youth if you
27 d

50 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

will. But, O Margaret, look for no gratitude in
return ! "

The Lady Hermione took the bag of gold from
her attendant, and gave it to her young friend, who
threw herself into her arms, kissed her on both the
pale cheeks, over which the sorrows so newly
awakened by her narrative had drawn many tears,
then sprung up, wiped her own overflowing eyes,
and left the Foljambe apartments with a hasty and
resolved step.

Chapter IV

Rove not from pole to pole — the man lives here
Whose razor's only equall'd by his beer :
And where, in either sense, the cockney-put
May, if he pleases, get confounded cut.

On the sign of an Alehouse kept by a Barber.

WE are under the necessity of transporting oui
readers to the habitation of Benjamin Suddlechop,
the husband of the active and efficient Dame Ursula,
and who also, in his own person, discharged more
offices than one. For, besides trimming locks and
beards, and turning whiskers upward into the martial
and swaggering curl, or downward into the droop-
ing form which became mustaches of civil policy ;
besides also occasionally letting blood, either by
cupping or by the lancet, extracting a stump, and
performing other actions of petty pharmacy, very
nearly as well as his neighbour Raredrench, the
apothecary ; he could, on occasion, draw a cup of
beer as well as a tooth, tap a hogshead as well as
a vein, and wash, with a draught of good ale, the

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 51

mustaches which his art had just trimmed. But
he carried on these trades apart from each other.

His barber's shop projected its long and mysterious
pole into Fleet Street, painted party-coloured-wise,
to represent the ribbons with which, in elder times,
that ensign was garnished. In the window were
seen rows of teeth displayed upon strings like
rosaries — cups with a red rag at the bottom, to
resemble blood, an intimation that patients might
be bled, cupped, or blistered, with the assistance of
"sufficient advice; " while the more profitable, but
less honourable operations upon the hair of the head
and beard, were briefly and gravely announced.
Within was the well-worn leathern chair for
customers, the guitar, then called a ghittern or
cittern, with which a customer might amuse him-
self till his predecessor was dismissed from under
Benjamin's hands, and which, therefore, often flayed
the ears of the patient metaphorically, while his
chin sustained from the razor literal scarification.
All, therefore, in this department, spoke the
chirurgeon-barber, or the barber-chirurgeon.

But there was a little back-room, used as a private
tap-room, which had a separate entrance by a dark
and crooked alley, which communicated with Fleet
street, after a circuitous passage through several by-
lanes and courts. This retired temple of Bacchus
had also a connexion with Benjamin's more public
shop by a long and narrow entrance, conducting to
the secret premises in which a few old topers used
to take their morning draught, and a few gill-sippers
ir modicum of strong waters, in a bashful way, after
ving entered the barber's shop under pretence of
ing shaved. Besides, this obscure tap-room gave

IU lc

thei
hav,

bein

52 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

a separate admission to the apartments of Dame
Ursley, which she was believed to make use of in the
course of her multifarious practice, both to let her-
self secretly out, and to admit clients and employers
who cared not to be seen to visit her in public.
Accordingly, after the hour of noon, by which time
the modest and timid whetters, who were Benjamin's
best customers, had each had his draught, or his
thimbleful, the business of the tap was in a manner
ended, and the charge of attending the back-door
passed from one of the barber's apprentices to the
little mulatto girl, the dingy Iris of Dame Suddle-
chop. Then came mystery thick upon mystery ;
muffled gallants, and masked females, in disguises of
different fashions, were seen to glide through the
intricate mazes of the alley ; and even the low tap
on the door, which frequently demanded the attention
of the little Creole, had in it something that expressed
secrecy and fear of discovery.

It was the evening of the same day when Margaret
had held the long conference with the Lady Hermione,
that Dame Suddlechop had directed her little portress
to " keep the door fast as a miser's purse-strings ; and,

as she valued her saffron skin, to let in none but "

the name she added in a whisper, and accompanied it
with a nod. The little domestic blinked intelligence,
went to her post, and in brief time thereafter admitted
and ushered into the presence of the dame, that very
city-gallant whose clothes sat awkwardly upon him,
and who had behaved so doughtily in the fray which
befell at Nigel's first visit to Beaujeu's ordinary. The
mulatto introduced him — "Missis, fine young gentle-
man, all over gold and velvet " — then muttered to
herself as she shut the door, "fine young gentle-

.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 53

man, he! — apprentice to him who makes the tick-
tick."

It was indeed — we are sorry to say it, and trust
our readers will sympathize with the interest we
take in the matter — it was indeed honest Jin Vin,
who had been so far left to his own devices, and
abandoned by his better angel, as occasionally to
travesty himself in this fashion, and to visit, in the
dress of a gallant of the day, those places of pleasure
and dissipation, in which it would have been ever-
lasting discredit to him to have been seen in his real
character and condition ; that is, had it been possible
for him in his proper shape to have gained admission.
There was now a deep gloom on his brow, his rich
habit was hastily put on, and buttoned awry; his
belt buckled in a most disorderly fashion, so that his
sword stuck outwards from his side, instead of
hanging by it with graceful negligence ; while his
poniard, though fairly hatched and gilded, stuck in
his girdle like a butcher's steel in the fold of his
blue apron. Persons of fashion had, by the way,
the advantage formerly of being better distinguished
from the vulgar than at present ; for, what the
ancient farthingale and more modern hoop were to
court ladies, the sword was to the gentleman ; an
article of dress, which only rendered those ridiculous
who assumed it for the nonce, without being in the
habit of wearing it. Vincent's rapier got between
his legs, and, as he stumbled over it, he exclaimed
— " Zounds ! 'tis the second time it has served me
thus — I believe the damned trinket knows I am no
true gentleman, and does it of set purpose."

ome, come, mine honest Jin Vin — come, my
boy," said the dame, in a soothing tone,

54 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" never mind these trankums — a frank and hearty
London 'prentice is worth all the gallants of the
inns of court."

"I was a frank and hearty London 'prentice
before I knew you, Dame Suddlechop," said
Vincent; "what your advice has made me, you
may find a name for ; since, fore George ! I am
ashamed to think about it myself."

" A-well-a-day," quoth the dame, "and is it
even so with thee ? — nay, then, I know but one
cure ; " and with that, going to a little corner cup-
board of carved wainscoat, she opened it by the
assistance of a key, which, with half-a-dozen
besides, hung in a silver chain at her girdle, and
produced a long flask of thin glass cased with wicker,
bringing forth at the same time two Flemish rummer
glasses, with long stalks and capacious wombs.
She filled the one brimful for her guest, and the
other more modestly to about two-thirds of its
capacity, for her own use, repeating, as the rich
cordial trickled forth in a smooth oily stream —
" Right Rosa Solis, as ever washed mulligrubs out
of a moody brain ! "

But, though Jin Vin tossed off his glass without
scruple, while the lady sipped hers more moderately,
it did not appear to produce the expected amend-
ment upon his humour. On the contrary, as he
threw himself into the great leathern chair, in which
Dame Ursley was wont to solace herself of an
evening, he declared himself "the most miserable
dog within the sound of Bow-bell."

" And why should you be so idle as to think your-
self so, silly boy ? " said Dame Suddlechop ; " but
'tis always thus — fools and children never know

TH

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 55

when they are well. Why, there is not one that
walks in St Paul's, whether in flat cap, or hat and
feather, that has so many kind glances from the
wenches as you, when ye swagger along Fleet
street with your bat under your arm, and your cap
set aside upon your head. Thou knowest well,
that, from Mrs Deputy's self down to the waist-
coateers in the alley, all of them are twiring and
peeping betwixt their fingers when you pass ; and
yet you call yourself a miserable dog ! and I must
tell you all this over and over again, as if I were
whistling the chimes of London to a pettish
child, in order to bring the pretty baby into good-
humour!"

The flattery of Dame Ursula seemed to have the
fate of her cordial — it was swallowed, indeed, by
the party to whom she presented it, and that with
some degree of relish, but it did not operate as a
sedative on the disturbed state of the youth's mind.
He laughed for an instant, half in scorn, and half
in gratified vanity, but cast a sullen look on Dame
Ursley as he replied to her last words,

" You do treat me like a child indeed, when you
sing over and over to me a cuckoo song that I care
not a copper-filing for."

" Aha ! " said Dame Ursley ; " that is to say,
you care not if you please all, unless you please one
—You are a true lover, I warrant, and care not for
all the city, from here to Whitechapel, so you could
write yourself first in your pretty Peg-a- Ramsay's
good-will. Well, well, take patience, man, and
be guided by me, for I will be the hoop will bind
you together at last."

" It is time you were so," said Jenkin, " for

56 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

hitherto you have rather been the wedge to separate
us."

Dame Suddlechop had by this time finished her
cordial — it was not the first she had taken that day ;
and, though a woman of strong brain, and cautious
at least, if not abstemious, in her potations, it may
nevertheless be supposed that her patience was not
improved by the regimen which she observed.

"Why, thou ungracious and ingrate knave,"
said Dame Ursley, " have not I done every thing to
put thee in thy mistress's good graces ? She loves
gentry, the proud Scottish minx, as a Welshman
loves cheese, and has her father's descent from that
Duke of Daldevil, or whatsoever she calls him, as
close in her heart as gold in a miser's chest, though
she as seldom shows it — and none she will think of,
or have, but a gentleman — and a gentleman I have
made of thee, Jin Vin, the devil cannot deny that."

" You have made a fool of me," said poor
Jenkin, looking at the sleeve of his jacket.

" Never the worse gentleman for that," said
Dame Ursley, laughing.

" And what is worse," said he, turning his back
to her suddenly, and writhing in his chair, " you
have made a rogue of me."

" Never the worse gentleman for that neither,"
said Dame Ursley, in the same tone ; " let a man
bear his folly gaily and his knavery stoutly, and let
me see if gravity or honesty will look him in the
face now-a-days. Tut, man, it was only in the
time of King Arthur or King Lud, that a gentle-
man was held to blemish his scutcheon by a leap
over the line of reason or honesty — It is the bold
look, the ready hand, the fine clothes, the brisk

„

HE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 57

oath, and the wild brain, that makes the gallant
now-a-days,"

"I know what you have made me," said Jin
Vin ; " since I have given up skittles and trap-ball
for tennis and bowls, good English ale for thin
Bordeaux and sour Rhenish, roast-beef and pudding
for woodcocks and kickshaws — my bat for a sword,
my cap for a beaver, my forsooth for a modish
oath, my Christmas-box for a dice-box, my religion
for the devil's matins, and mine honest name for

—Woman, I could brain thee, when I think
whose advice has guided me in all this ! J>

" Whose advice, then ? whose advice, then ?
Speak out, thou poor, petty cloak-brusher, and say
who advised thee ! " retorted Dame Ursley, flushed
and indignant — " Marry come up, my paltry com-
panion— say by whose advice you have made a
gamester of yourself, and a thief besides, as your
words would bear — The Lord deliver us from
evil ! " And here Dame Ursley devoutly crossed
herself.

"Hark ye, Dame Ursley Suddlechop," said
Jenkin, starting up, his dark eyes flashing with
anger ; " remember I am none of your husband —
and, if I were, you would do well not to forget
whose threshold was swept when they last rode the
Skimmington * upon such another scolding jade as
yourself."

* A species of triumphal procession in honour of female
supremacy, when it rose to such a height as to attract the
attention of the neighbourhood. It is described at full
length in Hudibras, {Part II. Canto //.) As the proces-
sion passed on, those who attended it in an official capacity
were wont to sweep the threshold of the houses in
which Fame affirmed the mistresses to exercise paramount

58 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"I hope to see you ride up Holborn next,"
said Dame Ursley, provoked out of all her holiday
and sugar-plum expressions, " with a nosegay at
your breast, and a parson at your elbow ! "

" That may well be," answered Jin Vin, bitterly,
" if I walk by your counsels as I have begun by
them ; but, before that day comes, you shall know
that Jin Vin has the brisk boys of Fleet street still
at his wink — Yes, you jade, you shall be carted
for bawd and conjurer, double-dyed in grain, and
bing off to Bridewell, with every brass basin betwixt
the Bar and Paul's beating before you, as if the
devil were banging them with his beef-hook."

Dame Ursley coloured like scarlet, seized upon
the half -emptied flask of cordial, and seemed, by
her first gesture, about to hurl it at the head of her
adversary; but suddenly, and as if by a strong
internal effort, she checked her outrageous resent-
ment, and, putting the bottle to its more legitimate
use, filled, with wonderful composure, the two
glasses, and, taking up one of them, said, with a
smile, which better became her comely and jovial
countenance than the fury by which it was animated
the moment before —

" Here is to thee, Jin Vin, my lad, in all loving
kindness, whatever spite thou bearest to me, that
have always been a mother to thee."

Jenkin's English good-nature could not resist this

authority, which was given and received as a hint that
their inmates might, in their turn, be made the subject of
a similar ovation. The Skimmington, which in some
degree resembled the proceedings of Mumbo Jumbo in an
African village, has been long discontinued in England,
apparently because female rule has become either milder
or less frequent than among our ancestors.

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 59

forcible appeal ; he took up the other glass, and
lovingly pledged the dame in her cup of reconcilia-
tion, and proceeded to make a kind of grumbling
apology for his own violence —

" For you know," he said, "it was you persuaded
me to get these fine things, and go to that godless
ordinary, and ruffle it with the best, and bring you
home all the news ; and you said, I, that was the
cock of the ward, would soon be the cock of the
ordinary, and would win ten times as much at gleek
and primero, as I used to do at put and beggar-
my-neighbour — and turn up doublets with the dice,
as busily as I was wont to trowl down the ninepins
in the skittle-ground — and then you said I should
bring you such news out of the ordinary as should
make us all, when used as you knew how to use it
— and now you see what is to come of it all ! "

" 'Tis all true thou sayest, lad," said the dame ;
"but thou must have patience. Rome was not
built in a day — you cannot become used to your
court-suit in a month's time, any more than when
you changed your long coat for a doublet and hose ;
and in gaming you must expect to lose as well as
gain — 'tis the sitting gamester sweeps the board."

"The board has swept me, I know," replied Jin
Vin, "and that pretty clean out. — I would that
were the worst ; but I owe for all this finery, and
settling-day is coming on, and my master will find
my accompt worse than it should be by a score of
pieces. My old father will be called in to make
them good ; and I — may save the hangman a labour
and do the job myself, or go the Virginia voyage."

"Do not speak so loud, my dear boy," said Dame
Ursley ; " but tell me why you borrow not from a

6o THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

friend to make up your arrear. You could lend him
as much when his settling-day came round."

" No, no — I have had enough of that work," said
Vincent. " Tunstall would lend me the money,
poor fellow, an he had it ; but his gentle, beggarly
kindred, plunder him of all, and keep him as bare
as a birch at Christmas. No — my fortune may be
spelt in four letters, and these read, RUIN."

" Now hush, you simple craven," said the dame ;
" did you never hear, that when the need is highest
the help is nighest ? We may find aid for you yet,
and sooner than you are aware of. I am sure I
would never have advised you to such a course, but
only you had set heart and eye on pretty Mistress
Marget, and less would not serve you — and what
could I do but advise you to cast your city-slough,
and try your luck where folks find fortune ? "

"Ay, ay — I remember your counsel well," said
Jenkin ; " I was to be introduced to her by you
when I was perfect in my gallantries, and as rich
as the King ; and then she was to be surprised to
find I was poor Jin Vin, that used to watch, from
matin to curfew, for one glance of her eye ; and
now, instead of that, she has set her soul on this
Scottish sparrow-hawk of a lord that won my last
tester, and be cursed to him ; and so I am bankrupt
in love, fortune, and character, before I am out of
my time, and all along of you, Mother Midnight."

" Do not call me out of my own name, my dear
boy, Jin Vin," answered Ursula, in a tone betwixt
rage and coaxing, — " do not ; because I am no saint,
but a poor sinful woman, with no more patience
than she needs, to carry her through a thousand
crosses. And if I have done you wrong by evil

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 61

counsel, I must mend it and put you right by good
advice. And for the score of pieces that must be
made up at settling-day, why, here is, in a good
green purse, as much as will make that matter good ;
and we will get old Crosspatch, the tailor, to take
a long day for your clothes ; and "

" Mother, are you serious ? " said Jin Vin, unable
to trust either his eyes or his ears.

" In troth am I," said the dame ; " and will you
call me Mother Midnight now, Jin Vin ? "

"Mother Midnight!" exclaimed Jenkin, hugging
the dame in his transport, and bestowing on her
still comely cheek a hearty and not unacceptable
smack, that sounded like the report of a pistol, —
" Mother Midday, rather, that has risen to light
me out of my troubles — a mother more dear than
she who bore me ; for she, poor soul, only brought
me into a world of sin and sorrow, and your timely
aid has helped me out of the one and the other."
And the good-natured fellow threw himself back in
his chair, and fairly drew his- hand across his eyes.

" You would not have me be made to ride the
Skimmington then," said the dame ; " or parade
me in a cart, with all the brass basins of the ward
beating the march to Bridewell before me ? "

" I would sooner be carted to Tyburn myself,"
replied the penitent.

" Why, then, sit up like a man, and wipe thine
eyes ; and, if thou art pleased with what I have
done, I will show thee how thou mayst requite
me in the highest degree."

" How ? " said Jenkin Vincent, sitting straight
up in his chair. — " You would have me, then, do
some service for this friendship of yours ? "

you some sei

62 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"Ay, marry would I," said Dame Ursley ;
" for you are to know, that though I am right glad
to stead you with it, this gold is not mine, but was
placed in my hands in order to find a trusty agent,

for a certain purpose ; and so But what's the

matter with you ? — are you fool enough to be angry
because you cannot get a purse of gold for nothing ?
I would I knew where such were to come by. I
never could find them lying in my road, I promise
you."

"No, no, dame," said poor Jenkin, "it is not
for that ; for, look you, I would rather work these
ten bones to the knuckles, and live by my labour ;
but " (and here he paused.)

" But what, man ? " said Dame Ursley. " You
are willing to work for what you want ; and yet,
when I offer you gold for the winning, you look on
me as the devil looks over Lincoln."

" It is ill talking of the devil, mother," said
Jenkin. " I had him even now in my head — for,
look you, I am at that pass, when they say he will
appear to wretched ruined creatures, and proffer
them gold for the fee-simple of their salvation.
But I have been trying these two days to bring
my mind strongly up to the thought, that I will
rather sit down in shame, and sin, and sorrow, as
I am like to do, than hold on in ill courses to get
rid of my present straits ; and so take care, Dame
Ursula, how you tempt me to break such a good
resolution."

" I tempt you to nothing, young man," answered
Ursula ; " and, as I perceive you are too wilful to
be wise, I will e'en put my purse in my pocket, and
look out for some one that will work my turn with

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 63

better will, and more thankfulness. And you
may go your own course, — break your indenture,
ruin your father, lose your character, and bid
pretty Mistress Margaret farewell, for ever and
a day."

" Stay, stay," said Jenkin ; " the woman is in
as great a hurry as a brown baker when his oven
is overheated. First, let me hear that which you
have to propose to me."

" Why, after all, it is but to get a gentleman of
rank and fortune, who is in trouble, carried in secret
down the river, as far as the Isle of Dogs, or some-
where thereabout, where he may lie concealed until
he can escape abroad. I know thou knowest every
place by the river's side as well as the devil knows
an usurer, or the beggar knows his dish."

" A plague of your similes, dame," replied the
apprentice ; «' for the devil gave me that knowledge,

d beggary may be the end on't. — But what has
gentleman done, that he should need to be

der hiding ? No Papist, I hope — no Catesby
and Piercy business — no Gunpowder Plot?"

'* Fy, fy! — what do you take me for?" said
Dame Ursula. " I am as good a churchwoman as
the parson's wife, save that necessary business will
not allow me to go there oftener than on Christmas-
day, Heaven help me! — No, no — this is no Popish
matter. The gentleman hath but struck another
in the Park "

" Ha ! what ? " said Vincent, interrupting her
with a start.

" Ay, ay, I see you guess whom I mean. It is
even he we have spoken of so often — just Lord
Glenvarloch, and no one else."

und

64 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Vincent sprung from his seat, and traversed the
room with rapid and disorderly steps.

" There, there it is now — you are always ice or
gunpowder. You sit in the great leathern arm-
chair, as quiet as a rocket hangs upon the frame
in a rejoicing-night till the match be fired, and
then, whizz ! you are in the third heaven, beyond
the reach of the human voice, eye, or brain. —
When you have wearied yourself with padding
to and fro across the room, will you tell me your
determination, for time presses ? Will you aid me
in this matter, or not ? "

«No — no — no — a thousand times no," replied
Jenkin. "Have you not confessed to me, that
Margaret loves him ? "

" Ay," answered the dame, " that she thinks she
does ; but that will not last long."

"And have I not told you but this instant,"
replied Jenkin, " that it was this same Glenvarloch
that rooked me, at the ordinary, of every penny I
had, and made a knave of me to boot, by gaining
more than was my own ? — O that cursed gold, which
Shortyard, the mercer, paid me that morning on
accompt, for mending the clock of Saint Stephen's !
If I had not, by ill chance, had that about me, I
could but have beggared my purse, without blemish-
ing my honesty ; and, after I had been rooked of
all the rest amongst them, I must needs risk the last
five pieces with that shark among the minnows ! "

"Granted," said Dame Ursula. "All this I
know ; and I own, that as Lord Glenvarloch was
the last you played with, you have a right to
charge your ruin on his head. Moreover, I admit,
as already said, that Margaret has made him your

THE

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 65

rival. Yet surely, now he is in danger to lose his
hand, it is not a time to remember all this ? "

" By my faith, but it is, though," said the young
citizen. " Lose his hand, indeed ? They may take
his head, for what I care. Head and hand have
made me a miserable wretch ! "

" Now, were it not better, my prince of flat-caps,"
said Dame Ursula, "that matters were squared
between you ; and that, through means of the same
Scottish lord, who has, as you say, deprived you
of your money and your mistress, you should in a
short time recover both ? "

" And how can your wisdom come to that con-
clusion, dame ? " said the apprentice. " My money,
indeed, I can conceive — that is, if I comply with
your proposal ; but — my pretty Margaret ! — how
serving this lord, whom she has set her nonsensical
head upon, can do me good with her, is far beyond
my conception."

" That is because, in simple phrase," said Dame
Ursula, "thou knowest no more of a woman's heart
than doth a Norfolk gosling. Look you, man. Were
I to report to Mistress Marget that the young lord
has miscarried through thy lack of courtesy in refus-
ing to help him, why, then, thou wert odious to
her for ever. She will loathe thee as she will loathe
the very cook who is to strike off Glenvarloch's
hand with his cleaver — and then she will be yet more
fixed in her affections towards this lord. London
will hear of nothing but him — speak of nothing but
him — think of nothing but him, for three weeks at
least, and all that outcry will serve to keep him
uppermost in her mind ; for nothing pleases a girl
so much as to bear relation to any one who is the
27 c

66 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

talk of the whole world around her. Then, if he
suffer this sentence of the law, it is a chance if she
ever forgets him. I saw that handsome, proper
young gentleman, Babington, suffer in the Queen's
time myself, and though I was then but a girl, he
was in my head for a year after he was hanged.
But, above all, pardoned or punished, Glenvarloch
will probably remain in London, and his presence
will keep up the silly girl's nonsensical fancy about
him. Whereas, if he escapes "

" Ay, show me how that is to avail me ? " said
Jenkin.

" If he escapes," said the dame, resuming her
argument, " he must resign the Court for years,
if not for life ; and you know the old saying, ' out
of sight, and out of mind.' "

" True — most true," said Jenkin ; " spoken like
an oracle, most wise Ursula."

"Ay, ay, I knew you would hear reason at last."
said the wily dame ; " and then, when this same
lord is off and away for once and for ever, who, I
pray you, is to be pretty pet's confidential person,
and who is to fill up the void in her affections ? —
why, who but thou, thou pearl of 'prentices ! And
then you will have overcome your own inclinations
to comply with hers, and every woman is sensible
of that — and you will have run some risk, too, in
carrying her desires into effect — and what is it that
woman likes better than bravery, and devotion to
her will ? Then you have her secret, and she must
treat you with favour and observance, and repose
confidence in you, and hold private intercourse with
you, till she weeps with one eye for the absent
lover whom she is never to see again, and blinks

»

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 67

with the other blithely upon him who is in presence;
and then if you know not how to improve the rela-
tion in which you stand with her, you are not the
brisk lively lad that all the world takes you for —
Said I well ? "

" You have spoken like an empress, most mighty
Ursula," said Jenkin Vincent; "and your will
shall be obeyed."

"You know Alsatia well ? " continued his tutoress.

" Well enough, well enough," replied he with a
nod ; " I have heard the dice rattle there in my day,
before I must set up for gentleman, and go among
the gallants at the Shavaleer Bojo's, as they call
him, — the worse rookery of the two, though the
feathers are the gayest."

" And they will have a respect for thee yonder,
I warrant ? "

"Ay, ay," replied Vin, "when [ am got into my
fustian doublet again, with my bit of a trunnion
under my arm, I can walk Alsatia at midnight as I
could do that there Fleet street in midday — they
will not one of them swagger with the prince of
'prentices, and the king of clubs — they know I could
bring every tall boy in the ward down upon them."

"And you know all the watermen, and so forth ? "

" Can converse with every sculler in his own
language, from Richmond to Gravesend, and know
all the water-cocks, from John Taylor the Poet to
little Grigg the Grinner, who never pulls but he
shows all his teeth from ear to ear, as if he were
grimacing through a horse-collar."

" And you can take any dress or character upon
you well, such as a waterman's, a butcher's, a foot-
soldier's," continued Ursula, "or the like?"

68 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Not such a mummer as I am within the walls,
and thou knowest that well enough, dame," replied
the apprentice. " I can touch the players them-
selves, at the Ball and at the Fortune, for present-
ing any thing except a gentleman. Take but this
d — d skin of frippery off me, which I think the
devil stuck me into, and you shall put me into
nothing else that I will not become as if I were
born to it."

" Well, we will talk of your transmutation by
and by," said the dame, " and find you clothes
withal, and money besides ; for it will take a good
deal to carry the thing handsomely through."

" But where is that money to come from, dame ? "
said Jenkin ; " there is a question I would fain have
answered before I touch it."

"Why, what a fool art thou to ask such a
question ! Suppose I am content to advance it to
please young madam, what is the harm then ? * '

" I will suppose no such thing," said Jenkin
hastily ; " I know that you, dame, have no gold to
spare, and maybe would not spare it if you had — so
that cock will not crow. It must be from Margaret
herself."

"Well, thou suspicious animal, and what if it
were ? " said Ursula.

" Only this," replied Jenkin, " that I will
presently to her, and learn if she has come fairly
by so much ready money ; for sooner than connive
at her getting it by any indirection, I would hang
myself at once. It is enough what I have done
myself, no need to engage poor Margaret in such
villainy — I'll to her, and tell her of the danger — I
will, by Heaven!"

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 69

&v

-

"You are mad to think of it," said Dame

ddlechop, considerably alarmed — " hear me but
a moment. I know not precisely from whom she
got the money ; but sure I am that she obtained it
at her godfather's."

"Why, Master George Heriot is not returned
from France," said Jenkin.

" No," replied Ursula, " but Dame Judith is at
home — and the strange lady, whom they call Master
Heriot's ghost — she never goes abroad."

" It is very true, Dame Suddlechop," said Jenkin ;
"and I believe you have guessed right — they say
that lady has coin at will ; and if Marget can get
a handful of fairy-gold, why, she is free to throw it
away at will."

"Ah, Jin Vin," said the dame, reducing her
voice almost to a whisper, "we should not want
gold at will neither, could we but read the riddle
' that lady!"

"They may read it that list," said Jenkin, "I'll
never pry into what concerns me not — Master
George Heriot is a worthy and brave citizen, and
an honour to London, and has a right to manage
his own household as he likes best. — There was once
a talk of rabbling him the fifth of November before
the last, because they said he kept a nunnery in his
house, like old Lady Foljambe; but Master George
is well loved among the 'prentices, and we got so
many brisk boys of us together as should have
rabbled the rabble, had they had but the heart to rise."

" Well, let that pass," said Ursula ; " and now,
tell me how you will manage to be absent from
shop a day or two, for you must think that this

,tter will not be ended sooner."

70 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"Why, as to that, I can say nothing," said
Jenkin, " I have always served duly and truly ; I
have no heart to play truant, and cheat my master of
his time as well as his money."

" Nay, but the point is to get back his money for
him," said Ursula, " which he is not likely to see
on other conditions. Could you not ask leave to go
down to your uncle in Essex for two or three days ?
He may be ill, you know."

" Why, if I must, I must," said Jenkin, with a
heavy sigh ; " but I will not be lightly caught tread-
ing these dark and crooked paths again."

"Hush thee, then," said the dame, "and get
leave for this very evening ; and come back hither,
and I will introduce you to another implement, who
must be employed in the matter. — Stay, stay ! — the
lad is mazed — you would not go into your master's
shop in that guise, surely ? Your trunk is in the
matted chamber with your 'prentice things — go and
put them on as fast as you can."

" I think I am bewitched," said Jenkin, giving
a glance towards his dress, "or that these fool's
trappings have made as great an ass of me as of
many I have seen wear them ; but let me once be
rid of the harness, and if you catch me putting it
on again, I will give you leave to sell me to a gipsy,
to carry pots, pans, and beggar's bantlings, all the
rest of my life."

So saying, he retired to change his apparel.

.

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 71

Chapter V

Chance will not do the work — Chance sends the breeze ;

But if the pilot slumber at the helm.

The very wind that wafts us towards the port

May dash us on the shelves. — The steersman's part is

vigilance,
Blow it or rough or smooth.

Old P/ay.

E left Nigel, whose fortunes we are bound to
trace by the engagement contracted in our title-
page, sad and solitary in the mansion of Trapbois
the usurer, having just received a letter instead of
a visit from his friend the Templar, stating reasons
why he could not at that time come to see him in
Alsatia. So that it appeared his intercourse with
the better and more respectable class of society,
was, for the present, entirely cut off. This was a
melancholy, and, to a proud mind like that of Nigel,
a degrading reflection.

He went to the window of his apartment, and
found the street enveloped in one of those thick,
dingy, yellow-coloured fogs, which often invest the
lower part of London and Westminster. Amid the
darkness, dense and palpable, were seen to wander
like phantoms a reveller or two, whom the morning
had surprised where the evening left them ; and
who now, with tottering steps, and by an instinct
which intoxication could not wholly overcome, were
groping the way to their own homes, to convert
day into night, for the purpose of sleeping off the
debauch which had turned night into day. Although
it was broad day in the other parts of the city, it
scarce dawn yet in Alsatia ; and none of the

was

72 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

sounds of industry or occupation were there heard,
which had long before aroused the slumberers in
every other quarter. The prospect was too tiresome
and disagreeable to detain Lord Glenvarloch at his
station, so, turning from the window, he examined
with more interest the furniture and appearance of
the apartment which he tenanted.

Much of it had been in its time rich and curious
— there was a huge four-post bed, with as much
carved oak about it as would have made the head
of a man-of-war, and tapestry hangings ample enough
to have been her sails. There was a huge mirror
with a massy frame of gilt brass-work, which was
of Venetian manufacture, and must have been worth
a considerable sum before it received the tremendous
crack, which, traversing it from one corner to the
other, bore the same proportion to the surface that
the Nile bears to the map of Egypt. The chairs
were of different forms and shapes, some had been
carved, some gilded, some covered with damasked
leather, some with embroidered work, but all were
damaged and worm-eaten. There was a picture of
Susanna and the Elders over the chimney-piece,
which might have been accounted a choice piece,
had not the rats made free with the chaste fair one's
nose, and with the beard of one of her reverend
admirers.

In a word, all that Lord Glenvarloch saw, seemed
to have been articles carried off by appraisement or
distress, or bought as pennyworths at some obscure
broker's, and huddled together in the apartment, as
in a sale-room, without regard to taste or congruity.

The place appeared to Nigel to resemble the
houses near the sea-coast, which are too often

1

THE J

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 73

furnished with the spoils of wrecked vessels, as this
was probably fitted up with the relics of ruined
profligates. — "My own skiff is among the breakers,"
thought Lord Glenvarloch, "though my wreck will
add little to the profits of the spoiler."

He was chiefly interested in the state of the grate,
a huge assemblage of rusted iron bars which stood
in the chimney, unequally supported by three brazen
feet, moulded into the form of lion's claws, while
the fourth, which had been bent by an accident,
seemed proudly uplifted as if to paw the ground ; or
as if the whole article had nourished the ambitious
purpose of pacing forth into the middle of the apart-
ment, and had one foot ready raised for the journey.
A smile passed over Nigel's face as this fantastic
idea presented itself to his fancy. — " I must stop its
march, however," he thought ; " for this morning
is chill and raw enough to demand some fire."

He called accordingly from the top of a large
staircase, with a heavy oaken balustrade, which gave
access to his own and other apartments, for the house
was old and of considerable size ; but, receiving no
answer to his repeated summons, he was compelled
to go in search of some one who might accommodate
him with what he wanted.

Nigel had, according to the fashion of the old
world in Scotland, received an education which
might, in most particulars, be termed simple, hardy,
and unostentatious ; but he had, nevertheless, been
accustomed to much personal deference, and to the
constant attendance and ministry of one or more
domestics. This was the universal custom in Scot-
land, where wages were next to nothing, and where,
indeed, a man of title or influence might have as

74 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

many attendants as he pleased, for the mere ex-
pense of food, clothes, and countenance. Nigel was
therefore mortified and displeased when he found
himself without notice or attendance ; and the more
dissatisfied, because he was at the same time angry
with himself for suffering such a trifle to trouble
him at all, amongst matters of more deep concern-
ment. " There must surely be some servants in
so large a house as this," said he, as he wandered
over the place, through which he was conducted by
a passage which branched off from the gallery. As
he went on, he tried the entrance to several apart-
ments, some of which he found were locked and
others unfurnished, all apparently unoccupied ; so
that at length he returned to the staircase, and re-
solved to make his way down to the lower part of
the house, where he supposed he must at least find
the old gentleman, and his ill-favoured daughter.
With this purpose he first made his entrance into
a little low, dark parlour, containing a well-worn
leathern easy-chair, before which stood a pair of
slippers, while on the left side rested a crutch-
handled staff; an oaken table stood before it, and
supported a huge desk clamped with iron, and a
massive pewter inkstand. Around the apartment
were shelves, cabinets, and other places convenient
for depositing papers. A sword, musketoon, and
a pair of pistols, hung over the chimney, in ostenta-
tious display, as if to intimate that the proprietor
would be prompt in the defence of his premises.

" This must be the usurer's den," thought Nigel ;
and he was about to call aloud, when the old man,
awakened even by the slightest noise, for avarice
seldom sleeps sound, soon was heard from the inner

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 75

room, speaking in a voice of irritability, rendered
more tremulous by his morning cough.

" Ugh, ugh, ugh — who is there ? I say — ugh,
ugh — who is there ? Why, Martha ! — ugh, ugh —
Martha Trapbois — here be thieves in the house,
and they will not speak, to me — why, Martha! —
thieves, thieves — ugh, ugh, ugh ! "

Nigel endeavoured to explain, but the idea of
thieves had taken possession of the old man's pineal
gland, and he kept coughing and screaming, and
screaming and coughing, until the gracious Martha
entered the apartment ; and, having first outscreamed
her father, in order to convince him that there was
no danger, and to assure him that the intruder was
their new lodger, and having as often heard her
sire ejaculate — " Hold him fast — ugh, ugh — hold
him fast till I come," she at length succeeded in
silencing his fears and his clamour, and then coldly
and dryly asked Lord Glenvarloch what he wanted
in her father's apartment.

Her lodger had, in the meantime, leisure to con-
template her appearance, which did not by any
means improve the idea he had formed of it by
candlelight on the preceding evening. She was
dressed in what was called a Queen Mary's ruff
and farthingale ; not the falling ruff with which the
unfortunate Mary of Scotland is usually painted,
but that which, with more than Spanish stiffness,
surrounded the throat, and set off the morose head,
of her fierce namesake, of Smithfield memory.
This antiquated dress assorted well with the faded
complexion, grey eyes, thin lips, and austere visage
of the antiquated maiden, which was, moreover,
enhanced by a black hood, worn as her head-gear,

76 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

carefully disposed so as to prevent any of her hair
from escaping to view, probably because the sim-
plicity of the period knew no art of disguising the
colour with which time had begun to grizzle her
tresses. Her figure was tall, thin, and flat, with
skinny arms and hands, and feet of the larger size,
cased in huge high -heeled shoes, which added height
to a stature already ungainly. Apparently some
art had been used by the tailor, to conceal a slight
defect of shape, occasioned by the accidental eleva-
tion of one shoulder above the other ; but the praise-
worthy efforts of the ingenious mechanic, had only
succeeded in calling the attention of the observer to
his benevolent purpose, without demonstrating that
he had been able to achieve it.

Such was Mrs Martha Trapbois, whose dry
" What were you seeking here* sir ? " fell again,
and with reiterated sharpness, on the ear of Nigel,
as he gazed upon her presence, and compared it
internally to one of the faded and grim figures in
the old tapestry which adorned his bedstead. It
was, however, necessary to reply, and he answered,
that he came in search of the servants, as he desired
to have a fire kindled in his apartment on account of
the rawness of the morning.

"The woman who does our char-work," answered
Mistress Martha, " comes at eight o'clock — if you
want fire sooner, there are fagots and a bucket of
sea-coal in the stone-closet at the head of the stair
— and there is a flint and steel on the upper shelf—-
you can light fire for yourself if you will."

"No — no — no, Martha," ejaculated her father,
who, having donned his rusty tunic, with his hose
all ungirt, and his feet slip-shod, hastily came out

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 77

of the inner apartment, with his mind probably full
of robbers, for he had a naked rapier in his hand,
which still looked formidable, though rust had
somewhat marred its shine. — What he had heard
at entrance about lighting a fire, had changed, how-
ever, the current of his ideas. " No — no — no," he
cried, and each negative was more emphatic than
its predecessor — " The gentleman shall not have the
trouble to put on a fire — ugh — ugh. I'll put it on
myself, for a con-si-de-ra-ti-on."

This last word was a favourite expression with
the old gentleman, which he pronounced in a peculiar
manner, gasping it out syllable by syllable, and laying
a strong emphasis upon the last. It was, indeed, a
sort of protecting clause, by which he guarded him-
self against all inconveniences attendant on the rash
habit of offering service or civility of any kind, the
which, when hastily snapped at by those to whom

1y are uttered, give the profFerer sometimes room
repent his promptitude.

" For shame, father," said Martha, " that must
not be. Master Grahame will kindle his own fire,
or wait till the char-woman comes to do it for him,
just as likes him best."

"No, child— no, child. Child Martha, no,"
reiterated the old miser — " no char-woman shall
ever touch a grate in my house ; they put — ugh,
ugh — the fagot uppermost, and so the coal kindles
not, and the flame goes up the chimney, and wood
and heat are both thrown away. Now, I will lay
it properly for the gentleman, for a consideration,
so that it shall last — ugh, ugh — last the whole day."
Here his vehemence increased his cough so violently,
that Nigel could only, from a scattered word here

t

78 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

and there, comprehend that it was a recommenda-
tion to his daughter to remove the poker and tongs
from the stranger's fireside, with an assurance, that,
when necessary, his landlord would be in attendance
to adjust it himself, " for a consideration."

Martha paid as little attention to the old man's
injunctions as a predominant dame gives to those
of a henpecked husband. She only repeated, in a
deeper and more emphatic tone of censure, — " For
shame, father — for shame ! " then, turning to her
guest, said, with her usual ungraciousness of manner,
— "Master Grahame — it is best to be plain with
you at first. My father is an old, a very old man,
and his wits, as you may see, are somewhat weakened
— though I would not advise you to make a bargain
with him, else you may find them too sharp for your
own. For myself, I am a lone woman, and, to say
truth, care little to see or converse with any one.
If you can be satisfied with house-room, shelter, and
safety, it will be your own fault if you have them
not, and they are not always to be found in this un-
happy quarter. But, if you seek deferential observ-
ance and attendance, I tell you at once you will not
find them here."

"I am not wont either to thrust myself upon
acquaintance, madam, or to give trouble," said the
guest ; " nevertheless, I shall need the assistance of
a domestic to assist me to dress — Perhaps you can
recommend me to such ? "

" Yes, to twenty," answered Mistress Martha,
" who will pick your purse while they tie your
points, and cut your throat while they smooth
your pillow."

" I will be his servant myself," said the old man,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 79

whose intellect, for a moment distanced, had again,
in some measure, got up with the conversation. " I
will brush his cloak — ugh, ugh — and tie his points
— ugh, ugh — and clean his shoes — ugh — and run
on his errands with speed and safety — ugh, ugh,
ugh, ugh — for a consideration."

" Good-morrow to you, sir," said Martha, to
Nigel, in a tone of direct and positive dismissal.
" It cannot be agreeable to a daughter that a
stranger should hear her father speak thus. If
you be really a gentleman, you will retire to your
own apartment."

" I will not delay a moment," said Nigel, re-
spectfully, for he was sensible that circumstances
palliated the woman's rudeness. " I would but
ask you, if seriously there can be danger in procur-
ing the assistance of a serving-man in this place ? "

" Young gentleman," said Martha, " you must
know little of Whitefriars to ask the question. We
live alone in this house, and seldom has a stranger
entered it ; nor should you, to be plain, had my
will been consulted. Look at the door — see if that
of a castle can be better secured ; the windows of
the first floor are grated on the outside, and within,
look to these shutters."

She pulled one of them aside, and showed a
ponderous apparatus of bolts and chains for securing
the window-shutters, while her father, pressing to
her side, seized her gown with a trembling hand,
and said, in a low whisper, " Show not the trick
of locking and undoing them. Show him not the
trick on't, Martha — ugh, ugh — on no considera-
tion." Martha went on, without paying him any
attention.

8o THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" And yet, young gentleman, we have been more
than once like to find all these defences too weak to
protect our lives ; such an evil effect on the wicked
generation around us hath been made by the un-
happy report of my poor father's wealth."

" Say nothing of that, housewife," said the miser,
his irritability increased by the very supposition of
his being wealthy — " Say nothing of that, or I will
beat thee, housewife — beat thee with my staff, for
fetching and carrying lies that will procure our
throats to be cut at last — ugh, ugh. — I am but a
poor man," he continued, turning to Nigel — "a
very poor man, that am willing to do any honest
turn upon earth, for a modest consideration."

" I therefore warn you of the life you must lead,
young gentleman," said Martha ; " the poor woman
who does the char-work will assist you so far as is
in her power, but the wise man is his own best
servant and assistant."

" It is a lesson you have taught me, madam, and
I thank you for it — I will assuredly study it at
leisure."

" You will do well," said Martha ; " and as you
seem thankful for advice, I, though I am no pro-
fessed counsellor of others, will give you more.
Make no intimacy with any one in Whitefriars —
borrow no money, on any score, especially from my
father, for, dotard as he seems, he will make an ass
of you. Last, and best of all, stay here not an
instant longer than you can help it. Farewell,
sir."

" A gnarled tree may bear good fruit, and a harsh
nature may give good counsel," thought the Lord
of Glenvarloch, as he retreated to his own apart-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 81

ment, where the same reflection occurred to him
again and again, while, unable as yet to reconcile
himself to the thoughts of becoming his own fire-
maker, he walked up and down his bedroom, to
warm himself by exercise.

At length his meditations arranged themselves
in the following soliloquy — by which expression
I beg leave to observe once for all, that I do not
mean that Nigel literally said aloud with his bodily
organs, the words which follow in inverted commas,
(while pacing the room by himself,) but that I
myself choose to present to my dearest reader the
picture of my hero's mind, his reflections and re-
solutions, in the form of a speech, rather than in
that of a narrative. In other words, I have put
his thoughts into language ; and this I conceive to
be the purpose of the soliloquy upon the stage as
well as in the closet, being at once the most natural,
and perhaps the only way of communicating to the
spectator what is supposed to be passing in the
bosom of the scenic personage. There are no
such soliloquies in nature, it is true, but unless they
were received as a conventional medium of com-
munication betwixt the poet and the audience, we
should reduce dramatic authors to the recipe of
Master Puff, who makes Lord Burleigh intimate a
long train of political reasoning to the audience, by
one comprehensive shake of his noddle. In narra-
tive, no doubt, the writer has the alternative of
telling that his personages thought so and so, in-
ferred thus and thus, and arrived at such and such
a conclusion ; but the soliloquy is a more concise
and spirited mode of communicating the same in-
formation ; and therefore thus communed, or thus

82 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

might have communed, the Lord of Glenvarloch
with his own mind.

" She is right, and has taught me a lesson I will
profit by. I have been, through my whole life,
one who leant upon others for that assistance,
which it is more truly noble to derive from my
own exertions. I am ashamed of feeling the paltry
inconvenience which long habit had led me to
annex to the want of a servant's assistance — I am
ashamed of that ; but far, far more am I ashamed
to have suffered the same habit of throwing my
own burden on others, to render me, since I came
to this city, a mere victim of those events, which I
have never even attempted to influence — a thing
never acting, but perpetually acted upon — protected
by one friend, deceived by another ; but in the
advantage which I received from the one, and the
evil I have sustained from the other, as passive and
helpless as a boat that drifts without oar or rudder
at the mercy of the winds and waves. I became a
courtier, because Heriot so advised it — a gamester,
because Dalgarno so contrived it — an Alsatian,
because LowestofFe so willed it. Whatever of
good or bad has befallen me, hath arisen out of the
agency of others, not from my own. My father's
son must no longer hold this facile and puerile
course. Live or die, sink or swim, Nigel Oiifaunt,
from this moment, shall owe his safety, success,
and honour, to his own exertions, or shall fall with
the credit of having at least exerted his own free
agency. I will write it down in my tablets, in her
very words, — 'The wise man is his own best
assistant/ "

He had just put his tablets in his pocket when

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 83

the old char- woman, who, to add to her efficiency,
was sadly crippled by rheumatism, hobbled into the
room, to try if she could gain a small gratilication
by waiting on the stranger. She readily undertook
to get Lord Glenvarloch's breakfast, and, as there
was an eating-house at the next door, she succeeded
in a shorter time than Nigel had augured.

As his solitary meal was finished, one of the
Temple porters, or inferior officers, was announced,
as seeking Master Grahame, on the part of his
friend, Master LowestofTe ; and, being admitted by
the old woman to his apartment, he delivered to
Nigel a small mail-trunk, with the clothes he had
desired should be sent to him, and then, with more
mystery, put into his hand a casket, or strong-box,
which he carefully concealed beneath his cloak.
" I am glad to be rid on't," said the fellow, as he
placed it on the table.

" Why, it is surely not so very heavy," answered
Nigel, " and you are a stout young man."

" Ay, sir," replied the fellow ; " but Sampson
himself would not have carried such a matter safely
through Alsatia, had the lads of the Huff known
what it was. Please to look into it, sir, and see all
is right — I am an honest fellow, and it comes safe
out of my hands. How long it may remain so
afterwards, will depend on your own care. I
would not my good name were to suffer by any
after-clap."

To satisfy the scruples of the messenger, Lord
Glenvarloch opened the casket in his presence, and
saw that his small stock of money, with two or
three valuable papers which it contained, and
particularly the original sign-manual which the King

84 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

had granted in his favour, were in the same order
in which he had left them. At the man's further
instance, he availed himself of the writing materials
which were in the casket, in order to send a line
to Master Lowestoffe, declaring that his property
had reached him in safety. He added some grate-
ful acknowledgments for LowestofFe's services, and,
just as. he was sealing and delivering his billet to
the messenger, his aged landlord entered the apart-
ment. His threadbare suit of black clothes was
now somewhat better arranged than they had been
in the dishabille of his first appearance, and his
nerves and intellects seemed to be less fluttered;
for, without much coughing or hesitation, he invited
Nigel to partake of a morning draught of whole-
some single ale, which he brought in a large leathern
tankard, or black-jack, carried in the one hand,
while the other stirred it round with a sprig of
rosemary, to give it, as the old man said, a flavour.
Nigel declined the courteous proffer, and intim-
ated by his manner, while he did so, that he
desired no intrusion on the privacy of his own
apartment ; which, indeed, he was the more entitled
to maintain, considering the cold reception he had
that morning met with when straying from its
precincts into those of his landlord. But the open
casket contained matter, or rather metal, so attractive
to old Trapbois, that he remained fixed, like a
setting-dog at a dead point, his nose advanced, and
one hand expanded like the lifted forepaw, by
which that sagacious quadruped sometimes indicates
that it is a hare which he has in the wind. Nigel
was about to break the charm which had thus
arrested old Trapbois, by shutting the lid of the

™

me

„•

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 85

casket, when his attention was withdrawn from him
by the question of the messenger, who, holding out
the letter, asked whether he was to leave it at Mr
LowestonVs chambers in the Temple, or carry it to
the Marshal sea ?

The Marshalsea ? " repeated Lord Glenvar-

h ; "what of the Marshalsea ? "

" Why, sir," said the man, " the poor gentleman
is laid up there in lavender, because, they say, his
own kind heart led him to scald his fingers with
another man's broth."

Nigel hastily snatched back the letter, broke the
seal, joined to the contents his earnest entreaty that
he might be instantly acquainted with the cause of
his confinement, and added, that, if it arose out of
his own unhappy affair, it would be of brief duration,
since he had, even before hearing of a reason which
so peremptorily demanded that he should surrender
himself, adopted the resolution to do so, as the
manliest and most proper course which his ill
fortune and imprudence had left in his own power.
He therefore conjured Mr LowestofTe to have no
delicacy upon this score, but, since his surrender
was what he had determined upon as a sacrifice due
to his own character, that he would have the
frankness to mention in what manner it could be
best arranged, so as to extricate him, LowestofTe,
from the restraint to which the writer could not
but fear his friend had been subjected, on account of
the generous interest which he had taken in his con-
cerns. The letter concluded, that the writer would
suffer twenty-four hours to elapse in expectation of
hearing from him, and, at the end of that period,
was determined to put his purpose in execution.

86 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

He delivered the billet to the messenger, and, en-
forcing his request with a piece of money, urged
him, without a moment's delay, to convey it to the
hands of Master Lowestoffe.

" I — I — I — will carry it to him myself," said
the old usurer, " for half the consideration."

The man who heard this attempt to take his
duty and perquisites over his head, lost no time in
pocketing the money, and departed on his errand as
fast as he could.

" Master Trapbois," said Nigel, addressing the
old man somewhat impatiently, " had you any par-
ticular commands for me ? "

" I — I — came to see if you rested well,"
answered the old man ; " and — if I could do any
thing to serve you, on any consideration."

" Sir, I thank you," said Lord Glenvarloch —
" I thank you ; " and, ere he could say more, a
heavy footstep was heard on the stair.

" My God !" exclaimed the old man, starting up
— " Why, Dorothy — char-woman — why, daughter,
— draw bolt, I say, housewives — the door hath
been left a-latch ! "

The door of the chamber opened wide, and in
strutted the portly bulk of the military hero whom
Nigel had on the preceding evening in vain endea-
voured to recognise.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 87

Chapter VI

Sivash- Buckler. Bilboe's the word —

Pierrot. It hath been spoke too often,
The spell hath lost its charm— I tell thee, friend,
The meanest cur that trots the street, will turn,
And snarl against your proffer'd bastinado.

S-wash-Buckler. Tis art shall do it, then — I will dose

the mongrels —

Or, in plain terms, I'll use the private knife
'Stead of the brandish'd falchion.

Old Play.

- r

Vci

-1

HE noble Captain Colepepper or Peppercull, for
he was known by both these names, and some others
besides, had a martial and a swashing exterior,
which, on the present occasion, was rendered yet
more peculiar, by a patch covering his left eye and
a part of the cheek. The sleeves of his thickset
Ivet jerkin were polished and shone with grease,
his buff gloves had huge tops, which reached
almost to the elbow ; his sword-belt of the same
materials extended its breadth from his haunchbone
to his small ribs, and supported on the one side his
large black-hiked back-sword, on the other a dagger
of like proportions. He paid his compliments to
Nigel with that air of predetermined effrontery,
which announces that it will not be repelled by any
coldness of reception, asked Trapbois how he did,
by the familiar title of old Peter Pillory, and then,
seizing upon the black-jack, emptied it off at a
draught, to the health of the last and youngest
freeman of Alsatia, the noble and loving Master
Nigel Grahame.

When he had set down the empty pitcher and

88 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

drawn his breath, he began to criticise the liquor
which it had lately contained. — " Sufficient single
beer, old Pillory — and, as I take it, brewed at the
rate of a nutshell of malt to a butt of Thames —
as dead as a corpse, too, and yet it went hissing
down my throat — bubbling, by Jove, like water
upon hot iron. — You left us early, noble Master
Grahame, but, good faith, we had a carouse to your
honour — we heard butt ring hollow ere we parted ;
we were as loving as inkle-weavers — we fought,
too, to finish off the gawdy. I bear some marks of
the parson about me, you see — a note of the sermon
or so, which should have been addressed to my ear,
but missed its mark, and reached my left eye. The
man of God bears my sign-manual too, but the Duke
made us friends again, and it cost me more sack
than I could carry, and all the Rhenish to boot, to
pledge the seer in the way of love and reconciliation
— But, Caracco ! 'tis a vile old canting slave for all
that, whom I will one day beat out of his devil's
livery into all the colours of the rainbow. — Basta! —
Said I well, old Trapbois ? Where is thy daughter,
man ? — what says she to my suit ? — 'tis an honest
one — wilt have a soldier for thy son-in-law, old
Pillory, to mingle the soul of martial honour with
thy thieving, miching, petty-larceny blood, as men
put bold brandy into muddy ale ? "

'* My daughter receives not company so early,
noble captain," said the usurer, and concluded his
speech with a dry, emphatical " ugh, ugh."

"What, upon no con-si-de-ra-ti-on ? " said the
captain ; " and wherefore not, old Truepenny ? she
has not much time to lose in driving her bargain,
methinks."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 89

" Captain," said Trapbois, " I was upon some
little business with our noble friend here, Master
Nigel Green — ugh, ugh, ugh "

" And you would have me gone, I warrant you? "
answered the bully; "but patience, old Pillory,
thine hour is not yet come, man — You see," he
said, pointing to the casket, "that noble Master
Grahame, whom you call Green, has got the decuses
and the smelts."

" Which you would willingly rid him of, ha ! ha !
— ugh, ugh," answered the usurer, " if you knew
how — but, lack-a-day ! thou art one of those that
come out for wool, and art sure to go home shorn.
Why now, but that I am sworn against laying of
wagers, I would risk some consideration that this
honest guest of mine sends thee home penniless, if
thou darest venture with him — ugh, ugh — at any
game which gentlemen play at."

" Marry, thou hast me on the hip there, thou
old miserly cony-catcher ! " answered the captain,
taking a bale of dice from the sleeve of his coat ;
" I must always keep company with these damnable
doctors, and they have made me every baby's cully,
and purged my purse into an atrophy ; but never
mind, it passes the time as well as aught else —
How say you, Master Grahame ? "

The fellow paused ; but even the extremity of
his impudence could hardly withstand the cold
look of utter contempt with which Nigel received
his proposal, returning it with a simple, " I only
play where I know my company, and never in the
morning."

Cards may be more agreeable," said Captain
pper ; " and, for knowing your company,

Cole,*

po THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

here is honest old Pillory will tell you Jack Cole-
pepper plays as truly on the square as e'er a man
that trowled a die — Men talk of high and low
dice, Fulhams and bristles, topping, knapping,
slurring, stabbing, and a hundred ways of rooking
besides ; but broil me like a rasher of bacon, if I
could ever learn the trick on 'em ! "

" You have got the vocabulary perfect, sir, at
the least," said Nigel, in the same cold tone.

" Yes, by mine honour have I," returned the
Hector ; " they are phrases that a gentleman learns
about town. — But perhaps you would like a set at
tennis, or a game at balloon — we have an indifferent
good court hard by here, and a set of as gentleman-
like blades as ever banged leather against brick and
mortar."

" I beg to be excused at present," said Lord
Glenvarloch ; " and to be plain, among the valuable
privileges your society has conferred on me, I hope
I may reckon that of being private in my own
apartment when I have a mind."

" Your humble servant, sir," said the captain ;
"and I thank you for your civility — Jack Cole-
pepper can have enough of company, and thrusts
himself on no one. — But perhaps you will like to
make a match at skittles ? "

" I am by no means that way disposed," replied
the young nobleman.

" Or to leap a flea — run a snail — match a wherry,
eh?"

" No — I will do none of these," answered Nigel.

Here the old man, who had been watching with
his little peery eyes, pulled the bulky Hector by
the skirt, and whispered, " Do not vapour him the

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 91

huff, it will not pass — let the trout play, he will
rise to the hook presently."

But the bully, confiding in his own strength, and
probably mistaking for timidity the patient scorn
with which Nigel received his proposals, incited
also by the open casket, began to assume a louder
and more threatening tone. He drew himself up,
bent his brows, assumed a look of professional fero-
city, and continued, " In Alsatia, look ye, a man
must be neighbourly and companionable. Zouns !
sir, we would slit any nose that was turned up at
us honest fellows. — Ay, sir, we would slit it up to
the gristle, though it had smelt nothing all its life
but musk, ambergris, and court-scented water. —
Rabbit me, I am a soldier, and care no more for a
lord than a lamplighter ! "

" Are you seeking a quarrel, sir ? " said Nigel,
calmly, having in truth no desire to engage himself
in a discreditable broil in such a place, and with
such a character.

"Quarrel, sir?" said the captain; "I am not
seeking a quarrel, though I care not how soon I
find one. Only I wish you to understand you must
be neighbourly, that's all. What if we should go
over the water to the garden, and see a bull hanked
this fine morning — 'sdeath, will you do nothing ? "

" Something I am strangely tempted to do at
this moment," said Nigel.

" Videlicet," said Colepepper, with a swaggering
air, " let us hear the temptation."

" I am tempted to throw you headlong from the
window, unless you presently make the best of your
way down stairs."

" Throw me from the window ? — hell and

92 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

furies ! " exclaimed the captain ; "I have con-
fronted twenty crooked sabres at Bud a with my
single rapier, and shall a chitty-faced, beggarly
Scots lordling, speak of me and a window in the
same breath ? — Stand off, old Pillory, let me make
Scotch collops of him — he dies the death ! "

" For the love of Heaven, gentlemen," exclaimed
the old miser, throwing himself between them, " do
not break the peace on any consideration ! Noble
guest, forbear the captain — he is a very Hector of
Troy — Trusty Hector, forbear my guest, he is like
to prove a very Achilles — ugh — ugh "

Here he was interrupted by his asthma, but,
nevertheless, continued to interpose his person
between Colepepper (who had unsheathed his
whinyard, and was making vain passes at his
antagonist) and Nigel, who had stepped back to
take his sword, and now held it undrawn in his left
hand.

" Make an end of this foolery, you scoundrel ! "
said Nigel — "Do you come hither to vent your
noisy oaths and your bottled-up valour on me ?
You seem to know me, and I am half ashamed to
say I have at length been able to recollect you —
remember the garden behind the ordinary, you
dastardly ruffian, and the speed with which fifty
men saw you run from a drawn sword. — Get you
gone, sir, and do not put me to the vile labour of
cudgelling such a cowardly rascal down stairs."

The bully's countenance grew dark as night at
this unexpected recognition ; for he had undoubtedly
thought himself secure in his change of dress, and
his black patch, from being discovered by a person
who had seen him but once. He set his teeth,

ORTUNES OF NIGEL 93

clenched his hands, and it seemed as if he was
seeking for a moment's courage to fly upon his
antagonist. But his heart failed, he sheathed his
sword, turned his back in gloomy silence, and spoke
not until he reached the door, when, turning round,
he said, with a deep oath, " If I be not avenged of
you for this insolence ere many days go by, I would
the gallows had my body and the devil my spirit !"

So saying, and with a look where determined
spite and malice made his features savagely fierce,
though they could not overcome his fear, he turned
and left the house. Nigel followed him as far as
the gallery at the head of the staircase, with the
purpose of seeing him depart, and ere he returned
was met by Mistress Martha Trapbois, whom the
noise of the quarrel had summoned from her own
apartment. He could not resist saying to her in
his natural displeasure — " I would, madam, you
could teach your father and his friends the lesson
which you had the goodness to bestow on me this
morning, and prevail on them to leave me the
unmolested privacy of my own apartment."

" If you came hither for quiet or retirement,
young man," answered she, " you have been advised
to an evil retreat. You might seek mercy in the
Star-Chamber, or holiness in hell, with better
success than quiet in Alsatia. But my father
shall trouble you no longer."

So saying, she entered the apartment, and, fixing
her eyes on the casket, she said with emphasis —
"If you display such a loadstone, it will draw
many a steel knife to your throat."

While Nigel hastily shut the casket, she addressed
her father, upbraiding him, with small reverence,

94 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

for keeping company with the cowardly, hectoring,
murdering villain, John Colepepper.

"Ay, ay, child," said the old man, with the
cunning leer which intimated perfect satisfaction
with his own superior address — " I know — I know
— ugh — but I'll crossbite him — I know them all,
and I can manage them — ay, ay — I have the trick
on7 1 — ugh — ugh. ' '

" Tou manage, father ! " said the austere damsel ;
" you will manage to have your throat cut, and that
ere long. You cannot hide from them your gains
and your gold as formerly.'*

" My gains, wench ? my gold ?" said the usurer ;
" alack- a-day, few of these and hard got — few and
hard got."

" This will not serve you, father, any longer,"
said she, "and had not served you thus long, but
that Bully Colepepper had contrived a cheaper way
of plundering your house, even by means of my
miserable self. — But why do I speak to him of all
this," she said, checking herself, and shrugging her
shoulders with an expression of pity which did not
fall much short of scorn. " He hears me not — he
thinks not of me. — Is it not strange that the love of
gathering gold should survive the care to preserve
both property and life ?"

" Your father," said Lord Glenvarloch, who
could not help respecting the strong sense and
feeling shown by this poor woman, even amidst all
her rudeness and severity, "your father seems to
have his faculties sufficiently alert when he is in
the exercise of his ordinary pursuits and functions.
I wonder he is not sensible of the weight of your
arguments."

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 95

" Nature made him a man senseless of danger,
and that insensibility is the best thing I have
derived from him," said she ; " age has left him
shrewdness enough to tread his old beaten paths,
but not to seek new courses. The old blind horse
will long continue to go its rounds in the mill, when
it would stumble in the open meadow."

"Daughter! — why, wench — why, housewife! "
said the old man, awakening out of some dream, in
which he had been sneering and chuckling in
imagination, probably over a successful piece of
roguery, — " go to chamber, wench — go to chamber
— draw bolts and chain — look sharp to door — let
none in or out but worshipful Master Grahame — I
must take my cloak, and go to Duke Hildebrod —
ay, ay, time has been, my own warrant was enough ;
but the lower we lie, the more are we under the
wind."

And, with his wonted chorus of muttering and
coughing, the old man left the apartment. His
daughter stood for a moment looking after him, with
her usual expression of discontent and sorrow.

" You ought to persuade your father," said Nigel,
"to leave this evil neighbourhood, if you are in
reality apprehensive for his safety."

" He would be safe in no other quarter," said the
daughter ; " I would rather the old man were dead
than publicly dishonoured. In other quarters he
would be pelted and pursued, like an owl which
ventures into sunshine. Here he was safe, while his
comrades could avail themselves of his talents ; he
is now squeezed and fleeced by them on every pre-
tence. They consider him as a vessel on the strand,
from which each may snatch a prey ; and the very

96 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

jealousy which they entertain respecting him as a
common property, may perhaps induce them to
guard him from more private and daring assaults."

" Still, methinks, you ought to leave this place,"
answered Nigel, " since you might find a safe retreat
in some distant country."

" In Scotland, doubtless," said she, looking at
him with a sharp and suspicious eye, " and enrich
strangers with our rescued wealth — Ha ! young
man ?"

" Madam, if you knew me," said Lord Glenvar-
loch, "you would spare the suspicion implied in
your words."

"Who shall assure me of that?" said Martha,
sharply. "They say you are a brawler and a
gamester, and I know how far these are to be
trusted by the unhappy."

"They do me wrong, by Heaven! " said Lord
Glenvarloch.

" It may be so," said Martha ; " I am little in-
terested in the degree of your vice or your folly ;
but it is plain, that the one or the other has con-
ducted you hither, and that your best hope of peace,
safety, and happiness, is to be gone, with the least
possible delay, from a place which is always a sty
for swine, and often a shambles." So saying, she
left the apartment.

There was something in the ungracious manner
of this female, amounting almost to contempt of
him she spoke to — an indignity to which Glenvar-
loch, notwithstanding his poverty, had not as yet
been personally exposed, and which, therefore, gave
him a transitory feeling of painful surprise. Neither
did the dark hints which Martha threw out con-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 97

cerning the danger of his place of refuge, sound by
any means agreeably to his ears. The bravest man,
placed in a situation in which he is surrounded by
suspicious persons, and removed from all counsel
and assistance, except those afforded by a valiant
heart and a strong arm, experiences a sinking of the
spirit, a consciousness of abandonment, which for a
moment chills his blood, and depresses his natural
gallantry of disposition.

But, if sad reflections arose in Nigel's mind, he
had not time to indulge them ; and, if he saw little
prospect of finding friends in Alsatia, he found that
he was not likely to be solitary for lack of visitors.

He had scarcely paced his apartment for ten
minutes, endeavouring to arrange his ideas on the
course which he was to pursue on quitting Alsatia,
when he was interrupted by the Sovereign of the
quarter, the great Duke Hildebrod himself, before
whose approach the bolts and chains of the miser's
dwelling fell, or withdrew, as of their own accord ;
and both the folding leaves of the door were opened,
that he might roll himself into the house like a
huge butt of liquor, a vessel to which he bore a
considerable outward resemblance, both in size,
shape, complexion, and contents.

" Good-morrow to your lordship," said the
greasy puncheon, cocking his single eye, and rolling
it upon Nigel with a singular expression of familiar
impudence ; whilst his grim bull-dog, which was
close at his heels, made a kind of gurgling in his
throat, as if saluting, in similar fashion, a starved
cat, the only living thing in Trapbois' house which
we have not yet enumerated, and which had flown
up to the top of the tester, where she stood clutch-
27 g

98 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

ing and grinning at the mastiff, whose greeting she
accepted with as much good- will as Nigel bestowed
on that of the dog's master.

"Peace, Belzie ! — D — n thee, peace!" said
Duke Hildebrod. " Beasts and fools will be
meddling, my lord."

" I thought, sir," answered Nigel, with as much
haughtiness as was consistent with the cool distance
which he desired to preserve, " I thought I had told
you, my name at present was Nigel Grahame."

His eminence of Whitefriars on this burst out
into a loud, chuckling, impudent laugh, repeating
the word, till his voice was almost inarticulate, —
"Niggle Green — Niggle Green — Niggle Green! —
why, my lord, you would be queered in the drink-
ing of a penny pot of Malmsey, if you cry before
you are touched. Why, you have told me the secret
even now, had I not had a shrewd guess of it before.
Why, Master Nigel, since that is the word, I only
called you my lord, because we made you a peer of
Alsatia last night, when the sack was predominant.
— How you look now ! — Ha ! ha ! ha ! "

Nigel, indeed, conscious that he had unnecessarily
betrayed himself, replied hastily, — "he was much
obliged to him for the honours conferred, but did
not propose to remain in the Sanctuary long enough
to enjoy them."

"Why, that may be as you will, an you will
walk by wise counsel," answered the ducal porpoise ;
and, although Nigel remained standing, in hopes to
accelerate his guest's departure, he threw himself
into one of the old tapestry-backed easy-chairs,
which cracked under his weight, and began to call
for old Trapbois.

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 99

The crone of all work appearing instead of her
master, the Duke cursed her for a careless jade, to
let a strange gentleman, and a brave guest, go without
his morning's draught.

" I never take one, sir," said Glenvarloch.

" Time to begin — time to begin," answered the
Duke. — " Here, you old refuse of Sathan, go to our
palace, and fetch Lord Green's morning draught.
Let us see — what shall it be, my lord ? — a hum-
ming double pot of ale, with a roasted crab dancing
in it like a wherry above bridge ?•— or, hum — ay,
young men are sweet-toothed — a quart of burnt
sack, with sugar and spice ? — good against the fogs.
Or, what say you to sipping a gill of right distilled
waters? Come, we will have them all, and you
shall take your choice. — Here, you Jezebel, let Tim
send the ale, and the sack, and the nipperkin of
double-distilled, with a bit of diet-loaf, or some
such trinket, and score it to the new comer."

Glenvarloch, bethinking himself that it might be
as well to endure this fellow's insolence for a brief
season, as to get into farther discreditable quarrels,
suffered him to take his own way, without interrup-
tion, only observing, " You make yourself at home,
sir, in my apartment ; but, for the time, you may
use your pleasure. Meanwhile, I would fain know
what has procured me the honour of this unexpected
visit ? "

" You shall know that when old Deb has brought
the liquor — I never speak of business dry-lipped.
Why, how she drumbles — I warrant she stops to
take a sip on the road, and then you will think you
have had unchristian measure. — In the meanwhile,
look at that dog there — look Belzebub in the face,

ioo THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

and tell me if you ever saw a sweeter beast — never
flew but at head in his life."

And, after this congenial panegyric, he was pro-
ceeding with a tale of a dog and a bull, which
threatened to be somewhat of the longest, when he
was interrupted by the return of the old crone, and
two of his own tapsters, bearing the various kinds of
drinkables which he had demanded, and which pro-
bably was the only species of interruption he would
have endured with equanimity.

When the cups and cans were duly arranged upon
the table, and when Deborah, whom the ducal
generosity honoured with a penny farthing in the way
of gratuity, had withdrawn with her satellites, the
worthy potentate, having first slightly invited Lord
Glenvarloch to partake of the liquor which he was
to pay for, and after having observed, that, excepting
three poached eggs, a pint of bastard, and a cup of
clary, he was fasting from every thing but sin, set
himself seriously to reinforce the radical moisture.
Glenvarloch had seen Scottish lairds and Dutch
burgomasters at their potations ; but their exploits
(though each might be termed a thirsty generation)
were nothing to those of Duke Hildebrod, who
seemed an absolute sandbed, capable of absorbing
any given quantity of liquid, without being either
vivified or overflowed. He drank off the ale to
quench a thirst which, as he said, kept him in a
fever from morning to night, and night to morning ;
tippled off the sack to correct the crudity of the
ale ; sent the spirits after the sack to keep all quiet,
and then declared that, probably, he should not taste
liquor till post meridiem, unless it was in compliment
to some especial friend. Finally, he intimated that

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 101

he was ready to proceed on the business which
brought him from home so early, a proposition
which Nigel readily received, though he could not
help suspecting that the most important purpose of
Duke Hildebrod's visit was already transacted.

In this, however, Lord Glenvarloch proved to be
mistaken. Hildebrod, before opening what he had
to say, made an accurate survey of the apartment,
laying, from time to time, his finger on his nose,
and winking on Nigel with his single eye, while he
opened and shut the doors, lifted the tapestry, which
concealed, in one or two places, the dilapidation of
time upon the wainscoted walls, peeped into closets,
and, finally, looked under the bed, to assure himself
that the coast was clear of listeners and interlopers.
He then resumed his seat, and beckoned confidentially
to Nigel to draw his chair close to him.

" I am well as I am, Master Hildebrod," replied
the young lord, little disposed to encourage the
familiarity which the man endeavoured to fix on
him ; but the undismayed Duke proceeded as
follows :

"You shall pardon me, my lord — and I now give
you the title right seriously — if I remind you that
our waters may be watched ; for though old Trap-
bois be as deaf as Saint Paul's, yet his daughter has
sharp ears, and sharp eyes enough, and it is of them
that it is my business to speak."

" Say away, then, sir," said Nigel, edging his
chair somewhat closer to the Quicksand, " although
I cannot conceive what business I have either with
mine host or his daughter."

" We will see that in the twinkling of a quart-
" answered the gracious Duke; "and first, my

pot,77 answere

102 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

lord, you must not think to dance in a net before
old Jack Hildebrod, that has thrice your years o'er
his head, and was born, like King Richard, with
all his eye-teeth ready cut."

" Well, sir, go on," said Nigel.

" Why, then, my lord, I presume to say, that, if
you are, as I believe you are, that Lord Glenvarloch
whom all the world talk of — the Scotch gallant that
has spent all, to a thin cloak and a light purse — be
not moved, my lord, it is so noised of you — men call
you the sparrow-hawk, who will fly at all — ay, were
it in the very Park — Be not moved, my lord."

"I am ashamed, sirrah," replied Glenvarloch,
" that you should have power to move me by your
insolence — but beware — and, if you indeed guess
who I am, consider how long I may be able to
endure your tone of insolent familiarity."

" I crave pardon, my lord," said Hildebrod, with
a sullen, yet apologetic look ; "I meant no harm
in speaking my poor mind. I know not what honour
there may be in being familiar with your lordship,
but I judge there is little safety, for Lowestoffe
is laid up in lavender only for having shown you
the way into Alsatia ; and so, what is to come of
those who maintain you when you are here, or
whether they will get most honour or most trouble
by doing so, I leave with your lordship's better
judgment."

" I will bring no one into trouble on my account,"
said Lord Glenvarloch. " I will leave Whitefriars
to-morrow. Nay, by Heaven, I will leave it this
day."

" You will have more wit in your anger, I trust,"
said Duke Hildebrod ; " listen first to what I have

THI

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 103

to say to you, and, if honest Jack Hildebrod puts
you not in the way of nicking them all, may he never
cast doublets, or gull a greenhorn again ! And so,
my lord, in plain words, you must wap and win."

" Your words must be still plainer before I can
understand them," said Nigel.

" What the devil — a gamester, one who deals
with the devil's bones and the doctors, and not
understand pedlar's French ! Nay, then, I must
speak plain English, and that's the simpleton's
tongue."

"Speak, then, sir," said Nigel; "and I pray
you be brief, for I have little more time to bestow
on you."

" Well, then, my lord, to be brief, as you and the
lawyers call it — I understand you have* an estate
in the north, which changes masters for want of the
redeeming ready. — Ay, you start, but you cannot
dance in a net before me, as I said before ; and so
the King runs the frowning humour on you, and
the Court vapours you the go-by ; and the Prince
scowls at you from under his cap ; and the favourite
serves you out the puckered brow and the cold
shoulder ; and the favourite's favourite "

"To go no further, sir," interrupted Nigel,
" suppose all this true — and what follows ? "

"What follows?" returned Duke Hildebrod.
" Marry, this follows, that you will owe good deed,
as well as good will, to him who shall put you in
the way to walk with your beaver cocked in the
presence, as an ye were Earl of Kildare ; bully the
courtiers; meet the Prince's blighting look with
a bold brow ; confront the favourite ; baffle his
deputy, and "

i<>4 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" This is all well," said Nigel ; " but how is it
to be accomplished ? "

" By making thee a Prince of Peru, my lord of
the northern latitudes; propping thine old castle
with ingots, — fertilizing thy failing fortunes with
gold dust — it shall but cost thee to put thy baron's
coronet for a day or so on the brows of an old
Caduca here, the man's daughter of the house, and
thou art master of a mass of treasure that shall do
all I have said for thee, and "

"What, you would have me marry this old
gentlewoman here, the daughter of mine host?"
said Nigel, surprised and angry, yet unable to
suppress some desire to laugh.

"Nay, my lord, I would have you marry fifty
thousand good sterling pounds ; for that, and better,
hath old Trapbois hoarded; and thou shalt do a
deed of mercy in it to the old man, who will lose
his golden smelts in some worse way — for now
that he is wellnigh past his day of work, his day of
payment is like to follow."

"Truly, this is a most courteous offer," said
Lord Glenvarloch; "but may I pray of your
candour, most noble duke, to tell me why you
dispose of a ward of so much wealth on a stranger
like me, who may leave you to-morrow ? "

"In sooth, my lord," said the Duke, "that
question smacks more of the wit of Beaujeu's
ordinary, than any word I have yet heard your
lordship speak, and reason it is you should be
answered. Touching my peers, it is but necessary
to say, that Mistress Martha Trapbois will none of
them, whether clerical or laic. The captain hath
asked her, so hath the parson, but she will none of

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 105

them — she looks higher than either, and is, to say
truth, a woman of sense, and so forth, too profound,
and of spirit something too high, to put up with
greasy buff or rusty prunella. For ourselves, we
need but hint that we have a consort in the land
of the living, and, what is more to purpose, Mrs
Martha knows it. So, as she will not lace her
kersey hood save with a quality binding, you, my
lord, must be the man, and must carry off fifty
thousand decuses, the spoils of five thousand bullies,
cutters, and spendthrifts, — always deducting from
the main sum some five thousand pounds for our
princely advice and countenance, without which, as
matters stand in Alsatia, you would find it hard to
win the plate."

" But has your wisdom considered, sir," replied
Glenvarloch, "how this wedlock can serve me in
my present emergence ? "

" As for that, my lord," said Duke Hildebrod,
"if, with forty or fifty thousand pounds in your
pouch, you cannot save yourself, you will deserve
to lose your head for your folly, and your hand for
being close-fisted."

" But, since your goodness has taken my matters
into such serious consideration," continued Nigel,
who conceived there was no prudence in breaking
with a man, who, in his way, meant him favour
rather than offence, " perhaps you may be able to
tell me how my kindred will be likely to receive
such a bride as you recommend to me ? "

"Touching that matter, my lord, I have always
heard your countrymen knew as well as other folks,
on which side their bread was buttered. And,
truly, speaking from report, I know no place where

106 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

fifty thousand pounds — fifty thousand pounds, I say
— will make a woman more welcome than it is
likely to do in your ancient kingdom. And, truly,
saving the slight twist in her shoulder, Mrs Martha
Trapbois is a person of very awful and majestic
appearance, and may, for aught I know, be come
of better blood than any one wots of; for old Trap-
bois looks not over like to be her father, and her
mother was a generous, liberal sort of a woman."

" I am afraid," answered Nigel, " that chance is
rather too vague to assure her a gracious reception
into an honourable house."

" Why, then, my lord," replied Hildebrod, " I
think it like she will be even with them ; for I will
venture to say, she has as much ill-nature as will
make her a match for your whole clan."

" That may inconvenience me a little," replied
Nigel.

" Not a whit — not a whit," said the Duke, fertile
in expedients ; " if she should become rather in-
tolerable, which is not unlikely, your honourable
house, which I presume to be a castle, hath, doubt-
less, both turrets and dungeons, and ye may bestow
your bonny bride in either the one or the other,
and then you know you will be out of hearing of
her tongue, and she will be either above or below
the contempt of your friends."

" It is sagely counselled, most equitable sir,"
replied Nigel, " and such restraint would be a fit
meed for her folly that gave me any power over her."

« You entertain the project then, my lord ?" said
Duke Hildebrod.

"I must turn it in my mind for twenty-four
hours," said Nigel ; " and I will pray you so to

THE FOR

TUNES OF NIGEL 107

order matters that I be not further interrupted by
any visitors."

" We will utter an edict to secure your privacy,"
said the Duke ; " and you do not think," he added,
lowering his voice to a confidential whisper, " that
ten thousand is too much to pay to the Sovereign,
in name of wardship ? "

" Ten thousand ! " said Lord Glenvarloch ;
" why, you said five thousand but now."

" Aha ! art avised of that ? " said the Duke,
touching the side of his nose with his finger ; " nay,
if you have marked me so closely, you are thinking
on the case more nearly than I believed, till you
trapped me. Well, well, we will not quarrel about
the consideration, as old Trapbois would call it —
do you win and wear the dame ; it will be no hard
matter with your face and figure, and I will take
care that no one interrupts you. I will have an
edict from the Senate as soon as they meet for their
meridiem."

So saying, Duke Hildebrod took his leave.

Chapter VII

This is the time —Heaven's maiden sentinel
Hath quitted her high watch —the lesser spangles
Are paling one by one ; give me the ladder
And the short lever — bid Anthony
Keep with his carabine the wicket-gate ;
And do thou bare thy knife and follow me,
For we will in and do it — darkness like this
Is dawning of our fortunes.

Old Play

WHEN Duke Hildebrod had withdrawn, Nigel's
first impulse was an irresistible feeling to laugh at

io8 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the sage adviser, who would have thus connected
him with age, ugliness, and ill-temper ; but his next
thought was pity for the unfortunate father and
daughter, who, being the only persons possessed of
wealth in this unhappy district, seemed like a wreck
on the sea-shore of a barbarous country, only secured
from plunder for the moment by the jealousy of the
tribes among whom it had been cast. Neither could
he help being conscious that his own residence here
was upon conditions equally precarious, and that he
was considered by the Alsatians in the same light
of a godsend on the Cornish coast, or a sickly but
wealthy caravan travelling through the wilds of
Africa, and emphatically termed by the nations of
despoilers through whose regions it passes, Dummala-
fong, which signifies a thing given to be devoured
— a common prey to all men.

Nigel had already formed his own plan to ex-
tricate himself, at whatever risk, from his perilous
and degrading situation ; and, in order that he
might carry it into instant execution, he only
awaited the return of LowestofFe's messenger. He
expected him, however, in vain, and could only
amuse himself by looking through such parts of
his baggage as had been sent to him from his former
lodgings, in order to select a small packet of the
most necessary articles to take with him, in the
event of his quitting his lodgings secretly and
suddenly, as speed and privacy would, he foresaw,
be particularly necessary, if he meant to obtain an
interview with the King, which was the course his
spirit and his interest alike determined him to pursue.

While he was thus engaged, he found, greatly to
his satisfaction, that Master Lowestoffe had trans-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 109

mitted not only his rapier and poniard, but a pair of
pistols, which he had used in travelling ; of a smaller
and more convenient size than the large petronels,
or horse pistols, which were then in common use, as
being made for wearing at the girdle or in the pockets.
Next to having stout and friendly comrades, a man
is chiefly emboldened by finding himself well armed
in case of need, and Nigel, who had thought with
some anxiety on the hazard of trusting his life, if
attacked, to the protection of the clumsy weapon
with which LowestofFe had equipped him, in order
to complete his disguise, felt an emotion of con-
fidence approaching to triumph, as, drawing his own
good and well-tried rapier, he wiped it with his
handkerchief, examined its point, bent it once or
twice against the ground to prove its well-known
metal, and finally replaced it in the scabbard, the
more hastily, that he heard a tap at the door of his
chamber, and had no mind to be found vapouring in
the apartment with his sword drawn.

it was his old host who entered, to tell him with
many cringes that the price of his apartment was
to be a crown per diem ; and that, according to the
custom of Whitefriars, the rent was always payable
per advance, although he never scrupled to let the
money lie till a week or fortnight, or even a month,
in the hands of any honourable guest like Master
Grahame, always upon some reasonable considera-
tion for the use. Nigel got rid of the old dotard's
intrusion, by throwing down two pieces of gold,
and requesting the accommodation of his present
apartment for eight days, adding, however, he did
not think he should tarry so long.

The miser, with a sparkling eye and a trembling

no THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

hand, clutched fast the proffered coin, and, having
balanced the pieces with exquisite pleasure on the
extremity of his withered finger, began almost in-
stantly to show that not even the possession of gold
can gratify for more than an instant the very heart
that is most eager in the pursuit of it. First, the
pieces might be light — with hasty hand he drew a
small pair of scales from his bosom and weighed
them, first together, then separately, and smiled
with glee as he saw them attain the due depression
in the balance — a circumstance which might add to
his profits, if it were true, as was currently reported,
that little of the gold coinage was current in Alsatia
in a perfect state, and that none ever left the
Sanctuary in that condition

Another fear then occurred to trouble the old
miser's pleasure. He had been just able to com-
prehend that Nigel intended to leave the Friars
sooner than the arrival of the term for which he
had deposited the rent. This might imply an ex-
pectation of refunding, which, as a Scotch wag said,
of all species of funding, jumped least with the old
gentleman's humour. He was beginning to enter a
hypothetical caveat on this subject, and to quote
several reasons why no part of the money once
consigned as room-rent, could be repaid back on
any pretence, without great hardship to the land-
lord, when Nigel, growing impatient, told him that
the money was his absolutely, and without any
intention on his part of resuming any of it — all he
asked in return was the liberty of enjoying in private
the apartment he had paid for. Old Trapbois, who
had still at his tongue's end much of the smooth
language, by which, in his time, he had hastened

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL in

the ruin of many a young spendthrift, began to
launch out upon the noble and generous disposition
of his new guest, until Nigel, growing impatient,
took the old gentleman by the hand, and gently,
yet irresistibly, leading him to the door of the
chamber, put him out, but with such decent and
moderate exertion of his superior strength, as to
render the action in no shape indecorous, and,
fastening the door, began to do that for his pistols
which he had done for his favourite sword, ex-
amining with care the flints and locks, and review-
ing the state of his small provision of ammunition.

In this operation he was a second time inter-
rupted by a knocking at his door — he called upon
the person to enter, having no doubt that it was
Lowestoffe's messenger at length arrived. It was,
however, the ungracious daughter of old Trapbois,
who, muttering something about her father's mis-
take, laid down upon the table one of the pieces
of gold which Nigel had just given to him, saying,
that what she retained was the full rent for the
term he had specified. Nigel replied, he had
paid the money, and had no desire to receive it
again.

"Do as you will with it, then," replied his
hostess, " for there it lies, and shall lie for me. If
you are fool enough to pay more than is reason, my
father shall not be knave enough to take it."

" But your father, mistress," said Nigel, " your
father told me "

" Oh, my father, my father," said she, inter-
rupting him, — "my father managed these affairs
while he was able — I manage them now, and that
may in the long run be as well for both of us."

112 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

She then looked on the table, and observed the
weapons.

" You have arms, I see," she said ; " do you
know how to use them ? "

" I should do so, mistress," replied Nigel, " for
it has been my occupation."

" You are a soldier, then ? " she demanded.

" No farther as yet, than as every gentleman of
my country is a soldier."

" Ay, that is your point of honour — to cut the
throats of the poor — a proper gentlemanlike occupa-
tion for those who should protect them ! "

" I do not deal in cutting throats, mistress,"
replied Nigel ; " but I carry arms to defend myself,
and my country if it needs me."

" Ay," replied Martha, " it is fairly worded ; but
men say you are as prompt as others in petty brawls,
where neither your safety nor your country is in
hazard ; and that had it not been so, you would not
have been in the Sanctuary to-day."

" Mistress," returned Nigel, " I should labour in
vain to make you understand that a man's honour,
which is, or should be, dearer to him than his life,
may often call on and compel us to hazard our own
lives, or those of others, on what would otherwise
seem trifling contingencies."

" God's law says nought of that," said the
female ; " I have only read there, that thou shall not
kill. But I have neither time nor inclination to
preach to you — you will find enough of fighting
here if you like it, and well if it come not to seek
you when you are least prepared. Farewell for
the present — the char- woman will execute your
commands for your meals."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 113

She left the room, just as Nigel, provoked at
her assuming a superior tone of judgment and of
censure, was about to be so superfluous as to enter
into a dispute with an old pawnbroker's daughter
on the subject of the point of honour. He smiled
at himself for the folly into which the spirit of self-
vindication had so nearly hurried him.

Lord Glenvarloch then applied to old Deborah
the char-woman, by whose intermediation he was
provided with a tolerably decent dinner ; and the
only embarrassment which he experienced, was
from the almost forcible entry of the old dotard his
landlord, who insisted upon giving his assistance at
laying the cloth. Nigel had some difficulty to pre-
vent him from displacing his arms and some papers
which were lying on the small table at which he
had been sitting ; and nothing short of a stern and
positive injunction to the contrary could compel him
to use another board (though there were two in the
room) for the purpose of laying the cloth.

Having at length obliged him to relinquish his
purpose, he could not help observing that the eyes
of the old dotard seemed still anxiously fixed upon
the small table on which lay his sword and pistols ;
and that, amidst all the little duties which he
seemed officiously anxious to render to his guest, he
took every opportunity of looking towards and ap-
proaching these objects of his attention. At length,
when Trapbois thought he had completely avoided
the notice of his guest, Nigel, through the observa-
tion of one of the cracked mirrors, on which channel
of communication the old man had not calculated,
beheld him actually extend his hand towards the
table in question. He thought it unnecessary to
27 h

114 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

use farther ceremony, but telling his landlord, in a
stern voice, that he permitted no one to touch his
arms, he commanded him to leave the apartment.
The old usurer commenced a maundering sort of
apology, in which all that Nigel distinctly appre-
hended, was a frequent repetition of the word
consideration, and which did not seem to him to
require any other answer than a reiteration of his
command to him to leave the apartment, upon pain
of worse consequences.

The ancient Hebe who acted as Lord Glenvar-
loch's cupbearer, took his part against the intrusion
of the still more antiquated Ganymede, and insisted
on old Trapbois leaving the room instantly, menac-
ing him at the same time with her mistress's dis-
pleasure if he remained there any longer. The old
man seemed more under petticoat government than
any other, for the threat of the char-woman pro-
duced greater effect upon him than the more formid-
able displeasure of Nigel. He withdrew grumbling
and muttering, and Lord Glenvarloch heard him
bar a large door at the nearer end of the gallery,
which served as a division betwixt the other parts
of the extensive mansion, and the apartment
occupied by his guest, which, as the reader is aware,
had its access from the landing-place at the head of
the grand staircase.

Nigel accepted the careful sound of the bolts and
bars as they were severally drawn by the trembling
hand of old Trapbois, as an omen that the senior
did not mean again to revisit him in the course of
the evening, and heartily rejoiced that he was at
length to be left to uninterrupted solitude.

The old woman asked if there was aught else to

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 115

be done for his accommodation ; and, indeed, it had
hitherto seemed as if the pleasure of serving him,
or more properly the reward which she expected,
had renewed her youth and activity. Nigel desired
to have candles, to have a fire lighted in his apart-
ment, and a few fagots placed beside it, that he
might feed it from time to time, as he began to
feel the chilly effects of the damp and low
situation of the house, close as it was to the
Thames. But while the old woman was absent
upon his errand, he began to think in what way he
should pass the long solitary evening with which
he was threatened.

His own reflections promised to Nigel little
amusement, and less applause. He had considered
his own perilous situation in every light in which it
could be viewed, and foresaw as little utility as com-
fort in resuming the survey. To divert the current
of his ideas, books were, of course, the readiest
resource ; and although, like most of us, Nigel had,
in his time, sauntered through large libraries, and
even spent a long time there without greatly dis-
turbing their learned contents, he was now in a
situation where the possession of a volume, even of
very inferior merit, becomes a real treasure. The
old housewife returned shortly afterwards with fagots,
and some pieces of half-burnt wax-candles, the per-
quisites, probably, real or usurped, of some experi-
enced groom of the chambers, two of which she
placed in large brass candlesticks, of different shapes
and patterns, and laid the others on the table, that
Nigel might renew them from time to time as they
burnt to the socket. She heard with interest Lord
Glenvarloch's request to have a book — any sort of

ii6 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

book — to pass away the night withal, and returned
for answer, that she knew of no other books in the
house than her young mistress's (as she always de-
nominated Mistress Martha Trapbois) Bible, which
the owner would not lend; and her master's Whet-
stone of Witte, being the second part of Arithmetic,
by Robert Record, with the Cossike Practice and
Rule of Equation ; which promising volume Nigel
declined to borrow. She offered, however, to bring
him some books from Duke Hildebrod — " who
sometimes, good gentleman, gave a glance at a book
when the State affairs of Alsatia left him as much
leisure."

Nigel embraced the proposal, and his unwearied
Iris scuttled away on this second embassy. She
returned in a short time with a tattered quarto
volume under her arm, and a pottle of sack in her
hand; for the Duke, judging that mere reading
was dry work, had sent the wine by way of sauce
to help it down, not forgetting to add the price to
the morning's score, which he had already run up
against the stranger in the Sanctuary.

Nigel seized on the book, and did not refuse the
wine, thinking that a glass or two, as it really proved
to be of good quality, would be no bad interlude to
his studies. He dismissed with thanks and assur-
ance of reward, the poor old drudge who had been so
zealous in his service ; trimmed his fire and candles,
and placed the easiest of the old arm-chairs in a
convenient posture betwixt the fire and the table at
which he had dined, and which now supported the
measure of sack and the lights; and thus accompany-
ing his studies with such luxurious appliances as were
in his power, he began to examine the only volume

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 117

with which the ducal library of Alsatia had been
able to supply him.

The contents, though of a kind generally interest-
ing, were not well calculated to dispel the gloom by
which he was surrounded. The book was entitled
" God's Revenge against Murther ; " not, as the
bibliomaniacal reader may easily conjecture, the
work which Reynolds published under that im-
posing name, but one of a much earlier date, printed
and sold by old Wolfe ; and which, could a copy
now be found, would sell for much more than its
weight in gold.*

Nigel had soon enough of the doleful tales which
the book contains, and attempted one or two other
modes of killing the evening. He looked out at
window, but the night was rainy, with gusts of
wind ; he tried to coax the fire, but the fagots were
green, and smoked without burning ; and as he was
naturally temperate, he felt his blood somewhat
heated by the canary sack which he had already
drank, and had no farther inclination to that pastime.
He next attempted to compose a memorial addressed
to the King, in which he set forth his case and his
grievances ; but, speedily stung with the idea that
his supplication would be treated with scorn, he flung
the scroll into the fire, and, in a sort of desperation,
resumed the book which he had laid aside.

Nigel became more interested in the volume at
the second than at the first attempt which he made

* Only three copies are known to exist ; one in the
library at Kennaquhair, and two — one foxed and cropped,
the other tall and in good condition — both in the possession
of an eminent member of the Roxburghe Club. — Note by
CAPTAIN CLUTTIRBUCK.

Ii8 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

to peruse it. The narratives, strange and shocking
as they were to human feeling, possessed yet the
interest of sorcery or of fascination, which rivets
the attention by its awakening horrors. Much was
told of the strange and horrible acts of blood by
which men, setting nature and humanity alike at
defiance, had, for the thirst of revenge, the lust of
gold, or the cravings of irregular ambition, broken
into the tabernacle of life. Yet more surprising
and mysterious tales were recounted of the mode
in which such deeds of blood had come to be dis-
covered and revenged. Animals, irrational animals,
had told the secret, and birds of the air had carried
the matter. The elements had seemed to betray
the deed which had polluted them — earth had ceased
to support the murderer's steps, fire to warm his
frozen limbs, water to refresh his parched lips, air
to relieve his gasping lungs. All, in short, bore
evidence to the homicide's guilt. In other circum-
stances, the criminal's own awakened conscience
pursued and brought him to justice ; and in some
narratives the grave was said to have yawned,
that the ghost of the sufferer might call for
revenge.

It was now wearing late in the night, and the
book was still in Nigel's hands, when the tapestry
which hung behind him flapped against the wall,
and the wind produced by its motion waved the
flame of the candles by which he was reading.
Nigel started and turned round, in that excited and
irritated state of mind which arose from the nature
of his studies, especially at a period when a certain
degree of superstition was inculcated as a point of
religious faith. It was not without emotion that he

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 119

saw the bloodless countenance, meagre form, and
ghastly aspect of old Trapbois, once more in the
very act of extending his withered hand towards
the table which supported his arms. Convinced by
this untimely apparition that something evil was
meditated towards him, Nigel sprung up, seized his
sword, drew it, and placing it at the old man's
breast, demanded of him what he did in his apart-
ment at so untimely an hour. Trapbois showed
neither fear nor surprise, and only answered by
some imperfect expressions, intimating he would
part with his life rather than with his property ;
and Lord Glenvarloch, strangely embarrassed, knew
not what to think of the intruder's motives, and
still less how to get rid of him. As he again tried the
means of intimidation, he was surprised by a second
apparition from behind the tapestry, in the person
of the daughter of Trapbois, bearing a lamp in her
hand. She also seemed to possess her father's
insensibility to danger, for, coming close to Nigel,
she pushed aside impetuously his naked sword, and
even attempted to take it out of his hand.

" For shame,'' she said, " your sword on a man
of eighty years and more ! — this the honour of a
Scottish gentleman ! — give it to me to make a
spindle of!"

" Stand back," said Nigel ; " I mean your father
no injury — but I will know what has caused him to
prowl this whole day, and even at this late hour of
night, around my arms."

" Your arms ! " repeated she; "alas ! young man,
the whole arms in the Tower of London are of
little value to him, in comparison of this miserable
e of gold which I left this morning on the table

120 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

of a young spendthrift, too careless to put what
belonged to him into his own purse."

So saying, she showed the piece of gold, which,
still remaining on the table, where she left it, had
been the bait that attracted old Trapbois so frequently
to the spot ; and which, even in the silence of the
night, had so dwelt on his imagination, that he had
made use of a private passage long disused, to enter
his guest's apartment, in order to possess himself of
the treasure during his slumbers. He now exclaimed,
at the highest tones of his cracked and feeble voice —

" It is mine — it is mine ! — he gave it to me for
a consideration — I will die ere I part with my
property ! "

"It is indeed his own, mistress," said Nigel,
" and I do entreat you to restore it to the person
on whom I have bestowed it, and let me have my
apartment in quiet."

" I will account with you for it, then," — said the
maiden, reluctantly giving to her father the morsel
of Mammon, on which he darted as if his bony
fingers had been the talons of a hawk seizing its
prey ; and then making a contented muttering and
mumbling, like an old dog after he has been fed,
and just when he is wheeling himself thrice round
for the purpose of lying down, he followed his
daughter behind the tapestry, through a little sliding-
door, which was perceived when the hangings were
drawn apart.

"This shall be properly fastened to-morrow,"
said the daughter to Nigel, speaking in such a tone
that her father, deaf, and engrossed by his acquisi-
tion, could not hear her ; " to-night I will continue
to watch him closely. — I wish you good repose."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 121

These few words, pronounced in a tone of more
civility than she had yet made use of towards
her lodger, contained a wish which was not to be
accomplished, although her guest, presently after
her departure, retired to bed.

There was a slight fever in Nigel's blood, occa-
sioned by the various events of the evening, which
put him, as the phrase is, beside his rest. Perplex-
ing and painful thoughts rolled on his mind like
a troubled stream, and the more he laboured to lull
himself to slumber, the farther he seemed from
attaining his object. He tried all the resources
common in such cases ; kept counting from one to
a thousand, until his head was giddy — he watched
the embers of the wood fire till his eyes were
dazzled — he listened to the dull moaning of the
wind, the swinging and creaking of signs which
projected from the houses, and the baying of here
and there a homeless dog, till his very ear was
weary.

Suddenly, however, amid this monotony, came a
sound which startled him at once. It was a female
shriek. He sat up in his bed to listen, then re-
membered he was in Alsatia, where brawls of
every sort were current among the unruly in-
habitants. But another scream, and another, and
another, succeeded so close, that he was certain,
though the noise was remote and sounded stifled,
it must be in the same house with himself.

Nigel jumped up hastily, put on a part of his
clothes, seized his sword and pistols, and ran to the
door of his chamber. Here he plainly heard the
screams redoubled, and, as he thought, the sounds
came from the usurer's apartment. All access to

122 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the gallery was effectually excluded by the inter-
mediate door, which the brave young lord shook
with eager, but vain impatience. But the secret
passage occurred suddenly to his recollection. He
hastened back to his room, and succeeded with
some difficulty in lighting a candle, powerfully
agitated by hearing the cries repeated, yet still
more afraid lest they should sink into silence.

He rushed along the narrow and winding entrance,
guided by the noise, which now burst more wildly
on his ear; and, while he descended a narrow stair-
case which terminated the passage, he heard the
stifled voices of men, encouraging, as .it seemed,
each other. — "D — n her, strike her down — silence
her — beat her brains out ! " — while the voice of his
hostess, though now almost exhausted, was repeating
the cry of " murder," and " help." At the bottom
of the staircase was a small door, which gave way
before Nigel as he precipitated himself upon the
scene of action, — a cocked pistol in one hand, a
candle in the other, and his naked sword under his
arm.

Two ruffians had, with great difficulty, over-
powered, or, rather, were on the point of over-
powering, the daughter of Trapbois, whose resist-
ance appeared to have been most desperate, for the
floor was covered with fragments of her clothes,
and handfuls of her hair. It appeared that her life
was about to be the price of her defence, for one
villain had drawn a long clasp-knife, when they
were surprised by the entrance of Nigel, who, as
they turned towards him, shot the fellow with the
knife dead on the spot, and when the other advanced
to him, hurled the candlestick at his head, and then

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 123

attacked him with his sword. It was dark, save
some pale moonlight from the window ; and the
ruffian, after firing a pistol without effect, and fight-
ing a traverse or two with his sword, lost heart,
made for the window, leaped over it, and escaped.
Nigel fired his remaining pistol after him at a
venture, and then called for light.

" There is light in the kitchen," answered Martha
Trapbois, with more presence of mind than could
have been expected. " Stay, you know not the
way ; I will fetch it myself. — Oh ! my father —
my poor father ! — I knew it would come to this —
and all along of the accursed gold! — They have
MURDERED him ! "

Chapter VIII

Death finds us 'mid our playthings — snatches us,
As a cross nurse might do a wayward child,
From all our toys and baubles. His rough call
Unlooses all our favourite ties on earth ;
And well if they are such as may be answer'd
In yonder world, where all is judged of trulv

Old Play.

IT was a ghastly scene which opened, upon Martha
Trapbois's return with a light. Her own haggard
and austere features were exaggerated bv all the
desperation of grief, fear, and passion — but the
latter was predominant. On the floor lay the body
of the robber, who had expired without a groan,
while his blood, flowing plentifully, had crimsoned
all around. Another body lay also there, on which
the unfortunate woman precipitated herself in agony,
for it was that of her unhappy father. In the next

124 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

moment she started up, and exclaiming — " There
may be life yet ! " strove to raise the body. Nigel
went to her assistance, but not without a glance at
the open window ; which Martha, as acute as if
undisturbed either by passion or terror, failed not
to interpret justly.

" Fear not," she cried, " fear not ; they are base
cowards, to whom courage is as much unknown as
mercy. If I had had weapons, I could have defended
myself against them without assistance or protection.
— Oh ! my poor father ! protection comes too late
for this cold and stiff corpse. — He is dead — dead !"

While she spoke, they were attempting to raise
the dead body of the old miser ; but it was evident,
even from the feeling of the inactive weight and
rigid joints, that life had forsaken her station. Nigel
looked for a wound, but saw none. The daughter
of the deceased, with more presence of mind than
a daughter could at the time have been supposed
capable of exerting, discovered the instrument of
his murder — a sort of scarf, which had been drawn
so tight round his throat, as to stifle his cries for
assistance in the first instance, and afterwards to
extinguish life.

She undid the fatal noose ; and, laying the old
man's body in the arms of Lord Glenvarloch, she
ran for water, for spirits, for essences, in the vain
hope that life might be only suspended. That hope
proved indeed vain. She chafed his temples, raised
his head, loosened his nightgown, (for it seemed as
if he had arisen from bed upon hearing the entrance
of the villains,) and, finally, opened, with difficulty,
his fixed and closely-clenched hands, from one of
which dropped a key, from the other the very piece

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 125

of gold about which the unhappy man had been a
little before so anxious, and which probably, in the
impaired state of his mental faculties, he was dis-
posed to defend with as desperate energy as if its
amount had been necessary to his actual existence.

" It is in vain — it is in vain," said the daughter,
desisting from her fruitless attempts to recall the
spirit which had been effectually dislodged, for the
neck had been twisted by the violence of the
murderers ; " It is in vain — he is murdered — I
always knew it would be thus ; and now I witness
it ! "

She then snatched up the key and the piece of
money, but it was only to dash them again on the
floor, as she exclaimed, " Accursed be ye both, for
you are the causes of this deed ! " .

Nigel would have spoken — would have reminded
her, that measures should be instantly taken for the
pursuit of the murderer who had escaped, as well
as for her own security against his return ; but she
interrupted him sharply.

" Be silent," she said, " be silent. Think you,
the thoughts of my own heart are not enough to
distract me, and with such a sight as this before
me ? I say, be silent," she said again, and in a yet
sterner tone — " Can a daughter listen, and her
father's murdered corpse lying on her knees ? "

Lord Glenvarloch, however overpowered by the
energy of her grief, felt not the less the embarrass-
ment of his own situation. He had discharged both
his pistols — the robber might return — he had pro-
bably other assistants besides the man who had
fallen, and it seemed to him, indeed, as if he had
heard a muttering beneath the windows. He ex-

126 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

plained hastily to his companion the necessity of
procuring ammunition.

" You are right," she said, somewhat contempt-
uously, " and have ventured already more than ever
I expected of man. Go, and shift for yourself, since
that is your purpose — leave me to my fate."

Without stopping for needless expostulation,
Nigel hastened to his own room through the secret
passage, furnished himself with the ammunition he
sought for, and returned with the same celerity ;
wondering himself at the accuracy with which he
achieved, in the dark, all the meanderings of the
passage which he had traversed only once, and that
in a moment of such violent agitation.

He found, on his return, the unfortunate woman
standing like a statue by the body of her father,
which she had laid straight on the floor, having
covered the face with the skirt of his gown. She
testified neither surprise nor pleasure at Nigel's
return, but said to him calmly — " My moan is made
— my sorrow — all the sorrow at least that man shall
ever have noting of, is gone past ; but I will have
justice, and the base villain who murdered this poor
defenceless old man, when he had not, by the course
of nature, a twelvemonth's life in him, shall not
cumber the earth long after him. Stranger, whom
heaven has sent to forward the revenge reserved
for this action, go to Hildebrod's — there they are
awake all night in their revels — bid him come hither
— he is bound by his duty, and dare not, and shall
not, refuse his assistance, which he knows well I
can reward. Why do ye tarry ? — go instantly."

" I would," said Nigel, " but I am fearful of
leaving you alone ; the villains may return, and — "

:E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 127

THE

"True, most true," answered Martha, "he may
return ; and, though I care little for his murdering
me, he may possess himself of what has most
tempted him. Keep this key and this piece of
gold ; they are both of importance — defend your
life if assailed, and if you kill the villain I will
make you rich. I go myself to call for aid."

Nigel would have remonstrated with her, but she
had departed, and in a moment he heard the house-
door clank behind her. For an instant he thought
of following her; but upon recollection that the
distance was but short betwixt the tavern of Hilde-
brod and the house of Trapbois, he concluded that
she knew it better than he — incurred little danger
in passing it, and that he would do well in the mean-
while to remain on the watch as she recommended.

It was no pleasant situation for one unused to
such scenes to remain in the apartment with two
dead bodies, recently those of living and breathing
men, who had both, within the space of less than
half an hour, suffered violent death ; one of them
by the hand of the assassin, the other, whose blood
still continued to flow from the wound in his throat,
and to flood all around him, by the spectator's own
deed of violence, though of justice. Returned his
face from those wretched relics of mortality with a
feeling of disgust, mingled with superstition ; and
he found, when he had done so, that the conscious-
ness of the presence of these ghastly objects, though
unseen by him, rendered him more uncomfortable
than even when he had his eyes fixed upon, and
reflected by, the cold, staring, lifeless eyeballs of
the deceased. Fancy also played her usual sport
with him. He now thought he heard the well-worn

128 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

damask nightgown of the deceased usurer rustle ;
anon, that he heard the slaughtered bravo draw up
his leg, the boot scratching the floor as if he was
about to rise ; and again he deemed he heard the
footsteps and the whisper of the returned ruffian
under the window from which he had lately escaped.
To face the last and most real danger, and to parry
the terrors which the other class of feelings were
like to impress upon him, Nigel went to the
window, and was much cheered to observe the
light of several torches illuminating the street, and
followed, as the murmur of voices denoted, by a
number of persons, armed, it would seem, with
firelocks and halberds, and attendant on Hildebrod,
who (not in his fantastic office of duke, but in that
which he really possessed of bailiff of the liberty
and sanctuary of Whitefriars) was on his way to
inquire into the crime and its circumstances.

It was a strange and melancholy contrast to see
these debauchees, disturbed in the very depth of
their midnight revel, on their arrival at such a scene
as this. They stared on each other, and on the
bloody work before them, with lack-lustre eyes;
staggered with uncertain steps over boards slippery
with blood ; their noisy brawling voices sunk into
stammering whispers ; and, with spirits quelled by
what they saw, while their brains were still
stupified by the liquor which they had drunk, they
seemed like men walking in their sleep.

Old Hildebrod was an exception to the general
condition. That seasoned cask, however full, was
at all times capable of motion, when there occurred
a motive sufficiently strong to set him a-rolling.
He seemed much shocked at what he beheld, and

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 129

his proceedings, in consequence, had more in them
of regularity and propriety, than he might have
been supposed capable of exhibiting upon any occa-
sion whatever. The daughter was first examined,
and stated, with wonderful accuracy and distinct-
ness, the manner in which she had been alarmed
with a noise of struggling and violence in her father's
apartment, and that the more readily, because she
was watching him on account of some alarm con-
cerning his health. On her entrance, she had seen
her father sinking under the strength of two men,
upon whom she rushed with all the fury she was
capable of. As their faces were blackened, and
their figures disguised, she could not pretend, in the
hurry of a moment so dreadfully agitating, to dis-
tinguish either of them as persons whom she had
seen before. She remembered little more except
the firing of shots, until she found herself alone with
her guest, and saw that the ruffians had escaped.

Lord Glenvarloch told his story as we have
given it to the reader. The direct evidence thus
received, Hildebrod examined the premises. He
found that the villains had made their entrance by
the window out of which the survivor had made
his escape ; yet it seemed singular that they should
have done so, as it was secured with strong iron
bars, which old Trapbois was in the habit of
shutting with his own hand at nightfall. He
minuted down with great accuracy, the state of
every thing in the apartment, and examined carefully
the features of the slain robber. He was dressed
like a seaman of the lowest order, but his face was
known to none present. Hildebrod next sent for
an Alsatian surgeon, whose vices, undoing what his
27 i

130 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

skill might have done for him, had consigned him
to the wretched practice of this place. He made
him examine the dead bodies, and make a proper
declaration of the manner in which the sufferers
seemed to have come by their end. The circum-
stance of the sash did not escape the learned judge,
and having listened to all that could be heard or
conjectured on the subject, and collected all par-
ticulars of evidence which appeared to bear on the
bloody transaction, he commanded the door of the
apartment to be locked until next morning; and
carrying the unfortunate daughter of the murdered
man into the kitchen, where there was no one in
presence but Lord Glenvarloch, he asked her
gravely, whether she suspected no one in particular
of having committed the deed.

" Do you suspect no one ? " answered Martha,
looking fixedly on him.

" Perhaps, I may, mistress ; but it is my part to
ask questions, yours to answer them. That's the
rule of the game."

"Then I suspect him who wore yonder sash.
Do not you know whom I mean ?"

"Why, if you call on me for honours, I must
needs say I have seen Captain Peppercull have one
of such a fashion, and he was not a man to change
his suits often."

" Send out, then," said Martha, " and have him
apprehended."

" If it is he, he will be far by this time ; but I
will communicate with the higher powers," answered
the judge.

"You would have him escape," resumed she,
fixing her eyes on him sternly.

THE F

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 131

" By cock and pie," replied Hildebrod, " did it
depend on me, the murdering cut-throat should
hang as high as ever Haman did — but let me take
my time. He has friends among us, that you wot
well ; and all that should assist me are as drunk as
fiddlers."

" I will have revenge — I will have it," repeated
she ; "and take heed you trifle not with me."

" Trifle ! I would sooner trifle with a she-bear
the minute after they had baited her. I tell you,
mistress, be but patient, and we will have him. I
know all his haunts, and he cannot forbear them
long ; and I will have trap-doors open for him.
You cannot want justice, mistress, for you have the
means to get it."

"They who help me in my revenge," said
Martha, " shall share those means."

" Enough said," replied Hildebrod ; " and now

would have you go to my house, and get some-
ling hot — you will be but dreary here by yourself."

" I will send for the old char-woman," replied
Martha, "and we have the stranger gentleman,
besides."

" Umph, umph — the stranger gentleman ! " said
Hildebrod to Nigel, whom he drew a little apart.
" I fancy the captain has made the stranger gentle-
man's fortune when he was making a bold dash for
his own. I can tell your honour — I must not say
lordship — that I think my having chanced to give
the greasy buff-and-iron scoundrel some hint of what
I recommended to you to-day, has put him on this
rough game. The better for you — you will get the
cash without the father-in-law. — You will keep
conditions, I trust?"

132 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" I wish you had said nothing to any one of a
scheme so absurd," said Nigel.

"Absurd! — Why, think you she will not have
thee ? Take her with the tear in her eye, man —
take her with the tear in her eye. Let me hear
from you to-morrow. Good-night, good-night —
a nod is as good as a wink. I must to my business
of sealing and locking up. By the way, this horrid
work has put all out of my head — Here is a fellow
from Mr Lowestoffe has been asking to see you.
As he said his business was express, the Senate
only made him drink a couple of flagons, and he
was just coming to beat up your quarters when this
breeze blew up. — Ahey, friend ! there is Master
Nigel Grahame."

A young man, dressed in a green plush jerkin,
with a badge on the sleeve, and having the
appearance of a waterman, approached and took
Nigel aside, while Duke Hildebrod went from
place to place to exercise his authority, and to
see the windows fastened, and the doors of the
apartment locked up. The news communicated
by LowestofFe's messenger were not the most
pleasant. They were intimated in a courteous
whisper to Nigel, to the following effect : — That
Master Lowestoffe prayed him to consult his safety
by instantly leaving Whitefriars, for that a warrant
from the Lord Chief-Justice had been issued out for
apprehending him, and would be put in force to-
morrow, by the assistance of a party of musketeers, a
force which the Alsatians neither would nor dared
to resist.

" And so, squire," said the aquatic emissary,
"my wherry is to wait you at the Temple Stairs

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 133

yonder, at five this morning, and, if you would
give the blood-hounds the slip, why, you may."

" Why did not Master Lowestoffe write to me ? "
said Nigel.

" Alas ! the good gentleman lies up in lavender
for it himself, and has as little to do with pen and
ink as if he were a parson."

" Did he send any token to me ? " said Nigel.

"Token ! — ay, marry did he — token enough, an
I have not forgot it," said the fellow ; then, giving
a hoist to the waistband of his breeches, he said, —
"Ay, I have it — you were to believe me, because
your name was written with an O, for Grahame.
Ay, that was it, I think. — Well, shall we meet in
two hours, when tide turns, and go down the river
like a twelve-oared barge ? "

" Where is the king just now, knowest thou ? "
answered Lord Glenvarloch.

" The king ? why, he went down to Greenwich
yesterday by water, like a noble sovereign as he
is, who will always float where he can. He was to
have hunted this week, but that purpose is broken,
they say ; and the Prince, and the Duke, and all
ot them at Greenwich, are as merry as minnows."

"Well," replied Nigel, "I will be ready to go at
five ; do thou come hither to carry my baggage."

" Ay, ay, master," replied the fellow, and left the
house, mixing himself with the disorderly attendants
of Duke Hildebrod, who were now retiring. That
potentate entreated Nigel to make fast the doors
behind him, and, pointing to the female who sat by
the expiring fire with her limbs outstretched, like
one whom the hand of Death had already arrested,
he whispered, " Mind your hits, and mind your

134 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

bargain, or I will cut your bow-string for you before
you can draw it."

Feeling deeply the ineffable brutality which could
recommend the prosecuting such views over a wretch
in such a condition, Lord Glenvarloch yet com-
manded his temper so far as to receive the advice
in silence, and attend to the former part of it, by
barring the door carefully behind Duke Hildebrod
and his suite, with the tacit hope that he should
never again see or hear of them. He then returned
to the kitchen, in which the unhappy woman re-
mained, her hands still clenched, her eyes fixed,
and her limbs extended, like those of a person in a
trance. Much moved by her situation, and with the
prospect which lay before her, he endeavoured to
awaken her to existence by every means in his power,
and at length apparently succeeded in dispelling her
stupour, and attracting her attention. He then ex-
plained to her that he was in the act of leaving
Whitefriars in a few hours — that his future destina-
tion was uncertain, but that he desired anxiously to
know whether he could contribute to her protection
by apprizing any friend of her situation, or otherwise.
With some difficulty she seemed to comprehend his
meaning, and thanked him with her usual short un-
gracious manner. " He might mean well," she said,
" but he ought to know that the miserable had no
friends."

Nigel said, " He would not willingly be importu-
nate, but, as he was about to leave the Friars

She interrupted him —

" You are about to leave the Friars ? I will go
with you."

"You go with me!" exclaimed Lord Glenvarloch.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 135

" Yes," she said, " I will persuade my father to
leave this murdering den." But, as she spoke, the
more perfect recollection of what had passed crowded
on her mind. She hid her face in her hands, and
burst out into a dreadful fit of sobs, moans, and
lamentations, which terminated in hysterics, violent
in proportion to the uncommon strength of her body
and mind.

Lord Glenvarloch, shocked, confused, and inex-
perienced, was about to leave the house in quest of
medical, or at least female assistance ; but the patient,
when the paroxysm had somewhat spent its force,
held him fast by the sleeve with one hand, covering
her face with the other, while a copious flood of
tears came to relieve the emotions of grief by which
she had been so violently agitated.

"Do not leave me," she said — "do not leave
me, and call no one. I have never been in this
way before, and would not now," she said, sitting
upright, and wiping her eyes with her apron, —
" would not now — but that — but that he loved me,
if he loved nothing else that was human — To die
so, and by such hands ! "

And again the unhappy woman gave way to a
paroxysm of sorrow, mingling her tears with sob-
bing, wailing, and all the abandonment of female
grief, when at its utmost height. At length, she
gradually recovered the austerity of her natural
composure, and maintained it as if by a forcible
exertion of resolution, repelling, as she spoke, the
repeated returns of the hysterical affection, by such
an effort as that by which epileptic patients are
known to suspend the recurrence of their fits. Yet
her mind, however resolved, could not so absolutely

136 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

overcome the affection of her nerves, but that she
was agitated by strong fits of trembling, which, for
a minute or two at a time, shook her whole frame
in a manner frightful to witness. Nigel forgot his
own situation, and, indeed, every thing else, in the
interest inspired by the unhappy woman before him
— an interest which affected a proud spirit the more
deeply, that she herself, with correspondent high-
ness of mind, seemed determined to owe as little as
possible either to the humanity or the pity of others.

" I am not wont to be in this way," she said, —
** but — but — Nature will have power over the frail
beings it has made. Over you, sir, I have some
right; for, without you, I had not survived this
awful night. I wish your aid had been either
earlier or later — but you have saved my life, and
you are bound to assist in making it endurable to
me."

" If you will show me how it is possible,"
answered Nigel.

" You are going hence, you say, instantly — carry
me with you," said the unhappy woman. " By my
own efforts, I shall never escape from this wilder-
ness of guilt and misery."

" Alas ! what can I do for you ? " replied Nigel.
"My own way, and I must not deviate from it,
leads me, in all probability, to a dungeon. I might,
indeed, transport you from hence with me, if you
could afterwards bestow yourself with any friend."

" Friend !" she exclaimed — " I have no friend —
they have long since discarded us. A spectre arising
from the dead were more welcome than I should be
at the doors of those who have disclaimed us ; and,
if they were willing to restore their friendship to

THE F

ORTUNES OF NIGEL 13?

me now, I would despise it, because they withdrew
it from him — from him" — (here she underwent
strong but suppressed agitation, and then added
firmly) — "from him who lies yonder. — I have no
friend." Here she paused ; and then suddenly, as
if recollecting herself, added, " I have no friend,
but I have that will purchase many — I have that
which will purchase both friends and avengers. — It
is well thought of; I must not leave it for a prey
to cheats and ruffians. — Stranger, you must return
to yonder room. Pass through it boldly to his —
that is, to the sleeping apartment ; push the bed-
stead aside ; beneath each of the posts is a brass
plate, as if to support the weight, but it is that upon
the left, nearest to the wall, which must serve your
turn — press the corner of the plate, and it will spring
up and show a keyhole, which this key will open.
You will then lift a concealed trap-door, and in a
cavity of the floor you will discover a small chest.
Bring it hither ; it shall accompany our journey,
and it will be hard if the contents cannot purchase
me a place of refuge."

" But the door communicating with the kitchen
has been locked by these people," said Nigel.

" True, I had forgot ; they had their reasons for
that, doubtless," answered she. " But the secret
passage from your apartment is open, and you may
go that way."

Lord Glenvarloch took the key, and, as he
lighted a lamp to show him the way, she read in
liis countenance some unwillingness to the task
imposed.

" You fear ? " she said — " there is no cause ; the
murderer and his victim are both at rest. Take

138 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

courage, I will go with you myself — you cannot
know the trick of the spring, and the chest will be
too heavy for you."

" No fear, no fear," answered Lord Glenvar-
loch, ashamed of the construction she put upon a
momentary hesitation, arising from a dislike to look
upon what is horrible, often connected with those
high-wrought minds which are the last to fear what
is merely dangerous — "I will do your errand as
you desire ; but for you, you must not — cannot go
yonder."

" I can — I will," she said. " I am composed.
You shall see that I am so." She took from the
table a piece of unfinished sewing-work, and, with
steadiness and composure, passed a silken thread
into the eye of a fine needle. — " Could I have done
that," she said, with a smile yet more ghastly than
her previous look of fixed despair, " had not my
heart and hand been both steady ? "

She then led the way rapidly up stairs to Nigel's
chamber, and proceeded through the secret passage
with the same haste, as if she had feared her resolution
might have failed her ere her purpose was executed.
At the bottom of the stairs she paused a moment,
before entering the fatal apartment, then hurried
through with a rapid step to the sleeping chamber
beyond, followed closely by Lord Glenvarloch,
whose reluctance to approach the scene of butchery
was altogether lost in the anxiety which he felt on
account of the survivor of the tragedy.

Her first action was to pull aside the curtains of
her father's bed. The bed-clothes were thrown
aside in confusion, doubtless in the action of his
starting from sleep to oppose the entrance of the

TH

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 139

villains into the next apartment. The hard mat-
trass scarcely showed the slight pressure where the
emaciated body of the old miser had been deposited.
His daughter sank beside the bed, clasped her
hands, and prayed to Heaven, in a short and affect-
ing manner, for support in her affliction, and for
vengeance on the villains who had made her father-
less. A low-muttered and still more brief petition
recommended to Heaven the soul of the sufferer,
and invoked pardon for his sins, in virtue of the
great Christian atonement.

This duty of piety performed, she signed to Nigel
to aid her ; and, having pushed aside the heavy bed-
stead, they saw the brass plate which Martha had
described. She pressed the spring, and, at once,
the plate starting up, showed the keyhole, and a
large iron ring used in lifting the trap-door, which,
when raised, displayed the strong-box, or small
chest, she had mentioned, and which proved indeed
so very weighty, that it might perhaps have been
scarcely possible for Nigel, though a very strong
man, to have raised it without assistance.

Having replaced every thing as they had found
it, Nigel, with such help as his companion was able
to afford, assumed his load, and made a shift to
carry it into the next apartment, where lay the
miserable owner, insensible to sounds and circum-
stances, which, if any thing could have broken his
long last slumber, would certainly have done so.

His unfortunate daughter went up to his body,
and had even the courage to remove the sheet which
had been decently disposed over it. She put her
hand on the heart, but there was no throb — held a
feather to the lips, but there was no motion — then

140 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

kissed with deep reverence the starting veins of the
pale forehead, and then the emaciated hand.

" I would you could hear me," she said, —
" Father ! I would you could hear me swear, that,
if I now save what you most valued on earth, it is
only to assist me in obtaining vengeance for your
death ! "

She replaced the covering, and, without a tear,
a sigh, or an additional word of any kind, renewed
her efforts, until they conveyed the strong-box
betwixt them into Lord Glenvarloch's sleeping
apartment. " It must pass," she said, " as part of
your baggage. I will be in readiness so soon as the
waterman calls."

She retired ; and Lord Glenvarloch, who saw
the hour of their departure approach, tore down a
part of the old hanging to make a covering, which
he corded upon the trunk, lest the peculiarity of its
shape, and the care with which it was banded and
counterbanded with bars of steel, might afford
suspicions respecting the treasure which it con-
tained. Having taken this measure of precaution,
he changed the rascally disguise, which he had
assumed on entering Whitefriars, into a suit becom-
ing his quality, and then, unable to sleep, though
exhausted with the events of the night, he threw
himself on his bed to await the summons of the
waterman.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 141

Chapter IX

Give us good voyage, gentle stream — we stun not
Thy sober ear with sounds of revelry ;
Wake not the slumbering echoes of thy banks
With voice of flute and horn — we do hut seek
On the broad pathway of thy swelling bosom
To glide in silent safety.

The Double Bridal.

GREY, or rather yellow light, was beginning to
twinkle through the fogs of Whitefriars, when a
low tap at the door of the unhappy miser announced
to Lord Glenvarloch the summons of the boatman.
He found at the door the man whom he had seen
the night before, with a companion.

" Come, come, master, let us get afloat,*' said one
of them, in a rough impressive whisper, " time and
tide wait for no man."

" They shall not wait for me," said Lord Glen-
varloch ; " but I have some things to carry with
me."

" Ay, ay — no man will take a pair of oars now,
Jack, unless he means to load the wherry like a
six-horse waggon. When they don't want to shift
the whole kitt, they take a sculler, and be d — d to
them. — Come, come, where be your rattle-traps ? "

One of the men was soon sufficiently loaded, in
his own estimation at least, with Lord Glenvarloch's
mail and its accompaniments, with which burden he
began to trudge towards the Temple Stairs. His
comrade, who seemed the principal, began to handle
the trunk which contained the miser's treasure, but
pitched it down again in an instant, declaring, with

142 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

a great oath, that it was as reasonable to expect a
man to carry Paul's on his back. The daughter of
Trapbois, who had by this time joined them, muffled
up in a long dark hood and mantle, exclaimed to
Lord Glenvarloch — " Let them leave it if they will
— let them leave it all ; let us but escape from this
horrible place."

We have mentioned elsewhere, that Nigel was
a very athletic young man, and, impelled by a strong
feeling of compassion and indignation, he showed
his bodily strength singularly on this occasion, by
seizing on the ponderous strong-box, and, by means
of the rope he had cast around it, throwing it on his
shoulders, and marching resolutely forward under
a weight, which would have sunk to the earth three
young gallants, at the least, of our degenerate day.
The waterman followed him in amazement, calling
out, " Why, master, master, you might as well gie
me t'other end on't ! " and anon offered his assist-
ance to support it in some degree behind, which
after the first minute or two Nigel was fain to
accept. His strength was almost exhausted when
he reached the wherry, which was lying at the
Temple Stairs according to appointment ; and,
when he pitched the trunk into it, the weight sank
the bow of the boat so low in the water as wellnigh
to overset it.

"We shall have as hard a fare of it," said the
waterman to his companion, " as if we were ferry-
ing over an honest bankrupt with all his secreted
goods — Ho, ho ! good woman, what are you step-
ping in for ? — our gunwale lies deep enough in the
water without live lumber to boot."

" This person comes with me," said Lord Glen-

ORTUNES OF NIGEL 143

varloch ; " she is for the present under my protec-
tion."

"Come, come, master," rejoined the fellow,
" that is out of my commission. You must not
double my freight on me — she may go by land —
and, as for protection, her face will protect her from
Berwick to the Land's End."

" You will not except at my doubling the load-
ing, if I double the fare ? " said Nigel, determined
on no account to relinquish the protection of this
unhappy woman, for which he had already devised
some sort of plan, likely now to be baffled by the
characteristic rudeness of the Thames watermen.

"Ay, by G — , but I will except, though," said
the fellow with the green plush jacket ; " I will
overload my wherry neither for love nor money — I
love my boat as well as my wife, and a thought
better."

" Nay, nay, comrade," said his mate, " that is
speaking no true water language. For double fare
we are bound to row a witch in her eggshell if she
bid us ; and so pull away, Jack, and let us have no
more prating."

They got into the stream-way accordingly, and,
although heavily laden, began to move down the
river with reasonable speed.

The lighter vessels which passed, overtook, or
crossed them, in their course, failed not to assail
them with the boisterous raillery, which was then
called water-wit ; for which the extreme plainness
of Mistress Martha's features, contrasted with the
youth, handsome figure, and good looks of Nigel,
furnished the principal topics ; while the circum-
stance of the boat being somewhat overloaded, did

144 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

not escape their notice. They were hailed succes-
sively, as a grocer's wife upon a party of pleasure
with her eldest apprentice — as an old woman
carrying her grandson to school — and as a young
strapping Irishman, conveying an ancient maiden to
Dr Rigmarole's at Redriffe, who buckles beggars
for a tester and a dram of Geneva. All this abuse
was retorted in a similar strain of humour by
Green-jacket and his companion, who maintained
the war of wit with the same alacrity with which
they were assailed.

Meanwhile, Lord Glenvarloch asked his desolate
companion if she had thought on any place where
she could remain in safety with her property. She
confessed, in more detail than formerly, that her
father's character had left her no friends ; and that,
from the time he had betaken himself to White-
friars, to escape certain legal consequences of his
eager pursuit of gain, she had lived a life of total
seclusion ; not associating with the society which
the place afforded, and, by her residence there, as
well as her father's parsimony, effectually cut off
from all other company. What she now wished,
was, in the first place, to obtain the shelter of a
decent lodging, and the countenance of honest
people, however low in life, until she should obtain
legal advice as to the mode of obtaining justice on
her father's murderer. She had no hesitation to
charge the guilt upon Colepepper, (commonly
called Peppercull,) whom she knew to be as cap-
able of any act of treacherous cruelty, as he was
cowardly, where actual manhood was required. He
had been strongly suspected of two robberies before,
one of which was coupled with an atrocious murder.

-

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 145

He had, she intimated, made pretensions to her hand
as the easiest and safest way of obtaining possession
of her father's wealth ; and, on her refusing his
addresses, if they could be termed so, in the most
positive terms, he had thrown out such obscure hints
of vengeance, as, joined with some imperfect assaults
upon the house, had kept her in frequent alarm,
both on her father's account and her own.

Nigel, but that his feeling of respectful delicacy
to the unfortunate woman forbade him to do so,
could here have communicated a circumstance
corroborative of her suspicions, which had already
occurred to his own mind. He recollected the
hint that old Hildebrod threw forth on the pre-
ceding night, that some communication betwixt him-
self and Colepepper had hastened the catastrophe.
As this communication related to the plan which
Hildebrod had been pleased to form, of promoting
a marriage betwixt Nigel himself and the rich
heiress of Trapbois, the fear of losing an oppor-
tunity not to be regained, together with the mean
malignity of a low-bred ruffian, disappointed in a
favourite scheme, was most likely to instigate the
bravo to the deed of violence which had been com-
mitted. The reflection that his own name was in
some degree implicated with the causes of this
horrid tragedy, doubled Lord Glenvarloch's anxiety
in behalf of the victim whom he had rescued, while
at the same time he formed the tacit resolution, that,
so soon as his own affairs were put upon some foot-
ing, he would contribute all in his power towards
the investigation of this bloody affair.

After ascertaining from his companion that she
could form no better plan of her own, he recom-
27 k

146 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

mended to her to take up her lodging for the time,
at the house of his old landlord, Christie the ship-
chandler, at Paul's Wharf, describing the decency
and honesty of that worthy couple, and expressing
his hopes that they would receive her into their
own house, or recommend her at least to that of
some person for whom they would be responsible,
until she should have time to enter upon other
arrangements for herself.

The poor woman received advice so grateful to
her in her desolate condition, with an expression of
thanks, brief indeed, but deeper than any thing
had yet extracted from the austerity of her natural
disposition.

Lord Glenvarloch then proceeded to inform
Martha, that certain reasons, connected with his
personal safety, called him immediately to Green-
wich, and, therefore, it would not be in his power
to accompany her to Christie's house, which he
would otherwise have done with pleasure ; but,
tearing a leaf from his tablet, he wrote on it a few
lines, addressed to his landlord, as a man of honesty
and humanity, in which he described the bearer as a
person who stood in singular necessity of temporary
protection and good advice, for which her circum-
stances enabled her to make ample acknowledg-
ment. He therefore requested John Christie, as
his old and good friend, to afford her the shelter of
his roof for a short time ; or, if that might not be
consistent with his convenience, at least to direct
her to a proper lodging — and, finally, he imposed
on him the additional, and somewhat more difficult
commission, to recommend her to the counsel and
services of an honest, at least a reputable and skil-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 147

ful attorney, for the transacting some law business
of importance. This note he subscribed with his
real name, and, delivering it to his protegee, who
received it with another deeply uttered " 1 thank
you," which spoke the sterling feelings of her
gratitude better than a thousand combined phrases,
he commanded the watermen to pull in for Paul's
Wharf, which they were now approaching.

" We have not time," said Green-jacket ; " we
cannot be stopping every instant."

But, upon Nigel insisting upon his commands
being obeyed, and adding, that it was for the
purpose of putting the lady ashore, the waterman
declared he would rather have her room than her
company, and put the wherry alongside of the wharf
accordingly. Here two of the porters, who ply in
such places, were easily induced to undertake the
charge of the ponderous strong-box, and at the same
time to guide the owner to the well-known mansion
of John Christie, with whom all who lived in that
neighbourhood were perfectly acquainted.

The boat, much lightened of its load, went down
the Thames at a rate increased in proportion. But
we must forbear to pursue her in her voyage for a
few minutes, since we have previously to mention
the issue of Lord Glenvarloch's recommendation.

Mistress Martha Trapbois reached the shop in
perfect safety, and was about to enter it, when a
sickening sense of the uncertainty of her situation,
and of the singularly painful task of telling her
story, came over her so strongly, that she paused
a moment at the very threshold of her proposed
place of refuge, to think in what manner she could
best second the recommendation of the friend whom

148 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Providence had raised up to her. Had she possessed
that knowledge of the world, from which her habits
of life had completely excluded her, she might have
known that the large sum of money which she
brought along with her, might, judiciously managed,
have been a passport to her into the mansions of
nobles, and the palaces of princes. But, however
conscious of its general power, which assumes so
many forms and complexions, she was so inex-
perienced as to be most unnecessarily afraid that the
means by which the wealth had been acquired,
might exclude its inheretrix from shelter even in
the house of a humble tradesman.

While she thus delayed, a more reasonable cause
for hesitation arose, in a considerable noise and
altercation within the house, which grew louder
and louder as the disputants issued forth upon the
street or lane before the door.

The first who entered upon the scene was a tall,
raw-boned, hard-favoured man, who stalked out of
the shop hastily, with a gait like that of a Spaniard
in a passion, who, disdaining to add speed to his
locomotion by running, only condescends, in the
utmost extremity of his angry haste, to add length
to his stride. He faced about, so soon as he was
out of the house, upon his pursuer, a decent-look-
ing, elderly, plain tradesman — no other than John
Christie himself, the owner of the shop and tenement,
by whom he seemed to be followed, and who was in
a state of agitation more than is usually expressed
by such a person.

" I'll hear no more on't," said the personage
who first appeared on the scene. — " Sir, I will
hear no more on it. Besides being a most false

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 149

and impudent figment, as I can testify — it is
Scandaalum Magnaatum, sir — Scandaalum Magna-
atum," he reiterated with a broad accentuation
of the first vowel, well known in the colleges
of Edinburgh and Glasgow, which we can only
express in print by doubling the said first of letters
and of vowels, and which would have cheered the
cockles of the reigning monarch had he been within
hearing, — as he was a severer stickler for what he
deemed the genuine pronunciation of the Roman
tongue, than for any of the royal prerogatives,
for which he was at times disposed to insist so
strenuously in his speeches to Parliament.

" I care not an ounce of rotten cheese," said
John Christie in reply, " what you call it — but it is
TRUE ; and I am a free Englishman, and have right
to speak the truth in my own concerns ; and your
master is little better than a villain, and you no
more than a swaggering coxcomb, whose head I
will presently break, as I have known it well broken
before on lighter occasion."

And, so saying, he flourished the paring-shovel
which usually made clean the steps of his little
shop, and which he had caught up as the readiest
weapon of working his foeman damage, and advanced
therewith upon him. The cautious Scot (for such
our readers must have already pronounced him,
from his language and pedantry) drew back as the
enraged ship-chandler approached, but in a surly
manner, and bearing his hand on his sword-hilt
rather in the act of one who was losing habitual
forbearance and caution of deportment, than as
alarmed by the attack of an antagonist inferior to
himself in youth, strength, and weapons.

ISO THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"Bide back," he said, " Maister Christie — I say
bide back, and consult your safety, man. I have
evited striking you in your ain house under muckle
provocation, because I am ignorant how the laws
here may pronounce respecting burglary and hame-
sucken, and such matters ; and, besides, I would
not willingly hurt ye, man, e'en on the causeway,
that is free to us baith, because I mind your kind-
ness of lang syne, and partly consider ye as a poor
deceived creature. But deil d — n me, sir, and 1
am not wont to swear, but if you touch my Scotch
shouther with that shule of yours, I will make six
inches of my Andrew Ferrara deevilish intimate
with your guts, neighbour."

And therewithal, though still retreating from the
brandished shovel, he made one-third of the basket-
hiked broadsword which he wore, visible from the
sheath. The wrath of John Christie was abated,
either by his natural temperance of disposition, or
perhaps in part by the glimmer of cold steel, which
flashed on him from his adversary's last action.

" I would do well to cry clubs on thee, and have
thee ducked at the wharf," he said, grounding his
shovel, however, at the same time, "for a paltry
swaggerer, that would draw thy bit of iron there
on an honest citizen before his own door ; but get
thee gone, and reckon on a salt eel for thy supper,
if thou shouldst ever come near my house again.
I wish it had been at the bottom of Thames when
it first gave the use of its roof to smooth-faced,
oily-tongued, double-minded Scots thieves ! "

" It's an ill bird that fouls its own nest," replied
his adversary, not perhaps the less bold that he saw
matters were taking the turn of a pacific debate ;

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 151

" and a pity it is that a kindly Scot should ever have
married in foreign parts, and given life to a purse-
proud, pudding-headed, fat-gutted, lean-brained
Southron, e'en such as you, Maister Christie. But
fare ye weel — fare ye weel, for ever and a day ;
and, if you quarrel wi' a Scot again, man, say as
mickle ill o' himsell as ye like, but say nane of his
patron or of his countrymen, or it will scarce be
your flat cap that will keep your lang lugs from
the sharp abridgement of a Highland whinger,
man."

"And, if you continue your insolence to me
before my own door, were it but two minutes longer,"
retorted John Christie, " I will call the constable,
and make your Scottish ankles acquainted with an
English pair of stocks ! "

So saying, he turned to retire into his shop with
some show of victory ; for his enemy, whatever
might be his innate valour, manifested no desire
to drive matters to extremity — conscious, perhaps,
that whatever advantage he might gain in single
combat with John Christie, would be more than
overbalanced by incurring an affair with the con-
stituted authorities of Old England, not at that time
apt to be particularly favourable to their new fellow-
subjects, in the various successive broils which were
then constantly taking place between the individuals
of two proud nations, who still retained a stronger
sense of their national animosity during centuries,
than of their late union for a few years under the
government of the same prince.

Mrs Martha Trapbois had dwelt too long in
Alsatia, to be either surprised or terrified at the
altercation she had witnessed. Indeed, she only

152 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

wondered that the debate did not end in some of
those acts of violence by which they were usually
terminated in the Sanctuary. As the disputants
separated from each other, she, who had no idea
that the cause of the quarrel was more deeply rooted
than in the daily scenes of the same nature which
she had heard of or witnessed, did not hesitate to
stop Master Christie in his return to his shop, and
present to him the letter which Lord Glenvarloch
had given to her. Had she been better acquainted
with life and its business, she would certainly have
waited for a more temperate moment ; and she had
reason to repent of her precipitation, when, without
saying a single word, or taking the trouble to gather
more of the information contained in the letter than
was expressed in the subscription, the incensed ship-
chandler threw it down on the ground, trampled it
in high disdain, and, without addressing a single
word to the bearer, except, indeed, something much
more like a hearty curse than was perfectly con-
sistent with his own grave appearance, he retired
into his shop, and shut the hatch-door.

It was with the most inexpressible anguish that
the desolate, friendless and unhappy female, thus
beheld her sole hope of succour, countenance, and
protection, vanish at once, without being able to
conceive a reason; for, to do her justice, the idea
that her friend, whom she knew by the name of
Nigel Grahame, had imposed on her, a solution
which might readily have occurred to many in her
situation, never once entered her mind. Although
it was not her temper easily to bend her mind to
entreaty, she could not help exclaiming after the ire-
ful and retreating ship-chandler, — " Good Master,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 153

hear me but a moment! for mercy's sake, for
honesty's sake ! "

" Mercy and honesty from him, mistress ! " said
the Scot, who, though he essayed not to interrupt
the retreat of his antagonist, still kept stout possession
of the field of action, — " ye might as weel expect
brandy from bean-stalks, or milk from a craig of
blue whunstane. The man is mad, horn mad, to
boot."

" I must have mistaken the person to whom the
letter was addressed, then; " and, as she spoke,
Mistress Martha Trapbois was in the act of stooping
to lift the paper which had been so uncourteously
received. Her companion, with natural civility,
anticipated her purpose ; but, what was not quite
so much in etiquette, he took a sly glance at it as
he was about to hand it to her, and his eye having
caught the subscription, he said, with surprise,
" Glenvarloch— Nigel Olifaunt of Glenvarloch !
Do you know the Lord Glenvarloch, mistress ? "

" I know not of whom you speak," said Mrs
Martha, peevishly. " I had that paper from one
Master Nigel Gram."

" Nigel Grahame ! — umph. — O, ay, very true —
I had forgot," said the Scotsman. "A tall, well-
set young man, about my height ; bright blue eyes
like a hawk's ; a pleasant speech, something lean-
ing to the kindly north-country accentuation, but
not much, in respect of his having been resident
abroad?"

"All this is true — and what of it all?" said the
daughter of the miser.

•' Hair of my complexion ? "

"Yours is red," replied she.

154 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"I pray you peace," said the Scotsman. "I
was going to say — of my complexion, but with a
deeper shade of the chestnut. Weel, mistress, if I
have guessed the man aright, he is one with whom
I am, and have been, intimate and familiar, — nay,
— I may truly say I have done him much service
in my time, and may live to do him more. I had
indeed a sincere good-will for him, and I doubt
he has been much at a loss since we parted ; but
the fault is not mine. Wherefore, as this letter
will not avail you with him to whom it is directed,
you may believe that Heaven hath sent it to me,
who have a special regard for the writer — I have,
besides, as much mercy and honesty within me as
man can weel make his bread with, and am will-
ing to aid any distressed creature, that is my friend's
friend, with my counsel, and otherwise, so that I
am not put to much charges, being in a strange
country, like a poor lamb that has wandered from
its ain native hirsel, and leaves a tait of its woo'
in every d — d Southron bramble that comes across
it." While he spoke thus, he read the contents
of the letter, without waiting for permission, and
then continued, — " And so this is all that you are
wanting, my dove ? nothing more than safe and
honourable lodging, and sustenance, upon your own
charges ? "

" Nothing more," said she. " If you are a man
and a Christian, you will help me to what I need
so much."

"A man I am," replied the formal Caledonian,
" e'en sic as ye see me ; and a Christian I may call
myself, though unworthy, and though I have heard
little pure doctrine since I came hither — a' polluted

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 155

with men's devices — ahem ! Weel, and if ye be an
honest woman," (here he peeped under her muffler,)
" as an honest woman ye seem likely to be — though,
let me tell you, they are a kind of cattle not so rife
in the streets of this city as I would desire them —
I was almost strangled with my own band by twa
rampallians, wha wanted yestreen, nae farther gane,
to harle me into a change-house — however, if ye
be a decent honest woman," (here he took another
peep at features certainly bearing no beauty which
could infer suspicion,) "as decent and honest ye
seem to be, why, I will advise you to a decent house,
where you will get douce, quiet entertainment, on
reasonable terms, and the occasional benefit of my
own counsel and direction — that is, from time to
time, as my other avocations may permit."

" May I venture to accept of such an offer from
a stranger ? " said Martha, with natural hesitation.

" Troth, I see nothing to hinder you, mistress,"
replied the bonny Scot ; " ye can but see the place,
and do after as ye think best. Besides, we are nae
such strangers, neither; for I know your friend,
and you, it's like, know mine, whilk knowledge, on
either hand, is a medium of communication between
us, even as the middle of the string connecteth its
twa ends or extremities. But I will enlarge on
this farther as we pass along, gin ye list to bid
your twa lazy loons of porters there lift up your
little kist between them, whilk ae true Scotsman
might carry under his arm. Let me tell you, mis-
tress, ye will soon make a toom pock-end of it in
Lon'on, if you hire twa knaves to do the work of
ane."

So saying, he led the way, followed by Mistress

156 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Martha Trapbois, whose singular destiny, though
it had heaped her with wealth, had left her, for the
moment, no wiser counsellor, or more distinguished
protector, than honest Richie Moniplies, a discarded
serving-man.

Chapter X

This way lie safety and a sure retreat ;
Yonder lie danger, shame, and punishment.
Most welcome danger then — Nay, let me say,
Though spoke with swelling heart — welcome e'en shame ;
And welcome punishment — for, call me guilty,
I do but pay the tax that's due to justice ;
And call me guiltless, then that punishment
Is shame to those alone who do inflict it.

The Tribunal.

WE left Lord Glenvarloch, to whose fortunes our
story chiefly attaches itself, gliding swiftly down
the Thames. He was not, as the reader may have
observed, very affable in his disposition, or apt
to enter into conversation with those into whose
company he was casually thrown. This was, in-
deed, an error in his conduct, arising less from
pride, though of that feeling we do not pretend
to exculpate him, than from a sort of bashful re-
luctance to mix in the conversation of those with
whom he was not familiar. It is a fault only to
be cured by experience and knowledge of the world,
which soon teaches every sensible and acute person
the important lesson, that amusement, and, what is
of more consequence, that information and increase
of knowledge, are to be derived from the conversa-
tion of every individual whatever, with whom he is

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 157

thrown into a natural train of communication. For
ourselves, we can assure the reader — and perhaps
if we have ever been able to afford him amusement,
it is owing in a great degree to this cause — that we
never found ourselves in company with the stupidest
of all possible companions in a post-chaise, or with
the most arrant cumber-corner that ever occupied
a place in the mail-coach, without finding, that, in
the course of our conversation with him, we had
some ideas suggested to us, either grave or gay,
or some information communicated in the course of
our journey, which we should have regretted not
to have learned, and which we should be sorry to
have immediately forgotten. But Nigel was some-
what immured within the Bastile of his rank, as some
philosopher (Tom Paine, we think) has happily
enough expressed that sort of shyness which men
of dignified situations are apt to be beset with,
rather from not exactly knowing how far, or with
whom, they ought to be familiar, than from any real
touch of aristocratic pride. Besides, the immediate
pressure of our adventurer's own affairs was such as
exclusively to engross his attention.

He sat, therefore, wrapt in his cloak, in the stern
of the boat, with his mind entirely bent upon the
probable issue of the interview with his Sovereign,
which it was his purpose to seek ; for which abstrac-
tion of mind he may be fully justified, although
perhaps, by questioning the watermen who were
transporting him down the river, he might have
discovered matters of high concernment to him.

At any rate, Nigel remained silent till the
wherry approached the town of Greenwich, when
he commanded the men to put in for the nearest

158 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

landing-place, as it was his purpose to go ashore
there, and dismiss them from further attendance.

" That is not possible," said the fellow with the
green jacket, who, as we have already said, seemed
to take on himself the charge of pilotage. " We
must go," he continued, " to Gravesend, where a
Scottish vessel, which dropt down the river last tide
for the very purpose, lies with her anchor a-peak,
waiting to carry you to your own dear northern
country. Your hammock is slung, and all is ready
for you, and you talk of going ashore at Greenwich,
as seriously as if such a thing were possible ! "

" I see no impossibility," said Nigel, " in your
landing me where I desire to be landed ; but very
little possibility of your carrying me anywhere I
am not desirous of going."

" Why, whether do you manage the wherry, or
we, master ? " asked Green-jacket, in a tone betwixt
jest and earnest ; " I take it she will go the way
we row her."

" Ay," retorted Nigel, " but I take it you will
row her on the course I direct you, otherwise your
chance of payment is but a poor one."

" Suppose we are content to risk that," said the
undaunted waterman, " I wish to know how you,
who talk so big — I mean no offence, master, but you
do talk big — would help yourself in such a case ? "

«* Simply thus," answered Lord Glenvarloch —
" You saw me, an hour since, bring down to the
boat a trunk that neither of you could lift. If we
are to contest the destination of our voyage, the
same strength which tossed that chest into the
wherry, will suffice to fling you out of it ; where-
fore, before we begin the scuffle, I pray you to

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 159

remember, that, whither I would go, there I will
oblige you to carry me."

" Gramercy for your kindness," said Green-
jacket ; " and now mark me in return. My com-
rade and I are two men — and you, were you as
stout as George-a-Green, can pass but for one ;
and two, you will allow, are more than a match for
one. You mistake in your reckoning, my friend."

" It is you who mistake," answered Nigel, who
began to grow warm ; " it is I who am three to
two, sirrah — 1 carry two men's lives at my girdle."

So saying, he opened his cloak and showed the
two pistols which he had disposed at his girdle.
Green-jacket was unmoved at the display.

" I have got," said he, " a pair of barkers that
will match yours," and he showed that he also was
armed with pistols ; " so you may begin as soon as
you list."

" Then," said Lord Glenvarloch, drawing forth
and cocking a pistol, " the sooner the better. Take
notice, I hold you as a ruffian, who have declared
you will put force on my person ; and that I will
shoot you through the head if you do not instantly
put me ashore at Greenwich."

The other waterman, alarmed at Nigel's gesture,
lay upon his oar ; but Green-jacket replied coolly
— " Look you, master, I should not care a tester
to venture a life with you on this matter ; but the
truth is, I am employed to do you good, and not to
do you harm."

" By whom are you employed ? " said the Lord
Glenvarloch ; " or who dare concern themselves in
me, or my affairs, without my authority ? "

" As to that," answered the waterman, in the

i6o THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

same tone of indifference, " I shall not show my
commission. For myself, I care not, as I said,
whether you land at Greenwich to get yourself
hanged, or go down to get aboard the Royal
Thistle, to make your escape to your own country ;
you will be equally out of my reach either way.
But it is fair to put the choice before you."

" My choice is made," said Nigel. " I have told
you thrice already it is my pleasure to be landed
at Greenwich."

" Write it on a piece of paper," said the water-
man, " that such is your positive will ; I must have
something to show to my employers, that the trans-
gression of their orders lies with yourself, not with
me."

" I choose to hold this trinket in my hand for
the present," said Nigel, showing his pistol, " and
will write you the acquittance when I go ashore."

" I would not go ashore with you for a hundred
pieces," said the waterman. " 111 luck has ever
attended you, except in small gaming ; do me fair
justice, and give me the testimony I desire. If
you are afraid of foul play while you write it, you
may hold my pistols, if you will." He offered the
weapons to Nigel accordingly, who, while they
were under his control, and all possibility of his
being taken at advantage was excluded, no longer
hesitated to give the waterman an acknowledgment,
in the following terms : —

" Jack in the Green, with his mate, belonging to
the wherry called the Jolly Raven, have done their
duty faithfully by me, landing me at Greenwich by
my express command ; and being themselves willing
and desirous to carry me on board the Royal Thistle,

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 161

presently lying at Gravesend." Having finished
this acknowledgment, which he signed with the
letters, N. O. G. as indicating his name and title,
he again requested to know of the waterman, to
whom he delivered it, the name of his employers.

"Sir," replied Jack in the Green, "I have
respected your secret, do not you seek to pry into
mine. It would do you no good to know for
whom I am taking this present trouble ; and, to
be brief, you shall not know it — and, if you will
fight in the quarrel, as you said even now, the
sooner we begin the better. Only this you may be
cock-sure of, that we designed you no harm, and
that, if you fall into any, it will be of your own
wilful seeking.'* As he spoke, they approached
the landing-place, where Nigel instantly jumped
ashore. The waterman placed his small mail-
trunk on the stairs, observing that there were plenty
of spare hands about, to carry it where he would.

"We part friends, I hope, my lads," said the
young nobleman, offering at the same time a piece
of money more than double the usual fare, to the
boatmen.

" We part as we met," answered Green-jacket ;
" and, for your money, I am paid sufficiently with
this bit of paper. Only, if you owe me any love
for the cast I have given you, I pray you not to
dive so deep into the pockets of the next apprentice
that you find fool enough to play the cavalier. —
And you, you greedy swine," said he to his com-
panion, who still had a longing eye fixed on the
money which Nigel continued to offer, " push off,
or, if I take a stretcher in hand, I'll break the
knave's pate of thee." The fellow pushed off, as he
27 /

162 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

was commanded, but still could not help muttering,
" This was entirely out of waterman's rules."

Glenvarloch, though without the devotion of the
" injured Thales " of the moralist, to the memory
of that great princess, had now attained

" The hallow'd soil which gave Eliza birth,"

whose halls were now less respectably occupied by
her successor. It was not, as has been well shown
by a late author, that James was void either of parts
or of good intentions ; and his predecessor was at
least as arbitrary in effect as he was in theory. But,
while Elizabeth possessed a sternness of masculine
sense and determination which rendered even her
weaknesses, some of which were in themselves
sufficiently ridiculous, in a certain degree respectable,
James, on the other hand, was so utterly devoid of
" firm resolve," so well called by the Scottish bard,

" The stalk of carle-hemp in man,"
that even his virtues and his good meaning became
laughable, from the whimsical uncertainty of his
conduct; so that the wisest things he ever said,
and the best actions he ever did, were often touched
with a strain of the ludicrous and fidgety character
of the man. Accordingly, though at different periods
of his reign he contrived to acquire with his people
a certain degree of temporary popularity, it never long
outlived the occasion which produced it ; so true it
is, that the mass of mankind will respect a monarch
stained with actual guilt, more than one whose foibles
render him only ridiculous.

To return from this digression, Lord Glenvarloch
soon received, as Green-jacket had assured him, the
offer of an idle bargeman to transport his baggage

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 163

where he listed ; but that where was a question of
momentary doubt. At length, recollecting the
necessity that his hair and beard should be properly
arranged before he attempted to enter the royal
presence, and desirous, at the same time, of obtain-
ing some information of the motions of the Sovereign
and of the Court, he desired to be guided to the
next barber's shop, which we have already men-
tioned as the place where news of every kind circled
and centred. He was speedily shown the way to
such an emporium of intelligence, and soon found
he was likely to hear all he desired to know, and
much more, while his head was subjected to the art
of a nimble tonsor, the glibness of whose tongue
kept pace with the nimbleness of his fingers, while
he ran on, without stint or stop, in the following
excursive manner : —

" The Court here, master ? — yes, master — much
to the advantage of trade — good custom stirring.
His Majesty loves Greenwich — hunts every morn-
ing in the Park — all decent persons admitted that
have theentriesof the Palace — no rabble — frightened
the King's horse with their hallooing, the uncombed
slaves. — Yes, sir, the beard more peaked ? Yes,
master, so it is worn. I know the last cut — dress
several of the courtiers — one valet-of-the-chamber,
two pages of the body, the clerk of the kitchen,
three running footmen, two dog-boys, and an honour-
able Scottish knight, Sir Munko Malgrowler."

" Malagrowther, I suppose ? " said Nigel, thrust-
ing in his conjectural emendation, with infinite diffi-
culty, betwixt two clauses of the barber's text.

" Yes, sir — Malcrowder, sir, as you say, sir — hard
ies the Scots have, sir, for an English mouth.

164 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Sir Munko is a handsome person, sir — perhaps you
know him — bating the loss of his fingers, and the
lameness of his leg, and the length of his chin. Sir,
it takes me one minute, twelve seconds, more time
to trim that chin of his, than any chin that I know
in the town of Greenwich, sir. But he is a very
comely gentleman, for all that ; and a pleasant — a
very pleasant gentleman, sir — and a good-humoured,
saving that he is so deaf he can never hear good of
any one, and so wise, that he can never believe it ;
but he is a very good-natured gentleman for all that,
except when one speaks too low, or when a hair
turns awry. — Did I graze you, sir ? We shall put
it to rights in a moment, with one drop of styptic —
my styptic, or rather my wife's, sir — She makes the
water herself. One drop of the styptic, sir, and a
bit of black taffeta patch, just big enough to be the
saddle to a flea, sir — Yes, sir, rather improves than
otherwise. The Prince had a patch the other day,
and so had the Duke ; and, if you will believe me,
there are seventeen yards three quarters of black
taffeta already cut into patches for the courtiers."

" But Sir Mungo Malagrowther ? " again inter-
jected Nigel, with difficulty.

"Ay, ay, sir — Sir Munko, as you say; a pleasant,
good-humoured gentleman as ever — To be spoken
with, did you say ? O ay, easily to be spoken withal,
that is, as easily as his infirmity will permit. He
will presently, unless some one hath asked him forth
to breakfast, be taking his bone of broiled beef at
my neighbour Ned Kilderkin's yonder, removed
from over the way. Ned keeps an eating-house,
sir, famous for pork-griskins ; but Sir Munko
cannot abide pork, no more than the King's most

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 165

Sacred Majesty,* nor my Lord Duke of Lennox,
nor Lord Dalgarno, — nay, I am sure, sir, if I
touched you this time, it was your fault, not mine.
— But a single drop of the styptic, another little
patch that would make a doublet for a flea, just
under the left moustache ; it will become you when
you smile, sir, as well as a dimple ; and if you
would salute your fair mistress — but I beg pardon,
you are a grave gentleman, very grave to be so
young. — Hope I have given no offence ; it is my
duty to entertain customers — my duty, sir, and my
pleasure — Sir Munko Malcrowther ? — yes, sir, 1
dare say he is at this moment in Ned's eating-house,
for few folks ask him out, now Lord Huntinglen is
gone to London. You will get touched again — yes,
sir — there you shall find him with his can of single
ale, stirred with a sprig of rosemary, for he never
drinks strong potations, sir, unless to oblige Lord
Huntinglen — take heed, sir — or any other person
who asks him forth to breakfast — but single beer he
always drinks at Ned's, with his broiled bone of
beef or mutton — or, it may be, lamb at the season
— but not pork, though Ned is famous for his
griskins. But the Scots never eat pork — strange
that! some folk think they are a sort of Jews.
There is a resemblance, sir, — Do you not think so ?
Then they call our most gracious Sovereign the
second Solomon, and Solomon, you know, was

* The Scots, till within the last generation, disliked
swine's flesh as an article of food as much as the Highlanders
do at present. It was remarked as extraordinary rapacity,
when the Border depredators condescended to make prey
of the accursed race, whom the fiend made his habitation.
Ben Jonson, in drawing James's character, says, he loved
" no part of a swine."

166 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

King of the Jews ; so the thing bears a face, you
see. I believe, sir, you will find yourself trimmed
now to your content. I will be judged by the fair
mistress of your affections. Crave pardon — no
offence, I trust. Pray, consult the glass — one touch
of the crisping tongs, to reduce this straggler. —
Thank your munificence, sir — hope your custom
while you stay in Greenwich. Would you have a
tune on that ghittern, to put your temper in concord
for the day ? — Twang, twang — twang, twang, dillo.
Something out of tune, sir — too many hands to
touch it — we cannot keep these things like artists.
Let me help you with your cloak, sir — yes, sir —
You would not play yourself, sir, would you ? — Way
to Sir Munko's eating-house ? — Yes, sir ; but it is
Ned's eating-house, not Sir Munko's. — The knight,
to be sure, eats there, and makes it his eating-house
in some sense, sir — ha, ha! Yonder it is, removed
from over the way, new whitewashed posts, and
red lattice — fat man in his doublet at the door —
Ned himself, sir — worth a thousand pounds, they
say — better singeing pigs' faces than trimming
courtiers — but ours is the less mechanical vocation.
— Farewell, sir ; hope your custom." So saying,
he at length permitted Nigel to depart, whose ears,
so long tormented with his continued babble, tingled
when it had ceased, as if a bell had been rung close
to them for the same space of time.

Upon his arrival at the eating-house, where he
proposed to meet with Sir Mungo Malagrowther,
from whom, in despair of better advice, he trusted
to receive some information as to the best mode of
introducing himself into the royal presence, Lord
Glenvarloch found, in the host with whom he com-

THE FORTUN

ES OF NIGEL 167

muned, the consequential taciturnity of an English-
man well to pass in the world. Ned Kilderkin
spoke as a banker writes, only touching the needful.
Being asked if Sir Mungo Malagrowther was
there ? he replied, No. Being interrogated whether
he was expected ? he said, Yes. And being again
required to say when he was expected, he answered,
Presently. As Lord Glenvarloch next enquired,
whether he himself could have any breakfast ? the
landlord wasted not even a syllable in reply, but,
ushering him into a neat room where there were
several tables, he placed one of them before an arm-
chair, and beckoning Lord Glenvarloch to take
possession, he set before him, in a very few minutes,
a substantial repast of roast-beef, together with a
foaming tankard, to which refreshment the keen air
of the river disposed him, notwithstanding his
mental embarrassments, to do much honour.

While Nigel was thus engaged in discussing his
commons, but raising his head at the same time
whenever he heard the door of the apartment open,
eagerly desiring the arrival of Sir Mungo Mala-
growther, (an event which had seldom been ex-
pected by any one with so much anxious interest,)
a personage, as it seemed, of at least equal importance
with the knight, entered into the apartment, and
began to hold earnest colloquy with the publican,
who thought proper to carry on the conference on
his side unbonneted. This important gentleman's
occupation might be guessed from his dress. A
milk-white jerkin, and hose of white kersey ; a
white apron twisted around his body in the manner
of a sash, in which, instead of a warlike dagger,
was stuck a long-bladed knife, hiked with buck's-

i68 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

horn ; a white nightcap on his head, under which
his hair was neatly tucked, sufficiently pourtrayed
him as one of those priests of Comus whom the
vulgar call cooks ; and the air with which he rated
the publican for having neglected to send some
provisions to the Palace, showed that he ministered
to royalty itself.

" This will never answer," he said, " Master
Kilderkin — the King twice asked for sweetbreads,
and fricasseed coxcombs, which are a favourite dish
of his most Sacred Majesty, and they were not to
be had, because Master Kilderkin had not supplied
them to the clerk of the kitchen, as by bargain
bound.'7 Here Kilderkin made some apology, brief,
according to his own nature, and muttered in a
lowly tone after the fashion of all who find them-
selves in a scrape. His superior replied, in a lofty
strain of voice, " Do not tell me of the carrier and
his wain, and of the hen-coops coming from Nor-
folk with the poultry ; a loyal man would have sent
an express — he would have gone upon his stumps,
like Widdrington. What if the King had lost
his appetite, Master Kilderkin ? What if his most
Sacred Majesty had lost his dinner ? O Master
Kilderkin, if you had but the just sense of the
dignity of our profession, which is told of by the
witty African slave, for so the King's most ex-
cellent Majesty designates him, Publius Terentius,
Tanquam in specula — in patinas inspicere jubeo."

"You are learned, Master Linklater," replied
the English publican, compelling, as it were with
difficulty, his mouth to utter three or four words
consecutively.

" A poor smatterer," said Mr Linklater ; " but

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 169

it would be a shame to us, who are his most ex-
cellent Majesty's countrymen, not in some sort to
have cherished those arts wherewith he is so deeply
embued — Regis ad exemplar, Master Kilderkin,
totus componitur orbls — which is as much as to say,
as the King quotes the cook learns. In brief,
Master Kilderkin, having had the luck to be bred
where humanities may be had at the matter of an
English five groats by the quarter, I, like others,

have acquired — ahem — hem ! " Here, the

speaker's eye having fallen upon Lord Glenvarloch,
he suddenly stopped in his learned harangue, with
such symptoms of embarrassment as induced Ned
Kilderkin to stretch his taciturnity so far as not
only to ask him what he ailed, but whether he
would take any thing.

"Ail nothing," replied the learned rival of the
philosophical Syrus ; " Nothing — and yet I do feel
a little giddy. I could taste a glass of your dame's
aqua mira&i/is."

" I will fetch it," said Ned, giving a nod ; and
his back was no sooner turned, than the cook walked
near the table where Lord Glenvarloch was seated,
and regarding him with a look of significance,
where more was meant than met the ear, said, —
"You are a stranger in Greenwich, sir. I advise
you to take the opportunity to step into the Park —
the western wicket was ajar when I came hither;
I think it will be locked presently, so you had
better make the best of your way — that is, if you
have any curiosity. The venison are coming into
season just now, sir, and there is a pleasure in look-
ing at a hart of grease. I always think when they
are bounding so blithely past, what a pleasure it

170 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

would be, to broach their plump haunches on a spit,
and to embattle their breasts in a noble fortification
of puff-paste, with plenty of black pepper."

He said no more, as Kilderkin re-entered with
the cordial, but edged off from Nigel without wait-
ing any reply, only repeating the same look of
intelligence with which he had accosted him.

Nothing makes men's wits so alert as personal
danger. Nigel took the first opportunity which his
host's attention to the yeoman of the royal kitchen
permitted, to discharge his reckoning, and readily
obtained a direction to the wicket in question. He
found it upon the latch, as he had been taught to
expect; and perceived that it admitted him to a
narrow footpath, which traversed a close and tangled
thicket, designed for the cover of the does and the
young fawns. Here he conjectured it would be
proper to wait ; nor had he been stationary above
five minutes, when the cook, scalded as much with
heat of motion as ever he had been at his huge fire-
place, arrived almost breathless, and with his pass-key
hastily locked the wicket behind him.

Ere Lord Glenvarloch had time to speculate upon
this action, the man approached with anxiety, and
said — "Good lord, my Lord Glenvarloch! — why
will you endanger yourself thus ?"

" You know me then, my friend ? " said Nigel.

" Not much of that, my lord — but I know your
honour's noble house well. — My name is Laurie
Linklater, my lord."

" Linklater ! " repeated Nigel. " I should re-
collect "

"Under your lordship's favour," he continued,
" I was 'prentice, my lord, to old Mungo Moniplies,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 171

the flesher at the wanton West- Port of Edinburgh,
which I wish I saw again before I died. And,
your honour's noble father having taken Richie
Moniplies into his house to wait on your lordship,
there was a sort of connexion, your lordship
sees."

" Ah !" said Lord Glenvarloch, " I had almost
forgot your name, but not your kind purpose. You
tried to put Richie in the way of presenting a
supplication to his Majesty ? "

" Most true, my lord," replied the King's cook.
" I had like to have come by mischief in the job ;
for Richie, who was always wilful, * wadna be
guided by me/ as the sang says. But nobody
amongst these brave English cooks can kittle up
his Majesty's most sacred palate with our own gusty
Scottish dishes. So I e'en betook myself to my
craft, and concocted a mess of friar's chicken for
the soup, and a savoury hachis, that made the whole
cabal coup the crans ; and, instead of disgrace, I
came by preferment. I am one of the clerks of
the kitchen now, make me thankful — with a finger
in the purveyor's office, and may get my whole
hand in by and by."

" I am truly glad," said Nigel, " to hear that
you have not suffered on my account, — still more so
at your good fortune."

" You bear a kind heart, my lord," said Link-
later, " and do not forget poor people ; and, troth,
I see not why they should be forgotten, since the
King's errand may sometimes fall in the cadger's
gate. I have followed your lordship in the street,
just to look at such a stately shoot of the old oak-
tree ; and my heart jumped into my throat, when

172 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

I saw you sitting openly in the eating-house yonder,
and knew there was such danger to your person."

" What ! there are warrants against me, then ? "
said Nigel.

" It is even true, my lord ; and there are those
are willing to blacken you as much as they can. —
God forgive them, that would sacrifice an honour-
able house for their own base ends !"

" Amen," said Nigel.

" For, say your lordship may have been a little
wild, like other young gentlemen "

" We have little time to talk of it, my friend,"
said Nigel. " The point in question is, how am I
to get speech of the King ? "

" The King, my lord ! " said Linklater in as-
tonishment ; " why, will not that be rushing wil-
fully into danger ? — scalding yourself, as I may say,
with your own ladle ? "

"My good friend," answered Nigel, "my ex-
perience of the Court, and my knowledge of the
circumstances in which I stand, tell me, that the
manliest and most direct road is, in my case, the
surest and the safest. The King has both a head
to apprehend what is just, and a heart to do what
is kind."

"It is e'en true, my lord, and so we, his old
servants, know," added Linklater ; " but, woe's me,
if you knew how many folks make it their daily and
nightly purpose to set his head against his heart,
and his heart against his head — to make him do
hard things because they are called just, and un-
just things because they are represented as kind.
Woe's me ! it is with his Sacred Majesty, and the
favourites who work upon him, even according to

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 173

the homely proverb that men taunt my calling with,
— * God sends good meat, but the devil sends
cooks.' "

" It signifies not talking of it, my good friend,"
said Nigel, " I must take my risk — my honour
peremptorily demands it. They may maim me, or
beggar me, but they shall not say I fled from my
accusers. My peers shall hear my vindication."

" Your peers ? " exclaimed the cook — «« Alack-
a-day, my lord, we are not in Scotland, where the
nobles can bang it out bravely, were it even with
the King himself, now and then. This mess must
be cooked in the Star-Chamber, and that is an oven
seven times heated, my lord ; — and yet, if you are
determined to see the King, I will not say but you
may find some favour, for he likes well any thing
that is appealed directly to his own wisdom, and
sometimes, in the like cases, I have known him stick
by his own opinion, which is always a fair one.
Only mind, if you will forgive me, my lord — mind
to spice high with Latin ; a curn or two of Greek
would not be amiss ; and, if you can bring in any
thing about the judgment of Solomon, in the original
Hebrew, and season with a merry jest or so, the
dish will be the more palatable. — Truly, I think,
that, besides my skill in art, I owe much to the
stripes of the Rector of the High School, who
imprinted on my mind that cooking scene in the
Heautontimorumenos."

" Leaving that aside, my friend," said Lord
Glenvarloch, "can you inform me which way I
shall most readily get to the sight and speech of
the King?"

"To the sight of him readily enough," said

174 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Linklater; "he is galloping about these alleys, to
see them strike the hart, to get him an appetite for
a nooning — and that reminds me I should be in the
kitchen. To the speech of the King you will not
come so easily, unless you could either meet him
alone, which rarely chances, or wait for him among
the crowd that go to see him alight. And now,
farewell, my lord, and God speed ! —if I could do
more for you, I would offer it."

" You have done enough, perhaps, to endanger
yourself," said Lord Glenvarloch. " I pray you
to be gone, and leave me to my fate."

The honest cook lingered, but a nearer burst of
the horns apprized him that there was no time to
lose ; and, acquainting Nigel that he would leave the
postern-door on the latch to secure his retreat in
that direction, he bade God bless him, and farewell.

In the kindness of this humble countryman,
flowing partly from national partiality, partly from
a sense of long-remembered benefits, which had
been scarce thought on by those who had bestowed
them, Lord Glenvarloch thought he saw the last
touch of sympathy which he was to receive in this
cold and courtly region, and felt that he must now
be sufficient to himself, or be utterly lost.

He traversed more than one alley, guided by the
sounds of the chase, and met several of the inferior
attendants upon the King's sport, who regarded him
only as one of the spectators who were sometimes
permitted to enter the Park by the concurrence of
the officers about the Court. Still there was no
appearance of James, or any of his principal courtiers,
and Nigel began to think whether, at the risk of
incurring disgrace similar to that which had at-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 175

tended the rash exploit of Richie Moniplies, he
should not repair to the Palace-gate, in order to
address the King on his return, when Fortune pre-
sented him the opportunity of doing so, in her own
way.

He was in one of those long walks by which the
Park was traversed, when he heard, first a distant
rustling, then the rapid approach of hoofs shaking the
firm earth on which he stood ; then a distant halloo,
warned by which he stood up by the side of the
avenue, leaving free room for the passage of the
chase. The stag, reeling, covered with foam, and
blackened with sweat, his nostrils expanded as he
gasped for breath, made a shift to come up as far
as where Nigel stood, and, without turning to bay,
was there pulled down by two tall greyhounds of
the breed still used by the hardy deer-stalkers of
the Scottish Highlands, but which has been long
unknown in England. One dog struck at the buck's
throat, another dashed his sharp nose and fangs, I
might almost say, into the animal's bowels. It would
have been natural for Lord Glenvarloch, himself
persecuted as if by hunters, to have thought upon
the occasion like the melancholy Jacques ; but habit
is a strange matter, and I fear that his feelings on
the occasion were rather those of the practised
huntsman than of the moralist. He had no time,
however, to indulge them, for mark what befell.

A single horseman followed the chase, upon a
steed so thoroughly subjected to the rein, that it
obeyed the touch of the bridle as if it had been a
mechanical impulse operating on the nicest piece of
machinery ; so that, seated deep in his demi-pique
saddle, and so trussed up there as to make falling

176 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

almost impossible, the rider, without either fear or
hesitation, might increase or diminish the speed at
which he rode, which, even on the most animating
occasions of the chase, seldom exceeded three-fourths
of a gallop, the horse keeping his haunches under
him, and never stretching forward beyond the
managed pace of the academy. The security with
which he chose to prosecute even this favourite, and,
in the ordinary case, somewhat dangerous amuse-
ment, as well as the rest of his equipage, marked
King James. No attendant was within sight;
indeed, it was often a nice strain of flattery to
permit the Sovereign to suppose he had outridden
and distanced all the rest of the chase.

"Weel dune, Bash — weel dune, Battie! " he ex-
claimed, as he came up. " By the honour of a king,
ye are a credit to the Braes of Bal whither ! — Haud
my horse, man," he called out to Nigel, without
stopping to see to whom he had addressed himself
— " Haud my naig, and help me doun out o* the
saddle — deil ding your saul, sirrah, canna ye mak
haste before these lazy smaiks come up ? — haud the
rein easy — dinna let him swerve — now, haud the
stirrup — that will do, man, and now we are on terra
firma." So saying, without casting an eye on his
assistant, gentle King Jamie, unsheathing the short,
sharp hanger, (couteau de ckasse^] which was the
only thing approaching to a sword that he could
willingly endure the sight of, drew the blade with
great satisfaction across the throat of the buck, and
put an end at once to its struggles and its agonies.

Lord Glenvarloch, who knew well the silvan
duty which the occasion demanded, hung the bridle
of the King's palfrey on the branch of a tree, and,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 177

kneeling duteously down, turned the slaughtered
deer upon its back, and kept the quarrec in that
position, while the King, too intent upon his sport
to observe any thing else, drew his couteau down
the breast of the animal, secundum art em ; and, hav-
ing made a cross cut, so as to ascertain the depth
of the fat upon the chest, exclaimed, in a sort of
rapture, " Three inches of white fat on the brisket !
— prime — prime — as I am a crowned sinner — and
deil ane o' the lazy loons in but mysell ! Seven —
aught — aught tines on the antlers. By G — d, a
hart of aught tines, and the first of the season !
Bash and Battie, blessings on the heart's-root of
ye ! Buss me, rny bairns, buss me." The dogs ac-
cordingly fawned upon him, licked him with bloody
jaws, and soon put him in such a state that it might
have seemed treason had been doing its full work
upon his anointed body. " Bide doun, with a mis-
chief to ye — bide doun, with a wanion," cried the
King, almost overturned by the obstreperous caresses
of the large stag-hounds. " But ye are just like
ither folks, gie ye an inch and ye take an ell. —
And wha may ye be, friend ? " he said, now finding
leisure to take a nearer view of Nigel, and observing
what in his first emotion of silvan delight had escaped
him, — " Ye are nane of our train, man. In the name
of God, what the devil are ye ? "

" An unfortunate man, sire," replied Nigel.

" I dare say that," answered the King, snappishly,
" or I wad have seen naething of you. My lieges
keep a' their happiness to themselves ; but let bowls
row wrang wi' them, and I am sure to hear of
it."

" And to whom else can we carry our complaints
27 m

178 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

but to your Majesty, who is Heaven's vicegerent
over us ! " answered Nigel.

" Right, man, right — very weel spoken," said the
King ; " but you should leave Heaven's vicegerent
some quiet on earth, too."

" If your Majesty will look on me," (for hitherto
the King had been so busy, first with the dogs, and
then with the mystic operation of breaking, in vulgar
phrase, cutting up the deer, that he had scarce given
his assistant above a transient glance,) "you will
see whom necessity makes bold to avail himself of
an opportunity which may never again occur."

King James looked ; his blood left his cheek,
though it continued stained with that of the animal
which lay at his feet, he dropped the knife from his
hand, cast behind him a faltering eye, as if he either
meditated flight or looked out for assistance, and
then exclaimed, — " Glenvarlochides ! as sure as I
was christened James Stewart. Here is a bonny
spot of work, and me alone, and on foot too !" he
added, bustling to get upon his horse.

" Forgive me that I interrupt you, my liege,"
said Nigel, placing himself between the King and
the steed ; " hear me but a moment ! "

" I'll hear ye best on horseback," said the King.
" I canna hear a word on foot, man, not a word ;
and it is not seemly to stand cheek-for-chowl con-
fronting us that gate. Bide out of our gate, sir, we
charge you on your allegiance. — The deil's in them
a', what can they be doing ? "

** By the crown which you wear, my liege," said
Nigel, " and for which my ancestors have worthily
fought, I conjure you to be composed, and to hear
me but a moment ! "

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 179

That which he asked was entirely out of the
monarch's power to grant. The timidity which he
showed was not the plain downright cowardice,
which, like a natural impulse, compels a man to
flight, and which can excite little but pity or con-
tempt, but a much more ludicrous, as well as more
mingled sensation. The poor King was frightened
at once and angry, desirous of securing his safety,
and at the same time ashamed to compromise his
dignity ; so that without attending to what Lord
Glenvarloch endeavoured to explain, he kept making
at his horse, and repeating, " We are a free King,
man, — we are a free King — we will not be con-
trolled by a subject. — In the name of God, what
keeps Steenie ? And, praised be his name, they are
coming — Hillo, ho — here, here — Steenie, Steenie! "

The Duke of Buckingham galloped up, followed
by several courtiers and attendants of the royal
chase, and commenced with his usual familiarity, —
" I see Fortune has graced our dear dad, as usual.
— But what's this ? "

" What is it ? It is treason for what I ken," said
the King; "and a' your wyte, Steenie. Your
dear dad and gossip might have been murdered, for
what you care."

" Murdered ? Secure the villain ! " exclaimed the
Duke. " By Heaven, it is Olifaunt himself! " A
dozen of the hunters dismounted at once, letting
their horses run wild through the park. Some seized
roughly on Lord Glenvarloch, who thought it folly
to offer resistance, while others busied themselves
with the King. " Are you wounded, my liege —
are you wounded ? "

"Not that I ken of," said the King, in the

i8o THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

paroxysm of his apprehension, (which, by the way,
might be pardoned in one of so timorous a temper,
and who, in his time, had been exposed to so many
strange attempts) — " Not that I ken of — but search
him — search him. I am sure 1 saw fire-arms under
his cloak. I am sure I smelled powder — I am dooms
sure of that."

Lord Glenvarloch's cloak being stripped off,
and his pistols discovered, a shout of wonder and of
execration on the supposed criminal purpose, arose
from the crowd now thickening every moment.
Not that celebrated pistol, which, though resting on
a bosom as gallant and as loyal as Nigel's, spread
such causeless alarm among knights and dames at a
late high solemnity — not that very pistol caused
more temporary consternation than was so ground-
lessly excited by the arms which were taken from
Lord Glenvarloch's person ; and not Mhic-Allastar-
More himself could repel with greater scorn and
indignation, the insinuations that they were worn
for any sinister purposes.*

" Away with the wretch — the parricide — the
bloody-minded villain ! " was echoed on all hands ;
and the King, who naturally enough set the same
value on his own life, at which it was, or seemed to
be, rated by others, cried out, louder than all the
rest, " Ay, ay — away with him. I have had enough
of him and so has the country. But do him no
bodily harm — and, for God's sake, sirs, if ye are
sure that ye have thoroughly disarmed him, put up
your swords, dirks, and skenes, for you will certainly
do each other a mischief."

There was a speedy sheathing of weapons at the
* Note I.— Mhic-Allastar-More.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 181

King's command ; for those who had hitherto
been brandishing them in loyal bravado, began
thereby to call to mind the extreme dislike which
his Majesty nourished against naked steel, a foible
which seemed to be as constitutional as his timidity,
and was usually ascribed to the brutal murder of
Rizzio having been perpetrated in his unfortunate
mother's presence before he yet saw the light.

At this moment, the Prince, who had been hunt-
ing in a different part of the then extensive Park,
and had received some hasty and confused informa-
tion of what was going forward, came rapidly up,
with one or two noblemen in his train, and amongst
others Lord Dalgarno. He sprung from his horse,
and asked eagerly if his father were wounded.

" Not that I am sensible of, Baby Charles — but
a wee matter exhausted, with struggling single-
handed with the assassin. — Steenie, fill us a cup of
wine — the leathern bottle is hanging at our pommel.
— Buss me, then, Baby Charles," continued the
monarch, after he had taken this cup of comfort ; *
" O man, the Commonwealth and you have had a
fair escape from the heavy and bloody loss of a
dear father ; for we are pater patrtce , as weel as pater
familias. — Quis desiderio sit pudor out modus tarn cart
capitis! — Woe is me, black cloth would have been
dear in England, and dry een scarce ! "

And, at the very idea of the general grief which
must have attended his death, the good-natured
monarch cried heartily himself.

" Is this possible ? " said Charles, sternly ; for
his pride was hurt at his father's demeanour on the
one hand, while on the other, he felt the resent-
* Note II.— King James's Hunting Bottle.

182 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

ment of a son and a subject, at the supposed attempt
on the King's life. " Let some one speak who has
seen what happened — My Lord of Buckingham !"

" I cannot say, my lord," replied the Duke,
" that I saw any actual violence offered to his
Majesty, else I should have avenged him on the
spot."

" You would have done wrong, then, in your zeal,
George," answered the Prince; "such offenders
were better left to be dealt with by the laws. But
was the villain not struggling with his Majesty ? "

" I cannot term it so, my lord," said the Duke,
who, with many faults, would have disdained an un-
truth ; " he seemed to desire to detain his Majesty,
who, on the contrary, appeared to wish to mount his
horse ; but they have found pistols on his person,
contrary to the proclamation, and, as it proves to
be Nigel Olifaunt, of whose ungoverned disposition
your Royal Highness has seen some samples, we
seem to be justified in apprehending the worst."

" Nigel Olifaunt ! " said the Prince ; " can that
unhappy man so soon have engaged in a new tres-
pass ? Let me see those pistols."

" Ye are not so unwise as to meddle with such
snap-haunces, Baby Charles ? " said James — " Do
not give him them, Steenie — I command you on
your allegiance ! They may go off of their own
accord, whilk often befalls. — You will do it, then ?
— Saw ever man sic wilful bairns as we are cumbered
with! — Havena we guardsmen and soldiers enow,
but you must unload the weapons yoursell — you,
the heir of our body and dignities, and sae mony
men around that are paid for venturing life in our
cause?"

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 183

But without regarding his father's exclamations,
Prince Charles, with the obstinacy which charac-
terised him in trifles, as well as matters of conse-
quence, persisted in unloading the pistols with his
own hand, of the double bullets with which each
was charged. The hands of all around were held
up in astonishment at the horror of the crime sup-
posed to have been intended, and the escape which
was presumed so narrow.

Nigel had not yet spoken a word — he now
calmly desired to be heard.

"To what purpose?" answered the Prince coldly.
" You knew yourself accused of a heavy offence,
and, instead of rendering yourself up to justice, in
terms of the proclamation, you are here found in-
truding yourself on his Majesty's presence, and
armed with unlawful weapons."

" May it please you, sir," answered Nigel, " I
wore these unhappy weapons for my own defence ;
and not very many hours since they were necessary
to protect the lives of others."

"Doubtless, my lord," answered the Prince, still
calm and unmoved, — " your late mode of life, and
the associates with whom you have lived, have made
you familiar with scenes and weapons of violence.
But it is not to me you are to plead your cause."

" Hear me — hear me, noble Prince ! " said Nigel,
eagerly. " Hear me ! You — even you yourself —
may one day ask to be heard, and in vain."

" How, sir," said the Prince, haughtily — " how
am 1 to construe that, my lord ? "

" If not on earth, sir," replied the prisoner, " yet
to Heaven we must all pray for patient and favour-
able audience."

184 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"True, my lord," said the Prince, bending his
head with haughty acquiescence ; " nor would I
now refuse such audience to you, could it avail you.
But you shall suffer no wrong. We will ourselves
look into your case."

" Ay, ay," answered the King, " he hath made
appellatio ad Casarem — we will interrogate Glen-
varlochides ourselves, time and place fitting; and,
in the meanwhile, have him and his weapons away,
for I am weary of the sight of them."

In consequence of directions hastily given, Nigel
was accordingly removed from the presence, where
however, his words had not altogether fallen to the
ground.* " This is a most strange matter, George,"
said the Prince to the favourite ; " this gentleman
hath a good countenance, a happy presence, and
much calm firmness in his look and speech. I
cannot think he would attempt a crime so desperate
and useless."

" I profess neither love nor favour to the young
man," answered Buckingham, whose high-spirited
ambition bore always an open character ; " but I
cannot but agree with your Highness, that our dear
gossip hath been something hasty in apprehending
personal danger from him."f

" By my saul, Steenie, ye are not blate, to say
so ! " said the King. " Do I not ken the smell of
pouther, think ye ? Who else nosed out the Fifth
of November, save our royal selves? Cecil, and
Suffolk, and all of them, were at fault, like sae mony
mongrel tikes, when I puzzled it out ; and trow ye
that I cannot smell pouther ? Why, 'sblood, man,

* Note III. — Scene in Greenwich Park,
t Note IV.— King James's Timidity.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 185

Joannes Barclaius thought my ingine was in some
measure inspiration, and terms his history of the
plot, Series patefacti d'rvinitus parricidii ; and Spon-
danus, in like manner, saith of us, Divinitus evasit"

" The land was happy in your Majesty's escape,"
said the Duke of Buckingham, " and not less in the
quick wit which tracked that labyrinth of treason
by so fine and almost invisible a clew."

" Saul, man, Steenie, ye are right ! There are
few youths have sic true judgment as you, respect-
ing the wisdom of their elders; and, as for this
fause, traitorous smaik, 1 doubt he is a hawk of the
same nest. Saw ye not something papistical about
him ? Let them look that he bears not a crucifix,
or some sic Roman trinket, about him."

" It would ill become me to attempt the exculpa-
tion of this unhappy man," said Lord Dalgarno,
"considering the height of his present attempt,
which has made all true men's blood curdle in their
veins. Yet I cannot avoid intimating, with all due
submission to his Majesty's infallible judgment, in
justice to one who showed himself formerly only my
enemy, though he now displays himself in much
blacker colours, that this Olifaunt always appeared
to me more as a Puritan than as a Papist."

" Ah, Dalgarno, art thou there, man ? " said the
King. " And ye behoved to keep back, too, and
leave us to our own natural strength and the care
of Providence, when we were in grips with the
villain ! "

" Providence, may it please your most Gracious
Majesty, would not fail to aid, in such a strait,
the care of three weeping kingdoms," said Lord
Dalgarno.

186 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Surely, man — surely," replied the King — " but
a sight of your father, with his long whinyard,
would have been a blithe matter a short while syne ;
and in future we will aid the ends of Providence
in our favour, by keeping near us two stout beef-
eaters of the guard. — And so this Olifaunt is a
Puritan ? — not the less like to be a Papist, for all
that — for extremities meet, as the scholiast proveth.
There are, as I have proved in my book, Puritans
of papistical principles — it is just a new tout on an
auld horn."

Here the King was reminded by the Prince, who
dreaded perhaps that he was going to recite the
whole Banlicon Doron, that it would be best to
move towards the Palace, and consider what was
to be done for satisfying the public mind, in whom
the morning's adventure was likely to excite much
speculation. As they entered the gate of the
Palace, a female bowed and presented a paper,
which the King received, and, with a sort of groan,
thrust it into his side pocket. The Prince expressed
some curiosity to know its contents. " The valet
in waiting will tell you them," said the King, " when
I strip off my cassock. D'ye think, Baby, that I
can read all that is thrust into my hands ? See to
me, man," — (he pointed to the pockets of his great
trunk breeches, which were stuffed with papers) —
" We are like an ass — that we should so speak —
stooping betwixt two burdens. Ay, ay, Asinus
fort'ts accumlens inter terminos, as the Vulgate hath
it — Ay, ay, Vidi terrain quod esset optima, et sup-
posu'i humerum ad portandum, et factus sum tr'ibutis
serviens — I saw this land of England, and became
an overburdened king thereof."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 187

" You are indeed well loaded, my dear dad and
gossip," said the Duke ot Buckingham, receiving
the papers which King James emptied out of his
pockets.

" Ay, ay," continued the monarch ; " take them
to you per aversionem, bairns — the one pouch stuffed
with petitions, t'other with pasquinadoes ; a fine
time we have on't. On my conscience, 1 believe
the tale of Cadmus was hieroglyphical, and that the
dragon's teeth whilk he sowed were the letters he
invented. Ye are laughing, Baby Charles? — Mind
what I say. — When I came here first frae our ain
country, where the men are as rude as the weather,
by my conscience, England was a bieldy bit ; one
would have thought the King had little to do but
to walk by quiet waters, per aquam refectionis. But,
I kenna how or why, the place is sair changed —
read that libel upon us and on our regimen. The
dragon's teeth are sown, Baby Charles ; I pray
God they bearna their armed harvest in your day,
if I suld not live to see it. God forbid I should,
for there will be an awful day's kemping at the
shearing of them."

" I shall know how to stifle the crop in the blade,
— ha, George ? " said the Prince, turning to the
favourite with a look expressive of some contempt
for his father's apprehensions, and full of confidence
in the superior firmness and decision of his own
counsels.

While this discourse was passing, Nigel, in charge
of a pursuivant-at-arms, was pushed and dragged
through the small town, all the inhabitants of which,
having been alarmed by the report of an attack on
the King's life, now pressed forward to see the sup-

188 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

posed traitor. Amid the confusion of the moment,
he could descry the face of the victualler, arrested
into a stare of stolid wonder, and that of the barber
grinning betwixt horror and eager curiosity. He
thought that he also had a glimpse of his waterman
in the green jacket.

He had no time for remarks, being placed in a
boat with the pursuivant and two yeomen of the
guard, and rowed up the river as fast as the arms
of six stout watermen could pull against the tide.
They passed the groves of masts which even then
astonished the stranger with the extended com-
merce of London, and now approached those low
and blackened walls of curtain and bastion, which
exhibit here and there a piece of ordnance, and
here and there a solitary sentinel under arms, but
have otherwise so little of the military terrors of
a citadel. A projecting low-browed arch, which
had loured over many an innocent, and many a
guilty head, in similar circumstances, now spread
its dark frowns over that of Nigel.* The boat was
put close up to the broad steps against which the
tide was lapping its lazy wave. The warder on
duty looked from the wicket, and spoke to the
pursuivant in whispers. In a few minutes the
Lieutenant of the Tower appeared, received, and
granted an acknowledgment for the body of Nigel,
Lord Glenvarloch.

* Note V. — Traitor's Gate.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 189

Chapter XI

Ye towers of Julius 1 London's lasting shame ;
With many a foul and midnight murder fed !

Gray.

SUCH is the exclamation of Gray. Bandello, long
before him, has said something like it ; and the same
sentiment must, in some shape or other, have fre-
quently occurred to those, who, remembering the
fate of other captives in that memorable state-prison,
may have had but too much reason to anticipate
their own. The dark and low arch, which seemed,
like the entrance to Dante's Hell, to forbid hope of
regress — the muttered sounds of the warders, and
petty formalities observed in opening and shutting
the grated wicket — the cold and constrained saluta-
tion of the Lieutenant of the fortress, who showed
his prisoner that distant and measured respect which
authority pays as a tax to decorum, all struck upon
Nigel's heart, impressing on him the cruel conscious-
ness of captivity.

" I am a prisoner," he said, the words escaping
from him almost unawares ; " I am a prisoner, and
in the Tower ! "

The Lieutenant bowed — " And it is my duty,"
he said, "to show your lordship your chamber,
where, I am compelled to say, my orders are to
place you under some restraint. I will make it as
easy as my duty permits."

Nigel only bowed in return to this compliment,
and followed the Lieutenant to the ancient buildings
on the western side of the parade, and adjoining to

igo THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the chapel, used in those days as a state-prison, but
in ours as the mess-room of the officers of the guard
upon duty at the fortress. The double doors were
unlocked, the prisoner ascended a few steps, followed
by the Lieutenant, and a warder of the higher class.
They entered a large, but irregular, low-roofed, and
dark apartment, exhibiting a very scanty proportion
of furniture. The warder had orders to light a fire,
and attend to Lord Glenvarloch's commands in all
things consistent with his duty ; and the Lieutenant,
having made his reverence with the customary
compliment, that he trusted his lordship would not
long remain under his guardianship, took his leave.

Nigel would have asked some questions of the
warder, who remained to put the apartment into
order, but the man had caught the spirit of his
office. He seemed not to hear some of the
prisoner's questions, though of the most ordinary
kind, did not reply to others, and when he did
speak, it was in a short and sullen tone, which,
though not positively disrespectful, was such as at
least to encourage no farther communication.

Nigel left him, therefore, to do his work in
silence, and proceeded to amuse himself with the
melancholy task of deciphering the names, mottoes,
verses, and hieroglyphics, with which his prede-
cessors in captivity had covered the walls of their
prison-house. There he saw the names of many a
forgotten sufferer mingled with others which will
continue in remembrance until English history shall
perish. There were the pious effusions of the devout
Catholic, poured forth on the eve of his sealing his
profession at Tyburn, mingled with those of the
firm Protestant, about to feed the fires of Smithfield.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 191

There the slender hand of the unfortunate Jane
Grey, whose fate was to draw tears from future
generations, might be contrasted with the bolder
touch which impressed deep on the walls the Bear
and Ragged Staff, the proud emblem of the proud
Dudleys. It was like the roll of the prophet, a
record of lamentation and mourning, and yet not
unmixed with brief interjections of resignation, and
sentences expressive of the firmest resolution.*

In the sad task, of examining the miseries of his
predecessors in captivity, Lord Glenvarloch was
interrupted by the sudden opening of the door of
his prison-room. It was the warder, who came to
inform him, that, by order of the Lieutenant of the
Tower, his lordship was to have the society and
attendance of a fellow-prisoner in his place of
confinement. Nigel replied hastily, that he wished
no attendance, and would rather be left alone ; but
the warder gave him to understand, with a kind of
grumbling civility, that the Lieutenant was the best
judge how his prisoners should be accommodated,
and that he would have no trouble with the boy,
who was such a slip of a thing as was scarce worth
turning a key upon. — "There, Giles," he said,
"bring the child in."

Another warder put the " lad before him " into
the room, and, both withdrawing, bolt crashed and
chain clanged, as they replaced these ponderous

* These memorials of illustrious criminals, or of innocent
persons who had the fate of such, are still preserved, though
at one time, in the course of repairing the rooms, they
were in some danger of being whitewashed. They are
preserved at present with becoming respect, and have most
of them been engraved. — S^BAYLEY'S Hiitory and Antiquities
of the Toivcr of London.

192 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

obstacles to freedom. The boy was clad in a grey
suit of the finest cloth, laid down with silver lace,
with a buff-coloured cloak of the same pattern. His
cap, which was a Montero of black velvet, was pulled
over his brows, and, with the profusion of his long
ringlets, almost concealed his face. He stood on
the very spot where the warder had quitted his
collar, about two steps from the door of the apart-
ment, his eyes fixed on the ground, and every joint
trembling with confusion and terror. Nigel could
well have dispensed with his society, but it was not
in his nature to behold distress, whether of body or
mind, without endeavouring to relieve it.

" Cheer up," he said, " my pretty lad. We are
to be companions, it seems, for a little time — at least
I trust your confinement will be short, since you
are too young to have done aught to deserve long
restraint. Come, come — do not be discouraged.
Your hand is cold and trembles ? the air is warm
too — but it may be the damp of this darksome room.
Place you by the fire. — What! weeping-ripe, my
little man ? I pray you, do not be a child. You
have no beard yet, to be dishonoured by your tears,
but yet you should not cry like a girl. Think you
are only shut up for playing truant, and you can pass
a day without weeping, surely/'

The boy suffered himself to be led and seated
by the fire, but, after retaining for a long time the
very posture which he assumed in sitting down, he
suddenly changed it in order to wring his hands
with an air of the bitterest distress, and then, spread-
ing them before his face, wept so plentifully, that
the tears found their way in floods through his
slender fingers.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 193

Nigel was in some degree rendered insensible to
his own situation, by his feelings for the intense
agony by which so young and beautiful a creature
seemed to be utterly overwhelmed ; and, sitting down
close beside the boy, he applied the most soothing
terms which occurred, to endeavour to alleviate his
distress ; and with an action which the difference of
their age rendered natural, drew his hand kindly
along the long hair of the disconsolate child. The
lad appeared so shy as even to shrink from this slight
approach to familiarity — yet, when Lord Glenvar-
loch, perceiving and allowing for his timidity, sat
down on the farther side of the fire, he appeared
to be more at his ease, and to hearken with some
apparent interest to the arguments which from time
to time Nigel used, to induce him to moderate, at
least, the violence of his grief. As the boy listened,
his tears, though they continued to flow freely,
seemed to escape from their source more easily,
his sobs were less convulsive, and became gradually
changed into low sighs, which succeeded each other,
indicating as much sorrow, perhaps, but less alarm,
than his first transports had shown.

" Tell me who and what you are, my pretty boy,"
said Nigel. — " Consider me, child, as a companion,
who wishes to be kind to you, would you but teach
him how he can be so."

" Sir — my lord, I mean," answered the boy, very
timidly, and in a voice which could scarce be heard
even across the brief distance which divided them,
" you are very good — and I — am very unhappy — "

A second fit of tears interrupted what else he had
intended to say, and it required a renewal of Lord
Glenvarloch's good-natured expostulations and en-
27 n

194 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

couragements, to bring him once more to such
composure as rendered the lad capable of expressing
himself intelligibly. At length, however, he was
able to say — " I am sensible of your goodness, my
lord — and grateful for it — but I am a poor unhappy
creature, and, what is worse, have myself only to
thank for my misfortunes."

" We are seldom absolutely miserable, my young
acquaintance," said Nigel, " without being ourselves
more or less responsible for it — I may well say
so, otherwise I had not been here to-day — but you
are very young, and can have but little to answer
for." I

" O sir ! I wish I could say so — I have been
self-willed and obstinate — and rash and ungovern-
able— and now — now, how dearly do I pay the
price of it ! "

" Pshaw, my boy," replied Nigel ; " this must be
some childish frolic — some breaking out of bounds
— some truant trick — And yet how should any of
these have brought you to the Tower ? — There is
something mysterious about you, young man, which
I must enquire into."

" Indeed, indeed, my lord, there is no harm
about me," said the boy, more moved it would
seem to confession by the last words, by which he
seemed considerably alarmed, than by all the kind
expostulations and arguments which Nigel had
previously used. " I am innocent — that is, I have
done wrong, but nothing to deserve being in this
frightful place."

" Tell me the truth, then," said Nigel, in a tone
in which command mingled with encouragement ;
" you have nothing to fear from me, and as little to

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 195

hope, perhaps — yet, placed as I am, I would know
with whom I speak."

" With an unhappy — boy, sir — and idle and
truantly disposed, as your lordship said," answered
the lad, looking up, and showing a countenance in
which paleness and blushes succeeded each other, as
fear and shamefacedness alternately had influence.
" I left my father's house without leave, to see the
King hunt in the Park at Greenwich ; there came
a cry of treason, and all the gates were shut — I was
frightened, and hid myself in a thicket, and 1 was
found by some of the rangers and examined — and
they said I gave no good account of myself — and so
I was sent hither.'*

"I am an unhappy, a most unhappy being," said
Lord Glenvarloch, rising and walking through the
apartment ; " nothing approaches me but shares my
own bad fate ! Death and imprisonment dog my
steps, and involve all who are found near me. Yet
this boy's story sounds strangely. — You say you
were examined, my young friend — Let me pray
you to say whether you told your name, and your
means of gaining admission into the Park — if so,
they surely would not have detained you ? "

" O my lord," said the boy, " I took care not
to tell them the name of the friend that let me in ;
and as to my father — I would not he knew where
I now am for all the wealth in London !"

" But you do not expect," said Nigel, " that they
will dismiss you till you let them know who and
what you are ? "

" What good will it do them to keep so useless
a creature as myself?" said the boy; "they must
let me go, were it but out of shame."

ip6 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Do not trust to that — tell me your name and
station — I will communicate them to the Lieutenant
— he is a man of quality and honour, and will not
only be willing to procure your liberation, but also,
I have no doubt, will intercede with your father.
I am partly answerable for such poor aid as I can
afford, to get you out of this embarrassment, since
I occasioned the alarm owing to which you were
arrested ; so tell me your name, and your father's
name."

" My name to you ? O never, never !" answered
the boy, in a tone of deep emotion, the cause of
which Nigel could not comprehend.

" Are you so much afraid of me, young man,"
he replied, " because I am here accused and a
prisoner? Consider, a man may be both, and
deserve neither suspicion nor restraint. Why
should you distrust me ? You seem friendless,
and I am myself so much in the same cir-
cumstances, that I cannot but pity your situation
when I reflect on my own. Be wise ; I have
spoken kindly to you — I mean as kindly as I
speak."

"O, I doubt it not, I doubt it not, my lord,"
said the boy, "and I could tell you all — that is,
almost all."

" Tell me nothing, my young friend, excepting
what may assist me in being useful to you," said
Nigel.

" You are generous, my lord," said the boy ;
"and I am sure — O sure, I might safely trust to
your honour — But yet — but yet — I am so sore beset
— I have been so rash, so unguarded — I can never
tell you of my folly. Besides, I have already told

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 197

too much to one whose heart I thought I had
moved — yet I find myself here."

"To whom did you make this disclosure ?" said
Nigel.

" I dare not tell," replied the youth.

"There is something singular about you, my
young friend," said Lord Glenvarloch, withdrawing
with a gentle degree of compulsion the hand with
which the boy had again covered his eyes ; " do
not pain yourself with thinking on your situation
just at present — your pulse is high, and your hand
feverish — lay yourself on yonder pallet, and try to
compose yourself to sleep. It is the readiest and
best remedy for the fancies with which you are
worrying yourself."

" I thank you for your considerate kindness, my
lord," said the boy ; '* with your leave I will remain
for a little space quiet in this chair — I am better
thus than on the couch. I can think undisturbedly
on what I have done, and have still to do ; and if
God sends slumber to a creature so exhausted, it
shall be most welcome."

So saying, the boy drew his hand from Lord
Nigel's, and, drawing around him and partly over
his face the folds of his ample cloak, he resigned
himself to sleep or meditation, while his companion,
notwithstanding the exhausting scenes of this and
the preceding day, continued his pensive walk up
and down the apartment.

Every reader has experienced, that times occur,
when, far from being lord of external circumstances,
man is unable to rule even the wayward realm of his
own thoughts. It was Nigel's natural wish to con-
sider his own situation coolly, and fix on the course

Ip8 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

which it became him as a man of sense and courage
to adopt ; and yet, in spite of himself, and notwith-
standing the deep interest of the critical state in
which he was placed, it did so happen that his
fellow-prisoner's situation occupied more of his
thoughts than did his own. There was no account-
ing for this wandering of the imagination, but also
there was no striving with it. The pleading tones
of one of the sweetest voices he had ever heard,
still rung in his ear, though it seemed that sleep had
now fettered the tongue of the speaker. He drew
near on tiptoe to satisfy himself whether it were so.
The folds of the cloak hid the lower part of his
face entirely; bat the bonnet, which had fallen a
little aside, permitted him to see the forehead
streaked with blue veins, the closed eyes, and the
long silken eyelashes.

" Poor child," said Nigel to himself, as he looked
on him, nestled up as it were in the folds of his
mantle, "the dew is yet on thy eyelashes, and
thou hast fairly wept thyself asleep. Sorrow is a
rough nurse to one so young and delicate as thou
art. Peace be to thy slumbers, I will not disturb
them. My own misfortunes require my attention,
and it is to their contemplation that I must resign
myself."

He attempted to do so, but was crossed at every
turn by conjectures which intruded themselves as
before, and which all regarded the sleeper rather
than himself. He was angry and vexed, and ex-
postulated with himself concerning the overweening
interest which he took in the concerns of one of
whom he knew nothing, saving that the boy was
forced into his company, perhaps as a spy, by those

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 199

to whose custody he was committed — but the spell
could not be broken, and the thoughts which he
struggled to dismiss, continued to haunt him.

Thus passed half an hour, or more ; at the con-
clusion of which, the harsh sound of the revolving
bolts was again heard, and the voice of the warder
announced that a man desired to speak with Lord
Glenvarloch. "A man to speak with me, under
my present circumstances! — Who can it be?"
And John Christie, his landlord of Paul's Wharf,
resolved his doubts, by entering the apartment.
" Welcome — most welcome, mine honest land-
lord !" said Lord Glenvarloch. "How could I
have dreamt of seeing you in my present close
lodgings?" And at the same time, with the frank-
ness of old kindness, he walked up to Christie and
offered his hand ; but John started back as from the
look of a basilisk.

" Keep your courtesies to yourself, my lord,"
said he, gruffly ; " I have had as many of them
already as may serve me for my life."

"Why, Master Christie," said Nigel, "what
means this ? I trust I have not offended you ? "

" Ask me no questions, my lord," said Christie,
bluntly. " I am a man of peace — I came not hither
to wrangle with you at this place and season. Just
suppose that I am well informed of all the oblige-
ments from your honour's nobleness, and then ac-
quaint me, in as few words as may be, where is the
unhappy woman — What have you done with her?"
" What have I done with her ! " said Lord
Glenvarloch — " Done with whom ? I know not
what you are speaking of."

"Oh, yes, my lord," said Christie; "play sur-

200 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

prise as well as you will, you must have some guess
that I am speaking of the poor fool that was my
wife, till she became your lordship's light-o'-love."

" Your wife ! Has your wife left you ? and, if
she has, do you come to ask her of me ? "

" Yes, my lord, singular as it may seem/' returned
Christie, in a tone of bitter irony, and with a sort
of grin widely discording from the discomposure
of his features, the gleam of his eye, and the froth
which stood on his lip, " I do come to make that
demand of your lordship. Doubtless, you are sur-
prised I should take the trouble ; but, I cannot tell,
great men and little men think differently. She
has lain in my bosom, and drunk of my cup ; and,
such as she is, I cannot forget that — though I will
never see her again — she must not starve, my lord,
or do worse, to gain bread, though I reckon your
lordship may think I am robbing the public in try-
ing to change her courses.''

" By my faith as a Christian, by my honour as
a gentleman," said Lord Glenvarloch, " if aught
amiss has chanced with your wife, I know nothing
of it. I trust in Heaven you are as much mistaken
in imputing guilt to her, as in supposing me her
partner in it."

*' Fie! fie! my lord," said Christie, "why will
you make it so tough ? She is but the wife of a
clod-pated old chandler, who was idiot enough to
marry a wench twenty years younger than himself.
Your lordship cannot have more glory by it than
you have had already ; and, as for advantage and
solace, I take it Dame Nelly is now unnecessary to
your gratification. I should be sorry to interrupt
the course of your pleasure ; an old wittol should

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 201

have more consideration of his condition. But,
your precious lordship being mewed up here among
other choice jewels of the kingdom, Dame Nelly
cannot, I take it, be admitted to share the hours of
dalliance which — Here the incensed husband

stammered, broke off his tone of irony, and pro-
ceeded, striking his staff against the ground — " O
that these false limbs of yours, which I wish had
been hamstrung when they first crossed my honest
threshold, were free from the fetters they have well
deserved ! I would give you the odds of your youth,
and your weapon, and would bequeath my soul to
the foul fiend if I, with this piece of oak, did not
make you such an example to all ungrateful, pick-
thank courtiers, that it should be a proverb to the
end of time, how John Christie swaddled his wife's
fine leman ! "

" I understand not your insolence," said Nigel,
"but I forgive it, because you labour under some
strange delusion. In so far as I can comprehend
your vehement charge, it is entirely undeserved on
my part. You seem to impute to me the seduction
of your wife — I trust she is innocent. For me, at
least, she is as innocent as an angel in bliss. I
never thought of her — never touched her hand or
cheek, save in honourable courtesy."

" O, ay — courtesy ! — that is the very word. She
always praised your lordship's honourable courtesy.
Ye have cozened me between ye, with your courtesy.
My lord — my lord, you came to us no very wealthy
man — you know it. It was for no lucre of gain
I took you and your swash-buckler, your Don
Diego yonder, under my poor roof. I never cared
if the little room were let or no ; I could live

202 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

without it. If you could not have paid for it, you
should never have been asked. All the wharf
knows John Christie has the means and spirit to do
a kindness. When you first darkened my honest
doorway, I was as happy as a man need to be, who
is no youngster, and has the rheumatism. Nelly was
the kindest and best-humoured wench — we might
have a word now and then about a gown or a
ribbon, but a kinder soul on the whole, and a more
careful, considering her years, till you come — and
what is she now ! — But I will not be a fool to cry, if
I can help it. What she is, is not the question, but
where she is ; and that I must learn, sir, of you."

" How can you, when I tell you," replied Nigel,
" that I am as ignorant as yourself, or rather much
more so ? Till this moment, I never heard of any
disagreement betwixt your dame and you."

"That is a lie," said John Christie, bluntly.

" How, you base villain ! " said Lord Glenvar-
loch — " do you presume on my situation ? If it
were not that I hold you mad, and perhaps made
so by some wrong sustained, you should find my
being weaponless were no protection, I would beat
your brains out against the wall."

" Ay, ay," answered Christie, " bully as ye
list. Ye have been at the ordinaries, and in Alsatia,
and learned the ruffian's rant, I doubt not. But I
repeat, you have spoken an untruth, when you said
you knew not of my wife's falsehood ; for, when
you were twitted with it among your gay mates, it
was a common jest among you, and your lordship
took all the credit they would give you for your
gallantry and gratitude."

There was a mixture of truth in this part of the

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 203

charge, which disconcerted Lord Glenvarloch ex-
ceedingly; for he could not, as a man of honour,
deny that Lord Dalgarno, and others, had occasion-
ally jested with him on the subject of Dame Nelly,
and that, though he had not played exactly le fan-
faron des wees quil tiavoit pas, he had not at least
been sufficiently anxious to clear himself of the
suspicion of such a crime to men who considered it
as a merit. It was therefore with some hesitation,
and in a sort of qualifying tone, that he admitted
that some idle jests had passed upon such a supposi-
tion, although without the least foundation in truth.
John Christie would not listen to his vindication
any longer. " By your own account," he said,
" you permitted lies to be told of you in jest. How
do I know you are speaking truth, now you are
serious ? You thought it, I suppose, a fine thing
to wear the reputation of having dishonoured an
honest family, — who will not think that you had
real grounds for your base bravado to rest upon ? I
will not believe otherwise for one, and therefore,
my lord, mark what I have to say. You are now
yourself in trouble — As you hope to come through
it safely, and without loss of life and property, tell
me where this unhappy woman is. Tell me, if you
hope for heaven — tell me, if you fear hell — tell me,
as you would not have the curse of an utterly
ruined woman, and a brokenhearted man, attend you
through life, and bear witness against you at the
Great Day, which shall come after death. You
are moved, my lord, I see it. I cannot forget the
wrong you have done me. I cannot even promise
to forgive it — but — tell me, and you shall never see
me again, or hear more of my reproaches."

204 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Unfortunate man," said Lord Glenvarloch,
"you have said more, far more than enough, to
move me deeply. Were I at liberty, I would lend
you my best aid to search out him who has wronged
you, the rather that I do suspect my having been
your lodger has been in some degree the remote
cause of bringing the spoiler into the sheepfold."

" I am glad your lordship grants me so much,"
said John Christie, resuming the tone of embittered
irony with which he had opened the singular con-
versation ; " I will spare you farther reproach and
remonstrance — your mind is made up, and so is
mine. — So, ho, warder ! " The warder entered,
and John went on, — " I want to get out, brother.
Look well to your charge — it were better that half
the wild beasts in their dens yonder were turned
loose upon Tower-Hill, than that this same smooth-
faced, civil-spoken gentleman, were again returned
to honest men's company ! "

So saying, he hastily left the apartment ; and
Nigel had full leisure to lament the waywardness of
his fate, which seemed never to tire of persecuting
him for crimes of which he was innocent, and in-
vesting him with the appearances of guilt which
his mind abhorred. He could not, however, help
acknowledging to himself, that all the pain which
he might sustain from the present accusation of
John Christie, was so far deserved, from his having
suffered himself, out of vanity, or rather an un-
willingness to encounter ridicule, to be supposed
capable of a base inhospitable crime, merely because
fools called it an affair of gallantry ; and it was no
balsam to the wound, when he recollected what
Richie had told him of his having been ridiculed

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 205

behind his back by the gallants of the ordinary,
for affecting the reputation of an intrigue which he
had not in reality spirit enough to have carried on.
His simulation had, in a word, placed him in the
unlucky predicament of being rallied as a braggart
amongst the dissipated youths, with whom the
reality of the amour would have given him credit ;
whilst, on the other hand, he was branded as an
inhospitable seducer by the injured husband, who
was obstinately persuaded of his guilt.

Chapter XII

How fares the man on whom good men would look
With eyes where scorn and censure combated,
But that kind Christian love hath taught the lesson —
That they who merit most contempt and hate,

Do most deserve our pity.

Old Play.

IT might have seemed natural that the visit of
John Christie should have entirely diverted Nigel's
attention from his slumbering companion, and, for
a time, such was the immediate effect of the chain
of new ideas which the incident introduced ; yet,
soon after the injured man had departed, Lord
Glenvarloch began to think it extraordinary that
the boy should have slept so soundly, while they
talked loudly in his vicinity. Yet he certainly did
not appear to have stirred. Was he well — was he
only feigning sleep ? He went close to him to make
his observations, and perceived that he had wept,
and was still weeping, though his eyes were closed.
He touched him gently on the shoulder — the boy

206 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

shrunk from his touch, but did not awake. He
pulled him harder, and asked him if he was sleeping.

" Do they waken folk in your country to know
whether they are asleep or no ? " said the boy, in a
peevish tone.

*' No, my young sir," answered Nigel ; " but
when they weep in the manner you do in your sleep,
they awaken them to see what ails them."

" It signifies little to any one what ails me," said
the boy.

" True," replied Lord Glenvarloch ; " but you
knew before you went to sleep how little I could
assist you in your difficulties, and you seemed dis-
posed, notwithstanding, to put some confidence in
me."

" If I did, I have changed my mind," said the lad.

" And what may have occasioned this change of
mind, I trow?" said Lord Glenvarloch. — "Some
men speak through their sleep — perhaps you have
the gift of hearing in it ? "

"No, but the Patriarch Joseph never dreamt
truer dreams than I do."

"Indeed!" said Lord Glenvarloch. "And,
pray, what dream have you had that has deprived
me of your good opinion ; for that, I think, seems
the moral of the matter ? "

" You shall judge yourself," answered the boy.
" I dreamed I was in a wild forest, where there
was a cry of hounds, and winding of horns, exactly
as I heard in Greenwich Park."

"That was because you were in the Park this
morning, you simple child," said Nigel.

" Stay, my lord," said the youth. " I went on
in my dream, till, at the top of a broad green alley,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 207

I saw a noble stag which had fallen into the toils ;
and methought I knew that he was the very stag
which the whole party were hunting, and that if the
chase came up, the dogs would tear him to pieces,
or the hunters would cut his throat ; and I had pity
on the gallant stag, and though I was of a different
kind from him, and though I was somewhat afraid
of him, I thought I would venture something to free
so stately a creature ; and I pulled out my knife,
and just as I was beginning to cut the meshes of
the net, the animal started up in my face in the
likeness of a tiger, much larger and fiercer than any
you may have seen in the ward of the wild beasts
yonder, and was just about to tear me limb from
limb, when you awaked me."

" Methinks," said Nigel, " I deserve more thanks
than I have got, for rescuing you from such a
danger by waking you. But, my pretty master,
methinks all this tale of a tiger and a stag has little
to do with your change of temper towards me."

" I know not whether it has or no," said the lad ;
" but I will not tell you who I am."

" You will keep your secret to yourself then,
peevish boy," said Nigel, turning from him, and
resuming his walk through the room ; then stopping
suddenly, he said, — " And yet you shall not escape
from me without knowing that I penetrate your
mystery.*'

" My mystery ! " said the youth, at once alarmed
and irritated, — " what mean you, my lord ? "

" Only that I can read your dream without
the assistance of a Chaldean interpreter, and my
exposition is — that my fair companion does not

ir the dress of her sex."

wear the dres

208 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" And if I do not, my lord," said his companion,
hastily starting up, and folding her cloak tight
around her, " my dress, such as it is, covers one
who will not disgrace it."

"Many would call that speech a fair challenge,"
said Lord Glenvarloch, looking on her fixedly;
"women do not masquerade in men's clothes, to
make use of men's weapons."

" I have no such purpose," said the seeming boy ;
" I have other means of protection, and powerful —
but 1 would first know what is your purpose."

" An honourable and a most respectful one," said
Lord Glenvarloch ; " whatever you are — whatever
motive may have brought you into this ambiguous
situation, I am sensible — every look, word, and
action of yours, makes me sensible, that you are no
proper subject of importunity, far less of ill usage.
What circumstances can have forced you into so
doubtful a situation, I know not ; but I feel assured
there is, and can be, nothing in them of premeditated
wrong, which should expose you to cold-blooded
insult. From me you have nothing to dread."

"I expected nothing less from your nobleness,
my lord," answered the female ; " my adventure,
though I feel it was both desperate and foolish, is
not so very foolish, nor my safety here so utterly
unprotected, as at first sight — and in this strange
dress, it may appear to be. I have suffered enough,
and more than enough, by the degradation of having
been seen in this unfeminine attire, and the comments
you must necessarily have made on my conduct —
but I thank God that I am so far protected, that I
could not have been subjected to insult unavenged."

When this extraordinary explanation had pro-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 209

ceeded thus far, the warder appeared, to place
before Lord Glenvarloch a meal, which, for his
present situation, might be called comfortable, and
which, if not equal to the cookery of the celebrated
Chevalier Beaujeu, was much superior in neatness
and cleanliness to that of Alsatia. A warder
attended to do the honours of the table, and made
a sign to the disguised female to rise and assist him
in his functions. But Nigel, declaring that he knew
the youth's parents, interfered, and caused his com-
panion to eat along with him. She consented with
a sort of embarrassment, which rendered her pretty
features yet more interesting. Yet she maintained
with a natural grace that sort of good-breeding
which belongs to the table ; and it seemed to Nigel,
whether already prejudiced in her favour by the
extraordinary circumstances of their meeting, or
whether really judging from what was actually the
fact, that he had seldom seen a young person com-
port herself with more decorous propriety, mixed
with ingenuous simplicity ; while the consciousness
of the peculiarity of her situation threw a singular
colouring over her whole demeanour, which could
be neither said to be formal, nor easy, nor em-
barrassed, but was compounded of, and shaded with,
an interchange of all these three characteristics.
Wine was placed on the table, of which she could
not be prevailed on to taste a glass. Their conversa-
tion was, of course, limited by the presence of the
warder to the business of the table ; but Nigel had,
long ere the cloth was removed, formed the resolu-
tion, if possible, of making himself master of this
young person's history, the more especially as he
now began to think that the tones of her voice and
27 o

210 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

her features were not so strange to him as he had
originally supposed. This, however, was a convic-
tion which he adopted slowly, and only as it dawned
upon him from particular circumstances during the
course of the repast.

At length the prison-meal was finished, and Lord
Glenvarloch began to think how he might most
easily enter upon the topic he meditated, when the
warder announced a visitor.

" Soh ! " said Nigel, something displeased, " I
find even a prison does not save one from impor-
tunate visitations."

He prepared to receive his guest, however, while
his alarmed companion flew to the large cradle-
shaped chair, which had first served her as a place
of refuge, drew her cloak around her, and disposed
herself as much as she could to avoid observation.
She had scarce made her arrangements for that
purpose when the door opened, and the worthy
citizen, George Heriot, entered the prison-chamber.

He cast around the apartment his usual sharp,
quick glance of observation, and, advancing to
Nigel, said — "My lord, I wish I could say I
was happy to see you."

" The sight of those who are unhappy themselves,
Master Heriot, seldom produces happiness to their
friends — I, however, am glad to see you."

He extended his hand, but Heriot bowed with
much formal complaisance, instead of accepting the
courtesy, which in those times, when the distinction
of ranks was much guarded by etiquette and cere-
mony, was considered as a distinguished favour.

" You are displeased with me, Master Heriot,"
said Lord Glenvarloch, reddening, for he was not

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 211

deceived by the worthy citizen's affectation of
extreme reverence and respect.

" By no means, my lord," replied Heriot ; " but
I have been in France, and have thought it as well
to import, along with other more substantial articles,
a small sample of that good-breeding which the
French are so renowned for."

" It is not kind of you," said Nigel, " to bestow
the first use of it on an old and obliged friend."

Heriot only answered to this observation with a
short dry cough, and then proceeded.

*' Hem ! hem ! I say, ahem ! My lord, as my
French politeness may not carry me far, I would
willingly know whether I am to speak as a friend,
since your lordship is pleased to term me such ; or
whether I am, as befits my condition, to confine
myself to the needful business which must be treated
of between us."

" Speak as a friend by all means, Master Heriot,"
said Nigel ; " I perceive you have adopted some of
the numerous prejudices against me, if not all of
them. Speak out, and frankly — what I cannot
deny 1 will at least confess."

" And I trust, my lord, redress," said Heriot.

" So far as is in my power, certainly," answered
Nigel.

"Ah! my lord," continued Heriot, "that is a
melancholy though a necessary restriction ; -for how
lightly may any one do an hundred times more than
the degree of evil which it may be w.'thin his power
to repair to the sufferers and to society ! But we
are not alone here," he said, stopping, and darting
his shrewd eye towards the muffled figure of the
disguised maiden, whose utmost efforts had not

212 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

enabled her so to adjust her position as altogether
to escape observation. More anxious to prevent
her being discovered than to keep his own affairs
private, Nigel hastily answered —

" 'Tis a page of mine ; you may speak freely
before him. He is of France, and knows no
English."

" I am then to speak freely," said Heriot, after
a second glance at the chair ; " perhaps my words
may be more free than welcome."

" Go on, sir," said Nigel, " I have told you I
can bear reproof."

"In one word, then, my lord — why do I find
you in this place, and whelmed with charges which
must blacken a name rendered famous by ages of
virtue ? "

" Simply then, you find me here," said Nigel,
" because, to begin from my original error, I would
be wiser than my father."

"It was a difficult task, my lord," replied Heriot;
" your father was voiced generally as the wisest and
one of the bravest men of Scotland."

" He commanded me," continued Nigel, " to
avoid all gambling ; and I took upon me to modify
this injunction into regulating my play according
to my skill, means, and the course of my luck."

" Ay, self opinion, acting on a desire of acquisi-
tion, my lord — you hoped to touch pitch and not
to be defiled," answered Heriot. " Well, my lord,
you need not day, for I have heard with much
regret, how far this conduct diminished your reputa-
tion. Your next error I may without scruple
remind you of — My lord, my lord, in whatever
degree Lord Dalgarno may have failed towards

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 213

you, the son of his father should have been sacred
from your violence."

" You speak in cold blood, Master Heriot, and
I was smarting under a thousand wrongs inflicted
on me under the mask of friendship."

" That is, he gave your lordship bad advice, and
you," said Heriot —

" Was fool enough to follow his counsel," an-
swered Nigel — " But we will pass this, Master
Heriot, if you please. Old men and young men,
men of the sword and men of peaceful occupation,
always have thought, always will think, differently
on such subjects."

" I grant," answered Heriot, " the distinction
between the old goldsmith and the young noble-
man— still you should have had patience for Lord
Huntinglen's sake, and prudence for your own.
Supposing your quarrel just "

" I pray you to pass on to some other charge,"
said Lord Glenvarloch.

" I am not your accuser, my lord ; but I trust in
Heaven, that your own heart has already accused
you bitterly on the inhospitable wrong which your
late landlord has sustained at your hand."

" Had I been guilty of what you allude to," said
Lord Glenvarloch, — " had a moment of temptation
hurried me away, I had long ere now most bitterly
repented it. But whoever may have wronged the
unhappy woman, it was not I — I never heard of
her folly until within this hour."

"Come, my lord," said Heriot, with some
severity, "this sounds too much like affectation.
I know there is among our modern youth a new
creed respecting adultery as well as homicide — I

214 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

would rather hear you speak of a revision of the
Decalogue, with mitigated penalties in favour of
the privileged orders — I would rather hear you do
this, than deny a fact in which you have been
known to glory."

" Glory ! — I never did, never would have taken
honour to myself from such a cause," said Lord
Glenvarloch. " I could not prevent other idle
tongues, and idle brains, from making false infer-
ences."

"You would have known well enough how to
stop their mouths, my lord," replied Heriot, " had
they spoke of you what was unpleasing to your
ears, and what the truth did not warrant. — Come,
my lord, remember your promise to confess; and,
indeed, to confess is, in this case, in some slight sort
to redress. I will grant you are young — the woman
handsome — and, as I myself have observed, light-
headed enough. Let me know where she is. Her
foolish husband has still some compassion for her —
will save her from infamy — perhaps, in time, receive
her back ; for we are a good-natured generation we
traders. Do not, my lord, emulate those who work
mischief merely for the pleasure of doing so — it is
the very devil's worst quality."

" Your grave remonstrances will drive me mad,"
said Nigel. " There is a show of sense and reason
in what you say ; and yet, it is positively insisting
on my telling the retreat of a fugitive of whom I
know nothing earthly."

" It is well, my lord," answered Heriot, coldly.
" You have a right, such as it is, to keep your own
secrets ; but, since my discourse on these points
seems so totally unavailing, we had better proceed

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 215

to business. Yet your father's image rises before
me, and seems to plead that I should go on."

" Be it as you will, sir," said Glenvarloch ; " he
who doubts my word shall have no additional
security for it."

" Well, my lord. — In the Sanctuary at White-
friars — a place of refuge so unsuitable to a young
man of quality and character — I am told a murder
was committed."

"And you believe that I did the deed, I

suppose ? "

" God forbid, my lord ! " said Heriot. " The
coroner's inquest hath sat, and it appeared that your
lordship, under your assumed name of Grahame,
behaved with the utmost bravery."

" No compliment, I pray you," said Nigel ; " I
am only too happy to find, that I did not murder,
or am not believed to have murdered, the old man."

" True, my lord," said Heriot ; " but even in
this affair there lacks explanation. Your lordship
embarked this morning in a wherry with a female,
and, it is said; an immense sum of money, in specie
and other valuables — but the woman has not since
been heard of."

" I parted with her at Paul's Wharf," said Nigel,
" where she went ashore with her charge. I gave
her a letter to that very man, John Christie. "

" Ay, that is the waterman's story ; but John
Christie denies that he remembers any thing of the
matter."

" I am sorry to hear this," said the young noble-
man ; " I hope in Heaven she has not been tre-
panned, for the treasure she had with her."

" I hope not, my lord," replied Heriot ; " but

2i6 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

men's minds are much disturbed about it. Our
national character suffers on all hands. Men re-
member the fatal case of Lord Sanquhar, hanged
for the murder of a fencing-master ; and exclaim,
they will not have their wives whored, and their
property stolen, by the nobility of Scotland."

" And all this is laid to my door ! " said Nigel ;
" my exculpation is easy."

" I trust so, my lord," said Heriot ; — " nay, in
this particular, I do not doubt it. — But why did
you leave Whitefriars under such circumstances?"

" Master Reginald Lowestoffe sent a boat for
me, with intimation to provide for my safety."

"I am sorry to say," replied Heriot, "that he
denies all knowledge of your lordship's motions,
after having dispatched a messenger to you with
some baggage."

"The watermen told me they were employed
by him."

" Watermen ! " said Heriot ; " one of these
proves to be an idle apprentice, an old acquaintance
of mine — the other has escaped ; b.;t the fellow
who is in custody persists in saying he was em-
ployed by your lordship, and you only."

" He lies ! " said Lord Glenvarloch, hastily ; —
" He told me Master Lowestoffe had sent him. — I
hope that kind-hearted gentleman is at liberty ?"

" He is," answered Heriot ; " and has escaped
with a rebuke from the benchers, for interfering in
such a matter as your lordship's. The Court desire
to keep well with the young Templars in these times
of commotion, or he had not come off so well."

" That is the only word of comfort I have heard
from you," replied Nigel. " But this poor woman,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 217

— she and her trunk were committed to the charge
of two porters."

" So said the pretended waterman ; but none of
the fellows who ply at the wharf will acknowledge
the employment. — I see the idea makes you uneasy,
my lord ; but every effort is made to discover the
poor woman's place of retreat — if, indeed, she yet
lives. — And now, my lord, my errand is spoken,
so far as it relates exclusively to your lordship ;
what remains, is matter of business of a lucre formal
kind."

" Let us proceed to it without delay," said Lord
Glenvarloch. " I would hear of the affairs of any
one rather than of my own."

" You cannot have forgotten, my lord," said
Heriot, "the transaction which took place some
weeks since at Lord Huntinglen's — by which a
large sum of money was advanced for the redemp-
tion of your lordship's estate ?"

" I remember it perfectly," said Nigel ; " and
your present austerity cannot make me forget your
kindness on the occasion."

Heriot bowed gravely, and went on. — "That
money was advanced under the expectation and
hope that it might be replaced by the contents of a
grant to your lordship, under the royal sign-manual,
in payment of certain monies due by the crown to
your father. — I trust your lordship understood the
transaction at the time — I trust you now understand
my resumption of its import, and hold it to be
correct ? "

" Undeniably correct," answered Lord Glen-
varloch. " If the sums contained in the warrant
cannot be recovered, my lands become the property

218 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

of those who paid off the original holders of the
mortgage, and now stand in their right."

" Even so, my lord," said Heriot. " And your
lordship's unhappy circumstances having, it would
seem, alarmed these creditors, they are now, I am
sorry to say, pressing for one or other of these
alternatives — possession of the land, or payment of
their debt."

" They have a right to one or other," answered
Lord Glenvarloch ; " and as I cannot do the last
in my present condition, I suppose they must enter
on possession."

" Stay, my lord," replied Heriot ; " if you have
ceased to call me a friend to your person, at least
you shall see I am willing to be such to your father's
house, were it but for the sake of your father's
memory. If you will trust me with the warrant
under the sign-manual, I believe circumstances do
now so stand at Court, that I may be able to
recover the money for you."

" I would do so gladly," said Lord Glenvarloch,
"but the casket which contains it is not in my
possession. . It was seized when I was arrested at
Greenwich."

"It will be no longer withheld from you," said
Heriot; "for, I understand, my Master's natural
good sense, and some information which he has
procured, I know not how, has induced him to
contradict the whole charge of the attempt on his
person. It is entirely hushed up ; and you will
only be proceeded against for your violence on
Lord Dalgarno, committed within the verge of the
Palace — and that you will find heavy enough to
answer,"

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 219

" I will not shrink under the weight," said Lord
Glenvarloch. " But that is not the present point.
—If I had that casket "

" Your baggage stood in the little anteroom, as
I passed," said the citizen ; " the casket caught my
eye. I think you had it of me. — It was my old
friend Sir Faithful Frugal's. • Ay ; he, too, had a
son "

Here he stopped short.

" A son who, like Lord Glenvarloch's, did no
credit to his father. — Was it not so you would
have ended the sentence, Master Heriot?" asked
the young nobleman.

" My lord, it was a word spoken rashly," answered
Heriot. " God may mend all in his own good
time. This, however, I will say, that I have some-
times envied my friends their fair and flourishing
families ; and yet have I seen such changes when
death has removed the head, so many rich men's
sons penniless, the heirs of so many knights and
nobles acreless, that I think mine own estate and
memory, as I shall order it, has a fair chance of
outliving those of greater men, though God has
given me no heir of my name. But this is from
the purpose. — Ho ! warder, bring in Lord Glenvar-
loch's baggage." The officer obeyed. Seals had
been placed upon the trunk and casket, but were now
removed, the warder said, in consequence of the
subsequent orders from Court, and the whole was
placed at the prisoner's free disposal.

Desirous to bring this painful visit to a conclusion,
Lord Glenvarloch opened the casket, and looked
through the papers which it contained, first hastily,
and then more slowly and accurately ; but it was

220 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

all in vain. The Sovereign's signed warrant had
disappeared.

" I thought and expected nothing better," said
George Heriot, bitterly. " The beginning of evil
is the letting out of water. Here is a fair heritage
lost, I dare say, on a foul cast at dice, or a conjuring
trick at cards ! — My lord, your surprise is well played.
I give you full joy of your accomplishments. I have
seen many as young brawlers and spendthrifts, but
never as young and accomplished a dissembler. —
Nay, man, never bend your angry brows on me.
I speak in bitterness of heart, from what I remember
of your worthy father ; and if his son hears of his
degeneracy from no one else, he shall hear it from
the old goldsmith."

This new suspicion drove Nigel to the very
extremity of his patience ; yet the motives and zeal
of the good old man, as well as the circumstances
of suspicion which created his displeasure, were so
excellent an excuse for it, that they formed an
absolute curb on the resentment of Lord Glen-
varloch, and constrained him, after two or three
hasty exclamations, to observe a proud and sullen
silence. At length, Master Heriot resumed his
lecture.

"Hark you, my lord," he said, "it is scarce
possible that this most important paper can be
absolutely assigned away. Let me know in what
obscure corner, and for what petty sum, it lies
pledged — something may yet be done."

"Your efforts in myfavour are the more generous,"
said Lord Glenvarloch, " as you offer them to one
whom you believe you have cause to think hardly of
— but they are altogether unavailing. Fortune has

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 221

taken the field against me at every point. Even let
her win the battle."

" Zouns ! " exclaimed Heriot, impatiently, — " you
would make a saint swear ! Why, I tell you, if this
paper, the loss of which seems to sit so light on you,
be not found, farewell to the fair lordship of Glen-
varloch — firth and forest — lea and furrow — lake anu
stream — all that has been in the house of Olifaunt
since the days of William the Lion ! "

" Farewell to them, then/' said Nigel, — " and
that moan is soon made."

" 'Sdeath ! my lord, you will make more moan
for it ere you die," said Heriot, in the same tone
of angry impatience.

" Not I, my old friend," said Nigel. " If I
mourn, Master Heriot, it will be for having lost the
good opinion of a worthy man, and lost it, as I
must say, most undeservedly."

" Ay, ay, young man," said Heriot, shaking his
head, ** make me believe that if you can. — To sum
the matter up," he said, rising from his seat, and
walking towards that occupied by the disguised
female, " for our matters are now drawn into small
compass, you shall as soon make me believe that
this masquerading mummer, on whom I now lay
the hand of paternal authority, is a French page,
who understands no English."

So saying, he took hold of the supposed page's
cloak, and, not without some gentle degree of
violence, led into the middle of the apartment
the disguised fair one, who in vain attempted
to cover her face, first with her mantle, and after-
wards with her hands; both which impediments
Master Heriot removed, something unceremoniously,

222 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

and gave to view the detected daughter of the old
chronologist, his own fair god-daughter, Margaret
Ramsay.

'* Here is goodly gear ! " he said ; and, as he
spoke, he could not prevent himself from giving her
i slight shake, for we have elsewhere noticed that
lie was a severe disciplinarian. — " How comes it,
minion, that I find you in so shameless a dress, and
so unworthy a situation ? Nay, your modesty is
now mistimed — it should have come sooner. Speak,
or I will "

"Master Heriot," said Lord Glenvarloch,
" whatever right you may have over this maiden
elsewhere, while in my apartment she is under my
protection."

" Your protection, my lord ! — a proper protector !
— and how long, mistress, have you been under my
lord's protection ? Speak out, forsooth ! "

"For the matter of two hours, godfather,"
answered the maiden, with a countenance bent to
the ground, and covered with blushes, " but it was
against my will."

" Two hours ! " repeated Heriot, — " space enough
for mischief. — My lord, this is, I suppose, another
victim offered to your character of gallantry — another
adventure to be boasted of at Beaujeu's ordinary ?
Methinks the roof under which you first met this
silly maiden should have secured her, at least, from
such a fate."

" On my honour, Master Heriot," said Lord
Glenvarloch, " you remind me now, for the first
time, that I saw this young lady in your family.
Her features are not easily forgotten, and yet I was
trying in vain to recollect where I had last looked

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 223

on them. For your suspicions, they are as false
as they are injurious both to her and me. I had
but discovered her disguise as you entered. I am
satisfied, from her whole behaviour, that her pres-
ence here in this dress was involuntary ; and God
forbid that I have been capable of taking advantage
of it to her prejudice."

" It is well mouthed, my lord," said Master
Heriot ; " but a cunning clerk can read the Apo-
crypha as loud as the Scripture. Frankly, my
lord, you are come to that pass, where your words
will not be received without a warrant."

" I should not speak, perhaps," said Margaret,
the natural vivacity of whose temper could never
be long suppressed by any situation, however dis-
advantageous, " but I cannot be silent. Godfather,
you do me wrong — and no less wrong to this young
nobleman. You say his words want a warrant. I
know where to find a warrant for some of them,
and the rest I deeply and devoutly believe without
one."

" And I thank you, maiden," replied Nigel, " for
the good opinion you have expressed. I am at that
point, it seems, though how I have been driven to
it I know not, where every fair construction of my
actions and motives is refused me. I am the more
obliged to her who grants me that right which the
world denies me. For you, lady, were I at liberty,
I have a sword and arm should know how to guard
your reputation."

" Upon my word, a perfect Amadis and Oriana ! "
said George Heriot. " I should soon get my throat
cut betwixt the knight and the princess, I suppose,
but that the beef-eaters are happily within halloo.

224 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

— Come, come, Lady Light-o'-Love — if you mean
to make your way with me, it must be by plain
facts, not by speeches from romaunts and play- books.
How, in Heaven's name, came you here ? "

" Sir," answered Margaret, " since I must speak,
I went to Greenwich this morning with Monna
Paula, to present a petition to the King on the part
of the Lady Hermione."

" Mercy-a-gad ! " exclaimed Heriot, " is she in
the dance, too ? Could she not have waited my
return to stir in her affairs ? But I suppose the
intelligence I sent her had rendered her restless.
Ah ! woman, woman — he that goes partner with
you, had need of a double share of patience, for
you will bring none into the common stock. — Well,
but what on earth had this embassy of Monna Paula's
to do with your absurd disguise ? Speak out."

" Monna Paula was frightened," answered Mar-
garet, "and did not know how to set about the
errand, for you know she scarce ever goes out of
doors — and so — and so — I agreed to go with her to
give her courage ; and, for the dress, I am sure you
remember I wore it at a Christmas mumming, and
you thought it not unbeseeming."

" Yes, for a Christmas parlour," said Heriot,
" but not to go a-masking through the country in. I
do remember it, minion, and I knew it even now ;
that and your little shoe there, linked with a hint
I had in the morning from a friend, or one who
called himself such, led to your detection." — Here
Lord Glenvarloch could not help giving a glance at
the pretty foot, which even the staid citizen thought
worth recollection — it was but a glance, for he saw
how much the least degree of observation added to

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 225

Margaret's distress and confusion. " And tell me,
maiden," continued Master Heriot, for what
we have observed was by-play, — "did the Lady
Hermione know of this fair work ? "

" I dared not have told her for the world," said
Margaret — "she thought one of our apprentices
went with Monna Paula."

It may be here noticed, that the words, "our
apprentices," seemed to have in them something of
a charm to break the fascination with which Lord
Glenvarloch had hitherto listened to the broken, yet
interesting details of Margaret's history.

" And wherefore went he not ? — he had been a
fitter companion for Monna Paula than you, I wot,"
said the citizen.

" He was otherwise employed," said Margaret,
in a voice scarce audible.

Master George darted a hasty glance at Nigel,
and when he saw his features betoken no conscious-
ness, he muttered to himself, — " It must be better
than I feared. — And so this cursed Spaniard, with
her head full, as they all have, of disguises, trap-
doors, rope-ladders, and masks, was jade and fool
enough to take you with her on this wildgoose
errand ? — And how sped you, I pray ? "

"Just as we reached the gate of the Park," re-
plied Margaret, " the cry of treason was raised. I
know not what became of Monna, but I ran till I
fell into the arms of a very decent serving-man,
called Linklater ; and I was fain to tell him I was
your god-daughter, and so he kept the rest of them
from me, and got me to speech of his Majesty, as
I entreated him to do."

" It is the only sign you showed in the whole

226 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

matter that common sense had not utterly deserted
your little skull," said Heriot.

" His Majesty," continued the damsel, " was so
gracious as to receive me alone, though the courtiers
cried out against the danger to his person, and
would have searched me for arms, God help me,
but the King forbade it. I fancy he had a hint from
Linklater how the truth stood with me."

"Well, maiden, I ask not what passed," said
Heriot ; " it becomes not me to pry into my Master's
secrets. Had you been closeted with his grandfather
the Red Tod of Saint Andrews, as Davie Lindsay
used to call him, by my faith, I should have had
my own thoughts of the matter ; but our Master,
God bless him, is douce and temperate, and Solomon
in every thing, save in the chapter of wives and
concubines."

"I know not what you mean, sir," answered
Margaret. '* His Majesty was most kind and com-
passionate, but said I must be sent hither, and that
the Lieutenant's lady, the Lady Mansel, would have
a charge of me, and see that I sustained no wrong ;
and the King promised to send me in a tilted barge,
and under conduct of a person well known to you ;
and thus I come to be in the Tower."

" But how, or why, in this apartment, nymph ? "
said George Heriot — " Expound that to me, for I
think the riddle needs reading."

" I cannot explain it, sir, further, than that the
Lady Mansel sent me here, in spite of my earnest
prayers, tears, and entreaties. I was not afraid of
any thing, for I knew I should be protected. But
I could have died then — could die now — for very
shame and confusion ! "

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 227

"Well, well, if your tears are genuine,'* said
Heriot, " they may the sooner wash out the memory
of your fault. — Knows your father aught of this
escape of yours ? "

" I would not for the world he did," replied she ;
" he believes me with the Lady Hermione."

"Ay, honest Davy can regulate his horologes
better than his family. — Come, damsel, now I will
escort you back to the Lady Mansel, and pray her,
of her kindness, that when she is again trusted with
a goose, she will not give it to the fox to keep. —
The warders will let us pass to my lady's lodgings,
I trust."

" Stay but one moment," said Lord Glenvarloch.
" Whatever hard opinion you may have formed of
me, I forgive you, for time will show that you do
me wrong ; and you yourself, I think, will be the
first to regret the injustice you have done me. But
involve not in your suspicions this young person, for
whose purity of thought angels themselves should
be vouchers. I have marked every look, every
gesture ; and whilst I can draw breath, I shall ever
think of her with "

" Think not at all of her, my lord," answered
George Heriot, interrupting him ; " it is, I have a
notion, the best favour you can do her ; — or think
of her as the daughter of Davy Ramsay, the clock-
maker, no proper subject for fine speeches, romantic
adventures, or high-flown Arcadian compliments.
I give you god-den, my lord. I think not alto-
gether so harshly as my speech may have spoken.
If I can help — that is, if I saw my way clearly
through this labyrinth — but it avails not talking
now. I give your lordship god-den. — Here,

228 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

warder ! Permit ua to pass to the Lady Mansel's
apartment."

The warder said he must have orders from the
Lieutenant ; and as he retired to procure them, the
parties remained standing near each other, but with-
out speaking, and scarce looking at each other save
by stealth, a situation which, in two of the party at
least was sufficiently embarrassing. The difference
of rank, though in that age a consideration so serious,
could not prevent Lord Glenvarloch from seeing
that Margaret Ramsay was one of the prettiest
young women he had ever beheld — from suspect-
ing, he could scarce tell why, that he himself was
not indifferent to her — from feeling assured that he
had been the cause of much of her present distress
— admiration, self-love, and generosity, acting in
favour of the same object ; and when the yeoman
returned with permission to his guests to withdraw,
Nigel's obeisance to the beautiful daughter of the
mechanic was marked with an expression, which
called up in her cheeks as much colour as any
incident of the eventful day had hitherto excited.
She returned the courtesy timidly and irresolutely
— clung to her godfather's arm, and left the apart-
ment, which, dark as it was, had never yet appeared
so obscure to Nigel, as when the door closed
behind her.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 229

Chapter XIII

Yet though thou shouldst be dragg'd in scorn

To yonder ignominious tree,
Thou shalt not want one faithful friend

To share the cruel fates' decree.

Ballad of Jemmy Daiuson.

MASTER GEORGE HERIOT and his ward, as she might
justly be termed, for his affection to Margaret im-
posed on him all the cares of a guardian, were
ushered by the yeoman of the guard to the lodging
of the Lieutenant, where they found him seated with
his lady. They were received by both with that
decorous civility which Master Heriot's character
and supposed influence demanded, even at the hand
of a punctilious old soldier and courtier like Sir
Edward Mansel. Lady Mansel received Margaret
with like courtesy, and informed Master George
that she was now only her guest, and no longer her
prisoner.

" She is at liberty," she said, " to return to her
friends under your charge — such is his Majesty's
pleasure."

" I am glad of it, madam," answered Heriot,
"but only I could have wished her freedom had
taken place before her foolish interview with that
singular young man ; and I marvel your ladyship
permitted it."

"My good Master Heriot," said Sir Edward,
" we act according to the commands of one better
and wiser than ourselves — our orders from his
Majesty must be strictly and literally obeyed ; and

230 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

I need not say that the wisdom of his Majesty doth
more than ensure "

" I know his Majesty's wisdom well," said
Heriot ; " yet there is an old proverb about fire
and flax — well, let it pass."

" I see Sir Mungo Malagrowther stalking towards
the door of the lodging," said the Lady Mansel,
"with the gait of a lame crane — it is his second
visit this morning."

" He brought the warrant for discharging Lord
Glenvarloch of the charge of treason," said Sir
Edward.

" And from him," said Heriot, " I heard much
of what had befallen ; for I came from France only
late last evening, and somewhat unexpectedly."

As they spoke, Sir Mungo entered the apartment
— saluted the Lieutenant of the Tower and his
lady with ceremonious civility — honoured George
Heriot with a patronising nod of acknowledgment,
and accosted Margaret with — " Hey ! my young
charge, you have not doffed your masculine attire
yet?"

" She does not mean to lay it aside, Sir Mungo,"
said Heriot, speaking loud, " until she has had satis-
faction from you, for betraying her disguise to me,
like a false knight — and in very deed, Sir Mungo,
I think when you told me she was rambling about
in so strange a dress, you might have said also that
she was under Lady Mansel's protection."

" That was the King's secret, Master Heriot,"
said Sir Mungo, throwing himself into a chair with
an air of atrabilarious importance ; " the other was
a well-meaning hint to yourself, as the girl's friend."

" Yes," replied Heriot, " it was done like your-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 231

self — enough told to make me unhappy about her
— not a word which could relieve my uneasiness."

" Sir Mungo will not hear that remark," said the
lady; "we must change the subject. — Is there any
news from Court, Sir Mungo ? you have been to
Greenwich ? "

" You might as well ask me, madam," answered
the Knight, " whether there is any news from hell."

" How, Sir Mungo, how ! " said Sir Edward,
" measure your words something better — You speak
of the Court of King James."

"Sir Edward, if I spoke of the court of the
twelve Kaisers, I would say it is as confused for
the present as the infernal regions. Courtiers of
forty years1 standing, and such I may write myself,
are as far to seek in the matter as a minnow in the
Maelstrom. Some folk say the King has frowned
on the Prince — some that the Prince has looked
grave on the Duke — some that Lord Glenvarloch
will be hanged for high treason — and some that
there is matter against Lord Dalgarno that may
cost him as much as his head's worth."

" And what do you, that are a courtier of forty
years' standing, think of it all ? " said Sir Edward
Mansel.

" Nay, nay, do not ask him, Sir Edward," said
the lady, with an expressive look to her husband.

" Sir Mungo is too witty," added Master Heriot,
" to remember that he who says aught that may be
repeated to his own prejudice, does but load a piece
for any of the company to shoot him dead with, at
their pleasure and convenience."

"What!" said the bold Knight, "you think
I am afraid of the trepan? Why now, what if

232 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

I should say that Dalgarno has more wit than
honesty, — the Duke more sail than ballast, — the
prince more pride than prudence, — and that the

King " The Lady Mansel held up her linger

in a warning manner — " that the King is my very
good master, who has given me, for forty years
and more, dog's wages, videlicit, bones and beat-
ing.— Why now, all this is said, and Archie
Armstrong* says worse than this of the best of
them every day."

" The more fool he," said George Heriot ;
"yet he is not so utterly wrong, for folly is his
best wisdom. But do not you, Sir Mungo, set
your wit against a fool's, though he be a court
fool."

"A fool, said you?" replied Sir Mungo, not
having fully heard what Master Heriot said, or not
choosing to have it thought so, — " I have been a
fool indeed, to hang on at a close-fisted Court here,
when men of understanding and men of action have
been making fortunes in every other place of Europe.
But here a man comes indifferently off unless he
gets a great key to turn," (looking at Sir Edward,)
"or can beat tattoo with a hammer on a pewter
plate. — Well, sirs, I must make as much haste back
on mine errand as if I were a fee'd messenger. —
Sir Edward and my lady, I leave my commenda-
tions with you — and my good- will with you, Master
Heriot — and for this breaker of bounds, if you will
act by my counsel, some maceration by fasting,
and a gentle use of the rod, is the best cure for her
giddy fits."

" If you propose for Greenwich, Sir Mungo,"
* The celebrated Court Jester.

™

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 233

said the Lieutenant, " I can spare you the labour
— the King comes immediately to Whitehall."

"And that must be the reason the council are
summoned to meet in such hurry," said Sir Mungo.
"Well — I will, with your permission, go to the
poor lad Glenvarloch, and bestow some comfort on
him."

The Lieutenant seemed to look up, and pause
tor a moment as if in doubt.

" The lad will want a pleasant companion, who
can tell him the nature of the punishment which
he is to suffer, and other matters of concernment.
I will not leave him until I show him how ab-
solutely he hath ruined himself from feather to spur,
how deplorable is his present state, and how small
his chance of mending it."

"Well, Sir Mungo," replied the Lieutenant,
" if you really think all this likely to be very con-
solatory to the party concerned, I will send a
warder to conduct you."

"And I," said George Heriot, "will humbly
pray of Lady Mansel, that she will lend some of
her handmaiden's apparel to this giddy-brained girl ;
for I shall forfeit my reputation if I walk up Tower-
hill with her in that mad guise — and yet the silly
lassie looks not so ill in it neither."

" I will send my coach with you instantly," said
the obliging lady.

" Faith, madam, and if you will honour us by
such courtesy, I will gladly accept it at your hands,"
said the citizen, " for business presses hard on me,
and the forenoon is already lost, to little purpose."

The coach being ordered accordingly, transported
the worthy citizen and his charge to his mansion in

234 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Lombard Street. There he found his presence
was anxiously expected by the Lady Hermione,
who had just received an order to be in readiness
to attend upon the Royal Privy Council in the
course of an hour ; and upon whom, in her inex-
perience of business, and long retirement from
society and the world, the intimation had made as
deep an impression as if it had not been the necessary
consequence of the petition which she had presented
to the King by Monna Paula. George Heriot
gently blamed her for taking any steps in an affair
so important until his return from France, especially
as he had requested her to remain quiet, in a letter
which accompanied the evidence he had transmitted
to her from Paris. She could only plead in
answer the influence which her immediately stir-
ring in the matter was likely to have on the affair
of her kinsman Lord Glenvarloch, for she was
ashamed to acknowledge how much she had been
gained on by the eager importunity of her youthful
companion. The motive of Margaret's eagerness
was, of course, the safety of Nigel ; but we must
leave it to time to show in what particulars that
came to be connected with the petition of the Lady
Hermione. Meanwhile, we return to the visit with
which Sir Mungo Malagrowther favoured the
afflicted young nobleman in his place of captivity.

The Knight, after the usual salutations, and
having prefaced his discourse with a great deal
of professed regret for Nigel's situation, sat down
beside him, and, composing his grotesque features
into the most lugubrious despondence, began his
raven-song as follows : —

"I bless God, my lord, that I was the person

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 235

who had the pleasure to bring his Majesty's mild
message to the Lieutenant, discharging the higher
prosecution against ye, for any thing meditated
against his Majesty's sacred person ; for, admit you
be prosecuted on the lesser offence, or breach of
privilege of the palace and its precincts, usque ad
mutilationem, even to dismemberation, as it is most
likely you will, yet the loss of a member is nothing
to being hanged and drawn quick, after the fashion
of a traitor."

" I should feel the shame of having deserved such
a punishment," answered Nigel, "more than the
pain of undergoing it."

"Doubtless, my lord, the having, as you say,
deserved it, must be an excruciation to your own
mind," replied his tormentor ; " a kind of mental
and metaphysical hanging, drawing, and quartering,
which may be in some measure equipollent with
the external application of hemp, iron, fire, and
the like, to the outer man."

" I say, Sir Mungo," repeated Nigel, " and beg
you to understand my words, that I am unconscious
of any error, save that of having arms on my person
when I chanced to approach that of my Sovereign."

"Ye are right, my lord, to acknowledge nothing,"
said Sir Mungo. "We have an old proverb, —
Confess, and — so forth. And indeed, as to the
weapons, his Majesty has a special ill-will at all
arms whatsoever, and more especially pistols ; but,
as I said, there is an end of that matter.* I wish

* Wilson informs us that when Colonel Grey, a Scots-
man who affected the buff dress even in the time of peace,
appeared in that military garb at Court, the King, seeing
him with a case of pistols at his girdle, which he never

236 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

you as well through the next, which is altogether
unlikely."

" Surely, Sir Mungo," answered Nigel, " you
yourself might say something in my favour con-
cerning the affair in the Park. None knows better
than you that I was at that moment urged by wrongs
of the most heinous nature, offered to me by Lord
Dalgarno, many of which were reported to me by
yourself, much to the inflammation of my passion."

"Alack-a-day !— Alack-a-day ! " replied Sir
Mungo, " I remember but too well how much
your choler was inflamed, in spite of the various
remonstrances which I made to you respecting the
sacred nature of the place. Alas ! alas ! you
cannot say you leaped into the mire for want of
warning."

"I see, Sir Mungo, you are determined to
remember nothing which can do me service," said
Nigel.

" Blithely would I do ye service," said the Knigut ;
" and the best whilk I can think of is, to tell you
the process of the punishment to the whilk you will
be indubitably subjected, I having had the good
fortune to behold it performed in the Queen's time,
on a chield that had written a pasquinade. I was

greatly liked, told him, merrily, "he was now so fortified,
that, if he were but well victualled, he would be im-
pregnable."— WILSON'S Life and Reign of James VI., afud
RENNET'S History of England, vol. ii. p. 389. In 1612, the
tenth year of James's reign, there was a rumour abroad
that a shipload of pocket-pistols had been exported from
Spain, with a view to a general massacre of the Protestants.
Proclamations were of consequence sent forth, prohibiting
all persons from carrying pistols under a foot long in the
barrel. Ibid. p. 690.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 237

then in my Lord Gray's train, who lay leaguer here,
and being always covetous of pleasing and profitable
sights, I could not dispense with being present on
the occasion."

" I should be surprised indeed," said Lord Glen-
varloch, " if you had so far put restraint upon your
benevolence, as to stay away from such an exhibi-
tion."

" Hey ! was your lordship praying me to be present
at your own execution?" answered the Knight.
'* Troth, my lord, it will be a painful sight to a
friend, but I will rather punish myself than baulk
you. It is a pretty pageant, in the main — a very
pretty pageant. The fallow came on with such a
bold face, it was a pleasure to look on him. He
was dressed all in white, to signify harmlessness
and innocence. The thing was done on a scaffold
at Westminster — most likely yours will be at
the Charing. There were the Sheriff's and
the Marshal's men, and what not — the execu-
tioner, with his cleaver and mallet, and his man,
with a pan of hot charcoal, and the irons for
cautery. He was a dexterous fallow that Derrick.
This man Gregory is not fit to jipper a joint with
him ; it might be worth your lordship's while to
have the loon sent to a barber-surgeon's, to learn
some needful scantling of anatomy — it may be for
the benefit of yourself and other unhappy sufferers,
and also a kindness to Gregory."

" I will not take the trouble," said Nigel. — " If
the laws will demand my hand, the executioner may
get it off as he best can. If the King leaves it where
it is, it may chance to do him better service."

" Vera noble— vera grand, indeed, my lord," said

238 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Sir Mungo ; " it is pleasant to see a brave man
suffer. This fallow whom I spoke of— This Tubbs,
or Stubbs, or whatever the plebeian was called, came
forward as bold as an emperor, and said to the
people, 'Good friends, I come to leave here the
hand of a true Englishman,' and clapped it on the
dressing-block with as much ease as if he had laid
it on his sweetheart's shoulder ; whereupon Derrick
the hangman, adjusting, d'ye mind me, the edge of
his cleaver on the very joint, hit it with the mallet
with such force, that the hand flew off as far from
the owner as a gauntlet which the challenger casts
down in the tilt-yard. Well, sir, Stubbs, or Tubbs,
lost no whit of countenance, until the fallow clapped
the hissing-hot iron on his raw stump. My lord, it
fizzed like a rasher of bacon, and the fallow set up
an elritch screech, which made some think his
courage was abated ; but not a whit, for he plucked
off his hat with his left hand, and waved it, cry-
ing, «God save the Queen, and confound all evil
counsellors ! " The people gave him three cheers,
which he deserved for his stout heart ; and, truly,
I hope to see your lordship suffer with the same
magnanimity."*

" I thank you, Sir Mungo," said Nigel, who had
not been able to forbear some natural feelings of an
unpleasant nature during this lively detail, — " I have
no doubt the exhibition will be a very engaging one
to you and the other spectators, whatever it may
prove to the party principally concerned."

" Vera engaging," answered Sir Mungo, " vera
interesting — vera interesting indeed, though not
altogether so much so as an execution for high

* Note VI. — Punishment of Stubbs by Mutilation.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 239

treason. I saw Digby, the Winters, Fawkes, and
the rest of the gunpowder gang, suffer for that
treason, whilk was a vera grand spectacle, as well in
regard to their sufferings, as to their constancy in
enduring."

" I am the more obliged to your goodness, Sir
Mungo," replied Nigel, "that has induced you,
although you have lost the sight, to congratulate me
on my escape from the hazard of making the same
edifying appearance."

" As you say, my lord," answered Sir Mungo,
" the loss is chiefly in appearance. Nature has been
very bountiful to us, and has given duplicates of
some organs, that we may endure the loss of one
of them, should some such circumstance chance in
our pilgrimage. See my poor dexter, abridged to
one thumb, one finger, and a stump, — by the blow
of my adversary's weapon, however, and not by any
carnificial knife. Weel, sir, this poor maimed hand
doth me, in some sort, as much service as ever ; and,
admit yours to be taken off by the wrist, you have
still your left hand for your service, and are better
off than the little Dutch dwarf here about town,
who threads a needle, limns, writes, and tosses a
pike, merely by means of his feet, without ever a
hand to help him."

"Well, Sir Mungo," said Lord Glenvarloch,
" this is all no doubt very consolatory ; but I hope
the King will spare my hand to fight for him in
battle, where, notwithstanding all your kind en-
couragement, I could spend my blood much more
cheerfully than on a scaffold. "

"It is even a sad truth," replied Sir Mungo,
" that your lordship was but too like to have died

240 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

on a scaffold — not a soul to speak for you but that
deluded lassie, Maggie Ramsay."

"Whom mean you?" said Nigel, with more
interest than he had hitherto shown in the Knight's
communications.

" Nay, who should I mean, but that travestied
lassie whom we dined with when we honoured Heriot
the goldsmith ? Ye ken best how you have made
interest with her, but I saw her on her knees to the
King for you. She was committed to my charge,
to bring her up hither in honour and safety. Had
I had my own will, I would have had her to Bride-
well, to flog the wild blood out of her — a cutty
quean, to think of wearing the breeches, and not so
much as married yet ! "

" Hark ye, Sir Mungo Malagrowther," answered
Nigel, " I would have you talk of that young person
with fitting respect."

" With all the respect that befits your lordship's
paramour, and Davy Ramsay's daughter, I shall
certainly speak of her, my lord," said Sir Mungo,
assuming a dry tone of irony.

Nigel was greatly disposed to have made a serious
quarrel of it, but with Sir Mungo such an affair
would have been ridiculous ; he smothered his re-
sentment, therefore, and conjured him to tell what
he had heard and seen respecting this young person.

" Simply, that I was in the anteroom when she
had audience, and heard the King say, to my great
perplexity, ' Pulchra sane puella ; ' and Maxwell,
who hath but indifferent Latin ears, thought that
his Majesty called on him by his own name of
Sawney, and thrust into the presence, and there I
saw our Sovereign James, with his own hand, raising

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 241

up the lassie, who, as I said heretofore, was tra-
vestied in man's attire. I should have had my own
thoughts of it, but our gracious Master is auld, and
was nae great gillravager amang the queans even in
his youth ; and he was comforting her in his own
way, and saying, — * Ye needna greet about it, my
bonnie woman, Glenvarlochides shall have fair play ;
and, indeed, when the hurry was off our spirits, we
could not believe that he had any design on our
person. And touching his other offences, we will
look wisely and closely into the matter.' So I got
charge to take the young fence-louper to the Tower
here, and deliver her to the charge of Lady
Mansel ; and his Majesty charged me to say not a
word to her about your offences, for, said he, the
poor thing is breaking her heart for him."

"And on this you have charitably founded the
opinion to the prejudice of this young lady, which
you have now thought proper to express ? " said
Lord Glenvarloch.

" In honest truth, my lord," replied Sir Mungo,
" what opinion would you have me form of a wench
who gets into male habiliments, and goes on her
knees to the King for a wild young nobleman ? I
wot not what the fashionable word may be, for the
phrase changes, though the custom abides. But
truly I must needs think this young leddy — if you
call Watchie Ramsay's daughter a young leddy —
demeans herself more like a leddy of pleasure than
a leddy of honour."

" You do her egregious wrong, Sir Mungo," said
Nigel; "or rather you have been misled by appear-
ances."

" So will all the world be misled, my lord," re-
27 q

242 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

plied the satirist, " unless you were doing that to
disabuse them which your father's son will hardly
judge it fit to do."

" And what may that be, I pray you ? "

" E'en marry the lass — make her Leddy Glen
varloch. — Ay, ay, ye may start — but it's the course
you are driving on. Rather marry than do worse,
if the worst be not done already."

" Sir Mungo," said Nigel, " I pray you to for-
bear this subject, and rather return to that of the
mutilation, upon which it pleased you to enlarge a
short while since."

" I have not time at present," said Sir Mungo,
hearing the clock strike four ; " but so soon as you
shall have received sentence, my lord, you may rely
on my giving you the fullest detail of the whole
solemnity ; and I give you my word, as a knight
and a gentleman, that I will myself attend you on
the scaffold, whoever may cast sour looks on me
for doing so. I bear a heart, to stand by a friend
in the worst of times."

So saying, he wished Lord Glenvarloch fare-
well ; who felt as heartily rejoiced at his departure,
though it may be a bold word, as any person who
had ever undergone his society.

But, when left to his own reflections, Nigel
could not help feeling solitude nearly as irksome as
the company of Sir Mungo Malagrowther. The
total wreck of his fortune, — which seemed now to
be rendered unavoidable by the loss of the royal
warrant, that had afforded him the means of re-
deeming his paternal estate, — was an unexpected
and additional blow. When he had seen the
warrant he could not precisely remember ; but was

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 243

inclined to think, it was in the casket when he took
out money to pay the miser for his lodgings at
Whitefriars. Since then, the casket had been
almost constantly under his own eye, except during
the short time he was separated from his baggage
by the arrest in Greenwich Park. It might, indeed,
have been taken out at that time, for he had no
reason to think either his person or his property
was in the hands of those who wished him well ;
but, on the other hand, the locks of the strong-box
had sustained no violence that he could observe,
and, being of a particular and complicated con-
struction, he thought they could scarce be opened
without an instrument made on purpose, adapted to
their peculiarities, and for this there had been no
time. But, speculate as he would on the matter, it
was clear that this important document was gone,
and probable that it had passed into no friendly
hands. "Let it be so," said Nigel to himself;
" I am scarcely worse off respecting my prospects
of fortune, than when I first reached this accursed
city. But to be hampered with cruel accusations,
and stained with foul suspicions — to be the object
of pity of the most degrading kind to yonder honest
citizen, and of the malignity of that envious and
atrabilarious courtier, who can endure the good
fortune and good qualities of another no more than
the mole can brook sunshine — this is indeed a
deplorable reflection ; and the consequences must
stick to my future life, and impede whatever my
head, or my hand, if it is left me, might be able to
execute in my favour."

The feeling, that he is the object of general dis-
like and dereliction, seems to be one of the most

244 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

unendurably painful to which a human being can be
subjected. The most atrocious criminals, whose
nerves have not shrunk from perpetrating the most
horrid cruelty, endure more from the consciousness
that no man will sympathize with their sufferings,
than from apprehension of the personal agony of
their impending punishment ; and are known often
to attempt to palliate their enormities, and some-
times altogether to deny what is established by the
clearest proof, rather than to leave life under the
general ban of humanity. It was no wonder that
Nigel, labouring under the sense of general, though
unjust suspicion, should, while pondering on so
painful a theme, recollect that one, at least, had
not only believed him innocent, but hazarded her-
self, with all her feeble power, to interpose in his
behalf.

" Poor girl ! " he repeated ; " poor, rash, but
generous maiden ! your fate is that of her in
Scottish story, who thrust her arm into the staple of
the door, to oppose it as a bar against the assassins
who threatened the murder of her sovereign. The
deed of devotion was useless ; save to give an im-
mortal name to her by whom it was done, and
whose blood flows, it is said, in the veins of my
house."

I cannot explain to the reader, whether the
recollection of this historical deed of devotion, and
the lively effect which the comparison, a little over-
strained perhaps, was likely to produce in favour
of Margaret Ramsay, was not qualified by the con-
comitant ideas of ancestry and ancient descent with
which that recollection was mingled. But the con-
tending feelings suggested a new train of ideas. —

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 245

" Ancestry," he thought, " and ancient descent,
what are they to me ? — My patrimony alienated —
my title become a reproach — for what can be so
absurd as titled beggary ? — my character subjected
to suspicion, — I will not remain in this country ;
and should I, at leaving it, procure the society of
one so lovely, so brave, and so faithful, who should
say that I derogated from the rank which I am
virtually renouncing ? "

There was something romantic and pleasing, as
he pursued this picture of an attached and faithful
pair, becoming all the world to each other, and
stemming the tide of fate arm in arm ; and to be
linked thus with a creature so beautiful, and who
had taken such devoted and disinterested concern
in his fortunes, formed itself into such a vision as
romantic youth loves best to dwell upon.

Suddenly his dream was painfully dispelled, by
the recollection, that its very basis rested upon the
most selfish ingratitude on his own part. Lord of
his castle and his towers, his forests and fields, his
fair patrimony and noble name, his mind would
have rejected, as a sort of impossibility, the idea of
elevating to his rank the daughter of a mechanic ;
but, when degraded from his nobility, and plunged
into poverty and difficulties, he was ashamed to feel
himself not unwilling, that this poor girl, in the
blindness of her affection, should abandon all the
better prospects of her own settled condition, to
embrace the precarious and doubtful course which
he himself was condemned to. The generosity of
Nigel's mind recoiled from the selfishness of the
plan of happiness which he projected ; and he made

strong effort to expel from his thoughts for the

a strong ett<

246 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

rest of the evening this fascinating female, or, at
least, not to permit them to dwell upon the perilous
circumstance, that she was at present the only
creature living who seemed to consider him as an
object of kindness.

He could not, however, succeed in banishing her
from his slumbers, when, after having spent a
weary day, he betook himself to a perturbed couch.
The form of Margaret mingled with the wild mass
of dreams which his late adventures had suggested ;
and even when, copying the lively narrative of Sir
Mungo, fancy presented to him the blood bubbling
and hissing on the heated iron, Margaret stood
behind him like a spirit of light, to breathe healing
on the wound. At length nature was exhausted by
these fantastic creations, and Nigel slept, and slept
soundly, until awakened in the morning by the
sound of a well-known voice, which had often broken
his slumbers about the same hour.

Chapter XIV

Marry, come up, sir, with your gentle blood !
Here's a red stream beneath this coarse blue doublet,
That warms the heart as kindly as if drawn
From the far source of old Assyrian kings,
Who first made mankind subject to their sway.

Old Play.

THE sounds to which we alluded in our last,
were no other than the grumbling tones of Richie
Moniplies's voice.

This worthy, like some other persons who rank
high in their own opinion, was very apt, when he

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 247

could have no other auditor, to hold conversation
with one who was sure to be a willing listener —
I mean with himself. He was now brushing and
arranging Lord Glenvarloch's clothes, with as much
composure and quiet assiduity as if he had never
been out of his service, and grumbling betwixt
whiles to the following purpose : — " Humph — ay,
time cloak and jerkin were through my hands — I
question if horsehair has been passed over them
since they and I last parted. The embroidery
finely frayed too — and the gold buttons of the
cloak — By my conscience, and as I am an honest
man, there is a round dozen of them gane ! This
comes of Alsatian frolics — God keep us with his
grace, and not give us over to our own devices !
— I see no sword — but that will be in respect of
present circumstances."

Nigel for some time could not help believing
that he was still in a dream, so improbable did it
seem that his domestic, whom he supposed to be in
Scotland, should have found him out, and obtained
access to him, in his present circumstances. Look-
ing through the curtains, however, he became well
assured of the fact, when he beheld the stiff and
bony length of Richie, with a visage charged with
nearly double its ordinary degree of importance,
employed sedulously in brushing his master's cloak,
and refreshing himself with whistling or humming,
from interval to interval, some snatch of an old
melancholy Scottish ballad-tune. Although suffi-
ciently convinced of the identity of the party,
Lord Glenvarloch could not help expressing his
surprise in the superfluous question — " In the name
-f Heaven, Richie, is this you ? "

of Heaven,

248 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" And wha else suld it be, my lord ? " answered
Richie ; " I dreamna that your lordship's levee in
this place is like to be attended by ony that are not
bounden thereto by duty."

" I am rather surprised," answered Nigel, " that
it should be attended by any one at all — especially
by you, Richie ; for you know that we parted, and
I thought you had reached Scotland long since."

"I crave your lordship's pardon, but we have
not parted yet, nor are soon likely so to do ; for
there gang twa folk's votes to the unmaking of a
bargain, as to the making of ane. Though it was
your lordship's pleasure so to conduct yourself that
we were like to have parted, yet it was not, on
reflection, my will to be gone. To be plain, if
your lordship does not ken when you have a good
servant, I ken when I have a kind master ; and to
say truth, you will be easier served now than ever,
for there is not much chance of your getting out of
bounds."

" I am indeed bound over to good behaviour,"
said Lord Glenvarloch, with a smile ; " but I hope
you will not take advantage of my situation to be
too severe on my follies, Richie ? "

" God forbid, my lord— God forbid ! " replied
Richie, with an expression betwixt a conceited
consciousness of superior wisdom and real feeling
— "especially in consideration of your lordship's
having a due sense of them. I did indeed remon-
strate, as was my humble duty, but I scorn to cast
that up to your lordship now — Na, na, I am myself
an erring creature— very conscious of some small
weaknesses — there is no perfection in man."

"But, Richie," said Lord Glenvarloch, " al-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 249

though I am much obliged to you for your
proffered service, it can be of little use to me here,
and may be of prejudice to yourself."

"Your lordship shall pardon me again," said
Richie, whom the relative situation of the parties
had invested with ten times his ordinary dogma-
tism ; " but as I will manage the matter, your lord-
ship shall be greatly benefited by my service, and I
myself no whit prejudiced."

" I see not how that can be, my friend," said
Lord Glenvarloch, "since even as to your pecuniary
affairs "

"Touching my pecuniars, my lord," replied
Richie, " I am indifferently weel provided ; and,
as it chances, my living here will be no burden to
your lordship, or distress to myself. Only I crave
permission to annex certain conditions to my
servitude with your lordship."

"Annex what you will," said Lord Glenvar-
loch, " for you are pretty sure to take your own
way, whether you make any conditions or not.
Since you will not leave me, which were, I think,
your wisest course, you must, and I suppose will,
serve me only on such terms as you like yourself."

" All that I ask, my lord," said Richie, gravely,
and with a tone of great moderation, " is to have
the uninterrupted command of my own motions, for
certain important purposes which I have now in
hand, always giving your lordship the solace of my
company and attendance at such times as may be
at once convenient for me, and necessary for your
service."

"Of which, I suppose you constitute yourself
sole judge," replied Nigel, smiling.

250 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

"Unquestionably, my lord," answered Richie,
gravely ; " for your lordship can only know what
yourself want ; whereas I, who see both sides of the
picture, ken both what is the best for your affairs,
and what is the most needful for my own."

" Richie, my good friend," said Nigel, " I fear
this arrangement, which places the master much
under the disposal of the servant, would scarce suit
us if we were both at large ; but a prisoner as I am,
I may be as well at your disposal as I am at that of
so many other persons ; and so you may come and
go as you list, for I suppose you will not take my
advice, to return to your own country, and leave me
to my fate."

" The deil be in my feet if I do," said Moniplies,
— " I am not the lad to leave your lordship in foul
weather, when I followed you and fed upon you
through the whole summer day. And besides, there
may be brave days behind, for aj that has come and
gane yet ; for

" It's hame, and it's hame, and its hame we fain would be,
Though the cloud is in the lift, and the wind is on the lea;
For the sun through the mirk blinks blithe on mine ee,
Says, — ' I'll shine on ye yet in our ain country ! ' "

Having sung this stanza in the manner of a
ballad-singer, whose voice has been cracked by
matching his windpipe against the bugle of the north
blast, Richie Moniplies aided Lord Glenvarloch to
rise, attended his toilet with every possible mark of
the most solemn and deferential respect, then waited
upon him at breakfast, and finally withdrew, plead-
ing that he had business of importance, which would
detain him for some hours.

Although Lord Glenvarloch necessarily expected

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 251

to be occasionally annoyed by the self-conceit and
dogmatism of Richie Moniplies's character, yet he
could not but feel the greatest pleasure from the
firm and devoted attachment which this faithful
follower had displayed in the present instance, and
indeed promised himself an alleviation of the ennui
of his imprisonment, in having the advantage of his
services. It was, therefore, with pleasure that he
learned from the warder, that his servant's attend-
ance would be allowed at all times when the general
rules of the fortress permitted the entrance of
strangers.

In the meanwhile, the magnanimous Richie
Moniplies had already reached Tower Wharf.
Here, after looking with contempt on several scullers
by whom he was plied, and whose services he
rejected with a wave of his hand, he called with
dignity, "First oars!" and stirred into activity
several lounging Tritons of the higher order, who
had not, on his first appearance, thought it worth
while to accost him with proffers of service. He
now took possession of a wherry, folded his arms
within his ample cloak, and sitting down in the
stern with an air of importance, commanded them
to row to Whitehall stairs. Having reached the
palace in safety, he demanded to see Master Link-
later, the under-clerk of his Majesty's kitchen.
The reply was, that he was not to be spoken withal,
being then employed in cooking a mess of cock-a-
leekie for the King's own mouth.

"Tell him," said Moniplies, "that it is a dear
countryman of his, who seeks to converse with him
on matter of high import."

" A dear countryman ? " said Linklater, when

252 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

this pressing message was delivered to him. " Well,
let him come in and be d — d, that I should say
sae ! This now is some red-headed, long-legged,
gillie-white-foot frae the West Port, that, - hearing
of my promotion, is come up to be a turn-broche,
or deputy scullion, through my interest. It is a
great hinderance to any man who would rise in the
world, to have such friends to hang by his skirts,
in hope of being towed up along with him. — Ha !
Richie Moniplies, man, is at thou ? And what has
brought ye here ? If they should ken thee for the
loon that scared the horse the other day ! "

" No more o' that, neighbour," said Richie, —
" I am just here on the auld errand — I maun speak
with the King."

" The King ? Ye are red wud," said Linklater ;
then shouted to his assistants in the kitchen, " Look
to the broches, ye knaves — plsces purga — Salsamenta
fac macerentur pulchre — I will make you understand
Latin, ye knaves, as becomes the scullions of King
James." Then in a cautious tone, to Richie's private
ear, he continued, " Know ye not how ill your master
came off the other day ? — I can tell you that job
made some folk shake for their office."

« Weel, but, Laurie, ye maun befriend me this
time, and get this wee bit sifflication slipped into
his Majesty's ain most gracious hand. I promise
you the contents will be most grateful to him."

" Richie," answered Linklater, " you have cer-
tainly sworn to say your prayers in the porter's lodge,
with your back bare ; and twa grooms, with dog-
whips, to cry amen to you."

"Na, na, Laurie, lad," said Richie, " I ken better
what belangs to sifflications than I did yon day ; and

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 253

ye will say that yoursell, if ye will but get that bit
note to the King's hand."

" [ will have neither hand nor foot in the matter,"
said the cautious Clerk of the Kitchen ; " but there
is his Majesty's mess of cock-a-leekie just going to
be served to him in his closet — I cannot prevent
you from putting the letter between the gilt bowl
and the platter ; his sacred Majesty will see it when
he lifts the bowl, for he aye drinks out the broth."

" Enough said," replied Richie, and deposited
the paper accordingly, just before a page entered
to carry away the mess to his Majesty.

" Aweel, aweel, neighbour," said Laurence, when
the mess was taken away, " if ye have done ony
thing to bring yoursell to the withy, or the scourg-
ing post, it is your ain wilful deed."

" I will blame no other for it," said Richie ; and
with that undismayed pertinacity of conceit, which
made a fundamental part of his character, he abode
the issue, which was not long of arriving.

In a few minutes Maxwell himself arrived in the
apartment, and demanded hastily who had placed
a writing on the King's trencher. Linldater denied
all knowledge of it ; but Richie Moniplies, stepping
boldly forth, pronounced the eraphatical confession,
" I am the man."

" Follow me, then," said Maxwell, after regard-
ing him with a look of great curiosity.

They went up a private staircase, — even that
private staircase, the privilege of which at Court is
accounted a nearer road to power than the grandes
entrees themselves. Arriving in what Richie de-
scribed as an " ill redd-up" anteroom, the usher
made a sign to him to stop, while he went into the

254 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

King's closet. Their conference was short, and as
Maxwell opened the door to retire, Richie heard
the conclusion of it.

" Ye are sure he is not dangerous ? — I was caught
once. — Bide within call, but not nearer the door
than within three geometrical cubits. If I speak
loud, start to me like a falcon — If I speak loun,
keep your lang lugs out of ear-shot — and now let
him come in."

Richie passed forward at Maxwell's mute signal,
and in a moment found himself in the presence of
the King. Most men of Richie's birth and breed-
ing, and many others, would have been abashed
at finding themselves alone with their Sovereign.
But Richie Moniplies had an opinion of himself
too high to be controlled by any such ideas ; and
having made his stiff reverence, he arose once more
into his perpendicular height, and stood before
James as stiff as a hedge-stake.

" Have ye gotten them, man ? have ye gotten
them ? " said the King, in a fluttered state, betwixt
hope and eagerness, and some touch of suspicious
fear. " Gie me them — gie me them — before ye
speak a word, I charge you, on your allegiance."

Richie took a box from his bosom, and, stoop-
ing on one knee, presented it to his Majesty, who
hastily opened it, and having ascertained that it
contained a certain carcanet of rubies, with which
the reader was formerly made acquainted, he could
not resist falling into a sort of rapture, kissing the
gems, as if they had been capable of feeling, and
repeating again and again with childish delight,
" Onyx cum prole, silexque — Onyx cum prole ! Ah,
my bright and bonny sparklers, my heart loups light

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 255

to see you again." He then turned to Richie, upon
whose stoical countenance his Majesty's demeanour
had excited something like a grim smile, which
James interrupted his rejoicing to reprehend, say-
ing, " Take heed, sir, you are not to laugh at us —
we are your anointed Sovereign."

"God forbid that I should laugh ! " said Richie,
composing his countenance into its natural rigidity.
"I did but smile, to bring my visage into coincidence
and conformity with your Majesty's physiognomy."

" Ye speak as a dutiful subject, and an honest
man," said the King ; " but what deil's your name,
man?"

" Even Richie Moniplies, the son of auld Mungo
Moniplies, at the West Port of Edinburgh, who
had the honour to supply your Majesty's mother's
royal table, as weel as your Majesty's, with flesh
and other vivers, when time was."

" Aha ! " said the King, laughing, — for he pos-
sessed, as a useful attribute of his situation, a
tenacious memory, which recollected every one
with whom he was brought into casual contact, —
"Ye are the self-same traitor who had weelnigh
coupit us endlang on the causey of our ain court-
yard ? but we stuck by our mare. Equam memento
rebus in arduis servare. Weel, be not dismayed,
Richie ; for, as many men have turned traitors, it
is but fair that a traitor, now and then, suld prove
to be, contra cxpcctanda, a true man. How cam
ye by our jewels, man ? — cam ye on the part of
George Heriot ? "

" In no sort," said Richie. " May it please
your Majesty, I come as Harry Wynd fought,
*rly for my own hand, and on no man's errand ;

utterly tor m;

256 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

as, indeed, I call no one master, save Him that
made me, your most gracious Majesty who governs
me, and the noble Nigel Olifaunt, Lord of Glen-
varloch, who maintained me as lang as he could
maintain himself, poor nobleman ! "

" Glenvarlochides again ! " exclaimed the King ;
" by my honour, he lies in ambush for us at every
corner ! — Maxwell knocks at the door. It is George
Heriot come to tell us he cannot find these jewels.
— Get thee behind the arras, Richie — stand close,
man — sneeze not — cough not — breathe not! —
Jingling Geordie is so damnably ready with his
gold-ends of wisdom, and sae accursedly backward
with his gold-ends of siller, that, by our royal saul,
we are glad to get a hair in his neck."

Richie got behind the arras, in obedience to the
commands of the good-natured King, while the
Monarch, who never allowed his dignity to stand
in the way of a frolic, having adjusted, with his
own hand, the tapestry, so as to complete the
ambush, commanded Maxwell to tell him what
was the matter without. Maxwell's reply was
so low as to be lost by Richie Moniplies, the
peculiarity of whose situation by no means abated
his curiosity and desire to gratify it to the utter-
most.

" Let Geordie Heriot come in," said the King ;
and, as Richie could observe through a slit in the
tapestry, the honest citizen, if not actually agitated,
was at least discomposed. The King, whose talent
for wit, or humour, was precisely of a kind to be
gratified by such a scene as ensued, received his
homage with coldness, and began to talk to him
with an air of serious dignity, very different from the

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 257

usual indecorous levity of his behaviour. " Master
Heriot," he said, "if we aright remember, we opig-
norated in your hands certain jewels of the Crown,
for a certain sum of money — Did we, or did we
not ? "

" My most gracious Sovereign," said Heriot,
" indisputably your Majesty was pleased to do

so."

"The property of which jewels and cimeKa
remained with us," continued the King, in the
same solemn tone, "subject only to your claim of
advance thereupon ; which advance being repaid,
gives us right to repossession of the thing opig-
norated, or pledged, or laid in wad. Voetius,
Vinnius, Groenwigeneus, Pagenstecherus, — all who
have treated de Contractu Opignerationis, — con-
sentiunt in eundemt — gree on the same point. The
Roman law, the English common law, and the
municipal law of our ain ancient kingdom of
Scotland, though they split in mair particulars
than I could desire, unite as strictly in this as
the three strands of a twisted rope."

" May it please your Majesty," replied Heriot,
"it requires not so many learned authorities to
prove to any honest man, that his interest in a
pledge is determined when the money lent is
restored."

" Weel, sir, I proffer restoration of the sum lent,
and I demand to be repossessed of the jewels pledged
with you. I gave ye a hint, brief while since, that
this would be essential to my service, for, as ap-
proaching events are like to call us into public, it
would seem strange if we did not appear with those
ornaments, which are heirlooms of the Crown, and
27 r

258 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the absence whereof is like to place us in contempt
and suspicion with our liege subjects."

Master George Heriot seemed much moved by
this address of his Sovereign, and replied with emo-
tion, " I call Heaven to witness, that I am totally
harmless in this matter, and that I would willingly
lose the sum advanced, so that I could restore those
jewels, the absence of which your Majesty so justly
laments. Had the jewels remained with me, the
account of them would be easily rendered ; but your
Majesty will do me the justice to remember, that,
by your express order, I transferred them to an-
other person, who advanced a large sum, just about
the time of my departure for Paris. The money
was pressingly wanted, and no other means to come
by it occurred to me. I told your Majesty, when
I brought the needful supply, that the man from
whom the monies were obtained, was of no good
repute ; and your most princely answer was, smell-
ing to the gold — Non olet, it smells not of the means
that have gotten it."

" Weel, man," said the King, " but what needs
a* this din ? If ye gave my jewels in pledge to such
a one, suld ye not, as a liege subject, have taken
care that the redemption was in our power ? And
are we to suffer the loss of our cimelia by your
neglect, besides being exposed to the scorn and cen-
sure of our lieges, and of the foreign ambassadors ? "

" My Lord and liege King," said Heriot, " God
knows, if my bearing blame or shame in this matter
would keep it from your Majesty, it were my duty
to endure both, as a servant grateful for many
benefits ; but when your Majesty considers the
violent death of the man himself, the disappearance

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 259

of his daughter, and of his wealth, I trust you will
remember that I warned your Majesty, in humble
duty, of the possibility of such casualties, and prayed
you not to urge me to deal with him on your
behalf."

" But you brought me nae better means," said
the King — " Geordie, ye brought me nae better
means. I was like a deserted man ; what could I
do but grip to the first siller that offered, as a drown-
ing man grasps to the willow-wand that comes
readiest ? — And now, man, what for have ye not
brought back the jewels? they are surely above
ground, if ye wad make strict search."

" All strict search has been made, may it please
your Majesty," replied the citizen ; " hue and cry
has been sent out everywhere, and it has been found
impossible to recover them."

"Difficult, ye mean, Geordie, not impossible,"
replied the King; for that whilk is impossible,
is either naturally so, exempli gratia, to make two
into three ; or morally so, as to make what is truth
falsehood ; but what is only difficult may come to
pass, with assistance of wisdom and patience ; as,
for example, Jingling Geordie, look here ! " And he
displayed the recovered treasure to the eyes of the
astonished jeweller, exclaiming, with great triumph,
" What say ye to that, Jingler ? — By my sceptre
and crown, the man stares as if he took his native
prince for a warlock ! us that are the very malleus
maleficarum^ the contunding and contriturating
hammer of all witches, sorcerers, magicians, and
the like ; he thinks we are taking a touch of the
black art oursells ! — But gang thy way, honest
Geordie; thou art a good plain man, but nane of

260 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the seven sages of Greece ; gang thy way, and mind
the soothfast word which you spoke, small time syne,
that there is one in this land that comes near to
Solomon, King of Israel, in all his gifts, except in
his love to strange women, forby the daughter of
Pharaoh."

If Heriot was surprised at seeing the jewels so
unexpectedly produced at the moment the King was
upbraiding him for the loss of them, this allusion
to the reflection which had escaped him while
conversing with Lord Glenvarloch, altogether
completed his astonishment ; and the King was
so delighted with the superiority which it gave him
at the moment, that he rubbed his hands, chuckled,
and, finally, his sense of dignity giving way to the
full feeling of triumph, he threw himself into his
easy-chair, and laughed with unconstrained violence
till he lost his breath, and the tears ran plentifully
down his cheeks as he strove to recover it. Mean-
while, the royal cachinnation was echoed out by a
discordant and portentous laugh from behind the
arras, like that of one who, little accustomed to
give way to such emotions, feels himself at some
particular impulse unable either to control or to
modify his obstreperous mirth. Heriot turned his
head with new surprise towards the place, from
which sounds so unfitting the presence of a monarch
seemed to burst with such emphatic clamour.*

The King, too, somewhat sensible of the in-
decorum, rose up, wiped his eyes, and calling, —
" Todlowrie, come out o* your den," he produced
from behind the arras the length of Richie Moni-
plies, still laughing with as unrestrained mirth as
* Note VII. — Richie Moniplies behind the Arras.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 261

ever did gossip at a country christening. " Whisht,
man, whisht, man," said the King ; " ye needna
nicher that gait, like a cusser at a caup o* corn, e'en
though it was a pleasing jest, and our ain framing.
And yet to see Jingling Geordie, that hauds him-
self so much the wiser than other folk — to see him,
ha ! ha ! ha ! — in the vein of Euclio apud Plautum,
distressing himself to recover what was lying at his
elbow —

' Perii, interii, occidi — quo curram? quo non curram ? —
Tene, tene — quern ? quis ? nescio — nihil video.'

Ah ! Geordie, your een are sharp enough to look
after gowd and silver, gems, rubies, and the like of
that, and yet ye kenna how to come by them when
they are lost. — Ay, ay — look at them, man — look
at them — they are a* right and tight, sound and
round, not a doublet crept in amongst them."

George Heriot, when his first surprise was over,
was too old a courtier to interrupt the King's
imaginary triumph, although he darted a look of
some displeasure at honest Richie, who still con-
tinued on what is usually termed the broad grin.
He quietly examined the stones, and finding them
all perfect, he honestly and sincerely congratulated
his Majesty on the recovery of a treasure which
could not have been lost without some dishonour to
the crown ; and asked to whom he himself was to
pay the sums for which they had been pledged,
observing, that he had the money by him in
readiness.

"Ye are in a deevil of a hurry, when there is
paying in the case, Geordie," said the King. —

What's a' the haste, man ? The jewels were

T * iitiL o *.;

262 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

restored by an honest, kindly countryman of ours.
There he stands, and wha kens if he wants the
money on the nail, or if he might not be as weel
pleased wi' a bit rescript on our treasury some six
months hence ? Ye ken that our Exchequer is even
at a low ebb just now, and ye cry pay, pay, pay, as
if we had all the mines of Ophir."

" Please your Majesty," said Heriot, " if this
man has the real right to these monies, it is doubt-
less at his will to grant forbearance, if he will. But
when I remember the guise in which I first saw
him, with a tattered cloak and a broken head, I can
hardly conceive it. — Are not you Richie Moniplies,
with the King's favour ? "

" Even sae, Master Heriot — of the ancient and
honourable house of Castle Collop, near to the
West Port of Edinburgh," answered Richie.

" Why, please your Majesty, he is a poor serving-
man," said Heriot. "This money can never be
honestly at his disposal."

"What for no?" said the King. "Wad ye
have naebody spraickle up the brae but yoursell,
Geordie ? Your ain cloak was thin enough when
ye cam here, though ye have lined it gay and weel.
And for serving-men, there has mony a red-shank
cam over the Tweed wi' his master's wallet on his
shoulders, that now rustles it wi' his six followers
behind him. There stands the man himsell ; speer
at him, Geordie."

"His may not be the best authority in the case,"
answered the cautious citizen.

"Tut, tut, man," said the King, "ye are over
scrupulous. The knave deer-stealers have an apt
phrase, Non est inquirendum unde venit VENISON. He

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 263

that brings the gudes hath surely a right to dispose
of the gear. — Hark ye, friend, speak the truth and
shame the deil. Have ye plenary powers to dispose
on the redemption-money as to delay of payments,
or the like, ay or no ? "

" Full power, an it like your gracious Majesty,"
answered Richie Moniplies ; " and I am maist will-
ing to subscrive to whatsoever may in ony wise
accommodate your Majesty anent the redemption-
money, trusting your Majesty's grace will be kind
to me in one sma' favour."

" Ey, man," said the King, " come ye to me
there ? I thought ye wad e'en be like the rest of
them. — One would think our subjects' lives and
goods were all our ain, and holden of us at our free
will ; but when we stand in need of ony matter of
siller from them, which chances more frequently
than we would it did, deil a boddle is to be had,
save on the auld terms of giff-gaff. It is just nitfer
for nifTer. — Aweel, neighbour, what is it that ye
want — some monopoly, I reckon ? Or it may be a
grant of kirk-lands and teinds, or a knighthood, or
the like ? Ye maun be reasonable, unless ye propose
to advance more money for our present occasions."

" My liege," answered Richie Moniplies, " the
owner of these monies places them at your Majesty's
command, free of all pledge or usage as long as it
is your royal pleasure, providing your Majesty will
condescend to show some favour to the noble Lord
Glenvarloch, presently prisoner in your royal Tower
of London."

" How, man — how, man — how, man ! " ex-
claimed the King, reddening and stammering, but
nth emotions more noble than those by which he

with emotio

264 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

was sometimes agitated — "What is that you dare
to say to us? — Sell our justice! — sell our mercy!
— and we a crowned King, sworn to do justice to
our subjects in the gate, and responsible for our
stewardship to Him that is over all kings ? " —
Here he reverently looked up, touched his bonnet,
and continued, with some sharpness, — " We dare
not traffic in such commodities, sir ; and, but that
ye are a poor ignorant creature, that have done us
this day some not unpleasant service, we wad have
a red iron driven through your tongue, in terrorem
of others. — Awa with him, Geordie, — pay him,
plack and bawbee, out of our monies in your hands,
and let them care that come ahint."

Richie, who had counted with the utmost
certainty upon the success of this master-stroke of
policy, was like an architect whose whole scaffold-
ing at once gives way under him. He caught,
however, at what he thought might break his fall.
"Not only the sum for which the jewels were
pledged," he said, " but the double of it, if required,
should be placed at his Majesty's command, and
even without hope or condition of repayment, if
only "

But the King did not allow him to complete the
sentence, crying out with greater vehemence than
before, as if he dreaded the stability of his own
good resolutions, — " Awa wi' him — swith awa wi'
him ! It is time he were gane, if he doubles his
bode that gate. And, for your life, letna Steenie,
or ony of them, hear a word from his mouth ; for
wha kens what trouble that might bring me into !
Ne indue as in tentationem — Fade re fro, Sathanas I —
Amen."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 265

In obedience to the royal mandate, George
Heriot hurried the abashed petitioner out of the
presence and out of the Palace ; and, when they
were in the Palace-yard, the citizen, remembering
with some resentment the airs of equality which
Richie had assumed towards him in the commence-
ment of the scene which had just taken place, could
not forbear to retaliate, by congratulating him with
an ironical smile on his favour at Court, and his
improved grace in presenting a supplication.

"Never fash your beard about that, Master
George Heriot," said Richie, totally undismayed ;
" but tell me when and where I am to sifHicate you
for eight hundred pounds sterling, for which these
jewels stood engaged ? "

"The instant that you bring with you the real
owner of the money," replied Heriot ; " whom it
is important that I should see on more accounts
than one."

" Then will I back to his Majesty," said Richie
Moniplies, stoutly, "and get either the money or
the pledge back again. I am fully commissionaie
to act in that matter."

" It may be so, Richie," said the citizen, " and
perchance it may not be so neither, for your tales
are not all gospel ; and, therefore, be assured I will
see that it is so, ere I pay you that large sum of
money. I shall give you an acknowledgment for it,
and I will keep it prestable at a moment's warning.
But, my good Richard Moniplies, of Castle Collop,
near the West Port of Edinburgh, in the meantime
I am bound to return to his Majesty on matters of
weight." So speaking, and mounting the stair to

jnter the palace, he added, by way of summing

266 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

up the whole, — " George Heriot is over old a cock
to be caught with chaff."

Richie stood petrified when he beheld him re-
enter the Palace, and found himself, as he supposed,
left in the lurch. — " Now, plague on ye," he
muttered, " for a cunning auld skinflint ! that,
because ye are an honest man yoursell, forsooth,
must needs deal with all the world as if they were
knaves. But deil be in me if ye beat me yet! —
Gude guide us ! yonder comes Laurie Linklater
next, and he will be on me about the sifflication. —
I winna stand him, by Saint Andrew ! "

So saying, and changing the haughty stride with
which he had that morning entered the precincts
of the Palace, into a skulking shamble, he retreated
for his wherry, which was in attendance, with speed
which, to use the approved phrase on such occasions,
greatly resembled a flight.

Chapter XV

Benedict. This looks not like a nuptial.

Much Ado about Nothing.

MASTER GEORGE HERIOT had no sooner returned
to the King's apartment, than James enquired of
Maxwell if the Earl of Huntinglen was in attendance,
and, receiving an answer in the affirmative, desired
that he should be admitted. The old Scottish Lord
having made his reverence in the usual manner, the
King extended his hand to be kissed, and then began
to address him in a tone of great sympathy.

" We told your lordship in our secret epistle of
this morning, written with our ain hand, in testimony

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 267

we have neither pretermitted nor forgotten your
faithful service, that we had that to communicate
to you that would require both patience and fortitude
to endure, and therefore exhorted you to peruse
some of the most pithy passages of Seneca, and of
Boethius de Consolatione, that the back may be, as
we say, fitted for the burden — This we commend to
you from our ain experience.

' Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco,'

sayeth Dido, and I might say in my own person, non
ignarus ; but to change the gender would affect the
prosody, whereof our southern subjects are tenacious.
So, my Lord of Huntinglen, I trust you have acted
by our advice, and studied patience before ye need
it — vcnienti occurrite morbo — mix the medicament
when the disease is coming on."

"May it please your Majesty," answered Lord
Huntinglen, " I am more of an old soldier than a
scholar — and if my own rough nature will not bear
me out in any calamity, I hope I shall have grace
to try a text of Scripture to boot."

" Ay, man, are you there with your bears ?" said
the King; "The Bible, man," (touching his cap,)
" is indeed principium et fons — but it is pity your
lordship cannot peruse it in the original. For
although we did ourselves promote that work of
translation, — since ye may read, at the beginning
of every Bible, that when some palpable clouds of
darkness were thought like to have overshadowed
the land, after the setting of that bright occidental
star, Queen Elizabeth ; yet our appearance, like that
of the sun in his strength, instantly dispelled these
surmised mists, — I say, that although, as therein

268 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

mentioned, we countenanced the preaching of the
gospel, and especially the translation of the Scriptures
out of the original sacred tongues ; yet nevertheless,
we ourselves confess to have found a comfort in
consulting them in the original Hebrew, whilk we
do not perceive even in the Latin version of the
Septuagint, much less in the English traduction."

" Please your Majesty," said Lord Huntinglen,
" if your Majesty delays communicating the bad
news with which your honoured letter threatens
me, until I am capable to read Hebrew like your
Majesty, I fear I shall die in ignorance of the mis-
fortune which hath befallen, or is about to befall,
my house."

" You will learn it but too soon, my lord," re-
plied the King. " I grieve to say it, but your son
Dalgarno, whom I thought a very saint, as he was
so much with Steenie and Baby Charles, hath turned
out a very villain."

" Villain ! " repeated Lord Huntinglen ; and
though he instantly checked himself, and added,
" but it is your Majesty speaks the word," the
effect of his first tone made the King step back as
if he had received a blow. He also recovered him-
self again, and said in the pettish way which usually
indicated his displeasure — "Yes, my lord, it was
we that said it — non surdo canis — we are not deaf
— we pray you not to raise your voice in speech
with us — there is the bonny memorial — read, and
judge for yourself."

The King then thrust into the old nobleman's
hand a paper, containing the story of the Lady
Hermione, with the evidence by which it was sup-
ported, detailed so briefly and clearly, that the

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 269

infamy of Lord Dalgarno, the lover by whom she
had been so shamefully deceived, seemed un-
deniable. But a father yields not up so easily the
cause of his son.

" May it please your Majesty," he said, " why
was this tale not sooner told ? This woman hath
been here for years — wherefore was the claim on
my son not made the instant she touched English
ground ? "

" Tell him how that came about, Geordie," said
the King, addressing Heriot.

" I grieve to distress my Lord Huntinglen,"
said Heriot ; " but I must speak the truth. For
a long time the Lady Hermione could not brook
the idea of making her situation public ; and when
her mind became changed in that particular, it was
necessary to recover the evidence of the false
marriage, and letters and papers connected with it,
which, when she came to Paris, and just before I
saw her, she had deposited with a correspondent
of her father in that city. He became afterwards
bankrupt, and in consequence of that misfortune the
lady's papers passed into other hands, and it was
only a few days since I traced and recovered them.
Without these documents of evidence, it would have
been imprudent for her to have preferred her com-
plaint, favoured as Lord Dalgarao is by powerful
friends."

" Ye are saucy to say sae," said the King ; " I
ken what ye mean weel eneugh — ye think Steenie
wad hae putten the weight of his foot into the
scales of justice, and garr'd them whomle the bucket
— ye forget, Geordie, wha it is whose hand up-

ilds them. And ye do poor Steenie the mair

naulds them.

270 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

wrang, for he confessed it ance before us and our
privy council, that Dalgarno would have put the
quean afF on him, the puir simple bairn, making
him trow that she was a light-o'-love; in whilk
mind he remained assured even when he parted
from her, albeit Steenie might hae weel thought ane
of thae cattle wadna hae resisted the like of him."

"The Lady Hermione," said George Heriot,
" has always done the utmost justice to the conduct
of the Duke, who, although strongly possessed with
prejudice against her character, yet scorned to avail
himself of her distress, and on the contrary supplied
her with the means of extricating herself from her
difficulties."

" It was e'en like himsell — blessings on his bonny
face ! " said the King ; " and I believed this lady's
tale the mair readily, my Lord Huntinglen, that she
spake nae ill of Steenie — and to make a lang tale
short, my lord, it is the opinion of our council and
ourself, as weel as of Baby Charles and Steenie, that
your son maun amend his wrong by wedding this
lady, or undergo such disgrace and discountenance
as we can bestow."

The person to whom he spoke was incapable of
answering him. He stood before the King motion-
less, and glaring with eyes of which even the lids
seemed immovable, as if suddenly converted into an
ancient statue of the times of chivalry, so instantly
had his hard features and strong limbs been arrested
into rigidity by the blow he had received — And in
a second afterwards, like the same statue when the
lightning breaks upon it, he sunk at once to the
ground with a heavy groan. The King was in the
utmost alarm, called upon Heriot and Maxwell for

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 271

help, and, presence of mind not being hisfortt, ran
to and fro in his cabinet, exclaiming — " My ancient
and beloved servant — who saved our anointed self!
Vae atque dolor ! My Lord of Huntinglen, look
up — look up, man, and your son may marry the
Queen of Sheba if he will."

By this time Maxwell and Heriot had raised the
old nobleman, and placed him on a chair ; while the
King, observing that he began to recover himself,
continued his consolations more methodically.

" Haud up your head — haud up your head, and
listen to your ain kind native Prince. If there is
shame, man, it comesna empty-handed — there is
siller to gild it — a gude tocher, and no that bad a
pedigree ; — if she has been a loon, it was your son
made her sae, and he can make her an honest woman
again."

These suggestions, however reasonable in the
common case, gave no comfort to Lord Huntinglen,
if indeed he fully comprehended them ; but the
blubbering of his good-natured old master, which
began to accompany and interrupt his royal speech,
produced more rapid effect. The large tear gushed
reluctantly from his eye, as he kissed the withered
hands, which the King, weeping with less dignity
and restraint, abandoned to him, first alternately
and then both together, until the feelings of the
man getting entirely the better of the Sovereign's
sense of dignity, he grasped and shook Lord Hunt-
inglen's hands with the sympathy of an equal and
a familiar friend."

" Compone lachrymas" said the monarch ; " be
patient, man, be patient ; — the council, and Baby
Charles, and Steenie, may a* gang to the deevil —

272 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

he shall not marry her since it moves you so
deeply."

" He SHALL marry her, by God ! " answered the
Earl, drawing himself up, dashing the tear from his
eyes, and endeavouring to recover his composure.
" I pray your Majesty's pardon, but he shall marry
her, with her dishonour for her dowry, were she
the veriest courtezan in all Spain — If he gave his
word, he shall make his word good, were it to the
meanest creature that haunts the streets — he shall
do it, or my own dagger shall take the life that
I gave him. If he could stoop to use so base a
fraud, though to deceive infamy, let him wed
infamy."

" No, no ! " the Monarch continued to insinuate,
" things are not so bad as that — Steenie himself
never thought of her being a street-walker, even
when he thought the worst of her."

" If it can at all console my Lord of Huntinglen,"
said the citizen, " I can assure him of this lady's
good birth, and most fair and unspotted fame."

"I am sorry for it," said Lord Huntinglen —
then interrupting himself, he said — " Heaven for-
give me for being ungrateful for such comfort! —
but I am wellnigh sorry she should be as you
represent her, so much better than the villain
deserves. To be condemned to wed beauty and
innocence and honest birth "

" Ay, and wealth, my lord — wealth," insinuated
the King, " is a better sentence than his perfidy has
deserved."

" It is long," said the embittered father, " since
I saw he was selfish and hardhearted ; but to be
a perjured liar — I never dreaded that such a blot

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 273

would have fallen on my race ! I will never look
on him again."

" Hoot ay, my lord, hoot ay," said the King ;
" ye maun tak him to task roundly. I grant you
should speak more in the vein of Demea than Mitio,
vi nempe et via pervulgata patrum ; but as for not
seeing him again, and he your only son, that is alto-
gether out of reason. I tell ye, man, ( but I would
not for a boddle that Baby Charles heard me,) that
he might gie the glaiks to half the lasses of Lonnun,
ere I could find in my heart to speak such harsh
words as you have said of this deil of a Dalgarno
of yours."

"May it please your Majesty to permit me to
retire," said Lord Huntinglen, " and dispose of the
case according to your own royal sense of justice,
for I desire no favour for him."

" Aweel, my lord, so be it ; and if your lordship
can think," added the Monarch, " of any thing in
our power which might comfort you "

" Your Majesty's gracious sympathy," said Lord
Huntinglen, "has already comforted me as far as
earth can ; the rest must be from the King of kings."

" To Him I commend you, my auld and faithful
servant," said James with emotion, as the Earl with-
drew from his presence. The King remained fixed
in thought for some time, and then said to Heriot,
" Jingling Geordie, ye ken all the privy doings of
our Court, and have dune so these thirty years,
though, like a wise man, ye hear, and see, and say
nothing. Now, there is a thing I fain wad ken, in
the way of philosophical enquiry — Did you ever
hear of the umquhile Lady Huntinglen, the departed
Countess of this noble Earl, ganging a wee bit

" '

274 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

gleed in her walk through the world ; I mean in
the way of slipping a foot, casting a leglin-girth,*
or the like, ye understand me ? "

" On my word as an honest man," said George
Heriot, somewhat surprised at the question, " I
never heard her wronged by the slightest breath of
suspicion. She was a worthy lady, very circumspect
in her walk, and lived in great concord with her
husband, save that the good Countess was something
of a puritan, and kept more company with ministers
than was altogether agreeable to Lord Huntinglen,
who is, as your Majesty well knows, a man of the
old rough world, that will drink and swear."

" O Geordie ! " exclaimed the King, " these are
auld-warld frailties, of whilk we dare not pronounce
even ourselves absolutely free. But the warld grows
worse from day to day, Geordie. The juveniles of
this age may weel say with the poet —

' ./Etas parentum, pejor avis, tulit
Nos nequiores — '

This Dalgarno does not drink so much, or swear so
much, as his father ; but he wenches, Geordie, and
he breaks his word and oath baith. As to what
you say of the leddy, and the ministers, we are a*
fallible creatures, Geordie, priests and kings, as weel
as others ; and wha kens but what that may account
for the difference between this Dalgarno and his

* A leglin-girth is the lowest hoop upon a leglin, 01
milk-pail. Allan Ramsay applies the phrase in the same
metaphorical sense.

4 ' Or bairns can read, they first maun spell,

I learn'd this frae my mammy,
And cast a leglin girth mysell,
Lang ere I married Tammy."

Cftrisfs Kirk on the Green.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 275

father ? The Earl is the vera soul of honour, and
cares nae mair for warld's gear than a noble hound
for the quest of a foulmart ; but as for his son, he
was like to brazen us a' out — ourselves, Steenie,
Baby Charles, and our council — till he heard of the
tocher, and then, by my kingly crown, he lap like a
cock at a grossart ! These are discrepancies betwixt
parent and son not to be accounted for naturally,
according to Baptista Porta, Michael Scott de secretis,
and others. — Ah, Jingling Geordie, if your clouting
the caldron, and jingling on pots, pans, and veshels
of all manner of metal, hadna jingled a* your grammar
out of your head, I could have touched on that
matter to you at mair length."

Heriot was too plain-spoken to express much
concern for the loss of his grammar learning on this
occasion ; but after modestly hinting that he had
seen many men who could not fill their father's
bonnet, though no one had been suspected of wear-
ing their father's nightcap, he enquired " whether
Lord Dalgarno had consented to do the Lady
Hermione justice."

" Troth, man, I have small doubt that he will,"
quoth the King ; " I gave him the schedule of her
worldly substance, which you delivered to us in the
council, and we allowed him half an hour to chew
the cud upon that. It is rare reading for bringing
him to reason. I left Baby Charles and Steenie
laying his duty before him ; and if he can resist
doing what they desire him — why, I wish he would
teach me the gate of it. O Geordie, Jingling
Geordie, it was grand to hear Baby Charles laying
down the guilt of dissimulation, and Steenie lectur-
ing on the turpitude of incontinence !"

276 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" I am afraid," said George Heriot, more hastily
than prudently, " I might have thought of the old
proverb of Satan reproving sin."

" Deil hae our saul, neighbour," said the King,
reddening, " but ye are not blate ! I gie ye license
to speak freely, and, by our saul, ye do not let the
privilege become lost non utendo — it will suffer no
negative prescription in your hands. Is it fit, think
ye, that Baby Charles should let his thoughts
be publicly seen ? — No — no — princes' thoughts are
arcana imperil — Qui nescit dissimulare nescit regnare.
Every liege subject is bound to speak the whole
truth to the King, but there is nae reciprocity of
obligation — and for Steenie having been whiles a
dike-louper at a time, is it for you, who are his gold-
smith, and to whom, I doubt, he awes an uncomat-
able sum, to cast that up to him ? "

Heriot did not feel himself called on to play
the part of Zeno, and sacrifice himself for up-
holding the cause of moral truth; he did not
desert it, however, by disavowing his words, but
simply expressed sorrow for having offended his
Majesty, with which the placable King was suffi-
ciently satisfied.

" And now, Geordie, man," quoth he, " we will
to this culprit, and hear what he has to say for him-
self, for I will see the job cleared this blessed day.
Ye maun come wi' me, for your evidence may be
wanted."

The King led the way, accordingly, into a larger
apartment, where the Prince, the Duke of Bucking-
ham, and one or two privy counsellors were seated
at a table, before which stood Lord Dalgarno, in an
attitude of as much elegant ease and indifference as

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 277

could be expressed, considering the stiff dress and
manners of the times.

All rose and bowed reverently, while the King,
to use a north country word, expressive of his mode
of locomotion, toddled to his chair or throne, making
a sign to Heriot to stand behind him.

"We hope," said his Majesty, "that Lord
Dalgarno stands prepared to do justice to this
unfortunate lady, and to his own character and
honour ? "

" May I humbly enquire the penalty," said Lord
Dalgarno, " in case I should unhappily find com-
pliance with your Majesty's demands impossible ? "

" Banishment frae our Court, my lord," said the
King; "frae our Court and our countenance."

" Unhappy exile that I may be ! " said Lord
Dalgarno, in a tone of subdued irony — " I will at
least carry your Majesty's picture with me, for I
shall never see such another king."

"And banishment, my lord," said the Prince,
sternly, " from these our dominions."

" That must be by form of law, please your Royal
Highness," said Dalgarno, with an affectation of
deep respect ; " and I have not heard that there is a
statute, compelling us, under such penalty, to marry
every woman we may play the fool with. Perhaps
his Grace of Buckingham can tell me ? "

" You are a villain, Dalgarno," said the haughty
and vehement favourite.

"Fie, my lord, fie! — to a prisoner, and in
presence of your royal and paternal gossip ! " said
Lord Dalgarno. " But I will cut this deliberation
short. I have looked over this schedule of the
goods and effects of Erminia Pauletti, daughter of

278 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the late noble — yes, he is called the noble, or I read
wrong, Giovanni Pauletti, of the House of Sanso-
vino, in Genoa, and of the no less noble Lady
Maud Olifaunt, of the House of Glenvarloch —
Well, I declare that I was pre-contracted in Spain
to this noble lady, and there has passed betwixt us
some certain pralibatio matrimonii ; and now, what
more does this grave assembly require of me ? "

" That you should repair the gross and infamous
wrong you have done the lady, by marrying her
within this hour," said the Prince.

" O, may it please your Royal Highness,"
answered Dalgarno, " I have a trifling relationship
with an old Earl, who calls himself my father, who
may claim some vote in the matter. Alas ! every
son is not blessed with an obedient parent ! " He
hazarded a slight glance towards the throne, to give
meaning to his last words.

"We have spoken ourselves with Lord Hunt-
inglen," said the King, "and are authorized to
consent in his name."

" I could never have expected this intervention
of a proxaneta, which the vulgar translate blackfoot,
of such eminent dignity," said Dalgarno, scarce
concealing a sneer. "And my father hath con-
sented ? He was wont to say, ere we left Scotland,
that the blood of Huntinglen and of Glenvarloch
would not mingle, were they poured into the same
basin. Perhaps he has a mind to try the experi-
ment ? "

" My lord," said James, " we will not be longer
trifled with — Will you instantly, and sine mora, take
this lady to your wife, in our chapel ? "

" Statim atque instanter" answered Lord Dal-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 279

garno ; " for I perceive by doing so, I shall obtain
power to render great services to the commonwealth
— I shall have acquired wealth to supply the wants
of your Majesty, and a fair wife to be at the com-
mand of his Grace of Buckingham."

The Duke rose, passed to the end of the table
where Lord Dalgarno was standing, and whispered
in his ear, " You have placed a fair sister at my
command ere now."

This taunt cut deep through Lord Dalgarno's
assumed composure. He started as if an adder had
stung him, but instantly composed himself, and, fix-
ing on the Duke's still smiling countenance an eye
which spoke unutterable hatred, he pointed the fore-
finger of his left hand to the hilt of his sword,
but in a manner which could scarce be observed by
any one save Buckingham. The Duke gave him
another smile of bitter scorn, and returned to his
seat, in obedience to the commands of the King,
who continued calling out, " Sit down, Steenie, sit
down, I command ye — we will hae nae hams-
breaking here."

"Your Majesty needs not fear my patience,"
said Lord Dalgarno ; " and that I may keep it the
better, I will not utter another word in this
presence, save those enjoined to me in that happy
portion of the Prayer-Book, which begins with
Dearly Beloved, and ends with amazement."

"You are a hardened villain, Dalgarno," said the
King; "and were I the lass, by my father's saul,
I would rather brook the stain of having been your
concubine, than run the risk of becoming your wife.
But she shall be under our special protection. —
Come, my lords, we will ourselves see this blithe-

280 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

some bridal." He gave the signal by rising, and
moved towards the door, followed by the train.
Lord Dalgarno attended, speaking to none, and
spoken to by no one, yet seeming as easy and un-
embarrassed in his gait and manner as if in reality
a happy bridegroom.

They reached the Chapel by a private entrance,
which communicated from the royal apartment.
The Bishop of Winchester, in his pontifical dress,
stood beside the altar ; on the other side, supported
by Monna Paula, the colourless, faded, half-lifeless
form of the Lady Hermione, or Erminia Pauletti.
Lord Dalgarno bowed profoundly to her, and the
Prince, observing the horror with which she re-
garded him, walked up, and said to her, with much
dignity, — "Madam, ere you put yourself under the
authority of this man, let me inform you, he hath
in the fullest degree vindicated your honour, so far
as concerns your former intercourse. It is for you
to consider whether you will put your fortune and
happiness into the hands of one, who has shown
himself unworthy of all trust."

The lady, with much difficulty, found words to
make reply. "I owe to his Majesty's goodness,"
she said, "the care of providing me some reser-
vation out of my own fortune, for my decent sus-
tenance. The rest cannot be better disposed
than in buying back the fair fame of which I am
deprived, and the liberty of ending my life in peace
and seclusion."

"The contract has been drawn up," said the
King, " under our own eye, specially discharging
the potestas maritalis, and agreeing they shall live
separate. So buckle them, my Lord Bishop, as

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 281

fast as you can, that they may sunder again the
sooner."

The Bishop accordingly opened his book and
commenced the marriage ceremony, under circum-
stances so novel and so inauspicious. The responses
of the bride were only expressed by inclinations of
the head and body ; while those of the bridegroom
were spoken boldly and distinctly, with a tone
resembling levity, if not scorn. When it was con-
cluded, Lord Dalgarno advanced as if to salute the
bride, but seeing that she drew back in fear and
abhorrence, he contented himself with making her
a low bow. He then drew up his form to its
height, and stretched himself as if examining the
power of his limbs, but elegantly, and without any
forcible change of attitude. "I could caper yet,"
he said " though I am in fetters — but they are of
gold, and lightly worn. — Well, I see all eyes look
cold on me, and it is time I should withdraw.
The sun shines elsewhere than in England ! But
first I must ask how this fair Lady Dalgarno is to
be bestowed. Methinks it is but decent I should
know. Is she to be sent to the harem of my Lord

Duke ? Or is this worthy citizen, as before "

"Hold thy base ribald tongue! " said his father,
Lord Huntinglen, who had kept in the background
during the ceremony, and now stepping suddenly
forward, caught the lady by the arm, and confronted
her unworthy husband. — "The Lady Dalgarno,"
he continued, "shall remain as a widow in my
house. A widow I esteem her, as much as if the
grave had closed over her dishonoured husband."
Lord Dalgarno exhibited momentary symptoms
extreme confusion, and said, in a submissive tone,

of extreme c

282 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" If you, my lord, can wish me dead, I cannot,
though your heir, return the compliment. Few of
the first-born of Israel," he added, recovering him-
self from the single touch of emotion he had dis-
played, " can say so much with truth. But I will
convince you ere I go, that I am a true descendant
of a house famed for its memory of injuries.'*

" I marvel your Majesty will listen to him longer,"
said Prince Charles. " Methinks we have heard
enough of his daring insolence."

But James, who took the interest of a true gossip
in such a scene as was now passing, could not bear
to cut the controversy short, but imposed silence
on his son, with " Whisht, Baby Charles — there is
a good bairn, whisht! — I want to hear what the
frontless loon can say."

"Only, sir," said Dalgarno, "that but for one
single line in this schedule, all else that it contains
could not have bribed me to take that woman's hand
into mine."

" That line maun have been the summa totalis"
said the King.

" Not so, sire," replied Dalgarno. " The sum
total might indeed have been an object for con-
sideration even to a Scottish king, at no very distant
period ; but it would have had little charms for me,
save that I see here an entry which gives me the
power of vengeance over the family of Glenvarloch ;
and learn from it that yonder pale bride, when she
put the wedding-torch into my hand, gave me the
power of burning her mother's house to ashes ! "

" How is that ? " said the king. " What is he
speaking about, Jingling Geordie ? "

"This friendly citizen, my Jiege," said Lord

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 283

Dalgarno, " hath expended a sum belonging to my
lady, and now, I thank heaven, to me, in acquiring
a certain mortgage, or wadset, over the estate of
Glenvarloch, which, if it be not redeemed before
to-morrow at noon, will put me in possession of the
fair demesnes of those who once called themselves
our house's rivals."

" Can this be true ? " said the King.

" It is even but too true, please your Majesty,"
answered the citizen. " The Lady Hermione having
advanced the money for the original creditor, I was
obliged, in honour and honesty, to take the rights
to her ; and, doubtless, they pass to her husband."

" But the warrant, man," said the King — " the
warrant on our Exchequer — Couldna that supply
the lad wi' the means of redemption ? "

" Unhappily, my liege, he has lost it, or dis-
posed of it — It is not to be found. He is the most
unlucky youth !"

" This is a proper spot of work !" said the King,
beginning to amble about and play with the points
of his doublet and hose, in expression of dismay.
"We cannot aid him without paying our debts
twice over, and we have, in the present state of
our Exchequer, scarce the means of paying them
once."

" You have told me news," said Lord Dalgarno,
" but I will take no advantage."

" Do not," said his father, " be a bold villain,
since thou must be one, and seek revenge with arms,
and not with the usurer's weapons."

"Pardon me, my lord," said Lord Dalgarno.
" Pen and ink are now my surest means of ven-
geance ; and more land is won by the lawyer with

284 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the ram-skin, than by the Andrea Ferrara with his
sheepshead handle. But, as I said before, I will
take no advantages. I will await in town to-
morrow, near Covent-Garden ; if any one will pay
the redemption-money to my scrivener, with whom
the deeds lie, the better for Lord Glenvarloch ;
if not, I will go forward on the next day, and
travel with all dispatch to the north, to take
possession."

"Take a father's malison with you, unhappy
wretch ! " said Lord Huntinglen.

" And a King's, who is pater patria" said James.

" I trust to bear both lightly," said Lord Dal-
garno ; and bowing around him, he withdrew ;
while all present, oppressed, and, as it were, over-
awed, by his determined effrontery, found they
could draw breath more freely, when he at length
relieved them of his society. Lord Huntinglen,
applying himself to comfort his new daughter-in-
law, withdrew with her also ; and the King, with
his privy-council, whom he had not dismissed, again
returned to his jouncil-chamber, though the hour
was unusually late. Heriot's attendance was still
commanded, but for what reason was not explained
to him.

Chapter XVI

I'll play the eavesdropper.

Richard 777. , Act V., Scene 3.

JAMES had no sooner resumed his seat at the
council-board than he began to hitch in his chair,
cough, use his handkerchief, and make other in-

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timations that he meditated a long speech. The
council composed themselves to the beseeming
degree of attention. Charles, as strict in his
notions of decorum, as his father was indifferent
to it, fixed himself in an attitude of rigid and
respectful attention, while the haughty favourite,
conscious of his power over both father and son,
stretched himself more easily on his seat, and, in
assuming an appearance of listening, seemed to pay
a debt to ceremonial rather than to duty.

'« I doubt not, my lords," said the Monarch, " that
some of you may be thinking the hour of refection
is past, and that it is time to ask with the slave in
the comedy — Quid de symbolo ? — Nevertheless, to
do justice and exercise judgment is our meat and
drink ; and now we are to pray your wisdom to
consider the case of this unhappy youth, Lord
Glenvarloch, and see, whether, consistently with
our honour, any thing can be done in his favour."

" I am surprised at your Majesty's wisdom making
the enquiry," said the Duke ; " it is plain this Dal-
garno hath proved one of the most insolent villains
on earth, and it must therefore be clear, that if Lord
Glenvarloch had run him through the body, there
would but have been out of the world a knave who
had lived in it too long. I think Lord Glenvarloch
hath had much wrong ; and I regret that, by the
persuasions of this false fellow, I have myself had
some hand in it."

" Ye speak like a child, Steenie — I mean my
Lord of Buckingham," answered the King, " and
as one that does not understand the logic of the
schools; for an action may be inconsequential or
even meritorious, quoad hominem, that is, as touch-

286 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

ing him upon whom it is acted; and yet most
criminal, quoad locum, or considering the place
'wherein it is done ; as a man may lawfully dance
Chrighty Beardie or any other dance in a tavern,
but not inter parietes ecc/esix. So that, though it
may have been a good deed to have sticked Lord
Dalgarno, being such as he has shown himself,
anywhere else, yet it fell under the plain statute,
when violence was offered within the verge of the
Court. For, let me tell you, my lords, the statute
against striking would be of small use in our Court,
if it could be eluded by justifying the person stricken
to be a knave. It is much to be lamented that I
ken nae Court in Christendom where knaves are
not to be found ; and if men are to break the peace
under pretence of beating them, why, it will rain
Jeddart staves * in our very antechamber."

" What your Majesty says," replied Prince
Charles, " is marked with your usual wisdom — the
precincts of palaces must be sacred as well as the
persons of kings, which are respected even in the
most barbarous nations, as being one step only be-
neath their divinities. But your Majesty's will can
control the severity of this and every other law, and
it is in your power, on consideration of his case, to
grant this rash young man a free pardon."

" Rem acu tetigisti, Carole, mi puerule" answered
the King; "and know, my lords, that we have,
by a shrewd device and gift of our own, already
sounded the very depth of this Lord Glenvarloch's

* The old-fashioned weapon called the Jeddart staff was
a species of battle-axe. Of a very great tempest, it is said,
in the south of Scotland, that it rains Jeddart staffs, as in
England the common people talk of its raining cats and
dogs.

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disposition. I trow there be among you some that
remember my handling in the curious case of my
Lady Lake, and how I trimmed them about the
story of hearkening behind the arras.* Now this
put me to cogitation, and I remembered me of
having read that Dionysius, King of Syracuse, whom
historians call Tvpawoc, which signifieth not in the
Greek tongue, as in ours, a truculent usurper, but
a royal king who governs, it may be, something
more strictly than we and other lawful monarchs,
whom the ancients termed Ba<r/Xg/£ — Now this
Dionysius of Syracuse caused cunning workmen to
build for himself a lugg — D'ye ken what that is,
my Lord Bishop ? "

" A cathedral, I presume to guess," answered the
Bishop.

"What the deil, man — I crave your lordship's
pardon for swearing — but it was no cathedral —
only a lurking-place called the king's lugg, or ear,
where he could sit undescried, and hear the con-
verse of his prisoners. Now, sirs, in imitation of
this Dionysius, whom I took for my pattern, the
rather that he was a great linguist and grammarian,
and taught a school with good applause after his
abdication, (either he or his successor of the same
name, it matters not whilk) — I have caused them to
make a lugg up at the state-prison of the Tower
yonder, more like a pulpit than a cathedral, my
Lord Bishop — and communicating with the arras
behind the Lieutenant's chamber, where we may sit
and privily hear the discourse of such prisoners as
arc pent up there for state-offences, and so creep
into the very secrets of our enemies."
* Note VIII.— Lady Lake.

288 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

The Prince cast a glance towards the Duke,
expressive of great vexation and disgust. Bucking-
ham shrugged his shoulders, but the motion was so
slight as to be almost imperceptible.

" Weel, my lords, ye ken the fray at the hunting
this morning — I shall not get out of the trembling
exies until I have a sound night's sleep — just after
that, they bring ye in a pretty page that had been
found in the Park. We were warned against ex-
amining him ourselves by the anxious care of those
around us ; nevertheless, holding our life ever at the
service of these kingdoms, we commanded all to
avoid the room, the rather that we suspected this
boy to be a girl. What think ye, my lords ? — few
of you would have thought I had a hawk's eye for
sic gear ; but we thank God, that though we are
old, we know so much of such toys as may beseem
a man of decent gravity. Weel, my lords, we
questioned this maiden in male attire ourselves,
and I profess it was a very pretty interrogatory,
and well followed. For, though she at first pro-
fessed that she assumed this disguise in order to
countenance the woman who should present us with
the Lady Hermione's petition, for whom she pro-
fessed entire affection ; yet when we, suspecting
anguis in herba, did put her to the very question,
she was compelled to own a virtuous attachment
for Glenvarlochides, in such a pretty passion of
shame and fear, that we had much ado to keep our
own eyes from keeping company with hers in weep-
ing. Also, she laid before us the false practices of
this Dalgarno towards Glenvarlochides, inveigling
him into houses of ill resort, and giving him evil
counsel under pretext of sincere friendship, where-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 289

by the inexperienced lad was led to do what was
prejudicial to himself, and offensive to us. But,
however prettily she told her tale, we determined
not altogether to trust to her narration, but rather
to try the experiment whilk we had devised for such
occasions. And having ourselves speedily passed
from Greenwich to the Tower, we constituted our-
selves eavesdropper, as it is called, to observe what
should pass between Glenvarlochides and this page,
whom we caused to be admitted to his apartment,
well judging that if they were of counsel together
to deceive us, it could not be but something of it
would spunk out — And what think ye we saw, my
lords ? — Naething for you to sniggle and laugh at,
Steenie — for I question if you could have played
the temperate and Christian-like part of this poor
lad Glenvarloch. He might be a Father of the
Church in comparison of you, man. — And then, to
try his patience yet farther, we loosed on him a
courtier and a citizen, that is Sir Mungo Mala-
growther and our servant George Heriot here, wha
dang the poor lad about, and didna greatly spare
our royal selves. — You mind Geordie, what you
said about the wives and concubines ? but I forgie
ye, man — nae need of kneeling, I forgie ye — the
readier that it regards a certain particular, whilk,
as it added not much to Solomon's credit, the lack
of it cannot be said to impinge on ours. Aweel,
my lords, for all temptation of sore distress and
evil ensample, this poor lad never loosed his tongue
on us to say one unbecoming word- — which inclines
us the rather, acting always by your wise advice,
to treat this affair of the Park as a thing done in
the heat of blood, and under strong provocation,
27 /

290 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

and therefore to confer our free pardon on Lord
Glenvarloch."

" 1 am happy your gracious Majesty," said the
Duke of Buckingham, " has arrived at that con-
clusion, though I could never have guessed at the
road by which you attained it."

" I trust/' said Prince Charles, " that it is not a
path which your Majesty will think it consistent
with your high dignity to tread frequently."

" Never while I live again, Baby Charles, that
I give you my royal word on. They say that
hearkeners hear ill tales of themselves — by my
saul, my very ears are tingling wi' that auld sorrow
Sir Mungo's sarcasms. He called us close-fisted,
Steenie — I am sure you can contradict that. But
it is mere envy in the auld mutilated sinner, because
he himself has neither a noble to hold in his loof,
nor fingers to close on it if he had." Here the
King lost recollection of Sir Mungo's irreverence
in chuckling over his own wit, and only farther
alluded to it by saying — "We must give the old
maunderer bos in linguam — something to stop his
mouth, or he will rail at us from Dan to Beersheba.
— And now, my lords, let our warrant of mercy to
Lord Glenvarloch be presently expedited, and he
put to his freedom ; and as his estate is likely to go
so sleaveless a gate, we will consider what means of
favour we can show him. — My lords, I wish you
an appetite to an early supper — for our labours have
approached that term. — Baby Charles and Steenie,
you will remain till our couchee. — My Lord Bishop,
you will be pleased to stay to bless our meat. —
Geordie Heriot, a word with you apart."

His Majesty then drew the citizen into a corner,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 291

while the counsellors, those excepted who had been
commanded to remain, made their obeisance, and
withdrew. " Geordic," said the King, " my good
and trusty servant " — Here he busied his fingers
much with the points and ribbons of his dress, —
" Ye see that we have granted, from our own
natural sense of right and justice, that which yon
long-backed fallow, Moniplies I think they ca'
him, proffered to purchase from us with a mighty
bribe ; whilk we refused, as being a crowned King,
who wad neither sell our justice nor our mercy for
pecuniar consideration. Now, what think ye should
be the upshot of this ? "

" My Lord Glenvarloch's freedom, and his
restoration to your Majesty's favour," said Heriot.

" I ken that," said the King, peevishly. " Ye
are very dull to-day. I mean, what do you think
this fallow Moniplies should think about the
matter ? "

" Surely that your Majesty is a most good and
gracious sovereign," answered Heriot.

" We had need to be gude and gracious baith,"
said the King, still more pettishly, " that have idiots
about us that cannot understand what we mint at,
unless we speak it out in braid Lowlands. See this
chield Moniplies, sir, and tell him what we have
done for Lord Glenvarloch, in whom he takes such
part, out of our own gracious motion, though we
refused to do it on ony proffer of private advantage.
Now, you may put it till him, as if of your own
mind, whether it will be a gracious or a dutiful part
in him, to press us for present payment of the two
or three hundred miserable pounds for whilk we
were obliged to opignorate our jewels? Indeed,

292 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

mony men may think ye wad do the part of a good
citizen, if you took it on yourself to refuse him pay-
ment, seeing he hath had what he professed to
esteem full satisfaction, and considering, moreover,
that it is evident he hath no pressing need of the
money, whereof we have much necessity."

George Heriot sighed internally. " O my
Master," thought he — "my dear Master, is it
then fated you are never to indulge any kingly
or noble sentiment, without its being sullied by
some afterthought of interested selfishness ! "

The King troubled himself not about what he
thought, but taking him by the collar, said, — " Ye
ken my meaning now, Jingler — awa wi' ye. You
are a wise man — manage it your ain gate — but for-
get not our present straits." The citizen made his
obeisance, and withdrew.

" And now, bairns," said the King, " what do
you look upon each other for — and what have you
got to ask of your dear dad and gossip ?"

" Only," said the Prince, " that it would please
your Majesty to command the lurking-place a the
prison to be presently built up — the groans of a
captive should not be brought in evidence against
him."

" What ! build up my lugg, Baby Charles ?
And yet, better deaf than hear ill tales of oneself.
So let them build it up, hard and fast, without
delay, the rather that my back is sair with sitting
in it for a whole hour. — And now let us see what
the cooks have been doing for us, bonny bairns."

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Chapter XVII

To this brave man the knight repairs
For counsel in his law affairs ;
And found him mounted in his pew.
With books and money placed for show,
Like nest-eggs to make clients lay,
And for his false opinion pay.

Hudibras .

OUR readers may recollect a certain smooth-tongued,
lank-haired, buckram-suited, Scottish scrivener,
who, in the first volume of this history, appeared in
the character of a protege of George Heriot. It
is to his house we are about to remove, but times
have changed with him. The petty booth hath
become a chamber of importance — the buckram
suit is changed into black velvet ; and although the
wearer retains his puritanical humility and politeness
to clients of consequence, he can now look others
broad in the face, and treat them with a full allow-
ance of superior opulence, and the insolence arising
from it. It was but a short period that had
achieved these alterations, nor was the party himself
as yet entirely accustomed to them, but the change
was becoming less embarrassing to him with every
day's practice. Among other acquisitions of wealth,
you may see one of Davy Ramsay's best timepieces
on the table, and his eye is frequently observing its
revolutions, while a boy, whom he employs as a
scribe, is occasionally sent out to compare its pro-
gress with the clock of Saint Dunstan.

The scrivener himself seemed considerably agi-
tated. He took from a strong-box a bundle of

294 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

parchments, and read passages of them with great
attention ; then began to soliloquize — " There is
no outlet which law can suggest — no back-door of
evasion — none — if the lands of Glenvarloch are not
redeemed before it rings noon, Lord Dalgarno has
them a cheap pennyworth. Strange, that he should
have been at last able to set his patron at defiance,
and achieve for himself the fair estate, with the
prospect of which he so long flattered the powerful
Buckingham. — Might not Andrew Skurliewhitter
nick him as neatly? He hath been my patron —
true — not more than Buckingham was his ; and he
can be so no more, for he departs presently for
Scotland. I am glad of it — I hate him, and I fear
him. He knows too many of my secrets — I know
too many of his. But, no — no — no — I need never
attempt it, there are no means of over-reaching
him.— Well, Willie, what o'clock ? "

" Ele'en hours just chappit, sir."

" Go to your desk without, child," said the
scrivener. "What to do next — I shall lose the
old Earl's fair business, and, what is worse, his
son's foul practice. Old Heriot looks too close
into business to permit me more than the paltry and
ordinary dues. The Whitefriars business was pro-
fitable, but it has become unsafe ever since — pah !
— what brought that in my head just now ? I can
hardly hold my pen — if men should see me in this
way! — Willie," (calling aloud to the boy,) "a cup
of distilled waters — Soh ! — now I could face the
devil."

He spoke the last words aloud, and close by the
door of the apartment, which was suddenly opened
by Richie Moniplies, followed by two gentlemen,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 295

and attended by two porters bearing money-bags.
"If ye can face the devil, Maister Skurliewhitter,"
said Richie, " ye will be the less likely to turn your
back on a sack or twa o' siller, which I have ta'en
the freedom to bring you. Sathanas and Mammon
are near akin." The porters, at the same time,
ranged their load on the floor.

"I — I," — stammered the surprised scrivener —
"I cannot guess what you mean, sir."

" Only that I have brought you the redemp-
tion-money on the part of Lord Glenvarloch, in
discharge of a certain mortgage over his family
inheritance. And here, in good time, comes
Master Reginald Lowestoffe, and another honour-
able gentleman of the Temple, to be witnesses to
the transaction."

"I — I incline to think," said the scrivener, "that
the term is expired."

" You will pardon us, Master Scrivener," said
LowestofFe. "You will not baffle us — it wants
three-quarters of noon by every clock in the city."

" I must have time, gentlemen," said Andrew,
"to examine the gold by tale and weight."

" Do so at your leisure, Master Scrivener," re-
plied Lowestoffe again. "We have already seen
the contents of each sack told and weighed, and
we have put our seals on them. There they stand
in a row, twenty in number, each containing three
hundred yellow-hammers — we are witnesses to the
lawful tender."

" Gentlemen," said the scrivener, "this security
now belongs to a mighty lord. 1 pray you, abate
your haste, and let me send for Lord Dalgarno, —
or rather I will run for him myself."

296 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

So saying, he took up his hat ; but Lowestoffe
called out, — " Friend Moniplies, keep the door fast,
an thou be'st a man ! he seeks but to put off the
time. — In plain terms, Andrew, you may send for
the devil, if you will, who is the mightiest lord of
my acquaintance, but from hence you stir not till
you have answered our proposition, by rejecting or
accepting the redemption-money fairly tendered —
there it lies — take it, or leave it, as you will. I
have skill enough to know that the law is mightier
than any lord in Britain — I have learned so much
at the Temple, if I have learned nothing else. And
see that you trifle not with it, lest it make your long
ears an inch shorter, Master Skurliewhitter."

" Nay, gentlemen, if you threaten me," said the
scrivener, " I cannot resist compulsion."

"No threats — no threats at all, my little
Andrew," said Lowestoffe ; "a little friendly
advice only — forget not, honest Andrew, I have
seen you in Alsatia."

Without answering a single word, the scrivener
sat down, and drew in proper form a full receipt for
the money proffered.

" I take it on your report, Master LowestofFe,"
he said ; " I hope you will remember I have in-
sisted neither upon weight nor tale — I have been
civil — if there is deficiency I shall come to loss."

" Fillip his nose with a gold-piece, Richie," quoth
the Templar. " Take up the papers, and now wend
we merrily to dine thou wot'st where."

"If I might choose," said Richie, "it should
not be at yonder roguish ordinary; but as it is
your pleasure, gentlemen, the treat shall be given
wheresoever you will have it."

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" At the ordinary," said the one Templar.
"At Beaujeu's," said the other; "it is the only
house in London for neat wines, nimble drawers,
choice dishes, and "

" And high charges," quoth Richie Moniplies.
" But, as I said before, gentlemen, ye have a right
to command me in this thing, having so frankly
rendered me your service in this small matter of
business, without other stipulation than that of a
slight banquet."

The latter part of this discourse passed in the
street, where, immediately afterwards, they met
Lord Dalgarno. He appeared in haste, touched his
hat slightly to Master Lowestoffe, who returned his
reverence with the same negligence, and walked
slowly on with his companion, while Lord Dalgarno
stopped Richie Moniplies with a commanding sign,
which the instinct of education compelled Moniplies,
though indignant, to obey.

" Whom do you now follow, sirrah ? " demanded
the noble.

"Whomsoever goeth before me, my lord,"
answered Moniplies.

" No sauciness, you knave — I desire to know if
you still serve Nigel Olifaunt ? " said Dalgarno.

" I am friend to the noble Lord Glenvarloch,"
answered Moniplies, with dignity.

"True," replied Lord Dalgarno, "that noble lord
has sunk to seek friends among lackeys — Neverthe-
less,— hark thee hither, — nevertheless, if he be of
the same mind as when we last met, thou mayst
show him, that, on to-morrow, at four afternoon, I
shall pass northward by Enfield Chase — I will be
slenderly attended, as I design to send my train

298 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

through Barnet. It is my purpose to ride an easy
pace through the forest, and to linger a while by
Camlet Moat — he knows the place ; and, if he be
aught but an Alsatian bully, will think it fitter for
some purposes than the Park. He is, I understand,
at liberty, or shortly to be so. If he fail me at the
place nominated, he must seek me in Scotland, where
he will find me possessed of his father's estate and
lands."

" Humph ! " muttered Richie ; " there go twa
words to that bargain."

He even meditated a joke on the means which
he was conscious he possessed of baffling Lord
Dalgarno's expectations ; but there was something
of keen and dangerous excitement in the eyes of the
young nobleman, which prompted his discretion for
once to rule his wit, and he only answered —

" God grant your lordship may well brook your
new conquest — when you get it. I shall do your
errand to my lord— whilk is to say," he added in-
ternally, " he shall never hear a word of it from
Richie. I am not the lad to put him in such
hazard."

Lord Dalgarno looked at him sharply for a
moment, as if to penetrate the meaning of the dry
ironical tone, which, in spite of Richie's awe,
mingled with his answer, and then waved his hand,
in signal he should pass on. He himself walked
slowly till the trio were out of sight, then turned
back with hasty steps to the door of the scrivener,
which he had passed in his progress, knocked, and
was admitted.

Lord Dalgarno found the man of law with the
money-bags still standing before him j and it escaped

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 299

not his penetrating glance, that Skurliewhitter was
disconcerted and alarmed at his approach.

" How now, man/' he said ; "what ! hast thou
not a word of oily compliment to me on my happy
marriage ? — not a word of most philosophical con-
solation on my disgrace at Court ? — Or has my mien,
as a wittol and discarded favourite, the properties
of the Gorgon's head, the turbata Palladis arma, as
Majesty might say ? "

" My lord, I am glad — my lord, I am sorry,"-
answered the trembling scrivener, who, aware of the
vivacity of Lord Dalgarno's temper, dreaded the
consequence of the communication he had to make
to him.

" Glad and sorry ! " answered Lord Dalgarno.
"That is blowing hot and cold, with a witness.
Hark ye, you picture of petty-larceny personified —
if you are sorry I am a cuckold, remember I am
only mine own, you knave — there is too little blood
in her cheeks to have sent her astray elsewhere.
Well, I will bear mine antler'd honours as I may
— gold shall gild them ; and for my disgrace, re-
venge shall sweeten it. Ay, revenge — and there
strikes the happy hour ! "

The hour of noon was accordingly heard to
peal from Saint Dunstan's. " Well banged, brave
hammers ! " said Lord Dalgarno, in triumph. —
" The estate and lands of Glenvarloch are crushed
beneath these clanging blows. If my steel to-
morrow prove but as true as your iron maces
to-day, the poor landless lord will little miss what
your peal hath cut him out from. — The papers —
the papers, thou varlet ! I am to-morrow North-
ward, ho ! At four, afternoon, I am bound to be

300 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

at Camlet Moat, in the Enfield Chase. To-night
most of my retinue set forward. The papers ! —
Come, dispatch."

" My lord, the — the papers of the Glenvarloch
mortgage — I — I have them not."

" Have them not ! " echoed Lord Dalgarno, —
" Hast thou sent them to my lodging, thou varlet ?
Did I not say I was coming hither ? — What mean
you by pointing to that money ? What villainy
have you done for it ? It is too large to be come
honestly by."

"Your lordship knows best," answered the
scrivener, in great perturbation. "The gold is
your own. It is — it is "

" Not the redemption-money of the Glenvarloch
estate ! " said Dalgarno. " Dare not say it is, or I
will, upon the spot, divorce your pettifogging soul
from your carrion carcass ! " So saying, he seized
the scrivener by the collar, and shook him so
vehemently, that he tore it from the cassock.

" My lord, I must call for help," said the trem-
bling caitiff, who felt at that moment all the bitter-
ness of the mortal agony — " It was the law's act,
not mine. What could I do ? "

"Dost ask? — why, thou snivelling dribblet of
damnation, were all thy oaths, tricks, and lies spent ?
or do you hold yourself too good to utter them in
my service ? Thou shouldst have lied, cozened, out-
sworn truth itself, rather than stood betwixt me
and my revenge ! But mark me," he continued ;
" I know more of your pranks than would hang
thee. A line from me to the Attorney-General,
and thou art sped."

"What would you have me to do, my lord?"

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 301

said the scrivener. "All that art and law can
accomplish, I will try."

" Ah, are you converted ? do so, or pity of your
life! " said the lord; "and remember I never fail
my word. — Then keep that accursed gold," he
continued. " Or, stay, I will not trust you — send
me this gold home presently to my lodging. I
will still forward to Scotland, and it shall go hard
but that I hold out Glenvarloch Castle against the
owner, by means of the ammunition he has himself
furnished. Thou art ready to serve me ? " The
scrivener professed the most implicit obedience.

"Then remember, the hour was past ere pay-
ment was tendered — and see thou hast witnesses of
trusty memory to prove that point."

"Tush, my lord, I will do more," said Andrew,
reviving — " I will prove that Lord Glenvarloch's
friends threatened, swaggered, and drew swords
on me. — Did your lordship think I was ungrateful
enough to have suffered them to prejudice your lord-
ship, save that they had bare swords at my throat?"
" Enough said," replied Dalgarno; "you are per-
fect— mind that you continue so, as you would avoid
my fury. I leave my page below — get porters, and
let them follow me instantly with the gold."

So saying, Lord Dalgarno left the scrivener's
habitation.

Skurliewhitter, having dispatched his boy to
get porters of trust for transporting the money,
remained alone and in dismay, meditating by what
means he could shake himself free of the vindictive
and ferocious nobleman, who possessed at once a
dangerous knowledge of his character, and the
wer of exposing him, where exposure would be

302 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

ruin. He had indeed acquiesced in the plan,
rapidly sketched, for obtaining possession of the
ransomed estate, but his experience foresaw that
this would be impossible; while, on the other
hand, he could not anticipate the various con-
sequences of Lord Dalgarno's resentment, without
fears, from which his sordid soul recoiled. To be
in the power, and subject both to the humours and
the extortions of a spendthrift young lord, just
when his industry had shaped out the means of
fortune, — it was the most cruel trick which fate
could have played the incipient usurer.

While the scrivener was in this fit of anxious
anticipation, one knocked at the door of the apart-
ment ; and, being desired to enter, appeared in the
coarse riding-cloak of uncut Wiltshire cloth, fastened
by a broad leather belt and brass buckle, which was
then generally worn by graziers and countrymen.
Skurliewhitter, believing he saw in his visitor a
country client who might prove profitable, had
opened his mouth to request him to be seated, when
the stranger, throwing back his frieze hood which
he had drawn over his face, showed the scrivener
features well imprinted in his recollection, but which
he never saw without a disposition to swoon.

" Is it you ? " he said, faintly, as the stranger
replaced the hood which concealed his features.

" Who else should it be ? " said his visitor.

M Thou son of parchment, got betwixt the inkhorn
And the stufPd process-bag — that mayest call
The pen thy father, and the ink thy mother,
The wax thy brother, and the sand thy sister
And the good pillory thy cousin allied —
Rise, and do reverence unto me, thy better ! "

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 303

" Not yet down to the country," said the
scrivener, " after every warning ? Do not think
your grazier's cloak will bear you out, captain —
no, nor your scraps of stage-plays."

" Why, what would you have me to do ? " said
the captain — " Would you have me starve ? If
I am to fly, you must eke my wings with a few
feathers. You can spare them, I think."

" You had means already — you have had ten
pieces — What is become of them ? "

"Gone," answered Captain Colepepper — "Gone,
no matter where — I had a mind to bite, and I was
bitten, that's all— I think my hand shook at the
thought of t'other night's work, for I trowled the
doctors like a very baby."

" And you have lost all, then ? — Well, take this
and be gone," said the scrivener.

" What, two poor smelts ! Marry, plague of your
bounty ! — But remember, you are as deep in as I."

" Not so, by Heaven !" answered the scrivener ;
" I only thought of easing the old man of some
papers and a trifle of his gold, and you took his life."

" Were he living," answered Colepepper, " he
would rather have lost it than his money. — But
that is not the question, Master Skurliewhitter —
you undid the private bolts of the window when
you visited him about some affairs on the day ere
he died — so satisfy yourself, that, if I am taken, I
will not swing alone. Pity Jack Hempsfield is
dead, it spoils the old catch,

' And three merry men, and three merry men,

And three merry men are we,
As ever did sing three parts in a string,
All under the triple tree.' "

304 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" For God's sake, speak lower," said the scriv-
ener ; "is this a place or time to make your midnight
catches heard ? — But how much will serve your
turn ? I tell you I am but ill provided."

"You tell me a lie, then," said the bully — "a
most palpable and gross lie. — How much, d'ye say,
will serve my turn ? Why, one of these bags will
do for the present."

" I swear to you that these bags of money are
not at my disposal."

" Not honestly, perhaps," said the captain, " but
that makes little difference betwixt us."

" I swear to you," continued the scrivener, " they
are in no way at my disposal — they have been de-
livered to me by tale — I am to pay them over to
Lord Dalgarno, whose boy waits for them, and I
could not skelder one piece out of them, without
risk of hue and cry."

" Can you not put off the delivery ? " said the
bravo, his huge hand still fumbling with one of the
bags, as if his fingers longed to close on it.

" Impossible," said the scrivener, " he sets for-
ward to Scotland to-morrow."

" Ay !" said the bully, after a moment's thought
— " Travels he the north road with such a charge ? "

" He is well accompanied," added the scrivener ;
« but yet "

" But yet — but what ? " said the bravo.

" Nay, I meant nothing," said the scrivener.

" Thou didst — thou hadst the wind of some good
thing," replied Colepepper ; " I saw thee pause like
a setting dog. Thou wilt say as little, and make
as sure a sign, as a well-bred spaniel."

*' All I meant to say, captain, was, that his ser-

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 305

vants go by Barnet, and he himself, with his page,
pass through Enfield Chase ; and he spoke to me
yesterday of riding a soft pace."

" Aha ! — Comest thou to me there, my boy ? "

"And of resting" — continued the scrivener, —
" resting a space at Camlet Moat."

"Why, this is better than cock-fighting!" said
the captain.

" I see not how it can advantage you, captain,"
said the scrivener. " But, however, they cannot ride
fast, for his page rides the sumpter-horse, which
carries all that weight," pointing to the money on
the table. " Lord Dalgarno looks sharp to the
world's gear."

" That horse will be obliged to those who may
ease him of his burden," said the bravo ; " and
egad, he may be met with. — He hath still that page
— that same Lutin — that goblin ? Well, the boy
hath set game for me ere now. I will be revenged,
too, for I owe him a grudge for an old score at the
ordinary. Let me see — Black Feltham, and Dick
Shakebag — we shall want a fourth — I love to make
sure, and the booty will stand parting, besides what
I can bucket them out of. Well, scrivener, lend
me two pieces. — Bravely done — nobly imparted !
Give ye good-den." And wrapping his disguise
closer around him, away he went.

When he had left the room, the scrivener wrung
his hands, and exclaimed, " More blood — more
blood ! I thought to have had done with it, but
this time there was no fault with me — none — and
then 1 shall have all the advantage. If this ruffian
falls, there is truce with his tugs at my purse-strings ;
and if Lord Dalgarno dies — as is most likely, for
27 u

306 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

though as much afraid of cold steel as a debtor of
a dun, this fellow is a deadly shot from behind a
bush, — then am I in a thousand ways safe — safe —
safe."

We willingly drop the curtain over him and his
reflections.

Chapter XVIII

We are not worst at once — the course of evil
Begins so slowly, and from such slight source,
An infant's hand might stem its breach with clay ;
But let the stream get deeper, and philosophy —
Ay, and religion too — shall strive in vain
To turn the headlong torrent.

Old Play.

THE Templars had been regaled by our friend
Richie Moniplies in a private chamber at Beaujeu's,
where he might be considered as good company;
for he had exchanged his serving-man's cloak
and jerkin for a grave yet handsome suit of clothes,
in the fashion of the times, but such as might
have befitted an older man than himself. He
had positively declined presenting himself at the
ordinary, a point to which his companions were
very desirous to have brought him, for it will be
easily believed that such wags as Lowestoffe and his
companion were not indisposed to a little merriment
at the expense of the raw and pedantic Scotsman ;
besides the chance of easing him of a few pieces, of
which he appeared to have acquired considerable
command. But not even a succession of measures
of sparkling sack, in which the little brilliant atoms
circulated like motes in the sun's rays, had the least

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 307

effect on Richie's sense of decorum. He retained
the gravity of a judge, even while he drank like a fish,
partly from his own natural inclination to good liquor,
partly in the way of good fellowship towards his
guests. When the wine began to make some in-
novation on their heads, Master Lowestoffe, tired,
perhaps, of the humours of Richie, who began to
become yet more stoically contradictory and dog-
matical than even in the earlier part of the entertain-
ment, proposed to his friend to break up their debauch
and join the gamesters.

The drawer was called accordingly, and Richie
discharged the reckoning of the party, with a generous
remuneration to the attendants, which was received
with cap and knee, and many assurances of — " Kindly
welcome, gentlemen. "

" I grieve we should part so soon, gentlemen,"
said Richie to his companions, — " and I would you
had cracked another quart ere you went, or stayed
to take some slight matter of supper, and a glass of
Rhenish. I thank you, however, for having graced
my poor collation thus far ; and I commend you to
fortune, in your own courses, for the ordinary neither
was, is, nor shall be, an element of mine."

" Fare thee well, then," said Lowestoffe, " most
sapient and sententious Master Moniplies. May you
soon have another mortgage to redeem, and may I
be there to witness it ; and may you play the good
fellow as heartily as you have done this day. "

" Nay, gentlemen, it is merely of your grace
to say so — but, if you would but hear me speak a
few words of admonition respecting this wicked
ordinary "

" Reserve the lesson, most honourable Richie,"

308 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

said LowestofFe, "until I have lost all my money,"
showing, at the same time, a purse indifferently well
provided, " and then the lecture is likely to have
some weight. "

" And keep my share of it, Richie," said the
other Templar, showing an almost empty purse, in
his turn, "till this be full again, and then I will
promise to hear you with some patience."

" Ay, ay, gallants," said Richie, " the full and
the empty gang a' ae gate, and that is a grey one —
but the time will come."

" Nay, it is come already," said Lowestoffe ;
" they have set out the hazard table. Since you
will peremptorily not go with us, why, farewell,
Richie."

"And farewell, gentlemen," said Richie, and
left the house, into which they had returned.

Moniplies was not many steps from the door,
when a person, whom, lost in his reflections on
gaming, ordinaries, and the manners of the age, he
had not observed, and who had been as negligent
on his part, ran full against him ; and, when Richie
desired to know whether he meant " ony incivility,"
replied by a curse on Scotland, and all that belonged
to it. A less round reflection on his country would,
at any time, have provoked Richie, but more especi-
ally when he had a double quart of Canary and
better in his pate. He was about to give a very
rough answer, and to second his word by action,
when a closer view of his antagonist changed his
purpose.

** You are the vera lad in the warld," said Richie,
"whom I most wished to meet."

"And you," answered the stranger, "or any of

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 309

your beggarly countrymen, are the last sight 1
should ever wish to see. You Scots are ever fair
and false, and an honest man cannot thrive within
eyeshot of you."

"As to our poverty, friend," replied Richie,
" that is as Heaven pleases ; but touching our falset,
I'll prove to you that a Scotsman bears as leal and
true a heart to his friend as ever beat in English
doublet."

" I care not whether he does or not," said the
gallant. " Let me go — why keep you hold of my
cloak ? Let me go, or I will thrust you into the
kennel."

" I believe I could forgie ye, for you did me a
good turn once, in plucking me out of it," said the
Scot.

" Beshrew my fingers, then, if they did so," re-
plied the stranger. " I would your whole country
lay there, along with you ; and Heaven's curse
blight the hand that helped to raise them ! — Why
do you stop my way ? " he added, fiercely.

" Because it is a bad one, Master Jenkin," said
Richie. " Nay, never start about it, man — you see
you are known. Alack-a-day ! that an honest man's
son should live to start at hearing himself called by
his own name ! " Jenkin struck his brow violently
with his clenched fist.

" Come, come," said Richie, " this passion avail-
eth nothing. Tell me what gate go you ? "

" To the devil ! " answered Jin Vin.

" That is a black gate, if you speak according to
the letter," answered Richie ; " but if metaphori-
cally, there are worse places in this great city than
the Devil Tavern ; and I care not if I go thither

3io THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

with you, and bestow a pottle of burnt sack on you
— it will correct the crudities of my stomach, and
form a gentle preparative for the leg of a cold
pullet."

" I pray you, in good fashion, to let me go,"
said Jenkin. " You may mean me kindly, and
I wish you to have no wrong at my hand ; but I
am in the humour to be dangerous to myself, or
any one."

" I will abide the risk," said the Scot, " if you
will but come with me; and here is a place con-
venient, a howff nearer than the Devil, whilk is
but an ill-omened drouthy name for a tavern. This
other of the Saint Andrew is a quiet place, where I
have ta'en my whetter now and then when I lodged
in the neighbourhood of the Temple with Lord
Glenvarloch. — What the deil's the matter wi' the
man, garr'd him gie sic a spang as that, and almaist
brought himself and me on the causeway ? "

" Do not name that false Scot's name to me,"
said Jin Vin, " if you would not have me go mad !
— I was happy before 1 saw him — he has been the
cause of all the ill that has befallen me — he has
made a knave and a madman of me ! "

u If you are a knave," said Richie, " you have
met an officer — if you are daft, you have met a
keeper ; but a gentle officer and a kind keeper.
Look you, my gude friend, there has been twenty
things said about this same lord, in which there is
no more truth than in the leasings of Mahound.
The warst they can say of him is, that he is not
always so amenable to good advice as I would pray
him, you, and every young man to be. Come wi'
me — just come ye wi' me ; and, if a little spell of

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 3"

siller and a great deal of excellent counsel can re-
lieve your occasions, all I can say is, you have had
the luck to meet one capable of giving you both,
and maist willing to bestow them.'*

The pertinacity of the Scot prevailed over the
sullenness of Vincent, who was indeed in a state of
agitation and incapacity to think for himself, which
led him to yield the more readily to the suggestions
of another. He suffered himself to be dragged
into the small tavern which Richie recommended,
and where they soon found themselves seated in
a snug niche, with a reeking pottle of burnt sack,
and a paper of sugar betwixt them. Pipes and
tobacco were also provided, but were only used
by Richie, who had adopted the custom of late,
as adding considerably to the gravity and import-
ance of his manner, and affording, as it were, a
bland and pleasant accompaniment to the words of
wisdom which flowed from his tongue. After they
had filled their glasses and drank them in silence,
Richie repeated the question, whither his guest was
going when they met so fortunately.

** I told you," said Jenkin, " I was going to
destruction — I mean to the gaming-house. I am
resolved to hazard these two or three pieces, to get
as much as will pay for a passage with Captain
Sharker, whose ship lies at Gravesend, bound for
America — and so Eastward, ho! — 1 met one devil
in the way already, who would have tempted me
from my purpose, but I spurned him from me — you
may be another for what I know. — What degree
of damnation do you propose for me," he added
wildly, " and what is the price of it ? "

" I would have you to know," answered Richie,

312 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" that I deal in no such commodities, whether as
buyer or seller. But if you will tell me honestly
the cause of your distress, I will do what is in my
power to help you out of it, — not being, however,
prodigal of promises, until I know the case ; as a
learned physician only gives advice when he has
observed the diagnostics."

" No one has any thing to do with my affairs,"
said the poor lad ; and folding his arms on the table,
he laid his head upon them, with the sullen dejec-
tion of the overburdened lama, when it throws itself
down to die in desperation.

Richie Moniplies, like most folk who have a
good opinion of themselves, was fond of the task of
consolation, which at once displayed his superiority,
(for the consoler is necessarily, for the time at least,
superior to the afflicted person,) and indulged his
love of talking. He inflicted on the poor penitent
a harangue of pitiless length, stuffed full of the
usual topics of the mutability of human affairs —
the eminent advantages of patience under affliction —
the folly of grieving for what hath no remedy — the
necessity of taking more care for the future, and
some gentle rebukes on account of the past, which
acid he threw in to assist in subduing the patient's
obstinacy, as Hannibal used vinegar in cutting his
way through rocks. It was not in human nature
to endure this flood of commonplace eloquence in
silence ; and Jin Vin, whether desirous of stopping
the flow of words crammed thus into his ear, "against
the stomach of his sense," or whether confiding
in Richie's protestations of friendship, which the
wretched, says Fielding, are ever so ready to be-
lieve, or whether merely to give his sorrows vent

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 313

in words, raised his head, and turning his red and
swollen eyes to Richie —

" Cocksbones, man, only hold thy tongue, and
thou shalt know all about it, — and then all I ask of
thee is to shake hands and part. — This Margaret
Ramsay, — you have seen her, man ?"

" Once," said Richie, " once, at Master George
Heriot's, in Lombard Street — I was in the room
when they dined."

" Ay, you helped to shift their trenchers, I re-
member," said Jin Vin. " Well, that same pretty
girl — and I will uphold her the prettiest betwixt
Paul's and the Bar — she is to be wedded to your
Lord Glenvarloch, with a pestilence on him ! "

" That is impossible," said Richie ; " it is raving
nonsense, man — they make April gouks of you
cockneys every month in the year — The Lord
Glenvarloch marry the daughter of a Lonnon
mechanic ! I would as soon believe the great
Prester John would marry the daughter of a Jew
packman."

" Hark ye, brother," said Jin Vin, " I will allow
no one to speak disregardfully of the city, for all I
am in trouble."

" I crave your pardon, man — I meant no offence,"
said Richie ; " but as to the marriage, it is a thing
simply impossible."

" It is a thing that will take place, though, for
the Duke and the Prince, and all of them, have a
finger in it ; and especially the old fool of a King,
that makes her out to be some great woman in her
own country, as all the Scots pretend to be, you
know."

" Master Vincent, but that you are under afflic-

314 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

tion," said the consoler, offended on his part, " I
would hear no national reflections."

The afflicted youth apologized in his turn, but
asserted, «' it was true that the King said Peg-a-
Ramsay was some far-off sort of noblewoman ; and
that he had taken a great interest in the match, and
had run about like an old gander, cackling about
Peggie ever since he had seen her in hose and
doublet — and no wonder," added poor Vin, with
a deep sigh.

" This may be all true," said Richie, " though
it sounds strange in my ears ; but, man, you should
not speak evil of dignities — Curse not the King,
Jenkin ; not even in thy bedchamber — stone walls
have ears — no one has a right to know that better
than I."

"I do not curse the foolish old man," said
Jenkin ; " but I would have them carry things a peg
lower. — If they were to see on a plain field thirty
thousand such pikes as I have seen in the artillery
gardens, it would not be their long-haired courtiers
would help them, I trow." *

" Hout tout, man," said Richie, " mind where
the Stewarts come frae, and never think they would
want spears or claymores either ; but leaving sic
matters, whilk are perilous to speak on, I say once
more, what is your concern in all this matter ?"

* Clarendon remarks, that the importance of the military
exercise of the citizens was severely felt by the cavaliers
during the civil war, notwithstanding the ridicule that had
been showered upon it by the dramatic poets of the day.
Nothing less than habitual practice could, at the battle of
Newbury and elsewhere, have enabled the Londoners to
keep their ranks as pikemen, in spite of the repeated charge
of the fiery Prince Rupert and his gallant cavaliers.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 315

" What is it ? " said Jenkin ; " why, have I not
fixed on Peg-a-Ramsay to be my true love, from
the day I came to her old father's shop ? and have
I not carried her pattens and her chopines for three
years, and borne her prayer-book to church, and
brushed the cushion for her to kneel down upon,
and did she ever say me nay ? "

" I see no cause she had," said Richie, " if the
like of such small services were all that ye proffered.
Ah, man ! there are few — very few, either of fools
or of wise men, ken how to guide a woman."

" Why, did I not serve her at the risk of my
freedom, and very nigh at the risk of my neck ?
Did she not — no, it was not her neither, but that
accursed beldam whom she caused to work upon
me — persuade me like a fool to turn myself into a
waterman to help my lord, and a plague to him,
down to Scotland ? and instead of going peaceably
down to the ship at Gravesend, did not he rant and
bully, and show his pistols, and make me land him
at Greenwich, where he played some swaggering
pranks, that helped both him and me into the
Tower ? "

" Aha ! " said Richie, throwing more than his
usual wisdom into his looks ; " so you were the
green- jacketed waterman that rowed Lord Glen-
varloch down the river ? "

'* The more fool 1, that did not souse him in the
Thames," said Jenkin ; " and I was the lad that
would not confess one word of who or what I was,
though they threatened to make me hug the Duke
of Exeter's daughter." *

* A particular species of rack, naed at the Tower of
London, was so called.

316 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Wha is she, man ? " said Richie ; " she must
be an ill-fashioned piece, if you're so much afraid
of her, and she come of such high kin."

" I mean the rack — the rack, man," said Jenkin.
" Where were you bred that never heard of the
Duke of Exeter's daughter ? But all the dukes and
duchesses in England could have got nothing out of
me — so the truth came out some other way, and I
was set free. — Home I ran, thinking myself one of
the cleverest and happiest fellows in the ward. And
she — she — she wanted to pay me with money for
all my true service ! and she spoke so sweetly and
so coldly at the same time, I wished myself in the
deepest dungeon of the Tower — I wish they had
racked me to death before I heard this Scottishman
was to chouse me out of my sweetheart !"

" But are ye sure ye have lost her ? " said Richie ;
" it sounds strange in my ears that my Lord Glen-
varloch should marry the daughter of a dealer, —
though there are uncouth marriages made in London,
I'll allow that."

" Why, I tell you this lord was no sooner clear
of the Tower, than he and Master George Heriot
comes to make proposals for her, with the King's
assent, and what not; and fine fair-day prospects
of Court favour for this lord, for he hath not an
acre of land."

" Well, and what said the auld watch-maker ? "
said Richie ; " was he not, as might weel beseem
him, ready to loup out of his skin-case for very
joy?"

"He multiplied six figures progressively, and
reported the product — then gave his consent."

" And what did you do ? "

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" I rushed into the streets," said the poor lad,
" with a burning heart and a blood-shot eye — and
where did I first find myself, but with that beldam,
Mother Suddlechop — and what did she propose to
me, but to take the road ? "

" Take the road, man ? in what sense ? " said
Richie.

" Even as a clerk to Saint Nicholas — as a high-
wayman, like Poins and Peto, and the good fellows
in the play — and who think you was to be my cap-
tain ? — for she had the whole out ere I could speak
to her — I fancy she took silence for consent, and
thought me damned too unutterably to have one
thought left that savoured of redemption — who was
to be my captain, but the knave that you saw me
cudgel at the ordinary when you waited on Lord
Glenvarloch, a cowardly, sharking, thievish bully
about town here, whom they call Colepepper."

" Colepepper--umph — I know somewhat of that
smaik," said Richie; "ken ye by ony chance where
he may be heard of, Master Jenkin ? — ye wad do
me a sincere service to tell me."

" Why, he lives something obscurely," answered
the apprentice, " on account of suspicion of some
villainy — I believe that horrid murder in White-
friars, or some such matter. But I might have heard
all about him from Dame Suddlechop, for she spoke
of my meeting him at Enfield Chase, with some
other good fellows, to do a robbery on one that goes
northward with a store of treasure."

"And you did not agree to this fine project?"
said Moniplies.

" I cursed her for a hag, and came away about
i my business," answered Jenkin.

318 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Ay, and what said she to that, man ? That
would startle her," said Richie.

" Not a whit. She laughed, and said she was
in jest," answered Jenkin; "but I know the she-
devil's jest from her earnest too well to be taken
in that way. But she knows I would never betray
her."

"Betray her! No," replied Richie; "but are
ye in any shape bound to this birkie Peppercull, or
Colepepper, or whatever they call him, that ye suld
let him do a robbery on the honest gentleman that
is travelling to the north, and may be a kindly Scot,
for what we know ? "

"Ay — going home with a load of English
money," said Jenkin. " But be he who he will,
they may rob the whole world an they list, for I
am robbed and ruined."

Richie filled up his friend's cup to the brim, and
insisted that he should drink what he called " clean
caup out." " This love," he said, " is but a bairnly
matter for a brisk young fellow like yourself, Master
Jenkin. And if ye must needs have a whimsy,
though I think it would be safer to venture on a
staid womanly body, why, here be as bonny lasses
in London as this Peg-a- Ramsay. Ye need not
sigh sae deeply, for it is very true — there is as good
fish in the sea as ever came out of it. Now where-
fore should you, who are as brisk and trig a young
fellow of your inches as the sun needs to shine on —
wherefore need you sit moping this way, and not try
some bold way to better your fortune ? "

" I tell you, Master Moniplies," said Jenkin, " I
am as poor as any Scot among you — I have broke
my indenture, and I think of running my country."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 319

" A-well-a-day ! " said Richie ; «* but that maunna
be, man — I ken weel, by sad experience, that poor-
tith takes away pith, and the man sits full still that
has a rent in his breeks.* But courage, man ; you
have served me heretofore, and I will serve you
now. If you will but bring me to speech of this
same Captain, it shall be the best day's work you
ever did."

" I guess where you are, Master Richard — you
would save your countryman's long purse," said
.lenkin. " I cannot see how that should advantage
me, but I reck not if I should bear a hand. I hate
that braggart, that bloody-minded, cowardly bully.
If you can get me mounted, 1 care not if I show you
where the dame told me I should meet him — but
you must stand to the risk, for though he is a coward
himself, I know he will have more than one stout
fellow with him."

" We'll have a warrant, man," said Richie, «« and
the hue and cry, to boot."

" We will have no such thing," said Jenkin, " if I
am to go with you. I am not the lad to betray any
one to the harman-beck. You must do it by man-
hood if I am to go with you. I am sworn to cutter's
law, and will sell no man's blood. "

" Aweel," said Richie, "a wilful man must have
his way ; ye must think that I was born and bred
where cracked crowns were plentier than whole ones.
Besides, 1 have two noble friends here, Master

* This elegant speech was made by the Earl of Douglas,
Culled Tinemun. afrer being wounded and made prisoner at
battle of Shrewsbury, where

•'His well labouring sword
Had three times slain the semblance of the King."

320 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Lowestoffe of the Temple, and his cousin Master
Ringwood, that will blithely be of so gallant a party."

" Lowestoffe and Ringwood ! " said Jenkin ; " they
are both brave gallants — they will be sure company.
Know you where they are to be found ? "

" Ay, marry do I," replied Richie. " They are
fast at the cards and dice, till the sma' hours, I
warrant them."

" They are gentlemen of trust and honour," said
Jenkin, " and, if they advise it, I will try the ad-
venture. Go, try if you can bring them hither, since
you have so much to say with them. We must not
be seen abroad together. — I know not how it is,
Master Moniplies," continued he, as his countenance
brightened up, and while, in his turn, he filled the
cups, " but I feel my heart something lighter since I
have thought of this matter."

" Thus it is to have counsellors, Master Jenkin,"
said Richie ; " and truly I hope to hear you say that
your heart is as light as a lavrock's, and that before
you are many days aulder. Never smile and shake
your head, but mind what I tell you — and bide here
in the meanwhile, till I go to seek these gallants. I
warrant you, cart-ropes would not hold them back
from such a ploy as I shall propose to them."

Chapter XIX

The thieves have bound the true men — Now,
could thou and I rob the thieves, and go merrily
to London.

Henry IV., Part I.

THE sun was high upon the glades of Enfield Chase,
and the deer, with which it then abounded, were

r

HE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 321

seen sporting in picturesque groups among the ancient
oaks of the forest, when a cavalier and a lady, on
foot, although in riding apparel, sauntered slowly up
one of the long alleys which were cut through the
park for the convenience of the hunters. Their
only attendant was a page, who, riding a Spanish
jennet, which seemed to bear a heavy cloak-bag,
followed them at a respectful distance. The female,
attired in all the fantastic finery of the period, with
more than the usual quantity of bugles, flounces, and
trimmings, and holding her fan of ostrich feathers
in one hand, and her riding-mask of black velvet in
the other, seemed anxious, by all the little coquetry
practised on such occasions, to secure the notice of
her companion, who sometimes heard her prattle
without seeming to attend to it, and at other times
interrupted his train of graver reflections, to reply
to her.

" Nay, but, my lord — my lord, you walk so fast,
you will leave me behind you. — Nay, I will have
hold of your arm, but how to manage with my mask
and my fan ? Why would you not let me bring my
waiting-gentlewoman to follow us, and hold my
things? But see, I will put my fan in my girdle,
soh ! — and now that I have a hand to hold you with,
you shall not run away from me.*'

" Come on, then," answered the gallant, " and
let us walk apace, since you would not be persuaded
to stay with your gentlewoman, as you call her, and
with the rest of the baggage. — You may perhaps
see that, though, you will not like to see."

She took hold of his arm accordingly ; but as he
continued to walk at the same pace, she shortly let
go her hold, exclaiming that he had hurt her hand.
27 x

322 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

The cavalier stopped, and looked at the pretty hand
and arm which she showed him, with exclamations
against his cruelty. " I dare say," she said, baring
her wrist and a part of her arm, " it is all black and
blue to the very elbow."

" I dare say you are a silly little fool," said the
cavalier, carelessly kissing the aggrieved arm ; " it
is only a pretty incarnate which sets off the blue
veins."

"Nay, my lord, now it is you are silly," an-
swered the dame ; " but I am glad I can make you
speak and laugh on any terms this morning. I am
sure, if I did insist on following you into the forest, it
was all for the sake of diverting you. I am better
company than your page, I trow. — And now, tell
me, these pretty things with horns, be they not deer ? "

" Even such they be, Nelly," answered her
neglectful attendant.

" And what can the great folk do with so many
of them, forsooth ? "

" They send them to the city, Nell, where wise
men make venison pasties of their flesh, and wear
their horns for trophies," answered Lord Dalgarno,
whom our reader has already recognised.

" Nay, now you laugh at me, my lord," answered
his companion ; " but I know all about venison,
whatever you may think. I always tasted it once
a-year when we dined with Mr Deputy," she con-
tinued, sadly, as a sense of her degradation stole
across a mind bewildered with vanity and folly,
" though he would not speak to me now, if we met
together in the narrowest lane in the Ward ! "

" I warrant he would not," said Lord Dalgarno,
" because thou, Nell, wouldst dash him with a

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 323

single look ; for I trust thou hast more spirit than
to throw away words on such a fellow as he ? "

" Who, I ! " said Dame Nelly. " Nay, I scorn
the proud princox too much for that. Do you know,
he made all the folk in the Ward stand cap in hand
to him, my poor old John Christie and all ? " Here
her recollection began to overflow at her eyes.

" A plague on your whimpering," said Dalgarno,
somewhat harshly, — " Nay, never look pale for the
matter, Nell. I am not angry with you, you simple
fool. But what would you have me think, when
you are eternally looking back upon your dungeon
yonder by the river, which smelt of pitch and old
cheese worse than a Welshman does of onions, and
all this when I am taking you down to a castle as
fine as is in Fairy Land ! "

" Shall we be there to-night, my lord ? " said
Nelly, drying her tears.

"To-night, Nelly ? — no, nor this night fortnight."

" Now, the Lord be with us, and keep us ! — But
shall we not go by sea, my lord ? — I thought every-
body came from Scotland by sea. I am sure Lord
Glenvarloch and Richie Moniplies came up by
sea."

" There is a wide difference between coming up
and going down, Nelly," answered Lord Dalgarno.

" And so there is, for certain," said his simple
companion. " But yet I think I heard people speak-
ing of going down to Scotland by sea, as well as
coming up. Are you well avised of the way ? —
Do you think it possible we can go by land, my
sweet lord?"

" It is but trying, my sweet lady," said Lord
Dalgarno. " Men say England and Scotland are

324 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

in the same island, so one would hope there may be
some road betwixt them by land."

" I shall never be able to ride so far," said the
lady.

"We will have your saddle stuffed softer," said
the lord. " I tell you that you shall mew your city
slough, and change from the caterpillar of a paltry
lane into the butterfly of a prince's garden. You
shall have as many tires as there are hours in the
day — as many handmaidens as there are days in the
week — as many menials as there are weeks in the
year — and you shall ride a hunting and hawking
with a lord, instead of waiting upon an old ship-
chandler, who could do nothing but hawk and
spit."

"Ay, but will you make me your lady?" said
Dame Nelly.

" Ay, surely — what else ? " replied the lord —
" My lady-love."

" Ay, but I mean your lady- wife," said Nelly.

'* Truly, Nell, in that I cannot promise to oblige
you. A lady- wife," continued Dalgarno, «« is a very
different thing from a lady-love."

" I heard from Mrs Suddlechop, whom you
lodged me with since I left poor old John Christie,
that Lord Glenvarloch is to marry David Ramsay
the clockmaker's daughter ? "

" There is much betwixt the cup and the lip,
Nelly. I wear something about me may break the
bans of that hopeful alliance, before the day is much
older," answered Lord Dalgarno.

" Well, but my father was as good a man as old
Davy Ramsay, and as well to pass in the world, my
lord ; and, therefore, why should you not marry me ?

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 325

You have done me harm enough, I trow — wherefore
should you not do me this justice ? "

" For two good reasons, Nelly. Fate put a
husband on you, and the King passed a wife upon
me," answered Lord Dalgarno.

" Ay, my lord," said Nelly, " but they remain
in England, and we go to Scotland."

"Thy argument is better than thou art aware
of," said Lord Dalgarno. " I have heard Scottish
lawyers say the matrimonial tie may be unclasped
in our happy country by the gentle hand of the
ordinary course of law, whereas in England it can
only be burst by an act of Parliament. Well,
Nelly, we will look into that matter ; and whether
we get married again or no, we will at least do our
best to get unmarried."

" Shall we indeed, my honey-sweet lord ? and
then I will think less about John Christie, for he
will marry again, I warrant you, for he is well to
pass ; and I would be glad to think he had some-
body to take care of him, as I used to do, poor
loving old man ! He was a kind man, though he
was a score of years older than I ; and I hope and
pray he will never let a young lord cross his honest
threshold again ! "

Here the dame was once more much inclined to
give way to a passion of tears ; but Lord Dalgarno
conjured down the emotion, by saying, with some
asperity — " I am weary of these April passions, my
pretty mistress, and I think you will do well to pre-
serve your tears for some more pressing occasion.
Who knows what turn of fortune may in a few
minutes call for more of them than you can
render ? "

326 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

" Goodness, my lord ! what mean you by such
expressions ? John Christie (the kind heart ! ) used
to keep no secrets from me, and I hope your lord-
ship will not hide your counsel from me ? "

"Sit down beside me on this bank," said the
nobleman ; " I am bound to remain here for a short
space, and if you can be but silent, I should like to
spend a part of it in considering how far I can, on
the present occasion, follow the respectable example
which you recommend to me."

The place at which he stopped was at that time
little more than a mound, partly surrounded by a
ditch, from which it derived the name of Camlet
Moat. A few hewn stones there were, which had
escaped the fate of many others that had been used
in building different lodges in the forest for the royal
keepers. These vestiges, just sufficient to show that
" here in former times the hand of man had been,"
marked the ruins of the abode of a once illustrious
but long-forgotten family, the Mandevilles, Earls
of Essex, to whom Enfield Chase and the extensive
domains adjacent had belonged in elder days. A
wild woodland prospect led the eye at various points
through broad and seemingly interminable alleys,
which, meeting at this point as at a common centre,
diverged from each other as they receded, and had,
therefore, been selected by Lord Dalgarno as the
rendezvous for the combat, which, through the
medium of Richie Moniplies, he had offered to his
injured friend, Lord Glenvarloch.

" He will surely come?" he said to himself;
" cowardice was not wont to be his fault — at least
he was bold enough in the Park, — Perhaps yonder
churl may not have carried my message ? But no

T

HE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 32?

— he is a sturdy knave — one of those would prize
their master's honour above their life. — Look to the
palfrey, Lutin, and see thou let him not loose, and
cast thy falcon glance down every avenue to mark
if any one comes. — Buckingham has undergone my
challenge, but the proud minion pleads the King's
paltry commands for refusing to answer me. If I
can baffle this Glenvarloch, or slay him — If I can
spoil him of his honour or his life, I shall go down
to Scotland with credit sufficient to gild over past
mischances. I know my dear countrymen — they
never quarrel with any one who brings them home
either gold or martial glory, much more if he has
both gold and laurels."

As he thus reflected, and called to mind the
disgrace which he had suffered, as well as the
causes he imagined for hating Lord Glenvarloch,
his countenance altered under the influence of his
contending emotions, to the terror of Nelly, who,
sitting unnoticed at his feet, and looking anxiously
in his face, beheld the cheek kindle, the mouth
become compressed, the eye dilated, and the whole
countenance express the desperate and deadly re-
solution of one who awaits an instant and decisive
encounter with a mortal enemy. The loneliness of
the place, the scenery so different from that to
which alone she had been accustomed, the dark
and sombre air which crept so suddenly over the
countenance of her seducer, his command imposing
silence upon her, and the apparent strangeness of
his conduct in idling away so much time without
any obvious cause, when a journey of such length
lay before them, brought strange thoughts into her
weak brain. She had read of women, seduced from

328 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

their matrimonial duties by sorcerers allied to the
hellish powers, nay, by the Father of Evil himself,
who, after conveying his victim into some desert
remote from human kind, exchanged the pleasing
shape in which he gained her affections, for all his
natural horrors. She chased this wild idea away
as it crowded itself upon her weak and bewildered
imagination ; yet she might have lived to see it
realised allegorically, if not literally, but for the
accident which presently followed.

The page, whose eyes were remarkably acute, at
length called out to his master, pointing with his
finger at the same time down one of the alleys, that
horsemen were advancing in that direction. Lord
Dalgarno started up, and shading his eyes with his
hand, gazed eagerly down the alley ; when, at the
same instant, he received a shot, which, grazing his
hand, passed right through his brain, and laid him
a lifeless corpse at the feet, or rather across the lap,
of the unfortunate victim of his profligacy. The
countenance, whose varied expression she had been
watching for the last five minutes, was convulsed
for an instant, and then stiffened into rigidity for
ever. Three ruffians rushed from the brake from
which the shot had been fired, ere the smoke was
dispersed. One, with many imprecations, seized on
the page ; another on the female, upon whose cries
he strove by the most violent threats to impose
silence ; whilst the third began to undo the burden
from the page's horse. But an instant rescue pre-
vented their availing themselves of the advantage
they had obtained.

It may easily be supposed that Richie Moniplies,
having secured the assistance of the two Templars.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 329

ady enough to join in any thing which promised
a fray, with Jin Vin to act as their guide, had set
off', gallantly mounted and well armed, under the
belief that they would reach Camlet Moat before
the robbers, and apprehend them in the fact. They
had not calculated that, according to the custom of
robbers in other countries, but contrary to that of
the tinglish highwaymen of those days, they meant
to ensure robbery by previous murder. An accident
also happened to delay them a little while on the
road. In riding through one of the glades of the
forest, they found a man dismounted and sitting
under a tree, groaning with such bitterness of spirit,
that Lowestoffe could not forbear asking if he was
hurt. In answer, he said he was an unhappy man
in pursuit of his wife, who had been carried off by
a villain ; and as he raised his countenance, the eyes
of Richie, to his great astonishment, encountered
the visage of John Christie.

" For the Almighty's sake, help me, Master
Moniplies ! " he said ; " I have learned my wife is
but a short mile before, with that black villain Lord
Dalgarno."

" Have him forward by all means," said Lowe-
stoffe ; " a second Orpheus seeking his Eurydice !
— Have him forward — we will save Lord Dalgarno's
purse, and ease him of his mistress — Have him with
us, were it but for the variety of the adventure. I
owe his lordship a grudge for rooking me. We have
ten minutes good."

But it is dangerous to calculate closely in matters
of life and death. In all probability the minute or
two which was lost in mounting John Christie be-
hind one of their party, might have saved Lord

330 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Dalgarno from his fate. Thus his criminal amour
became the indirect cause of his losing his life ; and
thus "our pleasant vices are made the whips to

scourge us."

The riders arrived on the field at full gallop the
moment after the shot was fired ; and Richie, who
had his own reasons for attaching himself to Cole-
pepper, who was bustling to untie the portmanteau
from the page's saddle, pushed against him with
such violence as to overthrow him, his own horse at
the same time stumbling and dismounting his rider,
who was none of the first equestrians. The undaunted
Richie immediately arose, however, and grappled
with the ruffian with such good-will, that, though a
strong fellow, and though a coward now rendered
desperate, Moniplies got him under, wrenched a long
knife from his hand, dealt him a desperate stab with
his own weapon, and leaped on his feet ; and, as
the wounded man struggled to follow his example,
he struck him upon the head with the but-end of a
musketoon, which last blow proved fatal.

"Bravo, Richie!" cried LowestofFe, who had
himself engaged at sword-point with one of the
ruffians, and soon put him to flight, — " Bravo !
why, man, there lies Sin, struck down like an ox,
and Iniquity's throat cut like a calf."

" I know not why you should upbraid me with
my up-bringing, Master LowestofFe," answered
Richie, with great composure ; " but I can tell
you, the shambles is not a bad place for training
one to this work."

The other Templar now shouted loudly to them,
— " If ye be men, come hither — here lies Lord
Dalgarno, murdered!"

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 331

Lowestoffe and Richie ran to the spot, and the
page took the opportunity, finding himself now
neglected on all hands, to ride off in a different
direction ; and neither he, nor the considerable sum
with which his horse was burdened, were ever
heard of from that moment.

The third ruffian had not waited the attack of
the Templar and Jin Vin, the latter of whom had
put down old Christie from behind him that he
might ride the lighter ; and the whole five now
stood gazing with horror on the bloody corpse of
the young nobleman, and the wild sorrow of the
female, who tore her hair and shrieked in the most
disconsolate manner, until her agony was at once
checked, or rather received a new direction, by the
sudden and unexpected appearance of her husband,
who, fixing on her a cold and severe look, said, in
a tone suited to his manner — " Ay, woman ! thou
takest on sadly for the loss of thy paramour." —
Then, looking on the bloody corpse of him from
whom he had received so deep an injury, he repeated
the solemn words of Scripture, — " * Vengeance is
mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay it.' — I, whom
thou hast injured, will be first to render thee the
decent offices due to the dead."

So saying, he covered the dead body with his
cloak, and then looking on it for a moment, seemed
to reflect on what he had next to perform. As the
eye of the injured man slowly passed from the body
of the seducer to the partner and victim of his crime,
who had sunk down to his feet, which she clasped
without venturing to look up, his features, naturally
coarse and saturnine, assumed a dignity of expression
which overawed the young Templars, and repulsed

332 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the officious forwardness of Richie Moniplies, who
was at first eager to have thrust in his advice and
opinion. " Kneel not to me, woman," he said,
" but kneel to the God thou hast offended, more
than thou couldst offend such another worm as thy-
self. How often have I told thee, when thou wert
at the gayest and the lightest, that pride goeth be-
fore destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall ?
Vanity brought folly, and folly brought sin, and sin
hath brought death, his original companion. Thou
must needs leave duty, and decency, and domestic
love, to revel it gaily with the wild and with the
wicked ; and there thou liest, like a crushed worm,
writhing beside the lifeless body of thy paramour.
Thou hast done me much wrong — dishonoured me
among friends — driven credit from my house, and
peace from my fireside — But thou wert my first
and only love, and I will not see thee an utter cast-
away, if it lies with me to prevent it. — Gentlemen,
I render ye such thanks as a broken-hearted man
can give. — Richard, commend me to your honour-
able master. I added gall to the bitterness of his
affliction, but I was deluded. — Rise up, woman, and
follow me."

He raised her up by the arm, while, with stream-
ing eyes, and bitter sobs, she endeavoured to express
her penitence. She kept her hands spread over her
face, yet suffered him to lead her away ; and it was
only as they turned around a brake which concealed
the scene they had left, that she turned back, and
casting one wild and hurried glance towards the
corpse of Dalgarno, uttered a shriek, and clinging
to her husband's arm, exclaimed wildly, — " Save
me — save me ! They have murdered him !"

THE

FORTUNES OF NIGEL 333

Lowestoffe was much moved by what he had
witnessed ; but he was ashamed, as a town-gallant,
of his own unfashionable emotion, and did a force
to his feelings when he exclaimed, — " Ay, let them
go — the kind-hearted, believing, forgiving husband
— the liberal, accommodating spouse. O what a
generous creature is your true London husband !
— Horns hath he, but, tame as a fatted ox, he
goreth not. I should like to see her when she
hath exchanged her mask and riding-beaver for
her peaked hat and muffler. We will visit them
at Paul's Wharf, coz — it will be a convenient
acquaintance."

" You had better think of catching the gipsy
thief, Lutin," said Richie Moniplies ; " for, by my
faith, he is off with his master's baggage and the
siller."

A keeper, with his assistants, and several other
persons, had now come to the spot, and made hue
and cry after Lutin, but in vain. To their custody
the Templars surrendered the dead bodies, and after
going through some formal investigation, they re-
turned, with Richard and Vincent, to London, where
they received great applause for their gallantry. —
Vincent's errors were easily expiated, in considera-
tion of his having been the means of breaking up
this band of villains ; and there is some reason to
think, that what would have diminished the credit
of the action in other instances, rather added to it
in the actual circumstances, namely, that they came
too late to save Lord Dalgarno.

George Heriot, who suspected how matters stood
with Vincent, requested and obtained permission
from his master to send the poor young fellow on

334 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

an important piece of business to Paris. We are
unable to trace his fate farther, but believe it was
prosperous, and that he entered into an advantageous
partnership with his fellow-apprentice, upon old
Davy Ramsay retiring from business, in consequence
of his daughter's marriage. That eminent antiquary,
Dr Dryasdust, is possessed of an antique watch,
with a silver dial-plate, the mainspring being a
piece of catgut instead of a chain, which bears the
names of Vincent and Tunstall, Memory-Monitors.

Master Lowestoffe failed not to vindicate his
character as a man of gaiety, by enquiring after
John Christie and Dame Nelly ; but greatly to his
surprise, (indeed to his loss, for he had wagered ten
pieces that he would domesticate himself in the
family, ) he found the good-will, as it was called, of
the shop, was sold, the stock auctioned, and the late
proprietor and his wife gone, no one knew whither.
The prevailing belief was, that they had emigrated
to one of the new settlements in America.

Lady Dalgarno received the news of her un-
worthy husband's death with a variety of emotions,
among which, horror that he should have been cut
off in the middle career of his profligacy, was the
most prominent. The incident greatly deepened
her melancholy, and injured her health, already
shaken by previous circumstances. Repossessed of
her own fortune by her husband's death, she was
anxious to do justice to Lord Glenvarloch, by
treating for the recovery of the mortgage. But the
scrivener, having taken fright at the late events,
had left the city and absconded, so that it was
impossible to discover into whose hands the papers
had now passed. Richard Moniplies was silent,

HE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 335

his own reasons ; the Templars, who had
witnessed the transaction, kept the secret at his
request, and it was universally believed that the
scrivener had carried off the writings along with
him. We may here observe, that fears similar
to those of Skurliewhitter freed London for ever
from the presence of Dame Suddlechop, who ended
her career in the Rasp-haus, (viz. Bridewell,) of
Amsterdam.

The stout old Lord Huntinglen, with a haughty
carriage and unmoistened eye, accompanied the
funeral procession of his only son to its last abode ;
and perhaps the single tear which fell at length
upon the coffin, was given less to the fate of the
individual, than to the extinction of the last male
of his ancient race.

Chapter XX

Jacques. There is, sure, another flood toward,
and these couples are coming to the ark ! — Here
comes a pair of very strange beasts.

As You Like It.

THE fashion of such narratives as the present,
changes like other earthly things. Time was that
the tale-teller was obliged to wind up his story by
a circumstantial description of the wedding, bedding,
and throwing the stocking, as the grand catastrophe
to which, through so many circumstances of doubt
and difficulty, he had at length happily conducted
his hero and heroine. Not a circumstance was then
omitted, from the manly ardour of the bridegroom,
and the modest blushes of the bride, to the parson's

336 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

new surplice, and the silk tabinet mantua of the
bridesmaid. But such descriptions are now dis-
carded, for the same reason, I suppose, that public
marriages are no longer fashionable, and that, instead
of calling together their friends to a feast and a
dance, the happy couple elope in a solitary post-
chaise, as secretly as if they meant to go to Gretna-
Green, or to do worse. I am not ungrateful for a
change which saves an author the trouble of attempt-
ing in vain to give a new colour to the commonplace
description of such matters ; but, notwithstanding,
I find myself forced upon it in the present instance,
as circumstances sometimes compel a stranger to
make use of an old road which has been for some
time shut up. The experienced reader may have
already remarked, that the last chapter was employed
in sweeping out of the way all the unnecessary and
less interesting characters, that I might clear the
floor for a blithe bridal.

In truth, it would be unpardonable to pass over
slightly what so deeply interested our principal
personage, King James. That learned and good-
humoured monarch made no great figure in the
politics of Europe ; but then, to make amends, he
was prodigiously busy, when he could find a fair
opportunity of intermeddling with the private affairs
of his loving subjects, and the approaching marriage
of Lord Glenvarloch was matter of great interest
to him. He had been much struck (that is, for
him, who was not very accessible to such emotions)
with the beauty and embarrassment of the pretty
Peg-a-Ramsay, as he called her, when he first saw
her, and he glorified himself greatly on the acuteness
which he had displayed in detecting her disguise,

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 337

and in carrying through the whole enquiry which
took place in consequence of it.

He laboured for several weeks, while the court-
ship was in progress, with his own royal eyes, so
as wellnigh to wear out, he declared, a pair of her
father's best barnacles, in searching through old
books and documents, for the purpose of establish-
ing the bride's pretensions to a noble, though remote
descent, and thereby remove the only objection
which envy might conceive against the match. In
his own opinion, at least, he was eminently success-
ful ; for, when Sir Mungo Malagrowther one day,
in the presence-chamber, took upon him to grieve
bitterly for the bride's lack of pedigree, the monarch
cut him short with, " Ye may save your grief for
your ain next occasions, Sir Mungo ; for, by our
royal saul, we will uphauld her father, Davy
Ramsay, to be a gentleman of nine descents, whase
great gudesire came of the auld martial stock of
the House of Dalwolsey, than whom better men
never did, and better never will, draw sword for
King and country. Heard ye never of Sir William
Ramsay of Dalwolsey, man, of whom John Fordoun
saith, — * He was btlhcosissimus, nobiltsstmus ? ' — His
castle stands to witness for itsell, not three miles
from Dalkeith, man, and within a mile of Bannock-
rig. Davy Ramsay came of that auld and honoured
stock, and I trust he hath not derogated from his
ancestors by his present craft. They all wrought
wi' steel, man ; only the auld knights drilled holes
wi' their swords in their enemies" corslets, and he
saws nicks in his brass wheels. And I hope it is as
honourable to give eyes to the blind as to slash them
out of the head of those that see, and to show us
27 y

338 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

how to value our time as it passes, as to fling it away
in drinking, brawling, spear-splintering, and such-
like unchristian doings. And you maun understand,
that Davy Ramsay is no mechanic, but follows a
liberal art, which approacheth almost to the act of
creating a living being, seeing it may be said of a
watch, as Claudius saith of the sphere of Archi-
medes, the Syracusan —

' Inclusus variis famulatur spiritus astris,
Et vivum certis motibus urget opus.'"

" Your Majesty had best give auld Davy a coat-
of-arms, as well as a pedigree," said Sir Mungo.

" It's done, or ye bade, Sir Mungo," said the
King ; " and I trust we, who are the fountain of all
earthly honour, are free to spirit a few drops of it
on one so near our person, without offence to the
Knight of Castle Girnigo. We have already spoken
with the learned men of the Herald's College, and
we propose to grant him an augmented coat-of-arms,
being his paternal coat, charged with the crown-
wheel of a watch in chief, for a difference ; and we
purpose to add Time and Eternity, for supporters,
as soon as the Garter King-at-Arms shall be able
to devise how Eternity is to be represented."

" I would make him twice as muckle as Time," *
said Archie Armstrong, the Court fool, who chanced
to be present when the King stated this dilemma.

" Peace, man — ye shall be whippet," said the
King, in return for this hint ; " and you, my liege

* Chaucer says, there is nothing new but what it has
been old. The reader has here the original of an anecdote
which has since been fathered on a Scottish Chief of our
own time.

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 339

subjects of England, may weel take a hint from
what we have said, and not be in such a hurry to
laugh at our Scottish pedigrees, though they be
somewhat long derived, and difficult to be deduced.
Ye see that a man of right gentle blood may, for a
season, lay by his gentry, and yet ken whare to find
it, when he has occasion for it. It would be as
unseemly for a packman, or pedlar, as ye call a
travelling-merchant, whilk is a trade to which our
native subjects of Scotland are specially addicted, to
be blazing his genealogy in the faces of those to
whom he sells a bawbee's worth of ribbon, as it
would be to him fo have a beaver on his head, and
a rapier by his side, when the pack was on his
shoulders. Na, na — he hings his sword on the
cleek, lays his beaver on the shelf, puts his pedigree
into his pocket, and gangs as doucely and cannily
about his peddling craft as if his blood was nae
better than ditch-water ; but let our pedlar be trans-
formed, as 1 have kend it happen mair than ance,
into a bein thriving merchant, then ye shall have a
transformation, my lords.

* In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas '

o

ut he pulls his pedigree, on he buckles his sword,
gives his beaver a brush, and cocks it in the face of
all creation. We mention these things at the mair
length, because we would have you all to know, that
it is not without due consideration of the circum-
stances of all parties, that we design, in a small and
private way, to honour with our own royal presence
the marriage of Lord Glenvarloch with Margaret
Ramsay, daughter and heiress of David Ramsay,
our horologer, and a cadet only thrice removed from

340 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

the ancient house of Dalwolsey. We are grieved
we cannot have the presence of the noble Chief of
that House at the ceremony ; but where there is
honour to be won abroad the Lord Dalwolsey is
seldom to be found at home. Sic fuit, est, et erit.
— Jingling Geordie, as ye stand to the cost of the
marriage-feast, we look for good cheer."

Heriot bowed, as in duty bound. In fact, the
King, who was a great politician about trifles, had
manoeuvred greatly on this occasion, and had con-
trived to get the Prince and Buckingham dispatched
on an expedition to Newmarket, in order that he
might find an opportunity in their absence of indulg-
ing himself in his own gossiping, coshering habits,
which were distasteful to Charles, whose temper
inclined to formality, and with which even the
favourite, of late, had not thought it worth while
to seem to sympathize. When the levee was dis-
missed, Sir Mungo Malagrowther seized upon the
worthy citizen in the court-yard of the Palace,
and detained him, in spite of all his efforts, for
the purpose of subjecting him to the following
scrutiny : —

" This is a sair job on you, Master George — the
King must have had little consideration — this will
cost you a bonny penny, this wedding-dinner ? "

*' It will not break me, Sir Mungo," answered
Heriot ; " the King hath a right to see the table
which his bounty hath supplied for years, well
covered for a single day."

" Vera true, vera true — we'll have a' to pay, I
doubt, less or mair — a sort of penny- wedding it will
prove, where all men contribute to the young folk's
maintenance, that they may not have just four bare

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 341

legs in a bed thegether. What do you propose to
give, Master George ? — we begin with the city
when money is in question." '

" Only a trifle, Sir Mungo — I give my god-
daughter the marriage-ring ; it is a curious jewel —
I bought it in Italy ; it belonged to Cosmo de Medici.
The bride will not need my help — she has an estate
which belonged to her maternal grandfather."

" The auld soap-boiler," said Sir Mungo ; " it
will need some of his suds to scour the blot out of
the Glenvarloch shield — I have heard that estate was
no great things."

" It is as good as some posts at Court, Sir Mungo,
which are coveted by persons of high quality,"
replied George Heriot.

" Court favour, said ye ? Court favour, Master
Heriot ? " replied Sir Mungo, choosing then to
use his malady of misapprehension ; " Moonshine in
water, poor thing, if that is all she is to be tochered
with — I am truly solicitous about them."

" 1 will let you into a secret," said the citizen,
" which will relieve your tender anxiety. The
dowager Lady Dalgarno gives a competent fortune
to the bride, and settles the rest of her estate upon
her nephew the bridegroom."

«' Ay, say ye sae ? " said Sir Mungo, " just to show
her regard to her husband that is in the tomb — lucky
that her nephew did not send him there ; it was a
strange story that death of poor Lord Dalgarno —

* The penny-wedding of the Scots, now disused even
among the lowest ranks, was a peculiar species of merry-
making, at which, if the wedded pair were popular, the
guests who convened, contributed considerable sums under
pretence of paying for the bridal festivity, but in reality to
the married folk afloat in the world.

342 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

some folk think the poor gentleman had much wrong.
Little good comes of marrying the daughter of the
house you are at feud with ; indeed, it was less poor
Dalgarno' s fault, than theirs that forced the match
on him ; but I am glad the young folk are to have
something to live on, come how it like, whether by
charity or inheritance. But if the Lady Dalgarno
were to sell all she has, even to her very wylie-coat,
she canna gie them back the fair Castle of Glenvar-
loch — that is lost and gane — lost and gane."

" It is but too true," said George Heriot ; " we
cannot discover what has become of the villain
Andrew Skurliewhitter, or what Lord Dalgarno
has done with the mortgage."

"Assigned it away to some one, that his wife
might not get it after he was gane ; it would have
disturbed him in his grave, to think Glenvarloch
should get that land back again," said Sir Mungo ;
" depend on it, he will have ta'en sure measures to
keep that noble lordship out of her grips or her
nevoy's either."

" Indeed it is but too probable, Sir Mungo," said
Master Heriot ; " but as I am obliged to go and look
after many things in consequence of this ceremony,
I must leave you to comfort yourself with the re-
flection."

" The bride-day, you say, is to be on the thirtieth
of the instant month ? " said Sir Mungo, holloing
after the citizen ; " I will be with you in the hour
of cause."

"The King invites the guests," said George
Heriot, without turning back.

"The base-born, ill-bred mechanic!" soliloquized
Sir Mungo, " if it were not the odd score of pounds

he lent

E FORTUNES OF NIGEL 343

ie lent me last week, I would teach him how to bear
himself to a man of quality ! But I will be at the
bridal banquet in spite of him."

Sir Mungo contrived to get invited, or com-
manded, to attend on the bridal accordingly, at
which there were but few persons present ; for
James, on such occasions, preferred a snug privacy,
which gave him liberty to lay aside the encum-
brance, as he felt it to be, of his regal dignity.
The company was very small, and indeed there
were at least two persons absent whose presence
might have been expected. The first of these was
the Lady Dalgarno, the state of whose health, as
well as the recent death of her husband, precluded
her attendance on the ceremony. The other absentee
was Richie Moniplies, whose conduct for some time
past had been extremely mysterious. Regulating his
attendance on Lord Glenvarloch entirely according
to his own will and pleasure, he had, ever since the
rencounter in Enfield Chase, appeared regularly at his
bedside in the morning, to assist him to dress, and
at his wardrobe in the evening. The rest of the day
he disposed of at his own pleasure, without control
from his lord, who had now a complete establish-
ment of attendants. Yet he was somewhat curious
to know how the fellow disposed of so much of his
time ; but on this subject Richie showed no desire
to be communicative.

On the morning of the bridal-day, Richie was
particularly attentive in doing all a valet-de-chambre
could, so as to set off to advantage the very hand-
some figure of his master ; and when he had arranged
his dress with the utmost exactness, and put to his
>ng curled locks what he called "the finishing

long curled

344 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

touch of the redding-kaim," he gravely kneeled
down, kissed his hand, and bade him farewell, say-
ing that he humbly craved leave to discharge him-
self of his lordship's service.

" Why, what humour is this ? " said Lord Glen-
varloch ; " if you mean to discharge yourself of my
service, Richie, I suppose you intend to enter my
wife's ? "

" I wish her good ladyship that shall soon be, and
your good lordship, the blessings of as good a ser-
vant as myself, in heaven's good time," said Richie ;
" but fate hath so ordained it, that i can henceforth
only be your servant in the way of friendly courtesy."

"Well, Richie," said the young lord, " if you are
tired of service, we will seek some better provision
for you ; but you will wait on me to the church,
and partake of the bridal dinner ? "

" Under favour, my lord," answered Richie, " I
must remind you of our covenant, having presently
some pressing business of mine own, whilk will
detain me during the ceremony ; but I will not fail
to prie Master George's good cheer, in respect he
has made very costly fare, whilk it would be un-
thankful not to partake of."

" Do as you list," answered Lord Glenvarloch ;
and having bestowed a passing thought on the
whimsical and pragmatical disposition of his
follower, he dismissed the subject for others better
suited to the day.

The reader must fancy the scattered flowers which
strewed the path of the happy couple to church —
the loud music which accompanied the procession —
the marriage service performed by a Bishop — the
King, who met them at Saint Paul's, giving away

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 345

the bride, — to the great relief of her father,
who had thus time, during the ceremony, to cal-
culate the just quotient to be laid on the pinion of
report in a timepiece which he was then putting
together.

When the ceremony was finished, the company
were transported in the royal carriages to George
Heriot's, where a splendid collation was provided
for the marriage-guests in the Foljambe apartments.
The King no sooner found himself in this snug
retreat, than, casting from him his sword and belt
with such haste as if they burnt his fingers, and
flinging his plumed hat on the table, as who should
say, Lie there, authority ! he swallowed a hearty
cup of wine to the happiness of the married couple,
and began to amble about the room, mumping, laugh-
ing, and cracking jests, neither the wittiest nor the
nu>st delicate, but accompanied and applauded by
shouts of his own mirth, in order to encourage that
of the company. Whilst his Majesty was in the
midst of this gay humour, and a call to the banquet
was anxiously expected, a servant whispered Master
Heriot forth of the apartment. When he re-entered,
he walked up to the King, and, in his turn, whispered
something, at which James started.

" He is not wanting his siller ? " said the King,
shortly and sharply.

" By no means, my liege," answered Heriot. "It
is a subject he states himself as quite indifferent
about, so long as it can pleasure your Majesty."

" Body of us, man !" said the King, " it is the
speech of a true man and a loving subject, and we
will grace him accordingly — what though he be but
a carle — a twopenny cat may look at a king. Swith,

346 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

man ! have him — pan dite fores. — Moniplies ? — They
should have called the chield Monypennies, though
I sail warrant you English think we have not such
a name in S Gotland. "

" It is an ancient and honourable stock, the
Monypennies," said Sir Mungo Malagrowther ;
" the only loss is, there are sae few of the
name."

"The family seems to increase among your
countrymen, Sir Mungo," said Master LowestofFe,
whom Lord Glenvarloch had invited to be present,
" since his Majesty's happy accession brought so
many of you here."

" Right, sir — right," said Sir Mungo, nodding
and looking at George Heriot ; "there have some
of ourselves been the better of that great blessing
to the English nation."

As he spoke, the door flew open, and in entered,
to the astonishment of Lord Glenvarloch, his late
serving-man Richie Moniplies, now sumptuously,
nay, gorgeously, attired in a superb brocaded suit,
and leading in his hand the tall, thin, withered,
somewhat distorted form of Martha Trapbois,
arrayed in a complete dress of black velvet, which
suited so strangely with the pallid and severe melan-
choly of her countenance, that the King himself
exclaimed, in some perturbation, " What the deil
has the fallow brought us here ? Body of our
regal selves ! it is a corpse that has run off with
the mort-cloth!"

" May I sifflicate your Majesty to be gracious
unto her ? " said Richie ; " being that she is, in
respect of this morning's wark, my ain wedded
wife, Mrs Martha Moniplies by name."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 347

" Saul of our body, man ! but she looks wondrous
grim," answered King James. " Art thou sure she
has not been in her time maid of honour to Queen
Mary, our kinswoman, of redhot memory ? "

" I am sure, an it like your Majesty, that she has
brought me fifty thousand pounds of good siller, and
better ; and that lus enabled me to pleasure your
Majesty, and other folk."

" Ye need have said naething about that, man,"
said the King ; " we ken our obligations in that
sma' matter, and we are glad this rudas spouse of
thine hath bestowed her treasure on ane wha kens
to put it to the profit of his King and country.
— But how the deil did ye come by her,
man?"

"In the auld Scottish fashion, my liege. She is
the captive of my bow and my spear," answered
Moniplies. "There was a convention that she should
wed me when I avenged her father's death — so I
slew, and took possession."

" It is the daughter of Old Trapbois, who has
been missed so long," said LowestofFe. — " Where
the devil could you mew her up so closely, friend
Richie?"

" Master Richard, if it be your will," answered
Richie ; " or Master Richard Moniplies, if you
like it better. For mewing of her up, I found
her a shelter, in all honour and safety, under the
roof of an honest countryman of my own — and for
secrecy, it was a point of prudence, when wantons
like you were abroad, Master LowestofFe."

There was a laugh at Richie's magnanimous
reply, on the part of every one but his bride, who
made to him a signal of impatience, and said, with

343 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

her usual brevity and sternness, — " Peace — peace.
I pray you, peace. Let us do that which we came
for." So saying, she took out a bundle of parch-
ments, and delivering them to Lord Glenvarloch,
she said aloud, — " I take this royal presence, and
all here, to witness, that I restore the ransomed
lordship of Glenvarloch to the right owner, as free
as ever it was held by any of his ancestors."

" I witnessed the redemption of the mortgage,"
said LowestofFe ; " but I little dreamt by whom it
had been redeemed."

"No need ye should," said Richie; "there
would have been small wisdom in crying roast-
meat."

"Peace," said his bride, "once more. — This
paper," she continued, delivering another to Lord
Glenvarloch, " is also your property — take it, but
spare me the question how it came into my
custody."

The King had bustled forward beside Lord
Glenvarloch, and fixing an eager eye on the
writing, exclaimed — " Body of ourselves, it is our
royal sign-manual for the money which was so
long out of sight! — How came you by it, Mistress
Bride?"

" It is a secret," said Martha, dryly.

" A secret which my tongue shall never utter,"
said Richie, resolutely, — " unless the King com-
mands me on my allegiance."

"I do — I do command you," said James,
trembling and stammering with the impatient curi-
osity of a gossip ; while Sir Mungo, with more
malicious anxiety to get at the bottom of the
mystery, stooped his long thin form forward like

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 349

a bent tishing-rod, raised his thin grey locks from
his ear, and curved his hand behind it to collect
every vibration ot the expected intelligence.
Mnrtha in the meantime frowned most ominously
on Richie, who went on undauntedly to inform the
King, " that his deceased father-in-law, a good
careful man in the main, had a touch of worldly
wisdom about him, that at times marred the up-
rightness of his walk ; he liked to dabble among
his neighbour's gear, and some of it would at times
stick to his fingers in the handling."

" For shame, man, for shame ! " said Martha ;
'• since the infamy of the deed must be told, be
it at least briefly. — Yes, my lord," she added, ad-
dressing Glenvarloch, " the piece of gold was not
the sole bait which brought the miserable old man
to your chamber that dreadful night — his object,
and he accomplished it, was to purloin this paper.
The wretched scrivener was with him that
morning, and, I doubt not, urged the doting old
man to this villainy, to offer another bar to the
ransom of your estate. If there was a yet more
powerful agent at the bottom of the conspiracy,
God forgive it to him at this moment, for he is
now where the crime must be answered ! "

" Amen ! " said Lord Glenvarloch, and it was
echoed by all present.

" For my father," continued she, with her stern
features twitched by an involuntary and convulsive
movement, " his guilt and folly cost him his life ;
and my belief is constant, that the wretch, who
counselled him that morning to purloin the paper,
left open the window for the entrance of the
murderers."

350 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

Every body was silent for an instant ; the King
was first to speak, commanding search instantly to
be made for the guilty scrivener. " /, lictor" he
concluded, " colliga manus — caput obnubito — infelici
suspendite arbor i."

Lowestoffe answered with due respect, that the
scrivener had absconded at the time of Lord Dal-
garno's murder, and had not been heard of since.

" Let him be sought for/' said the King. " And
now let us change the discourse — these stories make
one's very blood grew, and are altogether unfit for
bridal festivity. Hymen, O Hymenee ! " added
he, snapping his fingers, " Lord Glenvarloch, what
say you to Mistress Moniplies, this bonny bride,
that has brought you back your father's estate on
your bridal day ? "

" Let him say nothing, my liege," said Martha;
"that will best suit his feelings and mine."

" There is redemption-money, at the least, to be
repaid," said Lord Glenvarloch ; " in that I cannot
remain debtor."

" We will speak of it hereafter," said Martha ;
"my debtor you cannot be." And she shut her
mouth as if determined to say nothing more on the
subject.

Sir Mungo, however, resolved not to part with
the topic, and availing himself of the freedom of the
moment, said to Richie — " A queer story that of
your father-in-law, honest man ; methinks your bride
thanked you little for ripping it up."

" I make it a rule, Sir Mungo," replied Richie,
" always to speak any evil I know about my family
myself, having observed, that if I do not, it is sure
to be told by ither folks."

THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL 351

" But, Richie," said Sir Mungo, " it seems to
me that this bride of yours is like to be master and
mair in the conjugal state."

" If she abides by words, Sir Mungo," answered
Richie, " I thank Heaven I can be as deaf as any
one ; and if she comes to dunts, I have twa hands
to paik her with."

" Weel said, Richie, again," said the King ;
" you have gotten it on baith haffits, Sir Mungo. —
Troth, Mistress Bride, for a fule, your gudeman has
a pretty turn of wit."

" There are fools, sire," replied she, " who have
wit, and fools who have courage — aye, and fools
who have learning, and are great fools notwith-
standing.— I chose this man because he was my
protector when I was desolate, and neither for
his wit nor his wisdom. He is truly honest,
and has a heart and hand that make amends
for some folly. Since I was condemned to seek
a protector through the world, which is to me a
wilderness, I may thank God that I have come
by no worse."

" And that is sae sensibly said," replied the King,
" that, by my saul, I'll try whether I canna make
him better. Kneel down, Richie — somebody lend
me a rapier — yours, Mr LangstafF; (that's a brave
name for a lawyer,) — ye need not flash it out that
gate, Templar fashion, as if ye were about to pink
a bailiff! "

He took the drawn sword, and with averted
eyes, for it was a sight he loved not to look on,
endeavoured to Jay it on Richie's shoulder, but
nearly stuck it into his eye. Richie, starting back,
attempted to rise, but was held down by LowestofFc,

352 THE FORTUNES OF NIGEL

while Sir Mungo, guiding the royal weapon, the
honour-bestowing blow was given and received :
" Surge, carnifex — Rise up, Sir Richard Moniplies,
of Castle-Collop ! — And, my lords and lieges, let us
all to our dinner, for the cock-a-Ieekie is cooling."

NOTES

Note I. . 1 80. —

This is the Highland patronymic of the late gallant
Chief of Glengarry. The allusion in the text is to an
unnecessary alarm taken by some lady, at the ceremonial
of the coronation of George IV., at the sight of the pistols
which the Chief wore as a part of his Highland dress.
The circumstance produced some confusion, which was
talked of at the time. All who knew Glengarry (and the
author knew him well) were aware that his principles
were of devoted loyalty to the person of his sovereign.

Note II. p. 181. — KINO JAMES'S HUNTING BOTTLE

Roger Coke, in his Detection of the Court and State of
England, London, 1697, p. 70, observes of James I., "The
king was excessively addicted to hunting, and drinking,
not ordinary French and Spanish wines, but strong Greek
wines, and thought he would compound his hunting with
these wines ; and to that purpose, he was attended by a
special officer, who was, as much as he could be, always at
hand to fill the King's cup in hunting when he called for
it. I have heard my father say, that, hunting with the
King, after the King had drank of the wine, he also drank
of it ; and though he was young, and of a healthful dis-
position, it so deranged his head that it spoiled his pleasure
and disordered him for three days after. Whether it was
from drinking these wines, or from some other cause, the
King became so lazy and so unwieldy, that he was trussed
on horseback, and as he was set, so would he ride, without
stirring himself in the saddle ; nay, when his hat was set
upon his head he would not take the trouble to alter it,
but it sate as it was put on."

27 « 3»

354 NOTES

The trussing, for which the demipique saddle of the
day afforded particular facility, is alluded to in the text ;
and the author, among other nicknacks of antiquity,
possesses a leathern flask, like those carried by sportsmen,
which is labelled, « King James's Hunting Bottle," with
what authenticity is uncertain. Coke seems to have ex-
aggerated the King's taste for the bottle. Welldon says
James was not intemperate in his drinking ; " However,
in his old age, Buckingham's jovial suppers, when he had
any turn to do with him, made him sometimes overtaken,
which he would the next day remember, and repent with
tears. It is true he drank very often, which was rather
out of a custom than any delight ; and his drinks were
of that kind for strength, as Frontiniack, Canary, high
country wine, tent wine, and Scottish ale, that had he not
had a very strong brain, he might have been daily over-
taken, though he seldom drank at any one time above
four spoonfuls, many times not above one or two." — Secret
History of King James, vol. ii., p. 3. Edin. 1811.

Note III. p. 184. — SCENE IN GREENWICH PARK

I cannot here omit mentioning, that a painting of the
old school is in existence, having a remarkable resemblance
to the scene described in the foregoing chapter, although
it be nevertheless true that the similarity is in all respects
casual, and that the author knew not of the existence of
the painting till it was sold, amongst others, with the
following description attached to it in a well-drawn-up
catalogue :

"FREDERIGO ZUCCHERO

" Scene as represented in the Fortunes of Nigel) by Frederigo
Zucchero, the King's painter.

"This extraordinary picture, which, independent of its
pictorial merit, has been esteemed a great literary curiosity,
represents most faithfully the meeting, in Greenwich Park,
between King James and Nigel Oliphaunt, as described in
the Fortunes of Nigel, showing that the author must have
taken the anecdote from authenticated facts. In the centre
of the picture sits King James on horseback, very erect
and stiffly. Between the King and Prince Charles, who is

NOTES 355

on the left of the picture, the Duke of Buckingham is
represented riding a black horse, and pointing eagerly
towards the culprit, Nigel Olifaunt, who is standing on
the right side of the picture. He grasps with his right
hand a gun, or crossbow, and looks angrily towards the
King, who seems somewhat confused and alarmed. Behind
Nigel, his servant is restraining two dogs which are bark-
ing fiercely. Nigel and his servant are both clothed in
red, the livery of the Oliphaunt family in which, to this
day, the town -officers of Perth are clothed, there being an
old charter, granting to the Oliphaunt family, the privilege
of dressing the public officers of Perth in their livery.
The Duke of Buckingham is in all respects equal in
magnificence of dress to the King or the Prince. The
only difference that is marked between him and royalty is,
that his head is uncovered. The King and the Prince
wear their hats. In Letitia Aikin's Memoirs of the Reign
of King James, will be found a letter from Sir Thomas
Howard to Lord L. Harrington, in which he recommends
the latter to come to court, mentioning that his Majesty
has spoken favourably of him. He then proceeds to give
him some advice, by which he is likely to find favour in
the King's eyes. He tells him to wear a bushy ruff", well
starched ; and after various other directions as to his dress,
he concludes, ' but above all things fail not to praise the
roan jennet whereon the King doth daily ride.' In this
picture King James is represented on the identical roan
jennet. In the background of the picture are seen two or
three suspicious-looking figures, as if watching the success
of some plot. These may have been put in by the painter,
to flatter the King, by making it be supposed that he
had actually escaped, or successfully combated, some serious
plot. The King is attended by a numerous band of
courtiers and attendants, all of whom seem moving forward
to arrest the defaulter. The painting of this picture is
extremely good, but the drawing is very Gothic, and there
is no attempt at the keeping of perspective. The picture
is very dark and obscure, which considerably adds to the
interest of the scene."

356 NOTES

Note IV. p. 184. — KINO JAMES'S TiMromr

The fears of James for his personal safety were often
excited without serious grounds. On one occasion, having
been induced to visit a coal-pit on the coast of Fife, he
was conducted a little way under the sea, and brought to
daylight again on a small island, or what was such at full
tide, down which a shaft had been sunk. James, who
conceived his life or liberty aimed at, when he found
himself on an islet surrounded by the sea, instead of
admiring, as his cicerone hoped, the unexpected change of
scene, cried Treason with all his might, and could not be
pacified till he was rowed ashore. At Lochmaben he took
an equally causeless alarm from a still slighter circumstance.
Some vendisset, a fish peculiar to the Loch, were presented
to the royal table as a delicacy ; but the King, who was
not familiar with their appearance, concluded they were
poisoned, and broke up the banquet " with most admired
disorder."

Note V. p. 1 8 8. — TRAITOR'S GATE

Traitor's Gate, which opens from the Tower of London
to the Thames, was, as its name implies, that by which
persons accused of state offences were conveyed to their
prison. When the tide is making, and the ancient gate is
beheld from within the buildings, it used to be a most
striking part of the old fortress ; but it is now much injured
in appearance, being half built up with masonry to support
a steam-engine, or something of that sort.

Note VI. p. Z38. — PUNISHMENT OF STUBBS BY MUTILATION

This execution, which so captivated the imagination of
Sir Mungo Malagrowther, was really a striking one.
The criminal, a furious and bigoted Puritan, had published
a book in very violent terms against the match of Elizabeth
with the Duke of Alen$on, which he termed an union of
a daughter of God with a son of antichrist. Queen
Elizabeth was greatly incensed at the freedom assumed in
this work, and caused the author Stubbs, with Page the

NOTES 357

publisher, and one Singleton the printer, to be tried on an
act passed by Philip and Mary against the writers and
dispersers of seditious publications. They were convicted,
and although there was an opinion strongly entertained by
lawyers, that the act was only temporary, and expired
with Queen Mary, Stubbs and Page received sentence to
have their right hands struck off. They accordingly
suffered the punishment, the wrist being divided by a
cleaver driven through the joint by force of a mallet. The
printer was pardoned. " I remember," says the historian
Camden, " being then present, that Stubbs, when his right
hand was cut off, plucked off his hat with the left, and said,
with a loud voice, ' God save the Queen 1 ' The multitude
standing about was deeply silent, either out of horror of
this new and unwonted kind of punishment, or out of
commiseration towards the man, as being of an honest and
unblamable repute, or else out of hatred to the marriage,
which most men presaged would be the overthrow of
religion." — CAMDEN'S Annalt for the Tear 1581.

Note VII. p. 160. — RICHIE MONIPLIES BEHIND THE ARRAS

The practical jest of Richie Moniplies going behind
the arras to get an opportunity of teasing Heriot, was a
pleasantry such as James might be supposed to approve of.
It was customary for those who knew his humour to con-
trive jests of this kind for his amusement. The celebrated
Archie Armstrong, and another jester called Drummond,
mounted on other people's backs, used to charge each other
like knights in the tilt-yard, to the monarch's great amuse-
ment. The following is an instance of the same kind, taken
from Webster upon Witchcraft. The author is speaking
of the faculty called ventriloquism.

" But to make this more plain and certain, we shall add
a story of a notable impostor, or ventriloquist, from the
testimony of Mr Ady, which we have had confirmed from
the mouth of some courtiers, that both saw and knew him,
and is this:— It hath been (saith he) credibly reported, that
there was a man in the court in King James his days, that
could act this imposture so lively, that he could call the
King by name, and cause the King to look round about
him, wondering who it was that called him, whereas he

358

NOTES

that called him stood before him in his presence, with his
face towards him. But after this imposture was known,
the King, in his merriment, would sometimes take occa-
sionally this impostor to make sport upon some of his
courtiers, as, for instance : —

" There was a knight belonging to the court, whom the
King caused to come before him in his private room, (where
no man was but the King, and this knight and the im-
postor,) and feigned some occasion of serious discourse with
the knight; but when the King began to speak, and the
knight bending his attention to the King, suddenly there
came a voice as out of another room, calling the knight by
name, ' Sir John, Sir John ; come away, Sir John ; ' at
which the knight began to frown that any man should
be so unmannerly as to molest the King and him ; and
still listening to the King's discourse, the voice came again,
'Sir John, Sir John ; come away and drink off your sack.'
At that Sir John began to swell with anger, and looked
into the next rooms to see who it was that dared to call
him so importunately, and could not find out who it was,
and having chid with whomsoever he found, he returned
again to the King. The King had no sooner begun to
speak as formerly, but the voice came again, 'Sir John,
come away, your sack stayeth for you.' At that Sir John
began to stamp with madness, and looked out and returned
several times to the King, but could not be quiet in his
discourse with the King, because of the voice that so often
troubled him, till the King had sported enough." — WEBSTER
on Witchcraft, p. 1*4.

Note VIII. p. 187. — LADT LAKE

Whether out of a meddling propensity common to all
who have a gossiping disposition, or from the love of
justice, which ought to make part of a prince's character,
James was very fond of enquiring personally into the causes
celebres which occurred during his reign. In the imposture
of the Boy of Bilson, who pretended to be possessed, and
of one Richard Haydock, a poor scholar, who pretended to
preach during his sleep, the King, to use the historian
Wilson's expression, took delight in sounding with the
line of his understanding, the depths of these brutish im-

NOTES 359

positions, and in doing so, showed the acuteness with which
he was endowed by Nature. Lady Lake's story consisted in
a clamorous complaint against the Countess of Exeter, whom
she accused of a purpose to put to death Lady Lake herself,
and her daughter, Lady Ross, the wife of the Countess's
own son-in-law, Lord Ross ; and a forged letter was pro-
duced, in which Lady Exeter was made to acknowledge
such a purpose. The account given of the occasion of
obtaining this letter, was, that it had been written by the
Countess at Wimbledon, in presence of Lady Lake and
her daughter, Lady Ross, being designed to procure their
forgiveness for her mischievous intention. The King re-
mained still unsatisfied, the writing, in his opinion, bearing
some marks of forgery. Lady Lake and her daughter then
alleged, that, besides their own attestation, and that of a
confidential domestic, named Diego, in whose presence
Lady Exeter had written the confession, their story might
also be supported by the oath of their waiting-maid, who
had been placed behind the hangings at the time the letter
was written, and heard the Countess of Exeter read over
the confession after she had signed it. Determined to be
at the bottom of this accusation, James, while hunting one
day near Wimbledon, the scene of the alleged confession,
suddenly left his sport, and, galloping hastily to Wimble-
don, in order to examine personally the room, discovered,
from the size of the apartment, that the alleged conversa-
tion could not have taken place in the manner sworn to ;
and that the tapestry of the chamber, which had remained
in the same state for thirty years, was too short by two
feet, and, therefore, could not have concealed any one be-
hind it. This matter was accounted an exclusive discovery
of the King by his own spirit of shrewd investigation.
The parties were punished in the Star Chamber by fine
and imprisonment.

GLOSSARY

A', all

ABYE, suffer for.

ACCIDENS, grammar.

AIGRE, sour, ill-natured.

Am GATE, own way.

A* LEEVING, all living.

AMBLE, a peculiar gait of
a horse, in which both
legs on one side are
moved forward at the
same time.

ANCE, once.

ANENT, concerning.

ANGEL, an ancient English
gold coin, worth about
I os. and bearing the
figure of an angel.

A-RRAS, tapestry.

AUGHT, owe.

AULD, old.

AULD REEKIE, Edinburgh,
in allusion to its smoke.

AVISEMENT, counsel.

Aw, all.

AWMOUS, alms, a gift.

BANGED, sprang, bounded.
360

BARNACLES, spectacles.

BARNS - BREAKING, idle
frolics.

BAWBEE, halfpenny.

BAXTER, baker.

BEAR-BANNOCKS, barley-
cakes.

BECKING, curtseying.

BECKS, nods.

BEECHEN BICKERS, dishes
ofbeechwood.

BE -DAM, ugly old woman.

BELIVE, by-and-by, pre-
sently.

BENEVOLENCES, taxes il-
legally exacted by the
kings of England.

BIDE, keep, remain.

BIELDY BIT, sheltered spot.

BIGGIN G, building.

BILBOE, sword, rapier.

BILLIES, brothers.

BIRKIE, lively young fellow.

BLACK - JACK, leathern
drinking cup.

BLADES, dashing fellows,
rakes.

GLOSSARY

36i

BLATE, modest, bashful.
BLETHERING,/OO/W^, silly.
BLITHE, BLYTHE, glad.
BLUE-COATS, lackeys.
BODDLE, a copper coin,

value the sixth fart of

an English penny.
BODE, bid, offer.
BOOKIE, book.
BRAE, hill, hill-side.
BRAVE PIECE, Jine thing.
BRAW,^/?/^, handsome.
BREAKING, kneading.
BREEKS, breeches,

trousers.

BROCHES, kitchen spits.
BROSE, pottage of meal

and water.

BROWNIE, domestic goblin.
BUCKET, cheat.
BUNEMOST, uppermost.
BURROWS-TOWN, borough-

town.
Buss, kiss.

CALF-WARD, place where
calves are kept in the
field.

CALLAN, CALLANT, lad.

CANNILY, cautiously, skil-
fully.

CANNY, quiet.

CANTLE, crown of the head.

CARCANET, necklace.

CARLE, fellow.

CARLE-HEMPIE, the
strongest stalk of hemp.

CARNIFEX, executioner.

CAST, fate.

CAUFF, chaff".

CAULDRIFE, chilly.

CA'T, call it.

CAUP, cup.

CAUSEY, pavement.

GERTIE, faith, in truth.

CHALMER, chamber.

CHANGE-HOUSE, roadside
inn 'where horses are
changed on a journey.

CHALK, slash.

CHAPPIT, struck.

CHEEK-BY-JOWL, CHEEK-
BY-CHOWL, side by side.

CHEERY, dagger.

CHENZIE - MAIL, chain-
mail.

CHIELD, fellow.

CHOPIN ES, high shoes or
clogs.

CHUCKS, chuck-stones, as
played by children.

CHUFFS, clowns, simple-
tons.

CLAITHING, clothing.

CLAPPED LOOPS, crossed
palms.

CLATTER-TRAPS, rattle-
trapt.

362

GLOSSARY

CLAUGHT, snatched.
CLAVERING, idle talking.
CLEEK, hook.
CLEW, clue.
CLOOT, hoof.
CLOUR, bloiv.
CLOUTING, mending.

COCK-A-LEEKIE, COCK-A-

LEEKY, leek soup in
•which a cock has been
boiled.

COIF, linen covering for
the head.

COMPLOTS, plots, intrigues.

COMPT, list, account, par-
ticulars.

COMPTING-ROOM, COUnt -

ing-house.
COSHERING, being familiar

and intimate.
COUP, barter.

COUP THE CRANS, gO to

wreck and ruin.
COUPIT, tumbled.
CRAIG, rock, also neck.
CRAP, creep.
CRAW'D SAE GROUSE,

crowed so proudly.
CULLY, one easily deceived,

a dupe.
CURN, grain.
CUSSER, stallion.
CUTTY - QUEAN, a loose

•woman.

DAFT, silly, mad.

D AiY&KDiG, jogging or toil-
ing along.

DANG, driven, knocked.

DEIL, devil.

DEUTEROSCOPY, a mean-
ing beyond the original
sense.

DIDNA, did not.

DIKE - LOUPER, a de-
bauchee.

D i R D u M, uproar, tu-
mult.

DIRKED, stabbed with a
dirk.

DONNERIT, stupified.

DOOMS, very, absolutely.

DOUCE, quiet, respectable,
sober.

DOVER, neither asleep nor
awake.

DOWCOT, dove-cote.

DRAB, illicit sexual inter-
course.

DRAFF, grains given to
cows, also the wash
given to pigs.

DRAFF - POKE, bag of
grains.

DREDGING-BOX, a box
with holes for sprink-
ling Jlour in cookery.

DROUTHY, thirsty.

DUD, rag.

GLOSSARY

363

DUKE OF EXETER'S
DAUGHTER, a species
of rack in the Tower of
London.

DULE-WEEDS, mourn-
Ing.

DUMMALAFONG, a common
prey to all comers.

DUNTS, blows.

HARD, earth.
EEN, eyes.
ELRITCH, hideous.
ENOW , just now.
EN SAMPLE, example.
EVITED, avoided.
EXIES, hysterics.

FALCHION, a short broad-
sword with a slightly
curved point.

FALSET, falsehood.

PAUSE, false.

FASH, trouble.

FASHIOUS, troublesome,
annoying.

FENCE - LOUPER, rakish
fellow.

FEBRIFUGE, a medicine to
subdue a fever.

FIDUCIARY, trustee.

FLATCAPS, citizens, civil-
ians.

F LEECHING, flattering.

FOOD FOR FAGGOTS, mar-

tyrs for their religious

opinions.
FOOT-CLOTH, horse-cloth

reaching almost to the

ground.

FOUARTS, house-leeks.
FOULWART, pole-cat.

FRESCO, half -naked.
FULE, /0o/.
FULHAM, loaded dice.

GAGE, pledge, trust.
GANG A' AE GATE, go all

one •way.

GAR, make, force.
GARR'D, made, compelled.
GATE, way, road, also

kind of.

GEAR, property.
GIFF-GAFF, give and take,

tit for tat.

GlE THE GLAIKS, to befool,

deceive.
GILLIE-WHITE-FOOT, run-

ning footman.
GILLRAVAGER, plunderer.
GIRNED, grinned.
GLAIKS, deception.
GLEED, awry, all wrong.

GRAFFS, graves.
GRAMERCY, g reat thanks.

364

GLOSSARY

GKANDAM, old woman,

grandmother.
GRAT, cried.
GREEN GEESE, parrots.
GREET, cry.
GREW, shudder.
GRIPS, handshakings,

greetings,
GROSART, GROSSART^OO^-

berry.

GULL, one easily befooled.
GULLEY, large knife.
GUTTERBLOOD, one meanly

bred.
GYNOCRACY, petticoat

government.

HAET, thing.

HAFFITS, sides of the head.

HAFT, handle.

HAJRBOURED, resided, so-
journed.

HAMESUCKEN, assaulting a
man on his own premises.

HANKED, coiled.

HARLE, drag, trail.

HARMAN BECK, constable.

HEART-SCALD, disgust.

HEAD-TIRE, head-dress.

HECK AND MANGER, in
comfortable quarters.

HEUGHS, glens.

HlRDIE - GIRDIE, topsy-

turvy.

HIRELING, limping, walk-
ing lame.

HORSE-GRAITH, harness.
HOUGHS, hollows.
HOWFF, rendezvous, place
of resort.

ILK ANE, each one.
ILL, bad.

ILL REDD-UP, very untidy.
ILL-WILLY, ill-natured.
INGINE, ingenuity.
INGOTS, masses of un-

wrought metal.
INGRATE, an ungrateful

person.
IRON CARLES, iron figures

JAW, wave.
JEDDART-STAFF, a species

of battle-axe peculiar to

Jedburgh.
JENNET, a small Spanish

horse.

JINGLE, dance.
JOUP, dip, stoop down.

KEMPING, strife.
KENNING, knowledge.
KIMMER, gossip, neigh-
bour.
KIRK, church.

GLOSSARY

365

KITTLE, ticllish, difficult,

precarious.
KYTHED, seemed, appeared.

LAIGH, low.

LAIR, learning.

LAMB'S-WOOL, a bever-
age made of the pulp of
roasted apples.

LANDLOUPER, adventurer,
runagate.

LANG SYNE, long ago.

LATTEN, plated iron or
brass.

LAVROCK, lark.

LEASING-MAKING, uttering
treasonable language.

LEASINGS, falsehoods,
treason.

LEGLIN-GIRTH, the lowest
hoop on a leglin, or
milk-pail.

LICK, a beating.

LIEFEST, most beloved.

LIFT, steal.

LIGHT o* LOVE, mistress,
•wanton woman.

LINKBOYS, juvenile torch-
bearers.

LIST, like.

LITHER, soft.

LOOF, palm of the hand.

LOON, LOUN, rascal.

Lou PING, leaping.

LUG, LUGG, ear.
LUVE, love.

MAIR THAN ANCE, more
than once.

MARLE, wonder, mar-
vel.

MAGGOT, whim, fancy.

MELL, intermeddle.

MENSFFUL, modest, man-
nerly.

MERK, a Scottish coin,
value i$s. 4*/.

MESS-BOOK, mass - book,
Catholic prayer-book.

MlCKLE, MUCKLE, much,

great, large.
MINT, attempt.
MIRK, dark.
MISLEARD, unmannerly.
MORT-CLOTH, shroud.
MOTION, puppet-show.
MUCKLE v. MICKLE.
MUFFLED, disguised.
MUSKETOON, a species of

musket.
MY CERTIE, my goodness !

gracious /

NEB, nose, point.
NEEDSNA, need not.
NICHER, snigger.
NICKS, notches.
NIFFER, exchange.

366

GLOSSARY

NOBLE, a gold coin, value

6s 8</. sterling.
NOWTE, black cattle.
NUNCHION, luncheon, food

taken between meals.

OR, before.

OTHER GATE, other kind
of.

OWER SICKER, tOO carcfuh

PAIR, j?£V&/, chastise.
PANGED, crammed.
PAPISTRIE, Popery.
PEASE -BOGLE, scarecrow

among the pease grow-

ing.
PENNY-WEDDING, a •wed-

ding where all who

attend contribute a trifle

towards the expenses of

the merrymaking.
PICKTHANK, a parasitical

informer.
PIG, earthern pot, vessel,

or pitcher.
PINK, stab, pierce holes

into.
PLACK, a copper coin,

value the third part of

an English penny.
PLOY, trick.
POCK-END, empty pocket

orfurse.

POCK-PUDDING, bag pud-
ding.
POORTITH, poverty.

PORK-GRISKINS, SUck'mg-

pigs, also broiled loin of

pork.

POUCH, pocket.
PRIE, taste.
PULLET, a young hen.

QUEAN, wench, young
'woman.

RAMPALLIONS, low

•women.
RAVE, tore.
RAXING, stretching.
REDDING-KAME, hair-
comb.
REDD -UP, tidy, put in

order.

RED WUD, stark mad.
REIRD, shouting.
REMEID, resource, remedy.
ROOPIT, croupy, hoarse.
ROSE-NOBLE, a gold coin,

value 6s. 8*/., impressed

with a rose.
ROUT, ROWT, to roar or

bellow.
RUDAS, wild, forward,

bold.

SAAM, same.

GLOSSARY

367

SACK, sherry or canary
wine, 'warmed and
spiced.

SACKLESS, innocent.

SCAT, tribute, tax.

SCAUDING, scalding.

SCAUR, scare, frighten.

SCLATE-STANE, slate-stone.

SCRIVENER, on f who draws
up contracts.

SHABBLE, cutlass.

SHOOK, shoes.

SHOUTHER, shoulder.

SHULE, shovel.

SIB, related.

SIBYL, prophetess.

SICKER, careful.

SlCLlKEjJUSt SO.

SILLER, money, silver.
SIRRAH, sir !
SKEIGH, skittish.
SKELDER, plunder, snatch.
SLEEVELESS, thriftless.
S M A i K, mean, paltry
fellow.

AP - HAUNCHES, firc-

locks.

PANG, spring.
SPEER, ask.
SPEERINGS, information,

inquiries.
SPRAIKLE, to get on with

difficulty.
SPUNK, slip.

::

SPUNKIES, will - oy - the-

wisps.

STEERING, closing.
STEEKIT, shut.
STONERN, stone.
STOT, a bullock between

two and three years

old.
STRAND-SCOURING, gutter-

raking.
STURDIED, afflicted with

the sturdy, a sheep

disease.

STYPIC, astringent, some-
thing to arrest hamorr-

hage.
SUCCORY - WATER, sugar

water.

SUNDOWN, sunset.
SUNER, sooner.

SUMPTER HORSE, pack-

horse.

SWITH, begone ! be off
SYNE, ago.

TAIT, lock.

TANE, the one.

TAWSE, leather strap used

for chastisement.
TEINDS, tithes.
THROUGH-STANES, grave-
stones.

TIKE v. TYKE.
TINT, lost.

368

GLOSSARY

TITHER, the other.
TOCHER, dowry.
TOOM, empty.
TOUR, see.

TOUT, blast on the horn.
TOYS, goods.
TREEN, wooden.
TROTH, truth.
TROW, believe, guess.
TRYSTE, appointment.

TURN-BROCHE, turn-Spit.

TYKE, TIKE, dog, cur.
TWA, two

TWIRING, coquetting, mak-
ing eyes at.

UMQUHILE, late, deceased.
VIVERS, victuals.

WAD, pledge.
WADNA, would not.
WADSET, mortgage.
WANION, misfortune.
WARE, spend.

WARLOCKS, wizards.
WASTRIFE, waste, extra-
vagance.
WAUR, worse.
WEEL KEND, well known.
WHA, who.
WHEEN, few, a number

of-

WHIGMALEERY, trinkets,
nicknacks.

WHILK, which.

WHINGER, cutlass, long
knife.

WHINYARD, sword.

WHOMBLE, upset.

WIMPLED, wrapped up.

WINNA, will not.

WITHY, gallows rope.

Woo', wool.

WYLIE-COAT, under-petti-
coat.

WYND, street, alley.

WYTE, blame.

YESTREEN, last night.

TURNBUt-t, AND 8PEARS, PRINTERS EDINBURGH.

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY