Chapter 3

" Have you any doctor to see him ? " inquired Miss St Clair.

" Oo, 'tweel he's had doctors eneugh, an' naething's been spared on him. I'm sure he's pitten as muckle doctor's stuff o' ae kind an' anither in till himsel' as might hae pushened him twenty times ower ; but weel a wat, I think the mair he taks the waur he grows."

" Perhaps he takes too much medicine."

"'Deed I'll no say but he may; but ye ken, my leddy, what can he do ? — he maun tak what the doctor sends him — the things canna be lost ; but 'tweel he's very sweered to tak them whiles, tho' I'm sure muckle money they cost, an', as I tell him, they're dear morsels."

" Perhaps if he were to leave off the medicines, and try the effect of fresh air and good milk, and soup, which I shall endeavour to procure for him "

" I'm sure we're muckle obliged to you, my leddy ;

* A stoup is neither a bucket, nor a pitcher, nor a jar, nor an anything but a stoup.

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but he need nae want for fresh air, he can get eneugh o' that ony day by gawen to the door ; but there's nae gettin him to stir frae the chimley lug ; and, 'deed, I canna say he wants for milk or broth either, for ane 6' the young gentlemen up by spoke to my lord for us, and he's really no to mean for his meat if he wad tak it ; as I tell him whiles, my certy ! mony a ane wad be glad to hae't for the takin."

" Is there any thing else, then, in which T can be ot use to you ? " inquired Gertrude, now addressing the invalid, — " is there any thing you particularly wish for?"

The man held up a ragged elbow — " Gin your leddyship has an auld coat to spare," said he, in a hesitating voice.

" An auld coat ! " interposed his dame ; " Oo, what could pit an auld coat in your head. Tarn ? I'm sure there's a hantel things mair needfu' than an auld coat — no that he wad be the waur o' a coat neither, for he has naething atween that puir dud on his back and his marriage ane, and his Sabbath-day suit in the kist there."

" Pray let me know what things are most wanted for your husband's comfort," said Miss St Clair, " and I shall make a point of sending them — a bit of carpet, for instance," looking upon the damp clay floor.

" Wud ye like a bit carpet, Tam, the leddy asks ? " roared his wife to him ; then, without waiting for an answer,

" Oo, 'deed he disna ken what he would like ; an' he's ne'er been used till a carpet, and I daur say it wud just be a disconvenience to him, noo that he canna be fashed wi' ony thing — no but what he might pit up wi' a bit carpet, I'se warran', if he hadither things that are a hantel mair needfu'."

"A more comfortable chair, then, I may surely

26 THE INHERITANCE.

send," said Gertrude, still persisting in her benevolent attempts.

" The leddy's for sendin' ye anither chyre, Tarn," again shouted his tender helpmate — the husband nodded his assent : " but, 'tweel, he's sutten sae lang in that ane, I doot it's no worth his while to chynge 't noo ; and I dinna think he could be fashed wi' anither chyre — no but what we micht put up wi' anither chyre or twa, if we had aw thing else wise-like.'*

"I am sorry there is nothing I can think of that would be acceptable to you "

" Oo, I'll no say that, my leddy," briskly inter- rupted the hostess ; *< there's a hantel things, weel a wat, we hae muckle need o' — for ae thing — ^but I maist think shame to tell't — an' it's really nae faut o' mine neither, my leddy; but it's just sae happent, wi' ae thing an' anither, I hae ne'er gotten a steek o' the gudeman's dead claes ready — and noo to think that he's drawin' near his end, I'm sure I canna tell the vexation it's cost me." Here the dame drew a deep sigh, and wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron ; then pro- ceeded— *' Siena a discreditable thing to hae said, an' sic a comfort as, nae doot, it wad be to him to see aw thing ready and wise-like afore he gaed out o' the world. — A suit o' gude bein comfortable dead claise, Tammes," appealing to her husband, " wad set ye better than aw the braw chyres an' carpets i' the toon. No but what if ance ye had the tane, we micht pit up wi' the tither ; but wad nae't be a bonny-like thing to see you set up wi' a braw carpet, and a saft chyre, an' to think ye had nae sa muckle as a wise-like windin' sheet to row ye in ? "

A great deal of the pathos of this harangue was, of course, unintelligible to Miss St Clair ; but she compre- hended the main scope of it, and, somewhat shocked at this Scotch mode of evincing conjugal affection, she put down some money and withdrew, rather surprised to

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find what different ideas of comfort and respectability prevailed in different countries, and a good deal disap- pointed in the failure of her benevolent intentions.

Chapter &♦

What kind of catechizing call you this ?

Much Ado about Nothing.

TIME had passed unheeded, and chance, rather than design, led Gertrude to retrace her steps, when, as she drew near the castle, she was met by one of the servants, who informed her that he and several others had been sent in search of her, as it was long past the breakfast hour, and the family had been some time assembled. Ashamed of her own thoughtlessness, she quickened her steps ; and desiring the servant to show the way to the breakfast room, without waiting to adjust her dress, she hastily entered, eager to apologise for her transgression. But the dread solemnity that sat on Lord Rossville's brow made her falter in her pur- pose. With a teapot in one hand, with the other he made an awful wave for her to be seated. Lady Betty was busy mixing a mess of hot rolls, cream, and sugar, for her epileptic lapdog. An impending storm sat on Mrs St Clair's face, but veiled under an appear- ance of calm dignified displeasure. Gertrude felt as it denounced by the whole party — she knew not for what, unless for having been twenty minutes too late for breakfast, and, in some trepidation, she began to apolo- gise for her absence. Lord Rossville gave several deep sepulchral hems ; then, as if he had been passing sentence upon a criminal, said, —

" I am not averse to postpone the discussion of this

28 THE INHERITANCE.

delicate and painful investigation, Miss St Clair, until you shall have had the benefit of refreshment."

Gertrude was confounded. " My lord ! " exclaimed she, in amazement, " I am very sorry if any thing has occurred," — and she looked round for an explanation.

Lord Rossville hemmed — looked still more appalling, and then spoke as follows : —

" You are doubtless aware. Miss St Clair, that in all countries where civilisation and refinement have made any considerable progress, female delicacy and propriety are — are ever held in the highest estimation and esteem."

His lordship paused ; and as no contradiction was offered to this his proem, he proceeded, —

" But you must, or certainly ought to be likewise aware, that it is not merely these virtues themselves which must be carefully implanted, and vigilantly watched over, in the young and tender female — for even the possession of the virtues themselves are not a sufficient shield for the female character. It was a maxim of Julius Caesar's (unquestionably the greatest conqueror that ever lived), that his wife must not only be spotless in herself, but that she must not even be suspected by others : a maxim that, in my opinion, de- seiTes to be engraven in letters of gold, and certainly cannot be too early, or too deeply, imprinted on the young and tender female breast."

His lordship had gained a climax, and he stopped, overpowered with his own eloquence. Mrs St Clair made a movement expressive of the deepest attention and most profound admiration.

" Such being my sentiments — sentiments in which I am borne out by the testimony of one of the greatest men who ever lived — it is not surprising that I should feel, and feel deeply too, the glaring indiscretion you have, I grieve to say, already committed, since your entrance within these walls."

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Then, after another solemn pause, during which Miss St Clair sat in speechless amazement, he resumed with more than senatorial dignity.

" I wish to be correctly informed at what hour you quitted your apartment this morning, Miss St Clair ? "

" Indeed, my lord, I cannot tell," answered Ger- trude, with perfect naivete. " I had forgot to wind up my watch, and I did not hear any clock strike ; but, from the appearance of the morning, I am sure it was early."

" And what, may I ask, was the mode or manner. Miss St Clair, by which you thought proper to quit my house at so untimely and unusual an hour ? " de- manded the Earl in a voice of repressed emotion.

Gertrude blushed — " I am afraid I was guilty of a transgression, my lord, for which I ask your pardon ; but, allured by the fineness of the morning, and the beauty of the scenery, I was desirous of getting out to enjoy them, and having in vain tried to make my way through a door, I was tempted to step out by a window."

Miss St Clair spoke with so much simplicity and gentleness, and there was so much sweetness and even melody in her voice and accent, that any other than Lord Rossville would have wished her offence had been greater, that her apology might have been longer. Not so his lordship, who possessed neither taste nor ear, and was alive to no charm but what he called propriety. At the conclusion of his niece's acknowledgment, the Earl struck his forehead, and took two or three turns up and down the room ; then suddenly stopping, —

" Are you at all aware. Miss St Clair, of the glaring — the — I must say — gross impropriety of such a step in itself — of the still more gross construction that will be put upon it by the world ? The simple fact has only to be told, and one inference, and but one, will be

30 THE INHERITANCE.

drawn. You have quitted the apartment assigned to you under my roof at an — an untimely, consequently unbefitting hour ; and you — you — most imprudently and improperly precipitate yourself from a window — and what window ? why, the window of my private sitting room ! A young female is seen issuing from the window of my study at a nameless hour in the morning — the tale circulates — and where, I ask, — where ami?''

" Where was you ? " inquired Lady Betty.

Mrs St Clair put her handkerchief to her face.

" I am very sorry, my lord, that I should have done any thing to displease you — if I have done wrong "

** If you have done wrong ! Good heavens ! is it thus you view the matter. Miss St Clair ? What / think wrong ! Who that has proper feelings of deli- cacy and propriety — who that has a due regard for character and reputation, but must view the matter precisely as I do ? Such a step — and at such an hour!"

And his Lordship resumed his troubled walk.

Unacquainted with her uncle's character, and ignorant of the manners and customs of the country, Gertrude was led to believe she had committed a much more serious offence than she had been aware of, and she was at length wrought up to that degree of distress which the Earl deemed necessary to mark her contrition. Softening at witnessing the effect of his power, which he imputed to the fine style of his language, he now took his niece's hand with an air of tender pomposity, and addressed her in what he intended for a more con- solatory strain.

** I have considered it my duty — a painful one, doubtless, but, nevertheless, my duty — to point out to you the impropriety you have — I hope and believe

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inadvertently — committed. As a member of my family, and one for whose actions the world will naturally consider me responsible, it is necessary that you should henceforth look up to me as the guide of your future steps, and that I should henceforth take upon myself the entire regulation of your manners and conduct in life."

Miss St Clair's blood ran cold at the thoughts of being subjected to such thraldom.

" But before dismissing this subject — I trust for ever — let me here state to you my sentiments with regard to young ladies walking before breakfast — a practice of which, I must confess, I have always dis- approved. I am aware it is a practice that has the sanction of many highly respectable authorities who have written on the subject of female ethics ; but, I own, I cannot approve of young ladies of rank and family leaving their apartments at the same hour with chamber-maids and dairy-maids, and walking out un- attended at an hour when only the lower orders of the people are abroad. Walking before breakfast, then, I must consider as a most rude masculine habit — as the Right Honourable Edmund Burke observes, * an air of robustness and strength is highly prejudicial to beauty * (that is, as I apprehend, female beauty), * while an appearance of fragility is no less essential to it ; ' — and certainly nothing, in my opinion, can be more unbecom- ing, more unfeminine, than to behold a young lady seat herself at the breakfast table with the complexion of a dairy-maid, and the appetite of a ploughman. At the same time, I am an advocate for early rising, as there are, doubtless, many ways in which young ladies may spend their mornings without rambling abroad ; and you will find, by looking in your dressing-room, that I have made ample provision for your instruction, and amuse- ment, and delight. Let morning walks, therefore.

$2 THE INHERITANCE.

from henceforth have an end.'* And he pressed his niece's hand with that air of pompous forgiveness so revoking from one human being to another. Luckily his lordship was here summoned away ; but ere he left the room, he signified his intention of returning in an hour to show the ladies what was most worthy of observation in the castle and demesnes.

Absurd as this scene may appear, few will deny the undue importance which many people attach to the trifles of life, and how often mole-hills are magnified into mountains by those with whom trifles are indeed " the sum of human things."

By 'r lakin, I can go no further, sir, My old bones ache : here's a maze trod, indeed, Through forth -rights and meanders ! By your patience, I needs must rest me.

TTie Tempest.

True as the dial to the sun.

Even though it be not shined upon,

LORD ROSSVILLE returned at the hour ap- pointed, to do the honours of his castle. But, as most of my readers have doubtless experienced the misery of being shown a house where there was nothing to be seen, and can tell "how hard it is to climb" from the lowest sunk storey to the uppermost garrets, I shall not be so unmerciful as to drag them " up stairs and down stairs to my lady's chamber," and into all the chambers except his lordship's own, which he was too decorous to exhibit. Neither shall I insist upon their hearing every thing explained and set forth even to the Dutch tiles of the dairy, the hot and cold

THE INHERITANCE. 33

pipes of the washing-house, the new-invented ovens, the admirably constructed larder, the inimitable baths, with all the wonder-working steam-going apparatus of the kitchen. Here Mrs St Clair acquitted herself to ad- miration ; for to see judiciously requires no small skill in the seer, and there are few who see things precisely as they ought to be seen. Many see too much — many too little. Some see only to find fault — some only to admire ; some are, or pretend to be, already acquainted with every thing they are shown — some are profoundly ignorant, consequently cannot properly appreciate the inventions or improvements exhibited. Some are too inquisitive — some too indifferent ; but it is as impossible to describe the vast variety of seers as of mosses, neither is it easy to point out the innumerable rocks on which a seer may strike. A treatise, illustrated by a few memor- able examples or awful warnings, might possibly be ot some use to the unskilful beholder. But, as in most other arts and sciences, much must depend upon natural genius. Mrs St Clair was so happily endowed, that she was enabled to see every thing as it was intended to be seen, and to bestow her admiration in the exact pro- portion in which she perceived it was required, through all the intermediate degrees, from ecstatic rapture down to emphatic approval. With Gertrude it was far other- wise ; she had no taste for poking into pantries, and chimneys, and cellars, or of hearing any of the inelegant minutiae of life detailed. It seemed like breaking all the enchantments of existence to be thus made to view the complicated machinery by which life, artificial life, was sustained ; and she rejoiced when the survey was ended, and it was proposed, after luncheon, to take a drive through the grounds. Gertrude flattered herself that here she would, at least, enjoy the repose of in- activity, and be suffered to see as much as could be seen from a carriage window of the beauties of nature. But I. C

34 THE INHERITANCE.

Lord Rossvllle's mind was never in a quiescent state in any situation ; there was always something to be done or to be seen — the windows were to be either let down or drawn up — the blinds to be drawn up or pulled down — there was something that ought to be seen, but could not be seen — or there was something seen that ought not to have been seen ; thus his mind was not only its own plague, but the plague of all who had the misfortune to bear him company.

In vain were creation's charms spread before his eyes. There is a mental blindness, darker than that which shrouds the visual orb ; and Nature's works were to Lord Rossville an universal blank, or rather they were a sort of account-book, in which were registered all his own petty doings. It was here he had drained, there he had embanked — here he had planted, there he had cut down — here he had built a bridge, there he had made a road — here he had levelled, there he had raised, &c. &c. &c. To all that his own head had planned he was feelingly alive ; but, for the " dread magnificence of heaven," he had neither eye, ear, nor soul, and must therefore be forgiven if insensible to its influence. Mrs St Clair was not much more highly gifted in that re- spect, but she could speak, if she could not feel ; and she expatiated and admired, till Lord Rossville thought her, without exception, the cleverest woman he had ever met with.

" Since you are so great an enthusiast in the beauties of nature, my dear madam," said he, addressing his sister-in-law, " we shall extend our drive a little farther than I had purposed, that I may have the pleasure of showing you, at a single coup d'ceil, the whole extent of the Rossville possessions in this country, while, at the same time, you will embrace some other objects in which I am not wholly unconcerned. — Benjamin," (to the servant,) "to Pinnacle Hill;" and to Pinnacle Hill

THE INHERITANCE. 35

the horses' heads were turned. " Pinnacle Hill," con- tinued the Earl, "is a very celebrated spot: it is a purchase I made from I^ord Fairacre some years ago ; and is much resorted to by strangers, as commanding, with few if any exceptions, one of the finest views in Scotland."

Mrs St Clair hated fine views, and she tried to get off by pretending scruples about encroaching so much on his lordship's time, goodness, and so forth — but all in vain ; to Pinnacle Hill they were driven ; and, after being dragged up as far as horses could go, they were (as, indeed, the name implied) obliged to alight and ascend on foot. With considerable toil they reached the top ; and scarcely were they there, when the wind, having changed to the east, its never-failing accompani- ment, a raw mist, began to gather all round. But Lord Rossville was insensible even to an east wind — his bodily sensations being quite as obtuse as his mental ones ; and having got to the top of the Pinnacle, he faced him round, and, in the very teeth of the enemy, began to point out what was and what was not to be seen.

" Here you have a very commanding view, or would have had, if the atmosphere had been somewhat clearer ; as it is, I can enable you distinctly to trace out the boundary line of the Rossville estate. Observe the course of the river in the direction of my cane — you see it plainly here — there it disappears amongst the Millbank woods — now it takes a turn, and you have it again to your left — you follow me \ "