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44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER XXXVII |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the meantime, Charles and Isabella had enjoyed a large share of domestic felicity, rendered the more endearingly exquisite by their parental anxiety, for it had pleased Heaven at once to bless and burden their narrow circumstances with two beautiful children, James and Mary. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Their income arising from the share which the old man had assigned of the business had, during the first two or three years subsequent to their marriage, proved sufficient for the supply of their restricted wants; but their expenses began gradually to increase, and about the end of the third year Charles found that they had incurred several small debts above their means of payment. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | These, in the course of the fourth, rose to such a sum, that, being naturally of an apprehensive mind, he grew uneasy at the amount, and came to the resolution to borrow two hundred pounds to discharge them. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | This, he imagined, there could be no difficulty in procuring; for, believing that he was the heir of entail to the main part of the estate which his father had so entirely redeemed, he conceived that he might raise the money on his reversionary prospects, and, with this view, he called one morning on Mr. Keelevin to request his agency in the business. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm grieved, man,' said the honest lawyer, 'to hear that ye're in such straits; but had na ye better speak to your father? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It might bring on you his displeasure if he heard ye were borrowing money to be paid at his death. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It's a thing nae frien', far less a father, would like done by himsel.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'In truth,' replied Charles, 'I am quite sensible of that; but what can I do? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | for my father, ever since my brother Watty's marriage, has been so cold and reserved about his affairs to me, that every thing like confidence seems as if it were perished from between us.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Keelevin, during this speech, raised his left arm on the elbow from the table at which he was sitting, and rested his chin on his hand. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | There was nothing in the habitual calm of his countenance which indicated what was passing in his heart, but his eyes once or twice glimmered with a vivid expression of pity. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Mr. Walkinshaw,' said he, 'if you dinna like to apply to your father yoursel, could na some friend mediate for you? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Let me speak to him.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'It's friendly of you, Mr. Keelevin, to offer to do that; but really, to speak plainly, I would far rather borrow the money from a stranger, than lay myself open to any remarks. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Indeed, for myself, I don't much care; but ye ken my father's narrow ideas about household charges; and maybe he might take it on him to make remarks to my wife that I would na like to hear o'.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But, Mr. Charles, you know that money canna be borrow't without security.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I am aware of that; and it's on that account I want your assistance. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I should think that my chance of surviving my father is worth something.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But the whole estate is strictly entailed, Mr. Charles,' replied the lawyer, with compassionate regard. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'The income, however, is all clear, Mr. Keelevin.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I dinna misdoubt that, Mr. Charles, but the entail--Do you ken how it runs?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'No; but I imagine much in the usual manner.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'No, Mr. Charles,' said the honest writer, raising his head, and letting his hand fall on the table, with a mournful emphasis; 'No, Mr. Charles, it does na run in the usual manner; and I hope ye'll no put ony reliance on't. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was na right o' your father to let you live in ignorance so long. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Maybe it has been this to-look that has led you into the debts ye want to pay.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The manner in which this was said affected the unfortunate first-born more than the meaning; but he replied,-- 'No doubt, Mr. Keelevin, I may have been less scrupulous in my expenses than I would have been, had I not counted on the chance of my birthright.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Mr. Charles, |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'm sorry for you; but I would na do a frien's part by you, were I to keep you ony langer in the dark. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Your father, Mr. Charles, is an honest man; but there's a bee in his bonnet, as we a' ken, anent his pedigree. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I need na tell you how he has warslet to get back the inheritance o' his forefathers; but I am wae to say, that in a pursuit so meritorious, he has committed ae great fault. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Really, Mr. Charles, I have na hardly the heart to tell you.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'What is it?' said Charles, with emotion and apprehension. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'He has made a deed,' said Mr. Keelevin, 'whereby he has cut you off frae the succession, in order that Walter, your brother, might be in a condition to make an exchange of the Plealands for the twa mailings that were wanting to make up, wi' the Grippy property, a restoration of the auld estate of Kittlestonheugh; and I doubt it's o' a nature in consequence, that, even were he willing, canna be easily altered.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | To this heart-withering communication Charles made no answer. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He stood for several minutes astonished; and then giving Mr. Keelevin a wild look, shuddered and quitted the office. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Instead of returning home, he rushed with rapid and unequal steps down the Gallowgate, and, turning to the left hand in reaching the end of the street, never halted till he had gained the dark firs which overhang the cathedral and skirt the Molindinar Burn, which at the time was swelled with rains, and pouring its troubled torrent almost as violently as the tide of feelings that struggled in his bosom. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Unconscious of what he did, and borne along by the whirlwind of his own thoughts, he darted down the steep, and for a moment hung on the rocks at the bottom as if he meditated some frantic leap. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Recoiling and trembling with the recollections of his family, he then threw himself on the ground, and for some time shut his eyes as if he wished to believe that he was agitated only by a dream. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The scene and the day were in unison with the tempest which shook his frame and shivered his mind. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The sky was darkly overcast. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The clouds were rolling in black and lowering masses, through which an occasional gleam of sunshine flickered for a moment on the towers and pinnacles of the cathedral, and glimmered in its rapid transit on the monuments and graves in the church-yard. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | A gloomy shadow succeeded; and then a white and ghastly light hovered along the ruins of the bishop's castle, and darted with a strong and steady ray on a gibbet which stood on the rising ground beyond. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The gusty wind howled like a death-dog among the firs, which waved their dark boughs like hearse plumes over him, and the voice of the raging waters encouraged his despair. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He felt as if he had been betrayed into a situation which compelled him to surrender all the honourable intents of his life, and that he must spend the comfortless remainder of his days in a conflict with poverty, a prey to all its temptations, expedients, and crimes. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At one moment, he clenched his grasp, and gnashed his teeth, and smote his forehead, abandoning himself to the wild and headlong energies and instincts of a rage that was almost revenge; at another, the image of Isabella, so gentle and so defenceless, rose in a burst of tenderness and sorrow, and subdued him with inexpressible grief. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But the thought of his children in the heedless days of their innocence, condemned to beggary by a fraud against nature, again scattered these subsiding feelings like the blast that brushes the waves of the ocean into spindrift. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | This vehemence of feeling could not last long without producing some visible effect. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | When the storm had in some degree spent itself, he left the wild and solitary spot where he had given himself so entirely up to his passion, and returned towards his home; but his limbs trembled, his knees faltered, and a cold shivering vibrated through his whole frame. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | An intense pain was kindled in his forehead; every object reeled and shuddered to him as he passed; and, before he reached the house, he was so unwell that he immediately retired to bed. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the course of the afternoon he became delirious, and a rapid and raging fever terrified his ill-fated wife. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER XXXVIII Mr. Keelevin, when Charles had left him, sat for some time with his cheek resting on his hand, reflecting on what had passed; and in the afternoon, he ordered his horse, and rode over to Grippy, where he found the Laird sitting sullenly by himself in the easy-chair by the fire-side, with a white night-cap on his head, and grey worsted stockings drawn over his knees. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm wae, Mr. Walkinshaw,' said the honest lawyer, as he entered the room, 'to see you in sic an ailing condition; what's the matter wi' you, and how lang hae ye been sae indisposed?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Claud had not observed his entrance; for, supposing the noise in opening the door had been made by the Leddy in her manifold household cares, or by some one of the servants, he never moved his head, but kept his eyes ruminatingly fixed on a peeling of soot that was ominously fluttering on one of the ribs of the grate, betokening, according to the most credible oracles of Scottish superstition, the arrival of a stranger, or the occurrence of some remarkable event. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But, on hearing the voice of his legal friend, he turned briskly round. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Sit ye doun, Mr. Keelevin, sit ye doun forenent me. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | What's brought you here the day? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Man, this is sore weather for ane at your time o' life to come so far afield,' was the salutation with which he received him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Aye,' replied Mr. Keelevin, 'baith you and me, Grippy, are beginning to be the waur o' the wear; but I didna expek to find you in sic a condition as this. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I hope it's no the gout or the rheumatism.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Claud, who had the natural horror of death as strong as most country gentlemen of a certain age, if not of all ages, did not much relish either the observation or the inquiries. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He, however, said, with affected indifference,-- 'No! be thankit, it's neither the t'ane nor the t'ither, but just a waff o' cauld that I got twa nights ago;--a bit towt that's no worth the talking o'.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm extraordinar glad to hear't; for, seeing you in sic a frail and feckless state, I was fear't that ye were na in a way to converse on any concern o' business. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | No that I hae muckle to say, but ye ken a' sma' things are a great fasherie to a weakly person, and I would na discompose you, Mr. Walkinshaw, unless you just felt yoursel in your right ordinar, for, at your time o' life, ony disturbance'---- 'My time o' life?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | interrupted the old man tartly. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Surely I'm no sae auld that ye need to be speaking o' my time o' life? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But what's your will, Mr. Keelevin, wi' me?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Whether all this sympathetic condolence, on the part of the lawyer, was said in sincerity, or with any ulterior view, we need not pause to discuss, for the abrupt question of the invalid brought it at once to a conclusion. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'In truth, Laird,' replied Mr. Keelevin, 'I canna say that I hae ony thing o' a particular speciality to trouble you anent, for I came hither more in the way o' friendship than o' business,--having had this morning a visit frae your son Charles, a fine weel-doing young man as can be.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'He's weel enough,' said the old man gruffly, and the lawyer continued,-- ''Deed, Mr. Walkinshaw, he's mair than weel enough. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He's by common, and it was with great concern I heard that you and him are no on sic a footing of cordiality as I had thought ye were.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Has he been making a complaint o' me?' said Claud looking sharply, and with a grim and knotted brow as if he was, at the same time, apprehensive and indignant. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'He has mair sense and discretion,' replied Mr. Keelevin; 'but he was speaking to me on a piece of business, and I was surprised he did na rather confer wi' you; till, in course of conversation, it fell out, as it were unawares, that he did na like to speak to you anent it; the which dislike, I jealouse, could only proceed o' some lack o' confidence between you, mair than should ever be between a father and a well-behaved son like Mr. Charles.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'And what was't?' said Grippy drily. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I doubt that his income is scant to his want, Mr. Walkinshaw.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'He's an extravagant fool; and ne'er had a hand to thraw a key in a lock;--when I began the world I had na'---- 'Surely,' interrupted Mr. Keelevin, 'ye could ne'er think the son o' a man in your circumstances should hain and hamper as ye were necessitated to do in your younger years. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But no to mak a hearing or an argument concerning the same--Mr. Charles requires a sma' sum to get him free o' a wee bit difficulty, for, ye ken, there are some folk, Mr. Walkinshaw, that a flea-bite molests like the lash o' a whip.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The old man made no answer to this; but sat for some time silent, drawing down his brows and twirling his thumbs. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Keelevin waited in patience till he should digest the reply he so evidently meditated. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I hae ay thought Charlie honest, at least,' said Grippy; 'but I maun say that this fashes me, for if he's in sic straits, there's no telling what liberties he may be led to tak wi' my property in the shop.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Keelevin, who, in the first part of this reply, had bent eagerly forward, was so thunderstruck by the conclusion, that he threw himself back in his chair with his arms extended; but in a moment recovering from his consternation, he said, with fervour,-- 'Mr. Walkinshaw, I mind weel the reproof ye gave me when I remonstrated wi' you against the injustice ye were doing the poor lad in the entail, but there's no consideration on this earth will let me alloo you to gang on in a course of error and prejudice. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Your son is an honest young man. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I wish I could say his father kent his worth, or was worthy o' him--and I'll no see him wrangeously driven to the door, without taking his part, and letting the world ken wha's to blame. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'll no say ye hae defrauded him o' his birthright, for the property was your ain--but if ye drive him forth the shop, and cast him wi' his sma' family on the scrimp mercy of mankind, I would be wanting to human nature in general, if I did na say it was most abominable, and that you yoursel, wi' a' your trumpery o' Walkinshaws and Kittlestonheughs, ought to be scourged by the hands o' the hangman. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | So do as ye like, Mr. Walkinshaw, ride to the deevil at the full gallop for aught I care, but ye's no get out o' this world without hearing the hue-and-cry that every Christian soul canna but raise after you.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Claud was completely cowed both by the anger and menace of the honest lawyer, but still more by the upbraidings of his own startled conscience--and he said, in a humiliated tone, that almost provoked contempt,-- 'Ye're oure hasty, Mr. Keelevin. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I did na mint a word about driving him forth the shop. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Did he tell you how muckle his defect was?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Twa miserable hundred pounds,' replied Mr. Keelevin, somewhat subsiding into his wonted equanimity. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Twa hundred pound o' debt!' exclaimed Claud. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Aye,' said Mr. Keelevin, 'and I marvel it's no mair, when I consider the stinting and the sterile father |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | o' him.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'If I had the siller, Mr. Keelevin,' replied Claud, 'to convince baith you and him that I'm no the niggar ye tak me for, I would gi'e you't wi' hearty gude will; but the advance I made to get Geordie into his partnership has for the present rookit me o' a' I had at command.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'No possible!' exclaimed Mr. Keelevin, subdued from his indignation; adding, 'and heavens preserve us, Mr. Walkinshaw, an ony thing were happening on a sudden to carry you aff, ye hae made na provision for Charlie nor your dochter.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | There was something in this observation which made the old man shrink up into himself, and vibrate from head to heel. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the course, however, of less than a minute, he regained his self-possession, and said,-- ''Deed, your observe, Mr. Keelevin, is very just, and I ought to do something to provide for what may come to pass. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I maun try and get Watty to concur wi' me in some bit settlement that may lighten the disappointment to Charlie and Meg, should it please the Lord to tak me to himsel without a reasonable warning. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Can sic a paper be made out?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Oh, yes,' replied the worthy lawyer, delighted with so successful an issue to his voluntary mission; 'ye hae twa ways o' doing the business; either by getting Watty to agree to an aliment, or by making a bond of provision to Charles and Mrs. Milrookit.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Claud said he would prefer the former mode; observing, with respect to the latter, that he thought it would be a cheating o' the law to take the other course. |
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