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44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Aghast and recoiling, as if he had trodden upon an adder, he looked wildly around, and breathed quickly and with great difficulty, but said nothing. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In an instant his countenance underwent a remarkable change--his eyes became glittering and glassy, and his lips white. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | His whole frame shook, and appeared under the influence of some mortal agitation. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | His presence of mind did not, however, desert him, and he led the children hastily home. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | On reaching the door, he gave them in to the servant that opened it without speaking, and went immediately to Grippy, where, the moment he had seated himself in his elbow-chair, he ordered one of the servants to go for Mr. Keelevin. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'What ails you, father?' said Walter, who was in the room at the time; 'ye speak unco drumly--hae ye bitten your tongue?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But scarcely had he uttered these words, when the astonished creature gave a wild and fearful shout, and, clasping his hands above his head, cried, 'Help! help! |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | something's riving my father in pieces!' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The cry brought in the servants, who, scarcely less terrified, found the old man smitten with a universal paralysis, his mouth and eyes dreadfully distorted, and his arms powerless. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the alarm and consternation of the moment, he was almost immediately deserted; every one ran in quest of medical aid. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Walter alone remained with him, and continued gazing in his face with a strange horror, which idiocy rendered terrific. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Before any of the servants returned, the violence of the shock seemed to subside, and he appeared to be sensible of his situation. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The moment that the first entered the room he made an effort to speak, and the name of Keelevin was two or three times so distinctly articulated, that even Walter understood what he meant, and immediately ran wildly to Glasgow for the lawyer. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Another messenger was dispatched for the Leddy, who had, during the forenoon, gone to her daughter-in-law, with the intention of spending the day. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the meantime a doctor was procured, but he seemed to consider the situation of the patient hopeless; he, however, as in all similar cases, applied the usual stimulants to restore energy, but without any decisive effect. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The weather, which had all day been lowering and hazy, about this time became drizzly, and the wind rose, insomuch that Leddy Grippy, who came flying to the summons, before reaching home was drenched to the skin, and was for some time, both from her agitation and fatigue, incapable of taking any part in the bustle around her husband. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Walter, who had made the utmost speed for Mr. Keelevin, returned soon after his mother; and, on appearing before his father, the old man eagerly spoke to him; but his voice was so thick, that few of his words were intelligible. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was, however, evident that he inquired for the lawyer; for he threw his eyes constantly towards the door, and several times again was able to articulate his name. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At last, Mr. Keelevin arrived on horseback, and came into the room, dressed in his trotcosey; the hood of which, over his cocked hat, was drawn so closely on his face, that but the tip of his sharp aquiline nose was visible. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But, forgetful or regardless of his appearance, he stalked with long strides at once to the chair where Claud was sitting; and taking from under the skirt of the trotcosey a bond of provision for the widow and children of Charles, and for Mrs. Milrookit, he knelt down, and began to read it aloud. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Sir,' said the doctor, who was standing at the other side of the patient, 'Mr. Walkinshaw is in no condition to understand you.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Still, however, Mr. Keelevin read on; and when he had finished, he called for pen and ink. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'It is impossible that he can write,' said the doctor. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Ye hae no business to mak ony sic observation,' exclaimed the benevolent lawyer. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | ' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Ye shou'd say nothing till we try. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the name of justice and mercy, is there nobody in this house that will fetch me pen and ink?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was evident to all present that Claud perfectly understood what his friend said; and his eyes betokened eagerness and satisfaction; but the expression with which his features accompanied the assent in his look was horrible and appalling. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At this juncture Leddy Grippy came rushing, half dressed, into the room, her dishevelled grey hair flying loosely over her shoulders, exclaiming,-- 'What's wrang noo?--what |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | new judgement has befallen us?--Whatna fearfu' image is that like a corpse out o' a tomb, that's making a' this rippet for the cheatrie instruments o' pen and ink, when a dying man is at his last gasp?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Mrs. Walkinshaw, for Heaven's sake be quiet;--your gudeman,' replied Mr. Keelevin, opening the hood of his trotcosey, and throwing it back; taking off, at the same time, his cocked hat--'Your gudeman kens very weel what I hae read to him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It's a provision for Mrs. Charles and her orphans.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But is there no likewise a provision in't for me?' cried the Leddy. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Oh, Mrs. Walkinshaw, we'll speak o' that hereafter; but let us get this executed aff-hand,' replied Mr. Keelevin. ' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Ye see your gudeman kens what we're saying, and looks wistfully to get it done. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I say, in the name of God, get me pen and ink.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Ye's get neither pen nor ink here, Mr. Keelevin, till my rights are cognost in a record o' sederunt and session.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Hush!' exclaimed the doctor--all was silent, and every eye turned on the patient, whose countenance was again hideously convulsed;--a troubled groan struggled and heaved for a moment in his breast, and was followed by short quivering through his whole frame. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'It is all over!' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | said the doctor. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At these words the Leddy rushed towards the elbow-chair, and, with frantic cries and gestures, flew on the body, and acted an extravagance of sorrow ten times more outrageous than grief. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Keelevin stood motionless, holding the paper in his hand; and, after contemplating the spectacle before him for about two or three minutes, shook his head disconsolately, and replacing his cocked hat, drew the hood of the trotcosey again over his face, and left the house. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER XLVIII As soon as the nature of the settlement which Claud had made of his property was known, Leddy Plealands removed Mrs. Charles and the children to her own house, and earnestly entreated her daughter the Leddy, who continued to reside at Grippy, managing the household cares there as usual, to exert her influence with Walter to make some provision for his unfortunate relations. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Even George, who, engrossed by his business and his own family, cared almost as little as any man for the concerns of others, felt so ashamed of his father's conduct, that, on the Sunday after the funeral, he went to pay a visit of condolence to his mother, and to join his exhortations to hers, in the hope that something might be done. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But Walter was inexorable. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'If my father,' said he, 'did sic a wicked thing to Charlie as ye a' say, what for would ye hae me to do as ill and as wrang to my bairn? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Is na wee Betty Bodle my first-born, and, by course o' nature and law, she has a right to a' I hae; what for then would ye hae me to mak away wi' ony thing that pertains to her? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'll no be guilty o' ony sic sin.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But you know, Walter,' replied George, 'that our father did intend to make some provision both for Mrs. Charles, her family, and our sister, and it's really a disgrace to us all if nothing be done for them. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was but a chance that the bond of provision was na signed.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Ye may say sae, Geordie, in your cracks at the Yarn Club, o'er the punch-bowl, but I think it was the will o' Providence; for, had it been ordain't that Bell Fatherlans and her weans were to get a part o' father's gear, they would hae gotten't. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But ye saw the Lord took him to Abraham's bosom before the bond was signed, which was a clear proof and testimony to me, that it does na stand wi' the pleasure o' Heaven that she should get ony thing. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | She'll get nothing frae me.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But,' again interposed George, 'if you will do nothing in consideration of our father's intention, you ought in charity to think of her distress.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Charity begins at hame, Geordie, and wha kens |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | but I may be brought to want if I dinna tak care?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm sure,' replied the merchant, sharply, 'that many a one has who less deserved it.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'How do ye ken what I deserve?' cried the natural, offended. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'It's speaking ill o' the understanding o' Providence, to say I dinna deserve what it has gi'en me. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'm thinking, Geordie, Providence kens my deserts muckle better than you.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Leddy Grippy, who, during this conversation, was sitting at the table, in all the pomp of her new widow's weeds, with the big Bible before her, in which she was trying to read that edifying chapter, the tenth of Nehemiah, here interposed. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Wheesht, wheesht, Watty, and dinna blaspheme,' said she; 'and no be overly condumacious. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Ye ken your father was a good man, and nothing but the dart o' death prevented him frae making a handsome provision for a' his family, forbye you; and no doubt, when ye hae gotten the better o' the sore stroke o' the sudden removal of the golden candlestick o' his life from among us, ye'll do every thing in a rational and just manner.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | ''Deed I'll do nae sic things, mother,' was the reply; 'I'm mindit to haud the grip I hae gotten.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'But ye're a Christian, Watty,' resumed the Leddy, still preserving her well-put-on mourning equanimity, 'and it behoves you to reflek, that a' in your power is gi'en to you but as a steward.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Ye need na tell me that; but wha's steward am I? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Is na the matter a trust for my bairn? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'm wee Betty Bodle's steward, and no man shall upbraid me wi' being unfaithfu',' replied Walter. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Aye, aye, Watty, that's very true in a sense,' said she, 'but whosoever giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'That's what I canna comprehend; for the Lord has no need to borrow; he can make a world o' gold for the poor folk, if he likes, and if he keeps them in poortith, he has his ain reasons for't.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Ah, weel I wat!' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | exclaimed the Leddy pathetically; 'noo I fin' to my cost, that my cousin, Ringan Gilhaise, the Mauchlin maltster, had the rights o't when he plea't my father's will, on account of thy concos montis; and, but for auld pawky Keelevin, he would hae gotten the property that's sae ill waur't on thee.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | All this, however, made no impression; but George, in walking back to Glasgow, several times thought of what had fallen from his mother respecting the attempt which had been made to set aside her father's settlement, on the score of Walter's idiocy; and once or twice it occurred to him that the thing was still not impracticable, and that, being next heir of entail, and nearest male relative, it might be of advantage to his own family to get the management of the estate. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Thus, by a conversation intended to benefit the disinherited heirs, the seed was sown of new plans and proceedings, worthy of the father's son. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | From that period, George took no further interest in the affairs of his sister-in-law, but his visits became unusually frequent to Grippy, and he was generally always attended by some friend, whom he led into conversation with his brother, culated to call forth the least equivocal disclosures of the state of Walter's mind. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But whatever were his motives for these visits, and this kind of conduct, he kept them close within his own breast. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | No one suspected him of any sinister design, but many applauded his filial attentions to his mother; for so his visits were construed, and they were deemed the more meritorious on account of the state of his own family, his wife, after the birth of her twin daughters, having fallen into ill health. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Indeed, he was in general contemplated with sentiments of compassion and respect. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Every body had heard of his anxiety, on the death of his father, to procure some provision for his deceased brother's family, and sympathised with the regret which he expressed at finding Walter so niggardly and intractable; for not a word was breathed of his incapacity. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The increased thoughtfulness and reserve of his manner which began, we may say, from the conversation quoted, was in consequence attributed to the effect of his comfortless domestic situation, and the public sympathy was considerably augmented, when, in the course of the same year in which his father died, he happened to lose one of his daughters. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | There were, however, among his friends, as there are always about most men, certain shrewd and invidious characters, and some among them did not give him credit for so much sensibility as their mutual acquaintance in common parlance ascribed to him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | On the contrary, they openly condemned his indelicacy, in so often exposing the fooleries of his brother; and those who had detected the well hidden sordid meanness of his disposition, wondered that he had so quietly acquiesced in Walter's succession. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But they had either forgotten, or had never heard of, the circumstance to which his mother alluded with respect to her relation, the Mauchlin maltster's attempt to invalidate her father's will, and, of course, were not aware of the address requisite to prove the incapacity of a man whose situation had been already investigated, and who, by a solemn adjudication, was declared in the full possession of all his faculties. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Their wonderment was not, however, allowed to continue long, for an event, which took place within a little more than three months after the death of his daughter, ended all debates and controversies on the subject. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER XLIX Death, it is said, rarely enters a house without making himself familiar to the inmates. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Walter's daughter, a premature child, had from her birth been always infirm and delicate. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the course of the spring after her grandfather's death, she evidently grew worse, and towards the end of summer it was the opinion of all who saw her that she could not live long. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The tenderness and solicitude of her father knew no bounds. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | She was, indeed, the sole object that interested him in life; he doated over her with the most single and entire affection; and when she died, he would not believe, nor allow himself to think, she had expired, but sat by the bedside, preserving silence, and preventing her from being touched, lest it should awaken her from a slumber which he fondly imagined was to establish her recovery. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | No inducement could be contrived to draw him from his vigilant watch, nor by any persuasion could permission be obtained to dress her corpse. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | George, in the meanwhile, called several times at the house, and took occasion, in going there one day, to ask the Reverend Doctor Denholm to accompany him, under the pretext that perhaps he might prevail with Walter to allow the body to be removed, as it was beginning to grow offensive. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But, when they reached the house, Walter was missing--he had suddenly and unobserved quitted the room where the corpse lay, and his mother, availing herself of his absence, was busily preparing for the interment. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | They waited some time in expectation of his return, believing he had only walked into the fields, in consequence of the air of the chamber having become intolerable; but, after conversing upwards of an hour on general topics, some anxiety began to be expressed for his appearance, and his mother grew so alarmed, that servants were dispatched in all directions in quest of him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | They had not, however, proceeded far, when he was met on the Glasgow road, coming with his niece Mary in his arms, followed by Leddy Plealands' maid-servant, loudly remonstrating with him for carrying off the child, and every now and then making an attempt to snatch it from his arms. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'What hae ye been about?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | cried his mother, as she saw him approaching towards the house. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He, however, made no answer; but, carrying the child into the nursery, he immediately stripped it naked, and dressed her in the clothes of his own daughter, caressing and pleasing her with a thousand fond assurances--calling her his third Betty Bodle, and betraying all the artless delight and satisfaction with which a child regards a new toy. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Dr. Denholm, happening to be among those who wondered that his brother had permitted him to succeed his father unmolested, and on seeing this indisputable proof of idiocy according to the notions of society, said,-- 'I canna refrain, Mr. George, from telling you that I think it's no right to alloo such a fine property as your father left, to be exposed to wastrie and ruination in the possession of such a haverel. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It's neither doing justice to the world nor to your ain family; and I redde you look about you--for wha kens what he may do next?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Such an admonition, the involuntary incitement of the moment, was not lost. |
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