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44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But still the embers of suspicion were not extinguished; and when, on this occasion, he told her where he had been, and the immediate object of his visit, she could not refrain from observing, that it was a very wonderful thing. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Dear keep me, Geordie!' said she, 'what's in the wind noo, that ye hae been galloping awa in your new carriage to invite Bell Fatherlans and her weans to Grippy?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | George, eager to prevent her observations, interrupted her, saying,-- 'I am surprised, mother, that you still continue to call the place Grippy. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | You know it is properly Kittlestonheugh.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'To be sure,' replied the Leddy, 'since my time and your worthy father's time, it has undergone a great transmogrification; what wi' your dining-rooms, and what wi' your drawing-rooms, and your new back jams and your wings.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Why, mother, I have but as yet built only one of the wings,' said he. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'And enough too,' exclaimed the Leddy. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Geordie, tak my word for't, it'ill a' flee fast enough away wi' ae wing. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Howsever, I'll no objek to the visitation, for I hae had a sort o' wis to see my grandchilder, which is very natural I shou'd hae. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Nae doot, by this time they are grown braw bairns; and their mother was ay a genty bodie, though, in a sense, mair for ornament than use.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Walter, who, during this conversation, was sitting in his father's easy chair, that had, among other chattels, been removed from Grippy,--swinging backward and forwards, and occasionally throwing glances towards the visitors, said,-- 'And is my Betty Bodle to be there?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'O yes,' replied George, glad to escape from his mother's remarks; 'and you'll be quite delighted to see her. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | She is uncommonly tall for her age.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I dinna like that,' said Walter; ' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | she should na hae grown ony bigger,--for I dinna like big folk.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'And why not?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | ''Cause ye ken, Geordie, the law's made only for them; and if you and me had ay been twa wee brotherly laddies, playing on the gowany brae, as we used to do, ye would ne'er hae thought o' bringing yon Cluty's claw frae Enbro' to prove me guilty o' daftness.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm sure, Watty,' said George, under the twinge which he suffered from the observation, 'that I could not do otherwise. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was required from me equally by what was due to the world and to my mother.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'It may be sae,' replied Walter; 'but, as I'm daft, ye ken |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I dinna understand it;' and he again resumed his oscillations. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | After some further conversation on the subject of the proposed visit, in which George arranged that he should call on Monday for his mother and Walter in the carriage, and take them out to the country with him, he took his leave. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER LXI On the same evening on which George and his family visited Mrs. Charles at Camrachle, and while she was sitting in the manse parlour, Mrs. Eadie received a letter by the post. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It was from her cousin Frazer, who, as heir-male of Frazer of Glengael, her father's house, would, but for the forfeiture, have been his successor, and it was written to inform her, that, among other forfeited properties, the Glengael estate was to be soon publicly sold, and that he was making interest, according to the custom of the time, and the bearing in the minds of the Scottish gentry in general towards the unfortunate adherents of the Stuarts, to obtain a private preference at the sale; also begging that she would come to Edinburgh and assist him in the business, some of their mutual friends and relations having thought that, perhaps, she might herself think of concerting the means to make the purchase. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At one time, undoubtedly, the hereditary affections of Mrs. Eadie would have prompted her to have made the attempt; but the loss of her children extinguished all the desire she had ever cherished on the subject, and left her only the wish that her kinsman might succeed. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Nevertheless, she was too deeply under the influence of the clannish sentiments peculiar to the Highlanders, not to feel that a compliance with Frazer's request was a duty. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Accordingly, as soon as she read the letter, she handed it to her husband, at the same time saying,-- 'I am glad that this has happened when we are about to lose for a time the society of Mrs. Walkinshaw. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | We shall set out for Edinburgh on Monday, the day she leaves this, and perhaps we may be able to return about the time she expects to be back. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | For I feel,' she added, turning towards her, 'that your company has become an essential ingredient to our happiness.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Eadie was so much surprised at the decision with which his wife spoke, and the firmness with which she proposed going to Edinburgh, without reference to what he might be inclined to do, that instead of reading the letter, he looked at her anxiously for a moment, perhaps recollecting the unpleasant incident of their former visit to the metropolis, and said, 'What has occurred?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Glengael is to be sold,' she replied, 'and my cousin, Frazer, is using all the influence he can to prevent any one from bidding against him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Kindness towards me deters some of our mutual friends from giving him their assistance; and he wishes my presence in Edinburgh to remove their scruples, and otherwise to help him.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'You can do that as well by letter as in person,' said the minister, opening the letter; 'for, indeed, this year we cannot so well afford the expences of such a journey.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'The honour of my father's house is concerned in this business,' replied the lady, calmly but proudly; 'and there is no immediate duty to interfere with what I owe to my family as the daughter of Glengael.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mrs. Walkinshaw had, from her first interview, admired the august presence and lofty sentiments of Mrs. Eadie; but nothing had before occurred to afford her even a glimpse of her dormant pride and sleeping energies, the sinews of a spirit capable of heroic and masculine effort; and she felt for a moment awed by the incidental disclosure of a power and resolution, that she had never once imagined to exist beneath the calm and equable sensibility which constituted the general tenor of her friend's character. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | When the minister had read the letter, he again expressed his opinion that it was unnecessary to go to Edinburgh; but Mrs. Eadie, without entering into any observation on his argument, said,-- 'On second thoughts, it may not be necessary for you to go--but I must. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I am summoned by my kinsman; and it is not for me to question the propriety of what he asks, but only to obey. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It is the cause of my father's house.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The minister smiled at her determination, and said, 'I suppose there is nothing else for me but also to obey. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I do not, however, recollect who this Frazer is--Was he out with your father in the Forty-five?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'No; but his father was,' replied Mrs. Eadie, 'and was likewise executed at Carlisle. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He, himself, was bred to the bar, and is an advocate in Edinburgh.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | And, turning suddenly round to Mrs. Walkinshaw, she added solemnly, 'There is something in this--There is some mysterious link between the fortunes of your family and mine. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | It has brought your brother-in-law here to-day, as if a new era were begun to you, and also this letter of auspicious omen to the blood of Glengael.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mr. Eadie laughingly remarked, 'That he had not for a long time heard from her such a burst of Highland lore.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But Mrs. Walkinshaw was so affected by the solemnity with which it had been expressed, that she inadvertently said, 'I hope in Heaven it may be so.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I am persuaded it is,' rejoined Mrs. Eadie, still serious; and emphatically taking her by the hand, she said, 'The minister dislikes what he calls my Highland freats, and believes they have their source in some dark remnants of pagan superstition; on that account, I abstain from speaking of many things that I see, the signs and forecoming shadows of events--nevertheless, my faith in them is none shaken, for the spirit has more faculties than the five senses, by which, among other things, the heart is taught to love or hate, it knows not wherefore--Mark, therefore, my words, and bear them in remembrance--for this day the fortunes of Glengael are mingled with those of your house.--The lights of both have been long set; but the time is coming, when they shall again shine in their brightness.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I should be incredulous no more,' replied the minister, 'if you could persuade her brother-in-law, Mr. George Walkinshaw, to help Frazer with a loan towards the sum required for the purchase of Glengael.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Perceiving, however, that he was treading too closely on a tender point, he turned the conversation, and nothing more particular occurred that evening. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The interval between then and Monday was occupied by the two families in little preparations for their respective journeys; Mr. Eadie, notwithstanding the pecuniary inconvenience, having agreed to accompany his wife. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the meantime, George, for some reason best known to himself, it would appear, had resolved to make the visit of so many connexions a festival; for, on the day after he had been at Camrachle, he wrote to his brother-in-law, the Laird of Dirdumwhamle, to join the party with Mrs. Milrookit, and to bring their son with them,--a circumstance which, when he mentioned it to his mother, only served to make her suspect that more was meant than met either the eye or ear in such extraordinary kindness; and the consequence was, that she secretly resolved to take the advice of Mr. Keelevin, as to how she ought to conduct herself; for, from the time of his warsle, as she called it, with Pitwinnoch for the aliment, he had regained her good opinion. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | She had also another motive for being desirous of conferring with him, no less than a laudable wish to have her will made, especially as the worthy lawyer, now far declined into the vale of years, had been for some time in ill health, and unable to give regular attendance to his clients at the office: 'symptoms,' as the Leddy said when she heard it 'that he felt the cauld hand o' Death muddling about the root o' life, and a warning to a' that wanted to profit by his skill, no to slumber and sleep like the foolish virgins, that aloo't their cruises to burn out, and were wakened to desperation, when the shout got up that the bridegroom and the musickers were coming.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But the worthy lawyer, when she called, was in no condition to attend any longer to worldly concerns,--a circumstance which she greatly deplored, as she mentioned it to her son George, who, however, was far from sympathizing with her anxiety; on the contrary, the news, perhaps, afforded him particular satisfaction. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | For he was desirous that the world should continue to believe his elder brother had been entirely disinherited, and Mr. Keelevin was the only person that he thought likely to set the heirs in that respect right. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER LXII On the day appointed, the different members of the Grippy family assembled at Kittlestonheugh. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mrs. Charles and her two children were the last that arrived; and during the drive from Camrachle, both James and Mary repeated many little instances of Walter's kindness, so lasting are the impressions of affection received in the artless and heedless hours of childhood; and they again anticipated, from the recollection of his good nature, a long summer day with him of frolic and mirth. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But they were now several years older, and they had undergone that unconscious change, by which, though the stores of memory are unaltered, the moral being becomes another creature, and can no longer feel towards the same object as it once felt. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | On alighting from the carriage, they bounded with light steps and jocund hearts in quest of their uncle; but, when they saw him sitting by himself in the garden, they paused, and were disappointed. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | They recognised in him the same person whom they formerly knew, but they had heard he was daft; and they beheld him stooping forward, with his hands sillily hanging between his knees; and he appeared melancholy and helpless. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Uncle Watty,' said James, compassionately, 'what for are ye sitting there alone?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Watty looked up, and gazing at him vacantly for a few seconds, said, ''Cause naebody will sit wi' me, for I'm a daft man.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He then drooped his head, and sank into the same listless posture in which they had found him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Do ye no ken me?' said Mary. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He again raised his eyes, and alternately looked at them both, eagerly and suspiciously. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mary appeared to have outgrown his recollection, for he turned from her; but, after some time, he began to discover James; and a smile of curious wonder gradually illuminated his countenance, and developed itself into a broad grin of delight, as he said,-- 'What a heap o' meat, Jamie Walkinshaw, ye maun hae eaten to mak you sic a muckle laddie;' and he drew the boy towards him to caress him as he had formerly done; but the child, escaping from his hands, retired several paces backward, and eyed him with pity, mingled with disgust. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Walter appeared struck with his look and movement; and again folding his hands, dropped them between his knees, and hung his head, saying to himself,--'But I'm daft; naebody cares for me noo; I'm a cumberer o' the ground, and a' my Betty Bodles are ta'en away.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The accent in which this was expressed touched the natural tenderness of the little girl; and she went up to him, and said,--'Uncle, I'm your wee Betty Bodle; what for will ye no speak to me?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | His attention was again roused, and he took her by the hand, and, gently stroking her head, said, 'Ye're a bonny flower, a lily-like leddy, and leil in the heart and kindly in the e'e; but ye're no my Betty Bodle.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Suddenly, however, something in the cast of her countenance reminded him so strongly of her more childish appearance, that he caught her in his arms, and attempted to dandle her; but the action was so violent that it frightened the child, and she screamed, and struggling out of his hands, ran away. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | James followed her; and their attention being soon drawn to other objects, poor Walter was left neglected by all during the remainder of the forenoon. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | At dinner he was brought in and placed at the table, with one of the children on each side; but he paid them no attention. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'What's come o'er thee, Watty?' said his mother. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I thought ye would hae been out o' the body wi' your Betty Bodle; but ye ne'er let on ye see her.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | ''Cause she's like a' the rest,' said he sorrowfully. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'She canna abide me; for ye ken |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'm daft--It's surely an awfu' leprosy this daftness, that it gars every body flee me; but I canna help it--It's no my fau't, but the Maker's that made me, and the laws that found me guilty. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But, Geordie,' he added, turning to his brother, 'what's the use o' letting me live in this world, doing nothing, and gude for naething?' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mrs. Charles felt her heart melt within her at the despondency with which this was said, and endeavoured to console him; he, however, took no notice of her attentions, but sat seemingly absorbed in melancholy, and heedless to the endeavours which even the compassionate children made to induce him to eat. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'No,' said he; 'I'll no eat ony mair--it's even down wastrie for sic a useless set-by thing as the like o' me to consume the fruits o' the earth. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | The cost o' my keep would be a braw thing to Bell Fatherlans, so I hope, Geordie, ye'll mak it o'er to her; for when I gae hame I'll lie doun and die.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Haud thy tongue, and no fright folk wi' sic blethers,' exclaimed his mother; 'but eat your dinner, and gang out to the green and play wi' the weans.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'An I were na a daft creature, naebody would bid me play wi' weans--and the weans ken that I am sae, and mak a fool o' me for't--I dinna like to be every body's fool. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | I'm sure the law, when it found me guilty, might hae alloot me a mair merciful punishment. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Meg Wilcat, that stealt Provost Murdoch's cocket-hat, and was whippit for't at the Cross, was pitied wi' many a watery e'e; but every body dauds and dings the daft Laird o' Grippy.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'Na! as I'm to be trusted,' exclaimed the Leddy, 'if I dinna think, Geordie, that the creature's coming to its senses again;' and she added laughing, 'and what will come o' your braw policy, and your planting and plenishing? |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | for ye'll hae to gie't back, and count in the Court to the last bawbee for a' the rental besides.' |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | George was never more at a loss than for an answer to parry this thrust; but, fortunately for him, Walter rose and left the room, and, as he had taken no dinner, his mother followed to remonstrate with him against the folly of his conduct. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Her exhortations and her menaces were, however, equally ineffectual; the poor natural was not to be moved; he felt his own despised and humiliated state; and the expectation which he had formed of the pleasure he was to enjoy, in again being permitted to caress and fondle his Betty Bodle, was so bitterly disappointed, that it cut him to the heart. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | No persuasion, no promise, could entice him to return to the dining-room; but a settled and rivetted resolution to go back to Glasgow obliged his mother to desist, and allow him to take his own way. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | He accordingly quitted the house, and immediately on arriving at home went to bed. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Overpowered by the calls of hunger, he was next day allured to take some food; and from day to day after, for several years, he was in the same manner tempted to eat; but all power of volition, from the period of the visit, appeared to have become extinct within him. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | His features suffered a melancholy change, and he never spoke--nor did he seem to recognize any one; but gradually, as it were, the whole of his mind and intellect ebbed away, leaving scarcely the merest instincts of life. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | But the woeful form which Nature assumes in the death-bed of fatuity admonishes us to draw the curtain over the last scene of poor Watty. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | CHAPTER LXIII |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | In the foregoing chapter we were led, by our regard for the simple affections and harmless character of the second Laird, to overstep a period of several years. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | We must now, in consequence, return, and resume the narrative from the time that Walter retired from the company; but, without entering too minutely into the other occurrences of the day, we may be allowed to observe, in the sage words of the Leddy, that the party enjoyed themselves with as much insipidity as is commonly found at the formal feasts of near relations. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Mrs. Charles Walkinshaw, put on her guard by the conjectures of the minister of Camrachle, soon perceived an evident partiality on the part of her brother-in-law towards her son, and that he took particular pains to make the boy attentive to Robina, as his daughter was called. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Indeed, the design of George was so obvious, and the whole proceedings of the day so peculiarly marked, that even the Leddy could not but observe them. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | 'I'm thinking,' said she, 'that the seeds of a matrimony are sown among us this day, for Geordie's a far-before looking soothsayer, and a Chaldee excellence like his father; and a bodie does na need an e'e in the neck to discern that he's just wising and wiling for a purpose of marriage hereafter between Jamie and Beenie. |
44,573 | The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy | Gude speed the wark! |
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