CHAPTER IX

THREE IS COMPANY, AND FOUR NONE

The rest of the day I slept in the corner of the hen-house upon Flora's

shawl. Nor did I awake until a light shone suddenly in my eyes, and

starting up with a gasp (for, indeed, at the moment I dreamed I was

still swinging from the Castle battlements) I found Ronald bending over

me with a lantern. It appeared it was past midnight, that I had slept

about sixteen hours, and that Flora had returned her poultry to the shed

and I had heard her not. I could not but wonder if she had stooped to

look at me as I slept. The puritan hens now slept irremediably; and

being cheered with the promise of supper I wished them an ironical

good-night, and was lighted across the garden and noiselessly admitted

to a bedroom on the ground-floor of the cottage. There I found soap,

water, razors--offered me diffidently by my beardless host--and an

outfit of new clothes. To be shaved again without depending on the

barber of the gaol was a source of a delicious, if a childish joy. My

hair was sadly too long, but I was none so unwise as to make an attempt

on it myself. And, indeed, I thought it did not wholly misbecome me as

it was, being by nature curly. The clothes were about as good as I

expected. The waistcoat was of toilenet, a pretty piece, the trousers of

fine kerseymere, and the coat sat extraordinarily well. Altogether, when

I beheld this changeling in the glass, I kissed my hand to him.

"My dear fellow," said I, "have you no scent?"

"Good God, no!" cried Ronald. "What do you want with scent?"

"Capital thing on a campaign," said I. "But I can do without."

I was now led, with the same precautions against noise, into the little

bow-windowed dining-room of the cottage. The shutters were up, the lamp

guiltily turned low; the beautiful Flora greeted me in a whisper; and

when I was set down to table, the pair proceeded to help me with

precautions that might have seemed excessive in the Ear of Dionysius.

"She sleeps up there," observed the boy, pointing to the ceiling; and

the knowledge that I was so imminently near to the resting-place of that

gold eye-glass touched even myself with some uneasiness.

Our excellent youth had imported from the city a meat-pie, and I was

glad to find it flanked with a decanter of really admirable wine of

Oporto. While I ate, Ronald entertained me with the news of the city,

which had naturally rung all day with our escape: troops and mounted

messengers had followed each other forth at all hours and in all

directions; but according to the last intelligence no recapture had been

made. Opinion in town was very favourable to us; our courage was

applauded, and many professed regret that our ultimate chance of escape

should be so small. The man who had fallen was one Sombref, a peasant;

he was one who slept in a different part of the Castle; and I was thus

assured that the whole of my former companions had attained their

liberty, and Shed B was untenanted.

From this we wandered insensibly into other topics. It is impossible to

exaggerate the pleasure I took to be thus sitting at the same table with

Flora, in the clothes of a gentleman, at liberty and in the full

possession of my spirits and resources; of all of which I had need,

because it was necessary that I should support at the same time two

opposite characters, and at once play the cavalier and lively soldier

for the eyes of Ronald, and to the ears of Flora maintain the same

profound and sentimental note that I had already sounded. Certainly

there are days when all goes well with a man; when his wit, his

digestion, his mistress are in a conspiracy to spoil him, and even the

weather smiles upon his wishes. I will only say of myself upon that

evening that I surpassed my expectations, and was privileged to delight

my hosts. Little by little they forgot their terrors and I my caution;

until at last we were brought back to earth by a catastrophe that might

very easily have been foreseen, but was not the less astonishing to us

when it occurred.

I had filled all the glasses. "I have a toast to propose," I whispered,

"or rather three, but all so inextricably interwoven that they will not

bear dividing. I wish first to drink to the health of a brave and

therefore a generous enemy. He found me disarmed, a fugitive and

helpless. Like the lion, he disdained so poor a triumph; and when he

might have vindicated an easy valour, he preferred to make a friend. I

wish that we should next drink to a fairer and a more tender foe. She

found me in prison; she cheered me with a priceless sympathy; and what

she has done since, I know she has done in mercy, and I only pray--I

dare scarce hope--her mercy may prove to have been merciful. And I wish

to conjoin with these, for the first, and perhaps the last time, the

health--and I fear I may already say the memory--of one who has fought,

not always without success, against the soldiers of your nation; but who

came here, vanquished already, only to be vanquished again by the loyal

hand of the one, by the unforgettable eyes of the other."

It is to be feared I may have lent at times a certain resonancy to my

voice; it is to be feared that Ronald, who was none the better for his

own hospitality, may have set down his glass with something of a clang.

Whatever may have been the cause, at least, I had scarce finished my

compliment before we were aware of a thump upon the ceiling overhead. It

was to be thought some very solid body had descended to the floor from

the level (possibly) of a bed. I have never seen consternation painted

in more lively colours than on the faces of my hosts. It was proposed to

smuggle me forth into the garden, or to conceal my form under a

horsehair sofa which stood against the wall. For the first expedient, as

was now plain by the approaching footsteps, there was no longer time;

from the second I recoiled with indignation.

"My dear creatures," said I, "let us die, but do not let us be

ridiculous."

The words were still upon my lips when the door opened and my friend of

the gold eye-glass appeared, a memorable figure, on the threshold. In

one hand she bore a bedroom-candlestick; in the other, with the

steadiness of a dragoon, a horse-pistol. She was wound about in shawls

which did not wholly conceal the candid fabric of her nightdress, and

surmounted by a nightcap of portentous architecture. Thus accoutred, she

made her entrance; laid down the candle and pistol, as no longer called

for; looked about the room with a silence more eloquent than oaths; and

then, in a thrilling voice--"To whom have I the pleasure?" she said,

addressing me with a ghost of a bow.

"Madam, I am charmed, I am sure," said I. "The story is a little long;

and our meeting, however welcome, was for the moment entirely unexpected

by myself. I am sure----" but here I found I was quite sure of nothing,

and tried again. "I have the honour," I began, and found I had the

honour to be only exceedingly confused. With that, I threw myself

outright upon her mercy. "Madam, I must be more frank with you," I

resumed. "You have already proved your charity and compassion for the

French prisoners: I am one of these; and if my appearance be not too

much changed, you may even yet recognise in me that _Oddity_ who had the

good fortune more than once to make you smile."

Still gazing upon me through her glass, she uttered an uncompromising

grunt; and then, turning to her niece--"Flora," said she, "how comes he

here?"

The culprits poured out for a while an antiphony of explanations, which

died out at last in a miserable silence.

"I think at least you might have told your aunt," she snorted.

"Madam," I interposed, "they were about to do so. It is my fault if it

be not done already. But I made it my prayer that your slumbers might be

respected, and this necessary formula of my presentation should be

delayed until to-morrow in the morning."

The old lady regarded me with undissembled incredulity, to which I was

able to find no better repartee than a profound and I trust graceful

reverence.

"French prisoners are very well in their place," she said, "but I cannot

see that their place is in my private dining-room."

"Madam," said I, "I hope it may be said without offence, but (except the

Castle of Edinburgh) I cannot think upon the spot from which I would so

readily be absent."

At this, to my relief, I thought I could perceive a vestige of a smile

to steal upon that iron countenance and to be bitten immediately in.

"And if it is a fair question, what do they call ye?" she asked.

"At your service, the Vicomte Anne de Saint-Yves," said I.

"Mosha the Viscount," said she, "I am afraid you do us plain people a

great deal too much honour."

"My dear lady," said I, "let us be serious for a moment. What was I to

do? Where was I to go? And how can you be angry with these benevolent

children who took pity on one so unfortunate as myself? Your humble

servant is no such terrific adventurer that you should come out against

him with horse-pistol and"--smiling--"bedroom-candlesticks. It is but a

young gentleman in extreme distress, hunted upon every side, and asking

no more than to escape from his pursuers. I know your character, I read

it in your face"--the heart trembled in my body as I said these daring

words. "There are unhappy English prisoners in France at this day,

perhaps at this hour. Perhaps at this hour they kneel as I do; they take

the hand of her that might conceal and assist them; they press it to

their lips as I do----"

"Here, here!" cried the old lady, breaking from my solicitations.

"Behave yourself before folk! Saw ever any one the match of that? And on

earth, my dears, what are we to do with him?"

"Pack him off, my dear lady," said I: "pack off the impudent fellow

double-quick! And if it may be, and if your good heart allows it, help

him a little on the way he has to go."

"What's this pie?" she cried stridently. "Where is this pie from,

Flora?"

No answer was vouchsafed by my unfortunate and (I may say) extinct

accomplices.

"Is that my port?" she pursued. "Hough! Will somebody give me a glass of

my port wine?"

I made haste to serve her.

She looked at me over the rim with an extraordinary expression. "I hope

ye liked it?" said she.

"It is even a magnificent wine," said I.

"Awell, it was my father laid it down," said she. "There were few knew

more about port wine than my father, God rest him!" She settled herself

in a chair with an alarming air of resolution. "And so there is some

particular direction that you wish to go in?" said she.

"O," said I, following her example, "I am by no means such a vagrant as

you suppose. I have good friends, if I could get to them, for which all

I want is to be once clear of Scotland; and I have money for the road."

And I produced my bundle.

"English bank-notes?" she said. "That's not very handy for Scotland.

It's been some fool of an Englishman that's given you these, I'm

thinking. How much is it?"

"I declare to Heaven I never thought to count!" I exclaimed. "But that

is soon remedied."

And I counted out ten notes of ten pound each, all in the name of

Abraham Newlands, and five bills of country bankers for as many guineas.

"One hundred and twenty-six pound five," cried the old lady. "And you

carry such a sum about you, and have not so much as counted it! If you

are not a thief, you must allow you are very thief-like."

"And yet, madam, the money is legitimately mine," said I.

She took one of the bills and held it up. "Is there any probability,

now, that this could be traced?" she asked.

"None, I should suppose; and if it were, it would be no matter," said I.

"With your usual penetration, you guessed right. An Englishman brought

it me. It reached me through the hands of his English solicitor, from my

great-uncle, the Comte de Keroual de Saint-Yves, I believe the richest

_emigre_ in London."

"I can do no more than take your word for it," said she.

"And I trust, madam, not less," said I.

"Well," said she, "at this rate the matter may be feasible. I will cash

one of these five-guinea bills, less the exchange, and give you silver

and Scots notes to bear you as far as the border. Beyond that, Mosha the

Viscount, you will have to depend upon yourself."

I could not but express a civil hesitation as to whether the amount

would suffice, in my case, for so long a journey.

"Ay," said she, "but you havena heard me out. For if you are not too

fine a gentleman to travel with a pair of drovers, I believe I have

found the very thing, and the Lord forgive me for a treasonable old

wife! There are a couple stopping up-by with the shepherd-man at the

farm; to-morrow they will take the road for England, probably by skreigh

of day--and in my opinion you had best be travelling with the stots,"

said she.

"For Heaven's sake do not suppose me to be so effeminate a character!"

I cried. "An old soldier of Napoleon is certainly beyond suspicion. But,

dear lady, to what end? and how is the society of these excellent

gentlemen supposed to help me?"

"My dear sir," said she, "you do not at all understand your own

predicament, and must just leave your matters in the hands of those who

do. I dare say you have never even heard tell of the drove-roads or the

drovers; and I am certainly not going to sit up all night to explain it

to you. Suffice it, that it is me who is arranging this affair--the more

shame to me!--and that is the way ye have to go. Ronald," she continued,

"away up-by to the shepherds; rowst them out of their beds, and make it

perfectly distinct that Sim is not to leave till he has seen _me_."

Ronald was nothing loth to escape from his aunt's neighbourhood, and

left the room and the cottage with a silent expedition that was more

like flight than mere obedience. Meanwhile the old lady turned to her

niece.

"And I would like to know what we are to do with him the night!" she

cried.

"Ronald and I meant to put him in the hen-house," said the encrimsoned

Flora.

"And I can tell you he is to go to no such a place," replied the aunt.

"Hen-house indeed! If a guest he is to be, he shall sleep in no mortal

hen-house. Your room is the most fit, I think, if he will consent to

occupy it on so great a suddenty. And as for you, Flora, you shall sleep

with me."

I could not help admiring the prudence and tact of this old dowager, and

of course it was not for me to make objections. Ere I well knew how, I

was alone with a flat candlestick, which is not the most sympathetic of

companions, and stood studying the snuff in a frame of mind between

triumph and chagrin. All had gone well with my flight; the masterful

lady who had arrogated to herself the arrangement of the details gave me

every confidence; and I saw myself already arriving at my uncle's door.

But, alas! it was another story with my love-affair. I had seen and

spoken with her alone; I had ventured boldly; I had been not ill

received; I had seen her change colour, had enjoyed the undissembled

kindness of her eyes; and now, in a moment, down comes upon the scene

that apocalyptic figure with the nightcap and the horse-pistol, and with

the very wind of her coming behold me separated from my love! Gratitude

and admiration contended in my breast with the extreme of natural

rancour. My appearance in her house at past midnight had an air (I could

not disguise it from myself) that was insolent and underhand, and could

not but minister to the worst suspicions. And the old lady had taken it

well. Her generosity was no more to be called in question than her

courage, and I was afraid that her intelligence would be found to match.

Certainly, Miss Flora had to support some shrewd looks, and certainly

she had been troubled. I could see but the one way before me; to profit

by an excellent bed, to try to sleep soon, to be stirring early, and to

hope for some renewed occasion in the morning. To have said so much and

yet to say no more, to go out into the world upon so half-hearted a

parting, was more than I could accept.

It is my belief that the benevolent fiend sat up all night to balk me.

She was at my bedside with a candle long ere day, roused me, laid out

for me a damnable misfit of clothes, and bade me pack my own (which were

wholly unsuited to the journey) in a bundle. Sore grudging, I arrayed

myself in a suit of some country fabric, as delicate as sackcloth and

about as becoming as a shroud; and, on coming forth, found the dragon

had prepared for me a hearty breakfast. She took the head of the table,

poured out the tea, and entertained me as I ate with a great deal of

good sense and a conspicuous lack of charm. How often did I not regret

the change!--how often compare her, and condemn her in the comparison,

with her charming niece! But if my entertainer was not beautiful, she

had certainly been busy in my interest. Already she was in communication

with my destined fellow-travellers; and the device on which she had

struck appeared entirely suitable. I was a young Englishman who had

outrun the constable; warrants were out against me in Scotland, and it

had become needful I should pass the border without loss of time, and

privately.

"I have given a very good account of you," said she, "which I hope you

may justify. I told them there was nothing against you beyond the fact

that you were put to the horn (if that is the right word) for debt."

"I pray God you have the expression incorrectly, ma'am," said I. "I do

not give myself out for a person easily alarmed; but you must admit

there is something barbarous and mediaeval in the sound well qualified to

startle a poor foreigner."

"It is the name of a process in Scots Law, and need alarm no honest

man," said she. "But you are a very idle-minded young gentleman; you

must still have your joke, I see: I only hope you will have no cause to

regret it."

"I pray you not to suppose, because I speak lightly, that I do not feel

deeply," said I. "Your kindness has quite conquered me; I lay myself at

your disposition, I beg you to believe, with real tenderness; I pray you

to consider me from henceforth as the most devoted of your friends."

"Well, well," she said, "here comes your devoted friend the drover. I'm

thinking he will be eager for the road; and I will not be easy myself

till I see you well off the premises, and the dishes washed, before my

servant-woman wakes. Praise God, we have gotten one that is a treasure

at the sleeping!"

The morning was already beginning to be blue in the trees of the garden,

and to put to shame the candle by which I had breakfasted. The lady rose

from table, and I had no choice but to follow her example. All the time

I was beating my brains for any means by which I should be able to get a

word apart with Flora, or find the time to write her a billet. The

windows had been opened while I breakfasted, I suppose to ventilate the

room from any traces of my passage there; and, Master Ronald appearing

on the front lawn, my ogre leaned forth to address him.

"Ronald," she said, "wasn't that Sim that went by the wall?"

I snatched my advantage. Right at her back there was pen, ink, and paper

laid out. I wrote: "I love you"; and before I had time to write more, or

so much as to blot what I had written, I was again under the guns of the

gold eye-glasses.

"It's time," she began; and then, as she observed my occupation, "Umph!"

she broke off. "Ye have something to write?" she demanded.

"Some notes, madam," said I, bowing with alacrity.

"Notes," she said; "or a note?"

"There is doubtless some _finesse_ of the English language that I do not

comprehend," said I.

"I'll contrive, however, to make my meaning very plain to ye, Mosha le

Viscount," she continued. "I suppose you desire to be considered a

gentleman?"

"Can you doubt it, madam?" said I.

"I doubt very much, at least, whether you go the right way about it,"

she said. "You have come here to me, I cannot very well say how; I think

you will admit you owe me some thanks, if it was only for the breakfast

I made ye. But what are you to me? A waif young man, not so far to seek

for looks and manners, with some English notes in your pocket and a

price upon your head. I am a lady; I have been your hostess, with

however little will; and I desire that this random acquaintance of yours

with my family will cease and determine."

I believe I must have coloured. "Madam," said I, "the notes are of no

importance; and your least pleasure ought certainly to be my law. You

have felt, and you have been pleased to express, a doubt of me. I tear

them up." Which you may be sure I did thoroughly.

"There's a good lad!" said the dragon, and immediately led the way to

the front lawn.

The brother and sister were both waiting us here, and, as well as I

could make out in the imperfect light, bore every appearance of having

passed through a rather cruel experience. Ronald seemed ashamed to so

much as catch my eye in the presence of his aunt, and was the picture of

embarrassment. As for Flora, she had scarce the time to cast me one look

before the dragon took her by the arm, and began to march across the

garden in the extreme first glimmer of the dawn without exchanging

speech. Ronald and I followed in equal silence.

There was a door in that same high wall on the top of which I had sat

perched no longer gone than yesterday morning. This the old lady set

open with a key; and on the other side we were aware of a rough-looking,

thick-set man, leaning with his arms (through which was passed a

formidable staff) on a dry-stone dyke. Him the old lady immediately

addressed.

"Sim," said she, "this is the young gentleman."

Sim replied with an inarticulate grumble of sound, and a movement of one

arm and his head, which did duty for a salutation.

"Now, Mr. St. Ives," said the old lady, "it's high time for you to be

taking the road. But first of all let me give the change of your

five-guinea bill. Here are four pounds of it in British Linen notes, and

the balance in small silver, less sixpence. Some charge a shilling, I

believe, but I have given you the benefit of the doubt. See and guide it

with all the sense that you possess."

"And here, Mr. St. Ives," said Flora, speaking for the first time, "is a

plaid which you will find quite necessary on so rough a journey. I hope

you will take it from the hands of a Scots friend," she added, and her

voice trembled.

"Genuine holly: I cut it myself," said Ronald, and gave me as good a

cudgel as a man could wish for in a row.

The formality of these gifts, and the waiting figure of the drover,

told me loudly that I must be gone. I dropped on one knee and bade

farewell to the aunt, kissing her hand. I did the like--but with how

different a passion!--to her niece; as for the boy, I took him to my

arms and embraced him with a cordiality that seemed to strike him

speechless. "Farewell!" and "Farewell!" I said. "I shall never forget my

friends. Keep me sometimes in memory. Farewell!" With that I turned my

back and began to walk away; and had scarce done so, when I heard the

door in the high wall close behind me. Of course this was the aunt's

doing; and of course, if I know anything of human character, she would

not let me go without some tart expressions. I declare, even if I had

heard them, I should not have minded in the least, for I was quite

persuaded that, whatever admirers I might be leaving behind me in

Swanston Cottage, the aunt was not the least sincere.