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 L I B RA FLY 
 
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 Of ILLINOIS 
 
 823 
 K51351 
 
 v.i
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 " SIE FREDERICK DERWENT," " FABIAN'S TOWER," AND 
 " SMUGGLERS AND FORESTERS." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 G. EOUTLEDGE & CO., FARRINGDON STREET. 
 
 1854.
 
 •i 
 
 r^k 
 
 8^5 
 K5I31 
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " You must be mad to think of it !" 
 
 " "Will you have the goodness to tell me what else I 
 can do ? Having left the army — a profession of which 
 I am heartily tired — where is the folly of employing 
 the few thousands, on the interest of which I cannot 
 ^' live, in improving a place which, wretched as it may 
 f appear to you, is the only spot of mother earth I am 
 ever likely to call my own ?" 
 
 My friend shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. 
 " My dear Harry ! what do you — what can you know 
 of farming ? Are you quite certain whether that sloping 
 
 '■^ corn-field is sown with wheat ? or have you, in short, 
 any farther idea on the subject, than might be excited 
 by the silver sheaves, which, when I last saw you, 
 you were gazing at enthusiastically, in Lady Marion's 
 raven tresses? I shall never forget your calling me 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 across the room, to look at her very aristocratic ear ! 
 By the bye, what has become of her ?" 
 
 I felt myself colour. Erskine, as usual, had hit 
 upon the most disagreeable subject he could have se- 
 lected. It was his way. I believe he knew perfectly 
 well that my sudden inclination for a rural life, was not 
 wholly unconnected with the memory of the reigning 
 belle of the preceding season. 
 
 " Are you not aware," I said, gravely, " that the 
 lady you mention is my eldest brother's wife ? I had 
 no alternative, when my father's death put Frederick 
 in possession of the old place, excepting to idle away 
 my time between AVindsor and St. James's, or to take 
 up my residence on the small property bequeathed to 
 me by my godfather. In spite of your censure, I think 
 I acted wisely in choosing the latter course." 
 
 " Chacun a son gout!^^ replied Erskine, drily, looking 
 round uj)on the barren acres, which, with a morass on 
 one side, and some fields on the shelving slope of a 
 mountain range, whose summits towered to the clouds 
 in the distance, constituted the arena whereon I was to 
 exercise my skiU in agricultural pursuits. " If the 
 estate were an estate, — if the land were worth culti- 
 vating, — if there were even a covey of partridges to 
 preserve, — I could understand what a man like yourself 
 might do here. But at present, you must forgive my 
 scepticism respecting the wisdom of your proceedings ; 
 and all I can say is, that Edith and I will be happy to 
 see you at Vclindra, whenever you arc weary of your 
 sterile Paradise."
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 3 
 
 Nodding an adieu, my friend, with his usual pro- 
 voking sniile upon his lips, departed, leaving me, — as 
 such comforters, since the days of the Patriarch, have 
 been apt to do their victims, — if possible, more out of 
 sorts than ever. 
 
 " Why do you leave this rubbish in the way ?" I 
 said, pushing aside an enormous basket of weeds, at 
 which Erskine's horse had shied violently, and which 
 stood just at the gate, — the only symptom of progressive 
 improvement visible. 
 
 An old woman started up from behind it, clad from 
 her chin to her feet in a brown holland pinafore, and 
 with a felt cap on her head. She was my housekeeper. 
 I had found her in possession of the place, and it 
 appeared that nothing could dislodge her. 
 
 " Is it not dinner-time ?" I asked, more civilly, when 
 I saw this important functionary in my small establish- 
 ment looking mortally affronted. " Why do [jon not 
 get a boy to do such work as this ?" 
 
 '^The clock was on the stroke of five when the Major 
 called. What good is there in wasting an hour ? I 
 knew he'd not stop talking sooner. Tummas advised 
 me to root up them beastly nettles and the couch grass. 
 Ill weeds grow apace, and boys is troublesome. IM as 
 lieve be without them. As long as Tummas lives, I'm 
 equal to the work ; and when I'm not, I'll give it up. 
 The childi'en in this place is enough to plague one's 
 heart out." 
 
 " Well, go in now, and take up the dinner, if you 
 
 B 2
 
 4 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 have cooked any," I said, remembering that I had to- 
 tally forgotten, before going out in the morning, to 
 attend to my novel duties. 
 
 " Tummas has it under his o^vn eye. ' Never mind, 
 Sally !' was his word to me. * I'll see to the kitchen, if 
 you'll mind the garden. Just leave it all to me.' " 
 
 Somewhat uneasy at the idea of the idiot who harm- 
 lessly wandered about, being entrusted with the charge 
 of the cuisine, I despatched the lady in-doors, to her 
 proper sphere. This wretched couple are my torment. 
 Professing to have the working powers of a household 
 of servants, they leave every thing to take its chance ; 
 and yet they seem so completely to belong to the place, 
 — strange to say, they exhibit such a pride in it, — that 
 I cannot make up my mind to send them away. 
 
 A not unsavoury mess was simmering on the table, 
 composed of the small kind of mutton of the mountair 
 pastures, and the splendid potatoes, which, bad as 
 Erskine truly says the land is, it nevertheless does pro- 
 duce. The whole ragout was flavoui'ed more potently 
 with onions than a fastidious taste might have approved ; 
 but, short as had been the period of my banishment, I 
 had learned to appreciate whatever goods my Penates, 
 in the uncouth form of Sally and her faithful Tummas, 
 chose to set before me. 
 
 Goat's-milk cheese and radishes, with brown bread 
 and excellent butter, completed my homely repast. A 
 foaming tankard of ale was placed before me by the 
 attentive Sally, who had not troubled herself to change 
 her attire, and probably considered washing her hands
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. O 
 
 an interruption to her multifarious avocations not to be 
 expected. 
 
 " I'll trouble you to get up and say grace. Sir, before 
 I draw the cloth," she observed, bluntly. " "We're not 
 heathens, hereabouts. Though I'm not for making a 
 fuss about small matters, and bothering Him that has 
 the cares of the world upon His shoulders, about every 
 trifle, I like to see things done properly in a gentle- 
 man's family. When it is not so, and Tummas and I 
 become indifferent, we'd best be off. When our time's 
 up, we'll give notice." 
 
 Not exactly understanding the drift of her discourse, 
 which was spoken in a very peculiar idiom, the odious 
 dialect of the country, which I cannot attempt to imitate, 
 I nevertheless complied with what I dimly conceived 
 to be its meaning ; and, better satisfied, my domestic in- 
 cubus withdrew, shovelling together, in a heterogeneous 
 mass, the remains of the repast, and the plates, dishes, 
 and tablecloth, on which it had been coarsely served, 
 and carrying them off with her. 
 
 Erskine is undoubtedly right. The place and the 
 people are ahke intolerable. What on earth induced 
 me to think of settling among them ? What unlucky 
 fatality gifted me — instead of any marketable or avail- 
 able goods and chattels, — with a piece of land on which 
 nothing will grow, a house too comfortless for habita- 
 tion, servants of whom no use can be made ? Above 
 all, why was I born and reared among luxuries and 
 idle habits, which have unfitted me for active, indus-
 
 6 LEWELL PASTUEES. 
 
 trious exertion/ by which alone I can maintain myself 
 independently ? 
 
 When things come to the worst, they must mend, is 
 a saying which my factotum, Mrs. Saint, on Tummas's 
 authority, seems fond of quoting ; though I have, as 
 yet, seen no sign of amelioration. Yesterday, I fancied 
 my prospects were brightening. The sun rose finely, 
 tipping the distant mountains ^vith resplendent hues, 
 and gleaming on the clear winding river which traverses 
 the landscape. I was out in the fields, at an hour 
 when if, formerly, I ever studied the sweet face of 
 nature at all, it must have been without the calm in- 
 fluence of the peaceful slumbers which I had innocently 
 enjoyed, since a not very advanced hour of the previous 
 evening. 
 
 I think my men are beginning to feel some respect 
 for me. They see that I am heartily in earnest, and 
 mean to share their labours ; and an Englishman scarcely 
 ever is as ignorant as Erskine imagined me likely to be, 
 of country toils and pursuits. My boyhood was, at 
 least, a sufficiently observant one, to spare me the mor- 
 tification of displaying my incompetency, at a glance, 
 to the rough hinds who till my fields. 
 
 I understand, at all events theoretically, something 
 of the nature of the soil ; light and sandy, and here 
 and there intersected with bog and heath, where it ap- 
 proaches the neighbouring mountain districts. Even 
 the slight botanical lore of my school-days is useful ; 
 since the plants that flourish naturally, teach mc what 
 may be successfully cultivated ; and, if anything can
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. ^ 7 
 
 reconcile me to this barren spot, it is the freedom that 
 reigns around, the blast that rushes across the plain, 
 and the absence of all the tormenting details of con- 
 ventional life, by the maxims and observances of which 
 I shall henceforth exist unfettered. 
 
 I am glad that the scenery about the house is not 
 attractive. I shall not be troubled with tourists, sketch- 
 ing my watch-box, for such appears to me the white- 
 walled edifice on the bleak hill-top, which, with a few 
 hundred adjacent acres, calls me master. Erskine says it 
 is the only ugly spot in the country. His own residence 
 is in a highly fertile district. The shores of the river 
 are famed for picturesque beauty. I look down upon 
 its course from my eyrie, and do not envy the d^vellers 
 upon its banks. 
 
 Not a tree waves over my tower of strength ; not 
 a tendi'il of ivy or sprig of jasmine softens the stiflT 
 rigidity of its outline. A straight pathway leads up to 
 the door. It has no porch. There is not a vestige of ve- 
 randah or trellis-work over the windows. They are 
 set deep in the thickness of the wall, but are perfectly 
 unornamented. No muUions or embrasures, neither 
 frieze nor architrave, I am thankful to say, offer the 
 slightest inducement to the artist or antiquarian to in- 
 trude upon my retirement. The stone posts at the en- 
 trance are left to their simple ugliness ; no crest of 
 lion or bear, swan or griffin, surmounts them. 
 
 I am a stranger in the land. Except Erskine, no 
 one is likely to come near me ; and his visits, benevo- 
 lent as they undoubtedly are, do not put me in spirits^
 
 8 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 or in charity with surrounding objects. As he says, the 
 place is a capital test of friendship, since it is utterly 
 ■without attraction, unless from being my residence. I 
 could wish that all the world would leave me to myself, 
 till I have altered my tastes, and conformed my man- 
 ners to the standard which can alone accord with my 
 situation. 
 
 I cannot persuade my domestics that they are insuf- 
 ficient for me. Sally flew at me like a tigress, this 
 morning, when I suggested that a girl would be an as- 
 sistance ; and has been rushing about the house, with a 
 broom in her hand, ever since, evoking clouds of dust ; 
 yet I see not a chance of her laying it. If I am to 
 trust her, there is not a respectable young woman to be 
 hired in the district. Virtue and fidelity reside only in 
 the breasts of herself and Tummas. 
 
 She quotes him on every occasion, and, whenever they 
 are together, I hear a low murmuring of voices, in 
 which hers predominates: — Sometimes, a wondering 
 interrogatory ; then a satisfactory reply, I conclude ; 
 for the woman answers : — " Surely, you're always right ;" 
 or, " That's just like your good sense. No one else 
 would have seen it so clearly. Go to Tummas, if you 
 want an answer !" with similar wife-like and dutiful 
 observations. 
 
 The man is much older than herself, and keeps liis wise 
 sayings entirely for her benefit. He may be deaf and 
 dumb, for anything I can elicit from him ; and seems 
 to be crippled with rheumatism ; but his wife declares 
 he can do a good day's work yet. However that may
 
 LEWELL PASTUUES. 9 
 
 be, they shuffle on together ; and, until I am better ac- 
 quainted with the ways of the place, and can act for 
 myself, I shall let things take their course. The sooner 
 I learn to do without more than the bare necessaries of 
 existence, the better chance there is of my experiment 
 succeeding ; and my pride would not allow me to con- 
 fess myself beaten, at the very outset of my under- 
 taking. 
 
 Much has been said against the heathen practice of 
 disposing summarily, at their births, of infants for 
 whom there was no obvious provision ; but I question 
 whether it was not a wiser, as well as, certainly, a more 
 merciful proceeding, than to allow those to grow up, 
 who, like myself, seem destined to be a burthen to 
 themselves and to the state. 
 
 Having been permitted to live, surely some means 
 should be found of rearing these supernumerary off- 
 spring, in habits of usefulness and independence ; but, 
 on the contrary, mine is not the only family where the 
 younger branches, for whom no provision is made, grow 
 up to manhood in exactly the same circumstances as 
 their fortunate elder brother. What difference is there 
 between human and irrational creatures, when that is 
 the case ? It is true, our parents feed and clothe, and 
 take the tenderest care of us ; but so you will see the 
 animals deprive themselves of nourishment and rest, 
 for the sake of their young. Can anything be more 
 unselfish than the behaviour of the pigeons in that old 
 dove-cote ? Look at the mother, sitting, hour after 
 hour, unwearied. See that proud parent, shaking and
 
 10 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 fluttering his brightly-tinted wings, with his pair of 
 ravenous little cormorants, pursuing him from roof to 
 roof, and from ledge to ledge, to be fed. In a few days 
 he will cast them off. The mother has done so already, 
 and is sitting upon other eggs. How barbarous ! How 
 unnatural ! Not at all. They have, at least, taught 
 their young ones to provide for themselves. It is not 
 every father of a family who can say the same. Let us 
 see how the case stands with myself. 
 
 In one of the Eastern counties, where the hop-gar- 
 dens emulate the vineyards of Italy, and the cherry- 
 orchards and luxuriant vegetation far surpass in blossom 
 and verdure the fabled loveliness of continental scenery, 
 one of the most ancient of many long-descended and 
 storied residences belonged to my family. My father's 
 name was Tudor. He had refused a baronetcy, prefer- 
 ring his hereditary station in his native county, as [of 
 longer standing and higher dignity than any that could 
 be bestowed upon him. He had a numerous family, 
 and brought up his children, as long as they remained 
 in the dove-cote, with the utmost care. No cost was 
 spared in our education. He always said, and, I be- 
 lieve, thought, that it was in itself a provision. 
 
 My eldest brother, on whom the estate was strictly 
 entailed, had no favour shown him. As boys, we fared 
 alike. Nothing could be more just and equal than our 
 treatment; the only difference was, its being unne- 
 cessary for him to choose a profession. He studied the 
 law for a few years, merely to qualify him for the 
 management of his property.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. v H 
 
 I believe^, my father had always entertained an idea 
 that, at some future period, he should lay aside a por- 
 tion of his income for the benefit of his younger chil- 
 dren ; but, if he had not been able to accomplish this 
 when he first married, he was not likely to live more 
 economically when his family grew up. Some of my 
 brothers were more fortunate than myself, and died 
 young. My sisters were very handsome, and married 
 affluently. If their husbands were disappointed at 
 their small fortunes, they did not confide their senti- 
 ments to me. 
 
 My destiny placed me in an expensive regiment. I 
 was in the household troops ; never likely to move far 
 from court ; surrounded by temptations to extravagance. 
 At home, as I have said, we were all treated exactly 
 alike. As long as my father lived, all went on well 
 and pleasantly. 
 
 He was almost a young man when he died. A sudden 
 and violent illness deprived him, first of reason, and in 
 a very short time, of life. He did not even recognize 
 his children, when we were hastily summoned to attend 
 him. My mother had been, many years before, con- 
 signed to the family vault, where, with heartfelt grief, 
 we laid him by the side of his ancestors. Father and 
 son, husband and wife, the Tudors had slept the last 
 long sleep there for centuries. 
 
 As the name indicated, we were of Welsh extraction. 
 Royal blood ran in our veins ; but it was a distant 
 branch to that which filled the throne, which had set-
 
 12 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 tied in the Eastern part of the kingdom. I have not 
 time to trace the genealogy ; all that is necessary to 
 state is, that we were honourably descended. 
 
 My father had never lived sparingly enough to have 
 anything to leave to his younger children. Under my 
 mother's settlement, we were each entitled, at his death, 
 to a few thousand pounds. My brother, who was 
 somewhat reserved in character, told us he should be 
 happy to see us at the Wilderness, whenever we liked to 
 renew our acquaintance with the place. We were 
 turned out of the parent nest ; and left, like the young 
 birds, to find our own maintenance. 
 
 My cousin Marion and I had, from our childhood, 
 considered ourselves attached to each other. Her fa- 
 ther, the Earl of Eodborough, held an office in the 
 household, and always received me hospitably. She 
 was as beautiful as an angel, and, almost before I knew 
 the meaning of the word, I fell in love with her. She 
 accepted the compliment, as she did many others ; and 
 wore the trinkets I gave her, in preference to her mo- 
 ther's old-fashioned ill-set jewels. Xo one suited her 
 so well to dance with, she was in the habit of saying, 
 as her cousin Harry Tudor. My friends jested with 
 and tormented me respecting her undisguised prefer- 
 ence. 
 
 After my father's death, I thought her altered. My 
 eldest brother came up to town, to settle his affairs. He 
 was naturally much at my uncle's. Marion had always 
 said that she liked Frederick the least of the faniilv ;
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 13 
 
 his was not a generous mind. The frank, gay-hearted 
 beauty had never appeared to suit him. 
 
 He now thought differently of her. My uncle had 
 great influence in political circles. Frederick had been 
 elected, with scarcely a dissentient voice, to fill my fa- 
 ther's place in parliament, as one of the members for 
 the county. He had wealth and position. Marion's 
 connections were all that could be desired. When I 
 next saw her, she was engaged to my brother. 
 
 After all, I believe she was right. What business 
 had such a woman with a heart ? It would have been 
 quite out of its place in a bosom which had never 
 throbbed against anything but satin and velvet. I do 
 not imagine that a woman who dresses as beautifully as 
 my false love invariably did, can have a grain of real 
 feeling ! 
 
 Marion had no fortune. The Earl was poor and 
 proud. As Erskine said, the Duke for whom they 
 waited, might have come before she was two-and- 
 twenty. Her beauty, brilliant as the summer rose, 
 was, perhaps, less peerless, after that last enchanting 
 season, than at its commencement. It was whispered 
 that the young guardsman, who had been hitherto her 
 amusement, had interfered with more important con- 
 quests. 
 
 The Earl gave the suite of rooms I had occasionally 
 occupied, — the dressing-room with its small bow-window, 
 from which a glimpse might be caught of the park ; 
 and, better still, whence I could see my fair false lady- 
 love watering her camellias in the greenhouse, — to my
 
 14 XEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 elder brother. Frederick was no dancer, but other 
 qualities came to light, which superseded those Lady 
 Marion had lately prized. 
 
 I had seen the Earl and his daughter pass tlirough 
 family mournings somewhat hastily ; but the depth of 
 Marion's crape hems, the thickness of her veil, touched 
 my feelings, when she wore black for my father. She 
 told me, as I took her hand in the park, that they did 
 not mean to go out anywhere ; but forgot to mention 
 the appropriation of the bow- window, and the presence 
 of a guest at home. 
 
 The Earl did not, as usual, invite me to dinner. I 
 fancied they both looked grave beyond their wont. 
 When I called, Frederick was established in the fau- 
 teuil Marion had named mine. He had a camellia bud, 
 from which he was unceremoniously twisting off the 
 leaves, (he never cared a straw for flowers !) in his 
 hand. 
 
 The next time I saw Marion, she did not seem to re- 
 member that we had once been more to each other than 
 cousins. Her thoughts were entirely occupied with 
 advising Frederick as to the mode of re-setting my mo- 
 ther's antiquated diamonds ; he had brought out the 
 cases to show them to her. Her mourning was slightly 
 altered ; but there was a sobriety in her costume, a 
 prim decorum in her whole appearance, which had 
 never previously been its characteristic. The- flowing 
 ringlets I had so much admired were cxchansjcd for 
 braids. Her black hair, smooth as satin, lay in thick 
 
 m
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 15 
 
 soft folds on her proud pale brow. The rosy blushes 
 of her cheek were gone ; nothing but haughtiness re- 
 mained. I thought she had grown like my brother, 
 and felt, as it was her intention should be the case, that 
 there was an impassable gulf between us. 
 
 That contemptuous glance made me think, for the 
 first time, what my pretensions had been. They seemed 
 to have passed away like a dream ; and yet, worse than 
 idle as it appeared to have loved such a woman, I 
 wished that she had not taught me the lesson so heart- 
 lessly. I was in debt ; it could not be otherwise. I 
 had not an income upon which it was possible to live, 
 among my present associates. All that I could reckon 
 upon was a small property, hitherto despised, which 
 had been left to me by a distant connection. Dis- 
 gusted with the world, I resolved to betake myself 
 to the fields, and let my beard grow and my whiskers 
 flourish, to the utmost extent desperation could en- 
 courage. 
 
 I had never set my foot upon the land which was my 
 own ; but any change was welcome. The sale of my 
 commission assisted to clear ofi" my debts, leaving only 
 a small sum, which I meant to dedicate to the improve- 
 ment of the farm and of the dwelling-house. I did not 
 take much time for consideration, and only calculated 
 that I should be out of hearing of the bells for my 
 brother's marriage, which took place at St. George's, 
 Hanover Square, towards the end of the London 
 season. 
 
 I was glad to find no fairer specimen of womankind
 
 16 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 before my eyes, at the Pastures, than Thomas's faithful 
 helpmate. I had some hopes that she might prove 
 honest and true ; since she had not a particle of beauty 
 or fashion, not even common civility to recommend her 
 to my favourable notice.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. l7 
 
 CHAPTEK 11. 
 
 I AM only beginning to discover tlie objections to this 
 miserable abode. The moment I am led to make 
 enquiries, with the view towards ridding myself of one 
 nuisance, another stares me in the face. Hydra-headed, 
 the more hideous apparitions are the last. 
 
 Yesterday, I was half choked with the dust that 
 abominable old woman was raising in the passage. 
 When I opened the door of my , usual sitting-room, 
 imagining, from the density of the atmosphere, the pre- 
 mises to be on fire, she was flourishing her broom, and 
 holding forth, as is her custom, to Tummas, who was 
 looming large in the distance, through the mirage. 
 
 She looked so ugly that I could not speak to her. 
 Besides, I remembered my lecture upon cleanliness, and 
 hoped that the result of her unpleasant operations might 
 be satisfactory. This anticipation, like every other 
 agreeable one I have cherished since I came to this 
 detestable place, was not destined to be realized. 
 
 When she ceased chattering, and I ventured to sally 
 forth, the air, indeed, was clearer ; but the dust had 
 settled down upon everything. My hat and cloak, the 
 umbrellas in the hall, the worm-eaten, three-legged ma- 
 hogany table, propped up to stand against the wall, had 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 a coating an inch thick upon them. My patience gave 
 way ; heedless of consequences, I called loudly for my 
 tormentor. 
 
 She looked over the banisters, — her hair and black 
 stuff gown completely powdered, — and said, she was 
 busy. She would come when she had finished her 
 work, which she informed me was giving the rooms up- 
 stairs a good sweeping. It was many a long day since 
 they had had such a thorough routing. 
 
 Clouds rolling down from above showed the truth of 
 her assertion, and enveloped the furniture below. If 
 she had done any good, previously, on the ground-fioor, 
 it was now worse than ever. 
 
 " What an old fool you must be !" I said, totally for- 
 getting, as the hag looked down upon me, that she be- 
 longed to the gentler sex. " Do you call this cleaning ? 
 — I believe I could do it better myself. Can't you see 
 that the dust you are raising is rolling down over every- 
 thing ?" 
 
 She looked amazed, but there was no denying the 
 fact. By this time, I was covered with it fiom head to 
 foot. 
 
 " Thomas !" she shouted, "is the dust coming your 
 way ? — just shut the doors, and let it settle. I knew 
 how it would be, if I meddled with the things ; but 
 how I'm to stir them without making a pother, it is 
 more than I can say." 
 
 She set her arms a-kimbo, and looked at me fiercely, 
 while I turned the matter over in my mind. 
 
 "Would it not be a good plan," I suggested timidly.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 19 
 
 for I felt that I was getting out of my depth, " to scour 
 the rooms, if they have been so long neglected ?" 
 
 " It's well Tummas didn't hear that !" she said ; a 
 violent fit of coughing having, apparently, prevented 
 her husband from answering her questions. No doubt 
 the unhappy wretch was choking with the particles that 
 filled the house. 
 
 " He wouldn't and shouldn't bear it ! I, that am up 
 and down, taking no rest, and to please you, have 
 turned the house out at windows ; and you, that never 
 set foot in the place till lately, to call it neglected ! It's 
 my poor old man, that has to reproach me, and breaks 
 his back with burdens ; and now he'll have to toil with 
 the buckets to the well, like a jackass — (I wish we had 
 one !) to fetch the water ; not a drop's to be had nearer 
 than the bottom of the garden." 
 
 I find it to be as she says ; the unsightly machine, 
 which Erskine's horse will not pass, just by the outer 
 gate, is a well, whence all the water has to be procured 
 for the use of the establishment on the summit of the 
 hill. This is a frightful calamity : the unfortunate couple 
 can suggest no way of remedying it, except the one 
 which they systematically adopt, of getting through the 
 day with as sparing a consumption of this desirable 
 element as possible. 
 
 After shedding a torrent of indignant tears, the poor 
 creature, who seemed really anxious to please me, 
 rushed out to fetch a bucket-full, under the notion that 
 sprinkling the floors might settle the dust, and make the 
 
 V ^
 
 20 LEWELL PASTURES . 
 
 place habitable, whicli it certainly was not, at that 
 
 moment. 
 
 Thomas went with her, but did not seem inclined to 
 exert himself; he only grinned and looked even more 
 like an idiot than usual, when I took the pail away, 
 seeing that the load was too heavy for her, and carried 
 it up the garden. Sooner than be w^ithout water, I will 
 fill the cistern at the kitchen-door myself, morning and 
 evening, when no one is stirring. 
 
 By way of dissipating my ill-humour, I strolled down 
 the hill that falls steeply at the back of the house, into 
 a wooded dell, or, as the people here term it, a dingle, 
 with a rapid stream running thi'ough the hollow. The 
 cattle go thither to drink ; their hoofs have broken up 
 the soil in one part, where the brook widens into a pool 
 overhung with trees, the lower branches of which have 
 been eaten off by the grazing herd. I wish the man 
 who built the farm-house had placed it low down by 
 the side of those clear quickly-flowing waters ! j\Iy cows 
 are better off than their master. 
 
 The brook meandered through reeds and flowers, 
 after its channel narrowed. There was a slight track 
 on the right hand margin ; as I followed it, the scene 
 o-radually became wilder ; blocks of granite shadowed 
 its course, and every description of fern, including the 
 graceful maiden-hair, and feathery grasses grew in the 
 moist interstices of the banks. 
 
 Here and there a bending ash lay almost prostrate 
 on the water, forming a natural bridge ; at other times, 
 the glade would open as if to give room for the spread-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 21 
 
 ing top of an enormous oak-tree ; farther on, over a 
 rocky ledge, the waters of a cascade fell down as a tri- 
 bute to the stream. 
 
 A high bare rock, with tall fir trees growing beside 
 it, stood forth in a dark mass which contrasted with the 
 white foam of the torrent. Overhead, the steep sides 
 of the ravine rose so loftily as almost to exclude the 
 daylight. Moisture percolated through them ; the de- 
 licately tinted ferns and lichens clothed the damp soil. 
 Not a sound was heard but the dashing rivulet, and 
 the monotonous cooing of the doves in the bushes that 
 fringed the dell. Ledges of rock in some places nearly 
 met above the stream ; while, at their feet, turf green 
 and soft as velvet from the perpetual trickling of the 
 rills, shelved down to the bed of the water. 
 
 I was fascinated by the shadowy gloom, which ac- 
 corded with my feelings ; and unwilling to disturb the 
 first pleasurable sensation I had experienced since I 
 came to my new abode, I gave up my original inten- 
 tion of going at once to my work in the fields, and 
 followed the windings of the narrow pathway. 
 
 A sudden turning brought me within view of a 
 white-walled cottage, nestling under, or rather leaning 
 against the bank. I do not believe that a single line of 
 the building was straight. The chimneys rose in stacks 
 from the ground, and though alarmingly out of 
 the perpendicular, seemed to act as buttresses to the 
 outer wall, which was partly composed of timber, 
 partly of rough-hewn stone, with the interstices filled 
 up with mud. The window and door-frames were
 
 22 ' LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 daubed over with dark green paint, which sadly wanted 
 renewing. They were, in all directions, falling to 
 pieces. The paling which ran round the little garden 
 was not in a better condition. The small domain ex- 
 tended for some distance between the stream and the 
 bank ; but it was so overhung by trees, that nothing 
 could flourish. 
 
 There were several straggling rows of peas and 
 French beans, much in need of sticks to climb against. 
 These melancholy-looking vegetables were running to 
 seed, or sick with yellow jealousy. A few potatoes 
 had been dug up out of the ground, but the over- 
 turned basket and garden-fork lay in the middle of the 
 pathway. The sharp prongs of the latter were turned 
 upwards, as if to guard the approach. 
 
 Erom the lower windows of this forlorn abode, mus- 
 lin curtains, full of holes, were waving in the wind. A 
 large jasmine bush, in luxuriant flower, appeared to 
 have been nailed against the cottage wall ; but the 
 fastenings had given way, and it fell in an ungraceful 
 mass, entirely blocking up one of the casements of the 
 lower story. The scent of the blossoms perfumed the 
 air, as far as the place where I stood. 
 
 The strangest-looking figm'e I ever saw in my life 
 was mounted on a ladder, of which several rings were 
 broken, with one foot on the prop of what had once, 
 perhaps, been a verandah, but was now so much di- 
 lapidated as not even to serve the purpose of keeping 
 up the climbing plants which grew in front of the 
 building.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 2S 
 
 ' The creature had a man's hat on her head, and a 
 sort of cloth jacket over her shoulders, with a muslin 
 petticoat as much a thing of shreds and tatters as the 
 window curtains. Her back was turned to me at first, 
 but it was easy to see that she was no longer young. 
 The ancle, which her attitude displayed, and the foot 
 resting on one of the rings of the ladder, were, how- 
 ever, slender, and betokened gentility. WhenT saw that 
 it was a woman, I shuddered at her insecure position, 
 and could not resist stopping at the gate, and offering 
 to come in and fasten up the fallen tree for her. 
 
 She had turned her head, as my steps drew near, 
 and looked at me very intently. Her small features, 
 though Avithered and puckered with innumerable wrin- 
 kles, were delicately fair. Her hair, which was tinged 
 with silver, fell in a profusion of ringlets under her 
 strange coiffure. The singular effect was heightened by 
 a large full-blown rose being stuck coquettishly over 
 her left ear. 
 
 When she heard me speak she gave a shrill scream, 
 and, gathering her voluminous petticoats together, she 
 made a spring, like a cat, through the open window 
 near her. I was perfectly astonished at her agility, 
 though 1 felt sorry that she should have taken so ill, 
 what I mean^ to be a neighbourly act of civility. 
 
 Presently the cottage door flew open, and a tall 
 gaunt woman came out, the very reverse of the little 
 creature who had made a dart through the window, 
 where I still saw her, mopping and mowing behind the 
 curtain, apparently in a violent fit of hysterics.
 
 24 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 The dignified gesture with which the new-comer 
 sallied forth was unfortunate ; for the green-painted 
 panel- work, accustomed to being more tenderly handled, 
 gave way, and fell in pieces, leaving to view a passage 
 strewn with every description of rubbish. I faintly 
 discerned an immense rocking-horse and an enormous 
 quantity of band-boxes, garden-tools, broken seats, and 
 a very antique sedan-chair. 
 
 I did not like to have the appearance of running 
 away from the formidable figure approaching me, with 
 a whip in her hand, and clad in what seemed to me to 
 be a short skirted riding-habit. She looked as stiff as 
 the wooden steed in the passage, and had, perhaps, been 
 taking her favourite exercise on its back. 
 
 " We want no men here !" — she said rudely. " Go 
 away ! — Why do you look over the palings? A\Tiy do 
 you insult poor Winny ? We dislike men. We hate 
 them. We will not let them come in. We keep the 
 gate locked ; — and yet old as we are — poor as we are — 
 wretched as we are — they persist in finding us out and 
 affronting us !" 
 
 I tried vainly to assure her that nothing was further 
 from my intentions. I saw the little woman at the 
 window lug an immense pitcher of water across the 
 room, and place it on the ledge over the door, as if to 
 defend the entrance. At the same time, I fancied, but 
 it must have been a mistake, that she looked rather 
 tenderly at me, and kissed her hand behind the cur- 
 tain to me, when the Amazon in the garden was not 
 looking 
 
 'g'
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 25 
 
 
 If you are the new farmer/' the virago went on, 
 
 we wish to have nothing to say to you. Don't ex- 
 pect us to buy your eggs, or your milk, or your poultry. 
 We would rather starve. We deal with a decent 
 woman, who comes from a distance, and often misses 
 calling, which is very inconvenient — sooner than have 
 any transactions with you. If you come prowling 
 about the glen, I shall lock up the place and take 
 Winny away !" 
 
 " I assure you, madam, you need not apprehend the 
 slightest annoyance from me," I said, amused, in spite 
 of some slight degree of mortification, by her strange 
 behaviour. " 1 did not know that any ladies resided 
 near me, and merely stopped, fancying that I saw one in 
 danger. Since my presence so greatly annoys you, I 
 promise in future to avoid the path through the glen 
 most carefully. Its beauty shallnot tempt me to intrude 
 upon your solitude again." 
 
 " Young man !" she said, very sternly, " there is 
 neither beauty nor temptation here. We are old, and 
 miserably poor. Winny is fifty -five ; and I am nine 
 years older. All I wish is to keep out of the way of 
 such persons as yourself. Esau was a man just like 
 you, with hair all over his face ; and he sold his birth- 
 right for a mess of pottage, and went to live like a 
 robber and an outlaw in the wilderness. You have no 
 rightful place or portion here, and you have taken what 
 belongs to another. Don't stand there any longer !" 
 
 I did not understand her meaning, but turned away, 
 not wishing to provoke her farther. Something fell
 
 26 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 through the air, as I passed the cottage. I believe it 
 was the rose which the little woman above stairs had 
 worn over her left ear ; but I did not stoop to pick it 
 off the ground. 
 
 I felt considerably discomposed by this encounter. 
 The charm of the glen was gone, as I walked on, with 
 the screaming tones of the virago's voice in my ear. I 
 desired to find another road home, and was glad when, 
 after a time, the ravine opened into a wooded district, 
 across which there were several pathways. 
 
 The little stream I had followed emptied itself into 
 the river, whose banks, beautifully diversified \\4th rock 
 and foliage, parted gently to receive the tributary 
 waters. At some distance along its course, embosomed 
 among trees, I saw the grey walls of an old mansion. 
 I had not time for farther investigation ; but, ascending 
 to the higher ground as speedily as I could, I made 
 my way back, straight as a crow flies, over hedge and 
 ditch, to my work in the fields. 
 
 I was quite touched with compunction, on my return 
 home, at finding old Sarah on her knees in the passage, 
 with a scrubbing-brush in her hand, and a pail-full of 
 soap-suds beside her, over which my first unwary steps, 
 on entering, nearly precipitated me. Thomas was 
 looking on, admiringly. As usual, she was talking 
 away to him, but not quite so urbanely as when she 
 knew me to be within hearing. 
 
 " You're a nice old goose to contradict me ! ' Teach 
 your granny,' you precious simpleton ! I should like 
 to see what you can do. Here's a pretty day's work
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 27 
 
 the new man has set me. His own face is black 
 enough : — he needn't be so monstrous particular. I 
 
 9 
 
 dare say he had a gipsy father or mother^ if the truth 
 were known. Nobody is acquainted with him, in these 
 parts. 
 
 " He's gone down the glen rampaging this morning, 
 with his head full of crotchets. He'll make nothing of 
 farming. I'll do a better day's work than his, old as I 
 am. I wonder whether he'll come across Pope and 
 Pagan. The old cats are preciously out of sorts. Miss 
 Matty flung the hearth broom at the tinker-man, when 
 he stopped to oifer to mend the big kettle that's bursted. 
 That goose. Miss Winny, wrote a letter to the master ; 
 but I just took the precaution to burn it. Yes, thank 
 you, old man ! I know I'm a wise girl. You've said it 
 often enough to make me remember it. I wonder what 
 would become of you otherwise." 
 
 By this time, Thomas, whose eyes had been fixed 
 upon me all the time I was coming up the pathway, 
 had, in some mysterious manner, made her aware of my 
 approach ; but she did not turn round. 
 
 " I've done my duty !" she observed, emphatically. 
 '^ If I should be took with the apple-plex this minute 
 (which won't be from too much feeding, for I've barely 
 had time to snatch a morsel), you'll bear me out that 
 I've done a good day's work, and you, my old man, 
 have finished your share. 
 
 " The potatoes and the meat is baking in the oven. 
 If he brings home the appetite to eat it, you'll mind, 
 Tummas, in case I'm took off suddenly, the dinner's
 
 28 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ready. Oh, my legs ! how they do ache ! What with 
 the dusting, and the weeding, and the cooking, I'm 
 fairly done up, without the scouring being laid upon 
 me ; but anything's better than to have a hussy in the 
 house, that would laugh at us, and rob the master. If 
 you'll stand by me, like a man, I'll work till my old 
 legs drop off, sooner than permit him to be imposed 
 upon." 
 
 " I am reaUy obliged to you," I said, " for trying to 
 make the place more comfortable ; but I cannot bear to 
 see anybody in my service overtasked. It appears to 
 me to be one person's work to fetch the water such an 
 inconvenient distance ; and I cannot always promise to 
 do it myself. I shall order one of the labourers to come 
 up for the purpose, morning and evening. I wish you 
 would have somebody to assist you in-doors. You see, 
 I am rather fastidious ; and you cannot possibly do all 
 that is required yourself." 
 
 { "With Tummas — you forget him, sir — I'll do it 
 willingly. If I'm took off, it must be differently or- 
 dered ; but, otherwise, Tummas and I is disposed to 
 stay by you, and make the best of it. You'd best look 
 about you, and see what's coming in from the farm, 
 before you lay out money. When the scouring's well 
 over, the work will be lighter. If you please, sir, noM' 
 I'll go and look after the dinner." 
 
 She bustled off, leaving the passage in an incomplete 
 state, as usual. Thomas looked at the bucket, but did 
 not venture to touch it. Sally called him authoritatively 
 to help her. I believe she would have had some diffi-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 29 
 
 culty in explaining wherein his part consisted ; but the 
 homely repast made its appearance, in process of time, 
 and proved infinitely better than might have been ex- 
 pected. 
 
 I asked her, while she was setting it down, who the 
 strange old ladies were, living at the white-walled cot- 
 tage in the Dingle. Really, Sally herself looked more 
 feminine than the Amazon in the riding-habit. 
 
 " Them's a queer lot !" she said, contemptuously. 
 " Matty and Winny Hawthorne are the most trouble- 
 some old bodies in these parts. Don't ye go nigh 
 them ! Pagan and Pope, the people here call them, 
 because they rush out of their den, and frighten the 
 passers-by. I take it, the big woman must be His 
 Holiness, that sits in St. Peter's chair at Rome, jingling'' 
 the keys, as those deluded heathens fancy ; and the 
 little demented body, with generally a bit of a flower in 
 her hair, or some profane book in her hand, is Pagan. 
 But it's all nonsense. They were ladies once, and can't 
 forget it. 'Tis a pity the neighbours are not more civil 
 to the poor forlorn creatures."
 
 30 LE'SVELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 I CANNOT describe my annoyance^ yesterday evening, 
 when, just as I was hauling up a bucket from the well, 
 and the infernal creaking of the rope rendered eveiy 
 other sound inaudible, Erskine rode to the gate and 
 stopped. I had apprehended the possibility of such a 
 catastrophe, and directed one of the labourers to attend 
 for the purpose, morning and evening ; but Sally and 
 'the idiot had contrived to quarrel with the man, and 
 sent him away. When I came home from work, there 
 was not a drop of water in the cistern. 
 
 I shall certainly send them both off the premises. 
 Nothing can reconcile me to the idea of the ridiculous 
 figure I must have cut. AVTien I saw Erskine in a con- 
 vulsion of laughter, and his horse kicking as if pos- 
 sessed by a demon, I was quite confounded. 
 
 He did not wait for me to ask liim to come into the 
 house. I was in such a bad humour that I scarcely 
 felt inclined to be hospitable ; but, after suggesting that 
 I should call my groom, to which I answered that, 
 judging by the manner in which he found me employed, 
 my establishment could not be supposed to include such 
 a functionary, he made a virtue of necessity, and led 
 his steed to the stables himself.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 31 
 
 I sliowed him where to put the "unruly beast, whose 
 temper seemed as provoking as its master's ; and, having 
 supplied it with provender, we made our way, with 
 many a satirical comment from my friend, through the 
 back settlements, to the parlour. 
 
 I saw him glance at Sally, as she placed a solitary 
 dish on the table. It was just my dinner-hour, and 
 she had not perceived his approach. There was no al- 
 ternative. Savagely enough, I asked him to partake of 
 my homely fare; and the cover being removed, an 
 enormous dish of Irish stew, as the woman calls it, — 
 mutton and potatoes, seasoned with onions, — was dis- 
 played to view. For a wonder, he made no remark ; 
 and dismissing Sally as quickly as we could, my friend 
 and I sat down to dinner. 
 
 Erskine said he had been to look at a pair of car- 
 riage-horses, which a neighbour of mine had for sale, 
 and which he fancied might suit his wife. Edith was 
 tired of the greys. They had driven them ever since 
 their marriage ; but lately they had exchanged their 
 britschka for a park phaeton, in which they appeared 
 too high. He thought those he had seen might suit 
 them better. 
 
 Not imagining that the morning closed so early with 
 me, he had not liked to pass without calling ; though 
 he was sorry to intrude upon my dinner-hour. He 
 confessed he was anxious to see whether my respect- 
 able- old lady's cooking at all atoned for her ugliness. 
 , " You surely do not mean to keep this strange
 
 32 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 couple, Harry ?" he said. " They will be the torment 
 of your life." 
 
 I suppose it was out of contradiction that I did not 
 choose to confess having made up my mind to part with 
 them. I wished to appear to take things philosophi- 
 cally. This seemed the most dignified course to 
 
 pursue. 
 
 " Servants are usually great plagues," I said, coolly. 
 " I dare say your establishment, Erskine, gives you 
 quite as much trouble as I have to put up with from 
 mine. I shall think twice before I part with my house- 
 keeper. She has her good qualities. Call this a ra- 
 gout that we are eating, and you would pronounce it 
 
 capital." 
 
 My friend, though he had effected a considerable 
 diminution of the savoury stew, looked at it con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 " I have quite finished," he answered. " If you 
 dislike the smell of garlic, or rather onions, which the 
 French never use au naturel, don't keep the things for 
 me. Ah ! you get on better here than I expected, but 
 the place will never suit you. "Wait tiQ old Egremont 
 begins to plague you ; and you will soon find that it is 
 not pleasant to reside on land surrounded by the pro- 
 perty of a man who is lord paramount in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and carries on a constant system of annoy- 
 ance ; and who will not leave a stone iinturned that 
 there is a possibility of rolling down upon you. He 
 has been talking about your coming to the Farm this 
 morning ; and is in a monstrous ill-humoui*."
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 33 
 
 " He has sent me a remarkably uncivil message, 
 which I scarcely understood when it was delivered to 
 me," I said ; — this being one cause of the ill-temper I 
 had been in all day, and which Erskine's inopportune 
 arrival had not improved. 
 
 " Knowing that Sir Jasper Egremont and the General 
 were on bad terms, I did not expect any politeness from 
 him, on settling here ; but I have yet to learn why my 
 inheriting this farm from his brother has caused the old 
 gentleman to view me in such an odious light, that he 
 has already desired his bailiif to give me notice of his 
 intention to bring an action for trespass against me, if I 
 make use of his bridle-road, on my way to the meadows 
 by the river." 
 
 " Oh, that is only the first move in the game. The 
 old fox is cunning enough, and will follow it up !" 
 Erskine remarked, evidently enjoying the joke. " He 
 told me, when I met him just now, that he should not 
 rest till he had driven that young fool who had come to 
 the Pastures, out of the country." 
 
 " He is very obliging !" I said, more annoyed than 
 I chose to confess. "^ I seem to have agreeable neigh- 
 bours. Yesterday, I fell foul of two old termagants, 
 who live in a tumble-down cottage at the bottom of the 
 pretty Dingle between the hills. One of them abused 
 me so virulently for coming there, that I promised to 
 avoid the place. My walks seem likely to be circum- 
 scribed." 
 
 " Yes, I know whom you mean. You will find those 
 old ladies a dreadful nuisance;" replied Erskine. 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " They have a bee in their bonnet, as my countrymen 
 say ; and vow vengeance against the male sex in gene- 
 ral, and the tenant of Lowell Pastures in particular. 
 I wish you joy of them." 
 
 " But why should they feel any animosity against 
 me ?" I asked, remembering that the old woman in the 
 riding-habit had alluded to something of the kind. 
 " What harm can I possibly have done to these crazy 
 females, or to Sir Jasper Egremont ?" 
 
 " You must not let these things gall you, my dear 
 fellow ! You will have much worse to put up with, I 
 am afraid, if you remain," said Erskine compassion- 
 ately. " A person like yourself, who is a stranger in a 
 county, and fixes his dwelling among such uncouth 
 people as you are surrounded by, is always rubbing 
 against prejudices, and cannot set his foot to the ground 
 without giving offence ; as you did, when you inadver- 
 tently placed yours upon Sir Jasper Egremont' s bridle- 
 road. I believe the old fellow would have laid his 
 driving-whip over your shoulder if he had seen you. 
 Depend upon it, it is not very pleasant to be on bad 
 terms with a man whose fields lie on every side of your 
 pocket-handkerchief of a farm ; into whose woods, if 
 you rear a brood of pheasants, they are sure to fly ; and 
 who has had his own way for half a century ! I look 
 upon your position as a peculiarly disagreeable one." 
 
 " I quite agree with you," I answered ; '' though I 
 do not profess to comprehend the reason. I come into 
 a place where I am not acquainted with a human being, 
 except yourself. I bear no ill-will towards any of my
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 35 
 
 neighbours. I do not intrude upon the gentry of the 
 province ; and wish to deal justly, and, as far as my 
 means will allow, liberally, with my inferiors. Why 
 should I not meet with friends ?" 
 
 " We shall see. Did you notice what a look that 
 old woman gave you, when she cleared away our luxu- 
 rious repast ? Depend upon it, that old couple hate 
 you like poison. Don't trouble yourself about it. It 
 would be just the same, whether you beat them or 
 overwhelmed them with benefits, if, as is most probable, 
 they have made up their minds to dislike you." 
 
 I was quite out of patience with him. " For Hea- 
 ven's sake, my good fellow, leave me to find this out 
 for myself!" I said, "In my case, decidedly, igno- 
 rance is bliss." 
 
 \ " Did I say a word, last week ?" he enquired, with 
 an air of injured innocence. " If 1 had spoken then, 
 you would have avoided trespassing on Sir Jasper's 
 land, and carefully eschewed the path through the 
 dingle. Not that it signifies ! So the old ladies abused 
 you handsomely ? What did they say ?" 
 
 He laughed heartily when I told him of their strange 
 dress and demeanour. " There is a method in their 
 madness, at all events," he observed. " Poor as they 
 are, theirs is an old family in the county, and they 
 have felt keenly the disgrace into which they have 
 fallen. These poor women's small property was swal- 
 lowed up in the wreck of their brother's fortune, in 
 whose hands it was placed. Michael Hawthorne ended 
 his days in the County Hospital, after spending everv 
 
 D 2
 
 36 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 shilling of his own or of other people's, of which 
 he could obtain possession. His ruin has always been 
 laid at the door of your god-father, General Egremont, 
 who led him, as a young man, into the most reckless 
 extravagance ; and is also said to have disappointed 
 some tender expectations, which, stern as she looks, 
 the virago in the riding costume had been induced 
 to entertain. Though Matty Hawthorne has no more 
 serious feminine weakness with which to reproach her- 
 self, she has good reason for her bad opinion of 
 mankind, and for watching over the frail ones of her 
 family." 
 
 " You mean that there is some scandal attached to 
 the little woman of whom she takes so much care ? Her 
 indiscretion, if she ever committed any, ought in 
 charity to be forgotten by this time. They both 
 look very old ;" I replied, feeling sorry for the forlorn 
 creatures. 
 
 " Oh, no ! I have nothing to say against the imma- 
 culate virtue of either of those venerable spinsters. But 
 they had once a niece or dependant cousin staying with 
 them, who made young Julian Egremont, then the 
 heir of this property, think the cottage in the Dingle a 
 very different place to the ruinous abode it appeared to 
 you. He has been dead, as you know, for years, and 
 the old man has never forgiven these poor lone women. 
 Even their right to that forlorn dwelling he disputes, 
 and regards them with unmitigated aversion. The 
 country-people follow his humour, and insult them 
 in every possible way. You will be in worse odour
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 37 
 
 than ever with the Baronet, if he hears that you offer 
 them any civility, mend their fences, or tie up their 
 broken-down trees. Take care that you do not im- 
 prove the acquaintance so inauspiciously commenced." 
 
 " I certainly shall not be deterred from any act of 
 kindness, by fear of Sir Jasper Egremont ; as he does 
 not seem disposed to show me any consideration, I shall 
 endeavour to forget his existence. His feudal towers 
 rise with a grand effect among the woods by the side of 
 the river. As Caractacus said at Rome, he need not 
 envy me my cottage." 
 
 " If Sir Jasper Egremont had the sea full of gold, 
 he would envy you, or any one, else the contents of a 
 goblet," said Erskine. " Though he is as rich as Croesus, 
 he will not, if he can help it, spend a shilling except 
 in improving his possessions. He has no near relative. 
 No one can conjecture to whom he will leave his fine 
 estate, or for whom he hoards ; and yet he has never 
 forgiven his brother for alienating this paltry farm from 
 the rest of the property. You must, I suppose, have 
 been a favourite with General Egremont ?" 
 
 He spoke doubtingly. " Not that I was aware of 
 during his life-time," I replied. " He was very little 
 in England, and, except when I was a boy, and just 
 before his last departure for India, I had scarcely 
 ever seen him. I conclude, however, from his making 
 me this bequest, that he had some affection for his 
 godson." 
 
 " Why, I have heard he did it to spite his brother,"
 
 o8 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 said Erskine. " They quarrelled violently, because 
 young Julian was not allowed to go into the army. A 
 marching regiment was, in his uncle's opinion, the most 
 desirable school for a young man. He had so imbued 
 his nephew with his idea of the glories of the military 
 profession, that he ran away from the private tutor's 
 where his father had placed him, and joined the allied 
 army on the continent as a volunteer. He was a fine 
 young fellow, and came home covered with distinction, 
 and with as many orders as wounds. Unfortunately, he 
 renewed a childish acquaintance with a niece of the 
 crotchety old damsels in the Dingle ; and when, 
 contrary to all persuasion, he rejoined the army, 
 before the last glorious campaign, he was not alone. 
 He died, "sWth many another gallant fellow, at Wa- 
 terloo ; and Sir Jasper never forgave his brother. 
 One cannot greatly wonder at his vindictiveness. His 
 country could have spared plenty of young men to die 
 in battle, who would not have made such a gap in 
 society, as the now childless old man's heir." 
 
 " General Egremont had also a violent temper and 
 strong prejudices," I remarked. "When my father 
 placed me in the Life Guards, he was very indignant* 
 and said that it was playing at soldiering. I wdsh, 
 with all my heart, that his ad^-ice had been followed, 
 and that I were now in India or Australia, with a 
 prospect of advancement before me." 
 
 " It would certainly be better than dealing with 
 these clods," said Erskine, kicking up with the heel
 
 LEWELL PASTURES, 39 
 
 of his boot one of the immense lumps of marl which 
 formed the soil of my garden^ as we stood outside 
 the hall-door. " When do you mean to come to see us ? 
 I shall tell Edith you are too busy carrying water to 
 return my visit." 
 
 " Mrs. Erskine would not admit me in this guise," 
 I said ; ^^ and I have made a vow to let my hair and 
 my beard grow, until I have become used to the place 
 and the manner of life I have adopted, and which, seri- 
 ously, Erskine, I mean to lead for the next three years, 
 at all events." 
 
 " Well, I wish you well through 'the first twelve- 
 month ; though, perhaps, that is scarcely the most 
 trying time," my friend replied. *' In this part of the 
 country, a man may live on the same spot for ten or a 
 dozen years, without ceasing to be a stranger. I am by 
 no means naturalised here myself. Don't imitate me, 
 if you wish to be a popular character. I am in con- 
 stant hot water with my neighbours." 
 
 Erskine was always a quarrelsome fellow. In the 
 regiment to which we both belonged he was particu- 
 larly disliked ; and the acidity of his temper does not 
 appear to have been softened by matrimony. Though 
 we have been long acquainted, he never was a favourite 
 of mine ; yet our meeting in this out-of-the-way place, 
 and the sort of regard which, I believe, lies at the 
 bottom of the rather troublesome interest he takes in 
 my affairs, obliges me to be friendly. I seem to have 
 enemies enough on my hands already, without offend-
 
 40 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ing and converting into a foe one who shows as kindly 
 an inclination towards me as his nature will admit. I 
 must try to get over the disagreeable truths which he 
 thinks it his duty to impart ; and which, evidently, if he 
 did not tell them, would reach me in what might be a 
 still more unpleasant form. 
 
 There was, certainly, something sinister in that old 
 woman's look, the next time she came into the room. 
 I observe that the idiot keeps out of my way as much 
 as he can, and have no doubt of his disliking me par- 
 ticularly. She told me that she must go for the doctor'; 
 Thomas was very unwell. He had taken cold, owing 
 to the dampness from the scouring, and she believed 
 he would not carry it on much longer. I gave her a 
 glass of brandy to administer to him, and I suppose 
 it did him good ; for though I heard her incessantly 
 maundering, his wife did not leave the house. 
 
 If the poor creature should be ill, I cannot possibly 
 turn them off the farm. I must insist upon her allow- 
 incT some one to draw the water. Erskine, however, 
 I suspect, is not likely soon to repeat his visit ; and no 
 one else seems disposed to trouble me with a sunilar 
 act of civility. 
 
 I suppose I must ride over, and call upon him, some 
 day. Mrs. Erskine is a complete stranger to me, and 
 I do not feel inclined to let her hear of me only 
 through her husband. I will not trust my character, 
 without an effort to redeem it from obloquy, in his un- 
 merciful hands. If there is a single dark speck in my
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 41 
 
 shield, he is sure to bring it to light ; and I blush to 
 think of the story he will make out of my unlucky 
 attempt at domestic usefulness in drawing water 
 from that abominable well. Poor as I am, I would 
 give a considerable sum not to have been caught 
 in the fact.
 
 42 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 Sir Jasper Egremont is right in his assertion, that 
 this farm ought to have gone with the rest of the estate. 
 At all events, its occupant should be on friendly terms 
 with the Lord of the Manor. His mother, it appears, 
 brought it into the family. Sir Owen Egremont is 
 said to have married her, in order to possess it ; but, as 
 it formed part of the settlement made upon their younger 
 children, it fell to the share of the General ; and by 
 him, — very probably to pique his brother, as Erskine 
 suggested, — it was bequeathed to me. 
 
 For a little way, my inconsiderable property marches 
 with the Baronet's large domain. Then it is intersected 
 by some fields belonging to him, along side of which, 
 through a bye-lane skirting the marsh, courtesy has 
 hitherto allowed the tenant of Lewell Pastures free 
 passage. Now, owing to his churlish refusal to admit 
 me to this privilege, my carts will have to mount the 
 hill, and take a circuit of more than a mile, however 
 weighty may be the load they carry. 
 
 This road has not been kept in order. Not the 
 slightest damage would be incurred by leaving it open ; 
 but, this morning, I saw that workmen were employed
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 43 
 
 filling in the ruts and levelling the ridges ; while ano- 
 ther set were building up a wall, right across the end 
 of the lane, hitherto undefended even by a gate, which 
 leads to my water-meadow. 
 
 A very unpleasant-looking person, whom I concluded 
 to be the bailiff, was superintending their labours. He 
 was a coarse-featured old fellow, who appeared as if he 
 had been all his life exposed to bad weather, and, 
 judging by the language I heard him use to his subor- 
 dinates, had not a civil word upon his tongue. As I 
 looked down from the path at the head of the Dingle, 
 which I was forced to take, I could see the labourers 
 toiling below, and the surly overseer walking up and 
 down, with his great coat hanging loosely behind him, 
 — ^his arms not being thrust into the sleeves, — quicken- 
 ing their operations. 
 
 Another hindrance is placed in my path. My men. 
 say, the draining -tiles are insufficient for the work I 
 have commenced on the marsh. The pottery where 
 they are made is on Sir Jasper's land, and worked for 
 his benefit. It is the only one in the country, and a 
 very profitable undertaking ; but he has issued strict 
 orders that I am not to be furnished with what I want. 
 My proceedings are at a stand-still. I must send a 
 waggon to the nearest town, where, at a higher price, 
 I believe they can be obtained. I fear, this is only a 
 conunencement of the annoyances I shall have to en- 
 counter. 
 
 Having set the men upon other work, I did not feel 
 inclined to imitate their industry, but walked idly on.
 
 44 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 meditating upon the disagreeable circumstances which 
 each day was bringing to light. I had taken up my 
 quarters in a hostile territory ; and^ if I made any pro- 
 gress, it must be by fighting every step of the way. 
 Not only the ordinary difficulties of such an undertaking 
 as mine were to be contended w4th, but the determined 
 animosity of one who had, perhaps, the power of frus- 
 trating all my toilsome exertions. 
 
 I have found considerable difficulty in keeping my 
 men to their labour. Sir Jasper has large iron works 
 by the river : I hear the beating of the enormous ham- 
 mers above every other sound. It is easy to obtain 
 profitable employment ; and they know that by accept- 
 ing wages from me, they incur disgrace. They take 
 my money as if it were a favour to touch it. 
 
 This old man is no dreamer, entertaining an innocuous 
 dislike, but an active speculator and capitalist, constantly 
 devising means, which he has ample funds and energy 
 to carry out, of driving me from the field. 
 
 I determined to take a survey of the enemy's country ; 
 and, avoiding his land, walked along the top of the 
 wooded banks of the Dingle, to the shore of the river. 
 A boat was just putting across, and the man agreed to 
 row me, for a trifling sum, up the course of the stream. 
 
 It appeared to be singularly beautiful. Sir Jasper's 
 noble woods aflbrded the pictiu'csque feature which 
 alone, in other parts, was deficient. In general, the 
 banks were fringed with dwarf copses, broken only here 
 and there by a spreading oak or beech. In this country.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 45 
 
 the timber is so mucli used in the works, that it is too 
 profitable to be allowed to attain its full growth. 
 
 Here, however, though the plantations were carefully 
 thinned, they flourished luxuriantly. The charcoal- 
 burners' fires under the rocks sent up wreaths of smoke 
 against their dark verdure. The grey tone of the 
 granite was relieved by ridges of red clay. The limpid 
 stream reflected every object. The farther we pro- 
 ceeded, the more lovely was the stream. Suddenly, 
 the banks rose yet more steeply into abrupt cliffs. The 
 water in this spot, the boatman said, was very deep. 
 There was a tradition, that a youth, the son of a former 
 owner of the property, had lost his life in bathing, just 
 below the towers of his father's house. The bank was 
 very precipitous, but a little cove, paved with silvery 
 sand, afforded room for a boat-house ; a narrow, shady 
 road wound steeply down, through an aperture in the 
 rocks, to the beach. It could only be pursued on foot ; 
 for at intervals there were steps cut, to bring it down 
 to the level of the water. 
 
 The face of the clifi' was perforated with caverns. In 
 some places, the water nearly filled them ; elsewhere, 
 fine white sand was visible, far under the bend of the 
 arches. There was not a trace of vegetation on the 
 surface of the natural wall which rose above them ; 
 neither moss nor ivy clung to its steep side ; but all 
 along the top stretched a carpet of green turf, bordered 
 by spreading trees, which reached to the base of the 
 towers of Heron Cliff. 
 
 Sir Jasper Egremont's dwelling is of very ancient
 
 46 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 date ; it is built of granite, wliich has assumed a dark 
 grey tint, from the effect of time. The boatman said, 
 he remembered it nearly covered with ivy; but the 
 present Baronet had caused it to be cleared away, de- 
 claring that it was pulling down the building. The 
 country people were of opinion that it had stood for a 
 long time ; and that the thick walls might still have 
 resisted, and kept up the ivy. 
 
 I thought it showed to more advantage, backed by 
 the dark woods, without even that picturesque addition. 
 It is not a ruin, though within, as the man told me, it is 
 said to lack repair sorely. Sir Jasper thinks of nothing 
 but of making money, and will not lay out a farthing 
 upon the house ; though the woods, as well as every 
 thing else by which he can turn a penny, are carefully 
 cherished. 
 
 No one, from year's end to year's end, is ever admit- 
 ted inside the mansion; but his penurious habits are 
 reported to increase daily ; and in his own person he is 
 believed to suffer, within his splendid abode, from the 
 want of the common necessaries of life. 
 
 It was difficult to give credence to this statement, as 
 I looked back, favoured by a wide sweep of the river, 
 upon the fine old edifice, rising from its verdant lawn, 
 among its sheltering pine-woods : behind the building, 
 these closed in very darkly. 
 
 The windows were all surmounted with pointed 
 arches ; the doors were of a similar form, and much 
 ornamented. A low , battlement completely hid the 
 roof and chimneys ; no smoke issued from the latter.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 47 
 
 It was but seldom^ my companion remarked, that any 
 except the charcoal-burners' fires warmed the air in 
 that direction ; even in winter, a thin, grey curl of va- 
 pour alone issued from the inhospitable dwelling. 
 
 After we had [rowed slowly past the house, the cha- 
 racter of the scenery changed : the rocks became bare 
 and less picturesque, and we heard more plainly the 
 clanging sound of the machinery at the iron works. I 
 did not feel tempted to go farther, and leaped ashore, 
 at a spot where a narrow path, leading upwards from 
 the river, would take me back to the Farm, I was as- 
 sured, without trespassing on any part of Sir Jasper's 
 domains. 
 
 I met no one in my walk, until, just as I was ap- 
 proaching the wooded bank of the stream, near my 
 house, I heard a voice raised loud in anger, and a wo- 
 man crying. I sprang over the hedge, to see what was 
 the matter. 
 
 An old man, whose back was towards me, was kick- 
 ing his heels into the sides of an obstinate looking black 
 pony, pommelling him with the butt end of his whip, 
 and swearing at some object under the hedge, which 
 the animal doggedly refused to pass. As I came nearer, 
 I perceived that the rider was the person whom I had 
 seen superintending Sir Jasper Egremont's people at 
 their work. The poor little woman cowering under the 
 bushes I had recognised at a glance to be Pagan. 
 
 The "Welsh pony had stuck his fore-feet out in an 
 attitude of fixed determination. His eves, ovcrhun2r 
 with shaggy hair, protruded from their sockets. lie
 
 48 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 was pulling violently, and defied all the efforts of the 
 angry old man to make him proceed. His rough coat was 
 thickly encrusted with the clayey soil of the meadows 
 by the river. 
 
 The surly fellow directed his vituperations alter- 
 nately at the trembling figure under the hedge, and at 
 the vile quadruped on which he was mounted. The 
 latter would not stir an inch in the required direction ; 
 and poor Miss Winny was so dreadfully frightened, that 
 she did not in the least comprehend his wanting her to 
 move out of the way. 
 
 In fact, it was no easy matter. She was right in the 
 middle of the thorn-fence, and, at every loud oath, she 
 squeezed herself farther into the very heart of the 
 brambles. Her thin petticoat was transfixed by them. 
 One of her slippers had fallen into the ditch. Her 
 poor little foot was right in the pony's way. She ap- 
 peared to have been sitting just by the side of the 
 opening in the hedge, plaiting a garland of wild flowers, 
 for the grass was strewn with buttercups and daisies. 
 
 The uncivil bailiff had just dismounted, when I 
 vaulted over the fence. He had a whip in liis hand, 
 and seemed so enraged at her stupidity that I feared he 
 would strike her. The pony, by this time, was snort- 
 ino" and plunging desperately. He kicked so much, 
 that the old man could hardly hold him. 
 
 Winny looked imploringly at me, and tried to rise, 
 but the buiTS and the brambles held her fast. I picked 
 up her shoe out of the ditch, and placed it on her small 
 foot as respectfully as if she had been a princess.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 49 
 
 Then^ without adding another to the many rents in 
 her garment, I carefully disentangled it, taking no 
 notice of the bailiff, who was swearing at us both, like 
 a trooper ; and finally lifted her, she was not heavier 
 than a child, over the muddy ditch, setting her down 
 safely in the path beside me. 
 
 Though the obstacle was removed, and his rider again 
 on his back, urging him on vehemently, another obsti- 
 nate humour had seized the pony. He began to rear 
 and back, and turned short round. The old man swore 
 louder than ever, partly at the lady and myself, partly 
 at his inveterately ill-tempered steed. The only way 
 in which I could get rid of them, was by breaking a 
 stout cudgel from the hedgerow, with which to bela- 
 bour the pony, till it set off at a hard trot, still giving 
 an occasional kick-up behind, to show that its perverse- 
 ness was unabated. 
 
 " The next time that I find you ill-treating a lady, 
 take care I do not forget your grey hairs, and lay my stick 
 over your shoulders, instead of your pony's back, you 
 ill-mannered fellow ! Let this be a lesson to you, to use 
 better language for the future. You see that a man 
 may have to be thankful to his neighbours, for helping 
 him on his road ; especially if he rides such an obsti- 
 nate brute as you are mounted upon :" I said, as the 
 old churl, with a curse on his tongue, was borne away 
 at a very uneasy pace. 
 
 I felt quite sorry for the poor little woman, she 
 seemed so sadly terrified ; and offered her my arm, not- 
 withstanding the strange plight she was in, saying that 
 
 VOL. I. . E
 
 50 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 I would protect her home. She hesitated, and, in spite 
 of her wrinkles, her skin was fair enough for her to 
 blush excessively. 
 
 " Let us look, first of all," she answered, '' for my 
 poor pet. I have lost my dove." 
 
 A miserable, half-starved-looking wood-pigeon crept 
 out of the ditch, as she spoke. It was nearly smothered 
 in mud, and had a riband, which had once been blue^ 
 attached to its claw. I picked up the bird, and gave it 
 to its mistress, who fondled it in her bosom, after 
 vainly attempting to make it perch, hawk-fashion, on 
 her wrist. 
 
 She did not accept my arm, but tripped on beside 
 me, afiectedly holding up her tattered muslin petticoat. 
 The men at work in the fields stopped and stared at 
 us ; but I think she was a little proud of having a pro- 
 tector. 
 
 She told me that she had taken up her station under 
 the bank, in hopes of seeing the butter-woman pass by. 
 That useful functionary it seemed had not called at the 
 cottage this week. No one else patronised her ; and 
 she probably thought it not worth her while to come 
 so far to dispose of her stock to the two forlorn 
 spinsters. 
 
 The poor thing looked so miserably thin and piilc, 
 that I could not help saying they should be no suflEercrs 
 by the carelessness of the person they employed. On 
 my return to the farm, she must permit me to send them 
 the necessary supplies, which had been so inconveniently 
 cut off.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 51 
 
 The old lady gazed up in my face, with a sort of 
 sickly smile ; and, her confidence increasing, laid the 
 tips of her slender fingers on my arm. " It does not 
 follow," she said, very softly, " that, because some men 
 are cruel, all should be such savages as Sir Jasper 
 Egremont. You are kind ; you would have helped me 
 to tie up the old tree : — it is shutting out the daylight 
 still 'J — but there is no one at all like you in this part of 
 the country. The men have no chivalry. They laugh 
 at us ; they insult us. If the woman has given up 
 calling, we dare not go into the towns ; we must starve 
 in the Dingle." 
 
 By this time we were in sight of the cottage. I did 
 not wish to hazard an encounter with Pope, and bade 
 my companion good morning. She was crying quietly. 
 Though she was old, her tears touched me. I did not 
 forget, when I went home, that the forlorn creatures 
 were afraid to stir out, and might absolutely be without 
 food. Selecting the most civilized of my labourers, I 
 dispatched him with a basket, the contents of which 
 might, I trusted, remedy the inconvenience caused by 
 the poultry-woman's remissness. 
 
 I gave that reason for taking the liberty, as a neigh- 
 bour, of supplying their wants, since no other farm or 
 market was at hand. The civility was thankfully ac- 
 cepted, and the man, though he seemed much inclined 
 to laugh, did not venture, when he saw mc look grave, 
 to speak impertinently of the poor ladies. 
 
 He brought a message to me, in return. " The Misses 
 Hawthorne's compliments, rnd, as the woman they 
 
 JU <'V 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 ILLINOIS LIBRARY
 
 52 ' LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 usually employed had failed to call, they would be will- 
 ing to deal with the man at the farm for eggs and 
 butter." I am glad, at all events, that they perceive I 
 do not wish to be unneighbourly ; and I shall supply 
 them faithfully, though I do not mean to take money 
 from the poor things, for the only attention Avhich it is 
 in my power to offer them. 
 
 When I got back to my men, I soon forgot in active 
 labour the annoyances of the morning. There is no 
 other plan, and all that suits me in my present mode of 
 life, is the necessity for constant employment. Erskine 
 may laugh at me as much as he pleases ; but I shall not 
 give up rising with the sun, and tiring out the energies 
 which would otherwise be a perpetual source of tor- 
 ment to me. I am convinced that it is the only way 
 in which this experiment can succeed ; and that, if, as 
 he recommends, I were to hire a bailiif, and spend my 
 time like a gentleman, I should be ruined in a twelve- 
 month. 
 
 It is my intention, while I have health and strength 
 vigorous as that of the hardy fellows around me, not to 
 lead an idle life. As yet, at all events, I am not spoiled 
 for useful exertion by a long career of selfish enjoy- 
 ment. I have not ruined my constitution by excess, 
 nor has amusement or society become necessai'y to me. 
 I can find enjoyment in getting up at four o'clock, to 
 work with my men ; and can eat Sally's dinners with 
 appetite, on my return from labour. I will at least try, 
 whether, by sinking the gentleman in the farmer, it is 
 possible to make this speculation answer. I believe
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 53 
 
 that my housekeeper and my predecessors in occupying 
 the farm have been right, and that there is nothing in 
 my position, nor in the profits yielded by the land, to 
 warrant my keeping any sort of establishment. Having 
 known the misery of being in debt, the hopelessness of 
 depending upon others, I will endeavour, for the present, 
 to be sufficient to myself. 
 
 It is a somewhat hard struggle, but I am already the 
 better for it. I am certain, without constant occupa- 
 tion, I should not remain here for a fortnight ; and if I 
 were to express any wish to visit my country neigh- 
 bours, or accept Erskine's invitations, I should be 
 ashamed of my manner of living, and dread lest some 
 stranger calling upon me might mistake me for one 
 of my own labourers. I will not go into society, 
 until I can do so on a proper footing. If my utmost 
 exertions will not effect this, — will not place me on 
 something like a par with my companions, — I will live 
 like a hermit ; even at the risk of becoming as eccen- 
 tric as my fair friends in the Dingle. 
 
 I have had a most disagreeable adventure, and re- 
 ceived fresh proofs of the dislike entertained for me by 
 Sir Jasper Egremont, and with which he has contrived 
 to inspire his people ; since, personally, I have done 
 nothing to provoke their insolence. Among other re- 
 cent purchases, I have brought upon the farm some 
 small cattle from the mountains. These animals are 
 very wild, and will scarcely suffer any one to approach
 
 54 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 them. Sally came to me, this afternoon, in a state of 
 discomfiture, to tell me that she could not milk the new 
 cow ; she would thank me to go and see what an ill-tem- 
 pered brute she looked like. 
 
 I went down to the cattle-sheds at the bottom of the 
 garden. In front of them is a yard, with a low wall, 
 wherein the cows are driven to be milked. The old 
 stagers were standing very demurely in their places ; 
 but it appeared that the boy, whose office it had hitherto 
 been to attend to the new cow, was not forthcoming, 
 and nothing would induce her to let the one employed 
 in his stead go near her. The moment she caught 
 sight of Sally, she became perfectly furious. 
 
 ^^ AVhy do you not tie her up ?" I said to the lad, 
 who was shaking himself, and showed signs of having 
 already come in contact with the ground, during his 
 contest with the obstinate animal. Her dark hide shone 
 like that of a spirited horse ; and her clean-made, 
 slight - looking limbs, bright eyes, and small head, 
 streaked with white, were full of spirit, and even ele- 
 gance. 
 
 Her intentions towards her tormentors were decidedly 
 hostile. The milking-stool and can were both upset, 
 and each time the youth went near her, she set at him, 
 and with her short horns down, chased him round the 
 yard. 
 
 The idiot, who had followed Sally, laughed outright. 
 At length, the boy succeeded in getting a rope round 
 the cow's horns, and held her head down, calling to
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 55 
 
 some one to come and milk her. Sally's terror ren- 
 dered her as useless as Thomas ; therefore I was forced 
 to take up the milking-pail and wooden stool, and go 
 up to the animal, to perform, for the first time since I 
 was a child, this necessary operation. 
 
 I had some idea, from having been brought up in 
 the country, how to set about it, and endeavoured to 
 look as if I understood the process thoroughly. The 
 cow shivered in every limb with impatience, but stood 
 still, while I placed the stool, and arranged the pail. 
 Then, with a bound and a whisk of her tail, she burst 
 from the boy's grasp, upsetting the can, — I only just 
 escaped the same fate myself, — and leaped over the low 
 wall, careering doAvn the hill, in the direction of Sir 
 Jasper Egremont's bridle-way. 
 
 The boy went off after her, and I saw him and some 
 of the labourers running across the fields ; but she had 
 greatly the start of them. When I came up with the 
 chase, I found that it had terminated in the disputed 
 cart-road, and that the men who were at work there, 
 had taken possession of my cow. 
 
 She had broken the fence, they said, and done much 
 injury. Sir Jasper would be mortal angry, and had 
 given strict orders, that if any of the cattle from 
 the farm strayed on to his land, they were to be 
 put in the pound. I might come and fetch her out 
 again. 
 
 The fence was full of gaps, and it was easy to see the 
 cow had done no real damage ; I felt very angry, but
 
 56 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 the men drove her off before them, without attending 
 to me. As she might suffer from being detained a 
 prisoner, I was forced to set off immediately, taking 
 with me the cowherd and one of the boys, to effect her 
 release. A very toilsome walk up the steep hill which 
 I had to mount, in order to avoid my enemy's domain, 
 and then to make a circuit of nearly three miles, at 
 the back of Sir Jasper's woods, before arriving at 
 the rough tract of common whereon the pound was 
 situated, did not put me into a more charitable frame 
 of mind. 
 
 Jessica lowed piteously behind the wall of her prison, 
 and evidently had her spirit already much subdued by 
 the penitential diet of thistles and stones, over which 
 she was mournfully ruminating ; and the prospect of 
 spending the night in that dismal enclosure. I sent 
 the herd to the cottage hard by, to pay the fee for her 
 deliverance ; and its owner unlocked the gate, and let 
 the poor creature go free ; but not without informing 
 me, that Sir Jasper said he meant to bring an action 
 against me, for the injury she had done in breaking 
 through the hedge ; and the trespass my men and I had 
 committed, by following her into the lane. 
 
 I told him that I was certain the cow had done no 
 mischief; and that, in fact, his master had no business 
 to enclose the road at all ; I found that it had always 
 been regarded as a public thoroughfare. He said, I 
 must settle that matter vrith Sir Jasper ; and walked 
 off, uncivilly enough. I left the man and boy to bring
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 57 
 
 back the cow to the farm ; and determined, as I retrod 
 the four miles of villainously stony road, to which Sir 
 Jasper's ill-will extended my walk, not to submit to 
 what appeared likely to be an intolerable nuisance, 
 without enquiring whether any possible mode of redress 
 existed.
 
 58 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 The following day was that when the weekly market 
 takes place, at the nearest town to my lonely farm 
 among the hills. Having business to transact there, I 
 resolved to enquire for a lawyer, and learn whether Sir 
 Jasper had really any right to close against me the way 
 through his fields ; to which, as far as I could ascertain, 
 my predecessors had always had free access. 
 
 Several persons, farmers like myself, were jogging 
 along by short cuts across the turf, all tending in the 
 same direction. We exchanged friendly salutations, 
 though none of them seemed to know me. With some, 
 I entered into conversation, and tried to talk learnedly 
 of crops and cattle ; but they persisted in considering 
 me as one of the tourists who, in summer, frequent the 
 picturesque district by the river ; and even when I was 
 understood to be the new man who had taken to Lewcll 
 Pastures, they did not appear disposed to treat me as 
 one of themselves. An old farmer said it was poor 
 land, and wanted a deal of money laid out upon it. 
 Another observed, that I had got " a baddish bit." 
 None of them spoke encouragingly about my prospects ;
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 59 
 
 and they had all so many friends upon the road, that 
 we did not journey far in company. 
 
 I had left my last companion behind, and was quite 
 alone when I entered the town. It is a small country- 
 place, lying off the main road, in the bosom of the hills, 
 out of sight of the river, and presenting no attraction 
 to the lovers of the picturesque. A carriage could 
 scarcely have passed through the rows of market- stalls, 
 on either side of the principal street, which was steep 
 and narrow, and thronged with vendors and customers. 
 If any of the few neighbouring gentry came in, on this 
 day of the week, they put up their horses at the inn 
 where I left mine, the ostler told me, and walked 
 through the town. 
 
 Planted firmly in front of a tempting display of 
 crockery-ware, spread out on a litter of straw in the 
 centre of the crowded thoroughfare, and eyeing me as 
 I went along the passage left partially clear, was the 
 old man I have mentioned as Sir Jasper Egrerdont's 
 uncivil bailiff. He had not condescended to change 
 his attire ; his coat-sleeves still hung loosely behind him. 
 It was only when he was riding the Welsh pony, which 
 I had recognized in the inn stables, that he seemed to 
 think it necessary to wear out that part of his garment 
 by drawing it on in the usual manner. I heard him, 
 after I had passed by, the noisiest of all the crowd, chaf- 
 fering, and higgling, and driving hard bargains, for the 
 small purchases he was making. 
 
 Before I had gone far, I met Erskine, who was 
 lounging about, apparently the only unoccupied person
 
 60 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 in the market. I asked him if he could direct me 
 to a respectable attorney. He had been quite right 
 in conjecturing that my patience would not stand the 
 inroads made upon it by Sir Jasper ; but I trusted I 
 should find that firmness would keep him in check 
 better than submission to manifest injustice. 
 
 " I can show you what you want, of course ;" he 
 said, stopping short. " That house opposite, standing 
 a little back from the street, with an imposing knocker 
 and steps up to the door, belongs to a lawyer ; and I 
 believe he is, as times go, a very honest one. There 
 are two or three in the place. It is rather a' thriving 
 profession. Sir Jasper's business is what they princi- 
 pally depend upon. He has generally half-a-dozen 
 suits going on at the same time ; it is one of his 
 hobbies. You surely are not mad enough to think of 
 going to law with him ?" 
 
 " He has threatened me with an action," I said, 
 " on account of some fancied damage which his fences 
 have sustained from my cattle. Unfortunately, they 
 have not avoided his domain as carefully as I have 
 done. I am told that the lane near my farm has from 
 time immemorial been a thoroughfare, and that he 
 has, therefore, no right to close it against the public ; 
 and I am resolved to contest the point, if I find that I 
 am correct in my opinion." 
 
 " Ah, he makes out a capital case against the cow, 
 and swears he will give you no end of trouble !" replied 
 my friend, laughing. " I have just been hearing his 
 story. There is nothing he likes better than these
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 61 
 
 little trumpery vexatious actions for trespass or da- 
 mage; unless it be — you have no conception what a 
 treat you are going to give him ! — a regular never- 
 ending law-suit respecting a disputed right of road. 
 How the old man will chuckle over the folly of your 
 encountering him, literally, on his own ground ! No 
 one knows like Sir Jasper Egremont, how to procras- 
 tinate and drive his antagonist out of his mind by ac- 
 cumulated and ruinous law-expenses. You will be 
 lucky, if, ten years hence, you see a chance of the 
 affair being settled ! 
 
 " I assure you the farm is scarcely worth holding on 
 the present conditions," I said. " I am as completely 
 cut off from the best part of my land, as if the enemy's 
 cannon enfiladed the pass." 
 
 " Very likely," Erskine answered drily ; " but it 
 does not follow that you will be in a better position, 
 when the guns, which at present only threaten, are dis- 
 charged in your face. My dear fellow, there is nothing 
 Sir Jasper delights, nay, revels in, so much as law • 
 It is his only extravagance. He does not care what he 
 spends in contesting a suit like the one you are rash 
 enough to think of commencing. A bit of waste land 
 cribbed from his manorial rights, gives him the most 
 intense enjoyment. He will be delighted if he finds 
 that he has driven you ^to fight him with his favourite 
 weapons." 
 
 We had now reached the bottom of the street, 
 and remembering the draining tiles, wliich it was part 
 of my business in the town to order, I turned down
 
 62 LEWELL PASTUrwES. 
 
 towards the manufactory^ which was at a short distance ; 
 but when I saw the disagreeable old man I had passed 
 in the market, standing with his hands in his pockets 
 at the door of the yard, I would not enter. 
 
 " Let us pass on," I said. " I would rather go 
 without what I want than expose myself to the inso- 
 lence of Sir Jasper's people. His bailiff is as ill-man- 
 nered as he is." • ; 
 
 " "What on earth do you mean ?" enquired Erskine, 
 turning short round. " He has been his own butler 
 and bailiff, and groom, and, for aught I know, brick- 
 maker, these ten years. That is Sir Jasper Egremont 
 himself, the greatest skinflint living. I saw him, when 
 I came in this morning, driving a hard bargain with an 
 old woman for some knitted grey worsted stockings, 
 which he got from the elderly crone at last for half the 
 price she woidd have sold them at to the poorest 
 person in the market. AYhatever he purchases he 
 always carries home himself. I have often met him 
 with a small piece of meat, or part of a flitch of cheap 
 Somersetshire bacon, dangling at his saddle bow !" 
 
 By this time we were close to him. To my annoy- 
 ance, Erskine stopped and spoke. '^ Busy as usual. 
 Sir Jasper ? I quite cnxj you. For my part, I never 
 can find anything to do with myself, even on market 
 day, at this trumpery little place, when I come in for 
 a ride. But I, you know, am an idle man." 
 
 " Idle enough, in all conscience !" replied the 
 surly old fellow, staring rudely at us both ; " and 
 not the only one in that predicament, even in this
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 63 
 
 busy little place ;" lie added, glancing at me. " There 
 are men in the market, without money in their pockets, 
 sense in their heads, or a radish oiF their land to sell. 
 Idlers, like yourself. Major Erskine !"^ 
 
 He made a stand right in our path, and gave a low 
 sort of chuckle, as if intensely gratified by our embar- 
 rassment. " Your friend is a stranger ; a military 
 man, I see ;" he continued, with a sneer. " Gentle- 
 men of your profession, in these peaceful times, are 
 seldom overburthened with employment. You had 
 better tell him he will find nothing in this country 
 market to suit him. I often wonder, what brings so 
 many fastidious pleasure-seekers into these regions." 
 
 " You do not know my friend," said Erskine, mali- 
 ciously resisting my attempts to draw him on, and 
 speaking in a manner which he knows perfectly well 
 how, when he pleases, to render particularly gentle- 
 manlike. " He has left the army, and is a nearer 
 neighbour of yours than mine, though we are old com- 
 rades. Sir Jasper Egremont, allow me to introduce 
 to you. Captain — or as he now calls himself, Mr. 
 Henry Tudor. He is quite a stranger in this part of 
 the country." 
 
 I believe Erskine good-naturedly meant to propitiate 
 my uncivil neighbour in my favour. Sir Jasper, 
 however, looked sourer than before ; and having made 
 a kind of convulsive grin, did not otherwise acknow- 
 ledge the introduction. I had bowed almost instinc- 
 tively, but repented of the courtesy, when I saw his 
 ungracious stifFnesss.
 
 64 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " This gentleman and I," he observed sarcastically, 
 '^ are almost on visiting terms already. His cattle do 
 me the favour of preferring the grass in my fields to 
 their own indifferent pasturage. He, himself, makes 
 use of my paths and bridle roads, in a most friendly 
 manner. Soldiers are not so popular in the country as 
 in garrison towns. Major Erskine. They are apt to 
 imagine themselves living at free quarters in an 
 enemy's district, and make no ceremony about taking 
 any liberty that suits them." 
 
 I was almost too angry to defend myself from this 
 ill-bred attack. " I am sorry, Sir Jasper Egremont," 
 I said, " that you appear determined to misunderstand 
 my proceedings. I am, as Erskine says, a stranger 
 in the country ; and have yet to learn your reason for 
 closing against me a road of which I find that my 
 predecessors on the farm have made use freely." 
 
 " Oh, bring your action, by all means, young gen- 
 tleman, if you are not satisfied !" exclaimed the old 
 man, shuffling off to one side of the road. " That is 
 the way to prevent mistakes. Nothing like the 
 lawyers for getting at the truth and making things 
 clear, even to the narrow capacity of country boobies 
 like myself. It's a little troublesome, and tedious, and 
 expensive ; but then the loser pays the costs. A\Tio 
 can tell, in the long run, which of us that will be ? By 
 all means, bring your action ! Gentlemen, your time 
 is valuable, I daresay. Don't let me detain you !" 
 
 He dived into the yard, as he spoke. I went back 
 to the main street in a towering passion, and did not
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 65 
 
 stop for Erskine, who could hardly proceed for laugh- 
 ing, until I stood opposite the lawyer's door again. 
 
 " I will know the rights of the case," I said. " This 
 old autocrat shall not find everybody bend before him. 
 At all events, I will consult some sensible professional 
 man, before I give in." 
 
 My friend for once did not contradict me, and we 
 entered the lawyer's office, and in a short time were in 
 possession of his opinion. I am sorry to say, it appears 
 to the full as unfavourable as Erskine's. 
 
 He seemed an upright, well-informed gentleman, and 
 strongly advised me not to enter into a contest wherein 
 the chances were ten to one against me. He constantly 
 gave the same advice to the neighbouring farmers and 
 artisans, who brought their grievances before him ; but 
 there was a great love of litigation among that class of 
 people, and they often carried their papers from his 
 office to the lower attorneys of the place, who flattered 
 them with hopes of success, ending in their losing more 
 than the amount for which they quarrelled. 
 
 Sir Jasper Egremont was the most wearing and pro- 
 voking of antagonists. He would go to law for the 
 merest trifle, and nothing ever induced him to consent 
 to a compromise. Sooner than give up a pound, he 
 would spend hundreds in this manner. This seemed 
 to be his only recreation ; and, when excited by the 
 conflict, his vindictiveness was quite appalling. 
 
 I should find great difficulty in getting the persons 
 who had given the information as to the length of time 
 during which the road had been free to the public,, to 
 
 VOL 1. F
 
 66 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 come forward in open court with the same statement. 
 Though he was heartily disliked. Sir Jasper had great 
 power and influence ; and an adverse witness was cer- 
 tain to lead a hard life near him. Even if he were de- 
 feated, which was not often, for the old man was very 
 shrewd, and a close calculator of chances, he generally 
 contrived to make his adversaries repent of having en- 
 tered the lists against him. 
 
 It was true that he had lost the great cause which 
 had been for several years pending between him and 
 the inhabitants of a neighbouring town, regarding a 
 right of way through a beautiful part of his domain, 
 from which he desired to exclude the public, greatly to 
 the inconvenience of tourists. All the good derived 
 from the freedom of access which had been gained after 
 a protracted dispute, to this highly picturesque portion 
 of the river scenery, was", however, neutralized by Sir 
 Jasper's running up an immensely high stone wall, 
 along the edge of the cliff, to the entire shutting out of 
 that view of the stream, which travellers came hun 
 dreds of miles to see. 
 
 Nothing could be a greater eye-sore than this erec- 
 tion, when viewed from the windows of his ovm man- 
 sion, which was immediately opposite ; but for this he 
 did not care, so long as he could spite or outwit his 
 antagonists. Travellers now took another road, and 
 lost the most beautiful part of their excursion. The 
 indignation of the townspeople, who profited largely 
 by the liberality of the summer visitants, was so great 
 that they rose en masse, and, in the night, pulled down
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 67 
 
 the wall; but Sir Jasper hunted out and severely- 
 punished every offender, for the damage done to his 
 property. In a very short time, the obnoxious barrier, 
 more strongly built, rose higher than before, and was 
 likely to remain a monument of his ill-temper and ma- 
 lignancy. J 
 
 I thanked this gentleman for his conscientious advice, 
 and promised to think the matter over again before 
 coming to any final resolution. 
 
 *' You will make nothing of it, Harry !" said Er- 
 skine, when we left the lawyer's office. " It is exactly 
 what I expected. Sir Jasper will be too many for you. 
 He will suck away all your substance and vital energy, 
 as a starling does the yolk of an egg, and leave nothing 
 but the empty shell. There is the old fellow on the 
 other side of the street, watching the door to see us come 
 out, with disappointment written on our faces." 
 
 As we walked back to the inn, my friend showed me 
 the extensive coal wharves by the canal, belonging to 
 Sir Jasper. He has almost a monopoly of the article. 
 Last winter there was a scarcity, and his profits were 
 enormous ; but he would not seU a bushel to persons 
 whom he disliked, at any price. 
 
 " That is his slate magazine. Take care of your roof, 
 in that uncommonly windy situation of yours," Erskine 
 added, laughing. " He has quarries in the mountains, 
 from whence most of the slate used in this part of the 
 country is brought. It is of no use your attempting to 
 order the draining-tiles to-day. Sir Jasper is keeping 
 watch over you, and probably guessed what took us to
 
 68 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 that out-of-tlie-way place. You must do your marketing 
 twenty miles off, if you remain on bad terms with him. 
 This little town is handy enough for Sir Jasper and 
 his friends ; but he is quite the master, and makes it too 
 hot to hold those with whom he is at war." 
 
 He took leave of me in a very friendly manner, in- 
 viting me to come to Velindra, whenever I found things 
 disagreeable at home. Edith would not give entire 
 credit to his account of my domestic labours ; and 
 wanted to hear my version of the story of the pump. 
 We rode for a little distance out of the to^vn together. 
 After our separation, I went on as fast as the bad road 
 permitted. A sort of nervous dread of the black pony 
 and its uncouth rider overtaking me, made me look 
 back more than once, fancying, though the thing was 
 impossible, that I heard its short, hard trot on the flints 
 behind me. It was, however, a delusion. I reached 
 the farm without encountering or passing a single 
 human being, among the lonely sheep-walks on the 
 hills.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 69 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I HAD promised Erskine that I would ride over to call 
 upon him, for the purpose of being introduced to 
 his wife ; and I took the opportunity of leaving the 
 farm, while the men were waiting for the draining- 
 tiles, to go on with their work on the marshy land near 
 the river. I am certain, at a small expenditure of ca- 
 pital, I shall be able to reclaim a considerable portion 
 of what has long lain waste, for want of scientific mea- 
 sures being employed to bring it under cultivation. 
 Another reason for not deferring my visit was, that the 
 horse I usually ride, can better be spared now than 
 when the harvest has to be carried. 
 
 It is a sorry brute. Mrs. Erskine will ^not commis- 
 sion me to procure her a pair of the same breed to 
 drive in her park phaeton. But the clumsy animal is 
 better adapted for the rough work it has to do, than a 
 more showy steed. Nevertheless, I cannot help re- 
 gretting my chargers more than anything from which I 
 parted, when quitting the Life Guards. 
 
 For some distance, the way to Erskine's residence 
 lay entirely among the hills, and was very tedious. 
 Here and there, from their summits, I caught a view of 
 the river, winding afar off through the fertile valley
 
 70 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 below me ; but in most places, its rocky banks were so 
 covered with wood, that the water was completely- 
 hidden by the foliage. I could distinguish the fine 
 trees of Sir Jasper Egremont's domain, upon which I 
 now looked down, and the grey turrets of his dwelling. 
 Then the road turned quite away, for a time, from the 
 stream, and wound in and out among hills, over which 
 the small pretty white-faced sheep of the district were 
 profusely scattered, cropping the short sweet grass, 
 mixed with thyme and heath, which grows on these 
 otherwise bare acclivities. 
 
 As usual, the directions given by the country-people 
 had misled me. The distance was much greater than 
 I expected. I was becoming as impatient of the slow- 
 ness of my progress as the old man on the black pony, 
 when the hills suddenly opened, and the beautiful vale 
 and widening river were again and more immediately 
 before me. It had less of the character of a mountain 
 stream ; the shores were more level, and sloped down 
 to the water. The cattle in the meadows were drink- 
 ing along its margin. The trees drooped their branches 
 towards it. The shadows of the passing clouds were 
 mirrored in its unruffled expanse. 
 
 From the description Erskine had given me, I recog- 
 nised his dwelling without difficulty. It was close to 
 the river-bank. The turf in front of the windows in- 
 clined gently to the edge of the water. I could see 
 from a great distance the white walls of the house, with 
 the glass of the conservatory shining in the sunlight ; 
 the verdant lawn and extensive shrubbery, setting forth
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 71 
 
 by contrast the bright masses of scarlet geranium and 
 other gaily-tinted flowers, like the pattern of a Persian 
 carpet, laid down for fairy feet to tread upon. 
 
 It was about half a mile from a pretty little village, 
 through which I passed, to my friend's door. I did not 
 see any dwelling nearer to his; and, when looking 
 down from the hills, I had perceived none but farm- 
 houses and cottages in the landscape. Nothing could 
 be more secluded, and at the same time attractive, than 
 the situation. 
 
 The river made a perpetual gushing, as it passed the 
 place, over the branches of some willows that dipped 
 into the water. I could hear the sound all the way, as 
 I rode from the entrance-gate down the long drive, be- 
 tween trees which narrowed the view. When I came 
 nearer to the house, their branches opened, and let in 
 a prospect of the pretty summer-garden on the other 
 side of the villa. 
 
 Erskine was lounging under the colonnade, complain- 
 ing of the heat, but seemed delighted to see me. A 
 servant took my horse round to the stables, while I fol- 
 lowed his master to the drawing-room. The windows 
 were all set open. The room and the garden appeared 
 almost one ; and the dashing of the river among the 
 twisted willow-branches came upon my ear again like 
 soft music. 
 
 My friend left me for a moment while he went to 
 look for his wife. The servant had told us that his 
 mistress was on the lawn. I saw her moving slowly 
 along a walk which followed the bend of the stream.
 
 72 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 and to which steps led down from the grass. As they 
 mounted them together, I went out to meet them. 
 
 Mrs. Erskinc appeared to me very young, much 
 more so than her husband. There must be at least 
 fourteen years' difference in their ages. None of the 
 precision he usually aims at was visible in her dress, 
 which was carelessly put on, and very simple ; but the 
 flowing muslin draperies suited that sultry summer 
 day. Her very soft-looking silken hair fell in long 
 ringlets from under some slight apology for a cap, 
 which she wore. There was a delicate bending grace 
 in her figure, and a plaintive tone in her voice, which, 
 though everything around her betokened happmess, 
 irresistibly and immediately interested me. I think her 
 manner of speaking sounds as if she had listened so 
 long to the melancholy flow of the river murmuring 
 past the place, that she unconsciously imitates it. 
 
 Erskine seemed proud of his pretty wife. He 
 shewed me the whole of his premises with considerable 
 exultation, and would not hear of my going away that 
 evening. At last, I promised to remain for the night, 
 on condition of being allowed to depart, without dis- 
 turbing the household, very early the next morning, 
 before any one was stirring. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine was seated on the lawn, with a book in 
 her hand, when we returned from our^tour of obser- 
 vation. She did not, however, appear to be reading. 
 Her eyes were fixed upon the gently moving waters of 
 the stream. I thought, as we approached, that they 
 had tears in them ; but she smiled and seemed pleased
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 73 
 
 when her husband told her that I had promised to re- 
 main until the next day. 
 
 Though the place looks more civilised than the 
 Pastures, she says that my farm among the hills can 
 scarcely be more lonely. They have no neighbour- 
 hood. The few people one meets are tourists or sum- 
 mer visitants, who come for so short a time, that it 
 is useless to form their acquaintance. Unless they have 
 friends staying in the house, weeks sometimes elapse 
 without their seeing any one but each other. 
 
 Either the melancholy tone of her voice, or the 
 betrayal of some inward feeling by her expressive 
 countenance, gave me the idea that my firiend's wife 
 had too long passed her honeymoon to find such a soli- 
 tude with Erskine, who never was a reading man, for 
 her companion, perfect felicity. He said, more bluntly, 
 that it was an extremely dull spot. If the beauty of 
 the scenery were not an inducement to his friends to 
 visit them, it would be impossible to stand it. They 
 were expecting a large party next week, whom I must 
 consider myself positively engaged to join. He hoped 
 they would be able to get up something like an archery- 
 meeting, or, at all events, a few pleasant pic-nics, 
 which would be as good a way as any for shewing me 
 the country. 
 
 I told them, this was out of the question. However 
 tedious the routine of their ordinary life might appear 
 to them, it was so different to what I was leading, that 
 I felt it absolutely necessary to keep out of the way of
 
 74 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 its attractions, if my resolution to devote myself to mr 
 farm was to hold good. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine ;^looked round ^vitll a sigh. " Yes, it 
 is very pretty !" she said. " But do you not think the 
 sound of the river very monotonous ? I sometimes sit 
 alone, listening to it, till I would give the world for it 
 to cease flowing." 
 
 " Well, I must say, the river is the only lively thing 
 about the place," remarked her husband. " I won- 
 der what you will find fault with next ! You would 
 not believe me, Tudor, if I told you how many changes 
 that little woman has already made in this really 
 pretty garden ; and yet she is not satisfied. Speak, 
 Edith ! Is it to be a French on an Italian parterre 
 next summer ? or are the shrubs actually to be allowed 
 to grow, and the turf to remain at rest for a season V 
 
 His wife coloured at his sarcastic tone. " One must 
 make some interest — some employment ; but I have 
 no wish to alter the garden. I believe, indeed, that 
 it cannot be prettier than it is at present." 
 
 " You should see Harry's farm," he said ; *' I declare, 
 he is more contented on his bare hill-top, than we are 
 with this place, which everybody who visits us asserts 
 to be a Paradise." He sauntered away from us, yawn- 
 ing violently. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine questioned me in her sweet low voice, 
 and shewed much interest in my determined adoption 
 of a life so different to the one which I had hitherto 
 been accustomed to lead. She thought it must be de- 
 lightful » to have so much to do — to think that every
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 75 
 
 thing would go wrong in my absence. Now, if she 
 tired herself to death among her flowers, it only ap- 
 peared as though the gardener could have done all her 
 work much better in half an hour. 
 
 I told her there were many drawbacks to my felicity. 
 I almost doubted whether I had not acted unwisely, in 
 attempting to perform a part for which early habits had 
 unfitted me. She refused to agree in this. Any 
 hardship was better than having nothing to do. *^ If 
 my husband were to take a farm among the hills, 
 where nothing was going on right," she said, with great 
 animation, " I am certain that we should both be 
 happier." 
 
 I could not help smiling as I looked at the delicate 
 aerial creature before me, and fancied how long she 
 would " carry it on," as Sally would say, at the Pas- 
 tures ; but 1 would not vex her by contradiction. 
 Besides, it was very pleasant to talk to one, who, femi- 
 nine and gentle herself, could yet understand the 
 desirableness of active pursuits for a man ; who even 
 longed to share in them. 
 
 Like every thing else about the establishment, the 
 repast to which we sat down, late in the afternoon, in 
 a cool shady dining-room, was perfect in its way. 
 Erskine, however, found much fault, and declared that 
 nothing on the table was fit to eat. It was impossible 
 that I could make a dinner. He said, " Harry Tudor 
 gave me a better, ten times over, when I took him by 
 surprise at the Pastures." 
 j^ His wife looked vexed, though she did not speak.
 
 <0 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 I saw that she ate nothing, and seemed annoyed when 
 he reprimanded the servants, and pronounced every 
 dish unpalatable. They had dined, the day before, 
 with the county member, who lived at a considerable 
 distance. My friend was tired. The heat, he said, 
 always disagreed with him. Nectar and ambrosia 
 would not at that moment have pleased him. 
 
 There were no children, to make their appearance 
 when the cloth was removed. The Erskines have no 
 family. It would be happier for them, I ;fancy — for 
 that tearful-eyed woman in particular — if she had a 
 houseful of them to plague her. Her husband, how- 
 ever, would worry her and himself to death about 
 them. 
 
 We went out upon the lawn, after dinner, and walked 
 by the river long after it was quite dark. The summer 
 night was delightfully pleasant, and Erskine seemed in 
 a better humour. His wife's tone of voice, I noticed, 
 was less plaintive. 
 
 The lights in the room looked pretty, sliining out 
 upon the clustering flowers and leaves of the creepers 
 which overhung the verandah. The windows were 
 still open. My friends appear to know how to embel- 
 lish existence, as far as outward circumstances extend ; 
 but the advantages which my late privations have made 
 me prize — the luxuries of an elegant home, of conge- 
 nial society, of aflluence and independence — are too 
 much a matter of course with them to be valued as 
 they deserve. 
 
 After we returned in-doors, Erskine threw himself
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 77 
 
 on the sofa at some distance from the table on which 
 lights were placed, and where, when tea was over, 
 ]\1^. Erskine sat working near the window. He said 
 he should not sleep — no man who considered health to 
 be of importance ever did so after dinner — but he 
 should listen to our talking. We were to go on without 
 minding him. His walk had tired him. We complied 
 with his wishes, and, as he did not interrupt us with 
 a single satirical comment, after the first half hour, I 
 believe that his slumbers were very profound. 
 
 I do not remember exactly what we talked about. 
 It was of many things — none of them very important 
 — ^but they all sounded pleasantly to me, in that sweet- 
 scented air, with the softly falling tones of my com- 
 panion's voice mingling with the flow of the river. 
 
 She spoke more cheerfully, and, in her evening cos- 
 tume, looked much prettier than I had thought her 
 in the morning. It was so long, too, since I had joined 
 in anything like conversation, that it was no wonder if 
 the evening passed very rapidly. 
 
 She told me that she had always regretted Erskine's 
 having so completely given up his profession. He has 
 not, indeed, sold out of the army, but has retired, since 
 his marriage, on half pay ; being too fastidious to allow 
 his wife to have anything to do with the details of the 
 service. The pretty place they inhabit is not their own, 
 but taken on lease. They have no permanent interest 
 in it. The want of employment, she is certain, effects 
 his health and spirits. 
 
 Her own, his wife said, had latterly not been good.
 
 78 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ( 
 
 She fancied the river-damps unwholesome, and that 
 the air altogether did not suit her. When she too^ a 
 long drive away from the valley, she always felt like 
 a different creature. I suspect the exercise and variety 
 of scene has as much to do with this as the more bra- 
 cing climate of the hills, which, she said, she greatly 
 preferred. 
 
 I would not let her dwell upon these ideas. Even 
 speaking about them, I could plainly see, made her 
 nervous. When we talked on other subjects, her voice 
 was firmer, and she entered warmly into them. 
 
 Erskine woke up at last, and, like all persons who 
 fall asleep in a lady's drawing-room, declared that he 
 had not closed his eyes, and had heard every word we 
 said. He seemed refreshed, and for some time longer 
 we sat up talking pleasantly. I told them they would 
 not see me in the morning. I should be at work in 
 the fields with my men, long before their usual break- 
 fast hour. 
 
 Before the windows were closed, and we all retired 
 for the night, at Mrs. Erskine's suggestion, we took 
 another turn by the river. She was feeling amused 
 and happy — any change, when people live much alone, 
 is an excitement — and had forgotten her dread of the 
 damp exhalations from the water. It was gliding on 
 under such a clear lovely moonlight, that there was 
 little danger. The song-like murmur of the stream- — 
 I shall never think of the place without hearing it — 
 seemed to fill the air ; and her face looked soft and 
 serene, as she raised it to gaze upon the sky.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 79 
 
 The white gravelled walks, with the shadows of the 
 trees falling blackly athwart them — the reflection of 
 the moon and of innumerable stars shining in the 
 water — the scent of the garden flowers — and the cheer- 
 ful conversation carried on, as we paced slowly up and 
 down, gave, to one like myself long debarred from 
 society, a charm to the scene which I shall not easily 
 forget. Even Erskine seemed to feel the spell of the 
 soft-perfumed air, and did not make a single disagree- 
 able remark, ashe walked beside me, with his wife's hand 
 resting on his arm. I promised to visit them again, 
 but not till their expected guests had departed ; and 
 took leave of them and of their pleasant home, with a 
 vivid feeling of regret.
 
 80 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 My expedition to Velindra did not make me feel in a 
 better humour with the Farm this morning. I must 
 keep out of the way of anything like refined society, I 
 perceive. Had I accepted Erskine's invitation to spend 
 next week with him, at his pretty place by the river, I 
 should certainly not endure the sight of these bleak 
 hills, and their half-savage occupants, on my return. 
 
 Mrs. Saint and Thomas declared that they had sat 
 up all night for me ; and have conjured me not to stay 
 out again, without giving them notice. After all, in 
 this wild life I am leading, there are as many fetters 
 imposed upon my inclinations, as if I had all sorts of 
 home comforts around me. 
 
 While I was at work, in the afternoon, a well-mounted 
 horseman, in whom I recognized one of the new ac- 
 quaintances I had made on my way to the market-town, 
 was to be seen crossing the meadows towards mc. My 
 men told me it was Farmer Harding, from the AVarren, 
 and stopped their labour to admire his bold riding. 
 He cleared the last ditch capitally ; and when he came 
 closer and took off his hat, with the "wind blowing light 
 clustering curls from his handsome, open forehead, and
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 81 
 
 his clear blue eyes sparkling with healthy animation, I 
 thought I had seldom seen a more pleasing countenance. 
 His manner was devoid of pretension, frank, manly, 
 and respectful ; and, together with the good-humoured 
 cast of his features, disposed me to receive the first 
 neighbourly overtures extended to me, with cordiality. 
 
 He did not regard as contemptuously as Erskine 
 does, what my satirical friend calls my dilettante at- 
 tempts at farming ; but spoke encouragingly of my 
 prospects, assuring me that he had cultivated success- 
 fully a large tract of land among the hills, which, when 
 he first took possession of it, was as bleak and un- 
 promising as mine ; and invited me to come over and 
 judge for myself of the result of his labours. 
 
 I suspect that Mr. Harding had a larger capital than 
 I can command to assist his operations. Nevertheless, 
 the cheerful tone of his conversation put me in better 
 spirits. He walked round the place with me, and gave 
 me some really valuable advice, which I was the more 
 ready to receive, from its not being coupled with the 
 sarcastic sneers wherewith Erskine, who is certainly 
 more ignorant on these subjects than I am, enlivens his 
 discourse. 
 
 He has told me how I can remedy some of the in- 
 conveniences to which I am exposed, through the ill- 
 will -of Sir Jasper Egremont. A stranger in the county, 
 like myself, is singularly indebted to the chance which 
 introduces him to such a friend in need. I did not feel 
 half so much at the mercy of the surly old miser, when 
 I shook hands with Harding at the gate. His horse 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 was too sensible an animal to shy, like Erskine's skittish 
 mare, at the draw-well beside it ; and the handsome, 
 stoutly-built yeoman managed his steed not so showily, 
 but quite as skilfully, as my friend. 
 
 I see that I shall find it difficult to persuade any of 
 these people, of my being serious in wishing to make a 
 livelihood by my exertions ; and that I have not settled 
 here for the pleasure of sporting, which, according to 
 Harding, attracts many military gentlemen to this wild 
 district. He does not think the worse of me, I believe, 
 for my taste for field-sports, which I could not deny, 
 nor disguise that I was more at home on the subject, 
 than I had previously been during our discussion re- 
 specting ploughs and harrows, and the best modes of 
 feeding cattle. Both topics were familiar to him. He 
 farms a property, which came to him by marriage, on 
 the other side of the sterile hills that rise abruptly from 
 the wooded banks of the Dingle ; and finds amusement 
 in following the hounds, and preserving the game, as 
 strictly as any nobleman in the county ; besides breed- 
 ing and dealing in horses, of which he appears an ex- 
 cellent judge. Certainly, the one he rode would do 
 liim credit in any hunting-field ; and he is himself a 
 fine-looking specimen of a class peculiar to England — 
 the dashing, sporting yeoman. 
 
 Of course, Sally, as I was disposed to be pleased with 
 my visitor, abused him heartily. If 1 chose to have 
 those raffish characters about the place, she and Thomas 
 had best make up their minds to leave. His wife had 
 need of two pair of eyes, instead of labouring — as I was
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 83 
 
 sorry to hear — under the irreparable misfortune of 
 blindness. He was off to all the fairs and races in the 
 country, looking after the girls, and spending his wife's 
 money. She was a decent woman, and belonged to the 
 neighbourhood. Even Sally could find nothing to say 
 against her, except that she might have shown greater 
 sense than to marry a good-looking fellow, of whom no 
 one could tell what stories might be brought. These 
 evil rumours, the vixen appeared to think, may still, 
 though he has been settled for twelve years at the 
 Warren, be slowly winning their way after him. She 
 looked askance at me, as she added contemptuously, 
 that he was more of a sportsman than a farmer ; and 
 was more likely to waste a fortune than to make it, at 
 the new house he has lately built among the hills. I 
 perceive that it is of no use expecting to obtain a fa- 
 vourable account of anybody or anything, from my 
 acrimonious housekeeper. 
 
 As I do not feel inclined to reject the few civilities I 
 seem likely to receive, I accepted Harding's pressing 
 invitation to shoot rabbits with him on the morrow. 
 His farm lies on the edge of the wild moor, which 
 stretches across the country in the opposite direction to 
 the rich scenery by the river. I did not see a tree, 
 after I lost sight of the tops of those in the Dingle. 
 Very steep hills, intersected by gullies, through which 
 gushing brooks foamed impetuously along, — beds of 
 gorse and heather, nibbled close by the rabbits, which, 
 Harding says, devour his crops unmercifully, and are 
 so numerous as nearly to defy his attempts at keeping 
 
 G 2
 
 81 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 them down, — were the principal features of the district. 
 The ground rose higher and higher, and the wind cut 
 keenly across the sharp ridges of granite, which here 
 and there assumed the forms of ruined towers or 
 druidical monuments, — the stones heaped and piled 
 together in all sorts of strange shapes, as if they had 
 been tossed about by the hands of giants. 
 
 In the heart of this wild moorland, rise the beautiful 
 rivers which attract the lovers of nature to this county ; 
 but very few of the tourists track them to theii' source. 
 For my part, I prefer to see the water rushing rapidly 
 among boulders of granite, playing with the reeds and 
 flags, and dashing sportively over natural ledges, to the 
 more finished beauties which can only be viewed as a 
 privilege, after guerdoning some sulky miller or churlish 
 cicerone. The sides of the hills are perforated with 
 burrows, and there is a freshness in the air, a bold, 
 open character about the sceijery, which made me re- 
 joice that I had once more my gun in my hand, and 
 could forget, for a time, the harassing toil of my daily 
 life at Lewell. 
 
 Between two steep hills, and where the east and west 
 branches of the river meet, a picturesque bridge of dark 
 grey stone spanned the united stream. There was not 
 a tree or house, or scarcely a sign of vegetation — cer- 
 tainly not one of cultivation — near ; only a complete 
 chaos of hills and rocks, with the bright water sweeping 
 round, over, and among them. Far away, till they 
 were lost to sight, my eyes traced those glittering, 
 glancing threads of light, and followed back again their
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 85 
 
 joyous, gladsome courte, as the water rushed down its 
 rocky channels, and flung itself over slippery ledges, 
 widening and brightening, as if, in that wild solitude, 
 the parted torrents rejoiced at meeting. 
 
 My reverie was disturbed by the hearty welcome of 
 my new friend, who had come hospitably to greet me. 
 The day was yet early, and we had excellent sport 
 among the rabbits, before, tu'ed and hungry, we ap- 
 proached his dwelling. His pleasant, frank-looking 
 face assumed a graver expression, as he told me that he 
 had to undergo some heavy domestic trials. His wife 
 was blind, and advantage had been taken of the lone- 
 liness and melancholy consequent on her position, when 
 he was absent from home, to win her over to the faith 
 of Rome. It was a pity, he said, that there was no 
 active clergyman of our own church near at hand, to 
 counteract the mischief that the priests were doing — 
 among the women especially. He spoke very bitterly; 
 and whistling to his dogs, declared that he had to keep 
 a sharp look out after them, for the Fathers thought no 
 living creature too insignificant, to be an object for their 
 wheedling ways. 
 
 The Warren Farm, when at last we came in sight of 
 it, was a comfortable-looking place, lying in a basin of 
 the hills, which formed here green sloping pastures, 
 whereon cattle were feeding. Around the dwelling- 
 house were carefully-fenced plantations ; — the farm-yard 
 was at the back, and the well-kept drive through fields 
 resembled the approach to a gentleman's residence. Its 
 situation, however, was singularly lonesome ; and I
 
 86 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 hardly wondered that any woman, destitute of the re- 
 sources which sight affords, and left without her hus- 
 band's company, as often as I suspected my gay com- 
 panion's wife was likely to be, had been at the mercy 
 of any designing impostor or zealous enthusiast. It 
 was a dull place, Harding said ; scarcely half-a-dozen 
 people came, in the course of the year, to see him. If 
 he wanted society, he generally went to the towns, to 
 seek for it ; his wife's infirmity of sight, as well as her 
 general delicacy of health, required much care, and 
 made it more agreeable for them to live quietly. 
 
 I liked his way of speaking of her. He made no 
 parade of feeling ; but there is a sanctity in misfortune 
 like hers, which his good-natured disposition induced 
 him to recognize. Though we were in the open air, 
 with no one near us, he lowered his voice. Everything 
 they could think of had been tried unsuccessfully. 
 The best advice — change of air, had failed. Mary pos- 
 sessed unflinching courage, and had undergone painful 
 operations. His strong frame shivered as he spoke. 
 Now, she was wonderfully resigned, and time had ac- 
 customed her, in some measure, to the deprivation. 
 She was very active, and overlooked every department, 
 as if she could see into the minutest particular. The 
 people about were more in awe of their blind mistress 
 than of himself. Sometimes he fancied that Mary cared 
 less about her misfortune than he did ; though, when 
 she first felt it coming upon her, soon after their mar- 
 riage, she had said she would rather die than be deprived 
 of sight.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 87 
 
 When I hesitated about intruding upon her, he in- 
 sisted on my going in. Mrs. Harding liked to know 
 every one who came to the place. She was a better far- 
 mer, ten times over, than he was ; and could tell me more 
 of what was in progress. The men went to her for 
 orders. I am afraid the good-looking, dashing yeoman 
 is fonder of attending fairs and markets, than of 
 steadily superintending the business of the farm. 
 
 He had nothing to complain of in the aspect of the 
 interior of his domicile, which was large and commodi- 
 ous. The parlour, to which he led the way, with its 
 fire-place filled with fresh green boughs — Mrs. Hard- 
 ing's person, and that of the fau'-haired maiden' who 
 sat at a little distance, bending over her sewing — were 
 all the very perfection of neatness. The moment I 
 caught sight of the blind woman's face, I perceived 
 that she was prepared to welcome a stranger. I was 
 surprised at the intelligence and vivacity of her expres- 
 sion ; and could hardly believe that her eyes, with 
 which she appeared to be constantly looking from one 
 object to another, did not, in reality, convey the im- 
 pression of their images to the brain. 
 
 She seemed to me older than her husband, and her 
 features were plain. A tall, dark, intellectual-looking 
 man was sitting in a large elbow-chair near her. I 
 remembered Harding's disturbed look, when showing 
 me his well-arranged, substantially-built stables, upon 
 seeing a gig with its wheels still dusty, and its shafts 
 turned up in the yard, while the tired horse was 
 making a plentiful meal. The priest, for such I felt
 
 88 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 convinced was the plainly: dressed individual we found 
 in company with his wife, was evidently more at home 
 than the master of the house. He rose when we 
 entered, but the two men did not shake hands. Hard- 
 ing coloured, and doffed his hat upon coming into the 
 parlour. He went away again, after introducing me, 
 to give some orders, leaving me to converse with the 
 stranger, whose manners were easy and agreeable. 
 
 Refreshments were brought in, of which the gentle- 
 manly personage in the dark surtout partook, as well 
 as myself. When he rose from table, he uttered a 
 short grace in Latin. The young girl, at the farther 
 end of the room, put down her work, and stood up, 
 with her hands, which were very white, folded on her 
 bosom. The priest — as his whole bearing showed him 
 to be — went up and said a few words to her before he 
 departed. He did not take her hand, but laid the tips 
 of his fingers lightly on her hair, while, as I thought, 
 his farewell words conveyed a reproof, as well as a 
 blessing. 
 
 At Harding's suggestion that Mary should shew me 
 her dairy and cheeseroom, which, he boasted, were 
 quite unrivalled in the county, his wife accompanied 
 us when we went to look round the farm buildins's 
 and offices. Her husband appeared to pay her par- 
 ticular attention, and often appealed to her when liis 
 own stock of information was at fault. The knowledge 
 which the blind woman possessed of the state of the 
 farm, was quite marvellous ; and the questions she 
 asked, as she went along, shewed an untiringly active
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 89 
 
 spirit. I fancy, Harding stands somewliat in awe of 
 his quick-witted wife. Nothing escaped her notice. 
 A pan of milk out of its place in the dairy, as she 
 passed her hand along the shelf, excited her displea- • 
 sure ; and she knitted her brows in a way that con- 
 vinced me the delinquent would not escape censure. 
 
 She dropped her husband's arm, when we came to 
 the stables. This was his province, wherein she has 
 probably tact enough not to interfere. I could not 
 help stepping forward, when I saw that she intended 
 crossing the farmyard alone. 
 
 " I know the place so well. Captain Tudor, that 
 there is no fear of an accident," she observed. " It is 
 always night with me ; but people soon learn to go 
 about their own premises in the dark." She shook 
 hands when I told her that I should not have time to 
 return to the house ; and then crossed the pavement 
 with a firm though slow and perfectly noiseless tread. 
 When she got to the door, she stood in the sunshine 
 for a few minutes, shading her eyes with her hand, as 
 if she were watching us ; though, of course, the sound 
 of our voices, whilst we remained talking at the other 
 end of the yard, was all that told her our exact posi- 
 tion. I looked back several times, as we moved on ; 
 but the blind woman's eyes, like those one sometimes 
 sees in a picture, followed us, till we lost sight of her 
 figure altogether. She probably still knew where 
 we were, for Harding was talking loud; and, I ima- 
 gine, her ears are peculiarly alive to the tones of his 
 voice.
 
 90 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 We took a circuit through the fields, and then came 
 back to look for my horse. Harding volunteered to 
 show me a nearer way home than the one I had fol- 
 lowed in the morning, and invited me to shoot rabbits 
 at the Warren whenever I liked. It would be doing 
 him a favour. The slopes of the moor and gorsy 
 tufts were alive with them, and we started them out 
 by dozens at every step, sending them scudding back 
 into their burrows among the stones and heather beside 
 the unfrequented path. 
 
 Harding walked down to the meeting of the waters 
 with me. As we stood talking on the bridge, I ob- 
 served that his attention was distracted. A very sweet, 
 foreign-sounding song came faintly down upon the 
 breeze. Harding caught up the tune and whistled 
 it. Very soon, he turned upon his heel and left me. 
 
 When I mounted the opposite hill, I could see the 
 farm distinctly. The cows, which had been scattered 
 about the fields, were coming in, probably at the sound 
 of the pastoral melody, which, he said, was their even- 
 ing summons. I thought I recognized the blind 
 woman's attendant, in a girl who stood on the top of 
 one of the low, rounded hillocks, with the wind blow- 
 ing the folds of a long grey hooded cloak away from 
 her tall figure, and the cattle flocking towards her. 
 Harding quitted the road, and went in that direction 
 — perhaps, to offer to assist her in driving them home 
 — but he paused only for a minute. Her melodious 
 chant was not interrupted ; and with a slackened step 
 he proceeded onwards to the house.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 91 
 
 The red gleam in the sky threw out the dark folds 
 of her drapery. The last sunbeams were shining on 
 the slowly moving herd of cows^ and reflected in the 
 water, as, one after another, they crossed the stream, 
 at a ford below the bridge. I could not help looking 
 back, more than once, at the picturesque rural land- 
 scape, before I descended from the brow of the hill, 
 leaving the sunset and Harding's farm behind me ; 
 and wended my way along the now darkening, solitary 
 road, back to the Pastures.
 
 92 
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 I SUSPECT that tlie Priest is anxious to make another 
 convert at the Warren. Several times, when I have 
 gone in lately, I have found the grave-looking man 
 talking earnestly to the pretty serving-maiden ; she 
 listens to him silently and respectfully, but not with 
 the same entire deference as her mistress. Harding 
 laughed lightly as we passed yesterday, in our way to 
 the gate, a low window opening upon the court-yard, 
 and saw the Priest's dark visage and tonsured head close 
 to the fair silken hair of the girl. He looked back, a 
 moment afterwards, and said she was gone. The 
 Jesuits would make nothing of her. He wished women in 
 general had half her steadiness. At first he had thought 
 Mary's pretty maid was introduced into his family to 
 make a proselyte of him ; since it was the Confessor who 
 had placed her there ; but, though she had been edu- 
 cated among monks and nuns, and in the very heart of 
 Catholicism, she was as zealous a Protestant as liimself. 
 He told me, while we walked through the fields, that 
 INIr. Tremenlieere had brought her with him, the last 
 time he came from the continent. He was not disposed 
 to give the priests credit for greater singlc-mindedness 
 than usual. Their schemes extended far, and it was
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 93 
 
 difficult to trace them. Mary knew more than he did 
 about this young girl ; but he believed they had some 
 interest of their own to serve by the zeal evinced for 
 her conversion. 
 
 He always speaks very bitterly of them ; and ascribes 
 most of their actions to the desire to gain back for their 
 church the territorial possessions, as well as spiritual 
 power, of which she was deprived at the Reformation. 
 It is very remarkable, he says, since the land upon 
 which their college stands, in this county, was pur- 
 chased by the order of , how much of the domain 
 
 formerly attached to the Abbey, which occupied the 
 same conspicuous site, has gradually been acquired by 
 them. His wife's mind is much disturbed by the know- 
 ledge that the Warren once formed part of the abbey- 
 lands ; and though he does not suspect Sir Jasper Egre- 
 mont to be troubled A\T.th superstitious notions, my friend 
 the farmer is quite certain the priests have not forgotten 
 that a great portion of the Heron-Cliff estates owned, in 
 days gone by, the sway of the ecclesiastical lords of the 
 district. 
 
 The idea artfully inculcated by her spiritual directors 
 that church-demesnes diverted to secular purposes, and 
 held by laymen, cannot bring good fortune to their 
 present proprietors, has obtained confirmation with Mrs. 
 Harding, through the judgment which she believes to 
 have in consequence fallen upon her, and the childless 
 condition of their wealthy neighbour. There was no 
 chance of an heir to either property ; and the next ge- 
 neration might, — for aught he knew, Harding added, —
 
 94 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 see the castle by the river, and the moorland farm, in 
 the hands of the successors of the old Abbots of Lle- 
 wellyn. 
 
 I thought that, were I the handsome yeoman, I should 
 dislike particularly to come home and find, as he told 
 me was constantly the case, these designing men in 
 company with my wife, more at ease in the house, and 
 more intimately in her confidence, than he had lately 
 felt himself to be. This priest-ridden state of things is 
 not at all in accordance with his frank and somewhat 
 jovial temperament ; he treats his wife kindly, but it is 
 evidently a relief to him to quit the pale, sad-browed 
 woman's presence. 
 
 The boldest rider, and best shot in the country, he 
 appears, out of doors, to be an universal favourite. In 
 person, Harding is exactly what the lower orders most 
 admire, — a fine, athletic, broad-shouldered, fair-com- 
 plexioned man, in the very prime of life, full of health 
 and high spu'its, which he subdues compassionately in 
 her presence. The poor sightless woman cannot see 
 how full of fun and frolic are his sparkling blue eyes ; 
 but she can hear his laugh ring in the passages and 
 about the lonely house ; and I have heard her sigh 
 deeply when the altered tones of his voice reached her 
 after he has closed the door, and, I suspect, forgotten 
 how quick the loss of one sense renders the other 
 organs. 
 
 I can enter better into Ilardinsc's keen sense of en- 
 jojTnent; when out on the hill-side with his dogs and 
 gun, he is breasting manfully the tall thickets of furze
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 95 
 
 — his spaniels yelping and barking as they run in and 
 out among the broken ground, — than into the admi- 
 ration he evinces for the, to me, somewhat uninte- 
 resting style of beauty of the Flemish-looking damsel, 
 whom the Priest, for some purpose of his own, has 
 placed at the Warren. He could hardly have rendered 
 a worse service to its poor mistress. Her anxious, care- 
 laden features certainly do not appear to more advan- 
 tage in her husband's eyes, from being constantly con- 
 trasted with the pure white and pink of the blooming 
 mddchen's complexion. 
 
 To me, the working features of his blind wife, telling, 
 without the language of the eye, her instinctive know- 
 ledge of his approach, have an interest which no mere 
 perfection of outline, nor radiant skin can possess. Mrs. 
 Erskine's mutable countenance, varying with every emo- 
 tion of the mind within, — though I scarcely know whether 
 others would account her even pretty, — touches me more 
 than the unintellectual comeliness of this German Haus- 
 frau. Harding, I see, watches her movem.ents, and per- 
 ceives grace in her firm yet light tread, which I cannot 
 deny is its attribute, though I am loth to confess it. 
 
 I never saw such an expression of distressed affection 
 on any countenance, as there was on that of Mrs. 
 Harding, when she came out to meet us yesterday 
 evening, after hearing an exaggerated report of the 
 injury her husband had received, from the accidental 
 discharge of his gun, while he was getting over a fence. 
 Harding uttered a very impatient ejaculation, as he 
 looked up and saw his wife, leaning on the arm of her
 
 96 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 handsome serving-maiden, come down the rocky path 
 toAvards us. He did not seem pleased, and said he 
 wished the man sent forward had obeyed his orders, 
 and been careful not to alarm his mistress ; any of the 
 women about the place could have given him what was 
 wanted. '^ But I do not believe," he added, " if any- 
 thing were to happen to me^ at the other side of the 
 county, it would be possible to keep it from Mary's 
 knowledge. No one, to look at her, could suppose that 
 the poor thing is blind. She walks the quickest of the 
 two." 
 
 The blind wife decidedly took the lead ; her step 
 was swifter and firmer than that of her attendant. The 
 girl seemed to lag behind her thin, delicate, sightless 
 mistress, who rather urged her on than was guided by 
 her over the broken ground. Mrs. Harding's hand, I 
 saw, did not rest upon, but clasped the sleeve of her 
 companion's dark di'ess. Her fingers trembled with 
 eagerness ; her face was very pale, and she did not 
 speak, as she came with wonderful speed and steadiness 
 along the rugged path to the spot where Harding was 
 resting. 
 
 He called out, rather angrily, that there was nothing 
 the matter, and that she had much better go back to 
 the house. It was the only time I had ever heard him 
 speak to her roughly. He shrank from the touch of 
 his wife's hand, though instinct seemed to guide it, and 
 begged her not to distress herself, but to let Grace help 
 him. 
 
 Mrs. Harding, however, stood her ground firmly;
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 97 
 
 and, as the young woman did not respond to his appeal, 
 lie was forced to submit. She stood by, and handed 
 the strips of linen required for a bandage to her mis- 
 tress, who took them from her impatiently ; and, aided 
 by her strong will and devoted affection, accomplished 
 her task without giving him pain. 
 
 She told her attendant, somewhat sharply, to go back 
 to the house ; nothing more was required at present, 
 and she knew the way, and could dispense with her 
 assistance. The girl noiselessly withdrew. Harding's 
 eyes followed her, as she went quietly up the hill to 
 the farm. A look of vexation clouded his handsome 
 countenance. He did not make any remark, but 
 thanked his wife for the care she had bestowed upon his 
 hurt, declaring that no surgeon could have given him 
 more instantaneous relief. He refused to be made a 
 prisoner on account of so trifling an accident, and 
 walked for a short distance with me, on my way home. 
 
 In the path through the fields, we met the tall, fair- 
 haired maiden, with a pitcher of milk, which she was 
 carrying on her head. Her carriage is wonderfully 
 erect, and she looked like a figure in an old picture : — 
 Rebekah, it might have been, at the well; — only the 
 raven tresses of the Eastern damsel were deficient. 
 
 Harding very openly expressed his admiration of her 
 beauty, after she had passed us, as usual, without no- 
 ticing his attempt to address her, or his offer to relieve 
 her of her burden. He calls her proud, but praises her 
 housewifely qualities, and says that she labours inde- 
 fatigably in order that she may feel herself to be per- 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 fectly independent. Her rustic occupations have not 
 impaired the extreme fairness of her complexion ; and 
 she trod the hill-path with an air which was at the same 
 time dignified and modest. 
 
 There is abundance of fish in the bright streams that 
 intersect the hills above the Warren. Harding's sickly 
 wife does not touch meat, and is grateful for what I 
 catch for her. Her husband has given me permission 
 to go where I please. Angling is the only out-door 
 sport for which he does not care ; his nature is too im- 
 patient for so quiet an amusement. 
 
 I like to follow the windings of the rivulets ; — per- 
 haps, all the better because my good-humoured new 
 acquaintance does not accompany me. Too great fa- 
 miliarity would not tend to increase the friendly feeling 
 which now exists between us. There are many traits 
 in his character which, I am convinced, would not suit 
 me, if we were thrown much together. 
 
 When a calm, grey day settles mistily over the hills, 
 I look longingly at my fishing-rod and basket ; and, 
 when I have set the men to their work, I often stroll 
 off to the moor. In the clear, deep pools xmder the 
 rocks, the silvery trout leap up to catch the bait. The 
 waters are so seldom disturbed, that they have not been 
 taught caution. In this way, I have rambled farther, 
 and seen more of the wild country that lies embosomed 
 among the hills, than I should have been tempted to 
 explore in any other manner. Englishmen have all a
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 99 
 
 strong fellow-feeling for sportsmen ; and my labourers 
 have grown more friendly, and will come to tell me of 
 the shady nooks and eddies, under hollow banks, where 
 the fish abound, with more interest in my success, than 
 at first they seemed disposed to bestow on any of my 
 proceedings. 
 
 The Priest's gig is the only vehicle I ever encounter. 
 His strong horse does not jib at the tremendous hills ; 
 nor does the quiet, earnest-looking man shrink from the 
 fiercest tempest. I overtook him, yesterday, walking 
 tranquilly by the side of his carriage, up the steep 
 ascent from the Warren, leaving the farm-house behind 
 him, with its hospitable chimneys smoking, and, no 
 doubt, every kind of welcome and comfort at his dis- 
 posal. He did not seem to notice the rain streaming- 
 down from his rcquelaure and broad-brimmed hat, 
 though his costume was not adapted to turn o£f such a 
 deluge as had fallen quite unexpectedly. A feeling of 
 respect for a man stedfastly pursuing his allotted round 
 of duty came upon me ; and I gave him my company 
 up the hill. 
 
 His conversation was intelligent, and showed a great 
 knowledge of the country. He was able to point out, 
 from the summit of the eminence we had ascended to- 
 gether, a much shorter cut across the hills than any 
 with which I was acquainted ; and the blinding torrents 
 of rain, mingled with flashes of lightning and crashing 
 peals of thunder, made the nearer prospect of reaching 
 home agreeable. He bade me good-day, nevertheless, 
 with as much coolness, self-possession, and suavity, as 
 
 H 'Z
 
 100 LEWELL PASTURES. ' 
 
 if we had been in Harding's comfortable parlour, in- 
 stead of on the top of one of the bleakest hills in Eng- 
 land. After we parted, he touched his horse with the 
 whip, and I could see the carriage winding on before 
 me, ascending and descending alternately, swiftly and 
 steadily, for miles ; till the narrow, unfenced road he 
 was pursuing, entered the highway leading past Heron 
 Cliff, towards the fertile and more populated valley by 
 the river. 
 
 Shortly after I had ,geparated from the Priest, the 
 rain increased to such a degree, that I looked round for 
 some temporary shelter. As I did so, I was surprisej^ 
 to see a woman at some distance in advance of me on 
 the track I was pursuing. 
 
 Her long cloak was drenched with rain, and though 
 she did not pause or turn her head to look back, the 
 force of the blast with which she was contending, im- 
 peded her progress. When I came nearer, I perceived 
 it was the tall fair girl whom I had seen waiting upon 
 Harding's blind wife, at the Warren. The noise of the 
 storm probably prevented her hearing my footsteps, or 
 the tread of a horse following us rapidly over the flinty 
 causeway. 
 
 Harding passed me so swiftly, with his head bent 
 down and the wind and rain beating in his face, that 
 he did not see me. He pulled up when he came to 
 where the girl was walking. She did not seem before 
 to have noticed his approach, and stood still, as I fan- 
 cied, in terror. A low scream from the maiden, as he 
 checked his horse abruptly beside her, decided my
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 101 
 
 movements. There was something so modest in her 
 appearance, that I could not attribute to her any thought 
 of injuring her poor blind mistress. Harding was 
 speaking to her when I came up. 
 
 He seemed a good deal disturbed as he broke off 
 what he was saying, and turned back a few paces to 
 accost me. The girl^ meanwhile, had recovered from 
 her alarm, and gone on resolutely, in spite of the tem- 
 pest. I did not like the expression of his countenance, 
 and determined not to lose sight of him until she was 
 far enough on her lonely road, whithersoever it might 
 lead her, to prevent any possibility of his overtaking 
 and annoying her. I could not help expressing my 
 regret at any woman finding it necessary to be abroad 
 on the unsheltered heath, in such weather. 
 
 " Let her alone !" Harding said, moodily. '^ She 
 would face the fiercest storm that was ever brewed in this 
 witch's cauldron among the hills, sooner than go back 
 from the right road, as she calls it ; — not the one the 
 Priest teaches ; — and if his oily tongue has failed, what 
 chance has any other man of persuading her ?" 
 
 While he spoke, the girl had already proceeded to 
 some distance in front of us. The storm had slightlv 
 lulled. She gathered her dufile cloak around her, and 
 sped on, without heeding it. The farmer looked after 
 her, with a louring brow. He told me that she had had 
 a misunderstanding with Father Tremenheere ; and, as 
 he expected, the priests, upon finding that she was not 
 disposed to further their schemes, had cast her off en- 
 tirely. Mrs. Harding, in some respects, coincided in
 
 102 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 opinion with her spiritual directors; but she was 
 shocked at her going away in that manner, and had re- 
 quested him to come after her. Grace was very de- 
 cided, however, and had refused to return with him. 
 
 He cordially urged my retracing my steps, promising 
 me good cheer and dry clothes at the Warren ; but I 
 greatly preferred returning home ; and, finding me de- 
 termined not to accompany him, he gallopped oflf, at 
 his horse's quickest pace, to his own dwelling. 
 
 As I went on amid the beating rain over the hills, I still 
 saw, for some time, the solitary figure of the young girl 
 in advance of me. She turned off, at last, by a foot- 
 path across the waste, in the direction of the Dingle ; 
 and, I trusted, might be safe from the pelting of the 
 pitiless storm, before I reached the Pastures, where 
 even Sally had been roused by the inclement weather, 
 to the propriety of kindling a brisk fire to welcome me. 
 What Harding had told me of her having been brought 
 into the country, to aid some crafty purpose of those 
 who were now casting ofif this poor, friendless being, 
 recurred to my mind. It appeared that such must cer- 
 tainly have been the Priest's conduct, since he had 
 passed her by on the desolate moor, unnoticed.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 103 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 When I came home from market, yesterday afternoon, 
 Sally Saint told me that the old ladies in the Dingle had 
 sent for me. They were in a peck of troubles. Though 
 ,the message was not very civilly worded, I did not 
 hesitate about complying mth its purport immediately. 
 As I walked along the path through the glen, I was 
 surprised at hearing rude voices, songs, and laughter. 
 Very different tones to poor Winny's cracked and 
 quavering treble rang on the air ; and, upon approach- 
 ing the cottage, other changes met my view. Several 
 trees, by the side of the path, were cut down. The 
 bridge, by which access had been obtained to the little 
 territory under the rock, was removed ; and a number of 
 labourers were busily and very noisily at work, widen- 
 ing the bed of the stream. 
 
 The cottage was almost hidden by the great bank of mud 
 they had thrown up, as if on purpose to annoy its help- 
 less inmates. All the stones and rubbish they dug out, 
 appeared to be cast in preference over the broken fence, 
 into the poor ladies* garden. Several fruit-trees had 
 been felled, and the rows of sickly-looking vegetables 
 were now laid bare. As far as their welfare was con- 
 cerned, this might hereafter be an improvement ; but.
 
 104 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 at present, the careless destruction of tlie overhanging 
 foliage, and the unmannerly way in which whatever 
 work was proceeding had been carried on, added to the 
 forlorn appearance of the place. 
 
 The dwelling and garden of these unfortunate women 
 occupied a small plot of ground, beyond which the 
 rocks rose sharply, shutting in that side of the ravine. 
 There was no path farther on, nor any mode of reach- 
 ing it from the opposite bank where the men were at 
 work, except by the bridge which they appeared to 
 have recklessly destroyed. Not a trace of the fabric 
 was to be seen ; not even a plank spanned the stream. 
 The cottage and its inmates seemed to be entirely cut 
 off from all communication with the rest of the world, 
 as far as the locomotive powers of the feeble old ladies 
 who dwelt there were concerned. 
 
 The bending boughs of the ash-trees enabled me to 
 swing myself across the water, without coming in front 
 of the spot where the labourers were engaged. They 
 did not see me, but proceeded with their saucy songs 
 and jests, at the expense of the secluded creatures, 
 whose eccentricities had been fostered by neglect and 
 unkindness into madness. 
 
 I went round the high projecting rock and knocked 
 at the front door. No notice was taken, and I pushed 
 it open, and entered the passage. 
 
 There was no sign of bell or knocker. The rocking- 
 horse was standing right across the way, as if startled 
 out of its propriety. The bandboxes were overturned, 
 in a manner which seemed to show that a frantic search
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 105 
 
 had been lately iustituted into their very miscellaneous 
 contents. The sedan chair was open, as though it had 
 been recently used ; and the door of the sitting-room 
 on the right-hand side of the entrance, over the windows 
 of which the withered jasmine flowers fell like a blind, 
 remained partly ajar. 
 
 I heard voices within the a]^rtment, and knocked 
 against the wall, to make my presence known to its oc- 
 cupants. A faint voice, which yet sounded in a deeper 
 key than Winny's, enquired who was there. I thought 
 I recognised it as that of Pope, altered by pain or ill- 
 ness. 
 
 The moment my voice was heard in reply, though I 
 tried to soften it, so as not to alarm the timid spinsters, 
 a succession of shrieks burst forth. The door was 
 pushed to, but the lock being in bad order, refused to 
 close ; and I still could see the end of what looked like 
 the very disorderly draperies of a couch, set nearly 
 across it. I was loudly desired not to think of entering. 
 I heard Winny crying, and Pope scolding her. Then 
 the latter seemed to exert herself, and called out that 
 the man from the farm was not to stop in the passage, 
 but to go into the kitchen. 
 
 This summary edict was promulgated in a manner 
 which admitted of no questioning. Besides, it ap- 
 peared to me that some one was ill in the room. I, 
 therefore, walked straight through the cottage ; — a fresh 
 sob from poor Pagan reaching me, at every step I took, 
 and the angry tones of the invalid (I was certain that 
 Pope would have flown out upon me, if she had not
 
 106 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 been restrained by some pliysical impediment,) rising 
 higher every instant. 
 
 Within the small kitchen, all was quiet. I let the 
 door close behind me, with a sensation of relief, and 
 felt as if breathing another atmosphere ; though my 
 dignity had been somewhat hurt by the unceremonious 
 banishment. The casement window was open, and the 
 undisturbed trees at the back of the premises threw a 
 flickering shade upon the neatly-sanded stone floor. 
 Everything was scrupulously clean. The checked 
 muslin curtain had been carefully darned. The chaii's, 
 though broken, were tidily set against the wall. A 
 well-rubbed oaken table stood before the window, with 
 a mug full of common but sweetly-scented, freshly- 
 gathered flowers, in the centre. All the culinary arti- 
 cles were dusted and polished, and arranged in their 
 places on the mantel-shelf, or on hooks against the 
 white-washed wall. 
 
 The room was very silent and cool. Had it been a 
 chapel, it could not have been more quiet ; and the 
 dark shadows of the trees without, alternated with the 
 beams of the setting sun shining in, here and there, 
 through their branches. But the stillest and faii'est 
 thing was the figure of the blonde-complexioned woman, 
 from Harding's farm, with the few golden sun-rays 
 streaming over her bright bro'^Ti hair, who sat at work, 
 near the window. 
 
 She scarcely looked at me as I entered, but made a 
 gesture signifying that I was to sit do>\Ti on a chair by 
 the door. I did not feel in an exalted position ; never-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 107 
 
 theless, I did as she directed, and she went on with her 
 task, not taking any farther notice of me. 
 
 It appeared to be a most elaborate piece of needle- 
 work on which she was engaged. The material was of 
 fine muslin, on which an intricate tracery of flowers 
 and leaves was springing up under her skilful touches. 
 There was no colour used. The thread which passed 
 through her fingers was spotlessly white, yet scarcely 
 more so [than the hands which held it, or the snowy 
 neck displayed as she bent over the laborious design, 
 as if anxious to make the failing light serve to finish her 
 daily portion of toil. 
 
 She shewed no great interest in it. Her face, calm, 
 pale, and passionless, betrayed neither impatience, plea- 
 sure, nor weariness. Her needle passed through and 
 through the fabric, without the slightest variation in 
 the time each stitch appeared to occupy; with mar- 
 vellous rapidity, yet not shewing any indication of 
 haste. The ticking of the old clock in its walnut- 
 wood case — the purring of the kitten on the hearth — 
 were not more monotonous. 
 
 Her dress was as simple as the place, and became 
 her station ; yet it had a certain peculiarity about it. 
 A grey kind of camlet frock, drawn into a rather 
 loose band at the throat and at the waist, fell in very 
 full draperies to her feet. It opened slightly in front, 
 shewing a sort of underdress of smoothly plaited, but 
 coarse-textured muslin, which was also visible under 
 her wide hanging sleeves. 
 
 Her hair was gathered into a large knot at the back
 
 108 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 of her head, in a careless manner ; yet its smooth 
 bright coils of burnished gold^ seemed to assume, of 
 their own accord, the form which the hand of a 
 Grecian sculptor would have given them. There was 
 plenty of time for me to make these observations. The 
 white-skinned woman neither moved nor spoke. The 
 shadowy kitchen held no other occupant, and she plied 
 her needle so diligently that she did not appear con- 
 scious of my looking at her with admiration, as a part 
 of that homely but attractive picture. 
 
 Suddenly, the door flew open, and Winny, with her 
 hair in disorder, her features convulsed with weeping, 
 and her weak voice more cracked than usual, entered, 
 setting it carefully open. 
 
 " My sister," she said, " wishes to catch every 
 word that passes. She is very ill. You cannot see 
 her ; but she insists upon hearing all that is said." 
 
 " I make a point of it !" shouted Pope, in a very 
 angry bass voice, fi'Om the parlour. " You must both 
 speak very loud." 
 
 Winny tuned her shrill pipe to a still higher key. 
 *^ It was perhaps, inconsiderate in me to send for you. 
 My sister thinks it wTong ; but we had no other 
 reliance. We seemed excluded from the world." 
 
 " Go straight to the point, Winny ! AVhat nonsense 
 you are talking !" exclaimed the invalid. " Tell tlie 
 man. Sir Jasper Egremont has cut off" the bridge, and 
 he must make him build it up again." 
 
 " It is very true," said "Winny, plaintively. " Our 
 enemy has taken away the means of crossing the
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 109 
 
 stream. My sister has met with, a most dreadful acci- 
 dent. She cannot be removed from the parlour." 
 
 ^' Hush !" resounded in a deep murmur, as Winny 
 paused to take breath ; Pope's delicacy being evidently 
 hurt at my being led to suppose that she was in bed 
 in the room near me. " Tell the man what is neces- 
 sary, and don't keep him waiting !" 
 
 " My sister/' Winny proceeded, " in an agony of 
 mind, rushed out to remonstrate with the rude people 
 Sir Jasper has sent to annoy us. They said many 
 things which I cannot repeat, and greatly provoked 
 her." 
 
 A terrible agitation in Pope's room was now audible. 
 She called Winny, almost frantically, and desired her to 
 hold her tongue. I was afraid that she meditated 
 dashing out upon us. Winny seemed to entertain 
 the same apprehension, and flew along the passage. 
 
 I looked at the silent woman, who had not altered 
 her position, raised her eyes, or spoken, during this 
 colloquy ; and fancied that a slight shadow rested 
 upon her white forehead. It might, however, have 
 been cast upon it by the trees outside the window. 
 
 I could not help wondering whether she thought 
 about anything, as she went on working, but evidently 
 paying little attention to the pattern she was tracing 
 and filling up with almost imperceptible stitches. 
 
 On her broad fair brow, as I have said, a light 
 cloud was visible ; but she neither smiled nor sighed, 
 and as the shadows played upon the casement, I saw 
 that they were what had given momentary expression
 
 110 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to her countenance. The sun had sunk. The light 
 was uniform, and her features were now in undis- 
 turbed repose. She laid her work down, and folded 
 it minutely into its former creases. 
 
 By this time Winny came back. " I am to tell 
 you/' she said, as if repeatmg her lesson, '' that my 
 sister has met with a serious accident, in consequence 
 of the insolence of Sir Jasper Egremont's workmen, 
 who have removed the bridge, and treated us very 
 cruelly." 
 
 " They have cut down the damson and plum trees, 
 and upset the bee-hives. They have broken my leg, 
 and spoiled the whole crop of winter potatoes. They 
 are brutes, and will not listen to reason !" shouted 
 Pope, impatient of Winny 's narrative. 
 
 I was greatly shocked to hear of her having met 
 with so serious an accident ; and expressed my indigna- 
 tion at Sir Jasper's unfeeling conduct. 
 
 " I hope it is not quite so bad. She has sprained 
 her ancle very severely, and suffers much pain ; but 
 there is no limb fractured," said the quiet woman, look- 
 ing up in my face, and speaking in a very straight- 
 forward simple manner. 
 
 Her voice did not reach Pope's sick chamber. 
 " Come here, directly, Winny !" she called out. '' I 
 will have no whispering. Tell the man he must speak 
 loud enough to be heard, and do the same yourself!" 
 
 " It was not I, but Grace, that spoke," answered 
 Winny very sharply; and looking irefully at the 
 damsel, who now sat unoccupied in the dusk, with her
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. Ill 
 
 hands folded, and seemed^ if possible, stiller than usual. 
 Pope, however was not to be appeased ; and Winny 
 was forced to take another journey for the purpose of 
 pacifying her. 
 
 While she was gone, a feeling of curiosity assailed 
 me to hear the quiet woman speak again. Her low, 
 sweet-toned voice harmonised with the soft twilight 
 which had fallen upon the room, and for a moment or 
 two suspended her usual industrious employments. 
 She did not appear to be a foreigner, though she spoke 
 slowly and with a slight peculiarity of manner, which 
 might proceed from some other language being more 
 familiar to her than English. 
 
 I enquired whether she did not miss the more varied 
 life at the farm. Her poor blind mistress, I was cer- 
 tain, must feel the loss of her active handmaid. 
 
 " I must do," she said, " some service in return for 
 the kindness I receive. The Warren is a pleasant 
 home, and the cattle had learned to know me. I was 
 very sorry to leave it. This is a different place ; but 
 here, as everywhere, there are duties to be performed. 
 I am come from a country where the people are poor, 
 but they help one another. Money is very scarce here 
 also, but I can work.'' 
 
 She looked down at her soft, white, well-shaped 
 hands, as she spoke. 
 
 " You seem very skilful in embroidery," I remarked. 
 " You must not spoil your hands for such fine labour 
 as that on which I saw you employed, by rougher 
 occupations."
 
 112 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " We must do/' she said, " what suits tlie place and 
 people among whom and in which we dwelL I have 
 to earn my bread ; and there are no purchasers of fine 
 work, like what is wrought in convents, here in the 
 Dingle." 
 
 I did not answer her. Pagan's flying feet were 
 heard in the passage. 
 
 " You must go away directly," she said. ^^ My sister 
 does not wish you to remain longer ; and you must 
 take our compliments to Sir Jasper Egremont, and 
 request that the bridge may be replaced. It is impos- 
 sible that we can exist in this uncomfortable state. AVe 
 cannot open our windows, or show our faces, without 
 annoyance ; his men are so rude. They put an unsafe 
 plank across, and when Matilda set her foot upon it, the 
 Avhole thing gave way, and she has dislocated her 
 ancle." 
 
 " I fear," I said, " that my advocacy of your cause 
 will do you little good with Sir Jasper Egremont. He 
 is still less my friend than yours." 
 
 " Oh, pray go," answered Winny. " We have no 
 one else to send. We cannot do our own errand. Our 
 existence here is rendered miserable ; and we have no- 
 where else to fly to." 
 
 I felt very sorry for the poor creatures, and deter- 
 mined to do the best I could for them. " I will go," 
 I said, " in the morning." 
 
 " That is what we want. Don't talk any more to 
 Winny !" shouted the elder sister. *^ It is gettin 
 
 or
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 113 
 
 dark, and I will not have a man on the premises after 
 sunset." 
 
 I took the hint, and departed. Winny's rather 
 tender adieus were cut short by Pope's calling for 
 her very vociferously; and the young woman, who 
 had by this time lighted her candle, was going on with 
 her work so diligently, that she did not even look up, 
 as she returned my good-night, civilly but distantly, 
 when I went away. 
 
 It was too late to call upon Sir Jasper that evening. 
 The workmen were gone from the Dingle. The place 
 was again quite solitary. I crossed the stream with 
 rather more difficulty from the side on which the 
 cottage stood, than in approaching it, and walked 
 some distance along the path. It seemed to be in- 
 tended, by increasing the space between the banks, 
 and removing the stones and other obstructions, to 
 gain more water j^ower. Lower down, there were 
 preparations for erecting a building; probably some 
 kind of mill, the machinery of which w as to be turned 
 by the stream. 
 
 Hardly anything had been done, as yet, towards 
 the proposed undertaking, except opposite to the 
 old ladies' dwelling. 1 believed that the bridge might 
 have been suffered to remain for a considerable time 
 longer ; and judging by what I had seen and heard of 
 the old Baronet's character, and of the dislike he enter- 
 tained for these unhappy women, 1 could not but 
 suspect that his principal object was to annoy, and 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 1X4 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 perhaps drive them away from their forlorn abode. 
 The place had been sufficiently comfortless before ; 
 but while Sir Jasper's water-works were in process 
 of completion, it seemed Hkely to be perfectly un- 
 tenantable.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 115 
 
 CHAPTEH X. 
 
 I HAD very little hope of success, when I set oiF to 
 plead the cause of Pagan and Pope at Heron Cliff. 
 There was so much that was ridiculous about the poor 
 creatures, that I felt, even if Sir Jasper would listen at 
 all, it would be difficult to awaken, in so callous a heart, 
 a spark of good feeling ; and their mediator was de- 
 cidedly ill-chosen. I had promised, however, to take 
 their part. They were women, and exposed to savage 
 insolence, as well as extreme inconvenience ; and, after 
 debating the point once more in my own mind, 1 resolved 
 to do all in my power to aid them. 
 
 As my errand was with the master of the mansion, I 
 pursued the ordinary mode of approach, which, after 
 the first half mile, was entirely through Sir Jasper 
 Egremont's woods. They were very extensive, but not 
 densely luxuriant ; the trees were not so thick as to in- 
 jure one another, or to make it appear, as is the case in 
 many old places, that the owner cherishes so much af- 
 fection for each particular branch and stem, that the 
 whole plantation suffers in consequence. These acres 
 upon acres of planting were systematically and carefully 
 thinned ; very little underwood was permitted to clothe 
 the ground. The climbing parasites were cleared away 
 
 T ^ 
 
 1 <v
 
 116 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 from the trunks and boughs. Naked and bare, the 
 boles of the trees, far as I could see on either hand, 
 closed up the view. There were no tasteful vistas ; no 
 matted wildernesses of blackberry and thorn bushes. 
 You could not have gathered a bushel of hips and haws. 
 Nothing was visible but successive rows of beech, and 
 oak, and elm ; vigorous, healthy timber. A decaying 
 trunk, one felled across or beside the path, would have 
 been a relief, and afforded variety to the prospect. 
 
 The nearer I came to the dwelling, the more grass- 
 grown was the approach. A great many varieties of pines 
 appeared in that part of the woods. Here and there, the 
 silver fir spread its branches to the ground ; but the 
 principal number of trees, in the vicinity of the man- 
 sion, were gloomy-looking Scotch and spruce firs, and 
 dark clumps of yew and cedar. 
 
 Through these heavy masses of foliage, the road was 
 conducted with no attempt at showing them off to ad- 
 vantage. The house was not visible until I was almost 
 close upon it. Then, an abrupt turn placed it before me. 
 
 It was a dark old fabric, rising in a stately manner 
 among the woods, with the straight line of the cliffs 
 bounding the view to the south. The grey towers had, 
 probably, in former times, sprung up from closely-shaven 
 turf, for an unplanted level space extended round the 
 edifice ; but the taste of Sir Jasper was apparent every- 
 where. His feudal ancestors would scarcely have re- 
 cognised in the dwelling of the grasping speculator, the 
 work of their own warrior-hands. 
 
 All the ground between the house and the woods
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 117 
 
 that stretched away to the north and east, was thickly- 
 sown with turnips. The crop came close up to the 
 Norman-arched doors, and lay before the richly-carved 
 framework of the windows. The drive passed through 
 the unseemly rows of vegetables ; and an old man, in 
 whom I immediately recognised Sir Jasper Egremont 
 himself, with his coat-sleeves dangling as usual behind 
 him, was diligently hoeing away among them, just in 
 front of the stately portal. 
 
 He was so busy that I had nearly come up to him, 
 before he saw me. The weeds were thick in that place, 
 and he was working away with all his might. I only 
 wish I had many such labourers on my farm, as the 
 still hale old man. In another minute, I should have 
 caught him ; but he looked over his shoulder suddenly, 
 and perceived me. He threw down his hoe, and 
 bustled off with the utmost celerity, leaving his weed- 
 ing implements in the pathway, and popping in at the 
 side-door of the mansion. 
 
 Supposing that it was not his wish to be surprised in 
 this undignified occupation, I determined, as soon as I 
 guessed his intention, to give the old gentleman the 
 opportunity of making his escape and getting his arms 
 into his sleeves, which he seemed to desire. I delayed 
 my advance, therefore, while surveying the oddly-laid 
 out precincts of his baronial-looking residence, in order 
 to allow him time for making whatever preparations he 
 might consider necessary, before receiving me. 
 
 The mansion of the Egremont s is placed on very high 
 ground, near the edge of the cliff. From where I now
 
 118 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 stood, the river was not visible. Westward, I could 
 hear the din of the iron-forge, mingling with the roar of 
 the cataracts of the stream ; but there, as in all direc- 
 tions except on the one side which lay open to the river, 
 the dark woods closed in. I could trace remains of 
 winding walks and of pleasure grounds ; but the walls 
 and terraces had been levelled, and the seed which was 
 to yield profitable returns had been cast over all which 
 had once constituted the ornamental part of the domain- 
 No doubt Sir Jasper found more amusement in hoeing 
 his turnips, than the most elaborate parterre would have 
 afforded him. 
 
 Having given time for his toilet, I now approached 
 the principal entrance. It was quite a curiosity, from 
 the depth and grandeur of the carving of the arches. 
 The door was set far back, and banded with iron. I 
 tried to ring the bell, but the wire was broken, and the 
 miserly old man probably grudged the money to mend it. 
 No sound was emitted, when I pulled it. 
 
 After waiting for some time in vain, I drew back, and 
 surveyed the facade of this inhospitable dwelling. The 
 story Erskine had told me of Sir Jasper's family mis- 
 fortunes occurred to me, with a feeling of commisera- 
 tion for the hard heart which had once bled so deeply. 
 Even if I could gain his ear, my cause I felt was a 
 hopeless one, since poor Winny and JNIatty Hawthorne 
 were doubtless connected in liis mind with the series of 
 disastrous circumstances which had led to Julian Egre- 
 mont's flight from home, and early death. 
 . I was thinking somewhat compassionately of the old
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 119 
 
 man, when I heard a slight sound near me, and a small 
 window on one side of the portal, which^ in olden times, 
 perhaps, served for similar purposes of observation, 
 was cautiously opened. I caught a glimpse of Sir 
 Jasper's coarse features and grey locks, surmounted by 
 a silk nightcap ; and a voice, which was evidently an 
 assumed one, enquired what was my business, and whe- 
 ther I wanted to see Sir Jasper Egremont. 
 
 I answered, yes ; and requested to be admitted, say- 
 ing that I had attempted in vain to ring, as the bell- 
 wire was broken, and that I had already waited for a 
 considerable time. I had a message to deliver, and 
 particular business with his master. It was best, I 
 thought, to humour the strange old fellow's peculiar- 
 ities. 
 
 Was I the lad from the Farm ? How did I like the 
 place^? were the next enquiries. Could not I send in 
 my message ? 
 
 I threw my card in at the loop-hole, desiring him to 
 take that to Sir Jasper, and inform him that I would not 
 detain him five minutes. 
 
 He drew back, and, for some time, all was silent. 
 Presently, I saw a bit of the red nightcap again. 
 
 " Master is out. You must tell me what you want. 
 I can't take upon me to let you in. How do I know 
 that you are not an impostor ? Perhaps you are come 
 to rob the place. Master keeps no money here, and 
 the plate is all up in London. Go away, if you do not 
 choose to leave your message." 
 j^ As I knew that it was Sir Jasper, I considered it best
 
 120 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to let him hear, in whatever manner, of the deplorable 
 plight in which the poor ladies were. He might re- 
 dress their grievances. It was possible that he did not 
 know how much they were enduring. 
 
 *^ Tell Sir Jasper Egremont," I said, " that his work- 
 people in the Dingle have exceeded his orders. No 
 gentleman, I am certain, would wish to cause incon- 
 venience and suffering to a couple of helpless females. 
 One of the ladies living there has met with a very 
 serious accident ; and they are both completely cut off 
 from receiving the most indispensable assistance, as well 
 as from communication with their fellow-creatures, by 
 the removal of the footbridge across the stream." 
 
 I heard a low malignant chuckle, but no answer was 
 returned. " Whatever work is commencing there," I 
 remarked, " it cannot be necessary to spoil these poor 
 women's garden, uproot their trees, and deny them a 
 safe plank to cross upon. Give my compliments to Sir 
 Jasper Egremont, and tell him that I trust, as far as lies 
 in his power, he will remedy the wrong which has 
 been committed, and order his men to treat the ladies 
 in the Dingle with civility." 
 
 A very hearty cock-crowing silenced my oratory. 
 I saw the old night-capped head in the window shaking 
 with laughter. At last, an answer was vouchsafed me. 
 
 "jYoung man ! take my advice, and neither meddle 
 nor make about what does not concern you. I have 
 lived with the old bird, our master, seventy years, and 
 know him well. If Matty and Winny Hawthorne were 
 to break every bone in their ugly carcasses, he would
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 121 
 
 not care a groat, and certainly would not spend one to set 
 them right again. If the men call them what they are, 
 no doubt the beldames will hear some unpleasant truths. 
 The saw-mill is of more consequence than all their 
 bruises and contortions. If the crazy fools are swept 
 away, the first winter-night, by the flood, or buried 
 under the bank. Sir Jasper Egremont's people shall not 
 lift a spade to dig them out ; nor will he, if he can help 
 it, let them have an inch of ground in the Dingle to 
 plant their beggarly vegetables in, nor suiFer them any 
 longer to steal his sticks for fuel." 
 
 The window was closed with a violent bang. Every- 
 thing became at once, and profoundly silent. It was 
 evident that no impression could be made upon the 
 surly wretch. I had heard his own undisguised senti- 
 ments. After waiting some time, a skinny hand was 
 protruded from the window, pointing upwards to a very 
 large bell, which hung in a turret. 
 
 "Be off!" was the polite parting salutation accorded 
 to me. '^ If you are not clear of these premises, as fast 
 as your legs can carry you, young man, I shall ring 
 the alarm-bell, and fetch up the people from the iron- 
 works, to make you look a little sharper." 
 
 As I perceived that nothing was to be gained by de- 
 lay, after another brief interval of silence, I complied 
 with this peremptory mandate. It was of no use going 
 home by the Dingle, since I had nothing agreeable to 
 communicate ; therefore, getting out of Sir Jasper's 
 gloomy woods as quickly as possible, I cut across the 
 fields to the Farm, resolving, in the afternoon, to take
 
 12^ LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 a couple of men with me, and, in defiance of him, lay 
 some kind of bridge across the water, for the benefit of 
 the oppressed inmates of the cottage. I felt that I must 
 take the matter into my own hands, since he would not 
 redress the evil, after he was apprised of it ; but I did 
 not doubt that my doing so would greatly increase the 
 ill-will he already entertained towards me. 
 
 It was a more difficult task than I expected, to keep 
 my men steadily to their work in the Dingle. They 
 treat me with marvellously small respect, at all times ; 
 and their inclination to annoy the old ladies, and pass 
 rude jests upon them, was almost insurmountable. I 
 dared not leave them for an instant ; my presence en- 
 forced some degree of order ; whenever the restraint 
 was removed, their insolent humour broke forth. 
 
 "With the trunks and branches of the fallen trees, I 
 made them nail together a rustic bridge, which was 
 thrown across the brook. The steps in the bank, lead- 
 ing down from the garden, were restored, the fence 
 repaired, which Sir Jasper's labourers had purposely 
 broken down, and the rubbish and litter, heaped up 
 before the dwelling, was levelled and carried away. 
 
 All the time we were at work, A\^inny Hawthorne 
 was rushing backwards and forwards, in a state of frantic 
 excitement, with messages to us from Pope, who, a little 
 restored, since the previous day, to convalescence, was 
 sitting in the sedan-chair, with the head thrown back, 
 in front of the cottage. Shouts of laughter from the 
 men, whenever either of the strange old creatures was 
 discerned, could not be prevented; and their appear-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 123 
 
 ance was so different from that of any other human 
 beings, that I could hardly wonder at the ridicule it 
 excited. 
 
 Pope flew into a terrible passion, when she espied us 
 approaching, from the window of her parlour ; and or- 
 dered herself to be carried out and set down, where 
 she might watch our proceedings, and see that we took 
 nothing away. As she was settled at her post of ob- 
 servation in the sedan-chair, when I next looked up, I 
 do not know whether Winny and the maid, or the great 
 rocking-horse in the passage, had drawn her out. She 
 sat bolt upright, with a man's hat on her head, and a 
 cloth Joseph over her shoulders. The rest of her per- 
 son was entirely undistinguishable, and might terminate 
 like a mermaid's, in a fish's tail, or, as the men about 
 me averred, in cloven feet, and the usual attributes of 
 Satan. She seemed to have dragged the bed-quilt after 
 her, in her haste to superintend our operations. 
 
 Winny, on the contrary, was lightly and gaily attired. 
 She appeared to have dived into the band-boxes in the 
 passage, for her costume ; and had on her head a little 
 fly-cap of her grandmother's, which continually fell off, 
 as she ran about the garden, delivering Pope's mes- 
 sages. 
 
 Nothing could persuade them that Sir Jasper was 
 not concerned in my proceedings. They ordered the 
 labourers to desist, and scolded them violently, commit- 
 ting every kind of folly by which a couple of nervous, 
 frightened women could disgrace themselves, in addition 
 to their own peculiar extravagancies.
 
 124 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 Pope wanted to know whether Sir Jasper had made 
 a suiFicient apology, before she allowed his men to set 
 foot in the garden. " I wiU have nothing done/' she 
 shouted, " till I am assured that he acknowledges his 
 error, and is sorry for it. I will not have so many men 
 about the place ; tell them to go away immediately !" 
 
 I informed Winny that my errand to Sir Jasper 
 Egremont had been a perfect failure. The men were 
 off my farm, and worked under my orders. 
 
 " Tell the farmer," exclaimed the giantess in the 
 sentry-box, " that he must not expect me to pay him. 
 1 do not want anything done. It is Sir Jasper's duty 
 to put the place in order. This person is very officious. 
 Tomorrow, we shall have a proper apology from Heron 
 Cliff, and plenty of assistance. I shall give these fel- 
 lows nothing. Who is to be at the expense of their 
 
 labour ?" 
 
 I assured her that it should cost her nothing. I could 
 not bear to see any ladies living near me so much 
 inconvenienced ; and I feared that redress from Sir 
 Jasper Egremont was hopeless. 
 
 Winny scudded back to Pope, at my request, to re- 
 peat this, and entreat her not to aggravate the workmen. 
 It was as much as I could do, to prevent their pelting 
 the cross old creature, who sat storming at them, and 
 repaying with volleys of abuse all our exertions to make 
 her abode more comfortable. 
 
 The cottage garden, for a long time, had not looked 
 so neat. It was many a day since the posts and rails of 
 the fence had stood upright, and the borders been
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 125 
 
 cleared of rubbish. The whole afternoon was not more 
 than sufficient for our work ; and, all the time we were 
 thus occupied, Pope abused us soundly. She would 
 not let Winny come back to us. I was glad of it. The 
 poor crazy-looking thing would hardly have escaped 
 insult ; — the men were so exasperated with them both. 
 
 At last, the bridge was replaced, the mud bank level- 
 led, the boughs of the trees which had been felled 
 stacked up in a corner, and the whole place restored to 
 a better aspect than it had worn before Sir Jasper's 
 people commenced their operations. They had not 
 offered us any interruption, and were not in sight. I 
 believe they were now gone farther up the stream. 
 
 We had rendered the passage safe and easy. Our 
 last operation was to twist some willow-branches into a 
 hand-rail for the rustic bridge, which was now quite in 
 character with the scene ; but Pope's anger was unap- 
 peasable. 
 
 " I shall not give you a farthing!" she screamed. '^I 
 shall be glad to see the last of you ; coming as you did 
 the other day, to annoy two ladies ; and now trying to 
 make it up, and extort money from us ! 
 
 " You may tell Sir Jasper Egf emont, unless he sends 
 us a proper apology, his men shall not set foot on this 
 side of the rivulet. I should like to have seen one of 
 you attempt it, if I had not been lame, and my sister 
 too weak-minded and foolish to be trusted. Where's 
 your head man, — the overseer, farmer, — whatever he 
 calls himself? Make these fellows understand that I 
 did not want them, — that they will get nothing from
 
 126 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 me. They must look to Sir Jasper Egremont for pay- 
 ment ; — and mind, I desire that neither you nor any of 
 your people, on any sort of pretence, will come about 
 the cottage again. My sister and I wish to live alone ; 
 we want to have nothing whatever to do with men ! If 
 Winny has told you anything different to this, she is a 
 simpleton, and does not know what she is saying." 
 
 We heard her raving in this way, till our task was 
 accomplished, and my labourers left the Dingle. They 
 swore at her for an ill-tempered jade ; and said nothing 
 should induce them to come within reach of her tongue 
 again. Certainly, never was disinterested service so ill 
 repaid ! 
 
 The stream now flowed deep and still along its course, 
 but the men shook their heads, and said, Sir Jasper was 
 letting too much water down. When the winter floods 
 came, the little rills, which he was guiding into the 
 same channel, would swell into torrents. They be- 
 lieved, whatever buildings he erected ran a great risk 
 of being swept away. 
 
 I longed to lift up and train the fallen jessamine ; 
 but Pope's delicacy would have taken fright. She had 
 now retreated within doors. The Dingle was silent, 
 and only the singing of the birds broke the stdlness of 
 twilight. None of the inmates of the cottage were 
 visible, to whom I might report that I had done all 
 which lay in my power to promote their comfort. 
 
 I had no inclination to disturb Pope's privacy, and 
 determined to go to the kitchen-door at once. Crossing 
 the garden, between rows of currant and gooseberry
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 127 
 
 bushes mucli too old to bear fruit, I directed my steps 
 thitber. As I approacbed, I beard a voice singing ; — 
 but it was not tbe low murmur of tbe Ranz des Vacbes, 
 of wbicb, if sbe bad beard but a single stave, tbe moun- 
 tain cow would, I am certain, bave stoodf quietly to be 
 milked. It was Winny's quavering accents, warbling 
 some antediluvian ditty. 
 
 I could see into tbe narrow wbite-walled room from 
 wbere I stood, leaning against tbe clematis-covered 
 porcb. Winny was quite alone. Sbe was ironing 
 some feminine article of attire, and burning a large 
 bole in tbe border, wbile, witb ber bead on one side, 
 sbe looked towards tbe entrance. A strong smell of 
 singeing from tbe ironing-clotb overpowered tbe scent 
 of tbe flowers. 
 
 I did not feel disposed to go in, but knocked at tbe 
 door. Sbe flew to open it, leaving tbe iron in tbe 
 middle of wbat I believe was a nigbt-cap, and tbe 
 covering of tbe table also smoking. Winny made an 
 expressive sign tbat I sbould come into tbe kitcben ; 
 but I resolutely kept my station. 
 
 " I bave," I said, ^^ done all in my power to serve 
 you. A rougb, but perfectly safe bridge is laid across 
 the stream ; and I bave removed, as far as possible, tbe 
 encumbrances left in your way by tbe workmen." 
 
 " Can't you come in ?" sbe asked in ber most fasci- 
 nating tone. " There is no one in the kitchen. The 
 young woman who usually sits there is witb my sister. 
 She is a great annoyance. We have her here from
 
 128 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 charity, but shall be glad when she can procure any 
 other situation. She is very unfeeling !" 
 
 *^ She has a good-natured countenance, and seems 
 willing to be of. service;" I answered. "I should 
 have imagined her presence a comfort, now that you 
 have illness in the house, I hope your sister is in less 
 pain this evening." 
 
 " She is very cross !" said Winny pathetically. " Ma- 
 tilda will not be easy so long as a man's foot is heard 
 in the Dingle." 
 
 I replied that the labourers were gone, and I 
 thought Sir Jasper's people had done their work, and 
 would no farther annoy them. Should my impression 
 not be correct, I must adopt a more effectual mode of 
 protecting them. 
 
 Winny put her fore-finger impressively to her lips. 
 " Be silent !" she said. " These are the sort of ex- 
 pressions Matty does not like. But if our enemies 
 oppress us again, I will find some means of letting you 
 know." 
 
 I assured her that I would not forget to look after 
 their security, and got away from her as quickly as 
 I could, leaving her sitting on the old bench, looking 
 sentimentally at the clematis, of which she tlirust a 
 handful into my fingers as we parted. 
 
 While I crossed the garden, I saw a light glimmer 
 in the kitchen. The fair woman had come in, and was 
 standing by the table, remedying the mischief Winny 
 had done, smoothing the laces, and deftly ironing the 
 frills and kerchiefs. As her light touch passed over
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 129 
 
 the things, it seemed to set all in order. Her calm, 
 face did not express much thought, yet^ she appeared 
 to give a different aspect to the place. The candle 
 burning on the table beneath the casement shone upon 
 her features, as she went on steadily with her employ- 
 ment, ironing and folding one article after another with 
 the utmost regularity. 
 
 She looked so tranquil and unconscious, that I felt 
 afraid of her detecting that I had watched her ; and 
 went away, wishing, as I had often done before, that I 
 had such a neat-handed, white-browed Phillis to wait 
 upon me, instead of Sally and Thomas. 
 
 My usual ill-luck pursues me, and, just when sun- 
 shine was most important to the success of my farming 
 operations, clouds and darkness have set in. 
 
 The torrents of rain which have been falling dispel 
 my best hopes, while laying my wheat-crops prostrate. 
 Violent thunder-storms come on almost every after- 
 noon. I could ill spare the hours which the men and I 
 bestowed on our labours to replace the bridge and put 
 the cottage garden in order. 
 
 We were forced to work double tides yesterday, to 
 make up for the loss of that one fine evening. I am 
 thoroughly out of spirits ; and Sally does her best to 
 increase my discomfiture, by Cassandra-like prophecies 
 of evil. 
 
 This deplorable wet weather does not set ofi" my 
 forlorn dwelling. Though standing on the hill-top, 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 the place is damp, from imperfect drainage. In fact, 
 it has none of the essentials of a gentleman's residence ; 
 while it is deficient in the warmth and comfort of a 
 farm. The contrast it presents to the Warren, and 
 Mrs. Harding's orderly arrangements, ia enough to 
 make me doubly dissatisfied with my lot. 
 
 Sally has been going about, for the last week, with 
 her face tied up for the toothache, and looking, if 
 possible, more hideous than ever. When I asked her 
 what was the matter, she told me that she got the 
 rheumaticks from my going in and out so often, and 
 leaving the house-door open ; besides which, she had 
 to sit in a draught, because I complained of the kitchen 
 chimney smoking, and filling the rooms with blacks. 
 I assured the poor creature that I would rather put 
 up with that inconvenience than be the means of giving 
 her a cold ; supposing the evil to be really an irremedi- 
 able one. If possible, I conjured her to have it put to 
 rights. At all events, she might send for the sweep. 
 In point of fact, I believe her inveterate untidiness to 
 be at the root of this and many of my misfortunes. 
 ' Thomas follows her about, looking profoundly mise- 
 rable. In spite of Sally's asseverations to the contrary, 
 he is certainly quite incapable of mental or bodily 
 labour ; but she still persists in declining my ofiers of 
 procuring assistance for them, and with her abominable 
 temper would make the situation unendurable to a 
 person placed under her, contrary to her inclination. 
 
 Several times in a day lately, I have come home 
 drenched with rain ; and when I see the clouds gather-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES, 131 
 
 ing, in addition to my personal share of discomfort,, is 
 the absolute dread which the state of the weather oc- 
 casions of the total failure of the harvest. The face of 
 the moor has been constantly wrapped in mist ; and 
 Sally tells me that it is of no use expecting a change 
 for the better^ till the hills beyond the "Warren lose 
 their fleecy caps, and their outline cuts sharp against 
 the sky. The storms, generally speaking, rise on the 
 moor, and it is often dangerous to cross it. 
 
 The crops are very indifferent, and seem likely, when 
 gathered in, to be hardly worth the trouble. Unless 
 more money than I can well afford to spend is laid out 
 upon the land, it yields so poor a return, that I fear 
 my undertaking will not prosper. I shall certainly 
 never make my fortune here ; and to toil as I have 
 lately done, for a mere subsistence, on this barren, 
 ungrateful soil, is very disheartening. 
 
 If, indeed, I had any interest in the place — if my 
 home were more comfortable, or I had neighbours to 
 encourage and take part with me, I think I might like 
 the life I am leading sufficiently well to continue it. 
 I do not shrink from toil — it is the best part of my in- 
 heritance — but the incivility of the peasantry here, the 
 coarseness I discover in those who are somewhat above 
 them in the social scale, repel me. The insolence of 
 Sir Jasper — the madness of the poor old women to 
 whom I would willingly be of service — ^puts it out of 
 the question that I can be on terms of amicable alliance 
 with either party. 
 
 I begin to think that I was wrong in not appre- 
 
 K 2
 
 1-32 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 dating Erskine's good offices. He is my only friend 
 in the county ; and, as soon as I can leave the farm, 
 I shall accept the very kind invitation he has sent me, 
 to visit him and his agreeable wife at Velindra. He 
 says they are as dull as myself, and quite alone ; but he 
 does not know how different is solitude shared by an 
 intelligent companion, to such an existence as mine. 
 
 I believe, if I do not exchange it, for a time, for 
 some description of society, I shall become as mad as 
 Pope and Pagan, and turn like a savage upon those 
 who wish to befriend me. I have plenty of warning 
 in these poor women, and Sir Jasper Egremont, of the 
 effect of absolute savage loneliness on the heart and 
 mind. It is undoubtedly not good for man to be alone ; 
 yet, in these wilds, and with such prospects as mine, 
 it would be somewhat difficult, and even presumptuous, 
 to seek to provide myself with a helpmate. I suppose 
 I must be satisfied with Thomas and Sally ; but they 
 appear every day more detestable, and are, as Erskine 
 prophesied they would become, the torment of my life.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. lo3 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The river scenery about Velindra looked even prettier, 
 on the occasion of my second visit, than earlier in the 
 summer. September has just commenced, and, here 
 and there, a golden gleam among the foliage tells that 
 the autumn is coming, but is not yet upon us. The 
 harvest has been gathered in, this year, in time to leave 
 the fields clear for the sportsman. I found Erskine 
 thinking of nothing but that the day after my arrival 
 was the first of the shooting-season. For my part, I 
 have been so differently occupied, that I had scarcely 
 thought of the circumstance. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine, unlike her husband, was looking very 
 languid, and unfit for exertion. She was much thinner 
 than when I saw her before, and I wondered that he 
 did not feel uneasy about her extreme delicacy of ap- 
 pearance. His first remark, indeed, had been that 
 Edith was not well ; but, when I expressed my regret, 
 he begged me to say nothing to her on the subject. 
 His wife was full of nervous fancies ; and to sympa- 
 thize with them was the sure way to increase her ma- 
 ladies. He always tried to laugh her out of them ; and 
 told her that she had a particular indisposition for every 
 season of the year.
 
 134 LEWELL PASTrHES. 
 
 He had made an engagement to take me witli him, 
 on the morrow, when a gentleman in the neighbour- 
 hood had offered him shooting. Erskine, I find, has 
 not any of his own. His pretty place has very little 
 land attached to it. It is a mere cottage ome, and the 
 beauty of the scenery tempted him to become its occu- 
 pant, soon after his marriage. Though he is heartily 
 tired of it, my friend is, I suspect, of such a lazy, unde- 
 cided kind of temperament, that he prefers finding fault 
 to the trouble certain to be incurred by a change of re- 
 sidence. 
 
 I can find no other fault with the one he occupies, 
 than the want of interest belonging to all places that 
 are not our own. The last August day passed very 
 pleasantly. In the evening, we walked again by the 
 swiftly-gliding river ; and while displaying the anima- 
 tion, which, with her, seems to follow the being in- 
 duced to make the slightest exertion, Mrs. Erskine 
 evidently forgot her indisposition. 
 
 I told Erskine that it was impossible for me to ac- 
 company him to his friend's house. I must be content 
 to wish them successful sport, without joining in their 
 amusement. It was not my desire to enter into society, 
 nor to lay myself under obligation to strangers. I was 
 entirely unacquainted with the country families, and de- 
 sired to continue so, until my position was better as- 
 certained. In order to avoid all difficulties and dis- 
 putes about shooting, that fertile source of quarrelling, 
 I had not even taken out a license. 
 
 Erskine seemed much annoyed, and said that I should
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 135 
 
 find notliing to amuse me^ during his absence. I told 
 him, I had the beautiful scenery to explore. He pro- 
 posed that Edith should take me one of the many pic- 
 turesque drives, and named several, particularly that 
 along the banks of the river, as what everybody ought 
 to see ; but she was such a coward, and so inveterately 
 indolent, that the chances were ten to one against my 
 being able to persuade her to go with me anywhere. 
 The new carriage-horses were much too spirited. She 
 had not been out with them half-a-dozen times since he 
 purchased them for her. 
 
 I thought him much too ready in devising pretences 
 by which to favour his wife's alleged unwillingness to 
 exert herself. Her illness seemed to arise, in a great 
 measure, from want of occupation and interest in what 
 was going on around her. If he had good-humouredly 
 furthered her wishes, and encouraged her to take exer- 
 cise, I believed that she would have been greatly the 
 better for it. His own was not a happy disposition ; 
 and if his wife felt more cheerful than usual, Erskine 
 was sure to have a severe fit of the blue-devils. 
 
 His amusements were principally of a kind which 
 either excluded or did not require female participation. 
 He was a keen sportsman. The fishing in the river 
 had been his great attraction to Velindra, but a quarrel 
 with a neighbouring proprietor, had cut him off from 
 the best places for sport. Except it be through the 
 ceaseless disagreements and rancour they occasion, and 
 the bitterness too often difiused thereby over the other- 
 wise social relations of a country-life, ladies can have
 
 136 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 little share in the active pleasures which men consider 
 its chief attraction. Edith's husband had contemplated 
 leaving the poor nervous invalid alone for several days ; 
 though now, on my firm refusal to join him, he changed 
 his plans, and arranged to be at home in time for a late 
 dinner. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine was more easily persuaded to venture 
 out, with the new horses, under my care, than he had 
 expected. She says, his manner of driving alarms her, 
 and he laughs so much at her timidity that it takes away 
 all her pleasure in accompanying him. She was in 
 better spirits, and extremely enjoyed showing me the 
 beautiful country in which she lives. If she was 
 wearied of it, on her own account, she still has the 
 taste to appreciate it for those to whom its striking fea- 
 tures are unfamiliar. 
 
 The rocky banks of the river, the distant mountain 
 chain, the fertile valley, were all shown to me, with 
 animation, from the most favourable points of view ; 
 and she did not seem fatigued, as, after a lengthened 
 excursion, we drove back along the summit of one of 
 the beautifully- wooded ridges or terraces which traverse 
 this county. Below us, far down in the valley, lay the 
 river, gliding now between picturesque rocks, now 
 through emerald pastures. Then came the sloping turf 
 and splendid woods of some noble domain. It was all 
 sunny and bright and peacefid, and my companion's 
 eye sparkled as she pointed out to me, in the opposite 
 direction to Velindra, a range of blue elevated peaks, 
 mingling with the clouds.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 137 
 
 Her srreat desire, she said, had alwavs been to ex- 
 plore the romantic country not more than a day's jour- 
 ney from them. She felt certain that the excursion 
 would be of service to her ; but Erskine disliked the 
 bad roads for the horses, and said the fatigue would be 
 too much for her to bear ; besides which, the springs of 
 the carriage would never recover, according to him, 
 from the jolting which such an expedition woidd oc- 
 casion. He seldom, if he could help it, turned the heads 
 of his steeds in the direction of the mountains ; and, 
 perhaps out of perversity, it was the only one in which 
 she cared to drive. 
 
 Erskine was quite surprised, when he returned, not 
 long after ourselves, to hear that we had gone so far. 
 His own sport had been indifferent, and the heat of the 
 weather overpowering. It is a difficult and fatigidng 
 countrv, he says, to walk over. The fields, where he 
 was shooting, lie on the hill sides, and the birds being 
 wild gave him more trouble than he liked in going after 
 them. The men had marked ill, hi? hand was un- 
 steady. Altogether, he ended with saying, he was 
 afraid that he did not care as much about shooting as 
 formerly. He had felt glad to put off his engagement, 
 on the excuse my stay afforded, till the following week. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine looked animated and pretty, when she 
 came down to dinner. The long diive had certainly 
 done her good, and she was very becomingly dressed. 
 Erskine, though he is extremely satirical on this, as on 
 most other subjects, when an}"thing is amiss, did not 
 seem to notice the improvement in her appearance ; but
 
 138 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 teased her with imagining that she must be dreadfully 
 tired, and that the horses had frightened her. It was 
 impossible for him to believe that she had not some mis- 
 adventure to record. In vain did she assure him that 
 nothing disagreeable had happened. He went on 
 mimicking and tormenting her. 
 
 By way of changing the conversation, I told them of 
 my visit to Sir Jasper Egremont, on behalf of the poor 
 old ladies in the Dingle. Erskine was greatly amused, 
 and his kind-hearted wife quite distressed at the annoy- 
 ance it must have occasioned to me. Being a good deal 
 out of humour with the Farm, I did not, as had been 
 the case on my first visit, strive to make the best of 
 everything ; but frankly confessed that I saw no way 
 through my difficulties. Between the ungrateful soil, 
 and my churlish neighbours, I was losing all interest 
 in the place. 
 
 " Oh, do not give it up !" said Mrs. Erskine, warmly. 
 *^ I am sure that in time you will find it answer. Sir 
 Jasper cannot invariably make himself disagreeable ; 
 he will learn to understand you better. You will find 
 out other neighbours, or can always come to us. I 
 shall be quite disappointed, if you do not make some- 
 thing of the farm." 
 
 " I suspect our friend is beginning to tire of rusticity, 
 and to discover that civilized customs have their value, 
 in spite of the disgust with the world and its ways, in- 
 spired by a fair lady's fickleness. Confess, Tudor, that 
 the diamond wheatears had a good deal to do with your 
 misanthropical humour, in the early part of the sum-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 139 
 
 mer !" said Erskine, stumbling, with his usual want of 
 tact, upon a subject concerning which I shall never, I 
 believe, learn to feel and speak lightly. To complete 
 my annoyance, I was conscious that I blushed like a 
 simpleton, and that Edith's quick eye was upon me ; 
 though she looked away, the moment she perceived that 
 her husband's jest had displeased me. 
 
 " I have certainly had more than I like of solitude, 
 lately," I said, awkwardly enough. " But, however 
 alive I may be, at this instant, to the value of pleasant 
 society, I do not see much chance of obtaining it at the 
 Pastures." 
 
 " I told you from the first, that the place would not 
 suit you," answered Erskine, as if he were broaching 
 the liveliest and most consolatory idea in the world. 
 " What can a man such as you are, find to like in a 
 place where you cannot exchange an idea with a friend, 
 and are shut up in a house with an idiot, and a woman 
 as hideous as the ugliest of the Furies ? Positively, 
 Harry, your housekeeper is such a fright, that my horse 
 shies, whenever he catches sight of her ! Knowing 
 you to be somewhat soft-hearted, of old, as well as ro- 
 mantic in your ideas, I looked out narrowly to see if 
 your establishment boasted of any younger and fairer 
 member ; but Sally appears to be ubiquitous, and to 
 perform the functions of housekeeper, dairy-woman, 
 and valet. I should have been very much alarmed, if 
 I had beheld even an agreeable-looking kitchen-wench 
 about the place. Your imagination has such time and
 
 140 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 space to expand, that it would certainly convert her 
 into a Dulcinea del Toboso !" 
 
 '' I am in no danger/' I replied. " My thoughts 
 have been quite otherwise occupied ; and, in harvest- 
 time especially, I have no leisure to indulge in any 
 of the idle dreams, a propensity towards which your 
 too faithful memory has treasured up against me, as 
 being my besetting sin. If I remain much longer at 
 Lewell Farm, I shall become quite as prosaic as your- 
 self, and think, like most of my neighbours, of nothing 
 but short-horns and south-downs, and sowing Swede 
 turnips, in imitation of Sir Jasper, under my parlour - 
 windows." 
 
 '' We can do nothing better for Harry, Edith, than 
 recommend him to the widow at Dinas Court. She is 
 fair, fat, and forty, and would, I am certain, suit Tudor 
 exactly. His continuing at that horrid farm is a perfect 
 impossibility. I shall not be satisfied until I have in- 
 troduced him to Mrs. Crumpe." 
 
 " What could put that odious Avoman into your head ? 
 You certainly have stranger fancies than mine," said 
 his pretty wife, impatiently. " I never heard of any- 
 thing half so ridiculous. Captain Tudor, I am sure, 
 will not think as you do. Mrs. Crumpe is more of an 
 age to be his mother, though he would not be proud of 
 such a parent." 
 
 '* She is a very good-looking woman, for her time of 
 life. Stout people always wear the best ; besides, she 
 has solid advantages to weigh in the balance against 
 her corpulence," Erskine provokingly insisted. " The
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 141 
 
 old iron-master has left his widow sufficiently well en- 
 dowed to make a sensible man think twice before he 
 rejects the alliance." 
 
 " I cannot bear that set of people ! There are two 
 or three old county families, but more of what some- 
 body calls the aristocracy of trade, in this neighbour- 
 hood," said his wife, contemptuously. " If you see a 
 lovely place, looking as if it must belong to some 
 ancient, time-honoured race, with a handsome equipage 
 at the gate, the chances are that such a woman as your 
 friend, Mrs. Crumpe, comes out, and gets into the pretty 
 fashionable carriage. I am certain Captain Tudor will 
 not like her !" 
 
 " I shall take Harry over to Dinas Court ; I have 
 been thinking of it all the time we were talking," said 
 Erskine, without attending to her. " It is one of the 
 prettiest drives in the neighbourhood, and the widow's 
 property decidedly is the best managed in the county. 
 I told her so the other day, and I assure you, she was 
 exceedingly pleased with the compliment. See what 
 order she keeps everything in ; her sleek - looking 
 servants and coach - horses ! Depend upon it, Mrs. 
 Crumpe understands the science of comfortable living, 
 and Dinas Court would be a good exchange for Lewell 
 Pastures. It is easy to see that money is no object to 
 her." 
 
 " It would be none to me," I replied, " if linked to 
 such an incumbrance. I assure you, I would rather 
 remain at the Farm."
 
 142 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Crumpe is better -looking tlian your 
 housekeeper ! Edith, has not seen how indifferently 
 you are off for beauty at the Pastures. The old ladies 
 in the Dingle are not likely to turn your head. That 
 is fortunate ; for, in my opinion, unless you chose a wo- 
 man like Mrs. Crumpe, matrimony would put the 
 finishing stroke to your discomfort. Never mind my 
 wife's dislike of her : the fact is, Edith is a little jealous 
 of the widow, who is a great favourite of mine, and has 
 one of the prettiest estates, with the best shooting and 
 fishing in the neighbourhood. You can practise your 
 experiments in farming on a much more extensive and 
 satisfactory scale at Dinas Court, than among those 
 sterile hills." 
 
 Erskine, as usual, went on with the jest a little longer, 
 and returned to it oftener than was altogether pleasant. 
 He is fond of harping upon a theme, particularly if it 
 be a disagreeable one ; and his wife, either from not 
 being quite well, or on account of her really entertaining 
 an aversion towards the wealthy ironmaster's widow, was 
 nervously impatient. 
 
 Mrs. Crumpe's name, I soon perceived, was not the 
 only watchword of division between the husband and 
 wife. As a general rule, they were of different opkiions 
 on every subject; and, though a slight variety of taste 
 may sometunes enhance matrimonial felicity, the con- 
 trast was, in their case, carried too far not to ^be more 
 than piquant. 
 
 Erskine told me, half in joke, when we were alone.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 143 
 
 that Edith's temper was very different to what it had 
 formerly been ; but his own mafiner was so provoking, 
 and he showed so little indulgence to what he knew to 
 be her failings, that I could scarcely wonder at all har- 
 mony having departed from their intercourse. 
 
 It was quite evident that she suffered more from real 
 ill-health than he would allow. A constant fever con- 
 sumed her ; her hands were burning ; and she could 
 not bear the confined atmosphere of the rooms, now 
 that he chose to fancy the evening air unwholesome, 
 and insisted on having the windows hermetically closed, 
 and the lamps lighted, before dinner. 
 
 When the sun went down, he felt chilly, and ordered 
 a fire to be kindled, though, as she said, he knew that 
 it must banish her to her room, and could not, at this 
 season, be necessary for any one's comfort. In a thou- 
 sand trivial circumstances, it was manifest that he had 
 ceased to pay her those attentions which the delicacy of 
 her health demanded ; and though she was too proud 
 to complain, 1 could see that she felt hurt at being 
 treated with so little consideration. 
 
 He said that she liked to be quiet, and did not even 
 try to keep her with us, after the repast was over. I 
 found her in the drawing-room, looking tired and me- 
 lancholy ; though, on our return from our drive, she 
 had seemed full of animation. 
 
 Erskine is not without good qualities ; but it is easy 
 to see that he does not know how to treat his wife, and 
 that her lowness of spirits, of which he complains so
 
 144 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 often, is greatly increased by his allowing her to be too 
 much alone. I wish T could make these two discon- 
 tented mortals understand their own interest better, and 
 feel what a treasure they are throwing away in each 
 other's affections. I do not think it is as yet too late to 
 recal them to their senses.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 145 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 I FOUND Mrs. Erskine sitting under the verandah, 
 reading, in front of the open windows of the breakfast 
 room, at a much earlier hour, the next morning, than 
 my friend's account of their ordinary habits had led 
 me to expect. The clouds of the previous evening had 
 vanished from her countenance. Her long drive had 
 done her good, she said, and made her sleep more 
 soundly than usual. She certainly looked the better for 
 it ; and nothing had as yet occurred to ruffle her pla- 
 cidity. I suspect that her mood is, like the surface of 
 the river, vexed' by every passing breeze. 
 
 The book she held in her hand supplied a subject for 
 conversation, of a nature in which she told me that she 
 seldom indulged. Erskine dislikes poetry, and is so sa- 
 tirical that she would not for the world read to him a line 
 of any of her favourite authors. This is one of the 
 numerous topics whereon they are hopelessly at variance ; 
 since neither party will take pains to modify or disguise 
 their difference of taste. 
 
 She conversed very pleasantly, without any pedantry 
 or affectation, but in a way which showed a cultivated 
 tone of mind, until he came down stairs. I, who had 
 been for months debarred from anything like intcllec- 
 
 VOL. T. L
 
 146 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 tual society, wondered that my friend should not appre- 
 ciate such a companion. He did not make his appear- 
 ance till very late, and when he came in, complained of 
 headache. This appears, on the contrary, to be the 
 brightest period of the day with his wife ; but I saw 
 her grow pale and nervous, when he lounged over his 
 breakfast, keeping her a prisoner at the table, as he always 
 did, she complained, till the beauty of the lovely Sep- 
 tember morning was entirely gone, before the cloth was 
 taken away. He stared at her unreasonableness, and 
 asked her whether the days were not long enough for 
 people, like themselves, who had nothing to do. She 
 had tired herself with rising so early, and would, he 
 foresaw, be unfit for exertion. The wisest thing she 
 could do would be to lie down again, while he rode out 
 with me, by way of killing the time between breakfast 
 and dinner. 
 
 I thought she seemed annoyed at the suggestion ; 
 but, when I strove to alter Erskine's arrangement, and 
 include her in the equestrian party, she declined to ac- 
 company us. Her husband prevented her yielding to 
 persuasion, by saying, that there was not a horse in his 
 stable which she was courageous enough to mount. I 
 am afraid she noticed that he did not wish her to go ; 
 for, after breakfast was over, we saw nothing of her. 
 The horses came round to the door, and, on my asking 
 how she would amuse herself during our absence, her 
 husband shrugged his shoulders, and said that, if she 
 went beyond the grounds, once in a week, Edith fan- 
 cied it a wonderful exertion. She would probably not
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 147 
 
 recover from what she had done, the day before, during 
 the rest of my stay. He appeared perfectly satisfied to 
 leave her behind, and we set oiF without her. 
 
 Erskine was in one of his most agreeable humours. 
 If he did not point out all the features of the country 
 with the same picturesque taste which had been exhi- 
 bited by my companion of the day before, he showed, 
 at all events, a very correct knowledge of its distin- 
 guishing characteristics ; and he told me several enter- 
 taining anecdotes respecting the principal places in the 
 neighbourhood and their owners. Certainly, both hus- 
 band and wife appear infinitely more to advantage 
 apart than together. 
 
 At dinner and afterwards, he persisted in conversing 
 entirely on masculine subjects, politics, field-sports, and 
 local topics, in which his wife could not be expected to 
 take any interest. Edith looked very impatient, and 
 scarcely opened her lips, until I forcibly withdrew my 
 attention from him, and tried to draw her out and lead 
 her to talk in a manner more suited to her taste. Then 
 Erskine began to yawn and show symptoms of weari- 
 ness, and finally fell fast asleep. I must study this ill- 
 matched couple longer than I have yet done, before I 
 can at all comprehend how, even when the peculiarities 
 of both had the piquancy of novelty, Mrs. Erskine 
 could be induced to believe that any sympathy of dis- 
 position existed between herself and my friend. 
 
 He was at considerable pains, during breakfast, the 
 next day, to please her ; and I was glad to hear him 
 press her to join us in taking a drive. He had or- 
 
 L 2
 
 148 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 dered the carriage early, and proposed to set off before 
 the heat of the afternoon should render her languid 
 and indisposed for exertion. When she came down 
 again from her dressing-room, soon afterwards, ready- 
 to accompany us, very prettily arrayed, and with a 
 bright colour tinging her cheeks, I trusted that the 
 morning would end as pleasantly as it had commenced. 
 At present, the brisk wind was blowing the river into 
 tiny wavelets ; and when Erskine mounted the box, 
 and took the reins from the groom, the highly-mettled 
 steeds seemed on their best behaviour. 
 
 As soon as we set off, however, I perceived that his 
 wife had no confidence in his skill. The horses, not 
 having been out the previous day, were very fresh. 
 Sometimes, when talking to us, he became absent, and 
 let the reins hang loose ; then he jerked them sharply, 
 or held them with so tight a hand that the spirit of his 
 coursers fretted against the unnecessary restraint im- 
 posed upon their speed. I now remembered that, in 
 former times, he was famed for being the worst whip 
 in the regiment. If any accident occurred, it was a 
 common question whether Erskine were on the box. 
 
 As usual, my friend piqued himself on the excellence 
 of his driving, and thought nothing of his riding, his 
 really shining talent. I saw his nervous wife start and 
 tremble at the numerous sudden checks and jolts which 
 his unsteady coachmanship occasioned ; but she behaved 
 remarkably well, and did not utter a syllable of com- 
 plaint or expostulation, even when he tm*ned round, 
 and teased her about her timidity.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 149 
 
 He took the lower road by the side of the river, and, 
 after a time, crossed the stream, and appeared to be ap- 
 proaching the mountains. Mrs. Erskine was quite de- 
 lighted, and would not speak, lest any syllable she 
 uttered might make her husband relinquish his purpose 
 of showing me the most romantic part of the scenery. 
 This became very wild, and I was surprised at Er- 
 skine's trusting his carriage in such vile roads. We 
 meandered in and out, among the hills, till his wife 
 said, she had not a conception whither he was taking us. 
 
 At length we emerged from the intricate lanes we 
 had been threading, and again came in sight of the 
 river. It took a sharp turn round a rocky peninsula, 
 which stood boldly forward into the stream, crowned by 
 a very noble -looking mansion. The style of the building 
 was ancient, but it seemed to be in excellent preserva- 
 tion. Here and there, extremely fine old oaks spread 
 their twisted branches over the closely-shaven lawn, 
 breaking the line of the picturesque edifice. A stately 
 terrace-walk extended, in front of this, from end to end, 
 and appeared as if it must afford a magnificent prospect. 
 The commanding eminence, Erskine said, looked over 
 five counties, and was the best place in the neighbour- 
 hood for gaining a correct impression of the nature of 
 the scenery. 
 
 The moment we came within view of the house, 
 beautiful as the scene undoubtedly was, Mrs. Erskine 
 looked disappointed. " Oh, Charles !" she said, " how 
 unkind you are ! You have brought us round to Dinas 
 Court. If you are determined to call there, pray let
 
 150 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 me get out and walk. I dare not venture to drive up 
 to the house. Suppose we should meet any other car- 
 riage ! 
 
 Erskine only laughed at her ; refusing to stop, and 
 declaring that there was no danger. He had intended 
 calling on Mrs. Crumpe, when he left home. It was 
 the prettiest place in the county, and Harry must 
 see it. 
 
 His wife said no more, and, in a few minutes, we 
 turned in at the lodge, which was quite in character 
 with the dwelling-house, a very fine specimen of old 
 English architecture. The road then ascended very 
 steeply, and was so narrow that I did not think Mrs. 
 Erskine's apprehensions at all unreasonable. It was so 
 shaded by trees that we could not see far along it, after 
 passing the lodge ; but, before we got half way to the 
 mansion, we heard another equipage rapidly approach- 
 ing us. 
 
 I saw that Erskine was by no means so self-possessed 
 as he professed to be ; but he persisted in declaring 
 that there was plenty of room, drawing much nearer 
 than I liked to the steep side of the declivity. Mean- 
 while, the carriage of the iron-master's wealthy widow 
 came quickly on ; neither party could turn back, and 
 a collision appeared inevitable, unless, which I doubted, 
 Erskine could keep his horses perfectly steady. 
 
 As I anticipated, they swerved just at the moment 
 when they should have taken up as little room as 
 possible. The wheel went over the bank, and the car- 
 riage was upset — fortunately, with little violence. The
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 151 
 
 strength, of the iron chains and supports which guarded 
 the road, saved us from being precipitated to the bot- 
 tom of the descent. 
 
 My first care was to release Mrs. Erskine. She 
 trembled violently, but had not uttered a scream. No 
 woman could have behaved better. Then I went to 
 help Erskine with the horses, which were kicking and 
 plunging violently. 
 
 It was some time before we could bring them to 
 order. The slow ; pace at which Erskine had been 
 driving had chafed their temper, and now they were 
 ungovernable from terror. With great difficulty, we 
 succeeded in unharnessing them, and they were led 
 away to the stables, while measures were taken to re- 
 medy the injury sustained by the carriage. 
 
 Erskine bore the disaster well. He generally seems 
 in a better humour when things go wrong, than when 
 all lies smooth before him. The accident which had 
 occurred, he whispered, ought rather to be rejoiced at, 
 since it was evidently intended by Providence to in- 
 terest Mrs. Crumpe in my favour. 
 
 She had alighted, of course, and was profuse in her 
 expressions of concern, and hospitable invitations for 
 us all to go with her to the house. Mrs. Erskine en- 
 treated to be allowed to sit upon the grass, till the car- 
 riage was ready ; but neither her husband nor the 
 mistress of Dinas Court would hear of her remaining 
 out of doors. 
 
 Erskine, I saw, contemplated inflicting Mrs. Crumpe 
 upon me ; but his wife was more compassionate, and
 
 162 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 laid her shaking hand upon my arm, when she found 
 that they would not leave her in peace ; so my friend 
 escorted the widow. 
 
 She is just such a person as Mrs. Erskine led me to 
 expect — excessively vulgar, purse-proud, and talkative ; 
 — more like a portly housekeeper in appearance than 
 the owner of her well-appointed residence. Every- 
 thing around her bespeaks wealth, and the mode by 
 which it has been acquired. 
 
 " Now, what will you have ?" she asked, looking 
 good-naturedly at Mrs. Erskine's pale countenance, 
 when we reached the mansion. " You want something 
 terribly, I am sure. Not that nasty Eau de Cologne ! 
 — I am no advocate for stimulants — but just something 
 hot and substantial. There's luncheon in the dining- 
 room ; but I am afraid what is on the table is cold. I 
 took a snack, myself, from the servants' dinner, before 
 I went out — a mouthful of pork and peas — and, I 
 assure you, it was capital. Trafford ! bring us in a 
 little." 
 
 " So much for the aristocracy of trade !" whispered 
 Mrs Erskine to me, as we entered a really splendid 
 dining-hall, filled with family pictui'cs, and hung with 
 arras. The table was spread with every description of 
 delicacy ; but early habit was apparent in the lady's 
 preference for the diet of her domestics. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine declined taking anything. Her hus- 
 band, however, was won over by Mrs. Crumpe to sit 
 down ; and Traiford, having entirely disregarded her 
 suggestion about the pork, handed round the various
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 153 
 
 dishes ; taking care, I observed, not to forget his mis- 
 tress in their distribution, as well as in that of the cham- 
 pagne and burgundy, freely dispensed. 
 
 I persuaded Mrs. Erskine to take a little wine, in 
 spite of Mrs. Crumpe's assurance that it was bad to 
 drink without eating, and that wine always flew to her 
 head if she swallowed it fasting. By way of neutral- 
 ising the effect of the copious supplies which the atten- 
 tive butler poured into her glass, the good lady made a 
 very satisfactory meal in our presence ; always, I per- 
 ceived, preferring the viands which Trafford recom- 
 mended. 
 
 Erskine was in the highest possible spirits, and 
 seemed in no hurry to depart. Mrs. Crumpe was evi- 
 dently pleased with his proposing that she should shew 
 his friend her beautiful place. Edith coijld rest on the 
 sofa in the drawing-room, if she preferred it. I im- 
 plored her not to leave me at the mercy of her husband 
 and this terrible female ; and she yielded, with a lan- 
 guid smile, to my wish. 
 
 When we went out upon the terrace, I was quite 
 dazzled by the brilliancy of the view. The river 
 flowed like liquid gold in the foreground. Towers 
 and pinnacles of rock shot up from the woods along its 
 course. In one direction, the level fertile plains, dotted 
 with pleasant country seats, farms and cottages, peep- 
 ing out from among luxuriant groves, stretched far 
 away — on the other side, rocks and water and foaming 
 cataracts abounded ; and the eye rested, in the dis-
 
 154 
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 tance, on the mountains, which the purple tint of the 
 sunset seemed to bring more prominently forward- 
 To the left of the house there was a romantic fall of 
 the river, which swept on, all boil and foam, over a 
 ledge of rocks, with a perpetual roar very unlike 
 the murmuring song with which it crept over and 
 among the willow branches at Velindra. Mrs. Crumpe 
 said she liked the noise. It put her in mind of the 
 works, which, when she was a girl, had been close at 
 hand. Now that she lived alone, she often wished her 
 late husband had not moved away from where the 
 forges were at play. Night and morning, there was 
 always something going on ; and the fires burned 
 cheerily in the winter. 
 
 I felt so angry with Erskine for the wish he very 
 plainly manifested to recommend me to the widow, that 
 I was barely civil. Pope and Pagan would certainly 
 have been treated more courteously. Fortunately, 
 Mrs. Erskine's indisposition gave me an excuse for 
 bestowing all my attention upon her. By the time 
 that we had finished our inspection of the grounds, she 
 was quite exhausted, and got into the carriage tho- 
 roughly tired, the moment it came round to the door. 
 
 The horses, in spite of Erskine's bad driving, brought 
 us home very quietly. I believe the fright had stea- 
 died them. If he had not persisted in taking us to see 
 that disagreeable woman, his wife observed, in the even- 
 ing, no accident would have occurred. • Unluckily she 
 added, that they had gone delightfully, the last time 
 they were outj when I had driven them.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 155 
 
 I saw that Erskine did not like this remark. They 
 were skittish brutes^ he said, not half so suitable for 
 her as the old ones with which they had parted. He 
 should sell them, on the first opportunity, and buy 
 some mules. No other animals were quiet enough for 
 such a coward as herself to drive in her carriage. 
 
 " Did I speak one word ?" she said, much agitated. 
 " Is he not too provoking, Captain Tudor ? He over- 
 turns me down a bank, and, but for your stopping the 
 horses, would have broken all our necks ; and then 
 finds fault with me for the consequences of his own un- 
 skilfulness. I never will go out "with him again !" 
 
 She burst into tears. Erskine walked about the 
 room, in a passion. I felt thoroughly uncomfortable. 
 It was impossible, I said, for any lady to have behaved 
 better, and shown more presence of mind, than Mrs. 
 Erskine. The accident might have been a very serious 
 one. If Mrs. Crumpe had so much wealth at her dis- 
 posal, it was a pity that she did not alter the approach 
 to her residence. 
 
 As I expected, the mention of her name in some de- 
 gree restored good humour. Erskine enquired what I 
 thought of the place, and whether its mistress was not 
 still a fine-looking woman. 
 
 " Do not talk of the odious creature !" said Mrs. 
 Erskine, half laughing, half crying. " I shall not 
 easily forget Captain Tudor's face of amazement, when 
 he first saw her. I declare, the good-looking butler 
 and she are much better suited to each other." 
 
 " Trafibrd is a formidable rival,'* remarked Erskine,
 
 156 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 gravely. " Did you notice how he pointed out all the 
 choice morceaux to his mistress ? The pork and peas 
 had not spoiled her appetite for lighter fare. Only 
 fancy the respectable lady sitting down to that splendid 
 repast, and begging for a slice of her servants' dinner 
 in preference ! It is my belief that she expected 
 Tudor, and I am certain she was pleased with his ap- 
 pearance. I will wager my existence that we have an 
 invitation to dinner, before he leaves us !" 
 
 I assured Mrs. Erskine that she need not apprehend 
 being exposed, on my account, to the dangerous ascent 
 of the hill. Even Dinas Court would not tempt me to 
 sell my freedom. I decidedly preferred Sally and the 
 Pastures. 
 
 Erskine carried on the joke for some time longer ; 
 and, I believe, he seriously entertains the idea that it 
 would be a capital thing for me. I am beginning, how- 
 ever, to think that an ill-assorted marriage is a still 
 worse evil than absolute solitude ; and would not ex- 
 change my portion for my friend's ; much less, for the 
 alliance he proposes. All the romance of his life is at 
 an end ; and liis wife, who probably nourished greater 
 illusions on the subject, from being of a more imagina- 
 tive disposition, is still more fatally undeceived. 
 
 Erskine found it impossible to get off his shooting 
 engagement, yesterday. His friend had invited a part^^ 
 to meet him at dinner, and though he always grumbles 
 at having to go out, he is evidently fond of society. 
 He left strict orders, when he departed, that Mrs. Er- 
 skine was not to take out the new carriage-horses. As
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 157 
 
 he was unable to drive himself, he felt certain that an 
 accident would happen. 
 
 His wife did not appear as apprehensive as he accuses 
 her of being ; and laid all the blame of what had oc- 
 curred on Mrs. Crumpe's inconveniently-planned drive. 
 Nothing should induce her to go to Dinas Court again, 
 until it was altered. We walked down to the pretty little 
 village I passed through in coming here ; and saun- 
 tered about the churchyard, reading the quaint epi- 
 taphs, and watching the sun-light fade and the shadows 
 creep over the distant mountains and across the grass, 
 until their length reminded us that it was dinner-time. 
 Mrs. Erskine said we might think it fortiinate that her 
 husband was not at home, waiting for us ; when the clock 
 in the dra,wing-room showed that we were a quarter of 
 an hour beyond the accustomed period. Like most idle 
 men, Erskine makes a great point of being punctual, 
 on these occasions. Though he knows not what to do 
 with his time, he is miserable if five minutes be lost in 
 setting down to dinner. If he invites her to walk with 
 him, he will not wait a second, while his wife is putting 
 on her bonnet ; and either sets off without her, or calls 
 for her, till the poor woman cannot tie the strings. It 
 was a luxury to dine with the windows open, and feel 
 the soft air breathing in from the river. 
 
 Erskine came back early, and said that he had had a 
 very agreeable party. Mrs. Crumpe, nevertheless, was 
 the only lady-guest present, and she had been invited 
 to keep the mistress of the house in countenance, at 
 table. They had not appeared after dinner.
 
 158 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 It was, in fact, what Erskine likes and I detest, a 
 man's party. But for my being his visitor, I suspect 
 that he would not have been at home so early. He was 
 in very good spirits, and assured me, by way of raising 
 mine, that Mrs. Crumpe and the obliging butler were 
 equally delighted with me. She had told him that 
 Traffbrd, who was an excellent physiognomist, had 
 taken quite a fancy to his friend ; and he had had fa- 
 mous sport all dinner-time, teasing her about me. 
 
 He did not say any more last night ; but this morn- 
 ing, Mrs. Erskine told me, before breakfast, that he 
 had actually accepted for me, as well as for themselves, 
 an invitation to Dinas Court. There was no time to 
 send an excuse ; indeed, she assured me that she had 
 said all she could against our going ; but her husband 
 was so positively bent upon it, that he would never for- 
 give either of us, if we did not comply. When one of 
 these obstinate whims takes possession of his mind, 
 there seems to be no possibility of diverting him from it. 
 
 I felt as much, perhaps even more provoked than 
 she did; and again represented to Erskine, when he 
 came down, my wish to avoid introductions ; but he was 
 quite as impracticable as his wife had declared would 
 be the case. There was no party, and I already knew 
 Mrs. Crumpe. It was out of the question to send an 
 excuse, half an hour before dinner-time. He had ac- 
 cepted the invitation, and ive must go. 
 
 The drive was thl^plcasantest part of the affair. As 
 Mrs. Crumpe wa# forewarned of our arrival, there 
 could be no danger of meeting her carriage ; and the
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 159 
 
 people at the lodge assured us that the avenue was, 
 quite clear. We had leisure to admire the extreme 
 beauty of the trees, and of the bold ascent which occa- 
 sioned the inconvenience of the steep approach to the 
 mansion. 
 
 ' The covers were all taken off from the furniture ; 
 and the old iron-master's relict received us in great 
 state. Her neck and arms, fully displayed, shone with 
 jewels ; and I thought she looked a little affronted at 
 Mrs. Erskine's simple muslin dress. 
 
 When Trafford announced that dinner was served, 
 we found a magnificent repast, from which daylight 
 was excluded, in order that the numerous candelabra 
 might show off the massive plate to advantage. A ser- 
 vant waited behind each of our chairs ; while the at- 
 tentive butler devoted himself especially to his mistress, 
 and, as Erskine insinuated, to me ; handing me every 
 dish that pleased her fancy, and assuring me, sotto-voce, 
 that I should find it excellent. 
 
 The whole affair, in my opinion, was an equal display 
 of wealth and bad taste. When the ladies retired, 
 Trafford still lavished his assiduities, as well as the 
 choicest contents of his mistress's cellar, upon us, ap- 
 pearing to have felt it to be his duty perfectly to 
 ascertain the merits of each particular vintage. Never 
 have I seen a more accomplished butler ; and his well- 
 sounding name and gentlemanlike bearing, made him 
 seem infinitely more deserving of a ^sition at the head 
 of the establishment, than the widow. * I believe, it was
 
 160 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 only the natural courtesy of his disposition which 
 caused him to allow himself to be her inferior. 
 
 It was wonderful how much Erskine and our hostess 
 found to say to each other, when, in spite of Trafford's 
 solicitations, we followed the ladies to the drawing- 
 room. His wife was quite curious to know what they 
 could be talking about, in a whisper, while they occu- 
 pied one of the soft gorgeously-covered, painted-velvet 
 couches, opposite to us : — Mrs. Crumpe's fat arms, 
 loaded with bracelets, and clumsily folded, as she sat 
 upright; and Erskine resting his hand on the carved 
 wood at the back, and leaning towards her. 
 
 When their colloquy was at an end, Erskine, with 
 the widow's permission, did the honours of the splendid 
 collection of pictures, mostly by the old masters. Mrs. 
 Crumpe said, her husband had bought them in a lump, 
 with the Vandykes in the dining-room, from the former 
 family. She hardly knew one from the other ; but, 
 now that she had had them brushed up and newly 
 framed, she thought they furnished the walls. 
 
 The whole suite of apartments w^as lighted ; and 
 Erskine showed off the curiosities and costly bijouterie 
 contained there, with great enthusiasm. AMiilc he was 
 pointing out to his wife some new toy which she had 
 not seen, I found myself at the mercy of the widow ; 
 and, out of civility, was forced to talk to her. 
 
 She had seated herself;—! conclude, not feeling very 
 active after dinner ; — and was twirling her short fingers, 
 so as to display her rings. I scarcely knew what to 
 say ; but she began the conversation by asking if I did
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. l6l 
 
 not think tliat Mrs. Erskine grew thinner every day ; 
 and that the dress she wore was monstrously unbecoming 
 to her. 
 
 It was difficult to combine politeness, in my answer, 
 with perfect veracity. By the side of Mrs. Crumpe, 
 any lady might have looked thin ; and Edith's modestly 
 covered shoulders pleased my eye better than the stout 
 widow's low-cut satin bodice. Nevertheless, she cer- 
 tainly is right in considering that my interesting little 
 hostess is too slight. 
 
 " She wants some one, like my man Trafford, to look 
 after her, and see that she gets what she likes for din- 
 ner !" observed Mrs. Crumpe, with a significant nod. 
 " Your friend, Major Erskine, does not know how to 
 treat her. I don't think Mm looking well ; and he is 
 very fanciful about diet. If there's one thing better 
 than another at table, he calls it unwholesome ; but I 
 notice that he generally partakes of it. He has a very 
 good appetite; and forgets the difierence between a 
 man like himself, and a delicate creature, who eats no 
 more than a sparrow. I can't say that I like his way 
 of remarking about everything one puts upon one's 
 plate ; and declaring that it would be the death of him 
 to touch a morsel. Perhaps his wife would take more, 
 if he did not tease her ; and, after all, it is nourishing 
 things she wants, and the more of them the better !" 
 
 I was inclined to agree with the widow, that Erskine » 
 on this point as well as others, did not understand the 
 management of his wife. Mrs. Crumpe went on very 
 fluently, and in a still more confidential tone. 
 
 VOL. 1. M
 
 16^ LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ^^ It made me quite uncomfortable to see tlie poor 
 thing eat so bad a dinner ; TrafFord handing all that 
 was tempting to her, and looking quite mortified at her 
 constant refusals ! I don't count as anything that flimsy 
 croquet which she let you put upon her plate ; and as 
 for the nonsense of Rhine wines that she seems to fancy, 
 I dare say they act upon her constitution like vinegar, 
 and do her more harm than good. It is a bad practice, 
 Captain Tudor, too much cannot be said against it, 
 when ladies like Mrs. Erskine, who have more spirits 
 than strength, keep themselves up by three or four 
 glasses of wine. It grows upon them, till they cannot 
 do without it, and soon learn to increase the quantity, 
 or empty the flacons in their dressing-cases, the moment 
 they feel languid and out of sorts !" 
 
 Though there was sound sense in the widow's re- 
 marks, I did not see that they applied in the least to 
 the present occasion, and I very indignantly refuted the 
 idea of the possibility she intimated. 
 
 '^ That is just like a man ! I saw you doing your 
 best to persuade her to take more champagne than was 
 good for her ; and yet you would be the first to be 
 shocked, if she exceeded the allowance you judged 
 proper. Erskine thinks wine decidedly bad for her, 
 and recommended, by my advice, ale or porter ; but 
 she will not touch either. I told him not to mention 
 my name. I know I am not a favourite ; but I rather 
 think his prescribing a thing is enough to make her 
 dislike it. They do not agree on this or on any other 
 subject. People as thin as she is, seldom have even
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 163 
 
 tempers. We shall hear of something disagreeable in 
 that quarter !" 
 
 The fat lady nodded her head and twirled her thumbs, 
 on each of which a large ring was set, more diligently 
 than ever. I began to dislike her excessively, and as- 
 sured her that I saw no reason to apprehend anything 
 disastrous at Yelindra. 
 
 " Oh, you think them a happy couple ? "Well, I 
 can't say I do ! — but I don't understand much about it. 
 Having been an old man's darling, Captain Tudor, I 
 am perhaps a little spoiled ; and Trafford does his best 
 to supply his master's place, as far as trifling attentions, 
 which all ladies expect at the dinner table, are con- 
 cerned. ^ Never let your mistress's glass stand empty!' 
 was poor dear Mr. Crumpe's constant direction; ' and 
 always fill it to the brim ! Ladies do not like to ask 
 for more.' He had a kind way, too, of always wishing 
 me to take wine with him. Ah, one misses these little 
 delicate politenesses, when they are gone ! Mr. Crumpe 
 was a good man. Captain Tudor. I never knew half 
 his value till I lost him ; and now, I sometimes think, 
 all the rest is dross !" 
 
 The lady looked round her gilded and iQuminated 
 halls, nevertheless, with great complacency. I was 
 burning with impatience ; for I saw that Erskine was 
 keeping back his wife, and making her look at the 
 ornaments and pictures, in order not to interrupt our 
 tete-a-tete. 
 
 " Having married a very elderly man, to please my 
 parents," the widow went on, yet more familiarly, " I 
 
 M 2
 
 164 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 am now at liberty to gratify myself, and enjoy my free- 
 dom vastly ; but still there are times when one feels 
 lonely. Kot that I am a nervous person, Hke Mrs. 
 Erskine, full of fancies ! I am sorry to hear from her 
 husband that she cannot exist without that smeUing- 
 bottlc, and all kinds of tonics and stimulants, very bad 
 for her, in my opinion ! When I am tired, I sit down. 
 Just now, for instance, I don't like so much moving 
 about ; but there she has been standing, this hour, 
 looking at all my nonsense of pictures and trumpery, and 
 talking, — don't you think so ? — a little flightily for a 
 married woman ?" 
 
 She eyed me very keenly, and threw a spiteful glance 
 at Edith. I suspect she had found time, during her 
 apparently earnest colloquy with Erskine, to watch her 
 opposite neighbour's animated countenance ; and that' 
 as I was the only single man present, she considered 
 me her property ; and did not approve of my paying 
 more attention to Mrs. Erskine than to herself. I said 
 gravely, that I admired the lively manners of my friend's 
 wife excessively. 
 
 " Yes ! she gets up her spirits amazingly, when there 
 are gentlemen in the room, and is just their style of 
 beauty, I dare say, though too thin to please some tastes," 
 persisted Mrs. Crumpe, with increasing ill - nature. 
 ** Not quite so pleasant, at all times, to her husband, I 
 fancy ; but women with such very lively manners and 
 weakly constitutions, are not the best companions for 
 more than a day or two. They make themselves up 
 for the moment, but have no stamina to fall back upon.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 165 
 
 It is mighty difficult to understand them ; — to fit them, 
 — as their dressmakers would say. For my part, 
 I should be sorry to live with your agreeable friend ; 
 though no one knows how to be more entertaining in a 
 tete-d-tete, and when she chooses." 
 
 Whatever Erskine might think on the subject, Mrs. 
 Crumpe did not appear to me to possess the art of 
 making herself agreeable, of which she accused his wife. 
 I crossed the room abruptly, on pretence of examining 
 the cabinet before which they were standing. Both 
 Edith and I were thankful when the time arrived for 
 our departure. 
 
 The fires from the u'on-works blazed in different 
 directions, and dusky figures were darting about, like 
 so many demons, between us and the light, as, avoiding 
 the winding lanes on our return, we traversed a deso- 
 late-looking common. I thought over Mrs. Crumpe's 
 ill-natured observations, till I wished that I could throw 
 her into the open-mouthed, yawning furnaces, where 
 the fires, as she said, burned cheerily all the night, and 
 the forge-hammers were noisily at play.
 
 166 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Erskine was in the breakfast-room before us, and 
 seemed in high good-humour, the morning afterwards. 
 It was very evident that the widow's excellent fare and 
 generous wines had not soured his temper. There 
 had been no detestable Marsala, or inferior claret ; 
 no resuscitated entrees on the table, he observed. Every- 
 thing was of the best ; or, if one dish were superior to 
 another, you had only to watch Trafford's countenance, 
 and see what he pointed out to his mistress's attention, 
 in order to discover the honne-houche of the feast. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine did not make her appearance for some 
 time, and, as usual, was of a contrary humour to her 
 husband. She looked very languid and unwell. The 
 length of the drive had tired her, and the intolerable 
 heat of the rooms at Dinas Court had given her a 
 dreadful headache. 
 
 Her husband was more than commonly attentive ; 
 but nothing pleased her. She shut the window, saying 
 there was fog in the au*, and that it chilled her. Ers- 
 kine asserted that the grey morning was a certain 
 augury of fine weather. In half an hour the sun would 
 be out. He had no doubt it was shining brilliantly 
 now on the mountains.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 167 
 
 " It may be so !" his wife said petulantly, with the 
 air of a nervous person, reminded of a long-cherished, 
 oft-disappointed wish ; " but it is very disagreeable 
 here by the river. I am certain this low, damp situa- 
 tion is killing me. It is very hard to feel as ill as I do, 
 and to know that there is life and health within a few 
 miles, which I am not permitted to reach ?" 
 
 Her eyes filled with tears. Erskine, on the contrary, 
 seemed quite happy. " AYhat will you give me, Edith, 
 if I tell you that I have been planning an excursion 
 to the mountains, while Tudor is with us ?" he en- 
 quired. 
 
 His wife's eyes sparkled with delight. She clapped 
 her hands, and laughed. " How very, very delightful ! 
 Are you really serious, Charles ?" she said, looking quite 
 affectionately at her husband ; while a bright colour 
 rushed to her cheeks, and made her appear almost 
 beautiful. " Are you sure that you are not saying this 
 to tantalise me ?" 
 
 " No, indeed !" he answered. " I have made up 
 my mind, if you really feel equal to it, and Tudor will 
 go with us, to spend the rest of the week in a tour 
 among the blue hills you look at so lovingly. Are you 
 sure you are well enough to venture." 
 
 " I do not feel as if I could ever be ill and nervous 
 again," she said, gratefully. " I am so much obliged 
 to you for thinking of it. When will the phaeton come 
 back from the coachmaker's ? — How soon shall we be 
 able to set off? — The moment I breathe the mountain 
 air, I am certain that I shall feel quite strong."
 
 168 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " It really seems to have done her good to think of 
 it/' said Erskine, looking from his wife's glowing face 
 to me. " What an enthusiastic creature you are, Edith ; 
 and how well Mrs. Crumpe understands you ! It was 
 her suggestion ; and I believe she was quite right in 
 considering that a change of this kind would do you 
 more good than anything. The good lady was quite 
 shocked at your want of appetite, and says you grow 
 thinner every time she sees you." 
 
 *^ How can you talk about that odious woman, when 
 I am thinking only of our delightful excursion ?" asked 
 his wife, her good humour damped by the mention of 
 the object of our united aversion. " What does she 
 know respecting my health or tastes ? Pray do not 
 speak of me to her ! Was that what you were convers- 
 ing about so earnestly on the sofa ?" she added, re- 
 covering her temper, and smiling archly. 
 
 " Not exclusively," said Erskine. " I am not going 
 to tell you all that the gay widow and I say to each 
 other. Part of our colloquy was of a very confidential 
 nature. One thing is settled, however. If we go to 
 the mountains, Mrs. Crumpe must be of the party. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine looked quite overwhelmed and bitterly 
 disappointed. " You cannot be serious. I would 
 rather give it up. To have that detestable woman 
 associated with all my recollections of the places I have 
 so longed to visit ! To see Mrs. Crumpe rising up 
 before me whenever I think of the mountains ! No, 
 indeed, Charles ! If such a person is to be there, to 
 spoil our pleasant trio^ I would far rather not go at all."
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 16^ 
 
 " It would not be a party, without Mrs. Crumpe and 
 Trafford !" exclaimed Erskine. " How can you be so 
 silly ? I certainly shall not alter my arrangements. I 
 tell you, from first to last, the proposal was hers. What 
 her motives may be, I do not say ; but you are in- 
 debted to her for putting the scheme into my head, and 
 convincing me that it would do you all the good in the 
 world. Most positively, I shall not think of going 
 without the handsome widow. She and Trafford un- 
 dertake the provision department, and remove all trou- 
 ble off your hands. As she very kindly observed, you 
 would not be equal to it ; and a good deal of prepara- 
 tion is necessary, before venturing among those deso- 
 late places, where money will not purchase what is 
 wanted." 
 
 " An idea worthy of Mrs. Crumpe !" remarked Mrs. 
 Erskine, contemptuously. '' Say no more about it. 
 I was pleased with the idea, when I thought that you 
 undertook the expedition to gratify me ; but all my 
 satisfaction is gone, now that she is associated with it. 
 I am certain Captain Tudor is not more in favour of 
 such an ill-assorted party than myself." 
 
 Ever since the widow^s name was mentioned, I had 
 been longing to get ofi". I now hastened to say that I 
 feared my staying away from home for so protracted 
 a period was out of the question. 
 
 *' Nonsense, my dear fellow !" answered Erskine. 
 " I must have you and Mrs. Crumpe. Edith will be 
 reasonable directly. I do not take the trouble of 
 planning an excursion of this sort every day. I am
 
 170 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 certain we shall have glorious weather, and that we 
 shall enjoy ourselves amazingly. You have not an 
 idea what an appetite a walk among the mountains 
 awakens. It will be no bad thing, I assure you, to 
 find Mrs. Crumpe and TrafFord with the provision- 
 baskets, when we come back from exploring the rocks 
 and caverns. She goes in her own carriage, with the 
 butler and the champagne ; and will be the life of the 
 party. Seriously, Edith, when I have been at some 
 trouble to please you, I wish that you woidd take 
 things a little more good-humouredly." 
 
 Mrs. Erskine tried to rally. The desire usually 
 predominant with her to visit the romantic district near 
 them was returning. " If you had not invited Mrs. 
 Crumpe, how much I should have enjoyed it," she 
 said. " Surely, you might have guessed that her pre- 
 sence would spoil all my pleasure." 
 
 " Well, if you are to have the mountains and water- 
 falls, it is very hard not to allow me the widow's 
 society," replied Erskine, laughing, while his wife 
 nearly cried with vexation. " I certainly was not think- 
 ing of you, or even of myself, when I asked her to go 
 — indeed, she herself proposed it. I hate being selfish ; 
 and she evidently appeared to think it a pal'ticularly 
 well-arranged ^ar^ie carree.^^ 
 
 I was about to speak, but Erskine prevented me. 
 " Edith is yielding !" he said. " The kobolds and 
 gnomes have got hold of her. Depend upon it, the 
 mountains are quite worth seeing, even with Mrs. 
 Crumpe in the foreground. At aU events, you cannot
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 171 
 
 visit them this year, without her. I will not have her 
 affronted." 
 
 The argument did not last much longer. Erskine, — 
 though his wife would not signify her positive consent, 
 — strolled off to give orders about the carriage. Edith 
 had gone through such a struggle, in getting over her 
 repugnance to the widow's being included in the party, 
 that, when I found that she meant to go, and was be- 
 ginning to enjoy the prospect, I could not occasion her 
 a fresh disappointment. She said that she depended 
 upon my protecting her from her enemy. 
 
 Erskine's prophecy about the weather was fulfilled. 
 During the whole of our expedition, not a drop of 
 rain descended. What was a still greater wonder, the 
 mountains were unobscured by mist. By dexterous 
 management, his clever little wife kept him in good 
 humour, and we saw very little of Mrs. Crump e the 
 first day. Her carriage being heavier than our own, 
 and bearing, in addition to the weight of her person, 
 the stores of which Tr afford was the purveyor, kept 
 necessarily at some distance behind us. 
 
 They came up with us at the only moment of the day 
 when their presence could be considered desirable. 
 According to the laws of civilized society, it was as 
 nearly as possible dinner-time. We had been rambling 
 about for hours, and Edith was satisfied that even, under 
 the present circumstances, with the alloy of Mrs. 
 Crumpe, the mountains were well worth seeing. The 
 sun was going down behind their purple summits, and 
 a cascade thundering in the glen below us afforded
 
 172 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 music for our rural banquet; while the clear water 
 cooled our champagne, when Trafford unpacked the 
 baskets. 
 
 Mrs. Crumpe was in excellent spirits. She had 
 taken things leisurely, and appeared, in her own way, 
 to have enjoyed them. She sat down, with her back to 
 the mountains, and made a capital dinner, though she 
 had not earned the appetite to give it zest by clamber- 
 ing as much as we had done. Erskine was unusually 
 agreeable ; and there was an absurdity about the jovial 
 widow and the attentive butler, contrasted with the 
 savage grandeur of the scene, which made his wife and 
 myself laugh, almost against our will, every time we 
 looked at her or at each other. 
 
 When we set forward again, Mrs. Crumpe made a 
 violent effort to persuade me to occupy one of the va- 
 cant seats in the barouche. It was dull, she remarked, 
 to be alone, after such pleasant company. Erskine 
 seconded the motion ; but I was obdurate. After the 
 number of times I had seen Trafford fill her glass with 
 champagne, I would not have trusted myself with her 
 for the universe. She was capable, mth the butler's 
 assistance, of carrying me off, and marrying me by force. 
 They might have plied me with the contents of the 
 long-necked bottles peeping out of the well-packed 
 hampers, until I should find myself endowed with the 
 wealthy widow's goods and chattels without knowing 
 how it had been accomplished. I could not deny that 
 Trafford was exceedingly attentive, nor that the widow.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 173 
 
 after the fifth, brimming goblet, looked more than ten- 
 derly at me. 
 
 I greatly preferred my original seat in Mrs. Erskine's 
 light carriage. Though the roads were bad, we got on 
 quickly, and our drive was exquisitely beautiful. We 
 were now in the heart of the mountains. Switzerland 
 Itself is not wilder ; and the little hamlets peeping out 
 from tufted trees, the foaming waterfalls and picturesque 
 bridges thrown across from crag to crag, realized 
 Edith's most sanguine anticipations of the romantic 
 scenery which she had longed to explore. Her ail- 
 ments were all cured ; her fears were laid aside ; even 
 Mrs. Crumpe was forgotten. She had not a wish un- 
 gratified. If ever I visit those spots again, I shall 
 imagine that I see her sweet countenance fuU of happy 
 enthusiasm, her bright eyes sparkling with animation, as 
 the moon rose and shone upon her face, bringing out 
 fresh beauties there and in the landscape, which the en- 
 vious twilight had hidden. 
 
 Our resting-place for the night was a little inn, built 
 by the proprietor of a neighbouring estate for the ac- 
 commodation of his friends' servants and horses ; his 
 own residence being a mere cottage in a singularly 
 lonely spot, of which the natural beauties had been 
 augmented by planting. The river which we had fol- 
 lowed here widened into a small lake, on whose placid 
 waters and silvery sands the moonbeams rested. 
 Thriving woods clothed the hills which sloped more 
 gently down, with the grand mountain barrier in the 
 distance. There were no jagged rocks or foaming
 
 174 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 waterfalls. Only the ripple of the lake, and the sigh- 
 ing of the ti'ees in the night- wind, disturbed the absolute 
 silence of the place. 
 
 Oui" arrival created considerable confusion. It 
 was with some difficulty that we could procure accom- 
 modation for oiu'selves ; and Erskinc was bent upon 
 attending to the widow's interests. His wife and I did 
 our best to con'S'ince him that she would be more com- 
 fortably established, Vith Trafford and the fat coach- 
 man, at the small town farther on, where travellers 
 usually halted ; but he said the party must not be sepa- 
 rated. AMiile we were debating the point, !Mrs. Crumpe 
 drove up. KSS. difficulties vanished before TraffiDrd's 
 insinuating manners. The pretty hostess was speedily 
 won over ; the horses and ourselves carefully housed ; 
 and, by the time that the ladies had taken off their 
 bonnets, the board was spread with a mingled repast, 
 in which tea and supper were united. Various moun- 
 tain luxuries, lish from the lake, cresses from the brook, 
 esrsrs and a brace of moor fowl, which the sasjacious 
 Trafford had laid "violent hands upon and purchased on 
 tlie road, joined to the stores he had brought with him, 
 were ai'rangcd, in a very orderly manner, on the un- 
 bleached clotli spread over the long deal table, in the 
 large room appropriated to tourists and pic-nic parties. 
 Erskine declared himself voraciously hungry, and 
 hii^hlv commended Trailord's luirivallcd skill in fo- 
 raging. His wife, on the contrary, was quite disgusted 
 with the idea of eating. They seemed to her to think 
 of nothing else. She took only a cup of tea, and sat
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 175 
 
 apart from the table, where she was able to see the 
 moon shining on the quiet waters of the lake. I could 
 catch a glimpse of it myself, from the place I occupied 
 at the corner nearest to her ; and, without carrying 
 my abstemiousness quite so far as she did, I certainly 
 thought that we might have dispensed with a display 
 more suitable to Dinas Court, than to the inn parlour. 
 ■ Meanwhile, Erskine and the widow seemed to have 
 changed characters with us, and found fault with 
 nothing. They talked and ate as if dinner had been a 
 thing unknown, and they had not tasted food since they 
 started from home. No wonder the mountain air is 
 famed for its salubrity. Its effect upon their appetites 
 was positively startling. When Mrs. Crumpe took her 
 third slice of melon, and Erskine, who has not touched 
 fruit or supper for years, began to attack the peaches 
 Trafford had brought from the splendid gardens at 
 Dinas Court, I thought Edith would have fainted. 
 
 They would not go to bed, and we were heartily 
 tired of their jokes and laughter. What had amused 
 us in the middle of the day, now wearied us ; and we 
 both longed to exchange the close parlour for a moon- 
 light ramble on the shore of the lake. It would, how- 
 ever, have been a farce to propose such a thing. Mrs. 
 Crumpe's presence was the destruction of sentiment. 
 Erskine suggested that w^e should have a rubber ; and 
 told me Mrs. Crumpe was the best whist-player in the 
 county. I pleaded utter ignorance. Edith positively 
 refused to play, though Trafford had not omitted to 
 bring two packs of cards, in case, as the widow ex-
 
 176 LEWELL PASTrHES. 
 
 pressed it, a rainy day should throw us upon our own 
 resources. At last^ at a late hour, we separated for the 
 night. 
 
 The window of the small room assigned to me faced 
 the east. I woke at my usual time, and saw the sun 
 rising opposite. Its first beams dispersed the vapours, 
 and as it ascended higher, the mountain peaks changed 
 their colouring every moment. A very dark, heath- 
 covered hill rose abruptly in front of them. At its 
 base, a bridge crossed the stream, close to its junction 
 with the lake. It was a high single arch, meant only 
 for foot passengers, and singularly steep and narrow. 
 A path shadowed by trees wound from its farther ex- 
 tremity upward among the hills. 
 
 Not expecting any of the others to be stirring for 
 some hours, I set off on a ramble by myself. The morn- 
 ing air was invigoratingly sharp and fresh. By the 
 time when breakfast and my lazy friends would be 
 ready, I foresaw that I should have an appetite to rival 
 Erskine, or even the widow. 
 
 The breath of that pure mountain wind made me 
 long to shake off all trammels, and bidding adieu to the 
 whole party, start alone on a pedestrian expedition to 
 the still far-off peaks, rising fairy-like in the blue ether. 
 Just as I was thinking "v\dth calm superiority of my fel- 
 low-travellers, imagining them all buried in sleep, and 
 losing the finest part of the day, I met, to my surprise, 
 Mrs. Erskine, returning from the walk upon wliich I 
 was then setting forth. The first day-beam, she said, 
 had aroused her ; she had been too much excited to
 
 LETVELL PASTURES. 177 
 
 sleep, and had left her curtains open. The moment 
 she saw the grey mountain-chain, and remembered 
 where she was, she could not remain quiet. 
 
 There was an opening in the woods exactly opposite 
 to her window ; and between the trees, the highest ac- 
 clivity in the district rose up sharp and clear in outline, 
 with the watercourses streaking its sides, and the morn- 
 ing mist sleeping in the valley at its base. It seemed 
 to pierce the skies. What would she not give to climb 
 it! 
 
 We took a long ramble ; sometimes losing, then again 
 falling in with the woodland paths, — different views 
 opening upon us at every step. I saw more of the cha- 
 racter of the scenery, and understood it better, during 
 that morning walk, than in all the rest of our excursion. 
 Having made the circuit of the lake, we found ourselves 
 on the top of the hill at the back of the inn. A pre- 
 cipitous descent brought us to the level of the water. 
 
 The inmates of the place, and our own party, were 
 all astir. Tr afford was laying the breakfast- table. The 
 fish for which, he said. Major Erskine and Mrs. Crumpe 
 had preferred waiting, were broiling at the fire, and 
 Mrs. Crumpe was sitting in an arm-chair, outside the 
 door, reading the newspaper. Her butler, who always 
 thought of everything, had brought a file with him ; 
 and, though they were old ones, she preferred them to 
 any other reading. 
 
 Erskine called us in to breakfast, before we had re- 
 arranged our toilette, after our walk. He and Mrs. 
 Crumpe were both seated at table, impatient to com- 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 mence operations. Fortunately, we were in a better 
 humour to second them. So much time, however, was 
 lost, that it was nearly mid-day, before we were again 
 upon the road. 
 
 • We saw more of the widow, this day, than the pre- 
 ceding one. Either the monstrous consumption of 
 viands had lightened the carriage, or she was deter- 
 mined to keep up with us. The fat coachman did not 
 spare his horses. When we stopped to bait at a rude 
 hovel, at the entrance of a stony pass, — the only dwell- 
 ing for miles round, — Mrs. Crumpe was close behind 
 us. She was more actively inclined than usual, and 
 joined us in our walk, while the horses were resting. 
 
 I shall not easily forgive Erskine the trick he played 
 me, in first sending me back to bespeak dinner on our 
 return, and then running oiF with his wife during my 
 absence. Mrs. Crumpe alone had the politeness to wait 
 for me. Trafford was in attendance, carrying her um- 
 brella and a very solid sketching-stool, together with a 
 rather suspicious-looking basket. 
 
 He kept at a respectful distance, however ; and now 
 and then, when his mistress stopped to recover breath, 
 seemed to survey the scenery with wondering admira- 
 tion. . He had certainly been too well tutored to inter- 
 fere with conversation, and is, in his own way, a man 
 of talent, and full of resources. 
 
 We caught sight of Erskine and Edith farther down 
 the dell, on the opposite side of a streamlet, which was 
 narrow and rapid, and spanned by another threadlike
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 179 
 
 bridge. Mrs. Crumpe very naturally hesitated about 
 trusting herself upon it. 
 
 " I believe there is room/' she said ; " but I am not 
 such a whisp of a thing as Mrs. Erskine. However, I 
 am very sure-footed, and not nervous ; that makes a 
 difference." 
 
 I offered, if she preferred returning to the inn, to go 
 forward and tell the others of her change of intention ; 
 but Mrs. Crumpe seemed rather affronted by the sug- 
 gestion, and crossed the mountain-bridge with the tread 
 of an ox. The fabric shook to its foundation, but sur- 
 vived the trial. I should think, after the widow, it 
 may be considered strong enough to bear any weight. 
 
 We had lost time* during our discussion. Erskine and 
 his wife were a long way before us ; though, occasion- 
 ally, the abrupt turns and windings of the pathway 
 gave us a glimpse of them. Edith waved her hand- 
 kerchief encouragingly ; but her husband had her arm 
 within his own, and drew her on. When I saw them 
 both laughing, Mrs. Crumpe had not an idea what a 
 narrow escape she had of being precipitated down the 
 rocks into the stony channel of the streamlet through 
 the glen. 
 
 I could not help saying — not very courteously — that 
 I wished Erskine and his wife had waited for us. It 
 was provoking to see, and not to be able to speak to 
 them. 
 
 Mrs. Crumpe, however, thought that married people 
 were best left to themselves. They seemed getting on 
 remarkably well. It was quite like a bridal excursion ; 
 
 >.' o
 
 180 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 only their honeymoon, poor things ! had been a good 
 while over ; and hers had been spent at Bristol, among 
 the deceased iron-master's relations. 
 
 He had been t«o busy a man, she said, to take her 
 many pleasure-excursions. His maxim was, that time 
 is money ; and he had worked hard to the last, — was 
 taken ill when he was looking down a mining shaft ; 
 and carried to the grave by his own work-people. Half 
 the county had attended his funeral. 
 
 Having killed and buried her first husband, -v^-ith all 
 proper formalities, the widow made an alarming attack 
 upon my affections, in order to procure a second. The 
 modestest man in England could not have mistaken her 
 business-like mode of proceeding.' She began with 
 mentioning the exact amount of her income ; then stated 
 very intelligibly the sources, in mining and railway 
 shares, funded and landed property, from which it was 
 derived ; and only just stopped short of offering to be- 
 stow it upon me. 
 
 " It is not wronging the memory of that blessed man, 
 Captain Tudor, to give him a successor. Mr. Crumpe's 
 greatest wish was to make me comfortable ; and, as he 
 said, when a man dies, he leaves a hiatus in his wife's 
 bosom, which it is a compliment to him to see filled up. 
 Every farthing is at my own disposal, and would be 
 settled, if I thousfht of such a thins: as a second mar- 
 riage, exactly as my confidence in the object of my 
 affection might dictate. I have sometimes, I confess, 
 lately, thought very seriously of following Mr. Crumpe's
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 181 
 
 advice, and making some deserving young man the 
 sharer of my wealth/' 
 
 TrafFord was lounging in the distance. Perhaps he 
 was aware of his mistress's intentions, and had been 
 placed there to cut off my retreat. Edith was out of 
 sight — I seemed, in a manner, at the widow's mercy. 
 As I remained perfectly silent, she went on. 
 
 " It is natural that I should prefer a young man, if 
 I marry again. Mr. Crumpe had greatly the advan- 
 tage of me. He was quite an elderly person, when I 
 first saw him. It was not a romantic connection. 
 Having sacrificed myself to his comfort, I feel entitled 
 to look out for a gayer partner — and, without being 
 mercenary, a man of refined taste and expensive habits, 
 may. Captain Tudor — I say, he may, without any 
 fault on his part, be reduced to a position which would 
 make a fortune, like that my deceased husband left at 
 my disposal, a very desirable object." 
 
 Mrs. Crumpe spoke interrogatively, and paused for 
 an answer. I could not deny the existence of such a 
 possibility. 
 
 " For instance," she' continued, " a gentleman may 
 have a small estate, and lack the means of improving the 
 land. He may be used to a comfortable estabhshment 
 and a good table ; and have no attentive servant, like 
 Trafibrd, to see that he has what he likes. He may be 
 hospitable and charitable, without possessing the power 
 of gratifying his tastes. In these cases, a man may 
 cast his eyes upon a woman of fortune, and render
 
 182 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 himself agreeable to her, without being accused of un- 
 worthy motives." 
 
 If I had not caught sight of Mrs. Erskine, sitting on 
 a crag a little way farther down the glen^ I must have 
 thrown myself or Mrs. Crumpe headlong into the 
 water. Were I to answer her at all, she might accuse 
 me of wishing to make myself agreeable, from the best 
 of motives. I was determined to stand clear of the 
 charge, and hurried away, saying that I thought I 
 could find the rest of the party, and make them wait 
 for us. Edith was laughing, but had resisted all her 
 husband's entreaties for her to move on. The widow 
 joined us, looking much heated, and very angry. 
 
 Even Traiford's genius could only muster a small 
 supply of delicacies at the wretched public-house 
 where the horses were feeding ; but he held out hopes 
 of better things being in store for us when we halted 
 for the night. 
 
 Mrs. Crumpe seemed much fatigued with her walk, 
 and did not offer me a place in her carriage. I suspect 
 she slept most of the afternoon, and let the fat coach- 
 man choose his own pace. All I know positively is, 
 that they did not overtake us ; though Erskine drove 
 slowly that we might admire the views, and we walked 
 up several of the tremendous hills. 
 
 The lights of the little town at which we were to 
 sleep, were burning in the valley below, when we at- 
 tained the highest eminence that we had yet ascended. 
 Even Edith confessed that she was tired, and looked 
 with relief at the glimmering signals of man's presence
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 183 
 
 visible in every dwelling. The country we had tra- 
 versed had latterly been almost a desert. Upon our 
 stopping three or four miles back to debate about the 
 road, no one was at hand to be consulted, at the point 
 where it branched off in two directions. We had pur- 
 sued the one which looked the broadest and most pro- 
 mising. Our dismay may be imagined, when, with 
 darkness thickly gathering round, we found that it sud- 
 denly terminated in a barren moor, on the top of the 
 hill which the tired horses and ourselves had pain- 
 fully and wearily mounted. Erskine was in a state of 
 great perplexity. He made the servant stand at their 
 heads, while he examined the locality ; but there was 
 decidedly no mode of reaching the village, except by 
 a very precipitous cart-track, which appeared impracti- 
 cable for a carriage. 
 
 Mrs. Erskine was compelled to alight, and took my 
 arm, while her husband hastened on to seek assistance 
 at the nearest houses. The servant remained with the 
 carriage. Edith's change of position revived her. The 
 fresh wind, and the pretty view of the shifting lights 
 below us, called forth a thousand poetical fancies. 
 Forgetting the fatigue she had previously acknow- 
 ledged, in the pleasure of the moment, she walked 
 delighted along the breezy summit and down the steep 
 hill-side with me, in one of her gayest humours. 
 Never have I beheld a creature who changed so 
 rapidly. 
 
 It appeared to me that her spirits flagged, when the 
 worst difficulties of the descent were over. The stones
 
 18 i LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 no longer rolled in the darkness from beneath our feet. 
 There was no more peril to be encountered, and we 
 were drawing near the village. Edith walked slower, 
 and stopped at last to rest against a crumbling wall 
 beside the path. 
 
 " Oh," she said, " if it could be always like these 
 happy days ! if we had always something fresh to 
 do and to think about ! How shall I ever bear to retui'n 
 to Velindra ?" 
 
 I tried to keep up her spirits, on which I knew that 
 her powers of exertion entirely depended. Instead of 
 assuring her, as Erskine would have done, twenty 
 times over, that she could not walk another step, and 
 that she had tired herself unnecessarily in the morn- 
 ing, I commended her prowess, and made her confess 
 that she could in reality do a great deal more than she 
 or any one else imagined. In climbing the mountains, 
 whatever might be the widow's strength of constitution, 
 Edith had decidedly the advantage over Mrs. Crumpe ! 
 
 *' After all," I said to her, when, having waited for 
 a few instants, she was again able to proceed ; " we 
 have seen nothing, in my opinion, prettier than your 
 own home. The inconveniences to which, for these 
 few days, you have cheerfully submitted, will make 
 it a luxury to be at rest and comfortable. As 
 you conquered your prejudice against the widow to 
 oblige him, Erskine will reward you by studying your 
 taste in planning other excursions, without thinking it 
 necessary to spoil our party by including her. He 
 must bring you over to visit me at the Pastures, now
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 185 
 
 that you have proved how bravely you can endure a 
 bivouac in the mountains. If anything can teach you 
 to appreciate Velindra, it will be seeing the place 
 as I did, after wearying of my desolate shanty on the 
 hill-top." 
 
 Edith smiled at my earnestness, but she answered 
 me sorrowfully. " It is all very true/' she said ; " Ers- 
 kine and I might do many things, and discover that we 
 had strength and spirits to surmount difficulties, if we 
 surveyed them in a cheerful light ; but the moment 
 the thought comes over me that I am going back — as 
 soon as the horses' heads are turned that way — I shall 
 be miserable. If I were happy at my own home, I 
 might like the idea of returning to it. If Erskine were 
 at all what he used to be, or what I once fancied 
 him ! But he has been pleasanter, this last week, 
 than I can for years remember him. I believe he likes 
 that odious woman's society better than mine. The 
 fact is, he requires excitement as much as myself. Any 
 change is a relief. Even Mrs. Crumpe is something to 
 laugh at — to abuse. It is better than hating and grow- 
 ing weary of each other." 
 
 She spoke Avith strange and startling bitterness, and 
 had touched upon a theme which I greatly dreaded. 
 Erskine was my friend. He had confided her to my 
 charge. I did not feel justified in listening to her un- 
 favourable opinion of him. 
 
 " Erskine has many good qualities," I said. " It 
 is unfortunate if they cannot reconcile you to some ap- 
 parent coldness of disposition. Believe me, it is not
 
 186 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 real. He laughs at many things concerning which, in 
 reality, he thinks much less lightly than he suffers to 
 appear. You, his wife, of whom he ever speaks most 
 tenderly, should know him better. I confess that, 
 when we first renewed our acquaintance, this summer, 
 I was often disposed to be offended with him ; but he 
 does not mean half of what he savs, and his heart is in 
 its right place, notwithstanding his sarcastic manner." 
 
 " You speak kindly and wisely," she answered, 
 " and in a way which I shall not forget — but it is of 
 no use. The die is cast. I do not know what the end 
 will be, but I am certain that Erskine and I shall never 
 be happy together again." 
 
 She was much agitated. Her slight form trem- 
 bled violently. I led her on silently, and as quickly as 
 I could. Before we had gone many steps, however, we 
 met Erskine and a crowd of people with lanterns. The 
 lights flashed on the pale, tearful countenance of his 
 wife. 
 
 " What is the matter ?" he said, sharply. " How long 
 you have been in coming ! is Edith ill ?" 
 
 His wife did not answer him. I said that Mrs. 
 Erskine was much fatigued. If he would take care of 
 her to the inn, I would go back for the carriage. 
 Edith clung to my arm, but her husband drew her away, 
 saying, somewhat bluntly, that he accepted my offer. 
 
 We had a troublesome task ; the road was a pre- 
 cipice, and we had the utmost difficulty in getting the 
 carriage along it, without an accident. At last, it was
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 187 
 
 accomplished ; and I hastened to rejoin my friends, and 
 report that my duty for the night was over. 
 
 They did not appear to be in a cheerful humour. 
 Edith was lying on the sofa, looking very pale and 
 tired. Her husband was pacing the room, in a manner 
 common to him when out of temper, and which always 
 made his wife dreadfully nervous. He ',had made up 
 his mind, he announced, to turn back. The expedition 
 was much too fatiguing for her. Farther on, the country 
 was still wilder, and unfit for a lady to travel in, whose 
 nerves were upset by so trifling an accident as the one 
 we had met with. 
 
 I ventured to hint to him that he should sit down. 
 The room shook with his impatient tread. I fancied 
 that it must make his wife's head ache. *' You seem to 
 understand these nervous disorders, Tudor," he said 
 with a sneer. " For my part, women like my wife are 
 perfect enigmas to me." 
 
 He sat down, looking extremely savage. Mrs. 
 Crumpe occupied the only comfortable chair the room 
 afforded, and still seemed mortally oflfended. Her 
 coachman had brought her by the straight road, and 
 Erskine had found her at the inn door, when he went 
 thither for assistance to bring the carriage down the 
 hill. I am certain that she had said something spiteful, 
 about his having left his wife and me together ; it never, 
 otherwise, would have entered his head to be jealous. 
 
 The evening was a very uncomfortable one. Edith 
 scarcely spoke, and retired early. The next morning, 
 (what had passed between her and her husband, I knew
 
 188 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 not,) the horses' heads were turned homewards ; we 
 did not stop, except at intervals to bait them, and the 
 mountain scenery appeared suddenly to have lost its 
 charm. 
 
 I felt hurt by the change in my friend's manner. 
 Mrs. Crumpe alone seemed in his confidence ; and, 
 more than once, I heard her abusing me. TrafFord's 
 attentions ceased. With all but Edith, I was decidedly 
 out of favour. Her haughty spirit resented her hus- 
 band's surveillance. The more he appeared to dislike 
 any manifestation of intimacy between us, the greater 
 were the marks of preference which she lavished upon 
 me. 
 
 On every occasion she called me to her side, con- 
 sulted my taste, applauded my manner of driving, and 
 in short, by every provoking remark she could utter, 
 augmented Erskine's fretful ill-temper. I was unable 
 to pay her the attention which her delicate health and 
 the difficulties frequently encountered in our route 
 caused her to require ; and she would not accept from 
 him the assistance he now hastened to profiler ; in every 
 look and tone, she showed her contemptuous dis- 
 pleasure ; and, stung to the quick, Erskine's jealous 
 disposition was ready to take fire at a spark. 
 
 I began to think that Edith was right, and that they 
 never could be happy. A thousand existing sources of 
 disagreement, each one trivial in itself, made up a con- 
 stantly accumulating amount of discomfort. A feather's 
 weight, in addition, would have rendered the burden too 
 heavy for them to bear. I felt, too, that it was difficult
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 189 
 
 to be near Edith, — to see a woman, pleasing and inte- 
 resting, suffer without interference ; and resolved to 
 leave them, on the first possible opportunity. 
 
 This was the only proper course to pursue. I was 
 particularly unwilling to become Edith's confidant. 
 Erskine was alreadyprovided with an injudicious friend 
 in Mrs. Crumpe, who was doing as much mischief as 
 she could accomplish. He evidently did not want me. 
 
 On the fourth evening after leaving Velindra, we 
 again crossed the boundary of the county in which 
 both that place and the farm were situated ; a track to 
 the right struck off among the hills ; a change of 
 weather appeared to be coming on. I told my com- 
 panions that I wished to be housed before nightfall, 
 and would send for my luggage. 
 
 Erskine remonstrated — the widow was softened at 
 the thought of parting so suddenly. Edith's eyes glis- 
 tened, and she looked really sorry. 
 
 I felt so likewise, but my resolution held firm ; and 
 taking a friendly leave of the party, I pursued my lonely 
 way over the upland pastures, with a sensation of 
 freedom from restraint which I had not lately enjoyed. 
 
 The farm for the first time looked like home, when, 
 tired with my walk, I espied the light in the kitchen- 
 window, twinkling like a star in the darkness of the 
 night ; and overleaped the stone fence into the yard.
 
 190 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The san was high in the heavens when I awoke, the 
 next morning, scarcely knowing, at first, whether I 
 were in the mountain chalet, with the Erskines, or in 
 my own comfortless room at the Pastures. As I looked 
 round, I thought that the place wore a pleasanter as- 
 pect than usual. Sally had certainly taken my hint 
 about the scouring. The uncarpeted floor was clean. 
 The dimity curtains were spotlessly white. The holes 
 in them and in the blind had been mended. 
 
 Through, the window, which I had opened when I 
 went to bed, came in the rural sounds from the cattle- 
 sheds. The lowing of the cows was plainly audible, 
 as well as a sweet monotonous hum, like that the bees 
 make as they circle round the IMichaelmas daisies, which 
 grow to a great height, and are very deep-coloured, in 
 the otherwise desolate-looking enclosure, where, in a 
 sheltered or loo spot, as the country-people call it, be- 
 neath the wall, the hives are placed. 
 
 I dressed myself leisurely, still hearing these plea- 
 sant sounds, while I went down-stairs and across what 
 by courtesy is termed the garden, — an arid spot, in 
 which, as I have said, the JMichaclmas daisies alone 
 take kindly to the soil, — to the yard where the cow-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 191 
 
 sheds and dilapidated farm-buildings are situated. A 
 number of pui'ple-winged butterflies, which seemed to 
 have come into existence with the flowers, and to be of 
 the same shade of colour*, were flitting about with the 
 bees among them. 
 
 Sally had let me in, the night before, in a paroxysm 
 of ill-humour at being disturbed. It was such a lone 
 place, she said, that, but for Tummas being a protec- 
 tion, she would not stop, if this kind of thing were to 
 go on. My room was ready for me, which was more 
 than 1 had any right to expect, if I came back out of 
 hours, when nobody was looking for me. 
 
 At present, neither she nor the idiot was in sight. 
 The place seemed sunny and peaceful. Only the bees 
 and the butterflies were on the wing. The melodious 
 song which had mingled with their hum, when I first 
 awoke, still continued ; and, on the other side of the 
 low wall, which separated the garden from the yard, 
 the maiden from the Dingle sat milking. I could not 
 distinguish the words of her foreign-sounding chaunt, 
 though I recognized it as the same with which, at 
 Harding's farm, she had called the cows from their 
 pastures. Mine seemed to understand it perfectly. I 
 watched her for some moments without her being aware 
 of my approach. She kept her face turned towards 
 them, and was evidently thinking exclusively of their 
 amusement. The mountain cow was standing as 
 quietly as the rest. 
 
 As I returned to the house, I concluded that Sally, 
 who was plainly in one of her most incflicient humours.
 
 192 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 had taken advantage of the good-natured disposition 
 of the young woman, to enlist her as a temporary aux- 
 . iliary . She had come up to the farm, probably, for the 
 supplies which 1 had left strict orders should be sent 
 from time to time to the Miss Hawthornes. In my ab- 
 sence, it was far from unlikely, that my messengers 
 might have disobeyed the injunctions given them to 
 treat the poor old ladies with respect. I did not know 
 whether it was a daily custom for the damsel to milk all 
 my cows ; but I could not help thinking it a pleasant 
 idea that her very white hands should be applied to the 
 purpose. 
 
 While I breakfasted on the brown bread and butter, 
 which Sally appeared to have taken unusual pains in 
 baking and churning, and, for a wonder, had spread 
 neatly upon the cloth, my thoughts reverted to Erskine 
 and his wife, and to the expedition which had termi- 
 nated unpleasantly. I reviewed my own conduct, and 
 was satisfied with it. Between man and wife, it is un- 
 wise to interfere. I could not have done any good. 
 It was far better, as Mrs. Crumpe observed, to leave 
 married people to themselves. As the image of the 
 widow presented itself, I felt relieved to think that 
 there was no chance of her pursuing me to the 
 Pastures. 
 
 Whatever might be its effect upon Mrs. Erskine, the 
 mountain air had done me good. My nerves felt 
 braced. The holiday had restored my spirits. I had 
 seen enough of the evils of an idle life to be glad that 
 it was not my portion. Even the discomforts of the
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 193 
 
 farm, the constant toil, the probably unsatisfactory re- 
 turn, appeared to me preferable to creating, like 
 Erskine and his wife, miseries for themselves. A 
 dinner of herbs, by myself, seemed a luxury, even 
 without love, compared to a stalled ox, if Mrs. Crumpe 
 had any part in pro\dding it for me. The widow's 
 bold advances had made me feel the blessings of 
 independence. Edith's fanciful distresses, brooded 
 upon until they became sources of ill-health and do- 
 mestic unhappiness, taught me that the real calamities 
 of life were more easily to be battled with or endured, 
 than the shado^vy phantoms called forth by a diseased 
 imagination. 
 
 Though I had parted coldly from Erskine, I liked 
 him better, on some accounts, than I had ever done be- 
 fore. In his disagreeable humour of the last few days, 
 more genuine good feeling had been apparent than I 
 had given him credit for possessing. I saw that he still 
 loved his wife and valued her opinion ; but his sarcastic 
 temper had, I feared, alienated Edith's affections from 
 him for ever. 
 
 The only chance of a thorough reconciliation between 
 them lay in their being left entirely to themselves. 
 Mrs. Crumpe was to part from them at her own lodge- 
 gates, which, when I took leave, were not many miles 
 distant. Whatever might be the consequence of the 
 breaking of the thunder-cloud which had then seemed to 
 be hanging over them both, neither friend nor foe 
 could be of service. For weal or woe, they were 
 linked together, and must abide the storm. It might 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 194 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 end in a summer shower, — blo\f off like the vapours 
 from the mountains, and leave the sky clearer than it 
 had been before. 
 
 I could not help thinking with much interest of my 
 animated and pleasing companion of the past week. 
 Though her beauty was considerably impaired by iU- 
 health, and her form wanted the soft flowing contour of 
 woman's perfect loveliness, Mrs. Erskine was a person 
 whom I greatly admired. Even in her perverseness, 
 there was something fascinating that riveted one's at- 
 tention. Her light and lively manners, — her extreme 
 spirituality, — the delicate frame enclosing so excitable 
 a fancy, — her ethereal aspect^ as she sprang, in defiance 
 of fatigue and danger, up the path which a mountain 
 goat might almost have feared to tread, and where her 
 husband and I could not follow her, — where her fairy 
 foot alone could find room to plant itself, often appeared 
 vividly present before me. Her extreme enjoyment of 
 the scenery, her intense abandonment to the feeling of 
 the moment, her indignation with Erskine and Mrs. 
 Crumpe, made me feel inclined to laugh ; while her 
 late melancholy anticipations and wilful caprices ren- 
 dered me deeply anxious about her. 
 
 My interference could have done nothing but harm ; 
 and yet I was certain that, if Erskine had gone on 
 making himself as disagreeable as he had done during 
 the last two days, I must have taken part with her 
 against him. In all probability, a quarrel between her 
 husband and myself, and fresh uneasiness for Edith, 
 would have been the consequence.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 195 
 
 ' Having finished my breakfast, which, like my dress- 
 ing, had lasted longer than usual, while I thought over 
 all the circumstances which had induced me to separate 
 from my friends, I prepared to go out to see what my 
 men had been about during my absence. Sally, whom 
 I encountered in the passage, appeared to be fall of 
 calamities. She had been took ill, she said, while I 
 was away, about having the washing to do, and feared 
 she must give up. Tummas had got through a deal ; 
 but they made no head against the work. She feared 
 that, between them, they should not carry it on much 
 longer. The doctor had a bad opinion of Tummas, 
 and said he was a living miracle to have held out till 
 then; but, when she failed, she felt certain that he 
 would break down also. 
 
 I asked if they had not had some assistance, while I 
 was absent. I had found everything comfortable on 
 my return, though I had taken them by surprise ; and 
 should not have suspected that affairs had gone wrong. 
 Could not the young woman whom I had seen milking 
 aid them occasionally ? I should be happy to make 
 her proper compensation, if it should appear that she 
 had not full employment with the Miss Hawthornes. 
 
 Sally answered that what she did was next to nothing, 
 but Tummas was teaching her a good deal that might 
 be useful, in case of going, as the young woman said 
 was her wish, into another service. The old ladies had 
 no empiojmient for her, and could not maintain her in 
 idleness. They were queer, half-witted creatures, and 
 led her, no doubt, an uneasy life. It was a treat to her 
 
 o 2
 
 196 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to be up at tlie farm ; Tummas set her some little things 
 to do, and helped her through with them. She had 
 called for the milk, the day Sally was took ill over the 
 wash, and had offered to stay and finish getting up the 
 clothes. It was a • charity to let her come about the 
 place, but she could not say it was any particular assist- 
 ance to them ; she had as lieve be without her as with 
 her. 
 
 I did not believe it, and ascribed the improved aspect 
 of the place entirely to the neat-handed maiden's dili- 
 gence. Matty and Winny Hawthorne, Sally said, had 
 never kept a servant of late years, and could certainly 
 not afford it better now. This person was only with 
 them for a time, until she met with some way of pro- 
 viding for herself; and, while she was at the cottage, 
 could not employ herself more advantageously, accord- 
 ing to Sally, than in listening to the idiot. It was 
 wonderful what a number of tilings he found to tell 
 her ; the least she could do was to help him through 
 yrith his work, when his wife and he were both slaving 
 themselves to death in my service. 
 
 The girl was handy with her needle, which Sally 
 confessed she had not such good eyes to enable her to 
 use as formerly ; and had mended up the place a bit, 
 while the housekeeper bustled about the hard labour. 
 What the other did was little more than play, but it 
 was better than sitting with her hands before her, and 
 eating the bread of idleness at other people's expense. 
 When she came up for the milk and eggs I had ordered 
 the old ladies to be served with, Mrs. Saint told her she
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 197 
 
 had my interest too much at heart to allow persons to 
 be fed at my cost, without their making some return 
 for it; so she just did a bit of needle-work now and 
 then, or some such trifle. It was nothing worth men- 
 tioning. 
 
 When I left the house to go to the fields, the girl's 
 song had ceased, and in its stead I heard, as I passed 
 through the garden, a low, monotonous murmur, as 
 though some individual, — there was no change of voice, 
 — were holding colloquy with himself, or telling an in- 
 terminable story, of which I could not make out a single 
 word. 
 
 Presently, over the gate of the farm-yard, I saw the 
 two persons who were thus occupied, or rather, the 
 speaker and the listener. The only tree about the 
 place, at all near the house, is a silvery-leafed poplar. 
 Wlien the wind tosses its branches, I like the sound 
 that passes through them, and to see the light quiver 
 of the foliage. It threw a shade across the road, and 
 beneath it, leaning against its trunk, with her milk-jug 
 set upon the gate-post near her, the white-skinned, 
 quiet-looking woman from the cottage in the glen was 
 standing knitting. 
 
 This is a favourite occupation among the peasantry. 
 The moment other tasks are done, they set to work ; at 
 the cottage-doors, in the fields, as they walk along the 
 roads, the women are always pursuing this monotonous 
 employment. I believe many of them go on with it in 
 their sleep ; not requiring the slightest exertion of in- 
 tellect, it suits their dull, sluggish faculties.
 
 198 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 What surprised me, was to discover tlie person wlio 
 all this time continued talking to be the idiot. He was 
 lying on the ground, outside the shadow cast hy the 
 tree under which the girl was standing, with his head 
 resting upon his arm, looking the picture of indolent 
 enjoyment of the sunshine. 
 
 Now and then, she uttered a single word, which 
 seemed to encourage him to proceed ; but she did not 
 take her eyes oif her work, and her share in the dialogue 
 was carried on in monosyllables. 
 
 There was nothing to prevent their seeing me, while 
 I remained in the farm-yard near them ; but the girl 
 never once looked up. I could not understand a single 
 sentence of what Thomas was saying ; he might be 
 favouring the maiden from the Dingle with all the wise 
 saws for which Sally gives him credit ; he might be 
 speaking Sanscrit, for anything I could make out of the 
 matter. 
 
 She seemed to understand him perfectly well ; and 
 as she drew the thread, with a peculiar gesture, round 
 an ornament of carved ivory, fixed apparently for the 
 purpose, upon her shoulder, I thought of the Italian 
 contadiiie and their distaflfs ; but there were none of 
 the burning glances of the Roman women under 
 the light brows of the Saxon beauty. Her attitude 
 was easy and firm; on her clear, snowy forehead, 
 exposure to the sun and wind had not imprinted a 
 stain ; there was not a single freckle under her fair 
 skin ; the hands that held the knitting-needles were 
 white and soft, with dimples at the root of each
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 199 
 
 finger. If she had not looked so entirely without a 
 thought or wish beyond her station, — so completely 
 satisfied with her knitting and Thomas's conversation, 
 — there would have been something picturesque, and 
 even elegant, in the perfect composure and stillness 
 of her appearance. 
 
 But as she stood there, with the idiot's unmeaning 
 drone in her ears, counting her stitches and measuring 
 her thread with undisturbed equanimity, — with the 
 shivering leaves rustling overhead, and every accident 
 of light and shade, even the man's withered, up-turned 
 face and crippled form, combining to set her off to ad- 
 vantage, and give effect to the picture, which undoubt- 
 edly was a pleasing one, — I thought one bright glance 
 of Edith Erskine's, inferior as she might be in mere 
 physical beauty, was immeasurably superior to the 
 soulless, unimpassioned comeliness, which consists in 
 mere formal regularity of feature and statue-like con- 
 tour. 
 
 I wondered what the idiot could find so much to say 
 about, and whether she understood him better than I 
 did. I could not help looking back, more than once, 
 as, by another gate, without disturbing them, I left the 
 yard and entered the fields ; she still stood motionless, 
 unwearied, firm, and erect, but with her eyes cast down, 
 going on with her knitting, — Thomas lying at her feet, 
 gazing up at her and talking to her. I could hear the 
 droning hum of his voice, long after I lost sight of 
 them. 
 
 Very different to the monotonous buzz of Thomas's
 
 200 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 eloquence, was the din that saluted my ears, when, in 
 the course of the afternoon, I happened to cross the 
 path at the head of the Dingle. It was as if all the 
 hammers at the iron-works were beating together ; and 
 yet, as in the morning, one single voice was predomi- 
 nant. 
 
 As I approached nearer, I found that Sir Jasper 
 Egremont was abusing Pope and Pagan, and storming 
 at the discovery he had just made of the bridge I had 
 thrown across the stream. 
 
 He was kicking with all his might at the insensible 
 planks, trying to knock them into the water, and railmg 
 at the unfortunate old ladies. The language he used 
 was too coarse to be repeated, — far worse than the saucy 
 taunts of the workmen ; and his face was quite purple 
 with indignation. No person belonging to the cottage 
 was visible. With a wonderful exercise of discretion, 
 or from sheer terror, the poor women kept within doors ; 
 but the absence of any living object on which to vent 
 his wrath, seemed to increase the torrent of his passion. 
 The name of his dead son mingled awfully with oaths 
 and curses ; he accused them of being the cause of his 
 ruin and death, and swore that he would come over, 
 unearth the old cats, and drive them from the Dingle. 
 
 Just as he set his foot on the plank, apparently for 
 the purpose of crossing to insult them still more grossly, 
 his countenance changed. 
 
 The words he was uttering were arrested, as by a 
 sudden stroke, upon his lips. The blood flushed yet 
 more deeply to his brow, and then suddenly receded.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 201 
 
 leaving his features lividly pale. The next moment, 
 he fell heavily forward, almost into the stream, with 
 his head down among the weeds and bulrushes growing 
 at the foot of the bank. 
 
 However great a brute he might be, the man was 
 old and feeble. I sprang forward to tender my assist- 
 ance, and, with some difficulty, released him from his 
 perilous situation. He was half choked with mud, but 
 the instant his senses returned, he continued to splutter 
 forth words of passion. The old hags, he said, had 
 bewitched him, and deserved to be burned at the 
 stake. 
 
 At the cottage, all was profoundly silent. I asked 
 him if he would go in there, or try to reach the farm. 
 Neither, he answered. He was as well as ever he had 
 been in his life, and would walk home. He did not 
 seem disposed to allow that the fit had been of an 
 alarming nature. It had, however, shaken him terribly. 
 It was with some difficulty that he could stand upon 
 his legs. 
 
 When he found that he tottered in walking, he took 
 hold of my arm without ceremony, and appeared in- 
 clined to be more civil. I suspect that he knew he 
 could not reach home without assistance. All the way 
 back, his thoughts seemed entirely occupied by himself 
 and his own sensations ; and, as he had something to 
 gain by forbearance, he did not insult me. 
 
 By short cuts through the plantations, with which 
 the old fellow was of course well acquainted, we 
 reached the house. Sir Jasper appeared desirous of
 
 202 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 dismissing me, when we came in sight of it ; and I 
 was by no means anxious to prolong my attendance 
 upon the surly invalid ; but the steep ascent had fa- 
 tigued him so much that he could not dispense with the 
 support my arm afforded him. He reeled rather than 
 walked across the turnip-field, and was forced to show 
 me, more by signs than words, in what corner of his 
 pocket I should find the key of the house-door. While 
 I was trying to open it, he again fainted against my 
 shoulder, and I carried him into the dark old hall at 
 Heron Cliff, and up the oaken staircase, without his 
 showing a sign of life ; laying him on a bed in the first 
 room we came to, which contained such an article of 
 furniture.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 20S 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Sir Jasper had partially recovered his senses, but still 
 lay in a kind of stupor, when I left him to seek for as- 
 sistance. I did not believe his muttered assurance, 
 upon my offering to ring the bell, that there was not 
 a soul in the house. Erskine also, I remembered, had 
 said that he kept up no establishment ; but I had not 
 understood him to mean^ nor do I think he was aware 
 of the fact, that the old man lived absolutely alone. 
 
 A very daring robbery had been successfully carried 
 out at Heron Cliff, some years before, in which the 
 domestic servants were implicated. Sir Jasper had 
 dismissed his household, in consequence, and removed 
 all articles of value from the premises. His manner of 
 living, since that period, had been a perfect mystery, 
 into which few people were sufficiently interested for 
 the disagreeable old fellow to care to enquire. 
 
 I now traversed the numerous halls and galleries, 
 and went through all the offices, without encountering 
 a human being. The kitchen was empty. In the ser- 
 vants' hall, where a long table extended from end to 
 end, and had once, probably, been barely adequate to 
 accommodate the numerous domestics of the family, 
 there was not even a mouse stirring.
 
 204 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 These offices, which were of enormous extent and 
 very gloomy, were all underground. A dry fosse ran 
 round the house, into which the windows looked. It 
 was flagged, and all that could be seen by the most 
 curious eye from below, was a narrow strip of sky 
 above the opposite stone wall, and the grass or mould 
 on the top of the embankment. 
 
 When I ascended from the basement story, I looked 
 into some of the rooms on the ground floor, but still 
 without flnding anybody. Very beautiful suites of 
 apartments extended along the front of the dwelling ; 
 but the pictures had been removed from the walls, 
 leaving discoloured spaces. The mirrors were taken 
 down, and the most costly articles of furniture ap- 
 peared to have been displaced. Everything which 
 could tempt the cupidity of dishonest neighbours was 
 gone. Some of the chambers were quite empty ; in 
 others, only very old worm-eaten cabinets, chairs, and 
 tables were left. 
 
 The lofty windows were curtainless. The only 
 hangings were those woven by the spiders. The car- 
 pets were taken up. Though the keys were in the 
 doors, it was evident that no one entered these state 
 rooms, to place them in order. At length I came to 
 one which showed some signs of recent habitation, 
 notwithstanding that the fire had been carefully raked 
 out of the grate, probably by the thrifty hands of Sir 
 Jasper Egremont himgclf. 
 
 A Dutch oven stood near the fire-place, and, on a 
 shelf in the corner, I saw some relics of the miserable
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. S05 
 
 man's repast, wliicli he appeared to have cooked him- 
 self. A solitary plate, with a bone-handled knife and 
 steel two-pronged fork, and a mug of salt, were the 
 only preparations to adorn the table of the master of 
 this splendid mansion and unbounded wealth. 
 
 I could not find anything restorative but a glass of 
 water, of which I took possession, as though it had 
 been some costly treasure. Sir Jasper drained it 
 greedily, on my return. He seemed somewhat revived, 
 and said that he wanted nothing. He had dined, and 
 never took more than one meal in a day. 
 
 He looked so ghastly that I could not bear to leave 
 him to die, as appeared to me inevitable in the course 
 of the night, alone, in the midst of such discomfort. 
 
 While I was away, he had contrived to divest him- 
 self of his clothes, and had crept into the bed for 
 warmth, huddling them over him in aheap. The couch 
 seemed scantily provided with blankets, and the room 
 was large and chillingly dark and damp. 
 
 I offered to take him to his own, but he said he 
 moved about constantly. No one knew where to find 
 him. That room would do just as well as another. He 
 seldom slept in the same place two nights together. 
 My next proposal was to send him a physician ; but 
 this Sir Jasper promptly negatived. He was used to 
 these attacks, he said, though this one had been sharper 
 than ordinary. There was nothing to be done but to 
 lie still and keep warm. 
 
 The miserly old wretch [seemed rather anxious to 
 detain me with him ; but it appeared to me impossible
 
 206 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to constitute myself sole nurse and attendant to one, 
 who, I felt certain, only valued my good offices because 
 he would not have to pay me for them. I told him, 
 therefore, that I must leave him ; but that I would go 
 to the iron-works, and procure a person to wait upon 
 him. Had he any preference ? 
 
 They were all, he replied, a set of thieves and vaga- 
 bonds. He had dismissed the woman who came to 
 clean, the week before; and was convinced she had 
 robbed him. Not one of the gang should come near 
 the place. 
 
 I said I would not leave him absolutely alone, and 
 I could not remain there through the night myself. 
 If he must have a nurse, he answered, I might send 
 one, provided that I meant to pay her. He did not 
 want anything of the kind, and would as soon die by 
 himself, as with people staring at him to see how the 
 old sinner behaved. He would rather have a perfect 
 stranger. I might send whomever I liked of my own 
 people, if I had not the charity to remain with him 
 myself. Possibly, / might be the better for it ; but he 
 hated paying people for robbing and perhaps murder- 
 ing him. 
 
 He desired me to push nearer to hun an old bureau, 
 which stood in a corner, and was furnished with a sort 
 of sliding desk or writing-board, which could be drawn 
 in and out at pleasure. He should amuse himself, he 
 said, with looking over his papers, which he fished out 
 of various pigeon-holes and crannies. I gave him a 
 two-penny bottle of ink and the stump of a pen, from
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. S07 
 
 the mantle-shelf, threw his old coat about his shoulders, 
 and left him to settle, not his account with his Maker, 
 but those with his tradesman and banker, or perhaps, 
 as he wished me to understand, his testamentary dispo- 
 sitions. I believe that he was more alarmed about 
 himself than he chose to avow ; and the report in the 
 country was that Sir Jasper Egremont kept numerous 
 formulas of wills by him, and was constantly making 
 fresh ones, never staying in the same mind about his 
 property for three months together. The recesses of 
 the cabinet, I could see, as he opened them, were filled 
 with rolls of parchment. 
 
 I had heard so bad an account of the people at the 
 iron-foundery, and of their hatred and ill-will towards 
 Sir Jasper, that I thought his apprehensions not un- 
 grounded. My own establishment boasted of no super- 
 numerary members ; and I knew, by experience, that 
 Sally's tender mercies were cruel. The only person of 
 whom I could think as likely to bear with the old 
 man, and bring about him some degree of comfort, was 
 the mild-looking industrious young woman, to whom 
 I was certain that I had been indebted for the improved 
 aspect of my own home, when I returned to it. Sally 
 had spoken of her being in want of a situation, and 
 said that she was under no engagement to remain in 
 the service of the old ladies in the Dingle — that they 
 even wished to rid themselves of her. I could scarcely 
 imagine a position more comfortless than the one she 
 occupied at the cottage in the glen, except, perhaps, 
 that which I was about to offer her. Necessity, how-
 
 208 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ever, has no law. She had expressed herself to me 
 as willing to fulfil any task which best suited the place 
 and people where and among whom she was thrown. 
 She might feel some womanly compassion for the for- 
 lorn old man. In short, I knew of no one else to 
 whom I could apply. 
 
 I went back through the Dingle, in hopes of meet- 
 ino- her. As I came opposite to the cottage, I heard 
 her singing or rather chaunting, in^a low voice, to her- 
 self. She was standing by ^the tall grey rock, at the 
 end of the garden, still going on with her knitting, 
 for which there was light enough out of doors. 
 Within the cottage it must have been quite dark. 
 
 I crossed the stream at once, where the passage was 
 narrowest, and told her my wish succinctly. " Sir 
 Jasper Egremont," I said, "is of a harsh, eccentric 
 character. Heron Cliff you will find destitute of the 
 commonest comforts ; — but, if your disposition be as 
 kind as your looks denote, you will experience some 
 reward in the consciousness that you are aiding one 
 who might, otherwise, in spite of his wealth, perish 
 from want ; and I will take care that you are properly 
 remunerated for your attendance." 
 
 I thought she looked a little whiter than usual, 
 when she lifted her eyes, after a moment's comsidera- 
 
 tion. 
 
 " I will go ;" she said ; " you need not seek farther ; 
 
 and I will do my duty by the old man, if necessary, 
 
 to the last. Can you wait a few minutes for me ?" 
 
 She paused between each short sentence, and her
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 209 
 
 manner, though she expressed no unwillingness, gave 
 me the idea that she was somewhat frightened. I saw 
 that she expected me to take her to the miser's den. 
 Common humanity, indeed, would have prevented my 
 sending her to that dismal place alone. I told her that 
 I would give notice at the farm that I might be kept 
 out late, and return for her. She did not speak, but 
 as if anxious not to lose time, walked swiftly round the 
 angle formed by the overshadowing rock, into the 
 cottage garden. When I came back, she was waiting 
 for me on the same spot, with her fair face looking 
 placid and composed, and a small bundle or package 
 in her hand. 
 
 The path up the Dingle is, in many places, excessively 
 steep. ^Vlien occasion arose, I offered my companion 
 some assistance, as well as to take her burthen from 
 her. She did not, however, accept more than the 
 latter service, consigning the parcel to me with con- 
 siderable equanimity. I thought if we had unluckily 
 met Erskine, and he had seen me carrying the pretty 
 damsel's luggage, his peace of mind, on my account, 
 would have been at an end. Fortunately, we encoun- 
 tered no one ; and she followed me along the pathway, 
 with a swift, steady step and a quiet aspect, which did 
 not encourage any attempt at conversation. Her 
 modest looks and tranquil air give me confidence in her, 
 and inspire respect. 
 
 When we reached Heron Cliff, the night was closing 
 in. I saw her stand still, for a moment, as if con- 
 templating the building ; but she made no rer/iark, 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 andj in the gathering gloom, it was scarcely to be dis- 
 tinguished whether the dark majestic towers rose up 
 from formal parterres and greensward, or from beds of 
 turnips. If the place suggested any idea to her, she 
 did not communicate her thoughts to me ; and when I 
 had succeeded in lighting a lamp, which I had brought 
 with me, her face was calm, quiet, and inscrutable as 
 ever. She followed me up stairs without noticing the 
 desolation around us ; and only paused when I went 
 into the old man's room, as if to give me time to tell 
 him that the person who accompanied me was one 
 whose business it would be to attend upon him. 
 
 He was lying back on his pillow, when I entered, with 
 the papers which had occupied him strewn carelessly 
 over the bed. At first, I thought that he was dead, 
 but it was only a fresh attack of faintness that had come 
 over him. He opened his eyes, and seemed glad to 
 see me, complaining of the cold, and saying that he 
 believed he was more indisposed than he had at first 
 imagined. 
 
 I told him I had brought some one to nurse him, 
 who could stay with him ; and I trusted he would not 
 deny himself this and other comforts which sickness 
 demanded. 
 
 *' Bring her in !" he said, faintly. " Let me look at 
 her. I can see by her face whether she is honest." 
 
 I called the young woman ; and, as the light shone 
 on her countenance, I saw that even Sir Jasper could 
 read nothing suspicious in the fair characters of truth 
 which nature had stamped upon her broad brow, and
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 211 
 
 clearly-opened, frank-looking eyes. Slie said nothing, 
 but stood by the bed with her soft eyelids cast down, 
 while the old man surveyed her for some moments in 
 silence. Then she smoothed his pillow and the cover- 
 ing of his couch, with a look that beamed for a mo- 
 ment over her calm features, like sunshine on a deep, 
 placid lake. 
 
 She turned to me and whispered, " He is dying of 
 cold. Come, we must light the fire. There is no time 
 to lose." The old man's stupor was returning. She 
 chafed his hands, while I fetched from the room below 
 an old scuttle, which contained a heap of ashes and 
 cinders, and a few pieces of fresh coal. We looked 
 about for something that would ignite more speedily ; 
 and what came handiest was part of the old wainscoting, 
 which, the instant we touched it, broke up into strips. 
 These, the young woman laid in the grate, as I handed 
 them to her. The flame readily caught the dry chips, 
 which burned like tinder, difiusing light and cheerful- 
 ness, if not warmth, through the room. A fire had 
 not been lighted there for so long that, at present, she 
 said, it was drawing the damp out of the walls, and 
 doing more harm than good. 
 
 Our next task was to go into the other rooms of the 
 suite, and procure more blankets to lay over the shiver- 
 ing old man. When this was done, she folded neatly 
 the garments he had heaped about him ; and placed 
 them on a chair. Had he been a prince, she could not 
 have waited upon him more respectfully. There was 
 not a trace of a smile upon her countenance ; though a 
 
 p 2
 
 212 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 mean-minded hireling would have treated those sordid 
 rags with contempt. 
 
 She threw a heavy counterpane over the bed ; and, 
 under its weight, and within the genial influence of the 
 now brightly-blazing fire, the old man ceased to tremble, 
 and lay quite still. Then she asked me to show her 
 the way to the kitchen, that she might get ready some- 
 thing for him to take ; but I told her the stores were 
 empty. I had caused Sally to furnish me with a packet 
 of tea and a flask of brandy, which I had brought in 
 my pocket. She rejected the spirit, but proposed 
 making some tea. We took a journey in search of a 
 kettle, and found one in the miser's parlour, with a 
 single cup and saucer and a plated tea-spoon. There 
 was no milk or sugar ; therefore we concluded that he 
 was in the habit of dispensing with such luxuries. 
 
 I heard her sigh, as we passed through the gallery. 
 Probably, she was already disheartened ; but, when I 
 asked her if she were afraid to remain, she said, no. 
 There was nothing to harm her. She lighted the fire 
 in the ante-room, adjoining the one occupied by Sir 
 Jasper ; and I promised to send up coals, and whatever 
 else she requii*ed, in the morning. 
 
 When we went in again, he was awake, and took the 
 tea she had made for him ; but not without enquiring 
 how she got at the caddy. He was certain that he had 
 locked it up, before going out. It gave him evident 
 satisfaction when I told him that, as he seemed to have 
 nothing in the house, I had brought it with me. The 
 young woman made me a sign that I might go away.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 213 
 
 and remained standing by him. I heard Sir Jasper 
 speaking, as it appeared, more graciously to her, while 
 I lingered in the outer room. The place looked so 
 desolate that I could scarcely bear to leave her there ; 
 but, though I waited some time, she did not come back. 
 The old man seemed to go on talking for a while, and 
 then I could hear him breathe heavily, as if he were 
 asleep ; but she stiU watched beside him. Noiselessly, 
 I heaped fresh fuel on the fires, and saw her sitting 
 motionless by his couch, as I re-entered the inner 
 chambei*. She placed her finger on her lips, and I ob- 
 served that he was slumbering more peaceably ; though, 
 every now and then, he gave an uneasy start or groan. 
 There appeared to be nothing more for me to do, 
 and having wheeled an old sofa into the ante-room, and 
 carried thither some of the coverings of the antique 
 beds to form a couch for the nurse, if she chose to lie 
 down, I left her, — not without various misgivings, which, 
 judging by her placid features, she did not seem to 
 share, — alone, in that dismal abode, with the churlish, 
 heathenish old man.
 
 214 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 I FELT considerable uneasiness during the night, and 
 resolved to go up to Heron Cliff, the first thing in the 
 morning, and insist upon Sir Jasper's seeing some 
 medical man. I did not choose to incur the responsi- 
 bility of being his only visitor, in what I was convinced 
 would be a serious illness ; and determined, if he were 
 too niggardly to pay the physician's fee, rather to de- 
 fray that expense myself, than allow him to perish for 
 want of proper advice. I almost wished, indeed, that 
 fate had not made me look down into the Dingle, at 
 the moment of his seizure ; but, having rescued him 
 from its immediate ill- consequences, I was forced to 
 take such measures as were necessary to promote his 
 recovery. The poor young woman, who, at my request, 
 had undertaken the ungrateful office of nursing him, 
 was not absent from my thoughts. I feared that she 
 would find the task too arduous and disagreeable for 
 endurance. 
 
 The early morning sun was shining through the 
 pine boughs upon the fine Gothic window at the 
 eastern extremity of the mansion, as I approached it 
 from the woods. This was the termination of the 
 banqueting-hall. The long range of windows, belong-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 215 
 
 ing to the drawing-room suite, on the opposite side of 
 the building from the entrance, overlooked the river. 
 None of these rooms were inhabited. In former times, 
 these stately apartments, filled with guests and sumptu- 
 ous furniture, wore, doubtless, a pleasant aspect ; but 
 now the extent of the fabric only increased the air of 
 desolation which pervaded it, both internally and ex- 
 ternally. The fresh wind and morning sunshine seemed 
 trying in vain to impart cheerfulness to the gloomy pile. 
 The sinister look of the old man on his comfortless bed 
 of pain, without one thought that could solace him in 
 this world, or, as it appeared, the hope of an hereafter, 
 would have saddened a gayer landscape than that com- 
 posed by the dusky towers, and cedar and pine planta- 
 tions. 
 
 The large window on the staircase was set open, ad- 
 mitting air into the house. The spiders' webs hanging 
 from the ceiling waved in the wind, which sighed 
 through the old banners in the hall below. There was 
 nothing to tempt robbers in the tarnished silk of their 
 folds; and they had been suffered to remain above 
 the shields which, at measured distance, high over- 
 head, were fixed against the wall. An elk's horns 
 branched out in the midst. Altogether, the wide en- 
 trance-hall seemed better furnished than the rest of the 
 house. I passed on, up the immensely broad staircase, 
 which was ornamented with heavy carvings, and formed 
 of dark-veined English oak, rendered by age almost of 
 the hue of ebony. A spacious gallery above led, in 
 one direction, to the state drawing-rooms ; — in the other,
 
 216 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to the principal sleeping-apartments, in one of which, 
 when I bore him in, insensible, I had laid Sir Jasper. 
 
 I knocked at the door of the ante-chamber, and it 
 was opened for me immediately by the fair girl, who 
 looked singularly young and innocent, in her quiet, 
 almost conventual dress, within that gloomy dwelling. 
 Her complexion was so pure and fresh, that I imagined 
 the loneliness of her situation had not prevented her 
 sleeping, during part of the night, at least ; but she 
 had risen early. The room was in order; the cover- 
 ings removed from the old-fashioned sofa, and the 
 window open. Sir Jasper's door was closed ; I could 
 hear him, however, breathe heavily. She said he had 
 slept quietly during the first part of the night, but, to- 
 wards morning, he had awakened, and called for her. 
 He seemed terribly restless and excited, and had talked 
 much about his property ; sometimes very wildly. 
 Afterwards, he had fallen into a kind of stupor, more 
 lethargic than sleep, which still lasted. 
 
 I told her of my intention of sending a physician to 
 see him, and she approved of the idea. She greatly 
 feared his passing off from sleep into death, without 
 farther warning than he had already received of ap- 
 proaching dissolution. I followed her into the sick 
 man's chamber, and almost started at the change she 
 had wrouo^ht in it. The fire burned cheerfullv. She 
 had brought in several articles of furniture ; an arm- 
 chair, covered with velvet, a footstool, and a small table, 
 whereon an old china breakfast-service, which she had 
 found in a cupboard, was neatly arranged, ready for his
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 217 
 
 waking. A liigh tapestry screen warded off the 
 draught from the door. A square of faded Persian 
 carpet was laid down, instead of a rug, by the hearth. 
 
 Everything around the invalid had been made to 
 partake, as far as possible, of the indescribable air of 
 neatness and propriety which characterized her own 
 appearance. It was only Sir Jasper himself who defied 
 her magic skill. I thought the withered countenance, 
 peeping out from the fine white linen, looked even more 
 forbidding than usual ; an expression of low, villainous 
 cunning, seemed stamped upon his brow ; every line in 
 his face betokened hard-hearted, vindictive feeling, and 
 selfish avarice. Even in sleep there was no composure 
 in his aspect ; he clutched at the bed-clothes, frowning, 
 and now and then smiled ; I knew not which was the 
 most repulsive. The girl bent over him compassion- 
 ately, and said some low-murmured words ; I fancied 
 it was a prayer ; it seemed, at least for a time, to chain 
 the evil spirit down. The old man ceased to toss his 
 head from side to side ; his eyes did not glare so wildly ; 
 he turned his face to the wall, and, in a few minutes, 
 fell asleep. 
 
 " You have had a painful watch, I fear, and must 
 need assistance," I said ; " you cannot remain in this 
 great house alone; it is a journey, every time you want 
 anything, and this man is very ill ; I will send some one 
 to stay here. Meanwhile, what can I do to aid you ?" 
 
 " You can," she answered, in a low, choking voice, 
 — the first symptom of emotion she had yet displayed, 
 and which I believe my tone of sympathy excited —
 
 218 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " pray for me^ and above all, for him, — the poor, mise- 
 rable old man ! We can all do that for each other." 
 
 " I shall not forget your request," I said, touched by 
 her sincere and simple piety. " It is indeed painful to 
 see a man leaving the world, like Sir Jasper Egremont, 
 with his heart and mind full of selfish, worldly thoughts, 
 and no care for the concerns of eternity. However 
 thoughtless we may be in youth and health, it is not 
 thus that the most careless mortal would like to look 
 upon the King of Terrors approaching." 
 
 She looked up at me as if unsatisfied. " I do not 
 see," she replied, " that we have, any of us, aught to 
 do that is worth minding, except to prepare for that 
 time which is approaching us as surely, though perhaps 
 not quite so nearly, as that poor unconscious sinner. 
 After all, his sickness may not be unto death. You or 
 I, in our youth and strength, may be taken first ; — and 
 the summons find us as unprej)ared as he is." 
 
 Her words and earnest look made me think more 
 than I had hitherto been accustomed to do on such 
 subjects. There seemed to be a reality in her views of 
 a future state, which caused me to feel ashamed of my 
 vague expressions. My respect for her increased ; and 
 as I rode along, in the direction of the little town among 
 the hills, where the physician resided, whose visits I 
 meant to solicit, her words, simple and few as they had 
 been, often recurred to me. ■" 
 
 Before I left the house, I had asked her again if I 
 should send some person to assist her. After some 
 hesitation, she named at last, to my surprise, as the in-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 219 
 
 dividual she should select, Sally Saint's husband^ — 
 Thomas, the idiot. She seems to have as much con- 
 fidence as his wife in his mysterious resources, and said 
 she would rather have him to help her, and bring what 
 was wanted up stairs, than any one. 
 
 Sir Jasper was in full possession of his faculties, when 
 I returned with the physician. I did not go in, but 
 requested the latter to call upon me at the farm, on his 
 way back, to rest his horse and partake of some refresh- 
 ment, as well as to tell me of the state in which he con- 
 sidered his patient to be. He seemed to have some 
 misgivings about going in, saying. Sir Jasper was often 
 very violent ; but the white-complexioned young wo- 
 man, who received us at the door, assured us that she 
 had informed Sir Jasper of my intention, and that^ he 
 had taken it quietly. All he had said was, " Yery 
 well. Let him do as he likes. If it is for his own 
 satisfaction, I am not responsible, and will see the Doc- 
 tor when he comes." 
 
 I understood this plainly to mean, that the physician's 
 visit was to be at my cost ; and that, as long as he could 
 get anything out of us, he meant to be accommodating. 
 I did not, however, make any remark, but rode away 
 to the farm, where, in about an hour's time. Dr. Lewis 
 joined me. 
 
 He said that Sir Jasper's attack was of a nature to 
 which he appeared to have been for many years subject. 
 It might pass oiF and return again after a time, or ter- 
 minate his existence at almost any moment. He was, 
 in fact, in a state wherein it behoved a man to settle
 
 220 LEWELL PASTUKES. 
 
 his worldly affairs, and make his peace with God, so as 
 to be fully ready, when called upon, to set out upon 
 that long journey for which, in all probability, but little 
 leisure for preparation would, in his case, be granted at 
 the last. 
 
 Sir Jasper had been extremely civil, and had spoken 
 of me as a person standing in the light of a near con- 
 nection, on account of the partial regard his brother, 
 General Egremont, had entertained for me, and evinced 
 by bequeathing to me a considerable share of the family 
 property. I was exceedingly annoyed at finding that 
 the crafty old man had made it appear as if I were 
 likely to benefit by his testamentary dispositions, which, 
 he said, he felt inclined to alter ; and he had, for that 
 purpose, requested his medical adviser to send over the 
 lawyer I had visited with Erskine, to draw out a fresh 
 will for him. 
 
 Dr. Lewis praised the behaviour of the nurse, whom 
 Sir Jasper had told him of my having recommended. 
 The invalid, he said, seemed sensible of her kindness, 
 and had hinted to her, in his presence, that she might 
 expect some substantial proof of his gratitude. His last 
 will had been made in favour of the County Hospital ; 
 but he must have half-a-dozen by him. He was con- 
 tinually altering the disposal of his property, according 
 to the humour he was in. vSir Jasper Egremont's wills 
 were quite a joke among the lawyers. The Doctor 
 smiled, as he observed that he shoidd take care not to 
 prevent his executing one in his prcseut_ agreeable dis- 
 position.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 221 
 
 I felt convinced that Sir Jasper had intended hiin to 
 repeat what passed to me ; and assured him that I had 
 no expectations whatever, of the kind to which he al- 
 luded. I had not even been on friendly terms with Sir 
 Jasper Egremont, until, being accidentally near him at 
 the time of his seizure, and seeing him fall to the 
 ground, I went to his assistance. The good Doctor, 
 evidently, scarcely believed me, and took his fee from 
 me without hesitation ; saying that my neighbour had 
 given him to understand that all such arrangements 
 rested with me during his illness. 
 
 When I acquainted Sally with the young woman's 
 wish to have Thomas to assist her, in preference to 
 any other person, my housekeeper seemed rather in- 
 clined to be jealous. It required all my eloquence 
 to convince her that she could, in any manner, get 
 through the work without him. She yielded, at last, 
 but only on condition that he returned at night. If it 
 were not for having him as a protector, she should 
 have gone away from the farm long ago. I had wild 
 ways of coming back late, or sometimes not at all. 
 If Tummas was to be taken from her, she should cer- 
 tainly not remain in the place ; but, as the young 
 woman had the sense to understand his merits, he 
 might go up, if he liked, for a few hours in the 
 day-time. 
 
 Thomas seemed quite disposed for the walk, and set 
 off immediately, carrying some things which I had 
 made Sally put together in a basket, as likely to be 
 useful both to the sick man and to the poor desolate
 
 222 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 girl who waited upon him. I told Thomas that I 
 should come up myself in the evening, and he could 
 then return to the farm. He nodded sagaciously, and 
 departed with more alacrity than I had ever seen him 
 display. 
 
 A¥hen my work in the meadows was over, and the 
 men were paid, (it was the end of the week,) I walked 
 up to Heron Cliff to see how the young woman 
 and Thomas were getting on. I met him, half-way 
 through the Dingle ; but could not understand a word 
 he said. The maiden's senses must be finer than mine. 
 I thought he seemed only half satisfied at going back 
 to Sally, and looked as if, idiot as he is, he would have 
 preferred the soft-voiced young woman's comjoany, to 
 that of his acrimonious partner. 
 
 The door of the ante-room was open, and no one 
 within. I passed through, and saw that Sir Jasper 
 was asleep, and the quiet nurse sitting beside him. 
 She had a book in her hand, which, when she saw me, 
 she laid reverently ,; down, on a table near the bed. 
 His features looked pinched and discoloured — perhaps, 
 the more so, _in contrast with the very fair face close 
 beside his pillow. I should have been more interested in 
 her, if she had seemed to feel the hardship of her 
 position more acutely; but there was no disturbance 
 in her features, no tear in her eye, as she moved away 
 from her station, with a slow gliding gesture, which did 
 not arouse the sleeper. Her face wore an expression 
 of extreme benevolence — such a look as the ancient
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 painters have given to the heavenly-minded, virgin 
 Madonnas — but had not a trace of sentiment about it. 
 
 Perhaps in the hope of its bestowing upon her a 
 more matronly appearance, she now wore a cap. It 
 seemed to me like those of the female peasants, in 
 some part of the continent ; made of thin muslin, with 
 a high crown and lappets, pinned flat upon the fore- 
 head, and then descending on either side of the 
 soft brown braids in which her hair was arranged. 
 This coiffure, which was very becoming, gave her a 
 foreign appearance. Many circumstances respecting 
 her showed that she came from abroad. Even the 
 language she spoke was such pure English that it 
 scarcely seemed her native tongue, but rather one ac- 
 quired with great care. As she moved across the 
 room, setting everything she passed in order, I could 
 not but admire the contrast her fresh young loveliness 
 afforded to the dingy furniture and the grim, stem- 
 featured old man. 
 
 She made a sign to me to come into the outer room, 
 and, leaving the door open, stood by the fire-place, 
 watching some vessel containing broth or gruel, which 
 from time to time she carefully stirred, keeping her 
 eyes upon it. I told her of my housekeeper's wish that 
 Thomas should return at night, and offered to remain 
 in the house myself, or send one of my labourers. The 
 crippled form and imperfect intellect of the unfortunate 
 being whom her kindness had partially humanized, 
 made him an unfit protector for her.
 
 2M LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " He is gone," she said. " I stand in need of no 
 one. The poor creature has done all I wished, and 
 been very useful to me. Now, all that is left, is to lie 
 down and sleep, putting our trust in God. We have 
 no other protector." 
 
 She stopped abruptly. " It would be well," I said, 
 *^ if we were all brought up as piously and wisely as 
 you have been. You seem to have no idle fears." 
 
 " I am not afraid," she answered ; " if that is any 
 merit. I do not shudder at darkness or imaginary 
 spectres, as I did formerly, when I was a child. That 
 is because I am young and strong, and know that the 
 old legends which hang about such a place as this have 
 no truth in them. I sometimes wish that I had more 
 faith in illusions — that the world were not so drearily 
 real." 
 
 She looked straight before her, as if the world of 
 fancy had, indeed, for her no existence. I thought of 
 Edith Ersldne, with her dreams and "wdlful ways, and 
 all the innumerable phantoms which would have filled 
 her mind in these ghost-like chambers, during the 
 watches of the night ; and forgot to answer her. 
 
 " It seems to me," the fair woman went on, " as 
 if I were very ignorant ; but of one thing I am certain. 
 If we have not God to help us — if we do not pray to and 
 trust in him, and love him with all our mind, and soul, 
 and heart — if we lay our heads on the pillow with no 
 thought of a better world than this, in which we may 
 some day awaken — then, indeed, such a lot as mine is 
 quite unbearable."
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 22o 
 
 She spoke very earnestly, and looked at me, as if 
 wishing for information on a subject which she very 
 imperfectly understood. I felt myself shamefully de- 
 ficient in real knowledge, and said that I feared she 
 would be more likely to instruct me, than to obtain 
 an answer to her enquiries. I had thought of these 
 things much less than I ought have done. 
 
 " What is the reason," she asked, '^ that, in this coun- 
 try, religion is so far from us ? Here is a man dying, 
 and no priest near him ! You have cared for his body, 
 and left his soul to perish. This terrifies me ! Those 
 who educated me were wrong in many respects. I 
 dared not trust them. The uncertainty has unsettled 
 my own faith. But they would have said some 
 prayers — the priests would have penetrated to the 
 sick chamber, if not to the hard heart, of that poor 
 imrepenting sinner." 
 
 I told her that, in England, these solemn subjects 
 were left to a man's own conscience. No priest inter- 
 fered between him and his Maker, unless at his own 
 expressed wish for farther instruction in what he might 
 be supposed to have had the opportunity of learning 
 from his childhood. She shook her head mournfully. 
 
 '^ They ought to point out the way," she said. 
 " Poor, ignorant, and misguided by our own evil in- 
 clinations as we are, shall we not miss the road ? If left 
 to ourselves, we perish everlastingly." 
 
 She turned again to the fire, and carefully attended 
 to her office. " You," I observed, hesitatingly, " who 
 so cautiously yet actively tread the path of duty — all of 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 whose motives and feelings are kind and placid — have 
 no cause to fear/' 
 
 " You do not know me/* she answered. " At times^ 
 I am very different — but, in one circumstance, I am 
 better off than many — than Sir Jasper Egremont, for 
 example. I have to work — to earn my bread. Each 
 day — each hour — some duty, for the most part painful, 
 has to be fulfilled. I have little leisure for senseless 
 regret — none for idleness. You also have to labour ; 
 in this we may be envied. While we perform the 
 task set us, we have at least a better chance of peace 
 and happiness than yonder master of thousands of 
 acres and millions of money, with his uncharitable 
 thoughts and angry passions." 
 
 A sound from Sir Jasper's room at this moment 
 reached us. She took the steaming mess from the fire, 
 poured it into an old-fashioned china basin, tasted and 
 put sugar to it, laying bread nicely toasted by the 
 side, and carried it to him. I watched her standing 
 by him, calm, attentive, and melancholy. Gradually 
 the emotion which, for the first time, had been visible 
 in her face, subsided, and its expression again became 
 placid and contented. I thought her serenity spread 
 itself even over the miser. He thanked her, and ate 
 his neatly-served supper, while she stood beside liim. 
 Then she returned, put all away, bade me good even- 
 ing without reverting to our conversation, and closed 
 the room for the night.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 2'^1 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 I FOUND Sir Jasper sitting, propped up with pillows, 
 in his bed, which was strewn with papers, on the fol- 
 lowing afternoon. The outer room was empty ; but 
 the first glance at his countenance told me that he was 
 better. He seemed inclined to talk to me, and at once 
 enlisted my services in his behalf, to write at his dicta- 
 tion several letters of business, relating to the diiferent 
 speculations in which he was engaged. He had tried 
 to do it himself, but, though his intellects were quite 
 clear, yet his hands shook so much from weakness, that 
 he could not hold the pen ; and the young woman I 
 had placed about him seemed hopelessly stupid con- 
 cerning money-matters. 
 
 This task over, the old man lay down again to rest 
 himself; but went on conversing upon the same sub- 
 jects, as if his mind was so full of them that they must 
 ooze forth. If I had not been there, I believe he would 
 have talked to the worm-eaten bureau, or to the nurse, 
 in spite of what he regarded as her imbecility, about his 
 mines and shares, his slate quarries, and the sale of 
 cattle before the winter, which was to take place in a 
 few days. 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 While I sat by him, I could not divest myself of the 
 unpleasant feelings which his past conduct had engen- 
 dered. There was no real friendliness in our inter- 
 course ; and the cold twinkle of his grey eyes arose, — 
 not from gratitude at the restoration of his faculties, — 
 not from a consciousness of kind and equitable inten- 
 tions,-— but from the pride he took in detailing to me 
 the vast amount of his resources, and in the acuteness 
 with which every farthing was laid out, so as to bring 
 in ten as a return. Our connection, based as it was on 
 his side upon self-interest, and on mine upon the im* 
 possibility of deserting one who — whatever might be 
 his annual income, the sums lodged in his bankers' 
 hands, or profitably laid out on mortgage — was abso- 
 lutely unprovided with the necessaries of life, could 
 not, in my opinion, end too soon ; and I felt certain, 
 that the moment Sir Jasper could dispense with my 
 services, he would forget that he was in any manner 
 indebted to me, and perhaps be as great a nuisance and 
 as unneighbourly as ever. 
 
 That time, however, had not arrived. Crippled and 
 helpless. Sir Jasper lay upon his bed, compelled to be 
 thankful to those who brought him food and tended 
 him. He might, just then, have been taken for a bene- 
 volent uncle, desirous of making me thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the best means of cai'rying on the schemes 
 into which he had entered for my benefit ; instead of 
 the virulent enemy who grudged me the small spot of 
 ground that trenched upon his own widely-spread do- 
 mains.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. ' 229 
 
 To this subject he hardly alluded ; and I felt certain 
 that he was keeping it back, in order not to be induced 
 to commit himself so far as, by any apology or con- 
 cession, to admit my right to General Egremont's be- 
 quest, or engage to let me enjoy it unmolested. Judging 
 me by himself, he probably was expecting me to profit 
 by his feebleness, and make him enter into a bond to 
 renounce his claim to the road, and furnish me with 
 slates and draining-tiles, on the most moderate terms. 
 
 He was still more careful to abstain from asking any 
 questions respecting the physician or the nurse ; treating 
 their attendance upon him as a whim of mine, which 
 he had been condescending enough to gratify. Young 
 people, he said, had no notion of expense ; and, sooner 
 than suffer a moment's uneasiness, rushed headlong into 
 charges which old people were wise enough to count 
 up before incurring. 
 
 " It's right. Captain, that those who have such fan- 
 cies should pay for them. If they don't grudge it, so 
 much the better. As for what I am worth, it is all for 
 my successors ; and those who think the old curmudgeon 
 most sparing now, may rejoice at his thrifty habits when 
 they find themselves gainers by what he has been slaving 
 himself to heap together. There's the farm by the 
 Broom Hill ; that's quite separate from the estate, and 
 would have been a pretty property if it had gone with 
 the Pastures at Lewell : — ^but that's neither here nor 
 there ; they may fall into the same hands yet. The 
 land's worth money, to say nothing of the lead and 
 copper veins that lie beneath it ; and the timber in the
 
 i2oO LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 Dingle, with the water-privilege, as the Yankees call 
 it, will pay a good sum when the works arc finished. 
 There would be a pretty situation for a house under the 
 oak copse, at the head of the stream, — better than your 
 bleak spot, — if a man had the money to build, and cared 
 about superintending the machinery. 
 
 "You see. Captain, as I lie here, thoughts pass 
 through my mind. The old dreamer is still planning. 
 If I can't make money for myself, I must go on with 
 my schemes for future years, when younger folks than 
 me will be reaping the benefit. But I like to look for- 
 ward. I can't help it." 
 
 He lay silent for some moments, watching a spider 
 that was spinning away very contentedly, in the high 
 canopy over the ancient couch. " I have been looking 
 at that old fellow, and comparing him to myself," he 
 said. " There he is, — work, work. He has already a 
 house twice as big as he needs to dwell in ; and see 
 how he is spreading out his fine threads east and west 
 north and south ! — ^just as a clever, painstaking man 
 sends his thoughts over the world, and gets them back 
 with cent, per cent, interest. That stupid young woman 
 wanted to carry him away ; and assured me, when I 
 told her to let him alone, that she did not mean to kill 
 him, but would set him on the trees outside, to weave 
 another web in the open air. But I take quite an in- 
 terest in his speculations, and the steady way in which 
 he sets about them. No one would have fancied, when 
 he began, that he would stretch that thin tissue right 
 across, — as it might be the Atlantic, — and catch firm
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 231 
 
 hold of that bed-post ; yet, how he swings along, and 
 caught a fly for his breakfast, just beside that ugly old 
 face, peeping out from the carving !" 
 
 The old man's eyes gleamed savagely. I fancied 
 that he enjoyed the demolition of the unhappy insect. 
 It appeared to me, also, that I was myself in much the 
 same predicament ; and that what put him in such good 
 humour, was, his feeling that he was nursed and fed at 
 my expense. 
 
 He seemed in no hurry to establish his convalescence, 
 and dozed away contentedly enough, with the fair young 
 woman waiting upon him, and supplying him with what 
 he wanted. Several days passed, without any par- 
 ticular change manifesting itself; and I began to think 
 I had incurred sufficient inconvenience for a man who 
 would, I was convinced, shake off the load of obligation 
 the moment that the gratification of living cost-free 
 proved inadequate to counterbalance the sensations of 
 returning health and strength, which would prompt him 
 to be up and stirring. 
 
 He was still very weak, and had had one or two at- 
 tacks of giddiness, but not to an alarming extent. I 
 had not encouraged the physician's visits, nor gone to 
 any expense which could be avoided ; nevertheless, the 
 remuneration of the nurse and many other payments 
 must fall to me. I knew not how to hint to the shrewd 
 old man that I was weary of my office, and that it was 
 high time that he should hand over a cheque upon his 
 banker, to settle our accounts, and defray the charges 
 consequent upon his illness.
 
 2S2 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 "What annoyed me most of all was, that by vague hints 
 of benefits which he meant to bestow upon us both, he 
 eased his conscience of obligation towards me and the 
 young woman who continued to attend upon him most 
 carefully. I was fearful lest she might not be so fully 
 aware as myself that no dependence was to be placed 
 upon these indefinite professions ; though, indeed, she 
 hardly appeared to listen to them, and went on in the 
 regular performance of her duty, with a deportment 
 which, unless that it became increasingly mournful, 
 never varied in its respectful quietude. She seemed to 
 me to expect nothing, — to have no anticipations or il- 
 lusions of any kind, — but to proceed in a sort of me- 
 thodical way, finding some indescribable satisfaction in 
 doing everything a child could have thought of for her 
 uninteresting patient, without a hope beyond. 
 
 One evening, when I had left the old miser, as usual, 
 pondering about his schemes, and nodding over his 
 golden dreams, — not of Paradise, but of some new and 
 profitable investment, — I found the young woman 
 standing by the large window on the staircase, as if 
 wishing to speak to me, upon my quitting Sir Jasper's 
 room. She had an unusual expression in her face. 
 Her eyes looked softer and larger than usual, and 
 though the eyelids were quite white, and there was no 
 mark of tears upon her face, 1 fancied she had been 
 crying. 
 
 She wished, I thought, to stop me ; and looked up, 
 but did not speak. Any appearance of emotion in one 
 generally so calm, had more effect than floods of tears
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 23S 
 
 from ordinary women ; and I could not pass lier with- 
 out enquiring whether anything was the matter. 
 
 " It is only," she said, " about Sir Jasper. Oh, Sir, 
 does he never think of anything but business — papers 
 and letters, and money ? In his sleep, or even to me, 
 who know nothing of such subjects, he is always talk- 
 ing of his shares and profits. Does he never think 
 differently, — never pray ? Does he worship no God but 
 Mammon ?" 
 
 Her energetic accent startled me. Even her fair 
 throat flushed with excitement. Her eyes shone 
 brightly, as the unusual colour mounted to her cheek. 
 Her hands were clasped, and the long Beguine-like 
 sleeves of the dress she wore fell over them, as she 
 suddenly let them sink, in an attitude of despondency. 
 
 " These things are always in his thoughts ;" she 
 went on rapidly ; — while, without any change of coun- 
 tenance, the large tears coursed each other like hail- 
 drops over her burning cheeks. " If I wake up in the 
 night, when all is still, and one might suppose the 
 spirit of his dead son, for whom they say he has wept 
 so much, would be with him ; if, then, in the dead of 
 night, I hear him stirring, he is looking into the drawers 
 of that old cabinet, or, with his features sharply set, 
 making, alone, long calculations ; — carrying the sums 
 in his head, which his feeble fingers cannot mark down 
 upon the paper. In the morning, his first request is 
 for me to help him ; though, he says, I have no head for 
 it. I cannot write for crying." 
 
 She laid her forehead upon the high carved window-
 
 234 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ledge, by which we were standing, and wept convTil- 
 sively. 
 
 I knew not what to say, to comfort her. 
 
 '^ Have you," I asked, " spoken to him on these sub- 
 jects ? — I mean, respecting prayer and penitence. He 
 needs them both. Men will sometimes listen to a 
 woman, when they will not attend to one of their own 
 
 sex." 
 
 " I am so very ignorant," she answered, modestly ; 
 drying her eyes, and lifting up her fair face, from which 
 every sign of the storm had already passed away. " It 
 seems to me, the youngest child in England knows 
 more than I do, brought up in a foreign convent, 
 scarcely discerning right from wrong, and only con- 
 scious of my own miserable deficiency, — of my need of 
 an all-sufficient Saviour. But you, who understand 
 these things, — who can speak to Sir Jasper Egremont 
 on his favourite subjects, and listen patiently, while he 
 unfolds his schemes, — you can surely talk to him on 
 what is important above all." 
 
 " I am unfit for the task," I said. " He would hear 
 you more willingly. ^len with men are hard and 
 selfish. When he is ill and weak, — in those still 
 hours when, as you imagine, the spirits of those we 
 love appear to us, — his dead son may, perhaps, some- 
 times seem present with him. He would be a ^better 
 aid for you than one like me." 
 
 " He thinks not of wife or child, of the dead or 
 living !" she said, very sadly ; " only of himself. To 
 me, spectres — though I denied the possibility — look
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 235 
 
 down, now that I have grown timid, from the spaces 
 on the walls where the old pictures of the Egremonts 
 once hung. I wonder whether the old man has sold 
 them." 
 
 I thought that the superstitious fancies which hang 
 about such places as Heron Cliff, must have insensibly 
 influenced her, when I saw her gaze anxiously round 
 her, but I could not answer her question ; neither did 
 she seem to expect any reply, but continued mourn- 
 fully;- 
 
 " One night, when he was very restless, counting up 
 his coin, and talking of adding field to field, I read to 
 him about the rich man in the parable who had much 
 goods laid up for many years, and did not know where 
 to bestow the fruits of his land : — how, suddenly, in the 
 night-time, his soul, God warned him, was to be re- 
 quired of him : — but he is so hard, even a voice from 
 the tomb would not touch him. He told me those 
 were old wives' fables, and bade me close the book. .^ It 
 is my only one ; I have no other learning. Is there no 
 help for him in Heaven or earth ?" 
 
 She clasped her hands again, and seemed to be pray- 
 ing fervently. 
 
 " Yes," I said, " my good and pious girl, your in- 
 tercessions may aid him. You have done your part, 
 and must leave the rest to Him who is all-merciful. 
 He may yet touch this obdurate heart ; though your 
 gentle words do not penetrate the ice that has gathered 
 round it. In his case, sorrow has hardened, instead of 
 chastening."
 
 236 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 " If all his wealth were laid out in masses, or in alms 
 after his death, it would not save him ;" she exclaimed, 
 earnestly ; " though for an immortal soul, no price 
 would be too much. No man can save his brother's 
 soul. Each one of us must stand or fall alone." 
 
 She paused, and then resumed : — 
 
 " If all the convent-bells in Belgium were ringing, 
 and tapers burning before every altar, it would not 
 comfort me. Poor, shivering mortals ! we can take 
 nothing out of the world. We, in our low estate, are 
 as precious in the sight of God, as if, after death, the 
 banners of the Egremonts were to wave over our heads, 
 the marble effigies in the chapel to press down our cold 
 
 remains." 
 
 She spoke dreamily. The colour had faded away, 
 leaving her face pale as the monuments to which she 
 alluded. Her shrouding draperies and white com- 
 plexion made her for a moment resemble them. She 
 said no more ; but, with a quiet, gliding motion, re- 
 turned to Sir Jasper's apartment, leaving me to descend 
 to the dimly-lighted hall alone. 
 
 When Thomas came back to the Farm, as I had di- 
 rected, for his dinner the next afternoon, he made Sally 
 understand that Sir Jasper had had another fit. The 
 young woman seemed to be much troubled in her mind 
 about him, and wished me to come up. A great change 
 had taken place in his appearance, when I saw him 
 again. His looks were ghastly, and the nurse said that 
 his sufFerinsrs had been verv severe. A dull, contmual 
 pain in his head bewildered his ideas, which were still
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 237 
 
 running upon tlie papers -wlierewith. she told me that he 
 had fatigued himself, the night before. 
 
 He put out his hand, when he saw me, and beckoned 
 to the young woman, also, to come to the side of his 
 bed. " I thought it was all over with me, Captain, last 
 night," he said, faintly ; " but I'm better ; yes, cer- 
 tainly better. That young woman has been the saving 
 of me. Don't forget her, when I am gone. And the 
 will, — that's a comfort, — is off my mind. The last 
 one ; — finished, and signed, and witnessed ; — not by you 
 or the girl, but by two of the men who came up, this 
 morning, from the iron- works ; so that it's all complete, 
 in the left-hand pigeon-hole of that old bureau. That's 
 the one. If I die to-night, you can lay your hand 
 upon it ; and that spendthrift, Malvern, who fancies 
 himself my heir, will find himself plaguily mistaken. 
 It's well to be in at the death ; as you used to say in 
 Leicestershire. The old fox has run to cover ; who 
 has stopped the earth ? Don't bury me in the Dingle, 
 by those cursed old maids who were the ruin of my boy^ 
 Julian !" 
 
 His voice totally changed, as, after a slight pause, he 
 pronounced the name of his dead son. He did not 
 speak again ; but lay with his eyes open, gazing fixedly 
 upon vacancy. The stillness was quite awful. I could 
 hear the girl's quick breathing, as she strove to keep 
 down her sobs ; and the old man's laboured respira- 
 tion. 
 
 How long we stood thus, on opposite sides of the 
 bed, I know not. Neither of us liked to move, or to
 
 238 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 disturb the softer train of thought, into which we fan- 
 cied that the mention of his child had led the father's 
 wandering intellect. Unconsciously, perhaps, he had 
 laid his hand down near the kind-hearted young woman? 
 who, in his forlorn estate, had acted the part of a 
 daughter. I saw that she had taken it within her own, 
 and was holding it tenderly. Her compassionate heart, 
 probably, made her sensible of the loneliness of such a 
 death-bed, with none but strangers near it. 
 
 When she looked up, and her eyes met mine, I felt 
 that I could read in their calm depths bettor than for- 
 merly. Sir Jasper, with a long-drawn sigh, roused 
 himself from the reverie into which he had sunk. I 
 asked him whether it were his wish to sec the physi- 
 cian. If so, I could ride over and desire him to call ; 
 and, I added, it might be a comfort, now that his 
 worldly affairs were arranged, to attend to the more im- 
 portant duties of religion. Would he not like to re- 
 ceive a visit from a clergyman, who would talk to him 
 with more authority than I could do, of the unseen 
 world to which he might ere long be summoned ? 
 
 I shall not repeat his answer. The solemn secrets of 
 a death-bed are, or ought to be, sacred. The girl let 
 fall his hand, with a shudder, and withdrew. I heard 
 her weeping. Sir Jasper had greater faith in his least 
 promising speculation, — in the power of his enormous 
 water-wheels and machinery, — than in the truths of re- 
 vealed religion. His sneering impiety, such as, even 
 by ungodly men of the "present day, is seldom openly 
 avowed, filled me with horror.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 239 
 
 The subject seemed very distasteful to him. He 
 declined the physician's attendance^ and became mo- 
 rosely silent. The hours wore on tediously. Sir 
 Jasper slept heavily during part of the evening. He 
 always appeared dull and feeble, after the painful 
 spasms at the heart had subsided. Each breath was 
 drawn with difficulty. I could not leave the poor girl 
 unassisted, and offered to sit up with him, as he seemed 
 unfit to be alone. She could then lie down in one of 
 the other chambers. My offer was quietly accepted, 
 and she set everything I could require in the course 
 of the night, in readiness for me, neatly and in order. 
 Nevertheless, her step was slow. She looked, I 
 thought, more fatigued and dejected than I had ever 
 seen her. 
 
 When she had arranged everything commodiouslyj 
 the girl went to the head of the bed, and leaned over 
 the dying man. She bent so low that I fancied her 
 fresh lips touched his wrinkled forehead. Then she 
 sank on her knees, and in a low, sweet, earnest tone^ 
 interceded with the Judge of all created beings for the 
 daring sinner who had so recently abjured all prayer 
 for himself. Her simple words penetrated my heart. 
 I felt myself compelled to kneel, while that touching 
 petition was offered. 
 
 The name he had uttered — that of his dead child — 
 was more than once breathed, with deep emotion, by 
 the sorrow-struck Christian. That he, standing by the 
 Almighty Father's throne, would plead for his erring 
 parent, was earnestly besought. Then, changing her
 
 240 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 tone to one of penitent humility, she deplored her igno- 
 rance, and acknowledged in words taken from Scrip- 
 ture, that there was only One Name given among 
 men, whereby they might be saved — only One ap- 
 pointed Mediator between God and His creatures. 
 
 The habits acquired among Roman Catholics ap- 
 peared to hang about and harass her ; but gradually 
 as she went on, seemingly unconscious of any presence 
 but that of the slumbering, insensible invalid, and the 
 Divine Power she invoked, her ideas became clearer. 
 Her hand dropped the riband which, mechanically, as 
 it hung round her neck, she had passed through her 
 fingers, like the beads or string of a rosary. The Latin 
 words of the prayer, which she had, at first, occasion- 
 ally used, as if most familiar to her eai' and lip, were 
 exchanged for the simple language of the heart. Her 
 tears dried up — her countenance became serene and 
 placid. She looked once more, like a pitying angel, 
 upon the disturbed sleep of the struggling, perishing 
 mortal— smoothed his pillow and the coverings of his 
 couch ; and, without speaking to me as she passed, left 
 the room. 
 
 Sir Jasper was not quiet for a moment after that long 
 sleep ended. More than once, I thought of calling 
 his gentle attendant — I fancied that he might miss her 
 — but she had gone away from the ante-room. I knew 
 not where to find her. It might have been an hour 
 after midnight, when she glided into the chamber 
 again, like a spirit, and took her place by his bedside. 
 
 J J
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 241 
 
 having previously given him the medicine, which_, at 
 that time, he was accustomed to take. 
 
 She did not speak, but her presence, or the cooling 
 beverage, calmed him. After a while, as he still lay- 
 awake, she sang, in a low murmuring strain, like that a 
 mother uses to hush her restless infant, what by the 
 words I understood to be a psalm in the Latin version. 
 It sounded very solemn and soothing, and the old man's 
 eyes gradually closed, as he listened. 
 
 When this point was gained, she ceased, and sat 
 quite silent, motioning that I might go to rest; but I 
 did not feel disposed to obey her ; so I kept up the 
 fires, and shared her watch, until the sun rose behind 
 the cedars. Then I went back to the farm, leaving 
 Sir Jasper sleeping tranquilly. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 I FOUND Mrs. Saint deploring the loss she daily sus- 
 tained, of Thomas's assistance. He had just started for 
 Heron CliiF, and she was lamenting the necessity of 
 beginning the labours of the day without him. My 
 staying out all night had aggravated her ill-humour. 
 The idiot, on, the contrary, has been quite in spirits 
 lately, and looks very consequential, when I see him, 
 as often happens, on the way to and from the Pas- 
 tures. 
 
 I did not stop to hear Sally's remarks on my iiTC- 
 gular habits ; but, after changing my dress, went oiF to 
 the fields, telling her that I should return by dinner- 
 time, when I trusted to find her in a pleasanter humour. 
 If she could not do the work, she was welcome to have 
 what help she required ; but not to trouble me with 
 complaints of what it was in her own power to re- 
 dress. 
 
 She had followed mc out, and went back into the 
 house grumbling. Her ill-humour, like the stormy 
 weather, generally lasts forty-eight hours. I was in no 
 hurry to return, and foresaw that, in the accumulation 
 of employment, she would attend to nothing. At last.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 243 
 
 the men left off work, and I, wishing I had a comfort- 
 able cottage to receive me, imitated their example. 
 
 I thought Sally must have taken me at my word, 
 and procured some one to assist her ; for, when I en- 
 tered the house, the sound of voices came along the 
 passage leading to the kitchen, whence also issued an 
 unusual noise of clattering and bustling about. No 
 preparations were made for dinner, though it was 
 later than ordinary. 
 
 I shall not find it easy to convey any notion of my 
 astonishment, when, on proceeding at once to the 
 kitchen, I saw my cousin. Lord Malvern — Marion's 
 brother — sitting oil the dresser, with an air of noncha- 
 lant familiarity, talking to Sally, and giving her sundry 
 valuable pieces of advice respecting the repast, which, 
 from the interest he was taking in my housekeeper's 
 very dilatory movements, it was evident that he meant 
 to share with me. 
 
 It is not in Malvern's nature to be indifferent to any 
 one's opinion. He is the very^ prince of coxcombs. 
 From the time when he gets up in the morning, and 
 spends three hours in [dressing, till he lies down at 
 night, with his hands in white kid gloves and his hair 
 in curl-papers, I believe that the wish to- know how he 
 is looking, and what others are thinking of him, never 
 leaves this vain fellow's mind. He is not altogether 
 satisfied with himself. It is an uneasy sensation. Mal- 
 vern is aware that he was not born good-looking ; 
 but he considers that there are great capabilities about 
 him, and that there is no saying what he may be- 
 
 R 2
 
 244 LEWELL PASTURES . 
 
 come, in the article of personal beauty, if he does but 
 think enough about it. 
 
 At this moment, when I found him lounging on the 
 kitchen-dresser, with Sally looking as though she 
 would willingly transfix him with her skewers, he was 
 manifestly bent upon charming the virago, and adapt- 
 ing ^his conversation to her taste. His dress, which 
 had cost him intense study, was something between the 
 costume of a hunter in Der Freyschutz and an English 
 sailor, with a dash of the sportsman — while, through 
 all his rough garments — his pink-checked shirt, pea- 
 jacket, and wide-awake hat — peeped the idle dandy of 
 the parks and club-houses. 
 
 He twirled round on the table with a theatrical 
 bound, when I pronounced his name with an ejacula- 
 tion of unfeigned surprise. " What on earth, Malvern," 
 I 'could not help exclaiming, '' brought you to such a 
 place as this ?" 
 
 He did not immediately answer me, but after gazing 
 at me, doubtfully, for a few seconds, he said, laugh- 
 ing, '^ Upon my soul, Tudor, I do not know you. 
 Have you the slightest conception what an object you 
 have made of yourself? When did you shave last? 
 Do you ever have your hair cut ? How shamefully 
 you have neglected your appearance, since you lived 
 in this out-of-the-way spot !" 
 
 I had been so entirely engrossed in commenting 
 upon the absurdity of my friend's exterior, that the 
 change in myself had quite escaped my memory. Mal- 
 vern continued to siu'vey me with astonishment.
 
 LEAVELL PASTURES. 245 
 
 " Is that kind of dress the thing to wear here ?" he 
 enquired, referring to my working garb, which was 
 certainly a decided contrast to his own elaborate cos- 
 tume. " Upon my word, Tudor, after all, you don't 
 look so bad! Some women would admire those vil- 
 lainous black whiskers, and your uncommonly cut- 
 throat appearance. Marion always said, you looked 
 the best when your moustaches had grown a little out 
 of bounds. So you have given them up ! Ah, well, 
 you look, perhaps, better without them. Where would 
 your face have been, if you had encouraged any more 
 growth of hair upon it ? You really are looking won- 
 derfully well, now I study you. Attila, or some of 
 those horrid Huns must have been very like you ; and 
 I dare say the Roman ladies fell deucedly in love with 
 the savage-looking brutes. Where did you get all 
 that mud ? Have you been fishing, and tumbled into 
 the river 'i — or shooting, and up to your waist in a 
 bog ?" 
 
 " Neither ;" I answered. " You will scarcely credit 
 the rough life I am leading. I have been hard at work, 
 Malvern ; up to my knees in a morass, seeing how best 
 my men were to lay down the tiles to drain the bog. 
 For these matter-of-fact occupations, I have given up 
 the dilettante pursuits of sportsmen." 
 
 " You don't mean it ?" said Malvern, with apparent 
 interest. " Well, I am sure, I admire your conduct 
 vastly. Will this respectable woman ever give us any 
 dinner ?" he asked, in a whisper. " For Heaven's 
 sake, Tudor, use whatever cajoleries you are master of
 
 246 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 to induce her to be quick ! I am positively starv- 
 ing." 
 
 " "VVe had better leave her domain, where we are 
 more likely to retard than to hasten matters :*' I re- 
 plied. " Send up whatever there is to eat in the house," 
 I added, to Sally, " and be quick about it. Have you 
 seen any more of my premises than the kitchen, Mal- 
 vern ? I am afraid I can only promise very indifferent 
 accommodation, if you really are magnanimous enough 
 to take up your quarters with me." 
 
 " Well, upon my soul, I see nothing the matter with 
 the place !" he rejoined, leisurely surveying the almost 
 empty kitchen. " No great preparations, certainly, if 
 the mess were to dine here ; but we shall do very 
 well. I dare say this amiable lady will get us some 
 nice little dish ready. Game must be plentiful, and 
 the fowls were cackling in the yard, as I passed through. 
 Sportsman's fare ; fish from the stream, a woodcock 
 which has just looked at the fire, or snipes from that 
 morass you were talking of; anything, so that it is 
 nicely cooked, will do for me." 
 
 ^' I never bestow two thoughts upon what I eat; and 
 you must be satisfied, to-day, with what there is in the 
 house ;" I said. " To-morrow, I will try and find you 
 something better." 
 
 Sally was, by this time, looking so black, that I was 
 convinced, unless I took Malvern away, our chance of 
 getting any dinner at all was fast diminishing. He 
 followed me ; to my surprise, praising everything we
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 247 
 
 came across, yet scarcely glancing at the different arti- 
 cles ; and talking all the time. 
 
 '' Ah ! -upon my word, very good ! Shall I put my 
 schako on this table ? — it won't upset ? Ah, no ! capi- 
 tal table ! Ah, and I see, you have a clock. It doesn't 
 go, does it ? No — That's a pity ; — but, after all, one 
 always has a watch, and that eternal tick-tick is very 
 wearying. The greatest nuisance I know of are those 
 clocks like the one Marion and Tudor have ; that, be- 
 sides striking, play some abominable tune. They are 
 very proud of theirs, which they brought from Switzer- 
 land, after their honeymoon ; when all was not couleur- 
 de-rose, I fancy. That's the staircase : — well, I see 
 nothing the matter with it. No ! — I am not going to 
 knock my head ; — of course, I am too old a soldier for 
 that. If you were living here, it would be different ; 
 — cheapest in the end, perhaps, to pull the place down ; 
 — but it's only a shooting-box. Upon my soul, you 
 wouldn't believe it, but I rather like it !" 
 
 By this time, we had reached the landing-place, upon 
 which the doors of several rooms opened. It was dif- 
 ficult to say which was the most comfortless. I ushered 
 my guest into my own. 
 
 " No, no, Tudor ! — Don't let me turn you out. Bare 
 boards, with just a mattrass or two, — I abominate the 
 smell of feathers, — will do. My travelling cloak, 
 and pistols, and dressing case ; and I am settled for the 
 night. This apartment is quite luxurious. Upon my 
 word, you are very well ofi" ! Is this your bed ? — and 
 curtains to the windows ? — Actually, a table and not a
 
 248 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 bad toilet-glass ! Ah, Tudor, you always were a mon- 
 strously vain fellow ! I do believe you have grown 
 more of a giant than ever." 
 
 I advised him to make what slight preparations he 
 chose, before dinner. For myself, a change of dress was 
 indispensable ; but, in the first place, I would go do^vn, 
 and quicken my housekeeper's proceedings. Leaving 
 Malvern arranging his love -locks at the glass, I went 
 down stairs with some misgivings ; and found Sally in 
 a fit of the blackest despair. 
 
 " What -svill you do next ?" she said, ferociously. 
 " If that monkey had sat chattering on the dresser a 
 minute longer, it would have been the death of me. 
 When people are to come in at all hours, as they do 
 here, in season and out of season, I had best leave the 
 place, and you'll provide yourself with a servant." 
 
 She flung on her bonnet, as if her patience was at 
 length tired out. 
 
 " If Tummas had not been took from me, I might 
 have gone through with it. But he that has been a 
 faithful husband these forty years, has got his mind un- 
 settled, and has taken, like the rest of his wicked sex, 
 to dissipated courses ! It's my belief, you're both after 
 that young woman from the Uingle. The old idiot is 
 clean daft about her ; and why I am to sit here and do 
 the work, when you're both at Heron Cliff; and see 
 the farm produce, the butter and poultry, carried off 
 wholesale, is just what I should like to know?" 
 
 I was afraid the angry tones of her voice would reach
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 249 
 
 Malvern ; and to be associated with Thomas, in his 
 wife's jealous fury, was too humiliating. 
 
 " If you speak another syllable/' I said, " you shall 
 indeed quit the place. Be silent, send up the dinner, 
 and do not trespass farther on my forbearance." 
 
 She looked subdued, but sulky ; and I left her to re- 
 cover her temper at her leisure. 
 
 Having divested myself of my mud-stained garments, 
 I went to seek for Malvern, who was still dissatisfied 
 with the set of his whiskers. 
 
 " You really don't look so bad, Harry. How long 
 did it take to nurse that prodigious exuberance of hair, 
 that Gothic chevelure of yours ? 1 wonder how I 
 should look, if I were to let my beard grow for a 
 month ?" 
 
 " I am quite certain you would be heartily tired, in 
 less time, of having no one to admire you ; and it is 
 perfectly useless to expect an answer from me ;" I said, 
 as he turned an enquiring glance from the mirror to my 
 face. " You will do very well. There is no one to see 
 you. Men never look at each other ; and I have no 
 ladies, within reach of my hermitage, who are likely to 
 surprise us. Let us go down to dinner." 
 
 Malvern made no complaint concerning the very in- 
 different fare set before us, half an hour afterwards ; 
 and I took no notice of his glances at the sideboard, 
 where the claret and champagne were not, which might 
 have aided him in supporting philosophically the evils 
 of his destiny. It had suited him, for what purpose I 
 did not immediately fathom, to take up his abode tern-
 
 250 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 porarily with me ; and he would not risk losing his 
 welcome by over-fastidiousness or incivility. The in- 
 conveniences to which it was his pleasure for a time to 
 submit did not appear to him, as to Erskine, insup- 
 portable for me. He was always intensely selfish ; and 
 though he fancies himself extremely sympathetic, can- 
 not in the least enter into another person's feelings. 
 His own exclusively occupy and interest him. 
 
 While we were dining, he related to me several par- 
 ticulars concerning Frederick and Lady Marion, of 
 whom I had heard but little, since their marriage. 
 
 " Yes, poor souls ! they have been back in England 
 some time. Ah! I suppose they will grow reconciled 
 to each other at last. For my part, I always pity 
 newly-married people ; but they get on, in some re- 
 spects, better than I expected. The fact is, they ought 
 never to have come together. Marion made a great 
 sacrifice, and, between ourselves, your brother is not to 
 be envied. Frederick has no expansion of mind, and 
 — ah ! I see you know what I mean, — is a bit of a 
 screw. No ? — you don't think so. WeU, his wife does, 
 and that is the most important point. He does not in 
 the least understand the proper way of treating her. 
 How I laughed at some of his notions ! — As if she 
 were likely to submit to his humdrum, Darby and Joan 
 way of living ; when he, — yes, — of course, he must 
 have known what made a woman like Marion marry a 
 commoner !" 
 
 I felt extremely angry with him. Not only the dig" 
 nity of my family was assailed, but my faith in the de-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 251 
 
 licacy of my first love was rudely shattered by his flip- 
 pant observations. " You forget, Malvern ;" I said, 
 " that you are speaking of my brother." 
 
 " Not in the least :" he answered. " No one else is 
 likely to be interested in the little difficulties of his 
 menage. Though, really, Harry, Tudor is so different 
 from yourself, that I think you must have been changed 
 at nurse. But then, you were one of us : you have 
 not imbibed any of his narrow-minded squirarchical 
 ideas. You would not have expected such a person as 
 Marion to adopt them. Of course, my sister had no 
 notion of losing caste. It might have been an immense 
 advantage to Tudor, to have a wife so highly connected ; 
 but he does not in the least know how to make the most 
 of himself. For instance, he is not a bad-looking fel- 
 low ; and yet, positively, I assure you, if people did 
 
 not know who he was, — the member for D , one of 
 
 the country party, — I should be ashamed to be seen 
 with him. I told Marion, if her husband would put 
 himself into my hands, in a fortnight she would not 
 know him ; and she thanked me, poor dear girl ! but 
 said, it was quite hopeless. Tudor was wedded to his 
 coats, and hats, and boots. It would be more easy to 
 effect a separation between herself and him, than from his 
 tailor. She felt it, I am sure ; and I said, * Well, God 
 bless you ? — You can let me know if I can do anything 
 for you.' " 
 
 I could not help laughing at his absurdity. " Since 
 they are likely to live principally in a neighbourhood 
 where Tudor is as well known as Canterbury Cathedral,
 
 252 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 the cut of his coat does not so much signify ;" I ob- 
 served. " Country gentlemen often take liberties, in 
 these respects." 
 
 '^ Oh, I don't suppose his wife troubles herself much 
 about it ! If he gave her carte-hlanche for her court- 
 dresses, I dare say Tudor might wear whatever villain- 
 ously-cut coats he preferred ; but, unfortunately, he has 
 a horrid turn for interference ; and Marion is proud — 
 yes, very ! I like a woman the better for it. By Jove ! 
 how I laughed when I saw her eyelids arch, upon 
 Tudor's asking her if her dress was not cut rather low ; 
 and she directed him to enquire of her dress-maker. 
 She did not presume, as he did, to alter or defy, but 
 only followed the fashion. I saw by her look how 
 much she was annoyed, and no wonder. If he wanted 
 to go on in a humdrum way, — talking of taking part 
 of an Opera box for his wife, and limiting her caprices, 
 — he had enough, I dare say, to make some respectable 
 young woman comfortable, but he shoidd not have 
 bought of marrying Lord Rodborough's beautiful 
 daughter. It was a great mistake on both sides." 
 
 " Probably, the greatest error was my brother's," I 
 said. " He may have imagined, in uniting himself to 
 your sister, that affection was her inducement for ac- 
 cepting a person inferior to her in rank." 
 
 "Ah, well! possibly. But I don't think Tudor ever 
 was much in love," said Malvern, as if he were con- 
 sidering the matter deeply. "The thing was fair 
 enough. Tudor was rich, and Marion had rank and 
 beauty, but not half money enough to spend as she
 
 LE^\T5LL PASTURES. 253 
 
 liked. The folly lies in his attempting to control her 
 'about things which she understands infinitely better 
 than himself. As she says, Tudor has a foolish wish to 
 be master, and does not see that it sounds much more 
 en regie to have Lady Marion's carriage called, than his 
 own. It is in these little things that he thwarts her. 
 If he could call her Mrs. Tudor, 'pon my soul, — though 
 he never would have married her but for her rank, — I 
 believe he would like it better. I cannot bear to see 
 people so mistaken in each other ; — and his wife has an 
 uncommonly high spirit. ^Now, what is the use of 
 quarrelling with Tudor about these trifles V I said to 
 her, the last evening I was at the Wilderness. ' Can't 
 you let him have his hobbies, and ride them to death, 
 if he likes, without contradicting him ? If you had let 
 him hatch his pheasants' eggs quietly, you might have 
 arranged your party ; instead of which, you put him in 
 a bad humour to begin with, and then he bores you 
 about these invitations. 
 
 " ' Let the people come^ and don't speak to them. 
 No one can make herself more disagreeable than a wo- 
 man of fashion. If you give them such a look as you 
 bestowed upon Tudor, they won't trouble you often :' 
 and she said, she believed I was right. Poor dear 
 thing ! I gave her the best advice I could ; but she 
 thinks too seriously of all this ; and as for Tudor, he 
 has not a notion of skimming lightly over the surface, 
 but goes in at once, into the middle of the stream, 
 floundering out as he best can, when his handsome wife 
 looks daggers at him."
 
 254 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 f As I did not wish for any farther information respect- 
 ing Jmy brother and Lady Marion's disagreements, I 
 asked Malvern what had brought him into my neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 " Ah ! now, it is a very odd thing ; — I can scarcely 
 tell you. When the season was over, the weather was 
 so confoundedly hot, that Whitaker proposed yachting ; 
 and we got, — positively, yes, — as far as Norway ! He 
 was mad about fishing, and I caught enough of the 
 mania to make myself agreeable ; so we came home to- 
 gether to his place, in time for grouse-shooting ; and a 
 very pleasant party we were, — plenty of life and spirit, 
 — ah ! we kept it up well for a fortnight. At the end 
 of that time, I felt low, — in fact, I was tired of the 
 thing, and disposed to ruralise quietly, — so I looked in 
 upon Marion and Tudor at the Wilderness ; but, upon 
 my veracity, however little in love they may be, mar- 
 ried 'people are quite unbearable to their friends for 
 the first year. Whether it is each other's faults or per- 
 fections, or their own ideas, they are full of themselves, 
 and have no sort of sympathy. If there is one thing I 
 hate more than another, it is selfishness ; and I had a 
 good dose of it with our worthy relatives. Marion will 
 be a pleasanter creature, ten times over, when she has 
 learned that her husband is not worth wasting so much 
 thought upon. Ah, by-the-bye, I have not given you 
 her message ; and that reminds me, I should not won- 
 der if it was curiosity as much as anything else that 
 brought me here. 
 
 " Marion brightened up a little, when she talked
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 255 
 
 about you, and said she would give anything to know 
 how Harry got on with his farm. She always calls you 
 so, out of opposition to Tudor, who has a horrid stiff 
 way of saying, ^ my brother Henry,' or * Captain Tudor,' 
 when he mentions you. She said she should soon ex- 
 pect to hear that you were tired of the whole thing, 
 and coming back to your old home in Kent. Your 
 rooms — ah, yes, that was it — should be always kept in 
 readiness for you." 
 
 " I am obliged to Lady Marion for her consideration," 
 I replied, feeling that it was more than Frederick had 
 suggested. " She does not appear to have become al- 
 together selfish. But I suppose that it was not merely 
 to judge of the progress I had made in cultivating tur- 
 nips, and feeding sheep, that you crossed England when 
 you left the Eastern Counties ?" 
 
 " Ah, no ! — I come here sometimes, — at least, not 
 exactly to this spot ; — but I have friends, — one has ac- 
 quaintances everywhere ; — and it seemed right to keep 
 them up. I may, you know, have more to do with this 
 part of the country hereafter. Of course, you under- 
 stand what I mean. The Egremont property, — yes, — 
 it all comes to me ; — but, upon my soul, I don't want 
 the old fellow to die. I am such an idle dog ! I 
 scarcely know what I should do with the estates, if they 
 came to me to-morrow." 
 
 It was only very recently that Malvern had occupied 
 the position of which he boasted, and I considered his 
 chance a slender one. " Sir Jasper is a most extraor- 
 dinary person," I observed ; " and it is commonly re-
 
 256 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ported that no human being can foretell what his testa- 
 mentary dispositions will be. I would not advise you 
 to depend with so much certainty upon this inherit- 
 ance." 
 
 '^ Yes, I understand the old fellow is flighty; a little 
 touched in the upper story, since his son's death ; but, 
 on the whole, I believe I am pretty sure of the pro- 
 perty," said Malvern, stretching himself complacently. 
 " I thought it might be best for me to see liim. When 
 I heard he was ill, you know, I set off immediately. 
 But I say, Tudor, I can't conceive what made you con- 
 stitute yourself head-nurse to the Baronet. There's 
 that precious old woman of [yours has been grumbling 
 ever since I came in, about your sending all the poultry, 
 and eggs, and milk off the farm, and paying a nurse, 
 besides spending half your days and nights at Heron 
 Cliff." 
 
 He eyed me sharply and suspiciously. " My ordi- 
 nary ill-luck," I said, " caused me to be the only person 
 present when Sir Jasper fell down in a fit, occasioned 
 by his giving way to a violent outburst of passion, 
 against some unfortunate old ladies who live near me, 
 in the Dingle. I took him home, as I must hare done 
 my own carter, had such an accident occurred to him ; 
 and as there was not a servant, nor any thing to eat on 
 the premises, I have been at much more expense and 
 trouble than I like about this graceless individual, who 
 has, ever since I came into the county, done his utmost 
 to annoy me." 
 
 " Ah ! he docs not like you ? — weU, I heard as much
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 257 
 
 before I came here ; — but your housekeeper's version 
 of the story puzzled me ; for she insinuated that you 
 had the management of everything ; and told me the 
 reason there were no people to help her^ and nothing, 
 she swore, for dinner, was that everything, animate and 
 inanimate, was gone up to Sir Jasper. No ! upon my 
 soul, I'm not jealous. I shall see the old fellow, of 
 course, to-morrow, and make him — yes, certainly he 
 must, if I am to be his heir — die like a gentleman. It's 
 a horrid idea, coming into a great rubbishing place, 
 where the rats are more at home than oneself. Ah ! I 
 knew it would be an intolerable bore. How long do 
 you think he is likely to last? Somebody told me, 
 another attack would kill him." 
 
 " He has endured several lately," I said, disgusted 
 with his flippancy ; " and though much weakened, his 
 constitution seems to be a strong one, and may yet carry 
 him through this illness. Do not reckon too confidently 
 on the issue." 
 
 '' A week ? Three ? No ! Two months ? I can't 
 stop so long. Why really, Tudor, you don't mean it ? 
 It will be horridly inconvenient!" exclaimed MalverE. 
 " Of course, I sha'n't trespass upon you, but must make 
 Sir Jasper get some kind of an establishment about him, 
 if I am to nurse him. But I shaU. never endure it. 
 Forrester said it was uncommonly foolish to let him go 
 off without seeing me. He might — yes, that was 
 Charley's idea — execute a will in favour of any one, — 
 the lawyer, nurse, doctor, — the person he most disliked 
 in the world, — if I seemed to neglect him. But he's 
 
 VOL. I s
 
 258 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 monstrously proud of the connection with our family, 
 and has no nearer relatives. You should see how po- 
 litely he writes to the Governor, always alluding to me, 
 and pointedly enquiring into my pursuits and inclina- 
 tions. I used to say, when I was a wild young fellow 
 at Oxford, that it would be much more to the purpose, 
 if he helped me to pay my tradesmen's bills ; but, by 
 George, Tudor ! I am wiser now ; and shall be glad to 
 step into his place ; and I declare, I don't know, — yes, 
 I shouldn't wonder, — I have suffered so much from ex- 
 travagance while I have been poor, — that it wouldn't 
 surprise me if I were to end, when I am rich, with 
 being as great a miser as Sir Jasper !" 
 
 He laughed discordantly. I saw that it was of no 
 use attempting to undeceive him. He might, also, sus- 
 pect me of unworthy motives for my attention to the 
 miserable old man, if I threw any more doubt upon the 
 probability of his succeeding to the estates. One inter- 
 view with Sir Jasper Egremont would do more to open 
 his eyes than all I could say ; and the mode of his recep- 
 tion at Heron Cliff would doubtless decide the question 
 of his remaining or not in the neighbourhood. By 
 this time, he was yawning violently, and readily ac- 
 quiesced in my proposal that we should retire for the 
 night. 
 
 Lord Malvern, through his mother, is related to Sir 
 Jasper, and the successive deaths of General Egremont 
 and various other members of the family, have, it 
 appears, rendered him the heir-at-law to the Heron 
 Cliff property, in case of the old man's dving intestate,
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 259 
 
 or not disposing of it otherwise by will. Nothing can 
 be more improbable than the occurrence of either cir- 
 cumstance ; since he is known to be always provided 
 with one, at least, of these documents, duly executed ; 
 and, it is said, keeps several legal forms by him, in 
 readiness to be filled up according to the whim or pas- 
 sion of the moment. He is also believed to cherish a 
 peculiar spite against his successors ; — so much so, 
 that even his brother never felt secure of beinsr his 
 heir. 
 
 No intercourse, except by letter, has of late years 
 taken place between Lord Rodborough, and his son:> 
 and Sir Jasper Egremont. The young spendthrift 
 nobleman was, in early life, too careless to 'press his 
 society upon his churlish relative; but the time has 
 now arrived when no means can be negjected of 
 retrieving past follies, and acquiring fresh funds for 
 carrying on, in the way which suits his idle, luxurious 
 habits, a selfish and improvident career. 
 
 s 2
 
 260 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 All the time we were passing through the sombre 
 and usually silent pine woods, on our way to Heron 
 Cliff, Malvern never once stopped talking. He had 
 no kind of misgiving concerning the reception he was 
 to meet with, but told me, as we went along, his whole 
 plan of operations ; — how he meant to enact the con- 
 quering Roman's " Veni, vidi, vici," with Sir Jasper 
 Egremont ; — that he should at first treat the imbecile 
 old manjprith a good deal of hauteur — show him that 
 he did not think much of the place, nor acknowledge 
 his supremacy; and then steal into his good graces 
 with consummate tact. 
 
 *' Just give me time, Tudor, yes, to look about me, 
 you know — I shall see his weak point — good gracious ! 
 you haven't an idea how soon I shall read him tlirough. 
 We all have one, eh, Harry ? I wonder, yes I should 
 like uncommonly some one to point out mme. I tliink 
 I should feel quite a respect for the fellow who could 
 turn me round his finger — but, when a man gets to Sir 
 Jasper's age, his foibles are very prominent. I shall 
 make him out directlv. You'll be amused to see what 
 a favourite I shall be with the surly old codger !" 
 
 He seemed a little astonished, when he came in
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 261 
 
 sight of the turnips. " Eh, why. Lord bless me! Tudor, 
 what are these ? — Radishes ? — no, good gracious, they 
 are turnips ! Pah, how they smell ! No that won't 
 do ! — we must make the old gentleman dig them up — 
 I can't stand this. What does he do with them ? Eat 
 them, eh ? — raw, like the Yorkshire schoolboys ? — Not 
 sell them ? — No, you don't mean it ! — Turn the sheep 
 in — chop them up — right under his dining-room win- 
 dows ? He must be an oddity. Wliy, here we are. 
 What a confounded nuisance walking is ! — Don't I 
 look heated ? — Spoils the set of one's cravat — dusty 
 boots, eh ? — all in a mess ! — I say, old fellow ! — how do 
 I look ?" 
 
 I was quite out of patience with him, ^^ Really, 
 Malvern, if you play the fool in this manner, you have 
 not a chance of being Sir Jasper Egremont's heir. In 
 spite of his eccentricities, he is a man of shrewd common 
 sense, and detests foppery. Never mrnd your boots !" 
 I said, as he stood flipping away at them with his 
 pocket-handkerchief. " The house is full of dust and 
 spiders. Sir Jasper rather likes them than not, and is 
 as unlikely as myself to notice the tie of your cravat." 
 
 Malvern followed me into the hall, eyeing every- 
 thing inquisitively. " I declare, the place wants no- 
 thing but putting to rights, and those disgusting vege- 
 tables being taken away, to make it habitable. One 
 feels a sort of emotion — a kind oi je ne sais quoi — when 
 one comes in, at the notion of hanging one's hat up 
 and taking possession. Just stop one minute, there's 
 a good fellow ! — I'm so horridly out of breath. What
 
 262 LEWELL rASTtJRES. 
 
 a pace you walk — and one docs not wish to rush in 
 puffing and blowing like a grampus." 
 
 He looked a little pale, and seemed rather fright- 
 ened, but speedily recovered his self-complacency. 
 
 " That's right, Harry. Caesar's himself again ! I 
 declare those dreadful turnips made me feel very un- 
 comfortable. AVhat a confoundedly dark old den it is ! 
 and that long window ! — Ah, plate-glass would be a 
 decided improvement. I shall make great alterations 
 here. But it won't do to say too mucli on that head, 
 at present." 
 
 " Will it not be advisable," I said, " for me to pre- 
 pare Sir Jasper, in some measure, for your visit ? He 
 may not like to be taken so completely by surprise." 
 
 " Ah, yes, by all means — give him time to settle his 
 wig !" answered Malvern, affectedly. " By the bye, 
 Tudor, do try and make him look decent ! I am so 
 dreadfully alive to first impressions. If I take a dis- 
 like to him, I shall not be able to get over it. I shall 
 never be civil. Do make him brush his hair and 
 wash his hands before I see him. Yes, yes ! — go in 
 first — there's a good creature ! I am so glad you 
 thought of it." 
 
 " Sir Jasper has a very attentive and kind nurse," 
 I said, " who is as punctilious in arranging the old 
 man's scanty comforts as a daughter could be." 
 
 " Well, I am glad to hear it. Send her to speak to 
 me. I suppose I had better tip her pretty handsomely. 
 Is she young or old, handsome or ugly ? These kind 
 of people often get great influence. Suppose you send
 
 LEWELL PASTUUES. 263 
 
 her down, tliat I may try a little soft sawder, and learn 
 some of the old gentleman's ways, and how he seems 
 disposed towards me, before I trust myself in his 
 presence. It would divert you to see how soon I shall 
 come over her !" > 
 
 Without promising to comply with his suggestion, 
 I ascended the echoing staircase, passed along the 
 gallery, and entered Sir Jasper's room. The ante- 
 chamber was empty. He was speaking cheerfully 
 to the young woman who was standing by the bed, 
 holding in her hands a small tray, with a cup of 
 chocolate and some thin slices of toast which she had 
 prepared for him. 
 
 There was none of the disarray to be seen that Mal- 
 vern expected — certainly not in the appearance of the 
 invalid and the white-handed maiden waiting upon 
 him. Even the deep furrows of Sir Jasper's brow 
 were relaxed by sickness, and his complexion softened. 
 The old man's feebleness was so great that his nurse 
 was deeding him like an infant. 
 
 He seemed in a better humour than usual, and shook 
 hands with me cordially. I did not think it would re- 
 quire any preparation before I acquainted him with 
 his relative's vicinity ; and told him at once that Lord 
 Malvern was waiting below, and anxious for permis- 
 sion to see him. He had heard of his illness, I added, 
 while staying with a friend, on the other side of the 
 river ; and had come over, immediately, for the pur- 
 pose of enquiring after him. 
 
 I did not exactly understand the meaning of the ex-
 
 264 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 pression that passed over Sir Jasper's countenance, 
 changing its appearance completely. It looked like 
 absolute hatred, darker than any one of the many 
 jjhases of bad feeling which I had seen those rugged 
 features wear, at different times during our acquaint- 
 ance. His eyes gleamed, as I had noticed that 
 they habitually did, when his most malignant humour 
 was upon him, mingled with such bitter, sarcastic mer- 
 riment as might be occasioned in a mind like his, by 
 the positive certainty of over-reaching another. At 
 last he smiled, and said, quite benignly, — 
 
 " Oh, bring him up ! By all means, let the young 
 gentleman come in !" 
 
 I went down, and told Malvern that Sir Jasper 
 seemed very well disposed to receive him, and ushered 
 liim up stairs, scarcely listening to his constant en- 
 quiries as to how he was looking, and^ confident anti- 
 cipations of the impression he was about to make on 
 Sir Jasper Egremont. 
 
 Nothing had been altered since I left his room. 
 The fair young woman still stood patiently by his bed- 
 side ; the satirical smile still hovered about the corners 
 of the old man's wrinkled mouth. lie was croins: on 
 with his breakfast, free from any sign of mental dis- 
 turbance. The shadowy chamber had an aspect of 
 comfort scarcely to be expected from the state of the 
 mansion. 
 
 I saw Malvern glance quickly round, and his eye 
 rested for a moment on the snowy complexion and 
 beautifully moulded figure, the soft round arm, from
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 265 
 
 wliich the loose sleeve had slipped away, and white 
 bending neck of the girl leaning over the old man and 
 feeding him, apparently without a thought beyond her 
 occupation. She did not look round as we entered, 
 but stood with her eyes cast down, when Sir Jasper 
 turned towards his cousin. 
 
 I never beheld a keener glance than the one which 
 shot from under his shaggy brows, as he bent his gaze 
 upon Malvern, though he did not instantly address 
 him. 
 
 
 
 " Ah, Harry, my boy ! what has kept you away so 
 long ?" he said, in quite a fatherly tone, " I tell you, I 
 can't do without you ; though this good creature does 
 her best to comfort me. So, that's your cousin Mal- 
 vern ? — Ah ! he looks but poorly : — any friend of yours 
 is welcome, though I am scarcely fit for company — 
 going fast — very fast, Sir, — but any friend of Harry 
 Tudor's — any request of his, I must, indeed, be a grace- 
 less old dog to hesitate about complying with. He is 
 only too modest ; I wish I knew how to gratify him — 
 to make a return for his unparalleled kindness." 
 
 Sir Jasper stopped and coughed ; I thought it was 
 to suppress a low chuckling laugh. Malvern seemed 
 very much discomfited, particularly at the allusion to 
 his ill looks. He had come prepared to play the first 
 part, and found it difficult to assume the second cha- 
 racter itf the piece gracefully. 
 
 " Ah, I wanted you in the night, Harry," the old 
 man went on. " Something teased me in that account 
 we were going through. I could not settle the inte-
 
 266 LEVVELL PASTURES. 
 
 rest due from the mortgage. I wanted your clear head 
 for business. The figures were jotted about on that 
 wall opposite — up and down ; I suppose I was light- 
 headed. Don't keep your friend standing ; take a 
 chair. Sir, you'll excuse me ; Harry must do the ho- 
 nours. You are his guest, I presume ? no doubt he 
 makes you comfortable. He seems to think of every- 
 thing and every one but himself; just the character 
 I most admire. Ah they find their reward even 
 in this world ; and, I suppose, they have it all their 
 own way in the next. Here's an angel ready made ! 
 and upon my soul, if there are many like her, you may 
 perhaps think it worth while. Sir," he added, more 
 sternly and pointedly addressing Malvern, " to amend 
 a course of life which is not likely to lead that way. 
 Another spoonful, my dear. I shall not stand on ce- 
 remony. These gentlemen are both relations." 
 
 The old man turned to his breakfast ; still, however, 
 I could see, watching under his eyelids his crest-fallen 
 heir presumptive. Malvern appeared quite confounded, 
 and did not utter a syllable of the orations he had 
 planned on the way. At last, he said, sulkily : — 
 
 " If I had known or could have guessed that any 
 accident or indisposition had befallen you, Sir Jasper, 
 of course, yes, certainly, I should have been at my 
 post. Tudor was more fortunate ; — but, standing as I 
 do, so much nearer, — several degrees in fact, more 
 closely united to you in blood, — I feel hiu't — yes, upon 
 my soul. Sir Jasper, — monstrously wounded at being 
 received like a stranger. When I came, — yes, posi-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 267 
 
 tively, — post haste across the country, the moment I 
 heard of your illness, — it is decidedly hard, — yes, 
 very ! — to find the place in your affections pre-occu- 
 pied." 
 
 He put his handkerchief to his eyes, and threw him- 
 self back in his chair. Nevertheless, he was watching 
 the fair woman, perfectly convinced that if he were not 
 successful with Sir Jasper, he was making a deep 
 impression upon her. I did not once see her look at 
 him. 
 
 " Harry Tudor is my son !" the old man exclaimed 
 with startling vehemence, so loudly, that the girl looked 
 up with a bright flush upon her cheek, which lent it 
 additional beauty, not lost upon Malvern. " I have 
 not pronounced that word for twenty years. Relation- 
 ship — kindred blood — did not prompt you to visit the 
 desolate old man, and replace his lost child. My 
 heart has hardened into stone. I hate ye all, kith and 
 kin ! the very name of cousin is abhorrent to me. 
 But this man has acted a son's part by me ; — has re- 
 paid good for evil. If you wish me to endure your 
 presence, it must be as his friend, his guest. You 
 have no other claim upon me." 
 
 I made a sign to Malvern to be patient. It was my 
 firm conviction that Sir Jasper did not mean a word of 
 what he was saying ; though perhaps he saw his obli- 
 gation to me in a stronger light than usual, when con- 
 trasted with the conduct of those more nearly allied to 
 him. I could not help feeling sorry, however, for the 
 ephemeral coxcomb whose conceit was sustaining such
 
 268 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 an overthrow ; and feared lest a hasty sentence might 
 cut him off from every chance of the inheritance. 
 
 Meanwhile, Sir Jasper's mood seemed to have 
 changed. The cold twinkle came again into his smalb 
 deeply-set eyes ; and he said, as if to himself: — 
 
 " But there's enough for all. It was vastly kind to 
 come and see me. So, you are staying at the Pastures ? 
 — the place my brother left to Harry Tudor ; — and, I 
 dare say, you find everything agreeable and comfortable 
 there. Ah, it is pleasant to have one's relations about 
 one at the last ! I am glad to see you looking a little 
 better than when you first came in. I am afraid there's 
 nothing in the house to ofier you, in the way of refresh- 
 ment ; but you'll do very well with Harry, and had 
 better be on the spot, in case of anything happening. 
 I'm sorry I can't ask you here ; — it's out of the ques- 
 tion. But you can come and see me." 
 
 Malvern was gradually reviving. He came forward, 
 and stood by the bedside, opposite to the fair nurse, at 
 whom he cast extremely tender glances whenever he 
 thought that Sir Jasper was not attending to him. It 
 was evident that he now imasrined himself showins: off 
 to the greatest advantage, and making up by his insin- 
 uating grimaces for the ground he had lost by not being 
 in his best looks, when he first came in. 
 
 "Upon my soul, Sir Jasper! — I am exceedingly 
 obliged to you and Tudor : — I don't know a better 
 fellow in the universe. Capital quarters at the Farm ; 
 — better than troubling you and the young lady, who 
 seems to have a good deal upon her hands. A man
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 269 
 
 need not mind being ill^ to be so waited upon, — No, 
 upon my word, I mean it ! — by those pretty fingers. I 
 was so overcome by my feelings, at first, that really I 
 had not a word to say ; — I, who have a good deal of 
 eloquence at command, — usually, at least, — could not 
 muster a sentence ; — that's just the way with me — so 
 my friends say ; — but finding you so ill, — so sadly cut 
 up, — quite overset me. I am better now ; — yes, thank 
 you, I am quite recovering; — and shall be able, to- 
 morrow, to help you with any papers or letters, or 
 whatever it is that Tudor has been managing. It is 
 a monstrous shame to trespass upon his time. Upon 
 my soul, you can't think how wrapped up he is in his 
 farm. And this, ah, yes ! — is my place. I can't — no, 
 really ! — give it up to any one. Just put a pen in my 
 hand, or a book, and see how I will read or write or con- 
 verse, — do anything, in short, to amuse you. I'm a 
 capital fellow in a sick room, — when my feelings will 
 allow me to make myself useful. This amiable young 
 person will be kind enough to put me in the way of it ; 
 and I shall go along, — you'll be surprised to see how 
 well I shall do it. Wind me up, — set me going, — and 
 though I am more easily cast down, generally, than 
 most people, — my spirits rise with the emergency, and 
 carry me through anything.'' 
 
 Sir Jasper had listened very attentively, and without 
 interrupting Malvern, to this long harangue. " Your 
 services," he said, ironically, "will be invaluable. 
 Really, Sir, you ought not to have left me in ignorance 
 of your merits. You have hidden your candle under
 
 270 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 a bushel. I should not have suspected that you were 
 half so clever, if you had not been so obliging as to 
 tell me of it. I often want amusement, as I lie here. 
 Come, by all means. I shall find a never-ending fund 
 of it, in your conversation." 
 
 '^ We had better husband our resources, Malvern ;" 
 I said. " Sir Jasper looks fatigued, and cannot bear 
 much conversation. At all events, if you are not dis- 
 posed to move, I must leave you here. I am wanted 
 in the fields." 
 
 " Oh, don't let me detain you !" said the invalid. 
 " Harry is always right. I shall be better alone just 
 now ; but you can come up together in the evening. 
 And mind, Harry, you take care of this gentleman. 
 He looks delicate ; — and his life is of consequence. 
 Don't let him get his feet wet, nor expect your rough 
 ways to suit him ; — and bring him to see me whenever 
 you can both spare the time to call upon me." 
 
 Malvern took an affectedly touching farewell of his 
 aged relative ; but seemed infinitely relieved when he 
 was out of his sight. He scarcely alluded to his recep- 
 tion, beyond saying that they should get on famously ; 
 but asked innumerable questions respectmg the pretty 
 nurse. His coarse manner of speaking of women disgusts 
 me. Not a movement nor a glance had escaped him ; and 
 there is a modest propriety about this young girl which 
 interests me. I was certain that she had not once looked 
 at him, and that all his sophisticated graces had been 
 completely thrown away. As quickly as possible, I 
 dismissed the subject, saying that I knew very little
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 271 
 
 concerning her^ except that she appeared to fulfil her 
 duties to Sir Jasper with scrupulous fidelity. 
 
 Malvern looked very incredulous, but did not, during 
 the morning, allude again to the same topic ; — a sign, 
 with him, I suspect, that it occupied his thoughts more 
 than others upon which he rattled on incessantly, whilst 
 he followed me from field to field, boring me indescriba- 
 bly by his nonsensical conceit, and pretending to know 
 a little of everything.
 
 2T2 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 Malvern had quite recovered his spirits, when, in 
 compliance with Sir Jasper Egremont's wish, we paid 
 a visit at Heron Cliff, in the evening. He launched 
 into a strain of absurdity which was exactly what the 
 crafty old man desired to elicit. Every moment, his 
 shallow intellect and selfish character were more and 
 more plainly betrayed ; while, profound in nothing but 
 folly, he imagined that the real current of his thoughts 
 ran like some hidden river underground, and that only 
 the flowery tissue was apparent, which according to his 
 idea, his agreeable conversation was spreading over it. 
 
 The fact, however, is quite otherwise. Every body 
 understands Malvern better than he comprehends him- 
 self. His affectation of carelessness does not conceal 
 the intense anxiety concerning his o-svn interest which 
 prompts each word he utters ; — the miserable vanity, 
 which, at the most solemn period, — in the chamber of 
 sickness — even, I firmly believe, if he were on his own 
 death-bed, or by the side of another person's, — would 
 make the studious care of how he was looking, — what 
 bystanders were thinking of him, — outweigh any more 
 serious reflections. 
 
 The firelight in the dim old chamber brought for-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. S73 
 
 ward the grim figures on the tapestried screen, and 
 played fitfully on Sir Jasper's features, as he listened? 
 propped up by pillows, to the narratives with which 
 Malvern thought fit to amuse him. The indifference of 
 the latter to all considerations of religion and morality 
 might, perhaps, not be greater than the sick man had 
 himself displayed ; yet those light jests, that irreverent 
 laugh, the mockery of elevated sentiments, the vain and 
 worldly spirit which his conversation evinced, were to 
 me even more revolting. 
 
 The grey old sinner, hardened and defiant, without 
 one touch of kindly feeling, — breathing out his last in 
 that dismal mansion, amidst sordid, self-imposed penury, 
 did not appear so ofiensive to me as the egregious vanity 
 and mawkish, feigned sensibility of the man who, as he 
 leaned back complacently in the painted-velvet chair, 
 with his eyes on the present possessor of Heron Clifl^, 
 was calculating with all the acumen his feeble intellect 
 permitted, how long a space the sands of life might 
 reasonably be supposed likely to occupy in dropping 
 through the hour-glass ; how speedily all upon which 
 he looked might be expected to become his own. 
 
 Passing among us, with her eyes cast down, obedient 
 to Sir Jasper's voice, attentive to his wishes, — yet keep- 
 ing as much as possible in the background, — was the 
 fair, calm woman. She seemed too white and spotless, 
 to be suflfered to hear that idle trifler's often coarse re- 
 marks. My only hope was that she did not understand 
 their meaning ; and Malvern's foolish witticisms were 
 
 VOL. L T
 
 274 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 couched in a sort of double entendre which was probably 
 quite unintelligible to her. 
 
 Not the slightest blush coloured? her cheek, though 
 his eye perpetually followed her, and Sir Jasper's con- 
 stant demands would not permit her to remain, as she 
 appeared to wish, in the outer room. I noticed that 
 she shrank from Malvern with an instinctive abhorrence; 
 and, when he placed himself purposely in her way, she 
 took a wide circuit to avoid him. Once, upon his offer- 
 ing to assist her in moving the small table for Sir 
 Jasper's supper, nearer to the bed, I saw that he tried 
 to touch her hand, but she drew back hastily, with a 
 gesture full of natural dignity, gathering the wide folds 
 of her dark dress out of his reach, and retreating from 
 him as if he had been a serpent ; — and truly, as he 
 slunk away, awed, for an instant, by her modest bear- 
 ing, he bore some resemblance to the noxious reptile ; 
 his innumerable chains, and studs, and rings, glittering 
 in the firelight, like the scales,— his evil nature full of 
 venom. 
 
 Having set his shoulder to the wheel, Malvern was 
 forced to finish his work. The haughty damsel stood 
 apart, without stirring a finger to aid him, while he 
 moved the table ; nor did she resume her functions 
 until her tormentor was again talking away, satisfied 
 that he must be producing a favourable effect upon his 
 hearers. After Sir Jasper had been supplied with his 
 usual light repast, she placed a hand-bell near him, and 
 disappeared altogether. AMien we left the house, she 
 was nowhere to be seen ; but, before we got out of the
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 275 
 
 hall. Sir Jasper was ringing furiously, and I observed a 
 light pass along the gallery at the head of the stairs, 
 towards his chamber-door. 
 
 The worst of the annoyances attending Sir Jasper's 
 illness, as far as I am concerned, is certainly Lord Mal- 
 vern having been induced to quarter himself upon me. 
 His motives for the visit are glaringly obvious ; indeed, 
 though I always disliked him, the last few days seem 
 to have shown me more of his real character than our 
 whole previous acquaintance. Hitherto, the claims of 
 society, and my own passionate attachment to his sister, 
 have blinded me to many of the defects, which now, in 
 this quiet country life, — above all, in the solemn atmo- 
 sphere of a sick chamber, — appear intolerably odious. 
 
 I could not pass over the unfavourable impression 
 made upon me by his conversation with Sir Jasper, 
 especially such parts of it as ought not to have been 
 carried on in the presence of a woman. I would not, 
 I told him, when we met next morning, suiFer him in 
 my presence, if he continued to be my guest, to allow 
 his tongue such license. Henceforth, he must remem- 
 ber that the light speech which might pass unrebuked 
 in a mess-room or at a supper-table, was not appropriate 
 to the present occasion. Sir Jasper was very ill. I 
 believed him to be much nearer death than he himself 
 imagined ; and it was sufficiently painful to me to see 
 his mind in such an unprepared state, without hearing 
 him led on to trifle more unbecomingly than he was 
 already disposed to do, with very serious considera- 
 tions. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 LEWELL PASTrRES. 
 
 Malvern took my stem censure very good-humoured- 
 ly : indeed, lie generally contrives to turn off with a 
 laugh whatever is calculated to displease him. 
 
 " Why really, Tudor, I must say, I think you are 
 right. It did not strike me in that way, you know, till 
 you mentioned it. You certainly are a monstrously 
 clever fellow. That pretty girl has put it into your 
 head, I dare say, to think so much about religion ; and, 
 between 'ourselves, the old gentleman has some uncom- 
 monly atheistical notions. I shouldn't wonder if she 
 could put one in the way of saying what's proper ; and 
 after all. Sir Jasper might like it. I\Ien think so differ- 
 ently, when they are ill. I myself am the most nervous 
 fellow in creation, if anything is the matter with me. I 
 can't tell you how obliged I am to you for mentioning 
 it. Though, certainly, I did not expect — how Marion 
 would laugh ! — to find you turned parson ; you don't 
 look very clerical. Now, upon my life, you must ex- 
 cuse my laughing ; but I'll do exactly as you wish ; I 
 would not offend that nice young woman for the world. 
 You don't really think she minded my nonsense ? Well, 
 don't be angry ! — there now, I am not going to say 
 another word. I see you don't like it. You have not 
 got anything in the shape of a book of devotion in the 
 house, that I could be looking into when you are busy ? 
 No, really now, that's unfortunate ; — but I dai'e say I 
 shall remember something. Give me half an hour just 
 to collect my thoughts, and you'll be amazed what a 
 number of praiseworthy ideas I shall come across. 
 " You're quite right. It does not do to neglect any
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 277 
 
 means of pleasing him. By the bye, don't you think 
 that young girl is a great favourite ? How he watches 
 her ! Has she any friends or relations ? or who placed 
 her there, I wonder ? People cannot be too careful in 
 their choice of a sick man's attendant, when he has such 
 a queer, crotchetty disposition as Sir Jasper, and the 
 power of disposing of his property by will. It wouldn't 
 do for her to come over him in some unguarded mo- 
 ment, — perhaps with some pious notions. I declare, I 
 never was more indebted to any one in my life, than I 
 am to you, for reminding me not to run on too fast !" 
 
 It was of little use attempting to argue with or unde- 
 ceive him ; and, satisfied with his promise, reiterated 
 more seriously, to place some restraint upon his lan- 
 guage, I left him to idle away his time as he liked. \ 
 
 If possible, it was a still greater nuisance to have this 
 egregious puppy saddled upon me, during the busy 
 morning, than at any other period of the day. 
 
 Sir Jasper had signified that he preferred seeing him 
 in the afternoon or evening. Of course, Harry was 
 free of the house, and could come and go as he liked ; 
 but he was in better spirits, and more equal to receiving 
 visitors at the time he had mentioned. My early habits 
 released me from Malvern's presence at breakfast ; but 
 he lounged out, after twelve o'clock, and from that 
 hour till four, when I usually went home to dinner, he 
 was my torment, asking the meaning of the implements 
 the men used, and all kinds of ridiculous questions 
 about the crops, soil, and produce of the farm ; inter- 
 rupting me every moment, yet professing not to stand
 
 278 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 in the slightest need of information; swinging back- 
 wards and forwards on a gate, or balancing himself on 
 the shaft of a wheelbarrow ; always contemptible, and 
 indescribably troublesome. 
 
 " I say, Tudor ! this is not at all the thing ; ah ! you 
 ought, — yes, you must have all the new improvements, 
 if you mean to get on. Frederick is spending thou- 
 sands ; yes, Marion says he grudges every farthing that 
 does not go towards his new buildings. I gave him 
 several useful hints ; and he says — yes, positively — the 
 cattle can't live, — poor beasts, how should they? — on 
 these horrid, raw, unwholesome vegetables. He has 
 got a chimney — Lord, how I laughed at it ! and Marion 
 says it is quite an eyesore — right over the home copses ; 
 you see it miles off. It's something, — I forget exactly 
 what ; but he feeds up the animals till they can't walk 
 or stand ; positively, his cows are Turkish beauties, in 
 the way of obesity. 
 
 " But really now, you should contrive on a small 
 scale, eh ? to have a pretty sort of a model fiirm ; not 
 go on slaving in this way. What are those men doing ? 
 Ah, I see ! No, I don't : just come tw© inches and tell 
 me : there, down in the spinny. Oh, thank you ! it 
 does not matter. I'm sorry I called you off that de- 
 lisrhtful work : what is it, eh ? How deuced crooked 
 that line is ! Just throw your eye along it. By Jove, 
 there's a covey of partridges ! What would I give for 
 my gun ! but I dare say I shouldn't hit them. I'm 
 such an uncertain shot ! Sometimes, I can hit a six- 
 pence a mile off; sometimes, 'pon my soul! you can't
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 279 
 
 imagine how I go on missing. "VVe must get the old 
 buck to give us a day's shooting. There are lots of 
 pheasants in his woods. Well, I'm off. Can't you 
 come and take a turn ? It's stupid for you, when I'm 
 not here to talk — very ! I should imagine. What's 
 that uncommonly dark-looking hole, with the trees 
 springing out of it ?" 
 
 I did not answer him ; and, at last, to my infinite 
 relief, he strolled away in the direction of the head of 
 the Dingle. To my surprise, I saw nothing more of 
 him ; but the circumstance was too agreeable for me 
 to waste many thoughts on the cause of his absence. 
 In all probability, I considered he was gone to Heron 
 Cliff, to follow up his conquest over Sir Jasper's pre- 
 judices. He did not come back to the house till din- 
 ner-time, and went, in the first instance, to his own 
 room, to arrange his toilet. 
 
 When Sally had set down our repast, which, though 
 sufficiently rustic, I had caused to be somewhat im- 
 proved for his benefit, Malvern exhibited conside- 
 rable appetite. It was not until my housekeeper had 
 removed the viands, that he narrated his adventures. 
 
 ' ^ Ah, by Jove ! you won't believe it, but I've had 
 such a lark ! What a sly dog you are, Tudor ! — What 
 was that you told me about not having a woman near 
 you ? — and here, close at hand, cooing in that shrub- 
 bery, — what do you call it ? — Dingle, — is a couple of 
 wood-pigeons, — not very tender, — but one of them, 
 yes ! — I wish you had seen her look at me ; — ah, ca- 
 pital! — Just pass the wine, old fellow. This is not
 
 280 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 bad sherry. You hav'n't any light claret or burgundy 
 on the sideboard ? — No, don't get up ! — I thought I 
 saw it. We shall do very well, I dare say.'* 
 
 " You must be satisfied, Malvern, with what you 
 see before you. I do not give the few friends who 
 visit me at the Pastures better wines than these. But 
 what were you saying about the ladies in the Dingle ? 
 They are poor, half-mad creatures. I hope you said 
 nothing to offend them." 
 
 " Oh, hang it, no ! — the poor things quite enjoyed 
 my visit. You are not going to have a monopoly of 
 the petticoats. How that pretty, shy thing crept up to 
 you last night ! — I like to see a woman frightened at 
 me. It shows our power ; — but ah, don't look an- 
 gry ! — I shall be merciful. "WTiat is she, eh ? — She 
 don't look like a servant. By Jove, I thought she was 
 going to throw the tea-tray at my head. How her eye 
 flashed ! She's wonderfully handsome. I shouldn't 
 suppose, — I say, — she can't have done much rough 
 work ; — 'pon my soul, Tudor ! my hand looked quite 
 brown beside hers. You wouldn't believe it, but it 
 did, I assure you. Well, I respect your secrets : — I 
 won't ask any questions ; but I don't suppose, — no, 
 not exactly, — that there's such a mystery about those 
 funny old ladies. Fine eyes, one of them has, though, 
 and an uncommonly pretty foot. I daresay you no- 
 ticed it. The tall one has not been a bad-looking 
 woman in her time ; but they are both decidedly 
 passees." 
 
 " What on earth have you been doing, Malvern ?"
 
 LB WELL PASTURES. 281 
 
 I said. " One of the eccentricities of these unhappy 
 women is their aversion to our sex. I doubt, in spite 
 of all your fascinations, their having received you 
 civiUy." 
 
 " Well, at first, certainly, things had an ugly appear- 
 ance ; — but you shall hear. Upon my word, Tudor, it 
 is all your fault. I can't keep quiet. I'm such a rest- 
 less fellow ! I shall be in twenty scrapes, while I'm 
 nursing that confoundedly disagreeable old mortal, if you 
 don't look after me. "When you don't see me, you 
 may be sure I am in mischief. I was bored with your 
 farming nonsense, and took a walk to stretch myself, 
 down among the trees by the water. If there were 
 seats about, and a rustic bridge here and there, upon 
 my word, it would be pretty ; — but I like to see some- 
 thing of the natives, and popped into a cottage to ask, 
 — yes! — I thought I would enquire for something 
 those kind of people were likely to have ; so I meant 
 to ask, — I can't conceive how it came into my head, — 
 for a glass of milk, by way of an introduction. Leave 
 it to me to make my way afterwards !" 
 
 " I suppose you expected some mountain maiden to 
 bring you refreshment, when you crossed that romantic 
 threshold ?" I said, smiling. " I am sorry for your dis- 
 appointment at encountering nothing younger and 
 fairer than the Miss Hawthornes." 
 
 " The door was open," Malvern proceeded, " and it 
 was deucedly hot and sunny under the rock, so I went 
 into the passage ; and there stood a queer old lumber- 
 ing piece of furniture. It looked like — only Lord
 
 282 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 knows how it got there, — it looked like a sedan-chair, 
 and stood invitingly open and empty. There was no 
 other seat, and — don't laugh, Tudor ! you won't believe 
 me, but I was so uncommonly tired, that, as no one 
 came, I sat down in it to rest myself. It wasn't a bad 
 thought, by any means ; — and, 'pon my soul ! what with 
 being bored about the farm, and sitting on that exces- 
 sively unpleasant stile, and walking about so much, 
 one thing and another, I rather enjoyed it. Besides, 
 if anybody came, — especially a woman, — I had made 
 up my mind how to explain the predicament I was in ; 
 — and, poor dear things ! they are sure to be compas- 
 tionate. 
 
 " I believe I was half asleep, when I heard an awful 
 commotion in the house. Some one screamed out that 
 there was a man in the sedan-chair in the passage. 
 Some one else appeared to be crying. I peeped out ; 
 and striding down stairs, four steps at a time, vrith a 
 riding whip in her hand, and a hat on her head, came 
 an alarming figure of a woman. No, I assure you, it 
 was no joking matter ! She cut and slashed away, 
 right and left : — upon my soul, Tudor, I thought she 
 would hit me ; and I couldn't, —no, of course,— though 
 I had my cane, — defend myself against a woman ; — 
 so I slammed the door to, and held it fast. There 
 was the top uncovered, and I looked up, and saw a fair 
 little woman, not so old, peeping over the banister ; — 
 and, ah, yes ? — I don't like to mention it, — but the 
 more the old virago thundered away at me, the softer 
 the little creature up aloft looked down upon me.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 283 
 
 fC 
 
 Oh ! I begged their pardon, of course, and said all 
 that was proper about the milk, and my being so tired, 
 and so forth ; — and then, I thought of mentioning, that 
 I was a friend of yours, and had lost my way ; — any lie 
 that came first ; — and seeing their carriage, — I thought 
 that would flatter them, — I had stepped in; but the 
 old creature swore like a trooper or a vivandiere, and 
 declared I had come after Winny, and you were just 
 the same. Upon my soul, Harry, your character for 
 morality stands by no means high in that quarter !" 
 
 Though I was annoyed at his absurdity, I could not 
 resist laughing all through his story, as well as at fan- 
 cying the effect of Malvern in the sedan-chair, flirting 
 with Pagan, and subject to the vituperations of Pope. 
 
 " At last," he continued, very complacently, " I 
 knew it would be so, — my representations began to be 
 listened to. The little thing up-stairs had been all the 
 time standing so that she got a good view of me ; 
 — a sort of bird's-eye glimpse, to be sure ; but I looked 
 up, every now and then, and always caught her eye. 
 She is by no means plain, even now ; — and she took 
 care that I should see her little foot and ankle through 
 the banisters. The mad woman left off abusing me, 
 and said, if I would evacuate the premises immediately, 
 she would allow me to pass out, with all the honours of 
 war. If they had been younger, I might not have 
 let them off so easily ; — but, there was little temptation 
 to linger ; — so I came off at once, but not without a 
 trophy to convince you that my tale is true." 
 
 He pulled out of his waistcoat pocket a bunch of
 
 284 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 flowers, which poor Winny had let fall. " We shall 
 hear more of that little thing, Tudor. I am afraid I 
 looked confoundedly handsome in that cursed bandbox 
 of a sedan-chair. She said, when she threw her nose- 
 gay down, something about my being a friend of yours, 
 and begged the Amazon to let me off. I told them I 
 should call again and apologize for my intrusion ; — but 
 hang it ? — I don't think, unless the cottage contains 
 something more juvenile and better-looking, I shall 
 take the trouble of going near them." 
 
 1 did not tell him that the pretty nurse, about whom 
 he is dying of curiosity, had ever been an inmate of the 
 cottage. His perverted imagination would have woven 
 some tale of scandal, out of the simple circumstances of 
 the case. If to the pure, all things are pure, Mal- 
 vern is an apt illustration of the exact reverse of the 
 adage.
 
 LEW ELL PASTURES. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 I HAVE not been at the Warren since my return from 
 Velindra; but Harding has been over here several 
 times. He and Malvern have struck up a kind of in- 
 timacy, on the strength of his obliging offers of shoot- 
 ing, which he extended to my friend, when he found 
 that it would not suit me to go out with him. My 
 time is fully occupied in attending to the business of 
 the farm, which goes on much more satisfactorily when 
 my visitor has found other amusement than following 
 me about, and commenting upon my labours. 
 
 Malvern goes on the principle of taking whatever 
 good the gods provide for him ; and is so certain of 
 winning favour wherever he chooses to show his face, 
 that he does not hesitate about laying himself under 
 obligations to strangers. He was rather jealous of 
 Harding's good looks, at first ; and watched him nar- 
 rowly, as though he thought that he could train his 
 wiry curls and moustaches into the naturally graceful 
 but unstudied waves of the handsome farmer's bright 
 brown hair. Probably, some want of bienseance, in 
 his new ally, soon set him at his ease ; and he ended 
 with believing his superior polish and refinement of
 
 286 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 manner amply sufficient to atone for any inferiority 
 which even his vanity could not prevent the attenuated 
 rou^ from discovering in his own imaginary graces of 
 person. 
 
 Harding complains very bitterly of the increasing 
 influence which the Jesuits are obtaining over his wife. 
 He asserts that their object now is to estrange her from 
 him completely. She has told him that her conscience 
 is grievously troubled by her union with a heretic ; and 
 imless her efforts for his conversion should be speedily 
 successful, it is her intention, she has • intimated, to 
 enter into a religious community. 
 
 Once immured within the walls of a convent, the 
 poor woman would soon be induced to merge all secular 
 interests in those of the order. Her health is failing 
 rapidly, and the priests, Harding said, found means, 
 every day, of evading the laws still in force against be- 
 queathing landed property to monastic institutions. '^ I 
 scarcely know," he observed, gloomily, " when I lay 
 my head on my pillow, whether I may not wake on the 
 morrow and find my wife fled from me, and the very roof 
 over my head, the soil on which I stand, passing away 
 into the possession of the Romish Fathers." 
 
 Her temper had become so irritable that the only 
 way of escaping quarrels which, he di'eaded, might 
 bring on a total rupture, was to leave his home. He 
 had been out a great deal lately ; — more than he thought 
 was ricfht ; but he could not bear to see the mclancholv 
 anxious face opposite to him at the fireside, and to feel
 
 LEWELL PASTUHES. 287 
 
 that, do what he would, his wife considered him wrong, 
 and regarded him, on account of his heretical opinions, 
 as one whose doom was sealed. 
 
 He could not close his doors, as 1 advised him, 
 against the Priest ; but, if his way of life were less 
 regular than formerly, it was the fault of his wife and 
 her confessor. They drove him forth and made his 
 return, each day, more and more unpleasant ; while 
 yet it was disagreeable to leave his house open to those 
 whose belief justified any deceit which they might 
 practise, and who would keep no measures with him. 
 
 I think Harding has been somewhat hurt at my de- 
 clining his numerous invitations, since September began, 
 to shoot at the Warren. The same reasons which I as- 
 signed to Erskine were still in force to prevent my 
 going out this season ; but Malvern, who has not suc- 
 ceeded in persuading Sir Jasper to let him carry a gun 
 on his manors, was glad to fall in with a more accom- 
 modating proprietor. He treated Harding with much 
 more respect, when he heard of the pheasant covers 
 which he had been reserving, in hopes of persuading 
 me to go over and beat them with him ; and agreed 
 readily to act as my substitute. 
 
 He went off, the next morning, tolerably early, and 
 thinking himself, no doubt, a model for all sportsmen. 
 I am certain, vanity was at the bottom of his coming 
 round to look for me, before his departure, when I was 
 busy with the labourers, who surveyed him with 
 wonder, which, as usual, he mistook for admiration. I
 
 S88 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 did not feel conscious of deserving his pity^ when he 
 left me in peace, to pursue my employment undisturbed 
 by his frivolous remarks. 
 
 His game-bag was sufficiently well filled, on his re- 
 turn, to warrant his account of his achievements. If I 
 am to trust him, the pheasants were not the only suf- 
 ferers from his prowess. Even the poor blind mistress 
 of the farm is not safe from the surmises of his self- 
 conceit. He totally disbelieves that she cannot see a 
 little. 
 
 " Well, I declare to you, Tudor, she looked about ; — 
 yes, 'pon my word ! she seemed to know what I was 
 doing better than I did myself. You don't intend to 
 say that she turns her eyes and fixes them in that ex- 
 traordinary way, without meaning anything ?" 
 
 Harding seemed inclined to laugh when INIalvern's 
 sporting exploits were spoken of; but, on the whole, 
 they appear to get on together better than I expected ; 
 and he repeated his invitation for my friend to shoot 
 over his land, whenever he felt disposed. He is in 
 high favour at the Warren, if I may believe his own 
 report. To me, his absence is so inexpressible a relief, 
 that I do not think I shall interfere to prevent his \-isits 
 from becoming troublesome. I can hardly believe, 
 however, that he has enough tact or good feeling to 
 make himself really popular among persons witli whose 
 thouofhts and customs he is as unfamiliar as if he were 
 suddenly transported among the denizens of some dis- 
 tant latitude. Mrs. Harding, I suspect, rejoices in any
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. ^89 
 
 circumstance that keeps her husband near home ; and the 
 Viscount, perhaps, receives more toleration for his ab- 
 surdities, on account of their being so entirely foreign 
 to the manners of their own class, that he must be the 
 first specimen of his peculiar style of dandyism, which 
 has ever found its way to the Warren. 
 
 Yesterday, when I rode over to consult Harding 
 about getting a couple of horses for the plough, I 
 thought his farm did not look in as good order as when 
 I visited it, before the harvest. The ricks were not put 
 up neatly ; and, in many places, the fences were bro- 
 ken, and the cattle had strayed through the gaps, and 
 were spoiling the young trees in the plantations. The 
 untidy condition of the premises showed that its 
 once vigilant mistress did not take the same active 
 part as formerly in the management of her establish- 
 ment. 
 
 She was sitting in the large parlour where I had 
 first seen her — with the Priest occupying Harding's 
 leathern elbow-chair, and a bright fire burning in the 
 grate. I thought her visibly changed — her features 
 drawn and considerably aged. A melancholy expres- 
 sion pervaded her countenance ; and her movements 
 were languid, her step less assured, as she rose from 
 her chair beside the fire to greet me. 
 
 She could no longer go about the farm, she said, and 
 sorely missed her usual industrious occupations. She 
 was very often alone, and had not the resources of 
 reading or needlework to pass away the time. Think- 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 ing so much was bad for her health, which had never 
 been strong, and was now rapidly on the decline. 
 Life was dear to her, she added — more so than, con- 
 sidering her great affliction, most persons would be- 
 lieve ; and she did her best to guard against the cold 
 winds to which her dwelling was exposed, and which 
 affected her constitution seriously. 
 
 Mr. Tremenheere gently chid her for repining ; and 
 she listened to him with infinite humility. Presently, 
 as if to change the subject, he enquired after my neigh- 
 bour. Sir Jasper. Many years ago, he said, he had 
 known General Egremont, and, in other ways which 
 he did not explain, he had been connected with the 
 family. I imagine, very little of what passes in the 
 district escapes the notice of this quiet-looking man. 
 He was perfectly well aware that Lord Malvern was 
 my guest at the Pastures, as well as of his being Sir 
 Jasper's heir-at-law. On the whole, he seemed to con- 
 sider his chance of succeeding to the property of his 
 eccentric relative, a better one than I held it to be. 
 His manner Avas remarkably winning ; and it was not 
 until after I had left the house that it occurred to me 
 how much of my own family history, and of the circum- 
 stances attendant upon my godfather's bequest to me 
 of the farm upon the hill, he had contrh^ed to add 
 to his already extensive stock of general informa- 
 tion. 
 
 Whether he really entertained any hope of working 
 upon the solitary miser for the benefit of his order, I
 
 LEWELL TASTURES. 291 
 
 do not know ; but I am sure every word he spoke was 
 weighed beforehand, and had a motive for its utter- 
 ance. Among other particulars with which I was sur- 
 prised to find the Priest intimately acquainted, was that 
 of its being through my intervention that the young gii'l, 
 formerly resident at the Warren with Mrs. Harding, 
 was attending upon the old man. 
 
 I said that I had been struck by her modest, quiet 
 bearing, while at the Warren ; and after seeing her 
 patient toleration of the eccentricities of the old ladies 
 in the Dingle, I had thought her well fitted for the 
 task of ministering to the churlish invalid. She had 
 surpassed my expectations by her fulfilment of what 
 must often be a very painful office, but which her meek 
 unpretending charity caused her rather to regard as a 
 labour of love. 
 
 Mrs. Harding did not look altogether well-pleased, 
 though she listened with interest, and made several 
 enquiries concerning her former protegee. 
 
 '' Grace is good and skilful, in many ways, and, as 
 I hear, very beautiful ;" she said, with emphasis : 
 " but it is all marred by an obstinate spirit, which has 
 led her far from the right course, and turned those who 
 were her friends into enemies." 
 
 I guessed that she alluded to the Priests. As Mr. 
 Tremenheere remained silent, I answered that I had 
 seen nothing but gentleness in the young woman who 
 was now performing a daughter's part by Sir Jasper. 
 Mrs. Harding's features expressed eager curiosity, 
 
 V 2
 
 292 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 while I told her that the poor girl had to suffer so 
 much hardship and privation in the forlorn dwelling 
 to which I had been the means of introducing her, that 
 I pitied her extremely ; and were it not for her invalu- 
 able services, I should regret having brought such a 
 penance upon her. 
 
 It was very evident that ill-health had not softened 
 Mrs. Harding's character. She spoke harshly and un- 
 charitably. In every word and look, the influence of 
 an intolerant creed was strongly marked. It was, she 
 persisted, Grace's own fault that she was left alone in 
 the world. Those who would have watched over her 
 interests had unwillingly given her up. It had been 
 against its mistress's wish that she quitted the Warren, 
 where prayers were still frequently offered up for her ; 
 but she had chosen to take her own course, and must 
 abide by the consequences of her want of faith and hu- 
 mility. " You and I, Captain Tudor," she remarked, 
 " may differ in our opinions. I wish it were other- 
 wise, and that we all relied implicitly upon those who 
 are qualified to guide us." • 
 
 Mrs. Harding did not seem to expect that her hus- 
 band, who had gone out shooting with Malvern early in 
 the day, would return at present. I left a message with 
 her, therefore, to the effect that I should be back in 
 time to ride home in company with the latter across 
 the moor ; and went on to transact some business with 
 a person in the neighbourhood, to whose residence she 
 gave me a direction.
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 293 
 
 A fine stretch of country, most of it overspread 
 with oak copses, wearing at this late period of the 
 autumn, an ahnost uniform tint of reddish brown, 
 opened before me when I ascended the rocky heights 
 which surmount the wild district beyond the Warren. 
 Below me, through that wooded region, wound the 
 western branch of the river that flows past the farm ; 
 now boldly sweeping round a promontory of rock, 
 doubling and bending, and here and there forming 
 islets and peninsulas, every one of which was almost 
 imperviously covered with the same rich dark mantle 
 of russet. 
 
 The sparkling granite road and high craggy banks, 
 whence slabs of dark grey schist or slate boldly de- 
 tached themselves, grew narrower and steeper, till I 
 was fain to dismount and lead my horse by the bridle. 
 Descending from the moorland, the waters of the rapid 
 trout-stream, whose course I had never followed so far 
 as at present, gradually acquired more depth and velo- 
 city, till, after passing the mill which was the object of 
 my visit, they flung themselves headlong, in one un- 
 broken plunge, over a ledge of rock, and roared and 
 foamed through the heart of a densely wooded dell, 
 where they were completely hidden from my sight. 
 The lonely-looking dwelling, perched like an eyrie 
 above the stream and the rocks, seemed out of reach 
 of other sounds than those of the swiftly rushing, 
 brawling waters, and the turning of the great wheel. 
 . The situation was extremely striking. No feudal
 
 294 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 castle was ever reared on a bolder site than had been 
 chosen for the rustic abode towards which I mounted 
 by a steep pathway. Its grey stone walls and high- 
 peaked roofs rose straight above the glen, through 
 which, as I stood at the door, I heard the cascade thun- 
 dering down among crags and bushes. 
 
 The miller, — whom Harding had recommended to 
 me as a customer for my corn, with a caution not to 
 trust him too far, — ought to be a man of substance, 
 judging by the size and pretension of his dwelling. 
 He was gone to Castleton Races, I was informed by an 
 eccentric looking female who came out to speak to me, 
 — in a light chintz-patterned dress, her very abundant 
 tresses gathered, untidily enough, under a bro^\Ti silk 
 net, and a white sun-bonnet, such as the peasant women 
 wear in the fields, not placed upon her head but carried 
 jauntily in her hand. She resembled so little any tiling 
 I should have imagined the miller's wife, in such a re- 
 mote spot, likely to be, that I scarcely knew how to 
 address her. Her appearance, though not exactly su- 
 perior to her station, was totally incompatible with it. 
 
 A flock of long-necked, sharp-beaked poultry, — some 
 raven black with white top-knots, others speckled like 
 pheasants, — all of curious fancy breeds, gaunt and 
 outlandish-looking, — had issued forth cackling and 
 screaming, like the geese of the capitol, to give notice 
 of the approach of a stranger. I did not refuse their 
 mistress's invitation to go in while my horse was bait- 
 ing, or her very civil offer to show me the view of the
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 295 
 
 fall which many people stop to look at. It was no 
 where so fine as from the grounds and windows of their 
 house. 
 
 She called a man from his work at the mill to give 
 my horse some hay and water ; and walked with me 
 along the verge of the cliff to the point where the 
 stream fell over ; and a winding path cut thi'ough the 
 bushes led down to the margin of the river. A mag- 
 nificent pile of rock shot precipitously upward, with 
 dwarf oak and hazel fringing its sides, but presenting 
 a bold face to the torrent, which dashed past its rugged 
 opposing angles with a roar like thunder. Lower down, 
 the main current flowed more peacefully ; and left a 
 large expanse of yellow sand, where, in the summer, 
 my companion said, the stream was fordable. 
 
 I could not get ofl^" without seeing the interior of the 
 domicile, which commanded one of the finest bends of 
 the river. Its condition did not do much credit to the 
 lady in the net, whose hair, I thought, looked very 
 much as if her favourites had been arranging it 
 through the interstices of her head-dress, with their 
 sharp-pointed talons. The scanty furniture was covered 
 with dust. Several rooms were not in use, but their 
 floors were strewn with litter and bits of straw, 
 among which the chickens picked up a tolerable meal, 
 while she showed me over the premises. An open 
 pianoforte and some valuable old china in the parlour 
 did not make amends for the untidiness of the place. 
 The curious-looking long-legged poultry hopped after 
 us everywhere.
 
 296 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 They were her only companions, she remarked, when 
 her truant husband was away. The fowls were like her 
 own children, and understood whatever she said to them. 
 One tame Indian chicken appeared to be an especial 
 favourite. They perched unceremoniously on the chairs 
 and tables, and ate out of the plates which the mistress of 
 the house had filled with home-made cakes for my benefit. 
 I found that she had no fastidious scruples about wring- 
 ing the necks of her feathered family upon occasion ; 
 for she begged me to remember that at any time when I 
 Avanted some fine fowls or a turkey, well-fattened for 
 table on the grain from the mill, Mrs. Lightfoot of 
 Kiverhead would be happy to supply me. 
 
 Mr. Harding, she told me, often stopped to rest there, 
 when he was shooting in the woods. He had a fine 
 taste, and always kept the best of company ; — meaning, 
 I suppose, my very disreputable kinsman ; for, shortly 
 afterwards, she informed me that he had brought a 
 nobleman with him, the last time he called. Malvern, 
 — for there could be no doubt, in that solitude, that it was 
 he, — had admired the place vastly. He had gone over 
 the vacant rooms, and taken quite a fancy to the par- 
 lour which had a view of the fall. His lordship had 
 bestowed great approbation also upon her cakes and 
 gingerbread nuts. I wonder whether he was thinking 
 of providing himself with an asylum, in case, as it is 
 not unlikely, we should quarrel before he is quite se- 
 cure of a place in Sir Jasper's favour ! In all probabi- 
 lity, however, he had no meaning in the idle compli-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 297 
 
 ments paid to Mrs. Lightfoot and her dwelling, but was 
 aiming, as usual, at saying what was appropriate to the 
 occasion. 
 
 Harding seems to be a prodigious favourite with this 
 tawdry-looking dame. She spoke of him quite reverenti- 
 ally. It was a sad thing that he was so unfortunately mar- 
 ried. Just to have finished his beautiful house and 
 laid out the grounds, when the double calamity of his 
 wife's blindness and the change in her religion fell upon 
 him, was enough to put him out of heart with every- 
 thing. 
 
 I do not think Mrs. Harding patronizes her, for she 
 expressed herself very bitterly on the subject, remarking 
 that when a woman drove her husband from home, she 
 was answerable for the consequences. Farmer Harding 
 might have married almost any woman in the country. 
 It was said that if anything happened to his wife, a 
 very different kind of person would take her place at 
 the farm. She herself had been used to real ladies, — 
 ladies of rank, — and knew one at the first glance. They 
 were never high and mighty, like the sightless mistress 
 of the Warren, who had not one drop of gentle blood 
 in her veins. That always told. Whether people were 
 rich or poor, if either father or mother were well-born, 
 the real marks of gentility were handed down. She 
 should know a lady's glove or slipper, or the set of her 
 mantle, if it was ever so worn and threadbare, or if 
 she picked it up in the miry road, from the most expen- 
 sive apparel of the farmers* wives and daughters.
 
 ^98 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 I thought the miller must be a very good-tempered 
 man, if he tolerated her absurdities. She did not ap- 
 pear to like to say plainly, that she was in the habit of 
 taking in lodgers; but observed that she sometimes 
 felt the want of society ; though, thank Heaven ! — with 
 a glance at the instrument, — she was not without re- 
 sources against ennui. If any one took a fancy to the 
 prospect, she should not object to accommodate them. 
 She had been accustomed to ladies, and could make 
 persons of gentility comfortable. It would certainly 
 be a pity to debar any person who really felt desirous 
 of thoroughly enjoying the river scenery, of the plea- 
 sure it was capable of affording them. In early life 
 she had seen a great deal of company ; — now, she must 
 admit she was a little out of her sphere. She had no 
 neighbours ; — indeed, if she had, most likely they would 
 not suit her. She could not bear rough ways, and re- 
 joiced that the place was so solitary. 
 
 I was glad when my horse was sufficiently rested for 
 me to be able to leave her with her poultry, whose 
 flourishing condition I promised to keep in mind, as 
 well as to mention her want of society to any ladies of 
 my acquaintance who might be wishing for a change. 
 Sally was of course very contemptuous, after I returned 
 home, on the subject of my new acquaintance. Her 
 account of her was, as usual, unfavourable, and corrobo- 
 rated the opinion I had formed from her slatternly ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 Hester Lightfoot had been lady's maid in a gentle-
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 299 
 
 man's family^ and had lost her place and her character 
 together ; but the miller of Riverhead, — who was him- 
 self, according to my housekeeper^ of no good reputa- 
 tion, — had been willing to marry her, in consequence 
 of her having two or three hundred pounds for her for- 
 tune. It was best not to enquire how she came by it. 
 For aught Mrs. Saint could tell, they might let lodg- 
 ings. She was sorry for any one who was goose 
 enough to take them. The man was absent at fairs 
 and merrymakings half his time, and beat his wife when 
 he came home. Lonely as the place was, people going 
 by had often heard them railing at each other, and the 
 woman calling out for assistance. She did not know 
 why her turkeys and fowls should be better than could 
 be fattened respectably by decent people in their own 
 barn-yards. 
 
 Malvern was in great spirits and quite at home at 
 the Warren, when I got back from Riverhead. He 
 was very curious to know where I had been, but I did 
 not indulge him with an account of his conquest of the 
 lady with the elf locks, nor has he ever mentioned the 
 place to me. 
 
 Harding looked tired and out of temper. No won- 
 der, considering that he had been in Malvern's com- 
 pany the whole of the morning. It was nearly an 
 hour before I could get my volatile companion away. 
 
 I lost my patience while he was sipping cherry- 
 brandy, and dawdling over the adjustment of his cloak 
 and neck-handkerchief. He rallied Harding on his
 
 300 LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 want of energy, while he went on with his dilatory- 
 preparations for departure. 
 
 " How you tall fellows knock up !— It's quite amus- 
 ing to see you. Here am I, as fresh as a lark, after 
 
 walking all day, and killing you know, only for 
 
 that unlucky gun of Tudor's, how I was getting on. 
 Yes, it's too heavy for me ; but it's not a bad one. I 
 don't mind, — no, not in the least, whether I kill every 
 bird, or miss every other shot. I say, Harding ! when 
 will you have some cocks in those copses of yours ? 
 I shall come over to help you to shoot them. Here's 
 Tudor mounted, and I have not half finished what I 
 was saying. I want — yes, I declare, I have forgot 
 something. I never do come away without leaving 
 some of my property behind me. Just wait a minute ; 
 no, you needn't mind it. It's all here ; — my gloves 
 and my handkerchief, and all the rest of it. I am 
 quite ready ; — that is, I shall be in a minute. What a 
 hurry you are in ! That will do. I'm off, now, Harry, 
 you'll just see how I ride. It won't take long to get 
 across that uncommonly cold moor ; — at least, not at 
 my pace, and you used to keep it up in the old times 
 pretty weU." 
 
 He turned back once more, nevertheless ; and when 
 I threatened to leave liim behind, he put me still fur- 
 ther out of humour by ascribing what he called my un- 
 conscionable impatience to the wish not to be too late 
 for our customary evening visit to Heron Cliff; and 
 by some jesting remarks which I was annoyed that
 
 LEWELL PASTURES. 301 
 
 Harding should hear, respecting Sir Jasper Egremont's 
 pretty attendant. The fair damsel, he said, had irre- 
 sistible attractions for me. He went on to make some 
 yet more unbefitting comments, full of idle malice, 
 which I stopped as speedily as possible, calling him to 
 order somewhat sharply ; and, as usual, he was quite 
 ready to beg my pardon, and shift his ground, when 
 he saw that I was really angry. 
 
 While we were settling our dispute, and Malvern, 
 with his accustomed volubility, was pouring forth pro- 
 testations and apologies, Harding stood a little back, 
 though not beyond the reach of hearing what passed 
 between us. He looked as much displeased as myself, 
 and made no reply to a parting facetious sally which 
 Malvern addressed to him, as we rode out of the yard, 
 leaving him standing in front of the stables, with a 
 very unusually dark frown upon his face. He sent a 
 man forward to open the gates on our way ; but did 
 not accompany us through a single field. Malvern, 
 happy in his invulnerable self-conceit, bestowed no no- 
 tice on the change in his manner ; but rode on by my 
 side, talking incessantly, the whole distance over the 
 dreary-looking, autumnal-brown turf of the moor. 
 
 " He's not a bad fellow, that ! — no, really, now, 
 upon my soul, Tudor, you'll be surprised to hear that 
 I rather like him ;" he observed, after giving me an 
 account of the manner in which the Hardings over- 
 whelmed him with civilities. " It's a roughish sort of 
 place, but they don't live badly ; and I rather think
 
 30^ LEWELL PASTURES. 
 
 that poor creature manages to see a little ;— just enough 
 to cut the excellent sandwiches she sends out for our 
 luncheon. She took my hint about adding some of 
 her capital cherry brandy. By Jove, you won't tell 
 me that a woman, without the use of her eyes, ever 
 made anything half so good! He told me that his 
 wife concocted it herself; — and I said, — yes, I know 
 how to please those kind of people, — I actually pro- 
 posed, on the spur of the moment, that we should 
 drink her health in it. She'll have some trouble with 
 that handsome husband : — doesn't she look after him 
 sharply ?— I think he is rather glad to have me with 
 him. Of course, a woman can't think exclusively of 
 her caro sposo, when he has friends — I assure you, 
 yes ! — that she takes uncommon care should feel them- 
 selves comfortable. 
 
 " You did not tell me that pretty creature at Heron 
 Cliff had any connection with these farming people ; — 
 but trust me for worming it out of my host, when we 
 were tete-a-tete over a bottle of sherry. You won't 
 beat me in finessing ;— and I saw, yes, with half an eye, 
 that the blind woman had been jealous, and our good- 
 looking friend was preciously afraid of her. 
 
 " Bah ! there now, I have nearly had enough of it. 
 It does not do to be too intimate with these people. 
 How amazingly you manage to keep up your dignity ! 
 I can't — no, not for the life of me ! — help making my- 
 self too pleasant. Just tell me how you contrive to 
 hold them at a distance. You should only see me ! —
 
 LE-SVELL PASTURES. 303 
 
 I declare I am like that poor woman's brother : — not 
 that she thinks of me in that light, exactly ; — but they 
 have taken such a fancy to me that I cannot get out of 
 being in all their secrets. V enfant gate de la maison, 
 as usual ! It's always just the same." 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 
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 PRINTER AND STEREOTYPBB, 
 
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