L I B R^AFLY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVE.R5 ITY 
 
 Of ILLINOIS 
 
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 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " My friend, when you love, let it be a woman whom you 
 can love for ever." — Balzac. 
 
 By EMILE BOUCHER 
 
 IN THREE VOLS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 JAMES BLACKWOOD & CO., 
 
 LOVELL'S COURT, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1886 
 
 [All nights Reserved.]
 
 V. I 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 In writing "A Statesman's Love," the Author 
 has endeavour.d to show that the alchemist-like trans- 
 figuration supposed to be wrought in our whole nature 
 by that passion, has no existence in fact. 
 
 Love cannot be bribed or blinded to take as its 
 equivalent anything less than itself. Affection, Admi- 
 ration, Friendship — the triune feelings that so often 
 usurp its name — can never stand before that equality 
 of heart and mind, that union of soul and spirit that 
 alone constitute Love. 
 
 "As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of 
 man to man." 
 
 In this is no change as by a magic wand, but the ful- 
 fihnent of Destiny.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 BOOK THE FIRST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " The rift where the rose perished." 
 
 My uncle was an old Scotch steward on the 
 estate of Sir Burleigh Clifford — an English 
 Manor N.E. by north — yet sufficiently remote 
 from the borders of Scotland to keep us free 
 from the complications of discord introduced 
 by the two kings — de jure and de facto — the 
 Guelph and the Stuart. 
 
 We had come from the misty glens and savage 
 solitudes of the Trossachs, lured to the south- 
 ward by hope, as hungry eagles are lured from 
 their eyries by famine, and, our wings well 
 clipped, we remained, year by year the tradition 
 of our freedom fading, the fact of our thraldom 
 more certain. We had a feuar or prescriptive 
 right to serve the Cliffords, which doubtless.
 
 2 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 analysed, would have been found a faithful 
 mind to serve ourselves, as pigmies in a storm 
 might have kept to the shelter of a crag, or 
 pigs in autumn battened on the acorns and 
 beechmast of the Clifford woods ; but we neither 
 analysed nor conjectured. 
 
 " Whatever things cows be," 
 
 like Mercury in the Homeric story, we drove 
 them to our own profit with disguised foot- 
 prints, nor ever forgot the relative positions 
 of feuar and feudatory, derived from some long- 
 ago intermarriage of a Clifford with the chief 
 of our clan. 
 
 It was, in fact, my uncle M'Causland's sixth 
 sense — the sense of the relative positions of 
 himself and the Cliffords. He could not afford 
 them the unlimited obedience of a clansman, 
 being southrons ; nor deny them unlimited 
 homage for their power, great wealth, and high 
 position. The proud and rugged Highland 
 crofter had, at first, hard work to bow to a 
 southron's will ; once reconciled to its necessity, 
 its importance grew with him. To his clan's 
 chief, obedience had been carelessly rendered 
 as one breathes unconsciously ; to this south- 
 ron, it was given with all the extra observance 
 of formality — an observance which, nourished, 
 nursed, and licked into shape, as bears are said
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. % 
 
 to lick their young, after some years at the 
 Manor, died, was embalmed, and given as a 
 mummy into my charge, while M'Causland forgot 
 all about it himself, taking high ground with 
 Sir Burleigh, who was old and stubborn, and 
 content, having received our homage and being 
 assured of our fealty and allegiance, to meet 
 his steward, M'Causland, on the neutral ground 
 of age and obstinacy. 
 
 M'Causland had taken me in, in my outcast 
 childhood, a living relic, it was surmised, of some 
 Border feud, when on a mission for Sir Burleigh 
 to Scotland. My origin, hidden as by the grey 
 northern mists by an ascribed relationship for 
 eighteen years before. Sir Burleigh, less old but 
 more obstinate, was no person to be trifled with 
 or to tolerate a nameless wean. 
 
 Unmarried himself, M'Causland, a dry scep- 
 tical woman-hater like his master, I must have 
 suflered unconsciously, in my nonage, many an 
 injurious commentary, and as unconsciously 
 assumed an impassive, never-moved aspect 
 which, growing with my growth, strengthening 
 with use of years, concealed without hypocrisy 
 the life and levity of youth usual with my sex, 
 which might, displayed, have offended my stern 
 guardians. For, as in the rest, so in this, I was 
 theirs, not M'Causland's alone, but accounted as 
 
 B 2
 
 4 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 would have been a pig or a sheep, a tree, a stock, 
 or a stone, as something pertaining to the Manor. 
 
 The Trossachs were but a tradition to me. I 
 knew no other home than the Home Farm. A 
 druidess of the Clifford woods, I could not affirm 
 that oaks grew elsewhere. The vast and wild 
 park, with its oak forests, its long glades, silent 
 in summer, desolate in winter ; the large Hall, 
 terraced and lonely in its midst, was my world — 
 other I deemed not of nor desired. To its in- 
 habitants, I was only " Helen E-ohan," a dual 
 name always addressed to me in assertion, in- 
 terrogation, or remark. 
 
 I was brought up usefully, to knit, write, and 
 cast accounts, free from all other duties ; our old 
 housekeeper, autocratically rejecting aid which 
 might have developed into rivalry, left me to 
 the more congenial work of accountant-general 
 of the Manor, and keeper both of its financial 
 and other records — a fixed idea of M'Causland's 
 being, that to write a thing down at the time it 
 happened, was a sort of statute-law, and proof 
 of its having happened precisely as 'twas set 
 forth, which could neither be contradicted nor 
 set aside. 
 
 This was Manor-law, and worked in well 
 enough with habitual despotism in all disputed 
 cases on the estate — for there were many outly-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 5 
 
 ing farms at long distances — ^land, both glebe 
 and arable, marsh and meadow, fisheries and 
 forests, all whose affairs were conducted by 
 master and steward, with me as scribe, tempered 
 by no appeal to outside tribunals. 
 
 At eighteen, I was still spoken of as " Only 
 Helen Rohan " by my uncle, by my red-headed 
 cousin Alexis, by Sir Burleigh, and by his 
 nephew and heir, Verney, Viscount Clifford, 
 an orphan of a younger, poorer, yet ennobled 
 branch of the family. 
 
 " A Nell-Gwynne-descended bastard," Sir 
 Burleigh sometimes called him. 
 
 One day, when about nine years old, I asked 
 Verney Clifford what this meant, treasuring up 
 the sounds as so much Greek, to be repeated 
 until perfect. 
 
 Verney was then a collegian, spending vaca- 
 tion at the Manor, and had, as he often did, 
 recklessly offended Sir Burleigh, who always 
 caustically charged his faults to this mysterious 
 cause, which aroused my curiosity. It was the 
 first and last direct personal question I ever put, 
 for he answered by setting a mastiff-pup at me, 
 which tore my frock to tatters, and, but for 
 youth, inexperience, and a certain amount of 
 cub-like good-nature (for which he kicked it), 
 might have seriously torn my flesh too.
 
 6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Vemey Clifford was just fifteen years older 
 than me, but we were friends from the begin 
 ning, and, as the reviling of his uncle had been 
 Greek to me, so also was the bitter hate the 
 tenants bore him. To me, he seemed gay, 
 gallant, and dehonnair^ free of speech (not always 
 of the civillest), caustic, clever and reckless, a 
 spendthrift (so I heard) and a gambler when in 
 London, yet always apparently content with 
 the Manor. I had then no clear notion of the 
 scandalous chronicle kept against him in the 
 countryside, and no enlightener on it. By force 
 of circumstances, I had no female companion- 
 ship : our chief domestic, Elsie, was deaf and 
 puritanical — by turns hating me as an interloper^ 
 and loving me as a child who had grown up 
 before her eyes, yet with distant respect. There 
 was not in our household the usual easy inti- 
 macy of country-life. For the farmers, we were 
 too " sib " with the Cliffords to be safe gossips ; 
 for ourselves, we had our northern coldness and 
 inaccessibility. Thus, in a household of men^ 
 Lord Clifford's character escaped that minute 
 dissection, that keen analysis, which would at 
 once have informed me of his misdeeds, and 
 lost me my friend. If it be true, as Milton 
 affirms, that 
 
 *' Fame hath two wings — one black, the other white,"
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 7 
 
 it was equally certain that his name was 
 written with the very blackest pen-feather 
 of her sable wing, o'ergilded to me by our long 
 acquaintance, and the fact of his presence at the 
 farm being so usual and so familiar as to excite 
 no comment. Into our parlour — a long, low, 
 spacious room, well furnished, with its solid 
 carved oak, high mantel and stiff tapestry table- 
 cover which reached the polished floor — even 
 our suzerain and sovereign. Sir Burleigh, was a 
 frequent visitor — frequent enough to be unre- 
 marked in his comings and goings by the house- 
 hold, still more Milord Verney. Yet my uncle 
 feared him, and the first direct praise ever he 
 gave me was for being, as he termed it, " crafty 
 Carline eneucli to hand a candle to Verney 
 Clifford to licht him awa frae mischief " — a free 
 adaptation of the homely proverb " Hold a candle 
 to the devil," which I had heard as a child, 
 and, not understanding it as allegorical, had 
 speculated abstrusely as to how near or remote 
 in such contiguity lay safety. Would he thank 
 you, or growl as Sk Burleigh did at small 
 services rendered? Would the grease drip with 
 excessive heat? and how long would a candle 
 under such circumstances last? 
 
 Would the trembling acolyte be allowed to 
 go at the last flicker of the snuff, and would
 
 8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 it be etiquette to retire backward — or even, as a 
 matter of safety, would it not be better to do so ? 
 
 Pshaw ! what a little praise served for the 
 other job after long realistic childish musings on 
 the first ! To hand a candle to Verney Clifford, 
 whom I had known from my fourth year. 
 
 What was it to me, when his great ta^vny head 
 looked in at the door, that it had been a mark 
 for a poacher's gun — that the poacher was a 
 tenant whose sister had " gone-away " ? In my 
 utter ignorance of the reality of evil as opposed 
 to its theory, I even felt aggrieved for Verney. 
 It was Ms estate, I would mutter mutinously. 
 The Stubbs were Ms tenants. No Circassian, 
 trained amid pure surroundings to think well of 
 a sultan, had fewer inclinations to evildoing 
 than I ; but I was a Circassian amid the snows of 
 my life and its guarded circumstances, while 
 wild Verney was a sultan. 
 
 How was I to regard him ? Truth to tell, no 
 casuistry came in to destroy the directness and 
 simplicity of our friendship, and M'Causland's 
 praise I pondered, but could not appropriate. 
 So my relations to the libertine heir were those 
 of sincere and faithful envy, friendship, and 
 fraternity. 
 
 I have now only to introduce my cousin 
 Alexis M'Causland.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 9 
 
 He was tall, Highland, red-headed, shy, and, 
 for present mistress, hugged " Caesar's Commen- 
 taries " in Latin. 
 
 I believe he studied them when alone, for he 
 would repeat passages aloud about the Gallic 
 legions ; but his interest in the bald first Csesar 
 was divided ever since he had passed his sixth 
 foot in height. Verney Clifford had come in for 
 closer and less favourable scrutiny from him. 
 As though like a snail, he (Alexis) had with his 
 increased stature also grown horns with eyes on 
 them to spy out deficiencies in smaller folk. 
 He had a handsome but somewhat sullen face, 
 like those on ragged old medals with " Tiberius 
 Imp." or " Maximin : Imperator " — such as were 
 in drawers at Burleigh Hall — collections by 
 long-past Cliffords. 
 
 Neither Sir Burleigh nor Clifford had noticed 
 him much as a boy; — as a stripling, only to 
 laugh at his rapid growth, his mingled shyness 
 and dignity. 
 
 Now, it seemed to me, Clifford's glance was 
 sharper — his voice, though more acrid, smoother 
 when he spoke to Alexis. 
 
 It was rarely any words passed between them, 
 but a dislike seemed to exist under a surface- 
 calm, and, at every fresh instance of Verney 's 
 wrongdoing, Alexis ranged himself with his
 
 lo A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 judges and accusers, though with the cool and 
 temperate judgment of his nation and position, 
 rather than the eager outspokenness of youth. 
 
 The elder M'Causland never wearied preach- 
 ing submission. 
 
 The younger practised it on compulsion and 
 from clanship. 
 
 Every day is like another, yet every day has 
 its incidents which go to make up the thing we 
 call life. Every day I had to sit at a desk enter- 
 ing sales, drawing bills, and setting down agree- 
 ments between tenant and landlord, verbatim 
 from M'Causland's lips. The other side might 
 keep their account of such transactions how they 
 pleased, but disputes were always settled by re- 
 ference to ours, which M'Causland and Sir Bur- 
 leigh agreed to regard as infallible, unless they 
 wished to alter them. These being sometimes 
 of the lengthiest by interpellations, and an in- 
 sistance on length regarded as a solid proof of 
 strength, it often happened that whole dia- 
 logues were inserted which made much reading 
 over and revision necessary. No special ledger 
 was kept for figures : they were neatly inter- 
 spersed as sales or payments occurred, and 
 served as illustrations to the text — lightening 
 and brightening the words. 
 
 Thus was I, in some degree, historian to the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. ii 
 
 Manor — and knew, to a turn, all its complex 
 affairs. I had put down my last figure, a nought, 
 in the ledger and written " Fame " in German 
 text on the calfskin-cover, embellishing it with 
 rays of blackness, for (I thought) I must be in- 
 tellectually famous, or my life will be a false 
 and hollow fraud, a failure and a deceit. 
 This was I doing when my cousin Alexis 
 entered with a white rose. 
 
 To do the man justice, he was not aware of 
 the " affrachement " of his aspect as he bent 
 his red head over the desk and made his floral 
 offering, but no one in the household ever 
 troubled to do him justice — mercy sometimes, 
 as at the end of an imperial secptre ; everyday 
 justice, never. 
 
 I took the rose : — the deep heart of it glowed, 
 the soul of the thing came forth in delicatest 
 perfume, every perfect leaf called for praise : a 
 pang woke in my heart as its perishable loveli- 
 ness struck mine eye — such was I not — such 
 could I never be. 
 
 " You're a rose ! " said Alexis. 
 
 His voice smote my ear, but not my sense. I 
 continued gazing. All the perishable things of 
 the earth floated by me, and far above them a 
 wreath of amaranth shone. I stretched out my 
 hand : the fingers unclasped. The rose fell into
 
 12 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 a red rift in the logs : — a vapoury breath — it was 
 gone. 
 
 " De'il tak' ye, Helen Rohan ! " exclaimed 
 Alexis, aghast. " It was aye a forced flower, 
 graun under dung — ye deevil's dochter — an' ye 
 cast it awa' to perish ! " 
 
 " Had I not, my election were void, and flowers 
 and frippery would be to me faithful unto the end." 
 I spoke this less to him than to myself — to my 
 thoughts — but Sandy gasped, and I awoke. 
 
 ^' What ha'e ye then chosen? " 
 
 I replied : " Fame." 
 
 " Fame ! — eh ? " he repeated, astonishment stir- 
 ring his red hair — " Fame ! That'll ne'er bring 
 ye a good man's love, Helen Rohan — nor a leal 
 heart ! " — and he bent his long shanks, prepara- 
 tory to proving that he himself was better than 
 Fame, when he was interrupted by the entrance 
 of Sir Burleigh Cliff'ord and M'Causland, who 
 adroitly, talking all the while of sheep, dislodged 
 us from the hearth, leaving Alexis no resource 
 but Highland dignity — on which, as on stilts, 
 he retreated. 
 
 I was ordered to set down two items of farm 
 interest : — 
 
 "Batesons paid for the roan filly, twelve 
 pound seven shillings. Helen Rohan, from 
 M'Causland.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 13 
 
 " Denzils agreed to rent the four-acre marsh 
 for grazing, at ten pounds a year. Helen Eohan, 
 from Sir Burleigh." 
 
 Then the dull drift of their talk flowed on 
 — my thoughts wandering away from it, even as I 
 entered the payment and the agreement. Bateson's 
 bargain might content him. The cows grazed 
 on the marsh overpay Denzil's ten pounds a 
 year. Yet what interest had either for me? I 
 thought rather of a dead crow I had once found 
 in the four-acre marsh, hidden in the stump of 
 an old^tree — a crow which had crept away to 
 die by itself — lonely, and, perchance, misan- 
 thropic, all its glossy black feathers dull and 
 lustreless, its head hanging limp and soft on one 
 side, weary of all things — of sunrise, of dewy 
 mists and purple clouds, of flight and noisy 
 rejoicings over the beauty of summer-mornings. 
 
 When I looked up, the old men had gone — 
 long since gone. The fire had dwindled to one 
 red rift — 
 
 The rift where the rose perished. 
 
 I was roused from my reverie by Alexis 
 M'Causland, who put his head in at the door 
 to ask if Sir Burleigh were there. 
 
 His glance wandered to the hearth, as though 
 hoping the old men might still be there, and 
 was then directed to the dark brick-passage to
 
 14 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 which the parlour opened rearward, as he said 
 half-sullenly : 
 
 " Sir Burleigh has gone, milord." 
 
 '' Then, by your leave, M'Causland, I'll wait 
 here a bit for him." 
 
 As one who under protest admits a spy to a 
 beleaguered fortress, so Alexis made way for 
 Viscount Clifford, who came, in preceded by his 
 unwilling vassal; and, establishing himself on 
 the hearth, drew the logs together with his 
 hunting-whip, whilst Alexis, with doleful and 
 constrained hospitality, produced whiskey, some 
 oatcake, and a glass, and, pushing them towards 
 him, — a courtesy which was acknowledged by a 
 nod — departed. 
 
 Clifford was a man over thirty, with a smooth 
 tired voice, eyes dull yet penetrating, and a 
 leonine mat of tawny hair and beard, not over 
 tall, but something broad-chested. 
 
 " Here's to you, Helen Rohan ! " he said, as 
 he filled a glass ; and, discovering me behind 
 the tall desk, raised it after the manner of a 
 toast. 
 
 " Here's what to me? " I inquired. 
 
 " A good husband," said milord, sipping. 
 " Ceesar, his Commentaries ! " 
 
 " If you will, Verney, I'll say ' Nell Gwynne,' 
 Tm not afraid of Beech now."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 15 
 
 "You may act Nell Gwynne for me," he 
 replied, critically surveying the whiskey, " I'm 
 not afraid of her now." 
 
 " You were though ! " 
 
 " So also- you of Beech : — ignorance on both 
 sides. Now I'm Socratic — philosophic " 
 
 " Did Socrates dip his snub nose in whis- 
 key?" 
 
 " Curse Socrates ! " 
 
 " You invoked him." 
 
 " An old poisoner," muttered milord, wilfully, 
 as was his wont, shutting his eyes to facts 
 when displeased. 
 
 " Poisoned Xantippe, didn't he ? " I enquired, 
 cautiously peering through the bars of the desk, 
 which was a sort of pulpit raised two steps from 
 the floor. 
 
 " Yes ! took care of Lais though. Won^t 
 you come out, Helen Rohan? Seems to me you 
 sit there and rule everybody with that ruler." 
 
 " Shall I get a crown of straws? " 
 
 " Long ago have recommended it," said Ver- 
 ney, " only you know so devilish weU what you 
 a're about." 
 
 " Come, eat some oatcake, Verney. I made 
 it." 
 
 " Tm going to. How is my uncle? " 
 
 "VeryweU."
 
 i6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Come out, Helen Rohan ! " 
 
 "To what end?" I said, sketching his face on 
 the cover of the ledger. 
 
 " Oh ! for the matter of that, I can do that," 
 said Clifford tautologically, watching me. 
 
 " So you ought ! " I said, as he stepped up be- 
 side me ; and, taking his hand, I traced out its 
 palm-lines with an old quill-pen, newly dipped 
 in ink. 
 
 " What a horrid mess ! " said Verney, unresist- 
 ing. As I took the other hand, he dried the / 
 one on his ta^vny hair. 
 
 Just then Alexis came in, and must needs, in ^^ 
 the sorrow of his heart, give a great sigh at sight 
 of Clifford's close neighbourhood to the desk — 
 as a schoolboy might at a lifelike presentment 
 of the wolf and the lamb . 
 
 " What's that for? " said Clifford, the hate he 
 habitually felt for all men intensified to scorn 
 and bitterness by M'Causland's dependency and 
 rivalry just evidenced. 
 
 " Bitter fa me when I gie ye account of every 
 word," said Alexis with despondent energy. 
 "Why do ye come here, Verney Clifford? 
 Helen Rohan, be ashamed, ye fause-faced 
 jade ! " 
 
 This, though an unwonted development of 
 feeling, we passed over; having long known it
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 17 
 
 to exist, its mere expression in words could 
 not much move us. 
 
 We both knew that Alexis dared do no more 
 than mutter vengeance ; and both, from different 
 standpoints, somewhat despised him as he stood 
 sullenly by the window watching us. Clifford 
 departing soon to seek his uncle, we were left 
 alone. 
 
 Not till then Alexis took up the well-bound 
 Commentaries, disdaining words, yet glowering 
 over the edge of his book till I spoke, resolved 
 not to quarrel with him for his devotion. 
 
 "Sandy, you'll come a walk with me to- 
 night?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And tell me about the Gallic legions ? '' 
 
 "Oh! my God!" (Aside.) 
 
 "What, Sandy?" 
 
 " Yes, Helen Eohan ! " (Sullenly.) 
 
 " And wear your kilt, Sandy, and look like an 
 old Eoman?" 
 
 " I tell ye, Vemey Clifford's eight years waur 
 than me ! " growled Sandy, ostentatiously ruffling 
 the leaves of his book, thinking I referred to his 
 age. 
 
 By this, our old deaf housekeeper was busy 
 setting supper on the table, and soon found 
 Sandy more laudable occupation than ruminating 
 
 c
 
 l8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 vengeance on Vemey, by setting him to cut 
 bread. Presently, the elder M'Causland entered, 
 rubbing his lean hands. 
 
 " Gude Lord ! *' he exclaimed profanely. " I 
 met that cheat-the-noose, Verney Clifford. 
 He looked as dark an' dour as though I were 
 Sathanes. Ye ken I withstood the sale o^ 
 Denzil's farm, which was in his mind, to gamble 
 awa the money in London, an' he's none pleased 
 at it. Ay, speak him fair, Alexis as I bade 
 ye. An' I'll engage it'll tak' twenty heirs to set 
 Sir Burleigh against us." 
 
 " Our crafty Carline here, Helen Kohan — for 
 all she looks like starched Queen Bess of the 
 ruffles — I'll engage hands him a candle, to licht 
 him awa' frae mischief. Eh, Helen Eohan ? " 
 
 " Eh ? " I repeated, offering him a poached e^g. 
 
 " Is this e^^ to be blacked through the sauce- 
 pan I hold being a-tilt? " 
 
 " Na ! nae black," said M'Causland, hastily 
 righting the egg-boiler — nae black within, 
 Helen Rohan, let who will be unscoured grace- 
 less platters like Milord Verney." 
 
 Yet it was blacked, and he ate it unseeing, 
 and declared it to be the best-poached of all. 
 
 Sandy, whose woe was revived by repletion, 
 again forgot it in laughing covertly at his 
 encomiums on the egg.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 19 
 
 Tiring, after a time, of seeing M'Causlaud 
 drink ale, admonish Alexis, — whom he treated 
 as a boy, despite his six and twenty years — and 
 lose himself pondering over charges disputed by 
 Sir Burleigh, I reminded Sandy of our walk. 
 
 " Like twa troth-plights ! " suggested M'Caus- 
 land, caustically. " Is that to be it, Helen 
 Rohan?" 
 
 Not until the canon-law is repealed. I drew 
 back his grey grizzled head, and kissed his 
 wrinkled forehead. 
 
 "- Ah, this love ! " he said, when Alexis with- 
 drew to prepare for the walk. 
 
 " It's the Lord's mercy it doesn't waste our 
 time— me and Sir Burleigh." 
 
 " Speer ye what 'tis, Helen? " 
 
 " Illusion- fostered by words," I replied, with 
 a little yawn, reversing an empty egg-shell, and 
 tapping it into fractures. " See, Uncle, a man's 
 heart wrought on by love ! — broken, rived, and 
 yet with nothing in it." 
 
 " Ay ! but ye ate the yoke first," he said 
 cunningly, " an' so it is." 
 
 " Women spend a', and then cry out on our 
 emptiness, and in sport break us up." 
 
 Worsted in my metaphor, I was silent until 
 Alexis re-entered, attired in a kilt, covered with 
 barbaric ornament : — the showy plaid of his clan 
 
 c— 2
 
 20 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 over his shoulder, an eagle-feathered bonnet — 
 all his best bravery on — brought from the High- 
 lands. 
 
 The elder M'Causland's eyes glistened with 
 pride as he surveyed him. 
 
 " Ye look a' a chief, Alexis," he said, proudly, 
 " but its aye unbecomin' to be vain o' our tem- 
 poralities Sandy ! " 
 
 For me I could not forbear a smile at his so 
 attiring himself under all the circumstances of 
 time, place, and his humble position as under- 
 steward, but personal vanity is pardonable in 
 youth, especially when, as here, it turns an 
 awkward rustic to a Highland chief. 
 
 Freed from the southron clothes, the badge 
 of his servitude, Alexis talked as gaily, walked 
 as buoyantly as a prisoner might who is freed 
 from a chain. We went into the great silent 
 Clifford woods, where beechen glades and dead 
 branches glistening with early spring frost-rime 
 under a silver scimitar new moon, made a sort 
 of lovers' solitude. 
 
 Alexis was eloquent in praise of Scotland 
 painting word-pictures of impossible Edens in 
 misty glens, of Trossach homes, of mountain- 
 solitudes — dreaming, perchance, of such a home 
 shared with me. 
 
 Whilst I, but half-heeding him, was lost in.
 
 A STATESMAJN'S LOVE. 21 
 
 visions of my own — of porphyry fanes where 
 the toilers of earth's giant progress gathered, 
 where intellect was the deity. 
 
 So we walked on — happy in our dreams — on 
 the soft turf, the shaded pathways, until, coming 
 to a glade whence the scent of tobacco floated, 
 we chanced upon Sir Burleigh and Verney 
 Clifford, both smoking. 
 
 The old man was seated on a felled tree sur- 
 rounded by lopped boughs and new chips of 
 white wood, looking as saturnine as the most 
 devout misogynist could wish so eminent a 
 disciple of the creed to look; but it was not 
 altogether against women that his hate was 
 exercised — though 'twas well known he hated 
 them all. A portion of his evil looks fell upon 
 Lord Clifford, whose spending-journeys were 
 notorious, and who doubtless was forced into 
 some sort of disclosure in hope of relief from 
 his embarrassments. 
 
 Milord Verney appeared to take his uncle's 
 wrath calmly, not to say cynically ; however, as 
 his nature was, he directed it to us — not to 
 escape it, being happily indifferent, but to make 
 the wretched Alexis uncomfortable, to bring him 
 from Highland chimeras to Southron facts, from 
 security to shame. 
 ^ Verney's inclination would have set his
 
 22 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 mastiff Beech at Alexis ; in default of Beech, 
 he set Sir Burleigh. 
 
 "Let the man alone ! " he said, with distinct- 
 ness, in reply to an inarticulate growl from his 
 uncle. 
 
 " He is courting, and, if you hate women, it 
 doesn't follow that he need. We must have 
 peasantry — can't keep up estates without plough- 
 men, and a good strain should be kept up, sir. 
 
 Alexis turned redder than the red plaid he 
 wore on his shoulder, and clenched his hands. 
 
 " This is a pretty path ! I chose one that ran 
 straight past Lord Clifford, who was polite 
 enough to remove his pipe and bow ceremo- 
 niously — as I felt, in mockery of xllexis's grand 
 appearance. 
 
 " Well, I'U be d d if one fool doesn't 
 
 make another ! " said Sir Burleigh scornfully. 
 " Helen Rohan, stop and tell me something, 
 will you? Which of us three men would you 
 choose, stakes equal ? " 
 
 " You," I replied looking over my shoulder as 
 
 we were about diving into a deeper glade ; and 
 
 Sir Burleigh chuckled, and declared " Helen 
 
 Rohan was the only woman he didn't hate," his 
 
 . extremest concession to the sex. 
 
 " I'll kill him ! " muttered Alexis, breathless 
 with repressed passion, referring to Verney.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 23 
 
 " Ay, ye may be calm, Helen. Insults rin off 
 yer mind like water off a mountain moorfowl. 
 He might aye spit at the stars as weel as try to 
 anger ye or injure ye — but am I a star? am I a 
 star?" 
 
 He stopped, and stamped deep into the dead 
 brach, and forthwith rose up a wail of callow 
 pheasants his heavy foot had mangled, mingling 
 with the terrified cry and noisy flight of the hen- 
 bird. It happened, unfortunately, that we were 
 not so far distant but that Sir Burleigh and 
 Clifford heard, and came hastily to the spot, the 
 game being strictly preserved. 
 
 One step would have removed Alexis from the 
 scene of the massacre, but that step he refused 
 to take — standing, with swollen veins and 
 passion-purpled face, on the nest — on the still- 
 struggling nestlings. 
 
 " Eh, it's you again ! " Sir Burleigh retreated 
 contemptuously, having imagined a possible 
 poacher. Cliflbrd, on the other hand, though 
 perfectly aware that it was an accident, deter- 
 mined to make a casus of it against Alexis — 
 his dull eyes flashed. 
 
 " You again ! " he echoed. " Yes, you Highland 
 gowk, you ! When you are set up in the spring 
 wheat to frighten crows will be your time for 
 bird-mangling. What do you come here for.
 
 24 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 d n you ! prancing about the park with your 
 
 seven-acre feet, trampling on the few birds left 
 us by your poaching clan." 
 
 For purposes of reviling, we were always a 
 clan to Lord Clifford, though, of the three, my 
 nationality was uncertain. The clan came out 
 grandly now, with Sandy's kilt in the foreground, 
 but for which we should have been safe from 
 this open war. I smiled covertly at Clifford's 
 verbal ingenuity, and was silent with a sort of 
 speculative pleasure, waiting to hear him rush 
 on to other untenable propositions and inaccu- 
 rate affirmations. In this, Sandy did not count 
 but as target to an aim. He was unusually 
 silent also. 
 
 I took his hand, ranging myself, as the French 
 say, on the side of the oppressed. 
 
 Passion, anguish, and hate were in his face — 
 three devils dumbly rending against the opposing 
 force of counsel and discretion. 
 
 " Milord," said I, desirous of turning his silver 
 speech on myself— being indifferent to it — to 
 save Sandy, whom it roused to wrath — " Milord, 
 it was an accident. Sir Burleigh has excused it, 
 so you may hold your peace." 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said Vemey. " Does your precious 
 Highlander need a petticoat as well as a kilt for 
 his protection? Let men fight their own battles.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 25 
 
 Helen Kohan. If you are suffered here for 
 sufficient reasons, he shall not be. So, sir, leave 
 the park — and that at once ! '* 
 
 " I will not," said I, indignantly, " at your 
 bidding, sir." 
 
 "You are welcome," said he sarcastically. 
 " My authority were great indeed, if I could 
 order you out. If I bid a man choose between 
 his nephew and his favourite, I were as foolish 
 as a Highlander, that, it would seem, you well 
 know." He turned and went, relighting his 
 pipe. 
 
 "What does he mean?" I turned to Alexis; 
 his tall figure trembled and swayed — his lips 
 were white — a cat-like contraction made a fiery 
 line of the pupils of his eyes, sign in a High- 
 lander of extremest wrath. 
 " Well, that Verney's gone." 
 I shrugged. " Don't notice him, Sandy. He 
 is a tiger — a tiger — he means nothing, he will for- 
 get all this to-morrow, and be friendly enough." 
 " My God ! " said Sandy under his breath. 
 I looked at him curiously, that any words of 
 Verney's should so move a reasoning being — 
 words, too, harmless in themselves, as those last ! 
 I could not claim to be a favourite with Sir 
 Burleigh ; at the best, he was indifferent to my 
 existence. It was a stone flung at hazard to
 
 26 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 hurt Sandy — who was hasty and credulous — 
 nor weighed in evidence the character of the 
 speaker. 
 
 " I'll kill him ! " said Alexis. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " said I consolingly. " Verney 
 is amusing, if you don't take him seriously — and 
 no sane person would ; he has forgotten us by 
 now. But he is a town man, and speaks town 
 argot to poor country-folk. Let us laugh at him.'* 
 
 " Let us laugh at hell ! " said he with quiver- 
 ing lips. " You may laugh, Helen Rohan, but 
 I — I am there, a chained, manacled slave ! — 
 forced to silence — to hold my hand — to let 
 that cur snarl at me." 
 
 " I know," said I soothingly, " dependency 
 is hard. Yet, after all, it was not Sir Buiieigh 
 who spoke so, but only Clifford, whom no one 
 regards. Go, think no more of his folly." I 
 stood on tiptoe, reaching off his feather-crowTied 
 cap, which was awry, and smoothing the eagle's 
 feather in it. 
 
 For a moment he watched me, the same woe- 
 ful and haggard misery in his face. Then snatch- 
 ing the cap struck it furiously against the bole 
 of the great oak under which we stood as though 
 to dust from it the contamination of my fingers. 
 
 " Ay, the man is richt ! richt ! " he exclaimed. 
 '' Ye are for one or both of them. Shameless, to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 27 
 
 stand you and tell me what I know, that ye wind 
 Cliiford round your finger. So others have 
 thought, so others say, you scorn me — your eyes 
 are elsewhere. My God ! why did I come here 
 to see what I have seen, to hear him tell ye sae 
 in plain words ? " 
 
 " Sandy, you are mad ! Vemey's insolence 
 has put you beside yourself, you see the same 
 thing at the farm every day and take no note 
 of it. It is, indeed, unworthy serious notice — he 
 himself does not mean it all." 
 
 " You mocking, tempting devil," he retorted, 
 " to you it may be, ye can sit calm like an 
 ill spirit and choose, but it must be a Clifford 
 and no poor man — no one who loves you, 
 who would die for you, who Avould never speak 
 a rough word, nor think an ill thocht o' ye, 
 Helen." His fury changed to a wrathful entreaty 
 with these last words, hard to be resisted. 
 
 "No," said I, distressed, " you have always been 
 kind till to-night. Let us leave talking and 
 come home." 
 
 " Give me my answer," said he sullenly, " you 
 shall not go till then. I came to ask you, and I 
 demand a reply, let it be yes or no. I would mak' 
 ye a good husban', Helen. No man could ever love 
 ye more." The silent entreaty of his face said 
 more than these few formal words. His hands
 
 28 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 tremblingly outstretched, as though in an appeal 
 for life, confused me — surely I was not to blame 
 for this 1 I had not tried to attract his love, nor 
 encourage this illusion. For very pity I would not 
 all at once say no to him. " Let us," I repeated, 
 "go home. No I cannot marry you, Sandy. I love 
 you, but not enough to — to — live with you always 
 — like that. A vision rose before me, even at 
 the instant, of a small farm, a crofter's hearth- 
 stane, Sandy with his giant stature and sullen 
 handsome face always there, sometimes adoring 
 sometimes doubting me, an ever-present atmos- 
 phere of surveillance — from love, all from love ; 
 but I was now free and would remain so. 
 
 So I said, with downcast eyes, that I was not 
 good enough for him, not worthy of his love, not 
 industrious — stumbling confusedly through nega- 
 tions of all sorts. 
 
 " Stop," said he at length, " I might have 
 kno^vn it. Oh, my God, that I could die now — 
 now! What use is my life to me? It is ended." 
 
 I looked up, grieved and frightened. His 
 eyes were closed — his face white in the dusky 
 shadows of the young leaves, as he leaned against 
 the tree-trunk. 
 
 " Sandy," said I, taking his hand, " we can 
 be friends. We will not alter to each other, but 
 be always true friends."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 29 
 
 He made no answer — brushing the tears from 
 his eyes, which refilled again and again. 
 
 " Tears ! " said I, in despair, at this unlooked- 
 for grief. 
 
 " Yes, tears ! " he said, defiantly ; " and in my 
 heart, Helen, thank God you will never suffer 
 as I do. I have loved you for years. I am a 
 man of near thirty — no mere boy, as it suits you 
 to treat me; and have lived this dog's life in 
 hopes of you — ay, to guard you from that cursed 
 Clifford — but for them, you would have loved 
 me, had they kept their distance, let you alone." 
 
 " Would," said I. " You know I do, Sandy. 
 Let this folly of marrying be. Why should you 
 want to marry me ? It is better as it is ; be- 
 sides, you are only twenty-five ; why do you say 
 it is thirty? How could I obey you, or be re- 
 spectful? Now, be reasonable — you are but a 
 boy after all." 
 
 "Thank God," said he, "that you have no 
 heart to be broke — wrung — rived as mine is now 
 — through you — by you ! " 
 
 I was silent. It seemed to me that nothing I 
 could say would reach the proud height of that 
 lofty head leaning against the tree-trunk — a 
 king, if kings were chosen by stature or stateli- 
 ness of form, by honour or manliness. 
 
 Evening closed in. It was cold and damp.
 
 30 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 A moon-ray came through the boughs, resthig 
 on his face, recalling him to the present. 
 
 With a moan, as one in a cruel dream, he 
 moved his head. " Let us go," said he. " I 
 hope never to see this place again. Come, see 
 the last of me — the end of your devil's work ! " 
 Dragging my hand through his arm, he strode 
 off, out of the shadows, into the homeward way, 
 out of the inaction of pain, to the restless action 
 of despair. " You shall see the end," said he, 
 moaning, " the very completion of your work. 
 I will not suffer alone. What have I done to 
 feel this heartbreak — this bitter pain ? " So we 
 went into the misty moonlight. 
 
 We spoke no word as we went on over the 
 shade wland of the beeches. On over the silver- 
 rimed brach, out through the grey gates on 
 whose carved stone pillars were flowers and 
 leaves, and shields in bas-relief of the arms 
 of Clifford and Burleigh. 
 
 I made no opposition : as well that the fury 
 and anguish should be walked down — as now, 
 with a sharp pang, I felt it must many and many 
 a time have been ploughed down, into the rifted 
 furrows, which seemed so unlike the graves of 
 blighted hopes and slighted love. 
 
 I was awed and daunted by the strange look 
 on Alexis's face, a fixed and ashen-hued pallor,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 31 
 
 like that left by long sickness, or gained by age 
 and care. 
 
 We gained the road to the market-town, 
 meeting a few countryfolk returning from the 
 mop and market. It was a long and dusty 
 seven miles to the to^vn, yet as we sped on I 
 €ould frame no protest, feel no fatigue, so much 
 was I wonder-stricken and awed by this fierce 
 silence — this rapid onward rush, as though 
 death followed us. My spirit was overpowered 
 by his — my will fused, as air by flame. 
 
 Entering the Market Square — littered with 
 broken straw, for there had been large sales that 
 day — Alexis fought and forced his way, like one 
 possessed, through the thickest of the crowd, 
 dragging me wherever a passage could be made, 
 ^' to see the end ! " 
 
 I did not even obscurely guess his meaning, 
 tired and heated by the long walk, dazed by the 
 sudden change from dusty country-roads, over- 
 hung by their thick hedgerows, to this crowd, 
 till the roll of a drum, the shrillness of pipes, 
 and the sight of a recruiting party bringing along 
 its latest prize, awoke me at once to his inten- 
 tion — he was about to enlist. 
 
 My heart seemed to stand still, as this con- 
 viction succeeded to my confused awe of him. 
 A sudden surge of the mob from all sides closed
 
 32 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 us in, forcing us to be witness of what to them 
 was a veritable domestic tragedy. 
 
 Only a ploughboy, drunk and angry, had 
 enlisted, buying revenge by patriotism, bravery 
 by beer, whose friends were vainly trying 
 to buy him off, their utter poverty stronger 
 than their goodwill. Who would buy off 
 Alexis ? 
 
 I clung to him spelled. This social precipice 
 seemed frightful to me. What could I do to 
 prevent him ? 
 
 For the ploughboy, who was one of our own 
 labourers and a special henchman of Alexis,, 
 all sorts of bribes were offered. 
 
 A drink. 
 
 A golden half-guinea. 
 
 I had absolutely nothing wherewith to buy 
 off Alexis ; he was deaf to my voice, blind to my 
 tears, which rained down on his hands. Oh 
 for a minute of that influence I had over him 
 but one hour since ! 
 
 A torrent of delirious incoherent words broke 
 from his lips, which were white and trembling. 
 
 A few who had a minute to spare from the 
 scene at hand shook their heads. They thought 
 him drunk — as so many there were — so he was 
 truly, but not with wine. 
 
 Baffled love, jealousy, despair, swept all
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 33 
 
 before them; he thought but of escape, of 
 vengeance, nor cared if he too suffered by it — 
 vengeance on me — who had truly never wronged 
 him, nor fostered his illusions. 
 
 " Make room here ! " shouted the Sergeant in 
 charge. '' Make room for us, gentlemen, we 
 must be getting to quarters." 
 
 " Take these now an' let him off," said one, 
 offering a number of screws of tobacco, evidently 
 a week's supply, and all he had, which he judged 
 would be irresistible temptation. One withered 
 old man whose back was covered by an ela- 
 borately embroidered smock, and whose gaitered 
 legs could hardly support him, after many 
 times taking it from his mouth and replacing it, 
 offered his pipe, a briar-root, well blackened, 
 in exchange for the promising recruit. These 
 were very poor labouring-folk, moved by class 
 sympathy with the boy who had 'listed. Even 
 the Sergeant wavered, so great was the clamour 
 and lamentation, so unpromising the recruit. 
 
 But he dared not publicly accept the bribery, 
 and, with his hand on the shoulder of the boy, 
 who was whimpering in concert with his mother, 
 was about to lead him away, saying in a tone of 
 great authority, " tho' tempered with persua- 
 sion," 
 
 "Now, you jest look here — he's took the 
 
 D
 
 34 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 shillin', an' there's an end. Is his Majesty ter 
 be cheated ? Not him — not if I know it ! The 
 devil take ye, man ! (to Alexis) jest you lay 
 hands on him — that's all ! " 
 
 For reply, Alexis laid very violent hands on 
 the wretched youth, flinging him into his 
 kinsfolks' arms ; who, now that he was returned 
 to their bosoms, began fiercely to upbraid the 
 impetus of his return — of which he was blame- 
 less. 
 
 " If I oifer myself — if I offer myself — " The 
 deep tone of Alexis stopped the fierce eloquence 
 of the trooper, who stared on him in amaze- 
 ment. 
 
 "Why, you're a gentleman, ain't you?" he 
 began slowly ; then, hastily thrusting a shilling 
 into his hand, which closed on it with a sharp 
 mechanical grip, he continued, with laughing 
 carelessness ; 
 
 " Not but what the best gentlemen in the 
 land's proud to serve their King — so I enlist 
 you in the King's name. Come along — let's get 
 out o' this. You'll git swore in to-morrow, 
 and make a real good soldier ! " 
 
 The mob, busy with its recovered treasure, 
 had taken no heed of the words which passed 
 between M'Causland and the soldier; but, as 
 he was moving away, someone started the cry
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 35 
 
 that "Young M'Causland had bought off Bill 
 Stovel," and a faint cheer was raised. 
 
 They soon dispersed, however, to indulge in 
 drinks with the lucky Bill ; and Alexis, having 
 gone a few yards, returned to me — by favour of 
 his captor, who, regarding him as a prize of 
 value, kept close ward on him — to say good-bye ; 
 he looked savage, exultant, terrible, for the 
 moment — yet, now that it was done — now that 
 the vengeance on me, for my supposed indiffer- 
 ence to his feelings, was accomplished, and the 
 plunge was taken — he seemed in a degree 
 sobered into a sort of consciousness of its 
 gravity, but only as it affected himself in the 
 immediate present — the immediate parting. 
 
 I, however, who had to think for all, who 
 foresaw storms at home, and attacks, for which 
 philosophy would be but a thin shield, for my 
 supposed part in the affair, felt indignation the 
 quality most prominent in the confusion, and in 
 no mood to try and reconcile the fool to* his 
 folly, the prodigal to his husks. 
 
 "Good-bye, Helen!" Alexis's face looked 
 ghastly with the prescience of the coming 
 parting. Vengeance was departing, love return- 
 ing. " Good-bye ! My God ! I canna part wi' 
 ye ! Come wi' me to the guardhouse, Helen, it is 
 not far." 
 
 D — 2
 
 36 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 "Ladies not admitted," said the Sergeant, 
 with the true soldier- simper. " Can't ye buy him 
 off, Miss?" 
 
 " He has chosen," I say coldly. " Why should 
 I?" 
 
 " Ah ! my God ! you're a cold heart, you are ! " 
 said the Sergeant. Its easy to see which leg the 
 boot's on. Never mind, my man ! '' — (to Alexis) 
 — " as good fish in the sea as ever come out of 
 it. You'll forget her, never fear — an' she cryin' 
 her eyes out for you ! That I've seen before. 
 We're at war now, Miss, wi' France — and perhaps 
 you're not aware that men get killed in battle 
 sometimes ? Supposin', then, you think of all this 
 — an' him dead and cold on a foreign battlefield? 
 You won't remember your quarrels then. Now, 
 my wench!" as I continued silent, lost in thought, 
 " do you mean to say, ' Good-bye ! God bless 
 you ! ' Best be sharp — I'm after hours as it is." 
 
 " Yes," I replied, " 'tis half-past eight, and 
 no enlistment is legal after six." 
 
 " It's a nice point to raise," said the Sergeant 
 dubiously. " Besides, 'twas as a substitute, you 
 see. T'other was an earlier job. Now, forget 
 an' forgive, like a good girl! you'll only be 
 sorry you know, when it's no good — an' he's 
 too fur off to know it — an' too happy, wi' another 
 sweetheart, to heed it."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 37 
 
 " I am never sorry nor glad, grieved nor sur- 
 prised," I think, musingly regarding the scene, 
 which, silvered by the moon-rays, looked like an 
 unfamiliar picture, in which we could not be 
 bearing a part, yet, if we were, it would pass on 
 in the stream of time and be forgot, as other 
 scenes had done, unconsciously. I philosophised 
 on it ; all seemed um^eal, dream-like, till again 
 Alexis spoke, his voice choked and hollow — one 
 hand shading his eyes, striving to hide the 
 quivering despair now in his face. All his fury 
 gone, sanity rushing back on him at floodtide. 
 The blow which had struck me recoiling on 
 himself. " My God ! " said he, " what have I 
 done? This is not justice — to send me away for 
 loving her ! " 
 
 *' Oh, you'll get over it," said the Sergeant with 
 rough sympathy. " Say good-bye, man, we must 
 be on the move. Here, you ! " — he seized my 
 arm roughly, pushing me to Alexis — " say good- 
 bye to him, for shame ! If I was you, my man, 
 I'd say it for both, an' a kiss for both too ; but 
 you're no soldier. In a month you'll have 
 sweethearts enough ; yet, if you fancy this one, 
 make her kiss an' be friends. I would, blessed 
 if I wouldn't ! " 
 
 " Would you ? " The spirit of race-anta- 
 gonism rose in my heart at this — of scorn that
 
 38 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 this clod should regard any power he possessed 
 equal to the control of a higher, more subtle 
 spirit. I pushed back my beaver bonnet and 
 looked at him coldly and calmly, as a challenged 
 noble at a Red. 
 
 "Have you ever had a sweetheart like me?" 
 
 He gazed greedily on my face, calm and statue- 
 like, the moonlight gilding my bronze-hued hair 
 to gold, turning my sombre grey eyes to fathom- 
 less depths, lighting up the rose-lines of lips 
 and cheeks, the white silk clearness of my 
 throat and small ears. 
 
 " Can't say I have," he said, relinquishing his 
 fixed gaze as I smiled. " You're rare and hand- 
 some, that's plain to see ; but handsome is that 
 handsome does, an' when you're matched you 
 ought to be mated — such a fine chap as he is, 
 an' so fond o' ye, an all." 
 
 " That's a bit of natural philosophy, there's 
 no disputing." 
 
 Another voice was added to our colloquy, 
 another figure joined our group — a young 
 ofiicer in mufti ; he was smoking. 
 
 "What's the matter, sergeant? Will no one 
 serve Caesar?" 
 
 " Caesar '11 have to serve himself by-and-by, if 
 this sort of thing goes on/' said the Sergeant 
 sullenly, weary of endeavouring after peace-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 39 
 
 making. " Such a sort of proud stand-off 
 wenches an' cryin' men in these parts there is ! " 
 
 " You don't happen to be Joan of Arc or 
 Helen of Troy, do you ? " the new-comer 
 appealed to me, " for, if you do, Spain's welcome 
 to you for me, or France either." He puffed 
 the residue of smoke this learned speech had 
 left between his lips, contemptuously in air. 
 
 " For shame, sir ! " said the Sergeant, who, 
 being on business, was the first to cry back 
 to the point cfapjoui. " Three soldiers at odds 
 with a lady — she's no Frenchman — I'd rather 
 'list her any day than him," pointing to Alexis, 
 who, absorbed in grief, seemed oblivious to the 
 fact that this affected us, that time was spend- 
 ing, and this interesting dialogue w^ould not go 
 on for ever. 
 
 " I'm not for quarrelling, sergeant," responded 
 the young officer with a grin. 
 
 "Take off that fellow— tears and all. I'll 
 bring any message madam, here, thinks of. 
 When he's gone, she will relent — I know 
 them ! " 
 
 "I have no message,'^ I said, settling my 
 beaver bonnet, as Alexis, too stupor-bound to 
 resist, was marched off to the guardhouse. 
 "No message, but, for kindness, send over to 
 the Manor Farm to-morrow, and let them
 
 40 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 know." I turned to go, waving off the offered 
 escort of the officer, who seemed too indifferent 
 to feminine society to desire to persevere; and 
 so I found myself again alone on the white 
 highway — deserted, now, and silent — silent and 
 a desert. 'Tis what philosophy would make 
 of life. xill of the joyous, noisy insect-life of 
 the day, with its thousand cries — songs — voices — 
 hushed into this white silentness — so cold, vast, 
 yet beautiful ! 
 
 The great buzzing fly, Alexis, gone ! Was I 
 grieved or glad ? 
 
 I knew not: — only knew that silence was 
 beautiful to me; that vast, unfading worlds 
 of dreams swallow^ed up the real presence of 
 the lives around me — as the sea drinks sunlit 
 brooks — and that, like the sea, I was only for 
 a moment changed by outward influence.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "I'll gar ye grieve, ye minx ! I'll gar ye grieve ! " 
 
 The elder M^Causland was pottering in and 
 out in futile grief and fretful anguish, the next' 
 morning, on learning the enlistment of Alexis, 
 which he had the idiot folly to blame me with, 
 instead of Verney, who, I told him, quarrelled 
 with Alexis. 
 
 " Am I my brother's keeper ? " I made a big 
 blot on the ledger and shook the pounce-box 
 on it, whilst I looked through the bars of the 
 desk, calmly, at the fury and excitement of the 
 worthy steward. "Besides," I added, sotto coce^ 
 " people like Abel can be very aggravating when 
 they like." 
 
 A sentiment cordially endorsed by Verney 
 Clifford, who, entering just then and learning the 
 cause of M'Causland's excitement, sided against 
 him and with me, a little conscience-struck, too, 
 at his share in it. 
 
 " Two ne'er-do-weels ! " said M'Causland, bit- 
 terly, as he flung out of the parlour to mount his 
 gig and drive to headquarters to buy off the 
 charming Alexis, whom he loved as his own son. 
 " Two ne'er-do-weels ! " 
 
 41
 
 42 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Two ne'er-do-betters ! " said Verney Clifford 
 sourly. " A good stroke of business, Helen ! I 
 heard of it last night. And if M'Causland buy 
 the cub off, write me down. It is the best that 
 could happen for us all. Dutch ! " 
 
 " What a d d fuss ! " Sir Burleigh came in 
 
 like an old farmer, with a sample of turnip -seed 
 in his hand. 
 
 " Here, you get out of that desk, Verney ! He's 
 after no good, Helen E-ohan, and you know it ! 
 Be ashamed o' yourself! Make me a sample- 
 bag." 
 
 " Here's one ! " I tore a leaf out of the ledger 
 (being vexed), at which daring sacrilege of farm- 
 accounts Sir Burleigh was going to swear, but 
 refrained, lest I should leave him only the covers 
 to swear by. 
 
 " That'll do, Helen Eohan. A beautiful bag 
 — beautiful," he said, with an aspect of the 
 deepest malignity, which sweetened Verney 
 Clifford to honey, who muttered to me, aside : 
 
 " Plenty more leaves where that came from — 
 eh, Helen ? Tear out some more ; I'll lay odds 
 he would swear, five to one, Helen." 
 
 " Now, you clear out of there ! " 
 
 Sir Burleigh took the place obediently vacated 
 by Verney, and, smoothing out the leaf, said 
 coaxingly :
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 43 
 
 "Pin it in again, Helen Rohan — pin it in 
 again, or we shall get in a d d muddle." 
 
 I pinned it in meekly and obediently, being 
 rewarded by a paternal pat on the head ; whilst, 
 in default of a bag, Sir Burleigh tied up the 
 turnip-seed in a corner of his pockethand ker- 
 chief, and — after a sounding malediction or two 
 on the absent Alexis for withdrawing his prime 
 minister, M'Causland — took his departure, 
 dragging Lord Clifford with him. 
 
 It was still early. I turned, at the sound of 
 the sheepbells trooping past in the broad- 
 meadow opposite the window, to see the whole 
 countryside silvered with frost-rime, on which 
 the sun, scarce conquering the morning mists, 
 was lingering lovingly, loth to destroy its fragile, 
 evanescent beauty. 
 
 The bells from the market-to^'^ni were ringing 
 a joyous noisy peal, for a wedding. After all, 
 life is better than philosophy. 
 
 I quitted the desk with a sigh, feeling like 
 some old-old worn-out witch, who has lived in 
 midnight till the freshness of morning is a 
 sharp pain to her. 
 
 I had hitherto had a vicarious sort of out- 
 door life in the abounding energy of Alexis : his 
 presence withdrawn, I felt like one who goes 
 about stale and unwashed, unrefreshed, dull.
 
 44 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 despondent. It must be tliey would let him 
 off. 
 
 Who would have thought philosophy so little 
 worth? It was all his reading of Gallic wars 
 and Roman soldiers, I thought. Taking, not 
 my beaver bonnet, but one of Alexis's feather- 
 crowned caps, I went out through the kitchen, 
 past the busy servant and wrinkled housekeeper, 
 to the fields beyond the farmyard : there I was 
 joined by Alexis's favourite hound, and followed 
 by four Avhite calves, which, being separated 
 from the cows, seemed bewildered, and bleated 
 out a hungry, pitiful chorus. Their feeding had 
 evidently been forgotten — perhaps they had been 
 Sandy's peculiar care. So he was missed and 
 mourned. I returned to the dairy, debating that 
 I had deprived them of theh protector, and 
 must herd them myself. 
 
 FiUed the pails with new milk, and, putting 
 on a yoke, carried them rather staggeringly to 
 the fields, putting them down by a pile of dark 
 faggots with patches of white-frost on them. 
 
 The calves gathered round, their white velvet 
 coats smooth and soft in the sunlight, as they 
 pushed and scrambled for turns at the food, 
 eagerly. 
 
 The hound, as I sat on the lowest jut of the 
 woodpile, laid his head in my lap, and, lifting
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 45 
 
 up his voice, howled for his absent master. 
 Everything seemed lamenting for him. 
 
 " ilush, hush ! " I said. " He has 'listed !— 
 gar ye hae a better reason for his absence, 
 Sandy mon ? '^ 
 
 So I talked to the dog, consoling him by 
 lavish caresses ; and he was more than consoled, 
 as the frosty exhilaration of the air more than 
 consoled myself. After all, he was troublesome, 
 and always angry for nothing. 
 
 " Is this the way to the Manor Farm ? " 
 
 The steps of a horse on the turf made us 
 look up, and scattered the calves from their food. 
 
 It was an officer- trooper on horseback who 
 asked the question, and, on being answered 
 " Yes," he added, with a smile : 
 
 " And I need not ask if you are Miss Rohan ? 
 I heard a pretty accurate description of you at 
 the non-commissioned men's mess last night, 
 after your sweetheart enlisted.*' 
 
 " And she offs with her bonnet." 
 
 '' Can it be ? — and you such a little lady to 
 look at!" 
 
 He backed his horse, which was for carrying 
 him away disdainfully from farms and calves. 
 
 " What has been — has been." I made Sandy's 
 ears stand unnaturally on end. " Have you a 
 letter for me ? "
 
 46 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 "No, no letter. The fellow was too ill at 
 ease to write. For diversion, as I'm senior 
 officer, I had him mount guard at my quarters, 
 and I swear the only writing you'll get is a bill 
 from two of my juniors who lost game after 
 game of whist through stopping to listen to his 
 lamentings." 
 
 " Eh, Helen Rohan? eh, Helen Eohan? eh, 
 Helen Eohan? I say, can't you gift him with 
 
 the grace to be quiet? If you don't, by ! 
 
 I'll have him flogged ! Eh, Helen Rohan? " 
 
 He bent down smiling with a malicious con- 
 sciousness of power, reining in his steed so 
 loosely that, at the near approach of one of the 
 calves, it started and, jumping half its height in 
 air, flung him on to the woodpile and galloped ofl*. 
 
 I had time, ere he rolled to earth, to suppress 
 the smile his appearance caused. 
 
 He sprang up, white with fury at the shaking 
 and indignity, while the well-stacked faggots 
 shook and quivered under the shock, but kept 
 their places, the calves staring stupidly at the 
 whole procedure. 
 
 " I — I — trust I have not disturbed your 
 equanimity, madam?" he stammered, seeming 
 more acharn6 of that than of his fall. 
 
 " Not in the least." I caressed Sandy. " You 
 were speaking of punishments. Are you hurt ? "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 47 
 
 " Very little. I fell on wood, not on stone." 
 He looked at me sullenly, but, getting no 
 sympathy, began wisely to conclude he had but 
 his deserts, and to thaw somewhat in the 
 ferocity of the policy he had announced towards 
 Alexis, with, I presume, the intention of moving 
 me to supplicate his clemency. 
 
 After a while, leaning against the woodstack, 
 while his horse cropped the grass at leisure, he 
 recommenced : '' I say, the fellow can't be 
 bought off, you know, but if you write a line or 
 so to our colonel — " 
 
 "He would alight on a woodstack to read 
 it." 
 
 " Would he ? by George ! Not if I know it, 
 eh? Helen Rohan!" 
 
 As he came near, his face inflamed with wine- 
 bibbing and his bloodshot eyes winking and 
 blinking in the light of the fresh dazzling morn- 
 ing, I thought I should perfer, on the whole, 
 to break Alexis's heart with silence, rather than 
 put it in this man's power to repeat, in the hot 
 fumes of mess-room riot, such words as would 
 comfort him, such as I could not but pen. If I 
 wrote, this man should not be my messenger at 
 all. Under three bottles, those twinkling eyes 
 might be trustworthy ; over three bottles, even, 
 I would not like to stand the unanswering
 
 48 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 victim of their merciless glances — the butt of 
 taunt and scoff from lips trained to scorn, of 
 all that was true or tender. 
 
 Yet he was only a trooper — only a thorough 
 soldier ; no harm in him, save an overboldness 
 with God and man. Tush ! " Thou, God, seest 
 not !•" might have been expressly ^vritten of 
 Colonel Tyrone Blount. However, our farm- 
 Hercules Alexis, having invoked all these snakes 
 about him, must abide them or strangle them. 
 
 '-'- Pshaw ! How should he know it ? " Colonel 
 Blount made me start from my reverie by adopt- 
 ing in form the very words I had in theory 
 ascribed to him — only that the worthy trooper's 
 was the venial sin (in his own eyes) of trying to 
 snatch a kiss. Ascribing my startled glance to 
 the mere materialism of this procedure, he 
 laughed, leaving me still more unpleasantly 
 impressed with the truth of my analysis of his 
 character. 
 
 " What a nest," thought I, " of vipers has 
 Alexis got into now ! " 
 
 " How wide you open your goose-grey eyes ! " 
 he said. "Don't tell me that our promising 
 recruit has left you ignorant of kissing, because 
 if you do I shall not believe you, for as great a 
 fool as he seems. Why don't you like him, eh? 
 Got another one ? "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 49 
 
 To this I made no other reply than slightly- 
 loosening the hold I had on the hound's collar, 
 who stalked between us and stared silently and 
 inquiringly on Blount's face, without kindliness 
 or approval. 
 
 " Like master, like man," he laughed, nodding 
 towards the dog. 
 
 " Two calm, well-trained wooden peasants, 
 who don't bark till there is justification for 
 biting. I pity the poor devil, on my soul ! " 
 
 He turned away in scornful vexation, and 
 whistled for his horse, whilst Sandy and I, secure 
 in our genealogy, traced out by nature in every 
 well-fashioned feature and silken hair, let the 
 taunt pass by unheeded and unregarded. 
 
 " Curse the horse ! — he won't come for whist- 
 ling," said Blount, carelessly, giving no sign that 
 he meant to adopt other means of reclamation, 
 but staring on me with a puzzled and baffled 
 air. 
 
 * Sandy gave a short growl and impatient yawn, 
 as though asking why I permitted Blount to 
 occupy my attention, and what a soldier had to 
 do with a farm — an inquiry I answered by walk- 
 ing away with him over the rimed grass, Blount 
 following like another dog desirous of adoption. 
 
 " If you haven't any message to the lover," 
 he said as I walked on, " I may conclude my
 
 50 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 dismissal made out, and no words wasted over 
 it, either — not but what silence is eloquent 
 enough sometimes. He caught my hand, which 
 was resting on Sandy's collar, and held down 
 the dog's indignant head by grasping the collar 
 over my fingers. 
 
 " When you release him," I said, warningly, 
 " I'll be prepared ! Blount drew his sword with 
 so sudden a movement, that both the dog and I 
 were startled into a momentary awe; and, 
 menacing Sandy with it, walked on calmly, 
 taking no thought that one of my fingers was 
 crushing against the steel buckle of the dog- 
 collar. 
 
 At the sound of wheels he turned, and, point- 
 ing with his sword, which flashed dazzling in the 
 sunlight, to our gig approaching, asked who the 
 old fellow was driving. It was M'Causland — 
 he seemed lost in thought — a sign of the ill- 
 success of his mission. 
 
 " Who is the old fellow, eh ? " repeated 
 Blount. " Is it your father, the farmer? " 
 
 " No," I replied, releasing Sandy, who sprang 
 gladly off to race to the gig. " It Is the 
 recruit's father, or rather uncle, for he is an 
 orphan." 
 
 The Colonel laughed as long and loud at this 
 plain statement of facts, as though it ha4 been
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 51 
 
 some most exquisite pleasantry, and said, with 
 his eyes brimming over : 
 
 " Oh ! you women ! You will be yourselves, 
 try as you may to usurp our hardness, and cold- 
 ness. Now you think to yourself; 'That repro- 
 bate colonel dare not ruffle the rose-leaves of 
 the new recruit's repose. ' Poor orphan ! ' Why, 
 I'm an orphan, if you come to that. If 
 you want him well treated, treat me well. 
 Now, don't toss your disdainful little head. 
 'Twas nature spoke, whether you would or no, 
 my dear. Ha, ha ! the best good thing the mess 
 has heard for months." 
 
 I could not avoid a smile at his ingenious 
 misapplication of my words, and invited him to 
 enter the house, a further logical proof, as he 
 thought, of his being right. 
 
 In reality, though I would not do it myself, 
 I thought M'Causland might have the chance, 
 if he chose to avail of it, of making interest for 
 Alexis with his commander: 
 
 It was nothing to me if others chose to 
 bewail material hardships : had I enlisted, I 
 would unflinchingly have taken my chance, but 
 every Scotch body has not a Spartan heart. 
 
 So I led the worthy Blount to the parloCLj, 
 where M'Causland sat, his head bowed on to the 
 table where lay his whip, hat, and beaver gloves. 
 
 E— 2 
 
 .»*ES"*
 
 52 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 He looked up as the Colonel returned his 
 sword with a clank to its scabbard, and asked 
 him sullenly what lie wanted; then, forgetting 
 him, cried out to me : 
 
 "Eh, Helen Rohan! hae ye planned my 
 grave — where it is to be ? " 
 
 " I aye drave to headquarters, an* he's no to 
 be bought off — no to be bought off for love 
 nor money." 
 
 "I'm not so sure of that," said Blount, 
 winking to me. 
 
 " You haven't seen his colonel yet. Mister — " 
 
 " M'Causland." I supplied him with the name. 
 
 " I say you can't have got a definitive answer, 
 since I was away. I'm Colonel Blount, in 
 command there." 
 
 " Oh, are ye, sir ? " M'Causland sprang up 
 and gazed at him with stupid tear-sprent eyes. 
 "jThen ye '11 ken the lad was aye drave to it, 
 by that devil's neatherd, Helen Eohan, wha 
 whippit him wi' scorpions, as I can testify? 
 
 AVha are ye glarin' at I — ye d d self-stayed 
 
 minx, ruling ae body to their destroit — saying 
 to this one, ' Go,' an' he goes, an' enlists." 
 
 Colonel Blount's sense of humour seemed 
 to be keen, for he had to unbuckle his sword- 
 belt with much clanking to obviate a reply, or 
 prevent a laugh by seeming inattentive.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 53 
 
 " Not but what she's a gade lass, sir — " 
 M'Causland, as I slipped my hand through his 
 arm, smoothed my hair caressingly. " But ye 
 ken that young men will be young men, an' a 
 trifle weighs on them when their hearts are 
 touchit." 
 
 " Whom did ye see at our quarters ? " inquired 
 the Colonel. 
 
 " M'Kenzie— ah ! and Shafton ! " 
 
 "The young fellow himself — what does he 
 say?" 
 
 " That he'll no return — that his interest in 
 life's clean gone, that she's fussed him an' 
 faused him, lickit him like a 'strictor, an' then 
 left him to pine an' perish." 
 
 " I wonder the fool was not ashamed ! " I 
 flung ofl" M'Causland's hand, stamped to my 
 desk, entering into it as an aroused lioness into 
 her den, enraged at this false-witnessing of 
 my philosophy. To talk like a whining idiot ! 
 I never led him to believe anything. "It is an 
 invention ! Colonel Blount ; you will do as you 
 like, but, if you would oblige me, flog him ! — flog 
 him nntil he learns to be silent ! " 
 
 Then, restraining my passion, I rustled over a 
 heap ol memoranda, accumulated since yester- 
 day, and opened my entering ledger ; while 
 M'Causland, afraid of the storm he had aroused,
 
 54 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 and of my eloquence persuading the nothing- 
 loth Blount to extreme measures, produced a 
 bottle of whiskey, and, with an apology for his 
 forgetfulness, offered it to the visitor. 
 
 " Thaiik you, no. The fact of the matter is, 
 Mr. M'Causland, that I have no power as of 
 myself. I rode over — to — to — In short, if I 
 find that second thoughts incline your son to 
 buy a substitute, why we will consult and see 
 if we can strain a point in his favour under the 
 exceptional circumstances — eh, Helen E,ohan? 
 
 These last words almost under his breath, 
 whilst he tugged at the buckle of his belt. 
 
 " Perhaps you don't like the smoky flavour ] " 
 
 M'Causland, intent on making interest by 
 hospitality, hardly attended to Blount's speech — 
 apparently under the impression that there was 
 leisure to argue as in a court of session about 
 the interesting Alexis. 
 
 " Mayhap you don't like the smoke I I've got 
 some mellower, mair mellow. I'll no be twa 
 minutes getting it, sh." Blount honourably 
 occupied two minutes in fixing on his sword, 
 and then, like a prisoner freed from parole, 
 approached the desk. 
 
 " You have a hard time of it here — eh, Helen? 
 Blamed with this unlicked cub's desertion, and 
 spoken to so harshly! Ne'er mind, my girl!
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 55 
 
 when you want a friend, write to Tyrone Blount. 
 We'll make room for you in the regiment, if 
 others have to go. Did you do all this writ- 
 ing? By George ! you shall be adjutant! " 
 
 " Are you quite sincere ? " I took up a 
 round boxwood ruler, not with the intention 
 of avenging this questionable consolation, but 
 to rule a double column. 
 
 " On my soul ! yes," said he gravely. 
 
 M'Causland, entering just then, stopped 
 further offers; and Blount, drinking to our 
 health, took his leave, letting M'Causland 
 precede him, and lingering to give a look and 
 leer to the very last. 
 
 " The chiel 's safe, Helen ! — the chiel 's 
 safe ! " 
 
 M'Causland returned rubbing his hands, from 
 attending the colonel to the gate. 
 
 "D'ye hear, Helen Eohan? 'Twas his 
 colonel! Ye scarce lookit at the man — but 
 let me tell you, interest 's the word; and he 
 has a friend at court now." 
 
 Whatever misgivings I had as to this friend's 
 friendliness, remained unexpressed, but, in con- 
 trast to my uncle's hopefulness, I thought the 
 worse of Sandy's prospects now I had seen his 
 commander.
 
 CHAPTEPt III. 
 
 EvEEYTHiA^G looked uncanny and strange when, 
 next day, we sat down to breakfast without 
 Alexis. I missed his watchful eye and helping 
 hand. If I had helped on the catastrophe, it 
 was unwittingly, nor out of any cruelty or plan- 
 ning. I felt sorry that his broad shoulders and 
 stately head were no more to be outlined against 
 the window. I felt still more grieved at the 
 grey downcast grief of M'Causland's face. 
 " What good am I?" thought I fretfully. " If 
 they would take me for a soldier, I would 
 exchange and let Sandy free." Then I thought 
 how the offer would appear to Blount, and 
 smiled. This angered M'Causland. 
 
 '' Ye are cruel ! " said he sternly. " The poor 
 lad is far off an' in barracks, yet ye might pity 
 him, so much as his heart was set on ye ! It is 
 in vain I tell him ye are a Jezebel ! " 
 
 " I am not ! " said I indignantly. " Have I ever 
 hired men of Belial to swear away Sandy's life, 
 or anybody's? I am not treacherous, at anyrate. 
 I helped myself to rook-pie on this, because 
 Sandy had shot the rooks. 
 
 56
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 57 
 
 "What ails ye, to feed like a vulture?" said 
 M'Causland harshly. 
 
 " I don't know," said I, ashamed, though 
 gluttony was not a vice of mine. " I was 
 thinking of Sandy, and he shot them ; but I've 
 finished, I'll eat no more." 
 
 " Gude Lord forbid I should stand between 
 ye and your food ! " said he. " It's sour grief an' 
 fashions thoughts, Helen." 
 
 "Why," he resumed, with increased irrita- 
 bility, " why have ye got on that gay gown ? " 
 
 " Gay ! " I said in surprise, glancing at the 
 sombre dusky pink-brown shaded of my attire. 
 " If it be gay, I did not think of it — it just 
 came to hand." 
 
 " Ay ! ay ! " he returned, absently, forgetting 
 that grievance. " An' him in scarlet, like the 
 Babylon woman — like colour, like deeds ! " 
 
 I leaned back in my chair listening, unheed- 
 ing; a little old steel mirror, of which there were 
 many in the house, showed me myself at a dis- 
 tance, much diminished. This eidolon was as 
 real as the pink-robed reality. What was I, 
 sitting there, in that farm-parlour, listening to 
 reproaches, eating pie, even to myself ? Only an 
 unreal image — an abstraction ! — A slight and 
 shadowy figure in indistinct purple, for so 
 the steel chose to reflect colour from its surface.
 
 58 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Weel," said M'Causland, rising and drawing 
 on his gloves, " it's market at Tamford, an', if 
 a steward's burstin' wi' grief. Sir Burleigh maun 
 hae markets respectit, an' prices-current quoted 
 like a book. I must ride over, Helen Rohan — 
 I must ride over : there's threescore yowes fit 
 for the slaughter." 
 
 " Threescore an' six,'' I corrected, " with those 
 in the cow-pasture." 
 
 " Eicht, child ! richt ! It's a fashions warld, 
 an' we're no our ain guides ! " 
 
 M'Causland, having sent the shepherd off with 
 the sheep, painfully followed, riding away with 
 bitter thoughts to keep him company to the 
 Tamford market. He was to see Alexis again 
 in a week — access before having been stormily 
 exclaimed against by Sir Burleigh, who, usurping 
 M'Causland's conscience, had persuaded him to 
 "Give the weak worthless fool a taste of the 
 world's drilling." 
 
 So the slow days succeeded one another 
 until, on the Thursday, a vague remorse and 
 penitence seized me at sight of the hound 
 mournfully searching in the gloaming for his 
 lost master. 
 
 I was out in the fields ; a March dust-storm 
 held sway on the road beyond ; the branches of 
 the half-naked trees were swaying and shivering
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 59 
 
 in the dry cold wind — the very grass was 
 shrivelled by its touch, like harsh grey hair. 
 
 " Let us come and see him ! " I said to the dog, 
 tying my flapping hat more tightly. Getting 
 over a stile, we soon gained the road. It was 
 dusk and dusty ; the wind, which shrivelled every- 
 thing else, did not spare us. We walked along 
 slowly and despondently. A figure in the dis- 
 tance slouched towards us. 
 
 " It's Bill Stovel ! " a mournful voice assured 
 me, seeing that I paused. " An' the troopers, 
 they be gane. I might ha' bin a soldier.'^ 
 
 Bill Stovel, absorbed in his private rumina- 
 tions on that brilliant possible, went on his way. 
 
 '' Where have they gone — the soldiers ? " I re- 
 called Bill Stovel, who pointed vaguely north- 
 west. 
 
 " Out o' Letchford they do say, but only for 
 the day, like : hurryin' and harryin' men about 
 like cattle ! " 
 
 Bill's internal convictions in favour of abstract 
 soldiering, seemed confused in his mind with 
 the weighty and voluble arguments against it of 
 his kinsfolk. 
 
 " Letchford ! " I stood still, feeling more and 
 more shrivelled by the dry wind, letting Mr. 
 Stovel pursue his. way. 
 
 " Letchford ! " Oh, God ! to realise that seven
 
 6o A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 long miles must be traversed in the dark and 
 dust, and then returned over. 
 
 " We cannot ! " I murmured. " Yet vre must 
 see Sandy." We bent our heads against it, but 
 the wind was too much for us. A sheltering 
 hedgerow, where grey grasses met above our 
 heads, tempted us to rest until the moon rising, 
 and the wind moaning itself away, encouraged 
 us to try at the terrible seven ! 
 
 Beguiled by thronging thoughts, we found 
 field-paths and short-cuts diminish the distance ; 
 and, once in sight of Letchford, we could 
 hear the shouting of the country crowd assem- 
 bled to do honour to the soldiers. 
 
 Soon we were amongst it, and Sandy and I 
 had singled out Alexis, faithfully following 
 where he trod, but keeping out of sight till a 
 convenient season. 
 
 The Sergeant who had enlisted him was look- 
 ins: to rio:ht and left for more recruits for the 
 morrow, and in one of these surveys he saw me 
 and started, falling out, while the long line of 
 the regiment passed, to linger near. 
 
 " Changed yer mind, miss? He came up 
 with a familiar smile. " An' how d'ye thinlc 
 M'Causland looks in uniform, eh? Awkward 
 like at first, but there's a reason for that." 
 
 He looked at me with his head slightly inclined
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 6i 
 
 to one side, and a mingled embarrassment and 
 hardihood of manner — the manner of one who 
 confesses to a fault which, venial in his own 
 eyes, may not be so regarded by others. 
 
 " Mind you, I had nought to do with it ! " he 
 went on, alter a pause ; " but our colonel — he's 
 a rare good soldier, too — has one way for all — 
 an' no gainsaying that — if it was my last word. 
 'Twas no spite to M'Causland. I known 
 heaps of others suffer the same thing." 
 
 "Suffer?" I said, in amaze, visions of thumb- 
 screws, racks, and red-hot pincers reviving. 
 
 "Ah well," he rejoined, "it's a matter of 
 discipline you wouldn't understand — but it's all 
 right. Blount knows his business, an' his men 
 like him when they're used to him. M'Causland 
 got a lick from the cat yesterday." 
 
 I drew back, incredulous. The Sergeant 
 shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 " How — how many T' I gasped, as at a 
 mouthful of sea-water from a great wave that 
 had broken over me. 
 
 " There, don't you go an' break your heart ! " 
 said the Sergeant. " A fleabite — five-and- twenty. 
 Took 'em without moving a muscle. It's only 
 a bit of scarf-skin the less, an' the man's a 
 made-soldier. Bless you ! if they don't get it, 
 they think themselves colonels or majors. He
 
 62 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 told me himself, he wasn't sorry it was over 
 — that it only wanted that ! Poor chap ! he'll be 
 real pleased to see you. Are you comin' to 
 quarters'? I'll pass you. Just wait till we've 
 shook do^vn a bit, and I'll come an' fetch ye." 
 
 He darted forward, as a halt was called and 
 the soldiers told off to their different billets on 
 the townspeople. 
 
 " Our squad's got into the townhall ! " said the 
 Sergeant gleefully rejoining me, " our squad 
 has ! " And, drawing my hand through his arm 
 with familiar gallantry, he proceeded up the 
 steps to the townhall and presented me with 
 effrontery to the sentry as his wife. 
 
 " Ah ! ah ! " said the sentry, " more like 
 one o' Blount's wives." 
 
 Not appearing to think it his special mission 
 to clea^ his colonel's character, the Sergeant 
 went on, whistling as he picked his way 
 through the dimly-lighted corn-exchange — 
 over saddles, accoutrements, and here and 
 there a tired soldier gracefully reclining amid 
 the impedimenta, their hands full of food, 
 their mouths of oaths, of which we came in for 
 a share "when by chance we stepped unknow- 
 ingly on any part of their uncoiled length. 
 
 To all these salutations the Sergeant re- 
 sponded with philosophical cheerfulness :
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 63 
 
 " All right, mate ; it's only me." 
 
 "Oh, you is it?" muttered one of the ag- 
 grieved. " It's a real pleasure to be trod on by 
 you." 
 
 This was the town's place of business, ki 
 the foot of a winding stone-staircase leading 
 to galleries above, the Sergeant stopped, and 
 peered upward, counting the doors from the 
 front of the building inward, then whispered : 
 
 " I rigged up a guardroom — but, bless you ! 
 there's no fear of punishment to-night unless 
 they're out-and-out. So I just shoved M'Caus- 
 land in to be by himself — not for spite, my 
 dear : he is not quite one of us yet you, see." 
 
 " By ! the sentry's gone ! All the better ! 
 
 You run up. I can't stop any longer. There, 
 that's the door." He pointed to the dusky 
 chaos above, and, giving me a reassuring pat 
 on the shoulder, went oif. 
 
 I had not time to recover from my surprise 
 before I heard a door bang far overhead, when 
 slowly, and halting many times to consider its 
 dangers, I stole upstairs. 
 
 Guided by the strange jarring ring of the door 
 plates and the vibration of the air, I opened the 
 right door, led there partly also by the darkness 
 and silence. In all the other rooms were 
 voices, clanking accoutrements, laughter : — in
 
 64 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 M'Causland's, only a dark figure stretched on 
 the floor — silent, desolate ; and a handful of 
 moon-rays flung in by some invisible power 
 of good. 
 
 All round the rooms were strong safes wherein 
 the town-archives were kept ; a truss of straw 
 and a blanket neatly folded were in one corner, 
 a sword and saddle in another, and filling up 
 all vacancy this dark dreariness — Alexis ! I 
 moaned. None heard or heeded. I was glad of 
 this, for, though my own heart was but little 
 touched, it was sore with anxiety lest other some 
 who knew not his grief, should doubt of its 
 genuineness, or mock its display. 
 
 I slipped the bolt of the door, and, stepping 
 over him, sat down on the straw, with clasped 
 hands, waiting its lapse, until diminished to 
 uncertain moans and groans, and the moon-rays 
 shifting to his wet eyes, they opened, and turned 
 to me, seeming not as they saw me corporeally, 
 but in a vision, as they had doubtless often seen 
 me before, whilst his entreating hands were held 
 out to me to clasp. 
 
 " Get up, Sandy ! " I said, distressed a little for 
 him. My voice awoke him to reality, and he 
 staggered to his feet, leaning against the door, 
 an eager joy trembling for a minute over his 
 sullen grief- wet face.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 65 
 
 "What did ye come for?" he broke out at 
 length. " Was it not enough to drive me here ? 
 Ye can aye nestle in Verney Clifford's arms now." 
 
 "Can I?" 
 
 " Ay ! ye can so ! " said Alexis grimly, and the 
 next minute his lips quivered so that the 
 words broke on them like waves on a sunk 
 rock, for he kept on a fierce monologue — to 
 which, as 'twas unintelligible and immoral, 
 I didn't listen, but turned to count the nails 
 in the cavalry-saddle. Then, like a slighted 
 woman, he began to cry again, baring one 
 brawny arm and shoulder, and called to me to 
 come and see the devil's work I had made on 
 him. 
 
 " I did not do it," I responded, glancing at the 
 livid stripes on his flesh. Nevertheless, though 
 I had counted eighty nails — having set myself 
 to count one hundred before I pitied him — I 
 could no longer keep my seat nor retain my 
 colour, but must needs — for one fool makes 
 many — go and hide my wet eyes on the burn- 
 ing livid stripes, and moan, for I knew not 
 before how far the world's cruelty could go. 
 
 Alexis's tears flowed faster for a while, as his 
 arms clasped me closely; then, with a gulp, 
 he checked them, and laughed as his great 
 hand smoothed my hair.
 
 66 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " It is nothing," he said, " nothing now, 
 Helen ! Oh ! my God ! what would I not 
 bear for you — to keep you here always ! " 
 
 His red head bent lower until its close soft 
 curls brushed my face, and his lips closed suffocat- 
 ingly on mine. It was the first time in all my 
 life I had ever been kissed, and all pleasurable 
 ideas, with respect to kissing, fled for ever. 
 Sooner the sharp stripes which left his breath. 
 I did not, however, miscall it to Sandy. He, 
 poor fellow, had doubtless only heard of it from 
 hearsay, and, being naturally credulous, believed 
 in it more than I. Yet I had to shield my face 
 with my hands ere he would desist, and, looking 
 at him, mused on his absurdity. 
 
 Had I gazed long, his very identity with the 
 shy, awkward Highlander would have been 
 doubtful to mine eyes. 
 
 The Sergeant was doubtless right when he 
 asserted : " The man's a made-soldier ! " All 
 that was earthly and sensual, hardened and 
 brought forward ; the good, the true, and the 
 tender, struck and cowering from sight — to 
 disappear at the last entirely. 
 
 But time was passing. The long seven miles 
 home had to be traversed every step on foot. 
 M'Causland would long since be in bed, credit- 
 ing that I was in my room asleep, little dreaming
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 67 
 
 of my absence, of my being here. So I appealed 
 to Alexis *as to the time. 
 
 As the words left my lips, a clock, in the 
 church near by, tolled ten, and we both 
 listened. 
 
 The moon, by this, had mounted high in the 
 heavens, sending through the leaded window a 
 square of pure white light which fell on Alexis's 
 head and shoulders — he standing just opposite 
 to the casement. I thought, continuing to gaze 
 on him with a species of fascination, that he 
 looked like some strange and ghastly picture. 
 His face was quite still as he listened — white 
 and wan with the fierce tide of mingled passions 
 that had assailed him that day. Injustice and 
 cruelty had done their worst, and the tardy 
 reparation of love, so far from efikcing, had 
 brought their effects more prominently forward. 
 " Love ! " Again his face changed, a red flush 
 suflused it ; his glance wandered to the strong 
 cell-like walls of the room ; an emotion of 
 pleasure seemed to possess him at its aspect. 
 By a subtle intuition, I interpreted rightly this 
 new phase — for, as I rose alarmed and signified 
 my anxiety to be gone on account of the late- 
 ness of the hour, he leaned heavily against the 
 door, as though testing its strength, and listened 
 to me unheeding. " Helen," he said at length, 
 
 F — 2
 
 68 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 neither hearing nor replying to my request to 
 go, " d'ye mind that old print at hame ? " 
 
 "Yes," I said, conscious that a denial would 
 serve no turn, and that an engraving of Both- 
 well making love to Mary Stuart was in his 
 mind — a print he used to turn from with 
 almost a blush if I were by, but which he 
 must privately have studied and dwelt on. 
 
 "We have no time to talk of pictures," I 
 said. " Sandy, it is ten by the clock." 
 
 " It's ne'er o' pictures I wad talk," said Alexis, 
 his broad eyeballs glowing. "It is o' nature, 
 which breaks through rules. She was a queen, 
 an' he loved her — less her liking, Helen 
 Rohan ! When he could — how he could ! My 
 God ! am I to stand, by an' see ye go to a 
 Clifford?" 
 
 " rU stay a little, to content you," I said, 
 more than regretting the kisses which, allowed 
 from pity, had put this new force and fire into 
 Alexis' love. " I'll stay a little." Was this my 
 Highland kinsman — shy, moody, jealous — this 
 triumphant giant, who laughed at my small 
 concession, and held me in estimation as a 
 captive, who would love me less my liking, 
 a Bothwell loved Mary ? 
 
 *• A ladye bright his bridle ledde, 
 Clade in a fayre kirtell."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 69 
 
 So ran stories of ladies made captives by 
 giants, and compelled to live with them in 
 remote fastnesses; to cross courtyards, every 
 day, strewn with the blood and bones of mur- 
 dered knights, to propitiate their captors by 
 submission. 
 
 Pshaw! this was but Sandy, and I was get- 
 ting frightened for nothing. He was my slave, 
 but, meantime, he was so huge and massive; 
 how was it that his size and weight had ncner 
 occurred to me before? 
 
 I sat on the straw, watching him : my face ^\ as 
 in shadow; his — an advantage — in bright, aU- 
 revealing moonlight. Suddenly occurred to me 
 his obstinacy — which, once aroused, was in- 
 vincible; but for which he would not be in liis 
 present position — almost a social pariah, stripped, 
 degraded ! What had caused him at this moment 
 to think of that pernicious old print? 
 
 I resolved, on my return, to destroy for the 
 future aU malign influence Bothwell could 
 exercise from the long-ago past by burning it. 
 Now any further reference to it, would but fix it 
 in Alexis' mind as a precedent to any madness 
 of his own. 
 
 What was Bothwell to him, or he to Bothwell, 
 as someone said about one Hecuba, in an old 
 playbook which M'Causland had burnt ?
 
 70 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Speculating uneasily on this, I decided to be 
 silent. He was always awkward at words : let 
 him, therefore, speak. 
 
 "Helen!" 
 
 My own name — always my own name. It 
 had never occurred to me before how often it 
 was uttered. Was it because I was the only 
 woman amongst them? 
 
 " Helen ! ye canna leave here less my liking," 
 said Sandy, with grim triumph, again eyeing the 
 strength and solidity of the walls. 
 
 " Ye'll like," I said carelessly, " when ye tire 
 of me, Sandy." 
 
 " Yes ! " he said, with an involuntary stretch- 
 ing-out of his hands. " When I tire of ye, I 
 shall be deep-buried ! Tire ! — I tell ye, a look of 
 yours sends my blood red-hot — a touch o' your 
 hand is more torture than stripes, unless it's 
 in kindness ! " 
 
 "What else should it be?" I rose hastily as 
 he advanced, seeing my safety in harmless con- 
 cession, more than in opposing him. " AVhat 
 kindness would I not do you, Sandy 1 I'll send 
 some lint and some gillyflower-water for these 
 stripes. I'll ask Sir Burleigh to make Blount 
 explain them. It was cruel ! — cruel ! — an' you 
 so good ! " 
 
 M'Causland gasped with sudden rage and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 71 
 
 wrath — as Bothwell might, had Queen Mary- 
 thrown a cup of cold water in his face (as she 
 should have done) — at this reference to exist- 
 ing conditions. He was so wrapped up in an 
 atmosphere made up to suit himself — of martyr 
 and lover, so set on fire by a few consoling 
 kisses, so happy in improbable and wicked 
 possibilities — that my words, as I .intended, lit 
 upon him as a thunderclap ; and, like a thunder- 
 clap, cleared away the moral miasma of his 
 thoughts for a moment — only for a moment. 
 The next moment he had forgotten them. His 
 whole soul set on some scheme of detention, he 
 quitted for a second his guard on the door, 
 availing of which, I very thankfully and gently 
 opened it, and glided out, hearing its heavy 
 clang when about halfway down the stairs, and 
 glad so to get away.
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 Gout and grief continuing to distract M'Caus- 
 land and Sir Burleigh, and a spell of wet 
 weather having set in, I had no resource to wile 
 away the time but the manufacture, from a 
 recently-killed goose, of bundles of quill-pens, 
 at which I was an adept. 
 
 All the feathers had been carefully pinned by 
 the housekeeper into an old gazette — from 
 which I withdrew them by handfuls as I wanted 
 them, and, sitting by the fireside, I threw all I 
 could not utilise into the fire, a broad red glow 
 of logs, always kindled on damp days, and 
 which consumed them instantly — so was it 
 when my uncle entered. 
 
 " My lass, I am fixed in adamant resolve ! " 
 M'Causland's first words on his entrance sounded, 
 as words very much in earnest often do, like a 
 line in poetry ; but their effect was marred by 
 the context. 
 
 " In adamant resolve," he repeated, " that, let 
 what will come o't, yese go no mair to the Hall 
 while Clifi'ord's there. Sir Burleigh sent for ye. 
 Auld fule that he is ! — he aye thinks ye a stock
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 73 
 
 ur a stone, an' no Christian lass wi' a name to 
 lose ! God forgi' me to swear at him, an' me 
 served him this forty year, forty ! He sent to 
 say he aye wanted ye at the Ha' frae morn till 
 dark ae day this week — that he'll gie ye dinner. 
 Ay, an' I doubt na, my lord '11 find ye wark 
 enough. It behoves me to look to ye now, 
 when there's a possible o' your becomin' a shame- 
 less painted callet — shamin us a ' ! " 
 
 This was but a violent revulsion of feeling 
 consequent on Alexis's loss. In a day or two 
 M'Causland so far relapsed into his implicit 
 faith in Sir Burleigh, his implicit trust in my 
 good government of my lord, as to send me to 
 see what Sir Burleigh's pleasure was. 
 
 " Be early, lass. He's awfu' when he has gout 
 on him." 
 
 With this comfortable induction to Sir 
 Burleigh's state of mind, I went, immediately 
 after breakfast, carrying with me such memora- 
 bilia as our suzerain and sovereign might be 
 likely to require. On the way, I mused over 
 what my life was- likely to be, should it ever 
 come to pass that our relations to the Cliffords 
 became estranged. 
 
 My ambition was still that of ignorance. The 
 Hall embodied all that was at present real to 
 me of grandeur and solidity. I had just, in
 
 74 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Alexis' case, seen enough of hard real life to 
 know that, anywhere else, we should be duly- 
 classified, and set down into our lowly place 
 like two curly-kale-plants. 
 
 Here, we had grown like the Scriptural 
 mustard-seed, so that the birds of the air alit 
 on us, ignorant of how short a way into the 
 soil our roots penetrated — how easily at the 
 Cliffords' pleasure we might be uprooted. 
 
 M'Causland might go or stay. A whiskey- 
 bottle smoke-flavoured, the society of his 
 wild highland or lowland kinsfolk, would be 
 enough for him ; but I, deracine from here, 
 would have to begin my plans over again. 
 Something, I knew not what, induced a doubt 
 of Verney Clifford's influence. It may have 
 been Alexis' constant and fierce suspicion of 
 him ; but, so far as regarded myself, no doubt 
 affected my resolve. To begin life over again 
 at the mere bidding of Verney Clifford ! The 
 old woman obey her cat ? I laugh con- 
 tentedly. 
 
 " No, no, my Verney ! You may drive your 
 Highland cattle back to hills of heather, and 
 crack your whip over the ragged minder of the 
 herd who sits barefit on a whinstane on the 
 hillside, her eyes fixed on the stars far overhead, 
 — but be ye sure, even in star-gazing, that her
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 75 
 
 feet are firmly planted, and that she is not a 
 reed in the wind." 
 
 My expedition to Letchford — though not 
 avowed, nor, as far as I knew, known — had set 
 me thinking deeply. The shock to our social 
 system due to Sandy's absence and its cause, 
 like the flight of a comet across the sky, had 
 awakened my mind, more than years of the calm 
 contemplation of lesser luminaries would have 
 done. 
 
 To-day, M'Causland had gone to Letchford. 
 I had little fear of his discovering that I had 
 been, as, when the two men, uncle and nephew, 
 met, either in anger or afiection, they were 
 generally incoherent and difiusive of speech, and 
 my visit of yesterday would rank with some far- 
 back interview. Besides, even Sandy might well 
 shrink from any crucial questioning on it, after 
 his words and ill-considered actions. I had not 
 thought men had been so bold. Meditating thus, 
 I reached the Hall, making my way to Sir Bur- 
 leigh's study. 
 
 " Ah, you won't find him there ! " 
 
 Verney Clifford, going out shooting, followed 
 me with a gun in his hand, and stood near the 
 door, ramming down a cartridge. 
 
 "You'll have to go to his bedroom, Helen 
 Rohan — he's in bed ! "
 
 76 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Verney seemed too intent on the cartridge to 
 smile ; yet the corners of his mouth curled up- 
 ward at the suggestion. 
 
 I took no notice of it, but began to empty 
 M'Causland's rough-scrawled, greasy receipts 
 from the pocketbook. 
 
 " I'm not in bed, you young blackguard ! 
 Helen Rohan, just shove him from the door, will 
 you ? My hands are full." 
 
 Sir Burleigh entered, laden with account- 
 books — himself arrayed in a ragged brocade 
 dressing-gown and slippers. " In bed ! " he con- 
 tinued, indignantly. 
 
 "The wonder is you're up — roistering at 
 Letchford all night with those troopers." 
 
 " No matter for troopers ! '' said milord, biting 
 a cartridge. " Helen Eohan was there to keep 
 order — your immaculate scribe ! " 
 
 "Was you?" Sir Burleigh turned to me in 
 ungrammatical astonishment, then to Clifford. 
 " If she was there, you took her, Verney." 
 
 " Love took her," sneered milord. 
 
 " Oh Sandy ! Sandy ! Ochone ! Alexis ! — is it 
 true you're beat black and blue for serving your 
 king and country? The fellow won't get into 
 a kilt again in a hurry. Now I'm going ; don't 
 you get disinheriting me in favour of her hehs 
 and assigns, Sir Burleigh ! Because there'll be
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 77 
 
 the trouble of quartering a green guse bar 
 sinister into our arms if you do." 
 
 "You be oflp, Verney ! you be off! " chuckled 
 Sir Burleigh. " Helen Eohan's a match for 
 you — more than a match ! She's safe enough 
 here. Now, Helen Rohan, if you sit there and 
 tell me one of those ewes fetched less than 
 thu'ty shillings, I'll brain you with that pen." 
 
 " Thirty-five, sir, except six ailing ones from 
 the cow-pasture." 
 
 " Very well ! Now the hay ! " 
 
 " So far, market's in our favour. A flood at 
 Cranley fetched away over a hundred stacks ; 
 we have been selling largely." 
 
 " Eh ! " he said with satisfaction, " they must 
 buy, charge what we will ; they can't starve 
 their beasts — must buy from us ! " 
 
 " Now, work away, my girl. Verney's gone. 
 I just threw on this chamber-robe, as you 
 won't keep bedroom-company." 
 
 " But, by ! I can't sit up ! I must leave you. 
 
 I may be here before you go ; if not, come and 
 read them to me through the door, I'll leave it 
 ajar. To think of that villain Verney's sugges- 
 tions, and him at Letchford ! You was not there 
 — I know better." 
 
 Poor Sir Burleigh shuffled back to bed. 
 
 There is plenty of haze on the moral atmo-
 
 78 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 sphere of Burleigh Hall, but it is less than 
 nothing to me. I tot up the accustomed 
 figures and balance the books. All emotions 
 that fright or pleasure other folk, I look on at 
 and appraise, and, if perchance any feeling of 
 our common humanity intrude, suppress it, lest 
 it turn and rend me. It is so bitter to love, so 
 abject to lurk like a ghoul in a Golgotha of 
 memory. I would stand statue-like and un- 
 moved through the storms of time, and let the 
 little pigmies of human kind race for the prizes 
 which I despised; whilst beholding them afar 
 oif, I stonily deny that they are of more value 
 than the beads and feathers of savage tribes. 
 After some hours' work in silence, the tramp- 
 ling of horses made me look up, and at the 
 same time a strident voice from above-stairs 
 called me : 
 
 " Helen Eohan ! Helen Rohan ! Can't ye 
 run, ye starched minx? Coming up like our 
 Bess o' Bedlam Elizabeth! Here!" — as I 
 gained the first landing — " don't come any 
 further. There's Blount and some of his 
 General's women at the door — that fool Verney 
 told them they might come. Do you go and 
 tell them to be off ! I've got the gout ! Can't 
 see anybody ! " He turned into his room and 
 slammed the door, and I heard him creaking
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 79 
 
 into bed again; then went down to the door, 
 which, as ever, stood hospitably open. 
 
 "How d'ye do, Miss Eohan?" Blount had 
 alighted, and stood, in some embarrassment, 
 waiting to assist a lady to dismount, who, 
 appearing surprised at the silence and solitude 
 of the place, hesitated to alight. 
 
 I stood on the broad hall-steps also in some 
 embarrassment. 
 
 These people had been invited by Lord 
 Clifford, and to send them away would anger 
 him ; on the other hand, a positive com 
 mand from Sir Burleigh was not to be ignored. 
 
 " Is that one of the family portraits ? " 
 inquired the young lady, in half-languid 
 sarcasm. 
 
 " No," said Blount, roughly, appearing 
 angered at my silence. "It is the steward's 
 daughter." Then he asked stiffly if Lord Clifford 
 was in. 
 
 " Will you not alight ?" I descended the steps 
 and offered my hand to the young lady, who, 
 accepting it, made a clear descent past 
 Blount. 
 
 " Lord Clifford is out, and Sir Burleiofh bid 
 me say he is troubled with gout; but," I added, 
 " you are welcome to Burleigh Hall." 
 
 " That's all right," said Blount, stiU chafing.
 
 8o A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Do you act groom as well as mistress, Helen 
 Eohan?" 
 
 " At present, only groom of the chambers." 
 
 I took the young lady's hand and led her in, 
 closely followed by Blount and a thin, silent, 
 elderly man, who looked about him with a keen, 
 hungry aspect. 
 
 We went to the large drawing-room, where 
 yellow satin made a subdued-sunshine atmo- 
 sphere ; the three, all silent, follomng my 
 guidance as a party might which had come to 
 gaze at antiquities or pictures — but these 
 people did not propose a dry survey, nor a feast 
 on archaeological reminiscences. 
 
 All the servants at the Hall were a Scotch 
 gardener, Clifford's groom, and a fat red-faced 
 woman-cook, who even, as I led in the rash 
 victims of Lord Clifford's hospitality, came to 
 the door of the drawing-room, breaking in half 
 a bar of yellow soap. 
 
 " Who's yon 1 " She jerked her head at the 
 visitors in undisguised amaze. " An' what 
 brings them to Burleigh Hall "? " 
 
 "They've heard of your entrees, soups, and 
 souffle," I replied, going to the door to answer 
 her ; " and they've come to luncheon." 
 
 "Some of milord's fine friends," grumbled 
 the woman. "I do no more entrees to-day,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE 8i 
 
 Helen Rohan ; nor souffle, for a week to come. 
 Milord '11 be the death o' me one day. You can 
 give them yourn, if you like ; it's all ready in 
 the study. I just came to tell ye so — Hanover 
 rats ! " 
 
 " Janet ! you a Jacobite ? Here, take your 
 soap." I picked up the half that had fallen, 
 and gave her a push. 
 
 " Get a good luncheon, and I'll write to Dick 
 in Ireland for you." 
 
 " You see ! " I returned to the drawing-room. 
 " You see. Colonel Blount, I'm a sort of soldier 
 on parole here. I have to suppress the revolt 
 of the kitchen, and support the dignity of the 
 drawing-room. After luncheon, I hope for your 
 thanks; for that, woman is the worst temper 
 and the best cook" in the county." 
 
 The young lady laughed, and asked who Dick 
 was. 
 
 " He is her son," I replied, " a scapegrace 
 sailor." 
 
 " Eh, you think all soldiers and sailors scape- 
 graces ? " said Blount. 
 
 " They generally are so," said the young lady^ 
 looking at him as if she did not believe herself. 
 " But let me ask you" — (to me) — " will it lose 
 you your place or anything, if we stay 1 It is 
 dreadfully undignified, but I'm so hungry ! "
 
 82 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 "A true soldier's daughter ! ^' put in the thin 
 gentleman. " And, to tell you the truth, 
 madam, I don't feel inclined to stand much on 
 my dignity. I am quite willing you should be 
 scapegoat to Sir Burleigh, since you kindly 
 undertake the role^ 
 
 Clearly, Verney had put them all au courant 
 of his uncle's peculiar temper, and prepared them 
 for possibilities. 
 
 " Luncheon's ready, Helen Eohan, an' you can 
 bring 'em to it." 
 
 The cook had toned down in temper, and 
 courtesied with the anticipatory smile of an 
 artist who expects appreciation, . as we filed 
 out to the small dining-room where was a 
 plentiful meal, very fairly served. 
 
 " As Heaven's viceregent ! " I said, taking the 
 head of the table. "Is that too blasphemous^ 
 Colonel Blount, for a steward's daughter ? " 
 
 " I'm sure we are only too much obliged ! " said 
 the thin gentleman, unceremoniously taking the 
 foot. 
 
 " Blount ought to do penance on a handful of 
 grey-peas." 
 
 " And a glass of cold water thrown over him," 
 added the young lady. " Miss Rohan, may I sit on 
 your right-hand ? Thank you ! " 
 
 " Tm nearest her heart ! " said Blount, seating
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 83 
 
 himself on my left. " I don't doubt I shall win 
 her to forgive me." 
 
 " Hope," I said, beginning to carve a fovrl, " I 
 am such a little pearl — perhaps you did not see 
 me when you were trampling." 
 
 " I am sorry ! " said Blount earnestly, " I 
 think I should have trampled the Crown 
 jewels just then — it is only my way, you know." 
 
 " Exactly," I said. " Have not I just shown an 
 intimate acquaintance with your ways in my 
 simile ? " 
 
 " Show him no mercy ! " lisped the young lady. 
 " You will give me the liver-wing, won't you ? All 
 my fault was saying you were like a pretty 
 picture, standing silent on the steps with your 
 ruffles and yellow hair.'* 
 
 " Trust Helen Rohan ! " laughed Blount, help- 
 ing himself to asparagus, " she was only casting 
 about which she should choose — me or the 
 General." 
 
 " Don't prove the daughter of the ' unjust 
 steward ' Miss Rohan ! " laughed the General. 
 '' I thought, with my daughter, you looked like 
 some pretty silent picture dismayed at our 
 invasion. Choose me." 
 
 " Don't choose either, Miss Rohan," said the 
 young lady, laying down her knife and fork. 
 "Oh, if you knew how shockingly Colonel Blount 
 
 G — 2
 
 84 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 sneers ! I am not going to marry him, though 
 my father made me promise — all through 
 avarice. He knows I cannot endure him." 
 
 She resumed her knife and fork, and played 
 havoc with the liver-wing. 
 
 " ' It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer,' " 
 quoted Blount, gruffly. " After luncheon, take 
 her through the picture-gallery, and, if she 
 doesn't boast, commend me to the devil ! I beg 
 all your pardons very sincerely ! " 
 
 " I was looking at you, Helen E-ohan." 
 
 "Am I beautiful, or merely pretty?" I put 
 down my knife and fork, and crossed my hands, 
 penitential fashion, on my breast, slightly bend- 
 ing my head that a shaft of sunlight which 
 before rested on my neck might gild my hair. 
 
 " By jove ! " Blount's elbows found an instant 
 rest on the table, whilst his dull bloodshot eyes 
 rested on my face. Then he said slowly, recall- 
 ing his accustomed blunt coarseness of look and 
 one : 
 
 " Don't you discount your picture-face too 
 much, Helen Rohan. I've seen women, a 
 
 d d sight prettier than you, following the 
 
 drum for a profession. 
 
 " Blount ! " said the General, reprovingly, 
 " Fernie's waiting for bread-sauce, which you 
 seem bent on monopolising."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 85 
 
 " Fernie ! — my wife ! my life ! — a thousand 
 pardons ! " He pushed the sauce-boat half-across 
 to her and resumed his dinner. 
 
 " Talking of pictures," said the General to 
 me. "If Lord Clifford were here, I should 
 insist on that part of the programme of our visit 
 being carried out. We were promised I don't 
 know how many Schoendels and Canalettos. 
 Velasquezes were to be plentiful as berries, 
 and Titians — But, talking of Titian, I must 
 follow Blount's lead so far as to admire your 
 ears, Miss Rohan. Titian ears, are they not, 
 Fernie ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Fernie, " I suppose so. I 
 always think you right about pictures, except 
 when you say you should like to steal them. 
 You know you feel like that sometimes, when 
 you come across a wee bit cabinet-picture, just 
 pocketable." 
 
 " No, no,'' said the General, hastily ; " let's 
 be civil to ourselves, Fernie. I haven't done 
 such a thing as yet." 
 
 " Don't trust him too far,'' shrugged Fernie. 
 " Colonel Blount can't resist a promising recruit, 
 nor General Tremenheere a portable picture." 
 
 " Talking of recruits," — (Blount again, and as 
 if glad of another opportunity for insolence, 
 addressed me) — " Talking of recruits, Fm sorry
 
 86 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to say 'twas found necessary to ilog our last — 
 just a taste, Miss Eohan. Pshaw ! if you love 
 him, wish him a better soldier than he would 
 have been without it." 
 
 He smiled with disdainful defiance. 
 " Bear witness vnth me " — (I appealed to the 
 General) — "that Colonel Blount has in efi'ect 
 broken a promise he made me, and that I am 
 going to punish him at my first chance." 
 
 "Ah, you may laugh now, my boy!" said the 
 General, as Blount broke into a chuckle of ex- 
 cessive amusement, " but you mean it. Miss 
 Rohan, I am sure ; and in the day of his visita- 
 tion I shall remember you did not seek your 
 vengeance without fairly warning him." 
 
 " Whatever you choose to inflict," said Blount 
 with an almost unbearable insolence of look and 
 tone, " I \vill endure ! " and he winked to the 
 General , who primly drew down the corners of 
 his thin mouth, and held his wine up to the 
 light. 
 
 Finding that Miss Tremenheere, having 
 finished her luncheon, was amusing herself by 
 placing her knife and fork in parallel lines, I 
 proposed to her to leave the men to their wine 
 and come upstairs, to which she gladly agreed. 
 
 " If I were anyone but a soldier's daughter," 
 she said as we went upstairs, " I should feel
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 87 
 
 bound to make a thousand apologies for Colonel 
 Blount's free-speech. But he really and truly 
 means no harm by it, Miss Rohan." 
 
 " I positively think we have begun to like it, 
 my father and I. We are so shocked and 
 amused, you know. He is so rough — he will 
 never mend. You see, dear, if one had a 
 china monster and broke him to pieces, and then 
 joined him together again, ever so neatly, he 
 would only be a monster still It's just the 
 same with Tyrone Blount. So fast as you 
 fracture him with reproof, you must mend him 
 with laughter. So it's no good. Think of him 
 as a china monster. I always do, or else I 
 could not endure him." 
 
 Saying this, we gained the first broad landing. 
 The dim cobwebbed window was partly open, 
 and, having with our united strength pushed 
 it heavily up, we leaned out to gaze over the 
 beauty and solitude of the park. 
 
 A ragged rain-cloud in the distance was send- 
 ing down sheeted water into a still, dark mere, 
 round which, to its edge, was the piled rusty 
 bracken of the past year. Nearer, the chill 
 March sunshine lit up a quadrangular court- 
 yard, in the midst of which stood a dovecot. 
 The rough grey stone-walls of the building 
 surrounding the court, unrelieved by lichens or
 
 88 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 moss, might have belonged to a prison but 
 that the large blank windows crowded each 
 other in their flat outlook on the country, and 
 the unceasing flight hither and thither of the 
 pigeons, in the sunshine gave an air of life 
 and liberty to its dulness. 
 
 " What an ugly old place ! " Miss Tremenheere 
 said involuntarily. " Is this all Lord Clifl'ord 
 will inherit from his uncle ? " 
 
 " With the plenishing," I replied, " and the 
 land, and ready-money, and prestige. Not so 
 bad, on the whole ! " 
 
 I was watching one particular pigeon — a grey, 
 red-eyed, and vicious specimen, that fought all 
 round with untiring ferocity — and comparing it, 
 in its zeal for inflicting misery on its harmless 
 fellows, with Vemey Clifl'ord, when I heard a 
 significant and cautious cough above; and, 
 looking up, saw Sir Burleigh, in the old dress- 
 ing-gown and with bare feet, frantically and 
 silently beckoning. Miss Tremenheere looked 
 up too — then discreetly resumed her study of 
 the pigeons. 
 
 Excusing myself for a minute to her, I went 
 upstairs culprit-fashion, and was at once 
 pinioned by one arm in the iron grasp of Sir 
 Burleigh, and thrust into the picture-gallery, 
 the door of which he slammed to with unre-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. . 89 
 
 Strained violence, as though glad of being able 
 to begin with an unresisting victim. 
 
 " Ain't you a nice young woman — aren't you 
 a devil, Helen Rohan ? " — he shook me by the 
 arm to and fro — " to go and bring people here 
 and oblige me to run about naked in my own 
 house, with gout on me ! " 
 
 " Oh, Sir Burleigh ! " I said, appalled, " you've 
 got your dressing-gown on." 
 
 " Yes you, d d minx ! — so have you got 
 
 your ruffles on — your fine feathers, and super- 
 fine manners — which you must show off some- 
 where or perish. Perish me if I won't take off 
 
 the d d dressing-gown, and go down and 
 
 tell them I don't want visitors ! " 
 
 " Not this once," I said, " Verney asked them. 
 Let them go of their own accord ! — I'll hasten 
 them, and then come up and read all the 
 accounts to you. Please go to bed again. Sir 
 Burleigh ! Look at your feet, in this draughty 
 horrid place — and you with gout ! " 
 
 " Get rid of them, then ! " he said, somewhat 
 mollified by my meekness. " If you were 
 Verney, I'd kill you, Helen Eohan ! " 
 
 Again opening the door, he shuffled back to 
 his bedroom, the chill and excitement reacting 
 painfully on his swollen feet. 
 
 " Take off your boots," I whispered, rejoining
 
 90 A SIATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Miss Tremenheere, " and come through the 
 picture-gallery. Sir Burleigh is ill, so the others 
 will have to postpone their visit." We stole up 
 hand-in-hand, bootless, and made a hurried tour 
 of the pictures ; and, only lingering on the 
 landing long enough to slip our shoes on again, 
 went to rejoin Blount and the General. 
 
 " I'm sorry you've had such a comfortless 
 visit." I made my apology generally, in the 
 dining-room. " Sir Burleigh regrets it too, but 
 requests me to say he is too ill to stand 
 on ceremony, and trusts to your great kindness 
 to excuse him." 
 
 " Certainly, certainly ! " said Blount, mellowed 
 now with wine. " I don't care a straw about 
 pictures, and I'm not sure that we didn't enjoy 
 Lord Clifford's absence better than his presence." 
 
 The General gave a slight, rather wistful 
 bow, in token of acquiescence with his friend's 
 views but the not seeing the pictures evidently 
 weighed on him, though he said: "We have 
 enjoyed our visit very much — thanks to Miss 
 Rohan ! " 
 
 " Good-bye, dear Miss Eohan ! " 
 
 Miss Tremenheere kissed me affectionately 
 before remounting. " You have had a difficult 
 part to play." 
 
 "Trust her!" said Blount, springing on his
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 91 
 
 horse. " Good-bye, Helen E-ohan ! Give a 
 portion to seven, and also to eight — for that 
 is a maxim of stewardship." 
 
 And I thought, as I took his offered hand 
 " ' What hath the wise man more than the 
 fool? . . . for this also is vanity!'" — standing 
 on the steps as they slowly rode off. 
 
 The ragged rain-cloud held them in chase, 
 and, at a bend of the road, the long lines of 
 rain overtook them with a swirl and a rush, 
 which they answered by freeing the reins and 
 galloping swiftly away from Burleigh Manor. 
 
 I had not long settled to my work again 
 when milord came in, shaking the raindrops 
 from his coat, his shaggy, tawny hair agleam 
 with them. He was laughing grimly to himself, 
 but only saluted me mth a nod before paying a 
 duty- visit to Sir Burleigh. 
 
 On his re-entrance, an ominous sullen silence 
 held him. The swift scraping of my pen went 
 on making small music to the pouring rain 
 mthout. 
 
 " I suppose your guests are about home by 
 now?" he said at length, lounging to the ffre- 
 place. " I mean Tremenheere and his daughter, 
 and Blount." 
 
 " I know whom you mean. Are you angry 
 at their civil reception ? They told me they came
 
 92 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 by your invitation, so I thought if no one was 
 civil in your absence you would be vexed. It 
 would seem you are now." 
 
 " Who ? I ? Not at all ! " said CliiFord. "- Not 
 in that narrow sense. I suppose you acted for the 
 best — only I wish you had shown more discretion 
 in not interfering at all, either way. Your 
 
 innocent Misses are d d presuming, and do 
 
 thinofs an old woman of the world would shrink 
 from daring to do. You ^vill have put me, and still 
 more Sir Burleigh, in such a — a — in short one 
 or other of us will be credited with you. If you 
 must gape, open-mouthed, with a pen in your 
 hand for my meaning — " 
 
 " My dear Verney, I gaped because I am tired 
 of "writing. Will you mend this pen \ 
 
 " Give it here ! " said he sullenly, opening his 
 penknife. " Anyhow, you won't have the chance 
 again ; so we had better say no more about it." 
 
 " You may please yourself ! " I took the 
 pen. " But, if I were you, I should be glad my 
 friends met with civility." 
 
 " It is, on the whole, perhaps lucky for me 
 they came,'' he sneered, or the farce might have 
 been a tragedy — ' The Lost Inheritance ; or. An 
 Auld Man's Love.' Was Blount civil to youl " 
 
 " Fairly ! " 
 
 " That's a wonder, considering he saw you
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 93 
 
 coming out of M'Causland's room at the 
 Barracks at twelve o'clock at night — in a 
 dream — is it possible? And," pursued Clifford, 
 in a fury, " and that he thinks Fernie Tremen- 
 heere a snowdrop of purity, as it behoves his 
 wife to be." 
 
 " Probably he does not let abstract considera- 
 tions weigh against the blue '17 claret," I 
 respond calmly, rather amused at milord's ruffled 
 fur. 
 
 '' It's likely not ! " The amiable Verney cast 
 about for a bigger stone. " And when men 
 have shares in a mine, it's not policy to cry it 
 do^vn." 
 
 "Isn't it?" I reply meekly, "Is he fishing 
 for a premium on his shares? Or what is it 
 interests you in Colonel Blount's ventures ? " 
 
 " I want the mine myself," he said sullenly, 
 pursuing rather some thought of his own than 
 my metaphor. 
 
 " Otra tigra ! " I shrug, " there, there ! what's 
 the good of quarrelling with such small deer as 
 Blount? All he thinks of is the wine, and you 
 think of all sorts of pretty things to say to me — 
 pretty, striped Clifford ! " 
 
 " I'd stripe you infernally, if you were my 
 wife ! " muttered Clifford with a little laugh, 
 regaining his usual placidity like a big cat
 
 94 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 when it has sharpened its claws against a silk 
 chair in a drawing-room, and got a half-reprov- 
 ing caress. 
 
 " I lunched at Letchford," he went on confi- 
 dentially. " I sent for M'Causland, and told him 
 you were here for the day ; if he wanted to 
 write a note, my groom should bring it you." 
 
 "What a great gulf!" I say, amused at the 
 elaboration of the indignity. "And then to 
 jump over it and come to its Helen's feet! 
 Gracias tigra ! " 
 
 " I'll gracias tigra you ! " milord laughed out- 
 right, kicking off his damp boots and stirring 
 the fire. 
 
 "Now, don't say I shouldn't make a good 
 husband." He wheeled a chair to the fire and sat 
 down. " I'm going to sleep. The wind, the 
 rain, and the devil have been too much for me." 
 And, leaning his great taAvny head back, he was 
 soon sound asleep, lulled by the warmth, and 
 soothed by the noise of the rain falling in steady 
 torrents from the cold white sky outside. 
 
 Silence again ! — deep, deep silence ! These 
 human emotions ruffled only the surface. 
 These comings and goings of indifferent people 
 were no more to me than the gnats rising from 
 its waters are to a river — running its appointed 
 course to some unknown sea.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 95 
 
 I ought to have been burning with indigna- 
 tion at Blount's coarse free-speech ; I ought to 
 have been swallowed up in one great blush at 
 Sir Burleigh's conduct ; I ought, when Verney 
 Clifford accused me and blackened my name, to 
 have shaken the dust from my feet, and left the 
 ledgers for ever unfinished. 
 
 "I ought," smiles the river, " to stop and listen 
 
 to the shrilling gnats, but my course may not be 
 
 stayed by voices, and my goal is the sea." 
 ***** 
 
 My duties done, I lingered on my homeward 
 way ; the moon shone out from ragged, hurry- 
 ing, rain-clouds. The dead wet ferns be- 
 draggled my skirts, and the soppy park-turf 
 soaked through my silk boots. Torn tufts of 
 of discoloured primroses peered up through 
 drift dead leaves. The mere, full of inky rain- 
 water, looked like Phlegethon set to cool in a 
 desert-park. 
 
 There were no deer on Burleigh Manor — 
 herds of swine oftentimes in autumn to fatten 
 on the acorns and beech-mast; sheep always; 
 but no merely ornamental parties like deer, 
 which give haunches of unprofitable lean meat, 
 and spoil the grazing and make lean entries 
 in ledgers. 
 
 " No deer ! no deer ! "
 
 96 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 I repeated this musingly once or twice, paus- 
 ing on the brink of the mere in the moonlight, 
 listening to the shrill cry of herns and black 
 waterhens ; listening to the sullen plunging 
 of pike gorging the disturbed and dancing 
 minnows. 
 
 " You fools ! " I said to the minnows, aloud, 
 "why did you let the sudden increase of 
 riches tempt you from the stale shallows, where 
 was safety, to the deep, where was the lower 
 depth of a pike's hungry cavernous mouth ? " 
 
 " Suppose yourself " — a voice came from 
 among the trees near — " Suppose yourself a 
 minnow ! " I looked round, but could see no 
 one — the clouds closed up the moon-rays. I 
 stopped to listen. 
 
 " Suppose yourself stranded in a stale shallow ! 
 A freshet is tempting enough sometimes ! " 
 
 I could see now an outlined figure stretched 
 on a heap of dead fern, whose wetness saved 
 it from ignition by the red ashes dropping from 
 a pipe held sideways between the speaker's lips. 
 
 " Yes," I replied, dipping one foot deep into 
 the black water, to steady my nerves from a 
 a sudden tremor at discovering a presence so 
 near. "Yes, allegories are always incomplete, 
 but they sound well. One is always tempted to 
 address the vulgar in parables."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 97 
 
 " Minnows, then, are the mob % " said the 
 speaker, righting his pipe. " That is partly,' no 
 doubt, why the pike eat 'em. One can't feel 
 for an impersonal body — by — It's wet here. 
 Aren't you afraid I shall get rheumatism ? " 
 
 " I think it possible," I replied. " But then 
 you will catch it." 
 
 " I am answered ! " he said ironically, removing 
 his pipe, and bowing as well as his recumbent 
 posture allowed. "You are philosophical. 
 What is your name? — if one may ask Plato- 
 nically." 
 
 "Helen Rohan." 
 
 " Helen Rohan — then — tell me are there not 
 soldiers quartered not far off ? " 
 
 " Yes, at Letchford, seven miles from here." 
 
 " Any friends of yours amongst them % " 
 
 "Two of them are my friends; one I am 
 going to punish, if I ever get the chance." 
 
 "Ah! indeed? What is the quality of his 
 offence ? A malevolent indifference? Pardon 
 me, I am but jesting — stoicism is J a ^choking 
 morsel to swallow when one is suffering as you are 
 perhaps." 
 
 " You are a trifle too zele with your creed," 
 I reply. " The cause should precede the effect, 
 and, the suffering being now existent, the 
 stoicism is uncalled for." 
 
 H
 
 98 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Then I have taken a too gloomy view of 
 your presence here," he said. "Ah, God! I 
 wish that creature existed who could, by any 
 force of imagining, dive below the depth Fm 
 in." 
 
 He muttered this to himself, and, stretching 
 one arm above his head, pillowed his face on it, 
 as though to conceal it from the now brilliant 
 moonlight ; whilst the pipe, thrown aside, sent 
 up a thin wreath of smoke for a moment and 
 then went out. 
 
 " A Jacobite, for a thousand ! " I muttered, 
 looking down with some scorn on the recum- 
 bent figure. " How will he aid his cause when 
 he is crippled by rheumatism, through lying on 
 the wet ferns of Burleigh Manor? Better to 
 keep the most indifferent machine in working 
 order. It might be useful, but a zealot is ever 
 too ready to shirk hard, everyday work in favour 
 of sentimental martyrdom. We cannot all be 
 eaten by tigers for our faith." 
 
 I turned to this moonstruck recumbent form, 
 and spoke ironically : 
 
 " If you are a Jacobite, as your foolish conduct 
 betokens, you should know that a cripple in a 
 small guerilla force is a nuisance, and go beg a 
 night's lodging at the Hall — j^our servir la 
 c ause —
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 99 
 
 " Be droit ? " he concluded, raising his head 
 and looking at me keenly. 
 
 " As to that, whichever we choose to uphold 
 is right in our own eyes." 
 
 " Is Sir Burleigh a Jacobite \ " Still lazily 
 reclining, reluctant to quit the easy and graceful 
 role of martyr, and go a-begging as I had 
 suggested, he raised himself on his elbow, 
 careless, now, that a full white flood of moon- 
 light was on his face. " What chance of a 
 lodging, if I adopt your counsel ? " 
 
 " I don't deal in hopeless counsel," I reply, 
 still half-scornful. " There are enough theorists 
 in the world clinging to that wretched fool 
 Stuart. One or two who would adopt the 
 Socratic mot dJordre, 'Action,' were worth a 
 thousand." 
 
 "Then I will adopt it. The fern is infer- 
 nally wet — is drawing all the heat out of me. 
 I feel premonitory symptoms of begging — let 
 me practise. Give me a night's lodging for 
 charity, if not for shame, my dear — after coun- 
 selling me to ask it." 
 
 He sprang up and stood beside me, looking 
 down into my face. A pale-faced, haggard, and 
 miserable-looking man, with that sort of pseudo- 
 Stuart look a good deal adopted by the younger 
 followers of the Pretender, who cultivated
 
 loo A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 pallor, smock faces and long hair, in hope to be 
 mistaken for the real Stuart, and cared less for 
 their cause than for personal notoriety. 
 
 " You are welcome to a night's lodging in one 
 of our barns,'* I replied to his request, coldly, 
 " if you have no wish to disturb Sir Burleigh. 
 Milord is there too. He is for Hanover." 
 
 " Counsel me," he said, mockingly. " Is it 
 wiser to sleep on straw, or risk an ally by putting 
 him out of temper ? " 
 
 "Sleep on straw, make any reasonable sacri- 
 fice for your cause, but abjure folly. Even in 
 trifles like rheumatism, clean fresh straw is 
 lodgings for a prince, if princes were wise." 
 
 " There is something wholesome in your coun- 
 sel even if it be homely," he smiled. " You see,, 
 if I went to the Hall to night it would be ' The 
 beggars are coming to to^vn ' with a vengeance. 
 Moonlight aggravates a troublesome visitor. To- 
 morrow morning all the disagreeable will come 
 in fresh and find him prepared. Milord away 
 at Letchford also, so I hear. Shall I sleep on 
 straw — tell me now ! — or stop and talk to the 
 fishes in the moonlight ? I would not believe it 
 real when I heard you. I had been dozing — your 
 voice awoke me ; my mind was made up for a 
 damp lodgment. The question is — I'm con- 
 foundedly thed ! — whether I can walk to said
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. loi 
 
 straw. I thought myself anchored here, but the 
 devil never will leave one alone. His never fail- 
 ing bait — a woman." 
 
 " Since you see so clearly through his devices," 
 I reply, " it is not policy to fall in with them.'* 
 
 " Ah ! isn't it ? by St. George I " he answers 
 quickly, with a grin. " It means pleasure for the 
 minute, the only friend I have ! Lead on to your 
 straw. I'm sure I shall be happy there, with- 
 out prejudice to your angelic charity for the sug- 
 gestion." 
 
 " I led on, through moonlit dells of dewy mist, 
 through the huge dark oak-forests, and many 
 vistaed glades, past flocks of sleeping sheep 
 dotted over all the land, a fleecy wealth — and 
 throughout all that long walk, hearing his foot- 
 steps close behind me, we neither uttered a word 
 until, passing through the large gates, the key of 
 which I carried as McCausland's deputy, the 
 Jacobite paused to examine the florid stone 
 carvings on the high pillars supporting 
 them. 
 
 " A good old English family, the Burleigh 
 Cliffords ! " he said, tracing out one of the many 
 bas-relief shields with his finger. "Pity Sir 
 Burleigh remains unmarried, and a wonder too ! " 
 He turned to me with the same half-insolent 
 look and smile. " It is sometimes good policy
 
 102 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to ask, and it shall be given thee. Don't you 
 think so, most wise mistress ? " 
 
 " Not to ask if you don't want it," I reply, 
 with a shrug. " Old-age and infirmities generally 
 come without asking." 
 
 "And parks and manors too? But there is 
 the heir to all this — Milord Clifford. Is he a 
 Jacobite ? " 
 
 " I am not in Lord Clifford's political confi- 
 dence," I reply, anxious to speak the truth. " 1 
 am the steward's daughter — or niece, rather." 
 
 " A thousand to one you both forget that 
 sometimes. Ah! I know Milord Verney. A 
 bar-sinister should be no bogie to him, if all 
 reports are true about his precious parentage." 
 
 I resumed my way, treading the familiar field- 
 paths swiftly, rather scornful of the talk of this 
 self-invoked Jacobite incubus, for he had not 
 denied being one. 
 
 " Sans ceremonie^' he laughed a little bitterly 
 as he hurried to overtake me. " Where is your 
 barn? I see a house, but no farm-buildings. 
 Where is it?" his tone was slightly suspicious, 
 and doubting. 
 
 "Not so far off." I went swiftly, whilst he 
 strode with quick uneven steps beside me, until 
 we entered the home-close meadow, where the 
 wood-pile stood, and the shed which sheltered
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 103 
 
 the white calves. I myself carried these 
 creatures their* food every morning: — thinking 
 of this, I stopped. 
 
 " If you could manage here the night, 1 
 would bring you breakfast unremarked. 
 
 I looked at him, doubtful of the propriety of 
 lodging a fellow-being amongst cattle. In spite 
 of Scripture there is something abhorrent in the 
 dirt and damp of a cattleshed — better the clean 
 brack by the mere. There was, it was true, 
 plenty of dry straw here. 
 
 " Ah, it is harder than you thought, Helen 
 Rohan," he smiled. "These are difficulties it 
 requires a divinity to get over, or an Eastern 
 climate to legitimatise." 
 
 " Is there anything like a halo round my head ? 
 There is still the barn." I resumed my way in 
 some vexation, and enter cautiously through the 
 farmyard-gates. 
 
 Not so cautiously but that five or six sheep- 
 dogs and curs of various uses awoke, and 
 rushed to us as to a centre, yelping vociferously. 
 
 " I will not be foiled every way." I took up 
 a flail lying handy against the wall of a cow- 
 house, and gave a liberal allowance of blows 
 amongst them, pursuing them, like an Orestes 
 suddenly turned at bay amongst the Furies, to 
 their various retreats.
 
 I04 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 It was not often I was roused to wrath by any- 
 created things. These wretched whining curs 
 turning against one who had ever bestowed food 
 and caresses on them, stung me beyond endur- 
 ance. The clamour was soon stilled, awaking 
 none of the heavy-eyed servants — who perchance 
 heard it in their dreams. " I am furious," I 
 said, returning and throwing down the flail. 
 
 " I did not know anger was such fiery wine 
 as it is. It must be good to be a fool some- 
 times ; they have everything, ces messieurs — 
 anger, love, revenge ! " 
 
 " I think you will find the barn comfortable. 
 You need fear no interruption. To-morrow is 
 our cattle-market, and all our men will be away 
 early. You will not smoke, will you ? " 
 
 " No, I will not smoke." 
 
 " On your word ? " 
 
 " On my honoui*." 
 
 We were standing against the large flapping 
 door of the barn, which, seized now and again 
 by a gust of wind from without, tried strenuously 
 to shut itself, pushing us before it with irre- 
 sistible force, until coming to the flail-board, 
 we opposed ourselves as a wedge to its closing, 
 when it would swing creaking back a few feet 
 preparatory to another rush. So long as we were 
 there, it was imperative on us to follow it, lest we
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 105 
 
 should be cracked like two nuts in its closing. 
 We paced to and fro as solemnly as though 
 dancing a minuet — sometimes in light, sometimes 
 in shadow. The farnlyard, knee-deep in littered 
 straw, silvered by the moon — which now rode 
 high above the housetop — seemed untenanted ; 
 the dogs had burrowed into the litter, mindful 
 of the reception accorded to their zeal. The 
 very tiles seemed steeped in sleep — blanketed 
 with moss and house-leek. Only the driven 
 clouds flying before the wind, leaving patches 
 of stars and blue sky, were awake. 
 
 " You must go in now," I said in a pause, a 
 lull of wind, a flood of the brilliant white light. 
 " Good-night ; sleep well ! " 
 
 " As well as I can — be sure of that." He 
 went in, and I entered the house, as usual, 
 unremarked — for no bolts were drawn as a 
 general thing, and entrances were numerous, 
 giving always the certainty of finding one, at 
 least, open. It was a thiefless place, as there 
 was nothing much to thieve ; and the dogs, 
 though now invisible, were vigilant and fierce. 
 In the morning they would be gone with their 
 charges of cattle ; so my charge, the Jacobite, 
 was safe from their attentions, even though my 
 introduction were forgotten by them. 
 
 The next morning I was up betimes, and.
 
 io6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 taking some provision to the barn, called to 
 the Jacobite. He was gone. 
 
 " Ungrateful and impatient ! " I mutter, going 
 on my way, for I was again due at the Hall. 
 " And I to hide you as a Crown jewel. 'What 
 have you stolen in your retreat? A white calf, 
 perchance ! " 
 
 No ! I counted them dotted over the meadow 
 — four. He had only taken away his valueless 
 self. 
 
 Yet I frowned, feeling vexed that he had 
 lost the good breakfast I had brought him. 
 I took it back to the yet-uncleared table, and 
 then walked leisurely on my way to the Hall — 
 passing the mere, lest I should miss any trace 
 or tidings of him, an avowed Jacobite I had 
 never before seen. 
 
 As I ran up the steps, I heard Sir Burleigh^s 
 voice, in querulous tones, coming from the 
 study; and, thinking no other than that he 
 was rating Clifford, opened the door and 
 entered. 
 
 The dark-blue blind was half-down; wine 
 and the remains of breakfast were on the table. 
 
 Sir Burleigh had apparently been holding a 
 monologue-discourse ; yet his brows were bent 
 sternly, and his broad wrinkled face was 
 flushed, his manner disquieted — uneasy.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 107 
 
 " Well, Helen, my girl ! " His tones were 
 kinder than usual. " Come with the gear, eh? 
 What are your politics, my lass? I was telling 
 them with a friend of mine, and actually drove 
 him into a corner, and shoved the screen against 
 him. Go and dig him out — a fox! he wants 
 to hear our secrets.'* 
 
 " He is very welcome to my share ; it is all 
 of facts and figures. Sir Burleigh." 
 
 " So is mine, Helen Rohan ! so is mine ! " he 
 rejoined, " but it is not much good, apparently. 
 I'm so stiff with rheumatism, I can scarcely 
 move." My pensioner of last night emerged 
 from the screen, and came forward — a pale- 
 featured, handsome face : 
 
 " Is this your steward. Sir Burleigh ? " 
 
 " Ay ! " chuckled Sir Burleigh. " I'll promote 
 her one day to groom of the bedchamber — eh, 
 Helen r' 
 
 " As the day is, so is the strength of refusal," 
 I said, turning out my pocket and drawing a 
 chair to the table. Sir Burleigh was his own 
 banker, keeping all his money in gold and 
 silver at the Hall, as was then generally done, 
 especially by those disaffected with the Govern- 
 ment of the Hanover-man. I had brought the 
 price of a week's sales, which I began to count, 
 his head keeping time with a rhythmical motion
 
 io8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 whilst I accounted for the various sums. 
 " Right to a fraction ! " Sir Burleigh locked 
 the gold into a bureau, and I rose. 
 
 " Now, don't run away." He signed to me to 
 reseat myself. " I'm going to hear the rights 
 of your Jacobite meddling. You need not put 
 on your hypocrite impassiveness. Who was the 
 fellow who slept " 
 
 " In the barn? " interrupted the guest hastily. 
 
 " Oh, oh ! you've agreed on a tale, I see ! " 
 Sir Burleigh chuckled. " Well, better a bed of 
 straw with good company, than a stalled ox and 
 hatred therewith." 
 
 " Who was he, Helen Rohan?" 
 
 " I don't know that anyone slept in the barn," 
 I reply, putting the stopper in the decanter. 
 
 " Isn't she a Jesuit? Isn't she a cool Popish 
 plot?" said Sir Burleigh. "Ah, well! if he 
 did not sleep, I daresay there was a good reason 
 for it. Eh, Helen Rohan? Oh, you need not 
 feel in your pocket for more money. I wouldn't 
 let you off a roasting for a hundred pound. 
 Besides I've got my money." 
 
 " What am I waiting for? " I asked. 
 
 " Never you mind," nodded Sir Burleigh, 
 " you do as you're told, you minx. You're 
 not so afraid of me as a rule. It is whitewash, 
 milord!" He turned to the guest, adding : " She
 
 A STATESMAN' S LOVE. 109 
 
 had two soldiers here yesterday, roistering and 
 feasting. A precious good job you asked them, 
 Helen, under present conditions. Eh, milord? " 
 
 " Yes, exceedingly fortunate ; anything like 
 brusqueness or avoiding them, might be mis- 
 interpreted just now, to our hurt." 
 
 " I hope you treated them well, Helen," said 
 Sir Burleigh, anxiously, " and made my excuses 
 handsomely. Gout, you know, would excuse a 
 king. Did you give them wine enough ? " 
 
 " Blount had three bottles, sir ; and General 
 Tremenheere as much as made him forget the 
 pictures he came to see." 
 
 Both laughed at this. Sir Burleigh saying : 
 
 " Pictures be d d ! A handsome wench is 
 
 worth them all ; and there's a picture here, if it 
 comes to that, whose white silk skin, red lips, 
 and fine eyes are worth them all — ay, the whole 
 lot!" 
 
 I turned to see which of the portraits had 
 been brought down for this eulogium, but was 
 astonished to find that I myself was its object — 
 the blue eyes of the guest and the fierce grey 
 ones of his host being fixed on me. 
 
 I believe I blushed — but with anger ; and, 
 speaking like St. Peter, at random, to cover my 
 confusion and escape their scrutiny, I asked 
 if I might be guide to the gallery, and show
 
 no A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 the gentleman the pictures, almost unknowing 
 what I said. 
 
 " You may so/' said Sir Burleigh graciously, 
 taking his visitor's compliance for granted. The 
 guest laughed good-naturedly, and followed me 
 leisurely from the study, upstairs to the picture- 
 gallery. 
 
 " You can see them yourself," I said un- 
 graciously, when we were in the gallery. " I'm 
 tired." And I seated myself in a deep-cushioned 
 embrasure of one of the long range of windows, 
 indignation still possessing me. 
 
 " So am I," he returned. " Shall we return to 
 Sir Burleigh?" 
 
 " I think not," I said, as indifferently as 1 
 could, rising. After all, he meant no harm. 
 "Do you like portraits? Come and see my 
 favourite." I held out my hand to conduct him, 
 and he bent his knee to the floor and kissed it 
 respectfully. This (being past surprises now) I 
 received calmly, and soon we were lingering 
 along the fine gallery, so silent and yet so filled 
 with life — the life of bygone generations. We 
 both spoke in the subdued tones which seem 
 proper to pictures and books, as though our 
 extreme vitality in presence of their calm were 
 a wrong. 
 
 About the centre of the line, I paused, and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. iii 
 
 waited to see if my favourite would attract the 
 unprompted attention of the Jacobite. 
 
 It was a half-length portrait of a woman — a 
 sad, pale face, still as death, under its white 
 head-wrap, which was so contrived as to conceal 
 all but the face itself. Not a softening lock of 
 hair escaped that stiff and rigid covering of 
 dead-white ; one slender hand was lying free and 
 listless outside, as though praying for the clasp 
 of absent fingers; her deep mournful eyes 
 seemed to be looking in a future without hope 
 or love; in the beautiful mouth there was a 
 look as though all its sensitive nerves were 
 strained, and swerving from some bitter words 
 which yet were hardly heeded. There . was an 
 air of apprehension in the expression, as of one 
 waiting for, yet welcoming, death. 
 
 My eyes filled with tears when I looked on 
 her — and I had so gazed hundreds of times, 
 always with a like result ; to-day they fell on 
 to my furred pelisse. It was otter's-fur, and 
 waterproof, however; and, by turning away, I 
 escaped being seen in so silly a mood. 
 
 The Jacobite gazed at her attentively, held, 
 apparently, by the same fascination which 
 attracted me : — the living reality, the sensitive- 
 ness and refinement, the suffering and pathetic 
 sorrow of the face.
 
 112 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " That was a cruel story," said he, " the story 
 of that woman's life — Ay, ' Mistris to a King,' 
 see the legend half-obliterated. Do you know 
 her history, Helen Rohan ? " 
 
 " No," said I, " no farther than that record 
 of it. Do not tell me ! Perhaps she was Rosa- 
 mond Clifford, only she is not beautiful enough^ 
 and is, besides, too* — too — gentle-looking. No 
 one could offer poison to a woman who looked 
 like that. It would be — would it not? — like 
 offering it to a spirit." 
 
 " Yet," said he, " she endured the insults of a 
 mob, the angry fanaticism of priests and nobles, 
 the desertion of her lover — " 
 
 " Stop ! " said I angrily. " Why did you tell 
 me this? I desired you not. You have de- 
 stroyed the picture for me : I had my own history 
 of it." 
 
 Then, with some effort and in much indigna- 
 tion, I lifted it from its panel, standing it with 
 its face to the wall. 
 
 " Heyday ! " said he, unknowing the bitterness 
 of my resentment at the destruction of my 
 traditions. "What will Sir Burleigh say to 
 this style of art-criticism 1 " 
 
 " Sir Burleigh knows, su', that I have favour- 
 ites here. It was only Verney who ever inter- 
 fered with me before. He locked the gallery
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 113 
 
 once. Sir Burleigh opened it for me, and forbade 
 his annoying me about it. That was when I 
 was little — and just for spite," I added, in 
 the country vernacular. 
 
 " Believe me," said the Jacobite, " I am sorry 
 to have vexed you. I, too, am fond of pictures 
 — living ones especially." 
 
 " That," said I, " is very fine, but the mischief 
 is done." I walked away ungraciously. My 
 occupation of guide gone, I went to one of the 
 long range of windows and stood looking — not 
 without at the bright morning — but within, at 
 a chaos of new thoughts. It was new to see a 
 stranger in the gallery, so long left in its fragrant 
 silence, its peopled solitude. Yet, he somehow 
 harmonised with it. It was as though one of 
 the nobles of Titian stood out from the frame a 
 living reality. The silence in which we now 
 stood suited better my present mood than the 
 petulancy of our small dispute anent the lady's 
 portrait. I judged myself to have been absurd 
 in entering into feelings he could not be 
 expected to share — in expressing anger which 
 to him would seem causeless. I could see that 
 he, too, was thinking — no doubt in some amaze. 
 As he stood, unheeding them, before the 
 pictures — catching my eye, he came forward 
 with a slight bow.
 
 114 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " When you are ready to leave the gallery, 
 Miss Eohan, I shall have much pleasure in 
 escorting you." 
 
 " This," thought I, " the rheumatic, pipe- 
 smoking Jacobite ? He is positively hand- 
 some ! " 
 
 " Why should we quarrel 1 " he said, relenting 
 as I looked at him. " I am for peace at any 
 price. Blot out all my offences, Miss Eohan, I 
 beseech you ! " 
 
 " I have nothing to forgive, sir." 
 
 " And I have forgiven all, Helen Eohan — 
 pardon this quaint way of using your name ! 
 Yet we do not say ' Signor Titian,' and ' Helen 
 Eohan' seems somehow to suit you. It sounds 
 like a title. Were your parents French ? " 
 
 " I don't know," said I, crimsoning, as for the 
 first time in my life they were spoken of to 
 me. " I don't know who they were. M'Caus- 
 land brought me up, such as I am," I added, 
 bitterly, feeling it an inexpressible indignity 
 that my name and parentage were at the mercy 
 of any chance-allusion. 
 
 " It is a French name," said he, appearing 
 not to note my embarrassment, " like my own, 
 Louis Casimir. When we are better friends 
 I hope you will call me Louis Casimir, without 
 any prefix — I earnestly hope it. Helen, has any-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 115 
 
 one ever told you that you are beautiful ? A 
 rose in this wild place ! " 
 
 " No," said I, " besides which I do not want 
 to be so. I do not want even to exist. Life is 
 cruel, but it is luckily only a transient evil. 
 I will give you my life," I added, jestingly, " to 
 add on to yours, if you will provide me an easy 
 and painless death." 
 
 " An euthanasia,'' he smiled. " But I do not 
 like to see you melancholy. You were not so 
 last night. You addressed the fishes quite 
 briskly and oratorically, and were specially 
 sarcastic and sincere to me. Let us go down 
 and see what our old friend. Sir Burleigh, is 
 about." 
 
 " Go ! " said I, my voice broken, my eyes 
 filling with tears — unusual emotion, unwonted 
 sympathy, melting the thin ice of stoicism and 
 impassiveness, in which fate had led me to 
 trust as a shield against hurts. " Leave me 
 here awhile — I will soon come down." 
 
 "Let me stay," said he gently, taking my 
 hand. " It is the least I can do, after your 
 noble sympathy last night to a forlorn, pro- 
 scribed wanderer." 
 
 " In those words, I am described," I thought. 
 " A homeless, proscribed wanderer, an unclaimed 
 daughter, a proscribed existence. This, then^ 
 
 I — 2
 
 ii6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 was the secret affinity between me and the 
 pathetic story of the portrait : — known, my 
 story might be subject of mob-insult, of priestly 
 censure, of a lover's desertion." So exquisitely 
 painful were these thoughts that, freeing my 
 hand, both held to my face could not stop the 
 fast-flowing tears, nor the presence of this 
 stranger avail ought in changing the strong- 
 current of emotion his careless inquiry had 
 originated. 
 
 He was neither impatient nor scornful of these 
 apparently causeless tears — but sat by, grave and 
 sympathetic, till, in surprise at so tender treat- 
 ment, they ceased. " Come," said he, taking my 
 hand, " I shall be blamed for this. So this is the 
 little stoic, the cynic of the mere, the prime 
 minister of the minnows, Sir Burleigh's hand- 
 some secretary, and a Jacobite's humane adviser 
 and saviour from rheumatism ! Yet not alto- 
 gether so — for my arm is stiff and sore ! Will 
 you write some letters for me, Helen Rohan, if 
 Sir Burleigh allow it ? " 
 
 I agreed, and, taking together a turn or two in 
 the gallery, we repaired to the study, where Sir 
 Burleigh was wondering at our long absence. 
 
 "You have a fine collection, Sir Burleigh/' 
 said the Jacobite cheerfully, " some excellent 
 Titians."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 117 
 
 " Yes," was the careless answer. '' I am glad 
 they please you sir — I know very little of them, 
 and care less ; but for their market value and 
 being heuiooms, the cedar panelling of the 
 gallery would please me just as well. Helen is 
 their guardian and admirer." 
 
 "- So I found, Sir Burleigh. But I have no 
 time to spare ; those letters must go to-night, or 
 Sergius will be anxious. Question — who is to 
 write % my arm is very stiff, I can scarce lift it." 
 
 " She'll do it," said Sir Burleigh, indicating 
 me ; and, pouring out wine for us all, he signed 
 to me to come forward. " Why ! " said he in 
 surprise, "have you seen a ghost in the gallery? 
 What does this mean, Casimir? " 
 
 " Some tame nightmare among the pictures! " 
 he responded. " It affected us both equally." 
 
 "Which of the d d things is it?" said 
 
 Sir Burleigh, irritably. " I'll have it taken down. 
 What end is answered by such dismal daubs? 
 Which is it, Helen?" 
 
 " I don't know," said I, in terrible embarrass- 
 ment. In spite of the warmth and potency of 
 the wine, I felt like fainting. It was so seldom I 
 suffered any feeling to gain a footing, that the 
 indulgence this morning was costing me dear. 
 
 With a growl of dissatisfaction at the useless- 
 ness of paintings, Sir Burleigh let the subject
 
 ii8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 drop, and glided, with his friend, into political 
 matters ; all of us drinking more wine than was 
 good for us — I, because Sir Burleigh insisted on 
 it, saying Cliiford port, if it could not chase 
 gout, could at least send away ghosts. Presently 
 Sir Burleigh left the room, re-entering with his 
 hands full of papers, recent gazettes, letters, 
 Government proclamations — over these they 
 rustled and whispered. Sir Burleigh said that 
 
 '' Tom Pelham was a d d fool ! " and snapped 
 
 his fingers whenever his name recurred. I 
 wondered who Tom Pelham was, and sat 
 dipping my pen in ink, listening, and thinking, 
 as well as the wine would let me. Suddenly, a 
 packet of letters was flung me, with orders to 
 copy them fair. I gladly settled myself to work. 
 Slowly the buzzing of the beeswing-port 
 evanished, leaving only its grateful warmth and 
 sustaining strength. Once fairly on my old 
 track, my usual calm serenity returned as 
 though it had never been ruflled, and I thought, 
 with a smile : " If I have been a fool, it is only 
 once in a way ; and ' Tom Pelham is a born 
 
 fool ! a d d fool ! a hopeless fool ! ' " 
 
 The letters were long, badly-written, full of 
 involved sentences and parentheses ; and, so en- 
 grossed did I become over them that both Sir 
 Burleigh and the Jacobite left the room un-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 119 
 
 remarked, though I strove to let no more of 
 my thoughts rest on them than just sufficed 
 for the copying. Yet I had not acquired 
 enough of the vis inertice of secretaryship not 
 to have some idea that these were dangerous 
 documents for Sir Burleigh to sanction. And, 
 on hearing the approaching step of Verney 
 Clifford, I thrust the letters into my pocket — 
 blotting a fair copy I had made, and opened a 
 big account-book lying on the table. 
 
 "What are you doing here?" said Milord, 
 in a sour fashion. " It seems to me a little 
 malingering is going on over these books, ta 
 end by someone being sold — and rather under 
 price, too. Give me that book ! " 
 
 " Fourquoi ? " I asked, stretching my arm 
 carelessly over it and holding it firmly. 
 
 " Never you mind what for ! " He came and 
 vn'ested it from me by main-force, turned over 
 the leaves like a jealous husband searching for 
 hidden love-billets ; and after shaking, it terrier- 
 fashion, by the covers, returned it with a disap- 
 pointed oath. 
 
 "If I thought you were playing me false," 
 he said fiercely, " imperilling the Manor by 
 any aid in Sir Burleigh's Jacobite foolery, I 
 would hunt you away from the HaU — ay, if 
 need were, with the dogs ! "
 
 I20 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " That would be unpleasant. So, when the 
 Hall is yours, I will stop away, milord." 
 
 " The Hall is mine now — to all intents and 
 
 purposes. Don't caress my dog ! -the d d 
 
 brute is too friendly to you as it is." He gave it a 
 resounding kick for spite, at which it howled 
 pitifully — its hot, stinking breath seeming to 
 scorch my face like a blast from a furnace. 
 
 " What does this display of brutality mean, 
 Verney % " 
 
 " A mask removed ! " Verney was beside him- 
 self with baffled fury. " I hate you and your 
 clan. All my time is taken up to counteract 
 the schemes of a dirty, cheat-the-gallows Scot 
 and a designing — ay a — Don't look at me 
 with your unabashed colourless effrontery ! A 
 lily's very well, but is soon told from a carrion- 
 ilower." 
 
 " By a botanist," I append, with a shrug. 
 " Why am I a victim to these pessimist views 
 of life, Tigral" 
 
 He hesitated a moment; then, his ^vrath 
 abating, came near and held out his hand — the 
 nearest thing he knew to expressing an apology. 
 I took it, somewhat amused at the sudden calm. 
 "Then you are not engaged in any of this 
 tomfoolery, Helen % " 
 
 " None ! — on my life ! " said mendaciously the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 121 
 
 serpent, whom the eel was trying to cozen. As 
 he sat down beside me, I plaited some of his 
 tawny hair into inextricable knots, to punish 
 him when he should next essay to comb them. 
 " Did you think it possible, dear Verney? '* 
 
 " What are you ' dear-Verneying ' me for, and 
 being so uncommonly kind about % " he asked 
 suspiciously. " Are you sprinkling white arsenic 
 on my hair \ " 
 
 " We do use it for the sheep,'' I said, push- 
 ing him away, '' but it's too expensive for hair- 
 powder." Then we heard Sir Burleigh coming, 
 and were silent. 
 
 " Bad news ! bad news ! " Sir Burleigh carried 
 a gazette. " I tell you, Verney, it will he bad 
 news so long as he has no followers but old men. 
 Why don't you follow your father's steps \ " 
 
 " You mean in the Jacobite cause, sir ? I'll 
 
 see my father d d before I follow in the dance 
 
 that lost him his head. So long as you choose to 
 belong to it, for so long I am neuter. When 
 you give it up as hopeless, let me know; and 
 by — the next week shall see me the richer by 
 thirty thousand." 
 
 " Keep to your d d Hanover ! " Sir Bur- 
 leigh's teeth set grimly, and Clifford replied by 
 striding from the room and slamming the door. 
 
 " He would be worth a regiment — a regiment.''
 
 122 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Sir Burleigh crumpled the gazette in his hand, 
 and then, spreading it open on the table, pored 
 over the account of one of those small engage- 
 ments that were so disastrous to the Pretender's 
 cause — ignominious strivings against superior 
 and crushing forces, comparable only to the 
 struggles of an entrapped animal; whilst I re- 
 sumed my interrupted copying, and, having 
 o-iven the letters into Sir Burleigh's hands, who 
 scarce lifted his head to receive them, went 
 home. 
 
 It was a day of blue unclouded sunshine, and 
 I paused on the edge of the mere to watch the 
 herons stalking about in the rippleless water, 
 only a faint sense of languor and hunger 
 marring the pleasantness of the rest and warmth 
 — a sense that I should be happier if I could lie 
 face downward in the lapping water and wake 
 again no more, smiled on for ever by the sky, 
 sighed over for aye by the oak-forest near at 
 hand. I had no portion in this life, either of 
 pleasure or of pain.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 An unwonted noise of angry voices rang out 
 from the parlour as I passed in from the farm- 
 yard. The labourers were all away, driving 
 cattle ; Elizabeth, in the stable, talking to her 
 lover, the horse-boy, who was grooming my 
 uncle^s roadster. Only Elsie, deaf and taciturn, 
 sat knitting in the chimney-corner. She lifted 
 up her face, with something of a malicious ex- 
 pression on its thin Scotch features, and said, 
 pointing to the parlour : 
 
 " Master Alexis, he be come home, Helen 
 Rohan ; an^ a rare soldier, too ! There's a kintra 
 clatter gaun on the day — let those hear it that 
 may. I thank the Lord I canna hear the sodger- 
 aiths he's aye swearin' sae loud an' deep. It is 
 something about a woman. Eh ! to be wived in 
 ae week, is a gran' stroke, but ye maun nae be 
 nice about beauty or gudeness." 
 
 A terrible sensation crept over me. Was this 
 muttering old hag proclaiming truly the casting- 
 away of Alexis — his ruin, body and soul ? Had 
 he, in very madness or drunkenness, so disgraced 
 himself? A fresh outburst of furious words
 
 124 A STAIESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 from the parlour, in M'Causland's voice, seemed 
 to confirm the truth that something dreadful had 
 occurred. I went in, shutting the door to 
 behind me. In the tall soldier standing by the 
 hearth, I only half-realised Alexis. Yes, there — 
 there, by the window, was a woman. She 
 turned at my entrance, looking at the whole 
 scene with indifference and hardihood — a re- 
 pulsive, gaudily-dressed, vicious, and dreadful 
 presence. 
 
 " Tell yer ain story," said M'Causland, in a 
 strange subdued and dreary tone. " Helen, this is 
 vSandy, the lad we loved — your husband, with 
 patience and God's blessing ! Give him up, 
 now, girl ! Yon is his choice ! " 
 
 He pointed to the woman, who curtesied and 
 blinked as at a formal introduction. Sandy, 
 his elbow on the high mantel, had an angry, 
 lowering, and vengeful frown on his face. He 
 looked as though he had but recently recovered 
 from hard-drinking — handsome, sullen, dissi- 
 pated. 
 
 " I have come " — said he, fixing his eyes on 
 me ; then stopped, caught his breath with a sort 
 of sob, and went on. " I have come, Helen — I 
 swore I would. A bad woman — the very worst — 
 is better than a devil, such as you. Yes, a devil 
 — this is your work ! Are you satisfied — pleased 1 "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 125 
 
 " I am disgusted,'' said I in a low rapid tone 
 that she might not follow nor hear. " I disclaim 
 being cause of so vile a degradation. Say it is 
 but a wild threat, Sandy, for God's sake ! " 
 
 " Yes," said M'Causland, clasping his hand, 
 " say so laddie — Helen will have you — dinna ye 
 ken women are aye strange to their best lovers 
 — sayin' no an' meanin' yes ? " 
 
 "It is too late," said Alexis, with an ashen 
 face. " She put me in hell, and there I must 
 stay. Helen ! Helen ! answer for my broken 
 heart, my rived soul, if ye can — if ye dare ; but 
 do not mock me ! " 
 
 " Mock ! " wailed M'Causland. " Lad, this is 
 the mockery of hell ! I would rather see you 
 dead ! — to your cousin, you must be. Go frae her 
 sight ! — her face should hae haunted an' kept ye 
 from this." 
 
 " I tell you," said Alexis fiercely, " it hunted 
 me on — on ; that woman yonder is a woman ; 
 Helen is a devil — pitiless, merciless, a torturing 
 fiend ! I loved her, and, for sport, she has 
 broken my life — dragged me to the dust ! " 
 
 His fierce eyes rested on mine, which met 
 them with steadfast scorn and defiance, for his 
 falsely accusing me. How the brown Highland 
 eyes contracted with voiceless rage and anguish 
 as I looked into them ! I could imagine Alexis,
 
 126 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 in this silent, demoniacal possession, stabbing an 
 enemy to the heart — his hand even by force of 
 hereditary instinct grasped his dirk. The blind 
 fury of blood was on him. I shuddered to think, 
 should CliiFord enter, how it would then be 
 assuaged. 
 
 This silent scene lasted perhaps a few seconds 
 of time ; yet in it years of knowledge, of fear, of 
 hate and anguish, were expressed. I felt then 
 verily guilty of some of the sin he charged to 
 me. 
 
 " Sandy,'' said I, crossing over and taking his 
 arm, to free myself from that terrible glance, 
 " forgive me ! " 
 
 " When it comes to that." A terrible tainted 
 voice spoke. The woman whom we had for- 
 gotten. 
 
 "When it comes to that. Miss, he's my 
 husband, please ye ; but I'm agreeable if some 
 whiskey is providit iree. I don't grudge a cast- 
 off sweetheart a kiss an' good-bye — not me ! I'm 
 not one o' the jealous sort ! Ask the regiment ! 
 ask Blount — he's the Colonel — there's not a 
 peaceabler woman amongst them." 
 
 The whine in which she uttered this self- 
 laudation entered like a loathsome poison into 
 one's ears. There was extremest self-abasement, 
 but not humility — falseness, without cause,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 127 
 
 unfathomable. I felt Alexis tremble like a 
 leaf — all his fierceness gone. 
 
 " Give her whiskey," I said to M'Causland, 
 who mutely and shuddering obeyed me, carrying 
 it into the kitchen, whence I saw old Elsie 
 retreat, as from a pestilence, as the woman 
 followed him. Free from this dreadful presence, 
 we stood like two creatures, one of whom is 
 doomed to death. Poor Sandy was trembling 
 as in presence of a dark fate. The wretched 
 woman had seated herself before the kitchen 
 fire, apparently oblivious of every good but 
 physical comfort. I could not, till the door 
 closed between us, take my eyes from her move- 
 ments. From her they withdrew to Sandy. 
 The very antipodes of her moral and physical 
 degradation, he stood by the hearth. None of 
 the Romans of whom he used to read could have 
 presented a finer, a more commanding presence ; 
 even in his wrath, in his despair, and the ven- 
 geance he had planned, there was evidence, not 
 of subtlety, of invention, or native malice, but of 
 boyish rage, of unreasoning, unreflective an- 
 guish. The pity of it — of this self-sacrifice — 
 filled my heart with bitter pain. " Sandy," said 
 I hating to reproach him — willing to take all, 
 his suff'ering on myself, " do not persevere in 
 hating me so. If you knew how I sufier, you
 
 128 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 would forgive me." He trembled, but did not 
 reply — his anger was just ebbing. I took his 
 hands and kissed them — those hard, strong hands, 
 which all my life had helped me, and which now 
 were so palsy-stricken by emotion. " Give up 
 this wretched vengeance." I drew his un- 
 resisting head down to my arms. " Surely 
 you would not disgrace me] You think 
 me cruel, yet I love you. Your grief 
 is mine, your interests are mine ; have some 
 pity for me." I kissed his face, heavy tears 
 were answering my appeal, his arms clasped me 
 with convulsive strength. All the better part of 
 his love for me was prompting him to confession, 
 to repentance. I felt the faint, heavy throbbings 
 of his heart as he strove to speak, but no words 
 would come through the inarticulate tempest of 
 his emotions. A moment, and he had been 
 rescued. Horror ! — the door opened, and pre- 
 ceded by an indefinable exhalation — like what 
 could be imaged to be that of a moral miasma — 
 the "vengeance" in bodily shape approached. 
 Hiccoughing and laughing she took my arm. I 
 felt as though some loathsome animal touched 
 me, and shuddered away from him in retreat- 
 ing from her. What she said is too horrible to 
 be even imagined. Alexis, stunned by the tran- 
 sition, stood appalled and helpless. Apparently
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 129 
 
 enjoying the advantage of an audience, torrents 
 of unimaginable language poured from her lips. 
 The whiskey has loosened her tongue, the 
 silence encouraged her. 
 
 In the midst of it, unheard, unheeded. Sir 
 Burleigh came in. One glance seemed to possess 
 him of the situation, and raising his riding 
 switch he brought it down sharply over her 
 shoulders, with force enough to bring her vile 
 eloquence to an abrupt stop. 
 
 " Get out," he said, as though speaking to a 
 dog, and motioning her to the door. The 
 suddenness, the stern and commanding air of 
 the speaker, the force of the well wielded whip, 
 compelled her to obey, and she slunk out 
 alarmed, eyeing his fierce countenance in vain 
 for any meekness which would warrant her 
 in re-commencing. 
 
 "Here, M'Causland," called Sir Burleigh, 
 " what are you about ? loose the dogs on her." 
 
 This sent her flying from the farm, pursued by 
 Elizabeth with a stout broom ; and we were alone, 
 stunned, poisoned, yet, thank God, freed from so 
 vile a presence. 
 
 " Eh ! " said Sir Burleigh sardonically, " you 
 are keeping good company, Helen Rohan ; and 
 you, sir," turning to the unhappy Sandy fiercely, 
 " can you no better than bring such callets here ]
 
 130 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 By you ought to be shot; you are a shame 
 
 to manhood — a cur, sir." 
 
 " Sir," said I, ranging myself with Sandy, 
 " you do not know the whole — pray cease talk- 
 ing; or go," I muttered aside, shame of it 
 gnawing my very heart. 
 
 " Eh ! Helen," said he, in surprise, " did you 
 want her here % " 
 
 " No," said I, indignantly, " nor you either, if 
 talk is to re-commence, abuse, indignity, false- 
 hood. See if you can help me ; if not, be silent 
 and go." I felt my cheeks flame, and my eyes 
 flash. Alexis cowered down in humiliation. I 
 faced Sir Burleigh fiercely. 
 
 " Help you," said he, " my dear, yes. How, 
 Helen r' 
 
 "I don't know. Sir Burleigh. Tell Sandy 
 how he is to shake off* that — that awful, terrible 
 woman. He has married her." And weeping 
 bitterly at the thought, I withdrew to the far 
 end of the room. 
 
 " D'ye hear ? Wake up, sir," said Su' Bur- 
 leigh, roughly, to Alexis, " and listen. You, sir, 
 are a young fellow — I am an old one. Take the 
 counsel of a friend — at whatever cost, shake ofl" 
 that disgrace. I tell you that woman has ceased 
 to be a human being. She is " 
 
 " My wife," said Alexis, his insane fury reviv-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 131 
 
 ing at sight of the hated Clifford — fury which 
 battled with and overcame shame, mounting in 
 dull crimson patches to his white face. 
 
 " My God ! " said Sir Burleigh, aghast. " But 
 listen, my lad. Is it likely she is your wife only ] 
 Give her a couple of guineas, she will confess 
 to as many more husbands ; get your proofs, 
 and you are free. Come, I counsel you as I 
 would my own, if they could be conceived to 
 look on such carrion as yon. Here, free your- 
 self," said he. " It will be easily managed. I 
 will write a line to Blount. Take this." He 
 drew two guineas from his pocket, and prof- 
 fered them to him. " Come, my lad, for Helen's 
 sake ! give over this perversity." 
 
 Sandy remained silent, w^hether heeding or 
 not I could not tell. I thought Sir Burleigh's 
 counsel the inspiration of a god. Who but he 
 would have thought of it ? I was awe-struck at 
 its wisdom and consummate knowledge of the 
 world. 
 
 "Why did not Alexis speak, and thankfully 
 avail of it to shake off his dreadful chain? " 
 
 " Come," repeated Sir Burleigh, persuasively, 
 laying his hand on Alexis' shoulder. " This is 
 not an uncommon folly, but, man alive ! you have 
 eyes, surely, and ears? Faugh ! I am poisoned ! " 
 
 Alexis, who was seated with down-bent head,
 
 T32 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 rose to his feet. In a voice whose strangeness 
 and harshness made every word distinct, he said : 
 
 " I am poisoned ! To listen to you, to see 
 her," — he pointed to me — "would poison a 
 legion of eyes, of ears. I tell you that woman, 
 vile and bad, is less vile than Helen Eohan — 
 is, to her, what the worst living being is to a 
 corrupt demon." Pushing back his hand, he 
 strode past the astonished Sir Burleigh, and 
 with his face disfigured and convulsed with 
 passion, left the room and the house. 
 
 With an angry flush on his brow, Sir Burleigh 
 sat for a few moments, on this savage rejection 
 of his aid. Then, repocketing his guineas, rose 
 and desired me to acquaint M'Causland that he 
 was there. 
 
 " Never mind," said he, as I prepared miser- 
 ably to go in search of him. " Come here, 
 Helen! Now," he said, putting his hands on 
 my shoulders and looking into my face, " has 
 that hound Alexis ever said this to you before ? " 
 
 " No," said I, miserably. " He is mad. Thank 
 you for your help, sir. He is quite mad. Do 
 not regard his words. He is not to answer for 
 them." 
 
 " But I will, by ! " said he, " and I warn 
 
 him, if ever he set foot on my land again, I will 
 have him chasseed off" it like a wolf What ! I
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 133 
 
 am not safe from my own tenants? My own 
 stewards ? Doing my best for him too ! " 
 
 "He meant Verney," said I, impatiently, 
 shaking his hands from my shoulders. " Every- 
 one thinks of themselves, Sir Burleigh. I am 
 hurt by it, too." Retreating, I stood by the 
 window, wroth at my own wrongs being con- 
 sidered less than nothing, prevailing over good 
 counsel and gratitude. Thus for some moments 
 we stood silent. 
 
 " Helen," said Sir Burleigh, crossing, in some 
 little embarrassment, to where I stood, " forgive 
 me, my dear, a word I must say to you." 
 
 "What is it?" said I, indifferently and 
 scornful. 
 
 "'Tis about Mr. Casimir," said he. "You 
 were better to have little to say to him except I 
 am present. In showing him the picture-gallery 
 you showed him a picture he has not forgot." 
 
 "Why," said I, getting scarlet as I re- 
 membered the little contention over the portrait 
 — " Mistris to a King." " It was but that lady 
 in white, sir. He would tell me her history, and 
 I had a history of my own, which I preferred, 
 and so was vexed with him." 
 
 "Exactly!" said Sir Burleigh, with dry 
 emphasis. "That is the sort of thing which 
 leads to other histories, and so on. Casimir is
 
 134 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 not one, either, to let ' I dare not, wait upon I 
 would.' It is possible I may want you at the 
 Hall for writing, and I order you most specially 
 to avoid him." 
 
 "Very well," I said indifferently, adding, 
 impertinently : " He is but a Jacobite ! " 
 
 " By ! " said Sir Burleigh, indignantly. 
 
 " Here is fiat rebellion. This is but a roue ! That 
 is but a Jacobite ! Who are you, madam ? " 
 
 " I am only Helen Eohan," said I, meekly, 
 but with an upward glance that brought a smile 
 to his angry face. 
 
 " You are a handsome wench ! " said he, " and 
 ready-witted as a Frenchwoman." And, with this 
 obliging speech, his eyes dwelt upon my face so 
 long that I grew embarrassed — though it was 
 but a speculative and no admiring glance, a 
 glance as though to estimate what attraction — 
 having none for him — I might have for others. 
 
 " Casimir," I thought, angrily, " the pied 
 magpie ! telling him about the portrait ! The 
 Jacobite tell-tale ! " Other hard names I called 
 him, the atmosphere being unwholesome with 
 that sort of eloquence reprehended by St. Jude. 
 
 M'Causland came in ere long, prefacing his 
 apology for his absence by a lament for Sandy. 
 
 " I know all that," interrupted his master, " a 
 ne'er-do-weel newy is not so rare, M'Causland.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 155 
 
 Save an' except the woman, milord is troublesome 
 to me, as yours is to you. " Except the woman," 
 he continued irritably, " the very thing I'm here 
 about. Here's Verney gone daft off after a 
 whey-faced beggar-woman by name Tremen- 
 heere ! The very same," he added to me, " who 
 came to the Hall with her father and Colonel 
 Blount. I came over, Helen Rohan, to know is it 
 not the case that she told you she was troth- 
 plight to Blount? Verney denies it to be so." 
 
 " Yes, Sir Burleigh ; she referred to her en- 
 gagement several times as a settled thing, 
 and Colonel Blount called her his wife and his 
 life when he passed her the sauce-boat at 
 luncheon." 
 
 " I knew it," said Sir Burleigh. " And now, 
 since your memory is so good, pray, did not you 
 tattle to and tempt her — ^like Satan tempting 
 Sin — with milord's prospects and position? " 
 
 " No ! " said I stoutly, " I only told her milord 
 would have the Manor, the land, the ready- 
 money, the plenishing, the pictures, and the 
 prestige." 
 
 " The what? " he asked angrily. 
 
 "The glory,'' said I, giving the freest trans- 
 lation I could remember, " of being a CliiFord." 
 
 "What is your object, mistress, in all this 
 catalogue?"
 
 136 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 "No special object, Sir Burleigh ; but she 
 seemed not to think much of the Manor — 
 But, then, she is ignorant : she does not know a 
 Velasquez from a Rembrandt ! '^ 
 
 " Oh ! the d d pictures ! " said he im- 
 patiently. " Mind you, I'll lock up that galTery 
 and throw the key away. Here's a pretty coil 
 brewed through it! Verney gone daft for 
 Blount's troth-plight, a woman without a penny 
 — a beggarly soldier's daughter, brought up in 
 barracks — and I — I to have her and all her 
 whimpering brats at the Hall when I have 
 gout on me. That is the blessed prospect! 
 But this madness shall be stopped — if I have 
 to marry myself ! " 
 
 " Gude Lord!" ejaculated M'Causland in 
 dismay at this self-election of his master as 
 scapegoat. 
 
 " With these parricides about us, M'Causland, 
 there will be no help for it. We must get a 
 counter-brood, and leave them to light it out." 
 
 With the solemn announcement of this 
 practical policy, and its grave reception by my 
 uncle, so ludicrous a picture was conjured up 
 of the Hall as a Champ de Mars for rival 
 factions, that, against my will, I blurted into 
 a little laugh. 
 
 *' What is it to you, Helen Eohan? " said Sir
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 137 
 
 Burleigh, in apparent surprise, whipping his 
 high-topped boots. 
 
 " Nothing, Sir Burleigh, except that I hope it 
 won't happen. I like you best as you are, and 
 the Manor too." 
 
 " Yes," he growled. " No running wild over 
 
 the Hall, then, with a d d woman there ! 
 
 No more port, Helen, or pictures. No, it is 
 best as it is — eh, M'Causland ? " 
 
 " Ou ay ! " said M'Causland with a shrug, " we 
 are peaceable, quiet folk, sir, an' no sayin' hoo a 
 couple o' women-folk, in authority, wad brak up 
 the blessed calm o' oor lives — as puir Sandy 
 has wrecked his ! " 
 
 " Yet something must be planned to stop 
 Verney Clifford in his madness. Blount might 
 have a hint writ him of this. Come back with 
 me, Helen, I have, besides, other work for you." 
 
 " Ay, go ! " said M'Causland, " it's weel ye 
 shuld hae the sight an' the sound of yon painted 
 callet out of yere mind. I must ride over," he 
 said to me, aside, when Sir Burleigh had gone 
 to mount his cob, " an' see if by any means 
 Sandy can be saved. Blount gambles, they say. 
 I must give him money to free the lad. It 
 canna be a true marriage, as Sir Burleigh says." 
 
 " Yes,*' said I, " at any cost set him fiee." 
 " Don't talk to me o' ladies," said Sir Burleigh,
 
 138 A STAIESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 referring to his grievance as I walked beside the 
 cob into the park-gates. " I tell you, milord 
 must have money with his wife. And why you 
 should have disobliged me by running him up 
 to her, I can t make out." 
 
 " I don't think my words influenced her, sir. 
 She said Blount was her father's choice, not 
 hers, and did not seem to care for him much." 
 
 " And what the blessed host is there to care 
 for in that villain Verney? You must ha' spoke 
 fair of him — ay, like to like of his position — 
 high enough — high as a cat in an empty garret. 
 A nice thing for me ! A spy in the land, and 
 me with business on hand that would tax the 
 ingenuity of the devil ! Gout, too ! " 
 
 Thus he was grumbling half to himself, as we 
 went on in the brilliant spring sunshine, when 
 the Jacobite came in sight. " There's another 
 curst complication ! " he sighed. Casimir here 
 broke cover by. " And he will be taken ! " He 
 alighted as his guest came up, standing beside 
 the cob, and bowing low as I had not seen him 
 bow before. For this unwonted humility, I cast 
 about for a cause, but could find none in the 
 quiet presence of this tall, thin man. 
 
 " Sir," said Sir Burleigh, " is not this an un- 
 necessary risk, being abroad in open daylight? '' 
 
 " Where is the risk? " said he, carelessly, " in
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 139 
 
 this lonely park? I could not remain mewed 
 up this fine day, and have met no one. Milord 
 is still at Letchford, I hear." 
 
 " Yes, and like to be ! " growled Sir Burleigh, 
 his grievance recurring. " He is after another 
 man's wife." 
 
 " Is it possible ? " said the Jacobite, in a tone 
 of civil regret, as though he expostulated with 
 the higher powers that such thing were. Then, 
 when Sir Burleigh had remounted, he waved 
 him on. " I'll attend Miss Bohan in. Sir Bur- 
 leigh ; but, first, I am going to see the lake, and 
 get her to show me the very spot I slept on the 
 other night. I lost a ring, there, with a good 
 stone in it." 
 
 " Umph ! " said Sir Burleigh, discontentedly. 
 " I shall be awaiting you, milord." He rode on, 
 looking very stern at his advice being disre- 
 garded. 
 
 "What's the matter with him?" said Mr. 
 Casimir. " Surely Verney Clifford can take 
 care of himself? I'll take care of you, Helen." 
 He held out his hand. I withdrew both mine 
 into the furred cuffs of my pelisse, and led on 
 to the lake, which was not far off, resolved to 
 obey Sir Burleigh to the letter. 
 
 "There," said I, "is the place where you 
 slept. What beauty or curiousness is in it?
 
 I40 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Do you often make pilgrimages to such shrines % " 
 (I did not believe in the story of the ring.) 
 
 " When I can get such guides, and no better 
 excuse ! " he laughed. " Besides, I wanted to 
 talk to you, quite seriously. It is a pity to be 
 at the mercy of chance meetings. Why cannot 
 we arrange one ] I have been thinking so ever 
 since you went away, and blaming myself. I 
 hoped to meet you." 
 
 This audacity amused me. Clearly, he thought 
 I would willingly vary the monotony of country- 
 life with a Jacobite lover. 
 
 " It was very good of you," said I, " but, if 
 we occasionally meet at the Hall, I shall be 
 satisfied — crammed, as you doubtless are, with 
 excellences." 
 
 " About that, I don't know," said he, taking 
 my hand, " but I am hungry as the sea for you. 
 Ay, it is true ! Does it take so long to love 
 a rose, a gem, sunlight, or life \ All excellence 
 appeals to our hearts at once. Now, Helen, let 
 us drop metaphor. If I am Casimir to everyone 
 else, I will be myself to my sweet countrywoman. 
 Dear, I am Charles Stuart. I tell you that you 
 may know how scanty my time here will be — it 
 may be a few days or a few hours — let me have 
 assurance that you will not forget me ! " 
 
 In amaze at this revelation, my eyes fixed on
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 141 
 
 his face, wondering I had not before surmised to 
 whom those blue eyes and long features per- 
 tained. There were many Stuarts in this picture- 
 gallery, and yet the likeness had escaped me. 
 Recovering myself with the reflection that this 
 was no reason for neglecting Sir Burleigh's 
 orders against conversing with him alone, rather 
 an added cause for strict obedience, I said : " I 
 thank you, sir, for this confidence. I — I hope 
 your cause will soon succeed.'' 
 
 This, uttered " lamely and unfashionably," was 
 all, for the moment, that I could muster of words, 
 but my eyes were, spite of me, busy scanning 
 the features of the Jacobite. Not a doubt of the 
 truth of this revelation entered my mind. Sir 
 Burleigh's manner, though familiar, had been 
 indefinably respectful to him. It even seemed 
 as if in some degree I had been prepared for 
 this — so little, after all, did it surprise me; 
 possibly I had, unknown to myself, associated 
 him with the Stuart portrait — otherwise, why 
 should I be able to take so calmly an announce- 
 ment the import of which to the country I well 
 knew, as well as its danger to the Cliflords ? 
 
 "You are a Jacobite," now said he. "You 
 have written letters for, sheltered, comforted, 
 aided, abetted me. Are you sorry for it, 
 Helen Eohan?"
 
 142 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " No," said I, hanging my head, beginning — 
 like the man in the parable, who had unduly- 
 elevated himself at the feast — with shame to 
 take the lowest place. 
 
 " You," he continued gravely, " have declared 
 me — contrary to King George, his cro^vn and 
 dignity — to be crammed full of excellences ! 
 You have canonised me, by declaring the ferns 
 I slept on ' a shrine! ' You have advised me how 
 to govern, in your address to the minnows ! You 
 have given me information about the Guelph's 
 troops at Letchford ! And," he added, dropping 
 his jesting tone, " I have trusted you with my 
 life ! How else," he went on, " could I convince 
 you of my earnestness — my sincerity in desiring 
 your friendship? To you I could not sail 
 under false colours or come in a feigned name. 
 Casimir, it is true, is my name : yet you have 
 inspired me with a feeling that — that — in short 
 it is happiness to me to interest you in my 
 fortunes. If I thought we could not meet 
 again, everything would be dreary and indif- 
 ferent. When you"spoke to me here — counselled 
 me — my heart stirred at sound of your voice, 
 I knew my fate stood beside me.'' 
 
 " Yet," said I, recovering somewhat from my 
 awe, at this extravagance of homage, " you told 
 me the devil had sent me to disturb you ! "
 
 A SIATESMAN'S LOVE. 143 
 
 At this anti-climax, he laughed heartily, pro- 
 fessing immediately great penitence, as he could 
 not see who I was, in the dark — forgetting his 
 fate-theory. 
 
 " Ay," said he, " let us get comfortably back 
 to everyday — I hate to be en prince to a pretty 
 woman, and you are without doubt as lovely as 
 Fayre Rosamond." 
 
 " Beautiful exceedingly ! " said I. " I like 
 quaint compliments best." 
 
 " Who pays you quaint compliments? " asked 
 he suspiciously, " Sir Burleigh or Milord 
 CKfford?" 
 
 " Milord's are rather quaint," I replied, 
 thinking with some amusement of their variety 
 and force, more especially of the "carrion 
 flower,'' which, however, I did not rehearse. 
 " And Sir Burleis^h calls me a starched minx, a 
 Bess o' Bedlam, and a jade. Now, shall we go 
 to him?" 
 
 " Sir Burleigh seems your all-in-all?" said he. 
 " No wonder he looked ill-pleased at my taking 
 you away. You worship him, apparently ; he is 
 the fetish of these parts ? " 
 
 " Not especially so, but he is very good to us, 
 and to me in particular. I like the Hall," I added 
 reflectively. " It is large and the rooms echo, 
 it always looks calm, and the better for being
 
 144 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 free of people. Sir Burleigh is just enough — it 
 might look unnatural without any life." 
 
 "lam afraid not, to you, Helen Eohan; it 
 seems that to ' live in a nook merely monastic ' 
 would suit your calm cynicism admirably. Is 
 it not strange ? — but yesterday we were strangers, 
 thousands of leagues separating us, morally, 
 almost every probability that we should each 
 remain unknown to the other ; and now to be 
 standing here on the brink of this gloomy lake, 
 never more to be satisfied unless we are 
 together." 
 
 " Very strange ! " said I drily, answering 
 designedly only the letter of his speech. 
 
 " Ah, well, Helen ! you know what I meant, 
 though it was a bit too metaphorical : I shall 
 never more be satisfied without you.'' 
 
 I looked across the lake, and thought I 
 must be dreaming all this — that it was an illu- 
 sion bred of the chaos in which the afternoon 
 had passed ; that it was an effort of nature to 
 remove, by a dream, the pained reality of Alexis's 
 perversion; a silly, soft reverie, conjuring up 
 utter impossibilities. Long level rays of the 
 westering sun came in bars, as though resting 
 on rather than illumining the dark impassive 
 water. An intense silence fell, as when, in a 
 dream, one listens to a far-off sound. The still
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 145 
 
 silentness of the spring-day seemed to assure me 
 of the completeness of my dream. From it — call 
 it reverie or wliat you will — I was roused by the 
 Jacobite taking, my hand, which he raised to his 
 lips. I shivered at the touch, as at an awaken- 
 ing, and raised my eyes wonderingly to his. 
 These were no dream-eyes — a very plain and 
 palpable earthly fire burned in them, such as 
 used to light up the brown Highland eyes of 
 Alexis. " Is beauty," thought I, ashamed, " but a 
 torch to light up such looks in men's eyes — to 
 equalise the best and the worst — Blount, the 
 satyr, and this Jacobite Hyperion ? " I coldly 
 withdrew my hand and proposed walking on, to 
 which he assented with a slight blush and a look 
 of apology and contrition, as if rebuked by my 
 gaze. During our absence. Sir Burleigh, mindful 
 of his promise, had been laboriously writing a 
 letter to Colonel Blount, re Alexis, which he gave 
 me to read, drawing me aside as he said : " If you 
 can think of anything to add, you may put it in, 
 but I think it will do." It was as follows : — 
 
 " Deak Sir, 
 
 "My steward's nephew has enlisted in 
 your troop, name McCausland. He is a respect- 
 able lad. If, as his Colonel, you would free him 
 from the woman who claims to be his wife — but 
 
 L
 
 146 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 who doubtless has other husbands — you would 
 confer a great obligation on me, as I take a per- 
 sonal interest in him. I enclose a bank-bill for 
 ten guineas, which please use on his account. 
 Let this letter be strictly between ourselves. 
 " I am, dear Sir, 
 
 " Yours to command, 
 
 " BUELEIGH ClIFFOED. 
 
 " Burleigh Manor." 
 
 This, copied fair, was the substance which 
 he bade me give to M'Causland to send off to 
 Letchford at once. "And," said he reproachfully, 
 for the Jacobite had left the room, " Casimir's 
 Colonel, if he had one, would want a warning 
 about you Helen. Why did you not obey me ? 
 If you knew the consequence, you would. 
 He was little less than mad to be abroad." 
 I sighed, being hungry, tired, and dispirited, 
 and, relenting in his censure, he said it was 
 Casimir's fault. As it was, suffering me to sit 
 idle a- while and rest, while he stood by the 
 fire, deep in thought, we both listened to 
 the echoing footfall of the Jacobite (I dared 
 not even think of him as the Prince) pacing 
 up and down the hall outside, restlessly. 
 Presently, finding he did not retreat. Sir 
 Burleigh accompanied me to the door, dismissing
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 147 
 
 me with orders to hasten home, as 'twas getting 
 dusk. 
 
 Casimir stopped on his restless walk, and 
 bowed an adieu. In the dusk I thought a 
 heavy and hunted look rested on his face, but 
 it may only have been the shadows cast by the 
 banners overhead. I went away, slowly haunted 
 by an oppressive fear for him, for the first 
 time in my life leaving behind me, at the Hall, 
 anxious and foreboding thoughts, which eclipsed 
 and subdued my grief for Alexis, even banishing 
 in some measure the memory of it. The dis- 
 closure to me of his rank scarce influenced me, 
 unless to more fear for him. Verney was away 
 at Letchford, 'twas true, and there were 
 chambers enough at the Hall never visited by 
 him, where twenty men might be concealed ; 
 yet, his suspicions aroused, he would search till 
 not a crevice was unexplored — and that he had 
 suspicions, however wide of the true mark, w^as 
 evident by his charging me with complicity. 
 While writing for my master, the whole situa- 
 tion was involved and perilous — a feeling like 
 that of a coming storm hovered over it ; from 
 some expressions in the letters I had copied, I 
 gathered that the object of the Prince's visit 
 was to obtain money from Sir Burleigh, who 
 was very wealthy and not illiberal, living, by
 
 348 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 choice, his lonely secluded life, having doubtless 
 enjoyed in his youth the distractions and dis- 
 sipations usual with men of rank — perhaps tiring 
 of them, as Timon of his friends and flatterers. 
 
 The Hall, with its two occupants, followed and 
 haunted me, their perplexities seemed mine. 
 I strove to turn my thoughts loyally to our own 
 aflairs — to think of and for Sandy, to hope that 
 the mediation of M'Causland and Sir Burleigh's 
 letter would set him free ; but, after a shudder, 
 of remembrance of the woman, she vanished, 
 and again reappeared the Jacobite, melancholy 
 and restless, and his anxious troubled host, 
 planning for him two unbanishable figures. 
 
 The whole of the danger was not then present 
 to me — youth has its ostrich faculty of hiding 
 its head and fancying none can then see it. The 
 various plans that crossed my mind presupposed 
 that others, equally interested to thwart them, 
 would not see them. 
 
 " To thine own self be true, 
 And it will follow, as the day the night. 
 Thou canst not then be false to any man." 
 
 Often as I had read these words of Polonius 
 they did not incorporate themselves in my few 
 maxims of self-government. I felt rather a call 
 to be true to others and leave myself out, forget- 
 ting that, with the self-crowned and garlanded 
 
 I
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 149 
 
 Ophelia, " the envious sliver broke," and that 
 all my schemes must have a stronger and surer 
 foundation than my conviction of their ease and 
 feasibility, in the acquiescence and co-operation 
 of those concerned in them. Of intelligence I 
 had no lack, but "of experience very little, or 
 instead of vague uneasiness I should have felt 
 acute alarm and fear. Sir Burleigh's letter was 
 in my pocket, sealed with the Clifford crest. 
 Feeling it unsafe there, as the wax might break, 
 I took it out and read over the address, 
 thinking with some disgust of Blount, who could, 
 as a commander of men, sanction their destruc- 
 tion. Both Sir Burleigh and M'Causland agreed 
 that he was not above indirect bribery. For the 
 first time I wished I had something of value to 
 cast to this moral hog that would induce him to 
 protect the helpless Alexis, helpless by reason 
 of his pure and Puritanical training, by his 
 temporary insanity of wrath against us. The 
 ten guineas enclosed, and the hope of more, 
 might induce him to protect Sandy for the time, 
 and, after, he would recover from this delirium 
 of wrongs and jealousy, and his natural shrewd- 
 ness would be shield enough. It was only now, 
 now — as in the crisis and delirium of a fever — 
 he must be taken care of, poor Sandy '• poor 
 fellow ! I was not indifferent, as he pictured me,
 
 150 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to his feelings, to his sufferings. If only I could 
 induce him to believe me, I would write to him 
 at length ; he was reflective, and would think it 
 over perhaps, believe me, and be comforted. I 
 again put away Sir Burleigh's letter. We were 
 so inextricably mixed and mingled with the 
 Clifl'ords that, in spite of our difl*erential rank 
 and often infirmities of temper, we seemed like 
 one family of near kinship. Witness the distur- 
 bance made amongst us by Alexis' defection. 
 
 If Sir Burleigh had expressed a civil regret, 
 and left us alone, it would have been as a moral 
 earthquake dividing us for ever by a great gulf. 
 So, when I knew his pleasure or interest lay in 
 concealing his guest, it would have been un- 
 natural to me to thwart him, even though I 
 myself suffered. For assuredly that man had 
 an attraction for me that none other held. 
 So I mused as, warmly wrapped round in 
 a plaid, the sunshine, its last rays gleam- 
 ing on to the drift dead leaves of the high 
 banks, I slowly went homeward. The stillness 
 seemed to invite one to a soothing rest, and 
 obeying an impulse of fatigue, I sat down 
 amongst the twisted roots of a rowan-tree, from 
 whose buds the emerald leaves barely showed 
 their first folds. To reach the roots, which were 
 high on the bank, a circuit round a struggling
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 151 
 
 furze-bush was imperative, and the top of the 
 furze served as a screen from chance passengers. 
 It was a little-frequented bridle-road, used 
 chiefly by the farm-servants and the Cliffords ; 
 and, as the evening closed in, many of our men 
 slouched past from their several employments — 
 not seeing me in my hedgerow-seat; but the 
 Cliffords had long since done their part on the 
 estate, and were at the Hall, drinking deep, and 
 scheming, each in their several ways — Sir 
 Burleigh for his friends the Jacobites; Verney 
 for himself, for he had doubtless returned from 
 Letchford for dinner. No steps broke the 
 silence of the grey twilight ; the gold-mist 
 clouds of sunset were fading to dull, low-hang- 
 ing vapours, through which one star beamed with 
 a pale tremulous lustre — when the last presence to 
 be expected in the solitary, silent bridle-path ap- 
 peared. Colonel Tyrone Blount — not as usual 
 superbly mountedon a weight-carrying charger, but 
 afoot and alone, looking to the right and left slowly 
 and cautiously, proceeding as though he feared 
 an enemy, his face wearing an expression of the 
 deepest anxiety, in strong contrast to its usual 
 reckless-trooper look. To him came Verney 
 Clifford, cantering furiously along on Sir Bur- 
 leigh's cob, which he drew up so sharply at sight 
 of Blount as to back it into the furze-bush
 
 152 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 where, with whip and spur, he forced it remain, 
 as though an act of cruelty gave him courage to 
 say what he had come to say. I drew the plaid 
 over my head, to conceal myself from them. 
 
 " We must not be seen together," were his 
 first words after saluting Blount hastily, " and, 
 
 by ! we could not have chosen a better 
 
 place. No cover for an enemy." 
 
 " You are quite prepared, Blount, eh ? You 
 will take the risk, and keep us out of it? '^ 
 
 " What else am I here for ? " quoth Blount 
 with a hoarse laugh. " A King's officer against 
 the Pretender ! " 
 
 " Then it's all right ? " said Yerney . " We 
 might be plotters, were there anything to plot ; 
 but all your work will be to ride to the Hall, 
 posting your men well out o' sight. C. S. has 
 plenty of belief in his power of converting the 
 King's officers. He will come out — and there 
 you are. Hale him away to Letchford.'' 
 
 " I must be with them, or it will fall on me ; 
 though I avow my dissatisfaction, there is no 
 question of my honour." 
 
 " But, then. Sir Burleigh don't gamble, and it's 
 about time he gave up the Hall, as he's bent on 
 treason." 
 
 '' Down, you d d brute ! " — to the cob — 
 
 one might think a witch was in the hedge."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 153 
 
 " D'ye think we're doing the country a service 
 —eh, Blount?" 
 
 " I tell you what," said Blount, " if the fellow's 
 death follow, 'twill almost persuade me to give 
 over dicing, old Verney ! " 
 
 " All right," said " old " Verney, spurring the 
 cob. " If one human sacrifice change the spots 
 of a leopard, the sooner he is offered the better ! 
 Good-night, Tyrone ! " 
 
 " Good-night t'ye, Verney. Here ! I say ! " 
 — as he was riding off — "Where's Helen 
 Eohan?" 
 
 " Much where she was," responded Verney, 
 "for all I know to the contrary. The artful 
 b h ! Perhaps you have later news ? " Leav- 
 ing Blount chuckling over the rejoinder, he 
 galloped back to the Hall; whilst Blount, as 
 in fear of detection, strode off in the direction 
 of Letchford. 
 
 So quickly had they met, parted, and sped each 
 their separate way, that the star, rising slowly 
 and steadily over its vaporous shroud, seemed 
 to reprove my belief that they had been there 
 at all, to imply by its now-tranquil lustre that 
 it had not risen pale and tremulous. I tried to 
 become calm and steady too — to gaze out at 
 the dark dirty plot I had overheard, as the star 
 looked over the dim vapours from which the
 
 154 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 golden hues had gone. But the dim dirty 
 vapour of this plot had its gold lining to come. 
 Fifteen thousands pounds to each — to Blount 
 the honour of the capture, to Verney Clifford 
 the villainy of the surrender; but to Charles 
 Stuart the danger of the coarse Guelph venge- 
 ance. 
 
 " Charles Stuart is nothing to me ! " I muse, 
 " and, if the interests of a kingdom demand the 
 extinction of a life, be it good or bad, it must 
 be sacrificed." But the strong fountain of natural 
 justice bubbled up in, and overflowed my heart, 
 and I thought, " The devil brings many special 
 pleas to bias our minds, but in our heart is a 
 judge set there by God, and against whose 
 ruling is danger. It is the strong judge in- 
 stinct. I will try to save him. May God help 
 me!" 
 
 I rose up, cramped and stiff, and, to revive 
 my belief in the world and its ways, bared my 
 arms and went through the furze-bash, getting 
 not a little scratched. This was to me what 
 an essence would be to a fine city-dame, bracing 
 my nerves. Having resolved to do my best to 
 save Sir Burleigh's pale-faced guest from his 
 friends, it did not occur to me as likely to 
 conduce to my own comfort if I went about it 
 in a headlong fashion, as no doubt I ought to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 155 
 
 have done, considering my age and sex, and the 
 peculiar and romantic interest attaching to my 
 j^roUge. But, if I felt a slight contempt for him 
 when considering him only an adherent to a feeble 
 cause, disabling himself by rheumatism in a wet 
 park, my respect was not at all strengthened 
 by his purposeless way of putting himself into 
 the power of Verney CliiFord and Blount. In- 
 deed, so far my reason went with them, and, 
 granting that I had been a gambler in needy 
 case, I should most likely have proposed in 
 a sepulchral voice, from my thorny cover, to 
 make it a tripart scheme, to reward me for so 
 advantageously posting myself. And there could 
 be no doubt I should have brought arguments 
 sufficiently convincing to induce my two dear 
 friends, Blount and Clifford, to consent, and 
 been myself the richer by ten thousand pounds. 
 It would have been a nice little sum, where- 
 with, had I been content, I might have induced 
 some worthy thane of equal wealth to club to- 
 gether, and been happy Guelphites to the end of 
 our country-lives — a lazar in a rich mantle ; 
 but, unluckily, I was not " mad on marriage " 
 and its consequent blessings, and, carefully 
 assorting all other temptations purchasable by 
 ten thousand pounds, my mind framed, as they 
 rose, hypercritical objections to each and all.
 
 156 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 For me, as for the star, the gold was out of 
 the vapour, and I rose above it as slow, as steady, 
 and as immutable. It had been bad for both 
 sides — the Plotters and the Pretender — to see 
 how justly and impartially I weighed their 
 merits, neither letting a prejudice against 
 treachery, nor a contempt for mental weakness, 
 incline the scale. How I set out in fancy — the 
 jewels, the land, the well-biggit manor-house 
 that might be mine, as against the weak, waver- 
 ing gratitude of a rheumatic, romantic, pale- 
 faced man who ran about the country claiming 
 a crown, and put the weak head it should adorn 
 into every noose of cobweb-circumstance, 
 seeming to forget the inexorable physiological 
 fact that, to the wearing of a crown, a head is a 
 strict necessity. 
 
 On my arrival at home, M'Causland, electing 
 for the evening performance of his devotions — in 
 which, through my ears, I was perforce always a 
 sharer — to read the edifying accounts of that 
 worthy Bible-heroine Jael, decided me. 
 
 I, Helen Eohan, be like that low-bred Jewess, 
 that vulgar, canting, poisonous, mindless, soul- 
 less animal, elected by a community, now happily 
 outcast, as a type of heroism, for killing a sleep- 
 ing man? I ? My mouth took a cold, bitter, down- 
 ward curve as M'Causland, his reading over,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 157 
 
 wiped his spectacles and drew moral deductions 
 from the history, which I stopped in mid-career 
 by asking him to sing a psalm. Better Scotch 
 discord than Bible-heroism of that type. I calcu- 
 lated that, that over, I could leave unremarked, 
 and by speed make my way to the Hall in time 
 to warn Sir Burleigh of his friend's danger. 
 M'Causland invited me to join in his religious 
 rite, but I concluded that whoever was addressed 
 by it would prefer a solo, and went on knitting, 
 tranquilly silent. There was a sect called, I 
 believe, by the euphemistic title of " Muggle- 
 tonian's," whose creed is commendable for three 
 things — simplicity, austerity, sublimity ; and is 
 at once soothing, flattering, and easy. It is to 
 believe — not a hard faith for most religiously- 
 inclined, and therefore compulsorily charitable, 
 folk — that everyone who is not a Muggletonian 
 is a devil, and, so far as imperfect human laws 
 allow, to fully act up to that faith ; also, that it 
 is acceptable to the " powers that be " to sing 
 hymns to jig-tunes. Floating legends of Muggle- 
 tonians occupied my mind during M'Causland's 
 singing — though, worthy man, he did his very 
 best by a nasal twang and many Scotch fa'a's to 
 break the secular backbone of the melody. To 
 do him justice, though, he had never heard of 
 Muggletonians ; he was, in momentary religious
 
 158 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 enthusiasm, not inapt to dig as deep, as wide, 
 and as black a gulf between himself and the un- 
 regenerate, as they were. Accordingly, having 
 soared aloft, he came back with a thump on to 
 me. 
 
 "Eh, Helen Eohan! it's sad to see young 
 lips sae cauld an' curned, as yours the day, 
 when ye aye ken it's psalms ye should be singin' 
 an' spiritual songs." 
 
 " It requires a peculiar voice," I replied, 
 mildly, knitting rapidly and weaving the sarcasm 
 into the wool, which perhaps blunted it, " to 
 sing as you sing. Is not there another verse? 
 Pray sing it, uncle." 
 
 Having had no opportunity of trying the 
 effect of flattery on a Muggletonian, I cannot 
 say whether even a " devil " might not chance 
 to increase its misery through its ears. It is 
 very certain that I had. And I was not sorry 
 to hear an outcry from the several curs in the 
 farmyard announcing a strange presence. 
 
 M'Causland, shouting an " Amen " in the 
 middle of a verse, got up and went to see the 
 cause of the disturbance. He had scarcely 
 closed the door after him when a loud rap came 
 to the unshuttered window, and, on my Opening 
 it, the pale face of the Jacobite was thrust in, 
 beaded with sweat as though from hard running.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 159 
 
 A doubt seized me for the first time whether all 
 were not mistaken in supposing this man to be 
 the Pretender himself, since he acted in' a 
 manner the most calculated to injure his own 
 interests in every way, even when any instant 
 might lease him to an enemy, to be transferred 
 as freehold to the Guelph. His first words dis- 
 pelled this doubt. 
 
 " I am pursued," he said, with a calm despera- 
 tion that would have been heroic if he had had 
 any smallest justification for being pursued. 
 "Can I trust you, Helen Rohan? You know 
 who I am. And the dragoons are out, search- 
 ing the Hall." 
 
 " Come in," I suggested, " through the window. 
 '' So," — as he sprang lightly in, closed, it and 
 arranged the blind. " What is it you propose, 
 concealment or escape ? " 
 
 " Escape is hopeless," he said, dusting a small 
 piece of earth, left by his boot, from the white 
 window-seat, " and concealment desperate. 
 Counsel me ! Can I shelter here ? " 
 
 " Here is a chance of Fame," I mutter, " a 
 hammer and rusty nail, a little closing of the 
 eyes to treachery." Then to him I said : " Since 
 treachery may be two-edged, is your need 
 urgent? Give me your word that it is danger 
 brings you here."
 
 i6o A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " On my word, on my honour, the dragoons 
 from Letchford are out." And I knew it was 
 true. 
 
 For a minute, the psalms M'Causland had 
 been singing howled in my ears. Jael might 
 have been hammering my head, and all the 
 world crying " Amen " to the performance : — a 
 swift sudden dizziness seized me, all the reasons 
 I had marshalled for and against him clamoured 
 to be heard. I had, it now seemed to me, no 
 jpower to help him. There was not a closet, but 
 of which Elsie kept the keys. The very flint 
 and steel were locked away, in her rigid Scotch 
 economy. The only room was my own chamber. 
 And we — we had lost that one chance by wait- 
 ing. A clatter of steps outside in the brick- 
 passage, and he had barely time to crouch down 
 under the stiff tapestry cover of the table, at 
 my feet, before, flinging the door wide, Verney 
 Clifl'ord, M'Causland, Blount, and two dragoons 
 entered. 
 
 Providentially, the mastifl" Beech was with his 
 master, and, by sullenly coming as was his wont 
 to me for praises and caresses, he, though at 
 first evincing some uneasiness at the Jacobite's 
 concealed presence, knew him as a friend, and, 
 on being coaxed to quietness, made a guard to 
 both, the sullen ferocity of whose aspect kept
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. i6i 
 
 Blount and the soldiers away from a too close 
 approach to us. 
 
 " We are a noisy lot — eh, Helen Rohan? " said 
 Blount, striding up at length and shaking hands 
 perforce, a little flushed with drink. " But the 
 hunt is up, my dear, and our blood is up too — 
 we mean to have him — eh, boy ? " 
 
 He appealed to Beech, who growled at his 
 advances threateningly. 
 
 " Where is he ? And who is he ? " I asked, 
 knitting tranquilly. Is it a deserter sir 1 " 
 
 Verney Clifford, who had been regarding me 
 critically, at this juncture came close, turning 
 me to ice — to fire — to anything that is uncom- 
 fortable and most wretched — and said : 
 
 " The Jacobite fellow, supposed to be Charles 
 Stuart himself. We have tracked him so far, 
 and M'Causland tells us the dogs gave the alarm 
 in the farmyard just now. We are going to take 
 a glass of whiskey to give the fellow time to 
 steal off, and then — ^view holloa, eh Blount ? So 
 long as we are here he will be finding a snug 
 hiding-place in the barns. So we'll rest and 
 refresh, and then after him again." 
 
 " You take it in good part, Helen — he is not 
 your hero, that's certain." 
 
 "No, I am her hero," said Blount, sniggering 
 and facetious.
 
 162 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " How do you know I'm not knitting him a 
 pair of stockings? *' I said, proifering the coloured 
 web of work for Blount's inspection, and con- 
 triving by a pressure of his hand to convey the 
 meaning that they were for himself. 
 
 The Colonel was delighted, and winked so 
 strenuously to convey a secret understanding, 
 that Beech, regarding it as a grimace directed to 
 himself, was fain to fly upon him, to avenge his 
 amour proi^re. At this juncture, M'Causland and 
 the whiskey beloved of Verney's soul appeared 
 together, and, after drinking it freely, Blount 
 came back, like a half-inebriate Judas, and 
 kissed my lips, muttering confidentially (aside) : 
 " Pon my soul, I've only waited for this 
 windfall to make you an offer, Helen Rohan, 
 worth your having, my dear. I think (hiccup) 
 we should suit each other, eh? We always 
 somehow pull along friendly and smooth." 
 
 " What's that d d mastiff doing with his 
 
 head in your lap ? You shall have a lap-dog in 
 barracks — ha, ha ! — you shall have me ! " 
 
 "Come on! " commanded Lord Clifford, with 
 considerable acrimony of tone and manner, 
 having witnessed, with no small displeasure, his 
 partner's audacity so well rewarded ; and Blount, 
 with a roguish twinkle in his bloodshot eyes, 
 winked, and whispered : " He's no woman's
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 163 
 
 fancy-man — Clifford isn't good-natured enough- 
 eh I — not jovial enough ! I think I know which 
 you like the best, eh 1" — withdrawing in his 
 usual sidelong fashion, in order to look and leer 
 to the very last. 
 
 The door had scarce closed on this rabble, 
 when an equally indocile creAV rushed in, con- 
 sisting of Elsie and Elizabeth, who declared, 
 with one accord, that they were not going to be 
 ravished by dissolute soldiery — which, taking 
 into account Elsie's sixty years and Elizabeth's 
 rugged country-face, did not seem an imminent * 
 risk. 
 
 "What do you mean?" I said, severely. 
 " The soldiers are out on duty." Despite a 
 desire to laugh, I felt my cheeks burn at the 
 absurdity of these two fools, thinking of the 
 hidden listener. 
 
 " Pass me the Bible," I said to Elizabeth. " I 
 will calm your minds with Scripture-reading and 
 exposition.'' 
 
 No other words occurred to me just then ; and 
 these, the open Bible suggested. To be sup- 
 posed to possess a mind, was flattering. Eliza- 
 beth, unwilling to dispel so pleasing a delusion, 
 evinced signs of uneasiness. She might be 
 asked questions about Noah, or Seth, or Enoch, 
 and objected to impart her misleading bio- 
 
 M — 2
 
 1 64 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 graphies of those people in public — Elsie being 
 as theological as a bishop — so she made humble 
 request to go, first, and bolt the doors, to keep 
 out the soldiers. 
 
 " Bolts ! " muttered Elsie, rising, with her 
 knitting shaking in her palsied hand. " It's no 
 Helen Rohan wha's to trust to see to bolts. I'll 
 e'en gae mysel' an' bolt out the licentious 
 soldiers — the curse o' the countraside ! " 
 
 Like two witches over whom holy water had 
 been flung, they disappeared to their own 
 quarters, and soon creaked up the kitchen-stairs 
 to bed, locking the stair-doorway. 
 
 " I think we may fairly claim our turn now.'* 
 I arose and bolted the door. " Elsie will fumble 
 for an hour before she lets anyone in — on pur- 
 pose." 
 
 The Jacobite arose cramped and pallid ; signs 
 of strong agitation were on his face as he fol- 
 lowed me to the fire, stretching out and warming 
 his long pale hands helplessly, and looking as 
 miserable as the Guelph himself could desire 
 his rival to look. I felt very strongly for him, 
 now. 
 
 " Have some whiskey." I poured some of 
 the green-tinged gurgling fluid into a glass, and, 
 putting my lips to it to assure him of its good- 
 ness, passed it over.
 
 A STATESMAJS'S LOVE. 165 
 
 " You are a curiosity/' he averred, retaining 
 my hand while he drank. " A small calm ice- 
 berg. How many wrecks ? " 
 
 On my answering "None," he raised his 
 eyebrows, but, being in my power, forbore to 
 contradict, saying, as he set the glass on the 
 table : 
 
 " What are you going to do with me ? I only 
 stipulate not to pass the night with that beastly 
 mastiff close to me. By George ! — not George 
 Guelph, though ! — if that brute hadn't fore- 
 stalled me, I might have rested my head in 
 your lap." 
 
 His lank uncurled hair, and most depressed 
 pale face, might have reassured even Elsie, 
 though he had been in uniform fifty times. 
 
 It was evident his thoughts were far from 
 me, and Blount's freedom being unrepelled, even 
 though he himself was the cause, biassed him 
 to an erroneous dim belief in my liking for such 
 commonplace gallantry — that it was his only 
 resource at once to thank me for the past, and 
 conciliate for the future. This was no time, 
 however, to be nice and wise. I looked away 
 to keep my severe disapproval from him ; then, 
 with a reminder of the immediate peril in which 
 he stood, said, with a most silly blush which 
 came in spite of myself — said, with that elabora-
 
 i66 A SIATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 tion of circumstance by which embarrassment 
 always prolongs itself: 
 
 " We have neither garret nor granery Avhere 
 you would be safe for five minutes. There- 
 fore— " 
 
 " Therefore," said he, endeavouring to lighten 
 my awkwardness, " I must go — my blood upon 
 my own head ! " 
 
 At this I grew hopeless — words would not 
 come. To tell a man in peril of his life that 
 you mean to turn him out to the avengers of 
 blood, were easy — wanting only a certain callous- 
 ness to suffering in others, or conviction of its 
 being his due ; but to say to a comparative 
 stranger, however strongly moved to commiserate 
 him, or shield him, " There is but one room, and 
 that I must share !" At length contriving, though 
 in what words I know not, to convey the idea of 
 this refuge to him, he received it absently as of 
 no moment, as people generally receive the 
 sacrifices of others, perhaps not thinking of its 
 aspect to me ; he continued warming his hands 
 thoughtfully at the fire as if he had not heard. 
 Then he asked, abruptly, how long I had known 
 Colonel Blount. " About three weeks or a 
 month, eh? There seems to be a good under- 
 standing between you '? '* 
 
 *' That," said I, recovering, "is but seeming.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 167 
 
 Had I risen to repel his impertinences to-night, I 
 think it likely you would not now be here to 
 reflect on me for them." 
 
 " I liked them none the more," he said angrily, 
 as though possessing a right to resent them. 
 " Why did he kiss you ? " 
 
 " Sir," I said coldly, " beyond my having 
 saved you (as Sir Burleigh's friend) from your 
 pursuers, I know no warrant you have for 
 censuring me, let me act as I may.'' 
 
 " Think," said he, " that letter, true as that 
 speech is, there is a spirit of gratitude and feeling 
 in me towards you, not to be explained by trivi« 
 alities of time. Had it been a hundred years 
 since you saved me, I could not feel more warmly 
 your goodness to a fugitive." Indeed, Helen 
 Rohan, since first seeing you at the lake-side you 
 have haunted me. 
 
 "Literally?"! asked smiling. 
 
 " No," said he, " you know what I mean — like 
 a vision of youth and love." 
 
 " That is very pretty," I thought indifferently. 
 " Just a town-bred man's way of compliment, but 
 not to the present purpose." 
 
 The hour was late — no time could be safely 
 lost in this idle hair-splitting as to whether I 
 was or was not justified in gratifying Blount^ 
 nor in receiving compliment.'
 
 i68 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " You seem fond of metaphysic subtleties/' 
 I said, " but if I remind you that those may any 
 moment enter who take everything and every- 
 body literally, you may be inclined to defer them 
 for the present." 
 
 " What am I, then, to do ? " he asked. " You 
 forget I am a stranger here." 
 
 " We always forget our guests are strangers, 
 sir." 
 
 " A very pretty speech, Helen Eohan." 
 " And true," I said, laughing, " or true enough 
 — for truth should be comparative, or may mislead 
 one." 
 
 " Lead on, then," said he. " Put me wher- 
 ever your judgment suggests ; for, whatever else 
 may be wanting in you, it is not ability." To 
 this unnecessary information I made no rejoinder. 
 Here was a man in danger of his life, bandying 
 words and measuring wits. I, with a present 
 fear of Blount's return, led on upstaii's to the 
 refuge I had offered him, rather amused at the 
 strangeness of the whole proceeding, and its 
 suddenness. But an hour before, sitting in the 
 farm-parlour, had Asmodeus, the demon who 
 unroofed houses and showed him he guided 
 strange sights, lifted the roof from my chamber 
 at the extreme end of the long corridor, there 
 would have shown only a large and, I may say,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 169 
 
 exceptionally well-kept and trim-furnislied room 
 for a farm. For, on my account, M'Causland 
 had obtained from the Hall such things as were 
 then rare even in the houses of the lesser 
 squires. Item, two fringed Persian rugs ; item, 
 a large steel mirror with a carved border, an oak 
 table with drawers in it, and some Dresden china 
 as ewer and bath, together with a set of tapestry 
 bed-hangings. Of all this, which Sir Burleigh 
 contemptuously characterised as only fit for a 
 girl or a fool, I was not a little proud, and' 
 forced Elizabeth, by persistent pressure, to 
 polish the floor up to a level with the oak- 
 polished floors of the Hall state-rooms, spreading 
 my mats, with their fringes flattened out on its 
 smooth surface, like masses of waving-one-way 
 weeds in clear water. It was a very stately- 
 looking room, therefore, in which, after lighting 
 the candles, the Jacobite found himself; and 
 though, I hope, above looking at him to perceive 
 astonishment, I could not forbear seeing in the 
 mirror that he was in some degree surprised — • 
 that he looked from me to the surroundings, and 
 then again at me. For, to reach this west room, 
 was a lobby dark at noonday, with steps up and 
 steps down, where unused trunks and kists of 
 household stuff were deposited, and the approach 
 warranted only the belief that some obscure dim
 
 I70 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 garret lay beyond, mouldy and wretched, or but 
 " dwelling in decencies." 
 
 " This, then," said I with a blush at once of 
 delight at having an appreciative onlooker of my 
 grandeur, and at the thought that it was a 
 maiden's chamber. " This is at your service, 
 and, though I may have to enter, you will be 
 forearmed by hearing me approach up the steps 
 from the lobby ; and the door," I added, " has a 
 key — see ! it turns easily." 
 ■ *' So, then," said he carelessly, " I can turn 
 the key on you ! " 
 
 " Or on Blount ! " I answered, " or Verney 
 Clifford ! " 
 
 "You are the most present danger, Helen 
 Eohan." 
 
 " Well turn the key," I said impatiently, 
 " though no one save myself ever comes in — or 
 came — except Sir Burleigh." This I said of 
 malice jprepense, and was well rewarded by his 
 gasp of astonishment. 
 
 "Except," said he, " Sir Burleigh Clifford ? ' 
 
 " Yes," I replied, indignant at his inquisitorial 
 tone. " Why are you surprised ? He is often 
 here, and gave M'Causland this furniture from 
 the Hall for me. The state-rooms there have 
 rugs just similar to these, but no one there 
 ever spreads out the fringe so carefully unless I
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 171 
 
 do, once in a way, for diversion. They keep but 
 one woman-servant, and she is a widow; her son 
 is a soldier in Ireland, he is or was a scape- 
 grace sailor and now is turned a scapegrace 
 soldier. This woman, Janet, cares for little but 
 cooking. Craig, Sir Burleigh's valet, sweeps the 
 state-rooms and picture-gallery, and sometimes 
 polishes the floors, but not very often. Mine is 
 better polished than they." 
 
 Then, as he did not answer, I looked up from 
 a fond contemplation of the shining oak-floor. 
 Seeing with astonishment that he looked very 
 pale and troubled. 
 
 "What is it?" I asked, troubled too, think- 
 ing he heard something foreboding danger 
 which I had been too busy talking to note 
 myself. 
 
 "I must go," said he, his lips twitching angrily. 
 
 " Why? " I asked, distressed at his folly. 
 
 " If Sir Burleigh — " said he, then broke down 
 with a great sigh, as though the danger he had 
 escaped only just begun to be realised. 
 
 " Sir Burleigh must not know you are here," 
 I cried. " Yerney Clifi'ord would win it out of 
 him. Of what were you thinking ? " I continued 
 more, timidly, as his eyes dwelt sternly on my 
 face, which blushed and paled before that 
 strange fixed gaze.
 
 172 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " I was thinking," said he, " that the 
 suzerainty of an estate like this is no contemp- 
 tible heritage, also of certain sovereign-rights 
 which my old friend Sir Burleigh seems by no 
 means to hold in abeyance." 
 
 " That of visiting his vassals," I laughed, 
 " being one. He comes very often, yet has only 
 been in this room once, to see the plenishing 
 fixed. Then he cursed the steps down and the 
 steps up, and swore he would never come again, 
 and called me a proud, conceited pye to hurry 
 him out of the parlour to see things he could 
 any day see at the Hall. M'Causland was 
 angry too, for they were in the midst of a 
 dispute about sheep, and I made both leave it 
 to see my room.'* 
 
 " Thank God ! " said the Jacobite, earnestly, 
 " I thought it could not be — " 
 
 " Did you hear anything?" I asked, anxiously. 
 
 " Yes," said he, ** a thunderclap." 
 
 I went to the window and looked out ; the 
 sky was covered now with inky clouds, but they 
 were not slow thunderclouds. So I concluded 
 he had been mistaken. 
 
 " Good-night ! " said I, extending my hand. 
 For a moment he looked searchingly into my 
 face — into mine eyes, as though his keen gaze 
 would dive to the most hidden thoughts of my
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 173 
 
 heart. Then, bending his knee, he kissed my 
 hand respectfully. 
 
 " I have," said he, retaining it as he rose, " to- 
 night had two infinite perils averted: — that my 
 life, risked by my own perversity, should escape 
 by a miracle, is cause of thankfulness. 
 
 " What was the other? " I asked, as he paused. 
 
 " The other," he continued, " was a sharper 
 pain, almost, than^I could have borne — an iron 
 that would have corroded my very soul — the 
 peril of present agony, and loss of all future 
 trust in humankind." 
 
 This I pondered, going over mentally the 
 events of the evening. In whom had he trusted, 
 feared betrayal, and again believed in? 'Twas 
 a problem I could not solve ; so, again wishing 
 him good-night, I retired. From my comfortless 
 and cold rest on two large boxes dra^vn together, 
 with a pillow and blanket withdrawn from 
 Sandy's bed, I dared not rise too early, as early 
 hours, save for a freak, were unusual with me, and 
 the cold, and confusion of redding up, performed 
 with the unnecessary noise and jarring of move- 
 ables which pleased Elizabeth and satisfied 
 Elsie, were peculiarly disagreeable, as were 
 also their loud harsh voices, calling to each 
 other, to and from the kitchen. So, as a rule, I 
 waited upstairs, leaning from my window to hear
 
 1 74 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 the morning song of the lark, or arranging my 
 few gowns neatly in the wardrobe, or reading 
 some Bible narrative — anything till the call to 
 breakfast, from the end of the corridor leading 
 to my room, assured me that in our domain the 
 daily cleansing was done, and quiet reigning. 
 Elizabeth and Elsie, too, were not happy in 
 any surveillance — resenting it, except from 
 M'Causland. In this dark and dismal box- 
 cumbered lobby, the time seemed endless. I 
 felt like a prisoner in a dungeon, and, unused to 
 physical privation or mental gloom, tears began, 
 almost without my consciousness, to fall into my 
 clasped hands. I only knew that it was morning 
 by a ray of dusky light coming from under the 
 door that led outward. What the hour was, I 
 could not tell, for the farm-servants rose at four, 
 working oftentimes by candlelight. 
 
 " They are happy," I thought, bitterly, " free 
 and in the light." Baron Trenck could not, 
 moment for moment, have been worse affected to 
 his prison than I to this. My bones ached — used 
 to the soft feathers of the large bed ; yet it was 
 not the mere physical privation only — that I 
 could endure as well as another ; I think it must 
 have been more a sense of indignity, the feeling 
 of an outcast in outer darkness, a dismal defini- 
 tion which occurred forcibly to my mind. " Only
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 175 
 
 a few hours," I mused, "yet what a change 
 is here ! ^' And I — who dare sometimes dream 
 of stoicism ! — I had fortunately left tears, and 
 sat with patient resignation, when my room-door 
 was unlocked, opened, and the Jacobite ap- 
 peared. He stood for a moment on the 
 threshold, the darkness confusing him ; then 
 cautiously groped his way down the three 
 steps, apparently seeing me seated there, or 
 a dim-outlined figure he guessed to be 
 mine. 
 
 "Is that Helen Rohan?" he asked at 
 length, as, distrusting as yet my voice, I was 
 silent. 
 
 " Yes," said I, laughing at his uncertainty ; 
 whilst my eyes, now used to the shadows, saw 
 him clearly. 
 
 "Pray come into the light,'^ he whispered, 
 " or I shall emulate Sir Burleigh — ' curse the 
 steps up and curse the steps down.' That 
 amiable commination afforded me inexpressible 
 pleasure : I thought of it waking and sleeping, 
 Helen Eohan." 
 
 " Why of that ? " I asked, gladly entering 
 again into light and space, yet surprised at that 
 special mention of Sir Burleigh being so 
 pleasant to him. 
 
 " It was a lever, Helen, lifting a thousand
 
 176 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 weights from me. Ask me no more, or, as sweet 
 Carew sings: — 
 
 * Ask me no more whither do stray 
 The golden atoms of the day, 
 
 For in pure love Heaven did prepare 
 Those powders to enricn your hair/ 
 
 Yet again — 
 
 * Ask me no more if East or West 
 
 The Phoenix builds her spicy nest — ' 
 
 For here," said he, " it is, and here the rare and 
 beautiful Phoenix — " 
 
 "Sir Burleigh built it," I objected, "and 
 Thomas Carew did not mean his courtly verse- 
 making for a mere country-girl. You will raise 
 his ghost by so misapplying his pretty poem." 
 
 " I have," said he, drawing me to the window 
 with a face of concern, "at least raised one 
 ghost. You are pale, you have been shedding 
 tears." 
 
 " It is nothing," I said blushing, " but the 
 Sybarite's ruffled rose-leaf. It was the dark," I 
 confessed at length, as no less would satisfy him. 
 
 " In the lobby I " he inquired, and, on being 
 answered " Yes," turned away in anger. 
 
 "I am a fool," I said with humility. " To- 
 night I shall not notice either cold or darkness." 
 With that he grew yet angrier. " Well ! " said 
 I petulantly, "in what great matter have I 
 offended you? If I am sorry "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 177, 
 
 " Helen," said he gravely, " I am a soldier, 
 and held to be a gentleman. You have treated 
 me like a country-churl or a savage." 
 
 " It was necessary," said I, " for your safety, 
 and be sure that a country-churl or a savage 
 would win no such sufferance from me." 
 
 "Breakfast!" came the distant echo of 
 M'Causland's voice, and warning him not to be 
 seen at the window, I went downstairs. All was 
 light and brightness in the parlour; the cheerful 
 warmth of the wood-fire, revived me, bringing a 
 little colour to my pale face. 
 
 " Trouble tells on ye, Helen," said my uncle. 
 " Ye are dreaming o' the hunted Jacobite. To 
 tell solid troth, I wad be willin' he were taken, 
 for, so certain as the sun shines. Sir Burleigh 
 will, if he go on in this style, lose the Manor, an 
 that, Verney Clifford kens, an', like a wise man 
 (of this world), he joins in the hunt — ay, an' so 
 would in the blood-money for a' his brau-new 
 nobility of four descents. Why, Sir Burleigh 
 is seventeenth baronet, and by clear right, if the 
 Stuarts were in — which they will never be — a 
 Baron, a belted Earl, like Will Douglas, of the 
 ballad. I must now be on my way to the Hall. 
 Go ye to your room an' rest, for if ye gang oot sae 
 ghostlike, I must tell Sir Burleigh ye are heart- 
 broke for his Jacobite fren'. la short,"^ he said.
 
 lyS A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 leaving jesting," 'tis as much as one man's wits 
 can to manage between him and milord, an' I 
 count on your help to keep straight wi' baith. 
 Do not let Verney see ye downhearted, or he 
 will conclude us Jacobites too — which Heaven 
 forefend ! The fellow got clean away last 
 night." Then he rose and went off, slamming 
 to the door beMnd him, the usual signal, for 
 the servants, of the conclusion of breakfast in 
 the parlour. 
 
 This morning, Elizabeth was in no haste to 
 come, it being some domestic saturnalia — as 
 washing or churning. So I carried a cup of hot 
 coffee to the Jacobite, with a cold chicken and 
 some bread, and, waiting whilst he ate, returned 
 cup and fragments to their proper places on the 
 table, only retaining a few scones of white flour. 
 
 " What a dear little fox you are ! " he laughed, 
 as I entered with this humble provision, putting 
 it in the table-drawer. "You look as crafty 
 over those cakes as if a life depended — Curse 
 my life ! " he went on irritably — it's mention 
 bringing to his memory that on such chance 
 aids, and feeble means of defence, his life in 
 truth depended just now. " It is bitterer than 
 death to reflect on my nigh hopeless condition, 
 always in hiding." 
 
 "Do not be unhopeful," I said, sincerely pity-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 179 
 
 ing him. " This is but a cloud, and will quickly 
 pass.'' 
 
 " I hope so," said he, earnestly, *' for con- 
 science and honour are shooting clouds of 
 poisoned arrows at my thoughts, and the con- 
 test is intolerable." 
 
 I wondered what he meant, suggesting that 
 I would privately inform Sir Burleigh of his 
 whereabouts and safety, if he thought good. 
 
 " Do not," said he, with intense eagerness. 
 "I beg you will not so far break faith with 
 me. I appeal to your honour, Helen. It must 
 not be known that I am here.'' 
 
 "As you will," I said, surprised why he would 
 not acquaint Sir Burleigh of his safety, who 
 would be suffering great anxiety and be in 
 harassing suspense ; but this appeal was de- 
 cisive, and my word pledged. 
 
 "You are a good girl," said he, gratefully ^ 
 " Being a fugitive, I do not see where I could 
 be better bestowed. Yet, if it peril your hap- 
 piness, Helen " 
 
 " There is no present peril," I replied, relating 
 my uncle's talk at breakfast. " And that reminds 
 me that this window is an easy drop to the 
 ground, and a return can be made by cUmbing 
 the thatch at its lowest point. No one from the 
 house or farmyard can see any enter or leave
 
 ISO 
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 that way, I have done so often enough at night 
 — if I could not sleep, or wanted a walk in the 
 moonlight, or for idleness. Can you climb, 
 sir ? " 
 
 "To Olympus," said he, "with so bright a 
 beacon as goal." 
 
 " Then," said I, " if you choose reading, there 
 is the Bible. I must go now, for it is late." 
 
 " Don't go," said he. " Somehow I would 
 rather talk to you, a little dusky pink angel, 
 than read about les autresT 
 
 " Men always like pink," I laugh at this 
 allusion to my pink gown. " Sir Burleigh calls 
 it neat ! " 
 
 " Sir Burleigh might find some better occupa- 
 tion than looking at you," he said severely. 
 
 "He generally does so, but surely he may 
 look at his steward's niece I " 
 
 "Did he give you that pink gown, Helen 
 Kohanr' 
 
 " No, M'Causland bought it for me, at the last 
 mop and market, of a Scotch pedlar, and I made 
 it myself, after the ' portrait of a lady ' at the 
 Hall. She is in pink too; but mine, if you 
 stroke it down one way, is brown." 
 
 "Truly?" said he, in some amaze; yet, on 
 stroking, he perceived I was right. " I wonder," 
 said he, " if your bronze hair w^ould turn pink,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. i8i 
 
 stroked — or your pink cheeks, brown. The 
 Persians, Helen, like pink hair; altogether, I 
 too like pink, as well as the Persians or Sir 
 Burleigh." 
 
 Through all this trifling talk I could perceive 
 the lines of anxiety and care, the tension of the 
 muscles round the mouth, and the haggard 
 watchfulness of his eyes. " 'Twould be cruel,' 
 I thought, " to let him dwell too strongly on his 
 miserable condition — a depressed mind will not 
 so readily plan or think out successfully any 
 scheme of action ; so, having succeeded in amus- 
 ing him for the time, I took my leave, followed 
 by his wistful eyes as though his last friend was 
 deserting him. It was a dull day, it rained heavily. 
 
 I had scarcely got downstairs when Elizabeth, 
 coming in, told me Bill Stovel, the dull plough- 
 boy Alexis had rescued from soldiering, wanted 
 to see me. Bill was in the kitchen, looking 
 anything but cheerful — wet as the midden that 
 steamed outside. His errand was a message 
 from Alexis. At this in itself I was not sur- 
 prised, as Bill was Alexis's henchman and 
 hanger-on, and had every regard for his tall 
 tyrannical master ; both being connoisseurs in 
 vermin, such as stoats, weasels, ferrets, and the 
 like. These, I knew for a fact — though Sandy 
 had frequently denied it to M'Causland —
 
 1 82 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 he kept in his garret-room, under the floor, 
 which was one reason I would not sleep there. 
 So, now that Bill produced a note from him, 
 eagerly vouching for its authenticity, I first 
 believed on the first premises, then doubted on 
 the second. " Why should Bill so unnecessarily 
 take his Gospel-oath that Sandy writ every letter 
 of it. " Of course, of course ! " said I, re-examin- 
 ing it and detecting Lord Clifford's round o's, and 
 uncrossed f s. " It is very like Sandy's writing, 
 BiU." 
 
 " It is so ! " said Bill, stolidly and cunningly. 
 It ran : — 
 
 " Put away your treasure in my garret ; there 
 is a loose plank in the floor, and space enough 
 even for a person, let alone a few silver-spoons." 
 
 "Then,'* said I, tiembling, "I suppose the 
 soldiers are coming again. Bill ? " 
 
 " They are," said Bill, " flichtin' an' flutterin* 
 everywhere, takin' no account of the rain teeming 
 down." 
 
 " They are not over-honest,'* I remarked, " and 
 they drink," 
 
 " Yaas," said he, " they do so ! — an' I 
 might ha' ben a soldier.'* This vanishing-point 
 of Bill's ambition was ever before him. 
 
 " Sandy tells me to hide the silver-spoons, 
 BiU. You know his room. Will you put them
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 183 
 
 for me under the loose plank of the floor, where 
 Alexis kept the badger ] " 
 
 "There's ferrets there, yet," said Bill, with 
 conviction, " an' it's rats they are livin' on — and 
 mice. Spoils 'em for rabbitin'." 
 
 " Never heed them to-day,'^ I exclaim. " You 
 may come another time and take them away for 
 your own. Now we must lose no time, for I 
 will put away everything of value — my gowns 
 and hoods, silver thimble, and two spade-guineas. 
 You must get right in. Bill, I will wrap them 
 up in a sheet. It is dry there, of course." 
 
 " I'll do it," said he. " Gi' me the whole lot 
 — none will find where I put 'em." 
 
 It was now drawing toAvards evening, and 
 raining in torrents. The road would be heavy — 
 the sandy bridle-track leading to the farm, nearly 
 impassable ; thus the weather aided, in one way, 
 in delaying the advance of the new search-party ; 
 yet that they were, like fate, hastening on, could 
 not be doubted. What I could, that would I do 
 • — the rest remaining in higher hands. Motion- 
 ing Bill Stovel to follow, I went upstairs. The 
 Jacobite, hearing his heavy footfall, had con- 
 cealed himself behind the heavy hangings of the 
 bed. As I entered purposely leaving the door 
 wide open, that Stovel might see into the room — 
 I left him on the steps of the lobby, and took
 
 .j84 a STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 from the garde-robe my best plum-coloured 
 gown, my buckled slippers, and a few other 
 articles ; and, rolling them in a towel, delivered 
 them to Bill to conceal in the garret. With 
 these, he went off, stripping off his steaming and 
 ragged long smock, which, with boyish careless- 
 ness, he flung a-heap into the passage. An 
 inspiration came to me, I snatched it up, wetting 
 my hands, and as the Jacobite emerged, on the 
 doors closing, said hurriedly : 
 
 " They are returning on a new search. Hiding 
 here is impossible. Slip this on — get out of 
 window and make for the mawkin yonder in the 
 field. It is not a long drop to the ground. I 
 cannot tell what else to counsel ; but think that, 
 even if seen through the rain, you will be mis- 
 taken for a labourer, if you bend and slouch as 
 they do. Stand close by the mawkin, be one 
 with it. When the searchers are gone, I will 
 come and tell you, even if it be midnight — till 
 then do not return." 
 
 He listened, his eyes dilated with excitement 
 and agitation, his face white, and was for madly 
 refusing to fly, for rejecting the necessary igno- 
 miny of so foul a disguise as this wet clout pre- 
 sented. 
 
 " Why," said I, in despair and angry excite- 
 ment at this niceness and unwisdom, " would
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 185 
 
 you have it a silk cassock ? For God's sake 1 
 will you give away your life? I tell you they 
 are near ! It is all that can be done ! It is 
 not a long drop to the ground ! The search 
 here will be rigorous, for Lord Clifford is in 
 it!" 
 
 By this, he was, in infinite disgust, slowly 
 fitting on the long smock, and, pointing out 
 from the window the direction he should take, 
 I opened it. A fresh storm of rain, a sudden 
 darkening of the window — he was gone. I saw 
 the doleful figure slouch ofi", and myself — know- 
 ing who it was — thought how well he counter- 
 feited the gait and hobble of a farm-hind. No 
 time must be lost by me, however. So, closing 
 the window and drying the rain-drops from the 
 ledge, I straightened the room carefully, feeling 
 sure it would be searched, and followed 
 Stovel to Alexis's garret. Bill was there, 
 pondering — his oblique light eyes turned to 
 the ceiling ; he spat on his hands, wet enough 
 already, and rubbed them together, intimating 
 work. 
 
 " Bill," I said, " I've thrown away your old 
 jacket, it was too wet to be on our floors, but 
 I'll give you one of Sandy's field-coats. It is 
 short, and will about fit you." 
 
 " Thankee ! " said Bill, grateful for the gift of
 
 i86 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 a whole unragged garment, nor resenting my 
 disposing of the other. 
 
 Soon he had enough to occupy him, squeezing 
 into the aperture, and crawling far in under the 
 floor, uttering short biographical notices of the 
 various vermin which Sandy had kept there — 
 stoats, weasels, and badgers. 
 
 "It was lucky you thought to tell them of 
 this place ! " I hazarded, resolved, while Bill's 
 mental faculties were obfuscated by dust and 
 tender memories of stoats and squirrels, to get 
 what light I could from his luminous mind on 
 the subject of the forged note. 
 
 " Yaas," he said indistinctly, '' Milord Clifford's 
 main cur'ous ; it was he asked me, was there 
 ne'er a hidin'-place at the farm. I told him 
 Sandy M'Causland kept a power o' varmints 
 here. 'An',' says he, ' could e'er a man crip in? ' 
 So I said, ' A thin fellow mought, for I'd a bin, 
 as I have, an' many's the time I've bin bit an* 
 tore fetchin' Sandy out his ferrets. For he 
 would gie me a clout, a would, if I'd say ' No ' to 
 'im, being he was too big to get in himself." 
 
 Quite unconscious, in his preoccupation, that 
 he had betrayed his amiable employer, Verney, 
 Bill rambled on — the teeming rain mean- 
 while coming down in rivers outside, meeting as 
 it fell with the evening mists rising from the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 187 
 
 ground. It was growing darker too, and was 
 quite dark when Bill, promising his services at 
 any time to regain the hidden bundle and re- 
 joicing in his new coat, departed. 
 
 I retired downstairs, tremulously awaiting the 
 next move in this new search ; the fire burn 
 brightly, and the candles were lit earlier than 
 usual ; supper was on the table, when Clifford 
 M'Causland and Blount rode up, all wet 
 through. 
 
 " Looks cheerful here ! " said Vemey, him- 
 self cheerfuUer than the fire. 
 
 " It does so ! " said Blount, saluting me by 
 touching his foraging-cap. 
 
 " Eh ! but I'm damp ! " said M'Causland, put- 
 ting the case mildly and with caution. If a 
 Clifford was wet, he must be damp only. 
 They stood for a moment in a silence which I 
 knew meant embarrassment ; then the first 
 move, which meant checkmate, but not to me, 
 was taken by Verney. 
 
 " I'll go, with your leave, M'Causland and put 
 off these wet things. Can you lend me some 
 while they are dried ? '^ 
 
 " Ay, to baith o' ye,'' said M'Causland, who 
 had evidently not been led to suspect me, biU 
 only a possible intruder, and had learnt his 
 lesson imperfectly and stiffly. Taking one of
 
 188 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 the candles, he conducted them from the room. 
 I followed to the stair's-foot, and said to him 
 (aside) : 
 
 " Don't go to Sandy's room, uncle." 
 
 " Why not? " he said sternly. " What is the 
 empty nest t'ye, Helen Rohan ? " 
 
 Blount and Verney stood a stair above us — 
 in their eagerness they had passed their host, 
 and Blount's hand was on his sword. 
 
 '' Poor life in peril, poor drenched mawkin 
 standing still and silent in the field — how gladly 
 would your sword have been drawn on this 
 man ! " thought I. I said no more, but, with a 
 sigh which Verney misinterpreted, as 'twas meant 
 he should, suffered them to pass. 
 
 '' Is this Helen Rohan's room ] " said Verney, 
 stopping at the half-open door and pushing it 
 wide. "We'll look in— eh, Blount? " 
 
 They entered and closed the door, and I 
 knew that a rigorous search was made, but it 
 was trim as a primrose, as every maiden's cham- 
 ber should be. The heavy curtains of the bed 
 were looped back, the lavendered lace-edged 
 sheets w^ere as snow, the little slippers in a row 
 on the wide hearth, the ruffled camlet gowns 
 stiffly hung in the garde-robe, the Bible and 
 psalter on the heavy carved table, the oak-floor 
 so smooth and slippery that Blount, venturing
 
 A STATESiMAJSrS LOVE. 189 
 
 off the Persian mats, slipped and swore and hurt 
 his elbow, at which I, listening in the dark 
 corridor near, smiled. 
 
 " No bad lodging for a jpaijsanne ! " sneered 
 Verney. 
 
 " I wouldn't mind the girl, in barracks," 
 growled the constant Colonel with a touching 
 tenderness separating me from my surroundings 
 as I suppose he had to do with most of his 
 female acquaintance. 
 
 " I wouldn't mind her in hell ! " said Verney, 
 savagely^ — he too had slipped, and struck his 
 knee. For she is a devil incarnate, and a man 
 might offend a witch as safely. 
 
 " No one could live here," said Blount, "sagely. 
 " It would freeze a man to death." 
 
 '' Spit the bed ! " said Verney with sudden 
 suspicion. 
 
 " I'll have no sic outrage in my house," said 
 M'Causland. " If it be your pleasure, pull it 
 off bodily." 
 
 '' The holes will be no great matter to mend," 
 said Verney, coolly thrusting his rapier many 
 times through the bed. Then, looking behind, 
 under, and above it, up the chimney, out of the 
 window, under the rugs, in the very Bible, 
 they departed, convinced. I followed at a 
 respectful distance and listened, round a near
 
 iQo A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 black corner, to the search in the garret. 
 Verney lifted the plank and called upon the 
 spoons, gown, and silver thimble to come out. 
 Then, catching sight of the bundle well away 
 to one side, tried to induce Blount to go under 
 and search. 
 
 " Send your dog," said Blount angrily, " I don't 
 want my guts spitted with his rapier if he be 
 there." 
 
 " I fear neither him nor his rapier," sneered 
 Verney, and, taking his sword under his arm, he 
 lowered himself down, ordering M'Causland to 
 to light him. This he did to such ill purpose 
 that milord fell and cut his hand on the sword- 
 edge. I did not know till then that he was so 
 well acquainted with Scripture, though I must 
 allow he put it to a bad use. 
 
 Blount, though pitying, was not ill-pleased ; 
 he did not laugh — for he was a gentleman — till 
 Clifford emerged, savage, dirty, and disappointed, 
 passing up the bundle before him. Then, at 
 sight of his bloody hand, painfully unrolling 
 my gown and the spoons and two spade-guineas 
 rolled in paper, he laughed boisterously, a never- 
 ending peal of ever-beginning cachinnation. I 
 felt glad I did not live in barracks, if such were 
 barrack-manners : that evil laughter at another's 
 pain and discomfiture, sounded to me like fiends
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 191 
 
 mocking at each other, for a failure in mischief. 
 The whole plot was clear now : — they, unable to 
 account for the Jacobite's disappearance leaving 
 no trace, had advised together over the capabili- 
 ties of the house for concealment — calling Bill 
 Stovel into council. Hearing from him of this 
 hiding-place, and suspecting that I, if anybody, 
 was cognisant of his hiding, to be the one, they 
 had written as though from Sandy to remind 
 me of it in the expectation of my allowing the 
 fugitive to avail of it. Thus it collapsed; yet 
 it was not badly planned — for, granted I had 
 really believed in Sandy's note, I might have 
 thought of it as a temporary concealment. At 
 Blount's, mirth M'Causland did not even smile-, 
 he was counting how many Bible-names had 
 been blasphemed, and looking forward with 
 some pleasure to hell-fire for Clifford. 
 
 Then they changed their clothes, M'Causland 
 jealously refusing them any of Sandy's — Spared 
 not even his Sabbath suit. So Verney came 
 doAvn to supper looking like a parson, and 
 Blount like a farmer who was also a ruffian. 
 They ate a great deal. Blount told me he had 
 been in my room, and loudly averred that it was 
 
 a d d ice-well — that I should be both warmer 
 
 and comfortabler in barracks, mixed up with him 
 for six months or so. I listened with complacence,
 
 192 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 being satisfied that all was well now. Vemey 
 took my two spade-guineas, and bet Blount that 
 he would win me five with them at ecarte. 
 
 *' You may win them," quoth Blount, " but 
 
 Helen Eohan shan't lose them. No, by ! 
 
 give them back to her, sir !^" and his hand fiew 
 to his sword. 
 
 Vemey laughed, but passed them back, as at 
 a joke of his friend's ; and I wrapped them up 
 anew in dozens of papers, to their intense amuse- 
 ment. So amused were they, and such vistas of 
 wealth did the mention of cards produce in the 
 minds of each, that, their clothes being partially 
 dry, they drove the servants from the kitchen, 
 changed them before its fire, and, having their 
 horses brought round, galloped off to Letchford 
 to make amends for their want of success at the 
 farm by drinking and gambling at the Barracks. 
 
 M'Causland vouchsafed no explanation for all 
 this fuss, beyond the meagre though satisfactory 
 prophecy that " the devil would have his own 
 day in Vemey Clifford." Then, taking a candle, 
 he went off to Sandy's garret, so lately profaned 
 — as a good Catholic might to a rifled shrine. I 
 profited by taking an ample supply of provision 
 from the supper-table up to my room, together 
 with a large jug of hot- water and a pair of 
 M'Causland's warmed slippers, which had been
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 193 
 
 ingeniously lined with fur for him by Sandy. 
 Then I followed to the garret, to make out if I 
 could not sleep there, and leave my refugee in 
 necessary solitude. Entering, the desolate look 
 ^ of the place struck me much, disordered as it 
 was by its late visitors. There were several pairs 
 of boots, caked with mud and clay ; garments still 
 bearing the form of the wearer — or so it seemed 
 to me — hanging on nails ; on the table a square 
 pencil with blue lead at one end and red at the 
 other, some ruled paper, a Bible and the Com- 
 mentaries of Caesar, a big wooden washbowl 
 with some dirty water in it, a dirty fringed 
 towel ; on the bed, a trews, sporran, and dirk ; 
 In the wardrobe, amongst clean linen, some 
 winter pears, and — ah, happy inspiration ! — some 
 woollen socks — (I put a pair in my pocket — for 
 the Jacobite). That was all ; surely he had been 
 very cold here. I turned down the bed to look 
 at the sheets. Cleanliness is not a cardinal 
 virtue with Scotchmen, but these were not so 
 bad ; yet mine, mine were fine linen — lace-edged 
 — fit for a queen. Elsie grumbled every wash- 
 ing-time, yet persisted in my using them, proud 
 of them as they aired amongst homelier things at 
 the kitchen-fire. 
 
 " Eh ! " said M'Causland, noticing my reflective 
 air, " puir Sandy ! he lo'ed ye weel, an' it's not 
 
 o
 
 1 94 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 on's bed ye shuld ha' been, but in it." Inferring 
 that, of course, he meant after marriage. I 
 listened. "Wi'," went on my uncle, "his 
 strong arm and leal heart to protect ye, when 
 I'm gane. An' now see what ye hae brocht 
 him to ! " 
 
 He brushed a tear from his eye. This arrange- 
 ment had assuredly been settled in his mind for 
 a long time. 
 
 "Now," he continued, "what hope hae ye? 
 Will ye win again a selfless love like his ? " (I 
 thought of Sandy in the guardroom.) " Ye 
 sit there dry-eyed, like a ghoul on a grave, 
 an' to yere grave ye'U go empty-hearted, for 
 ye reject all good men's love as 'twere 
 dross." 
 
 I shivered : — in that dismal chamber the pro- 
 phecy sounded sure. Was I Jezebel, and this 
 a stern denunciatory prophet? What had I 
 done? My tears seemed frozen and held back, 
 but I trembled with mingled cold and pity. 
 The flickering light showed him so old and 
 grief-worn — perhaps his long tasselled nightcap 
 aided the eflect. 
 
 " Get ye to bed ! " he said, noting my shiver- 
 ing, " carry yere witchcrafts awa' out o' the lad's 
 chamber. Warm ye in yere down an' fine linen, 
 like Dives."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 195 
 
 "What are you going to do?" I asked, 
 curiously, as he set down the light. 
 
 " Pack a few things for the lad," he replied. 
 " Ah, Helen, a sair heart makes a rough tongue. 
 Forgive me, dear ! To think o' an orderly house 
 being pillaged by soldiers ! " 
 
 " Let me help you," I said. 
 
 " Na, na ! gae ye to bed ! " he said impatiently, 
 " I sune be packed, an' then this room shall be 
 locked an' kept free till my laddie comes hame. 
 Gae ye to bed at once, Helen. Here, I'll licht 
 ye." He held the door of the forlorn garret 
 open, and, escorting me to my room, saw me 
 safely in the door, shutting it witji a clap as 
 glad to be relieved of a troublesome inquisitor. 
 
 I was weary of men and their troublous ways. 
 For a moment, I thought how the return of the 
 half-drowned Jacobite w^ould disturb the trim- 
 ness of my chamber. I must fetch a couple of 
 sacks from a pile kept folded in one corner of 
 the kitchen. I went down resolving to island 
 my guest on these till the downpour from his 
 drenched garments should cease. But, mean- 
 while, I heard M'Causland go to his chamber 
 and lock himself in with Sandy's relics, and there 
 was a fine glowing gathering coal on the kitchen- 
 hearth. Why not bring him in there? No one 
 was stirring — Elsie deaf as stone, Elizabeth's snor-
 
 196 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 ing audible even through the staircase-door, and, 
 both regarding themselves as far above rubies, 
 had locked themselves carefully in at the depar- 
 ture of Blount. 
 
 This overestimate of their market- value was 
 at present useful, as neither was likely to come 
 down. Wherefore, pinning a sack round my 
 skirts, and putting another over my head as 
 labourers use in wet weather, I opened the 
 outer door : a gust of wind, a flood of rain 
 swept me back, but, clinging to the handle, I 
 succeeded in landing outside and closing it 
 after me. No precaution was needed, noises 
 never awoke them, and, as both regarded me as 
 a sort of witch without a cat, had they known of 
 it, this late excursion would have been assigned 
 to some occult assignation with other bad spirits 
 of which the less they noted the safer would 
 they be. I was none afraid of any wild weather, 
 and went on bravely, skirting the hedges, and so 
 out into the midst of the field, over the lumpy 
 turnips deluged with rain, to the inanimate black 
 object — the mawkin, where I hoped to find a 
 living presence. There was none. I gasped, 
 growing fearful, and, getting a mouthful of 
 rainwater, coughed. No one heard or heeded. 
 Where had he gone ] Holla, to a certainty yes! — 
 a little low turnip-shed, for housing the roots,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 197 
 
 stood not far off in one corner of the field; 
 thither I betook me, musing on the utter selfish- 
 ness of men, and there I found him, sitting on 
 an upturned barrow, as much at ease as clinging 
 garments and a keen wind would let him, with 
 his sword across his knees. 
 
 " Sir," I said, reproachfully, " my brother, the 
 mawkin, feels hurt at your desertion." 
 
 " We mawkins don't measure folk by their 
 claiths, nor their claiths for them," he said, 
 rising lazily, as though he rather enjoyed his 
 lodgment — in sooth it was not so bad: nature 
 at her worst is ever kinder than man — yea, even 
 a lion with his paw on a prostrate victim, holds 
 it less in dread than in a soothing stupor. I 
 told him this, to which he replied : 
 
 " If you mean Blount by the lion, I'm afraid 
 the soothing stupor would have to be preceded 
 by a sword- thrust or two. 
 
 " Come, sit on this barrow, Helen, there's room 
 for two. A soldier will always divide with a 
 comrade in distress." 
 
 " Or distress a comrade ? Come in, pray, I 
 don't like the rain." 
 
 " I thought it was ' kind nature ' ' soothing ' 
 and other pleasant things," he rejoined. " If it 
 be so, kind nature has fiung rivers over me, and 
 I've had enough of her kindness."
 
 198 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 "Yes, you are really damp enough," I said, 
 " so come on, I came to fetch you as I promised." 
 
 To the stables, Helen Rohan ? " 
 
 " No ! They are unsafe. The horse-boy goes 
 in with a lantern." 
 
 " To the keeping room?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Where to, then ] Ah, ah, Helen ! To my 
 own room I Whose is that still small voice ? " 
 Then two ragged arms were held out, and a 
 figure in a sack held in them, two beating hearts 
 pressed together, a promise extorted under cover 
 of rain and darkness and strong pressure. 
 
 " Without which," said the Jacobite aloud, 
 " to return would be to stretch myself on the 
 rack. As it is, I have suffered enough. Last 
 night I was in hell ! " 
 
 " Sir," I said, " you were in an armchair." 
 
 " To-night," he said, " my eidolon may sit 
 there." 
 
 The rain now ceased for a time, but great 
 banks of hurrying black clouds promised an 
 early renewal. Leaving the old coat and the 
 sacks in the shed, we gained the house before it 
 began again, and, resisting my prayer that he 
 should enter by the door and dry his drenched 
 garments at the kitchen-fire, he climbed on to 
 the thatch at its lowest part, and, with incredible
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 199 
 
 agility, gained my window, which had a wide 
 ledge, and, pushing it open, went in. I lingered 
 for a time by the fire, fighting a battle with 
 conscience and honour. " It is early yet," I 
 tliought — (it was but nine o'clock) — ''and he 
 will repent of having threatened to go away 
 on foot, to walk through Letchford, to brave 
 every extreme, as (he said) misery doth ever 
 for love of me. Soon he will sleep and 
 forget me." I sat down on a settle, and began 
 to dry my feet. The warmth influenced me in 
 favour of stopping where I was — of sleeping, if 
 one must sleep, in the dim vast kitchen. Soon 
 I heard steps on the floor — M'Causland per- 
 chance — an arm round my waist, too damp to 
 be my uncle's — a voice in my ear, prayers and 
 tears, the sacredness of promises, tlie misery of 
 being a fugitive, the terror of being alone. This 
 lank shadow, coatless, hatless, with bare feet, 
 which he protested were cold, though the 
 hearthstone was warm, with a jangling sword 
 round his waist, could not, nor would return to 
 safety, " till I showed him the way." 
 
 " How, then, did you come down ? " I asked, 
 preparing to rid me of him by going to the foot 
 of the stairs. 
 
 To this he made no answer, except to 
 urge that I must show him the way — that he
 
 200 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 might trip on the stairs or go into the wrong 
 room. 
 
 "Then stay here," said I, "here is warmth 
 and safety, and I faithfully promise, if it be your 
 pleasure to sleep, that I will watch over and 
 warn you of anyone's approach." 
 
 With this, he looked at me reproachfully, and 
 asked had I lost all interest in him and his for- 
 tunes. My heart treacherously whispered " No," 
 that I was all too engrossed with them. Then 
 there was a long silence. His arm stole about 
 my waist, his voice murmured in my ear like the 
 sound of a distant sea, boding, though I knew it 
 not then, shipwreck — the words in which it at 
 length found utterance were of the irrefragability 
 of a promise. I asked him, begging his pardon, 
 what irrefragability meant, and he said it meant 
 a poor soldier on his knees. 
 
 Then down on his knees he goeth. Ah me ! 
 ^' Ilia node mirum sonmiavi somnium!'^ 
 
 Finding, in the morning, that, owing to the 
 storm of the previous night, the hem of my pink 
 gown was bemired and wet, I had to assume 
 a blue camlet, stiff and straight in its folds, 
 which, with its white neckerchief, gave me a 
 quaint puritanical aspect, only partly relieved 
 by the hard colours in a cairngorm clasp Alexis 
 had given me, and which had been his mother's.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 201 
 
 "This," said I to the Jacobite, who was 
 looking from the window, " is a clear proof of 
 man's inconstancy. A. woman leaves this to her 
 son, and he, to recommend his red curls, gives 
 it to me, who value it only for its colouring." 
 
 " Ha ! " said he advancing, " had the red curls 
 no weight in its acceptance? Who was the 
 man? Nay, I will know, and all about him too ! 
 For I have now a right, Helen." At this I was 
 conscious I blushed terribly, feeling my face 
 scorch and my eyes water, till both were hidden 
 in his arms, and a voice, sweet to me as Hybla- 
 honey, stifled conscience, in soft loving words, 
 and honour in caresses and endearments. So 
 overpowering had my love become, that no 
 whisper of duty could enter my mind in his 
 presence. All my hope, all my life centred in 
 him. It seemed to me impossible even to exist 
 where he was not. Often had I thought with 
 calm scorn of love, and its self-sacrifice, as of a 
 degrading surrender of mind to one dominant 
 idea. Now no intellectual phantasm could 
 exorcise from me this spirit, which fanned me 
 to surrender with its purple plumes, and led me 
 into a world where, king and sole sovereign, it 
 reigned supreme. 
 
 A subtle fascination was in Stuart's manner, 
 neither acquired by art, nor wholly bestowed
 
 202 [A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 by nature. It could only be reconciled to 
 reason by allowing a revival of the old belief 
 in magic, in love-philtres ; mdre probably, 
 looking back upon it, 'twas the gracious 
 refinement of the courtier, glancing from his 
 handsome eyes — the courage and hardihood of 
 the soldier, speaking in his careless yet animated 
 tones. With or without reason, I loved him 
 with heart and soul. When was the dawn of 
 this overmastering passion? I was no more 
 conscious of its rise, than a savage asleep in a 
 cane-brake, when, on his closed eyelids, the 
 crimson rays of the morning quiver, awaking 
 him to the joy of existence. To me it seemed 
 it had no beginning, for, as we at first stood by 
 the Mere in the grey moonlight, no slightest 
 interest attached to him in my mind, beyond the 
 interest of common humanity. Nor, when 
 seeing him at the Hall, had any warmer feeliug 
 been developed that I could trace. The first 
 parting of the cloud, the first ray of warmth was 
 the eager intense fire in his eyes when, for ,the 
 second time, we stood on the gloomy shore of 
 the lake and he told me, recklessly, who and 
 what he was, casting caution to the winds. 
 Was it, then, ambition that had helped on this 
 love ? All psychologists a gree that women are 
 more moved by that in their afi'ections than are
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 203, 
 
 men. It may be true, yet I feel I should have 
 loved him had he been a Simnel and in dis- 
 grace, instead of a Stuart bravely striving for his 
 own. Now I counted all dross that was not 
 summed up in him, was desired by him, or met 
 with his approval. Yet, said woman-craft, let 
 him not learn the extent of his empire, or he 
 will enslave his subject, then weary of sub- 
 mission. 
 
 " Let a woman love as she may, it is still as a 
 woman, and not an angel," said he, resentfully, 
 as, escaping, I rearranged at the mirror the 
 kerchief his close embrace had ruffled. 
 
 " And how of a man ? " said I, retreating a 
 step or two to fix the brooch to advantage. " Is 
 theirs the love of angels ? " 
 
 '' If to be all faith," said he, " and fire, to be 
 a creature transformed from gross earth, to 
 worship the air 'you breathe, to feel the lightest 
 touch of your hand thrill through one's veins, 
 to feel robbed and desolate in your absence — 
 Helen, a woman's love is but weak and vapid 
 beside a man's — a fire of straw beside a furnace. 
 See," he continued, falling on his knees and 
 kissing the hem of my gown, " Eastern 
 hyperbole is with me but a slight expression of 
 what I feel. Say you love me! — but no, I feel the 
 soft icy air of your answer and shiver. Look at
 
 204 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 me, and my faith will enshrine you as an Indian 
 will an idol, though only for its diamond 
 eyes." 
 
 This rhapsody, though sincere, amused me. 
 Sandy would have said as much, could he have 
 conjured up so many hyperbolic words. Yet I 
 believed it all. 
 
 ' " Don't look at me," I said, smiling. " There 
 are many better faces in the tapestry," and not 
 seeing why mere life should weigh with a man 
 if he sought for beauty, I gave a twist to the 
 stiff curtain that brought before him the pic- 
 tured face of Hagar, who, with dark eyes which 
 had not faded, looked boldly out of the past 
 into his face. 
 
 " She was sent into the desert deservedly," he 
 said, scarcely looking at her. " But I, who love 
 my mistress, get even more harshness. I am 
 left in the desert." 
 
 Passing by warily at a distance, I left him 
 to his virtuous discontent with things existent, 
 and went down to our early breakfast, which 
 we took by firelight — to-day being a market. 
 
 " You will be vera sorry to learn," said 
 M'Causland, slowly, " that Verney Clifford was 
 thrown last night, an' broke his leg. An' 
 Blount an his regiment's ordered off at last." 
 
 " What! milord thrown? Verney Clifford's leg
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 205 
 
 broken ! What horse was he riding ? So good a 
 rider as he is, thrown ? " 
 
 " A big brute of Colonel Blount's, a half-broke 
 chestnut ; he would spur it, and, his hand being 
 hurt, he had but little hold on the reins. He is 
 very much shaken besides." 
 
 " Where is he ? " I asked. 
 
 " At Letchford — General Tremenheere took 
 him in at Blount's request. He cannot be moved 
 for some days. Sir Burleigh cannot move either : 
 gout, Helen ; an' grief for his fren' — he is afraid 
 what might have happened to him." 
 
 Like a fool, I blushed so much at this that, had 
 he not been preoccupied, he would surely have 
 noticed it 
 
 " Are you going to Letchford ? Sir Burleigh 
 gave me this letter to Blount ; it is about Sandy. 
 I forgot it." 
 
 After a storm of words had been spent on me 
 for this omission, during which I thought of 
 Miss Tremenheere' s cautious questions about 
 Verney Clifford, I asked was she at home. 
 
 " Yes," said he, "she is waiting on milord. The 
 General is ordered for the West next month ; a 
 draught of his regiment marched yesterday, and, 
 Helen, be joyful, girl! — that woman who fixed 
 on Sandy went wi' them ! I gave her a couple 
 o' guineas and some good counsel. Sandy is rid
 
 2o6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 of her for ever. Blount got a Government brew 
 o' scoldin' ; they say he made up this Jacobite 
 story to get promotion for his zeal. An' they 
 rate him as we rate a dog for a false alarm. It 
 is certain Sir Burleigh had a friend there : he 
 says it was but a cousin o' the laird o' Stellarig — 
 but, ye ken, the Scots are all cousins. I hope an' 
 trust this illboding gowk is miles eneuch awa' 
 by now ; doubtless he was a Jacobite, but 'tis not 
 for us to say. Grant me, heaven, ane grip o' the 
 chiel's craig if I find any such malingerin' about 
 a decent peaceful homestead, bringin' disgrace 
 an' suspect on it ! Sae great a fule, too, he 
 must be wha thinks he could shelter here — 
 men an' women about at all hoors. An' 
 you — keen as a falcon for all yer quiet 
 ways — you wad ha' seen him, let him hide 
 where he might. Verney Clifford's clean mad 
 to think he suspectit ye, Helen ; he thinks ye'U 
 do him a damage wi' Sir Burleigh, an', to my 
 certain knowledge, 'twas but the hope o' the 
 money-reward set him sae crazy — he would eat 
 his head for it noo. For there's you, says he, 
 is his enemy, an' Sir Burleigh furious va' him — 
 an' him chin-deep in debt, an' laid by the heels. 
 I heard him tell Blount all this, an' swear he'd 
 do him a damage for leading him into it by 
 offering the soldiers to search, an' a long preach-
 
 .A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 207 
 
 ment aboot the tliretty thousan' blood-money: 
 ' Sure to get it,' said Blount to tempt him to join. 
 Blount himself is downcast as a kicked hound. 
 Verney's tongue, none sweeter for his hurt, is at 
 him like a lash." 
 
 " Why does he stay near him to be so talked 
 to? " I inquu^ed. 
 
 " Hoot ! " said M'Causland, " ye ken 'tis the 
 General's quarters milord's in; an' Miss there, 
 she's the light o' Blount's eyes, and she sides 
 wi' Verney Clifford.'' 
 
 " You seem very much at home there, uncle ? " 
 
 " I had to go aboot Sandy, ye ken, Helen. 
 Between oursels, I hae given the Colonel mair 
 gear than eneuch, an' he games it awa ; but he is 
 friendly to Alexis, an', when he is a bit ' on,' 
 tells me much an' mair o' milord's sayin's, 
 swearin' that, once afoot, he will challenge him 
 for his attentions to Miss Tremenheere. Verney 
 defies him ; an' Miss, a sweet insipid dish she is 
 too, will whiles side wi' baith. The General is 
 the one stills their clavers ; he is keen as east- 
 wind, a warldly grey-woof. I fancy 'tis his 
 report on the matter, got Blount his brew. By 
 the way, the General desired his respects to you. 
 Blount was speakin' of you : 'tis my belief he 
 wad be talkin' o' women or cards, was he 
 dying."
 
 2o8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " I like the old General," I said — thankful, 
 however, that it was not he who undertook the 
 search for the Jacobite. M'Causland continued : 
 
 " Puir Sir Burleigh ! he's expectin' a warnin' 
 frae King George, an it's brought on gout. Weel 
 a weel ! what brings him to mell with onprofit- 
 able Jacobites ? But it's the hope of a barony, 
 and love of the Stuarts — there is naething he 
 wadna do or risk for them. I must go, Helen. 
 I'll try beg a day's leave for Sandy — we may 
 never see him again. Puir Sandy ! he is e'en in 
 the net an' the snare. We may ne'er see him 
 again in this life, once awa' in the regiment ! " 
 
 " Do not say so ! " I cried, shocked at the 
 reflection, and at my easy forgetfulness of 
 him. " Bring him home with you — Colonel 
 Blount will surely give leave, if only to make 
 amends for his false suspicions here." 
 
 " Hoot ! " said M'Causland, " he thinks 
 naught o' that; 'tis a soldier's trade to ravage 
 and destroy as they go, like locusts, sparing 
 neither flower nor weed — evening wolves 
 ravening for prey ! As to Sandy, after his 
 sinfu' falling awa' for vengeance sake, ye must 
 be carefu' to hold out nae further hopes. For 
 I mil tell him in plain tairms that, marriet or 
 not, he is not now for you." 
 
 With this resolution — in which I knew that
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 209 
 
 Alexis, free, would not acquiesce — lie went out, 
 mounted, and rode off. 
 
 I sent Elizabeth for a hantle of wool, and com- 
 menced some stockings, sitting by the fireside 
 till the room was cleared ; then I went upstairs 
 with my knitting, a cup of hot coffee, and my 
 news. Stuart was sitting sullenly at the table, 
 apparently writing, in reality doing nothing. 
 He pushed the coffee, which I set before him, 
 angrily to one side. A scowl was on his 
 face. 
 
 "Do not despond," said I timidly, thinking 
 the gravity of his affairs wearied him to this 
 petulance. " I wish I could help you to go. 
 Shall I go and ask Sir Burleigh what to do? I 
 want to see him, he is ill with gout." 
 
 " I forbid you going to Sir Burleigh. Ay, it 
 is no use your putting on indignation. I have 
 now a right to control your movements,, and you 
 shall not go to the Hall : my business will 
 
 arrange itself, with Kilmarnock's aid. By — ! 
 
 you are like the woman Spenser ^vrit of, 
 Hellenore, with her forest full of lovers. This. 
 commerce with Sir Burleigh points but to one 
 conclusion. He is a man of the world, and no 
 fool. Pray, how should I look to him, mewed 
 up here, if I let you be my messenger ? A 
 pretty figure ! He raised the coffee to his lips,
 
 2IO A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 but, choking with passion for which I could 
 imagine no cause, put it do^vn untasted. 
 
 Bitter tears rose to my eyes at this assertion 
 of authority, of mastery as of a sultan to a pur- 
 chased slave — at this doubt thrown on my 
 good-guidance. From others it might have 
 been deserved, but from him — ! 
 
 " Yes," said he harshly. " All your pretty 
 country wiles will not change facts. You are 
 now mine — a precious possession, doubtless, 
 which yet I decline to share, like Cato, with my 
 friend." 
 
 Opposite me, reflected in a mirror, stood a 
 little figure in dusky pink, the unheeded tears 
 stealing down its face, its head do^vnbent, a 
 dejected and melancholy face and form, its free 
 grace and proud bearing quenched. I felt sorry 
 for it, only half-recognising it as mine, as I 
 should have sorrowed for any precious thing 
 ignobly used. The colour, the attitude, gave it, 
 to my eyes, the look of a broken rose — pathetic, 
 had it been but a picture ; but it was a marred 
 life — a love degraded and despised, carelessly 
 gained, to be trampled underfoot ! Was this 
 the love he had that morning professed so 
 passionately ? 
 
 The savage glance, with which Stuart was 
 regarding me, softened — that was no more now
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 211 
 
 than the relenting of one who has struck to the 
 death. For the first time in my life, I realised 
 what misery meant : — a cold hopelessness ; a 
 gloom, quenching youth, deadening life. Like 
 a high-spirited and favoured child who has been 
 suddenly struck a cruel blow, I stood, unrealis- 
 ing aught but its cruelty ; justice might demand 
 it, its fault deserve— yet how bitter the agony 
 of conviction that its faith in the forbearance 
 of those it loved, was baseless — that for the 
 future, and all time, it must servilely seek to 
 fathom, patiently flatter uncomprehended moods. 
 My heart beat dully— the sense of woe nigh 
 suffocated me. I could not speak — my misery 
 was voiceless. 
 
 " There ! there ! " said Stuart, approaching, 
 " you need not take everything to heart in that 
 tragic fashion : you have queened it so long over 
 these old fellows, that you forget I am autres 
 choses. Come,'* he continued, as I shrank 
 from him, " this petulance shall not serve you — 
 I will be obeyed, otherwise you will find me 
 kind enough, Helen, you are not surely break- 
 ing your heart over a wry word? Dear, forgive 
 me ! Think of my heavy trials — my perplexi- 
 ties ! " 
 
 Soothing away my grief by words of un- 
 bounded tenderness, by caresses, it stUl left a 
 
 p — 2
 
 212 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 faintness I could not overcome — a silence I could 
 not break as yet. 
 
 " Do not make me wretched," said he, at length, 
 petulantly. " Forgive me — forget this unkind- 
 ness — you know it was not meant. Do you 
 want a man all sugar, a sugar-candy soldier? 
 Sir Burleigh pets you — the darling of home and 
 of Hall. Ah ! you were mighty ready to go to 
 him ! AchiUes has no chance when Nestor is in 
 the field." 
 
 " I like Patroclus best," I said, 'pour jjarler. " I 
 was always sorry when I read the story of his 
 death." 
 
 " Eh ! " said he, " if you have read the Iliad, 
 you have read a good thing. My Patroclus is 
 Lord Kilmarnock — that's to say, so far as a 
 modern friendship can Greek itself — But that 
 is not the question : I want to be friends again. 
 I can feel you shrinking from me. Truly, I am 
 sorry ; what degree of abjectness will content 
 you, Helen ? I writ an apology, calling myself 
 in it — coward, beast, and devil. Since I must 
 grovel to be forgiven, make your own terms. 
 As fugitive, I must agree to them. Oh, 
 wrathful dove and most magnanimous mouse ! 
 You let the lion out of the net, and now he is 
 cruel. Come, let us make it up, sweetheart ! 
 Say that I was jealous : it would be inexcusable
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 213 
 
 were I free to follow you; but to see you go, 
 and be forced to sit watching the door for your 
 return, makes minutes hours, and induces 
 wrathful thoughts of inconstancy, desertion, 
 unkindness. Your readiness to go, though it 
 was in my interest, angered me. Say I am for- 
 given. Say so, or I will stand by the door till 
 midnight and keep you prisoner." 
 
 In effect, as 'twas necessary to escape, I for- 
 gave him, feeling sure that he was of a jealous 
 and petulant nature, apt at taking offence ; then 
 blaming myself for misjudging him. It must, 
 of necessity, be a fret and fatigue to be shut up. 
 He, it is true, wrote a great deal : — so, thought I, 
 should I be doing — or arrears would accumu- 
 late. I had no sooner seated myself at the desk 
 than Elizabeth entered. Sir Burleigh had sent a 
 message that he wanted either M'Causland or 
 myself at the Hall, thus reopening the whole 
 coil, perhaps renewing the quarrel, as I could 
 not leave the house without apprising him of my 
 absence. 
 
 " Very well," said I, apathetically, not at all 
 inclined to go, afraid of his questioning me. 
 
 " Craig didna wait," said she. " He's a dour, 
 sour puritan fellow, is Craig — he just gives his 
 word an's off without a civil greeting, Craig 
 is!"
 
 214 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Elizabeth's mistrust of soldiers did not 
 apparently extend to civilians, or Craig's reticence 
 would not have offended her. She went off to 
 the kitchen and discussed Craig with Elsie, who 
 doubled every damnatory and doubted every 
 saving clause in the estimate of the Scotch valet, 
 half whose lack of manners and speech was due 
 to shyness. 
 
 " How," thought I, embarrassed, " am I to 
 go 1 Casimir confessed to be here, the instant 
 inquiry of where is he ? — in what hole or corner 
 hidden ? — is unanswerable ; now, yet unanswered, 
 will be inferred. Sir Burleigh will be equally 
 angered with both — with me, furious ; and, 
 M'Causland called in to counsel, speedy judg- 
 ment, sharpest justice dealt to me. Him they 
 will exonerate — ^his immediate peril, his ignor- 
 ance of the house, sufficient safeguards. To me 
 disgrace — contumely ; to him a safe and speedy 
 means of departure. I could not go — I would 
 not. A dozen pens I mended to extinction of 
 their use, finally cutting my finger mth the pen- 
 knife, and sucking the blood, ghoul-like, as I 
 pondered the problem : "I love the one," was 
 the solution, " I must reject the other of these 
 two masters." 
 
 " Did I indeed love him ? " My heart beat 
 more with fear, as I repaired upstairs to ac-
 
 . A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 215 
 
 quaint him with this peremptory summons, re- 
 solving to advise his going himself to the Hall 
 at night, and giving as plausible an explanation 
 as might be to his friend. " Men do not blush," 
 thought I bitterly envying them this immunity 
 from vreakness, " and he will look Sir Burleigh in 
 the face and not stammer, nor say a word about 
 me I am sure. Closing the lobby-door I stood 
 on the steps and knocked at mine. Casimir 
 opened it, in some surprise at my sudden reap- 
 pearance, which I saw alarmed him as an omen 
 of danger. 
 
 " It is nothing," said I to reassure him, " but 
 a summons from Sir Burleigh. I must let you 
 know when I leave the house, lest by any 
 chance any should enter here. It is unlikely : 
 yet keep the door fast — they will think I have 
 the key away with me." 
 
 " Don't go," said he, " for God's sake ! Cannot 
 you see how strong are my objections to your 
 seeing Sir Burleigh just now — not alone on my 
 account, but on yours? He can imagine me 
 escaped, but, once face to face with him — ques- 
 tioned — " 
 
 He paused, a dark flush rising to his brow, 
 then continued : 
 
 " All my reasons I cannot tell you, Helen ; but, 
 believe me, it is best he should suffer anxiety
 
 2i6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 rather than know where I am. In a day or 
 two, I shall hear from Kilmarnock, who knows 
 my whereabouts and will manage an escape. 
 "Why should I further endanger Sir Burleigh to 
 no purpose? — he has only just scraped through 
 .as it is ! " 
 
 " After this, I could not suggest my plan of 
 his going to the Hall himself, my difficulty being 
 that he might in anger run some great and 
 terrible risk of capture. For all I knew, though 
 absent, Verney might have the whole place 
 watched for him." 
 
 "There is no risk, absolutely none," I an- 
 swered, " for me. I will not say where you 
 are ; and, no ill-news of you being abroad, he 
 must conclude you safe ! " 
 
 " Go, then ! " said he, sullenly. " Since it is 
 your will to disoblige and disobey me, I have 
 no power either to prevent or punish. I shall be 
 ruined with Sir Burleigh — for what extenuation 
 will he find for me ? — nor do I deserve any from 
 him ! Yet, Helen, I thought you loved me." 
 
 ^' That is not the question," said I, willing to 
 tease him. " My duty is to Sir Burleigh : him 
 I have never disobeyed. I need not tell him you 
 are here." 
 
 " How could you hide it ? " said he, smiling 
 through his anger and agitation. " You are
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 217 
 
 blushing like a rose. Sir Burleigh is a man of 
 the world, let me tell you, and not inapt to 
 connect cause and effect. Suppose his referring 
 to me met with such a blush by way of answer? 
 Nay," said he, as I hid my face in his arms, 
 " there is nothing to blush for, but men do not 
 judge one another lightly, and Sir Burleigh, 
 though my good friend, must just now be 
 avoided, let him be never so anxious. You are 
 my first care : promise me you will not go, nor 
 see him ! *' 
 
 I promised with a heavy heart. Sir Burleigh's 
 constant, unvarying kindness, shown rather in 
 deeds than words, reproached me. In bitter 
 anxiety he would be awaiting news of his 
 friend, w^ho carelessly chose his own comfort 
 and safety rather than its relief. Then a ray 
 of comfort came to me: — M'Causland, on his 
 return, would certainly go, and he could com- 
 promise none. 
 
 In an opposing mirror — a small convex 
 one, of steel, fixed high up in the w^all for 
 ornament — I saw our two forms reflected, each 
 diminished to fairy-stature. One, a pink-robed 
 puppet with bronze hair and pale face; the 
 other, a long-limbed Highland figure with 
 blue eyes and a pointed chin, whose arms 
 were wreathed round the little figure in
 
 2i8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 pink. These I pointed out to him, and he 
 laughed. 
 
 " What pretty little people we are, Helen ! I 
 suspect we look just so, seen from Olympus, or 
 Heaven, or wherever our judges live, and. they 
 think : ' A pity to punish such little creatures ! — 
 let them enjoy themselves their own way ! ' 'Tis 
 what I should say, if I were Jove." 
 
 " Unluckily, sir, our judges are for the most 
 part on our own plane, and diminishing steel- 
 mirrors are rare; but I like them — they make 
 even you handsome." 
 
 "Even me!" he laughed. "The Marquise 
 Briancourt thinks me a handsome fellow." 
 
 " It is a bad plan to think aloud,'* I said with 
 a little pain in my voice, " for now even a jest 
 which glances at memory of another woman, is 
 pain." 
 
 The day is wearing on apace. It is early 
 April ; instead of fugitive showers chased by 
 sunshine, we have sullen downpours at intervals, 
 filled in with dull low-hanging clouds ; it is 
 cold too, and I feel regret at leaving the prisoner 
 alone, a prey to anxious thought and dreary 
 reflection. I hope his friend will come soon and 
 free him from this ungracious inaction. " Let 
 what may come of it," think I, " he shall have a 
 fire now," and, without apprising him of my in-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 219 
 
 tention, I go down to the parlour, bringing up, in 
 a shovel, a large burning log, following this up 
 with a return-journey and an armful of oak- 
 billets, which I build up on the hearth ; the 
 draught from the wide chimney soon helped to 
 kindle them all into a cheerful blaze, and I see 
 how acceptable is the provision as he, protesting 
 against my taking the trouble, stands beside it. 
 There is always plentiful provision of logs in 
 the ingle of the parlour : these I rob freely, and, 
 drawing the curtains, provide him with a book 
 to read by firelight. 
 
 "What is it?" he says suspiciously, as I put 
 it into his hands with a laugh ? Theology ? " 
 
 " No ; look and see ! " 
 
 Reading the title, he laughed too. It was : — 
 
 Beligious Courtship : 
 
 On the Necessity of choosing none hut 
 
 Beligious Husbands and Wives. 
 
 Historical Discourses, 
 
 " Ah I " said he, " who gave you this \ " 
 
 " My cousin Sandy, sir, bought it for me of a 
 
 pedlar ; and for a good while afterwards he gave 
 
 up Caesar's Commentaries and read the Bible." 
 " Ha ! " said he with a smile, " that is the 
 
 red-headed cousin, who also gave you the 
 
 brooch? Where is he now?"
 
 220 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " In Colonel Blount's regiment,'^ said I with 
 a sigli, warming my foot at the logs, now bright 
 enough. " But," I add, remembering, " he is 
 coming here to-night, on leave. I must go.'* 
 
 " When it is quite dark," said he, throwing 
 down the book angrily, " I shall go for a ramble 
 in the helds, and, if I do not return, consider 
 my adieux said, my thanks rendered till I can 
 safely write." 
 
 " Very well," said I, in stunned surprise at 
 this sudden resolution ; then, recovering — seeing 
 in it but an acute attack of temper on Alexis' 
 account — I said coldly : " Let me first bring your 
 supper. It will soon be on the table. You 
 need not go starving." 
 
 " ' She brought him butter in a lordly dish,' " 
 said he, rising. " Jael — why Jael was merciful to 
 her captive. It is true she killed him sleeping, 
 but you hammer nails into my heart every 
 hour." 
 
 " What have I done now? " 
 
 "What have you left undone? In a few 
 minutes you will be beguiling that hulking 
 
 soldier. I seem to see it. By ! I will not 
 
 stand it ! — either remain with me or I will go." 
 
 " I tell you I cannot remain with you, and, 
 if you mean clumsiness by 'hulking,' Alexis 
 M'Causland is the handsomest man I have ever
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 221 
 
 seen — neither awkward nor ill-informed ; and a 
 Highlander too ! " 
 
 " There must be but one Highlander for you, 
 in the whole world ; and, if it is to be this kins- 
 man — this book-giving, pearl-bestowing cousin 
 — say so ! " 
 
 " It is this book-giving," I took the book 
 from him, " amiable. Now let me go. You 
 will find two sisters in that book, each more 
 amiable than the other." Leaving him pacified, 
 I went downstairs, carrying with me a headache 
 and depression. Tears even stole into my eyes 
 at thought of the coil in which I stood, and, on 
 Sandy's entering, I suffered to be taken in his 
 arms and kissed as of old, without rebuking 
 him as he expected. M'Causland, glad and 
 happy at this apparent reconcilement, leaves the 
 room to give orders. 
 
 Sandy, glad, surprised, yet a trifle suspicious — 
 for he too has encountered the hard real world 
 and put away childish things — bids me not cry 
 and smooths my hair already smooth as satin ; 
 nay, is getting more glad — less surprised, and 
 none suspicious, as his honest heart wakes and 
 thrills with pleasure at this greeting. " Oh, 
 Sandy," is all I can say, " I'm sorry I was ever 
 cruel to you ! " Here I thought of the forlorn 
 written apology of the man who called himself
 
 222 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 in it — coward, beast, and devil ; yet what had he 
 of cruelty to charge himself with beside mine to 
 Alexis ? 
 
 " It could not be helped," said Sandy, dis- 
 tressed at my late repentance and kissing me 
 many times. 
 
 "Perhaps you thought I meant the guard- 
 room ? " I said, recovering myself somewhat and 
 ruffling up his red curls, for I could not be 
 respectful to my vassal long. 
 
 " No, I didna think sae," said Sandy a little 
 consciously. " For a' that, Helen, yese best beware 
 o' soldiers. It's in the air they breathe, an' it's 
 the breath o' their nostrils." 
 
 " What is ] " I asked, cautiously withdrawing. 
 
 " Kissing, and — and — a' that," said Alexis. 
 
 " Then don't you do it, Sandy ; you were not 
 bred a soldier." 
 
 " Ou, ay ! " said Sandy promptly, " but I was 
 bom a man, Helen Eohan." 
 
 " Sandy," I said, coming nearer and whisper- 
 ing in his ear, " tell me quick — where is that 
 woman ? " 
 
 " I dinna ken," said Sandy, '' she went off wi' 
 one o' Tremenheere's troop to France. I'll ne'er 
 see her again, Helen. It was na a marriage — not 
 a right one, I am free. Blount bid her begone." 
 
 "Are you, then, a widower? " I asked, a little
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 223 
 
 awestruck at Sandy being promoted to anything 
 so serious. He looked serious too, then laughed 
 at the idea. 
 
 " No, I'm not rightly a widower — I was never 
 marriet right, ye ken; she had a husbandt 
 living then, and many knew of it." 
 
 " She is like the woman in Scripture with 
 seven husbands, Sandy ! Whose will she be — 
 ultimately 1 " 
 
 " Not mine, by ! " said Sandy energeti- 
 cally. " I disown her ; now leave talking of 
 her, Helen. Thank the Lord she's in France, 
 perhaps dead ! " 
 
 " Relatively," I mused, walking away from him, 
 " I am to Stuart what this woman was to Alexis. 
 AVould he, if talking to some high-born woman 
 (who would be lovely), should she by any chance 
 have heard of me, speak in this lofty, con- 
 temptuous way, and would not she listen and 
 feel it to be true, as I believed Sandy?" It was 
 too-too bitter to realise. Perhaps this poor 
 wretch had been the idol of some humble home. 
 Why had I not been kinder to her ? 
 
 " Helen, ye are unhappy," said Alexis, who 
 was watching me, and who now approached and 
 placed his arm protectingly round me. I 
 doubt na my going has been made grievous for 
 ye, in my wrath I helped on, but forgive me.
 
 224 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 If ye couldna love me, ye couldna ; but I hae a 
 sword," said Alexis, " an' a Highland heart, and 
 I'd cut the man to mince wha grieved or hurt ye, 
 an' ne'er ask ye for why, nor him for his 
 story." 
 
 " That would be unjust ! " I said hotly. " At 
 that rate, any wicked woman — " 
 
 "Men dpn't pawn their honour to wicked 
 women," said Sandy grimly. "They gie them 
 gifts — and there's Scripture to that — but not 
 their heart's blood." 
 
 I began to feel dizzy and exhausted, and sat 
 down. Alexis seated himself beside me and 
 drew my head on to his shoulder. M'Causland 
 bustled in, and, seeing that we seemed happy — 
 for it was dusk, and he could not see our faces — 
 he made a feint of scolding me for not going to 
 the Hall, and said he must go himself, but 
 would return to supper. Blount had granted 
 Alexis leave till twelve o'clock. 
 
 By degrees, a great silence fell on us. It was 
 not the silence of passion, but of thought. We 
 were each away in a world of our own. 
 Elizabeth came in and cast fresh logs on the 
 fire ; it blazed up, lighting up the room. He 
 rose and stood before it. 
 
 " Do ye paint? " said Alexis, suddenly; " your 
 cheeks are scarlet ! "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 225 
 
 " No," I said, wearily, " I am getting old, 
 Sandy, and weary, and worn out." 
 
 " At eighteen, Helen ? " 
 
 "Yes. Why not? The world was young when 
 it was destroyed for wickedness: why not 
 me?" 
 
 " Eh ! but I didna think they would ha' 
 scoldit you to this ! " said Sandy, with keenest 
 self-reproach — thinking, poor fellow, that 
 M'Causland's unheeded lectures were the cause 
 of my disquiet. "But," I continued, "we 
 must make your last visit cheerful; will you 
 play draughts, Sandy, or backgammon?" 
 
 " Ay, I will so ! " he said eagerly, having had 
 enough of thinking — and besides contracted a 
 love of gaming which made even this mild form 
 of it pleasant. So we sat down to our amuse- 
 ment, and grew less emotional and pleasanter 
 over it. Like most Scotchmen, Alexis had some 
 of that dry, caustic humour which is a national 
 characteristic, and so happily hit off various of 
 his barrack-mates, including our mutual friend 
 the Sergeant, that our mirth sometimes grew 
 noisy, for I could not in my heart stop his 
 pleasure this last time we might see him for 
 years. 
 
 M'Causland, as he had promised, returned to 
 supper ; and, with abundant whiskey, they both 
 
 Q
 
 226 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 grew happy enough. All Sandy's sentiment 
 departed, doubtless to return next day, and by 
 ten o'clock he was anxious to be gone, M'Caus- 
 land going a bit with him — which meant, in his 
 exalte mood, all the way — it was even doubtful if 
 he would return that night. I put on my long 
 cloak and walked beside their horses — being 
 lifted to the stirrup to say good-bye — soldier- 
 fashion. Then, instead of returning, I went to 
 the turnip-field, feeling sure that there I should 
 find Casimir. 
 
 " There you are in good sooth," said I cheer- 
 fully, " wandering about in this grey purgatory. 
 Why did you not run away? " 
 
 "You hoped I should?" 
 
 " No, truly. M'Causland has been over to the 
 Hall. Sir Burleigh is not alarmed about you. 
 Shall I tell you what he said ? " 
 
 " No,'' said he ungraciously, seeming anxious 
 and depressed. " I cannot understand Kilmar- 
 nock's not having discovered me ere this : he has 
 scouts who beat red Indians as trackers, and 
 assume any character." 
 
 " Let us go in search of him," I suggest, " I 
 want to see Kilmarnock, badly." 
 
 Some laughing demon had seized me, and, the 
 more persistently grave and sad he became, the 
 more I laughed ; at length he said grimly :
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 227 
 
 "Your Highlander seems to have amused 
 you." 
 
 "Which Highlander, sirT' 
 
 " The one who gave you the ' Religious 
 Courtship.' " 
 
 At this I nearly choked, thinking of Sandy in 
 the guardroom, and his humble imitation of 
 Both well. The tragic tone and manner of 
 Louis Casimir helped on the mischief. 
 
 " I have never laughed so much before ! " 
 said I, penitently and sorro^vfuUy, seeing that it 
 increased his disquiet. " Forgive me ! " 
 
 So we wandered about in the soft, still dark- 
 ness of the April night, but no messenger came ; 
 patches of star-sown sky shone through the rack 
 of clouds ; and, when all the house was still, we 
 returned to it, through the kitchen and by way 
 of the parlour. A sober and serious mood held 
 me now; my hands grew cold in his as we 
 stopped and looked around on the room — large, 
 homely and comfortable, immaculately clean 
 and trim, a few embers flickering on the 
 hearth. All the ghosts of former years trooped 
 past ; the scene wherein I had saved Stuart 
 seemed to belong to the far-off past. I could 
 not credit that I was the same Helen Rohan ; 
 that one was a grave and steadfast ruling spirit, 
 high, pure, and proud ; this a wild and revelling 
 
 Q— 2
 
 228 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Bacchante, a thing of tears and laughter, of 
 mood and impulse, dominated by another, 
 yet unwilling to be free — a forest Hellenore. 
 
 As I had conjectured, M'Causland did not 
 return that night ; and next day brought the news 
 that Blount's regiment was to start, in a week's 
 time, for Ireland. 
 
 " Till when I shall be safest here," said Stuart, 
 with an hypocrisy I had not credited him with ; 
 and he set forth an array of reasons — which 
 mightily convinced neither of us, but with which 
 we were more than content — why it would be 
 safest to wait Kilmarnock's coming. 
 
 Every day M'Causland went to Letchfold : he 
 even joined in card-playing with the Sergeant, 
 Sandy's military godfather, in order to propitiate 
 him. Blount he bribed almost openly to pro- 
 mote Alexis, paying him twenty guineas down ; 
 and in consequence I heard a rapturous account 
 of how handsome Sandy looked as an officer — for 
 so his uncle proudly described it — and how Blount 
 had taken to the young man, to whom he had at 
 first been so harsh, and treated him "like a 
 brother,'' how even Lord Clifford had put in a 
 good word for him. It was, in short, Alexis' 
 apotheosis after martyrdom. 
 
 All these items of news I carried to the 
 Jacobite. I wrote letters for him to various
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 229 
 
 madams. The first I spoilt, by letting tears drop 
 on to it, which he, unobservant, was about to fold 
 and seal ; then, opening it on a sudden, he de- 
 manded, in anger, if ever man had so bad a 
 secretary before. 
 
 " Sir," I said, " I will do better— but I like not 
 writing to that woman." 
 
 " What woman, patient grizzle ? " quoth he. 
 
 " That madam there, to whom you relate all 
 your affairs, of whom you ask counsel, to 
 whom you tender thanks and express affection. 
 Suffer me to write to men — that I will gladly 
 do." 
 
 '-' Of that I make no manner of doubt. Copy 
 that fairly Helen and at once." 
 
 Full of rage and grief, I obeyed, driving 
 back my tears with one hand, which kept it 
 almost continually employed — a sufficiently silly 
 spectacle to him, no doubt. Drying my tears, 
 with this reflection, and also thinking how the 
 rouged and patched madam would, could she 
 see me, scorn at me, I toiled through the long 
 letter unnerved, and he added to it a signature 
 I could not see ; then, folding it, dictated the 
 address : — 
 
 Mistress Fraser^ 
 
 The Canongate, 
 
 Edinhro\
 
 230 A STATESMAJSrS LOVE. 
 
 " She goes by another name, also," he said 
 composedly. 
 
 " Yes ? " said I, with calm interrogation, add- 
 ing, " You need not tell me, as we shall never 
 meet." 
 
 " That it is very likely you may do, since I wish 
 it," said he. " Fie ! what a fiery temper ! Your 
 eyes blaze like two fierce stars ! " — seizing my 
 hands and looking into my face, which I strove 
 to hold downward. " It is but fair your turn 
 should come, Helen! Your friends cause me 
 uneasiness enough. Am I to have no friend 
 but you?" 
 
 " I am sure," I said, with an attempt at 
 indifference, " that I wish all the world friendly 
 to you, and everyone loyal." 
 
 " I wish my friends could see you, Helen ! " 
 
 " A plain-bred country-girl is no such great 
 matter, and I have no wish to be a gazing-stock 
 to " 
 
 " Kilmarnock ! Come ! come ! I was but 
 teasing you ; yet it is cruel sport. He is only 
 * madam' till times mend. I have many thus 
 addressed in both countries." 
 
 He wiped away my tears, which now flowed 
 fast. I thought it a wretched jest, yet forgave 
 him, and returned to writing. Many letters I 
 wrote to ' Mistress ' this and that, and he franked
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 231 
 
 them from a list of names sewed in the lappet 
 of his coat. 
 
 " Our people," said he in explanation, " who 
 will acknowledge them as theirs." 
 
 I may here note that various ways of spelling, 
 some illiterate as a peasant's, were used in the 
 composition of these letters. The King de 
 facto was often named as a bodily disorder, 
 notably in one case as a tumour. Money and 
 men had other names bestowed on them — that, 
 in case the letters miscarried, it should seem as 
 one simple gossip writ to another of her needs, 
 housewifery, or ailment. 
 
 Under Stuart's direction, who owned he 
 disliked writing, a good many letters were got 
 through. Every time I glanced up at him, I 
 could not avoid wishing that ambition were 
 banished the world, and love alone reigned — 
 that he might be a country laird, and I his 
 scribe and writer. 
 
 "Helen," said he, in perplexity, "how are 
 these to be got unobserved to the London post 
 which the coach conveys to the North ? " 
 
 " I will manage that," I said, confidently. " I 
 will get them put in the regimental post-bag. 
 The Sergeant rides with it to meet the coach 
 every week — he is generally drunk, and I can 
 easily bribe him to put them in. Thus Hanover
 
 232 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 will help on your cause, sir, with his own 
 soldiers. It goes to-night." 
 
 Very tired was I when I returned that night 
 from Letchford, having lingered in a road out- 
 side the town, witch-like, to watch for the 
 Sergeant. It was pretty dark, and he was riding, 
 jangling by, half-drunk, when I stopped him. 
 
 " Sergeant ! " I called out, " don't you know 
 me?" 
 
 " No, Miss," he admits, reluctant enough, but 
 readily stopping. 
 
 " From the farm," I said, omitting names — for 
 I saw he was tipsy. 
 
 " Eh ! " he said, " there's many farms here- 
 about, and many a heartache for us soldiers." 
 
 " Elizabeth,'* I murmured, thinking of hers, 
 and how she needs no longer lock herself 
 up. 
 
 " Ay ! Elizabeth, so it is ! " he assents, deceiv- 
 ing himself (so how was I to blame ?) — " Elizabeth, 
 sure enough ! In service hereabouts. Miss % " 
 
 " Yes," I said, " but my man " — here I 
 blushed, but it was dark — " is in London, and I 
 want this letter put in your bag to post, un- 
 known to my mistress, who is somewhat severe." 
 
 " I will take it for you, my dear — never heed 
 your mistress." Then he opened the bag, into 
 which I slipped some twelve letters unperceived.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 233 
 
 Then he was for kissing me, but I told him 
 a quart of double ale, the price of which I 
 gave him, should be enough for so small a 
 favour. 
 
 " Small ! " he grumbled. " If you knew our 
 Colonel—" 
 
 " Good-night," I said, making quickly off into 
 the darkness. 
 
 " Good-night, Elizabeth," he called after me, 
 stopping for some response which should guide 
 him in pursuit, but he waited in vain and soon 
 trotted off, and I went wearily homeward, 
 amused and elated as to mind, but feverish, 
 weary, and outworn in every jaded limb. No 
 longer a fleet and fresh country-lass, thinking a 
 few miles nothing of a walk, but a tired 
 intrigante., helping on plots, and plotting to 
 deceive my friends and kind guardians — for love 
 of a stranger. Yet would I, had it been neces- 
 sary, have helped him with my life ! 
 
 Awaiting my return, he was seated near the 
 door — his sword, unsheathed, lying on the table. 
 His first anxiety was for the letters ; reassured 
 as to their safe posting, he was alarmed at my 
 evident fatigue and exhaustion. I sank to sleep 
 in the armchair, too tired to do more than 
 remove my dusty boots and beaver bonnet, 
 finding in the morning that he had sat beside
 
 234 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 me, wakeful, through all the long hours of the 
 night. 
 
 " Someone is calling you," a whisper awoke 
 me. It was Elizabeth at the door announcing 
 breakfast. On my answering, she retired, and, 
 hastily bathing my face and brushing my hair, 
 I was for going off, like Cinderella, slipperless, 
 but that was soon rectified, for, despite all my 
 protestations, Stuart went on his knees and 
 fitted on my slippers for me. 
 
 Risk and hazard bring with them a certain 
 hardihood and composure which seem in- 
 credible in the relation, and to be but the effect 
 of after-imagining; yet, granted the courage 
 of performance, the composure attends it as 
 certainly as shadow attends substance — 'tis a 
 natural law, or there were no successful con- 
 cealments. 
 
 I thought thus when, entering the room, I 
 found Stuart reading the silly and pragmatic 
 book " Heligious Courtship," and even laughing 
 over it. 
 
 I drew it from his hands, and, holding it 
 above his head, inquired to which of the sisters 
 depicted therein he most inclined. He retook 
 it, reading aloud : — 
 
 " Oh, dear ! an 't please you, I should be a 
 dreadful wretch if I should not be thankful.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 235 
 
 What would become of me if I had nothing but 
 what I deserve ? " 
 
 " Sir," said I, austerely, " I don't like being 
 made a jest of! " — for he laughed. 
 
 " Helen, to read to you from a book of your 
 o^Nvn providing is not making a jest of you ! " 
 Turning over the pages with one hand, guarding 
 it from me with the other, he reads on : — " ' The 
 happy life of the youngest sister, and the miser- 
 able condition of the second sister, who rashly 
 tlirew herself into the arms of a man of differing 
 principles from her own, though blessed with 
 all the good humour in the world/ (Cest moi.) 
 ' Of differing principles.' Let us go into it, 
 Helen, and confute this idiot author, who would 
 imply that to be happy, to love, one must be a 
 mere echo of the other. Why," he continued, 
 half-indignantly, "was you as proud and 
 sullen as myself, what charm would you have 
 for me ? It's your wit, and that sort of air you 
 have of Hellenic intelligence — a lofty little 
 philosopher — which attracts and amuses — ay ! 
 and impresses an irresistible charm on you. 
 Now for our author : ' Differing principles,' eh ! 
 Let us dispose of them. Are you for Hanover? " 
 
 " Not altogether so ! " 
 
 "Any for Stuart?" 
 
 I was silent; the light sparkled in his bright
 
 236 A ^STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 blue eyes as, intent on his pastime he turned 
 over the foolish pages. I longed to take it 
 from his hands again and cast it away — not for 
 its teasing me, but that it kept his attention. 
 
 " Here's a disclosure," he said, presently : 
 " ' I dare not trust myself to see him, I am 
 pretty well over it by now, but if I see him 
 again I know not what influence my own weak- 
 ness may have upon my resolution, for I own to 
 you, sister, I have no aversion to him/" He 
 laughed as he read this. " Let me see, a score 
 of marks on this passage and H.E,. against it." 
 
 " Sir, I saw you mark it. Prove to me those 
 letters are not yours ? Aha ! a pencil is in your 
 hand ! " 
 
 " Don't touch me with those silky sleek 
 fingers of yours, Helen, they electrify me. I 
 can read no more now were you to pray me 
 to!" 
 
 " So much the better. Your ideal of excel- 
 lence might grow too great." 
 
 " You are my present ideal. Nay, thus chal- 
 lenged I could not say less, assure yourself. 
 But, truly, what starched minxes were those ! 
 Thank God I had none such to trust to for my 
 escape — eh, Helen ! " 
 
 I sighed. A little thought of the good women 
 in books came to me : — of Isabella, who re-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 237 
 
 pulsed Lord Angelo; of sprightly Rosalind 
 aiid sweet Celia. From a reverie I was drawn 
 back to reality by a kiss so loving, lingering, 
 and grateful in its intensity, that all else than 
 thankfulness to have aided him faded from my 
 my mind. So I answered to his query lightly 
 enough : 
 
 " Sir, there are none such, out of books." 
 " Sweet ! " said he. " Do you forget the 
 pearls and diamonds of wisdom and discretion 
 that dropped from your lips when counselling 
 me as one whom you then thought to be some 
 vagabond Jacobite trespassing on Burleigh 
 Manor — your cold icy air of wisdom? What 
 a meeting was there ! Fate's subtillest web 
 wove it : we were to meet. I could not have lived 
 without you: you are a part of me — an Eve 
 created for me. Nothing could have prevented 
 our foreordained destiny. Oh, my dear, put 
 aside as a pernicious lie any book or any state- 
 ment that says a man or woman met and loved, 
 saw and sighed for each other, yet wilfully 
 passed by on the other side. 'Tis not in 
 nature." 
 
 " Hard partings have chanced even to lovers 
 as true as are we — bitter separations, cruel 
 hardships, but not by their own will, as writers 
 assert falsely. That is where they err. They
 
 238 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 build an ice-figure, clothe it in heroic drapery, 
 and, naming it human, deny its humanity." 
 
 " My darling, do you repent rescuing me ? 
 Tell me, truly in a word, your poor prisoner! 
 My whole soul craves for your true answer! 
 Sweet ! do not torture me ! " 
 
 " No," said I, reflectively ; " but that you 
 know — nor shall not while you love me." 
 
 " AVhich will be for ever, Helen ! — for ever ! 
 for ever ! " 
 
 The passion in his eyes carried conviction to 
 my soul. I felt that, but once in my life, would 
 a strong man tremble at touch of a woman's 
 hand. He raised mine to his lips, imprinting a 
 kiss on it. 
 
 "Now," said I, returning (though loth) to 
 realities, " it is our dinner-hour, which must not 
 be missed. Farewell for awhile." 
 
 '' What ! " said he, holding my hand linger- 
 ingly, " a rose dine ? Yes ; ' marry and shall,' 
 as the playbook says. A damask-rose feed?" 
 
 " Even so ! — and, returning with^;o?^7' diner for 
 you, will hear you sigh over old tradition and 
 say : ' The woman tempted me, and I did 
 eat.' " 
 
 Escaping with that, I went below. The noisy 
 kitchen-dinner was proceeding. All the men to 
 be fed, Elizabeth had no time to wait on our
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 239 
 
 table, at which I was alone ; so I carved a portion 
 of dainty capon for the prisoner, who, spite of 
 love and fate, was not indifferent to it — or he 
 had been bnt foolish, since love will not suffice 
 alone as aliment. He did not even affect in- 
 difference to it, nor to the farm-made cheese. 
 The fritters and cream, and Highland whiskey 
 proved that it held attraction even for a Jacobite 
 in love. I was indeed glad that I had power to 
 soothe and charm so haughty and sensitive a 
 spirit, since I was convinced that, to a cold or 
 coarse gaoler, even the same duty rendered 
 would scarce have induced him to eat, in his 
 then circumstances. Carrying down the dishes, 
 I was but just in time. Elizabeth bounced in 
 angrily from the kitchen, followed by a roar of 
 laughter. Some joke, carried to extremes, had 
 vexed her, and, to cover her confusion, she 
 affected zeal in clearing the parlour- table. I 
 I was thankful, though I had lost my own 
 dinner, that I was in time. The many minute 
 risks I ran were almost more than I could guard 
 against — witness this one. 
 
 Afraid to reprove her rude and rough entry, 
 while she, in her preoccupation, was uncon- 
 scious of my lean and hungry aspect, I yet 
 kept back enough apple and cream to feast on 
 when she should have gone, unremarked, which,
 
 240 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 with bread and cheese always kept in the room, 
 served for dinner to the " damask rose." 
 
 Late that night, all the household hushed in 
 sleep as still and stirless as the dead, I was at 
 the window on guard while Stuart slept, 
 trying to think calmly of the unhappy parting 
 now imminent, whilst his head showed sunk 
 deep into the downy pillow, and his closed eyes, 
 and firm haughty mouth, made him look hand- 
 some, spite of the haggard and haunted expres- 
 sion which shadowed all his face even in sleep. 
 I heard from without, as he had predicted 
 would be the case to-night, the dreaded 
 signal thrice repeated, bearing some slight 
 resemblance to the cry of a curlew. I would 
 have waked him, for so were his orders; but, 
 before I could stretch out my hand, he sprang 
 up — in his dreams he must have heard it — and 
 seized his sword. 
 
 My heart died away. At last he was going ! — 
 and I could not even rejoice for his sake. 
 
 " Helen," he said, " you are now rid of me." 
 Despite his excitement, his lip quivered as he 
 held out his arms. " God bless you, dear ! " He 
 could utter no more ; again came from without 
 the low, yet distinct cry. " It is Kilmarnock," 
 he said, listening, " one of my most trusty friends. 
 Now, Helen, be calm, or I cannot go — my very
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 241 
 
 soul aches at parting with you; it will not 
 be for long. I will send and tell you how I fare, 
 or you can join me in France." I thought he 
 spoke coldly, and shivered. 
 
 " Go," I said, miserably, unclasping my arms. 
 " You will forget me ; do not send to me. People 
 are not tormented in their graves. I will see 
 you go, and then die." 
 
 "Helen, this is foolishness. Neither shall 
 you come down; would you have Kilmarnock 
 see you? " 
 
 " What is Kilmarnock to me ? " I said despair- 
 ingly. " I should stifle and die if I stayed here. 
 Suffer me to see you go." 
 
 Meeting with no further opposition, I crept 
 downstairs, while he went from the window, and 
 so out into the home-close meadow. There I 
 looked about me : — yes, there they stood in the 
 dim moonlight, obscured by hurrying dark 
 clouds ; near them, two high and fiery-looking 
 horses standing, half-hidden by the pile of 
 faggots. I came round, careless of Kilmarnock^ 
 who lifted his Highland bonnet and stared. 
 
 " Why will you come I " said Stuart angrily, 
 noting this surprised gaze, as he moved away to 
 examine the saddle of his horse, the priming of 
 his pistols. 
 
 " Madam, your goodness will come home to
 
 242 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 you," said Kilmarnock obligingly, yet in a tone 
 I could not quite feel satisfied with, though tone 
 or words mattered little to me then, my eyes 
 following Stuart. 
 
 "Do not influence him against going," he 
 said more anxiously, seeing my dumb agony in 
 my face. "It is a hard chance and great risk 
 that he has brought on us by lingering here so 
 long." 
 
 " Sir," I said, for my throat swelled, " others 
 have hard chances and great risks." Tears 
 rained through my fingers, held before my face. 
 That now he should more regard his horse than 
 me, was acute mortification. Turning away, I 
 was for going. 
 
 "Stay," said Kilmarnock, who had more 
 reason than I wotted of to distrust the impe- 
 tuosity of his friend's temper, and was in evi- 
 dent anxiety. "Be calm, madam, for God's 
 sake ! or he will come back with you for 
 quarrelling's sake ! " 
 
 By this time he was some little distance ofi", 
 pacing the horse, " taken up with it," thought I 
 bitterly, like a child with a new toy. 
 
 " You shall see him again," said Kilmarnock 
 soothingly. " He is not really inconstant, only 
 so in appearance, and never forgets a friend." 
 " I have sown the wind," I say bitterly, " and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 243 
 
 shall reap most justly the whirlwind, as do 
 others." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Stuart, coming back blithely, 
 " another victim, Helen ! Kilmarnock, that was 
 my secretary, protector, and civil and religious 
 counsellor. It is a heavy parting and bitter to me! " 
 So saying he was for embracing me, but, giving 
 a hand to each and wishing them a safe journey, 
 I watched them mount and ride off, whispering 
 eagerly of other things — myself forgot. 
 
 Albeit, unused to indulge in excessive emotion, 
 after a vague effort at self-control — vague and 
 vain — I flung myself, or rather was seized by an 
 overmastering agony and flung on the wet turf 
 at the base of the woodstack, where the grass 
 grew tall and rank, and stinging-nettles and 
 docks flourished in juicy luxuriance; and, 
 through their cold deafening, heard the 
 distant tread of the horse's feet which bore the 
 Jacobite away to his friends. Through it all, I 
 had no doubt of his ultimate escape ; but so 
 great, so strong a hatred of his cold cruelty to 
 me held me, that, had Blount at that instant 
 brought him back in triumph, tied by cords to 
 his saddle-bow, I would have felt — 
 
 " No, no ! " I cried out, aloud, " this will pass 
 away ! " and I raised myself up, weeping, and sat 
 with my arms round the hound Sandy's neck, 
 
 R — 2
 
 244 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 who had stolen through the darkness and the 
 rain to comfort me. And what rain ! the drizzle 
 increased to a downpour, the downpour to a 
 torrent. To me it seemed sent as a cleansing- 
 tide to a land plague-stricken and accursed ; and 
 I sat erect whilst, as by pailfuls, the cold fresh 
 softness was flung over me by Mother Nature. 
 Had I not always been the soul, the inner self 
 of purity? Now I should be dissolved into 
 dew, sink into the earth to reappear as daisies — as 
 something white and trim, tasting of the country, 
 yet with a ruby heart to redeem from inanity. 
 AVhat rivers, what roads, what heaths, were now 
 between me and the Jacobite ! What worlds, 
 rather — what centuries — what Polar seas ! If 
 he again returned — if I again loved him, it 
 would not be with that passion of the heart and 
 mind that makes a love complete — one — indivi- 
 sible. This sorrowful sighing was the travail of 
 the mind for ever parting from the love of the 
 heart. If he returned, I should love him, but 
 not with the glow and warmth, the essence, the 
 soul of love. All that for ever fled with our 
 parting, washed away in the cold purifying chill 
 downpour that fell over my drenched limbs, and 
 seemed to say : 
 
 " You elected to leave Love behind and 
 follow ' Fame,' and, at the outset, step into the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 245 
 
 leper-house of my rival, Pleasure ! After this, 
 return to me purified — forgiven ! " Holding up 
 my drenched hands and streaming eyes in the 
 darkness, I cried out for pardon and renewed 
 my promise. Alas ! that love, which is so 
 sweet, should be a snare ! That to seek sym- 
 pathy, is to invite an assassin who enters dis- 
 guised and takes our dearest life from us ! We 
 should be prudent, says age, afar off on its 
 glaciers ; while youth, gathering the sun- 
 warmed roses, laughs till the scattered leaves 
 fall and elude it ! 
 
 Condolence was not much in fashion at Bur- 
 leigh Manor, yet the morning following the 
 Jacobite's flight, when M'Causland's favourite 
 horse came in bedraggled — ^his saddle, the 
 girths slackened by rain, slipped under him ; 
 his knees broken and his mouth chafed — Sir 
 Burleigh, hearing of it, sent a laboured line to 
 his steward, enclosing a twenty-pound bank-bill, 
 
 and telling him not to mind about the d d 
 
 horse, a big D supplying the place of a more 
 explicit imprecation. M'Causland, who before 
 was " minding " very much, pocketed the 
 money, ordered the horse a warm mash, and 
 said no more about it. 
 
 The labourers, reticent by nature and habit — 
 slow and sluggish — made no marvel of the
 
 246 . A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 matter. The very one who was bribed, having 
 bemused himself with beer at Letchford and 
 muddled himself over speculations about the 
 invasion of the place by soldiers, got it into his 
 head that its rider was Lord Clifford, and said 
 to me warningly, on our meeting : 
 
 " Ne'er ye go, Helen Rohan, an' gie a Clifford 
 the maister^s best nag agen. They be all hard 
 riders o' other volks nags, they be ; an ye'd gi'en 
 the word, he shouldn't ha' had it — no, not for 
 two guinea, mind ye that!'' So my name had 
 been used in the matter. 
 
 So time closed over the Jacobite, enclosing 
 him in the amber of our memories, like some 
 gad-fly that had troubled our peace. And Sir 
 Burleigh, not sorry for having the long-dreaded 
 black draught of the Government warning and 
 the Stuart's visit over, let the warm April 
 weather cure his gout, and returned with re- 
 newed zest to his farming and woodland work. 
 It was a warm day in the third week of April 
 when, knowing that Verney Clifford was still 
 away, I went, taking with me the remains of an 
 inffuenza-cold, to the Manor woods — to the 
 lake like Phlegethon, and in its black depths 
 I saw a face paler than the colourless primroses 
 washed by many rains. I had been ill for three 
 weeks, loathing the ledgers, which, after a vain
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 247 
 
 attempt at posting himself, M'Causland had 
 remitted to his master, and I was now on my 
 way to request their return — a new dark-blue 
 silk-hat on, which I chronicle because M'Caus- 
 land dated my recovery from its appearance — 
 a hat mysteriously sent by Sir Burleigh, who 
 had written mth his own hand, to London, an 
 order, the draught of which I subsequently saw 
 among his paper, for a bonnet of silke and 
 taffetas to be sent at once, and with it, to me, 
 came the appended note : — 
 
 " Helen Hohan, 
 
 "This is a bonnet. I hope you've got 
 rid of the fluenzy by now. The D ledgers are 
 in a muddle. 
 
 " Yours to command, 
 
 " BuELEiGH Clifford." 
 
 In sheer gratitude, knowing what writing cost 
 Su' Burleigh and the difficulty he had in con- 
 straining himself from considering illness hypo- 
 crisy, I got well on receipt of this mark of his 
 esteem, and, putting it on my head, considered — 
 with a parting shower of pearly tears, partly due 
 to influenza, partly to weakness of mind — how 
 long I could hope to retain his esteem, for 
 how much longer the ledgers would be mine to 
 command. No word had come from Stuart —
 
 248 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 no token. It was easy work. I realised now 
 that my imagined mastery of Sir Burleigh and 
 M'Cansland was slipping from me day by day. 
 How kindly, how considerate, they had ever 
 been to me ! How well my one talent was re- 
 paid! And, pausing thus on the edge of the lake, 
 foolish tears fell into it, to think how my hard 
 service to that other, whom I had first met and 
 counselled here, had realised the adage of the 
 adder awakened to strike, to sting, and then to 
 for ever glide away from me. That was the 
 hardest. Ah ! 'twas not the ingratitude but the 
 duU, desolate vacancy — the abandonment ! Half- 
 fearing the allurements of the dark water over 
 which I bent, I went swiftly on to the Hall, and, 
 as ever, unannounced entered Sir Burleigh's 
 study. 
 
 It was afternoon, and Sir Burleigh was dozing 
 over his port wine and walnuts, and his gazette. 
 He woke up with a start at my entrance, and, 
 shaking himself back to consciousness, stared 
 on me for a moment, then rose. 
 
 " Sit down, Helen Eohan." 
 
 He busied himself with unwonted care in 
 shaking up the cushions of his own chair ; and 
 offered his hand to conduct me to it, as though 
 I had been some great lady of the Court. After 
 which he drew a hard and high-backed tapestry-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 249 
 
 chair opposite mine, and again stared with a 
 bewildered pity on me ; whilst I — blaming not 
 my folly, my weakness, my guilt, but the 
 influenza — bent my head, and wept silently. 
 
 " I am sorry to see this, Helen." His tone 
 was pitiful. " But you will be better soon, my 
 dear." 
 
 He proffered his own glass of ruby port, 
 though other glasses stood at hand. The re- 
 finements of courtesy gave way to the greater 
 refinement of sympathy, as I had often noted 
 in the children of the scattered hamlets saying 
 to a comrade in distress, " Take a bite o' my 
 apple," as though the mere fact of its belonging 
 to a sympathiser conveyed a magic cure for 
 grief. 
 
 Whether for its sympathy or its potency, the 
 warm wine stilled the trembling of my hands 
 and dried my tears, an immediate result 
 triumphantly noted by Sir Burleigh, who, forcing 
 the rest on me, said : " There ! I'll christen that 
 bin ' The Helen,' it's a good bin too ; take the 
 
 number off; but it's d d seldom I hear a 
 
 better name, Helen Rohan." 
 
 " You are very kind," I said, as I pushed the 
 empty glass away, " but it wasn't the wine, Sir 
 Burleigh." 
 
 " Never mind what it was," quoth Sir Bur-
 
 250 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 leigh. " We must humour sick folk, Helen ! 
 Wait till you're well again." 
 
 " I am quite well," I respond defiantly ; then 
 another shower of tears blinds me, not to be 
 stayed, this time, by threats, expostulations, 
 entreaties — in all of which Sir Burleigh in- 
 dulged after his first stupefied amaze at the 
 relapse. Faster and faster the bitter, hopeless, 
 helpless tears flowed on to my furred pelisse, as 
 though to avenge all the calm, tearless years 
 now gone, fled for ever ! 
 
 Sir Burleigh at length, though with a terrible 
 ruffled temper, gave over his efforts at consola- 
 tion, and sipped his wine gloomily pondering 
 what it might mean — into what distress, dis- 
 grace, or dilemma I had stumbled or been led ; 
 pondering -with a bent brow and darkly flushed 
 face. " Tell me," said he at length, " what this 
 means ! I will not be harsh to you ! Has that 
 old fool M'Causland been frightening you ? " 
 
 " No ! " said I, with a heartrending sob. 
 
 " Then he knows nothing of your distress, 
 Helen, whatever it may chance to be ? " 
 
 " I am in no distress," I strove to utter, but 
 the words ran into each other in a prolonged 
 moan of sound, inarticulate and dreadful, even 
 to my own ears. 
 
 " My dear," said he, " this is too serious for
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 251 
 
 talking. " Rest a while and recover yourself. 
 Nay,'^ he continued, " I cannot see you suffer, 
 nor will not," and, taking me into his kind arms, 
 he soothed me into calm. "Now," said he, 
 " you have but two tyrants, Helen. Yet would 
 be better content with one. Is not that our 
 best solution?" 
 
 " Do not plan for so unhappy a poor wretch ! '* 
 I cried. " I deserve nothing ! — nothing but 
 scorn and cruelty ! Nor will I resist them. Let 
 them come in how bitter form they may, I 
 deserve a thousandfold more ! '' 
 
 " Stuff! stuff! " said Sir Burleigh, "apportioning 
 deserts is but lost time ; you deserve nothing but 
 solid comfort, Helen, and I will have no woman's 
 face haunting me to my grave, especially yours. 
 Say if you will have Burleigh Manor and Burleigh 
 Clifford, my dear, and they are both yours. 
 Come," he continued," do not begin to weep again I 
 You are weak and tired, rest awhile — and, whether 
 it be yes or no for me, I am always your friend. 
 Yes ! by the Lord ! let M'Causland but treat 
 you thus again with his hell-fire preachments, I 
 will make him realise a little of it here ! " 
 
 Again there was a silence. At that moment 
 the gratitude for years of kindness, the thankful- 
 ness for present sympathy, the consolations of 
 his firm friendship, even the close clasj) of his
 
 252 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 strong arms, appealed irresistibly to my tired and 
 weakened frame, to my worn and weary heart ; 
 and, on being again asked for my answer, I 
 murmured : "Yes." 
 
 " Very well," said he, " 'tis a wise decision, 
 Helen, though I say it. You are no farm-wench, 
 to stop and listen to sermons ; and a Clifford of 
 my descent may, I hope, dispense with them too 
 — or the devil's in it. You have always liked 
 me a bit, Helen ? " 
 
 " Yes," said I truly enough, " always." 
 
 " As to Verney," he went on, " 'twill not please 
 him, of course ; yet he is your friend, Helen, and 
 you can, besides, hold your own with him. To 
 tell truth, I would not marry a fool, were she 
 never so handsome ; yet that is what I heard 
 Verney means doing — that pretty wench Molly 
 Tremenheere, the General's daughter. I have 
 written absolutely forbidding it, but I doubt 
 he has the bit between his teeth. To forbid, is 
 to bid us as a general thing, and you see it is so 
 by this." He strode to a bureau, and brought out 
 a Government despatch. " They warn me against 
 Jacobites, but say no kind word of warning 
 against the greater mischief — a wife. What 
 the mischief are you laughing at ? " 
 
 " Nothing," I replied with lips that quivered 
 anew.
 
 A SIATESMAN'S LOVE. 253 
 
 " There ! " Sir Burleigh threw me the 
 despatch. " Read that, Helen, whilst I go and 
 order my cob round. I must tell M'Causland, 
 for we must be snug and settled before Verney 
 comes back again. What d'ye say to Thursday \ 
 There's my chaplain at Letchford. Verney 
 turned him out o' the Hall : so he's none 
 friendly to him; an' he's in a livin' o' mine. 
 Say Thursday. Verney's in London now, at the 
 playhouses. He'll none hear of it by then, and 
 will be finely forestalled." 
 
 Overwhelmed by dread, misery, and remorse, 
 I was silent. Sir Burleigh, unnoting, banged 
 the door after him on his way to the stables ; 
 and I stood confronting a haggard face, in a 
 mirror, which, surmounted by an unfamiliar 
 blue toqiie^ yet seemed like my own. 
 
 " Thursday ! " it mutters to me, " or a dread 
 abyss you dare not face — homeless, an outcast, 
 a pariah ! " 
 
 Later, gliding like a ghost through the dazzle 
 of the sunset, past the black lake, and into the 
 farm-parlour with my arms full of heavy books, 
 I threw myself, exhausted and dazed, into a seat, 
 and said, on M'Causland's entrance, words I 
 could scarce frame. 
 
 " I am to marry Sir Burleigh. You are to go 
 and meet him now."
 
 254 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Waiting no second bidding, M'Causland, who 
 had just ridden in from market, remounted and 
 rode off to the Hall. 
 
 Was this what he hoped for by allowing me 
 to lead a lady's life in his hardworking house- 
 hold, keeping me ever well before the Clifford 
 vision, mixing me with their business, thus 
 taking away the glaring incongruity it might 
 otherwise have worn to the household and the 
 hamlet ? It was more than likely. I had thought 
 myself the only schemer, the only dreamer, 
 because of the caution and reticence with which 
 M'Causland played his cards. Because of his 
 skilful ruggedness, it did not follow that this 
 result was entirely unforeseen — rather, I thought, 
 pondering on the unusual haste he now showed, 
 it had been with him a foregone conclusion. 
 
 Our blackest anticipations, like our brightest 
 hopes, are seldom so garish, so lavish of their 
 several colouring, as fancy before or after would 
 bid us believe. 
 
 That M'Causland should rule that we should 
 be married in a church, was to be expected, 
 and the consequent delay of a week whilst a 
 messenger rode post-haste to the Bishop of our 
 Diocese for a licence, was also a fret, not less to 
 me than to Sir Burleigh ; for the week f ollomng 
 was to witness Verney Clifford's return. But
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 255 
 
 the licence came duly to hand, and, the wonder 
 of the hamlets being merged into anticipations 
 of a feast of beef and puddings, a dance and a 
 bonfire, the rustic impatience was even greater 
 than our own. 
 
 Sir Burleigh had stipulated, with many an 
 oath, that M'Causland was to keep them well 
 away from the Manor, or it would be the worse 
 for them ; and the revellers, with an intuitive, per- 
 ception of the same, made all their preparations 
 for rejoicing at the farm. 
 
 M'Causland, who as well as his master would 
 fain have dispensed with the said revelling, yet 
 constrained himself, sorely against his will, to 
 liberality, so that, being married to Sir Burleigh 
 as it were with bell, book, and candle, Verney 
 Clifford could not, after, seek to disprove it. 
 
 " That's a' why, Helen," he said, grimly, as 
 I mounted the gig beside him, and took from 
 old Elsie a huge bunch of daffodils and wall- 
 flowers. Whilst Elizabeth, coming from the 
 midst of her cooking of the wedding-feast, 
 courtesied, and like some culinary gipsy, called 
 me " My lady," en avant, as she tucked my 
 white dress into the apron of the gig, returning 
 my nod and smile as I drove off thoughtfully, 
 smelling at the wallflowers — in a dream, but 
 not of happiness : that was for ever gone.
 
 256 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Sir Burleigh came spurring up to the church 
 on the vicious roan cob, and looked darkly and 
 dourly at the small crowd at the church-gates, 
 as though he said aloud : 
 
 " What is the need of your presence at any 
 arrangements made by your betters I " But he 
 thawed somewhat on seeing, as I alighted, that I 
 had on, amidst all the whiteness of the wedding 
 finery, the blue Jacobite bonnet — his o^vn pre- 
 sent. 
 
 ****** 
 
 It was over ! I had sworn truly or falsely, as 
 circumstances should shape themselves. On our 
 return, we changed the form of the procession, 
 so far as that Sir Burleigh sat beside me in the 
 gig, and, driving to the Farm, waited whilst I 
 changed my dress, to return with him to the 
 Manor. I went up into my room. The window 
 was open, and the warm April air flowed in 
 With light and sunshine, and the loud song of 
 the lark from without. It was in its usual 
 trim order — "wide, spacious, and exquisitely-kept. 
 Nothing was packed, nothing disturbed. One 
 of the Persian rugs, which came originally from 
 the Hall, was a trifle awry, and, stooping to 
 straighten it, something hard in the fringe met 
 my fingers. It was the ring Stuart had flung 
 to me in his jealous rage of Blount's name. I
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 257 
 
 took it to the window to examine. It was full 
 of diamonds, that is to say a great cluster of 
 them crowded together, as though riches, rather 
 than art, guided its owner. It was a beautiful 
 ring for all that, and I wrapped it in a silk 
 kerchief and put it in my pocket, resolving to 
 restore it if possible. I closed the window, 
 though loth to shut out the sun ; but Elizabeth 
 would doubtless forget it at night, and I had no 
 mind to leave my nest desolate and damp. 
 
 I did not linger, for painful memories are 
 light sleepers — and many slept in that room. 
 Descending the stairs, I was surveyed by Sir 
 Burleigh and M'Causland, as though I were 
 some new creature fresh from Paradise. 
 
 "Eh, but she's bonny!" said M'Causland, 
 giving his goods commendation. 
 
 " She is so ! " said Sir Burleigh, emphatically, 
 *' and not an inch of her stupid. That is our 
 training M'Causland." 
 
 I laughed at this unqualified praise, and, Sir 
 Burleigh's cob being brought round, I, in my 
 old furred pelisse, besought him that I might 
 lead it to the park. 
 
 "Got us both by the bridle, eh?" said Sir 
 Burleigh, as we went through the large hand- 
 some gateway of the domain now my own. " My 
 own ! " thought I but without much exultation.
 
 358 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 I loved Sir Burleigh better than the Manor. 
 Sir Burleigh once within his OAvn gates breathed 
 more freely, but grew more grim and ogre-like 
 in his demeanour when, on nearing the Hall, he 
 saw the dancing light of a fire in his study and 
 two forms outlined by it againt the window. 
 
 " Verney CliiFord ! " he said grimly. "It is 
 coming, Helen. Don't you interfere: let him 
 say his say — for the best and the worst o' Verney 
 is that he will say his say, let what may come 
 of it. By George, if he bottled up all the poison 
 in him, there'd be an explosion to be heard at 
 Letchford. So ne'er ye mind, Helen Eohan, 
 let him say what suits him, we shall soon shake 
 down and be quiet." 
 
 But Sir Burleigh shook in his shoes as he 
 alighted from the cob, and seemed as though 
 ten years had elapsed since he mounted at the 
 farm. 
 
 Yet by a strong effort he managed to 
 recollect that as yet he was master of the place, 
 and, taking my hand, led me in. The old place 
 looked strange to me — its calm peace a haven to 
 my storm-tossed mind. 
 
 There were no friends or retinue to receive 
 us. The cobwebs draperied the bare oaken 
 rafters, the wide staircase had in its corners 
 little heaps of dust and fluff, and the oak panel-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 259 
 
 ling was dim and unpolished where the deer's 
 heads with branching antlers and the stiff gold 
 bannerets worked by former ladies of the house 
 hung. On the mat at the door of the study 
 the mastiff lay, a grim guard. He rose up and 
 yawned and shook himself as Sir Burleigh laid 
 his hand on the door-handle and opened it, 
 glancing at the two persons on the hearth — none 
 other than Milord and Miss Fernie Tremen- 
 heere. Sir Burleigh stopped short, and, mth a 
 gasp of rage and wrath, exclaimed : 
 
 " By ! then you've dared to go and marry 
 
 her? Against my wishes — against your own 
 interests — a beggar-woman ! " 
 
 " I hardly see how that can interest Helen 
 Rohan ! " said Milord, palely, indicating me as I 
 came in — the one tranquil, unembarrassed 
 spectator of their mutual explanations. 
 
 " Ne'er you mind about her ! " Sir Burleigh 
 quite forgot his own misdeeds — lost sight of 
 them as completely as though they had no exist- 
 ence — and stamped, first one foot and then the 
 other, in a frenzy of wrath. 
 
 " Are you so mad, Verney Clifford — so mad 
 as to think I'll have a woman here ? " 
 
 Forgetting my promise of non-intervention, I 
 laid my hand lightly on his arm, and, lest my 
 name should be mired by milord, said: 
 
 s— 2
 
 26o A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " You are married too, Sir Burleigh ! " 
 
 As a tidal-wave which has broken in surf and 
 thunder on a rugged beach retreats with a low 
 murmur to its parent sea, so Sir Burleigh, all 
 his old guiltiness reviving, said, mildly : 
 
 " Eh, Helen Rohan, you might have held your 
 tongue ! " 
 
 Then ensued a pause, broke by a light sar- 
 castic laugh from Verney, who strode to the 
 buffet ; and, pouring out a glass of wine, brought 
 it to Miss Tremenheere, who was sitting with 
 chattering teeth and affrighted eyes on the edge 
 of a chair. He did not say a word, but Sir 
 Burleigh, seeming to feel himself vanquished, 
 went from the study, and left to me the pleasant 
 task of explanation. 
 
 "I am married to Sir Burleigh." I chose 
 Lady Clifford, who was helpless, as the recipient 
 of this modest avowal, crossing to her and resting 
 my hand on her shoulder. 
 
 " Let me alone ! " — carefully studying the 
 expression of her lord's face. She writhed her- 
 self free of me, and said : 
 
 " So this is the end of your manoeuvring, 
 madam ? If you are married to him, as you say, 
 you ought to be ashamed of yourself, trying to 
 trick milord out of the Manor. '^ 
 
 " Believe me," — I rested both hands on her
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 261 
 
 shoulders, and half-turned her face to me, 
 holding her perforce in that position — " it will 
 be better for you both to weigh your words now, 
 lest I use the power my position here gives 
 me." 
 
 " As abusing it." 
 
 " True ! " said Verney, amiably. " Since we 
 are all in the same boat, we had better try 
 plain-sailing." Then, as a philosophic com- 
 mentary, he ran over a list of foul words, to 
 which he appended my name — Fernie's hair 
 standing on end, as she looked from one to the 
 other, as though expecting the roof of the room 
 to be lifted and sail slowly away. Try as I 
 might to be angry, I could not — ( Verney ^s wrath 
 always amused me) — forbear a smile as I lis- 
 tened, absently smoothing Fernie's alarmed silken 
 hair. Then, taking her hand, I whispered : 
 
 " Shall we go upstairs ? " 
 
 To which, with a stunned, half-stupefied ex- 
 pression, she assented, glad to escape this 
 tempest of words and Avrath. There were some 
 state bedrooms in tolerable outward order at 
 Burleigh Manor — rooms where kings and queens 
 had of old slept — quasi historical temples of 
 Somnus — possibly of majestic snoring also. 
 But the beds had long since been removed to 
 storerooms, and wooden pillows and bolsters
 
 262 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 underlay the silk counterpanes. I nearly broke 
 my head — forgetting this for the moment, as I 
 threw myself on the wooden couch in one of 
 these abodes ; and Fernie, dolefully bolting the 
 door, rubbed a rusty steel-mirror with her lace 
 handkerchief, and gazed in silence at her pale 
 face. 
 
 " No water here ! " She voyaged round the 
 room, looking into the Dresden-china basins 
 and ewers. " But what lovely old china ! Come 
 and look, Helen Rohan ! " 
 
 " It is all an old story to me," I replied. " I'd 
 rather lie here and wonder how the kings and 
 queens managed their ears o' nights. I've 
 crushed one of mine." 
 
 " Feathers cake if they're not well shaken." 
 Fernie left off admiring the china, and, coming 
 forward like a zealous chambermaid, took to 
 thumping the supposed pillows, with dreadful 
 effect to her knuckles. " Why, they are wood ! " 
 she exclaimed, in a most doleful voice, adding : 
 "You don't seem to mind. May I lie down? " 
 
 " If there's room," I said, not moving. 
 
 " Acres ! " Fernie climbed cautiously into the 
 wooden framework, and, instead of letting me 
 enjoy the blissful rest I had promised myself, 
 began with many tears to tell me of her woes 
 and sorrows, which, according to her, had
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 263 
 
 culminated in her marriage with Verney 
 Clifford. 
 
 "Then why did you marry him?" I asked 
 wearily. "You knew what he was, and what 
 you might expect. Just as surely as, before you 
 rested on it, you knew this bed was wood, for 
 all its fine silk counterpane with gold blazonry 
 on it." 
 
 "Why shouldn't I marry him?" she said 
 sullenly, drying her tears. "Blount was just 
 as wooden, and had " 
 
 " No counterpane," I suggested, at wjiich she 
 laughed, whispering in rather an awe-struck 
 voice, lest she might be overheard. 
 
 " I'am right glad you're here ! I was horrid 
 frightened of Sir Burleigh, he seems such a 
 strange old man ! Verney said he hated women. 
 I thought if I humoured him I might manage 
 to stay, but if you was not here I'd cut my 
 throat sooner than be boxed up with the two 
 of them ! " 
 
 " Very well," I rejoined, rather amused with 
 her fear of the Cliffords, as I might have been 
 amused with a stranger's fear of the mastiff. 
 " I'll put away all the razors, when I go out, for 
 fear." 
 
 " Don't laugh ! " she said, " I want to be 
 friends with you."
 
 264 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Very well," I agreed, crushing the other 
 ear by turning away from her, "I am your 
 friend, so far as it is possible." 
 
 "Now you are Verney's aunt, we are both 
 miladies. 'Twas partly for that I listened to 
 his suit at all. It is not so lovely being mi- 
 lady, is it?" 
 
 I threw one arm over the wood, and raised 
 my half-bruised face. " The farm pillows were 
 of down thrice driven, for Elsie is a notable 
 housewife, and the linen there is lavendered." 
 
 " Ah, well ! " said Fernie, returning to the 
 mirror, " one can't have everything ! And, if 
 one sleeps with kings and queens, one must 
 put up with wood, instead of thrice-drove 
 down! Look at my pocket-kerchief ! — it is all 
 over rust ! I pray God some of it is rubbed 
 oiF Verney and Sir Burleigh ! '' 
 
 And I sugejested, rising reluctantly : " Let us 
 go down to the study and see ! " 
 
 " Having made d d fools of ourselves, I 
 
 suppose we must make the best of it ! " were the 
 words that came out to meet the echo of our 
 footsteps in the hall, and, unlike the philosophy 
 of his nephew. Sir Burleigh's stood the test of 
 our entrance. He even gazed at us with a sort 
 of grim satisfaction — at my erect, bronze, be- 
 ruffled head and pale face, and Fernie's full red
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 265 
 
 lips and downcast eyes, as, equally afraid of her 
 husband and his uncle, she kept close to me. 
 Sir Burleigh, buried in his gazette, took no 
 notice of her, but asked me civilly to go to the 
 kitchen and order the dinner, which I did. The 
 kitchen-stairs, mnding down like those of a 
 dungeon, were in black darkness, and as I, 
 cautiously clinging to the wall, made my way 
 down, the hot breath of the mastiff which 
 followed me on my neck, I saw no reason to 
 hope that we should share in the beef and 
 pudding that was otherwhere being consumed 
 to celebrate our wedding. 
 
 " Eh, Helen Rohan! has it come to this?" 
 stumbling over Janet, who was seated on the 
 lowest step, in wrath at her empire being 
 over. 
 
 " Even so, Janet," I said, mildly, " but not to 
 your hurt. So get up." 
 
 " No ! " She rose sullenly. " You'll be after 
 ordering me about an' about after all your 
 silk speeches, an' if it please ye'se," said Janet. 
 
 " It is more than likely," I said, " that w^hat- 
 ever silk overlies my speeches must in future be 
 wove from humility and obedience supplied by 
 you, sweetheart. So let us have dinner at once, 
 and light me into the larder." 
 
 Janet obeyed, muttering ; and, thrusting a
 
 266 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 candle into the fire, followed me with the 
 guttering tallow in her bare hand. 
 
 " It looks nice ! " I remarked, ogrishly, 
 seeing a raw, newly-slaughtered sheep hung 
 up by the heels, and a large array of poultry. 
 We will have cutlets and kidney-soup, Janet; 
 for roast, a turkey; and stewed carp — stewed in 
 claret, mind, with cloves." 
 
 " Lord save us !" grinned Janet, thawing. "I'll 
 be having a scullion here soon, an' fine doings. 
 I said, when I heard of it," — Janet jerked her 
 thumb due north to indicate the marriage — 
 " Avhen I heard of it, I said : ' The first thing 
 to change in a married housen's the kitchen.' 
 An', if it was the Lord's will, there's worse than 
 you, Helen Rohan ! — Milady, I mean. Eh ! my 
 Lord, here's another ! '' 
 
 It was Fernie, whose appearance caused 
 Janet to drop the tallow-candle, which I rescued, 
 still alight, from a sputtering splash on the 
 floor. 
 
 " What a dreadful raw sheep ! " said Fernie, 
 briskly. "And a kitchen like the Cannibal 
 Islands ! Oh, heavens ! look at the dog ! " 
 
 Beech was licking with relish the blood from 
 the sheep's head. " Gar ye oiF ! " Janet gave 
 Beech a hearty cuff, which he retorted by spring- 
 ing upon her and knocking her down. After
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 267 
 
 this exchange of amenities, she exclaimed 
 testily : 
 
 " If ye go, I'll cook ; but if I'm to be a fightin' 
 Beech aU the time, it's like ye'll go to bed 
 hungry an angry." 
 
 " Be quick then ! " said Fernie. " I never saw- 
 such a place — sluts and drones, and saucy in- 
 solent fellows and wenches ! " and, escaping up 
 the stairs vainly trying to entice Beech with 
 her, she left us alone in the Cyclopean 
 kitchen. 
 
 Poor Janet, in whom loneliness and hard 
 work had induced a morbid sort of misanthropy, 
 whispered appalled : 
 
 "Is she Verney Clifford's wife? God help 
 us ! — the Manor be full of rats now ! " 
 
 And then, lifting down the sheep, she chopped 
 and sawed and trimmed, casting lumps of flesh 
 and fat to Beech, enough to make him bilious. 
 I leaned against the vdde fireplace, watching 
 her — a strange intense loathing of life seizing 
 me as I saw Beech gorge and glut on the flesh 
 cast to him, as a worshipper of the world's good 
 things will, with equal zest and unconsciousness 
 of remark, seize on success. 
 
 I thought of the dog's master, Clifford, who 
 in spite of the opposition of his uncle, perhaps 
 because of it — in spite of the wrong to Colonel
 
 268 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Blount, with whom he had been long on terms of 
 such hitimacy as exists between those whose 
 creed is intense self and disregard of all moral 
 obligations — had taken Blount's one ewe- 
 lamb, Fernie Tremenheere, to wife, and exultantly 
 carried her off as a treasure, because Blount, who 
 cared no whit for any other human being, cared 
 with all his soul for his General's daughter. 
 
 Meditating on this, I was awoke by the odour 
 of the cutlets, the savoury steam of the kidney 
 soup. I went upstairs with my hand on Beech's 
 collar and returned to the study. 
 
 Fernie assisted with zeal in clearing and pre- 
 paring the table for dinner, eyed by Sir Burleigh, 
 who to me, as I passed and repassed, kept up a 
 running commentary on her proceedings. 
 
 " Stuffs the gazette under a cushion ! eh, Helen 
 Eohan I — that's barrack manners ; puts the wine- 
 glasses in the window-seat to be sat on. There's 
 a nice wife for a man to have ! " 
 
 " Good enough for Verney ! " I whispered, at 
 which he laughed — and, at every fresh gaucherie 
 of the bride's, repeated with zest. 
 
 " Good enough for Verney ? Yes — and a D 
 sight too good ! He's no right with a mfe at all, 
 especially Blount's." 
 
 After a good dinner, the asperities of temper 
 of Verney and his uncle seemed somewhat to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 269 
 
 soften, and Fernie, proposing cards in a some- 
 what frightened tone, was relieved to find the 
 suggestion obligingly received ; so we sat down 
 to whist, changing life-partners to ones for the 
 evening. We were all good players ; so the 
 luck ran equal. We had half-guinea points, and, 
 but for a moment's absence of mind when my 
 partner chanced to name my two spade-guineas, 
 should not have given our adversaries occasion 
 to rejoice over us. As it was, after all, Sir Bur- 
 leigh and Verney's wife remained winners, but 
 we were all content it should be so, as anything 
 is welcomer than discord. It was midnight 
 when they took leave of us for the night — Verney 
 taking occasion to kiss me as an aunt ; and 
 Fernie, as she said, for old acquaintance and 
 new kinship's sake. How they were lodged, I 
 know not ; but Verney had doubtless made his own 
 arrangements, knowing the house and its resources, 
 and, in truth, no thought that it was a bride's 
 homecoming troubled me. I gave no thought 
 to it, nor that I was a bride — everything seemed 
 swallowed up in a thick mist — black, clinging, 
 contaminating. Had I truly betrayed my old 
 friend and kind master ] A she- Judas — for the 
 Manor ! Were it not well I should go out, and, 
 after confessing my repentance, let my life fly 
 back to its source, to be forgiven or punished as
 
 270 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 God willed % Yet how could 1% In what words 
 could I frame, to the proud man opposite, that 
 he had descended in his choice, only to be made 
 a screen and cover for my sins I Sir Burleigh 
 was regarding me curiously — he had given over 
 trifling with the cards, and now snuffed the long- 
 wicked candles, that, like clocks, pointed to the 
 lapse of time. For my life, I dared not speak ; 
 and still he looked and waited. Seeing, I 
 suppose, that I, too, waited, he at length 
 spoke. 
 
 " It is getting late, Helen ! " 
 
 " Is it ] " I said, stupidly and hopelessly, and 
 then, as the rapid beating of my heart stopped 
 further speech, I drew off and returned to him 
 the marriage-ring. 
 
 " Why, Helen ! " he said, " divorcing me 
 already? Nay, you must prove cruelty, my 
 dear ! " and, approaching me as I stood froze 
 with horror of myself on the hearth, he took 
 me in his arms and kissed me tenderly. 
 
 I have spoken before of the power of sympathy 
 — Sir Burleigh's did me all the good in the 
 world. Nay, would Judas have hanged himself 
 had even one of the priests his employers shown 
 pity on him when he repented ? I trow not ; 
 but none did, so we cannot tell : while I, 
 worse than Judas, had these kind, strong arms
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 271 
 
 about me, but for which my heart would have 
 burst with grief, and shame, and remorse. 
 
 He would not suffer me to speak — no, not a 
 word ; but said, as he had gout, I should sleep in 
 the state-rooms, and wake up to see myself 
 looked on by my favourite pictures. Then, 
 taking my hand and each bearing a candle, we 
 went thither along the corridor, and he left me 
 at the door of the long suite of rooms, and went 
 away alone, with a sigh that it nigh broke my 
 heart to hear. As I have said, strong mental 
 anguish had on me an opiate effect, and I slept 
 and dreamed of the " spirits of just men made 
 perfect," and, from a cloudy vision of such, 
 seemed to see the stern face of Sir Burleigh, 
 beautified by love and pity. Also that I loved 
 him now, and hated the Stuart: I dreamed 
 that too. 
 
 As the lady who, being forced by her ambi- 
 tious friends to marry Bluebeard, discovered, ere 
 the honeymoon had waned, that his beard 
 " was not so very blue," so I — as day by day Sir 
 Burleigh grew more and more indulgent to me, 
 and ever lessened and lightened my grief and 
 woe by his kindness — found the truth of 
 Solomon's saying that one travelling alone if he 
 fall hath not so great a chance of recovery as he 
 that hath a companion. My desire for open
 
 272 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 confession passed away. I was no Papist to try 
 and clear my soul of sin by confessing to 
 man. Most humbly I asked God for pardon 
 and guidance, for His mercy who cleansed the 
 leper — and was not I such in His sight ? I looked 
 not to my own deserts, but to His mercy, and 
 mercy I got." 
 
 So, to Sir Burleigh's relief, we had no more 
 differences or divergences : — only sometimes, in 
 the purple spring- twilights, my graceless heart 
 would cry out for more — more than all this calm, 
 more than all this mercy, for hell itself so Stuart 
 were there and I might be near to him ! 
 
 When these acute agony-fits came on, I would 
 wander away, like the possessed of old-time, into 
 the wildest recesses of the park — would walk 
 and stamp and rave aloud to the silent trees 
 and listening sheep — would accuse the infinite 
 mercy of boundless cruelty and tyranny in keep- 
 ing my sweet poison from me, and then return 
 and sleep away, in my husband's arms, the 
 exhaustion of passion and despair. 
 
 The "fluenzy " was called upon by Sir Burleigh 
 to account for my pale face and sad eyes. And, 
 as so often happens in life, I, who as Helen 
 Rohan was supposed to possess a constitution of 
 iron and adamantine nerves, was now, in virtue 
 of my promotion, held to be a fragile creature
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 273 
 
 whose existence was a miracle. As the weeks 
 went on, even M'Causland became indoctrinated 
 with this absurdity, and, on my wandering over 
 bonnetless one day to the Farm, received me, 
 to my surprise with warning, uplifted hands, 
 exclaiming : 
 
 " It's weel for ye, Helen, to hae a thochtfu' 
 sensible mon to husban^ ye, or the dews an' the 
 rains, instead of faain' on yer braw silk head, wad 
 be greenin' the grass o' yer buryin'-place." 
 
 " Eh ! " I say impatiently, " all that is bad 
 enough in Sir Burleigh ! I am tough as windle- 
 strae ! Why do ye think otherwise ? " 
 
 "Otherwise?" said M'Causland, "an' ye like 
 a tall white candle was tin' awa' to ae mon's sight ! 
 It'll do Verney Clifford's heart gude to see ye 
 stretchit — an' his own witch-wife Lady o' the 
 Manor." 
 
 " She is not much witch-like," I said languidly, 
 even this small contention tiring me ; " come and 
 see her, uncle. My successor, she is a bonnie- 
 looking creature full of health and happi- 
 ness." 
 
 " I'U e'en keep whare God pit me," said 
 M'Causland, " I wish her nae ill, but all health, 
 wealth, an' prospairity — but I Kke my ain best 
 Helen, an' there's Scripture to that." 
 
 " There's Scripture to everything," I mutter
 
 274 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 mntinously — adding, as he looks stern, " every- 
 thing that is good." 
 
 " There's Scripture to witches and warlocks," 
 he said, looking at me anxiously. " An' proof 
 they can make a wax-image o' an enemy, an' 
 roast it till it and they pine and perish to- 
 gether." 
 
 " Verney hasn't patience to that ! " I laugh. 
 "- He would stuff it bodily into the fire, and then 
 come and rate the enemy for not dying right 
 away." 
 
 " Don't you believe it,'* said M'Causland, " he 
 knaweth to wait like ilk ither bad man, an' ye 
 behove, now you are in his path, to be vera 
 carefu', Helen. Verney rough is bad, but 
 Verney smooth — no snake is subtiller." 
 
 " Is he smooth to ye now? " I asked. 
 
 " Ay, he is so," said M'Causland. " He wants 
 ready money, an's on for me to a'vise anew the 
 sale of Denzil's outlyin' farm. The lease has 
 just faa'n in, and Denzil's for buyin' it for six 
 thousand punds sterlin'." 
 
 " Advise Sir Burleigh, then, to sell it," I ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 "Ye thriftless loon!" said M'Causland in 
 indignation. " Nae sooner to get him, honest 
 man, into your clutches, but take to gamblin'." 
 
 " It's gambling, to a surety," I said, " and for
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 275 
 
 myself too, listen uncle. Why should I not 
 have some sure hold on things I Consider, if Sir 
 Burleigh, an' he's like enough to, lost all for the 
 Jacobites. How would Verney treat me or you, 
 d'ye think ? " 
 
 " I don't need thinkin'," he said. " It's short 
 speed an' lang rope to both frae Verney 
 Clifford." 
 
 " Then we must have a sinking-fund," I said 
 earnestly. " Could I — could Sir Burleigh go a 
 begging in France ? It's little I care for myself, 
 but had the Stuart been found here, where would 
 Sir Burleigh be now, for all your stewardship ? " 
 
 Then, as he listened in amaze, I unfolded to 
 him a plan, which was — through an agent to 
 purchase a smaU estate in France whither, 
 if troublous times came, we could retire. 
 M'Causland, who though cautious was far seeing, 
 seemed struck by the reasonableness of the plan 
 viewed in the light of late events, and promised 
 to think it over. 
 
 " It is not for myself,'* I said, recrossing the 
 park on my homeward way. " Not for me, for 
 I shall die ; but for Sir Burleigh. He shall not 
 die in a ditch, let him be never so rash in his 
 allegiance — and he will risk all for the Stuarts.'' 
 
 A few days afterwards I met Sir Burleigh 
 riding homeward as I was wandering in the
 
 276 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 park ; he stopped, dismounting, and faced me 
 something sternly. 
 
 " Was it your wish," he said in a harsh tone, 
 " thai Denzil's farm should be sold ? " 
 
 " Yes," I said, surprised at my uncle having 
 told him without apprising me that he meant to 
 do so. 
 
 " Then it is sold." 
 
 " I am glad of it. Sir Burleigh." 
 
 " Don't ' Sir Burleigh ' me, you d d mer- 
 cenary witch ! " he said, his lips twitching with 
 passion. " Take the price of it, covetous devil 
 that you are ! What! you resented that no settle- 
 ments were made on you like the highest lady 
 in the land ? I gave you everything, but 'twas 
 not enough. You might, as 'tis said, ' coin me 
 into gold,' but your dignity was ruffled." 
 
 His temper was, and I could see that he was 
 hurt beside : evidently M'Causland had not told 
 him the whole, for which I felt thankful. I 
 listened to him with downward eyes, into 
 which the slow tears were stealing. I would 
 have been glad to lie dead at his feet, had 
 that convinced him that the wretched money 
 had no slightest attraction for me, far less any 
 thought of my own dignity or plan for myself. 
 "You are cruel," I said chokingly, and could 
 say no more.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. rfl 
 
 " Cruel ! am I ? " his indignation deepened. 
 " How, madam ? In what way ? " 
 
 " It was not for myself," I said hotly. 
 " What there is left of me the worms can 
 have ! *' I held up my two thin hands in appeal, 
 " and the sooner the better for me ! " 
 
 " Who was it for, then? " 
 
 " For you ! " I cried, and then, full of indigna- 
 tion at M'Causland's betrayal in part, I told him 
 the whole of the scheme. 
 
 " Thank you ! I don't want women-folk to 
 counsel me in business ! " he said, still offended, 
 but relenting. " Ye meant well, Helen ! " 
 
 " Don't come with me," I said bitterly, as he 
 turned the cob. " I've got no friends now but 
 the wild creatures in the forest ! I wish I was 
 a ghost, and then even they could not gape 
 and stare upon me ! " So he rode home in 
 anger, and I roamed about, seeking sweet peace, 
 but finding more often despair. 
 
 ^ ■Jp # 7|t flf ^ 
 
 On my return, some hours after, I found 
 Sir Burleigh on the steps, bareheaded, looking 
 anxiously abroad for my approach, at which I 
 smiled. " Truly you have a heart of gold," I 
 said, embracing him, " to forgive such a 
 peevish wretch ! " 
 
 " Look at those two fools ! " said Verney to
 
 .278 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 his wife, as they sat in an embrasure of the 
 terrace-wall. 
 
 Fernie laughed gaily. " Well we are just as 
 bad!" 
 
 " No fear ! " said Milord. " You don't love me 
 for money, eh ? " 
 
 "For what else, pray?" quoth Fernie, with 
 pretty impertinence. 
 
 ■^ TJC Tfr ^ Tic 7|C 
 
 " Don't you ever feel the want of any 
 clothes?" said Fernie to me one morning as we 
 paced the terrace. " I don't, of course, mean 
 covering," she continued, " but as Lady of the 
 Manor you ought to be in stiff silk. And, 
 between ourselves, I would sooner cut up 
 the silk counterpanes of the state-rooms, 
 than wear camlet ! " She touched my blue 
 dress. 
 
 " I don't mind," I said, indifferently ; " and 
 besides, I am not a beauty as you are." 
 
 " Not so much," she said candidly, " but 
 sufficient so to improve with dress. Verney's 
 given me a bank-bill to spend at a milliner's, 
 and will take me to London when he can get 
 his uncle to give him some money — to spend 
 it. If yours will give you some, I'll bring back 
 the newest modes for you." 
 
 " Eh ! " I said, " it will be a chance ! I'll go
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 279 
 
 ask for some." I did not truly want it, but 
 wished to get away from her. 
 
 " Some money," I stammered, when fairly in 
 the study, where Verney was also, " to spend 
 in dress ! " I was embarrassed at his keen gaze 
 and smile. 
 
 " How much ? " said Sir Burleigh, who was 
 something near. " Will fifty guineas content 
 you?" 
 
 " Yes," I said, taking them, feeling sure there 
 would have been haggling but for Verney. 
 
 " Here," I said, rejoining Fernie, " I want a 
 gold-coloured brocade sacque — that I must have ; 
 also some dimity morning-gowns and high red- 
 heeled slippers, and a large fan." 
 
 " It is well to be you ! " said Fernie, surveying 
 the bank-bill for fifty guineas with disquiet 
 (hers was but for twenty). Then we went on, 
 and I, profiting none by it, heard all the latest 
 modes discussed — the paint, powder, and 
 patches — until, looking at her peachy face and 
 brown eyes, I marvelled so fair a creature could 
 so mar God's gifts to her. 
 
 "Yet," thought I sadly, "is not one's soul 
 lovelier than all — and in his sight always? and 
 do we not mar and befoul it with grievous sins ? 
 I was thinking thus when steps of a horse on 
 the turf caused us both to turn. A gentleman,
 
 2So A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 well-dressed and in a tie-wig, young and well- 
 looking, rode up, and, without in any way 
 saluting us, stayed his horse and called out 
 distinctly for Lord Clifford. Clifford, who must 
 have seen him from the window, came down the 
 steps to the terrace — limping slightly, for his 
 leg was yet not strong. 
 
 " I have Colonel Blount's order to place this 
 in your hands, and to say in his name that, if 
 you answer it not at once in person, you are a 
 villain and a coward, and shall be proclaimed 
 as such everywhere." Then he bowed low to us 
 and rode off. 
 
 " A challenge ! " said Vemey, testily, to his 
 wife's entreaties to be told. " From Tyrone ! " 
 he added carelessly. Fernie turned pale. 
 " Go inside ! " he said to her harshly ; then as she 
 obeyed he took my hand. " Come a turn with 
 me, Helen," he said. " This challenge, though I 
 expected it, has come at a cursed time. I have 
 not a stiver." 
 
 " Must you go ? " I said. " You have already 
 hurt the man enough. Decline it : he will be 
 going to France soon." 
 
 " I would follow him to hell,'' said Verney, 
 " sooner than be posted ; you know nothing of 
 such things. How should you — brought up in 
 a mouldy farm withj^humble poor wretches?"
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 281 
 
 " True,'* I said, " we did not use the borrower's 
 brush to keep our coats sleek. Is that your 
 meaning ? " He was eyeing the bank-bill. 
 
 " Don't refuse me ! " he cried humbly enough, 
 " I will repay you on my return." 
 
 " Say you've sent for a new sacque — say it's in 
 a teapot up the chimney. What the devil ! — need 
 I invent excuses for you? Give him a kiss. I will 
 say for you, you keep your men well in hand. 
 Blount used to swear by you. Come, we were 
 friends, Helen; "you wont see me posted, I 
 know." 
 
 "- Take it ! " I said, with some disgust, knowing 
 he would have it, and, desirous of sparing myself 
 the humiliation of his further asking, which 
 seemed none to him. He took it with scant 
 thanks, and, saying he should leave Fernie in my 
 care, went to make preparations for his depar- 
 ture, and console his wife, whom I heard weeping. 
 
 So milord went ; and his wife, who absolutely 
 refused to stay behind, was to be left at a 
 friend's halfway on the road, for a fortnight ; for 
 Verney promised himself — the thing well over 
 and Blount wounded, for so he counted on it to 
 fall out — to send for her to town for a short 
 time. 
 
 Fifty guineas would, I knew, not go far to his 
 expenses, and I was soon satisfied on that head.
 
 282 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Sir Burleigh had sold Denzil's farm, and given 
 Verney a few hundreds of the money. This, at 
 a time when he was sore pressed, would have 
 reconciled milord to any sale — to any sacrifice ; 
 though after — for he was tentative in his 
 wickedness — he would return on his present 
 thanks and dig it up as a grudge, like a dog 
 with a buried bone. 
 
 I went with them to the park-gates, Fernie 
 reproaching me all the way in that, as she said, 
 I would not trust her with my bank-bill. 
 Verney affected not to hear our discourse, but 
 was chuckling. He dismounted at the park- 
 gates and kissed my hand as Lady of the Manor, 
 promising not to hurt Blount overmuch for my 
 sake. I saw Fernie's red lip quiver as he spoke 
 thus, and said I : 
 
 "Doubtless Colonel Blount will kill you, 
 Verney, as you deserve, for talking of his 
 wrongs and grief so lightly." 
 
 " Wrongs and grief! " quoth Milord mockingly. 
 " I little thought to hear you his apologist — 
 who flogged your cousin at an idle word of 
 mine." 
 
 "That is not the present question," I said, 
 coldly, " and of that I have but your word. The 
 Sergeant told me it was a breach of discipline. 
 It is now past — forgot."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 283 
 
 " And you believe the Sergeant ? " 
 " Why do you wrangle ? " said Fernie. " Blount 
 made it up with M'Causland after. He hath 
 a noble heart, and is liked by all the regiment." 
 " Look ! if she be not ready — me killed — to 
 take to him again ! " laughed Milord. " Well, 
 farewell, sweet aunt ! We will be back ere 
 long." 
 
 " Good-bye," said Fernie, " though you don't 
 trust me." She kissed her hand, and they can- 
 tered off — their men having gone before with 
 the valises. 
 
 Two months rolled away, and Verney had not 
 returned. Their passing made but little differ- 
 ence in our outward life ; the deep heart of 
 summer shed living warmth and luminous beauty 
 over the land. I was grown used to my 
 changed life, but withal hushed and still, like 
 the pictures that were my chief companions in- 
 doors. Sir Burleigh, still zealous anduntired in 
 his affection, still approved of a woman staying 
 at home, nor cared to sanction my going with 
 him about the estate. He had, he said, M'Caus- 
 land for factor, so why should I be fatigued ] — 
 so, for want of occupation, I grew listless and 
 melancholy, incurring the reprobation of Janet, 
 who observed that, since there had been a ready- 
 writer in the house, her Dick got no letters, no
 
 284 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 not so much as a scratch of the pen, and de- 
 manded to know if I, with a cook in the house, 
 would like to go constantly dinnerless. As I 
 never flew into a fury with anyone for defective 
 analogy or eristic logic, I begged her pardon 
 and proposed writing at once. Then said 
 Janet, with tears in her eyes, as she led the way 
 down to the kitchen, whither I followed scribe - 
 like with pen and inkhorn : 
 
 " I wouldn't believe any harm of you, Helen 
 Rohan, if an angel from heaven came and told 
 me, for you are good to the poor and the un- 
 learned, and the same to high and low; if I 
 wanted justice I would come to you nought 
 afraid." 
 
 " Not mercy, Janet "? " I asked abstractedly 
 dipping my pen in ink and preparing to begin. 
 Janet did not reply to this query, but looked a 
 strong negative, and plunged into her long and 
 liomely tale to Dick. I shuddered as I set it 
 down word for word — so faithful, so unflattered 
 a portraiture did this dweller in subterranean 
 gloom give of the lives and actions of the 
 people around her. Like some oracle, Janet for- 
 got herself in her subject. I had to describe 
 myself minutely, and to assure Dick that there 
 were worse people in the world. This I doubted, 
 but dared not interrupt the flow of revelation.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 285 
 
 Janet was honestly oblivious of my agency. 
 She was in spirit writing it all herself, to her 
 only and absent son, and thought no more of 
 her sentient pen than I of the goose-quill I 
 handled. 
 
 At length it was finished — that poor little 
 record of life, undiluted truth, and faithful por- 
 trayal of feelings. I sealed and addressed it, 
 dropping, by Janet's directions, many red-wax 
 kisses on the cover — and then, when she herself 
 had given it a hearty kiss, I took it upstairs for 
 Su' Burleigh's frank, and left her happy and con- 
 tent. 
 
 Going on to the terrace, I leaned from an 
 embrasure over the crumbling stonework of the 
 balustrade, and looked down into the deep sunny 
 turf. Old park turf is always lovely, so many 
 small undistinguished flowers live in it — whole 
 families together, queened over by the sweet wild- 
 thyme and slender harebell. I wondered what 
 the histories and rank of the lesser flowers might 
 be, and presently, descending, plucked a handful, 
 which, coming back, I arranged on the wall, in 
 order of precedence regulated not by outward 
 show but by minuteness of finish. This was a 
 hard task and required pondering : why not put 
 the largest and brightest first ? Nay ! — but so 
 the world does ; and had I not been called just, an
 
 286 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Aristides % Yet Aristides suffered death ; so the 
 bluebell, for its beauty, should temper the too 
 strict order. 
 
 In the midst of my problem, up comes Sir 
 Burleigh, with a friend; and down go, with a 
 sweep, the whole row from first to last. 
 
 " Come in," says Sir Burleigh, not stopping, 
 but going straight on to the study. 
 
 Following in some amaze, I find myself in 
 presence of a stranger. 
 
 " Dame Helen Clifford," said Sir Burleigh, 
 giving me what sounded an unreal name. " Lord 
 Kilmarnock — our Prince's friend." 
 
 Kilmarnock kisses my hand with one knee 
 halfway to the ground, and congratulates Sir 
 Burleigh on his marriage pleasantly. Nor does 
 his pleasantness diminish at all over the wine 
 and political talk which fill in the afternoon, 
 while I, knitting in the window, which is closed, 
 feel stifiing for a breath of air. 
 
 Presently Sir Burleigh takes him to his room, 
 the only spare room in order for a guest; and 
 then we dine in the small dining-room, where 
 dark Titian faces look down on us from the 
 walls. 
 
 " ' Dame Helen Clifford.' Why is it," I ask, 
 " promoted folk are so egotistic?" I am consci- 
 ous of a melancholy that I'itian could have em-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 287 
 
 bodied, so perfect is it ; but I talk to Kilmarnock 
 as niuch as doth my husband, and appear as much 
 at interest in their plans, and far better in 
 geography than he is. For he thinks Leith to 
 be inland, whereas it is a port. We have a fine 
 salmon from Scotland, and other things, and 
 afterwards early strawberries ; then, in the 
 moonlight, go on to the terrace, where Sir 
 Burleigh smokes and bids us not mind him, but 
 w^alk about, which we do. Kilmarnock is a 
 Scotchman, and therefore cautious. He is yet 
 more a Highlandman : witness the impetuosity 
 of a speech beginning, " I am charged by — " 
 
 "Lord Kilmarnock forgets," I say gently, "that, 
 though Sir Burleigh and I are one, we are not 
 indivisible. Let him hear your charge, sir." 
 
 Sir Burleigh, his pipe finished, goes in, waving 
 us back ; he is going to doze preparatory to a 
 long evening — wine with cards. 
 
 We reach the end of the long terrace, and 
 Kilmarnock faces round upon me like an 
 assassin — but who can strike air? I glide on, 
 waiting for him to rejoin me. 
 
 " How sweet is the moonlight ! " he said at 
 length. And indeed it was still and holy as 
 heaven, lying like sheeted silver on the great 
 trees. I looked at it, longing to be absorbed 
 into it, to be part of the great peace, something
 
 288 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 distinct and away from humanity — existent, 
 sentient, yet calm, silent, and at rest ; not a 
 fretting atom of earth, but a part of some grand 
 quiet whole ^ee from haunting memories of 
 past agony. 
 
 " You look like some beautiful dream ! " said 
 Kilmarnock. 
 
 "Now," said I, "you speak less like an 
 ambassador ! " He smiled. 
 
 " Have you, then, any objection, ethical or 
 other, to ambassadors ? " And I replied : 
 
 " They should only be accredited to sovereign 
 princes, not to vassals who have no power to 
 treat with them. Pardon me, milord, if I wish 
 you good-night. Though not a dream, I am 
 asleep." And, not disturbing Sir Burleigh, I left 
 the guest in the study and retired for the 
 
 night. 
 
 ****** 
 
 KiLMAKNOCK TO StUAET. 
 
 " SiE, — When accredited by you to B. C. I 
 feared lest his having so recently been cautioned 
 should have slacked his zeal, and looked to 
 have to use much persuasion. I do not find 
 this to be the case. I pressed our resolution 
 earnestly upon him. While agreeing to the main 
 points, he hung back on a few — the most incon- 
 siderable — one being S. Fraser's presence here,,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 289 
 
 and being doubtful if it were safe for you, after 
 what has occurred. He loyally and warmly 
 assured me of your welcome, then put one 
 obstacle after another to me why* you were 
 safest away. 
 
 "Truly, my dear Lord, might I speak my 
 mind, he is right : — the risk is unnecessary. AR 
 that transpires of importance can be communi- 
 cated to you at Leith by our usual couriers, and 
 your views to us in the same way. The miracle 
 of your escape may not repeat itself. The 
 agent is here as Dame CliiFord, a beautiful 
 woman devoted to her husband. I was not 
 suffered to revive memories of our one past 
 meeting, and one might as soon shake the 
 self-possession of a queen. In that would be 
 no danger. She seems happy and joyous 
 enough. Sir B., 'tis evident, lives but in her 
 content : he insisted on calling her to our 
 council, a point which, knowing all, I could 
 not contest. She listened intelligently, though 
 with only a civil interest as to her husband's 
 friend; yet her thoughts did not stray from the 
 subject in hand, and her remarks, though few, 
 suggested acuteness of mind, and a grasp of 
 the matter discussed unusual in a woman. 
 Our talk over and she retiring, Sir Burleigh's 
 eyes followed her, and seeing he was willing
 
 29© A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 she should be praised, I congratulated him 
 on her beauty and her evident talent. ' Of that,' 
 said he, meaning talent, ' she has no lack. She 
 has been somewhat rigidly kept to business all 
 her life, but her beauty has sadly fallen off. 
 She will take no care of herself, and, guard 
 as I may, I often fear for her very life.' This 
 I put down to mere uxoriousness, till he went 
 on : ' A few months back, she had a severe ill- 
 ness, since which a listlessness possesseth her. 
 Before, she was a bright-spirited wench 'twould 
 have done your heart good to see ; now she is 
 a melancholy woman, though always kind and 
 gentle as you see her. The cause I cannot 
 guess.' Sir, can you? 
 
 " If so, in the interest of our cause, I fore- 
 warn you with all my heart avoid being here. 
 To risk B. C. is to put away a certain yearly 
 sum of large amount, and alienate, besides, 
 several whom he greatly influences. Beautiful 
 women are plentiful as berries — adherents like 
 him rather scarcer than Phoenix, at the present. 
 You wished me to possess you with the whole 
 truth : it is writ here. To come, is certain 
 danger, on that account. 
 
 " Now, leaving this, we have agreed to hold a 
 caucus-meeting, the whereabouts to be fixed by 
 you, to which B. C. will come alone, even if it
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 291 
 
 be to Scotland. The sooner it is fixed the better, 
 as one is away who is better absent, and his 
 movements watched. Himself, being fed with 
 money from a presumed gull, will not cease to 
 batten at the playhouses and hells till said gull 
 be stripped, which will be when his absence is 
 no longer of moment to us. 
 
 " Now, my dear Lord, if after what I have 
 hinted you still feel secure and aim to come 
 hither yourself, let me beseech you as friend to 
 friend waive what is past, in that you will have a 
 ready ally ; neither need you fear embarrassment 
 or unkindness — she is passionless as the 
 Sphinx. As calm, order, and peace follow and 
 attend her every movement, look, and tone — 
 passion, if ever it existed, is quenched. You 
 will, I trust, come with an unbiassed mind in 
 that regard, remembering how deeply important 
 to us is B. C.'s adherence, and how light a 
 cause may forfeit it to us. 
 
 " I am, my dear Lord, 
 " Your devoted friend and servant, 
 
 " Sergius." 
 
 Stuakt to Kilmarnock. 
 
 "Sergius, greeting, — Your resolution for a 
 caucus is acceptable. I will come to the 
 
 u — 2
 
 292 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 Manor. Neither need you fear for me in the 
 regard you have been at such moral pains to 
 set forth. Beauty gone, spirit quenched, what 
 is there I would or could compass to disturb 
 the calm serenity of this promoted ])aysamie'^ 
 ' Loves her husband.' I tell you, she is false as 
 Judas. 'Twas the Manor she played for ; having 
 which, I or any other poor devil may go — I know 
 her thoroughly. Pride, ambition, a will of 
 inflexible steel; her velvet manner — a mask I 
 Sergius, you have not my experience with 
 women. Beware of her ! At parting, my heart 
 nigh broke. A few days — let me be just, 
 twenty — and she is comfortably married to Sir 
 Burleigh. Happy in his unbounded indulgence 
 as he in her supposed love — she is a demon ! a 
 demon ! Hold, this is a politic letter. I will 
 bring S. F., as I must for good reasons. Try 
 and conjure away B. C.'s dislike of him. Bal 
 must also come — surely there is room enough 
 there? The complete absence of Y. C. is in- 
 dispensable — also that he be most carefully 
 watched. We will red our spurs to get there 
 soon. Commend me to B. C. and the witch 
 his dame. You shall see my good govern- 
 ment in this the rather as the Marquise de B. 
 Yet stop. You sober and serious will only 
 listen to this after dinner. All news, sur-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 293 
 
 mises and suspects on our meeting. Good 
 wishes. 
 
 " Always your friend, 
 
 i(. 
 
 S. 
 
 " P.S. Burn this.'^ 
 
 Terror took hold of me when I heard that 
 Casimir was coming. 
 
 " In your changed relations to me, and as 
 Lady of the Manor," said Sir Burleigh, " there 
 must be none of the childish levity which 
 marked your former meeting. He will expect 
 ceremony. That was well enough then — for any 
 man of his rank may admire a pretty damsel, 
 he chances on : as a Clifford, he must treat 
 you with the respect and distinction of a Court 
 dame. See, therefore, that you deserve it by 
 courtesy and distance — by loyal respect." I 
 listened in dismayed silence, with downcast 
 eyes, into which I felt slow terror creep as it 
 may be seen to dilate the eyes of a child who is 
 promised the sight of a spectre. Had I been a less 
 guilty wretch, I should but have smiled at this 
 lecture on formalism and, philosopher-wise, re- 
 flected that he could scarce expect Court-bred 
 training from a country-dame. 
 
 " Do not turn white," said he, " though I can 
 forgive you for that. For 'tis an awful thing,
 
 294 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Helen, to reflect on the destiny attendant i^on 
 him, to put away for a while the bodily presence,, 
 to think only of the power descended to him 
 from past ages." 
 
 " Come, my dear, you look as you would 
 swoon. The Prince would be concerned to 
 think a proper and becoming awe of him should 
 degenerate into a peasant-like fear." 
 
 " I do not fear him ! " said I fiercely, all the 
 chased blood rushing back in a boiling wave to 
 my heart — to my head. " I hate him, Sir Bur- 
 leigh, I will not see him ! You may be abject in 
 your adoration of this clay idol — 'tis your life- 
 long creed. For me, I am clear of any other 
 fetish-worship than that of the Cliffords — and 
 that's but slight, as you will find should you 
 strain your authority." 
 
 Sir Burleigh's eyes nigh started from his head 
 at this unexpected defiance, his face purpled 
 nearly to blackness ; while I, feeling more con- 
 cern for his physical than his mental state, 
 stood by — fury ebbing, prepared for submission,, 
 rather than that he should suffer. 
 
 " Go from my sight," he stammered at last, 
 " or I may strike you ! Go ! " 
 
 " Oh, my God ! " I heard him say as I went, 
 convulsed with grief, fear, and anger. " Helen 
 to turn on me ! Helen Eohan ! "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 295 
 
 " Sir, I am here." I re-entered swiftly, tears 
 pouring down my face because of his dis- 
 pleasure, and, before he could repel me or resume 
 his wrath, I embraced him, hiding my face on 
 his breast, trembling and wretched enough to 
 die. 
 
 Some pity for me came to him, even as it 
 might to an idolater whose idol had been rudely 
 struck — pity for the ignorance, the unworthi- 
 ness of the striker who knew no better, who 
 walked in darkness. 
 
 " My dear," said he, though still sternly putting 
 me away from him, " I expected a better spuit 
 from you — that, even had it been but as a friend 
 of mine, you would, to please me, have strove to 
 observe my wishes. As it is, his misfortunes 
 might compel reverence from a savage — stripped 
 of his kingdom, shorn of all outward splendour, 
 sure it should be enough to know him for our 
 rightful Prince to soften the hardest heart." 
 
 I stood listening, so ill, so wretched, that pain 
 itself became unreal, petrified. Worse could not 
 be. Slowly I turned and left the study, stumbling ' 
 upstairs to the state-rooms, walking ghostlike up 
 and down their polished floors, seeing the 
 familiar pictures as though I saw them not. 
 Presently I heard another step, and stayed mine. 
 It was Sir Burleigh in search of me.
 
 296 A STATESMAN'S •LOVE. 
 
 *' Come, my dear," said he cheerfully, " I did 
 not mean to be harsh with you ; you misunder- 
 stood me, sweet ! Come and forgive me ! " 
 
 " ' I cannot kiss and that's the humour of it,* " 
 said I, quoting Wynne ; and, evading the out- 
 stretched arms, I left him to follow, laughing. 
 " That* s right,*' said he as we gained the dress- 
 ing-room, " but I can kiss for both, my dear." 
 
 " Do not," said I imploringly, " you leave red 
 patches on my face, and I design to wear white 
 and look handsome." 
 
 "You pert pye ! " said he. "Was you not 
 more in love with your beauty than your hus- 
 band, you could not so put me off. Indeed 
 you are a handsome woman, Nell, and mannerly 
 as any princess. I am sorry I put you out by 
 my preachment." 
 
 " There, there ! " said I, kissing him, " let that 
 end it, sir. It was not you, but my own unworthi- 
 ness put me out. Your best plan were to send 
 me to the Farm for a while, where I should be 
 in no one's way. No stumblingblock — no rock 
 of offence ! " Spite of myself, my lips quivered, 
 tears flowed afresh. 
 
 Sir Burleigh, repenting of his penitence, swore, 
 and I, dressing in dismal silence, laced my white 
 velvet bodice too tightly, and tied the blue 
 Jacobite ribbon he directed me to wear undei
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 297 
 
 its broad collar, as much from sight as I 
 could. 
 
 " It spoils the pearls ! " said I petulantly, as he 
 pulled it forward. 
 
 " D n the pearls ! " said he. " I have a 
 
 mind, madam, that you shall wear no jewels, if 
 you are ashamed of being a Jacobite ! " 
 
 " I will wear them ! " I elapsed a heavy coil 
 round my throat. " Am I to go naked in that 
 I refuse to spoil my dress with this indigo rag ? " 
 I took it off and trampled on it. Not that it 
 marred my robe, but that a new anger was 
 stealing like fire through my veins — that I was 
 forced to adorn myself to please the eyes of 
 Casimir. 
 
 " Vashti was a fool to you ! " said Sir Burleigh 
 with a sigh, relinquishing a contest which, like 
 Oreek fire, eluded him at one point, to break 
 out again, and yet again, at others. 
 
 " Let me go to the Farm," said I, sobbing in 
 an anguish that tore my heart. " I cannot meet 
 these princes, peers ! 'Tis not that alone ! I 
 am ill ! " 
 
 " My God ! " said he, stamping. " When I 
 spoke, 'twas with no intention of offending your 
 pride ! — which I might have known was that of 
 Lucifer or Ashtaroth ! " 
 
 Pride! The dismal incongruity of pride
 
 298 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 belonging to me, made me laugh. I stooped 
 and picked up the trodden ribbon, presenting it 
 to him. '-' Put it on me ! " said I. " To please 
 or content you, I would wear a chain ! " The 
 trembling tone of voice, the humility of 
 manner, disarmed his just anger at what, to him,, 
 must have seemed mere folly. He put it on 
 kindly enough, in silence ; then, taking my hand, 
 we went downstairs and out on to the terrace, 
 expecting our guests would soon arrive. 
 
 It wanted yet an hour to sunset. In the west 
 all was golden and glorious. Eastward, light 
 mists were rising beneath the thick shades of 
 oak and beech. One end of the terrace was in 
 shade : to this we went. 
 
 The day had been tropical in its heat, the 
 mildness of evening came gratefully near, and, 
 as we sat on a stone bench in an embrasure of 
 the terrace-wall, the pleasantness and peace of 
 our domain half-soothed away our differing 
 troubles. Sir Burleigh forgivingly passed his 
 arm round my shoulders. My head rested 
 gratefully on his arm. Sometimes he would 
 stoop to kiss my lips gently, sometimes my 
 closed eyelids. It is well to be loved : — even fear 
 fled as I felt how much I was to him ; and, 
 when our guests rode up, and Craig had led the 
 horses away, I was ready, after the noisier
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 299 
 
 greetings of the men subsided, to submit to 
 their presentation to me, courtesying to each a 
 welcome to the Manor — even to Casimir, who, 
 by accident or design, came last. 
 
 That was hard, though. I dared not look 
 into his face ; but, after my formal and profound 
 courtesy and welcome, was glad once more to 
 feel Sir Burleigh's arm around me. I trembled 
 excessively as he led me to our seat, with which, 
 I think, he was not ill-pleased, concluding it to 
 be a tribute to the awe-inspiring presence of 
 Stuart — as it was. 
 
 How he excused me, I do not know — for all 
 with him entered the house, and I sat alone, 
 watching the sunset. Probably the great heat 
 of the day would be pleaded for me — to whom 
 drouth or frost in the past had mattered nothing. 
 They were not to know this, however. Presently 
 Lord Kilmarnock came out and joined me, chat- 
 ting very agreeably, requiring no response. Then 
 the rest reappeared, and gathered in a group, 
 awaiting the summons to dinner, which soon 
 came. Kilmarnock took me in, for there was 
 no formal recognition of rank — for which I had 
 cause to feel devoutly thankful. The purple 
 twilight without was falling in lovely shades 
 over the turf, giving to the ferny braes tints of 
 asphodel.
 
 300 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Within, lit by unstinted waxlights, was this 
 meeting of prominent Jacobites — a nest it would 
 mightily please George Guelph to lay his 
 German paw upon. Yet we were secure enough. 
 Wheat-harvest had withdrawn the hinds to the 
 far-outlying farms ; as an additional security, 
 the park-gates were locked at night. At dinner, 
 where presiding I made the sixth, no pretension 
 to line dress was made by any of the gentlemen 
 present, who had ridden hard all day, other than 
 scrupulous neatness : so my white velvet and 
 pearls, put on to please Sir Burleigh, seemed a 
 little out of place. Yet, out of love with life 
 they none disquieted me. 
 
 They were a kind and genial company, nor 
 did I by any sign or silentness damp their flow of 
 spirits — rather, listening to Kilmarnock, who 
 was on my right, enjoyed his quaint conceits and 
 ready wit, helping him on the road to laughter. 
 Everyone talked — few listening, save Craig, who 
 was assiduously waiting, aided by Janet, who 
 kept outside. Craig listened for all; but Craig 
 was safe, and Janet a staunch Jacobite. 
 
 There is nothing to linger for after dinner, as 
 wine and cards come together later ; so we all go 
 out on to the terrace and walk or loiter in groups, 
 enjoying the sweet summer-air. Kilmarnock 
 kindly keeps with me, and the pale-faced one.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 301 
 
 whom, in speaking to, they all address as " Sir," 
 devotes himself to Sir Burleigh, without so much 
 as looking my way ; so that, when Kilmarnock 
 presently, taking me by the hand, draws near 
 them, and asks a laughing leave of Sir Burleigh 
 to escort me to the lake, I am surprised into 
 blushing when, at last, his eyes turn to me. 
 
 " Yes," says Sir Burleigh, graciously, pleased 
 with Kilmarnock's friendliness and desirous of 
 pleasing me. So down the steps we go, hand in 
 hand, like brother and sister, and away into the 
 broad champlain leading to the lake, brushing 
 the silvered dew from the ferns, and crushing 
 the sweet odours from the thymy park-turf. The 
 exquisite sapphire tints still linger in the sky, 
 despite the moon-rays, which fight a silent battle 
 with them, of pure whiteness. Amid all this 
 summer-beauty, the lake lies changeless. It 
 looks black and old, and, tired as I feel, I ask 
 Kilmarnock if he thinks it bituminous. 
 
 " On my word, I know very little of geology," 
 he answers, " yet 'tis not unlikely it has some 
 such quality, bitumen having power to impart 
 blackness to bodies of water such as this." 
 
 " I have but read of it," I say, my thoughts 
 elsewhere, my voice mournful as it floats out 
 over the still lake, not greatly caring whether 
 bitumen is black or white or grey.
 
 302 A STAIESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Were I hanged for it," says Kilmarnock, 
 " I could give no better explanation of its dark 
 colour, than that it is bituminous ; but, madam, 
 let me ask you, as I before meant, would it dis- 
 content you, with Su' Burleigh's good leave, to 
 call me Sergius, as the others all use — ay, even 
 your husband's self ^ " 
 
 " If it please you," said I, " I will take it 
 upon myself to call you Sergius — sure of Sir 
 Burleigh's content." With that, he kisses my 
 hand as one renamed. 
 
 ''Bitumen," he said presently, proving that 
 he knew more than he professed. " There are 
 lakes of it in Central Asia, beating about the 
 tops of extinct volcanoes, of which you were 
 doubtless thinking, resembling this in colour." 
 
 " I had not to my remembrance read of them, 
 the image must at some time have occurred to 
 my mind or mention of it been made without 
 my conscious remark. Not desirous of seeming 
 better informed than was the case, I confessed 
 my ignorance and changed the subject. Kil- 
 marnock, who had been many times in France, 
 discoursed of the dances there, which, he said, 
 gave such liking and zest to the life of the 
 poorest, and contrasted with them the reserve 
 and melancholy of the English labourers. '' Poor, 
 things ! " I said, "^there is too much laid upon
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 303 
 
 them, and a heavy reckoning will come on those 
 self-lovers who add field to field, ever weighing 
 down the heavy-burdened." 
 
 ". I am glad to hear you speak so," he said, 
 *' but good government will rectify many of 
 these abuses, and with one at the head of affairs 
 generous to a fault, no grinding taxation will be 
 suffered to weigh on them. All burdens will be 
 lightened, by his justice and willingness to con- 
 sider the poor and him that hath no helper. '* 
 
 As he spoke thus, I could but blush to think 
 in my secure life how little I had done. " I 
 will do better," I said aloud, in abasement of 
 spirit : " being miserable gives one fellowship to 
 the afflicted. I might forget my pain in help- 
 ing others." 
 
 " You are doing better,'^ said Kilmarnock, 
 '' in helping on a return of better times. It is 
 but little real aid to classes that one can do ; 
 meanwhile, do not distress yourself, as you are 
 no way answerable for the condition of things 
 existent. Nor did I mean to make you un- 
 happy." 
 
 " Sergius would make a whole conventicle 
 pleasantly unlUppy," said Stuart's voice — he, to- 
 gether with Sir Burleigh, joining us. " He would 
 point out their sins and the downward road, let 
 the red flame-light dance in their eyes and
 
 304 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 brimstone assail their noses ; and then, after 
 raising their fears, counsel them to heaven." 
 
 " So then, sir, I should be a good preacher ? " 
 
 " Ay, if your practise were consistent," quoth 
 his master, drily. 
 
 " In what doth it differ?" said Sir Burleigh^ 
 amused. 
 
 " In that, having preached to others, he is 
 himself a castaway." 
 
 " Come, Sergius," said Sir Burleigh, "he is 
 too hard for you. Let us home, and leave 
 preaching to the fishes ! " 
 
 Kilmarnock offered me his hand, but Stuart 
 interposed — begging he might be my escort. 
 This allowed. Sir Burleigh took Kilmarnock's 
 arm, relying on us to follow — which attempting, 
 I was stopped silently, but perforce. 
 
 " Sir ! " said I, in bitter wrath, " I prefer re- 
 turning alone, and would have done but for the 
 angry frantic figure I should present to the rest 
 on the terrace." 
 
 Angry and frantic went in my mind presently 
 from myself to him, as a storm of invective 
 swept over me. Was I not a Judas — a betrayer. 
 Did I judge avoidance possible of a man so 
 grossly wronged, heartbroke as he 1 I should see. 
 He cared for no consequences, would sacrifice 
 a million friends to regain me.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 305 
 
 " Sir," I said fiercely, not brooking reproach 
 from him, " though I were Aholibah or her 
 sister, you would have the answering it ! " and 
 so turned on my heel and left him, going swiftly 
 homeward winged with rage and scorn at his 
 daring and meanness, and leaving him j^lante 
 on the mere's margin. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Entrance by another way than the terrace 
 was not so easily efi'ected but that I passed 
 Janet and Craig in deep consultation in the 
 courtyard where were the stables. They took 
 but little note of me, however, and I was about 
 retiring up the wide staircase, when, seeing 
 through the wide-open hall-door the beautiful 
 panorama of the moonlit park stretching vast 
 and silent before it, framed in as by an arch, 
 1 sat down on the shadowy stairs, and 
 endeavoured to forget my disquiet in the 
 calm without — to relegate my trouble to the 
 limbo of the everyday frets which afflict 
 humanity, but which should be allowed no 
 permanent hold on the mind. I had partially 
 succeeded in deceiving myself with that notion — 
 that I sat there for calm's sake — when, with a 
 shudder, the conviction came creeping to me 
 from the broad silvery landscape, from the 
 cobwebbed corners, from the vast empty suite
 
 3o6 A STATU E SAN' S LOVE. 
 
 of the state-rooms, that I sat there with quite 
 another aim — that, in short, I waited, as any 
 self-undeceiving Messalina might have waited 
 for her lover, to see Stuart enter. 
 
 "Most truly am I a degraded wretch!" I 
 mutter ; yet stir I could not. I was as a timid 
 bird — something against my strongest powers 
 of reasoning forced me to await on his return. 
 Like Ravaillac, the assassin of Henri Quatre, 
 who, whilst under torture, curiously regarded 
 the gaping wounds into which presently hot 
 lead was to be poured, so I speculated on the 
 agony awaiting me of the rejection of Stuart's 
 attempts at reconciliation. I, as well as 
 Ravaillac, knew it was inevitable — that no 
 struggles of my own could alter even the 
 form of torture ; yet could I not keep my mind 
 from dwelling on it. A curious little calm 
 figure to compare with that of the tortured 
 assassin, yet I doubt he would not have changed, 
 even when the glow of heated metal approached 
 his bleeding flesh. After all, hell needeth 
 not material torments. 
 
 So sate I on in the dusky shadows, seeing 
 the guests enter in groups, and presently settle 
 to cards, from which I was free, as they played 
 high and preferred the liberty of rough words 
 when they were vexed at any turn of the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 307 
 
 chances — sate on till a longing to hear even 
 the distant echo of his voice drew me down to 
 the terrace, step by step, irresistibly as fate 
 draws us on year by year whether we will or 
 no. Passing unheeded up and down in the 
 moonlight, I could see the several faces within 
 the room, eager some, some impassive, all 
 excited. Stuart was the gayest, he seemed to 
 be the greatest loser. Kilmarnock from time 
 to time looked at him covertly, with a half- 
 smile on his resolute mouth — a glance which, 
 catching once, he retorted with a frown quick 
 and petulant as a woman's. Whether or no 
 Kilmarnock saw me pass from within, I know 
 not ; but, a game coming to a close, he resigned 
 his place to an onlooker — for, being five and the 
 game whist, one was necessarily out — and pre- 
 sently joined me on the terrace. 
 
 He looked at me reproachfully, and with but 
 a shadow of his former friendliness said: "Madam, 
 it is late and lonely for you to be here, and it 
 grieves a humble friend that you take so little 
 thought to your health and wellbeing." 
 
 With all his goodness, there was a savour of 
 the conventicle in Kilmarnock's manner when 
 displeased, and so catholic is mind, that, while 
 far from being amused, I yet took note of it and 
 smiled.
 
 508 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Be content, Sergius," I said, offering him my 
 hand to escort me in my walk, the " countryfolk 
 are used to air and exposure, and are hardened 
 to that which might kill a city-dame." 
 
 " So," said Sergius, relenting, and taking my 
 meaning to the foot of the letter. "So you 
 raise those lovely roses whose beauty kills us ? " 
 
 " You have, sir, a warm hand for a corse ! " 
 
 " And a warmer heart ! " quoth Kilmarnock — 
 " a heart that desires only good to you. Lady 
 Clifford, to whom you are already dear as a sister,. 
 
 for whom I risk Go in at once ! " he broke 
 
 off low, but imperative. " I hear the game 
 concluded. Take my counsel — it is in the best 
 interests of all." 
 
 " You know not what you say," I rejoined with 
 a strained attempt at indifference. " I cannot 
 nor will fly from a phantom-danger, I am strong, 
 though I thank you for your counsel, I am no 
 reed in the wind." 
 
 " Lady Clifford," said he earnestly, '* pardon 
 me, that, as a man of the world and one who is 
 most sincerely desirous of befriending you, I 
 repeat that strict avoidance is your only safe 
 policy, avoidance of a great and present danger. 
 It is, I am aware, going beyond the lines of our 
 so recent acquaintance to counsel you thus 
 strongly. Yet, how can I refrain, knowing so
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 309 
 
 well of whom I speak, of the Ihiks which must 
 now be resolutely taken and cast aside, or fixed 
 on as a galling and lifelong chain ? My wish is 
 to see you free and happy — to accomplish which 
 I am thus bold with you. Forgive me ! " 
 
 I was scarcely moved by this appeal ; relying 
 on the hardihood with which I could suffer, it 
 seemed to me unreal that anyone could truly 
 hope to aid me to escape this great and present 
 danger and torture. So might Eavaillac have 
 felt moved by a kind face, a pitying voice among 
 the crowd : the cruel anguish went on in spite of 
 it. Extraneous help there could be none, no 
 more than to Dives in his fiery gulf from the 
 angels who were his neighbours. Kilmarnock 
 knew all, and yet he pitied me — undeserving 
 unworthy as I was. 
 
 '' I will go in," I said at last dully, seeing that 
 he waited for some concession. " Do not think 
 me ungrateful ; it is that, pluck out what arrow- 
 heads you may, the iron is in my soul." 
 
 Disregarding this, doubtless classing it as a 
 feminine exaggeration, he lent me his strong 
 hand to lead me in. We had been at the ex- 
 treme end of the terrace, and, seeing some of the 
 party on the Hall-steps, I went round to the gate 
 leading to the quadrangular courtyard which en- 
 closed the Hall at the back. It was a deep em-
 
 3IO * A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 brasured gate with stone seats on either side and 
 an archway above it, all now in blackest dark- 
 ness, as the moon-rays were vertical. Inside the 
 gaunt courtyard, with its central dovecote, was 
 in brightest light. Wishing Kilmarnock good 
 rest, I suffered him to kiss my hand and went 
 on as in a dreary trance, chidden by my hus- 
 band's guest, hurrying from the one love of my 
 life, who, in utter indifference save to the out- 
 ward aspect of things, was in very comfortable 
 middle-earth whilst I was in hell. The loud 
 song of the lark roused me the next morning to 
 the consciousness of a very cramped and uneasy 
 posture on the hard wooden state-bed. I had 
 not undressed, and had barely time to rise and 
 seem as though my robing were completed be- 
 fore Janet entered with hot water. 
 
 " Eh ! '^ she said, glancing at the disordered 
 counterpane which revealed the smooth planed 
 wood, " Sir Burleigh's heir should be a soldier 
 for his mother disna mind hardships, an', if he 
 sleeps harder in camp than you last night, he'll 
 have to be on iron." 
 
 " Let be, Janet ! " I said, blushing angrily at 
 this allusion. " There may never be such a 
 thing." 
 
 " Thing ! " said Janet indignantly. " You'll be 
 a nice mother, Helen Eohan, forby you don't spoil
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 311 
 
 your own chances by such doings. So surely 
 as you live, I'll make up a bed here for you, 
 whether you will or no. I never heard of 
 anyone sleeping on wood before and enjoying 
 it.'' 
 
 By this, I was beyond her remonstrances, and 
 soon drinking milk-coffee in the study, still card- 
 bestrewn, and littered with bottles and glasses, 
 which Craig was carefully piling into a silver- 
 tray, not omitting, like a careful Scot, to pick 
 up and pocket the small change which strewed 
 the carpet. Guineas, Craig always honestly 
 and without fail put on the mantelpiece, even 
 half-guineas, but anything less was his — spoils 
 of the Amalekites. It was amusing to see his 
 deliberation over the process of counting his 
 gains. My presence made not the slightest 
 difference, except that he asked me to calculate 
 the amount for him and enter it in a book he 
 kept in his pocket. 
 
 "A tenth," he explained, "goes to the auld 
 mither in Ayrshire — wages too ! " 
 
 " You are a good son ! " I say, interested. 
 
 " Ou ay, milady ! May your leddyship hae 
 as gude a ane," said Craig, " which I doubtna 
 will e'en be sae ! " 
 
 " Handsomer, I hope ! " muttered a voice, as 
 Craig withdrew, and, from the deep window-
 
 312 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 recess where he had stood hidden by the down- 
 sweep of the curtain, Stuart emerged. 
 
 I was none surprised, knowing that his whole 
 soul was set on compassing a private interview ; 
 yet was I something angry that he should be 
 the third in one hour to confirm my o^vn 
 suspicions that such an event was not improb- 
 able — nay, even possible. "Will you choose 
 coffee, sir," I said, pouring some out, " or a dish 
 of tea?" 
 
 " Coffee ! " said he, " if it please you, madam, 
 to bring it me." 
 
 He seated himself in the open window, with 
 all the glory of the early summer-morning as a 
 background, mth the music of clear-carolling 
 birds encompassing him, with the warmth of 
 shafting sun-rays giving life to his pallor of last 
 night's dissipation, and to me he looked like 
 some pale Apollo who had sate up too late and 
 was scarce warm or awake. 
 
 Though angry and divining his motive, I could 
 not well refuse the courtesy of carrying the cup 
 to him, though I had rather swallowed its 
 scalding contents than met or allowed the search- 
 ing glance with which from head to foot he 
 surveyed me. I felt myself grow pale and 
 burning red, and, but for hastily resigning it, 
 the cup must have fallen from my hands.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 313 
 
 " I never could understand the agrement of 
 blushing," he said, as I returned to my seat, " it 
 must have so great a variety of ill-effects : in the 
 first place, the heart is called on for a double 
 action, to send the blood at a moment to the 
 surface, and then to withdraw it ; and after, it 
 spoils the clearness of the skin. I never 
 blush." 
 
 " It is scarce necessary," said I, " that those 
 who keep dogs should themselves bark. Per- 
 chance, sir, others blush for you ! " 
 
 " It is, if so, very good of them," said he, " but 
 more perfectly unnecessary. If I feel shame, it 
 is a scorch to my very soul — alance-shaft through 
 my heart — an agony that transfixes me, inso- 
 much that your blushes are well done by beside 
 me." 
 
 " I hope," said I, " that all this preserves 
 intact that purity of skin which is so greatly to 
 be aimed at '? " I spoke in that malice which is 
 the foster-sister of misery — that biting of the 
 trapped rat which lessens no feeling of its pain, 
 but is mechanical, because life and movement 
 are inseparable. As such, he seemed to take it 
 without resenting. His eyes looked deep and 
 haggard — his lips quivered. He brought back 
 the little gold and green cup to be refilled, and 
 signed to Craig, who had re-entered with muffins,
 
 314 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to bring it to him. Then, when the door closed 
 on Craig, he put it down and took up a 
 gazette. 
 
 " Helen," he said, " the price is still set on 
 my head. I am yet proscribed, a fugitive and in 
 danger." 
 
 No more appeal, no excusing of himself — only 
 that awful fact that in all the world of life around 
 him, some might profit by Ms death ; that the 
 tenure of other lives, however insecure, still were 
 safe, compared to his, which appealed to the 
 worst human passions for its destruction, which 
 could be destroyed safely, and without open 
 infamy — nay, even be called patriotism. 
 
 "Is it?" said I, drearily. " It is a villainous 
 proclamation, worthy of African savages. Why 
 do you not retort it on the German? That, if 
 anything, would demonstrate, even to them, its 
 utter baseness." 
 
 " That is just, and is under careful considera- 
 tion by all of us, whether descending to so 
 abject a mode of warfare is consistent with the 
 justice and uprightness of our cause. There 
 can be no nice-dealing with an assassin and a 
 German hog, and he cannot complain of the 
 standard of his own measure. Proclaim a price 
 for him ! — by God, I will! " said he. "And, to 
 pay it, I would pawn my jewels — ay, seU them-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. , 315 
 
 We are not so lanqueroute that we cannot raise 
 so much." 
 
 After this there was a long silence : — our 
 thoughts strayed from ourselves to those vast 
 political considerations — the attempt, apparently 
 desperate, of these few men to change or oust a 
 dynasty involved, I thought, shame to myself 
 as, insensibly, my thoughts again narrowed to 
 our present circumstances, if I should, suffer as 
 I might, upbraid him with the past. I endea- 
 voured, after my old stoicism, my old belief, that 
 individual peace must succumb to general tran- 
 quillity — that the bitter grief, the abject despair 
 through w^hich I had passed, should be forgotten. 
 
 With this thought came crowding others, 
 keen as serpents, striking to my very heart. I 
 might aid, but could not forgive; I might 
 banish, but could not forget the man in the 
 prince. Involuntarily I covered my eyes with 
 my hand : these stings, these poisoned arrows, 
 caused an agony I wished to shield from out- 
 ward betrayal. Of formal reference to the past, 
 there could be none. In bitterness, it must 
 linger in the heart of each — in his, betrayal, 
 ingratitude, cruelty, in the manner of his deser- 
 tion ; in mine, abasement and self-contempt. 
 
 So swiftly will gravest questions be merged 
 in personal feeling, that the political aspect of
 
 3i6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Stuart's presence here vanished. I regarded 
 him as a hardened and careless man of the 
 world, wantonly inflicting by it pain and 
 liumiliation on a woman who had loved and 
 trusted him ; and bitter anger rose in my heart. 
 Why had he come \ Was it not enough that, 
 l)ut for Sir Burleigh, I should now be an out- 
 cast or dead — that this loving friend, who had 
 rescued me from despair, was his ally in a 
 desperate cause, his faithful friend and helper at 
 need ? 
 
 "You have risen early," I say, at length 
 forcing myself to put an end to the silence. " I 
 hope you met with every attention from Craig. 
 Sir Burleigh says he is an excellent valet." 
 
 " He is ; but I am not here to discuss Craig. 
 1 am my own valet, or rather I have not been 
 to bed all night. I have been in hell, every 
 moment a torture, a literal hell to me, j^ar j^re- 
 ference. How did you get back? What is it 
 like? Easily enough. It is like a false and 
 shameless woman. I thought it was a sort of 
 kingdom, ruled over by the prince of the powers 
 of this world. I — I thought it was a farm where 
 an unhappy, ^vretched woman lived, I think it is 
 here — here in this scene of semi-riot, this card- 
 iDestrewn study." I groped for and found a rest- 
 ing place for my head on the table, amid the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 317 
 
 litter of coifee-cups, hating the light and bright- 
 ness which, to reach me, must come past him ; 
 hating the day, life, movement ; desirous of 
 death, that the mockery my life had been might 
 stop ; that the pain at my heart might cease to 
 agonise — the dull desolateness of never-ending- 
 days to weary. Tears, those superficial types of 
 easily-healed grief, could not effect this. It was 
 voiceless, blind, and boundless. 
 
 "Helen, you are hurting yourself — not me. 
 Control yourself." 
 
 With an effort, I lifted up my face, as one 
 condemned might obey the order of an execu- 
 tioner. Of what avail the outward signs of such 
 a grief as mine ? As well, being still sane, avoid 
 the mockery attendant on the world's judgment 
 of a rived heart ; let no curious eyes note un- 
 sympathetically the ravage of deadly grief. At 
 that instant, Craig came in with fresh coffee, 
 followed by Lord Kilmarnock, who came kindly 
 forward and took my hand. I was not con- 
 scious of offering or of withdrawing it, only of 
 his searching glance resting on my face, in pity 
 and alarm ; then, turning to the tall figure at 
 the window, who now was gazing outward at 
 the beauty of the park : 
 
 " Let me advise a turn on the terrace," said 
 Kilmarnock, without waiting for my assent;
 
 3i8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 indeed, I was incapable of words. He led me out 
 of the stifling walls — out into the fragrance and 
 beauty of the morning, and as remote as to the 
 far end of the walk, where was a stone bench 
 built in a recess of the wall. Left here, my wan 
 eyes surveyed the scene as we look on familiar 
 objects after a long sickness or absence ; here, 
 seeing my disquiet, he kindly left me to recover 
 in the sweet presence of nature, who can soothe 
 us in almost every extreme of ill, almost as with 
 the voice of God. 
 
 Skylarks were ascending in hundreds from 
 the dewy turf; in copse and oak thicket birds 
 sang rejoicing. The magnificent oaks stood 
 like towers of foliage through which slant- 
 sunbeams stole to the long green ferns beneath. 
 I found myself watching them as they quivered 
 from bough to bough — bringing not alone com- 
 fort to the turf and herbage, but rest to my heart 
 so far as 'twas susceptible to rest at the moment. 
 
 Kilmarnock walked to the other end of the 
 terrace, and stood there as though on guard. 
 Stuart had turned himself round about, facing 
 someone within the study to whom he was 
 talking. I heard as in a trance the distant 
 remembered tone of his voice. It was Sir 
 Burleigh, always an early-riser, who was 
 answering. I hoped he would come out and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 319 
 
 take me in ; my limbs felt weak and powerless, 
 nor would I risk an exhibition of their mutiny 
 by trying to walk in alone — I was, as it were, 
 dissolved in this poison of pain. 
 
 "May I offer you my arm?'' Kilmarnock 
 must have seen my essay to rise. He stood 
 beside me, his tone was gentle, his eyes grave ; 
 his hand had the warm close grasp of a 
 brother's as he took mine, cold and trembling, 
 and drew it through his arm. " Now," said he 
 kindly, "I am going to beseech the favour of 
 Lady Clifford's company so far as to the lake. 
 Do you fear wet shoes on the turf? No ! Then 
 we will not turn our backs on this most delicious 
 morning ! " And so, revived by the elastic 
 sunny air as by wine, I went on momently 
 gathering strength, resolved not to succumb, 
 if human effort availed, to the torpor of this 
 pain. 
 
 Alas ! what are resolves opposed to the cruel 
 immutable laws of our nature ? The sight, as 
 we stood before it, of the dark moving mass 
 of water, rippled by the fresh breeze, brought 
 a dreadful swimming vertigo to me — all the 
 whole world seemed to be slowly revolving. I 
 tried to conquer it with my last conscious effort, 
 reviving only to learn that I had fainted, and 
 was still supported in Kilmarnock's arms. " It
 
 320 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 is the first time in my life," I said, shamefacedly 
 lifting my eyes to his in apology and contrition, 
 that he should be victim of this untoward weak- 
 ness. " I am very sorry — very sor ! " and to 
 
 prove it, or commit a crowning folly, broke into 
 hysteric sobs and tears irrepressible. Neither 
 angry, scornful, nor impatient — though I was 
 all three with myself — he would not suffer me 
 to withdraw from the support of his arms till, 
 the paroxysm over, I could blush, and express 
 anew my regret at being so troublesome to him, 
 a stranger. 
 
 " ' I was a stranger, and ye took me not in,' " 
 said he. "Do not call me a stranger. Lady 
 Clifford! It is presumptuous, I know — yet I 
 feel to you as a brother, or an old friend ! You 
 will trust me, I am sure ! " 
 
 " Yes ! " said I, blushing and paling, conscious 
 that he was cognizant of the whole past, and 
 perchance connecting it in his mind with this 
 imbecility of the present — perhaps scornful 
 pitying of so weak a fool on whom he had in 
 vain bestowed counsel. " It must not be 
 known that I fainted," I said, anxiously. Ta 
 this he made no answer, resolutely turning his 
 eyes from my beseeching gaze, refusing to 
 pledge himself to silence, perhaps regarding it 
 as of a gravity which it could not claim, as it
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 321 
 
 was but symptomatic of an unusual strain on 
 the mind and heart, and not organic weakness. 
 
 Arrived at the Hall, I thanked him for his care 
 and went upstairs, where, in one of the deserted 
 state-rooms under a canopy of faded lilac satin, 
 flower-embroidered, shaded by the downsweep 
 of the sheeny curtains, I sought to sleep on the 
 hard wood. For a long time, my eyes, stiff and 
 scalded with hot tears, would not close ; at length, 
 sleep fanning and delicious came wrapping me 
 away from this world in Elysian dreams. 
 
 When I awoke with a strange sound in mine 
 ears, I saw Sir Burleigh sitting in an armchair 
 beside the bed, trying, as the arms were low, to 
 lean over and rest his head on the silk-covered 
 wooden bolster. This he succeeded in doing, 
 but, after a few seconds, withdrew, with a dis- 
 satisfied grunt at its hardness ; this manoeuvre he 
 repeated several times, unaware of my watching 
 him. I could not at last avoid a laugh at his 
 perseverance. 
 
 "What! awake," said he, "at last, Helen?" 
 
 "Who could remain asleep, sir, with that 
 pillow-fight going on close to their ears ? " 
 
 " Eh ! " said he, " if you are going to give 
 me this vigil often, my dear, I will have these 
 cursed wooden pillows removed." 
 
 " Vigil ! " said I, in amaze, " an hour's sleep ! " 
 
 Y
 
 322 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 " See," said he drawing out his watch, " it 
 is four o'clock evening. You have slept seven 
 hours, every minute of which I have spent 
 here — nor grudged a second, so that it did 
 you good. You are better, I hope I " 
 
 " Yes," said I, indifferently, " I am all right. 
 Did Milord Kilmarnock tell you I fainted at 
 the lake-side this morning'? " 
 
 " My dear, of course it was that alarmed 
 me. I thought you might swoon in your sleep. 
 It has made me very unhappy — very anxious." 
 
 " Ah ! " said I, " nonsense ! When I was 
 only Helen Rohan, you thought me, rightly, 
 tough as pinwire, as I am." 
 
 " That I swear I never did ! " he rejoined, 
 indignantly. " You shall not get up so early — 
 mind that, madam ! " 
 
 "Will you reduce me to evasions, sir, like 
 the lady in the story? Shall I tell it you, 
 that you may see the effect of harsh prohibition \ 
 Listen.*' 
 
 " Nay," said he, " I will listen to no stories 
 of disobedient wives. Mine is all duty and 
 complaisance, as all would be if they had as 
 good husbands." 
 
 I laughed at this, and, dismissing him down- 
 stairs while I changed my dimity morning-gown 
 for a silk sacque, and arranged my hair, bathing
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 323 
 
 my face in rosewater to banish the traces 
 of sleep and tears, I followed. , 
 
 " Here is my sweet rose ! " said Sir Burleigh, 
 proudly, as I appeared on the terrace, blushing 
 as much as the rose-hues of my silk gown at 
 being the immediate centre of all eyes — the 
 victim, as I complained afterwards to Kilmarnock, 
 of inquiries for my health. 
 
 " Why," said he, " of course we are anxious 
 twice told — once on Sir Burleigh's account, and 
 doubly so on that of our sweet and charming 
 hostess. Old Balmerino is in love with you. 
 Fraser Lovat too. Me also. So, Lady Clifford, 
 forgive us that our friendship is exacting as it 
 is sincere." 
 
 " You are too kind ! " I murmured, the 
 momentary glow of excitement over, still 
 feeling weak and tremulous. 
 
 " You will not take what I said seriously, 
 but, being nearly infallible as to health, it is 
 strange to me, and dreadful, to be ill, as it 
 would be to a Pope to be wrong." 
 
 Yet through all the evening hours, through 
 the long dinner, I was conscious of terrible 
 weakness, of a desire to be away from people, 
 away from eyes and tongues, at rest either 
 asleep or dead. I managed by a supreme effort 
 to get through my duties as hostess. Kilmarnock
 
 324 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 alone seemed aware that it was effort and not 
 strength, aiding me greatly by keeping the talk 
 on politics, in which I was not expected to join. 
 Stuart's haughty face gave no sign of disquiet 
 beyond a whiter hue than ordinary as he noted 
 Kilmarnock's assiduous attentions, which were 
 simply due to his pity for my weakness. Kilmar- 
 nock had a very noble face ; regarding him atten- 
 tively as he talked to me aside, I thouglit him 
 like one of the portraits by Titian in the gallery, 
 and presently being haunted by the likeness told 
 him so, at which he laughed, asking in what 
 special particular he resembled this " portrait of 
 a gentleman ? " 
 
 " Why ! " said I, laughing too, " should I tell 
 you ■? I run a dread risk of being a self-fiatterer.'* 
 
 " Ay," said he, " I know some portraits have 
 that way of following one with their eyes, but. 
 Lady Clifford, at that rate every man not born 
 blind will be like a portrait by Titian, where 
 you are. I must see to-morrow if I may not 
 claim the likeness on more special grounds." 
 
 The laugh and slight confusion on either side 
 with which we debated this unmeant flattery did 
 not escape Stuart ; he could not hear the words, 
 being held in talk by Balmerino, but his eyes 
 contracted in that Highland way Sandy's used to 
 when he was angry. Glad to be free, yet unable
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 325 
 
 to enjoy freedom, on leaving the dinner- table 
 I repaired upstairs, too tired to join the company 
 on the terrace. I went to the picture-gallery. 
 Sitting in one of the wide window-seats, listening 
 absently to the hum of voices below, I looked 
 out on the wide park, so noble in its expanse and 
 its beauty, feeling as a worm might feel in the 
 heart of a rose, could it be conscious of the 
 canker it there causes. A lothly lady, object of 
 my own scorn, feeble alike in good or ill, vacil- 
 lating, uncertain, a witch without spells, a 
 poison-bottle empty, anything typical of impo- 
 tent ill, would fit me. 
 
 Purple shades of evening fell, veil on veil so 
 thin, fine, impalpable, that the rush of the stars 
 was checked, and they came out in courtly 
 crowds, gently covering the sky ere one was 
 aware of twilight's ending. 
 
 It was still light in the great gallery; its 
 western aspect held the last rays of daylight 
 through its range of windows. Silent and 
 fragrant — peopled only with the past — my 
 thoughts strayed away from my hateful 
 humanity to an ideal world of long-ago times — 
 of statesmen who were marvels of wisdom ; 
 women pure and lovely as amaranth ; kings 
 whose rule was direct inspiration from heaven. 
 In that long-ago world were no jarring factions,
 
 32 6 A STAIESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 no discordant lives, no erring women, no men 
 of wavering honour or cold cruelty, no Helen 
 Eohans or fugitive Casimirs, or else — delicious 
 thought which stole like balm to my heart !— » 
 they were forgiven, pardoned, reconciled, never 
 again to cause each other unhappiness. 
 
 From this dangerous reverie, I came back 
 sharply to realities. " That," thought I, in bitter 
 pain, " can never be. He does not desire it, 
 nor do I. What am I to him more than 
 other weak women] For a moment perhaps 
 struck by my undeserved promotion, by the 
 devotion of Sir Burleigh, the passing admira- 
 tion of his friends for a fair face, he may 
 fancy himself returning to the feelings — half- 
 real, half-simulated — of our past meeting ; but 
 here was the test, the truth, the bitter alchymy 
 — transmuting the fairy gold to dross. Had 
 I been only a farm-wrench, disgraced in the 
 eyes of her homely cncle, or cast out to find 
 a lower level, would he have spent more 
 than a passing thought — a half-amused regret 
 on my memory \ Would he have sought me 
 out, soothed my misery with care and tender- 
 ness, been just or grateful to the humble, poor 
 wretch who had aided him % I trow not ! " 
 said I, bitterly, " and in that belief have I 
 proved that the children of this world are in
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 327 
 
 their generation wiser than the children of 
 light." This reflection was infinitely bitter to 
 me — that he did not care for me, yet would 
 not cease to assert that he did, in that, as 
 Lady Clifford, I was more easily accessible, 
 more a mark for his friend's envy — a glory to 
 his own vanity and self-love. I bit my lip as 
 this conviction forced itself on my mind. " He 
 shall see," quoth I, "that a ^x omoie^ jpaysanne 
 can deserve promotion so far as in the present," 
 and, Craig opportunely coming with a message — 
 " Mr. Casimir desired leave to pay his duty 
 to my ladyship" — I told Craig to light up the 
 small yellow drawing-room, and request him 
 to rest there. Then I went and rouged myself 
 to an angry redness with a box of China rouge 
 left by Fernie on her toilette — determined no 
 wan looks should tell any tale of mental 
 suffering. I did not need the rouge, the fiery 
 wine of anger coursed through my blood as 
 I thought of the Helen Eohan I might have 
 been, and the Lady Clifford I was — the one, 
 an outcast, the scorn perchance of some 
 country hiring-mop ; the other, raised to rank 
 and power by the wealth and station so un- 
 grudgingly given by Sir Burleigh. 
 
 " Oh," said I, setting my teeth, "if for you, 
 for your false and treacherous passion, for your
 
 328 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 heart which is a very quicksand, for your love 
 which would have forgotten me, had I passed 
 into the ranks of the peasantry, which would 
 have ignored me in any disgrace or degradation, 
 for you — you I forget Sir Burleigh's goodness, 
 his steady unwavering kindness, I deserve that 
 the earth swallow me, that the roof of the Hall 
 fall on and crush me. I will see you ! Why 
 should I not? You shall tell your little Stuart 
 fable of constancy, act the trouvere if it so please 
 you; go on your knees, on a soft spot of the 
 Perse rug — it will not hurt your knees ; swear 
 as you would to a languid French marquise of 
 eternal love, and I — I will say, ' Sir, I have 
 repented loving you — 'twas but a silly girl's 
 enthusiasm. Send no more messages to your 
 old friend's wife. Desire no more to revive the 
 past — it is past. I have suffered, but Sir 
 Burleigh shall not. As a guest, you may come 
 here for a thousand years, and meet no more 
 than all the Cliffords of all the centuries 
 might accord to a guest.' " 
 
 Filled with stern, with heroic resolves of 
 renunciation, I went slowly downstairs, entering 
 the yellow drawing-room noiselessly as a shadow. 
 Craig was just lighting the last of the wax-lights 
 in the girandoles. 
 
 " Ah ! " said I as Stuart came forward with a
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 329 
 
 low bow, " you have tired of politics, sir \ Is 
 not Lord Kilmarnock equally entitled to rest, 
 and the others ? I am afraid you are a hard task- 
 master." 
 
 " That will suffice," said he, as Craig with- 
 drew, closing the door. " I ventured to send for 
 you, madam, to know what my status is to be." 
 
 " What do you mean? " said I indignantly. " I 
 hope no discourtesy will be shown you as a 
 guest. For the rest you can arrange etiquette 
 with your followers at your own pleasure." 
 
 "That, it seems, I cannot," said he, coldly. 
 " Lord Kilmarnock figures chiefest here." 
 
 " That is your affair, sir. Mere countryfolk 
 cannot pretend to the niceties of rank and 
 ceremony. All we can offer is kindness and 
 goodwill, equally to all our guests. Yet, if you 
 will condescend a hint as to how we may do 
 better '' 
 
 " Helen, you are a fool ! " said he, bitterly. 
 " I can see all this is rehearsed." 
 
 " And very well done for a provincial player, 
 is it not — for a peasant ? " 
 
 " Very well indeed. The rouge might be 
 more artistically put on. It is rather patchy." 
 
 I put my hand on my breast, contracted by a 
 sudden spasm of bitter hate and pain ; and, walk- 
 ing to a mirror, regarded with a hollow laugh
 
 330 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 the ghastly effect of the unnatural red on my 
 face, whitened and ghastly with pain and anger. 
 
 Stuart stood regarding me with a cynical 
 smile which, for a moment, brought a whirl- 
 wind of rage to my heart, nearly betrayed into 
 outward expression. That might amuse him 
 further, thought I, driving it back with an effort 
 that further blanched my face. I have not come 
 to amuse, but to torture him as I am tortured. 
 
 " It is absurd," said I, " that, when you con- 
 descend to ask an interview, I should come to it 
 burdened with old memories. Consider them 
 forgotten, sir — and I, acting for the Cliffords, 
 anxious only for your comfort and pleasure while 
 you honour us by your presence." 
 
 " Helen," said he, " you are mad ! " 
 
 " I can do no better," said I. " This is my 
 first attempt at chatelaine — and — and something 
 amiss, no doubt. Would you prefer a blue room 
 to a red, or a panelled wall to hangings? At 
 the Farm was but one wretched lodgment to 
 offer ; here, we can put our guests at any distance, 
 in any chamber they may choose. Tell me, then, 
 how we may contribute to your comfort." 
 
 He would not answer — smiling disdainfully, 
 regarding me as a critic might an inferior player. 
 I walked about the room, avoiding, by groping 
 blindly for them with my outstretched hands, the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 331 
 
 tables and other plenishing. Suddenly, like an 
 ingphation over the wild agony of my thoughts, 
 came the whisper : '' You are free ! why do you 
 thus court insulting pity, in that your attempted 
 disguise of stoicism is seen through? " Nearing it, 
 I groped for the door, mine eyes were open, but 
 dulled and stupefied into slowness by the mental 
 effort I was making to suppress anger and 
 anguish. 
 
 " This is very midsummer madness! " My hands 
 were taken in a strong controlling grasp. 
 " Helen, you will do yourself frightful injury by 
 this hurricane of wrath. Sit down ! " 
 
 I sat, half-stupefied, in the chair he drew 
 forward. He paced the room angrily. " This is 
 Kilmarnock's doing,'' he said at length, " but you 
 
 have learnt your lesson imperfectly, and, by ! 
 
 you shall unlearn it before you leave this 
 room ! " 
 
 To this I made no answer : that room, any 
 room was to me but as a dungeon — light, life, 
 love shut out; the dull and stifling breath of 
 despair, of hopelessness to be breathed for all 
 time. What in all the world had I to trust to? — 
 in that stifling silence even mercy's voice seemed 
 to be stilled ! None could feel for me. In the 
 wide world, was not one sin or woe so black or 
 so deep as mine ! It held and suffocated me.
 
 332 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Into this serene amber hell, lit up by its wax- 
 lights, scented, silken, pleasing to all the senses, 
 peopled by torturers, by the demons of lost love, 
 lost faith, came a rough presence, breaking up 
 a misery that was suffocating : — It was the 
 mastiff Beech, who, pushing open the door, came 
 rough and sympathetic straight to me, putting, 
 unrepulsed and unafraid, his great tawny head 
 on my silken lap, and looking up with brown 
 bloodshot eyes pityingly in my face. 
 
 " Oh, my dear ! " I said, with a half-exultant 
 sob, like one who meets a friend, in a desert 
 land, " you have not forgotten me ! " I put my 
 hands on the thick heavy head caressingly, the 
 extreme tension of misery lightened by this touch 
 of a true friend "You remember Beech?" I 
 looked up at Stuart, who was standing by the 
 opposite side of the hearth. 
 
 "Yes, I remember him," said he in some 
 amaze. 
 
 Beech, at sound of his voice, turned his 
 sullen eyes on him for an instant, but gave him 
 no sign of friendship or recognition, returning 
 to his rapt gaze at me. I had been so long 
 his friend — soothed so often his hurt feelings at 
 his master's cruelty, understood so well that his 
 sullen fidelity was more than any canine pro- 
 testation could convey — that Beech expected
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 333 
 
 his love and affection to be taken upon 
 trust. 
 
 Craig came in presently with his collar. " He's 
 no to be roamin about," said Craig, " Milord 
 left orders till that. Sae, if yer leddyship's dune 
 wi' him, I'll tak' him oot. I've been after him 
 this hoor, indoors an' oot." 
 
 *' Go with Craig, dear friend," said I coaxingly. 
 No, he would not ; his haven found, Beech was 
 not inclined to implicit obedience to his master's 
 commands or wishes. 
 
 " Go ! " I repeated, trying to lift his heavy 
 head. Beech saw I was not bent on succeedinof, 
 and growled. 
 
 " Go ! " said Stuart, in a tone of such concen- 
 trated fury that, accustomed to associate such 
 with a fast following of kicks, the poor ill-used 
 brute rose resignedly and followed Craig from the 
 room. 
 
 " I am used worse than a dog ! " Stuart was 
 in a whirlwind of passion. "To me you cannot 
 give a kind word, a kind look. You come down 
 with prepared and deliberate cruelty — and, act 
 it as badly as you may, the reality is in your eyes, 
 in your heart ; you have prepared a scheme of 
 renunciation against our meeting which shall 
 ensure your own safety ; my misery, my love, you 
 trample on, only eager for the wretched goal
 
 334 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 safety for your ill-got honours, your ill-won posi- 
 tion, your cruel imposture on Sir Burleigh ! How 
 dared you, being my mistress, sell yourself into 
 this legal slavery to him, knowing as you did, 
 that where I would have challenged any other 
 man, to him my hands are tied. It is the most 
 iniquitous, devilish plot that ever entered into 
 the human mind. To pit one against the other, 
 my old friendship for him you knew would 
 restrain my claiming you from him. My God ! 
 what shall I do ? I cannot give you up, nor will 
 not." 
 
 " I," said I, rising, " have given you up — not, as 
 you accuse me, for wealth, for position. I could 
 have been content in a cave, in the meanest 
 garret, so it ensured love or kindness from 
 you ; but you went without a word, you left me 
 gladly — ^jesting, doubtless, over your easy country 
 conquest, laughing at the credulity, the vanity of 
 this — this — this fool^ who had said in her heart : 
 ' He loves me ! ' You went coldly, carelessly, 
 indifferently, nor chose by a word to lighten 
 the agony you knew yourself inflicting. 
 
 " An agony now past, I am happy with Sir 
 Burleigh ; and the slight and temporary pique at 
 losing your broken, unvalued toy, you must put 
 up with, for your own sake. This is plain- 
 speaking. For the future, for all time, I am to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 335 
 
 you Lady Clifford, the wife of your oldest friend ; 
 and your honour is concerned to remember 
 this." 
 
 " Not so ! " said he. " My prior claim was 
 unknown. I will now publish it. You, devil 
 that you are, shall not succeed in so evading it ! 
 My honour is concerned for my friend — he shall 
 not suffer ! " 
 
 " Do as you will," said I, " you will find both 
 threats and entreaties' vain ; and a parting 
 with Sir Burleigh will at least spare me from 
 ever again meeting you.'^ 
 
 I paused on my way to the door and looked 
 back : — mentally it was a farewell ! I should be 
 banished deservedly ; I would exile myself, spar- 
 ing, so far as I could, the pain to Sir Burleigh of 
 pronouncing sentence. They might settle the 
 degree of my guilt at their pleasure : neither 
 could blame the other. I would go, the scape- 
 goat, into the world's wilderness. A hard 
 intolerable anguish, defiance, possessed me. 
 My eyes burned and flamed with fierce wrath, 
 which, seeking in vain for an object, fell on to 
 and scorched my very soul, like the scorpion in 
 its fire-ring, the stings of conscience, of 
 honour, awoke to strike to my heart. 
 
 Stuart came forward and, barring my way to 
 the door, fell on his knees, holding my hand.
 
 336 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 "Leave me outward respect," said I, "this 
 trouvere business, this kneeling on a soft rug is 
 but un conte amoureux, the stage-finish to your 
 slight unpitying love ! " 
 
 " Helen, forgive me ! Be reasonable/* 
 
 " I have forgiven you. I have nothing to for- 
 give." 
 
 " Helen, I was a ruffian ! " 
 
 " That is no matter, sir, I am used to threats." 
 
 " And a villain ! " 
 
 " Do not confess to me ! Ah, God ! if the lake 
 will only listen to me, it will hear worse than 
 that ; then it can avenge itself. The black water 
 looks cruel, I shudder at it ; but ^twill not last 
 long. Do not bar my way, I am not afraid to 
 die ; tell Sir Burleigh he is free of me, and I am 
 free of life — of misery ! " 
 
 With that, the yellow hangings, the chairs, 
 the steel mirrors seemed to swim past, dissolving 
 into one dark infinite nothingness. I knew no 
 more save that, recovering for a minute, I passed 
 from unconsciousness to sleep, and some hours 
 passed. Janet had been summoned, and was 
 with me. At length, opening my eyes, strained 
 and aching, they fell on the dull light of a 
 single candle held by Janet, who was regarding 
 me from a distance. 
 
 " I pit oot the lave of them," — she indicated
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 337 
 
 the girandoles — " for ye were best quiet and 
 in the cool o' the night. Sir Burleigh wad be 
 here, but he's fou; and the ither man-folk are 
 gane to rest. 'Tis the heat o' the weather 
 affects ye." 
 
 " I am cold ! " I say, shivering. " Is it late ? " 
 
 " Twel' by clock ! " said Janet sleepily — yawn- 
 ing. 
 
 " Then get to bed Janet, I am sleepy, and, if 
 you can cover me up, will remain here." 
 
 Janet, nothing loth, after folding a blanket 
 round me, left me in the large soft causeuse with 
 a cushion for my feet to rest on. The door 
 closing behind her, I awoke, with a weary moan, 
 fully to the misery of my position. It was the 
 dark and solemn hour of midnight — when, by 
 common consent of all mankind, spirits of good, 
 of ill are said to be released to wander on the 
 earth on various missions. No good spirit 
 would come near me ! Over the starlit summer- 
 beauty of the park, in the dark deep shade of 
 the massed trees, might be fellest shades at work 
 devising ill ! I was not superstitious, yet the 
 hour, the silence, the surroundings unfamiliar to 
 sleep, exerted a weird awakening influence ; 
 the flickering glimmer of the candle falling on 
 the sheen of the amber silk — yellow on yellow — 
 dazzled my eyes. I wished Janet had seen and
 
 338 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 shut that distant window — the midnight breezes 
 came through it like bodily presences, boldly as 
 though exerting their undoubted right ; perhaps 
 they were spirits invisible ! 
 
 So Sir Burleigh was, as Janet expressed it, 
 fou — taken too much port in the heat of argu- 
 ment, or excitement of cards. Well, Craig 
 would attend to him, loosen his clothes, raise 
 his head, and he would on the morrow ride 
 double distance to avert gout, and, returning, 
 
 confess to me, and d n number six bin as 
 
 the cause and the temptation. Number six 
 bin, I reflected, is the tawny beeswing-port: 
 for a man without a strong head to take it 
 were madness ; for a man with a strong head, 
 it meant gout and present intoxication. Sir 
 Burleigh ought to be used to it — but had 
 doubtless forgotten its potency for a minute, 
 which was but rarely the case with him. From 
 considering number six bin, I went back, as 
 the curtains waved mysteriously, to the star- 
 light and the spirits — black spirits and white ! 
 I thought of Ariel in his cleft tree — of Sycorax 
 
 — of Caliban Ha! what huge shapeless 
 
 monster is that — that — emerging slowly from 
 beneath a neighbouring sofa, tangled in its 
 fringes, disguised in them ? In deepest shadow 
 and through the opposing window, enters
 
 A STATESMAISrS LOVE. 339 
 
 another — light, swift — a grey spirit ! 1 must 
 
 be dreaming! Oh, God! protect me ! They ap- 
 proach ! I am frozen with an unnatural fear — 
 my blood stagnates, my pulses cease to beat, 
 my eyes strain upon the spectres. Fear of 
 death, you are indeed terrific ! Is it the sight 
 of death in bodily presence that blanches the 
 cheeks of the dying? What is this death? A 
 minute more, and I had been dead of fear! — 
 as it was, when Beech advanced, growling and 
 showing his teeth from his curled-back lip, 
 the return of life, of reason, brought another 
 agonizing but more material dread ! Was he 
 mad ? Did midnight see him change mehr 
 wolf-fashion to some demoniacal shape? He 
 still advanced — still growling so low, so terrible 
 a sound in the stillness as to be truly super- 
 natural. 
 
 "It is I, Helen ! " Stuart came forward into 
 the light. Beech faced him hostilely, his white 
 fangs showing grimly to their roots. " Send 
 that brute away ! " said he, in his quick petulant 
 voice, which at once dissolved all midnight 
 apparitions and brought life and its evils 
 back. 
 
 " Come here. Beech ! " said I faintly, fearing 
 he would spring on this trespasser. 
 
 Beech backed to my chair, and sat bolt up- 
 z — 2
 
 340 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 right beside it — not for a moment ceasing his 
 guard on Stuart, whose hand was on his sword. 
 
 " Send him away, I say ! " said he angrily. 
 " Am I to be torn to pieces by this vicious 
 brute 1" 
 
 " He will not touch you," said I, " so long as 
 you stay away from me ! He is on guard, 
 don't you see] He always guards me thus, 
 when I am alone." 
 
 " You need no guard when I am here, nor 
 will I be threatened with that mongrel." He 
 drew his sword with a flash. Beech sprang back 
 — and, pursued by him, retreated, springing 
 through the open window on to the terrace. 
 
 " I will never trust Beech again ! " said I, 
 bitterly resenting his cowardice. 
 
 " Trust him ! " said he. " Why not % Do you 
 take the dog for a fool ? He recognises me as 
 your best guard, otherwise I should now be in 
 sorry plight from those fine teeth of his." 
 
 " Why are you here ? " said he, returning. " I 
 called Janet to you some hours ago, and left you 
 with her watching over you. You are w^ell 'tended, 
 it would seem, when ill, in this gaunt old house ! 
 Some uneasy consciousness of this neglect kept 
 me wakeful. I w^as on the terrace, smoking, with 
 Kilmarnock till late ; when he retired I saw, to 
 my surprise, a light burning here, and came in
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 341 
 
 through the window. Forgive me! I could 
 not guess it was you here — it might have been a 
 robber. Sir Burleigh is drunk — or, as we say 
 in Scotland, fou ; he and Lovat defied the port 
 with bad effect." 
 
 He seated himself beside me, and took my 
 hand. " Helen," said he, " what is the use 
 of this quarrelling — of these heroics? You 
 have only succeeded in half-killing yourself. 
 I am none the worse, excepting the pain it 
 is to me to see you suffer. You must know 
 my claim to you to be inalienable. I am ready 
 to go to Sir Burleigh and say so with a clear 
 conscience, and maintain it with my sword. 
 A monstrous assertion, moralists would say, on 
 the face of it ; yet, if one reflected, a just one, 
 granted you were mine — as you were. How 
 can Sir Burleigh or any other claim you without 
 my leave? It is monstrous and unnatural! 
 We cannot live thus ! nor will I live without 
 you ! I do not ask you to choose between us — 
 you have no right of choice ! nor would I abide 
 an adverse decision ! I ask : Will you come 
 away with me quietly, or shall I challenge Sir 
 Burleigh? It would be, of course, inconvenient 
 to do so, but that I suppose must be. To 
 him 'twould seem like ingratitude or treason, 
 for he is unlikely to reason on it, or reflect
 
 342 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 that he is the unconscious traitor. As for the 
 Manor, or any material loss, that shall be made 
 up to you — in settlements as secure as ever 
 a Clifford planned ! You cannot mean to leave 
 hie — cannot, Helen?" 
 
 This, the terrible questioning of eyes, of 
 tongue, of trembling hands clasping mine in 
 an agony of apprehension. 
 
 " You cannot — 'tv^ould be a death-warrant ! 
 Could you but realise my suffering since I 
 came ! — came to this scene — our first meeting ! 
 Give me some hope ! Why should my heart 
 be broke to save Sir Burleigh a transient pain? 
 We can go from hence — he cannot but pardon 
 two wretched lovers, whom, unwittingly, he 
 stands between ! He will forgive in time, 
 since 'twas but a girl's foolish fear urged her 
 to consent to his protection! — a frightened, 
 soft bird flying to the first friendly hand! 
 W^hat has he to forgive, when all shall be 
 told him? — that he has found a diamond 
 belonging to another, and must restore it ! 
 This, I shall tell him," he said resolutely. " 'Tis 
 but by chance I am here. Yet I must speak, 
 or my heart break ! 'Twas to escape Kilmarnock 
 I came in — he haunts me with ineffectual 
 remonstrance. How can he tell my sufferings?" 
 
 This I did not entirely disbelieve. Roaming
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 343 
 
 about restlessly, it might happen that he entered 
 by chance, seeing an open window, a lighted 
 room; but of what import were such trifles? 
 I scarce listened or attended to his excuse, 
 wondering how it chanced that I listened to 
 him at all. To accusation ! To his self-justify- 
 ing ! To this haughty assumption that through- 
 out he had been infallible! I, the one to 
 blame! That now he was the judge, I the 
 criminal ! 
 
 Wavering and flickering in the light draught 
 from the open window, the light from the 
 candle showed his face. No repentance was 
 there — every lineament expressed only a sense of 
 wrong, a sullen air of injury. " What have I 
 done to you ? " I asked, moved by this reading 
 of his face to the UTelevancy of the question. 
 
 " Ah, nothing ! — nothing ! " said he. " Only 
 wrecked my life ! Wrung my heart ! That, a 
 woman with but half your beauty might have 
 done ! But here comes in your wit to aid you ! 
 Any executioner can kill! It is not all who 
 can inflict subtle torture ! — who can pit friend 
 against friend! — who can trample in the dust 
 the honour of the man who loves her ! — for her 
 sport, for caprice — from cruelty ! " 
 
 " I am not wilful-cruel ! " I said with a moan, 
 turning my face from this accusing spirit, whose
 
 344 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 pain hurt me. "I was wrong to rail at you, to 
 accuse you ! God knows that separation alone 
 will be bitter enough ! — is bitter — without harsh 
 words or anger! I do not excuse myself, to 
 accuse you. I — I — try to be just. It was my 
 folly — my guilt ! You will now see that ! You 
 will forgive me ! Leave me the future ! — that, in 
 it, I may expiate, so far as I can, the past ! Leave 
 Sir Burleigh his faith in you undimmed, his 
 hopes for you unclouded ! " 
 
 " That," said he, " is very well, but means an 
 utter impossibility, if, as I gather, it conveys : 
 ' Leave us alone ! We can settle down comfort- 
 ably enough ! My art is sufficient to ensure 
 peace ! ' For yourself, possibly ; but, Helen, if 
 you imagine for one moment that, because I 
 speak temperately, I am not resolute, fixed in 
 my determination to claim you, you know little 
 indeed of me. You are mine, only mine! 
 These long soft hands, sweet lips ! Helen, you 
 could not banish me ! Sweet, give up your 
 grievance against me! It only hurts yourself! 
 My conscience is clear ! I have done no wrong ! 
 nor will be treated as a criminal because, in 
 spite of me, you chose to marry Sir Burleigh. 
 That is not my fault, it is your own crime — even 
 for that I can almost forgive you. Oh, my dear, 
 what sort of wretched creature was that Casimir
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. ' 345 
 
 of yours, who folded his weak hands, bowed his 
 humble head, and gave up the love of his life, at 
 a word, to another 1 Assure you, I don't know 
 him. Say, sweet, did you not invent some such 
 umbra and give my name to if? You were 
 lonely ! You thought — what? That I had gone 
 away for ever — deserted you. I wish desertion 
 were as easy as you imagine. I would give ten 
 years of my life, now, to be able to leave you. 
 It is impossible ! I have suffered enough through 
 this madness of yours ! But for this wickedness 
 you might now be in Scotland, my wife. Ay, 
 mine ! Is my word nothing worth? Ah, Helen! 
 this is indeed cruelly hard on me. Would to 
 Heaven Sir Burleigh were dead ! I could not 
 cross swords with him — he is loyal and true- 
 hearted, and I cannot nor will not give up you 
 for ten thousand friends. You cannot choose 
 between us : you have no right of choice, you 
 are mine 1 Woman, if you disowned me for no 
 wrong, only that my love for you was constant, 
 you could, after, but class yourself with demons 
 who lure, who tempt, and who destroy ! Should 
 I survive, 'twould be with a ruined life, a broken 
 heart. If you have ceased to love me, tell me 
 so now, here ! — have so much mercy on me that 
 my misery may be for a while hid in darkness." 
 He ceased speaking. A solemn hush fell on
 
 346 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 all things, the fitful summer-airs from the night 
 outside ceased. The wax-light, unmolested by 
 them, burned straight, distinct. In its light 
 Stuart stood, his face colourless, immovable. 
 He had appealed, nor would not influence the 
 answer. Only in his eyes, which were darkened 
 by pain and dread, could any emotion be dis- 
 cerned. What I then spoke, must be for all 
 time — as the stroke of an axe severing at once 
 life and love. I could not ! all the guilt, all the 
 wrong, rushed upon me. I tried to frame, " I 
 have ceased to love you ! " My voice died away, 
 returning with the bitter truth in its tremulous 
 tones : " I love you ! Oh, Casimir, I cannot help 
 it ! I love you ! " 
 
 Illimitable happiness held me next day. Earth 
 looked beautiful, heaven benign. The blue 
 arch of the sky, the warm and fragrant air, the 
 wide expanse and sylvan loveliness of the park, 
 the oak-glades through whose thick-leaved 
 branches stray sunbeams fell — all seemed part of 
 a felicity not of earth. I walked in the park, 
 avoiding Casimir — yet every thought of him and 
 with him. In Love's musings are no material 
 obstacles. As, in fairyland, a wand waved will 
 cause solid fabrics to crumble, so thought of 
 Casimir caused me to forget Sir Burleigh. This 
 joy — this exultation will be credible only to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 347 
 
 those who have loved and suiFered. He yet 
 loved me — loved me ! Ah, how cruelly had I 
 misjudged him — how harshly acted towards him 
 — how traitorously renounced him ! What 
 amends — what reparation, cried Love, can you 
 make, that will condone your crime? What 
 amends for the unjust torture you have inflicted ? 
 Then came harsh reason, the executioner of 
 phantasy, spreading a pall over the blue of the 
 sky, the glory of the summer-day, dragging me 
 from fahyland to grim reality, 
 
 "What are you doing here, my dear? " 
 
 'Twas Sir Burleigh on his morning ride, crash- 
 ing through the tall ferns to come to me — Sir 
 Burleigh ! I shivered as at a douche of icy water. 
 Sir Burleigh, in the soft shades of fairyland ! 
 
 " Go away ! " said I, involuntarily spreading 
 out hands of rejection, the whole scene darkening 
 to me as though physically. 
 
 " I am sorry 1 " said he moodily, dismounting, 
 " but, Nell, it shall not happen again ! My dear, 
 you must forgive me ; I have been seeking you. 
 Do not avoid me, sweet ! " 
 
 " Oh ! " said I, with heart-breaking sighs, as 
 slowly the whole vision faded and vanished, 
 " Why did you come ? Am I never to be happy 
 again? — always — all my life to be in this dark- 
 ness ! Oh, my God ! it is too cruel ! "
 
 348 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " You take it too much to heart," said he, 
 throwing the cob's reins over a low-hanging 
 oak-bough; and, standing in penitence before 
 me : " Come, my sweet rose, forgive me this 
 time ! 'Twas Lovat's fault, truly ! " 
 
 " What was ? " said I dully — anguish invading 
 my heart as the last bright glimpse of love's 
 vision faded. 
 
 The ferny brae, the long vista of the oak- 
 boughs, the dewy scented turf, warm air, and 
 summer sheen, all vanished ; dull reality closed 
 round me prison-like — a purgatory from which 
 was no escape, which no prayers would lessen, 
 no tears lighten. " Come ! " said he impatiently. 
 " Was not you so dainty a dame, you would not 
 be grieved at this. 'Tis not often number six 
 bin and I fall out. As I say, 'twas Lovat, who 
 would toast our friends in Scotland and over the 
 water. Nor, my dear, need you deny forgiveness." 
 
 « 1 1 " I drew back in awakening horror, 
 
 realities coming back to me from his earnest 
 and grieved glance. 
 
 "Helen," he continued half-pleadingly, "I 
 can well understand that to you 'twas most 
 repellent. My dear, I would willingly make 
 you happy ; and to see you shrink from me is 
 penance enough for a worse fault ! '' 
 
 " Oh ! " said I with a shudder of remembrance,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 349 
 
 thinking less of the lost glamour so late present 
 with me, than of its wrong to him. " Do not 
 excuse it to me, I am too unhappy to listen ! " 
 
 "By ! "said he, " you are the proudest and 
 
 most haughty woman I have ever met ! I defy 
 Casimir, with his Court dames, to point out one 
 who exacts the deference you do. From your 
 own husband, madam, submission might be more 
 kindly met. Must I to my knees and beg 
 your pardon ? " 
 
 " No," said I miserably, as he took my hands. 
 " Why do you beg pardon of so wicked a wretch 
 as I ] Why did you come ] I was happy — now 
 all is dark ! " 
 
 " But I swear you shall not complain of me 
 again ! ^' said he with anxious penitence. " Come, 
 my darling, say you are not yet angry." 
 
 " If I am angry, 'tis with myself, sir. What 
 is this sin you so confess to a worse sinner? 
 What is there in the whole world I would not 
 forgive to you — was you and Lovat to drink 
 the cellar dry?" 
 
 " I tell you 'twill not be repeated : why do you 
 harp on it ? " said he half-angrily. 
 
 By this I could scarce forbear a smile, which 
 taking for a free pardon caused him infinite con- 
 tent, and as much expressed gratitude as wrung 
 my heart to think how little 'twas deserved.
 
 350 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 Presently he remounted, and I walked beside the 
 cob, listening absently to the penitential exe- 
 gesis of his last night's excess, which, no doubt 
 truly, he ascribed to Lovat. By degrees the 
 image of Casimir was replaced by that of the 
 faithful and true friend beside me, and, as we 
 paced soberly along in the bright morning, 
 the sweet pernicious dreams faded farther 
 away — dissolved, were half-forgot. Could I 
 hurt or injure Sir Burleigh, whose only fault 
 was loving one unworthy % 
 
 " My dear," said he presently, " I will not 
 suffer you to walk farther, nor become tired and 
 worn-out ; see that you rest on your return. For 
 me, I must ride double distance or suffer gout. 
 I am glad you have forgiven me, Helen ! " 
 
 He rode on. I retraced my way, a dull com- 
 fused pain in my eyes, a noise as of rushing 
 water in my ears. What had I to forgive — I 
 who had not even seen him " fou," yet to whom 
 his first penitent thoughts turned ? I wandered 
 homeward, all happiness gone, as it seemed, from 
 my whole life. On my way I met Lord Kilmar- 
 nock, out for a morning stroll, and bowed dis- 
 tantly to him, unable to endure the converse 
 of any creature. 
 
 He looked somewhat surprised. 
 
 " He is," thought I bitterly, "used to good
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 351 
 
 and gracious women ; a dark and wicked life 
 like mine is without his experience." A sob 
 broke from my lips as I hurried on, but my best 
 speed was but slow — the conflict of pain and 
 passion tired me. Soon I was within the Hall, 
 and sat down to rest on the wide staircase. 
 
 Presently a light rapid step approached, com- 
 ing from above : 'twas Casimir. 
 
 " Ah ! " said he reproachfully, sitting beside 
 me, *' so here at last you are to be found ! Was 
 it well done to avoid me these long hours? " 
 
 " Sir," said I, " I am willing to avoid you 
 altogether. Casimir, this contention will kill 
 me ! For you, who owe no duty, break no faith, 
 'tis easy, this taking up a lost love — to me it is 
 pain and agony. I have just seen Sir Burleigh." 
 
 " I will die," said he angrily, " ere that drunken 
 squire shall stand between us ! Let port console 
 him, or claret ! what has he to do with love ? 
 Helen, you are not wretched hypocrite enough to 
 profess you love him more than me? Duty! 
 I will leave you — I will not be tortured. By 
 
 ! you have no squireen to deal with, madam! " 
 
 He rose in sudden wrath, and ere I could speak 
 had gained the door of the Hall, and from my 
 vantage-ground I saw him walk with angry 
 rapid steps into the park. A bitter and chilling 
 sense of loss and desolation stole over me
 
 352 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 mth his absence. Could he not endure one 
 minute's pain, disappointment, yet calmly doom 
 me to the torture of treachery to Sir Burleigh, 
 my only and constant friend ? A sense of bitter- 
 ness came to me, of comparison between his harsh 
 and hasty judgment and Sir Burleigh's tender 
 patience. Had I pursued this train of thought, 
 the newly-fanned embers of nigh-extinguished 
 love might have waned nearer to annihilation ; 
 but that slender chance was denied me. He 
 came back, half-repentant, half-angry, and, sitting 
 beside me, soon conjured away vexation and 
 bitterness. 
 
 So sweet was his converse, that the dreams 
 came back which had haunted me in the oak- 
 glade. I told him of the meeting with Sir 
 Burleigh — and, with tears, of his goodness to me. 
 
 " Were it not better," said I, miserably, " to 
 leave him % " 
 
 " Yes," said he, " I design you shall, but not 
 yet ! " 
 
 " Oh, you wicked and worthless wretch J 
 You who sit here! Would to God I could 
 help this love for you ! " 
 
 " You nor no woman on the earth is worth 
 to me the friendship of Sir Burleigh. Yet, 
 to win you from him, was there no other way, 
 I would lay him dead at my feet ! "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 353 
 
 Thus in disquiet — in alternate reproach and 
 tenderness, affection and avoidance — passion 
 hovered ever nearer, remorse waxed fainter. 
 Like a sleeper soothed by the fanning wings 
 of a vampire-bat, conscience was lulled to a 
 complete surrender. On an occasion of quarrel 
 arising, Stuart manifested so much coldness and 
 avoidance, that I was straitly and sternly ques- 
 tioned by Sir Burleigh as to its cause. 
 
 " Eemember, madam," said he, " that cere- 
 mony needs not to exclude welcome ; and 
 in desiring you to use distance and courtesy, 
 cordiality as to an honoured guest was not 
 forbid." 
 
 " Would to God he was gone ! " thought I 
 from my heart, agonized beyond expression, yet 
 hastily promising to use all these divers means, 
 so content he laid the moods of this unquiet 
 spirit on the uncertainty of his affairs — the 
 harassment of his fortunes. And I toiled on 
 unaided, and unpitied — as was my desert. 
 
 " He is wicked," I said once bitterly, hear- 
 ing of so many perfections in this idol, that I 
 could no longer listen peaceably to his pane- 
 gyrist. 
 
 "What do you meanr* said Sir Burleigh. "I saw 
 you talking to Sergius, who doubtless warned 
 you against him. For Sergius hath a roll-call 
 
 A A
 
 354 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 of his French conquests — but that is beside the 
 question — the lad is, as are others, in France, 
 neither better nor worse, and Kilmarnock might 
 employ his leisure better than by repeating stories 
 to you : 'tis enough you are a Clifford, and I his 
 friend. 'Wicked' is but theologic jargon. 
 Casimir is a man of honour, which is more to 
 purpose — nor need Sergius' spectral stories scare 
 you from your loyalty and friendship." He 
 spoke austerely, as displeased with the imagined 
 commentary on Stuart, which he after called on 
 to account for every cold word or negligent act 
 towards him. Every day but increased this 
 idolatry of Sir Burleigh, let Stuart be as moody 
 as he might, and conscience and honour at times 
 pinched him. Anxiety at the state of parties in 
 Parliament, the lack of Jacobite favourers in 
 office, Kilmarnock's hardness to him — all were 
 arraigned as the cause, and I bidden to be more 
 cordial in assuring him at least of a warm and 
 respectful welcome at the house of one faithful 
 adherent. 
 
 This, so ably seconded by my own feelings, 
 caused me at times so severe remorse that, in 
 despair, I once begged Sir Burleigh to let me 
 go for quiet and rest to the Farm. 
 
 " No ! " said he, '' none here but would miss 
 you. The very sunshine would be gone, was
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 355 
 
 you away; even Lovat would say so. And, my 
 dear, you look happier of late. 'Tis the 
 interest, the excitement of so grand a move- 
 ment! Was you not a Jacobite now, with 
 him near, you would be but stone or wood. 
 I have known a whole clan become loyal at 
 sight of him. I do not regard mere words or 
 whims, for all his race are, on the surface, 
 whimsical as women, but with the minds and 
 hearts of heroes and kings. So it is with him. 
 A stranger might misjudge him. His friends 
 know him for tried gold. Therefore, I am the 
 more surprised at your harshness and coldness 
 to him — you, who have so keen a wit, not to 
 see below these surface-faults, caused by 
 pressure of anxious care, the tenth of which 
 would weigh any other to the very dust." 
 
 "Why do you blame me?" broke from my 
 trembling lips. " You should bid me avoid 
 him." 
 
 " Yes ! " said he, " in that Sergius hath 
 possessed you with an ill report of him ! and 
 you know not the world enough, to know how 
 men of honour act by each other. As a Clifford 
 you are sacred to him, and, was you a saint in 
 heaven, you could not be safer than as my wife, 
 the wife of his oldest and chiefest friend. You 
 forget, besides, that he sees beauties every day at 
 
 A A 2
 
 356 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Court, and likely thinks you but a wilding rose, 
 though I would not exchange you, Sweet ! for a 
 Eoyal Court full of Beauties ! " 
 
 " Oh, my dear ! " sobbed I, when he had gone, 
 *' why do you — you, counsel me to destruction 
 relying on the hollow reed, honour?" 
 
 The lovely harvest- weather went on ; within 
 as without the Hall, could be no discontents 
 with the glory of so golden sunshine — the 
 warmth and fragrance of so picture-like a 
 summer. Day by day we drifted to nearer 
 companionship — hour by hour it grew harder 
 even to feign an indifference to each other. 
 True, we kept up the ceremonial letter of 
 distance — the courtly bow, the reverential 
 courtesy at meeting or parting, the fine phrases 
 for other ears — an hypocrisy necessary; yet 
 scarce an hypocrisy, since 'twas, with him, 
 but matter of manner, and not of calculation. 
 
 Eemorse was waning — perchance to revive 
 at no distant date, yet now giving but infrequent 
 and flying visits, to be dispelled by love's 
 eristic reasons. 
 
 One glorious golden day we were in the 
 park — the very air still with heat and fragrance. 
 I had a plucked handful of purple thyme in 
 my hand, holding its warm blossoms to my 
 face. It was afternoon. The rest were dis-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 357 
 
 persecl hither and thither. I inquired where 
 was Kilmarnock. 
 
 " Oh ! " said Stuart, " he has been daggers- 
 drawn with me ever since our reconcilement. 
 He could bear to see you miserable, and me 
 on the rack, but he is an Augustine rolled in 
 snow — or so flatters himself. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, he strikes me more as a Curtius, willing 
 to throw himself into any gulf of division that 
 may again chance between us. Why do you 
 ask for him so anxiously 1 " 
 
 " For no special reason." 
 
 " You think him handsome ! " said he, with 
 what I thought a little pretence of jealousy,, 
 yet with a lowering brow. 
 
 " He is so,'' said I indifferently. 
 
 " For my life, I cannot see it ! He has a 
 grave philosophic air ; but beware philosophers, 
 if all are like Sergius !" And he was willing, 
 manlike, to tell me some stories of him, to 
 which, being his friend, I would not listen. 
 " He is willing," said he indignantly, " to carry 
 statecraft into domestic policy. Last night, he 
 outstayed me on the terrace ! To day I had 
 advice to withdraw unobserved. All to stop my 
 meeting you, whom he constantly counsels me 
 to avoid, for your sake." 
 
 '• Good counsel, sir ! why do you not profit by itl"'
 
 358 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 "I will in a score of years, sweet! How 
 delightful to be now alone ! 
 
 ' Crabbed age and youth 
 
 Cannot live together : 
 Youth like summer-shine, 
 
 Age like wintry weather.' " 
 
 " We have two Rubens, entitled ' Youth and 
 Age, ' " said I , " the young man in a fur cap ; 
 the other showing how he looked when old. 
 Wonderful pictures ! " 
 
 " We are wonderful pictures, Helen : you in 
 your beauty, your shining eyes and sweet perfect 
 lips ; and I in my honne-fortune in being allowed 
 your bedesman your slave." We were standing 
 on the border of the lake, over which the long 
 afternoon sun-rays fell, ourselves sheltered by a 
 huge low-growing oak whose roots were laved by 
 the little dark wavelets which crept on one after 
 another like minutes to the shores of time, hand 
 clasping hand in a rapture of silence of content 
 — when, crashing through the fern of a dell near 
 by, came Kilmarnock, who joined us with as 
 scant ceremony as though he had been welcome. 
 The little flutter of his arrival subsided. I was 
 showing him the beautiful pale blue of the 
 harebells, which grew in fairylike clusters at the 
 foot of the tall ferns near, and, on his calling 
 them purple, I took from my neck a pale silk 
 kerchief of azure.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 359 
 
 " See," said I, " allow this to be blue, so must 
 the harebells, only this is massed colour which 
 shows darker by concentrating the light on 
 it." 
 
 " You are right," said he," as ever ! " — adding : 
 " If that is your colour. Lady Clifford, let me 
 beg that kerchief — I have nothing to remind 
 me of the Manor, and we shall shortly be 
 going." 
 
 I hesitated — Stuart was some paces off, in 
 scornful vexation, dipping his foot in the 
 small ripples as they came to land. 
 
 " Take it, then ! " said I, as Kilmarnock's 
 eyes grew eager over the trifle. " It is warm 
 enough to dispense with a kerchief." 
 
 " And the flowers," said he, hardily securing 
 the silk. " Give me the flowers, too." I saw 
 Stuart look black as night. 
 
 " Milord," said he, coming forward and 
 speaking peremptorily, " LadyClifford will think 
 us a couple of coxcombs. I have been begging 
 flowers, but in vain. Let us each gather his 
 own flowers ! " 
 
 His eyes flashed as he directed an angry 
 glance at Kilmarnock, who, acknowledging 
 his speech by a slight bow, renewed his 
 petition — even more earnestly than before. 
 
 " There, then ! " said I, giving them with a
 
 36o A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 smile, "yet you will, I hope, need no such 
 slight memorials of your friends here." 
 
 " Is it for your boy's herbarium you are 
 so earnest for these weeds I " said Stuart. 
 "Lady Clifford, milord is the most devoted 
 of parents: his son. Lord Boyd, is very clever 
 — doubtless numbering botany in his muster- 
 roll of knowledge." 
 
 " Is he 1 " said I. " Oh, why have you not 
 his miniature, milord? I love clever boys. 
 Could you not lend him to us in the vaca- 
 tion?" 
 
 " Yes," said Stuart, " or, if he is not to spare, 
 lend another of the half-dozen. Now, Sergius, 
 you have come all this way for something. To 
 have your children praised will please you." 
 
 " Yes," said he, with a bitter smile. " I wish 
 Boyd were here ; his company might amuse Lady 
 Clifford — it would, at any rate, be harmless." 
 
 Stuart smiled scornfully, saying : 
 
 " There is a proper exposition of our national 
 trait — our patriarchal spirit. If we wander from 
 home, it is with a backward glance of yearning 
 to our flocks and herds, a regret that we did not 
 drive them all before us, that, on pitching our 
 tent, we should be welcome, and in congenial 
 company." 
 
 " A very proper spirit for a father,'' I sug-
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 361 
 
 gested. "Would it not be heartless to feel 
 content at leaving those we loved ? " 
 
 " Not when we can resume our feelings at the 
 point we broke off at," said Sergius, " coming 
 out, as doth a snake, in a complete new skin, 
 glistening as the one we cast." 
 
 "Hallo!" said Stuart, laughing. "You, 
 milord, are a bad teacher for a bachelor." 
 
 " Are there such men ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Sergius, steadily regarding him. 
 " But, under correction, sir, bachelor is a term 
 only used once a year in Scotland, when maids 
 choose their sweethearts on Valentine's eve." 
 
 " You are very learned in such lore ! " I 
 laughed. 
 
 "Is he not?" said Stuart. "Sergius is a 
 philosopher — nothing is beneath his study. Now, 
 it is a custom drawn from remote ages — now a 
 couple of butterflies — " 
 
 " Or a moth hovering round a consuming 
 flame," said he ; " but that is so cruel a sight 
 that, natural or not, I must rescue it.*' 
 
 " If you can," was the reply, carelessly given. 
 
 " Now, milord, having profited by your wisdom, 
 we are anxious, as disciples are ever, to set up on 
 our own account. Lady Cliflbrd, will you 
 extend your walk? We are wasting Kilmar- 
 nock's time."
 
 362 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 He touched his cap to him ; and, taking my 
 hand, walked on. 
 
 " Did ever/' said he, " man preach as Sergius 
 doth ? ' Snake and flame ! ' I would he would 
 remember in what a glass house he himself lives. 
 Women think him handsome, and, to those who 
 favour theological wooing, he must be irresist- 
 ible. Ha ! ha ! sweet little moth ! " 
 
 I did not feel mirthful at having hurt and 
 offended Sergius. In my mind I was casting 
 about for some means of reparation. He meant 
 well and kindly to me, and, though his friend- 
 ship took this protecting form, it was sincere, 
 only I was unworthy of it. The evening drew 
 on, and we returned from our walk, not allow- 
 ing too much time for preparing for dinner. 
 
 " Helen ! " said Sh Burleigh, as he washed 
 his hands, " of course, I am glad that every 
 attention should be paid to Casimir, but next 
 time he wants a stroll, unless Sergius be of the 
 party, excuse yourself from going. I do not 
 distrust him — far from it. It is just his haughty 
 unconsidering way, to select a companion who 
 pleases him for the moment. Sergius, however, 
 I am certain, thinks he is inattentive to business, 
 and it might alienate the whole of them to see 
 him trifling time away. So cast about how you 
 may, without offending him, still treating him
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 363 
 
 with every respect, avoid his company too 
 much." 
 
 "Here," thought I, "are troubled waters! 
 He will not be avoided," but I promised. 
 
 ****** 
 
 •• Kill Boe with spites, yet we must not be foes." 
 
 Thus I thought of Kilmarnock, who had of 
 late seemed sad and austre, and who was, at the 
 present, my companion in an after-dinner walk 
 on the terrace. After a while I repeated the 
 line to him, timorously. 
 
 " By heavens, no ! " said he, with so much 
 energy that I started. " Lady Clifford, if I am 
 angry 'tis not with you, nor never could be. 
 Foes ! — God forbid ! My dear, I have much to 
 render me grave. Forgive me that my manner 
 has caused you to think me unfriendly. There 
 is no one, not excepting even my own, in whom 
 I take a kinder interest, to whom I feel more 
 true regard." He took my hand and raised it 
 to his lips. " We part soon," said he, so sorrow- 
 fully that I smiled. 
 
 " Shall we, then, never meet again, milord ? " 
 
 " Nay ! " said he, " never is a long day. Lady 
 Clifford. Nor would you credit how much I 
 shall feel the parting from the Manor — from 
 you. I know not why in life we have always 
 to part with those in whom we take interest,
 
 364 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 whilst we daily meet scores for whom we care 
 not at all." His tone betrayed an emotion far 
 stronger than his words — a feeling they 
 rendered but coldly. 
 
 " Why not then care for all alike indiffer- 
 ently ?" I said, striving to remove his melancholy, 
 and, to prove that such could be the case, I 
 gave him a rose I wore, which he carefully and 
 like a beau fribble fastened in his coat, laughing 
 now and joyous. Then we fell to talking 
 politics, and he assured me he was hopefuUer 
 for the cause than he had been for a long 
 time — that the Cavalier had committed all home 
 moves to his son, " who," said he, "is, despite some 
 failings, a good soldier, and no contemptible 
 statesman." With this he stole a glance at 
 me, and I looked away for very pleasure at 
 hearing him praised ; my heart confirming a 
 thousand times what he said, and my soul 
 longing to see him crowned with laurel at once, 
 and publicly worshipped as a hero. 
 
 " Sweet musk-rose ! " said Kilmarnock, care- 
 fully addressing the rose in his coat, at which 
 I laughed, and told him I, as its suzerain and 
 sovereign, claimed tribute too. 
 
 " Ah ! " said he, " truth will prevail. I meant 
 it for you, and will add to my obliging memory 
 of your goodness — that you was not offended."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 365 
 
 " Sergius ! " I said, in amused astonishment, 
 " I had thought you not to care for flowers 
 or frippery till to-day ! " 
 
 " Then were you mistaken," said he, offended, 
 " and thought me a fool ! By ! " he con- 
 tinued, in a great passion, " I have sacrificed 
 enough for the cause not to be made a laughing- 
 stock of; and I know who does it too, and 
 
 calls me Saint Augustine, and other d able 
 
 names ! He shall take his share of the saint- 
 ship, by ! for I'll not do it all." 
 
 " Hush ! " said I earnestly, " he loves you with 
 all his heart. Cannot you forgive a little levity 
 in a younger man"? — even brothers jest, but 
 without that malice you suppose ! Oh ! " I 
 continued, " I shall indeed be unhappy 
 if you cease to be his friend, or mine. 
 What have I unhappily done to offend and dis- 
 please you \ I am unskilled in entertaining 
 men of rank, and looked only to the goodness 
 of your heart in treating you as a friend." 
 
 "That," said he sullenly, "is all beside the 
 question. You are courtesy's self, and, were it 
 otherwise, what my master is content with is too 
 good for me, but on other grounds we meet as 
 men. Nor will I be his butt, nor any man's. 
 See how he treated me to day." 
 
 " Be assured," I said, seeing his Scotch pride
 
 366 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 was hurt, though unreasonably, " that it is not 
 so — do not doubt my sincerity, nor his love for 
 you. Why do you try to make me miserable V 
 
 " I was a peevish fool," quoth he, recovering 
 his serenity. " Pardon me, I am the better for 
 your ladyship's goodness in listening to me 
 where most would have chid or laughed at so 
 groundless complaints. Do not disesteem me 
 for them, or refuse me your further friend- 
 ship.'^ 
 
 " No," said I, sighing, " count me your firm 
 friend, but, for heaven's sake, do not add trials 
 to those I already endure by dividing counsels." 
 
 " I will not," said he earnestly, upon which 
 promise we clasped hands and parted. 
 
 ****** 
 
 " A pretty scene !" said Stuart, when I told 
 him how nearly he had risked Kilmarnock's 
 affection by his jesting behaviour to him. 
 
 " I saw it, and, by ! I was coming to tell 
 
 you I'll have no roses given to Sergius or any 
 other man — nor no consolation for what I choose 
 to do. You are simpler than a child to think 
 he meant a word of it. He gulled you through- 
 out, and I'll go to his apartment before I sleep 
 to-night and ask him how he dare. Koses, 
 indeed ! I'll wager he told you you was a rose, 
 or you'd not take his part."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 367 
 
 " Sir," said I, " would you forbid the man to 
 speak the truth ? " 
 
 " D n truth !" said he, " I won't have you 
 
 spoke to at all by any of them, and Kilmarnock 
 shall account to me for his infamous conduct. 
 Ay, before he sleeps to-night. Let him keep 
 his distance, as do Lovat and the rest. Friend- 
 ship is a proper pretence. The rest are my 
 friends as well as he. Do they give you roses 
 and carry complaints of me] It is certain if 
 everybody had as little of the saint in them as 
 Sergius, they would do." 
 
 " That is it ! " said I. " Assure him he is a 
 sinner, and he will cry content ! '* 
 
 " I will not," said he in a fury. " Of all the 
 pragmatic devils and — and saints, he is the 
 worst.'' 
 
 Then, this motley character of his friend 
 making me smile, he presently consented to be 
 pacified on my undertaking to have no more 
 conference with this hybrid than courtesy 
 demanded — or than could well be avoided ; and 
 next day we all met on the same terms — but 
 that Stuart was cold to Kilmarnock, who Avas 
 ice to him, yet seemed under it to be grieved 
 and distressed at the alienation, which would, I 
 knew, be but temporary. So the pleasant sum- 
 mer-days sped on.
 
 368 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 *• What more felicity can fall to creature 
 Than to enjoy delight with liberty ? " 
 
 sang Spenser, and, though no butterfly, the 
 truth holds good of other some. 
 
 Sir Burleigh soon withdrew his prohibition 
 against Stuart. " He looks dull," said he, " he 
 is used to women's society, and you are too rigid 
 in avoiding him. Remember who he is. I will 
 have every respect paid him." So soon reversing 
 his judgment, he seemed to see no fault in 
 Stuart, who contrived this change of opinion, 
 I felt sure, by degrees claiming my society almost 
 as a right, but with such apparent coldness that 
 none could remark on it adversely as to its man- 
 ner. 
 
 In which course I was persuaded that Kil- 
 marnock was constrained to agree, through what 
 arguments I know not, and to second him either 
 from friendship or policy, finding interference 
 vain and useless. I even felt assured of one 
 thing, which was that, in his political zeal, he 
 would have off'ered as holocaust all the maids, 
 wives, and widows in the kingdom, rather than 
 risk any end of policy he wished his friend and 
 master to pursue. 
 
 At first I had thought better of Sergius, and, 
 at first, I honestly believed he deserved it, and 
 tried his best to befriend both, but divided 
 counsels were not in his line. No man so truly
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 369 
 
 saw the inutility of trying to serve two masters, 
 besides which, whatever promises Stuart made to 
 me on the matter, I am very sure he must have 
 bitterly reproached his fiiend for his interference, 
 which from that very time slacked perceptibly to 
 me ; but seemed outwardly the same to the rest, 
 which, as I before said, was but policy in him. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, I would, unaware, catch 
 his eyes fixed upon me with a grieved aspect, as 
 though he would fain take up with admonition 
 again in spite of its distresses to himself. Then 
 I would take up with Lovat, who had no sort of 
 scruples at all about anything, and was wrinkled 
 and amusing to the last degree, and told me 
 stories of the Courts, both of the King de jure 
 and him. de facto ^ in both of which he seemed 
 to have friends and correspondents, and in one 
 of which he assumed I should presently, with 
 Sir Burleigh, take a high place. 
 
 So gracefully did he contrive to insinuate that 
 both he and others noted their master's friend- 
 ship for us, that I almost doubted his observing 
 any particularity in it ; perhaps he did not, but 
 set it all down to Stuart's natural impetuosity, 
 and my art in leading him on in Sir Burleigh's 
 interest. However this may be, he was a mighty 
 favourite with my husband, whom he engaged 
 both in politics, wine, and cards, to rather a 
 
 B B
 
 370 'A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 greater degree than I liked, as he was but rarely 
 away from him. 
 
 Never king had a better set of courtiers 
 than those assembled on our Manor, nor was 
 less regardful of them, and more bent on his own 
 will and pleasure. He, I am convinced, watched 
 me as keenly when with Lovat as formerly with 
 Sergius, and grew day by day more exact and 
 unreasonable. Yet was his diskindness, in their 
 regard, sweet — for it evidenced the present in- 
 tensity of his love, of which now neither doubt 
 nor fear possessed me. 
 
 Ah ! those happy days when we do not fear the 
 devil, but take the sweet gifts he offers with 
 both hands, and think the fairy gold will last for 
 aye and ever ! So it was then : all seemed sweet, 
 calm, and peaceful as the rapids above the 
 torrent's fall, when the still glassy water lulls us 
 on its bosom, nearly to sleep, with its smoothness 
 and gliding, and we think cataracts have been 
 slandered in their qualities, and torrents libelled 
 in their nature. 
 
 Now the last of their many days' stay drew 
 near, and consultations, plans, and projects more 
 frequently took Stuart from me perforce, for 
 freely as each would talk with me of all that 
 passed, it was not ^to be expected I should be 
 one of their meeting.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 371 
 
 One morning lingering in the picture-gallery, 
 hearing the distant hum of voices from the study 
 and thinking them all repaired thither, I was 
 surprised by Kilmarnock's entrance, with his hat 
 on, his face flushed, and an angry glitter in his 
 eyes. 
 
 " Go down," said he, with an oath, " and stop 
 those fools from suicide : they are for persuading 
 Sir Burleigh to swear all his tenants to Jacob- 
 itism now, in this county, and, after dallying in 
 the sunshine, wish to conjure a storm from a 
 clear sky — you can guess how much chance 
 there is- of fish without bait, ay, and plenty of it, 
 and men don't run their lives on to Government 
 pikes without strong persuasion and good reason 
 rendered." 
 
 " They are not really for it," said I, alarmed, 
 knowing how little popular the Cliffords were, 
 and how much their local prestige required 
 material aid to help it out, in which case only 
 would it count as a powerful factor. 
 
 " Do you argue with me \ " he said harshly, 
 " are you content to be beggared for him, without, 
 
 by ! doing him any good in return ? And 
 
 what of your husband, madam — the best though 
 perhaps the blindest in the world ? " 
 
 " Sir," I said, " his blindness is not total, and 
 I will take no insulting words from you." 
 
 BB — 2
 
 372 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Beseech you," said he frantically, " go, and 
 stop this midsummer madness — ere it end in 
 ruin for us all." 
 
 " Stay here," said I, " and doubt not I will 
 break up their counsels though Jove were there 
 himself." 
 
 In effect I sent Janet to tell Sir Burleigh I 
 was ill, and he came as swiftly to the drawing- 
 room, and with more discomposure than the lie 
 warranted, or I as its object deserved. 
 
 *' It is but a small matter," I said as he took 
 my hand, " and did not, I trust, break in on any 
 serious business." 
 
 "Had it done so," he replied, " you are my 
 first care." 
 
 " Then," said I, embracing him, " stay with 
 me awhile, for it is little w^e meet now, and 
 business can defer till night, I am truly ill-at- 
 ease enough to warrant this of you." 
 
 So, thought I, much displeased with myself 
 for this deception, am I truly a Delilah, but only 
 to save and not destroy this Samson \ 
 
 To sit there with my arms about his neck, 
 was to win by degrees all the subject of the 
 council, with which, neither dissenting nor 
 agreeing, I contrived to displease him and finally 
 to win him to think it as rash as it undoubtedly 
 was.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. ziZ 
 
 " Sir there overvalues me," said Sir Burleigh 
 with coraplacency, " and it is a good fault in a 
 friend, but, as you say, precipitancy Avill but 
 injure, not advance the matter, and twenty good 
 followers discreetly raised will do more than a 
 mob of unconsidering idlers who will shout 
 one day for him, and the next for Hanover." 
 
 " Don't talk too much politics," I said, " stop- 
 ping him at the arc of the circle, lest his reason- 
 ing should complete the revolution and end 
 where it began, " I am tired of them." When 
 will these men go, and leave us alone ? Those 
 were happy days when we were alone." 
 
 Sir Burleigh made an unrecordable reply, for 
 I care not to set down folly — yet seemed happy 
 enough now, and not much inclined to return to 
 his guests, whom presently we heard disperse. 
 
 I soon found myself better, and much com- 
 forted, and Sir Burleigh, with much self- 
 complacency, w^ould listen to no apologies for 
 my summoning him, and attributed my speedy 
 cure to the miraculous effect of his presence and 
 caresses, which was in truth the case. 
 
 The worst of it was, I was forced to be absent 
 from dinner that night, and after to appear 
 cloaked and shawled on the Terrace, invalid 
 fashion, with Sir Burleigh on duty and Lord 
 Lovat as the only relief, of whom presently
 
 374 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 tiring, I sent both away, and beckoned Kilmar- 
 nock, who came briskly forsvard and stood hat 
 in hand before me. 
 
 " Sit down," said I, as harshly almost as he 
 had spoken to me, and then for awhile I wonld 
 tell him nothing. 
 
 " Milord," I said, presently beginning — 
 
 " Nay," he interrupted, "if I am to be treated 
 to my title, I will protest ! I have not deserved 
 it, nor will not stand it." 
 
 I was silent again ; then, reflecting what un- 
 considered trifles will send a Scotchman beside 
 himself, recommenced more kindly. 
 
 " Sergius, you will see I took your counsel, 
 though it was unkindly tendered and I called you 
 to thank you for it — believe me, I am truly 
 grateful : it was complete madness on all sides." 
 
 " What I can for you, without prejudice to my 
 master's interests, that I will always gladly do," 
 said he, still sullen. 
 
 Then relenting, he expressed as much sympathy 
 for my supposed indisposition as though he truly 
 credited it, which, I believe, he did — men being 
 incredible credulous in some things, and my ab- 
 sence at dinner giving ground and colour to it. 
 
 In common gratitude to him I could no less 
 than be kind and friendly once more, and he 
 forgot our late coldness and distance, and talked
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 375 
 
 in so earnest and animated a strain that I had till 
 then no thought that he was either so clever or 
 so agreeable a man. Perhaps he exerted himself 
 to make amends for his angry words in the morn- 
 ing, which, knowing they meant little or nothing, 
 I was not inclined to resent, and the stars, 
 coming out by myriads in the purple summer 
 night, saw us still sitting there. And, on his ex- 
 pressing a wish to that effect, I undertook to be 
 his guide to the pictures next day. 
 
 " Sir John Cutler (says some learned historio- 
 grapher) had a pair of black worsted stockings, 
 which his maid darned so often with silk that 
 they became at last a pair of silk stockings." 
 This Stuart quoted angrily to me by way of apo- 
 logue on becoming acquainted with my having 
 agreed to show the pictures to Kilmarnock. 
 
 " He is in a bad way now," said he, " and pre- 
 sently will fancy himself your lover. I do not 
 choose that you should see him alone, neither 
 wiU I suffer myself to seem suspicious. There- 
 fore include Lovat in your party." 
 
 " Sir," said I, " am I to have no separate voli- 
 tion, but be for ever guided by your whims? 
 I will not include Lovat, which would be to dis- 
 credit Sergius, from whom I have received so 
 much friendship and such consideration that it 
 would be well if you could equal, as you wiU
 
 376 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 never excel it." And, so saying, I turned 
 and looked back on him from the first landing of 
 the great staircase where we had met. 
 
 Much evil is certainly in our nature, and re- 
 bellion springs full-armed from it. I truly cared 
 not though fifty Lovats were of the party, but 
 having promised Kilmarnock, and hoping to hear 
 from him somewhat more fully of their plans, I 
 would not, at anyone's bidding, go from my 
 purpose. 
 
 I was besides piqued at his causeless jealousy, 
 and held that his faith was faltering and weak, 
 both in my ability and good- government. 
 
 The picture-gallery w^as open to any of the 
 guests who might choose to enter at any time. 
 It was wide, sunny, and silent, and the faint fra- 
 grance of its cedar-lined walls made it one of the 
 pleasantest places in the house as the morning 
 sun came in unchecked through its long range of 
 wdndows, and the beautiful pictures made a mute 
 society in which one felt lifted away from care. 
 Presently, whilst examining a Correggio, Kilmar- 
 nock came in, looking less like a self-conscious 
 pretender than a brisk man of business — 
 clean-shaved and with a freshly - powdered 
 wig, a brown coat with but little embroidery 
 on it, and one of the buckles of his shoes 
 aTM'y.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. ^yj 
 
 "But for that," said I, looking at it, "you 
 might have stepped out of a frame here." 
 
 He retired a step or two, and made a true 
 courtly bow, his hat touching the ground. 
 
 " Lady Clifford," said he, " will be the beauty 
 of the house for all time." 
 
 " Thank you," I replied smiling. " But what 
 do you say to this lovely St. Catherine'? Can 
 any mere earthly charm convey so reverent a 
 feeling to one's heart 1 " 
 
 "Yours can," said he, "and does. And, in 
 truth, 'twas not of the pictures I came to talk, but 
 of you. I cannot aid these dead-and-gone folk, 
 but to you I hope to be of use — though," said he, 
 in his teeth, "'twill be done Judas-like. You 
 know," he continued, offering his hand as we 
 paced the gallery from end to end, " that in 
 desperate undertakings one may well be willing 
 to sacrifice oneself, and even one's friends. But 
 the interest I can but feel in you renders me as 
 unwilling you should suffer as were you my 
 sister or my daughter. 
 
 " I will not pretend that the thought of Sir Bur- 
 leigh risking all he has, in what I and himself 
 believe the cause of right, weighs with me at all. 
 Others risk their all. Why not he] But I 
 cannot in my heart desire you to fall from your 
 estate.
 
 378 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 " Therefore induce him to forswear Jacobitism 
 as 'tis called, or limit his aid to untraceable 
 money, which, I may truly say, will be of almost 
 as great use as his name. Nay, I will not lie : 
 every good name is of almost inestimable value, 
 yet I will make it up by other ways of which I 
 wot ; and feeling you safe will inspire me with 
 double zeal." 
 
 " You are but too good," I reply, hanging my 
 head humbly, "and I love Sir Burleigh truly, 
 but such honour as I have is concerned in your 
 success. Therefore put me out of your count, for 
 humbly grateful as I feel for your goodness, I 
 would die by inches of the disgrace of desertion 
 now. Not," I continued, as his brow darkened, 
 " that I put into this count any — any — personal 
 feeling, but so I ever felt in a question between 
 interest and honour. More I need not say, save 
 that I would thank you kneeling — and do in my 
 heart for the sacrifice you were willing to make 
 for me." 
 
 He was for coldly withdrawing his hand, but 
 I clasped it in both mine, and besought his par- 
 don with tears in my eyes, begging his most 
 lenient construction for my folly in putting aside 
 his counsel. 
 
 He looked thoughtful for awhile ; then said he, 
 abruptly: " Though I only desire your welfare and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 379 
 
 wealth, yet I were a devil and no man if I liked 
 you not the better for your choice." 
 
 And so ended our inspection of the pictures. 
 
 " If you have need of devils," saith a modern 
 writer, " draw them out of Milton's Paradise." I 
 needed not to cast a drag-net or a seine into any 
 fanciful source to supply me just then. Whit 
 he imaged or fancied of my relations with Kil- 
 marnock was enough for Stuart to convert him 
 into a whole legion, reigned over by a sullenness, 
 there was no dispelling, because none outward 
 sign of it appeared to any but me. 
 
 I made no concession, as that in such cases is 
 to own to wrong, and add fuel to fire ; yet so 
 rank a passion of jealousy would have moved 
 me to mirth in another, I felt that in him it 
 was a madness he could not altogether control 
 by reason or reflection. 
 
 Thus exceeding sorry for him, as a mother for 
 a wayward child, yet would I not concede him a 
 right to his suspect, for, as the French say, to 
 excuse is to accuse. Therefore, let him lie 
 under this self-imposed bane till he tired of it, 
 and his reason returned clothed with love. He 
 avoided me, appointing Lovat as his caretaker, 
 and casting basilisk glances whenever none but 
 I could meet them, which had slain me out- 
 right had their intention been fulfilled.
 
 380 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Kilmarnock, to whom he was specially civil 
 and obliging, seemed a little puzzled at the 
 manifest avoidance of each other, but, concluding 
 it was none of his business, was very cheerful 
 with his master, which moved me to pity him, as 
 I knew he was so heaping up wrath against him- 
 self in the mind of this pale, lank-hau^ed Othello, 
 and inspired me after two days' uncomfort to 
 make it up for Sergius' sake. 
 
 "Sir," I said, stopping him perforce in the 
 study, whither, as I went in, he was retreating, 
 "• I am no Nessus. Take off that poisonous gar- 
 ment you have fitted on me. If you knew its 
 painfulness and agony, you would not let it burn 
 into my heart." 
 
 He wavered for a moment, and w^as for deny- 
 ing knowledge of my meaning. Mortification, 
 anger, disdain, bitter hate, swept over his face. 
 Then, as I stood calm and stedfast, neither plead- 
 ing for pity nor pardon, but for justice, his right 
 mind returned, and love, the more eager for its 
 long truancy, came humbly back. 
 
 In what terms he excused himself, needs not 
 to write, as his humility satisfied me ; and here I 
 may say there is no serviceabler virtue than 
 humbleness, nor none that so disarms even just 
 wTath ; therefore, I entirely forgave him, and 
 even loved him the better for his sufferings.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 381 
 
 compassionating them as we compassionate 
 the self-inilicted wounds of a maniac, and com- 
 forting him for his endurance of them, till he 
 was almost happy enough to make a precedent of 
 this folly ; and, whereas before all his obliging- 
 ness had been, so to say, a smile outward from 
 the teeth, now the whole best part of his 
 nature radiated from within in such a variety of 
 pleasing arts, that, all his council were in love 
 with him as well as I, and especially Kilmar- 
 nock, whom he now freely forgave, and acquitted 
 from all his suspicions. Lovat, being willing to 
 take up or resign any role his master put upon him 
 at any time or in any way, gracefully quitted his 
 attendance on my movements, and waited on Sir 
 Burleigh as before ; while I, all unversed though 
 I was in courtly ethics or courtier-like conduct, 
 could not but admire the well-hid art with which 
 he acted — a preference for each by turns — and 
 trembled to think, should the time ever come 
 when I had rivals, how much I should hate that 
 old dissembler. 
 
 Feeling the thrill of my hand in his, Stuart 
 wanted to know my thought. 
 
 " Why," I said, " it was of rivals, and how I, 
 who had no art, should hide the pain I felt if he 
 cared more for another than myself." 
 
 " That," said he, "though impossible to happen
 
 382 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 is truly womanlike. You hedge yourselves in 
 with precautions against possible pain, and let 
 us take our chance, or rather certainty, of its 
 infliction." 
 
 " But we are more tender," said I, with a 
 shiver, " and I, at least, would die of a rival." 
 
 " Die of a rose, in aromatic pain," he laughed. 
 " Must I be civil to no woman but you ? " 
 
 " Not in my sight," quoth I, " or, at least, I 
 will be here and not see it, or 'twould kill me.'* 
 
 " Now," said he, " I will tell you a secret, and 
 whenever or wherever my triumph over Hanover 
 takes place, be it in London or Edinburgh, there 
 Sir Burleigh has promised to come, and to bring 
 you.'^ 
 
 This, spoken with sober certainty, sounded 
 mournfully to me, who rather hoped for than 
 believed in his triumph. But I could not, 
 raven-like, dash his anticipations with my own 
 doubts, as, with eyes lit up and in some excite- 
 ment, he told me their various plans, most of 
 which I had before from Sergius, and to all I 
 listened with respectful attention, making no 
 commentary aloud, but noting the weak points, 
 as they seemed to me, for further consideration, 
 and to ask of them of Kilmarnock. 
 
 The day had been sultry, lowering, and gloomy, 
 y^ith an intense and oppressive heat ; and, as we
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 383 
 
 sat at dinner with all the windows open, noAV 
 and again a cool air came in, herald of a coming 
 night-storm, then left ns again more heated 
 than before. Yet the normal glow of talk went 
 on, and the drinking of wine nowise slackened. 
 It was, I think, in a moment's pause, an electrical 
 silence which held us all, that the first of the 
 stored thunder burst over our heads, preceded 
 by a lightning-flash which seemed to swallow 
 up the light from the wax-candles. After that, 
 the peals were continuous and awful, but as 
 yet brought no rain. Dinner being hastily 
 ended, we all crowded to the study, where the 
 men hastened, by bringing out the cards,, to 
 dissipate the terrors of the storm ; and Sir 
 Burleigh bid me stay with them, as 'twas too 
 lonely for me elsewhere — in which kindness they 
 all concurred, Kilmarnock offering to play chess 
 with me whilst the others were at whist. We 
 had set our men, when Stuart, excusing himself 
 from the whist, which was not yet begun, bid 
 Sergius take his place, " As," said he, " 'tis 
 selfish to keep Sergius from tricks," at which the 
 other men smiled to each other, and Kilmarnock, 
 with a low bow, thanked him for his considera- 
 tion. " For himself," whispered Lovat — not so 
 low but that I heard him — thinking him more 
 cunning and wrinkled than ever. However, as
 
 384 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 he was not to be thwarted, being the chief of 
 the company, I had no choice but to seem 
 agreeable to the change (as I was), and presently 
 all were so deeply engaged in their play, that 
 ours, which went on but slowly, and by fits and 
 starts, in pauses of long whispering conversation, 
 which the noise made by the card-players 
 rendered inconspicuous, was scarce concluded 
 by the end of the first rubber. 
 
 " Checkmated," he said, " by you, Helen ; but 
 what wonder] — for I let you." 
 
 " Oho !" said I, " that is but a poor excuse for 
 want of skill to beat me, but I'll allow that 
 thunder is a disturbing element." 
 
 " And doubtless you are the winner," said he, 
 *' when all stakes are paid." 
 
 " Then," said I, rising to retire, for the wine 
 was being brought in by Craig, after which they 
 grew noisy, " I am to count it my chief gain 
 that, like Dogberry in the play, I have had 
 losses '?" 
 
 " Take all my loves," said he, " and if you 
 count that loss I am in a poor way, for it is my 
 aU." 
 
 Courtesying to the company, who all rose to 
 bow, Stuart held the door for me, and at parting 
 kissed my hand. Something sad and pleading 
 in his glance fixed my regard, and on rising in the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 385 
 
 morning I found that they had all gone, and 
 Craig and Janet were busily effacing all sign of 
 there having been guests — restoring the rooms 
 to their original state, and, unknowing of the 
 bitter pain at my heart at parting, congratulating 
 me on having freedom and leisure ; whilst I 
 crawled, in the damp left by the storm, up and 
 down the terrace like a slug on which salt has 
 been thrown, shivering with pain and grief and 
 misery, ill in body and mind, and but little able 
 to bear up against sorrow — so swift does the 
 mind react on the frame. 
 
 While drinking my coffee, Sir Burleigh came 
 in, and M'Causland with him. Both seemed 
 grave and preoccupied, and took little note of 
 me, appearing to have some rather complicated 
 money-matters to settle, on ending which 
 M'Causland invited me to come back with him 
 to the Farm for the day. 
 
 " Yes, go," said Sir Burleigh, something sternly 
 and absently, as he counted the money. 
 
 " My dear," he said presently, looking up, 
 " Verney returns to-day, and 'tis better just now 
 that you should not be worried by him. Let me 
 meet him alone, and bring him to his senses. 
 Besides, Lovat and the rest have been too much 
 for you — you look tired and weary." 
 
 " Lovat," said Mr. M'Causland, " ay, e'en 
 c c
 
 386 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 the wrinkled old carle wi' craft an' cunning in 
 every fold of skin, like a serpent, and to my mind 
 poison too, for friend an' foe " 
 
 " Let alone ! " said Sir Burleigh, " he is my 
 friend, and as yet I know no harm of him ; there 
 are such men in every cause, on the winning 
 side." 
 
 " Where, I doubtna, he will always remain," 
 said my uncle. "And," said he, as we went farm- 
 wards, " granted the power from above, there 
 would be few women Jacobites. 'Tis the fair 
 face and white hands wins them." 
 
 " It is not," I say indignantly, " and his hands 
 are brown and strong as yours. I hate a man 
 with useless paws like a lap-dog, if such exist in 
 the world." 
 
 " Eh ! my leddy, we'll forget our quiet lass 
 presently, if ye speak so.'* 
 
 " Nay," I say gently, " I shall always be your 
 lass, nor will not defend anyone you dislike." 
 
 '' I have no mislikin' for the young man," said 
 he, " and, to speak truth, wish him well — But 
 why are ye weeping, Helen? Are they not good 
 to ye yonder?" 
 
 " Yes," I say with difficulty, " very good — 
 good enough — but it's not like the old days 
 when I had only you and Sir Burleigh to please, 
 and could tease Verney Clifford and laugh at
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 387 
 
 poor Sandy. I was a cruel wretch in those days, 
 and it has come home to me bitterly/^ 
 
 " Well," said he, " life is change : we cannot 
 stand still, but must on with the tide. Yet ye 
 have not a far cry to a home, an' a welcome 
 should ever ye need one. The necessity which 
 took ye frae me may e'en float ye back, Helen. 
 Ebb and flow is the same tide, my dear. An' 
 ye shall ne'er meet with less than love an' kind- 
 ness from me, let others value ye as they may.'* 
 
 By this we were entering the farm-door, Elsie 
 and Elizabeth pressing forward with officiously 
 kind welcome, the more flattering that I was no 
 favourite. Perchance absence like death qualifies 
 for promotion, and the large eyes and thin face 
 that met me in the mirror every day may have 
 looked sad or strange to them. 
 
 A feeling of despondence came over my 
 mind as I went into the familiar parlour. 
 M'Causland's tide simile sounded ominous. 
 How from the fulness of my new life could 
 I float back to the minutiae of this — from a 
 broad river to a still lagoon ; from which the 
 butterflies and dragonets of youth had now for 
 ever disappeared, and the purple iris of hope 
 grew no more — only the never-ending reminder, 
 forget-me-not, beautiful in itself, bitter as a 
 memory, flourishing l 
 
 c c — 2
 
 388 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 ^' Now," said M'Causland cheerfully, " we will 
 have dinner almost at once. Ye look half- 
 starved an unhappy. I doubt yere despondency 
 is caused by the want of gude farm-fare an* 
 nourishing victual, such as ye used to have." 
 
 Ay, thought I, as he went out to hurry the 
 dinner, Euripides was right: — 
 
 " The wise man's only Jupiter is this : 
 To eat and drink during his little day, 
 And give himself no care." 
 
 Listening to the busy movements without, I 
 mused how few moments in our allotted span 
 are worth living. Yet, when the well-cooked 
 country-fare came in, I was ready to re-echo the 
 Cyclops' speech on the wisdom of eating. We 
 had a well-roasted peahen, followed by cream 
 and raspberries, both of the freshest. The soft 
 summer-air coming in from distant hayiields, 
 fanning back to me some feeling of youth 
 -svhich at the Manor always seemed strangely 
 absent, I would, thought I, that I could close 
 my eyes, and then, awaking again, find myself at 
 home here, to be for ever " only Helen Rohan," 
 the late past forgotten. 
 
 "It's likely ye have been sitting up late?" 
 said M^Causland, mixing some whiskey and 
 water. 
 
 " No," said I, " they played cards mostly till 
 near morning, but I was never there till last
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 389 
 
 night, when I went in — any port in a storm, 
 you know." 
 
 "Ay, an' a storm it was, Helen. All the 
 witches an' warlocks in the country abroad, nae 
 doubt, to mischief travellers.'' 
 
 I shivered, even superstition was attacking me 
 now, and, had he detailed a witch springing up 
 behind the flying horsemen, I must have con- 
 cluded her to have singled out Stuart for harm 
 and hurt. 
 
 But, sipping his whiskey, he began upon 
 money-matters, bidding me ask Sir Burleigh for 
 a settlement. "It's not that he will ever grudge 
 ye even to eat gold and siller, Helen — but — 
 but cases occur ; an' lives are but human. In 
 short, this Jacobite business makes it imperative 
 ye should be secured, anchored to s.ome pro- 
 vision — let who will float out to sea in a tub in 
 search of a Stuart." 
 
 " Do you think it is so hopeless then?" I asked. 
 
 "Not to say hopeless, but impossible," he 
 replied. " Anyhow, what was yours, wad be Sir 
 Burleigh's in case of the warst. An' it's none 
 all for you I'm planning, an' me known him this 
 forty year forby, since he was aughteen — your 
 age, Helen — a fine handsome fellow, as tall an ' 
 proper as Sandy, but aye headstrong. He is 
 cocksure of the Stuarts winning, so will, if they
 
 390 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 lose, lose all — if he can even save his life. 
 That he may, but, anyhow, a good hantle invest 
 in France wad do for ye baith. He tauld me," 
 he said forgettingly, "to ask ye hoo much ye wad 
 like settled on you, an' whatever 'twas I was to 
 keep it for ye at a safe distance, baith frae 
 Guelph an' Stuart. That is why he sent ye with 
 me, Helen." 
 
 " Is it ? " said I, enlightened. " I thought he 
 was very earnest for my coming, but I will have 
 nothing : all the risks he runs, so will I." 
 
 " Then ye are not for Hanover, milady ? " 
 
 " No, uncle I am not ; nor do I want to be safe 
 if others are in danger. I will share it, let it be 
 what peril it may." 
 
 " Hear to that !" said he. " There ye sit like a 
 child, dipping fruit in cream, an' talking o' civil 
 strife as though 'twas a' done by peltry o' roses. 
 Hoo now wad ye look if a troop o' King 
 George's men came here an' dragged me and Sir 
 Burleigh off to prison for Jacobites 1 Wad ye 
 sit still an starve — or go a begging — or hang on 
 till Verney Clifford, if even he w as no confiscate ? 
 It is easy to grind wi* water running by — but, 
 dry up the stream, stop the siller, an' milady is 
 worse off than a girl at a mop-hiring. She 
 canna dig — to beg she is ashamed.'* Sir Bur- 
 leigh's heart wad be twice rived — ance for
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 391 
 
 himself — ance for ye — wanderin' about home- 
 less, starvmg. 'Tis not the present that wants 
 guardin', 'tis the future. Not our green crops, 
 but our harvest. So consent, like a wise woman, 
 to take what is, after all, but your due ; and I 
 will so invest it in France as that ye will be safe, 
 an' bread for ye sure.'' 
 
 " I don't know how much to ask," said I, 
 " take two thousand pounds. That I am sure 
 he can easily spare. Take that, and let me 
 alone. I could not live if Stuart lost — or Sir 
 Burleigh. Nor I would not." 
 
 "It behoves caution," said he ruminating. "For 
 if it became known that either house or land 
 was bought there for the Cliffords, it would go 
 ill with their chances here of clearin' themselves 
 with the Government, but I will manage it some 
 how — for all sakes. I hae a cousin trades to 
 Dunkerque — hm ! I must e'en think it oot 
 my ain way, Helen, and manage it shall be 
 so that neither Lion nor Onehorn shall pit 
 their paws ontill it — win which may. Was I a 
 man with a handsome wife, I wad be for the wee 
 German lairdie.'^ 
 
 " Why," said I indifferently, " does loyalty de- 
 pend on the beauty of your wife? " 
 
 " Sometimes," said he caustically, " but not 
 always, it wad seem.'*
 
 392 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Then ensued a long pause, broken by the 
 crackling and dropping of the wood-fire. It 
 seemed a hundred years since I lived here — 
 since Sandy used to come in and out, watching 
 me, sullen and wordless, or getting angered over 
 the Cliffords. I saw all the old scenes re-enact 
 themselves as the long shadows of the afternoon 
 crept on. 
 
 McCausland was thinking too, deeply and, I 
 could see, painfully ; sometimes he would essay 
 to speak, then check himself and look away. 
 
 Fearing he had some bad news of Alexis, 
 which he wished, yet did not like, to com- 
 municate, I asked him what was troubling 
 him. 
 
 " Why," said he, " to tell God's truth, 'tis o' 
 the Jacobites I was thinking. Helen 'tis doubt- 
 less a lie, yet 'tis said one o' them is ower-special 
 to ye, an' I am the more given to credit it that 
 Sir Burleigh looks troubled of late. Not to 
 credit ill of you, my dear, but of him, Helen, 
 they are a' flichtin' ffichterin', gallants, a' the 
 younger anes, brought up wi' French fashions, 
 amang Moabite women." 
 
 What else he said swam by me in a stream of 
 sound, as my shamed face bent downward. I 
 saw the fire only through a mist of tears. All 
 this was too cruel. Why was he not brought
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 393 
 
 to judgment, arraigned at a domestic tribunal, 
 racked by these familiar and beloved judges ? 
 
 "I hate him !'^ said I at length sincerely enough. 
 " Do not speak so to me ; it is Sir Burleigh who 
 should, if he is angry. Why do you ask me here 
 only to grieve and vex me ? " 
 
 "Hoot ! " said he, " grieve an' vex ye, ye minx, 
 to tell ye to keep that Hieland cateran at a safe 
 rood awa\ It's no the seventh command wad 
 fright him frae his prey. All brought up in the 
 lap o' Babylon as they are ; an', but ye are warned, 
 hoo should ye know? The flatteries of the 
 great are poison — ay, strong poison." 
 
 " Have they ever flattered you ? " I asked, 
 thinking how remarkably free from that alloy 
 was our friendship, love, liaison — call it what 
 you will. 
 
 " Whiles Sir Burleigh has,for my stewardship," 
 he responded, "" but that's not it, Helen — I have 
 heard that his eyes follow you as no honest man's 
 would — your every movement; that he haunts 
 you like an ill-shadow, an' I doubt, but I saw 
 him, I would e'en lay my riding-switch over his 
 boy's shoulders for him, an' bid him to keep to 
 his ain parish, the Jacobite losel !" 
 
 " Yes," said I, " that is all very fine, but, until 
 you see him, how can you say what you would 
 do ? He is away — and now leave talking of him."
 
 394 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Yet, hardily as I spoke, tears again stole un- 
 bidden into my eyes, my heart sank, my hands 
 trembled. What a mean and false wretch am I 
 become ! thought I, and it had been less pain to 
 have gone on my knees and confessed all, than 
 to sit thus uttering evasions worse than false- 
 hood, glossing over treachery with pretended 
 anger. I rose and went to the table, where stood 
 the white china-dish of raspberries in their 
 rough leaves. I took one up with the tips of 
 my fingers, and saw it grow to giant dimensions 
 through the magnifying tears in my eyes, which 
 presently splashed down, one becoming absorbed 
 in the table-cover, the other breaking on the 
 edge of the plate into a thousand invisible 
 atoms. Though I noted all this, the pain at my 
 heart was intense. 
 
 " I will go upstairs," I said but half-articu- 
 lately, and waiting for no response I went to my 
 old room, opening the door softly, as though 
 my entrance was unauthorised and someone 
 might challenge it. 
 
 What a change was there ! It wrought an im- 
 mediate revulsion of my feelings, perhaps that 
 their acute pain could not be sustained, and this 
 was but a relief to the overcharged heart. 
 
 A last-year's nest, it was indeed. The Perse 
 rugs were rolled up and standing in one corner,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 395 
 
 the polished floor was scratched with nailed boots; 
 some of McCausland's tractates, covered with 
 dust, on the oak table ; the bed, all the plenishing 
 rolled into symmetrical bolsters, was covered with 
 a sheet, which in its turn was brown with dust ; 
 some old whips and a very old coat were in one 
 comer ; the book, " Religious Courtship," on 
 the hearthstone, flat on its face, with several 
 pages doubled down ; and the window, the bolt 
 of it rusty with disuse, refused to open, account- 
 ing for a mouldy, mildewy atmosphere ; while, to 
 crown all dignities, Elsie was storing feathers 
 there, in a linen sack, which, escaping by hand- 
 fuls, gave it the aspect of a birds' battlefield. 
 Wrenching open the window by main-strength, 
 these began whirling about in the draught thus 
 caused, and, going too near the perpendicularly- 
 placed rugs, they fell at my feet, disturbed by the 
 vibration of my tread, as though imploring rescue 
 from their disgraceful inaction. 
 
 "^It is too bad," I say, all my grief and bitter- 
 ness turning to wrath at this unnecessary chaos. 
 " I will have it redde up and see to it " — and, 
 going down, found Sir Burleigh below. 
 
 '' Well," said he, " are you ready to come 
 home, Helen? " 
 
 " In a few minutes, sir. — Uncle, I want you 
 upstairs a minute.'^
 
 396 A STATESMAN'S LOVE 
 
 " Eh? *' said he, rising, " what is it now? " 
 
 " It is disgraceful," said I, rapidly preceding 
 him, " I will not have my room left thus; If 
 Elizabeth and Elsie cannot make it trim, I wiU 
 myself bring a broom from the Hall and do it. 
 See here, and here," pointing to the different 
 dilapidations, " everything disused — spoiled." 
 
 " Aweel, it shall be seen to," he replied, more 
 amused than penitent, and Sir Burleigh, who had 
 followed, laughed as he picked up the book, 
 carrying it to the window. " It shall be seen 
 to," repeated M'Causland, retreating from the 
 draught and returning downstairs. 
 
 " Plague on the feathers ! " said I, stamping 
 with vexation as they flew into my face, and, 
 taking the bag, I, half for spite, half for mischief, 
 emptied them out into the air, which was 
 clouded with their erratic flight hither and 
 thither. 
 
 " What, Helen ! — turned termagant ? " said Sir 
 Burleigh, laughing, " angry at your nest being 
 so used ] But, my dear, you don't consider my 
 broadcloth. See, I really begin to look like an 
 angel — feathers all over me; they stick too, by 
 George ! " 
 
 " I am sorry," said I, repenting, as his broad 
 shoulders became flecked with floating down. 
 " I will pick them all off before we go. I own
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 397 
 
 I am angry that this pretty room is used thus. 
 I meant, when you turned me out of doors, to 
 return hither." 
 
 He did not answer — busied in brushing off the 
 feathers from his coat. I did not look up for a 
 minute. 
 
 When I at length did so he was regarding me 
 with an angry scowl — a brow black as night. 
 
 I looked at him in amazement ; he raised his 
 hand almost as though to strike me, but seized 
 me by the shoulder as in a grasp of iron. 
 
 " Whose is this writing V said he, between his 
 teeth, pointing to a slip of paper between the 
 leaves of the book. 
 
 It was Stuart's. My eyes seemed stretched as 
 though to breaking, till each letter stood out in 
 the straggling uneven scrawl — left forgotten in 
 this book. 
 
 " Forgive me," it said, " do not leave me alone 
 with unhappy thoughts. I love you; did [I 
 not, were you not so dear to me. The minutes 
 you are away are hours. 
 
 " Your repentant, loving prisoner, 
 
 " Casimik." 
 
 " He was here," said a voice, faint and trem- 
 bling, which sounded to my ears as from a dis- 
 tance — "here. The dragoons were after him. 
 It was life or death. I hid him here."
 
 398 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 Sir Burleigh shook and trembled mth passion 
 — his teeth, locked rigidly, showed beneath his 
 drawn-back lips like those of a lion. I thought he 
 would kill me, and, with one sob of intense fear, 
 stood still. 
 
 " Hide yourself here for ever ! You shall never 
 come out alive." 
 
 Whose husky, savage tones were those? I 
 staggered from a swift, powerful push, falling 
 with a jarring blow on to my knees on the roll of 
 carpet, else must my knees have broke — and, 
 taking out the key, he fixed it in the lock outside, 
 locking me in. 
 
 I felt that I was dying. I could not rise from 
 my knees; every limb was powerless, as well 
 from fear as the exhaustion of the shock. " Let 
 me die ! " said I in agony, praying to what or 
 whom I knew not. " Let me die now — I am 
 tired, hated, beaten. Sir Burleigh has struck 
 me.'' That seemed to me crueller than all the rest ; 
 ever}^thing, wrong or right, past or present, 
 resolved itself into that one agony — that he 
 could hate me, strike me to the ground. How 
 long a time lapsed I could not tell. It seemed 
 that it must be evening ; outward things grew 
 dark, my limbs rigid and in an agony of dull 
 pain, yet no volition was in them. Many more 
 shades of darkness fell — the coolness of the
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 399 
 
 summer-night came in, torturing me like the 
 cold of an arctic winter, for my teeth chattered 
 ahready with the cold induced by this paralysis. 
 I could not even fall down — stiff and rigid now 
 almost as. stone. Should I turn to stone — to 
 anything so this pain would go — to dust, to cor- 
 ruption — oh ! what did I care, in that physical 
 agony, for my sins ? I felt fiercely that, to escape 
 it, I would commit ten thousand crimes — every 
 muscle, every sinew was twisted with agonizing 
 cramp. I could not even scream to relieve the 
 pain — all my powers with all their might were 
 at work on this dumb torture. From cold as ice 
 I seemed to turn to fire, yet to remain equally 
 helpless. It grew yet darker; all the -length of 
 the impending night flashed upon me, and a faint 
 and hollow moan answered the remainder. 
 
 The door opened. Sir Burleigh came in, yet, 
 though a horrible dread swept over me, I could 
 not speak or move. 
 
 " Say you repent ! " — his voice came low and 
 angry. 
 
 A fierce anguish answered him — not my mind 
 but my tortured frame. 
 
 " I am in torment, lift me up." 
 
 " No, by ! if that is your spirit. Say you 
 
 repent ! " 
 
 " I am in torment, lift me."
 
 400 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 Apparently struck by this singular iteration, 
 he stooped and took my hand, trying to raise 
 me, but in vain — had I truly stiffened to stone ? 
 
 " My God!" said he, " what is the matter with 
 you?'' 
 
 " Lift me ! " I moaned. 
 
 Exerting all his great strength, he half-raised 
 me at length, doubtless half from dread of 
 what it might be, lowering me again to my 
 knees. Again he essayed, and, this time the 
 cramp demon wavering, I was not so stone a 
 weight, though the pain, vibrating now in rapid 
 strokes, was even more terrible. I moaned in- 
 cessantly, as a prisoner under the lash, for some 
 time unable to speak. 
 
 " I was fixed," said I at length, faintly, " and 
 got cramped and could not move. Is hell like 
 that, I wonder ? " 
 
 " Hush my dear ! " said he. " Cramp is, I 
 know, terrible ; yet, now, it will soon pass. It 
 is just while the muscles are twisted, is the in- 
 tense pain." 
 
 " Go now," said I ; " I want to sleep. I am 
 worn out," and, crawling into the bed, despite 
 its dusty cover, I no sooner laid my head on the 
 pillow than, in utter exhaustion, I slept, care- 
 less — so that present oblivion, present rest, were 
 mine — what the future held in store — nor, in
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 401 
 
 fact, thinking at all. It was, in truth, uncon- 
 sciousness such as seizes on a prisoner released 
 from the rack. How long it lasted I do not 
 know, but I awoke with the dazzle of a candle, 
 held near my face, the puffy and stertorous 
 breathing of amazed Elizabeth, who, being sent 
 upstairs to await on my awaking, thought fit 
 thus to fulfil her task and satisfy her curiosity at 
 once. 
 
 " What ails yel " she asked. " Sir Burleigh is 
 doAvn below, main angry, tellin' M'Causland ye 
 threw handfuls o' loose feathers o'er him ; an', 
 indeed, Elsie says they are stickin' to his coat, 
 an' will e'en gie Craig an hour's wark to clear it. 
 Did he gie ye a bufiet for it 1 " 
 
 Elizabeth's notions of conjugal amenities had 
 carried her into the conjectural I had thrown 
 feathers over Sir Burleigh, and he had shown 
 his distaste for practical pleasantries by knocking 
 me down. 
 
 I laughed, and, rising, with her help, shook oif 
 all I could of the down settled on myself. 
 
 " Elizabeth," said I, " this room is in a most 
 untidy litter. See that it is redde up in every 
 respect as it used to be, and I will give you a 
 crown to spend at the next mop." 
 
 " I will, milady," she said stolidly, pleased. 
 
 " Leave the candle and go." She obeyed — 
 
 D D
 
 402 A STAIESMA^'S LOVE. 
 
 laying out the crown in anticipation on ribbons 
 — careless of our quarrels. 
 
 What shall I do] thought I, gloom and misery- 
 returning with solitude. I cannot go down and 
 face the anger of those two — must I pass the 
 rest of my life here'? I did not mean to be a 
 criminal — to be wicked. I would tell my sorrow, 
 my repentance to Sir Burleigh, and then steal 
 away into the night, to outer darkness — like the 
 reprobate spirits, banished for ever. Sobs choked 
 me at thought of parting thus : I loved him. 
 What should I do, who, all my life, had seen 
 him every day? Should his familiar figure 
 become lost to my life — is kind voice be re- 
 placed by an eternal silence \ 
 
 I had on but a summer-gown, yet imaged 
 myself fleeing, through the star-lit darkness, on 
 and on for ever. I would take a last look at 
 them both, sitting, as of old, by the hearth — as 
 spirits, ere their final banishment, are allowed a 
 farewell to a distant friend, who, otherwise, 
 would not know of their parting. 
 
 I went downstairs, weighed down with dull 
 grief, resolved to look my last, and then leave 
 them to peace for evermore, free of me and 
 my sins — my sorrow. 
 
 The parlour was unlit save by the dull glow 
 of a log on the hearth. Sir Burleigh was
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 403 
 
 standing, M'Causland seated. He had been 
 speaking. 
 
 " AVhat d d nonsense you are talking ! " 
 
 It was Sir Burleigh speaking now, in a lowered 
 voice. " What end would that answer 1 Keep 
 your hell-iire doctrine for farm-hinds. I shall 
 take her back. Yes, now — yes, with me ! 
 Crimes! Pretty judges we are to set up a 
 tribunal! Helen is everything to me now. A 
 thousand crimes, as you call them, would make 
 no difference. Punish her! How, pray? To 
 my mind the punishment would be the crime. 
 Leave her with you \ — bring her to a proper state 
 of mind ? That I am very likely to do ! to have 
 her return to me in a state of submissive idiocy, 
 crammed with theological terrors. No, talking 
 is idle. I would not change her though all the 
 women in the world stood a-row to be chose 
 from. I should never find another Helen Eohan 
 — better or worse. What would that mean to 
 me, when all my heart is for her I " 
 
 " Aweel ! Sir Burleigh, if ye maun profit by 
 guidin' — by Scripture " 
 
 " Scripture," said Sir Burleigh impatiently, 
 " was writ for Jews ! I am a Christian, I hope. 
 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth — that's Hebrew. A 
 Kohan for a Clifford — that's plain English and 
 fair and square good sense. So now listen ! I 
 D D — a
 
 404 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 hope my wife wants none of your manage, and 
 you are to hold your peace. After all, it is but 
 surmise — most likely false. Casimir wrote to 
 her — that's true enough — but, mind you, before 
 I married her. Young men will be young men, 
 but he is honour itself, and my friend." 
 
 "A devil for women," moaned M'Causland. 
 
 "As to that," said his master, " so was I. Look 
 at Verney too, Blount, and even your own 
 nephew — brought up on texts — he enlists as a 
 soldier, to get away and be free awhile." 
 
 "Poor Sandy!" 
 
 " Pshaw ! " said Sir Burleigh. " If you think 
 you can preach men into milksops, you can think 
 of him. So now that's settled. We will be 
 going. I'm afraid I frightened Helen ; I'll fetch 
 her down. 
 
 " That is to draw iniquity with a cord,'^ said 
 solemnly M'Causland, as he lit a candle and 
 handed it to his master. 
 
 As he moved to reascend the stairs, I went 
 slowly up again, this time to Alexis' garret, half 
 unknowing whither I was going. I heard him 
 search and call in earnest and distressed tones ; 
 then return downstairs, coming back again, 
 accompanied by M'Causland. 
 
 " There,'* said he in anger, " see what you've 
 done ! She has gone — God knows where —
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 405 
 
 frightened. Searching here is useless. She will 
 be miles away — ^perhaps dead. And we talking 
 about forgiving — -settling about sins, like a 
 couple of archangels. There, my candle is out ; 
 go relight it. Helen, are you there? My 
 dear, come to me, wherever you are." 
 
 " I am afraid," I sighed from the far end of 
 the garret, where, indistinctly visible by my 
 white dress, I stood by the window. 
 
 " Afraid," said he, as M'Causland returned 
 with the light, " of what, my sweet darling ? 
 My — madam, must I break my neck down those 
 
 d d steps, while you coquette with me ? By 
 
 — ! if you don't come I will drag you out by 
 the hair of your head. What d'ye mean by 
 hiding in a garret and giving me gout looking 
 for you, eh r' 
 
 "Now, my darling," — he entered the garret 
 cautiously, afraid of the shadowy lumber striking 
 his feet — " come, I am not angry with you. So 
 you can go, M'Causland. You thought I meant 
 hurting you? " 
 
 " No," said I drearily, "I thought I deserved it." 
 " And worse than that, eh 1 That reminds 
 me of a man I knew at college, a quiet, cynical 
 fellow, who would listen when scandalous stories 
 were afloat, and always wind them up with 
 ' And worse than that.'
 
 4o6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Now, sweet, what is worse than wasting 
 time? We have a journey to go. Come, Helen, 
 why are you weeping?" 
 
 " I am tired," I say peevishly, " and think- 
 ing of that man whose life I saved, who 
 leaves me the blame. Tell me, would you 
 have given him over to Colonel Blount and the 
 soldiers ? '' 
 
 " No," said he, " I would have hidden him in 
 this garret, as he told me you did ; and here is 
 the very loose plank he described, where he 
 crawled under of a daytime. Kilmarnock told 
 me how you let him in — to plan the escape ; he 
 was struck by this garret too. So never 
 mind Casimir's scribble — all young men write 
 poetry to pretty girls. It only vexed me at first, 
 coming upon me suddenly, but you was not 
 milady then. Now, Casimir, who is a good 
 fellow, will know better than write such things, 
 and if not, we must take order to teach him. 
 Now forget it. There's M'Causland frantic, 
 so we will back to our own ditch, and leave him 
 leisure to recover. But for Kilmarnock's being 
 here with him at night, I own, Helen, I know 
 that of Casimir would. In short, 'twas as well 
 milord was not here alone. I had it all from 
 Sergius, every most minute particular, even to 
 the dry scones and whiskey you gave them to
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 407 
 
 eat and drink, and how resentful you was when 
 Casimir offered to kiss you at parting." 
 
 Lost in astonishment at this revelation, I rose 
 and prepared to accompany Sir Burleigh, and 
 through the long homeward way, listening to his 
 talk under the summer-stars, I was debating 
 the knotty question : " If all men are liars, which 
 of these three is the greatest ?" finally acquitting 
 Sir Burleigh, and fixing the palm on Sergius, 
 otherwise Lord Kilmarnock. 
 
 I should before have stated, but that this 
 personal matter engrossed me, that Verney's 
 return was a false alarm, and the hasty stampede 
 of the party at the Manor unnecessary on that 
 account. 
 
 It was in fact as I suspected, a device of Kil- 
 marnock's to get Stuart away, lest he should 
 hopelessly estrange Sir Burleigh, who, he knew, 
 would not easily forgive any behaviour on his 
 part which should reflect dishonour upon him — 
 open and apparent to the world. 
 
 That such was not mere surmise on my part, 
 the subjoined letter, received from Kilmarnock, 
 will show. 'Twas brought by a runner — one of 
 those half-savage mountain-youths of whom he 
 had told me they had store at their several post- 
 ing places — caterans who had cunning enough 
 to fulfil an errand faithfully for their employers,
 
 4o8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 and reticence to render even a rack employed 
 on them, to extort their secret, useless ; not 
 specially from devotion to their masters, but from 
 that invincible Scotch stubbornness which has 
 furnished so many Gaelic names to the muster- 
 roll of martyrs, both religious and political. 
 This was given into my own hands by the 
 runner : — 
 
 " To Dame Helen Clifford, of Burleigh Manor, 
 greeting. 
 
 " Deak Lady Clifford, 
 
 "This, written by my master's order, 
 from a little hostelry on our road, will inform 
 you, more particularly than perhaps you will 
 otherwise gather, of our reason for a hasty flight 
 that to you may seem unaccountable. 
 
 " In the first place, we heard that Lord Clif- 
 ford, who you are aware is no friend but a 
 dangerous enemy to us, was posting down by an 
 unusual route to surprise us. This, / myself dh- 
 credited, but was moved to seem to give it cre- 
 dence, in order to move our magnet from the 
 lodestone. In truth you must well know what 
 this means. Therefore, I hurried to get our 
 convoy under weigh, and we went off through a 
 country nearly under water — so could ride but 
 slowly, and some of us sighingly, along; in
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 409 
 
 these latter, include your present ^vriter, for 
 pleasanter days than those so lately passed are 
 rare with me, and indeed with us all, and, but 
 for Lovat, who is equally content everywhere, 
 we should have formed but a mournful party — 
 indeed, anyone meeting us as we splashed silently 
 along, might have imaged us as being a brain- 
 phantasm formed from a watery moonbeam. I 
 believe there were tears in S.'s eyes, and know 
 there was in mine. Lovat, I cannot answer for, 
 our B., as they rode in advance, but every soft 
 gentle wind, every peep of the moon on the 
 lonely fields, brought, to at least my mind, the 
 image of the sweetest creature I have ever met, 
 viz., you. 
 
 " Oh ! my dear Dame Helen, was you yet to be 
 won! I cannot forget you, nor do not wonder that 
 it was a hard parting for him. I remember me 
 of that first night I ever saw you, when I felt im- 
 patient of your influence, and what I thought 
 his folly, with what meekness you replied to my 
 churlish counsel, which was all for him ; and you, 
 who had saved his life, put forth no plea for 
 yourself, when he mounted and rode away, coldly 
 it seemed and silently, for the occasion and the 
 person. 
 
 " But I may now tell you that I had hard 
 efforts and great work to keep him from writing
 
 410 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to you, to his own danger, and 'twas only the 
 promise of this our late visit that kept him in 
 anywise from running infinite risks to see you, for 
 his movements are of importance incredible to 
 us. I tell you this now, to right so far as may 
 be what must (I now know) have been a cruel 
 grief to you, to think that he, for whom you 
 had risked so much, had been indifferent at 
 parting. Had I known then how much wisdom 
 was joined to so charming a presence, I might 
 have been juster, but fear ever makes us violent, 
 in partizanship as in all else. 
 
 " ' Sergius,' you will say, 'is discursive.' So, dear 
 Helen, I am. I love to talk to you even on paper, 
 to think of those sweet lips answering though 
 but in words. Yet I love you only as a brother, 
 knowing — ah, miserable me ! — that others come 
 before me for any greater claim, and I am but a 
 humble, poor ^vretch — a slave, waiting the re- 
 ward only of a word, a smile. ' Now,' say you 
 with a pretty gravity, ' milord, let us take a turn 
 on the terrace, and so to business.' Nell, so far 
 our move has been profitable. We met our post, 
 the same who will bring you this, coming along 
 like a water-kelpie, about twenty miles from 
 here. He turned with us and waited to fetch 
 this on to you, refreshing meanwhile at my cost. 
 France is more favourable now. Louis likes
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 411 
 
 what is reported to him of the dash and daring 
 of S's moves of late. I am afraid the old Eagle 
 might not so greatly think of them, if he knew 
 the irresistible temptation ; but that is a detail, 
 all he hears of is the making his headquarters 
 in an English ancestral home, and gaining so 
 many adherents of weight; therefore he will, 
 with very little reservation, soon grant us every 
 aid. However, this side must be ready first. It 
 will not do to have the sparks fall on a wet 
 blanket. No, our powder must be spread, and 
 the first explosion strike terror into the hearts of 
 our opponents. Many besides, now wavering 
 between interest and inclination, will then cross 
 the Rubicon and join us. 
 
 " I am with this writing briefly to Sir Burleigh. 
 Induce him in all our interests to burn all letters 
 as soon as mastered, and do you the same, for 
 murder would be too much grace for me from 
 Stuart if he knew I writ to you also." 
 
 " Here," quoth I, " is a slip, for at the first he 
 protests it is by his master's order he writes to me. 
 Sergius is, it is clear, no saint ; but, then, 
 but few men are, and women also seem little 
 better. 
 
 ''Ha! an enclosure pinned to it! The large 
 writing of Stuart ! "
 
 412 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 "TO HELEN. 
 " Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all, 
 
 What hast thou then more than thou hadst before ? 
 No love, my love, that thou may'st true love call, 
 
 All mine was thine before thou hadst this more. — C.E. 
 
 "Ah! was you as miserable, dear, as I am 
 at our parting \ No miserabler being lived than 
 me that night. Thought I, 'Again she mil 
 think me cold — regardless of her.' But, Helen, 
 remember only what is good in me, little enough 
 I misdoubt, but all yours. God bless you. I 
 will come again the instant I am free to do so, 
 and count the hours endless till then. Think 
 of me as loving you every second; but now 
 wretcheder than a banished man as I am. Ser- 
 gius is writing to Sir Burleigh, and sends this 
 with it, by a special messenger. — With ten 
 thousand loves, dear, yours, S." 
 
 After reading this many times and mastering 
 it, I returned to finish Kilmarnock's daring let- 
 ter to me : — 
 
 " For," wrote he, " murder would be too much 
 grace for me if Stuart knew it. 
 
 " And therefore entreat you not to mention it 
 to him, for I feel it well to keep you advised of 
 all that goes on, writing solely as a friend. We 
 post on to Scotland to-night, and from Leith on 
 to France — so much is to be done and in so
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 413 
 
 short a time, that, have you any preparations to 
 make, I wish you to know there is no time to be 
 lost. After our talk in the picture-gallery I will 
 not again ventui'e to strongly urge upon you all 
 you will lose — enough, if you would reconsider 
 it ; or at all events take such measures as that you 
 may be not poor exiles. My heart mislikes me 
 to see fragile womankind enduring hardship, 
 and of that even you will allow the cause would 
 not benefit. Think over this. 
 
 " God bless you ! is the prayer of 
 
 " Your ladyship's humble friend, 
 " Sergius. 
 " Burn this when read, entreat you." 
 
 Up and down the picture-gallery I paced, 
 having concealed both letters in my bosom. 
 The warm morning-sun shone in on me. 
 The fragrance of the cedar-panelled walls, 
 the beauty of the pictured faces, the grandeur 
 and silence of the house, the love of my hus- 
 band, the thought that by giving up dreams and 
 ambitions which were beyond my power to grasp, 
 by battling with a love now unlawful, by exerting 
 common sense to grasp and hold realities instead 
 of risking all in a cause so doubtful of good as 
 the ultimate triumph of Stuart would be, even if 
 achieved, at the cost of bloodshed and disaster to
 
 414 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 so many. All these, and a legion more thoughts, 
 came to me in my slow walk. Why should I, 
 who could influence him otherwise, allow Sir 
 Burleigh to go on quite unchecked in a course 
 which might lose him his life, which would 
 almost certainly lose him his estate, which 
 brought a thousand dangers on his head ] Why, 
 in the name of reason, should I do this, all for 
 the sake of unseating one king chosen by the 
 people to seat another whose ancestors had been 
 driven out for a thousand acts of malfaisance, for 
 ten thousand crimes against good-government, 
 for treachery, for folly, for — Here I stopped in 
 my reflections, as a melancholy Titian face, long 
 and oval, with deep eyes, caught my attention by 
 a singular general resemblance to Stuart. I 
 shivered, as though caught by him in these 
 thoughts, and reproached for desertion by that 
 eloquent look. 
 
 " Have not you," it seemed to say, " been for- 
 given ? Why then will you harden our heart to 
 me'? Alone, in danger, in extremity, trying to 
 regain my rights the acts of my father cannot 
 deprive me of — how know you I may not redeem 
 the past, having endured so much, purified by 
 suffering, by hardship V 
 
 Gladly as my reason would have turned to him 
 in this appeal, it could not. So, as the sun-rays
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. ^ 415 
 
 made a halo round the dark Titian, love for him, 
 o'ermastering reason, stole back to my heart, dis- 
 arming all my hostile thoughts, and making my 
 allegiance, with me, a matter of life. It is well 
 enough to talk of plucking up affections. Such 
 as may be so plucked up are mere fancied 
 growths. This was a subtle poison mingling 
 with my blood. Only in the stillness of death 
 could my heart cease to pant at thought of him, 
 as the Scripture hart for the water-brooks. Was 
 it wicked ? — so might Hecla be, but who could 
 find it ouf? Time even would not modify it, 
 change convert it, cruelty change, nor desertion 
 impair. It was love strong as death. 
 
 Knitting in hand, in the warm, fragrant gal- 
 lery, it might have seemed, to any philosophising 
 on the theory of love as opposed to its practice* 
 that I was a mere weaver of those fine webs of 
 garish thought with which idleness, youth, and 
 solitude love to embellish life. But in pain and 
 self-humiliation I felt that I might not sufier 
 myself to clothe Stuart in the rainbow-hues of 
 first-love. He had not the tinct and grace of any 
 great heroism. He had faults apparent to all the 
 world, nor not relieved by any special high- 
 mindedness or even extraordinary talent. Kil- 
 marnock was a far abler man, true. So was it 
 that the " youth," by Rubens, which hung next
 
 4i6 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 to the Titian, had fresher hues and better looks ; 
 yet, given to choose, I should not pause to take 
 the Titian though it had a catalogue of faults 
 and the other had been perfect. 
 
 Take, instanced I as reason arraigned my love 
 — take a fairest child, well matured, beautiful 
 as the day, and of incomparable parts, and offer 
 to a' mother to exchange it for her fractious, 
 peevish brat of little or no appearance or abilities, 
 and no promise even of future excellence, 
 though tempted, may be, at first, yet how many 
 relentings would she discover to her own, how 
 many palliations of its faults, how much hope 
 in its future ? 
 
 Nay, she would say, in the playbook- words, 
 " It is a poor thing — but mine own !" and so hug 
 it to her heart, prizing it the more for the pass- 
 ing regret at its disqualifications. How could 
 I then be wiser than nature made me to bel — my 
 best wisdom being foolishness which I could 
 not defend or justify. 
 
 Interrupting these musings, which were both 
 sweet and sour, came a smooth voice which I 
 knew, and a quick step to seek me ; a hand, by 
 turns ready to save or slay me, grasped mine — 
 Yerney Clifford had returned. 
 
 He looked white and dissipated, his new 
 periwig, which he only wore for state, was on
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 417 
 
 one side ; his hands not over-clean, which I 
 remarked to him on his seizing my white knit- 
 ting to free mine from it. 
 
 " We are getting mighty grand ! " quoth he, 
 with a laugh. " Our poor kinsmen would do well 
 to keep their distance. But that I had known 
 you, madam, as a farm-wench, I should think 
 you some great lady from Court." 
 
 " Think what you please," said I, indifferently. 
 " Does Sir Burleigh know you are arrived I " 
 
 " No," said he, uneasily, " I never in my life 
 used the ceremony of apprising him of my move- 
 ments. Do you desire I should in future do 
 so?" 
 
 " No," said I, " your friends desire no better 
 than that you should please yourself; and the 
 Manor is your home, not your inn." 
 
 " How good of your dameship to remind me 
 of my disabilites ! " quoth he, bitterly. 
 
 " Why will you quarrel 1 " said I, " I am doing 
 you no wrong, yet your first words and looks 
 are bitter as hate." 
 
 " What else than hate," said he, " can I feel 
 for your usurping presence ; were it you alone, 
 old feelings might gladly suffer you — but in the 
 near future — " Here he glanced at me, staying 
 his words. 
 
 I felt sorry for him — angry ^vith myself. 
 
 EE
 
 4i8 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Tigra,'' said I, appealingly, " can I help it % 
 Let it displeasure you ever so greatly, I hate 
 myself, I loathe the Manor — it is yours, and you 
 may have it, for any my hindering, I do not seek 
 to part you from your uncle. Why should I ? 
 we are friends of a lifetime, yet for every paltry 
 occasion you endeavour after my hurt and un- 
 happiness — not now only, but always. What 
 have I done to anger you, to provoke so much 
 wrath and bitterness % " 
 
 *' What have you left undone ? " said he turn- 
 ing disdainfully away. " There I retort, my son 
 will vail to yours, my inheritance be diverted to 
 a beggar's brat, the Cliffords dishonoured by a 
 misalliance ! Ask yourself if you could not, in 
 my place, think the same or worse." 
 
 " It would be hard for you were it as you say,'* 
 I answerd, " but it is not, I may not live, my son 
 may die, and, after all, why will you fight vdth 
 me ? You always have to give in, do so at once." 
 I took one of his dirty, half-reluctant hands, and 
 he laughed. " Tigra," I said, " do you truly 
 wish me dead \ '' 
 
 "No," said he brusquely, "but I wish your 
 brat dead." 
 
 " Then," said I, " kill it when it comes in your 
 way ; meanwhile, put off your grievous aspect and 
 tell me where is Fernie ? "
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 419 
 
 " She," said he, " confound her ! is like you, 
 and therefore must needs stay in town with some 
 sluts or other who have persuaded her they will 
 care for her, so there she is lapped up in laven- 
 der." 
 
 " I am glad of it," say I, sighing, " for her 
 sake." 
 
 " Never fear,'' said Verney cheerfully, " we 
 will do well by you, and when you are humble, 
 which is but rarely, no one can gainsay you." 
 
 " Therefore," said I, " humility doth not be- 
 come me, for it would be a sort of self-seeking 
 which I despise." 
 
 " Back again ! " Sir Burleigh entered, greeting 
 Verney heartily, for he loved him, " Glad your 
 Avife is left behind. How d'ye think of Helen ? 
 Looks weUr' 
 
 " Well enough for you," said milord souring, 
 " but not for me, sir." 
 
 "Well, well," said Sir Burleigh laughing, 
 " don't cry sour grapes yet awhile. I am very 
 glad you're returned. Come down to dinner. 
 I've been everywhere this morning, while milady 
 here was sunning herself. I'm main hungry and 
 tired. Come, Helen." 
 
 I took Verney's dirty hand to lead me down- 
 stairs. Sir Burleigh following, admiring milord's 
 meekness and docility, unweeting of the fight 
 
 E E-
 
 420 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 that had preceded it. He made no enquires after 
 the absent Fernie, seeming glad of her not having 
 returned, and we had some very excellent stewed 
 carp and saddle of mutton, so tender that I ate 
 like an ogre, and Verney did the same, re- 
 marking that one got nothing but kickshaws in 
 town. Then, when after dinner Sir Burleigh 
 dozed, I took my work to the terrace, and, sitting 
 in the sun, suffered milord to amuse me with the 
 talk of the town, and to read to me from a play- 
 book he had brought back in his coat-pocket. 
 
 "Verney," said I at length during silence, 
 " your manners are more modish than they used 
 to be. I suppose in town they put you in the 
 mill to polish — or is it your wife 1 " 
 
 " Neither," said he, " 'tis the gaming-tables, 
 for, if one swears, one loses." 
 
 " And, going from little to great," I say, "' the 
 same holds good in company." 
 
 "Yes," said he. "There, the women teach 
 us deceit, and that smooths all." 
 
 " And is," I say, " what Socrates described 
 beauty to be — a soft, smooth, slippery thing, 
 which soon ensnares us." 
 
 " I'm never ensnared, not even by Fernie," he 
 replied. " The only women I care for are play- 
 actors, and they only because they are so damned 
 sly — that is why I like you."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 421 
 
 " Well," said I, " if one is damned for slyness, 
 it should be the best of its kind, and of some 
 use." 
 
 After which he fell to describing adventures 
 of his, some of which were suificiently amusing, 
 and proved that, even amongst London wits, his 
 shrewdness and causticity held its own. I did 
 not at once enquire of Blount's affair — resolved 
 to let him tell it in his own way, and without 
 pressure. Yet I was very curious to know how 
 it had fallen out, for that he had not suffered 
 was evident. Perhaps he had evaded it, except 
 that he was no poltroon or coward. After talk- 
 ing away the golden afternoon, milord, lulled by 
 the sound of his own voice, grew sleepy, and, 
 leaning back against the terrace-wall, dozed off, 
 his wig more and more slipping to one side, 
 whence, in pity at his grotesque appearance, I 
 took it bodily off, and carried it into the study. 
 Sir Burleigh was there all alone, like the sleeping 
 beauty of the woods, and I, prince-like, awoke 
 him with a kiss, for he had slept enough ; 
 and Janet, bringing in a dish of tea and some 
 muffins, helped still more to rouse him. We 
 had nearly concluded this repast when Verney 
 joined us, declining the tea on account of head- 
 ache, and asking for coffee. Then he clapped 
 hands to his head, missing his wig, and, going
 
 422 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 out to look for it, when his back was to the 
 window I dropped it out, and had the amuse- 
 ment of hearing him swear at his own purblind- 
 ness which would not let him see a thing he must 
 have walked over, and so, setting it on straight, 
 he re-entered. The coffee had not come, and, 
 apparently tired of talking, he was taciturn and 
 silent. Sir Burleigh smoking, I knitting. The 
 level sunrays came in, gilding us all. I thought 
 we should make a strange picture, framed, just 
 as we sat. The silence grew intense ; each was 
 thinking deeply. Craig came in, lit the candles, 
 and put out a card-table. Then milord rose, and 
 moodily challenged his uncle to cribbage, who 
 accepting it, I withdrew and sat on the stairs 
 facing the sunset, and imaging out lovely scenes 
 wherein others took part, of which I could only 
 be ever a wistful spectator. 
 
 From these idle speculations, I was roused by 
 seeing my old acquaintance Bill Stovel pass the 
 door, apparently looking out for some less dig- 
 nified entrance. I went down and called to him 
 to return. " I'm main glad to see you," he said. 
 " Seeing that Sandy M'Causland used to keep 
 varmints, I ha' here brought ye a dormouse." 
 
 "Thank you," I said, taking the soft little 
 creature tenderly, and stroking its beautiful tawny 
 coat. " What lovely black eyes it has. Bill."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 423 
 
 " Yaas," said Bill, with his habitual drawl, 
 " a ferret is usefuller, but they bites. Feed un on 
 nuts and a sup o' sweet milk, and let un sleep all 
 day," counselled Bill, " in a bed in some dark 
 place." 
 
 " Now," I enquired, " can I give you any- 
 thing T' 
 
 " No," said Bill, and then as at an afterthought 
 he produced from his hatband a dirty scrawled 
 note." Give this," said he, " to Verney Clifford ; 
 he'll be main mad to get it, for he's nigh killed 
 the man who wrote it." 
 
 Without another word, and with the briefest 
 possible nod. Bill turned and departed, leaving 
 me on the steps, a mouse in one hand and a 
 blood-stained missive in the other, which, being 
 open, I read without much scruple. " If," it ran, 
 " you would not kill me, will you send the surgeon 
 you promised, also some clean shirts % My shirt 
 sticks in the wound and is stiff ; also, I get no 
 attention here — the woman is a drunken bitch, 
 and the man came in too tired to keep awake. I 
 
 lay and thought over it all, and, Verney, by ! 
 
 I promise you, if I recover without your aid, I 
 will kill you ; so send at once to Dipcote, without 
 fail. — Tyrone Blount." 
 
 "Dipcote," thought I, recalling the hamlet, "is 
 a dozen miles from here. It has but the ruins of
 
 424 A STATESMAN'S LOVE, 
 
 a church and a few huts. I will not give this 
 note to Clifford, but will send Janet over with 
 some help at once — that is, if she will go." Janet 
 in the subterranean kitchen, was sitting by the 
 iire, her arms crossed, her thoughts wandering, 
 probably to her absent son. 
 
 " Janet," said I, " suppose Dick were dying ! " 
 
 "But he is na, that I ken," said Janet, mth 
 composure. 
 
 " Well then, leave supposing. There is a* man 
 dying at Dipcote, and, if you have not a heart 
 of stone, you will go to him, seeing I am not 
 able." 
 
 " And is there none but Milady CliflPord and 
 me to go wanderin' the haill countraside nur- 
 sing the sick?" said Janet sullenly. 
 
 " Now," said I, Spartan-like, for the dormouse 
 was biting me and I was unwilling she should 
 see it, " here is the case. Milord has half- 
 killed Colonel Blount, who is lying at Dipcote, 
 and sends here for help. Who is likely to help 
 him, if we don't ? " 
 
 " Eh, well ! " said Janet, " I never yet knew a 
 servant's word to stop a Clifford's whim. If he 
 is dying, it behoves the man who put him there 
 to attend him." 
 
 " He did promise to send a surgeon," said I, 
 " and see how gay he has been all day, while
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 425 
 
 this wretch's life-blood, for all he knew, was 
 telling itself out. Now go, Janet, or I will." 
 
 " You," said Janet, " would do very well by a 
 wounded man. I'd pity Sir Burleigh. I must 
 have the cart out, and drive myself." 
 
 " Very well," I agreed, " take linen, he is of 
 a size with Sir Burleigh ; and take some wine." 
 
 " Shall I cart him back here ? " said Janet. 
 
 "Yes," said I resolutely, knowing that Sir 
 Burleigh would deny none of my orders. " If 
 he' can be moved bring him here. Clifford has 
 wronged and robbed him. Why should he mui'- 
 der him too ? Here is room enough ! " 
 
 Janet by this had on her woollen mutch, and, 
 bidding her wait, I went to a linen-press and 
 fetched a couple of Sir Burleigh's shirts, a few 
 handkerchiefs, and some lint, with which I 
 despatched her. Then I called Sir Burleigh. 
 
 " Sir," I said, when I had my arms about his 
 neck, " there is a poor wounded wretch at 
 Dipcote — a King's officer. I have sent for him 
 here, and called you to forgive me." 
 
 " A King's officer ! " he said uneasily. " Who is 
 he ?" 
 
 " Nay," said I " whoever he may be, would 
 you have him die at Dipcote for want of help % 
 But he has been half-murdered by Verney ; so it 
 is our province to aid him now."
 
 426 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Ay," said he, " then it is that villain Blount. 
 Nay, you should not have done this, Helen. He 
 hunted after Stuart's life sword in hand. Why 
 should we spare him? I am displeased with 
 you. Why not have asked me first \ " 
 
 I withdrew from him, grievously mortified by 
 the rebuke, which conveyed, besides, so great a 
 wish for revenge on a helpless wretch as I did 
 not think harboured with Sir Burleigh. 
 
 " Whatever he has done," I said at length, 
 " he is now in peril of life, and it is not yet too 
 late to stop Janet, whom I despatched to see to 
 him. Send Craig over and manage the family 
 murders amongst you. I will not further inter- 
 fere. Suppose it had been you," and here I 
 could no more words for tears — not for Blount's 
 sake, but for being chid, which I could take 
 better from anyone than Sir Burleigh. 
 
 " Then, by ! I will send Craig," said he, 
 
 " one cannot blow hot and cold — love Stuart and 
 save his enemies." And he went out in a rage 
 to seek out Craig, whom he presently de- 
 spatched. 
 
 I took the dormouse, now quiet and sleepy, 
 
 upstairs with me, making it a nest in a japanned 
 
 shaving-box, where it immediately dozed ofi". 
 
 As I watched ;its soft little curled-up form, it 
 
 eemed crueller than ever that, bad as Blount
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 427 
 
 was, he should be at the mercy of a drunken 
 woman and indifferent man too tired to attend 
 on him. Besides, to have a King's officer in 
 the house was no despicable policy to still sus- 
 picions. And yet, again, he had some sparks of 
 honour, for which one could but respect him. 
 
 He did right to fight with Verney, who seemed 
 to have escaped scatheless — due, no doubt, to 
 Blount's fury, or to some skilfully-uttered taunt 
 which shook his undisciplined soul — some 
 reference to the cause of the duel, some fuel 
 flung on the lire of his anguish and humiliation. 
 It was not that I loved Stuart less, but I should 
 have despised him had I thought him capable of 
 a small and safe vengeance on an enemy now 
 wounded and helpless. " Yet," thought I, leaning 
 out of the window to watch the uprising of the 
 new moon, with one attendant star, through the 
 amber afterglow of sunset — "Yet," Sir Burleigh 
 was doubtless right, and I must not, in future, be 
 so bold as to act without his sanction." Just then 
 I heard him call me from below, and, going 
 down, I found him more peaceable inclined, 
 but not willing to discuss Blount on any terms. 
 
 Verney, being tired, had gone to bed. He had 
 been very dissipated of late, 'twas too evident 
 by his pallor. So we were alone. Sir Burleigh 
 was writing, and I sat by and helped him to
 
 428 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 spell, so he got on pretty rapidly for him. He 
 said he was writing to Kilmarnock, to whom, at 
 the end, I desired my respects and humble duty. 
 What the letter was about I neither knew nor 
 cared, being for the moment more wrapped up 
 in the scrawled note from Dipcote and the 
 thought of Blount's helplessness. Was Janet 
 arrived there % Had Craig overtaken her 1 What 
 wouldBlount think of my message and its counter- 
 mand, an impolitic one for everybody % After an 
 hour or so I began to doze wearily. Sir Burleigh's 
 unaccustomed pen scratched on with plodding 
 patience. His was indeed devotion. No Eoyalist 
 cavalier of old, with plumed hat and point-lace 
 ruffles, ever worked harder in a cause than he 
 over that long despatch-like letter. It was at 
 length finished, sealed, and safely locked away 
 for sending, when we heard the jolting of a cart 
 on the turf, coming slowly up to the house. 
 
 " Come," said Sir Burleigh, seizing my arm, 
 " if ever man had wilfuller wife, I should like to 
 know where he is. Come and see this precious 
 King's officer. Eh, then I let Craig bring him. 
 Well, yes, but only for your prayer. I don't care 
 a straw whether he dies or no, for my own part. 
 However, here he is, I believe." 
 
 We went out, and I was right glad I had sent 
 for him. No surgeon was needed to show that he
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 429 
 
 was in extremity. All his robust boldness, all 
 his ruddy colour gone. As Sir Burleigh and 
 Craig lifted him from the cart, I saw that the 
 straw on which he had lain was bloodstained. 
 They carried him into a room at the back of the 
 hall, a room full of old furniture, rods, guns, and 
 nets, and there laid him on the floor, while 
 Janet, grumbling all the way, went upstairs and 
 brought down a bed and mattress, these being 
 disposed in a corner with a stout blanket below 
 him for lifting him in. He was placed thereon, 
 and I withdrew, while Craig, who had a good 
 knowledge of simple sort of bone-setting and 
 bleeding, undressed him and looked to his hurts. 
 While I had been there, he had looked at me 
 with a sort of ghastly wistfulness and appeal in 
 his sunk eyes, clear now from their former red- 
 ness, yet sad and colourless, as was his face. 
 
 When his wound was dressed, during which 
 he fainted from weakness and loss of blood, 
 Janet gave him some medicine she herself made 
 from poppy-juice or flowers, which, she asserted, 
 " would send a martyr at the stake to sleep," and, 
 although Blount in nowise fulfilled that role, yet 
 he went to sleep as soundly as a good man might. 
 So, leaving Craig beside him for the night and a 
 bottle of port at hand for his revival, we having 
 done our miserable best, went all off" to bed. Sir
 
 430 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Burleigh not a little pluming himself on his 
 relenting. 
 
 " It was," said he, " that I did not like your 
 tears ; so think, before ever you run me into 
 
 danger with your d d weeping, whether or 
 
 no you will begin. I tell you honestly — and we 
 were Catholics once and used to confessing — 
 that to save you a pain or a trouble I would put 
 my hand in the fire like that recanting rascal 
 E-idley — ay, or both hands if one would not 
 serve." 
 
 He made up some lame story to Verney, in the 
 morning, about having accidentally heard of 
 Blount being at Dipcote, which he graciously 
 accepted, as a past-master of an art will not be 
 too hard on tyros, it being only your pretenders 
 who are in haste to expose their adversaries' 
 weaknesses and ignorances. 
 
 Blount was but little stronger in the morning, 
 but exerted what force he had in the grasp he 
 gave my hand, conveying that Janet had told 
 him I had sent to him. It was a sorry sight to 
 see so big a man so helpless, with very little 
 more life than kept his heart going. Janet had 
 relented somewhat, and was very good in her 
 attendance on him, in intervals of cooking. Craig 
 slept all day to be ready for night, and we had to 
 wait on ourselves. Milord, though his con-
 
 A STA TESMAN'S LO VE. 43 1 
 
 science did not move him much, yet felt uneasy, 
 and required very much attention and mild treat- 
 ment, by virtue of which he became more 
 friendly to the wounded man than had we re- 
 buked or reviled him. 
 
 "After all, it was in fair fight — fair as the 
 world looked on such things ; foul only in that 
 Verney would not slip any chance, by word or 
 taunt, to help disarm his adversary of self-con- 
 trol." 
 
 It was strange what difference the chance of 
 death had wrought in Colonel Blount; it had 
 clean lifted him out of that slough of self which 
 disguised his better qualities. His face, though 
 haggard and white, expressed now some good, 
 though it were but gratitude and patience. 
 Verney and he, like men of the world, met on as 
 good terms as could be expected. Sir Burleigh 
 looked in on him every day, with a sort of 
 malevolent indifference — ever after his visit 
 claiming my praise and commendation for so 
 going against his own inclinations. M'Causland 
 came over often to sit with him, and had to be 
 watched lest he should talk too much about 
 Alexis, which — and not Blount — was his object 
 in coming at all. 
 
 Altogether the invalid had no bad time of it, 
 considering his precarious chances at Dipcote,
 
 432 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 and, when the summer waning left us a gold- 
 tinted September, he was able to come out on 
 the terrace, and lie in one of the embrasured 
 seats, supported by cushions, and see Verney go 
 oif partridge-shooting, and watch the gleam of 
 the distant lake through the trees, now thinning 
 their yellow robes. It was a sweet, calm scene 
 wherein this avenger of blood lay, lapped in 
 peace in the midst' of enemies. I read to him, 
 sometimes from Wycherley, sometimes from the 
 Bible, oftener from Waller, which he liked, 
 mournfully comparing his lost Fernie Tremen- 
 heere to Sacharissa, though he would very seldom 
 talk of her, as it too much excited him. Yet 
 he, I knew, thought of her incessantly, and was 
 even willing through me to beg Verney to go and 
 see her. 
 
 " Just now," said he once, through his teeth, 
 when Verney had passed us with his setter and 
 gun, " Just now, when she may die for want of 
 care and tenderness, he goes off bird-shooting. 
 Oh, my God ! what have I done in all my life to 
 deserve this ? " 
 
 The tears rolled down his face, which I wiped 
 away for him on my soft cambric kerchief, 
 comforting him all I could, though I felt like 
 reminding him of the many husbands and 
 brothers he had thus himself ^vronged and
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 433 
 
 robbed, and proving to Mm that he had met far 
 less than his deserts in losing Fernie. 
 
 Women are born preachers, and, for ingenious 
 ethical systems into which they can fit all cases, 
 Procrustes was but a fool to them. In this case, 
 however, I held my tongue, letting his own 
 conscience work out the problem of his sins and 
 their punishment. Justice doomed him to 
 suffer what he had inflicted on others. 
 
 " The only ray of light in the whole cursed busi- 
 ness,'' said he, " is that she has a friend in you. 
 Ah ! for God's sake, never turn against her. She 
 is a good girl at heart, but that tiger Clifford 
 frightened and fascinated her." Then, relapsing 
 into gloom and dismalness, I cheered him some- 
 what by stories of our walks and talks together, 
 dwelling on her cheerfulness and mirth, which 
 the constant poor wretch did not grudge to her, 
 but rather was glad of. Such is true love, so self- 
 forgetting. Here was he, in pain and misery 
 inflicted through her, delighted with her delight, 
 joying in her joy, and only writhing and moaniQg 
 at the thought of her being neglected or uncared 
 for. 
 
 "Ask," said he one day when the yellow leaves 
 were floating downward by tens of thousands 
 through the still warm air and settling on the 
 turf, "Ask something of me, Helen Eohan, I 
 
 F F
 
 434 ^ STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 care not what, only let it be hard and dangerous, 
 imperilling all I have, or prize, or hope." 
 
 " Then," said I, reflecting that it might chance 
 so in warfare, and fully believing his earnest 
 looks, " I ask you to respect the life you sought 
 here ; I ask that neither gold nor fame may win 
 you to forget my now request." 
 
 " By God ! " said he, " if it chance in my 
 power to grant, and I forget your wish, I hope 
 every curse that ever was breathed may settle on 
 me, and fulfil itself." 
 
 " I do not mean Vemey," said I uneasily. 
 
 " No, you mean Stuart ; even for you I would 
 not promise Vemey' s life, if ever he hurt or 
 harm my little sweetheart." Here the poor 
 fellow, none to the disgrace of his manhood in 
 my eyes, shed more tears even than before, and 
 held my hand so tight, to help suppress his sobs, 
 that he seriously hurt it — his hands being so 
 strong compared with mine. 
 
 " Of that I need take no oath," he said at 
 length, reverting to his promise. " It has gone 
 to my heart, which shall be torn out of my body 
 ere I forget or evade the least tithe of my word 
 to you. I am glad, too, 'tis a hard matter.'* 
 
 " How," said I, after a pause, " did you get so 
 long leave ? " 
 
 " My uncle," said he, " the Earl of Tyrone,
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 435 
 
 has much interest, and my regiment has been so 
 long on active service, that there was little diffi- 
 culty. I had, besides," — here he nearly choked — 
 " made arrangements for long leave for my mar- 
 riage, vrhich is used thus " 
 
 " Pray leave weeping," said I, feeling my own 
 eyes suffused, " or I must not talk with you. 
 Sir Burleigh was angry yesterday that you had 
 made me so sad, and you, I know, wish me 
 no iU." 
 
 " Go on then," said he sullenly, " with 
 Wycherley, I can bear my griefs alone," and 
 he made a shift to turn his poor tear-stained 
 face away. But I smoothed it softly with my 
 hand, till he smiled and was friends again. 
 Then we went on with " The Plain Dealer," 
 which amused him mightily, so much of his 
 old spirit reviving that, if I hesitated over 
 any of the words or phrases, he begged for 
 the book, and read them himself, with great 
 laughs. 
 
 Craig coming with a basin of broth, I went 
 away, not sorry for release, but observing him 
 as I walked on the turf below the terrace. 
 
 " Sirrah," said he to Craig, after taking the 
 broth, " can you read '? " 
 
 " Ou ay ! " said Craig, " read eneuch to pick 
 my way in the Bible." 
 
 F F — 2
 
 436 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Take this then," said the Colonel, indicating 
 the playbook, " and go on from here." 
 
 Craig obediently stumbled over several lines^ 
 rendering them into pure Ayrshire, till, coming 
 to a bad word, he paused. 
 
 " What the devil," said Blount, " stops you ? '* 
 
 " Eh ! sir," said Craig, " it isna for the likes o*^ 
 me to peril their souls o'er playbooks, if the 
 quality e'en does sae. The Lord knows they 
 are no moral eneuch to be blamed ; but a gude 
 Scot, kirk-bred, wad be e'en sair misca'd for 
 so gaain' awa frae better knowledge. An' ye 
 know. Colonel Blount, he that knaws richt an*^ 
 does it not shall be beaten with mony stripes ! " 
 
 "Then why the devil don't you read it in 
 English?" said Blount languidly, "laying up 
 
 d n for yourself with your d d Ayrshire 
 
 drawl." 
 
 What rejoinder Craig made I don't know, as 
 he walked off with his tray. And I, going up 
 the steps into the hall, resisted an appealing 
 glance Blount cast at me : I could afford him no 
 more time for reading, as Sir Burleigh had called 
 me, standing on the threshold with an open letter 
 in his hand, his face dark as night. 
 
 " What is it \ " said I, following him into the 
 study. 
 
 " This ! " He threw the letter on the table ;
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 437 
 
 " Verney's wife has a son, and sends to me for 
 money, saying milord spent all he had in gaming, 
 and left her with her friends — ^but for whose aid 
 she had been penniless. Her father is away in 
 France. So, you see, I have a beggar and her 
 brats to support, as I knew I should.'^ 
 
 " Two," said I, " counting me. Yet you will 
 not grudge to help her now?" 
 
 " I will not help her. Why should I ? Verney 
 has his income ; if he spends it on himself, it is 
 no more than she deserves, as she knew he 
 would — both counting on my being fool enough 
 to keep her — but I'm none so great a fool as that 
 yet. I'll simply pass it on to Verney, who must 
 have countenanced it. As barefaced a piece of 
 beggary as ever I heard of! " 
 
 " Do not be hard on her. Sir Burleigh. We 
 know Verney always spends everything. It is 
 too bad of him to oblige her to this. Send her 
 a little money." 
 
 " Not I, 'twould be a precedent. You may, if 
 it please you," and, relenting a little, he gave me 
 a fifty-pound bank-bill, which I enclosed in a 
 letter, stating Sir Burleigh's anger at Verney's 
 treatment of her, but begging her not to rely on 
 him for the means of living, but insist, through 
 her friends, on her husband's proper maintenance 
 of her. This, with congratulations on her son's
 
 438 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 birth and hopes for her welfare, I enclosed, got 
 franked, and had posted. 
 
 " How long," sighed I that night, restless and 
 sleepless, " am I to go about in this monstrous 
 discomfort — in a disguise I loathe — in a state I 
 abhor? " 
 
 Sir Burleigh and Verney were away at a far- 
 off hamlet investigating some sheep-stealing case, 
 and would sleep there. M'Causland had gone 
 also. 
 
 I had no one to speak to, so, becoming more 
 restless and unhappy, I rose and walked about, 
 the long flame of the candle I carried flaring 
 through the gallery. I blcAV it out, the grey 
 moonlight alone showing me, ghost-like, cold, 
 trembling in every limb. After a time I went 
 downstairs — they seemed endless — and awoke 
 Janet, who, hurriedly dressing, accompanied me 
 upstairs. What after passed I scarce know, 
 save that a child was born into the world, and I, 
 at the point of death, weary with pain, wished it 
 dead, that its shrill cries might not vex my dull 
 ears, drag me back to pain and anguish. 
 
 " That will soon pass," said Janet soothingly. 
 " You shall not hear it," and, taking it into the 
 next room, she gave me some poppy-juice, or 
 other sleepy stuff, under whose blessed influence 
 I forgot everything till the midday sun awoke me.
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 439 
 
 Janet stood by, forbidding speech; she 
 sponged my face with rosewater, however, which 
 revived me. 
 
 " What is it ] '' said I, indifferently, at length. 
 
 " A beautiful blessed boy," said she, " the 
 image of its father. Will you see him ? " 
 
 " No," said I, relapsing into sleepiness, " not 
 now." And shutting my eyes on the world, the 
 sweet sleep-god brought me back hour by hour 
 to renewal of strength, swiftly bearing off pain 
 and disquiet. 
 
 Sir Burleigh did not return that day, remain- 
 ing with a neighbour Jacobite. I did not miss 
 him — everything was dreamy and vague. The 
 large cool state-room, lit up by a wood fire in 
 its distant hearth, was silent and pleasant. There 
 was an infant wailing in some distant room. 
 Janet was absent ; presently she entered with the 
 boy, who was, I could see, very handsome, with 
 fine blue eyes, dressed up in most extravagant 
 robes, in which it wriggled about like an eel in 
 long clothes. 
 
 " Is that it \ " said I, mth languid curiosity, 
 " why it's like me." 
 
 " Boys mostly favour their mothers," said 
 Janet, oracle like. " I've got it a fosterer, mi- 
 lady — a foster mother. Bless your blue eyes, 
 when will your father see you % "
 
 440 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 " Ay, when \ " sighed I, despondently, thinking 
 aloud. 
 
 " He will soon be here my dear. I could na 
 send Craig, for there is the Colonel to tend. Ay, 
 here he comes.'' 
 
 " So," said Sir Burleigh coming in softly, 
 followed by M'Causland, "So you've stole a 
 march on us, Helen. Eh, but this is a fine 
 fellow, M'Causland," taking the child from Janet. 
 
 " Better could na be," was the reply. " He is 
 just pairfect, he is so truly." Sir Burleigh, after 
 this praise, dismissed them all and sat by to 
 watch while I slept, Janet giving him a part- 
 ing order not to suffer me to talk — unnecessary, 
 for I dozed off, awaking to find that he was gone 
 and she herself returned. 
 
 Presently a knock came to the door. 
 
 " It is milord," said Janet, " will you see 
 him ? " 
 
 Verney came briskly in, laughing. 
 
 " Enter the disinherited !" said he. " Where 
 is this brat \ " 
 
 " Somewhere about," said I, closing my eyes, 
 which he seemed to dazzle, or perchance, it was 
 was the noise he made gave that feeling. 
 
 " Bring him here, Janet," he called. 
 
 " He is asleep, milord ; come into the next 
 room."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 441 
 
 " Ay," said he, " begin with shame to take a 
 lower place," but he followed her. 
 
 " He is a fine boy," said he, returning, " a 
 very good addition to the Jacobites. I suppose 
 he will follow his father's footsteps. You cannot 
 expect me to congratulate you, Helen. Where 
 am I now ? " 
 
 I made no answer. Janet in a whisper re- 
 quested him to go, and gave me some wine. As 
 I lay watching the play of the firelight on the 
 panelled walls, Verney's words haunted me, 
 darting like serpents in and out of the carved 
 wreaths of foliage, fruit, and flowers : — " A very 
 good addition to the Jacobites." 
 
 So and similarly a few weeks passed on, wit- 
 nessing a rapid recovery, helped on by so much 
 kindness from Sir Burleigh that I felt that the 
 bloom and glow of regained health and strength 
 were mainly due to him. 
 
 The child soon ceased to be a novelty — in 
 truth Janet and his country nurse monopolised 
 him, alleging and proving against me so many 
 charges of ignorance and incompetence in its 
 management, that, nothing loth, except for a daily 
 inspection, I left it to them, only stipulating that 
 its abode should not be continually the subter- 
 ranean kitchen. Even this was nearly the 
 occasion of a civil strife, for Janet's son had been
 
 442 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 reared there, and, according to her account, wa 
 " the wisest, brightest, tallest of mankind." But, 
 on this subject, though doubting nothing of her 
 Dick's perfections, I thought free air and light 
 the better for a CliiFord, though only an honorary 
 member of that illustrious house. Therefore a 
 high and roomy attic was fitted up with the 
 necessary paraphernalia, and to this Janet, in 
 intervals of working, continually ascended by the 
 back stairs, like a pilgrim to a shrine, or a favour- 
 seeking courtier. And there the blue-eyed imp 
 throve amazingly, with his rosy-cheeked foster- 
 dame. 
 
 Verney had been induced to go off to his wife — 
 bribed thereto. Blount lingered, almost too weak 
 still for removal, and his meekness and quiet- 
 ness, besides his card-playing, made Sir Burleigh 
 almost his friend. 
 
 All our old life resumed its way, though the 
 consciousness of the new life above-stairs doubt- 
 less influenced it a little, imperceptibly. Still we 
 were happy and peaceful till, hearing of Verney's 
 returning with his wife, I counselled Blount to go. 
 
 " Not that we desire it. Believe me, we are no 
 happier in their return than you w^ould be." 
 
 " I will go," said Blount gloomily. " I have 
 been granted some compensation here, Helen 
 Rohan — milady, I mean."
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 443 
 
 I held his worn hand — hardened with much 
 sword-practice — and felt very sorry for the big 
 rough soldier. I would gladly enough have been 
 spared the telling him to go from any haven 
 where he found peace, and desired him to think 
 so, which he avowed he did. " And you who have 
 cared so well for my dormouse," I said, taking out 
 the little creature from an ingenious nest of 
 cotton, wool the Colonel had constructed. " It 
 is but a poor return to bid you leave us." 
 
 " Take care," said Blount, with the eagerness 
 of a boy, "not to awake him." 
 
 " I must," said I, wishing to see his black 
 eyes open wide. So the little tawny-coated 
 creature slowly awakened, regarding us with 
 prominent shining eyes from the hollow of my 
 hand. 
 
 " It has been a distraction for me," said Blount 
 sighing, " even to wait on a mouse you loved. 
 Can you part with it? " 
 
 Though loath, I could not refuse it him, yet 
 I guessed that, once more in the world, he would 
 either kill or neglect it. Expressing this fear, 
 he replied passionately : "Have I so many friends 
 like you — so many who would boldly snatch a 
 bad man from a deserved death, and never re- 
 proach him, even by a glance, for the past ] So 
 long as this little creature lives it will at least be
 
 444 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 a living memory of your goodness to me, who 
 am now but a wretched, lonely man." 
 
 '' Take it then," I said, " and for God's sake 
 do not imperil your restored health by careless 
 living. I do not like to think that what has been 
 so slowly built up, may be ruthlessly pulled down. 
 Will you write to us ] " 
 
 " Yes," he said, " but my hand is readier with 
 arms than a pen." 
 
 " No matter for that, you have promised.'* 
 
 " Now," said he, " let me see your boy, that I 
 may remember you a happy wife and mother, 
 as poor Fernie, I fancy, is not much of either. 
 I dread she is unhappy with that villain Clifford. 
 Would to God they had never met, and 'twas 
 my fault they did." 
 
 I went slowly upstairs to fetch the child, and 
 brought him down tangling his hands in my haii', 
 and opening his blue eyes widely to stare at 
 Blount, who took him in his arms admiring him, 
 as worldly men oftentimes praise what is un- 
 likest themselves, and appreciate qualities they 
 themselves lack. 
 
 " I should think myself happy with a son like 
 that," he said. " He has a high-born look about 
 him." 
 
 " New-born, you mean," I laughed, amused. 
 
 " No, I don't," he said resentfully. " Look at
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 445 
 
 the fine straight level of his brows, and the proud 
 brightness of his eyes. I would he were mine/' 
 
 " Take him too," said I, " your return to 
 quarters with a small family, including the dor- 
 mouse, would be a welcome jest to your brother 
 soldiers." 
 
 Then, as he seemed pleased to act as nurse, we 
 walked up and down slowly, Janet watching 
 wistfully from a distance a signal to fetch her 
 darling from the lions.. 
 
 Too weak to ride, Blount was driven by 
 M'Causland to meet the London coach, thirty- 
 miles ofi", after a grateful parting. We all 
 missed him, and Craig, to whom he gave a 
 generous recompense, opined that, though he 
 loved playbooks and was but a soldier, there 
 were worse men than the Colonel. 
 
 Very bad times followed. Lady Clifford re- 
 turned to the Manor in indifferent health, with- 
 out her child, who had been placed out at nurse 
 in the country. Verney only saw her safely in- 
 stalled and then went off to town, and poor 
 Fernie, ill and feverish, tried us all every way. 
 Lamenting, lonely, unsociable, and indolent, the 
 whole household grew to dread her, so loudly at 
 the least cross did she exclaim she was barbarously 
 treated — and so in fact she was, by the separation 
 from her child, and the contemptuous neglect of
 
 446 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 Verney Clifford, who never even wrote to her. 
 Blount wrote to me once or twice from Ireland, 
 whither he had gone in command of his regiment ; 
 he mentioned the mouse as being trained by a 
 clever sergeant of his in many ingenious tricks, 
 and over this part of his letter I was laughing 
 in the study when Fernie came languidly in. 
 
 " That," said she, recognizing the writing, " is 
 from Tyrone Blount. How dare you correspond 
 with him ? " 
 
 " How dare you," I rejoined indignantly, " to 
 mention the man you deserted and your husband 
 nearly killed ? " 
 
 " That is not the question," said she, trembling 
 with anger. " Till you came between us we loved 
 each other truly." 
 
 " I, madam ! " said I, wonderingly, " what had 
 I to do with parting you, who only saw you 
 once ? " 
 
 " And that once," said she in tears, " was 
 enough. He praised you and your beauty forsooth, 
 and your wit, and said I showed like a wooden 
 doll beside you — till for spite I turned to Yerney, 
 who praised me. That was the first of many 
 bickerings, in all which he taunted me with you; 
 for he was jealous of Verney, nor had not the art 
 to hide it, but being pained himself sought to 
 pain me — 'twas his way. So it fell out from bad 
 
 /
 
 A STATESMAN'S LOVE. 447 
 
 to worse, and we two wretches threw away our 
 lives' bread for a stone." 
 
 " That was your own domg," I said, " pray 
 leave me to my letters, I have none so much 
 amusement that you need come with your 
 grievous stories — I do not trouble you with my 
 griefs, nor will not eternally listen to yours. '^ 
 
 " You have none," said ^he, weeping. " You 
 have a good husband and a host of lovers, and 
 now you take, like the wicked wretch you are, 
 my one ewe-lamb ! " 
 
 This comparison, without my consent, threw 
 me into a fit of laughter, which I could not 
 control. Fernie in a fury snatched at Blount's 
 letter, which after finishing I let her have, and 
 she read it, and discussed it then more amicably, 
 seeing it was but of a friendly tone and not 
 special. So it came about that when I was writing 
 to him, she would linger near humbly, and when 
 it was franked would snatch up the letter and 
 kiss it. After rebuking her a round dozen of 
 times for this foolishness, I endeavoured to 
 write his special letters in private, but she grew 
 so unhappy if debarred this harmless silent 
 message, that I let it pass, though reluctantly, 
 dreading lest, if stopped, she should take to 
 WTiting to him herself. 
 
 END OF VOL. I.
 
 PEIKTED BY 
 CHAS. STRAKER AND SONS, LONDON AND REDHILL. 
 
 I\ 
 
 V.