m: •f-iR^m^ ^.c >^^ x^'^l^Ho^rn />/. / Digitized by the Internet Arcinive in 2009 witii funding from Duke University Libraries Iittp://www.arcliive.org/details/broughamcastleno01liarv \,(q^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. A NOVEL. Pririttd by J. Darling, 31, Leadenhall-street, London. BROUGHAM CASTLE a Nobel. '■^■^ ^■f-*-*'** IN TWO VOLUMES. By jane HARVEY, AUTHOR OF AUBERRY STANHOPE, ETHEUA, CASTLE OF TYNE- MOUTH, WARKFIELD CASTLE, Sfc. ^c. I confess it is my natnre's plagoe To spy into abuse ; and oft my jealousy Shapes faults that are not. SHAKESPEARE. VOL. I. - »i] >c « g« Eontrott : Printed at the Minerva Press for A. K. NEWMAN AND CO. LEADENHALL-STREET, 1816. v,/ BROUGHAM CASTLE. CHAPTER I. X HE traveller who, in making the tour of the celebrated lakes in Cumber- land and Westmoreland, carried with him a taste for the beauties of nature, and a veneration for the monuments of antiquity, would view with considerable interest, and will remember with cor- respondent associations of pleasure, the extensive ruins of Brougham Castle, si- tuated near the borders of the last-named county, on the banks of the river Ea- mont, and not far from its confluence \Vith the Lowther. Perhaps no part of VOL. I. 3 the ^ biiougha:^! castle. the island of Great Britain affords a more sublime and beautiful prospect than that which the heights of this once-lofty edifwe have commanded. The rich and highly-cultivated vale of Eden openi^ to the east, terminated, at the utmost verge of the extensive landscape, by the high hills of Yorkshire ; and to the north- east closed raore nearly by the towering heights of Crossfell; to the north, be- yond the svreetly-winding Eamont, rises the neat town of Penrith, with its ruined fcastle and lofty beacon; to the north.- vrest, the bridge of Eamont, with tlie little hamlet to which it gives name. Nor do the venerable remains of ^May- brough, the sacred temple of the Druids, form the, least-interesting feature in tliis lovely scene. To the west are the Ver- dant groves of Brougham Hall, which, from its elevated situation and enchant- ing prospect, has been emphatically styled ** the JJ^mdsor of the North ;" but it is inore frequently called in the neighbour- hood BROUOflAM CASTLE.. 3, hood ''Bird's Nestr ^om a Mr. Bkd,, who was once its owner. In these points of view the long vista is closed by the Alps of this country^ — lofty Skiddaw, huge Helvellyn, and mighty Saddleback, contending for pre-eminence, hke the tliree rival goddesses on Ida's top. To thie south, the ancient woods of Lowther spread their extensive shade. Nor ha»^ the eye which contemplates the beauties of the varied and elegant map, thus spread before it, tp wander over an un- interesting or unpleasmg foreground. The rocky and abrupt steeps of Whin- field Park hang over the windmg Eden, and rushing Eamont, crowned with stately groves, where oak*, fir, beech, and ash, intermingle the varied verdure B 2 of * In this park are oak trees of a very large size : three ia particular were called the Three Brothers, the smallest of which is still standing, or at least was so a few years since ; it; measured forty feet and a )x\\i in circumference, an,d was esteetaed one of the greatest curiosities in Eng- knd. 4 BROUGHAM CASTLE. of their foliage. The red stony soil of which these broken banks are formed, contrasts finely with the lovely green which clothes them, and with the clear streams which flow at their feet, where the trout and the silver eel find a plea- sant home, and by whose margin the wild ducks weave their lonely nest ; the fallow-deer, with their sleek coats and branching horns, bounding through the glades, give animation to the picture. Amid the grassy knolls which pasture them, the mingled blossoms of the haw- thorn and the whin shed their fragrance, and give shelter to the woodland song- sters ; while the solemn-voiced rooks find a habitation in the loftier branches above, and even the royal eagle has been known to build his aerie in Whinfield Park. ^Irs. RadclifFe, in her " Observations during a Tour to the Lakes, &c." says that Brougham Castle " is rendered more in- teresting by having been occasionally the BEOUGHAM CASTLE. 5 the residence of the humane and gene- rous sir Philip Sydney, who had only to look from the windows of this once-no- ble edifice to see his own Arcadia spread- ing on every side. The landscape pro- bably awakened his imagination, for it was during a visit here that the greatest part of that work w^as written." Such a circumstance is indeed calcu- lated to throAv a spell of fascination over any scene; for the eye of taste and re- finement delights to vv^ander among places which have been the resort of persons distinguished for genius and \drtue. The lady Mary Sydney, sister to sir Philip, w^as the mother of Philip earl of Pembroke, who became possessed of Brougham Castle in right of his wife, the celebrated lady Anne Clifford^', daugh- ter of George earl of Cumberland. B 3 To • The names of those celebrated ladies are dear to every reader of., taste. Who but recollects the subject •f that chariniug epitaph — ** Sydney's sister — Fern- broke'* '6^ BROUGHA^f CASTL*. To describe the shattered remains of Brougham Castle, as they now stand, would convey little pleasure to the reader; neither would the description remain accurate for an}^ length of time, as the ruins are diminishing almost daily, by the removal of the stones for the purpose * of erecting or repairing build- ings hrolie's mother l" wliilst few females of tlie seventeenth <;entuiy appear with brighter lustre on the records of biography than Anne countess of Pembroke. That fin* memorial of duty, reverence, and affection, which sha displayed in erecting a pillar on the spot of her Inst part- ing with her mother, is noticed by Mr. Rogers in his beautiful poem of the " Pleasures of Memory ;'"■ nor wai there ever a more striking instance of tender alTectioQ which had survived tlie circumstance forty yiears. * A considerable portion of Whinfie'.d Park is now io- tillage. In the year 1778, a person following the plough there found a fibula, or clesp ring of pure gold. It is of curious workmanship, weighs nineteen "pennyweights, and is encircled with the following motto : — To ye then my trought I plig/it, And io ye Mary, his moder briglU.^' Mr. BROt^GHAM CASTLi:. 7 ings belonging to the adjacent farms. More pleasing will I^e the task of tracin-g B 4 the Mr. Hutchinson, in his " History of Cumberland," has given an engraving of this antique,' and, concernir.g the motto, observes — " This comprehends a vow of troth and marriage, of which the ring has been the pledge. The words, his moder bright, want some eluci- dation, to show they correspond critically with the vov/^ find prove the gift was for fea:jale use; but what part of a woman's gai-ment was clasped by a fibula is diiiicult to determine. The word?, his moder bright, mean his- excellent maiden or virgin. Bright is an oid English- word of common acceptation. ?jIoder is a corruption of the Danish word moor, signifynig a virgin or maiden ; the people of Norfolk in some measure retain the word to th s day. Norfolk was given to the Danes by king Alfred, S76 ; it was totally inhabited by them, and their customs^ laws, and speech, were there used. They call virgins and young maids nioer, as Olaus Wormiu'S testifies. Fas. Dan. lib. 1. c. 6. This, by the ignorant rustic, is corrupted, they pronouncing, instead of moer, moder. Dr. Cowel's Glossary," This elucidation is by no means satisfactory. If we are 8 BROUGHAM CASTLE. the history of a being who once inhabi- ted those now-desolated walls, whose joys are to understand the second line as addressed to Mary, an excellent maiden or virgin, to whom are we to apply the pronoun his ? If to the father of the young lady, the ring must have been presented to him, consequently wai not intended for female use; and of course there does not need any conjectures as to what part of a woman's dress^ was fastened by such an ornament, though it may be ob- served that one seldom sees a representation of an an- cient Grecian, Roman, or British female, whose drapery is not clasped on the bosom, shoulder, or sleeve, by some- what of a similar form to that now under consideration. That moevy corruptly pronounced moder, is a term by which the ignorant people in Norfolk call young girls, may be very true (though such corruptions are usually made by contracting v.'ords, not enlarging them); but unless it could be proved that the motto of the ring found in Whinfield Park was the production of an igno- rant Norfolk rustic, what light does such a definition of the word luaer throw on the subject? A more probable solution appears to be, that the Jir&t Hue only is addressed to the ladv, and that in it the lover plights his faith to her, while the second contains a so- lemn BUOUGHAM CASTLE. a joys and whose sorrows are recorded in the following pages. In the spring of the year 1636, a mar- ried couple of the name of Crosthwaite obtained permission to take up their abode in some of the deserted apart- ments of Brougham Castle — a favour which, it is probable, was granted them at the solicitation of the steward, or some other chief domestic, of the nobleman to whom the edifice then belonged. Crosthwaite was the son of a school- master at Aldston, in Cumberland, whose veneration for Grecian literature was so B 5 great, kmn vow to tb.e Virgin Mary that he will keep that faith sacred. His mother, or the mother of God, are appella- tions frequently iiiven to the Virgin hy Roman Catholics,. Moder is the ol:l English way of spellirg mother ; and as there is full as much' probability that the motto was the- composition of a native of Westmoreland as of Norfolk^ a very cogent argument may be drawn from the vulgar pronunciation of Westmoreland and Cunaberland; for, by the lower classes in those two counties, the worJ mother is invariably pronounced mudder. iO •DTROTJGHAM CASTLE. great, that in selecting a name for llis^ heir, he chose that of the reputed founder of the Greek alphabet. Cadmus did not dison-ace his illustrious - <^ appellation ; his passion for letters was at least equal to that of his father. Na- ture had not endowed him with a very extensive capacity, but his habits of un- remitting industry and application — ha* bits which are frequently a much bet- ter substitute for geniuf than genius^ for them — amply atoned for this defi- ciency ; and at twenty his acquirements-, >such as they were, recommended him to the notice of Mr. Ponsonby, a gentleman in the vicinity of Carlisle, *who took him tinder his protection as an assistant tolii* steward. In this family Cadmus continued seven years ; at the conclusion of that period sir Thomas Dacre, a young baronet, wlio^ had been the pupil of his father, and the associate of himself in the studies and amusements of early youth, made him JUL BROUGHAM CASTLE. il an offer of accompanying him in a tour on the Continent. This proposal was accepted with gratitude and pleasure. The parents of Crosthwaite were nov/ dead, and he had no earthly attachment greater than that he felt for the Dacre family. They resided in Germany and Italy about three years, an«[ were preparing to return home, when they were prevented by the illness of sir Thomas. His disor- der origmated in a cold, and terminated in a consumption, of which he died at Naples, after lingering nearly tWelve months.. Cadmus truly mourned his loss, for he had been to him a sincere and valu- able friend. Kis brother and successor, 8ir Robert, was a man of a veiy different character; and though Crosthwaite re- spected him because he was a Dacre, httle intercourse passed between them after the business concerning the affairs of the deceased sir Thomas was iinally adjusted. ^ B 6 Cadmus, 12 BROUGHAM CxVSTLE. Cadmus, as has already been said, sin- cerely regretted the death of his friend, and wrote a monody on the occasion ; and that the reader may duly appreciate his talents, he is here presented with an extract from this sublime composition. *^ Could stentorophonic woe, or lachrymation, Restore the object of my lamentation, I with my grief would laiicinate the evescerit; Or weep, like Niobe, till lapidescent. But that, alas ! would never suscitate The form occluded in the grave by fate 1 iSorrow, indulged too long, is fascinorous; To anguatate its auresis is glorious; And, as the immortal part is indestructible, I find that this conclusion is deductible — That to lament a friend, however lief, Undl the face is candicant with grief, Is but a phrenetick periclitation. From which tlie wise seek disincarceratlon.'^ Crosthwaite, soon after his return to England, accepted the situation of stew- ard to a Mr. Sibbald, w^ho resided in the county of Yofrk. Durins: BKOUGHAM CASTLE. 13 During his residence with this gen- tleman, he annvially made a journey to Westmoreland, to receive the rents of a small estate belonging to his master in the neighbourhood of Brougham Castle, which was leased to a farmer of the name of Blamire, a man far advanced in years, and of a disposition so sullen, morose, peevish, and discontented, that an un- married daughter wh6 resided with him had a most uncomfortable hfe. Amass- ing money was his chief pursuit and sole delight ; and provided he attained the end, he was not veiy scrupulous^ about the means. This avaricious disposition involved him in several petty disputes with his neighbours, which ended at last in a to- tal cessation of all intercourse between them and Blamire, to the infinite mor- tification and discontent of his daughter Prudence, who had a particular attach- ment to the faculties of hearino; and speech, from the use of which she now . , felt l4 BROUGHAM CASTLE. ' felt herself entirely precluded, except on those days when she attended Appleby or Penrith markets; not that any of those who had quarrelled with her father included her in their resentment — far from it; her cheerftil, friendly disposi- tion made her generally esteemed ; but Blamire would not permit her either to pay or receive any visits in the neigh- bourhood. It will easily be supposed that the periods at which JNIr. Cadmus Cros- thwaite made his annual appearance were looked forwai^ds to by the father and daughter with very different sensa- tions ; the gentleman anticipated, with heartfelt agony, the approaching dimi- nution of his cash-bag, and the lady painted to herself, with delight, the fresh stock of anecdotes which awaited lier, and tlie complaisant attention with which hers would be listened to in return. Her best bacon and eggs, her choicest cranberry tarts, and the finest cowslip wine BROUGHAM CASTLE; 15 wine in the county, were always stored for IMr. Crosthwaite ; nor could she have taken a more effectual method of paying her court to him, for Cadmus was a firm disciple of that part of the Epicurean phi- losophy which enjoins the gratification of the palate. He admired the good house- wifery of Prudence, thought her cook- ery excellent, and eyery time paid his visit with augmented pleasure. Some years wore over in this manner, during which the attachment on both sides imperceptibly gained strength. At length Cadmus perceived that a separa- tion must shortly take place between old Blamire and his money, and sagaci- ously considering, that when the precious metal should become the property of t^ fair Prudence, it would impart such a magnetic power to her numerous charms and good qualities as could not fail to attract all hearts, he wisely detemiined to secure the shining prize in time. With all proper formalities he decla- red 16 BROUGHAM CASTLE, red his admiration — with all due deco- rum the declaration was received ; but as the old gentleman might possibly take it into his head to refuse his con- sent, they very prudently provided against a refusal by a private marriage. It was doubtless their intention ta shortly acquaint their parent with the step they had taken, but death pre- vented them,, for he expired suddenly- two days after the event had taken place^ and his daughter and son-in-law became the undisputed inheritors of his earthly, possessions. Cadmus and his bride were not very inconsolable for the loss they had sus- tained, and were soon sufficiently col- lected to decide on their future plan of life. The lease of the farm was nearly out, but as Cadmus had been a faithful and valuable servant to Mr. Sibbald, that Sfentleman consented to renew it on the. same terms — a favour which, it is pro- bable, he would not have granted to an- other ; BROUGHAM CASTLIT. 17 other; for he loved money ahnost as well as his late tenant had done. Cadmus having obtained this conces-. sion from his landlord, would not at present venture to encroach for more; and as the house on the farm could not be made comfortable without the ex- penditure of a much larger sum than he believed Mr. Sibbald would be willing to disburse for its repairs, he solicited the permission which it has already been said he obtained, and took up his resi- dence in Brougham Castle, a situation very convenient for him, the chief part of his grounds laying immediately in its vicinity. This arrangement was not quite so agreeable to Mrs. Crosthwaite ; she was dreadfully afraid of those mischievous little beings denominated fairies, who are known to inhabit old buildings, and who, as fame reports, have, from time im- memorial abounded in mountainous,. woody ^, IS BROUGHAM .CASTLE. woody, and mii^ral countries; but a» there was no alternative, the old house being no longer habitable, Prudence was compelled to reconcile herself to the idea of residing among those formidable pigmies. The apartments which they found in tlie best state of repair v/ere on the east- em side of the Castle, where the pro- spect opens delightfully over the vale of Eden. A large parlour, wainscotted and floored with oak, was chosen for their sitting-room ; in this was placed the best articles of their furniture, which had been augmented by some new purchases; the smallest of several rooms near the foot of the grand staircase was occupied as a kitchen ; the chamber immediately above this was chosen for their o^vn apartment, wliile one of those v/hich had been the principal sleeping-rooms was prepared for the reception of occasional guests, and a yellow damask bed, which was BUOTTGHAM CASTLE. 19 was one of the ancient appurtenances of the Castle, was furbished up to grace it. The tapestry of this room, which repre- sented the death of JuHus Cassar, was a source of inexhaustible delight to Cad- mus, who idolized every vestige and semblance of antiquity ; nor did he ever suffer a week to pass in which he did not brush off every particle of dust, and chase the obtrusive spiders who dared to profane this precious rehc. Such was the habitation wliich IMrs. Crosthwaite put in order with the nicei^t care ; and having nailed up every other door in the Castle, and carefully stopped the keyholes of thase already enumera- ted, she flattered herself that the fairies would be effectually excluded. How- ever, as there still existed a possibility that their slender forms might gain ad- mittance by some unseen crevice, she wisely guarded against the terrible con- sequences of their well-known antipathy tQ. 20 BROUGHAM CASTLIT. to a dirty house, by keeping hers in the most exact order. But there was one circumstance which caused her infinite anxiety. Her hus- band had appropriated to his own use an apartment, in the tower which formed the north-east angle of the Castle. Here he deposited his ample collectioixof urns, coins, statues, altars, fossils, minerals, maps, and books; and here he passed many of his leisure hours, much to the dissatisfaction of his lady, who, being well-assured that this rem.ote tower was the chief haunt of the fairies, prognosti- cated that some fatal misfortune would infallibly ensue from thus intruding into their places of resort. Cadmus laughed at her fears, and persisted in retaining his study ; and Prudence was at length compelled to yield the point, and re- concile herself to what she could not re- medy. Twelve months wore over, and few married BROUGHAM CASTLE. 21 married people were happier than the Crosthwaites, though they differed ma- terially in many cu'cumstances of perso- nal appearance, temper, and taste. Cad- mus was of a low stature and broad make, with a visage formed on a large scale, strongly marked with the hnes of reflection, and perhaps with those of time, for he was now thirty -nine. Prudence, two years his senior, formed an admirable contra^st to her spouse, for siie was tall, thin, and small-featured. The manners of Crosthwaite were grave and formal, to a degree bordering on austerity; tliose of his wife were cheer- ful and unceremonious. His disposition had in it such a mixture of the bitter and the acid as occasionally fermented into testiness, sullenness, and scoffing satire; she was one of the best-humoured creatures breathing; she had, besides, two very praiseworthy qualities — an ar- dent desire to receive information, and an extreme readiness to communicate it to S2 BROUGHAM CASTLE. toothers ; and as these laudable pi-opensi*- ties had hitherto been kept in terrible thraldom, she now made herself ample amends by the pei-petual exercise of her ears and tongue. Cadmus, on the other hand, was too well read in the precepts of both ancient and modern philosophy not to know that there are ttvo guards tafmr words, teeth and lips, and that a close mouth mahes a wise head ; not but that he was ever ready to infomt those who had the misfortune to be ignorant of the exact manner in which Xerxes passed the Hellespont, Hannibal the ' Alps, and Geesar the Tiber, and that in language so much elevated above the common diction of his native place, that it was just as intelligible to his hearers as would have been that in which those cele- brated commandei-s harangued their sol- diers ; butv^dth regard to the transactions of the different families in whose sendee he had been, or to any afikirs of his own, * ■ " ■ they BROUGHAM CASTLE. 23 they must have been artM indeed who could draw from him a single syllable. Now it happened that the spirit of in- quiry which animated Prudence, or, to use a more ordinaiy phrase, her curiosity, had never been directed towards Xerxes, Hannibal, or Caesar, of v/hom she nei- ilier knew nor cared any more than she did about the beings who inhabit the planet Jupiter ; but the names of Pon- sonby, Dacre, and Sibbald, were familiar to her ear. Their affairs came " home to her business and bosom," and in no instance did she think her husband so unkind as when he evaded or crushed her inquiries concerning the transactions of those families. However, though Mr. and JMrs. Cros- thwaite differed in so many points, there ivere others zn which they cordially agreed. They were both patterns of in- dustry, and both rigid economists, yet ever ready to serve and oblige their friends to the irtmost of their power y. nor 24 BROUGHAM CASTLE. nor were they slow to discern or acknow- ledge the particular merits of each other. Prudence was convinced that Cadmus was the most learned man in the county, and Cadmus was certain that Prudence made the best butter and cheese, brewed the finest ale, and was the most skilful at potting char and moor-game of any wife in either Westmoreland or Cum- berland, CHAPTER n. In the second spring of their union Cad- mus made a journey to Aldston, w^ith the ostensible motive of visiting an aunt who resided there, and such other friends and relations as still survived. He nei- ther made Prudence an offer of accom- panying him, nor appeared to under- stand the hints which she di'opped, that it BROCGHAM CASTLE. 25 * it would be agreeable to her to do so. She knew it would be vain to inquire his motive for not taking her with him, and, like a dutiful wife, she submitted, remained at home, and took care of her farm. The term of his absence, he said, would be ten days ; but he did not re- turn until double that time had elapsed; he appeared in good health, and said his friends were well also ; but he was even more than usually grave and abstracted, yet not unhappy, as if some particular subject occupied his thoughts without much affecting his peace. He frequently received letters from Aldston, and wrote answers to them; but the contents of those epistles he kept to himself, higlily to the dissatisfaction of Prudence, who vainly tried eveiy means to discover what so much enga- ged his attention. A circumstance soon occurred, which, for the present at least, diverted the cur- voL. I. c rer^t 26 BROUGHAM CASTLE, rent of her curiosity from her husband's affairs. About five miles from Brougham Cas- tle, in the direct road to Appleby, is a little village, called Temple Sowerby, from its having belonged to the Knights Templars, who were suppressed in the year 1312, after having been established in England nearly two hundi-ed years. It was then given to the Knights Hospi- tallers, who retained it until Henry VIII. abolished all religious orders in his dominions. This place, while held by these so- cieties, had many important privileges bestowed on it ; and, as no subsequen.t act of the monarch or the legislature had repealed those privileges, they continued, or were supposed to continue, in fiiU force, and the village was resorted to as a sanctuary by those who had in any shape incurred the censure of the eccle- siastical court. A few months after Mr. Crosthwaite's return BROUGHAM CASTLE. S7 return from his last-mentioned journey- to Aldston, a IVIr. and Mrs. Ilokeby, ac- companied by a lovely little girl, whose rosy lips could plamly articulate the ten- der names of father and mother, anived at Temple Sowerby, and took up their abode at a farmhouse until they could obtain a more permanent habitation; nor was it long before this was found, A small house and garden, both much out of repair, but capable of great im- provement, being offered for sale, Mr, Ilokeby became the purchaser. A new settler is always an object of attention in a country village, more par- ticularly in a place which is resorted to by those who would be amenable to the cognisance of the law, if they resided anywhere else. It was generally understood that such was the situation of the Rokebys, and curiosity was actively busy in endea- vouring to discover the transactions of their foi'mer lives; but report varied c 2 considerably 28 BROUGHAM CASTLE. considerably as to the crime they had committed. Some affirmed it to be bi- gamy, either the gentleman or the lady, a« was said, being married when they formed their present engagement ; and others, that not a prior marriage, but a prohibited degTee of consanguinity, was the obstacle which this couple had dis- regarded in their union ; though here, again, fame told the story with many va- riations, for every bond of affinity, con- sistent with then- ages, y» as in turn said to be that in which j^^Ir. and Mrs. Roke- by stood to each other ; and when all those jconjeetures were exhausted with- out any certainty being attached to them, recourse was had to suppositions still more improbable. No one was more actively busy on this oc^^asion than Mrs. Crosthwaite; like an experienced judge, she sifted the report to the bottom, examined the evi- dence, and weighed the arguments, and the result of her inquiries was a positive assertion buougham castle. 29 assertion that Mr. Rokeby was the un- cle of his wife. Though there certainly existed a pos- sibihty that this might be true, it was by no means likely, for he was not more than four years her senior ; he was only about twenty-seven or eight ; and, so far as the countenance and manners can be trusted as an index of the heart, both the Rokebys seemed incapable of infring- ing a law so agreeable to reason as that which prohibits the union of uncle and niece. ^Vhen they had been some time set- tled in their new habitation, curiosity subsided; their neighbours ceased to busy themselves with their affairs, and the different reports died away ; indeed, whatever might be the cause of their taking refuge at Temple Sowerby, they were soon very generally esteemed there; for Rokeby joined to an elegant person and pleasing addi-ess much good sense and cultivation, ^lis. Rokeby was c a lovely 30 BROUGHAM CASTLE. lovely and gentle, and their little girl a sweet and engaging child. Their at- tachment was most fervent and passion- ate ; indeed their chief happiness seemed to centre in each other. Though they did not court societ}'', they by no means secluded themselves from it, but received and returned the visits of such of their neio^hbours as chose to cultivate their acquaintance. Of this number were the Crosthwaites, though the distance between their re- spective dwelHngs would not admit of a very frequent intercourse. Rokeby thought Cadmus's peculiari- ties laughable enough, but found him a much superior companion, in point of information, to most of those who resi- ded in the vicinity of Temple Sowerby ; while Mrs. Kokeby, now become a rural housewife, was happy to receive from the notable Prudence instructions con- cerning the bleaching of linen and the rearing of chickens ; and though Pru- dence BROUGHAM CASTLE. SI Prudence frequently interspersed her lessons with expressions of wonder and curiosity about her former mode of life, which had been such as to keep her in ignorance of those important branches of female knowledge, yet the lady always evaded her inquiries, but she did it w^ith such perfect gentleness and good-hu- mour, that, though chagrined and mor- tified, she could not be displeased. In- deed, the elegant and polished manners of the Rokebys plainly evinced thaf they had been accustomed to move in the upper circles of society ; and it wtiS also evident, from both their way of liv- ing and their benevolent exertions in the cause of the unfortunate, that they possessed a sufficient share of the gifts of fortune to purchase every desirable comfort of life.. Such were the Kokebys. They had resided at Temple Sowerby but a very short time, when a circumstance occur- red to attract the attention of Mrs. Cros- c 4 thwaite '32 BROUGHAM CASTLE. 1 liwaite much more powerfully than theiF concerns had done. Late one evening, towards the close of summer, a person on horseback arri- ved at Brougham Castle, and deMvered a letter to Mr. Crosthwaite. From the dust which covered the tra- veller, it was evident that he had come from a considerable distance, and the foam which overspread his horse was a sufficient indication of the speed he had used ; from hence it might be inferred that his errand v/as highly important ; but of this JMrs. Crosthwaite had other testimonies. The frigid reserve which generally closed her husband's lips, so uncongenial to her own insatiable thii'st for information, had induced her to study his countenance with unremitting atten- tion ; and she w^as now so great an adept in its expression, that she could, on most occasions, translate it with tolerable ac- curacy ; and at this time her skill did not fail her, for she saw plainly that he was^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. SS was deeply grieved by the contents of the letter ; she also heard him say to the messenorer, in a mournful voice — " Then there are no hopes ;" to which the man replied — " None, sir ; the doctor says, she cannot live a weekJ' Pi'udence, on hearing these wordSy thouo'ht herself authorised to ask her husband if his aunt were ill ; to which he repHed— " IS^o." " Whae then, Cadmus ?'* questioned she, in her quick Westmoreland dialect ; but she was little wiser for asking, for he directly replied — " A person you do not loiow." He then desired her to give the stran- ger, who had by this time entered the Castle, some refreshment. While he was taking supper, Cios^ thwaite sent orders to his hind, who lived at a little distance, to prepare his horse. He then beckoned Prudence to another room, and, while he adjusted his dress, desired her to put up some lit- c 5 tre 34 BROUGHAM CASTLE, tie articles of linen for a short journey. This produced a natural inquiry of whi- ther he was going ? " A little way from home," w^as the reply. " To Aldston ?" " No." ** To Yorkshire?" ••No." "To Carlisle?" " No." Prudence, out of all patience, was about to ask, in plain terms, whither then? w hen the horse was brought to the door, and her husband, after a hasty leave, de- parted w^ith the stranger ; and to the in- quiry of Prudence, how long he should be absent ? he replied — " Probably not more than a week." Amid the vain and fruitless conjec- tures of Prudence, as to whither her hus- band w^as gone, and on what en-and, the w^eek wore over, but without bringing him home. Mrs 15I10UGHAM CASTLE. 35 Mrs. Crosthwaite was sui-prised and alarmed; but when a fortnight closed without his return, she became anxiously uneasy. Communication by letter was in those days extremely rare and diffi- cult, but she had determined on writing to the aunt of her spouse at Aldston, and was actually seated, with materials for that purpose before her, on the six- teenth evening of his absence, when the sound of a horse at the Castle gate roused her attention ; she flew out, and, to her inexpressible dehght, beheld her husbands The excess of her joy for some time prevented her from noticing that he was not alone, and that he wore mourn- ing ; but when she permitted those cir^ Gumstances to meet her observation, slie exclaimed, as he put mto her arms a lovely boy, about four or five years old — " Whae's dead, Cadmus, and whae'». ov/e t' bairn ?" With a sigh, which evidently came c 6 from S6 BROUGHAM CASTLE. from the heart, he replied — " I have lost a much-esteemed and respected friend, and — this boy will henceforth reside under our protection, and regard ivs' as his parents." The ambiguity of this reply did not altogether please Mvs. Crosthwaite ; and as she led the child into the house, she repeated her question, but the answer she received was not a whit more satis- factory. At this moment she formed an idea, which, whether just or not, was certainly natural ; and as it was by no mijeans her practice to suffer her ideas to vegetate in her own brain without transplanting^ them to those of others, she quickly made known the one which now struck: lier, by saying bluntly to her husband — " I fancy it's t' own, Cadmus." As she spoke, she regarded Cros- thwaite with, an eye of rigid scrutiny, but his countenance wore ho other expression than that of a slight sneer, while^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. 37 while, with his wonted dryness, he re- plied — " As you have proleptically con- sarcinated such a postulatum, the most discreet and consentaneous line of con- duct you can pursue will be to act the part of an affectionate mother to him ; and I therefore desire you will com- mence your maternal career by giving him some refreshment, of which I also stand in much need." The former part of this speech was. just as intelligible to Prudence as w^ould have been an ode of Sappho in its ori- ginal Greek ; the latter part she had an- ticipated, and was spreading the table with her best bread, butter, milk, and birch wine ; the former articles she well knew how to reader acceptable to her Uttle guest, who, on his part, alternately surveyed the mansion and its mistress with looks of the most scrutinizing cu- riosity, and, drawing closer to Cadmus, rested his head on his arm^ "Art 38 BROUGHAM CASTLE. " Art thou tired, Cyrus ?" questioned he, stroking his head. " Ceres !" cried Prudence ; " now I suir, Cadmus, he mun be t' own, fcr^ n' udder folk has sick odd neames i' t' fa- mily." Crosthwaite smiled somewhat con- temptuously. " Prudence," said he, " I have taken infinite pains to embue you with a proper pronunciation, but it is* still as proletarian as the postulatum you- have advanced. I did not call the child Ceres, but Cyrus ; and by confounding: the two names, you commit a palpable catachresis, which could only be par- doned in a woman. Know, then, Ceres is a female appellative, under wliich the ancients worshipped the deity of agri- culture ; but Cyrus was the conqueror of Babylon, and the founder of the Per- sian empire." "I wait nae whae he was, Cadmus," cried Prudence, in a passion ; " but if I'se BROUGHAM CASTLE. 39 I'se to be a mudder to V bairn ye've brought heame, it's vcr}- fit I sud know whae he is, and I wull know toe." Cadmus could not deny the justness of this wish for information, but either he did not choose, or was not at liberty, to disclose the birth and parentage of Cyrus ; neither was her declaration that she would hnow at all calculated to gain his confidence. To the latter part only of her speech he replied with a sneer — " I would advise you by all means to try, for your acute penetration will doubtless achieve the discovery, if it be practicable ; you may perhaps think I have committed a contraregularity by putting him under your superintending care ; but whate\^r he may owe to your tenderness and kindness, take notice that he will be no tax on your munificence." With these words he took from his pocket a bag, heavy from the quantity €>f money it contained ; which, whatever might 40 BROUGHAM CASTLE. might be the sum, was doubtless a con- siderable one in those days. How magical is the effect of gold ! The asperity of Prudence's look in- stantly changed to a simper ; and while she held out one hand to receive the bag,, she employed the other in patting the cheek of C^tus. Yet it is not to be un- derstood that her suspicions w^ere remo- ved ; but as the countenance of her hus~ band for once baffled her closest observa- tion, and as she found there was nothing. to be learned by questioning him, she prudently suspended her curiosity till a, more favourable opportunity should of- fer. Cyrus now showing symptoms of weariness, Crosthwaite desired his wife to prepare for him a little bed in their own chamber, until another could be put in order for his accommodation; at the same time begging her to make haste,, as, he had brought a brace of moor-game for BROUGHAM CASl^E. 41 for supper, which would require her skilful hand. Prudence used much dispatch, and the little boy, though somewhat reluc- tant to quit Cadmus, to whom he seem- ed much attached, was at length pre- vailed upon to suffer her to carry him up stairs and undress him. It is not to be supposed that Mrs, Crosthwaite either could or would ne- glect so likely an opportunity to obtain information by questioning the child, who, as she rightly conjectured, had not yet learned the important lesson of se- cret-keeping. She asked him his name. " Cyrvis Dacre," replied the boy. Prudence now thought she had made a notable discovery ; she did not for a moment allow herself to doubt that he was the son of the late sir Thomas Da- cre, or to reflect whether there existed any reason why he might not be so. To her questions concerning the place of 4^ BROUGHAM GASTLE. of his residence, he replied that he Hved at Lree Hall, Prudence was no wiser, for she had never heard of Lee Hall. " How far was it from Aldston ?" she asked. The child either had no ideas on the subject, or was too sleepy to an'ange and express them. Of course, Mrs. Cros- thwaite obtained no information on that point ; however, she clearly as* certained that Cyrus had been brought up in that part of the country ; for, though his own little sentences were ut- tered in a dialect much more polished than that spoken by the children of the neighbourhood, he perfectly compre- hended every word she addressed to him. She next inquired whether he had a fa- ther and a mother ? He gazed on her mournfully, and then exclaiming in a sorrowful tone — " Poor mamma dead !" he burst into a loud fit of crying. Vain BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 43 Vain were her efforts to comfort him ; his distress reached the ears of Cadmur^ who came up to inquire the cause. Pru- dence, as will readily be imagined, was too cautious to say that any inquiry of hers had thus distressed her charge, but attributed his fretfulness to want of rest. Exhausted with weeping, and soothed by the attentions of his host and hostess^ the little Cyrus at length fell asleep, and the Crosthwaites returned to the kit- chen, she to cook the moor-game, and he to superintend the manufacture of some buttered crumbs, the kind of sauce which he most relished to those birds. Prudence having now, as she suppo- sed, discovered who was the father of her little guest, lost no time in commu- nicating the discovery to her husband. He smiled ironically, and dryly replied — " My ever-regretted friend, sir Thomas Dacre, has been dead ten years ; Cyrus is now in his fifth year ; of course, admit- ting the postulatum you have assumed, upwards^ 4fi BROUGHAM CASTLE. upwards of five years must have elapsed between the death of the father and the birth of the son. Indeed, Mrs. Cros- thwaite, I cannot but say I admire your superlative sagacity and penetration." Prudence, provoked and mortified, replied — " Why then it's t' broder, sir Kobert Dacre, or what d'ye ea' him ?" " Ay, there you have it," replied her husband, with a yet stronger expression, of irony. Poor Prudence was still bewildered in a maze of conjectures ; for, as far as- she could trust her skill in deciphering: the countenance of Cadmus, sir Robert Dacre was not the father of Cyrus. When the residence of tliis engaging child at Brougham Castle became known to the few persons in its vicinity, they formed, as might be expected, many sur- mises ; but they were all vague and un- certain, for no one could find out to whom he belonged. Cadmus knew what he knew, but lie kept his know- ledo'e o TJHOUGHAM CASTLE. 45 ietlge to himself. Prudence thought what she pleased, and asked what she pleased, but her inquiries were vain. Whoever might be the real parents of •Gyrus, he soon learned to distinguish IMr. and JNIrs. Crosthwaite by the tender names of father and mother ; and indeed the latter gT8w as proud of the title, and became as much attached to her charge, as if he were in reality her own child ; and when any of her neighbours hinted a suspicion that his birth was dishonour- able, she never failed to resent the foul insinuation, as she would have done an aspersion cast on her own honour. The little boy daily improved in strength and beauty ; his heart was af- fectionate, and his disposition sweet and amiable. Time, instead of revealing his origin, seemed to involve it in grertter obscurity, and the autumn wore over without any light being thrown on the subject. CHAP 46 BROUGHAM CASTLE. CHAPTEU IIL Cyiius had resided about six months at Brougham Castle, when a cold and gloomy day was closed by an evening which, even in those bleak and moun- tainous regions, was deemed unusually tempestuous. The high and hollow blast swept round the venerable walls, roared in the wide chimneys, howled mournfully through the passages, and shook the doors of the deserted cham- bers; and the rain, pouring in torrents against the windows, threatened to dis- lodge the shattered casements. While the elements thus raged with- out, the Httle family within the walls of Brougham Castle rested in safety from their fury. Cyrus> happily unconscious of BROUGHAM CASTLE. 4T t)f the storm, as he yet was of the stoniis of Ufe, slept soundly in a httle apartment adjoining to that of the Crosthwaites, which had been put in order for his use. Mrs. CrosthAvaite had also dismissed her servant for the night, and herself and Cadmus were just sitting down to their evening's repast before a blazing peat fire in the kitchen. Some excellent cheese and oat-cakes, together with a jug of fine ale, smiled on the board ; and moreo\^er, the eyes of Cadmus were fixed with peculiar complacency on a pot of char which had not yet been opened. He was just about to pay his respects to this precious article, when the gate of the old Castle shook with a knocking so loud, so unusual in those days and in those remote regions, that Prudence started in terror from her seat, and Cad- mus's large eyes opened wider, while he uttered an ejaculation of surprise. He would have gone immediately to the gate ; but this was sti'enuously opposed by 48 BROUGHAM CASTLE. by Prudence, whose caution and feal-s were by no means unjustifiable, Avhen the state of the country at that time is considered. Those terrible depredators called moss-troopers, who formerly in- fested the borders, w ere not then sup- pressed, but committed frequent out- rages in the adjacent parts ; and the idea which first occurred to Mrs. Crosthwaite was, that a band of those ruffians now suiTounded the Castle. The kingdom was also at that time in a very unsettled state, it being soon after the period ^vhen James the Second abdicated the crown ; Cadmus therefore thought it probable that a party of soldiers, either the adhe- rents of the fugitive monarch, or of the prince of Orange, now claimed admit- tance ; but Prudence, not at all in the habit of paying attention to the political circumstances of the times, and having gi'own up from infancy in constant dread of the moss-troopers, believed that they, anjd tliey alone, threatened the peace of her IBROUGHAM CASTLE* 49 her dwelling, and was beginning to make loud and bitter lamentations ; but Cad- mus commanded and enforced her si- lence, that he might listen, and be en- abled to judge what force the party con- sisted of He listened in vain ; he could not distinguish the sound of any voices, and though He once thought he heard the trampling of horses' hoofs, the loud gusts of wind would not permit him t<^ ascertain whether it were so or not. In about five minutes the knocking was repeated with augmented violence; the terrors of Prudence increased, but Cadmus, who was by no means of a timid disposition, would no longer be withheld from venturing to the gate. As it seemed proper to be on his guard, he took down his fowling-piece from its resting-place over the chimney. It was already loaded, and poising it in one hand, he took the light in tlie other, and rallied forth into the passage, while Pru- rience expostulated loudly against the VOL, L D hazard 50 BROUGHAM CASTLE, hazard he was incurring ; not for the universe would she have dared to accom- pany him; and beheving that when he opened the gate, the whole party of banditti would rush in, she felt unable to brave the approaching danger, but sought concealment beneath a large oak table ; not a very eligible hiding-place indeed, but the best die could find. In the passage Cadmus encountered a gust of wind, so furious that it extin- guished his light, and he was compelled to place his gun carefully on the ground, while he groped his way back to the kitchen to renew it. Prudence came from her hiding-place to assist him. He had foundby experience the impracticabi- lity of carrying a light openly, and there- fore placed it in a Ian thorn, and while employed in doing so, a third knocking, more loud than either of the former, made the walls of the old Castle resound. Prudence retreated to her table, and Cadmus, out of all patience, in one breath •told BROUGHAM CASTLE. 51 told his v/ife that her terror was extreme- ly vituperable, and exclaimed against the persons without, whoever they might be, for supposing it impossible to susci- tate the inhabitants of the Castle with- out knocking in that stentorophonic manner, as if they would lancinate the veiy walls. Having by this time secured his Ian- thorn, he took it in one hand, aiid the gim over the other shoulder ; and, with his woollen night-cap drawn closely over his ears, he exhibited a whimsical com- pound of Guy Faux and Robinson Cru* soe. As ISIrs. Crosthwaite did not accom- pany her husband to the gate, it would be highly indecorous in the biographer to relate what passed there ; the reader must therefore be contented to wait with her under the table, until the arri- val of Cadmus, who in about five mi- nutes returned, ushering in a single stran- ger. D 2 Prudence S2t T5R0UGHAM CASTLE. Prudence now ventured to peep out, and finding there was nothing to fear, emerged from her retreat, hke Venus ri- sing from the sea. She beheld, conversing with Crosthwaite, a tall thin man, appa- rently near thirty years of age ; his fea- tures were uncommonly handsome, but a general appearance of languor and de- bility, a very pale countenance, and a deep and hollow cough, conspired to indicate a frame worn down with illness, and ex- hausted by fatigue. A very dignified and even haughty deportment was ill- concealed beneath a humble garb, which Prudence had discernment enough to discover was only assumed as a disguise ; indeed the discovery was easily made, for the behaviour of Crosthwaite towards this stranger was such as clearly evinced that a very material difference, in point of rank, subsisted between them, while the latter received the attentions of the former, politely indeed, but at the:same time as a tribute which he had a right to expecti BllOlTGHAM CASTLE. 53 expect ; nor had liis manners any of that^ ejisy and amiable condescension which diminishes the humihating consciousness of inferiority, and unites love and esteem with duty and respect. It could not but be a mortifying cir- cumstance to Cadmus, that the first view which his guest had of the fair form of his spouse should be in the act of emerg- ino^ from under the table ; however, he mended the matter as w^ell as he could,, and presented her with all due forma- lity; but he did not introduce the stran- ger by name, an omission by no means agreeable to Prudence's curiosity. The gentleman slightly apologized for having alarmed her; and then took possession of a seat w^hich Crosthwaite placed for him near the fire. Cadmus, in a low voice, desired his wife to bring a bottle of her best wine ; she obeyed, and the stranger accepted the glass with which she presented him, but declined taking any other refreshment, though D 3. it 54 BROUGHAM CASTLE, it was offered with the sin ceres t cordi- ality. Cadmus then said to his guest, in a respectful tone — " You will excuse me a few minutes, sir, until I conduct your horse to a place of shelter." He replied — " It is scarcely necessaiy, as I shall not stay ahove half an hour." Crosthwaite, in reply, said something in a low tone of voice, of which " safe" was almost the only word that Prudence could distinctly overhear. She had no doubt that it was spoken in relation to the personal security of the stranger ; and as the appearance of mystery and secrecy always acted as a whet to her curiosity, she now felt herself goaded by its thorns to a very painflil degree, and severely blamed her own terrors, which had prevented her from accompa- nying her husband to the gate, where she should, in all probability, have learn- ed the whole secret from their first con- versation. The BKOUGHAM CASTLE. 55 The stranger frequently cast his eyes round the apartment with a look of anx- ious solicitude, as if in search of some object v/hich he vainly expected to see. He remained silent a few moments after Cadmus left the room, and then said to Prudence, with an emotion which he evidently struggled to subdue — "You have a little boy resides with you — is he " He paused without finishing the sentence. Prudence, who, on being left alone with this person, had at first been de- terred by the imposing dignity of his manner from addressing him, now caught at this half-formed question, as a hook with which she might fish for information. She launched out in the praise of Cyrus, a theme to which her auditor listened with visible interest^ and at length concluded her eulogium by asking the stranger, in plain terms, whether he were related to him? A more deadly paleness overspread his B 4 languid 56 BROUGHAM CASTLIT. • languid face. He fixed his eyes on tlie inquii-er with a scrutinizing look, and after a short pause said, in a quick but tremulous tone — a tone as if displeasure and confusion at once agitated the breast of the speaker — " Related to me ! why should you ask that question ?" Prudence felt herself more chilled and awed by the manner of this person than she had ever before been by that of any one, and it was not until after some he- sitation that she assumed courage suffi- cient to reply — " Nay, I suir, I w^oit nae whae t' bairn belangs te, peer wee thing! Cadmus neer sae muckle as neamed it t' me; but I luive 't weel, andshem leight X)' me if I meak 't a bad m udder." The stranger appeared much agitated, but made no reply ; and Cadmus return- ing shortly after, he said to him — " Where can we have some private con- versation, Crosthwaite ? for I have much to say to you, and must be gone soon." Cadmus replied that he would reple- nish EUOUGHAM CASTLE. 57 nish the fire in his study, which having done, he led the gentleman thither, to the great dissatisfaction of Prudence, who feared that she should not only be de- barred from learning the subject of their conference, but also be kept in ignorance of who this stranger was. Her husband, thouffh he addressed him in the most respectful terms, never once mentioned his name ; nor did she possess any guide or clue by which she could ascertain or even conjecture v/ho he might be. There were indeed three families in. whose service Crosthvv^aite had been — the Ponsonbys, the Dacres, and the Sibbalds ; but he could not, she thought, be a member of any of them. The fii'st she had scarcely ever heard Cadmus mention, and it was now fourteen years sitice he lived with them.. Sir Robert Dacre she well remembered to have heard described as being low-statured and extremely plain; consequently the D 5 person: 58 BROUGHAM CASTLE. person now with her husband could not be he, for he v/as very tall, and when in health, had been eminently beautiful; and lastly, Mr, Sibbdd she had seen more than once, and he bore not the most distant resemblance to the gentle- man in question. Y^ho then could he be ? were there no means by which she could at least have a chance of attain- ing some degree of certainty ? Fear of the moss-troopers had kept her from going to the Castle gate, and should ter- ror of the fairies also prevent her from visiting the keyhole of the study? No, she wisely resolved to combat such silly apprehensions. If her husband chose to withhold his confidence from her, and to entertain persons of whose very name slie was to be kept in ignorance, he should not prevent her from making v/hat use she pleased of her own eyes and ears ; and at present she thought she could not use them so advantage- ously BROUGHAM CASTLE. 59 ously anywhere as at the door of the apartment in which Crosthwaite and his guest had taken refuge. By the time she had wound up her mind to this sage determination, nearly half of the period to which the stranger had hmited his stay had elapsed; of course she had no time to lose. The way from the kitclien to the study was long, and had many turnings and wind- ings. As she could not attempt to ex- plore these without a light, she took that from the table, and set out on her expedition. From the foot of the great staircase, a long passage led to another of smaller dimensions. She kept her courage in tolerable repair while she glided lightly along the passage ; but by the time she reached the top of the stairs it began to wear out, and when she entered the gallery above, where tradition had peo- pled every chamber with a ghost, or a group of fairies, she started at every sha- i> 6 dow,. 60 BROUaHAM CASTLE. dow, and expected to see some of those airy beings before her. " Still as she went she look'd behind. And heard a voice in every wind." She passed along the gallery, at the end of which sh^ had to ascend a spiral staircase which led to the study. Here she reflected that it would be proper to leave her light ; as, should she carry it to the door, its beams might probably be seen through some chink or crevice by those in the room, a contingency to be carefully guarded against, as it might draw down on her the serious displea- sure of her husband. However, as she should require its assistance in returning to the kitchen, she determined not to extinguish it; but placing it in a re- cess of the wall, and depositing her shoes beside it, lest their noise should bptray her, she crept softly up the stairs, and applying her eye to the keyhole, found, to her inexpressible joy, that she could command BROUGHAM CASTLE. 61 command a full view of the room, at least of all the principal objects in it. Cadmus was placed opposite the fire, with his back towards the door ; he was in earnest discourse, but spoke in so low a voice that Prudence could not dis« tinctly hear a single sentence ; but the few disjointed y\^ords which struck her ear were of melancholy import, those of death, distress, and anguish, being several times repeated. The stranger, seated on one side, with his elbow reclined on a table, and his head resting on his hand, listened with the most profound attention. His coun- tenance underwent various changes ; sometimes it wore the wild expression of frenzy, and at others the settled e:loom of despair. His eyes, filled with tears, were repeatedly raised ^to heaven, and once she saw him press his right hand on his heart, as if it w^ere burstinsr. When Cadmus ceased speaking, he re- plied in a voice of stifled anguish, but yet 62 BROUGHAM CASTLE, yet in a tone so loud, that Prudence^ with her ear ghied to the keyhole, heard every word he uttered— " Crosthwaite, you shall hold her orders sacred ; I will not violate one of them, though I well know that in acting thus 1 am commit- ting a yet more deadly crime than that which has cost me years of repentance." Here Cadmus taking advantage of a pause which the stranger's weakness compelled him to make, said in a respect- ful tone — "Pardon me, sir, if I once more take the liberty of observing, that in my opinion the line of conduct you are now pursuing is infinitely more vi-- tuperable than that for v/hich you cen- sure yourself The duties " " No more of this I cliarge you, Cros- thwaite," interrupted his auditor, in an accent of haughty impatience ; " your opinions are erroneous, and a blessed change v/ould it be for yourself, if you would reform them. However, I shall wave the subject, and proceed to speak of BROUGHAM CASTLE. 6S of some points respecting this unfortu- nate being, in which I must insist on be- ing imphcitly obeyed." He then lowered his voice to a key which effectually precluded all possi- bility of his discourse being overheard, to the infinite mortification of Prudence, who alternately applied her eye and her ear to the organ of information, and watched by turns his vrords and his countenance with the most eager and anxious curiosity. Though he had said he must be gone in half an hour, he continued talking thus for nearly double that period; while PiTidence, ri vetted to the spot, never once thought of quitting her post, or re-^ turning down stairs. Cadmus spoke several times, appa- rently in a strain of objection, remon- strance, or entreaty ; but his arguments made little impression on the stranger, at least so far as Prudence was enabled to judge from his looks and voice, for he 64 BUOUGHAM CASTLE. he still continued to speak so low that she could not connect the thread of his dis- course, though, from some broken sen- tejices which caught her ear, she under- stood it to be something relating to the subject of marriage. As to the conver- sation of her husband, she could make little »of it ; for he not only spoke in an under voice, but used a great number of those quaint and studied expressions which only a professed philologist could understand, and which poor Prudeiiee, though daily accustomed to hear them. Was so far from comprehending, that she never supposed them to be English, but imagined that he learned them all from the old Roman altars and inscrip-^ tions with which the adjoining county of Cumberland abounds, and in the study of which Crosthwaite took much de- light. At length the stranger looked at his watch, and started from his seat, exclaim- ing---" I must be gone." IBKOUGHAM CASTLE. 65 " So must T," thought Prudence, and was withdrawing her ear from the door, Avhen she heard her husband say — " Al- low me once more to implore you to see Cyrus ; only walk with me to his room, and look at him as he sleeps." " No, never !" he replied, in a deter- mined, yet agonized voice ; and Pru- dence again apphed her eye to the key- hole. " I have already told you I never must — — " Exhausted by his own vehemence, and by the violent emotion and excessive fatigue he had endured, a paroxysm of coughing seized the stranger ; the blood gushed from his nose and mouth, and he sunk on a chair without any appear- ance of life. Crosthwaite terrified flew to him, and Prudence, no less temfied lest she should be discovered, hastened down stairs ; but she had not passed half the descent when the study-door opened, and her liusband, with a light in his hand, was in her rear. Prudence urged 66 ' BROUGHAM CASTLE. urged her fleetest speed, but unused fa the spiral stairs, she unfortunately slip- ped her foot, and fell headlong before the astonished and affrighted Cadmus, who quickly comprehended the who^ the why, and the wherefore. He saw who lay prostrate before him, and he had little hesitation in guessing the er- rand w^hich had brought her thither. Losing for a moment his concern for the deplorable state of his guest, in the nearer interest which he felt for the no- less-precarious situation of his wife, he flew to her, and raising her in his arms, inquired with much solicitude where she w^as hurt ? Though stunned by the fall, she had not, in fact, received any material in- jury ; but when she perfectly recovered tlie use of her faculties, she did not dare to acknowledge this, well knowing that w^hen the fears of her husband for her personal safety were removed, he would indubitably overwhelm her with a tor- rent BrcPUGIIA:M CASTLE. G7 rent of reproaches for her prying and iiijjustitiable curiosity. To avert this inundation of invective, it was highly necessary to pretend to some hurt; but not knowing what particular part to fix on as the seat of complaint, she had re- course to a general concerto of groans and screams, which she uttered as loudly and as vociferously as if half the bones in her body had been fi-actured. She acted her part very weU, but Cadmus had too frequently seen persons in real pain to be duped by her artifice. He saw through her design, and it only served to add fresh asperity to the vex- ation which was already kindled in his breast by a concurrence of disagreeable circumstances. He had, in the first in- stance, been disturbed when just sitting down to a favourite supper by a guest, of whom, whatever attention he might deem it his duty to show him, he thought he had, and perhaps had in reality, great cause to complain. He was 68 BROUGHAM CASTLE. was shocked by the melancholy situation in which he had just left him in the study, and now his indignation was rovised by the inquisitive impertinence and mean hypocrisy of his wife. " Cease your stentorophonic roaring, you eaves-dropper !" cried he, in a voice of stern displeasure; "had you dislocated your cervix, you would only have met with your deserts. Do you suppose you can suscitate any pity by raising such a rumpus ? Go instantly and prepare a bed for the gentleman who is now in my study — the keyhole no doubt has in- formed you that he is ill." He then darted down stairs in search of some article with which to revive and comfort his sick guest, while Prudence, hanging her head, possessed herself of her shoes and light, %vhich was b3/ this time nearly burned out, and followed him in silence to the kitchen ; but here a fresh scene of uproar awaited them.. Pj-udence, in her haste to listen, at the study- BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 69 Study-door, had forgot that she left a large mastifT dog stretched before the fire. The annual, not less attracted than his master by the savoury scent of the pot- ted char, had taken the privilege of a friend to help himself; and as he found it less difiicult to reduce the table to his own level, than to exalt himself to a le- Tel with its contents, he very sagaciously laid them at his feet, and Cadmus, on his entrance, beheld the shattered re- mains of his favourite viand floating in the fragrant streams of the ale and wine. It is not in the power of language to describe his rage, and to decipher the terms he made use of on the occasion would baffle the united abilities of a Johnson, an Ashe, and a Sheridan, while he bade Prudence, who was v/eeping bitterly, cease her lachrymation. He told her that she was the most abomina- ble, vituperable, vile, proletarian, care- less, inconsentaneous woman on earth. — " If you were determined to indulge yoiu" 70 BROUGHAM CASTLE. your fascinorous inquisitiveness,'^ added he, " why did you not ocdude the dog ?" Poor Prudence made no reply, hut sneaked away to call up her maid to as- sist her in preparing the bed, while Cad- mus returned to his guest, who was by this time recovered fi*om his svv'oon, but being much too ill to pursue his jour- ney, was prevailed on to remain at the Castle all night. When his apartment was prepared, Crosthwaite attended him to it, and then went to direct Prudence in pre- paring some barley-water, taking care to scold her all the while for her careless- ness, and to inform himself exactly of what she had overheard at the study- door, eveiy word of which he compelled . her to repeat. His potted char was gon^, and he was obhged to content himself with a supper of humble cheese and bread ; after which he returned to the bedside of his sick friend, to watch there during the night ; while Prudence, witli a heavy BROUGHAM CASTLE. 71 a iieavy heart, retired to her own cham- ber, and soon lost in sleep the remem- brance of her own fall and that of the table. CHAPTER IV The storm vanished with the clouds of night, and was succeeded by a morning serene and even pleasant for the season. The stranger had rested but indifferently; and though on the w^hole he felt himself better than might be expected, after the severe attack he had suffered, he was not well enough to pursue his journey. Crosthwaite brought him some milk and thin toast, w^hich he took in bed ; he was then com.pelled to leave him for a short time, while he looked after the business of his farm. On his return, about ten o'clock, he found him up, dressed, and seated T2 BROUGHAM CASTl.E. seated near a window, cheering the lan- guid spirits of ill-health with the view of scenery, which, if less beautiful than when adorned with the bloom and ver- dure of summer, was perhaps more mag- nificent and sublime. Cadmus inquired whether he chose to walk down to the parlour, or to sit in his own apartment; he preferred the lat- ter, and requested as much of his com- pany as time would allow him to spare* They conversed on subjects of science and literature, but carefully avoided those topics where a difference of opi- nion subsisted between them, and con- cerning which each thought the conduct of the other culpable. Meanwhile Prudence churned her butter, milked her cows, fed her poultry, dressed Cyrus, and gave him his break- fast; nor, notwithstanding all the cha- grin she had experienced the preceding- evening, did she omit to take her own. Cadmus had charged her to keep Cyrus with BROUGHxVM CASTLE. 7$ with herself, and to amuse hhn at a dis- tance from the stranger's apartment. She endeavoured to do so, and when he mquired for Crosthwaite, told him he was busy, and could not be interrupted. The little boy, acoistomed to be al- most alwaj^s with him, and to follow him everywhere, did not relish the pro- hibition. A^Hien Prudence went to pre^, pare a fowl for the stranger's dinner, he took the opportunity to slip away,. and wandered to the study in search of his adopted father; but not finding him there, he proceeded to the room wher^ the well-known figures of the tapestry so often engaged his attentit3n, whither he constantly attended Cadmus when he brushed the dust from this precious relic, as has already been mentioned. As he crept up the stairs, he called aloud — "Father, father!" and when he. i*eached tlie door, and heard voices' within, unable to open it, he struQk his littl^ fbot against it, as a sigAal for ad- voL. I. E mission. 74( BROUGHAM CASTLE. mission, repeating the tender appella* tipn in the enchanting tone of infantine innocence. The stranger, who was in earnest dis- course with Cadmus concerning the produce of the neighbom-ing mines, stated almost convulsively. A more- ashy paleness overspread his faded cheek, ^d art expression of wild frenzy gleam- ed from, his l^guid eyes, while, in a tone tremulous with agitation, he exclaimed -8«" How; — what voice is that?" ** It is your — ^it is Cyrus, sir," said Cadmus, checking the noun he was about to use, and substituting anotlier, ab. the same time opening the door to qirry the little intruder down stairs; Ijut Cyrus^. the moment he found a pas- s^^e into the room, regardless of the jMres^ce of the stranger, ran towards the t^estry,. cdUng to Cadmus — " Come, father! come >hdd me up and show me the babies." " You cannot see them now, iny dear," . BROUGHAM castle; Ti ^ear," said Crosthwaite, taking him in his arms to carry him back to Prudiehce. The gaze of the stranger was fixed oil the child so ardently, yet so momnfiilly; his countenance wore such an expression of the fi^ce and haughty passions of th^ mind, mingled with the soft and tender emotions of the heart, that no language can explain it; the feehngs of nature ap- peared to be struggling with some very powerful motive; and when Cadmus v,^as about to take his little cliarge ftoni the room, he said, in a voice scarcely ar- ticulate — " Let him stay a few minutes, Crosthwaite." Cadmus obeyed, and bringmg the child close to the stranger, set him down by his^ knee. He drew him towards him, regarded him with an aspect of mournful tenderness, and, while the emotions of his soul visibly agitated his feeble frame, said, in the same tremulous voice — "What is your name, my sweet fellow r E 2 « Cyrus 7b BUOtJGHAM CASTLE. ' "Cyrus Dacre," replied he. The stranger directed- towards Cros- thAvaite a look in which -some degree of inquiry was mingled with pensive nielancholy. He understood it, and re- plied, with soirrewhat of indignation ih his manner — " He knows no other, si^ ; euch w^re his mother's orders." » . The stranger groaned, again fixed his eyes on the child, and kissed him with frantic vrildness, while hi« feelings seem- ed rising to agony, . Crosthwaite, who had remained stand- ing, now quitted the room. Cyrus screamed, called — " Father I" and at- tempted to follow him, but the stranger found means to quiet his apprehensions, and to reconcile him to the idea of re- maining with him, by putting his watch into his hands. He then took him on his knee, and repeatedly kissed him, while tears trembled in his languid eyes ^ — ** Do you remember your mother, Cyrus?" Cyrus ?" questioned he, in a tone of an- guish. The little boy, from whose mind the memory of his mother had never faded, replied with a sigh — ■'' Ah, yes ! poor mamma !" The stranger groaned again, and press- ed him closer to his heart ; then start- ing, as if in a sudden paroxysm of fear, he hastily put the child d^wn, and clasp- ing his hands, exclaimed — ^' Forgive me, oh merciful Heaven ! forgive me [" He then summoned Cadmus, and when he entered, exclaimed — " Oh, take him from me, Crosthwaite ! take him away, I charge you. I came hither with a firm resolution not to see him, but I have yielded to the weakness of human nature ! heavy is my crime, and heavy must be the penance which can wash it away !" " Sti-ange infatuation !" muttered Cad- mus, as he took up the little Cyrus to carry him down stairs. In doing so he E 3 perceived 78 BRO^aHAM CASTLE. perceived the watch in his hands, and bade him return it. ** No," said the stranger, " no ! let him keep it, but never let him know to whom it belonged;" and while he spoke, he waved his hand for Crosthwaite to carry him from the room. When he returned, he found his guest still greatly agitated. After the silence of a few minutes, he declared his inten- tion of quitting Brougham that evening. This Crosthwaite strenuously oppo- sed, urging the weak state of his health, the badness of the roads, and the incle- mency of the weather. The last-men- tioned objections seemed to make no impression on the person to whom they were addressed; but to the former he felt himself compelled to yield ; for as the day declined, his increasing indisposition forced him to relinquish his design, and to retire early to bed. The next day he felt his weak frame so far refreshed and recruited, that he would BROUGHAM CASTLE. 79 not listen to the entreaties of Cadmus to allow himself any longer repose than until the evening, when he determined, at all events, to pursue his journey, as he had reasons for seeking concealment, which rendered travelUns in the ni^-ht eligible, however uncongenial it might be to the state of his health. Crosthwaite, in pity for his corporeal sufferings, earnestly endeavoured to di- vert him from this resolution, and to persuade him that there was no hazard in pursuing his journey in the daytime in that remote part of the kingdom, and in the depth of winter; but his argu- ments were vain — the stranger was deter- mined. Crosthwaite finding him thus resolv- ed, could not think of suffering him, in his languid condition, and in such wea- ther, to depart alone ; for though the traveller had flattered himself with hav- ing the assistance of the moon, there was lititle prospect of his being benefited E 4 by 80 BROUGHAM CASTLE. by it. A thick mist enveloped the ho- rizon, a heavy shower of small snow was descending, and every appearance indicated a continued storm. Cadmus therefore felt liimself called upon to sa- crifice, for a while, the comforts of his o^vn fireside, and to brave the fury of the elements, by attending his guest, at least a part of his way, v/hich friendly offer was accepted ; for the stranger w^s l)ut imperfectly acquainted with the road he was to pursue. . When this intention of her husband became kno\7n to IMrs. Crosthwaite, she loudly and firmly opposed it, for she no more approved of Cadmus's travelling in the night than he did of the sick per- son's doing so; but lier remonstrances vrere attended with no better success i>i tlie one case than his had been in the other. The stranger was resolved to go, and Cadmus was resolved to attend him. The horses were ready by five o'clock, and at that hour the traveller left his apartment, EEOUGHAM CASTin:. 81 apartment, and passed hastily to the kitchen to bid adieu to Mrs. Cros- thwaite. However much she might dis- approve of her husband's journeying from home in such weather, the compas- sionate heart of Prudence could not, without an emotion of pity, behold the weak and emaciated frame of this pet- son quitting her roof in a season and at an hour when Hospitality opens her doors to receive, to welcome, and to shelter the wayfaring man and the tra- veller. She earnestly pressed him to re- main some time longer at the Castle,, but could not prevail. He accepted the wine vnth which she presented him, and politely thanked her for all. the ci- vilities he had received from her; whil?, to the last moment of his stay, she con- tinued, to fill his pockets and those of her husband with cordials, cakes, and biscuits ; and however cold .and frigid mig'l^t be his manners^ he certainly did not depart without being strongly im* E 5 pressed 82 BROUGHAM CASTLE. pressed with a sense of that hospitable kindness which so peculiarly distin- guishes the natiyejs of Cumberland and Westmoreland. Cyrus, at the particular request of the stranger, was kept out of his sight, so that he quitted Brougham without again seeing him. In the course of the night the incle- mency of the weather was further aug- mented by a piercing north wind and a severe frost. Crosthwaite had pro- mised to return in a few hours, but the sun of the next day rose and set with- out bringing him home. Prudence was agonized with fears for his safety. The roads were now nearly impassable, and as the snow con- tinued to fall, a short time would render them totally so. The lofty top of Skid- daw wore its wintry crown of white, and th0 vapoury stores, drifted in th^ yajley?, were in some places rising to a nvalship with the surrounding hills. Such ifROUGHlVM CASTLE. SS Such was the state of the weather on the second evening of Cadmus's ab- sence, when, as two gentlemen, a Mr. Brisco, who resided in the hamlet of Watermillock, on the banks of Ullswa- ter, and the reverend Mr, Dalston, then rector of Brougham, were crossing Hut- ton-moor, on their return homewards from a short journey, they heard a deep groan, and turning their horses towards^ the spot from whence it seemed to pro- ceed, they found tliat it was uttered by a person stretched amongst the snow, speechless and benumbed with cold. He was entirely incapable of motion, and nearly so of sensation and recollection. His hps had bled severely from the in- tenseness of the frost; icicles were sus- pended from the ends of his fingers, and the snow-bed in which he lay was so deep, that a little longer time must have- sufficed to entomb him in it. Such was the situation in which thh unft^Etunate traveller was found by the E 6 before- 84- EROUGHAM CASTLE. before-mentioned gentlemen, -who were not of a disposition to look on such an object, and " pass by on the other side," without maldno; at least an effort to save him. Dalston had a servant vv^ith him, and by their united efforts the benumbed person was placed on his horse, and sup- ported by the latter for the remainder of their journey, which was nearly three- miles, for there was no house at which they could have suitable accommodations for the invalid until they should arrive at the dwelling of My, Brisco, which they reached with infinite danger and difficulty, and even at the imminent hazard of their lives. Here, to his equal surprise and concern, the w^orthy cler- gyman recognised, in the object of his solicitude, his acquaintance, neighbour, and parishioner, jMr. Cadmus Cros- thwaite ! No sign of life was now visi- ble in him, but the humane and friendly family under whose roof he was, exerted every possible means to restore anima^ tioii I BEOUGHAM CASTLE. S5 tion, though jMr. and ]Mrs. Brisco, whose experience in similar cases had been great, did not dare to hope that those means would be attended with success. The gentleman and lady whose hos- pitable kindness was thus extended to Crosthwaite, were persons of property and consideration in the place of their residence, but their understandings, ha- bits, and pursuits, were such as might be expected in those who had never mixed with society, ncr travelled a dozen miles from home. Brisco had not an idea of science beyond the portion of agricultu- ral knowledge requisite for the cultiva- tion of his farm, nor of pleasure, except in pursuing, with dog and gun,. the game which the neighbouring hills and woods afforded, wliile his spouse was one of the most decided economists on the; banks of Ullswater. A union of sixteen years had seen them the parents of eight children, two only of whom, the eldest and youngest sons. S6 BIIOUGHAM CASTLE. sons, survived. Lyiilph, the former, now in his fifteenth year, had, just before the period now under consideration, been placed under the protection of his ma- ternal uncle, a captain in the army of king William, tlien serving in Ireland, and was at that early age engaged in ac- tive warfare ; and Arthur, the youngest, a rosy, smiling cherub of five years old, was running Vv ild about his native hills. Mr. and Mrs. Brisco, an orphan niece of fourteen, who resided with them, and Mr. Dais ton, the clergyman already mentioned, formed the group which sur- rounded the bed, where, wrapped in warm blankets, lay the congealed form of Mr. Cadmus Crosthwaite. A very considerable period, as has al- ready, been said, elapsed, without any sign of animation appearing. At length, a deep groan gave to his anxious attend- ants the assurance that life was not ex- tinct ; and by inspiring fresh hopes that it might be preserved^ encouraged them to BROUGHAM CASTLE, 8T to redouble their efforts, until a faint inquiry from the patient of, " Where am I ?" conveyed the pleasing certainty that the powers of reason and speech had resumed their functions. He was soou restored to a perfect recollection of the circumstances which brought him into his present situation ; and when sufficiently recovered to converse, after expressing his gratitude to his preser- vers, he informed them that he was re- turning homewards from a short journey at the time his progress v/as arrested by the severity of the cold. From this it may be inferred that he had previou3ly parted from the stranger in whose cona- pany he lefl Brougham Castle ; but in his conversations with Mr. Brisco and Mr. Dalston he made not the least men- tion of any such person ; nor could Mrs. Crosthwaite, in the subsequent inquiries which she did not fail to make concern- ing her mystic guest, obtain from her spouse the slightest intelligence of whi- ther 88 BROUGHAM CASTLl:^ ther he had journeyed, or a^ hether he were still in existence. In a few days the health of jMr. Cros- thwaite was completely re-established,, and he took leave of his hospitable en- tertainers with many expressions of gra- titude for the kindness they had shown him. From this period a most friendly in- tercourse was established betw^een the families, which was further augmented by the Briscoes being intimately ac- quainted with, and indeed related to, Mr. Rokeby of Temple-Sowerby, with whom, as has already been said, Cadmus and Prudence were on terms of friendly courtesy. CHAP« BROUGHAM CASTLE. 8S CHAPTER V. *sr *^.fy^^^.f^.t^.r^.f^^ During the period of time which gra- dually led Idonea Rokeby, Cyrus Da- cre, and Arthur Brisco, from the smiling dawn of infantine innocence to the bloom and the hopes of eighteen, the pa- rents and protectors of each passed much of their time in the society of each other, alternately, at their respective houses. The stranger who had once visited Brougham Castle was never seen nor* heard of, and indeed, from the state of health he then appeared to be in, Pru- ,dence could not suppose him to be still in existence. Cyrus remained unclaimed and unac- knowledged by any relative, and every secret connected with, him was as deeply buried 1?0 BROUGHAM CASTLE, buried in the bosom of Cadmus, as they could have been at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. No circumstance had transpired which tended to throw the smallest light on the former history of Mr. and Mrs^ Rokeby, except that the curiosity of Prudence had the gratification of receiv- ing a liint from Mrs. Brisco, that there was some truth in the report which placed them in the relative situations of uncle and niec^. Secluded from tlie meretricious and artificial manners of polished life, but ever surrounded by the awfld majesty of Nature, in the magnificent and su- blime scenery of Cumberland and West- moreland, Idonea, Cyrus, and Arthur^ grew up together. Arthur was the va- lued friend of Cyrus, and the beloved brother of Idonea ; but the heart which animated that fair bosom cherished the image gf Cyrus with all the regard of friendship, all the tenderness of fraternal love» BROUGHAM CASTLE. ^t love, and with a feeling yet more soft, tender, and impassioned. The education of Cyrus was the pro- minent feature which distinguished this series of years. In the rich and capa- cious mines of Grecian and of Roman literature, his nominal father, Cadmus Crosthwaite, was no unskilful labourer. He w^as a systematical scholar, that is, he was well qualified to lead his pupil along the broad, beaten track which might impress on his memory every im- portant historical fact then on record, in the Greek, Latin, and English lan- guages ; to give him a comprehensive know ledge of biography, and to instruct him in the rudiments of mathematical science. True, these acquirements in the hands of Cadmus, alone and unas- sisted, would have proved dangerous w^eapons v/ith which to arm his young friend ; they would infallibly have made him a pedant, but not a scholar. On the contrary, when combined with the judicious ^'3, BROUGHAM CASTLE. jvidicious and valuable instructions of* Mr. Dalston, the naturally-excellent understanding of Cyrus received from them every advantage that learning can bestow. Dalston was a man of great erudi- tion — ^he was yet more ; he was a real minister of the gospel, a sincere Chris- tian, and a truly-worthy character. Cros- thwaite stored the mind of their pupil with miportant historical facts — Dalston taught him to exercise his judgment upon them; to deduce consequences from their causes ; to strip the splendid but hollow character of its gilded lau- rels ; to disentangle the web of sophistry which forms its specious attire, and to view it in its native deformity ; to judge of actions by the unerring standard of morality, and on it to found his opi- nions, un seduced and unbiassed by the artificial blaze of rank, fortune, or a name. Cadmus exercised his percep- tive faculties; Dalston, instructed him to K BROUGHAM CASTLE, 93 to ^xert the noblest powers of the hu- man mind, the powers of reason. The mathematical knowledge he imbibed from Crosthwaite was, tliough accurate, merely theoretical; when applied ac- cording to the skilful directions of Dal- ston, it became the optic nerve of his mind; and while this worthy man watclied over the expanding intellects of his young friend, and assisted his kbcurs in all the acquireiiients v/hich liave been enumerated, v^dth tenfold more solicitude did he inculcate the infinitely m.ore im- portant lessons of religion and of virtue. Xor did tlie other friends of Cyrus neglect to contribute their quota of in- struction to this interesting youth. From the sensible conversation of JMr. Rokeby he gleaned much information on sub- jects of polite literature ; from him also he derived an accurate knowledge of geography, and the most just and perfect ideas concerning the institutions, obligations, and privileges of civilized society. 9^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. society, and of what is termed the social compact. But the most delightful lessons of Cy- rus were those which he received from ^Irs. Rokeby, for they were shared w^ith Idonea, and are commemorated by him in the following lines, written at a pe- riod far subsequent to that now under consideration : — flail, blest remembrance of those Imppy liours. When, lov'd Td6nea ! hi the silvan bowers, Where youth's fair scenes expanded to our view, Thy beauteous face my raptiir'd pencil drew; @r fisten'd while you toucli'd the lute's soft string, As men would listen should a seraph sing; Or, with the- swiftness of the bounding fawn, In mazy. dances ptess'd the verdant lawn; Or ideas concerning the hne of hfe he should' embrace were suggested by the informa- tion he received from his friend Artliur, that his fatlier intended sending him to study divinity at one of the Scottish universities. Cyrus did not envy him the prcspect- of a settled plan of life, and of content- ment and independence, which wonld^ thus be opened to him — his heart wais incapable of so base a feeling ; but it awakened his mind to the contemplations of his own isolated situation. — " I also," said he mentally, " would wish to dedi* cate my days to the service of religion ; theological studies are peculiarly those for which the powers of my understand- ing are fitted, and with joy should I em- brace the sacred profession. But I,'^ and he sighed as the chiUing idea passed' through his mind, " I have no father tor assist BtlOU^HAM CASTLE. Ill- assist my wish, no tender parent to di- rect me in the path I shall clioose. My m.other, my affectionate mother, the idea of her tenderness and goodness mingles with m^; earliest recollections ; but why h it that such a veil of ambiguity is thrown over the history of my father ? The few inquiries on the subject which-, hitherto I have ventured to make of Mr. Crosthwaite have always been evaded ; but surely I have now altained an age v/hen it is requisite that I should be made acquainted with all that concerns myself, with my birth, my fortune, and my connexions ; perhaps my kind friend would not now withhold the communica- tion ; at all events I am determined to try • perhaps also he will sanction my wish of accompanying Arthur to Glasgow — To Glasgow !" continued he, while a vi- vid crimson mantled on his blooming cheek,, and his brilliant eye hurried over the landscape which surrounded him ; " and can I then wish to quit the peace- ful 112 BROUGHAM CAST>E. ful seclusion of Brougliaiii, the bslove J shades of Whinfield Park?" He sighed, he suspended the sohlo- quy, but his heart, true to love and na- ture^ completed the sentence — " Can I quit Idonea Hokcby ?" Cyrus and the lovely Idonea, accus-- tomed from infancy to associate with each other, to receive together instruc- tions from Mr. and IMrs. llokeby, to- share the same pleasures, and to partici- pate in tlie same trivial sorrows, could not recal to remembrance the moment when first they felt that " each was to each a dearer self;" but at the period now under consideration they were perfectly aware that such a feeling existed in their hearts. The image of each was ever pre^ sent to the mind of the other ; it pre- sented itself with the first dawn of day,, lingered to the last close of their waking thoughts, and was ever the most promi-^ nent object in their dreams. The pre- sence of Miss Rokeby was to Dacre joy and BROUGHAM CASTLE. IIS and happiness ; the absence of Cyrus was to Idonea gloom and grief; and a- glance from the eyes of Dacre drew the vivid crimson to the cheek of Miss llokeby, while a smile on her rosy lips thrilled through every nerve of her ad- miring lover. ^STor were these symptoms of mutual tenderness much longer known to them- selves than to each other. Dacre, in his morning walks and evening rambles, ra- pidly bounded over the extensive park of Whinfield, and, while joy vibrated in his heart, and hope illumined his bril- liant eyes, hastened to the verge of the enclosure on the south-west shore of the Eden. Here the name of Cyrus, whis- pered by Idonea from the opposite bank of Ogiebird,* and repeated aloud by the enchanting * Nicholsou and Burn^ when speaking of Whinfield Park, say — " A court-leet is held within tliis forest, by the style of tlie court of the manor of Ogiebird, but from what original we have not been able to discover; nor hatU 114 BROUGHAM CASTLE. enchanting echo of this singular spot, met his ear, and was quickly answered by the soft sound of " Idonea, ever-beloved Idoneal" From hence Cyrus, darting round by the bridge, quickly joined the object or his adoration, and wandered with her through the delightful mea- dows which surrounded her dwelling; or, if lame and weather permitted, Ted her to the more secluded shades of the park, where, when fatigued with the length of their ramble, they ever found rest hath the word occurred in any record or other evidence that hath fallen under our notice, save only that one of the enclosures belonging to the estate purchased by the coun- tess of Pembroke at Teraple-Sowerby is called. Oglebird Bank." Thus far tiiese authors; but sir Matthew Hale, as quoted by Mr. Hutchinson, says that " Robert de Ve- J trlpont had a grant from king John of the liberties of free warren andyree chuht only over the whole forest of Ogle- bird, in which the manor of Brougham is included." Thi3-manor is separate from the Castle; it belongs to the family of Brougham, whose residence is Brougham Hall, already mentioned; BROUGHAM CASTLE. IIS' rest and refreshment, graced with a Cordial welcome, in Julian's bower, an antique structure, built by Roger de Clifford* for the habitation of a favour- ite mistress, bjt, at the period now under consideration, inhabited by old Burbeck the gamekeeper and his ancient spouse: This couple, who had no children of their own, loved the youthful Cyrus be- yond any other human being. From childhood many of his hours had been passed in their society. Burbeck had taught him to aim the aiTow or level the gun at the marked deer, to arrest the whirring gorr-cock on its flight, and to lure the speckled inmates of the Ederr and the Eamont. In the stormy nights of winter he often sat by their fire, and listened * Roger de ClifFord became possessed of Brougham Castle in ris^ht of his wife, the lady Isabella, great-grand- daughter to Robert -de Vetripont. He built tlie chief part of that castle, tjie ruins of which only now renoain, and, in the quaint: style of the times, placed over the in- ^er doorthi&.inscription — "This made Roger." 116 BROUGHAM CASTLE. listened to the tales of other days, to th^ martial deeds of the A^etriponts and the Cliffords ; and if at any time chance prevented the accustomed meetings on the banks of the Eden, Cyrus and Ido- nea found a sure place of rendezA^ous at Julian's bower. Such was the situation of affairs, when, as has ah'eady been said, Mr. Brisco de- cided to send his son Arthur to study at Glasgow — a circumstance which, by awakening in his friend Cyrus an atten- tion to his own situation, induced him to examine that situation, and the feel- ings of his heart, more closely than he had ever done before, and the result v/as a belief that his only chance of earthly happiness consisted in being permitted to embrace the retirement which the profes- sion of divinity would afford ; and in being- blessed with the hand of Idonea Rokeby, he felt that both these sources of felicity were in the gift of others. From Cros- tliwaite, his nominal parent, he must ob- tain BUOUGHAM CxVSTLE. 117 tain leave to devote himself to the study t)f theology, and JNIr. Rokeby alone could bestow on him his lovely daughter. But how should he aspire to be the hus- band of Idonea while involved in obscu- rity, ignorant ofhis family, alone and un- connected in the world ? With a mind charged with these re- flections, he went to accompany JNliss Rokeby in her eveningMvalk in Vvhin- field Park. Accustomed to translate €very turn ofhis intelligent countenance, she quickly observed its pensive expres- sion, and solicited him to explain the cause. They never concealed a thought from each other, nor in the present in- stance was it his wish to do so. He led her to a rustic seat, which himself had assisted Burbeck to rear beneath a spread- ing beech, and there, in the impassioned and energetic language of a lover, ex- plained to her the feehngs, the wishes, the hopes, and the fears of his heart. — •"' Could I," he continued, while he clasped 118 BROtTGHAM CASTLE. clasped the unreluctant hand of Idonea with both his, " could I but remove this hateful obscurity, and discover my rela- tives and connexions, and were I as- sured that this dear hand should one day be mine, how gladly would I accompany Arthur to Glasgow, and devote myself to study !" The light spirits of Idonea, sanguine in expectation, and yet undepressed by the evils of life, v>'ere ahve only to hope. She could perceive but one dark shade in the present prospect; that was the distance Avhich would separate her from Cyrus during the time of his residence at the university. Eut it seemed una- voidable, and with the bright perspec- tive of future happiness they endea- voured to eradicate the gloom whidi the Jiearts of both deeply felt would attend such a separation. Cyrus, with the wonted, impatient ar- dour of youth, could not rest until he had put his projects in train. On his return BROUGHAM CASTLE. 119 'iteturn to the Castle, his first inquiiy was for Crosthwaite. Learning that he was in his study, he repaired thither, and, after some previous conversation, hinted^ in earnest though respectful terms, a wish to be made acquainted with, those jcireumstances relating to himself which had hitherto been kept from his know- ledge. Cadmus listened to his young (fi'iend with a silence which he continued to preserve for nearly half an hour after C}^- rus ceased speaking, while the latter anxiously watched his countenance, and endeavoured to translate its expression ; but the effort was vain. His large eyes were fixed in vacancy, and his mhid was s& totally abstracted, that its operations did not affect a single muscle of liis face. At the conclusion of the period before mentioned, he turned to his companion, and addressed him in the following words, delivered in a solemn and sonorous tone of voice — " Young man, I am not surprised 120 BrvOUGHAM CASTI.E. surprised that you should deem it strange in me, and inconsentaneous with the supereminent regard I have ever mani- fested for yovi, to ocdude from you cir- cumstances which so nearly concern you ; but if it had been in my pov/er to dilucidate those circumstances, I would doubtless have taken an opportunity, without comperendinatioH, to embue you with the indoctrination ; but what- ever nolition I may feel to withhold from you such indoctrination, I am com- pelled to conglutinate to such a mode of conduct, as I whilom gave your fa- ther a solemn and indestructible pro- mise never to disclose to you the small- est particle or circumstance relating to your birth, family, or connexions. As I cannot aberrate from that promise without being guilty of the most culpa- ble turpitude, I must, as I said before, conglutinate to it ; and as you are too well acquainted with my firmness and decision to suppose I will ever lancinate such BROUGHAM CASTLE. 121 such a promise, and will do me the jus- tice to believe that I am not actuated by any vituperable or questuary motives, but purely by a sense of rectitude, 1 coun- sel, charge, exhort, and command you never to mention the subject more." Having concluded this speech, he ab* Tuptly quitted the study, as if unwiihng to behold the disappointment of his ward, v/hom he left overwhelmed with surprise and dismay. Cyras, sanguine in hope, had scarcely permitted himself to -dwell on the possi- *bility that Crosthv/aite would refuse to satisfy his inquiries ; but now that he had not only given such a refusal in po- sitive terms, but assigned as a reason a solemn promise made to his father, he felt a crowd of feelings and sensations rising in his breast, more painful than any which had hitherto inhabited it His fate indeed seemed peculiarly cruel, for agonizing to a heart of sensibility was the conviction that the parent to VOL. I. G whom 1£2 BROUGHAM CASTLE, 'ivhom it owed existence had himself severed the bond^ of nature, and dis- solved for ever the tie which bound his hapless offspring to his family and •connexions. In vain he harassed his mind to discover a probable reason for this unfeeling, this unnatural conduct. He could form many suppositions which wore the appearance of probability, but he was so totally in the dark as to every circumstance respecting himself, that he only wandered in a trackless wild of con- jectures, without being able to find any resting-place which wore even the sha- dow of certainty. With an oppressed heart he retired to his pillow, from w^hich, for the first time in his life, care and anxiety had ba- nished repose. The cruel command of his unknown parent shook hini in hor- ror from his broken slumbers, and chain- ed his mind to a subject which was to him no less interesting than distressing. When he rose in the morning, he made BROUGHAM CASTLE. 1^8 made it his first care to seek a private interview with Prudence, in the faint hope that it might be in her power to afford him some information respecting his origin. It u^s, indeed, a very faint hope, for his perfect knowledge of her character induced him to believe, that had such a secret been in her possession, he must long since have been made ac- quainted with it, as her bosom could no more have contained it than a single apartment could contain an army. The lapse of years had not obhterated from the memory of Prudence any cir- cumstance concerning the stranger who once visited Brougham Castle, and who she conjectured to be the father of Cy- ms. The concealment, and other pecu- liar circumstances which enveloped this stranger, had strongly excited her curio- sity , and during the long interval of time which had since elapsed, the sub- ject had never recurred to her mind un- accompanied by a seH«atioti of painful G t regret 124r BROUGHAM CASTLE. regret that such curiosity still remained ungratificd. When, therefore, C}t*us, with his accustomed candour, related to her the conversation which had passed between her husband and himself the preceding evening, she seized the oppor- tunity of exercising her lungs on the subject; and taking up the stor}^ atthe period of Cyrus's introduction into her family, she related every subsequent event in which he was in any shape con- cerned; on the singular circumstances wliich marked the visit cf his supposed father, she expatiated so particularly, that she did not even omit to confess that curiosity carried her to listen at the 6tudy-door, and of course she narrated her fall down stairs, and the chain of dis- asters consequent thereon. Cyrus listened with tlie deepest de- gree of attention to her communications; but so far were they from fixing his ideas, or directing them to any rule of f certain ty, that they only served to lead him biiougHa:\i castle. 125 him into a fresh maze of conjee tures> That the person now described by Pru- dence was indeed his father, seemed highly probable; but who that father was, whether he were still in existence,^ and why he had, with such unnatural barbarity, disowned his child, and anni- hilated every relative tie which bound him to his fellow -beings, were circum- stances shrouded in unfathomable obscu- rity. In vain he examined the watch which JNIrs. Crosthwaite told him was given him by his supposed parent ; no name which could furnish any hint or clue to inquiry was to be found on either it or any of its appendages. He had, it is true, been accustomed to hear himself addressed by the name of Dacre,- and had been taught to subjoin that name to his baptismal one of Cyrus; but Pmdence assured him that to none of the Dacre family, in whose service Cad- mus had formerly been, could he possi- bly owe his existence; and indeed it G 3' seemed^ 126 BEOUGHAM CASTLK. schemed very unlikely that the person of whom they had just been discoursing, who appeared to hold him in such hor- ror that he refused to see him, who mentioned him by the frigid appellation of an iinfortunate he'ing, and who had certainly enjoined Crosthwaite to ever- lasting silence on every subject con- nected with his family, should permit liim to retain any name to which he had a right, any by which the world could possibly recognise him. Cruel, unfeeling parent, who had thus thrown from him his unoffending child ! what dreadful crime could he have com- mitted which was thus visited on his hapless offspring? Prudence and Cyrus exhausted every probable conjecture on the subject ; but after wearying and be- wildering themselves, they were as far as ever from certainty. Cyrus next wondered wliether his fa- ther still lived, but on this subject also he was doomed to v/onder in vain, though UllOL^GHAM CASTLE. 1^7 though Mrs. Crosthwaite could scarcely admit the possibility of his existence, for the ill state of health in which he appeared at the time she saw him, which was now upwards of thirteen years since, seemed to preclude all supposition that he still survived. Cyrus might indeed have made the inquiry of Crosthwaite,. though certainly with little chance of having it answered in a satisfactory manner ; but he was so much dispirited by the painful nature of the conversation which had passed the preceding evening, that he had not courage to again enter on any topic connected with the subject, not even to express the wish he had formed of accompanying his friend to the university, and, least of all, did he feel disposed, at the existing juncture, to hint the hopes and the wishes he entertained respecting Idonea Rokeby. After breakfast lie repaired with a heavy heart to the rectory, where he was generally accustomed to devote an G 4 hour 128 BROCGHAM CASTLE. hour or two of the morning to study with JMr. Dalston. The acute observa- tion of that gentleman perceived tht cloud of melancholy ^vhich lowered on the brow of his yomig friend, and hi& solicitous inquiries soon drew from his^ ingenuous bosom every particular con- cerning its cause. Mr. Dalston did not feel much sur- prised by tlie communications of his- young friend ; for whenever he had taken the liberty, -which his intimacy with Crosthwaite warranted, of hinting an in- quiry concerning the origin of Cyrus, the manner in which his questions were evaded gave him to understand that the matter was, and probably would ever be, a profound secret. It wdll not be thought that he deviated from charity in supposing that the cause of this se- crecy originated in some criminal, or at least censurable action, committed by one or both of the parents of Cyrus ; it was a supposition which almost every one IfROUGHAM CASTLE. 129 one would have formed on the subject, and whicli it vtqs not difficult to per- ceive Cyrus himself now harboured. He saw that his reverend fiiend har- boured it also, but it v/as a topic which every principle of feeling and of filial- tenderness forbade them to discuss. Xot so the wish which Dacre express- ed of taking holy orders ; that wish met the decided and unequivocal approba- tion of Mr. Dais ton, w^ho now advised him to lose no time in mentioning it to Crosthwaite, as he alone could ascertain whether the pecuniary circumstances in which his ward was plaQed were such as would enable him to carry his wish into execution. CyiTis took his advice, and when^ he next had an opportunity of being alone Vv'lth Gix>sthwaite, came to the point at Oiice. by asking his permission to com- mence his studies at Glasgow at the same time with Arthur Brisco. Cadmus lieaid him v/itliout interrup- G 5 tion, 130 BROUGHAM CASTLE. tion, and v» ben he ceased speaking, drew his visage to a more extended length, rolled his large eyes, and paused. Cyrus thought the pause prophetic, and felt his spirits sink. The porten- tous silence continued for a quarter of an hour, and then, with all the solemnity of the oracles of Delphos or Dodona, the eventful sentence was pronounced in the follow^ing v/ords : — *' Cyrus, I had no proleptical conception of your motive for sevocating me hither this evening, though it required no great degree of metoposcopal knowledge to perceive that it v/as one which interested you highly ; and it is therefore w^ith much nolition I give you the indoctrination, that the se- cond solemn and indestructible command given by your father is, that you never shall, upon any account w^hatever, be ordained a minister of tlie church of England. You perhaps think all these orders of your father very unproficuous, and opaquely incomprehensible, but your BROUGHAM CASTLE. 131 your cogitations on this subject are of no avail ; I have solemnly promised to see them complied with, and my pro- mise is indestructible ; his>orders cannot be tergiversated, and I have^^therefore to exhort and command you to give up all thoughts of going to Glasgow, and to remain quietly at Brougham. The pro- perty which I hold in trust for you is suf- ficient for all your wants in retirement ; a circumforaneous life you must not lead. Let us then have no- devariation' on the subject, but submit with a good grace to what you cannot remedy. Do not, however, adopt the postulatum that I have now dilucidated all the com- mands of your father; they are more omnigenous than you suppose, and' it is of material consequence that you should not take any momentous step in life without my cognisance and concurrence, lest you should unwittingly commit the very actions against which it is my sa- cred though afflictive duty to guard G 6 you ; 132 BROUGHAM CASTLE. you; there yet remains an injunction of particular importance, but it is not at present necessary to embue you with it ; when I see occasion I shall do it." Alas I unhappy Cyrus ! thus were hi& cherished visions blasted at once I thus was the foundation on which he had built his best hopes of earthly felicity sapped for ever ! he must resign the in- tention of taking orders, and with it the hope of enjoying the peaceful serenity and tranquil leisure w^hich the clerical function affords to its professors ; but he knew by experience, that from the impos- ing commands of his mystic parent, pro- mulgated by his oracle Crosthwaite, there was no appeal. At the age of eighteen the human heart is too buoyant, too much under the influence of hope, to be long the victim of chagrin and disappointment. Cyrus became submissive, though not reconciled to unavoidable necessity ; Ar- thur Brisco departed for Scotland ; and Idonea, BROUGHAM CASTLE, 133 Idonea, left to the sole enjoyment of her lover's society, could not prevail on her- self to feel much regret that Crosthwaite, or rather the unknown parent of Cyrus, had interdicted the study of divinity. One morning in August, as the fa- mily at Brougham were taking break- fast, the trampling of horses, and a loud knocking at the Castle gate, announced the arrivd of strangers. Cadmus, ac- companied by Cyrus, went to the gate^ where they found two gentlemen, ha- bited for grouse-shooting ; and early as the morning was, they were so com- pletely covered with dust, that it was evident such had been their employ- ment for some hours. Crosthwaite in- stantly addressed the younger of the two by the name of Sibbald, which was that of his landlord, and Cyrus know- ing that gentleman to have a son, was at no loss to guess that he now beheld him. My. Sibbald introduced his compa- nion 134 BROUGHAM CASTLE. nion as a Mr. Dunning. Cadmus wel- corned both v/ith much cordiality, and leading the way into the house, pre- sented them to his spouse, who, on find- ing they had not breakfasted, busied herself in preparing a repast, which was duly honoured by her guests, who very frankly accepted an invitation, which Cadmus had penetration enough to see would be agreeable, of remaining some time at the Castle. They appeared to be perfectly pleased with their situation, and treated every member of the family with the most easy nonchalance, while their hosts, on their part, showed them all due respect and attention. Cros- thwaite could not be otherwise than po- lite to the son and friend of his landlord; and Prudence was highly gratified by the complaisance with which they lis- tened to her chronicle of the neighbour- hood, not only that part which related to living persons, but also the legends of giants, witches, ghosts, and fairies, with BROUGHAM CASTLE. 135 with which her capacious memory was stored. Perhaps, indeed, they found more amusement in the narrator than the narrative ; but be that as it may, any person possessed of a grain more of penetration than belonged to the peri- cranium of Prudence might have seen that there was one subject peculiarly interesting to Dunning ; that subject was whatever related to the family of Roke- by, concerning whom he inquired every the most minute particular, with an ear- nestness which evidently had its origin in a motive far stronger than mere cu- riosity ; yet whatever desire he evinced to hear about the Rokebys, he certainly had none to associate with them, con- stantly contriving to make a retreat whenever Mr. and Mrs. Kokeby called at Erougliam, and declining the pohte invitations he received to visit Temple- Sowerby together w ith the family whose guest he was. Miss Rokeby he did not appeal' to be desii'ous of avoiding ; he 1*36 BROUGHAM CxVSTLE. he was several times in company with her during his stay at the Castle, and paid her much attention ; yet he seemed anxious to hare it understood that it was the attention of esteem and friend- ship, not of admiration or of love ; in- deed that species of admiration connected with passion, and having Idonea Roke- by for its object, would have ill assorted with Dunning's age, which evidently exceeded that of her father. But if Dunning shunned the elder Rokebys, and beheld the fair Idonea without being enraptured and enamour- edy it was far otherwise with his juvenile companion, Sibbald ; he either Vv^as, or chose to appear, most violently in loA'^e, visited Temple- Sowerby much oftener than his company was desired by any one there, and persecuted Ido- nea with copies of verses, and profes- sions of admiration and adoration, all of which she firmly and uniformly rejected. Well could her acute and penetrating mind. BROUGHAM CASTLE. 137 mind, yet unwarped and imcontami- nated by jealousy or suspicion, distin- guish between truth and falsehoods- reality and fiction ; nor did it require even the reflection of a moment to con- vince her that the genuine merits of Cy- rus Dacre Vv^ere as much superior to the varnished manners of Sibbald, as is the diamond of the East to the shining bau- ble of glass; and armed with this convic- tion, her heart shrunk with disgust and horror from the proffered regards of the latter, and clung with augmented ten- derness to the object of its faithful affec- tions. To Cyrus the society of these stran- gers was most irksome and disgusting ; they beheved, or affected to believe, him the illegitimate son of Crosthwaite, and as such, treated him as an object wholly beneath their notice. But whatever honour they might imagine that notice conferred or withheld, certain it is, that Cyrus w^ould have thought it the next disagreeable 138 BROUGHAM CASTLE. disagreeable thing to their presence, of which he became every day more and more weary. There was a profligate licentiousness in the manners of Dun- ning, and an envious malignity in those of his companion, which made the pure and well-regulated mind of Dacre re- coil with disgust from aU interchange of sentiments, with them ; but v/hen the penetration of a lover discovered what a regard for the peace of Cyrus induced Idonea to conceal, the passion of Sibbald, he felt the torments of jealousy added to contempt and dislike, and scarce could his respect for Crosthwaite prevent him from coming to an open rupture with Sibbald — an event which it was easy to foresee must happen, should they remain much longer under the same roof together. After staying upwards of three weeks at Brougham, Dunning took leave, al- leging that particular busii^ess required his presence at Whiteiiaven, and pro- mising BROUGHAM CASTLE. 1S9 mising to return when it should be dis- patched. Sibbald did not offer to quit his quarters ; but in the beginning of September, Idonea and Cyrus beheld a prospect of being released from his dis- agreeable society. Lyulph Brisco, after an absence of thirteen years, was come home to pass a few months with his parents, his health being in rather a delicate state, in con- sequence of a wound he had recently received, from which, however, he was so far recovered, that quiet and change of air v/ere alone judged requisite to ef- fect his perfect restoration. Arthur was coming from Glasgow to give his brother the meeting, and Dacre and Miss Rokeby were invited to join the happy party assembled at WatermillocV. They accepted the invitation with the sincerest pleasure, for every circumstance appa- rently conspired to render this little ex- cursion delightful. The most refined social happiness might be expected be- neath 140 BROUGHAM CASTLI.'. neath the roof of Mr. Brisco ; there at least Sibbald could not enter to disturb their repose, and the season of autumn is that in which the beautiful shades of UUswater wear their most attractive form. An early day in the ensuing week was fixed on for their departure \ Mr. Rokeby was to accompany them to Watermillock, and return the next day, and all was joy and gaiety in the per- spective. CHAPTER VII Three days before that appointed for the journey to Watermillock, Burbeck^ the gamekeeper at Whinfield Park, proposed that a doe should be hunted — a species of amusement peculiarly adapted to the taste of the inhabitants of T^mple- Sov/erby and its neighbourliood, few of whom^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. 141 whom ever failed to attend on such oc- casions. Mr. llokeby, who was exceed- ingly fond of the chase, had early ac- customed his daughter to join in 'it, which she did with spirit and pleasure, and managed her courser with grace and agility. Idonea was a simple countr}'-girl of the seventeenth century ; her wild, un- tutored spirit, active and lively as the piercing air of her native mountains, shrunk not from the fatigues or the dan- gers of her father's favourite sport ; if, hovv^ever, she must be accused of " un- comely courage, unbeseeming skill," and if the fair equestrians of the present day are net found a party sufficient to protect her, she must plead guilty to the charge, and have done with it ; for it is the province of the biographer to relate facts, not to apologize for or extenuate them. The bright sun of an early autumnal morning illumined the blue vault of heaven. 142 BROUGHAM CASTLE, heaven, when the hunters assembled in Whinfield Park. JVIr. Rokeby was mounted on a spirited animal, not less eager for the chase tiian his master. By his side was his lovely daughter, who, gracefully habited in green, and surrounded by the venerable oaks of the Park, might have been sketched for Di- ana in a grove dedicated to her worship. Near her was one of the most ardent of her votaries, the fashionable and self-ap- proving Mr. Sibbald, whose compliments, likethemitresof Sterne, descended '-thick as hail." To those compliments Idonea was compelled, at ever\' opportunity, to listen ; for Sibbald was neither to be re- pulsed by silence, nor awed by reproof Not far from this group was Mr> Cadmus Crosthwaite, capering and cur- veting on a highly-prancing steed. Cad- mus was too much a lover of good living to keep an inhospitable stable ; but cer- tainly a less-pampered animal would have suited his horsemanship better; for BFvOUGHAM CASTLE, 143 for tliough a constant attendant at every deer, fox, and hare chase within ten miles round, he was a superlatively-bad rider, was never in at the death, had twice been thrown into a ditch, and once into a pond. All these disasters, how- ever, did not deter him from attending on the present occasion ; and while Sib- bald was entertaining Miss Rokeby in the manner already described, his- host was edifying old Buibeck vrith a disser- tation on all the celebrated hunters of antiquity from Nimrod to Orion. INear him stood the gracefid figure of Cyrus Dacre, leaning one arm on his horse, his expressive eyes bent Vv^ith so- Hcitous inquietude on Miss Rokeby and Sibbald. Never, on any former excur- sion, had he been absent from the side of Idonea^ but now that valued place was filled by another ; yet he felt by no means disposed to tamely resign it, and was advancing to assert his claim, when Idonea happened to smile at some ob- servation 144 BROUGHAM CASTLE. servation of her companion. The smile struck like the fang of an adder on the heart of Cyrus, and infused the deadly' poison of jealousy into a soil but too susceptible of that fatal passion. From that moment the flowery wreath of love became a bitter and galling chain. In proportion to the strength of his passion —and a more ai'dent one never animated a human bosom — so were the torments he suffered ; but he formed the instant resolution of suffering them in silence. In fact, he as yet knew not half their strength; the sensation of wounded pride which mingled with his first feelings, he mistook for the dawnings of indiffe- rence, and believing that Idonca no lon- ger felt for him the preference which she had once acknowledged, he thought he should find no difficulty in banishing her image from his heart. '* Shall I dispute her affections with that vain, vicious w retch ?" said he men- tally ; " no ! if she has withdrawn them from BROt^GHAM CASTLE. 145 from me to bestow them on him, they are not worth another thought.'* While these ideas crossed his mind, Idonea happened first to observe him ; iier fine eyes sparkled with augmented brilliancy, and while the smile of inno- cent pleasure dimpled on her cheek, she waved her hand to invite his ap- proach. Love for a moment triumphed over jealousy and resentment, and Da- cre Avas placing his foot on the stirrup to obey the invitation, when the blasting recollection struck to his heart that this treacherous smile had beamed also on Sib- bald. The fiend-like toniientors of his bosom returned, and dartinor on the astonished Idonea a look replete wdth that haughtiness which formed a strik- ing feature of his character when he thought himself injured or neglected, he led his horse to another part of the park, and hastily addressed to Mr. Bris- co an inquiry after the health of his son. Lyulph, he was told, continued con- YOT.. I. H valescent. 146 TJBOUGHxVM CASTLE, Valescent. Cyiiis expressed himself liappy to hear it ; but had any one the next moment addressed the same inquiry to himself, he could iiot, had even his hfe depended on it, have repeated the an- ■swer of ^Ir. Brisco ; not that he felt un- interested in the fate of the gentleman in question — far from it; he earnestly -wished to cultivate his friendship, but his mind was in a state little short of temporary frenzy; his thoughts, words, and actions, were disjointed, and his questions and replies were merely me- chanical. From this state of mental distraction he was roused by the cry of the hounds, eager for the chase, and the music of the "Winding horn, which woke a thousand echoes in the surrounding hills; the fa- tal signal was given, and all " The feavage soul of g^ame was up at ouce !" The poor, devoted deer, whom her soft- coated companions had shunned, as if by instinct. BROUGHAM CASTLE* 147 Instinct, from the moment she wa:i marked for pursuit, flew, with the fleet- liess of the winds, over the level, green, and grassy knolls of the park, burst the tangled furze and underwood, and sought the refuge of the thickest shades ; from hence her deep-mouthed enemies soon lexpelled her, and, in concert with the hunters, now wholly absorbed, and al* most wild in the pursuit, traced her course, until, faint and exhausted, the ^oor animal plunged into the Eden, about three miles below Temple^Sow* ^erby, and was followed by numbers of both her rational and irrational tormen*^ tors. How such of the dramatis perso- nw of this book as were present at this memorable hunting disposed of them- selves after the deer took the water, it will now be proper to relate* Mr. Brisco was at all times too ardent in the chase to take much care of his neck ; he also made it a point to be al- ways in at the death, and of course was / H 2 the 14.8 BROUGHAM CASTLE. the fii'st, together with old Burbeck, to follow the hounds. Exclusive of ISIiss Rokeby, there was only one female present, a lady of the neighbourhood, who, being by far too keen a sportswoman to give in from any apprehensions of danger, forded the ri- ver immediately after the gentlemen jtist mentioned. Idonea kept close by the side of her father as long as she could, until the speed of Mr. Rokeby's horse surpassed that on which she was mounted- It is probable he would not have suffered his partiality for the chase to have carried him away from her, had he not known that she would be most carefully attended by a faithful servant, w^ho was an excellent horseman, and ne- ver lost sight of his young lady on such occasions as the present. But the chase no longer afforded pleasure to Idonea ; the sun of joy which had risen for her in the morning was set in a cloud of anxiety, like too many of the evanescent pleasures BROUGHAM CASTLE. 145^ pleasures of youth. Tlie stem and haughty look of Dacre, so unlike those melting glances of love and tenderness that used to beam on her from tlie fine eyes of her lover, was never for a mo- ment absent from her mind. On every former pleasurable excursion, Cyrus had been her constant and assiduous attend- ant ; but now her eye had only encoun- tered his form in the first outset, for he had far surpassed her in speed. Wearied and dejected, therefore, she felt glad when the deer plunged into the Eden, as her father would not then expect her to continue the chase ; and calling to Ambrose, desired him to assist her in dismounting, intending to rest awhile on the bank of the river, where a thick- ly-woven shade c£ plane trees, elms, and hazel, invited her to repose her wearied frame, and seek to collect her harassed spirits. She had reason to believe that the chief part of the hunters who intend- H a ed 150 BROUGHAM CASTLE. ed to ford the river, were now gone by^. and that here she should be at hberty to commune with her own sad thoughts^ without fear of interruption. Seating herself on the turf, while Ambrose led the horses about at a little distance, she fell into a train of reflections, the sub- ject of which may be easily guessed, and which, had they been long indulged, Avould rather have tended to augment the dejection of her spirits than to dis-^ pel it; but she had not occupied her seat above three minutes, when her reverie was broken by the approaching sound of hoofs, and looking up, to her equal surprise and dismay, she beheld Sibbald, who, having no inclination for a cold bath, checked his liorse on the brink of the river^ and in the yerj same moment discovering Miss Rokeby, sprang from his saddle, and threw himself at her feet. The surprise was so sudden, and the action so ridiculous, and to her so disa- greeable,. BEOUGHAM CASTLIT. 151 gi*eeable, that she could not immediately collect her ideas sufficiently to express her displeasure. Sibbald, either really mistaking her silence for tacit encouragement, or choos- ing to construe it to his own advantage, soon quitted the posture he had chosen, and seating himself beside her on the turf, exclaimed with a theatrical air and accent — " Why, fair Diana, goddess of these silvan shades, why have you left your votaries to wander in the chase without your presence to guide them ? have their sins, their faults, and their follies, provoked you to abandon them ? or have you chosen this cool and shady grove, in which to sit enshrined, and re- ceive the adoration of your worshippers ? If so, fair goddess, accept of mine !" and he again bent his knee before her, while Idonea, vexed and distressed by his egregious folly, attempted every mo- ment to interrupt this rhapsody of non- sense; but the effort was vain — " Or H 4 have. 1513 BROUGHAM CASTLE. have you, charming maid," he resumed, while he looked up in her face with a g^ze so intrepid and impertinent, that the timidity of youth and inexperience shrunk from it abashed — " have you another object of pursuit, a game more teoble tlian a v/eak, flying deer — the heart of a lover? Yes ! by all the darts of Cupid, it is, it must be so ! Yet surely it cannot, it shall not be that Dacre, as they call him^ the son of Crosthwaite ! surely Miss Rokeby v^^ould not conde- scend to waste a thought on him, or to heed the glances of petulant disrespect which he had the insolence to cast on her this morning." At these pointed words the vivid crimson rushed to the cheek of Idonea, and her eyes fell beneath the stare of de- termined scrutiny which the bold and artful Sibbald fixed on her. Hitherto she had contented herself with saying, w^hen she could obtain leave to speak — *' Sir, 1 must beg you will cease this tri- fling : BROUGHAM CASTLE. 158 fling; to you it may possibly afford amusement, to me it does not." But now, when her partiality for Dacre was openly hinted at, when she was taunt- ingly reminded of the unkind and haughty manner in which he had treated her but a few hours before, she unfortu- nately swerved from that cautious pru- dence^ v/hich, had she given more time to reflection, would have instructed her to repel, v/ith contempt and disdain, the insolent inquiries of Sibbald ; and listen- ing only to the dictates of female deU- cacy and wounded pride, she obeyed the impulse of the moment, and resolving to exonerate herself from all suspicion of a partiality for Dacre, she exclaimed,, though without venturing to raise her eyes to those of her tormentor — "I must beg. to assure you, sir, that you are strangely mistaken. Mr. Daere's looks, like those of any other pei^n to whom one is perfectly indifferent, are matters ©f no consequence to me." H 5. The 154 biiougha:m castle. The artful Sibbald quickly perceived and followed up liis advantage. Dis- carding the air of levity which he had hitherto vv' orn, he assumed one of serious- ness and respect. Rising from his pos- ture of mock humiliation, and seating himself near Idonea on the turf, he said^ with well-feigned earnestness — '• ]VIy dear Miss Rokeby, if I have said any thing to give you offence, I implore your pardon; hitherto I have only been in jest, but now I am far otherwise, and must take the liberty of saying, that I sincerely rejoice to hear you say that this Dacre is an object of indifference to you, for he has not only had the vanity and insolence to boast of your partiahty for him, but I know, from indisputable authority, that he has asserted your en- gagements with him to be such as nei- ther party could recede from." Here the subtle fiend paused, and watched the countenance of his fair auditor, to mark the BROUGHAir CASTLE. 155 the progress of the poison he was instil- ling. If there existed a mind on earth in which suspicion found no lurking-place, it was that of Idonea Rokeby. From her first acquaintance with Cyrus, down to the present moment, she had never doubted his faith and honour; but now her reliance on his fidelity was torn up by the roots. Young, inexperienced^, and educated in retirement, she was con- sequently credulous and unsuspecting. Sibbald easily read her character; but in- stead of admiring and respecting its un- adulterated simplicity and integrity, as a virtuous and worthy manv/ould; have done, he basely took advantage of it, and determined to effect a breach between her and Dacre, which should not be easily healed. He was too subtle, too well acquainted with the human heart, to attempt doing this by exciting her jealousy ; that " green-eyed monster," he well knew, but adds fuel to the iiame h6 €£' 156 BROUGHAM CASTLE. of love, and is active and vigorous only in proportion to the strengtli of that pas- sion. No, it was by alarming her deli- cacy, by piquing her pride, and by rais- ing her indignation, that he hoped to succeed in severing the tie which bound her to her lover. The unsuspecting Ido- nea fell into the snare ; she did not give Sibbald credit for that degree of penetra- tion which could enable him to discover the regard which subsisted between her- self and Dacre, and consequently believed his assertion, that Dacre himself had made it his boast — a belief grievous and insupportable to female delicacy. The artfdl Sibbald easily read the workings of her mind, and pursued his advantage by saying, with the utmost seeming indifference and freedom from design — **I was certain that Dacre was uttering a string of falsehoods concern- ing you ; but indeed I do not wonder at it, for I have seen and heard so much of his baseness since I came to Brougham,^ that BROUGHAM CASTLE. 157 that I cannot be surprised at any thing he does. He has completely the weak side of the old man ; and as to the poor, foolish woman, Crosthwaite's wife, she absolutely dotes on him ; but notwith- standing their bhnd parti ality^ they are but too well acquainted with many of his errors, though they screen them from the eyes of the world. I have indeed learned some shocking circumstances concerning him since my residence iri this country ; but you must excuse my silence on that point, for they are such as I cannot repeat to you." When black and ambiguous hints like these are given concerning any one, the imagination of the hearer, left with a wide field of conjecture to roam in, is sure to conjure up every possible crime, and lay them to the charge of the absent, traduced party; thus it was with Ido- nea. Ignorant, as she was innocent, of guile and deceit, her unsuspecting heart could not form an idea that Sibbald was imposing 158 BROUGHAM CASTLE. imposing on her a base farrago of design- ing falsehoods. His pres 'nt situation, a resident under the same roof with Cy- rus, might certainly be supposed to af- ford him a favourable opportunity of becoming acquainted with his private and domestic character and conduct. She could not doubt that Cyrus had in- deed boasted of the acknowledgment of regard, and the vow of fidelity, which he had himself drawn from her; for she had never breathed a syllable on the subject,, not even to her parents, though her fe^ther, she had reason to think, saw and did not disapprove her partiality for Da- cre, and. that which, till this fatal mo- ment, she had believed Dacre felt for iter. But the hopes a-id the confidence ©f love existed no longer; the behaviour of Cyrus in the morning had blasted them all ; nor did Idonea ever once sus- pect the source in which that behaviour originated ; for though he had certainly, for some time past, been jealous of Sib- bald, BROUGHAM CASTLE. 159 bald, his liaughty spirit would never stoop to own that it harboured such an inmate as jealousy. To what then, but to a total dereliction from honour and prin- ciple, could she ascribe his conduct? Alas ! she thought it too fatally con- firmed the assertions of Sibbald; had she reflected indeed, had she measured back the years of tenderness and of goodness which she had seen pass over the head of Dacre, she might perhaps have discarded the new and dangerous guest of her bosom — Suspicion. But this was not the moment for reflection ; her pride, her delicacy, and her feeUngs, were wounded, and she firmly beheved that she spoke the dictates of both her •heart and her reason, when she replied to the vague but insidious charge of criminality which Sibbald preferred against her lover — " JVIr. Dacre and his conduct, sir, are alike indifferent to me — I have nothing to do with them ;" but in the moment that she uttered these words. 160 BROUGHAM CASTLS. words, the starting wildness of her avert- ed eye, the faint glow which tinged her whitened cheek, and the trembh'ng agi- tation of her nerves, were harbingers of the agony which was gathering in her lacerated bosom. CHAPTER Vin. Cyrus, only anxious to escape from seeing Idonea hstening to the addresses of Sibbald, gallopped after the hounds with the swiftness of an eagle ; but be soon found tliat speed could not abstract his thoughts from the object of his love and his fears, and that distance only aug- mented his jealous tortures^ He had neither spirits nor inclination to continue the chase, and when the deer and her pursuers quitted the earth, and sought a new element^ he resolved to return home^ BROUGHAM CAStLE. lOl home, and checking his horse, took a path a little to the right, that he might avoid meeting the rest of the hunters. But how frail are the resolutions of a lover ! he had scarcely retraced five hun- dred yards of the space which intervenes between the Eden and Brougham Cas- tle, when the image of Idonea, smiling on Sibbald, his abhorred rival, flashed on his mind ; and unable to bear the soul- distracting picture which his imagina- tion had conjured up, he determined to again join the hunters. In fact, the con- flict between love and jealousy had been very severe, but victory now inclined to the former; and while he fancied that his motive in turning back was to seek Sib- bald and revenge, the real objects of at- traction w^ere Idonea and reconciliation. When he had recovered about half his lost v/ay back, he met Crosthvv aite journeying towards Brougham.^ — " How now, Cyrus," said he, "whence comes this comperendination ? I think you have 162 BROUGHAM CASTLE.. have deteriorated from the usual velo- city of your horsemanship ; you have not yet forded the stream, and yet, if one may judge by the anhelation of your courser, your progress has been rapid." Cyrus, in reply j briefly said that he had intended to return home, but had- changed his mind. . "Why," returned Cadmus, "Phoebus- is so calefactive at this meridian liour, that I am nearly occecated, and have therefore determined on a recession, and shall claudicate in the first gelid shade I can find, until a recheat is sounded,, for I am convinced the doe will escape." With these words they parted, and Cyrus pursuing his way towards the Eden, reached the spot where Idonea and Sibbald were seated, at the precise moment in which, as before related, the lady was assuring the gentleman, that neither iSlr. Dacre nor his conduct were objects of any interest to her. Her BROUGHAM CASTLE. IfiS Her back was turned towards the road ; of course she did not perceive Cy- rus, but her companion did, and saw also that he was observing them with looks of jealous fury. Though a most egi^egious coward, Sibbaldj for once in his life, felt his cou- rage elevated to a pitch that inspired him with a desu-e of triumphing over his rival ; and knowing that Dacre, who had checked his horse, was novN^ within hearing, he affected not to have heard distinctly what Idouea said when she uttered the words recited near the close of the last chapter. " iSIadam !" said he, with a look which implied a wish: that she would repeat the sentence. JNIiss Rokeby, unconscious of who heard her, fell into the snare, and repUed — " I only said, sir, tliat INIr. Dacre is a person perfectly indifferent to me." " False, perjured woman !" exclaimed Cyrus, leaping from his horse, and rush- ing into the grove. " Infernal villain !" he 164 BROUGHAM CASTLE. he added, directing the force of his fury towards Sibbald, who, akeady repenting his temerity in having provoked this storm, was looking about for his horse, | and planning a retreat, which his anta- gonist was about to take effectual mea- sures to prevent, w^hen his purpose was arrested by a groan so loud, so deep, so impressive, that it superseded even love, jealousy, and revenge. It has been asserted by "sages who proclaim themselves to be deeply versed in the lore of antiquity, more especially in that of the Druids, that the pride of man erroneously arrogates to himself alone the faculty of clothing his thoughts I in the garb of speech, for that each spe- 1 eies of animals has a form of language ] peculiarly its own. Now it is well i known that Druidical learning flou- j rished nov/here more than in the county of Cumberland ; of course w^e may infer , that the horses of that county are pecu- j liarly conversible. Hence it w^as that J the! BROUGHAM CASTLE, 1 65 the Rosinante of Crosthwaite, which had been most unwillingly turned into a direction contrary to that of the jhounds, when he met his friend and [associate, the steed of Cyrus, complained bitterly of the compulsion under which he was acting. Pyrcetis, for so Cros- thwaite himself had named the horse of IDacre, no doubt advised his brother courser to rebel against the authority of his rider, and, in defiance of rein and of lash, to resume the chase. The horse, we may conjecture, adopted his friend's counsel, and, wheehng about, once more followed the cry of the hounds, and gal- lopped at full speed towards the Eden, Crosthwaite used the utmost exertions of his horsemanship to restrain him; but not having a clear conception of the pro- per method of managing the bridle, he galled the mouth of the animal so into- lerably with the bit, that it compelled him to snort and rear his head. This movement threatened to shake Cadmus in 166 BROUGHAM CASTLE. in his seat, and the measures he took to i secure himself in it were ill calculated to answer that end ; for, by shortening his hold of the bi'idle, and grasping it with a firmer hand, he only augmented the evil he sought to remove, and urged his i flight to the very brink of the river, j Here Crosthwaite, out of all patience, j had recourse to his whip ; the conse* j quence was, that the animal plunged i violently, threw his rider ctfi the bank, j ^nd dashing into the water, pursued the | chase. i It was the well-known voice of Cros* ; thwaite, groaning in anguish beneath i Ids bruises and sufferings, which struck i on the ear of Cyrus, and arrested his I vengeance wlien ready to fall on the de- voted head of Sibbald. Ahve only to : gratitude and affection for the protector j of his infancy, even Idonea was forgot* j ten in the feeling of the moment ; and rushing to the spot from whence the sound pro(seeded, b© threw himself on ^ thei BROUGHAM CASTLE. 16? tlie ground beside the fallen Cadmus, took his hand, felt his pulse, and, in a voice of tender anxiety, entreated him to speak, and tell him where he was hurt. " Oh, my scapula, my scapula is dis- located !" groaned Cadmus. Cyrus examined the part, as well as the time and place would permit, and being satisfied that the bone was net out of the socket, told the patient tliat he hoped his fears on that head were groundless. " Then my clavicle is fractured. Oh ! adh ! oh !" rejoined Crosthwaite. While he uttered these words. Miss Rokeby and her attendant came up to the spot. Agonized as she was by the recent communications of Sibbald, and the short but keen reproaches of Dacre, she could not behold any one, more espe- cially a friend of her father, in the situ- ation of Crosthwaite, without offering him every alleviatk»i of pity and atten- tion. 16B BROrCHAM CASTLE. tion. Kneeling down by him, she in- quired, with compassionate tenderness, how he felt himself, and proposed that Ambrose should go immediately to Brougham Castle to procure assistance. While she spoke, Cyrus gazed alter- nately on her and on his suffering friend, w^hile every feeling of his soul rushed by turns to his varying countenance, which one moment softened to pity, and the next wore the deadly expression of jealousy, now melted to love, and then glowed with anger ; sometimes too he cast a glance of frenzied w^ildness to- w^ards the grove in search of Sibbald ; but that search w^as needless, for Sibbald, by no means relishing the fierce and me- nacing manner of Dacre, had very pru- dently guarded against its consequences, by mounting his horse and gallopping off. Poor Cadmus, writhing with pain, expressed his acquiescence in Miss Roke- by's proposal. "I am extremely reluc- tant BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 16^ tant to give trouble," said he, "but I cannot at this present time evitate it; the continuity of my clavicle is destroy- ed, and until proper means are resorted to, to conglutinate the cohesion of the parts, I cannot expect to have any ata- raxia, or even somnolence." Cyrus abhorred the very thought that his friend should owe an obligation to Idonea— to that Idonea who, but a few minutes before, he had heard declare to his hated rival, " that Mr. Dacre was a person perfectly indifferent to her ;" but in the present case he could not avoid it, for either he must permit the servant to go to Brougham, as Miss Rokeby proposed, or soUcit her permission for Ambrose to attend to Mr. Crosthwaite while himself rode home ; and to ask a favour of her, or even to notice her, was what, in the existing state of his feel- itigs, his haughty spirit could not sub- mit to. He even felt, or tried to per- s;iade himself that he felt, averse to re- TOL. L I maining 170 BROUGHAM CASTLE. liiaining near her until the necessary as- sistance should arrive ; but he quickly found that his forbearance in this point would not be put to the test, for when she had received Crosthwaite's consent to dispatching Ambrose to Brougham, she desired the latter to lead her mare tp the spot where they then were, and as- sist her in mounting, saying she should ride immediately home. Cyrus now felt a fresh flame of re- sentment against Idonea kindling in his breast; he believed that Sibbald was waiting near, and that she was impatient to join him. His society, it was evident, no longer possessed a charm to detain her. How indeed should it, when he had heard her declare to Sibbald, " that Mr. Dacre was a person perfectly indif- ferent to her." These words were dag- gers, which, whenever they recurred to the memory of Cyrus, stabbed him to the heart. He thought too that her conduct in so soon leaving Crosthwaite in BROUGHAM CASTLE. 171 in his present situation was unkind and unfeeling; but the fact was, Miss Roke- by was so much affected by the occur- rences of the day, that she felt scarcely able to support herself, for the heart of Cyrus was not more deeply wounded by the words he had overheard, than was that of Idonea by both the conduct of Dacre in the morning, and the subse- quent reports of Sibbald. Pride, how- ever, enabled her to suppi-ess her an- guish v/hile in the presence of its object, but her face was averted, nor did she once dare to encounter the glance of bin eye. With regard to her leaving Cros- thwaite, her remaining by him would have been of no service, for it was not in her power to render him any assistance ; neither was sli€ enabled to estimate ei- ther the nature or the extent of his suf- ferings, for his learned dialect was nearly vmiateiligible to her, though Cyrus, who liad been accustomed to it from infancy, readily comprehended its purport; she 1 2 cannot 172 BROUGHAM CASTLE. cannot then be justly accused of any breach of either friendship or humanity in setting out for Temple-Sowerby at the same time Ambrose did for Brou^'h- am. Less excusable was the behaviour of Cyrujs, who could not prevail on him- self to offei' his once-loved Idonea even the trifling civility of his assistance in mounting her horse, nor even a parting bow ; the hateful sentence still rang in his ears, and forgetting that he had been the original aggressor, he considered her as the most fickle of her sex, in having withdrawn her plighted affections from him, and bestowed them on a stranger, a worthless coxcomb. Nor was Idonea at all more inclined to a conciliatory mode of conduct than her lover. Far from censuring her own imprudence in having so pointedly en- couraged Sibbald, by repeatedly assuring him that she felt no partiality for Dacre, she fed the flame of resentment by dwell- ing on the haughty glance of Cyrus, and on BKOUGHAM CASTLE, 173 on the hint of Sibbald that he was ac- quainted with some shocking circum- stances concerning him ; and after breath- ing to Cadmus her best wishes and pray- ers for his recovery, she rode off, with- out taking any more notice of Dacre than if he liad stood on the bank of the Nile, instead of the Eden; while he, though more than ever exasperated, would not suffer his contempt and re- sentment to interfere with his feehngs of affection and gi'atitude, but compel- led himself so far to notice the commis- sion she had given Ambrose, as to re- quest that he would be cautious in ac- quainting Mrs. Crosthwaite with the ac- cident which had happened to her hus- band. But caution in this point was en- tirely useless, for Sibbald, who had ven- tured to peep out from amongst the trees v;hile Cyrus was examining the hurts of Crosthwaite, had rode directly to Brougham, and proclaimed the evil tidings with as little of feeling or cau- I 3 tion 174 BROUGHAM CASTLE, tion as he would have used in relating the death of the deer which had been hunted that morning. Prudence, as may be supposed, was greatly alarmed, and extremely anxious to have Cadmus brought home, but obser\^ed that — "if lie wad be sae venter- some as to ride fall drive, it was nae wonder he sud faw; and though she hoped his showder was only wrampt, still the stound v/ad be sair to onder- gang." She lost no time in dispatching the hind and another person, and consoled herself with the reflection that Cyrus would use all possible tenderness in remo- ving him, Sibbald, though he declared himself deeply grieved for Crosthwaite's acci- dent, was in truth highly delighted that Dacre had such an employment as that of attending to him, since it would effec- tually prevent his return to Brougham durino; the short remainder of his own present BllOUGHAM CASTLE. 175 present stay there, which he resolved should not be many minutes, for he was by far too great a coward to risk a se- cond meeting with his spirited rival. He did not, however, give to Mrs. Cros- tliwaite the slightest hint of his intended departure, but took to himself the me- rit of riding over to Penrith for a sur- geon, a piece of kindness for which Pini- dence could not be otherwise than tndy grateful. It is scarcely necessary to observe that Ambrose met the hind and the other person dispatched by Prudence before he could reach Brougham Castle, Find- ing that his embassy was rendered nu- gatory, he returned with tliem to the spot where Cadmus still lay groaning, liis head supported by the arm of his af- fectionate young friend. They had pro- vided themselves with a kind of litter, and on this they placed him, and con- veyed him in safety to Brougham Cas- tle. I 4 If 176 BROUGHAM CASTLE. If a wish of avoiding Dacre operated poweifiilly on Sibbald, Cyrus was not less strongly actuated by the contrary motive. He learned, on his return home, whither and on what errand he was gone, and waited with impatience his return from Penrith ; but this was fated to be a day of disappointment to him, for when the surgeon arrived, he brought with him a short note from Sibbald, ad- dressed to IMrs. Crosthwaite, acquainting her that on reaching Penrith he found his friend Dunning there, from whom he learned that some important business required his immediate presence in a dis- tant part of the county — he did not men- tion v»']iere, and concluded with ex- pressing, in flourishing terms, his very deep regret for the cruel necessity whicli compelled him to absent himself from Brougham, at the time when his dear friend Crosthwaite had met with so ;m- pleasant an accident. CHAP- Br.OUGHAM CASTLE. 177 CHAPTER IX. Crosthwaite was perfectly right in his conception of tlie consequences result- ing from his fall ; the collar-bone wasr indeed broken, but it was only a simple fracture, which being soon reduced, the surgeon did not apprehend any danger, and only enjoined his patient to rest, quiet, and temperance. The two first injunctions Cadmus scrupulously obeyed; but the latter he flagrantly infringed, for the compliments of inquiry from his numerous friends were accompanied with so manydioice presents of venison, grouse, and char, and Prudence so well exerted lier skill in making pasties, pots, and cranberry tarts, that the benefits resulting from abstemiousness were not I 5 to 178 ^ brougbtam castle. to be thought of in Cadmus's cure, which was, of course, considerably retarded. JMiss Rokeby, on her return home, re- lated to her mother the accident whidi had befallen Crosthwaite, and to it was attributed the hurry and agitation of her spirits ; for she could not prevail on her- self to mention those events of the day in which her heart was more nearly concern- ed. The next morning, when IMr. Hoke- by asked her to ride over with him to Brougham, to visit Mrs. Crosthv/aite, and inquire after her husband, she framed some slight excuse for remaining at home, for she dreaded meeting either Cyrus or Sibbald, of whose departure she was ignorant. Cadmus was asleep when Mr. Rokeby visited the Castle ; of course he was not admitted to his chamber, but Cyrus was summoned from thence by Mrs. Cros- thwaite, v/lio could not suppose that he would feel otherv» ise than highly grati- fied in seeing one for whom, and for wlK)se BllOUGHAM CASTLE. 179 whose family, he had ever expressed the highest esteem and respect. It is pro- bable, however, that at the present junc- ture Cyrus would rather have been ex- cused from seeing him ; but at the same time the reluctance which he felt to doing so was counterbalanced by two motives. In the first place, he had too high a sense of justice to implicate Mr. Rokeby in the fault of his daughter; and in the next, his lofty spirit would never stoop to acknowledge, by either word or look, that he felt himself forsaken and rejected for a rival. - Urged then by these considerations, he obeyed the sum- mons of Mrs. Crosthwaite, and followed liier into the presence of Mr. Rokeby, who received him with his wonted kind- ness ; and attributing the gloom which Dacre vainly strove to chase from his brow solely to the inquietude he suf- fered on Crosthwaite's account, he en- deavoured to re -animate him with hopes of a speedy amendment — " However," I 6 added 180 BROUGHAM CASTLE. added he, " as his recovery cannot be so rapid as our good wishes for it, I fear, my young friend, you intend to resign all thoughts of accompanying Idonea and me to Watermilloek the day after to-morrow." The mention of Watermilloek, and of the excursion from which he had pro- mised himself so much pleasure, brought back to the bosom of Cyrus the remem- brance of the hopes, the happiness, and the confidence he had lost, and drew from thence a deep and heavy sigh. The sigh could not pass the ear of Mr. Hokeby unobserved; but ignorant of the motive in which it originated, he very naturally imputed it to the disap- pointment Cyrus felt at being compelled to relinquish his intended visit. — " I re- gret that we cannot have the pleasure of your company," he resumed, " but my regret is nothing — ^is it, Cyrus ?" Dacre felt the flill meaning implied in these few v/ords. His heart beat tumul- tuoiisly BROL^GHAM CASTLE, 181 tuoiisly, but pride quickly expelled every other feeling from thence, and with little hesitation he replied — " I hope, sir, you do me the justice to believe that I at all times value your society highly ; but I must confess that at present ti\e chief regret I feel is not for being de- tained at home, but for the distressing cause which detains me." " Well, well, young man, that shall pass 7iozt\'' said ^Ir. Rokeby, smiling archly ; " but remember," he added, lay- ing his hand on Cyrus's shoulder as he rose to go, " remember I prophesy that^ when our good friend Crosthwaite get^ better, JMr. Dacre will fmd the banks of Ullswater more pleasant and more de- sirable than Brougham Castle." . Poor Cyrus felt his feehngs rising to agony as the torturing remembrance passed over his mind, that he was an ob- ject of indifference to her whose presence would have made the shades of Ulls- water pleasant indeed. ?To prospect of tlie 132 BROUGHAM CASTLE.- tlie future, no hope, no intention, now possessed a power to charm him ; he might have exclaimed with the poet — '' She smli'i', an 1 I could not but love ; Is faithless, ;uid I am undone !"' He made no reply to Mr. Rokeby, but attended him in silence to the gate, where, in a faint voice, he commissioned Jiim with such compliments and excuses to their friends at Water miliock as the occasion required, but never once breath- ed the name of Idonea — an omission which did not fail to attract the notice of her father, and only served to con- vince him that Cyrus felt the mortification of remaining at home too keenly for ut- terance; nor was it without a smile of meaning that he communicated to his daughter what had passed at this inter- Vievv^. Idonea was deeply sensible of the marked contempt which Dacre had evin- ced in never once mentioning her name, yet brougha:^! castle. I S3 yet she disdained to notice the circum- stance to her father, or to injure Cyrus in his opinion, by relating the reports she had received from Sibbald ; but she thought, at least she persuaded herself she thought of him as one lost to honour and principle, and unworthy the consi- deration of a moment. The intervening day wore over, and the one appointed for the journey to '\Yatermillock arrived. Mr. Rokeby and his daughter were not to depart un- til eleven o'clock, and the fineness of the weather tempted Idonea to devote the morning hoiu's to a solitary ramble. The first sv/eet promise of a beautiful day, mellovv' ed by the tints of early autumn, and softened by a mild southern breeze, was opening around. Miss Rokeby pursued her way along the banks of the Eden, where every softer feature of ru- ral beauty was alternately presented ; the deep azure of the sky was reflected in the clear stream, and the fertile corn- fields. lS4i BROUGHAM CASTI.E. fields, waving with the rich treasures of harvest, now ripe for tlie sickle, were finely contrasted with the verdant mea- dows enamelled with v/ild flowers, and glittering Vi^ith countless myriads of pearly dew-drops. Nor was the sight the only sense which received gratifica- tion in this lovely scene ; the lark ca- rolled high the matin song of nature, the plaintive note of the red-breast mingled with the twittering of innumerable swal- lows not yet Jfled in search of a more ge- nial sky, and the harsh, sonorous notes of the kite, the rook, and the raven, join- ed in the concert of nature, which re* sponded to the loud low of the cattle, and softer bleat of the sheep, who pastu- red with the deer on the banks of the river. The season and the scene were lovely and attractive, but they spoke of Cyrus. Idonea felt as if hJs image were no longer to be clierished. " At Wa- termillock no object will recal his idea," said she, mentally, and was turning to retrace BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 185 retrace her path homewards, when her steps were arrested by an oak tree, on which Daere had engraven her name, and the following verses : — Where Eden's soft murmuring flood 'Mpngst Whinfiekfs green shades pours along, I have worshipp'd the nymph of the wood, And to her gentle ear tun'd my song. Could the Eden of old be more sweet Than these meadows, these groves, and these glade*; Or in beauty was Eve more complete Than the fair who inhabits their shades ? The weal'vh of the East would I give. And the world's brightest honours I'd leave, Like Adam in Eden to live, With Jdonea, sweet maid, for my Eve. As Miss Rokeby contemplated the well-known cliaracters, evei-v endearing circumstance of the past rose to her mind. She stood leaning against the tree, Avrapt in pensive abstraction, until alarmed by a rustling amongst the thicket. She looked round, and beheld Mr. 186 BROUGHAM CASTLE. Mr. Dunning close to her side. Re- lieved from lier apprehensions of seeing either Dacre or Sibbald, she addressed him with her wonted graceful sweetness, at the same time expressing her surprise at this meetina:, having: understood him to be in a different part of the covmtry. Dunning, in reply, apologized for ha- ving alarmed her, and accounted plausi- bly for being in Whinfield Park. Miss Rokeby instinctively turned from the spot where the tree bore evi- dence to the strength of Dacre's attach- ment, but not time enough to prevent her companion from seeing the verses. He read them with marked but rapid attention, and then said, turning to his fair companion — " I do not call this a compliment, ^liss Rokeby, since justice cannot be one." Idonea offered no reply, and he led her, as if he wished it to appear unde- signedly, from tlie spot. He seemed abstracted a few moments, and i^ien re- peated. BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 187 peated, as if still thinking of the verses— "Idonea! then you bear the name of your mother, Miss Rokeby ?" Idonea, with innocent candour, replied — " No, sir, my mother's name is L.ucy." Dunning regarded her, as it were, un- certain of her meaning ; then, as if com- prehending it, he said—" True, my dear madam, the lady whom you now call mo- ther m.ay be so named, but your own mo- ther was Idonea. Oh! well do I know the name." Not for a moment could Miss Koke:^ by form any other supposition than that Dunning was talking thus under the influence of mistake, and willing to cor- rect it, she replied — " I perceive, sir, you mean some other family — my mo- ther is living." Her companion now in his turn re- garded her v/ith an aspect of surprise. " Is it possible she can liave been edu- cated in this ignorance ?" he exclaimed ; and then added, in a hurried tone— " Pai'don 188 BUOUGIIAM CASTLE. ** Pardon w'nat I have said, Mius Roke- by, and think no more of it." With this injunction Idonea foiind it impossible to comply. Every emotion which can be classed with astonishment, consternation, and curiosity, per\^aded her faculties, and without yielding a mo- ment to reflection, she falteringly said — " Mr. Dunning, I conjure you to ex- plain yourself ; what is it you mean ?" After another short pause, apparently given to reflection, he said — ** My dear Miss Rokeby, if I could for a moment believe that your father had hitherto kept you ignorant of your familj^-liistory, in the wish that you should always re- main so, I should be the last person in the world to so far trespass on his wish as to make any disclosure on the sub- ject ; but aware that the circumstances I allude to cannot always be concealed from you, I feel myself called upon to explain what I liave said, so far as to as- sure you, that your mother, the wife of ]Mr. BllQUGHA]^.! CASTLE. 189 Mr. Rokeby, died the week which gave you birth ; and this fact either your fa- thei% or the lady who you h^ve liitherto beheved to be your parent, and v/ho, I understand, is called JVIrs. Rokeby, will confirm — indeed cannot deny." The finii, unhesitating manner in which these words were pronounced, conveyed t^y the mind of Idonea a per- fect conviction of tlieir truth, and with such conviction came a sensation so overv/helming, that her very nature seemed changed. That a mother, who from the earhest dawn of remembrance had been tenderness itself personified, sliould possess no claim to that most en- dearing of ail titles ; and that a father, at ail times so affectionately indulgent, had systematically deceived her in a point of such intimate concern, vrere strokes which her gentle nature was ill calculated to sustain. At one moment a weight of unutterable woe oppressed hei:, and in the next her belief felt in- clined 190 BROUGHAM CASTLE. dined to revolt ; but this faint dawn of hope was quickly chilled, for Dunning had referred her, for a confirmation of what he averred, to either her father, or to and beyond all, she felt horror- struck by the emphasis he laid on the words, " who is called Mrs. Rokeby." Idonea would have spoken, would have urged a yet further explanation ; but gTief, consternation, astonishment, and «very other sentiment or sensation that could be classed Vvith them, rivetted the power of utterance. Her companion, rather as if feeling for her visible perturbation than as shunning the subject, changed the dis- course to indifferent topics, as he conti- nued to walk by the side of Idonea, who directed her steps homewards. In about a quarter of an hour they were met by Ambrose, who w^as come in search of his young lady, when Dun- ning, to the great relief of Miss Rokeby, paid BP.OUGHAM CASTLE. 191 paid tlie parting compliments, without offering to attend her home. When she arrived there, her franie of mind may be supposed such as that of Adam ■" v.hen he heard The fa'al trespass done by Eve." Xever hitherto had she met the partial smiles of her parents without delight, never parted from them, even for a short season, without tears of tender filial re- gret. But now, as her father affection- ately expressed the reluctance with which he should leave her at Mr. Bris- co's, and her mother fondly mingled em- braces with cautions to guard her health, she felt her swelling heart rise almost to bm'sting. All that Dunning had said trembled on her lips, but a feeling not to be resisted repelled it back to its ^ad sanctuary, and she felt totally une- qual to either make such a disclosure, or ask 19^ BROUGHAM CASTLE. ask tlie confirmation which he had told her she might receive from Mr. Ilokeby* Both saw the conflict in their Idonea's bosom, but totally unsuspicious of the true cause, they attributed it to the re- gret she felt that Cyrus was precluded from being of the party to AVatermil- lock, and wath a smiling mutual glance, told each other the conjecture, " Nay, my love," said Mr. Ilokeby, with a look of arch meaning, and affec- tionately kissing her cheek, " no need to be so very grave; trust me Dacre will follow you in a few days." The mention of her lover, by recalling every circumstance that had occurred on the day of the stag-chase, augmented the tide of Idonea's anguish. Her spi- rit, yet a no\dce in care and suffering, sunk to the lowest point of depression, and she could only sob out an adieu to her mother, as INIr. Rokeby affection- ately drew her hand wdthin his, and led her to her horse. As BIIOUGHAM CASTLE. 193 As they pursued their journey, he -strove to cheer her by pointing out every beanty of the landscape, in scenes replete with all that can charm the ad- mirer of sublime or of rural scenery. Exercise, however, restored to her cheek the bloom of which anxiety had bereft it, and by the time they reached the house of iSfr. Brisco, she looked, though, alas ! she did not feel, herself. This abode of quiet was a neat stucco- ed dwelling, the white walls of which con- trasted finely with the dark green of the sycamore and beech trees, whose bran- ches were intermingled with the weep- ing sprays of the silver birch and the mountain ash, now graced with its au- tumnal honours. In front of the house, a sloping lawn descended to the margin of the lake, whilst a few scattered sheep cropping the turf, and some cattle repo- sing in the shade, gave animation to the picture. Beneath this roof a kind and cordial welcome, the characteristic of the VOL. I. K class 194 EHOUGHAM CASTLE. class and the individual in those remote counties, greeted the travellers. Mr. Brisco shook the hand of his friend, and quitted it but to salute Ido- nea, to rally her on being in:i accompa- nied by Cyrus, and to inquire solici- tously-after his old friend Crosthwaite, not without many a sly stroke at Cad- mus's horsemanship ; and then, with, the pride of a parent glovv ing on his cheek, and sparkling in liis eye, he presented his son. Few men of that age could boast a tlner form, or manners more graceful, than those of Lyuiph Brisco. He was nov/ about twenty-eight, tall, and form- ed with the most perfect symmetry, with brilliant dark eyes, fine teeth, and a sweet, intelligent countenance, over which his late ill-health had shed a lan- guid expression. To that frank and open carriage which was hereditary as distingvuGhing the family of Brisco, he united that ease whicli an intercourse with BROUGHAM CASTLE. 195 with the world seldom fails to bestow. He paid the most polite attention to Idonea, who would have thought hini pleasing, could she have yielded her mind to tlnnk any thing but that Sib- bald had said Dacre was vicious and de- praved; and Dmining, that Mrs, Rokeby was not her mother, Mrs. Brisco, almost equally proud of her accompUshed son, and of the hand- some Irish popHn with which he had presented her, now busied herself in placing her guests at a table covered with Hnen of her own manufacture, which rivalled in whiteness the snow on the top of Skiddaw, Eveiy thing was excellent in its khid, but it must be admitted that each dish was in dan- ger of being cold before the oration con- nected with it was pronounced. The mutton was of the true moun- tain breed, and Mr. Erisco could no more suffer its history to pass unnarra- ted, than lie could his own adventures K 2 carving. 196 BROUGHx\M CASTLE. in pursuit of the wild ducks he was then carving, and of the identical stag from whose antlers the handle of the knife he used was made. I^or was Mrs. Brisco at all behindhand in seasoning the re- past of her guests with the same variety of description. The excellent eel-pie was made of the silver species, taken, as she assured them, in the river Eamont, by her son Arthur, on a dark, wet, stormy night, when no moon lent its cheering ray ; wliilst her mode of manu- facturing cowslip and currant wines fur- nished a theme of elocution for nearly an hour. These little peculiarities of advanced and secluded life were abundantly com- pensated by kind and sincere hospitality, whilst every deficiency of attention they caused was watched for and supplied by tlie two sons of Mrs. Brisco and Jier niece, INIiss Stanle}^ This lady, though only a few months the junior of her cousin Lyulph, was far inferior BROUGHAM CASTLTT. 197 inferior to her vouno; friend Idonea in both natural and acquired talents. She possessed, however, in an eminent de- gree, those feminine graces, at the ex- pense of which more splendid, though less valuable qualities are but too frequently purchased. Her disposition was sweet and gentle, and though their ages were so. dissimilar, a very sincere friendship subsisted between her and iNliss Rokeby^ Arthur, greatly improved by his resi- dence at Glasgow, yet retaining all his native sprightly good-humour, exerted himself to enliven the party, and the- day wore pleasantly over with all but Idonea, wlio now for the first time learn- ed that painful lesson which experience seldom fails to give, the necessity of masking beneath a smiling face a wound- ed and bleeding heart. K 3 CHAP- 198 BKOUGHAM CASTLE. CHAPTER X. ■^■f**^ -e^f* Vain was every effort of Idonea to ba- iiisli from her mind the communications of Dvmning ; they haunted her through the day, and in the darkness and silence of night her burthened mind persuaded itself that she ought not to suffer her fa- ther to depart without disclosing thera to him. With this view she contrived to draw Mr. Rokeby into the garden after breakfast, assured she had courage to enter on the subject. But though privacy and opportunity conspired, yet now, when come to the point, she fal- tered and hesitated. INIr. Kokeby perceived her confusion and embarrassment, and supposing she wished to mention Dacre, sought to re- lieve her by saying, m a rallying tone — " Come, BROUGHAM CASTLE. 1 99 "' Come, come, Idonea, tell me at once what I shall say to Cyrus." The mention of that name acted as an impellent, and anxious to exonerate herself from the suspicion of having Da- ere ever on her lips and in her mind, she summoned the best powers of her resolution, and inquired if her father knew ]Mr. Dunning ? , " Duiming !" repeated M\\ Kokeby ; *' oh ! w^hat, the gentleman Vv^ho was on a visit at Crosth waiters ^ No, I don't know him," and he smiled, supposing the theme of her discourse still extracted fi'om persons and circumstances con- nected vv^ith Cyrus. The smile bewildered Idonea, for, not perceiving its origin, she was^ tempted to think that her father did know one who seemed so intimately acquainted with his most secret transactions. After the pause of a moment she subjoined — " He knows you, however, sir, and my K 4 mother 200 BROUGHAM CASTLE. mother also," she added in breathless trepidation. " Does he ?" responded Mr. Rokeby, with some degree of surprise, or rather of a more thoughtful interest marked on his countenance. " Dunning, Dunning," he repeated, as if to assist recollection ; "no, I do not remember ever having been acquainted with any one who was so called ; when and where does he say he knew us, Idonea ? and why, in that case, did he not visit us at Temple-Sow- erby, when invited to come with JSIr. Sibbald?" Jdonea was preparing to throw her- self into her father's arms, to breathe oa his bosom all tliat Dunning liad said, and to hear from his lips a refutation which she would receive as joy, or a con- firmation that ^v^ould be agony, when Lyulph Brisco appeared in the walk coming towards them. Mr. Rokeby took his arm, and entered into discourse, doubtless buougham castle. 201 doubtless never suspecting that his daughter had any particular communi- cation to make ; whilst Idonea shrank, as it were,, within herself, and as she was not another moment alone with her fa- ther before his departure, Dunning's dreadful tale remained buried in her own bosom. The progress of Cadmus's convales- cence was slow ; but as it proceeded, the repugnance of Dacre to keeping his en- gagement, and joining the party at Wa- termillock, gradually died away, and at the end of a fortnight, when convinced that Crosthwaite was out of danger, he heard with joy his sentence of enfran- chisement pronounced by that gentle- man ;^himself, who declared, that as his recovery was now proceeding without comperendination, of which his being able to manducate w^as a conclusive proof, he would not any longer occlude his young friend, who having impigno- rated his word to Mr. and Mrs. Brisco, k5 it 202 BROUGHAM CASTLE. it would look like tero-iversation if he delayed any longer to congreet them. Dacre eagerly availed himself of this sanction ; but so much was he, in this in- stance, the dupe of self-deception, that he never placed his eagerness to the account of Idonea, of whom he persuaded himself he thought with augmented contempt. Burbeck had told him, that on the morn- ing of her departure she was walking in the park with Dunning ; and though his age precluded all supposition that he was of the order of her admirers, he conclud- ed that, as the friend of Sibbald, he was admitted to her confidence; and under this conviction he felt firmly assured that not Miss Rokeby, but his friend Arthur, was the magnet which attracted him to the banks of UUswater. Such was the frame of mind in which he reached the house of JNIr. Brisco. Mrs. Brisco received him alone ; it was within an hour of the dinner one. Mr. Brisco had not returned from the cir- cuit BROUGHxVM CASTLE. 203 cuit of his gi'ounds, and the young folks, she said, were on the lake. Cyrus, glad to be thus spared the pain of an abrupt interview with Idonea, as he took the refreshments kindly pre- sented to him, entered into chat with the lady of the house, who found theme enough in the improvement of her sons, and inquiries after Crosthwafte and the Rokebys, to the last of which Dacre was enabled to give satisfactory replies, having been at Temple-Sowerby the preceding morning. In less than half an hour Cyrus per- ceived his friend Arthur's well-known boat making towards the shore. His heart beat violently as, unperceived, he watched its approach ; the barge ground- ed, the party prepared to land, and he beheld his Idonea conducted by a grace- ful and elegant stranger. An emotion passed over his features which IMrp. Brisco, who was watchmg their expres- K 6 sion. 204 EHOUGHAM CASTLE. sion, interpreted to be that of surprise, not unmingled with awe. " It is Lyulph," she said, in a tone of triumph. " I presumed so," replied Cyrus, and subjoined a compUment on. his striking figure, highly flattering to the gratified mother. Not such were Dacre's feelings as he contemplated the handsome pair. ISIiss Hokeby hung on the arai of Lyulph, conversing with vivid animation, her eyes raised to his, and her face dressed in smiles. He appeared to listen witii correspondent interest. His mountain- dress was well calculated to display his form to advantage ; and, with the basket which contained the finny spoils of the morning swung over his shoulder, he looked like a native of the classic shores of Greece. The party entered, and mutual intro- ductions and inquiries took place. Ido- nea BROUGHAM CASTLE. 205 nea looked half reluctant to remember animosity, yet too proud to seek recon- ciliation, and in those sentiments she was exactly met by Cyrus. But, as is gene- rally the case, when cordiality declines, politeness took its place, and the man- ners of JNIr. Dacre and JNIiss Rokeby, as they respected each other, were marked by an excess of complaisance when be- fore company ; but if at any time chance left them alone together, both remained profoundly silent. A fortnight now wore over pleasantly enough, save that the assertions of Dun- ning and Sibbald still haunted the ears of Idonea, and the yellow thorn of jea- lousy again sprung up in the path of Cyrus. In all their rides and rambles through these romantic and delightful shades, *' Those noble scenes Salvator's soul ador'd/' captain Brisco was ever by the side of !Miss Rokeby. His elegant taste point- ed 206 BROUGHAM CASTLE. ed out to her observation the numerous striking views with which Sowban-ov/ Park and its charming vicinity abound ; and amidst the stillness of evening, when sailing on the lake, his fine tenor voice united with the yet sweeter one of Ido- nea, and woke the surrounding echoes. Lyulph blew the French-horn with masterly skill, and when five times rever- berated back, its notes contrasted admira- bly with the soft breathings of Cyrus's flute. The trio might have been sketched for Diana, Apollo, and Mars; whilst Ar- thur, as he chanted aloud some rural ditty, seemed the Pan of the groves. Captain Brisco's health continued to amend. His refined elegance of man- ners prompted liim at all times to as- sume the appearance of cheerfulness, and compel himself to be conversible ; but it was impossible for an accurate ob- server not to perceive that there was something sadly pensive in his character. He was sometimes quite abstracted in thought ; BROUGHAM CASTLE. 207 thought ; a sigh often stole from his bo- som ; and he passed much of his time alone. Arthur asserted that his brother had left his heart in Ireland, but Mr. and ISIrs. Brisco either did not see the gloom which shaded his spirits, or seeing, did not conceive its source to be mental, but attributed it to the state of his health, whilst Isabella appeared to sympathize in, and to wish its removal. Dacre scrutinized the manners and conduct of Brisco with rigid and search- ing attention, and, it may be, viewing them through the jaundiced and distort- ing medium of jealousy, saw much both to fear and censure. He certainly could not build his opinion on very solid grounds, opportunity only presenting casual matters for observation. That Brisco w^as forcibly attracted by the charms of Miss Rokeby, Cyrus did not doubt ; and disposed as he was to deem her a coquette, he believed she encou- raged his passion. Though ^8 BROUGHAM CASTLE. Though bearing a commission in the EngUsh army, Lyulph seemed, in every eonversation on the subject, to be strongly biassed in favour of the Catholics. This indeed was so obvious, that his brother Arthur more than once smiHngly hinted it to him ; and beyond these points Dacre suspected him of a too free and unhmited admu'ation of female beauty.. This he grounded on the following cir- cumstances. It was one of those soft and shadowy days so frequent in autumn. Xo breath of wind ruffled the lake, or scattered the fleecy clouds. Arthur had gone with his father to Keswick ; Mrs. Brisco was busied at home; and Isabella, Idonea, Lyulph, and Cyrus, set out on a long ramble. They traced the winding shores of the lake, alternately over rough and broken crags, through smooth green pastures, and beneath the dark umbrage of woods, whose foHage now presenting every shade of colouring, strewed their varied BROUGHAM CASTLE. 209 raried path. The scenery around was all that fancy can form of grand and sublhne. On one side, the mountains rose abrupt, stupendous, and immense ; their bases clothed with verdure and cul- tivation, and their awfiil summits enve- loped in clouds, which rested as it were on oaks of such a growth and appear- ance of antiquity, that they might have been taken for primeval tenants of these sequestered domains ; on the other, the clear muTor of the lake, formed into bays by the rocky promontories which shot into its bosom, broke on the pebbled shore, and met the shady, but now-fa- ded copses which hung over them. Here the glowing berries of the moun- tain-ash were contrasted by the last brown clusters of nuts which Lyulph, as they pursued their leaf-woven walk, gathered and presented to INIiss Rokeby. The squirrel, frightened from his do- mains by these lawless invaders, leaped in terror from branch to branch. The late 210 BROUGHAM CASTLE. late gay choristers of the woods, the thrush, the hnnet, and the blackbird, sat silent on the branches -^ but the he- ron was screaming aronnd, the osprey was diving for his finny prey, and the wild geese were winging their figured flight. Amused by these and numerous other objects, they extended their stroll till captain Brisco's weakened fi-ame bore testimony of its length, and he was com- pelled to stop and lean against a tree. Miss Stanley, who was at all times very attentive to his feelings, inquired if he were fatigued. Unable to deny what was visible in his countenance, he faintly smiled an affirmative. " Then we will rest ourselves yonder," resumed Isabella, pointing to a cottage, the white walls of which appeared amongst the trees to the right, at the distance of forty yards. Lyulph took the arm of Cyrus, and they bent their course towards it. ^•Now," BROUGHAM CASTLE. 211 " Now," said Miss Stanley, smiling on Idonea, " expect to see a rural beauty. Hannah Harrop was the belle of Ulls- water before her marriage, which only took place about a year since. Her hus- band is a very industrious, worthy lad, and I apprehend she makes him a bet- ter wife than professed beauties gene- rally do, when they move in more en- larged circles." Hannah fully justified this eulogium. Her features were not only regularly beautiful, but wore an expression of in- telligence which would never have been looked for in one whose life-scene was laid in a retirement and obscurity which might well be termed seclusion. She carried in her arms a lovely infant of two months old, and looked altogether so mild, so innocent, and so interesting, that Idonea was charmed, but Lyulph, Cy- rus thought, was more. Wherever apology, introduction, so- cial chat, or casual, desultory conversa- tion. 212 BROUGHAM CASTLE, tion, were requisite, his polished man- ners, so well inured to life and its modes, were ever ready and prominent; but when they entered this cottage, and his eyes rested on the fair rustic, a glow of crimson rushed to his cheek, and whilst INIiss Stanley, to whom Hannah was well known, explained that her cou- sin was fatigued with a long walk, alid Hannah, with an urbanity more to be valued than the most exquisite polite- ness, inasmuch as it had goodness of heart and sincerity for its basis, busied herself to present him with refreshments^ his eyes pursued her round the apart- ment with such an expression as cannot be defined ; it was ardent, it was tender, it spoke from the soul ! out no, Cyrus would not allow that it merited to de- rive its origin from thence. He seemed at length to recollect him- self, took the milk and oat-cake from her hand, thanked her with his wonted grace. BROUGHAM CASTLE. 213 grace, and during the half-hour they sat in tlie cottage, talked to her with cheer- ful animation. " Now is she not very charming ?'* said Miss Stanley, when they had got to some distance from the cottage. " Tiiily so," replied Idonea. *' I little expected to have seen so fine a woman in Cumberland," said Lyulph. "That," thought Cyrus, "is a speech without reflection, or he never would have made it in the presence of Miss Roke- by, whom he certainly admires." Ly- ulph, he concluded, thought so too, for he instantly changed the topic of con- versation, and no more was said on the subject. A few days after this, Lyulph propo- sed to his brother and Cyrus a morning's shooting, saying he felt himself strong enough for such an expedition. They set out with hope and glee, but were disappointed. Game was scarce, and after 214 EROUGHAM CASTLE, after a circuitous and nearly successless ramble of three hours, they came within sight of Hannah Harrop's cottage. " Yonder is the dwelling of Isabella's rustic friend," said captain Brisco ; " I am completely wearied, and will rest myself there ; and when you are tired of this useless pursuit, you can join me." Without waiting for a reply, he swung his gun across his shoulder, whistled his favourite spaniel after him, and, with more alacrity than might have been ex- pected, traced the path to the cottage. There was not certainly any thing very extraordinary, or any palpable appear- ance of evil in this; but Cyrus, either ve- ry penetrating or very suspicious, had a notion there was, and could not help thinking that Lyulph, who had chosen this road himself, had done so on pur- pose. He and Arthur wandered about two miles further, and then retiu*ned to the cottage by another way. On their en- trance BROUGHAM CASTLE, 215 ti-ance they found its owners seated with Lyulph by the fire. Harrop was exa- mining captain Brisco's fowHng-piece, and recounting his own sporting ex- ploits. Hannah, with her infant in her lap, was listening with smihng tender- ness, and Lyulph, his head reclined back, and wearing a pensive expression of countenance, seemed half attentive and half abstracted. " Surely," thought Cyrus, " I injure him ; he never can be villain enough to seek the destruction of such peace and happiness as reigns here. Yet that look tiic other d^y, and this visit — they cannot be mistaken." Captain Brisco, on the entrance of his friends, roused himself from his medita- ting attitude, and joined in the conver- sation which ensued, concerning hares, foxes, and otters, and Ai-thur proposed otter-hunting for the next morning's di- version. Lyulph and Cyrus agreed, and Har- rop, 216 BROUGHAM CASTLE. rop, who was an adept in the sport, pix)- mised to be of the party. CHAPTER XI. '*v/-#^**r*v* The hunters were by the side of the lake when the beams of the tardy and now-bhmted sun first played on its wa- ters. The hoar-frost still bound the grass, and the dew-drops hung on every spray. The autumnal gale blew keen and sharp ; the kite and the fishing ea- gle, startled from their prey, buffetted the air with their strong pinions ; and those animals which man, in his merci- less rage for pleasure, has marked out for the objects of pursuit, retreated to their coverts ; the fox skulked in his cave of the rock, and the hare sought her wont- ed shelter in the thickly-woven furze and broom. Lyulph BROUGHAM CASTLE. Q17 Lyulph and Cyrus prepared the boat, whilst Arthur and Harrop cheered their dogs, and soon roused an otter from his soft, oozy bed in the bank. To him the water Avas a congenial element, and fol- lowing the means taught by nature for his preservation, he rushed to it. The hunters pursued, and putting off from the shore, watched the moment when, and the spot where, he should rise to the surface to take breath. His dark muz- zle soon appeared, and Lyulph, who hap- pened to be nearest, raised his arm to strike him ; but ardent for victory, he neglected his own safety, and the con- sequence was, he over-reached himself^ and was plunged headlong in the lake. His friends were struck yvith consterna- tion and dismay, aware that though he was an excellent swimmer, he was too weak for tliat circumstance to be of much avail, but Cyrus yielding to the im- pulse of the moment, jumped in after him, and at the imminent hazard of his VOL. I. L own 218 BROUGHAM CASTLE. own life, assisted the efforts he made to save himself. Their struggle was ar- duous, but ukimateiy successful ; they reached the shore in safety, but Lyulph was so much exhausted tliat he couM only thank his presen er by an eloquent look, and a pressure of the hand On reaching hc«n^ he was immedi- ately put to bed, and Mrs* Brisco, with every genuine and fen^ent display c^ gratitude to Cyrus, insisted that he sliould use the same precaution. A sur- geon was sent for, who bled them botli^ and gave every proper direction ; but Lyulph continued seriously indis- posed, and Cyrus had taken a ceaisider- able degree of cold, so that both w^e cortfined invalids to the house for seve- l-al days* My. ane iiio^ Kvdy sense of obligation to Daere, \tho felt little disposed to take credit to* himself for what he had done ; but he could not help thinking that ho one seemed to at- tach so Uttle merit to the action as Miss Hokeby. She descanted on the datiger captain Brisco had escaped, fervently e:ji:- ]pressed her joy in his safety, and appeal**^ ed to sympathize iii his sufferings ; but when his deliverer ^'-as praised, she look* ed another way, and remamed silent. " I no longer possess the preference I once flattered myself with," thought Cy- rus; ''hilt no matter." Lyulph, he could not help thinking, was mor^ than ^ver pointed in his admiration gf Ido- iiea. True, it might be, that the cir- cumstance of his being more at home §tvas at home, and most probably alone. Corroborating testimony is, in all cases, allowed its due weight ; and when Brisco's former visits to their cottage, and that look which Cyrus could never forget, were combined with the present circumstance, he thought it would not be a breach of charity to suspect, but of common sense to dovibt, that the paper lK>w in Lyulph's hand eoBtained an as« signation ; and he felt pained to the smil, that such a mind as that of Brisco should be enslaved by the most criminal laid detestable passions, and yet more tliat BROUGHAM CASTLE. 231 tliat SO much beauty as Hannah Harrop possessed, and so much innocence aa lately distinguished her, should have be-- come his victim. Lyulph, when he had read his letter, seemed at once to depart from that po- lished good-breeding which marked his character, and which, at any other time, would certainly have prompted him to attend Idonea home. Turning hastily to her, he said in a hurried voice — " My dear Miss Rokeby, I am sure your good- ness w^ill excuse me ; a particular friend of mine is now " Here he suddenly checked himself, and then subjoined — ** wishes to see me immediately. Mr. Dacre will attend you." Then without waiting her reply, or in any way notice ing Cyrus, he slightly bowed, and with more alacrity than his fiiends had seen Mm use since his plunge in the lake, sprang over a stile, and took the nearest path to Hannah's dwelling. Cyrus shuddered as he thought of Harrop, 232 BROUGHAM CTASTLE; Harrop, while Idonea's purc mind form- ed no conjecture to the disadvantage of any party,, but thought the letter was from some gentleman v/ith whom Ly- ulph \^^as acquainted. Left thus alone with Dacre, a pause of silence ensued. She could not address a sentence to her lover, and Cyrus sedu- lously repelled the impulse which would have prompted him to clasp his long- loved Idonea to his heart, and to whis« per — "Why is that confidence, that af« fection I valued so highly, withdrawn^ from me?" Miss Rokeby at length felt her situa- tion too painful, and resolved to say something, but she happened to choose a very unpropitious theme to break si- lence with.. " Don't you think captain Brisca seems very much recovered?" she in- quired. ** It appears so, if one may judge by the agility with which he could leap that BROUGHAM CASTLE. 23^3 tliat stile," returned Dacrr, with visible irony of manner. " Oh, how Cyrus is changed!" tliought Idonea ; " there was a time when he would have rejoiced in whatever good attended any of his friends, but now he is grown so stern, so morose " Yet determined not to appear as if perceiv- ing any thing extraordinary in his mode of reply, she proceeded to say — " I re- joice, on his mother's account, that he is so ; she is dotingly fond of him, and he is truly an amiable character." " He is very fortunate in getting you to think so. Miss Rokeby," replied Cy- rus, with a coldness so like contempt, that Idonea, unable to account for it, felt it to her soul. An unwelcome tear asserted its right to flow, and no longer able to repress her feelings, she said in a faltering voice — " Oh Cyrus, why is this ? why is the confidence which used to subsist between us on all subjects, and concerning every person, at an end ? and S34 BROUGHAM CASTLE. and why," she added, with augmented emotion, ** why am I l^Iiss Rokeby, and no longer Idonea ? BeUeve me I have never intentionally offended you ;*' and while she spoke she felt humihated by an internal conviction that she had in- jured Dacre by hstening to the reports of Sibbald, for that he was entirely guilt- less of the heavy charge of having boast- ed of her regard. Cyrus would have answered — " Why, then, did I once hear you speak of me to Sibbald with such marked contempt?-'' and Idonea Virould have exonerated her- self by candidly relating all that Sibbald had said, but they were now at the door; where Mrs. Brisco was looking out for them. "Where is Lyulph?^*^ she inquired; " Harrop's lad was asking for him a lit- tle while ago." Cyrus felt as if the blood congealed at his heart. " Captain Brisco met him, and returned with him, madarxi," he re- plied ; BUOUGHAM CASTLE. 2S5 plied ; " a particalar friend, he said, wished to see him directly." " Who can it be?" she rejoined. They had by this time entered the parlour, where supper was ready. " Come, come," said Mr. Brisco, *^ we wont wait for him ; he'll be here pre-^ sently." They sat down to table, and half an hour wore over. Idonea did not think it necessary to mention Sibbald to the Briscos ; but his behaviour, combined with that of Cyrus during their walk liome, had so much affected her spirits, that she anxiously wished it were time to retire. Supper, which was little honoured hy any one but Mr. Brisco, was scarcely over, when a heavy rain began to fall. Mrs. Brisco became anxiously uneasy concerning the absence of her son, and was on the point of dispatching a ser« vant with a great-coat to Hannah's cot- tage, when a note was delivered to €y- rus. 236 BROUGHAM CASTLE. rus, which was brought by Harrop's boy on horseback. It was written with a pencil, evidently in haste, and to the fol- lowing effect : — " My dear Dacre, a very intimate friend, as I told you at parting, is now with me ; and as the night is likely to prove wet, we shall remain where we are. Have the goodness to tell my mo- ther this, and desire she will not be un- easy on my account. I shall be punc- ittal to your appointment in the morn- ing ; my pistols are entirely at your ser- vice ; you will find them, loaded, in the left drawer of my bureau. Yours sincerely, L. B. "P.S. On second thoughts you had bet- ter call on me at Harrop's, lest I should be beyond the time.'*^^ Cyrus obeyed the directions contained in. BROUGHAM CASTLE. 237 iH this note, and told IVIrs. Brisco that he had received a few Hnes from her son, Mdio requested she would feel no anxi- ety on his account, being, together with a friend, detained at Harrop's, where they should sleep. The badness of the weather reconciled her to this step of Lyulph's, but she wondered aloud who was with him. No one could form a conjecture on the subject, except Cyrus, and he, it wall readily be supposed, kept his to himself; but Miss Stanley said — " Surely it will be inconvenient to Hannah, for Harrop is not at home." Idonea, when she retired to rest, re- volved the events of the day, and cheer- ed by the light spuits of youth, found, or fancied she found, more cause for joy than ^ie£ She w^as convinced that what Sibbald had said concerning Dacre was false ; and from thence she infen-ed the possibility, she thought probability, that Dunning's strange assertions on the subject 25& BROUGHAIM: CASTLt. subject of her pareiits were false also. Yet, alas ! the reflection of a moment told her that she had little to build hope upon, for Cyms, it seemed evident, no longer loved her, awd the positive, une- quivocal words of Dunning rose to me- mory with a force not to he repelled. " Your mother, the wife of Mr. Ilokeb}^ died the week which gave you birth, dnd thi« fact either your father, or the lady who you have hitherto believed to be your parent, and who I understand is called ^f rs. Rokeby, will confirm, in*, deed cannot deny." All she could resolve upon was, vnth regard to the latter point, to pursue her intention of opening her heart to her fa- ther when she should get home, and to tell him all that Dunning had said ; and? as to Cyrus^, she determined in her own mind to take the earliest opportunity of fbllomtig up the advances she had al- ready made towards a reconciliation. But, ah ! had Idonea known. whither, and on BROtJGHAM CASTLE. 239 on what errand, he was going in the morning, how great would have been her sufferings ! The mind of Cyrus too was actively busy whilst waiting, till certain that aU the family had retired to rest, that he might search for the pistols Avithout ex- citing observation, which, however, he might easily do, tlK? chamber of Lyuiph (as is common in old houses) eommu- cating with his own. Like Mis^ Roke- by, he felt very much disposed to avail himself of her overtures for an amnesty, and would h&ve regretted the interrupt tio» which had been given to their discourse b}^ the termination of theirv/alk, had not the dreadful idea of what was to take place in the morning obtruded it- self, and with a groan of anguish he said mentally—" Oh! better is it tlmt Idonea should think me, as she now does, cold and indifferent, whether or not 1 possess her affection, than that, attached to me, as I believe she once was, she should see ^40 BROUGHAM CASTLE. see me, as I may be to-morrow, hun-ied to an untimely gi-ave, or living with a conscience burthened by the weight of blood." Then, unable to bear the sad pictures which his imagination had drawn, lie endeavoured to persuade himself that neither fire would take effect, or at most would terminate in one of the parties being shghtly wounded; and in that case he resolved, immediately on his re- turn home, to solicit the permission of Crosthwaite to ask of JNIr. Rokeby the hand of his lovely daughter, if, indeed, as he now flattered himself he had only fancied, she had not transfeiTed her af- fections to captain Brisco. From contemplations like these he was roused by the sound of twelve o'clock. He started with surprise at the lateness of the hour, and hastily passed to the apartment of Lyulph, in search of the pistols. He could not recollect one former instance of his having per- formed BROUGHAM CASTLE. 241 formed any voluntary action with tardi- ness, but now an insupportable load of guilt seemed to clog his footsteps. He found the pistols according to direction, and close beside them lay the resem- blance of Hannah Harrop, drawn by the hand of Lyulph. Dacre, though he could not be sur- prised, was shocked. He took up the portrait, and saw that on the other side of the paper was a di'awing of her resi- dence, with the beautiful scenery around. They were not, however, finished pieces, but rather seemed intended as sketches to copy from. Cyrus threw them down in disgust, though they could not give him a stronger conviction of Brisco's guilt than he had before. " And this is the man v/hose life I saved," said he mentally, w^hilst conscience whispered — " Arraign not his crimes, when in a few hours your own hand may be embrued in blood." He closed the drawer, and returning VOL. I. M to 242 BROUGHAM CASTLE. to his chamber, threw himself into bed, not to sleep. At such a crisis he could not hope to find repose, but to wear away the time until he should rise to meet Sibbald. END OF VOL. L Printed by J. 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