Hardly had Miss Ashton dropt the pen, when the door of the apartment
flew open, and the Master of Ravenswood, entered the apartment.
Lockhart and another domestic, who had in vain attempted to oppose his
passage through the gallery or antechamber, were seen standing on the
threshhold transfixt with surprize, which was instantly communicated
to the whole party in the stateroom. That of Colonel Douglas Ashton
was mingled with resentment; that of Bucklaw with haughty and affected
indifference; the rest, even Lady Ashton herself, showed signs of
fear; and Lucy seemed stiffened to stone by this unexpected
apparition. Apparition it might well be termed, for Ravenswood had
more the appearance of one returned from the dead than of a living
visitor.
He planted himself full in the middle of the apartment, opposite to
the table at which Lucy was seated, on whom, as if she had been alone
in the chamber, he bent his eyes with a mingled expression of deep
grief and deliberate indignation. His dark-colored riding cloak,
displaced from one shoulder, hung around one side of his person in the
ample folds of the Spanish mantle. The rest of his rich dress was
travel-soiled, and deranged by hard riding. He had a sword by his
side, and pistols in his belt. His slouched hat, which he had not yet
removed at entrance, gave an additional gloom to his dark features,
which, wasted by sorrow and marked by the ghastly look communicated by
long illness, added to a countenance naturally somewhat stern and
wild, a fierce and even savage expression. The matted and disheveled
locks of hair which escaped from under his hat, together with his fixt
and unmoved posture, made his head more resemble that of a marble bust
than that of a living man. He said not a single word, and there was a
deep silence in the company for more than two minutes.
It was broken by Lady Ashton, who in that space partly recovered her
natural audacity. She demanded to know the cause of his unauthorized
intrusion.
"That is a question, madam," said her son, "which I have the best
right to ask; and I must request of the Master of Ravenswood to follow
me where he can answer it at leisure."
Bucklaw interposed, saying, "No man on earth should usurp his
previous right in demanding an explanation from the Master.
Craigengelt," he added, in an undertone, "d--n ye, why do you stand
staring as if you saw a ghost? fetch me my sword from the gallery."
"I will relinquish to none," said Colonel Ashton, "my right of calling
to account the man who has offered this unparalleled affront to my
family."
"Be patient, gentlemen," said Ravenswood, turning sternly toward them,
and waving his hand as if to impose silence on their altercation. "If
you are as weary of your lives as I am, I will find time and place to
pledge mine against one or both; at present, I have no leisure for the
dispute of triflers."
"Triflers!" cried Colonel Ashton, half unsheathing his sword, while
Bucklaw laid his hand on the hilt of that which Craigengelt had just
reached him.
Sir William Ashton, alarmed for his son's safety, rushed between the
young men and Ravenswood, exclaiming, "My son, I command you--Bucklaw,
I entreat you--keep the peace, in the name of the Queen and of the
law!"
"In the name of the law of God," said Brid-the-Bent, advancing also
with uplifted hands between Bucklaw, the Colonel, and the object of
their resentment--"in the name of Him who brought peace on earth and
good-will to mankind, I implore--I beseech--I command you to forbear
violence toward each other! God hateth the bloodthirsty man; he who
striketh with the sword shall perish with the sword."
"Do you take me for a dog, sir," said Colonel Ashton, turning
fiercely upon him, "or something more brutally stupid, to endure this
insult in my father's house? Let me go, Bucklaw! He shall account to
me, or, by Heavens I will stab him where he stands!"
"You shall not touch him here," said Bucklaw; "he once gave me my
life, and were the devil come to fly away with the whole house and
generation, he shall have nothing but fair play."
The passions of the two young men thus counteracting each other gave
Ravenswood leisure to exclaim, in a stern and steady voice,
"Silence!--let him who really seeks danger take the fitting time when
it is to be found; my mission here will be shortly accomplished. Is
that your handwriting, madam?" he added in a softer tone, extending
toward Miss Ashton her last letter.
A faltering "Yes," seemed rather to escape from her lips than to be
uttered as a voluntary answer.
"And is this also your handwriting?" extending toward her the mutual
engagement.
Lucy remained silent. Terror, and a yet stronger and more confused
feeling, so utterly disturbed her understanding that she probably
scarcely comprehended the question that was put to her.
"If you design," said Sir William Ashton, "to found any legal claim on
that paper, sir, do not expect to receive any answer to an
extrajudicial question."
"Sir William Ashton," said Ravenswood, "I pray you, and all who hear
me, that you will not mistake my purpose. If this young lady, of her
own free will desires the restoration of this contract, as her letter
would seem to imply, there is not a withered leaf which this autumn
wind strews on the heath that is more valueless in my eyes. But I must
and will hear the truth from her own mouth; without this satisfaction
I will not leave this spot. Murder me by numbers you possibly may; but
I am an armed man--I am a desperate man, and I will not die without
ample vengeance. This is my resolution, take it as you may. I WILL
hear her determination from her own mouth; from her own mouth, alone,
and without witnesses, will I hear it. Now, choose," he said drawing
his sword with the right hand, and, with the left, by the same motion
taking a pistol from his belt and cocking it, but turning the point of
one weapon and the muzzle of the other to the ground--"choose if you
will have this hall flooded with blood, or if you will grant me the
decisive interview with my affianced bride which the laws of God and
the country alike entitle me to demand."