LUNNASTING CASTLE--THE STRANGER SHIP--SANDY REDLAND, THE FACTOR--ARCHY
EAGLESHAY--MISS WARDHILL'S VISITORS--THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE HEIR.
Lunnasting Castle stood on a high rocky promontory, washed by the ocean
on the south and east, and by a voe which ran up some way inland on the
west. It was a somewhat extensive building; but though of a castellated
style of architecture it was not really a fortress further than the
naturally inaccessible nature of the ground on which it stood made it
so. It stood on the site, and was formed partly of such materials as
time had left of an old castle of the earls or ancient Udal lords of
Shetland, and had been very much increased in size, and ornamented, as
well as rendered a more commodious habitation by the present owner, Sir
Marcus Wardhill. The dwelling-house consisted but of two stories, and
standing, as it did, elevated some way above the sea, looked lower than
it really was. It was surrounded on the north, east, and west, by a
high castellated wall, flanked with towers, which, if not capable of
keeping out a mortal enemy, served the purpose for which it was built,--
to guard the mansion from the assaults of the wintry blasts of the icy
ocean. In front, on the south side, that the inhabitants might enjoy
the sea view, and that the warm rays of the sun might be admitted, the
wall sunk down to the height of a mere ornamental parapet, the round
towers at either end giving it some right to claim the title bestowed on
it; especially as on the summit of either tower Sir Marcus had mounted a
couple of long six-pounders, capable of considerably annoying any
hostile vessel of a size at all likely to venture near that part of a
coast so full of dangers that no large ship would willingly approach it.
The muzzles of some smaller guns appeared through the embrasure of the
parapet wall, which was also flanked by a buttress, or rather a circular
outwork at either end at the foot of the towers, where pivot guns were
placed, so that the one on the west could fire directly up the voe or
gulf, and served to flank the western wall. The two principal front
towers were connected with the dwelling-house, and had small chambers in
them, one above the other, which had been fitted up as sitting-rooms or
dormitories.
In a deep window recess, in the highest chamber of the western tower of
Lunnasting Castle, sat Miss Wardhill, Sir Marcus Wardhill's eldest
child. Although the window matched in appearance the others in that and
the opposite tower, which were mere high, narrow, glazed loop-holes, by
an ingenious contrivance a huge stone was made to turn on an iron axle,
and by pressing a spring, it slid in sufficiently to allow the inmate of
the room to gaze out conveniently on the surrounding scene.
Few scenes, to a romantic temperament, could have been more attractive.
The subdued twilight of that northern clime reigned over the face of
nature, softening and mellowing all objects, but in no way obscuring
them. The light was not so bright as that of the day, and yet it
partook in no way of the characteristics of night. It was more like the
warm light of the dawn of a summer day in the south, just before the sun
rises up from below the horizon in refulgent glory. The water near the
land was perfectly smooth, though a breeze could be seen rippling the
surface in the offing, the ripple being increased probably by the strong
current which nearly at all times sets one way or the other round the
islands.
Before the castle, on the right, rose the rocky heights and green
swelling undulations of the mainland--the Noup of Nesting Kirkbuster,
Brough and Moul of Eswick, while the highlands above Lerwick, and the
heights of Brassy and Noss, appeared blue and indistinct in the far
distance.
To the east, several green islands, or rather islets, known as Grief
Skerries, Rumble, Eastling, and other equally euphonious names, ran out
of the dark-blue ocean. The last-named being a mile and a half in
length, formed with the main island, along the shore of which it ran
parallel, and from which it was little more than a quarter of a mile
distant, a sound of some extent, where vessels in all but north-easterly
winds could ride safely at anchor. Even in these winds the force of the
sea was considerably broken by the small island or holm of Isbuster,
which lay in the very centre of the northern entrance.
Looking eastward, and north from the towers of Lunnasting, the view
extended nearly up the Sound, and commanded the whole island of
Eastling, which perhaps obtained its name from lying east of the chief
habitation of the lords of the domain, Eastling being a corruption of
Eastlying. Such was the view on which Hilda Wardhill was occasionally
turning her gaze, though her eyes were more frequently fixed on the
pages of a large volume lying open on a dark oak reading desk fixed in
the recess, and so placed that the last rays of that precious sunlight
which so soon departs in the long winter season of the North, might fall
full upon it. The room was of an octagon shape, with dark oak
wainscoting and ceiling; the chairs were of a suitable character, mostly
with high upright backs, rudely carved, as were some book-shelves, which
occupied two of the sides, while a massive table, supported by sea
monsters, or at all events by creatures of fish-like form, stood in the
centre; another table of similar character stood against the side of the
room with writing materials on it, and there was a sofa of antique form,
and two large chests of some dark wood, with brass clasps and plates on
the lids and sides, so tarnished however by the sea air, as scarcely to
be discerned as brass. A second high narrow window, with a lattice,
faced towards the west and north, so that persons standing at it could,
by leaning forward, look completely up the voe. Thus, from this turret
chamber, a view could be obtained on every side, except on that looking
inland, or rather over the island.
On one of the eight sides there was, however, a small door in the
panelling, which opened on a spiral staircase leading to the very summit
of the tower, where, as has been said, a gun was placed, and whence a
complete view was obtained over every portion of the island, extending
far away over the sea beyond, to the Out Skerries, a rocky group so
called; and the distant shores of the large island of Yell. As the roof
could only be reached by passing through the chamber below, it was
completely private to the fair occupant as long as she chose to close
the ingress to her own room.
Seldom has a more beautiful picture been portrayed to the mind's eye of
the most imaginative of painters, than that which Hilda Wardhill
presented as she sat at the window of her turret chamber, either leaning
over the volume which occupied her attention, or gazing out on the calm
ocean, her thoughts evidently still engaged in the subject of her
studies.
At length she rose, and was about to close the window, when her eye fell
on a vast towering mass of white, gliding slowly from the northward down
Eastling Sound. She looked more than once, mistrusting her senses, and
inclined to believe that it was some phantom of the deep, described in
wild romances, often her study, which she beheld, till another glance
assured her, as the object drew nearer that it was a large ship far
larger than had ever been known during her recollection to anchor in the
Sound. With speed which seemed like magic, the white canvas
disappeared, and the tall masts and the yards and the light tracery of
the rigging could only dimly be traced against the clear sky.
Whence the stranger had come, or for what object, Hilda could not tell,
but still she had a feeling--how communicated she did not inquire--that
the event portended some great change in her own fate. Painful
forebodings of evil came crowding like mocking phantoms around her. She
tried with the exercise of her own strong will to banish them. In vain
she strove--the more they seemed to mock her power. She felt as if she
could almost have shrieked out in the agony of her mortal struggle, till
her proud spirit quailed and trembled with unwonted fears. Again the
clock tolled forth a solitary sound, which vibrated strangely on her
overwrought nerves, and seemed more sonorous than usual. She pressed
her hand upon her brow, then by an effort she seemed by a single gasp to
recover herself, and, closing the window, retired to her sleeping
chamber in that part of the house in the immediate neighbourhood of her
favourite tower.
At an early hour the lady of the castle was on foot. She at once
ascended to the summit of her tower, and gazed eagerly up the Sound,
half expecting to find that she had been deceived by her imagination on
the previous night, and that the ship she had seen was but a creation of
the brain. There, however, floated the beautiful fabric, but there was
not the slightest movement or sign of life on board. At all events, it
seemed improbable that she would soon move from her present position.
At length she descended to her boudoir below, where, as usual, her light
and frugal meal was brought to her by her own attendant, Nanny Clousta.
Her meal, at which Nanny stood ready to help her to anything she
required, being quickly concluded, Miss Wardhill descended to the large
hall on the ground-floor, in the centre of the castle. It was a
handsome room, with an arched ceiling of dark oak, supported by pillars
round the wall. A long table ran down the centre, at one end of which,
on a raised platform or dais, she took her seat. Several tenants of the
Lunnasting estate came in to make complaints, to beg for the redress of
grievances, to report on the state of the farms, or fisheries, or
kelp-collecting; to all of which the lady listened with the most perfect
attention, making notes in a book placed before her. Two or three were
told to wait till she had seen the factor, that she might hear his
reports before deciding on their claims. She looked round as if the
audience was over; and inquired why Alexander, or Sandy Redland, as he
was called, the factor, did not make his appearance, when an old man,
leaning on a stick, hobbled into the hall.
"I come for justice, my lady. Oh, hear me, hear me!" he exclaimed; as
if before entering the hall he had worked himself up to address her; "I
am just auld Archy Eagleshay, and as ye ken weel, my leddie, my only son
has long gane been awa to sea, and I've been left to struggle on fra ane
year to another, till now that I am grown too weak to toil, and the
factor, Sandy Redland, comes down upon me, and makes awfu' threats to
distrain and turn me out of my sma' holding if I dinna pay; and pay I
canna', that is truth, my leddie. Have mercy, have pity, my leddie. Ye
love justice whatever else ye love."
"Justice might induce me to expel you from your holding, if you cannot
pay your rent, old man," said Miss Wardhill, in a cold severe tone.
"However I will listen to what Sandy Redland, the factor, has to say.
Ha! here he comes. You are late Mr Redland, in your attendance. What
has kept you?"
The man who entered was a tall, thin person, habited in the grey
shepherd's plaid of the north. His features were coarse. He possessed
a sharp nose, high cheek bones, and small and grey unpleasantly
twinkling eyes. He bowed low, and in a voice which was intended to be
soft and insinuating, replied--
"It is no fault o' mine when your orders are na implicitly obeyed, Miss
Wardhill; but circumstances militate against the best intentions, as may
be clear to you oftentimes, I doubt not. I was delayed by having to
make inquiries respecting a strange ship, which anchored, it appears, a
few hours back, in the Sound of Eastling, and which, as I opine, is
within your leddyship's jurisdiction, I deemed it incumbent on me to
ascertain the object of her coming, and the time it might be proposed
for her to stay. As she is a foreigner, it struck me that charge might
be made for harbour and light dues, and the chances are that it would
not be disputed. Ye see, Miss Wardhill, that I have always your
honoured father's interests at heart."
The lady gave a glance towards the factor, which bespoke the most
perfect contempt--too cold and confirmed to cause much change in her
features.
"And what have you learned respecting this stranger ship?" she asked.
"Nathing, my leddie, nathing," answered Sandy, shuddering. "What could
I tell but that she might be a pirate or an enemy in disguise, or some
ill-doer, and that if I, the factor of Lunnasting, was entrapped on
board, I might be retained as a hostage in durance vile, till sic times
as a heavy sum might be collected for my ransom."
A gleam flitted across Miss Wardhill's countenance, as she replied: "You
estimate yourself somewhat highly, factor. Then, in truth, you know
nothing of the ship which has anchored in the Sound?"
"Nathing whatever, my leddie," was the answer. "But I await the return
of Jock Busta's boat which I despatched as soon as I reached Whalsey
this morning from the mainland."
"Bring me the information as soon as you obtain it," said Miss Wardhill.
"In the meantime let me hear what answer you have to make to a
complaint old Archy Eagleshay brings against you."
The factor gave a variety of reasons for his conduct, to which she
listened without replying, and then called up the old man to her end of
the table.
"Go home Archy Eagleshay," she said, in a voice totally different to
that in which she had spoken to the factor. "Best quiet in your hut.
The old and infirm must be sheltered and fed; of that there is no doubt;
but let the evil-doer and idle beware. On them I shall have no mercy.
Sandy Redland, mark me: I will have no cruelty or oppression--remember
that. The instant you receive information respecting the strange ship,
let me know through Nanny Clousta."
There was a cowed look on the countenance of Sandy Redland as he bowed,
while his young mistress rose to retire.
Old Archy lifted up his hands, as if about to address her once more,
then he turned slowly round. "Ha, ha!" he muttered; "if she had yielded
to you, cruel factor, I'd have told her all I know, and made e'en her
proud spirit tremble; but she's been good and kind to an auld man, and
I'll say nothing."
On leaving the hall, Hilda Wardhill went at once to the turret chamber,
and from thence mounted to the platform on the summit of the tower. Her
first glance was up the Sound, where lay the stranger ship. The sails
were still closely furled; the boats were hoisted up; not a movement of
any sort appeared to be taking, place. The only object stirring was a
small boat, which just then was gliding rapidly close under the headland
on which the castle stood. A single rower sat in it, who managed his
oars with the skill which long practice gives. He looked up, and seeing
Miss Wardhill, flourished his oar as a salute, which she returned with
the slightest possible inclination of her head, and then continued
pacing up and down, while he pursued his course till he entered the voe,
and reached the castle landing-place, where he was hid from view. Miss
Wardhill continued her circumscribed walk backwards and forwards across
the top of the tower, now stopping to look up the Sound at the ship, now
casting her glance round the horizon, speaking frequently to herself,
and more than once sighing deeply, as if there was some weight at her
heart of which she longed to be relieved.
She had again stopped, and was looking at the beautiful ship in the
distance, when she started on hearing herself addressed--
"Good morrow, cousin Hilda," said the intruder, who had that instant
come up from the room below. "Engaged, as I expected, or you would not
be a woman, gazing with curiosity at the strange ship in the Sound,
wondering whence she came, and all about her."
She turned as he spoke, when he lifted a little gold-laced,
three-cornered hat from his head, and saluted her with a profound bow,
which might have appeared respectful in the extreme, had he not at the
same time indulged in a low chuckling laugh, the usual conclusion, it
seemed, of most of his sentences. His manner and appearance were
peculiar in the extreme: he was broad and large boned, but thin; and a
suit of brown cloth, with huge silver buttons, hung loosely about his
body; a wide shirt-frill stuck out in front, and his shirt collars
reached up to his ears. His gait was shuffling and shambling; he wore
knee-breeches and grey homespun stockings, and his shoes, which were
ornamented with silver buckles, were far too large for him, and of
course, even had he not had the propensity to do so, would have made him
shuffle his feet over the ground, his eyes were unusually large, grey,
and staring; and his hair, which was already so grey that its original
colour could scarcely be perceived, was cut short, and stood up on end,
all over his head like the quills of the porcupine; his forehead was
somewhat narrow, but his features were neither plain nor coarse; there
was, however, a startled, frightened look about them, and an otherwise
painful and indescribable expression, which told too plainly that the
ruling power of the intellect had been overthrown, and that the living
machine could no longer be altogether held responsible for its acts.
Such, in appearance, was Lawrence Brindister: had he been of sane mind,
he would have been the lord of Lunnasting and the broad acres of several
estates, both on the mainland of Shetland and in the north of Scotland;
but as he had, long before coming of age, given undoubted signs of being
totally incapable of managing his affairs, his claims had been set aside
in favour of his cousin, Margaret Brindister, the next heir, married to
Sir Marcus Wardhill. There had been, when Sir Marcus married, three
other heirs besides Lawrence, before Margaret Brindister could succeed
to the property: the same fever within a few days carried off two of
them; and then, and perhaps not till then, a longing desire seized Sir
Marcus to obtain the estates. The possessor was an old man--a bachelor.
Sir Marcus was not a man--that was well known--who allowed obstacles to
stand in his way; in the most unaccountable manner, the next heir, a
boy, disappeared: he was supposed, with his nurse, to have fallen over a
cliff, or to have been on the beach when a sea came in and swept them
both away--either occurrences too likely to happen to allow suspicion
justly to rest on any one. A handkerchief of the nurse's, and a
plaything of the child's, were found dropped on the road they had taken.
Their bodies were searched for in every direction in vain; the old man
mourned for the child, of whom he was very fond, and died shortly after.
Sir Marcus, too, mourned for the loss of his young kinsman, but
instantly commenced a suit which terminated by making poor Lawrence
Brindister his ward. There were certain conditions attached, that
Lunnasting should be his abode, and that he should be kindly treated and
well looked after, and supplied with anything he might in reason require
for his amusement: Lawrence himself, so far from opposing, seemed
perfectly contented with the arrangement; and while Lady Wardhill, to
whom he was much attached, lived, he was always cheerful and
good-tempered, though he afterwards exhibited so much extravagance of
behaviour that he required to be carefully watched, and his actions more
curbed than he liked. He had at first much resented this mode of
proceeding with him, but of late years he had become apparently so
perfectly harmless, that he was allowed to do exactly as he pleased.
Such was the eccentric being who now stood before Miss Wardhill.
"Yes, Lawrence, I have been looking at the ship," she answered, with so
peculiar a calmness, that it appeared to be produced by an effort. "You
have, I conclude, visited her, and can give me some information about
the stranger."
"Ah! that can I, fair cousin," he answered, with his usual painful
chuckle. "I have been on board the ship, and introduced myself to her
captain, and, what is more, invited him to the castle. He has a right
to claim our hospitality, for who, think you, is he?--no other than one
of those Spanish cousins we have heard often spoken about by her who
lies sleeping in yonder churchyard out there--ah's me!--and others.
Nurse Bertha will know all about them; we must get her to tell us before
he comes: he will be here soon, though. I told him that he must let me
go on ahead, to give due notice of his coming, or he would have arrived,
and taken you by surprise. He is a gallant-looking knight; a true don
of the old school. But I say, Hilda, don't treat him to the scornful
glances you cast at me, or he will not like it."
Miss Wardhill took no notice of the last remark. "Since you have
invited these strangers to the castle, whether they are really our
relations or not, we must be prepared to receive them. Go, look for
Sandy Redland; he has not left the island yet: he must go round and
collect an ample store of provisions, that we may not be looked on as
niggards in our hospitality, in this island home of ours. Send Bertha
Eswick to me; she knows, better than any other person here, what
arrangements should be made to do honour to strangers; it is so long
since any one came here, that I cannot hope to remember what
preparations are required. Go, Lawrence, and do you remember not to
bring discredit on the family by any pranks or strange vagaries you may
wish to play."